“Watch yourselves out there and contact me once you have some new information,” said Thorne. “Atlas out.”
The screen went black. Gunsmith stepped in front of the monitor and faced the team. A small flap opened on his gauntlet and he hit a few buttons on the tiny keyboard, running a diagnostic check on the armor he wore. As the only human on this team, the exo-skeleton was the only thing enabling Jim Ellis to contend with the types of threats they went up against.
“This is weirder than most of our jobs,” said Wraith. “Random special goes nuts, no news coverage, but Thorne hears about it from some sources? Sound suspicious to anyone else?”
“Not particularly,” said Zenith. “Proximo Labs goes beyond clean energy. They are also involved in research and development projects for the Pentagon. Given that, it is not hard to see how the President could have discovered this situation quickly and then immediately contacted Thorne.”
“How’d this special get in there and what do they want?” asked Shift. “Think it’s a revolutionary thing, like Zephyr?”
“More likely they caught some poor bastard and started experimenting on ‘em.”
“Watch the accusations, Vaughn,” said Gunsmith, addressing Wraith by his surname.
Wraith scoffed and stood, stepping up to the team’s leader. “C’mon Jimbo, I know you want us all to think you’re Captain America, but you’ve been involved in black ops for a while. You know how this works. One day the world changes and people start developing super powers and you’re telling me that someone’s not gonna try to cut us open and see what makes us tick?”
“Hayworth issued an executive order banning the military application of specials,” said Gunsmith.
“Right, because that’s always worked so well in the past,” said Wraith.
Gunsmith noticed Paragon move to the cabin’s rear. Not interested in getting into another argument, he bumped shoulders with Wraith as he pushed past the masked hero and walked to the rear of the cabin. Wraith scoffed and sat back down.
“I just hope this one’s someone I can hit,” said Sharkskin, stretching his arms. “Looking forward to mix it up after having to deal with Zephyr. Put me up against something I can punch and I’ll be happy.”
“Careful what you wish for, kid,” said Wraith.
When Gunsmith moved to the back of the cabin, he saw Paragon standing in the medical bay area, examining the supplies. He also saw her cringe and rub her head. “Everything okay back here?”
“What?” Paragon looked up and gave him a half-hearted smile. “Oh yeah. Sorry, I was paying attention to the briefing. Just that we got out of Atlas in such a hurry, didn’t have time to make sure everything’s set up back here. Never know when one of us might need immediate medical attention.”
“Not exactly what I meant.” Gunsmith stared at her. “You feeling okay?”
She had a brief moment of hesitation, then said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“Just…you seem a little out of it, that’s all.”
Paragon shrugged. “Guess I didn’t get much sleep last night. Still not used to the beds at Atlas.”
Gunsmith gave a cautious nod. “Okay, you let me know if anything’s up.”
CHAPTER 2
Once arriving in the airspace above Proximo Labs, Zenith shifted the Icarus into hover mode and the VTOL jets carefully lowered it down on the roof of the large complex. Vanguard assembled in the rear cabin and the hatch opened, giving the team access to the roof.
“Zenith, got anything for me?” asked Gunsmith, the first to disembark on the ramp with the team close behind. Zenith was the last one off the craft, silent as his sensors scanned the area.
“There is a very large energy output coming from deep below the complex,” he said.
“What kind of energy?” asked Gunsmith.
“Unknown,” said Zenith.
“Same plan?” asked Paragon.
Gunsmith nodded and went to the edge of the roof. He reached for his belt, pulling out a rappel cable that was wound inside the compartment he drew it from, then hooked the grapple on the end to the ledge. “And be careful.”
While Gunsmith walked down the side of the building, Paragon and Zenith flew to the ground under their own power. Shift gripped the edge and she followed behind Gunsmith, her arms extending with each step. Sharkskin crawled down the side of the building, his claws burrowing into the surface of the wall.
Once they reached the ground level, Wraith was already waiting for them, having transported himself through a shadow portal. “Took you long enough.”
Gunsmith ignored the comment and reached for the holsters affixed to the thighs of his armor, drawing his teleforce blasters. The front door was covered by steel shutters.
“Not a very inviting entrance,” said Sharkskin.
“Must be a security failsafe. Once alarms went off, the building’s probably programmed to go into automatic lockdown and shut down all the exits,” said Gunsmith. “Can you tap into their network, Zenith?”
“A simple matter.” Zenith stepped up to the door and after a moment, the shutters slid up, revealing the automatic doors behind, which quickly opened.
“Thanks,” said Gunsmith.
“I shudder to think what you all would do if something were to happen to me,” said Zenith.
Wraith blinked. “Did you just make a joke?”
Inside the lobby, the lights were all shut off, save for the emergency ones that illuminated the floor. Sharkskin sniffed the air and stepped carefully towards the reception desk, moving as silently as possible. He hopped over the desk and a cry of shock rang out.
Sharkskin stood back, looking under the desk and seeing the receptionist huddled underneath. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re here to help.”
The receptionist took a minute before she moved, frightened by Sharkskin’s appearance. He knelt down before her, changing his appearance back into his human form. “See? I’m just a handsome guy here to rescue you.”
When she saw the brown eyes of the slender Asian man as opposed to the black ones attached to the terrifying visage of a human/shark hybrid, she relaxed and slowly moved out from under the desk. She accepted Koji’s offer of a hand to help her stand and when she turned she jumped upon seeing the rest of the team.
“You—you’re those guys from TV, right? The superheroes?” she asked.
“That’s right,” said Gunsmith with a nod. “And we need to know what’s going on.”
“I-I have no idea. The alarms started blaring, then the lights turned off and the shutters came down—”
“We’re looking for the person who’s behind this, do you know where we can find them?” asked Paragon.
“Behind it? Behind what? What’s happening?”
“You didn’t send out a distress call?” asked Koji.
The receptionist wrinkled her brow in confusion. “What distress call?”
“Never mind. The doors are open now, just get somewhere safe,” said Gunsmith.
The receptionist nodded and grabbed her purse before running around from behind the desk and then out the automatic doors. Once she’d gone, Wraith gave Gunsmith a look with a raised brow. “No distress call. Curious, huh?”
“Probably came from below.” Gunsmith looked at Koji. “Put your game face on. And don’t change your form in the field like that, it could compromise your identity.”
Koji did as he was told, his skin graying and his body gaining significant bulk. His face shifted, jaw widening and teeth growing to sharp points while his eyes turned black. “Yeah, because Koji Asano is such an international superstar.”
Gunsmith ignored the quip and faced Zenith. “Where’s the source?”
Zenith pointed to the security door. “The layout of the facility points to an elevator down this way, and that will take us to the source of the energy.” He went to it, executing a command and the door opened to give them access to the corridor. Zenith took the lead down the hall, moving quickly to the elevator th
at awaited them at the end. Once inside, another quick and silent command was delivered through Proximo’s system.
“System override,” said the computerized voice in the elevator and the doors shut.
The team was mostly quiet during the descent. Sharkskin folded his arms and tapped his foot, humming the Mission: Impossible theme. Gunsmith cast him an angry look and the younger member mumbled, “Sorry.”
Paragon sidled up to Gunsmith and whispered, “You’re not usually this edgy before a mission. Everything okay?”
“Fine,” he responded back curtly. Gunsmith didn’t have to tell her the reason—it was clear to Paragon that the speed at which they were notified about this job suggested something out of the ordinary.
“You think that special is behind the energy?” Shift asked Zenith.
“Would appear logical. Proximo does work on developing alternative energy sources, but this seems far beyond their capabilities.”
“So what’s this mean about who we’re going up against?” she asked.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” said Gunsmith.
The elevator jerked to a sudden, grinding stop and the lights inside flickered. When the elevator’s robotic voice spoke, it was garbled and faded in and out before ceasing completely.
“What the hell’s going on?” asked Wraith.
“The facility has experienced a massive power failure,” said Zenith. “I’ve lost the connection with the servers, I’m sorry.”
Gunsmith put his hands on the elevator doors, trying to force his fingers at the point where they met. “We need to get out of here. Sharkskin, give me a hand with these.”
Sharkskin stood to Gunsmith’s right, pushing his claws through the gap. Gunsmith gave him a glance and said, “On three. One…two…three!”
The two men pulled on their respective door, pushing both Gunsmith’s armor-enhanced strength and Sharkskin’s superhuman muscles to their limits. They pulled hard and the doors slowly gave way. When there was enough room between the two, Paragon stepped between them and added her own strength, helping them to push the doors apart. What they found was a wall.
“Can we get out?” asked Shift.
“Looks like it’s only got one stop,” said Wraith.
“You can teleport us down, right?” asked Paragon.
“I could, but without knowing where we’re going, I could also put someone in a wall,” said Wraith. “Plus the strain of transporting all of you would mean I’ll be pretty useless in the fight.”
“It won’t be necessary,” said Zenith, kneeling down on the floor. “We are not far from the destination and this shaft should be empty.” He raised his right arm and the whir of machinery signaled the beginning of his transformation. Components on Zenith’s arm shifted around, reconfiguring into a cannon. “Stand back and watch your eyes.”
Zenith aimed his cannon at the floor, releasing a thin, concentrated laser. Sparks flew and the laser burned through the metal floor. He moved his arm in a circular motion, until he had drawn a perfect circle of scorched and burned metal. Zenith raised his foot above his work and slammed it into the center, sending the circle down into the shaft and creating an exit hole for the group.
“Good work.” Gunsmith hit a button on the side of his eyepiece, activating night-vision mode. He climbed through the hole and gripped one of the cables and began his descent. Sharkskin followed and then Wraith and Shift, each of them climbing down via the cables. Zenith dropped into the abyss next, his jets lowering him and the lights surrounding his robot body casting a dim blue glow over the elevator shaft. Paragon was the final one to follow, hovering down behind Zenith.
They reached the bottom of the elevator shaft in short order. Gunsmith and Sharkskin pulled those doors open as well and they were nearly blinded by the illumination. They quickly climbed out of the shaft and out onto the platform in front of the elevator.
Standing on the floor below their platform was a man with translucent blue skin, his eyes holding a brilliant azure glow and his hands crackling with power. His energy signature was the only source of light in the room and he turned away from Miriam Rowe to face the new arrivals with a grin.
“This is an unexpected interruption,” he said. “And who might you be?”
Wraith scoffed. “You been living under a rock for the past few weeks or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I have.” He hovered above the ground and examined the collection of heroes. “And it looks like I’m not the only one with abilities. Fascinating.”
“Yeah, real fascinating, Lite-Brite,” said Sharkskin.
The special frowned and glared at Sharkskin. The azure glow around his eyes intensified and he fired concussive optic blasts that struck Sharkskin with enough power to throw him against the wall.
“The name’s Lucent.”
“Go!” shouted Gunsmith, firing off a blast from his weapons that passed right over Lucent’s shoulder.
The villain watched it go by and snickered. “That the best you can—”
“That was just the distraction!” Paragon flew at Lucent, delivering a punch powered by telekinetic energy, throwing him back into the cylinder that had been his prison for weeks.
“Lucent is apparently the source of the unknown energy I’ve been detecting,” said Zenith.
“Gee, y’think?” asked Sharkskin.
Lucent massaged his jaw, still reeling from Paragon’s blow. He flew at her, directing the energy he’d absorbed to his body’s muscles, elevating his strength level. Once in range, he struck Paragon with a powerful jab in her chest that knocked the wind from her. With her concentration broken, she lost control over her flight and fell, but Sharkskin moved quick to catch her.
Zenith rocketed up to Lucent’s level, raising his cannon and cutting loose with powerful teleforce blasts. Lucent dodged the first few blasts, but Zenith’s next volley tagged him. Lucent felt no pain from the energy, though. Instead, he felt a surge in his own power. Just as he had when he absorbed the energy of Proximo Labs.
“Thanks for the recharge!” Lucent held up his hands and the azure glow around his body brightened. Beams shot forth from his palms. Lucent followed up with more blasts.
Zenith tried to evade Lucent’s attacks, but the blasts came so fast and at such a high frequency that it was difficult for him to match the speed. He was struck a few times by them, and diverted power in his systems to his shields, trying to repair any damage that Lucent had already caused.
Sharkskin rejoined the fight, jumping high enough to grab hold of Lucent’s ankle and pull him down to the floor. Sharkskin landed beside his prone form and took Lucent by the legs, swinging him around until he flung the villain through the open doors of the elevator shaft.
“I’ve been analyzing his attacks,” said Zenith. “It seems he can redirect the energy he absorbs either as force beams or to enhance his own strength.”
The shaft lit up with a blue light cast over it. Lucent rose up in the center of the shaft and hovered through the open doors. He held his arms out to the sides, palms open, and rapidly brought them together. When he clapped, waves of concussive energy spun off from his hands, flying across the room and throwing the three specials for a loop.
***
“How do we get them out of here if the elevator’s not working?” asked Shift. “Wraith can’t teleport them all.”
Gunsmith spotted Miriam with Charlie helping her up. She was the woman Lucent had been threatening when they arrived, meaning she was likely a person of significance. He ran to her. “Is there an emergency exit?”
“What are you doing here?” asked Miriam. “Who sent you?”
“Dr. Rowe, they’re trying to help!” said Charlie.
“Listen to your friend, ma’am,” said Gunsmith. “Now there must be an emergency exit around here somewhere.”
“This way!”
Gunsmith looked up and saw the man with slicked-back silver hair and thin mustache. He stood in a far corner and pulled open a hidd
en door. “There’s a ladder through here that leads to the main floor.”
“How did he—” Miriam began, but Gunsmith cut her off.
“Get over there now!” he shouted.
“Gunsmith, over here!”
Gunsmith looked towards the sound of Wraith’s voice. He pointed at the exit and said to Miriam and Charlie, “Go! We’ll handle Lucent!”
Gunsmith ran to Wraith’s location where he knelt by an unconscious technician. Wraith looked up at the leader. “This guy’s not even capable of standing, let alone climbing up a ladder.”
“You can’t teleport him, can you?” asked Gunsmith.
“I don’t know where that ladder leads or how far up it goes. If I’m wrong about the space, we could end up in the floor, in a wall, anything. I’d have to climb up there myself first and then come back down.”
“Shift!”
The teenage shapeshifter ran over to them, kneeling beside Wraith and Gunsmith. “What is it?”
“Can you get this guy upstairs?” asked Gunsmith.
Shift looked at the technician. He was a thin guy, so probably not too heavy for her. A slow nod indicated her agreement. “I think so.”
“Good, do it,” said Gunsmith. “Then get back here right away.”
Shift’s arms extended, wrapping around the man several times until he was firmly in her grasp. She stood, straining slightly with his weight. Wraith placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sure you got this?”
“Yeah, help the others.”
Once Shift took the unconscious technician towards the exit, Gunsmith drew his blasters and opened fire on Lucent. The energy attacks were quickly absorbed by the former scientist, but it did get his attention. A disc of pure energy formed above each of his hands and he whipped his arms forward, the discs slicing through the air with remarkable speed. Gunsmith’s suit not only enhanced his strength, but his speed and agility too. He jumped forward, somersaulting over the first disc. But the second curved on Lucent’s command and Gunsmith raised his gauntlet to protect his face. The disc sliced into the suit, exposing sparking circuitry.
Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure Page 22
