Pyralis led the charge ahead, the Moonrise hovering just above her. She felt fast, the pistons pumping in the Sunset’s legs, adrenaline rushing through Pyr’s veins. She was still getting used to the feeling of running in a body not quite her own, with the Sunset’s tail swinging haphazardly behind its body.

“Three machines approaching, 3-SB, 1-IF, 4-IB,” Elara spoke calmly. She recognized these three. Not only were the Imperials sending out the dead, they were using their memories as a weapon against her.

===

3-SB, Snowball, Erada Hail. Kill 6.

1-IF, Infected, Gregory Hail. Kill 7.

4-IB, Iceberg, Maxine Hail. Kill 10.

She had killed Gregory and Erada together. Gregory’s death had been a mistake, he had jumped in front of Erada’s machine to save her. Her tesla cannon would have just disabled the Snowball nonlethally at her range, but the Infected took a fatal blast. After that, Erada had gone into a rage. He fought with no abandon, and went for a killing shot on a distracted Sunset. He was dead before he could pull the trigger.

Maxine was a different story. She had come a few months later, a singular machine in a field. Non-hostile towards the initial scouting mechs, and she had requested to speak to the pilot of the Moonrise. Her parents’ murderer.

Elara had come to meet the daughter out of guilt, where she was then challenged to a match. Maxine dropped two weapons on the ground, a superheated cannon, and a Hailstorm rifle, Mark 4. The weapons of her parents. “Pick them up, and ‘honor’ their memory, grave robber.” Elara followed as directed.

Much like her father Erada, Maxine fought like a mechanical storm, entering a frenzy-like state. Despite her fury, she was still outmatched by the Moonrise. Her machine half-destroyed, with her weapon in pieces, she surrendered. She exited the Iceberg, firing off her pistol into the sky until it was empty.

Her last request had been to hit Elara, just once. Elara came down, telling herself that she owed the girl at least that. One bit of revenge. The two sat in the desert, as Elara told Maxine how her parents had died. Maxine sat and laughed after Elara had finished.

“Threw away my life for nothing, I guess,” Maxine had said. Elara questioned her, asking what that meant. “Don’t blame yourself too much. We all knew what we signed up for.”

Maxine was never supposed to pilot a mech, her heart was too weak to handle the danger of the job, being pushed to its limits even during sparring. The doctors had given her medication to mitigate the pain, but it did nothing for her overworked body. Maxine had downed the whole bottle before the fight.

“Even if I live through this, I only have maybe a year left on my clock, if anything, this was a favor. Do you mind sitting with me for a while?” The two spoke for a few hours following the fight, watching as the sun went down. Maxine passed peacefully by Elara’s side.

===

“I’ll engage the Iceberg. Sunset on the Snowball. Halcyon with the Infected. If either of you two finish up before me, back me up.” Elara sped ahead to meet the approaching group.

The Iceberg, despite its name, was not a very large mech. It was average sized, and relied on destroying terrain around itself to gain an advantage. The legs of the Iceberg housed two seismic destabilizers, splitting the ground around it, and knocking large groups off balance. Unfortunately for its pilot, the Moonrise never needed to land.

Elara drew her new railgun, pointing it at the machine. Low power. A flash blinded her as the weapon fired. As her vision returned, she could see the Iceberg had raised its shield to block the blow. The shield had been blown to pieces, leaving nothing but a handle. A stick of metal stuck out its chest plating.

A small notification popped up in her display. “Primary weapon recharging, 1 minute until ready to fire.” Krill hadn’t told her about that one. She kind of missed the plasma blaster. She clipped the railgun onto her back, and drew her sword. Not ideal getting up close, given the fight ahead. Elara wasn’t worried about taking down the mech, but sustaining any damage at all this early would cause an issue.

As Elara rushed the Iceberg, the Sunset launched itself off the ground towards the Snowball. Fire beats snow, right? The Snowball raised its cannon towards the airborne mech, launching a searing hot cannonball at it. Pyralis felt herself react on instinct, slashing the metal with the Sunset’s claws. The pieces embedded themselves into the paw as she landed on her enemy.

The Snowball tried to kick the beast off, as Pyr felt her tail grip and hold the mech down. She sent a message to the machine, “Five seconds to give me a reason not to crush you in there right now.”

You rebels lost the second you came out here. Should have-

The Sunset ripped into the downed mech with its jaw, turning the once smooth steel into shrapnel to be processed. Pyralis felt a sense of joy at the kill, protecting her master. “Snowball down.”

“Sunset, my blaster is on recharge, I need long-range support on the Iceberg.” Elara called in. Anna called in at the same time, “Need immediate backup on the Infection. My deflectors are being overwhelmed by its weapon, and it’s corroding my armor.”

The Infection fired acidic ammunition alongside its regular stock with its dual-barrel rifle. Elara noted that a normal Model 1-IF wouldn’t do this, but future models were upgraded to do so. The Imperials were upgrading old machines. “Pyr, go help the Halcyon. I’ll be okay.”

Elara began her engagement with the Iceberg, clashing her blade with its reinforced staff. A liquid burst out of the rod as she cut into it, covering her sword. Cryogenic fluids. Her blade would soon turn brittle from the cold, and likely couldn’t take slamming into another machine for a while. As she silently panicked, the Iceberg shattered the rest of the staff onto her machine. Shit.

Quickly backing off, she checked the timer. Fifteen seconds. The Iceberg began to launch small scale artillery, which would be cold-seeking rockets. Krill told her that her machine had a lot more power now, which meant she could try something. Kicking her reactors into high gear for a moment, and decreasing cooling manually, the mech quickly warmed up. The missiles turned away from her. She stowed her blade, drawing the railgun again.

The Iceberg had its cockpit stored in its head, so she aimed towards the body, firing another blinding blast. “Iceberg down.”

Pyralis had latched herself to the back of the Infection, clawing at its back. Despite being first generation, the Infection was well armored, a particularly powerful frontliner. It was susceptible to magnetic and electric attacks, none of which the group possessed.

Anna struggled in her mech, trying her best to avoid direct hits from her enemy. As the Infection was distracted by the Sunset, she readied an electromagnetic pulse in her weapon, the Peacekeeper. The model 1-IF didn’t have protection against it, from her studying of the records.

The Infection spun, launching Pyralis off its back. She landed on the ground nearby with a sounding thud, quickly climbing to her feet. Anna fired the Peacekeeper, as nothing noticeable occurred.

“Moonrise here, coming in hot. They’ve upgraded the machines, any glaring weaknesses older models had are likely fixed. They’re pulling out all the stops today.” Elara did feel a little better knowing these weren’t exact replicas of the machines she’d killed. Let the dead rest for a while.

The drew her blade again, slamming it into the recovering Infection. It shattered on impact, pieces of metal flying everywhere. Elara detonated the weapon, blowing off the Infection’s right arm.

Anna blasted her Peacekeeper again, this time with a sonic pulse. The Infection was stunned, falling to the ground.

The Infection sent an emergency broadcast to the rebels.

Wait. Please. I’m sorry. I surrender. Is the pilot of the IB alive? Please tell me she’s alive.

Elara slammed her mech’s hand into the Infection’s chest, ripping out a core. “Surrender accepted, Imperial. I did not kill the pilot of the Iceberg. She should have survived the attack. What’s the plan for your attack?”

Please, I can’t tell you anything. They’ll send us to the kennel- I’ve already said too much. Just let us live. You won’t ever see us again.

Kennel? Elara hadn’t heard of the punishment before. “What’s the kennel? We’ll take you two as prisoners, as long as you cooperate.” She needed to know what the Empire’s endgame was here. Why were they sending an entire battalion just for her? Why torture her with ghosts?

You don’t understand, Moonrise. I- please. I can’t go there. I’ve seen what comes out. I’d rather die he-

The line cut out, as the head of the Infection exploded, along with an explosion in the distance, where she had downed the Iceberg. Did the Imperials just kill their own soldiers?

“Intelligence, come in. I need everything you have on the ‘kennels’. An Imperial soldier was just killed for mentioning it, and it sounds like it’s related to the attack.” Elara didn’t understand. The Imperials punished defecting with death. They didn’t torture their own, unless they suspected they were a spy. They’d never killed their own pilots for surrendering before.

Are you sure they said kennel, Moonrise?

It was General Frill’s voice on the line. Why was he even asking?

“Yes. What does that mean, General? Anything at all helps.” Elara was getting more worried by the minute. More Imperial mechs approached on her radar, and the Halcyon wasn’t in good shape. “Advise on future plans. Halcyon damaged, likely won’t survive another scrape.”

Do not let the enemy get their hands on you, Commander. It’s a-

The General was cut off, as long-range communications went down. The Imperials had set up a jammer. “General, come in! Frill, respond!” Elara yelled into her communicator. “General, what is the kennel?”

Anna spoke up, “Whatever it is doesn’t matter right now. We need to push forward fast, Commander. Their artillery is still being set up.” She looked at her systems, walking over to the downed Infection. “I’m going to salvage armor here, you two go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Something was bugging Elara about the deaths of the two pilots. They had implanted bombs in their cockpits, entirely separately powered. Something was seriously wrong. The timing of the jammer was too convenient. “Affirmative, Halcyon.” She headed towards the Sunset, drawing a new blade. Three left.

“At least eight mechs heading our way. Three 5-VH, two 3-CB, and three 5-WB. You might want to pick up another sword.” Pyralis’ radar seemingly still worked, still able to see the incoming machines. Six airborne, two on the ground.

5-VH, Valhalla, Frigg Hallow. Kill eight.

3-CB, Cowbell, Ouros Alamic. Kill nine.

5-WB, Wingbeat, Ghyll Mash. Kill four.

Elara grabbed another blade from the Sunset’s side. “Two birds, one stone?” She was referring to a maneuver the two had practiced.

“Yes miss. Maybe a few more birds, if we’re lucky.” Pyr was smiling. She loved this trick. Pyralis waited as the Moonrise flew up and ahead, following a good distance behind.

Pyr watched as Elara blocked some gunfire with her shield, as they neared the incoming group of mechs. She could tell more weren’t far behind, so the two would need to clean up here quickly. “Ready to launch,” Pyralis spoke.

“Prepared for impact. Fetch, girl.” Elara replied. Pyralis felt her world fade as she said those words. The Sunset kicked the ground behind it, soaring towards the Moonrise. Elara braced her mech, boosting the Moonrise’s thrusters as the Sunset landed on its shoulders.

This was a precise attack, and Pyralis was a little surprised she had done it with the new controls. The Sunset kicked again, sending the Moonrise towards the ground, as it soared higher. The digitigrade mech flew towards a small group of Valhalla and Wingbeat. Elara collided with a Cowbell, landing on it with her blades sinking into its sides. Pyr reached out as far as she could, while firing off the Sunset’s armor-piercing cannons. A drop of drool fell to her seat, as she could feel her heart pumping.

A satisfying crunch filled Pyralis’ ears, as she collided into a Valhalla and caught a Wingbeat with her claw. An armor-piercing round slammed into another Wingbeat in the group. The four mechs began falling to the earth, the Sunset landing on top of the Valhalla and Wingbeat she had caught, crushing them. The other Wingbeat fell nearby. “Two fliers down, one on the ground.” She slammed her claws into the two mechs below her, ensuring they were dead.

Meanwhile, Elara felt her blades cut into the dense plating of the Cowbell like butter, the fall having sent the Moonrise into the mech below her at high speeds. She grinned, blowing the charge in her left blade, as she twisted her right blade. The mech fell to the right, straight into the weapon as it was cut in half.

Two Valhalla, one Wingbeat in the air. One Wingbeat and one Cowbell on the ground.

Pyralis felt her arm heat up, as she pressed forward. “I’ll finish off the ones on the ground.”

Elara discarded the destroyed blade in the Moonrise’s left hand, before turning her thrusters power up. She stowed the blade at her side, drawing the railgun again, firing it. A Valhalla unit crashed out of the sky, one of its thrusters having blown out from the blast. The other machines wavered as they were blinded by the flash.

The Wingbeat on the ground clambered up, aiming a plasma cannon at the rapidly approaching Sunset. It fired, the blast quickly blocked by the mech’s tail. Pyralis smiled, getting more used to the new weapon. She pounced, slamming her claws into the frontside of the Wingbeat, her tail wrapping around towards its back. Pyr went for the head, ripping it off. She was a good girl, protecting her master.

One Valhalla, one Wingbeat, one Cowbell.

A cacophony of blasts sounded off as a few of the downed mechs had their cockpits explode. Elara felt stunned, watching them all detonate. Why were the Imperials killing their own pilots?

Taking advantage of Elara’s shock, the Valhalla unit charged forward, slamming its blade into the body of the Moonrise. The inside of the mech shook as she saw a thruster go offline. She boosted the thrusters in her left leg, slamming it into the Valhalla. It backed away, releasing the blade still stuck inside the Moonrise. She cut the weapon into pieces, leaving the chunk lodged into the Moonrise’s side.

“Sustained damage, no critical systems hit,” Elara relayed to Pyr. “There’s more incoming. Any sign of Halcyon?” She threw her sword at the retreating Valhalla unit, detonating its core as it contacted. The unit fell out of the sky, leaving the Wingbeat.

Pyralis was dealing with her own issues down below, the Cowbell blasting her with some sort of sonic weapon integrated into its body. Every sense felt overloaded, as she felt the sound ring through her body. The new ears were making her more sensitive to the noise, as she felt blood trickle down from her nose. “Halcyon on its way, having trouble with the CB unit.” A Valhalla unit hit the ground near her, followed by another.

The Moonrise drew its railgun again, moving back out of range of the remaining Wingbeat. Still charging. “What’s incoming? Not sure how long we can hold out, no sign of stopping.” Elara readied the weapon, aiming. Ready. The Wingbeat launched a set of artillery as she blew a hole straight through its core. It dropped instantly, as she raised her shield, only taking a stray missile.

“Six 2-CF units, four 2-GR, three 5-VH in the rear. One 2-SD and 4-XF in the lead. We need to retreat.” Pyralis was sweating, her arm burning. “I don’t think I can keep fighting much longer, my arm feels like it’s cooking.” She had landed onto the last Imperial mech, tearing into the Cowbell as she felt more blood drip onto her seat.

Elara hovered closer to the ground, drawing the last two blades from the Sunset. “Understood. You go ahead, I’ll be behind you to cover us.” She knew that the 2-SD and 4-XF were faster than both of them, and would catch up. She felt responsible for taking care of them.

2-SD, Stormdrain, Artifice C. Kill 1.

4-XF, Dragonfly, Sylla C. Kill 2.

Pyralis nodded, beginning her sprint towards the approaching Halcyon. “Good luck, Ellie. Shout if you need help.” Pyr was unsure of leaving her to deal with the two alone.

The Moonrise followed behind at a slower pace, given the damage to its thruster controller. “Of course, sunshine. I’ll be right behind you.”