Colossal Souls

4. The Orphans

Spanning thousands of kilometers, the ocean ran a deep blue. The sun's rays danced across its surface, disturbed only by the moving currents of the wind. Almost lonely in its display, Gavin hardly gave notice to it now. High above the ocean's surface Gavin floated inside his Colossus. The cockpit he sat in was illuminated in a green light, custom installed by Gavin himself. He gave no notice to that today, only focused on the target in front of him now. The Colossus he commanded was a winged beast, dual blades deftly held in both hands. Gavin's Colossus looked a Frankenstein creation of man and bird. From the waist down the Colossus resembled a hawk, massive talons where feet should be. The head of the beast was that of a falcon, sharp featured and ready to attack all that opposed him. A green paint job, also by Gavin's design, adorned the mechanized bird warrior. Gavin didn't care to remember his Colossus's original name, replacing it with one he enjoyed much better.

"Griffin, shutter down all the hatches you can think of. We're going in hard."

The Colossus acknowledged his Shepherd silently, his wings flapping violently, raising them both higher into the sky. Griffin's blades glinted in the sun's lights as they rose. Pausing now, Griffin seemed to stare down at the other Colossus below them. Black as the night, the Colossus floated precariously over the ocean's surface. The mech was already aiming his gauss rifle at Griffin, albeit shakily.

Gavin pressed down on his throttle, giving motion to his mech. Moving as a single unit, Gavin and Griffin descended straight down. The butterflies in his stomach made Gavin feel surreal, not forgetting he's plummeting to the ocean floor in a metal creature of death.

The black Colossus opened fire, floating back as it did so. Griffin dodged the shots, swiftly and as gracefully as Gavin expected. They crashed into his opponent hard, metal scraping against metal. Gavin slammed a button hard in his cockpit, forcing Griffin to wrap his arms hard around the Colossus they've tackled. Within seconds the pair are submerged in water, flying down farther into the dark sea. Lights flicker on the side of Griffin's head, illuminating their opponent.

Now a good distance into the water, Gavin forces them to stop.

Gavin smiled, hand on a lever above his head. He slowly pushed it up, feeling Griffin clench his arms harder as they squeezed the black Colossus.

"You know Hank, you've yet to land a shot on us. Is Sable not treating you well?"

Gavin heard Hank reply over the sound of crunching metal.

"My shots weren't meant to hit, man. You might have the coolest Colossus of our squadron, but with you behind the wheel he's wasted talent."

Gavin stopped smiling, wondering what Hank meant. Seconds later Griffin was blasted away from Sable, a blue energy wave flowing straight out of Sable's mouth. Sable continued the attack, swinging the line of energy down at Griffin. Gavin cursed, barely able to maneuver Griffin out of the way. Red lights flashed now inside the cockpit.

"Warning Shepherd Gavin: Detecting multiple contusions. We are becoming waterlogged." Griffin's voice echoes in the cockpit.

"Well do something about it, Grif!" Gavin was pissed now.

A second passed before Griffin answered, "Affirmative, deploying energy barriers."

A thin layer of transparent green light blinked on, surrounding Griffin's body. Holes in Griffin's armor were now covered, keeping the water out.

"Beginning water evacuation."

The energy barrier disappeared around Griffin's face. Hank watched curiously as the mechanized bird warrior opened his mouth.

A single jet of water flew out of Griffin's mouth, making solid contact with Sable's shoulder. Even underwater Gavin knew the impact had to hurt. Sable twirled out of the heavy stream, his shoulder plating lost in the attack. The soft metal that made up the core of Sable's body was now exposed, and easy weak point for Griffin to exploit.
"Ah, you bastard. When were you gonna tell me about Griff's little trick?"
"As soon as you told me about Sable's awesome energy beam," Gavin smiled, enjoying the banter of his friend.