Don Kuat

I sling the com unit over my back and rub the deployment ring out of habit. Above me, the Coalition bulwarks circle like a pack of blasted vultures. Like it or not, prime time is about to start. And the main star has to be ready to take the stage. I ball my right hand into a fist and raise it high into the air, immediately drawing the attention of the Blue Ocean pilots.

"Unidentified individual, you are trespassing in a restricted area -" one of the Blue Ocean scrubs begins reciting the rote warning.

But I don't bother allowing him to complete that pointless ritual. Instead I give him a little taste of home.

"We should have killed you in the camps instead of just reeducating your ungrateful ass." I yell in Earth English. Dumbstruck silence falls like a stifling blanket over everyone present. The blessed peace doesn't last though.

"Directorate! The Directorate is here!" the Blue Ocean operative screams in Earth English as well, through his machine's speakers, "Everyone scramble!"

"Too late!" I taunt as my deployment ring explodes in a halo of fire, flash forging my bulwark from the ether. Metal plates entomb my body in relative safety and my vision is filled with a riot of targeting data as the machine's HUD boots up. The serum in my blood surges as I call upon the bulwark's weapons, my soul interfacing with Foundation Four and drawing all the power I need for this fight.

"Auto aim!" I mentally bark and the serum burns up, executing the ability package. My arms swing up on their own accord, leveling the dual pistols at the noisy Blue Ocean operative. A constant stream of lead is spit out straight into the enemy bulwark and to my surprise the Coalition machine's armor crumples like paper mache against the attack before exploding in a huge ball of fire.

"Huh. That's unexpected." I remark to no one in particular as my arms each begin independently tracking a separate target. Blue Ocean is weaker than I thought. My pistols begin unloading another volley of firepower, sending sparks flying from their targets. Plumes of black smoke rise from the enemy machines as their jets fail and they are sent plummeting unceremoniously to the ground with a crash.

Three down in just the open moves of the fight. Looking good.

"Cut the jamming!" the one I recognize as 69 roars on the external speakers in Earth English as well, no longer bothering with the secure line, "Devote all your power to combat. Crush the Directorate running dog!"

"Without the jamming -" 75 hesitantly objects, his voice wavering.

"Do it! Now!" 69 screams, a stark contrast to his usual controlled, urbane manner of speech.

And my senses are sent reeling as each of the Blue Ocean operatives exert a massive surge of pressure, causing me to blink the tears out of my eyes. My bulwark's HUD goes crazy, registering Blue Ocean's spiking power levels. I fire my own thrusters, taking flight and drawing level with the remaining three Coalition machines facing me.

"Shit's getting real now, huh?" I mutter, pursing my lips in annoyance. I need to end this fight quickly before Blue Ocean manages to wear me down.

The trio and I begin circling each other in the air, looking for an opening to attack. I easily weave through Blue Ocean's rifle fire, noting with satisfaction that none of them can auto aim. My life just got easier, not a whole lot, but I'll take any advantage I can get. My return volley strikes home, but only manages to deliver several pockmarks to the armor of the enemy machines. Augmented armor sure is a pain to chew through.

As we continue our duel, a blinding golden flash erupts from the ground below, followed by the thunderous clash of something against armor. Squinting from the discomfort, I realize that the Champion is back up to her feet, her machine radiant with divine energy, as if it had never been deactivated. With her the blade of her scythe broken, the Champion had chosen to swing the shaft like a club straight at Number 69.

The strength behind the Champion's blow would normally have been enough to send a bulwark flying backward, but 69 had instead caught the makeshift weapon in his armored mitt, letting the Champion strain herself ineffectually against him.

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"Damn it! Fall!" the Champion curses on loudspeaker, her entire machine creaking in protest as it puts its weight into the blow.

"I no longer have the time to play around with you." 69 replies, standing like a mountain, "A real opponent has shown up."

"Don't disrespect me!" the Champion demands, her voice nearly breaking, "Know your place before Regina!"

69 doesn't respond and instead pulls hard at the shaft, bending it as if it was made out of putty. The barrel of his rifle rises, pointing squarely at the Champion's cockpit.

"Annoying." 69 grunts dismissively.

A stray thought enters my mind at this sight. How does 69 do that with only one hand? I suppose it wouldn't matter while he's in bulwark since the computer provides control over both limbs. Its got to be really awkward though.

"Get away from her!" Hiro blares as he charges forward, dual swords swinging. 69 is forced into freeing the Champion and hurriedly backing away to avoid a potentially messy decapitation. A pair of Blue Ocean operatives step forward, blocking Hiro's path and parrying his attack with their bayonets. As the operatives force my so called brother back, the Champion makes her presence known by slugging one of his attackers straight in the head with the bent shaft.

With one of his opponent's sent staggering, Hiro easily breaks the clinch and his swords flash, opening minor tears in the armor of both bulwarks. The Champion follows up by pitching the bent shaft straight at 69, who bats it away with contemptuous ease. Hiro quickly hands the Champion one of his swords and the two of them form an iron wall, blocking Blue Ocean's access to the beast girl.

"You have somewhere you need to be, right Sara?" Hiro asks, his bulwark squarely facing 69 and the Blue Ocean flunkies.

"We can leave things here to you then?" the priestess queries from her own machine, the blade of her sword reflecting cold moonlight.

"Without their cheap tricks, these guys don't stand a chance against me." the Champion confirms, vigorously swinging the borrowed sword about. Too bad the cracks and other minor damage all over her machine kind of spoils the effect.

"I'm not leaving you -" the beast girl protests but Nock sweeps her adopted daughter up with a single arm.

"Thank you. Both of you." Nock says as her machine's jets fire up, sending mother and daughter sailing through the night sky.

"Give way!" 69 demands as Hiro and the Champion force their way right up into the faces of the Blue Ocean operatives. Both of them are sent skidding backward with fresh rents torn into their bulwarks, but neither relent and throw themselves at their opponents again without hesitation.

"Damn." I curse as Nock's figure rapidly shrinks into the distance. I bank hard, attempting to throw off the operatives on my tail so that I can pursue my actual quarry, but incoming gunfire from them forces me into a series of evasive maneuvers, costing me even more speed. Clicking my tongue in exasperation, I call upon the serum again, relishing the warmth spreading through my body.

At my mental command, my bulwark abruptly speeds up and I send myself careening straight into one of the operatives. Taken by surprise, my target hovers dumbly in place as I plow into his torso, letting momentum do most of the work. The two of us hurtle through the air as the collision warning from the HUD blares in my ears. I ignore it, too occupied with unloading both pistols right into the operative at point blank range.

Armor warps and flames lick from out of the holes I carve into my opponent's machine. Satisfied at my handiwork, I break the tackle and pull up with a flip, both my feet punting the operative straight into a nearby abandoned building, Dust and crumbling masonry fly as the makeshift wrecking ball wedges itself somewhere in the rotting interior. I do a sharp turn, guns ready to fend off anyone trying to shiv me on my six, but I instead see the remaining two Blue Ocean operatives breaking off their attack, choosing to pursue Nock and her daughter instead.

Suits me fine. If I put my back into it, I should be able to catch up to Nock before those flatfoots. And I've got more than enough serum to do it as well. As I set up a fresh set of way points, my senses flare up as death sense screams out a warning. I throw myself into a mad roll, barely avoiding getting skewered by a bayonet. Don't tell me Hiro and the Champion folded so easily? But as I tumble across the sky, my eyes tell me that the Citadel duo still battling 69 and his men.

Except one of the Blue Ocean operatives had conveniently gone missing.

Urgently righting myself, I bring both pistols together in a block, intercepting another thrust of the bayonet.

"Ya going nowhere!" 75 snaps, looming over menacingly.

Cursing inwardly, I fire both my pistols blindly, the recoil jolting the bayonet free. I pistol whip one of the guns right at 75, catching him on his bulwark's shoulder. No damage done, but it opened up some space between us.

"I have places to be." I growl menacingly, letting my voice echo across the neighborhood, aware that my target is slipping through my fingers.

"Nah, you're right where you need to be." 75 hovers in place, adjusting his grip on the rifle, "You've messed up one world, we won't let you thrash another."

"Bull." I scoff, "You want the exact same thing as we do."

"Guess that's a good thing then?" 75 laughs heartily, "Makes things more convenient."

"How so?" I ask, trying to edge away from 75.

"See, I want you to die." 75's voice shoots back.

"Good thing you're going to cooperate."