Writer’s corner: Greetings friends! Some strategizing going on this time!

SO, as I said back in IO, the reason for the delay this time is simply because I went binge-reading light novels and ended up with some other ideas that were interrupting my thought-process when it came to writing stories because none of them actually fit in the ones I already had going…

BESIDES, I initially planned this to be an action chapter, but thought it might be a good time to let clear what were their plans before the last duel start. Well, not exactly a duel, but you can guess what I mean… Anyway, IO main chapter should come tomorrow and beepy by Monday, probably.

Beep, and enjoy your story!

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At the moment, they had three main situations that they had to solve somehow. First, was the fact that they had to reach the safe and sneak out with the alloy. The reason for this, is that, as Ruby said, that alloy could easily be used to make some scary weapons, and leaving it in the hands of a large underground organization was a big mistake.

Second, was to somehow deal with the reinforcements. The soldiers took the time that they were entangled with the robot to actually regroup and prepare another assault at the group. Right now they had no idea where they were, but it was only a matter of time before some random soldier finds them and report to their allies.

Lastly, and more problematic, was Brutus, the robot itself. It was clearly a heavily armored robot, and all of their weapons would simply bounce off harmlessly from its shell and leave little to no damage, and due to its speed, aiming for the weak points is too difficult. Aside from all that, not even Ruby had no knowledge about the robot…

“No, I actually know somethings about it.” She said while holding the chest armor so that Beepy could weld it back together using the tool-cable that popped up from his neck.

[Wait wait wait. Didn’t you say that you knew nothing about the bastard?] Gaz asked the doubt that sparked in everybody’s mind.

“What? I had plenty of time to observe it while it was rampaging, alright?” Ruby said while putting up a matter-of-fact expression.

“No… Even like that…” Sorius said with a shocked tone.

“Anyway, from what I gathered, the armor is around five to seven centimeters thick, and the hardness is around the level of a Tart-dweller. If my estimates are correct for the steam tank, it reaches the explosive speed by gathering at least three quarters of the steam tank on the legs pumps, but it also leaves it with a highly strained leg joints, so it’s not able to use the explosive acceleration all the times…” She said while frowning slightly as if making a pensive face.

“How did you manage to find out so much?” Yllivia asked surprised while testing out her ears that had been healed. “Didn’t you only see it for some time?” She tilted her head.

“Even if I never met a robot before, I have a lot to base myself on.” She said with a frown. “Besides, these things are really easy to find out if you take in account material weight, speed, vibrations on the body, inertia and so on…”

[I’m one hundred percent sure that the normal populace does not work that way.] Gaz said in a deadpan voice.

“A-Anyway.” Ruby said while clearing her throat. “Based on the material that their bodies are made of, I’d say that it can only use the boost a couple of times before changing the pistons altogether. My best guess would be four times, but it’s better to go with five times just for safety.” She said in an explaining tone. “Also, the sheer pressure needed to keep that massive body moving, I wouldn’t be surprised if even a small dent could make the boiler or the steam tank blow up, so it’s probably on the heart of the beast together with the core, where the armor is the thickest.”

As the professor shared her findings with the group, everyone simply looked at her in sheer amazement, not knowing how to react to her skills in observation. Seeing that no one was saying anything and simply stared at her in confusion, even the professor started to feel awkward a bit awkward.

“You… noticed all that only by seeing how it moved around?” Lunn asked in confusion and Ruby nodded.

“And I am almost sure it have some kind of sensor besides the optical ones.” She added in a serious face. “It seemed to find us even when he was behind a series of walls, so I believe that he have either a sonic sensor or something of the kind to find us from behind the walls.”

“I see…” Sorius said with a nod before frowning. “It’s a really tough opponent, huh?”

“In truth, we were lucky.” Yllivia said with a low tone, surprising everyone. “I mean, most of it’s equipment is to use against heavily armored robots, and not anti-personel.” She explained while making a pair of horns with her fingers. “The pile drivers you talked about. I doubt they are useful against small targets.” As she said that, the other’s widened their eyes and nodded.

In a way, it made sense, since the huge bull was brought there with the intention of battling other large robots, so it would make sense that most of it’s equipment would be turned against destroying larger armored enemies.

However, this still meant that they had to deal with it, and its heavy armor was easily the toughest one in the whole compound, which left them a bit lost on how to solve that problem. Even if it’s main weapon against light enemies had a limited use, it’s sheer weight and basic leg strength could easily kill anyone there with ease.

Looking between each other, they couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the task at hand. However…

[Ruby, if we stopped it, do you think you could dismantle him?] Ekis asked suddenly, and Ruby widened her eyes for a moment.

“I… Could do that…” She murmured while going into a pensive position. Noticing her reaction, the elves turned to her with a curious gaze. “Ek…. I was thinking. If you can stop the robot… I might be able to dismantle the armor.” She said with a nod. “In fact, if we get a good timing, we might even blow up the leg altogether.”

However, on her plans, all the other threes rose from their seats and put on angry faces.

“No, we can’t let you do that.” Sorius said while glaring at her. “You are just a civilian and have no combat training. We can’t let you go on the frontline against such enemy.”

“There’s no chance that I’ll let my sweety get in such a dangerous place!” Lunn agreed in an angry tone.

“Can’t guarantee safety.” Yllivia nodded.

“Then, what do you suggest we do?” Ruby asked in an angry tone. “If we run right now, the guys that are distributing these drugs will disappear to their new place that we have no idea where is, so we can’t exactly run away. And besides, with the alloys, they should be able to easily craft a weapon much like yours.” She pointed towards Sorius. “Except that ANYONE would be able to use it. Even without your Psy.”

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Sorius widened his eyes in shock as the meaning of her words sunk in on him, but he still shook his head in a denying motion.

“Look, I understand what you want to say, but from what I saw, the mission was simply to shut down a small gearbox.” The elf said with a sigh. “This is much more than a simple gear-box and what a small group like us can take. They should bring the army for something this size.” He said with a sigh. “I’d rather simply pack our things and find a way out of here.”

“I… Actually agree with him.” Lunn said after some time of thought. “I don’t know why the job was wrong, but this thing is too big for us to take alone.” The pink haired elf said with a slightly sorrowful tone. Finally, the group turned to Yllivia who had her eyes closed and lightly raised her head.

But before she could start nodding, Ruby interrupted.

“So, we are going to leave the Robots to get broken in another gearbox like this one?” The morphian asked in a slightly angry tone.

“I… Want to do something for the robots.” Yllivia said with a low tone, receiving surprised gazes from the elves twins. “If we let them… They might…”

The elves looked at her confused for a moment before sighing and shaking their heads, but once again, Ruby interrupted them before they could say anything.

“Also, with something this big, we could actually get quite a hefty amount from the Merc headquarters, even if it’s only by selling their gear.” The morphian said, making the pink-haired elf’s ears twitch slightly. “And, I may know a person who might be able to use the alloy to upgrade your rifle.” Now it was the male elf whose ears twitched.

They crossed gazes for a moment and they could see as their determinations wavered for a moment before shaking their heads.

“No, we still can’t…”

“I have a plan against the robot.” Ruby said finally, and this worked to make the final drop on the elves’ resistance, and they both sighed in defeat as the girl once again managed to negotiate her way to what she wanted. “I can’t guarantee that it will work, but it’s worth a try.” She said with a slightly wry smile.

“Well, we are still left with the other two problems, even if you somehow takes care of the robot, we still have the safe to reach and the bandits to take care of.” Sorius said with a sigh. “if we were all together, I could think of something, but sincerely, with only us here, defeating them might…”

“Take out the head.” Yllivia said with her usual low tone, making the others look at her in confusion. “Show that we have their boss, and take out the Athlian. With that they should panic.”

“I see… Kill the head, and the snake stops…” Sorius said with a nod before looking at Yllivia. “This would be something more of your area, but… Are you fine with it?”

Both Gaz and Ruby blinked at his strange choice of words before staring at Lynnian, who lowered her eyes with a sad look for a moment. Ruby’s mouth opened for a moment, but a look from Gaz made her keep her doubts for herself. Right now wasn’t the time to make such a question.

“I’d… Better not.” Yllivia said with a shake of her head.

“…Sorry, I shouldn’t…”

“No, that’s not the reason.” The cat-girl said, interrupting him. “There’s… Still the head-guard from that guy.” She said while turning to the boss who was still being held by the small robot. “He’s strong.” The elves widened their eyes in surprise at her words. “If he finds me in the middle of the enemy group…”

“Wow, if Ylli says so…” Lunn said with a shocked look while turning to Sorius.

“Speaking of him, don’t you find him odd?” Ruby said with a frown. “He came and told us of the traps before the boss rooms and let it clear that it doesn’t work in a blackout. And we haven’t heard of him since.”

“Now that you say it.” Lunn agreed with a frown.

“The announcers…” Yllivia added suddenly. “They also were acting oddly. They told me where to find that guy. And they didn’t seem to be on the Athlian’s side either.”

“So now, we also have a third power in the game?” Lunn said with an tired expression before throwing herself back against the packets. “Geez, wonderful! All that we need was some money to pass the week. Why did we get in such a mess?” She said while throwing a tantrum.

“Well, as much as I’d like to know, we don’t have a way out right now.” Sorius said with a sigh before making a serious face. “Look, since we are going with this anyway, might as well as make our plan here.” The others quickly recollected themselves at his words. “Firstly, me and Yllivia will hold on the reinforcements and make sure they don’t reach you.” He said while pointing towards Ruby. “We’ll try to lure them into close quarters were Ylli can take care of them easily, but I can’t give any guarantees.” Yllivia nodded, saying that she was ready for it. “Lunn, since you used your skill on Ylli, you shouldn’t be in fighting conditions right now, so I’ll leave the safe retrieval with you.”

“So, I take the leaze-bag with me?” She asked suspicious, but Sorius shook his head.

“No, we’ll take him and use to drop their morale. But you shouldn’t need to worry, since the guards will mostly come towards us.” The elf then turned to Ruby, who had just finished making some make-shift repairs on Beepy. “Ruby, you have ten minutes after we begin to bring down the bull. That’s the most we will be able to hold on. Do you think you and Beepy can make it?”

“Ten…” Ruby frowned slightly before nodding. “I think we might be able to manage. But I’ll need hugger to come with me.”

“Okay.” Sorius said with a long and deep sigh. “I don’t know what you are planning, but if it doesn’t work within ten minutes, or the bull turn on us, we are abandoning the plan, no matter what.” He said in a cold tone that left no room for discussion. “Just to be clear, but our main objectives here, right now, will be: First, recover the alloy. Second, take out the Athlian gang-leader. Third, get away from here while wreaking as much havoc as possible. If we cause enough damage, we might be able to give proof of our achievements to the mercs and receive some bounty for it.”

The whole group nodded in agreement as they made their preparations for the battle ahead. While Ruby took out a pen from her pocket and jolted something down in a small piece of paper, she couldn’t help but notice how Beepy’s gaze seemed strangely unfocused.

[Did something happen?] She asked briefly.

[it’s just that… I felt so useless in these last moments…] Gaz said with a sad tone.

[I share that feeling with you, Gaz…] Ekis replied in the same lethargic tone.

Ruby let out a brief snort before giving the piece of paper to the small cat, who bit it and vanished in thin air.