The thumping of the 30mm Blitz rounds getting ejected from the Aesir Chaingun was cathartic as I blasted a giant hole through a Chukanid's carapace, turning it into a pink mist and bathing the rest of the aliens around it in its blood.
That only made the electricity all the more lethal as I killed a swathe of aliens in front of me, earning myself a breather as I checked the radar and took in the count of aliens that only seemed to grow the longer we remained here.
"Einherjar Hrefna, be advised that a Shogun Class Chukanid has emerged behind this horde. Redirecting an available Muninn Gunship to your location, t-minus 90 seconds."
Repeating that to my three squad mates, I had the Jotunn redirect their attention to the top of the hill, having them deal with the back of the horde and eventually put some damage on the Shogun Class Chukanid that would be making an appearance soon.
Whatever we could do to stop this Chukanid from bringing its power to bear was going to be our priority, and the idea of facing another of these specific enemies was a rather daunting task even with three Tyr Mechs and a Jotunn Mech supporting us.
The leap from a Hatamoto to a Shogun was drastic; nearly 20 feet tall and adorned with a carapace that matched our armor, the Shogun was a force of nature given the ability to walk, and not only was it capable of shredding through our armor with ease thanks to its multi foot long scythes, but it was also capable of blasting compressed globs of acid at us from dozens of feet away.
That acid could chew through even tungsten with frightening ease, so these specific Chukanids were extremely problematic to deal with, but that only made the thrill of defeating one even more addicting, while the glory was more than worth it amongst the rest of the Vel Risi.
High risk high reward was how we viewed the Shogun Class Chukanids, and I had faced them many times before, hence why I had the surplus money to upgrade and personalize all of my gear to my exact specifications.
With the appearance of this behemoth on the battlefield, I switched back to the idea of unloading the magazine completely instead of holding back and being efficient, which meant that currently I was letting out long rips of 30mm Blitz rounds into the horde in front of us.
Those 40mm shells ripped through the air as well, blasting apart the larger targets and allowing Tyr 09 and I to focus on those Chukanids that were closer to us, and the sheer numbers allowed them to close the gap effectively.
With a timer counting down in the corner of my HUD, I held down the trigger and chugged through my rounds before readying my Gungnir as they crept ever closer, the other mech and I practically deleting them before they could reach, but the time came by rather quickly, and soon we were able to bathe our melee weapons in alien blood.
Stabbing my spear down into the first Chukanid's back, I blasted away the next two as I yanked the heavy blade free before swinging it across the next wave that tried to crash against me, severing through their carapace and cutting them into pieces that slid across the ground.
Shells still flew overhead, but now the thick of it was around Tyr 09 and I, the two of us moving constantly as we created twin islands right off the base of the hill, catching the Chukanids before they could even begin thinking about rushing towards the Outpost behind us.
My world was now hyper focused onto this small parcel of land that was soaked in alien blood, and each second that ticked by was accompanied by the thumping of my heart as adrenaline coursed through me, the swinging of my arms and recoil from my Aesir Chaingun giving me the stimulation that I craved.
When another leapt at me, it's claws extended and its maw parted wide as it tried to screech at me to intimidate me, I slashed upwards again and sliced the Chukanid in two, bathing my mech in its blood before I had to swing my other arm up as three more leapt high into the air, bringing my Aesir Chaingun to bear as I blasted them to pieces.
Wading forwards a little into the horde, I swung constantly as I cleared an area in front of me, beginning to concern myself a little with the dwindling ammo count of my firearm as more and more Chukanids rushed forwards.
The spear tore through the carapace like a knife through butter, the razor sharp edge being carried through by the sheer weight of the blade itself while the power of the mechanized arm swinging it only amplified the power behind this by many magnitudes.
Then there was the power generator embedded into the haft of the spear that energized the blade itself, turning it from a raw cold weapon into an empowered cold weapon capable of shearing through some of the most durable materials with ease.
Like ship hulls, for one, which was something that still surprised me to this day about something like this.
The slaughter was mindless as my ammo count continued to dwindle, the short bursts I took into the larger Hatamoto Chukanid's becoming the only shots I took while the swinging of my spear was constant, the blade smoking as the blood evaporated off of it thanks to the power coursing through the metal.
Rarely before had 90 seconds felt like a long time, but an eternity and a half passed us by before the familiar roar of a Muninn Gunship soaring overhead entered our ears, and as soon as it appeared...
Well, the earth was churned as shells thudded against the hill in a danger close situation, the Muninn Gunship giving us aid in eradicating everything including the Shogun Class Chukanid that had barely managed to creep over the hill.
Anticlimactic was an understatement, but in a war that spanned across the entire world anticlimactic was exactly what we were hoping for... though to say my disappointment wasn't somewhat immeasurable would be a lie.