All around him, the battle raged on. Ayjax took a long breath as he tossed another gearborn into the sea. It was as if the very world were ending around him. It had been a long time since he experienced this dreadful feeling. Explosions ripped across the deck, but he ignored them, only focused on one goal.
He thundered up a flight of stairs towards the helm of the gearborn ship.
A pair of robots barred his path. One drew a long sword and lunged. Without missing a beat, Ayjax drove his fist through the weapon, shattering it. The gearborn staggered backward in startlement before it was sent shattering into his fellow in a scattering of pieces.
"Another of our ships has begun taking water."
Ayjax cursed. They weren't going fast enough. It didn't matter how many ships they took. The gearborn were sinking just as many of theirs. Most of the remaining ships were fast approaching, but not fast enough. By the time they arrived, the battle would already be decided.
The captain of the ship dove at him before he reached the helm. Two metal hands closed around his neck, causing him to stumble. Another creature crashed into his back, throwing him down to one knee.
Ayjax struck at the robot holding his neck with all his might, piercing through the metal man's chest. Even as he did so, he kicked the other robot into the deck.
None of them was powerful enough to pose much of a threat to him. None of them, except the herald, who was nowhere to be seen. Ayjax hoped that it wasn't wreaking havoc somewhere else in the fleet. Either way, his goal was to simply end this conflict.
Grabbing the wheel, he jerked the ship roughly to the side. It took a moment before the ship began spinning loose of the gearborn formation. More robots rushed up the stairs towards him. They wanted to overtake him before he managed to ruin everything. Unfortunately, they were a little late for that.
The bow of the ship slammed into the nearest enemy vessel. The sounds of shattering wood and cracking metal reverberated through the hull. The entire ship lurched, throwing most of his enemies off their feet. Ayjax didn't even bother to finish them off; their ship was going down regardless.
"Torrent, how many still remain?"
"Half their fleet as of yet…they seem to be breaking formation and heading for the rift."
"And ours?"
"We've lost four in the encounter."
Four.
Despite their overwhelming numbers. Despite the overwhelming power of the Valencians. Despite both his and Finn's presence, they had still lost nearly the same number of ships as the gearborn.
He had known this would happen before the engagement even began. The Gearborn ships were far stronger and more heavily armored than their own. Each ship held enough firepower to put the Valencians to shame. Even worse was the potency of their shields; sinking a ship almost always required them to be boarded.
In this fight, it meant that despite the superior numbers of the Valencians, it took them far longer to down an enemy ship.
An explosion roared across the battlefield, and Ayjax turned to find one of the biggest Valencian ships in flames. Despite the numerous miles between all the ships, he could still make out the figures on the deck. The silhouette of the herald glistened in the light.
He was on Finn's ship. All around him, men cowered beneath the robot's aura. Standing in the center of the ship was none other than Finn Crest.
Ayjax cursed again. How had Finn allowed the blasted thing to board his ship? Actually, he knew exactly how it had happened. The blasted man had let the herald aboard so he could kill it.
The two combatants moved on the distant deck. The herald lunged forward, a dagger falling down on Finn like an executioner. Finn Crest stepped forward and caught the blade with his bare hand. He slammed his palm into the herald's chest, throwing the creature across the deck.
Ayjax didn't get the chance to see anymore as the ship he was standing on rocked to the side. Water must have been pouring into its hull below. The other enemy ship was in far worse shape. It had been hit square on and was tilting towards them. Time to abandon ship.
Dashing forward, he pushed all of his mist into his legs and leaped from the ship. He landed with a crunch on the ship in front of him. All about him, Gearborn panicked as they attempted to right their sinking ship. Ignoring all of this, Ayjax rushed up the tilting deck and flipped over the side.
Using all of his monstrous strength, he launched himself towards the next enemy ship. There would be no way to stop all of the gearborn from retreating. However, if he could sink even one more ship, it would be good enough.
His leap was short, and he barely managed to catch himself on the side of the vessel before plummeting into the waves. Above him, the sounds of cannonfire echoed outwards and beyond that, the sound of the rift rippled across space. In mere minutes, the ship would reach the edge of the barrier, and then, it would be too late. Chasing it into the InBetween was a death sentence.
The time to act was now. Driving his fist into the side of the ship, Ayjax felt a wave crash against him, threatening to tear him free. He readied himself as the water sloshed away.
Each moment was one less he had to sink the vessel. Even so, he couldn't act rashly. His body tensed as he planted his feet against the hull. This was definitely not the proper way to board ships, but he wasn't known for being proper.
Grabbing the hole in the side of the ship, Ayjax vaulted upwards. The act sent him hurtling past the edge of the boat by over a dozen feet. As he flew, he took a moment to admire the state of absolute precision the gearborn had. Each action they took was precise as they went about the battle.
That precision ended as he collided with the deck.
None of the robots had been expecting an intruder only minutes before their escape. They all turned at the sound of his crash. Hundreds of figures all momentarily paused their work to see the rising figure on their deck. That figure was already moving before they could fully register what happened.
He drove his fists into the deck, shattering the planking like paper. The floor exploded, sending him plummeting downwards. In a normal scenario, he would have engaged the stronger enemies aboard. However, he had limited time. As such, it was better to go the quicker route…putting a hole in the bottom of the vessel.
Ayjax landed on the lower level of the ship and didn't hesitate to drive his fist into that layer as well. He struck, he landed, and sent a pulse of mist outwards as well. The result was more explosion than punch. Wherever he swung, the area simply vanished.
He heard something crash to his left. His fist collided again, and both he and the creature plummeted down another layer. The creature lunged at him, and he barely managed to raise his forearm in time. The strike sent him staggering, and the robot lunged again.
It was one of the chimeric creations, bred only for its strength and power. Normally, he would have loved to duel the creature in direct combat. His powers were also purely strength-related. A duel of power would have been great fun, but there was no time for that.
Instead, he dove to the side and allowed the robot to ludge past him. Despite all the enhancements to its strength, it was still fast. It was already spinning on him before it fully landed. However, it wasn't fast enough.
Ayjax drove both of his fists downwards and poured his mist into the strikes. The remaining floor exploded, launching both him and the robot upwards as water followed.
A foot connected with his side, sending him hurtling through the deck of the ship. Wood shattered around him, and he felt his body slam into a wall of metal. Even if he had to fight now, it wouldn't matter. His job was complete. The Gearborn ship would go down and its robotic crew with it. Pushing himself upwards, Ayjax faced the strengthened creature with a smile.
"Now we can have fun!"