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THUMP!
THUMP!


And then another, and then even more. The two Partisans began shouting incoherently. “A Knight—no there’s three,” one of them barked. There was more yelling, then the shriek of metal on metal as the Immortal engaged the interloping mechs. The din of combat seemed to stretch on forever. The Knights’ mechs were much larger than the Immortal. There were three of them, and each one was manned by both a Knight controlling the mech’s movements and main weapons, and a squire covering secondary weapons and managing the mech’s systems. Even with all those advantages, the Immortal’s preternatural reaction time would make any victory for the Knights hard won.  
And then another, and then even more. The two Partisans began shouting incoherently. “A Knight--no there’s three,” one of them barked. There was more yelling, then the shriek of metal on metal as the Immortal engaged the interloping mechs. The din of combat seemed to stretch on forever. The Knights’ mechs were much larger than the Immortal. There were three of them, and each one was manned by both a Knight controlling the mech’s movements and main weapons, and a squire covering secondary weapons and managing the mech’s systems. Even with all those advantages, the Immortal’s preternatural reaction time would make any victory for the Knights hard won.  
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"Come on, you old rust bucket." Daybreak flicked one of the mech's controls with his outer thumb, pulling up the hull integrity monitor on his HUD visor. His complaint broke the silence otherwise punctuated only by the low thump of the mech's footfalls.
 
"I don't see anything wrong," said Sunbeam, tilting his head back toward the squire seated behind him in the cockpit.
 
"I'm telling you, you may drive this mech, but I'm the one patching her up after every sortie. I know every joint, bolt, hose, and wire in this thing. Feel that?," he pressed the palm of his rear paw against the bulkhead in front of him. "That faint rattle every time one of her rear paws goes down. It's her tail. The first joint is coming loose."
 
Sunbeam checked the hull integrity on his own visor. "Everything's at twelve-dozen per gross," he grunted. "I think I have more faith in your repairs than you do."
 
***
 
"What in the blind void are you doing?!" Sunbeam barked.
 
"Giving these piles of shit wrapped in fur what they deserve for all the Wayfarers they slaughtered." Daybreak leveled his reticle on the Partisan's head, the pad of his writing claw quivering over the key that would turn the people ahead to a fine maroon mist.
 
Sunbeam jumped out of his seat, jerked the squire's paw away from the keyer, and ripped his HUD visor from his face. The knight's fangs glinted in the dull glow of the running lights. "We do NOT draw first blood!" he snarled. "Knights don't fight because we hate what's in front of us. We fight because we love what's behind us."
 
Daybreak
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There was an almighty crash as the outer wall and roof of the building were torn away. Sunlight flooded what was left of the office. Whitepaw opened her eyes and saw one of the Knights’ mechs looming over her. It was proportioned much more like a yinrih, with recognizable head, torso, and limbs. Its head turned down to face her. It lifted one of its great metal paws and began deftly removing the debris piled on top of her.
There was an almighty crash as the outer wall and roof of the building were torn away. Sunlight flooded what was left of the office. Whitepaw opened her eyes and saw one of the Knights’ mechs looming over her. It was proportioned much more like a yinrih, with recognizable head, torso, and limbs. Its head turned down to face her. It lifted one of its great metal paws and began deftly removing the debris piled on top of her.