[x] Cautiously probe your opponent's defense before trying to launch a decisive strike.
You consider, watching him for any attack. Neither a feint nor an overwhelming attack recommend themselves against your wary, experienced foe. You're not sure you can finish him off quickly, and without knowing his style or plan more than you do, tricking him into attacking you with all his strength is too dangerous. You stow the spezzante and switch to a pistol saber in each hand, shift your stance to protect yourself with the shields fixed to either arm. Magazines full, you begin to strafe left, firing a few shots to gauge the setting of his mantella.
His shield draws up to defend his torso in response, and he begins to circle the other way.You watch your feet as much as the target, careful not to get out of the bounds of the ring. Shots deflect off the mass of the shield and graze his armor, ricochets raising plumes of dust from the stubble, never interrupted by the field of a mantella.
<<High-threshold?>> You ask Avagis.
<<Seems like it. Very high.>>
The Murgley ceases its circling and bounds closer, you raise the bladed armatures of each pistol-sabre and continue to track him as he closes. He hasn't fired back or made a move. What's he doing? <<How many rounds each?>>
<<Seven and eight. Three reloads.>>
You fire again, scoring a few more hits that scatter over the left arm and leg. Solid rounds score the armour, but damage seems to still be fairly superficial. <<Anything on the augurs? It doesn't look like he brought any ranged weapons!>> You roll to one side ahead of him, forcing him to skid to a stop and turn to pursue.
<<Hollow sections inside the arms and legs. It's suspicious. >>
<<Okay. I'm reloading.>> Michael's arms dip down to sheath the two sabres to reload, loading fresh shells. Murgleys holds out its sword as if goading you to attack, then, as you bring the pistol to bear, a hefty projectile launches out from the wrist. You don't see it so much as hear the whine of warning sensors in the milliseconds before they properly launch, and your body responds on instinct, taking a quick step to the right, and hearing it whirr past you. An explosion of dust and heat billows past from behind, where it hit. Murgleys charges forward before you can get away again, lunging to full extension with the compressa.
The lunge is not easy to deflect, especially not from a compressa. You drop the pistol and quickdraw your spezzante for a hard swing, smashing his shield and forcing him sideways to halt the attack. The shield dents and cracks, and the enemy archengine is thrown back and skids back a few steps, turning the motion into a trot, compressa held out before it.
You take initiative and grab the ampio with your left arm, making quick thrusts to force him on the defensive while the spezzante reforms, and then backstep to reestablish twenty meters distance. Murgleys can't do much more than and accepts your maneuver, responding by turning away a half-second and flinging a javelin at you. You have again a second to react, but the finned javelin is a slower and larger projectile.
Avagis chimes in. <<It's made of stealth material. Be careful!>>
How do you respond?
[ ] Evade forward and carry the momentum into a charge.
[ ] Evade to the side and switch back to the pistol-sabres, wearing his armor down until you know a hit will cripple Murgleys outright.
[ ] Parry the projectile and ready a counterattack, since he'll likely rush you down the moment after.
[ ] Defend with the mantella and do a full charge with the spezzante, you've confirmed he can't defend against it.
