The speed at which the creature had shot out its tail, wrapped it around the Mech, and then re-aligned itself to dive between the Mech’s legs was impossibly quick. Higan got a brief terrifying flash of the monster flinging itself toward him, although his rifle was in position to block the frontal charge it seemed to shrink itself to slink underneath him. He did however react immediately after, around about the same time the creature saw itself between the Mech’s legs. He decided upon an immediate retreat, utilizing the Mech’s position facing rightward into the cave it retreated upon its forward foot with a powerful sideways leap. Both feet left the air momentarily as the Mech hurtled directly away from the direction it was facing at extreme speed, the crunching sound of rock accompanying the sudden retreat as the back of the Mech and its right leg heavily grazed the stone wall on the other side of the damaged doorway. 

It was a two part manoeuvre on Higan’s behalf, if the Pater was caught beneath the Mech’s leg as it moved it would be heavily damaged by the right leg as it shot backwards and caught between the Mech’s legs in general. However, had it attempted to clamber on the vulnerable back of his Mech it would have been smeared against the rock wall behind him as he leapt backwards, albeit at the cost of some paint and the momentary destabilising of the Mech. The A.S.P staggered backwards two more steps before Higan extracted it from the side of the cavern wall with both weapons pointed at the point he had come from. Hopefully his quick thinking would have separated himself from the Pater, but had it clung to the leg of the Mech as he retreated the still firing chain-gun would be in position to unleash hell upon it before it could try a similar manoeuvre.

Consequently, his move had also dragged him further into Slimy’s domain, as he was now standing inside the cavern rather than the doorway. It was possible Slimy had escaped harm by extricating itself from the Mech in time. Were that the case Higan was ready to strafe leftward to re-acquire it, as it would likely be on the other side of the entry-way he had excavated.