Phil and Brianna hurried over to meet Priest, Velo, Chance, and Ozzy. "This is going down the shitter, fast," Banshee lamented.

"Watch your mouth, young lady," Chance snapped. "We're on an op here."

Velo smirked. "Did you ever listen to anything Bell said when he was on an op?"

"That's not relevant," Chance replied. "We have to conduct ourselves professionally, and that means..."

"HOLY SHIT!!!" Ozzy shouted.

Chance glared at him. "Baxter, that's not approp-"

Ozzy pointed, and Chance turned just in time to see the flaming hulk of a destroyed battle mastiff tumbling end-over-end directly toward them.

"Fuck!" Chance shouted as Ozzy dove for cover.

The giant pile of burning metal sailed right toward them - and stopped dead less than ten yards away, suspended in midair.

Ozzy whirled around to see Phil Smith facing the object with his eyes closed, holding out one hand toward it, like the gesture of a faith-healer. Baxter did a double-take, then turned to Priest, amazed. "He can do that?!?"

The big man just smiled faintly. "You have no idea."

"Damn," Ozzy muttered.

Phil tossed the destroyed mastiff aside using his telekinesis. "This isn't working!" he exclaimed. "They're diverting maybe ten percent of their resources toward stopping us, and that ten percent is more than enough to keep us pinned!"

Velo nodded as the group ducked behind the wreck for cover. "We need some heavier firepower."

Phil spotted a damaged munitions trolley, lying abandoned on its side less than twenty yards away. "There."

"The crossfire's intensifying," Priest warned.

"I know," Phil replied nonchalantly.

Baxter's eyes widened. "You're letting him go back out into that?"

"We've got no other choice," Chance replied. "We need some heavier guns, and from the look of it, that ammo cart might have what we're looking for." He turned to Phil. "Make it happen."

Phil nodded briefly, then stood up and dashed across the open space. Ozzy's jaw dropped as he saw several brilliant tracers head straight for Phil, only to deflect off some unseen wall.

"Hope he brings back enough to make that worth it," Priest murmured.

Phil righted the munitions trolley using his mind, then shoved it back to where the others were. He dove down beside the Velo. "Take your pick."

Velo examined the contents of the cart. "Fifty-cal. Heavy machine guns. Barely portable by any standards."

Chance frowned. "We can't play hit-and-run with guns this clumsy. Brianna couldn't even lift one of these."

"Full frontal assault," Priest concluded. "We'd have to walk right into their line of fire to use these effectively."

"Sounds like a plan," Phil replied.

Five heads instantly whirled in his direction.

"You're kidding, right?" Ozzy asked as Phil stood up and loaded a .50-caliber ammunition belt into the machine gun he carried.

Phil shook his head. "You're indestructible. Priest can absorb the kinetic energy from enemy gunfire. And I've got my psionic shield." He turned to the others. "We can do this. But one of you needs to open up a gap in their line for us."

Velo set his jaw. "I'm on it."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Chance asked. "These M4s are good against regular foot soldiers, but we're looking at mechanized, heavily armored opponents."

"Who said anything about my M4?" Kristogar answered. "Besides, I don't particularly like guns anyway. Haven't shot this thing yet."

"Then what do you plan on using?" the Swede asked incredulously.

Velo rummaged around in a compartment of the ammo cart. "I... spy... with my little eye... something that'll make for a veritable shitload of fireworks!"

Brianna's eyebrows went up. "Ooooh. Nice!"

Kristogar pulled a grenade-like object from the compartment. "Mandelovian anti-armor grenade. Solid-rocket-booster fuel and a fast-acting oxidant in a fragmenting depleted uranium shell. Sort of like God's M-80."

"That'll do," Priest confirmed.

"But..." Ozzy began to protest. "I don't even know how to aim one of these things!"

Phil scowled. "Hold still."

Ozzy looked puzzled. "Wha? What for?" He suddenly clutched at his temples. "Owwwww! What the hell?"

"Try it now," Phil suggested.

Ozzy still looked puzzled. "What... what the hell did you..."

Phil shrugged. "I dunno." He turned to Velo. "Ready with that thing?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Kristogar replied.

"Good point."

"Okay," Velo said as he primed the device. "One... two... five!"

Ozzy's jaw dropped. "Three!!!" he shouted.

Kristogar grinned as he lobbed the grenade toward a cluster of armored Strikeforce vehicles. "Gotcha."

"I like that movie," Chance mused.

His ruminations were cut short by the ground-shaking roar of the exploding grenade. Phil and Priest grabbed Ozzy and his gun and yanked him behind them as they stepped into Strikeforce's line of fire and opened up with the trio of machine guns.

Velo smiled. "I think we just managed to create a diversion."