Pilot 76 sat inside the chem-bath and soaked himself in its rich nutrient slurry. The man was trapped several hundred feet beneath the party above. Alone and cold he sat in his tank, distant from the luxuries of the world above.

Being a behemoth pilot had never been the plan for 76, but life doesn’t always go as planned. He recalled when he was once an applicant to join an old nation as a stellar-mech pilot, unfortunately for him, his cancer had been malignant.

All his training and life was deemed worthless by the powers at be in an instant, a ‘tainted product’ they had called him.

76 grit his teeth at the thought.

Red Door hadn’t been as picky about their employed degenerates though, they had even gone out of their way and treated his cancer for him.

With his new job though came a more violent use of his large machine skills, the behemoth suits were a much more demanding monster. The invasive surgeries to fit his body for the unrefined suit had left a bad taste in his mouth, the machine was nothing like the seamless dynamics of an old nation’s stellar-mech.

The suit always tried to send it’s needles too deep into his head.

Pilot 76 supposed he was thankful for the suit though. The machine had given him a chance to continue his life, even if in a limited capacity. He never enjoyed all the fighting his work entailed, but the suit made waging war so simple that it was like a game now.

One he continued to reluctantly play.

76’s mind wandered back to his fight with the rouge machine.

The pilot's lip snarled and twitched; the robot had made him look bad to the higher ups. The fight deemed ‘too violent’ for public perception.

The bad PR had gotten him stuck underground during the holiday.

76 enjoyed the fireworks, they reminded him of what could have been in another life. A chance to see the colorful explosions of light had been taken from him. If he was ever given the chance to make the bot repay his loss, he would make it pay in full... and then some.

Sat in his tank, Pilot 76 mulled over the thousands of ways he could tear the machine apart.

The nutrient slurry finished injecting itself and the man was released by the chem-bath.

With a concerted effort, the Pilot forced himself to his feet, standing in the now empty basin.

His mind was filled with an incessant ringing that pierced into him; an order shot directly into his mind.

“Pilot 76, the rogue bot you recently fought has been spotted inside your current facility. It is headed for the motor pool as I speak. Your orders are to follow and subdue the machine, do not let it leave the underground.” The voice of Lieutenant Harrison said, scratching at his mind.

The Pilot overcame his agitation at the noise and broke into a wide psychotic grin.

I get to break it after all.

----------------------------------------

“Paris! Take the wheel!” I shouted at the little girl.

A hard impact forced the heavy truck into the air momentarily, everything slowing as it floated into the air a for a single moment before slamming back down.

The little girl looked at me in shock, her body now bruised and battered.

“Paris! Now!” I yelled out again, my voice desperate.

The girl’s head snapped forward, eyes locking in on the wheel. Paris gently pushed Tom’s still limp body off her lap and into the arms of another child.

With an exaggerated effort, the girl stood and clambered over the truck’s front seat and sat down into it. I had already vacated the vehicle.

Before Paris had made her way up, I had rolled down the truck’s window and swung myself out, using my momentum to climb onto the roof of the speeding car. I was now face to face with the charging behemoth.

With a flick I connected my rifle to my hand and leveled it at the mechanical creature.

The truck cut left sharply before righting itself. I slammed my foot into the truck's armored hull, using it as an anchor to hold myself in place.

“What is happening in there?!” I shouted pointedly, trying to regain my composure, only to be met with another shock as the behemoth’s fingertips clipped the back of the truck. The vehicle’s back was tossed into the air again, the impact of its landing threatening to pop the axel.

“I can’t reach the pedals!” Paris’s voice cried out in panic from inside the truck

“I’ll push them!” I heard another voice yell, a little boy.

The car steadied itself.

I was given a second of reprieve as the truck started to accelerate, going ever upwards towards the surface. I braced my rifle against myself again and aimed at the behemoth, targeting any visible sensors.

I fired a burst of four shots, two flew wide with the other two landing. One left a scorch mark along the burnished metal, while the last made a lens on the beast’s head flicker out.

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The behemoth raised its arm to block my next barrage of rounds, my rifle now firing ceaselessly, yet the fire was mostly ineffectual. I pulled a small power cell from my pocket and attached it to myself in an attempt to combat the power drain or the rifle.

The monster’s back burst open, a series of weapons appearing and pointing forward. The beast’s guns spun up and spewed a hail of lead, both at the truck and myself.

I braced for the rounds to hit me, but to my surprise, the shots, more often than not, flew wide. The only rounds that landed simply bounced off the truck’s armored hull.

The behemoth still held its arm in front of its face. The creature was forced to fire blindly at me, my constant barrage of bolts forcing it to block its own eyesight.

Light started to appear up ahead, a small crack of color leading to the surface.

I just have to hold it off a little longer, then we can lose it in the city, I thought to myself, doubting the words as they came.

My rifle had started to glow red hot, matching the luminance of my own side vents. The constant stress and speed of the situation forcing me to crank my systems into full gear.

I turned my head for a moment towards the vehicle’s front to check the distance to our freedom. As I turned to look my gunfire slowed and my aim drifted too far.

I felt round after round pound into my body, my armor stopped the bullets from piercing into me, but did little to stop their impact. I could feel the motors and gear inside me shake and stutter as each round slammed into me.

In an attempt to avoid the cascade of fire, I threw myself against the truck's roof. Taking a chance, I reached into one of the various pockets of my now bullet ridden suit. I pulled out a grenade and yanked out the pin, the device beeping rapidly as it hastily reached its explosive peak.

I rolled it off the truck’s top, sending it directly into our pursuer's torso.

A great ball of fire exploded outwards, the flames tickling the back of our vehicle as we burst out from the underground and into the city proper.

I rose to my feet, peering into the darkness of the tunnel we had just escaped from.

The blackness shifted and a smoky form burst forth.

The behemoth was still coming.

An invisible wall hit the beast suddenly, staggering it as it tried to push past the barricade. Unseen weights locked against its joints weighing it to the ground.

The beast engaged a phantom in an argument.

“I dON’t CaRE! I’m KiLlInG It!” The mechanical abomination cried out, its voice full of anger and agony.

An invisible force beat into it.

“LET Me GOoOO!” The goliath forced out, its voice trembling as it strained against its invisible captor.

With a snap a single spark flew away from the behemoth’s neck, the suit’s functionality fully restored.

I watched as it whipped its head around, a several hundred-ton killer searching for its prey.

The creature spotted my standing figure, my gaze boring into it as I watched it, our vehicle straining to speed away.

The behemoth roared out a mechanical screech and started its charge towards us, the suit producing flaming jets under its feet as it rapidly accelerated.

The guns it had previously released from its back disconnected from the beast and clattered into the streets with a mighty crash. From its back, another set of weapons extended, the new guns larger and more plentiful than their predecessors.

“It just needed breathing room...” I muttered to myself.

A new fight then broke out, one I knew I would lose.

The behemoth impacted the back of the truck hard, tossing it through the air, the vehicle somersaulting and tumbling across the sky. The truck crashed back down to earth with the tearing of metal and the shattering of glass.

My body continued to fly though, tossed well and far away from the destroyed truck. I crashed into an office building, the glass windows shattering as I impacted. My body screamed out in pain, an uncommon sensation for me.

I stood to my feet, my left leg stiff and lagging behind my commands.

Walking to the hole I had made I looked out and threw myself out onto the building’s sidewalk. A hail of missiles slammed into the spot I had previously stood, the skyscraper exploding into a million pieces.

The burning tower crashed down on its self, the building falling towards me.

I moved to run.

A mechanical leg slammed down on top of my right leg, shattering it to pieces. I fell to the ground, all sensation in my leg flickering out, a blooming agony releasing itself from the wound. The pain had become all encompassing, holding me in place despite my mechanical nature.

As I struggled against the earth, my other leg had been locked in place. The weight of the behemoth slowly crushing the limb under its immense weight.

I cried out, digging my fingers into the hard concrete as I tried to crawl away.

“NoT sO FAsT lItTle BOT!” The behemoth cackled from above me, its voice a haunting warp of humanity.

I felt a fist slam down into my back, my torso indenting at the impact.

My circuits sparked and flamed as I was slowly burst open, impact after impact beating into me.

My vision flickered in and out, my mechanical body giving out only to reboot just in time to be hit again.

In my death I wouldn’t be given the courtesy of awareness.

“DON’T TOUCH HIM!” I head a little voice echo, little bullets tinging off the behemoths armor.

I immediately knew who had fired at the beast, my head slowly and painfully turning to look at the little girl.

“Paris... no... run...” I tried to shout out, my words barely escaping my throat.

“WroNG mOVE LitTLE BUG!” The monster roared out.

I felt the ground as it shifted around me, the behemoth slowly shuffling its feet towards Paris.

With my person left unguarded, a little pair of arms wrapped around my torso. The word swung as my body was lifted off the ground, pried out from within the pavement.

Noah held me in his arms, his face pale and sweaty. Looking into his eyes I could tell that the boy was near his breaking point.

“Noo-ah, sav-e... Par-is and... your-sel-f,” I begged, “n-ot me...”

Each word I spoke refusing to be heard, my voice crackling and popping in addition.

The boy ignored me, my body was unwilling, I couldn’t even attempt to push away.

Broken.

I watched as the Behemoth approached Paris, its very steps shaking the earth.

Boom.

Boom..

boom...

boom....

BOOM!!!

I watched as the tower above me slammed into the city, the structure of glass, metal and stone collapsing down.

Directly onto Paris and the behemoth.

A dust cloud rocketed out from the impact, blinding me.

“PARIS!” I shouted out with the last of my power, every sensation in body going numb with that single scream.

Only a single lens fought to stay online, the single view granting a skewed perception of the world.

My body was dragged through the dust and rubble, bouncing over rocks, machines, and an occasional corpse.

The tower hadn't been empty, and the streets had been full.

My head was tilted towards our destination, an iridescent purple and gold SUV. The driver sat with his hands in the air. Slowly the driver opened his door and stepped out, a child's form hopping into the seat.

We reached the car, and my body was unceremoniously tossed into the back, my head now positioned to gaze out the back window.

I watched as the flaming building slowly melted away in a cloud of smoke, a shifting and writhing machine trapped within the flames.

I could see the smoke ripple with its shouts of agony and cries of pain.

The monster’s roars had given way to human cries, the being that had been trapped in the beast finally being granted its sanity.

My mind wandered and fuzzed, the view out the window shifting to simple traffic and chaotic streets. I tried to remember what was going on, why I was so hurt, but I couldn’t.

The lights of the city flew past me, each glow stretched out into a line. The rapidly generated lasers of color slowly consumed my vision. The makings of a brilliant light show exploding out before me.

Isn’t that beautiful Paris?

…

Paris?