If you've got any last-minute questions or concerns, now's the time.

Ryan's words came to her clearly over the... neural network link, he'd said it was called. It was like having the man himself standing right beside her, speaking softly into her ear. As always, Amy found the calm, confident tone of his voice reassuring.

At the moment, she wouldn't say no to a little reassurance.

Not that she was nervous, of course! What was there to be nervous about?

Amy was the experienced one, after all. The professional. Syd's big sister, if not by blood, then by choice. A leader. And, unlike Syd, she'd been trained for this sort of thing.

Besides, feeling a little tense before a battle was perfectly normal. It happened to every soldier, no matter how much experience they had. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Or that was what she kept telling herself, anyway.

...sent a smaller team than I expected, Ryan was saying. Pushing the intrusive thoughts aside, she forced herself to focus on his words. Eight Blasters, by my count, plus the two Canid Brutes, all Mark-I types. And a bunch of wolves, I guess. The only Mark-II we have to worry about is the team leader's bodyguard.

He's a Juggernaut, right? Syd said. Same class as Amy.

Right, and he's a Level higher than either of you. You two will need to be careful around that guy. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you can't handle him yourself.

Do we need to make adjustments to the plan of attack? Amy asked, keeping her own voice carefully neutral. Syd was already nervous enough. We're going to be pretty badly outnumbered out there.

You're more than a match for a couple Enforcer grunts with Mark-I Changers, Ryan replied. And we've done everything we could to stack the deck. Just stick to the script, and you'll be fine.

What about the team leader? Amy hesitated. You recognized him, didn't you?

Forward-Commander-Five. His mouth, she noticed, had twisted in a grimace of distaste. That asshole.

The profanity made her wince, but with an effort, she resisted the urge to reprimand him.

It sounds like the two of you have a history, she sent instead.

We went through Commander-Candidate training at the same time, but I don't even know his real name. Whenever he talked about his past, it was a different made-up story. Liked to claim that before he was abducted he'd been a special forces commando, or a hitman for the mafia, or a secret agent. My best guess is that he was some sort of petty criminal, but who knows?

Syd laughed.

He sounds like a clown.

Sure, but a dangerous one. Incompetent Enforcers don't get promoted to Forward-Commander. Aside from me, he's the only team leader who made it through every live-fire exercise without failing an objective... but he got his entire team killed to accomplish that. Repeatedly.

A hundred percent casualties in training? Amy's eyebrows went up. More than once? And the Zorvax didn't have a problem with that?

He completed the mission, and that's what matters to them. The training teams assigned to us were considered... low-value. Ryan's expression made his own thoughts on that matter clear. His reputation didn't make him very popular with the rank-and-file, though. Even the most brainwashed Enforcers don't like being treated as if they're disposable. Probably why he's got such a small team with him now.

Hmm. Can we use that attitude against him somehow?

Maybe, he said. I've got an idea...

Amy recognized that tone, and she didn't like it one bit.

Ryan, you aren't planning on doing anything crazy, are you? You're already injured, and you don't have a suit.

Do I strike you as someone who would do something crazy? Before she could reply, he added, Nevermind. Don't answer that. It's just an idea, and we probably won't need it unless something goes seriously wrong.

I can't believe you'd jinx us like that, Syd muttered as the transformation began.

TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE COMPLETE!

TEMPORAL FLOW RESTORED.

Now clad in her armored suit and helmet, Amy dropped lightly back to the forest floor. She was, finally, starting to get the hang of moving around in the obnoxious wedge-heeled boots.

Moving out, she sent to the others, and then matched deed to word.

The time for talking was over.

And, frankly, that was a relief. As Syd had so rudely (but correctly) pointed out, Amy had never been particularly good at expressing herself.

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She felt more comfortable doing things than talking about them. Her actions would speak for her.

In the past, that attitude had served her well enough... but lately, it had been a source of growing frustration. Often, she'd found herself wishing that she could borrow Cat's easy confidence, or even Syd's complete disregard for the opinions of others.

Talking about her feelings was hard.

But this?

This was easy.

Heck, it was fun.

Locking onto the tennis ball with her visor's targeting system, she launched it into the air, putting all her enhanced Strength behind the throw.

"Intercept!"

Her feet left the ground, the sudden rush of acceleration as intoxicating as ever.

Reaching the peak of her ascent, Amy sent the ball clutched in her other hand flying out over the enemy position. She waited a beat, starting to fall, as she waited for it to travel, then...

"Intercept!"

Her direction of travel changed instantly. No matter how many times she experienced it, she didn't think the oddity of the experience would ever wear off. The words "regardless of current inertia" in the Ability's description were no joke. One second she was plummeting back to Earth, the next she was accelerating sideways through the sky. No jolt of whiplash accompanied the sudden change of direction.

It felt unnatural.

It felt incredible.

Heedless of how serious their situation was, Amy laughed out loud, the sounds of pure joy instantly whipped away by the roaring wind.

She was above them, now. Down on the ground, she saw the leader of the enemy team point upwards, his mouth moving, far too late. The Blasters around him raised their arms, trying in vain to track her as she sailed overhead.

I'm going in! she sent.

"Energy Shield! Intercept!"

Amy's trajectory changed again, sending her streaking downwards like a missile. The blazing disc of her Energy Shield materialized over her extended forearm, and the Forward-Commander she'd selected as her target grew rapidly in her vision.

"Intercept."

The gold-armored bodyguard standing beside the enemy officer burst into motion, activating his own copy of her Ability. Another change in direction followed, this one taking her by surprise. A few feet off the ground, the two Juggernauts crashed into one another with tremendous force, the impact sending both tumbling away.

Amy landed hard, bouncing off the packed dirt and rolling several times before she could bring herself to a stop. The number at the corner of her vision representing her remaining transformation time flickered, deducting twenty seconds. With a growl, she scrambled back to her feet, turning to face the man who had rudely interrupted her dramatic entrance.

The enemy Juggernaut was a bit faster to rise. His suit, like hers, acted like a gleaming beacon in the darkness. Beneath the green visor of his helmet, what she could see of the man's face was unremarkable, his jaw clean-shaven and set in a bored expression.

His armor-plated boots did not, Amy noticed, feature any heels, high or otherwise... but she had no time to contemplate that particular piece of cosmic injustice.

"Momentum," he said, the words clearly an activation trigger for another Ability. Around his body, a faint, shimmering haze appeared. She vaguely recalled Ryan mentioning Momentum as an option when she'd been picking out her own Abilities. How had he described it? Something about consecutive attacks? Before she could rack her brain any further, the man raised an open hand towards her and spoke again. "Energy Blade."

Starting at his palm, a golden glow formed, extending outward in a line. A second later, he held a transparent, crackling sword in his hand, the wide, triangular tip pointed straight at her.

I... am so very jealous right now, Amy thought, careful not to broadcast her thoughts to the others.

She already knew which Ability she was going to take, the next time her Changer Leveled up.

...but first, they had to survive this fight.

Bracing herself for another collision, she targeted the enemy Juggernaut.

"Intercept!" she yelled.

ERROR: Ability activation failed! Target within minimum range.

Through the warning message that flashed across her visor's display, she could see her opponent's smirk. He'd anticipated that result, obviously. Embarrassed by the oversight, Amy gritted her teeth in frustration.

It was fine, she told herself. This jerk wanted to do things the hard way? Well, she was more than happy to oblige him.

"Power Stance!"

Light burst out of the gaps between her suit's armor plates. Her feet sunk an inch into the ground as a wave of pure energy thrummed up her legs, radiating out to every corner of her body. In her transformed state, she'd already felt unstoppable. Now, with Power Stance active, she was ready to take on the world.

The enemy Juggernaut's sword crashed against her shield, the shock of impact traveling up her arm and into her shoulder. Her torso was rocked backwards by the blow, but her Ability held her upright.

Before the man could recover, she snapped a jab at his face with her free hand. He ducked his chin at the last second, taking a glancing blow to the side of his helmet that pushed him a step backwards.

Shaking his head to clear it, he eyed her a bit more warily than before. She smirked at him, returning his earlier disrespect with interest.

His sword came up to the ready again, and he darted back in.

This time, he led with a low thrust, taking aim for her stomach. Rather than block the attack, she chopped down onto his wrist with her Energy Shield. Her counterattack pushed the point of the sword into the ground, then she staggered him with a powerful backswing that caught him square in the chest. The Enforcer's breath went out with a startled whoof, and he reeled away.

It might have been a slight widening of the man's eyes that warned her of the impending danger. Perhaps it was a sound at the very edge of her hearing, or an almost-imperceptible disturbance in the air around her, or some sixth sense. Whatever the cause, Amy's instincts suddenly screamed at her to move, and she trusted them implicitly. Deactivating Power Stance with a thought, she dove forward. An instant later, the jaws of a horse-sized Canid Brute closed on the space her torso had just occupied.

Energy Shield raised defensively, Amy backed away, keeping both opponents in front of her.

This was good, she told herself. Her job was to occupy the enemy team's attention, and they were certainly occupied. Everything is going according to plan.

Seen up close, the Canid Brute was far more imposing than it had appeared on the trail cam's blurry video feed. The transformed animal stood taller than she did, and judging from its size, it would easily outweigh her by a factor of five. Its fur was pitch-black, reflecting none of the dim moonlight that shone down on the clearing. The only splash of color preventing it from fading into the surrounding shadows was the sinister red glow of its eyes, joined by gleaming white when it bared a mouthful of long, sharp fangs at her.

A second giant wolf slunk out of the treeline to her right, forcing her to take another step back to avoid being outflanked. Several ordinary wolves followed behind it, padding along on silent paws as they spread out to encircle her.

Despite herself, she grinned. There were a whole lot of bad guys arranged in front of her. Fortunately, after the way the ill-timed Zorvax arrival had interrupted her night, she had a whole lot of frustration that she needed to work out.

Wasn't it convenient that they'd volunteered to help?

Okay, Ryan, Amy sent. We've got them right where we want them.