Kolskegg had faltered at the salvo of bullets thrown by his Vector. That was a good sign. During the few moments he had between the salvo and him falling to the ground, Cho reloaded. The empty magazine clattered to the stone as he slapped another one into place and cocked the gun.

By that time the Viking had run off again, around him and into the air. He saw the man take flight from a nearby tower and raised his gun to receive him, but the seconds he wasted bringing the smaller weapon to bear were seconds that the huge man bore down on him from above.

He had barely enough time to squeeze his finger round the trigger. The Viking was in his face. His gun, barely pointed at him, instead its barrel was sighted at somewhere just below and next to his left leg. Cho hoped the recoil from the first shot would propel the gun upward to spray its deadly payload at his target.

Otherwise he might just die.