The warehouse had seen better days. The bodies of the scouting officers were mangled and almost cheese-like, with holes of all sizes covering their bodies. From their bodies, Roy could determine that the Mech's rifle has both a railgun mode and a standard fire mode, one for vehicles and one for humans, he remembered. However, it was clear that the Mech pilot had no moral qualms about using both on humans. Some were even nailed to the walls of the warehouses, which themselves had taken heavy damage. It was clear that the only reason the officers there before them didn't know about the chaos was due to the barrier coating the entire area. By taking a look at the Mech itself, it was clear where that barrier truly came from, as a spell rune was haphazardly scratched on the Mech's chest. The Mech itself was interesting, having an exterior closer to a scrapped-together recreation of iron armor, with several ridges bearing air vents across the armor.
"Get out of the way!" The higher-ranked officer yelled out, frantically running to the side of the gate. The Mech fired several more rounds through the door, striking a few more officers and ensuring the death of the injured mage who opened the door. Everyone else managed to get out of the way, and as medics quickly ran to attend to the wounded, Lena and Roy ran to the higher-ranked officer.
Lena tensely said, "So, what the hell are we gonna do now?" She was shaking, clearly put off by the mage's death, as everyone else was.
The officer replied, "We have got to take that thing down. We can't secure the warehouse if we're getting shredded by gunfire, and I doubt the noise is doing anything for stealth. But if we send anyone in there, it'll just be sending more to the slaughter."
Roy said despondently, "No one else to call too. Michael and them are out on their own, Roland's doing something, and we have nothing on hand to break through."
The officer sadly nodded, "Nope, we've only got ourselves to rely on. That Mech has to go down, and quick."
Lena, after furiously tapping her foot, said, "I'll stop it."
The officer replied, "How? You have nowhere near enough passive mana to slow more than a couple of its bullets at a time, much less if it manages to hit a rail. You'd be dead before you could lay a hand on it."
Lena swept her hand to the side and angrily said, "If I don't, who will? If you want to send in one of those slow vans, or hell, even yourself, be my guest. But if you want to live, you have to trust me."
Roy, with a gleam in his eyes, said, "Are you sure, Lena? I have a plan, but it requires your speed."
Lena replied, "If it's my speed you need, I got you."
Roy turned to the officer, "May I have permission to move forward? A map too, please."
The officer nervously affirmed permission and handed Roy a map of the warehouses. Roy and Lena moved a bit further back behind the rest of the officers. Roy grabbed a stick and started drawing the area in the ground, wet from the rain. The whole gated area where the warehouses were was rectangular, with four square warehouses and two longer buildings towards the left and right walls from the entrance. Warehouse #4 was located in the top-left warehouse and held the cargo.
Roy said, hitting the center of the area, "This is where the Mech is. It's a gamble, but I think we might be barely fast enough to get cover behind the warehouses themselves. Once we do, we can abuse that and repeatedly do hit-and-runs on the thing."
Lena asked, "How are we gonna do the hit-and-runs if we're getting shot? Plus, can we do damage fast enough?"
Roy replied, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like for you to be a decoy for me. While I'll be able to manage the opening flank, anything speed-related after the fact won't end well for me. Then, if you could, via either your Ice or Electricity Magic, stun it. Then, I can try inserting my metal arm in it and melt some of it using the pre-existing heat. Of course, if you can get some serious damage off on your own, that's also appreciated."
Lena nodded, "Sounds like a decent plan, I'm down."
Roy smiled, "Then, let's get started.
Lena and Roy took opposing positions at the door, which now had barely anyone around it. The bright light poles faintly illuminated the area, the Mech's shadow clearly visible through the door.
Roy whispered to Lena, "Show me what you have, newbie."
Lena just smirked.
In a second, both of them leapt out behind the gates into the warehouse area itself, warranting a hail of bullets from the direction of the Mech. They barely slid by, with Roy getting a part of his clothes hit. They quickly hid behind the warehouses, using the night as cover. The Mech roared to life, as loud, monstrous metallic sounds could be heard coming from it.
Lena ran to the right, thinking about how to best handle the situation. As she began to arrive at a sightline, she started to speed up, when the Mech suddenly sped in front of her, raising its iron hand. It slammed it down, making a deep gash in the earth, yet Lena evaded it. She raised her palm at the Mech, the air getting colder around her.
However, as she did, the Mech slammed its other hand into the nearby warehouse and grabbed a chunk of the wall before launching it at Lena. Lena was barely able to unleash her Ice Magic before it hit, freezing the object in the air. As she tried to regain her bearings, a metal rail shattered the frozen wall, only inches away from crushing her skull. Following the rail, the Mech threw another punch at Lena. As the metal fist barreled through the air, instead of dodging, Lena began to pull all of the mana in her body to her right hand. The mana bulged and ruptured through her arm, barely being contained by her skin. She met the Mech's punch with her own, the energy bursting out of her hand as pure electricity. The impact could be felt instantly, as the ground shook beneath them. The Mech's arm crackled with energy as parts of the iron began to snap and fall, along with the rest of the body being stunned by the shock. Lena wasn't that much better for wear, as even disregarding the damage to her hand from the Mech's attack, she was injured. The mana had blown back on her, going through her arm until it was able to balance itself again. Due to this, some of her veins and muscles even ruptured, with blood shooting all around her.
She didn't have enough time to react as she saw the Mech's air vents begin to glow red. She began to run, unable to reach a speed to escape the blast of heat. Right as it was about to blow, she saw a figure jump on the arm and slam its own metal arm into it.
Roy heard the commotion and ran as fast as possible. The previous plan of a hit and run was clearly out the window, as the Mech Operator seemed to have a bit more common sense than to just stand there. Still, they were damn good at piloting, as seen by the amount of damage done to the environment and Lena. However, Lena had dodged most of the attacks, only taking a hit intentionally. Though, Roy wouldn't call her "tear my arm to pieces" strategy a good one. It did, however, give him the opening he needed.
Roy leapt down from a rooftop he was able to access and grabbed hold of the Mech's arm. The Mech began frantically swinging its limbs around, as if it were trying to swat a fly. Unfortunately, Roy was already in. He slammed his arm into a crevice in the armor and began to pump heat into it, almost as much as the Mech was itself. Not enough, though, he needed something bigger.
Roy yelled out, "Lena! Other arm still good?"
Lena yelled back, "Both of my arms are still good! Besides, where were you?"
Roy just replied, "I told you, I'm slow! Now, give me a light, don't ask questions!"
Roy took out a match from his pocket and raised it high. Lena pointed her finger at it and shot a small bolt of electricity at it, just enough to spark it.
Roy smiled as he took the lit match and threw it inside. The reaction was almost instant, as the heat from his arm and the preexisting heat from the Mech itself fostered the match. The arm began to sag down as Roy heard the metal react, with almost beast-like shrieks erupting from the melting metal. Roy began to celebrate, which was quickly cut short. The Mech began to realize the lost cause of the arm and, as such, began firing at it. As Roy said himself, there wasn't really anyone there that could stop the rail, much less himself. The rail careened into Roy's shoulder, ingraining itself in it as it sent Roy rocketing into the ground, impaled on the rail. His screams even made the Mech seemingly shudder for a second. That did not impede the Mech, as its job was not yet done. It turned to Lena and ran at her, scraping the side of the warehouse with its dysfunctional arm.
Lena turned to the warehouse beside them and quickly punched the wall with her good arm, shattering it. She made a mad dash through the warehouse, racing to execute her plan. However, the Mech did not care for the structural integrity of such a place. It looked to be running straight through the warehouse, which itself was only a few feet shorter than. Even more, it was quite successful at this, though it couldn't match Lena's speed. The moment it got through the other side of the warehouse, it collapsed behind him, finally breaking off the melted arm with it. As it did, its helmet madly scanned the area, looking for its target. It eventually did, seeing Lena in the spot in the middle where it stood. Lena smirked, taunting the Mech with her bad arm. The Mech roared out as it ran at her, crushing everything in its wake, from bricks to bodies. However, it did not seem to notice the quickly created rune on the ground, made from Lena's own blood. As it arrived in the middle, Lena sent a mana signal to the rune, activating it. In a moment, Ice Magic activated, as ice spikes erupted from the ground, gouging the Mech's limbs and slowly freezing it. However, only its lower body was affected fast enough, as its arm raced to crush Lena. Having expected the ice to inflict more damage, she wasn't prepared to dodge.
Suddenly, the hand of the Mech exploded, falling right before it grabbed Lena. Standing on top of it was a rather injured Roy, who still had the rail within his shoulder. He had barely been able to get up, and even less so able to perform a albeit weaker version of his heat trick. Both of them turned back to look at the Mech, which was madly flailing around. It eventually stopped, the ice spikes finally dealing enough damage to it.
Roy's voice broke out, hoarse, "Finally, that damn thing's down!"
Lena laughed, "That took forever..."
As they both laughed, a combination of satisfaction and delusion from blood loss invoked the reaction; the hatch to the Mech opened. What was within it was a heavily disfigured man. There were several cuts and marks across the body, with multiple needles still containing chemicals injected into the person's body. Officers began to surround them, taking them away to get medical treatment. Roy did see a bright side to this all, as Michael didn't have to endure this much. At least, Roy hoped so.