The man and his companion shot into the air with a shrill scream. A second ki shield crashed into their sides, knocking them into the stands.
Selene’s hand dropped as her shields dissolved. “Are you two done?”
Kira nodded as Alexander did the same.
“You two are no better than children,” Selene scolded.
“She means you, right?” Kira asked Alexander.
He glared. “No, it’s you. It’s always you.”
Alexander stomped away, the sound of his passage making it seem he was much larger—and heavier—than he appeared.
Selene paused at Kira’s side. “You’ve evolved.”
Kira frowned at her in question.
Selene nodded at Raider, Joule, and Devon as they squared off against their own group of nuisances. “There was a time you would not have been able to act as a bystander. You would have already stepped forth to solve their problems. It shows you’ve grown.”
Alexander’s snort came from in front of them. “Barely.”
“Growth is still growth,” Selene returned.
Kira’s shoulders shook at the pinched look on Alexander’s face that said he was dying to argue but didn’t dare. It seemed even the grumpiest and stodgiest of the forty-three had someone he didn’t dare cross.
“Nixxy, I’m picking up multiple energy signatures that suggest this arena isn’t as harmless as it appears,” Jin interjected.
Kira’s gaze jumped to the tall walls surrounding the arena, the stands above them.
“Not there. In the sands.” Jin sounded grim. “One at your three o’clock. Five meters out. A second to your five o’clock seven meters out.”
A part of Kira balked in remembered dread of the last encounter she’d had with those little bastards.
Tuann drones packed a mean punch. Like much of Tuann technology, they were highly advanced, able to achieve almost perfect camouflage.
Otherwise, Kira wouldn’t have needed Jin to inform her of their presence.
From what Kira had seen, they were primarily used for training purposes and lacked the intelligence or reasoning capability of a drone designed by the Consortium.
Even an outdated model like the J1N could perform more analytical activities and functions than any of these.
The Tuann drones acted much like mines—if that mine was capable of jumping up and chasing you for a while before shooting you with lasers that felt disconcertingly real.
Just thinking about the last time she’d tangled with them made her molars hurt. She’d been lucky to walk out of that forest on her own two feet.
“Devon isn’t going to like this,” she said in a low voice.
Not that she blamed him. Drones much like these had sent his primus into unconsciousness before shooting up his defenseless body when he changed back to his Tuann form.
“Why did it have to be them?”
Anything else would have been preferable.
“Just think—if I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t have known they were there until they were lighting your ass up,” Jin gloated.
Kira’s lip curled as she eyed her wrist with an expression of dislike. No way was she confirming that—even if it was a bit true.
The stands quieted as Torvald stepped into sight, wearing the same fancy synth armor and cape he’d worn when he’d intervened with Jarek.
