The blast shook the ground beneath his feet, sending violent reverberations through the Hunter-Killer's shock absorbers. Fire and smoke belched to the heavens as the shells inside the pounder emplacement were ignited by the blast, sending huge lumps of metal plating hurtling in all directions.

What in the name of the Everflowing...

Ryke's mind spun with confusion and for an instant he was frozen with indecision, staring in horror at the smouldering, molten remnants of the once-mighty gun. Soldiers caught in the blast lay scattered like rag dolls all around it, and a whole section of the trenchworks had been torn to pieces by the fire and shrapnel. What the hell had caused it?!

And before he could even form a theory, the second pounder emplacement was obliterated. Just like the first the armoured bunker was blown to pieces from within, its explosive shells igniting in a series of secondary blasts that rolled into a devastating fiery cascade.

A mech from HK-Bandit on the far side of the bunker was completely shorn in two by a gigantic plate of metal propelled hard and fast enough to carve through the thick armour like paper. The nearby trenches were washed with flame and shrapnel, slaughtering the soldiers unlucky enough to be in the radius. The larger hunks of debris crushed and injured more militia as they careened through the trenches, and in the blink of an eye the well-organised human line descended into utter chaos.

"Drown me!"

"By the Everflowing..."

Ryke gritted his teeth as a storm of stunned and panicked voices cluttered his earpiece, forcing himself not to say anything as he examined his HUD. And in a lurching moment that sent his stomach turning he suddenly remembered Alldeep.

It felt like a lifetime ago but what other explanation was there? What else did the Scraegans have that could do this kind of damage? There had been no reports of similar incidents before or since, but nothing else made sense.

And all at once the Scraegan tactic made sense. They had literally sacrificed dozens; if not hundreds of soldiers to the guns of the city in order to cover the underground advance of the diggers that had carried the explosives. With the charging force and the thunder of battle the seismics would never have detected them if they remained in close proximity. This entire bloodbath was nothing more than a diversion to take out the mighty cannon emplacements that ringed the city.

He flicked his comm to fullwide band, a channel reserved for emergencies only. In Ryke's mind this certainly qualified.

"HK-Rupture to all command units!" he bellowed. "Emergency Code 001 – the Scraegan force on the surface is a diversion. They are sending explosives underground to take out the pounders and the trenches! Deploy all mine launchers immediately to surface them!"

He didn't have time to wait for a reply, turning his attention back to the mayhem that had engulfed their section of the defences. Smoke from the blast now filled the air, obscuring friend and foe alike and preventing Brekka's wall gunners from firing into the crush for fear of hitting their own.

Much closer in, however, the sensors of Ryke's Hunter-Killer could pick out Scraegan shadows in the gloom and a surge of anger snarled its way through his veins. His flexed his half-metal jaw and tensed.

"HK-Rupture!" he roared to his pilots. "Sound off!" A couple of seconds passed and then the shell-shocked pilots started to check in. They were all accounted for – blind chance had meant they were relatively central, too far from the bunkers to be caught in the blasts.

"The guns..." Amelia said, her voice shaking. "What do we do...sir?"

Within the armoured shell of his war mech, Ryke's expression darkened to one of black fury. "Engage at will," he spat. "Kill them all!"

He was moving before anyone could protest, dragging the mechs of HK-Rupture with him. He shook his warblade from its sheath and sprinted at the nearest Scraegan with a wild scream of defiance.

The creature turned only in time for him to slam the warblade its full length into the Scraegan's shoulder joint, putting the full weight of his momentum into the strike. Blood splattered across the front armour of his mech and he pivoted savagely, ripping the blade free and simultaneously slamming his shield into the Scraegan's skull. It went down and he was on it in a flash, his blade rising and falling half a dozen times until the beast lay snorted weakly beneath him, gore spilling from several mortal wounds.

The melee exploded around him with a vengeance. Thaye was in amongst the Scraegans in a flash, her vaunted ferocity wreaking havoc and catching the Scraegan force off guard. Brigg's Goliath crashed through the smoke like a battering ram, lowering a shoulder and sending a Scraegan tumbling backwards head over heels from the collision. Fire from their cannons spat in all directions, illuminating the fog of dust.

Ryke twisted away from a close range furnace cannon shot and the bolt of blue hellfire seared past with inches to spare, scorching the armour of his left flank. He turned to come face to face with a towering Scraegan, easily a two meters taller than average, its fur charcoal black, visible through the gaps in its barbed armour.

An Alpha.

The cannon still glowed and in its other hand the Scraegan swung at him with an enormous ball-and-chain. He lurched backwards, leaving the hunk of metal to whoosh past, then powered forward before the creature could reverse its swing and build up any momentum.

As he barrelled toward it the Alpha lowered the armoured ridge of its head to meet him with a bellow of rage. The impact rang every bone in Ryke's body, the Hunter-Killer's system blurting out a warning as his front plating bore the brunt of the force. As they smashed together he brought his warblade around in a vicious arc, ramming it into the side of the Scraegan's neck. Blood gushed from the strike, but the Alpha didn't seem concerned, shaking its head violently to rip free before crushing a knee up into the body of his mech.

Sparks exploded from something inside the cockpit and Ryke hissed angrily as he back-pedalled clear, letting loose a spray of cannon fire at close range. Then a critical damage warning blared on the HUD from one of his pilots, the indicator instantly flashing crimson.

One of the newbies – Calhan.

"Lockjaw-Trident, status!" he barked sharply as he circled with the Alpha, looking for an opening.

"He's down," Amelia's voice responded, her voice tight with anger. "KIA, boss. They blindsided him."

Ryke swallowed down a torrent of curses and instead simply said, "Acknowledged."

That was all he had time for as the Alpha came at him again. The ball-and-chain swung, but Ryke stepped into it, putting all his weight behind his shield to absorb the thunderous blow and deaden its momentum. The thick metal buckled from the sheer force as the ball smashed home. More warnings screamed at him from the mechanisms of his right arm but he ignored them, ramming his blade hard into the thick wrist of the Scraegan.

It roared in pain, the ball-and-chain clattering from its limp grip as he severed its tendons. Twisting away he threw himself into a roll as the Alpha swung with its other arm, the bulky cylinder of its charging furnace cannon missing him by less than a meter. He crashed to his feet, winking away half-a-dozen amber damage alerts as he reset his feet, warblade itching for more combat. The creature faced him, raising its cannon to fire.

"Lockjaw – hold," Scantlin's voice cut into his earpiece. "We got you covered."

Movement on the HUD caught his eye and he looked past the Scraegan to see the nimble Raptor mechs of Scantlin and Kim racing at the Alpha from behind, blades unsheathed. With its furious attention fully focused on him it remained oblivious to the charging pair until it was too late. They passed along each flank, each of them ripping their warblades through the Alpha's legs. Then they shot past him, racing through battle to find more targets.

With a thunderous bellow that rose above the clamour of the fighting, the Scraegan toppled forward, smashing into the ground with earth-shaking force. As it landed the furnace cannon discharged straight into the ground, blasting a molten crater into the dirt and backfiring, blowing the weapon to pieces. Metal and fire lacerated the Alpha's body, blood pouring from its thick hide, molten slabs of armour falling with a dull clatter as it tried to rise.

It got to its knees before Ryke reached it, and rammed the full length of his warblade into its eye socket. A strangled, choking cough of surprise escaped the thing's mouth and it spasmed violently, almost throwing Ryke to the ground. He widened his stance, holding the blade in place until his foe finally stopped moving. Only then did he tear the weapon loose again.

As the Alpha fell, Ryke looked around to regain his bearings on the battle. The smoke from the explosions was beginning to clear and he could see dozens of militia troops fleeing from their shattered trenches, piling into transports with men and women hanging off the sides as they ran the safety of Brekka's walls.

Calhan's ruined mech lay in a shattered heap amongst several Scraegan corpses, its rear plating a mangled mess of molten, shattered armour. The rest of the team were in one piece and fighting, save for Koral who had stayed clear of the fighting, limping her badly damaged mech in the direction of Stamm Lake for repairs.

"All units, push for the trenches!" he shouted, setting off at a run towards the ruined defences. "Give me a firing line – Goliaths at the back, everybody else staggered to the front. Full spread of mine drops across this whole damn area. If any more of these bastards are sneaking around underground I want them surfaced! Pull back far enough for the guns to cover."

His cannon arm juddered in protest as he fired, the damaged servos struggle to hold the recoil of the gun as he strafed through the surviving Scraegans. The other pilots sent their acknowledgments, disengaging and falling back towards the city.

"Lockjaw-Charger," Ryke barked as he leapt clear over the trench at a run. "We're reforming a defensive line behind the trenches and mining the area. Copy?"

"Copy that," the officer of HK-Bandit snapped back, her phrases short and sharp as she navigated combat and comms simultaneously. "Still engaged – three mechs down. Can't support you."

"Understood," he replied. Part of him wanted to swing his force around to engage the Scraegans brawling with his comrades, but if they did that they would be leaving a clear route behind them to the retreating militia.

Pivoting around, he dug his heels into the ruined earth as the surviving members of HK-Rupture formed up around him. They made a staggered bulwark against the Scraegans, leaving space for Amelia and Brigg to wreak havoc with their cannons. The enemy force had been decimated in the fighting – they'd paid dearly for taking out the emplacements.

But who knew what was under his feet right now. They'd managed to conceal their explosives under the cover of a bloody charge, but now that the smoke cleared those Scraegans that had done the deed must still have been around.

"Princess, Avalanche," Ryke snapped. "Deploy mines. No more hide and seek."

"Copy that."

"Acknowledged."

A few seconds later the hollow thunking of the mine launchers fitted to the Goliath mechs echoed across the plateau and the spinning, toothed explosives arced high into the sky before plunging back to earth again. They disappeared among the Scraegans, spewing shattered rock and dirt in all directs as they plunged deep underground.

"Brace!" Brigg shouted a warning.

The mines detonated. Geysers of rock spewed skywards all around the Scraegans, sending seismic shockwaves ripping through the ground, destabilising and disorienting anything unfortunate enough to be below the surface. With so many mines close together they virtually blasted a whole new trench into the plateau.

"Hold," Ryke said firmly as he watched, looking for signs of the hidden force that had destroyed their bunkers.

They weren't long in coming.

His eyes widened as dozens of Scraegans burst from the ground, scrambling, rolling and bellowing with rage. They looked different to the ones they'd been fighting already, with fur that seemed to have been dyed crimson and jet black armour plating. Some of them were sheathed from head to toe, their plating festooned with wicked-looking barbs.

"Open fire!" Ryke hollered, unleashing the fury of his cannon. Along the line the Hunter-Killers opened up, shells battering the Scraegan reinforcements, but at this distance they would be lucky to score any kills. Heavy shots from Brigg and Amelia caused more damage, but the Scraegans soon reorganised their line, readying for a fresh charge.

The first wave of them thundered forward, clearing the trenches, and the Riot mechs of HK-Rupture surged to meet them again.

A fresh melee erupted, cannons and blades fighting clubs and blasts. The nearest Brekkan wall guns tried to aid them, lobbing shells to the rear of the Scraegan force but they could not protect Ryke and his comrades from the bulk of the enemy force.

He didn't care. Rage still pounded in his veins at how the Scraegans had so swiftly dismantled the defensive position. He would be damned if they let them have it without making them pay for every inch. Right in the centre of the line he battled like a man possessed, shooting, slashing and ramming anything that came close enough.

The Raptor and Goliath mechs of his comrades dealt with stragglers that broke through, blasting them with heavy shells before the lightweight scouts fell upon them to finish the job. Preese lost the sword arm of his mech to a wild furnace cannon shot, forcing him to fall back with only his cannon arm to rely on. The damage readouts on Ryke's HUD were edging from yellow to red and he let out a wordless snarl of anger as he smashed into an injured Scraegan, clamping the fingers of one mechanical hand against its throat. Then a voice snapped into his comm from the command channel.

"Forge CC12-A – Southwest Defences," Kelso said, his voice hoarse from relaying orders through the battle. "Priority message. All units are to fall back immediately to Stamm Basin. Acknowledge."

A tremor of disbelief shot through him. They were falling back? They were retreating already? This was Brekka – the fortress of the south. It was meant to be impregnable. Impotent rage swirled in his chest and he dug the metal fingers deeper into the flesh of his foe, pressing with every ounce of frustration he felt.

"Forge CC12-A – HK-Rupture, acknowledge?"

Blood began to well around the wound, the Scraegan gurgling and thrashing in his grip, trying to bring its cannon around to aim at his chest. He clamped down harder, curing his hand into a fist, crushing bone and muscle beneath the powerful hydraulics.

"Forge CC12-A – HK-Rupture," Kelso growled. "Ryke are you listening damn it!?"

In a savage jerking motion Ryke wrenched the clenched gauntlet of his Hunter-Killer free, taking the monster's windpipe with it in a spray of gore. As his foe thumped lifelessly to the dirt he spun away, looking for a fresh target.

"Kind of busy here," he muttered.

"Ryke – you need to pull back!" his brother shouted. "The outer defensive ring has collapsed – we need all combat ready Hunter-Killers back in side Stamm Basin for repairs and rearming now! If we lose any more HKs the Scraegans might just push for the city here and now. Fall back – that is a direct order from the Forge. Do you understand me?"

"Ryke?" Brigg's voice came in. "C'mon, man we can't stay here. Lose a battle – win the war."

Grinding the metal of his jaw in fury, Ryke finally relented. Every piece of him wanted to stay here and keep killing, but deep down he knew this wasn't the time or the place for a last stand. Taking a backward step he nodded.

"HK-Rupture – Forge CC12-A – acknowledged," he spat bitterly. "Returning to Stamm Basin. Lockjaw out."