Time Limit

"Why did it back off? These human things are so boring. Way too weak. Too slow. I can't have any fun like this." Felik complained.

The human toy came alive again. Its fury seemed to have abated some. Then it charged right at Felik.

"Yet another easy dodge. If they don't do something fun soon, I think I'll just try out the new weapon and get it over with."

Felik turned as he dodged and it passed by him. He noticed something different. Instead of attacking they pushed through, anticipating his dodge. He looked at the wall of troops blocking the way through to the Earth. As if they knew what he was thinking, they tightened the gaps.

Then, Felik saw something that interested him.

The toy that he was playing with had extended its arm well past what should have been possible. The fingers elongated as well, opening up and wrapping themselves around its allies.

It didn't stop there. It barreled forward, jerking the allies in hand along. Its other arm reached out as well. When its other fingers stretched out, they stabbed through the cockpits of four troops, causing multiple explosions and clearing a large opening. The barrier was immediately penetrated and the enemy's allies were thrown through and sent back into the Earth's atmosphere.

For a brief moment, Felik thought that his toy was going to try to run as well. It didn't. It stayed.

"Curious. What do you think you can do now that you are alone?"

Some troops started to pursue the escapees.

"Tell them to back off. They won't be a threat when we consume the planet."

The order was obeyed nearly immediately. As if they heard his voice as he spoke.

The toy began its assault again. With its arms still stretched out, it began grabbing troops and throwing them at Felik. He watched a few pass by. They were helpless. When grabbed, a finger would penetrate the armor and disable the thrusters to prevent the troops from regaining their composure. They would be lost to space.

Still, this would never be enough to catch him off guard. He was faster than thrown projectiles.

Felik began firing off the orange balls that split apart and spread out. No, they weren't fast. But, when they filled the area, long arms could get accidentally snagged and blown off.

After 30 or so troops were thrown, the toy grabbed two more and charged through the orange minefield. They skillfully dodged every ball of death. When they got close, they suddenly backed off. The arms were swinging wide until Felik realized the current intention.

He backed away. The elongated hands came together, smashing the two troops together and causing a massive explosion.

The enemy raced through the final remnants of the explosion, passing Felik at its maximum speed.

"A race?" Felik asked himself.

He boosted after the toy and caught up easily. He wasn't even using his full speed. He trailed behind and kept his plaything in view until they were fully behind Felik's battleship. It seemed as though they were only running at this point. He was tired of them now.

"No one seems to be able to entertain me. I'm done with my toy."

One of his rear arms pointed forward and activated the unfamiliar weapon that was added by the Protalife.

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"We're almost th-there! Just a little farther!" Wolf exclaimed.

*tink*

"What was that?" Anna asked.

"Scanning the hull for po-possible attachm…"

"Wolf?" Anna called out worriedly. It wasn't common for him to stop talking mid-sentence.

"Sc-c-c-c ann anning-g-g-g-g-g…"

"WOLF!" Anna cried out. She stopped the mech where it was and forgot about the danger coming from behind.

"G-g-g-g-g-g…" His voice couldn't seem to form a cohesive word, let alone a sentence.

Anna rotated the mech in place until she found the enemy leader between her and the rear of his ship. He seemed to be watching. Like he was waiting for something.

Then, the screen went blank. Lights turned off. Controls failed to respond to Anna's input. She was dead in the proverbial water.

The howls sounded off, signaling the reverting of the Werewolf Protocol back into the humanoid robot mode. This time, Anna was the only audience for the call of the wolf pack.

"No…"

When everything went quiet, a single red blinking light was the only thing Anna could see. It was a button. One that escaped her vast piloting knowledge that Wolf had imparted to her on her interface chip. Something that was installed on the rig?

Anna pressed it. The screen returned, but it was different. The enemy leader was still just staring. There were some basic robotic voice startup files. Systems began starting up. Something that sounded like a loud gas generator came to life.

A smaller screen popped up in the middle of the new HUD. It was an image of Stephanie.

"Hey, Anna. If your using the manual start, then something must have happened to Wolf. He and I had this idea since he had shut down once before already. You have limited power and the gas won't last forever. But, who knows? Maybe this is what you need to finish the job? Anyway. I hope this helps."

"Stephanie… Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome!" Stephanie replied.

"Wait! You… I thought this was a recording?" Anna admitted her confusion.

"Oh no. I didn't have time to records something. I just set up my wrist computer to automatically turn on when you activate the manual ignition."

"Jeeze. As happy as I am that you and Wolf made this manual start, I'm kinda stuck between vast empty space and a violent rock that's faster than me. Unless there's some way to get close to the enemy, I think I'm done for."

"Oh, that's easy. Use the blinding flair and the rocket-propelled knife." Stephanie suggested.

"Uh…" Anna was speechless.

"Wolf didn't tell you? Did he? The button you used for the manual start? Right next to that is the side panel weapons. Your mecha thighs hide some secret goodies. On your right is a flare gun. Lower the visor the mech's head and it will auto adjust for the bright-as-a-sun flare. On your left is a rocket-propelled knife. There is a button on the side of the knife for the rocket and it has a vibrating blade that can pierce the toughest armor made by the Empire. Or so Wolf says."

Anna was lost in thought for a moment after everything that Stephanie said, but when she had her plan together, Stephanie could see it in her eyes.

"I'll leave you to it. Come home safe."

"You know? I think I will. See ya later."

The two saluted each other and the communication channel closed.

Anna pressed the button and took the two hidden weapons in hand. As soon as the mech arms started moving, a timer showed up on the upper right of the screen. It was counting down from about one hour's time.