by JC Bybee
It was true. Tomahawk had been very vocal about the responsibility that Exceptionals had to protect those that had no powers, or even those among the powerful protecting the ones with less power. That had always been an odd part of her relationship with him. She was so much more powerful than Tomahawk had ever been and yet he was her mentor, her teacher. And according to his beliefs it was her responsibility to protect him.
Don’t go down that road right now, Ace. We’ll deal with that later.
“I imagine what he said offended a lot of Exceptionals,” Ace said quietly.
Emily shook her head. “I imagine it did, but not me. I knew that he didn’t know what I was going through. Hell, he didn’t even know who I was. And I’m sure he would have understood my decisions, but there were others that hated him for what he said, for what he advocated.”
“Was Tech- Jim one of those?” Ace asked.
“Yes, yes he was. There were times he would be so angry about something Tomahawk had said. He just couldn’t let it go,” Emily replied. Ace could hear how sad she was about Jim.
He was the right kind of person for an organization like the HSO to recruit; someone angry at other Exceptionals, someone with just enough power to be dangerous. She finished eating and got out her device. By now Angel would have ordered a background check on Technosis, and the additional information Ace had just got from Emily would make the process quicker.
“They probably knew him, it might have even been someone in the company or even his family,” Ace mused quietly to herself after sending the message to Torment.
“Who could’ve done that? Our company did background checks,” Emily said. Ace had forgotten the other woman was there. “Sorry. Also just so you know your thoughts are kind of loud and hard to ignore unless I’m actively blocking you.”
She’s right. Angel and Torment both have to actively block you out at times.
Trying to soothe Emily’s embarrassment Ace said, “It really isn’t that difficult. We see people that have built multiple identities. It’s the way most Heroes operate. If the HSO has even a couple of technomancers, like Technosis, it’s even easier. It’s likely there was someone among the people in your office building that was an HSO plant. We need to figure out who that was. In fact, I bet you have that information stored somewhere in your mind. You said you power constantly looks for information, then it would have found them out. You might just not know it yet.”
“What if they used blockers?” Emily asked.
“We have some of the most sophisticated blocking tech in the interrogation rooms down at the precinct and your power got through that, right?” Ace said.
Emily gave an uncomfortable shrug. “That was an accident.”
You are terrible at dealing with people.
“Well let’s hope you ‘accidentally’ blew through any blockers and got the information we need. How easy is it for you to remember specific details?” Ace continued.
She was starting to get enthusiastic about this case. Having Emily’s powers would make things easier. They would have to be careful what information they used, laws were pretty strict about power use in investigations, unless Article Two was in effect. There were times Ace wished it was different, but normals had to be protected.
“With enough effort I can remember anything my powers have learned, but there were hundreds of people in and out of that building every day. It could take weeks to sort through it all,” Emily replied, looking less than thrilled about the prospect.
Ace gave her a reassuring smile. “Angel and Torment will be able to help. I’m going to let them know, that is if you’re still willing to help.”
Emily hesitated before finally nodding her assent. “Thank you,” Ace said and then sent another message to Torment’s device. Hopefully they would have word soon about how the investigation would proceed.
With the message sent Ace stood and said, “Well I’m exhausted. It has been a long day, and I need sleep.”
Emily nodded, but stayed at the table. “Remember, don’t leave. It is unlikely anyone can get in here and if they do they’ll have to deal with me. But as soon as you walk out that door you’re free game, so-to-speak.”
Subtle.
Ace wasn’t leveling a threat, or even trying to scare Emily, but trying to help the other woman understand how dangerous her situation was. If the HSO actually existed they would know what kind of danger Emily’s potential knowledge would pose to their plans. She was safer staying inside with Ace than anywhere else. Hopefully she remembered that.
Chapter 6
“What do you think Ace?” Tomahawk asked.
Oh please, not this one.
Ace shrugged. “Hard to say ‘Hawk. I lost their scent.”
Please let me wake up!
They stood overlooking one of Detroit’s industrial districts. They had been dispatched from New Davenport to help the Detroit office of the E.E.D deal with a serious Anti problem. Already three Heroes had been killed. Their injuries had suggested a large caliber rifle. That’s when Tomahawk and Ace, the two most indestructible Heroes alive, had been called in.
They had been able to track the Antis to this particular industrial park, but Ace had lost the trail. Tomahawk’s senses weren’t on par with hers and they had relied on them too heavily. Their suspects had been in and out enough that there were too many trails for her to follow.
“Right, you take to the air. I’ll stick to the ground,” Tomahawk said, his deep, gravelly voice full of anger. “We’ll see if between the two of us we can flush the bastards out.”
Ace nodded and took the air. They had to be cautious with their investigation. Detroit’s mayor had been reluctant to put Article Two into effect. He outright refused Exceptionals Lockdown. His indecision was hamstringing the Hero Units. Already some of the more sympathetic members of the Detroit PD were starting to put pressure for the mayor to act. Heroes weren’t the only ones being killed.
Don’t turn around, don’t look back.
Ace turned to say something to Tomahawk. She saw her mentor standing tall, the largest, most powerful Fortress Class of the Fourth generation. His dark eyes were scanning the buildings. His shaved head made him come across as a hard-ass.
That moment in time froze for just an instant before the projectile hit. Whatever it was tore through Tomahawk’s armor and out his back in a spray of blood and bone.
“NO!” Ace screamed.
Again and again the scene played. Over and over she watched her friend and mentor die, helpless to stop it.
Ace woke to the sound of her device going off. With a shake of her head she cleared away the remnants of her nightmare. She never slept without nightmares. Tomahawk’s death was one that cropped up frequently.
Once her head was clear she carefully picked up her device, suppressing the urge to smash it. The ID was Captain Angel. “Yeah?” she asked. She only barely remembered to keep the device camera pointed at her face. No need for the captain to know what she did, or didn’t, sleep in.
No need to embarrass him either.
“Hey kid we need you downtown ASAP,” Angel looked and sounded tired. She didn’t recognize where he was from the details in the background.
“Where?”
“I’ll send you the location on your device,” he replied. A map appeared on her screen, over top of her call with the Captain. The GPS in her device had already planned out her route.
“Be there as soon as I can,” Ace replied and hung up. She pulled herself from her soft, warm bed and went to the bathroom. A quick, cold shower later and she was more awake. She dressed and went out to the kitchen. The clock showed it was eight thirty pm. She checked the whole house bio-monitor and saw that Emily was already in bed. Ace left her a reminder note not to leave the house, grabbed a pre-made protein shake and left.
Ten minutes later found her standing outside of the corporate headquarters for Tenth Avenue National Bank. To save time, she’d flown in. The rest of her unit was already there a
nd geared up. Ace had her armor already on and she went to the back of the personnel carrier, but instead of finding Einstein’s assault weapon she saw the railgun-Gauss rifle.
I was afraid that was going to happen.
“Einstein insisted that you use it. He says he’s got everything he needs from it and it would be a shame for it to be dismantled.” Ace didn’t jump at the sound of Torment’s voice, but it was a near thing.
“Really?” she asked.
“He already ran it past the higher ups before even consulting me. They said better in your hands than in an evidence locker where it might get stolen,” Torment continued. The echo in her voice was sharp.
You’d think she was annoyed or something.
Ace wanted to rebel against the decision, but her time in the military had conditioned her to follow orders, no matter how unpleasant they were. Only on a handful of occasions had she ever defied a direct order. Both times it had saved lives. She turned her thoughts back to the present. Right now she had to concentrate, not dwell on the past.
Of all people you should never dwell on the past.
She lifted the huge weapon from its rack in the carrier. “This thing is so damned big though,” she said as she put the barrel over her shoulder.
Crybaby.
“Einstein’s working on something to make it less awkward for you to carry. At least that’s what he told the Captain,” Torment said. Ace knew she was trying to be supportive, or consoling, or something. It only sort of worked. Because Ace was a Fifth and Torment a Fourth, her powers weren’t quite as helpful as they could have been.
“Right,” Ace said. “What’s the situation? Cap just told me to get here ASAP.”
“Bank heist gone wrong we think,” Torment continued.
Ace was only confused for a moment. It made sense for an Anti to target the corporate headquarters, rather than a bank branch. A competent technomancer could extract way more information from corporate servers than a simple vault. Because of Ace their unit was only called in for the most extreme cases of Anti activity. That meant whoever was in there was considered highly dangerous.
Tenth Avenue is a fortress. I don’t think Maniac could overcome their servers.
“I’m guessing Tenth Avenue’s security was better than they anticipated,” Ace said looking the scene over. This time there were plenty of regular cops, SWAT and gawkers. She didn’t like the civilians being so close to a scene where there were potential Antis, but it was their right.
“Do we know who’s inside?” Ace asked.
Torment shook her head. “Not for certain. Maniac has confirmed a technomancer, but it’s not one she recognizes. They’re duking it out right now. They have a blocker in place for certain, but it’s a single-tasker. Its only purpose is to block me. Since there are no hostages Jacks is making it uncomfortable inside while Deuce is keeping anyone else occupied. Jacks traced their heat signatures to the first floor in the offices near the main entrance.”
“Alright, what do you want me to do?” Ace asked still studying the building. She didn’t have x-ray vision, but she didn’t need it. Maniac and Torment would be able to feed her the information she needed.
“I need you to get in there and do what you do best. Thing is, we need to take everyone in there alive if at all possible. It can’t be coincidence that we’ve had two Anti attacks in as many days. Not after the lull we’ve had. Something about this situation stinks,” Torment said. She looked positively annoyed and that was saying something. Torment was real good at keeping her feelings off her face, even if her tone of voice gave them away.
She’s right. This is not a coincidence. Someone is up to something.
“If you want them alive then I’d best leave this behind,” Ace said. She put the rifle back in the transport and turned to face the building. “I’m guessing that’s bulletproof glass on the main doors?”
“That’s what the CEO said. He’s given us leave to do what’s necessary to protect his clients’ files,” Torment replied.
Ace nodded. She knew what that meant. They were free to use their powers, but they were supposed to the damage to a minimum. Usually that was easier said than done. All it took was a couple of Fortress Class, or worse Energy Class, to start leveling buildings.
Nothing like a few explosions to destabilize a structure.
She took a calming breath and started towards the main doors. After a couple of steps she broke into a slow run and hammered her way through the main door. The thick, bulletproof glass flexed around her and tore free of its casing like a piece of plastic wrap.
To her right she heard people shouting. She looked into a scene that would have been comical under different circumstances. There were desks and chairs flying around the room causing three of the four people in the room to have to duck and dodge. On top of flying furniture the air temperature was fluctuating wildly between summer heat and winter chill.
One of the Antis stood out from the rest and seeing him made Ace sigh. He was big, probably close to seven feet tall. Ace was pretty sure his muscles had muscles, but he moved with as much grace as a dancer. He simply let the flying furniture smash off of him.
Careful with him.
At the sound of the breaking door he turned and saw her. “It’s the Fifth bitch! Time for me to show her what a real Fortress can do!” He charged. Of course he’s charging. Every last guy like him is dumb as a box of rocks. Ace stood her ground and let him run right into her.
He was big, so he was probably used to being stronger than even other Fortress Class. And since Ace wasn’t he probably didn’t believe a word about her, despite all evidence to the contrary. As he crashed into her, like a linebacker, Ace reversed her kinetic dampening field. She didn’t turn all of his momentum against him, that would have torn him in half, but she let just enough bleed back to incapacitate him.
The Anti screamed in pain as the bones and muscles of his shoulder were crushed by a small measure of the force he had generated. She watched the downed Fortress Class for a moment, waiting for his regeneration to stop the bleeding. Well before he was completely healed she put suppressor cuffs on him. Moving his arms to cuff him made the damage worse, but he would be fine.
Satisfied he was taken care of, Ace turned her attention elsewhere. “You are all under arrest,” she shouted. Her voice was much louder than the noise being created by crashing furniture. Exceptional strength was not limited to skeletal muscles.
Everything stopped once she spoke. The office rearranged itself back to almost perfect order and the uncomfortable temperature shifts stopped. The remaining three Antis looked at her and down at their Fortress and then back to her. They were wearing identical looks of worry. Clearly they had overestimated the abilities of their Fortress. She left him on the floor moaning in pain and walked into the room.
“Put down any weapons you may have and put your hands behind your heads. Any further use of powers will be treated as resistance and I will respond in kind,” Ace continued walking towards the nearest Anti.
He quickly put his hands behind his head and fell to his knees. Ace put suppressors on him. The other two were still looking at her, but they looked pissed. They were both women and it was hard to tell what they could do. Only Fortress Class Exceptionals had Quirks that identified them easily.
Which is just not fair. Everyone knows not to piss of hulking brutes.
“Do you really think you’re going to get out of this?” she asked.
“You have to take us alive,” one woman said. That marked her as a Mental Class, probably a mind reader if she knew about Torment’s orders.
She’s the blocker.
“You’re right, but you’ll live with broken legs,” Ace replied.
That seemed to give them pause. And that was all Ace needed. She closed on the one she thought was a telepath and had her cuffed in suppressors and on the ground before either realized she’d moved. The other drew a gun and fired, clearly more on instinct. Those bullets that actually hit
Ace fell to the floor. She’d turned her kinetic dampening field back to negation.
“Really?” Ace said and closed the distance between her and the final Anti. “You have the right to remain silent.”
The woman made a noise somewhere between a scream and a whine. Ace also cuffed her. Once she’d finished reading them their rights she asked, “Are there any others here?” It was possible that they missed someone.
There was no answer. Ace sighed and radioed out to Torment. “Four suspects apprehended. They have a Fortress Class that is going to require medical attention. The other three are unharmed. All four are in suppressor cuffs.”
“Maniac says the technomancer is-” Torment’s reply cut off.
“Still loose,” Ace finished and started looking around. It was going to be difficult to find the last Anti. The building was huge and if she was cut off from the outside she would have to go floor by floor until she found something, or she could ask some questions. Since they had sent her in first protocol dictated that the others had wait for her to clear the scene before coming in.
She went to the one Anti that had surrendered the quickest. “Where is the technomancer?” she asked. Her voice came out hard. The Anti started shaking and said, “I don’t know. He was supposed to go after their servers. I haven’t seen him since we broke in.” He sounded terrified. That was the way she preferred her Antis; scared to death of her, made life easier.
You’re lucky he didn’t piss himself.
Now she just had to find where the servers were.
You have another option.
Ace put some distance between herself and the cuffed Antis. No need for them to know what she was about to do. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Again there was the sense of natural laws rearranging and changing to suit her. It wasn’t often that she used her mind powers. There was really only one thing she could do, find other Exceptionals, but it took all of her concentration to do it.