[dcs_p]Before she had finished switching her own ammunition, the center area of the
ceiling collapsed into fragmented sections of flame and light. The hot chunks
rained down into the room, providing Sawaka with the moment’s distraction she
needed. She quickly fired off two shots of her ammunition at the Purifier, both of
which failed to directly hit her foe. However, the highly explosive shells did
detonate less than a meter away from the armor, throwing it off balance under an
enormous concussive blast.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]The Purifier armor fell to its side, but didn’t take long in returning to its feet. If the
cavalry had not arrived, it likely would have made short work of Sawaka despite
all her training. Now it opened fire again on her, but disregarded aim in favor of
simple suppressive fire.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]As soon as this third blast subsided, Sawaka jumped to her feet and aligned
herself with the doorway’s frame.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]A fraction of a second later, newly-painted Achileus and Longinus battle armor
suits poured through the opening. The weren’t alone either. Sawaka struggled
not to move as she witnessed Clan Elemental armor descend through the holes in
the ceiling. Their fiery jets struggled to right them as short range missiles shot
from the twin ports just behind the heads on each suit. The missiles thundered
into the Purifier, crashing its camouflage systems and burying it in a great wall of
bright heat.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]With a squad of each Longinus and Achileus armor and a single point of five
Elementals now in the factory, Sawaka knew the full strike team had likely
arrived. It was time to make her exit. She was in over her head and calculated
she might achieve a retreat without pursuit.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Sawaka slipped just past the last Longinus-armored trooper and broke into a
silent sprint across the darkened grounds outside. The surprise guests had
arrived rather expectedly, but it was sheer luck they’d saved her also. She
silently thanked them as she made her way to the southern edge of the security
fence. Not much further.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]The Strikers mercenaries were strong at times, yes, but that was overshadowed
tonight by their apparently disorganized battle strategy. Sawaka knew that such
a weakness was common to mercenary units, which were typically made up of
both professional and amateur soldiers equally. There was simply no reason for
so many battle-armored troopers to enter a single complex, especially when they
were failing to even monitor the surrounding area.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]She had studied the weaknesses of this particularly unit before but had never
before believed tactics to be one of their setbacks. She couldn’t help but
unconsciously twist her head at the oddity as she slowed her sprint to a run,
nearing the first outer fence.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]It was then that a bolt of laser light pierced the sky just over the building. It
appeared to be something larger than any of the battle armors could carry. Only
a second later, one of the Elemental armors burst from the top of the complex, its
armor apparently crashing through a portion of the remaining roof. It fired its own
weapons wildly in what seemed to be pure desperation.[/dcs_p]