二十七.“影阳大战猛男上校”(上)
不得不说，这种能把满状态捡漏收对方残血人头的剧情硬生生编成凭自己的本事打赢了对手的说书技巧，确实令人大开眼界。
以下是这篇说书中“省略”的一些细节：
由于低估了戴尔普3号的防御能力，影阳的旗舰在进入底层轨道的时候猝不及防，被地表的反舰激光列阵集火，这导致她在紧急降落的过程中被撞得头破血流，一度失去知觉。鉴于她的伤势，负责管理救生舱的AI甚至一度拒绝了指挥官开舱的命令，不让影阳外出。
“无法完成指令程序。鉴于当地的野生动物和你所遭受的伤势，外部的环境具有潜在的危险性。在这种状况下让你外出是一种不负责任的行为。”
‘Unable to complete the requested function. The environment outside is potentially dangerous, given the nature of the local wildlife and the injuries you have sustained. It would be irresponsible to release you in such circumstances.’
然后在接下来的遭遇战中，为了替部下引开敌方的重火力，影阳的XV22战斗服的力场护盾在抵挡了数波自动加农炮（1）和克拉克导弹（2）的齐射之后，终于被一发在至近距离内爆炸的导弹给炸开了（3）。
（1）她正在受到攻击。另一群步行机器从她的右侧现身了。只见它们大步流星地从同伴的尸体上跨了过去。影阳转过身来朝它们怒目而视，它们的脱壳穿甲弹和加农炮弹除了毫无作用地在她周围爆炸之外什么都办不到。
She was under fire now. Another group of walking machines had appeared to her right. They strode forwards across the corpses of their fellows. Shadowsun turned to glare at them, as their sabots and cannon rounds did nothing but burst harmlessly around her.
（2）正当影阳倾身下落之际，她被一枚穿甲导弹打中了，弹片如同雨点一般击打着她。再一次，她的护盾撑住了。
As Shadowsun descended, she was peppered with shrapnel and struck full on by an armour-piercing missile. Again, her shields held firm.
（3）其中一台（哨兵机甲）的驾驶舱惨遭开膛，但是由其携带的导弹舱躲过了她的袭击。它快速旋转着朝她开了火。由于爆炸是如此之近，因此她的护盾被它的的导弹给炸开了，那台步行机甲摇摇晃晃地向后退去。
One of them was gutted through the cockpit, but the one bearing the missile pod evaded her attack. As it spun, it fired into her. The blast was so close that as its missile detonated off her shields, the walker rocked backwards.
PS：不过影阳的护盾发生器并没有就此报废，她的战斗服上还剩下最后一个护盾投射器，在后来与当地“野生动物”的亲密接触过程中，这个仅剩的护盾发生器救了她一命。
紧接着，一时失去能量护盾的影阳被数十名IG的激光枪集火，结结实实地洗了一顿激光浴。
他们的齐射汇成了一道红色的光潮。那道红潮冲洗着指挥官和她的机蜂，将他们的身影从人们的视线中夺走了。
Their fusillade was like a wave of red light. It washed over the commander and her drones, obscuring them from sight.
影阳的装甲低吟着，它试图尽其所能地将那些热能反射开去。她的目镜变成了一幅布满中弹警告和系统损毁提示的拼贴画。她机蜂的标识就此消失。在面甲碎裂内陷前的那一刻，影阳闭眼转首，碎片在她的脸上切出了一道道血痕。热量从关节和躯干周围的装甲那里渗了进来。她的左膝不由自主地弯了下去。她闻到了自己皮肤烧焦的味道。
Shadowsun’s armour glowed as it tried to redirect what thermal energy it could. The interior of her visor became a collage of warnings and schematics informing her just where she was being hit and what systems were being damaged or destroyed. Her drone icons vanished. She closed her eyes and turned her face a fraction of a second before her face plate shattered inwards. Her face was slashed repeatedly. Heat leaked through the plating around her joints and torso. Her left knee buckled against her will. She could smell her skin burning.
不过尽管再度受伤，但影阳还是捱了过来。
她的目镜上有一个破烂的、中空的弹孔。整整一打的提示和警告在她战斗服的领环上闪烁着。战斗服的里面全是烟尘，她能够尝到自己的鲜血。但是她依旧活着。
Her visor was a ragged, empty hole. Her suit collar flashed a dozen telltales and alarms. Smoke was filling the suit’s interior, and she could taste her own blood. But she was still alive.
接着，为了替俘虏挡枪，影阳还捱了不少瓦尔基里的散射激光。然而和之后发生在位于泪之湖（Lake of Tears）湖畔附近沼泽地里的遭遇战的相比，这些都是小意思了——因为戴尔普三号上的原生生物非常的不一般*。
*尽管戴尔普三号不是一个死亡世界，但是它依然有其危险之处。
Diepr-3 was no death world, but it still possessed its share of dangers.
首先，在队伍前方侦察的影阳被一群突然出现的波维德（bovid）撞倒，然后享受了一番由成百上千头该种巨型鹿状生物提供的、威力堪比星际战士爆矢弹*的踩背按摩。
当它们从其身边疾奔而过时，影阳被它们蹭了好几下，每一下都撞得她晕头转向。这时，其中一头生物盲目地朝她全速冲来。她的战斗服上还剩下最后一个护盾投射器，随着一道蓝色的闪光，投射器对这记突如其来的冲击作出了反应。那头生物被弹飞了，影阳则正脸部朝下地倒在了泥沼里。在她前面一臂之遥的地方，另一头同样的生物正在泥沼中绝望的挣扎着。正当它嘶鸣着想要挣扎起身之际，它的同伴毫不在意地将其踏成了一块又一块地红肉和碎骨。接着，它们就像之前向她突然袭来的那样离去了，只留下沿途那被它们踩得一片狼藉的沼泽。
Shadowsun was grazed several times by their passing, each blow dizzily spinning her around. Then, one of the creatures ran blindly into her at full speed. Her battlesuit possessed one final shield projector, and there was a blue flash as it reacted to the sudden impact. The creature spun away. Shadowsun landed face-down in the mire. An arm’s length from her, another of the creatures became hopelessly mired. As it brayed and struggled to get back up, its fellows paid it no heed whatsoever and trampled it into bits of red meat and broken bone. Then, as suddenly as they had come upon her, they were gone, crashing their way through the swamp with terrified abandon.
泥浆冰冷地贴在她的脸上，影阳竭尽全力，为的仅仅是不要在卧身所在的地上昏睡过去。由于那些生物的践踏，战斗服的装甲板被踩得扎入了她的血肉之中，影阳的手臂和后背上满是伤痕。
The mud felt cool against her face, and Shadowsun had to fight the urge to simply fall asleep where she lay. Her arms and back were bruised where the stampeding creatures had slammed the plates of the battlesuit into her flesh.
*即便是为了批量生产而在XV22的基础上进行大量简化的XV25，其装甲也可以弹开由星际战士连长科'萨罗可汗射出的爆矢弹（1）；而在之前的战斗中，影阳的战斗服连瓦尔基里的散射激光（2）都能挡住。这群动物能将XV22踩得凹陷内突，刺入皮肉，足见它们的蹄力之强。
（1）The warrior turned his armoured shoulder to deflect the volley and shot blind with his bolt pistol once, then twice. The first of the bolts ricocheted from Drai’s armoured mantle.
（2）Lasers pounded into her back, but the armour held firm.
之后夏司'拉.萨布'若*询问影阳伤势如何，本想实话实说的影阳想起自己身为指挥官有着鼓舞士气的职责，于是她撒谎了：
“指挥官，您还好吗？”
‘Commander, are you all right?’
她仔细地环顾周围，以确认其他人没有受到重伤。火焰战士们相互扶持着从泥地里站起身来。她想告诉萨布'鲁她糟的很，因为实际上她觉得自己仿佛已经快要碎了。但是身为指挥官，她有鼓舞并维护部下士气的义务，因此，为了上上善道，她撒谎了。
She surveyed the scene to make certain that no one else had been seriously hurt. Fire warriors were helping each other up from out of the mud. She wanted to tell him no, that in fact she felt as if she were falling apart. But it was a commander’s duty to elevate and maintain the morale of those under her, and so for the Greater Good, she lied.
“我好得不能再好。”她对他如此说道。
‘Never better,’ she told him.’
*他的全名叫Shas'la Fal'shia Sabu’ro，即来自家门世界法尔'施亚的夏司'拉.萨布'若，在故事的最后，他被晋升为夏司'钨。
然而，还没等她站稳，一头乌萨洛斯（Ursaloth）*和大批的沼泽潜伏者（Fen skulk）**几乎同时向他们发起了突袭。
*Ursaloth，一种四足行走、体型比坦克还要大（从上下文得描述来看应该要比克鲁特人的巨型卡纳洛克兽还要大得多）的巨兽，它的外皮可以折射或是吸收脉冲步枪的等离子弹矢，一爪便能将数人的脑袋劈成两半，刚刚才被成百上千头波维德撞得七零八落、还没回过神来的影阳一行被这头突然袭来的猛兽杀死了好几名火战士。
**Fen skulks，一种满是粘液、身躯像蛇、长有利爪、个头有XV22的两倍大的掠食性动物，它们是沼泽低地中最可怕的生物（The boggy lowlands in particular were a haven for several carnivorous life forms, with the fen skulks being some of the worst. ），在遭受了波维德的踩踏冲击和乌萨洛斯的突袭后，各自为战的火战士根本无法组成有效的阵型对付这一大群突然从脚下破泥而出的、速度快得连等离子弹矢都能避开的怪物。
经此一役后，影阳一行只剩下2.5个人*得以脱身。
*夏司'拉.萨布'鲁的右臂自手肘以下被沼泽潜伏者撕掉了，再加上之前所受的战伤，已是半死不活，所以只能算半个人。
PS:关于乌萨罗斯和沼泽潜伏者的下场
沼泽潜伏者：影阳在脱险后发下重誓，等拿下这颗星球要做的第一件事就是让土氏的工程师抽干那片肮脏的沼泽并将那些蛇形生物赶尽杀绝。
乌萨罗斯：在霍利特（Hollett）解释之下，影阳得知这种生物并不是什么嗜杀的怪兽，之所以会袭击他们是因为受到了由法尔肯斯上校（Colonel Falkens）燃放的山火的惊吓，所以她打消了原先将其消灭的念头，转而决定将它送进动物园精心照料。
接着这些生还者径直走进了熊熊燃烧的森林大火之中(1)，马不停蹄地向着目的地赶去，等他们走出燃烧的森林，来到通往通讯列阵所在的吊桥附近时，他们三人已经累垮(2)了。
(1)影阳战斗服上的最后一个护盾投射器依旧可以勉强运作，产生的力场可以隔绝森林大火；火战士的战斗铠甲内置自动调温功能，寻常的山火对他们毫无影响；霍利特的身上装有星界军校官级别的单兵护盾发生器，也可以隔开火焰。
(2)当他们最终抵达一片没有森林、无物可烧、遍布岩石空地时，他们三个都累的趴了下来。
When they at last came to a strip of rocky, open ground where there was no forest and nothing to burn, the three of them collapsed.
就这样，已经是强弩之末、浑身受创、装备大破而且累到“collapsed”的影阳在通过吊桥时再次遇到了神完气足、以逸待劳的法尔肯斯上校，并在一番搏斗之后败在了对方的剑下。
以上就是为什么影阳会败给“猛男少校”的原因。
当然，这些关于欧'夏瑟拉为什么会败落的原因，说书只字未提。
关于“影阳的战斗力”……
影阳的战斗力…如果法尔肯斯上校遇到的状态与他一样处于完好状态的影阳，那这场决斗结果会如何呢？
I.在和法尔肯斯交手的数天之前，也就是在影阳的战斗服依旧相对“完好”、她的身体也处在一个虽然受伤但还没有“collapsed”的状态时，她曾经与霍利特少校的部队进行过战斗，从她和帝国卫队进行肉搏时的表现来看，这位猛男上校的下场会相当的堪忧…
有一小批人在他们的阵地上坚守了一那么小会儿，接着影阳纵身跃到了他们之中。她用她的热熔枪把其中的两人变成了燃烧的余烬，然后在落地的瞬间将她的双蹄踏入了另一个人的胸膛。她能感觉到从她脚踝上传来的、那个人类胸腔碎裂下陷的回响声。
For a moment, the handful who remained actually stood their ground, but then Shadowsun was bounding into their midst. She turned two of them into glowing embers with her fusion guns. She planted both her hooves into the chest of another as she landed. She could feel the reverberations in her ankles as the man’s ribcage snapped and caved in.
在他们战友那冒烟的尸堆中只剩下两个活人了。他们试图用利刃和刺刀向她发起攻击，但是它们起不到任何作用。影阳挥过她的热熔爆能枪，将其平直的侧缘砸到了其中一个人的脸上。随着一声碎骨裂骼的声响，一股血沫从那个人类的鼻子中射了出来。他重重地倒在了地上，就此死去。那个最后的幸存者试图再度刺她，然而之见他的匕首从她战斗服的表面滑了开去。影阳转身一个膝顶，将她那受到机械强化肢体击入了他的胸廓之中。胸膛凹陷的他倒在了死者之中，就此被丢弃、遗忘。
There were only two of them left now amidst the steaming corpses of their comrades. They tried to attack her using knives and bayonets, but the blades could find no purchase. She spun and struck one of them across the face with the flat edge of a fusion blaster. With the sound of breaking bones, a gush of bloody foam shot out of the human’s nose. He dropped heavily to the ground and died. The lone survivor tried once again to stab her, only to see his knife skitter over the surface of her battlesuit. Shadowsun whirled and drove a robotically augmented knee into his ribcage. His chest caved in and he fell among the dead, discarded and forgotten.
而在和法尔肯斯的决斗中，尽管影阳已是强弩之末，但依然在一个回合之内就在那位上校的胸口补上了一记膝顶，从之前这段描述来看，如果当时的欧'夏瑟拉不是伤痕累累、已经“collapsed”的话，那么这位猛男凹陷下去的可不仅仅只是胸口的护甲了。
II.而从其它小说中影阳所表现出来的近战格斗能力来看，遇到状态正常而非强弩之末的欧'夏瑟拉，法尔肯斯的下场会更加悲惨。
A.影阳的反应之快可以在半空中把星际战士扔过来的手雷踢回给投掷者。
可汗从他的腰带上拽下了一枚克拉克手雷，然后用尽气力朝着异形指挥官的后背扔了过去。但是她看到了掷来的手雷，只见她在半空中回身转躯，在面对她的猎物之前用趾尖还以了一记完美的踢击。科'萨罗不得不伏身下蹲以躲避疾速飞来的手雷，随着一声震耳欲聋的巨响和一阵芬瑟林*的臭味，那颗手雷在犀牛运兵车的顶部炸了开来
The khan plucked a krak grenade from his belt and flung it as hard as he could towards the xenos commander’s back. Somehow she saw it coming, and she twisted in mid-air, connectinga perfect toe-punt before turning back to her prey. Kor’sarro was forced to duck as the krak grenade came in hard, detonating against the Rhino’s roof with a deafening bang and a stink of fyceline.
*芬瑟林：fyceline，是人类帝国的一种高爆炸性物质，一般用于制造各种炸/炮弹，黎曼鲁斯R4型炮弹中就有这种材料。
B.影阳在近战中不仅可以躲避星际战士的突袭，而且还可以在兔起鹘落之间发起反击，将白疤的掷矛手从飞驰的突击摩托上踢飞，并利用对方的长矛将其重创。
眨眼之间，一场矢量打击从天而降，在她的盾蜂和两名贴身危机战斗服的环簇之下，影阳疾飞猛进。当他们接近时，一名紧挨着那个怒吼着的战争领袖的鸠'荣'刹站到了他的骑鞍上，然后将一柄长长的，矛状的武器向她掷了过来。她的头盔内闪烁着红色的告示光，哔哩哔哩地的警示音随之响起。她扭了一下胯部，将喷气背包的航向调向了左侧，绕过了那柄长矛，如此一来她的盾蜂就无需用球状的防御力场去截停它了。欧伊'努发来了一个小小的感谢标志，它的储备条依旧是健康的铜色。
Eye-flicking a top-down vector of attack, Shadowsun boosted in close, bracketed by her shield drones and the two closest Crisis battlesuits. As they approached, a gue’ron’sha riding next to the bellowing war-leader stood in his saddle and flung a long, spear-like weapon right at her. Warning lights flickered red inside her helmet, bip-bip-bipping in rising alarm. She twisted her hips to steer her jetpack’s course left, curving around the spear’s path so her shield drones did not have to intercept it with their spheres of protective force. Oe-nu transmitted a tiny thanks-symbol, his reservoir band still a healthy copper hue.
那名掷矛手调转了他的攻击摩托，影阳的传感器将他的预行路径和那柄武器的弧状下落轨迹联系了起来。在提前预测了他的行迹路线之后，她飒然下落，在跃身而过的时候踢中了对方的后脑，将他踹得撞进了一座页岩丘里。那柄长矛飕的一声落了下来，刺穿了它主人得肩膀，将他钉在了地上。
The spear-thrower carved his bike around, and her sensor suite linked the rider’s projected route with the trajectory of his arcing weapon. Anticipating his course, she dropped suddenly and kicked him in the back of the head as he drove past, sending him careening into a shale-dune. The spear thudded down, impaling its owner’s shoulder and pinning him to the ground.
看到这一幕，影阳得嘴角向上扭曲了起来。待此处尘埃落定之后，她很乐意将这一幕再度重演。
The corners of her mouth twitched upward at the sight. She would enjoy replaying that moment once this was over.
C.虽然影阳擅长的武器是匕首，但是身着战斗服的她还是可以在一对一的对决中用热熔爆能枪将星际战士缴械。
哲别很快就调整好了架势，他向前疾冲。影阳向一边滑去，本能地想要躲开那根本就不会袭来的斩击。相反地，哲别一剑向她捅了过去，他的剑尖一遍又一遍地刺击着她的盔甲，在之前未曾触及到盔甲表面刻出了深深的痕迹。他的每一击都让影阳踉跄不已，但她没有就此倒下。她把热熔爆能枪砸在了一起，将哲别的长剑夹在了中间。接着她猛地将哲别往前一拉，然后用穿着装甲的脚掌一脚踢中了冠军勇士的躯体。哲别失去了他的武器，踉跄着向后退去。
Jebe recovered quickly enough, and shot forward. Shadowsun slid away, instinctively avoiding a slash that never came. Instead, Jebe stabbed at her. The point of his blade struck her armour again a Jebe staggered back, without his weapon.nd again, carving deep ruts in the previously untouched surface. Shadowsun staggered with every blow, but she didn’t fall. Her fusion blasters slammed together, pinning Jebe’s blade between them. Shadowsun jerked him forward, and smashed an armoured boot into the champion’s midsection.
D.影阳能够飞身跃到星际战士的雷鹰炮艇上，用热熔爆能枪为它的机翼做切除手术，然后还可以和赶来阻止的科'萨洛可汗一起在疾驰的雷鹰炮艇外部进行贴身肉搏。
她的战斗服刚一和雷鹰炮艇同速，影阳就将双脚踏在了主翼最为宽阔的地方，她眨了下眼睛，用电磁力场将自己稳稳地锁在了上面。狂风撕扯着她的装甲，在那令人头晕目眩的高速中，化成了一片片幻影的巢城尖塔从她面前一闪而过。正如影阳心知肚明的那样，她的战斗服足以胜任，可以将她固定在那里。
Once her suit had synched its speed with the gunships, she touched down with both feet on the broadest part of its primary wing and blink-pushed the electrofields that would lock her steady. Maniac winds wrenched at her armour as the hive’s spires blurred past at dizzying speed. As she had known it would be, her battlesuit was up to the task, and held her in place.
对于呆在控制茧舱里的战斗服操作员而言，如果他们将感知到的危险当作是一种学术上的、可以移除的情绪的话，那他们就会一直处于危险之中。只要在这里踏错一步，影阳提醒着自己，那么她就会在空中被雷鹰那狂暴的转矩撕成两半。
It was a constant danger to the battlesuit pilot that within their control cocoon they felt danger only as a removed, academic emotion. One wrong step up here, Shadowsun reminded herself, and she could be twisted in half by the torque of the Thunderhawk’s aerial rampage.
“截击阶段完毕。”她向德雷发了一条信息，然后举起了那对致命的热熔爆能枪，对准了这架巨型航空器的机翼中段。
‘Intercept phase complete,’ she blipped to Drai, aiming her deadly fusion blasters at the middle of the giant craft’s wing.
两道炙融白灼的光束疾射而出，它们凿穿了机翼的表面，沿着它的翼展留下了一道一指宽的沟槽。影阳难以置信地朝着记录仪眨了一下眼睛。她检查了她的武器出率；它们的充能状态几乎是满的。热熔爆能枪是设计用来切穿舱壁的。它们本来应该干净利落地将机翼切掉的。
Twin beams of molten white light blazed out, scoring through the skin of the wing and leaving a finger-wide furrow across its length. Shadowsun blink-pushed a memogram in disbelief. She checked her gun readouts; they were still practically at full charge. Fusion blasters were designed to cut through bulkheads. They should have taken the wing clean off.
雷鹰炮艇机艏的的一扇侧板哗啦一声打开了，一个高大的，身着盔甲、如同野兽一般的人类冲了出来。
A side panel on the Thunderhawk’s prow clanged open, and a towering, armoured beast of a human burst out.
在那片刻之间，他给影阳留下了深刻的印象。
For a split second, Shadowsun was impressed.
那个身着华丽的白色盔甲的巨人就像敏捷的运动员一般爬上了炮艇前部的稳定翼。他屈身下蹲，然后一跃而起，整个人砸进了从炮艇机身外伸而出的副翼上，距她只有五步之远。即便透过她的战斗服，她也能觉察到对方外接动力甲的磁力夹将他的战靴固定在机身上时所发出的沉闷的砰击声，在周遭的狂暴之力将他撕扯下来之前，他被迅速地锁住了。她举起热熔爆能枪开火射击，但是那个鸠'戎'刹早已俯身下蹲，躲在了副翼的后方。
The giant in the ornate white armour had pulled himself up onto the frontal stabiliser fins with an athlete’s agility. He crouched, leapt, and smashed bodily into the secondary wings jutting from the gunship’s hull barely five paces from her. Even through her suit she felt the dull thud of his exosuit’s mag-clamps fastening his boots to the fuselage, locking him fast before the tumultuous forces that roared around them could tear him off. She raised her fusion blasters and fired, but the gue’ron’sha had already ducked behind the secondary wing.
那个人从另一边重重地冲了上来，一把古老的长剑在他的手中闪闪发光。当他接近时，他的磁力锁在机翼上砰砰作响。影阳以夸张的、梦境一般的缓速屈膝向左，瞄准了星际战士的上腹。她热熔爆能枪的方形枪管被一股突然袭来的湍流给拽了过去，致命的能量就此散了开来。
The figure came out the other side hard, an archaic sword glimmering in his double grip. His mag-clamps thudded on the wing as he closed the distance. With the exaggerated slowness of a dream, she knee-folded to the left and aimed into the Space Marine’s midsection. The square barrel of her fusion blaster was tugged by a sudden surge of turbulence, and the deadly energies went wide.
影阳调低了狂风的怒吼和炮艇引擎的咆哮，将所有的感官接收都调向了那向她袭来的人。当他高举利刃向前猛冲之时，她传感器上的自动翻译机接收到了这个人的战吼。
Shadowsun had already muted the raging wind and the craft’s screaming engines, every sense bent towards her attacker. Her sensor suite’s autotrans picked up the figure’s battle cry ashe barrelled forwards, blade raised.
"——为了伟大的可汗——去死吧，异形女巫——"
‘- - - FOR THE GREAT KHAN - - - DIE XENOS WITCH - - -’
一道耀眼的光芒划着弧线随着星际战士的那柄闪闪发光的长剑向下斩落，然而它只砍在了由欧伊-努投射在影阳身周的无形力场护盾之上。司令官趁机抬起她的右脚重重地踢了出去，她在电光火石之间已经将护甲的出力设至最大。她的踢击击中了那名星际战士的膝盖，她的电磁压挤毁掉了那条腿上的电磁锁。那个人类踉跄地摇晃着，蹒跚地用剩下的一条腿当作支点，然后单手举起了那把巨剑，以一记有力的斜劈砍了下来。鸠'荣'刹的动力剑和欧伊-努的球形护盾撞到了一起，大气在一团混乱的光线中噼啪作响。
There was a brilliant flash as the Space Marine’s glowing sword arced down, only to strike the invisible shield of force that Oe-nu was projecting around Shadowsun. Taking her chance,the commander lifted her right boot and kicked out hard, blink-setting its plates to maximum repulsion. Her kick struck the Space Marine in the knee just as her electromagnetic push broke that leg’s mag-clamp grip. Reeling, the human turned his one-legged stagger into a pivot, raised his great blade in one hand, and brought it down in a powerful diagonal slash. The air crackled in a confusion of light as the gue’ron’sha’s powered sword fought Oe-nu’s shields phere.
片刻之后，从雷鹰的稳定翼下方的重型爆矢枪中射出了一连串的大质量反应弹。那些爆矢弹砸进了影阳的身侧，然后带着强大的威能炸了开来，它们干净利落地将影阳从雷鹰的机翼上打了下来，她盘旋着，朝着位于下方的巢城落了下去。当她向着凹凸不平的塔尖骤降的时候，警报指示器照亮了影阳的核心系统，在她的损管中心界面上，有一打的临界读数在向她示警。痛苦和不请自来的窃笑声牢牢地抓住了她。
A split second later a volley of mass-reactive shells spat from the heavy bolters beneath the Thunderhawk’s stabiliser fins. The bolts slammed into Shadowsun’s side and detonated with violent force, blasting her clear from the Thunderhawk’s wing and sending her spiralling down towards the hive below. Alert signifiers blazed across Shadowsun’s coresystem as she plummeted towards the jagged spires, a dozen critical readings fighting for her attention on her damage control hub. Panic gripped her, panic and the unbidden sensation of whispery laughter.
E.影阳可以在星际战士无法察觉的情况下，当着科'萨罗的面用热熔爆能枪将风暴先知苏达贝蒸发掉。
灵能闪电将整台战斗服变成了红色，然后在一声雷鸣般的轰响中消散于无形，只留下一股臭氧的臭味。科'萨罗转身看向苏达贝。他穿过迷雾朝着他们走来，他的双眼依旧闪烁着血红色的光芒。
The psychic lightning intensified as the entire warsuit glowed red, disappearing with a thunderclap boom to leave nothing behind but the stink of ozone. Kor’sarro turned to look for Sudabeh. Sure enough he was striding through the mist towards them, his eyes still glowing the colour of fresh blood.
“风暴先知！你把他传送走了，兄弟！”他叫嚷着，“传送到哪里去了？”
‘Stormseer! You teleported it, brother!’ cried the khan in delight. ‘Where to?’
“我不知道。”苏达贝笑道。
‘I have no idea,’ laughed Sudabeh.
可汗眯起了双眼，以战士的礼仪举起了他的利刃。
The khan’s eyes creased as he raised his blade in a warrior’s salute.
然后苏达贝就在一阵爆炸之中变成了一滩炽热的血污。
Then Sudabeh burst apart in an explosion of superheated blood.
“心灵操控者已被清除。”影阳如此传令道，然后她起身长跃，从那名在丛林小径上拿着爆矢手枪朝她射击的战争领袖的身边向后跳了开去。
‘Mind-wielder neutralised,’ transmitted Shadowsun, launching backwards and away from the screaming war-leader that was firing his pistol at her from the jungle road.
PS:在最后与法尔肯斯进行对决之前，影阳的战斗服已经在之前的战斗中遭到大破，无法有效隐形，否则那个“剑圣”上校就只能对着空气舞剑了…
F.影阳机蜂的能量护盾可以抵挡星际战士冠军勇士的连续劈击直至过载或是能量耗尽，因此在力场护盾运作正常的情况下，法尔肯斯上校的攻击根本就不可能破防。
机蜂那闪闪发光的能量护盾在兔起鹘落之间将哲别的利剑弹开了五次，这让他愤怒地咆哮了起来。
Jebe snarled in fury as his sword rebounded off a drone’s shimmering shield for the fifth time in as many moments.
PS:在之前一系列的战斗中，影阳的那对由枪蜂临时改造而成的盾蜂都已被击毁；而她战斗服上的力场护盾投射器也被炸得只剩下了一个，所以它才会在与法尔肯斯对决时被对方的虚招所愚弄，这也是法尔肯斯为什么能够砍伤影阳的原因之一。
G.如果双方的近战武器是属于同一等级的话（火战士的团结之刃VS星际战士的单分子匕首），那么身着XV22的影阳可以在一对一的单挑中，与星际战士连长打得难分轩轾。
科'萨罗跳了开去，快得像猫一样。她开火了，他感到热流与他擦身而过，将他肩甲上红白相间的徽记擦了个干净，只剩下那光秃秃的、灰褐色的陶钢，他将她撞倒在地，用尽全身的重量将利剑往下剁了过去。她绝望的扭过身去，长剑与她擦身而过，那白色的盔甲就像纸张一般被撕了开来。他抓住了她的头盔，用利爪一般的手指挖了进去，他试图毁掉她的视觉传感器，为的是让她无法视物，从而好将其杀死。
Cat-quick, Kor’sarro leapt. She fired, and he felt heat brush past him, scouring his shoulderplate of its white and red markings, and leaving only the grey of bare ceramite as he crashed down on her, driving his sword down with all of his weight behind it. She twisted, desperate now, and the blade caressed her side, tearing through the white armour like paper. He grabbed for her helm, digging talon-like fingers into it, trying to destroy her optic sensors, to blind her for the kill.
一把利刃从她的手中飒然闪现，它看上去就像是把原始的匕首。它在他的脖子上吻了一下，划出了一条细细的血线。他们在地上扭成一团，她的双脚顶到了他的腹部，然后将他蹬了开去。月牙从他的手上飞脱而出，就此滑落在地。她把她剩下的那柄热熔爆能枪扔到了一边，让后将残破不堪的头盔从她的脑袋上扯了下来。头盔下飘出了一根颜色如同乔格里斯的日落一般猩红的发辫和一张蓝色的脸庞，那脸庞上有一双巨大而又黑黯的眼睛正在盯着他。尽管他们都是异形，但他还是认出了蕴藏在这双眼睛中的感情。“也许我们很像啊，”他如此说道，然后拔出了他的战斗匕首，“来吧，女猎手，来剥我的头皮吧。”
A blade, a primitive looking knife, flashed, suddenly appearing in her hand. It kissed his neck, drawing a thin weal of blood. They hit the ground in a tangle, and her feet caught him in the belly, propelling him away. He lost his grip on Moonfang and slid across the ground. She tossed aside her remaining blaster and tore her crushed and mangled helmet from her head. A topknot of hair as crimson as a Chogorian sunset unspooled and snapped out as a slate-blue face, with large, dark eyes glared at him. He recognised the look in those eyes, alien as they were. ‘Maybe we are alike,’ he said, drawing his combat knife. ‘Come then, huntress. Come and take my scalp.’
随着一声怒号，她持刃在手，朝他扑了过去。他们在大雪中不停的打转，彼此来回往复，相互劈砍挡格。影阳的利刃刺中了可汗的护臂，在女猎手外骨骼装甲的驱使之下，它深深地扎进了陶钢之中。而可汗的匕首在科'萨罗肌肉和动力甲的催谷下，在的影阳的盔甲上凿出了巨大的伤痕。他们飞快地旋转着，跳起了一曲致命的舞蹈，然后可汗大笑了起来，因为他乐在其中。
With a cry, she lunged for him, knife in hand. They reeled back and forth through the snow, blocking and slashing. Her blade bit into his vambraces, driven deep into the ceramite by thepowered exoskeleton of her armour. His own knife gouged great scars in her armour, driven as much by his own muscle as his power armour. They whirled about one another in a deadly dance, and he laughed deep and loud and long for the pleasure of it.
他们撞在了一起，彼此刀刃相交，可汗向影阳靠了过去，开怀大笑。在她的眼中，科萨罗看到的是和他共舞的喜悦之情。我们没有什么不同，影阳，我会在它处与你再度共舞的。你是一个值得挑战的对手，他如此想到。”你会驯服我们吗？“他如此说道，”真是可惜。风暴是无法被驯服的，群星之间的猎手也是无法被锁链所束缚的。此处唯有猎杀，以及死亡。职责，荣耀，帝国，无论何时，这些都不过是过眼云烟。“他如此说道。他们卯在了一起，彼此的头颅靠得是如此之近，可汗甚至能闻到她身上的汗水、看到倒映在她眼中的自己。“你知道的，我也一样，女猎手。你也感觉到它了，这就是你为什么注定会失败的原因。”可汗如此说道，他每说一字都会向她的中段捅上一刀。在她的目光中有一种难以形容的东西，也许决心，还略微带有一抹忧伤的色彩。欢愉之情就此退去。她迷失了自我，尽管只有短短的一瞬。能够令她如此让可汗感到一阵巨大的满足，尽管那仅仅只是短短片刻的自由。
They crashed together, blade to blade, and he leaned towards her, smiling widely. In her eyes he saw reflected the joy that he knew danced in his own. We are not so different,Shadowsun, and in other circumstances, I would dance with you again. You are a worthy challenge, he thought. ‘And you would tame us?’ he said, ‘for shame. There is no taming the storm and there is no chaining the hunters of the stars. There is only the hunt, and death. Duty, honour, empire, these are but shadows in this moment, in all moments,’ he said. They strained against one another, heads so close that he could smell her sweat, and see his face reflected in her eyes. ‘You know that, as well as I,huntress. You feel it as well, and that is why you are doomed to fail,’ he said, stabbing to the core of her with each word. There was something indefinable in her gaze – determination, perhaps, tinged with what might have been sadness. The joy had faded. She had lost herself, but only for a moment. He felt a surge of satisfaction that he had been able to give her that much, even if it had only been a single moment of freedom.
他们的匕首再度交摩撕擦。她渴望将他杀死，然后用她的利刃、用她的双手将他的心脏给挖出来。然而今天，那做不到的。她将他推得向后退了过去，她的装甲带着她从他身边飞快地离开。由于瞬间失去了平衡，可汗蹒跚了一下。影阳拿起热熔爆能枪然后转过身去，在科'萨罗靠近之前举枪对准了他。
Their knives grated against one another. She longed to kill him, to cut his heart out with her blade and her hands. But that was not the way of it, not today. She shoved him back and withdrew, her armour carrying her speedily away from him. He stumbled momentarily off balance. She scooped up her fusion blaster and spun, levelling it at him before he could reach her.
他感到一丝伤悲，既是对她，也是对己。她是一个狡猾的家伙，她被自身所无法察觉的锁链束缚着。总而言之，她理应痛快的死去，死的像一个战士一样。如不然，他就会死在这里，他的部下也会死去，而且他们都会死得毫无价值。
He felt a moment of sadness, both for her sake and his own. She was a cunning creature, locked in chains that she didn’t even see. She deserved a clean death, a warrior’s death, if nothing else. Instead, he would die here, and his men would die, and it would all be for nothing.
资料来源：
Apocalypse Anthology.《Damocles》.Phil Kelly.Guy Haley.Ben Counter.Josh Reynolds
由此可知，如果那位所谓的“猛男上校”遇到的是和他一样状态正常、装备完好，而不是已成强弩之末、累到“collapsed”的影阳，那么除非法尔肯斯和全副武装的星际战士精锐一样强大，否则他的下场就只能和霍利恩的手下一样，在瞬间变成一具“倒在尸堆里的、被遗忘的尸体”。
每日一思：
