Jane

An open-handed chop to the neck of the guard was all it took to knock him out. Outside of the armory, Jane needed to grab more batteries for the crack shot cannon before she and her team headed out to rescue Dan and Li. Thanks to Michael’s intel, she knew exactly where to go and could give her pilots more than just educated guesses on their destination.

As expected, Jane was temporarily barred access to the armory. But they didn’t account for her using her bare hands to get the doors open.

Jane found a slight crack in between the metal doors that sealed the armory shut. She dug herfingers through the extremely narrow between the doors and put her tier three level strength to use by prying them apart. The harsh grinding and screeching of metal would definitely be picked up by nearby agents and the security systems. She had to get in and grab what she needed quickly.

She squeezed herself through the gap in the doors and pressed her back against one of the doors while pushing the other door further with both her arms. She created a decent sized gap in between the doors and gained access to the armory. Her eyes scanned the entire room and she moved quickly.

She snatched numerous batteries from the crack shot as well as extra grenades for Angie and her deathdealer grenade launcher. And just for good measure, she grabbed extra shredder magazines for her Aero SMGs.

Allen, Angie, along with Miles Venator and his team were on standby with the gear Jane has already requisitioned for this off the books rescue mission. It was getting close to nightfall so she had to speed things up on her end so that they could get the hell out of here.

Her suspicions of Michael and where he got his intel from still lingered in the back of her mind. But for now, he would have to trust his word. Michael had never once given her bad intel. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice.

Jane gathered everything she needed and she stepped out of the armory through the gap she forced in the metal doors. Something flashed in her peripheral vision and she wisely ducked. An armored boot hit nothing but the air above her head as she backpedaled down the hallway.

Jane narrowed her eyes at the agent standing down the hall across from her, Bobby Obsidian.

Bobby was responsible for passing Dan during his final test to becoming an agent and being officially recruited into the Alpha Corp. He was also a close teammate of Michael.

The senior agent pointed his finger at her. “Jane Sunheiser, you will stand down and return your items back to the armory. This is an act of lunacy.”

“I very much disagree,” Jane fired back.

“You need to grow up. Losing agents under your command is part of the job. It is childish for you to go after Dan and Li.”

“Of course, that’s easy for you to say,” Jane said bitterly.

There was no point in talking down Bobby. She doubted that any of them could see how callous it was for the shard to write off young potential like Dan and Li so quickly. They both accompanied Michael in stealing back the shipment of Arctic serums. Both of them fought and prevailed against the odds and have consistently punched above their weight.

The two agents continued staring each other down, neither one making a move. Jane took a brief scan of his stats.

Agent: Bobby Obsidian

Age: 47 M

Shard: Alpha Corporation

Rank: Tier 3 | Level 73

Strength: 90

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Agility: 89

Endurance: 92

Intelligence: 94

Reflex: Metahuman ++

Healing Factor: High

While they were only a few levels apart, Bobby had the slight stat advantage in terms of raw numbers. But the true difference was in lived experience. Bobby was fifteen years her senior and had been an agent for significantly longer than she has. Her mind flashed back to when she was only sixteen and newly inducted into the Alpha Corp. Michael and Bobby were so far high above her in rank that it was like she was looking up at men with footholds in the stratosphere.

She couldn’t afford to falter here, not when Dan and Li were counting on her to rescue them from the savages at Kodak-Cresh.

If getting her team out of this city and off to Kodak territory meant he had to spill some blood, then so be it. She reached into her coat and drew the hilt of her viper fang. She ignited the deadly glowing pink nano blade.

Bobby’s expression remained unchanged as he continued staring at Jane. “Your reputation is highly overrated. Without that sword, you’re an unremarkable tier three agent. Do you honestly think you’re that hot for mouthing off at the executives?”

Jane kept her blade in front of her, aimed at her enemy.

“As long as I have this sword, I’ll cut through anything and anyone who gets in my way. Even you,” she said. “For someone he helped Angie bounce back from a past fuck up, I’m disappointed to see you’re this dogmatic.”

To the normal eye, it happened in an instant. In the span of five seconds, the walls on either side had deep scars and incisions from Jane’s viper fang. The ceiling and floor were barely in better condition as Jane’s attempts at slicing Bobby’s legs or decaptitating him failed as the man moved just as swiftly as she did in these tight corridors. Whirling arcs of pink and the silhouettes of two tier three agents darted through the halls like ghostly apparitions. Even with the damage Jane had inflicted on the hallway, she still hadn’t landed a solid hit on Bobby.

Her enemy decided to add to the redecorating of the interiors. Bobby let out punches that put craters and holes into the walls on both sides. The hall had now become a warzone with nothing but flickering shades of light and dark as the carnage had taken out numerous ceiling lights.

Bobby was as competent as she expected from a teammate of Michael’s. Even Jane found it hard to believe she was going toe to toe with someone who thought of her as an unremarkable rookie fifteen years ago.

Jane had never heard of agents from the same shard going all out in a one on one deathmatch, especially not the likes of tier threes.

“Have you had your fun yet?” Bobby said. “I would prefer we didn’t make the cleanup and repair crews jobs any more difficult.”

“Not until one of us walks away while the other lays face down,” Jane spat.

Bobby narrowed his gaze at her. “Very well then. I will grant you your wish.”

The two resumed their clashing once more. Bobby didn’t even have a blade of his own and yet was doing a fine job of not only evading her sword strikes and slashes, but also redirecting her viper fang into the wall or sword. Thanks to the cutting power of her sword, Bobby couldn’t manage to get Jane’s blade stuck from missed attacks.

But this was going nowhere. Bobby could easily keep this going until more backup arrived and the odds would quickly tip against her the more agents were added to the mix. A dangerous idea formed in her mind as she continued putting the pressure on Bobby, hacking away at the swift and elusive silhouette of the senior agent.

If she made herself vulnerable, Bobby would immediately see it and act upon it to end the fight. But there was no such thing as “faking” an opening. It’s either her guard was up ready to defend, or she was unguarded and vulnerable. No in between existed.

As she continued dishing out rapid jabes with her viper fang, she knew this had to be done during the middle of the carnage. She couldn’t give Bobby any time to second guess exploiting an opening.

Jane winded her arm back and prepared for a wide slash, breaking her spree of rapid jabs. Predictably, Bobby swerved out of the path of the blade and sidestepped around Jane’s right. Since she had already committed herself to the attack, her right side would be left unguarded.

But Jane counted on this.

While Bobby thought he had exploited an opening, Jane lashed out and shoved her elbow straight into his left eye. She rammed her armored limb as hard as she could. The senior agent gasped and slammed into the wall behind him. She had to admit, he was a resilient bastard. Bobby’s left eye was taken out and his right eye still glared back at Jane with anger and hate.

Now, it was Bobby who had an unguarded moment. With one quick flick of her wrist, Jane executed a diagonal slice across the wall, cleaving through his energy shields and severing his arm up to the upper bicep.

His armored limb dropped to the floor with a heavy thud. Bobby glanced down at his severed arm and gave Jane all the time in the world to deliver a hard kick to the side of his head. The senior agent spiraled through the air and skidded across the floor down the hallway.

Wasting no more time, Jane spun on her heel and sprinted in the opposite direction. He had to regroup with her team and get this rescue mission underway.