Stellar Ascent: Part 7

*The border ablaze!! Up north, Diane and Ainer struggle against a furious Etwal. But back down south, the Great States border is under siege. When we last checked out in the wasteland, the fervent Stell and aloof Gamound were locked in an explosion-filled rumble with a pair of destructive vagabonds - Ryos and Poppet! While Ryos struggled with his new protege's lack of planning, Gamound gained the upper hand by utilizing Stell's unique technology. Now that Ryos and Poppet's team up has been thrown into disarray, what will happen?!*

Poppet had no one left to reward her. She roamed countrysides and flew over canyons, but she was absolutely alone. All the castles and all the townships - they all looked just like her smoldering home. This was the state of the southern Empyreal Realm. Each night she would return to the remnants of her castle and stare optimistically at the stars through the hole in her roof.

Nothing can only become something. The more nothing you have, the more something you can get later. Poppet the Mad Bomber, the black hole of positivity.

~ ~ ~

Poppet charged in towards the border barricade, firing missiles at every cluster of robots that she saw. After a dozen lessons from Bigman Ryos, she had learned a trick or two. Ryos had fought against the Great States' border forces multiple times, and each time he had been matched move-for-move by their eccentric general. So when Ryos met the young duchess with an erratic and explosive combat style, he thought he could adapt her into his strategy. Or maybe it was like taking in a feral animal out of pity. Either way, it was a calculated gamble.

The two became separated, their loose, unified strategy was being systematically dismantled. While Poppet flung bombs at the border wall, Ryos was being surrounded by the enemy - a union of the wit of the Great States general Gamound, and the infinite resources of an officer of the Sector Authority. To this, Poppet was oblivious and kept firing away at what Ryos now realized were decoys.

Ryos was thinking for two. The noose was tightening. A simple destabilization job had turned into a big debacle.

Inspiration.

Ryos's robots let out a bright glow and rapidly formed into his most powerful robot, the titan Ion, and let out a powerful burst that locked all those surrounding him in place. He regained Poppet's attention. This was the only moment Ryos had.

"The target is me! Fire!!"

Suicidal. The gambit: Poppet unleashes all her bombs on Ryos, decimating the forces surrounding him. Would his Ion's armor be enough to withstand it? Ryos flipped a mental coin on it.

And so the mad duchess darted away from the border walls and straight for Ryos, firing everything she had. Giant fiery explosions rocked the battlefield, with a finale that blew away all the debris. What was left standing: Ryos and his robot, shredded and damaged, but still on its feet nonetheless. The Great States forces converged, using the spectacle as a chance to destroy most of Poppet's neglected robots - she had used most of her forces' collective energy on the assault on her partner. The gambit had "worked" but Ryos' enemies had matched his strategy yet again.

Without hesitation, a volley of rockets and a stream of lasers and bullets cut through the air and towards the destructive duo and struck them down, tearing their remaining robots to pieces.

Ryos' eyes opened slowly, knowing that they had lost, and that he wouldn't be getting paid. He looked around and searched for his demented protege, maybe her robot was still operational enough for an escape. He heard her voice in the distance - happy as usual. Directly above his head, she spiraled in her cracked and peeling robot, and looked ready to keep the fight going as if nothing had even happened.

Nothing can only become something. The more nothing you have, the more something you can get later. Poppet the Mad Bomber, the black hole of positivity.

Her engines gave out, her robot tumbled to through the air, straight toward where Ryos stood. The big guy said his peace and shrugged, willing to accept the karmic retribution he had been long overdue for. But then, all the metal and wreckage began flickering, and a second later, Ryos was being engulfed in light brighter than the sun. The remains of Ryos's gigantic robot twitched and hobbled, raising its head upward, out of his control, and Poppet's jubilant ranting was all he could hear as her flying machine came closer to the ground.

The ruined robot raised its fist and caught Poppet's machine, and an explosion of pure energy poured over everything and swelled the ground. A figure rose and tore through the light, dispelling it completely. This was it: a power never before seen by anyone on Sigaea - four robots combined as one.

Poppet herself fell onto Ryos' shoulders and they both slowly gazed upwards at the twisted beast that floated above them.

"Poppet. Tell me, did you do this?" Ryos queried, as a father would ask a daughter, or a dog.
"Yeah! Yeah." she nodded, still sitting on his shoulders.
"And now, tell me, can you command it?" Ryos continued his line of questioning.
"No." She said bluntly.
"Ok." he was already in the mental process of finding escape routes.

The robot's dangling tentacles whipped and in a flash it was gone and rocketing towards the border, shattering the air behind it. The pair was knocked to the ground.

"Hey! Hey bigman. It's called the Ellgelion. It told me that."
Ryos: "Yeah. It told me too."

The two sat and watched the havoc unfold in the distance.