'Down!' Joyeuse yelled.<br/><br/>John dropped a mere instant before the Cain round hit him. He saw its passage in slow motion, seeing the railgun slug pass mere centimeters from his upturned visor. He somersaulted backwards, barely dodging the Lion's blade as he stabbed downwards. Great. Two Exalt-slaying threats. A glance to the side told him that the heavy weapons operative labored to reload his weapon with another of those odd slugs, the kind that had knocked Esone out of commission.<br/><br/>'Four, handle the Cain guy. Five, see to Two. Three, keep clearing the place out.'<br/><br/>Bau, Czevak, and 042 responded in affirmative. John then pushed them from his mind--he could trust them to do their jobs, and Bau's Sidereal abilities would keep him from taking hits from the railgun. In the meantime, there was a Lunar to slay. With a swift chop, John detached an old stone pillar from its base and hurled it with his biotics. The Lunar sliced it in two, only for John to close his fist, slamming the two halves of the pillar down on his sword arm, trapping the joint and hand. The Lion tried pulling himself free, only to take a biotic charge to the face. Goldfinger manifested around John's hand and roared as he pulled the trigger. John racked the slide as he maxed out each heatsink's capacity, firing as fast as the weapon would cycle as the Lion  tried to rise. Set ablaze by the incendiary barrage, the Lion's cybernetics overheated and shorted, while his natural Lunar healing factor slowed.<br/><br/>A great number of combat-focused Lunars stacked charms and excellencies that catered to their incredible defensive capabilities, especially the rapid regeneration capabilities and massive damage resistance built into each Lunar Exaltation. Though some preferred to flow like Moonsilver around an enemy's strikes, the current consensus was that the archetypal Lunar meat shield charm load provided the greatest utility and survivability in the field. Few things could easily kill a regenerating Lunar. The trick was to nullify or outgun its healing factor, or to unleash a single ridiculously powerful strike that either vaporized the Lunar or overloaded his nervous system. And thankfully, this guy had replaced too much of his flesh with machinery. His regenerative capabilities would not repair the damage done to his bionic limbs or organs.<br/><br/>John holstered Goldfinger and grabbed the Lunar by the leg, hurling him with a Crashing Wave Throw back towards the anti-orbital mass drivers. He ignored the bullets impacting his biotic barriers, charging again and again to keep the Lunar disoriented, grinning slightly as he heard the Lion's flurry of profanity. Of course, his feeling of victory was short-lived. An ill-timed haymaker ended with the Lion clamping a paw around John's arm. The Lion headbutted him, causing the Solar to stumble and opening his defense. Dazed, John couldn't activate Adamant Skin Technique quickly enough to avoid being impaled on the Lion's daiklave. Warning runes ran down his display.<br/><br/>John hissed through gritted teeth as searing pain erupted in his torso. 'Yes, Joyeuse, I know I've been stabbed! Maneuvering thrusters, now!'<br/><br/>The Lion lifted him up with the blade, holding the impaled Solar in the air in triumph. Out of the corner of his eye, John saw Bau knocked back. The Cain-wielder raised his weapon.<br/><br/>'You sure? The damage to your internal organs could--'<br/><br/>'Backwards, full strength!'<br/><br/>Joyeuse complied, putting as much of the armor power plant's energy as she could into the maneuvering jets. The force of the thrusters hurled John back, tearing the blade out of his abdomen and tearing up gods knew what inside his gut. But those were minor compared to the bullet he just dodged.<br/><br/>'What--' was all the Lion had to say before the next Cain round hit his daiklave and detonated.<br/><br/>'Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! Hoooooo!' John yelled defiantly despite the pain wracking his abdomen.