Kazaaak moved in the way of the skirmisher’s crystal-fire - and the needles struck true. What should have been an easy killing of the mantisfolk proved to be anything but, however. Almost all of the needles that struck Kazaaak bounced off of his hard-shelled carapace, in a way similar to how the skirmisher had used her nanobarbed talons. Only two needles actually managed to stick, barely embedding into his body before they erupted to little damage, and the others that deflected left scratches and scrapes, but not much else.
Fortune favored the mantis at this moment.
Doubly fortunate were the combined efforts of Kazaaak and David. Their unified action was enough to pull the Guardian solidly through the partially closed door, and just as his boots slipped through, the door slammed shut. Dumbface had been spared from a potential bisecting, now in the room with Kazaaak and Copen.
The brute was still standing, and he wasn’t keen on being forgotten as the shroud screen dissipated to reveal him holding a blue ball, reared back for a throw. With a deep cackle, the ball suddenly glowed and fizzled with white-blue energy, before it was chucked toward Kazaaak and the Guardian. On contact with a weapon, armor, carapace, clothing, or flesh, the ball would stick unless transferred to another such surface. It would not, however, stick to architecture, including the walls, ceiling, and floors of the room. If it missed either hero, it would bounce a couple times and come to a stop at the door. If it stuck to one of them, they would quickly find it was almost impossible to remove without transferring it to something else.
And after only a few seconds, the Plasma Grenade would detonate, enveloping everything around it within a 5 foot radius in star-heated white-hot plasma, and in a 6-to-10 foot radius, immense heat and radiation would bombard those within the blast, not to mention hit with a concussive force to knock most off their feet.
Meanwhile...
David’s needler shots flew toward the Brute Captain, and when the crystals struck, they detonated prematurely. This seemed to disable any potential for a supercombine against the thermal shielding, but some slight damage still seemed to be dealt, as the red-orange shielding with flare at the impact points with a dark red glow. It wasn’t enough to cause the captain any concern, however, as he simply moved his ravager shots away from JULIAN and toward David’s direction, which subsequently included Captain Keyes.
Jacob dove to the side with a grunt as he charged up a plasma shot, then fired it toward the brute captain. The green slug splashed over the thermal shielding to surprisingly minimal effect. The entire shield flared deep crimson, but reverted to its orange lines quickly, remaining strong. These two attacks were clearly not the thermal shield’s weakness, so that potential weakness had to be something else.
“I thought your grunt friend said this place was low on troops and supplies,” Keyes grunted in annoyance to David. “Is THIS supposed to be the easy stuff?”
JULIAN’s particle beam shot, aimed for the gap in the first jackal’s point-defense shield where it had pointed its needler, and the slightly-enhanced shot spewed out, ripping the weapon apart and carving through the jackal’s fist. The alien stumbled back with a hiss, shaking its ruined hand in more agitation than actual pain.
The second jackal, which had grown nearest to JULIAN, was approached by the SPARK unit, who reared a fist back to strike the creature, smashing metal into its shield. The jackal was pushed backwards, lifting off the ground, but it had braced for the hit, and surprisingly hadn’t been wiped out by it. Instead, its claws skid on the ground before it stopped, before it anchored itself in place and began to fire rapidly at JULIAN, easily tripling the incoming fire. This retaliation lasted only a couple seconds before it reverted to advancing with suppressive fire.
The third jackal, meanwhile, had moved around to JULIAN’s side, spraying plasma shots toward him, the three clearly trying to break through the AI’s stalwart defenses.
“Hiding? I’m right here, little robot...” the captain sneered, his yellow fangs baring as he ceased firing towards Keyes and David, lowering his weapon and stomping confidently toward JULIAN. This brute’s fists seemed larger than those encountered so far, as he was bearing mechanical gauntlets, no doubt increasing the physical damage he could deal, their design almost like that of an external skeleton made of steel. With a laugh, the captain launched his fist forward, letting his other hold the ravager at his side. After his fist struck, or an equivalent action happened, he’d pull his fist back and ram it forward again, stomping forward as he continued to cackle, throwing his mechanical fist forward quickly, one after another, using his strength and size to attempt bearing down on JULIAN in a way that the AI probably wasn’t used to from his enemies.
