Andy couldn't see what had happened, since he had his own troubles. The reaction from the blast had recoiled on him, and while not great, it had freed the sword, which slipped from his hands and skittered off the side of the creature even as she fell.<br/><br/>He was flung forward and barely held on even with all four sets of claws and ended up flattening himself against the hard chitin as it landed. But he pushed himself to his feet afterwards, and walked around the gaping hole where the Hive Tyrant's spinal column had been.<br/><br/>He jumped down in stages, using the upper limb as a stepping stone and landing heavily. Then he walked towards the others with what at first looked like a confident swagger, until you saw his glazed, unfocussed expression, and realised it had more of a stagger than swagger.<br/><br/>As he reached them, he said, "I can't believe that actually worked... I think it's dead. Of course, 'That only counts as one.' " The last part was said in a different voice, with a burr to it, as if he was quoting someone.<br/><br/>Then the huge charge of adrenaline that had been flowing through his veins to the exclusion of blood started to die away and the reaction showed itself. He fainted dead away, his eyes rolling up as he collapsed forward, exposing his back to their view, along with the open scar across his shoulder blades, and the back of his shirt, which was dark and sopping with blood.