"THAT'S IT... Come on..." Tomoe stepped back once more, luring the enemy samurai into place for the sonic disruption mine she'd placed. Together they did a little dance, with Tomoe playing the shy belle and the enemy her eager but cautious suitor. Just a few more steps and she wouldn't just capture its heart, she was going to tear it out of its chest, still beating.

Another step... and a scream.

Tomoe's enhanced viewscreens outlined an ashigaru's running form in bright Friendly orange. Only he wasn't running away from the battle as she had ordered him and the rest of Unit 17, he was running at the augmented Sasagawa samurai in some sort of asinine display of bravado.

She really was going to have to speak to her cousin about the ashigaru indoctrination levels. There was loyalty, and there was just stupidity.

As she watched the man's suicidal dash, she reconsidered. With the exception of this one gung-ho fool, Unit 17 had been decimated. Perhaps the individual had decided it was too much to bear and he was looking for an easy out. If he returned to the castle now, he might face dereliction of duty charges. Probably not, but at the very least, the other units might not want him for fear weakening their own strength by letting in an unknown element, one that had seen the destruction of its own unit to boot. Bad omen.

Letting the samurai cut him down might be doing him a favor. She made a mental note to put in a good word about the bravery of Unit 17 if pressed.

The enemy warrior predictably turned on the running figure, and BC Tachiyama watched as the footsoldier fell to his knees, a frost slowly forming on his body from a weapon Tomoe had never seen before.

Her plan to lure the enemy into the mine sidetracked, she improvised, convinced everything was still in play as long as she was careful. With a burst of her engines she launched the Demigod straight at the enemy, aiming a bladed punch at it.

It sensed her approach too late to dodge, pulling a half-measure that allowed it to take the brunt of the damage along its side rather than through the torso where Tomoe had been aiming.

Broken pieces of its thick armor showered the footsoldier, knocking him back into a defensive posture.

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"Gotcha!" But Tomoe's excitement was premature. The enemy samurai spun with the blow, recovered far more quickly than she had anticipated, and leapt into the air over the Demigod's tower frame.

Tomoe cursed as she scrambled back to both defend herself and to put herself back in position for the sonic mine. Too late. The machine man came down on her cockpit in a teeth-rattling landing that instantly and visibly dented the armor of the cockpit inward.

She grabbed for him, but the Sasagawa bastard pulled his sword and sliced through the arm as if it were not even there. Fear and awe gripped her heart. If it wielded such power from the beginning, why hadn't it simply cut her down earlier? She scowled. He'd obviously been toying with her. Making her think she had a chance, only to take it from her in the last minute. Well, she wasn't going to give this bastard the benefit of seeing her afraid for her life if that was his goal. Or even taking her hostage. She'd just as soon, and proudly, slit her own belly.

The cockpit rocked and jerked, the screen, displays, and indicators screamed in annoying flashes of red and yellow. It wouldn't be long before she was too damaged to put up an effective defense and then it would be all over. If that's how it was, she knew her duty – above all else, the enemy would not be allowed to advance on the castle.

She reached to engage the Weasels, a pair of energy-claw probes that would launch outward and then circle in at high speed as they were magnetically pulled into the mecha, shredding everything within their circle of influence. Including herself. Her own ancestor had used it in the Battle of Saigata over 250 years ago to defeat a mutie lord plaguing the lands. A fitting end to her albeit short career. She would record her sacrifice for posterity and for the Clan so they know she did not die in-vain.

"This is BC Tachiyama to Caste Defense Cont–" Tendrils of shocking blue electricity spidered over the consoles before her, causing the holo displays to sputter and wink out momentarily before the entire array exploded in a shower of sparks and flash that blinded her.

She threw her hands up over her face a moment too late as hot cinders and plastics brushed her right cheek. The air pressure and heat of the cockpit altered, and she looked up, blinking through the flash blindness to see the bastard Sasagawa tearing its way through the metal skin of the mecha.

How could it be so strong? If the Sasagawa had such units under their command, why didn't they utilize them earlier? They would have shredded Tachiyama forces within minutes.

It peered down at her through the breach it had created. Its face, if the mess of decaying flesh, bone, and gleaming metal could be called that, was a horror show. One eye was gone, a deep emerald glow within the socket gave it a ghastly look.

Tomoe recoiled instinctively, then pulled her sidearm to fire at it through the small opening. It dodged easily and continued to rip its way in.

With the last vestiges of power in its systems, Tomoe tried to stand to throw it off, but all power died with the effort and the mech collapsed.