Without hesitation, Osman authorised the Rothian integration request. Large red silhouettes appeared on the roads either side of their car, towards the convoy’s front and also behind them. Area markers above their heads painted three sections of the glassy tower blocks around them.

“Ambush! Weapons free!” The Major barked over comms, reaching for her combat rifle in the footwell. Energy weapons lit up along the full length of the convoy, sending great cascades of blue fire into the alleyways.

The bulbous visor crawled back over 595’s face and its red triangle blinked on. With gritted teeth, she forced a tethered iteration of the Scrivener-Fujikawa virus into one of the tower blocks off to their right.

All at once, anti-materiel rounds fizzed into the tanks from up high, leaving tracer vapor in their wake. Great curtains of sparks erupted into the air and the deafening screech of rending metal filled the air.

595 just had time to turn and shout “Get down!” To the two scientists in the back seats before a juggernaut exploded out of a side street towards them. The cloaking around it failed with a great *pop*, and a high explosive round from the rear tank filled the cabin with fire.

Freyr didn’t even have time to scream before the flaming truck slammed into the side of their car at top speed. The impact was devastating, with their car cartwheeling over and over. Debris flew around the interior, clattering against her helmet. Dr Girard’s nose smashed against the headrest in front of her, sending blood spraying everywhere. The car hit the ground upside down, then slid into the side of the building on the opposite side of the street. Freyr found her breath to scream, hanging upside down.

Vreta had to duck back into the passenger hold quickly as he saw the truck careening towards them. He pressed his feet into the wall underneath one of the seats while digging his claws into the thinner metal of the roof above them, pushing hard against both to try and keep himself stable once their vehicle was hit. His armor could protect him from the impact, but he would be a danger to others in the vehicle if he ended up flying around the hold untethered. He relied on Rhia to make small adjustments to keep him in place as their car was rolling.

After a few seconds, the car came to rest upside down and Vreta allowed himself to drop down onto what was formerly the roof. For someone properly armored, like himself or the Agent, the crash had not been too much of a danger, but not everyone in their vehicle was so well equipped. All had protection, but for the civilians it was more basic. In any case, Vreta did his best to right himself quickly. With all the chaos around them, they would have to organize quickly if they wanted to effectively defend themselves.

”I can’t update enemy positions from in here. We need to get out as quickly as we can. From what I can calculate, we were knocked into one of the buildings. It could provide cover, but there’s no guarantee there aren’t hostiles waiting inside in ambush. Still, we’d probably have a better chance of fighting them off inside than standing out in the open in the street. Either way, we need to move quickly. I can’t update enemy positions from inside this thing.” Rhia advised.

Vreta silently acknowledged Rhia, then took stock of the status of the others. Dr. Girard seemed to be injured, but he could not tell just on appearance if it was just superficial, or something that would require treatment. “What is everyone’s status? Can everyone move? We need to go; we’re not safe here.” He said as he moved over towards one of the doors leading, presumably, into the building. It was bent by the impact and might have been jammed in place, but he would kick it off its hinges if he had to.

“Mudda FOCKER.” Dr Girard gurgled, shaking hands moving to gently feel her face. Blood dripped out of her broken nose onto her forehead, and from there, the ceiling of the car. “My nozsch.” Girard slurred, poking herself. “Don’t touch it!” Freyr shouted. “We need ice, does anyone have ice?” She looked around the cabin frantically, searching for ice while still upside down.

595 unclipped her seatbelt and somehow managed to land the right way up in this cramped space. She wiped some of the debris off the window on her side and peered through. Heavy weapons-fire echoed through the street. A deafening explosion went off nearby, and for a brief moment the inside of their vehicle was brightly lit up. “I’m good. Osman, I need a proper weapon.”

“Shotgun in the box above your headrest. My leg is stuck…” The Major grunted, trying to free herself. “I’ll help you! Hold still.” The Corporal who had been driving offered, unclipping his seatbelt and crashing to the ceiling. Their car radio started up again, revealing a cacophony of shouts and battle instructions.

595 broke open a lockbox at her feet and pulled out a little cube that began unfolding into a weapon. The Agent grabbed a couple of spare energy cells too and attached them to her chest.

Freyr shrieked, pointing. “There are people out there! They’re coming this way! GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Her breath came out fast and ragged, and Freyr found she was struggling to speak anymore. As she watched, three figures stepped through the smoke and haze of the battle. Energy rounds fizzed all around them, but they stayed focused on the vehicle. One had some kind of buzz saw.

There was not much time to act, so Vreta did benefit from Rhia’s tactical advice. Her best estimates of where they were, and the effort that would be required to break out did give him at least a plan to work with. They did not have time to sit around and discuss, most certainly, so he needed to be willing to act decisively.

Vreta reached down and grabbed his plasma blade from its holster on his thigh, then flipped it around and handed it to Agent 595. “Take this. It should easily be able to cut a way into the building. Get Freyr and the other civilians out that way.”

Wasting no time, Vreta leaned over towards Osman and reached up to the floor. A quick look at the metal that had crumpled onto Osman’s foot allowed Rhia to direct him where to grab it to allow him to most easily, and safely, bend back the metal. He had to lightly shove the Corporal to the side to do it, but he did not have the luxury of time to be polite, aside from a softly spoken “Excuse me.”

After a moment, Vreta heard the sound of the saw piercing through the door behind him. They did not have long now. As quickly as he could, he moved over to the left side of the door their attackers were breaking into, keeping himself low on his back, and hopefully out of sight. It had been Dr. Girard's seat, though 595 was just as proactive as Vreta by moving her. The civilians were still stressed and panicked, and so not necessarily thinking clearly. However, it had been easy enough for the Agent to "encourage" her to move over to the other end of the vehicle. Just moving around the tight space with so many people involved quite a lot of pushing, shoving, and being crammed up next to others, but it was better than being captured, shot, or worse. “Osman, if you can, help me guard this door. We just need to buy time for everyone else to escape into the building, then we’ll go out that way too. Everyone else can join the Agent in protecting the civilians.”

So as long as they stayed off to the sides of the door, the pair of them would have decent cover from within the vehicle, and they did not need to buy much time for the others to get out. Vreta intended to take the initiative, but he would still wait as long as he could to do so. Rhia recognized his plan, so she went ahead and prepared as best as she could. The muscles in his legs were mostly synthetic, so she disabled some of the safety limiters restricting their maximum force, then preemptively deployed nanites to the area to quickly deal with any tearing.

Vreta watched the door carefully as he readied his rifle. Given the tight quarters, he switched the firing mode to scattershot and took aim. Rhia kept an eye on the integrity of the door, and just as the saw was about to open up the door, Vreta delivered to it the most powerful kick he could muster. It flew off its hinges and slammed immediately into the one holding the saw. Since the saw had almost broken through already, nearly the full force of the kick was transferred to the door, and by extent, the person behind it. Against an unprotected body, it was the kind of blow that could collapse one’s chest cavity and turn ribs to powder. Armor would likely protect against such things, but a Human would still be hard-pressed to stay standing through such a blow.

Once the door was open, Rhia would immediately resume marking targets as best she could. Vreta, taking cover to the left of the door, was ready to fire out to the center and right at any hostiles that might be in view.

595 nodded thanks to Vreta for his plasma sword. She turned towards the door, pointed it at one of the hinges and activated it. A rippling orange blade extended out, white-hot at the cutting edge. It comfortably sliced through the metal, so 595 pushed further, puncturing the glass mesh on the other side. The building was already trying to return to its original state, so 595 delivered a series of savage kicks to the door, sending it crashing through the window.

“Thanks.” Osman muttered as Vreta freed her foot. She gave it an experimental twirl. Satisfied, she looked at her subordinate. “Corporal, clear the hole. We’ll be right behind you. Agent, take them.” The Major hefted her gun, collapsing the stock so it was more manageable in tight spaces. The assailants who were now trying to saw through the back door started shooting at the other windows. The energy bolts beat the side of the car like a drum. “Go!”

“Tangier One, what is your status, over?” GCHQ crackled over comms. “We’re UNDER ATTACK!” Osman shouted. “Column is immobile - requesting IMMEDIATE support, OVER!”

595 let the Corporal squeeze past her, out of the vehicle and into the lobby. She crawled round so she could see the two scientists in the back. The Agent cleared her throat and assumed her soothing voice. “Hey guys. We’re gonna get you out of here, alright?”

Freyr, who was still upside down, nodded furiously. 595 came forward and helped her undo the seatbelt. She crashed to the ceiling of the vehicle, and untidily tried to barge past 595 into the middle. “No, we need Dr Girard too, remember?” The Agent pointed at the other scientist, who was staring groggily around, covered in blood while the saw cut a bright line around the door behind her. “Vreta wants to get in there, so let's get her down shall we?”

“Y-yeah, sorry.” Freyr stuttered, grabbing one of Girard’s shoulders. 595 put the researcher’s helmet up, then freed her. Together, they managed her safely down to the floor, then 595 dragged her out of the way so Vreta could get into position. “Dr Girard, are you with us? Do you have any dizziness? Can you follow my finger?” 595 looked at Freyr after a few seconds. “She might have a concussion - you’re going to need to hold onto her for a little while. Can you do that for me?”

“I..uh...suppose i could…”

“Good. Let's get her out of this vehicle to start with. One, two, aaand over.”

They dragged Dr Girard through the freed up middle hatch into the lobby of this building, just when a shower of glass exploded in from the side street entrance. “Hostiles!” The Corporal yelled, opening fire from behind a pillar.

Freyr screamed. 595 swore, and chucked Girard back on top of Freyr. Both of the scientists tumbled back into the car. The Agent turned, unholstered her pistol and fired on full auto at the trio of armoured figures pushing into the lobby. From what she could tell, two of them were in the same kind of armour as the ones outside. The other one though, was different. The armour was more ornate, ceremonial even. The main thing which concerned the Agent right now though, was the bright blue pointed spear in their left hand. A bright halo ringed their right.

On the street side, the ejected door sent the saw-wielder clattering to the floor. The gunslinger standing opposite the middle door unclipped a flashbang from their belt and chucked it into the backseat. The third dashed across to take up a position at the back of the car, giving them line of sight down the length of the vehicle. They fired aggressively into the car as they went, while the first soldier scrambled to their feet, shield lighting up.

With everything happening around them, Vreta’s responses had to be on point. They could not afford mistakes right now. This kind of fighting was not really his specialization, but in that, Rhia proved to be a remarkable help. With all the tactical feedback Rhia was providing for him, it did seem like she had a surprising amount of combat experience, even for an AI. She knew just what was important to highlight and when, along with recommendations that demonstrated a kind of intuition that could not simply be programmed.

Now that their car had a few exits, Vreta’s echolocation could now give him some additional vision again. Rhia was already marking targets once more, though her vision would be more limited until he left the vehicle entirely. From the street, she marked two hostiles that were close enough to be an immediate threat, while there were at least three behind them in the building. They needed to focus most of their efforts on securing their escape route, but they could not simply ignore the hostiles from the other side either. For Rhia, a plan presented itself as soon as she identified a flashbang being thrown in from the street.

“Help the Agent!” Vreta shouted to Osman. Grabbing the flashbang, he held it under his own body to protect his allies from most of its light and sound. Just as it was about to go off, Rhia briefly darkened his visor completely and blocked out all outside sound from his helmet so he would not experience any effects from the flashbang. It did detonate with some explosive force, though not nearly enough to threaten his armor.

Once the flashbang went off, Rhia knew the hostiles would be pushing aggressively. They would expect their targets to be stunned, disoriented, and vulnerable, so this was the time to strike. She resumed Vreta’s sensory input, then advised him to push his advantage. Rothian weaponry was highly advanced and equally powerful, so when in combat with other species, Rothians usually operated their weapons at a lower power level. Ideally, it would be just enough to breach their opponents’ defenses, which would allow them to conserve energy and keep it powered for more shots. However, right now, Rhia kept Vreta’s weapon at full power; something normally reserved for damaging armored vehicles. Until she had more data on the quality of their enemies’ defensive capabilities, she wanted to make sure his shots would put them down.

In that moment, Vreta pushed aggressively enough that he was able to get a shot on the first soldier before he was fully back on his feet, then quickly transitioned to the second target. Since Rhia had his targets constantly marked, he could aim before the target came into view, then shoot the moment his weapon had a clear line of sight. An advantage of the scattershot firing mode was that the individual plasma shots arrived at slightly different times. An energy shield, even if it was depleted completely by a shot, would generally prevent the first projectile from causing harm, so a rifle would have to fire again to make the kill. Scattershot weapons could potentially deplete a shield and make the kill in a single blast. Even so, Vreta still fired two quick shots each for his second and third target.

Regardless of how many hostiles might be on the street side of the car, Vreta still intended to back off and help with their escape right away. He had just needed to make sure they would not get surrounded from both sides too quickly.

More of the ambushers out in the street heard the buzz of overclocked Rothian weaponry, and turned to their fallen comrades. Most of the CraSec convoy was blocked in and being torn to pieces by rail guns from up high and energy weapons all around. One of the tanks was destroyed; the other span in circles and fired randomly into the buildings surrounding them.

The order came in to secure the target, so half a dozen of them peeled off and approached the tower. Some got shots on the armoured Rothian before they disappeared back inside the vehicle.

595 heard Vreta shout, just as the ambushers zeroed in on her with their heavy repeaters. Her shield in danger of failing, the Agent picked up the armoured car door which she’d cut through moments before and crouched behind it. There wasn’t much cover in this massive lobby, with just a dozen pillars around the edge, an assortment of sofas and tables, and a high desk on the other side to hide behind. The three assailants had stepped brazenly forward, occupying a commanding position on their side of the lobby.

595 felt Osman’s gloved hand on the top of her back, as the Major crouched behind her portable cover. “Get ready to move when we say, Dr Lang!” Osman called, before standing up to shoot over the top of the door. 595 shuffled forward a couple of steps and shot round the side with her pistol.

The spear-wielding person in the middle of the opposing trio held their haloed hand out in front. They quickly rotated their wrist back and forth, thumb and index pads touching. Sheets of slick grey material with a slot near the top burst from the floor in front of the two soldiers. They raised their guns again and shot through the slots.

The gilt-armoured leader then pointed at the pillar from behind which the Corporal was shooting. They clenched their fist, and the pillar burst into a thousand artifacting fragments, leaving the CraSec soldier exposed.

The Corporal made a run for the next pillar along, but never made it. The mysterious warrior threw their spear with such force that it flew almost too quick for the naked eye to process. It pierced the Corporal's chest, came out the other side and made a hole in the mesh-glass behind. He fell to his knees, then collapsed forward without a word. 595 watched with gritted teeth as the spear slowly digi-structed back in the person’s hand, growing from both ends. That’s not good.

"They're a Builder! Focus their gauntlet!" She called over comms, aiming carefully at the blue halo. The person walked calmly behind the nearest cover wall, while the soldiers carried on blanketing them with plasma.

Vreta quickly backed away through the car, then out the other exit into the building. He had taken a hit or two from his brief exposure, but his shields still held strong. Given his weaponry and shield strength, he expected that he was going to be a priority target for these attackers, but there was a way that could work to the advantage of the team as a whole. As long as he could fight smart and withstand the pressure on him, that would be pressure not on his allies. As expected, the full-powered scattershot blasts from his rifle were most certainly overkill against the enemy’s defenses. At full power, Vreta did have to watch his rate of fire in the scattershot firing mode to avoid overheating, but in any case, Rhia did somewhat dial back the weapon’s output setting. She did not yet have enough data to know the exact efficient power setting, but she would continue to fine-tune it as they went along.

Fortunately, Rhia had been keeping track of the fight behind them. They were pinned at the moment, and had already taken a casualty due to this “builder.” That was clearly the largest threat, but at the moment Vreta emerged from the car, the builder was still behind cover. As dire as the situation seemed, though, there was a way out. At this moment, there were still just three opponents, including this builder. Any kills they could get would drastically reduce the pressure on them. The hostile soldiers had good cover, but they were shooting from a static position. Rather than trying to use mobility to avoid shots, they relied on their cover being difficult to aim a shot through. Before Vreta was even in sight, Rhia was already running the calculations.

Given the lack of cover near the car, Vreta simply had to act quickly. As soon as he crawled out of the opening, he got up on one knee and took aim. Rhia had swapped his weapon back to its rifle firing mode, with two-round burst. Vreta did have his limits and still had to fire from a stable position to make such precise shots, but his shields could still take the hits. And of course, Rhia was what fine-tuned his abilities beyond what he could naturally achieve. She calculated the ideal trajectory, then gave him the small nudges needed to make sure he used it. As he was squeezing the trigger, she tightened and relaxed different muscle groups in his arms to nudge the barrel a few degrees in the right direction just before he fired his burst at the rightmost soldier’s head.

Above all, Vreta was still alert for the builder. If they peered out of cover for a moment, Vreta intended to swap targets immediately. Unless they could confidently survive the damage his weapon could output, the threat would force caution out of this builder as well.

595 took advantage of the pinpoint covering fire from their Rothian attaché to rush forward. Osman, still holding the back of her armour, followed suit, firing on full-auto. They pushed comfortable, stylish chairs out of the way and made it to a low water feature before their portable cover collapsed like wet cardboard under the second soldier’s suppressing fire. They crashed into a prone position behind the fountain.

“We have got to move!” Osman shouted. “I have a plan! Just give me a few seconds!” 595 called back, accessing her deep-HUD. Osman fired over the top of the fountain, laying on her back. Returning plasma flicked chunks of super-heated masonry all over her.

The first soldier that Vreta fired at ducked down in a blur, with just one shot hitting the target. They turned and placed one hand on the Builder’s chest. Both shields glowed brightly, with extra capacity being lent to the leader instead of the footsoldier. The Builder stood up slowly, then quickly peered through the gap and punched the air.

A fist of the same grey alloy shot from the floor under Vreta’s feet, seeking to pound him into ceiling.

At the same time, two more ambushers approached the street-side of the truck. They were much more cautious now - well aware of what the Rothian’s weapon could do. The bodies of their comrades lay steaming on the road outside the sawed-off door.

As much as Vreta generally preferred caution, now was not the where they could afford much of it. Vreta had only slowed down the hostiles from the street, not stopped them. They needed to resolve this builder’s ambush quickly, else they would find themselves surrounded. Ultimately, there was not much time for Vreta to formulate a plan with his team, as he suddenly found himself with the ground underneath him shifting. It was fortunate the lobby’s ceiling was as tall as it was, as it gave Vreta time to react before the artificial fist could crush him.

Vreta kicked off laterally from the object beneath him and decided to use that momentum to his advantage. As soon as he hit the ground, he kept running at his best sprint off towards the left flank, weaving between the pillars. A Rothian’s long, powerful legs were tailored to quick sprinting, even without the kind of enhancements Vreta had. With each leap he took forward, he also dashed side to side to make himself more difficult to hit. All the while, Vreta returned fire on the one soldier who was still shooting back. Rhia did have limits on how much she could control Vreta’s muscles, and therefore, how much she could correct his aim. While moving at such high speed, he was less accurate, though as he sprinted into a flanking angle on the hostiles’ cover position, there was still a good chance of him landing a shot. Enough that his enemies could not just ignore the threat. He wanted to find an angle on the builder, but whether he could make the kill or not, any attention on him was more time for Agent 595 to carry out her plan. He just hoped it was a good one.

Near-silent until now, the elevator doors behind the enemy position pinged open. Two silver Diplomatic Corps droids and two orange maintenance drones burst out. "YOU HAVE BEEN DEEMED HAZARDOUS - WILL YOU COMPLY?" They chanted. The machines did not wait for an answer; they surged forward, with one of each heading for the lone soldier and the Builder.

Back in the upside-down car, Freyr pressed a cold pack against Dr Girard’s broken nose, eliciting a shrill cry from her subordinate. “Shhh.” She soothed, before promptly shrieking too. The stubby snout of a gun poked through the street-side door, followed by the hands, arms and visor of another ambusher. The person looked at both of them - Freyr raised a hand out. “Don’t hurt us, please!” They clambered in. Freyr lashed out with her foot, trying to knock them back out again. The soldier grabbed her leg.

“HELLLPP!”

595’s exited her deep-HUD now her slaved drones were locked to targets. Her head snapped back to look at the crashed vehicle. She had to make a snap-decision between following through on her plan and supporting the Rothian, or protecting her mark. After a split-second, the Agent looked at Osman, who had just dropped a spent fuel cell out from underneath her rifle. “Help Vreta!” 595 commanded. Osman nodded, clicking another cell into place.

The Major popped out from behind the destroyed fountain, firing targeted bursts. 595 burst out of cover, running back towards the car. Plasma fire followed her for a second, before the soldier had to hide from Osman’s covering fire.

The Builder intently watched Vreta's run for a moment, then dragged the tip of one boot forward along the floor, ending in a low kick. A wave of grey emerged from the floor, carrying all the furniture with it as it moved towards the Rothian. It reached two thirds of the way to the ceiling, and covered half the room. Osman swore and scrambled out from behind the fountain, moving over to the right before crashing in behind a low sofa. She popped back out again promptly to continue firing. Vreta though, was still squarely in the way.

Being that he was more of the target for the attack, Vreta did not exactly have time to move to the side. Fortunately, he was equipped as well as he had been on the last mission. Instead of stopping, or even turning, Vreta kept up his trajectory straight at the grey wall, then leaped into the air at full strength. Rhia, meanwhile, powered his suit’s anti-grav thrusters for a second to make sure he could clear the wave.

On the other side of the wave, Vreta ducked and rolled once he hit the ground, moving briefly into cover behind one of the pillars. He might have kept up his aggression, but it was Rhia that asked him to move into cover. He could hear her thoughts within his mind, speaking more urgently than she ever had before. ”I can get us out of this, Vreta, but you have to trust me. There are things I can’t do with our current arrangement. I need to take control, fully, and you have to authorize me to do that.”

The situation was getting more and more dire with every second that passed. The builder was halting their escape here, and by the shouts he heard, Freyr and Girard needed help as well. He could see Agent 595 rushing to assist, but they still could not afford to make this a protracted battle. It had to end. Now. ”Okay…do it.” He replied.

Vreta’s permission was all Rhia needed for his implants to grant her unrestricted control over his brain. Just as before, Rhia could “move” parts of his cognitive processes to allow her to place parts of herself in the sections of his mind controlling cognition, sensory input, and motor functions. With how fluidly her consciousness could flow between implants and an organic brain, she truly could take over his body. However, there was an aspect of this process that she had not explained to Vreta. If he had reached full affinity with his synthetic implants, then his consciousness could exist within his implants just like Rhia’s could. However, he was still far from being able to accomplish that feat, and there was not room enough for both of their consciousnesses within one brain. Therefore, to take control of his body, Rhia had to push away Vreta’s consciousness and store it within memory. For as long as she was in control, Vreta would be unconscious. Unaware. Powerless to anything Rhia may have wanted to do.

Immediately, Rhia dashed out from behind the pillar in a thruster-assisted sprint straight at the position of the builder and remaining soldier. Even just in running, her technique was more refined than Vreta’s, allowing her to stay low and keep evasive while maintaining speed. She closed on them like a cheetah in full sprint, intent on ending this quickly and decisively. She kept up suppressing fire on the soldier’s position, even more accurately than before, but the builder was her priority target. She did not know what these droids behind them would be able to accomplish, but even if they could just be a distraction, she would cut off the head of the snake herself. She was aware of the threat of the builder’s spear, but she had ideas in mind to deal with that.

Once again, their little composite team had made a tactical error through lack of communication. In the chaos, they’d left the probable target of this ambush alone and unprotected, and now they were under threat. I should’ve left her my pistol at least! What a fucking mess. 595 thought to herself as she sprinted the short distance back towards the upturned car. Her shield had taken a couple of hits, but otherwise she was in fighting shape.

As she got closer, 595 could see a struggle unfolding in the middle of the vehicle. Dr Girard was crawling towards the lobby door, and Freyr was being dragged towards the street door. 595 could see she was holding onto one of the seats for dear life, so entered the fray at top speed.

---

The Agent’s distraction worked. Both of the soldiers accompanying the Builder turned to confront the surprise rush of robots from behind. They fired full-power into the throng, shredding one of the diplomatic droids. The others remained operational though - while not outfitted for combat, these machines were built to last. The small floating maintenance drones crashed into each soldier at speed, putting them off balance.

The Builder remained entirely focused on Vreta from behind cover, trusting the troops to hold other threats at bay. It was becoming clear to them that the Rothian was too quick to be crushed, so they changed tack. The Builder held up one finger on their haloed hand and twirled it around a few times. A large whirlpool opened up immediately underneath Vreta’s feet, with the floor material taking on a sticky liquid form. Mid-stride, the big lizard promptly sank beneath the surface. The Builder clenched their command fist, and the surface solidified again.

There was a gigantic crash as one of the other CraSec armoured cars reversed through the glass-mesh near the corner of the lobby. Two of the ambushers clung to the sides, and another one flew off of the roof as it crashed into a pillar.

The Builder turned to investigate the commotion, and found a CraSec Major standing directly in front of them. Osman turned around the side of the artificial wall and smacked the Builder in the face with the butt of her gun. They overbalanced, caught completely off-guard.

Osman levelled her rifle at them and started firing point blank, but was shoulder-barged into the wall cover by an attendant soldier before she could break through their shield. A diplomatic droid and maintenance drone swiftly followed, battering the soldier with bumpers and fists.

Though she was in control of Vreta’s body, Rhia did still have access to to the capabilities afforded to her by his implants. She could think, and act, incredibly quickly. An echolocation pulse clued her in to the change in consistency of the ground underneath her, though physics itself did still put some limits on how quickly she could actually respond. The whirlpool of material appeared as she was moving downward, so inertia brought her legs into it. Adding the fraction of a second it took for her thrusters to deploy, she was up to her thighs before the antigrav thrusters countered her downward velocity.

The liquid material was viscous enough to resist her escape, so she only pulled herself up to her knees before it solidified. She growled in frustration, but still kept her focus and wasted no time. However Osman might have been faring, Rhia did not have an angle to assist from where she was, so that was what demanded her attention. She moved her rifle to her back momentarily to free up both of her hands, then balled both up into fists.

With the power of Vreta’s muscles, assisted by his powered armor, Rhia was confident she had the tools to free herself. She hammered her fists into the ground surrounding her legs to shatter and break up the material around them. Each strike sent the deafening sounds of the fractures she was causing echoing throughout the lobby. The more damage she caused, the easier it would be to dig herself out. Fortunately, her gauntlets were more than strong enough to protect her from breaking her hands in the process.

Having been unable to physically drag the screaming, armour-locked Dr Lang out of the car and into the street, the two ambushers moved to plan B. One produced a small spider of cables connected to a control box - once on her back it began forcing open interface ports to unlock her armour. “Get off me! Why are you doing this?!” Freyr wailed.

The other soldier pushed past Dr Lang to stop Dr Girard before they could exit the vehicle. They grabbed the back of the scientist’s armour, then took an under-charged shotgun pulse to the chest. They flew through the cabin and into the opposite wall of the car.

595 jumped over Girard’s prone form and through the open doorway straight away afterwards, holding the shotgun. The other soldier crashed forward and knocked the barrel away before the Agent could turn to them. The second pulse buzzed into the empty cockpit, starting an electrical fire. “Freyr run!” The Agent yelled before the soldier brutally kneed her in the stomach, eliciting an oof.

Running on pure adrenaline, Freyr unlocked her armour and scrambled over to Dr Girard. Legs danced around her as 595 wrestled for control of the shotgun with the hulking soldier. “Come on, put your helmet up. We’re leaving!” Freyr pleaded with her colleague, trying to pull her to her feet. A boot smacked into her visor, sending Freyr rolling over.

---

Osman slid down the wall-cover and onto the floor with the ambusher on top of her. They punched her visor twice, which flared her shields up. The Diplomatic droid grabbed the soldier in a headlock, and dragged them off of the Major. This couldn’t last though, as the Builder had gotten to their feet now. They twirled their spear, first cutting off an arm then the legs from the droid. A repair drone crashed into them, but quick as a flash they impaled the poor robot, frying their circuits.

This had given Osman time to grab her gun though. She fired it from the hip, still laying on the floor. The heavy energy bolts popped the Builder’s shield and scored a deep hole in their armour before they managed to flick their wrist. A fist burst from the floor beneath Osman’s behind, propelling her high into the air. She windmilled across the lobby, before landing close to the brawl developing by the newly crashed car.

While it was durable, the forces Vreta could apply did allow Rhia to break away enough of the material around her to free her legs, and just in time. There were new contacts: infected Humans, as they had seen during the drive. Rhia was the closest to the door they were breaking through, so she already had their attention, but she did not have time to fight them immediately. The priority threat needed to be neutralized.

Deploying her thrusters once more, Rhia kicked off the ground and resumed her attack, sharply accelerating straight at the builder’s position. She saw Osman launched across the room, but she could not help at the moment. To have the speed and surprise needed, she had to attack now. The cover the builder had created was between them, but Rhia hoped for that to be an advantage, as it obscured the line of sight between them to hide that she had freed herself.

The instant after Osman had been launched, Rhia lunged at full speed over the barrier. Her attack was both fluid, and precise. She had her pistol drawn, and the moment they came into view, she fired a three-round burst into the remaining soldier. While the builder’s durability was unknown, she could be confident from observations of their foe so far that their standard soldier would not survive the shots. At the speed Rhia was moving, the burst hardly even had time to finish before she was upon the builder, using her full weight to tackle them. Her priority was to control the spear arm, then pin down the one with the gauntlet. All of the data collected so far suggested that the builder needed to perform specific motions in order to manipulate the simulation for attacks. So, if Rhia could leverage overwhelming strength in a grapple to bend back and break both of her target’s arms, she judged that they would be much less of a threat.

Even on the floor, all the Builder needed to do was twirl their index finger and tap their thumb. Before the Rothian could even pin down their gauntlet hand, the floor beneath the duo rose up and encased them. The block solidified in an instant, then sunk below the surface of the lobby.

Keeping their fingers free to move, the Builder mimicked the larger commands their body would make using just five digits. The material immediately surrounding their spear loosened just enough to move it. Slowly, carefully, the Builder began inching their weapon closer to Rhia’s waist area.

If nothing else, Rhia had to commend the builder’s response. With Vreta’s physical power, there were few favorable outcomes of a grapple for the builder. That they had trapped themselves as well was a sign of desperation, but it was an intelligent decision. Unfortunately for the builder, Rhia had already grabbed a hold of their spear arm before being trapped, and she had held on tight the whole time.

For the moment, at least, Rhia was almost completely immobile. Almost. While the material around her prevented her from opening her hand, there was nothing stopping her from closing it even tighter. As she had done before with Vreta’s leg, Rhia temporarily disabled some of the safeties holding back his arm muscles, and considering that there was not much else her suit could be doing at the moment, she also transferred more power into the suit’s muscle-assist systems to give her an extra crushing grip.

From where Rhia had grabbed the builder near their elbow, her hand clamped down like a hydraulic press, crushing the suit under the pressure. Though, of course, she certainly did not stop there. Flesh, bone, tendons, and ligaments; everything underneath would be crushed or shredded by the crumpling metal until the forearm had been torn from the body. Their spear would be useless if they could not control the arm wielding it.

At the same time, Rhia had isolated access points to the builder’s suit and internal network, and they would soon find every one inundated with a swarm of complex Rothian viral programs aiming to find any vulnerable hook she could latch on to in order to breach their security.

As soon as the Builder felt the immense pressure on their armour, they knew what needed to be done. Initiating one final command, the back of their suit melted into the sea of base material around them. The stone underneath the Builder sucked them out of their suit just before it shut down.

After a couple of seconds, they fell out of the ceiling of the transport garage underneath the tower. The Builder curved elegantly through a backwards roll into a standing position on the floor. They studied the ceiling intensely with their dark brown eyes, scratching the short fuzz of hair on their head for a moment until they were satisfied it wasn’t about to change structure.

They looked around. The garage was divided between parking spaces for personal vehicles and an underground rail line. The Builder smiled when they recognised the hum of the train approaching the station. They set off at a sprint, padding barefoot towards the platform.

Though Rhia could not see what was happening, she could adjust her echolocation for other mediums. Usually, it would not be a solid medium one would be surrounded with, but sound could move through it just fine. She felt when part of the material underneath her liquified so the builder could drop down out of their suit, though it still left her firmly trapped.

With or without the builder present, Rhia had to get herself free of this stone-like prison. Trapped as she was, she had few options, but there was one she felt would work. She jabbed her claws through the part of the suit she was holding on to, but instead of crushing it, she used it as an entry point for a direct physical connection. Rhia directed nanites from Vreta’s arm out through the skin and suit and into the builder’s now-empty armor. They connected from Vreta’s suit and through each other in sequence until they could form a bridge directly to the builder suit’s circuitry. It allowed Rhia to form her own access point to bypass normal security. These nanites were not built for communication over distance, but as long as they maintained direct physical contact, it would work.

Unfortunately, gaining access to the suit alerted Rhia to a new problem. The last command the builder gave seemed to be liquifying the suit just as it had to the ground around them. Immediately, Rhia started running interference every way she could. She did not have time to hack into its control systems, but she used everything she could control to at least disrupt the execution of the command. Given that the medical nanites were not programmed for this task, she was having to puppet each and every one individually. That, in combination with everything else she was having to do, was starting to stress even her processors. Still, she needed only to buy time.

This self-destruction was being performed by the gauntlet, which meant it would have to be the last thing to deconstruct. The gauntlet was already powered, and she could observe enough from its current state to see how to execute a command. She just needed to be able to input the specific command she needed. Fortunately, she had seen the builder do exactly what she needed multiple times. With those records for reference, she short circuited a few power conduits in the suit to force a specific signal to the servos in the hand. Each finger moved as she instructed, replicating the command she had witnessed before.

Suddenly, all of the base material around Rhia liquified, dropping her down into the garage on the floor below. The thud of her feet hitting the ground echoed throughout the cavernous space. Her eyes darted around and, for a brief moment, she did spot the builder in the distance, sprinting away. She could have gave chase, tried to get an angle to shoot. She wanted to, certainly, but ultimately, that was not the mission. Getting the scientist to the objective was the mission, and that mission was up above. Begrudgingly, Rhia made a running leap with a thruster assist to jump back up through the hole and help the others above.