But thankfully, the good guys won that fight. All forty-four suits now co-opted via the last failsafes that a wise Andrew Richter had made. The last failsafes that the Dragonslayers could use. It was poetic irony that this S-class threat would be used to prevent the same apocalypse that they would have been a part of.
"We have one shot at saving the world." Saint grimly reminded through the comms to his comrades in arms.
"It's just like in the movies!" Dobrynja's thick russian accent pointed out with a chuckle.
"They'll make this one into a movie one day and it's going to spawn an entire franchise!" Mags laughed along.
"We're not in it for the glory." Saint admonished- but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "But yes, it is just like the movies and the comics."
He couldn't deny them that- taking joy in their job. Saving the world from the rampant inhuman AI was why they had formed the Dragonslayers after all, and he was the one who had dragged them into this thankless task. But glory or no glory, the Dragonslayers will prevent the world falling to madness and from the one who would herald its beginning. Magos… a brilliant but unquestionably mad evil genius. He was the Joker to their Batman. The Lex Luthor to their Superman. The Thanos to their Avengers. A worthy villain for worthy heroes.
The three of them certainly made for a heroic sight. They rode in three Dragon suits that they had claimed from the AI and adapted for actual human pilots. Ensconced under the reassuring safeguards of a dozen defences and redundancies, it was from within that shell that they guided the rest of the 44 Suits of the Dragonflight.
Dobrynja piloted the {Isaiah}. Armed with an energy halo that could double as both a point-defence system and a precision energy weapon at medium range.
Mags piloted the {Michael III}. Armed with an enormous sword that was also capable of shooting highly destructive beam of energy.
And he himself piloted the {Victory I}. Less of a Suit made for direct combat and more of a command unit. It nonetheless had enormous wings that were capable of creating powerful forcefields.
As they flew among the nimbostratus clouds, the city by the bay appeared far below them. A great blue semi circle dotted by the PRT HQ that floated at the centre. A sprawl of dull square little boxes criss-crossed by gridlock roads enveloping the bay's shores with a broad outer perimeter of unkempt American suburbia. The massive concrete factory-cathedrals of Magos' Mechanicus were noticeable even at this great altitude- the host of circular structures with their spiky steeples standing apart from the squat rectangular buildings and rising above the green forest.
"Magos has spotted us." Saint informed them as the sensor information showed Magos' servitors streaming out of the factory-cathedrals. The muzzle flashes of those {Autocannons} giving them just a second or two of warning before the shells began detonating around them in mid-air. Shrapnel glancing over their thick armours.
One of the smaller Suits on the outer edges of the aerial formation took a direct hit to its main thruster though- bright orange fire exploding from its thrusters as it spiralled down to the earth in a trail of smoke.
"Deploying my point defence system, stay close to me as we descend." Dobrynja informed Mags and him who complied with the Russian-born man. The golden halo surrounding the {Isaiah} brightening as they moved closer- flaring out to lash with thin golden whips to strike at Autocannon shells that get too close to them.
This was it.
All they need to do is engage Magos and Dragon while they are vulnerable outside his factory-cathedral. Between the 43 Dragonflight Suits and their own Suits, they had an immense amount of firepower at their disposal. Magos' tech was powerful, but even they could not deny that Dragon's tech was just as powerful.
"Magos spotted, sending coordinates to you both." Saint reported to them. The tiny block of red walking down the road on crab legs, on top of it, a dot of green where Dragon's prime core was alongside an…
"Saint… is that Eidolon unconscious beside Magos?" Mags muttered in disbelief through the comms, and for Saint, it wasn't much of a decision.
"Don't worry about collateral damage." he grimly reminded them, "If we fail to stop Dragon here, everyone on Earth is dead anyway. So, as we have discussed: let the Dragon Suits whittle down his defences. Then we'll deliver the decisive strike… Regardless of who is danger close."
He could sense some hesitation at the prospect of having to kill a Triumvirate member in their sleep, but Saint took pride in that he had instilled his wisdom into them.
"... understood." Both of them nodded. They may not be the best heroes, but they were heroes all the same.
On his sensor screen, his eyes widened as there- on the multi-purpose colour display screen in front of him was Magos who had apparently stood up from his throne- staring up at them in apparent shock. And such a sight filled Saint with hope, this robot-fetishizing maniac was taking them seriously. Not even he was able to look at the assembled force they had and joke his way out of this.
"He's scared…" Saint whispered in awe as an excited shiver ran down his spine.
"What?" Mags muttered dumbly. "Magos? Scared? That doesn't-"
"Magos knows we caught him while he's vulnerable!" Saint encouraged them with a cheer, "He is scared!"
"Let's not get overconfident, Saint." Dobrynja cautioned- his Isaiah mech's halo still shooting down Autocannon shells.
"Agreed, a cornered rat fights twice as hard." Saint nodded in consensus, "But this is the sign we need, Dragonslayers: We can win this, and our enemy knows it."
His eyes took on a focused gleam at the red-robed figure sitting on his throne.
"He is practically shaking in fear."
[Streets of Brockton Bay] (A few minutes later)
I was still doing my little jig of excitement- wiggling restlessly on my throne atop my scuttling {Onager Dunecrawler}.
Forty-three Dragon Suits all gathered here with me as their target? It was beautiful, sexy and oddly adorable!
With the Celestial Forge perk [Way of the Void Dragon, I had an intuitive feel for any machine. Just as aircraft pilots could perform complex maneuvers completely by second nature or professional piano players with complicated movements from muscle memory, it was second nature for me to know my way around the machine and even give them orders from afar. A techno-empathy and technomancy package all at once. If AI waifus were 3D women, then these machine-spirits were 2D anime girls that I can move like in a video game. Soulless and fictional, but still cute.
High above the city, they circled like vultures- endlessly taking turns to barrage me with their munitions. Right now, a medium-sized Dragonflight Suit- the {Astaroth}- performed her fire mission: a GAU-8 rotary cannon extending from its maw as four missile pods popped out of its draconic midsection. With a cute 'BRRRRRRRTT!', she unleashed her adorable payload: 97 AP rounds at approximately 6000 rounds per minute, and 24 high-explosive micro-missiles whistling as they shot towards me, the insensate Dragon and the loudly snoring Eidolon.
Astaroth had heart, but ultimately, both her bullets and the missiles popped ineffectually against the {Emanatus Force Field} of my {Onager Dunecrawler}. The scent of ozone drifting from its activation as the bullets and missiles were vaporised into a flash of lightning by the forcefield. Well, she wasn't going to be hitting me anytime soon. Actually… I glanced behind us at the trail of destruction: Ruined store fronts, cratered asphalt roads and blasted windows. All from her and her sisters' missed shots.
The cute Dragon Suit machine-spirit was trying her best, okay? Don't bulli.
It's not the machine-spirits' fault that they were being guided by a power-infused super moron with delusions of grandeur that had programmed their targeting rituals poorly.
The poor accuracy at their disposal only exacerbated an existing problem though. That is, Dragon's technology was many things: Robust, well-engineered, creative, effective… but lethal? Even my {Logis Acceleritas Mk. III} agreed with me on that.
Rudimentary solid slug ballistic weapons and high-ex micro-missiles… purely contemporary weapon designs despite Dragon being the preeminent tinker in the world.