For the four lilac Type-Ds and the white Casnel of the Remembrance elite squad – Time seemed to slow as out of the rubble, just feet away, burst forth a raging red-Vijaik Heavy.
Before any of them could react, Scarlet unleashed a volley of 4 rockets from either shoulder mounted launcher before tossing them both aside.
The rockets all aimed at the nearest Type-D, streamed towards it without mercy – The pilot of the lilac Vijaik was no slouch however, even having so little time to evade he managed to weave between the first two, the third slammed into its torso but with admirable reaction time it spun a halberd shaped arc-staff in front of itself blocking rockets 4 and 5.
Number 6 glanced across its slim forearm but it was 7 and 8 that spelled its doom – Passing its desperate defence, the final two rockets burst against its core.
Scarlet on the other hand hadn't bothered to wait, in her current state she couldn't care less if they all hit or all missed – Before the 8 had even finished their course, she had already closed the distance – One arc staff from the belt at her waist drawn she stabbed straight into enemy number 1's heart – A moment later its limbs fell limp, not even a full 10 seconds having elapsed since her ambush began – the next ten would prove no less dramatic.
Grabbing the discarded halberd of her slain foe, her machine spun on a dime, tossing the weapon like a spear in the direction of enemy number 2.
The throw was well placed but her enemy moved fast, easily deflecting the one halberd with its own – But that was all it took, those small few seconds spent deflecting had allowed the Scourge to close the gap – With a slick movement she swung overhead one mighty Calabar greatsword from its place resting on her back.
Her enemy rallied, raising its own halberd to block but it was far from enough, the two handed grip and sheer force of the mighty greatsword instantly shattering the enemy's weapon in half.
Lilac enemy number 2 did what almost any pilot would do, discarding its bisected weapon it moved back and drew a rifle – It expected Scarlet to also back off and take a new stance, but in her current trance, Scarlet was no ordinary pilot – Instead she moved from one violent swing to the next.
The Type-D forced to block and dodge, unable to even grab its own arc-staff it valiantly took slice, followed by thrust, followed by uppercut until finally one attack cleaved its rifle in two – The weapon exploded, blinding both the Type-D and Scarlet – Yet, unable to see or not, the Crimson-coloured Heavy-Vijaik kept coming, its blade's tip appearing through the dust cloud and scoring straight into enemy 2's chest.
All her back thrusters roaring, the sword surged forward, cutting, biting, gnashing, tearing away until it appeared out the back of the now helpless enemy.
A second victory under her belt, Scarlet didn't even wait to recover her sword, leaving it impaled in her enemy she turned away and began to head towards the remaining two – Backlit by a massive fiery light of the second enemy as her attacks sent it exploding to pieces.
When Scarlet's attack had begun, the enemy had spread out, forming a rapid perimeter expecting an entire enemy assault – Now realising their foe was just one single Vijaik, the two remaining machines both turned their rifles on Scarlet, having already spread out they now claimed the clear advantage.
With practised marksmanship and discipline, the two began to fire in sync, one firing at Scarlet, the other where she would next be – A tricky thing to pull off and a sure fire way to disorientate most pilots – Scarlet was not most pilots.
The Vijaik-Heavy, both IAFS's version and the one that had inspired it from a decade ago, were known for being large bulky machines with heavy armour and pension for large weapons – But as the two surviving Type-D's witnessed with mounting dread, this particular Vijaik-Heavy was quiet the exception – It soared across the night sky, ducked and diving, swerving and cutting a path in-between each and every well placed rifle bolt.
About half-way across the distance Scarlet drew one of the two rifles strapped to her legs and began to shoot back – And despite her ridiculous speed and being mid dodge, one of her shots landed true with uncanny accuracy, splitting open 'enemy number' 3's rifle.
In response a single enemy shoot hit her too, smashing into one of her massive rounded shoulders, the whitewash writing written on it seared and burnt away – Though of course Scarlet was in no way aware enough of such things to notice.
Her mech having crossed this most deadly obstacle course, lazily tossed aside the rifle and drew two more arc-staffs – Bringing them down with force onto enemy 3 – However the Lilac foe was prepared, having lost its rifle it drew an arc-staff of its own to block Scarlets, three blades locked together it used its spare hand to swing forward the Halberd – The weapons supior reach rammed its arc-tip straight into the Vijaik-Heavies torso.
Once, Twice, Three times it pounded into the bulky frontal armour.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The attack could by no means pierce such armour that quickly, but the sheer force of impact spread inwards and deep inside Scarlet's cockpit, from just above the main monitor, a massive piece of shrapnel was set free – It spun through the air before embedding itself deeply into Scarlet's midriff.
Had she been in a normal conscious state, had the drug not held her captive, it was certainly possibly the pain would of been miserable – But right now she wasn't even capable of feeling such things, none but the aching tightness growing in her chest.
The shrapnel's effects were immediate, blood shooting out form the wound with force, painting one wall of the cockpit a deep burgundy red.
Yet Scarlet fought on, breaking the three way lock of arc staffs, she knocked aside the halberd before it could strike a fourth time and in an unexpected move grabbed onto the enemy – A moment later all her left-side thrusters sprung to life and her machine spun 180 degrees, swapping the positions of the two mechs.
Now while this had been happening, enemy 4 had been waiting for the perfect shot – Said shot now careered not into Scarlet but straight into the back of enemy three.
Their machine damaged and reeling, enemy 3 couldn't block Scarlet's next wave of arc-staff slashes and bit by bit, her flaming short-blade cut out the lilac machines core before incinerating the pilot within.
One final time there was no waiting, no break in combat – As soon as her Enhancer addled brain was happy number 3 was dead, so started the assault on enemy 4.
Grabbing the freshly charred corpse of third foe as a shield, Scarlet began crossing the last distance between her and the final bodyguard. But these were highly professional pilots and enemy four didn't hesitate to begin shooting on his fallen comrade's body – Yet Scarlet pushed on, brute-forcing her way forwards even as rifle bolts came through the wreckage of enemy three and struck her, even as her whole machine juddered with each minor impact.
Finally the distance closed, arc-staffs still drawn, she burst out from around enemy 3's now hole riddled form – Enemy 4 however was ready.
Perhaps he had seen the signs and realised his enemy was on Enhancers, these were after all Remembrance elite, and waiting for her as she broke cover was the edge of a flaming arc-halberd – Aimed firmly for her chest.
Scarlet moved at the last possible moment, it was an unnaturally timed affair, a reaction speed no human should of been capable of – It wasn't enough to dodge completely but in the end the halberd rolled against one rounded shoulder instead of her chest.
Without hesitation, one of her hands grabbed the enemies outstretched limb, while the other reached for its head.
The Lilac had a somewhat esoteric shaped head design, a long rectangle with little outcropping metal-signal poles and a central lens at one end, almost like large film-set camera. The large, chunky fingers of the heavy wrapped around the lens and corners of this rectangle and crunched in – The lens shattered instantly, the corners of the rectangle not far behind but Scarlet didn't stop there – With a bone chilling sound that echoed through both her and the enemy's cockpit, she yanked back her mechs arm and tore the head free of its neck – Then swinging her hand back, she swung her arm back down.
Again and again and again she slammed the decapitated Type-D's head down like a hammer against its chest – Slowly the head lost its shape and the frontal armour of the mech buckled and dented.
Eventually she let go of the head, balled her machines hand into a massive fist and with all the grace of a berserker, smashed and punched over and over until finally tearing open the cockpit and pulverising the pilot inside.
In truth the pilot had been flung out of his chair and fallen unconscious long before Scarlet broke through, once she had finished the last Type-D was little more than four spare limbs with nothing at their centre.
“Ha.....Ha......Ha.......Ha.......Ha.......ha.....”
Finally Scarlet fell back into her seat, panting extremely heavily – Her right shoulder still pierced with shrapnel and bleeding, her face covered in a massive, disturbing grin – Four Ace's defeated with ease.
She was far too deep in the trance for such trivialities as checking power levels or scanning for enemies – Scarlet would know when the next one came, on a deep instinctual level she could feel her final foes eyes on her.
Indeed, slowly lowering from above came the gleaming white, curving, pointlessly tall shape of the Remembrance Casnel – Perhaps it had been up there simply watching in amusement – It certainly didn't seem overly concerned as it lowered itself without any weapon drawn, only a few metres away from Scarlet's Vijaik-Heavy, the machine surrounded by the mutilated remains of the four bodyguard machines.
A voice over the open comms-lines broke the short lived, fragile silence;
“You are her are you not? The red Vijaik-Heavy, Calabar swords, animalistic combat style - How very surprising, to think I would run into the Scarlet Scourge here of all places.”
The voice was smooth and slick, that of a woman in her early thirties perhaps and not far off a sneer – It was clearly amused rather than worried;
“And I suppose it was you who dispatched my advanced force too? Really now for one lonely traitor you have cost me quite a sum today. Really it is sad, the great Scarlet Scourge reduced to an IAFS lapdog?
I'd say I pity you but honestly I don't. It's funny but there was a time people warned me of you, claimed you could oppose me for leadership of Remembrance, yet I never believed it for a second. To use an awfully crass phrase, I always knew you weren't 'man enough' for leadership you understand?
Oh but it is a shame, I could of made you so much more, I would of known where to point your madness for the greatest effect!! But IAFS? You are wasted on such pointless battles as these, I mean how many enhancers have you taken? 2, maybe even 3 in one go? Bad girl Hmmm-m – Alas it is what it is I suppose – You are a nuisance I should of dealt with long ago no doubt, about time I put you to rest by my own hand.”
A roar slowly crept out of Scarlet's throat, it wasn't necessarily aimed at her foe, nor did it necessarily communicate any particular intent – It merely signalled the Red-Vijaik-Heavy leaping forth one final time.
****