Free On Guard by Kynan Waterford Page B

injury and loss of effective combat status.
    For a moment, Raj’s reeling mind considered the psychological effect of seeing such information when it wasn’t available for the invading terrorist.
    It made sense from a situational awareness point of view, but the simulation also happened to make the Coalition forces appear to be losing badly whilst the terrorist remained a pulsing yellow icon, seemingly untouchable.
    “This is bullshit!” he growled when another security icon started blinking completely red. “We’re being taken out like a bunch of amateurs!”
    “Shut your hole and get that damn helmet on!” Vick snarled. “They’re almost here.”
    Raj felt a wave of nausea as he realised he was still cradling his helmet under one arm and quickly put his pitgun down so he could pull it on.
    “ I’ll be fine, ” he thought as he fumbled with the locking mechanism. “ And they’re going to regret it if they manage to make it this far. ”
    As his less-than-dexterous fingers tried to jiggle his helmet onto its latch, Raj’s gaze moved from the holographic display to the impressive door that led into the pre-vault security area. It was thick enough to withstand a sustained assault by most conventional weapons and couldn’t be opened from the outside – specifically to repel attacks like this one.
    “ It’ll hold, ” he thought with conviction.
    He continued wrestling with his helmet, which still didn’t seem to want to slip onto its latch, and began to reassess the wisdom of taking a mission before mastering his new cybernetic fingers.
    “Get that helmet locked in,” Vick growled.
    “I’m trying,” Raj growled back, ignoring an urge to force the helmet into place, which would undoubtedly break the latch.
    His gaze moved back to the holographic map and he felt a rush of panic when he saw the lone intruder was now on the other side of their door.
    “They’re here,” he gasped.
    “No shit,” Vick swore quietly.
    A faint knocking sound came from the door, and Raj began to panic, making his fingers feel even fatter and less helpful.
    “They’re going to cut through the door,” Vick said after a moment. “Get ready.”
    Taking a moment to imagine the trajectory the door would follow if it was blown into the room, Raj took a large step to his left. He didn’t think even explosives would breach the tough metal door, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
    His heart beat madly as he tried one last time to latch his helmet into place, but when it didn’t engage, he gave up and reached for his weapon instead. It might not be locked in place, but at least he had a helmet on.
    BOOM!
    From his time-altered perspective, Raj saw a blazing oval of white appear on the inner side of the door and immediately assumed some kind of super-charged thermite had been used to cut through the metal.
    His unsecured helmet dimmed automatically to prevent his vision from being impaired and so he was able to watch the oval piece of door as it exploded into the room.
    Raj expected it to fly through the air and scream past him before smashing into the vault’s door, but his supercharged mind quickly realised it wasn’t moving fast enough.
    “ What’s going on? ” he thought in confusion.
    The thick piece of metal was neither moving in an explosive rush nor falling to the floor in a smoking heap. Instead, it appeared to be floating into the room at a running pace.
    “ Running pace, ” Raj thought suddenly. “ Someone’s holding it! ”
    Recognising the sound of heavy boot steps, Raj realised the invading terrorist was using the large piece of metal like a shield and instinctively fired on it.
    The savage BLAM of his pitgun was barely muffled by his unsecured helmet and the projectile slammed into the oval piece of door with enough force to rock it to one side. But whoever was behind it was strong. Despite the force of the blast, they barely stumbled before reorienting themselves and charging again.
    At that point, Vick