William fought on, valiantly undimmed despite the severe injury that had torn a gash in his armor, blood seeping relentlessly through the breach. Amid the chaos, his voice rang steadily over the comms, voice laced with both urgency and grit.
"Adam, I won't last much longer. If I fall you all will be at a worse disadvantage than now. I am going to blitz them, using that chance I want you to take them out. Wolf, I need you to put pressure on Vivian, you don't have to hit her, just enough to keep her distracted."
"Roger that, William," Wolfgang replied, meanwhile Adam gave him a simple nod. With their confirmation William dropped his rifle to the ground, the clatter lost beneath the din of battle, summoning his strength he laboriously picked up his shield and spear. Taking in a deep breath, he commanded over the comms
"On my count, 1, 2, 3!" He shouted, with his final count the squad sprang into action following his directives. Wolfgang shifted his focus to ensure Vivian remained off balance. With his blood marking the ground, William ignited his thrusters and barreled towards the two squires who answered the charge with assault from their weapons but she blocked their attacks with his shield. Flying towards them, William's mind flashed to a maneuver he had once seen Gilbert execute. In that moment, instinct took over. He abruptly cut his thrusters mid-flight, with a decisive stomp on the ground the impact reverberating throughout the field, without pause, he reignited his thrusters at full power. His charge charge, originally horizontal transformed into a steep, angled ascent. Reaching the apex of his trajectory, he cut his thrusters again, allowing himself to free for a split second, readjusting his orientation.
In a final burst, he reignited his thrusters for a third time. Ramming into the unsuspecting squire, taking the enemy down, the other reacted quickly blasting him with several rifle shots, but with pure determination a retaliatory spear pierced the squire's stomach as energy blasted from the tip of the spear bringing him down as well. In that final moment, William fainted, overwhelmed by the combined impact of the maneuvers and the grievous injuries he sustained. Every sudden adjustment and thruster ignition had torn at his muscles, shattered bones, and exacerbated his wounds. Adam knelt behind cover, his rifle trained steadily on the enemy, but William's actions were so swift he never even got a chance to fire. Before Adam could clear his sights, he noticed the squire impaled by William's spear attempt to move despite the injury. Determined not to let William's sacrifice be in vain, Adam unleashed a burst of rifle fire. The shots struck the squire with lethal accuracy, knocking him out as his body collapsed, inadvertently forcing William's spear tip into the ground.
In the aftermath, the squads pulled apart; Vivian took position behind Alexander, while Adam, Wolfgang, and Chen Mei fell behind Gilbert.
Gilbert stepped forward, his voice laced with contempt as he remarked, "Well, Alexander, it seems you have failed once again." His armor was battered and bearing scars of combat, especially the chest plate.
Alexander's retort was quick and defiant. "You haven't won yet peasant," he snarled his shield broken at the top with multiple signs of combat along his armor as well. "Vivian hold off the motley crew in the back, I will finish up this one."
"Well then, beautiful Adam, we are going to play together once more," Vivian taunted, smoothly reloading her ballistic pistol her eyes dancing.
"Wolfy, are you okay?" Gilbert's concerned query rang out over the comms
"I'm fine, team leader," Wolfgang replied with a determined face, steel lacing his voice.
"Chen Mei, stay behind cover. Adam and Wolfy, deal with Vivian, Alexander and I have a date to finish," Gilbert commanded. With that order, the squad seamlessly shifted into action.
Gilbert took the lead, unleashing a torrent from his dual guns. Bullets sang through the air as focused his barrage on Alexander. Alexander steadfast and alert, raised his shield with practice precision absorbing the incoming fire. At the same time, Alexander returned fire with his rifle, each shot forcing the shield-less Gilbert to dodge. Taking advantage of a brief lull in the exchange Alexander closed the distance between himself and Gilbert. In a fluid motion, he holstered his rifle and swiftly drew his sword, holstering his rifle is sword it's blade ignited with a crimson glow. The heated edge seared scorch marks across Gilbert's battered armor. Seizing the momentum, Alexander shifted his grip on his shield and delivered a powerful fist straight toward Gilbert's head. The blow was unexpected and ferocious disorienting Gilbert and fracturing his concentration. But instead of retreating, Gilbert activated his thrusters. In a burst of resoluteness, he launched himself forward, ramming his shoulder forcefully into Alexander forcing him back. Not willing to relent, Gilbert immediately followed up by unleashing another barrage from his dual LMGs, the fire further compelling Alexander onto the defensive.
Amid the relentless melee, the battle fell into a brutal rhythm tune continued only by will. A fierce shot landed squarely on the back of Gilbert, knocking him off balance and catching him by surprise. Seizing the opening Alexander went for the kill aiming to drive his sword into his command unit. Acting on pure instinct Gilbert raised his firearm in a desperate bid to block the incoming strike. However, the momentum of the sword proved too powerful; even though his gun deflected the sword ever so slightly, it could not deny the blade its feast. Finding its mark, the sword tore through the command unit and Gilbert's chest breaking his ribs and sticking out his side.
Recognizing the success of his strike, Alexander left his sword in Gilbert as he retreated from the frey, leaving Gilbert stunned and bleeding as the battlefield fell silent."I-I-I am so-sorry, team leader, it was a mistake," Wolfgang's shaky voice crackled over the comms. The truth of the shot that hit Gilbert in the back silenced the battlefield while stunning him even more. Before Gilbert could formulate a reply, a sharp crack rang across the field. Gilbert's head snapped to see Wolfgang sprawled on the floor blood leaking from a wound in his back, while Adam slowly refocused his rifle onto Vivian.
"Wow, Gilbert, it seems your team is unraveling at the seams, hehe." Alexander mocked his voice dripping in schadenfreude. At the same time, Vivian advanced relentlessly on the silent Adam who failed to explain his actions. Her aim was unflinching as she pressed Adam. A well-placed rifle shot from Adam forced her to the ground. She managed to roll into cover, evading a finishing blow though the damage was already done.
"That wasn't a stray shot." Vivian spat across the field aiming to disturb Gilbert even more. "He aimed in my general direction but he was way off, he purposefully shot his team leader. Nicely done Alexander you even managed to infiltrate their squad, though I don't like it,"
Alexander's mocking laughter rang out across the silent battlefield "Ha Ha Ha, your teammate stabbed you in the back!" His words hung in the air like a bee sting
Amid this confusion, Gilbert stood there motionless. His armor was scarred blood streaming along the cracks pooling at his feet. For a long, silent moment he stared blankly into the sky.
"The hearts of men can be as pure as the word 'pure' or as unholy as 'unholy' itself," Gilbert thought remembering something he once read. "how did rest go mhm…. ' for the truth is every man carries within him the seeds of sanctity and damnation'"
" Systems check," he spoke slowly
'The command unit is down, it is advised you forfeit the fight'
"How much longer can I fight if I redirect everything fully through my circuits?" Gilbert asked while slowly releasing his guns to let them fall to the floor.
"Are finally giving up Kruger?" Alexander shouted with glee in his voice as he saw him dropping his weapons. Ignoring him he listened to the suit reply
'Such action is not advised, but squire could last at a maximum of fifteen minutes any longer and there will be unrecoverable damage'
As Gilbert heard the reply he fell silent once more before taking off his helmet letting fall to the blood-splattered floor. His knotted and unkempt hair puffed up around his head, and with trembling hands he ran it through it, painting his black hair red. Thinking back throughout his fight with Alexander he realized that his command unit has always been his goal for whatever reason he doesn't know. Gripping the sword impaled in him, he slowly pulled it out running the stream leaking from him as more blood spilled from his wound. A clang was heard as the sword fell to the floor.
"Come, Alexander, let us end this, it's time to see if you can win one against me," Gilbert declared, a pure smile tainting his face even as a fountain of blood exited his open wound. Ripping off his right pauldron and retrieved a fallen firearm from the blood-spattered floor. Using his aguillette he secured the gun to his shoulder, fastening it with the connections meant for his pauldron. Grasping both of his swords, he readied himself the sweet hum of his thrusters beginning to build.
"Come on now really, don't be a stubborn bull. Admit defeat graciously. Why do you even fight?" Alexander said in contempt as the crimson hue on his blade shone even more intensely.
"I fought before because it was something to aspire towards, you a knight warrior of the Federation. Now I fight for answers, I fight so what happened today will never happen again, and I fight to see the universe I want to see it all," said Gilbert reversing the grip of one of his swords. Without any more words, Gilbert rocketed towards Alexander, moving with much more urgency and fluidity. The data of his suit course through his nerves every byte seared through his body like wildfire. Alexander swiftly raised his shield to intercept the impending assault but Gilbert was relentlessly stomping onto his shield with brutal force. Gilbert used the force of the impact to catapult himself upward. His thrusters, gasping as they sputtered, flared back to life, propelling himself into the air. Blood streamed down his nose as it mixed with the sweat from his brow every prominent vein could be seen standing up along his neck and face.
Alexander staggered back from the force. In a bid to buy himself time, he lobbed a grenade in an attempt to halt Gilbert's advance. But Gilbert moved with conviction using the LMG attached to his shoulder to belt out a precise burst intercepting its deadly path. Without hesitating, Gilbert drove his sword straight at Alexander. The enemy used his shield to absorb the impact as a breaking of bones was heard from the impact, the blade impaling the shield as Gilbert used the blade to drive it out of the way. Using his electric sword he drove into the Alexander sending currents running through his system, crimson sprayed as the blade feasted on its target. Feeling overwhelmed by the assault, Alexander quickly released his shield and rolled to evade the sword coming for seconds. As Gilbert attempted to close the distance pain from his circuit stumbled him so he instead angled his body and unleashed a focused torrent from the LMG.
Amid the exchange, a small explosion occurred on Gilbert's shoulder ripping off the connections to the attached LMG. The blast sent searing pain coursing through his shoulder, blood flowed freely, and his armor caught aflame. Seeing Alexander get back up he re-engaged his thrusters shrinking the distance and refusing to give Alexander any breathing room.