Professional Dedication

Katerina struts down the hall. Her boots make a satisfying clack with each step she takes. She enters the repair bay. She inspects the area to find it quite empty, besides a lone worker who types away at a keyboard. “Where is the Chiyou Unit?” Katerina asks him. Upon noticing her, he stumbles up from his chair and gives her a salute. “U-uh she is in the training area Ma’am!” He tells her. Still clearly a little startled at her presence. “Alright. Thank you for all your hard work.” Katerina calmly expresses, before walking off to the indicated area. Each of her mannerisms are practiced and refined. She walks with both grace and authority that astounds anyone who sees her. The man only lowers his salute and returns to work once Katerina is out of the room.

As Katerina makes her way to the training room, she can hear grunts from around the corner. She approaches, just to find Chiyou practicing her form. Swinging her new spear with a frightening precision. “Hello soldier.” Katerina says to indicate her presence. “Ah! Commander!” Chiyou blurts out. She quickly drops her guard and gets on one knee. “Thank you for your assistance in rescuing me, Ma’am. I am eternally grateful to the world united government!” Chiyou says. She rarely is able to speak so formally, but she always makes an effort when talking to such a high up official like the commander in chief. “You may rise. I have come here to ask you for your field report in person. Please tell me everything that transpired.” Katerina says. Her demands are stern, but imply no hostility.

“Of course commander!” Chiyou quickly replies. She begins to rattle off the events of the day. Katerina is familiar with a lot of it already, but Chiyou refuses to spare even a single detail. She describes her battle with Hasty, and has to shamefully admit defeat. She adds a personal reflection to explain the reasons why she has lost and what she will do next time to ensure victory. Chiyou describes her journey dragging her wreck of a body for hours until she collapsed at the feet of her commander. “Thank you soldier. That is a good report. While I am disappointed with your loss I am glad you are already learning from it. We will begin some training regimens before your next deployment in order to iron out those creases.” Katerina tells her. “Thank you commander! I appreciate your-” Chiyou begins, before two other women walk in. “Oh, Istania and Lif!” She then says upon recognising the two.

Istania is wearing her usual uniform. An outfit similar to Katerina, but in navy blue and without the medals adorning the front. She has no sleeves, and her pants cut off high up her thighs. Hugging her legs tightly. A long red scarf hangs around her neck. She has short spikey salmon pink hair. Her expression is fierce as usual. She always emanates an energy of passive anger at the minimum. Her teeth are almost shaped like fangs. Next to her is the illustrious Lif. She has a bright red top, matching with Istania. She has black suspenders over them, and a fluffy blue skirt. Her hair colour is almost identical to Istania. The two compliment each other quite well. Lif has a similarly grating personality. But instead of being due to any aggression, it is arrogance that mostly defines her. She considers herself superior to almost everyone around her, and carries herself as such. She is incredibly prissy, and refuses to do anything she doesn’t like. She struts along, walking with a refined elegance that is not shared by her more brutish compatriot.

Chiyou does not really get along with either of them. She perceives their actions to be far more self centered than she can accept. She doesn’t feel the powerful dedication to the government she deems integral to their shared position. Regardless, she tries to keep herself from butting heads with them too much, at the request of her commander. “Ah, hello you two. What business do you have here?” Katerina asks. The two just keep wordlessly approaching the commander and Chiyou. “Hey, show some respect! Respond when the commander asks you something!” Chiyou frustratedly exclaims.

But the two are unresponsive to either of the woman’s words. It is by this point that Katerina understands that something is wrong with them, though the exact nature of the issue still alludes here. She takes a step or two back, trying to maintain a distance until she can determine the approximate threat level. It is only when Chiyou sees her commander remain cautious around the two that she notices something more could be amiss than simple bad behaviour. “What’s going on?” Chiyou demands. Her anger sharply grew. Any possible threat to her commander upsets her on a deep and profound level.

“Well… it seems our lord and saviour the commander has noticed.” Lif starts. Her words are drenched in a thick sarcasm that just emanates hostility. “It was a matter of time anyway. We don’t need the element of surprise to take these two down.” Istania replies. “What do you two think you are talking about!” Chiyou yells. Katerina is far more able to calmly assess the situation. “Chiyou, I don’t know how, but they seem to have been turned against us. You understand protocol, correct?” Katerina asks. Chiyou responds swiftly. “Of course! Protect and eliminate, in that order.” She says, as a fierce smile appears on her face. She points the tip of her spear to the two approaching robots. “I will destroy any threat to the commander and the united world government. Don’t think you are any different.” Chiyou tells the two. Her attitude is one of confidence and almost joy. Finally she is able to take out all the lingering frustrations from her previous failure. She will make it up to her commander.

The commander is not a battle unit. She is largely involved in the administrative side of battle. Running the military of the united world government. Issuing orders, developing battle plans, managing her troops. But she is not built to be on the front lines. So Chiyou’s main directive is to protect her at all costs. She may as well be as fragile as a human.

“I’d like to see you try!” Istania then yells, as she charges forward. Finally initiating combat. Istania grips the hilt of a blade on her back. She brings down the sharp end of her sword on Chiyou, who leaps in to block it with her own weapon. The two stare each other down, furious expressions adorning their faces. They struggle with each other, neither letting up even the slightest bit of strength. But they are interrupted as Lif then dashes to the side, and shoots out a beam of flame-like plasma from her hands. Chiyou quickly jumps back to avoid the blast. But Istania instantly follows up with another attack. Chiyou manages to defend once more, though her footing is not as strong as before, and she ends up stumbling back.

All the while Katerina confidently makes her way to the door behind the battle. But she finds it locked. Just as she attempts to open it a second time, she has to brace herself from a sudden gust of flame. “You think we would let you escape that easily? You aren’t taking us very seriously!” Lif cackles. Katerina is a little more alarmed, but always keeps her composure. She refuses to allow any threat to shake her conviction or appearance. Instead she evades the few more balls of fire lobbed towards her. She carefully examines the contents of the room. Due to the nature of its use, it is largely very empty. It resembles a dojo or something of the sort, considering most of the floor is padded and there are large mirrors adorning one wall. The room has a number of functions to assist training, but she assumes they are non-operable just as the door is.

There aren’t many options open to her, besides a small room to the side. It has a large window section made of bulletproof glass. It is often used for in-person monitoring during training sessions. The room itself has a few lockers and a speaker, but nothing else. However it still could be a good spot to seclude herself in until the fighting is over. Of course, the door is likely unusable too. But that doesn’t mean it’s completely inaccessible. “Chiyou!” Katerina yells out. “Break open this door and get me inside. You can defend me from there!” She swiftly explains. “Affirmative!” Chiyou confirms. She is still trading blows with Istania. But she holds back for a moment and takes a deep breath. As she exhales, a crackling noise begins to rev up. Then suddenly a few traces of sudden green streaks escape from her mouth. They appear around her arms, her waist, her legs. She looks up with a defiant stare, and a shit eating grin. Then she vanishes within an instant. She has temporarily engaged a higher surt level to exponentially increase her speed. To rush over to her commander. She smashes the door’s lock mechanism, and opens the door for Katerina. Holding it for her as she gingerly steps inside. A wave of flaming plasma comes rapidly hurtling towards her, but Chiyou swats it away with shocking efficiency. She then closes the door again, and pulls metal from the wall next to it over the front, barring any further access.

Istania and Lif are both offended by this apparent slight to them and their strength. Chiyou has the gall to momentarily ignore them like this. Despite being outnumbered, and as far as they are concerned, not as strong as either of them. Once the commander is secured, Chiyou turns back to face the two aggressors. WIth a sigh, she dismisses the swirling green energy around her. Returning to normal. Istania is outraged. “What?! Do you think I am not worth your full strength?!” She angrily yells. “I’ll show you!” The woman screams as she resumes her assault. She lets out a flurry of slashes. Chiyou evades and dodges as necessary, but is very quickly overwhelmed. She still manages to avoid the brunt of the damage, but with each new attack her enemy gets that much closer to hitting her. As she focuses on the bot before her, the two repeat the same manoeuvre as last time. Life dives to the side and lets out a blast of fiery hot plasma. Chiyou jumps to avoid it, but is caught by Istania’s follow up. The blade lands in Chiyou’s side, driving through the artificial skin and digging into the metal underneath. It does not cut clean through, but the metal is damaged and dented. Chiyou winces in pain, but doesn’t let it distract her. Lif doesn’t give the robot even a single moment to recover before another wave of plasma is sent towards her. She dodges one column of flame, then another. She attempts to bat away the third, but it seems to be a different consistency. It is not very dense, meaning the flame just envelopes her spear and burns Chiyou’s chest. The bandages she usually has underneath are singed and burnt, but still remain mostly intact. The bigger problem is the way her body suddenly heats up. Heat is never good for robots. Even a non penetrative blast like this is enough to dramatically raise the temperature of her shell, which starts to raidate inwards.

“SYSTEM NOTICE: OVERHEATING WARNING. CPU TEMPERATURE REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS. COOLANT SYSTEMS ENGAGED AT FULL CAPACITY. CEASE OVER EXERTING BEHAVIOUR TO PREVENT FURTHER HARM.” Chiyou’s system alerts. She grits her teeth. Lif’s flame abilities are quite effective against androids such as herself.

Her body is kept at the absolute highest temperature it can be at without starting to see adverse effects. It is necessary to use the full extent of the surt model and all of her other battle features. But it means soldiers like her are particularly vulnerable to temperature attacks. She will feel her system lag behind each little bit the temperature ticks up. She feels the instinct to gain some distance again and recuperate. But that’s exactly what they expect. So instead just as the flame blasts her body, Chiyou jumps forward into the brunt of the plasma. It dissipates slightly faster as she forces her way through it, and she manages to close the gap between her and Lif without Istania intercepting. She grabs the cloth of Lif’s shirt, and holds on tight. “Gotcha~” Chiyou says with a sinister snarl.

She then slams her forehead into the machine. Cracks form along Lif’s face. Her artificial skin is mostly intact, but the metal plating underneath is severely damaged. She follows up with a jab of her spear into the robot's side. But Istania is able to approach in time and knock Chiyou out of the way. She knicks Lif’s side, but it does nothing more than tear her outfit and her synthetic skin. No actual harm is done by the second attack. Chiyou swipes at Istania with her spear as she is shoved, but completely misses that one. All three of the robots are close to each other, but each takes a moment to calm down and plan out the next move. Chiyou is outnumbered. She knows that. Even if she trusts in her own strength, she will need to be careful to stay on top of the two. Otherwise she will be buried under a barrage of attacks and swiftly defeated.

The two are clearly temperamental and easy to anger. Chiyou isn’t exactly calm and composed herself, but it is certainly less in comparison. “Looks like it takes the two of you to fight me to a standstill. That’s just embarrassing~! I always knew I could take both of you.” Chiyou boasts. “How dare you…!” Lif grumbles with rage. Istania is less subtle in her anger. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” She yells, running at Chiyou with her sword ready. Motivated by anger, Istania’s movements are notably sloppy. Just as Chiyou wanted. She easily deflects each angered swing before counterattacking. She manages a few hits but nothing lasting. Unless she manages to pierce her shell, all Chiyou can hope to accomplish is to build up repeating blows that deal minor but cumulative damage.

Lif takes a bit longer to recover herself, as she is left quite dazed from the blow to the head. It seems like it rattled her system pretty significantly, much to Chiyou’s delight. While it may not be long lasting, being able to temporarily stress her CPU with a strong hit like that helps keep the fight a bit more manageable. Suddenly Istania makes a sweeping leg kick which catches Chiyou off-guard. Chiyou lands on the ground. “SUDDEN IMPACT DETECTED. INTERNAL SHELL INTEGRITY LOWERED TO 76% OF TOTAL STANDARD VALUE.” Her system warns her. She has no time to think about the implications, as she notices Istania’s blade is readied right above her. She quickly jerks her head to the right to avoid it as it comes down. Piercing the ground besides her. She attempts to escape, but as she is grounded, her mobility is heavily limited. Istania wants to take advantage of this opportunity provided to her. Her attacks are targeted and swift. Chiyou is as careful as she can to avoid each and every one, but that just isn’t possible. Her artificial skin is slashed and pierced. Istania’s sword is able to leave gashes in Chiyou’s artificial shell. Istania readies a far bigger attack with the hope to completely penetrate the shell. But Chiyou, still with her spear in hand, manages to slam the pole of her spear into Istania’s head right as Istania swings. Her sword still collides with Chiyou, but has lost a significant portion of its power and is rendered largely useless.

As Istania catches herself from stumbling and falling, Chiyou is given just enough time to jump up back to her feat. Lif has finally calmed down and cleared her head. Istania is soon to follow. The two robots stand next to each other in front of Chiyou. Everyone is being worn down but no decisive blows have been made. It is all just small wear and tear that will take its toll as the battle drags on. But Chiyou needs a little more. She can’t manage any victory without at least gravely pairing one of them. If this continues to be a battle of attrition, it will be one that she loses. Her surt module surges with power. The numerous circuits and wires throughout her body begin to glow a fluorescent green. A light so bright it can penetrate the rubber and silicone casing surrounding the metal conduits within. “ADJUSTING STRENGTH TO BATTLE SEVERITY. INCREASING BATTLE LEVEL AS NECESSARY” Her system log reads. The weight and strain Chiyou feels in her body starts to alleviate. She feels light, unencumbered, and capable. She hops on one foot, then the other, in order to adjust to the increased power within. It feels good.

Istania and Lif are able to identify the change in her demeanour. It is pretty clear her surt module is outputting more power and she is going to have the upper hand. Istania grips her sword and shifts to a slightly more defensive stance. Lif breaks out into a sprint. She strafes around Chiyou, maintaining a sizable distance as she does so. She releases a flurry of flaming plasma towards Chiyou. Istania is almost a little surprised at how quickly Lif is resuming the action, so she quickly follows suit and runs towards Chiyou. Chiyou chuckles to herself for a moment, before turning to Lif and the oncoming plasma. She almost vanishes, moving with a blinding speed. She weaves through the blasts. The heat barely even has time to transfer to her as it passes.

She arrives in front of Lif, who is astonished at how easily her attacks were avoided. She punches Lif squarely in the face. The bot is sent flying. She yells, but is silenced by the impact of slamming into the wall behind her. Chiyou then turns her attention to Istania, who is in hot pursuit. Hoping to attack in the split second that Chiyou’s attention is divided between the two. But the window has closed. Chiyou blocks Istania’s sword with her spear, and then lets out two quick piercing thrusts into Istania’s body. She manages to deflect the first but simply can’t keep up with Chiyou’s speed and is hit. The spear slides past Istania’s defenses, until it collides with her artificial skin. Like a hot knife through butter, the weapon faces no resistance as it slices through the outer layer of the robot’s body. Then it reaches the metal shell. While it does halt the momentum of the attack, it is not enough. The metal is torn and ripped through. Shards of it fall to the floor or are pushed and flung towards the center of Istania’s system. The computer systems underneath are then met with the tip of the spear. Her processing unit crumples in. Parts of her motherboard chip and fracture. Wires tear and are ripped in two.

The moment Istania is able to process the pain and damage, she musters all of her strength to move back and not let the wound grow. She dives back with such severity that she trips and falls onto her back. But it does at least accomplish the goal of avoiding Chiyou’s attack running all the way through her. But of course Chiyou does not let Istania’s recoil spare her. She charges forward to repeat the same action, but is instead hit with a concentrated beam of fire. It knocks her to her side and she hits the floor herself. She flings her head to the left, and sees that Lif has her hand raised. Despite still being left on the ground and struggling to stand, she put all of her energy into sending out a fire blast to prevent Chiyou from finishing Istania off.

Chiyou attempts to stand but stumbles once more back to the ground. She looks down at her body and finds most of the artificial skin on her left side has been entirely singed and melted off. The metal underneath is glowing bright red, and the heat is affecting her entire system. “CPU OUTPUT IS CLOCKING IN AT ONLY 67%, BELOW THE MINIMUM THRESHOLD FOR SYSTEM FUNCTIONS. CEASING USE OF: ADDITIONAL VISUAL SENSOR SYSTEMS LIVE RECORDING FUNCTIONS POWER OPTIMISATION FEATURES” Chiyou is unable to do much to stop this. Luckily she has yet to lose anything too core to her ability to fight. But as the non essential functions are shut down, that means whatever she loses next will be more important.

Being a bit more careful, she is able to stand up and survey the situation better. Lif is still clearly recovering, she will not be mobile anytime soon. But her long range capabilities prove that she is still a threat even now. Istania is scrambling on the ground. Her motor function must have been damaged from the blow as she isn’t moving right. Her left arm is limp by her side. Her other is gripping tightly on her sword handle, but it seems to be shaking quite a bit. She is unable to keep the weapon still. The same goes for her legs, which is causing the issue preventing her from standing. But Istania is far less threatening while stuck on the floor. So Chiyou prioritises, and begins to run towards Lif. Lif sees her coming, so is quick to respond with whatever attacks she can throw at the approaching machine. But since these are actions taken in a panic, and Chiyou is no longer being caught off guard in any way, dodging them is trivial. Chiyou is frustrated at the notable decrease in her speed after getting hit. Her systems are working at maximum power to blast her hot CPU with cold air and cold liquids, but they still take time.

Chiyou arrives at the grounded bot. “You dare try to take me out?! You are nothing to me!” She angrily screams. Her ego seems quite hurt by this scenario. “If I’m nothing, then don’t die.” Chiyou coldly replies, as she readies her spear for a clean strike to the chest. She shoves the weapon into Lif, with all the strength she is able to muster. At the exact instant that the weapon collides with Lif, a garish red light pours out of the incision created. Instinctively, Chiyou quickly retreats. Just as she does, a burst of fire erupts from the downed machine. Her surt module has responded to Chiyou’s increased output. Lif’s silhouette can barely be seen in the pillar of flame that now encases her. Her figure slowly but confidently makes it to her feet. The fire begins to dissipate. Lif stands with the confidence and elegance of before. Her shoulders and head remain alight, providing an almost heavenly glow to the rest of her body. She is able to manipulate the plasma and flames as if they are just another extension of her body. She gently raises her hand and points a dainty finger in Chiyou’s direction. A horrifying barrage of red plasma pellets fly with the speed of bullets. Chiyou sprints at top speed away, narrowly avoiding the onslaught. But she is struggling to consider any methods of approach. She quickly gets a look at her surroundings to find any methods of protection. It doesn’t take her long to make a break for Istania, who remains on the floor. She arrives behind the bot, maintaining eye contact with Lif the entire time. Istania bitterly yells at her. “Oh you want to use me as a shield? Fight without these cowardly tricks!” Chiyou completely ignores her, focusing solely on the battle.

Lif assumes a bit of a grim expression, but keeps her finger pointed at Chiyou all the same. The same barrage of fire comes hurtling towards the pair of bots. Chiyou braces behind Istania. The fire rapidly approaches, but instantly swerves just before hitting Istania and wraps around to target Chiyou. Chiyou darts back the moment she notices the change in direction, but is unable to escape in time. She is hit with piping hot drops of pure burning plasma. It actively melts through her shell, but it is not concentrated enough to dislodge the full plate. But as she runs, she is riddled with holes. “WARNING! SHELL BREACHED! MULTIPLE MINOR SHELL BREACHES DETECTED. QUICKLY SEAL TO RESTORE STEEL SHELL INTEGRITY.” Her system reads, but as always Chiyou is unable to do much about it until the battle is over.

Regardless she clutches her side, hoping it will aid her in some way. But the effort is in vain. She stays mobile, not letting Lif ever get a clean shot at her. Istania laughs as she watches Chiyou desperately evade. Chiyou keeps running through ideas to possibly close the gap between them. But she is also unsure if Lif has newfound close combat abilities that would render any attempt to get close fruitless. She is lost. But she is also experienced. She knows that when things get like this, there is very little she can do but dive in and adapt to the scenario. Keeping things open while taking a stand. So despite her system slowly losing efficiency with overheating, and certain functions dropping off one by one to lessen the load… She pushes forward. Perhaps because of, not in spite. She runs in a circle around Lif, but drifts inwards to get closer and closer while still dodging the beams and blasts. But eventually she is too close to reasonably keep up. So instead she makes a sharp turn and beelines for Lif’s location. Lif of course notices this and lets as much of her flame out as she can. A sheer wall of it rushes towards Chiyou. Chiyou keeps running, but reaches back and launches her spear right into the center of it like a javelin. Lif quickly has to respond with a beam of plasma to melt it as it flies. She manages to significantly dull its edge and slow its progress by the time it limply bumps into her stomach.

But the focus that she spent on it led her to miss Chiyou leaping high over the flames. Now falling down with an arm bent back, ready to strike. Chiyou’s fist collides with Lif’s jaw. She instantly is forced into a sudden 90 degree turn. The blow is so intense, it blasts the bottom half of her mouth clean off. Her jaw lands on the floor. The artificial skin covering it is ripped around where it came loose. The grey steel underneath is on proud display. Lif’s face is quite garrish. Her synthetic skin up to her cheeks are all torn off, exposing the cool metal underneath. Her gum is simply glued on to the steel structure of her face. Her tongue hangs limply from what is left of her neck. She clutches at where her mouth would have been. “How fucking dare you!” She screams out. Since her voice only comes from a microphone within her throat, she is still able to talk clearly. But she is quite clearly intensely rattled by the blow. She shoots out some plasma from her hand, but the attack is clearly choreographed and predictable. Chiyou dodges with ease and then lands an incredibly strong punch in Lif’s stomach. The dent can be seen even underneath her synthetic skin. Her abdomen is practically caved in after her strike. Lif stumbles back a little bit. It seems some of her important internal components were damaged by the steel shell pressing into them and crushing them.

But it is then when she begins to act erratically. Her body shakes. She desperately clutches her stomach and doubles over. Chiyou is a little confused. But what happens next is so sudden she has no chance to respond in any way. Without warning, a pure white light erupts from Lif’s stomach. Her surt module was significantly damaged, and all the power within is let out in a fierce explosion. The blast radius scorches every wall of the room. Hitting Istania and almost completely blasting Chiyou. Even Katerina is knocked onto the floor by the shockwave, despite the thick wall and glass shielding her from the bulk of it.

Chiyou is a complete mess, laying on her back. The front half of her body has completely melted. Her fragile mechanical innards have been scorched by the explosion, leaving almost nothing functioning. She only remains online due to her Surt module pulling out every stop to keep up. To continue pumping power through the few cables that cling to the processing unit in her head. Most of her artificial skin has been completely incinerated. So her metal shell is all that is visible. Lines of black carbon trace along the separated musculature of her steel body. She is also partly kept together by an opaque clear synthetic tissue to help her malleability and flexibility. But all of it has been reduced to a puddle on the floor that disgustingly meshes with the burnt pieces of clothing and skin material. “EE--ERRROR. M-UMULTIPLE SYS9SYTEM FAILURE. C-R-R-R-ITICAL ERRO-RO-R. SYSTENN SH-HUTDOWAAWN IMM-M-M-M-MENENT.” Her computer log shrieks. No longer able to compile a handy list of problems. The resources required to assess the damages are no longer available to the computer. “E-ENERGY OTPUTPT LOW… S-S-S-SURT MODULE T-TAKING OVE-ER PRIIMAARY PW-POWER R-R-R-RESPONNNSIBI-I-ILITY.”

She raises her right arm. It is thin, only the core metal structures and motors still intact. She is unable to keep it still. She then tries to sit up, but it takes longer than she thought it would. Each tiny fragmented movement is a struggle unlike any other. But she does manage to sit. After a little while longer, she manages to stand. Her face is still partly intact, since her arms managed to shield her slightly. Her right cheek has been removed, revealing the circuitry underneath. But the rest of her face, her hair, her eyes, it is all together. She glances around the room, first turning her attention to Katerina. She wants to run over and check on her but finds her body unresponsive to the movement she imagines in her head. Though her worries are soon put to rest as she watches through the mostly blackened glass that Katerina finds herself to her feet. The commander begins surveying the area herself, and the two make eye contact. Chiyou is able to push out a confident nod, assuring her leader that she is still operational. But now that she has confirmed Katerina’s status, she looks to see how Istania is doing. Unfortunately, she is far better off than Chiyou. She has even made it to her feet.

Chiyou grimaces. The fight is not over. Even though every slight movement is incredibly straining, she has to keep fighting. But she does not doubt the value and importance of the fight for even a moment. She gladly accepts that she must push herself even more. Chiyou begins to stagger towards Istania. Istania is slightly more capable at walking, but by no means normal. The two robots agonizingly drag themselves towards each other. A final attempt to crush the other. The two finally enter each other's range. Chiyou no longer has her spear. She has no weapon to use. So instead she focuses the last of her power into her physical strikes. Crackles of green electricity leak out of the hanging wires in her arm. She produces a surge of power and lunges towards Istania. Making the use of whatever is left in her. Istania stumbles out of the way and swings back with her sword. Chiyou clumsily avoids it.

The two are far slower and weaker than usual. But that is only in comparison to their usual cybernetic prowess. Now they resemble the speed and power of a human. Just slightly jankier movement. Chiyou weaves past another swing from Istania’s blade, and gets in very close. She places a low hard punch into Istania’s abdomen. She coughs up shrapnel on impact. But she holds steady and instead uses the handle of her blade to slam into Chiyou’s face. Chiyou is sent back reeling. She catches herself from falling, but does not have the time to attempt any sort of counter attack. Instead she is left with no choice but to brace herself for Istania’s follow up, a strong downwards slash.

Chiyou blocks with her left arm. The sword clangs against the metal of her arm, before powering through. Her arm crumples at the elbow, dislodging from her body. But it gave Chiyou just enough time to go in for a right hook and bash the enemy combatant before her. She is down an arm, so she knows this is her last chance. She doesn’t let up, punching Istania again in the stomach. Then finishing her off with a vicious uppercut that dislodged the robots head. Her neck bends back further than it ever should be able to, and she collapses onto the ground.

Chiyou remains in place, ragged. She cranes her neck one last time to look at Katerina. Still basically stuck in the room, blocked off by Chiyou’s successful attempt to seal the door to her hideaway. Chiyou begins taking careful steps towards her. “CCccc-ccommander… T-tht-rt-threat n-n-eut-tra-alized…” Chiyou sputters out. The microphone cuts out between each syllable, rendering her speech barely intelligible. But Katerina understands what the robot is attempting to say. Chiyou walks to the door, hoping to release her commanding officer. But as she steps towards her, there is a sudden fluctuation of power. A short circuit as her surt module attempts to direct energy into the now disconnected arm socket and thus releasing it all into the air. The sudden misplaced power causes her to pause for a split second. Short, but just long enough to interrupt her walking and make her trip. Chiyou comes crashing down to the ground, collapsing onto what is left of her stomach. “S--SYSYT-YT-TYEM PO-I-I-OWER LOWW-LOW-LOWW… R-R-REA-RECHARGE N-” Her computer begins warning her. But it is cut off as she impacts the ground. The sudden damage rendered her system completely inoperable, without even the time to process and log her shutdown.

Chiyou lays limp on the floor. Katerina watches, still stuck in this small room she finds herself trapped in. Her only option left to her is to wait until staff notices something is amiss and breaks in to investigate. Luckily she has a high quality, undamaged recording of the entire encounter. Despite the three destroyed robots and the completely ruined training room, Chiyou did her job and protected the Commander. Proof of her competence and dedication. It may have been mere moments since she was reactivated after her previous repairs, but Chiyou still gladly gave her life to her cause. A model soldier. Katerina keeps careful watch, in case against all odds one of the two enemies were somehow able to reactivate. But even when the soldiers melted the door off of its hinges to force their way in, the room remained dead still.

They rescue Katerina from the sealed off observation room. She informs the men on the nature of the battle. She instructs them to repair Chiyou and to investigate in what is left of Istania and Lifs code what could have caused this change in behaviour and betrayal. Then if the cause is found and removed, they are to be repaired as well. Katerina struts out of the room, leaving the rest of the work to the rank and file. Chiyou’s shambling corpse of broken metal metal and useless electronics are picked up and escorted to the repairment bay, where she lay mere hours previous.