The Breakout
David looked out across the city from the top of the statue, the sun shining brightly and reflecting its rays brilliantly off the surrounding windows of the nearby buildings. David smiled to himself, sitting down for a moment of relaxation as he reached up to remove the com-link on the left hand side of his head. A familiar voice came through as he went to remove the com-link; he instantly recognized the voice as the Head of The Department of Defense, Andrew Rochester:
“David, we need you to come in.” Stated Andrew
“Is there something wrong?” David replied, frowning as he stood up.
“We have…a situation.”
“…I’m on my way.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A spark of golden energy crackled briefly around the northwest stasis tube within the containment block, it crackled slightly, dancing across the stasis tube, leaving tiny wisps of golden energy in its wake. The spark seemed to jump between four of the stasis tubes slowly gathering speed and power as it moved. The spark continued to increase in size until it grew to be an orb of golden energy; it hovered in the centre of the room, diving into five smaller orbs, flying at the four stasis tubes containing the Theraxian prisoners. Draydeon’s eyes snapped open as he was infused with one of the energy orbs; he smiled to himself as his eyes burned with golden energy. The final energy orb fired itself as a burst of golden energy into the central control panel causing it to spark violently and sound the alarm:
‘WARNING, WARNING, CONTAINMENT SYSTEM OFFLINE. SECURITY SYSTEM COMPROMISED, INITIATING CELL LOCKDOWN.’
The stasis tubes exploded violently, deactivating the containment vortex surrounding each one, sending shards of metal across the room. Four pairs of boots made contact with the cell floor as the Theraxians escaped their confinement. Draydeon pursed his mouth in a self-satisfied smirk as he looked at his fellow Theraxians:
“I knew it would work.” He exclaimed
“How did you do it?” Asked Adonia as she rubbed the back of her neck
“I’ll explain later, right now we have less than thirty seconds to leave this cell before the security system kicks in.” Replied Draydeon
Gidrean walked over to the central control panel, his fingers flying furiously over the buttons as the alarm slowed to a stop, the room continued to flash with the alarm light. The energy matrix sealing the entrance short circuited, unbeknownst to the Theraxians it was readily replaced by two sets of interlocking reinforced steel doors.
“I’ve temporarily overridden the alarm system. It will give us a bit longer, it won’t be much but it’ll be enough to make a path out of this infernal prison.” Gidrean explained
“Who knows…we might even get to kill some humans on our way out!” Grinned Adonia
Zultaer walked over to the exit only to find the reinforced door blocking their escape. He placed his hand on the door and frowned.
“We seem to have a slight delay.” He sighed
Draydeon scoffed at Zultaer as he curled his hands into fists of flaming golden energy and approached the reinforced door.
“Everything on this planet has a melting point. This is something a little spot welding and an explosion can overcome. Stand aside Zultaer.” Sneered Draydeon
He beckoned Adonia as the two of them focused two beams of searing golden blasts at the door. Both of the Theraxians focused their beams, slicing through the layers of metal in an almost perfect circle. The melted parts of the door glowed white hot, cooling rapidly as Draydeon and Adonia stepped back slightly, combining their energy into a large sphere of golden energy and launched the colossal blast at the weakened door. On contact the reinforced door buckled completely, the energy tailored circle in the reinforced steel exploded outwards violently, the severity of the explosion causing the resultant shockwave to ripple through the entire complex. Draydeon and the other three Theraxians flew into the air, their eyes burning golden.
“It’s time to have some fun.” Sneered Draydeon
“Indeed.” Agreed Adonia
--
SECURITY HUB
A group of security guards closely monitored the live video feeds from the entire containment facility. One of the guards narrowed his eyes looking at the screen, panicking when he realized some sort of video loop was being fed into the camera.
“Shit!” He hissed.
The guard stepped over to the computer terminal, tapping into the system.
“We’ve been hacked by something. These video feeds are inaccurate, they’re on a loop. Call Director Terrain. This is a potential Code Red. I’ve almost reversed the hacking; we should have the system back to normal in the next five seconds.” He announced
Before anyone in the room could react, a powerful shockwave tore through the complex and an alarm suddenly blared through the video feed on the screen as it showed the four empty stasis tubes, smoldering quietly with the central control panel on fire, black smoke ascending into the air vents in the cell. The Theraxians were loose. The guards acted fast, sounding the internal alarm, alerting the entire complex to the security breach. A rush of booted soles on metal floor sounded outside the security office doors as men and women clad in tactical armor ran to their stations, clutching guns of varying size. A slightly balding, white haired man in a grey suit accompanied by another man in a black Kevlar body suit with the name badge ‘Agent Ross’ on his chest burst into the security room:
“I need a situation report now. Why didn’t the alarms go off sooner? And what the hell was that?” Asked Agent Ross
“Director Terrain, sir! Agent Ross, w-we aren’t…we don’t know sir. We believe the security system has been compromised. We don’t know if that was a result of the prisoners or what could have caused it, b-but our tracers are still active sir. They are saying they are on their way here.” Replied a guard
“What are your orders, sir?” Asked another guard
“Link me into the com-link of everyone on duty right now.” Director Terrain commanded
The guard nodded and keyed in a sequence and a green light flashed up on the panel signaling that it was active and the guard looked towards him. Director Terrain pressed a button on the control panel in front of him and spoke directly into the proffered microphone:
“Department of Defense personnel, this is Mark Terrain, Director of the D.O.D speaking; four highly dangerous super criminals have escaped from confinement. Our priority is containment. Under no circumstances must they be allowed to leave this facility. Remember, these aliens are dangerous and durable, think of them as super humans. What will kill you won’t kill them. It took a lot more power than we have access to right now, to bring these four aliens down, so if you have the opportunity, take it. Good luck.”
Agent Ross leaned toward the Director and whispered:
“Sir, in the event of us being unable to take them down, is there any plan or protocol in place to secure Sector 7?”
“I’ve already assigned Clarkson and his best men to take care of it if they get past you. Now move out Ross.”
“Roger that.”
A squad of ten guards followed Agent Clarkson to Sector 7 as the rest of the D.O.D forces ran to meet and hopefully stop the Theraxians.
--
LOWER CONTAINMENT LEVELS
The Theraxians turned yet another corner as they made their way from their prison cell in an attempt to escape the complex. The Department of Defense Holding Facility was a maze of steel and high tech security which seemed to go on forever, with various reinforced doors, energy matrices, security drones and other various forms of mechanized security enforcement tool. All of which, the Theraxians so far, had rapidly overcome. Gidrean sighed angrily as he incinerated yet another security drone; he watched its robotic body fly into the wall, the searing heat from his blast causing it’s now fairly malleable metallic body to weld quickly to the wall.
“Is there no end to this metallic maze?” He huffed
“Of course there is, but it seems like we have company, human company.” Zultaer frowned
“Finally, something which screams when you kill it off!!” Grinned Adonia
They slowed down before reaching the four way corridor, only to be met with dozens of armed soldiers. Adonia grinned eagerly as her fists tightened in anticipating of fighting the soldiers. The Theraxians stood their ground, waiting for Draydeon’s signal when Agent Ross shouted loudly, ordering the attack on the Theraxians:
“You are weapons free, take them out!” He shouted
“Annihilate these pitiful humans!” Spat Draydeon as the soldiers’ laser weapons fired off in their direction.
Adonia flew in first dodging an impressive amount of laser blasts, whilst firing a volley of energy blasts, most of which hit their marks, the blasts burning through the affected targets, killing them instantly. The screams of the soldiers filled the air as Draydeon, Zultaer and Gidrean followed in the wake of Adonia’s bloodthirsty attacks. A second wave of soldiers flooded the passage way as the Theraxians fought their way through the D.O.D’s security personnel. Draydeon unleashed waves of energy, ripping apart the various wall mounted security turrets and the metal panels on the floor, exposing the power cables beneath. Gidrean flew past him grabbing the electric cables and shoved the live cables onto the steel walls. The electricity sparked and was quickly conducted through the wall, electrifying the remaining turrets; the chain explosions sent countless pieces of shrapnel flying through the air.
One wayward shrapnel piece embedded itself in Zultaer’s abdomen as he released an energy shield; he looked down wincing in pain. The piece of metal had punctured one of his lungs, making it difficult to breathe and stay upright. Gidrean, sensing something was wrong, looked forward to see his fellow Theraxian at the other end of the hall attempting to fend off a group of advancing soldiers who had somehow gotten past Adonia, Draydeon and himself. Zultaer was backed up against the wall as the soldiers advanced; his weakened state affected his accuracy and energy blasts, the soldiers hid behind pieces of raised metal as Zultaer continued to weaken. Gidrean’s eyes widened from behind his own energy shield, which was under heavy fire as he could do nothing but watch as Zultaer stopped firing momentarily allowing the soldiers the opportunity to attack, they fired a barrage of laser blasts at Zultaer who cried out as the blasts hit his defenseless form.
Draydeon and Adonia acted fast, quickly disposing of Gidrean’s opponents and moving onto Zultaer’s attackers. Adonia’s fist smashed into one of the closest of Zultaer’s attackers with tremendous force, causing his neck to snap before she mercilessly pierced the remaining soldiers through with highly focused energy beams. As the smoke around where Zultaer was sitting cleared, his lifeless form was riddled with energy marks. Gidrean closed his eyes as he knelt down to check if Zultaer was still conscious, shaking his head slightly as he laid Zultaer’s body flat on the ground, harshly removing the shrapnel piece. He stood up and turned to Draydeon and Adonia who were hovering next to him, his expression completely emotionless.
“He is no longer with us.” Explained Gidrean
“Survival of the fittest seems to apply here. Besides Anlea, my eye had always been on him as a weakness in the group. However we could still have used his power to escape this place…” Sneered Draydeon
“We still can, he has not yet been gone for too long. We must absorb whatever he had left.” Stated Adonia
The three Theraxians nodded and outstretched their right hands towards Zultaer’s corpse; splaying their fingers they began to channel the remaining energy from Zultaer into themselves. Tendrils of dark golden energy shot upwards from Zultaer’s body; his body shook and bucked involuntarily as any remaining energy in him was extracted quickly, winding out of him, readily absorbed by the three aliens. Moments later the energy channelling was complete and they moved on. Draydeon flew silently ahead of his team, almost considering something, he stopped abruptly mid-flight hovering.
“What is it?” Asked Adonia, slightly agitated from the recent lack of killing she was able to carry out.
“Zultaer’s power or rather the semblance of it that we absorbed…even mixed with our own may not be enough to leave this place without further exposing any…weaknesses. We may require a less…direct exit strategy.” Explained Draydeon
“You cannot be serious; we are almost free of this place!” Exclaimed Gidrean
Draydeon whipped around sharply, flying close enough to be nose to nose with a stunned Gidrean. He lowered his voice considerably as he spoke:
“I intend to leave this place alive and in one piece, if you wish to drag your tired and partially drained body and offer it up as a sacrifice to these humans and their weapons then by all means. But, if you wish to remain alive, I suggest you listen well.” Draydeon hissed.
Gidrean narrowed his eyes slightly and lowered his head, frowning as he followed behind Adonia and Draydeon as they diverted their attention to another course. A lone guard stepped out from a cell block, looking to his left and then to his right, just in time to see a golden orb of energy fly towards him. Draydeon walked over to the fallen guard and plucked the security card from his top pocket and accessed a nearby computer terminal, he scanned the screen, looking through the list of inmates whilst Adonia and Gidrean kept an eye out for any advancing soldiers.
“Draydeon, what are you looking for?” Asked Adonia
“The facility will soon go into a complete lockdown as Zultaer said; the energy delay will not remain forever. It was a temporary measure at best. If we are to escape this place we need to address the root of the issue. Namely the facility power core.” Explained Draydeon
Draydeon’s lip curled in distaste as he looked through the complex plans until he came across a restricted access area labeled ‘SECTOR 7’. He narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly as he realized it contained the power core. He took one last look at the console before placing his energized fist through the screen and turning to his fellow Theraxians.
“It seems we are off to Sector 7. Fortunately for us, it is close by. It’s a restricted area but it has access to what I’m looking for.” Announced Draydeon
--
SECTOR 7
Director Terrain swore under his breath, slamming his fist into the side panel near where he was positioned. Agent Ross had failed to check in several minutes earlier and one by one the security cameras were being put offline by waves of gold energy. Terrain’s hand-held monitor notified him that Sector 7’s files had been accessed. This meant that the Theraxians were on their way and likely making their way towards Sector 7. He gripped onto his weapon and looked around at the other eleven men in the room with him; they had barricaded themselves within Sector 7 once security cameras started going offline preceded by a flash of energy.
The only thing between the arrival of the alien escapees and them was a set of deadlocked doors comprised of three feet of solid steel with Questionite reinforcement and a powerful energy matrix hovering in front of the door as an extra precautionary measure. The activation of a proximity alarm, stirred the Director out of his musings.
“Director Terrain sir, they’re here.” Stated Agent Clarkson
“Set up the Inducer Cannon, and hold your positions.” Director Terrain ordered.
Four of the soldiers quickly set up the Inducer as the muffled sounds of two of the outside turrets fired off against their targets, the incessant sound of firing was soon cut short by two explosions. Outside Draydeon, Adonia and Gidrean dropped the unified energy shield they had been sustaining. Draydeon nodded towards the remaining members of the Theraxian Vanguard and they focused their energy into powerful beams. The sheer power of the beams overloaded the energy matrix and slammed into the ‘Sector 7’ door. The intensity of the beam caused the door to change color from a cold grey to a red hot, nigh molten mess as their beams melted through the three feet of metal.
The progress of the Theraxians was sensed on the other side as the door began to get brighter and brighter. Director Terrain looked out towards the final line of defense between the Theraxians and what they were trying to protect,
“Gentlemen, we are the last line of defense. If we don’t make it out of this, I would like you all to know…I’m proud to have served alongside you, it’s been an honor.” Director Terrain stated.
He saluted them and they all returned the salute before turning their attention to the rapidly heating door. The center of the door, where the focus of the beams were, continued to change until a white hot color signaled the focus of the beams and the first of the beams shot through the opening, the soldiers assumed defensive positions as a series of angry and strained grunts came from the other side; the entire hexagonal shape of the door began to creak and groan as it was wrenched away from its frame. Smoke from the severed pneumatic cables filled the entrance way, a pair of burning golden eyes pierced through the thick smoke, a large section of the Sector 7 door held up above the owner of the eyes. The soldiers quickly scrambled towards the Inducer Cannon, activating it as the smoke cleared.
“The Inducer is online, clear out!” Shouted one of the soldiers
As the Inducer Cannon activated, the soldiers moved to the side as it began charging up rapidly, a sphere of violet energy formed at the tip of the cannon, growing to the size of a beach ball and suddenly launched, ripping through the air as it flew towards the aliens. Adonia and Gidrean generated an energy barrier in preparation for the impact of the blast. Upon contact with the energy barrier, the blast was absorbed but the barrier exploded violently, releasing minor shockwaves of energy and force, knocking back both Adonia and Gidrean, their bodies careered into the door frame. Draydeon grunted as he spied the Inducer Cannon and with herculean might, he lobbed the Sector 7 door section at the cannon as it was charging up again. The resulting explosion seemed to rock the building foundations, consuming the four guards nearest to the Inducer and the Inducer itself in a sphere of violet-orange fire. Director Terrain and the remaining guards opened fire straight away. Gidrean raised his forearms in front of his face, flying forward launching energy blasts at the soldiers’ weapons, causing them to explode instantly. He grabbed the necks of two of the soldiers, flying at speed and crushed them between his own might and the metal walls, applying enough pressure until he heard the crack of their necks.
Adonia grinned from ear to ear as she darted around the room, firing her energy blasts at the soldiers piercing them through. Director Terrain remained and continued firing, managing to hit Adonia and Gidrean who stumbled back, slightly disorientated. Draydeon flew forwards with tremendous speed and drew back his golden energized fist and punched the gun Director Terrain held in his hand; Draydeon’s fist tore through the barrel of the gun, turning it into little more than shards of singed metal. He locked eyes with Director Terrain and welded his right hand to the Director’s throat, slamming the man into the floor. The Director clawed at Draydeon’s powerful hand, struggling to breathe:
“S-Stoop! You…don’t…know…what’s…in there!” Wheezed Director Terrain
“You’re right. Which is why I intend to find out, I enjoy a good surprise.” Sneered Draydeon
“…Huh…well, y…aurgh…you won’t like…this…one…” Choked Director Terrain
“That’s for me to decide, I think.”
Draydeon increased the pressure to the Director’s neck, watching on as the Director slowly stopped moving and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his hands falling away from Draydeon’s hand and his gurgling quickly stopped. As Draydeon released the lifeless form of the Director, a pneumatic hiss rang through the sector as the door they previously had melted through was quickly sealed by thick, unyielding metal panels; a quick flash of electricity across the metal panels indicating that there was a powerful current running through the metal. A stray arc of electricity struck the body of a nearby discarded energy pistol causing it to explode violently, the metal smoldered. Suddenly a series of alarms sounded, the Theraxians looked around as the two doors behind them started to shut blocking the access to the rest of Sector 7.
Draydeon flew forwards and pushed against the two doors, straining as they attempted to close on him. Gidrean and Adonia flew through the gap and pulled on the interlocking doors, just enough to allow Draydeon to escape the eventual sealing of the door. He raised himself to his full height and followed after Gidrean and Adonia who had accessed the next section of the Sector. Gidrean stopped as he turned the corner as he looked out across the railing to the center of the room. Adonia looked down towards the floor below to see a small line in the metal floor below, shining with pure blue energy.
“This entire building is going into lockdown, it seems our delay did not work for long. It would be unwise to simply fight our way through, those doors are electrified.” Noted Gidrean
Adonia drew his attention to the floor below, cutting off his train of thought,
“There, down there. We are but a few feet from the power core. It is inside this sector but below that floor.”
She flew down towards the floor and ripped open the floor, exposing an energy field beneath. Adonia looked at the energy field; stretching out her hands she pressed against the energy field, it held and became semi-solid at the point of contact with the palms of her hand; her hands glowed with golden energy as she pressed with increased power against the energy field, attempting to breach it. Draydeon and Gidrean flew down, a few feet above where Adonia was attempting to breach the energy barrier.
Realizing that the simple application of pressure was not working she drew back her fist as it seemed to become quickly enveloped in energy and slammed her fist into the energy barrier. The barrier flared up and a rush of cerulean energy crackled from the impact point and enveloped her form, crackling violently around her and sending her hurtling backwards. Adonia winced and shook slightly as the last vestiges of the energy dissipated from her.
“It looks like it requires more force than that…” Smirked Gidrean
“Stand aside. This man-made barrier will not stand between me and victory.” Ordered Draydeon
Draydeon focused his energy as a small sphere of golden energy burned, hovering between his palms. His eyes widened as they flared with his natural energy, his body crackled with golden energy arcs, all of this energy was focused in his energized fists; he shouted as he released a truly titanic cascade of energy at the energy barrier. The sheer force of the impact short-circuited the field and ripped through the technological structure, obliterating the entire power core in one devastating attack. The immense explosion from the power core structure engulfed the power core and a good portion of the room. It ruptured and crippled several reinforced exits, sending large chunks of debris skyward, damaging the ceiling. Adonia and Gidrean, observed the destruction behind the safety of the energy shield they had created. A slightly distorted AI sounded throughout the whole of Sector 7 and no doubt the entire complex:
“ALERT!! CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM ERROR IN PROGRESS! CONTAINMENT LEVEL AT ZERO PERCENT, COMPLEX SECURITY SYSTEMS OFFLINE. LOCKDOWN OFFLINE. POWER LEVELS DROOO--”
The AI’s voice slurred and cut out as the power to it ceased. Draydeon sighed and held his head, a headache forming at his powerful release of energy. They dropped the energy shield as Gidrean looked up towards the ceiling, narrowly avoiding a particularly large chuck of metal which dropped down.
“The power core’s explosion has given us a way out!” Hissed Gidrean.
Adonia looked up as a large metal panel fell away from the ceiling of Sector 7; she narrowed her eyes as she looked up. Past the crisscross of partially severed wires and a few tubes and thicker energy conduits she saw some light. She turned to Draydeon, holding onto him as she assisted in flying him out after Gidrean had soared higher towards the crumbling ceiling. Draydeon’s weakened form was slowly regaining power as they flew up, he looked up towards where Adonia was heading and grinned. With renewed vigor he shook off Adonia’s assistance and turned to Gidrean and Adonia.
“Come, we have much work to do.” He growled.
The Theraxians flew off through the ceiling in a flash of golden energy as the complex behind them slowly fell apart.
--
SECTOR 7 HIGH SECURITY CONTAINMENT CELL
A large metal cube with a quarter length window was suspended in the air in the very center of a room, held in position by two blue anti-gravity beams which encompassed the case. The anti-gravity beams wavered as their projectors lost power. The cuboid prison fell out of its current position and hurtled towards the ground; the various tubes and wires attached to hit were severed harshly, they sparked intermittently and a bluish green gas slowly poured out of two of the thicker tubes. The cube fell at such an angle that it was partially embedded in the floor beneath; the thick, super reinforced door had the word ‘ULTIMATE’ embossed onto it. The sole occupier of the specialized cell was kept in place by a series of bonds; his face held the faintest trace of a bruise on his left temple and was partially covered with a high tech helmet which flashed intermittently. Ultimate’s eyes snapped open as the majority of the gas seeped out through the severed feeder tubes.
He looked around groggily noting the hint of bluish green gas which had been previously swirling around the entire containment cell, draining out of the cell. He flexed his powerful frame, inadvertently tearing his bonds allowing him to move his fists towards the sealed door, he struck it a couple of times, denting it heavily before the door gave way entirely. He stumbled out, somewhat disorientated and grabbed at the helmet, which seemed to be emitting some sort of disorientating effect.
He crushed it in the palm of his hand and quickly reoriented himself. Drawing himself to his full height, he looked around at the crumbling base, a shaft of light catching his attention from the next level up, which was at least twelve feet away.
Ultimate jumped up easily making the distance and looked at his surroundings. The entire area had been almost disassembled and was lying in ruins. The reinforced doors crackled slightly as a few arcs of electricity danced over them. He looked over the other side of the railings, opposite to his former holding cell and looked down to see the smoldering dark mess which was once a powerful power core. He smirked and walked up to the reinforced doors, ignoring the crackle of the electricity on and over his skin, arcing up as far as his spine, he dug his hands into the metal door and tore the electrified metal plate in two, exposing the corridor beyond.
Ultimate chuckled darkly to himself as he crumpled the metal panel pieces in his hands and escaped the containment facility.
