Ascendant: Struggle Novel – Inhale… Fire… Exhale… Zai’s shot took the transport in the engine, forcing the vehicle to shudder to a stop. Like clockwork, the Hegemony soldiers slid out from the bed of the wagon, a couple in combat frames – thick, powered armor that could give the average person a fraction of godlike strength and protection. They surrounded the vehicle, uncertain if they were under attack or if the engine had just failed.
Their guns traced the forest line, looking for any hint of the enemy in the dark, rainy shadows. It was only when the driver got out to inspect the damage that Zai fired her second shot, which acted as a signal. The bullet took the driver in the chest, painting the front of the transport red. From both sides of the forest, weapons fire ended every unarmored soldier’s life. Zai took out three more soldiers, emptying her magazine. Then she reloaded and took aim at the nearest enemy frame.
From the forest line, a rocket-propelled grenade fired by one of her people took out the combat frame in front of her, drawing cheers from her soldiers. The frame lurched, but remained standing. Its pilot was dead. The cheers died when the second combat frame sidestepped behind their companion, using the fallen armor as a human shield. Aiming its grenade launcher into the woods, the first shot turned two of Zai’s soldiers into memories before the rest dove for cover. Zai chose to stand her ground. As the leader, she was the only one in a frame.
Hers was a utility frame named Rabbit. Rabbit was more like an exoskeleton than proper armor, modified for speed and to assist in handling the massive anti-materiel rifle she’d used to start the operation. She swore, chastising herself for not firing quickly enough to save her men. Disabling the engine in one shot had been a gamble, and the rifle wasn’t rated for penetrating combat frame armor at a hundred meters. Even so, a glancing shot could have thrown off the enemy.
A pair of rocket-propelled grenades fired, one after the other, the first shot glanced off the top of the enemy frame while the second missed entirely. The enemy leveled a grenade launcher in the direction of the second and fired, and Zai thought she saw the silhouette of someone in the explosion before the darkness and rain consumed it. Hopefully, they were alright. “Fall back and regroup! I’ll stop him!” Zai shouted through her speakers before she broke cover to charge at the enemy.
Without realizing she was screaming, Zai charged in at full speed, her frame eating the distance in heavy, metallic steps, a single thought in her head. If she couldn’t kill it with the rifle at range, then she’d just have to close the distance. Her bravery was rewarded when her soldiers, rather than retreat like she’d ordered, opened up with a hail of fire, drawing the frame trooper’s attention just long enough for Zai to jam her rifle into its ribs and fire.
The bullet passed all the way through and out the other side before the frame collapsed… but not before it managed to grab the arm of Zai’s frame, tearing it off and almost taking her arm with it.