"Hurry! Z23, cover us!" I roared, the stench of burning asphalt and Originium Arts acrid in the air.
Behind us, a relentless tide of Reunion soldiers surged forward. Z23 didn't hesitate.
"Copy!" she barked, her twin 150mm cannons spitting shells. A blinding flash erupted as a direct hit pulverized a cluster of reunion soldier behind us.
"Watch out!" a Reunion soldier barely managed to yell before the shrapnel and blast wave tore through them.
"The port! I see it!" I shouted in relief.
A searing heat washed over us. A Reunion Caster one of the more dangerous specialized types unleashed a massive fireball that slammed into a nearby building, showering the road in sparks and debris.
"Ow!" Ruby cried out as a piece of flying rubble caught her, sending her stumbling to the ground.
"You! You!" My vision narrowed, my heart pounding a furious rhythm of rage. I stopped, muscles locked, my attention fixed entirely on the approaching enemy.
Then, a sudden, unexplainable chill swept over the back of my neck, cutting through the battlefield heat. I knew before I turned. The leader.
"Mistress, why did we stop?" Z23's voice was tight with urgency.
"You three go on ahead," I commanded, balling my fists until my knuckles cracked.
"I will deal with... them."
"But Mist—" Z23 began, worry lacing her voice.
"Go!" I snapped, my eyes blazing, an unmistakable order in the single word.
"Understood." She didn't argue further. She scooped up the stunned Ruby, gave a single nod to the frantic courier, and bolted toward the safety of the dockyards.
I spun around, meeting the cold gaze of the Dragon of Reunion, Talulah, face-to-face.
"So, it's just you and me," I said, the words a low growl. I extended my hands, the faint hum of my integrated technology already beginning to build power.
Talulah said nothing, only raised a hand. The air around her shimmered, and fierce, swirling spirals of red Originium fire began to appear, coalescing into twin inferno on her palms.
"You know, Science, Coffee, Magic, too..." I began, a strange, half-mad smile pulling at my lips as a steaming cup of hot coffee materialized in my left hand. "I'll use it all to stop you."
"This seems like a sudden change?" My right hand flashed. A high-caliber revolver appeared, smoking and ready.
"That won't stop me from taking aim!" i said aiming my gun at talulah.
"No one else can stop your genocide and stop your slaughter," I declared, pulling the trigger and sending a multiple rounds toward her head. "You're nothing but a monster!"
Then the revolver vanished. I let the coffee cup float next to me, untouched, as a monstrous, chain-fed Minigun as. Summoned into existence in my grasp.
I pulled the trigger, and the world was filled with the deafening roar of fire. A solid stream of depleted uranium rounds chewed up the pavement. A few unlucky Reunion soldiers were vaporized, but Talulah was too fast. She dodged the bullet stream with impossible agility, her Originium fire spreading like a wildfire across the street.
The heat hit me, but my experimental Tachyon Device and me being a half Kansen should protect me. But i could still feel the flames, the intense heat pushing against my barrier from my tachyon device.
"Dealing with you is exhausting, I'll admit. Nothing a sip won't fix hehehe." I said, taking sip of the still-floating coffee while chuckling. "So then, let's get right back to it!"
I continued the barrage, but Talulah closed the distance with a speed that defied physics. Before I could pivot the Minigun, she slammed a heel-kick straight into my chest.
CRACK!
The impact drove the air away from my lungs, and the Minigun clattered away, returning back into my inventory where it came from, as i landing near a half broken lamppost.
I staggered, but held my ground, meeting her cold, gold eyes.
"You don't see the point in sparing. No, you'd rather end lives," I gasped, clutching my ribs. "Prove you're capable of all this... You can't see the point in caring. Because you aren't in there, Talulah."
Her eyes widened—a flicker of recognition, a momentary break in the mask of the monster.
That was all the opening I needed. I reached to my tachyon device on my left arm and pressed a button, azure-colored light blinding talulah.
[Kansen mode activated]
[Name: Agnes Tachyon
Race: Umamusume / Demi Kansen
Assimilation: 38%
Kansen Form: all stats increased
Strength: 7 (15)
Speed: 11 (17)
Endurance: 7 (14)
Intelligence: 11
Ammo: 100%
Fuel: 100%
Skills:
Expert Loader: Decrease reload time by 25%.
Well-Rounded Armor: Spawns 4 rotating shields that protects the user.
All Out Assault: Fires all guns every 18 seconds without using ammo.]
My body snapped, joints locking into an impossible posture as the heavy, angular KMS Roon rigging materialized around me massive turret platforms floating over my shoulders, heavy armor plating covering my torso, and a skirt of reinforced steel replacing my uniform.
I didn't waste a second. The twin 203mm main battery guns fired, the massive shells slamming into the pavement between us, gouging a deep trench in the road and kicking up a curtain of dust and smoke.
"Suddenly a subtle change... Something about it's quite strange. You're moving in a different way, like someone has taken your place," I muttered, my newly activated eye burning with a terrifying, cold determination.
"All Out Assault!"
I commanded, the skill activating immediately upon the link. All six of my main guns rotated, locking onto Talulah's position, and unleashed a full, overwhelming broadside. The shockwave of the simultaneous firing shattered every intact window in the street.
The concentrated firepower was beyond anything she could dodge. She was forced to erect a massive shield of shimmering Originium fire, the dragon-scale armor barely holding against the physical impact.
"Heh heh heh, ya know, I never would've thought..." I chuckled, the adrenaline and the Roon-rigging's power surging through me. "Coffee, Magic, and a hell of a lot of bullets! You'd think it'd be enough to stop you, right? Heh heh heh... let's finish this!"
I raised my main batteries to fire again, ready to end the fight, but a sudden, staticky voice cut through my internal com-link.
"Mistress, we have reached the port, but they won't let us in!" Z23's voice was frantic.
"copy i am heading back to you." i said before unleashing smoke to cover my escape.
"understood." she confirmed.
Talulah lowered her fire shield, her expression unreadable. Just as I was about to escape, a thick, white chemical smoke block her view.
"I won't let you—" Talulah began, enraged, but my guns roared. I aimed not at her, but at the remaining support columns of the adjacent building. The structure groaned, then collapsed into the smoke, burying the street in tons of debris and concrete.
I spun on my heel, the heavy rigging surprisingly agile, and plunged out of the swirling smoke after my allies, letting the smoke and debris cover hide my escape. The port was still in sight, and I knew the fight was far from over.