HOPING TO DRAW the mechanical abomination away from her, Daggeira sent her last, injured vaidu crawling up the fingers of the train car. Meanwhile, she maneuvered to the front. She found barely enough space to slink between her car and the next, ideally before the abomination figured out where she’d gone and crushed her skull.
Her ruse didn’t work. The eight-armed monstrosity ignored the biomech. Clinging to the car’s fingers, it stalked to where she had been moments before. When it didn’t find her, it flicked long, multi-jointed arms in every direction. Mechanisms buzzed and whined with each step and whipping attack. It snapped a cruel-looking spike within centimeters of her helmet faster than she could react. Instinctively, she pulled back and squeezed between the two train cars, planning to circle around to the far side.
And got stuck.
“Trickster’s asshole!”
It pursued. Using three limbs to secure itself, the abomination crept forward, whipping its other arms like a nest of angry metal vipers. Daggeira pushed and pulled but couldn’t get through. Her armor was wedged between the two spheres of holy ore, and the top crossbeam connecting the train car hands blocked the crest of her helmet. The monstrosity stalked closer. That same spike darted at her ribs. She had an awkward shot, but she took it, firing point-blank into the heavy spike. Its arm flailed back, thrashing in the wind. Daggeira took her chance, pushing her left hand against the top crossbar with all her might. Her armor shrieked, scraping through the gap. A heartbeat later, the abomination slammed two fierce arms between the train cars. And missed.
Star Father’s balls! That was close . . .
Breathing heavily, she circled around to the far side of the car and scrambled up the side to the top. She had to finish this soon. How could she expect others to recognize her as seen by the Gods if she couldn’t even defeat a drilling robot?
Hissing and buzzing, the abomination followed her through the tight spot between the cars. Her vaidu attacked from above. Sharp blades extended from its limbs and stabbed through the drone’s oblong core. Sparks flew, crackling blue and green in the cold wind. The abomination spasmed, reminding her of a cug with its throat cut.
Her elation at the thing’s demise didn’t last. It attacked the vaidu from either side with a barrage of pincer-like fists. Thick oil-blood geysered out of the biomech and splashed over Daggeira's armor. The dying vaidu rolled over the edge. She fired down at the drone, plasma bolts sizzling into its strange body. The abomination curled back its arms until it was entirely blocked from her sightline. Cautiously, Daggeira stalked forward, palukai trained on the space between cars. When she got to the edge, it was gone.
Daggeira twisted around, ready to open fire behind her, and nearly fell on her face. Something ensnared her boots. The top of the train car had reconfigured, trapping her feet. The winds were an icy hammer pushing her off balance, but her new strength miraculously kept her upright.
Though the train couldn’t see her, it probably felt her weight, even in this light gravity. Which meant the abomination knew exactly where she was.
Daggeira braced her palukai against her shoulder a breath before the drone attacked. As she expected, it had stalked around to come at her from behind. Spiked hands cracked into her thighs and ribs, almost knocking the stick from her grasp. Felt like getting trampled by an angry grank. With feet trapped facing the wrong direction, she had to twist and fight off balance. She caught a vicious blow that came buzzing at her helmet with one hand. Gripping with all the enhanced power she could muster, Daggeira held the spike at bay, but the abomination kept hammering her with its many other limbs. She fired her palukai, unloading a hell storm of close-range plasma fire, vaporizing fist-sized chunks out of its body. But a tide of smaller drones were already crawling up the train car’s fingers, attaching themselves to the abomination where she blasted it.
This would turn into a battle of attrition if she didn’t destroy that thing or get the hell out of there soon.
She didn’t see a way of doing either.
Daggeira’s visor blipped red. From behind the automaton, a stealth veil approached, though she couldn’t get a good read on it around the abomination’s attacks. Even with her grank shell armor and boosted endurance, she was taking a savage beating. She went defensive, swinging her palukai to block as many heavy blows as she could. Then her stick froze in mid-swing, caught by the drone. Three spike-hands swung viciously at her head and chest. Daggeira winced.
The abomination’s blows never landed.
Zika’s war cry blared in Daggeira’ helmet. Sparks flew. With a terrible, high-pitched screech of rending metal, the drone’s core separated in two. The thing’s top half, along with six of its limbs, popped up into the wind. Its grip tugged at Daggeira’s palukai, but she held on. The drone shivered from Zika’s second blow in a fraction of a second it hung in the air. Its hold on Daggeira’s palukai slipped, and the abomination tumbled from sight. Only two mechanical legs and the lower half of its ruined core remained. More sparks and little fires hissed and crackled from its exposed innards.
Behind its legs stood the red outline of Warseer Zika. Together, servant and warseer opened fire on the abomination’s remaining limbs, and then at the smaller drones swarming up the side of the train car. Most of those scattered away toward the trailing cars before they could be slagged.
Relief loosened the tension in her shoulders and chest. But it was relief tainted with shame. What should have been a speedy tactic to get to the Hara and a decisive victory over a wretched automaton had ended with her trapped, desperate, and in need of her warseer to save her.
“Watch your feet,” Daggeira warned. “Don’t stand in one place too long, Warseer.”
“So you managed to not only alert the abominations to our presence but get yourself captured as well.”
“Yes, I . . . Behind you! Another one.”
Farther down the train, another large abomination ran, clanking and clanging across the backs of the train’s interlocking hands. Even bigger than the one Zika had just taken out, and bristling with long, mechanical limbs.
While keeping her feet in motion, Zika expertly chopped the curved blade of her palukai beside each of Daggeira’s trapped boots, freeing her.
“Jump!” Zika commanded, then sprang over the side.
Daggeira watched her red outline arc gracefully down before following her command. When she jumped, the surface of the train car pulled at her boots. It didn’t manage to trap her again, but it dragged her feet behind her. Cold wind slammed her side and sent her spinning.
She crashed to the crystalline floor. Blinding jolts of pain shot up her legs. She rolled and bounced out of control before finally skidding to a halt. Agony blinded her, followed by swirling dizziness. Without a yarist gem or her transfiguration, a normal servant would have been a pulpy mess within their armor after that. Yet, after her head stopped spinning, she managed to wiggle all her fingers and toes. Everything hurt like hell, but everything still worked.
The trains had all passed, and the frigid air stilled. Only a fading echo marked the convoy’s passing. She lost track of time while she gathered her wits.
Slowly, Daggeira rolled to a crouch. A hand caught her arm in a solid grip and pulled her to her feet. Stinging pain throbbed up her right leg, but she could stand. The armored plate over her thigh was cracked and splintered.
“Should have sent your biomechs away as soon as they were attacked,” Spear admonished.
“Where did you come from?” Daggeira asked.
“Last one on,” he said. “Last one off.”
“I can only feel one vaidu. Far behind us. Those things killed the other two.” Daggeira stepped forward and tried not to wince out loud. Didn’t do a good job of it.
“I’ve one left, as well,” Spear said. Daggeira spotted it crouched defensively behind the attendant.
“Servants, we keep moving.” The red outline of Zika’s stealth veil approached. “If your vaidu still live, spread them out away from us. Since these abominations can’t penetrate our stealth, let the biomechs draw their attention.”
“Yes, Warseer,” they transmitted in unison. Spear sent his vaidu ahead, scuttling up the center of the great spiral before he marched forward. Daggeira mentally called her remaining vaidu to catch up. She followed behind Spear, each step a hot knife of pain stabbing into the meat and bone of her leg.