“Moonrise! Sunset! Come in, this is Halcyon!” Anna was yelling over the short-range communications. The Halcyon was running towards them. “It’s a trap, Moonrise, do you hear me?”

Elara listened as Anna’s voice fizzled through her communicator. “Halcyon, come in. This is Moonrise, what do you mean by trap?” What happened to Anna? Her machine looked significantly more damaged than when she had last seen it, its armor messily patched together with hunks of metal from other machines.

Anna let out a pant over the communicator, “Bombardment was bait, long-range communication went back up as soon as you left my range. Hammer and Anvil reported no mechs at their location. 6-WB’s started coming up from my rear. Frill never got a transmission from us.” She paused to catch her breath.

That couldn’t be right. Elara had heard his voice, Anna had listened to him cut out as the jammer went up. There weren’t supposed to be any enemies to their rear. “What do you mean he never got a transmission, Halcyon? You heard him just as well as me.”

“That wasn’t Frill, Commander. Scarab’s team was intercepted on their way back to base, the Imperials are trying to separate you. They’ve sent a wall of cloaked units behind us. There’s no way out.” Anna sounded scared, her voice shaking. “My core is damaged, running on fumes here. I don’t know if we’ll make it out of this, Commander.”

Long-range communication had been intercepted, then. Elara grit her teeth, stopping the Moonrise by the Halcyon. “We’re retreating, a wave is charging us from the front. My thrusters are damaged, so we can’t outrun some of them, we’ll need to take them down quickly. Calm down, pilot. You’ll make it out of here, you have my word.” Empty promises, but she couldn’t have Anna lose hope. “Pyralis is injured, and I’m running out of steam. I handle the incoming two machines first, you two punch through the rear perimeter. Regroup.”

“Affirmative, Commander.” Anna decided to trust in Elara, if only to soothe her own worries. Pyralis echoed in agreement.

The Moonrise raised its railgun, aiming in the direction of the approaching Dragonfly and Stormdrain units.

Bang.

She struck the Stormdrain unit in the shoulder, ripping away some of its armor. Low-power shots weren’t effective at this range, but any little advantage would help. “2-SD and 4-XF units approaching. Good luck, you two.” Elara charged forward at the Imperial mechs, pulling out her swords. Her opponents unsheathed similar looking blades to her own.

The originals.

Pyralis began bounding away from the Moonrise, a tinge of worry making her hesitate for a moment. Elara should be able to handle those two alone, right? She hadn’t purposefully avoided engaging with any Stormdrain or Dragonfly models ever since she had torn her arms off.

“I choose us, Elara.” The Sunset turned around, going after the Moonrise. The Halcyon paused as its pilot saw where their partner was going.

“Sunset, get back here. I’m not dying to an Imperial attack because you’re too scared to leave your lover’s side,” Anna growled into her communicator. “My job is to get you two safely out of here.” The Halcyon turned and gave chase to the Sunset. “Assistant Commander Pyralis, halt.”

Elara noticed the following machine, and sighed. “Anna, stall for as long as possible. I’ll try to finish up quickly here. Pyr, I’m punishing you when we get back for this.” She slowed her pace a little to allow the Sunset to catch up.

The incoming Dragonfly unfurled massive mechanical wings, taking to the sky. Elara recalled the specs of the machine. It was a glider, the wings only allowing it to stay up in the air longer. Much like the Sunset, it relied on powerful legs to launch up, slashing at their opponent as they flew by. The Moonrise raised its blades, parrying the incoming blow.

Pyr launched herself at the speeding mech, doing her best to claw at its wings before they folded back behind its slash-resistant armor. The two beasts collided, metal folding in on itself as they slammed into each other. Pyralis felt her head slam against her monitor, feeling blood trickling down her forehead. Ignore it. She opened the Sunset’s jaws, spewing molten metal onto the head of the Dragonfly.

A thunderous boom rang through the field as the Stormdrain engaged Moonrise. It wielded a single blade, alongside a massive Tesla cannon housed in its left arm. It swung low, cutting into the lower body of the Moonrise. Elara watched as more thrusters went offline. She responded with a slash towards its arm. The Stormdrain pulled back, leaving its sword in the Moonrise.

Panic set in, as Elara realized how poorly this fight was going for her. The tip of the Stormdrain’s blade was specially designed to guide the Tesla-cannon housed in the machine. She had removed the feature from her own swords after retiring the Tesla-cannon from use. Kill four. The Imperial mech readied itself, raising its arm.

Elara dropped the sword in her left hand, grabbing the blade in her chest. She ripped it out, watching as her cooling system went offline. Her reactor would overheat soon. The Imperial mech blasted, destroying the removed sword, as well as frying the Moonrise’s left arm.

The Dragonfly and Sunset hit the ground, as Pyr bit down on its now weakened head. She clawed at its body, the screeching of metal against metal ripping through her head. She gripped on tight with her tail, melting through the underside of the machine. In response, the Dragonfly slammed its blade through its stomach, piercing into the belly of the Sunset. Pyralis felt a shock through her system as the sword slid through her mech.

Blood dripped down into her eyes, blinding her momentarily. She blindly swung the Sunset’s claws, screaming as her right arm burned. She tore off the Dragonflies head, continuing to slam into the downed machine. Kill. Us or them. Kill.

As her mind cleared, she checked her display. Her hind legs were heavily damaged, her kinetic boosters completely offline. The Sunset was forced to crawl. She checked on Elara, seeing the one-armed Moonrise charging its enemy.

“Need backup, now.” Anna yelled out, a horde of small 1-CB units swarming her mech. Her weapon lay in pieces on the ground, the Halcyon now swinging barehanded, while being covered. “Please, Moonrise. Sunset.”

Elara slammed her last blade into the Stormdrain, detonating it as it pierced through the Imperial’s armor. “Stormdrain down. O-” The Moonrise’s legs wouldn’t move. “I’m stuck, lower hydraulics offline, Sunset?”

“Kinetics offline, walking over. I can’t do much.” Pyralis sounded defeated, as the Sunset slowly started dragging itself towards the Halcyon.

The Moonrise used its one good arm to grab its railgun, pointing it in the direction of the Halcyon. The machine was barely visible now, covered by well over a dozen CB units. “Anna, if you can hear me. It was an honor serving by your side. Raise every form of shielding you can. Get Pyralis home safe.”

Pyr looked back, seeing Elara raising its weapon. She started to tear up. “Wait, Ellie, please you ca-”

“Deactivate safety, passkey Gerard.” Elara shifted all the power possible towards the weapon, as the Moonrise touched the ground for the first time since the start of the fight. “I love you, Pyralis. See you on the other side.”

Click.