Akira shouldn't have been surprised when Danya didn't dodge a single shot, opting instead to soak in each laser and bullet that hit her, dramatically flinching at every impact. The only ones she avoided were aimed for her face, and she would exaggeratedly swing her head to avoid them while pretending like she wasn't in control of her coincidental movements.
"And she was making a fuss about keeping a low profile," Elodie muttered with reserved bitterness.
Navin's light exhale that followed sounded strangely like a chuckle.
After half a minute of constant shooting, the hostiles finally stopped, and they all stared at Danya's hunched figure as she swayed on her feet. When her posture steadied, they gripped their weapons tighter; when she let out a lone, low laugh, some took a step backwards. And when she slowly raised her head, they all froze at her menacing smile.
"Well, we did ask for a good distraction," Akira said as the resumed gunshots harmonized with Danya's cackling.
With the hostiles sufficiently occupied, Akira waved Navin through the doorway, then watched him slink up the stairs along the west side of the building until he disappeared onto the floor above them. While his large figure attracted some attention, it was only from young civilians in the crowded market, and they obediently nodded at Akira's finger pressed to her lips.
"In position," Navin quietly reported a minute later.
"Copy," Akira said as she and Elodie fell back a meter, both drawing their guns and deploying their helmets from under their civvies. "Aegis Two, go ahead."
"Gladly!" Jivan exclaimed.
A beat later, an explosion echoed within the hall of stalls, sending a rippling rumble throughout the building. Angry shouts sounded from the main market, coupled with Jivan's gleeful laughter over the comms.
"Aegis Two, start moving," Akira reminded them as heavy footsteps approached the doorway.
"I'm going, I'm going!" they said.
Jivan made another comment in annoyance, but it was drowned out by the startled yells from the first hostile that ran into the hall. Soon after, they were sprawled out on the ground, downed by a stunning shot from Akira.
Elodie hit the hostile immediately behind them, but the third used their unconscious friend as a shield, holding them upright to rush Akira. Akira lunged to the side just as the sound of a firing bullet rang past her, but the deafening noise still left her ears ringing as she sprung back to her feet.
But she couldn't spare any time to regain her lost sense. The third hostile had thrown their human shield on Elodie and had their gun aimed at Akira from a meter away. Dodging would either put her too close to any incoming hostiles or too close to a disoriented Elodie, so Akira raised her right forearm in front of her head.
"Shield," she ordered, hoping her earpiece understood the new command.
Izzy's last-minute addition to her arm worked. In less than a second, two thin metal rods emerged from the sides of her forearm, ripping through the wrist of her clothing and pivoting around her elbow until they reached her shoulder, leaving a rounded metal shield in its path. Akira heard a muffled gunshot and the resulting reverberations in her arm just before the shield completely formed, but she already had her left arm raised with her backup gun in hand. Even though she only had the hostile's feet to aim with, she saw their body collapse to the ground a second later.
Akira retracted her shield just in time to see the fourth hostile fall from one of Elodie's shots, giving Akira enough time to aim and shoot at the fifth one behind them. Once they joined their comrades on the floor, the doorway remained vacant.
"Nice shot," Akira said, noting how her hearing was mostly recovered as she and Elodie returned to their original positions.
"Thanks," Elodie replied, her head briefly angling downwards before returning to face Akira.
While Akira couldn't see where Elodie's gaze landed from under her helmet, it wasn't that difficult to guess when Akira's sleeve was in tatters with no injuries to show for it.
"Um..." Akira eloquently began.
"I won't tell anybody, I promise," Elodie quickly assured.
Akira nodded, but she still felt uneasy, as if she was overexposed.
"I already knew, if that makes a difference," Elodie rambled on. "I'm the team medic; I know everyone's medical history."
"Right," Akira said, the admission making her more worried than before.
Before Akira could ask any follow-up questions, a commanding bellow echoed from the main market.
"Show yourselves, or I'll shoot!" a low, angry voice ordered, their demands punctuated by a chorus of stifled civilian cries. "Get out here slowly, with your arms up!"
"Aegis Two, Aegis Five: stay put," Akira reminded the Guptas quietly as she and Elodie holstered their weapons and cautiously stepped into the main building.
The scene outside looked slightly different from when Akira last saw it; most noticeable was that the twenty-three hostiles had dwindled down to eighteen, and only ten were still upright. Of them, the only one in heavy military combat armor stood in the middle of the northern side, holding a young, struggling child by their long hair with a handgun pointed at their head. The other nine hostiles flanked them, two aiming their weapons at Akira and Elodie. The remaining seven targeted Danya as she waited by the eastern entrance with her hands raised, her civilian clothes torn but her face grinning proudly.
"Check the back," the leader ordered the hostile watching Elodie, then turned to Akira and Elodie themselves. "You two, show yourselves."
"Scenario Bravo, on your mark, Aegis Five," Akira whispered into her comms before retracting her helmet.
The leader scoffed at the sight of them. "A bunch of kids. You brats thought you could stop us if you had our gear, huh? [Expletive] idiots."
Akira chanced a glance at Danya, hoping she wouldn't give into the taunt with a snide comment.
Since their standard combat uniforms could be mistaken as military surplus, as long as their adaptive camouflage wasn't active, they could probably get away with being local civilians. While their earpieces translated the local language for their understanding, if any of them spoke, it would become immediately clear that they weren't from around there, and the most prominent "tourists" just then were part of a military propaganda entourage.
Thankfully, Danya merely smirked with a stifled chuckle; most likely, she found the military's translation censors to be amusing.
"Too bad, but that's not how the world works," the leader continued, twisting their hand in the child's hair. "In this world, the only people who win are the ones willing to break the rules. How do you think those Concordians got there in the first place? They did things their way, so we'll—"
A familiar ring hummed through the air, quickly followed by a clattering gun and a pained howl. The child hostage was free, and the leader's gun was on the floor beside them, along with a gloved index finger.
The second the hostile in front of Akira glanced back towards their leader, Akira drew her gun and fired; half a second later, a shot from Elodie hit the same target.
"Get the one in the back!" Akira shouted over the renewed commotion, already aiming for the hostiles targeting Danya.
"Already done!" Quyen's voice joined them on the comms. "Side building is secure."
"Was that Quyen?" Elodie exclaimed off-comms, falling in alongside Akira as they aimed for two of the hostiles that took shelter in one of the stalls.
"Already done, Dunn!" Jivan repeated, their grin audible as they ignored call sign protocol for humor. "Get it? Like your surname!"
Akira grimaced as one of the hostiles ducked behind a crate just as Akira's shot flew by them. Clearly, Sam had been sharing his favorite style of humor.
"You said you wanted a lemur, didn't you?" Quyen said.
"I can't believe he really asked for a lemur," Danya muttered as she took one of the hostile's guns and smashed it between her hands, then flung the fragments at the fleeing owner.
From there, it didn't take long to round up the remaining hostiles and turn them over to the local authorities. As for the civilians, aside from some minor scratches and bruises, all were physically healthy, if only a bit shaken up. That didn't keep them from approaching the Aegis Squad with handshakes and gratitude, and while Akira coordinated with the police, she watched her team accept the praise with various levels of humility and awkwardness.
Jivan, of course, soaked the attention up like a sponge, only lamenting that they didn't get the chance to blow up more things. In contrast, Navin remained silent and stoic, allowing the enthusiastic shopkeeper from the music store to show off his famous customer and his exquisite new mbira.
Nearby, Elodie was bashful and embarrassed at the praise, repeatedly insisting that it was no big deal and they were simply doing their jobs. Even Quyen had her fair share of fans; some of the kids saw her tackle the lone hostile that had gone to sweep the side building, and the children paraded around her with a slew of questions while she stared down at them in mild horror.
Then there was Danya. Most of the crowd was drawn to her, thanks to her dramatic intervention, and she gladly accepted the attention, smiling at and shaking hands with anyone that did the same. Her reaction may have seemed conceited and narcissistic, but Akira figured it was well-deserved.
Just before Akira could tune the commotion out, a remark reeled her attention right back in.
"You... You're Danya!" an older woman exclaimed in accented English.
Akira's eyes widened; they hadn't mentioned Danya's name in front of the civilians, had they?
Danya grinned, but her expression held a hint of confusion as she accepted the woman's offered handshake. "Yeah...? Have we met?"
Instead of answering, the woman turned to the other shoppers that weren't in the cluster around Danya. "Everyone! Everyone, look! It's true! She's really here!"
As the crowd around her grew and the lively chatter was replaced with awed murmurs, Danya's increasing uncertainty was mixed with concern. "Sorry, I'm confused. What's going on?"
"We heard about your story!" the woman exclaimed, now clasping Danya's hands in both of her own. "Danya, the legendary goddess of Concordia, is finally here to stop Verus Rex once and for all!"