Ryan planned for his team to spend a full day relaxing at the hotel. After everything they'd been through, he thought, all of them deserved a break.

That had already been extended to two days, and Syd was in the process of campaigning for a third. If she got her way, they'd probably lose an entire week.

They hadn't stayed in the bedroom the entire time. In that, too, Syd's best intentions had been overruled by more practical concerns – for instance, their need for food.

"You know, Ames..." Syd began as she poked her fifth serving of crepes suzette around the plate with a fork, "I'm starting to think that we might have bitten off more than we can chew here."

"Mhm," Amy agreed, speaking around a mouthful of fruit salad and cottage cheese. She swallowed, then continued, "It's like he turns into a wild animal the second you take his clothes off."

"Hey!" Ryan objected. "Come on, ladies... I'm right here."

"Aww, don't worry, big guy, it's a compliment," Syd said, patting him fondly on the shoulder.

"You're telling me that calling someone a wild animal is a compliment?"

"Oh, yeah, totally. Chicks dig insatiable dudes, that's a fact." Syd looked over to Amy for confirmation, and she quickly nodded. "It's just, um, a lot for us to get used to."

"Maybe we could ask Cat to give us a hand," Amy mused.

Syd choked on her coffee.

Hurriedly, she added, "Ah, I mean, maybe we could ask her to use Accelerate Recovery on us in between... sessions."

"Geez, Amy, you've gotta warn me before you say stuff like that!" Syd sputtered, once her coughing fit had subsided. "Man, for a second I thought you were suggesting..."

"You thought I was suggesting what?" Amy prompted, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"Nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it." More carefully, Syd took another sip from her mug. "Anyway, that wouldn't help. Every time she uses that Ability on me, it knocks me right out."

"All of your body's metabolic processes are being sped up, dear," Cat explained, dropping into an empty seat at the other end of the absurdly large table. "It makes sense that you'd feel hungry and tired afterwards. Good morning," she added, then glanced at the time. "Or should I say good afternoon?"

"Speak of the devil," Syd muttered, "and here she comes."

"You look exhausted, Cat," Amy said, giving the nurse a searching look. "Did you have trouble getting to sleep?"

It could have been his imagination, but to Ryan it seemed that Cat's ever-present smile had taken on a slightly-strained quality.

"Oh, it's nothing, love." Her laugh sounded a bit forced, too. "I may have... underestimated how long you three were going to be going at it... and how loud you'd be, too. If you're planning to pick up tonight where you left off, then I'll need to see about getting those earplugs after all."

Was she blushing? Her dark skin tone made it difficult for him to tell.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about, though," she went on. "I hate to interrupt your... honeymoon... for work, but –" With a loud clunk, a bulging canvas duffel bag landed on the table between them. "– keeping all of these Changers under my bed is making me nervous. We should figure out what to do with them."

"All right!" Syd cheered. Shoving her food aside, she reached across the table, dragging the bag closer to her. "Let's divvy up the loot!"

Ryan shared a look with Amy, then shrugged.

"I suppose now would be as good a time as any," he said. "I didn't have anything else planned for today."

The captured Changers were quickly sorted into piles according to type, which allowed them to make a full accounting of what they'd gained for the first time... and even though he already had a general idea of what to expect, he was still impressed by what he saw.

Eighteen Mark-I Silvers taken from defeated Blasters made up the bulk of their haul. Those, plus the pair of Mark-I Onyx models that they'd taken from the site's guard animals, were only useful to them as salvage. He expected that there were enough of them to bring Amy and Cat up to Syd's Level, or possibly more.

The disposition of the Mark-II Changers they'd taken would be a more complicated question. There were a pair of Gold Mark-IIs, at Level 4 and Level 3 respectively, a single Mark-II Amethyst at Level 3, and a Mark-II Garnet that had been raised all the way to Level 5. Since his team already had a Juggernaut and an Assassin, the Gold and Amethyst weren't going to provide them with any new capabilities, but salvaging them still felt wasteful. As for the Garnet...

"I could take that one," Syd offered helpfully. "Then when Assassin Time runs out, I'd be able to switch over to, um, Marksman Time, and keep on fighting!" She made a finger-gun with one hand and a blade with the other. "Zzt zzt zzt! Pew, pew!"

"That's not how it works," Ryan said, shaking his head. "The cooldown applies to the user and to the Changer. You can't just throw on another one and keep going."

"Ugh." Syd drooped in her seat. "That's so lame."

"It'd be more helpful if we had another team member to back us up, in any case." Amy moved the Garnet Changer away from Syd, who was still eyeing it avariciously. "More than one, ideally. Zorvax Enforcer squads are big, and I'm getting tired of being outnumbered in every fight. I don't really have any good candidates in mind, though..."

"What about your friend from the gun store?" Syd suggested.

"Beth?" Amy snorted. "She's got the right attitude, I guess, and if we asked, she might be willing... but she's almost seventy years old. I think all the running around we do would be a little too strenuous for her." She paused. "How about Adam? He seems reliable enough. Maybe we could offer him a Changer –"

"Absolutely fucking not!"

"You don't have to swear, Syd. It was just a suggestion."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Over my dead body."

"Well, we can figure out what to do with the rest of these later," Ryan said, pushing the Mark-IIs off to one side. "Who wants to Level up first?"

Analyzing... analysis complete.

Target Identification: War-Form, Human Juggernaut

Commencing Standard Attribute Evaluation...

Effective Level: 8

Strength: 17

Agility: 12

Toughness: 22

Endurance: 14

Abilities:

Intercept (Rank 2)

Energy Shield (Rank 3)

Power Stance (Rank 1)

Momentum (Rank 1)

Energy Blade (Rank 1)

Threat Rating: HIGH

Amy had made it to Level 7 just from the fighting, and a few salvaged Mark-I Changers brought her up to Level 8. She'd asked for her Attribute points to be split between Strength and Toughness. Her free Ability rank went into Intercept, increasing its duration, and just like she'd sworn she would, she used the Ability slot that opened at Level 8 Ability to grab Energy Blade.

Target Identification: War-Form, Human Assassin

Commencing Standard Attribute Evaluation...

Effective Level: 8

Strength: 14

Agility: 25

Toughness: 6

Endurance: 8

Abilities:

Decoy (Rank 2)

Prowler Mode (Rank 2)

Energy Claws (Rank 2)

Energy Dart (Rank 1)

Scattershot (Rank 1)

Threat Rating: MEDIUM

Syd was now at Level 8 as well. Her Attributes remained skewed by choice towards Strength and Agility, but her Abilities were rounded out by the acquisition of Scattershot, a Marksman technique that would convert her single Energy Dart shots into a shotgun-like spray that should prove highly effective in close-range engagements. Privately, Ryan suspected that she was still sulking over not being allowed to take the Marksman Changer, but they were her build choices to make.

A scuffle had almost broken out when Ryan informed them that Amy's threat rating had gone up to high, while Syd's remained at medium. His explanation that the difference was because Amy's non-transformed Attributes were higher hadn't helped matters.

Target Identification: War-Form, Human Savant

Commencing Standard Attribute Evaluation...

Effective Level: 5

Strength: 7

Agility: 15

Toughness: 10

Endurance: 22

Abilities:

Bolster (Rank 3)

Accelerate Recovery (Rank 1)

Stabilize (Rank 1)

Threat Rating: MEDIUM

Cat, at her own insistence, had only been given whatever Changers were left over to salvage after bringing Amy and Syd both up to Level 8. With some justification, she'd argued that it was more important to make their front-liners stronger, and that she could catch up over time. Syd immediately agreed, of course, but Amy had taken some persuading.

Her Attribute points had been put into Endurance and Agility, which Ryan thought a wise choice given her combat role. Both Ability ranks she'd gained went to Bolster, and for her next Ability slot, she'd taken Stabilize, allowing her to place a target in stasis temporarily in order to prevent their condition from degrading further.

At first, he'd thought she was still focused on powers that could be put to use in her day job, but she'd surprised him by asking what would happen if it would work on hostile targets. He had to admit that he had no idea, and now they were both looking forward to finding out.

Discovering that his Implant now gave Cat a threat rating of medium too didn't calm Syd down.

***

After clearing away the remains of lunch, and safely stowing the Mark-II Changers that they hadn't decided what to do with, Syd pulled Cat and Amy into a huddle.

That's not worrisome at all, he assured himself as the three of them went back and forth in low whispers.

"I don't know," Amy said, loudly enough for him to overhear. "We've still got an alien invasion out there for us to deal with. And then there's my day job. I'm almost out of vacation time –"

"Bo-ring," Syd cut in. "You can worry about that stuff tomorrow."

"She's right, hon," Cat said. "Every now and then, you need to let yourself live a little. I think you've earned a day or two off, hm?"

Amy sighed.

"...one more day would be okay, I guess," she allowed. "But only one!"

"That's the spirit. Alright, big guy, we're headed out!" Syd announced.

"Out?" Ryan asked. "Where to?"

"Shopping!" Syd gave him a huge grin. "Cat and I are going to give Amy a makeover, and then you're taking us out on a date."

"I am?" Her grin turned into a scowl. "I mean, yeah, of course I am." Like the sun emerging from behind a passing cloud, the grin returned, brighter than ever. "Uh, I guess I'll get ready here, then. You three have... fun?"

"You'd better believe we will," Syd said. "I can't wait to get Amy out of these clothes."

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes!" Amy protested as she was steered towards the door.

"Take care, handsome," Cat said over her shoulder. As she hurried to catch up with the pair, he heard her asking, "Do you think the store will have earplugs?"

Once the door had closed behind them, Ryan leaned back in his chair.

His team had more than enough on their plate. A lot more training would be necessary to familiarize them with their hard-earned new Abilities. Cat had integrated well, considering how little time the three of them were given to practice together as a group, but there was always room for improvement in that regard, too.

They should be safe from Zorvax pursuit, but they'd still need to figure out a way of striking back at the enemy. Until now, the aliens assigned to Sol-III had been reluctant to request help from the Star Empire, but the serious setback he and his team dealt them by blowing up the extraction site's portal generator might force them to reconsider their stance. In the future, they might find themselves battling against real heavies from offworld... if they were tremendously unlucky, it was possible the Empire could even send one of the legendary Enforcers who'd broken the Level 20 barrier to deal with them.

And then there was their own government to consider. The National Security Agency's goons had gone after his teammates twice already, and he doubted they were going to give up. Hopefully the Zorvax attack would keep their domestic adversaries occupied, at least for a while, but it was another problem they'd eventually need to face.

But you're not alone anymore, he reminded himself. You've got a team now, a team that you can trust. A team that's depending on you.

The guardians of Earth, Amy had called them. Right now, they were the last line of defense against the Zorvax invasion... or, perhaps, the first of many more to come?

All three women had changed and grown tremendously in the short time he'd known them. Sure, if they wanted to be able to stand up to what came next, they still had a long way to go... but the foundation they'd given him to build on was rock-solid.

And that, he decided, was something he could work with.

Having reassured himself, Ryan pulled out his phone and started searching for nearby restaurants.

I wonder what kind of food is Amy's favorite...?

The End

of

Book One: Rising Stars

Earth's Last Guardians Will Return

in

Book Two: Falling Skies