The crucial moment came, just before the two mighty Paladins collided into each other. Moses' eyes glinted as he suddenly jerked his battle partner to the right in a sharp turn, thrusting his sword straight forward into empty space.
"What is he doing?!" Bethany yelled from her cockpit, her eyes wide with shock. She did not understand why Moses suddenly turned away from the Paladin right before him to strike empty space, but in the next moment, she shut her mouth, stupefied once again.
The inky black skirmisher mech that had been charging at Moses shimmered magically, before fading away like an afterimage. Another identical mech appeared in the spot where Moses had stabbed his sword, using its short swords to deflect Moses' sword.
Manuel's face bore a wide, excited grin as he danced away from Moses' mech.
"How did you know?" He asked into the open channel.
"Intuition." Moses replied with a single word, and his mech's thrusters flared to life, propelling the red and black machine forward at full speed. Manuel did not choose to run away, even though he certainly could have outrun Hex if he tried to. He also accelerated forward to make quick work of Moses before moving forward to handle the two that remained behind.
Clang!
Soundless waves followed the clashes of their weapons as Moses tried to pierce through Manuel's superb defensive posture. It was not as if the smaller mech stayed in one place, but it was actually like a fly, buzzing around Moses continuously, and leaving him unable to land a solid hit. Whatever hits looked like they would land would be deflected by Manuel as easily as slapping away a child's hand. It frustrated Moses to no end.
"Moses, bud. Keep him in place, I'm almost there!" Richard's voice came through the communication channel. After an entire minute, he had finally gotten in range to use his shotgun, but since Moses was in the range of fire, he had to hold back.
Seeing that Richard was almost here, Manuel decided to stop playing, wanting to abandon the game he was playing with Moses. The few shots that almost grazed him from Anthony put enough pressure on him, and he did not fancy getting surrounded.
Just as his thrusters flared to propel him backwards, Manuel felt the space behind his mech freeze up abruptly, stopping any backwards movement.
"What?" He was shocked, and before he could regain his composure, Moses struck. The black material of his sword seemed to shiver and break down, like sand, morphing from a thick, firm sword, into a hefty axe with a gleaming blade.
The small boosters on the side of Manuel's mech burst to life, throwing him out of the trajectory of the strike, and forcing him to the side.
"Not so fast!" Moses roared in his cockpit as the urge to win rose within him. A red flame suddenly burst over the axe he was holding, forming an even larger axe that tried to reach for the escaping mech.
But even still, the mobility of Manuel's mech was its greatest strength. There was no way a powerful Paladin pilot like himself could get bested by newbies so easily. A light blue corona of light enveloped his machine, greatly boosting its acceleration capabilities and allowing it to speed away from the two melee mechs that tried to entangle it in battle.
"Haha! Maybe we can have a one on one later, but I have to end this now. See ya!" The usually stoic Manuel was feeling very excited all of a sudden, exclaiming into the open network as he sped away.
The thrusters on the back of Moses' Paladin died down as he came to a stop with a sigh. He felt drained all of a sudden. He wanted to chase Manuel, but knew that he would never get to him in time, so he dropped the idea. Richard's Paladin also drifted to a stop beside him, facing the direction of their two comrades.
"He's real good." The brunette commented with a whistle.
"Mm" Moses agreed with a nod. The optical sensors of his mech could see the battle that was about to begin in the distance. With Manuel not being tied down by any of their mechs, he was able to move much faster, reaching Anthony and Bethany in a matter of moments.
What happened next was not out of expectations. Manuel danced nimbly around Bethany's slower mech, before arriving at the rear of Anthony's mech and tapping his weapon on the body of its flight system, marking the end of the spar.
Moses let out a sigh when the spar came to an end. They had lost, but he felt like he had been momentarily freed from a restricting force that held him back. That moment when his axe had suddenly caught fire had left Moses wanting for more, but even he did not understand what that was all about. He would ask Manuel when they returned to the frigate.
Whoosh.
The two melee oriented Paladins passed through the barrier that kept the vacuum out of the hangar, smoothly landing against the deck. The chest area of Richard's mech opened up with a low hiss, and the pilot came floating down. When he touched down, he turned around and looked up at Moses' Paladin.
"You coming or what?" He called up.
"One second, trying to handle something." Moses' voice was projected outwards. Within his Paladin, he was conversing with Hex.
"So, is there a way for me to open the cockpit and step out without stuffing you away or something?" He asked his trusty battle partner.
[There is. You just have to will for it to happen.] Hex replied simply.
"Will it?" Moses thought and sighed. He closed his eyes and did his best to picture the image of a cockpit opening up in his mind. It was relatively easy, as he had piloted mechs for a couple of years by now already.
Click. Whoosh!
The sound of the frontal chest section of his Paladin opening made Moses open his eyes.