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Description
Chapter 4

Before the dust could settle, before the enemy could react, I charged them. My rage turned my world red. These faceless hundreds killed my friends, my brothers, not in a fight, but through ambush. They will pay. They will pay with their lives. I reached for them with my claws and ripped them apart. They never stood a chance. I didn't let them fight. I just ripped them apart. A measly five minutes later, I stood panting on top of a massive pile of blood, guts, severed limbs, and pieces that weren't recognizably human. I killed them all. My com link beeped.

"Mission Command on the line. What do you want me to do?" asked Athena.
"Open the link. I need some answers" was my quiet reply.
"This is General Watson. I want a status report."
"Everything went to fucking hell… sir. We got dropped straight into an ambush. How did Intel drop the ball this badly? I'm the only one left."
My anger must have bled through into my reply, because the general's reply was terse and commanding.
"Soldier, get a grip on yourself. As the last man standing, it falls to you to complete the mission. Get it done. Defeat is not an option."
"How the fuck am I going to do this? You want me to take on 2000 tanks, 40 heavy mechs, and 10 Overlord class war machines. Alone."
"Yes. There is no one else left. If this mission fails, our country will crumble. Just take out their anti-air units. The fly-boys will take care of the rest. Command out."

The com link closed with an ominous click. This was not good. Not good at all.
This was bad. Really, really bad. The anti-air defenses of the enemy army consisted of 500 SAM turret tanks linked together and coordinated by 5 Commander Class heavy mechs. The Commanders were completely unarmed, but covered in extreme amounts of armor plating with layers upon layers of energy shield domes.

"Damn it! If only I had a bunch of anti-tank mines! They would be PERFECT!" I screamed aloud.
"Well, there IS an option… if you are willing to take it" was Ares' reply. "It would be simple enough to jury-rig some remote demolition charges from the cold fusion reactors and anti-matter weapons of your fallen friends, and the plasma weapons of the enemy soldiers. It would be distasteful and gruesome work, but if you can get the special access codes from the general, it could be done."
"Well then, what are you waiting for? Call him!"
"Already on it."

The com link rang, and rang, and rang again before it was picked up. General Watson's gruff voice came through, loud and clear.
"What is it? Have you found some way to neutralize the enemy anti-air units?"
"As a matter of fact, my A.I. Ares and I HAVE found a way. I just need the suit reactor unlock codes for my unit. I'm planning on using their power cores and anti-matter munitions to rig a series of remote detonation demo charges in the pass. Once the enemy anti-air units are in the pass, I will detonate the charges and use my ELRAT-7 to finish off any stragglers before calling in the air support." I replied.
"That is… absolutely devious… I'm going to send you the codes as soon as I clear this with the rest of High Command. If this works, it will mean a crushing victory, and the end of this war, if it fails… Well, it will still be the end of the war… just not the end we want."

"Got it. I will be waiting for the call."
The com link closed, and sat down on a nearby rock to wait. The message that I got half an hour later wasn't what I expected. It was a text message with an attached file. It read: "The High Command rejected your proposal, but I'm going to give you the codes anyway, use them well. The penny-pinchers got their panties in a twist over losing so many of their multi-billion dollar armor suits, so I had to take personal action. Don't make me regret it." The attachment was a string of ten digits and numerals, and the words "MASTER UNLOCK KEY. USE ONLY IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES."

"Well, if this doesn't qualify as an emergency, then I don't know what does." I told my A.I. partners as I got to work. With help from Athena, I unlocked the suits of my fallen comrades in arms and removed their cold fusion generators and anti-matter munitions. Ares helped me jury-rig them into remote detonated demolition charges, using the fallen plasma weapons of my enemies as igniters. After a few hours of hard work, the charges were ready to be planted. I scattered them throughout the mountain pass, and then throughout the systems of caverns I found in the bowels of the mountain range. Then I flew to a hill far beyond the blast radius, and set up a sniper's nest. I mounted the ELRAT-7 on its bipod and locked it down. Then, I set up camouflage netting all over the nest, blending it into the scrub that covered the top of the hill. Then I hunkered down and waited, and soon after that, the life support systems of my armor kicked in, sending nutrients and minerals straight to my blood vessels by direct injection. I made myself as comfortable as possible, and took the opportunity to get some rest. A day passed before the scouts arrived. The scout vehicles were armor plated trucks with high velocity, high torque, and high grip treads instead of wheels, sporting an automated turret on the top and sensor arrays on the sides, front, and back. The turret was a high-caliber, fully rotational twin chain gun set-up, loaded with high explosive rounds. The scout units roared all around my hill, all over the surrounding plain, and down the pass, sensor arrays fully active, and constantly scanning. Thanks to the camouflage nets I placed all over the top of the hill, I went undetected as the material the nets were made from bent the sensor beams around my nest in an undetectable pattern. I breathed a sigh of relief when they were past. Ten minutes later, the scouts were back, and this time they were in a well formed search grid pattern, with regular patrols roaring in parallel, but opposite, patterns. I got my rifle ready. The ELRAT-7 was a beautiful rifle, with a 5 foot long barrel, lined the whole length with built-in recoil dampeners, an oversized scope with thermal vision optics, and a custom stock engineered to dampen as much of the recoil as physically possible. The firing mechanism sported semi-automatic and burst firing modes, and the drum magazine held thirty armor piercing, shield breaking, and high velocity anti-matter rounds.

I had to wait another hour before the main column arrived. 2000 tanks, 40 heavy mechs, and 10 Overlord class war machines slowly rumbled down the pass. I took out the detonator and waited. When the anti-air tanks got into position, I held off. I waited some more, until most of the column was in the pass. When all but the rear guard AA tanks were in the pass, I pressed the button. There was a second of heart-stopping delay, and then 99 cold fusion reactors detonated. 70% of the main column was destroyed by the blast, or buried beneath tons of rock as the entire mountain range collapsed on them. The rear guard of 50 AA tanks, 200 scouts, and 2 Overlord class War Machines were outside of the blast radius however, and I had no time to celebrate. I turned my sights on the AA tanks, and shot them, one by one. When the last one was a smoking ruin, I toggled the switch to call in air support, laser targeted the scouts and Overlords, collapsed my ELRAT-7, stashed it away in its compartment, and took to the skies.

My anti-grav wings unfolded and snapped out, their outlines glowing darkly as I activated the anti-matter weapons in them. I deployed and activated my claws as I climbed, gaining altitude. Once I was at 5000 feet, I swung into a dive, heading straight for the first Overlord. It was a rolling fortress type, 200 tons of armor plating, sensor arrays, and plasma turrets. The turrets swung around and opened fire the second I entered their range, sending hundreds of thousands of high speed plasma pellets at me in the blink of an eye. In response, I toggled a switch and a flight path was generated for me by the A.I. in my armor. The twisting path got me out of harm's way for the 10 seconds it took for the turrets to overheat. While the turrets were speed shunting the excess heat accumulated in their firing chambers, I dove into a spinning dive and drilled through the triple layered shield of the Fortress Overlord and cut into its 40 foot thick armor. I drilled through it in a blaze of heat and light, to break into the internal compartments of the Overlord. I sheathed my claws and wings, took out my SRAPW-22s. I carefully stalked through the hallways toward the engine block as alarms burst into a cacophony of life all around me. After a few feet, I ran into a squad of guards. I gunned them down before they knew I was there. I stepped over their shredded bodies and walked onward.

Description
Chapter 4

Before the dust could settle, before the enemy could react, I charged them. My rage turned my world red. These faceless hundreds killed my friends, my brothers, not in a fight, but through ambush. They will pay. They will pay with their lives. I reached for them with my claws and ripped them apart. They never stood a chance. I didn't let them fight. I just ripped them apart. A measly five minutes later, I stood panting on top of a massive pile of blood, guts, severed limbs, and pieces that weren't recognizably human. I killed them all. My com link beeped.

"Mission Command on the line. What do you want me to do?" asked Athena.
"Open the link. I need some answers" was my quiet reply.
"This is General Watson. I want a status report."
"Everything went to fucking hell… sir. We got dropped straight into an ambush. How did Intel drop the ball this badly? I'm the only one left."
My anger must have bled through into my reply, because the general's reply was terse and commanding.
"Soldier, get a grip on yourself. As the last man standing, it falls to you to complete the mission. Get it done. Defeat is not an option."
"How the fuck am I going to do this? You want me to take on 2000 tanks, 40 heavy mechs, and 10 Overlord class war machines. Alone."
"Yes. There is no one else left. If this mission fails, our country will crumble. Just take out their anti-air units. The fly-boys will take care of the rest. Command out."

The com link closed with an ominous click. This was not good. Not good at all.
This was bad. Really, really bad. The anti-air defenses of the enemy army consisted of 500 SAM turret tanks linked together and coordinated by 5 Commander Class heavy mechs. The Commanders were completely unarmed, but covered in extreme amounts of armor plating with layers upon layers of energy shield domes.

"Damn it! If only I had a bunch of anti-tank mines! They would be PERFECT!" I screamed aloud.
"Well, there IS an option… if you are willing to take it" was Ares' reply. "It would be simple enough to jury-rig some remote demolition charges from the cold fusion reactors and anti-matter weapons of your fallen friends, and the plasma weapons of the enemy soldiers. It would be distasteful and gruesome work, but if you can get the special access codes from the general, it could be done."
"Well then, what are you waiting for? Call him!"
"Already on it."

The com link rang, and rang, and rang again before it was picked up. General Watson's gruff voice came through, loud and clear.
"What is it? Have you found some way to neutralize the enemy anti-air units?"
"As a matter of fact, my A.I. Ares and I HAVE found a way. I just need the suit reactor unlock codes for my unit. I'm planning on using their power cores and anti-matter munitions to rig a series of remote detonation demo charges in the pass. Once the enemy anti-air units are in the pass, I will detonate the charges and use my ELRAT-7 to finish off any stragglers before calling in the air support." I replied.
"That is… absolutely devious… I'm going to send you the codes as soon as I clear this with the rest of High Command. If this works, it will mean a crushing victory, and the end of this war, if it fails… Well, it will still be the end of the war… just not the end we want."

"Got it. I will be waiting for the call."
The com link closed, and sat down on a nearby rock to wait. The message that I got half an hour later wasn't what I expected. It was a text message with an attached file. It read: "The High Command rejected your proposal, but I'm going to give you the codes anyway, use them well. The penny-pinchers got their panties in a twist over losing so many of their multi-billion dollar armor suits, so I had to take personal action. Don't make me regret it." The attachment was a string of ten digits and numerals, and the words "MASTER UNLOCK KEY. USE ONLY IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES."

"Well, if this doesn't qualify as an emergency, then I don't know what does." I told my A.I. partners as I got to work. With help from Athena, I unlocked the suits of my fallen comrades in arms and removed their cold fusion generators and anti-matter munitions. Ares helped me jury-rig them into remote detonated demolition charges, using the fallen plasma weapons of my enemies as igniters. After a few hours of hard work, the charges were ready to be planted. I scattered them throughout the mountain pass, and then throughout the systems of caverns I found in the bowels of the mountain range. Then I flew to a hill far beyond the blast radius, and set up a sniper's nest. I mounted the ELRAT-7 on its bipod and locked it down. Then, I set up camouflage netting all over the nest, blending it into the scrub that covered the top of the hill. Then I hunkered down and waited, and soon after that, the life support systems of my armor kicked in, sending nutrients and minerals straight to my blood vessels by direct injection. I made myself as comfortable as possible, and took the opportunity to get some rest. A day passed before the scouts arrived. The scout vehicles were armor plated trucks with high velocity, high torque, and high grip treads instead of wheels, sporting an automated turret on the top and sensor arrays on the sides, front, and back. The turret was a high-caliber, fully rotational twin chain gun set-up, loaded with high explosive rounds. The scout units roared all around my hill, all over the surrounding plain, and down the pass, sensor arrays fully active, and constantly scanning. Thanks to the camouflage nets I placed all over the top of the hill, I went undetected as the material the nets were made from bent the sensor beams around my nest in an undetectable pattern. I breathed a sigh of relief when they were past. Ten minutes later, the scouts were back, and this time they were in a well formed search grid pattern, with regular patrols roaring in parallel, but opposite, patterns. I got my rifle ready. The ELRAT-7 was a beautiful rifle, with a 5 foot long barrel, lined the whole length with built-in recoil dampeners, an oversized scope with thermal vision optics, and a custom stock engineered to dampen as much of the recoil as physically possible. The firing mechanism sported semi-automatic and burst firing modes, and the drum magazine held thirty armor piercing, shield breaking, and high velocity anti-matter rounds.

I had to wait another hour before the main column arrived. 2000 tanks, 40 heavy mechs, and 10 Overlord class war machines slowly rumbled down the pass. I took out the detonator and waited. When the anti-air tanks got into position, I held off. I waited some more, until most of the column was in the pass. When all but the rear guard AA tanks were in the pass, I pressed the button. There was a second of heart-stopping delay, and then 99 cold fusion reactors detonated. 70% of the main column was destroyed by the blast, or buried beneath tons of rock as the entire mountain range collapsed on them. The rear guard of 50 AA tanks, 200 scouts, and 2 Overlord class War Machines were outside of the blast radius however, and I had no time to celebrate. I turned my sights on the AA tanks, and shot them, one by one. When the last one was a smoking ruin, I toggled the switch to call in air support, laser targeted the scouts and Overlords, collapsed my ELRAT-7, stashed it away in its compartment, and took to the skies.

My anti-grav wings unfolded and snapped out, their outlines glowing darkly as I activated the anti-matter weapons in them. I deployed and activated my claws as I climbed, gaining altitude. Once I was at 5000 feet, I swung into a dive, heading straight for the first Overlord. It was a rolling fortress type, 200 tons of armor plating, sensor arrays, and plasma turrets. The turrets swung around and opened fire the second I entered their range, sending hundreds of thousands of high speed plasma pellets at me in the blink of an eye. In response, I toggled a switch and a flight path was generated for me by the A.I. in my armor. The twisting path got me out of harm's way for the 10 seconds it took for the turrets to overheat. While the turrets were speed shunting the excess heat accumulated in their firing chambers, I dove into a spinning dive and drilled through the triple layered shield of the Fortress Overlord and cut into its 40 foot thick armor. I drilled through it in a blaze of heat and light, to break into the internal compartments of the Overlord. I sheathed my claws and wings, took out my SRAPW-22s. I carefully stalked through the hallways toward the engine block as alarms burst into a cacophony of life all around me. After a few feet, I ran into a squad of guards. I gunned them down before they knew I was there. I stepped over their shredded bodies and walked onward.