Neon Knights - Episode 14.

Episode 14

Zero moved with all the speed he could call on, driven by his additional primary directive to safeguard his friend. He initialized a slumbering process waiting in his memory and aimed his path straight for Lexel. Already the fresh pair of fighters was moving in on her and as good as he was there was no way Zero could protect her from so many attackers. If even one strike made it to her he would never be able live with himself.

Lexel turned her back to the approaching attackers and loosed a shrill shriek of trembling terror. She didn’t know what else to do, giving Zero advice was one thing but going toe to toe unarmed against brawling bots was another. “Leova,” Lexel whispered her mother’s name to herself as she expected to be greeting a dark fate, wishing she had had more time to speak to her mother.

Zero engaged the waiting sequence and locked on to Lexel. Systems surged to life and sparked into a transformation as he rocketed straight towards Lexel’s back. His chassis clicked and clanked as it came to cradle Lexel’s cowering form. Zero’s arms morphed their metal shape to cover Lexel’s, his legs layered over her own. He transformed to become an echoed exterior of armor, linked directly to her mind by her data-jack.

The sudden shock of the experience stunned Lexel; her mind reeled at the strange sensation of sharing Zero’s body. She could feel his various sensors feeding in input, raw data detailing their surroundings. Information formed into an almost tangible shape, Lexel could nearly taste the metallic composition of the steel frames behind her. The sudden impact of blows upon their back rocked Lexel back into reality.

“We have to get moving, there is no time to just set here,” Lexel found as the thought came to her she could hear it drifting out into Zero. Already the prodigious prototype was in motion as he spun to face the duo behind them. His hands shot forward towards his foes chests, catching them in mid-swing of a follow up assault. A powerful burst of thrust erupted outward from his hands blasting him backwards slightly to safety and sending his opponents tumbling.

“I might have an idea,” Lexel told Zero with a thought. “If we can manage to remove one of those shields we might have a chance to use it against these other two. Can your torch cut through that hard point Zero?” Lexel found her answer came not surprisingly with a complex stream of calculations and referenced data. “Unknown; my ion torch lacks the raw power to cut through something that reinforced, at least quickly,” Zero explained. “It’s worth a shot,” Lexel countered and noticed already Zero was formulating an approach strategy for the attempt.

Together they charged towards their target. The damage to its side still sparked and crackled with unknown effects to its internal hardware. Foam still partially clung to its optics and one of its shields; somehow it had managed to dislodge the coating from the other weapon. It turned to maximize its remaining vision and raised its shield once more.

Another vaulted combo was not going to work this time, Zero knew it would be expected. He also knew without needing to calculate the odds that cutting to pass around his foes weak side was also the logical and therefore the expected attack. No, without hesitation he roared his thrusters to life and powered himself into a pass aimed directly at his opponents waiting guard.

A shinning shield once more flashed forward to brutally bash Zero’s approach. But instead of colliding with him it met with a lightning fast jab that jarred it off course. Zero immediately followed up with another punch and another that drove the wielded weapon in a backwards tilt towards its owner. Its foam encased other shield already swung to try to intercept Zero’s assault, but the added weight slowed it slightly. Zero deftly rolled to the side in a pivot that carried him just under the aimed blow and around his adversary’s exposed side. Instantly he seized a hold of the out stretched arm and pulled it into the path of his foes other appendage. A new shower of sparks filled the air as both disks ripped into their opposite arms.

Zero grabbed a hold of both falling forearms and sent them flying at his other two opponents. The shimmering shields slammed home into armored abdomens with a neat and resounding thud. As Lexel watched all three fighters fall to the ground a wave of excitement and thrill roared within her. “We did it,” she exclaimed with glee.

Once again the shadows spoke. “Well done, impressive even. You will be hearing from us again very soon.” And then, just like that the night was quiet once more. It was the silence itself that began to alert Zero’s sensors, the complete lack of sound around them. Which could only mean one thing; Greyhounds and with his dwindling reserves he was in no condition for another prolonged battle.