[img]https://i.imgur.com/T1prUKa.png[/img] [hr][hr] Sweat dripped down Raven's face as Crow-II fired off another shot. It hit the Shell right in the shoulder. The weapon arm. Thank fucking God. She boosted forwards, hoping to put on more pressure on it while it couldn't fight back, but it darted away from the objective, behind some ruined building. She couldn't chase it. There were at least five more. Enough to overwhelm the convoy if she left it, probably not enough to overwhelm it if she didn't. Probably. The word “damage” flashed at the corner of the screen as she took a hit to the back. She pulled a flare boost, did a quick 180, and fired at the Shell. The shot hit another building as it went around a corner. They kept darting in and out like that. Nipping at her heels. They'd take potshots at her or a vehicle near the edge of the pack; all the helicopters were long gone by now. It was supposed to be a relatively straightforward job. She needed to help run… something through some wastelands in Grand Union territory. They wouldn't tell her what it was. They wouldn't even tell her who they were. Well, they said they were some company called Robo-Sys, but she wasn't buying it. Probably a shell company. But whether it was Paragon’s or Murakumo's, she had no idea. It was a big package, though. About as big as her Shell. It had to be something important, especially if these bastards wanted it. Said bastards were an enigma as well. Their Shells were gray, without any markings. She'd expected to be up against corporate forces, but they didn't fight like this. They’d bring a bunch of guns, maybe put them in some good positions, and try to overwhelm you. None of this guerilla shit. They were probably terrorists, but the quality of their Shells suggested that they were backed by a corporation, too. Another one slid in front of her, taking a few shots from Crow-II and the convoy before it disappeared again. “Alright L.N.,” Raven said into her radio. “How much farther till we’re out of here.” “Just one more block,” a female voice answered smoothly. “It should be clear sailing from there.” L.N. was her “operator” assigned to her by WOLFHOUND. More or less her handler. She did a reliable job, even if she was a bit monotone. “Alright,” Raven said. “Fuck this shit, then.” She pressed a key as Crow-II kneeled down and unfolded its grenade launcher. “Cover my ass,” she yelled to the convoy. “I’m gonna clear all this clutter!” She aimed at the building directly ahead of the convoy and fired. An explosion engulfed the side of the building as it crumbled into dust. She leveled three more around their path. She couldn’t see past all the dust in the air, but she still had a couple of locks on what she knew where those asshole Shells that had been hounding her. She fired again, twice, until the computer let her know they were down. She knew there were more, but that probably crippled them enough to make them back off if they knew what was good for them. The grenade launcher folded back up as Crow-II rose to its feet once more. She pulled a flare boost and did another 180. There was the one she tagged in the shoulder, probably hoping to catch her in the back. She shot it, in the chest this time, and fire from the convoy’s cannons reduced it to a molten husk. There went most of her grenades. “Well, that’s the end of that…” Raven muttered. No one responded. The drivers hadn’t said a thing since she met up with the convoy. Freaks. “Can I leave these guys now?” Raven asked. “Contract only said to get them to the border, right? Looks like they’re pretty safe.” “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Raven.” L.N. replied. Raven was too surprised to be pissed off as she saw the dust clear. It was less a mech and more of a city-sized mass of guns on legs. A Bastion. It must have been waiting there. She would have felt the tremors if it moved. Goddammit. [hider=Artificial Line] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Vlxk4qviE[/youtube] [/hider] “What in the actual fuck,” Raven said. “This wasn’t in the briefing! How did you miss this shit?!” “...” L.N. waited. She was either thinking of something to say or waiting for her to respond. “This is way too fucking much,” Raven said with a scowl. “I need backup or I need evac. How soon can a carrier get here?” “That’s such a shame, Raven.” L.N. said. “We were expecting so much more from you.” Raven huffed. What a load of shit. “You know what?!” Raven soat. “Fine. But if I come back from this, “they” better treat me like a fucking queen.” If they expected more, they were getting more. They were getting the best fucking pilot the world ever saw. What else did she have to live for, than to prove she was better than them? “COME ON, THEN!” Raven screamed into the dead air. The Bastions’ main cannon glowed orange. It launched a swarm of missiles that lit up the sky. Raven fired up the overboosters and readied missiles of her own. Everything went… blue? [img]https://i.imgur.com/CpyrX61.png[/img] [hr][hr] Raven felt like she had to throw up. She wasn’t supposed to anymore with her augments, but holy shit. The heat, the stress, it all hit her at once like a wave. Holy shit. She slammed at the keypad, the rear door opened. She stuck her head out into the… fresh air? She noticed it was some sort of huge room, once she stopped retching. Thankfully it had a high ceiling, or her Shell would be crashing through it. There were all sorts of other weird people and robots and creatures around (mutants, maybe?) and they were talking to some sort of robot? It felt a little familiar, yet strange. “L.N.?” she asked as she held her hand up around her ear. No response. Is this Hell? She held her plasma pistol as she climbed down the side of her mech. Fuck, this was weird. She felt like shit. The robot was talking about alternate universes or some shit. Just about everyone had questions. Raven didn’t. She was stuck trying to process it all. They were supposed to save the multiverse? Like some sort of weird superheroes, she guessed. Well, she would probably end up dying if she declined, anyways. “This sounds like one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done.” Raven said. “But I’ll do it.” She holstered her pistol and crossed her arms. “But I’ve got one question,” The wolfhound said, narrowing her gaze at the robot. “The world I come from is a massive shithole that frankly should have died a long time ago, and I don’t typically do this pro bono hero shit. What’s in it for me?”