Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

The Titan level mecha marched ever closer to the walls. Inian's palms were sweating, and his grip kept slipping on his rifle. 'How am I supposed to get out of here?' He thought to himself. He looked to his left at the shaking men, and suddenly, the sound of a cannon crashed against his ear.

The world seemed to slow. Inian's eyes widened as he saw the men get flung back. The stone and iron shrapnel from the wall pierced their skin. Their eyes were still wide with shock.

Time sped back up, and there was a huge chunk taken out of the wall where the men were. Inian looked towards the approaching army to see smoke coming out of a cannon on one of the low-tier mechas. A flash and the rest of the low-tier mechas fired as well.

Inian ducked and saw the castle walls collapse all around him as shots of energy blasted the walls. After the initial volley, he was one of the few remaining on the walls. He peeked over the edge, trying to expose as little of himself as possible. He saw the Hiro cannon slowly gathering energy. It aimed at the castle gates, which Inian was on top of.

Inian had a moment of realization and quickly dashed towards the collapsed stairway. He took several leaps on the stairs to get to the ground. His legs carried them as fast as they could, and he went to another corner of the wall as far away as the gate as he could get.

He heard the roar of the cannon as a concentrated laster of energy annihilated the gate completely. There was no debris left over, and it was an empty landscape everywhere that laser touched.

Inian's ears were ringing from the blast. He had been knocked backward and stood back up. His vision swam as he tried to find a way out. The imperial forces cheered and rushed forward. Thousands of black-uniformed troops and a few low-tier mechas charged the opening in the fortress's gate.

Inian could hear the retreat command from the Trostan Kingdom's forces. They began running out towards the back gate, and Inian decided to run with them. Gunshots fired at the retreating troops.

'They would shoot at their backs? When they're retreating?' Inian thought to himself. He ran as quickly as he could when a stray bullet pierced his leg. "Aahhhhh!" He grunted as he fell to the ground. He began crawling towards the back gate.

Pain shot up his leg with every movement he made forward. He fell behind the others who were retreating, and suddenly felt the barrel of a gun pressing into his back. "Don't move." Commanded a voice from behind him. He stopped inching forward and watched as the rest of the Kingdom's forces retreated behind the gate. Soon, a resounding set of screams echoed and was quickly cut off.

Inian began tearing up at his failed and feeble attempt of escaping, and blacked out once the stock of a gun rammed into his head.

"..."

"..."

"uuugghhh," Inian grumbled as he felt his head. It was pounding once more. 'And here I thought that I wouldn't have to black out again.'

He looked around him. He was trapped in a solid steel cage. He felt like he was moving in rhythmic steps. Sighing, he figured he was a prisoner on that Titan level mecha.

Feeling his leg, he could tell it was bandaged up pretty well. 'At least they aren't trying to kill me.'

He heard another groan and looked at the person a few cells away from his. It was a woman who looked familiar. "Janae!" He called.

"Whaaat?" She mumbled as she sat up. She looked around her while clutching her head. She seemed confused at first, but then her face bunched together in anger. "NOO!" She yelled, slamming on the ground.

Inian started, "It looks like we've been taken as prisoners aboard that massive mecha."

Janae replied, "Yeah, I can see that ya, idiot. I see that you didn't get out at all either. I guess we are both failures in a sense." She paused for a moment to think, "I have no idea why the kingdom would abandon Galbury Castle like that. We called for heavy reinforcements multiple times, and yet we received no one. Galbury Castle is not just a defense against other nations, but against the monsters residing in the monster land as well. The brass are so stupid to just abandon us like that!" She slammed her fist against the steel bars that held them until it bled.

Inian scooted as close as he could get to her while still being in the confines of his cell. "Calm down! It'll all be okay; we just need to get out of here somehow. Then we can each go to where we need to go."

He looked at the locks that were on his cell. Glancing around him, he noticed a couple of pins that were on his cuffs. "Perfect," he whispered. He pulled them out and formed them into the shapes he needed. He began working on the lock outside of his cell.

"What are you doing?" Janae asked. Inian responded, "Well, I am picking this lock. My brother Marc was always someone who got into trouble, and I would always go along with him. Eventually, he taught me how to pick a lock. I'm not sure where he learned it, but I'm sure I can pick this one. It seems like a pretty cheap cell."

Janae rolled her eyes, "What do you plan to do after you pick it? Huh? We're on a freaking Titan level mecha. The crew would consist of several hundred soldiers." Inian took some time to respond, as his focus was on his task. After a few minutes, the lock clicked, and he walked out. Janae raised her eyebrows. Inian moved to the outside of her cell and said, "I can figure it out on the go. You can come with me, but if we're caught, we will probably be shot."

Janae sighed, "Okay... I would rather try to get out rather than waiting for a fate I may not like. Get me out." Inian nodded and worked on her lock.

It took him twenty minutes to finally pick it but sighed with relief when he finally got it. Janae walked out of the cell and nodded her head in appreciation. However, their relief was short lived as they suddenly heard a door click not too far from them.