At the same instant, Sloane, Tojo, and Hammer moved into action. Tojo’s hyped-up reflexes made him a blur of motion as he drew a bead on the first guard and fired a burst from his Crusader machine pistol. The guard’s body armor soaked up much of the kinetic force of the rounds as the bullets stitched a line up his chest. None of the 9mm rounds penetrated the armor-weave, but the impact sent the guard stumbling back, off-balance.