The number of shanties increased as they approached downtown Muncie, or what was left of it. The constant fighting in the city leveled most of the original structures and remaining buildings were either partially collapsed or precariously close to catastrophic failure.The increased number of shanties also meant an increased number of people and more importantly, mundane guards carrying various firearms . Most of the weapons appeared to be in poor condition, a result of prolonged combat and the lack of supplies to maintain the weapons. This was not an army with a supply officer waiting to fulfill...

Scott gently pulled back as Amira suddenly turned right to enter one of the many clothing stores scattered around Broad Ripple. As another shopper opened the door, he could hear the loud thumping of the radio inside and the overpowering smells assaulted his nasal passages.“Are you sure you want to do this?” Amira asked as Scott, hidden beneath dark sunglasses and a hat, hesitated at the front door.Scott hated shopping. His mother employed public relations and marketing specialists that did the shopping for him and his father so they all would compliment each other in and out of uniform....

The drone slipped sideways to the left, hovered, and moved back to the right. It was patient and did not rush the attack even though it had range and mobility over the target in front of it.Scimitar knew the JTF engineers programmed the drone to mimic Archangel’s flying style from training footage of her battles with the other recruits and the mundane agents. She was calculating and decisive in her actions so the drone would be too. The drone started to move right again when Scimitar shifted his balance, but before he could put both feet back on the ground, a bolt of lightning erupted from...

Trauma exited the car looking up at the rebuilt Hinkle Close-Quarter and Urban Combat Facility. She pushed down the terror that always filled her when she neared the training facility, a reminder from her first experience in the building at the hands of Justice. She relaxed her clenched fists and controlled her breathing before she walked to the front door. She pressed her key card and then looked at the retina scanner before a buzzer sounded and the door unlocked.As she walked in, a familiar face turned away surrounded by the members of Bravo company and others wearing battle dress uniforms...

“You don’t have to leave,” Nightmare said standing in Net’s dorm room. It was the first time she had ever visited his room, noting the lack of a television and computer that everyone else had standard in the room. When you can connect directly to the internet with your mind, you need hardware devices to slow down the process. What Net lacked in electronics, he made up in pictures of women in various states of undress. One of them even looked like Jury.“Yeah, I do,” Net replied sharply. His usual aura of nonchalant faded a week ago when he was accused of and interrogated for Michael...

With each step, the crunching rocks below the trio grew louder and each foot forward dragged along the ground a little more. Occasionally they passed a car still on the highway, but all of them had run out of gas years ago and the people inside probably tried their luck on foot, and likely perished in the nearby forests. Very few freeways and interstates still operated in the Midwest, only the most heavily traveled around“You know, I could just fly up ahead and find you two another car,” Alaina said without looking at Maze or Michael behind her. “We are in the middle of nowhere surrounded...

“Bring in the prisoners,” one of Herr Metall’s many sycophants shouted once Jury departed.With a wave of his hand, the viewing monitor on the wall broke apart and reformed with the wall. It was a small display of his power, but none in the room doubted Herr Metall’s mastery of his element and his ability to inflict pain and suffering to any that opposed him.Two large tanks walked in, one holding Hot Rod, the other leading Screaming Eagle into the center of the room under the bright lights. Althought both wrapped in chains, but they were not needed. Neither prisoner was suicidal enough...

“Where did you dig up this fossil, Alaina?” asked Justice as he released Michael and stood up. Scott rubbed his hands down his legs to dust them off.“You know who this is?” Alaina asked surprised. Scott did not take offense. He was not the most studious of agents.“Of course, I do. He’s the bastard that was my dad’s best friend and partner before he decided to go vigilante and betray him. Am I close, Maze?”With a push of a button, the Nanoblade retracted back into the hilt before Maze slid it back in the holster hidden on his belt. “No, I think you got most of it right.”“And...

The brown branches and the green leaves were only blurs as Justice zipped between the trees in the forest in pursuit of his target. He missed running outside the city, but avoided it since the disastrous mission to Crawfordsville last year. He still had the nightmares about the mission, mostly with him running in pools of blood and the JTF arresting him for murder. He deserved it, he guessed, but no one would care even if he admitted it. The JTF would never prosecute him and his mother would make sure the latest family stain stayed out of the media. He had a privileged life so why did he feel so shitty...

“Solid Copy is down,” someone yelled through the interal aircraft channel.Like everyone else, Scimitar leaned towards one of the external camera monitors as it swiveled forward and tracked dust cloud from Justice and Solid Copy. The aircraft was in a gradual right turn to bleed off speed so the task of looking at the monitors was a littler more difficult than usual. He noted mentally that an elementalist Enhanced must have created that barrier of ice. Khaleel could barely make out Solid Copy’s unmoving body in one of the other camera images at the base of the ice wall.“There,” said...