Two swords, wielded by caped machines, swiped at Apex, only catching air as he shifted and leaned out of their paths. After adjusting to the once overwhelming speed of A2's powerful slashes, staying ahead of machines that, for whatever reason, appeared to have forgone advanced weaponry for more primitive tools was child's play.
Ducking beneath one slash, and diving straight at them, Apex narrowly avoided a stab from the other and sunk the boney claw like armoring around his left arm into the metal armor they wore as well as the metal of their actual body, both ripped away with a powerful yank of his arm. Leaving that machine to hit the ground, he flipped over a desperate slash from the other, ruining the armoring around its neck with a swipe from one clawed hand then decapitating it with his other.
That armoring of theirs rendered the usual blunt force he opted for, while not useless, inefficient.
Armed with claws and armoring spreading across a majority of his neck and part of his face, he moved as quickly as he could, dashing behind surrounding trees and leaping above the machines, ripping through armor and body alike while they struggled just to keep track of him, their numbers whittled down till a single one remained.
Dashing behind a gathering of bushes, Apex broke line of sight with the thing, and leaped. Reaching for the trunk of a tree, claws digging through tough bark with relative ease, he spun himself around it, shooting himself at the machine's defenseless back with little loss in momentum.
Perhaps learning from the quick dismantling of its comrades, it spun around but its wide slash was far too slow, Apex's claws piercing clean through its head and taking it down to the ground.
Finished with his last one, Apex looked to A2.
Unlike his more ambush-style tactics, she always faced the machines head-on, no concern for their superior numbers or the armor getting in the way of her slashes. Using that giant sword of her more like a hammer, she knocked off part of the armor plating protecting the last machine attacking her and stepped into a winding slash that cleaved it in half before it regained its balance.
She looked to him before the machine's scattered parts ever hit the ground, scanning for any injuries as she came to his side. The moment she was done she looked away.
Some time had passed since one very particular restless night but A2's embarrassment lingered, stronger than ever before.
And he couldn't blame her. It'd been rather sudden after all.
Before either of them could say anything sounds came from one of the fallen machines. Sparks coming from the hole in its body, one propped against a nearby tree stared at them, eyes flickering between yellow and red.
A2 stepped towards it, raising her blade. Apex grabbed her shoulder before she could bring it down.
These armored machines were growing in number, more and more of them patrolling the forest. At this point almost every hunt that went too far north resulted in an encounter with them. This was a problem that wasn't going to be solved by just destroying every group they came across.
"Where did you come from?" Apex questioned as she walked past A2, who clicked her tongue at the attempt at conversation but restrained herself all the same. The machine answered with more unintelligible sounds. His following questions, centered around the machines' numbers and their use of armor and swords were met with the same noises.
Just when he gave up, the machine's eyes solidified into a deep red. "Won't betray my king." It said, voice distorted into a lower pitch. "Enemies of the king…must be…eliminated…friends avenged…" Its voice spurted out and the glow of its eyes vanished.
More talk of that king. Whatever it meant, Apex knew one thing for sure. If these machines continued to spread the way they were now it would only be a matter of time before they spilled over into the cabin's area.
They needed to do something.
-Route A, No. 028-
"Welcome back you two." Popola greeted them with a smile as he and A2 entered the cabin through the back door, a box of mechanical parts in her hands. All freshly clean and repaired too. Despite not doing widescale repair for dozens and dozens of other androids now, the two made it a point to maintain an almost excessively large collection of spare parts. "Did everything go well?"
"We're fine." Apex said as they fully entered, he and A2 joining Devola who was listening to some of the transmissions from the Resistance at the table.
"Just fine?" Devola questioned, look specifically at A2. "Didn't get up to anything interesting out there while the two of you were alone?"
A2 being A2, looked out of one of the windows, trying her best and miserably failing to hide her embarrassment. If Devola's teasing had been bad before, it only ramped up after he and A2 had spent the night together.
As amusing as it was to watch the two, they had too big an issue on the horizon to put it aside.
"I wouldn't call being surrounded by machines being alone." Apex said, instantly catching the twins' attention. "You know those armored machines I told you about? More and more of them have started showing up."
"How bad is it?" Devola questioned seriously as Popola set aside her box and joined the rest of them at the table.
"Bad. There are too many to just leave things as they are. Pretty soon they'll be close enough to us that'll it'll be too risky to leave the both of you alone here." Apex said. Hunting was fine for now, especially since the armored machines were generally coming from one centralized direction but that wouldn't be the case for long. "We need to do something about them."
"I can handle it myself." A2 said. "I'll find where they're coming from and destroy the entire group."
That was certainly an option.
"You shouldn't go out there alone." Apex said with a shake of his head. "We don't know how many there are or if they even have a place they use as a base. You might just end on a wild goose chase that gets you killed."
A2 crossed her arms but didn't insist on the idea, waiting for someone else come up with a plan.
"Well, there is the Resistance Camp." Popola suggested after a moment, Devola frowning at the mention of the group. "If there are too many of them to fight, we can always go there. The camp's leader has never turned away androids running from the machines. As long as we're careful and avoid attention I don't think anyone will figure out you're human."
"Easier said then done..." Devola muttered. The two had already been treated like outcasts before, now likely with the title deserter, the targets on their backs were liable to be far bigger than ever before. Not exactly easy to avoid attention in a place where everyone actively hates you.
Subjecting Devola and Popola to treatment like that was the absolute last option, only to be considered if they're backs were against the wall and there were no others way to ensure all of their survival. And even if that weren't the case, fitting in meant he'd be on thin ice the whole time, avoiding any sort of scans and almost never using anything more than his enhanced strength least he draw their eyes.
He still wasn't willing to roll the dice on how androids on a much wider scale would react to a human. An altered one at that.
They could always just move, the cabin and all it offered were luxuries rather than necessities after all. But that was just delaying things especially since, it all likely hood, these patrolling machines were being sent out in greater numbers to track them down after their initial run-in with the group. They were imitating humans and revenge was par for the course. A2 being so quick to destroy any they came across didn't help things.
What they really needed to make a good plan of action was information.
"I have an idea." Apex said.
-Route A, No. 028-
"For our fallen comrades!"
Apex leaned back, a slash nicking his bare neck. Moving quickly, he threw himself away from the caped machine attacking him, only to end up in the range of others. Forced back by another slash he narrowly avoided, he stayed on the move, avoiding without ever fighting back.
Appearing as a normal human for all intents and purposes. One with good reflexes but mostly normal.
A2 veered from the norm as well, sword not swung nearly as viciously as usual allowing the machines to act more aggressively in their attacks. She did fight back though, removing the arms of some or completely denting both armor and body alike when she slashed out. She made sure to spread though injuries to as many of the machines as she could.
Once the machines were struggling to fight, some missing an eye or leg and it seemed like Apex was going to be overwhelmed, A2 switched tactics.
Forcing back the damaged group that surrounded her with a wide slash, A2 took off in a sprint, swiftly dodging between the machines approaching him and grabbing him, rushing off into the forest. The group gave chase but between their damage and A2's superior speed, it wasn't hard to shake them off and find cover behind one of countless trees.
"I do not like this plan." A2 said as she step him down, frowning just as she'd been since they set out from the cabin. They hadn't bothered with a break, heading back into the forest as soon as Apex shared his idea.
"Everything will be fine." He assured her, preparing to jump into the trees above.
She reached out for his shoulder, gaze intense. "I'll be right behind you."
Apex nodded and was about to take off but thought better of it. Kissing her, just a little peck on the cheek, he smiled. "I know."
Admiring her redden beauty for just a moment, he refocused and leaped, heading back in the direction of the machines, now with the cover of the greenery above. He kept his left arm in the shape of a blade, small but deep marks left on the trees for A2 to follow.
He reached the regrouping machines in no time, perched atop a thick branch and things went exactly as expected. There was some debate in their primitive robotic voices, but they did the only smart thing any injured group of humans would've done in their situation. Retreat.
So long as they were imitating humans, he was certain he could solve their current issue.
Had they given chase or tried to track them down, he and A2 had been sure to approach and flee in directions that didn't lead back to the cabin though it looked like that precaution wouldn't be needed.
And so began a slow tail.
The machines didn't abandon each other, carrying those who'd lost legs or suffered damage that impaired their motor functions. Machines or not, it was hard not to feel anything while watching the consequences of their plan. Nevertheless, whatever echoes of guilt or compassion he felt didn't stop Apex from sticking to the plan.
He followed them for quite some time. At one point the group had passed another group of armored machines and shared what had happened. That new group immediately charged in the direction the battle had taken place; it went without saying that A2 would be destroying them once their paths crossed with her.
When they finally reached their destination, Apex was forced to stop his pursuit and take up a spot on one of the trees at the forest line. The machines had left the trees behind for a wide bridge made of old stone that stretched out across the very end of the wide rushing river that ran through the forest, the body of water turning into a waterfall that filled the area with noise.
On the other side of that bridge was a massive castle. Made of old browning stone and partially covered in roots, the imposing structure stood so tall it actually gave the trees around it a run for their money with a gate baring entry and dozens upon dozens of armored machines on guard. That security extended beyond the front gate, more machines up on the tall walls, several posted on the bridge, and patrols making rounds on both sides of the bridge.
This went beyond anything he expected.
Apex stayed there, watching the patrols and keeping an eye out for any openings to exploits, until rustles came from below. Stepping backwards and briefly lightening his body, he silently landed beside A2 who was peeking out at the distant castle from the cover of bushes.
"More than expected, right?" Apex whispered.
"We're changing the plan." A2 decided quickly. "Stay here while I-"
"We're not changing the plan. Definitely not to one where you pick a fight with who knows how many machines." He cut her off, getting a glare in return. "Nothing's changed. I'll slip in, figure out how many and what type of machines were dealing with then slip out."
"And if you're caught?"
"That's why you're here. If things don't go well, I'll need you to bail me out."
A2's frown remained rooted to her face though she did look away with a slight grunt. That was about the closest thing to agreement he wasn't going to get given the circumstances.
Now how was he going to go about infiltrating a castle of all things?