The rest of the Golden Legion team had just started their meal when the layer breach alarm went off on the bridge of the ship, signalling that there was another portal forming somewhere nearby.
"Gentlemen, I will have to let you wait here for the moment, there is another portal nearby, and the ship's sensors say that we're close enough to help." Max informed their guests.
"Do you know what's coming or where it will be?" Lieutenant Willis asked.
"I know the location, but not what might come through. Do you want me to display it on the holographic emitter in here, or should I have the crew do it after you finish eating?"
"You might as well display it now. We should report back to our superiors as quickly as possible, since our sensors were damaged during the attack, and the communications channels are flooded with combat reports."
Max tapped in the commands to bring up the most important sensor feeds, like the radar and the enemy movement details gathered by the drones, and then excused himself to return to his Mecha.
Nico was already waiting, and the reports that were coming in were not good. This portal had been an actual attempt by a Greater Energy Being to break through, and the Androids on the Koleska Region side had closed it with their usual brutal efficiency.
The problem was that the being that wanted through hadn't pushed far enough forward when it closed, and he wasn't heavily injured or scattered, but was thrown here instead.
The being was enraged, and the one that was damaged and hiding in the planet was terrified. The two were going to go at it very soon, and they obviously hated each other, but the one who was guarding this place was no longer a match for the new arrival.
That left it up to Max and Nico to get there in time to intervene and weaken the intruder so that they could be scattered into the wind.
It would be the first test of the true purpose of the new Titan Class Mecha, but the battle appeared to be taking place over one of the already damaged cities, where there were still millions of survivors and an ongoing battle with multiple alien species.
The setting would certainly make the battle more difficult, as they couldn't use the full force of the new weapons without creating a massive nuclear explosion that would cause even more damage than the intruder was likely to.
But Max was sure that they could make it work.
[Suited up and ready to go.] Nico reminded him as Max checked the reports a second time to finish his planning.
[Alright, let's move out. Try to avoid heavy civilian casualties, but make sure that the local guardian wins this fight.]
The two Mecha raced out of the hangar bay toward the battlefield, where the lingering damage from a second explosion over an already damaged city had left everything in a state of chaos.
That was intentional by the newly arrived being. It had realized that they had stumbled upon the secret hiding place of an enemy energy being, so it had opened another portal, hoping that the force on the anomaly side would do whatever they were doing to redirect and damage it.
The plan had worked, and here it was, ready to finish off an old nemesis. But it hadn't counted on Max and Nico, and didn't even understand the danger that it was in as they approached.
[What do we start with? The Thunder Gun's special ammo? Or should we just skip straight to the big guns?] Nico asked as they approached their maximum firing range.
[Start with the specialized Disintegrator and let's try it out properly on an Energy Being. We don't have all the sample data that we need, and I want a chance to optimize it before we have to use it in a more desperate situation.] Max replied.
[Got it. Main guns online. Waiting on your order.]
The injured Energy Being was just beginning to rise out of the ground, ready for her final battle against the intruder, and Max could sense the resignation in her mind as she realized that her peoples' hiding spot was truly lost.
Both of them were so focused on each other that they didn't even notice that the Titan Class Mecha pair was charging their weapons, and they didn't notice when the attack began.
[Fire at will.] Max ordered, unleashing the modified energy weapon on the intruder.
Both beams were unleashed at the same time, and they caught the intruder by surprise. It didn't even have an opportunity to react before its body began to shimmer, and wisps of energy were torn away to fill the air around it.
Given a bit of time to stabilize, they would create lesser energy beings, but that wasn't the intended use of this weapon.
[[Optimize] complete] Max's system announced in his mind, and suddenly the damage went from flaying unstable energy off to creating a ripple effect through the Greater Energy Being.
The effect froze it in place, and the rippling reaction tore apart the cohesion of its energy, dissipating it into nothingness for an instant before the wounded guardian of this place struck.
It was impossible for Max to tell what she had done, but the dissipated energy began to funnel into her body, recharging her power and healing the damage that she had taken. Within seconds, she was far more powerful than her opponent had been when it arrived, and Max halted his attack, letting the guardian finish the job.
Nico likewise paused her attacks, and the guardian's sense of power skyrocketed as the energy of her fallen foe was absorbed.
[Are we sure that this is a good idea?] Nico asked as the guardian finished the job of assimilating her enemy, leaving no Lesser Energy Beings behind.
[We will find out in just a few seconds.] Max replied with a laugh.
The being didn't seem hostile, and it was the guardian of both the Golden Legion and the intelligent felines, so they hadn't done anything to offend it yet. Hopefully, that would be enough to gain one new ally who might be able to tell them more about what was going on in the other layers.
