[4.1] Instant Crush: Fear Factory!

[Maester of Evil]

"Ne plokhoy chelovek, dazhe yesli vash Mekh Dikoviny menya!(Not bad man, even if your mech weirds me out!)" Benny responds matter of factly as he begins charging up his thrusters for another assault, turning briefly to the others. "His tail's probably a good starting point if you want to start digging into him. Unless you'd prefer me and comrade here to all the hard work?" PHM rockets into the sky as Derek sends his light lance towards FF. Crossing PHM's arms in front of its chest as it hover a good 20 feet in the air Benny looks down at the ensuing chaos. "You took a break from war? You really are as pathetic as I thought Dukes. A true warrior isn't a simple bystander to conflict, waiting for the approval of others before diving in like a child at the park; we breathe war, we live war... we are war!"


PHM bears its arms aloft. "You aren't the only one to grow up on the killing fields. War is a cruel parent, but an effective teacher. Its final lesson is carved deep in my psyche: that this world, and all of its people, are diseased. Free will is a myth. Religion is a joke. We are all pawns of something even greater: memes, the DNA of the soul. They shape our will. They are the culture. They are everything we pass on. Expose someone to anger long enough, they will learn to hate. They become a carrier. Envy, greed, despair: all memes, all passed on. You can't fight nature Dukes, you of all people should know this. Wind blows, rain falls, and the strong prey upon the weak. You see yourself as a "tool": something that snuffs lives, a means of mayhem. Now, there's a pretty meme! Exquisite! It spared you the burden of all the missed opportunities, absolved you of guilt when you allowed weak men to shackle you... of how you truly let war forget you."

PHM points down at Fear Factory. "I have been invested doubly with great power, and you can be damn sure I intend to use it! To make humanity something to be proud of, not scorned or sneered at! Because you know something?" PHM bears its arms aloft once more in a truly biblical style. "'I have a dream!' That one day every human will control their own destiny. A world of the truly free, dammit! A world of action, not words, ruled by strength, not committee! Where the law changes to suit the individual, not the other way around. Where power and justice are back where they belong: in the hands of the strong! Where every man & woman is free to think - to act - for himself! Fuck all these limp-dick lawyers and chickenshit bureaucrats. Fuck this 24-hour Internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit! Fuck Earth pride! Fuck the media! FUCK ALL OF IT! Earth is diseased. Rotten to the core. There's no saving it - we need to pull it out by the roots. Wipe the slate clean. BURN IT DOWN! And from the ashes, a new World will be born. Evolved, but untamed! The weak will be purged and the strongest will thrive - free to live as they see fit, they'll make Humanity great again! ...In my new Earth, people will die and kill for what they BELIEVE! Not for money. not for oil! Not for what they're told is right. Every man will be free to fight his own wars!"

PHM is proselytizing like a preacher, pumping up a non-existent crowd but getting fired up nonetheless. "I will never let war forget me. I will become war incarnate, a great purifier! And from the ashes shall arise a better, stronger humanity! To long has our strength been beholden to the petty infighting of politicians and the indifference of an apathetic leadership. Warriors, children of warriors and all who bear strength in their hearts... I declare a new world order! Open to all who long for Conquest, Freedom from inhibitions, and the right to follow their Passions! Those who would support me in our shared ambitions, cast aside your titles and old lives and let me lead you to victory! And those who would oppose us..." Benny looks down at Dukes. "... shall crumble to dust beneath our might. For our hearts are unclouded; they are each of them guided by Strength!" Benny finishes his speech, breathing heavily but simply ecstatic.

----Meanwhile----

Crause rests his hands on the banister of the CIC as Benny finishes his speech. He had ordered the feed cut to prevent Andante's seditious words from getting to the soldiers but had maintained a private link for posterities sake. "He truly is a madman. A zealot of the highest caliber, using honeyed words to justify mad slaughter. And yet..." Barlow had gone over Calvefort's file. In the past four years before being transferred to his command he had seen action in the worst hellholes still plaguing Earth: Marrakesh, Prague, Trondheim, Detroit... time after time he was sent into hell like he was something of a machine.

"I suppose that's what our service asks of us. That we become machines; engines of violence and destruction. That we brave few sacrifice our humanity in the defence of something greater than ourselves. But we aren't machines. We aren't demons; we are human beings, so fragile and easily broken under stress. And what has changed? Nothing. War has become a well-oiled machine upon which the great monoliths of Order and Stability are built. Have we truly sacrificed all... for nothing?"

An explosion brings Crause back to the matter at hand. Visual feed is brought up without him even having to give orders; Fear Factory and the Force-Commander were severely outnumbered. "Open up a direct link." The blip of a commlink indicates open conversation. "Commander this is Colonel Barlow. Our forces are depleted. I recommend a tactical withdrawal to strategize and prepare for another attack. Do you copy Force-Commander?" Crause gripped the railing. Enough blood had been shed. He could not, would not let this sacrifice become meaningless.

[killeroftheminge]

Too much had been happening at once, Dukes hadn't been able to keep an eye on the other squirts. The little Russian fucker had managed to zip around behind him before he could finish it off (grapple arms, what a stupid ability) and started wailing on his precious reserves. Just before he could even shake him off, someone started yelling something or other, causing him to turn as 

SHINK!!!

...was that? Dukes' had steam blow into his face as his monitor began flashing and beeping frantically, pulling up the schematics of Fear Factory. 

WARNING. ARMOR BREACH IN SECTION A-4 AND 5. WARNING, WARNING. 


Goddamit, that was getting annoying already. he took a look through his cockpit to see that that light shield guy had thrown a spear in his mech's chest...a fucking spear, are you serious. More than that though, Dukes took a look at the battlefield, finding all of his Fear Troop dead. Wiped out, zip, nada. It was just him...Dukes, with a goddamn spear thrown through his mech. If that didn't make things worse, he got a comm link with Crause. He was ready to just shut the link off when he mentioned surrender...really? Surrender? Just hearing the word caused Dukes ears to flustered and his veins to pop against his skin, his fists tightening around the control panel until his knuckles turned white. Slowly, but sirely, he spoke back through the comm.

"Did you just say fallback? Surrender? No....no, no no no no NO!! You think I'm passing up this opportunity? I've been stuck picking up after little scraps on Earth, protecting leaders, looking after this precious little world peace pet project for 5 years...I'm not giving up everything I love to be safe. This...this is all I am, Crause. It's all I've ever wanted...to fight, to kill...that's just who I am. To turn around an dflee...that'd be going against everything I've fought for, everything I love. That little punk in the sky is right...I'm a lapdog...all I've ever been. But I'm not sulking about it or trying to 'change' it...I'm content with it. That's the difference between you and me. You want to hide who you are behind some honor crap, to seperate yourself from the battlefield...but the battlefield never goes away. It's who we are...and I accept that. I ain't coming back from this...rabid dogs rarely come back. Dukes out." With that, he smashed the radio, cutting himself off from the UN entirely. No more jurisdictions, no more commanding officers, no more Force-Commander. Just Dukes now. Lonnie Dukes. 

"Hehehehehehehe," He chuckled through the loudspeaker, engaging the rebels in contact. Slowly, Fear Machine stood back on its arms, wavering from the structural imbalance in its chest region. "Yeah...now you're doing it...that's it...You gotta breathe that shit in, breathe in the air of war...smells good don't it...that's the smell  I've missed, the one I've longed for. And now that I smell  it..." Suddenly, the group sees cables erupt from around the spear, grabbing onto the surface of the construct...and begin to absorb. Slowly it drains away, Fear Factory's energy spiking up as a result and giving off a yellow glow around the center of the mech. 

"We can start playing in Dukes' War now...." Before their eyes, the group sees an orange ball of energy begin to form in front of Fear Factory, it growing bigger and glowing brighter by the minute. "My PowerShifter is pretty useful you see...it allows me to reshape energy in any way I see fit, giving me full range over a battlefield to make the opposition disappear. With that attack, you boys just started a real fight...just you and Dukes, the showstopper." The ball of energy stopped, reaching a size of about 30 meters in length. "Now, I saw this in a Videogame once" he says, Tossing the ball into the air, where it stops for a second, before it begins to fall back to the ground towards the rebels, it's shape now contracting and expanding back and forth, almost as if it's set to erupt. "There we go. Now, it's time to roast you piggies" He says as he charges forward again, this time for Alejandro, who's mech had sat down to rest from the fight. Always go for the sickly member of the herd. They're the easiest prey. 

[Maester of Evil]

Benny could have flown down to help Alejandro, he truly could have. It would have been as simply as rocketing down, grabbing FF by the tail and sending the mech flying into the orb of light... but he didn't. He simply remained airborne. And observed.

"The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

PHM held its left hand up... and gave a thumbs up to FF and Dukes.

"In your dying moments do you at last see the truth Dukes. I can finally look upon you with a modicum of pride; of respect. May you be born aloft to Valhalla by a flight of Valkyries, to drink and eat and fight to your hearts content amongst the halls of our ancestors! WITNESS HIM! FOR HE IS AWAITED IN VALHALLA!!!"

[Kacey]

Alejandro panicked, trying to get his mech back up again "Shit shit shit!" He cursed at the radio. The mech sluggishly got up from it's resting place, placing itself in a fighting stance once again. "Thanks a lot, y'know! No really, thanks!" He sarcastically said to Benny who was just doing nothing and being melodramatic. Alejandro turned on the mounted cannons once again, shooting whatever smokebomb rounds he had left to cover his escape. He hoped that he could escape by simply dodging to the side but he knew that wasn't going to work because of Fear Factory whips but he had to try.

[alren]

Morgan jumped back from the tail that had lashed out at him and then shot it with the grappling hook which wrapped around the the tail. As Dukes charged off, Morgan felt the line unraveling as the distance between them increased. Looking at the shifting orb of energy as it slowly dropped to the ground, Morgan figured out that it'd be a really bad idea to let it reach the ground. He looked over to where Dukes just charged away from and could notice the tiny specks of words that had been left over from his prior speech. He zoomed in with the display to start frantically searching the words for anything that would be helpful in stopping the giant ball of energy and spotted what he needed. Morgan locked the grapple's line so he started to be dragged away by Fear Factory. Using Wordsmith's jump jets to augment his speed Morgan would hopefully reach the word in time. Words As Weapons phased through the top of Wordsmith, balancing on its ever shifting shoulders and feeling the rushing of the wind against its body, by Morgan felt it by extension, loving the feeling and could instantly relate to Dukes insane leap from the flagship. 

Morgan closed in on the grouping of words and would need to time it perfectly, the ball being only a few meters from the ground itself at this point with not much time left. Wordsmith fired its jumpjets again at full throttle toward the cluster, sliding on its stomach against the martian terrain and kicked off at the last second to be in the thick of the cloud while retracting the grappling line. Words As Weapons extended its hand, slicing the word disappear free from Duke's prior statement and suddenly a jolt of power could be felt running through the stand and mech. A prompt showed up on the main command console of Wordsmith. A suggestion would be more accurate, or an order. 

Apply word to sound system 

Morgan eyed the prompt warily for a moment before deciding that it would probably be in his best interest to do so, he just had a strong feeling that nothing could go wrong if he did this. That his stand, despite not having any intelligence of its own urged him to attach it right now. Morgan followed through and attached the word to the speakers and a crackling of noise and feedback blew through the speaker. Morgan felt the word become absorbed into the speakers and pointed them at the giant ball of energy nearly hitting the ground. Cranking the volume knob, Morgan fired his speakers that shot dozens of the word disappear at the glowing sphere, the words sticking just like they would if WAW had applied them. 

"Disapper! Disappear! Disappear! Disappear!" Morgan shouted alongside Wordsmith's cacophony of noise and words.

[killeroftheminge]

"ARE YOU...STILL USING...FUCKING SMOKE?!?!" Dukes roars as Fear Factory charges into the thick cloud, quickly turning while it was consumed to do a tail swipe at Alejandro, missing the mech by a few inches due to the smoke disorienting his vision. Dukes foams at the mouth as he looks around to see where the mech had gone, looking up to see that his energy ball was...the hell? 

He heard 'DISAPPEAR' being shouted over and over again, slowly seeing his ball shrink and fade as a result. "Wha...wait a second, what is happening?!" Dukes shouts, charging out of the smoke, seeing that shrimp mech yelling at the thing and messing with his creation. Who the hell did he think he was??

"You...you messing with my stuff? How are....you know what, I don't care, cause I'm about to make you just a small stain on the ground!!!"

Fear Factory plants its arms into the ground, bending forward and bringing its tail above its head, an eerie glow resonating along its sides. 

CHARGING LAZER CUTTER. WARNING, LAZER CUTTER WILL BE INACCESSIBLE FOR TEN MINUTES. PROCEED. 


"Baby, we go through this every time, yes I'm sure! Fire it, vaporize that sumbitch!!"


ACKNOWLEDGED. . . . . . . WEAPON FIRING


The energy concentrated in the tip of Fear Factory's tail, focusing on Alren as it let out a high pitched scream and immediately shot out a column of bright orange energy that pierced the air and shot straight for WAW.

[Kacey]

"Watch out!" Alejandro yelled into the radio, trying to warn Morgan from the massive energy being shot from Fear Factory tail. Rip My Heart Out quickly got up, struggling to maintain it's balance, Alejandro ran to the front of Fear Factory and jumped for it's tail, grabbing it without noticing how foolishly it was to get in Fear Factory way. Alejandro didn't know he was setting himself and Rip My Heart Out in complete danger.

[alren]

Morgan looked up at the now vanished ball of energy and felt a welling of pride burst up from within him. He did it! He made the attack disappear. Suddenly the thought of some charlatan from the party. Bino the fraud magician who was all high and mighty, looking down on Morgan and said making something disappear was impossible. Well look at him now! Morgan made the orange energy ball disappear and Bino can go suck his dick!


"Fuck yeah! I did it! Suck my dick, Bino! You fraud ass piece of shit, looks like i'm a better magician than you!" Morgan directed his speakers at the nearest city, focusing the volume in single direction as loud as possible since the word had apparently dissipated at this point, hoping whatever Bino was doing he would hear Morgan's triumph over him. It was in this moment of celebration and jubilation Morgan couldn't hear Alejandro's warning and Fear Factory's laser had passed through Wordsmith's lower body. The area of direct impact had erased any trace of Wordsmith's pelvis and thighs. The lower legs were just standing like they were a moment ago, completely unaware that they weren't supporting anything anymore. The tips of the legs were melted and steel oozed down like blood from a open wound. The temperature in the cockpit skyrocketed and Morgan let out a blood curdling scream as his body was set ablaze and the upper body of Wordsmith crashed into the ground, all the while the sound being amplified for everyone in the battle to hear. Morgan was momentarily blinded by the pain, only able to scream and flail in pain he never thought possible. When sight did return to Morgan, he immediately reached for the hatch lever, his fingers blistering with the heat and despite the pain Morgan fought through it, pulling the hatch release and opening it to reveal the cold, unforgiving terrain of Mars.Morgan hesitated only to reach up and take hold of the photo that was taped to the main console and jumped from the pilot's chair. 

Falling from the cockpit 3 meters, a plume of martian soil rose around Morgan at his impact. He curled into a ball as he was for the first time ever glad to feel the cold weather of Mars, covering his aching body and wishing to whatever powers that be that the pain would end soon. 

[killeroftheminge]

Dukes' eyes were glowering with savage joy as his plasma cutter beam ripped from Fear Factory's tail and shot towards Morgan's Wordsmith, the air crackling and heating up around it as the air shimmered and danced around the beam. However, before the laser had made impact, that fucking Mexican had launched itself at FF's tail, sending it a bit off balance. Sure, Dukes' had taken out the pipsqueak's lower half, but he knew from experience that if you didn't wipe it all out, there was still a chance it could come back to bite you. You can't kill a cockroach just by blowing off one part of its body, cause they're crafty and willful little bastards; you gotta squash the thing all at once. With his eyes twisting from joy to white hot rage, Dukes looks back to his tail to see Alejandro clinging for dear life, the little fucker messing up his shot for the next ten minutes. 

"You know, all's fair in love and war...but you are REALLY STARTING TO PISS ME OFF, HOMBRE" Dukes screams, having Fear Factory slam his tail into the ground and shake it back and forth in an attempt to get Alejandro off. 

[Al Freakster the Big Cheese]

Meanwhile, Alex was blasting some strange music, full of bass and Slavic language. He was singing along it, bobbing his head in tact with music. The song was blaring max volume, very, very loud.


The relentless beating continued, as Alex was still demolishing the generators without a care in the world. 

[killeroftheminge]

Fear Factory's tail whipped and whirled, throwing Alejandro all around but seemingly nothing would get the little bastard off, he was clinging for dear life it seemed. But, that would be the least of his problems, as Dukes was subject to another blaring warning coming from his monitor.

WARNING, WARNING, DAMAGE DONE TO FUEL CELL 1, ENERGY LEAKING IN PROGRESS


"What? How, I-" However taking a look through his monitors of Fear Factory's back would show that Ruskie still pounding away at his generators, slowly attempting to cut off a major power source. "How the hell are you still on my back, comrade? Shit, you got more guts than I thought...welp, time to rip em out of ya" Dukes says, deciding this could be a simple answer to two problems. Slowly, he strains the weight that Fear Factory's tail can lift, trying to bring it on level with Alex's mech as it continued to pummel at his fuel cells. 


"Baby, how much power is in Fuel Cell 1?"


FUEL CELL ONE OPERATING AT: 75%....74%....


"Well, goddamn, you were busy son! Well, you want that generator so bad? Go on and take it, boy!" Dukes shouts, manic bloodlust filling his voice as he activate the self destruct sequence on Generator 1, the plasma explosion sending Monolit flying into Alejandro and knocking Rip My Heart Out off of the swinging appendage. Dukes would notice that there was still an appendage left and remembered how Alex would throw himself around by these things. 


"Like some kind of spider monkey with these things, ain't ya Ruskie? Well, this should be fun then; I'm gonna enjoy pulling off all 42 of your little arms. First your mech's...and then yours..."

[Kacey]

As Rip My Heart Out was thrown together with Moonlit by Fear Factory, Alejandro braced for impact. The mech collided with Moonlit although it could take hits, the mech took heavy damage from that toss "S-shit!" Alejandro grunted as the cockpit heavily shook causing more shit to be damaged within the mech. Alejandro tried to move the mech once again but the mech wouldn't respond, it laid there along with Moonlit "Pinche puta madre!" Alejandro cursed, moving the levers and pressing whatever he could touch frantically, hoping for his mech to get up quickly and fight back.

[Maester of Evil]

A rush of wind batters Fear Factory's frame. The sound of rockets rattles the surrounding area for a few moments before quieting to barely a whisper... and PHM hovers several feet off the ground.

"Yeah I was starting to get a little antsy after that speech; I can only tolerate so much dialogue before I have to bash something's face in, ya feel me? Speaking of..."

The whirring of engines can be heard as Benny redirects 2/3 of PHM's fuel and energy into its elbow thruster, the mech's spike lined fists poised to strike.

"RUGGENTE CUORE: COLPI MITRAGLIATRICE(Roaring Heart: Machine Gun Blows)

PHM sends a rocket powered fist crashing into Fear Factory's head, the fist recoiling backwards as the second fist crashes into the joint connecting FF's arm to its shoulder... but soon the first rocket fist strikes again with the second rocket fist following in short order. Benny has altered his fuel intake to the elbow thrusters to operate on a burst pattern; that way the rocket charge will be ready to send another charged fist into Benny's enemy after the fist recoils backwards. The speed with which PHM is striking creates a series of afterimages whereby PHM appears to have over a dozen arms and spiked fists crashing into Fear Factory like a machine gun.

"Shame about... what was his name? Morty? Mordecai? Not important now considering he's probably dead. What is important is that I'm punching the shit out of you and am absolutely Throbbing while doing so." Benny lets another feral smile cross his face as he pummels Dukes and his mech.

[siegwardofcatarina]

Light up the Night snuck behind the huge mech as Duke was distracted by the other rebels. Four light arrows found themselves embedded in another generator before exploding into shrapnel and quickly dissipating. Derek wasn't going to give Duke the chance to soak up more energy from him. While Fear Factory was a powerful foe, it was still all by itself. If they could use their numbers to out maneuver Duke, they could beat him.

Still, Derek found himself thinking about Benny's words and actions. He was far more deranged than Derek expected, possibly to the point of being a complete liability. His actions in this fight alone has already earned him some ire from his 'teammates'. His way of thinking was also incredibly dangerous, how long could Derek expect Benny to stay an ally? They were still technically on the same side, so Derek would fight alongside him for now.

[killeroftheminge]

Fist after fist see into Fear Factory, the punches reverberating and rocking the machine around as it took every punch. Dukes grit his teeth as he endures the salvo, whilst still receiving warnings from his generators. So, those little punks got their shit together, we're coordinating their attacks. That was good, cause it would've been far too easy fighting them all one at a time and killing them that way. 

"So you're working together now, good good. Makes this way more fun than I thought it'd be. Not to mention you're starting to plan this shit out, which means-" Dukes trails off as PowerShifter glows an ominous blue, as anot her ball of energy begins to form in the chest region of Fear Factory. Rather than stay as a spherical shape, the energy shot into the arms of the machine, before the whips shot back out of Fear Factory, more energy popping and crackling around them. The fists continued to rain down on his shoulder, denting and bending the armor around it, but that was what he needed, to keep PHM in place. Timing it just right, Dukes shot a whip towards Benny's mech, wrapping it around his machine's neck. Pulling swiftly, Fear Factory threw PHM to the side before it began dragging the rebel fighter mech along the ground at high speeds, kicking up a cloud of dust to obscure the rest of the party's vision. Dukes cackled madly as he added a bit of juice to whip, heating up the metal before lifting him over his head and slamming him into the ground outside of the swirling dust cloud, releasing his hold. Now it was time for the lightshow. 

"So you boys want your independence? You skeezers even know what 4th of July is, cause HERE COMES THE FIREWORKS!!!" Suddenly, Fear Factory begins to spin along with the dust cloud, spreading it's arms and shooting lazer blasts everywhere, whilst swinging it's whips around, using the energy to create highly powerful energy sheaths around them, making them far more deadly to touch.