'You will face me one on one, More Mornon.'
'I 'm not afraid of you, Lister Stent.'
'Face retribution, traitor.'
Violet fire flashed from Stem's arm. Mornon staggered back a couple of paces in the face of the blast. The surface of his armor glowed cherry-red, but he did not go down. All around, everyone stood and stared. Baptiste and his men had come to a complete stop. Reave and the others had also turned and were watching in amazement. It was the spectacle of a lifetime. The metal men were rare enough in any circumstance, but to actually see two of them going against each other like a pair of steel sumo wrestlers was close to unique. Momon returned the blast, and it was Stent's turn to stagger. It quickly became clear to the onlookers that the two armored troopers were very evenly matched. Although the firepower built into their arms and chests was awesome in the extreme, their armor was equally formidable, and neither man seemed able to deliver a decisive knockout. For some minutes they both stood their ground, their huge tracked boots anchoring them to the flagstones. They tossed massive energy blasts at each other across the width of the plaza steps. There were moments when both men were completely enveloped in glowing energy. Cascades of sparks flew for dozens of yards all around, and the closest spectators had to scramble back to a safer distance.
Stent was the first to realize that they were at a stalemate. He suddenly changed his tactics. He charged down the steps at full speed and threw himself at Mornon. Both the crash of metal on metal and Mornon's amplified grunt of pain were audible all over the city. Stent began smashing his arms repeatedly on the top of Mornon's headpiece, powered forearm blows that rang like a giant hammer hitting the anvil of the gods and would have pulped a normal human in an instant. The obvious intent was to jar loose the implants where Mornon's armor and weapons systems interfaced with his natural body. Unable to blast through his armor, Stent was trying to force him to his knees and cripple him internally. Mornon immediately responded by wrapping his arms around Stent's waist as though trying to crush him in a mechanical bear hug. As Mornon tried to lift Stent off his feet, Stent in his turn kept up the relentless hail of blows to the top of Mornon's head.
The metallic savagery reeled backward and forward, with neither combatant gaining the advantage. Steel claws extended from the ends of Mornon's arms. He seemed to be trying to force them into the side seams of Stent's chest armor and penetrate it that way. Stent began to twist and turn, seeking to break the grip. When that failed, he tried another tack. The end of his right arm swiveled, and a plate opened to give access to a limpet ring. He clamped that to the side of Mornon's headpiece and started feeding raw plasma directly into the man's armor. The pain must have been unimaginable. Mornon had not cut off his voice amplifier, and his screams were horrific. Despite the plasma, which must have been burning him alive, his retractable claws continued to scrabble desperately at Stent's armor. Finally, they seemed to find a purchase. He was able to insert the tips into the seam between the chest plates. He threw himself backward seeking to widen the gap by pure force. Stent also screamed. Mornon began to feed power through his claws, directly into the interior of Stent's suit. For long minutes the two of them stood locked in a deadly embrace with glowing, uncontrolled power rippling across the surfaces of their armored suits. The noise that was coming from them no longer resembled anything that even approached human.
It was not clear which one blew first — the twin explosions were close to simultaneous. Stent's entire headpiece was blown off, and it spun high into the air. The weapons built into his left arm discharged in a single blazing arc that melted the stones at his feet. Mornon's fatal blast was more internalized. It did not split his armor, but flame and hot gas jetted from every vent and orifice. The two metal men fell against each other with a doomed knell crash, two lifeless steel hulks still on their feet, propping each other up. Smoke drifted lazily from the hole where Stent's head once had been.
Despite all the horror that had gone before, the whole city, including the contract warriors and Baptiste's raiders, was gripped by a long minute of silence. It was as though the population had been stunned by the very personal display of superhuman violence. When the grip let go, however, all hell broke loose. There was a howl from the raiders as they spurred forward.
Reave turned and yelled. 'That's us! Let's go! Let's get inside the pyramid.'
The remaining five contract warriors were climbing the side of the pyramid as fast as they could. There suddenly seemed to be an infinite number of steps between them and safety. The Minstrel Boy's breath was already coming in short, labored gasps. They should have climbed higher while the metal men were flighting, but they had been held spellbound by the clash of the ancient military behemoths. It suddenly looked like a spell that would prove ultimately disastrous. The raiders were on the plaza, and weapon fire was already hitting the steps. Everything had started to move with the alarming speed of crisis and pumping adrenaline.
The Minstrel Boy was sweating and red in the face by the time he reached the platform in front of the entrance to the pyramid. He was running half doubled-over, ducking the multicolored fire that flashed over his head. The great stone blocks that served as doors were still rolled back. He looked behind. To his surprise, Renatta, Blaisdell, and Billy were still laboring up the steps. The raiders were dismounted and climbing, too, firing from the hip as they came. The Minstrel Boy unslung the AK 5000 and thumbed off the safety. He fired a long burst into the climbing raiders. Two of them went down, but then he had to duck a particle beam as one of their comrades took careful aim at him.
He heard Renatta scream. She was down. Blaisdell changed direction to go to her aid. He had taken only a couple of steps when he, too, was hit. A spreader had removed all of his right shoulder and a portion of his head. His body rolled down five steps before it finally came to rest.
The Minstrel Boy started down again. He had to reach Renatta. She was one of them, much more so than Blaisdell. If she was dead, he could die, too. The protective aura would be gone. He found that he was muttering to himself as he slapped another clip into the AK. 'This is too fucking real. This is all too fucking real.'
Billy reached her first. He bent over her briefly and then waved him back. 'There's nothing you can do! She's dead!'
He turned and dropped a smartbomb on his pursuers. The Minstrel Boy stood stock-still. He was numb. Renatta couldn't be dead. She couldn't be dead.
Billy was yelling at him. 'Get moving! Don't be a damned fool, she's dead!'
Reave had come out of nowhere and grabbed him. He dragged him up the last few steps and through the entrance. The stone blocks were already pivoting back into place. Billy rolled through behind them with a couple of raiders hot on his heels.
As he rolled, he loosed a heatflash from the multiplex, and they were charred instantly. The stone blocks closed. They were sealed inside the pyramid.
For the first few seconds they were blind. After the bright, white marble outside, the interior of the pyramid was a place of impenetrable gloom until their eyes adjusted. The Minstrel Boy slowly lowered his gun, but he could not quite put it down. A red LED was flashing on the AK. He was out of ammunition. There were no more fresh clips. He released the empty one and let it clatter to the floor.
'Renatta's dead.'
Billy and Reave looked at each other uncomfortably.
'We know.'
'And Blaisdell.'
'It was a mess out there at the end.'
'And Stent, and Jet Ace.'
'Get off it, boy. We ain't out of the woods yet.'
The Minstrel Boy's face was set in a fixed stare. His voice had the dead quality of someone going into shock. 'I can't get worked up about Stent and Jet Ace. They were too fucking weird and alien, all that metal.'