(( The Trap; Fury Planet ))

::As Robert popped out of cover, he counted out just how long it took
for the construct to aim and open fire. As the plasma shots came in,
he knew the answer was `not long', but hopefully it would be long
enough. He wasn't sure what other weapons the construct might be
packing, but that gatling was bad enough to warrant the risk.::

::He loaded a photon grenade into his rifle, yanked back the charging
handle, and moved. A fake to one side, then step out the other. It
worked. The construct had to reaim the gun. Robert fired…::

::…and the round landed just in the space between the barrels and the
arm. It detonated, sending out debris… But the construct remained
intact. Only the weapon on its arm was destroyed. Still, it was a
start. Robert charged, his rifle still set on rapid fire. The
construct's hull seemed to absorb the impacts, if not the energy of
the weapon itself. Robert started to pull away, but the construct
lunged faster than Robert had anticipated. It managed to backhand
him, sending Robert flying across the room to land on his face. He
was still intact, at least.::

::He looked up, seeing a pair of compartments open on the construct's
back and a pair of weapons deployed, flipping over the construct's
back. As the construct's torso turned to aim these weapons at him,
Robert rolled out of the way. They fired. A pair of small metal
slugs ricocheted off the floor, impossibly fast.::

Robert: oO Railguns? Plasma gatling, and now railguns? Oo

::They might be primitive, but they'd still manage to punch through
his shield, and probably his armor. He needed to keep his distance
and take them out. He switched the rifle back to high power and
sniper mode. He might not be able to scan for the construct, but he
could listen for its movements and track it. He rolled out from the
other side of his cover, the rifle already aimed at the first railgun.
Robert fired, severing the gun at its mount and moving back out of
the way before the second fired in retaliation. Again, the construct
missed. But it was closer. It was learning how he moved.::

::He needed to end the fight quickly. The construct had to have a
central processor. If he could smash it, he'd win. But he'd need to
get close and tear apart its armor, easier said than done.::

::It seemed to be relying on visual targeting, based on how he was
able to duck and weave behind cover. If that was the case… He loaded
up another grenade. When he swung out the next time, he launched it
straight at the construct's head. It hit home, detonating right at
the construct's eyes. The construct recoiled, and Robert charged. As
he reached the construct, he leapt over the top of it, bringing the
butt of his rifle down on the second railgun. The construct's weapon
broke in half.::

::But the construct recovered even faster than before. This time it
grabbed Robert's leg as he tried to land. It whipped him back over
its head like a rag doll, slamming Robert into the floor. He lost
grip on his rifle, was hauled back up, then slammed into the floor
again. The construct squeezed, crushing Robert's left leg at its
knee, then threw him hard into the wall.::

::The shock to his systems was too great, the twin impacts causing
many systems to overload and break down. His auto-repair was
overwhelmed. Emergency hydraulic fluid flowed from his destroyed knee
joint, and his skin seemed to flicker between gray and its normal
lightly tanned white as his armor tried to maintain integrity. He
managed to look up as the construct brought one of its feet down on
his rifle, crushing it.::

::Robert pulled his right sleeve off, aimed his arm, but his control
systems were too damaged to deploy his pulse phaser.::

::The construct started to walk toward him, slowly. It seemed to be
enjoying its victory…::

::Robert didn't know what to do…::

(( Control Room Access; Fury World ))

::The battle continued. Alice was most of the way through the
security measures, and Rho was running out of grenades. James kept
shooting as more targets replaced the fallen. They were stable, but
that stability couldn't last forever.::

::A few shots had made it past. Alice had taken a hard hit to her
left shoulder. Her armor had caught it… barely… The blast had been
so intense that the metal had melted. But she was still standing.
Still working.::

::The Furies were bringing in ever heavier weapons. Rho had started
using tasking her pulse phaser to target the weapons only. But one of
them, some sort of rocket, managed to slip through. It landed just
beside her right foot, the explosion launching her up and away from
cover. James was knocked down, his rifle damaged, nonfunctional. As
he fell, he hurled it at the Favored who had fired the rocket. The
broken rifle embedded itself in the Favored's skull, the Fury falling
backwards.:;

::As James landed on his back, he pulled his arms up and slammed his
elbows into the ground. The impulse started knocking him back to his
feet, his hands diving under his jacket to draw the twin modified
phase pistols. He opened fire, the red beams reaching out to strike
targets even faster than with the rifle.::

::The pistols, after modifications, were stronger than the rifle, but
they were power hogs. If he wasn't careful with his shots, he'd need
to reload long before Alice could finish her job.::

::If she finished. The explosion hadn't gone unnoticed by her. She
turned to see her daughter lying, broken, on the floor several meters
away. After what had happened to their father… it was too much.::

Alice: Rho!

::James could see she was about to run. He needed to stop her.::

James: Alice!

::No response.::

James: ALICE!

::Still no response.::

James: DELTA!

::Delta. Alice's original name, from when Robert had first brought
her on-line years before. James was one of the few who knew, and it
cut through all that clouded her mind. She looked to him.::

James: Get that door open! I'll get Rho!

::Alice managed a nod, but turned back to the panel. Now all James
needed to do was keep his word. Noting where the Favored had
gathered, James started forward. His weapons seemed to aim
themselves, pointing in different direction and firing without him
looking. James drove straight on to his fallen niece and, stuffing
one pistol in its holster, scooped her up, threw her over a shoulder,
and started back, covering himself with his pistol.::

::As he returned to his sister's side, she withdrew her data tubules.
The door opened, killing any need for her to report her success. She
recovered her rifle and helped cover them as they backed inside. A
quick reach to the side and one pressed button later, and the door
slammed shut.::

::A quick search told them they were along. The Furies had evacuated
when the Falcons had been en route. Alice quickly determined that the
Furies were trying to cut them off, but was able to stop their attempts.::

::Meanwhile, James got the door locked down and looked after Rho.
She'd been hit hard. Her armor was down. Her right leg was somewhat
mangled, likely unable to support her untill they could get her back
to the Yorktown,and her skull had been cracked. A scan showed
internal damage in multiple sectors, including in her brain. That
damage was being corrected, as it was highest priority.::

Alice: Is she okay?

James: She'll have a headache, but she'll be fine. Blast knocked her
off-line, and her auto-restart systems were severed. They're already
being repaired, so she should be back up in a few minutes.

::He closed Rho's still open eyes, gave the kid a pat on her head, and
started over to Alice.::

James: Stick with her `till she's up. I'll see what I can do about
keeping them off our backs.

(( The Trap; Fury Planet ))

::Time seemed to slow at the construct approached. Robert had always
wondered how long he'd survive, what would take him out if he wasn't
to live forever. A part of him had known the mission might have been
his last. Still, at least his kids would make it. They'd get the job
done… Even if he wasn't there to help them…::

::Hopefully they'd had enough time…::

::Time still slowed. Or was his perception increasing speed? Was
that the sudden drain in power he felt? Abruptly, his HUD snapped
back on-line. His tactical systems readout appeared, the various
possible setting for his armor and phaser displayed. They scrolled to
the end… and a little beyond. New settings appeared…::

Falcon: oO Guardian? Oo

::He had no choice. It was do-or-die time. He activated "Guardian".
Immediately, his HUD changed from light green to light blue. His
eyes switched from glowing gold to glowing orange. He could scan the
construct now. He could see everything in its structure. But that
was only the start. His control systems came back on-line, switching
to a tertiary backup buried within his artificial skeleton.::

::His armor came back to full concentration… beyond full
concentration. The C-90 molecules of his armor extruded from his
skin, forming into plates visible where ever his uniform wasn't. The
armor around his knee joint extended to cover the gap, segmenting to
replace the knee joint and allow him to regain his feet. Only one
place remained unarmored. His pulse phaser deployed, extending far
enough to clear the armor before extending its barrel. Two power
conduits on its side glowed orange, its emitter crystal glowing deep
violet.::

Robert: My turn.

::Time returned to normal, the construct deploying pair of autocannons
from its arms and attempting to take aim. What shots it got out were
deflected by his armor, no damage. He brought up his phaser and
fired, blasting off the guns in two direct shots. The construct
likely knew what was happening, but it couldn't get away. Robert
blasted one of its legs, then a second. It fell to its belly on the
floor, scrambling and screaming in some machine code.::

::Robert crawled onto the construct, took aim at what he could
identify as a power generation system, and opened fire. He blasted
through the armor, pealed it back by hand, then grabbed the main power
conduit and yanked.::

::The construct stopped thrashing. It was dead.::

Robert: Well. That must've been important.

::Only one last thing to do. He pointed his left fist at the
constructs computer core and, once his armor shifted to allow it,
extended his data tubules to get whatever information he could get on
the construct's masters.::

To Be Continued.....

The Falcon Clan
- And -
Crew of the Yorktown