Beat the Elite

[Devxx]

A soft sigh echoed in the quiet night as golden eyes peered out from the shadows at the city below. Five large men in suits were gathering around a car looking anxious as they passed around a black briefcase treating it as if it was made of gold. Up above the holographic stars were shining in the black sky illuminating the vibrant city in a strange blue glow from the synthetic environment. Everything about the city was kept perfect by laws of the government. The weather never changed from a mild, sunny day and the nights were always cloudless giving ample view of the moon hanging up above. All over the city there were holo screens telling people what the latest fashions were or how the government was protecting them from the evils that lurked all around. Everything was under the control of the government, even the use of magic.

Centuries ago magic had been completely outlawed and people were taught that it was nothing more then smoke and mirrors by conmen who only wanted to murder and steal from common, decent people. Just thinking about it brought a smirk to the woman's lips at just how ignorant the people really were. Magic was alive and well in the world but hidden from plain view. They were a secret organization working under the radar for their own means. People who had inherent magical abilities that would have been killed at birth but were rescued and trained to use their talents in order to accomplish something amazing. Each of them powerful in their own way yet it was Tala who stood out as one of the strongest.

The girl had been found when she was only five living on the streets and on the brink of death when they had taken her in. They taught her how to build her powers making sure to focus on spells and energies. Now, even at only twenty-two, she had within her an amazing source of power that had been put to good use over the years. It took money to fund this kind of program so they would take on odd jobs for very wealthy investors who wanted something that they did not want the government to find out about. It just so happened that this was one of those jobs.

Donnavin was a crime boss who owned half the city and not a thing went down in the slums without his hands getting on it. He was to stand trial in the next coming weeks on some trumped up tax charge that the government was trying to pin on him. They were looking for other evidence to connect him to the countless murders, rapes, theft and tons of other crimes he had committed but so far they had fallen short. Yet the evidence they would need to lock him up forever was in that briefcase the men were standing around right now. Three discs containing videos showing Donnavin murdering people himself as well as a trail of paperwork connecting him to crimes all over the city. The government wanted it but they weren't the only ones. Someone else had hired her out to steal it and Tala honestly couldn't care who they were or what they wanted it for as long as they paid.

Long blonde hair framed her face as she stood up from her vantage point on top of the roof to get a better view of the warehouse. She was clothed in black skin tight pants and a black leather jacket showing off her firm body and the contours of her muscles. In a job like this one always had to be in their peak physical condition at all times or risk dyeing on the job.

She'd been watching everything take place long enough and now it was finally time to act before they all got away. Fixing the collar of her jacket she flexed her fingers as a strange red light began to shine from her fingertips. The air around her seemed to change dramatically almost as if she was giving off a substantial heat. The smirk was still playing on her face as the red light in her hands began forming into orbs looking as if they were made out of pure fire. "Well boys, it's been fun but I think it's time for the show to begin."

 

[vyttor]

His long dark brown rain coat beat silently in the wind as he watched closely what transpired below. Not that he needed a rain coat for any kind of protection, but he wasn't keen on getting wet, and the engineering on the tissue of his garments was only a few technological steps below the enhancements on his own body.

Howard was the greatest hero of 2E, the Eagle Elite, the special team that enforced the law and the order in the best public interest across the whole country. He wasn't the nationwide commander. More of an action man, he preferred taking on the jobs himself than managing the others activity. And his efficiency had not only granted him his hero status, but also the hardest jobs available.

His strict training and powerful enhancements combined perfectly to give him what he needed to succeed at most of these missions. Every now and then he'd need some kind of extra equipment, but he could usually take care of it on his own. Between genetic engineering and nanotech additions, his body was the most perfect combination of human development and God's will so far in history.

Augmented senses - all five of them - had been an old development on this field, but none were as perfect as his own. And then on 2E operatives there were other, deeper modifications. His skin was an armor in itself, impervious to extreme heat, softening almost any kind of blow he could suffer. Some said the 2E soldiers were even bullet-proof. His bones were chemically altered in a molecular level to increase resistance. Lungs were enhanced for increased performance, for although the could go long without breathing, he still dependend on Oxygen ultimately. Thanks to DNA recombination and reactivation techniques, his muscles could develop the power of several men with the agility of a cat, even though his physique was more akin to that of a swimmer, with broad shoulders and lean, defined lines. His blood carried the previous pinnacle in nanobots, the healing add-ons that would rapidly close the occasional wounds and quickly reduce pain. He also carried the newest nanotech advancement. His nervous system was completely covered in the smallest quantum chips ever made, greatly accelerating his reactions. Not all the 2E had thus been enhanced yet, and some said that Howard could actually read minds.

On top of all that came his training, of course. Raised since birth to be a champion in a highly competitive familiar environment, as a teenager he started volunteering for the experiments that would make him as he was now, and with that started his practice. He was already an accomplished swimmer and runner. He then started practicing varied fighting styles suited to what his body would become, as well as acrobatic moves to take advantage of his increased strength and resistance, thus relieving the need for equipment many times. Even the equipment he acquainted himself with was special. His handgun was so powerful that its small plasma-state bolt could punch a hole into any known armor. Yet it gave such a kick back that he was probably the only man alive who would shoot it straight. He preferred the more silent knives he usually carried though. One coated in paralysing venom to which his blood made himself immune, the other giving off a short-range laser field along its blade, effectively making it the closest that reality had ever got to the light sabers of ancient fantasy.

This one mission was different from his usual assignments in that it wasn't supposed to be so tough. With the help of a couple undercover agents, the back-office at 2E HQ had managed to fool this small group - for five men wasn't really much of a challenge to someone like Howard - into bringing the information they needed to this place. No, he wasn't assigned this mission for its challenge, but for its importance. Rare were the jobs as important as pinning Donnavin. He had tried himself a couple of times, but Donnavin was fickle as a ghost and slippery as soap.

From three stories above he observed as the strong men passed on the briefcase he was going to... acquire. They probably had their few enhancements as well. Donnavin wouldn't have such vital information on the hands of common thugs. But Howard was pretty sure they wouldn't be a match. Time to fly... He calmly passed his palm over his short razed black hair, an old habit of his before engaging in a challenge, and elegantly jumped from the slim titanide steel structure upon which he had been perched. His coat briefly flew up, the special soft synthetic tissue flapping silently as a bat, making his clothing apparent: his dark brown pants made of silk-a-more, very light, comfortably stretching and comfortably loose on his legs; his long sleeve, buttonless shirt clinging more closely to his chest, its Gen7 Kevlar fibers designed for even greater protection than his own skin. His soft padded boots touched the ground finally letting out an inevitable thud from the fall.

"Well boys, it's been fun but I think it's time for the show to begin."

Did any of them whisper something? He was sure he had heard a soft voice, though it sounded feminine and these guys seemed like they had YY cromossomes. Silent as he used to be when operating solo, he extended his knees and ran head on towards the first man who had already drawn a weird pistol. Gotta remember to pick that up and take it to the lab he thought to himself as his right hand slapped the weapon out, quickly following with a powerful roundhouse kick that sent the man tumbling back on top of the one who currently had the briefcase. None of them could quite understand how the short bearded man was on to them so quickly, it seemed that his steps were like leaps of a cheetah.

Arms and legs and elbows and knees started swinging and being swung around wildly. "Now this is what the ancient would call a melee." His voice could be heard clearly, even though he was exerting himself.

 

[Devxx]

"Well this is just perfect." Tala muttered angrily to herself as she some idiot take a flying leap off the building across from her before landing on the ground below and starting a fight with the men. There was something to be said about subtlety but it seemed that the man had missed out on that lesson in life. As arms and feet were swinging down below Tala could feel her frustrations mounting over what this job was turning out to be. She had assumed it would be something quick and simply with her only needing to knock the men out before picking up the briefcase herself. Yet with this turn of events there was no way this was going to be a clean job at all.

At first she assumed that the mystery man might have been a member of a rival gang but his movements were far too quick to be just another criminal. No, the speed and his clothing could only mean one thing; he was a damned lab rat. A not so nice term used in the underworld regarding the modified soldiers that the government employed to get some of their harder jobs done. They were supposed to be better, faster and stronger then the regular human but that didn't mean a thing to her right now. All she knew was that this lab rat was trying to get in the middle of her and a successful mission.

Crouching down, Tala took her own leap off the roof before landing gently on the hard concrete below. The men seemed to be preoccupied with the soldier and she was more then happy to let them have their go at him allowing her free access to the briefcase. Frankly, she couldn't care if they lived or died as long as she got her hands on the briefcase and brought it back to base. Figures that they had left it unattended when they went to deal with the intruder. Picking herself up she dusted off her jacket and as quietly as possible she stuck to the shadows inching closer and closer to it. It was only a couple of feet away now and she would have it in her hands if it wasn't for the plasma bullet that shot past her missing her head by only a fraction of an inch.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" One of the men shouted angrily as he turned from the intruder and started advancing towards her with his gun pointing out ready to shoot. Sighing softly she slumped her shoulders and realized there was really no way around it. She would have preferred to keep this clean and not get any blood on her clothes but it didn't seem as if the gorilla with the gun would go for that.

"Sorry hun, but I need your little briefcase." Tala said with a wink as a smirk played on her lips. She had a gun pointed towards her ready to put a sizable hole in her head but she seemed completely at ease about the whole situation. The man gave out a loud growl and went to fire at her again but she was quicker this time. Before he could even pull the trigger a red ball of energy was fired at him not only knocking the gun out of his hand but completely destroying his hand in the process. The man let out a cry of anguish as he doubled over clenching his arm only to look up and see red sparks and faint hints of steam coming from Tala's own hand.

While he was kept busy with the missing limb she made a grab at the briefcase ready to get the hell out of there and let the lab rat deal with everything else.

 

[vyttor]

"Two down, two to go... hey, weren't there five of you?" Howard was saying out loud as he knocked down a couple of the thugs with well placed strikes - a measured punch at one's throat and a not-so-contained kick at the other's groin. And then he noticed there was one missing in the middle of it all. His question mark didn't hang in the air for long, though, as something happened that could be called anything but subtle. The "missing" guy had just had his hand exploded - and Howard consequently noticed that someone new had joined the party.

I wonder what kind of weapon is that... or was it something with his own pistol? Got to get my own checked back at the lab.

The thought that was going through his mind didn't prevent him from leaping into action as he saw the woman heading for the briefcase. He had no idea who she was, therefore absolutely couldn't let her walk away with what he had come to grab.

There were still two bandits standing but they were far from being his priority. They were amusement, and perhaps tools. And tools they became, as they tried to double up on Howard, one behind him and the other face to face. It all happened quite fast, yet the trained soldier's movements were elegant and his long rain coat flowing around with it only added to the visual of the scene.

As the one facing him launched a punch at his face, he ducked to his side while rotating on one foot to face the other guy. His arms grabbed the attacker by the neck and his legs came up as the second one started to lunge forward, but it wasn't a kick - it was a backflip jump over the guy whose neck he was holding. Landing with both feet square on this one's back gave him the opportunity to slam his two enemies against each other and at the same time roll on the ground on his back and reach for the briefcase.

Only his hand was not the only one to grab it. And at that moment he realized the newcomer was in fact a woman. He smiled confidently without looking at her face yet.

"Ooh... pretty hands."