That plan works out better for Victoria, as non-vital spots are less armoured. It slows the soldiers and prevents them from making too much of a concentrated effort to annihilate Victoria. Still, they're still firing on her, and it's starting to sting.
Indeed, Yamal may be satisfied by the sound of cracking bones. It seems these guys can only take so much. Or their armour's worse than Penelope's. Probably the latter.
Evridiki follows Penelope's instructions and slots the card in reverse, as the armour fades away with black lines flickering into nothing instead of the silver lines that brought Penelope's into existence. Aside from some bruising, the man seems relatively normal, dressed in a white shirt and khaki work pants, as he rolls around groaning in pain.
Dackly and Gozer do the same to the unconscious, finding that most of them seem to be normal people under the belts. Certainly nobody who looks trained enough to be in the military. 6AR tries it on someone still standing, however, and is rewarded with a grenade to the face as he is knocked back by his buddies. He's still in the air, but that took a little out of him still.
Penelope whips out another card, sliding it across her belt buckle.
"Trigger: Empress!"
She throws her shield at the crowd to knock some mooks out, her now-free hand and the shield surrounded by a black glow as the shield flies in an arc around the front of the crowd before flying back onto her hand.
Contagion's smoke grenade lands and provides cover, but shots still seem to be landing while aimed, albeit with slightly more missing. These helmets must be able to clear through the smoke somehow. Regardless, he manages to take a few down with several bursts, providing cover for Penelope while her shield is in the air.
Wilson's shots also provide cover, this time for Yamal as some of the remaining still-standing armoured troopers are shot down by the courier, preventing them from shooting Yamal. Meanwhile, some of Yamal's potential victims are slammed onto nearby walls as Pluton, recovering from the impact of being smashed into a wall, blasts a beam of radioactive energy at them.
Haruka's dolls give some of the injured civilians energy, while doing the same to Victoria. Both manage to heal a bit of their injuries.
Finally, a few are hurled aside from the other end, as a person in similar armour to Penelope, with golden and red colours instead of silver and green, and a single horn instead of two 'ears' on the helmet, armed with two short swords instead of a shield and spear, arrives on the scene from the opposite side. They seem to be helping the party, judging by some of the other troopers turning around and attacking the person in gold armour.