Chapter 35 The Last Stand of Steel and Flesh

More mutants appeared, eager to close the distance, but Aria was ready. She adjusted her position, eyes locked on the next Aegis mutant inching closer from behind a rusted car, its elongated limbs propelling it forward with abnormal speed. Aria’s aim shifted to it, and she fired again, letting loose another three-shot burst. The particles hit the mutant, piercing through the creature’s neck joint, head, and chest. It tumbled back as it screeched in agony before collapsing.

“Come on, you ugly bastards,” she taunted, “I got more where that came from, come and get some!”

A trio of Aegis mutants lunged forward but Aria didn’t falter. She fired another burst, this time aiming for the soft underbelly of the closest mutant. The shot connected, and the creature let out a horrific noise, its body jerking violently before going still.

The remaining mutants charged at her, but it was too late. She fired again, this time targeting another mutant attempting to flank her. The burst tore through its shoulder, and it howled, momentarily losing its footing.

“Bastion, keep track of ammo,” she ordered as she squeezed off another series of shots, focusing on keeping her bursts controlled and precise.

 “We can’t run out of firepower here.”

“Ammo at twenty-five percent.” 

"TSK!" She clicked her tongue, "Down to 25 already? Damn, I hope they stop coming soon, got only a few batteries on me." 

 Aria’s fingers moved over the rifle’s trigger, adjusting for the next target. With a final burst, she took down the next mutant, the energy blast erupting through its back, sending it crashing to the ground.

While reloading the charge pack for her particle rifle she asked through her comm, “David, you okay back there?” 

“Y-yeah, I'm fine. Need me to cover you with a sniper rifle?”

Aria’s calm voice crackled over the comm.

 “Nah, I’m fine. You just focus on staying quiet in there and don't attract any attention from these ugly things. It’d be a real problem if they decided to take an interest in the tank mech instead of me. The last thing we need is for them to mess up the cables or cause more damage to the mech. Just stay put and let me do the shooting, alright? I’ve got this.”

David’s voice came over the comm, “Alright, I won’t get in the way. Just… just don’t get yourself killed out there. These things can be sneaky when they want to be. You’re the only one out there. If you go down… we’re both done for.”

"You worry too much, it's fine, I got this."

Aria reloaded her particle rifle, slamming in her last battery pack with a satisfying click and a hiss as the weapon changed. She leaned out from behind the crumbled wall, picking off the remaining Aegis mutants in rapid succession, their twisted bodies collapsing one by one. With a final three-shot burst, the last Aegis mutant hit the ground, and she let out a small sigh, ejecting the empty battery pack.

Just as she straightened up, ready to head back to David, Bastion’s voice rang through her earpiece.

“Warning. Mutant detected in close proximity.”

Aria spun around, eyes narrowing as she spotted an Aegis mutant lurking right behind her.

 "Seriously, Bastion?" she muttered, rolling her eyes in frustration. 

"Couldn’t give me a heads-up a second sooner?”

The mutant lunged, grotesque arm swinging with a sickening crunch, catching Aria squarely across her side and flinging her through the air. She crashed into a nearby wall, the impact sending dust and chunks of concrete flying as she tumbled to the ground, half-buried in rubble. Bastion’s voice came on again, calm as ever.

“Apologies, operator. Scan drone offline. Only available close proximity scan.”

Aria spat out dust and kicked herself free of the debris, pushing broken bricks and cracked chunks of concrete aside as she rose to her feet. She wiped the blood from her split lip with a smirk, gripping her combat knife as she sized up the mutant. The Aegis unit towered over her, at least twice her height, with six tentacle-like arms that whipped through the air, each one ending in a razor-sharp claw. Its head shifted, peeling open like a grotesque flower to reveal a mouth lined with serrated, metallic teeth. It was the same type of Aegis unit that killed Elias. 

The mutant lashed out, one of its tentacles whipping toward her like a steel cable, but Aria sidestepped just in time. With lightning speed, she ducked low, slashing out with her knife, slicing through the creature's arm as it recoiled, hissing in pain. She knew she’d have to get in close, stay unpredictable, and strike quickly.

The mutant struck again, this time with two arms aimed to catch her in a pincer grip. Aria threw herself forward, rolling between its legs as its limbs crashed down where she’d just been. She kicked off the ground, lunging upward, and drove her knife deep into the back of its knee joint. The creature stumbled, screeching, its head whipping around on a flexible neck to try and bite her.

Just as it lunged, she ducked under its teeth, gripping her knife tight as she dragged it along its side, carving a deep gash across its torso. Black blood splattered across her arm, but she didn’t flinch. She sidestepped again, anticipating its retaliation, and narrowly dodged a sweeping tentacle aimed at her head.

"Come on, you overgrown leech! I will cut you down to size!" she taunted.

As Aria steadied herself, ready to deliver the final blow, a muffled blast echoed from behind her. A fist-sized hole blew open in the mutant’s chest, and it collapsed at her feet. Aria spun around, surprised, to see David in the open cockpit of Combelt IV, gripping a particle sniper rifle. The barrel was still smoking as he called out.

“Hey! You alright there? Did I get it? Or should I make more holes in it?” 

Aria glanced at the mutant’s lifeless form, then gave him a thumbs up.

 “Nope, I think you nailed it. One hole was all it needed.”

David let out a relieved sigh, lowering the rifle.

 “Good, because I don’t think I have it in me to shoot another one. So, can we please get out of here before more of those things decide to show up?”

Aria sheathed her knife and jogged back toward the mechs. 

“Yeah, that sounds good to me. We need to make it back to the Beehive by nightfall. The wastelands are tough to navigate in the dark, and I’d rather avoid camping out here with mutants crawling all over.”

David looked down at the cracked cityscape, anxiety creeping back into his eyes. 

“Amen to that. Let’s get back to Beehive. I don't want to spend another night hiding from the mutants in these ruins.”

Aria double-checked the cables and gave a thumbs-up to David.

“Alright, buckle up. I’ll pull us through, but I might need you to keep an eye on the rear and, if you’re up for it, use that rifle if we pick up any unwanted followers.”

David nodded, steeling himself.

“I’ll try. Just… don’t leave me behind.”

“Don’t worry, as I said, I’ve got you.”

She climbed into her tank mech, brought it into gear, and began to tow Combelt IV. The towing cables stretched between the two massive mechs. Combelt IV, with David inside, stood as ready as it could in its damaged state. Aria pressed down on the controls and felt the slight give as the tension in the cables transferred the weight of the towed mech. She applied gradual power, the servos in her tank mech’s joints groaning softly as they took on the added strain.