The fire was burning hard and fast. It was a high octane fuel with tremendous mana capacity. Each drop was worth a fortune and the damn thing was used as an accelerant to burn some trees. It was an exorbitant waste.

“Normal fuel is spiked with Hydrozine to increase its power. But this is way too much. They have no intention to keep using these Exos ever again.”

“But they don't care since they can't take the Exos away. The damage will be severe.” chimed in Black Tongue. “Might as well use it as much as they can.”

“High Hydrozine usage is easily traceable,” continued Lighthouse. “Especially here when we are the only divisions here.”

“Sounds like a plan. But how are you going to make the scans without your drones?”

“We use the bureau,” said Red Bear who had just finished his call with the Commissioner.

“Boss?”

“The Commissioner will not be offering any assistance from his side. We are on our own now.”

“But you just said….”

“The Commissioner might be obstinate, but men of the bureau won't be so amenable. Failure means that their heads will roll. The Commissioner might be able to ride this out but the men? I'm sure one of them will talk.”

“I know a few good ones in the bureau, Cap.”

“Make the call. And what is this I hear about Hydrozine?”

Lighthouse repeated his theory to the captain who nodded in agreement.

“Black Tongue, get the scanning data from the patrols. We can use that. Areas that you need to concentrate on are near the top of the hillside.”

“Roger that.” He gave a thumbs up and walked away to make the call.

“Why just the top?”

“It's where all of the noble brats are right now… We don't know who these people are but it is clear that they are after the children. The noble children.” He jerked his thumb towards the unconscious boy. “He is the last survivor of the attack. I checked the listing of the candidates still online. He is the only one left of his escort.”

“They are after the kids? Are they looking for leverage?” May wondered out loud. “We still don’t know who these guys are.”

“Regardless we stop them. Not a single one of them leaves this hill alive. Got it?”

“Right!” Lighthouse and Mayflower replied in unison.

“Cap!” Black Tongue returned after making the call. “I got the link setup. They will be sending in the data. Lighthouse will be getting them by now.”

“I have it.” He scanned through the data that was being displayed on his HUD. “I’ll need a bit to look through this.”

“Right.” Black Tongue said absentmindedly. “Even with this, it will be a tall order to pinpoint where they are exactly.”

“Then don't,” said May sharply. “I’m sure with the patrol data we will know where the bureau has already checked. Also, the northwest quadrant of the hill is the bureau’s base of operations. We can trust the Commissioner to cover his ass before everything else. So, we can rule that out as well.”

“That makes sense.”

“Combined with the possible routes the brats are taking we can get a pretty good idea where the attack will come from. No doubt the rogue Exos will be following that path too.”

“That would do it. Lighthouse?” Black Tongue turned towards the yellow Mech.

There was a bit of silence as Lighthouse calculated. “Here are the probable routes.”

“Excellent,” said May as she quickly studied the map.

The fire from the Hydrozine fuel leak had finally burnt itself out. A small circle filled with ash was in front of the four Mechs. That was the thing about Hydrozine. It burns hard and fast. The damp forest was smoking as the fire went out and the mist slowly flowed back into the burnt clearing.

“Judging by this the most probable route the red Exo would have taken is through here,” said May. “The closest possible location is two clicks from here.”

“Good.” agreed Red Bear. “Let's move.”

The three Mechs nodded and started their engines. The Mechs hummed to life as they drew more and more power.

“Stay in formation.”

The Mechs raced through the forest in an inverted wedge formation. The trees zipped by and started to blur out of focus as they slowly ramped up their speed. The engines fell into a steady rhythm as they leveled off their acceleration. The faint swish of the servos of their mechs was heard as they moved. They cautiously approached the area where they suspected the red Exo to be.

“Are you sure the X23 will be here?” asked Black Tongue.

“I gave you the most possible route. There are no guarantees that he will be here.” Lighthouse replied.

“Hopefully we will hit something.” Black Tongue muttered. He was really looking forward to going toe to toe with the giant red Exo. It was hard finding capable enemies.

“There are five Exos, including the X23 that is missing from the roster. So, that's how much we will have to take down.” May added.

“Sounds like a plan.” Black Tongue grinned. “Lighthouse? Any sign of him?”

“I think I have something.” Lighthouse sent the data to the three mechs. “There is a sudden change in the mana usage in this group of students.”

“There is a nobleman in that group,” observed Red Bear.

“Yes, one mister Alexander Bayer. By the looks of it they are on the run.”

“Alright team, this could be our guy. Let’s move.” the old bear rumbled.

The mechs fell into an automatic assault formation as they rushed up the hill with Read Bear being the spearhead leading the charge. Distant sounds of explosions were heard as they traversed the hilly terrain. There was definitely a fight up ahead?

“This is it. Look alive, people,” ordered Red Bear.
“Mayflower go ahead and find a good spot. Cover us. And Lighthouse….” He paused as he considered. “I really wished you had your drones with you.”

“I can still measure their Hydrozine usage when it's this close, Captain,” said Lighthouse. “And yes…. There are two distinct signatures.”

“So there are two Exos?”

“Doable,” said Black Tongue. “Don’t worry, Cap. X23 won't know what hit him.”

“Captain, I'm in place. I have eyes on the prize.” May‘s voice came through the coms.

The old captain nodded. He was much more confident about the attack with May watching their back.

“How does my date look, May?” asked Black Tongue. “Is she as pretty as they say?”

 

May chuckled. “It looks like your date stood you up B.T. The red Exo isn’t here.”

“Damn.” Black Tongue cursed. He was really looking forward to dancing with the red Exo’s pilot. It was rare to find prey this good.

“Alright! Contact in 5… 4… 3… 2..”

They burst through a cusp of trees to see two giant Exos chasing a group of teenagers. The panicked kids were desperately trying to get away with their hands glowing blue. They unleashed casting after casting on the rampaging Exos to try and delay them for even a moment.

There was a sharp whistling sound from the distance, and almost immediately after one of the Exos had its head blown off. The gigantic machine teetered on the edge in its unbalanced state. Mayflower had taken out one of the main supporting structures of the Exo with unerring accuracy. The colossus groaned as it crumpled under its own weight and fell to the ground with a tremendous thud.

Red Bear, Black Tongue, and Lighthouse crashed into the party right after. They didn’t even have time to register the fallen Exo when they entered the stage. They immediately jumped over its prone form and moved on to attack the next Exo that was present. The metal titan backed away warily seeing the Mech team arrive. Its movements were clumsy and slow. This pilot was nowhere near as skilled as the model X23.

It swung its huge arms at Red Bear and Black Tongue as they charged right into its attacking range. The ground shook as the punches missed and struck the forest floor. Black Tongue slipped in and out of its reach as he blended seamlessly into the mist and kept coming at the Exo like a haunting wraith.

Red Bear, on the other hand, didn't have any of Black Tongue’s finesse. His attacks were much more straightforward as he charged the Exo head on. There was no need for any fancy tricks or clever gambits. It was pure power and ferocity.

Exos had a lot more power than Mechs, but Red Bear was an exception. The Exo and Red Bear had their hands clasped in front of them as they tried to push their opponent down. Both machines groaned and creaked as they tried to force the other party to submit. It was a matchup of pure brute strength and the Exo was able to barely eke out a slight advantage. Red Bear was left grunting as he was pushed back by the Exo, but the stubborn bear held on waiting for an opportunity to turn the tide.

Sensing the change in pace, Black Tongue came out of the mist like a ghost. A blade extended from his wrist that was vibrating with energy. The slash was so quick that it left afterimages in its wake. The Exo slumped to the side as it lost all functionality of its left leg. The giant was brought down to its knees.

Sensing its imminent doom the fallen Exo panicked. A purple glow leaked out of its frame as it started burning Hydozine at a crazy rate. Still on one knee, it managed to push off Red Bear in a sudden burst of power. The captain was sent tumbling into the dirt a few meters away but was quickly back on to his feet.

The Exo, understanding this was his only opportunity, performed his final gambit. Raising his hands up high he brought down his giant fists to the forest floor.

Boom!

The ground shook as a cloud of dust and debris was sent flying into the air, obscuring the Exo.

Black Tongue snorted. This was the same trick as before.
“May!” he called out.

“I know,” came a sharp reply. May had her sights set on the cloud of dust the second she had seen the Exo raise its fists. She had let the last one escape. This time she would make sure that no one would leave here alive. Failure wasn’t an option.

There was a loud whomp and something burst out of the dust cloud flying straight into the sky. May’s scope followed the projectile with itchy trigger fingers. A thin cylindrical canister was revealed as it burst forth from the dust cloud. She nearly fired on the thing when she realized that the object wasn't the Exo.

“What?”

A second whomp was heard and something massive came out of the dust cloud. A black rectangular box shot out of the smoke this time and it raced off in the complete opposite direction the previous cylindrical canister was headed.

“Distraction?” Mayflower scoffed. She swung her rifle around and was locked on the Escape pod in an instant. The pilot was quick to pull his ejection seat, but now the pod will be his coffin.

Boom!

The escape pod exploded into a giant fireball in the sky. The heavy ordnance missile was upon the pod in a flash. The blast of the explosion slammed into the people on the ground violently and they were left bracing themselves as the shockwave passed by.

“That's one down,” said May, looking at the explosion through her scope.

“May!” Black Tongue was speaking urgently into the coms.

“Yes?”

“The Exo released something just before he triggered the pod.”

“What? The distraction?”

“I don't think that was just a distraction. Lighthouse picked up unusual readings from that thing.”

May shifted her rifle once again and scanned the area the canister was headed. A green mushroom cloud was rising in the distance. She zoomed in to get a clearer picture but it was too far away to be seen. She touched the ground and felt distant rumblings through the earth that was getting steadily louder.
“Well, that's not good..”

“May, regroup. Red Bear wants us to charge up the hill.”

“Roger.”

May got up and stared into the green cloud in the distance. This day was far from over. She just hoped the kids would be okay.