((Well, the HMRC isn't exactly a peacekeeping force... given the circumstances, it's preferable to kill the civvies as collateral than lose the fight. I mean... it's not like the HMRC never did this before or anything.
Most probable scenarios I can see working otherwise... Auron could try for a tangent with the prototype - an area attack, if the surfaces around the sods are metal - it likely won't kill them, but should at least stun. Or Miyamoto could locally make gravity go towards the back wall, knocking the sods on their asses and allowing Bishop to get a few shots in past the shields.))
((Yeah, but still, let's at least try to do this without killing them before we just say 'to hell with it' and kill everything everywhere. And if I had a decomp there are loads of ways to do this, but without it I think a small but long heatblade is one of the safer options.))
And RC you're forgetting you could use your giant laser
((How exactly? Besides cutting a hole in the floor, using the laser would still neatly bisect the civs. And the building, for that matter.
(And yes, I know getting cut in two isn't permadeath in this universe, but I find it kinda... lame to just kill everything with the justification that they can all be brought back later. Kinda takes the tension and drama out of situations like this.)
((My point is...what if this is all faked? What if Steve is still serving the UWM, and this is all just trying to keep the people in line now that there isn't any external threat? After all, what better to convince people to continue working together than the threat of high-tech psychopaths lead by a rogue AI that will show up and destroy everything you love?))
((I kinda think that, if this was what they were going for, there would be easier and less elaborate ways to do it. Remember, there are still hostile aliens that humanity is fighting, like the Heabi or something like that. Don't think they'd need to create such an artificial external threat really. And if they did, just landing the ship, letting the inmates out telling them they have 'shore leave' would be enough to have the planet burning within a few hours.))
((Those guys were preparing the planet to hold out against an invasion by a superior force or a worker uprising. Of course they have some comms. Once you consider what they were preparing for and that those guys are SpecOps, the best of the best, trained to pursue victory at any cost, this all makes more sense.))
((@RadioControlled: You could ask help from the defense team. I'm sure Pancaek would be very useful to you right about now. Or if you're fine with civvies getting killed you could ask us to send someone.))
((Thanks for the offer, but I'd like to try to finish this with the people we've got here. Otherwise we could've just asked for a small army, seeing how many players this game has. Besides, we can't really wait for reinforcements, it would take too long before they get here, the sods are just a hallway away. Also, bridge is destroyed, so only flying people or lucky matter amp users are getting here. Or people who can jump extremely well.))