Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning
"Is that all you've got?!" Sakura yelled as she trudged into the pit, fending off incoming shots with the remains of her shield and ignoring the few that struck her armor.
She knew this was going to be the end. Three Mishhu and their shock troopers lay in her path and she had already taken more than a few direct hits. She had not let herself look at the damage or injuries she had sustained and her suit's emergency systems were doing a fine job of keeping the pain from slowing her down. It was calming in a way, knowing when her end was about to be and that she had some form of control how it was going to come about.
Sakura just had one desire before she was taken out. Taking down as many of the enemy possible with her and clearing the path for SeonJi to silence gun.
"SeonJi, I have this, take out the gun" she said, then launched herself at the enemy, using her DAISY's thrusters to propel her forward.
She batted bayonets and blades away with her ruined shield and blasted the NMX Neko troopers at point blank range. She emptied her rifle into them, some, the barrel pressed against their chest plates and helmets as she snapped off rounds until the barrel of her rifle glowed and began to melt.
"Come on, bring it!" Sakura yelled, smashing another neko across the faceplate with her now ruined rifle. She screamed as she felt a blade cut into one of the joints on her armor's side, slicing into her. Not good.
Spinning around, she could feel the bayonet snapping off, still jammed into her side, the pain lancing through her body as she swung for the neko that had stabbed her. Sakura slammed her fist into the neko's helmet and opened fire with her forearm cannon, blasting away at it's head.
With that one out of the way, next came one of the Mishhu, it's tentacles lashing out and wrapping around her legs, right arm and torso, pulling her down to the ground. Sakura yelped as she went down, landing on her back with a thud, her shield and rifle tumbling away as she lost her grip on them.
The Mishhu pulled at her limbs, trying to pop them off like a kid would pull the legs off an insect. Sakura's DAISY's emergency systems were overloaded and failing, unable to hold back the pain any longer.
Sakura screamed as she could feel her right arm dislocate. She reached out with her still free left arm, grabbing for whatever she could find to try and bash the Advanced type Mishhu away.
The Mishhu was on top of Sakura, putting all it's strength into it's bid to dismember her, it's slimy toothy mouth leering over the stricken Infantry Neko.
Sakura managed to grab hold of something small and cylindrical. A granade! It was a good a time as any to set that off, she thought, gritting her teeth and thumbed the activation switch.
As she did the Mishhu lunged down to take a bite out of her. Sakura swung her left arm up, shoving it down the Mishhu's open mouth and into its throat, grenade clutched in her armored gauntlet.
"Eat this!" she screamed just as the Mishhu bit down, she could feel its razor sharp teeth slicing through her armor and into her arm, maybe even through entirely. But it didnt matter. A moment later the grenade detonated. Then the world was flame and heat and gore as she monster exploded above her.
Sakura's armor was bathed in flames. The Mishhu's body absorbed most of the detonation, but not all of it. She was thrown like a rag doll into the side of the artillery gun, her left arm vaporized in the explosion, the stump instantly cauterized.
Her vision went black as her DAISY failed, loosing all power. The only sense she had was pain and the sound of flames and screaming.
She was mildly amused she was still awake as her DAISY's systems flickered and sputtered back to life. The status monitor was lit up all red. Everything was smashed.
Sakura was alive, but only just, laying face up against the side of the gun, the area around strewn with ruin.