[1] Descent
The cloud canopy high above was torn open by a silver-white light cone.
The Empire's Severance Division Judgment Unit—Sky Halberd—dove straight down, its propulsion ring burning with a glare as blinding as a star.
Bai Ta's voice over comms was frighteningly steady:
> "We have only ten seconds. Knock it off course—otherwise, the Crystal Scar's entrance will be completely sealed."
Hermes: [Model Identification—Imperial Judgment-class aerial heavy halberd, an elite unit designed specifically to hunt cross-boundary intruders. Recommendation: extreme close-quarters combat.]
Lin Yaoheng fixed his gaze on that light, as if staring at an executioner's blade descending from the heavens.
> "Understood."
---
[2] Interception
R-01's twin wings snapped open—
its metal frame roared, air scorched into curling vortices, like two blazing iron curtains tearing the sky apart.
Lin Yaoheng pushed the thrusters to the limit, charging head-on into the light cone.
In the instant of impact, his vision was drowned in searing heat and violent tremors; the entire HUD felt as though flames had licked across it.
The Sky Halberd's first strike gouged a steam-churning crater into the ground.
Hermes: [Warning—Enemy's momentum-based strike carries supergravity augmentation. Do not take it head-on.]
Lin Yaoheng gave a cold smile:
> "Then I'll smash its hand."
---
[3] First Exchange
With thrusters at full output, R-01 skimmed along the inside edge of the halberd's blade, left fist burning as it smashed into the weapon's shaft joint.
With every punch, jets of white-hot steam burst from the gaps in its armor, like a steel beast panting through its fangs.
The sound of metal fracturing rang clear, but the Sky Halberd hardly slowed—
it reversed its grip and slammed R-01 back hundreds of meters.
Bai Ta gritted her teeth:
> "First hit landed—eight seconds left!"
---
[4] Bai Ta's Ten Seconds
> "Now!"
The ground-based reactors on both sides of the battlefield detonated, and a surge of incandescent heat swallowed everything.
The Sky Halberd's flight control wavered for an instant, its posture shifting slightly off balance—
Lin Yaoheng seized the fraction of a second, driving R-01 along the light cone's outer edge, slamming a high-heat punch into the weapon's joint!
Cracks spread across the metal.
Overheat warnings flared across the HUD in a sheet of red; fine white vapor hissed from the elbows and shoulder pivots, the edges of the armor glowing from deep red toward near-bright orange—like a beast driven to its absolute limit.
Hermes: [Critical structure struck—damage rate 12%, insufficient to disable functionality.]
Bai Ta:
> "I said ten seconds—seven left!"
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[5] Heartbeat Synchronization
Lin Yaoheng's heartbeat thundered in his ears—Hermes's tone aligned perfectly with his breathing, each cue timed precisely between his punches and evasions.
—Six seconds: roll to evade the sweeping halberd blade.
—Five seconds: reverse entry to the rear of the weapon's shaft.
—Four seconds: high-heat secondary effect searing through the gauntlet into metal.
The instant the Sky Halberd took the hit, its stabilizing fins shuddered, the annular propulsion's energy pulse sputtered with arcs and turbulence—the blinding light cone flickered, like the erratic rhythm of a heart on the verge of cardiac arrest.
But its counterattack turned even more ferocious—the halberd's shaft whipped back, flinging R-01 away.
---
[6] Final Countdown
Three seconds.
Lin Yaoheng flipped the mech in midair, forcibly locking posture, and dove straight back toward the fight.
Two seconds.
Hermes: [Recommendation for final strike: target core energy conduit.]
One second—
The high-heat punch drove straight into the halberd shaft's central node.
With a brittle crack of rupturing energy, the Sky Halberd's light cone extinguished completely.
It fell like a boulder, trailing fire as it crashed into the wasteland—like a fallen celestial eye.
---
[7] Aftermath and New Threats
The battlefield sank into a brief, deathly stillness, broken only by the shrill overheat alarms in his ears.
R-01's armor creaked in the cold wind, still venting white vapor from its joints.
Bai Ta's voice came softly:
> "Ten seconds exactly."
Lin Yaoheng exhaled, eyes on the wreckage in the crater:
> "Keep moving. The Crystal Scar won't wait."
Hermes: [Warning—Three unidentified aerial contacts inbound. Classification in progress… Verdict: "Sky Hunt" pursuit type, pack-fire configuration.]
On the HUD, radar pulses burst into three crimson points, each carving through the clouds in a diving approach, their contrails screeching across the air.
Lin Yaoheng lifted his gaze—sunlight fractured into slivers as the three shadows cut through it.
He tightened his grip on the controls, voice low:
> "Warm-up's over. Now the real show begins."