Chapter 182 - Epilogue: Part 6

　　Flo couldn`t fall back, the Vore were pressing the attack on all sides, and the Titans were the only thing keeping the entire line from collapsing. In front of her Mech, below and above, Soldier variants were raining burning plasma onto her Mobile Suit`s shields.

　　Her Titan glowed like the sun, absorbing what energy it could and converting it to its own use. But there were limits to what even a Titan could do. There were too many, spaced too far apart, for her to destroy quickly.

　　Pleiades struck back where it could, using devastating gravity attacks to counter the worst of the assault, but it was apparent to Flo that even with two dozen Titans, they couldn`t make up for the incredible gap in numbers.

　　And unlike humans, the Vore were replenishing their ranks without end.

　　Beside her, Katherine`s Eos was doing its best not to be caught in Vore`s press. Even her hyperspeed was being countered by the Vore`s attacks. Like a net, they were using energy fields to cut off her escape, forcing her to act in an area that shrank with every moment.

　　She lashed back like a trapped rat, striking where she could, but she was steadily losing ground against the Vore.

　　Landing on one of the Manta-like creatures, Ursa, the Titan of Sairon slammed its weapon down against the flesh of the beast. Despite the lack of atmosphere, a shockwave emerged from the hammer, spreading out and blasting away all its nearby foes.

　　The Titan was covered in black Vore blood from its rampage. Lucky for Ursa, the vulnerability of its systems to the Vore`s infection had been eliminated decades ago, leaving it free to run amok without fear of contamination.

　　Ursa`s ability to build kinetic energy in its frame and weapon could be used to devastating effect, evidenced by the floating remains of the Vore that it left in its wake. It shredded its enemies, ripping and smashing through them with an unmatchable ferocity.

　　Next to it, Pax of Castillo, the unassuming and plain-looking Titan, shot at the defenceless Vore in front of it. Pax had been created to counter Mobile Suits, generating a unique energy field around it that interrupted the Neural Link between Pilot and Machine.

　　After the first battle with the Vore, its abilities had been tweaked to include a disruption to the Vore`s thought processes. The closer to the Mech that the Vore Drones and Soldiers came, the slower they reacted until they seemed to close their eyes and fall asleep.

　　The peace` Pax granted to its enemies allowed the Titan to efficiently dispatch them.

　　Finishing off another Soldier variant, Pax took off to the next group while Gargantua of Yamada fired a salvo of missiles against the Manta that Pax had incapacitated. The Titans worked well together, working in concert to eliminate their foes.

　　Pax would disable the Vore, while Ursa and Gargantua eliminated them with ruthless efficiency.

　　Gargantua was created to unleash destruction on its enemies. With more weapon systems than any other Titan, it overwhelmed every foe to face it.

　　Until a Monarch arrived.

　　The towering monstrosity that was the pinnacle of Vore evolution appeared out of a swarm of covering Drones and Soldiers. Before Pax could respond, a spear of psychic energy pierced its cockpit, gouging a hole through its thin armour.

　　Pax was a support Mech, not designed for full frontal encounters. It relied on its abilities and the support of other Mechs to perform. Against a surprise attack by a Monarch, there was nothing it could do.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

　　With that, the first Titan fell.

　　With a scream of rage, Ursa launched itself at the Monarch, its hammer filled with stored kinetic energy swept toward the seemingly defenceless creature. Holding up its four arms, it formed a psychic barrier of protection that slowed the hammer`s descent.

　　"Unbridled Brutality!` The young Pilot of Sairon shouted, her voice filled with rage as the Titan influenced her personality.

　　The stored Kinetic energy began to enhance the Titan`s physical strength, and its frame filled her cockpit with creaks and groaned from the strain. The hammer, stationary under the Monarch`s superior powers, began to inch its way toward its unprotected head.

　　Concerned that it was losing the contest with the Titan, the Monarch let out a psychic scream that carried across the battlefield. Its body began to vibrate, and its flesh bulged obscenely.

　　"Retreat!" The Yamada Pilot shouted as he fired a ray of crimson energy at the Monarch. It pierced the torso of the Vore, punching a hole clean through. But the barrier that had been repelling the descending hammer was now forcing it to remain.

　　Too late, Ursa sought to release the hammer, only for the Monarch to explode before it could escape. Acidic black blood covered the Titans body, swiftly eating away at its armour. In seconds, the cockpit was exposed, and a streak of burning plasma from a nearby Vore Soldier ended the Sairon pilot`s life.

　　Screaming with rage at the loss of two of its allies, Gargantua fled, all while firing wildly into the mass of approaching Vore.

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　　"We need to retreat! This planet is lost. We can`t slow their advance if we`re all dead." Alexander advised his brother. Argyle was the leader of the Andromeda expedition, but the strategy against the Vore would come from the young Prince.

　　His sins against the Empire had been hidden from the public in exchange for his help against the Vore and his exile to Andromeda.

　　The battle had been going well, but their assumptions against the Vore had led them to fatally underestimate them. They had assumed that the Vore would be significantly weakened by their first encounter, leaving them a shadow of their former power.

　　They hadn`t expected them to recover so much on the journey to Andromeda. Where had the Vore obtained the resources to rebuild their forces? Had it been contained within that strange orb that had escaped them all those years before?

　　"We`ve lost another Titan!" A crewmember updated them, adding another to the list of causalities. They had lost seven Titans in the last half an hour, along with tens of thousands of Mechs. The Vore had evolved their tactics, flanking and cutting off their forces.

　　They needed to withdraw now or risk having to leave some of their troops behind.

　　"Sound the retreat! Get everyone back here before-" Argyle was cut off by a warning alarm blaring throughout the command center.

　　"Unknown Jump signature detected!" The ship`s computer communicated, and their sensors showed a distortion in front of their Starships.

　　"Reinforcements? They`re too early. We weren`t expecting them for hours." Alexander wondered. Had he been wrong about their response as well?

　　Alexander had estimated that it would take hours, if not days, to gather reinforcements from amongst the settlements. With fresh troops, he could throw back the Vore, resupply and rearm his battered forces and delay the Vore for even longer.

　　The Jump portal formed in the midst of the thousand Starships, well back from where the fighting was taking place. Safe and secure in the rear of their forces, they were acting as a repair and resupply point for the conflict.

　　The distortions grew stronger, indicating that it was a significant force emerging from the Jump. Alexander estimated that it was at least a hundred Starships, possibly led by Titans, if the sensor readings were accurate.

　　He felt a sense of relief. Maybe they would be able to pull off a victory here yet.

　　The crew were hopeful throughout the command center as they watched their viewscreens, expecting to see reinforcements emerge. That hope turned to horror as a half dozen Vore Monarchs led an army of millions through the Jump.

　　The creatures had learned much since their last encounter with humanity, especially about their tactics. It didn`t matter how many Vore attacked them. Humans could flee in their Starships at any time, denying the Vore what they sought.

　　But without their Starships, they would not be able to flee.

　　The last image Alexander had was the resigned look of acceptance and regret on his brother`s face as the command center collapsed around them. With an explosion that lit the darkness of space, the Starship exploded as the Monarch crumpled the Starship with its Psychic powers.

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　　Flo watched in horror as the Starship`s detonated in great flashes of white light at their rear. She could hear the screams on her communication channel until she finally disabled it to spare herself from the noise.

　　A thousand Starships, their only means of escape, had been destroyed in minutes.