"You can do this, Kira." There was certainty in Jin's voice, even if she detected a trace of fear.
Fear was okay. It kept you sharp. Made you faster. Letting fear overwhelm you was not good. Panic made you miss things.
"If you could hack the course, that would be great," Kira said.
"You think the drones can slow the primus down," Jin guessed.
He didn't wait for her to answer, already thinking out loud. "The settings the last time you ran one of these were too low to do more than irritate it. I think I can boost their power."
Jin went quiet as he worked.
Kira rounded a bend in the trail, trees rushing by as the shimmery haze of air marking the boundary of the course came into view. Whatever Jin was going to do needed to happen fast.
"I'm in the system. Programming the drones to a higher setting will be easy, but I’ll be locked out of their controls as soon as the course starts. It will be extremely painful, possibly debilitating if you're not fast enough to evade their fire."
Kira allowed herself a bloodthirsty smile. She loved it when a plan came together.
The simple gate of the course appeared twenty feet away, the welcome sight of it marred by the presence of Maida and her initiates next to it.
Kira raced toward them, considering and discarding her options. Trying to change course now ran the risk of the primus fixating on those in front of her. Maida might be able to hold her own, but Kira didn't know the other woman well enough to say for sure.
Confusion crossed the initiates’ faces until they caught sight of the primus chasing her.
Maida screamed, "Shield."
The initiates hesitated for only a second before ki shields popped into existence.
Runes around the gate lit up as a chime sounded, announcing the course's start. Maida's eyes widened in realization, her gaze moving from Kira to the course. She cursed, whirling and yanking a practice blade out of the closest initiate’s hands.
Kira drew closer, only feet separating them.
Maida twisted, tossing the sword at Kira. It tumbled through the air, almost in slow motion.
Kira snatched it up.
The primus's presence grew larger behind her, until she could practically feel his breath on her neck. Some instinct warned her.
Kira sat, sliding through the gate as the primus sailed over her. He tumbled to the ground and rolled.
The gate snapped closed, the intangible barrier around its perimeter hardening until it was impermeable, locking the primus and Kira inside. There would be no escape until she crossed the gate on the other side of the course, a good three miles away.
All around her, drones woke up, coming out of their hiding places, one goal in their mind. Seek and destroy.
Kira tested the sword's weight before eyeing her foe. "Let the games begin."
TWELVE
The primus climbed to his feet, thunder filling his throat.
Kira watched him carefully, even as her senses detected faint flickers of movement as the drones started toward them. There was a swarm of them forming, many more than the last time she'd stood on a course like this. Their nearly inaudible buzz shook the leaves as they started their run.
"Be careful, Kira," Jin warned. "Death is unlikely but possible."
"I'll manage."
Somehow.
There was no other choice. She didn't want any further unnecessary deaths on her conscience. If she had to suffer a little pain, so be it.
The primus pounded over the ground toward her.
Kira let him come.
Ten feet. Five. Three.
A drone drifted from the shadows; its weapons already locked on the primus. Laser fire arced toward him, hitting his torso from three different directions.
It was the distraction Kira needed. She dodged the two bolts aimed at her, breaking off for the trees. The ground dissolved under her feet. She propelled herself to the side, barely grabbing onto a stump. She pulled herself up and took off again, never settling in one place long enough to fall afoul of the traps, never pausing for the drones to target her.
Attracted to his commotion, the drones swarmed the primus, ignoring the howls of fury and the repeated attempts to destroy them.
They were unrelenting, even when the primus leaped, catching one and using it to club another until it was nothing but scraps of metal.
Still, the drones came.
Whatever setting Jin had chosen, it was a doozy.
Even Kira had trouble, every bit of her attention and skill going to avoiding being turned into a pincushion.
The drones’ sizes varied. Some as small as her fist; others as big as a beach ball.
Not all flew. Kira nearly got tagged by two as they snaked across the ground, their movements somewhere between a centipede and a snake.
Kira jerked back as one dangled in front of her, its lower body curled around an upper branch. Light rippled across its smooth sightless head as its mouth opened, spewing a web.
Kira's blade flashed up, knocking it aside. She changed course, barely avoiding the laser fire of its brethren.
She streaked through the trees, finding her way into the canopy. Danger brushed across Kira's senses. She twisted sideways as red lanced from a hollow in the tree. She wasn't fast enough, the laser catching her upper bicep in what would have been a flesh wound had this been real.
A cry of agony tore from Kira, pain searing her flesh.
"Damn, that felt like a Tsavitee fire lance," Kira panted, swallowing any further sounds as she gingerly touched the arm, half-expecting blood and a gaping tear. To her surprise, the flesh was whole, except for a single red mark where the laser had grazed her.
"You really outdid yourself with these." Kira rested her head against the tree trunk as she took a moment to catch her breath. She hated to think what a full hit would do to her.
"I calculated based on your primus's known tolerances," he told her.
Probably a good call.
Pained bellows from beneath drew Kira's attention. Where she had relied on stealth and the path of least resistance to make her way through the trees, the primus had decided on brute strength.
The drones had acted accordingly, sensing the primus as the bigger threat.
Kira was more than happy to let them do the work for her. She made her way through the canopy, relying on instinct and experience to tell her when danger was near.
Unsurprisingly, Kira found the primus had been overwhelmed by the swarm of drones. He was going to lose. It was simply a matter of time.
Kira straightened, careful not to draw the drone’s attention. It was time to find the second gate and make her way to safety.
A low moan of pain and a heavy thump had her pausing as the primus collapsed face down into the dirt. His form dissolved to reveal Devon.
The drones’ laser fire didn’t abate, despite his change. Strike after strike landed on unprotected flesh.
Kira hardened her heart against empathy. Better him than her.
Ahead lay safety. Below, pain. The smart move—the only move—would be to find the exit while the drones were still distracted. Out there, she could shut down the course.
It'd likely be painful for Devon, but sometimes pain was necessary.
"Kira, I'm reading you as stationary. The exit is right there. Get out."
A broken moan of agony drifted up from below.
Kira closed her eyes.
Walk forward. You don't have to help. Jin said death was unlikely. Take the chance.