I fell to the floor the instant I came out of lockdown, sweating like I'd just shaken hands with a sun. No matter how many times I used those modules, I could never get used to the feeling of returning to the land of the vulnerable so quickly. They don't just lock your armor down, they encase you in an entire forcefield of concentrated energy, cutting off everything and everyone around you. You're good, and you know it. But everyone else... not so much. It's their safety that's a concern, because no matter what happens in those five seconds of lockdown, you are the one guaranteed to make it out alive.
But when the five seconds is up and time literally bursts my bubble, it isn't just the sense of complete security that's shattered, but my balance and focus. Nothing long term (I hoped), but something about that instant pop just hits me like a ton of bricks. I truly didn't know where I was for a few seconds. Luckily for me, anyone who's dumb enough to be standing too close when the module expires will find themselves in the point-blank radius of a powerful electromagnetic pulse.
Luck didn't count for much at that moment though, as the giant Gruvoldians were well outside the range of the EMP, and were both aiming to kill. Me. Above them, I could see the support drone's destroyed, self-destructing carcass falling from the top of the hangar bay and onto the uppermost tier. I could see a couple Terran thugs attempting to flee right before it detonated.
Bread and butter, bread and butter... I thought impatiently as I resisted the urge to yak all over the inside of my helmet.
Both of the Gruvoldians' plasma rays crackled with energy, but this time around, I smiled. I was good. Amidst the bright sparks and falling debris, I could see Iktac's green and slender figure come into view behind the subordinate Gruvoldian, the one furthest from me. Unlike the rest of us, he wore no armor at all save for the web gear holding his weapons and equipment in place. His nearly crystalline granular scales were tougher than inch-thick plastasteel. In his hands was a razor sharp, nearly two and a half foot long Reptilian Warsword.
Slice and dice 'em, Icky.
His target didn't even see it coming. He gave the disgusting cephalopod creature one solid slash across its exposed backside and shoved a shatter grenade into the open gash. By now, the Gruvoldian Champion was about to fire. I got ready to roll to the left and scoop up my Model 5, but Sithandra suddenly interrupted at the critical moment. Hot green beams from her own phaser rifle pinged and panged off the Champion's tungsten armor.
The Champion turned and fired back at the team's second-in-command who, as usual, was airborne. He then turned once more when he heard the grenade lodged in his ally's back go off behind him. The subordinate Gruvoldian roared in vain before exploding into a million fleshy bits and chunks of busted armor. Meanwhile, the plasma ray barely missed Sithandra only to hit the tier she was flying directly below and knock a bunch of cadavers and other miscellaneous rubbish over the edge.
A damaged and detached phaser turret sailed off and nailed her right between the roots of her wings and sent her hurtling to the floor. It was not a soft landing. Alvin dashed in seemingly out of nowhere a few seconds later and dropped a globe shield to cover her. I looked back at the Gruvoldian Champion and saw it swinging its massive tentacles at nothing. Iktac had gone invisible yet again. I unclipped my one flak canister and tossed it at the Champion's feet, shouting, "Pineapple!"
For some reason I expected the alien monster to evade the bomb, and so was a little surprised when it crouched low with tentacles folded over one another. It decided to brace for the blast, depending on its sheer bulk for protection. The canister went off with a low thump that I imagine hurt like all hell, but if it had, the Gruvoldian Champion acted like it was nothing at all and trudged towards me. It appeared to want to personally thank me for the 'pineapple' by ripping me apart. It reached out to grab me, but froze shortly after and emitted an odd sound I perceived to be a Neapolitan mixture of shock, confusion and agony.
And anger, but that was sort of a given. I always felt like any Gruvoldian I'd ever come across was just really angry for no apparent reason. This one had a very good reason though. Apart from killing its ally in the most barbaric of fashions, Iktac had impaled the Champion itself straight through the midsection. The point of his scarlet-blood slicked blade was less than a foot from where I stood ready with another armor lock module in hand. Only thing was, the Champion didn't go down...
...and Iktac was still gripping the sword handle.