Epoc flew. 

For a brief moment, everything fell away. The city behind and below her. Smog and smoke cleared the way for a hundred tons of steel, and Epoc soared above it all. She could faintly hear the whooping of pilots through the intercom, the Cats and Rats glad to have a Hound on their side, no matter how inexperienced. 

And everyone enjoyed the sight of a Frame on their side accelerating in mid-air, after all. It was not a common sight, seeing a machine that size – one easily able to wrestle a suspension bridge and win – spin left and right in mid air, expelling superheated plasma behind it. 

That Epoc was gyrating in her seat, something none of the cheering people below were aware of, and that it was like being gently fucked by a lover the size of a skyscraper, was a little bonus just for her. And for Winter.

“I’m glad you’re excited, Epoc,” her Handler said. “Now, eyes forward. The target is roughly 8 clicks away and approaching fast. Should be visible on scanners.”

Epoc stopped, letting the hover mode kick in. It wasn’t going to keep her up for more than a few more seconds – the reactor couldn’t sustain that kind of output indefinitely – but she wanted to see what was coming. “What can you tell me, Handler?”

“It’s heavily armored. Appears to be able of limited gliding, though we don’t know if that was only during re-entry. Six legs. Heat signature is off the charts, so keep your distance. We don’t know what it’s capable of. Operational designation is Gecko.”

“I see why,” Epoc said, letting max zoom show her the oncoming monstrosity. 

Codename ‘Gecko’ was a colossal creature with far too many eyes to be comfortable, a distant shape of toxic green and yellow. Its legs dragged it forward through the landscape. What worried Epoc was its carapace. Layered and spiked, it looked thick. The scanner indicated it was easily 100 feet high, which meant it was several times that in length. It would be almost impossible to stop. 

“Handler.”

“Yes, Epoc?”

“What’s the operational range of these missile pods? I haven’t exactly had a chance to look those up yet.” She pulled up the schematics. It wasn’t looking good.

“Six kilometers,” Winter said. “It’s about to reach that threshold.”

“Good.” Epoc targeted a spot at the left front leg, just around the inside of the joint. The head, back and shoulders would be too heavily armored. She needed to know if she was able to put a dent in the weakest parts of it. She opened another channel. “Angel, come in.”

“This is Angel. Eager Hound, yeah? We’re coming up behind you. What do you need?”

“Any of the Pack Rats bring heavy artillery?”

Pack Rats were considered invaluable for any sortie with significant levels of engagement. A Frame needed to be as light as possible, so you couldn’t exactly bring redundant equipment into the field. Pack Rats were quick and mobile and had limited boost capability, so they could both install equipment onto frames mid-sortie, or create gun emplacements with them. One way or another, they brought more firepower to the field.

“They did,” Angel said. “A few long range pieces and one heavy plasma cannon. They’re setting all of it up right now.”

“Tell them to hold off on that for now,” Epoc said. “The last one, at least.”

“Epoc,” Angel said, switching to a private channel, “not to tell you your business, but your Gamma Frame’s generator isn’t built for heavy output like that. It would fry your whole system.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s a last resort. But I’d rather have a cannon like that mobile than stuck on a turret somewhere. I know how long those things take to reload. You’d only get one proper shot anyway.”

“If you’re sure.” The answer was uncertain, and more than a little apprehensive, but being a Hound ranked Epoc higher by default. 

“Thank you, Angel.” Epoc looked through her viewfinder and saw that Gecko had crossed the threshold. “Probing defenses, full missile salvo,” she said across broadband. She knew the other pilots would all be looking at the leader of Panther Squadron, but it was only courteous to let them know she wasn’t just firing willy-nilly. 

Switching weapon systems with a click of her finger, she balled her fists three quarters of the way. Some pilots preferred individual triggers, assigning a different gun to each finger. Some older pilots were, apparently, able to control entire subsystems using only facial expressions. Epoc wasn’t nearly that refined. The missiles all locked onto the same spot. That was the advantage of a missile. Here or several kilometers away, the explosion was the same. 

“Ready, Epoc?”

“Yes, Handler. Permission to fire.”

“Permission granted, Epoc. The battlefield is yours.”

“Thank you, Handler.”

Handler Winter’s voice was really close in her ear and she felt Arcus squeeze her cock gently. She knew where that was coming from. That was Handler Winter, the exact same way she had in her office when they’d first met. She was egging her on. 

Epoc squeezed the triggers on both shoulder-mounted missile batteries.

The miniature jets fired off one after the other, launching themselves out of their rocket tubes in a perfect line, going down row after row, just as Epoc had anticipated. Not a single misfire – thank you, Pack Rats. 

What she hadn’t expected was the vibration sent through her groin with the launch of each individual missile. The full launch lasted only three seconds, but that entire time, the plug inside her vibrated like mad against her prostate. She only just managed to turn off the com to the other pilots when she moaned like mad in her cockpit. Her entire lower body, from her diaphragm down, spasmed briefly from the unexpected intensity and she almost came, then and there. The grip around the base of her cock tightened to prevent that exact thing from happening. To keep her right on the edge, groaning and panting and grinding.

When the firing stopped, the vibrations did too. Epoc felt something wet on her chin and realized she was drooling on herself. That had been… intense. She found herself involuntarily thrusting, but there was no give. Release wasn’t going to happen.

“Fuck,” she grunted.

“Good girl,” Winter whispered in her ear. “Remember that feeling.”

“Yeah,” Epoc said, composing herself, “I’m not forgetting it any time soon.” She shook her head and read the scanner. “Shit. Negative effect on target.”

“Copy that, Epoc. Refuel and stick with the Cats. Try to hold it off as long as possible. I’ll see if there’s any free mercenaries in the area.” Winter sounded like she was trying not to worry. Her voice cut off. Epoc wasn’t going to bother her. She was going to be making calls. Antimony had to be CEO and consider worst case scenarios while trying to prevent them. It was not exactly an enviable position to be in. She took a deep breath and descended, landing next to Angel. 

The Panther Squadron leader’s Frame was a Gamma as well, slightly smaller than her own, similarly equipped with missile launchers. It was painted in black and purple patterns and had a snarling cat on its shoulder, with angel wings behind it. 

“Angel,” Epoc said. “I’d like that cannon right about now.”

“Damn, that did nothing,” Angel said. “Alright.” A few seconds later, several Rats scurried over to Epoc, one of them piloting a big rig. It unfolded behind her and revealed a canon as long as a cargo bus. “Any thoughts, Hound?”

“We’re going to hold this thing off for as long as we can,” Epoc said. “Either we take it down or we delay it long enough for reinforcements to get her.” She looked behind her. The edge of the city – and the facility with it – was only a few kilometers away. “If it gets through us, they’re fucked.”

“There’s never been an attack from the mainland like this before,” Angel said. “We can’t let it through. You taking orders?”

Epoc shook her head, then realized Angel couldn’t actually see that. “No. Handler is busy. I think they might have to evac.” At the urge of the Pack Rats, she ejected the shoulder weapons, which were caught and stowed. 

“Makes sense,” Angel said. “Alright, in that case, you’re with me. Keep that cannon primed but unpowered. If two dozen micro-missiles don’t put a dent in it, that cannon is going to bounce right off.”

“Lead the way,” Epoc said. The heavy plasma cannon was lowered onto her shoulder with a heavy *clunk*, and she felt the shoulder mount hiss its clamps shut to keep it in place. Keeping her balance was going to be a premium. Thankfully, the barrel could retract some, so she wasn’t going to fall over just yet.

“Panther Squad!” Angel shouted. “Let’s kill this thing!”

Her Frame pointed forward, and all the other Frames charged forward. The Stormrats stayed close behind in little clusters, making up for their lack in running speed by essentially vaulting and then boosting themselves forward, hopping across the battlefield. 

They were funny to look at until you saw how much damage a well-led and well-trained loader squadron could do. That they were easy to fabricate had made squads like that a staple of the First Corporate War. 

With a jolt, Epoc chased them and fired off her HVP system to keep up, without rushing ahead this time. The primary firing line was already fully set up, and cannons and missiles were being brought to bear. People were holding fire until Angel’s signal, though. Sustained fire was more effective if the target had no time to recover, after all. She joined them and raised the cannons in her hands, locking the arms in place and digging in her heels.

There was a pregnant silence as everyone waited for the creature to come within range. The environment was perfect, the low hills outside the city creating a divot in the landscape between them. Right in the creature’s path. It was, in theory at least, the perfect killbox. 

“All Frames, focus fire on the eyes. If we can blind it, we buy ourselves some time. Pick a target and hammer it until it stops moving.”

A chorus of ‘ooh-rah’s and excited shouts from the women around them was encouraging. Epoc readied herself in her mech, and let the gentle, automated rhythm of Arcus slowly get her worked up again. She had come down pretty hard after she’d been prevented release earlier, and the buildup was slow. With a flick of her finger, she selected one of the creatures’ frontmost eyes and locked on, then readied her weapons.

Epoc’s body tingled. The anticipation of battle was there, yes, but there was also the full realization that, as soon as she fired her cannons, Arcus would respond in kind and get her worked up again. She wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to stay in formation if the machine decided to push her up to that brink. But then again, maybe that was the point. 

“Ready!”

She steadied her breathing, which was already quite steady. The machine had slowed down its rhythmic pumping significantly, as if it was waiting for the barrage as much as she was. The creature was fully in view now, dragging itself forward on its awkward legs, its dumb eyes rolling around to scan the world around it. The ground trembled.

“Aim!”

All weapons and guns were raised, now. A moment of perfect silence disturbed by the attacking creature. Then, when all weapons were trained on it and all fingers were on triggers, Gecko stopped. 

“Fire!”

A cacophony of gunfire erupted. Kinetic shells hammered Gecko’s head. Explosions caused by various kinds of missiles soon followed. Several high-intensity lasers bounced off the creature’s carapace, and microwave and plasma weapons were all unleashed. The higher-yield explosives now hit, covering Gecko’s head in smoke and debris. 

With gritted teeth, Epoc pulled the trigger. Her guns fired, a massive shell each, one after the other. 

She was fucked. The plug inside of her expanded slightly, coated in whatever lubricant it used, and slid deep into her. Once. Then again. Then it stopped and slipped back out. She whined like a dog, realized what she had to do to keep that going, and fired again. One. Thrust. The other. Thrust. 

Pretty soon she was fucking herself silly, firing off both guns in a perfect rhythm, Arcus fucking her insides with a cock she could swear was getting bigger. Maybe it was her imagination. Didn’t really matter at this point. Her moans were basically constant, so when Arcus told her, calmly and robotically, that her primary weapons were at 10% capacity, it took a titanic effort for her to actually parse it. 

She lowered her guns, her entire body twitching. She was soaked. She could feel it. Slick with sweat. Drool. Condensation from all the panting she was doing. She swallowed and looked at the battlefield. 

Gecko wasn’t moving, its head covered in smoke. Was that really it? No. She had a bad feeling about this. She saw the Cats around her lower their – presumably equally spent – guns and thought for a second. What was it her Handler had said? Something about its energy signature. No, temperature. 

Shit. Epoc switched to thermals. Its temperature was rising, and fast.

“Everybody move!” she shouted and fired her HVP, launching her up and forward, sending her in a perfect parabolic arc above Gecko. From her position she could see the creature suddenly coil. Without taking its head out of the cloud, the creature released a wall of fire, rolling out of the smoke. It moved far too quickly. Shit, shit, shitshitshitshit.

Several of the Cats and two Stormrat squadrons were drowned in the flames, their microphones and signals instantly cut off. That wasn’t just a fireball, that was something worse. Hotter. 

The Gecko, now moving forward again, almost lazily, slowly turned its head, vomiting liquid fire at the Frames that had assaulted it. Angel was already calling for a full scale retreat for the Cats, but the Rats were boosting… towards it. 

Using their own propulsion systems, they flew over the flames as best they could, though every once in a while one or another was lost to the flames. Nonetheless, they sustained small arms fire on the creature’s eyes, trying to keep it from firing at the remaining Frames. 

Epoc steadied herself, hovering directly above the Gecko. Roughly a third of the Frames had been incinerated in the first attack. The others were retreating, but the force and speed of the flames guaranteed the others would be too if the creature repeated its assault. 

“Handler,” she said. “Come in, Handler Winter.”

“I’m here, Epoc. We’re overseeing the situation. We have a contractor coming in. She’ll be there in less than an hour.”

“That won’t be enough, Handler,” Epoc said. “Can you tell Diana I’m sorry?”

“What are you planning, Epoc?”

“I’m going to stop this.” She was easily half a kilometer up. This ought to do it. “HVP propulsion system overloaded,” she said, flicking digital switches to release safeties. 

This was not something that was ever recommended for anyone to do. It was highly dangerous, and often lethal to the pilot. That said, so was fighting Megafauna. Sometimes, Epoc felt, you had to take a risk. 

“Disabling antigrav lattice.”

“Epoc…”

“Handler, if you find my actions disagreeable, you can remotely shut Arcus down,” Epoc said. She waited a second. Arcus stayed entirely active. Winter could see the writing on the wall too. This thing was going to keep moving unless someone did something. “Calibrating interval.”

“Interval between–” Winter started, and then Epoc fired the thrusters, straight down. The Gecko was charging up another attack. Its fiery breath was like a weapon. Like most weapons, it likely wouldn’t respond well to its barrel being closed.

Arcus fell out of the sky like a brick. At this height, it would take her almost ten seconds in freefall. With the HVP, it was less than three. Still, better make the best of it. She fired off both guns, the Frame dutifully ramming her ass with every shot fired, hoping to slow it down just the littlest bit. Thermal imaging already showed the fire building up inside of it. 

Despite the danger of the situation, Arcus’ relentless assault on her had Epoc grinning. She managed to fire the thrusters at the last second, spinning around and landing feet first onto Gecko’s head. Despite its gargantuan size, five hundred tons of metal landed on its skull at a thousand kilometers per hour, snapping its mouth shut. Fire belched out of the corners of its maw, but the majority of the chemical reaction burned inside of it.