After unloading a full magazine into Blisk's titan, the Atlas finally stopped. Smoke drifted from the ruptured seams in its armor cuased by the splitter rifle, and scorched metal panels peeled back like old paint. With the close-range Ogre out of commission, the AI inside it decided to forgo its range advantage in hopes of starting a melee confrontation.
It seemed to notice that the vortex shield Ion wielded was blocking all of its shots, but it would be useless against a titan's fist.
Behind it, another shot from the Strider's railgun was already being charged up, the distinctive high-pitched whine growing louder in the background in the same way a storm siren would wind up.
"One enemy closing in, Pilot. Suggest deployment of laser tripmines."
Hearing Ion's voice, Blisk nodded.
A dispenser on Ion's back flared to life, ejecting three disk-like devices into the air with a burst of compressed gas. They arced gracefully above the titan and hit the ground ahead with heavy a heavy thud. Each landed in a different position, embedding themselves into the scarred and cracked floor before unfolding into pylons. Thin, brilliant beams of crimson energy connected them and formed a glowing tripwire net that shimmered against the hazy air filled with gunpowder residue.
"Not bad, aye. Could be less obvious, but it should work against these two." Kuben's eyes narrowed tightly.
These tripwires would be perfect for controlling enemy movements. If an enemy titan was coming towards you and saw them blocking their way, the hostile machine would either have to destroy it, or find a way around. If not, they could tank the tripwires - but that was valuable health they'd be gambling, and sometimes it was the difference between walking out alive or not at all.
You should know that when two skilled pilots fight, they usually end up hurting each other so badly that the winner is left with a titan on the brink of death.
Now, with Ion behind a laser trap, the Atlas titan's AI halted in its place. Its heavy shoulders twitched uncertainly as it processed the new hazard. It had never encountered this weapon, so it chose to wait and observe.its optic lens rotated up and.down the tripwires in an attampt to recognize what it was.
Unfortunately for it, this was a battlefield - and Ion's energy pool had fully restored.
A red laser lanced through the air, piercing the dim haze and striking the Atlas titan's faceplate dead center. The beam was so precise it hit the optical lens at the center of its armored hull, vaporizing it in an instant and blinding the machine. A gout of steam and melted metal spewed out as the lens disappeared in a blink.
With half of the energy in his titan gone, Blisk decided to use the last of it to project the vortex shield in front of him, catching a railgun shot that would've torn Ion apart.
Luckily it worked. Unluckily for the Atlas, it was now being redirected toward him.
The railgun round churned inside the vortex shield's energy wall, a sphere of seething plasma crackling around it until Blisk finally let it loose. The round bolted through the air in a white-hot streak before colliding with the Atlas titan's knee. The impact crumpled the joint instantly with joints snapping and plating folding like wet cardboard.
Metal parts scattered into shrapnel as it kneeled down hard, grabbing its chaingun in both hands and firing wildly in any direction. The rounds punched into walls, sparked off catwalks above and shattered a maintenance console along the room's edge.
The futile attempt did nothing accept annoy Kuben.
"That's two down." Blisk controlled Ion forward, stepping over the tripwire field and grabbing the chaingun out of the Atlas titan's hands. The atlas titans grip hardened, but after a brief grinding sound Blisk wrenched it free and tossed it aside, the weapon clattering against the floor with a dull clang. He grasped the titan's wrist and yanked it forward, dragging it until it was slumped over the tripwire's humming crimson lines.
Stomping his foot onto its back, the titan fell face-first into the glowing laser trap.
Boom!
An explosion rocked through the chamber, rattling the walls and causing the overhead lights to flicker violently. Dust cascaded from the ceiling in thin drifts, momentarily plunging the room into darkness. When it returned, almost nothing remained of the Atlas but a pair of legs and scattered steel armour that swiftly fell to the floor.
"Laser core at 100%. Pilot, victory is ours."
"Heh, it's about damn time, ain't it."
Ion's reactor at the center of its hull glowed brighter with each second, casting long, ominous red shadows across the chamber's battle-worn walls and over the lifeless wreckage of enemy titans. The hum of the charging core was low and heavy, like the roar of an old engine pushed to its limit.
"Tinman, activate the core now!" Blisk turned his titan's body, squaring up directly at the last Strider-class titan that still stood, its own railgun charged and its reactor casing gleaming with lethal light.
---
"Everyone, close your eyes or you'll never see anything again." In the observation room, Samael slipped on a pair of void-black sunglasses.
Sadly, there was only one pair, specially made for himself, so everyone else behind him could either follow his instructions oor pay the price.
Maybe some of them didn't realize it yet, but Ion's main ability - the laser core - was as bright, if not momentarily brighter, than the surface of the sun. This kind of light wasn't made for human eyes. At this distance even indirect exposure could permanently scorch a retina.
With that, Samael turned to the observation window and watched as a searing crimson beam erupted from Blisk's titan.
The observation room trembled as the beam lanced across the battlefield with a speed too fast for the eye to track, a streak of red light thick as a titan's chest and white-hot at its center. The heatwave it produced shimmered in the air, warping the space around it like ripples in glass.
It seemed the Strider had managed to fire a single round, but as it crossed paths with the laser core beam, the powerful projectile simply disintegrated into a mist of particles.
With nothing left to stop it, the laser struck the Strider with brutal, unstoppable force.
From his vantage point, Samael saw the thick titanium plates of the enemy titan melt and sag. The metal blazed orange and yellow, rising into viscous, dripping sheets as the reactor casing beneath failed. The beam kept drilling, the room shaking under the immense discharge.
When it finally ceased in a brief flash, a perfect, smoldering circular hole adorned the Strider. Its cockpit and internal systems had been erased from existence.
It stumbled, swayed once, and collapsed to the floor with a wet metallic clatter, dissolving into a puddle of its own slagged armor.
After a moment, Blisk moved Ion over and kicked it a few times, the dead machine's remains clanking lifelessly underfoot. "What a troublesome pest. Good thing Samael hasn't made a better Strider model. These things are annoying, ain't they."
While the railgun didn't actually hit him, it pressured him constantly. If there'd been a real pilot inside, this fight would've gone a lot differently, and it wouldn't have cost its team in the end.
Regardless, judging by the damage his laser core did, if a flesh-and-blood pilot had been in that cockpit, they'd have been vaporized long before the core's beam even touched the hull. At the temperatures that beam reached, the cockpit would've cooked its occupant in less than a second, turning flesh and bone to ash before the real shot even landed.
After a few more kicks, Samael's voice came over the speakers.
"That's enough for today. Good work, Kuben. You've learned your place in the IMC."
Ion's AI extended its massive arm toward the observation window, giving a casual, almost smug thumbs-up.
"Eh, of course I have. You think my services are cheap, kid?" The faceplate of Ion's chest compartment opened, allowing Kuben to step out and kneel on it. He rested his arm on his knee and, with his free hand, lit up a cigar, the faint scent of burned tobacco mixing with the lingering sparks from the battle, "What's gonna happen now this titan's past prototype phase?"
"I'll put you into contact with Albreck, and he'll talk to Admiral Graves or Spyglass. They'll want to see this new model for themselves," Samael replied, his voice calm and certain. "Obviously, they'll use it in real combat next and not just against AI opponents."
"Spyglass? That creep gives me the shivers. If you can, get Graves."