“Activate your QPS!” Hanami reminds the others.
They quickly obey, lunging for the glowing, holographic polyhedrals in the center of their consoles. Meanwhile, the other lion darts into the jungle, disappearing.
Chase is first to act. He tries to line up a shot with his Laser at the lion attacking Bombardier. As the two figures grapple, he can’t get a clear angle.
“Reo, you okay? I want to get that thing off you but can’t get a clean shot!”
Chase holds his action, waiting for an opportunity.
Hanami double moves parallel to the jungle, tracking the movement of the other target with her Adaptive Scope. She sees the bright glowing eyes of the predator popping in and out of view in the foliage on her night vision display.
You can run but you cannot hide.
As if sensing it is being tracked, the lion suddenly pivots and dashes the other way. Hanami quickly adjusts course and boosts back in the other direction.
“Second target coming back your way, Kora,” Hanami says.
Sweat forms on Kora’s brow. In the relative time dilation, it all seems to happen in slow motion; a droplet at glacial speed trickles down the side of her face.
Kora braces herself, holding her Directional Energy Shields in front of her.
“Kora, these are not energy or ranged attacks. I do not think those shields will help you,” Hanami cautions.
Kora nods, quickly switches off the energy shields and has Templar grab the large rectangular Ballistic Shield off its back. Just as she equips it the second beast bolts from the tree line, hurtling through the air with blazing eyes and spinning teeth in its horrible chainsaw maw.
“Not today, Mufasa!” Kora yells.
The impact knocks Templar backwards, prone, with the giant robotic cat landing on top of the shield. It tries to snap at Templar’s head but Kora dodges and weaves, holding the shield up with all of Templar’s strength.
The first lion is still latched onto Bombardier and won’t let go.
[Bombardier: Hull Point damage sustained. Calculating damage. Calculating damage. Left arm critical. Left arm compromised]
Reo lets out a guttural cry of rage as he lowers the Gatling Gun mounted on his right arm and puts the barrels nearly point blank against the lion’s side.
He fires an extended burst, the barrels spinning wildly as round after round pounds into the beast. Cracks appear in its dark plating.
[500 rounds remaining. Cooldown commencing – 5 seconds]
The lion rips its head back, releasing Bombardier and scrambling to the ground. Bombardier’s severed left hand falls off at the wrist.
[Bombardier: Left arm disabled]
“Why you little… that was my favorite hand!” Reo winces. “These things are harder to crack than my kupuna’s coconuts. Got some legit armor.”
Chase levels his shoulder-mounted Laser at the beast and glances at his monitor. 50% accuracy rating.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Fast too,” he adds.
Chase shoots a stream of Laser fire. He hits!
[Ronin: Cooldown commencing – 5 seconds]
The Laser burns through the right red eye of the first lion, revealing a chaotic tangle of wiring and circuitry beneath, somehow making its visage even more horrifying.
It lets out another ear-piercing shriek, sending a shiver down Chase’s spine—like chewing on a big wad of aluminum foil or scraping a whole set of kitchen knives across a chalkboard. Chase is temporarily distracted from following up with another attack.
Hanami moves to the side to get a better position. She aims her Long-Range Cannon at the lion pinning Templar to the ground. First shot—miss! She aims again at the moving, ferocious beast. This time she hits her target, spreading a spiderweb-like crack on the hip of its left hind leg.
[38 rounds remaining]
The wounded lion leaps off the Ballistic Shield. With feline grace it sails through the air, landing on Ronin’s back and shoulders.
“Oh NO!” Chase yells, raising Ronin’s arms defensively to ward off scratches and bites.
The lion tries to open its mechanical jaws wide, slamming its muzzle against Ronin, trying to find purchase to cut into the cockpit.
[Ronin: Hull Point damage sustained. Armor integrity - 94%]
Templar gets up. Kora looks back and forth at both targets, unsure of what action to take. Should she help Bombardier or Ronin? Looking at the stump of Bombardier’s wrist, a protective instinct overtakes her.
Kora lowers her shield and triple moves forward, boosting at full speed into the first lion which is still getting to its feet. She slams headlong into it and pushes it back, away from Bombardier and the others, its claws tearing long furrows in the ground.
Bombardier steadies itself. Reo boosts up into the air, flying after Kora and the enemy she is pushing away.
“You know… I think I’m more of a dog person after all,” he grunts.
The lion digs its claws into the ground, slowing Templar’s forward movement until it locks in place. It rears up, slashing forward with its front paws on either side of the large shield. It cannot reach Templar’s arms to do damage from this position.
[Ronin: Hull Point damage sustained. Armor integrity - 89%. Cockpit breach possible]
Chase comes back to his senses.
Let’s see if cats really do always land on their feet.
Chase grapples the lion that is trying to cut and claw its way straight to him. Then he uses his new Boost Thrusters to blast straight up into the air in a quadruple movement, carrying the snarling beast with him.
Hanami aims her Long-Range Cannon up in the night sky, but Ronin is blocking the target from this angle. She keys a command to send her drone closer to the pair so she can monitor the situation. Hanami remembers to slow her pulse and focus, using every millisecond of expanded time to her advantage.
She remembers the special training program she completed—Discern Vulnerabilities. Through the drone camera she closely examines the splintering crack she caused to the hip of the target now grappling Ronin.
“T-team,” she hesitates using the term, “these robots will not be structurally stable on anything less than four legs. They have armored plating, but if you can get around the plating to the joints, there may be an opportunity to disable them.”
The second lion clings to Ronin for dear life, its electronic brain scrambling to calculate heights, velocities, and the like. It was not designed for aerial combat! But this just causes its talon-like claws to dig even deeper into Ronin’s armor.
[Ronin: Hull Point damaged sustained. Armor integrity - 75%]
Kora boosts with all her might against the entrenched second lion, the heavy shield between them. Her light chassis doesn’t offer much leverage, but her heat rating is solid. She isn’t moving any further forward, but the lion isn’t moving either.
This gives Reo all the time he needs to fly Bombardier above the lion, hovering in place. Kora braces herself for whatever missile, grenade, or hail of gunfire is coming, but Reo does something totally unexpected.
Bombardier freefalls on top of the lion, his heavy frame crushing down and straddling the beast, trapping it in place. It immediately rears up, trying to snap its head backwards and bite Bombardier, its limbs flailing wildly.
Reo shoves Bombardier’s bulky fingers into the exposed eye socket, digging into the wiring and trying to find purchase as sparks explode from the lion’s demonic face.
It can’t move, but it is still dangerous. It revs its chainsaw-like jaws menacingly, slashes at Kora’s Ballistic Shield with its claws, tries to force its way out from under the Heavy Mech.
Chase flies higher, higher still. He tries to pry the second lion off his back with all of Ronin’s strength. A crack appears on his cockpit windshield. The lion won’t let go.
Chase stops his ascent and turns upside down, readying to charge full speed into the ground.
“Here… goes… nothing!”