"I need time," Zener thought. A plan of attack began to formulate as he seized the moment Nox was lost in celebration. Desperation seized his core and he sprinted toward the titanic slab of back before him. Layers of data overlaid Zener's vision confirming his best assumptions. The Uraor was a massive network of micro-Nodes of out-dated and jury-rigged implants. So much so that it occurred to Zener that Nox might be even more artificial than himself.
Feigning that he'd lunge right Zener instead rolled left and threw his only weapon hard at Nox's throat. As he saw his gamble was working a realization hit him. Hard. Nox's own implants had whirred to life and sent his reflexes into overdrive. Blood poured down from the hilt embedded in his throat as his hammer slammed into Zener's shoulder. His shoulder exploded from the blow, as fragments of a servo littered the sand and his left arm hung useless. Without thought Zener did the only thing instinct commanded. He grabbed the maul and gripped it with all his strength.
Nox stumbled backward from the awkward change to his weapon's weight. He hefted it aloft as his body fought to heal the wound in his neck, swinging it to the side. Zener's strength couldn't keep him attached to the maul, not with only one arm but timing it right he released and landed a good distance away. Nox ignored his unarmed foe and instead tugged at the thorn piercing his neck in hopes of closing the wound.
The momentary pause was all Zener needed, he latched onto Nox's Node network and with a command began trying to isolate a central hub Node. There had to be one coordinating that much cyberwear with the rest of his body. "I need more time," Zener sighed. He could see no other options around him and Nox had managed to wrest the blade from his throat. With a menace Zener had never before witnessed Nox turned to glare at him.
"Buffer Overrun," shouted Zener, "that;s it!" A current of hope surged through the courageous construct as memory flooded him. Older Nodes had suffered from buffer overruns, they weren't designed to handle complex surges of data. They'd work fine for basic neuro-muscle impulses. But for example if you were to overwhelm them with a massive burst of data like navigational calculations for a planet...
Not knowing which node to attack, and seeing Nox approaching slowly this time, he did the only thing that came to mind. Zener closed his eyes, and with a sigh broadcast a brute force buffer override attack at every node within his range using the calculations for Glorien.
A range of 2000 feet.
To be continued.
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