“I know. But we’re underground. I don’t think either of us will notice muchloss.”
Simon opened his sensor array to take in Danielle’s open channel. He wouldn’thave been able to access her sensors unless she’d left them available. His HUD“sight” returned to him.
The symbiosis wasn’t perfect, though. His perception was slightly off,centered more on Danielle’s point of view rather than his own position. Also,there was a good chance that both systems would experience slower processing that would take them out of real-time. In a battle, even a split-second could mean the difference between life and death.
“Your armor can share data?” Leah asked.
“Yes.” Simon lifted his hand from Danielle’s shoulder. Now that theconnection had been made, the wireless interface kept the exchange running smoothly. As long as he remained within thirty or forty feet of Danielle, with no metal obstruction between them, the signal would continue uninterrupted.
“Doesn’t that leave the interface open to outside attack?”
“Maybe right now, with demonspawn all around us, isn’t the appropriate timeto get into a technical discussion,” Danielle stated. “And no, the suit systemsaren’t as easy to hack as you might think.”
The question made Simon uneasy. It reminded him again that Leah was an outsider and that he might have made a mistake in bringing her.
The four people that had run past them cowered in the hallway twenty feet farther down.
“Who are you?” one of the men asked.
“Friends,” Simon replied. He realized from the way the people stood that theywere blind in the darkness. He took a lightstick from the supply pack he’dcarried in. Since they’d been going underground, he’d packed accordingly.
Lightsticks made sense in case the HUD systems failed out or had problems functioning. Leaving the faceplate open hadn’t been a choice he’d havevoluntarily made, but if it meant life and death, he knew they’d need analternate light source.
Simon slapped the lightstick against his thigh. A pale yellow glow stretched across the passageway.
“Knights,” one of the women whispered.
“I thought they were just legends,” one of the men said.
“I saw one once before,” the other man said. “But only one. Not a group likethis.”
The second woman, a young one barely out of her teens from the look of her, shook her head and stepped back. “The light isn’t good. It’ll draw the demons.”
“What demons?” Nathan asked. “We killed the demons.” He indicated the bodiesof the monsters lying around them.
“There are more,” the other woman said. “A lot more. They’ve been holding usdown here for days.”
“Why?” Simon asked.
“Because they could,” one of the men answered.
Then there was no more time for questions. More demons ran toward them and set up an offensive line.
“Simon?” Nathan asked.
“Repairs query,” Simon said.
“Repairs at seventeen percent,” the suit AI replied. “Estimated time ofrepair: six-point-three-two seconds.”
“Take them,” Simon ordered. “We’ll try to buy the fugitives time to getclear.”
Nathan’s head swiveled toward the four people. “Run!” he ordered. “Thestairway’s ahead of you! Don’t stop till you’re clear of the building!”
Simon drew his Spike Bolter and charged the demon line as the Darkspawn opened fire. His reflexes felt awkward as he struggled to adjust to Danielle’spoint of view. The farther he got from her, the worse the perspective became. His feet thudded heavily against the stone floor.
A few energy bursts struck his armor and left scorch marks. Most of the others scored the walls and ceiling as the Darkspawn tried to hold the line.
Simon threw himself at them the last few feet. He flailed his arms out and took down three of the Darkspawn. Up close, he didn’t depend on visual acuity.Close-in martial arts honed to perfection over years of training in the Templar Underground took over.
He forced himself to one knee and shoved the Spike Bolter into the face of one of the Darkspawn. When he pulled the trigger, the demon’s face fell tobloody pieces. The skull fractured and fell inside itself.
He lunged to the left and swung his sword in a backhand arc that chopped into another Darkspawn’s head. When he shifted to bring his other foot under him andstand, he brought his left knee to his chest and kicked straight out at the Darkspawn whose skull he’d cleaved.
The corpse shot backward and rebounded from another demon. Both bodies slammed against the wall. Nathan, Danielle, and the other Templar waded into the attack. The Demonspawn fell back but there were others behind them. In minutes the hallway was slick with blood.
“Trouble,” Nathan growled. “Look ahead.”
Simon did. He was almost twenty feet from Danielle, and the sensory deviation made it hard to focus easily. The subsystem had been designed primarily to allow a stricken Templar to fight in tandem with another Templar, or to allow them to help rescue themselves if they were able. They weren’t supposed to fight apart.
Danielle approached Simon and the vision cleared to a degree.
A huge demon nearly filled the hallway. “I am Hargastor!” the demon roared.“Know me and fear me!” It drew back a hand and threw it forward. A flaming ballstreaked like a comet toward the Templar.
Warren focused his power and released it in a shimmering wall. The force struck the three Darkspawn and knocked them backward. The effort nearly wiped Warren out. He felt a warm trickle down his upper lip. He knew from experience that if he wiped the liquid from his face, his hand would carry crimson stains.
“You’re falling apart,” Naomi said. Her voice sounded like a whisper insidehis skull. “Come to me.”
Warren wanted to. He wanted to leave this place more than anything.
“If you do, Merihim will destroy you,” the voice said.
Warren blinked and focused his vision. Behind Hargastor the Templar weapons erupted into a new barrage of fire. The demon glanced back.
For a moment Warren thought Hargastor was going to abandon the fight and investigate the sounds. Warren readied himself totake advantage of the demon’s exposed back. He was reaching for the dregs of hisenergy when Hargastor whirled back around and flung
