Bullets ripped through the rusted car as if it were made of paper, shredding any sense of safety for the three huddled behind it.

"Dammit," Victor cursed under his breath.

"Mind telling your sister to lay off us?" Will winced as more of the car gave way under the rain of gunfire.

Victor gave a hollow laugh. "You tell her yourself."

"Fine," Will grunted, his jaw clenched as he gripped the car's undercarriage. His field flared as he began to lift the vehicle.

Victor and Becca exchanged a brief glance, comprehension dawning quickly. Without hesitation, they joined Will, their combined efforts lifting the car from the side. With a final push, they hurled it towards Valerie.

The one-ton vehicle came crashing down on her, spraying snow everywhere. Will aimed his rifle at the car, waiting for Valerie to pop-out when he heard a faint click. A cloud of dense white mist rose up from behind the car and billowed towards them.

"Smoke screen! Smoke screen!" yelled Will. "Prepare for ambush!"

The smoke engulfed them in an instant, and Will reached for his shard. The world vibrated, and time stood still.

A storm of sensation flooded in—an impact to his abdomen, followed by a slash across his chest plate.

Time unfroze, and Will snapped back to reality. He raised his foot, blocking the incoming blow with his shin. Servos whirred as he stepped forward, slamming into Valerie before she could draw her blade.

They exchanged a series of blows that rattled their mechs. Valerie finished with a spinning heel kick that had Will stumbling, but she didn't press her advantage. Sensing Victor and Becca closing in, she pulled back and vanished into the smoke.

"She's retreating!" Will yelled into the comms. "Going in pursuit."

Will burst out of the fog and chased Valerie, who was sprinting down the road at full pelt.

"Damn!" said Victor. "She was just buying time for the other one to escape."

"If she is offering herself as bait, I'm more than willing to accept," said Will as he sprinted after Valerie, with Becca and Victor following closely behind.

They rushed after her, determined to bring her down. Valerie had overextended herself in their last clash. Even she could not take them on, three on one. Her failed ambush proved that.

"Be careful," said Victor over the comms. "She could just lead us to another ambush."

Becca sent a burst of fire down the road, and Valerie dodged out of the way, taking an abrupt turn into a side alley.

Will nearly ran past the alley, and he had to push his foot into the ground, spraying snow as he slid to a stop at the mouth of the side street. Valerie, who had a head start, was suspiciously slower as she moved further into the alley, and Will sensed a trap. On a hunch, he sprayed the road ahead with his rifle, and there was a flash and a loud explosion that rocked the side street.

"Shit!" Victor cursed.

Will didn't wait for the dust to clear; he jumped through the flames and darted into the side alley. Valerie was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the street as he ran when he noticed a white blur moving above him. Val had scaled the building as though she was weightless, jumping from one window sill to another, climbing ever higher.

Will reached for his shard. The skill activated in an instant, and he sent a large portion of his reserves into his eyes. The two linked, and the world vibrated. Time stood still.

This time, a stream of images poured in, not just vague sensations. He saw himself moving down the alley at blinding speed, his feet carrying him up a car as he leapt to the nearest window sill. The images split into three—in one, he didn't make the jump and crashed into the building; in another, he made the jump but slipped off the accumulated snow, and in the next, he—

The skill cut off as the psions he fed the skill ran out. Time resumed, and Will snapped back into reality. Valerie was still in mid-leap, and Will rushed after her.

He vaulted up the car and made the first jump. The window sill came at him, but he had judged the distance correctly, and his foot came down at just the right angle. Will sent a pulse of his field down his leg and blasted aside the gathered snow as his foot touched the sill. Without a pause, he jumped again to the next window. He climbed ever higher until he closed in on the fire escape. Will landed on the stairs with a loud clang and chased Valerie up the building.

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His sudden appearance didn't go unnoticed. Valerie paused her climb and aimed her rifle down at him. Will hugged the side wall as the bullets rained down.

"Hold on, Will," Becca sounded over the comms as she and Victor rushed to catch up. Will didn't waste any time and smashed his fist through a side window, climbing into the building.

The rain of bullets abated as Will disappeared, but the quiet was soon broken by more gunfire as Becca and Victor fired up at Valerie. There was the sound of breaking glass, followed by a heavy thud. Valerie had made her way into the building just like Will.

Gritting his teeth, Will rushed upstairs, and the heavy stomping coming from above told him that Valerie was doing the same. The relentless thuds continued as they climbed floor after floor.

Will spotted Valerie's shadow as she continued her mad dash. She showed no sign of stopping or slowing down.

"She is going for the roof," Will spoke into the comms.

"She is trying to separate you from the group, Will!" Victor yelled. "She'd try to take you out on the roof."

"I know," said Will. He glanced at the clock on his HUD. It was ten minutes to four. "I won't do anything crazy."

Will rushed up the stairs, checking the floor numbers as he passed by. There was only a single flight of stairs left to reach the top. Just as he was about to climb further, he heard a click and the faintest ting of a metal pin.

Immediately, he dug his armored hand into the stairway railing. A loud screech sounded as his mech's metal hand dragged against the handrail, bleeding out his momentum before coming to a complete stop. An explosion rocked the stairway, and Will was thrown off his feet. He slammed against the side wall but was otherwise unharmed. Bits of brick and concrete rained down on him, and a large hole was blasted in the flight of stairs above.

Will poked his head around the bend and spotted Valerie disappearing out of the roof access. Cursing, he made his way up and leapt across the gap in the stairs. He reached the landing and found the access door broken in half. Will flicked a flash grenade past the gap. It went off with a loud bang, and the searing light was barely abated by the broken door. Will rushed forward, ready for an ambush, but Valerie was nowhere to be seen. Will spotted her at the edge of the roof, leaping away to another building.

"She is heading east!" Will yelled into the comms.

"We see her," said Becca, "in pursuit."

Will revved his engine and rushed to the edge of the building, leaping off. He soared through the gap and landed on the other side, rolling to a stop. Valerie sped away, already jumping to the next building.

Will followed, surprised by her passivity. The Valerie he knew would already be pinning him against the ground, ripping his mech in half. Will updated his coordinates as he followed, barely keeping pace with her.

They passed a dozen buildings. Roof after roof went by as he kept up the chase. He was so focused on Valerie that Becca's sudden call came as a surprise.

"Will, what's going on? You two have been going in circles for a while now."

"What?!" said Will, surprised by the sudden interruption. It took him a second to register what he had heard, and he glanced at his HUD. Becca was right. Valerie had been hovering about the same area, going back and forth in a zigzagging scanning pattern.

"This is..." Will began when he spotted what was wrong. "Hey Vic, isn't she moving awfully close to your base?"

There was a pause in the line, and then Victor cursed. "Shit! How does she know?"

Will glanced at the area where they had initial contact with the opposition and spotted a large tower a few clicks away.

"There's a tower to the south. It's tall enough to give a clear view of the entire arena. I think Team Valkyrie started around there. Val must have made a beeline for it and spotted us making our way around the base," said Will. "She has a general idea where the base is but not an exact location."

"We need to head her off, then," said Victor. "If this continues, she will stumble onto the base eventually."

"She's making her way east," said Becca. "Our best bet is to try and force her south."

"Roger that," said Will. Valerie was headed towards the edge of the building for her next jump. Will unslung his rifle and opened fire on her the moment her feet left the ground. The slugs pinged against her back, scorching the mech. Valerie flared her field at the last moment and deflected the rest of the bullets away before she landed on the nearby rooftop.

She didn't spare Will a glance and took off almost immediately. She wanted to find Victor's base as quickly as possible, but Will had other ideas. He took out a grenade and lobbed it to the other building. It arched high in the air and landed in front of Valerie, who barely had a second to dodge.

The explosion went off with a blinding bang as Will leapt off his building. He landed with a hard thud and spotted Valerie rolling off to the side. She bounced back in a flash and took off running. Her armor, though scorched black, was still functional judging by how fast she moved.

"She has changed direction," said Will. "Now, headed northeast."

"Copy that," said Becca.

Will leapt to the next building, keeping pace with Valerie. Just as she approached the edge of the building, shots came from below. The sudden attack knocked her off course, and she was forced to change her direction again, this time to the north.

"Shit! She slipped the net again," said Becca. "Do you still have sight of her, Will?"

"Yes," said Will as he fired a few pot shots at Valerie, who dodged the attacks effortlessly.

"Stop her before she does more damage," said Becca.

Will tossed another grenade, but this time Valerie was ready. She was out of the way before it even touched the floor. A loud boom shook the building as the bomb went off. Will fired a few quick shots at Valerie, but she zigzagged across the rooftops, keeping Will guessing where she was going to go next.

Will waited for her to leap to the next building so he could toss another grenade, offering no chance to dodge, when Valerie did a double-take and stared off to the right.

Will followed her gaze and spotted a large, broken-down building in the distance. It was a long way away, but there was a dim glow coming from the fifth floor. Will spotted the beacon and Remy patrolling beside it.

Eyes wide, Will saw Valerie take aim.

Will sprinted forward, yelling into the communicator, "Rem—"

The gun went off with a bang, and the beacon exploded into pieces. Will watched in stunned horror as stray bits of metal and plastic rain down like snow.

Their beacon was no more.