Sarge's Tale, Part 11

Sarge’s’s military reflexes kicked in; the pounding staccato of rounds from the M-321 smashed into the offending automaton. The heavy .306 bullets ripped through the leader-klik's comparatively light armor, sending up sparks and rending pieces of metal from the machine.

Apenimon was suddenly airborne, bat-like wings had somehow come into being creating a webbed membrane along the L’na’s outstretched arms and sides, the rest of his body was covered in thick, yet supple, iridescent scales. The External wove artfully through a network of cogs and drive shafts, coming in at an oblique angle to one of the other sentry klik as it cut wide to flank Roller. The small, densely muscled Apenimon slammed into the klik, his claws, glowing with some eldritch fire ripped through the automaton’s neck, shearing off its expressionless head in a shower of sparks and popping rivets.

Buzzsaw and Toa turned as another group of sentries approached from a lower tier, riding a giant paddle-wheel of a cog like a lift. As soon as they hit the slowly rotating platform they shot across the dull bronze surface, coils arcing with deadly intent. Buzzsaw’s hand popped backward on a hinge as its chainsaw attachment emerged, revving up in chorus with its massive circular blade that was running at full RPM.

The leader of the second sentry group did a wide arc around the tri-pod allowing its drones to deal with Buzzsaw. The sleeker klik zipped in at Toa, a shower of electricity arching toward the giant. Lightening smashed fully into the islander’s whirling tattoos on his chest, scorching new whorls and designs into his flesh. The churl roared in pain as electricity played off his teeth and gout forth. The klik whizzed past Toa, swinging back around for another attack.

Three massive steel bolts slammed into Buzzsaw’s chassis, launched and tethered to three separate klik sentries that surrounded it. Buzzsaw knew the tactic, seeing the remaining two sentries swooping in to attack. The tri-pod swiped at the cables with both saw appendages as the three outer sentries let loose electrical charges down the length of their cables, intending to immobilize Buzzsaw to make the finishing attacks easier.

Buzzsaw sheared through two cables as the third arc lanced though its innards, causing the red band of his cyclopean eye to dim. The tri-pod barreled though the shock, its chainsaw snapping the sizzling cable as the circular saw ripped one of the closing sentries from hip to shoulder, spilling a plume of steam and cog-wheel innards. The other had a chainsaw attachment similar to Buzzsaw, but the teeth just skrilled off the tri-pod’s thick armor. The backswing from Buzzsaw’s own chain-blade shattered the joint that kept the roller-style klik attached to its wheel. The sentry went flying off, being dragged by its one attached limb into the crushing maw of meshing gears.

The leader of the second sentry group closed on Toa for a second strike with its shock coils. The huge churl blearily saw the machine’s swift approach, its hand stretched out. Toa jabbed out with the crystal head of his massive club, clanging into the automaton’s chest fending off the searing touch. The leader-klik road the momentum of the push to come back around at a different angle, an aperture snapped open along the klik’s left arm and a gout of flame washed over Toa’s dark skin. The huge islander laughed as he brought his massive club around over his head in a whirlwind arc. “I am Toa! Favored of Lonomakua. I am the son of fire!” The club smashed the passing klik with a reverberating explosion of ruptured plates, twisted gears, and tinkling brass.