How eventful was the night in the stagnancy of action. Mandaly, the city of lakes and sands of the open sea, had no idea of what occurred to its neighboring city of Giganto. On nights like these, not even an insect chirped in the woodlands. These were the ones you feared the most. It wasn't silent no, far louder than any other night in fact. Grass trampled and roads avoided by the army of war machines carrying steel crates over their shoulders like the titans. Sitting on a tree over them all was the prototype model Zion.
He multitasked by watching his own wounds seal and D.D.D system repair before the last drops of fluid exited as well as monitoring the droids. Each crate carried another model the same as him, though composed of cheaper materials. Zion was the newest of the batch, programmed a mere day ago with a trove in their mind-younger than most of the ones being transported right now. With their leader in Mandaly, he needed to take control, "Hmm?" the neuragear in his mind rung, "Ah, you've finally gotten back to me, contractor."
As per protocol, he alerted the Zenith contractor in the location, "It is my pleasure to meet you, Shayu," the contractor's name was programmed into his mind.
"Oh? You're that kosmik Z7 that woke up early?" Shayu bubbled from their hiding ground. His voice was dead, a brittle tone that was light. Devoid of most feelings his questions continued, "Send me a copy of your memory banks and report the condition of the units."
"On its way," Zion nodded, "We were discovered during the shipment phase to Mandaly by security agent Tome as well as the barons," Zion pinpointed his attackers. That bug who tore his chest open didn't leave either, "There was also a CC unit present….he took the ramification drive as well. I needed to leave."
"I see," something awoke within their contractor, "What occurred to the units in your shipment facility? And what was the CC unit model?"
"They were most likely seized, the other droids were already mobilized from our other factories. Should we use a kill-switch before they're turned on?" Zion had no qualm with pulling the trigger on his brothers, they were more like clones of him anyways. "And it was a Legbuster."
Shayu remained silent, bubbling from his tomb. A legbuster at last…..but there was only one left alive he was sure of it, "I'll be over, don't make decisions without my presence," he hung up the call. "A legbuster interfering? There's only one remaining and Proton's in Seigen currently….unless," the impossible appeared in his mind. "Unless that man was pretending to be a C unit!"
Shayu emerged from his tomb, the sea itself. He sat at the bottom of the sea where cold was the only sensation beasts felt among the kelp and mossy stones. Fish and other beasts avoided him, his back pressed against the base of an undersea volcano. Before the call, Shayu relished in the waste so far down, waste that not even Rote would desecrate. Concrete and wood that had been blown to shreds, metal, and plastic that once belonged to the landmass that existed a millennia ago. The stones from all those ages ago were the ones he sat upon now. "The city that I walked upon is now where I swim…"
He had more important matters. In one swift updraft, he swam upwards scaring all fish away from the depths of thousands of meters. Higher and higher the darkness washed away, replaced by the moon's pale glow. Fitting to the pale skin that clung to Shayu's steel. No bigger than a regular man with a lean build. Still thinner than most the blue latex over his body didn't remove from his aerodynamic nature; even matched his hair color. Streamline was how any could describe Shayu, body lined like a torpedo with a jawline you could sharpen daggers on. It was enough to terrify most beasts….almost.
Mandaly's depths were a test for the bravest of divers for the terrible things that lurked in caverns in the undersea cliffs. Daimons. Untrained beasts bordering on monsters and demons saw the small beast and thought of him no more than prey. Shayu's last feature cemented the thought, if it wasn't for the thing attached to his spine he could blend in with ordinary men. A tail like the gods of the sea, long and thick with dozens of ends fused to one and pointed ends like the dorsal fin along his back, "Hmm?" they struck right when he noticed.
The attacker was none other than a giant squid with a mossy frame. Eyes splattered like paint across every inch, similar to the thorns and vines along the oval head. Tentacles attempted to grab the shark man and shove him into their beak. Left, right, below, and above; any direction imaginable. Shayu amused the poor thing by swimming between the comparably slow swings. Old squid tried to lunge with an open beak to its free meal. Shayu swam around a tentacle, gripped it, and forced it in the path of the mouth. Not that a beak could break cosmik anyways.
A cry that became a bubble under the ocean...which was strange because Shayu could've sworn squid didn't make sounds. He discarded the thought once the beast made more attempts on him. Meaty hooks consumed him from all sides. Hits connected. But none even got through his suit. "I remember the Destrias used to own beasts like you, are you one of theirs?"
Shayu's edged tail hacked off the tips of all the squid's tentacles in one fell swoop and rotation. Blood would attract more predators, costing more time for Shayu. "I'll let you deal with that, have fun."
His attempt to reach the surface was stopped again. The squid he beat knew when to give up and retreated into the hole it came from; eyes on the attacker. Yet over him was another menace. Ugly incarnate was the only way to describe the Daimon that challenged Shayu now. The spawn of an anglerfish in rotund glory. Teeth that would make any dentist flinch sprung like a net to close Shayu. He took a deep breath and allowed it to swallow.
Angler fish never chew their food and this daimon was no different with locked jaws and seawater trying to force the feed down their gullet. But it was stuck. The daimon wasn't the brightest to understand what was occurring, only hearing a buzz within the air pocket from inside. Pain was the last thing the poor fish felt. Rotary blades and vibrating teeth made a gash from the inside out. The spine severed leaving the beast immediately dead, "Waste my time again, I dare you," Shayu was a motorboat in living form. Webs appeared between each finger with find along each forearm with the wrath of razors. Ridges along his body matching the feral appearance his entire body took, head larger and body longer.
Again and again, he hacked away at the corpse. Slashes and strikes, teeth and bites. Savagery imprint with the body of chum floating to the surface. Shayu poked his head above the sea. Round eyes gawked at the scene of their next great disaster. Mandaly. "I hope that damned machine is telling the truth. But if there's a fake Legbuster on the roam...you're dead."