James charged forward into a hail of machine gun fire. The weapon the Frame was using functioned like a submachine gun, held easily in one giant hand. It was scaled up two or three times, though. James was in no position to estimate the calibre, but it was way more than 9mm.

  He managed to get his sword in front of most of it. It seemed able to block the bullets without any issue, sending them ricocheting in all directions, leaving only sparks and the smell of burning metal behind. A few got through to impact on his armour. He felt those. His armour absorbed most of the impact, but it pushed him back a little. It wasn’t enough to stop the momentum of his charge.

  Another Frame gave up shooting at Harue. It levelled and fired its weapon at him in one smooth motion. This Frame carried some kind of shotgun, unleashing a cloud of smaller projectiles that smashed into James like a breaking wave.

  It didn’t hurt. The smaller pellets couldn’t penetrate his defence. Their momentum would have stopped him if Shion hadn’t given him a shove from behind.

  “Block better, aho!” she yelled. “I felt that!”

  More of the Frames were realising that they couldn’t hit Harue and were switching targets. They quickly learned that they couldn’t ignore her either, as she sailed over the front line and landed on a Frame like a mouse pouncing on a cat. The size difference made it look ridiculous, but Harue didn’t seem to care. Her claws punched through the clear pilot’s canopy, and she pulled out one of the reinforced panels.

  “Get it off! Get it off!”

  The pilot’s microphone must have been on, as his amplified scream cut through the gunfire and screeching metal. With his Frame’s hands occupied by the rotary-barreled heavy machine gun he was carrying, he couldn’t even paw at her.

  To James’s right, Kana had tired of exchanging lightning for bullets and had flown forward—faster than James could run—and wrapped herself around a Frame like a giant constrictor. Lightning crackled all along their entwined figures.

  James had his own concerns. He was about to close with the Frame firing at him, while getting flanked by the shotgun-wielding Frame.

  “Later, loser!” Shion yelled from behind him. Moving with the quicksilver speed that she’d displayed before, she blinked over to the shotgun Frame. It swung the gun at her like a club, but she ducked under it and landed a punch on the Frame’s leg.

  This wasn’t the first time James had seen a person punch through an armour plate, but he still wasn’t used to it. He left Shion to it and focused on his own opponent.

  This Frame had a submachine gun in one hand and a Frame-sized sword in the other. Unlike the work of art that was Matsuri’s dai-dai-katana, this was a simple, straight-edge slab of steel, ten feet long and six inches wide. It had an edge, but it was the weight that would do most of the work.

  The pilot knew what he was doing, too. He caught James off guard with a last-minute burst from his gun before starting to swing the sword. James wanted to dodge it, but he was flat-footed from being knocked back. He had to parry—

  The impact of the weighted edge was unlike anything James had felt before. It crashed through his guard, sending both himself and his sword flying in different directions. His breath was knocked out of him when he hit the ground, and everything started to slow down as he struggled to get up.

  Amplified shouts came from all around him as the pilots lost the discipline they had started with.

  “Soma, spray some fire on Yuto!”

  “It’s crushing me! Use the powerblades!”

  “I got my own problems here!”

  The sword-carrying frame approached, blade held high, ready to chop down. He fired a short burst into James as he approached. Unable to block without his sword, James jerked as the bullets hit him. It was just a distraction, a way to keep him down and prevent him from getting his sword.

  The Frame pilot raised his blade. James could see that he’d taken a pretty good notch out of it, but it wasn’t enough to break it. He needed more.

  He needed his sword—

  The ugly military blade came down. With a flash of green light, James summoned his sword back into his hand. The blades clashed, and James was driven back down into the ground.

  The weight of it was just too much. The Frame’s sword was longer than he was and felt like it weighed much more. Blocking could keep it away from him…

  The pilot glared at James through the canopy window as his blow failed to get past his block. He drew back for another swipe.

  James had to move. None of his training had covered strikes from the ground, but he had no choice. He twisted around, lashing out even as the Frame withdrew out of reach.

  All he managed was to strike the Frame’s foot, but it was a decent hit. His sword seared through the armour, and sparks flew as he damaged the joint and the mecha-tronics inside.

  The pilot cursed and fired another burst from his gun, but this time James was able to block as he got to his feet. Every part of him hurt, but not so badly that he couldn’t move.

  “Arghhh! No! Watch where you’re firing that thing!”

  The rest of the battle was continuing. The shotgun Frame had given up on trying to score on Shion with its knife and had fired a spray at the Frame that Harue was clambering over. She’d taken cover behind her victim, and some of the pellets had gone through the hole in the canopy.

  Kana’s target had fallen to its knees with the dragon still wrapped around it. James couldn’t tell if it was due to crushing damage or fried electronics from the lightning. Another Frame had fired up a pair of spinning sawblades, trying to free its companion. They ripped into Kana and she roared with outrage.

  The final Frame, armed with a heavy machine gun, was yelling ineffectual orders while trying to line up a shot on Harue. She wasn’t making it easy for him to hit her without endangering her victim.

  James blocked another burst from the submachine gun. The Frame was still upright, but it was having trouble with one foot. It would have to be enough. James dodged to one side, hoping he would have trouble turning with a dodgy foot.

  It was only slowed a little, but it was enough to get James out of the arc of the submachine gun. It let him close without losing his footing. The Frame swung its sword again, but this time James was ready. He ducked out of the way, letting it fly by overhead.

  He let it go by, but he didn’t leave it unopposed. His sword came up at a shallow angle. This time, he wasn’t blocking the swing. His blade came in from below, attacking the side of the blade. It wasn’t a parry, it was a cut.

  The weight of the enemy’s blade did most of the work. James felt a shock as the swords connected, and then his blade sheared through the Frame’s weapon. A six-foot bar of steel went flying, leaving the Frame off-balance from the change of weight.

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

  James took advantage. Against a human-sized opponent, he would have pushed forward, pressing for his target’s weight to all be put on the injured foot. Against a Frame, he lashed out. Its sword arm had lifted involuntarily from the weight change, exposing its side.

  James cut into it, the supernatural sharpness of the blade cutting through the armour of the hip joints. The pilot swore and brought his arm down, but James was already gone.

  Black fluid started gushing out of the cut James had made.

  “Need some help here!” the pilot called out. The heavy machine gun frame looked over in their direction and fired a short burst, but James didn’t even have to block. It was too easy to step behind his opponent for cover.

  “Soma, give me some cover!” James’s target called.

  “Can’t!” the shotgun Frame replied. It was desperately trying to fend off an enraged Shion. She had battered one of its legs into submission and was working her way up. The pilot was trying to scrape her off with its combat knife, but she moved too fast for him. Heat shimmered off her wings as she punched, ripped and tore her way over the Frame’s surface.

  “Piece of kuso Kotodama kuso!” she yelled.

  The heavy machine gun Frame was coming over to assist, but Harue decided to demonstrate, again, why ignoring her was a bad idea. She left her victim to fly over to the Frame, who had foolishly exposed its back to her.

  The rotary-barrel Frame was still functional, though. It lifted its gun to take a shot at the retreating fox-girl, but as soon as the barrels started to spin, an explosion tore through the ammunition packs. The ammunition blew up almost instantly in response, a hundred small explosions ripping the Frame to pieces.

  Laughing like a drain, Harue landed on the back of the machine gun Frame without issue.

  James didn’t want to be left behind. He charged forward while his enemy was distracted by the explosion. The pilot cursed, but got his sword—or what was left of it—up to block.

  Not that James had any intention of letting it. The Frame’s speed advantage had all been due to the massive reach of its weapon. James wasn’t as fast as Harue or Shion, but now that his opponent’s reach was reduced, he was able to slip around its guard. He ducked under the stump of the Frame’s weapon and sliced at the machine’s legs.

  His blade cut through the armour like butter, and this time, the Frame went down. James jumped back as it crashed to the ground. Five tonnes of metal made a lot of noise when it fell, even a small distance. James was almost certain that he had knocked the pilot out, but he raced in and cut at the gun the Frame had carried, in case the pilot tried to shoot from the ground.

  That left the other Frame incoming, but its pilot had gotten distracted by having Harue on its back. It was twisting around, trying to bring its knife to bear on the annoying kitsune.

  “Hey, is this important? What about this?” she called out, tearing small bits of armour and machinery out of the Frame’s back.

  James wondered if the pilot would try falling backwards to shed itself of its passenger, but decided not to wait and see. A distracted Frame was one that wasn’t putting up any defence.

  His first blow cleaved through the Frame’s knee joint… and that was the fight over, more or less. It tried to fire its gun at him, but Harue just… ripped the ammunition out of it as the pilot tried to bring it to bear. A cut through the gun, another through the other arm, and the Frame was helpless.

  Harue grinned through the canopy at the nervous pilot.

  “I’ll take care of these two,” she said. “You might want to restrain the others if you want to minimise casualties.”

  James looked at her suspiciously, but she just grinned and held up her little finger.

  “Pinky promise!” she said. “No killing, even if it would be funny.”

  She looked over at the exploded Frame. “I mean, he might be alive. They have safety features, I’m sure. Can’t say the same for the others.”

  James scowled at her, but looking over at the rest of the fight, he had to admit she had a point. Shion had managed to incapacitate her Frame and was working her way through the canopy, one punch at a time.

  “Shion!” he called.

  “What?” the answer came.

  “Don’t kill him!”

  “What?” Shion repeated, this time with outrage.

  “Shion, dear, could you do me a favour and kill all these guys for me?” Harue called out.

  “What?” Shion jumped off the Frame and stalked over to Harue. “You’re not the boss of me! I’m not gonna kill any of these guys!”

  “Oh no,” Harue said sadly. “Whatever will I do?”

  “Wait a minute,” Shion said slowly. “He didn’t want me to… You did… You tricked me!”

  “I am honestly surprised you figured it out,” Harue said. “Congratulations.”

  Shion glared at both James and Harue.

  “You’ve taken the fun out of it now,” she muttered.

  “That’s James for you,” Harue said. “He’s the King of No-Fun.”

  James snorted. Then he looked over at Kana and blanched.

  At first glance, it looked like she had won. The first Frame she had fought was still on its knees, unmoving. The other Frame was on the ground. Kana had burrowed into its chest, like a scene from the Alien movie. The half of Kana that was visible was moving. The Frame was not.

  There was so much blood everywhere.

  That has to be Kana’s blood, right? James thought. There can’t be that much blood in a human.

  “Kana?” James called as he approached. He could see deep gashes on Kana’s body. The second Frame had wielded giant rotating sawblades and had managed to do significant damage, it looked like. The wounds were already healing, but they must have hurt.

  Kana’s tail jerked and twisted, and the rest of her body came into view. It had just as many wounds, and all of her was covered by blood. Most of it hers, but James couldn’t help staring at the bloody splatters that painted her face and mouth.

  Kana saw him staring.

  “The rules are different when someone tries to kill me,” she said haughtily. “And this one tried.”

  James wasn’t sure how Kana could speak without moving her mouth in this form, and wondering how was a useful distraction right now.

  “Keep in mind,” Harue called out. “Regenerating all that blood would have used up a lot of Qi that needed to be replaced.”

  Kana snorted. “As if,” she declared. “My Qi reserves are limitless, and these wounds are superficial.”

  Harue made an exasperated sound. “You can lead a horse to an alibi, but you can’t stop her from getting convicted.”

  “There is no court that has jurisdiction over me,” Kana exclaimed. She shot an outraged glare over to where Harue was securing prisoners. “Wait. Did you just call me a horse?”

  “I was obviously talking about someone who needed help!” Harue shot back.

  “I don’t know who that could have been,” Kana muttered. She looked back at James. “Is there a problem?”

  James looked at the gaping hole in the Frame’s canopy.

  “I guess not,” he admitted. This wasn’t a game he was playing. Their enemy had military equipment, magic and who knew what else. None of them could afford to pull their punches, and that meant…

  “Just… remember your rules.”

  “Of course,” Kana snorted. “I am offended at the idea that you think I need reminding.”

  “Yeah, my bad,” James said.

  “We should probably find a different route to extract Junko,” Mitsue said thoughtfully.

  James jumped. “Where did you come from?”

  “I just got here,” Mitsue told him. “I’ve located Junko-san, but I will need some technical help to free her from confinement. I thought we could bring in Matsuri-san and Klein-san, but this…”

  He looked around the bloody battlefield. “This isn’t something civilians should be exposed to.”

  “Can we even go around?” James asked. “We’re kinda in the middle of the compound here.”

  “Junko?” Shion asked.

  “The girl we’re here to rescue,” James said impatiently. “The whole reason we’re here!”

  “Oh, I wasn’t paying attention,” Shion admitted. “Oh, but that reminds me! I have to get the loot!”

  She dashed off, muttering something about cyborg body parts.

  “That… sounds gruesome,” James said, staring after her.

  “It keeps her busy at least,” Mitsue replied.

  “Where’s she being kept?” Harue asked. “And do we have to worry about anybody else in here?”

  “The majority of the non-combatants have fled to an underground bunker and locked themselves in,” Mitsue said. “I secured the ones who were… processing Junko.”

  “Processing?” James asked.

  “You need to see it for yourself,” Mitsue said. “And then, have it explained to you by someone with more technical knowledge than myself.”

  “That sounds ominous,” James said.

  “She seemed stable,” Mitsue assured him.

  “I’ll see if I can get the two nerds to look at her,” Harue said. “It should be easier to find a route from the air. Where is she being kept?”

  “Two buildings down that corridor, on the left.” Mitsue pointed.

  “Got it,” Harue said and disappeared.

  “I suppose she doesn’t want to take to the air while visible,” Mitsue speculated. “Wise.”

  “Right… let's go look and see Junko,” James said. “Kana, can you make sure these guys don’t try anything?”

  “Easily,” Kana assured him. “I can even do that without killing any of the ones that still live.”

  “That’s great,” James said, his inner voice screaming. “That’s fantastic.”

  “This way,” Mitsue said and led James away from the battlefield. The building where they were keeping Junko wasn’t far away.

  Once he got there, James understood what Mitsue had been trying to say.

  “What… no, you don’t know either, do you?” he asked.

  “I don’t,” Mitsue confirmed.

  James looked at the human-sized tube, filled with some fluid, that Junko had been placed in. She was dressed in some kind of sensor-laden leotard with wires and tubes coming off it.

  She was unconscious. What looked like a breathing mask covered her mouth and nose, so she was probably still alive, but that was about all that James could say.

  Two humans in labcoats had been bound hand and foot by cable ties. They weren’t gagged, but they glared at James in silence.

  “What did you do to her?” James demanded.

  “Wow!” Harue’s voice came from the ceiling. “Someone finally found a way to shut that girl up!”