GodMode

by O. K. Mills

  Bear interrupted.

  “The Janus facility is equipped with facial recognition software accurate from two miles out. They’ll know we’re coming before the first parachute even opens, sir.”

  “Son, they already know we’re coming.”

  Arata kept a watchful eye on the siphoning process as Pike observed from beyond the laboratory.

  “Mr. Pike!”

  Pike lowered his coffee as three Janus mercenaries rushed toward him.

  “What is it?”

  “We just intercepted a communication from the President authorizing a strike on this facility. We believe that troops will be here within the hour, sir.”

  His face a portrait of calm, Pike considered what he had just heard.

  “You say the President authorized it?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “And you believe that hundreds of troops will descend on this facility like the Second Coming within the hour?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then that’s exactly what won’t happen,” Pike said. “If the President of these United States did not want you to have this information, then you wouldn’t actually have it. The fact that you do should tell you that they want us to know that they’re coming. They’re hoping that we’ll panic and show our hand. Once we do, they’ll attack us where we’re weakest and divide us.”

  “What are your orders, sir?” one of the guards asked.

  “Do nothing. Let them make the first move. I need to know exactly how many soldiers the President is willing to risk making her point. If things become unraveled, then we’ll bunker in around Damien and get him to safety. We already know that he’s the reason why they’re coming.”

  “As you command, sir.”

  As the men rushed off, Pike diverted his attention back to the laboratory and took a sip of his coffee.

  The Black Daggers strapped on their parachutes and checked their respective weapons as the Blackhawk chopper hovered silently above the Janus headquarters.

  Walter Young, codename “California Condor,” quietly meditated, while Carl Rogue, codename “Blackhawk,” muttered the usual prayers that he prayed before every mission. Renegade Jones, codename “Falcon,” got into position for the jump, while Peerless Payne, codename “War Eagle,” moved into position beside him.

  On the ground, sitting inside of an idling Humvee, Bear Bowden activated the Birthday Suit as Spade and Heather were silently getting their minds right.

  “Mr. Bowden, if you would kindly do the honors,” Colonel Norris radioed from the Blackhawk.

  Bear activated one of his gauntlets, tapped a few buttons on the touch screen interface, and aimed his hand in the general direction of the Janus headquarters.

  A digital clock that appeared on the interface began counting down from 10.

  “You guys might want to cover your eyes,” Bear said as he lowered the visor on his helmet.

  As vapors escaped from a very clean exhaust pipe, what erupted from Bear’s gauntlet sounded like a pillow being fluffed by a pair of hands on either side. It was actually anticlimactic, given the buildup of the countdown. As Spade and Heather gave him disappointing looks, he could only shrug.

  Moments later the Janus headquarters went completely dark. Not even so much as a matchstick illuminated within the facility.

  Bear stuck his tongue out at them, then got back on his radio.

  “They’re blind, colonel. You’re a go.”

  Inside of the Blackhawk, Colonel Norris gave the silent signal for his men to deploy, and they jumped from the helicopter in their regular formation. Landing softly like snowflakes, they collected their wares efficiently and moved into position as they had done countless times.

  Suddenly, the onboard computer on Bear’s Birthday Suit sprang to life. Annoyed, Spade and Heather glared at him, as all of his accoutrements began to glow, which gave away their otherwise hidden position.

  “Mr. Bowden there are six Humvees approaching from the south garage. They will be visible from your location in the next 14 seconds.”

  Spade and Heather raised their eyebrows as they heard the female voice emanating from Bear’s armor.

  “What in the hell is that?” Heather asked.

  “I am called Sonia—Sentient Onboard Artificial Intelligence,” she responded.

  The gauntlets on Bear’s suit glowed red as they powered on.

  “Heck of a time to field test AI, don’t you think? Can you turn her off?” Spade asked.

  “Not sure I want to,” said Bear, who pointed at the approaching vehicles.

  Heather and Spade leapt into action and raced to the Janus building.

  OOOOMM

  No sooner than they were at full sprint, the Wilson building’s emergency power kicked in and lit the area up like Christmas, which unfortunately exposed precisely where the Black Daggers were.

  RATATATAT!

  Colonel Norris watched in horror as machine gun fire cut both “Falcon” and “War Eagle” in half.

  “Take cover!” he shouted as he dove to the ground.

  Colonel Norris took aim. He gunned down the driver of the Humvee, which caused the vehicle to swerve in the direction of one of the other Humvees. The mounted gun spun and sprayed bullets all over the other vehicle, killing everyone inside.

  As the three remaining men in the first Humvee tried desperately to regain control, “California Condor” took them all out with surgical headshots.

  Heather and Spade suddenly appeared next to the Colonel; he nearly shot them both.

  “We’re completely exposed here. There are four Humvees left and probably more are on the way!” he shouted.

  Heather held her index finger to her lips, then activated the tip of one of her explosive arrowheads before pulling back on her bowstring and releasing her arrow.

  KA-BOOM!

  “Now there are three. Spade, are you going to watch from the sidelines or introduce yourself to our playmates?”

  Spade was already aiming his Desert Eagle.

  PAP PAP PAP!

  Spade skillfully placed three bullets into the heads of each of the remaining Humvee drivers.

  “I’m ahead three to one,” Spade said with zero emotion.

  Heather grinned.

  “Let’s get inside quickly!” Colonel Norris said, pointing to the south garage from which the Humvees had emerged. The rest of the group followed closely.

  Spade glanced back at Bear and hoped to God that the Birthday Suit was everything Colonel Norris had claimed it was.

  For the second time in the last 15 minutes, Silas got up from the operating table, as he felt the siphoning process come to an abrupt halt. Surrounding the table were four very dead mercenaries, whom Silas had mentally strangled when the power initially went out. He immediately examined the computer monitors, which indicated that only 65 percent of Brynn’s power was in his system. He glared at Arata, who looked at him apologetically.

  “Sir, soldiers have arrived, and they are attacking this facility. We have to get you to safety,” Arata insisted.

  “This is my opportunity to demonstrate my power. Continue the process. I need the totality of her gift, as well as the abilities of those in the lower laboratories.”

  “Damien, I watched you dangle this man in the air with nothing but your thoughts, but a few well-placed bullets will kill you just the same—healing factor or not.” Pike reasoned.

  “We will do it here, Mr. Pike. You work for me, or do I need to remind you of that in a more meaningful manner?” Silas asked as he stood.

  Before either of them could do anything to further the confrontation, the power in the building suddenly went out again.

  Tapping a few buttons on his gauntlet interface, Bear caused all of the lights in the Janus headquarters to suddenly shut off one more time.

  “M1A1 Abrams tank approaching, Mr. Bowden. Recommend controls be temporarily transferred to me. Is that all right, sir?” Sonia asked.

  “Uh … yeah, that’d be awesome,�
� Bear gulped.

  “Activating shields,” Sonia replied.

  The Birthday Suit glowed bluish-white and created a simulated halo around Bear’s body. The gauntlets glowed crimson once more, as a visor slid into place that covered Bear’s eyes, nose and mouth. The Fahrenheit temperature counter appearing in the upper left quadrant within Bear’s visor rose quickly.

  “Preparing Diablo,” Sonia said.

  Bear tentatively raised his arms in the direction of the approaching M1A1. The Birthday Suit began emitting cooling agents to provide protection for Bear against the heat that the gauntlets were generating.

  “Unleashing Diablo.”

  FWOOSH!

  The fortress of fire exploding from the twin gauntlets looked nothing short of a reenactment of Chernobyl. This citadel of torment consumed the tank as though it were ice cream.

  “So much for stealth,” Bear said out loud as the Birthday Suit returned to its normal white illumination.

  “Restoring control to you, Mr. Bowden. Please be mindful that the release of Diablo requires a minimum 12-hour shutdown before sufficient power can be restored to use it again. Would you like to shutdown?” Sonia asked.

  “Um, negative, Sonia. You are all I have out here. How much power do we have available?”

  “15 percent, Mr. Bowden.”

  “That can’t be good. What does that buy me?”

  “Sir?”

  “What weapons and shields are available with 15 percent power?”

  “Weapons and shields are offline. You have enough power to activate the Shroud,” said Sonia.

  “What is that, Sonia?”

  “Activating Shroud.”

  Bear watched as holographic mirrors surrounded his suit until he was virtually invisible to the naked eye.

  “Shroud activated. Please remain hidden and still for 12 hours for full power to be restored.”

  “Spade, you are on your own, brother.”

  “Nice work, Bear! I take back everything bad I ever said about you,” Heather joked.

  “Let’s move,” shouted Colonel Norris

  The Black Daggers, Spade and Heather raced to the south garage. No sooner had they reached it than power was restored, and security measures sprang to life. Several intersecting line-of-sight motion lasers separated them. On one side were the remaining Black Daggers, while Spade and Heather were on the other. The one reachable exit was closest to the latter two, and for all intents and purposes, the Black Daggers were stuck.

  “Colonel, sit tight. Heather and I will make our way in and see if we can disable the system,” said Spade.

  “Understood. And Spade…”

  Spade stopped and looked at Norris.

  “Damien Silas. Alive.”

  Spade exited the garage without responding.

  Silas removed the connections from his body and slipped off the operating table.

  “Apparently, I need to get more directly involved. Pike, your job is to keep whatever is out there from getting in here so that I can finish exactly what you see me doing right now.”

  Silas gestured to the weapons of the men he had mentally choked to death. They leapt from the ground and flew into his hands. A trickle of blood ran down his nose, but vanished almost immediately. He chambered rounds into each weapon.

  “Mr. Arata, stay here and look after the girl. She still has power that must be mine. Mr. Pike, let’s go hunting.”

  Like twin shadows Spade and Heather snuck down a long hallway. Unfortunately, until Bear could restore power to his onboard maps and give them the best pathway to get to Brynn, they had no strategic game plan. A wrong turn might have them running into 25 mercenaries.

  “Bear, what’s your status?” Spade asked over the com-link.

  “Counting my lives. Eight left, I think,” Bear replied.

  “You stood tall against an M1A1. You’re down to one, I think,” Heather chuckled.

  “We’re tactically blind in here,” informed Spade, “can you give us anything?”

  Outside of the facility, Bear sat shrouded waiting for the Birthday Suit to restore power. He checked the status and it was now up to 29 percent from 15.

  “Sonia, how long before tactical maps are available?”

  “I can provide tactical maps, Mr. Bowden, but they will not be in real time. Also, please be advised that to do so, I would need to temporarily shut down your shroud—leaving you exposed.”

  Inside, Heather and Spade waited silently listening as Bear’s suit made various computerized noises. Before long they heard a chime similar to when a video game system powers on.

  “That sounded promising,” Spade said.

  “Maps are online,” Bear informed them, as he moved further away from the building now that he no longer had cover.

  “Where are we?” Spade asked.

  “You two are in the south garage near the stairwell that leads up to the lobby. There are three guards stationed there, but several others in adjacent areas in close proximity,” said Bear.

  “How many is several?” asked Heather.

  “Did you miss the part where Sonia said that these maps weren’t in real time? I’m looking at a still image of heat signatures. There are clusters of warm bodies together near the lower lobby. Might be three guys, might be four; how about you just not go that way?”

  “We need a path of least resistance to Brynn. Do you know her 20?” asked Spade.

  Bear scanned the holographic still image to determine which of the heat signatures might belong to a nine-year old child.

  “Found her. She’s in the lower laboratories on the west side. The good news, she doesn’t appear to have more than one person guarding her. The bad news, you have to go through the lobby to access the stairwell to get to the lower labs.”

  “The lobby you just told us had several people on it?” Heather asked.

  “That’d be the one.”

  “Keep your com open, Bear. We’ll contact you as soon as we’re through,” said Spade.

  “Affirmative.”

  Three Janus mercenaries flanked Silas and Pike, as they made their way down a long corridor. When they reached a service elevator, Silas paused, handing one of his weapons to a mercenary.

  “You said they entered through the south garage, correct?”

  “Correct.”

  Silas placed his hand on the palm reader, and the elevator sprang to life.

  “Damien, you should let us go out first,” Pike stated.

  The elevator chimed as it arrived at the garage level. A wall slid up directly behind the men, revealing a second set of elevator doors, which then glided open to expose the south garage.

  Silas smiled at Pike from what was now the back of the elevator.

  “I intend to. After you.”

  Colonel Norris, Blackhawk and Condor remained in their positions as they watched a chorus of fast-twitch motion lasers move in unison across the floor. Colonel Norris’ face betrayed his frustrations.

  “Come on, Spade,” he silently urged.

  BANG BANG!

  A sudden splattering of blood in his eyes momentarily blinded Blackhawk as Condor fell dead, two gaping exit wounds protruding from his head and neck. Colonel Norris grabbed Blackhawk and pulled him towards the exit door, which triggered three security protocols

  The first was the activation of additional barriers to both the garage itself and each of the stairwell exits. Steel doors instantly slid forcibly into place over the garage opening and exit doors. The second involved a deafening fire alarm accompanied by pulsing emergency lights that flickered in bursts of three. While these two things would not harm anyone in and of themselves, they did become rather disorienting over an extended period. Lastly, the final measure was a nerve agent seeping in from the ventilation system.

  “We need to move, now!” Colonel Norris yelled, but admittedly had no idea where either of them could actually go. He took in a large gulp of fresh air and held his breath from that point forward. His deep-water training w
ould come in very handy now. Suddenly, he saw movement and instantly he raised his weapon.

  PAP PAP!

  Two mercenaries fell, as another two came out of hiding. Before those bodies could hit the ground, two more emerged from the Colonel’s right, which forced him to duck down even further.

  RATATAT!

  The spray of bullets decimated Blackhawk’s left side and sent him stumbling backwards into a heap. He died violently in his own bowels, a result of his having inhaled the nerve agent. Colonel Norris rushed over to his side, took his weapon, then dove for cover, his lungs screaming for air. A combination of adrenaline, fear and a need to breathe had Colonel Norris seeing things.

  CLICK.

  The sound of the cocked gun hammer came from behind. Colonel Norris raised his hands and slowly turned to find himself staring down the barrel of two handguns belonging to Damien Silas, who seemed to be breathing normally despite the gas. Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, the man he recognized as Marshall Pike walked up next to him.

  “Get on your com-link and tell your men to submit to me, or I will kill you where you stand,” Silas said with a smile.

  Without thinking, Colonel Norris tossed his guns in the air, quickly grabbed one of Silas’ hands to point that gun at Pike.

  BANG!

  Pike grimaced as the bullet lodged into his shoulder. Colonel Norris seized the moment and used his martial arts training to disarm Silas, kicking his two guns out of reach once they were on the ground.