Gabriel made a point to know who was who in the Hero world, so he knew that the Supers that were sprinting down the entrance hall dodging gauss rounds were the real deal. Strike Force Beta of the Houston Sentinels.

Strike Force Beta was famous for getting people out of impossible situations. They took part in the assault on New Seattle and made it through without losing a single member. Not many Strike Forces could boast that when Mechablitz were involved.

The Heroes’ charge was led by Terra, a Class 4 with a body made of jade-colored stone. She was 7 feet tall, weighed just over a ton, and could regenerate damage to her nonorganic limbs. An imposing sight, sprinting down the hallway deflecting the rounds meant for her companions. Her heavy steps dented the metal floor under her advance.

Following Terra was Quickdraw. The leader of the group and a Class 4 speedster, meaning she only had Class 4 reflexes.

She was petite, standing 4’11” at most, and she wore a reinforced cloak. Despite her lower-end strength and light armor, she’d proved more than a match for the Blitz in New Seattle with her plasma pistols.

Of the local Heroes, it was Quickdraw that Gabriel most looked up to. Her works of charity and kindness to her fans had earned her a spot in the hearts of many.

Behind Quickdraw was a man Gabe recognized as much from the public files on the Sentinels as he did from the tabloid articles about him. Helios styled himself a modern Greek god, wearing nothing but a toga and a large gold chain.

He’d mastered the disdain a god could have for mortals and had a track record of insulted politicians, and fans a mile long. A few tabloids had once speculated over whether or not his flame manifestation abilities were related to his genetic baldness, but they were all firebombed weeks after releasing said theories to the public.

Helios had stood trial and served time in prison, but had since reformed. Needless to say, the articles stopped.

Helios flew along behind the first two Supers, looking bored. Flames coated his stocky frame, melting the bullets missing Terra leaving the rounds weak enough to break against his Class 3 skin. He would lob a ball of fire every so often to cover their advance.

Long-Arm, the youngest member of the Strike Force, was initiated shortly before the short-lived conquest of New Seattle.

He proved himself adroitly, using his stretching ability and quick Class 3 reflexes to take hundreds of injured infantry away from the front lines to safety. He brought up the rear, his already long legs extending unnaturally, allowing him to keep pace with a walk.

His elasticity was on full display, his facial features distorting with every piece of shrapnel he stretched away from.

The guards spent what seemed to be hundreds of Gauss rifle rounds as the Heroes advanced down the long corridor. Each of Helios’ blasts sent them scrambling.

As the Strike Force neared, the guards ran to the safety of the training room behind them. Gabriel followed them inside by camera and watched them set up a firing line in a semi-circle around the entrance.

The leader stood calming his men and readying them for the coming fight. “The moment those bastards come through that door, you light ‘em up you hear me?!” His gravelly voice echoed in the empty room.

They were all equipped similarly, encased in power armor with Gauss rifles and high-grade plasma grenades at their hips.

The captain’s suit looked more bulky, meaning that it was likely more powerful. He also seemed to have foregone the rifle in favor of a Gauss light machine gun.

Gabe hoped they wouldn’t have the time to throw those plasma grenades before the Strike Force got close, those little bombs were expensive and deadly to just about anyone.

Gabe watched on, crossing his fingers the guards would be too scared to use them all at the same time when the fight broke out.

A young guard fumbled with his magazine and dropped it.

“WHAT WAS THAT, ROGERS? DO YOU WANT US ALL TO DIE IN HERE? GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER GODDAMMIT!”

The young man paled at his leader’s words, understanding the peril his team faced. He jammed the magazine back into his rifle. It clicked this time, and he turned to aim towards the door.

Outside, the Heroes had stopped at the entrance.

“What now?” Said Long-Arm as he played with his arms, twisting them and tangling them back and forth.

Quickdraw glanced up at the security camera in thought. Then she turned and cuffed Long-Arm across the forearm...wrist? It was hard to tell with the extra length of his arm. “Stop that! You know it weirds me out.”

Long-Arm stopped, looking slightly chastised, but still grinning at his leader. “Sorry boss. So what’s the plan?”

Helios stepped in, annoyed. “Don’t ask again, kid. When she knows she’ll tell us.” He turned to Terra. “Rookie.”

Terra frowned at the flaming man. “Long-Arm is not a rookie Helios, do not belittle him because he has more enthusiasm than you.” The jade giant stepped towards Quickdraw. “Do you want to go in? Take them out? Or do we keep looking for what is causing the earthquakes? None of those men seem capable of that.”

Quickdraw blurred up to the door and gave it a knock, finally, she turned to Terra. “We need to take out this security team. They could use the cameras to watch us leave. If we find whatever or whoever is shaking the ground we don’t need these guys coming up behind us when we least expect it. Terra, can you get through this door?”

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It took a moment for Terra to understand what the speedster had said, she spoke so quickly. She smiled warmly at her friend and said, “This thing?” Giving the door a tap.

“In my sleep, but those guards are waiting on the other side. I need you guys behind me. I don’t want to end up a pile of dust from their concentrated fire. Can’t heal if all that’s left of me are pebbles.”

Quickdraw pulled Long-Arm in. “Alright huddle in Beta, here’s what we’re gonna do.” The rest Gabriel couldn’t hear, but he readied himself for whatever he was about to witness.

The team dropped their huddle and moved back down the hallway. At about 15 meters they stopped. Terra turned around and assumed a sprinter’s starting stance. Quickdraw voiced a signal and together the Strike Force took off running towards the door. Terra took the lead holding her shoulder forward.

Terra hit the door and it crumpled, flying into the room with explosive force, the super close behind. The guard captain barely dodged the ton of metallic death. He yelled, “FIRE AT WILL!”.

All five men opened fire. Peppering Terra with bullets as she continued forward. The rifle shots all seemed to chip away at her armor, but the LMG rounds glanced off her. She’d seen the weapon in the captain’s hands and was doing her best to angle her body so he couldn’t score direct hits. She looked fearful.

She crossed the gap like a cheetah, despite being a gigantic stone person. The moment she could she launched her bulk straight at the captain, hoping to take him and his heavy firepower out of the game.

The two flew away and tumbled to a stop, both rising and squaring off. The LMG was mangled from the impact, so the captain raised his fists like a boxer and bounced on the balls of his feet. The green Super just stood there, staring the man down.

The strike team had entered after their tank. Quickdraw acted first, firing a shot of plasma at each one of the guards.

All of her shots landed precisely, striking their chest plates, stunning them. One guard tucked into a roll thinking he was on fire from the heat.

When the rolling guard stood, he got a face full of Long-Arm. The super had slingshotted his body through the doorway at the speed of a bullet, too fast for a Class 2 to dodge in that situation.

They too went flying away from the firing line.

Helios watched Long-Arm fly and let loose a roiling stream of fire at the two guards on the left.

He missed the one furthest to him but scored a burn on the closest. This man dropped his superheated weapon and went to his knees screaming. A very nasty way to cook, thought Gabriel, realizing his armor could have the very same weakness. Helios laughed at the flailing man.

The guards reacted at this point, recovering and shooting at their targets.

Long-Arm gooped to the side when the man he had thrown back shot him point-blank. Then he wrapped his arms around the man and crushed his armor like a python. One down.

Quickdraw shot the guard about to shoot her first, scoring him in the same spot as the first volley. She shot again, aiming for his rifle and knocking it to the ground. The guard stopped in shock and then clasped his hands together in a sign of surrender. He unclipped his weapons and threw them aside. Two down.

The third guard, the one locked inside the boiling hot suit, had no gun, so he just charged Helios. Moving low and fast he reached him much quicker than he should have, punching him in the face in a rage.

Helios’ head snapped to the side and he fell, limp. That should teach him not to underestimate his opponents if it hadn’t just gotten him killed.

The final guard, the one that dodged Helios’ fire, shot at the dazed man, hitting his un-flamed form in the stomach and leaving a bleeding hole. This woke him up at least. The firestarter yelled and the room was blinded for a second.

His heat flare left nothing but a charred husk at his feet. Helios seemed to be about to kill the last guard, but then he dropped to the ground exhausted from the exertion and pain. Three down.

Terra and the guard captain were duking it out, the man punching her in the throat with a quick yet powerful jab. The sound of stone breaking rang out. Terra swung back but the captain easily sidestepped. She was too slow to keep up with him, but she more than made up for it in durability.

This fight could go either way, thought Gabriel.

At that moment Quickdraw appeared behind the captain, striking him in the side of the head with one of her pistols and then shooting at the armor on the small of his back, superheating it.

The last guard lined up a shot for Helios’ face but didn’t notice Long-Arm’s arm tangled between his feet like a snake. He was flung at the wall.

The young man struck the wall with such force that it broke both his legs. He moaned in pain but stayed still. Four down.

The guard captain saw the last guard go down, just as he had seen the rest of the team lose - or give up. He made a choice then, a drastic one. As he regained his senses from Quickdraw’s sudden attack, he snatched a plasma grenade from his belt and activated it. He kept it hidden behind his back, until Terra was steps away, then he tossed it and jumped away.

Terra lunged back in desperation, but it was obvious she would be too slow to avoid the blast. That’s when Quickdraw made it back for another pass at the captain. She saw her friend in danger and made her own choice, shoving Terra the last few feet away from the grenade - in exchange for her life.

Saving Terra left Quickdraw right next to the grenade when it went off. At that distance, even a Speedster wasn’t fast enough. Sparing Terra one final glance, Quickdraw’s face went calm in her final moment, satisfied she’d saved one last person.

The light from the grenade was brighter than Helios’ fire. When the shine dissipated it was clear that there would be nothing of Quickdraw to find and bury.

Like someone hit the pause button on the fight - the Strike Force stared at the crater in the floor where their fearless leader had stood. Almost simultaneously the Sentinels let loose war cries of vengeance. They would end this man like he ended their friend.

Long-Arm slingshotted at the captain, who dodged to the side, sending the Hero flying through the air, away from the fight. Terra reached for the guy, but the captain turned and punched her throat again. The cracks were louder this time.

Helios had recovered as Long-Arm bounced along the ground and started back toward the fight. The flaming man flew up throwing twin streams at his quickly moving target. One of the streams landed as solid strike, forcing the captain to jump out of it.

The guard leader threw himself at the ground and grabbed his LMG. He turned to shoot at Helios but the Super dropped lower, passing under the bullets.

Terra stepped up behind the captain and swung for his skull, only to miss as he pushed her arm away with his weapon and retreated further into the training room.

Helios, now closer, sent a continuous stream of flames that landed squarely. The captain’s attention was occupied by his melting power armor so he didn’t see Long-Arm grab his ankle and yank, but he tripped nonetheless.

That second was all Terra needed. Standing in the flames, her arms curled around the unsuspecting mercenary, and in a fraction of a second, he was crushed to a pulp inside his wrecked exoskeleton.

The fight was over.

One by one the remaining Supers huddled together. Terra seemed close to tears at Quickdraw’s death and even Helios seemed shaken by the turn of events.

Gabriel chose to meet up with them. Together, they could make it out. Hopefully, the Sentinels wouldn’t assume the pair were more mercs and kill them on sight.

“It’s time, Jimmy. We’re getting out of here!”