>>5412437Sanig and Kyla worked together to develop something for you, based half on personal shields, half on hologram tech and another half on ship shielding tech... but you haven't really tested them yet.
You guess it'll be getting a live fire test now, one way or another.
You grab a book-sized box that's currently velcro'd to your thigh and tighten it's straps around your left arm. As you flick it's power switch on, you hear it's powerful capacitors charge up over the course of a few seconds.
A moment later, the shield ignites in front of you. Vaguely in the shape of your body, it's a wall of light that can still be seen through, but is capable not just of blocking projectiles, but even solid objects like bladed weapons.
Your new Hardlight Shields. You hope they work.
Leaving the armored guy to his business, you slowly make your way up the remainder of the stairs, shield-first.
Almost as soon as the shield peaks up above the floor, a few people begin firing at it. Several phaser shots land against the shield, but it doesn't seem to weaken at all. In fact, it looks like it's actually getting brighter!
However, as you continue advancing upwards, others begin taking their shots as well. There are at least six people in the hall, with who knows how many more in the apartments.
It's impossible to actually tell, because all of the apartment doors have been busted in.
Some kind of purple plasma ball bursts against your shield, and although it covers your vision, it doesn't seem to damage the shield at all.
Several smaller balls of white-ish plasma burst against the shield as well, but otherwise do nothing. You can see a wave of heat in front of you as everyone begins to open fire at once.
They fire, and fire, and fire... for a solid twenty seconds at least, before their guns apparently begin to overheat. However, you can't burn a hardlight shield. The projector on your arm is only slightly warm to the touch.
Wait, where's Cylia?. She should have been here already, shouldn't she? Oh well, they're done with their opening salvo anyways, so it's time to fire back.
You see several eyes widen, and two of the guys at the front actually try to scramble out of the way as you raise your new phaser rifle up, letting it stick out past the shield just around your hip.
Holding it with one hand, you hip-fire it in their general direction. It's not automatic, but it is "semi-automatic" for lack of a better term. It'll fire as fast as you want, regardless of whether the capacitor is charged or not.
You quickly find a good rhythm that lets you fire quickly at near-full power, and lay into the crowd. One of the two that was running actually manages to dive into one of the apartments, while the other takes three shots in the back before falling.
Two more men also take shots, with only one falling before a man with a shield steps forward to cover them. He slams the shield down on the ground, and it extends on either side to cover the entire hall.
