Zoey and Viridi walked into the center of the room, stepping over mangled android corpses, some of which were still moving, futilely trying to crawl towards the others that were still functioning as they leaked their fluid onto the floor. Of course, the two of them did not leave the ones still alive behind, finishing them off with efficient strikes as they passed by.

What were they trying to do? Zoey wondered as she inspected the remainder of the flaming pile of machines she had detonated moments before. They were able to separate their own limbs and connect themselves to a larger structure made of other machines, but what were they trying to build? It doesn’t look like anything I have ever seen… Any ideas Praesidio?

“I’m afraid not… I would need to reconnect to the system itself to know what the collective intelligence intended.” replied the echo of the Dark Star Shard inside her mind.

Well, we stopped it in time, so I guess we won’t know for now. Let's get on with shutting this place down. “Viridi, you done cleaning up?” she asked aloud.

Viridi had been decommissioning the remaining machines and had just finished the last one when Zoey called out to her, so the big feline sauntered back over to her friend with a look of distaste on her face. Zoey knew she did not like the smell of the fluid that the android leaked, and it was especially strong here after what they had done.

Zoey gave her friend a fond pat on the head to make her feel better, then opened her interface as the two of them walked towards the door that still showed the orange glow from behind it. Zoey quickly checked on Saigo’s team, and saw that they were still in the midst of fighting the androids in the other building, but they were still only about halfway done. The androids facing them had not tried to build the strange construct that Zoey and Viridi had seen, instead they were trying to swarm the team of four in the confines of the narrow hallway they had backed into.

Maybe the machines did not see them as a big enough threat? They seem to be fighting well together… even with Markus there. Zoey thought critically as she watched the action being displayed on her interface. Maybe Saigo saw something I missed, the noble seems to be actually useful…

Markus was indeed doing very well from her perspective, providing support for Baiken and Azai at his sides when they needed him, and striking down his share of the androids in the meantime. Zoey had no complaints about what she saw, and was even a little impressed that their prisoner was able to hold his own without using his magic.

Just as Zoey was about to close her interface, she suddenly got a call from Ssaul back at the camp where the rest of the clan was waiting for them.

“Zoey here,” she answered quickly.

“Zoey! Time’s up, the androids found us, and they are trying to get into the building as we speak!” Ssaul said urgently as soon as he heard Zoey’s voice.

That soon?! Zoey thought in shock. I was hoping that they could stay unnoticed for a little longer… Dammit! We will have to hurry things along.

“How long have we got?” she asked quickly.

“With Max here, we can hold them off for a while. The kid is an absolute powerhouse, but I can guarantee they will try to come over the walls as soon as enough machines show up out there! Try to make it fast!” Ssaul replied urgently.

“Got it, we’ll hurry it up,” Zoey replied before opening a connection to Saigo’s Eve. “Saigo, you guys need to get on with it, the encampment has been found by the machines,” she said shortly.

On the receiving end, Saigo’s face turned serious when he heard Zoey’s words, and he quickly replied to her with a single word, “Understood!” Immediately after that, he shouted out to his team, “We need to finish this now!”

His team all heard him and clearly sensed the sudden urgency in his tone. Though the three of them did not know what was going on, they knew it was important! Saigo then quickly escalated the situation by stepping forward and unleashing a blast of magic energy from his hands towards the oncoming androids, pushing them back several paces with the shockwave.

“Baiken! Hit me now!” he shouted out as he jumped out into the gap between his team and the androids, turning back to face Baiken and settling quickly into a solid stance. Baiken responded instantly, activating her innate talent and jumping at Saigo with a shout as she brought forth all of her strength and poured it into a single attack!

At first glance, it would seem that Baiken was trying to attack the General, but this was not the case. They were executing a practiced maneuver that they had used on a number of occasions, one that was only possible with General Saigo’s unique innate talent. Baiken’s innate talent was common among the Asurai clan. But just because it was a common talent, that did not make it weak, and she brought forth every ounce she could in that moment. She sent her fist forward with everything she had, and as she did a magical silhouette of her fist was projected out by her strike, smashing towards the General, who calmly raised a single hand against it as he activated his own talent.

Baiken’s projected fist smashed into General Saigo’s hand with incredible force, then suddenly dispersed in a burst of magic particles! Saigo then spun in place to face the machines in the hallway behind him, then raised his hands and flashed a sign. Baiken’s attack suddenly erupted from his hands directly toward the androids, only this time the fist was bigger and massively stronger!

The magic silhouette of Baiken’s fist crashed into the machines blocking the hallway, and the destruction was incredible. Metal crumpled and shrieked, oil sprayed everywhere, and before their eyes every android in the hallway was reduced to scrap metal as the unstoppable force of the magical fist plowed through them, only dispersing when it blasted into the room beyond in an explosion of machine parts and oil that sprayed everywhere!

As Markus witnessed the scene with a shocked look on his face, he could only wonder one thing; Why had they not done this sooner?!