09:15 Magnetic Research Corp, Freight entrance

John exited the vehicle and ran to the nearest garage door. He pressed the open button, but nothing happed. Force was going to be required instead. He punched his armored fingers under the bottom and pushed up. Whatever resistance the garage door could give in kind was quickly overcome. John turned back at the group and motioned them to come up. He ran inside to clear the room and cover them. As he did so he reached out with his mind to find where Kristin and Patrice were

“We’re going to the fifth floor. Follow me, you’re shooting to kill, not wound. Avoid shooting Kristin and Patrice obviously.” John began jogging up the stairs at a pace the rest would consider running.

The cadets in the other van felt the discomfort the others had already felt when they saw him talk. The arched semi-hood behind his helmet was likely the cause of this but they didn’t know what it was. Everyone was willing to just let that go except Alice.

“So, is that thing on your back the reason why your creepiness is dialed past eleven?”

John responded shortly and curtly. “Yes.”

Kevin had heard of psychic channelers before. “Don’t things like that burn out telepaths?”

“To normal ones it can.” John was at the fifth floor.

“I’m going to assume that doesn’t apply to him.” Jessica said.

“Safe assumption.” Richard said as he followed the rest up.

“Who are you?” Andern asked.

John’s hand was on the door. The group didn’t know what he was doing. John was scanning the room, the armor’s onboard VI was using a software that read neural waves and decoded them into an image. He was basically constructing a floor layout along with the location of all friendlies and combatants. Once that was created, he overlayed the route they were going to take.

“Twelve enemy combatants. Patrice and Kristin are in separate rooms. She’s laying on the floor. Four of you put suppressing fire through the wall here and here. The rest line up by the door and target them from here.” John said as their HUDs showed the floor layout.

“And where are you going?” Alice asked.

“Over here, to get Patrice. Once Patrice and Kristin are secure you are to head back to the vans immediately.”

“Roger.” The group had their orders, they went through the door.

John split off from the group and headed over to where he was going to start his part of the operation. John’s focus was broken by a private message from Alice.

‘Look, I don’t know what’s going on right now, but I need you to come back in one piece.’

John grinned for the first time since everything had happened. He sent a response.

‘Wouldn’t want it any other way. But you lot need to bounce the moment we rescue them. Something stinks to high heaven about this.’

The com shut down. The rest were getting into place. Alice had shared John’s misgivings about the scenario about things. John had reached out with his mind once more. The eight enemies around Patrice were talking with someone over the video link. The four guarding Kristin were discussing what they were going to do to her once the armor powered down.

09:25 Floor Five. Kill teams in Position

John activated a countdown timer on everyone’s HUDs. His armor’s reactor increased its output. The hood began to buzz with raw telepathic power coursing through it. His muscles tensed up and he was in position to dash forward through a wall when the timer hit zero.

As it hit zero gunfire could be heard, stray bullets were rifling ricocheting through the room John had been waiting in. The moment the first gunshot was fired John had sent himself crashing through the wall. His right arm rose up and aimed the dual submachine gun at the first targets to his right. As he pressed the trigger to release a terrifying number of rounds that were sent flying at the two enemies. Both of them suffered nearly three dozen gunshot wounds apiece in and around their chest cavities.

A split second after that John looked to his left, planted with his right foot and shifted direction at the nearest enemy there. He was less than six feet away, his left arm cocked back readying a punch. A blink later he had connected, nearly decapitating the poor bastard that took the punch. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The remaining man in the room began firing at John. He responded by crouching down slightly and bringing the twin sub machine gun to bear. He fired a four second bursts toward the man. He fell over dead.

“Kristin secured. No casualties.” Theresa called out over coms.

John smiled. The remaining four enemies in the other room came to their senses and were entering the conference room John and Patrice were in. John was too quick for them though. The submachine guns were already firing as the first two entered room. What armor they did have may have resisted the first few dozen rounds that it had protected its users from, but the firestorm they were receiving caused them to give way and no longer protect either man.

He dashed toward the door and crashed into the next one in and slammed him partially through a wall behind him. John let loose another barrage of fire at the remaining enemy. A torrent of bullets tore through the man’s head. When he fell to the ground nothing remained above the lower jaw. The man that was in the wall was trying to get out of his precarious position. John pointed his gun at him and let fly another torrent of gunfire.

John walked back into the room. “Patrice, can you walk?”

“Fucking hell. Get me out of this fucking chair.” Patrice felt John talk and was instantly feeling uncomfortable.

John walked over to him and removed his bindings. They walked to the door in the back.

“Got Patrice, opening the door to y’all.” John tried to open the door.

It didn’t want to open. John resorted to the way he knew best, brute force. His left hand punched into the door and tore it open. He flung the door and threw it through the whole he made entering the room.

He led the group through the business offices and were almost to the stairs when a holoprojector in the foyer turned on. It was looking at the cadets, the man was most interested in John though.

“John Lief. So very pleased to meet you.” The voice from the image displayed on the holoprojector displayed.

John turned around to face the man that appeared. The rest of the cadets stopped and looked on. The eye sockets on John’s armor began to radiate an ethereal blue light. His coms were open as he turned around.

“RUN NOW AND DON’T LOOK BACK, I’LL FIGHT THEM!”

The sense of urgency in John’s voice along with the palpable fear they felt was absolutely terrifying to the cadets. Their legs were already in motion before they recognized what they were doing.

Never before had they ever heard, much less felt, fear from John. Alice was the only one that looked back as they got to the stairs. They all could feel two more unique presences similar to John’s amplified presence as they ran down the stairs.

“Eve, remove all safety protocols and disengage all warning messages.” John said calmly.

09:35 Floor Five, Business Foyer

Whatever John was so desperate to hide from everyone could be hidden no more. Not if he wanted to survive. Two individuals were walking down the stairs from the sixth floor. Neither was wearing much in the way of armor, but that was hardly necessary for beings of their power.

“So, you’ve heard of my acquaintances. The Benning twins are quite a remarkable pair. Could you believe twins that are alpha plus level telekinetics? And that’s not all. Lex is a pyrokinetic and Lisa is a cryokinetic.”

John was radiating a killing intent that outpaced these two, but he was only one going against two immensely powerful psychics.

“This one has spunk sis, lets savor this fight.” A psychotic look came over Lex’s face.

“This one might be worth of bedding me.” Lisa gave a look that was equal parts sultry and lethal.

“Children please, I need this one alive, he could be so much more if he gave up the dogma he believes in by suppressing his abilities.” The man in the projection scolded the two.

John started to laugh. The man in the projection couldn’t feel it but the twins absolutely could. John’s power was growing. They could actually feel his psychic power resonating in the air around them. His entire body was giving off what looked like an ethereal blue fire.

“I’ve restrained myself for so long because I didn’t want to hurt those around me. For you two though? I don’t have to hold back now.”

John disengaged the submachine from his right arm, the armor container on his back fell off, as did the box over it. He used his telekinesis to bring it in front of his right hand. Just as he placed his had inside it the man in the projection yelled at the two.

“ATTACK HIM. DON’T…”

It was too late. John’s right hand buzzed with power; an oversized hand was in its place. In his left hand was a power mace that was also in the box, its grip extended as it neared his hands. John didn’t waste a second, he rushed at Lex. Luckily for Lex, Lisa was ready for the attack and created a six-inch wall of super dense ice. John’s fist crushed into it, but its momentum was arrested well before he could harm Lex. He stepped back and slammed the power fist down at the ground and dove backwards before a large section of the floor gave way causing Lex to fall down to the fourth floor.

John was being covered in ice as he tried to get up. Lisa was radiating energy toward John, freezing the very atmosphere around him. She saw her twin fall to the floor below and was screaming incomprehensibly at John. Her power seemed to be ebbing upwards as she continued the attack against John.

“Looks like I was the only one that was graced with power and sanity. You are nuttier than fruitcake lady.” John smirked as he pushed off the floor and forced the ice off his body.

He rushed towards Lisa but was intercepted by a column of fire that hit him square in the abdomen. John swore silently at absorbing the attack. He lifted up all the furniture in the room and sent it at Lisa. He rolled back to avoid the heavy desk immediately behind him then leapt up and dove down to the fourth floor. When he landed he sent a telekinetic attack using the desk he landed by at Lex.

It missed Lex but sent him off balance. He reacted by sending a stream of fire towards John. It was never meant to hit but deny John the ability to solely dictate the terms of engagement. He closed the distance when another frozen wall of ice appeared right in front of him.

“Fuckers, shared senses.” John smiled. “Bet it must suck when you feel her fuck other guys eh Lex?”

09:50 I-50 On-Ramp

“Stop.” Alice told Kevin to stop driving. “Both of us pull over.”

Kevin complied as did Richard behind him. None of the cadets were thinking about what they were wearing, the arms they had, or really anything but they were out in broad daylight. And they were stopped just before the onramp.

“I’m staying behind to get John. I need one of these vans.” There was not a hint of emotion in Alice’s voice. She was determined to do this. “And I need volunteers to stay with me.”

“I’m in.” Andern said as he hopped out of the van he was in.

“Give me a helmet and I’m staying too.” Kristin grabbed a rifle and submachine gun as she hopped out of the front van.

“Same, rest of you lot head back to the academy. We need backup too, something serious was going to go down back there.” Nathan said.

“No, we’re going to stay here too.” Theresa and Kevin said in unison.

“John said he had to get back.” Alice was pointing at Patrice. “So y’all are going to do just that.”

“Just because you’re going to get married doesn’t mean you can defy orders.” Thomas said. “I’d rather stay behind personally, but just saying.”

“We’re only going to engage if things really get bad.” Alice said. “Now get the hell out of here. We need the cavalry.”

Richard moved over to the driver’s seat and sped off as the doors closed. Alice and company got in the fan and flipped a u turn across the busy road and headed back into the breach. They’d close the distance and try to help if able or at the bare minimum extricate him from the situation.

09:55 Floor Four, Foyer

Lex was ranting about something as John smashed through the ice wall. John caught Lex and slammed him through the wall behind them. Something metal in the wall cut a deep laceration on Lex’s left forearm. He screamed in pain.

John grabbed a piece of rebar and pulled it from the concrete wall and was about to slam it into Lex. Lex tried to burn it away, John pulled it away before he could burn it all and dragged the white-hot metal through his wound.

“Wouldn’t want that to get infected.”

John stood up and grabbed Lex, who was howling in pain and threw him out of the hole they had made and partially through another wall. John turned and was going to run over to him and punch his exposed back, but Lisa was looking down at him and placed a giant wall protecting her brother. She jumped down to their floor.

“You bastard, I’m going to make you suffer for that.” Lisa was firing icicles at John.

They weren’t normal icicles though the first one sheared off a chunk of armor protecting his shins. John used his telekinesis to smash or push the icicles away. Lisa kept up the attack until John got wise to the attacks and was redirecting them into the wall that was protecting her brother.

Just then the floor beneath John melted beneath him and he fell down to the third floor. A psychotic looking Lex sent to blazing hot streams of fire from both hands at him. John decided to take the attacks and was swinging down at him as he fell with the power mace. The mace just glanced the chest plate Lex was wearing. John shattered it as he swung with the power fist and struck him squarely.

Lisa had barely saved her brother by stopping John’s power fist before he could finish the attack. Had she been any later Lex would have been cleaved in two by the oversized fist. John grabbed the ice sheet as he stepped back with his power fist and slammed it down on Lex. As he did that Lex countered with a beam of flame that pierced his left pauldron and damaged the left servo. John countered this by slamming down at the floor beneath him to fall down to the second floor.

“Running away you little scared rat. You talk a big game for someone that’s running away.” Lex hissed.

He burned away a section of the floor and jumped down. Lisa was about to say something as he jumped down. She ran over to the hole John had made and jumped down. She looked over and saw Lex was burning a large hole to jump down to the main floor.

“Lex, he’s dictating this engagement.”

“And I’m going to skull fuck when I see him next.” Lex snapped back at his sister.

“We must be smart to beat him, he’s not like the others.”

The floor gave way and Lex jump down. Lisa followed suit immediately after. To their surprise they saw John waiting for them, but he didn’t attack them. They walked to within ten feet of him.

“When fighting two versus one, separate them. Can’t do that here, so I need to improvise.” There was a sinister undertone in John’s voice.

Just then the power armor John was wearing exploded. John was at the center of a micro supernova when the fusion reactor exploded. He used all his powers to direct the flames, heat and shrapnel around and away from him and toward the twins. He used the remaining kinetic energy to propel him backwards through a window that he broke by flinging a heavy metal ball that was sitting atop of a sculpture.

10:15 Magnetic Research Corp, Front door

John couldn’t control his direction anymore. He was effectively a human sized ballistic projectile. He slammed onto the roof above the rear row of a GMC truck. That caused him to tumble over the vehicle and slam into the busy road unceremoniously. Whether by happenstance or karmic goodwill Alice stopped the van right in front of him.

“GET HIM IN NOW!” Alice shouted.

The back door was already opening. Kristin got out first and was her battle rifle into the building. Her first magazine emptied when Andern and Nathan got to John and began dragging him back to the van.

“No armor?” Nathan asked.

“Shut up and hurry.” Andern said.

Kristin kept firing into the building. She walked backwards covering the boys. She dropped another magazine and loaded a third full magazine as she jumped back into the van and kept firing into the building as the van sped away. When the bolt locked back as the magazine emptied, she grabbed the handle on the door and slammed it shut.

19:45 Mills Orbital Launch Facility

The twins were on a private space liner that had just taken off. They were bruised and battered but alive.

“We were careless.” Lex all but spat out those words.

“You were, but you had him reeling. I don’t believe he’s ever truly tasted defeat. But learn from this, never pity a cornered enemy. Never relent in your attacks.” The man on the projector said.

“I will kill him next time I see him.” Lex was shaking with anger.

“No, you won’t. We need him alive, even you saw his power when he blew up that armor suit. Neither of you could do that.”

Lisa lost in her imagination. She was imagining the things she’d love to do to and with John.

“The battle data was certainly interesting. I’m not sure if the power armor was helping or hurting him.”

“What difference does it make? We lost.” Lex lost all that anger in his voice and was pouting.

“My boy, do not be sad. We have found a truly unique individual. And confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a super like the two of you. He is the key to our most holy project. The two of you need to rest and be restored to your full fighting potential before we attack him again.”

“But…” Lex was about to protest.

“No buts or arguing, if you were to attack him in your current condition, I doubt you’d survive. We can’t have that happening. Oh, and you two are not to go after anyone he’s friendly with. I suspect we’d awaken or create a monster that would destroy us all. Keep it aimed at him and we’ll be fine. But for now, we need to plan our next steps.”

The projection disappeared. The twins were ordered to sleep in the rejuvenation chambers. Lisa convinced her brother that this was for the best and they’d both have their revenge and defeat him together again in the future. Lex sat down in the chamber, it then activating putting him to sleep. An IV drip was placed in his arm and several machines began patching him up.

Lisa stepped over to her chamber. As she leaned back, she smiled. She was going to enjoy the dreams she would have of John. She was determined to make them a realty, she accepted the loss today but would learn from it, the next time would be far different.

Friday. 09:30 Naval Academy Hospital

John didn’t remember much after flying at the truck and colliding with it. When he came too, he was in the hospital. The floor he was on was likely the most well-guarded one on the planet. There were at least twenty marines in power armor along with Psi-Corp agents patrolling the hallways. John pushed himself up on the bed and slid his feet on the ground. The first step was a little wobbly. The second step was moderately better.

He felt a tug on his arms. He looked at the IV drips and other monitoring devices. He pulled them out and pulled the tape off his arms. Warning siren went off and the lights changed to a red hue. His head felt like he had a five-alarm hangover. Just then a doctor and several nurses walked into his room.

“Cadet, I bet you feel worse than you look.” Doctor Aximand said.

“Your guess was quite astute.” John said. “Where the hell are my clothes?”

“We’ll get you some navy issued sweats for you. Why don’t you sit down and lets have a short chat?”

The doctor did some exams and reviewed his records. He was shocked that there weren’t more wounds suffered given the state of the combat suit. It looked like it had gone through hell, or worse.

“The good news is you didn’t break anything. You lucked out and only had second degree burns on your left shoulder. Follow this regimen and you should be fine. Also take two Aleve every six hours for the joint pain. No PE for at least a week. We’ll meet again next week before you get clearance.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Oh cadet, you are to report the commandant’s office. You’ll have an escort there.”

“I’d say no to the escort but I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to listen to me.”

The doctor smiled. A nurse came in and gave John a pair of sweatpants, boxers, shirt, hoody and some boots. She winked at him as she turned and left the room. John quickly changed and headed out. His escort were three Psi-Corp agents, all appeared to be near level five glance and four hardened marines. It was a fifteen-minute walk from the hospital to the commandant’s office.

09:50 Commandant Melnyk’s Office

Inside the office Director LeCroix, former director Aspern, recently appointed first fleet admiral Charles Dickinson, and Admiral Petro Melnyk. John pulled the hoody off and threw it on an open chair and sat down.

“Debrief time eh gentlemen?” John said in a casual disregard.

“Nice stunt you pulled on us recently. Can I presume that won’t happen again?” Charles asked bluntly.

“I think so, of course that’s contingent upon you and your friends from refraining from derailing my schooling.”

“We won’t make any more moves against you.” Charles nodded.

“Cool. I was getting tired and bored of the attempts. So, I’m guessing that there are two complaints about how I ordered a captain and commander to stand down and let me do me?”

“You guessed it.” Petro smiled. “You needn’t worry, your likely defense to their claims about them not being capable of responding to the situation as well as you. In the future I would prefer you be a bit more diplomatic about that though.”

“Understood.” John nodded. He pulled out his tablet and transferred three images for them to see. “And you two are likely here about these three.”

Aspern smiled. “He’s here for the two, I’m here for him.”

“No fucking clue who he was, aside from the fact he was calling the shots. These two are twins. Lex and Lisa Benning, not sure if that is their real names or not though. He’s a pyrokinetic, she’s a cryokinetic. Both are terrifyingly powerful.”

LeCroix looked worried. “Are you positive?”

“Wish I had evidence, tried to have the suit transfer all combat data before I exploded it, but it looks like the suit took much damage to do that.”

“Do they have classifications?”

John shook his head. “Alpha. Both of them.”

Charles shook his head. “That’s impossible.”

“Believe what you want, that’s what they are.”

Director Aspern grabbed his hand. “You did well son, belated congratulations on your nuptials.”

“Thanks. I’ll get you an invite when we figure out the details.”

“Your dismissed cadet.” Petro said.

John got up and grabbed his hoody and put it on slowly. He was achy and bruised all over. He got to the door and was about to open it. Just as he did Charles asked a question.

“If you fought a pair of alphas to a draw, what does that make you?”

“You should be grateful I fight for the Confederacy. I will fight and kill any of her enemies, foreign or domestic.”

John walked out of the room.

“What the hell does that mean?” Charles asked.

“Everyone knows he refused to participate in the testing. I suggest we cut that loose string and forget about it.” Director LeCroix smiled as he said that. “The more pressing concern is what we could do to stop those two.”