DAZED, KENSUKE stood shakily and made his way to the cab of the vehicle. An inordinate amount of dumb luck had saved his life up until that point, and no matter how incapacitated his body was, he knew, even through the brain fog and the darkness of night, that if he didn't get the fonk out now, there wouldn't be a later.

Pulling himself into the cab, he slipped down the seat, his legs raised against the windshield, and paused. What was he going to do like this? He couldn't remember. Whatever it was though, this was pretty darned comfortable position to do it in. Maybe a quick nap before heading back to the city-fortr– No, no, no, that wouldn't do. First, get back, then slip into unconsciousness. Yeah, that was the plan.

He took a deep breath. Big decisions required big breaths. Pulling himself back up, he started the vehicle, and then realized why he had slipped down in the seat in the first place. The windshield was shattered to the point he couldn't see out of it. Slipping down into the seat once more, he kicked the windshield as hard as possible until it started to come loose from the frame.

Tiny plastiglass shards rained down around his legs and onto the dash. With each kick, he worked it out a little more until finally, it popped loose and slid down the front of the vehicle.

He now had a clear and satisfying view of the two massive combatants hurtling in his direction. A sharp intake of breath and he threw himself out the door just as BC Tachiyama's Demigod and a large humanoid crushed the cab.

The two stood, pummeling each other, unaware of the ashigaru's brush with death. Hopping back to his feet lest they roll over him, Kensuke bolted for open ground, realized he was now vulnerable to attack from muties, and turned back to bolt for cover under a second, mostly-intact, flipped hovercart. Being crushed was decidedly more appealing than being eaten, he decided.

Cowering beneath the back end, the footsoldier watched as a lone Sasagawa samurai dodged physical blow and laser attack alike, moving around the Demigod mech with ease. BC Tachiyama was making a valiant effort to stop the enemy, but to little avail. The fight was a spectacle to behold.

Kensuke had never seen an augmented like this one before. It stood much taller than any of the Tachiyama samurai, even the Daimyo himself, who was said to be larger than life. Large and bulky, the samurai appeared to be equipped with a variety of weapons, but of which it deployed none. He considered that they might be damaged or out of ammo and Kensuke counted BC Tachiyama all the luckily for it. Who knows what horror it could unleash if they were all fully functional.

Yet, BC Tachiyama was still far from at an advantage as the enemy scored walloping punches that physically rocked or damaged the Demigod, and her defensive shield grid was pushed to its limit protecting her from taking serious damage from a constant barrage of short-burst lasers. Death by a thousand cuts.

The Demigod raised its massive arms in a defensive pose and took small tentative steps back. Kensuke watched with dismay. Surely she wouldn't try to run from the fight, would she? He couldn't believe any of the Clan would run from a fight. He'd followed the BC into countless battles and she'd never left the field until she was certain every enemy had been vanquished.

She continued to backpedal and the Sasagawa samurai paused in its own attack, no doubt reassessing the situation. It moved forward, and again the Demigod moved back. The enemy combatant did something with its hands the ashigaru could not see. A light began to form before the augmented and Kensuke realized it was going to deploy a weapon, perhaps something that would devastate the Demigod.

No time to waste, the unarmed man charged from his hidden position to attack the samurai in hopes of distracting it, either giving BC Tachiyama the chance to dodge, counterattack, or even... He shook his head. He would never believe for a moment she would do that. He raised his voice to a warcry as he closed the distance between him and the enemy.

Turning with no great speed or concern, the augmented faced the new oncoming attacker. Its face was a helmeted cybernetic mask that seemed to change shape before Kensuke's eyes; roiling metal from which countless demons leaped out at him, their hideous faces physically chilling each step forward he took.

Before he could lose his nerve, Kensuke closed his eyes, tucking his form in so as to slam into this spawn of hell with the bulk of his body. If the augmented had not seen him, if it had not turned its weapons upon him, he would have succeeded. But the unyielding chill of an extrasolar alien tundra swallowed him, stopping him dead in his tracks. Too cold to go on, he dropped to his knees, but knelt defiant, unwilling to further denigrate his effort by giving in completely.

"C-Come... get me... bastard..." The words were a hiss off his tongue as he watched the Sasagawa samurai approach to finish him.