The Karvaile Chronicles

The Battle

This was what Jaxen and Karissa had sent a message to warn Bri about. The top secret Battlemaster project. But this cyborg thing wasn't here to kill Flora. Well, yes, it was, but killing Flora wasn't the First Order's plan.

If Flora had sent out her order in time, the second phase of the plan would never go into effect. Which meant stopping this attacker was up to Bri.

Bri fired her blaster repeatedly at her opponent, still running at him, ignoring the temptation to look back at Flora. She wanted to make sure she was safe, but her focus needed to be on the battle.

The cyborg fired something at her, and she dove to the side, but was unsuccessful. The small dart pierced her side, and she gasped.

"Poison and toxin filter," Bri said with a cocky grin, knocking the toxic dart aside. This didn't faze her opponent, and the gun arm barrel started to glow red. But Bri's gun was already ready, and a bolt of red plasma shot out.

An energy shield deflected the plasma blast. Bri cursed at this new development, and fell back. She took cover, and charged the gun. It would take a high powered blast to muscle through that shield. She knew FO technology, she knew the weakest points in that shield, and she knew it would not be easy to hammer through.

As she released the blast straight at the cyborg, she did a cursory glace. Good. The guards that were lined up as part of standard protocol were prepared. She signaled, and blaster bolts streamed at the intruder from every direction. She smirked triumphantly as the shield flickered out of existence.

Then came another development she hadn't been informed of. An EMP. Which he activated. The cyborg's weapon systems were down, but so were everyone else's. Her army couldn't back her up. How many toys has this thing got?

Not knowing what else to do, not having planned for this contingency, she tossed aside the blaster. She could do hand to hand, assuming that robot arm could be avoided.

Her opponent staggered backwards, apparently not having expected her to fly at him and punch the not metal side of his face, which was exactly what Bri did. She peered closer at her reeling opponent, missing her chance to press her advantage, because she was sure she recognized him.

Wide-eyed, she suddenly remembered. The guard who had supposedly been killed at the dinner party. He was an Iridonian. But, how was he here? She had seen him fly out the window herself. But then again... there was never an investigation in to where his body went. It was forgotten in the fiasco of finding Flora.

She didn't have much time to consider this, as he was already drawing his fist back to hit Bri. She barely managed to get out of the way, but his back swing swiped across her face, causing a stinging scratch.

She could already feel the regeneration nanos kicking in, but she was sufficiently ticked off by it.

"Alright, you want a fight, I'll give it to you."

She side stepped another powerful swing, and kicked out, hard.

But her attack fell upon metal plating, and she merely bounced off.

In the split second it took to regain her balance, he was ready for attack, and another punch came pounding towards her.

This time, she wasn't quite fast enough, and it nicked the edge of her jaw, knocking her back.

She winced, trying to retreat to give the healing time to kick in. Her lip was busted, and she tasted blood. But she wasn't done yet.

She spun and kicked out hard, this time, hitting what was left exposed of his actual human body. But it didn't slow him down in the slightest. Seemed the ability to feel pain had been eliminated.

A robot completely under their control, but that still has the ingenuity of a living, thinking person, Bri thought. The perfect weapon.

I can't fight him like I would a regular human, I just can't hurt him. No, I need a different approach, Bri thought.

She quickly side stepped another blow aimed her way.

I need to shut him down, damage the implants. Clearly, the actual cybernetics are protected from EMPs, I need a different strategy. A more physically damaging one.

That's when she knew she had to take the fight on the run. Not far from the open, now empty area in front of the palace where everyone had congregated for the coronation, there was a small guard house. There, she could acquire a vibroblade, and hopefully do enough damage to those implants to decommission him.

She kicked him as hard as she could, causing the former guard to stagger backwards. Then she took off running.

His enhanced legs were gaining on her quickly, but she had given herself enough of a head start that she was just able to slide into the guard house and barricade the door.

He immediately started breaking through it, but she had just enough time to grab a vibroblade and switch it on (Luckily still working after the EMP.) right before the metal door was torn away.

Bri wasted no time, immediately striking the guard turned cyborg. She may not know much about the Battlemaster specifically, but she knew First Order engineering, and she knew what to hit.

A well placed swipe caused some sparks to shoot from his shoulder.

She was aiming for his head now, hoping to knock out his vision enhancers, even the playing field.

But he wasn't making it easy for her. Whatever metal the forearm of the robot arm was coated in, it could effectively parry the vibroblade. He blocked her hits, using his arm as his opposing sword.

Swipe of his arm. Clash of the vibrolade against metal. The scrape of her weapon against the wall during a missed swing. A careful step backwards. A daring lunge fowards.

She used the wall and tight space of the guard house to her advantage, pushing off against the wall, finally securing a solid hit on the beast. The arm, hit at a strategic point of the joint, was dangling, half severed.

He was sparking and shaking severely, and Bri knew this was her chance, her edge over the opponent.

The effects of the EMP had worn off. Her backup was running towards the guard house, armed and ready. Bri tossed aside the vibroblade, and pulled out her pistol, unloading as many bolts as possible into the Battlemaster

He kept attacking, but was no longer able to match her onslaught. When his arm was cut, his blaster cannon was lost.

The guards streamed into the room, finally. Bri stepped away from the cyborg, and joined shooting in the open fire that had been ordered upon him.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained was the body of the defeated foe. So changed and twisted by the mechanical modifications that it was barely recognizable as a sentient being.

The battle was over.