As soon as his gloved fingers wrapped around the metal staff, it let out a hum.  Cracks fanned out from either end and Ryan moved his grip so it was right in the middle, the only spot free from the cracks.  The staff split open, the cracks forming wider gaps.  Electricity jumped back and forth between the tines.  Spinning the staff around, the air crackled.  Ryan struck.

He hit the first alien with a stabbing motion.  The four prongs of the staff were less than half an inch apart, so they all hit dead center in its chest.  Electricity shot into the alien, sending it flying backwards.  Shouting in triumph, Ryan gripped the staff in both hands and started whipping it around his body.

It was moving so fast it was just an occasional blur across his vision, but his suit worked with him to control the frantic movements.  Cracks of thunder rang out, echoing over the top of each other.  Alien after alien went down twitching, their nervous systems unable to cope with the overload.

After the third time he almost winged Theo, his partner gave him a little bit more room.  Theo grabbed a spent rifle from one of the soldiers and swung it like a club, knocking an alien cold.

“It’s not as fancy as yours, but it works,” he thought to Ryan.

The tide was turning.  Ryan and Theo had bought enough time, stopping the defenders from being overwhelmed while a few of their classmates suited up.  Black and grey blurs rocketed into the swarm, sending aliens flying as they slowed down into human forms.  Theo gave a shout of triumph that wasn’t completely muffled by his mask and the sounds of battle.  Then something huge fell out of the hole in the roof into the middle of the fray.

It was the alien.  The full-blooded, huge one.  Two augmented soldiers charged, their suits letting them weave through the lesser aliens at full speed.  The adult soldiers recognized the threat too.  Three shock cartridges hit the thing dead in the chest, but it just shrugged off the electricity and kept coming.

The first young soldier went in high with a flying leap.  At the last moment, the alien lashed out with one of the thick arms it used for walking.  The soldier tumbled through the air, crashing into some cargo containers.  Ryan was trying to fight his way over, but one half of the staff had already burned out.  Without the electricity, it was much less effective.

The second young soldier threw shuriken, twisting and diving to keep out of reach.  Muscled alien arms slammed into the ground, sending cracks across the floor.  Ryan was getting closer.  A few more seconds and they could double-team the monstrosity.

The other soldier was so focused on the big alien, that the other aliens were able to swarm him.  He cried out with his mind, and then there was only silence.  Ryan hoped he was unconscious.

He’d fought his way through just in time to stand alone in front of the giant alien, one end of his staff flickering weakly.  Four red eyes looked at him.  Ryan didn’t know how, but he thought it recognized him.