[IC] Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

Nothing happened. Hogan's voice reverberated off the walls and throughout the massive chamber, fracturing into a hundred intermingling imitations that would take nearly a minute to die out. The acoustics were amazing. But after that there would be nothing but heavy silence.

At least, silence to Higen. The Magna Later could hear everything. The stone groaning with age, the bones slowly turning to dust, perhaps even a faint heartbeat somewhere within the metal thing. It knew what it wanted to do. Wait until the metal thing moved further in, and then oh-so skillfully and quietly slip its long tail out and use the tip to deftly flick a skull past the metal thing's hindquarters. The clatter on the other side would draw attention, perhaps but for a fraction of a second, but that was all the monster needed... The brutal silence could make one jumpy...

[MelonHead]

Higan wasn’t in any particular hurry, haste makes waste and whatnot. To his mind the Pater was wounded, perhaps fatally, so the hunt would slowly turn in his favour as time went on. That and the expansive nature of the cave so filled with gruesome remains led him to believe a more careful and considered approach would probably be preferable. He had not forgotten that Slimy had some method of avoiding detection even through electric vision, so to rely on it totally would be foolish. Hence, as the Mech peeked in through the door-way and nothing immediately revealed itself, Higan did not simply barrel in like some gun-toting imbecile. The dust was still thick enough that Night Vision wasn’t yet available, which meant he had a poor view of what awaited him ahead, as his current optical view was designed for identifying living creatures in this circumstance. Therefore, the simple solution was to just wait in the door-way without overly exposing himself until the dust cleared, which would only be a matter of time.

As the dust settled around him he allowed himself a moment. Switching from electric to night vision had its disadvantages but the Computer Systems should pick up the slack for him. If anything suddenly revealed itself to him he would swap back into the most effective vision mode. Finally, deeming it about time, he swapped to Night Vision and the cave in front of him lit up in an eerie green light.

“Well shit, think I’ll turn that back off.” He muttered to himself ironically, as the new camera setting revealed the great mountain of bones before him. It seemed that was all there really was as far as the eye could see, row upon row of skeletons and remains. Slimy must have one hell of an appetite. Carefully he spanned the expansive screen that covered a full 180 degrees in front of him. Nothing of interest, nor of large Slimy shape, took his interest until his eyes caught an odd shape up above. The Mech shifted so the cannon was pointed directly at it, while both arms remained covering the corners so to speak. However, before he wasted his time blasting the thing to bits he realised it was little more than a cleverly placed decoy, evident by the fact that it really wasn’t made up of enough pieces to be overly convincing to the observant eye. It was an interesting ploy by Slimy though, and it suggested something else, he was probably still in the area.

Higan scanned the screen with renewed interest, looking for any sign of the strange shape of the creature. He suspected that whatever method it used to avoid detection from electric vision required it to remain immobile, evidenced by its actions earlier in his pursuit of the beast. However, he couldn’t be certain, nor could he be certain it was even still nearby. There was an option available to him though it was a painful waste of ammunition, but as his efforts had revealed nothing there was really no other option for flushing out the creature. Switching back to electric vision, he primed both weapons so that they were almost parallel with each side of the cave wall. Then, with a shocking sound in the emptiness of the cave, both weapons discharged, the rifle with one explosive blast and the chain-gun with a winding whir that descended into a consistent cascade of bullets. The rifle round was the only immediate danger to Slimy, with its potential to graze his immobile form. However, the chain-gun arm was carrying out a wide arc throughout the cave as it discharged into the dark expanse. Eventually the arm would cross the A.S.P’s body and fully saturate the region where the Pater lay, albeit at the cost of nearly 300 rounds. Should the creature be forced to reveal itself at any point however Higan would be ready to react, as that was the very intent of his expulsion of ammo.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

Blind luck is a fair element of combat, like it or not, for intent matched with results is not something to be discarded. The rifle round nearly hit its target, opening a small furrow where its left ass cheek would be if it had ass cheeks. It could feel the heat from the speed of the slug warming its body. This metal thing was more clever than the Magna Pater had expected. But then, the monster itself was no slouch either. Perhaps a normal enemy might have hidden out for as long as possible before taking action. Such a thing was a fool's errand though, for that only meant the gunfire would be closer and the chances of initiating a surprise attack were slim to none. The monster knew much. It knew there was a strong chance that the last thing its foe expected was for it to burst out right as he opened fire, and that near miss had convinced it that remaining where it was for any longer would not prove beneficial. It moved like cats and shadows, like a crooked, oil slicked arrow. Perhaps the metal thing could move and think fast, but the Magna Pater had been observing its aim and reaction speed. It was superior to the rare, formidable two-leggers that sometimes had enough confidence to try and face it head on, though they always reeked of piss in the end. But not that superior.

It knew its own mind was sharper, and its lean, powerful muscles were knit well to its wicked brain. Even if the metal thing could perceive the sudden burst of life on the radar, aiming at the Magna Later and actually hitting it were two different obstacles. The lithe beast could slip through attacks like how a mosquito in a dim room slips through grasping fingers. It knew that the metal thing might try to scoot away for a few extra seconds of time. Such a thing would scarcely work, as once the creature had got in range it would twist its body sharply to its left, plowing up a wave of bones while it was still in motion, its tail acting as a living bullwhip which would blur out to curl on the mech's right ankle the moment it was in range. In this way the monster could swiftly haul itself into its enemy's undercarriage before a chance to flee or get an accurate shot in presented itself.

[MelonHead]

The surprise attack, perhaps the ultimate double edged sword in strategy. In the majority of scenarios, taking ones enemy by surprise offers an immense advantage that can be immediately pressed, allowing small and otherwise disadvantaged forces to obtain an advantage. However, in a far smaller and often unheard of minority of cases, the plan backfires spectacularly. It does so because when an enemy knows they are to be surprised, they are not surprised, the roles reverse and the attacker instead is placed upon the back-foot. The importance and relevance of this theory became immediately applicable in the present contest between monster and metal. Higan was not surprised.

The A.S.P plays numerous roles in the Grent Republic’s army, scouting and support for infantry being the two main factors. It is the pilot’s business to ensure his ground forces are not surprised, to seize the initiative and know when to retreat. Higan had deeply suspected the Pater was waiting for him close-by, hence why he had fired to either side of the entrance-way. Lo and behold, he’d flushed out a little birdy with his fire, and now it was only a matter of dropping the hammer so to speak. The problem was, with an enemy as quick and deadly as Slimy, it was easier said than done.

Needless to say, Higan reacted immediately to the sudden green visible in his peripheral. The Mech twisted in order to meet the incoming threat, the right leg and foot turning 90 degrees to face the Pater. The effect of this was to close any gap on the Mech’s right side as it hugged the wall, also making a grappling effect difficult on that side as only one angle of attack remained open to the Pater. This was done as the creature whipped its body sideways to launch its tail at the A.S.P, where it could certainly gain purchase as the right leg was naturally forward, but it would struggle to wrap around due to the barrier of stone, and it may even be crushed against the wall as the Mech itself moved.

The importance of only opening the left-side line to the creature was obvious, the A.S.P’s turn naturally brought the already warmed up and consistently firing chain-gun into position to be trained on Slimy. It had perhaps half a second to react upon wrapping its tail around the Mech before it would have the chain-gun pointing in its direction spraying it liberally with rounds. Not only this, but Higan had followed the creature’s path with his rifle, and while it was in cool-down and unable to fire he could use it effectively to ward the beast off if it came straight at or underneath him. The metallic barrel could serve as an irritating barrier to the creature in the hands of the physically powerful Mech.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

As the Magna Pater had swung to its left, the tail would be curled around in the inside of the mech's right leg. That meant that it could still easily jerk itself between the legs of its opponent, shoving off with its mighty arms to reach its destination before the machine gun could fully swing around or the rifle could fire. It would not curl its tail fully around the leg, to prevent the mech from pinning the end against the wall. It knew that any moron would have the sense to fire at its tail, so it utilised all of its speed to get where it wanted to go in time. As for what happened next, that would determine the fate of worlds.

[MelonHead]

The speed at which the creature had shot out its tail, wrapped it around the Mech, and then re-aligned itself to dive between the Mech’s legs was impossibly quick. Higan got a brief terrifying flash of the monster flinging itself toward him, although his rifle was in position to block the frontal charge it seemed to shrink itself to slink underneath him. He did however react immediately after, around about the same time the creature saw itself between the Mech’s legs. He decided upon an immediate retreat, utilizing the Mech’s position facing rightward into the cave it retreated upon its forward foot with a powerful sideways leap. Both feet left the air momentarily as the Mech hurtled directly away from the direction it was facing at extreme speed, the crunching sound of rock accompanying the sudden retreat as the back of the Mech and its right leg heavily grazed the stone wall on the other side of the damaged doorway.

It was a two part manoeuvre on Higan’s behalf, if the Pater was caught beneath the Mech’s leg as it moved it would be heavily damaged by the right leg as it shot backwards and caught between the Mech’s legs in general. However, had it attempted to clamber on the vulnerable back of his Mech it would have been smeared against the rock wall behind him as he leapt backwards, albeit at the cost of some paint and the momentary destabilising of the Mech. The A.S.P staggered backwards two more steps before Higan extracted it from the side of the cavern wall with both weapons pointed at the point he had come from. Hopefully his quick thinking would have separated himself from the Pater, but had it clung to the leg of the Mech as he retreated the still firing chain-gun would be in position to unleash hell upon it before it could try a similar manoeuvre.

Consequently, his move had also dragged him further into Slimy’s domain, as he was now standing inside the cavern rather than the doorway. It was possible Slimy had escaped harm by extricating itself from the Mech in time. Were that the case Higan was ready to strafe leftward to re-acquire it, as it would likely be on the other side of the entry-way he had excavated.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

Silence, once again. Silence, and no sign of the monster. Well, that left just one place it could be. Had it been squashed like a bug? Perhaps it was now stuck to the back of the m-

*CRUNCH!*

Unless Higan had an answer to what was going on, something heavy would crash down on top of the mech. On top of the precious optical sensory unit. Everything would go black. From within a powerful war machine, a weapon of mass destruction in and of itself, no doubt one is greatly distanced from the outside world. Not just by a physical barrier, but a mental one. No wise warrior considers himself invincible, but over time a certain confidence develops. Down in the deeps, hundreds of feet below ground, a man who once fancied his armor a comfort could soon find it more comparable to a prison. Confidence could be a fragile thing. This was no-man's land, far beyond the barrens, past the meadows, and below the hills. No living thing that had ever ventured here had lived. Without the aid of his primary sense, Higan would no longer be able to ignore that the only thing between him and absolute darkness, between him and the worst fate that could befall a sentient being, was a layer of metal. Something on the other side probably had one of its long, wavy ears pressed against the hull, listening carefully for the smallest noise...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Magna Pater recognized what the little thing on top of the mech was. It was a tiny window. Things looked out of windows. It knew that it was the god of the sightless. If it could take away the metal things sight, then the metal thing would belong to it. With its right claw, it would have scooped up a large rock from the cave floor as it pushed off to mount the machine's leg. As slick as grease, it'd have darted from one leg to the other as the mech launched itself into the wall, scurrying up the outside of the left leg and just out of sight. Not fast enough to avoid having its favorite appendage severely damaged. The end of its tail was smashed like a pancake by the right leg, and the upper-middle was left torn badly by the other leg. It wouldn't be able to move as fast or as deftly as normal until the next time it ate. If the battle came down to a chase again, without having the means to regenerate there would be virtually no chance of the monster getting away again. It didn't need the full use of its once-proud tail to finish the task it had set for itself, however. It could move along the metal as easily as it could the walls of its lair, perhaps even more so. Its secretions were sticky enough to let it cling to the ceiling by the tip of its tail, yet at will it could become as slippery as an oiled up bar of soap. By secreting first a layer of the adhesive mucous and then sliding along via the wet mucous, it could easily traverse even the smoothest of surfaces with ease.

The Magna Pater would snake up the mech's back as it came off the wall, but not for long. It only needed a moment. The rock weighed more than twenty pounds, a solid chunk of basalt. With this blow the Magna Pater swung with all its literally monstrous strength, mouth agape at nearly ninety degrees, a noiseless scream of inhuman fury. If the attack were not enough to smash apart the optics, the Magna Pater would then try to grasp the likely damaged protrusion with its freshly freed right paw (the rock having been obliterated either way) and wrench it right off with a brutal jerk. It remained wary of the guns and the possibility of another wall smash during this onslaught. It felt that perhaps, the metal thing was also aware of this weakness and might be ready to try and defend it. Not that the creature wouldn't just reposition itself and try again immediately, should a problem arise. After having given blinding its enemy the good old college try, it would be quick to slither back out of the way in case another counter was coming. It would move to the metal thing's right flank, below the arm and still out of sight just in case the optics still worked. It wanted to be sure that its enemy had been deprived of vision before freely sneaking about. It would press its left ear against the hull, trying to hear what was inside. It had begun to suspect that a two-legger was inside. After all, usually when there was a window, there was also something soft looking out from the other side.

[MelonHead]

The splash of green filling up the bottom left of the screen was enough for Higan to know Slimy hadn’t been dislodged as the Mech ground into the rock wall. Before he could even consider elbowing it in the face it disappeared again, evidently exploiting his blind-side to get up onto the back of the Mech. The question that flittered through Higan’s mind even as his body surpassed it and acted immediately was what it planned to do next. Muscle memory had dictated that his body reflexively try to shrug the creature off, albeit with a touch of military training influencing his method. The Mech stumbled away and he drove it back again to ram its back into the wall. However, that was not all he did, as the left arm was already swinging in motion it crossed in front of the A.S.P with deadly intent and over its own ‘head’. The hand opened wide to clasp at Slimy as it delivered a resounding blow to the optical system of the Mech. Unfortunately, the optics were on the front of the Mech, so to strike at them it had dangerously over-extended from its position up back. The threat of the Mech’s grab would probably only reveal itself as the stone landed, though Slimy may be persuaded to drop its attack and flee.

The Mech was obviously grabbing blind but sensory systems built into the controls would reveal to Higan if it met resistance, at which point it would clasp down with a vice-like grip. It was most likely to grab the forearm or a chunk of flesh from the head of the Pater, whose options for escape were narrowing down as the Mech simultaneously slammed towards the wall. Higan did not need his optics for the move, but provided Slimy had decided to stick around to deliver its blow on seeing the two part threat approaching he would have to evaluate the damage then. Would Shash be crushed against the wall by the weight and power of the Mech, find itself in the A.S.P’s deadly grasp, or abandon its attack for its own safety?

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

A septic tide of wretched triumph filled the Magna Pater's glazed, stupid-smart eyes. It had been wanting the metal thing to try this. It had over-extended itself on purpose, and for a singularly simple reason. If it ruined the metal thing's sight, then it would have no trouble traversing the front of the body as it did the back, for the mech would know not where it was. Perhaps the occupant would have another lucky guess, but it would be blind luck in every meaning of the word. It was hard enough to harm the Magna Pater with sight, but without, even though the monster was injured, the chances of catching it would be slim to none. The rock would impact as the mech again tried to ram and grab the creature. It would grab only air. The target would have ducked to Higan's left after the rock struck, flattening itself and dipping over the metal thing's raised bicep and beneath the forearm as fast as it could push, passing through the semi-triangular gap made by the reaching arm. Was the space too small to get through without pushing the arm and alerting the pilot? Normally it would be. If the damn metal thing had a head, which it didn't. It was a tight fit, but the monster had gone through worse. The ancient horror could almost feel it. It felt like it knew what the two-legger was thinking. Higan didn't know that his beloved "Slimy" was one hell of a contortionist. As long as its head could fit, so could the body.

The anticipated escape route would probably be over the opposite shoulder. No doubt such a notion may easily enter Higan's head, and he'd try to reach a little further. Even if he reached all the way, there would be nothing there, and the creature would squeeze through the unsuspected opening. What if the mech could somehow reach far enough to conveniently squish the Magna Pater within the crook of its arm? As if it could bend its elbow like that. Besides, the monster was too slippery, too flexible. This time it would have the foresight to use what powerful control it still had in its tail to jerk the appendage sharply after it, so that it would not be snatched or smashed. The end could conceivably be smashed again, but it it was the creature would cut its losses and pull free its tail minus the ruined bit.

If the metal hand were not too close to the optics, the monster would still try to seize upon whatever scraps remained of the metal thing's sight with its left claw, tearing off the last bits as it slipped wetly down the mech's front. There would be no definite way for Higan to know which way the screwed optics were being pulled off. In fact he probably wouldn't even know it was being pulled off, as the sound of the mech smashing into the wall would mask it.

[MelonHead]

There seemed to be something wrong with the optics immediately after the rock smashed down upon it. However, the protective armour surrounding the most sensitive part of the Mech was not fragile by any means. There was a slight fuzziness on the screen in front of Higan and black patches appeared over the right side of his vision, but that was the only immediate effect of whatever Slimy had done. The Mech had reached out and found Slimy had slipped through its grasp, but rather than making good its escape it had carried out an audacious move perhaps born from the belief it had blinded the A.S.P. The resistance as the creature tried to squeeze its head through the narrow gap between the Mech’s left bicep and forearm was enough for Higan to react. Though he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. The monster was squeezing through to drop down and Higan was having none of its shenanigans.

The left arm immediately dropped at the elbow, tightening the gap in the arm and stranding the head on one side of the metallic structure and the body on the other. Unless the Pater had any physical answer to the Mech’s strength, it was going to be badly crushed as the gap it tried to exploit swiftly constricted upon its middle. The Pater simply had too much body to get through the space in the time it took the Mech to carry out the fairly simplistic movement. Higan had no idea what would happen when the elbow dropped and the Mech’s arm crushed up tight to its body as if it were swearing an oath. Presumebly it would be squishy and very, very, messy.

Simultaneous to this, though in no particular way influential, the Mech’s backward momentum drove it into the wall. Higan’s body shook even as shock absorbers did their work, his head rolling slightly from the force. However, like a rugby player catching the ball and subsequently being tackled he’d keep hold of his very squishy catch as well as he could, depending on what it tried to do.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

The Magna Pater would have only rushed fully for freedom had the optics been destroyed. It could tell that wasn't the case. The blasted thing was still mostly in one piece. It knew now that it could not best this foe in terms of force. It already had stuck its head and shoulders through the gap in the arm to escape, and its tail had by now flicked up above the mech's back. Higan was a quick thinker, but Slimy was leagues beyond the concept of quick thought. It stopped dead, knowing that darting down the mech's front in full visibility was suicide. A bit too late though, as it had been in a hurry. It was pulled partially forwards by the arm, but stuck fast to the head of the mech with its potent adhesive slime. With a sucking noise, its slippery head would slurp free of the tightening gap in the arm, like a wedding ring being pulled off a soapy finger. Strong though the mech was, its flexibility was poor and the sleek metal could scarcely hope to contain the beast. At least, not entirely. Slimy did not escape unscathed. A large flap of its skin had been torn off from the pressure, leaving nearly the entire right half of its gaunt skull exposed. Its black, rat-like eyes bulged with veiny malignance, teeth grinding as the naked fibers of its jaw muscles twitched. Thick strings of maroon blood hung from its glistening jowls. Any longer and its head might have been crushed. In an instant, Higan smashed into the wall, the broad of it smacking into the monster's backside and cracking three of its thick ribs. Any lesser creature, perhaps a bear or a gorilla, might have even suffered a broken back or been knocked off. This one, though, was intent on having Higan be granted entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, for the feat of having the fuck-ugliest hat in existence.

The Magna Pater did not get knocked off, and it did not hesitate to slap its right paw right into the glass of the optics (both of them) a split second after they struck the wall, taking note of any preventive final moment measures the wily pilot might whip out to stop it. If it could not break them, then it would coat the glass in a layer of slime so dense, so sticky, so nasty, that not even Jay Leno's chin could scrape it off. It would slather that gunk on good and thick. It might even make the electro vision appear as a hazy blue booger fog. It could produce enough mucous to make a hagfish hurl and could slick itself free from its mount in an instant, but as it had followed through with its rock smash, so it wanted to follow through this. It kept its long tail coiling beneath itself, though for the entire length to do so, there would likely be not enough time.

The monster knew what it wanted, and if it could speak, it would lay claim to the following. It hungered for this small victory, for this partial revenge. More than it hungered for those screaming brats and their mothers, those fat f*cking c***$ it loved taking days to finish. It wanted to see this one squirm and die, squirm forever. If the best it could manage was to screw up its enemy's sight for a day, then it would take it. It would take what it could get, because later, oh yes, later...

*The stream of thought gurgles into a poisonous torrent of unspeakable profanity.*

[MelonHead]

Events didn’t transpire exactly how Higan had expected as he hadn’t accounted for one factor he was slowly becoming accommodated with. The fleshy monstrosity he had been tasked with destroying had a disgusting capacity to generate some sort of thick mucus. It used that substance to escape the crushing grip of the Mech like soap flying out of his hand. From that point on, things changed significantly as the creature flung itself back up on top of his Mech and out of sight, just as the Mech impacted the wall. Rather than the dull metallic clang Higan had been expecting the thirty tonne A.S.P had caught Slimy between itself and the rough stone wall. Audible through the Mech’s outside microphones was the brutal cracking of the creature’s ribs as the Mech’s weight drove it into the wall. Higan winced in sympathy before his grin returned, enjoying the pain the monster was going to be forced to suffer.

He knew where it was now, and where it was going to stay regardless of anything else that happened. At least part of its body was trapped between the heavy metal and rough stone wall, and the Mech’s mechanical strength allowed it to react in a manner unlike a human. If a human had slammed themselves into a wall they would bounce off, likely badly injured. The Mech however simply braced itself as if it planned to fire its anti-tank rifle upon crashing into the wall, and slowly but surely pushed backwards further. The crushing thirty tonnes of the Mech would keep the monster pinned regardless of how slimy it was, as any give the monster gave would be taken hungrily by metal. It had shown itself capable of squeezing through tight gaps, but should it try the same here the pressing of the Mech would simply close the gap until Slimy could shrink no more. Then, it would start to crush the life from the beast.

Perhaps a fraction of a second after the Mech began employing its ability to crush the life from Slimy, the claw of the beast pierced the lens. The screen flashed briefly and went dark, save for a few spots around the middle where the first strike had done an imperfect job of eliminating the lens. Higan couldn’t believe that Slimy was capable of blinding his Mech after the injury he had just heard it suffer, but surprise quickly gave way to instinct. He knew where the monster was for the foreseeable future, and he had the capacity to destroy it. Instinctively Higan had raised the Mech’s left arm upon Slimy’s escape, almost as if he were pursuing it after it escaped his grasp. However, that instinctual movement changed in purpose significantly in the second after the Mech was blinded. Knowing Slimy’s upper body had to be on top of the Mech in order to have blinded it, Higan pointed the chain-gun just over his Mech’s own optics and opened fire. The rattle of the chain-gun was devastating, and the hail of gunfire would be just as much so. As time went on Higan planned to raise the chain-gun appropriately to fully saturate the top of his Mech and the region just behind it with rounds. He couldn’t see Slimy, he couldn’t feel it, but he had plenty of ammo to spare.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

What Higan didn't know and couldn't see, was that his target hadn't been trapped. It had been too far forwards, and too soft, too gooey to be cast off of its perch by the force of the broad wall slamming into its backside. As soon as the monster had finally damaged its target, it would lunge to its right, throwing its weight to the side as it shoved off with its tail and both arms, contracting the tail up after it. Much to the beast's chagrin, the skin of its belly would rip right off as it did so. Apparently the shock of the wall had hurt it worse than it had thought. Regardless, such was the monster's strength and weight that this did not slow it down in the slightest. A moment later, a cloud of sparks and rock erupted from where it had been as the powerful machine gun tore through the wall like O.J Simpson on a hot date. Slimy was not done, though. It certainly had the strength to bust bullet proof glass, but for a good while there it had been doubting its own might. Its pathetic attempt to damage the mech with a rock had done more damage to the creature's self esteem than it had to the lens, and now that it knew at least a tiny part of the mech was breakable, it wanted to make sure that part was thoroughly fucked. It could still sense that some glass was left. Two-Leggers were dangerous game, and Slimy hadn't lived so long by being careless. One slip up was all it took, and if humans really put their mind to it, not even the baddest creature this side of the Milky Way could hope to save itself. Before it did a victory dance in front of its enemy, it wanted to make sure said enemy couldn't pump a round the size of a donkey dick into its evil little eye socket.

In mid-air, before it landed two yards on the mech's right, it would have extracted a huge bite from its left wing. Auto cannibalism. It could sacrifice unnecessary body parts in order to heal what portions it needed more. On landing it would take another big bite, this time out of its right wing. It needed its tail healed for its next purpose. The flashing of the machine gun ignited a cacophony of reflected fireworks within the horror's onyx eyes. The fresh tail would delve beneath the layer of bones, the tip curling about and sticking to a jagged, two pound rock. Rocks were everywhere down here, and certainly made wonderful improvised weapons.
Hoping that the pilot hadn't yet caught on, Slimy would unleash its attack. Putting the heft of its whole body into the strike, it would whip its tail up like a high velocity sling, the stone on the end actually whistling as it tore the air. The tail was not long enough to fully reach the lens from ground level, but it could get close enough to make aiming redundant when it released the rock and let it fly, carrying more than enough force to shatter what cracked remains were left of the big lens. The jagged edges ensured that the power would have a focal point, minimalizing the possibility of the hard rock breaking when it struck. It carried more than twice as many muscles in its tail than an elephant did in its trunk, roughly ninety-thousand. The velocity of the Magna Pater's tail at full swing could reach up to four times the speed of its lethal arms, and the heft of the basalt on the end barely slowed it down. Just short of three-hundred miles per hour. Depending on the position of the sniper rifle and the mech's right arm, the tail would soar either over or under it.

[MelonHead]

Ironically, though the right Optics had taken the first strike from the Pater it was the side less damaged when all was said and done. Higan’s screen was essentially a wave of darkness with one thin strip of light patches about two thirds of the way across if one started by looking leftward. This gave him something resembling vision from between 100 – 120 degrees.

“Optics critically impaired, tactical withdrawal advised.”

“What a little shit.” Higan swore profusely as the chain-gun spat death over the top of his Mech for an additional moment or so. Realising he’d either done enough or Slimy had escaped, the latter being more than likely, Higan began to brainstorm. Somehow a creature with little to no knowledge of Ramor technology had pin-pointed the weakness of his Mech, what a pain in the ass. Still, he had the capacity to defend what little sight he had left, better late than never and all that jazz.

With an extensive knowledge of his own Mech it was fairly simplistic to judge where the Optics were by touch and guess work, the chain-gun ceased firing as the left hand hovered over the damaged eye-ball of the A.S.P. Like a child peeking through its fingers the Mech protected itself from further assault as its pilot decided on what to do next. As he was thinking, Slimy was dropping to the ground after making another timely escape. There wasn’t much point standing around, Higan decided, having the Mech push off the wall with all its strength and lunge forward with a number of great steps and then turn around. If Slimy even bothered with its rock throw it wasn’t going to be hitting the optics at all. The pilot had summarised, correctly, that the one place his enemy wasn’t going to be was directly in front of the Mech, as Slimy would have walked face first into a wave of bullets. What was fortunate was that through pure guess-work, he had to choose a direction to turn in after all, the thin-strip of vision had alerted him to Slimy’s location along the cave wall as his Mech turned rightward.

It was going to be difficult to keep Slimy in view with barely 20 degrees of vision, but while it was there the Computers reacted with lightning speed. The Mech had barely turned 160 degrees before the right arm automatically adjusted and the rifle levelled at the creature, firing a round through the cave at the beast. His quick forward bound, owing to the mechanical strength of the Mech and its long stride, had gained an additional forty feet of space from the Pater, at least the spot where it was upon throwing its rock at any rate. The creature didn’t have much in the way of options facing his Mech, it would charge him again no doubt, so he readied the cannon.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

As the mech charged forwards, the Magna Pater decided it was now time to play hide and seek. Judging from the way the metal thing was rushing about and holding its optics, the monster figured that enough damage had already been done. It would slip out of sight before the mech turned. Where exactly and how? Only the gods knew for sure...

[MelonHead]

The Mech swivelled as it took another two large lunging backsteps distancing it further from the entrance of the cave. His rifle never fired, Slimy having disappeared from view somehow, so like a blind man with a guide stick the Mech swept the floor in front of it from left to right with the heavy barrel of its rifle with enough force to kill a man. Unfortunately Slimy was almost impossible to hit with bullets, so hitting it with anything less than rounds was probably going to be unlikely. After completing its sweep the Mech looked around and presumably didn’t see anything, though if he did the situation would be far different.

Perhaps a second after the sweep Higan had a deep sense of foreboding, and with ammo conservation being of little concern he let out a short sharp burst with the chain-gun, positioned as it was the rounds should clear the top of his Mech again, just in case Slimy had snuck up to finish the job.

With literally no information as to where the creature was he could do little other than scour the area in front of the Mech with its remaining vision and remain vigilant. The rifle was re-levelled and the Mech still. If he couldn’t find Slimy in front of himself after this long it had either found some escape route or was on or behind the Mech again. Amazing how fast it ran despite the injuries it had sustained.

[Doc Doctor]

The gunfire filled the cavern with one hell of a ruckus. It was clever of Higan to aim at his head again, but no, the monster wasn't dumb enough to try the same trick twice. It wasn't on the mech or in reach of the rifle barrel. Certainly with such noise the creature could move about as it pleased, as any shifting or clattering of old bones would be muffled. It was planning something terrible, that much was true. The idea had buzzed into its skull like a cloud of black flies when it had left the mech's head. It was a diabolical strategy. The machine of war was sturdy, but it had little vulnerabilities all over. Joints. If the slime could get in deep enough, perhaps a metal thing could be gummed up. Ah, but to do so would take tact, effort, and time. Lots of time. So very much time. Good thing the monster now had plenty of it. The big question was, how would this occur? It would require close proximity. Or maybe not, with enough cunning...

Battleship ain't nothing like this.

[MelonHead]

“Well this has to be the dumbest confrontation of my life.” Higan muttered, as the Mech began to stride forward petulantly. Apparently the creature had gone to ground, or lurked on the back of his Mech ineffectually. There was no way he was going to find it with half his Optics broken, not to mention bullets seemed to the only way of hurting it and his weapons were dependant on the Computers. What a pain in the ass, he wanted the glory of killing it himself but it looked like the Republic were just going to have to Dirty Bomb the planet like they did with the last two. Higan sighed mournfully, it was hard trying to save a planet from annihilation. The Mech strode through bones and skeletal remains, still on the lookout but only half hopeful. With what remained of his sight Higan could easily make out the cave entrance, marked in a pale grey outline distinct from the solid walls on either side.

The Mech trudged onwards for perhaps five or six seconds before it reached the entrance to the Pater’s lair. There wasn’t much he could do if his enemy refused to fight him, so it was time to leave. With a half-hearted effort before exiting the cavern the Mech’s right arm lifted backwards behind its own back, still clutching the Rifle. The hand twisted the barrel downwards and then across as the arm lifted as far it could go, effectively scouring the back of the Mech with the metallic pole up to its hips, while the chain-gun blasted off one last effort. Once satisfied the creature wasn’t sitting on his back he’d step through the entrance.

[Doc Doctor]

@MelonHead

Not on Hogan's back either. It also didn't seem to be behind him. No sign of it up ahead. Of course, it might have been doing that old cartoon schtick where one stands near another, artfully stepping around to keep as close as possible without being seen. The monster probably wasn't going to cause damage by watching from the ceiling or the far end of the cavern.
At any rate, Higan wouldn't feel anything hindering him as he left.

[MelonHead]

Dead silence, and for good reason. Higan was listening. When one sense fails you fall back on the others, and sometimes what you can hear beats what you can see. Higan’s efforts were rewarded, nothing else would be crazy enough to live in such a vile creature’s lair so there wasn’t any consideration that the sound up ahead was anything other than Slimy. Faint of course, and not altogether pleasant sounding, but audible none-the-less. A little more enthusiastic the Mech started moving again, Higan making some adjustments to make things bearable while it stomped through the cave at a brisk walk. The rifle was once more levelled towards the path ahead, while the left hand remained glued to the Optics protectively. It seemed he had no choice but to pursue the sound, so Higan trudged off in a decisive fashion, scouring the area with what remained of his vision.

Every so often the Mech stopped stock-still and paused, almost as if listening, searching for its prey and confident that if nothing else its path would take it to the surface. Higan was never much fond of caves.