The Collapse

Chapter 15: Mortal Duel

The dragon hovered in the air like some twisted angel of death, a phoenix of Hell come to take their souls. Nova entered a forward stance, bringing her blade backwards in preparation for a mighty uppercut swing while placing her cannon before her as a shield of sorts.

Alder's earpiece buzzed to life as radio contact was initiated, and Ember's voice flooded his ear, tinted by alarm. "Alder, we just reestablished radio contact with Tornado 1-3. They said the thing. . . flew away. If you see it, DO NOT ENGAGE! It's an Apophis beastcraft, and believe me when I say that they are nothing to fuck with."

Alder pressed his comms button and spoke calmly despite the fear bubbling in his chest. "It's a bit too late now, Ember. I'm in a staring contest with it, and I ain't gonna let it win."

Ember started to respond, but Alder cut her off by tapping the button twice, shutting it off. He couldn't focus on two things and expect to win this duel. He focused all of his attention on the Apophis, sending a tremor of fear through him.

Its scarlet eyes had narrowed to slits, a burning rage barely concealed within. Then, without warning, the beastcraft reared back and sent a fireball screaming out of its mouth, headed towards Nova. Without thinking, Alder pushed the titanic mass out of the way, feeling as comfortable as if he were in his own body and not a 175-ton machine. The orb of flame smashed into the ground not five feet away from Nova's previous position with what would have been a deafening explosion had it not been for the built-in hearing protectors within the cockpit.

Nova was already on the move towards the Apophis, cutting loose with the a fusillade of lead in a suppression attempt. The tungsten-tipped rounds bounced off the demon's hide like nothing more than paper wads as the beastcraft took flight towards the duo. Nova's blade snapped to life with blue electricity volts as the distance between the behemoths closed to fifty feet. The air parted as the glowing blade swung in a wide arc that would have decapitated the Apophis had it connected. Instead, the hell-spawn pulled up and back at the last second, its throat receiving a shower of sapphire sparks. Its colossal tail struck Nova on the way up, lifting her off the ground and sending her backwards.

  A vast boom shook the derelict ruins as Nova hit the ground. Using the blade as a crutch, the Iapetus lifted herself up and took off from a sprinter's stance, allowing her powerful servo joints to pull the blade out of the soil. Swinging the massive armaments like limbs, Nova used her boosters to jump up, bringing the blade down in a mighty stroke towards the Apophis. Effortlessly, the dragon-like construct swerved away from the crackling blade and latched onto the right shoulder with teeth more akin to swords. The powerful wings beat with a steady rhythm, lifting the war machine into the night sky. 

In the cockpit, Alder roared in anguish as the structural damage flooded into his mind and body and asserted themselves as physical pain. His mental limits reaching the maximum, Alder channeled his strength and brought the sword straight to the right wing's membrane. He pumped the charge up to the top level and let the miniature lightning bolts do their work, sending the Apophis into electrically-induced spasms. The blade sliced through the wing like butter, not ceasing its hideous job until the whole structure fell away. Losing the fragile aerodynamic balance needed to stay in the sky, the beastcraft released its catch and fell towards the ground.

Nova began to fall as well, and Alder knew he had to get straightened before they touched down. He activated the thrust boosters, and ever so slowly began to turn right side up while slowing their descent. As the ground grew nearer and nearer, Alder knew it wouldn't be enough to stop them from at best a rough landing. He hoped that Ember's troops would have enough sense to take cover if they could see him coming as they passed the tallest of the ruined buildings.

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Ember watched in horror from her position in an old supermarket, utilizing a pair of binoculars with one cracked lens to follow them. The boosters glowed with a bluish-purple flame as Nova tried to right herself and slow down, but it wasn't enough. Ember lifted her eyes from the binos and handed them to the radio operator of Tornado 1-2. Finally, after what seemed like an agonizing eternity, Nova landed on top of an old city transit bus, throwing up a wall of dust. Ember looked back at the guardsmen and shouted, "Move up!" As they went through the shattered, lichen-covered windowsills, she began to pray to anyone who was listening that Alder was alright.