Alex awoke feeling relaxed and refreshed. Talia had already woken up and left, but everyone else was still asleep, so he crept around the snoozing forms and out of the tent. The slender elf was standing by the fireplace, watching a kettle that was steaming gently as it approached boiling. He stepped lightly as he moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. She let out a little shriek of surprise as he grabbed her, but then sighed and relaxed into his chest as she realised who it was.
"Are you ready to talk about why you've been avoiding me?" Alex asked, rocking her slightly from side to side and kissing the top of her head.
"A little bit," she nuzzled her head back into his shoulder, "I just felt bad about hitting you. I know you can cope with it, but I still shouldn't have done it. There's... a little more to it than that, but I'll tell you when I've had a bit more time and distance, if that's okay?"
"Of course," Alex smiled and kissed her again.
The kettle began whistling, and Talia broke away to finish making tea. The kettle lifted off from the fire by itself with a gesture from the elf, and she tipped in a small bundle of herbs which began stewing in the boiling water. She poured out two mugs, leaving the kettle next to the fire to keep warm, and Talia and Alex sipped at their drinks as the camp woke up around them.
It wasn't long before the camp was once more a bustle of activity. The carts which acted as a makeshift fence around the whole camp were redistributed to each group and loaded with cargo. Giant oxen the size of buildings were led over from a distant field and long trains of carts attached to each one. By the time the sun had fully risen, the first group of scouts had ridden out ahead to check the planned route and the army began to march.
The mech strode along beside the marching soldiers, keeping a slow gait so as not to outpace them. Talia sat beneath Alex's feet in the bottom of the cockpit, somehow finding a comfortable spot among all the metal beams and bolts that kept his seat secure. Daine and Borren sat on the shoulders, chatting animatedly about how excited they were to be finally moving, and Thrak and Gelb were perched in the hands. The gnome was tinkering with what looked like a steel bracer, scratching intricate lines into the surface with a metal stylus, while the orc was peacefully reading a book.
Long miles blurred into each other as the army slowly crossed the plains beneath a cloudy sky that threatened rain. Occasionally they would see a shock of red hair as Elizabeth rode by in the distance, joining the rest of her mounted troops in scouting the area. It was into the middle of the afternoon when the major rode up to them, slowing her horse to match their speed. Her hair was wild and wind-whipped, and her legs splattered with mud from hard riding.
"I've just had reports of a giant in the village up ahead," Elizabeth stood in her stirrups to talk directly to the captain, "You want in on helping to clear it out?"
Alex looked around at his squad. Talia sat up by his feet, Thrak snapped his book shut and smiled a toothy grin, above him the dwarves had gone silent, waiting for his response, and Gelb finished the last symbol on his little project with a flourish, magic sparking off his fingers.
"We're ready if you are," said the gnome, eyes gleaming.
"Let's do it then," said Alex, looking back at the major with a grin, "Hell yes we're in."
Picking up the pace, the mech followed Elizabeth onwards to the front of the convoy, which was just drawing to a halt. Some gilded carriages flanked by ornately armoured knights clearly held the general and his aides. Elizabeth nodded to the scouts who were leading the column and then accelerated away, Alex following suit.
Travelling at a much faster speed than they had been, it didn't take long for the mech to crest the next hill and see the village. Squat, dark wood and thatch cottages clustered around a bend in a river as it wound its way through the hills. From a treeline many kilometres away, Alex scanned the area. His squad stood in front of him, a few paces further forward so they could see better.
"Reports say a large figure was seen wandering through the village," said Elizabeth, whispering unnecessarily, "It has to be a giant, given the range it was seen from."
"I think I see it," Alex stared blankly at nothing as the mech overrode his vision with data, "Sitting behind one of the buildings. It's carrying some sort of weird sword, it's glowing like the sun to my scanners. Fifty other lifesigns. I can't tell what they are yet, but a dozen are in that larger building to the west."
"I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound good," said Thrak, chewing on his thumb as he thought, "A 'weird sword' could be an enchantment. One large enough for a giant must be pretty powerful."
"Got it, look out for the sword." Alex nodded, drawing his consciousness back to his body and looking down, "Anything else?"
"Goblins like ta hide inside, an' beastmen prefer the open," said Borren, who was running a pocket-sized whetstone over his axe, "Nasty buggers, the lot of 'em. If anyone's left alive in that place, then they willnae be for much longer."
"We should go then," said Talia.
She whipped her rapier back and forth a few times and Alex watched with fascination as it reshaped, the metal flowing and the balance shifting to better suit her grip. He reached into the storage rack beside him in the cockpit and tossed out the pistol and rifle to Talia and Thrak, the pistol arcing unerringly into the elf's outstretched hand as the orc caught his weapon awkwardly in his arms.
"I'm taking a contingent of scouts around to the west side," Elizabeth announced, walking back toward her horse and mounting up, "If there's any survivors, they'll be in the village hall and we'll get them out. Captain, make a full assault on the village in any way you see fit. Try and draw them away from me and my men."
"Copy that," Alex responded, closing the cockpit and switching to his speakers, "See you on the other side, Major."
As the major cantered away through the trees, the Irregulars stepped out of the treeline, looking across the empty fields between them and the village.
"Tha's a lot o' open ground," Daine noted, walking around the mech's leg and strapping a square shield to his arm.
"We weren't planning on taking them by surprise anyway," said Alex, running a final system check, "Let's move, I'll keep us covered."
The Irregulars set out at a swift jog, Alex constantly scanning the village to keep track of any movement. Before they had made it a hundred metres, a figure crossed between two buildings, looking in their direction. The mech's cameras zoomed in, trying to identify it. It was short, with gnarly green skin and pointed ears and teeth. A goblin. Alex raised an arm just as his systems check told him the laser was powered on. With a sharp crack, a pulse of high-energy light crossed the remaining kilometres and vaporised the creature's head.
A second creature, a shaggy, bovine beastman this time, wandered out and fell the same way. As the Irregulars reached the final stretch of distance an alarmed shout went up as someone saw the bodies. Alex sent out a scanner pulse and then gestured to one of the nearest cottages.
"Three in the left house, back corner. Through the door and clear them out," Alex shouted the order, taking another shot with his laser at an exposed head peeking around a corner.
The dwarves shouted and whooped in excitement, Borren throwing himself into the door and breaking it down, the others following behind. Alex strode into the village, keeping an eye out all around. Inside the house Daine and Borren pushed forwards as Talia and Thrak - with Gelb on his back - fired into the occupants. The goblins charged forwards, but were met head on by the dwarves who blocked them long enough for the others to take them down.
The squad made their way from building to building at Alex's direction as he towered overhead, watching the surroundings carefully. They were four houses into the sweep when a gleaming, armoured head poked up above a distant building and the giant bellowed a challenge across the village. Alex immediately snapped off a shot at it, but the laser did nothing apart from leave a scorch mark on the plated metal of the helmet.
The giant, female by the cut of its armour, stepped out into view. Clad head to toe in shining plate and wielding a metallic purple longsword, proportional in size to the huge creature, it rounded the corner onto the street Alex stood on and charged, sword held high. The repeated snapping of the laser blasted blackened craters into flesh and armour alike but didn't slow the charge.
With a howl of pain, the giant entered melee range and swung the sword. Remembering Thrak's warning, Alex quickly sidestepped, sliding his own blades out. The giant was quick though, and it threw a punch with its empty hand, knocking the mech off balance. Alex swung his blades wide, catching a glancing blow on the giant that cut the plate armour like foil but only scratched the flesh beneath. Still staggering, Alex fought to stay upright. Down the street, a goblin fired a crossbow at him and the bolt skittered off the faceplate of the mech, doing no damage but distracting him for long enough for the giant to kick at his legs.
The mech fell to the floor with a crash. Unable to dodge at all, Alex could do nothing but brace for impact as the sword speared towards him. In a nearby house, Talia screamed his name. There was a loud clang. The sword deflected off the chestplate. After a moment's shock, Alex grinned; this was how he was used to fighting. Invincible.
The mech raised an arm and the laser charged as the giant stared down in confusion, trying to figure out why its attack hadn't worked. Switching to a different wavelength, this time the laser ionised a thin beam of air connecting the mech and the giant. With a bright flash and a crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning arced across the conductive air and smashed into the giant. The plate armour buckled, glowing white hot where the bolt had hit. The giant collapsed without another word as Alex rolled out of the way.
Alex guided the mech to its feet, picking off the goblins and beastmen that had arrived to watch the fight with precise blasts from the laser. He saw Talia watching through a window, and she shouted a warning, pointing behind him. He spun about to the direction she was pointing just as a wave of shadow slammed into him. The dark energy passed right through the shell of the mech and rattled him against his harness, making his ears ring and the inside of his mouth taste of metal.
The mech stumbled to its knees as unholy roars filled the air, Alex turning the head to see a goblin dressed in black robes pointing at him with a glowing, green amulet attached to its neck with an iron chain. Translucent black tentacles suddenly burst from every surface and wrapped around the mech's limbs, pulling hard. Motors and hydraulics strained and dials swung into the red, but the mech wouldn't move. Only the right shoulder, marked with Talia's protective glyphs, had any freedom of movement. Wriggling with what little room he had, Alex felt some feedback as the fingers brushed against something. He gripped onto it, the handle of the giant's sword, and pulled it towards him. As it drew closer and closer, the purple blade seemed to drain the substance from the tentacles and their grip loosened. He planted the point in the ground and used it to lever himself upright and back onto his feet.
The goblin magician snarled angrily, baring long, yellow teeth as it gestured towards him again causing the tentacles to tighten their grip. Thrak stepped out of the building, the metal bracer Gelb had given him glowing brightly. The gnome himself was still strapped to the orc's back, and was making complicated gestures of his own as a silver shield shimmered into existence around the pair. Thrak raised the assault rifle, sighting down the barrel and squeezing the trigger. Despite the extreme distance, the shot struck home and passed clean through the goblin's chest. The magic tentacles abruptly vanished and Alex stumbled at the sudden lack of pressure, metal feet thudding on the dirt and gyroscopes whining as he kept his balance.
Scanning the area revealed absolute devastation. Houses lay in ruins and the bodies of goblins and beastmen lay all around. The various members of the Irregulars picked their way out onto the street. In the cockpit, Alex took a deep breath as the ringing faded from his ears, then activated the speakers.
"Let's keep moving," he said, brandishing the giant's sword with a flourish.
