Pen pulled back from the corner and retreated. The heavy footfalls of the modified frames told her they were closing the distance. Seconds later, a hail of fire erupted as she turned onto the walkway behind the building.

She felt a sudden pressure in her shoulder. A bullet had struck true. The armor did its job, however, and deflected the round. There would be a bruise when this was over but it was better than the alternative. She didn’t let it slow her.

Having rounded the corner, she'd broken contact and it seemed as though the frames weren’t willing to move off of the main road to pursue her. She already had half of a plan in mind as her legs carried her down the next alleyway that connected to the main road. As she reached the corner, her rifle went back to the maglock on her back and she pulled her Mk. 8 from its holster.

*Thud…*

Pen’s head shot to the source of the sound.

A small Tinsne child laid, fallen apparently, in the doorway of the building behind her. It stared at her, frozen in place. Moments later a larger Tinsne, female as far as Pen could tell, fell over the child. Covering it protectively, they looked up into the reflective visor of Penelope’s helmet.

“Demon… Monster…” she muttered quietly.

“No… I’m here to-” Pen held up her hand placatingly.

It didn’t have the effect she wanted, however. The mother turned her head, body shaking, attempting to further cover her child from harm.

There wasn’t time to prove to them that she meant them no harm. She’d have to let actions speak right now.

When no pain or death came the mother hesitantly looked up only to see the large figure darting down the alley towards the main road. The heavy footfalls ceased halfway down as it leapt up. Over two full meters of air between its feet and the ground, it grabbed onto the edge of the buildings flat roof and hauled itself up and out of sight.

Pen rolled onto the roof, remaining horizontal. She made sure to stay as low as she could as she came to a stop and waited. She listened for the audible thumping of the bots’ legs. She listened to see if her hunch was correct.

If they hadn’t followed her into the alley, it meant they probably had very simple instructions. Given their position away from the first set of frames and the fact that they didn’t pursue her, it was likely those instructions were to stand guard. If she was right, they would be returning to the positions she first found them in. Standing sentinel on either side of the road. One should be close underneath her and the other opposite the first on the far side of the road.

Their clear footfalls confirmed her theory. One came to rest underneath where she lay and seconds later the other went silent across the way. She’d have to act quickly. The frame closest to her would have a hard time seeing her before she fell upon it but the other had a much better angle and they seemed to share information between them.

Her breathing was slow and calm. From perfect stillness to a rush of movement she was off the building and falling onto the first frame. Her left hand caught the frame around the eye stalk. Her feet caught in the cruxes between the armor plating and two of its legs.

The frame across the road reacted quickly, its gun trained on the scuffle. It failed to fire, however, as its ally unit was almost completely obscuring its view of the enemy.

Penelope did not have this issue. Holding on to the now wildly jostling bot with her left hand she leveled the Mk. 8 and fired. Her rifle may have been standard issue and not up to the task of punching through heavy armor, but her pistol was.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

*Crack!*

*Crack, Crack!*

High caliber armor piercing rounds tore through the frame’s protection. The first shot ripped a section of the eye stalk clean off. The second and third punched fist sized holes out the back of its main body.

As it’s friend slumped to the ground Pen put the barrel of her pistol against the torso of the first frame and sent two shots through it into the dirt. It sparked and sputtered as it too collapsed. Pen rode it to the ground and hopped off. She only turned to put a final round through its head before moving off towards the entrance of the spaceport.

As she walked, she pulled the partially empty magazine from her pistol and replaced it with a fresh one. Returning the pistol to it’s place at her hip, she did the same with the rifle. In that time, she’d made it to the relatively large doors of the spaceport set into the cliff face. Above them, inlaid in the stone, sat a large glass pane.

A single figure stood in the window. It was difficult to make out a face or many details, but the figure was definitely human.

I’m coming for you asshole.

Pen wasn’t one for theatrics, but she wanted him to know what was about to happen. She made a show of turning back to view her handiwork and then looking back to him. With that small gesture she stalked through the large open doorway.

It split immediately left and right. Hallways that, according to a helpful directory just inside, looped back around and met each other at an archway that opened into a main lobby of sorts. From there, hallways led to elevators that brought people to different levels of the circular series of landing bays cut into the interior of the large hole she'd noticed in the top of the cliff as she dropped in.

On the third level there was a hallway that led to an operations office. This was the room on the other side of the glass window which meant that was her goal. Wasting no more time, she hooked around right and slowed as she came to the archway.

Stopping, she pressed herself against the wall and peeked around. As she expected, four of the smaller modified frames populated the lobby. It was a grim sight. The frames stood amidst a slew of corpses all torn apart by bullet holes. They’d clearly been running to the exit.

Pen didn’t have much time to morn. The frames were already waiting for movement at the exit and opened fire as soon as she peeked around the corner. Chips of stone cracked against her visor as she ducked back.

She couldn’t help but grin at the familiar. Her hand gripped a rifle. The armor sat heavy in all the same places. The bodysuit had the same feeling on her skin. The sound was different though. Noticeably so. These frames didn’t shoot like real people did. They were rigid in the way a computer is. Incapable of variance. They couldn’t help but repeat the same flawed action again and again. So she waited for the moment.

The hail of shots came. Then the pause as they righted themselves. The two left of the archway collapsed. Three perfectly placed bullet holes in each. She was back in cover and waiting a full second and a half before the remaining two fired again. Unable to learn from a situation, they doggedly repeated their mistakes and fell like first two.

She swept the room as she moved through the archway. Everything was still but she heard sets of clacking steps down the hall to the left. On instinct she rushed against the wall to the side of hallway opening and waited. The steps came closer and closer until a tri-jointed leg broke the threshold.

The frame didn’t have time to register the large figure directly to its right. A bullet carved through its head. Penelope swept into the hallway placing shots on the two frames behind the first. Not a single one of them had managed to retaliate before they were scrapped.

Pen kept the rifle aiming down the hallway, falling to a knee behind the first frame for cover. She held still as stone as time ticked by. Her attention held for any sign of movement down the hall. When enough time had elapsed, she stood and carefully made her way down the curving path.

There were elevator doors to the left and, opposite them, doors that led to ground level landing bays. One of the bay doors was open and the bay was empty of a ship or people. The second bay door, however, seemed to be locked. The control panel to its right blinked red.

She listened for a moment. There was silence. Either there were survivors who’d managed to lock the door and were hiding in safety, or it was little more than a security malfunction. Either way it was a waste of time trying to open it. Best to finish clearing the first floor and then find a way up.

She quickly cleared the dead end of the hall and started back for the lobby but passing the locked door a voice stopped her.

“Wait!”

There was shuffling. This time the voice was closer to the door.

“Now… this may be a mistake, but I don’t see any reason in someone wrecking their own killer bots. I saw you on the security cameras tearing through those things and I’m hoping that means you’re a friend?”