The Vessel began to convulse violently as the latches around its helmet popped off the hinges, one after the other.

“Fall back!” Elena commanded.

|Exonaut used JOLT|

|Engineer used JOLT|

|Scout used JOLT|

The crew was coordinated in disengaging from the mechanical beast, the earth coming apart underneath their feet like sand and ash.

The putty-like creature housed within the shell exploded sharp tendrils in all directions from the opened helmet. Needle point tar stabbed at the trunks of fungus and flooring before slithering back into the pristine plating.

The conditions of the battlefield were reset, and this time the Vessel was wary of their capabilities. It functioned with a sapience unlike its broken variant. It had the capacity to think and it was planning to use that difference to its advantage.

It scanned past the mushroom stalks and found Aurelio contending with the cooling process of his [Ember Lance].

The Vessel whipped its forearm upwards and pointed it at him. Its palm rapidly extended a nozzle and the creature whirred with stored energy before a thunderous roar ripped out from its hand.

A thick ball of tar shot out from its ranged weapon at a blistering speed. He wasn’t able to react in time. Aurelio doubted that even the system would give him the chance to alter fate in his favor to dodge the attack.

Unless the system altered his perceptions of time.

The loose thought was stamped away by immediate messages of pain. The bundle of gunk bursted across his chest, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sending him tumbling to the ground like a ragdoll.

|Chosen suffered two points of damage to CORE|

|Chosen at risk of a Grievous Injury|

|Chosen is KNOCKED DOWN|

|Chosen is IMMOBILIZED|

Aurelio struggled to lift himself up, to no avail. He could feel the armor plating of his suit melt away around him, leaving behind the sturdy yet vulnerable skeletal elements of the suit underneath.

His body was exposed and the core of his suit was loudly whirring in his ears now that the insulated plating was corroded away from his chest. Adrenaline was coursing through his body, keeping the unpleasant compressed feeling in his ribs to a moderate ache.

The Vessel fired another shot towards his splayed body and missed the attack a near hair's width away.

He was exposed and would remain so for the turn, whether he was REIGNITED or not. The status condition made him wish Oja was a viable piece in their battle board.

It was all he could do to crook his head up to watch the monster sprint in his direction with its rattling saber.

“Stop!” Cantwell bellowed.

|Engineer draws one wound|

|Engineer deals one wound|

The [Slab of Iron] connected with the Vessel’s kneecap. The monster’s leg was mangled and twisted at a sickening angle but it was persistent. It was locked on Aurelio and continued to sprint forward despite the skin writhing crunch the impact had on its left leg.

Phineas was quick to follow up on the assault. The scout flared with dull white hues and the rigid needle melted into a black viscid tendril. He swung the weapon around like a whip, the air cracking with power as it connected to the weakened leg and left arm.

|Scout used 1 Ignition Point to MODE SHIFT|

|Scout drew two wounds|

|Scout deals one wound|

|Scout applied 2 BIND|

The thick tendrils of the [Black Needle] seeped into the thin sections where joints met armor plating. The Vessel visibly slowed down when the weapon connected with its leg.

He bit off more than he could chew, though.

The Vessel was visually petulant in its retaliation, brutally slamming its forearm down on the scouts skull.

|Scout suffered one point of damage to HEAD|

Phineas’s helmet cracked open like an egg, metal crumbling on the sides of his shoulders to leave his fleshy skull exposed.

Before the monster could turn around, Elena was mid-swing with her [Carbon Cleaver], taking a running start to heave the weapon with all the momentum she could muster.

|Exonaut draws one wound (DESTRUCTIVE 1)|

|Exonaut deals two wounds (DESTRUCTIVE 1)|

The Vessel was torn asunder as the heavy blade cleaved into its abdomen. The suit was hardy but the [Carbon Cleaver] was not denied its pound of flesh, blue-black slime dribbling out of the open wound.

Aurelio struggled against the binds of his amorphous restraints and felt the liquid had cooled into a brittle plaster. He tore open against the restraints-

|Chosen is no longer KNOCKED DOWN|

|Chosen is no longer IMMOBILIZED|

-to watch the frenzied Vessel bring its healthy arm in a wide arc and connect with Elena’s dominant arm.

|Exonaut suffered three points of damage to LEFT ARM|

|Exonaut at risk of a Grievous Injury|

|Exonaut is KNOCKED BACK 5|

|Exonaut is KNOCKED DOWN|

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A switch flipped in his head.

Aurelio looked at the pieces of the game board with a sudden clarity. He gripped the feeling of clarity tight as the course of action opened up to him. He flipped his communications to a localized range and casted his voice out on the battlefield.

“Cantwell, use your CONSTRUCT ability on Phineas before swinging again. Phin, run to Elena and REIGNITE her flame.” Aurelio wasn’t sure if Phineas was familiar with activating his basic abilities but he hoped that was the case.

“Once you’ve pulled away, Cantwell, I’ll let loose another shot.”

They registered and acted on his commands mere moments later.

He didn’t like the next necessary step in his involvement.

“Hey!” Aurelio shouted, waving his arms at the distant Vessel, “Come and get me!”

The Vessel only took a second before obliging his request.

It struck its saber onto the plating of its worn down arm and caused the blade to catch flame. It moved with finesse and bloodlust, long strides taken to bury its lit sword into Aurelio’s fleshy body.

He ran.

He willed his [Ember Lance] to shrink into its compact form and pulled out the [Metal Spike].

There were leaps to his logic but there was nothing else he could think of that didn’t already have the same amount of risk and provided lower returns.

The exo-suit carried his haggard legs forward, their speeds near matched on raw movement numbers alone.

But the system had been shunted into the background and the monster’s massive frame covered more ground than Aurelio ever could.

The Vessel leapt forward and stabbed.

Aurelio ducked, tucking his head down, and rolled behind the cover of a fungal stalk. Heat licked his face and exposed chest as the blade pierced the air just above him, momentum carrying the creature forward until the saber skewered a stalk.

He watched the mushroom's fluorescent lights scramble and its body catch fire. The fungal caps of nearby mushrooms reflected the discordant signaling, his communications system catching the high pitched cries of its agony.

The Vessel reeled in its saber and swung at Aurelio’s cover.

|Engineer used CONSTRUCT on Scout|

|Scout gained 1 point of armor to HEAD|

Another small victory. Help was on its way.

He leapt out of cover with the [Metal Spike] tightly gripped in his hand.

Unlike his brother, Aurelio knew the value of holding onto [Metal Spikes] from the beginning of the campaign.

|Chosen used five Ignition Points to activate [Metal Spike]|

|Chosen has reached WARM UP [3] on Faulty Core|

|Chosen has reached Danger [5] on Faulty Core|

|Chosen has reached Critical [7] on Faulty Core|

His body was a roaring inferno, the plating on his suit beginning to glow with a rusted red sheen. The [Metal Spike] in his hand flared with power. The etching process was instantaneous, the system inscribing the weapon with its universal constant.

The Vessel reared its body back in surprise. It aimed to dismember Aurelio’s hand but the [Metal Spike] sung a truth that would not be denied. The weapon aimed to claim its pound of flesh before deteriorating into dust. He twisted around the Vessel's weapon like a dancer before arching his back to release the pseudo-javelin in his hand.

The [Metal Spike] bored a hole through the Vessel's helmet, claiming a piece of the monster before disintegrating before his eyes.

|Chosen scored a CRITICAL HIT!|

|Chosen deals 1 wound|

|Chosen gained x1 Vessel Optics Vessel Resource|

|Vessel suffers -1 Accuracy for the remainder of Combat|

|[Metal Spike] Archived|

The creature cried out in pain. Inert slime oozed out of the opened wound. The monster's good hand cupped underneath the guts and attempted to scoop the sludge back into its body, to no avail.

Even with the scorching air filling his lungs and the immediate fatigue that washed over his body like a flood, the Vessel’s momentary display of weakness made him feel… bad.

“Nice work!” Cantwell bellowed, breaking Aurelio out of his stupor.

|Scout used REIGNITE on Exonaut|

|Engineer draws one wound|

|Engineer deals one wound|

The [Slab of Iron] soared through the sky like a wrecking ball. The head of the hammer caught the Vessels exposed ribcage and pulverized it, plate paneling and all. More slime leaked out of the creature's diminished frame.

|Vessel suffers -1 Movement for the remainder of Combat|

With the predator becoming prey, the monster attempted to cut its losses and run.

He watched the Vessel smear the contents of its wounds across the vents in its ancient looking armor. It quickly vented the slime out, the liquid turning into an obscuring tar like smog that inhibited their ability to catch it on the run.

It wasn’t meant to run away. They didn’t have the capacity to do so in the game.

And he was not about to grant it mercy when they needed the resources it was bound to provide.

“Forget about us! Catch the Vessel! It’s trying to make a run for it!” Aurelio yelled over the communications channel. He walked out of the smog with the assistance of his suit's guiding system. The tar clung to his visor and obfuscated the majority of his sight.

The smell soon hit him. The scent of burnt wiring and plastic filling his nostrils with the putrid stench as the smog touched his burning skin.

|Scout drew two wounds|

|Scout deals one wound|

|Scout applied 2 BIND|

With the ink smearing across his visor, he lifted the helmet off his face and exposed himself to the elements. Squinting past the black particulates that still clung to the air, he watched Phineas leap into action with his [Black Needle] and once again entangle the monster with a taste of its own gunk.

It was caught in molasses. Near incapable of movement.

Elena took advantage of the creature's immobility and swung with an attack of her own.

|Exonaut scored a CRITICAL HIT!|

|Exonaut deals two wounds (DESTRUCTIVE 1)|

|Exonaut gained x1 Vial of Sludge Basic Resource|

|Exonaut gained x1 Hodgepodge Scrap Vessel Resource|

Her [Carbon Cleaver] ran right through the monster's stomach, disemboweling it for the contents held within. What were once leaks around its body became tears too massive for the creature to repair. Aurelio watched Phineas deliver the final blow with the rigid point of his [Black Needle], driving the spike through the exposed exterior of the liquid pilot.

All activity in the sentient sludge ceased. Phineas drove his weapon through the sludge over and over again for good measure.

They were capable of victory, even with the chaos the world presented. He was capable.

He had won the day.

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