Vlad Finnerty, leader of the Second Squad glared at the yellow eight-legged giant mechanical robot in front of him.

This mobile A.I contrivance had a Gatling gun as its protruding head and anti-armor missiles docked behind its massive leg armor. Mounted on top of the spider-like machine was a customized 250mm long-barrel artillery gun, seemingly capable of destroying any heavy military vehicles within sight.

And right then, this monstrosity trampled the white birch trees in its path and flattened the yellow foliage underneath its massive structure.

The right leg at the forefront lifted off the ground slightly and stepped forward followed by the left leg. This pattern continued until the mechanical robot reached a clearing five hundred meters away from Le Morte's base.

"Can the plates hold on? Any casualties?" said Vlad through his mic, observing the robot who had stopped moving.

"The base will be fine, Finnerty," said a woman's voice at the other end. "But we'd been breached. A few engaged with an Officer and her Teria soldiers, but..."

"I see. The Second Squad will proceed to destroy that thing."

"Wait for the First Squad, Finnerty!" said the woman. "You don't stand a chance against that Hybelle. Even if it's a prototype, there's no way you can..."

Vlad cracked his neck with one hand and motioned for his subordinates to come out of hiding. Seven individuals emerged from behind the yellow trees, each equipped with an assault rifle. Though Vlad had one of his own, it did not seem like he would use it against the Hybelle.

"I'll face the Hybelle from the front. The rest of you... Let's see... Try to disable the artillery gun mounted on top of it," ordered Vlad casually.

"B-But, Sir... That thing has missiles behind its leg armor. If you're not careful, then..."

"Oh, shut up, newbie!" A man with dreadlocks interjected the brunette voicing her opinion. "He knows what he's doing. Just do your part!"

"Eeek! O-Okay..."

With a flick of his wrist, the Second Squad flitted to cover while Vlad advanced forward. They moved closer to the Hybelle seemingly loading its huge artillery gun with a projectile. When Vlad stepped three hundred meters close to the machine, unlike before, it paid attention to his movements.

The Hybelle's metal joints creaked as all four of its right leg armors slid to the side, each exposing two rows of anti-armor missiles.

"Surely that thing wouldn't fire all that just because of one person... right?" said one of the members, a brunette, as she moved.

"Take cover!!" shouted Vlad through his mic.

Pum, pum, pum, pum!

Two of the Hybelle's legs emptied their content and the missiles shot up high into the air, and after a few moments, it whistled down towards the advancing Second Squad. Explosions after explosions boomed throughout the forest and clouds of black smoke drifted to the sky.

The Hybelle's 'eyes' at its legs scanned the area it just destroyed, and after determining the target had been destroyed, the Hybelle shifted its focus on Le Morte's base.

But Vlad had been waiting for this exact response.

He leaped out of the cover of black smoke, gripping two knives each in both hands, and threw it at two of the red 'eyes' fitted into the Hybelle's armor. Almost immediately, the knives pierced deep into these round cameras and a loud 'crack' echoed.

Vlad nodded to himself, acknowledging the effect of his knives. If his bladed weapons could destroy the cameras, then shooting at them—the rest of the cameras—would definitely disable the Hybelle's sight.

"We'll split into two groups," said the man with dreadlocks crouching next to a tree, unscathed. "While the Hybelle focuses on the group taking away its sight, the other will destroy the artillery gun. How about it, Sir?"

"Good enough. I'll distract this robot," said Vlad, readying his assault rifle to shoot.

"Got it!"

Hybelle's eight legs shook and then it shifted upon being shot and receiving salvos and fusillades of bullets from every direction. As if enraged, the Gatling gun mounted on its head spun, pointing at a brunette who was shooting at one of its legs.

The brunette expected to be shredded into pieces and so, she closed her eyes. But her supposed death did not come. Slowly, she dared to open her eyes and a gasp escaped her mouth.

"...50% damage on the main Gatling gun," echoed a robotic voice from Hybelle, "Switching to anti-armor missil—"

Vlad pulled the safety pin of another grenade and threw it towards the Gatling gun overhead. The Hybelle recognized the action but before it could even so much as to maneuver away, a resounding blast crushed the Gatling gun completely.

"S-Sir..." Tears welled up in the brunette's eyes but quickly wiped it off since Hybelle still posed great danger even without its rotary gun.

"Vlad, I'm ready," said a man at the end of Vlad's mic. "Just give the signal and I'll crush one of its legs."

Vlad nodded as a thin smile appeared on his face. He swept a gaze at his comrades who were shooting at Hybelle and then took cover to confuse it. But then, the spider-like robot opened its leg armor once again, revealing rows of anti-armor missiles.

"That's my chance." Vlad flitted to one of the legs when a dark-haired man wearing a red scarf threw his backpack in the air. The backpack fell down in Vlad's direction and he grabbed it.

"Sir! There's C4 inside! I brought it just like you asked me to," said the man with a red scarf, through his mic.

"Good. This should work," replied Vlad.

The Second Squad's members saw the exposed missiles as a rare opportunity, as they aimed their rifles at it. Before the missiles could launch, countless bullets streaked the air until it penetrated the missiles' shell, triggering ear-splitting explosions one after another.

The Hybelle screeched, losing its balance and nearly collapsed to the ground. But the massive structure still stood strong despite losing its left legs.

Vlad saw this and endless thoughts entered his mind. Yes, it was a chance to destroy this Hybelle while they could.

"S-Sir! The missiles!"

The brunette from before warned Vlad of an incoming missile undamaged from the previous fusillade of bullets. It shot up into the sky unsteady and dived straight toward Vlad.

The man smiled at this.

"Hm!"

Vlad swung his C4-filled backpack in a circle with one hand and threw it at the Hybelle. Ignoring the missile darting at him, Vlad sprinted around the machine until he finally reached a large yellow metal part sticking out of the ground.

This metal part originated from one of the Hybelle's destroyed legs, and its jutting state resembling a ramp prompted Vlad to move towards it at full speed.

"Now!" shouted Vlad through his mic.

A Winchester bullet shot from a sniper rifle pierced the missile in mid-air, and in the next second, a thundering explosion almost deafened Vlad who was closest to it.

"That was reckless, Sir, but hey, it's you we're talking about," said the sniper from the other end of Vlad's mic.

The missile's explosion carried off a violent wind in every direction. Since Vlad's thrown backpack was also in mid-air and only ten meters away from the coalescing flame, it tilted to the mounted artillery gun on top of Hybelle. The backpack landed and flipped a few times before it stopped.

This time, Vlad's smile turned into a wide grin.

He immediately ran up the ramp-like metal part, planted his foot onto it, and jumped.

Due to his stature and weight he carried, Vlad only managed to catch a momentary sight of the backpack. But still, this was not the point. His jump was intended to propel him a bit higher so the man could grab onto the Hybelle's body.

"Ughh..." Vlad's gloved hands caught two slits hewn out of the robot's side and started climbing. He would have thought the Hybelle could control the trajectory of the missiles it launched, but it did not seem like it.

With Vlad being so close, Hybelle ceased all hostile actions and began to stand back up.

"Stay down."

Vlad pressed the C4's detonator in his hand and the Hybelle's artillery gun got blown into two separate parts, rendering the robot's main weapon unusable.

"Yes—"

Just when Vlad was about to scoff at his easy victory, a splatter of thick blood shot up into the air and chunks of meat exploded, staining the white birch trees deep red.