Sigma deflected the orb of white energy away from his body, batting it aside as it flew towards him. It detonated harmlessly behind him, the explosion sending out a shockwave that rattled the battlefield. Syn didn't hesitate in his follow up, rocketing across to close the gap, tackling Sigma out of the sky above Irina, sending the two tumbling as they tussled.
"If those two are fighting then, shouldn't we let the real adults settle this?" Irina said, squaring off against her opponent, the Rose Thorn General of the Artisan Confederate.
"Let the laughter of the Jester be the ballad of your death." The woman leaped forward in a response, leaving the corpse of a disabled Rex behind. A pink blade, formed of contained energy, slid out from her wrist, and it was met with a massive icicle that coated Irina's hand and extended out from it. The Jabberwocky seemed to be one with the ice, having been built to accommodate the unique skill set of its pilot. It was one of a few machines that had been designed with the pilot in mind, rather than having been customized by them after the fact.
Another pillar of ice shot straight up between the two combatants, separating them and ending the first attack. It gave time to Irina to set up her attacks. As a warrior who based her strategy around her chi and abilities, she needed to generate terrain and weapons to her advantage, and could not always create spontaneous attacks. Her foe, on the other hand, a technical fighter, excelled in quick, short fights that constantly shifted and changed, giving little time in between.
The whip shot out from the other hand of the enemy battlesuit, writhing as electricity coursed through it. It smashed through the pillar, sending shards of frozen water out in a deadly spray. Irina had to slide to the side to avoid them, her Goliath gliding as it produced ice beneath its feet. The whip lashed out again though, seeking any part of the Jabberwocky it could grab.
Irina embraced the assault, reaching out to let the weapon wrap around her arm. She grit her teeth as the surge of electrical power flowed into her cockpit, her body buzzing slightly and vibrating as her viewscreens began to scream warnings at her. She held firm though, letting her chi flow freely from her body, concentrating it onto her trapped right arm. A thin coating of ice quickly formed, wrapping around the whip before extending down its length. Within seconds, over half of the weapon was frozen solid, layers of ice piling up on top of it. The woman pulled back, shattering the frozen whip, letting it fall to the ground between the two combatants in pieces.
"Always so quick to dive in and risk things, aren't you Maria?" Irina tutted over the communication network. The scrambled voice of her opponent gave out an inhuman screech in response, lunging forwards with her blade swinging wildly. Irina ducked the attack, punching upwards into the Artisan's chest before straightening up once more, lifting the lighter model of battlesuit over her head. "Don't lose your focus, or this ends too quickly." She tossed the Rose Thorn General aside, listening to the metal smash into the ground and bounce a few times before rolling to a stop.
The Goliath rose from the ground, its pink hue now tarnished with scratches and dirt, streaks of earth plastered across its hull. There was a large gouge in the left shoulder from where the battlesuit had clipped a large rock. The head wasn't exactly straight anymore, slightly tilted at all times. And the communication network was silent. The pair of fighters simply faced each other, quietly waiting for the next move to be played.
This was what Irina had hoped for. Had Maria continued to assault her, she would have probably won, eventually. By catching her off-guard just once, she had bought herself enough time to put plans into motion once more. All she had to do now was stack the battle in her favour.
Irina had to suddenly step back as Syn shot by her face, zipping around the air with Sigma in hot pursuit. The two were continuing their duel, fighting with reckless abandon. Huge holes had already been ripped into the ground from missed attacks, and scorched earth formed trails indicating where they had already been. Sigma's palm blazed as he fired off more energy blasts towards his opponent, but the two knew that neither of them were going to hit the other any time soon. It was, ultimately, an equal battle.
Irina watched them fly off once more, their bodies becoming glowing orbs of light as their speed increased and they flew further away. Sigma had previously explained to her the consequences of him fighting with Syn, of what kind of monster would be attracted to their conflict, along with who knew how many Jahari to support it. They had to settle things quickly, if possible, and so Sigma was rushing to disable his adversary, while Syn, always one to play, was trying to drag things out as long as possible.
"You seek to mock the Jester?" Maria called out over the intercom, taunting her foe. "His laughter falls upon your deaf ears? Impossible. It is in the hands of his disciples to show those who do not understand, who cannot hear the sounds or appreciate them. We must tear open their ears. We must split open their skulls and let the laughter pour into their minds. Those who lack his will must be brought to face it." The woman took a slow step forwards and stopped, carried forward, seemingly, by the power of her own words.
Irina sighed in response. She had dealt with the cult of the Jade Jester previously. Their particular belief set, and their insanity, made them a rather unique religious group within the Artisan Confederate, even if they were not the most popular. Their fanaticism though, and the bizarre teachings from their doctrine, made them incredible fighters, and the Artisans were happy to put them in battlesuits and let them run wild. Irina had watched them both from the opposite side of a war, and from beside them, as they gleefully leapt into battle to begin their macabre dances, and their way of murdering their enemies was as much an art form as a slaughter. But their faith brought them limitations.
The Rose Thorn General sprinted forwards, quickly closing the gap. She withdrew another mechanical rose, throwing it at her opponent in an effort to disable her. The projectile froze in the air before it could even reach Irina, and it plummeted to the ground with its sudden extra weight. But it did not slow the advance of Maria, and the general stabbed forwards, only to once more be turned aside by the massive icicle Irina wielded. The general did not quit though, quickly spinning and lashing out with her free hand, the stub of the frozen whip still dangling from her wrist.
Maria grabbed on to the hand of the Jabberwocky, fingers slipping along the slippery surface of the icy extension, but her Goliath pulled through, empowered fingers squeezing tight to dig into the ice and maintain a grip. Irina was suddenly caught in exactly the situation she had been trying to avoid, where the fight was coming down to reactions and quick attacks. She tried to push backwards and separate once more, but the Rose Thorn General was grasping too tightly, keeping them in close proximity at all times.
Another stab with the neon pink energy sword barely missed Irina's head as she ducked and twisted, constantly trying to pull off her attacker while also maintaining her balance. She couldn't topple over or fall to the ground, as Maria would quickly finish her off from above at that point. But she needed an out, and she began gathering her concentration, knowing she could still utilize the abilities granted to her by her chi. It would just be risky with the enemy so close and constantly searching for an opening to strike.
"If you could get off, this would be a lot easier."
"Once they have been enveloped by the waltz of the Jester, they are confined to its patterns. They will be locked to it for an eternity, until the Jester calls for the final curtain."
"That's what I thought then." Irina struggled to toss the opponent off of her as she began to thrash around. Though her Goliath was slightly heavier and stronger than the lightweight class of her foe, there wasn't enough of a difference, and she couldn't get the leverage she needed. "I think you've put on weight since we last met." A cackle was the only response, followed by another thrust of the sword. It seemed Maria was happy to do this forever, knowing that Irina would make a mistake eventually.
"General, if you stop thrashing, Nami could line up a shot." Ardwen's face visualized in front of the woman, his voice coming through over the private channel between the team. "We can possibly disable h-"
"No!" Irina cut off her subordinate, shaking her head in refusal, unwilling to show her frustration to those she considered children. "She is not a general you can afford to miss against. She is not like any other you have fought. If your shot were to fail, you would all be dead within seconds."
Ardwen audibly gulped over the intercom, his face turning slightly pale on the screen. It seemed none of the students had met a match yet they absolutely couldn't handle. At least, not without Porter.
A cracking sound pulled Irina from her distraction. She glanced down at her arm, seeing the ice across it splintering and breaking, thanks to Maria's fingers digging through it. The woman smiled, and with a final spin, the icicle fell apart, tossing the Rose Thorn General aside. The Artisan landed on her feet, sliding away slightly, preventing Irina from taking the upper hand and pouncing on a downed foe.
But at least there was breathing room again. Irina had to watch her opponent carefully as she backed away a bit, drawing out the pause as long as possible. She was already trying to gather her focus and harness her chi once more. She couldn't afford to keep this battle going any longer. Ardwen had stood as a reminder that she wasn't just alone on the battlefield, as much as she wanted to be, and she needed to keep them safe. Besides she still had one more target to take out, someone who had her blood boiling with revenge every time she looked at him, no matter how much Sigma had tried to calm her in the past.
* * * * *
"You're certain that he will be there?" Irina said, gleefully. She was having trouble restraining her smile at the notion of letting go all over again, of shedding any restrictions she had put on herself.
"He will come. He always does." Sigma stared up at the sky around the island, his eyes drifting from one star to the next. His face showed no wonder or fascination with what he was watching. As he had explained, everything he saw would just bring information and data into his brain, and would cloud out his thoughts. Everything he watched, at all times, was continuously being explained and quantified, with every detail covered. It was tough just to wonder.
"Then I will rip his frozen corpse in half."
"I will guess the opposite occurs." The android placed his hand on Irina's shoulder, cold metal sending a familiar feeling through her skin. "He's not something you can fight. He's not something anyone can fight. He is a disease, a scourge. He is the darkest side of human curiosity and depravity brought to life. That's not something you can duel with and win."
"Do you know what he took from me? Do you understand what I lost? Do you?" The woman punched into the cyborg's chest, wincing at the pain it caused her. Sigma didn't move at all, barely flinching.
"I do, because I was supposed to stop him." Sigma reached down, pulling the fist away from his chest and resting it next to Irina. Tears were welling up in her eyes, her body beginning to shiver. "The emotions you feel, the pain and the loss and the anger. You've brought them to me. You've passed them along to me." Sigma patted his chest, symbolically gesturing to the punch. "Yours, and the emotions of the hundreds of others who have lost someone to this monster. I have to hold them. I must represent them. And I will act for them. Let me carry your burden. Let me fight him."
Irina could barely speak through her sudden sobbing, and her body limply fell over to lean against Sigma. "If you...don't kill him...then I'll kill you...both..."
"I know," Sigma stated with understanding, holding the woman close to keep her from falling.
* * * * *
"Let this be your final sight. Let the Jade Jester welcome you into oblivion. He calls to you." Maria was dancing around, bouncing with excitement as she hopped from one foot to another. It snapped Irina from her memories, drawing her back to her focus on the present and her need to win.
"I have gods too, you know, different gods from a time long before you or your cult existed. Gods who own the land and cherish it, who create life and seek only to watch it grow and thrive. They are the ones who test us to help us grow and become stronger, not as part of their entertainment. They are the only gods I will ever respect."
Maria was clearly done waiting though, and sprung out of her dance to lunge forwards at Irina. The general was ready, having already gathered her resolve and channeled her spirit into the counterattack she had planned.
And in an instant, the Rose Thorn General disappeared, vanishing in a blink of pink energy. Irina ignored it continuing with her own plan, kneeling down to place her hands on the ground, feeling the ice seep out from her body, through her machine, and out of the Goliath's fingers.
The Artisan leader reappeared, flashing back into existence an instant after disappearing, behind Irina, appearing as though she had passed straight through the battlesuit. The woman flipped in the air so that she could stab behind herself, plunging her sword into the chest of the Jabberwocky. A pillar of ice shot up at the same time behind Irina, forming a point that pierced straight through the Rose Thorn General, ripping apart metal to burst through the machine's back, pinning it in the air.
Irina sighed in her seat, nearly collapsing as the exhaustion hit her. She could feel the intense heat just above her head though, and glanced up to see the glimmers of pink energy flickering through the coils of machinery. It seemed it had been a near miss, caused by the ice shifting her opponent's body just enough. The woman grabbed the controls, smashing them forwards as hard as she could, her Goliath's spine having been severed, crippling its body. The attempt to move shook through her machine, rattling it just enough that it began to slide forwards, falling onto its chest and off of the blade. If she had stayed on it for any longer, it would have started to kill her.
"Ardwen," Irina panted, her communication system crackling in response to her. "I need you to capture the Rose Thorn General. I want her alive as an asset in the future. Have the girls collect the twin generals as well."
"I'm afraid we can't," Ardwen responded, almost instantly. "Both of the generals seem to have consumed poison, of some sort. They're...dead."
"Then I need you to take Maria as quickly as possible, before she escapes or does the same." Irina cancelled the communication, letting her Goliath begin to shut down and conserve what was left of its functionality. She punched into the console, wincing at the pain as her frustration poured out. A tear slid down her cheek, splashing onto her fist. Another fell to her side, leaving a hot streak down to her chin. She smiled to herself, laughing slightly as more tears came to her eyes. "I'm such a failure. I couldn't even kill a general. How am I supposed to kill that monster when I can't rise above my peers." Irina brought her hands to her face, wiping at her eyes, but her tears would not stop flowing. She slumped back into her seat, resigning herself to her emotions. "I can't avenge you, my love. Not like this." The woman paused, listening to the sounds of the androids flying by around her. "But...maybe he can. I can't believe I have to leave your death in his hands. Isn't that just like me? Always quietly watching, always thinking, never doing. That's what you always said, isn't it."
Irina folded forwards, arms folded across a portion of her controls, her head resting in her forearms as she continued to cry. "I hope you murder that son of a bitch, Sigma," she whispered.