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As Knights We Shield From The Maelstrom

By: A.X. Bueno

Crunch!Crash!

Alert!

Thoom!Crack!

Alert!!Alert! Dual Macro Arrival In Under 10 Minutes!

“Ughh!"

“Dang it! I was just having the best dream and of course the alarm chooses to go off now."

“The alarm didn't suddenly choose to go off. There are two macros only a few minutes away from reaching this city and we all should be ready. That includes you two layabouts, now get out of bed and get to your suits. We have a job to do."

“Are you sure it's not some sort of mistake and those macros aren't further away or you know… going somewhere else entirely?"

“Our macro alarm system hasn't been wrong yet and I'm not going to assume it's about to start being wrong rather than being sure about a potential threat. Especially when it says there's two threats approximately 10 minutes away. Now get moving for all our sakes."

“Alright, fine. I'm getting up."

“Rrnngh. Me too."

A sleepy blue and beige striped raccoon, a tired red scaled long-tailed pangolin are both led by me, a green furred clouded leopard out of their beds and through one of many halls into the changing room we share along with several others. There is no time to waste arguing now as six of us in total change from pajamas and casual clothes to sleek uniforms meant for combat. Then we head down to what we call the S.M.A.P.R.(Surveillance and Macro Action Plan Room) where everyone takes a quick seat. Aside from me and the two I had to drag out of bed there's also; a light yellow furred black bear, a pure white furred reindeer and a purple feathered stygian owl. Their names going from raccoon to owl are; Erick, Teresa, Randall, Verenzo and Ruth. My name is Amar and I co-lead this team along with Ruth and we are…

“Color Squad! What are we facing this mostly fine afternoon?" Randall, ever the eager bear, decides to speak up first.

“We're facing two macros and they're pretty close in size. One's a black furred jaguar that's 130 feet and the other is a red and brown furred moose that's 127 feet, used the scanner to check. Also we're not the 'color squad' and you know that. We officially decided on our new name six months ago when Verenzo joined." Ruth straightens her feathers as she gives the sitrep and reminds Randall about our name change for about the eightieth time. Originally we were The Greenwood Five but with Verenzo's addition to the team we changed the name to the Gradient Mechaknights.

“Well now that that's settled again we need a plan. Since there's two macros this time I'll think this'll need all of us but we're not combining the mechs. Better chance if we stick to singular mode and go for the pack approach." I decide the basics of our attack plan and Ruth nods in agreement with it.

“All of us? It's two macros, are we sure all of us are really needed?"

“Come on, Erick. You're not itching for action, even a bit?"

“I don't think we should be itching for action Verenzo, we should be focusing on protecting people and saving lives. Assuming these macros are even hostile to begin with. Shouldn't we check first to see who they are, what they really want."

“Good point. Let's check our city camera system." Taking Teresa's suggestion I check the monitors for our camera system which lets us all see images I'm not too happy about.

Those two macros just arrived within city limits and they make their intentions known pretty fast when the moose puts his hooved foot through the Welcome To Greenwood City sign. The jaguar swipes at a five story building and breaks it with the back of his paw like it was made out of paper mache and toothpicks. I accidentally take the time to gawk at the two giants just starting their rampage through the city. They're both male. The black furred jaguar is wearing just basketball shorts and a gold chain around his neck that fits a bit snug and looks kind of small given his size but must be huge in actuality. The moose is wearing most of a whole outfit; beige shorts, a navy blue fisherman's hat with holes for his antlers, an ocean blue button up shirt that he left partially unbuttoned to show off his light brown furred chest and weirdly no shoes.

“Uhh… we're ready to head out. Amar?" Ruth pulls me back from aimlessly examining these macros to the reality of the situation as the black furred jaguar uses one of his massive paws to grab a light gray furred cougar with slicked back headfur that's two shades of gray darker than the rest of his fur.

“Yeah, yeah we are. Let's go Mechaknights!" I say with a confidence I'm not sure I should really have as I turn around to get one last look at our monitors.

“Roger that, mon capitaine!" comes from Randall followed by several more “Roger"s as I watch that jaguar macro open his slimy jaws to toss that civilian cougar in them and I shudder as I look away from the screens and walk towards the door grateful that our cameras don't have sound unless one of us enables it. That cougar, they'll be one of our first rescues of the day I suppose.

Walking into the next room is where the mecha part of our name, the Gradient Mechaknights comes from. Huge 15 foot robots that we drive with a mix of manual controls and a voice command system. The cockpit is open and about 7 feet off the ground when offline. Meaning I use the stepladder and my own paws to clamber into my green painted mech. When no part of my body is outside the currently open cockpit I press a yellow button with a now unsheathed claw to close the tempered glass that separates me from outside. I prefer the precision of using my claws to press buttons as opposed to my fingers. Like using a different claw to effortlessly push the orange button to initiate vocal commands.

“Mechaknight 4 activate! Engage combat ready mode. Prepare non lethal weapons."

“Please give code for combat ready mode." The voice of my mech comes to life to ask for the appropriate security code, a safety feature I wish I could get rid of but we can't risk this tech falling into any dangerous hands.

“Activation code 441542"

“Code accepted. Welcome back Mechaknight Green."

“Right. Time to go to work." I say as the cockpit of the machine quickly shifts around and morphs to become the armored head of a forest green colored knight.

Over our connected comms system I hear “Mechaknight 3 activate", “Mechaknight 5 activate", “Mechaknight 6 activate", and so on along with the responses of their mechs as well. A hatch in our base's ceiling opens and I grip the flight controls that have now popped up allowing me to take to the skies. The rest of the team does the same and in less than a minute we're all in position to face the macros menacing our city of Greenwood. Ruth starts us off by giving our usual warning to the macros who have started to pick up the citizens on the streets. I count 7 in the black jaguar's paws and 5 in the moose's.

“Hi there. I'm gonna give you macros one chance to stop your rampage and cough up any citizens of Greenwood you swallowed before you leave. If you don't stop rampaging me and the rest of the Gradient Mechaknights will be forced to-YAHHH!" Ruth dodges a truck thrown at her by the jaguar macro while the moose takes 3 of those citizens in his hands and swallows them almost immediately. Seemingly out of spite and I can't help but grind my teeth in frustration

“Yeah, yeah! I've heard the whole protector spiel before. Though I'm not used to hearing it from mites hiding themselves in tin cans. I always thought you Mechaniknights or whatever were a myth."

“It's Mechaknights and I can assure you we're quite real and quite ready to kick your ass if you're not gonna cooperate." I chime in to back up my colead.

“Is that right? Sounds like we've got to remind these bugs of their place. Right, Richard?" The black jaguar looks to his moose companion in wreaking havoc.

“I believe you're right, Valencio."

I guess the moose is Richard and the jaguar is Valencio. They both take the time to greedily swallow however many people remain in their paws before anything else. The battle starts with the jaguar Valencio trying to stomp me on the ground like a pest but I dodge and try to counterattack with a flying punch to the gut with all the power this mech can muster. He dodges out of the way but doesn't manage to dodge Ruth who punches the macro jaguar in the back of the head with her black mechaknight making him stagger a bit. He tries to grab at Ruth but I press an orange button to fire a few small incendiaries at his arm and he yowls in pain as he pulls it back. Aside from the mechanically boosted strength in the fists and feet of these bots we pilot we've also got our arsenal of mostly non-lethal weapons. At least with the macros they're generally non-lethal, still have to be careful about that, always.

“Uhh… they're a bit stronger than expected… for specks anyway. Should we -OOOF- let this one go and try our luck at another city? Oww!" The moose asks as he takes two punches. One in his exposed chest from Verenzo in the white mechaknight and the other in the arm from Erick in the silver mechaknight.

“I will not run with my tail tucked between my legs from some bugs playing at being bigger than they really are! I won't go anywhere till I crush them all underfoot and neither will Hnnngh you." Valencio says after extinguishing the small fires on his arm only to be pelted in the face by rubber bullets from Randall in the gold mechaknight.

The rush of less lethal rounds is broken up by the big jaguar picking up a chunk of a building's debris with his left paw and chucking it towards Randall. He stops attacking to focus on dodging while the destructive titan does the opposite, giving me an opening. “All power to legs" I command right before delivering a strong kick to this cat's ribs. I actually bring him to his knees with it and Erick does the same to the moose with Teresa's help in the red mechaknight. They gave him a punch to his red furred chin followed by a kick to the brown furred gut. This all gives me a second chance to examine our foes.

The moose is on the chubbier side while the jaguar has some muscle in his arms but a slim figure overall. They both have some scars indicating that they both know how to fight though the jaguar seems like the more skilled and experienced of the two. The black jaguar has two sets of claw mark scars, one at the base of his long tail and another just below his left eyebrow. Then there's the old looking bite wound on his right pec and what looks like a small burn just above his left elbow. The moose has a small chip to his right hoove, a burn scar about the same size and in the same place as the jaguar's and a sizable bite wound of his own on the left side just below his ribs. As they start to get up I notice that the moose has this image of red flames and black smoke carved into his antlers and the black jaguar has a nose that I swear I recognize from somewhere. The bottom half of it is green and the top half is purple and it's split perfectly like there's some invisible line separating the two halves.

“Grrr! That's the last hit I'm gonna let these tiny bastards have. You are all about to get wrecked!" The black jaguar is leaning on an office building with about 8 floors to it to help him stand back up at his full enormous height as the building crumbles from the weight of mainly his arm.

“Not likely, you astronomical ass. You and your whopping jerk of a friend are about to experience being knocked right out of city limits."

“Hell yeah! Go for it captain! Launch flash missiles!" Randall backs me up with the flash missiles

They fire from his mech's back and burst with a blinding light close to the face of our target. The colossal black cat hisses as he's forced to shut his eyes and this gives me an opening to strike. I go right for his face, specifically that two colored snout but my punch doesn't make it. Despite the rapid blinking and using one paw to shield and rub at his eyes he manages to catch me with the other. He wasn't as vulnerable as I thought and I wasn't as fast as I needed to be to avoid those gargantuan paws.

“Ah ha! Gotcha pest! Now let's see who's inside this little tinker toy." Screechhhhh

Oh crap he's using his claws to cut open the glass of my cockpit. The massive jaguar's face is close enough that I can clearly see the rosettes that are usually obscured by the darkness of his fur. He's grinning as the tempered glass pops open and in the distance I can see his moose buddy kick apart an apartment with one leg and have Verenzo's mechaknight flailing under one of those large hooves with the other. We're not gonna lose, we have lives to save.

“You know you've got a familiar looking face. You wouldn't happen to have a famous brother would you? One who's a town protector?" I try to distract this macro, Valencio while I try and think of some way to get free.

“Ugghh. Yes I have a 'hero' older brother not that it's any of your business." Pop Valencio finishes cracking open the glass sealing up my cockpit.

A pair of silver gray eyes stare right at me as I'm now directly exposed to their malicious gaze. “Ohhoho! There was a fellow feline under that hood the whole time. You shouldn't have tried so hard to fight me for the sake of all these pathetic preythings. I might have -Crash- spared you. Instead you'll make for a satisfying morsel." As the old glass of my cockpit shatters on the ground from being tossed aside by big fingers a huge, dexterous pink tongue crosses thin black lips making Valencio's intentions very known.

“Not so fast, you boisterous brute! Incoming!" I can tell that that's Ruth as she kicks the black panther in a flash of black metal against black fur. Hitting him in the shoulder and knocking me out of Valencio's hands.

“Thanks for the save, Ruth." I say as I grab my mech's controls and get myself out of what could have been a painful and potentially fatal collision with the ground.

“Activate mech repair mode. Code 6-4-227672." I whisper to my mech. “Code accepted, taking in necessary materials." My mech sucks in a bunch of the surrounding broken glass through a vacuum in my mech's back and in almost no time the tempered glass of my cockpit is back to protect me.

"I think the time's come to start wrapping this all up. Wouldn't you agree?" Ruth asks me before I shout “sword!" in the nick of time to cut through a piece of street ripped from its usual place and thrown towards me by Valencio.

“I absolutely agree. This fight has gone on long enough. Let's bring out the cannons." I prepare to enter the override code.

“Ughh, us too?!" Asks Teresa.

“It's up to you but the longer we wait the worse shape those people in their bellies and our city as a whole will be in."

“The only shape those people will be in is skeletal though when it comes to my stomach you'll be lucky to get even a skull back. And-"

“-and this city won't even have a shape! It'll just be debris and dust when we're done." Richard finishes the connected thought of the pair of colossi as he stomps and cracks through the street with a THOOM and then a KERR-UNNCH as he lifts his hoof back up to expose a part of our city's bunker system.

The black jaguar, Valencio uses this opening to cut into a part of the exposed system with those thick, black claws and grabs two more people to toss down his gullet as well as one to toss to Richard. Who grabs another person fleeing onto the street and gobbles them up. I hear Erick shout “Override code 37425" followed by Teresa going “Override code 837372". Their mech's right and left arms interlink almost immediately and the simply named sleeptime cannon emerges out of the former arm parts that had begun to shift and rearrange themselves. I think it's time I enter my own override code and I'm thankful that for the most part no one knows our real names.

“Override code 2627" Outside of this suit I'm just one of many clouded leopards but within this suit I am THE Green Mechaknight and I have a job to finish.

“Override Code 7884" I hear Ruth say it over our connected comms finishing what was needed for our cannon as I see Verenzo distracting that moose to give Teresa and Erick a clear shot with their cannon.

As I watch them fire those shells of what's basically sleep gas at our overly large, antlered enemy, the arms of mine and Ruth's mechs become a shifting whirl of rearranging parts. Our cannon forms as Verenzo, Erick and Teresa get enough sleeping gas by way of several bursting shells into that macro moose's lungs that he passes out. There is a earth shattering THUD as he falls chin down with his flat toothed lower jaw exposed to take up a solid intersection of Greenwood's streets. Valencio watched his partner in rampant destruction go down and immediately chucks a big boulder-sized piece of office building at me and Ruth in our green and black, temporarily conjoined mechs. We dodge it with some fine predicted footwork together and use our same teamwork to dodge three more pieces of ripped up city chunks tossed our way to try and stop us. Two more pieces of compacted building debris are dodged by us before the black jaguar decides he's done with tearing up and chucking parts of the surrounding at us and decides to just go for a punch.

A punch that we don't need to dodge because Randall comes in at just the right moment with his mech's sword to slice at the black cat's gold chain. It's a clean, precise cut that breaks the chain and leaves a relatively small surface level cut on the jaguar's neck. Randall's gold mech is unfortunately batted away though before it can land naturally making it smash into a nearby supermarket as the jaguar looks down to examine his now broken necklace and the new wound. He starts to growl as two bursting shells hit him square in the face, thanks to us not wanting to waste the good opening Randall just gave us. The black jaguar staggers a bit as he breathes in the gas but shakes that off to try and kick our linked up mechs.

We dodge the macro's blow again but it's not as hard as before because the gas along with this fight as a whole has absolutely slowed him down. We then dodge another punch and another thrown piece of compacted city debris before firing two more shells that he tries to hold his breath for but these shells stick to the air for quite a bit so he can't help but breathe it in. That's when he staggers back harder than before and then begins to fall. It starts with a shudder and a BOOM as he goes ass first followed by his torso and head then back down to his footpaws which all collide with the ground to make one colossal and eardrum damaging BA-THOOM sound. We finally did it…

“We brought those macros down! Yes!!" Randall and Verenzo say it unison, finishing my thought.

Now comes the grosser, less enjoyable part of this job, at least for me. I look towards the giant I just helped take down, more specifically that monstrous semi open maw laying above the ground. When it comes to the rescues most of us don't want to do it because of the slimy inner workings we have to go through to save people. And even though me and Ruth are both leaders who should set an example neither of us likes this part of things.

“I did the rescue last time. Think that boar breath smell is still on one of my favorite shirts to prove it so I'm gonna pass on this one." Ruth has her reasons out before I can think of mine.

“I'm exempt due to being the newest member of the Mechaknights right?"

“That's right Verenzo and me and Teresa are still pretty tired and did the rescue the time before Ruth's rescue. I guess it's just you and Randall this time, Amar." Seriously Erick!?

“Alright! I'm more than fine with rescue duty! There's a sort of cool beauty to these macros, inside and out… somebody tell me I didn't say that out loud. Please?!" Randall nervously asks before giving the awkward chuckle of someone caught.

“We'll all pretend we didn't hear that, pal. Better get moving Amar. Hehehe." Erick chimes in again before laughing to himself at the tough spot he helped put me in.

“I wouldn't mind doing another rescue Amar if you're not up to it. These rescues can be a lot to stomach… no pun intended and you've done plenty of them already, more than most of us. It can be my turn for one again if you want."

I give some consideration to Teresa's offer. It would be a good way out of a trip to the belly of the feline giant to save some citizens whose condition I can't be sure of. Rubbing my neck anxiously as I stare at the significantly larger neck of Valencio, contemplating if I'm really about to slide down it but then I remember the moose. He's sitting there with his chin down and that lower jaw exposed, his mouth somewhat open in a different way than his more in charge buddy. He looks more out of it and after all this fighting feels like the softer, easier option to handle. So I look to my team and then my fate and make up my mind.

“Appreciate the offer Teresa but I can do this. You save your energy for the next rescue." The red pangolin's tone makes me picture her rolling her eyes but she does give an okay to say she understands while I then look to Randall. “That said, I think it'd be best if I do the rescue from the moose and you do the rescue from the black panther. You alright with that?"

“Whatever you say, sir."

“Yeah… let's get this over with. I'm ready to move on from dealing with these two." I gesture to the two macros before me and Randall.

“I don't know they're kind of cute when they're asleep like this." Randall proclaims, unashamedly this time and despite all the damages and lives on the line I have to admit he's kind of right in the moment.

Valencio is kind of adorable while splayed out and slumbering and I can't help but admire that soft, fuzzy gut that Richard is sporting, at least on the outside. I'm still not sure if I'm ready to see it from the inside of what I'm sure is multiple stomachs instead of just one. Still, I think I gave myself the better option between the two as I tap three buttons of my mech's controls. I hear Randall give the command first.

“Gold Mechaknight reformat. Engage D.R.M.(Depths Rescue Mode."

“Green Mechaknight reformat. Engage D.R.M."

“Command accepted. Initiating rescue mode."

“Command accepted.Initiating rescue mode." Our mechs both say it at almost the exact same second as they change.

5 feet of metal given height are shed, some of it repurposed and some of it being stored for later re-reformatting. Part of that repurposing is making oxygen tanks and several already designed macro-jacks to help in the rescue. The mechs also develop a new coat of waterproof material(can't remember what exactly this stuff was) that's also nontoxic cause we don't need to get these guys sick while they're already down. The macro-jacks are also designed to not be too rough on their bodies, not because they deserve such soft treatment given what they've done but rather to make sure we don't risk disturbing their induced slumber. The macro-jack I pull out once the reformatting is done applies only the needed amount of pressure and adjusts to the mouth or rather the tooth shape of the moose. I still have to really will myself to enter the literal belly of the beast.

“Inhale Going in. I'll have a first citizen or two out of there in… no time."

With the macro-jack keeping his jaws separated enough for my mech to crawl in between this moose's large chompers I pass these ivory gates. Landing with a soft squish on the moose's tongue and snapping a long strand of saliva as I do so I'm grateful for the several layers of metal keeping me dry and from having to feel this muscly, semi-moist internal landscape on the bottoms of my paws. I know the people further in here can't say the same so I can't afford to waste too much time. I crawl over this figurative pink carpet lined with tastebuds and reach the back of the throat. With the natural light pouring in from outside I didn't need any light to see inside the big moose's mouth but his throat and beyond are a different story. Before I switch on my mech's shoulder lights I take one last look back. I see the tip of the thick tongue I'm currently standing on resting just at the precipice of those lips, drool dripping off of almost but not quite white teeth as well as that ridged hard palate, the squishy pink flesh of the gums and cheeks and the light from the outside world I just left flooding in from the space between these flat, powerful molars.

I then look forward and up to see the uvula right above me like a stalactite in a cramped cave. As I flip the switch of my mech's light system I look down to see what was once the expected black void become a steadily moving pink tube of muscle. It writhes, constricting and dilating with his unconscious breaths which would be pelting me if the mech wasn't shielding me so effectively. I need to go down so I take a step towards the edge while gulping and the throat catches me like a waiting trap. The moose may be knocked out but his body still reacts as it should and unconsciously swallows me with a SHLURP sound.

Peristalsis that I can't fight(not that I want to given my goal)means I'm riding down this throat like it's a really slimy, weirdly colored elevator shaft and my mech is the elevator. A slow, steady heartbeat drowning out all other noises for a moment tells me I'm about halfway to the stomach. A few more gulps and I'm within reach of a firm but squishy ring of muscle, the entrance to the stomach, the cardiac sphincter. I don't wait to squeeze through instead preparing another macro-jack with the limited range of motion the mech has on the outside and my handling of the controls on the inside. This will allow the rescue to actually happen as I plop into the stomach. I see 4 faces looking at me; a teal furred glacier bear wearing a black bandana and equally black jeans, a black furred reindeer with a blue logoless cap, a dark green and gray furred raccoon in light gray shorts and an albino crocodile wearing a green shirt. Three of the four have a look of amazement in their eyes but the reindeer is different with a look of disgust and anger.

“It's not enough to swallow us, is it you gluttonous asshole!? You had to swallow down some robot too?! There already wasn't enough space to digest in peace in here!" The black furred reindeer angrily kicks a stomach wall as he yells at the macro that wanted to make a meal of us all.

“Calm down guy, that's THE Green Mechaknight! He's not a robot, he's a hero who'll help us. Right?" It's the crocodile that comes to my defense, I'm pretty sure I've seen him around but where in Greenwood I've come across him escapes me at the moment

“That's absolutely right sir! I came down here to rescue you all from this big jerk. His jaws and esophagus are being kept open by trusty Mechaknight technology. I'll let my team know you're all your way out so they can provide any further help you'd need."

“Thank you so much! I thought I was going to become more moose fat." The green and gray raccoon says as she clambers through the sphincter being kept open by the macro-jack and vanishes into the throat.

“This is Mechaknight Green informing all other mechaknights that I've made it to the stomach. I count 4 people in need of rescue in this belly. Macro-jacks have been deployed and the first person, a raccoon, is on her way out of the opened maw now."

“Copy that Mechaknight Green this is Mechaknight Purple outside this behemoth's mouth waiting on that first person to provide assistance. Send the rest up."

“Mechaknight Red, also willing and able to provide assistance."

“Noted. Thank you both."

“You're welcome." “No problem." Ruth and Teresa both respond in the same order as before as the glacier bear starts to head up as my second rescue.

The bear also goes back up the throat and vanishes in a way I hope to be doing myself very soon. Over our comms I hear Randall get his first rescue out of that jaguar's stomach so I know he's not too far behind me in terms of getting this over with. Next comes the reindeer who stops moving to hesitantly look at me with regret as opposed to the anger and disgust from when I first plopped into this acrid, organic refinery to free him among others.

“Before I'm free of this slimy, stinky danger pit I just want to say thank you and more importantly that I'm sorry I didn't realize what you were trying to do, who you are. I happened to be visiting the city to see my sister. I was actually staying at a nice hotel here before this douche broke it to pieces. Didn't know who the hero or I guess heroes of this place were so I hope you can forgive me for only passing by and being kind of rude as result."

“You've got nothing to apologize for, I understand. I just want to ensure your safe rescue from this place." I gesture to the wrinkly, moving walls of the moose's stomach after I ease this reindeer's mind with words that feel simultaneously natural and rehearsed given how long I've been doing this job, the many rescues I've had to do.

“Right! Thank you so much for getting me out of here. See you just beyond those ivory gates Mechaknight!" The reindeer says as he crawls back up through that tube of muscle.

“I sure will, citizen."

“Before I move along you should know that there are three more people who slipped past that sphincter there. I think they're in the second stomach. I'd hurry to get them out though I doubt you'll have any problem doing so mister mechaknight."

“There are more people down there?" I point to the pyloric sphincter, the same sphincter that this crocodile was pointing to.

“Yep. Right down there, slipped in recently too."

“Thanks for your help, citizen. I've got this. You're free to head out of here, my fellow mechaknights will help you once you're outside these jaws."

“Alright. Thanks for saving me Green Mechaknight." As the crocodile climbs up to freedom I hear him say when he thinks he's out of earshot. “I can't believe I got saved by the coolest mechaknight."

I smile that someone thinks so even if that's probably just by being around the longest and also saving his life as opposed to my actual debatable cool factor. I'm going to need another macro-jack and I'm not sure what I'll pull it from until I notice some building debris including a crunched up metal beam or two sitting in the pool of acid and saliva beneath me. They're also by the exit to this first stomach so I walk over there. Use my mech's build feature with the press of a few buttons and the entering of some info. I get my macro-jack and the stomach exit gets open to reveal a slightly more active second stomach with three people in it just like the crocodile said.

“Alright folks I'm here to sav-"

“You don't have to give any long winded speech, we heard you talking to Jake from the stomach above. This acid is starting to itch so I'd like to crawl out of here now if you don't mind Mister Greenknight." Rude but fair. Also it's good to know that crocodile's name, I almost feel it jog a memory but it still eludes me. This comes from a black furred squirrel, probably about 19 and she's wearing a shirt for a rock band I don't recognize.

She wastes no time in crawling out of here like she said as soon as I let Ruth and everybody know over comms that we've got three more to rescue inside this moose. The other two are a snow leopard with blue jeans and a limp meaning I've got to help him up at the fundus of the stomach, through the sphincter and hope that he'll be okay the rest of the way. The other, a gray and beige furred sea otter wearing a silver chain with a chunk of obsidian in the center and a gold shirt gives me a grateful look as she leaves. I notice a small potential acid burn on her thigh, a place where the fur has been stripped away to reveal agitated pinkish flesh and I'm myself grateful to be done.

“That's everyone from what I've gathered. Rescue complete, exiting now."

“Great! I've already sent three of your seven rescues on their way and am assisting two more. Teresa is helping another one along with two of Randall's rescues. Waiting on a final rescue to get back into the moose's mouth. See you in a minute."

The trip back does usually take about a minute or so. I quickly peek into the third stomach to see that no one is down there and am relieved by the sight of nobody there. On my way out I grab the macro-jack holding open the sphincter to the second stomach, then the one keeping the first stomach's entrance open. There's no peristalsis or gravity to help me in the other direction so the trek back up the throat is a squelching crawl up flesh that originally squeezed me down. It's a weird feeling to climb up on muscles intended to suck you down but I try not to dwell on it too much. I make it back to see the light from outside enticing me from just beyond the slobbery maw I have to crawl back through.

The uvula smacks me in the face as I clamber onto the tongue as if annoyed I made it back from the inner depths of its owner. Through the gigantic teeth being kept open by the macro-jack I see Ruth's purple mech, Teresa's red mech, Verenzo's white mech and several people that they're looking over and after. I walk over the slimy tasting muscle faster now having seen the people waiting for me on the other side. I reach the tip of the tongue, hop out of the mouth of this overgrown cervidae menace and take the macro-jack upon my successful escape.

“Well that's one macro fully dealt with. Your experience keeps you quick I suppose." Verenzo smiles at me as Ruth makes sure things are okay, mech and potentially myself.

“One dealt with?" I ask Verenzo.

“That's right. Randall still has two people left to save by my count. Though one should be getting out any second now… there they are." Verenzo goes to the big panther's jaws to help a tiger off the tongue. He has blue eyes and the typical orange fur but with bright yellow stripes as opposed to black. No sign of Randall yet.

“Is there really still one person in that giant cat? Two if you count Randall? Guy's probably admiring the saliva slicked scenery."

“Yeah but he should have been done by now. It was Amar that had to go through two stomachs as opposed to one." Luckily we've switched to internal comms instead of the ones we use for the public so real names are fine. Plus Erick and Teresa both have a point.

“Good point but all we can do is wait and let Randall see the job through."

“Yeah." Is Teresa's response.

“Still we never know how long they'll stay asleep." Is my o

That possibility stays in the air for one minute of silence. Of tending to those swallowed by the macros. I help that otter with the wound on their thigh. Jake the crocodile, apparently scraped his arm against some debris that was in that moose's belly and I somehow missed that but that's why we check on people after the rescue. Seeing Ruth treat that wound with some alcohol pads and gauze reminds me that he works at the pharmacy I go to whenever I need medicine. I only start to recall our occasional chats because there's abruptly a groggy groan from around the panther's muzzle. Then the worrying crash of appendages that tried to rise too fast.

“Mechaknight Gold can you hear me?" I wait and get no answer. Then I hear a yawn and a quick crashing of limbs closer to me, where the moose is splayed out.

“Randall, can you hear me? How's it going in there?" I switch to our internal comms again.

“Amar? It's going okay. This binturong had accidentally slipped into the first part of the small intestine. Had to go a bit deeper to get her. Should be sending her up soon, sorry for the short delay."

“Don't apologize, go together and leave the macro's body immediately, he's starting to wake up."

“Oh crap. I thought I heard the heartbeat pick up a little. Don't worry captain, I'll get us out of here as soon as possible. Even if I have to- GURGLE" Whatever Randall was about to say is cut off by a loud gurgle potentially from hunger given we just took back the people he tried to turn into lunch, a bad sign.

THUD Yawnnnn

The jaguar is fully awake now and lifts himself off the cracked, practically broken part of the street he landed on. He raises himself with his hind paws to a sitting position and rubs his eyes. His tongue pokes into his cheek like he's found something and we get to see what it isas Valencio spits out one of the macro-jacks. Things are not looking good.

“He's fully awake Randall! That jaguar spat out the first macro-jack. Where are you right now?!"

“I'm in the throat right now, climbing back to the mouth. He's awake and I'm down that first macro-jack? I-I… I'll find a way through someho- what was that!?"

“Oh no" I see the macro jaguar thumping his black furred handpaw against his chest as he begins to stand on both footpaws extending his legs and himself to full height. There's no way he's unaware of the people in his throat meaning Randall's in grave danger.

“Captain! I'm falling back to the stomach! So is my last rescue, ahhh!" I hear what sounds like two big splashes and then a GLURNN. A groan to signify where he is right now.

“Ahh. Back where you belong. Now to speed things along." That's the voice of the black jaguar, Valencio. At this point my full focus is on him and Randall. So much so that I miss the macro moose also fully waking up and saying “Unffph! What happened?"

“Punch your way through, use incendiaries if you have to, whatever you need to do, however much force you need just get yourself free of that macro."

“Captain, I'm trying! I'm punching and it's not working. My bullets aren't doing a thing. SQUELCH I can't risk too much with a citizen still in here with me. Oh crap- the walls- the walls are closing in. Help! Hel- CRUNCH Creak CHRRRUNCHH

“Randall! Randall! Can you still hear me?! Answer me… please?!!…" GROAN CHURRN

I scream for someone I'm certain can't hear me. Who's dead if he isn't still fighting for his life in the stomach of a monster. From a shell of metal and circuits that I heard being crunched by unsympathetic stomach walls. I'm not sure what to do now. The black panther pats his belly satisfied with making a meal out of people I was supposed to protect. And I've spent the past few minutes too caught up with my failure to fully realize that I'm about to be grabbed by that moose.

“Amar! Watch your back! The moose is about to get you." I look up in time to see thick brown furred fingertips reach for me. For a second I consider letting myself be grabbed but instead I simply shift a lever to move me and my mech out of the way.

“Dang it! I need an easier target… you'll do." The moose says to himself and I try to see who he's referring to only to see Jake in the path of those thick nailed fingers.

I launch a few flash grenades towards the moose's head and they distract and blind him just long enough that he misses his grab. While Richard tries to reorient himself and blink the effects of the grenades out of his large eyes the jaguar directs attention to him and we all hear him. The moose turns his head as does everybody else to see the jaguar holding a squirming sea otter in his palm, the one I just rescued.

“You were looking for an easy target buddy? Open wide and catch this one! We won't leave here without at least a snack each and I got mine." The jaguar preps his arm to throw the poor otter and I get my mech ready to move.

“That wasn't some 'snack' that was my friend you murderer! And I'm not letting you kill anyone else. You wanna eat something you can eat my fist! AHHHHHHH!"

Verenzo beats me to the punch both figuratively and literally as he charges fist first towards the black furred jaguar's face. The panther is at first surprised enough to almost drop the otter lady but then smugly smirks as he dodges out of the way then pinches the left arm of Verenzo's mech between two fingers before dangling it in front of his face like a cheap toy. He opens his maw and then SNAP MUNCH. There's exposed broken metal, circuits, and exposed wires where he bit half the mech's arm off. I can even see Verenzo's white furred arm exposed as well within the broken off metal, thankfully unhurt but the macro bit through that much metal with just his front fangs. The otter is dropped at this distraction and caught by the red arms of Teresa's mech.

“CHEW CLANG Could use some hot sauce but not bad otherwise. Thanks for the extra GULP metal in my diet. You and your friend or rather former friend have been a big help there." PAT PAT

The jaguar taunting pats his stomach with one paw while holding a kicking and fidgeting in his grasp white painted mech with the other. He stops patting his stomach with that one paw to transfer Verenzo to it, so he can start squeezing the life out of him. The jaguar's grip is now full handed and tightening. I press a few buttons on my mech to get myself back to being combat ready with my mech regaining most of its height from two of the macro-jacks. I turn the third into a metal shield and chuck it at the macro jaguar's torso.

CLONK

WOOSH

The shield hits him square in the stomach and Ruth makes it a combo move by doing a leg sweep to the colossal cat. It works in making him drop Verenzo and almost fall down but he's got those feline reflexes(I would know) and they allow him to catch himself with his handpaws before he fully hits the ground. Seeing that we're still capable of fighting, the big moose starts to flee to a spot a little past city limits as the jaguar growls at us. Verenzo seems to have rebuilt his mech's arm and whatever other damages after he hit the ground in it and seems ready to return to the fight. Erick fires a flash grenade at the giant panther while he's still somewhat vulnerable and Teresa fires a few rounds at it too making him hiss.

“MROWWW You contemptuous pains in the ass don't know when to quit. You, green mech guy with the splotchy fur." The big jaguar points right at me as he gives that basic description. “You asked me about my brother earlier. He may be a scratchy cyclone but you're all about to find out why I'm called The Mortality Maelstrom."

I'm a bit surprised that he didn't drop an alias like that sooner and am even madder now that I've heard it and how it almost trivializes what's been lost. Maybe that's just grief talking but I don't get to think on that too long as I'm kicked by 'The Mortality Maelstrom' faster than I can react this time and sent spinning in my mech. This black furred Maelstrom then swats Ruth and me away with his large tail. This is followed up by a vicious STOMP to what was meant to be Teresa's mech but Erick actually pushes her out of the way.

SCRAPPPE TEARRR Is the sound of toe claws ripping at the mech. Tearing just a bit above the glass to peel around it and open up the mech's cockpit to expose the raccoon. Make him… easier to grab, shit!

“ERICK!" “Noooo! Get away from UNGHH!!" Ruth and Teresa both try to stop the panther before he can make another move but a swift one-two of a right hook and a left kick knocks Ruth swiftly out of the sky and Teresa into a nearby evacuated apartment building.

It had already been a victim of the jaguar's previous fall and with the collision of the mech into it it collapses burying my fellow Mechaknight, my friend under several tons of shattered glass, brick and mortar. I try to stand with my mech's own two legs but then I look to see one missing, probably broken off by that tail swipe. To add to my trouble the jaguar drops a boulder sized chunk of torn up road on my mech, crushing the other leg before I can repair the first one and covering it up to the chest too damaged now to move. With that only Verenzo is left truly standing.

The reindeer takes to the sky and charges forward once more as the panther reaches for Erick.

“Yeah, I'm not letting you stall me a PUNCH second time. Catch Richard, I got you a good one." TOSS My mech's movement system is pretty damaged but works just enough I can lift my mech's head to see Verenzo punched back to hit the ground hard leaving a scorched trail to where he lands. Then the black jaguar throws Erick across to land in the moose's open mouth with a softened Splat on the tongue that my mech's auditory sensors just barely pick up.

CLACK SWALLOW

And just like that a second teammate is gone and even with all my resources and abilities this mech has I wasn't capable enough to do more to stop our losses. Two friends down, a third of my team lost forever and it's still not over. Just to rub salt in our wounds the jaguar picks up the same gray furred cougar he grabbed before and tosses him back into his maw. He gnashes his teeth shut quick but not before the cougar can scream out a bone chilling “NOT AGAINNNN-!" Only to be cut off and drowned out by those white death traps and the jaguar swallowing him down and living up to his alias.

“Hey! How come you got an extra one but didn't grab me one too?" The moose says to the big panther as he starts walking to join him outside city limits and they both start to walk off to somewhere else that I can only hope fares better than we did.

“Because cowards don't get seconds, you ungrateful idiot. You're lucky I gave you anything after you choose to wait where it's safe instead of helping me take down those arrogant pests! Feel free to go to the next town over or something to get more food. I'm gonna go savor my meal someplace further away from this craphole." The two macros walk off into the wild world beyond our now semi ruined city and I'm left here to contemplate in said ruins. I can feel something warm and wet run down my cheek I'm either bleeding or I'm crying and I don't care which it is at this point.

…

Screechh BASHHH!

“There you are! I was starting to get worried. Teresa, Verenzo I found him! Amar! Amar are you okay?! Say something please!"

“Hu-Huh!? Ruth? What… happened? Did I black out? What's… Pop oh! Oh damn that's my tooth!" PTOO I spit out a tooth, not a canine but a bloody molar. It all comes back to me seeing that tooth. The destruction of a good chunk of Greenwood, the devouring of about a dozen citizens, the rescues, the failures, the ultimate defeat.

“RAAA-AAAAHHHH! Fuck!" I half roar, half scream in frustration before slamming my fist down on my mech's controls. Creating a small crack where I did so but not too much damage, like it matters.

“Woah! It… it'll be alright. Don't move too much though I only got some of the debris off your mech. I know you're hurting, but let me help you first… Please?" I can taste blood in my mouth and feel a deep emptiness in my chest. I'm not sure what other wounds I have but I guess there's nothing immediately fatal.

“… Hurting? That doesn't begin to put it into words. Did you see where they went??"

“Who?"

“The macros! Who else?! I want re-re… oh gods. They're gone. What are we going to do now? Everything's a wreck Ruth sob" I put my hand to my cheek now that I've heard myself cry, a terrible thing for a leader to do. And having felt my cheek I can confirm that those were tears before.

“It's not all a wreck. We'll do what we did before. We'll mourn, we'll rebuild and we'll do better. If those two show up again we'll hit harder, faster, stronger and we'll show them why the Gradient Mechaknights are a force that will always clutch victory for the small guy out of the gross maw of defeat."

“Ahhn… Thanks Ruth. We're down but not out. We did this before, with Hector and Maggie and we'll recover just like how we did back errnh… then." I may not have any serious wounds but I can feel a few cuts and maybe a broken rib or two which make me grunt in pain as I try to take Ruth's words to heart and reassure myself.

“I should have let him become the Blue Mechaknight instead of Silver. I should have went into the stomach of that jaguar instead. I let personal convenience muddle my -ufff- effectiveness as a leader and it cost both of them their lives."

“Hey, those weren't just your calls to make. You don't run this team alone and those were mutually decisions. It was too soon to have a new person take up the Blue Mechaknight mantle and Randall knew the risks of what we do and agreed to switch places for the rescue targets. You can't blame yourself for what happened to them and you don't have to take on all the responsibilities of leadership after all we lead together."

“You're right, about everything. You usually are." I wipe away my tears.Ruth gets the last of the debris off me and uses her mech's right hand to give a thumbs up that I'm all clear.

“Most of the time, yeah. Not let's get you out of that mech so you can get some medical attention. Those grunts did not sound good."

“Jeez, you heard them? Deactivation code 245144. I thought I was being at least a little subtle."

“Deactivation code accepted. Mechaknight 4 disengaged. Opening cockpit." There's the hiss of a sealing mechanism breaking as the tempered glass of my cockpit opens and I can taste fresh air again. Ruth greets me out of her mech now, didn't even he say the deactivation code for it. I look into her sad black eyes with their red sclera and then notice messy blue lines of makeup running from those same eyes. She's been crying too.

“Sob It's so good to see your face and you all in one piece."

“Errnh Thanks Ruth. Could you lend me a hand, please?"

“Always." She extends a purple wing with her grey skinned hand at the end of it. I grab it to hoist myself up and we start walking.

“So we can't use Mechaknight numbers 5 or 7 now. We're gonna need to go to 9 and 10… depending on if we settle on just two new team members or not, there'll be funerals to put together and go to, rebuilding our mechs-" Ruth puts a talon to my lips to interrupt my thinking out loud about all the things we'll have to do to move forward.

“Easy… now breathe and try to live in the moment before you overstress yourself worrying about the future. There'll be time for everything but right now it's time for you to rest up at the hospital before you hurt yourself worse than now."

“You Exhale always know how to keep me grounded and going. Do you think those macros are going to head to their own doctors? Did we leave any permanent marks?"

“I don't know if we left any wounds or permanent marks that would leave them needing a doctor but I'd like to believe we left a lasting impression given both of them got knocked out by coming here. I'm sure they regret their whole decision to come to our town to try and get a quick meal from here. That they're regretting getting into a fight with The Gradient Mechaknights."

“Yeah. You're probably right. They're probably licking their wounds as we speak. I guess we should attend to mine and yours too."

“Yes we should."

—————————————————————

Meanwhile, Elsewhere

“Ohh, yeah! What a satisfying meal and no permanent marks, no serious injuries. I can just relax now with no regrets whatsoever. Ahh!" I lay back and rub my sated but not quite full belly on a prairie patch big enough for a melanated jaguar of my size to comfortably lay back on.

Richard went off to find some other city to fill his gluttonous guts but I'm happy with the meal I got from that town. Greenwood if I'm recalling correctly not that it matters what it's called. All that matters is that I trashed the place and was able to get a

good meat filled meal while also humbling some specks who think they can match us macros blow for blow. Their tiny tech wasn't a match for me though or even Richard in the end, the cowardly jerk. It did have a good mouthfeel though and a pleasant crunch to it, in more ways than one. It's been over an hour though and I can't just lay back on the grass forever, especially when those in my belly are probably halfway to being nothing but unrecognizable sludge by now, if they're not that already.

“What to do? Where even am I anyway?" I pull out my phone from my shorts and check my location on one of the map apps. “Uh huh. About here and… ohhh that's Rosettburg right there!" I'm surprised to see the city my brother pathetically decided he was going to “protect" from his fellow macros. I didn't think I had walked that far in like half an hour but that's one of the many benefits of being so big, travel becomes easier for you. It's been a while since I've seen Darren and I wouldn't mind walking some more.

I pull up his number from my contacts and double click to dial it. It rings for about ten seconds and I'm about to hang up before the call can go to voicemail but then I hear a “hang on a sec".

“H-Hello? Who's this?"

“What do you mean?? I'm hurt big bro, don't you recognize my number?"

“Valencio?! Oh! It's just been a while and I wasn't expecting you to call me so out of the-"

“Relax Darren, I'm only messing with you. How's life?"

“Life's been… life's been good. How've you been bro?"

“I've been great. So listen I was in the neighborhood and was wondering if I could stop by to visit? Like you said it's been a while."

“I had a feeling you were calling me for a reason. I'm not sure now would be the uhhh best time for a visit. You see the city is in the middle of ummm… rebuilding… the residential zone and things are pretty tense-"

“Oh really? Since when has your city had a residential zone? And don't you usually help with the construction there? What changes have been going on over there?"

“You know, plenty. Cities are ever evolving places and all that. Ehehehe." Darren chuckles nervously and if I didn't enjoy making him sweat(even if I don't physically get to see him do so) I'd have got straight to the point like I'm about to do.

“Honestly Darren it sounds like you just don't want your poor free roaming bro to stop by for a visit. That you're scared I'm not suited to even stop by that city you love so much."

“Whattt? Nooooo, I… I don't mind you coming at all… it's just I want to prepare you just in case there's still construction whenever you do decide to show up. It'd be fine for you to c-come v-v-visit."

“Great! So would tomorrow at noon be a good time to?"

“T-Tomorrow at noon? That's so …soon but yeah I think that'd be… okay."

“Who's that you're inviting over for tomorrow babe? Tell them that we've got a bit of a mess over here. I don't know if we're ready for company." This question comes not from Darren but from a different voice that sounds significantly louder than it should be.

“I'm trying to Sid but my brother tends to be stubborn about things. We can clean up the place by tomorrow anyway."

“Awww, did I just hear the voice of your usually itty bitty boyfriend? He sounded bigger than I remember. Are you two about to get into a little spat just over me? I hope you're not forgetting which of you is the macro? Maybe I can remind him and you when I get over there tomorrow." I lick my lips at the prospect of what a reminder from me would be and my stomach also gives a small anticipatory growl.

“Hehheh. I don't think that'd be necessary. We both know who's the bigger one in our relationship. Looking f-forward to your visit bro but right now it's getting late and I'm getting YAWN tired. We'll talk later okay?"

“It's 3:30 in the afternoon."

“Is it? Man this day feels like it's been dragging on foreverrr."

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say big bro. I guess I'll talk to you later."

“Great… love you, bye."

“… Love you too, bye. For now." Click I hear him end the call immediately after my own bye and I'm almost amazed he didn't hang up sooner.

I'll have to stop by my cave to get some stuff for my stay which is part of why I've decided to go over tomorrow instead of today. Another part of it is to make sure I give Darren ample time to prep himself for my arrival. Him and his little bull boyfriend who I'll also enjoy messing with. Our tiny family reunion is long overdue and I can already feel that it'll be a fun experience. Very fun for me for sure.

To be continued