The building that leads into the arena space is huge. It connects to all of the stand entrances, and contains several shops and services designed to keep the people comfortable during a long game. Most of the people in this part of the building successfully escaped before being taken hostage, but Mitsuru's HUD marked several left-over civilians being held by the enemy.
Motoko is a consummate professional, leading the way as you cover her from the rear; and what a wonderful, perky looking rear it is, clad in military grade skin-tight pleather. People in the future are lucky to have butts like this mass-produced. You stick close to her back and cover her blind spots, you know you can tank a few hits from these smaller guns without a problem.
Motoko is a joy to watch at work. Her aim is precise and quick. You crest the top of the escalator leading to the food court and watch as she drops two of them with quick, lightning fast bursts from the futuristic rifle. You swivel around and look up to the bannister above where another robot is attempting to ambush you – you blow its cybernetic brains out with a single blast from the Sledgehammer.
"I should ask your scientist friend to make me one of those," she quips, checking her ammo count.
"She probably will if you do."
Motoko finally steps off the top step and beckons you to follow her with a quick hand signal. Even with her in front of you, you still feel hopelessly out of your depth when it comes to these military style movements and operations. At least you have the benefits of Mitsuru's wallhack, which helpfully marks the locations of the noise that the androids emit.
The cat and mouse game begins. Motoko kills another, and another. You steady your aim against one of the eatery tables and strike down two more. "Nice shooting," Motoko praises you, "You've been practising."
You chuckle, "You said I needed to make a Navy SEAL cry. All I need now is the SEAL."
You can hear her sigh from across the food court, "Don't get ahead of yourself."
She continues to lead the way as you shoot your way through offices, corridors and utility rooms. You blast one of the soldiers through a glass wall, shattering it into a spectacular shower of glass shards and robot parts. Rias speaks to you through the radio channel.
"We took care of the small fries, but this Gundroid is giving us trouble!" Rias explains.
"We'll be right there."
There are only a few left. Motoko gives you the signal to split off, "Go help them. I'll mop up the last of them."
"On it."
You turn on your heel and run down the corridor to the nearest crowd entrance. Sunlight burns your eyes as you emerge out onto one of the upper decks of the stadium. The crowds at the top of the seating areas have already escaped – but the people on the bottom deck were in the line of fire and couldn't do the same.
The ORC is standing firm, utilising magical circles to absorb the fire from the two remaining invaders. Sundar and his Gundroid. They are struggling; the long-distance fire of the gundroid is keeping them pinned down. The magic being emitted from their hands is used to shield the trapped onlookers behind them. You take aim with your gun and fire, hitting the cowboy dead in the left arm and sending it tumbling in a plume of sparks and smoke.
The devils are quick to react. They usher people to the exits while keeping an eye on the robot for any further attacks. The entire place empties out in a matter of seconds, leaving you in an empty baseball stadium with Sundar. "What the hell is your problem?" you demand from atop your vantage point.
"You really piss me off," Sundar growls, "Always being so self-righteous, even when you use other people to fight your battles." He's still armed with the strange weapon from your last fight, the one he tried to use on your Sledgehammer.
"I'm not forcing them to do anything. Unlike you, they're good people at heart. If that's your argument, wouldn't you say that you're forcing all of us to fight by doing this? You're an invader, hurting and terrorizing innocent people for no purpose."
His face hardens, "Pft. The reasons are beyond a simple mind like yours. You're not a man willing to make sacrifices to benefit the majority."
"I fail to see how attacking these people benefits anyone."
He lets out a bitter laugh, "Why not? It brought you here. Didn't you know? Eliminating you and that scientist friend of yours is now our number one objective."
"You lay a finger on Mitsuru and you'll be eating out of a tube for the rest of your life, asshole."
"Big words from a small man. Why don't you come down here and put your money where your mouth is?"
You accept the challenge, leaping from atop the third floor and down onto the grassy pitch below. Sundar tries to take advantage and fires some speculative shots at you with his arm-gun, but both miss as you roll out of the way. You fire back, but he teleports to the side leaving the bullets to hit nothing but the ground.
So absorbed by the gun duel, you fail to notice an interloper taking aim.
"Gundroid! Do it!"
A flash from afar, and your hand cries out in agony as an accurate shot smashes against the back of your armoured plate. Your fingers freeze up and drop the Sledgehammer to the dirt. Sundar moves as swiftly as the wind, swiping it from under you and kicking you away. You stop yourself short of falling down the stairs and into the team dugouts.
Your heart pounds at the prospect of having your number one weapon taken away. "You can't use that," you grunt, "It's biometrically coded."
Sundar laughs menacingly, "We already know. That Doctor isn't a dullard. But… you never figured out what this thing is." He held out the gun attached to his arm with a self-satisfied smirk, "Recognize this? You already destroyed the original version."
Suddenly it clicks into place, "That's… the cloning gun!"
"Wow! You aren't dumb as bricks after all! I asked a friend of mine to make some modifications, and now…"
He charges up a bolt of blue energy and dangles the captive firearm over the barrel, unleashing a vivid flood of energy that engulfs it completely. One silhouette turns into two, and then it drops at his feet. Another Sledgehammer. He throws the original back at you like a piece of garbage. You reach out and take it. He leans down and picks up his new pirated copy in exchange.
"The old version cloned everything – but I only need the non-organic materials to do this. I just needed to get you into the right position, and use the Gundroid's targeting computer to shoot it out of your hand. How do you like that?"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"That's for me to know, and for you and your shitty harem to find out."
The war of words is interrupted by the return of the ORC and the Major. He only just avoids being fried by Rias' destructive magic; Motoko takes aim using her rifle and shoots at him. Sundar raises his arm and uses the cannon as a shield, shattering it into pieces. Despite the destruction of the cloning canon, the second Sledgehammer remains in existence. There must be a backup keeping it separate!
He scowls, "Whatever. I got what I wanted – you losers can play with this pile of junk!" He snaps his fingers and falls backwards through a portal that appears on the ground behind him. It closes so quickly that you can't even try to stop him.
He got you. This whole thing was a set-up so he could steal the Sledgehammer.
You're so angry that you snap your sights onto the Gundroid like a man possessed. You pull the trigger and blow a hole clean through its chest, then its arms, then its legs. You shred it, tearing away pieces until it's nothing more than a metal frame covered in hanging wires and dangling motherboards. You don't stop firing – gunning down the maddened gunman like you're in a gangster flick.
You stutter to a halt in front of the scrap pile and sigh. Mitsuru is going to kill you. Whatever she saw through the feed in your helmet, she doesn't comment. You feel a hand on your back, it's the Major and the others. You climb back to your feet and nod to them, "Thanks everyone. At least nobody got hurt."
Rias smiles, "It's no problem hubby!"
"Ara, I'm always happy to punish evildoers with you," Akeno shivers with sadistic intent.
"Perverts," Koneko comments derisively.
"Aw, don't be so cold Koneko-chan, I'm sure you'll learn to love him just like we did!" Akeno declares, shoving the stern girl's face into her bosom. The two begin to struggle with each other as you try to collect your thoughts.
"What's your assessment Major?"
"It was mostly a success, though your theatrics do seem to cause trouble." Motoko closes her eyes and nearly cracks a smile, "I suppose that 'heroic' part of you isn't so bad. Everyone needs a little bit of romance in their lives, being rescued by a police officer doesn't have the excitement as a superhero."
"Trust me – you're pretty special. I mean you're the only cybernetic person on Earth right now."
"You can't tell just from looking at me," she responds, "Unless you strip me naked."
You clutch your helmet covered head in despair, "While I'm sure I'd enjoy having every bone in my body broken for trying, Mitsuru is going to kill me first."
"That's right!" she cries through the comms, "I'm going to wring that muscular neck of yours!"