Breaking Point

by **Molecular** Wed May 06, 2009 3:40 pm

Author Note: While this was meant to be finished long ago, it got put to the side for a while, and when Sf went the way of the dodo I brought it to life again. Well, since the board it was on is no longer a concern of mine, I am putting this here so that it can be finished, and read by others. There will be death, drama, and a whole mess of things that go boom. So, for those who have not seen this yet, enjoy reading it. For those who have read it so far, well more is to come, I swear!

Chapter 1

She crouched on the edge of the rooftop overlooking Steel
Canyon’s university. It was busy today and the sun was bright in the daytime
sky. It was almost too peaceful, and if she allowed herself to, she could have
almost forgotten her current task. She had received word from the Vanguard that
another Rikti invasion was imminent. She hated the Rikti with extreme
prejudice, and she had no qualms about making that fact very clear when the
subject was ever brought up. It wasn’t that they had ever directly done
anything to her, but enough of her friends and super group members had lost
loved ones in the constant invasions that took place. It disgusted her
honestly, yet at the same time, she was glad because her family had long since
been gone. They would never have to know the horror that was the Rikti. She had
made sure of that after she joined the Vanguard. The early warnings had armed
her with the means to get them out of Paragon. Her parents and two younger
brothers were now safely tucked away in their hometown in southern Texas.

She didn’t talk to them much these days though. She spent
much of her time taking down as many Arch-Villains as she could. Her latest
conquest had her sights set on taking down Ghost Widow. She already had a
couple run-ins with Recluse’s main Widow on different occasions in Recluse’s
Victory. She was almost always alone in there so she had yet to bring the
ethereal bitch in. But to her own satisfaction, she had been a big enough pain
in the ass to merit an “Execute on sight.” Order issued by Recluse via his
meddling arbiters. She found it very amusing, and would normally be knee deep
in some Arachnos rear end, but today she was vigilant. You never knew when the
Rikti would appear. Besides, this was Steel Canyon. This was her home now. She
even attended this very same University once upon a time. She let her mind
wander briefly back to that seemingly far away time. A time before she wore
these tights, a time before she made the headlines or newscasts, a time before
her name was Molecular Cremation, a time when she simply went by Molly Decker.

The breeze was warm as
it blew through the University courtyard. She loved the summer months before it
became unbearably hot. This was her fourth term here at this school. She was
studying Biology and a slew of other subjects in her pursuit of a Geneticist
degree. She wanted to better understand her mutant nature. She was one of the
lucky kids. Her parents had truly loved her unconditionally in spite of her
“condition” as it was referred to by the doctors. Instead of sending her away
and forgetting that she existed, they moved here to Steel Canyon, so that Molly
could feel accepted. They didn’t want their daughter to grow up being called
names, or referred to as a freak. This was their daughter, and they would do
anything to help her have a happy life. So they figured that what better place,
then a city that was known for others like their daughter, and they succeeded.
She had a happy childhood, and was around enough other mutants in her life,
that she was taught how to control her abilities. She wasn’t sure exactly which
she thought was the cooler ability that she could fire blasts of atomic energy
or that she could conjure up and manipulate fire. And though she lived in a
city known for the heroes who had similar powers, she never gave it a thought
that she should join them among those ranks. She only had three concerns in
those times. Her family consisted of her father; a wealthy oil tycoon who
acquired the mass of his money at a young age. Her mother, who she always
thought about, and always told Molly that she was no better than anyone else,
regardless of her power, Her mother’s most mentioned phrase as she was growing
up was “You put your damned pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of
these folk. Don’t ever think otherwise.” Then there were her two younger
brothers, David at fifteen years old, and Jimmy at ten years old. Those of her
family were followed by her school work, and her boyfriend Jeremy. To her,
school was serious and she gave one hundred and twenty percent to it, but when
it came to Jeremy she found that her palms would sweat and her knees grew weak.
Her heart skipped beats and her stomach got the flutters when he was around.
She loved him deeply and with her entire being. He wasn’t like her though. He
was just an ordinary guy in an extraordinary city. Something about him just got
to her; drove her wild. Though genetics was her interest, Jeremy was her
passion.

She was brought back from her thoughts by a few college students
taking notice of her bright red top and mask. Not to mention the unmistakable
crest that was emblazoned on her chest signifying that she was among the ranks
of Stryke Force Beta. They yelled out greetings to her and she lazily waved in
return. She decided it was time to move elsewhere in search of crimes or alien
invasions, so she headed towards the yellow line. Her feet shoved off the
ground and she launched into the sky with ease. It only took her a few moments
to reach the Tram station and she descended quietly. It had been a while so she
took a stroll down the eastern side of the city. It helped her to clear her
mind. She didn’t like thinking of those college days with Jeremy too often
because it brought back a pain she would have rather forgotten. She didn’t
realize it, but soon she was standing in the same alleyway where she last heard
Jeremy’s voice. Again, her memories came flooding back to her of that day.

Molly had been sitting
out in the courtyard of the University with a few of her girlfriends, laughing
and carrying on as they normally did. She had just taken one of her final exams
and she was excited because Jeremy had promised to take her out for a nice
dinner and a movie if she had done well. She couldn’t wait to tell him that she
had done better then well. She knocked it out of the park. Her friends were
still giggling when her face lit up and she shrieked. She jumped to her feet
and ran into his arms, squeezing him tight. He wrapped his arms around her and
kissed the top of her head.

“So, how’d it go? Are
you a geneticist yet?”

Molly walked her index
and middle fingers up his chest as she spoke.

“No, but what I am, is
awesome. I rocked that final. So, where ya taking me stud?” Though she couldn’t
see it, Jeremy turned a slight shade of red.

“Well that’s a
surprise.”

They enjoyed a quiet
movie and a superb dinner over the next few hours before they ended up back at
Jeremy’s apartment. She was wild for him, and all but attacked him as they got
inside the doorway. She shoved him against the wall and kissed him deeply. They
both grabbed and felt at each other’s bodies all the way to the bedroom. An
hour later they were exhausted and panting. It wasn’t just wild sex. That night
it was something more primal. So much so that it left Jeremy with the task of
buying a new bed since his current one had got broken. She gently kissed his
lips and got up to dress herself.

“Hey Molly, let’s go
do something. How about go dancing or somethin?”

She turned around and
smiled at him nodding her head.

Less than ten minutes
later they were walking out of his apartment building. He only lived about six
blocks from the Tram so he suggested they head on over to a club that his
friend owned in Galaxy city. They were only a few blocks from home when they
saw smoke and the soft glow of what they assumed was a fire. Jeremy ran to the
mouth of the alley way with Molly close behind, intent on trying to put the
flames out before it caught the whole building. They were taken by surprise by
the hellions who were there. At first count it looked to only be 5 or so. Their
heads snapped around and looked at the two. Jeremy instinctively put himself
between Molly and the hoodlums. One of them flipped a small bat between his
hands.

“You two picked a bad
night for a stroll.”

The hellions started
to walk towards them and Jeremy turned his head slightly and spoke. “Get out of
here Molly. Run for the house.”

She nodded and turned
to run, but she slammed into another hellion and screeched. The hellion grabbed
her and held onto her. Jeremy turned.

“Molly! You let go of
her you son of a bitch. Let her go and you can have all my money.” Jeremy heard
the same voice behind him that he heard when they first entered the alleyway.

“Who said we wanted
your money?”

Jeremy never had a
chance to say anything back. The force of the mini-bat rocked his head and
pitched him forward to the ground. The hellion holding Molly started laughing
as the others began to kick Jeremy in the face and mid section. Molly screamed
for them to stop and leave him alone. This only made the hellions kick him
harder. Molly struggled, yelling Jeremy’s name. She could see the blood pouring
from his mouth and nose. There was a trail of blood coming from his ears. And
dear gods, his eyes had rolled back into his head. She couldn’t take it any
longer and something inside her snapped. She felt it, like a current flowing
through her body. Her muscles tensed and she let out a howl and the stored up
energy reached dangerous levels and she released it in a devastating nova.
Bodies flew everywhere. None of them were moving after the blast. Molly ran to
Jeremy and cradled him up to her chest.

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!
PLEASE!”

Her body shook
violently as she sobbed. She hadn’t noticed the Hero coming towards her. His
voice, though deep, was distant as if she were only hearing it in a dream.

“It’s gonna be
alright….”

Molly came back from those fading memories and wiped the
tear that had escaped down her cheek. She hadn’t made the choice to register as
a hero that night. That decision was made a year and a half later on the day
Jeremy’s parents made the decision to take him off of life support. His mother
held Molly tight as she sobbed against her chest when the monitors all went
flat line. She called the Hero that had come to her aid that night, a tanker by
the name of Energy Locks. He was the one who recruited her into Stryke Force.
Like her, he harnessed energy for his attacks, and could manipulate fire into
shields to protect him. When he got her call, she was still crying. He didn’t
know what to say to her that would be of any comfort. So when she asked him if
he would be her mentor, all he could say was “Yes”. That was two years ago. Now
she was a well known and respected member of her super group. Her name was
feared by Hellions city wide. For them, she was relentless, and showed no
mercy. She didn’t know any better in those first days, so Locks got her
registered under the “Blaster” class and had her set up with GIFT to be taught
about her specific mutation and how to obtain new powers as her mutation
evolved. She remembered when she first
really saw Locks. It was the next morning at the hospital. He had waited
throughout the night for updates. She remembered thinking of how he looked like
a cracked up Goku, which she made comments about on more than one occasion. To
which he responded, “Target look achieved then”. She smiled slightly. If ever
she had a true friend, it was Locks.

A chirp in her ear brought her completely back to the
present.

“Molly, we got word of Vahzilok gathering in a vacant office
building. We think some high ranking Eidolons might be there that need to be
dealt with. How close to the Fool’s Gold District are you?”

She placed her finger to her ear, and her voice came out a
little shaky.

“Not far. I can get there pretty fast.”

Locks’ voice sounded of concern.

“Is everything alright?”

She let out a sigh.

“Yeah, it’s all good now. Send me the GPS of the office
building.”

This would definitely help her get her mind off the past.

“Are you sure Molly?”

She nodded, even though he couldn’t see it.

“I’m on it. Send the coordinates.”

by **Molecular** Wed May 06, 2009 3:41 pm

Chapter 2

The walls of the Council base shook from the force of the
explosions below. Bodies of unconscious marksmen and random sparking Mech men
littered the upper floors. Only one more room and the two heroes were home
free. There were, however, about twenty Council reinforcements standing between
them and their way out, one of which was an Eclipse Night wolf. Molly looked
over at Locks.
”We don’t have much time before those bombs go off and bring
this whole place down on us. You got a plan?”
Locks nodded.
“Yeah, and it involves knocking them senseless.”
Molly smiled.
“My favorite kind of plan.”
She nodded and moved from behind her corner and fired off a
devastating energy blast. It slammed the Night wolf in the chest and set him to
his back as Locks landed on top of it, slamming his energy covered fist into
the Night wolf’s snout. You could hear the bone crunch and blood sprayed in a
fan from it nose and mouth. Molly dodged a spin kick and lit the ground around
her on fire, consuming most of the Council soldiers. Their screams were horrid,
and the smell their bodies gave off was putrid and burned Molly’s nose. Another
violent explosion shook the entire base.
“Locks, we gotta get the hell out of here. Like yesterday!”
Locks stopped punching the Night wolf and leapt to his feet.
He looked at Molly who pointed towards a door and he sped off towards it. Molly
left the ground and flew straight for the door right behind Locks. He didn’t
stop; rather he lowered his shoulder and closed his eyes as his body
obliterated the door letting the daylight shine inside. Molly zipped out right
past him. Lock’s on the ground, and Molly in the air, they were more than far
enough away when another explosion sent shockwaves through the concrete. Lock’s
stumbled a bit, and fire erupted from the top of the base as it crumbled into
itself. Dust filled the air and choked the pair of them. Molly closed her eyes
tightly and turned her back to the dust cloud. When it all settled they both
looked at the destruction that was left. When they looked at each other Molly
took note that Locks had a single clean spot on his face where his forearm had
covered his eyes. She broke out into laughter and Locks followed suit because
he couldn’t help himself.
“That was fuckin-A close there Goku.”
Locks shook out the dust from his hair causing a small cloud
to form which made her cough and wave her hand in front of her face the clear
the air.
“I know. Exciting wasn’t it?”

Molly was about to answer when both of their comms chirped.
“This is Stryker; I need all Stryke Force members to meet in
the main base ASAP.” Locks scowled slightly.
“I wonder what that’s about. He never calls all of us to the
main base.”
Molly shrugged.
“He’s weird so who knows. Best not keep him waiting.”
Locks agreed.
“Right.”
He reached up and grabbed Molly with one hand, and pressed a
button on his chest with the other and the pair was teleported directly to the
main base of Stryke Force.

A few seconds later they were standing in the teleporter
room of the main base. Locks raised his eyebrow and looked at Molly. There were
a lot of heroes in the base. More than they had seen in the Beta base of
operations.
“I wonder what’s goin’ on. Stryker doesn’t normally assemble
everyone who can be here in the base like this.”
She had never seen so many Stryke Force members in one spot
before. With so many present it got pretty loud. Stryker stood at the podium
and cleared his throat, effectively quieting the mass of people.
“I want to thank everyone for coming out. You may be
wondering why you’re here. I called you out here today because it has been some
time since we have had the chance to award badges to the many deserving people
who earned them. It’s been quiet for us lately on the crime front so I decided
to take this opportunity to recognize some of our people’s exceptional work out
on the streets…”

Molly stopped listening at this point. Her attention had
been caught by a man standing off to the side. She had never seen him before
and she had at one point worked with every last member of Stryke force. She
knew them all by name and face. This guy, however, she had never seen before
today. He had dirty blonde hair and a very muscular build, from what she could
see. She found him to be rather quite attractive. Not handsome, but not
unattractive. She thought to herself
that it had been awhile since she went out on a date with anyone. Well, except
Locks, but he didn’t count. She would never be interested in Locks that way.
But this new character intrigued her. She resolved to herself to find out more
about this guy later on, and for now she took stock of who was all there that
she knew beyond just an “in passing” acquaintance. To her right was Drunae
Dewfall. DD, as she preferred to be called, was an empath and possessed superb
psychic abilities. Molly had the pleasure of witnessing DD confuse Locks so
badly during a sparring session, that she had the Tanker convinced that he was
a school girl. So much so, that she had his hair in pig tails and had him
walking around the base singing “I’m a pretty, pretty princess.” for days.
Molly couldn’t help but chuckle when she looked back on it. She was adorned in
her trademark hot pink tights, pink cowgirl hat, and pink thigh high boots.
They contrasted her blue skin perfectly and Molly couldn’t help but think that,
if she were to ever decide to take up with women, that the elf would be her
first choice of lovers. Psymen was there too. He was in his normal dark duster
hat and sleeveless trench coat. He was a powerful psychic blaster, and a mutant
like Molly. She admired him. He never spoke much to anybody, except for Molly.
She felt honored by this and held the utmost respect for the man. More so
because it was him who had come to her rescue when she had been kidnapped by
Crey industries almost a year ago. They had a weekend long tryst afterwards
that resulted in them deciding it was better they stay friends. To her left,
beside Locks, was Tatiana Dewfall. Sister to DD. She was also an empath. She
was classified as a “Controller” due to her mastery of illusions. Molly hadn’t
every really teamed one on one with Tatiana before, but Locks spoke highly of
her, so Molly felt she warranted recognizing. Sitting next to Tatiana was
Daniel Marx aka Elektron. Danny had lost his family when he worked for Aeon
Corp in Cap au Diable. The villain Tanuk had killed them and countless others
in cold blood. Danny made his way here to Paragon and studied under Positron in
constructing his own suit of armor that could help contain his electrical
abilities. Though Danny had serious anger issues and was prone to fits of rage
during missions, he was a really good guy. Today he was sans the armor, and
instead had shown up in a pair of slacks and a white tank top. He noticed Molly
looking in his direction and nodded his head in acknowledgement. Molly raised
her hand and waved her fingers at him.

Locks cleared his throat to get her attention, and she came
back to the moment when she saw Locks pointing up at Stryker.
“…and last, but certainly not least, for her devotion to
helping the citizens of this great city and one hundred percent conviction
rate, I’d like to have her come up here and join me. She is known as Molecular
Cremation. Respected by her peers, and feared deeply by her enemies. To those
of us who have had the pleasure of working directly with her, she is known as
Molly. Please come on up here and stand by me.”
Molly turned five different shades of red, and it took Locks
to elbow her before she finally got out of her seat and nodded to people as she
made her way to stand next to Stryker. When the applause died down Stryker
grabbed a couple of thin rectangular cases and turned to her, opening the first
one.
“’From the city of Paragon, to Molecular Cremation. We are
honored to present you with this, the Lost Savior accomidation. Your devotion
to the citizens of our great city has not been in vain. Though there are still
many of them falling victim to the Lost disease, it is a pleasure to know that
heroes like you are there to help find the cure and return many of our citizens
back to us. Signed, Marcus Cole. Statesmen.’”
Stryker pinned the medal to her shirt while everyone
applauded.
“’From the city of Paragon, to Molecular Cremation. Your
hard work and long hours on the job, keeping this city and her people safe,
will be remembered always and you have earned your spot in our history books in
the years to come. We are pleased to present you with this Hero of the City
medal. You have achieved the highest security level, and as such have proven
your resolve time and time again. I and the Phalanx give you our deepest
respect and utmost faith in your capabilities. You are always welcome to fight
alongside us. Signed, Marcus Cole, Statesmen.’”
Stryker pinned that medal to her shirt, and opened the third
case.
“And for your time spent teaching our newer heroes what it
is to be ‘Heroic’ I would like to present to you the Paradigm medal. You show
us everyday what it means to be a hero in this city. Younger heroes look up to
you. They come to you seeking your guidance. And though you only came to us a
couple of short years ago you have managed to work your way into our thoughts,
and our lives. Continue to teach the young heroes. They will take our place one
day. Wear this medal proudly, as you have earned it. Signed, Stryker. Commander
in Chief, Stryke Force.”
The third medal was presented to her, and she found it hard
to hold back her tears. She mouthed the words “thank you” to everyone who was
applauding her. The sound was deafening. Stryker waved his hands indicating he
wanted silence.
“I’m not finished.”
Molly looked at him again.
“You’ve been with us for two years now Molly, and in that
time you have brought this organization a tremendous amount of prestige. It is
an honor for me to offer you the rank of Lieutenant here in Stryke Force. With
this comes an added responsibility. Will you accept this position?”
Molly stood there for a second and looked at Locks. He
smiled at her and nodded his head. Molly smiled and looked to Stryker once
more.
“How could I not accept it? Count me in.”
He nodded and turned to address the mass.
“From this moment forward it is official. Molecular Cremation
will be addressed and referred to as her new position commands.”
Molly took her awards and went back to her seat. Locks
leaned in close to her.
“Lucky little bitch, Stryker never speaks that highly of
anyone, and I’ve been here for close to six years.”
Molly chuckled a bit and smiled devilishly.
“I know, doesn’t that just suck for you?”
Locks went to say something to her when Stryker’s voice
again cut the silence.
“Now before we break from here I want to introduce the
newest member of Stryke Force. I’m placing him in Beta division now to be under
the watchful eyes of Locks and Molly. He’s registered under “scrapper” and is
fairly new to Paragon. I talked with him briefly before this ceremony, and I
feel like he will be an asset to this fine organization. So please, put your
hands together and welcome Counter Stryke.”
Everyone began to clap, and he just bowed his head slightly
to everyone.
“Molly, Locks, I need to speak with you in my office
please.”
Locks nodded to Stryker and motioned for Molly to follow
him. She did so without hesitation and they followed Stryker to his office with
Counter Stryke in tow. When they all were inside the room Stryker shut the door
and offered them all a seat which they all took.
“Alright, as I said out there he now belongs to you guys. Locks, from here on out I’m going to need you on
the Warzone front.”
Locks looked at Molly then back at Stryker.
“What about her?”
Stryker pointed to Counter Stryke.
“He’s her new project. As a lieutenant it’s her job to
mentor our new members to the division. I think it’s about time the two of you
worked exclusively with other members now. I only let you be paired off this
long because you were so damned effective together it was stupid to do
otherwise. Counter Stryke here has tons of potential, and I feel that Molly’s
way of mass chaos will be a good test of his abilities.”
Locks chuckled slightly.
“I can’t argue there.”
Molly punched him dead in the arm.
“Hey, I’m standing right here asshole.”
Locks rubbed his arm and shook his head.
“Do you object to this new arrangement Molly?”
She shook her head.
“No. I agree with you. I and Locks are a good duo and all,
but sometimes a change of pace is needed. Refresh the batteries and gain
another perspective on things.”
Stryker raised an eye brow and looked at Counter Stryke.
“Beautiful and wise. You’ve got your big shoes to fill my
friend. And you’re gonna have your hands full with this one. She’s spunky,
unpredictable, impatient, and sometimes downright mental.”
Counter Stryke smiled a bit.
“I look forward to it.”
Molly hoped that none of them took notice of the redness
that had crept into her face.

by **Molecular** Wed May 06, 2009 3:42 pm

Chapter 3

“Wait you idiot, don’t go in there! It’s booby-”

An explosion rocks the office building and Counter Stryke is
sent flying backwards into the wall across the hallway.

“-trapped. God damned rookies.”

Molly ran over and began to pat out the flames on his
jacket.

“Thanks.”

She frowned as she looked at him.

“The Malta is known for their devices. If you want to
survive, follow my lead from now on, my young padawan.”

He got up, dusted himself off and nodded.

“Gotcha Lieutenant.”

She looked at him over her shoulder.

“Molly. Call me Molly.”

“Gotcha. Molly.”

They had been working together for over a month now, and she
could see the potential in the scrapper, but he was impulsive. On a couple
occasions already she wondered how far he would go if left to it. Twice now she
had to stop him from killing a suspect. Originally she chalked it up to his
inexperience. After all, he had told her that when they met he had just registered
as a hero. She never did say anything to Stryker about her concerns though, and
with her help, he had already reached security level twenty. He followed her
directions well enough to not be killed so far, and it helped them to become
more fluid. Granted, he was no Locks, but he would get better with experience. And
he was definitely cuter then Locks. So, as far as she was concerned it was a
win/win for her. She had her eye candy, and Beta would gain a fully qualified
member who would be self sufficient which would in turn lessen some of the load
of the more veteran members.

“Now follow my lead, and don’t go running through the
doorways blind like that again.”

He nodded and his claws extended with minimal noise. Molly
peeked through the doorway, and thankfully the next room was empty. She knew it
wouldn’t be long before they were up to their eyeballs in Malta Agents though.
Thanks to Counter Stryke setting off that booby trap. Luckily for him he has
super reflexes. They found the next hallway to be empty as well, and aside from
the earlier incident, everything was going according to plan. “Alright,
according to the intel I was given, the terminal we need to access is down the
next hallway we come to, second door on the right.”

He nodded and
followed her down the passageway.

The agents watched the two heroes make their way down the
hall from the comfort of the control room. The Gunslinger opens his cell phone
and hits the speed dial button. The phone rang only once when the other end was
picked up.

“The subject is heading down the hallway now. What are your
intentions?”

“Well you do realize that the Malta do not like being
treated as babysitters. You are paying us for action. Please advice.”

“Look, I know who your boss is and what he is capable of,
but if he wants her dead so badly why he doesn’t just say the word and…”

“Fine, I’ll see to it personally. But I warn you, if this
little scheme of yours doesn’t pan out we will still expect full payment.”

“Fine, when your agent has gathered what he needs we will
execute her. Are we permitted to know the identity of this agent?”

“Fine, have your secrets. We’ll be in touch.”

The operative at the console looked at the Gunslinger.

“So, now what?”

The gunslinger put his phone away and pulled out his gun,
checking to make sure it was loaded.

“We go give them a warm welcome.”

The office door wasn’t locked and the pair slipped in
without a problem. Molly pulled a laptop from her pack and hooked it up to the
desktop computer. She waited for the connection to take and began tapping away
at the keys. Counter Stryke stood by the door and kept a watch for patrols or
any other sign that someone was coming. Molly’s fingers were a flurry about the
keyboard, and finally she stopped clicking at the keys.

“Aha. We’re in and downloading what we need as I speak.”

Counter Stryke looked at her.

“How long?”

Molly pondered for a second.

“A minute, maybe more. Why?”

Counter Stryke looked away from the door.

“We’re gonna have company then.”

He moved slightly and she could see the operatives down the
hallway.

“Shit. I knew the
quiet wouldn’t last long. If they get to close before I’m done you’re gonna
have to try to hold them off.”

He nodded.

“Won’t be an issue.”

His claws extended with the slight sound of metal on metal,
and he leaned back against the wall, ready to strike should the need arise. The
seconds ticked by, but it felt like hours as they waited for the download to
finish. More Malta operatives began to show up and Molly worried they’d be too
much for her and her side kick to handle. She reached down to her belt and
switched on her communicator.

“Locks, where are you, and who do you have with you?”

She looked down at the computer screen. There was one minute
remaining. Her comm. chirped in her ear.

“Psymen and DD. We’re in the base. Gonna go to Talos. Why?”

She immediately hit her comm. Button.

“We’re in Peregrine, inside that Malta office building I
told you about. We’re gonna be overwhelmed by operatives and require immediate
evac assistance. Can you provide?”

Lock came back to her quickly.

“In route. Five minutes.”

She glanced at the screen. Thirty seconds.

“Make it two, and hurry.”

She switched off her comm. For dramatic purposes and looked
at Counter Stryke.

“Any ideas?”

He looked out the door then back at her.

“Yeah, don’t get killed.”

He reached to his left wrist with his right hand and pressed
a button on his wrist pad and immediately faded from view as his stealth
activated. She had no clue where he was off to, or what he was planning to do.
The computer beeped and she quickly disconnected it from the desk top. Reaching
into her pack, she pulled out a disc and inserted it into the desktop’s disc
drive. A few keystrokes later and it began to upload a virus that would work
its way into the mainframe and completely destroy every last shred of
information stored on it, as well as any hard drive connected to the network.
She put her laptop away and moved to get a better look out the door. There were
at least fifty of them. She took note of the two sappers and cursed under her
breath. It was a well known speculation among heroes of which was worse.
Sappers or Gunslingers. She flipped on her comm. Again.

“Locks?”

“Switch on your beacon.”

She did as he asked and he was right in her ear within
seconds.

“Two minutes.”

She cursed him.

“This’ll be over in one!”

A voice from the hallway caught her attention.

“We’ve been watching you since you entered our building, so
we know you’re in there, hero. How about you and your friend come on out hmm? I
just want to talk to you about your nefarious dealings.”

She laughed sheepishly.

“Right and I'm supposed to just believe a hired Merc?”

The Gunslinger’s voice sounded as if it held a slight hint
of hurt to it.

“Aw, come now. Why say such ugly things to me?”

Molly took another quick peek out the door and caught part
of a Hercules Titan just around the corner.

“I’m not sure, but it might have to do something with your
sappers and that Titan around the corner. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t make
for a good conversation to me.”

She began to wonder where the hell Counter Stryke had run
off to.

“Well, I guess you’re right. It doesn’t”

The gunslinger nodded and an operative opened fire. Molly
dove to the floor as the doorway got shredded. She rolled to the side as the
gunfire ceased. She took quick aim and fired off an energy blast that tossed
the operative back about ten feet, leaving him out cold on the floor.

“That wasn’t very nice buster, now I’m just getting pissed
off.”

The gunslinger waved his hand and the titan began walking towards
her position. She ducked back into the room.

“Fuck, not good.”

She looked around for a way out with no success. She was
trapped in that room. Alone, and she could hear the titan’s servos whine as it
got closer. Then a sudden explosion shook the entire floor and filled the
corridor with smoke. The titan teetered and fell over, and Molly scooted back
on her hands.

“What the fuck!”

Before she knew what was happening she was jerked to her
feet and drug out into the hallway. Counter Stryke’s stealth dropped and he
held up his hand, showing a detonator in his grasp. He looked at her.

“Run.”

She looked at him oddly and he grabbed her arm running
towards the window at the end of the hallway.

“RUN!”

He dropped the detonator and ran full speed. He had set the
explosives to a consecutive timer that started once you hit the plunger. As
they passed by the second charge it went off making Molly scream and cover her
ears. She realized now what he had been doing. The corridor was lined with the
charges. Once the gunslinger regained his composure he gave the signal and
bullets ripped forth down the passageway past their heads. A third charge went
off even closer to them, and they had only made it half way down the hall.
Behind them the operatives started to follow them. Another charge went off real
close behind them, and as they neared the end of the hall Counter Stryke turned
and spun. His claws slammed down into the floor, cracking it from wall to wall.
He took off only a few steps behind her. Another charge went off just behind
him and the floor underneath the operatives gave way, sending them to the level
below. Molly got to the end of the hall expecting to see a door or hallway to
the left or right, but there was only the window. Her hands hit the sill.

“Fuck! Now what?”

As she turned around, time seemed to slow down for her, and
her eyes got wide. Flames from an exploding charge accented Counter Stryke’s
features. His shoulder dropped and connected squarely under Molly’s breasts.
His arms wrapped around her, and he lifted her up as he lunged forward.

Locks moved as fast as his super speed would allow him to.
DD and Psymen followed just above him in the air. He pointed ahead of them.

“There it is.”

Suddenly the glass from a top floor window exploded
outwards. Two bodies launched out and then plummeted towards the ground. A
plume of flames and smoke shot out of the busted window right behind the two
bodies. Locks’ eyes widened.

“That crazy bitch! Psymen?”

“On it!”

Psymen shot forward and focused his power to create a cushion
of psychic energy on the ground below the two falling heroes. The pair hit the
cushion with the force of a truck and were tossed off to come to a rolling stop
on the concrete. Locks came to a skidding stop as Psymen and DD landed on the
ground. Counter Stryke was quicker to recover and get up then Molly so he
hooked his arm under hers and hefted her to her feet. She shoved him away and
then spun on him.

“You crazy son of a bitch! Have you lost your fucking mind?
We could have been killed!”

Counter Stryke put his hands up in front of himself.

“Whoa. We’re alive aren’t we?”

Molly poked him in the chest hard.

“No damned thanks to you!”

She made a frustrated grunt and stomped her foot before she
turned to walk away.

“You’re welcome princess.”

Molly stop dead in her tracks, and her body tensed.

“Princess?”

Locks and DD looked at each other and spoke in unison.

“Uh oh.”

Molly turned and got inches from Counter Stryke’s face.

“Let me tell you something rookie, you ever pull a stupid
stunt like that again and I’m gonna-.”

Counter Stryke couldn’t stop himself, and he grabbed the
sides of her face and kissed her deeply. She tried to push him away, but ended
up giving in and letting him kiss her. Her eyes rolled up as they closed, and
she even liked it a little. The other three just stood there dumbfounded at the
man’s bold move. And for a few minutes the duo had forgotten the others
standing there or that they had almost been killed only moments ago. Counter
Stryke pulled back from her with a dreamy smile. As his eyes opened the got big
just as Molly’s fist found his jaw. She decked him so hard it spun him, and
left him looking up at the sky from his back. She turned to Locks.

“I’ll see you guys back at base.”

She took to the sky, causing the dust to swirl where she had
been standing. Counter Stryke rubbed his jaw as he sat up. Locks offered his
hand and pulled the scrapper to his feet when the hand was taken.

“Girl’s got quite a punch. Ahh.”

Locks shook his head.

“That’s because I think she likes you. That’d make you one
of the luckiest men in Stryke Force.”

Psymen piped up.

“And if that be the case, you had better do right by her.
Otherwise I swear to the gods that I’ll scramble your brain so hard you’ll
think you’re a circus monkey for the rest of your life.”

At that Psymen took off into the sky and disappeared in the
same direction as Molly.

“He’s just a ray of sunshine isn’t he?”

Locks gave a quick laugh.

“Alright, back to base for debriefing. And not that kind
DD.”

“Aww man! I never get to have any fun around here.”

Locks laughed as he and the other two activated their base
teleporter, and were whisked away in a flash.

by **Molecular** Wed May 06, 2009 3:43 pm

Chapter 4

Psymen finally caught up to Molly. He found her sitting on
the concrete edge by the ferry, looking out over the water. Silently he landed
behind her.

“Is there anything I can do to help? I can see you are
troubled, even without using my powers.”

Molly sighed and got up, walking over to him.

“I’m not like some of you guys. Many of you have
regeneration powers. Locks has the ability to heal himself with flames. Some of
them can make their skin like stone, or impenetrable. I don’t have any of those
things.”

She sighed again heavily.

“I could have been killed Psymen, and that bastard didn’t
even seem like he cared! And the nerve! Kiss me? How dare he after his little
stunt!”

Psymen walked closer and wrapped his arms around her.

“You do realize that what he did most likely saved both your
lives don’t you?”

She rested her head on his chest and listened to his even
breathing.

“I know. It’s just-.”

She stepped away from him and looked back out over the
water.

“It’s just that when he kissed me, I wanted him to do it. I
wanted to kiss him back. For a moment, it let me believe that none of this
existed. That I was normal.”

She turned to look at him and could see a slight pang of
hurt in his eyes. It was no secret that even though they decided it best for
them to remain friends after their tryst that Psymen still felt strongly about
her.

“Look, I know what we had that weekend had been special. You
mean a lot to me Psymen. But you also know that I just could never feel towards
you what you feel towards me.”

He nodded.

“I know. I have hope, but I know.”

She took his hand in hers.

“You’ll always be my friend Psymen. No matter what happens.
You and I have been able to talk about anything right?”

He nodded.

“With him it’s different. I can’t explain it. He makes me
feel almost like Jeremy did. I know he can never replace that for me, but I
feel this connection with him, and it pisses me off that he was so careless,
when I got the feeling that he felt the same way. Then he kissed me, and I just
KNEW that he did.”

She sighed again and turned away from him.

“And therein lays the frustration. That’s why I punched him.
I mean, why would he almost get us killed when he feels the same about me as I
do him?”

He had stayed silent to let her vent; now he spoke. His
voice was level and calm, but not all too loud, almost inaudible over the
noises of the busy streets.

“Men do stupid things sometimes. It’s in our nature. You see
it all the time, especially with heroes. What possesses a man to run into a
burning building to save someone against his better judgment? What makes a man
jump out of a top floor window, with a woman he feels strongly about to save
their lives? The answer? He doesn’t know why he does these things. All he knows
is that he must do them.”

She turned and looked at him as she took his words in. He
never spoke without a reason. She knew this about him, so his words meant that
much more to her. Finally, she nodded in understandment.

“We should get back to base for the debriefing.”

He nodded.

“Aye. You go on ahead since you have the laptop.”

She smiled faintly at him and touched his forearm.

“Thank you Psymen, for listening.”

He nodded again and watched her disappear in a flash of
light when she activated her base teleporter. Once she was gone, he headed off
into the alleyways.

The sounds of heels clicking against the metal floor echoed
down the corridor as she walked towards his personal office. He stood looking
out over his domain and watched as the people moved about like ants. Behind
him, the door hissed as the hydraulics forced it to open. The sounds of her
heels stopped behind him as she waited to be acknowledged.

“What of our little informant?”

She bowed her head slightly.

“We received their transmission from Peregrine Island a
short time ago. Everything is going according to plan. Just as you knew it
would.”

He scoffed.

“Save me your petty brown nosing; I have no use for it. Did they
give us anything useful, or do I need to have them removed and replaced?”

He turned to look at her, his red eyes glowing in the
darkness.

“We have learned that her real name is Molly Decker. This
has been very useful for us. I “persuaded” a couple of our contacts in Paragon
to do some checking on her, and we found a good deal of information.
Unfortunately, it is nothing that we can directly use against her at the
moment.”

He cracked his neck a little and turned to look out on his
vast empire.

“Molly Decker. That’s what they’ll carve on her head stone
when I crush her like a bug. I want to know everything we can about this hero.
She is to be a thorn in my side no longer. Is that understood?”

She bowed her head.

“As you wish my lord.”

The base was quiet, and with the debriefing done, Molly had
gone to the lab to work on her genome research. It always helped her to relax,
and after the day she had, she needed the time alone to dwell in her own
thoughts. She had her head down, looking through one of her high powered
microscopes when the plasma screen in front of her chirped indicating an
incoming transmission. There were only a handful of individuals who had her
direct line; her family and Locks. She pulled herself away from her work and
pressed the screen. The image of her youngest brother Jimmy appeared on the
screen. She had given her parents the new technology because she wanted to see
them instead of just hearing their voices. It made it so she could imagine that
she was sitting right there with them, instead of the reality of how far away
they really were.

“Hey sis. How are things out there in hero city?”

“Hi Jimmy. They’re ok I suppose. How are mom and dad?”

She realized that she was still wearing her mask, so she
reached up and pulled it from her head, letting her blonde hair fall down
around her shoulders. She absently ran her fingers through in an attempt to get
some of the tangles out of it.

“They’re good. You know, I turn 14 soon. I think the best
birthday present would be my big sister the hero to come and see me.”

She sighed when she saw his smile.

“You know I would love nothing more than to be there with
you Jimmy, but it’s just not possible right now. I’ve been investigating some really
weird crap involving the Malta group. I’ve been assigned a new side kick.
Things here are just crazy right now buddy. I promise that I will come to visit
soon. Just give me some time. Besides, you know that I always send you big
gifts to make up for it.”

She smiled as she said that to him. Her parents didn’t
particularly approve of her “big” gifts, but they made her brother happy so she
didn’t care. Last year for his Birthday she had called in a favor to Sister
Psyche to make an appearance at his party. She happened to be his absolute
favorite hero in Paragon, aside from his big sister. Or so that’s what he had
told her. She wasn’t sure why she was her brother’s favorite, but she figured
that it was just because she wore tight costumes that showed a lot of curves so
she left it at that. Jimmy talked about that gift for a good six months after
his party.

“So, what are you gonna send me this year? Sister Psyche’s
telephone number so I can profess my undying love to her? Or maybe an
autographed photo, stating that I’m her favorite fan, and that she’s just
waiting for me to turn 18 so she can come and sweep me away in the bonds of
holy matrimony?”

Molly’s face kinda scrunched up.

“You’re a jerk Jimmy. She’s way too good for you anyhow.”

He stuck his tongue out at her and she smiled.

“A boy can have hopes you know.”

She glared at him.

“Hope or hormones?”

He looked like he was deep in thought for a second.

“Both?”

She laughed.

“Listen, I got a lot of work to do. Send my love to the
family ok?”

“I will. Come see us soon Molly. Everyone here misses you
and would like to see you sometime this century.”

She nodded.

“I know, and I will.”

With that said she pressed the button on the screen again
and it cut the transmission. She sat there for a moment before a voice behind
her startled her.

“Sorry to intrude.”

She whipped around and tried to avoid falling out of her
seat.

“What are you doing here?”

She turned around and began to tidy up her desk area.

“I just wanted to come and apologize for earlier. You’re
right, I could have gotten you killed, and I’m sorry.”

She scoffed.

“Not sorry you kissed me though are you?”

He absently rubbed at the spot where she had slugged him.

“Now that you mention it, no though after that right hook, I
should be.”

She let out a little chuckle.

“Yeah well, I have brothers and had to learn to defend
myself because I was different when I was a kid back before I came to Paragon.”

He smiled sheepishly.

“Either way my actions were out of line and I’m sorry.”

She regarded him for a long moment before looking down at
her hands as they rested in her lap.

“What I’d really like to know is why you kissed me in the
first place?”

She looked back up into his eyes. He carefully thought about
his answer but didn’t give it right away. It was almost as if he wasn’t certain
of how he should answer the question. In reality he had never felt towards
another girl like he did towards Molly and it honestly scared the hell out of
him.

“We’ve known each other for a few months now Molly. In that
time we’ve been just about everywhere and have done a lot of things together.
Ranging from almost getting us killed, to just hanging out doing whatever. I
felt like we’ve grown close, and quite frankly, I have developed strong
feelings for you. When I realized that we almost had been killed I decided that
I had better take the opportunity to show you how I was feeling because our
next mission could very well end up being our last together. We just can’t be
sure of what the future holds, but I can damned well do something about the
here and now. So, I kissed you.”

Molly got up from her chair and walked over to him. Gently
she touched his cheek and looked into his eyes.

“All you had to do was tell me. I had hoped that you were
feeling the same way as me, and now your actions make sense.”

She leaned up and kissed his lips, letting herself be
overcome by the moment, as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
Their moment was broken by the sound of someone clearing their throats. They
pulled away from each other and looked in the direction it had come. Standing
there was DD.

“I really hate to break up you two love birds, but Locks
wants you both in the conference hall. Something big is going down.”

DD turned and stalked off leaving the two of them standing
there. Molly looked at Counter Stryke and grabbed his arm as he turned to go
meet Locks.

“I have just one question. You know my face, and you know my
name, my real name. Since we’ve been working together, I never bothered to find
out yours. I don’t really treasure the thought of writing home to my parents to
tell them about my new boyfriend only to have to tell them his name is Counter
Stryke. Sounds like the name we give villains ya know?”

He laughed at her.

“So I’m your boyfriend now?”

She smiled as she punched him in the arm.

“Don’t be an ass. I’m serious.”

He put his hands up in defense.

“Alright, it’s Michael. Michael Cavanaugh.”

She smiled and took his hand wrapping her fingers around
his.

“Well then Michael Cavanaugh; let’s go see which bad
guys we’ll be thrashing this time.”

by **Molecular** Wed May 06, 2009 3:43 pm

Chapter 5

(One year later)

Molly sat at her desk staring blankly at her computer screen, tears blurring her vision.
The report had just come in stating that the raid on the crashed Rikti mother
ship had been an utter failure, and that seventy percent of the raid teams had
come against significant resistance, resulting in massive casualties. Locks and
his team had been among those who joined the raid in the War Zone. The list she
had opened in her email was staggering. Many Heroes had died during the raid.
Many of whom she had formed close friendships with over the years. Three of the
raid teams had been Stryke Force members. Psymen, Elektron, DD, Locks,
Twighlight Chill, Spirit Orchid, Tatiana Dewfall, and many others perished.
Some of them were from SIGMA Division. She wondered if Professor Neutrino had
received the news yet. The Professor had been promoted to Division Head of
SIGMA about six months back and had begun to get a handle of things. For a
while they had an issue with members sticking around, or leaving without a
trace. He had started to turn that around and now he would have to deal with
this too. Slowly, almost as if she were on auto pilot, she got up and headed
for the base portal. A few moments later she found herself standing in the
entrance of SIGMA’s base. It was quiet. She sighed. It would only get even
quieter when news spread that Stryke Force as a whole had taken a substantial
hit to its roster. She could only imagine the feelings this news would cause.
She knew several members who would feel the need to run off to the War Zone to
get retribution for their fallen comrades. Silently Molly walked towards the
lab where the Professor spent most of his time. As she walked through the
meeting hall, she saw DeBruiser sitting with his feet propped up on the table,
with his head in his hands. She waved slightly and gave an absent
acknowledgement.

“Hey.”

DeBruiser lifted his head a bit.

“Hey Molecular. It’s a bad day for SF.”

She nodded in agreement.

“I know. I got the report. The Professor around?”

DeBruiser nodded.

“In his lab. He’s already heard too. I think he’s waiting on
a response from Stryker as to what needs to be done. It’s been all over the
news. I feel bad for all those families.”

Molly felt the same. A lot of phone calls had to be made,
and she didn’t envy Stryker or Neutrino one bit since they were going to be the
ones who had to tell the families. Providing they could gain access to that
information from City Hall for those who never gave up their real names. So
much stuff needed to be done now. Arrangements had to be made. Molly nodded to
DeBruiser.

“I feel bad for those Rikti when word gets out to all of the
members. Some of them are hot headed and don’t think about what they’re doing
before they run off.”

“I know. Neutrino is kind of like that too. Thankfully, he
seems to be keeping it together.”

She smiled and patted him on the shoulder as she passed by
him towards the lab. It was ominously quiet for the rest of her walk. Neutrino
sat at his worktable, bent over, with his face buried in his hands. It was a
rare occasion for anyone to see him with his helmet off. He was always worried
that his radiation powers would cause harm to the members of Sigma, even though
he had been told many times that he was safe to be around. So it took Molly a
bit by surprise to see the helmet sitting on the worktable next to his elbows. She
figured he was deep in his own thoughts because he did not readily acknowledge
her presence like he normally did. After a moment, she cleared her throat a bit
and walked closer to him.

“Hey Professor.”

He turned slightly to look at her.

“Hey. I suppose you’ve heard already.”

She nodded and pulled a chair over and sat next to him.

“Yeah. I got the report not long ago. I’m still not sure how
I feel about it exactly. Most of them were my friends.”

Neutrino sighed heavily and nervously rolled a pencil along
the worktable.

“You know what really bugs me?”

She shook her head.

“These guys were all veteran Heroes. Experienced individuals
who have faced more dire circumstances than this. How the hell could 3 whole
teams of Stryke Force get wiped out with such experience on the teams? I mean,
it just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Molly looked at her feet as they dangled a few inches from
the floor.

“Sometimes things like this just don’t make sense. Sometimes
really bad things just happen.”

Neutrino laughed emptily.

“Right, I should have told them to forget the mother ship
raid, like I knew I should have. I had a bad feeling about it when it was first
brought to my attention. I should have just-“

Molly put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this. Do you honestly think it
would have made any difference what you said? I certainly don’t think so. I’ve
known most of those guys for a while. Everyone one of them would have gone
anyway. There’s nothing you could have done to change things. Freak stuff like
this just happens sometimes.”

Neutrino opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when
he heard the base med-bay and Auto-Doc power up, indicating there was an incoming
member. He looked at Molly wearing a concerned look on his face. He reached
down and pulled his protective helmet on and stood.

“No one else was out on missions besides the teams for the
mother ship raid.”

DeBruiser’s deep voice echoed throughout the empty base.

“Professor!”

Neutrino and Molly ran to the med bay, and saw DeBruiser
grabbing Agent Synclair and helping her over to one of the gurneys. She was
bleeding badly from multiple wounds, and most of her costume was ripped, or
burned.

“Is she alive?”

DeBruiser nodded.

“Just barely.”

Neutrino went to the side of the gurney.

“Synclair, can you hear me?”

She nodded, and her voice came out raspy.

“Yeah. I’m sorry boss, I couldn’t help them.”

Neutrino put his finger to her lips and made a “shh” noise.

“Don’t worry about that now. Can you tell me what happened
out there?”

Synclair nodded.

“Everything was going according to the plan. We took out the
pylons without too much trouble and gathered up to plant the bombs on the
mother ship.”

Synclair closed her eyes for a second and took a few labored
breaths.

“Locks and his team went in first. Taking the brunt of the
resistance so the rest of the teams could flood the ship and finish the job.”

She stopped talking again, and her breaths were becoming
more shallow. Neutrino look over at DeBruiser.

“Find an empath. Now.”

DeBruiser nodded and rushed off to the communications room,
and Neutrino turned his attention back to Synclair.

“Go on. What happened?”

After a couple of more shallow breaths she opened her eyes.

“It was as if they KNEW we were coming. Not that they
expected us, but had been told before we even attacked the first pylon. Like
someone had informed them of the raid. There were so many Rikti. So many plasma
shots fired. And the Master at Arms, U’Kon Gr’ai was waiting with so many
mentalists. Locks and his team never stood a chance, the rest of us suffered
the same fate. Only two teams made it out. I’m guessing I’m the only Stryke
Force survivor.”

Molly nodded.

“So far, yes.”

Synclair closed her eyes and tears squeezed past the tightly
shut eye lids. Neutrino placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m going to ask you something, and it is important that
you try to remember.”

She nodded.

“I’ll try.”

He sighed.

“Why were you the only one to get med-ported here? How come
no one else made it out? If they died too fast for the med-porter to go off, I
can understand, but 15 people?”

Synclair thought about it for a second.

“I didn’t use my med-porter. I had to take one from one of
the other teams. Mine didn’t go off, and I was left lying in the dirt under the
ship along with a dozen other bodies. I just thought mine got damaged in the blast
that dropped me to the ground, so I took one off the other bodies.”

Neutrino looked at Molly. It took a second, but it began to
register in her head, what Neutrino may have been thinking.

“There’s no way anyone would do such a thing. I mean, who
could have done that?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

At this point, DeBruiser had come running back into the med
bay.

“I got a hold of Nikki. She’ll be here in about five
minutes.”

He took a look at Molly’s face then looked at the Professor.

“What’d I miss?”

Neutrino shook his head slightly.

“Major Synclair, do you still have your med-porter?”

She nodded.

“On my belt.”

He searched for a second and pulled it free when he found
it. Molly grabbed it from his hands.

“Well, let’s go hook this up to the computers and run a
diagnostics on it.”

Neutrino nodded.

“DeBruiser, stay with Synclair until Col. Graves arrives.”

“Gotcha boss.”

Neutrino followed Molly into the mainframe room and watched
as she clicked away at the keys. They both watched as numbers and text ran
across the screen as the diagnostics was done. Molly hummed a few times before
she hit a button on the keyboard to stop the scan. Her index finger shot to the
screen, causing Neutrino to lean in closer.

“Does that say what I think it says?”

Molly nodded her head.

“Afraid so. It looks like all three of the teams med-porters
were disabled 15 minutes before they reached the war zone.”

Neutrino stood straight up.

“But who-?”

Molly shook her head.

“It doesn’t say. But what it does say, is that whoever did
it, did it from the mainframe room in the Main base.”

Neutrino turned and look back towards the med bay.

“Dear god. We have a breach.”

by **Molecular** Sun Jan 03, 2010 2:30 pm

Author's note: This one is a short chapter since I lost my train of thought of how to go from point A to point B with what I am planning on doing. A bigger chapter will come at a later date.

Chapter 6
(The terror begins)

The silence was deafening. Molly and the Professor could only look at each other in disbelief. They couldn’t believe that one of their own would betray them. Molly couldn’t help but think of all those lives taken away by someone they all trusted. There had to be some other explanation. She was sure of it. The silence was broken when DeBruiser came into the lab.
“Graves is in there with Synclair now. She should be ok.”
Neutrino nodded his head and looked up at him.
“You’ve been around for a while DeBruiser. Who has access to the mainframe computers in the main base?”
DeBruiser looked at Neutrino kind of sheepishly because he didn’t quite understand why he was being asked, but when the looks from both Molly and Neutrino didn’t change, he sighed.
“Only Colonels and above have the right to access those stations. It’s how we keep track of everything. Stryker never told you guys this?”
Both shook their heads and then looked at each other.
“You know what that means Neutrino. We are going to have to go and look for ourselves to see who it was that turned off those beacons.”
DeBruiser stiffened.
“Whoa, what? Turned off the beacons?”
Molly nodded.
“I’m afraid so. According to the data from Synclair’s med beacon, it was shut off well before any of them reached the war zone. It also states that whoever did it had done so from the mainframe.”
DeBruiser shook his head.
“That can’t be.”
Neutrino placed his hand on DeBruiser’s shoulder.
“I’m afraid it is.”
He turned his attention to Molly.
“So to the main base then?”
She nodded and stood up from the chair.
“That’s the only way we’ll know for sure. Someone will have to go and inform Stryker of what has happened as well. DeBruiser, think you can handle that?”
When he nodded Molly hit a few keys on the keyboard and the printer jumped to life.
“I’ve highlighted the entries. Make sure Stryker sees this.”
She torn the paper from the printer and handed it over to DeBruiser.
“Be careful D. Until we know who or what hacked the mainframes, our med beacons may all be offline.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”

The three of them all headed for the teleporter room, DeBruiser going to Independence Port where Stryker had mentioned doing a Task Force for the Statesman, while Molly and Neutrino headed for the main base.

When they entered via teleporters, the only sound throughout the base was that of the various electronic devices whirring. No sounds of people, no signs of life. They both found it odd, since the main base was usually as busy as Grand Central Station with people coming and going to the different zones. Molly looked at Neutrino, and quickly headed for the mainframe. They found the control room to be as empty as the rest of the base.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Molly shook her head.
“I’m not sure, but I intend to find out.”
She headed over to the main terminal and began punching keys, and then place her hand onto the identification pad to have a sample of her blood taken for DNA comparison. Once the system matched it to her file, the hard drives came to life and the data started to scroll on the screen. She had used specific filters in the search functions and all of the data regarding the personal med beacons began to sort by last accessed. To her astonishment, every single med beacon had been disabled. She looked at Neutrino; her face was drained of color.
“My god.”
He moved closer to look at the screen over her shoulder.
“What is it?”
He saw the same thing she did and could not stop the gasp that escaped him.
“That can’t be. All of them?”
Molly slowly nodded her head.
“It appears none of us are safe at the moment.”
Neutrino turned away with his hands to his head. Then just as suddenly, he lifted his head and turned to her
“Is there any way to pull up vital signs on those med beacons? I know the ability to teleport is disabled, but can we see who is still alive?”
Molly turned and quickly started hitting the keys.
“I’m sure there is. It may take a while though. That’ll be a lot of data to load.”
He moved closer and stood behind her again.
“We have nothing but time. We need to know who is still alive. I’ll go get us some coffee.”
She nodded as he turned to walk away. Hundreds of member names scrolled on the screen as their beacon information loaded. Another thought came to her and as the information was loading she turned to another terminal and began hitting the keys pulling up the access information to see who had logged into the server last. It only took a few seconds for all the recent logins to show up. It was such a shock, it caused her to breath in sharply, and hit more keys. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her heart began to pound inside her chest, and she yelled.
“Neutrino, you better get in here. You’re not going to believe this.”
She heard the commotion from the break room as Neutrino literally dropped what he was doing and came running.
“What is it?”
She pointed to the second terminal.
“You know how we have to submit a DNA sample each and every time we log into this particular server?”
He nodded.
"Well, you can’t fake DNA.”
She slid slightly out of the way so that he could see the screen.
“And according to the recent access list this is who disabled all the med beacons.”
He leaned in and looked closely at the screen. She couldn’t see his face behind his helmet, but she was sure she could feel his whole body tense.
“Is that who I think it is?”
Molly nodded and turned to the main terminal.
“I’m afraid so. Now, I know I just saw his vital info on this terminal. I’m gonna run a check for his name specifically once this is done. I can’t believe that he would do this. Mighty – Man is one of the more respected members here. It just doesn’t make sense to me that he would do such a thing.”

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