I turned to the door, MK-45 pistol in one hand and security tube in the other. Alarms blaring, heart pumping, and a manic smile on my face, I walk out the door and see the remaining three guards at the end of the hall. They all drew their guns and aimed while the Valkyrie turrets emerged from hiding and locked onto me. I threw the glasses off my face and pulled out my contacts with my gun hand before yelling, “If those doors aren’t closed by the time I get to you, you’re all going to die!!” and I ran.

“CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS!” one of the guards yelled half a second too late as another guard was already slamming a button to close the doors.

The doors began to close one after another, and by the time I reached the closest one, it had begun to descend. I fought back a laugh as the pressure excited me. This is so much fun! When will they start shooting?! I can’t wait! I’m shooting now! Firing a small volley of un-aimed shots, the turrets fired back, and I slowed my perception for a second to map the projectiles’ trajectories. I jumped into a somersault, dodging the first three shots before rolling, dodging another two shots, and then running along the wall fast enough to get past the second gate that had already descended a foot.

The guards added their shots to the volley, and I slowed my perception again. I ran diagonally across the hall, the shots from the Valkyrie turrets barely missing me, and fired three shots further down the hall that soon collided with the bolts fired by the guards. The colliding bolts exploded into small moats of plasma that I avoided stepping in with my bare feet by diving forward to clear the third gate that was already halfway closed.

I rolled and hit the ground running. The only turrets firing now were the ones on the floor, and that made moving with any amount of speed difficult if I couldn’t see the turrets and predict the trajectory. So, I stayed low as I ran like a ninja from ancient animes from Earth. I just barely made it under the fourth door as the floor turrets stopped shooting with only a foot and a half of clearance at the last door. I gritted my teeth and activated my full-strength enhancement to throw the security tube down the hall. It skitted and bounced across the ground before reaching the last blast door and stopping as it lodged the door open on the right side.

I smiled as I slid under the fifth door, barely making it through before it closed. Without losing speed, I kept running, sliding under the left side of the last door, aiming for the nearest turret and firing. The bolt struck the Valkyrie turret’s primary sensor, forcing it to shut down. The other three turrets aimed as the guards jumped back behind them. I quickly aimed up and fired before the ceiling turret could fire and swung my legs around, so I spun on my head, moving my center of mass up just before the remaining turrets fired at where my center of mass had been.

Bringing my legs down quickly, I stood and jumped backward, dodging another cluster of shots from the turrets before firing two more shots that hit the turrets’ sensors, disabling them. The guards finally aimed and fired at me. I stood still as the shots went wide and missed by about a foot. The guards froze at that, fear in their eyes as I aimed and fired three quick shots, killing them instantly.

My pistol flashed red as I fired my last shot, indicating that I was out of ammo. I tossed the pistol aside and nodded to myself, “Fifteen shots till empty. Good to know.” I then went to the security desk and opened the security gates, reading a message on the terminal that read, ‘INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! CASUALTY ON SUB-BASEMENT LEVEL 2Z! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! MULTIPLE CASUALTIES ON SUB-BASEMENT LEVEL 3Z! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!’

I chuckled as I turned and left the terminal to gather the pistols the guards had and the security tube, “So, live biometric tracking of who’s dead and who’s alive. Good, very good. Let everyone know what they’re up against,” I said as I stuffed two pistols with thirteen shots each into my suit’s pockets and kept the last one out.

“How is that good?!” Ghost asked in my ear, making me jump.

I cursed under my breath, “I forgot you were here,” I said, then picked up the security tube, “How much time do I have left?”

“Two minutes, you can’t make it! The elevators are locked down, so you’ll have to use the stairs on your right,” Ghost answered, giving instructions.

“No time,” I retorted, as I pressed the elevator call button, and nothing happened. “Open the elevator doors,” I commanded. Ghost didn’t argue as the elevator doors opened to an empty elevator shaft.

Steel beams created a latticework of supports that would withstand something as powerful as an earthquake, all within four concrete walls, with the closest elevator door being half a mile above me as I looked up the shaft. A moment later, I saw the counterbalance coming down the other side of the shaft before stopping a few feet below me. The counterbalance was made of six slabs of iron, five of which were one foot tall, wide, and long, with the sixth slab being a little over half the size of each. Each slab was welded together and connected to a trio of steel cables, which led all the way up to the top of the elevator shaft.

I jumped to the counterbalance and gabbed the steel cables as tightly as I could with my gun hand before saying, “Ghost, deactivate all emergency breaks in the elevators.”

“On it,” Ghost confirmed as she asked, “Why are we doing this?”

“I’m making a trebuchet of sorts,” I answered calmly with a bit too much confidence.

“Okay, done. And by the way, this is a terrible idea that won’t work.”

“It’ll work.”

“No, it won’t!”

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“It’ll work,” I continued to argue as I felt the counterbalance shift a little, “How many people are on the elevator?”

“Seventeen. And you’re going to kill yourself.”

“How many is that in kilograms? Including the elevator car.”

“One second,” Ghost said as the counterbalance began to rise, “One-thousand eight-hundred twenty-eight kilograms.”

I nodded and slid my arm through the handle of the security tube before gripping the steel cable with my enhanced strength and aiming my pistol at where the cables connect to the counterweight. I slowed my perception while I did some quick math in my head. One eight two eight times nine point eight equals seventeen ninety-one four point four minus three three five times nine point eight equals fourteen sixty-three one point four meters per second squared. Travel time is twelve seconds, and release at eight to nine seconds. I got this. I released my perception and fired three shots in quick succession. The trio of cables snapped, and I was launched up the elevator shaft. The force of the launch nearly ripped my arm off, and I bit back a scream as I felt my left shoulder dislocate.

I began to count, “One … two … three … four …” as I got to six, the elevator came screeching down the shaft, its occupants screaming in terror as they fell. I couldn’t help but smile for a second before counting to eight and releasing the cable.

I continued flying up as the cable quickly outpaced me. I tucked my arms and legs in to angle my head to the elevator doors, and my feet almost touching the wall behind me. And just as I counted to eleven, I saw an elevator door open, and the cables flew past me.

As I counted to twelve, I kicked the concrete wall with all my strength. I shot out and up through the bottom of the open elevator door before tucking in again and kicking the ceiling to cancel the rest of my momentum and flip before hitting the ground in a superhero landing facing the elevator door I just came through.

I looked to my right out of the corner of my eye down the hall, where one guard stood with his pistol pulled and shakily aimed at me. I didn’t have time to waste on him as much as I would love to torment the terrified man, so I quickly aimed and fired two shots that hit him square in the chest. Then I remembered my left shoulder was dislocated, and I groaned. Making a fist with my left hand while biting back another pained scream. I pressed my fist against the floor and grabbed my elbow with my right hand to stabilize it. Then … POP! I pushed down on my fist with the full force of my body and felt my shoulder pop back into its socket.

With a grunt, I stood and asked, “How much time do I have left?”

“One minute thirty-six seconds. You need to make it past the security hub on SB1Z before time runs out,” Ghost answered.

I began to run down the halls as fast as I could and asked, “What happens when time runs out?”

“I get locked out of the system, and you’re on your own.”

“Hurry, got it,” I said as I quickly navigated the halls to the elevators.

As soon as I got to them, one of the elevators dinged, and I froze, aiming my pistol at the closest opening door. Only to see it was empty, and Ghost saying, “I got control of this elevator. Go!”

I quickly got on and felt the elevator begin to rise. Instead of the gentle acceleration, it felt more like I was back on the counterweight, but minus the weight and the threat of being brained on a steel beam. The elevator slowed just as quickly, and I almost hit my head on the ceiling before falling back to the floor. As I quickly caught my breath, the doors dinged open, and I ran out of the elevator, heading straight for the security hub.

“On your way back up, kill the servitors that’ll buy us more than enough time to escape. You have one minute,” Ghost said.

Nodding, I rounded the corner to the security hub and saw more guards running down the hall. My perception slowed as I registered them and I began my assessment. Sixteen guards. Grey chest plates and helmets mean plasteel armor. Arm and leg shots and up-close headshots only. They’re carrying MK-40 Belinov assault rifles. Have to move fast and in unexpected ways. Three, two, one, go! I deactivated my perception as I yelled, “Think fast!” and threw the security tube at the nearest armored guard.

He stopped and looked up at the tube, giving me a clear line of sight to his face. I aimed and fired one shot. As the bolt connected with his face, I pulled my second pistol out and fired two shots at the legs of the guards on the left. The bolts hit their knees as they screamed, and I fired two more bolts at their heads as the security tube collided with a guard’s head, knocking him back.

The rest of the guards began to get their heads on straight as they spread out and fired back at me. I ducked and weaved through the volley of bolts and fired two shots with my right pistol and two with my left. Each shot connected with a guard’s knee, making them topple over and scream in pain. I quickly fired three shots with my right pistol and one with my left. The first three guards got a mouth full of plasma and were killed instantly, while the fourth managed to dodge the final shot, if only barely.

My right pistol flashed red, and I tossed it aside, drawing my third pistol from my pocket. The guard who got hit with the security tube shakily got to his knees while I weaved my way through another volley of bolts. As he did, he saw the security tube and grabbed it and his rifle.

“No, you don’t!” I yelled as I fired a bolt into his left arm that held the security tube. He screamed in pain and turtled up, not allowing me a chance to kill him. I tried to get closer, but another volley of bolts prevented me from advancing, so I refocused on killing the other guards. I fired three shots from my left pistol, followed by two from my right as I jumped back and spun counterclockwise with a small flip.

The first three shots collided with the heads of three of the guards, and the last two struck the man I kneecapped previously and one other guard, killing them both. Then, I saw the guard with the injured arm drop his rifle and pick up the security tube before jumping back behind one of his fallen comrades. I cursed and fired three more shots from my left pistol, finishing its battery, and one shot from my right. Each bolt hit its mark and killed the remaining four guards, save the one with the security tube.

As the second to last guard fell, I ran forward, pinned the final guard to the ground, and fired one final shot into the back of his head under his helmet. I tossed my empty pistol aside and pocketed my remaining pistol with eight shots left. Grabbing the final guard’s assault rifle and the security tube, I walked up to the serviter room and kicked open the door before releasing a deluge of bolts into the serviters, killing them instantly.

“Okay! That bought us ten minutes,” Ghost exclaimed, making me jump again.

I tossed the rifle aside and grabbed my chest as I caught my breath, “I keep forgetting you’re there. How much time did I have left?”

“About five seconds,” Ghost answered promptly.

I nodded and ran down the hall to the security hub. “How much access do you have now?” I asked.

“Enough to get you out of there ASAP. Give me a second … and … there!” Ghost said, and at the elevators, a wall opened up to reveal a hidden elevator.

“Please tell me that leads to a private garage?!”

“A private garage with a luxury sports car.”

“Ah, thank the gods! I could kiss you right now.”

“No, you don’t have to. But you more than earned your money for the mission.”

I smirked as I walked onto the private elevator, and as the doors closed, I said, “Yeah, about that …”