Chapter 20: The Leviathan

Jack, after hearing the order to step it up a bit, went about doing so with a vengeance. The Pegasus was everywhere, ripping holes into the enemy forces with the formidable shock rifle, and whenever something got too close to be effectively dispatched by a supercharged energy blast, it was quickly dismembered by the giant robot’s beam sword. Jack was in his element, destroying anything and everything that posed a threat.
Firefox, like Jack, was quite simply ripping his way through the enemy fighters, sending ships flying with his shot cannon, or easily cutting them open with the glowing diamond blade that the Razorback was built to wield. Unlike Jack, however, he went at it more methodically, looking for chain reactions he could set off, formations that were too predictable to miss, or just clusters of ships packed too tightly for their own good.
Jazz took the battle strategically. He flew the Nightmare from cluster to cluster of enemy interceptors, and was able to destroy at least half of each group with his two laser pistols before they could even react; even after they did, the rest were quickly disposed of. He was obviously pulling off maneuvers that they had never even seen before, because his acrobatic spins, lightning-fast direction changes, and seemingly kamikaze dives into the heart of the enemy broke up their heavily set formations like eggs. Confusion tilted the scales in Jazz’s favour, and his spree of destruction caused some of the other groups to turn their attention towards the rampaging Nightmare. Of course, doing so meant turning their attention away from Jack and Firefox, which was a costly mistake; the price was their lives.
Suddenly, a giant metal object flew past the Razorback, coming within inches of the robot’s left side. Firefox had obviously seen it, and was obviously staggered by its sudden appearance. “Holy buh! What the heck was that?”
Jack turned the Pegasus towards Firefox’s Razorback, and immediately saw what had surprised him. An enormous metal object, almost as long as the robot was tall, was drifting along innocently through space. It didn’t seem to be a ship, as there were no discernible engines or anything... and yet, it couldn’t be debris; only a ship the size of the Fortuna could generate debris of that magnitude. As of yet, the Fortuna was the only ship present that was bigger than the Corsair, and it was still intact.
“Ignore it for now, Firefox. Whatever it is, it doesn’t appear to be hostile. Shoot it when it turns around and shoots at you first.”
“Aw... why can’t I waste it now?”
“Because you have more pressing matters to attend to,” Jack replied, quickly taking out a small enemy probe that was getting too close to Firefox’s back for his liking. “Now shut up and keep firing; we’re almost through to the satellite. Only a few more groups to go.”
The battle raged on. The three robots were nigh on untouchable, as they flew about the battle faster than the pilots of the interceptors could react. Even the most sluggish of the three robots was able to pull off skilful maneuvers under the control of the quick-thinking Firefox. They spared no mercy upon the enemy, and before long there were only a sparse few fighters left, whose pilots were obviously not brave enough to fight the Carrotan strike force without backup.
Jack whooped into the helmet radio, laughing out loud. “Whoo-ha! That was the most fun I’ve had in a long, long time!”
Acid chuckled. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Battle in null-o is the greatest thrill I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ll have to agree with you there. Oh, Firefox... go find that big thingy you saw earlier. You can go waste it now.”
“Wheeheeheehee!” Firefox’s giggle of delight prompted an amused smile from the occupants of the Corsair, as he took off in the direction in which the metal thing had been moving. The Razorback was soon lost to sight in the blackness of space.
As Acid dispatched a few last fighters with the SSL, he issued one more command to them. “Jazz and Jack, press that dark blue button, beneath your left ring finger. It’ll activate the autopilot, and bring the ‘bots back into the hangar. Firefox—”
Before Jazz and Jack could press down on the aforementioned button, Firefox let out a yelp of surprise. “Random expletive! I could use a little bit of help here!”
Forgoing the autopilot return button, Jazz and Jack immediately spun their respective robots around, and followed Firefox’s signal on their radar. There was also another small signal near his, and it was slowly getting larger.
Jack was nonplussed. “What the heck is that?”
Firefox’s voice replied in a frenetic tone. “Remember that big thing I wanted to destroy before? The thing that you said isn’t hostile?”
“Er, yeah. What about it?”
“Well, it’s gotten pretty hostile now, bucko,” Firefox retorted. “It’s the friggin’ forearm of a giant robot!”
“Wh—?!” Jack was lost for words. He had originally thought that it was just a harmless piece of debris, nothing to worry about… and definitely not an integral part of a super-huge weapon of mass destruction.
Jazz was about as shocked as Jack was. “The forearm? That huge thing was just a forearm?”
“The whole robot... it must be the size of the Corsair!” Acid exclaimed. “Where the heck could it have come from?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that I might need a bit of assistance taking it apart!” Firefox replied. The sounds of Acid, Lori, Blaze, and the others exchanging distraught words could be heard in the background. They were obviously not pleased.
Jack gunned the boosters of the Pegasus. “Hold the fort, Firefox, we’re on our way.”
They were immediately off in the direction of Firefox’s signal, with the slower Corsair and Fortuna behind them.

The two ‘bots were first to the Razorback’s position, being a good amount faster than the two ships following. They actually saw the supergiant before they found the Razorback, which wasn’t too difficult of a feat; as Acid had assumed, the robot was almost the size of the Corsair. Jazz gasped in pure horror at the size of their adversary; Jack was also not thrilled with the sudden appearance of this new enemy, but he kept it more discreet.
Jack risked taking his hands off the controls of the Pegasus for long enough to crack his knuckles, and he spoke nonchalantly. “Well, this should be entertaining. What is this thing, anyway?”
“This would be a secret project I’ve heard about before. They call it the Leviathan.”
“Ah. Unfortunately, they are going to be sorely disappointed when I – er, we – get through with this Leviathan.”
“You might want to avoid that gun. I did a quick scan of it, and it’s capable of at least two modes of fire: a charge shot, and rapid-fire energy dispersal. None of the preceding are particularly helpful for a ‘bot’s armour, so… yeah.”
“Don’t worry, Acid, I won’t get your precious ‘bots scratched. Just leave it to me and my squad here,” Jack chuckled. “Right, guys?”
“Sure, why not,” Firefox replied.
“I’m all for it,” Jazz added.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s tear this thing apart!” Jack throttled the boosters again, sending him flying at the Leviathan’s back.
Jack sent two blasts from the shock rifle at the Leviathan's midriff before it could even react, before quickly veering away. The blasts slammed squarely into the thick armour of the giant, but they hardly even fazed it, apart from causing it to turn its attention toward the Pegasus. Jack piloted his robot in a zigzagging path, away from the mechanical monster, as the latter readied its weapon, poising the murderous gun to fire upon his rapidly retreating ‘bot.
A hail of red energy blasts flew past the Pegasus, and Jack had to fly backwards to know when to dodge, and where to. Luckily, Jazz and Firefox took up where he had left off, hammering away at the Leviathan’s heavy armour. It quickly became obvious that the computer driving the Leviathan was not designed to handle defending against three assailants simultaneously.
Blasts of energy flew everywhere as the supergiant flailed about, helpless against the three smaller robots as they peppered it with attacks. They were easily more agile and maneuverable than the Leviathan, and compared to them, it was almost moving in slow motion.
Then, the giant ‘bot launched a blast of red energy, slightly resembling a bolt of lightning, at Jack. He dodged it with ease, but it turned behind him, and smashed itself into the Pegasus’s back. The white rabbit was obviously not impressed, and after a long string of obscenities he managed to get his phrases into complete sentences. “What in the name of all that’s holy was that?”
Acid was also flummoxed by the apparent second try the blast was granted. “I don’t know. It looks like energy, it acts like a homing rocket… So what the heck is it?!”
Jack snarled angrily. “That’s called bending the rules, Acid, and I don’t like cheaters. Firefox knows what I do with cheaters.”
Firefox chuckled. “Indeed I do. And I’d say it’s about time to do some gutting, if I do say so myself.”
“Which you just did,” Jack laughed. “I guess I’ll get right to it, then.”
There was a curse from Acid’s end. “You’ve gotta be effin’ kidding me.”
“What?”
“Check your radar.”
Jack immediately saw the problem. Clustered at the top of his radar screen was a mass of small, red dots. Each was an enemy. “For the love of…”
Firefox was still clued out. “What? What is it?”
“We now have a time limit set on killing this thing, Firefox,” Jack growled. “A bazillion enemy ships are coming our way.”
Firefox was lost for words as the Pegasus dove headlong towards the Leviathan, intent on brutally taking it apart limb from limb.

Woo, italics all over the place. Great fun. ><