Will grimaced in pain as he lay on top of what was left of the sixth floor. They had fallen straight through the roof, leaving a gaping hole in the ceiling. Dust swirled in the air, and stray bits of brick and concrete fell from above.

Warning lights flashed on his HUD, indicating areas where the mech was damaged.

'Critical damage detected. Damage at 20%, and Operation power reduced to 80%. Reserving power for protection mode.'

Will dismissed the message and felt about the rubble. His fingers found the metal door which had shielded him from the blast. It now lay in ruins, warped and twisted. Next to it was Ethan Wright, highlighted in grey.

'Ethan Wright eliminated. Currently under protection mode.'

Will grimaced and accessed his comms.

"Remy? Becca?"

For a few tense seconds, there was no answer, then he heard coughing coming from the other end.

"Becca!"

Will glanced at the center of the room as the dust cover parted. The beacon glowed bright. It was still functional, and Remy was crouched beside it, working away furiously. Becca, who was defending him, was buried in rubble from the waist down. A perfect semicircle of rocks and debris arched around her. It looked like she managed to deflect most of the rocks with her field but didn't have the energy to stop herself from being buried.

Will pushed himself to his feet, and he saw a flicker of movement coming from the rubble ahead. An enemy mech, highlighted in red, was dragging itself towards the duo in the center. Oscar from Team Valkyrie had his eyes fixed on the beacon, ready to take it down.

Cursing, Will rushed forward. He wasn't the only one. Another mech, highlighted in blue, went for the enemy. Both of them reached Oscar at the same time, fists raised.

"Dammit!" Oscar yelled as he blocked a few of the strikes. His resistance, however, didn't last too long, and his suit fell dead, now greyed out on Will's HUD.

Will panted for breath as he looked up at his assistant.

"Kade."

"Dunn," the bigger boy grunted.

"Didn't expect to still see you here."

"Neither did I, you."

Will let out a breath. "Is that the last of them?"

"No..." Kade pushed past him and walked toward the corner of the room. "There is one more left."

A sparking mech rose out of the rubble and stepped forward. Its left leg moved with a creak, and its chest plate was caved in. The gun it was holding had its barrel twisted at an awkward angle. Valerie Maxwell stared at her firearm in mute silence.

Will gave a low whistle. "Damn, Val. You've looked better."

Valerie gave a dry chuckle. "Is this your doing, Will? What kind of idiot drops an entire floor on his allies?"

"The kind that is going to win," said Will, stepping forward.

A crack raced up from the far wall, and the load-bearing beam bent under the stress. Will felt sweat trickle down his back.

"That can't be good," Will muttered, switching channels on his comms. "Becca?"

There was another bout of coughing down the line. "Will? I'm stuck. The mech is not responding."

"Don't worry," said Will. "I'll take care of it."

Will watched Valerie shift to the side. She pointed at the spreading cracks. "This doesn't look like a win. You destroyed your own base. It won't be long now before you are all buried."

"We just have to take you out before that happens," said Kade.

Valerie tilted her head. "You like your odds?"

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"Two against one, Val," said Will. "You can't be thinking of beating us in your state."

"I don't need to beat you..." Her hand drifted to her side. Will and Kade stepped forward at the movement, and she paused.

"...I just need to beat that," she said, staring at the beacon behind them.

Will grimaced and glanced at the grenades hanging at her waist.

The three stared each other down, their muscles tense.

The pause barely lasted a second before Valerie's hands snapped to her waist. Will and Kade exploded forward with all the power their machines could muster. Valerie had barely touched her grenades before Kade was upon her, swiping for her head.

She dodged backwards, but Will was on her a second later, aiming for her legs. Forced to jump, she lost her chance to grab a grenade.

Kade followed the assault, and she brought her bent rifle to block the attack. A dull clang rang out as the gun barrel twisted some more. More attacks followed, and Valerie dodged all of them in her broken mech. Smoke came from its internals, and her speed reduced considerably.

Will and Kade kept up their assault, pressuring her at close quarters. They didn't allow her time to reach for the grenades, much less arm them. Will considered using his rifle but dropped the idea. The pause in the flow of attacks could give her an opportunity. Also, she could just tank the bullets with her field to toss the grenade. If they let up for even a second, the match was lost.

Kade jumped and brought both of his fists in a massive overhead attack. The double Axe hand crashed into Valerie, and she was forced to raise her arms to defend. Her knees buckled, and Will flashed to her side, taking a swipe at her grenades.

The bombs fell tumbling down on the floor. Valerie gave a scream of frustration and twisted out of the way at the last second. Will clicked his tongue. He had missed one. A single grenade hung around Valerie's waist.

Valerie tried to disengage and gain some distance, but Will and Kade stuck close to her. The fight got more violent, and cracks raced through the building.

The load-bearing beam sagged, and Will felt the floor tilt. The sudden lurch sent Will stumbling, which was the exact opening that Valerie was looking for. Her field concentrated around her fist, and she sent a punch towards him.

Will watched with wide eyes as the fist headed for him. The punch was empowered with so much energy that the air around it shimmered. If it hit him, he was done.

A wild roar came from beside him, and Kade intercepted the fist. He didn't even have time to empower the mech with his field. The fist crashed into him, and his mech echoed like a gong. Sparks raced down the mech as the power train was disrupted. It sputtered to a stop, and Kade fell to the floor, his form greyed out.

'Rowan Kade, eliminated.'

Not wasting any time, Valerie grabbed for her one remaining grenade and pulled out the pin. She was about to toss it at the beacon when an armored fist closed around her hand.

Will gritted his teeth as he kept a tight grip around the grenade, preventing Valerie from releasing the spool. As long as it remained pressed, the grenade fuse couldn't be lit.

"Let go!" Valerie snarled, and her legs came lashing out. Will blocked the kick with his shin and blocked a punch that followed. Valerie didn't pause in her assault, but Will didn't let go. He pulled at her arm, throwing off her balance as he blocked.

Valerie screamed with frustration and bodily tackled Will, trying to stun him into releasing her hand. They rolled around on the floor, and Will subconsciously reached for his shard. His channels burned, and the crystal refused to respond. His reserves were too low.

"Fine! If you want to hold onto my grenade, I'll borrow something from you!" Valerie snaked her free hand towards Will's rifle and pulled the trigger. Will cursed as he felt the bullet brush past his faceplate.

"Dammit!" Will cursed as she pulled the trigger again. The bullet struck the floor next to him. In his surprise, he let go of Valerie's grenade hand. The sudden lack of resistance caused her arm to snap back, and she sent the grenade flying.

Both of them watched in stunned silence as the bomb bounced and rolled towards the cracked load-bearing wall.

It came to a stop with a dull clink, and their whole world turned white. The blinding explosion sent the floor heaving, and they heard the beam snap in half.

Will and Valerie hugged the floor as the entire corner of the building broke away, taking the outer wall with it. It was like a giant took a bite out of the upper right corner of the building, leaving their floor open to the elements.

Will felt Valerie stir under him, and he grabbed hold of her. She heaved herself upright and tried to throw him off, but Will held on tight, trapping her arms.

"Let go of me, Will!" Valerie raged. Her mech roared as she drew in more power from the engine, but Will held fast.

A loud bang came from next to his feet, and Will cursed when he found that Valerie still held on to his rifle. She was now desperately trying to raise her hand to aim.

A hail of gunfire followed as she directed her fire towards the beacon.

"Shit!" Will cursed, his heart beating fast. The bullets missed, but it was only a matter of time before a stray shot struck the beacon.

"Remy? Becca?!" Will called out over his comms.

"Remy has silenced his radio, Will," wheezed Becca. "He said that he needed a few more minutes."

Valerie fired once more with his rifle, and Will had to jerk her to the side to avoid hitting the beacon. Becca screamed as the bullets nearly struck her.

Will grunted as he dragged Valerie back. More bullets sprayed out of the rifle and pinged off the floor.

Valerie struggled hard against his bindings. "Give it up. Your mech is nearly drained. In a few more minutes, I'm going to win anyway."

"Will, hold on!" said Becca.

"Trying to," Will grunted. "But she's right. My power is being drained."

"I'll help you," said Becca, struggling to get out of her stuck mech.

"Don't worry, I have a plan," said Will. Wind howled around him as he neared the edge of the broken floor. Snow rushed in from the opening, and he gazed behind him at the open air with a grim smile.

Valerie looked panicked. "What are you doing?"

"Wait!" said Becca. "Will, no!"

Will dragged Valerie back and stepped off the edge of the building. Together, they plummeted toward the ground.