by Aer-ki Jyr
And this roadblock had been long in overcoming. He and Green Team had been assigned to The Word mission for the past 45 years, making it by far their longest assignment, one which he expected to be wrapped up on Earth within the next couple months, as far as the Archons were concerned. Once the heavy psionic lifting and base raiding was done, rounding up the rogue operatives would become a security division mission while Green Team would split up and head out to other star systems hunting the remains of The Word while Red and Blue Teams got back to their normal assorted workload for Davis.
David was looking forward to getting back out in the field, for he’d had far too much Professor Xavier work in recent days to suit him. His workouts were all that were keeping him from going stir crazy, and he was glad this current report was coming to an end so he could head off for some real work.
David, you busy?
The ranger kept typing as he answered the telepathic question coming from a few levels above his quarters.
Just finishing up a report. What’s up? he asked Rikku.
With so many of us in the city, Vermaire requested a challenge. I’m rounding up as many high levels guys as I can for a ‘king of the hill.’
How many is he giving us?
Nine.
Nine? He’s getting rather bold.
Which is why I want to stick it to him if we can. We’re set to go at it in 34 minutes.
David checked his watch, then quickly typed in a short list of topics for him to finish later.
On my way.
Good, Rikku said, sending him the telepathic equivalent of a smiley face.
David hit the save button and flicked off his computer, heading for the door. He ran out into the hallway and all the way to the nearest elevator, crossing Atlantis over to where the non-trainee challenge chambers were. He ducked into the nearest equipment room and quickly got dressed, all the while having flashbacks of going up against the Black Knight as a trainee all those years ago.
Time for a little payback.
8
David dug his knee into the padded, angled wall and dragged his falling body to a stop midway down the side of the artificial hill he’d just been tossed off of. Aeryn was below him, all the way down on the flat that surrounded the four-sided, flat-topped pyramid, and as David clawed his way back into some upward momentum Peg came flying off the top and falling towards him.
He ducked down flat, with her body missing his by inches, and there was little doubt in his mind that her trajectory hadn’t been coincidental. Vermaire had thrown her at him, hoping to knock him back down before he could get to the top again…but no such luck this time.
David got his legs back underneath himself and rushed up the 45 degree incline until his head cleared the top edge and he could see what was happening in the center of the large scoring square. The Black Knight, dressed in the same gray/tan light armor that they all were wearing to reduce the blows and allow them to fight more freely, stood a head taller than the Archons ringing him and outmassed David by a factor of 2.
A quick punch to Sev’s chest knocked him back, then Kivy dove at the Knight’s legs, trying to latch on but he wasn’t quick enough about it and missed one of them…which Vermaire then used to kick him away just as David was coming up to him. A telepathic prodding by Niles told him to jump high, which David made good on by launching himself and his flexible armor up into a jump-kick aimed at Vermaire’s chest.
The larger man dodged it easily, grabbing David by the ankle and twirling him around like a bat to smash into Aeryn who was just now coming back up the hillside. Both Archons tumbled back down and out of sight, but David’s diversion had allowed Rikku to slide in underneath the Black Knight and latch onto his legs.
David didn’t see what happened next as he and Aeryn tumbled down the side all the way to the bottom before they got themselves pried free of one another. There were nine Archons in play on the hill versus the Black Knight, who looked odd not dressed in his typical intimidating Knight armor. The light armor had been at his request, knowing that if they went at it in just their training garb he was going to have to hold back to keep from injuring them, and vice versa, and that wasn’t good for anyone when playing ‘king of the hill.’ Vermaire wanted a challenge, to be pressed, and he couldn’t do that if he was holding back.
The entire suit of armor was made of flexible pads, save for the clear faceplate that was hard and kept noses and eyes from getting busted up. The light armor was used for a variety of combat missions, usually not by Archons, but it made for an excellent training tool for when one wanted to get some rough sparring in, and the way the Black Knight went about things any challenge against him ended up that way.
He’d allowed them nine Archons, with Rikku having assembled the highest ranking group she could out of those in the city helping with the psionic interrogations, meaning high level acolytes and rangers. In order of class they were Riona-111, Kivy-188, Aeryn-412, David-441, Rikku-452, Sarah-800, Niles-803, Peg-1367, and Sev-1522, with Riona, David, Rikku, Niles, and Sev being the 5 rangers in the group and the other four being the highest ranking acolytes available, with the balance of those invited watching from the sidelines.
Rikku had assembled an all-star team, but like always the Black Knight was proving to be better than them. They’d been at this for the past 40 minutes, with the scoreboard reading 2:31 on his side and a big fat 00:00 for the Archons, meaning they hadn’t been able to remove him from the top at all, while he’d been able to keep the top square clear of them for a total of 2 minutes and 31 seconds, though he’d only managed to do that by adding up a lot of brief periods of 2 or 3 seconds each when all nine Archons had been knocked off the top.
But hell, this was fun, and there was no way any of them were going to back down, especially since they’d come close to deposing him three times over the past 10 minutes. David didn’t think his strength was wearing down, but rather the Archons were getting better acclimated to his combat skills…which were far superior to theirs.
Like all Knights, Vermaire trained exclusively for the hand to hand subdivision of commando, and with the man being older than all of the Archons he’d had centuries to focus on improving that select skillset. Nowadays he didn’t even split his time helping to train, or more accurately terrorize, the Archon trainees, for even with the stun-neutralizing component of his armor removed he was still too strong and fast for them.
Another Knight had taken his place, leaving Vermaire even more training time in the day to hone his beastly skills. He was far more than a match for any Archon, discounting psionics, trailblazers included, but against 9 of them he should have been at a disadvantage, which is why he figured the Black Knight had chosen that number of opponents.
David gently kicked Aeryn off his leg and both of the Archons jumped to their feet and climbed back up the hill just in time to see Vermaire send Rikku over the edge on the far side, with only three other Archons currently up top. Kivy had hold of the giant’s left arm and was latched onto it like a dead weight while Sev came in and tried to tackle the man across the abdomen.
It didn’t work well, but it knocked the Black Knight back a step as he knocked Sev up into the air with a raised knee…which Riona then slid under, coming up from behind him, and snaked her arms and legs through his, trying to topple him.
David and Aeryn both saw the opportunity and sprinted across the top of the hill and jumped at Vermaire as he punched Kivy away and dropped to a knee on top of Riona, smashing her into an impromptu submission hold as he grabbed Sev by the shoulders and chucked him over the side like a rag doll. David and Aeryn came flying through the air, Aeryn a step ahead, and rammed into his torso, with her snaking an arm around his neck and pivoting her body around behind his massive bulk as David torpedoed his chest with another jump-kick.
A jump-kick that came to a sudden, firm halt. Using Riona as a brace, the Black Knight had set himself against the ranger’s incoming momentum, stopping him flat and dropping him to the gr
ound where he spun around like a cat, all the while Vermaire grabbed Aeryn’s arms as he stood up, stepped to the side away from Riona, and spun the Archon around twice before tossing her well up into the air where she fell down over the hill and out of sight.
David was back on his feet and punching at the man’s gut as he released Aeryn, getting in a quick, unanswered blow before the large arms came back down and David began backpedaling as they sparred lightning fast. He knew he had to give ground or get overwhelmed by the man’s strength, but what galled him the most was that, despite his bulk, he was just as fast as the Archons were. David suspected Riona might be a hair faster, but one on one it was no contest, meaning that he had to block and parry the heavy blows long enough for the others to get back up the hill and link up to do some kind of damage.
One of his punches resulted in Vermaire latching onto his wrist and holding him motionless for a split second, which was all he needed to kick into David’s chest and send him flying backwards across the square. The Archon dropped to the slightly padded top a meter shy of the edge, immediately regaining his footing and turning around just in time to see Riona slide back underneath the giant’s feet and wrap up his legs again…this time crumpling one of his knees enough that he lost his footing and began to fall forward just as Kivy and Peg came flying in and grabbed each of his arms.
Like a tractor pull, they dragged his torso the opposite direction, flipping him over onto his back as Niles and Sarah came in and grabbed his legs which Riona suddenly let go of. Together, the four Archons lifted the Black Knight up off the ground and walked him towards the edge, intending to chuck him off the side.
But they knew he wouldn’t go quietly, and before they got to the edge he pulled Peg in too close to his torso and head butted her in the chest just enough to off balance the acolyte and allow that arm of his to sag to the ground. The Black Knight used the dip to convulse the others out of position, then he began to kick his way free as they unwittingly dropped him to the ground two meters shy of the edge.
Once down his bulk regained its dominance and he quickly pitched Kivy over the edge with an elegant frontside scorpion kick in which he crunched up his abdomen as if he were doing a sit-up, except that his back laid flat on the ground and it was his lower body that moved upwards whereupon he extended his right leg and sent the Archon flying backwards over the edge.
Vermaire snapped his legs back down, kicking Sev as he jumped into the mix and giving himself a tiny bit of clear space on top to maneuver in as he spun around on the ground in a roundhouse kick, knocking down Aeryn as she came back up and into the fight. Then suddenly he was back on his feet taking a step in towards the middle and away from the edge the Archons had got him dangerously close to.
But that was when Riona got back under his legs again, and with Rikku’s help this time the pair was able to dump him to the ground and hold tight while he tried to kick his way free. David ran up and grabbed the man’s left wrist and pulled as hard as he could, with three of the others jumping in and grabbing what leverage points they could and yanking desperately to move both Vermaire and Riona and Rikku over the edge.
When David got his foot across and onto the angled slope he pitched himself over, trying to let gravity assist him, but the Black Knight yanked him back up with an insanely strong arm curl and threw him across Riona’s chest, tripping David up and knocking him down at the Black Knight’s feet.
The next thing he knew he saw Sarah flying by and jumping into the mess of arms and legs, then suddenly it all pitched over the side and disappeared from view.
David glanced up at the scoreboard, seeing their clock tick up a second, then two as the Archons now had control of the top now that Vermaire was off it and at least one of them stayed up top to hold it.
As he got to his feet he saw Aeryn and Niles with him, all of whom ran over to the edge and looked down the hill where they saw the Black Knight knocking his way free of the Archons and start to run back up the side…only to have Riona come at him from the left flank and dive after one of his legs, which she somehow managed to latch onto.
David didn’t hesitate when he saw the opportunity and abandoned the top, leaving the other two Archons to hold it as he charged down the hillside and jumped head first at Vermaire as he punched Riona into submission and kicked her aside. David’s momentum hit the man in the shoulder as he tried to dodge, partially succeeding, but the Archon had been moving so fast it sent him staggering back enough that he had to drop to a knee to keep from pitching over as David flew about wildly down to the bottom, accidentally knocking Rikku and Sev down like bowling pins.
But what he couldn’t see was that while the Black Knight was off balance, Aeryn was coming down the hillside behind David and she finished what he’d began, plowing into the giant and knocking him off his feet where he slid back down the hill, tossing the arrogant Archon off him and digging his knee into the padding to slow his descent. He reset himself and raced back up towards the top, fighting off two more Archon delaying attacks on the way.
When David stopped tumbling at the bottom of the hill he banged his head on the flat, stunning himself for a moment. When he shook his head clear he wobbly got back to his feet and looked up, seeing Kivy and Aeryn flying off the top, quickly followed by Riona, and David knew that the Black Knight was pissed and he was trying to quickly clear off the top to add a few more seconds to his tally.
David wasn’t going to let that happen, so even though his head hadn’t fully stopped spinning he ran up the angled padding towards one of the corners and stepped up on top, holding position rather than jumping into the fight, and laying claim to a piece of the square while the others were scrambling to get back up in time, for Vermaire was chucking them off one by one too fast for them to coordinate with each other.
Sev came up alongside David and likewise held position, then suddenly it was the two of them and Vermaire as Peg got kicked off. David and Sev split up, each heading towards opposite corners and forcing the Black Knight to chase after one of them…and he chose Sev.
The ranger ducked and dodged for several seconds, but Vermaire eventually got to him and with three quick punches distracted, disabled, and removing him from the top, then the eldest of the Knights turned around and headed for David, intent on grabbing another second for the scoreboard that now read 2:31/0:29.
Knowing that sitting on the edge was stupid, David ran forward and met him in the middle, sliding down underneath him and turtling up, not trying to fight the giant but rather trying to buy time for the others to get back up to the top. He rolled to his right, jabbing his knee into the Black Knight’s shin, moving it back an inch, then he felt a hand underneath his shoulder and suddenly he was being picked up off the floor.
David reacted quickly, twisting around and getting his own grip on one of Vermaire’s arms, not allowing him to throw the Archon so easily. Then, oddly, Vermaire dropped him and took a step back, kicking into Riona’s faceplate as she tried to dart underneath his legs and tie him up again. His kick stopped her cold, then he spun around and did the same thing to Rikku who was coming in on the opposite side, having anticipated their attacks.
What it also did was start getting the Archons reassembled on top, now with 4 of them up and another nearing the edge. Seeing this Vermaire plowed through David, knocking him aside but not off, and reset himself at hilltop center while the Archons moved around him in a circle, looking for an opening.
The Black Knight stood up to his full height and reached a hand forward, motioning them to come on with a couple of fingers, then David got a telepathic strategy from Sev, with him sending a confirmation ping back.
Rikku took off first, running three steps straight towards him, then diverting into a shallow ‘orbit’ that twisted her around to the far side. With his back turned, Peg came in as well, dropping into the circular motion and waiting for the Black Knight to strike either her or Rikku, but he didn’t. He let them move about him at a range of two meters, not taking the bai
t.
Then suddenly both Archons appeared to trip over their own feet and fall to the ground, with Vermaire taking both hands, balling them into fists, and beating them against his chest once as he pushed his own Fornax field out to its limits, teasing with the rest of the Archons’ balance, but they were too far away and his energy field to weak at that range to do little more than get their attention.
That does it, Riona said telepathically to the group. He’s getting it now.
David knew what she meant and smiled, lining up the Black Knight’s mind in his mental targets and preparing to send a Fornax blast back his way. Most sparring drills and challenges had a ban on psionics, aside from telepathic coordination, because they got in the way of the skills you were trying to hone. Because of that, the Black Knight’s strengths were kept intact while the Archons’ most potent weapons were deemed off limits for this king of the hill challenge.
But what Vermaire had just done by using his own, very limited psionics upgrade that the trailblazers and Davis had afforded him a number of years ago, was to disregard the ban entirely, opening up the Archons to fight at full psionic strength…and there was no way he was going to beat them at that.
A flurry of telepathic coordinating signals went out to the group from Riona, and David joined two others in throwing pinpoint Fornax blasts at the Black Knight, hobbling him to the point of shaky legs, but the big man didn’t go down…until the others combined their lachka and delivered a telekinetic punch to his chest simultaneously.
