A point of light exploded from the gator. It was startling to look right down the trajectory of the plasma blast as it erupted from the cannon.

Lucky felt his spiders dancing around a web of permutations, figuring out the exact timing and trajectory of the blast, then coordinating it with his muscles via the nanobots swimming in his blood.

His left leg swung backwards just as his shoulder dipped, and he sensed the blue beam of energy streak past his midsection and rip into the wall of the evacuation center behind him. It was close enough that he heard the faintest of sizzles on the edge of his armor.

He started at a dead run for the damaged section of the building.

The stream of energy followed him dutifully, carving away wherever it went.

When he reached the pinpoint hole, he dropped like a rock, rolled backwards, and leapt up again.

Lucky let the spiders take over completely now. He was a marionette, bending to the whims of the spiders. As they plucked and prodded at the rich tapestry of calculations, he felt his body as it jerked and feinted this way and that. To anyone watching the spectacle, his wild dance back and forth must have been quite a sight.

The stakes were a little higher for Lucky. The beam clipped his heel and lopped a half-inch of armor off, right down to the soft interior material. But he kept up his frenetic dance.

Lucky could almost sense the frustration growing in the gunner as the beam sliced through the air around him, trying in vain to cut him to ribbons. It burned past his cheek and angrily whipped just above his head as he ducked.

Something burned at his elbow for an instant, and he felt a cocktail released into his bloodstream. He knew he must look like a complete maniac by now. Another nip at his thigh as he lost concentration. He couldn’t keep this up forever.

But his spiders begged for a little more, and he obliged.

He turned and made one last pass, then ran like hell for the other Marines. “It’s now or never!”