Two orange blades of light instantly erupted from his bound arms.
Squelch-squelch-
His light blades sliced the long flesh serpent coiled around him into a dozen pieces as easily as chopping vegetables. He swiftly jerked his head up, retracted his plasma swords, and extended row after row of 50 mm cannon barrels from his arms with a mechanical clatter.
"Targets locked-count: 17-high-explosive incendiary rounds loaded-"
"Exterminate-"
Bang bang bang bang bang-
Incendiary rounds spun out of the barrels, instantly turning the positions occupied by the tentacles and flesh humanoids into a sea of fire.
"Reloading ammunition-preparing second suppressive volley-reload prepa..."
"Warning-"
The screen on his helmet flashed red. He whipped his head around, but it was already too late.
The ground burst open. A huge, elongated, ring-shaped beast opened its bloody maw and lunged, clamping its jaws around his upper body before dragging him underground with a rush.
"Aberrant Stitchbeast encountered-frame sustaining severe physical damage-frame destruction at 64%-survival probability: 13%-initiating energy overload-forced consciousness upload-"
Bzzzt-
A tremendous surge of energy suddenly erupted underground, blasting a crater more than ten meters across into the ground. Masses of flesh dripping green blood and shattered mechanical components flew into the sky along with dirt and rubble.
The Mechanical Race suffered its first casualty.
But the ambush continued.
"Attack! Don't let them deploy the Beacon!"
With that savage roar, a flesh humanoid stamped down and leaped into the air. Letting out a long howl, his body suddenly swelled and transformed into a faceless giant several meters tall.
His enormous iron fist slammed into a mechanical spider's energy shield, instantly spreading countless cracks across it.
Boom-
Boom-
Under that relentless barrage of blows, the mechanical spider's shield shattered.
"Initiating preliminary energy overload-close-combat mode-eliminate-"
The mechanical spider abruptly raised its head. Harsh red light flashed across