Soldiers without Flaws
#4 of Project: SENTINEL
A new chapter! Yay!
I apologize for any grammar mistakes or mistyping; English isn't my first language, and I'm still improving, but I think I'm fairly decent at it.
A collab with Rainbows and Twilight!
Check the original HERE!
This time, we get something more.. awesome! Also, tons of references! See if you can find any!
So, here it is! My fourth chapter!
As Liam and Nick entered the building, the cat immediately noticed two things.
The first being that the building was a storage facility. The whole structure was filled with crates of all different sizes stacked in a haphazard manner; the ambiguous sorting system a mystery to the pair of officers that had just entered in pursuit of the last two thieves.
The second thing was that proceeding down the room, they took notice that the building was strangely empty like it had been evacuated priorly. That brought both a feeling of relief and wariness to the two mammals; the lack of civilians would facilitate the course of the operation, but it didn't exactly explain to them why the whole building was abandoned, while it was clear that everything being in an ordinary state.
Slowly approaching the door to the other side of the room, Liam signaled Nick to take position. The vulpine nodded and went to the side of the door, while the cat took the opposite side, and started to count down from three.
Liam dashed through the door, immediately spotting the two mammals; a husky and a hyena forcing the doe to walk. Raising his gun on instinct, he took aim and scored a bullet on the leg of the hyena, prompting his pain filled yelp and fall.
The other canine whirled around and started to shoot, forcing Liam to lay low against the crates neatly piled up on the side to avoid having his body riddled with bullets.
He peeked around the corner to see the husky drag the other mammal behind some crates while holding the doe at gunpoint.
"You aim that fuckin' pistol at me again, and I'll blow her pretty head off, ya hear me?!" The cat heard the pain filled yell of, he presumed, the hyena coming from the other side of the room.
He looked around from his position to locate Nick, and he was pleasantly surprised, and also horrified, to find him on the other side of the room, quietly sneaking behind the crates, completely silent, gun low.
"You both know how's this going to end. Why don't you make my day, be good puppies, and let me arrest you? You do that, and I won't hurt you. Much." Might as well wing it, and be a distraction on purpose. He swore he saw the little shit grin.
"Might I point out that just one of the mammals present is canine in genus?" Alan noted pulling up a map of the building.
"Yeah, and you could suck my dick while you're at it!" The angry yell of the hyena was music to his ears. He kept his eyes zeroed on the Fox, watching him slink around the two unaware idiots.
"Oh no, thank you. You see, I'm not fond of bipedal, five feet tall, angry dicks. I prefer the cynical, cunning type." He replied humorously.
He got a strangled choke in response at the unexpected answer. He smirked as the fox was in position, his gun aimed at the pair.
"Watch out!"
The yell of the husky made Liam vault over the crates and sprint to the nearest covered spot, shooting at the crates to keep the mammals at bay. Nick's pellet broke across the doe's flesh, as the husky had used her as a meat shield, and she fell, convulsions debilitating her body.
"Fuckin' blue!" The hyena swore, and shot two bullets at Nick, one grazing lightly on his ear, the other missing overhead. The cat growled lowly to himself, and sprinted past his cover to use a forklift's overhead guard as a springboard, and landed successfully on the crates that the two mammals were hiding behind, the level difference giving him the edge.
The second round from Nick scored on the husky's right leg, and the dog howled in surprised pain. To Liam's astonishment, he ran through the door and entered the other room. His disbelief was cut short as he heard the click of a gun, and, only thanks to his heightened reflexes, was able to shoot the hyena before the mammal could score a bullet on Nick.
The mammal went limp a moment after the bullet had penetrated his skull, spraying the floor with blood. Liam tch'-ed in distaste at the sight; he had to do what was necessary. If Nick were in danger, the cat's priorities would switch to the fastest way to eliminate the threat, or ensure the protection of his charge.
Speaking of his charge, he looked to his left and was met with the grim sight of a wide-eyed Nicholas.
"While I do commend you for your valorous act, you failed to account for the fact that this might be the first time our charge has been in firefight, let alone one with blood and gore; I would suggest that you snap him out of whatever state he is in, before it compromises our mission" Alan chastised worriedly
"Wilde." He quickly dropped from the crates, rounded the body, and placed a paw on the Fox's shoulder.
"Wilde!." But he got no answer.
"Nick!" He tried again, shaking him slightly. This time, the Fox flinched slightly and looked at him, surprise etched on his face, as if seeing him for the first time.
"You shot him." Not a question. A statement. Nick's eyes returned to the body.
"Hey, hey." Liam shook the Fox once more. "I want you to look at me." Wide, impossible green met stern, icy blue.
His request granted Liam sighed. "I want you to breathe in, slowly, through your nose." He put his forearm under the fox's nose so that the poor mammal wouldn't be able to smell the coppery scent of blood.
"And now exhale... That's it... Once more..." Three times, the fox inhaled, and three times exhaled, never breaking eye contact. Liam could feel the shivers subside, and he nodded at the Fox.
"Now, repeat after me. 'Liam did what he had to do. If he didn't, I would've died'".
Nick repeated, slowly. He did so one more time, before nodding to the cat, who smiled approvingly at his actions.
"Now!," The feline patted the fox's cheeks twice, led him through the door, purposefully shielding the fox from the corpse's sight, and leaned him against the wall, so he could recover from the shock.
"-You stay here until you're feeling better." Making sure that he was okay, the cat started to walk ahead.
"I have a mutt to catch."
The husky didn't actually go that far, just a room away; the sneaky little shit had ambushed Liam with a close quarters approach, almost succeeding in snatching the cat's gun after jumping off one of the storage shelves near the door.
They brawled on the floor, each trying to gain the upper hand, only for the dog to knee Liam in the stomach, effectively cutting the feline's breath, before grabbing the pistol and rolling away from the lieutenant.
The cat's eyes widened as the black barrel of the WP99 aimed at his head and quickly kicked the dog in the crotch, earning a satisfying yelp of pain, so much pain.
"Well, there they go..." Alan murmured painfully, pitying the poor dog more and more as the poor canine kneeled in pain, clutching his poor jewels.
It was in that exact moment that Nick Wilde entered the room, gun high, and spotted them in their predicament. Raising an eyebrow, he met Liam's sheepish grimace with a confused stare, only for the cat to point at the kneeling dog; Nick got the message and shot from the lieutenant's Glock 17, hitting the canine on the side.
Liam seized the moment as the toxin contained in the pellet entered the husky's system, sprinting to him in order to perform a full takedown on the dangerous mammal. He was two mere feet away when said criminal's eyes snapped open and, with an angry snarl, lashed out with his leg, kicking the cat in the gut, cutting his breath off and sending him flying away.
Liam didn't actually see the kick per se. It was an unexpectedly fast movement that even his trained eyes couldn't pick up, and the result of the carelessness of his actions was a painful blow that almost broke his spine with just the sheer force of the impact.
He flew in, and through, the wall on the other side of the room; the impact raised an immense amount of dust that covered the small area. He slammed on the ground and rolled to a stop with a groan.
"Lieutenant!"
He ground his teeth as he pushed through the pulsing, protesting, pain emanating from his abdomen, and rose to a crouch, paw cradling the damaged area. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see the bastard through the descending dust, and the sight made his eyes widen in shock.
Red. A vivid, pulsing red. That was the first thing that his irises captured before the color took shape. The husky's pained smirk was irritating, but the shifting plates that were covering his body were the major concern of the cat. The red, tiny, metallic parts were covering the canine from head to toe at a frightening pace, shifting, combining and hardening to take an intimidating shape.
Under the span of ten seconds, the plates covered the husky, and a single eye lens glowed crimson, signaling the full deployment of the armor. Without warning, the blasted dog turned around and raised his gun toward Nick.
Liam's eyes, wide enough that his eyeballs could've popped out, shifted to an angry frown. Hand lashing out, a cable ejected out of his right hand's glove, and attached itself to the bastard's hand. With a harsh tug, the dog's aim changed and missed the fox by an inch, who dove behind a shelf full of crates.
The armor stilled for a moment, switched the pistol on the left hand, and grabbed the cable. Liam's eyes widened.
"Uh-oh."
The ungodly strength applied to the pull was something that Liam couldn't hope to achieve with his current conditions. Under the blink of an eye, the armor pulled, spun around, and let go.
The cat's disbelief rose as he found himself staring at the passing clouds on the roof of the building.
"Al." He called to the shepherd. "What is that?"
"That battle armor looks to be a bastardized version of yours," Alan replied, stunned that there was another entity out there with enough tech to create an armor system even remotely close to the ANSA; there would be a report on the desk of the director tomorrow morning, a long one.
Digesting the information, Liam inhaled sharply, before letting out an exploding huff. He rose to his knees and narrowed his eyes.
"Aegis, activate primary system." His voice gained a second, robotic tinge, as a silvery, liquid-like metal started to flow from his back unit, the I.P.H.U.; millions of minuscule plates started to form a solid, unblemished, silver coloured surface.
'Aegis Neural System, activated. Primary system protocol, engaged.'
Liam's eyes wandered downward, resting on his, now armored, right hand, with the cable still attached to, supposedly, the dog's hand; it brought a smirk to his face.
'Warning, critical threat detected. Target is at 10.728 feet away from Nicholas Wilde. Engage immediately.'
"Activate strength module."
Blood started to pump faster, as the armor produced specific chemicals to provoke the production of adrenaline in the feline's body.
'Strength module, engaged. Armor mode activated.'
'Waypoint, updated. Objectives, updated. Protect Nicholas Wilde from the critical threat.'
Two small diamond shaped targets appeared on his HUD, one green and the other one red, with two specific objectives.
'Eliminate the Target. Suggested location, this rooftop. Multiple paths to engage. Proceed as you see fit.'
Liam pulled.
Dean Griggs panted loudly from inside the armor. Whatever the Fox shot him with, was taking its toll on his body, slowing his reflexes and speed immensely. He groaned as another wave of pain surged through, making his grip on the gun falter for a moment.
Growling, he ground his teeth and tensed his arm's muscles, forcing his hand to clench the pistol's grip and started to make his way to the Fox behind the crates.
"This is Officer Wilde, I have a 10-35! I need immediate backup!"
Whatever the mammal on the other end was trying to say was cut off by Dean's bullet grazing the fox's left ear, prompting a surprised yelp and a curse the vulpine.
The cop retaliated with three blind shots in his general direction, but only one hit its mark, bouncing off of his plated neck harmlessly. The dog didn't flinch, nor did he falter in his steps.
Until the motion sensor on his Heads-Up Display pointed a fast approaching being, right behind him. Whirling around, he fired two precise shots; the aiming module installed in the suit allowed him to shoot multiple bullets in sequence without recoil.
It was sheer skill, and a bit of dumb luck, on Judy's part to dive on her side as she heard the first gunshot go off. The first bullet tore a hole through Judy Hopp's right ear, and the second stopped in her left arm. Her pained scream tore through the building as she fell on the ground.
"JUDY!" The fox's yell was filled with painful concern for the rabbit, and Dean was almost amused at the pathetic display that the prey had shown.
Almost, because the cable on his wrist tensed. And then, started to pull.
It wasn't a gentle tug. Or a tug at all. He was standing in front of the writhing mammal in the first moment, and then he was flying at high speed through the roof, made a complete loop, and smashed against a wall. The concrete caved in due to the impact and his weight, and he went flying through the whole building, ending on the other side of it.
Dazed, he slowly stood up, and instinctively shook his head to try and clear the sudden wave of nausea that the flight caused. His motion sensors went haywire, as a crimson spot appeared on his radar, just two feet away from him. Lashing out behind him with a kick, he felt the limb connect with something hard, and heard the distinct sound of metal against metal.
Looking behind, his eyes narrowed as an armored suit's single crimson eye stared right at him, as if the intensity of the gaze could pierce his own protection.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked brusquely. The impact hadn't exactly hurt, per se; The armor ensured a top notch protection against almost everything, but the body could only take a certain amount of pressure before it started to show signs of distress.
The guy didn't answer him, and he felt his irritation flare at the tough-and-silent attitude this guy was giving him.
"Ya know, when someone asks you a damn question, you're supp-"
"Irrelevant."
The double layered voice had a disturbing bass edge that made it sound almost robotic, and Dean got a really disturbing shiver with that feeling.
The fact that he got interrupted, with a rude as hell comment, finally registered. Letting out a growl, he punched the armor as fast as he could, and his hand became a red streak for a moment.
He didn't expect an equally fast, if not faster, gray streak intercept, divert, grab his wrist, pass it on the other side, and slam his open palm in his elbow's joint. With a thundering crack, his right limb snapped backward, and flopped around, broken and useless.
He stared dumbly, before his brain's pain receptors flared to life for a moment, only for the armor to inject inhibitors, effectively cutting the information traveling from the limb to the brain.
He looked at the impassive gray suit and narrowed his eyes in barely suppressed anger.
Time for payback.
It was a pitiful sight. He had been intimidated by the sudden appearance of the armor like a rookie and paid the mistake like one. He should've remembered his training, should've remembered who he was, but the shock of seeing... this had caught him off guard, and Judy was paying the price a floor below.
He was aware that his mission was to protect Nicholas, and only Nicholas, but he couldn't shake the feeling of guiltiness that assaulted him when he heard the fox's yell of horror at seeing his partner being injured. The armor's gentle presence covered that feeling with a slight layer of cold calmness.
He stared at the crimson armor, a frown on his lips.
'Scanning critical threat, processing.'
'Auto - armor, engaged. Auto - strength, engaged. You may proceed.'
Without warning, Dean shot toward the enemy, aiming his right fist toward to his midsection, only for the opponent to deflect the blow and retaliate with a frontal kick to his left knee, hoping to score a hit, and possibly snap his bone.
Foot met knee, though the latter did not yield to the strong attack. The inconel plates absorbed, and dispersed the force of the impact, reducing the impulse of the kick such that the force behind was only that of the husky's musculature.
The powerful kick had been nullified with a bit of physical strength and metal.
Taking advantage of the moment of stillness, the cat grabbed the foe's foot, lifted it up, making him stumble at the sudden shift of his center of gravity, and lashed out with a kick, hitting the red suit with a devastating blow on his chest.
The husky was lifted off the ground, and sailed through the air for a good moment, enough to flip in mid air and land on all fours, preventing further damage and humiliation.
He couldn't react fast enough to block, or even dodge the fist aimed at the back of his head, so he ended face first in the concrete, the force enough to crack the floor and vibrate the whole structure.
The red suit retaliated with an angry snarl, and a fist, striking his gray opponent' shoulder, unbalancing him. Sweeping the floor with his right leg, he clicked his tongue as his move failed, the armored feline hopping just above his limb.
Kicking the floor with his left leg, propelling himself toward the guy, and tackling him to the ground. He immediately started punching the suit below him, only to meet an unbreakable barrier that his opponent's forearm was.
Dean started to build a rhythm, when the gray armor suddenly bucked his hips, dislodging him in the process, and found himself on the receiving end of a two open palm strike directly to his abdomen; the force applied actually lifted him a good three feet in the air.
Taking the advantage, the cat reached out, grasping Dean's nape and right arm, twisting the limb behind the dog's back. Turning around the canine, he pulled, and the momentum dictated that Dean had to be thrown away with a spinning motion four meters away.
Using the inertia from the throw, the cat jumped through the air, landing near his criminal counterpart, before scoring a punch powerful enough to crack his opponent's armor plates. Relentless, the feline grabbed Dean's left arm and flipped him belly up.
With a flick of his wrist, the handle of the Mk-2 prototype blade detached itself from the plated glove. Another flick deployed the grayish, almost black, blade with a white outline; The inconel plates shifted, taking form so fast that the blade seemed to pop out of nowhere; the whole length of it shivered as a blue arc of electricity wafted along the temper line.
'Critical threat scan, in progress. Data acquired, 54%.'
Grasping the hilt with an iron grip, he raised the lethal tool above the armored dog's head, ready to cut it off with a single, clean, motion.
Without warning, the suit sprung to life, and grabbed his ankle - with his broken arm- and hurled him across the rooftop.
Digging his claws through the concrete to stop his tumbling, the gray-suited cat glared ahead, as Dean rose swiftly from the ground without a care for his dangling, broken limb.
"Dysfunction detected, primary motor systems impaired. Rerouting power systems."
The feline's gaze zeroed on the blinking, crimson eye on his opponent's visor, and allowed himself to frown thoughtfully at the blatant information that he was gaining.
'They even have an AI installed on it. Question is, is it weak, or strong?'
"Unknown threat detected, analyzing."
The was something... wrong with the way the AI spoke. He couldn't point the specific detail that gave that feeling away, but it had to be its speech pattern.
"Al. Break it down." The cat mumbled in the armor's microphone.
"The armor really shouldn't be able to do that; there should be some operator protection protocol, also note that there is no duality in the voice which leads me to believe that the 'AI' has commandeered the armor; that would indicate at least some level of consciousness, but I don't think that ACORP has created an actual strong AI... so it is probably a very advanced daemon..." Alan rambled, dissecting the situation rather quickly.
The cat frowned, staring at the suit in front of him with a passive glance, filtering the information and connecting the links to what he already knew.
"...GenSys?" He asked a heartbeat later.
"Possibly, I have been hearing that name an awful lot around the office lately. We were told that there would be unknowns... GenSys could very well be what we are ultimately up against." Alan replied thoughtfully.
'Critical threat scan, in progress. Data acquired, 76%.'
Liam readied his sword as Aegis pinged the percentage once more, and breathed in, his whole body tensing with the motion.
"Should I subdue him..?" The cat asked his handler in a tight whisper as his sword started to hum and vibrate, electric arcs dancing on the whole length of the blade.
"TRY to subdue him; but if the mission is compromised lethal force is authorized," Alan responded.
'Heh... "Try," he said.' The cheeky smirk unwillingly appeared on the cat's face, and a certain mad, purple striped feline would've been proud.
Without warning, the crimson suit propelled itself toward Liam, and, only with dumb luck, the cat decided that dodging left, instead of right, was a better choice. Deflecting the right punch aimed at him with his left wrist, he smacked the other fist away with the flat of his sword.
Exposed, the dog retaliated, kneeing the cat on his left side, making the cat ground his teeth through the sudden sting caused by the strength of his opponent. The feline struck the side of the knee to successfully unbalance the canine and responded with a slash on the same limb. The vibrations on the white edge allowed the blade to cut the metal with the ease akin to hot knife through butter.
The stump started to bleed profusely, but the armor plates on the foot immediately left said limb to close the wound on the injured tight, creating an artificial support to rest. The construction happened in under the span of two seconds; plenty of time for the Aegis user to close the distance in between, and kick the Crimson user off of his feet.
The flight ended with Aegis grabbing the crimson's head and smashing it on the edge of the roof, breaking the concrete with two more hits.
With a growl, he pierced the armor, and the floor below, with the H.F. Blade; the high current completing its circuit and discharging the sword with a whitish blue shockpulse.
The armor deactivated with a dying whirling sound, and, finally, the being went limp.
'Critical threat scan, in progress. Data acquired, 98%.'
'Critical threat, successfully subdued.'
'Waypoints, updated. Objective, updated. Return to Nicholas Wilde, As Soon As Possible.'
'That'll be more than enough for Alan to play with.' He nodded to himself and retrieved his inconel blade, tugging it with a wet squelch.
'Warning, critical increase of temperature on waypoint #2. Imminent discharge. Evacuate, IMMEDIATELY.'
"Get out of there!" The panicked yell of the dog made Liam act on instinct and a stupid hunch.
He jumped off the roof.
The subsequent, fiery explosion further cemented that decision.
"Well, at least I tried." Liam said to himself as his armor retreated off his body with metallic snicking sounds
The sight he got when he exited through the trashed building was not pretty. Judy's ear and arm had been bandaged, but blood was staining the cloth of the former quickly; he remembered that bunny's ears were full of blood vessels, and also pretty delicate. He could only imagine the pain that Judy was going through in that moment.
"Did you already call the ambulance?" The voice startled both mammals, and he couldn't help but grimace in sympathy. This was, probably, their first time dealing with lethal guns, and definitely their first time in seeing deaths. He got two tired nods at his question.
Feeling, again, that strange guiltiness at not being able to protect Judy from harm, this time without the Aegis tampering with his emotions, made him gulp a sour knot in his throat. He decided to achieve something productive to distract himself, and quickly reached for the car's radio.
"This is Lieutenant Reed, reporting for the 10-10, over." He huffed, feeling drained from the fight with the armored husky, and leaned on the car for support.
"This is Clawhauser, what's your status, Lt.? Over." The chirpy voice of the plump cheetah piped in response, and Liam fought the urge to groan at the overload of sugar in it.
"Targets are subdued, the hostages are safe, and the bombs have been defused." He sighed, pawing his eyes for a second to re-organize the second part of his thoughts. "We have... Two injured officers, with a fourth with just a grazing wound, and two dead mammals out of the seven criminals. Over"
"Roger, Lt. I'll inform Chief Bogo of the situation. Over and out." The, now serious and professional, voice of Clawhauser made him smile a bit. The cheetah liked to fool around, but he took his job seriously; he could respect that.
He heard the wailing siren of the ambulance making way to their position, and he reached out to Judy with his hand, offering his support to Nick in moving her in the car's seat.
"How's the wound, Hopps?" He asked, surprising himself at being worried for her well being. She grimaced, and a slight whimper left her mouth as her ear twitched; an instinctual habit, mused Liam.
"Could be better, but I'm doing fine." He smiled thinly at the blatant lie; her lip was trembling in pain, and her hand was sweating, but he didn't call her on it. The ambulance was here, and that was all that mattered.
"Are you hurt, Lt.?" The question came, surprisingly, from Nick. Liam turned around to face the Fox, a quizzical look on his visage. "I saw you being kicked through a wall, and then through a roof." He clarified.
Oh. That.
He saw Judy gape at both of them, confused amethysts darting between both predators, full of questions.
'Well, shit.'
"I'm more resilient than I look, Nick." The cat patted his sides to show he was telling the truth. "Sure, I feel sore all over, but nothing a few nights won't correct." He waved the fox's concerned look with a hand.
Nick's look told him that he didn't convince the fox of his status, but Liam couldn't say anything else besides that.
'Hey, I just fought and defeated an advanced armored suit designed to seek and possibly destroy you. You're in luck because I happen to have a specifically designed armor, but my job is to protect you!' Easy.
"How 'bout you and Hopps get to the hospital, while I go back to Bogo and report?" The feline suggested with a weary smile at the prospect of talking with the Buffalo. He sure as hell won't be happy to know the result of these events.
Thankfully, Nick stopped with the questions, and helped Judy get in the ambulance with the other injured officer, but not before glancing at the cat with a 'We're not done, yet' look.
He shrugged, and entered the bullet-riddled car, starting the engine on the second try. Passing by them, he lowered the car's window.
"I'm making dinner tonight. You both okay with fried tuna?" The seemingly random question startled both mammals into a laugh, giving their assents to the Wildcat.
Gunning the engine, he speeded past the other ZPD unit cars and headed to the precinct.
"Joy."
Is it good? Is it bad? T** hank you for your patience in reading this, I appreciate it!**
Also, I do not own Zootopia, just my own OC's!