“Warden, I’m just getting a visual of the compound now.”War-Pulse was quick on his delivery, he had to be considering that his current travelling time was as fast as a military fighter plane. With that kind of speed, it had not been very long to get to the outskirts of the city and follow the GPS signal that Sherlock’s data had so fortunately placed for him to follow.
“I have to say, these STRIKE guys know where to hide their super-secret bases.” He continued,
“In this many miles of pure forest...the only other thing out here are moose and racist hicks that already think the government is after them and their sister-wives.”“As...brash as you make it, you’re absolutely right.” Warden replied in a timely fashion, considering the two had been operating under radio silence until this point.
“No overhead airline traffic, no nearby highways or roads...aside from the impressional group of backpackers, this place is off the grid...virtually undetectable unless you already know the location.”“Well, we’re lucky we got a posh AI on our side, at least.” War-Pulse quipped back, keeping his momentum by arcing his trajectory, establishing a circling pattern over the compound.
“Are you sure that they can’t see me up here?”“From what Sherlock has delivered of the schematics, STRIKE’s radar can’t detect anything smaller than a fighter plane, unless someone is looking up, which is unlikely, they won’t see you coming. Even if they do, we can cut their communications, preventing any real resistance to your drop.” Warden’s voice turned from his usual passive monotone, now taking an authoritative assurance.
“Now remember, Equilibrium is several floors below surface level of the compound, sublevel 7.2, to be exact. In order to reach Level 7, considering the density of the structure and the amount of power you can generate from a kinetically charged divebomb….you will want to descend at a minimum of Mach 1 if you want to penetrate through the floors.”“Pft...Mach 1...that’s babytown frolics, Warden.”“You say that now, but you’re slamming through concrete, metal, and ceramics...not to mention that as soon as you hit level 7 you will have to stop any momentum you have and fight your way to subsection 7.2. At that point, Sherlock and I will deliver the suite to cut the power momentarily, giving you and Equilibrium time to find his robotic suit and fight their way out of the base.”“Alright, alright, I get it, Warden, this is going to be a time constraint. Can we just get started already? I’ve been circling them for thirty seconds, and it won’t be long before they see me up here.”“Right, on three….two….one….”War-Pulse barely waited for the words ‘go’ to leave Warden’s mouth before a kinetic burst rocketed him towards the ground at neck breaking speeds. He began to glow with energy, the kinetic sheath covering his body began to hum and bolster as he descended, his appearance changing into that of a comet as he dropped. By now, the soldiers below could see him coming, but it was far too late for them to react with anything substantial. He was moving too fast, coming in like a missile at speeds that no short range targeting system would be able to lock on to reliably, a human bullet careening from the sky, aiming for the heart of this mighty building. As he descended, War-Pulse allowed his body to twirl and rotate, adding to his penetrating ability by turning himself into a drill as well as a bullet. The descent took a whole of 6 seconds, each one more intense than the last as his speed continued to pick up.
It was the impact, however, that made it clear this was no light show. The immediate steel on the surface was sheared through like tin foil, the kinetic point War-Pulse had created in front of him as he fell with an outstretched fist was more than enough pounds per square inch to decimate the initial floors. The area around each impact shattered and rippled, even the mighty structure being no match for this ballistic nightmare descending from the sky. The very sound caused the whole compound to be alerted, with each direct impact rumbling through the building like an earthquake. In each instant, War-Pulse counted the floors, three, four, five, six…
At seven the mercenary opened his extended fist, pulling it back to his body only to release another surge of energy with a forward push, enough to halt his descent. This was also not a subtle descent, however, as the burst impounded the floor below, pulverizing it into shattered debris and wreckage, another explosion rupturing through the nearby hallways of his destination, a cloud of dust falling from the above floors, covering War-Pulse in a massive layer of dust.
By the time the sounds of destruction had stopped, there was only the timely sound of an emergency alarm going off in the distance, followed by the sounds of cocking guns and stamping feet moving in on his position. As he touched down onto the four way hall he had landed in, he tried to get a read on who was coming by the sound of how many footsteps coming his way. At best, it was six soldiers initially, more than likely only armed with light assault weapons. They had no time to grab their heavy weaponry, but more would be coming that did, so he had to move through these initial troops rather fast.
With a gesture of his hand, a kinetic wave cleared his immediate vicinity of smoke, giving him an ample view of the room. There was not much he was not already used to, considering this was not the first compound he had ever raided. Metallic hallways, steel grating floor, high tech cameras and sensors now loosely hanging from the wall. The only real information he could gather right now was from a sign hanginng from one leftover screw, a directory clearly labeled “Level 7”. From that directory, it clearly marked subsection 2 as one of the levels cordoned off to one of the smaller hallways, the assumption being that holding cells were not this base’s primary function.
The only thing stopping his advance was the several soldiers he originally had guessed now coming into view and blocking his way.
“Stop right there!” One of them shouted, pulling up a pretty state-of-the-art looking weapon, something along the lines of improved XM-8’s.
War-Pulse, of course, responded in the mature way by throwing an energy blast into the soldier’s face, sending him cartwheeling into the air and slamming into a nearby wall. The soldier’s responded in kind by layering him with bullets.
“C’mon, boys! You’re supposed to be the best o’ the best, here!” War-Pulse cried out, launching himself forward as another energy blast of his collided with a soldier's chest.
“Put your backs into it! Let me see what STRIKE is all about!” He turned and delivered a devastating haymaker to another man to punctuate his point, sending the poor fellow into another wall.
“Cut the chatter and keep moving, Pulse.” Warden’s voice came in,
“You have 2 minutes until they get communications unscrambled and another 3 before Director Anderson gets a call about this raid.” “I got it, keep your shirt on!” War-Pulse replied, snatching an oncoming attacker by the chest with one arm and flinging him across the room, bouncing along the floor to a stop.
“It doesn't hurt to have a little fun on the mission!”Of course, the mercenary picked up speed as soon as his attackers were neutralized. With another flick of his wrist, a kinetic wave launched from his hand and threw a group of STRIKE’s finest back into the other hallways. He went into a sprint, delivering a series of punches, kicks, and energy blasts to those popping up as he made his way to subsection 2.
The prison block was not hard to reach after the initial assault, with Sherlock’s handy schematics, the cell of Equilibrium wasn’t too far down the path.
Of course, this was blocked by another four soldiers, all armed and ready to fight back.
“Look, guys, be serious, here.” War-Pulse called out as soon as he came into their view, his body radiating energy as he waltzed in.
“I just took out a few platoons of guys just like you. Broken bones all around, you can be smart about this and step aside, or you can all be taking advantage of workman’s comp like the rest of the men who thought they could stop me. ”The four responded by alinging their laser sights right on Pulse, their guns cocking in unison.
“All right, but you can’t say I didn’t try to be reasonable.” War-Pulse said with a shrug before moving into their melee range before they could even blink. The first two men were flung aside with a small burst from Pulse, their bodies ragdolling through the air as they hit numerous walls and supply crates in the area. With a quick punch to the gut and a follow-up uppercut, a third man was knocked aside. Before the fourth man even got the chance to land a punch, he was met with a brutal forearm to the face, momentarily dazing him long enough to be kicked in the side so hard he launched across the room, his body denting into Equilibrium’s door.
With another sigh, the mercenary remarked in a casual tone.
“And I wasn’t even tryin’ yet…” Before briskly striding to Equilibrium’s door. He lightly knocked on the material, the lack of echo hinting at it being solid metal, most likely a few grades tougher than steel. However, in the hands of War-Pulse, even this barrier was no match for the silver-clad warrior. His fingers ripping into the door, War-Pulse squeezed hard, scrunching the metal into a wrinkled scrap before ripping it clear from its hinges with one clean stroke, the sound of rending metal echoing through the white halls.
Before the man inside even began to speak, War-Pulse was quick to give the low-down.
“Ah, there you are, Equilibrium, good to see you without a helicopter in my face. Now I know I’m prolly not the first guy you wanted to see, but I’m bein’ paid to get you out. Now you can either gripe and be upset about it, or we can take the opportunity that my man on the outside gave us with the help of your AI to get your mech and blast our way out. Alright?” 
