As I counted the number of assailants, I juked left and dove for cover behind a boulder, just as a half dozen energy bolts streaked in towards me!  I could hear bits of the boulder sizzle... and now I know what granite smells like when it burns!  The sizzle and heat of the blasts made me jump and my heart was in my throat.

 

                What do we do, Siri!  I screamed mentally, scared but trying to keep my wits about me.

 

                *Jace, I know you’re scared.  If they capture us, you’ll die, and I’ll be stripped from you – and probably die or be experimented on.  We HAVE to fight them.  Let me share my skills with you.  If you do, we’ll have a chance.  Maybe we can take out enough of them that the rest will flee?*

 

                Can your shield and this flaky armor take a hit from those weapons?

 

                *My armor is not flaky!  And yes, but concentrated fire will still hurt.  It’s best to not tank, and use the agility you’ve gained to dodge some too.  Agility and grace, not brute force!*

 

                “I don’t know if I can do this!”  I screamed out loud as more energy bolts came sizzling in.  The boulder I was hiding behind was getting quite warm and a bit smaller as pieces of it were chipped away.  My cover wouldn’t last much longer.  I had to move.

 

                *You have to, Jace.  If you can’t, we both die!*

 

                I gritted my teeth... and prayed Siri’s ‘sexy armor’ wasn’t about to leave me perforated with dozens of laser blasts, gripped my shield of light, and the spear, and stood up from behind the boulder – only to take three more energy blasts on the shield, which surprisingly held firm and protected me!  About thirty feet away, four Krell warriors in power armor were advancing, taking cover as they did.  It would only be a moment before they were on me...

 

                For a moment, I was unsure what to do – but I felt Siri’s mind touch my own – and all of a sudden, I could see.  I could see the weaknesses in their stance, and the loose, sloppy way their formation was set up.  I could see a half-dozen openings I could use to stab, slash and crush – and I moved.

 

                I leapt up to the top of the boulder, and in a graceful somersault I leapt over the first two Krell warriors, landing just behind them.  Spinning in the air, I turned and stabbed at one with the golden spear of light, and the spearpoint punctured his armor and impaled him on its tip – but the force it took to do so was very surprising. While the one Krell was dying on my spear, I slammed the other in the face with the golden shield, smashing his visor, and yanked my spear free of the first.  The other Krell seemed to be moving slowly – like they were in quicksand or something – so I stabbed at the second warrior with my spear, gashing his leg – raising my shield in time to block two more incoming energy bolts!

 

                The other Krell started moving in groups of two or three, some advancing while under cover fire, another group taking up good vantage points on the crest of the gravel pit to fire down onto me.  I was in danger of being overwhelmed...  I needed to move, and skirmish them, not tank!

 

                The Krell I wounded slung his rifle and drew a glistening razor sharp blade – I don’t know if it was a dagger or a sword, but it was long enough to give me pause, and he came at me like a knife fighter, slashing and staying low.  I parried his first slash with my shield, and stabbed him again with my spear – and grinned with a feral glee that I recognized was more Siri than myself – and yelled in pain as an energy bolt scorched my back.  The Krell I stabbed was definitely out of the fight, but the force of the blast sent me flying, and I was knocked over him and back, basically rolling about 10 feet on the rough ground, getting dirt and bits of sharp gravel everywhere. 

 

                In a moment, I was up on my feet and running.  The burn on my back hurt, but the ridiculous armor Siri shared with me seemed to have taken most of the brunt of the wound – so maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous after all.  If it kept me alive, I could deal with the blow to my pride.  Energy bolts peppered the ground behind me as I ran – and I realized I was considerably faster than they were... but they were quickly zeroing in on me.  I leapt, first halfway up the hill, then once back down into the group of skirmishers approaching me.  In moments, they turned their guns on me, and I pushed as hard as I could to attack quickly and leap away.  My spear took one in the throat, killing him instantly – and I leapt above and behind them...  As I leapt, two of the Krell pulled the triggers on their firearms, and sent energy bolts towards their own comrades... I heard two of them scream in pain, so I figured they just learned about trigger discipline and friendly fire all at once.

 

                As I landed from my leap, I parried three more energy bolts from the top of the gravel pit – and I could see six Krell up there, crouched and taking aim.  I ran uphill towards them, juking left and right erratically, keeping my shield between them and myself as I did.  It worked, almost – and as I crested the hill, two of them shot me – one in the right leg, which nearly buckled from the pain, and once on the breastplate of the armor, which took most of the brunt of the blast.  I was wounded, but not out – and now the Krell up here had nowhere to hide.

 

                I sprinted towards the first group, and leapt into the air, screaming, and landed on his back with enough force to crack his armor plates, and jam my spear through his spine.  The other Krell near him raised his weapon, and I kicked, knocking the weapon from his hands.  Yanking the spear free, I threw it at another Krell taking aim with one of their energy weapons, taking him in the chest and sending him tumbling to the ground, spraying bluish green blood.

 

                The Krell I disarmed drew his blade, and lunged at me... I rolled to one side, but he was quick – or I was too slow – and slashed along my legs.  The armoured plates on my legs saved me from losing them at the knee, but the blow hurt like hell, and nearly knocked me off my feet.  I staggered back a moment, getting my bearings, and two more energy blasts took me from behind, Siri’s valkyrie armor once again taking the brunt of the attack, and likely saving my life for the nth time.

 

                How many had I disabled?  Two, four, six?  Was it six?  I couldn’t remember.  I drew my sword and skewered the Krell with the blade, and blocked two more incoming energy bolts from the last group – and ran towards them, dodging as I went.  Blast after blast went to either side of me – but either their aim sucked, or I was a hard target to hit while going for speed.  Either way, I’d take it!  I ran past one, slashing at his sides... the golden blade gashed him, but didn’t take him out of the fight – but my momentum brought me up against his partner, so I smashed his face with the edge of my golden shield, using the point of the shield’s base to shatter his armor’s visor as well as his face.  He dropped... so was that seven, or eight? Dammit!

 

                The Krell I slashed opened fire on me with his blaster, catching me with a blast right in the chest!  The bolt hit with a fair bit of force, sending me tumbling to the ground over the body of his slain comrade, and left a charred scent in the air.  I resolved to never again diss Siri’s sexy armor... this stuff was tough enough to take a ridiculous beating!  When I got to my feet, I was disarmed – somewhere in my tumble, I had dropped my sword.  FUCK!

 

                I don’t know if it was Siri taking control, or just some damn stubbornness of my own, but I wasn’t going down without giving it my all.  I was caught up in the battle, and everything had just narrowed to me, and my assailants.  Kill or be killed.  I grabbed one of the blasters from a fallen Krell, and fired it at the warrior advancing on me...  He must have thought me disarmed, cause he looked surprised when the blaster bolt took him out.  Nine?  I didn’t know. 

 

                I looked around, and for the moment, no one was shooting at me, so I kept the alien blaster and slung it over my shoulder, and picked up my sword.  One of the Krell was gasping for breath – his mask had been shattered, and apparently Earth’s atmosphere didn’t agree with them.  If any other Krell had survived the fight, they had fled.  I counted my fallen foes... There were eight dead or dying Krell.  The others had fled. 

 

                I knew something was wrong, when I didn’t feel any panic, or disgust, or terror at what I had just done...  Siri was clamping down on my emotions again, I realized, probably to keep me from freaking out.  No one kills eight people – even alien people – for the first time without some kind of reaction! 

 

                *Get your spear, Jace.  Don’t leave your weapons lying around.*

 

                “Yeah, sorry Siri.”  I muttered, grabbing the spear and hefting it.  “What now?”

 

                *Now, I think we should try and heal ourself before the shock of the battle wears off and you pass out.  Do you remember how you summoned my armor and weapons?  Try it again, but think of healing yourself.  Imagine yourself without blemish, wounds or burns.  Imagine broken bones mending, and venoms being spilled out of your veins.  Cover yourself in a golden light.  If you can do it, it will help a lot... if you can’t then get to you car, and sit down before you fall down.*

 

                I concentrated, and reached inside, and like before I entreated the energy to enter me, and felt golden light circling up my mental arms – and down my real arms, wreathing me in golden light and the sound of distant horns.  It was unreal – but as the light swathed me, I could feel the energy burns fade, their pain soothed, and the bruises and cuts I’d received similarly fade away.  It took several seconds – maybe a minute – and I felt fully healed, but tired, like I had just run a marathon.  Siri was right.  If I didn’t sit down I was going to fall down.

 

                I retreated to my car, and noticed two of the Krell hover cars still lingering in the area.  Fuck it... Why leave them the rides?  I speared the first one, and it was wreathed in electric fire as its power plant shut down violently, and then speared the second one, destroying its engine.  The two alien cars were wrecked, and I tossed the spear in the back seat of my car, collapsing in the front seat.

 

                Did I just do that?  Did I just kill eight freaking aliens?  With blasters!? 

 

                *You did, Jace.  With my help.  And as we get more experienced with working together, we’ll become a far more effective fighter than we are right now.  You did well.*

 

                “That’s great Siri... Could you not clamp down on me for a minute.  This not feeling anything is freaking weird... I need to work through this.”

 

                *I suggest we get away from here first, Jace.  Somewhere safe.* 

 

                “Fine.”  Sitting in the car with the armor I had on was uncomfortable to say the least, so I reached inside, and returned the energy I had borrowed to Siri, or my source, or whatever it was called, and the armor and weapons disappeared.  At once, I felt more comfortable – but more vulnerable, and I quickly threw the car into gear, and got out of there.

 

                As I left the dead Krell warriors behind, and turned my Accord towards the city, I tried to relax – but apparently it was just as difficult to relax while Siri was clamping down on my emotions as it was to actually feel anything except calm... Gah! This felt so weird and wrong! 

 

                *I’m sorry, Jason...  If I let up while you’re driving it would be bad for both of us.*

 

                “I get it, Siri... I don’t like it, but I get it.  I’m going to find a big box store – preferably something with a fast food joint nearby, and park in the furthest spot out from the store and just let all of this wash over me and freak out a little bit.  When I’m better, I’ll get us food.  We’ll figure what happens next after that.”

 

                *Okay, Jason.  That sounds like a good plan.*  Siri’s light soprano voice sounded worried in my head, like she was a bit scared too.  *You did well, healing yourself back there.  I hope you’re able to help heal your dad.*

 

                “Thanks, Siri.  I hope I am too.  Are diseases harder to heal than wounds?”

 

                *Unfortunately, oftentime yes, especially diseases like cancer, and especially when its at such advanced stages.  To be honest, I don’t know if you’ll be able to save him with the power you can currently wield – but you can make his last days be without pain or suffering.*

 

                “No.  That’s not acceptable.  I’m saving my dad, period.  He’s the only really good thing in my life right now, and I refuse to lose him.  No matter what.  It’ll work.”

 

                *Okay, Jace.  It’ll be okay.*

 

                I nodded, a single tear rolling down my face.  I knew what I might have to do to save dad, and I didn’t want to do it... Maybe if I had more time to get used to the idea?  To get acclimatized?  “No it won’t, Siri.  No it won’t.”  I turned my attention back to the road and kept driving.  Siri gave me a few moments of welcome quiet, and I used them to let my mind go blank and just drive.