Orange tendrils of flame resembling the gnarled and twisted branches of an old fallen tree, licked out from beyond the dark depths of Asimov’s vac-suit. Each time one of the tips touched a member of the advancing army, a shower of white hot sparks and a blood curdling scream would indicate the destruction of yet another exoskeleton.
K-Rox had been vaguely aware of Jemima jumping from his back as they entered the cavern, now though his attention was focused on survival. His movements were smoothly synchronised as he let the game’s immersion codes envelope him.
He leapt up and to his right, leaving behind a shower of detractor mines, the concussive thumps brought with them a blast wave that pushed him towards the jagged rocks he’d been aiming for.
Asimov was taking out the squad at a frightening rate, his initial attack had lasted two point three seconds and had killed one hundred and twenty-seven of them. The second had barely been longer than that and had got most of the rest, K-Rox scrambled around the high rocks trying to manoeuvre himself behind Asimov’s position.
As he went the salamander fed him an attack pattern which he acted upon immediately. He sent out thirty seven smart grenades each with its own flight pattern and detonation time, as the last grenade arced out to its final position he flicked the salamander’s tail propelling him off the rocks high over Asimov’s head.
The first set of grenades went off in what K-Rox hoped would be a distracting tactic, he rained down a shower of micro-missiles on top of him, but Asimov was too fast. The salamander was still spinning in the air when it was hit by a succession of blasts that took K-Rox completely by surprise and knocked him down into the water below.
As he landed he immediately shot to the nearest bank knowing that he was vulnerable in the water. One sixth of the salamander’s body was made up of ordinance, and as he leapt out of the water K-Rox didn’t hesitate to let go of almost every bullet, missile and smart grenade in his arsenal.
The darkness was punctured by a firework show of orange and white, one by one the attacking force was dwindled to almost nothing, until there were just three of them left, the salamander, Jemima and a battle-skeleton that K-Rox somehow knew to be Malcraft.
An acrid lung-ripping cloud of thick smoke hung heavy over the battle scene, Asimov faced the three of them, the soft blue light of his eyes gently pulsing in the darkness. K-Rox assessed the damage to the salamander, his armour integrity was dangerously low and he was almost out of ammunition.
The boxy shape of Malcraft’s exo had transformed, leaving it looking much more spider like. K-Rox scanned the machine, he knew it had to be Malcraft, he had been aware of him during the battle. His movement was different from the others, many times he seemed to anticipate the attacks, almost as if he had been there before.
K-Rox thought about his previous desire to kill Malcraft, he had hated him since he had murdered Amorphia, and now . . . and now he felt nothing, it was as if the presence of Asimov was acting like a dampening field to his rage.
K-Rox turned his attention to Jemima, standing there to his right on her four legs he felt that she looked oddly vulnerable, even though during the battle she had taken zero damage and moved with impossible agility and speed.
Now though he feared for her, he feared for them all, Asimov only had the three of them left, surely the rest of their lives could be measured in picoseconds, nanoseconds if they were lucky.
Previous Chapters
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 55 - Infernal BaptismAsimov's Ghost - Chapter 54 - Asimov's Inferno
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 53 - Hell Reborn
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 52 - A Chance At Paradise
Asimov's Ghost - Chapter 51 - A Time For Death
Asimov's Ghost Summary and Chapter Links 41-50
Asimov's Ghost Summary and Chapter Links 31-40
Asimov's Ghost Summary And Chapter links 21-30
Original artwork by @fr3eze
Original words by Cryptogee