Ryan’s suit still had enough power to turn his arms into dark blurs as he struck with the now powerless staff.  The end of the metal pole turned into a smear of reflected light.  Suddenly it froze, the purebred alien’s massive fingers wrapped around it.  Its arm bulged and twisted, sending Ryan spinning through the air.

The entire hangar blurred.  Ryan forced the quickly building vertigo out of his mind and clamped his hand down on the staff.  When the world stopped spinning and the alien let go, he’d somehow managed to hold on.  The pain as he slammed into the ground uncrossed his eyes.

Kicking down with his legs as hard as he could, Ryan flipped up through the air.  The extra power from his suit’s artificial muscles launched him back out of the alien’s reach.  In the meantime, Theo unleashed a torrent of kicks and punches.  The alien easily blocked each one.  His partner was using too much power.  Theo’s suit would be overcharged any second.

The alien wasn’t going to let them past.  While it was distracted with Theo, Ryan pulled the staff back and stuck his other arm straight out.  His opponent saw what he was doing too late.  The alien reached for him, but Ryan’s arm was already snapping forward, sending the staff hurtling like a spear right at the antenna.

Gleaming silver drove into the strange dark metal with a tortured groan.  Ryan, Theo, and the huge alien stood frozen, waiting to see what would happen.  The next instant, the moment was shattered.  The strange, barely audible hum turned into a screech that hovered just above and below the range of hearing.  Soldiers and even the half breed aliens stumbled and started to collapse.  The only thing that didn’t seem affected was the alien leader.

Ryan’s vision was getting dark at the edges, and his helmet was vibrating.  Or maybe he was shaking inside his suit.  The huge alien roared in triumph.  Underneath the horrible sound, Ryan could hear otherworldly whispers building.

“We need to shock it,” Ryan thought to Theo.  He pulled a shuriken off his back.

“You’ll never get it past him,” his partner thought.  “Pass it back and forth.”

Theo was right.  As soon as Ryan drew the weapon, the alien moved to block his line of attack.  Ryan took off to the right, but after a few steps, threw the shuriken curving back to the left.  The alien lunged for it, but it arced out beyond its reach.  Theo spun through the air, and for a moment Ryan worried that he’d hit him.  But when Theo’s feet touched down again, he had the shuriken gripped in one hand.

The alien shrieked.  The sound was oddly high pitched for something so large.  Theo tried to run away, but his suit was slowing down.  He threw the shuriken low, too low.  Ryan pumped his legs, pulling power from his suit so fast the computer chirped a warning alarm.

Diving down and sliding on his knees, Ryan skidded past the alien.  The shuriken hit the floor, sparking at it skipped off and right into Ryan’s waiting hand.  Just before an alien fist smashed into him, Ryan flicked his wrist and sent the shuriken right at the antenna.  Sparks danced along the spinning, flashing blades.