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[indent][color=silver]Aissi was no stranger to pain.

Quite the opposite, really. Between years of experimentation, augmentation at even the basest level, and the not entirely uncommon rejection, she'd endured a great deal for just about as long as she could remember. So much so that suffering could be argued, and argued well, as the single most unifying and defining experience of her life. From the cruel sting of the scalpel as it carefully flayed her open, to the crushing electricity of nerve girdles being set into her skin, to the agonizing sense of a million needles tearing through her as the biomechanical muscle fibers fused into her own…Aissi was good at being in pain.

This was…[i]very[/i] different.

Even when she was in pain in the lab, she’d known on an instinctual level that no matter how excruciating it might be, she wasn’t in any real danger. It’s not like they [i]wanted[/i] to hurt her or anything, it was just an unfortunate side effect. And the whole thing was totally controlled. But as the Bishop slammed into her, then whipped around her faster than she could even process it and pinned her Bladewings back with its spear as she screamed bloody murder; as she slammed into the ground with its knee planted into her back and tasted blood; as she [i]felt,[/i] rather than heard or saw, the doomful hand raised above the back of her head, even as she writhed beneath the monstrosity. The knee was still pinning her to the dirt. She gasped for air, but her breath was gone; and though she tried to struggle, all she could do was claw helplessly at the earth. This was a different pain. The frenzied pain that comes with the knowledge:[/color] [i][color=e00000]I’m going to die.[/color][/i]

[color=silver]Then there was a sound like a breath of wind passing over her, and the pressure on her back was gone. Sucking in a huge breath through clenched teeth, she raised her head in time to hear, “[/color]I suggest you dust yourself off.[color=silver]”

She stared at Dombay unthinkingly for a split second before her synapses sparked again, and with an impulse of her engines, she launched herself back upright. “[/color]I shall attempt to give you an opening. Three seconds is all I can afford with this difference in ability.[color=silver]” In response, Aissi gave vent to a furious growl, spat out a guttural “[/color][i][color=e00000]Understood,[/color][/i][color=silver]” and flashed forward again. 

More carefully this time, though. Even furious as she was, the[/color] [color=e00000][i][b]knot[/b][/i][/color] [color=silver]had tightened, and the smoke was gone.

Dombay followed nimbly alongside, their steps light as they joined Aissi in her charge, the Bishop meeting them halfway with its spear already mid swing to cleave them both. The flash of steel and the twang of metal rang out as their sword diverted the strike, long metal rod passing harmlessly overhead. Rather than send the Spearman off-balance, however, the monster redirected its force into a stab, whirling its weapon around to spear straight through Aissi.

In response, her auxiliary jets fired and she zipped to the side just enough to clear the spear’s trajectory, then cranked her engines to their maximum safe limit. Burning pain crawled up her legs as the heat dispersal proved inadequate to manage the overclocking. Hissing in sharp breaths, she locked her biomechanical hand around the Spearman’s weapon, hoping that it would add even one more second to their opening. Then, raising her glowing Wingblades high, she let her momentum carry her straight into the Bishop and brought them down on the barrier like hammerblows: once, twice.

Flickering into existence, the spherical defense of the Spearman fizzled upon contact with the blades, the second follow-up strike negated when the Bishop released its spear to create space. Only for Dombay to fill the gap the opponent made to escape, sword mid-swing. Despite the Spearman still clearing most of the strike, their sword tip struck the barrier yet again, the energy field flickering desperately yet maintaining its form.[/color]

“Shallow.” [color=silver]Aissi would hear her fellow Constellation mutter, just before they were sent flying as the Bishop struck their body with a powerful kick. Several tons of force were sent straight though the white-haired figure who tumbled toward the infantry while the Spearman attempted to take on Aissi once again, reaching for its lost spear.

As Aissi watched Dombay soaring away, leaving her alone with the Spearman, something between a growl and a moan seeped from her.  The space created was too much and Dombay was gone. If it got its spear again, she was [i]going[/i] to die. No more time for “safe limits” now: her engines roared into full meltdown, blazing white-hot. She knew immediately that they weren’t going to maintain full function for long from this point on. But with any luck, her sheer speed would suffice. She narrowed her eyes as the world blurred by. She had enough time. She could do this. She had to.

Right as the Spearman was taking hold of its weapon once more, she slammed into it with a sound like a freight train, screaming as she caught the Bishop between the tips like insect mandibles. The already weakened barrier appeared, fizzled, strained, caved…held. The shield went unscattered. But still, Aissi huffed a breath of relief. The barrier hadn’t been dispersed, not fully. But the first foot or so of her Wingblades had pierced through before they were stopped.

And the first foot was enough.

The Aberrant began to struggle, no doubt sensing the rising energy levels of the figure in front of it, yet the spear in its grip would not budge. Despite having overpowered the half-human beforehand, its weapon refused to move regardless of its strength, and despite having no eyes its head rose to ‘look’ past Aissi’s shoulder.

At that moment, the Wingblades’ laser coating erupted inwards like artillery, turning the Spearman’s barrier into a furnace. For the briefest moment, the sphere of the barrier glowed with the fierce and perfect red of a dying star. Then the barrier ruptured as the Bishop within was vaporized and erased, and the wild light was released straight into her face.

The explosion flung her almost as far as the kick had Dombay, and it took a considerable amount of effort to get herself falling the right way down. All she had time for after that was pulling her now dimmed Bladewings in tight so they wouldn’t hit anyone. Then she followed after Iona, careening down along the human line and carving trenches into the ground with her needlepoint feet before slamming facefirst into the ground. Her engines were clearly malfunctioning; she would’ve been able to stop before she collapsed otherwise, and the vents were spitting out red sparks. While still working, her antigravity wasn’t as smooth, either; weak enough that her momentum had overpowered it.

The first to rise was the white-haired Stardust, one hand supporting their upper body while the other clutched their cloak to their stomach. Though they’d survived a blow that would’ve killed a normal human outright, their internal organs would still be a mess of gore and paste, yet as the soldiers not occupied clearing Pawns came to support them the Constellation rose a hand for the men to stop. 

[/color]“Her first,” [color=silver]they ordered softly, gesturing to the crumpled, sparking form of Aissi not far from their position. The footmen paused, the reluctance, hesitation and fear clear in their expressions as they glanced between Dombay and the research subject. The Constellation’s eyebrows were brought together, and while they didn’t change their expression any further, the soldiers felt the air around them become eerie while fixed by the figure’s closed eyed expression.[/color] “She saved your lives. She deserves this at least.”

[color=silver]Though slow, some of the men began to approach their abominable ally, unsure for an entirely other reason as they had no idea how they should give first aid to a half-Aberrant. Meanwhile, two soldiers helped Dombay to their feet, another parting their cloak to check the state of their guts as the Constellation lost all strength in their body. Hopefully only temporarily.

Aissi let out a thin, almost silent groan as she propped herself up on one arm, watching with some trepidation as the soldiers crept closer and trying to ignore the searing pain that ran the length of her legs. Forcing them that far past their limits had heated them [i]much[/i] hotter than they were designed to be, and she was paying the debt now. So with a few bleary blinks, she she reached her other arm out in the universal unspoken plea:[/color] [i][color=e00000]Help me.[/color][/i]

[color=silver]They did not.

A bitter taste grew in her mouth as, unable to rise under her own power, she watched them standing there, pretending not to see her. A deep sadness yawned beneath her, and she dropped her eyes. A moment later, though, she heard a pair of footsteps coming towards her, and turned her head in time to see a soldier that couldn’t be much older than her approaching. Another soldier grabbed his shoulder and attempted to mutter something into his ear, but the young man shook him off before reaching down to grasp Aissi’s outstretched arm. It took some doing, but with his help she eventually regained her footing. Aiming at a pile of equipment, she took a deep breath and gave a tentative engine pulse.

She was pleasantly surprised, then—as pleasant as things could reasonably be at that moment—that while the pain was still very much present, there was still some measure of thrust. At the very least, she was [i]functional.[/i] Moving slowly to avoid overtaxing again as she waited for the heat to dissipate over what felt like an eternity, she arrived at the pile, leaned up against it, and switched off her antigravity. Her feet sank into the ground, anchoring her in place. Eyes falling to exhausted half-mast, she slid her gaze laconically from the young man who’d helped her up to the injured Dombay. 

When she spoke, her voice was ash; The alien ecstasy had gone, leaving her feeling empty and vague. It was deliberate, methodical, like she was struggling to get even just two words out: “[/color][color=e00000]Thank…you.[/color][color=silver]” Then she tilted her head up to the sky, closed her eyes, and was silent.

The gaze of the soldier, barely older than she, lingered for a long moment after Aissi had closed her eyes. It took the bump of another to get him to snap out of it, yet even as he loaded his rifle and returned to the firing line, his eyes continued to occasionally glance in the direction of the scrap heap where two heroes lay. One man, one monster.[/color][/indent]