The heat stuck to the side of Adem’s face. Explosions were going on all around him. He did his best to dodge the blasts. He was more accustomed to the gravity now, but still needed to calculate his movements to make sure he didn’t move too far in any direction. The metal and wiring of the T5 robot, when broken down, reorganized, and re-bonded by his nanites, made for a perfect anti-gravity propulsion suit. Good thing that his nanites came pre-programed with several of his planet’s military advances. Otherwise, he’d been screwed.

The entrance to the T5 compound was littered with T5 bots of differing sizes pouring forth from it. There was no way for him to get in through that way. Different was scanning the horizon, trying to deduce another way in when a sharp pain ran across his back. The impact caused him to fall towards the machines waiting below. He jerked his body and sent himself into a snow drift a few hundred yards away. His body embedded itself deep into the snow only a few feet from the hard ice it covered.

The tip of Adem’s nose, which some may describe as a Roman nose, became numb with intense chill. Frantically, he dug himself out with his flailing arms. He had his nanites ignore his minor injuries so that they may accomplish another task for him. As he emerged, a large man stood waiting.

The man stood about six feet tall. His body was encased in a armor that glowed a faint yellow. A strange rifle lay draped over his shoulder. “You’re odd. Even for a meta,” the alien known as Utu said. “Maybe you want to rethink which side your on.”

“Is this the part where we try to convince each other that our side is right and will win?” Adem asked as he ran his fingers across the back of his scalp, through his dark blueish hair.

“Heh! I believe it is,” Utu replied. “Why? Do you not want to go through the formalities?”

“It just seems like a waste of time. I know I’m not going to change my mind. I doubt seriously that you’ll change yours. Conversation at this point would more than likely only increase our impatience and hostilities with one another. Considering how high tensions are now, do we really need that?”

“Fine by me.” Utu leveled his rifle at Adem. “Let’s skip straight to the part where I kill you.”

“Now, there’s another aspect of this confrontation that I’d like to discuss with you.....”

All during the conversation, Utu failed to notice that Different’s anti-grav suit was morphing. The nanites were reforming it into a durable armor. The energy bolt that flew forth from the rifle slammed into the armor. Adem was thrown back into the drift. The armor, though, had absorbed much of the force of the blast.

Utu stepped towards the snow drift to claim his trophy. He began to dig into the collapsed snow, searching for Adem’s dead body. Yet he could find nothing. A fist connected with his chin and sent him to the ground. “Ah-ha!” Adem yelled in triumph over his opponent. Snow still clung from his body where he had dug himself a way out through the side and snuck around to the blind side of the Annunaki.

The smile on Adem’s face faded as Utu pulled himself up from the ground with eyes on fire. {This does not seem to be the desired result of your plan, sir.}

“No, no it’s not,” Different was able to get out before receiving a tremendous punch to his chin. The alien went airborne for a moment. The snow didn’t offer enough cushioning for his impact back on the ground.