The machine took an almost lazy glance at as it passed by, stopping right within reach.
They say all animals have a flight or fight response. Theres a third one thats not as catchy: Freeze.
Everything in ca to a complete stop from terror as I stared up at the monstrosity that lood over. It could casually end my life if it so much as bothered to. A single swing of that arm would rip my jaw and head clean off my neck. That white skull-like faceplate with those horrifying violet lit cara eyes alternated between and Fathers body a few tis, contemplating a decision with no rush.
It made a choice, turned and shambled towards its broken opponent in a slow, confident trot. If Father was still alive, that machine was clearly going to make absolutely sure that wasnt the case. I had been judged and found a non-threat.
Out of ti. I was out of ti.
Nothing was working. The jamd rifle dropped from my hands. I stuffed my free hand back into my glove and drew out my pistol. Ten shots were loaded inside, standard for scavengers.
The oversized handle had been made for thick gloves. It wasnt made to be used by a terrified wielder.
The pistol shook wildly in my hand as I lifted it into position, the tremors in my arm enough to ruin my accuracy. I couldnt take the shot like this.
I also knew in the very core of my being: The mont I started firing, if I didnt destroy the thing within the first shot, it would turn and kill . I had to make this hit count. No missing. I had to stop my gods-damned shaking.
The machine lumbered forward, step by step, unhurried.
I took more breaths, trying to steady my arm. Just this one tiny thing needed to be done right. Aim and shoot. Thats it. The gun still shook in my hands, my heart continued to beat like a mouse, and the chill of adrenaline was overwhelming my system.
The creature bent over the motionless body of Father, hand reaching out and delicately wrapping around his helt, a massive palm obscuring the faceplate. Once it had a solid hold over the helt, I heard tal groan as that hand started to squeeze. But the family armor held its shape.
Either the armor was more durable than the creature had expected or it was taking its ti to slowly crush the relic armor. Fathers body remained prone and limp the whole ti.
The pistol still shook wildly in my hands and nothing I could do was slowing that down. The gods flashed through my addled head.
Tsuya was the goddess of tenacity, the paragon of resisting any opposition.
Talen was of resolve, the willpower to commit to and stay any course.
But Urs - Urs was the aspect of resilience. To overco limitations from within. To overco things of the living, like fear. It was his na that blazed through my mind, and cut like fire through my scattered thoughts.
I whispered a prayer between my hyperventilating breaths, desperate for anything to steady my aim. Here was sothing I could focus on that didnt feel like the weight of the world was behind it. Just a few words under my breath.
The shaking slowed. The weapon steadied in my hands.
Fathers helt groaned and began to dent inwards where the things fingers were grasping, the creatures strength now exceeding the ancient tal.
There was no ti to wait for my hand to fully still. No other choice. I wasn't ready, but there was no such thing as ready, only ready enough. I pressed the trigger and prayed the shot would land.
The cheap weapon barked in my hands, the sound piercing through the air. The bullet whizzed forward, tracer round showing it's curving trajectory. It clipped the monsters chassis, dealing negligible damage and missing the back of its neck by a few inches. I fired again.
The second shot hit a part of its arm and chipped off a ceramic chunk. The monster dodged the third shot as it twisted with an inhuman screech and sprinted towards . The fourth shot went wild as panic ripped control from my senses with my own scream.
Id been trained hundreds of tis on how to re-adjust my aim after missing. My sister could have managed this. But I wasnt my sister. I was just a worthless pretend scholar who had nothing to offer my clan other than scribbling numbers in the dirt. And now Id die for it.
There wasnt a fifth shot as the machine was already on top of . Its odd how quickly the flip between fight, flight and freeze could be turned.
I dove out of the way, scrambling to my feet and bolting. My target was one of the machine corpses - the one with Fathers knife still embedded into its skull. If I could get that dagger, I might have a second chance against this thing.
The machine clearly realized this. It chased behind, leaping above and landing directly ahead, blocking the way forward. A massive hand swiped for , catching directly in the chest, knocking the breath out of my lungs and throwing outright off my feet. Sensation and orientation vanished as I found myself rolling on the floor.
Only halfway through standing up, my ankle twisted in pain as I was yanked up into the air, suspended upside down for a half-second before being thrown. A wall stopped , and it wasnt gentle about it.
The warning alarm triggered from my speakers, screaming, adding even more confusion to my shaken and addled mind. The suits backpack had taken the blunt damage. These systems were hearty, but they hadnt been made to resist being slamd into a wall like that. The padding inside my clothing had saved both tis, softening the blow just enough to not break bones, but the outside gear I wore didnt have any of that protection.
I couldnt run from this thing. With those massive long legs, it could catch up to within a few strides.
That left only one option: To fight back.
It trotted towards , leisurely. Violet glowing eyes locked on my own, watching as I steadied myself back up. The machine had been strong enough to rip armor plates, lift wholesale with one hand, and crush relic armor helts.
Its playing with .
Its clear it could rip my head off my neck at any ti it wanted to, so maybe this was more like a cat playing with a mouse.
I tried to aim and shoot the thing with my pistol again, only to realize that I'd dropped the weapon at so point after Id been hit. My mind flashed through possible weapons I could use, warning alarm still ringing in my helt. The only plan of action that ca to mind was going to have to co with a miracle.
I tore off the hood, earpiece and rebreather, getting free of the obnoxious alarm in the most physical way possible. The air was cold, but the adrenaline damped everything now. The increased vision probably wouldnt do any favors, but it certainly wouldnt reduce my chances.
The machine stopped, watching as I fumbled to rid myself of gear. Its hands idly ripped gashes into the concrete floor, almost as if impatient for to finish. I didnt need to be told twice, and moved as I could to take advantage of the spare ti.
I disconnected the heavy backpack, unhooked the pipes and cast them off. Dropping the thing on the ground freed up a lot of weight and also gave a first view at the damages.
Instantly I could tell getting back to the surface was going to require a spare system; mine had been crushed beyond fixing. Thoughts for later - gods above, if I could survive to worry about what cos after, Id consider myself extrely lucky already.
There were only a few tools that had survived through all of this. What I really needed was Fathers knife, but the corpse into which it was embedded laid behind the machine, out of reach. The only other weapon left in my arsenal was almost fitting, really.
I lifted my crowbar once again. The machine nodded, pleased I would give it at least so kind of fight.
The weight and heft of my weapon cald . A glimr of a chance ca into light. The power of a crowbar wasnt sothing to ss with.
If I could bash the head in before it could swipe my head off my shoulders, I might just make it. Fathers rifle had killed these with a three-round burst directly into that ceramic skull. They might not be as durable as they looked - I just needed sothing to even the odds so Id get that chance. It wouldnt be a surprise if wildly swinging at the monsters head would not work. Id need a backup plan for when it didnt.
The creature clicked its claws in challenge and then charged forward. It howled for blood.
I dropped my crowbar, then grabbed my detached backpack by the top handle. Inside were the broken down environntal suits systems, junk tal now. But all I needed it for was its weight.
I spun around, letting the centripetal force lift the backpack up. After one spin, I let it fly right into the approaching automaton.
Instead of watching to see if it worked or not, I grabbed my discarded crowbar and charged behind my improvised throw.
It hadnt gone perfectly straight at the things head, but it flew well enough to hinder the creature. The charge hadnt been paused; Instead, the machine reached out with one hand and shoved the flying object out of the way with a slap. The backpack struck the ground again. If there had been any doubt that the system could have been repaired, the sound it made upon smashing into the ground confird it was dead and gone.
I hadnt expected the throw to do much damage in the first place, so this was still going according to plan. The point was to make it pay attention to the sack of useless tal while I tried to get the first strike in.
I lifted my crowbar and made a lunging attack the mont its head ca into range. I saw it turn its attention away from the backpack and back to . Realization passed through those eyes - I hadnt stayed put like good little terrified prey should have.
Dodge this.
My crowbar swung down through the air and struck an outstretched arm guard. Chips of ceramic armor broke off from the attack. It glared at , safe from the crowbar by quick reflex.
There wasnt ti for a second attempt at distracting it.
Its free hand shot out and hit directly in the stomach.
Vomit and bile ca up as I tumbled on the ground this ti. It had hit harder, knowing the padding protected last ti. The blow drowned , my lungs unable to draw a breath back in.
Pain finally cut through my adrenaline haze and blackness dragged my mind back and forth. Every bit of was focused on getting air back into my lungs, coughing, wheezing.
When my senses ca back, Id found myself sprawled on the floor, still trying to get more than a few whispers of breath. The crowbar had slipped from my hands at so point. Getting up was impossible; the best I could do was roll on all fours.
Fathers voice echoed in my mind when hed explained how to spot their patrol paths.
Machines are predictable.
That swiping attack had been a mirror of the first attack it had thrown at , only harder. Could I make use of that? I tried to buy myself more ti, half crawling on the ground forward.
If I knew the thing would swipe again the sa way, was there a chance to
Its hand suddenly grabbed my ankle and reeled backwards before I could finish thinking. My head hit the ground hard from the inertia change.
The world turned in my sights, before I realized I had been flipped over on my back.
The thing looked down at almost curiously, head tilted to the side as it dragged closer. The crowbar had landed only a few feet away, but far out of range now. I couldnt even see where my pistol had ended up - probably sowhere behind the creature too.
Dreadfully long fingers reached down to my face. Before my groggy brain could co up with anything, those fingers had wrapped around my throat like a noose. I could feel the ice cold tal pressed against my exposed skin. The hand constricted. Breathing gradually beca a struggle as it squeezed little by little.
It had pinned down, holding by the ankle and neck. I wasnt even strong enough to crawl away correctly, let alone fight back. Three gods above, I hadnt even gotten a full breath back after that hit to the gut, and now I was being strangled.
Had I any shred of sanity left at that point, I might have laughed at just how terribly Id ssed up every single part of this. Everything would have gone differently if Id had the simple presence of mind to take my fucking gloves off before reloading that rifle. It wouldnt have gotten jamd and Id have been able to shoot the thing dead.
This was it. I was going to die from one single mistake.
Like an animal, desperation took control of my hands as I tried to pry the tal fingers off my throat. The machines claw was utterly unyielding and my strength was like a toddlers in comparison. I could hear ragged breaths, my own, noisy and filled with panic. The vice grip tightened, slowly. Soon breathing stopped altogether and I couldnt draw even a fraction more.
Three weeks without food. Three days without water. And three minutes without air. That was how long the average human could stay alive. My life was now asured in painful minutes, at the rcy of this thing.
Instinct and terror suffused every single cell in my body. I kicked wildly without thought, but only one leg was free while the other was still held down by the creatures other hand. That did nothing to it, of course. I beat at the arm, clawed, and tried to pry it off again. My body twisted and twitched with wild abandon. The tal was laughably stronger than .
It could have crushed my throat then ripped my whole head clear off. It hadnt done that.
It could have squeezed my arteries shut and had pass out in seconds. It hadnt done that either.
What it had done was cut off my breathing, without cutting off the jugular veins. That could only have been intentionally done.
The skull-like faceplate inched closer and closer to , as if fascinated by my struggles. I could see the small, glowing, violet caras deep inside the bony eye sockets, staring down. It felt like sothing was watching through those lifeless eyes.
It was watching die as if I was a bug it had skewered, utterly enchanted.
Sothing heavy landed on top of its spine with a thud. The creatures head spun around in surprise, only to collide against the barrel end of my lost pistol.
Father stood on the monster's back, holding that weapon.
He squeezed the trigger, point blank.
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