slowed down, their artificial feet and wheels sunk into the sand. The maintenance bots, with their rolling treads, were still slowly catching up.
Oz saw Jason break to his right towards a short service trench in the sand. Fine wire mesh held the sand back from filling the meter and a half deep path that led to the base of a flattened building. What the purpose of that structure was before it was destroyed by some devastating explosion no longer mattered, the short trench would provide just enough of a space to offer a temporary refuge for his best friend. He would be in the open for several meters as he ran towards it however, and the military bots would have a clear shot at him.
Oz spun around and dropped to one knee, opening fire with his high intensity rifle, sending thirty energy rounds per second at the military bots in the distance with the assistance of the digital sight built into his headpiece. As predicted he only hit his mark a few times, but it was enough. The bots were peppered with rounds as he increased the rifle's intensity and several were mowed down as they tried to reach him.
The military bots began firing at him as well, obviously deciding that killing him was a greater priority than preserving the functionality of their lesser cousins. The service bots were fully caught in the crossfire, and while Oz had the military bots distracted Jason reached his refuge, turned around and took aim with his own rifle.
Bracing himself against the top of the trench, he began firing bursts at the military bots. The few shots that landed did little visible damage but it got their attention.
Oz rolled to his feet and made a run for the ruins of a small information booth. Its concrete backing was perfect cover and it was the only intact portion of the structure. His visor flashed red and marked several points on his long coat where energy rounds from the mechanized troops had struck. As one shot broke through the armoured surface of his long coat to be stopped by his vacsuit he jumped behind the concrete slab.
Before Jason ducked under cover he fired a burst into the last servant bot, its limping gait and several scorch marks made it look haggard, half ruined. His torso blasted open and he twitched onto his back, separated from his hips.
His panicked, painful shrieks filled the air between the sounds of their own breaths as Jason and Oz struggled to catch their breath.
“What the hell is that?” Oz asked.
“A serving bot, guess I missed the main systems,” Jason called back, opting for old fashioned yelling instead of using his failing proximity radio.
Oz poked the end of his rifle out from behind the corner and saw the screeching torso writhing there, trying to claw at the sand with its remaining functional arm. Angling his point of view up he caught sight of the military bots, still marching, slowly, surely closing the few hundred meters between them. A few of the more heavily armed bots were rolling quickly across the sand on wide treads straight towards the Silkstream IV.
He leaned out just enough to fire a long burst into the screaming bot and silenced it once and for all. Before he managed to get back behind cover several rounds from the mechanical soldiers zipped past and he counted himself lucky none had hit their mark. Each point of light melted small spots of sand.
He looked to the rock face and took another moment to catch his breath. They were less that fifty meters from the front of the resort, over sixty from the double doors that, upon a closer look, were scorched and marked by weapon's fire like everything else. “Condition check!” Oz called out.
“I've got a few minor burns, and I can't risk any more hits on my suit. You?”
“My coat's taken most of the hits. It's starting to break down.” Oz replied before once again increasing the power level on his rifle. He stood and took several shots at the bots heading towards the Silkstream IV. He managed to blow one in half, showering the other bots in sparks and white hot ruined parts.
They returned fire, striking the thick concrete block Oz hid behind with white hot energy bursts.
“I wish they installed an auto destruct system in that ship,” Jason called out.
“Grenade!” Oz replied as he quickly moved to one side of his concrete slab and fired the secondary barrel of his rifle at the military bots and the Silkstream IV behind them. The first two shots landed at the feet of the machines, sending them flying in all directions. The third and final shot in his secondary magazine sailed through the air on a perfect trajectory to land inside the Silkworm IV but bounced off the top edge of the lip of stone it rested upon. The grenade exploded a second after hitting the sand, adding to the carnage of twisted metal and circuitry but doing no damage to the ship they had arrived in.
“Damn that was close!” Jason called out.
“Hard shot,” Oz said as he once again took cover. “The others are coming around to outflank us. We have to move but there's no cover between us and those doors. Are you sure they'll get us somewhere useful?”
“They look secure, someone's got to be behind them. Theirs some kind of field blocking my scans so I'm guessing there's someone hiding behind it. One sec, taking the shot.” Jason said as he stood up as high as he dared, aimed as quickly as he could and fired his last grenade.
It sailed high through the air, and at first he was sure he hadn't set his secondary barrel to the right power level then the grenade descended and disappeared. “Crap!” he exclaimed before it exploded.
The grenade went off and to his surprise debris from the inside of the ship filled the air above. “Nice shot!” Oz called out.
“Yes! I thought it went past the mark for a sec-” he was interrupted a bolt of blue energy caught him full in the face.
It was near impossible for Oz to remain under cover as his best friend crumpled into the short service trench just meters away, but there were several military bots on their way and he knew they were watching, hoping that he'd take the risk. “Jason!” he called out. He leaned out from under cover for a split second and shot half blindly at where he was sure the military bots should be. Oz didn't get a chance to check and see if his rounds hit anything, the sounds of the machine's assault on his cover filled the air more loudly than his own weapon and he was forced back behind full cover.
They'd be on him sooner than expected. “Jason!” He called out as loudly as he could.
The sight of his friend standing for less than three seconds, opening fire with his rifle on full automatic and striking the approaching bots several times couldn't be more welcome.
Oz took the opportunity to add to the hail of white hot rounds as he stood up from behind cover and emptied what remained of his primary clip into the dozen marching bots. They didn't move mindlessly, but rolled and drifted to avoid fire without colliding and took a split second bead before firing back.
The military bots were as well organized as any fully trained infantry unit and and each one of them could take a lot of damage. By Oz's estimation he had shot one of them at least six times and it was still just as agile and deadly as before despite the scorches and holes in its armour.
Both Oz and Jason ducked back behind cover. “We've got two minutes if they keep moving in.” Oz shouted.
“Less. Ideas?” Jason asked.
Oz loaded his last reserve clip and took a deep breath as he listened to the internal systems draw a charge. He set the focus and round strength as high as they could go, knowing he'd get twenty one shots out of a clip that could normally fire for days. “Give me a distraction!”
There was a moment's pause before Jason held his rifle above his head and fired wildly, sending hundreds of blue white streaks through the air roughly in the direction of the approaching mechanized troops.
Oz stepped partially out from his cover and took aim at one of the automations in the lead and squeezed a burst out at him. The first two shots missed as the bot rolled to the side but the third hit the thin android squarely in the chest blowing it open and sending debris through the air behind it for several meters.
He was just stepping back behind cover when the soldiers returned fire, hitting his left hand, his arm and his rifle. Oz fell behind cover and checked the damage. His rifle had been destroyed, his hand had been burned bone deep and his suit was already dispensing localized anaesthetics to his entire left arm. “I'm alive, but I'm done!” he called out angrily.
“Do you think they take prisoners?” Jason shouted out a moment later.
Oz drew his sidearm, set it to the highest power level and sat back against the concrete slab. The pain from his left arm was fading and he already couldn't feel his hand. His attention was drawn to the sky just then, where the setting sun behind them was sending rosy red, gold and yellow colours against the cliff side. “Wish I could get a better look at that sunset,” he found himself saying as he listened to the steady, persistent footsteps behind drawing closer, closer.
He was startled out of his lulled state as streaks of light and the explosions of heavy weapons fire started
