Milo rushed forward. The golem's shoulder turned back. Milo's prosthetic quickly changed into a hammer. The moment Milo was in range, the golem swung its arm towards him. Milo stood his ground and swung back, stacking [Overclock] on his prosthetic twice. The two met in the middle with a clash. Milo stumbled back.
'Not sure what I was expecting.'
Milo moved [Overclock] into his legs. He also added thrusters to the back and legs of the [Mobile Suit]
One moment he was standing in front of the golem. His form blurred, and he was at the golems side. Milo had no business trying to win a competition of strength, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.
His prosthetic swung into the golem's leg. Milo jumped up and balanced himself on a small groove in the leg's stone knee. Landing on the golems arm, he quickly sprinted up. The golem began to shake itself violently. Hisses echoed throughout the hall as random cartridges and other mechanics exited the golems steel parts.
Milo swerved as best he could, but ultimately he still fell after some sort of harpoon holster sent him flying to the side and off the golem. Helping himself land with the [Prototype], Milo looked for the unknown Awakened... who was nowhere in sight.
'They ran off?!'
"Aw you motherfucker!"
Milo turned back to the golem. Was he seriously going to have to fight this damn thing alone? Milo barely dashed back as the golems fist slammed down where he was standing a moment ago. Debris and dust clouded Milo's vision.
Then a sharp edge came in view, Milo hurriedly raised his prosthetic, knocking the projectile into the nearby pillar.
'The harpoon from earlier.'
Milo wasn't given anytime to rest as the golem charged forward. For such a big thing, it could sure run fast.
Milo needed to deal damage. How exactly, that was the question of the century. Of course the idea of just brute forcing and smashing the thing in was always on the table but based on that earlier clash that was a losing battle.
'The moss.'
Milo's prosthetic shifted, the lower part of his forearm flared out. The thrusters on his back and legs flared. Milo was launched forward, his arm shot out, grabbing onto a crevice along the golem's midsection. His arm shot out towards the golems left shoulder. That part was made out of stone, and with that stone came moss. So, Milo's arm created a small combustion, setting fire to the moss.
Milo smiled, satisfied with his move. Unfortunately, he was too naive and caught up in his head to notice the golem's raised arm to his right before it was too late. Milo was smashed into the ground, a small crater forming where he landed. The golem immediately followed up with an attempt to stomp Milo out. Milo raised his arms, his prosthetic shifted into a large rectangular shield. The rest of his body was covered, but he couldn't see outside the shield.
One stomp, Milo's prosthetic creaked with effort. The second stomp, it physically dented in. Milo released the shield and focused all the power in his suit on his thrusters. He flew up into the air, Milo glanced at his prosthetic. It was dented and chipped, a part of his hand had been smashed in entirely. His pinky and ring finer was gone.
Now that he was nearly touching the ceiling, Milo finally saw that damn Awakened. Turned out they hadn't abandoned him, instead they were sneaking climbing a pillar, trying to reach a vantage point.
'I see.'
Milo had to buy time for his ally to get a drop on the golem and kill it. Milo had just absorbed a bunch of damage, and now he could dish it back out. He steadied his descent with thrusters at the bottom of his feet. His prosthetic was too damaged to do anything risky. He would have to dodge every attack.
Milo sprinted forward, a shoulder mounted cannon formed and shot multiple plasma blasts towards the golems head.
'Nothing is perfect, and I will find your imperfections.'
One weakness was the moss, setting that on fire could outright crumble certain parts of its body. It's left shoulder had recovered but Milo knew for a fact it had to have an effect considering how reluctant the golem seemed to let the plasma hit the moss.
The golem pointed its right arm forward. Its wrist popped open. Milo gave whatever was waiting in its arm socket no chance to fire as a plasma pulse flew straight into the socket. Milo watched as smoke and chaff lifted from its arm. Traveling upwards to the boulder it had as a shoulder was a trail of explosions that blew off its right arm entirely.
'That was a lucky shot.'
Milo used his thrusters to fly to the right side of the golem. The golem's torso shifted. Milo prepared for an attack, instead, a light buzz sounded from the golem. It was barely noticeable... what came afterwards was very noticeable.
The cave began to shake. Milo looked towards the entrance of the hall. Beyond the narrow crack in the door, those stone constructs from tumbled over one another to get inside.
Milo looked back at the golem.
'This isn't winnable.'
Milo quickly activated his thrusters. He wasn't so rude as to completely abandon his ally, so he screamed out.
"Awakened, get the hell out of here! We aren't winning this fight."
With that, Milo flew through the hall. His eyes and optics scanned every nook and cranny. Eventually, he found the smallest discrepancy. He redirected everything he had into making his way there. Milo's stop wasn't pretty, he braced his shoulder as he broke through a stone wall.
{Power Limit: 100/100}
Milo scrambled to his feet. His night vision showed the way ahead, a narrow corridor with a reinforced door at the end. Milo quickly summoned [Osiris' Key]. This had to be the time and place to use it, right?
Milo reached the door, and began a scan for key entry. He found nothing.
"Come on, come on." Milo felt his heartbeat spike as the sound of footsteps behind him. Milo turned around, a wave of constructs crowding the entrance.
Left with no other option, Milo used up all of his essence on [Overclock]. His prosthetic transformed, taking the form of a plasma rifle.
{Power Limit: 12... 13.. 16.. 18... ***}
Milo felt his shoulder searing, the entire corridor filled with a bright light. His HUD became static and glitchy.
'Fire!'
The corridor exploded. Milo was blasted back. That was the last thing he felt before his vision went black.
***
Milo awoke to darkness. He attempted to fumble around with his prosthetic... Only to feel nothing.
'No, don't tell me.'
Milo quickly entered his Soul Sea and observed his core. The prosthetic was still held within, it was just recovering.
For now, however, Milo was left in a very vulnerable state. He exited his Soul Sea and stood up. The cold air touched the left side of his body. One half of his HUD was still showing up. Milo conjured up a headlight on the right side of his helmet.
1/1}
Milo immediately looked to his left, the entirety of the {Mobile Suit] starting from the left side of his head to his hip was gone.
Then, Milo took in his surroundings. Lots of dust and debris, jagged rock and some steel frames created a very tight crawlspace.
With no other option, Milo got onto his stomach and began dragging himself across the floor. It was cramped, very cramped. It only seemed to get worse the further Milo got. Milo felt his breaths get lighter, his limbs be squeezed, and his vision get narrower.
Eventually, the roof got higher and higher until Milo could stand. Luckily, it seemed he had reached the other side of that door.
Pushing forward, Milo discovered and old wooden door. The type you'd find in an antique museum.
Milo looked at the doorknob with the keyhole. He summoned [Osiris' Key] and unlocked the door.
With a careful step, Milo entered the room. It was clearly some type of bedroom, a large bedframe stood in the middle of the room. To the left was a large wooden desk, and to the right was a closet. The room itself was neat, the only thing wrong with it was the clear abandonment overtime.
Milo made his way towards the bed. After everything thats happened, a little rest wouldn't be a problem.
He dismissed the [Mobile Suit] in its entirety. Laying down, he didn't dare go to sleep, but just letting his body sink into the mattress was enough for him.
After letting his body rest and recover, Milo got back up and summoned the [Mobile Suit].
Most of its damage was still present but his helmet had recovered.
With no need for a flashlight, and his optics back, Milo could continue his investigation without being a walking signal flare.
He went to the desk, a leather covered book laid on it, pen to its side.
Milo grabbed the book, opened it, and began reading. A lot of it was rather useless, just this Osiris person logging their days. Milo scanned it just in case it came in handy later. Then, he reached a page in English. The page itself was muddled with liquid stains
"If this fails, then everything I've done will be for nothing. If I succeed, then 'Carmen' will be nevermore. The real me will live on in the Proof of Cooperation given to Eva. I know it must be done, for the sake of Eva getting home. If I have to die, then thats okay. If you read this Osiris, just know you were a great friend to me."
Milo raised an eyebrow. "Nevermore? The hell does that mean?". Milo flipped the page only to find locations for care packages and the Memories located within those care packages. Milo could match most of them with those he had in the database, but some were new. One was noted as being in the Chained Isles at an island named Iron Hand.
Many were located in a place called the Nightmare Desert. Two were in the Moonriver Plains themself, one near a raging river and another in this very location.
"Well, I have to come out of this with something."
Milo set the book down, he promptly turned to the closet. The only place he hadn't checked. He walked over and opened it to reveal. A strange looking object. Milo grabbed it and inspected it.
It was an oval shaped container of sorts, Milo could feel the small groove on either end of the container.
[You have received a Memory, Evermore]