Richard charged at her as he fired salvos of rockets, while Baldric from above, fired at any weak points he could see. Max threw fire grenades at the walker, but they had no effect because the axe swings kept them from getting close.

The walker kept going after Luna, so Max tried to climb on its back, but as he got close, jets of liquid fire kept him at a distance. Baldric gave them both covering fire, but his bullets barely made any damage on its thick plating, so he switched and focused solely on the walker’s eyes.

Irritated, Richard swung his axe and struck at the pillars of the building and on the floor.

"He's trying to bring down the building! Get out of there!" Baldric yelled at both of them.

Richard laughed as their floor began to quake and give way. Luna, used the distraction to get close and land blow after blow with her staff. Richard swung his axe down, narrowly missing her but managed to destroy her weapon. As she dodged out of the way, the walker leapt up and slammed down into the ground.

"Going down!"

The full weight of the walker caused the floor to crack and collapse. This caused him and Luna to fall two stories. She deployed her coat and landed hard with her back on the concrete, but Richard was already on his feet and swung wildly as he charged at her. She used her freeze grenades to stop him as Luna tried to put some distance between them, but in mere seconds, Richard broke free and his walker roared.

"Your toys will not work with me!"

Richard swung wildly as Luna dodged and threw grenades, but it was all a useless effort. But after studying his movements, she finally found the weaknesses in his patterns.

His swings were aimed at keeping her at a distance, so Luna dodged and got up close. But the moment she was in striking range, Richard’s walker released more waves of blue liquid fire out of the cracks in his armor. The searing heat, even with her fireproof coat, was too much for her to handle. The liquid ignited her armor and she could feel the heat melted the material onto her body.

Luna leapt back, which put her in range of the axe. She got caught in a back swing and was hit on her side, and caused her to slam onto a pillar. Her coat was ripped as her blood flowed from her side.

"This walker was modified just for you! Courtesy of the syndicate!"

The skin on her chest and arms were numb from the burns. As she tried to find a new way to take him down, Luna stayed in the cover of shadows.

"Hiding from me now huh?! That trick isn't going to work on me!"

Richard’s walker roared as he released waves of blue liquid fire again but in all directions, and it caused the floor, walls, and pillars to catch fire. Luna was forced out of where she was hiding as Richard charged again.

An explosion on the walkers' back forced it to look behind him. Max and Baldric had finally caught up with them, and he turned to face them.

Max acted as the distraction, he dashed forward and took the walker head on, while Baldric threw grenades from the back. The walker roared as it spewed fire in all directions. As they ran for cover, Luna saw her chance. Baldric’s attacks have created a crack on the walker’s plates.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

She used her hat as a shield and saw a wedge on the nape of the walker. She climbed on, and used her hat to pry the wedge open. As it gave way, Luna removed the plate, and underneath were the pipes of the walkers’ flamers. She repeatedly struck down, severing the pipes, and as she leapt down, the pipes exploded, and stopped the jets of fire coming out.

"Very clever! But I can still rip you apart!"

Richard swung his large spiked tail at Luna, catching her off guard. She crashed hard on a concrete pillar and the tail pierced her melted coat and lacerated her right arm and leg. As Max and Baldric got the walkers' attention, she vomited blood.

The fire and smoke were engulfing the floor around them, and her injuries were making it harder for her to move or breathe.

"Max! His swings are too large to get in close!" Luna roared as she injected herself with her amber serum. "Baldric aim for the joints when he swings! It's the only time he is open! Aim for the pipes in the joints!"

With the skill of a master fencer, Max used Richard’s reckless swings against him and dashed into the walker’s blind spots. He plunged his rapier deep into the walker's shoulder and crippled it when he destroyed the mechanism in its arm pits. Luna rushed from behind and put all the strength she had as she slammed the walker on its legs, causing it to kneel as Baldric landed shots in its eyes.

"I’ve had enough!"

Richard swung his axe in a large circle, causing them to retreat. Then he raised his axe high into the air and struck down the floor, splitting it open. Max dodged, but before Luna could escape, Richard grabbed her by the leg as the floor collapsed and they fell down together.

The walker landed on its feet first, then he slammed her hard to the ground. Luna can feel her metal bones collided inside her upon impact.

Richard raised his axe and prepared to execute her when Max came from above and landed on his back. He repeatedly stabbed his rapier deep into the wedge Luna created, severing the walkers' vision and forced Richard to open his cockpit just so he could see.

Baldric saw his opening and fired straight at him.

Richard raised the walker’s arm to block himself from the gunshots. Distracted, he did not see that Luna had recovered and leapt up to the cockpit. Both of them fought for control, but Richard managed to kick her off.

Baldric’s concentrated fire, damaged the walker’s joints, and the machine finally struggled to even walk, but it still swung its axe at them. Max climbed on and thrust his rapier once more into the walkers' arms, and removed both of them from the fray. The walker fell backwards as Max leapt off to avoid getting crushed.

Luna leapt into the cockpit again and finally managed to throw Richard out. Before he could recover, Luna landed on top of him and repeatedly struck him down.

"Get the cure!" Baldric yelled, and Max rushed for the cockpit, but before he could get close, the Walker exploded, destroying itself along with the cure.

Max was rocked back.

Richard laughed at the sight of his body. Luna roared and struck him down harder until blood came out of his nose and mouth.

"Max! Max!" Baldric rushed to him. He was dazed but responded quickly, and Baldric gave a sigh of relief. Max bled profusely from an open wound on his head, but he smiled as he got up.

"You're the greatest, Max." Baldric helped him up.

"And I know it."

They had won the fight, but it was an empty victory as they both stared at the burning walker, with the cure gone. Even though Richard was no longer moving, Luna continued to strike him. Despite the fact that a pool of blood had formed around the ork's head, she continued to hit him down.

"Luna. Luna. Just stop." Baldric said as both of them stopped her but she pushed them off. They tried again and finally got her off the unconscious ork. All three of them sat there in silence, caught their breath and wondered what to do next. Above them, the fires started to spread downwards, and the smoke now started to cover the floor.

"Maybe there is another cure somewhere." Luna said as she looked at the fire above.

"Luna, we searched this place. There’s nothing."

She struck the ground with her fist.

As the fires began to reach down, they all prepared to leave, when Max returned for his rapier and passed by Richard, who started to wake up. He stepped on the ork’s chest and placed the tip of his sword on his neck.

"Killing him won’t solve anything." Baldric said as he and Luna looked at him. “We can just capture him. He can tell us information that we could-”

"Only you two promised to never kill again! I promised nothing!"

Max plunged it deep into the ork’s neck, causing Richard to sputter and cough blood, but it still wasn’t enough for him. In one clean swing, Max cut off the ork’s head and kicked it far away from its body.