Battle Company (Closed) pt 1

OE102
August 5th, 18:32
Tokyo, Japan

Green flashes illuminated his surroundings momentarily before obscuring the cockpit in complete darkness once more. The screen remained blank as the Axio completed its system maintenance. Miguel squinted as the bar across the screen slowly filled itself, his heartbeat quickened at the thought of both battle and the gaping hole in his heart. He dismissed the distracting thoughts as he focused his mind on the mission.

Grey Python Terrorists were deployed throughout the city, slaughtering upper class civilians. Their motives remained unknown at this point but he had a feeling that the bastards were simply doing this to weaken the country and coerce half of it to support them. Whatever their agendas were, their mission was to stop them.

He felt his mouth widen into a bloodthirsty grin as the screen lit up, the Heads Up Display link appearing and the beautiful city of Tokyo stretched out in the horizon. Dazzling lights from storefronts, buildings and gunfights illuminated the city like a Christmas tree. His fellow operatives began moving towards the city, prompting him to waste no time and operated the Mobile Weapon.

Each strides could be their last. The sounds of battle was audible even at this distance and inside the confines of his cockpit. Bright explosions flashed his vision every second until the battle zone was near enough for him to hear the agonizing cries of the wounded and the dying.

He raised his Assault Rifle; he caught sight of custom purple-colored Gespensts and grey Potentatuses locked in violent combat. Clearly, the former were losing the battle as their Mobile Weapons simultaneously exploded in bright orange flames. Miguel thought he could not watch any further. He took aim at the nearest Potentatus, aimed at its head and opened fire. Three short bursts took away its head and the decapitated Mobile Weapon fell to its knees, releasing its grip to its custom MP350 Machinegun.

He motion detector on the lower left of his screen flashed in red as it detected enemy movement to his right. He pivoted his Mobile Weapon and found himself aiming at the chest of a Praetoriam, its Titanium Sword raised in hostile manner. His heartbeat raced as he fired his Assault Rifle in full spray. Sparks and flames erupted from the enemy Mobile Weapon's chest. Oil and fuel showered the face of the Axio Burglar. The Praetoriam exploded, its body bending backwards in an awkward angle. He sensed a Potentatus moving in to his direction from ahead.

The Axiom grabbed the destroyed Praetoriam and used it as a shield from the incoming Potentatus. Powerful bullets hit the shell of its comrade. The Axiom, frozen in place, felt its meat shield bucked and shook until its body was separated from the midriff. The Potentatus stopped momentarily to cool down, which was a mistake as Miguel raised his Assault Rifle and opened fire at the enemy Mobile Weapon.

Rounds shred through enemy armor and eventually hit a sensitive fuse inside, causing the Mobile Weapon to be engulfed in orange flames. The motion detector showed no signs of enemies for now and his colleagues were already advancing to the heart of the city. He followed them, walking past wounded and disarmed Gespensts. Their heads were slowly turning to them. They showed no signs of hostility. If any, the pilots of these Mobile Weapons were probably grateful that they arrived. However, they were no allies of theirs.

"Who were they?" He heard one of his colleagues asked.

"Shogun Resistance, some local militia that managed to snag a few Gespenst from some abandoned Directory Facility. They're not hostile unless they wanted to die so pay them no heed."

More explosions greeted Miguel's senses. In the far distance, he watched a Praetoriam mercilessly behead a Resistance Gespenst. It exploded, bathing the Praetoriam in oil and coolants. Miguel raised his weapon and targeted the Praetoriam. He carefully timed his shot so that every attempt the Praetoriam will made to evade will be all for naught.

First bullet struck the Praetoriam's left arm, its Storm Shield flying from its grip. He fired another shot, the Praetoriam's right hand exploded, making it drop its Titanium Sword. The Praetoriam froze for a moment before charging at him. It knew. He felt the cockpit shook as the Front Gun opened up to his direction.

Bullets hit the Axio's battle plates. It sounded heavy rain against an iron roof, noisy and irritating. He moved the Axio out of the way but the Praetoriam has managed to close its distance to him. Ranged weapon was currently useless at this point.

The Axio Burglar's left free hand enveloped its fingers around the hilt of its Steel Knife sheathed on its left thigh. It drew and swung wide, damaging the back of the Praetoriam. Miguel strode backwards, aiming his Assault Rifle with single-handedly and fired bullets after bullets at the diagonal wound he made on the back of the enemy Mobile Weapon.

It exploded in a bright flash; Miguel attached the Steel Knife to the muzzle of the Assault Rifle. He spotted a lone Potentatus with its back on him and charged. The tip of the blade punctured from its spine to its chest. Miguel raised the Potentatus from the ground and fired full blast, showering the Axio in oil and coolant before exploding. It threw the Axio Burglar backwards.

"Del Corazon, are you alright?" He heard a voice from the cockpit's radio frequency.

"Yes, I am." He replied as an identical Axio Burglar appeared into view. It offered him a hand which he gladly took. They both raised their Assault Rifles and advanced.

Shibuya was reduced into rubles and fallen buildings. This was not the primary focus, however, but the five-man squad in the middle of it: three Potentatus and two Praetoriam. The remaining Axio Burglars closes in and showered the five-man squad with rifle rounds. The squad returned fire, explosions and death screams bursts forth from the cockpit's radio frequency. Miguel's breath became slowly, his grip to reality fading as blurred familiar faces appeared in his mind. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes as he began missing something that he has no knowledge of.

"Not now, damn it!" He whispered as he put multiple rounds on a pinned Potentatus. It exploded, showering the nearby distance with debris and flames.

His aim jumped to the second one, which exploded with the combined fire power of the remaining Axio Burglars. The battle continued for three more minutes until the last enemy Mobile Weapon was engulfed in flames.

"Mission accomplished," the same voice who assisted him earlier said. "Report back to base, now."