The Antenora briefly froze as the Bergelmir seemed to rupture, spewing the nanomachines within its plating into the surrounding air. Acheron hadn't anticipated the deployment of Machine Cells, but the reactions of his pilots were sharp. Still, the coiling mass of grey goo was a threat that had to be mitigated. This is why he didn't enjoy pitched battle; too many things to keep track of. Even the T-Link System felt sluggish in his unpracticed hands.
The Assassin Bugs around the Werkbau vanished, first in gunfire and then in the boiling cloud. His inattention had cost him. Insignificant, but it stung.
He turned his attention to the mind-culled pilot, frowning.
"You owe me nothing. But battle is a question in and of itself, not an answer."
Jericho reached out and tugged at the Antenora's limbs, watched it respond with almost serpentine grace. The Bergelmir's spreading gas met a flickering wall of shadowy light, the space around his machine twisting to repel the hostile force swarming towards it. For a moment, he considered lowering the barrier and exposing the mysterious crystal beneath to the furious nanites outside - but the thought died almost as soon as it was born, discarded. He did not know enough.
Not yet. Not enough to test one against the other.
A resolution was made, and the Antenora followed.
"So, tell me, my macabre hunter..."
The alien machine reached almost lazily forwards as the Bergelmir refused to die, both hands framing a sudden spark of emerald light. It turned, gradually pivoting until it faced the regenerating machine below; six sparks leapt from the luminescent singularity, converging a moment later.
Target. Terra Sentinel.
"Can you think of a reason for me to spare those here?"
THOOM.
The cloud in the Antenora's vicinity vanished like mist at twilight, nanomachines burnt away by sheer output. The Ialdabaoth's attack was joined by a horizontal column of violent power from between the Antenora's jagged fingers, roughly twisting earthwards as it reached to pulverize the Bergelmir in a single blow.
The Assassin Bugs around the Werkbau vanished, first in gunfire and then in the boiling cloud. His inattention had cost him. Insignificant, but it stung.
He turned his attention to the mind-culled pilot, frowning.
"You owe me nothing. But battle is a question in and of itself, not an answer."
Jericho reached out and tugged at the Antenora's limbs, watched it respond with almost serpentine grace. The Bergelmir's spreading gas met a flickering wall of shadowy light, the space around his machine twisting to repel the hostile force swarming towards it. For a moment, he considered lowering the barrier and exposing the mysterious crystal beneath to the furious nanites outside - but the thought died almost as soon as it was born, discarded. He did not know enough.
Not yet. Not enough to test one against the other.
A resolution was made, and the Antenora followed.
"So, tell me, my macabre hunter..."
The alien machine reached almost lazily forwards as the Bergelmir refused to die, both hands framing a sudden spark of emerald light. It turned, gradually pivoting until it faced the regenerating machine below; six sparks leapt from the luminescent singularity, converging a moment later.
Target. Terra Sentinel.
"Can you think of a reason for me to spare those here?"
THOOM.
The cloud in the Antenora's vicinity vanished like mist at twilight, nanomachines burnt away by sheer output. The Ialdabaoth's attack was joined by a horizontal column of violent power from between the Antenora's jagged fingers, roughly twisting earthwards as it reached to pulverize the Bergelmir in a single blow.