"I'd rather face your leader than a deranged machine!" Vecto replied. He swiftly reached behind him and yanked the fountain tower from the small pool and threw it at the mech.

Prometheus' arm swung at it, breaking it into pieces. "Well, look who's talking," the pilot said, launching the mech's massive arm at Vecto. Yet Vecto wasn't there. The base of the fountain shattered, with droplets of water flowing in the air as the mech's fist grinded through the surface.

Vecto was behind Prometheus. A missile launcher hovered over his shoulder as he fired at the mech's stern.

The mech's rear thrusters activated, obliterating the missile as the bulky machine hovered into the air and landed on the other side of the fountain, crushing a tree.

"You're nothing but brute strength," Vecto noted. "And your size happens to make for an easy target!" He spun his guns around him and fired streams of bullets and pulsebeams toward the mech as it turned toward him.

Prometheus took the bullets head-on. The ammunition bounced off its armored body, and the energy dispersed. But Vecto wasn't through. He released missiles. The mech quickly reached out its forearm as a shield formed in front of it, covering a chunk of its body. The missiles collided with the shield, exploding without a trace of damage to the mech.

Vecto ceased fire.

"The same technology as the base's shield," Brail said. "Without the funnel, I might add." The shield disappeared, and the mech lowered its fist, but out from the hand flared a pulsesaber, burning a bright green. "It's time for you to-"

Vecto zipped by the mech. An arched blade from his arm slashed the bottom of the mech's forearm. Vecto landed on the other side, and the mech's arm sparked, twitched, and deactivated.

"Activate reroute wiring and repair," Brail commanded the mech as he also made a few adjustments to the console. Power redirected, and the arm began to move again.

Vecto looked behind to see Prometheus plunge his energy sword at him. He sidestepped-the blade scorching the ground beside him-then fired more missiles.

The pulsesaber swung by the projectiles, disintegrating them. The intense heat scorched Vecto again but collided with his Force Field Shields. The flare widened, covering him.

"A mere flare of energy will not get through my shield," Vecto said in a monotone.

"Yet if you fire, the energy will filter through your shields," Brail pointed out. "It has to create an opining to fire, does it not?"

"That's why I sifted my blaster from behind me-to behind you."

Prometheus looked back as a charged beam came down. The mech quickly hopped over Vecto and struck down with its pulsesaber at the blast. The zero point energy shifted downward and collided with Vecto's shield. Vecto slid back from the impact of the blast as Prometheus kicked Vecto from behind, using the force of his foot's thrusters to knock him in the air.

Vecto pinwheeled, then stabilized. "How exhilarating," he said, hovering his Alpha Detta Flint over his shoulder, ready for nuclear warfare.