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Chapter 27.Warzone in the Suburbs

It had evaded the Blues this long, staying in the large shadows, in the darkness of a seemingless endless night. Now it was approaching the pinnacle of its mission, FINAL DESTINATION. Now as it approached the beacon it had been following its footsteps echoed down the street, causing people to poke their heads out of windows and doors to see what the ruckus was about. They were quick to duck back in when they realized it was a black monstrosity taking a late night stroll down their street. The large log cabin-esque house stood before the beast, coming to a stop as it raised its right arm towards the dwelling.-

-Due to the indoor location of the beacon a positive exact position could not be confirmed. Any residents would hear a high-pitched whirring noise, like an engine slowly gaining speed in an automobile. It became a loud whine, steam released from several areas either punctured or damaged by the hail of fire the weapon had taken. A sadistic grin seemed to take hold of the saurian's mechanical face, its triangular serrated teeth slowly appearing from their housings in its silver gums as it brought its gattling gun to bear on the house.-

-If the house was armored, Gamma could not tell by the immediate appearance. The electronic trigger was pulled, spraying hundreds of armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds from the 5-barreled .50 caliber gattling gun. The monster's right arm tracked back and forth, up and down, trying to perforate the dwelling and destroy the target, as was its mission. It kept up a continuous spray for several long seconds, calls flooding the Blue Base in Kalaa and the emergency phone lines as Gamma began its devastating assault on the house.

"Shit shit shit shit shit. What the hell happened to my security system?"

Jack Harold runs franticly around his basement, flipping switchs and hitting buttons to activate all manner of devices. Most of the upper portion of his house was already destroyed but the think layer of armored plating between the upper floors and the basement were keeping him safe as any entrances to his alcove were filled with even more steel. He arms himself with an EMP bomb powerful enough to power-down the whole city and an amazingly powerful, experimental energy rifle just in case it gets through.

Mechanized, armored, non-mobile drones begin popping out of the walls of his hideout as well as from his front yard and start scanning for any hostile targets. The dozen or so drones in the front yard begin firing wildly at the target with standard ballistics, covenant energy weapons, high-explosives, a couple even fire some localized EMP blasts at the creature.

As the rain of gunfire and whatnot pours on the adversary, a 7-foot tall, blue-armored, mechanical man leaps from the woods at an amazing speed, guns blazing, with a bladed left hand extended towards his target. Then as quickly as it had attacked, he dives back into the woods and out of sight.

Once again Gamma was a bullet-magnet, but his designers had anticipated this. Black, scorched armor cracked and sloughed off, revealing the pristine underlayer of silver alloy. Every plate was rounded or bent at obtuse angles, causing a rather high percent of the solid shell rounds fired at the beast to ricochet or only gain minimal penetration. High explosives left black, carbon-streaked burns on the armor, melting the metal before it refused, just like Riggs's armor was known to do.-

-EMPs seemed to have little to no effect on the monster at this point, temporarily causing its line of fire to arc wildly into another building or house. Gamma was quick however to realign and designate his targets, spraying armor-piercing rounds over the drones with the strongest weapons first, then lesser enemies solid shell weapons.-

-Covenant weapons had the strangest effect on Gamma however, plasma bursts splashing over the silver underlayer. The more an area was hit, the deeper it began to glow a shade of blue. when Gamma bent low and unleashed his flamethrower on several nearby drones the flames were actually glowing white and were accompanied by spurts of blue and green plasma hidden in the firestorm. The plasmabursts seemed to be powering Gamma as the EMPs weakened him, causing a bizarre balance in the beast's rampage.-

-The mechanical man actually elicited a show of surprise from the beast, falling back as the sudden spray of armaments hammered his left shoulder, managing to scar and dent the silver plating that shown beneath. The blade however was a complete shock, actually slicing through the armor to let green and blue hydraulic fluid spurt from the wound the weapon had opened. It moved through the silver plating as though a Covenant energy blade was cutting through flesh, parting and vaporizing metal.-

-Gamma continued on the more imminent threats, primarily the heavier weapons and the drones attacking him. His targetting systems had trouble tacking the blue android, causing him to actually forget about the enemy all together. However the mechanical man's luck was not in the right place. Though he'd scored a successful hit on one monster another was actually waiting for him in the nearby brush at the edge of the forest.-

-As the mechanical man entered the woods she struck, a snarling howl announcing her location. Humid air, wavering with the appearance of a heat mirage gave form to a beast of gray and azure armor, its visor a bright purple. Large rectangular blocks on its forearms opened forward towards her hands, long multi-segmented blades expanding from each slot. Beta released a deep growl, possibly of excitement as she swung her arms out, the blades clicking several times as each segment detatched from the last. They slashed through the air, 12ft long segmented whips of black metal, like long tendrils of razor wire slicing through the foliage around her.-

-Beta's left arm slashed out towards the robot's visor from left to right, the whip from her left forearm swinging in a wide arc as it burned through small tree trunks and dense flora. The edges of every small razor segment burned red hot, small fires starting in their path as they reached out for the face of the Blue robot. The monster's right arm came around in the opposite direction, bringing its right lash whip farther down towards the robot's waist. The rear edge on this whip was heated, but the foredge facing the robot was not. It could be inferred that the monster could designate which sides of the blades it wanted heated. The second whip was comming to wrap around the robot's waist rather than slice or burn through it.

Nathaniel's upgrades allow him the speed needed to duck beneath the attack aimed at his head, but not enough to jump over the tendril trying to wrap itself around him. It successfully wraps around his waist and the combat droid immediatly strikes at the whip holding it with his bladed left hand; while at the same time, panels in his chest blow away, revealing 4 tiny, high-powered, albeit in-accurate, gatling guns loaded with armor piercing rounds. The four chest guns and the assault rifle mounted on his right arm, all belt fed, begin pummeling away at the beast that has him captive and the rocket launcher monted on his sholder swivels forward and unleashes a pair of high explosive rockets from its modified four-round clip at the attacker.

------------------------------------------

In the meantime, Jack had been working with a few emergency devices while attemping to re-establish connection with Lennalli.

"Jim, I got you message about the helmet. I don't understand why, but I'll be launching the helmet outside when you arrive. I'll be rather vulnerable while the supply chute is open so let me know when you're ready for it."

The former corporal then gets to work assembling a short range device to rocket-propel the helmet up and out of the overhead supply chute from his home-made RPG launcher.

After the first cluster of rounds carved silver gashes across her black armor Beta decided she had had enough of this mechanized man. She had larger targets, and this being was merely a secondary threat. As the mechanical man hacked and cut at the whip around his waist the black coils began to conduct electricity from the powered armor across Beta's body, opening circuits to let power flow into each band. Small silver knicks and cuts appeared in the coil as each seperate link tightened and contracted, Beta going into a flat-out run in a closing circle around the armored mechanical soldier. Several armor-piercing rounds found their way into her armor, rivelets of crimson blood flowing from each cut and wound.-

-The rockets were a surprise to the beast, but its left whip was available for use. Beta slung the linked blades of her left heat whip above her head before slashing them into the oncomming rockets. She grunted in pain as the rockets detonated, destroying several segments at the end of her left tendril. However the explosion yielded to super-heated shrapnel as those segments were blown apart, their momentum carrying their whizzing and whirling pieces through the shockwave and towards the captive robot. As the heat from Beta's right whip reached critical temperatures at 1,500 degrees C, the melting point of iron the right whip began to retract into its housing. This caused each bladed segment to slash across the midsection of the robot continuing to constrict as they tore and slid across its waistline.-

-Gamma had finally dealt with the remaining fortified armaments on the abode, now turning his attention as Beta's signature ignited on his radar.-

PRIMARY TARGET LOCATED.
INITIATE PRIMARY PROTOCOL...exe.ENDGAME

-Gamma's gattling cannon temporarily haulted the armor-piercing spray it had been hammering the house with, the barrels however remaining in motion so that a target could be locked on and hammered with the seemingly endless amount of ammunition Gamma possessed. On the contrary, Gamma had begun firing 3 to 15 round bursts depending on the defenses in the last few minutes. Either the weapon was overheating horribly or Gamma was finally running low. The beast did not immediately target Beta, the blue mechanical man she was running around immediately taking precedence for the wound it had placed in Gamma earlier. Three lines intersected in the center of Gamma's HUD, right on the upper torso of the robot as the gattling cannon spat a continuous rain of fire upon Nathaniel. Total annihilation of the enemy was Gamma's goal, and it had the weapon to get such a job done.-

-From the passenger seat of the Warthog Riggs listened to the message. He turned his attention to the sound of the gattling gun's fire, a roar so much like the one his own armor made it sent shivers of excitement across his body. He listened to the message from the man who had his helmet, nodding to Lenalli before pointing in the direction of the battle.-

"The big one's turned his attention away from the house now. Something over there in the tree line, I can't make it out but you can see those long trails of orange, and the fire. Something hot's going down in there. Have him fire out the helmet now, I'll get it undetected. After that....bring as many Blues as you've got...if I don't succeed, I'll at least fuck them up enough so that you can deliver the killing blows. Good luck, Lenalli."

-Riggs held his hand out to Lenalli, the worst of enemies the best of friends in this moment.

Lennalli looked Riggs in the eye and accepted the handshake firmly.

"Good luck."

He then flipped on his radio, first to contact Mr. Harold.

"Jack, Riggs is on his way to the drop point, get the helmet out here now!"

The helmet launched out of a one foot square hole in the ground about 20 yards to the east of the warthog, flying about 25 feet into the air then falling straight down coming to rest onto the now closed trap door where it was launched from as Lennalli contacted Rho.

"Torrick, I need you to send word to empty bases Beta, Delta, Zeta, and Pi. I need as many soldiers as I can spare here at the formal corporal Harold's house here in the east side of Kalaa."

There's static, yelling, and the sound of soldiers rushing around as the warrent officer responds.

"Sir, I've already emptied Beta and Omicron to assist with the crisis at Epsilon. Something happened there. The structure itself is barely standing. I'll send the soldiers from Delta, Zeta and Pi, and as many as I can spare from here at Rho."

"Shit, Alright, Torrick, I've got a crisis of my own to deal with here, and one at a time is plenty. I'm leaving you in charge of the Epsilon situation. I'll do what I can when I can."

As the soldiers at the other bases mobilize and riggs runs off to his helmet and then to battle, Lennalli clears his mind, puts his helmet on, loads and readies his modified sniper rifle, and looks through the scope, holding fire but bouncing his aim between the necks of the two monsters, and that of Riggs as well.

-------------------------------------

The beast's tedril easily rips through Nataniel's armor, and through most of the circuitry connecting his legs to the rest of his body. The only thing that keeps him in one peice is the resiliant alloy that his "skeleton" is made of. Falling to the ground, his legs useless, The combat droid props himself up with his left hand, continuing to assualt the creature with his balistic weapons and unloading the other two rockets in the direction of the creature's mid-section. Before long a clicking is heard from his arm and chest. The armor peircing rounds have finally depelted themselves. Nathaniel then makes an attempt, for what it's worth, at slashing at the enemy with his bladed left hand. Before he even shifts his weight though, hundreds of rounds pour into his torso. At first his armor deflects them, but its only a few seconds before the onslaught of bullets make their way through and damage his circuitry enough to drop him, "lifeless" on the ground.

Riggs was running full tilt, throwing everything to the wind as he kept low and kept fast. Straight for the helmet as it landed with a dull thud on the trap door, one hand reaching out for it, grasping it as he rolled behind the house. He knew what he had to do, claws clicking against the metal, skull-like edges of his helmet. He placed it on, the jade collar around his neck locking it in place on several wire and rod mounts. Energy from the core of his suit finally finished the circuit, tiny red LEDs lighting up all over his helmet. The golden visor filled in crimson, several LEDs that were previously unlit burning like small coals across his body. The Orochi was complete once again.-

-Gamma's "eyes" traced away from Nathaniel as he peppered the robot with ammunition, EndGame finally overcomming all of his previous protocols to focus on one confirmed target: Beta. The chaingun curved away from Nathaniel's "corpse" to strike down the rockets he had fired with a few well-placed shots from his chaingun. Ammunition was reading as low as 10%, lower even after he'd disposed of the Blue target. So now it was down to himself and Beta, Unit Alpha nowhere in sight. It was entirely possible that Unit Alpha had been defeated at an earlier time prior to Unit Gamma's arrival. That left more fun for Rex. He would break this opponent, nothing more than an insect and reap the glory of EndGame. He would have the respect he deserved. Finally, he would truly be the king.-

-Mechanical jaws opened in a roar that shattered the night, Gamma bellowing a challenge to Beta. The nimble, feminine beast was quick to leap away from Nathaniel as his last volley approached, a backflip carrying her high up and several meters back to the middle of a tree. Her claws dug into bark and cambium, holding her in place as she issued a screeching retort to Unit Gamma. Her whips were primed, trailing down the length of the tree, a full 10ft of cable starting to burn black against the tree's sides. Spines across her shoulders and back rose, small and evenly spaced as the very same chemical concoction that powered Riggs flowed through her bloodstream. Endgame, the final hurtle to her acceptance. When it was all over, Lycan would have her victory, her rewards. She would be the success of the experiment. She would do her parents proud.-

-Lenalli had a clear line of sight now into the woods, at the hulking green and black beast that had wrecked Epsilon, at the thin and lithe gray creature that had slaughtered the Red Alpha base's defensive unit. Strange how different they were. The black and green beast was over 10ft in height, built more like an ancient saurian complete with a double knee and brutally large claws on its toes. Its face was far different from the helmet-like appearance of Riggs and the gray...was that a female soldier in that armor? Her armor was much more curved, shaping her body more to add speed and agility instead of the thick silver armor plates that had been revealed across the saurian. It still had its damn chain gun as well, but it was not firing, at least not yet. It was grunting, roaring at the female monstrosity as she gave return sounds. If this was calm before the storm, a hurricane was about to unleash its wrath on the area. The only one missing from this trio of terror was Riggs, and Lenalli probably knew he wouldn't be far behind.-

-Riggs looked down at the small half-oval, half-rectangular block he'd built himself so many years before. The only way those he cared about would find him. It wasn't where it was supposed to be now though, it was in his palm, now it was gently placed on the glass, giving a few final clicks and beeps before remaining silent but online. He only managed to turn before it started, a dull fire that began in his shoulders, the center of his back, his hips. The spines across his back rose, all 6 expanding outward by pressure contractions. His bloodstream became a toxic mix of endorphins and performance boosters. The pain in his knees dissapeared first, then came his fear, and finally deep memory function. There was only the here and now, the game and the end of the game. Thats all it was to her, only a game. He'd show her, he'd show her just how much this game meant to him. A sound only an octave above Rex, an octave below Lycan rang out in the night, a bellow of everything one final monster had been put through. Its life, its death, and its rebirth, all for the pleasure of one twisted dark design.-

-The final piece of the puzzle lit up on all screens, the chemicals, even the sound. The radar signature was impossible to duplicate. Unit Alpha was active, most importantly Unit Alpha was approaching Units Beta and Gamma. Her thin-framed glasses flew from her face as she bolted up in her seat, her soldiers already confirming the data, the location. She was barking orders before she even knew she was speaking, they had to get there yesterday. Her Riggs, her precious Riggs had returned, back to finish the game. She was so proud of him, she knew he'd never forget her, never let her down. A small tear for him, a tear of joy. He wouldn't survive the fight.

An explosion of sound, a thunderous roar that Lenalli knew all too well erupting like a small bomb from behind the house of Mr. Harold. In the next instant Lenalli would see the first, the original monster tearing across the ground like a medieval knight commanding the battlefield with sword and shield ready. Sword and shield for the Orochi however were only weapons, the familiar sound of metal sliding against metal likes swords rising from sheathes. Four hooked blades, each four feet in length revealed themselves from the blocky boxes they hid them. They clicked and locked into place, ready to tear and shred and slice and burn anything and everything in the path of the beast they belonged to. Extensions of the Orochi's being, like the talons of an eagle.-

-His tail was straightened and aimed straight back, providing balance for the Orochi as he made what would be the charge into combat. The sound startled Rex and Lycan, both of them visibly turning towards the sound, towards the symbol that appeared on their respective radars. Its sheer speed, its first leap overcame all of Rex's combat algorithms, its mouth agape in sheer shock and surprise before the first blow of the match came. The Orochi came down on Rex's shoulders and head from a full leap of 5 meters, his weight and gravity-aided strength slamming the largest of the three combatants straight into the ground, a tremor from that much mass striking the ground felt underneath Lenalli's Warthog.-

-The Orochi didn't stay atop Rex for long, the following kick-off being the factor that knocked the saurian to the dirt. Riggs lept forward for Lycan, jaws wide open in a feral scream as he flew through the air, arms forward like a black and crimson javelin. Lycan was faster than Rex and much more prepared for close quarters fighting. Her tendrils retracting, a leap up and to the right of the oncomming Orochi seemingly enough to save her from its wrath. This thought was shortlived as talons closed on her right ankle proving that reality truly was not in her favor. Still in midflight the Orochi swung its body around, felling the tree Lycan had just lept from with Lycan herself.-

-Rex was proficient at long range, Lycan at close quarters, and in armor, speed and strength the Orochi was theoretically to be the balance between the two. Years of fighting, of chemicals, of blood and sweat and tears had molded it, shaped it far more than the original designs had done. Despite the bulkier, more protective armor it wore it had the speed of Beta, if not faster. Despite the smaller mass it had the strength of the saurian Gamma. Now the good doctor could only watch as her most prized fighter was slammed through a small tree and thrown unceremoniously to the ground, skidding several meters before springing up to her feet.-

-The black ONI Pelican remained in high altitude, extremely powerful cameras bringing the fight to the doctor as she watched the Orochi bellow once more, willing Rex and Lycan to rise so he could knock them down once again. They would be too much for him. The doctor had calculated this, had designed them to be so. She knew they would win. She visibly cheered as Beta returned the cry, seemingly unaffected by the impact. Gamma rose with a bit of trouble, using only its left arm so that it would not clog the barrels of its gattling gun with dirt. He still had more than enough ammunition to finish Riggs off.-

-Rex returned the cry as well, trying to run the numbers, how the Orochi had done that. It didn't matter, the chaingun was up, the barrels rotating, bullets spurting and spitting from the weapon at...nothing? His targetting had confirmed a lock on the Orochi standing infront of him. Why were his bullets pulpating only the trees behind the target's last location? Then the gun twisted away, and Gamma looked down into the open jaws of Alpha. Saurian fought Saurian as the Orochi's left arm knocked the chain gun and Rex's right arm out of its way, batting it like a human swatting a fly from the air. Alpha's right hand shot forward, claws retracted as it delivered a leaping uppercut straight into the lower jaw of Rex. The several-ton mechanized monster left the ground as the Orochi did, crashing back through the foliage as hydraulic fluid wept from cracks in the armor coating its jaws.-

-It whimpered, using its tail and right arm to roll onto its stomach, to bring itself back to standing. Heat sliced through armor like a covenant energy blade through the body of a UNSC marine. Rex roared in pain as the blades of the Orochi pushed down into its right forearm, severing key locks that gave Rex control of the weapon. It immediately disengaged, unusable at this point. The Orochi was thrown off balance as Rex increased the pressure on the locks that held the ammunition drum to its back, firing it off and into the torso of Alpha. The impact threw the Orochi into the air, a thin black whip from Lycan finding his torso. Riggs was superaccelerated into several trees, the whip releasing to hurl him into the trees and out of the battle.-

-Lenalli and the good doctor would see Riggs smashing through tree after tree, each impact slowing him until he skidded to a halt a good distance from the fight. He didn't land on his back however. At the last moment the Orochi performed a small flip forward, stopping on the talons of its boots and its hands. The Lycan turned away from the Orochi as he was still in the air, approaching the still fallen Rex. She brought both whips out, superheating them until they both began to glow a bright orange. She raised her hands, preparing to bring the killing blow, only to be stopped by the abrupt impact of a disengaged chain gun to her midsection.-

-Rex howled as he baseball swung his own disabled chain gun into Lycan, holding the weapon by the barrels as the armature impact Beta's stomach and waist. It threw her off her feet, almost as far as she had thrown Riggs but at a 90 degree angle. The good doctor cried out in shock at the impact, as though she was struck by Rex's primary weapon instead of her star creation. The barrels of the chaingun bent under the impact, Rex holding the weapon like a club in his left hand now. He beat his chest with his right hand, roaring in triumph, the true king of the battle. Lycan was lying on the ground, shuddering and coughing blood from her jaws from the impact. The Orochi was...nowhere to be seen.

Kennard's fireteam had already been en route due to the earlier public disturbance call that had been phoned in when they received the call from Lennalli. He and his squad number no greater than ten halted to respond to Lennalli.

"This is Sergeant Curtis Kennard of the UNSC Military Police already responding to an earlier call in that vector. Will respond. My squad numbers ten and is armed with M/7s and M6s. Meet you there, over."

The squad began sprinting towards the action, not even half a klik away. They could already hear the sounds that were radiating from the battlezone, sounds one would hear if they dare take on the devil himself. They could see up ahead the trees falling, one by one in a row. Kennard scanned around, but couldn't see Lennalli amidst the debris from the battle that clogged the roadways. Suddenly they were aware of the ten foot hulking beast that stood alone in the forest as it bellowed a near-demonic roar of victory. It caused the men to stumble back, frightened slightly, almost completely psyched out. Kennard shook off the feeling of fright, trying to figure out his plan of attack.

"I guess, that's the big hulking motherfucker causing the disturbance. Grooms, Teran, Melvin, head back to the van and retrieve some heavier weapons. The rest of you, form up behind that line of uprooted concrete and just unload."

The men acknowledged his orders, but were a bit hesitant to follow them. Teran, Grooms, and Melvin ran off to the van, which was located half a klik back to retrieve the heavy weaponry, consisting of an MA5B, a BR-55, and an S2AM. As for Phifer, Vhilla, Cheek, Reed, Guth, and Leonards, the formed up behind the concrete and began spraying M/7 rounds in the general direction of Gamma.

"Sergeant Kennard, Do not engage! Fall back, hold your position, wait for the other re-inforcements and my signal."

Lennalli switches the comm channel back to Rho.

"Torrick, I need you to do something else. Get Miss Richardson out of her cell. Give her anything she needs and tell her to get here as fast as she can. She may be our only way of stopping Riggs once this is all over."

The rounds poured onto Rex by the Blue soldiers served as little more than an annoyance. Several rounds made penetration, but after the first inch or armor plating their kinetic energy seemed to be sapped. The saurian was careful to turn his back during the hail of fire, allowing their barrage to strike the thicker plates of his rear instead of the thin plates across his front. It gave him the time he needed to open his mouth, physically wrenching his lower jaw down due to the damage the Orochi had done to it with the uppercut and the kick-off. A small pilot light was immediately lit, chemicals merging with oxygen to create flame in the mouth of the beast.-

-It swung back towards the soldier, a bellow of firey anger emanating from its throat like a trumpet sounding the approach of some hellish army. That army was an inferno that began to stream from the mouth of Rex towards the soldiers. It would fall several feet short however as the Orochi made his return, having made an extremely large arc to actually come from behind the Blues firing on the behemoth. He lept from behind them, arrowing straight for Rex once again as the monstrosity rose to try and flashfry Alpha with a burst of its firey breath. The Orochi had already cleared Rex's head however by the time the liquid napalm came to the end of its dispersion nozzle.-

-The Orochi's claws slid from their housings as he turned himself in midair, reorienting himself as he threw his arms out towards Rex's shoulders. His claws dug in, superheated tips providing the right temperature to burn through that special composite armor Rex had left. His claws cooled in milliseconds once their power flow was stopped, a thought by the Orochi to make sure his claws set. As his talons touched down on the ground they impaled the soft substrate, the Orochi's tail shooting into the ground, boaring as deeply as possible to provide the leverage it needed.-

-A grunt as Alpha's muscles bulged and rippled beneath his armor. He pulled with everything he had, twisting Rex's back at an angle it was not designed to reach. Pistons and shock absorbers up and down the creature's spine cracked and hissed before its footing gave loose, napalm spraying into the air as it began to come crashing back down towards the ground. The Orochi's claws heated once more, pulling long furrows out of Rex's shoulders as they slid back into their housings. Gamma fell straight back, right onto Alpha's waiting hands. In a show of strength rivaling Atlas himself and in much the same pose the Orochi lifted Rex into the air, the much larger monolith of terror giving a startled cry as the Orochi roared to the sky.-

-Lycan's body surged up, rows of small but purposeful spines jolting and flooding her bloodstream with a myriad of toxins. The result was a bloodcurdling cry that threw her to her feet, her small claws and pads ripping up the ground as she tore off towards Rex and Orochi. Alpha's head turned as Beta made her approach, no algorithms or calculations moving through his head as they did for his two counterparts. He twisted his body towards Beta, again throwing everything he had as he threw the squealing Rex at the oncomming Lycan. The 6 spines rising from his back pulsed, pumping another near-lethal dose of endorphins and adrenaline to return the strength he'd lost just picking up that beast.-

-As Rex's ragdoll body came at Lycan her mind, her conscious, human mind all but shut down, the chemicals giving in to the beastial mind of her armor. She rolled, baseball slid on her stomach below Rex as his body cleared her by only inches, smashing into the ground with the force of a small meteorite. Dirt and debris flew everywhere, dust rising from the trough formed by so much mass skidding so far. He was only meters from Mr. Harold's house, in plain sight and immobile. The green jade LEDs across his body faded to black, smoke rising from several holes across his body.-

-The Orochi thought it was ready for the Lycan, horribly dissapointed when a single punch doubled the original terror over, a knee comming into view and just as quickly dissapearing as Alpha went airborne from the impact. He only had seconds to contemplate what was happening before thin tendrils found his ankles, pulling him forcibly back to the ground with a thunderous "CRACK!" His head hit the dirt so hard he saw stars, temporarily blacking out before a kick to the ribs and another moment of weightlessness rocked him back into reality. From Lenalli and the Blue soldiers' point of view, the Orochi was having its ass handed to it by the beast that had wrecked the Red Alpha base.-

-Thin hands gripped thicker wrists, pulling the Orochi and beginning a tilt-a-whirl spin that ended with Alpha airborne for a third time. His senses suddenly kicked back into overdrive, as did the chemicals pouring into his muscles and nervous system. Claws expanded, unheated as they grabbed the trunk of a passing three, the Orochi swinging around and planting its talons into the trunk as it let loose another cacaphonous roar towards its remaining opponent. It could only wince though as the repowered and furious Rex came charging back into the battle, the weight and fury of a Marathon-Class Battle Cruiser combined with the speed of a MAC gun round crashing into Lycan with reckless abandon.-

-The good doctor, high above in her Pelican cried out in shock from the impact, screaming at the screen. "NO!! YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! NOT HER! NOT HER YOU BASTARD!" The thoughts going through Lycan's mind however were spiralling into a black hole of nothingness. She didn't feel her body hit the ground, nor did she feel her armor catch on the ground and slow her crumpled form to a stop, propped up under a large willow tree that had remained unscathed throughout the fight. All she thought was "Mother....save me..."

Rex's claws dug into the soft earth as he approached the fallen Lycan, a low growl filling his throat as it shook the ground beneath him. Arms spread wide, head raised to the sky in a victory howl to the clouds. It took a few more steps, running vital checks, observing its "kill" and confirming unit Lycan was deceased. It made it halfway through its check when it felt claws dig into the midpoint of its tail, a pained snarl erupting from its maw. It turned its head, Unit Orochi's talons digging into his tail. He shook furiously, trying to release himself but the Orochi held fast, returning with a roar of its own before twisting its body to the right. Gamma was thrown off his feet from Alpha's first pull, the claws of his hands scratching and furrowing the dirt as he tried to gain some leverage.-

-Another violent tug, the Orochi's body turning over and over and over. It twisted and spun, its sheer momentum overcomming Rex's mass to lift him into the air. When he reached terminal velocity Alpha let go of Gamma, a tilt-a-whirl spin hurling the larger soldier several feet over the dirt and several meters before Rex crashed down into the loose topsoil, plowing up a large wave of dirt, mud, grass and shrubs in his path. No sooner had he stood when a massive haymaker collided with the right side of his head, throwing him sharply to the left. He swung back with his right claws, swinging at air as the Orochi rolled beneath Rex's paw.-

-His spines flared, a lightning bolt of chemicals flaring through his system as he crouched. He thrust upward, a wicked uppercut catching Rex in the throat. The massive construct fell backward, grabbing its throat as it choked and sputtered, trying to clear the damaged pieces of its own armor that were pinching its oxygen tubes. It let loose with its flamethrower, heating its own throat to expand the oxygen in the tubes, clearing the blockage on its own.-

-Another fist comming for him, but Rex was ready for this one. His claws locked with Orochi's, his left hand to Alpha's right. Alpha brought his left hand around now, colliding with Gamma's right. They were grappling, pistons in Rex's arms screaming now, muscle beneath the Orochi's armor bulging and rippling, giving everything they had. Rex pushed, Orochi pushed back. They turned and spun, moving in circles as their claws gripped the others tightly. Pistons groaned once more, Rex pushing, forcing the Orochi forward, forcing his back to bend at an angle that would break a man's spine.-

-Pain wracked up and down Alpha's back, several pops heard as vertebrae were shifted out of position. Another chemical flare-up, but not by his spines. Something deep in the Orochi's mind triggered a burst of strength that bent Rex's wrists at odd angles, bringing out a sharp cry of pain and surprise from the taller saurian. A promise...it was so small, seemingly a dot in the sea of chemicals and fury seething in the mind of the original beast. Its back bent forward, vertebrae realigning, a cacaphonous roar louder than any other that had fired from those fang-rimmed jaws. It hit Rex like a Fuel Rod Cannon burst, the saurian construct dropping to its knees as a thousand needles of pain impaled its brain.-

-Rex looked up into a visor seething blood red, into a black mass of armor and red LEDs. Red changed however, those dots of blood across his body blinking out before burning brighter, gold stripes appearing from the Orochi's foot claws up to its helmet. It would be a nightmare reunion for Lenalli if he was still focused on the fight, the Orochi looking exactly the same as when it had removed the Blue soldier's hand with its teeth. Now it had its eyes on something else. The Orochi's body lunged forward, striking like a snake. Its jaws clamped down on Rex's right wrist, pistons arranged like jaw muscles working to push the now superheating teeth of the Orochi through armor and oil lines.-

-Hydraulic fluid spurted and evaporated, spraying like blood as the Orochi severed Rex's right hand, releasing his claws from it to toss it away like a discarded piece of bone. Claws slashed from their blocky housing on the Orochi's left wrist, impaling Rex's right shoulder joint. The Orochi's head and neck were already in motion, cutting deep into Rex's left wrist now. Only one more chomp and the left hand broke loose, fluid splashing all over the Orochi's black and golden-striped armor. It evaporated almost instantaneously, blades flashing out a moment later to impale Rex's left shoulder joint.-

-The handless Rex cried out in agony as Orochi's blades cooled, brutal strength lifting the saurian into the air, over the Orochi's head. His blades reheated, claws slashing towards Rex's waist from his shoulders. They crossed in the center, a red X of extended claw-blades slashing through Rex's torso, cutting the beast down and into several pieces that thumped and thudded to the ground around the Orochi. Rex's head and the remains of its upper torso continued to moan and growl, trying futiley to move the remains of its limbs, pistons and parts weeping purple hydraulic fluid onto the ground. The Orochi walked to the torso, its blades still extended from its wrists.-

-It hooked them into the chest plates of Rex, the thickest plates of armor he had. One swift tug removed them, exposing a crystal sphere the size of a basketball. Inside that sphere was a human brain, suspended in a thick green solution of nutrients and minerals. It seemed to cower in its sphere of protective transparent crystal, sliding to the back where thick bundles of cables linked to a mechanical cerebellum. The Orochi roared in triumph as it raised its right hand, its blades superheating once more. Rex could only whimper, its sensors blinking in and out of function. It could no longer register its arms, its legs, and the Orochi had already broken the nozzle and pilot light for its napalm defoliator with an earlier uppercut.-

-It plowed the blade into the crystalline sphere protecting the brain of Rex, the only human part of the beast that had done so much damage. The crystal housing exploded from the sudden depressurization, nutrient fluid set ablaze as well as the hydraulic fluids spattered all over Rex's torso. One last feral shriek from Rex's vocabulator as the napalm reserves in its back caught fire, the Orochi bounding away before the larger saurian terror, Unit Gamma exploded in a hellish fireball of gore and metal.-

-The black pelican was in final descent, heading for the battlefield as quickly as possible. It was a race now, Lycan's vitals dropping fast, the good doctor screaming at her crew to fly faster. She had forgotten completely about units Alpha and Gamma, still under the impression that Unit Gamma alone could finish off Alpha. She'd made him for that purpose, and it was more than a shock when Unit Gamma's vitals flatlined. It was on camera now, the fireball erupting from his braincase and torso. He'd taken everything from her, the sonovabitch had caused the harm to her daughter, he'd destroyed her prototype for her planned Long Range Assault team. Now the Orochi let loose its mighty bellows of triumph towards the approaching Pelican, knowing full well who was onboard.-

- The good doctor's voice was a roar over her crew and the Pelican's engines, her eyes seething as she watched Unit Alpha on the primary view screen. "I'll kill you myself if I have to, you bastard. I won't let you ruin my work! I made you, you stupid little fuck, and I'll unmake you!"

To Be Continued...

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