Prologue

Something cracked. The Major's fingers tightened on the barrel of his shotgun. It was just a twig cracking under his foot, but a lifetime of work for the CIA make you figure everything as a potential threat. The six figures stood in the shadow of a long wall. Somewhere a dog barked. One of the figures looked up. "Nice moon." He muttered.

"I'd rather it was a crescent." Said one of the others. "The less light the better."

The first figure spoke. "Agreed." "Major?" asked a fourth figure. "Yes, Zeke?" "Do you know why they sent a full squad on this?" There was a moment of silence.

"No, Private. And it's gnawing at me like a jackhammer." The Major lowered his gun and swore under his breath. "It's two scientists. They may or may not be armed. All this really needs is a good commando who can crack security systems." "You called, sir?" The Major turned around. In the shadows stood the camo-draped form of Lt. Edson. "Report, Lieutenant."

"It's quiet. Everyone's turned in for the night. Some wind, ought to cover any sound we make." The Major nodded. "The target?" "One light on." Replied the Lt. "Third floor. I don't think it's the lab." The Major nodded again. "Alright, lock and load. They want this job done, by God we're going to do it right."

The team advanced around the large house. It was a nice place. The sort of place the Major might want to settle down in if he lived long enough. He had an odd feeling that tonight might decide whether that day ever came. Echoing his thoughts, Pvt. MacDouglas muttered in his Irish accent, "Sumthin' is nae right here, sir." The Major whispered, "I know."

They hit the ground and crawled under the windows, stepping up to the doorway. Pvt. Alvin took the right sight of the door. Sgt. Menchez took the left. Pvt. Greves got down on one knee behind a car parked near the house, and took aim at the doorway. The Major and Lt. Edson took aim at the door from the other side of the car. The Major didn't care if this was just a house with two helpless scientists in it, he was going to do this by the book.

Sgt. Deegan pulled out a scanner and started moving it over the door's surface and the outside of it. After a few seconds, he consulted the scanner's screen and, still crouching, moved over to the Major. "Sir. It's pretty well alarmed. I'm reading pressure pads, motion sensors, and a standard alarm system, all centrally linked. We trip one, they all start blaring." The Major growled. "Can you disable them?" "I don't think so, sir. We're going to have to use a LEMP." The Major swore again. A Localized Electromagnetic Pulse would create a small flash and could attract attention. "Turn the frequency down as low as you possibly can, and make it quick, Sergeant."

Deegan nodded and went back to the door, slipping the scanner back into his belt and taking out a tiny sphere. He pressed a few buttons in it, clicked something into place, and applied the sphere to the door. A few seconds passed. Then the sphere clicked again and let out a small blue pulse of energy. Something crackled and the team braced for an alarm to start wailing.

None did. The Major let out a breath. Sgt. Deegan stepped up to the door again and pulled out a thin knife. He slid it into the crack between the door and the frame, and slipped the locks out of place. Everyone took aim. Deegan opened the door. Nothing happened.

The team advanced slowly into the house. Deegan closed the door behind them. They were in a well-furnished living room. A TV stood to the right, a couch sat along the far wall. Various tables and stools stood about, with papers and nondescript instruments scattered everywhere.

"Spread out." Whispered the Major. "Secure the house and find the lab." The squad moved off. Greves and Menchez went with the Major down a main hall. Edson and Alvin slunk through a side door, into what was presumably a kitchen. MacDouglas and Deegan followed them, and turned off up a staircase.

There were no signs of movement on the bottom floor for a few minutes. Then Menchez held up a hand. He tapped his foot. There was a hollow sound. The Major was about to order him to investigate when they heard footsteps. Footsteps from below. The floor panel slid back, revealing a passageway from which bright light glowed. A woman poked her head from the opening. "Nalia," she began, and then acknowledged the gun barrel pointed between her eyes. "Say a word and you die." Hissed the Major.

MacDouglas took hold of the woman and held her at gunpoint. The Major reached for his radio mouthpiece to signal the rest of the team. Then he heard a shriek. Deegan cocked his gun. There was a series of loud thuds. Gunfire. "Watch the woman!" spat the Major to MacDouglas. He worked the slide on his shotgun and racked a round in the chamber, then sprinted back through the house.

He got to the stairs and stopped dead. The Major wasn't really sure what was more disturbing: the fact that Menchez was lying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs, the fact that Pvt. Greves was backpedaling down them firing on full auto with panic in his eyes, or the fact that he was shooting at a teenage girl in a nightrobe.

"Major!" He called. "Get down!" "What are you-" and then the Major realized that Greves' bullets were having no effect. They were bouncing off a shimmering green shield around the girl. They had a super on their hands. "Fire!" barked the Major, and he began pumping buckshot at the girl.

Deegan hefted his rifle and fired half a clip on full auto. The bullets pinged off the force field, but the girl stepped back. She raised a hand, narrowed her eyes, and Deegan's eyes suddenly widened and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his head. The Major stepped back, slamming AP rounds into his shotgun. The girl made a shoving motion with her hands and he found himself rocketing through the air.

The Major slammed into the wall hard. He staggered back to his feet in time to see Greves' gun click empty as the girl raised a hand again. The gun flew out of his hands and began beating him over the head. In any other situation it would have been comical, something you might see in a Pixar movie.

The Major wasn't laughing. He dove for his gun. The girl flicked her gaze to him and agony ripped through his head. He sunk to his knees. Then there was an explosion. Lt. Edson stood over him, his heavy rifle blazing. The commando fired his rifle-rocket, which flew dead center into the girl's shield. She yelled and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Edson didn't let up and kept pouring bullets into the dust. "Where's Alvin?" asked the Major, hauling himself to his feet. "Holding off the other scientist. He ambushed us with a cryo rifle."

The Lieutenant's weapon finally ran dry. He pulled another belt of ammo out and slotted it in the big gun. "What the hell was that, Major?" The Major growled. "It seems our friends forgot to say that the Professors Danar had a daughter who happened to be a mutant." Pvt. Greves spat out a broken tooth and said "I'm going to murder them with my bare-"

It was at that point that a volley of cryogun shots flew into Lt. Edson and drove him to his knees. The female scientist, the one they had captured in the secret lab entrance, stood with a large cryo rifle in her hands, pumping shots at the squad. The Major seized his gun and aimed it. "Don't you DARE!" shrieked a pained voice.

The mutant teenage girl emerged from the cloud of dust that had consumed the top of the stairs and unleashed hell on the first floor. Her left arm hung limply from a bloodied shoulder, and her stomach and legs were patterned with red holes. Yes she still managed to telekinetically rip the Major's shotgun from his hands and hurl it across the room. Without missing a beat he drew his .45 and pumped off a volley of shots at her. She raised a hand and bullets stopped in midair.

Screw the mission. This is about survival. The Major threw a grenade. The woman screamed. The girl dove to the side. The top of the stairs was obscured by the blast, shrapnel and bits of wood flying everywhere. Then MacDougal stepped out. "You bitch." He spat. He raised his gun and clubbed the woman in the back of the neck. "Enough!" coughed the Major. "Private, make sure that girl is either dead or subdued." MacDougal nodded, glared at the unconscious scientist, and proceeded up what remained of the staircase. "If she's subdued," added the Major, "shoot her."

Then MacDougal howled like a soul damned and flew across the room, clutching his head and screaming in what must have been mortal agony. The girl, half her clothing burnt off, her hair scorched, and one eye swelling shut, limped out of the smoke again. She pointed at the remaining squad members.

The Major had faced down crazed cultists, Malta Group terrorists, attack copters, robot killing machines, and, at one point, stared into the heart of the Council's super-soldier program. The things he had seen in that lab had chilled him to the bone.

But when that girl met his eyes, there was a fire in hers that frightened him like he was a recruit. He was the deer in the headlights. And the girl was a Crusader tank.

She clenched her fist, and the Major was lifted into the air and hurled bodily through a large window. He landed on the hard sidewalk outside with a wet thud. Broken glass flew everywhere. The Major looked at his arm and realized it wasn't there.

Nalia Danar probably would have killed those seven commandos if the police hadn't arrived.