Hero Unit (2 page)

“What’s his plan? What’s he after?” Torment
asked looking the building up and down. She would already be
searching for the thoughts and emotions of those held inside. The
range of her power was pretty astounding.

“Says he’s got a device that will destabilize
the atomic structure of the building and everyone in it but him,”
Detective Allen replied.

“Seriously?” Torment asked, still scanning
the building. Torment had been in the E.E.D for ten years. This was
nothing new to her. Usually when an Exceptional went bad they did
so in a big way.

“That’s the claim. He wants an armed escort
out of the city and let’s see,” the detective checked his notes,
“forty billion dollars.”

“Oh, is that all?” Torment said with a shake
of her head. “Well now I know why they sent us. I can’t get a good
sense of him and his hostages at this distance. What do you think,
Maniac?”

Ace’s partner stepped forward, being careful
to stay behind the anti-Exceptional barricades, to get a closer
look. Like Torment, Maniac’s powers had a long range on them. Ace
kept her eyes on the building, scanning the different floors and
looking for threats.

It was eerily quiet for a crime scene. There
was no radio chatter, no talking between the different officers.
The situation was tense. No one liked the thought of facing an
Anti, especially one with a super weapon.

“I’ve got it Torment. Top floor, device is
letting off one heck of a signal. At this range I can't tell for
sure if it can do what he says, but whatever it is, it’s
dangerous,” Maniac reported. Her eyes looked like they had a small
lightning storm in them. The more excited she got the more
electricity there would be. It definitely wasn’t the strangest
Quirk out there.

“Ace can you get to the top of the building?
The rest of us will come in from below,” Torment asked.

Ace nodded. Flying to the top of the building
unseen wouldn’t be difficult. Neither would be getting in. “You
want me to sit this one out?” Jacks asked. It was the sort of thing
he usually got a pass on. His powers were less helpful in a hostage
situation.

Torment nodded. “For now. I’ll let you know
if there’s something we need you for.”

Jacks nodded and took up a defensive position
behind one of the heavy, anti-Exceptional barricades. Those were
another of Einstein’s creations. They could stop even the most
powerful of upper tier Fourths. It was a well-kept secret that they
were no match for Ace.

So far nothing is a match for you.

“While Ace gets into position, I want Maniac
to work on that device of his. Deuce, stay here and keep your eyes
opened. You and Jacks are our backup if things go south,” Torment
said. Deuce nodded and also took up a position at the barricades.
Between him and Jacks a good portion of the cordoned off area would
be covered. Heroes were all required to be sharp-shooters.

“We want him alive if at all possible,”
Detective Allen said. “New Davenport PD has been getting a lot of
flak from…people, because of how harshly we deal with Antis.”

By people Detective Allen meant politicians.
Damned fools only think about their poll numbers.
Ace liked
that fact that the detective included the E.E.D as part of the
NDPD. There were some normal police that saw the E.E.D as a
separate and distinct entity. “We will do what we can, Detective. I
can’t make any promises. Antis are notorious for making situations
where there are no easy calls,” Torment replied. The echo in her
voice made the statement ominous.

“Don’t I know it,” he said with a sigh. He
ran his fingers through his dark hair and made a call on his
radio.

“Alright Ace, go to it,” Torment said.

Ace took to the air. At first she flew up and
away from the scene. If the Anti was watching she didn't want to
give him too much warning she was coming. He might hurt the
hostages. As she left solid ground behind she could feel gravity
loosen its hold and the laws of physics begin to rearrange around
her.

That was the hallmark of the Exceptional
Phenomenon. When an Exceptional, from any generation, used their
powers natural laws changed, adapted, or just stopped working
entirely. Normals never felt a thing, but other Exceptionals always
knew when powers were in use near them.

Focus on the task at hand, not metaphysical
ramblings.

She circled back around as soon as she felt
best. Ace tried not to fly at supersonic speeds while within city
limits, or anywhere near population centers if at all possible, so
she approached her target at a much more sedate pace by comparison,
close to sixty miles an hour. She had an instinctive understanding
of how fast she was flying.

Her landing on top of the building was as
quiet as she could manage under the circumstances. From her crouch
she took a good look around. There was a roof access door, a
variety of different vents, ducts and grate covered openings. It
could have been the top of any hundreds of other buildings in the
city.

Ace knew better than to take the door. If the
Anti was a technomancer, which was her personal bet, then he would
have rigged most of the entrances. And while it was unlikely she
would be hurt by anything she ran into, it would create a terrible
amount of noise. And noise was the opposite of quiet, so she needed
to find a better way in. She started scanning the other panels and
openings the top of the roof presented to her. None of them looked
promising, until she spotted the HV/AC system.

As Exceptionals went Ace didn’t really fit
her type. Normally Fortress Class Exceptionals, the Class Ace was
categorized under, were big, towering masses of muscle. It was the
most recognizable Quirk out there. They actually looked like they
could leap buildings, stop bullets and bend steel. Ace didn’t. She
was five and a half feet tall with an athletic build. No one
expected her to be able to do what she did. Everyone assumed,
herself included, that she didn’t fit her type because it was her
Quirk.

Like I said some of them are just damned
annoying.

As Ace lifted the grate off the air handling
system she was grateful for her more average stature. Even with her
body armor, she fit with ease. At least she would if she dropped
her gun, which she did. She made a mental note to come back for it.
Einstein would be pissed if she forgot it. Ace then entered the
heating and cooling ducts and made her way down.

As soon as she could she dropped out of the
HV/AC system. Moving through it quietly was almost impossible. Once
clear she realized that she was in the men’s restroom. It was quiet
and empty, unsurprising considering the situation. That's when
questions started to surface.

How had the Anti managed to get a group of
hostages trapped at this time of night? Ace had learned to be
paranoid in her time serving in the Exceptionals branch of the
military. Something about this whole situation stank.

Well you are in the restroom.

She exited the restroom and continued moving
through the floor trying to figure out where their target was. It
would take time for Torment and Maniac to come in through the lower
levels, they would have to be constantly on the lookout for traps.
It was Ace’s responsibility to secure the scene if at all
possible.

As silently as she could she began a
methodical search of the floor. Room by room she went, checking and
clearing each one. There was a general hum in the air that her
sharper than normal hearing picked up on. It worried her. Her
progress was unhindered by any traps, which also made her
suspicious. Anti technomancers were always looking for ways to show
off their power.

Just like that time in New Madrid with
Tesla. She was so horrified when that shock trap didn’t stop
you.

These thoughts were all going through Ace’s
mind when she opened a door to what could have been a meeting room.
The door swung open, easier than she had expected. There was a
click and something slammed into her chest. The impact was followed
by an ear splitting boom.

Chapter
2

Ace was momentarily disoriented by the sound that
assaulted her. Had she been a normal, being that close to a sonic
boom would have killed her. She hoped the hostages were still
alive.

They’re fine, concentrate.

With a shake of her head cleared her thoughts
and took stock. Sitting in the middle of the room was… well the
closest thing it resembled was an assault rifle. The tripod it was
resting on looked built to stabilize construction equipment. The
bore had to have been at least the size of a .50 caliber and it was
still pointed at her.

“That’s impossible!” The person that shouted
was a man. He was tall and thin, his face haggard and his clothes
were baggy. The anger on his face at her not being dead was
clear.

Ace saw what looked like a remote triggering
device in his hand and she lunged at him. A guy like him didn’t
stand a chance of reacting before she closed the gap. She was the
fastest Exceptional on record. In the blink of an eye she was face
to face with the Anti. He still seemed shocked that the gun hadn’t
stopped her. “You, you’re that damned Fifth that killed Blood
Host.”

“You are under arrest,” Ace replied. She had
a gentle hold on the arm that was holding the remote trigger. He
tried to pull free, but Ace’s grip didn’t budge. “Anything you say
can and will be used against you in a court of law,” Ace continued,
pulling a set of suppressor cuffs from her belt. “Human laws have
no authority over me!” he exclaimed, “I am Technosis! Machinery
bows to my very will!”

The gun turned and Ace heard it powering up
again, the same hum from before. She didn’t bother to dodge.
Instead she finished cuffing Technosis and threw him, gently, aside
as the gun fired. Another shot slammed into her, another sonic boom
destroyed the rest of the windows in the room. This time she was
prepared for the noise and she turned her hearing momentarily
off.

“It’s not possible! This weapon killed
Tomahawk!” Technosis’s high pitched denial grated across Ace’s ears
once she allowed them to work again. Memories flashed at the
mention of Tomahawk, but she squashed them back down.

Good, stay focused. Now that he’s taken care
of, check the hostages.

She made sure her prisoner was completely
secure and cut off from his powers and continued reading him his
rights. Now that he couldn’t use his powers Technosis was much more
subdued. That was usually how it worked. Antis acted high and
mighty, but cut them off from their power and they were
helpless.

Once Ace finished with her prisoner she went
and checked up on the hostages. They were all bound and gagged, but
seemed unharmed otherwise.

One of the Regs is an energy class. He put
up a shield.

She would have to make sure whoever it was
got a medal. He’d saved the lives of all the hostages.

Ace radioed out to Torment, “Subject
apprehended. Far as I can tell none of the hostages are
injured.”

“Nice work Ace. We’ll be up in a minute.
Maniac is still handling some devices down here,” Torment sent
back. As always her voice sounded extra strange over the radio.

While she waited Ace started untying the
hostages and doing her best to keep them calm. In general they were
all okay, just shaken. Being that close to a super weapon had that
effect on people, even Exceptionals.

Her main question now was how had Technosis
gotten ahold of such a weapon? Thirds weren’t known for their
ability to create sophisticated machinery.

There’s something else going on here. Be
careful.

“It was Homo Superior,” one of the women
whispered as Ace undid her bindings.

Ace’s blood ran cold. Homo Superior was a
shadow group. Supposedly they wanted to “cleanse” the earth of the
“human taint”. Every government in the world, including those run
by Exceptionals, denied their existence. Ace had to wonder just a
little. People like Technosis didn’t just come out of nowhere with
massive weaponry and start killing.

“How do you know that?” Ace asked the woman
as she continued untying ropes.

“I can’t tell you here,” the woman replied in
an almost inaudible whisper. Ace nodded. If the woman didn’t want
to talk, then that was her business. Torment would be able to help.
People relaxed around Torment, despite the impression her name
gave.

It didn’t take much time for them to finish
wrapping up the scene. Maniac had disabled all of Technosis’ traps
with relative ease. Torment called in an Anti Transport Unit and
the police were taking away the hostages to get their statements.
Meanwhile Maniac was studying the gun that Technosis (still a
stupid name) claimed had been the weapon responsible for the death
of Tomahawk.

“You knew Tomahawk, right Ace?” Jacks asked
as Maniac did her thing.

“Yeah I knew him,” Ace replied, not really
wanting to talk about it. She had to push memories aside every time
someone mentioned her former mentor.

Your next psych eval is going to suck.

“How did he rank compared to you? I mean I
remember when he joined the E.E.D. Everyone said he was the
strongest Fortress Class ever born. I believed ‘em to. The guy was
hardcore. Do you think this could take him down?” Jacks
continued.

Ace wanted to get mad at him, she really did,
but she just couldn’t. It was his Quirk. People, normals and
Exceptionals, just liked Jacks. That meant he got to ask questions
other people couldn’t, because people were less likely to punch him
in the face for it.

“Yes. If someone fired that thing at any
Exceptional I’ve ever met it would drop them. That’s what it was
made to do,” Ace replied. Jacks knew that Tomahawk had been her
mentor, her friend. Everyone in the E.E.D knew. Most had the good
sense not to talk to her about it.