Almost on instinct, Cyne recoiled and threw himself backwards and just in time too. The platform he had taken his shot from became mulch within seconds and a flurry of slugs tore through. Had he been any more indecisive, he surely would have been cut into red and meaty ribbons. By now though, the armored suits found new targets and engaged. Cyne on the other hand, seemingly a forgotten memory for the mechanized squad, took the opportunity and separated himself from the new conflict, ideally to look for a better position. Although, there was still the matter for the unaccounted for tank... --- Silas saw what happened to the tower Cyne had occupied just moments before it was completely obliterated. Concerned rushed through his thought but was the sense was quickly drowned and subdued when a mechanized suit shifted aim directly towards him. Now, all the worry was for himself. The battle armor struck out with streams of plasma and a volley of automatic fire. Augmented by his Shade's Skin, Silas was able to weave through the incoming fire with relative ease. Having been made for those Vandrell whom didn't shed their inferior flesh for an eternal shell, the Shade's Skin gifted the wearer, or more accurately the 'host', enhanced reflexes, strength, and durability via a hybrid plating mesh. The host in question was able to move about and make use of the Skin's capabilities through a neuro-link, presenting a far more communicative control scheme for the Skin's wearer. Upon observing Silas seemingly 'dance' through their weapons fire, the power armor pilot scrambled to keep distance between they and their silver-scaled opponent. Silas however responded in kind and fired the Shade's Skin's jump jets. Silas closed the distance and was already on top of the suit. The pilot, probably uncomfortable with their enemy getting so unexpectedly close, essentially flailed their heavy limbs in an attempt to bat Silas away. Catching the suit's heavy fist, Silas pulled the closer and threw a right hook into the 'head' of the suit. The armored form, unbalanced by the surprisingly powerful blow, took several uncontrolled steps back before regaining composure. However by that point, it was already to late for them. Silas closed in and jumped right over the suit and crouched behind it before swerving his left arm into it's side. With a loud shrieking clap, signaling the kind of sound a metallic object would make if it pierced though something of equivalent substance, the suit's form quivered for a movement and then stopped moving. Silas yanked his augmented arm free of the suit's armor, revealing a blood coated blade protruding from his gauntlet. After what sounded like a pained moan echoing from the suit, the armored form slanted sidewise due to lack of control and collapsed. --- [color=fff200][b]"Hey! I heard that!"[/b][/color] protested Sven, having caught Gerad sarcastic, though unfortunately valid, comment. Despite all the times he was offered a module or a programming algorithm that could be installed and programmed into his Ascended framework to compensate for his terrible aim, Sven rejected all of them, much to the confusion of his teammates. Instead, he had insisted he'd take the more tradition approach. Which didn't seem to work out for him, also pointed out by the same teammates too. Perhaps it was some organic pride that burned within him that rejected the notion of having an electro-mechanism help him. Maybe that was it. Or, perhaps it was some disconnect between the motions of operating a firearm and the visual sensors that fed the imaging back to his brain, faulting immersion and perception, prompting unintentional bad aim even when he was doing it all right. Maybe. Too complex though and required hours of calibrating. Adapting to his body after getting stuck in it was ludicrously difficult to adapt to in the first place. Whatever the circumstances were, what he did know though, was that he could at least hit something up close. Managing to get ahead of the battle suit before him, Sven peppered the enemy battle armor with plasma fire. The glowing splashed against the armor although failing to penetrate. Still, the condensed fire was still enough to heat the affected to surfaces and begun the process of melting the impacted areas. The pilot didn't take kindly to this and returned fire. Sven jumped forward and hit the ground, narrowly evading any direct hits although suffering some of the more glancing of them. Again, he pulled the trigger of his plasma fire, this time actually succeeding ins scoring a crippling hit to the suit's joint in its right leg. The pilot stumbled along with the suit but regardless, it kept firing in defiance. Seeing as though the wasn't making enough progress, Sven rolled to his side to avoid the barrage and came into a charge after getting back to his feet. Admittedly, the battle suit wasn't all that much bigger compared to him and the shoulder charge he threw into the power armor suit was enough to put it on it's back. The pilot clearly didn't expect this and tried to get back up. Sven maintained his advantage and jumped on to the suit and began blasting it, keeping the trigger squeezed. Under the pressure of unrelenting plasma fire, the chest portion of the suit began glowing until it was as bright as a star with the pilot inside desperately trying to put a weapon on Sven but finding out, in horror, that Sven was well too close for their reach. Eventually, the check exploded as if it were a firework mortar, sending showers of sparks in all directions. Sven final eased off the trigger and just in the nick of time too, especially after finding out his rifle had nearly overloaded the coolant systems, thus causing his weapon to also glow. The pilot though, well, there wasn't much left them presumably. After the armor was compromised, the insides quickly caught on fire but no agonizing screams came out. It was likely the explosive chain reaction had killed the pilot instantly. --- The battle only took minutes to conclude. The result, all four of the power armor troopers were motionless, having been killed or incapacitated. Suddenly, the entire complex was completely silent, devoid of any life other then Silas and his crew. [color=00a651][b]"Well,"[/b][/color] Silas began, [color=00a651][b]"that got dicey. Everyone okay?"[/b][/color] [color=fff200][b]"I'm fine,"[/b][/color] replied Sven, [color=fff200][b]"took some hits but I'll live." [/b][/color] After confirming with Ducaelia and Gerad, Silas then tried to bring Cyne back into the fold via the comms. Cyne however didn't reply. Frowning, Silas called his name out once more with no response. Worry once more settling in, Silas, still with his Skin active, jumped to the platform Cyne was one, or what was left of it for that matter. He scanned the demolished platform, noting the utter beating it took. What caught his attention was the lack of blood that the was dreading to come across. It then came to him and he sighed in relief. Cyne made it out. While what was good, it still didn't account for why his teammate wasn't replying. He got his answer soon enough and right on cue. [color=00746b]"Um, boss...?"[/color] Silas found Cyne's hesitant tone rather unusual. That usually wasn't a good sign, [color=00a651][b]"yeah, what's up?"[/b][/color] Before he could get Cyne's reply, something else butted into the conversation. And it was loud and violent. The large and closed shutter door that was practically the only entrance Silas could make out when he viewed the facility, seemingly vanished, probably vaporized as a roaring wave of pure plasma fire erupted from the entrance. At the same time, or perhaps a split second before the fiery scene ensued, a glowing horizontal tear-shaped projectile screamed though the shutter and detonated meters away, leaving nothing in its wake but a six meter large smoldering crater. If no one was caught in the blast, the pressure wave that was generated would've had enough force to slam anyone to the ground. Emerging from the now gaping hole of an entrance, now vomiting fire and smoke, was a massive mechanized platform levitating several feet off the ground. The machine, basking in the red hue of the flames behind it, must have been three meters in lengths is one were to observe it from the side and one and a half meter wide. Four large screaming thrusters, which kept the tank 'flying' were located to both its bow and stern and surrounded by spaced armor. Below the war machine and atop it were rows of positioned auto guns and countermeasure hard points; likely housing point-defense systems and shield generators. The guns themselves emitted red vectors that moved and scanned the battlefield, illuminated thanks in part with the fumes that now encompassed the area. The more prominent feature was the main turret. Shaped like a thick disk, the front half of the turret mounted additional spaced armor between it, the main gun. From what Silas could determine, it had to be a 160mm plasma cannon; not good. Along the sides of the turret were pylons that mounted several elevated missile launcher bays. All in all, what they were facing now was one of the most dreaded arsenals the SSA ever deployed into land engagements, an MTA-507. A [i]Chimera[/i]. [color=00746b]"I found the tank,"[/color] Cyne finally replied. [color=00a651][b]"...thanks,"[/b][/color] Silas grunted before turning tail, [color=00a651][b]"Everyone, find cover! Now!"[/b][/color] Almost immediately, the Chimera opened up with its auto guns. The gun began tracking their individual targets, typically two to three guns were matched for each member of Silas's crew, save for Cyne as he was still not physically accounted for. Silas jumped head first behind one of the destroyed concrete walls just at a lead hailstorm flew overhead. Sven managed to also remove himself from view by assuming cover, but not before returning fire against the Chimera. While the shots were probably going to do little good, the plasma rounds nevertheless failed to reach their intended target. Instead, each of the super-hot bolts harmlessly dissipated against some kind of ghostly surface. [color=fff200][b]"That thing's defense shields are up!"[/b][/color] Sven called after quickly ducking behind cover to avoid the return fire from taking his head off. [color=00a651][b]"Shit..."[/b][/color] Silas growled now feeling the pressure from the Chimera's suppressing fire, [color=00a651][b]"that tank has four shield emitters that can intercept incoming fire with ease. Strong enough to stop any heavy munitions as well."[/b][/color] Silas attempted to take a peak at the Chimera but was immediately sent back into cover as another hail of fire was thrown at him, [color=00a651][b]"I have an idea of scrapping this hulk but you 'all are not going to like it...any suggestion before I give my piece?"[/b][/color]