Unit 347 was beginning to adjust to this new kind of combat. At first it had trouble since all the tactics and strategies that applied to the battlefield of yesterday no longer applied here. The unit's processing began to figure out this new kind of combat. It was much simpler with a larger emphasis on personal skill rather than unit tactics. On the battlefield the IMCU's had been programmed for, they would have been some of the best combatants out there, but they would still have had plenty to worry about. Their armor was nearly indestructible, capable of surviving tank shells and direct hits from mortar fire and RPG's. However, continuous impact from high grade munitions would wear down a unit over time. However, this world had no air-to-ground missiles, anti-tank rounds, or bombing runs. They had swords and the occasional fireball. In this battlefield, 347 did not face the enemies it would have had to worry about countless years ago. The unit's AI began to gain confidence.
A few more hounds leaped toward the robot. Most of them were met with a metal fist pulverizing bone. A few managed to reach and bite the machine, but all they did was leave a bit of drool on the robot's armor before they were thrown off. The whole time, 347 swung around and around at any threats. It even tried to punch a few fireballs before it figured they weren't physical objects.
[WARNING][WARNING: UNKNOWN AIRCRAFT DETECTED][/WARNING]
This was a first. The unit looked up at where its sensors declared a possible threat. It couldn't recognize the aircraft, but it seemed to be in passive flight. The heat signature was a lot lower than what the unit would expect from a typical jet engine. It took a few seconds of processing for the AI to figure out that this new object wasn't an aircraft. It was organic. Kiro's stealth spell hid him well, but from where 347 stood, the unit could see his body heat on infrared. Kiro was invisible to most, but he was a dragon shaped outline of heat against a cold sky made dark blue by the infrared. From all the way on the ground, the unit looked up at the dragon. It wasn't sure if the dragon could see it, but it could definitely see the dragon. Of course, 347 didn't know it was a dragon. Since Kiro was passive, 347 simply tagged him as an anomaly and went back to its fight. There were more important warnings coming up right now. Like the large group of hostiles in the encroaching forest.
The large group of elves had entered 347's detection range before it entered the cart's field of view. They had set off the unit much in the same way Kiro had set it off, sheer size had made it stand out as a possible danger. As the cart got closer, 347 began to realize the group of elves was focused on another target. Some kind of creature was amidst the group, attempting to fight back, albeit inefficiently. The IMCU's had come programmed with orders to attempt the protection of civilians. While it wasn't too high up on the priority list due to Sternford Tech's decisions to focus the units on combat rather than policing, it was still an option to 347. Normally, a civilian had to be human to qualify. Wildlife didn't count. However, ever since the unit woke up in a new world, its systems had been scrambling in the background to try and make adjustments. Some errors were made and fixed, with a few minor ones left alone for now. It wasn't easy to try and adjust an entire AI system to a completely different time period, especially considering that the unit barely had any information. Most of the adjustments were made on assumptions and derivatives. One example being that the creature under attack could be sentient and therefore a non-combatant to protect, or it could be wildlife and therefore expendable. The deciding factor was that 347 had no mission besides regroup with the rest of its model line and a new mission was better than aimless hoping. Besides, 347 had been designed to accomplish missions.
The unit began to look at the others on the caravan. It tried to get their attention, but many were busy with their own defenses. It attempted to call out to them, but the clatter of battle drowned out its voice. 347 would have easily fixed this by increasing its voice volume. It would have, but volume alteration was one of the minor systems to go out the window via data corruption. This wasn't a very good time for 347 to find that it couldn't raise or lower its voice volume. Instead, it waved its arms around frantically to try and get the group's attention. It tugged at Karaki's clothes, pulled at Sharda's arm, and settled for trying to alert the rest of the group with more arm waving. Whether it worked or not, 347 didn't wait. It jumped off the cart and ran towards the forest. It's metal body was still mostly covered by the old brown cloak, but the heavy titanium legs threw up patches of dirt as it ran hard. It was hardly subtle.
It closed the distance to the forest very quickly and threw itself into the fray. It ignored faulty path-planning programs, but its HUD still displayed lit up paths to the soldiers and then deleted them to start over again and again. One of the faulty paths even suggested it run back into the city ad out the southern gate. 347 instead ran into the nearest group of soldiers and 900 pounds of titanium reinforced robot hit those in the way like a freight train. Several soldiers attempted to spear, slash, smash, and pierce with no success. Weapons threw sparks as metal clashed against metal and weapons that didn't bounce off 347's armor simply broke from the force of their user's swing. The soldiers expected to hit flesh within the shrouded figure, but they would've had better like trying to cut through stone. The brown cloak was pulled off little by little as it was torn to shreds. The unit's mechanical body had become apparent. Some of the soldiers were confused, others were shocked, some just hit 347 harder. Some shouted "Demon!" and either fought or fled.
347 stooped low in its run and scooped up a fallen spear in its hand. It had reached the creature it was trying to protect. It wasn't sure if it could understand or hear him, but he attempted to use the default response when protecting a civilian in its calm, clear voice.
"Evacuate the area. This is a hostile zone. Repeat, evacuate the area."
It turned to face some of the soldiers and swung its spear at them. One particularly unlucky trooper was caught by the swing. The force of 347's arms splintered the spear on the soldier's side. He felt some ribs break with the force of the hit and went down. The unit simply picked up another fallen weapon and swung it at the next opponent. Within a few defeated foes, the unit went through two swords, a handful of spears, and a claymore. Most of them broke after being swung a few times with a lot more force than one was supposed to use. The claymore lasted a little longer, but it too was eventually chipped to pieces.