Heart of a Machine

Chapter 7

Getting the Silverfang's attention was a HUGE mistake. The instant it looked at Aloy she ducked behind nearby debris, drawing her machine bow and readying a plasma arrow. She calls out to the flail Vanguard, who was currently curb stomping rebels. "Hey! It's weak against frost! Go wild!"
He nods back. "You got it!" He charges at the Silverfang. "Bring it on you giant worm!" He jumps up and embeds the flail into its side, the chillwater taking effect while the Silverfang tries and fails to dislodge the soldier. "Yeehaw!"

Aloy, and various Tenakth participating in the battle with the Silverfang are taken aback by the Vanguards enthusiasm and briefly stare in stunned silence before returning to the task at hand. Aloy draws back her arrow and aims for the plasma coils on the Silverfang's head, hitting the first one dead on and it explodes soon after. She signals to the ballista, with the stealth Vanguard now manning it. "Fire!" The shot from ballista hits the Silverfang dead on, stunning it. "Everyone attack at once!" Every nearby member of the Vanguard and even nearby Tenakth all gather to strike at the Silverfang's weak points, many of which detach from the abuse. The hammer Vanguard even uses his glowblast hammer to strike at the Silverfang's tail, disabling its electric weapon before it becomes an issue.

Unfortunately, the Silverfang manages to recover from the ballista and knocks everyone away with a fluid movement, even knocking away the flail Vanguard who inspects the broken chain of his flail. "Asshole!" The Silverfang inspects its now ruined tail and hisses aggressively. Aloy uses her pullcaster to launch herself up from a grapple point and takes aim with her bow, the world seeming to slow down around her as she concentrates. She takes aim at the tank at the base of its throat, full of metalbite. And she fires, hitting the tank dead on. When Aloy lands, the tank is leaking before it bursts completely open, the metalbite corroding the Silverfang's head and neck. This aggravates it, and it prepares to attack, only for another ballista shot to nail it in the back of the head, easily busting through the weak, corroded metal. Aloy looks up to the ballista and sees the stealth Vanguard nod at her, and she nods back before running towards the throne room, climbing the building to aid Hekarro.

The champion races towards the throne room, killing rebels along the way. She jumps over the rubble separating the arena from the throne room to find Hekarro and Regalla locked in fierce battle while the building crumbles around them. Unfortunately, the jet suspended above Hekarro's throne chose that exact moment to begin falling. "No, no, no, no!" Aloy launches her pullcaster across the room to hook into a pillar and pulls it taught, stopping the jet. But her troubles don't stop there. A warning flashes in her HUD that says "maximum weight capacity exceeded". Aloy groans, both from annoyance and effort. Of course she's strong enough to lift an entire crate of resources, but apparently an entire jet is pushing her luck.

Aloy grunts and digs her feet into the ground while she hears the joints of her arms creak with strain. Seeing a familiar Marshal, Aloy calls out. "Kotallo!" The loyal Marshal lunges into the fight and tackles the chief out of the way of the falling military vehicle. But before Aloy can let go, the strain gets the best of her and her right arm... comes off. With the resistance gone, the jet falls over where Regalla stands. But, the rebels leader claws her way out of the dust, unharmed. Aloy sucks behind the nearest patch of rubble, unwilling to let Regalla know her secret. She felt no pain, like HEPHAESTUS said. The worst of it was the weird off balance feeling she now had. A silhouette of her body is seen in her peripheral vision, the arm flashing red. The warning system for major damage.

She can't see what's happening, but evidently the battle outside is mostly over, if the dozens of footsteps she can hear rushing in is any indication. She hears Regalla give the "I'll be back" speech that she had heard once or twice before and she rolled her mechanical eyes. She hears Hekarro congratulate the warriors and name the new Marshalls nearby while she looks around the area. 'No openings are close enough for me to get to them without being seen, and I'll have the entire Tenakth trying to kill me if I fight my way out. What do I do?'
That question was answered for her when a Tenakth soldier found her. "Chief! It's the Champion! She's a machine!"

Missing an arm and being dragged into the middle of a crowd of soldiers that might want her dead is NOT the direction Aloy imagined this day would go in. Hekarro and the new Marshals inspect Aloy, their eyes lingering on the sparking stump of her arm. Hekarro is the first to speak. "Speak, and speak only truth, or your arm will not be the only part of you that goes missing. Are you flesh, or metal?"
Aloy does a so-so motion. "It's a bit of both."
"If you want to hurt her, you'll have to go through us." All heads turn to the Vanguard now in the doorway, each one covered in rebel blood, eyes glowing yellow with suspicion.
Hekkaro raises his hands to placate the Tenakth that drew their weapons. "Merely asking questions. Should any Tenakth choose to attack a restrained cripple, you have my full permission to do with them as you please." That gets any Tenakth with a drawn weapon to hesitate and sheathe their weapons. While the Vanguard do not question the action, their eyes remain yellow.

Ignoring the machines in the background, Hekarro's gaze returns to Aloy. "Would you care to explain what a "bit of both" entails in your situation?"