Damien sidestepped, barely escaping the arc of the blast zone. His blade kissed the underarm plate again, another test. Another whisper of contact.
Sleepy Smile nodded slowly. "He's using micro-feints to measure response lag in Requiem's shoulder stabilizers. There's a half-second twitch delay on turns."
Grumpy Bear scoffed. "Yeah, and a three-second window before he gets pancaked like toast under a collapsing temple."
Sixth move.
Zhao Xuan suddenly dropped low and fired a burst from the ankle thrusters, sliding forward in a crouch.
It was an unconventional move for a fortress-type mecha. It gave him momentum, and from that position, he exploded upward with an uppercut reinforced by seismic piston boosters.
The strike caught Damien's blade mid-parry and sent sparks flying.
General Hong Fei flinched. "He baited him! That was bait!"
