07-25-2017, 12:18 PM
The skies were alive with the shrieks of skittering insects made of twisted steel and warped flesh. The massive hornet led the charge—its wings flickering with enough speed that they looked like little more than silver blurs behind the seemingly mechanized warrior.
Before Proto Man’s system could put two and two together, the insectoid released a dazzling burst of energy from its wings. The preteen machine dove to the wayside—his eyes wide behind his visor as the attack sliced effortlessly through a pair of nearby trees. At the end of his leap, Proto Man’s found himself once more under water. Overhead, he heard the muffled sound of laser blasts and jetpacks. Reticles popped up outside his current field of vision, informing him that the aerial soldiers had swooped down to attack.
You don’t say?! Swinging his feet underneath him, Proto Man gave a quick one-two thrust to get himself clear of the water. He grabbed hold of the closest stable tree and skittered up it with all the grace of a heavy metal robot. Blaster bolts peppered the space around him as he grabbed at the nearest tree.
Beneath the preteen machine, Cloud angled his massive sword in front of his body to act as an impromptu shield. Blaster fire sizzled and sparked across the surface of the weapon, leaving the soldier time to focus his thoughts. After a short delay, the palm of his hand started to glow a vibrant shade of crimson.
“Cover me!” He shouted just moments before Proto Man released a charged blast against the entrenched jet troopers. With the way clear, Cloud swung out and threw his palm forward. A few beats later, the momentarily scattered jet troopers found themselves at the mercy of a roaring pillar of flames. Although not immediately dispatched by the swordsman’s magic, the scattered troopers’ were easy pickings for a few well-aimed shots from Cole.
With his initial troopers dispatched, the floating monster—Hornet.exe, so Proto Man’s analytics reported—threw back his head and let out a high-pitched screech. “He’s calling in reinforcements!” The red robot shouted. “Fall back!”
Already, the hum of approaching jetpacks could be heard in the canopy above the foursome. While Proto Man picked up the louder rapport of Cole’s aerial support, it was quickly drowned out by the blaster bolts that tore down through the canopy onto the heads of the primes. “Keep going, we need to find a more defensible point!” The machine barked as he stopped long enough to fire up into the trees. A beat later, a shadow fell over him as Cole narrowed his eyes steadied his magnums. Before Proto Man could protest, the man squeezed the triggers and released a pair of energy beams that literally screamed from the barrel of his large handguns.
The beams were followed shortly thereafter by a second salvo, and somewhere up in the trees, there was a shriek of rage as a pair of jet troopers dropped down from the canopy and crashed into the tangle of roots.
“That person had a ship, right?” The preteen machine asked the man as they started to retreat amidst a retaliatory outburst from the growing horde of jet troopers in the canopy-clouded skies above them. “Can you call him to give us aerial support?”
Cole shook his head. “I, uh, don’t have anything to call him with.”
“Maybe I can have Rush find him…” Proto Man went to pull up his comm interface, but he suddenly caught sight of a small metal sphere bouncing off a tree to their left. A flare on his HUD told him to dive, and he obeyed, dragging a startled Cole down with him into the waters beneath the island. The fragmentation grenade erupted a moment later, sending out a shockwave that sent a few hundred pounds of tree down on top of the pair of primes.
Cloud and Blink were a few dozen yards away when they heard the distant boom of the fragmentation grenade. The explosion stopped them dead in their tracks as they turned to glance through the mangrove forest to see where the blast had occurred. “You think they’re okay?” Cloud asked as he reached behind his back for the Buster Sword.
“I think we have some more pressing concerns,” Blink whispered as a few jet troopers dropped down around them. The area light up with blaster fire, and Cloud managed to parry two blasts before a third and a four struck him in the back of his leg and shoulder. As the soldier fell down, Blink had sidestepped through a portal. The woman stepped out of a second just behind one of the idle jet troopers, and in a swift motion, she plunged her energy dagger through the gap between its helmet and chest armor. Swinging her blade around to make sure there was nothing important left intact, she wrenched it out and jumped backwards into a portal as the other troopers turned to fire on her.
Blink popped out just above a second trooper and crashed down on top of him. She wound up with his blaster rifle and fired a quick burst through his helmet. With the weapon in her hands, she turned and winced as she saw the jet troopers had her already lined up in their crosshairs. Instead of mowing down the mutant, they lost their arms when Cloud swung down his enormous, handheld guillotine. Arms spurting blood, the jet troopers only had a few agonized moments before a second swipe cleaved away both their heads.
The victory was short-lived, because more of the jet troopers were amassing to the south.
Reaching down for the dead trooper’s belt, Blink yanked off one of the fragmentation grenades. After glancing it over for a few minutes, she mashed the button and gently lofted it into a portal that opened up next to her. Twenty yards back, a portal opened up next to a trio of jet troopers and spat out a primed fragmentation grenade.
With that fresh explosion buying them some time, Cloud Strife and Blink pressed onward. Up ahead, they could see that the trees were a little lighter, and the ground was covered in a dense layer of moss. If anything, the sturdier ground would let them better steel themselves against the troopers and the terrifying buzzing that stalked closer to them with each passing second.
The concussive force had knocked out his gyro-sensors for a few moments. When they came online again, Proto Man quickly reoriented himself and grabbed hold of the nearest submerged root. He scanned quickly for Cole but found no trace of the man—had he been caught in the explosion after all? A second blast had gone off nearby, which meant the he could waste no time. He dragged his waterlogged body up out from the ocean and shook out the water as his sensors tried to grab hold of any familiar signatures in the area. He caught two, fleeing toward the north, and a third within arm’s re—
“Duck!” Cole barked as Proto Man obediently dropped his head. A glimmering silver stinger punched clean through the tree just above the robot’s cranium.
Before Proto Man’s system could put two and two together, the insectoid released a dazzling burst of energy from its wings. The preteen machine dove to the wayside—his eyes wide behind his visor as the attack sliced effortlessly through a pair of nearby trees. At the end of his leap, Proto Man’s found himself once more under water. Overhead, he heard the muffled sound of laser blasts and jetpacks. Reticles popped up outside his current field of vision, informing him that the aerial soldiers had swooped down to attack.
You don’t say?! Swinging his feet underneath him, Proto Man gave a quick one-two thrust to get himself clear of the water. He grabbed hold of the closest stable tree and skittered up it with all the grace of a heavy metal robot. Blaster bolts peppered the space around him as he grabbed at the nearest tree.
Beneath the preteen machine, Cloud angled his massive sword in front of his body to act as an impromptu shield. Blaster fire sizzled and sparked across the surface of the weapon, leaving the soldier time to focus his thoughts. After a short delay, the palm of his hand started to glow a vibrant shade of crimson.
“Cover me!” He shouted just moments before Proto Man released a charged blast against the entrenched jet troopers. With the way clear, Cloud swung out and threw his palm forward. A few beats later, the momentarily scattered jet troopers found themselves at the mercy of a roaring pillar of flames. Although not immediately dispatched by the swordsman’s magic, the scattered troopers’ were easy pickings for a few well-aimed shots from Cole.
With his initial troopers dispatched, the floating monster—Hornet.exe, so Proto Man’s analytics reported—threw back his head and let out a high-pitched screech. “He’s calling in reinforcements!” The red robot shouted. “Fall back!”
Already, the hum of approaching jetpacks could be heard in the canopy above the foursome. While Proto Man picked up the louder rapport of Cole’s aerial support, it was quickly drowned out by the blaster bolts that tore down through the canopy onto the heads of the primes. “Keep going, we need to find a more defensible point!” The machine barked as he stopped long enough to fire up into the trees. A beat later, a shadow fell over him as Cole narrowed his eyes steadied his magnums. Before Proto Man could protest, the man squeezed the triggers and released a pair of energy beams that literally screamed from the barrel of his large handguns.
The beams were followed shortly thereafter by a second salvo, and somewhere up in the trees, there was a shriek of rage as a pair of jet troopers dropped down from the canopy and crashed into the tangle of roots.
“That person had a ship, right?” The preteen machine asked the man as they started to retreat amidst a retaliatory outburst from the growing horde of jet troopers in the canopy-clouded skies above them. “Can you call him to give us aerial support?”
Cole shook his head. “I, uh, don’t have anything to call him with.”
“Maybe I can have Rush find him…” Proto Man went to pull up his comm interface, but he suddenly caught sight of a small metal sphere bouncing off a tree to their left. A flare on his HUD told him to dive, and he obeyed, dragging a startled Cole down with him into the waters beneath the island. The fragmentation grenade erupted a moment later, sending out a shockwave that sent a few hundred pounds of tree down on top of the pair of primes.
Cloud and Blink were a few dozen yards away when they heard the distant boom of the fragmentation grenade. The explosion stopped them dead in their tracks as they turned to glance through the mangrove forest to see where the blast had occurred. “You think they’re okay?” Cloud asked as he reached behind his back for the Buster Sword.
“I think we have some more pressing concerns,” Blink whispered as a few jet troopers dropped down around them. The area light up with blaster fire, and Cloud managed to parry two blasts before a third and a four struck him in the back of his leg and shoulder. As the soldier fell down, Blink had sidestepped through a portal. The woman stepped out of a second just behind one of the idle jet troopers, and in a swift motion, she plunged her energy dagger through the gap between its helmet and chest armor. Swinging her blade around to make sure there was nothing important left intact, she wrenched it out and jumped backwards into a portal as the other troopers turned to fire on her.
Blink popped out just above a second trooper and crashed down on top of him. She wound up with his blaster rifle and fired a quick burst through his helmet. With the weapon in her hands, she turned and winced as she saw the jet troopers had her already lined up in their crosshairs. Instead of mowing down the mutant, they lost their arms when Cloud swung down his enormous, handheld guillotine. Arms spurting blood, the jet troopers only had a few agonized moments before a second swipe cleaved away both their heads.
The victory was short-lived, because more of the jet troopers were amassing to the south.
Reaching down for the dead trooper’s belt, Blink yanked off one of the fragmentation grenades. After glancing it over for a few minutes, she mashed the button and gently lofted it into a portal that opened up next to her. Twenty yards back, a portal opened up next to a trio of jet troopers and spat out a primed fragmentation grenade.
With that fresh explosion buying them some time, Cloud Strife and Blink pressed onward. Up ahead, they could see that the trees were a little lighter, and the ground was covered in a dense layer of moss. If anything, the sturdier ground would let them better steel themselves against the troopers and the terrifying buzzing that stalked closer to them with each passing second.
The concussive force had knocked out his gyro-sensors for a few moments. When they came online again, Proto Man quickly reoriented himself and grabbed hold of the nearest submerged root. He scanned quickly for Cole but found no trace of the man—had he been caught in the explosion after all? A second blast had gone off nearby, which meant the he could waste no time. He dragged his waterlogged body up out from the ocean and shook out the water as his sensors tried to grab hold of any familiar signatures in the area. He caught two, fleeing toward the north, and a third within arm’s re—
“Duck!” Cole barked as Proto Man obediently dropped his head. A glimmering silver stinger punched clean through the tree just above the robot’s cranium.