Page 107 of On a Rogue Planet
He’d already adjusted his balance due to his missing arm. He focused on the first of the robots coming at him, analyzing them for weak points.
Then he attacked.
He hit, ripped, and kicked. He kept his moves smooth and powerful. Malin’s canine moved in beside him, working in sync.
But the robots kept coming.
He risked a glance upward. Malin was hunched over the top of the pole, working with her multi-tool. He heard her not-so-quiet curses over the din of the fight.
Something slammed into his side. He gripped the robot, ducked low, and punched his hand through its abdomen. It stuttered, the light behind its eye slit flickering, then it slumped over.
Malin cried out.
Xander risked a quick glance over. She was shaking her hand before she stuck a finger in her mouth. “Okay?”
“Fine.” She waved. “Electrical burn. Nothing to worry about.”
He blocked a swing by another robot. He thrust the robot back and spun to kick the midsection of another coming from the side. A third was rushing him like a VelocityBall player, but a big, metallic body flew in front of him and took the robot down.
Damn, the robot dog was good to have around.
He looked up again and his heart stopped. “Malin!”
A small monkey-like robot was scurrying up the pole. Its metal tail waved around as it used it to balance its ascent.
She looked down and her eyes widened. The robot opened its mouth…baring a mouthful of needle-like teeth.
She lifted one leg away from the pole and kicked the robot in the face.
It clung on and tried to bite her.
And she was barefoot.
Xander was so focused on her that he missed the next attacker coming at him.
He was slammed so hard to the ground, his head smacked into the metal floor. Stars flickered in his eyes. A huge piston-like fist appeared in his vision, and Xander jammed his arm up to stop it landing in his face.
Then it became a battle of strength. He put all his enhanced power behind his shove. The robot moved an inch, but it had the luxury of gravity working with it.
Malin cried out again. He risked a glance her way.Dammit. The monkey was clamped onto her leg, and she was kicking like crazy trying to dislodge it. Xander saw blood dripping down her slim calf.
Fury roared through him.
Another wild shove and he sent his robot flying backward. He leaped to his feet, just in time to see Malin whack the monkey robot over the head with her multi-tool.
It lost its grip and fell backward, twisting like an angry cat in the air, before it sailed over the platform and into the abyss below.
After a shaky breath, Malin went back to work.
Xander looked away and his jaw went rigid.
More robots were pouring in. More than he and the canine could fight off.
He let his mind cool. Focus on the fight. On protecting his woman. It was all he could do.
He fought. With everything he had. But for each robot he damaged or destroyed, three more replaced it.
Xander went down under the onslaught. He felt something sharp pierce his side and pain burned through him.
