Almost at the same moment, an unexpected turn of events unfolded in the battle atop the ancient ship.
The "all-purpose entertainment androids," whose combat intelligence was absurdly advanced, must have realized their abilities had been weakened. They had also noticed the knights forming ranks, so they simply halted their charge once again.
They lowered one arm to the ground. The unknown fluid material that made up their bodies poured down like a waterfall, then swelled upright into a sturdy wall of shields. Thus, each of the four androids turned one arm into a wall and joined the fingers of the other to form a cannon barrel, advancing into the knights' hail of bullets.
They hid their heads and upper bodies behind the fluid-metal shields, exposing only their energy cannons through gaps in the walls to fire a few shots. It really did have the flavor of some black dude's divine shooting skills.
The problem was that they were androids, and they could aim with any part of their bodies. Their energy beams weren't fast—not nearly as fast as the machine-gun barrages from the fire-support platforms and the knights—but they were extremely accurate. Every shot targeted the weakest point in a robot's or a Knight's armor, and they hit hard, too.
As a result, every shot from the androids forced the knights to block with their active shields, placing an even greater strain on their stamina and mental strength.
And so, the four androids and the twenty Starrealm Knights, along with three fire-support robots, traded fire at a stalemate for a while... No, calling it a draw wasn't quite right. Neither side had suffered casualties yet, but the androids kept advancing while the knights kept retreating.
How did that saying go? Battle reports could lie, and even casualty figures could lie,