[WARNING: MASSIVE ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED]
[MECH SUIT POWER: 60%]
[LASER PISTOL POWER: 48%]
[CONCLUSION: HOST SHOULD NOT ENGAGE. PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION]
The warnings flooded Aiden's visor one after another, the text steady and cold as if it did not care that everything around him was falling apart. He already knew the truth behind them. Even if he burned every last bit of power left in the mech suit and the pistol, it would not be enough to bring something like that down.
Worse, J.E.M. had detected an unusual amounts of energy from such a monster.
Aiden's thoughts flashed back to the mutated deer and the lightning it had spewed at him from point blank range. The memory sent a chill through him. If this creature was anything similar, then one clean hit would be enough to wipe out everyone still standing.
Even Talren stood frozen, his face pale and his hands shaking as his eyes locked onto the massive shape ahead.
"Th-this...!" Talren stammered, his voice barely holding together. "How could there be a Siege-class Beast at the outskirts of the Forest of Death!"
This was only the outskirts, an area that should not hold something like this. They were not even near the Outer Zone yet. Ironhide boars had already pushed them to the edge, but this monster stood far beyond anything they could handle or hope to fight.
Talren turned to Aiden and shouted, panic breaking through his usual character.
"That is a siege class beast! We cannot fight it! It can fire a tier three mana blast from its mouth, at the very least! We need to retreat now!"
Aiden caught only parts of what Talren said. Words like mana and tier meant nothing to him, but the message was clear enough.
Run or die.
He looked around the settlement.
Bodies were scattered across the ground, more than twenty already lost to the stampede. Some lay motionless, while others groaned faintly where they had fallen. The tents were gone, crushed into the dirt until only broken poles and torn fabric remained. Even if they survived this moment, there was nothing left that could be called a home.
At that moment, Aiden still hesitated. He had the option to let the natives run to his base, and that choice would keep them alive. At the same time, it would expose the ship. The thought sat heavy in his chest, and he knew that once the ship was seen, there would be no taking that risk back.
Aiden's hands curled into tight fists.
Lives were on the line.
He suddenly realized that he had hesitated, even for a brief moment, while people were dying in front of him. The realization made his chest tighten, and anger rose inside him, not at what was happening, but at himself for stopping when he should have acted.
His parents would have never hesitated.
They were the kind of people who always acted when others could not. As researchers, they spent their lives saving people they would never see and helping those who would never know their names, and they were proud of that work. Aiden had grown up watching them live that way, and it was the reason he chose the path he did.
Now, standing here and hesitating, he felt a deep sense of failure. He knew this was not how they would have acted, and that understanding weighed heavily on him as he forced himself to move forward.
Aiden turned to Talren with a sharp motion.
"Gather your people and protect them. Follow this device. It will guide you to my place. It is safe there."
Aiden pulled out the flying drone and activated it with a quick motion. The siege class beast was still focused on the boars, crushing them under its weight and swallowing them whole without slowing. As long as beasts attention stayed there, they still had a small window to act.
"J.E.M., control the drone and lead them to the ship." Aiden said.
He waited.
[....]
Seconds passed, each one stretching longer than the last. The sounds of destruction continued in the distance, but there was no response in his visor.
Aiden's jaw tightened as doubt crept in, his awareness locking onto the shrinking power reserves and the strain running through every system, knowing he could not afford hesitation from J.E.M. now.
"J.E.M., do as I say!" he snapped, his voice low but carrying clear authority.
[....]
[COMMAND CONFIRMED. EXECUTING]
The drone lifted and moved, projecting a clear path away from the settlement.
Talren reached out and grabbed Aiden's arm, forcing him to stop. His grip was firm despite the shaking in his hand.
"What about you?" Talren asked, his voice tight with fear and urgency.
Aiden turned his head slightly.
"I will distract it. Just long enough for you to get away."
Talren's grip tightened instead of loosening. He shook his head once, disbelief and fear mixing in his expression.
"No! That is a siege class monster! One mistake and you will really die!"
Aiden raised his hand and released the seal on his helmet. The mask slid open, exposing his face to the cold air. Sweat traced down his skin, but his breathing was steady. His eyes were focused, clear, and calm. There was no panic in them, only decision.
Talren fell silent.
He studied Aiden's face and felt a brief shock at how young he looked up close, far younger than someone making this kind of decision should be. As he kept looking, understanding settled in. This was not a rushed choice or blind courage. Aiden had already accepted the risk, weighed it carefully, and chosen his path anyway.
Slowly, Talren's grip loosened. His hand slipped from Aiden's shoulder, and his posture sagged slightly as the weight of the moment settled in.
"Thank you..." he said, his voice rough and strained.
Talren wanted to stay. Every part of him screamed to fight beside Aiden. But pain burned through his body, and his injuries made the truth clear. If he stayed, he would only get in the way.
Turning away was the hardest choice he had made that day.
Aiden watched as the people began to move, following the drone as it guided them away from the ruined settlement. Some turned their heads again and again, fear written clearly on their faces as they looked back at the chaos they were leaving behind.
Others kept their eyes forward, gripping children or injured companions, placing their trust in the path Aiden had given them. The ironhide boars, still driven by panic, paid no attention to the retreat. They rushed past in broken lines, focused only on escaping whatever hunted them.
But... as if fate had played a trick on them.
The larger beast took notice on them.
Aiden saw its serpent like eyes shift, tracking the movement of the fleeing group with slow and deliberate focus. The creature's tongue slid out as it tasted the air, following the direction they were heading. Its body adjusted slightly, weight shifting as if preparing to move.
Aiden felt the moment stretch, and panic cut through him when he realized where the creature's attention might go next. The boars were fast, loud, and moving in groups, and instinct told him the beast could simply ignore everything else and chase the largest moving targets. If it did that, the people running behind the drone would stand no chance.
He had already seen how fast it could move.
The way it crushed trees and closed distance without effort told him everything he needed to know. The natives were injured, exhausted, and burdened with the wounded and the young. They would not be able to outrun it. If the creature chose them, it would catch them in moments, and there would be nothing left to protect.
That outcome could not be allowed.
Aiden understood then that there was only one way to change its focus.
He stepped forward, placing himself directly between the beast and the retreating people. His boots pressed firmly into the ground as he squared his stance, shield raised and angled to be seen clearly. He made no attempt to hide. Every movement was deliberate and visible, meant to draw attention. He needed the creature to see him as the greater presence, the immediate obstacle.
His thoughts narrowed until nothing else mattered. He needed time. He needed its eyes on him. He could not let it turn.
The weight of the shield settled fully into his arm as he locked his position, fully aware that once the creature focused on him, there would be no retreat and no second chance.
"J.E.M., use one hundred percent of the mech suit's power.." Aiden said.
[WARNING: POWER RESERVES AT CRITICAL POINT]
"Just do it." he replied quietly.
The mech suit surged to life, the hum deepening into a heavy vibration that ran through his legs, spine, and shoulders. Power flooded the servos, forcing his body into a reinforced stance as the system pushed past safe limits. He grabbed one of the remaining spears and drove it into the ground, then planted the second beside it, anchoring himself in place.
He pulled one spear free and threw it with everything the suit could give.
wHoOOssH!!
The spear tore through the air, crossing the distance faster than the eye could track.
bOOOM!!
It struck straight into the creature's eye. The beast had been too focused on the fleeing humans to react in time.
gRRRaaAAHHH!!
The monster erupted in violent movement, its massive body ripping into the ground as it roared. Dirt and broken stone flew as it thrashed, pain and rage shaking its entire frame. Its remaining eyes snapped toward Aiden, locking onto him with burning fury.
The attention had shifted.
Now there was no turning back.
Energy gathered at its mouth.
Warnings exploded across Aiden's visor.
[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]
[ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED]
[EXTREME HEAT BUILDUP]
[PROJECTED RANGED ATTACK]
[IMPACT WARNING]
[CRITICAL THREAT LEVEL]
"Disable notifications...." Aiden said.
The warnings vanished as if they had been cut off in a single instant. Aiden forced his focus inward, shutting out everything else, knowing that if he was going to block this attack, he would need his full attention on what was coming next.
He could feel the energy anyway. The pressure in the air reminded him of a hydro laser cannon he had once seen during a military drill. The same heavy feeling pressed against his chest.
Aiden raised his shield and planted it into the ground. The mech suit locked into position, motors screaming as it braced itself.
"Shit... hope the shield lasts..." he muttered. "This is gonna hurt."
BAMMMMMMMM!!!
A beam of red light slammed into him, filling the battlefield with blinding brightness.
From a distance, Talren could only see the light.
"AIDENNNNN!"