Mech Pilot who sighs as they realize that the Kobolds are probably going to be the best workshop to fix this.
"No. Not in a million years. Never. Not once."
Paladin Utherborne had that familiar problem. Choir boy. Top of his class. A star pilot, an ace swordsman, a born fighter... and a piece of shit human. It's one thing to feel uneasy around Kobolds: they can be loud, they can be energetic, and they can be abrasive; it's another to have never set foot in a warren except as the executioner. Utherborne had been thoroughly humiliated by Meliana and her Exo, Striking Justice, a combined doctrine offensive of infantry, tanks, and five of the Hill Kingdom's finest pilots had been KIA by a single Elven warrior. The Kobolds Utherborne swore to eradicate as part of his royal oath had authored the countermeasures which made Meliana the most seasoned Exo Pilot in the realm, with no exceptions.
Presently though, the Elf looking at this trashed Human Exo titled "Archibald" and its near-imploding arcane core saw little option except to force compliance from the human. She presented her captive Paladin a choice: brave the warrens and get it patched, or take out every living soul in a 50 mile radius, plus or minus 5 additional miles. Paladins are supposed to be guided by the gods into proper acts, and Utherborne was anything but the kind of Paladin you could take home. Were it not for the extreme stakes for everyone living in this stretch of woodland, Meliana would've slit his throat there and then. This is, after all, a war with the Hill Kingdoms that was started by the Hill Kingdoms.
"We're at an impasse, what with your Exo locked? Time is ticking... perhaps sir, I could persuade you to contemplate a larger picture."
Meliana bit her lip, a nervous habit picked up over the last decade of non-stop Exosuit service in Her Majesty's Glade Guard. The bound, helpless human had two things over Meliana: One, said issue of the Arcane Core, and Two, exclusive command over the Fae Spirit trapped within the Arcane Core. True names and what-not.
Humanity had used their Exosuits and Arcane Core technologies to carve a bloody swathe through traditionally Elven lands in wars of aggression that challenged the Elves' political structures to react well ahead of their usual decades' long deliberations. Not even the great black dragons of the Hills could resist the intense might and firepower the humans wielded now with impunity. The aggressor nation of the self-proclaimed Hill Kingdoms had sought to exterminate all creatures not of human nature, a delirious and intolerable religious doctrine of being the 'one true heirs' of their God-King. Of the creatures the humans hated most, it was the Kobolds protected within the Elven lands. It had been the Kobolds who had devised counter-measure to Human Conquest out of a sense of pride, it was fitting that the cycle of Elven Battlefield Victory and Kobold Technological Proficiency once again be invoked.
"Alright, let me rephrase this for you: Subjects of her majesty include humans who have chosen to live peacefully within our boundary, and do so respectfully within the requirements of the Queen. These are the humans you insist we are oppressing, that your divine purpose seeks to free of inhuman tyranny. I will not argue the philosophy of who is right with you, your life is too short to test my patience. Instead, I ask you Paladin: are you here to serve your fellow man, or are you here to recklessly die a coward and a fool? Would you spite me and condemn 5,000 humans to death?"
Meliana dug her heel into the blonde human's neck as he groaned. The man spat as his face was pressed into the dirt, he clearly had never known defeat and was too indoctrinated to ignore the appeal to his sense of morality.
"Alright. You win, tree hugger. Archibald, release your safety lock and follow me."
The Fey spirit gleefully chittered, eager not to have its existence ended by petty neglect. Despite the considerable damage Meliana's Exo had dealt it in the gunfight earlier, it was capable of a degree of self-mending, enough to limp towards a repair bay. Emblazoned on its black exterior in blood-red font, the title of the Exo was impossible to miss. Assuredly, Archibald was not its true name as that name was taken by a powerful dragon who was slain decades ago by these humans. Even the lowliest and most foolish of human pilots would not inscribe a true name of the most powerful black dragon in history onto the shell of their Exo as anything but a cruel jab. Meliana assumed this was a callsign, though she'd not monitored the enemy's communications for long enough to ascertain the nature of their identification or role call systems.
Dragging the Paladin by his bound wrists, Meliana made sure to dirty his visage in whatever filth and grime the Warren Streets had accumulated. Dragging him past the friendly garrison of Kobold designed Exos. Unlike the humans, the Kobolds possessed a kinship towards the otherworldly Fey spirits that even made the elves jealous. The high energy of the average Kobold is allegedly ideal companion to Fey spirits, their synthesis is far more harmonious than the binding rites Arcane Core technology employs. As Meliana and her captive approached the repair bay, the familiar group of seasoned mechanics took interest. A colorful cast of kobolds representing a metropolitan scatter of ethnic groups within their vast subterranean empire scurried to and fro within Her Majesty's most prized repair facilities. So critical was the operation, it was granted full autonomy and exception to taxation, and in return a no-questions-asked policy was reciprocated.
"Hmm. Meliana, your entry reminds me of a 'walks into a tavern' joke.", a small green Kobold piped up.
This was Var'muth, one of the most skilled mechanics produced this generation, cocky and resplendent. If not for her kinds' age, Meliana might have considered her for a fling. Var'muth's companion Faery was called Tarkus, a skittering spider which danced betwixt her shoulders and tail-tip as-if animate with the desire to trigger a crawling sensation within one's skin.
"We've short on time, love. This human managed to avoid death by my hand, and in exchange the Core of his Exosuit is critically damaged. Can you rescue the Faery bound within?"
"Archibald huh? I think I know this one. Be a dear Archibald, oh king of dragons, take a knee and show Var'muth your royal guts, if you would please. I release thee of your captor."
Archibald's frame lowered itself without command, the Paladin watched slack-jawed. As is typical for Kobolds of her trade, Var'muth seemed to always have a way to coax a work around from the bindings humans use. Var'muth glanced at its interior for a moment, eyes aglow as she attuned her humors with that of the Exo. A flash of recognition across her face crept from one side of her dagger-lined maw to the other.
"Well miss Gladeguard, I think I could manage to free this one, there is plenty of fight and fury to stabilize the leak. Fortunately, I know precisely what will be required. It also will make both of us extremely happy."
Meliana cocked an eyebrow. She waited for the little devil to bequeath the scheme.
"You see... Archibald isn't a Faery. Exos like him are oh-so rare. If you would be so kind as to permit me to spill this humans blood, we can do much more than simply prevent a simple implosion."
"Uh, what, pray tell, is within that Exo?", Meliana queried.
"Well. What's 20 feet long, has a 70 foot wingspan, and eats human nobility?", replied Var'muth with poorly concealed excitement, "I'll give you a hint: his scales are black, his eyes are red, and he's been trapped for at least a century".
