25th April
10:31 GMT -6
The gantry above the Huntsman creaks, straining against its mooring as he exerts a far greater pull than it was designed to withstand just by walking past it. Beautia's having to anchor herself as down suddenly moves to the wrong direction. I think and her construct armour becomes sticky on the base of the feet. Great, now how to deal with Mister Atom? Ah. Maybe?
"Oh, what a relief! My leader, the Sheeda Huntsmaster is here! Surely he will save me from this robot!
"
Immediately Mister Atom's hands drop and his head rotates to allow him to look at the new intruder.
"ORANGE LANTERN IS NO THREAT. NEW TARGET FILE NOT FOUND. BUT I HAVE NO INSTRUCTION TO LEAVE YOU ALIVE."
I dismiss my shield construct, then replace it with a fresh one. Okay, Mister Atom- He opens fire with proton cannons and electrolasers. -is occupied. Huntsman… He looks slightly irritated, maybe? That might just be because his increasing local gravity caused the Praexis Demons to get stuck to him again. Actually… I just gave Beautia non-magnetic magnetic boots and I can fly. Why hasn't Mister Atom fallen over?
Mister Atom Mark One didn't have a flight system, but I suppose this fellow does? I'm not seeing any exhausts, magnetic field is about what I would expect-.
Gravity suddenly reverts to normal as the Praexis Demons are pancaked against his outer surface for a moment before dissolving. Ring, don't bother recreating them.
Compliance.
Mister Atom plays the electrolaser over the Huntsman's face for a moment before shutting it down. The proton cannons hitting him in the chest on the other hand remain active. "CURIOUSLY RESILIENT. BUT NOTHING COMPARED TO THE POWER OF THE ATOM." The small red marking on his upper chest shines and then
ah crap.
I fly as fast as possible to Beautia and stick a shield around both her and the graviton flux detectors as Mister Atom fires a beam of gamma radiation that makes the amount I used on Mister Hagen look trivial. He maintains the beam for a second, then switches to alpha radiation, followed by a blast of beta radiation. Ah, maybe I should give him a clue.
"Quick, master! Use your gravity powers on this foolish robot!
"
"WHAT LUNACY IS THIS?"
"BETRAYED BY THE MOUTH OF YOUR OWN ASSISTANT. MY WEAPONS SYSTEM ALLOWS ME TO COUNTER ANY THREAT."
The Huntsman holds his right arm out to the side and a… A trident apparently made of the same material as the rest of him appears in his hand. Shapeshifting? Some sort of storage ability?
"YOU WERE MADE BY SIVANA. I RECOGNISE THE DESIGN. I KNOW ITS FLAWS."
"I HAVE NO FLAWS."
A plate on his crotch armour slides aside and a small ray projector extends itself, three circular fins whose purpose I can't immediately identify leading to a small bulb at the end. Then the fins light up in pale blue and a beam of bent space connects it to the Huntsman. He staggers, blue dust pouring off him.
"NONE WILL STAND BEFORE THE MIGHT OF MISTER ATOM."
"Is the radiation back down to normal?"
"Yes? Oh.
" I drop the bubble shield and Beautia thrusts five graviton flux detectors at me before hurrying along the gantry. It looks like she wants to get behind the Huntsman, though I'm not sure how much-.
The Huntsman raises his left hand and makes a fist, Mister Atom's crotch cannon crumpling in response. Okay then. Ring, closest weapon to that?
Based on appearance and observable effect, graviton nullifier is closest match.
Edging towards concluding that he's a walking black hole here…
It is extremely unlikely that entity designated 'Sheeda Huntsman' is a 'walking black hole'. Peak output observed so far is two hundred thirty nine times normal Earth gravity over a small area. The gravitational pull of a black hole-.
I'll take your word for it.
Compliance.
Mister Atom takes a step back as the Huntsman strolls forwards, brings his left arm up over his head and then drops to a crouch, smashing the fist into the Huntsman!
"Magnificus, still with us?
"
"
Yes?"
"Exactly how do you want these sensors arranged?
"
"Ah, the optimal disposition would be at variable
known distances from the subject. Surrounding him in all directions if at all possible."
"Right.
" External surface looks fairly durable. I transmute a small amount of adhesive onto the wall and stick one of the sensors there.
"Are you getting data from these?
"
"Yeah, they've got a connection to the habitat's systems. I'm going over it now."
"
We're going over it now."
"Soft subject."
Thaddeus Junior and Georgia on the case. I suppose that's a good thing. Considering the circumstances.
The Huntsman has been driven to his knees, hands on either side of the haft of his trident as he uses it to block Mister Atom's fist. Right, they're both fully occupied on
that end of the hangar… I fly to the opposite end, near that storage area, and plant another sensor.
"Do I need to tell you the distances, or-?
"
"No, it's all automatic."
On the other side of the hangar I see Beautia toss one down the lift shaft before leaping over the wrecked gantry to the far side. I fly to the right side of the room, plant one on the wall and turn to check on the combatants. The Huntsman seems to be stuck-. No, he's sliding his left hand along the haft and there's a noise of tearing and crumpling metal as Mister Atom's left middle finger collapses in on itself. Next comes another bolt of green lightning from his forehead, but that skitters harmlessly across Mister Atom's armoured chassis, no more effective than Mister Atom's shots were. I create a construct hand and use it to reach to
just behind Mister Atom, depositing another sensor.
"CURSE YOU." Mister Atom brings his right hand down in a chopping motion. The Huntsman has to compress to cope with the force of the impact, but almost immediately he starts to straighten again. Mister Atom points his left forearm at the Huntsman and-.
Alert! Anti-matter detected!
Oh dear.
Beautia continues running around the side of the room as Mister Atom thumps his damaged left fist into the Huntsman's chest. Okay okay, it should just be an explosion, and that's
if the anti-matter encounters matter. If his body isn't
comprised of matter -which is what my Crumbler negative impacts suggest- then
probably nothing will happen. Whatever, they're both fully occupied. I take hold of another sensor with a construct hand and have it carry it around the side of the room, depositing it behind the Huntsman.
Where else? The ceiling? Okay, but then I think we should be heading up to warehouse seven. I
really don't feel comfortable with-.
There's a brilliant flash of light from the Huntsman! The rings react immediately to dim my vision as I frantically look for Beautia! She's up above me, no closer to the centre of the blast than I am. Okay, her armour construct should hold-.
"yAAAAAAAGH!"
It fails. I'm by her side in an instant, a bubble shield going up around both of us. Idiot! The filament connection wasn't tough enough. Okay, burns, doesn't.. look like anything she can't heal.
"Magnificus, I'm heading up to warehouse seven.
"
"It would be better if you could plant one or two more-."
"Beautia's hit. She should be okay, but we need to move.
"
"Of course, then. Let me know when you arrive."