c26 kill

Ryouko teleported directly on top of the sniper, who was already in the process of trying to withdraw and shift locations, movements concealed from ordinary vision by an alien stealth pack. Not bothering with any of her customary ranged tactics, she dropped downward, using basic telekinesis to help clear the way, firing arbalest bolts from one arm to reveal and then disable the sniper's auxiliary stealth drones, which provided personal protection and spotting capability.

It was strangely serene, the sheer purity of emotion that she felt. She should have been unstable, but her crossbow bolts were unerring, efficiently spearing the fragile auxiliary drones, whose designs were forced to reduce armor, weaponry, and mobility in order to enable their stealth capability.

With her other arm, she slammed her elbow—her injured elbow—downward, using a magical power‐blow to melee through the sniper's personal forcefield, pushing her elbow into the alien's impassive faceplate. With her crossbow arm, she grabbed the sniper's rifle, using superior, magically amplified strength to wrench the gigantic weapon out of the grip of the alien armor, applying so much force the weapon bent forty‐five degrees, nearly snapping it in half.

The alien, now supine on the floor, grabbed wildly at her with its four tentacle‐like limbs, trying to push her away, force her arms off, and bring various melee range weapons to bear. Ryouko did not let it, using magic to force her arm down with enough strength that she could feel parts of the alien suit snapping. As one arm tossed away the sniper rifle, whose power pack fizzled and detonated, she activated the laser cutter built into the gauntlet of the arm she had on the alien's throat.

The armor resisted, but with her other arm now briefly free, she smashed her fist into the side of the alien's helmet, again and again, with no purpose other than she needed to punch, and she felt the material of the helmet shatter and fail under her pounding, starting to reveal the impassive, nearly spherical eyes of the Cephalopods.

And finally the laser cutter went through, the alien's head disconnecting from the rest of the armor, a torrent of ichor gushing outward onto her hands and body. Knowing from simulations that the alien's body would continue resisting regardless, she remembered the arbalest that was still on her arm, and turned it into the alien's chest, firing once, twice, thrice.

(To The Stars, Chapter 26)