It was quite impressive, that Thomas was able to cast a spell in between the sound of a cannon shot and the arrival of a projectile traveling at over a hundred meters per second.  Simply being able to cast quickly, however, would not keep him safe for long.

The mage soon retaliated, in the form of a brilliant beam of light that pierced through the greenery, aimed roughly where Johannes had fired from.  However, the attack would meet only empty air.  Moving away from where it had fired had been literally the first thing the drone had done, and the fact that Thomas had spent time moving and casting spells before counterattacking had only given the machine more time to re-position itself.  It was no longer even close to where it had made its initial attack.

While his target was busy using magic to avoid getting killed, Johannes had been circling, keeping his distance and carefully examining the terrain, picking out a certain choice tree that looked like it might fit his purposes.  Thomas was no longer bothering to conceal his location, chanting out several spells and unleashing powerful but easily spotted effects.  Johannes took the opportunity to formulate a plan of attack.  He knew where his enemy was, and he now had some idea of the capabilities the mage possessed.  As more information was revealed, he adapted his plan, cutting out parts that might fail and focusing on weaknesses he could exploit.  

Thomas had just cast four spells in a row- and Johannes knew that mages could get tired, could lose their focus, or simply run out of magical energies if they cast too much too quickly.  He didn't know if his opponent had similar limitations, but it seemed like a reasonable bet, which made this a good time to attack.  He would be coming out, in a sense, but the angle and manner of his emergence would be far from a simple advance.

He paused for a moment, looking at the sky, recording what he saw.

Then took a single step forwards, and bent his legs, thrusting his right arm out behind him.  Focusing on his target, he leaped into the air.

The drone already had immensely powerful limbs, and even with its heavy body, a simple leap could propel it a good distance.  That, however, was not all it was doing.  Firing the plasma cannon had built up a large amount of heat in the drone's right arm, and now it unleashed its cooling mechanism, a surge of extremely hot and highly pressurized steam that sent the drone rocketing forwards at high speeds, straight towards the tree Johannes had picked out earlier.  As his metal body streaked forwards, the engineer brought its legs up, to kick out at the trunk at the precise moment of impact.

The drone would hit the tree like a wrecking ball, the sheer force of its arrival knocking it clean over.  This was no randomly chosen plant, however.  Johannes had moved into position such that this tree was directly between him and Thomas, and not particularly far away from the latter.  Now, as he crashed into it, it would slam down on the mage's position, like a massive fly swatter smacking its target against the earth.

If the mage found himself beneath the trunk, he would likely be crushed entirely.  Even if he managed to evade, however, there was still the far-reaching array of branches to contend with, covering a much wider area.  Getting caught under these was less likely to smash bones, but they still carried force sufficient to knock the man down and trap him beneath them.

The drone itself, meanwhile, would come down atop the trunk, arms up and ready to deal with any opposition it might encounter.