CAUTION: Proximity alert! New contact approaching.
Classification of new contact is [Change Matrix].
Directly ahead of them, a cluster of white icons appeared on Ryan's area map, followed a second later by a pair of black ones off to one side of the tunnel entrance.
His mental finger rested on the trigger that would activate his team's transformation sequences. For the moment, it didn't look like the enemy were aware of their approach, but he knew that could change quickly.
"There goes the notification that there are Changers nearby," he warned his companions. "We're close enough for me to detect them, so we're probably close enough that a Zorvax Forward-Commander down there could have picked us up, too."
"How many are we up against?" Amy asked.
He made a quick count.
"Right now I'm only seeing, uh, five Blasters and a pair of Brutes. I'd be willing to bet there are more of them waiting deeper inside, though."
"Less worrying," Syd urged, already sounding slightly winded by the exertion. "More hurrying."
They were moving across the rugged terrain as quickly as they could. Between loose rock scattered over the ground and the steep slope, footing was treacherous. Bushes and shrubs waited in their path, concealed by the darkness, their roots and branches waiting to snag loose clothing or catch exposed ankles as they passed. More than once, Ryan had to slow his own pace to steady one of his teammates, preventing them from tumbling the rest of the way down the hill.
"Do you think the government has a chance against that many Enforcers?" Amy wondered out loud as they ran.
"I wouldn't count them out," Ryan said. "For not being part of the military, those NSA guys were carrying some seriously heavy-duty weapons. Almost all of the Enforcers the Zorvax can send in are going to be Level 5 or below. That's high enough that they can mostly ignore small-arms fire –"
"Shooting them point-blank a bunch of times seemed to work just fine," Syd pointed out, a smirk evident from her tone.
"That's why I said mostly, Syd. But even if they can shrug off a few rounds from a pistol or rifle, they're still going to be vulnerable to the bigger stuff."
"Bigger stuff?" Cat asked.
"Grenades, machine guns, the works. The last time we crossed paths with them, I'm pretty sure I saw one of their agents dragging a rocket launcher around with him, and that was in the middle of the city. Who knows how much crazy ordnance they're going to have waiting for the Zorvax inside their secret base?"
"Almost all of the Enforcers the Zorvax can send in are going to be Level 5 or below." Amy said, repeating his earlier words in a thoughtful tone. "Almost all? Not all of them?"
"There aren't any human Enforcers with a Changer that's over Level 5," he replied. "As far as I know, anyway. But..."
"But?" Amy prompted.
"But that's just the human Enforcers, the ones permanently assigned to the Sol-III command. Every now and then a higher-ranked Zorvax officer will rotate through the system, and they usually bring a couple of heavies with them."
"Heavies?" Syd said. "I don't think I like the sound of that"
"An alien Enforcer from another conquered world, one with a compatible atmosphere. They're the real elite... there aren't that many Enforcers the Zorvax consider trustworthy enough to be given a high-Level Changer. I've heard that they start at Level 15 and go up from there." Seeing her worried expression, he quickly added, "But it's really unlikely that we'd encounter one –"
"Oh my God, Ry," Syd groaned. "Seriously? I can't believe you just said that. Haven't you ever watched a movie before?" Badly imitating Ryan's voice, she continued, "We should be safe now, there's no way the monster could have survived that!"
"You could stand to spend less time watching movies," Amy said, "and more time working out. Come on, you're going to fall behind."
Passing over a series of deep ruts left behind by the construction equipment that was now scattered around the site, they crossed the gravel access road and burst into the floodlit clearing.
"CAUTION. INTRUDERS DETECTED IN PERIMETER-ZONE-ONE. ALL ENFORCERS REPORT TO PERIMETER-ZONE-ONE."
The moment the announcement finished, a distant alarm klaxon began wailing. At the same time, the icons on his area map representing enemy Changers burst into motion.
"Alright, they definitely know that we're here now. Amy and Cat, you're up."
Both women were already stripping out of their clothes, a sight that he would have been happy to let his gaze linger on in any other circumstances. Amy met his eyes, her expression determined, and nodded.
The alarm continued to blare as he and Syd backed away. Once there was enough distance between them, he activated their Changers.
TEMPORAL FLOW ADJUSTED.
COMMENCING TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE!
Bad guys are coming in from the north and south, Ryan told them once time had stopped. Mostly Blasters, plus a pair of Brutes, unknown type. Nothing that you two can't handle. If I see any more of them heading your way, I'll let you know. Otherwise, Syd and I are going to be busy, so Amy, you'll be in charge out here. How do you want to approach this?
Rising into the air like dancers in a synchronized ballet, the pair of gorgeous women started to spin, not only turning in place but revolving slowly around one another. Flares of light, burning gold and cold blue, briefly obscured their nude figures from view as their armored suits appeared in alternating stages.
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We'll take the fight to them, Amy said. On the plane, Cat and I came up with something new to try out. This seems like it'd be as good a time as any.
Something new?
Oh, you'll see, love, Cat promised. Just... promise you won't laugh, okay?
TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE COMPLETE!
TEMPORAL FLOW RESTORED.
The flow of time resumed.
Now clad in their matching yellow- and blue-armored suits, the two women dropped to the ground. They shared a glance, then Amy hunched forward, bending at the knees while placing her hands on her hips. Cat moved to stand behind her taller teammate, and once Amy was set, calmly vaulted up onto her back, wrapping her arms and legs around her teammate like a child demanding a piggyback ride.
Ryan blinked.
"Cat's Abilities require her to be in physical contact," Amy explained, her tone faintly embarrassed, as she shifted her posture to settle Cat in place. "If I'm charging around the battlefield, that would make it hard for her to support me, and it would be hard for me to keep an eye on her, too. So..." Since her upper arms were occupied, she made a constrained shrugging gesture using only her forearms. "...this was the solution we came up with. What do you think?"
"Uh... I can honestly say that no Zorvax Enforcer has ever considered going into combat in a... formation like this," he told them. "Make sure you hang on tight, Cat."
"Holy shit," Syd blurted out. "You made her into a Cat-pack!" Three uncomprehending gazes turned on her. "You know, Amy's wearing Cat like she's... um, a backpack? But she's Cat. So... Cat-pack..."
"Ha!" Amy snorted, breaking the tension. "Ahaha! She's a Cat-pack! Oh, that's good. I'm going to have to remember that one."
"Here they come," Ryan said, returning their attention to the approaching enemy. "Go get 'em."
"On it," Amy said, locking the nearest of the Blasters. "Keep an eye on Syd, Ryan... and be safe. Ready, Cat?"
"Bolster." Starting at the ankles, the joints in the Cat's armor blazed, blue light spilling out. When the glow reached her hands, it passed from her palms to Amy's chest, tracing out intricate geometric patterns that spread out to the tips of the Juggernaut's plated fingers and toes. "There. Ready, dear."
Ability Name: Bolster
Rank: 1
Requirements: None
Effect: The next Ability activated by the target performs at one rank higher than its current rank. This includes Abilities that are already at the maximum rank. Each rank increases the performance by one additional rank.
Restrictions: At-will. Consumes Stamina to activate. Requires contact with the target.
"Intercept!"
The multicolored Amy-Cat bundle shot off in the direction of the enemy Enforcers, kicking up a choking cloud of dust in their wake. Passing through a hail of hastily-aimed plasma darts and beams, they bowled into the group, scattering the white-armored figures in every direction.
"Bolster." Cat called again.
"Energy Shield!" Amy yelled a beat later.
Amy's Energy Shield, 2 ranks higher than the last time he'd seen it thanks to the Levels she'd gained and the effects of Cat's support Ability, was now large enough to cover the area from her eyes to her knees. The glowing golden barrier had become more octagonal than circular, and although it seemed a little awkward to employ with her arm looped firmly around Cat's thigh, she still employed it to good effect.
"Bolster."
"Power Stance!"
"Bolster."
"Momentum!"
"Alright, you jerks," Amy taunted, her body sheathed in a corona of shimmering azure and gold light by the combined effects of the Abilities she'd activated. "Come and get it!"
Searing blasts of energy ricocheted off into the night as she fought, always keeping the shield between herself and the enemy. One Blaster went down, then another, steam pluming up as their Changers were overloaded by the damage that the pair were dishing out.
Calling up his team status display, he kept a close eye on the Health, Stamina and remaining transformation time indicators as he and Syd skirted around the battle, stealthily making their way towards the cavernous base entrance.
So far, so good.
A rumbling sound, loud enough to be heard over the background grumble of machinery, drew Ryan's attention away from the fight.
Watch your left! he sent to Amy. Brute incoming!
Before he'd finished speaking, the source of the noise came charging around a pile of broken rock. At first, Ryan thought he was looking at some sort of armored vehicle, but as it drew closer, he was able to identify what sort of animal the charging mass of dark-red muscle had once been.
A la verga! Cat squeaked. What the hell is that thing!?
I, uh, think it's a rhinoceros, he said, noting the distinctive pair of horns on the creature's nose as it thundered past their location. They usually aren't covered in spikes like that, though.
Rhinocerotid Brute, his Implant's identification function confirmed a moment later.
The transformed rhino slammed into the melee with the force of a runaway freight train. To avoid being run over, Amy was forced to dive to the side, hitting the ground hard enough to send her Cat-pack tumbling loose. A Blaster, a bit slower on the uptake, failed to get clear in time, and the hapless man was tossed into the air like a rag doll when the monster slammed into him.
Both women scrambled to their feet as the snorting Brute wheeled around for another charge.
A rhinoceros? Amy asked. They're –
I know, I know, they're endangered, Ryan quickly said, hoping to head off another lecture. Worry about not getting turned into roadkill right now, okay? We can work on finding a home for it later.
Amy responded with an annoyed grunt before turning her attention back to the Brute.
"Hey, buddy!" she yelled at the transformed animal. "Over here! Come get me!"
The tank-sized beast's head whipped around, small beady eyes narrowing. With a bellowing groan, it shambled into motion, obviously intent on running down the annoying yellow creature.
"Intercept! Intercept!"
Amy rocketed away in the direction they'd come from, her Ability carrying her up the steep hill and keeping her – just barely – ahead of the lumbering behemoth that followed in her wake.
CAUTION: Proximity alert! New contact approaching.
Classification of new contact is [Change Matrix].
Another mass of colored icons appeared, popping into view on his area map at the far end of the tunnel and moving rapidly towards them. More Blasters, most likely the perimeter guards from the other side of the dig site. That much they were prepared to face. Accompanying them, however...
Two yellow dots. One purple dot. One orange dot.
Oh. That's not good.