Chapter 10 Steel Against the Dark

The surviving mechs adjusted, trying to form a defensive line around their injured, but their attempts were quickly interrupted as Raptor 01’s enraged gaze settled on them. It lunged again, swinging its tail with a force that shattered concrete buildings and sent another deadly wave of rubble raining down their way. Three more tank mechs got crushed. 

Ewan clenched his teeth, his fingers flying over his mech’s controls as he aimed his main cannon.

“Everyone, anyone left alive! Focus fire on the heart! It’s exposed - one good hit might take it down!”

The mechs’ cannons fired a volley of shots aimed directly at the monster’s exposed chest. Each impact tore chunks of flesh from Raptor’s body, echoing across the battlefield. But the mutant didn’t falter; its rage only seemed to grow with each hit. Letting out an enraged roar, it retaliated, swinging a massive fist toward Ewan’s mech. Ewan tried to dodge, but the blow grazed the mech’s side, denting its armor and sending it stumbling backward.

As Ewan and Edd brace against the next devastating swipe, Kael and Michel took a risk.

“Kael, we’ve got one shot here!” Michel yelled as he aimed their main cannon.

The shot struck true, hitting Raptor 01’s mangled shoulder where his arm had been severed. Massive chunks of flesh and bone exploded from the wound, raining gore onto the battlefield, but the giant mutant barely flinched. Instead, it turned with terrifying speed, its armor-plated tail arcing through the air in a deadly sweep. The tail sliced through entire buildings as it came down on Kael’s tank mech like a sledgehammer and a whip combined. 

The impact was merciless. Kael’s tank mech was lifted off the ground, crumpling under the blow. The frame twisted, the armor plating buckled, and in an instant, the mech was reduced to a pile of shattered metal and smoking scrap.

“Noooo! Kael! Michel!” Ewan’s shout echoed across the comms. 

“You damn beast! You’ll pay for this! Die you piece of shit!”

Ewan’s rage ignited like fuel. He lunged forward, grabbing a fallen tank mech rifle as massive as his own. Dual-wielding the powerful weapons, he unleashed a relentless barrage of high-caliber anti-tank rounds, each shot exploding with the force of a thunderclap. The bullets peppered Raptor 01 in a storm of explosive rounds, ripping through flesh and scale alike, forcing the beast to recoil and lift its massive arm to shield its face.

Ewan’s heart pounded as he saw his opening. The mutant’s heart, throbbing and exposed, was unprotected for the first time since the battle began. He slammed his cannon into place, locking onto the target. He barely had time to aim before the round launched with a blinding flash, tearing through the air like a comet aimed directly at the beast’s heart.

But Raptor 01 wasn’t ready to die. With a growl, the mutant twisted its body, defying all logic for something of its monstrous size. Just as the shell closed in, it lunged downward, slamming its massive clawed hand directly into the path of the explosive round. Ewan's shot connected, but not as intended. The impact reverberated through the mutant’s arm, a burst of sparks and light where claws met cannon fire. In a shocking move, Raptor 01 threw itself onto the ground, diving in headfirst and disappearing in a spray of dust and rubble burying itself underground.

“What the—!” Ewan barely shouted as the ground rippled beneath them like an earthquake. The others stared at the empty crater where the mutant had vanished.

For a brief, agonizing second, everything fell silent. The ground was still as if holding its breath. Ewan’s sensors lit up with warning signals, but his mind was blank with disbelief.

“Where the hell did it go?” Edd whispered.

Then, with a sudden, violent eruption, the ground exploded, rock and debris flying skyward. Raptor 01 burst forth from beneath, its form even more monstrous as it tore through layers of dirt as if it were tissue paper, sending shockwaves that rippled through the team’s positioning. With a roar that shattered nearby windows, Raptor 01 lunged at Ewan and Edd.

Aria’s heart raced as her HUD blazed with data, the targeting reticle flashing a steady lock on Raptor 01. She held her breath, finger poised on the trigger.

But just as she steadied her aim, Raptor 01 halted his advance at Ewan's mech mid-movement, its massive, scarred form suddenly slowed down. For a split second, the creature’s hulking body remained still, its defenses down and eyes scanning the ground. The heart wound glowed faintly, pulsing with dark blood. It was the kind of opening that could end it all if she took the shot.

Aria’s instincts screamed that something was off, but her window was closing. She narrowed her gaze, finger ready on the trigger. 

"This is it, you piece of shit! Take this!" she shouted pulling the trigger.

But the moment the cannon boomed, Raptor’s massive, predatory eyes swiveled toward her position, locking onto her with an intelligence that sent a chill down her spine. The beast hadn’t lost focus - it had lured her out. She felt her blood run cold as the mutant twisted, reaching back with its remaining arm to grip a shattered mech engine it had torn free earlier, the metal still sparking. With a brutal roar, it hurled the wreckage directly at her, the twisted hulk spinning in a deadly arc through the air. The engine tumbled, each rotation coming closer, its trajectory locked onto her cockpit.

Aria’s instincts kicked in, she raised her mech’s arms in a desperate attempt to block the incoming projectile, crossing them in front of her cockpit as a shield. The engine slammed into her mech’s frame with a devastating impact. The explosion was immediate, tearing through the protective arms and ripping open the front of her tank, the blast wave blinding her with smoke and debris. Her HUD flickered, warning lights blinking wildly as the mech's systems struggled to hold together.

The cockpit shook violently, sparks showering her as the reinforced glass cracked. Aria tried to stabilize, but the mech staggered, its limbs not responding, smoke pouring from the shattered arms. Her ears rang, and her vision blurred from the blow. Pain radiated through her side where her harness had cut into her during the impact. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, and for a second, she thought it was over.

“Aria! Can you hear me?! Move, Aria! Move!” Ewan’s voice crackled through the static, barely breaking through her suit's damaged comms. His tone was fierce, desperate, and with fear.

She gritted her teeth, fingers trembling as she forced her grip back on the controls. Her suit’s AI flashed a shaky status report.

"Critical damage to the mech's arms. The main cannon is offline. Hull damage at 72%. Tank mech shutting down."

  She watched the towering form of Raptor 01 stalking closer, its powerful legs trampling rubble and metal as it advanced, ready to finish her.

Aria swallowed, tasting her blood as she assessed her options. The main cannon was useless, arms were destroyed, and the mech shut down. 

“Come on, you piece of junk. Power up!” she whispered to herself as she tried to restart the system. 

“Just power up, you pile of scrap! Start, god damn it!” she growled as she tried yet another reboot sequence.

 “You can’t be done now! Go into tank mode!” She smacked the side panel with the heel of her hand, teeth clenched, sweat sliding down her forehead.

 “Just give me something! If only I could move around! I could distract it, buy some time, do something!”

She glanced out through the hole in the hull and saw Raptor’s twisted face, its mouth curled into something horrifyingly close to a grin as if it knew it had won.