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[Jack, Corona, Taura, it's Hoshi. We have a situation here at HQ. Come straight here, and come heavily armed.]

"Well, that's just fuckin' great." Jack glanced into the rearview mirror at Corrie and Taura in the rear compartment. They were only a few minutes away from the Argus Defense Ssystems building.

Corona spoke into her helmet mic. "What's going on?"

[Multiple hostiles have entered the building. We think they're after Winslow. Rocky's been wounded--not badly, but she needs medical attention. And we have three civilians with us.]

"We're on our way," Jack said, glancing into the side mirror to check for traffic before swerving into the far left lane to pass the truck in front of him. He grabbed the gear shift, shoved it down a notch, and popped the clutch, giving his hearse a burst of speed before shifting back up. He continued swerving through the traffic, gripping the steering wheel and clenching his teeth, hoping he wouldn't catch the attention of any cops on patrol.

"We're almost there," Taura said a few minutes later.

[I'm sending you tactical information.]

Windows opened in Jack's HUD, showing him video feeds from several cameras outside the Justice Foundation. A suspicious-looking SUV was parked on each side of the building.

Corona drew in a quick breath. "Last time something like this happened, the whole place came crashing down on me."

"I know, honey. We're not gonna let anything like that happen again."

Another minute passed before they reached the Foundation's street. Jack parked a half-block away. He and the girls got out and sprinted the rest of the way, stopping when they caught sight of the nearest SUV.

Jack zoomed in on the driver and scanned his heat signature; normal human, but wearing armor. He appeared to be the only one in the vehicle.

"Okay," Jack said, "just one bad guy between us and our friends."

"First thing, disable his van." Corona plucked the chakram from her belt and glanced at Taura. "Slip around to the other side and we'll box him in."

Taura darted around the corner, crouched beside a car parked nearby, and made her way past the next several cars before crossing the street and approaching the SUV.

Jack drew his gun and nodded at Corona.

She launched the chakram at the SUV's front tire and sliced it open. The tire exploded, jolting the front of the vehicle and nearly causing the driver to wet himself. He flailed and screamed, grabbed his assault rifle, and looked around frantically as the chakram zipped back into Corona's hand.

His eyes locked onto Jack and he aimed the rifle straight at him.

Taura appeared at the passenger-side window and covered the driver with her pistol. "Drop it!"

He looked over his shoulder, snapped the rifle around, and fired.

Taura lunged to her left and the hail of bullets drilled into the Foundation's wall. Snarling, Taura holstered her gun, clamped her hands onto the SUV's underside, and heaved.

At the same moment, the driver turned to fire at Jack.

The SUV tilted and the driver braced his hands on the door, his mouth falling open as he found the pavement coming up toward him. Taura gave it one more push and toppled it.

Corrie clipped the chakram back onto her belt, and leaped onto the vehicle's upturned passenger side.

The door flung open and the driver sprang up, sweeping his rifle around, trying to locate Taura. Corona stomped on his arm, pinning the gun to the side panel.

Jack jammed his gun into the back of the man's helmet. "I'm using armor-piercing rounds. Don't piss me off."

The driver froze. Taura wrenched the rifle away from him, ejected the clip, and tossed them in opposite directions. Corona took her foot off his arm and backed away.

He pulled himself through the window--and suddenly jabbed his left hand toward Corona. She deflected the blow and Jack caught a glimpse of a knife tumbling through the air. The driver immediately followed up by launching his fist at her face, catching her on the end of her muzzle. The impact knocked her off-balance, but she spun with it and landed a wheel-kick to the side of his head. He staggered, and she whipped her tail around and swept his feet out from under him. She caught him as he fell and body-slammed him into the SUV's side, caving it in. She picked him up, flipped him over her head, and sent him rocketing into the street.

The pavement shattered.

Jack closed in, keeping the gun aimed at him but also keeping it out of his reach.

Taura drove her hoof into the guy's head, slamming it into the ground and knocking him out cold.

Jack grinned. "Sexy."

She blew him a kiss and looked the driver over. "Corona, do you think his armor can support the SUV's weight?"

"Let's find out." Corrie grinned, baring her sharp teeth and thumb-length fangs. She lifted the vehicle and waited for Taura to shove his legs under it. Corrie lowered the van, pinning him beneath it, and put her hands on her hips. "Looks like it can." She giggled.

"Well, he's not going anywhere." Grinning, Jack spoke into his mic. "Hoshi, it's Jack. We're coming in."

Otto tried to put his pants back on while running along with the rest of the group. He tripped on the pantlegs and faceplanted. "Uh!"

Shakira helped him up and stared at him as he pulled his pants up and fastened the button. He managed to grin at her, trying to distract himself momentarily from everything that had just come out of nowhere.

"Y'know, since you've seen me naked now, I figure it's only fair if--"

"Just get moving!" She pushed him through the door leading into the stairwell, where Rocky, Hoshi, Shadow, Ramirez, Montoya, and Hiro waited. "What now, guys?"

"There are more hostiles on the way," Hoshi said. "Splitting up to escort you out of here could be a bad tactical decision." Rocky nodded. "We'll meet up with Machiko and Winslow, find a defensible position, and hold out until Jack and the girls arrive. Once they're here, we can box the hostiles in between us."

"Sounds like a plan." Ramirez popped the magazine out of her gun while everyone else started up the stairs, and replaced it with a clip of twenty-millimeter rounds. "Where to, then?"

"First, the armory. I hate to do this, but given what may be coming, we'll have a better chance of survival if we're all armed." Shakira's mouth fell open.

Otto shrugged and held her hand again. "Whoever those guys are, they'll kill us just for being here, so I say we do what we have to do."

"That's easy to say when you've never actually killed anyone before." Ramirez gave him and Shakira a push, urging them to pick up the pace.

_To keep Shakira safe, I'd do it no matter how much it fucked me up mentally. _ He slipped his shirt over his head and shoved his arms through the sleeves, catching a glimpse of the bullet holes in the process. A shot from one of the hostiles had passed clean through him a few minutes ago, but he was unharmed. The bullet had struck Rocky in the chest when it_should _have punched through his heart instead. And then his clothes had fallen off, having apparently passed through his body just like the bullet.

How could that even happen?

"I've relayed our plan to Jack and the girls," Hoshi said, and Otto tried to focus on what was happening now. Hoshi stopped at the door two levels up from where they entered the stairwell. "They're making their way toward us now."

The rest of the group gathered behind her. Otto sat on the stairs and put on his socks and shoes.

"The armory's down that hall," Montoya said, keeping his voice low. "Hoshi, anyone in our way?"

Otto looked at the door and said, "There's five people in the hallway and two in the armory." He shook his head. "Don't ask how I know. I just...I dunno, felt them. I can't really put it into words."

"He's right," Hoshi whispered. "I'm still linked with the hallway cameras; there are five armored troops approaching the armory, and Machiko and Winslow are inside."

"Goddamn déjà vu," Rocky muttered.

Hoshi passed her confiscated assault rifle to Rocky. "Keep the civvies under cover. I'll clear the road for you."

"Without a gun?" Hiro whispered, staring at her.

"I don't want to risk hitting Machiko. Don't worry, I'll have another gun before this is over." She grasped the door handle. "Now, keep quiet, everyone."

She eased the door open, slipped through, and crept toward the five intruders. She came up behind the nearest man, grabbed the sides of his head and gave it a quick twist. She put her arm around his neck and held him up, using his dead body as a meat shield.

Two others looked over their shoulders to see what the sudden crunch was. They recoiled and spun to aim their guns at Hoshi.

She grabbed the dead guy's rifle and blasted the one on the left at point-blank range, drilling a single round through his faceplate. Before his body even started to drop, she flung her meat shield at another hostile and charged a third. She crashed her left arm down on his rifle, knocking it out of his hands, and kicked his legs out from under him. She caught him in midair and broke his neck before he hit the floor.

Two left.

They backed away from her, panicking, and hosed her down. The bullets ripped through her jacket and shirt, tore pieces of artificial skin off, but bounced off her metal skeleton and peppered the walls. She strode toward them. They ejected the spent clips and their hands trembled as they tried to insert fresh ones.

Hoshi drove her right foot into one man's knee, hitting a weak point in the armor and snapping the joint sideways. He collapsed, screaming as his knee folded in a direction it was never meant to bend, and she turned to the last man standing.

He got the clip in and raised his gun--but that was as far as he got. Hoshi deflected his aim with a punch, picked him up and hurled him through the wall. The top half of his body hung into the next room and the bottom half stuck out into the hallway. His rifle clattered to the floor inside the room and he scrambled to pick himself up.

Hoshi grabbed the front of his armor, lifted him, shoved her hand under his chin and forced his head back until his neck crunched like fresh celery.

The guy with the snapped knee scooted backward, babbling incoherently and fumbling to put the clip into his rifle. Hoshi walked up to him, squatted, grabbed his head, and twisted.

Suddenly, there was silence.

Hoshi stood and paused for a second; scanning the cameras again, Otto guessed. She turned toward the armory and said, "Clear."

Machiko appeared with a big, high-tech rifle in her hands, a katana on her belt, a huge sniper rifle with a drum magazine holstered on her back, and a cigarette clenched in her teeth. She also wore combat armor and a helmet.

Montoya stared slack-jawed at Hoshi. "I think I'm in love."

"I'm married." Hoshi walked over to Machiko.

"Just my luck."

Rocky led the others into the hallway.

"Cameras have picked up the next wave," Hoshi said. "They're not wearing armor, though; just plain black jumpsuits. And their movements are rather mechanical."

"Probably the cyber-zombies Winslow told us about." Machiko pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "Okay, choose your weapons and armor, everyone. We need to move." She glanced at Otto. "We don't have any armor your size, but if you stay under cover, you should be okay."

Oh, yeah, that's encouraging.

Shakira stepped into the armory, picked up a chest plate, and held it in trembling hands. She looked at Otto, waved a hand over her chest and abdomen, and tried to chuckle. "Well, you'll have a better chance if you hide behind the fat chick." "I'd rather hide behind the hot one." He stepped behind her, glanced at her ass, and managed to smile. "If this ends up being the last thing I ever see, I think I'd be okay with that."

Shakira rolled her eyes and focused on the armor in her hands. "Okay, can someone show me how to put this on?"

Hoshi paused long enough to secure the latches on the chest and back plates, then picked up a huge assault rifle.

Rocky opened a cupboard and grabbed a first aid kit. "Guess sticking a few of these in the armory was a good call, huh?"

"Well, given what happened the last time we got pinned down in the armory, it made sense." Shadow finished latching her armor and grabbed a set for Hiro.

Rocky pulled her shirt up, quickly disinfected the bullet wound in her left breast, and secured a thick bandage over it with surgical tape. "Best I can do at the moment," she muttered, and reached for an assault rifle.

Once everyone had finished gearing up, Machiko locked the armory and took point.

"We should find a large, open room with plenty of cover in one spot," Hiro said. "That way, they'll be exposed, but we won't."

"Yep." Machiko nodded at the door leading to the stairwell. "I know just the place. Let's get going."

[We're in the garage,] Hoshi said over the comlinks. [We'll take cover and make our stand here; no chance of bystanders being hit. You come in behind the hostiles and we'll catch them between us. Once we've dealt with them, we'll escort Winslow to a safe place before they send another wave after us.]

"Got it," Jack said, keeping his voice low as they crept down the stairs from the ground floor.

Corona glanced at the camera feeds in her HUD. The men in black jumpsuits had reached the small parking garage under the building and were fanning out to cover more ground.

"What about Lefty and Mickey?" she whispered. "And the bots?"

[The enemy hasn't hit Lefty's workshop; they're all coming to back us up. So is Boiler.]

"Good. We're almost there." She glanced at the video feeds again and counted ten hostiles. "Well, on the bright side, once we get rid of these guys, that's ten fewer we'll have to face when we hit Argus later."

"Great. Take whatever we can get, I guess."

The sound of gunfire made Corona jump slightly. It was muffled but loud enough to be heard from the garage two levels below the ground floor.

"Better hurry," Taura whispered, and all three of them increased their pace.

[The hostiles aren't wearing armor, but they're still functioning after we've pumped multiple bullets into them. They're either cyborgs or the zombie troops Winslow told us about. Be sure to use armor-piercing or incendiary rounds.]

"Got it."

The gunfire grew increasingly louder until they reached the garage level. Taura dug her 'tool out of her pocket, gave one side of it a double-tap, and a hard-light interface appeared in front of her. She pocketed the device and the display remained in front of her as she took a position beside the door. Corona and Jack took the opposite side of the door.

Corona reached out and grasped the handle. She pulled the huge mecha rifle from her back and glanced at the camera feed again to locate the hostiles.

"Ready?" she whispered.

Jack and Taura nodded.

Corona pulled the door open, charged through, and took cover behind Rocky's truck. Jack and Taura crouched behind her, and all of them winced at each deafening, echoing gunshot.

"Scanning them." Taura touched a button in her holofield and watched lines of info appear in a new window.

Corona leaned around the front of the truck for a peek at the action. Ten hostiles stood out in the open, hosing down the team's position behind Machiko's car and a pair of vans. Their bullets tore into the vehicles, shattering headlights and windows and blasting chunks of metal across the ground.

Suddenly, five of them stopped. Moving in unison, they turned and stared directly at Corona.

She ducked behind the truck just as they opened fire, pulled her wings in tight and covered her head with her arms.

The driver's-side front tire exploded and her heart almost launched through her chest.

"They detected my scan." Taura gaped at her holofield, shook herself out of it, and tapped another button. "Let's see if I can jam their targeting systems."

Corona waited for the shooting to stop, peeked around the front of the truck, and found the cyber-zombies standing still, glancing around and shifting their aim hesitantly. She grinned and aimed at the nearest one. A target reticle appeared in her HUD, tracking along with the movements of her arms and hands. She moved the crosshairs onto the dude's head and fired a single shot.

The bullet blew half of his head off. Metal and plastic shrapnel sprayed through the air, along with chunks of skull and brain. He staggered, but remained on his feet.

What? Corona ducked back under cover, eyes wide and muzzle hanging open, and flinched as more bullets ripped into the truck. Just..._what?_

Taura frowned at her display. "The cyberization process must be more thorough than we thought. I'm picking up multiple redundancies as well as a secondary control unit in the abdominal area, behind extra armor plating. Bloody hell, what they_did_ to those poor people--"

An enemy round punched through the truck and drilled into her left side. She let out a brief shriek, then sighed with relief when she realized it hadn't penetrated.

"Taura!" Jack reached out to her, but she waved him off.

"I'm okay, my armor stopped it." She took another slow breath.

Corona growled. "That's it. Let's take 'em out!"

Jack nodded and scooted over to the truck's rear. He lunged out, popped off several shots, and ducked back.

The zombies blasted away, spraying the wall in front of the truck, but none of their shots hit less than a yard away from him. Whatever Taura had done, it hadn't worn off yet.

Corona took a slow breath, released it, and poked her head up over the truck's hood. As she took aim at the damaged zombie, Machiko appeared from behind one of the vans and drilled another zombie in the back with her plasma rifle. She blazed a steady stream into its back and burn through its spine before it could turn and acquire a target. It took a few stumbling steps and collapsed, but continued moving its legs as if trying to walk.

Jack shuddered. "Oh, that shit ain't right." He blasted half his clip into the zombie's head, and finally it stopped moving. The rest opened fire on Corona again, but none of their shots came close.

Then, suddenly, their aim steadied and a hail of bullets peppered her chest plate. She squeaked and dived behind the truck. A damage report appeared in her HUD and she sighed. "I'm okay."

"They cut off wireless access," Taura muttered. "I can't hack their systems now."

"Guess we'll just have to use brute force, then." Corona rolled out into the open, staying prone to make herself a smaller target, and emptied her rifle into the nearest zombies. Each shot punched through their bodies and blasted huge pieces out of them. The one in the middle was nearly cut in half by one shot, and toppled over. The torso propped itself up on one arm and continued firing.

Corona's last bullet took another's head off, bursting it like a rotten watermelon. Corona scooted back behind the truck and holstered the empty rifle.

A quick burst from Hoshi's gun drew the remaining zombies' attention back to her, but did little actual damage.

Jack shoved a fresh clip into his gun and stood long enough to fire several rounds into the nearest zombie's back. It faced him and aimed its rifle. Jack dropped back under cover, glanced at Corona and Taura, and shook his head.

"We're gonna need bigger guns."

Boiler landed on the rooftop behind the Justice Foundation and sprinted to the edge facing the alley between them. She left her bracelet phone in comlink mode and locked it around her wrist. "Okay, I'm here. Talk to me, Hoshi."

[We're handling the hostiles inside the building, but there are more in vehicles waiting outside. I've also detected another wave approaching on the traffic cameras. We need you to keep them off our backs until we can clear out the building.]

"On it." Boiler found the fire escape and descended, crept up to the building's corner and peeked around. "How worried should I be about collateral damage?"

[I used our emergency override protocols to manipulate traffic lights and direct traffic away from us. I also sent out an emergency bulletin to every phone in the area to warn people to stay clear. There are no non-combatants currently within four blocks of our headquarters. There may be people inside the other buildings, so I recommend you don't go _ too _wild.]

"That's better than I expected it to be." Boiler grinned. The Foundations's law-enforcement connections were paying off. She drew her cannon and flicked it to its lowest setting. She'd gotten it from her parents' weaponry and gadget supplier a few weeks ago; it could blast a tank wide open with one shot. She'd used it against a seemingly indestructible federal marshal who'd targeted her parents, and had been more than happy with its performance.

Given how violent the gun's lower settings were, she was glad to have a bit of a margin in case she needed to crank it up a few notches.

She leaned around the corner again and took a longer look. On the street, an armored man lay pinned beneath an overturned SUV. Another wearing the same armor lifted the vehicle while a third dragged the momentarily trapped man out from under it. A fourth man stood beside them, turning slowly, sweeping the street with his helmet cameras.

His blank faceplate passed by Boiler's position and he froze.

She winced. Too late to duck out of sight. She waited to see what he did before making any moves herself.

He aimed his rifle straight at her and opened fire.

She lurched back around the corner. High-velocity bullets sprayed the Foundation's side and drilled into the trash bin behind her. She waited for the shooting to stop, stepped out long enough to take aim, and pulled the trigger.

The gun's muzzle flash was almost as long as her arm. Whatever it fired was invisible, but it ripped the SUV's front end apart and sent it flipping end-over-end, getting rid of three of the hostiles at the same time. The concussion knocked the fourth guy off his feet.

The vehicle's wreckage tumbled into the alley across the street, narrowly missing the front of an office building.

"Shit!" Boiler grimaced and holstered the gun. I gotta be careful with this thing. She strode into the street and reached for her fourteen-millimeter Glock as she approached the survivor. She kicked his rifle out of his reach and took a heavy duty zip-tie from her belt. Taking at least one of these guys alive would give the team a chance to find some answers.

She leaned down to roll him over--and he whipped his leg out, swept her feet out from under her, and did a reverse-somersault. He came up in a crouch and pulled a Bowie knife from his belt.

Boiler picked herself up. The blade hissed through the air and she lunged away. She caught a glimpse of the man shifting his stance and thrusting the knife straight toward her. She snapped her left arm up and deflected the blow.

He swung his other arm around and his fist hit the side of her head just hard enough to distract her. She blinked and shook her head to clear it, giving him a second to swipe his blade at her again. She lunged to the right and twisted sideways, grasped his wrist as the blade passed within inches of her chest, and yanked him off balance. She cocked her other arm back and jerked him toward her while launching her arm at him at the same time. Both met halfway and the impact knocked him off his feet and dislocated his shoulder. He screamed and dropped his knife.

She snarled, clamped her talons around his helmet, pulled him up and rocketed his head into the pavement. The blacktop cracked into a spiderweb pattern and the guy turned ragdoll on her. She stood, sighed, and spoke into her phone. So much for taking one of 'em alive.

"I took care of these four. Any others here?"

[Only the approaching wave. They're in four SUVs and they're the only vehicles in the area, so you can't miss them. They're coming from the east.]

"I'm on it." She turned to the east, ducked back into the alley, crouched and waited out of sight for them to arrive.

Another zombie's head exploded and Jack spun around and threw himself behind what was left of Rocky's truck to avoid the spray of cybernetic components and brain chunks.

"That's fuckin' nasty," he muttered, and checked his ammo. "I'm down to about half a clip."

"One clip left," Corona said, and glanced around, frowning.

The four remaining zombies suddenly fanned out across the garage, moving quickly away from the fallen bodies.

"What the hell?" Jack scowled at them before dropping back behind the truck. "They're in an awful hurry to get away from--" Corona held up a hand. "You hear that?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

Taura's ears pricked up. "Yeah."

Corona looked around and zeroed in on the bodies. The tip of her tail twitched. "High-pitched sound."

"Yeah, but that's just my ears ringing." Jack peeked over the wrecked truck again.

"It's coming from the zombies." Taura gasped and shared a wide-eyed look with Corona.

"Self-destruct?" Corrie said.

"Let's not wait around to find out."

Jack spoke into his helmet mic. "Guys, the bodies--"

[I've detected an energy spike,] Hoshi said. [Something in those bodies is building up to detonation.]

"Move it!" Machiko snapped. "Run!" She pushed Winslow into Shadow's hands and waved everyone on, waiting for the rest of her group to sprint toward the far end of the garage and following them.

"Hurry!" Corona braced her hand on Jack's back and gave him a shove that propelled him toward the stairwell door.

A blinding light erupted behind them, followed by a shockwave that slammed him forward. His feet left the ground and he plowed into the wall. He shook his head and started to pick himself up. Muffled screams came from all around him.

Another body blew and something massive crushed him against the wall. He tried to call out to Corona and Taura, but he couldn't breathe. Consciousness slipped away and the screams faded to a dull murmur.

He managed to moan softly before darkness engulfed him.