Elena remained silent for some time as she slowly digested Nathan's words. "Are you sure of what you are saying?... What about the Eastern Node?... It should have extra resources from it."
Nathan shook his head. "The main directive of the Android would most likely be to harvest as many energy crystals as possible from the energy node.
"It already made gamble using up the entire northern node to build an army to wipe us out. But using two nodes just to take on a single group of humans would incur too much of a loss on their side.
"They may be Machines, but they understand the concept of loss and gain. I am willing to bet that it wouldn't use any of the resources from the Eastern Node."
Nathan stated confidently. Elena saw reason with his argument but it still felt a bit of a stretch to just assume so much. His calculations were based on data they could get their hands on.
What if there were unknown data that was not taken into consideration. It could end badly for them, she couldn't be too hasty to accept what Nathan had to say.
"Even still, this is all on probability." "How many missions have been enacted with a hundred percent assurance of victory?"
She thought long and hard. "None. But still, planning based on the intelligence you deduced… it's too risky." Nathan sighed in response. "Sometimes, risk can be important."
"… I understand."
***
It was officially the start of the fifth day since the Command and Conquer mission was assigned to Team Red Wing Thunder. The state of the Northern Crawler was comparable to that of an impenetrable fortress.
Magnum had taken extra care not to leave any loopholes that could be exploited. It planned on overwhelming the enemy with numbers and numbers were something his Crawler could afford.
It had sacrificed the entirety of the Northern energy node. From a practical viewpoint, it was a reasonable exchange to ensure the defeat of the biological specimen threatening the mission.
Turrets spread across the entire valley to form a rather intricate formation around the Crawler and outside the formation, dozens of Scorpions and Tanks patrolled the perimeter.
Drones floated in the sky and moved in a compact formation consisting of eight to avoid getting overwhelmed easily. As one of the groups flew past, their scanners quickly registered something approaching.
[Enemy spotted. Commencing extermination process.]All eight drones charged up their blasters to fire. Just then, a bright blue light streaked through the air and struck the Drone at the center of the formation.
***Boom***
There was a flash and an explosion preceded it. Down below, Seraphina put down her hand, being the culprit that just decommissioned eight Drones with relative ease.
Surviving members of Red Wing Thunder Squadron stood together in formation. They approached the Northern camp at a measured pace.
From the looks of things, they seemed to be planning a frontal assault. They had their weapons at the ready as they watched Machines units come their way after receiving the distress signal from the drones.
***
Magnum watched from the cockpit of the Northern Crawler. Its body design was similar to a Guardian suit. Its 'eyes' expanded and contracted as it caught surveillance footage of the enemy approaching the camp.
[Biological life detected. Commence extermination.] It was not a complex command.
Its prerogative was to end the enemy with the numbers available and immediately gave the command. The Machine units swarmed the humans, leaving no space for retreat.
It rose to its feet and turned away when all of a sudden, a female voice was heard on screen. "Magnum, if you think that you are superior to humans, then you have something coming." It turned back to the screen.
It was the leader of the human group. At that moment, she looked like a bumbling idiot. [Target attempting to use petty attempts to rile up host. It is not worth it.]
***
Elena expected a response, any response would be good. She just needed it to turn it's at towards her. A large red screen suddenly appeared above the Crawler.
[Welcome human]
"You finally show yourself." [I merely wish to inform you that your petty acts to incite me would be in vain. Unlike you, I am a well-designed and stable Machine unit.]
"Then prove it. Come down here and prove that Machines are superior to humanity."
[…] There was no immediate response. It seemed to be sorting through its command settings to figure out the best response to her challenge. [I do not have to prove anything, but if you insist. I am willing to oblige.] The Crawler opened its entrance to reveal a Mechanized suit.
It looked to the left and then to the right before turning its gaze towards the distance where a battle was currently taking place. It zoomed in on the target and once it had caught sight of her, it took off.
Jet wings came out from its back and it flew into the sky before dipping and heading straight for her.
***
Elena felt the gaze of something on her. She could tell that her opponent was on its way. It wouldn't be easy killing an Android, especially on its turf due to its ability to survive without a body.
In the end, the Machines in general were programs. But unlike most Machines built without a self-reliant AI, those with AI were capable of body swapping.
It was said that to truly kill a Machine, there was no need to harm the body, all one needed to do was delete the program. It sounded simple but in the end, most source codes were in the hands of the big bad, there was no way to truly win.
Thus, as she looked to the sky and noticed a projectile approaching, she knew she was about to enter into the most problematic battle she had ever fought.
The battlefield was in utter chaos and what's more, there seemed to be no end in sight.
She charged her blade and at that moment, prepared for the real fight that was coming her way. The Machines rushing at her seemed to receive some kind of command as they cleared the way for her.
She watched the Magnum land in front of her with a composed bearing. [A match between the leaders of both factions. Do you accept?]
Elena forced a smile. "Why not?" She rushed at him, her blade glowing brightly as it was swung forward. Magnum took a defensive posture and blocked her strike.
[Not much. To be expected of the weak human race.]
"Hmmph, Festival of Blades: First Dance – Retaliation."
[Danger detected. Warning, retreat.] Unfortunately for Magnum, there was no time to act on the warning it received. A single slash was all it took and its body was slashed cleanly in half.
"Who is the weak one now?" […]
There was no response, this time the appearance of Magnum was shorter. It was almost as though its pride had been hurt and it had to retrieve it somehow.