"....Hmmm?" The black-haired Gear's dark brown eyes opened, confusion clear on her face.
"Oh what the hell this time?" She breathed, palming her face. She found herself in unknown environment once again, not ruins this time but a lush jungle with trees so tall that she was unable to see the sky, the canopy overhead letting a few rays of sunlight through the gap of its foliage.
"How high are these trees...?" She commented, blinking a few times to make sure her eyes were okay. A Gear's eyes could see kilometers away without much difficult, there is even one Archetype dedicated to environmental awareness.
"At least I don't see any Starless around... that's good, I guess." She muttered, sitting down at the base of one tree. She would try to contact the rest of her squad but before that, she wanted to make sure her equipment was still useable in case a situation arose.
First was the armor on her arm. It was scratched, bent and had a lot of openings but it still held. Next, she drew her katana, and a frown instantly formed on her face instantly. "...Snapped, that is not good."
She is an Executioner-type Gear, they have a high reserve of Soul Energy but while the Archetype is known for their reserves and the strength that comes with it, they are also known for atrocious efficiency. An Executioner's weaponry helps to regulate their energy consumption, and while they can fight bare-handed, that is a last resort mostly. If she were to run into a few enemies, it would not be a big deal but if they were too many, running out of Energy would be a death sentence. She then turned her eyes to her left wrist, on which a silver bracelet rested.
"Identify yourself." A mechanical voice ordered.
"Gear-Archetype: Executioner
Production Zone: J-06
ID: Ku7o
Name: Kuyo
Grade: T4
Squad: 9"
After a second, the bracelet spoke again. "Welcome, Executioner Kuyo. How may I help you?"
"Run a full check-up of my body."
While the bracelet was doing its thing, Kuyo proceeded to check the communicator lodged in her ear. Once she was sure it was still useable, she put it back on and tried to contact her squad. "Executioner Kuyo, is anyone here?" All she heard however, was static.
"Great, just great..." Rubbing both of her palms on her face, she breathed while looking at the foliage. Her bracelet beeped, the check-up was done. Besides a few holes, slashes and cuts, she was okay.
"I might as well explore, hopefully I'll find an exit or something of the sort." She stood up, left a cut on the tree behind her before walking a random direction.
For an hour, all she saw were trees. There was absolutely nothing else, no cricket, no bird. Nothing. "Where even is this...?" Every Gear had an upload of the main continent's map in their mind. Needless to say that they know the entire main continent like it was the back of their hand. There were other, smaller ones that had emerged due to the Starless. These were blind spots, only high graded Gears could operate there, and according to some reports, these new masses of land were the most dangerous places on the planet. "...The most dangerous place on Earth, eh... Probably won't get to see them anyways. Consequence of being so average."
Kuyo kept walking and as she turned her head, she stopped dead in her track and hid behind a tree. She had caught of a squadron of Starless. "So they are here after all. Wherever this place is... Five of them, I can handle that and they are still red... but what if there was a bigger one near them?"
A Starless had two modes; a passive mode—indicated by the red tint of their arms and legs, and an alert mode—whenever they turn purple. With a broken blade, the Gear didn't want to test her luck. So she remained and observed them for a few minutes, she would move when there would a blind spot. After a bit observing the squadron however, Kuyo noticed something a bit weird. "They haven't moved at all... Are they after something?"
That was the only logical explanation. They would have went purple right away, that was how they reacted to threats. It was a biological response for them, they could not prevent it. Plus, there wasn't anything other than the trees in the entire area. "Whatever it is they are searching, I don't want to be around when they find it."
Kuyo prepared to back off, she would use the trees to mask her presence but that option immediately vanished when a sharp blade slashed her back open. Her body smashed through the tree she used as cover, ragdolling in the air before landing right in the middle of the squadron. Pain rang through her body but she jumped to her feet immediately. The squadron roared in unison, their bodies flashing purple. All except one.
It was about twice the size of the regular Starless with its armor concentrated on its legs, torso and head. Unlike the others, it only had one arm and a scarf around its neck.
Kuyo's face hardened, "Threat Grade 2... Just my damn luck..."
Light blue, white and black energy surrounded the Gear, she turned toward the smaller cluster of Starless and stomped, launching herself through them while tackling them out of the way. She knew better than fighting a Starless several times her own Grade level. Unfortunately for Kuyo, this Starless was not only stronger than her, it was also faster. A blade flashed down, aimed right at her neck. The Gear was fast enough to bring her armored arm up, reinforced with Soul Energy but it did little to stop the attack.
The blade and arm clashed but the latter shattered into pieces, the force behind the hit made the Gear bounce off the dirt, spitting a mouthful of dark red and gray liquid. The Starless wasted no time, slamming its three-toed foot in her side. Kuyo's body flew through tens if not hundreds of trees before finally coming to a stop. As if to add insult to injury, the Starless crossed the distance in a singular step and stomped on the Gear's head. Desperately channeling all her Soul Energy into her upper body, Kuyo pushed against the pressure and slid away when she got just enough space. In the same motion, she redirected all of the energy into her broken blade and unleashed an energy slash.
Upon impact, the attack exploded, clearing the trees in the area for kilometers while raising a titanesque dust cloud. Yet when visibility returned... the Starless had a tiny scratch on its torso... No, calling it a scratch was generous. It was barely a scratch at all... just a little mark, not unlike when one drew a line on their skin using their nail.
"What a joke..." Kuyo uttered as a blade struck her so fast that her mouth still moved when he head hit the dirt.