Groundhog Day 2099

...Or, "Choices"
“…as the thick acrid smoke filled the small cabin. The red flares of system failure indicators winked on and off seemingly at random amidst the arcing relays in the control panel, at least 90% of the systems were down and more were failing. He paid no attention to the burns on his face and body as he struggled to see what systems he could bring back on line, ignoring the pain and the choking smoke, he worked furiously, rewiring, rerouting and cross patching circuit after circuit, module after module. He did not hear it approach, but felt the vibrations of its ponderous foot steps grow in intensity as he continued to work, hoping against hope to make enough repairs to give him a chance, any chance. He did not need to see the “Power Systems” indicator light go from flashing red to steady amber, he heard the whine of the fusion reactor go on line as it fed power to the other systems. He checked the status board: Weapons: 35% on line in 30 seconds… Servos: 60% on line… Life support: off line… Sensors: 60% on line in 10 seconds.
The vibrations had stopped. As the sensors came online, his forward view screen cleared just in time to show the huge armored fist as it crashed through the front screen and showering him with glass and metal, crunching into his face and compressing his rib cage until they cracked and pierced the skin, the fist crushing him to a red bloody mass against the rear of the cabin.

A disturbance, a tear and a twist in the nexus of the space time continuum, a warping of the here and the now. A spasm in time...

“…as the thick acrid smoke filled the small cabin. The red flares of system failure indicators winked on and off seemingly at random amidst the arcing relays in the control panel, at least 90% of the systems were down and more were failing. He paid no attention to the burns on his face and body as he struggled to see what systems he could bring back on line, ignoring the pain and the choking smoke, he worked furiously, rewiring, rerouting and cross patching circuit after circuit, module after module. He did not hear it approach, but felt the vibrations of its ponderous foot steps grow in intensity as he continued to work, hoping against hope to make enough repairs to give him a chance, any chance. He did not need to see the “Power Systems” indicator light go from flashing red to steady amber, he heard the whine of the fusion reactor go on line as it fed power to the other systems. He had a strange sense of déjà vu; it was fleeting, but something about it… He suddenly began to shut down all of the other systems; Weapons, Life support, Servos and set about overriding all safeties as he brought the fusion reactor to maximum output.
The vibrations had stopped. His forward view screen cleared just in time to show the huge armored fist about to crash into the cockpit and he smiled as he disengaged the final safety. Just as the fist made contact with the forward screen a small sun was born, enveloping and vaporizing both he and his enemy.

A disturbance, a tear and a twist in the nexus of the space time continuum, a warping of the here and the now. A spasm in time...

“…as the thick acrid smoke filled the small cabin. The red flares of system failure indicators winked on and off seemingly at random amidst the arcing relays in the control panel, at least 90% of the systems were down and more were failing. He paid no attention to the burns on his face and body as he struggled to see what systems he could bring back on line, ignoring the pain and the choking smoke, he worked furiously, rewiring, rerouting and cross patching circuit after circuit, module after module. He did not hear it approach, but felt the vibrations of its ponderous foot steps grow in intensity as he continued to work, hoping against hope to make enough repairs to give him a chance, any chance. He did not need to see the “Power Systems” indicator light go from flashing red to steady amber, he heard the whine of the fusion reactor go on line as it fed power to the other systems. He had a strange sense of déjà vu; it was strong, almost overpowering… He suddenly began to shut down all of the other systems; Weapons, Life support, all except the servos and set about programming a servo subroutine.
The vibrations had stopped. His forward view screen cleared just in time to show the huge armored fist about to crash into the now empty cockpit. As it did his machine lurched forward and put a death grip on his enemy as he escaped unnoticed from the rear hatch and dropped to the ground. As the enemy tried to disengage it self from the dying hulk that held it fast, he began to scale its back, as an unprotected man he could reach areas unreachable to another clad in armor, the relatively delicate power feeds at the nape of the other’s armor were easy for him to either destroy or reroute. He held on for his life as the other began to shake and smoke as system after system either shut down or shorted out.

When it was over, only he remained.