"Get off me, you maniac!" Sy yelled, feeling oppressed - when, in fact, he voluntary flung himself into the embrace of an enemy mech. Moreover, the mech that contained him had a scowling face due to the sharp angle of its metallic brows, giving it the impression of an angry lunatic.
He was pinned to the wall next to the other two struggling mechs, which were Eran and another enemy pilot.
Knowing that there were four more mechs out there, he panicked inside and frantically tried to wrestle his way out.
The one pushing him to the wall suddenly leaned down, attempting to trip his mech's leg and bring him down to the ground.
Unfortunately, this action triggered Sy's defensive mechanism revealing a darker side inside him. His mind became empty with only his natural instincts remaining - the combat ones.
The Famling caught the scowling head in a swift stroke, pulling it into a guillotine choke before the enemy pilot could react. All this time, it was absent-mindedly carrying the rifle on the other hand - which was immediately discarded to support the chokehold.
With nothing to hold him back, Sy had succumbed to his feral nature devoid of any sentimentality. He was determined to repress the opposition with simple brutality. The Famling lifted its arm up and rose to its toes - if it had one - attempting to apply more pressure to the helpless enemy's neck.
Although the scowling mech did not breath air, something snapped, and it lifelessly fell to the ground with its angry face falling behind the Famling's heel, forcefully torn from its shoulders.
Before Sy could register what transpired, he sidestepped a charging mech coming from the entrance holding a knife. Using the motion of the newcomer, the Famling grabbed its head and guided it into the wall.
The impact shuddered the facility as two headless mechs lay motionless on the ground.
"Come on!" Sy unconsciously spouted, facing the hallway, "I'm only one lesson away from earning my Level 0 belt in Hand to Hand Combat in the Academy!"
However, the sight of two hulking heavy mechs and one medium greeted his view, extinguishing his bravado and ending his violent spree.
He shifted the Famling's head toward Eran's direction. The yellow mech had already finished its opponent with a few stabs from its knife. To make sure, it stabbed a few more times.
"Eran! To me!" Sy shouted in the comms, picking up the rifle from the ground.
The scion was quick to react. As the yellow mech dashed to the direction of its team mate, energy blasts penetrated the wall where the melee ensued. Seeing that their teammates were brutalized, the ones outside decided to fire their weapons in the knowledge that no friendly fire will accrue.
Dashing toward a wall which Sy had already inspected, he quickly instructed, "We'll fire a few rounds, and together, we will smash through it."
Over three meters thick, the wall would not crumble if they directly crashed into it. Instead, it will affect the integrity of the facility and might cause a chain reaction from the vibration. The possibility of its roof collapsing on their heads were high.
This section was already damaged with a few indentations revealing the tiny flickers of light from outside, but it will not yield so easily. They needed to weaken its structure.
On the count of three, they both discharged a few energy blasts from their rifles on a selected area, and in perfect synchronization, the two Famlings crashed their shoulders to the wall, wrecking through concrete and metal bars.
Sy's mech tripped to the ground while the yellow mech maintained its balance, running for a few more distance to effectively dissipate its motion.
'I need more practice.' Sy enviously noted. The light from the camera feed invaded his sight and overwhelmed him for a few seconds before his eyes eventually adapted.
The facility behind them collapsed on itself, turning into a pile of rubbles. Some sections of its walls remained standing. It was a huge fortification probably an entrance to an underground complex. To what purpose, Sy was not in the mood to know.
The yellow mech offered him a hand and helped his mech to stand up.
"We need to get out of here before the team mates of those mechs we eliminated realize that we're still in the game." Eran suggested, scanning the surrounding area.
They can't just run away to an open ground and let their opponents shoot them like target practice.
Sy also started to assess the terrain. To their left, there was a jagged formation of giants rocks with enough height to provide cover for their mechs. However, running toward it would reveal their position to the opposing team. He was not confident that they could make it before their assaulters shred them down into pieces. It was too faraway.
To their front was a huge expanse of desert with lingering rock terrain, and not a single potential cover in sight. A good place to become a target practice.
Meanwhile, on their right, just a couple of hundred meters away, the land abruptly sloped - forming an elongated earth mound that snaked its way toward a rocky ridge.
Although, the mound only peaked just a little bit over the knees of their mechs, they could use it as cover by crouching behind it, and perhaps crawl their way toward the safety of the ridge.
Eran and Sy had the same idea as their mechs glanced at each other. The only problem they needed to solve was how to achieve it.
The ground was consistently shaking, and Sy was trying to predict the exact location of the other team. The heavy mechs had thick armor platings, and their rifles won't be able to produce a sufficient energy blast to damage the heavies. Furthermore, the slugs carried heavy firepower and could eviscerate them with a single volley.
Even with superior tactics and strategy, both cannot be accomplished without an advantage and competent preparation. Simply trying to takedown the behemoths with two mediums in their factory versions offered only a fast ticket into the afterlife.. well, if it was in the real world.
There was also the case of the enemy medium mech. If they engaged in a prolonged fight with the heavies, the medium could try to outflank them. Even if its pilot did not have this tactical awareness, a lighter mech posed them a significant problem with its mobility.
Sy tensed when he realized that the opposing mechs were circling to their left which was nearer to their location. But this also provided an advantage. If the opponents went to their right, they would be cut off from the mound.
"They know that we're alive and kicking since our deaths were not showed in the kill feed." Eran explained, a pained tone in his voice.
Hearing that, Sy rapidly tapped the yellow mech's shoulder, motioning that they should start running.
Without a question, the two hectically dashed toward the ridge of earth. If their own human bodies were the ones running, their adrenaline would have been high as the thought of being shot in the back persistently disturbed their minds...
...this wild imagination did not turn to reality as they reached the mound without a single energy blast whizzing from their rear. But to be safe, they dove behind the elevation in haste, and both finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The duo lay motionless for a while, before they decided to crawl on the mound, careful to only show the head of their mechs. They warily spied on the direction of the destroyed facility, and saw the opponent mechs circling repeatedly trying to find them.
[You two are looking silly. You're making this too realistic. It's like I'm watching a horror movie.]
Genevieve's voice echoed in their comms. She was spectating them. When the two men stayed silent, she suggested:
[It's a game! You should take advantage of its features. Just fight the damn mechs! You might learn their weaknesses on the process.]
"Nope. Nah, uh.. not happening!" Eran voiced his disapproval.
"You just want to watch us get smoosh by those mechs." Sy added.
[You two are indeed looking silly. Like a pair of scared kittens.]
The Runerie giggled.
[Fine! I'll let you know something. The torsions of 3rd Gens are not as durable as the next generations. You can easily dislodge the knees of those slugs with your rifles and disable them.]
Suddenly, the duo's eyes sparkled. Their mechs glanced at each other before Eran stated, "Ah.. Ms. Runerie, I think that's cheating."
[What do you mean cheating? I'm just giving some tips and not stream sniping them. That's not cheating according to the game policy.]
Eran and Sy did not waste any time. Actually, since the enemy mechs did not know their current whereabouts, they could ambush them even without Genevieve's tip. Though, they can't take out the heavy mechs, they could snipe the medium and escape.
But, soon, the medium itself stopped circling around the rubbles and was analyzing the ground. It was looking at their footprints. It traced the markings that eventually led to their location.
When it saw the pair of heads peeking from the mound with their menacing rifles aimed towards it, the medium mech pilot roared in the open line, "You sons of a...!"
Eran and Sy unleashed a barrage of energy blasts, not stopping until the medium mech was reduced into a junk of metal.
Then...
...they fled.
Without the medium to give pursuit, they could easily outrun the heavies. The mound could provide precious cover as they did.