[color=598527]ID: Ryan Harper
Location: Great Lake
Time: Error
Opponent ID: Riff[/color]

She mumbled a curse as the man disappeared over the edge, and as the machine quickly regained its stability she immediately stepped towards the delicate mist of the waterfall. It turned out to not be the smartest move. Riff had emerged just below, his rifle pointed directly where he expected her to appear. A small smirk passed his lips behind the visor when she did just that.

The bullet hit her before she had the time to even spot him. It was the work of a virtuoso. This time, coming from below, it had managed to bypass most of her layers of armour and shot a hole straight through to the cabin, grazing her underarm and causing something behind her to emit a shower of sparks over her bare shoulders. The usual scent of motor oil, metal and sweat was quickly overpowered by the sharp stench of burning rubber and melted wires. The air around her was starting to get heavy with smoke. She reeled back in her seat, heart suddenly racing, taking the controls with her. The Sentinel made a few frantic steps back before a second shot could follow and once again remained still. 

Its pilot was attempting to regain her composure, hands still clutching the controls with the grip of a drowning man to a stray branch. An alert she knew she had to immediately address beeped incessantly somewhere to her side and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Ryan sat there, paralysed, for a few seconds. The sudden sharp sting in her right arm snapped her out of her stupor. She swung back to assess the damage. Smoke billowed from the panel containing the wiring to the right-hand gun. Her eyes darted around the place for a rag that wasn‘t soaked in something flammable. She eventually pulled off her tank top and smacked at the smoldering rubber insulation a couple of times until it stopped smoking. Most of the wires were either severed or melted together. Ryan grabbed the entire bunch at the base and ripped it out. There was no time to fix the gun now, no point in risking any more short circuits.

She returned in position and breathed in for the first time in a while. Then coughed immediately after. That didn‘t matter now, she had to make her brain cooperate. He had the upper hand at this angle. If she went back to the edge she was a sitting duck. He was too quick for that. If she just sat here and waited for him he‘d have the advantage of planning his attack. Her thoughts ran so frantically she could barely form them before they got dismissed. It became clear to her that there was only one way to get to him without becoming an easy target.

The Sentinel hurled itself off the cliff, a single gatling gun ripping holes into the mirror-like surface of the lake. It was a magnificent view, in a way. There was something terrifying about the way the moonlight glinted off its hull as the massive machine plunged into the depths, a tidal wave spreading all around it. It engulfed Riff, sending him tumbling under the water. He‘d expected anything but this. Several bullets had hit their mark and he could feel water trickling into his suit faster and faster. It took him a moment to determine up and down and another to find the mass of bubbles indicating the mech‘s position. He swam up, intending to get to the shore and shoot from there. Ryan flicked a switch. A jolt of electricity ran through every single circuit in the android‘s body. For a while his own perception of self seemed to disappear into the current. Then it stopped. His body twitched strangely as he focused all of his being in trying to get to shore.
[s]N.oTH.ing-i S rI..gh-t
-en.tir-e bRA i n..
s cR-a Mb.l e
[/s]
He flopped onto the shore and stood up with some effort. Every move felt jerky, strange and imprecise. He couldn‘t shoot but he clutched the rifle in his shaky hands despite it. He couldn‘t think.

The Sentinel wasn‘t waterproof. It was insulated enough to give her some time but the cabin would flood in a matter of minutes. She had to get out of the water. All that surrounded her was the inky blackness at the bottom of the lake. She stepped forward, hoping her stunt had served its purpose.