Carthage jetted sideways out of sight to avoid a hail of energy from the two standing drop troopers. They themselves were taking fire from the other team trapped in the opposite corridor, so they rushed after Carthage. She was blocking their escape, and right now they were trapped in a bad spot - they figured they could go on offense and shoot their way out.

One of them chucked a grenade through the ragged hole Kjartan had made, to hold off the Marines pushing forward on their six. Then they grabbed their squad leader off the floor and exited out of the other hole Kjartan made, into the corridor heading back toward their spawn.

Carthage wasn’t visible in the corridor, but she exploded back at them from the entrance to another apartment further down the hall. She knocked the gun of the leading trooper up in the air - he sprayed the ceiling with plasma. What followed was an incomprehensible flurry of jabs, kicks and momentum based control. Carthage twirled her shotgun with inhuman precision to beat all three soldiers to the floor and then finish them at point-blank range.

The two remaining Red Team marines from her initial push jogged down the corridor towards her just as the last body began floating away. Carthage’s visor peeled back when she looked at them, making them flinch. “Come. Let’s end this.” She looked up at the ceiling, where she could hear pounding feet. “Saddam, report.”

“My floor is clear. The top floor is having some issues.” Carthage nodded to herself as they headed down the darkly lit corridor for a patch of light at the end. “Good enough. Take a window, keep them occupied.”

“Copy that.”
[hr]
“I know this! But they are on all floors now. I was held from above, see? They take these windows, fire down on battlefield - I can survive, but who else? Not enough cover to fight on two fronts.” Kjartan motioned to the rows of windows looking out on the street with his hammer. As if on cue, energy bolts began raining down on them from one of the closest windows on the middle floor. Kjartan hid behind his shield and edged into cover beside Vreta. "See!?"