The droid swinging Skopec released him after hitting Vreta. Not by design; it had just lost control of its arms. They continued to spin wildly around. 

Milliseconds after the Sergeant flew through the air, Masgard rose to his feet with the second droid’s discarded energy cannon. Cradling it in his arms, he charged the weapon to full power, aimed and fired.

vvvvVVVVBOOM

The corridor flashed, and the top half of the first droid disappeared. Its legs stumbled forward a step, before pitching over on the floor.

Masgard grinned, relieved. It didn’t last long though, and he fumbled to cool the gun’s energy core for another shot as Skopec crashed into Nirann from behind.

Somehow, the Institute Sergeant managed to push free of the fire door that had been integrated with his armour since the fight began. This slab of metal whacked the Rothian AI on the back at high speed, and the armoured man fell shorter, impacting the base of Nirann’s tail.

The droid on the other side of Nirann didn’t stop charging forward. The energy sword sawed the arm holding the girder clean off; it clanged to the floor. But with Nirann pushed forward from behind the droid used its side to keep the blade’s edge away from puncturing its chest - merely singeing its frame. It took a side step before lunging forward, grabbing Nirann around the neck and pulled him savagely into the stairwell area.

Using its opponent’s momentum, the droid pushed Nirann down towards the other legless machine on the floor.

This one knew that without a knee joint, it was no use in a conventional fight. So it had immediately begun priming its emergency self-destruct charge. The module was embedded in its chest and had been designed for activation either by a human standing in front of the droid, or remotely. So it had taken a couple of seconds to prepare, but the charge now flashed red. A prerecorded message blared for workers to stand back, as Nirann’s head was plunged toward it.