Follow Despedida's lead

You told Despedida that you appreciated the vote of confidence, but the pistol really was the only thing you had that you thought would work. The Hack-Gun was the sort of thing that took precise aim and a bit of set-up... You didn't see an easily scannable point on Promethia's body, either. All you two had were your wits and your guns.

"Uh, okay, but one of us is gonna have to stop her souped-up prosthetics, whether it's you or me. That's the only way to win this one... If you can't do it, then you keep her distracted while I handle it. Give me just a bit and I'll whip up an EMP that'll work to disable her. Think of this as an escort mission... They suck, but you've gotta keep me safe if you wanna pass this level." Wasting no time for once, Despedida immediately set about opening up her toolkit and opening up some disc-like device using a miniature screwdriver.

This course of action sounded almost as dangerous as waiting for Promethia to round the corner, but you had no other choice. Despedida was skilled in many ways, but you thought she was unique amongst the Goodbye Girls in lacking top-level combat training and reflexes... she probably wouldn't be able to handle dodging that flamethrower again. Sweating from a combination of the heat in the hallway and the tense situation, you rushed into the hallway, firing a few shots at Promethia to grab her attention. Frighteningly, the woman didn't even have to dodge or bat away your bullets with her arm; instead, she activated some magnetic field around her body that repelled the bullets mid-flight. Seeing your surprise, she sneered and raised her flamethrower again. "You'll die more quickly if you stand right in the middle of the jet, little man. Quicker. Less pain." She wasn't advising you to be friendly... she might just be enjoying having the upper-hand for once so she could get off some cocky dialogue of her own.

You clenched your teeth and sprinted down the hallway as quickly as you could manage, with Promethia hot on your tail. With no regard for the damage to Bortnik's lab, the Deliverer released a constant stream of fire, torching every hallway. No scientists seemed eager to peek out from their labs and get involved in this literal fire-fight. The pursuit continued; you were forced to view your impending demise as a matter of when, rather than if.

Just when all seemed hopeless, you remembered the layout of the compound from Despedida's so-called "auto-map." The lab sector you were in now ought to go in one big circle. That meant that if you could just keep running, eventually, you'd circle back around to where your ally was. You only hoped she'd have her weapon prepped and ready to use against Promethia. Although you'd only left her less than a minute ago, it already felt like hours, from the breakneck speed you'd been forced to maintain and the many times you'd seen your life flash before your eyes.

"Your tenacity is infuriating! No more fighting. Become ash, along with the rest of the old world!" Promethia bellowed, increasing the intensity of her jet-stream to an even more terrifying level. You just barely managed to dive into the hallway with Despedida in time. Your agent gave you a nod, then readied her finger on a detonator. The moment Promethia rounded the corner, your hacker detonated an EMP mine she'd hidden on the corner, causing a burst of electricity to surge through the hallway. The blast knocked back your foe and kept her there; those prosthetics were probably just dead weight without power to them.

You thought that no one else in the world could have rigged an EMP device like that in such a short amount of time, besides Despedida.

"Damn you CEDIIIIIT!" Promethia roared, while dragging herself back up to her feet. You remembered your mission: to take her alive and interrogate her. This wasn't a case of you slacking on your trigger for any notions of chivalry; you simply knew you couldn't afford to critically wound her. Instead, you approached, keeping your hand on the grip of your pistol as a threat. "You intend to capture me? My ideals won't end here!" The woman grunted and ran her hand along that glowing groove you'd noticed earlier; in a clean swipe, she'd managed to detach her entire left arm that had been replaced with sci-fi grade prosthetics. With that, she pushed off from the wall with one hand and ran further into the compound. You weren't sure if she planned to hide, regroup with Doctor Bortnik, or escape. You sure hoped she didn't have a replacement arm somewhere, at least.

"This reminds me of SNK's Shock Troopers. There's always those tough talking bad guys who fly away on their parachutes over and over, no matter how many times you beat him. Guess we'll probably face her one more time down the line," Despedida shrugged with a casual smile. "Thanks for doing the legwork, Ciao. I can always count on you to draw enemy aggro."

At this point, the next step was to head back to the elevator exit of the hallway and free Tschau. Unfortunately, you wouldn't get the chance...