Chapter 07 Rage of the Fallen

“Aria!? Commander Aria?!” Ewan shouted, “Take cover and hold your position! We are almost done!”

"Understood!"

 Aria quickly retreated in cover. But the Valkys weren’t backing down easily. One of the larger mutants, scarred and seething, lashed out, striking Kael’s mech with a bone-rattling blow. His Combelt staggered back, and Aria’s heart skipped as Kael’s mech misstepped dangerously to the side.

“Nira!” Aria shouted into her comm.

 “Kael’s hit! Cover him!”

Nira was already moving. She tore toward the Valky that had attacked Kael, planting herself between him and the mutant, her mech’s weapons flashing in a blinding array of particle fire. The Valky howled in fury, retaliating with swiping claws, but Nira held her ground, shielding Kael as he regained his footing.

Aria’s pulse hammered, she wanted to be in the fight, to do something, anything to help them. But her tactical suit was damaged. She could barely stay on her feet and her entire body was screaming with pain. She could only watch, cheering them on silently as they pressed the attack.

The ground shook as Ewan’s Combelt III engaged another Valky, this one towering over the rest, its twisted, grotesque form bristling with barbed limbs. Ewan didn’t hesitate, using his mech’s boosters to launch himself forward, driving a fist into the mutant’s torso with a force that sent shockwaves through the street. The creature staggered, but Ewan kept pressing, pummeling it relentlessly, his mech’s arms a blur of metal as he drove it back, inch by inch.

Kael’s mech was back in action, now flanking the Valky from the side, his particle cannons firing at close range. Together, they forced the creature down, backing it against a crumbling building. Ewan activated his mech’s emergency weapons system, deploying a massive spike from his arm and driving it straight through the Valky’s chest. The mutant convulsed, a dying screech ripping from its throat before it finally slumped, defeated.

As the last of the Valkys were killed and lay dead in the trashed building rubble, a silence settled over the battlefield, broken only by the rain and the fading hum of the mechs. The tank mechs straightened one by one, scanning for any remaining threats. Aria’s comm crackled again; this time, it was Kael’s voice.

“Command Sergent Major Aria, you still with us? We detect no more mutants in the area, it's safe for the time being.”

She exhaled shakily, her body sagging with relief.

 “Yeah. I… I’m here. I'm still here.”

“Well, good. Because you guys are in for a hell of a spanking from SMA Dayr.” Ewan’s voice cut in, as sarcastic as ever.

 “And you owe us drinks when we get back. Lots of ‘em.”

 “I’ll get the first round. I'm a bit short on credits this month, a free drink will be nice.” Nira’s voice came over the comm, jokingly this time.

They formed a circle with their tank mechs, surrounding Aria in a wall of metal and firepower, securing the area. With a hiss of hydraulics, the mechs’ cockpits opened, and pilots emerged. Ewan was the first to walk up, his typical grin spreading across his face.

“We weren’t going to let you go out like that, Seargent Aria,” he said, his voice teasing but with an edge of relief.

 “You’ve got yourself into quite some trouble but don't worry Major, we are here. Now, let’s get you back to base after a little rest. So? Where’s the rest of your team? Are they shy or something? Come on out already! Come on guys, we dealt with the mutants!”

Aria’s face tightened, the words catching in her throat, her blood going cold. She clenched her teeth, rage, and sorrow twisting her expression. 

“They’re… gone, Ewan. Every last one of them. I’m all that’s left.”

Murmurs spread through the rest of the pilots. They exchanged glances, struggling to comprehend.

“She’s gotta be kidding, right?” 

“An entire squad gone? How could that happen? No way…”

“But it was Aria’s squad - our best.” 

 “And Elias was with them… I mean… they’re supposed to be untouchable. That’s Aria and Elias we’re talking about. The number one pair.”

 “What?!” Ewan shouted, “Ten tank mech squad was annihilated?! Your squad? The elite, our best pilots?! All of them gone?! This is not funny, Aria! Leave the joking to me! What in the hell happened here?!”

Aria gripped her broken arm tightly, clenching her teeth to keep the anger from boiling over at Ewan’s desperate tone. She felt the pain coursing through her body, but it was nothing compared to the fury she felt for the loss of her friends, and her squad. 

Barely keeping it together, she met Ewan’s gaze.

 “It’s not a joke. It’s true. No survivors. Me and Elias barely made it out because of the Combelt IV enhanced armors. If we’d been piloting our usual Mark 3, we would’ve been both dead.”

Her voice cracked slightly, a tremor of grief bleeding through.

 “Unfortunately, Elias was killed by an Aegis mutant.”

The silence that followed her words was heavy, the weight of her loss suffocating. 

“I tried to fight the mutant, but as you can see, it didn’t go too well. And as for the rest of my squad,” she swallowed hard, “they were torn apart one by one.”

As Aria’s words sank in, murmurs erupted among the pilots.

“How could this happen?” 

“I heard they were invincible. Aria and Elias, the number one pilot pair? The record holders, taken down?” 

 She continued, the memory of the mission flashing behind her eyes.

“It was supposed to be a simple mission. Clear out the area of mutants for the testing phase, collect data for the Combelt IV, and leave. We did what we were supposed to, but after we cleared the area, we were ambushed by Raptor 01.”

A collective gasp rippled through the squad. Ewan’s face lost its color.

“Raptor 01? The Tier 5? We all heard about it, but HQ said it was—”

“Guarding the nest and never leaving?” she interrupted.

 “They were wrong. It was here and It’s bigger than they even thought. Stronger, faster, and it fights with tactics. It’s not some mindless brute that charges in blindly like all the other mutants. It uses a cover. It hunts. We managed to wound it. I cut off one of its arms and landed a shot on its chest armor. But it was smart. It used a building as a shield to block the follow-up shot, my last chance to stop it. That second shot might’ve saved us. Damn it!”

The squad fell silent, each of them processing her words. Then, all at once, their whispers erupted into a heated argument.

“If it’s Tier 5… and smart, then we’re not safe here at all!” 

“What do we do if it comes back? We’re sitting ducks if it finds us here.”

“HQ didn’t mention a damn thing about this. If Raptor 01 ambushed them, we could be next…”

Ewan raised his voice again, cutting through the rising panic. 

“Stop running your mouth and set up a perimeter! Launch all the drones we have. I want to know if a rat farted in some damn corner before it even does it! Hurry up! We can’t move out right away; our tank mech core reactors overheated after running for two days straight. We need to cool them down while we can. You heard Command Sergeant Major Aria! Raptor 01 is wounded; it might’ve fled the area to recover, and we have a brief window to rest! Move, people, move! And tell me right away if you see any movement! Anything at all! We’ll take no risks here! If we see mutants approaching, we retreat immediately!”