"Rowdy"

"Watch the left side, there's more in the storage room!" I warn.

"You got it, Boss," Sigma says before peeking down the hallway to check it.

"They comin' out?" I ask.

"That's a negative," his grip tightens around his shotgun, "Give suppressing fire, I'm going in."

"There's two of them and one of you," I tell him, "Either you get turned to dust or we break the contact."

That was the plan after all: take down an illegal asteroid mine with no deaths. Minerva's International Union has always been a big stickler for righteous justice, and if Sigma goes into that room blind, he'll have no choice but to let bullets fly.

"Fine time to run out of non-lethals..." he gripes.

"Ssh!" I shush him, "If we stay quiet enough, they'll get impatient and make a push."

Sigma's fingers uncurl and curl back.

My machine pistol grows heavier.

Damn, not even ten seconds of silence and we're already getting antsy.

Footsteps clack down the hallway. Two pairs, I notice. Sigma flashes three fingers, then two, then one.

As soon as his fist closes, a masked Novakid jumps in front of me, pistol in hand. Right on cue, I grab their wrist, twist it back, and disarm them.

---