"Be careful, Kira," Jin warned. "Death is unlikely but possible."
"I'll manage."
Somehow.
There was no other choice. She didn't want any further unnecessary deaths on her conscience. If she had to suffer a little pain, so be it.
The primus pounded over the ground toward her.
Kira let him come.
Ten feet. Five. Three.
A drone drifted from the shadows; its weapons already locked on the primus. Laser fire arced toward him, hitting his torso from three different directions.
It was the distraction Kira needed. She dodged the two bolts aimed at her, breaking off for the trees. The ground dissolved under her feet. She propelled herself to the side, barely grabbing onto a stump. She pulled herself up and took off again, never settling in one place long enough to fall afoul of the traps, never pausing for the drones to target her.
Attracted to his commotion, the drones swarmed the primus, ignoring the howls of fury and the repeated attempts to destroy them.
They were unrelenting, even when the primus leaped, catching one and using it to club another until it was nothing but scraps of metal.
Still, the drones came.
Whatever setting Jin had chosen, it was a doozy.
Even Kira had trouble, every bit of her attention and skill going to avoiding being turned into a pincushion.
The drones’ sizes varied. Some as small as her fist; others as big as a beach ball.
Not all flew. Kira nearly got tagged by two as they snaked across the ground, their movements somewhere between a centipede and a snake.
Kira jerked back as one dangled in front of her, its lower body curled around an upper branch. Light rippled across its smooth sightless head as its mouth opened, spewing a web.
Kira's blade flashed up, knocking it aside. She changed course, barely avoiding the laser fire of its brethren.
She streaked through the trees, finding her way into the canopy. Danger brushed across Kira's senses. She twisted sideways as red lanced from a hollow in the tree. She wasn't fast enough, the laser catching her upper bicep in what would have been a flesh wound had this been real.
A cry of agony tore from Kira, pain searing her flesh.
"Damn, that felt like a Tsavitee fire lance," Kira panted, swallowing any further sounds as she gingerly touched the arm, half-expecting blood and a gaping tear. To her surprise, the flesh was whole, except for a single red mark where the laser had grazed her.
"You really outdid yourself with these." Kira rested her head against the tree trunk as she took a moment to catch her breath. She hated to think what a full hit would do to her.
"I calculated based on your primus's known tolerances," he told her.
Probably a good call.
Pained bellows from beneath drew Kira's attention. Where she had relied on stealth and the path of least resistance to make her way through the trees, the primus had decided on brute strength.
The drones had acted accordingly, sensing the primus as the bigger threat.
Kira was more than happy to let them do the work for her. She made her way through the canopy, relying on instinct and experience to tell her when danger was near.
Unsurprisingly, Kira found the primus had been overwhelmed by the swarm of drones. He was going to lose. It was simply a matter of time.
Kira straightened, careful not to draw the drone’s attention. It was time to find the second gate and make her way to safety.
A low moan of pain and a heavy thump had her pausing as the primus collapsed face down into the dirt. His form dissolved to reveal Devon.
