CH 2, Scene 3. Crater sunk deep in the jousters,chest plate boom! crack! impact! armor bent sideways.His board shrugged sparks across the void,hood split jagged green down the center line.Still he rode, still upright,then flash fast, Hashtagger-1 launched off the carrier rail,hard light sprayed under her boots,plasma thread glowing off her fingertips like blue wire jazz.Jouster hit, armor compromised, tagging,Hashtagger-2 cut through her wake.I see the crater, I see the crack wielding tight.Missile screamed in from the blindside white flag signaturesblinking friendly till the skins peeled off mid flight.PsyOps trick ambush slick.Down low, too late,wham, one clipped the jousters flank,armor peeled back smoking,but the jouster laughed wild through the sparks,lance spun once crack second missile split clean and half.Hashtagger-1 slammed a plasma patch onto a shoulder plate mid flight.Blue fire sealed the crater from the outside.Hashtagger-2 dropped beneath the board,boots inches from vacuum spin,welding the stabilizer while debris hammered round her visor.Thou art welding me while I joust the jouster roared,Tis madness, Tis the rule Hashtagger-1 snap back,plasma flaring bright,dented armor still stands,thou wield thy lance.Hold still, Hashtagger-2 barked,this canyon cut runs deep.Below them the ladies rose through gamma smoke,armor blackened,Sabers glowing gold white.The Hashtaggers ride with him the first lady said,they repair the blast craters.Then we ride also the second lady punched her sword skyward,blades advance, boom, both launched hard,Sabers caught the gamma wash smashing debris sideways,carving lanes through the missile storm,then came the sneaky rush.Tomahawks uncloaked from dead angles,quiet drift stalkers stay sliding under radar static,red eyes blinking through false surrender signals.White flag, PysOps yelled Hope,blindside swarm incoming,the warrior grounded his taiaha,THOOM. Shockwave blasted through the deck.The Hashtagger surged upward on the pulse.The ladies hit next Sabers and swords,punching the air right from under the stalker’s feet.One Tomahawk flipped spinning into vacuum,another shattered against a shield flare,then the taiaha moved, fast, too fast.Camera zoom strike, cricket batsman hits a six.Wack, the taiaha smashed one stalker clean across the void,horizon, armor tumbling end over end,like a ball launched out the stadium dome.One fights, the warrior thundered, second strike,one repairs, third strike cracked the ambush formation apart,one shields the repairer,Optimism watch the chaos, dance the weld sparks,saber arcs, drifting wreckage burning gold against the dark.They weld him in flight, he breathed in battle, while he jostles.Hope never looked away from the lifeboats below.Tiny evacuation transports drifted under Papatuanuku’s shadow,children packed tight behind superhero,shield decals glowing soft in the dark.Her thumb slammed the trim control forward.Techtron Tomahawk’s in stalk formation.They draw the little ones in, intercept we must, go, go, go.Hashtagger-1 slapped the final plasma sealonto the jouster’s chest plate,and kicked backward into a clean dive spin.Jouster armor 94% integrity.Hashtagger-2 dropped beside her, welder still smoking.Plasma wielded tight.Above them the jouster lowered his lance, the rule holds.
