Syd's form burst out of the brush, darting between two startled Enforcers like a purple bolt of lightning. Ducking under the outstretched arms of the first Blaster, she pivoted on her heel and dodged past the second with equal ease. Before they could react, she was already out of reach.
At the edge of the clearing, she skidded to a halt, whirling to face the pair. Simultaneously, she flipped each of them off, using both middle fingers for maximum efficiency, then resumed her flight.
Her figure disappeared behind the trunk of a towering oak, vanishing into the dense foliage without even a whisper of sound. A moment after she'd passed, it was blown to kindling in a hail of belated plasma fire.
Now alone in the clearing, the two Blasters looked at one another. One of them shrugged, and then both took off running, hard on the heels of the fleeing Assassin. Reaching the fallen tree, they vaulted over it without a pause.
A startlingly-loud crash followed, accompanied by a bizarre mechanically-distorted squeal that dropped down the register as if it was falling away before terminating in a muffed bang far below.
Standing beside the now-revealed pit trap, Syd peeked over the edge, confirming that both opponents had fallen in, and wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. The corner of her lips twitched in a faint grin. She made a dusting-off motion, then turned away.
The incandescent lance of a Plasma Beam slashed across her waist.
Disbelief written on her features, Syd looked from the previously-unnoticed third Blaster to her own undamaged midsection. Her mouth moved, opening and closing soundlessly.
Her outline briefly wavered, becoming transparent, then her body blew apart into a cloud of glittering motes.
The Decoy's untimely demise threw Ryan back to his own awareness. His eyes immediately snapped open, but it took a long moment for his brain to process the sudden, unexpected shift in perspective.
Shaking his head to clear away the last of the cobwebs, he pushed himself to his feet.
Ryan! Did you just get my Decoy killed?
Uh... kind of?
What do you mean, kind of? A message popped up telling me that the Ability is on cooldown. He could almost see her petulant expression. You said you were only going to be borrowing it! I can't believe you let it – let that you let me get vaporized!
We knew they were going to wise up eventually, Ryan countered. I don't think it could have gone much better, though. Half of their team's Blasters are trapped, and with Level 1 stats, they're not going be able to get themselves out of those holes we dug. The rest are distracted now, and way out of position. Glancing at the area map, he marked the updated enemy positions on her display, then laid out an approach route that would keep her under cover until she was close enough to strike. All that's left for you to do is clean them up. Should be a piece of cake.
A piece of cake. Sure.
Keeping his head low, Ryan half-crouched, half-ran along the treeline, searching for a location where he could better direct the action without risk of being seen.
The purple icon representing Syd closed in on the nearest Blaster's white dot.
Okay, here goes. Wish me luck.
You don't need it, Syd, Ryan told her. But... good luck.
Syd's shotgun opened up with a roar. Clouds of steam immediately billowed, rising above the treetops.
One down! she shouted triumphantly.
Moving as quickly as the nagging burns on his side would permit, Ryan climbed over a moss-covered fallen log. He dropped to the ground on the other side, then pushed his way into a stand of thorny shrub bushes. From the new vantage point, he had a good field of view, allowing him to clearly see most of the ambush site.
Even from this distance, it was apparent how nervous the two remaining Enforcers had grown after losing so many of their companions. They stood back-to-back, heads turning constantly like they were trying to watch in every direction at once. Both had their arms held at the ready, upraised and searching for a target.
It didn't help. This was the exact kind of situation where the Assassin's class Abilities could truly shine.
A slug took the leftmost Blaster in the side of the helmet, snapping his head around with a degree of violence that made Ryan wince despite knowing the impact would be non-lethal. His partner launched a retaliatory Plasma Beam that slashed through the air, the shot going far wide of its target. Before he could attempt a follow-up shot, Syd had faded back into the night.
He heard the faint clack-clack of the shotgun's slide being racked, chambering another round.
That's two! This really isn't very fair, Syd sent, sounding a little out of breath, but with her earlier nervousness gone. Now positioned behind the lone Enforcer, she dropped Prowler Mode again, her armored silhouette emerging from the shadows with the Mossberg already pulled in tight against her shoulder and ready to fire. I guess I was wrong. It ended up being a piece of cake after all –
Somehow alerted to her approach, the Enforcer ducked, allowing the 12-gauge round to crack harmlessly overhead. His retaliatory shot narrowly missed her face, instead catching the shotgun's barrel when she stumbled backwards. The metal tube went red, then white, drooping like wet spaghetti in an alarming manner that indicated it had been put out of action. Fortunately, the shells that were left in the magazine didn't explode, but she wouldn't be getting any more use out of the weapon tonight.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Oh, you motherfucker!" Syd shouted, so outraged that she appeared to have forgotten to use the mental link. "I really liked that thing!" Tossing the now-useless gun aside, she clenched her hands into fists. "Fine. You want to do this the hard way? We'll do this the hard way. Energy Claws!"
When it came to close-combat techniques, Syd still wasn't as good as Amy. That observation didn't come as a shock; an abbreviated week of training wasn't anywhere near long enough to close the massive gap in skill that existed between them. However, she'd put in the effort, and it showed. Ryan could see considerable improvement in every movement she made as she stalked towards her opponent.
Analyzing... analysis complete.
Target Identification: War-Form, Human Blaster
Commencing Standard Attribute Evaluation...
Effective Level: 1
Strength: 9
Agility: 8
Toughness: 10
Endurance: 8
Abilities:
Dart Salvo (Rank 1)
Energy Beam (Rank 1)
Threat Rating: LOW
...and her tremendous advantage in Attributes, especially when it came to Agility, would give her a considerable edge against the enemy Blaster.
Traveling almost too fast for Ryan's merely-human eyes to follow, the humming violet wristblade flashed out. Her opponent turned the attack aside with a desperate last-second chop to her extended elbow.
He backpedaled frantically, firing off a hastily-aimed salvo of rapid-fire Plasma Darts. Twisting and dodging, Syd easily avoided the barrage while closing the distance between them.
This time, instead of immediately taking another swing with the claw, Syd's left foot came up in a blur first, kicking the outmatched Enforcer in the exposed joint right below his suit's kneepad. Staggered and off-balance, he had no chance of protecting himself from her follow-up strike.
The ion blade sizzled as it carved through the Blaster's bulky shoulderplate. Barely slowed by the armor in its path, the glowing claw bit deep into the side of the man's neck. He crumpled with a squeal of electronic feedback. Smoke rose from the fallen body, the catastrophic damage bringing his transformation to an early end.
Hah! That was a piece of cake! she crowed, pumping her fist in the air. What'd I tell you, Ryan?
Good work. I think that's all of the ranged guys neutralized... for now, anyway. Ryan glanced over to the other side of the ravine where Amy was engaged. How are things going on your end, Amy?
Oh, everything's just lovely here, Amy growled. I'm doing great. Thanks for asking!
She grunted. A second later, a loud yelp followed, then he saw one of the mundane, normal-sized wolves go flying up into the air. It tumbled away, snout-over-tail, landing somewhere further out in the woods with a muffled crash.
She isn't hurting the poor widdle puppers, is she? Syd asked in a mocking tone. Somebody tell her that the Zorvax are just using them!
Another yip, and another wolf was thrown clear of the fray.
...I'm sure they'll be fine, Ryan said uncertainly.
Doing the best I can, Amy bit out. Feel free to quit messing around and give me a hand any time you want, Syd.
Hold your horses, I'm coming. Not all of us can fly.
The enemy Juggernaut watched with a bored expression as Amy attempted to fend off the snapping wave of fur and claws and teeth. When the last wolf was finally thrown aside, he squared his shoulders, raising his Energy Blade in preparation for another exchange of blows.
Flanking him silently on either side, the pair of pitch-black Canid Brutes padded forward, their lips peeled back in matching snarls.
Syd jogged up to stand beside Amy, her extended claw providing a buzzing counterpoint to the low hum produced by the Juggernaut's sword.
Where's the enemy Forward-Commander? Ryan asked, searching the battlefield. Did you get him, Amy?
No, his Juggernaut buddy got in the way before I could reach him. The last I saw, he was –
A deafening howl tore through the clamor, the unnaturally-loud sound making the hairs on his arm stand on end. Dozens of echoing cries rose from the surrounding woods in response.
– wow. That's a whole lot of wolves.
The newly-arrived pack was at least twice the size of the one Amy had just fended off – and there were more of them continuing to slink into the clearing as he watched.
It might be time for us to think about making a run for the fallback point, Amy suggested. We've accomplished a lot already –
Not yet. This is our best chance to put an Enforcer team out of action. Next time, they'll be ready for it. Thoughtfully, Ryan scratched his chin. He wasn't ready to give up yet. Hmm. Their team leader is the weak link. If we could put some pressure on him...
We'd have to find him first, Syd said. How are we supposed to do that?
Don't worry, I've got an idea. Give me a second. I'm going to try something.
This had better not be that crazy idea you were talking about earlier, Ryan, Amy said worriedly. It's not, is it, Ryan?
He didn't answer.
Ryan?
"The Zorvax sent you here to find me, didn't they, Forward-Commander-Five?" Stepping out into the open, he threw his arms wide and loudly announced his presence. "Well, here I am!"
"That's Forward-Commander-Two to you, Ryan Wright!" The familiar, boastful voice came from a dense thicket on the far side of the clearing, the enemy team leader finally making his presence known. He scrambled out of cover, fastidiously brushing the leaves and twigs away from his standard-issue hostile environment bodyglove. "You may not have heard, but there was recently an opening in the position."
"Don't let that little promotion go to your head," Ryan cautioned him. "Every time they put us up against each other in Commander-Candidate training, you lost. Badly. My team has already taken out almost half of yours... you're going to lose, again. How long do you think they'll let you keep that new rank of yours, if you're not producing results?" With his arms still spread invitingly, he took another step towards the man. "But I'll make you an offer: call off the rest of your team, and we can settle this between the two of us. Just you and me, man-to-man."
"You must be joking," the newly-promoted Forward-Commander-Two scoffed. "You know, I always suspected you were cheating somehow. Otherwise, how could a simple-minded brute like you could have come out ahead of me in the rankings?" He cackled, an angry, slightly-unhinged sound. "Let me give you a counter-proposal: you can settle this man-to-all-of-my-men instead." Stabbing his finger in Ryan's direction, he shrieked, "Get him!"