Deep in the dense, urban sprawls of Hedgerow, a sector of San Anghel long buried in war, half-swallowed by centuries of persistent sandstorms - an ongoing battle stirred whatever rubble had dared rest.
Rapid, heavy thuds from mech footpads sank into the sand as they moved from one position to another. Arxtian exosuits clashed with Vektorian war machines, each strike shaking the ground, each movement sending dust and debris into the sky.
Clang!
The clash of two exosuit blades sent a shockwave rippling outward, shaking rubble from dozens of meters away.
Inside her battered exosuit, Aiko's hands tightened around the controls, fingers trembling. Her breathing came in ragged bursts, a persistent reminder of the hours of continuous combat she's endured without rest thus far.
The Vektorian exosuit, towering as high as hers, pressed harder against the struggling Arxtian machine. Shoulder motors whirred violently; its blade glowed bright red from superheated plasma, threatening to slice through her armor.
Aiko twisted her mech to the side, grinding the joints against the Vektorian's weight. Sparks showered as blades scraped across armor plating, metal screaming against metal.
Aiko jabbed forward, elbowing the Vektorian's shoulder with a servo-assisted strike. The red-hot plasma blade swung wide, narrowly missing her cockpit. Dust and sand hissed where it struck the ruined street.
She kicked her exosuit's stabilizers, forcing her mech backward just enough to create space. She muscled with the controls, slamming the secondary thrusters to pivot in an instant. The Vektorian roared in response, its footpad thudding hard against the cracked asphalt.
Clang! Sparks flew again as blades met in a desperate contest. Aiko gritted her teeth. "Hold for me, damn it!" she spat, her screens flashing red - damage warnings spreading across every panel as the exosuit strained under her commands.
She twisted her wrist actuators, driving the mech's blade beneath the Vektorian's guard. Heat flared along the plasma edge. The enemy reeled, servos shrieking, armor grinding as she forced the strike deeper.
"Come on… come on!" she muttered, voice tight, fingers slick with sweat. The exosuit groaned, trembling from the effort, but Aiko's eyes stayed locked on the red glow of that blade.
With a final push, she fired her jump thrusters -slamming forward and driving the plasma blade straight through the Vektorian's cockpit. A spray of blood burst from the seams, spattering across the dead mech's hull and staining her own in crimson streaks.
"Haaa~ah" Aiko moaned in relief before lurching forward, sweat dripping from her forehead to her visor. Her screen glow even redder. "Got you...fucker."
Her mech slumped forward, hydraulics hissing as systems flickered in protest. The red warning lights washed over the cockpit like an open wound.
BEEP–BEEP–BEEP.Core Temperature Critical.Right Leg Actuator Failure
"Yeah, yeah, I get it…" Aiko muttered, wiping a streak of sweat from her visor with the back of her glove. "You'll get your tune-up when I live through this."
Static crackled through her comms."Wine, what's your status? Aiko, you still breathing?" The voice in her headset was young and cautious, yet steady enough to sound like it belonged there.
She pressed a switch. "Still kicking, Renn" she replied, voice rough. "One Victor down, but I'm cooked in here - my unit's all busted. I think only the arms and left leg can work properly. Core needs an extinguisher, too."
"Copy that. We've finished sweeping out here. We're coming to you."
"Roger…" she sighed, leaning back into her seat as her mech's cooling vents whined. Through the cracked canopy, she could see the smoldering wreck of the Vektorian she'd killed, half-buried in the sand, smoke trailing into the yellow dawn.
For a moment, she just watched it burn.
Then her radar pinged again.
Multiple contacts. West sector. Moving fast.
Aiko straightened. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Without haste, she pulled her now-cold plasma blade from the Vektorian mech. The metal rod that once guided the plasma was splattered dark red - like reduced wine simmering over a hot pan.
She limped her mech behind a house, half-collapsed from the years it had withstood endless wars. Her sensors swept the area, searching for anything useful - weapons, ammo, anything to hold until her team arrived.
Luck, or maybe mercy, answered. The mech detected another Arxtian unit - destroyed long ago. Its pilot still sat inside, mummified by time, rust creeping through every joint. Yet its rifle, an old M110-EB, remained propped against the wreck, like it was still waiting for one more fight.
Aiko limped forward again, her exosuit creaking, and reached for the weapon. She wrapped the mech's fingers around its rail."Well done, soldier," she murmured. "I'll take it from here."
She steadied the rifle against her mech's shoulder mount, the servos whining in protest as she adjusted her aim. She released its magazine, it's still fully loaded.
"Looks like you're ready to go, huh?" she muttered, as she puts the magazine back, racking the charging handle ever so slightly, revealing that a round is already chambered.
Her radar pulsed again -
PING. PING. PING.
Multiple blips, closing fast from the west.
Through the fractured skyline, something cut across the sky - dark shapes descending fast, their parachutes glinting silver in the rising sun. The ground shook as they landed, one after another, kicking up waves of dust.
Air-dropped Vektorian mechs.
Light frames. Compact torsos. Joints too thin for long fights, but agile enough to run circles around her battered exosuit using their submachinegun and a shield to make up for the lack of armor.
Aiko's jaw clenched. "God...damn it!"
The first one unfolded from its landing stance, plating shifting like insect wings. It spotted her instantly - its targeting optics flaring blue.
Aiko snapped the M110-EB up and fired.
The first round punched through the Vektorian's shielded chest, sparks spilling as its reactor failed. It collapsed sideways, legs twitching in the sand.
"Not bad for museum gear," she breathed.
The other two were faster - moving in wide arcs, trying to flank. Dust billowed around her as they fired short bursts, tracer fire cutting lines through the haze.
Aiko dropped behind a half-fallen wall, shards of concrete pelting her hull. "Beer, Beer, Renn? I've got company air-dropped recons, I think!"
Static hissed in her headset, then Renn's voice broke through, faint but urgent.
"Hold position, Wine! We're almost in your sector!"
"Stop dragging your balls on the sand and get a move on!"
She leaned out, firing another burst. One shot clipped a Vektorian's shoulder, spinning it off balance. The other returned fire - too close, the heat searing her damaged armor.
The M110's mag clicked empty.
Aiko gently dropped the spent rifle aside and gripped her plasma blade. "Alright… let's dance."
Her mech's right arm flared back to life. The blade ignited, its red glow spilling through the dust. She kicked her left thruster, lunging forward just as the nearest Vektorian opened fire.
The two mechs collided in a blur of sparks and metal screams.
Aiko's plasma blade met the Vektorian's shield with a deafening clang and teeth-grinding shear, sparks bursting where superheated metal scraped hardened alloy.
The lock held for a heartbeat - then the Vektorian broke contact, kicking a cloud of sand into the air.
Aiko barely had time to react before the enemy brought up its submachine gun. The weapon roared, spewing tungsten slugs that slammed against her hull like sledgehammers. Her cockpit filled with the sound of tearing metal and ricochet pings.
"Shit!" she hissed, jerking the controls, making her mech crouch low behind a half-toppled wall. The rounds chewed into the concrete, throwing debris across her visor.
Armor integrity: 46%. Right shoulder plating compromised.
"Yeah, keep wasting that ammo," she muttered, peeking around the edge.
The Vektorian advanced fast, shield up, firing in controlled bursts - its tactic too clear - precise; It wasn't trying to kill her outright. It was trying to pin her.
She flicked her thrusters, sand blasting backward. Her mech surged sideways from cover, blade drawn.
The Vektorian swung its shield around, intercepting the strike with a metallic shriek. Sparks spilled between them again.
Both machines locked in close quarters, grinding, shoving. Aiko kicked hard, denting the Vektorian's knee plating, forcing it back a step.
It stumbled, just for a second.
Aiko slammed her mech's left shoulder forward, ramming the shield aside. The plasma blade came down in a diagonal sweep, biting deep into the weapon's casing, splitting the submachine gun clean in half.
Molten metal sprayed across the sand.
"Not so tough without your toys, huh?" she muttered, voice low, almost smiling as her HUD flashed another line of red warnings.
Her mech lurched forward, hydraulics screaming. The warning tone rose higher, then flatlined.
Power core unstable. Right arm non-responsive.
"Shit."
Before she could pull back, the Vektorian countered. It tossed the broken gun aside, drawing a thick, battered blade from its thigh mount. Sparks danced across the steel as it raised the weapon high and drove forward.
Aiko tried to move, to block but her controls went dead. The thrusters coughed once, then fell silent.
The Vektorian towered over her, the blade glinting through the smoke, ready to strike-
- and then gunfire.
Short, rapid bursts tore through the haze, shredding into the Vektorian's side. Armor plates blew apart, joints snapping under the concentrated fire. The enemy staggered back, falling to one knee before collapsing completely.
Aiko exhaled, her whole body shaking.
Renn's voice crackled through the static. "You guys saw that?!, Vic never stood a chance against my Thompson - Wine. You good?"
She let out a ragged breath. "Barely. But I'll live."
Outside, the blue-painted mech, Beer, stood over the smoking wreck, submachine gun still hot, its visor gleaming in the dawn light. Two more mechs fan out, securing the perimeter.
Aiko's mech exhaled a burst of white steam, joints whining as the heat sinks fought to cool the plasma arm. Her HUD flickered, switching between systems that were half-dead and others begging for mercy.
"She's almost gone. I don't think I can bring her home by walking." she muttered. "Where's Whiskey?"
As static flared on the air. Then Glen's voice, calm as always. "Pinned near the ridge. Two more tangos inbound. I could use a hand before they realize I'm out of rockets."
Renn laughed, cocky and reckless. "Copy that. Beer's bringing the party."
Aiko managed a small smirk. "I would love to join, but Ms. Wine over here wanted her beauty rest."
The HUD flickered, text crawling across the cracked screen: 'Sorry — you're reckless.'
Aiko huffed a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. You're not wrong."
"Hey, it's me," Renn replied through the static, tone light even as engines roared in the background.
Outside, the blue mech - Beer - turned, thrusters spitting dust and flame as it tore across the sand toward the ridgeline.
Aiko leaned back into her seat, feeling the thud of her pulse echo through the battered cockpit. The scent of burnt insulation and scorched metal filled the air.