Chapter 11: Unceremonious Return

Deros

The three of us flew toward the giant ship, leaving the rest of the enemy mechs to the Orginal space fleet.

But as soon as we got closer, a swarm if mechs flew out of the ship.

One of them held out something resembling an ancient satellite.

Varia grunted as her suit began to tremble. The electronics on my mecha began to flash. An emp?

"Ugh, their tech might be ancient, but it's still a nuisance," Varia said.

Good thing it was old, else our systems would've completely shut down.

Vyr and I moved our mechs, undeterred by the setback. I was lucky that Vyr was into old-fashioned stuff. He still knew how to pilot his mech without depending entirely on his implant. Although, his movements were a bit off. Like someone trying to drive a car after using autopilot for years.

"Deros, take out the EMP mech," Varia said, her voice strained.

"Copy that," I responded, steering my Aegis towards the offending mech. I used all of the adrenaline in my body to push past my fears. Now was no time to be afraid! I'd trained for occasions like this!

The other enemy mechs fired at me but I formed an energy shield. Thanks to the emp, it was weaker than before but it could still get the job done.

The siblings rushed in opposite directions to trap the swarm in a pincer maneuver. But such strategies didn't work with only three of us, especially not in space.

"Varia, Vyran, we need to change our approach," I shouted over the comms. "We won't be able to hold them off like this!"

Varia's suit swerved, dodging an incoming attack. "Any ideas, Deros?"

I thought quickly, scanning the battlefield. The enemy mechs were numerous, but they seemed to be relying heavily on their EMP mech for the upper hand. If we could take that out...

"I'm going for the EMP mech," I declared, steering my Aegis towards the offending machine.

"No, Deros!" Vyran protested. "You'll be exposed to too much fire!"

"I can handle it," I shot back. "Keep covering me!"

With that, I pushed my Aegis forward, darting through the chaos towards the EMP mech. I could see it clearly now, an ancient-looking machine with a satellite-like device held aloft.

As I neared, a swarm of enemy mechs moved to intercept me. I gritted my teeth, meeting their attacks with my energy shield. It was weaker than before, thanks to the EMP, but it held.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Vyran's Valkyrie and Varia's suit dive into the swarm, drawing their fire. I used the distraction to close the gap, lunging at the EMP mech.

I slashed at it with my beam saber, cutting through its armor. It stumbled back, but I didn't give it a chance to recover. I struck again, and again, until finally, the EMP mech fell.

With the EMP disabled, our systems started to reboot. I let out a sigh of relief, but there was no time to rest. The remaining enemy mechs were regrouping, their attention now focused on us.

"We did it," I said, my voice heavy with fatigue. "The EMP is down."

Just as I said that, the enemy mechs began to retreat. But I knew they depended on the emp, but to this extent?

Suddenly, the giant rail gun on the ship fired, destroying my world's fleet in one swoop.

"No!" I cried out as I watched the devastating blast rip through our fleet. The energy from the rail gun was so potent that it disrupted our systems again, even without the EMP mech. 

The enemy mechs, seeing their opportunity, turned back and charged at us.

"Varia, Vyran, we need to retreat!" I shouted, but static filled the comms. The energy disruption had disabled our communication lines. 

I turned my Aegis around, heading for Orginal. We needed to regroup, reassess, especially now when the enemy had such a destructive weapon on their side. But we also had to fix our frayed mechs.

As I flew toward Orginal, I saw Varia's suit and Vyran's Valkyrie following close behind. The enemy mechs were in hot pursuit.

I flew toward Varia as he suit began to disintegrate. She looked drained. Had the chip in her head frayed?

Opened Aegisa up and flew out and grabbed her, pulling her in with me.

"Commander. Are you okay?" I asked, frowning.

She winced. Suddenly, her battle suit dissolved, causing my face to get all red. But she no longer had clothes underneath. Her terminal must've malfunctioned. Thankfully, my space suit wasn't a hologram.

Ugh, this situation. I wasn't sure if it was a good one or a bad one...

I jumped as I heard a knock.

I turned and saw Vyran next to me. Was he checking up on his sister.

I gave him a thumbs up.

He gave me a nod before shielding me from incoming fire with the wrist armor in Valkyrie. Our energy weapons were down, so we had to risk damage to our mechs in order to survive.

We both sped up, outrunning the enemy.

As we got closer to Orginal's surface, I saw the remnants of our fleet fall like shooting stars. The sight was heartbreaking, but we didn't have time to mourn. We had to regroup, strategize, and hit back at the enemy.

We landed on an island off the coast of my home country. The foliage here was thick enough to conceal us.

Vyran quickly got out to check on his sister.

I opened my mech and jumped out.

"Vyr?" Varia asked as her brother draped his jacket over her naked figure.

"Do you feel any pain?" I asked, concern.

"Just a slight headache," she answered, gritting her teeth. "I think my chip overloaded."

"We'll get you checked out as soon as we can," I assured her.

Vyr glanced around. Assuming we can. With the fleet gone, it'll be easier for the invaders to take over."

"True. But for now, we need to lick our wounds," a tired Varia said, pressing her head against my chest.

My heart beated rapidly.

"Hey, don't get any weird ideas about my sis," Vyr said taking her from me.

"I-I wasn't!"

Vyran gave me a skeptical look before turning his attention back to his sister. "Let's get you inside and check on that chip."

I followed behind them, my mind racing. The situation was grim, but we weren't defeated yet. We still had fight left in us.

Once inside his mech, Vyran quickly got to work on accessing the damage to his sister's chip implant as much as he could with the devices still working on his mecha. Despite his earlier teasing, it was clear how much he cared for his sister.

"I'll go check on Aegisa," I offered, wanting to give them some space. 

Vyran nodded, not taking his eyes off his work. "Thanks, Deros."

I jumped out and looked back at Vyr's Valkyrie. It was damaged, but not beyond repair. I walked over to my Aegisa, running a diagnostic to assess the extent of the damage.

As I worked, I couldn't help but think of the battle. We had been ambushed, outnumbered and outgunned. But we had survived. But for how long? I slapped my face. No, I had to stay positive. First, we would fix our mechas, then go check on my hometown. We had to organize our counterattack against those enigmatic invaders.