(A different story snippet) The snatch - Part 1

 Allie Fox sat in her 50 year old truck and prepared herself.  She activated the camouflage body panels, which changed to vantablack.  She quietly slipped out of the truck and checked the custom fit of her body armor. She breathed deeply.

"Rock and Roll" she said quietly to herself.  She removed her combat helmet from the compartment in the rear of the truck, and powered it up and put it on.  The helmet automatically connected to the rigjack at the back of her neck. Her perception expanded.  She could "see" 360 degrees around.  She could see in the infrared as well as in low light.  She attached the cartoonish Fox snout to the front of her combat helmet.  

For luck.

She checked the pistol at her hip.  It was ready.  Heads-up display showed it had 19 rounds of 9mmEXP ready.  The camouflage panels on her truck had about 30 minutes till they over heated.  She fingered the old wireless remote in her pocket, pressing the first button.  A series of loud pops and bangs rang out from behind the small house.  She counted out ten seconds on her heads up display and hit the second button.  A larger explosion rang behind her.  A small transformer exploded into shrapnel, and several houses nearby were suddenly dark.

Allie didn't see any heat blooms.  "Hopefully they are out back looking at my firecrackers" she thought to herself.  She drew her pistol, kicked the front door, and it flung open in a flurry.  It knocked a figure in a black, but reflective clothing back.

"Great, my IR sensors are fucked" she thought to herself.  

She kicked in the first interior door.  Her target wasn't there.  She caught movement behind her, and spun around.  Another figure in reflective black raced toward her.  She put two rounds in the target, and it fell, bleeding a green, translucent gel.

Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered that people weren't supposed to bleed green, but that was not important right now.  She stepped on the body, and it screamed in a shrill pitch.

She moved quickly, kicking in the next door.  Two more figures in the dark, reflective uniform sat next to her target.  "Joy, DUCK!" she yelled through the helmet.  The child didn't move.  The figures pointed a unfamilliar weapon at the child, and Allie immediately took a headshot to each.  

Allie ran to the child, but caught more movement behind her. A figure raised a weapon and took a shot. Her carbon-nanotube ceramic armor burned behind her, but she felt no recoil.  She grit her teeth as the pain from the burning threatened to overwhelm her.  she turned around and took to more shots, point blank to the figure behind her.  Green ichor splattered over her.

The unexpected color of the blood moved from her subconcious to her concious OODA loop, and she knew something was not as it should be.  Her armor started smoking, and the burning around her back got worse.

Carbon-nonotube ceramic shouldn't burn.  Yet another interesting fact she filed away for later, after this evolution.  She looked at the child again.  She glowed brightly in the infrared.  Until another shot rang out, and her combat helmet went dark. 

"Shit. SHITshitSHITshit."  Allie ripped the helmet off her head and tossed it behind her.  It went "thunk" as it hit another figure in the strange black reflective uniform.

Then, the child ran at her, knocking her over, and the weapon out of her hand.

This evolution was not going according to plan at ALL. 

Allie fought with her real eyes to readjust to actual sight, withou t her helmet, she was limited to her natural senses.  She looked for her weapon, but couldn't see it in the dark.  She grabbed the child, and dragged to her feet and ran for the exit.  She saw a faint glimmer of a pistol shaped object, and she grabbed it.  It was unfamiliar.  Must have been one of the captors weapons.  Whatever.  It had sights and a trigger.  

She dragged the child toward the exit, but saw it was blocked by another figure.  She raised the unfamiliar weapon, aimed center mass and pulled the trigger.  For a moment, she thought it didn't fire, because there was no recoil.  But a bright flash of coherent light hit her target. 

And nothing happened.  The reflective garment seemed to absorb the shot.  

She instinctively raised th weapon for a headshot.  Failure to stop.  She pulled the trigger again.  Another flash of coherent light.  A needle-like hole appeared in the figure, and it fell in a heap.  She dragged the child over and stepped over, running for the door.

Outside, the child gripped her tightly and started crying.  Allie fingered the remote control in her pocket, and the camouflage panels on her truck deactivated.  She opened the door, dragged the child in, belted her in, and peeled off at high speed.

"Phone, dial contract 217" she yelled, as she sped toward the Freeway.  The phone rang, and picked up.

"Did you get my baby back?"

"Yeah, but we have a LOT to talk about."