Lord of Annihilation

Minutes fell like the scattered sand and the time for deployment had arrived.

Zaine who had completed the [Basic Movements Outline] with his mech had mostly grasped the intricacies and nuances of the Rifleman mech. 

His eyes unfalteringly stared forward and his grip over the joystick-like controls tightened. The faces of his squadmantes flashed through his head causing Zaine to slightly tear up.

Biting down on his lips, he swore: 'Watch me as I kill those bastards and avenge you guys!'

"You ready to go, kid?" Zaine heard Zara's voice inside the mech.

"Yes." Zaine curtly replied. He then moved his mech towards the launch zone.

The launch zone was a long, horizontal corridor with a slingshot-like machine fixed at one end of the passage and the other exiting into outer space. Once a mech enters into this machine, it grabs the mech and shoots it into space, much like a sling shot. 

"In you go then. Remember to coordinate with the team and try not to get killed. I can tell that Hartman has taken a liking for you." Zara advised.

Zaine did not reply and entered into the machine. With his front facing the exit, a large mechanical claw extended from the back wall and grabbed onto his mech.

Ding! Whirr!!

The Rifleman lightly shook and was slowly pulled backwards. Sweat started to gather on Zaine's forehead as a mixture of nervousness and excitement flooded his mind.

BANG!

With a thunderous sound similar to a gunshot, the Rifleman was flung forward! In a matter of seconds, it exited the 400m long tunnel at near supersonic speeds! 

---------------

'Ugh, I feel like throwing up.' Zaine felt his stomach churn. Being flung at high speeds wasn't a pleasant experience, to say the least. 

Sing his right hands, Zaine pressed some buttons of the mech's control console. A cooling sensation pervaded inside the mech as Zaine felt his nausea settling.

{Pressure and Atmosphere Controls- Optimal}

"Engage main thrusters!" Zaine commanded.

The mech whirred into action, as jetpack like contraption unfolded on his back. He then meticulously controlled the throttle, moving the mech towards the left.

'I must move out of the way first.' He firmly remembered the first rule of Outer Space Battle. 

After the initial 'slingshot', immediately move your mech out of the path.

The moment Zaine finished moving his mech he saw another mech appear in his initial position. Similar to Zaine, the mech immediately moved towards the right, clearing the path for the next arrival.

"You okay, kid?" Hartman's voice resounded inside the Rifleman's cockpit.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zaine replied.

He then waited for the other members of the squad to arrive, while keeping a lookout for potential ambushes. 

The Rifleman was equipped with powerful sensors that can detect heat, light, vibrations, and many other types of fluctuations. However, due to the interference of spiritual energy after the Ascension, the range and potency of the sensors had taken a large dive. 

One's intuition was still the best sensor against any ambush!

Mech after mech arrived and before long all 30 mechs had arrived without any incident.

"Alright, ladies! Get into standard formation 12 and follow me. Scouts take the front and keep your eyes wide open." Zara's instructed through their shared comms.

"The enemy was last spotted 43 klicks North-West. We will take an oblique path and gradually approach them. Now, start moving!" she thundered.

The mechs soon got into formation with Zaine's Rifleman occupying the middle of the left-wing. Looking from atop, their current formation would resemble a bird with its wings outstretched.

With the scouts taking the front, the group proceeded to move cautiously. 

Zaine controlled his Rifleman and had its laser rifle pointing forward, ready to shoot. Through the Rifleman's eyes, Zaine could see a large group of invaders plundering the BS-Lawson in the far distance, seemingly having no care in the world.

Anger rose within his chest, as Zaine gritted his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to rush towards the group of bastards and slaughter them.

'But I can't. The invaders are seemingly focused on dismantling and plundering that vessel, transporting the remains to their bases on the planet.' 

Similar to a colony of ants plundering a cake, the group of Formicians was carefully dismantling the ship and transporting it to their bases for further study.

Although the humans sent spaceships and mechs to fight it out with the Forimicians, the latter was simply too powerful. Against a tightly packed and well-coordinated pack of invaders, mankind's forces were destroyed too fast.

The main battleships' efforts to kill the invaders using their main cannons and turrents were also met with no result. A seemingly invisible force covered the entirety of the Formician formation rendering any long-range attack useless.

With a large number of enemies present on the other side, the human battleships dared not to get too close, in fear that the Formicians change their targets.

At this juncture, the humans had two choices.

One was to continue their original plan and retreat towards the Middle-Rims. However, with the proactive attack by the Formicians, the preparations to retreat were still not fully complete. 

Also, there was no telling when the Formicians would shift their target towards the other ships. Being caught with your back turned would result in disastrous losses, that would defeat the purpose of a retreat.

The second option was to await reinforcements from the Alliance and prepare an offensive against the Formicians. This option had an even lower probability of success as the Alliance was unsure of the invader's current strength. 

With the golden mechs and this strange invisible barrier coming into play, Mankind had no idea on strength and trump cards of the invaders. Recklessly fighting against an opponent of unknown strength was suicide.

As such, Mankind's current decision was to take a 'wait and see' approach. 

Being a fellow human and a soldier on the frontlines, Zaine also understood the Alliance's decision. However, understanding did not equal to accepting.

'Arghh! If only I was stronger! If only the Alliance was stronger! We wouldn't have ended up in such a situation in the first place!' Zaine felt frustration, anger, and helplessness.

"Stop! I detect something!" just as he was lamenting in his thoughts, the scout's voice resounded in the group channel.

Zaine immediately became alert and nervously raised his rifle while scanning his surroundings.

"What's happening? What did you see?" Zara questioned.

"My mech is picking up some strange signals. It's as if…" the scout's voice suddenly quietened towards the end. 

'As if… what?' just as Zaine was about to voice out his doubts, the voice of the scout thundered through the comms.

"ENEMY ATTACK! THEY ARE INVISB— ugh!!" a sudden cry of pain, followed by silence marked the last words of the brave scout.

'What?!' Zaine was shocked. 

It was then that the space before Zaine's mech strangely twisted and a golden colored mech appeared before his sight. 

Raising its sword, high up into the air, it wordlessly slashed towards Zaine, aiming to bisect him in half.

"?!" Zaine's mind went into overdrive, as his instincts took control over his body. With a sudden activation of the thrusters, he forced the mech to twist its upper body.

Shiiing!!

The golden mechs sword ground against the Rifleman's armor, producing a shrill noise. The tip sunk into the armor, drawing a long cut across the right shoulder of the Rifleman.

Wasting no time, Zaine immediately engaged the thrusters once again and flew backward. Sweat drenched the entirety of this back and his body slightly trembled from fear.

'I-I could've died!' the horror of that attack instilled itself in Zaine's mind. His pupils suddenly widened as he realized something: 'What about the others?!' 

Alas, the golden mech did not give Zaine any time to inquire about the situation of his teammates. Its body flickered once again before disappearing from Zaine's vision. 

Zaine felt the hairs in his body stand up. Without giving much thought to his actions, he moved the mech sideways, hoping to avoid the attack.

Alas, it was to no avail. 

The golden mech appeared in the direction of Zaine's movement and slashed with its swords once again. Its attack was continuous and smooth, similar to an experienced swordsman.

This time, its sword precisely aimed at the location of the Rifleman's cockpit.