“I guess it’s time for round two, huh? Well it’s about time, I got tired of holding back,” I said. Priscilla gawked and then snarled her nose. She bellowed a battle cry and charged me with her warhammer. Aware of her true strength, I was not even going to attempt to block her hits. I deflected them, and took a glance at her armor.

  “Looks like you cleaned up that wound I gave you. You really going to kill me this time?” I asked. She swung at me which turn out to be a feint. She then kicked my legs up from under me and pinned me to the ground.

  I tried to roll and move but it was useless. After hearing about the strength this girl and Blade Warriors had, I knew I couldn’t do anything.

  “Watch as all your people get obliterated by my Lord. You think I want this? This is my job. It is your jobs. You should have left your morals at home,” she said. My heart stopped for a moment. My mind raced back to my childhood of all the bad deeds, all the blood on my hands. I could blame ignorance and bad teaching for my ways in the past. I couldn’t argue that anymore.

  “I’ve done that for too long during my life. No longer will I sleep.” Her eyes widened and started ranting a bunch of excusing babble. My eyes beheld a figure that I didn’t know whether to be happy to see or worried. It was Alicia.

  She was running to me and Priscilla. She lunged up and kicked at my direction, then smashed Priscilla in the side who was still focused on me. She fell off me and Alicia helped me to my feet.

  “Happy I came now?”

  “That’s left for debate. Be on your guard, our weapons are pretty much useless against her armor.”

  “What are you saying, she’s wearing no helmet?” Alicia fired and I jabbed her gun.

  “No!” I said. Alicia gave me a glare of confusion and annoyance. I turned my attention to Priscilla who was gripping her mace hard. “Don’t do this. Call your forces off. It’s obvious this battle is tearing you apart in the inside.”

  She glared at me as if she was about to attack. Alicia kept her aim steady which was preventing her from moving. With all the chaos going on I figured her fellow sisters would intervene, but they had their hands full fighting the Blade Warriors. “One day I’ll be a Vindicator. I could help this world.”

  That eased her face and body.

  “How do you know?! The Vindicators represent the King’s Will. How do you know he’ll bless you with such honor and authority out of the billions of soldiers, out of the thousands of wars? What makes you stand out?”

  Doubt: “She’s right. What makes you better than anyone else? One major victory? There’s heroes made every day for victories just as amazing.”

  I placed my gun on the ground and drifted closer to her. I had to believe in my dream, voice it. Even if I doubted myself.

  “Because I’m lucky. My childhood was a nightmare. Almost every type of abuse you can imagine, I’ve been through. I suffered and suffered because of Imperators like the one you are fighting for. I would have continued if I had not met one random stranger who gave me a way out. Since then I’ve been lucky and I’ve chosen to live an honorable life. You could do that too, stop this war,” I said. Her face twisted in a mix of sadness and anger. Her eyes could no longer meet mine.

  “It’s too late,” she mumbled. “My sisters will not betray him and nor I. I made my bed and now I will sleep in it,” she said grabbing her warhammer and ready to swing. Instantly, bullets flew at her and created small explosions on her armor. It jerked her back from me. She fell back but recovered.

  “Don’t waste your bullets, use your cleaver,” I yelled at Alicia. Priscilla swung at me with her hammer. I drew my blade out and swung back. She would not be so easily done in this time. Alicia charged loudly and cut the wrist of her armor. The strike was lethal, as it made blood flow out.

  “Whoa, I never knew how useful this blade was,” Alicia said, staring at her blade in awe. Priscilla was not as impressed as she retaliated. Alicia was able to react in time, blocking the mighty hammer with her blade. However, Priscilla’s hit came under like a golf club—her blow lifted Alicia in the air and sent her flying several meters across the ground.

  “You pathetic lowborns, wielding the King’s great gift as if they were toys. I have no idea why he gave the common fodder weapons like those!” she said, coming at me.

  She came down on me with her hammer. I feinted a block but simply let the weight of her weapon slide down my blade. Then I had the blade at her neck. I twisted it to the dull side and smacked it in her throat, throwing her to the ground. The force knocked her unconscious.

  “How’s that for a lowborn,” I mocked.

  I was going to leave her, but then I noticed the blood leaking from her wrist. Alicia must have cut a vein. I took out some mending gel from my pack and some wrappings. I placed it on her wound. The mending gel was filled with nanobots. It would clean it, close it and repair any cellular damage to the best of its abilities. I then called out to a Blade Warrior.

  “Help me carry her back to the line.”

  “She’s the enemy, we should kill her, not help her,” he said.

  “She’s the enemy leader, we can use her to stop the battle or add allies to our side. Now do as you’re ordered!” I said, forgetting my place. This Blade Warrior had blood etched around the ends of his armor. He could kill me in an eyeblink. He then pounded his chest.

  “With pride, Lord Paladin!” he said, throwing her over his shoulder and running to the defensive line. You’d think with that huge armor he’d move as slow as a brick but I swear he was running twice as fast as any man.

  He reached the defensive line that was near a mile in distance in a little over two minutes. I followed behind, I did not want to be stuck in the battlefield when the Goliath came. I picked up Alicia on the way and ordered a full retreat.

  031

  “Why did you call us back, I was just getting started out there!” Kuurus said, blood lusted.

  “I know you want to fight but we need to figure out what to do with that Goliath. It’s taking out my air support and coming straight for us,” I said.

  The Battlelord almost seemed as if he did not hear me. He stared out to the battlefield. The Goliath was coming, my artillery and tanks were not stopping it. It moved like an actual god of war through the battlefield, their armor withstanding most incoming fire and steadily pressed forward.

  The Imperator was piloting that Goliath. The mechanized titan looked like an emperor. It even had a large cape on it, it’s body resembled a knight from medieval tales but with a much slimmer and futuristic frame. It carried a great sword and a powerful cannon attached to its wrist. Plus it had various smaller weapons scattered across its body.

  “He doesn’t deserve such a weapon,” I said.

  “Yeah, we should take him out of it,” Kuurus said.

  “My thoughts exactly.” I turned to Alicia. “Tell our artillery and tanks to unleash hell.” Alicia nodded.

  All our artillery pieces and tanks fired right at the Goliath mech. The Imperator’s Goliath and his forces were lit up in flames and smoke in moments.

  “That’s cute,” Battlelord Kuurus said. My eyebrows furrowed.

  “What you mean that’s cute?!” I said.

  “I mean it’s as a cute as a little girl dragging her teddy bear across the floor and pulling on her mother’s skirt.” I smacked my teeth.

  “We’ve hit it with everything we got.”

  Then the Goliath rose. His forces were badly beaten, and falling back, but the Goliath rose as if it was just an annoyance.

  “Most of Goliath’s mechs can withstand dozens of kilotons’ worth of damage. We haven’t even scratched the surface,” Kuurus said.

  The reality sank in like a dagger. I forgot how much damage the Goliath from late Paladin Noxic took. It was foolish to believe we could win with our current firepower.

  “Don’t worry,” Kyra said, appearing in a nearby television screen on one of the buildings

  “Meta!” Kuurus said, and then firing at the screen.

  “At ease, she’s my personal AI,” I said. He surprisingly calmed down quickly. Kyra appeared on a smaller one under the large one.

  “Not nice,” she said. “Anyways, I can help.”

  “Impossible, my AI would have done that by now.”

  “You have an AI?”

  “All special forces do, but it is implanted in us, so if we die they die,” he said. “You should know that, Paladin.”

  “I’m new, there’s still things I need to catch up on,” I said. “Now why is this impossible, our artillery fire will only stall him for so long?”

  “The Goliath have as many firewalls as all our technology. It has updates every year, to keep Metas from hacking,” Kuurus explained.

  “Yes new models that have been properly catered for,” she said. “The overlord model is a two-hundred-year-old model that has not been regularly maintained. I can tamper with its system just enough to lower its effectiveness. And don't compare your dumb AI to me,” Kyra stated before leaving.

  “That’s our chance,” I said. Kuurus nodded.

  “My warriors’ blade can get up close and cut through the armor.”

  “That’s a death sentence,” I said.

  “We live to fight and die!” Kuurus said, before running off to his soldiers.

  The invading army was in shambles but now with the Goliath taking all the fire, they had to regroup, even all the city defenses were dwindling. There was only one way to win this war.

  “I need a mech,” I said. Alicia glared at me, her eyes blinking in confusion. I watched her as she came to the answer on her own. Her eyes widened and her lips slightly parted.

  “You’re a flaming idiot!” she said. “There’s no way you can take on that Goliath with a simple battle mech. The Goliath is four times its size.”

  “Thanks for the kind words and motivation,” I said making my way to the nearest mech available. Alicia of course was following me and nagging…. Despite my dispositions, I greatly appreciated her nagging at me. It felt great having a woman who cared about me so much it got annoying.

  “No. I know you’ve been doing the impossible time and time again, but sooner or later a person’s luck runs out,” she said. I pondered on that for a moment. I knew I was lucky but how much of my feats were attributed to it? Could all my victory had just been luck? Was I just at the right place at the right time, got into the right battles that would get me noticed? How many times had I’ve been saved by external forces?

  I stared at the mech in front of me. This mech right here would give me that answer, this mech and this war would prove if I was just lucky or destined. I climbed in it and I felt a hand grip my leg.

  “I forbid it,” Alicia said. Her puppy dog eyes nearly stopped my resolve.

  “I know we’re lovers and hopefully we’ll be more one day but right now I’m your superior. You don’t forbid me from anything.” I snatched my leg out her hand and sat into mech cockpit.

  I stared down at her enraged face through the glass. I was going to pay for it if I lived through this. She glared at me as if she was going to kill me herself rather than let me go out there and face that monster of a war machine.

  “If you die, I’m going to come to your grave and curse you for being an idiot for the rest of my life every single month.”

  “Good, hearing your nagging voice in the afterlife will give my soul peace,” I said, finally strolling past her. I overrode the AI interface and began driving it on my own. I was trying to remember my training days. They had us train in virtual reality simulation with the mechs but I never got to use one in combat. I could feel my nerves racking up.

  Doubt: “Alicia was right, you’ve been lucky all this time. You’re walking to your death.”

  I took another deep breath. I wouldn’t let my doubts hinder me. This was going to be it, the big finish. If I could beat him here, the rest of his army would surrender.

  “King give me strength,” I mumbled

  “Who needs a King when got me!” Kyra said, popping up in the interface.

  “Kyra?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll help you fight him. Together we will win,” she said, flexing her arms. Her loyalty was the best part about her, knowing she would have my back through everything was the most rewarding feeling a person could ask for.

  “Alright then, let’s fight together.” Kyra nodded.

  The mech strolled towards the Goliath shifted its focus towards me. The Goliath was without a scratch.

  “Well, if it isn’t the Moronic Paladin that’s causing all these deaths.,” the Imperator said through the Goliath’s loudspeaker. “I know you’re in there, this suit can see through metal.”

  “It’s not like I was hiding. Let’s go. I want my own Daniel and Goliath story.”

  032

  I heard the gunfire, explosions, and dying wails even through the mech. All this carnage and destruction was because of one man. It is frightening how much damage a single person can cause if given too much power. I glanced up at that large machine. It spoke through its loud speaker. Because of all the chaos, probably only I and those around could hear.

  “You caused this. I ruled this land perfectly before you,” the Imperator said.

  “You were leaving millions to die.”

  “Because they were infected!” he said, swinging his blade. I used the mech arm to deflect it. Kyra aided my blow to hit at the right point.

  “They were not! You let the Plague Bearer Clan wash over half your planet. Then you killed the people to cover up your mistake. You’re a weak leader and a weak man.”

  “Enough of this. I won’t allow anymore false drivel to spill from your traitor lips. Die!”

  “Creator, sidestep three steps to the left,” Kyra yelled. I dived my mech to the side. As I did, a large sword hit where I was standing. It made a sweeping motion towards me and I waddled the mech forward. I attempted to shoot at the Goliath, but its armor shrugged it off.

  “I need some help,” I said.

  “I’m working on it, creator,” Kyra said. The great armored suit pulled its sword above its head. “Creator, run towards him and boost to head-butt the chest.”

  “It’s armor’s too thick.”

  “Just do it!” Kyra said. Her voice sounded erratic. “I don’t want you to die, so just shut up, creator, and listen to me!”

  I did as she said and rammed my mech right into the chest of the gigantic being. Surprisingly, the Goliath mech was already tilting backwards. My mech smashed into its chest and pushed it several dozen feet backward. The impact shook me.

  “Fire, creator!” I fired and my ammo pierced the armor where my mech tackled. The Goliath mech formed a square shield from its wrist. It looked like a real knight.

  “Can you knock that shield down?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure but you have to keep him distracted,” she said.

  The Goliath fired its shoulder cannons. I used my boosters to dash to the side. The cannons tore through my lines though. It pained me to see the troops be torn apart by bullets probably the size of their bodies. They could not even take their bodies back to their loved ones in that condition. I sneered and fired with everything I had, rockets and bullets poured from my mech.

  “I disabled the shield arm but only for a while!” Kyra said. The Goliath’s arm with the shield fell to its side as if it was broken. It was perfect timing; the rockets and bullet pounded the Goliath.

  “I got him!” I said. Then as the smoke covered the body my mind back-pedaled back to what the Blade Warrior had told me. That the Goliaths could take up to a megaton damage. That’s enough to destroy a large city. The smoke cleared and the Goliath was standing there and me with no more ammo.

  “Good job,” Kyra said.

  “What are you saying? Is that some peep talk?”

  “You damaged his shield arm. He won’t be able to use it anymore,” she said.

  “Good, that means this is a ground game.”

  “Your chances are zero.”

  “Kyra, I’m about to show you the resource that keeps your people from defeating us,” I said. That drew her attention, as her hologram body turned and faced me with curiously. The Goliath began moving closer to me with its great sword.

  “What are these resources?”

  “The human element,” I said with pride as the Goliath took its great sword and came down swinging on me. I pushed the throttle on my mech and tackled right into the sword. The sword shattered the glass of my cockpit.

  Whelp, no one ever said the human element was 100% the key to victory.

  “This element seems ineffective,” Kyra said.

  “Shut up,” I said, struggling out my seat.

  I leapt through my broken mech and right onto the arm of the Goliath. While I was on the Goliath’s arm, it slung me up in the air. I flew easily hundreds of the feet in the air—too far high for my rocket boots to break the fall. I was falling with no way to safely land.

  Think. Think. Think.

  Doubt: “This is it. I told you. You were a thug, you are never going to be anything else, now look what happened.”

  My eyes watered. I tried to be better—to redeem myself. Maybe that was enough. I didn’t know how I could survive a several hundred feet drop. If I had something that could break my fall speed, my boot boosters would do the rest. Then my eyes widened. I reached on my back and grabbed my sniper rifle. I didn’t use it much.

  The sniper rifle at full power can hit targets five miles away. It needs to be specially placed though as it can quite literally knock a person’s body back. I dropped all my accessories from my suit and wrapped my body around the sniper rifle.

  I let the sniper rifle fold outwards into firing mode. I had eight shots. No chance of reloading in freefall like this. The sniper rifle had a powerful recoil. It would hurt but pain was better than death.

  I fired downward and I could feel the recoil jerk my body upward a little bit. I was still falling so I started fired downwards again. Two. Three. Wait a few. Four. Five. Wait some more. Six. Seven.

  I could almost reach out for the Goliath mech. I kept telling myself that pain was better than death. Tears flowed from my eyes. Eight! Then I triggered my leg thrusters at full burst as I tossed the sniper rifle. I fell hard on the top of the Goliath mech.

 

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