22:31, February 10, 2295

  Widodo Quarter Perimeter, Borneo Lowland Rainforest, 3km from Nusantara

  The rainforest canopy stretched before them, illuminated by Osram's silvery glow above. From his elevated position on a ridge overlooking the forest edge, Jabari could see the Imperial dropship—a sleek, predatory craft with the Imperium's dragon insignia emblazoned across its hull. Ten Bloodtroopers formed a perimeter around the vessel, their Thermal Battleaxes gleaming with barely contained energy.

  Through the Scarab's magnification systems, Jabari spotted Marisol standing at the dropship's ramp, her Lever-Action Rifle resting casually against her shoulder. The Imperial officer, Cheng Wei, stood beside her, one hand firmly gripping Ume's arm. Even from this distance, Jabari could see Ume struggling, her synthetic frame twisting against Cheng's implacable hold.

  "Targets in sight!" Jabari reported over the commlink. "They haven't boarded yet."

  "Remember — priority is retrieving U6-M9 and the data she carries. Engage only as necessary." Celine's voice crackled through the comm.

  Fuuka's voice joined the transmission. "I've positioned myself to provide support. Waiting for your signal."

  Jabari scanned the trees below, catching a glimpse of Fuuka's white kimono among the foliage. She'd moved with surprising speed through the dense undergrowth, establishing herself in a flanking position without being detected.

  "Initiating approach," Jabari announced, easing the Scarab forward. The mech moved with grace despite its size, each step placed with deliberate care to minimize noise. The dense foliage provided some cover, but there was no disguising the Scarab's impressive bulk once they reached the clearing.

  As the first trees parted before the Scarab's advance, Jabari saw Cheng Wei's head snap up, the Seneschal's instincts alerting him to the approaching threat. Marisol whirled, her Lever-Action Rifle coming up in one fluid motion.

  "Contact!" Jabari shouted, activating the Scarab's Plasma Spitter. The weapon hummed to life, emerald energy building at its muzzle.

  The first Bloodtrooper barely had time to raise his Thermal Battleaxe before the Plasma Spitter unleashed its fury. Green bolts of concentrated energy tore through the night, striking the ground at the trooper's feet. The intentional near-miss sent him scrambling for cover, buying Jabari precious seconds to close the distance.

  "Cheng!" Jabari's voice boomed through the Scarab's external speakers. "Release Ume now!"

  "The thieves return!" The Seneschal's response was immediate and decisive. He shoved Ume toward the dropship's ramp while drawing a ebony Kinetic Crossbow from his back. The weapon discharged with a sharp crack, the bolt flying towards the Scarab's armored carapace.

  "Protect the asset!" Marisol shouted, her Lever-Action Rifle barking once, twice in rapid succession. The high-caliber rounds pinged against the Scarab's reinforced plating, damaging it.

  Jabari pushed the controls forward, the Scarab surging across the clearing with surprising speed. Its massive legs crushed undergrowth beneath them, hydraulics hissing with each powerful stride. A Bloodtrooper moved to intercept, Thermal Battleaxe raised high, only to be swept aside by one of the mech's articulated limbs.

  "Jabari!" Ume's voice cut through the chaos, her amber eyes wide with hope and fear.

  "Hold on, Ume!" He called back, the Scarab's sensors tracking multiple hostiles converging on their position. Two more Bloodtroopers moved to flank him, their axes leaving trails of superheated air as they slashed at the Scarab's legs.

  The mech's armor held, but warning indicators flashed across Jabari's display. The heat signatures from the Thermal Battleaxes were intense enough to potentially damage the Scarab's hydraulic systems with prolonged exposure.

  "Sólbrenna Eldr!" Fuuka's voice rang out from the tree line, followed by a blinding flash of golden light. A beam of concentrated Solar energy lanced across the clearing, striking one of the Bloodtroopers square in the chest. The man went down hard, his armor smoking from the impact.

  "Nice shot!" Jabari called out, using the distraction to maneuver the Scarab closer to the dropship.

  Cheng Wei had positioned himself between Jabari and Ume, his stance widening as he prepared to face the oncoming mech. Even against the towering Scarab, the Seneschal showed no fear, his eyes narrowing with determination.

  "Your persistence is admirable, Directorate dog," Cheng called out, his voice carrying effortlessly across the clearing. "But this Da-Ji is Imperium property."

  "She's not a property!" Jabari countered, bringing the Scarab to a halt mere meters from the Seneschal. He could have easily crushed Cheng beneath the mech's massive feet, but Ume was too close—any miscalculation could harm her.

  The standoff lasted only seconds before Marisol made her move. With precision, she took aim not at the Scarab, but at something in the trees behind it. Her Lever-Action Rifle discharged with a thunderous report.

  "Fuuka!" Jabari called out as he heard a pained cry from the direction of Marisol's shot.

  "Take the Sand Lotus witch," Marisol instructed coldly, working the lever to chamber another round. "Then deal with the mech."

  Three Bloodtroopers immediately broke away, charging toward Fuuka's position with Thermal Battleaxes raised. Through the Scarab's external cameras, Jabari glimpsed Fuuka slumped against a massive tree trunk, her white kimono darkening with crimson around her left shoulder. The Spirit Lantern hovered protectively, its light dimming as if sharing its master's pain.

  "Lieutenant!" Celine's voice crackled through the comm, "don't get distracted. Primary objective is retrieving the android."

  "But!" His hands tightened on the controls. "Fuuka's injured—"

  "And capable of healing herself," Celine cut in. "Focus on U6-M9."

  From a few meters away, Cheng Wei seized the moment of distraction, launching himself forward. The Seneschal covered the distance to the Scarab in a blur of motion, leaping onto one of the mech's articulated legs. His gauntleted hands found purchase on the emerald plating, denting the metal with each powerful grip.

  Warning indicators flashed red across Jabari's display as Cheng began climbing toward the cockpit. The Scarab's right leg servos registered strain under Cheng's unnatural strength, joints grinding as the man pulled himself upward.

  "Get off my Scarab!" Jabari slammed the controls forward, driving the Scarab into a sudden sprint. The massive mech's legs extended to full stride, each thunderous step shaking the clearing as Jabari aimed for the dropship. If he could reach Ume first...

  But Cheng Wei clung tenaciously to the Scarab's chassis, one hand digging into an access panel to maintain his grip. With his free hand, he swung a weapon different from what his lackeys wielded.

  Jabari's eyes narrowed in recognition. A Thermal Spear-Axe—a devastating Imperial weapon that combined the piercing capabilities of a spear with the destructive power of a Thermal Battleaxe. The weapon's double-headed blade glowed with a menacing crimson heat that could melt through reinforced plating. "Your end is here," he declared.

  The superheated blade plunged into one of the Scarab's hydraulic junctions, and alarms shrieked through the cockpit as pressure dropped in the right rear leg. The mech lurched sideways, compensating systems struggling to maintain balance as hydraulic fluid vaporized on contact with the weapon's edge.

  At the dropship, Marisol pushed Ume roughly up the ramp. "Get it secured!" she barked at the remaining Bloodtroopers before turning back to face the approaching Scarab, her Lever-Action Rifle raised.

  "Come on, you’ve got this," Jabari muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He activated the Scarab's emergency maneuver protocol, a desperate gambit.

  The Scarab's legs locked suddenly, and its massive torso rotated a full one-hundred-eighty degrees with brutal speed. The centrifugal force was enough to dislodge even Cheng‘s superhuman grip. The Seneschal was flung through the air, tumbling across the clearing before rolling to his feet.

  Seizing the momentary reprieve, Jabari targeted the Bloodtroopers guarding the dropship's ramp. The Plasma Spitter whirred to life, emerald bolts streaking across the distance. Two Bloodtroopers went down immediately, their armor melting under the concentrated energy.

  Through his external mic, Jabari caught Ume's desperate cry: "Jabari! Save me!”

  She struggled against her captors, her petite frame twisting as she fought to break free. One Bloodtrooper fell down the ramp as Ume's elbow connected with his helmet, the strength of the blow suggesting more than mere chance.

  But Marisol was there, her rifle's stock slamming into Ume's back, driving the android to her knees.

  "Lieutenant!" Wilhelm's voice burst through the comm channel. "Coming in hot from the north! Get clear of the dropship!"

  Jabari glanced up, spotting a sleek silhouette descending rapidly through the night sky. The Anioma jet screamed toward the clearing, its distinctive triangular form cutting through the darkness like an emerald arrowhead. Its twin vertical stabilizers rose proudly from the rear fuselage, emblazoned with the Directorate's insignia in gleaming gold against the verdant hull.

  The craft's aerodynamic hull caught Osram's silvery light, highlighting its armored plating. Powerful fusion engines glowed with an amber brilliance at the rear of each wing, leaving ionized trails through the night air.

  "Weapons hot," Wilhelm announced, his voice tight with concentration. "Clearing a path!"

  The Anioma's forward-mounted Plasma Cannons lit up the darkness as they discharged, aureate energy streaking toward the Imperial dropship. The shots struck not the vessel itself, but the ground before it, churning earth and vegetation into superheated chaos that forced the remaining Bloodtroopers to scatter.

  Marisol dove away from the barrage, dragging Ume with her as debris rained down around them. In one fluid motion, she braced against a fallen tree, raised her Lever-Action Rifle, and fired two precise shots upward at the Anioma. Unlike standard ammunition, her rounds punched through the jet's emerald armor plating, leaving a trail of sparking damage across its underside.

  "Taking fire!" Wilhelm's voice crackled through the comm, tension evident in his tone. "Port-side stabilizer breached! These aren't standard rounds, hey?"

  The Anioma banked hard, smoke trailing from the damaged section as Wilhelm fought to maintain control. Despite the hit, he executed a turn, the craft's angular design slicing through the air as he prepared for another pass.

  "Targeting systems still operational," he reported, voice steadying as training took over. "Coming around for another run!"

  "Anti-vehicle munitions," Celine's voice came. "Custom-loaded high-density penetrators. Been seeing lots of those since the Svalbard Concordat."

  Jabari's eyes widened as he watched Marisol work the lever to chamber another round. "She used the same weapon on Fuuka," he said, the Scarab's legs shifting as he positioned for a better angle. "Direct hit to the shoulder…"

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  "That explains why it wasn't immediately lethal," Celine replied, tone cold and analytical. "Those rounds are designed to pierce armor, not maximize tissue damage."

  The Anioma's elongated nose dipped as Wilhelm brought it around for another attack run, emerald hull gleaming despite the fresh damage. "Luck's running thin," Wilhelm called. "I'd appreciate a distraction for the rifle-wielding lady!"

  Jabari pushed the Scarab forward with fierce determination, the mech's damaged hydraulics protesting as he charged toward Marisol. The woman had just chambered another round in her Lever-Action Rifle, its polished wooden stock braced against her shoulder as she took aim at Wilhelm's Anioma.

  "Marisol!" Jabari's voice boomed through the Scarab's external speakers, fury evident in every syllable. "Give Ume back, or die!"

  The Scarab's massive legs crushed undergrowth with each thundering step as Jabari closed the distance. Marisol pivoted smoothly, her expression coldly professional as she redirected her aim from the sky to his mech, the rifle's ornate barrel tracking his movement.

  "Bold words from a boy in a glorified toy," the Novian replied, her cultured voice carrying across the clearing.

  Marisol's rifle discharged with a thunderous crack, the specialized round striking the Scarab with pinpoint accuracy. The impact sent shockwaves through the cockpit, and Jabari's control panel erupted in cascading errors. Warning indicators flashed across his HUD as systems went haywire, tactical overlays dissolving into meaningless pixelated chaos.

  "Ekwensu!" Jabari slammed his palm against the console, frantically trying to clear the scrambled displays. "Break through. Break through!"

  Marisol chambered another round with practiced efficiency, her movements unhurried despite the multi-ton war machine bearing down on her. This time, her aim shifted lower, targeting the joint where the Scarab's right front leg connected to its main chassis.

  The second shot struck. The entire mech lurched sideways as hydraulic fluid sprayed from the damaged connection, the Scarab's leg suddenly locking at an awkward angle. Mobility warnings blared through the cockpit as the stabilization systems struggled to compensate.

  Marisol's lips curved into the barest hint of a smile as she worked the lever once more, raising the rifle for a killing shot.

  "Your fusion core is exposed." she called out, finger tightening on the trigger. "Any last words, Scarab Rider?"

  It was then that Jabari felt it—a warm energy washing over the Scarab's battered frame. The sensation was unlike anything he'd experienced before, as if the mech were suddenly wrapped in a cocoon of liquid sunlight. The cockpit illuminated with a soft golden glow that seemed to emanate from the very air around him.

  "Sólskj?ldr V?rn!" Fuuka's voice rang out from somewhere to his right, clear and focused despite her injury.

  Marisol fired her third shot. The high-caliber round streaked toward the Scarab's exposed core—only to disintegrate into glittering dust as it struck an invisible barrier of shimmering golden energy that had materialized around the mech.

  Through the Scarab's external cameras, Jabari saw Fuuka standing at the edge of the clearing, her white kimono stained with blood but her stance unwavering. Her Spirit Lantern hovered at her shoulder, pulsing with intense light as she maintained the Solar Shield surrounding Jabari's mech.

  "Strike now!" Fuuka called to him over the comm, her voice strained with effort. "I cannot hold this forever!"

  "Thank you!" Jabari surged forward, the Scarab responding to his commands despite its damaged leg. With Fuuka's golden barrier shimmering around its emerald chassis, each step felt purposeful and unstoppable. The remaining Bloodtroopers scattered before him, but quickly regrouped as Cheng Wei bellowed orders from across the clearing.

  "Protect Operative Marisol!" The Seneschal's voice cut through the chaos, his cybernetically enhanced muscles propelling him back into the fray.

  Four Bloodtroopers formed a defensive line, their Thermal Battleaxes raised in unison. Behind them, Marisol continued dragging Ume toward the dropship, the android struggling against her captor's iron grip.

  "Want a fight? Have it!" Jabari shouted, feeling invincible within Fuuka's protective aura. The Scarab's Plasma Spitter whirred to life, green energy building at its muzzle.

  The first Bloodtrooper fell as emerald bolts tore through his armor, but the others advanced with disciplined coordination. One swung his Thermal Battleaxe at the Scarab's damaged leg, the superheated blade barely deflected by Fuuka's barrier. Another leapt onto the mech's chassis, mimicking Cheng's earlier tactic.

  "Contain the Scarab! Keep its attention." Cheng himself circled to the Scarab's flank, his movements calculated and precise. He waited for an opening, his Spear-Axe held at the ready, the weapon's crimson glow casting eerie shadows across his determined face. The specialized weapon's twin cores hummed. Despite his men's faltering formation, the Seneschal smiled.

  Suddenly unaware of Marisol and Ume, Jabari pivoted the Scarab, focusing his attention on the immediate threats. The Bloodtrooper clinging to his mech went flying as Jabari executed a rapid spin, while the Plasma Spitter kept the others at bay. Seeing Cheng approaching, Jabari redirected his firepower toward the Seneschal. "Not afraid of dying, huh?"

  "Lieutenant Adomako!" Celine's voice cracked through the comm with unprecedented urgency. "What are you doing? Abandon the skirmish!"

  "I'm taking them down!" Jabari replied, the Scarab's legs churning earth as he maneuvered to keep Cheng in his sights. "They get in my way, they die!"

  "Your window for extraction is closing!" Celine's tone left no room for argument. "Retrieve U6-M9! That's an order!"

  "Anansi, what was I doing?" Across the clearing, he glimpsed Marisol pushing Ume up the dropship's ramp, the android's amber eyes wide with desperation.

  "I'll clear your path!" Wilhelm's voice joined the channel.

  The Anioma screamed overhead, its damaged hull still maintaining impressive agility as Wilhelm brought it around for another pass. This time, instead of targeting the ground, he focused the jet's forward cannons directly on the remaining Bloodtroopers.

  Golden-hued plasma rained down in a precise barrage, creating a corridor of destruction between Jabari and the dropship. One Bloodtrooper went down immediately, their armor melting under the concentrated energy, while two other scrambled for cover. Cheng Wei was forced to dive aside.

  "Path clear!" Wilhelm announced, banking the Anioma sharply to avoid Marisol's retaliatory shot. "Now or never, Lieutenant!"

  Jabari didn't hesitate. The Scarab surged forward through the gap Wilhelm had created, its damaged leg dragging but functional. Marisol saw him coming and raised her rifle, but her grip on Ume loosened just enough while taking aim.

  The android seized the opportunity. Her synthetic features strained as she twisted violently in Marisol's grasp.

  Wilhelm's Anioma swept past once more, forcing Marisol to duck. Ume broke free, stumbling forward just as Jabari reached the dropship's ramp.

  "Ume!" Jabari extended the Scarab's manipulator arm, open and ready.

  Ume threw herself to the ground as the Scarab's massive form interposed itself between her and Marisol. With precision, Jabari extended the mech's pair of frontal arms, closing around Ume's slender form.

  "I've got you," he said, his voice softened with relief as he lifted her, sprinting away in his mech.

  "Behind!" Ume cried, her amber eyes wide with alarm.

  Jabari spun the Scarab just in time to see Cheng Wei charging toward them, his face contorted with rage. The Seneschal's Thermal Spear-Axe was raised high, its twin blades pulsing with destructive energy as he aimed directly at the Scarab's vulnerable hydraulic joints.

  "Oh no you don't," Jabari muttered, his hands flying across the controls.

  The Scarab's Sun Moon Cannon hummed to life, energy building in its barrel with a high-pitched whine. Unlike the rapid-fire Plasma Spitter, the cannon required precious seconds to charge—time Jabari knew he didn't have as Cheng closed the distance.

  Just as the Seneschal prepared to launch himself at the Scarab's legs, a brilliant flash of golden light erupted from Jabari's left. Fuuka stood with both hands extended, her kimono billowing around her as waves of solar energy pulsed from her palms.

  "Sólskj?ldr V?rn!" she cried, her voice carrying the weight of ancient power, her Spirit Lantern glowing next to her.

  A barrier of shimmering golden energy materialized between Cheng and the Scarab, the shield's surface rippling like sunlight on water.

  Cheng slammed into it at full speed, the impact sending him staggering backward with a cry of pain. "Dragon's dong!" he swore.

  "Your Sun Moon Cannon!" Fuuka called, her hands shaking with the effort of maintaining the barrier. "Aim it at the ground!"

  "You..." Jabari could feel his heart skipping a beat as he turned to Fuuka. "How did you know about our tech —"

  "No time to explain!" Fuuka shot back.

  The Sun Moon Cannon reached half charge, its barrel glowing with barely concentrated azure energy.

  "Madame Celine?" Confused, Jabari asked over the comm.

  "Do it, Jabari!" Celine's response was instant.

  "The ground. The ground," Jabari muttered as he took careful aim, not at Cheng or the Bloodtroopers, but at the ground before the dropship. The cannon discharged with a thunderous boom, releasing a torrent of destructive energy that carved a smoking crater in the earth.

  The shockwave knocked the remaining Imperial forces off their feet, sending them sprawling across the clearing. The dropship itself rocked on its landing struts, its hull undamaged but its position precarious at the edge of the newly-formed crater.

  "Time to go," Jabari announced, the Scarab's powerful legs already carrying them away from the chaos. He cradled Ume carefully in one of the mech's arms, ensuring she was secure against the jolting movement.

  "Fuuka, come along!" he called, extending the Scarab's other arm toward her.

  She hesitated only briefly before declining, waving off the mechanical limb that attempted to lift her clear of the ground. Bloodtroopers were already regrouping, Thermal Battleaxes picked up slowly as they prepared to pursue once more.

  "I must return to Master Amir." the Sand Lotus healer shook her head, voice bittersweet, her hair fluttering in the wind as she brushed a loose strand from her face. "Find the Crystal. We will speak again."

  Jabari hesitated, his hands hovering over the Scarab's controls. Through the external cameras, he could see Fuuka standing amid the chaos, her slender form somehow untouchable despite the Imperial forces regrouping around her. The Spirit Lantern's golden light cast intricate shadows across her face.

  "We will speak again." he leaned forward in his seat.

  She stepped backward, her form already beginning to blur as she vanished into the shadows of the rainforest, her Spirit Lantern the last to disappear, like a fading star.

  "Lieutenant! Move your mech!" Seydou's high-pitched, energetic voice suddenly erupted over the comm channel, nearly deafening Jabari with its volume. "Celine's already onboard. Extraction is thirty seconds out! THIRTY SECONDS! Do you have any idea how much paperwork I had to complete for this operation?"

  "Seydou, uh," snapped back to reality, Jabari said, looking around. "Yes, sir!"

  The night sky above them suddenly illuminated with pulsing emerald lights, accompanied by the thunderous whine of massive turbines. Wind whipped across the clearing as something enormous descended through the cloud layer.

  Jabari turned the Scarab, his breath catching as he looked upward. The Isazi materialized from the darkness, its colossal form resembling a medieval era blimp, eclipsing the stars above. The vessel's obsidian hull was illuminated by strips of emerald running along its length, highlighting its silhouette against the night sky. Its pointed prow gleamed with verdant glow, the reinforced viewports reflecting Osram's silvery light.

  The ship's massive anti-gravity engines emitted an eerie pale green luminescence as they held the behemoth steady. Multiple loading bays began to open along its ventral surface, their hydraulic doors revealing cavernous interiors bathed in the same emerald light that adorned the ship's exterior.

  "Beautiful, isn't she?" Wilhelm's voice came through the comm, his Anioma already banking toward the hovering leviathan. "The Isazi. Pride of the Kimaris Warband's planetary extraction capabilities. Fueled entirely by Helionite."

  The vessel dwarfed both the Scarab and Anioma, its segmented hull bristling with defensive turrets and sensor arrays. Despite its intimidating size, the Isazi moved with surprising grace, repositioning itself directly above their location with precision that belied its bulk.

  A massive cylinder of emerald light suddenly enveloped the Scarab, bathing Jabari's cockpit in an otherworldly glow. The mech's systems responded with a series of soft chimes as external gravity sensors registered the change.

  "Anti-grav tractor engaged," Seydou's voice announced over the comm. "Prepare for extraction, Lieutenant Adomako."

  The sensation was disorienting—a gradual lightening of the Scarab's substantial weight until Jabari felt the mech begin to lift from the ground.

  Below, Marisol and Cheng Wei emerged from behind the damaged dropship, their expressions twisted with fury as they watched their quarry slipping away. Marisol raised her rifle once more, but the Isazi's ebony steel plate proved impervious to her shots.

  "Until we next meet, villains," Jabari murmured, watching as the distance between them and the Imperial forces grew.

  In the Scarab's manipulator arm, Ume stirred, her amber eyes focusing on Jabari through the cockpit viewport. Her synthetic fingers curled against the mech's metal arm.

  "Are we safe now?" Her voice came through the Scarab's external microphones, soft but clear against the background roar of the Isazi's engines.

  Jabari opened the cockpit, allowing the night air to wash over him as they continued to ascend. "We are!" he replied, offering her a smile, exhausted but triumphant. "You're coming with us, Ume. No one's taking you back there."

  Over the comm, Seydou's excited voice cut through the moment. "So, where to next, Madame Celine? We've got a half-dozen potential extraction points lined up. Ndovu Zenith? The HQ back in Abidjan? Mars-side safe house?"

  "Our destination will depend entirely on what we find in U6-M9's positronic brain," Celine replied, her tone measured and analytical. "If the data proves accurate, we may begin our search for the Moondust Crystal immediately."

  Ume tilted her head, unable to hear the conversation through the comm channel. Her kimono fluttered in the artificial wind created by their ascent, strands of her synthetic hair dancing around her delicate features.

  "What will happen to me now?" she asked, looking up at Jabari with her amber eyes. "What will your people…do with me?"

  Jabari considered his words carefully, aware of her fragility in this moment.

  "My team will want to know what's in your memory," he said, extending his hand toward her, palm up. "But whatever happens, I'll keep you safe. I promise!"