Page 17 of Fool's Gold

Before she could protest further, I exploded from cover in a blurred rush of motion too fast for her human eyes to follow.

With a guttural roar, I launched myself directly at the lead machine. Its sensors barely had time to register my presence before my vibroknife sheared through its armored hull in a spray of sparks and fluid.

Riding the momentum of the strike, I used the ruined husk as a springboard to propel myself at the next drone in a dizzying whirl of blades. My left hand drew the slim punching dagger sheathed at my hip, its mono-molecular edge capable of punching through the toughest alloy.

Alarms blared and auto-turrets swiveled to track my movement. But I was already accelerating into a dizzying cyclone, my blades becoming a blur of flashing arcs that sliced through metal and circuits with surgical precision.

Energy lanced and sizzled around me, scoring my armored bodysuit in places. But my Vinduthi strength allowed me to shake off damage that would incapacitate a lesser being.

I could taste the metallic tang of my own blood mingling with the acrid smoke. Could feel the familiar hot rush of combat frenzy burning through my veins, sharpening my senses to diamond-clarity and stoking the banked fires of my primal instincts.

One drone after another fell to my whirling blades, their shattered components raining around me in a deadly hailstorm. Thrust, feint, parry - the ancient dances of the Vinduthi blade-masters guided my every fluid motion.

Through it all, I was aware of Gemma in my peripheral vision. She'd crawled away from the thick of the melee, eyes wide as she watched my blurred onslaught against the automated sentries.

Good girl. Stay there. Stay safe.

Then, I caught a flicker of movement. Gemma was shifting out from her cover, a determined set to her jaw as she crept towards the vault door. Fury blazed through me at her reckless disregard for her own safety.

"Gemma!" I roared over the din of battle. "Get back under--"

My rebuke died as I realized what she was doing. The little human had retrieved my discarded cyber-spike and was furiously inputting commands into the door's access panel. An amused grin split my face, sharp canines glinting. Of course - she must have gained knowledge of Landar's codes during her captivity.

Pride swelled in my chest, warring with the protective instinct that demanded I shield her from harm. But I forced myself to focus on the battle, trusting in her cleverness and resolve.

Gemma would need time to bypass the vault's defenses. And I would ensure she had it, no matter how many of these mindless drones threw themselves at me.

A blur of flashing metal and severed limbs, I carved a swirling path through the onslaught. My blades moved with blinding speed, shearing through armored plating and lancing into vital circuitry with lethal precision. Each motion was an intricate dance, every strike a calculated symphony of strength and lethality.

The stench of ozone and scorched wiring clogged the air. Shards of shrapnel slashed at my exposed skin, but the wounds closed nearly as swiftly as they appeared - my enhanced healing already knitting the flesh. Acrid smoke stung my eyes, but my heightened senses pierced the haze with ease, allowing me to track each new threat.

Twisting in a whirlwind of flashing arcs, I cleaved a drone in two with a single, fluid strike of my ultronium vibroknife. Without pausing, I reversed the blade's direction in a blinding feint, impaling another machine through its sensor array in a shower of sparks.

Plasma lanced past me, close enough to scorch the very air. I pivoted on one heel, deflecting a disruptor bolt with the flat of my punching dagger. The sheer kinetic force of the impact jarred my arm, but I channeled the momentum into a spinning heel-kick that caved in the drone's armored chassis.

All the while, I was acutely aware of Gemma crouched behind me, working feverishly at the control panel. Sweat glistened on her brow, her features etched in concentration. A few stray tendrils of dark hair had escaped her ponytail, framing her face in silken disarray.

She was so focused on her task that she didn't even flinch as I fought off the onslaught mere meters away. Such courage and poise in the face of overwhelming danger... It was almost enough to distract me, to make me falter.

But I was Kaelith of the Vinduthi, a lethal warrior bred for glorious battle. I would not fail this human female who had awoken unfamiliar stirrings within me. She was strong, resilient, her spirit shining as brilliantly as any blade.

And she was mine to protect.

With a snarl of exertion, I disarmed an incoming drone with a flick of my wrist, its plasma cannon clattering to the floor in a shower of sparks. Before it could retaliate, I pounced - a blur of whirling death as my vibroknife carved through its chassis in an unstoppable flurry.

Behind the raining shrapnel, I glimpsed Gemma's eyes widening as she watched me fight. For a heartbeat, our gazes locked - hers the warm hue of whiskey in the dying sunlight, mine the crimson burn of a ruby plucked from the fires of a dwarf star's core.

Then her attention snapped back to the control panel with renewed intensity. Her fingers flew over the haptic interface, brow furrowed in concentration. I allowed myself a smile as I realized whatever encryption she was slicing through, it wouldn't be enough to stop her clever human mind.

With a sound like tearing synthsilk, another drone burst into the chamber in a sweeping strafing run. Plasma rained down in a blistering torrent, forcing me to abandon my offensive and weave a defensive pattern with my blades.

Scorching energy splashed against my armored bodysuit, the heat fierce enough to raise blisters on a lesser being's flesh. But Vinduthi were bred for war, our physiology able to shrug off damage that would incapacitate others.

Seizing an opening, I sprang into the air in an arcing flip, slicing the strafing drone in two with a crossing swipe of both blades. I landed in a crouch, vibroknife and punching dagger at the ready as I scanned for new threats.

That was when Gemma's triumphant cry rang out over the cacophony of battle.

"I've got it! Kaelith, the door is open!"