Artificial

Counterattack

Operator Apex

Adrenaline flowing through my veins, I turn to Evo.
"What's the next step, man? Let's finish this!"
He chuckles.
"Calm down, there, inflitrator. I need more info."
He turns to Reach.
"Climb that tower," he orders, nodding toward the structure I told Wraith to watch. "Try to get an idea of how much more enemy we're dealing with."
"Can do," he reports, and fires his grappling hook without looking back.
As he begins to lift off the ground, a soldier dressed in black appears on the balcony of the tower. He retrieves a machete from his back, the broad, razor-sharp blade covered in a black non-reflective coating. He pauses to inspect the weapon, then turns and slashes Reach's cable without warning. Reach falls awkwardly, caught off guard with no time to take any action. He hits the dirt hard, rolling for a few feet before eventually coming to a stop, sprawled out on his stomach.

The soldier jumps down from the platform, driving his machete into the ground with the force of his landing. He shakes the dust from the weapon, and approaches Reach as more soldiers appear from the surrounding buildings.
I finally snap out of my shock.
"Who the hell are these guys?"
"Don't know," Evo immediately replies. "They don't look like any known Saclarian or Mercenary units in the area."
"Doesn't matter," Shockwave concludes, stepping forward. "They clearly want to kill Reach, and I am not about to let that happen."
She breaks into a sprint, closing the distance between her and the group of soldiers, and the original soldier turns around, then throws his machete at her.
Shockwave doesn't flinch as a perfectly placed sniper shot sends the weapon clattering to the ground. Evo lowers the Omni-Rifle as smoke rises from its barrel. As Shockwave nears the hostile group, she leaps into the air, then slams her fists into the ground as she lands, gauntlets firing at full power. For a second, there is silence as a wave of destructive raw force charges toward the soldiers, who turn to look at her. Then, the ground beneath them seems to erupt, throwing all of them, including Reach, into the air.

Evo and Wraith instantly snap into firing position.
"Body shots!" Evo calls out.
"Understood," Wraith replies.
They fire precise, perfectly aimed shots, their gunfire cyclic and oddly rhythmic.
Boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom, like a lethal heartbeat. Reach and the hostiles finally begin to descend, and Shockwave stands in the center of the crater she created.
"I've got you, baby, don't worry!"
Reach falls out of the sky like a satellite knocked out of orbit, but Shockwave handles the impact and then some, cradling the stunned Operator in her arms as debris showers the fortress.
"You're alright, honey. I've got you," she coos as the rest of us inspect the enemy force.
Every soldier is dead, with two gunshot wounds to the chest.
"Damn, Evo," I comment as I drape an arm over Wraith's shoulders. "Did you give her a slice of brain or something?"
"Nope," Evo responds with a proud smile. "Kid's a natural."