Elara watched as four targets approached over the horizon on her heads up display, imagining how they sounded. The familiar slam of the Sunset’s front paws against the cracked earth rang through her head, a sound that would have once brought her comfort.

Of course, the machines were too far to hear from here. She noted that one of them was running a little off to the side, a frame she hadn’t seen before. Elara did her best to block out the other three from her vision, holding off the realization she had long before the mech’s had entered the range of her sensors.

Everything alright, Callisto?

Handler’s voice buzzed in over the Moonrise’s internal speakers, shaking Elara out of her stupor. She ducked behind a building before responding, calming herself before responding.

“Four targets, Handler. One new frame.” She avoided detailing what she had seen. Elara knew that Handler would ask for more, but she couldn’t bring herself to come to terms with reality on her own.

The other three?

Elara subconsciously drew back, letting the words flow forth without a second thought. “Halcyon. Scarab. Sunset. No obvious changes.”

Good girl.

Her doubts slipped away, replaced by the sense of accomplishment she felt from Handler’s praise. She had done well.

Handler could tell her what to do now, ask her to charge out and face the three, give her a plan of attack, but the command never came. She tensed in her seat, the Moonrise shifting in response to her squirming.

It was up to Elara, then. Handler was trusting her judgment. The thought filled her with mixed feelings, the pride she felt at her skills being trusted by Handler colored by the understanding that from here on out, what happened was up to her. Elara couldn’t afford to fail here, not when Handler was placing her expectations on her shoulders.

The Moonrise crept forward, its thrusters on low power. Elara didn’t want to draw attention so early, keeping the jets just powerful enough to avoid scraping along the ground. It would have been better to turn them off entirely, but the weight of her railgun, Lark, made it necessary to keep the Moonrise airborne, lest she overstress the Moonrise’s hydraulics.

She peeked around the edges of the concrete building, seeing as the Scarab led the charge ahead, tailed by the Sunset and Halcyon. She noted that the unidentified mech was split off from the three.

Elara did her best to analyze the machine, trying to see which Imperial models it might have been salvaged from. It used some IB model pieces, likely used for their armor. It looked eerily similar to the Hammer, although Elara wasn’t sure who would pilot such a machine these days.

She shivered a little in her seat as she recalled the fate of the Hammer. It never stood a chance. Just a thought from Elara, and she had snuffed out Layris’ life, sending Wrought her way not long after. At least they were together until the end.

They were coming within range of the Lark now, and she hid in some rubble while she targeted the unidentified machine. Elara was confident she could deal with the other three, wanting to get the unknown variable out of the equation as quickly as possible.

The mech looked even more like the Hammer now, its head in her crosshairs. It would be sharing its fate as well, Elara noted.

Click.

A shattering sound ripped through the outskirts of the city, a flash of light blinding Elara temporarily as a charged spike speared towards the machine.

As the spots in her vision faded, Elara saw that the machine was still standing, with no signs of damage. She blinked a few times, confused at the lack of effect.

The Lark fired charged metal spikes at high speeds. As far as Elara knew, there wasn’t any particularly effective shielding for a railgun of this caliber. At the very least, there would have to have been mild damage to the target.

While Elara was stunned, the machines in front of her scattered. They began to move erratically, and she noted as the Halcyon projected a shield that prevented her targeting system from locking onto any of the four machines again.

Elara didn’t necessarily need the assistance from her automated targeting systems, something that Anna had to have known by now.

They don’t know it’s me, Elara thought. A wave of relief crashed onto her, the thought that the rebels had figured out who was piloting the Moonrise had been worrying her since she had failed to prevent one from escaping when she had fought Wrought.

She quickly moved from her position in the rubble, doing her best to make sure that none of the approaching machines would see her leave the area. The element of surprise had been lost, and she was going to need to lure them into the city. A four on one fight in the open would almost certainly lead to her defeat.

“Railgun had no effect on the unknown machine. Please advise on possibilities.” She whispered the words, as if she was afraid of the approaching pilots hearing her speak.

Variety of ways to avoid damage from a weapon you’re expecting, Hound. Wouldn’t be an issue had you not let that information slip. Redirection system is most likely.

Handler was chastising her again for her mistake with Wrought. Of course, Elara knew that she had been forgiven, but the memory still pained her. She could- should have done better there. It was Elara’s fault for letting Layris’ death affect her so much.

A redirection system. Elara hadn’t considered that possibility, given the speed that the Lark fired spikes out. There was little chance that any weapon could hit her projectile with enough force, or precision, to keep it from hitting itself.

She ducked behind another building, activating a cloaking system to prevent short-range sensors from detecting her position with too much precision. The size of the Moonrise made it difficult to hide from any basic scans, her cloaking system relying on a web of small drones emitting the same energy signature as her machine. It would keep them guessing, at the least.

Her own sensors detected that three of the rebel machines had entered the city. Elara couldn’t seem to get a lock on one of them, presumably the Halcyon. Fighting the Halcyon would be annoying in a closed environment, especially given that it wouldn’t be alone. Anna was a competent pilot, and the Halcyon could likely take a hit or two from her railgun without any major issues.

Elara decided to focus on one of the other three first. The unidentified machine was finally within range to get basic details from scans. Its pilot was unregistered, but it was broadcasting a mech name of Vernonia.

“Any details on a machine running with the name Vernonia?” She asked Handler.

Name for a flower on Earth. Ironweed. No records of a mech by that name.

The name reminded Elara of Wrought, although the flower aspect made her think of Layris. Maybe whoever was piloting it was trying to avenge them?

As soon as Elara finished her thought, her cockpit rocked as the Moonrise was sent careening into a building. She shook herself off, confused at the lack of a perceived attacker.

More surprises from the Vernonia, it seemed. She watched as the air in front of her shimmered as a new mech fizzled into view. It was smaller than average, likely how it had kept itself cloaked so long. The shape and size of it reminded her of the Anvil.

A larger machine approached from behind it, the unidentified machine Elara had seen in the field. From what she could tell, it was the smaller mech broadcasting the name. If anything, the larger machine wasn’t broadcasting anything, just a blip on her sensors.

Elara fired another blast from her lark at the big machine, watching this time as her projectile sailed straight through it.

It’s a projection, she thought a second too late. The Vernonia kicked off the ground, leaping forward and swinging its scrap-hammer into the Moonrise’s chest.

Elara felt her head whip forward as the Moonrise was sent back, slamming back into a concrete wall. The Moonrise’s armor had taken most of the blow, preventing any critical damage to its systems.

She quickly snapped back up in her seat, focusing her attention on the Vernonia. A dribble of blood snaked its way down from her nose, staining her lips as she drank it in.

Its choice of weapon was a little on the nose, Elara thought. She noted that the Lark was now sitting on the ground a ways away, torn from her grip as she had been knocked back. Elara drew her blade, readying herself to fight.

Elara needed to finish this up quickly, given that since the Vernonia had pinpointed her location, the others were likely converging on her position.

The Moonrise began jetting towards the Vernonia, raising its blade. Her weapon clashed in a shower of sparks against its raised hammer. Her mech continued sailing forward into the projection of a mech, blinding her as her display was filled with colorful static.

Blindly swinging, Elara felt as her blade struck something solid, unsure if she had hit a building or the Vernonia. She quickly swapped her vision to LIDAR, watching as the area around her slowly came into a low-quality view.

Something struck her in the back, and she felt the spine of the Moonrise almost crack as she was slammed into the building she had just slashed her sword into. Her vision went wild for a moment, before she recovered and saw her attacker approaching.

Elara charged forward in response, aiming towards where the cockpit would have been on the Anvil. Her thrusters roared at full power as she flew towards her enemy, slamming her blade into the Vernonia. It dropped like a sack of rocks, not even attempting to dodge the attack.

A gasp escaped Elara’s lungs as she brought her thrusters down in power again. That had been too easy, given the immediate advantage that the Vernonia had at the start of that encounter. They had the opportunity to disable her machine more than twice now.

Elara looked behind her, almost in disbelief as she saw the corpse of the Vernonia. Any pilot worth their weight would have levied that advantage better than the Vernonia had. A little more power behind that swing against her back, and Elara would likely have died from her core melting down.

Her forehead was stained with sweat now, having pushed herself to beat the presumably new pilot. Elara chalked up the encounter to beginner’s luck, still confused at how she had made it out almost unscathed.

There wasn’t much time to comment on the unsatisfying victory, as she had to quickly move away. Two mechs were quickly approaching, and Elara didn’t want to be caught in a pincer.

The fight had started off in her favor, despite Elara’s underestimating of the presumably new pilot. Elara had taken more damage than expected from the Vernonia, a little sour about the cheap shot that it had gotten off on her at the start.

She ran another quick scan over the approaching two mechs. Scarab and Sunset.

Strategically, Elara knew that she should target Sunset first. Faust was a dangerous pilot, especially with more pilots by their side. Odds were she would be walking straight into a waiting trap.

On the other hand, she really didn’t want to face Pyralis just yet. She would be doing it all in service of Handler, of course, but the memory of her lover still singed at the edges of her mind.

Elara had already paid for not taking the fight seriously, but Handler had entrusted the decision to her. She would face Pyralis when she was ready.

She disabled the dummy drones for a moment, giving off her location to the approaching mechs. Not long enough to make it seem like it was on purpose, a flicker in the system. Pyralis would pick up the blip immediately, given her enhanced sensor array.

As if on cue, she watched as Pyralis quickly headed towards her location. She headed away from the location, ensuring that a small wave of drones split off from the area as well.

The Sunset was fast, so she had to deal with Faust quickly. Odds were if she were facing two of any of the three remaining targets, she’d quickly be dealt with by the third, giving she won that encounter. The Sunset and Scarab was probably the worst matchup for her, especially given the fact she still didn’t know what attachments that Scarab was carrying.

Elara paused for a moment, letting the Sunset launch past the other side of a building before continuing. She hadn’t considered where the Halcyon had been for a while, and her sensor array had stopped picking it up. Maybe some system damage that hadn’t been registered?

As if on cue again, Elara was knocked out of her focus. A shrill sound resonated through the air, as any remaining intact glass on the buildings began to shatter, raining down shards onto the Moonrise.

The cockpit went dead silent as the communication-blocking systems that Handler had put in place went up. Any and all sounds from outside the mech loud enough to be heard from the inside were automatically shut out, to prevent Elara from getting distracted.

It had gone into place shortly after her scuffle with the Anvil, alongside the automatic blocking of external communication inside the mech. Handler of course, could choose to let in any messages shortly after they came in, but tended not to.

Elara sometimes missed hearing the voices of her once comrades, but wasn’t one to question Handler’s decision. Any extra control Handler had over her was another weight off Elara’s shoulders, another responsibility she no longer had to bear.

Enough of that.

Another scuffle to get her mind off of the past.

She popped out on the other side of a street across Scarab. Its head quickly turned toward the Moonrise, raising an arm.

A flash of light blinded Elara and her opponent as she shot the Lark at its arm. It didn’t blow off cleanly as she expected, instead flying backward as a tether extended from a socket on the Scarab. The arm stuck into a destroyed building behind it, pinning the Scarab to a wall.

Press the advantage.

Elara continued her assault with a wave of plasma blasts, the superheated balls arcing towards the electrified spike lodged in the Scarab’s hand.

The Scarab ripped away from its arm, allowing the attack to strike the damaged limb. A cloud of smoke and dust blew into the air, obscuring Elara’s vision. Another limb exploded forward from the smoke, attaching itself to the front of the Moonrise. The extension immediately welded itself to her frame, a spray of molten metal spewing forward from the wound.

The Moonrise stepped back, Elara doing her best to rip the tether off of the frame. The cloud of dust parted as the Scarab erupted forth, pulling the Moonrise towards it as it raised its other limbs. Elara panicked in the moment, recklessly firing off another three blasts at her enemy before it collided into her.

Up close and personal. Change tactics.

Elara dropped the Lark as the Scarab latched onto the Moonrise, drawing her blade. She quickly put it between the two mechs, slicing off the limb welded to her frame. Two down, four to go.

A small arc-blade began cutting through her mech’s neck. Elara watched as her long-range sensors went offline, as well as her targeting systems. Some of her thruster fuel lines blared warnings at her as they were cut, and she cut the flow to prevent it from igniting on the Scarab’s weapon.

Again with the targeting systems. What was their focus on that? Did they think it would reduce her fighting ability? Any lesser pilot maybe.

She slashed forward, piercing through the Scarab’s abdomen. Elara continued to push, raising the opposing mech high in the air, away from her mech.

Finish the job.

Elara swung the blade forward, throwing the now limp Scarab off to the side. Her thrusters sputtered back to life as she approached her disabled enemy, slamming her weapon down into where she knew its cockpit to be.

Two down. Two to go.

Sorry, Faust.

She drew her mind back together, her thoughts too scattered. Her machine was damaged, but still in fighting condition.

Everything alright, Hound?

“Scarab down. Halcyon and Sunset still operational. Fuel lines damaged and long range sensors destroyed. Targeting systems down.” Elara let out the words slowly, as if choking on every syllable.

Not my question, Elara.

“I’m alright.” She knew that she was lying out of her teeth, but she had to be alright. Elara had no other option than to be okay for Handler. Handler would fix her when she got back. She always would.

Press forward.

Elara’s psyche was balancing on a knife’s edge now. First the reminder of Wrought and Layris. Now Faust was dead at her hands.

They had made it difficult, of course, but like Faust had said. She was always the better pilot.

Next target on the chopping block was the Halcyon. Anna. She had been there for Elara’s death, watched as the Moonrise blew itself to smithereens. Elara wondered if she had gotten her message about Krill, gotten to chatting with him. Filled the void that Commander Callisto left when she died.

She flew forward as fast as she could, seeing Sunset pop up on her sensors.

Not yet.

Elara picked up the Lark, sheathing her blade at her side. Halcyon would have to be handled with the Lark, her blade far too damaged and weak to pierce its multiple plates of armor. She still couldn’t tell where the mech was, unable to pick it up on any scans.

Her long range arrays were in ruins, and the Moonrise’s free hand reached behind its neck to rip out the damaged system. It was blaring more warnings than Elara could handle, her senses overloaded from the last two encounters.

Just two more. Then she could be in Handler’s embrace, wash away the regret. Elara was just balancing her ledger.

She ducked behind some rubble as she heard the kinetic launchers of the Sunset pounding on the ground nearby, continuing to run scans for the Halcyon.

“Can’t find the Halcyon.” Elara relayed the information to Handler. She had kept communication to a minimum, but Elara was losing her grip on reality. Handler would anchor her.

What of the Sunset?

Of course Handler would want to know about her. It was only natural.

“Within range. I- I’m not sure I can engage yet,” she stammered.

Saving dessert for last?

Dessert. Sweet Pyralis, the love of her life. Elara couldn’t bring herself to face her. This was all for her.

“Of course, Handler,” Elara stated coldly. She gripped her control panel, pushing the Moonrise away from the Sunset.

A building to her right blew into smithereens as she passed by, the rubble collapsing onto the Moonrise. Her cockpit rocked as her mech was knocked to the floor, buried under the remains of the building.

Halcyon crashed through the destruction, landing on top of the pinned Moonrise. Elara was made to watch as the Moonrise’s left arm was ripped from its socket, and she was pinned in place.

Surprise attack. She needed to get away.

Threaten mutual destruction, then.

Elara turned off the Lark’s cooling systems, allowing her reactor to quickly build heat. Smoke began to emanate as her reactor health quickly began to deteriorate.

The Halcyon stepped back, raising its shields as it noticed the weapon ready to blow.

The Moonrise used its remaining good arm to toss the weapon in its direction, a roar tearing through the battlefield as its reactor went critical.

It was almost poetic, how this time the Halcyon was taking the brunt of the railgun’s detonation.

Of course, it wasn’t nearly as powerful as it was that day. One reactor going critical couldn’t stand up to the energy output being channeled from two individual reactors, allowed to build and released in one wave.

Even so, it would do. Elara witnessed a plume of fire consume the Halcyon, blowing it back into a row of buildings. The Moonrise had taken major damage, of course, but the attack would give her time to recover.

She pushed off the rubble from the Moonrise, drawing her damaged blade and readying it in front of her. It wouldn’t have the same power with just one arm, but given the damage to the Halcyon, Elara still had a fair shot.

The Halcyon took some time to recover from the blast, watching as The Moonrise charged towards it as it was regaining its footing.

A clang rang in Elaras ears as she clashed against the Halcyon’s weapon. Peacekeeper. It was a ranged multipurpose weapon, and built to take a beating.

The Moonrise was knocked back by a sonic blast by the Peacekeeper, Elara feeling blood dripping from her ears. Her shielding had been damaged by the Vernonia, of course. The isolation system had been taken out by Scarab. It almost felt intentional.

Need some help, Hound?

Elara grit her teeth. Not Hound. Not yet. “No. I’ll finish her off.” She spun her blade in the Moonrise’s hand, and raised her scrap shield as the Halcyon blasted another wave at her.

The shield absorbed most of the blast, although Elara’s ears were still ringing from the first. She pumped as much fuel as possible to her thrusters, speeding towards the Halcyon.

Keep up the pressure.

Another swing from her blade glanced off of the Peacekeeper, a quick electromagnetic blast disabling some of her thrusters for a moment. The Moonrise’s foot scraped on the ground as she was knocked off balance, and Elara spun around for a followup attack.

The Halcyon, in the end, was a support mech. It had plenty of weight, but it wasn’t made to take down armored targets on its own. Cleaning up fodder was its main purpose, and Elara was anything but fodder.

A scream of metal being torn in two pierced the air, as Elara cut into the Halcyon. She aimed for where the cockpit was once again, unable to keep herself from imagining the gruesome scene inside.

Anna’s bloody insides being sprayed across the insides of the cockpit, her body turned into mush as the gargantuan blade collided with her.

Elara gagged a little as the blade cut through the other side of the Halcyon, and she quickly sheathed her sword.

“Halcyon disabled.”

One left.