THE TENTH DISK
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Thirteen
X
My gaze flitted from Zero's eyes to Epsilon's. They were staring
each other down intently. Epsilon squeezed his fist, and the three green
blades revealed themselves from his weapon. Zero's eyes narrowed. In one
fluid motion, he moved his arm back to his saber, grabbed it, pointed it at
Epsilon, and ignited the blade. "You're goin' down," he growled.
Epsilon looked back at him with a wry smile. "Uh-huh," he mocked. "I
may be goin' down, but you're going six feet under."
Zero rushed forward and slashed heavily at Epsilon. My earlier fears
were realized. Epsilon jumped at the first sign of Zero's movement and
avoided his attack, landing behind him. Good reaction time, I thought. Sigma
put him through some heavy training, I'd wager.
I narrowed my own eyes, starting a charge of plasma from my
cannon just in case. Zero waved me off as he heard the whine start. He
wanted Epsilon. I nodded, saying nothing.
Doing a backwards flip high into the chamber, Zero came down next to
Epsilon, slicing horizontally, then vertically. He moved a speed I'd never seen
before. Whatever extra training he got before the mission briefing must've
really paid off. Epsilon, while fast, couldn't completely escape the double-
slash, coming away with a hacked arm. Not his blade arm, unfortunately, or
the fight might as well have been over. He was going to have some trouble
holding up that energy shield, though...
Zero slashed again, waiting only a fraction of a second before
flipping over Ep's shoulder and raking his saber over it. Sticking his cannon
into Epsilon's back, he pounded him with a half-charged shot, sending the
beat-up Maverick skidding to the floor face-first, where he ground up sparks
from the metal, finally coming to a stop.
Picking Epsilon up from the floor, Zero slammed him down again, this
time onto his back. The Maverick's neck went limp and his head slammed
back into the metal once again. He swore in pain. I couldn't say I blamed him.
The guy was in sad shape.
"Listen up, Epsilon, and listen good. You got two options here. A:
you can give me the force-field generator, and I'll just not completely slice
you up; or B: you can deny having the generator controller, try and fight me
some more, and end up dead. Your choice."
He gave Zero a frozen glare. Reaching for a small control unit on his
belt, he handed it to Zero reluctantly. "Take it," he wheezed. "Just don't
torture me anymore."
Zero "hmphed", taking the device from the Maverick's shivering
hand. Clipping it to his own belt for safe keeping, he then wished Epsilon
sweet dreams and slammed his head back onto the floor. "Out like a light."
Hopping up to where the field hung in the air, he tapped a button on
the control's surface, and the blue sphere quickly disappeared. Swiping a
hand out, he took the disks and slapped them onto his belt. Coming down to
rest near the middle of the room, he turned back to us, giving us a thumbs-
up, then stuck his Z-Saber in the floor. "Mission accomplished," he said with
a wink. "Let's get back, see if X's theory about the disks was right."
I saw Epsilon's form rising up vaguely from behind Zero. Flipping
open his cutter, he dashed noiselessly towards my friend, who still had his
back turned.
My eyes widened. I yelled at Zero, nothing elaborate. When he said,
"What?", he reached a hand down to grab his saber, swishing it backwards--
and directly into Epsilon's path, slashing his legs out from under him. The
Maverick still tried to make one final cut at Zero with the cutter blade before
falling, but out of reflex I fired my cannon, still holding the charged shot I had
made earlier. He fell to the floor without a sound.
"Down and out," I said. "Is he still alive?"
Zero bent down and plugged an Infolink cable in. Reading the stats,
he nodded. "Yeah, only barely. He's worse than you were, X. He needs the
medbay. We have to get him back, now."
We radioed the other Hunters, telling them that the mission had
gone off without a hitch. Gathering up the ravaged Maverick, we teleported
back home, back to headquarters.
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Thirteen
X
My gaze flitted from Zero's eyes to Epsilon's. They were staring
each other down intently. Epsilon squeezed his fist, and the three green
blades revealed themselves from his weapon. Zero's eyes narrowed. In one
fluid motion, he moved his arm back to his saber, grabbed it, pointed it at
Epsilon, and ignited the blade. "You're goin' down," he growled.
Epsilon looked back at him with a wry smile. "Uh-huh," he mocked. "I
may be goin' down, but you're going six feet under."
Zero rushed forward and slashed heavily at Epsilon. My earlier fears
were realized. Epsilon jumped at the first sign of Zero's movement and
avoided his attack, landing behind him. Good reaction time, I thought. Sigma
put him through some heavy training, I'd wager.
I narrowed my own eyes, starting a charge of plasma from my
cannon just in case. Zero waved me off as he heard the whine start. He
wanted Epsilon. I nodded, saying nothing.
Doing a backwards flip high into the chamber, Zero came down next to
Epsilon, slicing horizontally, then vertically. He moved a speed I'd never seen
before. Whatever extra training he got before the mission briefing must've
really paid off. Epsilon, while fast, couldn't completely escape the double-
slash, coming away with a hacked arm. Not his blade arm, unfortunately, or
the fight might as well have been over. He was going to have some trouble
holding up that energy shield, though...
Zero slashed again, waiting only a fraction of a second before
flipping over Ep's shoulder and raking his saber over it. Sticking his cannon
into Epsilon's back, he pounded him with a half-charged shot, sending the
beat-up Maverick skidding to the floor face-first, where he ground up sparks
from the metal, finally coming to a stop.
Picking Epsilon up from the floor, Zero slammed him down again, this
time onto his back. The Maverick's neck went limp and his head slammed
back into the metal once again. He swore in pain. I couldn't say I blamed him.
The guy was in sad shape.
"Listen up, Epsilon, and listen good. You got two options here. A:
you can give me the force-field generator, and I'll just not completely slice
you up; or B: you can deny having the generator controller, try and fight me
some more, and end up dead. Your choice."
He gave Zero a frozen glare. Reaching for a small control unit on his
belt, he handed it to Zero reluctantly. "Take it," he wheezed. "Just don't
torture me anymore."
Zero "hmphed", taking the device from the Maverick's shivering
hand. Clipping it to his own belt for safe keeping, he then wished Epsilon
sweet dreams and slammed his head back onto the floor. "Out like a light."
Hopping up to where the field hung in the air, he tapped a button on
the control's surface, and the blue sphere quickly disappeared. Swiping a
hand out, he took the disks and slapped them onto his belt. Coming down to
rest near the middle of the room, he turned back to us, giving us a thumbs-
up, then stuck his Z-Saber in the floor. "Mission accomplished," he said with
a wink. "Let's get back, see if X's theory about the disks was right."
I saw Epsilon's form rising up vaguely from behind Zero. Flipping
open his cutter, he dashed noiselessly towards my friend, who still had his
back turned.
My eyes widened. I yelled at Zero, nothing elaborate. When he said,
"What?", he reached a hand down to grab his saber, swishing it backwards--
and directly into Epsilon's path, slashing his legs out from under him. The
Maverick still tried to make one final cut at Zero with the cutter blade before
falling, but out of reflex I fired my cannon, still holding the charged shot I had
made earlier. He fell to the floor without a sound.
"Down and out," I said. "Is he still alive?"
Zero bent down and plugged an Infolink cable in. Reading the stats,
he nodded. "Yeah, only barely. He's worse than you were, X. He needs the
medbay. We have to get him back, now."
We radioed the other Hunters, telling them that the mission had
gone off without a hitch. Gathering up the ravaged Maverick, we teleported
back home, back to headquarters.
