Amy strode boldly forward, placing herself between Ryan and the hostile Enforcers.
"If you want him," the Juggernaut said, "you'll have to go through me first."
In response, a plasma beam exploded against her shield. Another followed before she could recover and brace herself. The metal heels of her boots scraped across the floor as she was pushed backwards by the successive impacts.
Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt, but a big, tank-looking thing covered in red and blue lights just parked across the street, Syd said worriedly. Now there's a bunch of dudes coming out of it. Um, was this part of the plan?
No, Ryan told her, that is definitely not part of the plan.
A third blast shook the surrounding shelves, knocking several over and sending an assortment of boxes and cans raining down onto them.
Did you take out the blue guy yet?
...we're working on it.
Amy had dropped to one knee, panting, but her shield arm was steady, and her eyes remained defiant.
"How unexpected." The overly-talkative Enforcer seemed to have finally taken notice of her presence. "I don't have any orders regarding you. Forward-Commander-Two needs to die, obviously, but if you'd prefer to join us instead...?"
"No."
"Pity." Smirking, the Savant placed a hand on the Blaster's armored shoulder. "Let's see if you can block this. Bolster!"
Blue light poured out from between the joints in the Savant's armor, beginning at the ankles and traveling rapidly up his body. When it reached his outstretched arm, the glow spread from his fingers to the Enforcer he was touching, tracing out intricate, circuit-like patterns across the Blaster's chest and limbs.
Ryan ran the numbers in his head, compared them to what he saw on the team status display, and didn't like the answer he came up with.
You won't be able to stop it with your shield, Ryan warned Amy. Get ready to dodge.
I'll try, she replied, although she didn't sound very optimistic about the prospect.
She threw herself to the side in an inelegant tumble as the Blaster opened fire. The white-hot plasma beam sliced through the empty space that Amy's chest had just vacated, then gouged a smoking furrow into the floor beside her.
"Bolster!"
Mercilessly adjusting his aim, the Blaster fired again. Amy, still prone, had no chance to evade. At the last instant, she was able to roll onto her side, placing her shield between her and the empowered attack. The disc of energy flared brighter under the onslaught, wavered briefly, then finally blew apart in a shower of golden sparks.
Her status bar, already on the low end of yellow, dropped deep into the red as she was thrown backwards by the concussion to slam against the wall. Dust sifting down from the rafters met the steam rising from the Juggernaut's armored body.
"Amy!"
All of Ryan's training told him that he should remain in cover. It had been emphasized, over and over, that his own safety as a Forward-Commander was paramount. Without a Changer of his own, they told him, there was nothing he could do to help.
Even when he'd been pretending to serve the Zorvax, though, he was never able to accept that mentality.
Before he could reconsider, Ryan darted out into the open, changing direction at random intervals to throw off the enemy's aim. He dropped to one knee just long enough to pick Amy up in his arms, a task made considerably easier since she'd returned to her original human form, and then he was off again.
He got away with it.
Barely.
If the hostile Enforcer team had been even a little quicker on the uptake, well...
A stack of metal storage crates wouldn't offer much protection against high-energy plasma fire, but he decided that it was better than nothing. Sliding in behind them, Ryan lowered his burden as carefully as he could and looked her over.
Fortunately, her suit seemed to have worked as designed, protecting its user by absorbing the brunt of the damage she'd taken. She was naked, and she'd be tired and sore for a while, but otherwise the blonde woman seemed none the worse for wear.
"Sorry," Amy mumbled, trying to sit up. "I tried."
He gently pushed her back down.
"Take it easy," Ryan told her. "There's nothing to apologize for. You were great."
"Didn't I still have some time left?"
"If you take too much damage, the Changer will overload and revert you early."
She closed her eyes.
"That's not fair."
"It's a safety feature. Keeps them from exploding."
"Oh. I guess that's good, then."
Giving her a last pat on the shoulder, Ryan stood and looked around.
"Come now, Forward-Commander-Two." The Savant's taunting voice echoed down the aisles, accompanied by the rhythmic clanking of his unhurried stride. "You're surrounded and trapped. Your team is beaten. How much longer do you intend to drag this little charade out?"
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
From the Enforcer's perspective, what he'd said was entirely correct. The outcome seemed inevitable. By running and hiding, Ryan was just wasting everybody's time.
There was, however, one piece of information he lacked, something Ryan knew that he didn't.
His team hadn't been beaten yet.
Syd's hazy figure emerged from the shadows lining the storeroom's sides. Living up to the name of her class, the Assassin slid smoothly into the unsuspecting Savant's blind spot. She raised a length of pipe that must have been acquired somewhere inside the building, and then, without hesitation, slammed it into the back of her target's head.
Assassin... Strike!
Did she broadcast the nonsensical war cry on purpose, or had he just been given an inadvertent glimpse of her inner monologue? It was anyone's guess.
Whether by design or by luck, the reckless baseball-bat swing struck the Enforcer in the gap between his suit's helmet and chestplate, dropping him like a ton of bricks.
"HA!" Syd gloated, fading back into view as her Prowler Mode Ability disengaged. "How do you like that, asshole?"
A long moment passed before she realized that another hostile was still in the room with them.
To get this far, Syd had demonstrated a remarkable degree of natural talent, but the enemy Blaster had combat training. Unlike Syd, he didn't stop to gawk at the sudden, unexpected appearance of a new threat.
Enforcers weren't supposed to ask questions. Ryan understood that all too well. They didn't stop to think. When confronted by a threat, they followed their training and neutralized it.
Ryan considered and discarded a dozen different tactical options, rapidly narrowing them down to a single possibility. It wasn't a good choice, but he was severely lacking in alternatives. He'd have a few seconds, at best, to cross the thirty feet of open ground that separated him from the enemy.
Everything seemed to slow down as he charged.
A cold halo formed around the Blaster's raised fist as his Ability engaged. Backlit by the glow, the hard-edged angles and sharp planes of his armor glinted ominously.
The plasma bolt coalesced, starting as a dazzlingly-bright pinpoint of light and growing rapidly. In the span of a single heartbeat it had increased in size from a pebble to larger than a globe.
He could see the impending attack reflected in the polished visor of Syd's helmet. Behind the transparent green plate, her brown eyes widened in fear, then squeezed shut.
Ryan slammed his full weight into the Enforcer's side, sending them both crashing to the floor in a tangled heap. The attack discharged with a droning hum as they fell, missing its intended target by a scant few inches and instead wasting its energy harmlessly against the ceiling.
Half-stunned by the impact and hard landing, they rolled on the ground, their hands frantically scrabbling against one another for purchase. Twisting out of his opponent's grasp, Ryan succeeded in slipping a forearm under the pointed chin of the Zorvax trooper's helmet. Pulling sharply up and back, he locked in the chokehold.
One of the Enforcer's arms came up, sightlessly fumbling for an angle to fire over his shoulder. Grabbing it by the wrist with his free hand, Ryan twisted it to the side, keeping the dangerous end aimed safely away from him. The Blaster's heels drummed against the cement as he clumsily struggled to escape the headlock.
If it was another human he was wrestling with, the fight would already have been decided. Against an opponent in War-Form, though...
The longer the struggle went on, the more the raw strength advantage that the enemy's suit provided began to tell. There was no superior technique, no clever use of position or leverage, that could overcome the difference in power between them for long. Finally, the trapped forearm wrenched out of Ryan's grip. A brilliant flash filled his peripheral vision, and then searing-hot plasma ripped into his side.
From his shoulder to his hip, it felt like every last one of his nerve endings had been set on fire.
Biting back a scream, he elbowed the Enforcer in the side of the helmet, following it up with a knee between the legs that rebounded off his armored groin. Neither strike seemed to have much effect.
A gunshot cracked into the pavement beside Ryan's head. In the enclosed space, the report was startlingly loud.
"All of you, hands up, now!"
Careful to avoid any sudden movements, Ryan disentangled himself from the Blaster. His injured side howled at him. Pushing himself to his feet with a pained grunt, he raised his open hands before slowly turning to face the new arrival.
He found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle. The man holding it looked nearly as menacing as his weapon did, kitted out in a tactical vest and helmet over dark, unmarked fatigues. A balaclava covered the lower half of his face, while his eyes were hidden behind a set of monocular night-vision goggles.
"Lead, this is four," the heavily-equipped newcomer said, tilting his head slightly so that he could speak into the radio clipped to his shoulder harness. "I'm in the big riverfront warehouse, ground floor, north side, and I've got two xenos in custody. Also, uhh, a civilian or something... I think? Over."
"Copy, four." The handset replied. "Sit tight."
The enemy Enforcer was even slower to stand back up than Ryan had been, and he wobbled unsteadily on his feet once he did. One of those hits that I got there must have done more damage than I realized.
"I said hands up!"
Making no effort to comply with the man's shouted orders, the Blaster instead whirled, recklessly dropping into a firing crouch with fists already glowing.
Automatic gunfire rang out, the chattering sound overlapping the hiss of a plasma blast. The range was far too close to miss, and both shooters dropped.
Ryan didn't wait around to see which of them, if any, would emerge victorious. Holding his injured side, he started limping in the direction of the exit.
We've got to get out of here, Ryan told Syd, before any more of them show up –
The door he was headed towards flung open, and a stream of black-clad agents poured into the building.
I don't think we're getting out that way, Syd observed in a deadpan tone.
Head for the roof, Ryan directed.
What about Amy?
She's pretty well hidden back there, and not in any condition to run. For now, she'll be safe, and once we've drawn away all the bad guys, she can make a break for it.
Starting up the stairs, Ryan did his best to move quickly and quietly. The burn he'd sustained made every action a lot more difficult than it otherwise would have been. He missed a step, stumbled, and only avoided a painful fall because Syd was there to catch him.
Thanks, he sent, as she supported him by putting a shoulder under his arm.
"Don't worry about it," she said out loud. "You totally saved my ass back there, and – oh, shit, you're bleeding! You... did you get shot trying to protect me?"
"It's what Goku would have done," Ryan replied in a husky voice.
She let out a strangled snort as they emerged together into the muggy night. Releasing him, Syd jogged over to the edge of the roof and stared out across the street.
"That'd be a pretty long jump," she said skeptically, gauging the distance to the nearest building. "Even if you weren't... um, you know."
"Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "That's why we're going in the river instead."
"We're WHAT?"
From behind them, the booming clatter of metal-booted feet dropping onto the hard surface of the roof announced that more company had joined them. A second later, his worst suspicions were confirmed by a message from his Implant.
CAUTION: Proximity alert! New contact approaching.
Classification of new contact is [Change Matrix].
Wonderful, Ryan grumbled. That's exactly what we needed.