One, two, three – eight!
One, two, three – nine!
One, two, three – and ten!
Ryan clapped his hands. A glance at the corner of his Implant's display where his team status was projected showed that only a bit more than half of the twelve minutes they'd started with remained on their transformation timers.
Alright, that's enough, he sent. Good job.
They were progressing nicely, but unfortunately, there were no magic shortcuts he could take. Both of them still had a long way to go before they'd be able to face a Zorvax Enforcer on equal footing and expect to come out ahead.
Oh, thank God, Syd said. She'd awkwardly halted, frozen in mid-burpee with her purple gauntlets hovering over her armored knees, and immediately flopped over backwards onto the ground. I was starting to get worried that our Forward-Commander might have a fetish for watching cute girls sweat their... butts off.
Amy twitched, an oddly-guilty expression flitting briefly across her face, then she scowled down at Syd.
You're not sweating, she noted, giving her roommate a brief but critical examination.
It was a metaphor! Syd shot back.
Ladies, please. Ryan impatiently tapped an imaginary watch on his wrist. We're still on the clock here.
What's next, boss? Syd asked. Please don't say more lunges, she hurriedly added before he could respond.
No, he told her with a laugh. No more lunges –
She cheered.
– for now, anyway.
She booed.
There's going to be a lot more of these training sessions in your immediate future, and every one of them is going to start with a little warmup like this. It might not be fun, but it's important for you to get a feel for what your War-Form is really capable of. Right now, though, I've got something else planned for the two of you...
***
Ability Name: Intercept
Rank: 1
Requirements: None
Effect: Immediately launches the user in the direction of a designated target, regardless of their current inertia. Linear acceleration continues until the user intersects the target or the maximum duration of the Ability is exceeded. Each rank improves the duration of the Ability.
Restrictions: At-will. Consumes Stamina to activate. If the target is twenty feet or less from the user, the Ability cannot be activated.
That's about what I expected, Amy said once he'd finished reading her Ability's description out to her. Lock on to the enemy with this, she tapped the side of her helmet's visor as she spoke, say Intercept out loud, and then I go flying into them. I know I haven't had much opportunity to use it yet, but it seems pretty straightforward. What is there to practice?
Even Abilities that look straightforward at first glance always have less-obvious ways they can be used, he told her. And in combat, the more options you've got, the better. In fact, you've already tried out one of those little tricks for Intercept, remember? Before the start of the warehouse fight, we had Syd move in. She marked a target, and I passed his position data on to you so that could Intercept him without being able to see him yourself.
Amy nodded seriously, her expression attentive.
Well, here's another neat little thing you can do with Intercept. Ryan bent down, the bandages making his movements a bit stiff, and picked up a spent shotgun shell. He held the cylinder of red plastic and brass out towards her on his open palm. Did you know you can use your visor to target inanimate objects?
On his display, the window showing Amy's active target went from empty to a spinning 3-D wireframe image of the shell case. In his own vision, glowing yellow brackets appeared around the object, confirming that she'd locked on to it.
Now, check this out. Are you ready?
Ready, she replied somewhat uncertainly. What am I supposed to –
Using as much of his strength as he could muster, he threw the empty shell straight up into the air. It wasn't the most aerodynamic choice, and his body's condition could have been better, but he was still more than capable of putting enough speed on the thing to shame a professional baseball pitcher. Before a second had passed, it was barely visible as a tiny speck against the low-hanging clouds.
Well, what are you waiting for? he asked her. Go ahead and Intercept it!
She blinked in confusion.
"...oh!" she said out loud, her eyes widening in sudden understanding. "Intercept!"
Like a rocket, Amy's gold-plated form launched skyward, the force of her takeoff kicking up a ring of mud that splattered outward in every direction.
Syd let out a low whistle.
Damn, maybe I should have grabbed the yellow one instead.
Ryan shaded his eyes with a hand, craning his neck so that he could continue track her ascent. At Rank 1, assuming his memory was correct, the initial burst of momentum imparted by Intercept ought to be cutting out right around... now.
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As if on cue, the glittering humanoid missile began to slow, her trajectory gradually shifting from a straight line to an arc. Her arms and legs windmilled uncertainly when she reached the apex of her flight and gravity took over.
Ah, Ryan... she began, her tone a bit nervous.
Don't worry, Amy, you're doing great so far, he called up reassuringly. You've still got the shell targeted. Stay calm, focus, and try using Intercept on it again.
...right. Go higher. Okay. I can do that.
Although she was now too far up for them to hear her voice, he knew that she'd managed to engage the Ability when her fall suddenly arrested. All of her previous inertia was negated, just like the description promised, and Syd made another jealous noise as the airborne figure grew more and more distant.
It took a third Intercept before she finally caught up with the shotgun case, snatching the object in midair with a shout of triumph that carried over the neural network link.
Hah, I got it! she crowed. That was easy. A long moment passed, then she hesitantly added, I'm... very high up in the air, Ryan.
I noticed, he agreed dryly. For this next part, you're going to have to trust me, okay?
Isn't that the sort of question you should ask me BEFORE I'm hundreds of feet above the ground? Amy asked, her tone becoming a bit irritated.
...that's actually a fair point, but I think we ought to save that discussion for later, Ryan suggested as she started to plummet.
Oh, you'd better believe this conversation isn't oveeeerrrr –
Did her mental voice drag out like that because it's what she expects to sound like when she's falling? Ryan wondered to himself. Grinning, he shook his head. That's kind of cute.
Crouching down, he picked up another spent shell, tossing it lightly up and down as he waited for the perfect time. Amy's form grew, changing from a tiny dot barely visible against the low-hanging clouds to a figure with all four limbs flailing wildly. Focusing his attention on the shell case in his hands, he highlighted it in his Implant's display, then passed the target data to his rapidly-approaching teammate.
Um, Amy's falling pretty fast, Syd informed him, trying to sound nonchalant and badly failing. Is she gonna be okay?
Relax, she'll be fine. He looked up, even though it wasn't strictly necessary to convey his words to her, and encouragingly yelled, You're going to be fine, Amy!
RYANNNN, WHAT DO I DOOOO?
Steady, Amy. I sent a new target to your visor. All you need to do is select it, and then use Intercept again when I tell you.
Now less than fifty feet above them, Amy responded with an annoyed grunt, which he took for an acknowledgment.
Ready? Winding up, he tossed the shell case straight at her. Hit it!
She was so close that he faintly heard her shouted "Intercept!", the Ability activating shortly before the case would have hit her anyway. As had happened on the way up, the terrifying momentum she'd accumulated was instantly overwritten. Her outstretched hands touched the target, halting her acceleration less than a second after it had begun and allowing her to drop the remaining distance at a far more sedate velocity.
The metal heels of her boots slammed into the waterlogged terrain with a sound halfway between a bang and a splat. Amy flexed her knees, absorbing the small amount of energy that remained, and came down in a dramatic crouch.
Ryan walked over to her as she stood and dusted herself off.
So, he began, that was pretty cool, right?
Amy opened and closed her mouth soundlessly, her expression shifting through several degrees of disbelief. Finally, she settled for petulantly tossing the pair of empty cases back at him.
He caught them with an apologetic grin, but didn't bother trying to explain his reasoning to her. Eventually, he was confident, she'd be able to figure it out on her own. If you wanted to prepare someone for the stress of combat, the most effective method was to put them into an even more stressful situation beforehand. The Zorvax had taught him that, but considering their reputation, the Marines probably had their own version of the saying.
Well, I thought it was cool, anyway, Syd said. She did the superhero landing and everything!
Ryan laughed.
No need to get jealous, Syd. I've got some cool tricks for you to try out, too –
Reaching out with his good arm, he threw it around the smaller woman's shoulder, only to nearly fall on his face as his hand passed straight through her. Her upper body flickered, returning to normal as soon as he pulled away.
"Hah!" It was her turn to laugh, an echo of the snicker coming from the other side of the berm. "Made you look!"
– and I see you've already started experimenting with using Decoy. That's good.
The Decoy-Syd walked towards him, matching the movements of her real counterpart as she stepped out of her hiding place. As one, both spun to face him with identical smirks.
One Syd is bad enough, Amy's voice muttered quietly over the link, probably not a thought that was transmitted intentionally.
In response, Syd and Decoy-Syd simultaneously stuck their tongues out at her, pulling down their eyelids with a finger and making a childish bleeaah sound.
Clearing his throat with a touch more volume than necessary, Ryan interrupted the display.
Amy, he said, I want you to repeat what you just did. This time, though, try taking your own targets up with you, and see if you can work out how to move horizontally with them too. She huffed, then grudgingly nodded. Keep an eye on your remaining transformation time and your Stamina levels. If you start feeling tired, don't push it, or you might run out in midair. That, he added, perhaps unnecessarily, would be bad.
What about me? Syd asked, after Amy had wandered off to look for more spent shells.
What's the biggest weakness of your Decoy Ability? he replied, answering her question with a question of his own.
Um... hmm... She tapped a segmented metal finger against the chin of her helmet thoughtfully. Is it the fact that I can't attack while it's active?
That is a downside, but there's an even bigger one. The Decoy looks exactly like you, and it moves exactly like you... which means in a fight, it's a coin flip whether an opponent goes after the Decoy, or you. Unless –
She frowned, then her expression suddenly went blank.
– unless they can't see me, she finished for him.
A moment later, her figure began to shimmer, the outline blurring and fading into the woodland backdrop.
Exactly. Although, uh, I figured it would be a lot harder for you to get the hang of keeping two Abilities active at the same time. I guess that means we can move right to the next stage.
Shifting one of the shell cases into his off-hand, he pinched the other between his forefinger and thumb and flicked it in the direction of Syd's partially-camouflaged form. The brass bounced off her helmet with a clang.
"Ow!" she yelled out loud. Hey, what was that for?
Turning yourself invisible doesn't help much if you stay in the same spot, Syd. He sent the other case flying at her. This one slipped under her visor to catch her in the nose, drawing another outraged squawk of protest. It's time for some evasion training. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out another handful of spent shells. If you get hit, you lose.