stopping with grace and precision adjacent to the storeroom lock. His hand snapped out; his electronic lock-picker slapped down, covering the lock. A thousand experts on Earth joined Axel in his private assault on the lock.
The muffled sound of a pellet gun came from the bottom of the pile of debris. Akira still lived, buried under the minitanks.
Another minitank made it across the wreckage unharmed, grabbing Axel. Roni hooked the minitank with his spike and heaved. Armor plate cracked as the minitank's sword struck Axel in the abdomen. Axel jerked but did not collapse in two pieces; the minitank's blow had been twisted to an off-angle by Roni's efforts. Axel continued to work the lock.
Roni swung his spike up into the minitank. It jerked to a stop.
CJ slid under an overhanging ledge of ceramic debris, feet first, like a baseball player sliding into second base. A minitank, seeing her so helpless, started climbing down from its perch to get her. The tank didn't realize that this had been CJ's hope, to entice the minitank to expose its belly. CJ fired, blowing the tank's undercarriage apart. More minitanks approached her. They were all easy targets from her new vantage, but there were too many of them. She killed three more. A fourth grabbed her arm, smashing the pellet gun against the rock.
The storeroom door popped open. Axel whistled. "All the ammo you can eat."
Lars dropped his pellet gun. The arm of CJ's frame fractured into a dozen pieces. A minitank swept an arm underneath Roni's legs, flipping him onto his back.
Lars and his monster gun fired. Trails of ceramic dust followed the stream of bullets from his weapon, and the raging sound echoed down the hall. Confident he could reload with the ammo Axel had just found, he kept shooting till he was dry.
Silence filled the room.
A voice spoke over the radio, "Is anybody left out there, or do I have to deliver the football all by myself?" It was Akira.
CJ shouted with joy. "Akira!" She pulled herself out from under her ledge, by which time Lars and Roni had already dug halfway through the pile.
They reached Akira half a minute later. CJ asked, "You okay?"
Akira smiled. "I am much better than the three minitanks you just removed." Blood bubbled from his mouth. He coughed. "Perhaps not that much better, however," he conceded.
Lars and Roni lifted him gently from the rubble. He tried to sit up, sank back down. Roni spoke to him sternly. "Damn it Akira,
The muffled sound of a pellet gun came from the bottom of the pile of debris. Akira still lived, buried under the minitanks.
Another minitank made it across the wreckage unharmed, grabbing Axel. Roni hooked the minitank with his spike and heaved. Armor plate cracked as the minitank's sword struck Axel in the abdomen. Axel jerked but did not collapse in two pieces; the minitank's blow had been twisted to an off-angle by Roni's efforts. Axel continued to work the lock.
Roni swung his spike up into the minitank. It jerked to a stop.
CJ slid under an overhanging ledge of ceramic debris, feet first, like a baseball player sliding into second base. A minitank, seeing her so helpless, started climbing down from its perch to get her. The tank didn't realize that this had been CJ's hope, to entice the minitank to expose its belly. CJ fired, blowing the tank's undercarriage apart. More minitanks approached her. They were all easy targets from her new vantage, but there were too many of them. She killed three more. A fourth grabbed her arm, smashing the pellet gun against the rock.
The storeroom door popped open. Axel whistled. "All the ammo you can eat."
Lars dropped his pellet gun. The arm of CJ's frame fractured into a dozen pieces. A minitank swept an arm underneath Roni's legs, flipping him onto his back.
Lars and his monster gun fired. Trails of ceramic dust followed the stream of bullets from his weapon, and the raging sound echoed down the hall. Confident he could reload with the ammo Axel had just found, he kept shooting till he was dry.
Silence filled the room.
A voice spoke over the radio, "Is anybody left out there, or do I have to deliver the football all by myself?" It was Akira.
CJ shouted with joy. "Akira!" She pulled herself out from under her ledge, by which time Lars and Roni had already dug halfway through the pile.
They reached Akira half a minute later. CJ asked, "You okay?"
Akira smiled. "I am much better than the three minitanks you just removed." Blood bubbled from his mouth. He coughed. "Perhaps not that much better, however," he conceded.
Lars and Roni lifted him gently from the rubble. He tried to sit up, sank back down. Roni spoke to him sternly. "Damn it Akira,