“Get clear, it's gonna blow!”
Jay screamed through the com, he detected the heat of the mechup rising at a rapid pace. [Dual dangers] thruster fuzz and distances itself from the soon-to-be explosion. In the corner of her eyes, Willaim seemed to be scrambling out too, that third-party intervention must have tripped his timing up too.
“Get to the crater before more Lamites arrive.”
“What about that guy that got the mechup!?”
She already took off and headed to the crater. Jay looked around the find the mysterious shooter but he got nothing.
Where could this guy be hiding?
Jay looked around more and more, they had to be close if they could shoot that mechup. Jay's camera zoomed out as far as it could but he could only see clouds and black rock. Maybe some lava in the mix but not a mech. But he wasn’t looking for just the mysterious mech, he also lost sight of [Jammer knight] a while ago, he hoped that the explosion would kill that guy.
While Sally was passing through the Lavaland, she could shake off this feeling of someone watching her. but nothing happened in between her travels, she arrived safely near the biggest crater she had ever seen.
It took her an hour to arrive at the big crater.
But that’s an understatement. The size was so big that she couldn’t see the whole crater. The big pit captures a horrifying image of what ruins this place. It shouldn’t be possible to live on this planet. This hole alone could fracture the entire planet.
Brown in color, the crater hosted many different structures, Sally could even see some houses. An abandoned one that is. There’s even a skyscraper inside the crater, and a road built to connect all the facilities. The size is considered small from the mech point of view but it is a normal size house and building.
This is nothing like the picture that UCN has shown her. The crater is supposed to be a wide open area like a mech boxing arena, instead, it’s filled to the brim with civilization. some buildings stand even taller than her.
“Jay, is the building always here?”
“I didn’t check earlier but from the ship scanner, the building has been here all this time.”
“Then what the stars are these!?” She showed the pic that UCN sent them.
“I don’t know, but let's find a hiding place first.”
This changed their entire plan, Sally could find a much better place to hide with all these facilities around. A short search brings her to an assortment of buildings that have an underground tunnel. The infrastructure is not built to support a mech but an ally could fit in there easily. It Looked like it was used to transport big space shipments inside.
“I’m getting the port to open. Prepare for a potential ambush”
“Sure”
Sally answers and is on the lookout for a potential one. The door slid open revealing a vertical shaft no deeper than 30 meters, she hopped in and scanned her surroundings. Their concern seems misplaced since this whole space is for cargo containers and with no mech insight.
The facility is built large enough to fit a large logistical mech. Usually, at the AP tier, logistical mech could be piloted by everyone, designed to move big cargo or work on construction. In the age of space, these are needed to build megastructures that hold humanity together.
The cargo box is still left in a state of moving. Jay could see from Sally's cams that the Same logistical mech just flobs on the floors, some cargo spilled out what looked to be some kind of metal but its size was tiny compared to Sally's mech size. Sally is also curious about this place and looks around.
Compared to the surface this place is much more messy. It looks like humans just get yonk from all of their positions inside. She explores the whole place while Jay keeps looking over the port.
Room after room filled with cargo, Sally travels quite deep inside the facility. This place just seems to be holding a lot of stuff inside. It’s not unusual for this structure, Zember also has an underground storage that is used by many companies. As far as Jay knows, it was managed by the government and they charge big gibs for the space.
Big corporations have no issue paying these tolls since they made more than enough but some start-ups might struggle. However they don’t have a choice, would you like to transport stuff between the wasteland? through the dust and violent wind? Experiencing the hell that was the junkyard was enough for anyone to decide.
Jay has been to these before, when he was little, his father worked with logistics and was bringing him around the place. Jay could not remember much but he knew he had been there before.
“Prepared to be bored”
“Ugh, can’t you do something about this?”
“Last time we got chased to death”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“Ugh.…” She grunted but did not argue with Jay
Jay knows what Sally is going through, she’s trying to relieve her boredom by talking. Then she starts exploring more of the facility. Eventually, she's gonna hit the area where the mech aren’t allowed to enter. That moment came when she explored the 15th room and reached a dead end for a mech her size.
Now the only thing that awaits her is silent, hoping for the next big thing to happen. An occasional talk with Jay could relieve some of it but ultimately she still got bored. The number of people keeps dwindling until it reaches about 500.
They have just a little bit to go before they qualify. However things aren't gonna be easy, Sally detected a port opening sound. Jay struggles to find the source and has to search for 5 minutes before he finds out that Sally has traveled quite far from the original port she entered.
Jay from above saw two mechs entering the two boring medium mechs that had nothing on his [Dual dangers] a C grade at best. Sally could take them easily but what following theme is much more dangerous. A mechup that looks like a snake, able to slitters through the city at an impossible speed.
Its size is nothing more to scoff at. Its thrusters swap from left to right mimicking that of a snake slitting through the cityscape. Its mouth alone could swallow [Dual dangers] whole. All its sides have a plasma cannon. A slew of missiles and some other stuff that is hidden behind its metal scale.
Jay could see the desperation of both pilots in real-time as they quickly fit through the barely open port and try to close it afterward. The snake however did not care for the gate and crashed through.
“Sally, we need to leave, 1 mechup and 2 mech just enter.”
“Tch”
She isn’t skilled enough for this yet. She wants to say that she didn’t need his word and charge in but she knows better, her wrong judgment led to the loss of her arm and another would lead to their disqualification. She could do nothing but find a way out.
The mech rushed to safety behind the transition section of the facility. It could fit a mech about 15 meters tall and the snake mechup is surely blocked by it.
“Jay, bad news I can’t find a way out. They are blocking me”
This place is not built to be interconnected like Zembercity. They instead maximize the space they could get from an underground warehouse.
“We could slip past or kill our way out.”
“Slip pass,” Sally said sarcastically, how would a 10-meter-tall mech slip past 2 other mechs with a scanning system and a mechup the size of a building? The cargo isn't of any use when you are as tall as 10 meters, nothing could hide you effectively.
“I’ll try”
From Sally's point of view, she could see the mech struggling to survive and the snake mechup chasing them down like delicious parts they are. She got this info from some camera Jay was able to access.
It would be good if I could get hacking….
Jay's muse, the one he was able to get access to is not a good camera, a basic programming knowledge that comes with [Apprentice basic mech design] It covers so much information, leading Jay to build a mech.
Jay tries hacking more of the camera
The fight with the mechup is a losing battle. The first one got blown up because of Sally, William, Lamies, and the mysterious mech teaming together. They couldn’t replicate that again.
As the mechup approached, Sally had to make a decision. fight another one? or slip pass? She gives it some consideration, the warehouse is about 50 meters tall and 100 meters wide, enough for the snake to circle itself. It could turn very quickly if it wanted to chase her. However, it already chases two mechs which would be a good distraction.
Sally made her decision, she would avoid this unnecessary fight. An approaching mech was about to reach her section and she needed to make her first move. She burst out of the door aiming to fly past all of the mechs that just entered.
It startle all the people in the room but they quickly realize what is happening. She was about to leave them with the mechup and didn't want to fight this losing battle. They also don’t want to be in this position and they shout at her.
These pieces of junk
It was a mild irritation at best since they weren’t fully aiming for her when being chased by a giant snake. She travels halfway through the room and past the snake's head. The escape seemed to operate smoothly but, the snake scale slid up and opened fire on her.
Greedy bastard
It wants all the loot it can get. Sally tried to power past this assault but it became increasingly harder. The two emch also join in the firing squad
These Junking son of a….
Her anger is rising, she feels suppressed. But he’s almost escaped to the other room. There at least the snake will have a hard time following her. [Dual dangers] are scattered across many places. But she almost made it.…
BAM
A slew of missiles hit her, she didn’t have the luxury to dodge all of it so it hit her in the back. The snake quickly uses to big body to smash [Dual dangers] against the wall.
“Sally!!”
Jay's heart sank, the dual danger cams were not in good condition so he switched to the outside view. From the corner of its camera, Sally was squished against the wall. unable to move.
She uses her only arm to fire a charge shot into the Snake shell but it only leaves a scratch. The snake doesn’t have energy armor, instead, it has a highly condensed hard metal as a defense. The mechup rumbled and pushed her harder and harder into the wall.
“Zoarch”
“Sally…”
“I’m fine, Jay I’m fine….” from the sound of it she’s not fine and from her face, she's definitely not fine “Stop calling me like a baby and get your ass to work! I want info dammit, are you an idiot!? or I’m an idiot? fuck you all of you! You adult always tell me what to do!? I’m an adult now so fuck off! I could be a mech pilot! I will show you…”
“....”
Her anger shut his mouth, her words felt more genuine than when she was mocking him. It seeps through him like a sponge. He feels something, Jay could not figure out what but he feels it.
“Give me their info!!!!!!”
Jay quietly gives out the info
“One medium with a machine gun, one with an akimbo assault rifle, both are kinetic. The mechup is a juggernaut class model snake-05879-ED designed to operate in a larger jungle forest. It’s the weak point is when it’s scale open to shot. You would lose if you fight them head-on.”
“Who cares!”