"Oh, darling…" a melodic yet icy voice purred, watching the explosion from a distant balcony. "Range is Severely injured."
The voice belonged to Melody, her eyes narrowing with dark satisfaction as her wristwatch projected a holographic image of Range, displaying his rapidly deteriorating condition. A small, number five on her arm.
"He'll need help," a cold, detached voice said beside her.
Kazan, dressed in a sleek white and black-striped AI robotic suit armor, his helmet open to reveal his sharp features, looked at the far-site battlefield.
A mini number six was etched into his cheekbone, the only break in his otherwise expressionless face.
"No, Kazan!" Melody snapped, her voice cutting through the air as she turned to face him, her eyes glinting with a dangerous light.
She gave him a chilling smile, her tone laced with mockery. "I'm sure Hit knows what to do."
She shifted her gaze back to her holographic picture of Range the carnage below, her eyes locking onto Range's disfigured body, sliced cleanly in half by Archer's blade. His lifeless form lay split apart, blood pooling around him.
Melody's grin widened, her satisfaction unmistakable as she savored the sight of his destruction.
"Besides," she added, her voice soft and venomous, "if you join them without his command, it'll be nothing but a death sentence."
The wind stirred, rustling Kazan's black hair as he stood silently beside her, his purple pupils narrowing in contemplation. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he glanced at her. Then he began.
"The hell are you on about, lady."
Kazan yells in irritation as he hates Melody's boss's attitude.
"You know damn well,"
He says moving his face closer to Melody with a smug expression.
"I don't give a damn about his rules."
He whispers to Melody as they stare at each other.
"Move away!"
Melody commands coldly looking icily at Kazan.
While Kazan has always been suspicious of Melody and despises her. if it wasn't for them being a battle buddy assigned by their leader, he would have killed her from day one of being together.
Meanwhile, Melody's mind swirls in her thoughts.
"One down, a few more to go," Melody thought, her grin growing wider as her satisfaction deepened.
Range's demise had been inevitable in her mind, a mere stepping stone toward their true goal.
"Archer Tyrone," Melody mused silently, her eyes gleaming with malice. "You have my thanks."
Her thoughts drifted to their leader, who had long planned to dispose of Range.
His S-3 chip, after all, was far too valuable to leave in the hands of a liability. Melody's fingers tightened around her wristwatch as she relished the moment.
Their plan was falling into place perfectly, and Range's fate had been sealed from the start.
Meanwhile, Archer's expression remained icy and detached as he touched down, barely sparing a glance at Range's dismembered body.
With a snap of his fingers, flames erupted from beneath Range's split corpse, consuming it in a blaze of searing heat.
The crackling of the fire filled the air, the acrid scent of burning flesh mingling with the metallic tang of blood that had already stained the battlefield.
"For a member of Eclipse, you talked too much. Impressive ability, but predictable." Archer said, his voice a cold monotone. "Shabby, even."
His gaze lingered on the flames for only a moment before he turned away, unimpressed. Range, reduced to ash and scorched metal, had become nothing more than an afterthought. Archer's mind was already elsewhere.
"Time to head out," he murmured, as he deftly retrieved the S-3 chip from the smoldering remains. With a smooth motion, he replaced it with a fake, the real chip now secured in his possession.
His mecha pilot suit activated, wings unfurling from his back with a mechanical whirr. The air hummed with energy as he launched himself into the sky, disappearing into the clouds in a blur of silver and flame.
In the distance, Hit staggered away from Tijona, Griggs, and Jean, his body battered and bleeding from the relentless pursuit. His breaths came in ragged gasps, but his sharp eyes locked onto the flickering fire that consumed Range's remains.
There, amidst the blaze, the S-3 chip lay untouched, fireproof, and gleaming, surrounded by the grotesque sight of Range's half-charred, blood-soaked body.
"I'll be needing this," Hit thought, a cold smirk tugging at his lips as he approached the burning wreckage.
His leader's words echoed in his mind: Follow Range, and once he falls, retrieve his chip.
Ignoring the heat radiating from the fire, Hit reached through the flames, his robotic fingers closing around the chip.
The fireproof casing was cool to the touch, despite the inferno raging around it. Blood continued to pour from Range's body, pooling at Hit's feet as it mingled with the scorched earth.
With the chip in hand, Hit's smirk deepened. "Consider your fall complete, Range," he muttered under his breath before vanishing into the shadows, leaving the battlefield behind.