Pyralis couldn’t take her eyes off the radar as the Sunset approached the ruins. ‘Arral’, the once mighty city built on trade and pacifistic ideals. One of the first to fall as Imperials scrambled to rip away any access to resources from the Rebel army.
It wasn’t a coincidence. Pyralis knew this city inside out, as did Elara. Pyralis had spent almost a year here scavenging after the town she had lived in was destroyed in the Imperial advance. She’d likely spent a night in almost half the buildings in the city.
Of course, another report of a rebel base in the heart of the dead city being attacked had reached Weaver. Fool her once, Pyralis thought. There was no question as to who it was.
She had gathered Anna and Faust as soon as she received the notification, with Layris tagging along in her new machine. Pyralis was happy to have her with them, but worried that she wouldn’t be able to control herself when seeing Elara. If there was any chance at getting her back, Pyralis was willing to take it.
Anna had convinced her otherwise, and it wasn’t as if they had time to argue. Elara was waiting. Pyralis had almost begged Layris to take mercy on Elara before entering the Sunset. She wasn’t sure that she had listened.
As the four neared the city, she watched as the new mech that Layris was piloting activated its projected-image technology. It was experimental tech that Krill had been working on, and had been tooled to project a mech similar to the late Anvil.
She wasn’t particularly close to Wrought, but he had been a central figure on base for several years now. He was like a father to half the trainees. His death had hit the base hard, the silence comparable to that which followed Elara’s funeral.
Bang.
A flash blinded Pyralis for a moment, but she shouted before she had time to blink in response. “Anna!” It was almost instinctual, this exact scenario having played out in her dreams dozens of times before.
Already on it.
Anna activated her anti-targeting systems as soon as she could. Every pilot there knew it would do nothing to lower Elara’s accuracy, but it would stop her from scanning their machines.
The longer they could keep up the ruse the better.
She could tell that Elara had activated her cloaking, but the new enhanced sensor array integrated straight into her occipital lobe made the Moonrise trivial to follow. “Three o’ clock, I’ll keep you updated. Keep heading straight ahead. You’re up first, Vernonia.”
It felt wrong to take the place of a commander still, filling Elara’s shoes. The responsibility fell on her though, especially now that Frill was… gone. Layris would be heading in first, to get in as much damage as possible before the Halcyon came in to prevent too much damage to the Vernonia.
Pyralis especially wanted her to head in first to make sure she wouldn’t take advantage of Elara’s weakened state and… finish her off. She wanted to trust her, but if somebody had killed Elara, Pyralis wasn’t sure she could hold back either.
Affirmative, Commander.
Layris had never sounded so serious on a mission before, although Pyralis hadn’t ever seen her deployed without Wrought by her side.
Pyralis still appreciated the help, but being addressed like that still… hurt.
Here goes nothing.
No killing. Layris repeated the words in her head over and over. This was her friend here. Her husband’s murderer. Her maid of honor. The person who had made her a widow.
Layris slammed her scrap-hammer into the side of the Moonrise as she breathed out between her teeth. She hoped Elara would get a concussion from the impact. Some part of her hoped that her head had split open on the side of her cockpit.
Breathe.
She imagined that Wrought was here, by her side. He was right behind her. She just needed to fight. Keep him safe. They’d both make it home today.
The Moonrise fired a spike at the projection of the Anvil, and Layris smirked. If it was Elara in there, she was slower on the uptake than usual. She took the opportunity to take another swing at the Moonrise, feeling a rush of endorphins as she watched sparks fly with the impact.
A concrete wall caved in as the Moonrise collided with it, having been knocked back by the force of the blow. Layris felt blood begin to trickle down from her nose, taking a moment to wipe it away with her arm. She felt lightheaded from rage.
Mistake.
She was caught off guard as the Moonrise recovered faster than she had ever seen. It was inhuman. The machine got to its feet and launched forward in seconds, and suddenly a blade slashed straight towards her center mass.
Layris raised her scrap hammer to block instinctively, breathing a sigh of relief as the blade barely missed her core. She backed up into the projection of the Anvil, but to her surprise the Moonrise chased her into the field.
Could she see in here? Layris had specifically designed her optical system to be unaffected by the static that her projections caused with basic systems. She sidestepped a swing from the Moonrise, watching as it lodged its blade into a building behind her.
Sloppy, but fast. This wasn’t Elara. The once surgical knife on the battlefield was now this brutish cleaver. She didn’t move like this.
Layris took the opportunity to slam her hammer into the back of the Moonrise, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction as rebar and concrete bent and crumbled under the Moonrise.
Unfortunately, the impact had freed the Moonrises blade. Layris charged forward, blasting straight towards the Moonrise. She had to do this. Just one more hit. For him.
For her.
…
The Vernonia’s systems shut down in a flash, and suddenly she was left sitting in a dark cockpit.
Layris hit her console so hard that she felt her bones slam against one another. She hadn’t even lasted five minutes against her. Forget revenge, this was just pathetic.
Elara was certainly the better pilot, but this? Layris haven’t ever had this poor a performance sparring with her. Whatever was in there wasn’t just Elara.
She pulled out a backup communicator, a non-integrated device that didn’t need to run on reactor power. “I’m down. Got three hits in before she took me down. There’s no way it’s just Elara in there. She’s twice the pilot I remember, and four times as desperate.”
“Why not just rush her all at once?” Pyralis asked. She was confused why Frill was suggesting they try to face Elara one-on-one, knowing each one of them would lose even before whatever the Imperials had done to her.
Frill turned to face Pyr. “We know what happens when we back her into a corner. You wanted a plan to bring her home. If she blows her reactor, odds are she won’t survive the blast a second time.”
Pyralis looked lost for a moment, that scared look in her eyes returning as she remembered the blast. Anna had a similar terror in her eyes, freezing up as well.
Frill gave the two a moment before continuing. “Additionally, it gives you time to regroup. Any damage done should be to non vital areas if she’s aiming for where your cockpit used to be. While she engages with one of you, another can get a downed machine up again.”
Faust scoffed, obviously displeased with the current plan. “You want us to risk her making one stray strike at our cockpit, killing us by accident, while the others just sit on the sidelines?”
Frill didn’t deign the question with a response. The current plan was almost suicidal, but the mission was to bring back Elara alive. The risk to the other pilot’s lives would have to be a choice they made on their own.
This was stupid. This was suicide.
Faust couldn’t believe that they were doing this. This was the least well-put operation that they had ever taken part of. Why the hell had they agreed to this?
On your nine.
Pyralis’ voice buzzed over the communication system. Likely some interference.
Quickly turning their head, Faust was faced with the full sight of the Moonrise, donning Imperial black. It brought back memories, and bile to the front of their mouth. Whatever was in front of them right now was unnatural. A plain reminder of why they had agreed to do this.
Nobody deserved this.
Bang.
Faust felt the Scarab’s top right arm snap from its socket, the tether attached to it flying back. A wave of plasma flew forth from the Moonrise’s weapon, and Faust disconnected the pinned arm as the hot blasts coalesced onto its target.
The resulting explosion kicked up a cloud of dust, which Faust was grateful for. They launched another one of their tethered arms towards where they had seen the Moonrise, feeling it collide with the machine through their haptic connection.
Faust pulled in, quickly coming into view of the Moonrise and attaching to it. Another wave of plasma came, but Faust let it impact as they closed the distance.
Now locked onto their enemy, Faust began to cut away at the Moonrise’s back. Targeting and sensor circuitry was the first to go, and thruster fuel lines were almost equally as important.
Maybe it was carelessness. Maybe it was because they saw this as a suicide mission. Either way the result was the same.
The Moonrise’s blade pierced through the Scarab’s abdomen. It wasn’t exactly where its cockpit was, but close enough. The armor did little to help as Faust witnessed the massive blade enter their cockpit, shearing off their arm.
Blood gushed from the wound, staining the cockpit with a horrible fresh red. Faust tasted iron, and as their cockpit was exposed to the outside light, they choked down a scream.
Pain weaved its way through their body, and Faust felt themselves throw up from the injuries. They were dazed, and everything seemed to blink in and out as they processed what just happened.
Faust was thrown around the cockpit as the Scarab was thrown off to the side, sputtering even more of Faust’s lifeblood as they hit the roof of the cockpit. They could feel the crunch of bone as they hit the floor again.
This is what I deserve.
They used the last of their energy to reach out to the communicator that had been thrown across the insides of the cockpit, turning it on.
“This is it. Tell Spark I enjoyed her company. Good luck.” Faust coughed up blood, vision going blurry as rivers continued to pour from the open wound where their arm used to be.
Pyralis yelled over the communicator. Faust couldn’t tell what she was saying. Everything felt so… cold. Faust embraced the chill that washed over their dying body.
Faust Theadora wondered what name would be engraved on their her headstone. Would they she even get one? They She wondered how long it would take until the others found the letter under their her bed.
Faust, Rebel Pilot.
Theadora, Butcher of Warren.
God, how long had it been since somebody had called them her that?
She They was were dead now. Faust Theadora would be joining her them soon.
Just one thing. Just one thing and Theadora would be free from Imperial control. One set of canisters. One key stolen. One ventilation system overridden.
Dozens dead. Genocide. All in a matter of minutes.
But she was free after that. Free to do whatever she wanted. Safe.
Free to realize what she had done. Free to recognize the tragedy she had caused.
Free to hold the gun to her head. Free to pull the trigger.
General Frill found her. What was left of her. She was just a trainee to him. He thought she couldn’t take her comrades being dead. He was right, in a way.
Faust was born from whatever pieces of Theadora weren’t torn away by the bullet. Rose through the ranks. Fought against the Imperials. Tried to blame them for the massacre, more than once. It didn’t help the guilt.
See you soon, Theadora.
Faust! Please come in Faust!
Pyralis screamed over the channel, Anna recoiling away from her communicator.
Anna bowed her head in silence, doing her best to come to terms with what just occurred. “Pyralis.”
Pyralis didn’t stop.
Hello?! Faust, come in. I’m coming to your location no-
“Shut up!” Anna held a hand over her mouth as soon as she spoke the words. The communicator went silent. She took a breath, wiping away a tear before turning the communicator off.
She sent a message over regular communications in text. “Sorry. Engaging target next. Stick to the plan.”
They didn’t have time to mourn. This was the best chance they had. She had to make Faust’s sacrifice worth it. She left the site of the downed Vernonia, letting Layris finish up any repairs necessary to get back into semi-working order.
It was her turn now. She had to make it home. Anna refused to leave Layris alone again, not so soon after Wrought was torn from her. She would not let Elara destroy the lov- her best friend.
A message from Pyralis popped up on her dashboard.
[Sunset]: Six o’ clock. Passing in ten seconds.
Back to business, then.
She hid behind a building, counting the seconds. Every moment that passed Anna gripped her controls tighter, holding her breath. This had to be perfect.
Now.
The Halcyon ripped through the building, immediately locking onto the damaged Moonrise. It looked like Faust had done some damage. To her luck, the Moonrise had been caught off guard, and Anna knocked it to the ground.
She pinned it down, and grabbed its arm with the Halcyon. Hardly a fair move, but this wasn’t a sparring match. The scream of metal and rubber tearing pained Anna as she ripped the Moonrise’s left arm off.
Anna watched on her systems as heat began to build in the Moonrise’s railgun. The sight sent shivers through her, remembering the last time she had seen it. The explosion.
Had she torn off a heat regulation system? The Moonrise should have had an automatic system to turn the reactor off if she had hit a critical component.
Without realizing, Anna had backed the Halcyon away from the overheating weapon. In a matter of seconds the weapon was no longer in the Moonrise’s good arm, and now in her face.
The blast shook the cockpit of the Halcyon, and Anna felt the machine impact a building as it was sent flying. Fuck. Anna punched herself for letting such a stupid attack get her. She hadn’t even thought for a second, too lost in the memory of that day.
It was going to cost her this fight.
The Moonrise launched forward, and Anna barely raised her weapon, the Peacekeeper, in time to block a swing from its sword. The metal cut into her weapon, but lined up the Moonrise neatly in place in front of the barrel.
Click.
A sonic pulse blasted from the Peacekeeper, and Anna could almost see Elara recoil from the blast. Her shielding must have been damaged. She fired off another blast, but the Moonrise raised its shield. It seemed to be effective at blocking auditory assaults.
The Moonrise launched forward, keeping its shield raised. Anna quickly switched the peacekeeper to an electromagnetic pulse, firing it off. She breathed a sigh of relief as the Moonrise was knocked off balance, almost anticipating the machine to hit the floor.
Of course, she was stupid to hope. This was still Elara. To Anna’s horror, the Moonrise slammed its foot onto the ground and spun around, tearing into the Halcyon with its blade.
Anna tensed up as the blade collided with her machine, and the power cut. No further assault came, and she pulled out the communicator she had switched off not ten minutes ago.
“Left arm removed. Damage to thrusters and likely hit by sonic blast. Faust seems to have taken out any scanning capabilities.” She sat back in her seat as she waited for Layris to come pick her up.
Affirmative.
Pyralis responded. Her voice cracked for a moment, obviously still reeling from Faust’s death. Anna wished she could say the same, but the nerves from battle had torn away any sense of loss she had been feeling. She should be sad, right?
Yet, all she could feel was relief. Layris was alive. She was alive. Everything was going according to plan.