Ironclad

Retreat

Dasyil and Briggs were walking down the maintenance road that looked like it had seen a fair amount of use, with tyre tracks going up and down the concrete roads that had been laid out that went around the outskirts of the factory next to them.

The sound of the Badgers' relatively small engine echoed through the cold concrete tunnel, bouncing off of the flat, monotone walls. The only thing that broke up the grey tunnels was the occasional glass window that allowed one to peer down into the sweltering hot shipyard below.

Walking in formation, Dasyil was positioned between the Badgers, with two in front of him and two behind him, with the rest of the other soldiers scattered throughout.

Briggs looked to the windows as they walked past them, scratching his head
"I still don't understand how they can run this place with the little resources they have. Titan is their last fortress. It should be bare bones, and they've crippled us with ships and weapons that should be way too expensive for them right now"

Dasyil nodded in agreement with his Major and took a big breath as they marched on.
"I suspect that someone is funding them in secret. Or supplying them in some way. Someone who stands to profit from this going on more and more"

Frustrated at his response, Briggs just spat on the floor.
"If we find out who then I get to break their legs"

Dasyil would let out a chuckle and go to respond, but before he could open his lips a loud, deep alarm began to go off as red lights began to flash throughout the tunnel.

The soldiers glanced around worriedly, afraid that they had set off some sort of automated security system. 

Briggs would look to Dasyil and then stood in front of him to protect him from any attacks

"Sir, I think you should get in one of the Badgers now. I don't know why you didn't get in one in the first place" Briggs spoke quickly as he glanced around.

The soldiers got their weapons ready and stood behind the still moving Badgers as they made their way through the facility. And much to Dasyil's annoyance at leaving his men, he climbed into the cramped  interior of one of the Badgers.

Briggs would then take the lead as he ordered them to keep moving to avoid being boxed in.

They would walk for a few more minutes before they would hear the sounds of heavy thumping, slowly getting louder and louder. It was coming from in front of them and around the corner.

The two Badgers up front would form a barrier for the soldiers who positioned themselves to begin firing at whatever came around.

Everyone had their weapons trained at that one corner down the road, holding their breath as the clanking and thudding grew ever louder. Nobody said a word, the only sound they could hear besides the thudding was the low mechanical rumbling of the Badger's engines.
They soon had their first sight of a new type of enemy.
The massive metal figures stepped out from behind the corner, still walking in sync with one another. There were too many to count, but upon spotting Briggs and the others, they let of deep industrial sounding horns as they began to march towards them.

Briggs was taken aback as more and more continued to walk out from behind the turn. But he wasn't going to let them get close.

"Open fire!" he called out to his men as a hail of bullets began to fly at the robots, including the heavy machine guns from the two Badgers.
Sparks were flying everywhere as the bullets bounced off of armor, went through circuits and cut wires.
The heavy machine guns were the most effective, as some of the robots on the front of the group fell forward with deafening crashes, smoke billowing from their broken bodies.

However, it seemed that they had no end. No matter how many rounds were fired into the crowd of mechanical terrors, their numbers didn't dwindle.
They were closing the gap on them, each footstep was like a metal drum being hit.
The soldiers were wavering as they emptied their guns over and over.
The heavy machine guns were pulling their weight, but with two of the four guns they had being stuck behind them, they were missing crucial firepower.

Within moments, the robots reached the first two Badgers and began to climb atop them and swarmed them, using their powerful arms to punch holes right through the armor and tear chunks off.
The soldiers who had backed away in time could only watch in horror at the sight of the giant metal beasts make short work of their tanks.
They ripped huge pieces of metal right off of the Badger. Sparks, smoke and fire spewed everywhere as the screams of those inside could be heard through the sound of screeching metal and robotic hisses.
Briggs watched helplessly as one of the robots grabbed the driver through the hole it had made with its fist, and proceed to pull him out of the same inadequately sized exit that was lined with sharp and twisted broken metal.
He would only be able to scream for a moment before he was an unrecognizable pile of gore that the robot clutched in its powerful claw, to which it dropped to the ground without a second, or even first thought.

The two Badgers had been destroyed, now only two remained, including the one that Dasyil was in.
The whole group had began backtracking, as the last two Badgers began to fire upon the robots. Their guns pounding like thunder and echoing down the tunnel as they reversed as fast as they could to cover the soldiers running as well.

Briggs would pull out his radio and try to contact River and her group, scared for their safety, not knowing that they were already being chased by the same threat that was gaining ground on him at same time as them.




Extreme apologies for how long this has taken. I was preoccupied with work, amongst a lot of other things. I hope you all enjoy this chapter