Bab 38: Jaunt 1 – Chapter 3
Jaunt 1 – Chapter 3
September 6th, 2000, 1:00 am:
Nevada – Mojave Desert, deep below the earth. Unknown Facility.
This is useless.
Unless I want to tinker up some climbing gear and try one of the many chutes leading out of the room while desperately hoping I don't get taken out by incoming trash, I seem to be stuck.
I've inspected every accessible corner of the room, and the only parts I haven't yet checked are the three large piles of trash that are mostly biological.
There's no sign of a button, access point or anything like it. There's a single console with a keyboard by the exit door, but it's unpowered. And scans show the cabling round the room is also unpowered.
If Purity is still alive when I return, I'm going to kick her head in twice as hard as I already would for destroying my flight abilities.
As I'm contemplating various ways to kill Nazis in cold blood and get away with it, the lights in the room suddenly flicker on, red.
And a body comes flying out of one of the vents.
Holy shit, that's a living, breathing person.
I jump to catch them and lay them down on the floor.
The very familiar blonde woman I caught turns to look at me with narrowed eyes. As I rub the back of my neck and crack a hopefully disarming smile.
"Well Agent Brea, what's a classy girl like you doing in a place like this?"
She isn't amused.
"Hale. Explain now."
"Would you believe me if I said I took a wrong turn on my way to Vegas?"
This woman might actually have less of a sense of humour than Piggot.
She points her gun at me and her eyes are vaguely glowing. Ok, no time for jokes I get it.
"I was following a lead on mutilated and eviscerated farm animals in the area, there's been an increase in NMC activity all around the outskirts of California and Nevada, but the biggest concentration of sightings was the Dryfield area. No idea why the hunters weren't already swarming here, place is a damned hotspot. I've already nearly run afoul of a giant flamethrower monster, been chased by the spider legion, and had to hack my way into some files on some shit that shouldn't even exist. How about you Agent Brea, what brings you into the area." I state, on the edge of hysteria.
She stares at me for what feels like forever, before lowering her gun and nodding.
"I was sent to Dryfield for the same reason. Ended up getting ambushed in Dryfield before being saved by a civilian, got my car dismantled by some gremlins, then got chased into the mines after getting a tip on a group running a big shelter here by some puma horses."
"Ah the lion horses, yes I met them, I was on a motorbike at the time. Not fun at all. Chased me into a cave that turned out to be the den of some 20ft beast with a flamethrower. He headed off toward Dryfield but I had no way to signal a warning."
"Don't worry, I killed it."
I turn to her wide eyed.
"How???"
"The same way I dealt with the ones in New York. With my freak powers."
Ah, one of those then. In a world of parahumans it's easy to accept someone with powers, but here, where she is effectively the only parahuman in existence.
Yeah she would constantly feel like an outsider.
"Like the fire you used on the helipad?"
She turns to me.
"You saw that?"
"Yeah was pretty cool to be honest."
I decide to throw her a bone, not like I'm going to be here forever and whoever has been watching has seen be do this shit anyway.
I pull out the Jabberwock claw from my trouser pocket, clearly too small for it, before charging it with lightning, then speed bursting away and back to my position.
"You aren't the only special one Agent Brea."
She looks at me in awe.
"There are others!?"
I decide to shut her down gently.
"I have powers, but not from the same source as yours. Mine are a little more esoteric than yours which are born in your cells."
"How do you know that?"
"Scans, and I looked up Maeda and Klamp's work after we met. That Klamp was a freak I feel sorry for you for having to meet him."
Her expression darkens.
"I understand. So you know all about me then?"
I feel like this is a trap question. So ill go with the safe answer."
"Not at all, I know a little about your hyperactivated mitochondria. I'm a doctor myself so I found Maeda's research interesting and Klamp's a horrifying violation of everything we swear oaths against. But in all honesty I just wanted to know if I could learn to throw fireballs myself."
I turn to look at her meaningfully as I make my eyes glow with the Nanobiotics. I reach out and heal a graze on her arm from her trip through the vents. It was regenerating anyway but I wanted to make a point.
"But that doesn't mean I 'know all about you' Agent Brea, Just the barest look from the outside."
She nods. And something fleeting passes between us, before disappearing.
"Call me Aya, the Agent Brea stuff is getting old. Now, how do we get out of here?"
I indicate up to one of the chutes opposite the one she came through.
"Your guess is as good as mine, I've been stuck in here for a few hours after I dropped in the same way as you. The lights are on now since you dropped in at least."
We walk over to the door together, her arm lights up in a pale green corona as she charges, then releases a burst of green plasma at the door.
No effect.
Her arm flashes yellow as she punches the door, to no effect again. Not even a dent.
"Let's try together."
She looks me up and down with a slightly bemused expression.
"Okay then."
She grabs the left door and I grab the right as we pull away from each other.
There's a slight creak but nothing gives.
As I turn to ask her if she has any other ideas the lights change from red to white and the biggest trash pile starts to crumble. A large flabby arm and a massive shoulder with a large hole in it makes an appearance.
"Of for fuck sakes not again."
"Boss, the door panel is on!"
I quickly run to the panel and there is a simple touch screen with open and close buttons.
I slam the open button and the door starts to unlock, agonisingly slowly.
"Hale!" Aya shouts.
The monster ahead of us in the trash pile is enormous. At least 10ft tall if not bigger, and most of that its head. Huge bulbous shoulders attached behind where the ears should be with massive misshapen human hands attached complete the view we have. It's bulk hidden behind it's immense head.
Aya pulls an M4 off her back and immediately starts firing, I'm not far behind with the shotgun.
She startles at the report of my shotgun and shouts over to me.
"Where the hell did you pull that from??"
I just smirk and keep on firing.
The beast is intimidating, but extremely slow, having to pull itself forward on those massive misshapen arms inch by inch as we lay into it.
It roars, a spine chilling, ear bursting sound and the holes on it's shoulder start launching projectiles into the air. They arc towards us and leave pools of a yellowy-green liquid around.
I instruct EFA to scan them and she informs me that they are a complex compound toxin that even I don't want to get on me.
We dodge the fire as the door locks complete and the door finally starts opening.
Aya lets go with a humongous burst of fire, the air literally shimmers between us as EFA informs me that the flash combustion she just generated in the beasts face exceeded 250 degrees.
Celsius.
Christ I wouldn't want to be hit with that. It's like 'Lung in a can'.
The world lights up in green as a massive burst of electricity hits the monster, followed by a burst of yellow as Aya starts to glow yellow and purple.
She gestures at me and a telekinetic shield covers my body, and another field around my weapon causing a telekinetic funnelling effect in front of the barrel, the rounds will leave the gun at much, much higher velocities.
EFA interjects as I'm studying the effect while continuing to fire, now much more impactful bursts of buckshot.
"Boss, whatever she did, the Nanobiotics are going wild, your own cells too, if you had an injury right now it would be healing incredibly fast even without your nanobiotics, she's effectively supercharged every cell in your body. Your ATP production is through the roof. Not as high as hers with the strange mitochondria they have here. But much more than standard."
"Take detailed scans for later please."
"Will do!"
We continue laying round after round into the beast.
It seemingly loses its patience chasing us open's its mouth and a horror show erupts.
It's mouth is bigger then me, it could literally eat me and Aya whole.
It starts to inhale and literal gale force winds erupt trying to suck us into its mouth.
I quickly grab the grating in the floor and Aya does the same as the beast attempts to suck us directly into its stomach.
The inhalation ends and Aya pulls a grenade from her belt, loads it into the mounted grenade launcher on her M4 and fires it directly into the beasts mouth.
There's seemingly no surface damage, but the grenade seems to do the trick, as the monster lets off an almighty scream and slumps to the floor.
I slump, as Aya start to reload her mags.
"Crap, that thing used most of my ammo."
I reach into my 'pocket' and pull a few boxes of surplus 5.56 I looted from the armoury. I chuck them to her to which she sniffs.
"I'll find out how you are doing that eventually."
I can't help but laugh.
"I'm sure you will!"
We exit through the now open blast door into a long, wide corridor. Wide tracks are set in the floor, though for what I don't know.
We reach about halfway down the corridor when the roar sounds behind us again, and the beast we just took down is charging towards us down the corridor.
Aya looks around in a panic, before booking it to an alcove in the corridor wall.
"Hale, over here!"
I don't think twice before joining her.
"So, what are we doing here? Hoping it can't squish us?"
"Just wait." She replies with a smirk.
As the beast arrives in the corridor, on the tracked section I noticed earlier, and Aya punches a button in the wall labelled "DISPOSAL".
The floor the beast is in starts to sink into the floor, carrying the beast down into the floor.
The walls then push in sideways, crushing the beast between two intense pushing forces.
The result is inevitable as the beast is crushed into paste, roaring all the while.
Aya releases a breath and turns to me.
"I noticed it as we turned the corner."
"I'm glad you did; I didn't fancy being that things dinner."
The lights flicker to red again as an electronic voice sounds out.
"Furnace activation in ten minutes, please leave the garbage disposal site immediately."
No further chatter between us as we turn the corner in the massive corridor and rush to the end.
The door is electronically locked, but that's no challenge for me, an electronic lock that isn't unpowered, shielded or otherwise protected is nothing to the Omni tool, and the console isn't hardened like the door. Seemingly made of heat resistant materials instead. I hack the switch in a matter of seconds and we exit to a sewer.
With a gun pointed to my head.
"Who the fuck are you?" a man's voice exclaims.
Aya interjects. "Kyle, put the gun down, he's with me."
The now identified "Kyle" takes the gun away from my head and I turn to look at him.
"Boss, this man was in the Akropolis tower, I have him on multiple scans from around the building. He was dressed as swat for some of it too. More interestingly. Scans show traces of C4 and large amounts of chemicals on his skin. He shows early signs of tampering with his Mitochondria. He also has one of those implants in his arm."
Hmm, interesting.
I have no internet access in here or I would have EFA look this guy up. Time to grab the bull by the horns again, I have no desire to see this guy's agenda play out.
"So, who are you Kyle?"
"PI out of LA. Helped Aya in Dryfield. You?"
"Indy Hunter out of LA. You know it's interesting, I have to wonder what a PI was doing at the Akropolis Tower dressed as a member of SWAT, and has traces of C4 all over him."
His eyes widen and he raises his gun at me this time safety off.
I blur towards him and put him in an arm lock, as Aya points her gun at us seemingly in shock.
She keeps looking between us seemingly unsure of what to think as I pin him next to the open furnace door.
"So, 'Kyle', what's the real story here. See, I have a rather large suspicion about you. And I have sources of info you can't fathom. So spill. I'm perfectly happy to throw you in the furnace if you don't. I already find it incredibly suspicious that you were waiting here for one of us behind a locked door after we dropped into the furnace."
He struggles, pushing and clawing against my unyielding grip before giving up.
"I was ordered to watch her, and then you after you showed strange abilities."
Aya looks stricken.
"Why?"
"Because the company wants to know if they can properly emulate your abilities before the day comes."
"'The day' referring to the new genesis?"
He looks as me in shock.
"How did you know that name!?"
"You guys are really bad at cleaning up after yourselves. So, you work for Neo Ark then. Otherwise known as the Ark Foundation?"
He slumps.
"Yes."
So, the company that funds the independent hunters is the main villain in all this.
Fitting.
"And you believe all that crazy crap about a new world order, free of human beings with everything turned into mitochondrion monsters?"
He turns his head away and refuses to look at us.
Aya looks at me in askance.
"In the facility I fell in from, there were files detailing experiments with a genotype, that I suspect was taken from you. In it, they describe an Ark, designed to shelter the chosen few as the rest of humanity is eliminated, converted into ANMC's, Artificial NMC's designed to fulfil food chain responsibilities across the world as the chosen few gods rule over the new order."
She looks vaguely ill.
"Then all of these monsters... they're all related to me?"
"No, not really. You are a genetic key, likely not the only one, just the only discovered one. The latent mitochondria in your cells are incredibly powerful and they wanted to use that. But they failed."
That gets Kyle's attention.
"What do you mean we failed?" he laughs, a dry, humourless thing. "We already cloned her. The kids in the main facility, we don't need a washed-up cop anymore."
Aya looks furious.
"You CLONED ME!? After NEW YORK! Are you all crazy!?"
Kyle continues to laugh.
"You are the mother of the new world order, but we don't need your 'morals' or your worthless fear of your own potential. We will raise a new world order under Eve! Our new all-powerful god!"
He bites down on something in his mouth, and EFA alerts me that he's entering a transformation.
"Back away quick!"
His skin starts to writhe and shuffle.
Three shots ring out as Aya hits him mid transformation. He flies back into the open furnace door from her PE enhanced shots and Aya pushes the button to relock the door. Screams erupt from within as the furnace engages.
A tear falls from the corner of her eye but she braces herself and continues.
"We have a clone to find, and a facility to destroy. Come on."
We exit the area as the furnace switches on behind us.
And if I hear a sniff from Aya as we leave well, I'll pass it off as gas or something.
…
Aya is like a machine, no words pass between us as we move through the sewers into a much bigger facility than the one I was previously in, killing loch ness monster esque NMC's and fat NMC's similar to the ones from the Akropolis tower.
Finally we pass through a cylindrical room, over a gantry below which is a massive ball of flesh and end up at a control room.
The computers are locked and hardened, but there is a network access point here and I can finally get access to the facility network.
I hack in with my omni tool not even bothering to hide it.
Aya looks on in interest as the orange ui opens up on my arm and the tool and EFA hack through firewalls and network security protocols.
I project a map into the room.
"There's a huge greenhouse underground, and a Lab. It looks like they wanted to get you down there so they could isolate you and take more samples but I've sealed it off."
I continue downloading information from the central network hub.
"The phone is now activated if you want to call for backup, but Aya. Baldwin is in on this."
The files on the network implicate a lot of people in upper government actually, though thankfully not the president.
She looks ashen as she looks over the list I'm projecting.
She turns to the phone on the wall.
"I'm going to call my colleague Jodie and Rupert, Rupert has contacts in the secret service, I'll be able to get proper support here."
"Give me his email address and I'll send him the proof."
She rattles off an email address and I send a massive packet of info over to him as she starts the phone call.
I continue to download everything they have in their network before moving on to protocols.
I disable the observation cameras and Parasite Energy disablers and switch the security turrets protocols to target the NMCs in the facility. Gunfire is audible throughout the facility and Aya looks over at me in alarm but shake my head and indicate the console.
Finally, I download a detailed map of the facility.
Her phone call ends and she comes back to the console I am hacking.
"Rupert is going to get us Army support, Jodie is contacting Pierce my other colleague who is on the way here apparently. I've also contacted a friend in Dryfield and told him to evacuate."
I nod at her and shake my wrist.
"I've got a detailed map of the area, uploading to your contacts now. Your clone is being held not far from here, in a Lab further down. I've disabled the security protocols and ordered the turrets to destroy anything down there. I've got the facility wide security that was disabled previously cleaning up the NMC's, and I've taken control of every decontamination protocol from here to Dryfield."
She smirks at me.
"No more trips to the furnace then?"
I shudder.
"No thanks."
I'll keep control of the facility from here, stop them from getting hold of the facility again, you head down to the lab and collect your clone, With the equipment here I can contact you if needed.
…
The information in the files here is actually impressive. I compare it to some of the genetic engineering work in the Magos Designation, and in some area's it's actually equivalent. There's a bit of a rabbit hole here, I'm kind of regretting not knocking out or disabling some of the NMCs I had met in order to Aura scan them.
However, the more interesting part is how they made the monsters that can use the same, or similar albeit weakened versions of the pseudo 'spells' that Aya uses.
They effectively used the mitochondria to propagate minor genetic changes throughout the carrier. Every Parasite Energy using monster is partially related to Aya.
This could actually be an incredible piece of the puzzle for solving the Case-53 problem. If I can isolate off the mitochondria without the insane cell suicide modifications of course. I don't think they'd appreciate melting into goo upon critical injury.
I might have to ask Aya, but I don't think she would appreciate someone else wanting to experiment with her DNA.
I also download schematics for the contact lens tech and some of their more esoteric workstations. Genetic enhancement tools and the like.
As I'm breaking my way through the system, I get contact with Aya in the lab. Bringing up the cctv there I see her with a mini-me.
"Hale, I'm making my way back upstairs, is the way clear?"
"All clear for now, I will use the loudspeaker to contact you if any issues."
I watch her till she gets on the elevator, however as I am watching, one of the screens starts to flash.
'Golem Soldier Unit Activation Protocol Initiated'
That doesn't sound good.
"EFA track that alert and disable the protocol if you can."
"Boss you are going to want to look at this."
I quickly scan the file that EFA has bought up on the screen.
Genetically enhanced super-soldiers, enslaved to a set of strict instructions, to protect the Ark at all cost and follow all orders from those numbered higher than them.
"EFA bring up the cameras from that room."
The camera flickers on, it's the armoured mask guy from the tower!
He turns to the camera.
"I don't know how you took control of our systems so easily merc, but this system is isolated for our security. I'm coming to take back my systems boy."
"Boss, he isn't lying, Systems in the GOLEM chamber are airgapped, you have to be present to prevent activation."
An attempt is made on the systems to lock certain doors, they're trying to waylay Aya too.
EFA deflects the attempt with contemptible ease.
I grab the loudspeaker and set it to where Aya currently is.
"Aya, you have major heat incoming, don't bother coming back here, make your way out to the parking structure, and outside. I'm unlocking the doors for you and locking the doors between you and the soldiers coming for you. Be careful, these guys are no pushover."
She nods on camera and diverts course with the little girl following her.
I quickly lock down any doors between her and the Golem soldiers that are moving out through the facility.
The turrets are hardcoded not to target the golems, but I bypass that with a little worm of my own (Okay, EFA's own but who's counting) and the security systems turn on the Golem soldiers.
It's…less effective than I expect, but a few of them are taken down.
While I close doors and harass the soldiers, EFA is preparing a control system to prevent them taking control of the facility again.
"Boss, you need to see this. Now."
She sends a file to my omni-tool, I open it up and gaze in horror at the final stage of their plan.
The room of flesh before this control room, is a literal cocoon, sealed in a massive vault with an openable roof. The plan is to feed the little girl (Eve the file says) to this cocoon in order for her to be enslaved to it. Her Mitochondria will be used to fuel its metamorphosis into a flying, insanely powerful beast that will then spread spores over the planet to force the transformation.
Aya is almost out. She's currently in combat with a massive bipedal beast that is firing blasts of plasma at her.
I pop the loudspeaker again.
"Aya, do not let them get hold of Eve, she is the key to their plan, don't come back in with her, get as far away from here with her as possible."
She breaks into a sprint on camera, firing massive blasts of fire and plasma behind her as golem soldiers advance alongside the walking beast. Thankfully she is almost out and the soldiers are simply disintegrating if they try to approach.
She clenches her first and the room ahead of her bursts into a corona of pure power.
When the light fades not even dust is left.
I turn away from the sight to check my own approaching visitors.
The masked guy and his own, now much smaller army of soldiers is just passing through decontamination now, I seal some of them in there, but a few of them wearing heavy gauntlets simply smash their way through..
Turns out while energy does basically nothing to these walls, throw enough physical force at them and they go down rapidly.
They aren't far now.
"EFA are we set?"
"All set boss, I can't affect any airgapped systems of course but they arent getting back into the primary system any time soon. I can network in from any console or computer in the base connected to the network too if need be."
"Okay, let's take a shortcut then."
I switch on every turret in the room, as the phone starts to ring.
I sprint over an pick it up.
"Aya, it's Rupert."
"Sorry Rupert it's Thomas, and I have to evacuate so make it quick."
"Hale? Good work on that info, Baldwins in custody. But you and Aya need to evacuate immediately. The Army is hightailing it there, but the President has seen the plans you sent over and decided to sanitise the facility. You have maybe an hour before the hypervelocity satellite is in position to destroy the facility and Dryfield."
What the hell is a hypervelocity satellite? Research for later.
"Okay, thanks for the heads up, Aya is almost out, I stayed to maintain facility control but I need to leave before I get pinned."
"Then don't let me keep you, I'm on my way, shouldn't be too long now, took a chopper with the advance guard."
I chow down on buff food and pre stim. I feel like this is going to be a tricky one.
I leg it out to the gantry as the door ahead start to groan. I vault over the gantry to land on the walkway below. I exit through the route I pre-planned into the septic tank area. The defences down here are still active and on my side and I need to move quickly.
I pass the route Aya took to collect Eve, and ignore the elevator down into the 'Ark' and continue running in a straight line. The sound of static warns me in just enough time and I roll as a lithe golem soldier drops out of invisibility and attempt to taze me from behind. A flick of the Jabberwock disarms him. Quite literally.
I continue on through straight metallic corridors, dealing with two more of the invisible soldiers.
"EFA can we scan for these guys at all?"
"We can, just as they drop stealth, the field takes them slightly out of phase so they technically don't exist till they drop the stealth. It's definitely a derivative of those spiders we fought earlier."
I shudder at the memory.
As I run an almighty high pitched scream sounds from behind me. Looks like mask-face has discovered my lockout.
I make it to the elevator hall and sprint for the elevator hall. As the corridor opens up into the sub-atrium I am intercepted by a golem soldier in seeming riot gear.
I have no time to be gentle, and these guys basically gave themselves to this inhuman program. I drop a few scans to save a copy of the physical enhancements and proceed to dismantle him with great prejudice. One of the stealth soldiers attempts to intercept but I deal with him as I did the others.
The elevator ride is quick and smooth, I took control of this protocol already so I'm not worried about any funny business here. The turrets on the next floor are already firing down the corridor I need to take, and on the other side, two golem soldiers with rocket launchers are firing small homing rockets that fly very slowly. The turrets are shooting the rockets out of the sky in a kind of stalemate.
I pull my pistol out and charge the two of them. They try to shoot rockets at me in alarm but trajectory allows me to shoot them from the air with ease.
Two dead golem soldiers via sword later and I exit into the main corridor of the facility.
If they'd spent more time giving these guys rudimentary combat intelligence this wouldn't be so easy. But they made a group of soldiers, that are around ten times stronger than your average special forces soldier, and given them incredible weapons, but gave them the brain of a lobotomised koala and no real armour. I mean I can see why in a way. Without Aya's enhanced bullet field, or my own Jabberwock claw, these guys skin could probably resist most any regular bullet. But still. You don't want dumb unarmoured super soldiers. Were they trying to cost cut or did they simply not realise?
I like the idea of drone soldiers but doing it this way is morally repugnant. Plus, even if I wasn't averse to using actual people as drones, I can't think of many quicker ways to a kill order.
I enter the golem control room immediately on my left and the consoles have been utterly destroyed. Mask-face it seems, is not taking any chances.
I bypass the room and check my omni tool. The door should be opening imminently if my program progresses as planned.
The door does open, but the next one has been peeled open, this is how the few that stayed behind got through my lockdown to chase Aya then.
As I enter the parking garage, I am intercepted by an incredibly quick Golem with an arm mounted beam saber.
It's unwieldy as all hell but fuck me is it cool.
"EFA take detailed scans of that thing please, I might want to replicate it in future for reasons."
I feel her eye roll mentally.
The sword golem charges at me again and fucking hell this guy's quicker than me! Still very straightforward however so I simply dodge to the left, parrying his blade on the Jabberwock as I go. Three quick exchanged flurries of bladework commence until I lose patience and use the extend function of the blade to catch him off guard. The claw opens his throat (thanks nanoblade!) and I continue into the tunnels.
The deeper I go, the more worried I get. There's no sign of mask-face behind me, and the main doorway here is right next to the other entrance to the control room I was in.
I continue through the tunnels, there's a lot of room to cover, this tunnel is definitely designed to be driven rather than sprinted, but between my bionics, undersuit and buff food I'm making good pace.
A parked motorbike catches my attention and reminds me of my poor bike buried somewhere out in the desert.
There's a truly massive sheathe attached to the fuel tank, I bend down to investigate it and it saves my life.
I swish above my head as a massive blade swipes through where my neck was. A shimmer as mask-face appears from stealth.
"Nothing gets past you does it merc."
"Hello mask-face, fancy seeing you here."
His beady yellow glowing eyes narrow.
"Names No. 9."
"I don't care. You'll be dead soon anyway."
He laughs that horrible braying laugh.
"You ruined everything you know. This was going to be the next big evolution, but no. You had to appear out of nowhere and destroy everything we had built. We looked you up you know. The scores you put out at the range and your moves at the tower. What the hell are you? A freak of nature like the blonde? Or something else?"
"I'm just a traveller waiting for my bus home."
He laughs again.
"Well, this plan might be over, but as long as we exist, there's always another shot while the bitch and the kid exist."
Maybe he's right. But he won't he here to see it.
"I've set the self-destruct, if we can't have it we won't lose it to you and those government hacks."
He charges at me screaming as his body glows purple and his blade ignites.
I catch his blade on my shield and his eyes widen in shock as the energy shield erupts over my arm.
I parry off his hit and make a stab myself, he catches my wrist with his other hand incredibly quickly and mule kicks me away.
"Interesting tech you have there. It won't save you though. I look forward to prying it from your corpse."
We enter a dancing flurry of blades, neither of us willing to give an inch. He has the strength and reach advantage, but I have speed.
And a few tricks up my sleeve.
We parry each other and both go for a jab with our free hands.
Our fists meet in the middle with a shockwave and we jump backwards away from each other again.
I'm starting to enjoy this fight, but I'm conscious of time running out.
Another flurry and he's getting quicker as the glow around him intensifies.
Is this the true power of the latent mitochondria? A purely biological superhuman process.
He parries my blade and goes for my throat. I dodge and pull my staff from the portal, I twist behind his back and extend the plasma blade while stabbing behind me.
A grunt, and then he slumps to the floor.
I turn around to my plasma blade through his chest and slowly sliding out through the side of his torso.
"Good show merc." He coughs out. "I knew you weren't normal. To keep up with me at this level of power… Maybe humanity isn't as lost as I thought."
He slumps to the floor, as his life-signs disappear.
I back away from him slowly, as he hasn't dissolved like the others did.
There is no sign of movement as I sprint through the airlock door ahead of me.
To 20 very serious looking soldiers pointing their guns at me and screaming at me to identify myself.
"He's with me!" Thank god, Aya to the rescue.
She turns to me with a serious expression.
"Is it finished?"
I nod back at her.
"Yeah, big and masked from Akropolis is dealt with, he set the self destruct so we need to leave.
She smirks.
"No need, the hypervelocity is firing."
She points up into the sky as a series of colossal energy bursts slams down from orbit into the mesa. The superstructure of the base resists the blasts, but the open roof of the mitochondrial cocoon will be giving that twisted sack of flesh something to think about.
I whistle appreciatively. I wonder if I could get hold of those blueprints…
"Boss, I think it's about time we headed home rather than plan a heist on the US government here hm?"
Damn it she's right of course.
I turn back to Aya.
"Well, that's something you don't get to see every day."
She leads me over to a green canvas tent, where Eve and a blonde guy in glasses are sat.
"Pierce, this is Thomas Hale, Hale, this is Pierce, the systems and IT expert of MIST."
Pierce shakes my hand and tells me he will catch up with me later as he wants to see my 'mad hacking tools' that broke into the most secure network he's ever seen. He than leaves, hand in hand with Eve.
They leave and it's just me, and Aya.
"So, what now." She asks.
"Those guys are likely still out there somewhere. We can't have gotten all of them, so you are going to need to hunt for them."
She puts her hand on her chin and tilts her head.
"We have some free spots in MIST if you are interested, guy like you, powers like yours. Could make a big difference in the hunt that is coming."
I chuckle dryly.
"Unfortunately, it's past due for me to head home."
She stares at me perplexed.
"Home?"
"I'm not exactly from around here Aya. This was just an accidental side trip, and I have fights of my own to fight."
I don't owe her anything now, but I'd feel bad leaving it a mystery.
"I'm not from this earth Aya."
She looks at me like I've just grown an extra head.
"Where I come from, powers are normal. Common even. Bad power interaction sent me here and I've been waiting for a way back. I have it now, so I'm heading back home. This is likely the last you'll hear of me."
She stares at me for a while before gasping a little.
"My powers, you're telling the truth aren't you, you really aren't from around here?"
I shake my head.
"No, and it's time for me to leave."
I hand her my guns.
"These are… special. I'd appreciate it if you held on to them for me. They've got a bit more of a kick than you'll be used to so, save them for emergencies yeah?"
The enchantments should last for longer than most people will be alive.
"Will you be back?"
"I'm not sure, but likely not. The power that bought me here is a bit random, and not forgiving of mistakes. I've not even been able to call upon it at all while I've been here."
"And what about me, you scanned me right, what am I looking at? Am I going to turn into a beast like Melissa did?"
The girl from New York? Has she been holding on to that fear all this time?
"You'll be happy to know that no, your at no risk of that. You have perfect symbiosis with your cells. As long as you don't want to become a monster, you won't. And if one day you need that power, it will be right there, under your complete control when you need it."
I hug her, which shocks her a little, and turn to leave.
"Thank for your help Thomas."
"Likewise, Aya."
As I step to the tent flap, she grabs my hand.
"Try to come back one day yeah, I think Eve would like to speak to you and thank you one day."
"You could both come with me if you wanted. Entire world of people with powers, you wouldn't be anything unusual there."
She looks pensive.
"Honestly, it's tempting. To not be the weird odd one out. But with these monsters out there somewhere… I wouldn't feel right running from the fight, you know?"
"I understand completely, but still. If I get the opportunity to return and find you again. Ill make you the offer one more time."
She nods at me.
And kisses me on the cheek.
"Thanks Hale. Don't be a stranger yeah."
I'm speechless as she leaves ahead of me.
Damn. What a woman.
I make my way out of the tent and head for a nearby convenient portable toilet.
I scan the key. 100% powered.
Well then, now or never.
I stick the key into the toilet door intending to step into my workshop and see what's been happening while I've been gone. However the moment I touch the handle, the elder blood power floods back in to me, and in a flash of green I am gone again.
I step back into Brockton Bay onto a dockside rooftop, and watch an energy blast fire off into the sky and catch Purity straight in the face.
This was the rooftop I was originally aiming to teleport to!
"Kayden!"
Wow, Kaiser must actually care about her if he's just screaming her name like that.
I'd care more but the bitch tried to vaporise me so fuck her.
Kaiser manages to catch Purity on a slide of metal, but it doesn't look good. She has life-signs, but they are rapidly fading.
He turns to look at my rooftop, his entire bearing set in a rictus of hate.
I'm not one to look a gift-nazi in the mouth. Archon vs the new Reich, round 2.
This time, no holding back.
Notes:
Not going to lie, i really wanted to recruit Aya, while the main focus of this Jaunt was to introduce a still rather naive Archon to truly horrific uses of the powers he has been granted, in real time, in a manner that wouldnt have lopsided effects on the timeline of Bet. It still would have been nice to recruit her. Unfortunately i roll for most of those types of decisions, and all three rolls that could have led to me recruiting her came back negative. With one positive roll for a future recruitment opportunity (A long time in the future.)
Next chapter Max gets a talking to.
Finally, i didnt get chance to put it in the chapter, so it will appear after the conclusion of this situation in the next, but this Jaunt was so long we gained 800cp.
Next chapters rolls should be fun!
As always, let me know what you think, where can the fights improve, where can the plot be clearer, where am i moving too fast, or too slow etc. Good feedback is king.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone