Augmented Aspects [Steampunk], [Progression], [Gamelit]

Paranoia And Homefield Advantages for the Win

I was at three, which as any good parent knows meant that you gave at least two prior warnings. Thus everything that happened next was fully justified. At least, that is what I tell myself.

The world slowed down as I went into a state of Celerity, it was at this point that I realized I could do a few things.

First, using magic while in this state is still nearly impossible, mainly due to the way Celerity affects me internally, while all mana based activities need to be conducted outside the body, making the use of both still nearly impossible for me, currently.

Second, I could destroy the perfectly functional mechanoid suit, I could destroy the suits and the magical cores of the operators. Or I could go for option C, which somehow appealed to my inner thief. The goal is go for broke, take it all. Steal their pants right off of them, well mechanoid suits, which I hope they are wearing pants in, otherwise this is going to get awkward really quickly. I focus and begin moving, sizing up the large hulking devices, realizing that there are no bad mechanoid suits, just bad mechanoid drivers.

That's when I resort to my patented three step process to conflict resolution.

KAP-OOOWWW!

Hand makes fist, fist makes contact, contact breaks fist thus momentarily pausing the conflict.

Tink.

Shaking my hand vigorously, I reflexively move back and away, despite time being sped up considerably for me as I take a moment to process everything. Fortunately, my natural Regeneration kicks in, numbing some of the throbbing pain, only after a second do I realize there were quite a few actions and reactions that happened during that strike to result in my failure.

"STUPID Hollow Bones!" I cry out, still shaking the broken appendage.

I apparently wasn't anticipating as much, or any kickback from the metal. Which has to be graded as being beyond Tier III metal at this point, as I have never experienced any properties like this before. Which coming from a dimensional realm, I probably was too arrogant to account for. Thinking that this would somehow be an easy flex and steal. Now, I am busy trying to shake off my first failed strike and focus on an alternate attack.

Realizing a full force fist strike, and subsequent redoubled rebound from the metals is too much for my body to take, I again try doing something stupid.

Yes, like a moron I decide to do the same thing again.

Well, not the same exact thing, punching with a broken hand is completely dumb, and ineffective. That said, I instead use my increased speed via Celerity to charge forward and as I pass a second craft, I infuse mana into a protective shell around my foot. Additionally, I channel even more Qi into my hollow bones, trying to create a sturdy infrastructure for the strike, all while making sure that the exact contact point of my heel is coated in a generous portion of ephemeral energy.

That's when I give a resounding strike, but only using half the force of before.

Tink, crack.

This time, I watch the impact point, apparently pulling out my third eye to watch in gory detail the repercussions of my impact. There is a clear layered response of multiple distinct wavelengths of energy bursting out, that all hit and begin vibrating into the seemingly robust metal of the second mechanoid suit.

Attacking a second mechanoid suit plays on the idea that the lackey will have inferior equipment to the master. While the quality is seemingly different, the result is ultimately the same. I watch the three distinct waves travel at different rates of speed and force go through the mechanoid device. While it might normally seem to all land at one spot at one precise moment in time, I can tell thanks to my use of Celerity, that this notion is not accurate. As there ephemeral energy lands first, due to its proximity, but is quickly hurdled by a crisp wave of mana infused energy that bolts past the ephemeral wave of energy. This causes a slight buckling of the metal, and likely saves me from a full redoubled backlash.

Meanwhile, the rest of the energy gets somehow caught, captured, and an amplified return force is applied that surges back and impacts my wave of arriving Qi energy sending me spiraling out of the way.

I spin around once, then twice, and fortunately close my third eye fast enough to make it so the world doesn't spin around that violently on me as I kill Celerity, as I activate Teleportation a split second later and again using my Cosmic Anchor, I Teleport away easily.

At least that was the plan, Teleport through at the speed of thought, have my personal Teleport close behind me regroup while my mind tells me all the reasons why my body is now hurting.

However, these mechanoid suits are something else entirely. For as soon as I enter and pop through my Teleportation tunnel, the stupid machine follows. Actually, reaches out a metallic hand, grabs hold of my portal and keeps it open as it follows me through.

That is, it attempted to follow me through.

All this time, I thought I was being paranoid by constantly using a Cosmic Anchor between my personal Teleports figuring that the boogey monster from that distant planet was out to get me. Well turns out my paranoia was justified.

"WAHHAAHHHH!" The driver of the mechanoid suit cried out loudly as it got sucked through the forcefully opened Teleportation tunnel, the same way a body would in the cabin of a plane flying at thirty thousand feet that lost pressurization.

SHWOOP!

We all pause for a moment, I use this time to evaluate my injuries. There is still a dull throbbing in my foot, which is a vast improvement from the full broken hand I am still dealing with.

Heal.

Speaking of distractions, while everyone of the mechanoid suits turns to the center of their formation to see where their friend had been standing, I take the momentary reprieve to cast a Heal on myself.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I am not above taking a partial victory thanks to random chance.

Also, I mentally thank myself for being paranoid enough to continue casting Teleportation while using Cosmic Anchors as a grounding attachment. By now the process is so quick and fluid for me, that the Anchor actually pulls me through the far end of the portal before I have a chance to even check for safety at the other end. Of course, most of my checking is done already thanks to the large area of viewing already afforded to me by my Angel's Sight, thus creating a spot that is safe to pop through is already handled.

But still, where did that mech go?

I'm assuming it was pulled to the crazy planet lady's nearly dead planet, but I'm not certain.

"Mike?" I hear the annoying Legrand officer speak out. There is a note of fear, desperation, and loss in his cry that almost makes me feel bad for what happened. That said, he did try to follow after me through my own spell work.

Thinking back to his movement, I wonder if these are new mage killer mechs? Or if this is a standard feature of these mechanoid suits? Regardless they are impressive. I mean no magical signature, no express use of magic themselves, in fact the people driving these mechanoid units all appear to be mundanes, that is without any form of mana or Qi in them at all.

Is this due to these mechs being specifically designed against me and my kind? If so, then how many other planets have similar mechanoid units?

Are these standard issue? Can I expect to see mechs like these, or worse in these competitions? If so, have I really bitten off more than I can chew?

These thoughts and more come to mind, as I for the first time in a long time realize I am outclassed.

I let this moment sink in, a moment when overconfidence almost got me. Then I smile, as I realize there is still at least one last major challenge that I need to work towards.

"Mike!" Another mechanoid unit cries out, turning around in a long slow scanning circle. Then when she gets in front of me, she stops and pauses. For a moment, I try to stay still, hoping that this machine is like the T-Rex and can't see me if I stand still. "There she is, look for the richest mana signature in the area."

For a second I wonder what they are talking about, but I see a slight flickering in the eyes of the mechanoid suits, that's when they all start staring straight at me. I almost wonder how, but then realize it is likely due to my other racial flaw that is coming back to haunt me.

During this time I also feel the hairs raise on the back of my neck as Danger Sense tells me that something truly dangerous is coming. That's when I see that all of the six remaining mechanoid units that were part of the seven person team all have their weapons up and aimed in my general direction.

I pause, feeling my body tense up, as I wait until the last second. Then I feel the tension leave my body, and that is when I bust out and move.

Ratta-tatata-klink!

Poof!

I Teleport, but rather than using my Cosmic Anchor to tie me to the ground, I instead use it to grab onto an object and quickly spin me out of the direct line of sight from my portal.

Having wings, a near weightless body, and hours of practice spinning and contorting my body in the air has paid off for this one maneuver. I enter and exit through the portal, just behind the backside of one of the minion bots. Again, going off of the idea that minion bot suits are not as sturdy as the main boss villain bot suit.

My thoughts are quickly proven correct, as the hundreds of rounds that had been targeted at me, followed me through my magical portal and right into the back of one of the mechs.

Klink-klink-shirk!

Whistle!

One round wasn't enough, two rounds weren't enough to pierce the thick and durable metal that made up these mechanoid suits. But dozens all hitting in and around the same exact spot, that was enough to finally pierce the hull and body of the steam powered suit.

"Ah, shit! I'm hit!" The pilot cried out, as they apparently went into immediate ejection mode once the inner workings and contained steampunk gear system was breached by friendly fire.

Jettison! Crack!

A pressurized release level was pulled by the pilot, causing a completely sealed and intact cockpit to fly forward. The only problem was, that this mech was directly behind and to the side of a second mech, one that received the jettisoned cockpit right to its own seemingly sensitive set of sealed mechanical steam tubes.

Poof.

I was already Teleporting away again, not wanting to be near this little fiasco, as I could already see the way that the hissing and volatile steam that was leaking out of the first mechanoid suit was warbling and distorting against the oddly magically resistant metal.

However, the fact that the metal was resistant to most forms of energy, didn't mean that it wasn't vulnerable to all forms of energy as condensed air was clearly an issue for these devices.

Kaboom!

Then just as had been expected by the first pilot, the mechanoid suit they were piloting erupted in the way a faulty fountain firework might, just one giant pop, before the metal started melting in on itself. Seeing the nature of the flame and lack of heat, it was clear that this metal had a relatively low melting point.

"Ah shit!"

Just as I was evaluating this, the driver of the second mechanoid craft cried out. Apparently, the low melting point, also meant that it was able to bend and buckle a bit easier, as the steam punk pipes had been crushed just enough to cause tension that ultimately led to a state where too much power was unable to be released in a safe fashion leading to a second explosion.

KABOOM!

"What? What is happening?" The leader, the one I mentally referred to as underpants Steve cried out.

I paused, wondering the same thing myself, as these mechanoid ships seemed a bit too weak compared to how they were acting moments ago.

"It's magical corrosion, the rate of corrosion is three times higher than we anticipated," a second mechanoid driver called out.

Hearing that, I paused and stared at the machines, it was clear that whatever type of anti-magical metal they found to create these mechanoid monsters were breaking down. While standard corrosion was likely not a thing for this type of metal, the corrosion caused by an altered Tier III area like this one that was standardized by my Simulacrums apparently was.

I could tell that the environment was causing some minor effect as there seemed to be the equivalent of thousands of tiny static electrical strikes zapping different parts of the mechanoid suits all the time. By themselves the zaps didn't do much, but in just the few minutes that these devices were here, there was a clear effect. Not only was there a lot of energy acting from the outside, but as comes with all things steam, there was a lot of internal combustion and contained power within that was also pushing out, meaning the metal was working at double or likely quadruple the rate expected.

No doubt good engineers could adjust this, likely tripling the internal pressure of the machine would be enough to not only increase the power production of the machine, but it would also be enough to counteract the external magical pressure as well.

For a moment, I imagined them turning some type of internal pressure output converter from within their cockpits and continuing this fight. That's when I would have to figure out a way to take out four fully remaining mechanoid suits that were able to work three times harder than they were moments ago.

Thinking quickly, I mentally reached out and tried to Telekinetically grab the first burning mechanoid suit, only to have it slip out of my fingers like a soaped up water balloon. The second I managed to grab hold of it and lift it up, it seemed to break apart any part of my magical energy that touched it.

Thud.

Still, that action was enough to be viewed by the commander and the other members of his squad.

"Grab the downed soldiers and we will retreat!" Commander Stevie Underpants cried out.

I paused, working different spells, trying to see if any form of mana would work directly against these machines, only to find that all forms of mana energy just washed right off them, like mana off a ducks back, apparently. That's when I mentally labeled these versions of mechanoid magically resistant suits, the Duckanoid suits.

I paused, wondering if the world would lock these in as the officially recognized name, but of course it wouldn't. First, I think ownership still belonged to the Legrand forces that were quickly gathering their fallen allies.

As for me, I made sure to stay hidden behind a small grove of magical plants that had managed to take root. While it wasn't perfect cover, the magical plants could help conceal my overall magical signature from people that were trying to leave.

"What about Mike?" One of the mechanoid suit drivers asked.

"What about him, he knew what he was signing up for when he joined this detail, now come on, we will go to the next registration point," Commander Underpants cried out as he directed four mechs that were hauling two discarded cockpits out.

Surprisingly, despite being at ground zero of a second and much larger blast, the first cockpit was mainly intact, with only a few cracks denoting any real structural damage to the life saving system. Seeing that, I was fairly impressed.

The mechanoid constructs quickly assembled back into their ship, and began taking off just as quickly as they had landed.

Phew.

Only once they were gone and heading east at a very fast pace did I let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, I wondered why the Legrand forces would run away, only to realize that we are still three hours ahead of Legrand Central time, meaning if there was a separate registration point more central to the Legrand empire, that group of fleeing mechs would have time to try to get to the next designated registration spot.

Trembling.

I paused, holding out my hands to see the effect of adrenaline coursing through my veins. I watched, using my third eye to see the effects of raw unadulterated adrenaline coursing through my body. It had been a while since I was this close.

Had it not been for luck, and miscalculation on the engineer's parts I would have had to leave. Then I realized, once again my paranoia about using Cosmic Anchors for my own personal Teleports had been right all along!

I knew it, but then I realized this wasn't over. Those challengers, they were still going to register. While I might have won the day, next time we met, I would not be so lucky. Meaning, I would have to be prepared, likely have a suit, if I actually wanted this to go on.

Still, that was the most fun I had in a while.

Shaking my hand, I could still feel the fantom pain of breaking my hand against a superiorly designed construct. The fact that Legrand had managed to do something like that was truly impressive and once again showed how cutting-edge they always were.

I looked down to see that most of the time to get to this site and register for a spot in the Regional Qualifiers was almost upon me. At this rate, I was guaranteed to get a spot, where I could later prove myself.

Then just as I was about ready to think I would register out here alone, I felt a swell and surge of mana, as a spatial anomaly began to appear right next to me.