The imperial marching of mechs continued in the largest of three tunnels. Each robot's step was out of sync in broken strides. Weapons aimed in formation that could only be called a modern phalanx. Bodies using their weapons as shields to the soldiers behind who take aim forward, though this integration had them pointed in every direction. At the center of there defense Strider toiled to keep rhythm. Sweat piled high in his watertight suit. He stretched the ends along his torso to free him from perspiration every now and then not allowing his finger off Veles for a moment.
He was first to notice the roof before the police shone lights on it; smoothed out stone polished like jade. The walls shared a similar complexion though the right side was metal as opposed to the left, "Looks an awful lot like a railway system" Strider suggested, "Just, without the tracks," he gulped. Now and then a rattle chimed in the distance. Did the others find something perhaps? Or was something on their way to find them? Who inhabited these halls? Questions he could only guess the answers to.
Nevertheless, his hands continued to rub against the artificially polished surfaces. They were bright enough to polish him. Warped eyes stared back belonging to a malformed body held together by strings. Was this a caricature or what he truly was? Strider could not tell. His left hand rested on his chest where the butt of Veles pressed. A phantom pain shot through his torso, "Hmmm…" something wasn't right.
The more his eyes focused on the surrounding environment time seemed to halt. Surrounding droids slowed with every step and their arms pushed through a layer of invisible gel. Strider's own body experienced this. Shackles weighed against their metal chest. Guilt wrapped itself around his neck with shame pulling the rope. Hands of demise rested on his shoulders clasping ever closer. 'You are but an effigy clinging on to what is mine' it whispered. 'The key to your mortal locks is donning, and I will claim my prize' it boasted with the most heinous of laughs. Such laughter left heaven cold and made hell cackle.
No matter how much he itched at his artificial throat that humiliation dawdled. It waited for him to slip up. The guards recorded his actions. At the center of their group the dubious gentleman who kept his eyes forward made continuous hand signals around his neck, "Hey front guys, pick up anything yet?" Strider's worry grew with the banging in the distance; by his estimates, it came from the smallest tunnel. Bangs that sounded like electric explosions. Those noises were stored in their databases as well….but it was getting closer. Transforming. A boom became a bang and one became many.
The first of the guards protruded his hand and rose his weapon bringing the rest mimicking. Something was coming. A march approached their own. Unlike theirs, it cared not for safety. One could tell on first beat of the winding tunnel that the shake was unanimous. Any number of unknown units awaited them, "Hmm...I wonder…" Strider thought out loud. His voice was stolen by a sudden deafening switch and blinding glare on the wall's curve before them. Light struck only meters away of them.
Every second another step came. The ground beneath rattled as if the rails would give away. An arm swayed out the corner; that singular limb was as large as one police unit. The PD in charge sent a signal to his troops to fire. They aimed at the silver arm, notably their large cubical-shaped fingers. Their rifles and bullets were customized to reduce drag and promote armor piercing; one shot could pierce the hull of a ship's thickest part and still dent the other end. No wonder they would slice through the giant's limb before he even turned the corner.
"Ah….knew I saw this before," Strider recalled the model. He encountered it once before and tested his edge on it. A walking glass canon truly, nothing special about the armor...though why would you need protection when you can heal? It was over the instant the command called off their fire and saw chrome blood fall of the immobile titan's hand. In one shake it repaired any damage. "That thing isn't alone." A march of husks who held no life embraced the scene with their stomps rocking their environment. Blinding lights stunned guards before any image could be taken of the towering titans.
None of them would see the light of day after death was brought in the shape of an underground marching band.
These very knocks were felt across the three chambers, though less in the last. All of the police who entered the smallest tunnel noted the sudden waves in the sea pool originating from behind them. Their captain and Carnel stayed locked on the action. Right out of reach and on the other end of the room, guarded by a line of those half-baked seapaver replicas Dynamo met his match. Shayu's tail lodged in both eyes as the rest of his body was submerged under except for his legs that clung to Dynamo's. Dynamo tucked his head low. His eyes scrambled to restore sight while his left foot stomped down on the right. His vision restored in time to see Shayu's head lurch from the seas. "What are you waiting for!?"
He scolded the Pavettes. They all looked at each other and their spinning guns heated up. A nod offered and their heads tilted backward for a pose that would kill any human opening a rain of pellets, "Formation!" Carnel was the first to guard her maiden accepting the hail with spear in hand. The weapon stretched out her back riled up. With a switch, the gas' flow thickened and ignited into plasma with a strike. Using the flat of her hand Carnel lowered the point of her spear. It thinned and squished from the point and flattened into a large disc of plasma; though not enough to protect anyone from more than rain. Gritting her teeth Carnel ran a tube from her stomach into the end of her weapon. She took a knee and so did her Dyson with the plasma's temperature and cover increasing.
Beyond Carnel the police division went over her shoulders. Their upper protective layer stalled most of the fire as they pinpointed shots at designated gaps in all Pavettes. Each shot fired rattled their hands. Minimal effects on the Pavettes. They swallowed the blows like champs, "Don't waste your ammo! We've had shock absorption on the market for centuries!" Shayu boasted with fangs clamped around Dynamo's skull. "Give me some credit, I picked up a secret or two watching you work under hoods."
His speakers aimed towards Dynamo. Shayu's eyes were glued on Dynamo's feet. He was still worried despite the fact that his waters gripped them tighter than concrete; Dynamo's engine continued to bubble moving ever so slightly, "Why would I give you credit over a shoddy job?" Dynamo stretched his neck forward and headbutted down. Direct contact to the end of Shayu's. His mouth turned to the side and bit down on steel.
"Ow- You…." Shayu stopped mid-sentence. Words which mustn't be spoken almost left his lips, "Alright then," his legs freed themselves from Dynamo with tail slapping itself out of his mouth. Shayu's stone-water prison unraveled at Dynamo's feet the moment he entered the water himself. A swift heel almost met Shayu's eye. A centimeter out of range. Shayu rose his fingers from the water and snapped four times. "Pavette 01 to 03 follow after me!"
The three in the middle ceased their onslaught of bullets and flipped around for their lord's demand. All three didn't mind the dents which formed on their backplates and fins. Instead, they focused on their master. Shayu's chest remained under the water thumping. His insides pounded for freedom as his clenched arm brought a wall of solid seawater to shield his servants who watched on with beady eyes of admiration. Dynamo stepped back when the thumps of a beating heart. He brought his body low and awaited what came next, "You were so curious on ramification? Right?" Shayu coughed out between the pulses of miniature waves, "Since you've been so pleasant here's a one in a lifetime demonstration!"
They were like tentacles entering the body. No pore nor entryway prevailed from the sea's perverse nature. Was this the will of the abyss or Shayu's own doing which engulfed him? Neither machine could answer but was enthralled by his heart the same. Soon orange consumed his very frame. Heat evaporated water, though more rose to replace what was lost in the form of tentacles wrapping around his limbs. His tail pushed him upwards with fins vibrating; one touch of the tips and anyone would be sliced in twain. Shayu's body was unlike his older model, this one could handle the train while his maw extended beyond reason. "We've been advancing for some time, old man…" he poked fun.
Before Dynamo could react a pillar of seawater arose between his legs pinning him to the ceiling. Shayu lunged after pressing both Dynamo and himself by the claws. With another jerk, there was a rift in the ceiling. Dynamo chose not to look down for the face of death was looking up at him. Inches away were hundreds of rotating nails prepared to snap his joints. Not that he could look with an unbearing force pushing his eyes into the ceiling. It didn't matter how much he fought against it nobody could match that pressure. The ceiling cracked with a smattering of bullets aimed at the roof from the three accompanying Pavettes.
Carnel eyed the actions of the three ganging up on the rogue unit. How she longed to step in. Prevented by the hail of bullets that would end the reign of who she was sworn to defend to her final breath. How her heart longed to break free. But she mustn't. She rather not look at Lucki in the eyes though her head was stuck on the ceiling at a singular eye struggling to meet her gaze. Dynamo was forced through the ceiling once Shayu trusted with his second hand. A concrete layer shriveled to reveal the steel floor of another torn upwards the same as their entryway. A room made of dark concrete awaited. It was dim with the only light source being from under them. From what Dynamo estimated there was enough room for him to move freely.
Shayu's hold loosened with the strike. Dynamo stepped off the unit breaking himself free with a thrust of gas. Blades scraped the ground. Shayu's fins tore through the floor in mad slashes stopping his frame from sliding backward. Behind him was another window revealing a watery abyss. Too close meant getting that noxious gas into his hardware and too far would cost his own excitement, "Yeesh, you guys really need to renovate this place," Dynamo commented, attempting to scan the scene. No dice. The jammer was still in range. The ground under his feet pummeled. "They're joining us too?"
"Only makes sense," on Shayu's side the Pavettes tore through the ground, "After all, how can you get the proper showcase? Tobias."
"Showcase? Pffft. Don't get ahead of yourself," one side clearly overpowered the other. In an enemy's domain surrounded by ammunition. Outgunned, outnumbered, and outmaneuvered. Only arrogance that acted as a persona was what he threw away. Replaced by a stern face and dulled eyes. "Don't disrespect my father's craft like that."