Step 3.3

I always wanted to fly. For once, the experience lived up to the dream.

A ribbon of green cut across a sky painted by light of the soon to be rising sun.

"Stabilizers functional," Veda said.

"That's good," I mumbled. "Hate to spin out like last time." Bouncing stones on the water isn't fun when you're the stone. "We just put on the paint."

I pushed on the pedals, far as they'd go. Even inside the suit I felt the bang in my ears. A white and green cloud exploded around me, leaving yet another star hanging above. The weight of it in my bones, back pressed into the suit, hands barely hanging onto the controls.

"Three hundred fifty meters per second," Veda announced. "Maximum velocity achieved."

The city grew in my sight. It grew fast. Faster than I necessarily prepared for.

I pulled up before slamming into early morning traffic, my body pulling against the suit even as I directed it forward. The buildings shot by on either side, heads turning as I flew through the city. At the street corner I threw my feet forward. GN particles fired from the compressors, bringing me to a complete stop.

My bones rattled, only to feel pressed once more as I propelled myself to the right.

I felt the air squeeze out of my chest.

I sucked it back in.

And I smiled.

"How are we doing Veda?"

Six green dots few over the city on my HUD. Slower and smaller than me, but I gave them a head start for a reason.

"Haros in position."

I flew over Tower's Park, a few morning joggers and commuters coming to a stop as I passed by. The HUD identified them all, marking people with green boxes, and vehicles with gray. Distance and trajectory hovered above the boxes, small enough for me to ignore, but big enough to see if I focused.

I spun to the left in a half roll, breezing by Arcadia. Stop. Left. Stop. Right. The turns came easily, if roughly. After another turn I flew between the buildings. The target lay straight ahead. An older office building with tall windows and concrete sills against old brick. The fifth floor highlighted on my HUD.

I'm really doing this.

"Last chance to turn back," I mumbled.

"Do you want to?" Veda asked.

"No. Just," - I lifted my shield off the latch on my shoulder - "this is actually happening."

"Yes. It is."

I laughed a little.

You can be reassuring in the most bizarre ways my dear Veda.

"Yes it is. You ready Green?"

"In position. In position!"

sys.v/ 18:36

I aimed right for the wall.

Don't stop.

The brick and plaster caved in like tissue paper. I dug my feet into the floor, a trail of green and tile following me into a full stop right in the center of the office space. Red highlights flashed on my screen. One. Two. Three. Four. Words scrolled, identifying the threats as they came out of pants and jackets.

"Two nine millimeter, two forty five caliber."

What must that look like for them? Being on the other side?

One moment you're playing a poker game.

"The fuck?!"

A moment later the wall is in pieces, and there's a giant me staring at you.

"Cape!"

Chips clattered. Cards went up in the air. Light flashed in the darkened room. Dust billowed around me as the floor and wall burst into swiss cheese. Thunder echoed, pings and pangs bouncing off my armor. Not even a pinch, just dull thumps that sort of reverberated through me.

I took my weapon in hand, a set of lines and a circle appearing on my HUD to identify the area of effect.

The bazooka tube swung through the dust and debris, pointed right at the poker table. Could practically see them thinking "shit" when they saw it. My index finger squeezed, and the the rocket shot forward. The air exploded, all five men dropping to the ground with their guns.

Red flashed on my left.

"Three behind," Veda warned. Arrows appeared, pointing in their direction. "Three nine millimeter."

I turned my shield the other way, bullets ricocheting off the surface as two shooters came toward me. I let them advance, watching for a moment as a third man shook his phone. Guess he didn't have a signal.

I aimed and fired, all three men falling with faint cries. A quick sweep of the room revealed no one still shooting, or able to.

I checked the timer.

sys.v/ 18:22

Fourteen seconds to drop the entire room. That easy?

"Come on in Green. Tie them up."

"Roger roger."

Green flew in on his cradle. The device looked like a squared toilet seat, rotors built into small round wings on either side and a cylindrical battery pack in the back. Not pretty, but it worked. The cameras lining the underside let the Haros see just about everything too.

The perfectly little UAVs.

Green made a quick landing and the latches released. He rolled through the room. I left him to work and looked around.

"Now… Where are the guns?"

"Reinforced door," Veda said. I spotted it easily. "It is not on publicly available floor plans of the structure."

I spotted it on the far wall behind the overturned poker table. Seemed fairly sturdy, with a keypad on the wall next to it. And not on the floor plan? Finding those in city records was a complete pain in the ass, but they were there for any building built with public funds and just about every building in Brockton Bay today went up on public funds.

"Who built this place?"

"Fortress Construction."

"Keep an eye on them. Maybe the Empire paid off the builders, or maybe the entire company is a front."

"Confirmed."

I flicked a pinky, the view from my visor switching between normal, thermal, and sonic vision modes. Sure enough, one guard still inside the room breathing rather hard. He might have an attack with his heart beating that fast.

Poor guy.

I shot forward and through the wall.

The guard cursed and turned. I pressed him into the wall with my shield and then let him drop to the ground. My foot slammed down on his dropped weapon, before he reached for it. He looked up with wide blue eyes.

Even when I took down gangsters by the dozen in the streets, none of them looked terrified.

Steadying myself, I said, "Leave. Now."

The synthesizer masked my voice, and probably made me sound a lot scarier.

He left.

I turned to the shelves of guns and boxes of ammo. Not everything the Empire, but you can't maintain a criminal empire on the corner sporting store. I scanned the room once, letting Veda record the contents through my eyes. Pistols. Sawed off shotguns. Assault rifles. Serial numbers flashed when they came up. Shipping labels on some of the boxes.

A shame taking any for myself violated the Vigilante Act. I could use the materials.

A slot opened on my hip, one of my old beam sabers extending from the slot. I pulled it free and twisted the base.

After dropping it on the ground I vacated the room. A shrill whine filled my ears. The saber shook and started to bounce, the casing popping and warping before blowing apart. The air heated up into a flash heat, melting everything in the armory in less than a second. Bullets went off, bouncing inside the room and tearing the newly melted slag apart as the rapid heating gave way to rapid cooling.

One down.

sys.v/ 17:01

Four to go.

"Get out quick Green. Keep an eye on the crowd outside. It'll be interesting to see who shows up."

Green finished tying a guy up and grabbed the phone from his pocket. "Will do. Will do!"

I nodded and returned to the sky.

"Next target." The building flashed on my HUD. "What do you have of mean and metally?"

"Confirmed. Hookwolf is out of position."

A smile crossed my face. Playing poker every Monday in the same place for three years.

Talk about complacency.

I weaved a long circle around Downtown. Didn't want to disrupt any phone calls coming in and out of Brockton General. The GN particles only disrupted calls and electronics within a few feet, but I didn't want the PRT to come knocking and accusing me of anything.

Dauntless hovered in the air over the bay about a mile away, just watching as I flew by. Not like he stood a chance of catching me. None of the fliers in Brockton Bay could break the sound barrier.

Once I cleared the area of the hospital I smashed through said barrier.

Not much time to think when you're speeding over a city at three hundred a fifty meters a second, but I did. Stop thinking and the long run half of my scheme would never work.

Realistically, I didn't expect to completely disarm the gangs. Members probably owned their own, and a cape hardly needed them. Yet, no one went to war with whatever weapons they kept under the pillow. The gangs couldn't fight like they were with the guns bought at the local sports store. They invested money in arms, and when they brought in more guns to replace the ones I destroyed I'd destroy those too. I'd keep destroying them.

Money isn't infinite.

Neither are black market guns.

Sooner or later, one would give.

More productive than the usual cape fair if you ask me.

Arrest gang bangers? What's the point? There's enough desperation and fear in Brockton Bay to keep the gangs running on manpower forever. The gangs probably kept lawyers on retainer too, making it hard to make an arrest stick.

Arrest the capes? If I ever managed to beat one, what did it matter? They just got busted out by the rest, or broke themselves out. Never mind that the PRT almost seemed to invite escape. They couldn't even hang on to Uber and Leet!

Not that I wouldn't happily arrest people given the chance, but I knew most of that would amount to something near pointless. Just like all the other times a hero did it. Nothing changed that way.

The same thing over and over with no different result.

See the definition of insanity.

I'm not playing that stupid game.

I swooped low under Archer's Bridge, swinging myself right into a third floor condo. The dilapidated wall gave way even easier than the last one. I raised my shield, prepared to take another volley of bullets.

None came.

Two thin men sat in recliners facing a TV. Both leaned over to get a good look at me. A cigarette hung from one's mouth. I glanced between them, but nothing happened.

They looked away only when Pink flew into the room… And still sitting.

"This result is unexpected," Veda said.

Leave it to the Merchants to have the laziest guards.

"They're probably high."

The guns lay about haphazardly, stacked in lose piles with boxes of ammunition shoved in the corners. Nothing like the neat and organized stock of the Empire. The cameras took in as much footage as they could in ten seconds and I pulled out another old beam saber.

I glanced to the men. Still sitting.

"I'd run if I were you."

One ran. Nearly tripped over his own feet on the way to the door.

I dropped my saber and grabbed the other by the collar. He just hung like a rag doll, offering no resistance as I floated back through my hole and down to the street. Even after I dumped him on the sidewalk he kept staring.

Complete "does not compute" face.

He didn't even move with Pink collected his phone.

"Pink, make sure this guy doesn't have a stroke for me?"

My Haro affirmed the order and drifted slightly into the sky to watch from above.

The light of the GN particles illuminated the street better than any of the lamps. Easy to see the faces watching me with a mix of fear and awe. Some leaned out of their windows, other watched from inside their cars, and a few just stood on the street with their phones out. I supposed it didn't mean much when the crooks looked at me that way… but maybe I overdid the intimidating part of the suit.

sys.v/ 15:23

I didn't have time to make them feel better.

Not at the moment.

I lifted off the ground and returned to the sky.

"Third target."

The second Merchant stash wasn't far. A warehouse ten blocks north. The building flashed, and-

"Dragon is calling," Veda said.

Dragon? Why- Dauntless called Armsmaster, and Armsmaster called Dragon.

"Is it important?"

"I have not answered her yet."

"Take a message," I said. Not that I expected that to be the end of it, but, "I'm kind of preoccupied."

I crashed through the roof. A rain of glass and insulation fell from above, bullets chasing me as I swept down and took cover behind a shipping container.

These ones were ready.

I slid to the right, HUD marking each of the guards with a red square. The weapons flashed one after the other.

"Five three-fifty-seven," Veda announced. "Two forty, three three-eighty, two forty-five, one nine, one three-zero-eight."

I raised the bazooka tube and fired, dropping half of them on the ground. The magazine ejected from the back of my bazooka, and I released the handle.

The shield guarded me while I reached behind my back. The beam carbine, as I called it, released from it's holster. The battery charged, a compressor pulling in particles from the air around me.

My HUD updated the targeting display. The remaining men fired from around the room. Two in the catwalks above, three in an office in the far corner, and a half dozen hiding among the shipping containers.

I took aim.

The green beam shot through the room. My target screamed, quickly followed by three more of his fellows as I lifted off the ground and flew a circle around the room. The bullets followed. Glass, tin, metal, and everything else exploded under the stream of lead. I felt the larger pieces bounce off my shell, not even slowing me as I moved.

Two more shots and the men by the double doors fell. Four took out the three coming in from the back room. The men hiding among the containers ran like rats in a maze. I flew up. Birds eye view helped.

One. Two. Three. Four. Fi-

I heard the pistol bullets bouncing, but I actually felt the rifle. Checking the peripheral of my vision, I spun and raised my shield. The rifle rattled off one shot after the other. The shield shook again my shoulder, the constant stream of bullets putting the vibrations right into my bones.

Armor integrity didn't drop by a percentage point.

The air exploded somewhere behind me. Orange flew through the air and drew a few bullets while he prepared to drop another grenade. The bullets stopped and I rushed forward. I knocked the rifle from the shooter's hands by rattling the catwalk and shot him once in the shoulder. His body hit the railing and flipping over into the air.

My heart panicked for a moment before I let go of my shield and grabbed him. His arm wrenched, but better a busted arm than a busted skull. Or a bullet, seeing as the remaining Merchants didn't seem to care their friend and their target where in the same place. As little as I cared about the wellbeing of a gang member, I didn't want to kill anyone.

I dropped low enough to ditch the guy on the ground. I sped away from him, picking my shield back up off the ground and turning it toward the bullets.

As soon as the bullets hit a lull, I slid forward. They hid behind the containers. I slide to the right and flanked them, shooting a series of shot into their sides and dropping them on the ground.

I scanned the warehouse quickly, switching through the camera spectrum rapidly to ensure I didn't miss anyone.

"Orange, you know what to do." There were a lot of guys. "Get Navy in here to help."

Navy arrived a few seconds later, entering through an ajar door on the side of the warehouse and starting with phones while Orange tied hands.

"What container number?"

"One-Four-Four-Zero-Two-Three-Nine."

I flew over and picked out the container. Holstering my carbine, I flicked on a beam saber. I stuck it into the roof and spun around, cutting a circular hole quick and easy. The metal slab fell to the floor with a "thunk." I took another quick look inside before twisting the base and dropping the saber insider. The bullets ricocheted against the container walls as I made another hole in the roof to leave.

So sue me, I'd trash every abandoned warehouse in the city if it got rid of the gangs. Free demolition for the city if you asked me, plus pest control.

I did another check of my surroundings while reloading the bazooka. The latch twisted on my shoulder pauldron, turning the weapon's rear forward. Easy to slap a new magazine onto the end. The streets outside remained clear except for some gawkers.

No sign of Mush.

"Dragon is calling again."

sys.v/ 11:46

Taking off into the sky I let Veda put Dragon through.

"Hi Dragon."

"Hello Newtype."

"What's up?"

"You, I think. That is you flying around Brockton Bay right now, isn't it?"

"Don't they say things about assumptions?"

I came to another breath stealing stop, turning left to avoid crossing paths with one of the fire stations between me and the second Empire armory.

"Newtype," she chided. "I'm tracking your signal," she said. Of course you are. Probably have your own low orbiting satellites for this kind of thing. "Unless there are two tinkers breaking the sound barrier tonight…"

I raised my shield again, blasting through the wall into a room filled with barks. The dogs trashed in their cages, snapping and snarling as I floated by.

"Well, it's still wrong to make assumptions."

I threw my foot through the door and stormed the large "arena" beyond. A dozen Empire stooges and oh dear, no Hookwolf and company. Damn.

Call me smug.

It really is nice to see a plan come together.

While I smiled, the remaining stooges did a few different dances. Some pulled guns from their jackets. One ran for the nearest door. Two dropped their mops ducked behind a couch and hid.

I focused on the ones with guns.

"One sec Dragon."

"Newtype!"

I raised my bazooka and pointed out, "Mine's bigger than yours."

That worked on two of them. The janitors dropped their mops and hid behind a cough. One shooter dropped his gun, threw his hands up, and ran for a door. The rest cursed and started shooting.

Dragon sputtered. "Are you being shot at?!"

The bullets pinged and clanged.

"Yeah." I fired. The rockets exploded into the ground and dropped them all. "Oh, I'm fine. Bullet proof armor."

Two more rushed in through a door on my right.

"That's not very reassuring," Dragon said.

I swung my shield around, blocking the bullets and charging forward. One of them rolled out of the way. The other took the shield to the chest. He bounced off the wall with a soft cracking. I glanced down for a moment.

Obviously broken arm is broken.

Slinging the bazooka across my chest, I caught the last Nazi in the chest. His eyes bulged as the tube pushed him off his feet. No broken bones for him. Just a grown man groaning on the ground.

"I feel pretty assured."

Red flew in and landed his carriage. Guess I really didn't need to tell them what to do step by step. I left him to his work, imagining the arena full while a pair of, dog's I guess, fought in the makeshift pit at the center of the room. Guess the Nazi's weren't satisfied making minorities suffer. They had to pick on animals too.

The fiends.

"Where are the guns?"

"Backroom," Veda said.

"Guns?" Dragon sounded more than a little confused. "Newtype. What are you doing?"

I floated forward and forced the door open. Another meticulously organized armory.

Remembering Dragon's question, I smiled.

I scanned the room and dropped the saber.

"Peacekeeping."

It didn't feel like a Taylor Hebert answer. Smug, and full of confidence. That was a Newtype answer. At least, the person I imagined Newtype should be. The mask Taylor Hebert would wear while being a hero. Confident and strong, sure of purpose.

Everything I could be.

Everything I wanted to be.

"That doesn't answer my question," Dragon said.

sys.v/ 08:52

"I-"

"Holy shit!"

I spun, aiming the bazooka at two men who quickly threw their hands up.

One inhaled and shouted, "That was awesome!"

I blinked. Couldn't believe it at first. I swore I warned them. I warned them right? Yes I did warn them.

"What the hell are you two morons doing here?!"

JP and Larry both flinched.

"Oh shit it's Shirt Face," Larry said.

"Again," JP added.

"That's not my name!"

"Newtype?"

"One second Dragon."

"You're talking to Dragon!" Larry smiled. "That is so cool!"

Note to self, give external speakers an off button.

I tried to fathom how the two idiots managed to find themselves in a Nazi dog fighting ring. Neither of them struck me as particularly racist. More likely they just looked for some new cape to gosh over when Uber and Leet didn't come back to town.

Because they're idiots.

sys.v/ 08:09

"I don't have time for this."

"Wait! I want your autograph!"

"Live with the disappointment!"

I flew through another wall.

Dragon sighed. "What was that?"

"Destruction of property," I said.

"What?!"

"It's Nazi property. Kaiser is welcome to sue me."

I turned my head. No sign of Fenja or Menja, and we tagged that as probable. Guess the prediction algorithms needed more fine tuning. Two cape probable cape encounters and nothing… Why did that disappoint me?

Not that egotistical yet, am I?

I shot into the sky, flying high to make a straight line toward the final target of the night.

Dragon asked again, "This is a bad idea Newtype."

Of course she wouldn't just let it go. I checked my HUD. The Haros maintained over watch at each site after they finished tying up hoods and collecting phones. Dauntless now hovered near the city center, shadowing me at a slow pace. Aegis and someone else were flying around. Maybe Kid Win finally finished his hoverboard, or New Wave woke up early enough to see me.

"Do you think it's a bad idea, or does the PRT think it's a bad idea?"

"Both," she said firmly. "You can't just go around blowing things up!"

"I'm disposing of illegal firearms as defined by the National Firearms Act of 2005," I said. "The Vigilante Act, Amendment Fourteen, authorizes independent capes to destroy property used in criminal activity. It notably doesn't protect independents from being sued or brought up on charges. Kind of bullshit if you ask me, but I feel like I'm in the clear on this one."

sys.v/ 07:14

"And that suit?"

"What about it?"

"You told me you were building a power source."

"I did."

"You didn't say you were building a suit."

I thought about it for a moment, and somehow it was really hard not to laugh. Don't get me wrong. Unlike the "heroes" in Brockton Bay I got the sense Dragon was a true believer. The real deal. Hero with a capital H. Someone who wanted to make the world better, even if the rules she followed prevented it.

I respected her, all things considered. At least as a person.

And yet, I chuckled a little. "I'm sorry, I guess? I'm a tinker. Isn't it kind of obvious I'd build a suit of something?"

Dragon remained silent for a moment.

"Fair, and I'm glad you managed to get the solar furnace working."

Well at least there's that.

"If I can offer some further advice, you need to stop. You've hit the Empire and the Merchants, and I can only assume you don't plan to spare the ABB. Lung-"

"Isn't in the city at the moment. Best chance I'll get."

After scanning the building, I sighed. Halls were too narrow. I released my bigger weapon and drew my carbine.

"Without a team-"

"I have a team," I said. "The gangs meanwhile, are running out of guns for theirs."

"Don't you realize how important you are?"

"Everyone is important," I mumbled.

"You're a tinker who understands the science behind her tech!"

I paused for a moment. Not in flight, but in thought.

"No tinker has ever had a power that feeds them the science behind their creations," Dragon continued.

I hadn't thought of it like that. To me it was just part of my power. To another tinker, and one who reverse engineered so much tech, it was more. My power made me smarter. I wanted to build a GN field and I instantly knew how to calculate quantum forces. I understood string theory just by pondering the GN Drive's mechanics.

"Don't do this. You could be killed, or worse. You have a future, Newtype. You may be the most important Tinker since Hero, but you'll never reach that point if Kaiser skewers you inside your suit."

I didn't ignore the words, but they didn't stop me.

I thought a lot about choices lately. About who I wanted to be. Who I could live with seeing in the mirror. What decisions would give me peace in a world without any.

It all came down to one thing in the end.

Not someone like them.

Not someone who accepted things as they were. Who hid from change and risk. Who valued her own security over the safety of others. Certainly not PR chasing glory hounds reassuring the public of a false sense of security.

That isn't a hero.

"You can change the world," she said.

I gripped the controls tightly.

"I intend to."

I named myself Newtype for a reason.

Dragon seemed unconvinced.

"Have you even thought this through?"

I slammed into the wall and tore through the wallpaper on the other side. The two ABB inside were ready, but facing the wrong way. They fell in pain before even turning their heads all the way around.

"Yup. Step one. Melt the guns."

I tracked the others through the walls. They all moved away from me, regrouping in a room toward the front and back of the building save three.

"Step two. Burn the drugs."

I shot the third guard as he rushed through the door. I turned up the power, taking aim and firing a line into the wall and dropping the next two in the hall. The rest didn't come, which felt really weird, but then I'd already found some drugged out guards this morning. Maybe these ones simply wised up.

I waved Purple inside, and let the Haro start tying people up.

"Step three. Break whatever else is left and see if the gangs can run on ashes and debris."

I moved into the hall. A little tight for my suit, but I kept the design down to a certain size for a reason. My feet slid just over the ground down the hall, and I turned toward the stairs and went down. The false wall in the basement gave way easily.

"And if the gangs find life so difficult, they can leave. I'm not going anywhere."

"Newtype. That's-"

"And while I have you here Dragon, tell Armsmaster, assuming he isn't listening in, I don't appreciate being used to start a gang war."

"What?"

"Cross reference when I send in a tip to when the location gets hit by a rival gang. Someone in the PRT or Protectorate is using my info to drive a gang war, and honestly I'm kind of pissed about it."

I swear it's a coincidence that my middle finger controls the communication system.

"The Protectorate ENE and PRT will receive no cooperation from me, or StarGazer, until they clean up their messes." And that includes Sophia fucking Hess.

And I hung up holy shit I hung up.

I paused for a moment, not entirely sure where the gall came from. Gall certainly felt like the right word. Anger, frustration, and dissatisfaction were not new emotions to me, but outbursts like that…

"That might have been a bit much."

"What you said was true," Veda said.

I turned my jaw. I never meant for the discussion to get so heated. Keeping my disappointment with the organizations from coloring how I saw the people in them didn't work so well. The Protectorate chased PR and spectacle. New Wave lounged about. Neither bothered to get involved unless something happened right in front of them, or the capes showed up. I did respect Dragon though. Telling her off wasn't what I wanted.

"It's about how I said it."

"Factually."

Sweet innocent, Veda. "I've got a book for you to read. It's called Il Prince.l"

Turning back to the matter at hand I felt a little regret. Lung clearly wasn't all muscle. He already found for his tinker lab equipment. The gear sat off to the side wrapped in plastic and foam braces. Toybox stuff, like Leets' fabricators, replicators, and a few more exotic looking machines. Raw materials in crates and containers. Some of it looked pretty useful.

Probably not intended to stay here. The basement hardly seemed spacey enough for building and testing explosives.

Damn shame I'm not in a position to steal any of it.

"How's it going up there Purple?"

"Scrubs beaten," the Haro repeated.

I blinked. "Scrubs?"

"Noun," Veda answered. "Derogatory connotation. Insignificant fellow or person of disreputable reputation."

"And where did Purple learn that word?"

"Unknown."

I shook my head.

I debated getting out and building a tracker. Never expected to find tinker gear mixed with a gun stash. Maybe I couldn't steal it with my suit, but Lung hurt not having it either way. Except, if something survived… Set box of parts aside to survive my sabotage, and get carried to a new location. Maybe even find the new tinker's workshop and wreck it when the chance arouse.

sys.v/ 03:51

No. Not enough time.

I dropped a sabotaged saber and backed out of the room. The bullets went off, shredding the no doubt expensive tinker tech equipment into parts. Lung's new cape might be able to fix some of it, but it would be time and resources they weren't making bombs. I'd need to think of a way to deal with that.

Bomb tinker and ABB sounded like a recipe for disaster.

"It's done Veda. On my way."

"I will be waiting."

I flew up the stairs.

The guards moved.

"Let's go Purple. We're leaving."

The group in the back moved fast though. They blocked the way to my self-made door, and opened fire. I raised my shield and fired back, advancing down the hall as the rest came up behind me. Two of the burlier guys lifted the disabled guards off the floor and pulled them into side rooms.

I let them, content to make my exit. They could rescue their friends if they wanted. I already had their phones.

I dropped the two men blocking my path, and turned into the room with my wall-hole. A young guy, a kid, jumped to the side and pulled two of his tied up friends out of the way.

I went passed him.

Didn't see the string until I went through it.

A wave of air slammed into my body. My vision spun. I bounced inside the suit like a ball in a tiny bottle. Barely managed to maintain my balance and avoid careening into a wall. Instead I went straight forward into truck, spun into the ground, and groaned.

Explosions can hurt even if they can't kill you.

Matter of fact, explosions hurt a lot when they don't kill you.

I gripped the controls with numb hands and rose slowly. A number started to flash in my eyes

IS:50

What?

Veda said something.

I shook my head.

Right. Timer. Three minute warning.

sys.v/ 02:43

Why did everything explode?

"- twelve nine, two forty-five, seven thirty-eight-"

I caught the movement in my peripherals, but only the movement. I spun, shield raised. The wall was completely gone, bullets pouring out from the now open rooms into me.

I rose to my feet and lifted the bazooka.

The tube was bent. Damn it.

The market stands, and store fronts blew apart piece by piece around me.

One tall thin guy stood in the center, an eye closed and the other glaring a dagger at me. A shorter one - that kid - stood at his side. Dark hair, with heavy eyes on an impassive face. And they stood there, in the center, out in the open, without guns… staring at me. The tall guy even raised a hand and tapped his forehead with a big grin on his face.

What?

I drew my carbine and returned fire. They retreated instantly, moving more like soldiers than ruffians. They lifted the guys I'd disabled and carried them, guns trained on me even as they didn't fire. The tall guy kept standing there, the kid still at his side watching me. They only stepped back after all the others did, and I took aim too late. They both vanished, the kid giving me one last look as he followed tall and skinny around the corner.

I stood in the ruined market, trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

sys.v/ 02:31

Shit.

My stomach turned as I spun about and shot higher into the sky.

"Are you alright?"

"Sore," I said. "We'll figure out the rest later."

I found purple hovering directly over me, and not blown into pieces. Good. The other Haros watched the other sites I'd hit, keeping an eye on the crowds. Namely, who was making phone calls.

"In position for rendezvous."

"On my way."

sys.v/ 02:02

Damn it.

A good thing the suit can "glide" after the GN field came apart.

And come apart it did.

Five seconds early.

I barely made it past city limits, the tree tops raced by under my feet. The green trail faded to near nothing. The few particles would fade before ever being visible to eyes on the ground, effectively rendering me invisible as I fell suit jerked, slowing rapidly as my body hit the chest plate. My bust might be small, but it still hurts having your breasts slammed into something at speed of sound speeds. Fortunately everything hurt a little bit. Each little pain kind of distracted from the others.

"We need to put more cushioning in here… Let's try not to crash this time."

"Calculating trajectory."

The suit still kept some compressed particles in the thrusters. Enough to stop me and make my landing something resembling graceful… hopefully. I used the thrusters to keep myself straight, throwing my feet forward again and coming to a stop a few inches off the ground.

I still landed hard.

My legs took the hurt of it, arms swinging out the maintain some balance until I stopped. My hands fumbled with the controls for a few seconds. Thumb finally found the right one, popping the chest open and letting me climb out of the suit.

I breathed in deep, noticing the lack of salt in the air.

The mountains rose around me, the dark forests quiet but for the rustling of the trees. No one went to winter resorts in the spring. The hotel was dark, and the ski lodge too. No cars. No visitors. The employees only came to keep the place dusted twice a month. Good enough place to get a pick up until winter and then I'd start using the summer camp down the road.

"Are you alright?"

Veda's camera peered from the van. I looked myself over, and despite the soreness, "yeah. I'm okay. That was… unexpected."

Focus

"Did we get the phones?"

"Yes," she answered. "Eleven from the Empire, twelve from the merchants. Three from the ABB."

I managed a smile. "Bring the Haros back to the workshop in fifteen minutes. Get everything you can from them. Hopefully the crooks will be more upset about their lost guns. Maybe get a day before they know anyone lost their phones, and the cops don't have them." Maybe less for the ABB.

I pulled myself into the van and sat down on the seat. Veda manuevered the vehicle around, backing it up to where my suit stood. The mechanical arms lifted my creation and pulled it back into the bed of the vehicle. The weapons and shield came off their latches to be stashed away, and Veda read off a check list of diagnostics.

I meanwhile went over it in my head, trying to figure it out.

Bum rushing me slowed me down a little bit. That kid meanwhile, he set a trap on my exit, and then pulled his friends aside so the blast wouldn't kill them. They didn't seem that committed to fighting me. Rescued their friends sure, but I'd let them do that if they just waited for me to leave. Instead they attacked, retreated quick, and that one guy. The leader…

Taunting me?

A show of force?

Well, at least everything else went perfectly.

I glanced as Veda continued her diagnostics. My suit lay on its back, eyes facing the morning sky.

They scratched the paint.