Chapter 69: Battle in the Rainforest
Vyran poV
As Tira raised her gun, the air around us crackled with tension. Each second stretched out, filled with the anticipation of the ensuing battle. I focused, my mind racing through strategies and possibilities. I had to keep her occupied long enough for the others to escape with the mecha.
"Distracting me while your friends run? Clever," Tira taunted, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "But you're outmatched."
"We'll see about that," I replied, my voice steady despite the racing of my heart.
Just then, Kaeii darted from behind a thick tree, hurling what looked like a coconut towards us. It landed near Tira's feet and emitted a bright flash of light. Temporarily blinded, she staggered back, cursing under her breath.
Seizing the moment, I launched another blast of light energy towards her, this time aiming for her weapon. The blast struck true, knocking the gun from her hand and sending it skittering across the ground. Tira hissed in frustration, her hand moving to a small dagger sheathed at her side.
"Thanks, Kaeii!" I shouted, giving him a nod. He nodded back, already moving to another position to avoid becoming an easy target.
Tira chuckled and moved fast. She cartwheeled toward me, avoiding my blasts of light. Her movements were as limber as a cat's.
I stepped back as she drew closer and closer. Holding my hands out, I formed a wall of light in front of me.
Tira's eyes narrowed as she assessed the glowing barrier before her. With a feral grin, she launched herself at the wall. Her movements were a blur, a testament to her training and lethal intent.
As she collided with the wall, the light flared intensely, resisting her advance. She pushed against it, her muscles tensed like coiled springs, but the barrier held firm. Frustration flashed on her face as she retreated a step, reassessing her strategy.
"Not bad," she conceded with a grudging respect. "But let's see how you handle this!"
With a swift movement, Tira brandished her gun. Had she picked it up while she was cartwheeling? Pink energy flowed from her body into the gun.
That gun wasn't a normal gun. It seemed to be channeling her ki.
I clenched my teeth and jumped into the sky and smirked.
"Eh? You can fly?"
I chuckled as a pair of cyborgnetic wings emerged from my back. "Yeah. You can say that."
She smirked and jumped from tree to tree, reaching the edge of the forest canopy. Her gun glowed a deep pink.
The air hummed with the charged energy of our standoff. From my vantage point in the sky, I watched Tira expertly navigate the dense treetops, her movements graceful and precise. The pink glow of her gun intensified, illuminating the shadows beneath the canopy with a sinister light. It was clear she was preparing for a powerful shot, one that might not be easy to dodge even with my enhanced agility.
"Tira, this doesn't have to end in violence!" I called down to her, hoping to reason with her despite the escalating situation.
She paused, her silhouette framed against the dusky sky, and laughed, a sound that carried a chilling mix of amusement and menace. "Oh, but I think it does. You and your friends are a threat to Commander Yusan's plans. I can't let you leave with that mecha."
I sighed, realizing that diplomacy was off the table. It was time to prepare for her attack. I focused, channeling my energy to enhance my reflexes and ready myself for rapid movement. Tira took aim, and for a moment, the forest was eerily silent, the tension palpable.
Suddenly, she fired. The pink energy bolt cut through the air like a comet, its trajectory aimed straight at my heart. Reacting instinctively, I banked sharply to the left, the bolt missing me by mere inches. The energy dissipated into air, causing the raincloud coming our way to become charged.
"Not bad!" Tira shouted, her voice echoing through the forest. "But let's see how you handle more!"
She began firing a rapid succession of shots, each bolt pulsing with ki. I twisted and turned in the air, my cyborgnetic wings propelling me in unpredictable patterns as I avoided her onslaught. It was exhausting, and I knew I couldn't keep this up indefinitely. I needed to find a way to disarm her or disable the weapon.
As I dodged another bolt, an idea struck me. If I could get close enough, I could use my light energy to overload her gun. Or if I could grab it, I could disable it like I had done to the satellite. Although the overload sounded less dangerous. Either way, both options were risky, especially with her firing continuously, but they were my only hope to end this without further escalation.
Taking a deep breath, I dove towards her, my wings folding back to increase my speed. Tira's eyes widened as she realized my intention, and she unleashed another barrage of energy bolts. I weaved through them, feeling the heat of the near misses sear the air around me.
Just meters away from her, I extended my hands, summoning all my remaining energy into a concentrated beam of light. Tira tried to shift her aim, but it was too late. My beam struck the gun, enveloping it in a blinding radiance. The weapon overloaded with a loud crack, pieces of it scattering into the forest below.
Tira stared at her empty hands, her expression one of shock and disbelief. "No... My weapon!"
I hovered before her, my wings gently flapping to keep me aloft. "It's over, Tira. Please, don't make me hurt you. You're already beaten."
She glared at me, her chest heaving with exertion and anger. Then, slowly, the fight seemed to go out of her. "This isn't the end, traveler. Commander Yusan will hear of this."
"I'm sure he will," I replied, my tone even. "But remember, we don't want to be your enemies. This can stop anytime you decide."
She scoffed. "You sound like a goodie goodie from Uto. Don't give me that sappy stuff! The next time we meet, one of us will win and the other will be pushing daisies."
With a final glare, Tira turned and vanished into the forest, leaving me alone with the smoldering remains of the battle. I watched her go, knowing that while I had won this encounter, the war was far from over.
I retracted my wings and headed back to my team, hopefully, they hadn't encountered any more problems with getting Ret's mecha back to the rebel base.