Yes.
A lurvely fight between Shinyso, Defal and an Imbara. Enjoy
Shinyso ducked between the Imbara's armored legs, slashing at the nearest one and wincing mentally as his blade struck sparks from the armor. He hoped he hadn't chipped the blade. The Imbara swayed away, graceful and quick. If it weren't for the wires, Shinyso could have believed it was organic.
It reared back from him, pulling up and scuttling around to the side. The blade-tipped tail whipped around, and Shinyso ducked and rolled under it. It turned to face him again, and he realized that his current weaponry would do nothing from the ground unless he anticipated three moves ahead.
Producing a handful of discs from somewhere, he sent one spinning at the Imbara's vulnerable "eye". It should see it and move instantly, hopefully into the path of the second one he had thrown.
It ducked its head, deflecting the first, swayed away from the second, and turned
directly into the path of the third. The protective glass shattered, and the disc sheared through the photoreceptor, lodging itself deeply. The red glow went out as the Imbara reared back and screamed, a sound like tearing metal and breaking glass. Shinyso winced away.
... maybe I shouldn't have done that ...?
Abruptly it quieted and its head came around, seeking Shinyso vindictively with its one good eye. It advanced dangerously towards him. Shinyso backpedalled, wondering if he had any more discs.
Something blue was thrown violently under the Imbara's feet. Defalcon staggered to his feet, clutching his stomach, as a big, brawny schwartzenguard advanced towards him. Heedless of the danger he was in, Defalcon clung to the leg of the Imbara, which looked surprisingly taken aback.
The turtle didn't even notice the Imbara, and thew his flailerang. Defalcon chose that moment to double over, and the flailerang wrapped tightly arund the Imbara's leg.
The Imbara looked down at the flailerang, up at the schwartzenguard who had suddenly frozen, and back down at the flailerang. It reached a decision; the bladed, curved forearm lashed out suddenly, ending the schwartzenguard's career - and life - then and there.
Allies did not attack allies. Thus the schwartzenguard was an enemy. Thus Defalcon, who had been the original victim, was
not the enemy.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Thus, it ignored him.
During this interesting series of events, Shinyso had not been idle. He had retrieved two of his serrated discs, and was merely waiting. When it turned back to him, he was ready.
Unfortunately, so was it.
Once again he missed. The Imbara threw back its head in alarm as Shinyso noticed Defalcon concentrating his fire on the right foreleg. That was the Imbara's blind side.
The warbot didn't even pause to register this apparent betrayal - by its reasoning, anything attacking it was immediately designated "enemy", no questions asked. It gave Defalcon its version of a backhand and missed by a hair - too close, by Shinyso's reckoning, for a robot who was supposed to be blind on that side.
It danced back from them, sidling around so it could see both Defalcon and Shinyso. Defalcon fired at the Imbara's eye, and was attacked for his trouble. He ducked between the Imbara's legs again, and the robot snapped at him, lowering its head enough that Shinyso had his chance.
He came up on the Imbara's blind side, grabbed hold of the jagged-edged eye socket (somehow retrieving his third disc on the way up) and leapt onto the Imbara, clinging onto the topmost neck segment.
The Imbara went wild. It thrashed madly, violently throwing its head back and rearing up like a startled horse. Shinyso struggled to stay on - the armor was slick, and if he inadvertantly got a finger or toe in between the segments they could easily be crushed.
Defalcon had drawn both swords and activated them. Shinyso's ordinary blade couldn't cut that armor, so he sent a telepathic request at the blue rabbit.
Can I borrow a sword for a moment?
A definite feeling of assent. Defalcon tossed Nightfire up to the precariously perched Shinyso, who caught it and gestured at his fellow warrior to do something - do
anything!
Defalcon spun and smashed Nightwind into the Imbara's lowest leg joing, on the leg he had previously been blasting away at.
The Imbara moved faster than Shinyso had believed possible; it immediately took a giant step backwards, transferring its weight off of the damaged leg. Then it paused, waiting for Defalcon, the immediate threat, to make the next move. It was ignoring Shinyso for the moment.
It shouldn't have. As he found his balance and his unlikely steed stopped moving,he ventured to stand up, Defalcon's blue-glowing swrod in hand, his own slung across his back. Gripping Nightfire with both hands, Shinyso drove the bade into the space between segment and head.
The Imbara threw its head back in simulated agony, and Shinyso promptly lost his balance. He managed to turn the rather undignified fall into a dive for safety, landing painfully and rolling to his feet. The Imbara thrashed and swayed, and Shinyso put out its other eye. Now completely blind, the Imbara was almost defenseless.
Defalcon straightened - that schwartzenguard had gotten him good - and went in for the kill. Nightwind slashed through the metal backbone of the Imbara, and sent a spiderweb of cracks through the previously impervious armor of the lowest neck segment.
The Imbara's severed head fell to the ground, the still-attached segmented neck still writhing and whipping around. The decapitated body swayed violently, automatically compensating. The damaged leg buckled; the warbot went down heavily, limbs and tail thrashing wildly around.
Defalcon made his way over to the head, which still writhed feebly at his approach. He withdrew Nightfire, which was still glowing and in perfect shape. The glow died down as Defalcon sheathed it, pain on his face.
The pair of warriors left the dying Imbara where it was, and went to find the rest of their friends.
Jheran watched breathlessly as the two rabbits felled the Imbara. Their teamwork and skill was impressive, despite the fact that the blue one was clearly injured from hi run-in with the schwartzenguard.
"That's three down," Tephro said from beside him. "There's only seven Imbaras left, and they're all that's keeping this excuse for an army alive. Irinn can't sustain many more losses."
"How many Bloodflames have we lost?"
"Only a handful, mostly due to that sniper and the Shockflyer. We lost Chimelle to the mercenaries."
"You have no idea how strange that sounds, Teph."
"What?"
"'Mercenaries'. Not a term we usually apply to others. Well, we're falling back. Irinn wants to commit suicide, he can do it alone."
"Right. Tama?"
"Already calling the retreat, guys. Looks like Hariam's doing the same."
Irinn was. "Pull back!" he snapped, and Justiar transmitted the order.
They weren't even on the battlefield, unlike Jheran and Tephro. Justiar couldn't say that the pair of Bloodflames were cowards.
"No!" Irinn hissed as another Imbara went down, losing its battle with the rogue Shockflyer and the CCSF.
The look of rage in his eyes was unmistakable - as was the fact that the battle was lost.