The Orphaned Worlds (75 page)

ATTEND TO THE BATTLE

He looked around in time to see a weaponless Vashutkin execute a balletic duck and roll to avoid the raking sweep of metal talons. As he did so, one hand stabbed out to slap a small charge on the mech’s midsection. Coming out of the roll he lunged at the big Brolt rifle, lying off to the side, and came up with it in one hand as the other thumbed a small, boxy trigger unit. The charge went off with a bright flash that made the mech stagger but not fall. At the same time, the machine’s force field scrambled and pulsed for a couple of seconds, which was all Vashutkin needed. Without even aiming he brought up the rifle and directed a string of emp rounds into the unprotected carapace. Electromagnetic disruption tore into the mech’s vitals. Deranged datastreams burnt out control nodes and overloads raced through the gyro-motile systems. Wrecked from within, the droid fell to the ground, a shuddering, jerking ruin from which threads of smoke rose.

Backing away, Vashutkin glanced over at Greg, who nodded and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the sentry tower. The Rus grinned.

YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER THE BUILDING AND LOCATE THE WARPWELL CHAMBER

I can’t abandon my friends,
he thought as he ran towards the tower, just ahead of Vashutkin.
I hope you can deal with more than one of these things at a time
.

THEIR SHIELD PATTERNS ARE TRANSPARENT TO ME
HOWEVER, THE NEEDS OF BATTLE WILL PUT A STRAIN ON YOUR PHYSICAL RESOURCES
BE AWARE OF THIS