Crashlanded Phoenix

I stood by the strangled body, holding tightly onto my weapon of choice, and looked around. As I presumed, the truck and I were surrounded by a sizable band of bandits, who in my eyes have just signed their death sentences. Whenever I glanced at any of them, I noticed their hooves trembling, some of them gulping and taking steps back as they clenched their weapons close to them. They were more or less half normal ponies and half pegasi, no unicorns in sight though.

"And what do we have here?" A voice from behind me spoke. "Don't be shy, show yourself!"

I turned around and walked to the right side of the truck, bandits who were the closest to me backed away as I walked. It was the leader of the band who spoke to me, from his spot at the top of the log that stopped us in our tracks. I looked up at him with an emotionless stare, while my right hand fidgeted with my wrench. He smirked and aimed his rifle at me, pointing it roughly at my head.

"Hah, that's a good one! A furless yeti! Those guards caught and shaved a yeti!" A yeti? What? I looked at him confused, I mean, I looked hardly like anything close to a conventional depiction of a yeti, but...maybe that's how yetis look like here?

"Must be pretty humiliating having lost all of your precious white and I am allllllll for it!" He enthusiastically spoke again, I guess my white hair was what led him to believe I was a yeti then? Hardly a rational conclusion, then again this guy is a bandit. I noticed that the other brigands around me loosened up and chuckled amongst each other, no longer as afraid of me.

"In any case, this doesn't concern you, you can run off and go bury yourself in an igloo for all I care, you overgrown ape. Consider this your chance of getting freedom," He lowered his rifle and laughed quietly to himself, as if he was some sort of comedian. Too bad I wasn't about to play along with his pathetic act.

"I am not going anywhere," I spoke and looked sternly at the brigand mocking me. In an instant he abandoned his cheerful demeanor and glared at me with a scornful expression. The snickering of bandits around me quieted down shortly after. I spoke once more after a few seconds had passed. "I recommend that you leave instead," I said firmly and held my wrench tightly.

"Pfuh! And who do you think you are to tell US to leave!?" He screamed at me after I presented demands of my own.

"Someone who offers you a chance to leave and hide in your tree trunk holes," I said calmly to him, returning one of his earlier insults. While most of me was against even considering sparing this scum of the earth, it was worth giving it a shot for the sake of my escort.

"Bah! Let me tell you who you are! You are someone whose father shoved his dick into a factory machine and had his foal come out on the assembly line!" He shot back with an insult of his own once more. This time a few of the bandits straight up burst out laughing. It was definitely an insult aimed at my non-fleshy parts, but I felt rather unphased...since I didn't have a father at all, unless you count the scientists who made us.

"I believe you don't understand what could happen to you, I strongly suggest that you get your arse out of here," I spoke in a firmer and slightly more agitated tone, as my patience with those fuckwads was running out. I wasn't going to stand there all day long and just exchange shitty slights and amuse everyone present.

"Listen here, chump. You have no grounds to demand us to leave. There is one of you and several of us. If we wanted to, you'd be picking cotton in North Zebrica or forced into a freak show. Right where you belong," He spoke and pointed his rifle at me once more at the end.

"Enough!" I shouted at him after he finished wasting his words on me. The shout was loud enough to make the bandits close to me flinch. "I say this one last time, leave or this will turn into a bloodbath," I continued in a stern tone as my servos revved up once more.

"Pound dirt you oversized snow ape!" He shouted back.
Words have failed to resolve this conflict, to ensure that both sides leave unharmed. They have long forsaken their right to live after they threatened Bulwark and Aegis, but now they were willingly going to their own funeral. Their leader was the loudest of them all, he had to be silenced once and for all, his henchmen culled or their will to fight shattered.

In one swift move I threw my wrench at the bandit on the tree log, having aimed for his head. His eyes shot wide open once he saw the wrench flying through the air. His rifle fired off a round, hitting me in the right upper shoulder and causing me to flinch. I expected to hear the sound of pain, the sound of his head being caved in and body falling down, but there was nothing.

That is until I heard mocking laughter.

"BWAHAHAHAHHAHAAH! YOU FOOL! Did you think you could hit me with that tool!? Pathetic!" He laughed more at me while I just stood and wondered how I could have not hit him. That wrench was heading straight for his noggin... His laugh finally ceased as he spoke up again. "Well, what are you waiting for you morons?! GET HIM!" He screamed at his subordinates who looked at each other. It spurred them into action as a bunch of those bandits charged at me while screaming into the air, the ones closest to me wielding spears as their weapons of choice, while the ones farther away frantically readied their pistols, rifles and revolvers. The battle had now begun.

I dodged a spear of a feeble outlaw that went right for my face, then grabbed its shaft with my synthetic arm and snapped it with a powerful grasp. I swiftly pulled the bastard to me by what remained of his spear and grabbed his face with that same arm. His eyes went wide open, he dropped his spear and threw hoof after hoof at my arm. I had to admit, those ponies had pretty strong hooves given that he just kept punching.

I wrapped my right arm around his torso and pulled with my left arm. There was some resistance from his body as I pulled, but soon enough I tore his head off his body. His spine came out with his head, ripping and popping through the flesh and muscle, splattering blood all over the ground in front of me. I held the head high up, blood spraying from separated veins onto myself while his face wore a dreadful expression. The bandits charging me stopped for a moment, having witnessed their comrade die mere few seconds into the fight. His body's muscles fought against me before ultimately succumbing too.

Inaccurate shots from pistols were already flying through the air around me, some of them hitting the ground and others penetrating the truck's tarp. A bandit with a rifle stood ahead of me and fired off a shot from his bolt-action. His round whizzed past my right ear or rather straight through it as I felt stinging pain coming from what remained of my outer ear. He bolted his rifle right as I threw the headless corpse with full force at him, causing him to shoot at it out of surprise. It landed right on top of him and knocked him to the ground, but I wasn't sure if he was dead or not and- AGH!

I felt sharp stinging pain in my right side, which kept pushing deeper in with every passing millisecond. I snapped my head to where I felt the pain come from and saw that I have been stabbed with a spear by particularly well-built brigand who twisted and turned the shaft in my body. He must have hit a spot where my subdermal armour wasn't quite fully functional yet. I raised my right hand and- AGH! FUCK!

I grunted in pain and stepped back. I looked ahead of me and saw that this time I got stabbed by with a spear right in my stomach, though the spear tip didn't go as deep as the other one, but it still made me bleed from my new wound. Now all the blood on me was joined in by my own. I glared at the two bold bandits and grasped the spine of my first kill, wielding his head like mace or flail.

I slammed the stomach stabber with the head from above with ease, despite the spine being somewhat hard to hold onto. He collapsed to the ground, letting go of the spear and grunting in pain. He had a pretty nasty wound on his face from the corpse's teeth, a few of them even staying behind.I followed up with a sideway slam into the left side of the torso, or rather barrel as is anatomically accurate, of the other pony bandit, causing pain to myself as his spear shifted in my flesh, but also sending him flying a short distance away from myself. The blow knocked the air out of him as he struggled to get up. I kept being shot at during this, though now these shots grazed against my skin, leaving minor injuries all over my body. A shot from the bandit leader hit me in the middle of my chest, but the round bounced off after going through flesh.

I let go of my head-spine flail and firmly grabbed both spears that were in my body and pulled them out in one go, causing more of my blood to leave through my wounds, however that was of little concern to me. My organs were more than capable to make up for any potential loss of blood. By this point I began to feel my adrenaline levels rising as the battle progressed, slightly numbing the pain I felt. I held the spear in my right hand with the tip facing down and raised it high. The pony who collapsed on the ground in front of me was still shifting and breathing, therefore I thrust the spear into the ground through the top of his head. A single gargling sound left his muzzle. His blood flowed from underneath it as well as from the entrance hole, alongside his head now being impaled into the soil. I left the spear there instead of retrieving it.

I held onto my other spear with both of my hands and swiftly ran towards the other, previously spear wielding, brigand. I was only running at average human speed, as the need for accuracy outweighed the benefits of extra velocity. Not that I could run much faster considering that my body and augs aren't fully functional. This meant that while outrunning some bullets, I ran into others, though my non-functional arms that kinda flopped behind me made sure to catch a few scratches. There was a brief moment where the fire calmed down however as most of the shooters had to reload their guns. In that moment I reached the target pony, who was just slowly getting up, and aligned my spear...

Blood spilled from his mouth as the metal speartip slid into his mouth, then his throat. It was followed by the shaft in its journey into the pony's body. I brutally yet precisely maneuvered my spear during this charge to have it go as deep through him as possible, while lifting him up with the spear to force him into a straight position. I looked him in the eyes, eyes that were full of fear and agony, he tried to scream as I impaled his insides but nothing more than whimpers came out. Soon enough life left his eyes just as the spear came out of the rear end of his body and I raised the speared horse high in the air, sticking the wooden end of the shaft in the ground. His body slid down slowly, leaving a trail of blood above and below himself.

I briefly stopped and looked at the morbid way I disposed of the bandit. I didn't feel bad for him or feel any remorse for doing any of this, unlike the whole changeling camp affair. I gave those bandits a fair chance at walking away...they threw their lives away of their own volition. I heard some screams around me, followed by the sound of some weapon dropping and hooves galloping away... I looked to my right and saw a couple of them run off into the bushes, frightened by their potential fate. Adrenaline was gradually filling my veins, while my servos whirred and awaited my next move.

"WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING OFF TO YOU COWARDS! JUST FUCKING KILL HIM, YOU INCOMPETENT KNOBHEADS!" Their leader screamed, but they were too far to hear him.

I grabbed- SSSSLLIIIICK

I heard and definitely felt a sword slash along my back in a curved manner. I felt it cut through my skin, adding yet another wound to my collection. I quietly grunted in pain once the sword finished carving its bloody path, though the blade hadn't gone deep unlike the spears. What I felt was numbed by adrenaline shortly after, just in time for me to hear the subtle sound of the weapon on a rapid descent towards me not even a second after the first slash. I admit I was slightly angered by the boldness of whoever thought they could just do this right after seeing how much blood I've shed.

Time seemed to slow down as I sensed the blade that struck me being raised once again, the attacker clearly going in for another opportune strike. I wouldn't let them get off that easily this time. It began its rapid descent, cutting through air like a hot knife through butter. I grinned and turned around near-instantaneously to face my newest adversary. A bullet flew between the two of us, a sign that the brigands were done reloading their guns. I raised my right upper arm and parried the sword using my forearm's frame. Sparks erupted from where the blade landed from our combined forces. I glared at the pony, an averagely built stallion wearing a jacket and holding a generic sword in his left hoof. His face didn't show any fear, in fact he was grinning pridefully.

"PARRY THIS YOU FUCKER!" He broke the silence between us as he screamed at me, the reached into his jacket with his right hoof and pulled a revolver out. His hoof somehow managed to cock it right as he held it ahead of himself and aimed. He pulled the trigger, his first round went right into the stomach hole left behind by a spear. He then fired round after round until his cylinder was empty, each shot hitting me in my stomach and splattering blood all over his head and chest. I barely flinched, this was just another negligible injury after all, but I was certainly going to return the favour.

His shit-eating grin was gone as quickly as it appeared once he noticed that his great plan had failed. I grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up with my synthetic arm, making sure that my grasp was tight but not right enough to asphyxiate him. I snatched his sword out of his grasp at the same time as I raised him from the ground and grasped it tightly. It felt good to have a sword in my hands once more, even if this one wasn't my own.

"Let's see how you'll take six shots," I said to him and grinned. I didn't even give him a chance to respond before putting the blade to proper use. With one mighty thrust, the sword went all the way through his stomach and came out the other way. He tried to scream, but I held him too tightly for him to be able to speak. I pulled the blood-coated sword out of his brand new hole and looked him in the eyes. Then I thrust again, and again. One stab for every shot he fired into me from his gun. I relaxed my grip on him and the bandit coughed up blood on my face and arm. I dropped him on the ground, leaving him to perish in a muddy puddle formed from his gore.

Guardsmare Vigilant Aegis
Deep in a forest

I stared at the battle occurring between Rex and the bandits who ambushed us, with a reasonable amount of worry, surprise and slight excitement. I watched as he dispatched of hostile after hostile with reprehensible brutality and little feeling... I had a feeling when we captured him that this wasn't...a normal being...but this goes far beyond my wildest imaginations. He just got shot many times and keeps moving like nothing happened, even practically gutting one of the bandits... I shook a bit and swallowed then-

THUNK

"Ouch!" I yelped in pain and rubbed my head with a hoof.

"Don't even think about it," The bandit pony keeping me hostage said after smacking me with a hoof.

I saw Bulwark turn his eyes to me after he heard me. Behind his stoic face I knew he was anxious if not outright concerned about Rex taking all of the heat, though without a doubt he was also angry at the bandit who struck me. I looked back at Rex who already had another bandit in his hold, but the more I looked the more I felt the need to act and do something other than stand here. I couldn't....I wouldn't just watch the one we were supposed to escort get torn apart by blade and bullet! He's sturdy without a doubt, but I do not believe that he can withstand this forever with how awful his stomach wounds looked and how much he was bleeding.

But...this was going to be very risky if I attempted this alone... Even if I did take out the bandit beside me I'd have to deal with the others close by. Bulwark might get caught in a crossfire or it could all go to Tartarus and we'd be both dead... But I couldn't just do nothing, for all we know they might just kill Bulwark and I anyway or use as hostages! On top of that, we couldn't allow ourselves to fail our mission and lose Rex. But how would I coordinate with Bulwark without raising suspicion...? Actually, I might have an idea for that...I hope he remembers the code from a few trainings ago...

I focused and gathered miniscule amounts of magic at the tip of my horn. I had to ignore all the fighting happening not too far away, otherwise I could have messed something up and exposed myself. Then I thought of the message that I'd want to send to Bulwark, something short and simple. I waited with bated breath for him to look in my direction again, which didn't take long. Once he did, I immediately began sending a message in Mares Code to him.

"HLP R, FGT BNDT, N YR SGNL" I flashed the message to him, with a few letters left out to keep it shorter. It was a very dangerous undertaking, since I couldn't tell if someone was watching... Bulwark raised an eyebrow after I was done, then briefly glanced at the bandit beside him and nodded. I felt relieved that he understood me, but then I felt my heart pounding harder from growing tension and excitement. I haven't been in a proper fight since the last sparring training weeks ago, but I was going to give it my all to succeed.

Bulwark frequently looked back and forth between the bandits "guarding" us, presumably evaluating when an opportune time to strike would be. This whole time I could hear the sounds of sword clashing, blades slashing through bodies and the occasional scream or yelp of pain from one or the other. The bandit beside me turned away from me and took a few steps towards the fight. I think he was trying to get a good look on what's happening. My hooves were shaking and I was itching to finally do something..

"NOW AEGIS!" Bulwark shouted very loudly. I instinctively looked towards him and saw him tackle his outlaw, which then turned into them wrestling on the ground.

"What the- HEY!" The bandit on my side raised his rifle and aimed at the two ponies fighting. My heart kept pounding and with no time wasted I rapidly rotated and bucked him in the head with both of my hind legs. He yelped in pain and dropped to the ground with his weapon. It fired off a round as it landed on the forest dirt, the fired shot hit a window of our truck, though I couldn't tell which window. I immediately got on top of my bandit and pinned him to the ground while charging a magic bolt in my horn. I aimed and fi-

POP

DEAR CELESTIA! The magic in my horn dispersed upon witnessing that he just got SHOT IN THE HEAD! I wiped some blood off my face with my hooves and looked around for the source of the gunshot. Looking up at the tree log I saw as the leader of the bandits was desperately trying to bolt and load his rifle...

"Stupid Griffonian piece of garbage..." He said followed by unintelligible swears being tossed around as if he were a sailor. It then struck me that he was aiming for me, which made my heart skip a beat. But suddenly that rising fear turned into a call to action for me, to just keep moving. I got up from the corpse and immediately rushed in Bulwark's direction, who was still fighting with his opponent. Magic once again surged to the tip of my horn as I charged a simple fireball spell to throw at him once I got in range.

During their close quarters fight, Bulwark ended up under the bandit who turned out to be much more capable than expected. This however exposed his back to me for a clear shot! I aimed my horn and fired my charged spell at him! I stopped in my tracks and watched with bated breath as the ball of flames flew, then struck its target. It sent him flying off Bulwark a short distance away and into a nearby rock. He didn't move or make any sounds after that. I immediately turned to my fellow guard and enthusiastically helped him get off the ground.

"Thanks for that," He said almost entirely unphased by this and picked up the gun that his captor held. "Let's go-"

POW POW POW

A salvo of bullets impacted the ground around us and one of them bounced off of my left front leg plate. Both of us looked to the most obvious source of the gunfire and saw the bandit leader reloading a pistol after having holstered his rifle. I quietly thanked Celestia for neither of us getting wounded.
"I'll keep him pinned, you go help," Bulwark said in a tone that indicated this being an order. I didn't need to be told twice and nodded as he took cover behind a nearby tree. I wanted to give him a hug before he had gone, just to express how happy I was that he didn't get hurt during the scuffle. Alas, this had to be delayed as I had to go help our new friend right now. With a quick glance towards him I saw that three pegasi had swarmed him, stabbing him with knives all over and diving into him. My hooves pretty much took off on their own towards the truck, where I could take cover, and Rex as he tried to fight them off. On the way I fired off a few magic bolts at the pegasi bandits in hopes of helping him get rid of them, but I couldn't hit any of them while running.

I chose to take cover at the front of our truck, thinking that bullets wouldn't be able to penetrate through there quite as easily. I peeked out to see how Rex was doing, only to see that he was observing the three pegasi now circling above him while brandishing a sword he got from... somewhere and getting shot at almost all the time. How his body was able to withstand all this was mind boggling, but this wasn't the time to ask that, I had to help him deal with them! Just as I looked up once more, one of the flying bandits proceeded with a diving attack l straight at Rex. I aimed with my horn just ahead of its path and fired two magic lightning bolts instead of regular bolts, as they were faster and could paralyse if they didn't kill, though they required more magic.

The first bolt missed the target, going right past one of the wings. The second lightning struck it right in the head and knocked it out of its flight trajectory. I smiled for a moment after that and a part of me wanted to come out and check on Rex right now, but I was swiftly reminded by a bullet going through our truck's windshield to focus on the fight. I turned my attention towards the two remaining flying bandits and proceeded to cast salvos of weak magic bolts to knock them out of the air. They wouldn't do much damage, but I can't afford to fire and miss with powerful ones.

One of the pegasi was struck in his right wing and crashed into a few of his fellows armed with firearms, knocking them over and preventing them from firing for a short while. The last one however kept avoiding and dodging every single of my spells with little to no effort. I couldn't get a good shot at him this way at all as he flew in unpredictable patterns. Then his eyes locked onto me and he made a sharp turn in the air in less than a second. He held his knife out and grinned maliciously right before beginning his diving attack...with ME AS HIS TARGET!

"I GOT YOU NOW, YOU BIRD SHIT!" I froze in place as I heard the scream, then witnessed as the diving pegasus stopped mid-dive. It occurred to me that it was Rex who was the one screaming! I watched as the pegasus looked behind himself and flapped his wings in an attempt to free himself from what looked like Rex's hand holding onto his tail. I felt relieved and took a deep breath, but then gasped as I saw that pony get slammed into the ground. Blood was pouring in small amounts out of his mouth and Rex loomed over him. He raised his sword and...dear Celestia... He drove it deep into the ground through the pony's back, then grabbed his wings and... I looked away, but I still heard the sound of flesh being torn apart, of bones snapping and breaking together with screams. By the time I looked again the pegasus was no longer one, wasn't alive either... I found it hard to believe that someone so friendly to us was capable of such monstrous ways of fighting...though I suppose those bandits didn't give any of us much choice... I definitely couldn't hold any of this against him if I was being honest, but it wasn't something I enjoyed seeing...

While I digested the thoughts and feelings regarding the battle, Rex took hold of his sword with his right hand and removed it from the corpse under his feet. He then looked at me and smiled, which made me slightly forget what he had done seconds ago. He then raised his weird metal hand and...pointed up with the big finger while smiling. I looked up but I didn't see anything, so I looked back at him and saw that he was still making that motion. "Was that a signal of sorts?" Is what I asked myself while looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

This brief moment of respite was soon interrupted by the bandits once again opening fire on us. They somewhat spread their attention out between the two of us, forcing me to hide behind my cover as bullets struck the steel plates of our truck. This time the bandits even used what sounded to me like shotguns and those could easily tear through either Bulwark or I. My heart kept on beating hard as I thought of a shotgun-armed bastard jumping on me here. With that in mind, I carefully peeked out to check on the other side of the truck, one where Rex wasn't engaging in fighting. Just then I saw a pair of hostiles run out from behind the rocks and dash towards the truck, holding tightly onto their guns.

I focused on the bandit closer to my position and prepared a magic bolt to shoot him with. I aimed for his body and fired my spell. It hit him right in the middle of his barrel and sent him stumbling over his own legs. He didn't get up after that, but the gun he held fired off a shot which knocked the other bandit's gun out of his hooves. He turned and ran towards his dropped weapon, at which I fired a fireball spell. However he managed to pick his weapon up and rolled out of the target area of my spell.

I began to feel effects of slight mana tiredness as I prepared a follow up attack. I sent a magic bolt aimed at his head, though it instead went for his legs and hit the ground instead of him right as he stood up from the ground. He aimed his gun at me and retaliated with a bullet salvo, making me instinctively hide behind cover as the bullets flew past me. I leapt out of cover and sent a lightning bolt aimed at the pony's hooves. It hit his weapon and only shocked him, so I cast another fireball. This time it was too late for him to dodge it and it exploded right in his muzzle just as I went back behind the truck. I sat down on the ground and took a deep breath, I needed a couple seconds of rest after risking myself like this. However what do you not do for your friends when everyone's lives are at stake?

Object C-04 "Rex"
Forest ambush

With those three pegasi taken care of thanks to Aegis' very much needed help, for which I needed to thank her for later since I don't think she quite understood me giving her a thumbs up, I could shift my focus back on ending this fight once and for all, the longer this goes on for the higher the chance one of them gets hurt and I absolutely cannot have that. Besides, all those gunshot wounds were beginning to wear me down a bit. With that in mind I turned right, away from the truck and towards the forest, then charged in the direction of a boulder from behind which around a handful of brigands were taking shots at me.

I swung at and deflected a bullet flying straight at my face, sending it into who knows where. This action caused my blade to chip and lose a piece of its blade, much to my dismay, however this wouldn't make things much harder. Just as I got into leaping range of the rock a bandit with what I'd call a hunting shotgun rolled out from behind the rock, already having me exactly in his sights. I raised my blade to swing down at him while running, only to stagger backwards after taking buckshot to my stomach. It tore through my flesh with more power than the spears and exposed some of my muscles, as well as near-translucent alloy pieces of my subdermal armour. My adrenaline high kept me from feeling lots of pain, yet all of this still wasn't enough to push me into a rush, despite it happening when I fought those wood wolves and changelings who were arguably a smaller threat...

I shook my head to return myself to clarity then resumed my charge with the intent of not letting him shoot again. His eyes went wide as he saw me close the distance between us right after enduring his shotgun shot. My blade swung down on him with all the force in my arms that I mustered. His hooves let go of the shotgun the moment the sword impacted his head, slicing through the skin and lodging itself deep in his skull. I cast his body to the side with no intention with recovering my weapon from his brain and instead picked up his shotgun. I couldn't help but smile as I pumped it once it was in my hands.

The bandits who were shooting at me alongside the shotgun pony have now once again hid their heads behind that rock, but that wasn't going to save them. Once the empty shell hit the ground beneath my feet I rolled forward and around the side of the aforementioned rock to surprise the bastards. A few shots flew above me, them having expected me to come rushing in while standing. I swiftly jumped up after my final roll, my back covered in dirt and leaves picked up by my blood, and proceeded to fire back at them. One got caught at near point blank range of my first shot. He didn't even get to scream as his brains were splattered in all directions, his body now limp on the ground, with an unrecognisable head and blood pooling underneath.

I pumped the shotgun and flicked the spent shell into the lifeless body, just as the other bandits finished reloading their weapons. I walked forward with a scornful grin on my face and aimed at the next pony ahead of me. He however held his rifle like a spear, despite having no bayonet, and charged at me while firing inaccurate shots. I tried to aim but he was too fast and jammed his gun into one of my lesser bullet wounds. This threw my sights off and the shot I fired shredded through his back, but he didn't as much as whimper or loosen his grip despite this grievous injury. I resorted to bashing him in the side of his head, using the barrel of my acquired weapon like a baton. A few good whacks sent him into the rock that previously protected him.

I removed the rifle from my wound and tossed it aside, right onto the now deceased owner's corpse. The bandit that was behind him fired at me using a small handgun, turning my attention to him as the rounds dug into my legs. I coughed up some blood and pumped the shotgun once more in preparation of doing something that would hopefully bring this hopeless for them battle to its conclusion. He began to panic and stepped back, stumbling over his own hooves and dropping his firearm. I lifted him up by his mane with my synthetic arm and held him high in the air. He wiggled and tried to pull himself out of my hold, to which I responded by putting the barrel of my shotgun to his stomach and pulling the trigger. I looked at him and saw his guts...or what remained of them, be blown out through his back and into the air. They landed onto a few of the bandits, but mostly splattered all over the nearby forest ground. I dropped him and the shogun.

"Oh- Oh shit.... I don't know about you Beck, BUT I'M GETTING THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE!" One of the blood-coated ponies spoke to his comrade and ran away as quickly as his hooves could carry him. This was the final straw that made the other bandits break ranks en masse and flee deep into the forest. The sounds of gunfire had finally been silenced, save for two sources... I walked out from behind the rock while holding a hand on my biggest stomach wound. I haven't gotten messed up like this since...a long time ago, but no doubt my nanomachinery was hard at work keeping me...away from dying. The kinds of wounds I suffered would kill a normal person ten times over... My adrenaline was gradually decreasing and I felt growing pain in my limbs, but I knew there was one last thing to take care of.

I saw Bulwark and the bandit leader exchanging potshots, keeping each other pinned down as bullets flew between them. Aegis assisted him by occasionally firing from her horn, but I could see lots of sweat gathering on her forehead. I remained out of sight of them all and walked to a flat end of the log that blocked our way. I grabbed a fresh sword off the ground on my way there, one that was abandoned by the fleeing scum and held it between my teeth as I climbed onto the fallen tree, with the last target to deal with right ahead of me. My blood trailed behind me, the sheer volume I lost could fill up a blood donation fridge, but Imperial science kept me chugging along. With the sword raised, I took a deep breath and charged forth.

THUNK

"AHHH YOU SNEAKY FUCKER! DID YOU THINK YOU COULD GET YOUR YETI HANDS ON ME THAT EASILY?!" The bandit leader shouted at me, having somehow managed to avoid my surprise attack. My escort must have been confounded too as they had stopped their suppressive fire.

"What are you looking at, huh?! Why else do you think I am the one bossing them around!?" He boasted and laughed in my face.

I had little intention to entertain his taunting remarks and stepped forward, ready to attempt another strike. He just grinned as he saw my blade descend upon him, in the last moment he suddenly slid backwards and made me hit the log again. I followed this failed attack up with a swift sword stab, but the bandit leader effortlessly moved to the side in an instant. I shifted my grip on the sword as he spoke up again.

"Do you really expect to hit me like that? Even a crippled granny could dodge that one!" He said with a teethy grin. It annoyed me greatly and I really wanted to finish him off for good as these texts were getting tiring.

I shifted my stance to a more mobile one and dashed at him while swinging the sword, he obviously dodged, however I immediately dashed again with another strike...which he also dodged. He didn't even counterattack, he just dodged and dodged. I let loose a flurry of rapid sword swings, stabs and slashes aimed at him, rotating around my own axis to maintain momentum of my attacks. HE JUST KEPT DODGING EVERYTHING. No matter how close I was or how fast I attacked, he constantly avoided the blade as if he was made out of wind.

It came to the point that I had him standing on the edge of the tree log, seemingly with no more room left to dodge. I smiled to myself, thinking that I had finally cornered him and that this bastard would soon end up in the dirt. I swung vertically at him, aiming to slash through his head. Yet my sword once again didn't strike home and instead lodged itself in the log. Meanwhile he had jumped back onto his hind legs, having only the slightest bit of excess solid surface. Suddenly he galloped up my bloodied arms and jumped over my head, giving me a solid kick in the back while still in the air. I bit my tongue and groaned in pain...I swear I felt something crack in my back too.

"Hah! You gotta be a little faster on those legs-" His taunt was interrupted by a gunshot coming from below. I didn't feel anything hit me, so I looked behind myself and saw the leader of the forest bandits holding his left front hoof up to a wound on his right front leg. He chuckled and looked towards Bulwark. "You tricky dick, too bad this is just a flesh wound!"

I couldn't let this chance go to finish this go to waste. My servos whirred the moment I pulled the blade out of the log and spun around with a swinging motion coming from below. I heard a singular gasp, followed by the sound of flesh being sliced through like a hot knife going through butter with bones. This slash sent blood flying high through the air from the bandit's neck, which was joined by a trickle of the warm liquid that washed over me directly from the veins. I watched as the freshly separated head tumbled down onto the ground together with the corpse, ending up not too far apart.

I let go of my sword and climbed down the log without as much as a single word, as I didn't want to end the silence that came just yet. Bulwark and Aegis seemed to share this sentiment and watched me shuffle towards the truck. I wanted to lay down in the back to give my nanobots the chance to patch me up in peace, but I found myself sitting against the truck's front bumper with a hand up to my stomach as a result of my hormone levels going down. It was a pretty clear reminder that I definitely wasn't at full strength. Once I made myself comfortable I turned my eyes to the dead leader and chuckled.

"Try...heheh...dodging that one,"