Re: [Phase One: Mission 5] The First Line
A flickering glint of blue lanced out from Famasir, cutting down the swathe of missiles before it and taking minimal damage from the remaining projectiles. Claws rended through cleanly, crippling the unit and giving the Temple Guardsman easy purchase as it oriented itself to attack one of the commanding units.
The enemy was fast though, and had managed to interpose another drone between himself and the burly frame. Another Soono detonated in the resulting conflagration of white and blue plasma, leaving the commander behind it relatively unharmed as it proceeded to return fire. A few streams of high-energy radiation glanced off his shields in turn, but the more pressing issue was the sudden alarm siren that rose up from Mu'Tasim's assisting VCANIOS suite.
Code:
The unit we are grappling has been commanded to self-destruct!
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Akjit meanwhile swept in to intercept the enemy in their moment of vulnerability, overpowering shields with the sheer power of his unit's wrist-mounted beam cannons. The unit could only manage a token resistance, raising a secondary directional barrier at the moment it was attacked to negate part of the damage. Limbs melted and buckled before seemingly tearing off, trailing off in red-hot plasma, while the torso was left cooked and glowing.
Initial scan revealed the pilot pod had survived, albeit barely.
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The sole remaining piloted frame now found itself dealing with limited resources, with most of its automaton escort destroyed. Displaying reason, it retreated at the moment that its companion unit was disabled, immediately placing a large number of frames between itself and the attacking Vanguard units and powering up its internal FTL drive to escape.
A single bolt of blue from Isha's handheld sword-rifle put an end to that, clipping one of the MASC-like control fins that adorned the unit's back before it fled. In that instant, the unit flickered out and seemingly accelerated off to parts unknown. Sensor feedback was ambiguous, but it was clear the unit hadn't managed to retreat back to the orbital station.
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With the first line of defenses disabled, the remaining thirty or so automatons orbiting the defense station remained close, voiding their bays of their remaining missile payload to waylay and slow down their attackers.