Nala Prime and his team approached the very center of the Hive. They expected a Queen Bug, but did not find one within. They found, instead, a dull grey humanoid of androgynous sex and features that can only be described as minimalist: its eyes, ears, nose and mouth were the barest possible to act as intended. Its legs seemed Man-like, as did its arms, but again only enough to function as intended; it seemed to be a proto-Man figure.
Once the group settled in, they listened as it walked about the strangely void chamber. Thought none of their gear or protocols could pinpoint it, all of them felt great potential energy- but energy low of frequency. Then, remembering back to their educations, they shifted their perceptions back to those basics imparted to them many years ago in the Academy: now, though faint, they noticed the network of drawn circles on the floor- circles mirrored on the chamber’s roof.
Without words, Nala Prime signed to the others “User?”
The other Nalas and the Reds nodded their concurrence, and they prepared their usual plan for taking down a User: attack from stealth in close-quarters, incapacitate the target before it can react and then lock down the User’s ability to enact protocols. They awaited the signal, which came from the room below when Red Prime’s team engaged the Bugs in the Hatchery. Their target immediately spun about the room, raw power shooting from an outstretched hand and channeling it into the master node of the circle system.
Nala Prime chopped at the air, signaling an immediate attack. The group, going invisible, rushed the alien target and tackled him to the floor before it could seal itself off. The Blues and the Reds got off and spiked the circle system with their batons, draining the power in the system and funneling it to them- power they badly needed. Then they drew their chakrams.
They needed those weapons, because the Nalas found that their target, to their surprise, was a construct- an android! It flung them all aside with some violence and leapt to its feet, resolving blades into each hand and attacking the Reds and Blues.
“Black Knight Neutralization!” Nala Prime bellowed, “NOW!”
As the Nalas got to their feet and drew their swords and chakrams, they watched their target take on the Blues and Reds—fighting as a unit—and matched them blow-for-blow, step-for-step without apparent strain. Nalas 2 and 3 joined the melee and soon found that their added numbers did not help; the User demonstrated a mastery of awareness, acumen and athleticism that they found previously only amongst the greatest of the Sons of Ken or the Knights of the Azure Flame.
Nala Prime drew his chakram, prepared to throw and took aim. Roaring with a barbaric yalp, Nala hurled his chakram at the User. Each of the others, in swift succession, disengaged just enough to throw their own before rejoining the fight. The User fell into a stance and weaved his blades such that he created a swift-pivoting wall of steel, and the others did not let up their assault upon the User for a few critical moments.
Nala Prime, again invisible, leapt high into the air. Using a protocol to enhance his hang-time, he plucked each chakram out of the air and hurled them down from directly above the User. Each struck a limb, severing it, save his own. He held that in hand as he landed. The now-limbless android sputtered helplessly as Nala Prime approached it.
“Game over.” Nala Prime pronounced, “You lose, User.”
Nala Prime decapitated the User and took its head in hand. “Change of plans. We take the head with us and hack it in the lab. Time to exfiltrate- signal Red Prime and move out.
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