"Mm... seems it's a little too early to call this a failure! What do you think?" Klein said, holding his gun up and warily watching the three Hounds circling closer.
"Rat-tat-tat!" Lancelot fired a burst from his electromagnetic rifle, driving back a Hound that tried to approach. Then he bared his teeth and growled, "If I don't give this one last shot, I'll never rest in peace!"
"Commander, give me a target!" Gawain was more direct.
Spurred on by the enormous reward, the three men, who seemed trapped in a hopeless situation, stood back-to-back in a defensive formation and began drawing on their last reserves.
"Good! Gawain, I'll create an opening. Give it everything you've got and take one down! Lance, three o'clock, use the Corpse Explosion Tactic! Leave the last one to me, assuming I'm still alive by then!" Klein rapidly considered every usable factor on the battlefield and settled on a plan.
"Understood!" Gawain wasted no words. The former Olympic Shooting Champion narrowed his eyes slightly, concentrating fully as his Laser Cannon began to hum and charge.
"Leave it to me!" Lancelot bent his knees slightly, ready to spring into action.
Just then, as though sensing the change in their resolve, the three Hounds simultaneously charged at incredible speed from three directions.
"Move!" Klein shouted. The Jetpack on his back immediately kicked into maximum power, blasting out two long, straight, spiraling exhaust trails and launching him into the sky!
"Whoosh!" The Hound charging at Klein instantly stopped with effortless precision. Reaching behind itself, it drew its last bone spike, stepped forward, and leaned back. The muscles in its arm swelled, its entire body taut with explosive power.
"Twang!" With that familiar sound of a bowstring snapping, the bone spike became a blur, shooting straight toward Klein in midair!