A line of armored military vehicles poured through the open gate to the UNSC's headquarters at fort Harmony. Overhead the sky was a deep blue green in the early morning dawn, while the street before the compound was lit in alternating beams of bright yellow light spilling from the headlights of passing Humvees. Floodlights inside the compound were on, waving back and forth over the tarmac as teams of men marched in groups towards their waiting vehicles.
The amount of firepower they brought with them would have been awe inspiring, but after years of warring on alien planets, Anin dueling circles, and literally overloading an energy core made out of his own soul to kill Cthulhu, Adam had to admit that the showing was less impressive than the average person might have thought it was.
Sitting in the bushes, across the street and not 100 meters away from all this, he couldn't help but smile to himself, "And to think all of this, just for little ol' me, how flattering."
"I aspire to your level of notoriety." Maverick whispered from the darkness. You would think someone as ghostly pale as er wouldn't be nearly as good at stealth as she was, but even so, staring into the darkness, he could just barely make out her outline against the black, and that was only because he knew she was there.
"Ok, so I know this might sound crazy, but hear me out." Ramirez began.
Adam could almost hear Maverick rolling her eyes.
He knew that the two of them had gone on a few dates in the past month or so, but he wasn't entirely sure if they were "dating" whatever they had still resembled more of an intense friendship than any kind of romantic relationship. Honestly, Adam had assumed that Maverick wasn't capable of producing romantic feelings, and so far that perception had not changed. Whatever relationship the two of them had it had only grown more companionably antagonistic and competitive over the intervening months.
"So if we manage to sneak in.... and you know do this thing.... And the president is in there, and he is an asshole probably working for Kazna. And you know since we are already there..... it would only be convenient-"
"We are not assassinating the president."
"But why not." The British isles had a lovely word to describe the type of tone Ramirez took: Winging. Wining like a kid who didn't understand why they couldn't go out for fast food when mom says there is 'food at home'.
"Because we are better than that."
"Are we though." Maverick said, shrugging once as he turned a disapproving expression on her.
Sunny shifted a few feet away from him, "You know this is suspiciously like when batman or superman refuses to kill a villain, puts them in Arkham, just for the villain to escape and kills even more people? And you wonder Maybe batman and Superman are inadvertently causing the death of hundreds of more people because they won't just kill the Joker."
"Did you just make a pop culture reference?" Adam asked, knowing the answer but quite stunned.
"So what if I did."
He grinned, "You are so hot right now."
Maverick groaned, "Oh get a room, you aren't even a comic nerd."
"That's where you're wrong! Superman was an alien from outer space, so if you think I wasn't all over that shit, then you would be incorrect., But back to my earlier point, we aren't going to kill him for the same reason batman and superman don't kill people because how is it our right the make that decision? As soon as we kill him we declare ourselves judge jury and executioner with the divine right to decide the fate of others. If we choose to do that we are no better than the people that we fight."
"This is heading suspiciously towards a discussion about weather the ends justify the means."
Adam crossed his arms, "Well I will answer that question for you. The ends do NOT justify the means and since I am the boss what I say goes."
"Are we all going to ignore the part where he compares himself to batman." Said Maverick, her teasing voice rising from the shadows."
The banter might have continued for another couple of minutes, but then their implants crackled to life, "The last Humvee is leaving the compound. They are calling in another round of guards, but this is going to be your best bet at getting inside without being seen. If you don't make it in in the next two minutes, out of sight of the cameras, there is nothing I can do to help you. Go, Now."
In an instant all the mirth and amusement was gone, and the four of them were hurrying across the road, heading straight for the armed perimeter fence with its DNA coded cannons. Adam looked up and saw the little blinking blue light on top of the camera where the ball drone had seated itself, working to hold the camera on the last image it had seen just a few seconds before.
However, just because the turrets were down didn't mean that the fence was unguarded, it still had all the low tec security fences had had for the last thousand years or so.
Electricity, and a line of coiled barbed wire at the top.
Adam reached down into his pocket and unfolded a wide rubber circle almost as tall as he was, and threw it at the fence.
There was a short crackle, and then a buzz as the rubber stuck to the fence and attached itself there, melting over the metal wire. Electricity crackled on the outside of the rubber, but not on the inside, and it was Adam's hope that that was an indication that the device had worked. He stepped forward, pulling out a small multitool wire cutter, which he used to melt through what remained of the fence in a matter of seconds, burning a hole on the inside of the rubber stripping.
The smell of urning rubber filled the air as the electricity slowly burned through the rubber-like material. In a few minutes it would decay and fall to the ground before turning itself into powder. Obviously there would be a giant hole left behind in the fence, but perhaps not all their secrets would be made obvious. Together the group of them slipped through the opening, hugging the fence line as they ran.
"One more minute."
This plan could not have worked if it was anyone else, but the three of them were intimately familiar with fort harmony. It had been Adam and Kelly's permanent stations back when they were both still Admirals and captains, and as a result Maverick and Ramirez spent plenty of time here.
However, they owed much of their true success to Ramirez, who in his quest to conquer the hearts and bodies of all the pretty people he had ever met, knew exactly where all the camera blind spots on this base were, as he had used most of them on at least one occasion or another. Adam had no idea how the man had managed it and certainly didn't want to ask about the lurid details, but he was certainly grateful as the four of them squished together in the corner between two cameras as the feed buzzed back to life.
Ramirez had picked this particular location because he knew the floodlights illuminated the area only every minute or so, and that particular camera was not thermal enabled. They would be able to sneak through just under the camera without setting off any alarms.
And that is what they did.
Things got complicated when they made it o the doors, as it required a valid ID to get inside, however, that was already covered for them, and Desmond was waiting inside to open the doors.
Adam stepped inside and was hit full in the face with a waft of familiar air accompanied by a burst of memories, bitter sweet now that so many things had changed. He was a different man, and this was a different world, a world he no longer belonged to, but he could still remember the musty smell of old carpet, the sharp tang of metal and distant gunpowder . he could even detect the feint rattling of the ancient air conditioning system which puttered away in an attempt to cool the building from continuous and oppressive heat.
He did his best to shake it off and hurry with the others up the hallway, passing rooms on either side. At one point Adam had to force himself to continue walking as Kelly's old office appeared ahead and vanished behind him, its door shut, window dark.
A pang rose up in his chest and he forced it down.
Supposedly he had been assigned and office in this building at one point, though he had never been around long enough to actually visit. The office on his ship had been good enough.
Adam led them around another corner and then down a hallway.
Demons wondered if Hunt would keep Desmond's ex and little girl close to him for collateral sae, but Adam was sure that the man wouldn't put himself in harms way like that. If he thought Desmond might try something, he was more likely to hide them as far away from himself as possible. Plus Adam couldn't see president hunt liking the idea of a six year old in his personal space. Somewhere in this building, the man who had ruined everything was waiting, sitting on his ass or maybe taking a nice long nap in his private bunker.
He was so close Adam could almost taste it.
He acted like he didn't see the logic in Ramirez's argument, but that was only because if he didn't he might have been I danger of being convinced. Deep down he wanted to do it, but he knew the moment that he took that step , the moment he would no longer have the moral high ground. He stood by everything he had done so far. Hunt had gotten rid of him on false pretenses and dragged his name through the mud. He had been called a traitor, and a terrorist to his own Planet, his own Species, and if he so much as threatened the president, he knew that they would be right, because that is what a terrorist WOULD do in this situation.
he didn't want to be that, couldn't be that.
And maybe that's why he wasn't fit to be a good ruler, because he wasn't willing to do what needed t to be done. Wasn't willing to force people into something that would make their lives infinitely better. He shoved the guilt down and shook himself off.
You can have a moral crisis when you get him, he told himself, still hurrying up the hallway.
They were just rounding a corner when, out of sheer bad luck they ran headfirst into a set of two guards. For a moment they all paused four staring down two.
One of the men went to raise his gun, but Adam thinking quickly said, "Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The man paused, eyes darting around to Adam and the others desperately trying to find the snag. There was no snag of course, they could have shot him and his companions, and maverick and Ramirez could have shot them. It would have turned into a bloodbath, but Adam certainly didn't want that.
Adam looked at the two young soldiers, realizing only now that they were younger than him.
It was an odd moment because he honestly hadn't felt any older since the age of fifteen, and it was hard to remember that he was actually aging. But these, they were just kids, no more than nineteen or twenty, and the look on their faces was one of pure confusion and terror. They were green, maybe straight out of bootcamp, left behind because of their inexperience.
He had been them once, and he could work with this.
"Four against one, odds in my favor and I have a Drev saint with me. I also have two ex marines, also this one," he jerked a thumb at Desmond, "Is a professional assassin. So you pull those triggers and maybe you get some of us, but the rest of us will get you in the end. So I propose that we skip all that noise."
The two young soldiers looked between each other, and to their credit they didn't back down, "We... we won't let you hurt him." The young woman said her eyes wide with terror though her hands were steady.
He was impressed,
"That's good because I'm not here for Hunt. I'm not a killer like he is." He pointed towards Desmond, "We are here for this man's family, now if you can tell us where they are, I promise you can follow along and make sure that we don't go anywhere near your dear head of state."
They looked between each other again.
"So, incapacitation or leave with your legs in tact. Obviously we aren't going to kill you, but I am not above smashing kneecaps."
Another paused followed, and then the young man waved them forward. The young female soldier tried to slip behind them to bring up the rear but Adam wagged a finger at her, "Nice try, but no"
She sulked looking rather sullen but did as requested, hurrying forward down the hallway.
Adam was well aware what this would look like. These soldiers would look like they were cooperating, and that would potentially ruin their lives, so he took his moment and nodded to Sunny. Together they lurched forward and grabbed the two soldiers by their throats, pressing blades into the soft skin under their chins.
The young man under his arm gasp and squeaked in surprise. Adam whispered, "I'm sorry, but if you look like you are helping us without putting up some sort of fight on the cameras as we go past, than you'll loose everything. Hunt will come after you and I can't have that. Just struggle best you can and I will make it look good
He couldn't' be sure if his words had made an impression or if the young man was just going to struggle anyway , but they made quite the scene going up the hall with their hostages, until they came to the indicated door.
Adam nodded once, and Desmond ran forward using one of the guards key cards to open the door,, which popped with a slight hiss. The room inside might once have been an office of some sort, but ahd been converted to have two cots inside and not much else. A woman and a child where sitting o the floor of this room, playing together with a ratty stuffed elephant which appeared to be one of the only items of entertainment in the room for the girl.
The woman looked up from where she was sitting and her eyes went wide. She stood abruptly, "Desmond!"
The little girl followed her mother's gaze, large eyes widening, "Daddy!" Before the woman could stop her, the girl ran over and Desmond scooped her off the ground and into the air before holding out a hand to her, "We have to go, now."
She remained rooted to the spot, "What, why."
"I swear, I will tell you everything, but we have to go now. If President Hunt finds out what I'm doing he's going to kill you." She continued to stand there, and it was Maverick that grumbled
"For the love of-" and barged into the room grabbing the woman firmly by the arm. She tried to tug away but maverick was too strong, "Listen lady, we are trying to save your kids life, are you really willing to take the chance that we could be right?"
It seemed however, that she didn't have any choice. Desmond was still holding the little girl, and if she wanted to protect her daughter, she was going to have to follow. Nervously she stepped out into the hall eyes falling on Adam and Sunny, and her eyes grew to be as big as dinner plates. She shot a look over at Desmond who just waved the question off.
Adam gave her a smile, "Don't worry, we're going to get you out of here."
She stammered, "But you're-"
"Yeah, and we're here to rescue you, and that's the important part. Now we have to get out of here."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that." Sunny hissed.
Desmonds ex frowned, "You don't know?" her voice had gone up an octave or so.
"Oh no, I know exactly how we are getting out of here."
Adam turned his head to look down at the soldier he held at knife point, "I'm really sorry about this kid, but it has to look good. He drew his fist back and slammed the hilt of his knife into the kids temple knocking him out cold almost instantly.
Knocking people out isn't an exact science, and it was only from years of training by Drev warriors and ironically enough, krill that he was able to do it with any measure of effectiveness, buts still there was always the chance he might accidentally kill someone. He reached down and felt at the boy's neck finding a pulse before gently lying him down inside the room. The girl got the same treatment, and were locked inside just as base alarms began blaring from all sides.
"Shit." Maverick muttered.
"Follow me!" Adam said, and together they raced through the hallways slamming into doors and slipping on the tile. Adam could hear voices and running footsteps down one of the distant halls.
He took another sharp turn and burst onto the skywalk towards the airfield.
A couple civilian administrators yelped and jumped out of the way as they ran past . More warnings began blaring over the speakers.
"I really hope this plan of yours is good." Sunny sad peering out the window to watch as a group of armed men spilled out onto the tarmac below.
"Oh its good.... You're gonna hate it.'
He took another careening turn down the steps and out into open air, throwing the door open violently enough to smash the door back into a waiting armed guard, who fell backwards into his companions.
Adam used the moment of distraction to his advantage. All around him the SE exoskeleton was hissing with joy, and with enhanced speed and accuracy he danced through the group of men, breaking their guns and knocking them to the ground with almost contemptuous ease. He ordered Desmond and his family forward just as the rattle of gunfire pierced the air. Desmond and the others were already racing ahead.
Adam dropped another small device from his pocket, which immediately began issuing billowing clouds of smoke.
The gunfire died off and he turned running side by side with Sunny to overtake the others.
"This way." He commanded, turning up the tarmac, passing by shuttles and jets and plenty of ground vehicles.
"Adam where are we going." Sunny asked,.
"To the only air vehicle that is going to get us through that nexus." Adam replied, eyes locked forward on their destination.
Ramirez lifted his head to look eyes bugging out of his head, "You aren't serious."
"I am serious."
"do you know how to fly that?"
"I can fly anything."
The sun was just beginning to breach the horizon, and a shaft of golden light spilled out over the distant trees to land glinting on the fuselage of Global 1. People back in the day might have called this particular plane Air Force 1. The private presidential plane which was basically a flying fortress all in itself.
Larger than some commercial airliners, this behemoth was the president's safest place to be. From what Adam knew, Global 1 had only recently been overhauled to include the type of shielding that the omen might have used, Vrul made technology. Not to mention an armored fuselage, bullet proof glass , a faraday cage, and a special signature that would allow it to pass with impunity in and out of the defense nexus despite who was on board.
"You have got to be shitting me." Ramirez said again
"We stole the Empyrean from the architect, do you really think I am above stealing global one from the president?"
"valid point." Maverick said. It was really convenient that they had run into those presidential guards inside the buildings because their badges were quite handy when it came to opening the ladder and side fuselage door." By then men were appearing from the smoke, and Adam barely dodged a bullet that ricocheted off the metal as he was hauling himself inside. Sunny pulled the hatch shut as he and Ramirez ran through the plus interior and to the cockpit.
If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have had a chance at getting this thing into the air or even turning it on, but Adam had a secret weapon.
And that was a rather bored combat AI looking for something to do.
Fealty awoke when he prodded it inside his armor, using a plug to connect himself to an open port. Whatever Ai or firewalls or codes that had been protecting the plane fell under an attack onslaught, and the jet's engines roared to life. To his side Ramirez already had the little things in hand, giving Adam the time to get the plane up and working like it was intended. His hands moved like lightning over the switches and dials. Bullets rattled against the hull and men were surrounding them.
But no one was going to stand down a couple hundred ton plane as it began rolling forward, and Adam continued grimly on their way towards the tarmac.
He could already see other groups running to intercept him, some getting in their cars, others into jets.
They would likely try to bloc the runway.
And they would make it
The plain was gathering its speed slowly, and the cars were already well on their way.
Adam pressed the intercom button, "I advise everyone strap themselves in NOW."
He had an idea.
But it was a bad one.
They began to gain speed as he turned onto the runway. Cars were already pulling into position not a quarter of the way down. he would never have enough speed, and he didn't have the option of ramming them either. They would surround him and they would be caught, no matter how audacious this plan was.
Except.
The F-90 darkfire has a duel engine, one of them used in low atmosphere and one of them used in upper atmosphere to escape gravitational pull.
Based on UNSC regulations, the Fusion engine of an F-90 darkfire is prohibited in low atmosphere.
Global 1 had its own fusion engine, connected to two massive rocket like engines just under the two wings. Based on the superior rating of the fusion engine, and the size of the core, Adam estimated that this plane could produce about 2 million pounds of thrust .
They began their roll up the runway.
"Adam." Ramirez warned eyes locked on the barricade ahead of them
Adam ignored him, "everyone, brace yourselves." He ordered
"Adam." Ramirez repeated again, his voice rising higher as their speed picked up.
"ADAM"
Adam rotated the fusion engines firing them at a forward diagonal in a microburst at less than 1% power. The nose of the jet was thrusted upwards jolted nearly vertical into the sky, and his stomach lurched right into his pelvis. He heard Ramirez scream a curse, but his hands were still moving. He rotated the engines back behind them, and then fired at near maximum thrust.
They shot into the air like a cannonball out of a cannon, roaring into the sky at what was probably around five Gs, which was more Gs than the average astronaut would experience on takeoff. I the distance he thought he heard screaming as they roared into the air and towards the blue.
Light spilled in through the front viewscreen to light up their strained faces.
Ramirez was holding tight to his harness looking wide eyed and terrified.
"I hate flying with you." He shouted over the roar.
Adam let out a breathless laugh of exhilaration as he hauled them skyward . On the ground the helpless UNSC pilots watched him go, slowly accelerating into the air on their normal engines, waiting for the right time to switch within UNSC regulations.
They were long gone by then, slipped through the Nexus, and out through a waiting warp hole into the universe.
Back on Earth an entire crack team of soldiers kicked open the door to a hotel room, only to find the room plastered with hastily printed photos of middle fingers.
Somewhere in fort harmony's underground bunker a grown man was throwing a massive tantrum that wasn't even dignified enough to be called a bitch fit
Outside, a large column of smoke billowed into the sky as, emergency fire crews attempted to douse the still flickering embers that lined the wall of a massive crater nearly a hundred yards wide, and almost twenty feet deep, which most certainly destroyed the Fort harmony runway.
The casualty count.
0: dead
6: Concussions
1: destroyed pride