Author's Note: Um, hi? Anyone still out there? Sorry about the long delay. Writer's block + college + summer school + burn-out very annoyed and unproductive Laural Rose and even worse off readers. Yep. I'm going to go hide before anyone comes for my head now that I've shown my face around here again. He he.
In the Dark
Quatre led them down the corridor at breakneck speed. Or, at least it was breakneck speed for Quatre. For the other two it was more of a leisurely jog, but it still kept them ahead of the searching claws of the security bots. Until Winner turned a corner and found an ill-placed dead end.
"I'm guessing this wasn't in whatever specs you were using to navigate this place." Shiryu commented dryly, turning to face the mechanical monsters. He wasn't particularly concerned. Just annoyed at having to bother with them at all.
"Yes and no. This door is only supposed to close in an emergency, to block off one section from another. But there is nothing in either this section or the one beyond that warranted this, as far as we could tell. If we want to get through, we'll need to blow the mechanism." The pilot answered, hurriedly inspecting the electric lock.
"We're in luck, then. The pinchers on these things give off an electric shock!" Sage called after a grunt of pain from his discovery. He had somehow disabled the invisibility shield without shutting down the machine.
"So if we can. . ."
"Got it!" Quatre answered Dragon's unfinished thought while the door opened with a momentary, shrill alarm, after which silence reigned. Sage had taken care of the rest of the creatures while Shiryu wrestled one of the few that was still in one piece over to Winner. Quatre guided the guard's appendage into the control panel, shorting the door and thereby opening it. Both Knight and Ronin were showered in tiny cuts and burns, but any bleeding had already stopped.
"They don't move very fast, but they have so many sharp edges, you could hurt yourself even if they were standing perfectly still." Halo grumbled.
"At least we don't have to worry about tetanus here in space." Shiryu smiled grimly, gazing into the darkness beyond the doorway. There was a turn immediately after they entered, so he could guess how much of the already dim light of their hallway would get through.
"Worry about what?" Quatre asked, glancing back from where he'd been carefully scouting the path. Date and Dragon shared a look and a small smile before pushing in front of him.
"Nothing, let's go." The Knight smiled.
"Yeah, you tell us where we're headed and what we're looking for, and we'll get you there." The light Ronin chimed.
"You guys can see in the dark?" Winner wondered.
"Something like that." Shiryu nodded, not bothering to go into detail as he continued confidently around the bend.
"If I could use my armor, it would be about now that I'd unsheathe my sword and then we could all see just fine. But, as it is, we have to rely on our other senses. I was taught to never rely too heavily on one sense or another. It is too risky; an opponent or an accident could too easily damage your senses. A warrior must read the world around him with his whole body, as it is his whole body that must respond to an attack. Shiryu has been trained similarly, though through more drastic means." Sage supplied. Quatre caught on that said drastic means were an unpleasant experience and didn't push, though something in his memory triggered, and for some reason when he closed his eyes, instead of simply seeing black he saw two green, disembodied fingers reaching out as if to blind him. He shuddered and blinked rapidly to clear the image, but said nothing, oddly sure he understood the proud Dragon a little bit better.
The three walked in silence, listening for any sign of danger. Quatre stumbled from time to time on loose debris and broken floor, but Sage always caught him. Halo was now a step behind Sandrock's pilot, feeling it wiser if Shiryu and he flanked the weakest fighter. The Arabian's eyes were just starting to adjust to the total lightlessness when the Knight came to a very short stop, causing Winner to run headfirst into his guide before Date could grab the shorter blond's arm to stop him.
"What is it?" Winner wondered, trying to peer into the gloom enough to make out what was troubling his new friends. Shiryu kept Quatre at arms length behind the Knight, as if protecting the pilot. Sage shifted his weight and stepped forward slightly, but said nothing. Quatre decided to trust the judgment of the other two and remain silent, as well, however uneasy the quiet might prove.
"There are a lot more of them here. I think we can still take them with relative ease, but I worry about the traps." Shiryu whispered finally.
"Don't, I'll handle those. You keep them busy." Sage cut in, his voice growing an edge to it that Quatre was unfamiliar with. It sounded like ice, splitting the air and chilling the pilot's lungs, even though the Ronin had done little more than whisper. Something about the current situation had rubbed Halo the wrong way, and he was fully battle-ready as a result. Quatre conjectured it had something to do with whatever traps it were Shiryu had mentioned. Sage struck him as a man who valued honesty and could judge pretense with ease. Probably duplicity and artifice didn't sit well with the violet-eyed young man.
"I have a theory on why we are encountering this patch of activity. It could well be we've stumbled across a kind of nest. Or, perhaps more of a factory. Anyway, this could be the robots' source. I was hoping our opponent would pick a different location, but apparently I was wrong. Or right, however you care to look at it. I can help you will those traps -- I think they are actually just part of the building process -- and I can conjecture the where part easily enough from the layout of the corridor and the way in which these monsters must be built. That should free you up to take care of those already completed, should it not?" Quatre argued with the unspoken command to stay out of the battle before it could be vocalized by either of his companions. He knew they were unsure of his usefulness, even now, and he had to prove he could hold his own, for the sake of Miss Relena. 'Time is of the essence. Heero has almost undoubtedly set up some kind of fail-safe. We can't take too long, or we lose everything.' The young de facto leader reasoned silently. 'Right now, we have to trust ourselves and each other more than ever. That means I have to earn their trust, not just indulge in their protection.'
"If you're sure, then let's try it." Sage replied, smiling grimly at the other blond.
Shiryu nodded as well, quickly smothering the slight shock that had leapt into his eyes. Unbidden, a picture of Shun leapt into Dragon's head when he glanced at Winner. The Knight was actually relieved by the revelation of just how strangely similar Andromeda and Sandrock's pilot were. Shiryu allowed a smirk to settle on his handsome features before rushing at the enemy, Sage beside him. Quatre moved in the Ronin's wake, trying to use Halo as a shield while he did his part. Winner's gun would fire a round from time to time, but for the most part, the Ronin's protection was enough. Unfortunately, for the most part doesn't always prove quite enough in combat situations.