Sigma/Star

Chapter 63: Chi vs. Fundamentals

There was a disturbance in Porter's mental pool, a rippling that wouldn't stop. The focus retained its strength though, still lending Porter power. Now it was mingling with anger and desires to protect that which was once lost to the young man. It was different from prior emotions to save his friends. It traversed into a deeper portion of his heart, into his psyche, and pulled out a new energy. It pulsed down his arms and coursed through the White Storm, electrifying the air and creating a hum around the chassis of the battlesuit.

"No flashy build ups will do anything to help you now little boy." Sigmeund held his shield out in front of him, lance pointed at his foe, as he circled around Porter slowly. "You need to perfect your fundamentals. You are running before you can walk and it isn't going to help you overcome this particular challenge. Not like before at least."

"I'm not like I was before." Porter vanished in a plume of snow that drifted back down to the ground like a miniature squall. Sigmeund stood still on the mountain, trying to zero in on his enemy's location. Bolts of lightning shot down out of the sky, crashing into the ground all around the Artisan general but he did not flinch. Suddenly, Sigmeund spun around, his lance flashing and blocking the reappearing Porter.

The two combatants leapt back from one another, entering into their stalemate once more. Porter dashed forward after catching his breath, a flurry of swipes and strikes forming around him as he drove forth. Sigmeund rejected each attack callmy, turning them aside with his shield and lance combined.

"How is Porter doing?" Nami whined from the ground. "I can't see anything down here under Chase's butt."

"Many people would consider it a privilege to be in your position down there," Chase replied, examining his fingernails out of boredom in his cockpit. He was getting tired of watching Porter hold all the attention, especially since this fight could have technically been over a long time ago.

"Quiet you two, we have to watch carefully." Ardwen waved his hands to try and silence the arguing couple as he stared intensely at his viewscreens, watching the different statistics going by. "If anything goes wrong, we have to intervene to save Porter, or run if Sigmeund lashes out at us."

"Sigmeund doesn't fight like that," Raul observed as he saw Porter try an overhead swing with his two swords that the Artisan rolled away from. "He is honourable, even if he is an enemy. He won't ever turn his blades on us, especially with fear that the android might come out at any moment."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ardwen asked as he scrolled through readouts of Porter's chi levels.

"Look at Sigmeund's movements. His footwork, his strikes, they are rush and hurried. There is a little bit of urgency to them, as if he wants this to end quickly. And he does, because he knows that Sigma could be out here at any second and would obliterate him in an instant. It's the only reason Porter is still in this battle. That and because Porter only knows offense. He has no defensive mechanics other than his speed and so Sigmeund has no chance to be the offensive master he normally is."

Porter spun away from a lance thrust and quickly leaped up over Sigmeund, lashing out with his twin swords and clipping the Artisan's shoulders. The round shield knocked the teenager away right after that, smashing into his chest and sending him careening into the nearby trees. As the Enian pilot stood up his overactive chi kicked in, causing a whirlwind of slashes around his body, forming a spheres of attacks that shredded the surrounding forest. Porter's arms had become a blur, revealing themselves in momentary glimpses as they changed directions. His body had little shocks of electricity crossing all over it and they jumped the gaps to the ground.

Within the cockpit, Porter's eyes were ablaze, his mind completely unravelled and destroyed temporarily, unlocked to the cache of power hidden within. The sphere of strikes kicked up snow all around, turning the area into a snowstorm and disguising the White Storm's aptly coloured form within the flurry.