Antumbra - A Lost Cause

No Time Left - Chapter Sixty Eight

Preparations ended up lasting less than Marcus had estimated, and Arva was still feeling sluggish and low-energy. Whatever was in the IV they had her hooked up to, it had pepped her up, but just enough to get her out of bed, into a pilot suit, and grab a protein bar to stave off starvation. As Antumbra re-activated from its downtime repairs, Arva did a cursory scroll through the systems to make sure all was in order, and heard the other suits around her already taking off. They had all been stored outside due to the lack of hangar space, but in all the chaos and with the secret out it was hardly an issue. As Arva's perspective switched to that of her machine's she saw for the first time the base layout. They were in the outskirts, closer to the Lows, in what looked like a walled industrial site. Cranes, trucks and other vehicles were prominent, along with shipping containers and giant spools of cables that made the site look unfinished. A decent disguise for a base, but one that was no longer necessary.

"Arva, you okay?" Elia's voice said as her suit approached. Viper Grip, or just Viper as Elia called it, suited its pilot well with its bright colours and asymmetrical head design. Its eyes were also larger, rounder, and evoked her kindness in a way that made the Argonaut intimately familiar to Arva as it perfectly mimicked her friend's movements and body language.

"I'm good," Arva slowly stood from her knelt position and joined her friend as they boosted over the wall. The fighting was well underway, and when Silva had reported enemy units incoming, Arva hadn't expected this. The sun was rising, but the sky was nearly black with IRT suits mixed with Eclipse Gray Wolves fighting in the distance, and Arva could make out more groups that stood out on the horizon as they headed their way. Her teammates were already holding them off, and Arva saw the special modifications each suit had received during their repairs. Malamute knelt in the street connecting the Lows to the city, a long-barreled weapon in his hands. Cables ran from the gun's butt to large drums that hissed with every shot it fired. Arva didn't know what a 'smoothbore gun' was, but its projectiles were able to down Argonauts with one well-placed hit, and at incredible range. Rottweiler had its own ranged implements. Two massive reactor-powered artillery guns mounted to its back, held over the shoulder by a single handle, and while they lacked the range of the rail gun, they demolished whole Argonauts in one hit even if it was just a graze. The suit almost seemed unnecessary given the size of the weapons, yet Kyodai seemed to aim with relative ease as shell after shell was fired to a rhythmic beat. Neither suit let up, even for an instant.

"I'm at fourteen," Boomer remarked as he took down another enemy flier.

"Twenty-two," Kyodai said plainly as he kept firing.

"Yeah, well," Malamute slapped a fresh magazine into his weapon, "you've got two guns. I'm still ahead barrel-for-body."

"Keep telling yourself that," Kyodai grunted.

"They don't mess around," Elia mentioned, and Arva agreed. She didn't understand how they could stay so cool, even joke, in the middle of a battle, but she didn't question it. A new method of combat had arisen from the sudden inability to use energy weapons, and their replacements seemed almost barbaric in its size and power. Some of these weapons were practically antiques, or at the very least not designed for frontline combat, but it was all they could scrounge in such a short amount of time. Even if Arva wasn't using her Argonaut, Vladolf and Umbra would have the same effect. Until they could reasonably shield their firearms they had to make due with these.

Yet despite the combined efforts of the two long-range units, IRT suits still broke through. Marcus, the Lieutenant, and Silva were locked in a melee not two kilometers away. Arva and Elia quickly moved to join in, splitting up to assist the units that were being overwhelmed. Silva was smashing machines left and right, but his mobility was limited as he negotiated between the domed homes, trying his best not to do more damage than was already done. A section of the Lows had become a battlefield, and everyone had been evacuated to the West. The IRT kept inching their way closer, and now Arva's people were paying for it. Silva fought well, careful not to ruin any home, but this consideration put him at a disadvantage. Elia and Arva moved to support him, the former using her long reach to strike at an Argonaut attempting to flank him. The forced melee gave them an advantage over the IRT, at least in small groups. Their two fighting styles complemented each other well, despite their inexperience. They were ordered to stay near Boomer and Kyodai, both to cover their artillery and so the more seasoned fighters could watch their backs, and Arva felt confident leaving them as she headed to back up her commanding officers.