“What?” Saddam spluttered as the team received those coordinates. “Have you lost your damn mind?” Thebes wasn’t so sure. He was mindful of the advanced tech the Datius had showcased throughout this expedition. She had proved a very resourceful asset in a variety of combat scenarios, but it still took the Sacred Band leader a half-second to commit to a strategy which seemed so crazy. 

“CoWiUnCo.” Thebes barked when Rareth fired some kind of bright light, awkwardly hefting his gun above the claws grasping his chest and aiming at the point set in front of them. The four syllable shorthand wasn’t strictly speaking accepted terminology, but he knew all of the soldiers under his command would understand it as “Comply With Unorthodox Commands”. The team reacted immediately, as did 595 who had regained some conscious control and was vaguely following the plan.

Energy bursts, a tungsten bolt and one solid laser beam disappeared into the hole created by the bright flash, and they carried on firing until it shut again. The fliers bucked and rolled, thoroughly spooked by all the action, but still on course. There was no immediate sound from the predator above them, until it’s carcass crashed into one of the cargo bots trailing their convoy at a couple of hundred miles per hour. The package of robot and dead flesh thundered down to the plains below, and exploded in a huge fireball.