A Visitor to the Future - 110 - The Knight's Challenge
The Knight glanced downwards at the rubble of the maze wall, and across to where Tungsten's headless Proxy was now shakily rising up onto all fours, sparks flying from the stump of the neck. The sword had fallen to the ground a little ways away.
"Tungsten!" shouted Gatecrash, breaking into a sprint forwards, "Reach out with your right hand, the sword is right there! Toss it to your left!"
Right. Headless didn't necessarily mean defeated, if the neural link receiver was located elsewhere. And with Anode as the designer of Tungsten's Proxy, she definitely would have opted to put it somewhere non-traditional.
I ran off to the left side, putting some distance between myself and Gatecrash. The Knight brought it's right leg backwards to try and kick the decapitated Proxy away from the sword - but in credit to Tungsten, though blind and deaf he was able to scramble for the sword and slide it across the floor in Gatecrash's direction, out of reach of the Knight for the moment. It was then that the kick connected with Tungsten's torso with a sickening crack noise, and Tungsten's now lifeless Proxy impacted a piece of rubble and went still.
"Well, that did it," said Tungsten, "My link is broken. You've got this, good luck to you both!"
The Knight began lumbering forward in the direction of the sword, but Gatecrash was already halfway there. Opting for another strategy, it took the shield-like piece of metal it had been holding and tossed it in a frisbee-like spin towards Gatecrash, skimming it awkwardly over the ground like a misshapen stone across the surface of a lake. The force behind the throw was surprising as it impacted Gatecrash's right foot, causing them to stumble forwards. Gatecrash recovered by leaning into a forward roll, and straightening back up into a run once more. But the move wasn't an easy one, and some momentum was lost.
Though the Knight was far less nimble, it had started off much closer to the sword. Now both Gatecrash and the Knight were due to reach the sword at roughly the same time. I continued to move to the left of Gatecrash, slightly outpacing them after the stumble. I cursed my delay in setting off for the sword, my Proxy being slightly faster than Gatecrash's, I might have made it there first.
"I'll try and toss it to you," said Gatecrash, sparing a quick glance at me to check distances, "Stand ready."
The Knight began to lean forward, ready to stoop down to grab the sword from the floor with it's right hand. But the left hand was free, ready to intercept Gatecrash as they sprinted in.
Gatecrash elected not to sprint instead. They leaned forward and threw themselves into a head-first slide, the stance reminding me of the Skeleton event in the winter Olympics. The stone floor was no ice, but it was smooth enough to allow a brief slide. Gatecrash dodged the Knight's left hand, grabbed the hilt of the sword from the sword and pushed it ahead of themselves, out of reach of our opponent, the momentum still carrying them forward...
...but it wasn't enough. The Knight's right hand, already extending for where the sword was, wrapped around Gatecrash's left arm. Gatecrash's slide turned into a spin, the left arm now acting as a connecting tether between the two Proxies.
"Quick!" shouted Gatecrash, winding up to throw the sword with their right hand, "Catch!"
The sword span through the air towards me, but with a one-handed throw, it was going to fall short. I considered diving for it, but realized I was better off letting it hit the floor - the blade was too sharp to risk grabbing in mid-air.
Meanwhile the Knight's left arm came forward to seize the grappled Gatecrash's head, looking to crush it in the same move it had pulled on Tungsten earlier. Gatecrash had other plans. Leaning backwards, they put the full force of their Proxy into pulling away from the Knight, almost imitating a tug of war with their own arm. There was no chance of moving the much larger Knight - instead the move was self-destructive. Gatecrash's arm joint buckled, and the limb disconnected as Gatecrash fell back, out of reach, and scrambled away for the moment. The Knight turned it's attention towards me.
I slid to a halt and bent down to pick up the sword. Up close, I could see that though the blade was longsword-like, only one side and the top edge was sharp, the majority of the 'blade' instead a carbon fibre housing of some kind. It was etched with arrows to indicate the sharp side. Or, at least I hoped they indicated the sharp side.
"Tungsten," I said, "I got the sword - any advice? The arrows..?"
"They indicate the sharp side!" he replied, "It's monomolecular, just like Gatecrash thought earlier. I'm wishing that we practiced with one now - just remember, it'll cut a lot easier than you expect. And don't twist it when you strike, it'll get stuck! Straight line strikes only!"
The Knight thundered towards me, Gatecrash completely forgotten for the moment as they circled around the back walls of the room, holding the stump of their former arm. Twice as tall as I was, I could feel the slight thundering of footsteps as the Knight approached, scavenged armour plates clacking against their main body. I could tell this thing was heavy, the momentum building up behind the movement making me feel a little standing in front of a train moving at full speed. I imagined a train horn echoing around the room as it approached. Old instincts flared, the memory of being stood at a train platform as an unstoppable force thundered through in front of me...
Breathe in, breathe out. Better.
One fist began to draw back, the Knight preparing to put the full force of it's run into a downwards swing. The temptation to move was there, but I needed to wait. Ten metres. Five metres.
The fist extended forward, air parting around it with an audible whoom noise. If I stayed where I was, in seconds there would just be a small crater and metallic mess where I had previously been standing. So I stepped to the side, and held the sword up sideways into the space I'd just been stood.
I'd realized very early on in my Proxy training how difficult it was for them to react quickly. They were heavier, bulkier than a person. Committing to a strike often meant completing it, even if you saw a better option immediately after you'd begun it. I'd been floored by Gatecrash often enough to learn that lesson. It was often the case that the one who struck second struck true.
When I looked at the Knight, I saw a towering mass of synthetic muscle fibre and machinery. It was strong, yes, but not mobile. It had to overcome obstacles with sheer strength, not finesse - obstacles like the beetle-beasts and whatever the dinosaur-like thing had been could be overpowered easily. But when things didn't behave predictably - when your own momentum could be used against you by a smart opponent - the brute force approach was dangerous.
The sword intersected the descending fist between the index and ring knuckles, it's own momentum beginning to part the limb like a zip opening. I tensed every part of my Proxy, holding the blade as still as I could, and trying not to twist it as I'd been advised. As easily as the blade cut through metal and circuitry alike, it still threatened to be torn from my grasp if I didn't hold onto it carefully. The Knight started to slow, so I began to put my own force into the blade, and cleaved upwards into the elbow joint before withdrawing the blade and stepping backwards, narrowly dodging the Knight's right hand as it grasped towards me. I took the opportunity to lash out with the blade, making another deep gash.
The two halves of the Knight's left arm now hung uselessly at it's side, but it wasn't done. It charged me again, looking to crush me between it's shoulder and one of the room's pillars. I stepped to one side to dodge, but the right arm came forwards again, and I narrowly avoided being caught in it's grip, my shoulder armour wrenched away from the body as fingers closed around it. I swung with the blade again, this time in the direction of the Knight's neck, briefly within reach as it leaned forward. The blade dug into the metal - but when I went withdraw it, I found that I could not. It remained impaled in the Knight, stuck fast - either the blade had dulled through use or it had gotten twisted. In a split second I had to decide to leave it where it was as the Knight kicked at my legs to take my footing out from under me. I fell to the ground, unable to move out of the way - but the Knight couldn't quickly follow up with only one hand. It brought it's right leg forwards in a stomp, but I was able to roll out of the way.
This wasn't like any Proxy I'd fought before, and I was finding my confidence in the fact it was slower than I was less reassuring by the second. It was like fighting an overwhelming force of nature - and I was now firmly on the back foot.
There was a sudden clang from the other side of the Knight as an impact knocked loose a piece of scavenged leg plating. Gatecrash had thrown the shield-plate from earlier at it, offering me a momentary distraction. I moved into the pillared area, hoping that they might obstruct the larger Proxy's movement a little. The sensors in my shoulder area complained at the damage I'd received.
"We can't keep this up," said Gatecrash, circling around to my side, "Any ideas?"
I looked at our opponent. Even though it's left arm was damaged, it was still a significant threat. Without the sword or Gatecrash in full fighting shape, we would be hard-pressed to deal any meaningful damage. I glanced up at the sword, still lodged in it's neck. Maybe there was still a chance.
"Can you give me a boost?" I said to Gatecrash,
"I can try!" they replied, "I think I see what you have in mind. Go!"
Gatecrash took off toward our opponent once more, and I followed after. Sliding into a kneel as they drew close, they held their remaining hand behind their back for me to stand on. I stepped onto it, and ran up their back as they straightened up, about to leap off their shoulders towards the Knight's neck...
Which was when the Knight kicked Gatecrash in the head, my footing torn out from below me just as I made the leap. I flew forwards as a shower of Gatecrash's parts clattered into my Proxy's calves. I took the opportunity to push off the Knight's extended leg to spring upwards towards it's neck.
The Knight's remaining hand reached up to toss me off it, like an office worker might tear off a tie. But it was too little, too late. The force of the leap was enough to dislodge the sword from where it was stuck, dragging it down, deeper into the Knight's neck. The blade hit something important, which gave out beneath it, and the Knight went slack. It began to lean forwards, falling to the floor like a tall tree. I pulled the sword loose, dropping to the floor at it's side, mentally exhausted, pulse hammering, but victorious.