Just as Ace was about to charge toward to join Tijona, Jean, and Griggs, a piercing alert blared through all of their cockpits.
[High Alert: Huddle of Purified Dark Mechas - Advanced AI Robotic Army Detected.]
Tomi's eyes widened as his cockpit lit up with a flashing red warning. His gaze snapped to the horizon, where a mass of dark, humanoid mechas approached like a swarm.
The air seemed to thicken with their arrival, an ominous presence that sent a shiver through him.
[Danger Level: High .]
The system's voice was cold, and clinical, as the beaming light illuminated their cockpits in rhythmic flashes.
Tomi swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the impending threat settle in.
"Purified dark mechas?" Tomi muttered, his voice barely a whisper as he watched the horde drawing closer.
They were unlike anything he'd ever seen before—sleek, sinister, their metallic forms gleaming under the dim battlefield light.
"I'm not sure either…" Arande's voice crackled over the comms, tension lacing her words.
"But I bet Dr. Gina might know something about them."
Her winged mecha swooped down, grabbing Tomi by his light lancer and pulling him into the sky, just as a streak of laser fire scorched the ground where he stood.
"Can you let me go now?!" Tomi yelled, frustration boiling over.
His lancer jerked in Arande's grip, the force of their ascent pressing him back into his seat. "Protecting me doesn't mean I can't fight!"
Arande didn't respond immediately, her focus on the threat below, but just as Tomi's anger flared, Nia's mocking voice cut through the air, projected from her mecha.
"Goodness me," Nia's voice was dripping with derision, her tone sharp and amused.
"I guess Yuri is really mad at your organization for destroying her precious babies."
Tijona's eyes slightly widen. Yuri. The name echoed in her mind—Yuri, the one behind the monstrous colossal mecha, the one Malik had taken down. The cheetah unit that Zane, Blaze, and Layla had dismantled. Nia's taunts carried a biting truth—Yuri wouldn't let them go unpunished.
Nia faced Tijona, Griggs, and Jean, whose mechas, though formidable, were now scarred and damaged from the battle. Yet she sat lazily in her cockpit, unbothered, watching them with a smile that sent a chill down Tomi's spine.
"Alright, I'm done with you three." Nia's tone shifted, her voice now bored as if they were nothing more than a warm-up act.
She yawned dramatically, leaning back in her cockpit. "Time to fulfill my real assignment."
At that moment, the dark mechas roared to life, their humanoid forms moving with terrifying precision.
Their eyes glowed with an unnatural light, and they began their rampage, tearing through the battlefield with a mechanical fury.
Tomi's stomach dropped as he glanced down, seeing the chaos unfold below. Arande still had him lifted into the air with her winged mecha, while Layla readied herself, her mecha's weapons aimed at the incoming AI robotic threat.
Laser fire crisscrossed the battlefield, explosions rocking the ground as the dark mechas began their onslaught.
"We've got incoming!" Layla's voice rang out, her eyes narrowing as she locked onto the approaching enemies.
Tomi clenched his fists, feeling his lightlancer pulse with energy. This was no time to hesitate.
Just then, Nia noticed Griggs' light lancer dart forward with a speed unlike anything she'd seen from him earlier.
"Oh?" She arched a brow, a faint smile tugging at her lips, her tone laced with mocking curiosity.
"Activating D4."
Griggs' voice cut through the tension.
"Blade of Aea."
His command was followed by the mechanical acknowledgment from his system.
"Blade of Aea. Activated."
The light lancer unsheathed its sword—a striking weapon with a black blade and white stripes, interrupted by a glowing blue line running down the center.
The weapon hummed with energy as Griggs swung it with deadly precision. The tip of the blade made contact with Nia's Rita mecha's core, resulting in a deafening explosion. Nia's eyes widened in shock, her confidence wavering for the first time.
"What?"
she thought, her breath hitching as she instinctively uncrossed her legs, bracing for the impact.
She barely had time to react, quickly deploying her steel shield, its metallic frame snapping into place.
The shield covered her mecha's core just beneath its bosom, barely absorbing the brunt of the explosion. The blast reverberated through her cockpit, pushing her mecha back violently.
"I promise you won't leave here unscathed," Griggs said coldly, his voice unyielding.
His visor flashed with tactical data as Jean's light lancer flashed past him in a blur of motion.
Following Griggs' strike, Jean launched a powerful kick, targeting the weakened Rita mecha.
Nia tried to stabilize her mecha, but Jean's foot connected with the stomach of her machine, sending it skidding further back.
Her mechanical joints groaned as they struggled to absorb the force, and sparks flew from the impact.
"Nor will you touch him, either," Griggs added, his voice like ice, eyes locked on Nia.
Her mecha, still reeling from Jean's kick, struggled to remain upright as it was shoved further across the battlefield.
Nia clenched her teeth, trying to regain control, her hands flying across the controls.
The power behind Jean's attack was more than she had expected, and her mecha's feet dug into the ground as the speed of the backward slide began to slow.
Jean stood firm after delivering the kick, turning his head slightly toward Griggs and Tijona.
"I thought we were still playing the weak team card, Griggs," he commented, a small smirk forming on his lips.
Griggs didn't respond, but his cold gaze didn't waver from Nia's struggling form. The battlefield had shifted, and they both knew it.
"Well, we won't be for long, not with this new threat closing in," Tijona interjected, her eyes narrowing as she looked ahead.
In the distance, a horde of AI robots rushed forward.
Their forms, dark and menacing, grew larger as they rapidly approached, their movement so fast it seemed they were skipping across the ground.
Dust clouds kicked up in their wake as they closed in, ready to join the fray.
"Don't worry about us, Tijona. We'll handle them—just focus on taking down that Nia person," Layla's voice cut through the comms, crisp and determined.
A blinding ray of light shot from her mecha, slicing through the air before exploding into the mass of advancing purified dark AI soldiers. The ground shook as the blast sent chunks of debris flying.
"Arande has Tomi in the air with me, and Zane and Blaze are guarding Ace," Layla added, her words punctuated by the roar of another explosion as her beam obliterated more of the incoming forces.
"Alright then," Tijona responded, her tone steely. She paused briefly before adding, "And just a heads up—he's on his way."
"Captain?" Arande's voice crackled through with sudden excitement.
"No, second captain Archer," Tijona clarified, her voice cold, but a hint of something unspoken lingered.
"Really," Arande said, her voice jittery with nerves. "We need to make it to the hideout before he catches us here."
"But why would he be out here? And what is our captain doing away?" Zane questioned, standing behind Ace and Blaze's light lancers. They looked out at the scorched remains of the AI robots, now in tatters from Layla's beam attack.
"Who knows, maybe he's coming to bully us as usual," Blaze added, his voice carrying a cynical edge as he scanned the battlefield.
"I highly doubt that," Ace interjected, his voice icy.
His gaze sharpened, brows furrowing, the tension in his stance palpable. Something darker was brewing, and Ace could feel it creeping closer.
"I see," Layla said, a faint smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
The thought of Archer arriving stirred a thrill in her—he was her second favorite captain after all. But there was also the weight of Ace's words, something mysterious on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Tomi's unease only grew as he caught sight of Nia's humanoid mecha glaring straight at him.
The way it stood, towering and eerily familiar, sent a chill down his spine. It reminded him of Tristan—the figure from his nightmares. The resemblance was uncanny, and it gnawed at his nerves. His hands tightened around the controls, his heart pounding.
"It's time to personally take care of her," Tijona's cold voice echoed, cutting through the group's chatter.
Everyone turned their attention to her as she began marching toward Nia's mecha, her steps purposeful, her stance unwavering.
"I guess that's a done deal," Arande remarked with admiration, her voice softer now as they all watched Tijona, her usual leadership giving way to a fierce determination.
Seeing her like this, ready to face down Nia, was something they all respected.