19 Reunion (1/2)

However . .. thought Sousuke.

”Why did the enemy fire just once? They should have known that an outdated anti-tank missile would be ineffective against an AS. Were they testing my abilities?”

He checked, but he saw no one following him. No response on optical or infrared sensors.

It was most unusual.

Something just felt wrong to Sousuke. He caught the scent of danger the would be noticeable only to experienced warriors --- a scent-invisible to all the fancy sensors in the world.

He reached the bank of a river, but just as he started to cross ...

A sniper shot came from downstream-at his two o'clock, a completely unexpected direction.

Reacting instantly, Sousuke dodged, and the orange-colored shells grazed the machine and obliterated several nearby trees.

Right away, a grenade made an arc through the air. Sousuke identified it as a high-powered bomb with a blast radius of about one-hundred fifty feet. Even if his AS could survive an explosion like that, Kaname, vulnerable and exposed, certainly would not.

”Damn!”

Before the grenade came down in front of the Savage, Sousuke turned his back to it to shield Kaname from the blast.

On the grenade's impact, the Savage lost its lower right leg from the knee down.

Unable to balance, Sousuke toppled into the river, flinging Kaname through the air.

She screamed as she splashed into the river.

”Chidori!” yelled Sousuke, bringing the mech up on its remaining appendages.

At that point, Sousuke noticed that the grenade round was completely intact.

It had not exploded because its fuse had been removed. It was secondary gunfire that took off his leg; the grenade was just a decoy to get him to stop moving!

Kaname's face broke the surface, and she let out a lungful of air.

”Chido-” began Sousuke, until three well-placed shots struck his Savage's right arm and flank, stopping the crawling machine in its tracks. He lowered the mech.

”Lower right arm damaged,” warned the AS.

”Control lost.

Main condenser: complete loss. Condenser: output falling.”

”Crap!”

Alone AS emerged from the darkness. It was silver and different from the others at the base.

Although the AS was roughly three hundred yards away, it closed the gap frighteningly quickly.

From his Savage's prone position, Sousuke lifted the AS rifle and returned fire, but it was a completely ineffective act.

He couldn't even brace himself while taking the shots.

The enemy fired, too. Methodically, the enemy took one shot at a time, as though conserving ammo.

Really, all Sousuke could do was lie there and hope not to get hit.

”The main sensor: lost. Fire outbreak in the latissimus dorsal actuator.”