Chapter 33: Chapter 27

She heard the sound of gunfire during the entire run back toward the plaza. The angry barking of the shotguns, joined by loud bursts from the rifles. The enlistees were given subpar gear by the Regulators. While the people here were undoubtedly better equipped than, say, the few remaining raiders in the Ravaged Lands, these weapons lacked the armor-piercing potential that actual weapons of the military could provide. Safe for a lucky shot at the enemy’s weak point or several bullets hitting a lens on an enemy helmet, the foes were safe from harm if they used power armor.

And doggies were using some of the latest models! Chochmingwu charged from a narrow street straight to the wide plaza before the water processing facility, uncared if the enemy would see her or not. She saw at least a dozen bodies lying on a sidewalk and panicked. The bento quickly calmed herself, noticing that the enlistees were breathing. Some of their faces were marked with blood, a few clearly had a broken bone or two, but all of them were alive. The doggie who had been guarding them turned toward her, reaching for his crude, but deadly effective weapon. A shardgun. A kind of weapon that killed one of Wohali’s students before the war broke out in full.

The prediction engine read the enemy's movement, reporting to Chochmingwu that the foe was too slow for her. That was all that she needed to know.

Her first blow landed upon the enemy’s ankle, bending the metal and twisting the bone out of place way before the doggy could even reach for the weapon. The doggy cursed and the terminals within the bento’s body confirmed that the foe was most likely male. A gentler approach was needed, lest she wanted to anger the doggies. The soldier snapped at her, intending to bite Chochmingwu on her neck, not knowing who he was up against. Still standing on his leg, she ducked, twisting her foot and causing the doggie to whine from pain when she dislocated the bones in his ankle.

Wohali spend some time studying the doggie’s anatomy. Like with all abnormals who could form actual tribes, it was a worthwhile effort, allowing the Bento tribe to learn about the weak points of their foes. Prior to the war, the Bento tribe had no beef with the reclaimers, and thus getting doggies’ bodies was somewhat of a problem… Right until Chort brought in a whole group of them, six doggies. Wohali asked not where the mercenary got his hands on them. Instead, he and Chochmingwu performed autopsies on their bodies, learning all they could from the dead, before stitching back the remains and sending them to the Wolf Tribe for the last burial rites.

The knowledge from this autopsy was uploaded into the databanks of the Bento tribe, allowing Chochmingwu to know where exactly to strike and with what power to knock out her enemy. Her steel palm hit the lower jaw of the doggie, shattering the armor and reaching through the fur all the way to the skin. Locating the target, she punched, denting the helmet and sending the doggies brain into a spin, knocking him out.

Like a steel snake, she slid across the falling body, reaching for the shardgun and grabbing the weapon into her arms. The body was still falling behind her, Chochmingwu was already near the prisoners, slicing through the restraints on the enlistees. She threw one glance at the square and finally understood what had bothered her.

There was no sound of the shardguns. These weapons had a distinct loud sound, dwarfing even the sound of a shotgun blast. And right now, amidst the panicked screams and amidst the firing on the square, she understood that only one side was firing.

The doggies showed restraint. Their armor forms charged into enlistees, tackling them down and knocking out their foes. While the civilians had no formal training, the square before the facility had little place for the enemy to use for cover. The doggies used smoke grenades, forcing the enlistees to fall back to the closed gates of the facility in silence while they themselves charged in under the cover of the smoke. Chochmingwu had little fear of the doggies, but for a normal human to see two crimson orbs, lights produced by the lenses on the enemy’s armor, must be a terrifying sight. The bento looked around to see how many of her allies had killed themselves because of panic but found that only a few of the enlistees had gun wounds on their bodies. Even here, in the group that Chochmingwu was trying to save, two people were wounded in the shoulders and legs, but their wounds were bandaged. The doggies, although slower than the bullets, used their own bodies as a living shield when needed, dragging away the unconscious enemy from the line of fire.

While she was slapping the enlistee across his head to wake him up, her eyes caught something else. A group of soldiers had a sniper position in the ruined building to the north. These were the actual soldiers of the Regulators, a sniper armed with an armor-piercing weapon and two spotters, who acted as bodyguards at the moment. The sniper was preparing to take the toll against the overeager enemies when a grenade was thrown at them, causing the sniper team to drop to the floor in fear. One of the doggies threw up her sniper rifle, shooting the grenade way above the sniper team. While the people were pressing themselves against the floor to weather the shockwave, another doggie appeared behind them. Four mechanical limbs came from his back, and he leaped on the sniper team.

Shit. Chochmingwu thought, finally awakening the enlistee and gesturing to the man to free the rest and flee to the street from which she came. The bento had no idea why the enemies were busy capturing people alive. Maybe they plan to sacrifice them to their god or eat them?

Her thoughts were cut short when a figure landed on the sidewalk, armed with a pair of pistols instead of a shardgun. This doggie landed near the knocked-out soldier, taking him into the arms. Chochmingwu turned to face the enemy. The scanners read the marks on the enemy’s armor and the databanks within her body, identifying the foe as a scout. Tougher than most doggies, but nothing to fret about.

"Still alive and none the worse for wear," The doggie said and Chochmingwu leaped at her. The scout raised her head, "Boys."

Chochmingwu ducked, narrowly evading the kick against the back of her head. She heard the sound of metal-on-metal friction, and the scanners on her back saw the armored form. The soldier jumped from the building behind her, timing his attack perfectly with her charge. Another form charged from the smoke to her left, aiming for a low kick across her legs. The bento had to grab the ground before herself with her arms, using the stone as a springboard to jump back, evading the attack that could potentially bend the metal of her legs. The first soldier landed before her, launching a full roundhouse kick at Chochmingwu’s head. The bento made a backflip backward, evading the kick against her jaw and feeling how the second soldier grabbed the shardgun off her, before both of them jumped to stand before the scout.

"Sorry, ma’am." One of the soldiers said, and the scout straightened herself, standing before the fallen soldier.

"Don’t feel bad, boys, you are doing just great." She snapped her fingers and Chochmingwu turned her head, half to bait the enemy into attack and half to see how a group of doggies charged from the street that was supposed to be safe, cutting off the last safe retreat route.

She had to lean back to evade a kick across her turned head. This time, Chochmingwu did not lose herself to panic, despite the desperation that was growing in her. Do what you can, when you can. The words of the elder Tlaltzin Bento rang something in her soul. If there is no open path for her to take, she will simply cut one or die trying.

One of the doggies landed behind her, while another was before her. The markings on their armor indicated they were males, yet their combat abilities and intricate knowledge of when to attack easily put them at the warrior level. Strange, the databanks told her that the males of the Wolf Tribe were nothing to worry about. A flaw in the reports? Chochmingwu turned her head to look at the soldier before her while standing up. Doesn’t really matter now, does it?

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She kicked the stone on the sidewalk, forcing the enemy before her to smash the stone away with his arms because of instinct rather than out of a sense of danger. The bento jumped, allowing the punch of the soldier behind her to miss her spine. Her kick across the back of his head sent the doggie face down into the ground near the legs of the scout. Chochmingwu barely had time to land when the second foe attacked. She allowed the enemy to try and punch her three times, giving the prediction engine just enough time to learn the patterns behind the enemy attack. The bento charged forward, not allowing the doggie to try the fourth punch. Her left hand beat aside the attack of the enemy, and her right arm struck forward, aiming to shatter the collarbone of her enemy.

The scout moved, forcing Chochmingwu to jump away from the soldier or risk enduring a hit against her midsection.

"Quite enough for now, boys. Guard the wounded, I will take the dance myself." The scout said, her palm on the chest plate of the soldier before the bento.

"Yes, ma’am!" The soldiers jumped to stand guard over their fallen comrade. Behind the bento, her allies were being recaptured by the enemy.

"Hi, cutey. My name is Carty, a scout of the warlord Dragena, the most illustrious fighter among…" The scout started talking, but Chochmingwu cut her off.

She punched with her right arm, only for her attack to be taken on the vambrace of the enemy’s right arm. Carty smiled, showing her fangs. The scout matched Chochmingwu's strength with ease, making them both stop in place, foolishly struggling to overpower each other. I need to find a way to take her out quickly.

"A silent type, huh?" Carty asked, her lips moving to say something when iron ran above her mouth, completely sealing off the helmet.

Chochmingwu felt a tingle of panic, seeing a missile coming from the smoke clouds that covered the square. I am dead. The bento thought, before the prediction engine sent a warning. Up until now, the enemies aimed to take foes away. The missile was coming from the ranks of the enemy, while several of their allies were in the danger zone. A dud? Chochmingwu thought, landing a low kick against the scout’s leg and dropping the woman on her back. Instead of trying to dodge, she dropped after the woman, aiming her right elbow at the belly of her enemy.

Carty used her own right leg to push the incoming attack back. Then, Carty rolled to the side, reaching for a place above her knee, the steel fingers of the bento’s left arm shattered the armor on the enemy’s leg, failing to slice the artery and leaving a deep cut on the enemy’s flesh.

Not willing to allow the enemy any time to recover, the bento charged after her. Chochmingwu's arm was twisted to the side as Carty caught the first punch in her palm. The scout had no time to break the arm, however, for the bento tried to kick her across the injured leg, forcing the scout to push the bento back. Chochmingwu landed back on one knee, intending to take the incoming blows on her arms, weather the assault and slash at the enemy’s gorget, reaching for the neck and taking the foe hostage. The prediction engine sent a whole alarm into her brain, making the bento jump back. Two punches from the enemy left head-sized craters in the stone road. Whoever she was, the mere punches of this scout were dangerously close to armor-piercing shards in terms of lethality, and her armor enhanced this strength even further. Change of plans, no trading blows. Chochmingwu decided, when the scout straightened herself, pressing a finger to the left side of her helmet. She stood still for a while, making the bento frantically check her surroundings for any signs of danger, before the steel around Carty’s mouth slid to the side.

"I can take her on, Tiny!" The scout said in annoyance, before turning toward the water processing facility, standing with her back to Chochmingwu and putting the right hand on her belly, "Fine, wolf hag, feel free to…"

Wolf hag?! Here?! Chochmingwu charged at the enemy. She needs to take this one down and fast, before…

The warning of the prediction engine came too late. The machine within her could not see the front of the enemy, could not read the movement of the enemy’s right arm. At the last moment, Carty spun to the left, evading the piercing attack against her spine, and landed a punch into the right side of Chochmingwu’s body, sending the bento crashing into the stone of the road. Her brain jar jumped within her body, a few systems of her body had to reboot themselves to ensure that she could operate. A fist-zed bent mark was on her body, just below the place where humans had their ribs. Still lying on her left side, Chochmingwu made a sudden low kick, nearly dropping Carty on her back. While her foe was still stumbling, the bento jumped onto her feet, making a thrust with her right arm, aiming for the enemy’s throat once more.

A spider leg limb came from under Carty’s left arm, creating a small forcefield in front of her head and neck. Chochmingwu, noticing the limb a second too late, smashed her entire arm against the field, her fingers crumbled, her index finger fell off, the impact of the hit could be felt as far as the elbow area. The simple, yet effective web of machine work in her arm suffered irrevocable damage, forcing her to rely on one less limb.

She tried to retreat when two soldiers from before grabbed her from behind, sneaking on her once, timing their advance perfectly with the dying sounds of battle. The bento tried to struggle when the wolfkin who had the mechanical limbs came from behind Carty’s back. Following his gesture, the soldiers forcibly bent Chochmingwu’s arms and legs backward, nearly to the point of breaking them, and he glued her limbs together with a strange black substance that came from one of his limbs.

"Thanks for the advice, Sly," The scout said, stretching herself, standing unbothered about a wound on her leg, "She is indeed can’t predict the things that her eyes can’t see. Now, then, back to the task that captain Ivar gave to us…"

She stopped talking the moment an explosion came from the water processing facility.

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