In the black of night,
three pale and towering mechas were still hurtling along the tracks, racing through the desolate and dark wilderness. The indicator lights on the edges of the mechas traced long, dark red streaks, inconspicuous in their flight.
As the view drew closer to these three mechas, a sense of oppression began to emerge slowly from their silhouettes. The intense wind pressure they created was like a shriek, suddenly sweeping across the ground before swiftly vanishing.
300 kilometers per hour? 500 kilometers per hour? Or even 800 kilometers per hour— at such speeds, even a tiny pebble could cause massive impact.
The North Fourth District covered an area of about 1.6 million square kilometers, and on this vast land, the majority was a desolate landscape of desert, Gobi, rocky terrain, and the corrosive erosion of acid rain had permanently altered most of Jade Skirt's topography. Perhaps five hundred years ago, this place was still a dense purple forest, but now only the pale rocks lay bare on the ground.
The red marker on the screen was getting closer and closer. The high-speed mechas began to activate their built-in radar scanning, with colorless microwave ripples spreading out in all directions like water, while satellites in the planet's outer orbit also assisted in calibrating each position and situation.
In the distant horizon of darkness, a faint halo of light could barely be seen, the towering floodlights of the mining facility. The curved tracks led there, like a path to the other side of a distant hill.
[B-28 Squad is approaching the destination, current situation is normal.]
The screen started reflecting the surrounding terrain and scenes, all currently displaying a safe blue, without any anomalies.
After ending the communication, the three mechas gradually increased their speed, charging towards the pitch-black hill, and then they leapt up, as the vortex of the giant mining facility, like the eye of hell, appeared in view.
The cold night wind scraped past the exterior of the mechas, and the turbulance from the sudden change in trajectory slammed into a lone lamppost on the perimeter of the mining facility, knocking it over, and then the mechas levitated, closing in on the mining facility, with their exterior cameras continuously gathering intel in their field of view, processed and analyzed by AI and then marked within the pilots' vision.
The only source of light in the entire mining facility was at the center of the giant pit, at the barren ground at the very bottom. Two lonely floodlight towers stood there, and a massive excavation machine, nearly a hundred meters tall, was now silently stationed there, with ropes hanging from its high-suspended excavation arm, revealing traces of blood underneath. At the top of the excavation arm, seven men sat on the edge, hands raised high, seemingly declaring an unwillingness to resist, begging for surrender.
Compared to the massive, black and yellow mining machine, the people perched on it appeared as small as ants, but the convergence of the lights from the machine made these seven individuals especially conspicuous.
[B-28 Squad has identified the target; the group indicates surrender.]
The three mechas slowly approached the center of the mining field and then stopped at one side of the pit's bottom plaza. The thirty-meter-tall mechas, though sharply angled and fierce in appearance, still seemed somewhat delicate in front of the nearly hundred-meter-tall industrial machinery.
After several scans and confirmations, the pilots of the mechas began to relax. Although this mission was unexpected, the situation they encountered was not so surprising. They began to deploy small Autonomous Units to seal off and secure the site, and then they contacted headquarters.
Upon learning that it would take another two hours for the military police aircraft responsible for detention and arrest to arrive, the three mechas spread out slightly, stopping along the outer edge of the pit's plaza, waiting patiently.
An hour later, the seven men in work attire requested through the public frequency to use the bathroom and asked for additional clothing, as the night was too cold.
The pilots permitted the men's actions temporarily after contacting headquarters, and so the seven began to slowly climb down the excavator arm into the facility's buildings at the bottom of the mine.
Though straying from the mechas' line of sight seemed imprudent, they were in the middle of nowhere; even if these seven wanted to escape, they had no means to do so. Any small flying vehicles or hover cars attempting to take off could be instantly shot down by the mechas.
Just as one pilot was feeling bored and wanted to listen to some music, a buzzing noise emanated from the silent mining machinery, growing louder and more urgent, suddenly raising an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, the suspended excavator arm suddenly swept down. The massive circular saw, originally used to cut rocks, spun up to a frenzied speed, as if the pilot inside had pushed the lever to the limit.
Watching the rapidly approaching industrial machinery arm overhead, the pilot of the mecha below faintly uttered two words, "Foolish."
Blue jets of gas burst from the pale mecha's back and sides, nimbly dodging the pressing machinery arm as it struck the ground, sparking violently and making a piercing noise.
Then, two incandescent laser beams lit up the night sky. The suspended mechanical arm was partially penetrated; its internal transmission structure and electronic units were exposed, with several dark red molten wounds appearing.
Soon after, the raised mechanical arm, like a giant dragon's severed head, fell heavily to the ground, smashing the neatly paved plaza floor, lifting debris and shattering tiles.
After dealing with the cumbersome mining mechanical arm, the three mechas floated and maneuvered in the air, continuously firing at the hundred-meter-tall giant machine at the center of the pit. The screeching lasers tore through the air incessantly, breaking the specially-made steel industrial machinery into fragments, tearing apart its steel components.