As the three Stygians observed from afar, a deep tremor came reverberating through the entire ground. It was as if it was exactly what they had been waiting for. Once the tremors began to be completely felt, the three Stygians started to circle the resonance field's edge, as if they were probing for its weaknesses.

  Altair watched in curiosity and abated breath as he watched them circle the Ironside, whilst the deep probing vibration from the ground kept him fully awake and alert.

  He leaned forward, his fingers dashing through numerous interfaces. "Vigil, expand the scan of biological signatures." He ordered, "I don't want any Stygians clawing through my back." He gritted his teeth as he focused and internalized all the data he could gather.

  "Affirmative, Lieutenant!" Vigil responded, "Expanding range... results show only three biological signatures around us." Vigil announced.

  Upon hearing it, Altair was still left unsatisfied. "Continue monitoring. I don't have a good feeling about this." He muttered, deep within his mind the memory of the first Stygian from earlier still lingered.

  His eyes shifted back to the three Stygians, he watched their precise coordination and movements from the interface, they were… too intelligent, and too patient. They seemed to have learned faster than expected.

  "Lieutenant." Vigil crackled through a response, "Atmospheric particle density is spiking at the perimeter. They're attempting to overload our systems with concentrated corruption."

  Altair's fingers moved across the console. "Increase our output to ninety percent. Force them back, don't give them time to form a cohesive frequency."

  The resonance wave pulsed stronger in a concentric circle. The three Stygians screeched and retreated another five meters, just barely enough before they reformed their circle.

  "We're burning through fifty units of energy per minute, Lieutenant." Vigil whirred into response. "At our current consumption rate, we have approximately eighteen minutes of time, provided we stay still."

  Eighteen minutes. Altair's jaws locked in frustration. The resonance disruptor worked, but it was burning through their reserves like paper, and faster than their passive harvesting rate could compensate. A defensive weapon, it was useful, but not the entire solution.

  One of the Stygians then lunged forward, testing the barrier. It convulsed in a horrendous way as it immediately collapsed within seconds, and it was then transformed back into dust and a symphony of lingering memories.

  Altair's eyes flickered, as if he saw and heard a ghost. A drop of sweat slid down his cheeks, but he continued.

  The other two didn't react to the death, they just adjusted their positions, as if they were filling a gap, and optimizing their strategy.

  "Adaptive behavior confirmed, Lieutenant." Vigil noted, "They are sacrificing one of their own to gather data directly on the field."

  "Just like we're gathering data on them," Altair interjected, he leaned forward, studying the remaining two. He raised his eyebrow in confusion, "What are they waiting for?"

  Then he suddenly remembered the trembling ground, with a snap of his attention, the scanner suddenly lit up with multiple biological signatures.

  "Lieutenant!" Vigil's voice carried an edge, something Altair had rarely heard. "Giant class entities. Distance one hundred fifty meters and closing fast."

  Altair's heart sank. "Already?!"

  Multiple giant Stygians emerged from the tree line, which towered three times the height of a standard Stygian who were not that far away from the back. Their forms were hauntingly humanoid, two arms, two legs and a torso. But from where their faces should have been, there was nothing but a smooth, almost sculpted, rippling flesh. Black and silver patterns flowed across their skin like oil on water, which never held still.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The two remaining Stygians immediately retreated, which gave the multiple giant Stygians wide spaces. From across the dozens of giant Stygians, only one came forth.

  "It's the same one…" Altair beckoned, "It's that same giant Stygian we saw observing us from afar!"

  Vigil responded with silence. "I'll maintain the resonance field. Let us see if this will work against it."

  The giant Stygian walked forward with deliberate steps. Twenty meters, fifteen, ten and five.

  It reached the edge of the field, and just walked through like nothing.

  There was no convulsion, not even a single hesitation. The field rippled around it like water across a stone, but the giant Stygian continued advancing.

  "Lieutenant, the resonance frequency is ineffective!" Vigil's voice crackled with alarm. "Its atmospheric particle density is much denser by orders of magnitude than what we could override! It ain't strong en—"

  "Damn it, I see it!" Altair cut him off, already calculating his next move. The giant Stygian was five meters away and was closing in fast. The autocannons wouldn't be able to stop something that big quickly enough, and missiles in close quarters would damage the Ironside, and the giant plasma cannon took too long to fire.

  They were out of options.

  "Vigi—" Altair started but then he stopped. He knew that tone in his own voice. It was defeat. After three thousand iterations, he recognized it instantly.

  "Lieutenant." Vigil's voice came through, which was steady and clear, vastly different from the panic a moment ago. "I took the liberty of creating a second prototype earlier."

  Altair blinked, dumbfounded. "A what?!"

  "I call it the Dissonance Projector. If resonance pushes their frequency away, dissonance should tear their coordination apart from within, which would temporarily stun them." He paused, then continued. "It is currently mounted on the secondary hardpoint. Permission to deploy?"

  Despite having accepted defeat, Altair smiled. "You magnificent bastard. Deploy it, fast."

  A compartment opened on the Ironside's opposite flank. A secondary array rose, which was sleeker than the resonance disruptor, with crystalline lenses that pulsed with a deep violet light.

  The giant Stygian was three meters away when the dissonance projector activated.

  The sound was entirely different, it wasn't the tooth-aching hum of resonance, but a jarring screech that made Altair's vision blur. The giant stygian stopped mid-step.

  Its smooth face rippled violently, the black and silver patterns across its body fragmented, breaking into chaotic streams. The creature staggered, with one arm spasming uncontrollably.

  The creature was now stunned, and incoherent in sound frequencies, it couldn't form cohesion within itself.

  The giant Stygian did not die, it dropped to one knee, still trembling, but it didn't dissolve like a normal Stygian. Through the chaos of its disruptive form, a thought formed within Altair.

  "How long will it stay down?" Altair said, "Make sure to gather the data of its current resistance before and after being struck by the dissonance projector, for our resonance disruptor…" He then glanced at the energy reserves.

  Sixty Units.

  "Unknown. Based on current configuration, I'd say it's around fifteen to twenty seconds before it recovers full motor control."

  Fifteen seconds. Altair's eyes flickered to the sensor grid.

  Fifteen seconds and Sixty Units.

  The two Stygians were back circling around them, now joined by numerous other giant and normal Stygians.

  "Lieutena—"

  "We're at our limit." Altair lowered his gaze. "It's time."

  The stunned giant Stygian rose from its feet, movement still jerky but now functional. The dissonance projector had bought them time, but not victory.

  The other giant Stygians and normal ones moved even closer, sensing their prey had vastly weakened as the lights and atmospheric energy coming from the Ironside started to dim significantly.

  Altair's hand stilled on the controls, calmness returning within him, as if he had made peace with it. He shifted his eyes to the dark side of the forest as he listened to the pitter-pattering of the black rain, now getting louder and louder.

  The dark side was ominous.

  "Vigil." Altair said quietly, "Are you recording all of this?"

  "Every byte, every single one of them to last a lifetime." Vigil's voice was calm now, a dawning understanding within him, despite the fear of non-existence driving him insane inside. "Full sensor data on giant Stygian biology, adaptation rates, dissonance effectiveness, and coordina—"

  "Good," Altair settled back into his seat. "Good night, Vigil."

  The Ironside's lights went out, and emergency power was activated, but it was only enough to keep the life support system on, and for passive harvesting of energy.

  As if sensing their prey had given out, every Stygian from giant ones to normal ones immediately lunged towards them.

  As the Stygians were tearing the Ironside apart.

  With the last bit of energy left within the system, Vigil sent one final message. "Lieutenant, it's so dark and cold…"

  "I know, Vigil." Altair comforted Vigil.

  "I know," he finally closed his eyes as he felt the patter of the black rain now touching his skin, then his vision turned black once and for all.