"This is not good," Shock said to himself as the nose of the Mastiff of War dug into the concrete in front of him. He attempted to jump out of the way, but was caught by a flying piece of debris that sent his body plummeting to the ground.
{I do not believe that this is the proper usage of this vehicle.}
"Oh, shut up," Adem said through gritted teeth. "This gravity is just too weak. I need a planet with some mass to it." The Mastiff wobbled up on its legs.
{May I suggest that I assume control over this machine? I am, after all, a highly advanced Artificial Life form when compared to this primitive technology. All I have to do is uplink to the main system....}
Self destruct sequence activated.
"You didn't."
{Unfortunately, I believe I did. If I may be allowed to make another suggestion..}
"What?"
{Run.}
Adem Different did just that. His body sprang from the Mastiff of War and his feet hit the ground in a sprint. "Some vacation this is," he mumbled under his controlled breath as the distance between him and the soon to be exploding machine increased.
Without warning, his body jerked and tumbled to the ground. Fang stood a few feet away, standing on all fours, poised for an attack. The leap was quick and fluid. Different barely had time to defend himself. His hands grasped firmly above the front paws as Fang stood over him. A claw hung in place directly in front of the alien's face. The slight gash on his cheeks slowly began to seal up as the nanites repaired the damage. Fang's teeth dripped with saliva.
It was down to a test of strength, and Adem was slowly beginning to lose. He could feel the massive legs and paws move closer towards him by inches even though they, in reality, barely moved. He gave all he could to fight back but knew he wouldn't hold out much longer. Fang's weight shifted suddenly. Adem looked away from the creature's face to see it raising its back paw with claws as sharp as knives protruding from it. Sparks flew as the claws scraped across the light armor. The leg continued to kick, getting faster and faster. The nanites would attempt to repair the damage, but it would take much longer to reinforce armor that it does to speed up the regeneratation of living tissues. Adem realized that he was trapped and possible dead since the Mastiff was still somewhat close.
Fang was lifted into the air with a painful howl. Raptor reached down and pulled Adem to his feet. Before Different could speak, Banshee had snagged him under his arms and soared up into the sky with him. Raptor also took flight, but he went in another direction.
An explosion was followed by a ring of fire that flowed like a violent ocean wave. Everything was set ablaze or incinerate on contact. Even in the air, Adem could feel the heat.
