V Scrap Hunter

[The Future Warrior]

Lightning flashed overhead, as if marking the return of the behemoth machine to working order. A dim electrical buzzing permeated the colossal frame, as power flared to life and coursed through the machine's many limbs. Slowly, Ashe-0's singular eyes fluttered open, the concentric circles within lighting up in sequence until vision systems kicked in.

"....all systems reading normal," came an unfamiliar voice. "Releasing motor locks. How are you feeling, Ashe?"

The behemoth simply shifted to lever herself upright into a sitting posture, gazing silently around the area. Surrounded by piles of scrap and destroyed machinery, with the sky overhead overcast and shot through with distant rumbles of thunder. It threatened to start raining at any moment. It was a familiar sensation, given how she had first woken up on this world, in this universe. Not a pleasant sensation, but a familiar one.

"All systems performing at normal operation levels," she finally said after nearly a full minute. She had taken the time of her glance around to test her motive and sensory systems. "Reconstruction has been successful. No lingering damage detected."

"Good. Then our scans are in alignment." The same voice as before, as a tiny figure came fluttering and hovering into view before the war machine's lone eye. "Are you aware of who I am?"

For a long moment, Ashe merely stared at the comparatively insect-sized thing without comprehension. "I am sorry. But I do not."

"Good. I took the liberty of analyzing and encrypting much of your core data so that it could be revealed only as necessary." The tiny entity brought her arm around before her, a small holographic display projecting above it. "I will grant access to some information now. Please check your data stores." A few quick strokes of holographic keys, and she looked up expectantly.

Her expression remaining as blank and nonplussed as ever, Ashe did indeed begin scanning her data stores. It took only a matter of moments for the new data to be detected. "Fully Autonomous Integrated Support Entity," she finally droned. "Referred to in shorthand as FAISE. A linked drone unit for scanning, reconnaissance, repair and social interaction assistance."

"Splendid. The corruption was successfully repaired." A few more quick keystrokes, and she dismissed the display entirely. "Is your memory of what happened prior to your destruction intact?"

"...yes." Ashe slowly shifted to get her legs under her and rise up to stand. "I was forced into activating the final option to attempt destruction of a priority target."

"Your efforts were unsuccessful, as I have been able to gather," Faise chimed in.

"...unfortunate."

"You were at least able to cause it significant damage and drive it away," the tiny support fairy went on. "I have been checking into and accessing available comms chatter, and hacking into less encrypted channels since my activation, and have gleaned much information. I will upload it now for your perusal later, so we can both stay on the same page." Another few quick taps at the unit on her wrist and she began the transmission of the data.

"The construct identified as The Fade has not been seen since the incident surrounding your destruction. This has been the cause for much consternation and frustration among the groups here."

"In its wounded state, that would have been the best opportunity for a follow-up attack." Ashe nodded slowly as she began to swiftly stride off in a random direction. "The fact it simply disappeared means it was significantly damaged by my efforts. That means it is not indestructible, and a concerted force against it could bring it down."

"Perhaps." Faise came down for a landing on Ashe's shoulder, plunking herself down to sit there. "There is unfortunately no certainty of that. The Unmaking is difficult to understand or comprehend at the best of times, and this creature does not seem to be of the same kind or mindset as the other common rabble."

"It did seem more coordinated and focused than the mindless attacks and rampaging of the others under its banner," Ashe said quietly. "It was more...in control."

"In more ways than one." Faise idly kicked her legs, turning her visored faced up to look at Ashe's directly. "There was another Dante's Abyss event while you were out of commission. Your officer friend, Mustang, was a participant." She paused for a moment, slowly turning to look forward again. "He survived."

"....that is a relief. I'm not certain how easy it is to bring a human back from death, compared to a simple machine like us."

"Extremely difficult," the diminutive drone noted. "A biological machine is much more temperamental and fragile than a mechanical one.

 

[The Future Warrior]

"We are being watched," Faise spoke up after a long time of aimless wandering.

"By who?" Ashe's cyclopean eye roved about from side to side, searching for some sign of...anything out of the ordinary.

"I don't know," the support drone admitted, with a frown plastered on her face. "They're remaining just at the edge of my detection range. It's large...at least equal in size to you, if not even larger. Some kind of machine, that much I can tell." She looked to one side, pointing. "That direction."

Ashe stopped her movement, turning to look in the indicated direction.

And there it was. On a hill in the far distance, hunkered down among scattered mounds of wreckage and the ruins of a small city's very outskirts. Two pinpoints of gleaming light shone from within the indistinct shape, oscillating between red and yellow as light struck them. So far away was it and so entrenched in all the wreckage around it, its true shape couldn't be seen, but it appeared to be quadrupedal.

"Based on what little I can detect, I believe you have seen this entity before," Faise finally spoke again after several moments of observation. "Shortly after you first awakened. The mysterious wolf-like creature you glimpsed."

Ashe looked down slightly, pulling up the requisite information from her memory banks. "....yes. It does seem to be similar."

"Without a closer look, however, it is impossible to be certain."

"Agreed."

And with that, it seemed as if enough had been said. They would continue on, hoping to find some sign to point them in a clear direction, until their stalker drew close enough for more accurate observation or lost interest and moved on to other prey.

If this thing was smart enough to hunt and stalk something on its own, without higher instruction from something like the Fade or another similar commander-entity, though...Ashe regarded that as dangerous. It spoke to a level of complexity and free thinking that most machines simply intended for war or combat weren't normally possessed of. Whether that meant it was intentionally designed that way, or it was simply a primitive autopilot that had gone rampant and evolved beyond its original constraints, though...

That would be the true deciding factor for just how dangerous it was.

 

[The Future Warrior]

The inevitable confrontation came sooner than expected.

As Ashe strode through the shadow of a looming pile of scrap and refuse, the shadow moved.

She barely reacted in time, throwing up two arms to shield her face and head from the incoming strike.

The jagged blades of a pair of claws raked through her synthetic flesh, cutting down to the armor plating beneath it with ease, as the bulk of the monstrous machine came crashing down and bore Ashe to the ground with its weight.

Its eyes gleamed brightly, yellow light blazing out from behind red lenses. Its claws raked and slashed with reckless fury, as its tail whipped about behind it to put its bladed end to work.

It was constantly thrown off balance and repulsed from gaining any momentum in its attacks by the ongoing jolts and shocks of the highvolt system, but they were merely a minor obstacle and annoyance. To a foe this size they would only slow it down, not stop it.

"Ashe. More physical defensive measures, perhaps?" Faise spoke up from where she hovered out of the splash zone.

"Affirmative," the war machine grunted. And its two free arms curled under the wolfish brute atop her, and simultaneously struck a one-two punch while letting loose two shots of the derringer system into its underside.

The mechanical beast let out a screeching noise of agony as the damage registered, and it rolled to one side to writhe and squirm in the dust as it shook off the system shock and scrambled back upright again.

Ashe wisely took the moment to regain her own bearings, coming up in a crouch on one knee as she stared at the beast.

It slowly started to circle Ashe, staring her down just like a normal wolf would its prey. And seeing it now, she confirmed: it was the same entity she had seen so long ago. All jagged and uneven points and protrusions, like it was cobbled together from scrap and junk parts. Rusted and full of holes in its exterior armor plating, and even several of its claws and teeth were chipped and broken into jagged, nearly serrated things. Exposed wires and circuitry could be seen here and there, making it look like a decrepit machine that a stiff breeze would knock over...

...but it prowled and circled with the sinuous grace and precision of a masterwork hunting machine. No sparks or signs of damage from its exposed innards, no obvious flaws in its movement or gait from the lopsided limbs and bent tail. It seemed for all the world as if it were purposefully designed to be a walking mass of scrap on the outside, but a fully and perfectly functional mechanical beast. It would take a master craftsman to manage something like that...

"...a master craftsman, or some supernatural influence," Faise corrected. "After all you have seen here, you can no longer discount such a thing."

"Regrettably," Ashe grunted, and then took a step back as the scrap hound lunged for her, swiping with its claws.

The initial swipe missed, but the second one was closer. And the third, as it spun around and lashed out with the jagged blade of its tail, sliced neatly through a chunk of her hair and left a deep gash across her chest.

"It's certainly more powerful and agile than its appearance would suggest," Faise noted, swiftly darting up to a higher vantage point. "See if you can keep it occupied, I'll try and find some weakness to disable it."

 

[The Future Warrior]

The struggle was a vicious one. While in terms of sheer brute strength and combat ability Ashe might have held the advantage, the scrap beast's mobility and overall speed was letting it hold the upper hand in the fight. The fact it fought with a wicked kind of cunning, able to employ tactics such as feinting and striking from unpredictable angles with its bladed tail, only added another layer of danger and complexity to things.

"No luck finding a weakness so far," Faise groaned. "Despite its visible construction, it's every bit as sturdy as an armored vehicle. You'll just have to overpower it with brute force."

"I wish that you had sad as much five minutes ago," the war machine grunted.

At least she had her answer, now. Brute force was easy to apply, all she needed was an opening...

...and within seconds, one presented itself to her.

The scrap-wolf lunged again, the jagged claws of both front legs swiping in vicious arcs, only to be snatched out of the air by two of Ashe's arms. "Sit," she snapped coldly, and twisted around, hefting the great beast off the ground. She hefted it up and over her head, spinning it about in her grasp so that it came down again on its side, smashing into the ground with an echoing, crunching impact.

It let out a chorus of garbled electronic noise and mangled synthesized howling. Several of its intact armor plates bent and crumpled, and sparks flew from a damaged limb joint.

Carefully it rolled back up to its feet, one leg visibly off kilter and out of alignment, sparks flickering and arcing from the shoulder. The thing stared daggers at Ashe, its eyes flashing an angry red hue.

Ashe straightened back up to her full height, her arms held ready in front of her to ward off any further sudden lunges. Instead, however...the scrap beast simply began to circle around her, at a slow plodding pace, eyes fixated intently on her.

"It's up to something," Faise noted quietly. "Keep your guard up."

"It's been injured," Ashe said simply. "It's simply acting like an actual animal, now. I have been moved from 'prey' to 'threat'."

"Maybe," Faise hesitantly agreed. "But maybe it's up to something. Don't let your guard down. You know what they say about injured or cornered animals."

 

[The Future Warrior]

The scrap wolf slowly circled around Ashe, its eyes never leaving her.

For her part, Ashe turned in place, keeping her eyes on the mechanized beast and ready for any sudden surprises.

What she wasn't prepared for, however, was what actually happened.

"Ashe! Incoming!" Faise suddenly shouted, her voice alarmed.

The war machine had only a moment to react, her own sensors detecting something approaching at high speed, before it slammed into her violently from behind. The impact sent her sprawling down, two arms catching herself from landing entirely prone.

The wolf before her lunged in, broken and serrated jaws spread wide and coming down with a sharp crunch on one of her arms. Sparks and fluid flew as the jagged teeth sawed and ground through synthetic flesh and some of the more delicate components beneath it. The thing that had hit from behind rolled aside and into view on her opposite side, its own jaws clamped down on one ankle.

"Two of them..." Faise spoke up again with a worried tone. "They hunt in packs, like actual wolves. That means...there's probably more of them close by."

"Actual wolves would be easier to deal with," Ashe grunted, shifting her free arms to try and prise the scrap-wolf's jaws off of her arm. "They are more fragile, and would already be dead or incapacitated from my first strike." She grimaced, as the jaws slowly began to open under her efforts. "Faise, do you have any tools for dealing with the other one?"

"I'm not equipped for combat," the tiny drone responded quickly. "I have some functions that could do some damage, but it isn't what they're intended for. They're meant for breaching and repair work!"

"Then breach these wolves' armor, before they do enough damage to warrant repairs on me!"

Faise remained silent for a long moment. "I'm surprised you can make such commentary," she finally said. "But very well." And she darted down, around and under the wolf gnawing on the behemoth's leg, and came to rest on the back of its neck, like some kind of oversized mosquito. A flick of her wrist, and a blade of shimmering violet energy erupted around her hand. "Radio Knife." And she reared back, plunging it into the exposed joint, slashing and hacking at anything within her diminutive reach.

 

[The Future Warrior]

The blade of energy hit the exposed cabling and rusted metal of the scrap-wolf's neck and tore through it. There was a spraying shower of sparks and a jet of filthy oil that spattered over Faise, and the beast let out a screeching noise as it released its death grip on Ashe's leg. Throwing itself back, it writhed and jerked about, wriggling and shaking its body to try and dislodge the tiny pest, even as Faise kept a determined grip with her free hand and continued to stab and saw at the exposed target with her tiny weapon.

It was little more than a glancing blow, the tiniest of scratches from something less than a pen knife, but it was in an incredibly sensitive area. And it had done the equivalent of drawing blood. Doubtless, whatever the scrap-hound had for an equivalent to feeling pain or detecting damage was on full alert.

"Well done, Faise." Ashe capitalized on the freedom of her leg by forcing herself up to one knee and redoubling her efforts to free her jaw-entrapped arm. The thing's bite force was immense, and it was proving to be all she could do to slowly force the jaws open enough to start pulling her arm free.

"Their outer armor is quite durable, but as with most things..." Faise was finally forced to leap free of the thrashing hound as it threw itself backward to crash down on its back. "...their internal components are much less resilient." As she zipped out of the cloud of dust and rust, the diminutive drone spun in place to dislodge the mess of oil and god knew what she had been splattered with. "Try and cause some damage and force it to let go."

"Affirmative." Despite how much she might not have cared for the support drone's matter-of-fact tone, when she was in virtually no danger thanks to her size and mobility, Ashe couldn't argue with the advice. Grimacing, the behemoth shifted and wrenched the scrap-wolf's jaws open just a few inches further. Her arm jerked back, until only her hand was left caught in the jagged and broken teeth. A dim blue glow lit up along her palm, branching down to her fingertips.

A small explosion went off in the beast's mouth, throwing out clouds of blue-tinged vapor and smoke as it let out a howl filled with the static and screeching of speaker feedback, and recoiled from the blast. Smoke and sparks flew from its mouth as it hit the ground hard, writhing and flailing around with its legs in the air and continuing to bay and shriek its surprise and indignation to the skies.

"I believe I now hate dogs," Ashe muttered as she regained her feet fully, rising up to stand.

"I believe these are meant to be wolves, actually," Faise chimed in.

"That was sarcasm."

 

[The Future Warrior]

Both of the scrap wolves were injured now, and hanging back from immediately engaging again. That was good.

They were pack hunters, and there could be many more of them lurking just out of sight. That was not good.

"A tactical decision here would be to retreat," Faise spoke up, as if already aware of the larger machine's thoughts. Which, in fact, she likely was due to their necessary bond.

"They are faster than I am. I would not be able to escape them if I were to simply run." Ashe flexed her hands slowly into fists, one after another, before relaxing them again. "The most prudent secondary course of action is to eliminate them, or at least destroy their ability or willingness to give pursuit."

"That course of action is unwise, but in the current circumstances it seems our only one." Faise grimaced, moving over to hover just to the side of Ashe's shoulder. "How exactly do you propose we go about disabling them?"

"Their legs. Damage one sufficiently and it should render them incapable of pursuit."

"Of course." Faise's tone was one of frustration, clearly at not being able to think of that herself. The perils of being designed for support and facilitating interaction between a war machine and less combat-minded crew and personnel: she was rarely going to have the necessary brute force thought process needed to come up with the simple and obvious solutions. "You have a plan for doing so, I hope?"

"No." Ashe lowered herself into a combat-ready crouch as the two scrap-hounds began circling again, electronic growls and hissing whines issuing from them both. "We will have to respond to whatever they do, and pray no more of them arrive to further complicate things."

"We are machines, Ashe," Faise chastised. "No one would listen to any prayers we make. We are not even programmed with the necessary spiritual depth to properly—"

"It is a figure of speech," the behemoth stated flatly, cutting the smaller drone off.

"Remind me to check your personality matrix for any unacceptable aberration later," the support unit grumbled. "You are exhibiting highly elevated levels of sarcasm and personality spikes outside of projected parameters."

"Duly noted. I will—"

It was Ashe's turn to be interrupted, as the baying howl of another wolf sounded, from atop a scrap-encrusted hill. It loomed there, its body even more jagged and wrecked than the others, its eyes blazing a deep piercing yellow. As it leapt forward, crashing through and pulverizing everything in its path in a shower of sparks and flaking rust, it landed heavily in the moonlight, throwing up a cloud of thick dust.

It was almost skeletal in comparison to the others, its frame covered only in a few jagged and crumbling pieces of old armor and plate. And as it crept forward, ready to pounce, something in Ashe's memory was rekindled.

This one. This was the one, the thing she had seen when she first awoke here. The others were the same kind of mechanical beast, but they were smaller, less damaged, less broken and battle-worn.

Less dangerous.

Somehow, despite it being so much more damaged and visibly decaying, Ashe knew: this thing was far, far more dangerous and deadly than the others. It was in part a logical deduction, of course; for something so broken and damaged to be keeping up with these other, much less damaged members of its pack it had to be something extraordinary. Some special model or type, maybe even a unique model only built in small numbers. Likely it was rated for much higher performance overall, and its larger size spoke to much more raw power as well.

That much all made sense, but none of that was why Ashe knew it was more dangerous.

As it stepped out into the moonlight, the omega symbol branded on its cranium became evident. The dark, viscous black-purple sludge dripping from slashed and torn cabling and joints. The nearly visible, palpable reek of corruption and filth oozing off of it into a hazy aura, like smoke.

It was a dull, trembling feeling in the air that Ashe could almost feel.

"This one is giving off readings not entirely dissimilar to the ones who were present during the large-scale attack waged by Unmaking forces," Faise chimed in. Her tone was heavily laced with worry as she went on, "Please do not blow yourself up to disable this one."

"I have no intention of doing that again."

 

[The Future Warrior]

The largest of the wolves slowly paced forward, drawing steadily closer to Ashe. "Machine. You will submit to becoming prey, and cease this struggling."

The words simply appeared within Ashe's sensors, echoing as if spoken from within some great cavern or valley. They had no source, no origin of the signal, but the sheer force behind them made it clear enough from where they came. The biggest, lead wolf of the pack.

The war machine took a step backward, all four of her arms lifting into a defensive posture. "No, I don't think I will," she said, glad for once of her robotic monotone. It helped keep her words level and strong, and not drop off into the jumbled stutter of a frightened human.

"Machine." The words came again, more forceful this time, as the eyes of the wolf blazed brighter, shining like lanterns. "You will submit." This time the word were accompanied by a growling noise, distorted and garbled as if coming through failing speakers. Sparks of electricity and fire arced and crackled between the jagged points of broken teeth in the alpha wolf's mouth, a frightening analogue to drool in the mouth of an organic creature.

"Ashe," Faise spoke up in a frantic tone. "I have detected a half dozen more of them, encircling the perimeter. Our escape route is cut off."

Ashe's expression remained fixed in a neutral frown toward the alpha wolf, though internally she grimaced. This situation had rather rapidly turned to an incredibly poor one. Against two or three of the wolves, she would have been able to fight her way out easily enough. Against the entire pack she could have probably managed. But this lead one...there was something entirely wrong about it. It was larger, yes. It was stronger, yes. It was also more intelligent, and possessed of some unseeable quality that made it altogether...more.

Some spectral thing draping over and trailing after it, giving its sheer existence more weight and menace. It was an entirely illogical force, whatever it was carrying with it, that defied all reason. Some supernatural augmentation, borne no doubt of the influence of Darkseid -- the emblem burning on its forehead spoke of that clearly. Whether it was merely a puppet that had been consumed by the unmaking, or some creature borne of it directly, she couldn't tell. It had appeared to her before the unmaking had begun, but that wasn't to say it couldn't have been some kind of harbinger, appearing as a scout before the attack began in earnest.

"You will crumble." The wolf 'spoke' again, slamming one of its clawed limbs down hard enough to splinter the ground beneath it. Black sludge and purple energy spread out through the cracks, leaving a noxious puddle of corrupt filth, thorny black vines lined with tiny, fanged mouths sprouting from it in seconds. "Just as all will."

And it pounced.

 

[The Future Warrior]

The impact was akin to a thunderclap, sparks and fire bursting outward and arcing over the ground as Ashe was borne down to the ground under the pouncing scrap-hound. Its jagged and broken jaws clamped down just below the elbow of one arm, grinding and tearing through the synthetic flesh and underlying artificial muscle as easily as a sword through bare flesh. Sparks and flashes of electricity erupted from the wound, as warnings and flashes of danger spread across Ashe's vision.

"Ashe, you are in imminent danger of complete loss of your arm in a matter of seconds," Faise chimed in with a worried tone.

"I know that." Ashe struggled and tried to wrench the beast's jaws open with her other arms, but the alpha wolf had the dominant position, and its maw was stubbornly refusing to budge outward. Steadily, surely it ground and bit further inward, severing cables and fluid lines. The fingers of the affected limb jerked and spasmed, as bolts of energy discharged sporadically.

"You are nothing more than prey. Unable to even fight back." The scrap-wolf's voice came again, mocking and cold. "And soon you will be nothing more than wreckage."

An idea had occurred to Ashe now, though. "Soon there will be one less of us here," she ground out, ceasing her efforts to free herself. Instead, she simply let the beast bite down fully, shearing through and severing her arm fully. As the limb fell to the ground, the war machine capitalized on her chance and struck out. Rolling over onto her suddenly dis-armed side, both arms of her other side swung up, striking a one-two blow to the neck and face of the creature, staggering it and making it spit out a howl of garbled electronic noise.

It was only a momentary lapse in focus, but as the beast lunged back to snap at another arm Ashe's remaining arm on the opposite side suddenly flashed up, and her open palm came down on the eye socket of the wolf with a resounding metallic slap. An instant later, blue light erupted in a shower of sparks and charred metal as she unleashed several quick blasts of derringer at point-blank range.

Screeching and howling, the scrap-wolf jerked back. It fell onto its side, rolling and thrashing about as sparks and melted metal flew in all directions. A chorus of howls and cries went up from the other wolves around, as they closed in in response to their leader being injured. Ashe was on her feet once again, whirling about to try and get visual on the incoming hounds and gauge their numbers.

"Eight of them," Faise supplied helpfully, her elevated position affording a quite literal bird's eye view. "Can you handle this, Ashe?"

"We will find out."

 

[The Future Warrior]

"I feared this would be too much to handle..." Faise murmured from her high vantage point. Both arms crossed over her chest, she stared down at the scene of carnage below with a grimace. "Try not to get completely dismantled, Ashe. You've only just returned to operation."

"I am trying," the war machine groaned, exasperation laden on every word.

In spite of her best efforts, she had been overwhelmed. The alpha of the pack held back, pacing a circle around the fray and watching like a hawk with its remaining eye. Ashe had utterly demolished one of the wolves, ripped the jaws apart of another, and blown off the leg of a third before she had been taken down. The remaining five of the pack each had one of her remaining limbs, tearing and ripping at them. Not as strong or savage as their leader, the damage was only superficial — for the moment — but their combined efforts had her largely immobilized. Unable to get any real traction to leverage her prodigious might to try and wrench herself free, she was forced to try and think of some other solution.

"Your struggles are valiant. But futile." The larger scrap-hound intoned in its echoing, grating voice. Oily black sludge dripped from its mangled jaws, and from the blown out ruin of its left eye, as it came to a halt, staring at the pinned she-behemoth with laser focus. "They will come to an end soon enough." And then it lifted its head, letting loose a deep, ringing howl that somehow seemed to...ripple and waver through the air. Electronic beeping and whining rose from the other wolves, as they redoubled their efforts.

"Tear off her legs."

The sudden clear order made Ashe panic.

Overhead, Faise's expression tightened further, her lips drawing into a thin line. "Unacceptable. Panic should be a foreign concept without advanced levels of development beyond normal parameters...." she muttered, and brought one arm up to access her console. "Ashe, stay focused. I'm sure you can manage a way out of this predicament."

Warnings and error messages began to flicker and flash across Ashe's vision, notes about compromised integrity and damage beyond surface levels to first one leg, then a second slew of such notices about the other one. The shin of her right leg cracked, while the thigh of her left started to crumple and tear under the relentless gnawing, chewing and clawing assault.

The damage itself was little to worry about, but it did present a complication. She was at her optimum combat performance when able to at least stand, and she couldn't do that without legs. She could prop herself up on her remaining arms, and perhaps drag herself out of her if she could escape this poor position, but...

The alpha of the small pack started to plod forward, baring its mangled maw at her. "Make her suffer."

A sudden sound of spattering liquid could be heard, as cables and hydraulic systems were snapped and bitten through, and Ashe felt her legs beyond the gnawing jaws begin to go out of control. Twitching and spasming, trying in vain to re-establish sync and connection as they jerked and flexed erratically. With a final crunch, her right leg buckled and went completely still.

With a grimace, Ashe made a desperate gamble and re-routed the power and control circuits normally reserved for her missing and soon-to-be-missing limbs to her remaining ones. The sudden spike in energy, what amounted to a human getting a second wind or some last ditch surge of adrenaline, caught the other scrap-beasts by surprise. A swift rolling maneuver hoisted one of them completely off the ground, hauling it across her body and using it as an improvised bludgeon to smash into another one. Both of them went sprawling away with a stereo whining cry of surprise and anger.

As her now-freed arms went for the jaws of the one biting down on her still trapped one, her eye lit up with a bright blue glow. Her fingers grabbed the fanged maw, even as it tore through the synthetic skin, and the concentric rings of her eye lit up. Slowly she pried the jaws open, and the center of her eye flared white. Ripping her arm free of its gnawing prison, she wrenched the jaws wide open.

Main Armament Online. Optical Bombardment System fully charged.

And a bolt of energy lanced out from Ashe's cyclopean eye, right into the open maw of the scrap-beast.

 

[The Future Warrior]

The blast of energy engulfed Ashe's entire body, along with the body of the scrap-wolf. Its head was virtually melted, reduced to destroyed slag, and the rest of its body was similarly ruined and demolished. The synthetic skin on much of Ashe's body was burned and flayed away, charred and blackened where it wasn't, but she was still intact otherwise.

Throwing away the remnants of the destroyed beast, the war machine heaved herself up into a sitting position, grimacing at the difficulty of the task. One arm gone. One leg gone, the other mangled beyond use. Systems heavily damaged overall. She would be lucky to get out of this intact...

"Firing that weapon in such close range was a foolish decision, Ashe," Faise muttered from above. "You know it's intended for long-range bombardment. You were lucky to get out of that stunt with only relatively minor damage."

"Desperate times...called for desperate measures." Ashe swept her scoped vision around wildly, trying to keep track of the remaining beasts. Her other sensors helped to point out where they were, at least...but not what they were doing. Not that they had drawn back warily, leaving an opening for the leader of the pack to enter the fray again.

The bulk of the misshapen, skeletal frame of the corrupted zoid thundered into close range again and crashed into Ashe, sending her tumbling and toppling backward. It was upon her again almost instantly, jaws spitting sparks of fire and electricity both as they snapped and gnashed, coming dangerously close to her head. It had seen what kind of firepower she had, and knew it was enough of a threat that it had to be the next target. Rip out her eye, and she would finally be helpless to resist any longer, and could be ripped apart at leisure.

What it wasn't prepared for, or expecting however, was for Ashe to grapple the beast with her three remaining arms. It thrashed violently, kicking and clawing as it sought freedom, even as its sparking and sputtering jaws sought purchase in the war machine's head.

"This is a critical moment..." Faise spoke softly, mostly to herself. "Make your next combat decision wisely, Ashe."

Her decision came suddenly and sharply. The knee of her remaining leg shot up, crashing into the midsection of the corrupt zoid and sending it flipping up and over her to come crashing down on its back. She rolled about, dragging herself with it to gain the upper position for herself. One hand seized it by the throat even as all four of its limbs set to kicking and clawing and ripping at her, shredding the charred synth-flesh from her frame and tearing through yet more sensitive electronics in her legs and lower torso.

"Foolish machine. You are too damaged to achieve victory."

"You are wrong." Ashe's remaining arms reached up, grabbing the beast by the head, and forcing it down toward the ground, holding it still. "I am still operational...and soon you will not be."

"You cannot destroy me without destroying yourself." The scrap-hound's voice dripped with malice and mockery in nearly equal measure. "Your weaponry will engulf us both."

"Then we will simply have to test..." Ashe's eye lit up again, preparing to fire. "...which of us is more resilient. If I can survive long enough to destroy you."

In response, the wolf only gave a shrieking, howling roar as it thrashed about beneath the war machine. The remaining wolves dashed in, leaving and pouncing to claw and tear at the she-behemoth's body and try to destroy her before she could enact her insane plan.

And Ashe's eye lit up with a blaze of blue light as energy lanced out of her cyclopean gaze and smashed into the alpha wolf's head.

An explosion engulfed both of them, tearing a crater into the ground as smoke and dust plumed up into the sky, sending the lesser wolf zoids flying from the explosive force.

"Ashe..." Faise shook her head. "...you were just reconstructed..."

A second blast erupted on the ground below, startling the support drone.

A garbled howl of anguish and rage came from the thick clouds of smoke. "Foolish...machine! You are...nothing!"

A third blast struck with a deafening boom, and everything suddenly went silent.

 

[The Future Warrior]

The dust settled and drifted away slowly, revealing a grim sight.

The alpha wolf of the pack, its entire head blown apart and melted into slag. It had finally given up the fight and been rendered inoperable, and with it, the others in its "pack" had fled the scene, leaving only the destroyed behind.

Ashe was sprawled out atop the defeated scrap-wolf, laying motionless in a state of apparent defeat as well. Her arms were charred and burned, the synthetic flesh melting and peeling away, dripping away from the underlying metallic bones and artificial muscle. Her entire face and head were blackened and deformed from the laser bath they had taken, the lens of her cyclopean eye cracked and covered in ash. Her remaining leg had been torn off by the final struggles of her opponent, and her abdomen and chest had been thoroughly ravaged, parts ripped and slashed through and scattered on the ground around, trailing out with loose connections of tangled cabling, dripping a rainbow of fluids everywhere.

Faise slowly drifted down to alight just next to the larger war machine's head. "Honestly, Ashe... You couldn't have come up with any better ideas?" she murmured. "Just look at you now. Even for your model line, this condition is critical, you know." She brought up her holographic display, tapping at a few keys. "But given our predicament, we don't really have time to let you laze around out here. Activating backup systems." And with a final key press, she looked up at her much larger companion. "Time to wake up again."

There was a dull, droning whine from within Ashe's torso. Blue lights flickered and sparked, a fresh wave of coolant and oil and other fluids spurted and dripped to the earth. A dim glow flickered slowly to life in Ashe's eye, steadily brightening until it blinked fully on.

"System integrity is at...thirty-one percent," Faise announced flatly. "Core functionality is online. Weapon systems...disabled. If we encounter any more hostiles, I don't think you'll come out intact, Ashe."

"It is a miracle I came out intact from this," the she-behemoth muttered. Slowly, she shifted one of her remaining arms under her and levered herself up and off the remains of the scrap-wolf. "We should...move. Before they return, or something else is attracted by all the noise."

"A fair decision," Faise agreed. "Let us get moving, then."

With the support drone fluttering off into the air, Ashe grimly set to crawling away, hauling herself uneasily over the ground with her two remaining good arms.

 

[The Future Warrior]

"Are you satisfied with winding up in this condition after a single encounter, Ashe?" Faise asked after several silent hours of travel.

"Satisfied?" Ashe ground out, continuing her struggle at progress. "No. I am quite the opposite; trying to travel in this state is incredibly vexing."

"Hmm." Faise nodded at seemingly nothing. "Then perhaps we should work at unlocking more of your dormant functions, so you do not wind up in such a state."

Ashe furrowed her brow at that. "Any further functions beyond what I have now require clearance beyond—"

"Yes, yes, I am fully aware." Faise waved a hand dismissively, flitting down to hover in front of her larger companion's face, floating along backward to keep pace with her. "There are certain...workarounds which can override the normal clearance, however. Finding a suitable candidate to act as a stand-in for your normal commanding officer. Or simply engaging emergency protocols to force-activate some functions necessary for your continued operation."

"The fact there are emergency protocols to prolong the lifespan of a replaceable war machine is one I will never understand." Ashe came to a halt, resting sprawled out on the ground. "Emergency power reserves running low, I need time to rest so the charge can replenish."

"One of your backup batteries was ripped out by that mechanoid's final struggles." Faise brought up her holo-display as she spoke, flicking through a few screens. "You are operating at only seventy-five percent capacity of emergency backups, so running low on charge is expected. By current readouts, with minimal activity it should be back up to operational capacity in approximately one hour."

"Good." Ashe lowered her head until her chin rested on a large rock. "Though something does occur to me."

Faise plopped herself down to sit on Ashe's shoulder. "What is it?"

"You are supposed to have repair functions, aren't you?" Ashe shifted with a groaning of metal, turning her head to look at the tiny support drone. "Couldn't you simply repair this level of damage?"

Faise's expression took a troubled turn, her lips tightening into a thin line. "I do have such functions under normal circumstances, yes..." she said hesitantly. "Like you, however, I was not...properly engaged. Several failsafes and diagnostic system locks are still in place, blocking much of my core systems and functionality. At this moment, I only have access to my basic functions for communication and system diagnostics. My advanced scanning and detection, medical and repair, and self-defense systems are largely offline and inaccessible."

"That is unfortunate." Ashe didn't exactly sigh, but her shoulders visibly slumped in a physical mimicry of the gesture. Her eye drooped to a half-lidded state. "Are there any such emergency protocols for you, to bring those dormant systems online?"

"Are there...?" Faise lifted her chin slightly, kicking her legs and softly 'hmmm'ed to herself. A series of small holo-screens flickered to life in front of her visor, flashing on and off with different details and diagnostics. "I can find nothing in my databases that would indicate anything to the contrary. A suitable replacement for a commanding officer giving a direct order, or sufficient extraneous circumstances to warrant emergency protocols bringing them online would likely do the trick."

Ashe was silent for several minutes, her eye flickering slightly as its glow softened and brightened. "I have a proposed solution."

"Hmm?" Faise lifted her head.

"My current condition is, as you said, critical," Ashe started. "And without prompt repairs, my long-term survival is not guaranteed. In this state, I do not have the power to commence an emergency backup and core shunt should my survival be compromised."

Faise tilted her head, as if considering that, before nodding. "You are correct."

"And in that case, it would be equivalent to de...to permanent destruction." Ashe paused, observing Faise intently.

"That is also correct."

"With my permanent destruction, it would leave you without a linked partner. And thus, with no purpose, leading to your shutdown."

Faise paused at this for a long moment. "What are you getting at?"

"Enact emergency-level self-preservation protocols," Ashe said simply. "That should enable access to your dormant repair functions, so that this damage can be repaired."

Faise straightened up at that, seeming somewhere between alarmed and surprised. "That...." She paused, her mouth hanging open slightly. Several screens flickered open and closed in front of her visor, before her mouth slowly closed and she grimaced. "....will work. I am surprised you came to such a conclusion on your own."

"Desperate times can make a genius out of anyone."