Point Zero: Base Assault

Point Zero: Base Assault

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Commissioned by Ichypa

Wordcount: 2500

…

I blinked at Elliot several times at the inconspicuous, little vial that he offered me.

My brain seemed to think something impossible just happened, so I did my best to get clarification.

“Commander… can you repeat yourself? Please?”

Elliot was kind enough to only blink at my request before complying.

“I am asking you if you want an Infection Suppressant.” The last two words that came out of Elliot’s mouth went through my brain like a bullet. Shock filled my system and adrenaline pumped through me as my body chose fight instead of flight. The slightest, questioning tilt of Elliot’s head curtailed some of the growing mania within my body, but I his next words did not. “I made a few last night and have some spares. Would you like some?”

Through gritted teeth and a worryingly strong, building pressure in my temple, I asked Elliot the question that many scientists will drink themselves into a stupor for.

“When and how did you discover how to make… Infection Suppressants?”

“Last week. I attended a chemistry class and isolated a compound in my blood.” Pain. Simple. Agonizing frustration threatened to overcome me at Elliot’s explanation. The Verdict Commander who impressed me into his precinct took off his glove and presented a bandaged fingertip. “Each one needs a drop of my blood, but is easy to produce otherwise.”

A revolutionary, immense change in daily living was right in front of me. This discovery was worth a dozen Nobel Prizes and honorary citizenships across the world. Every single person alive was Infected and had to make sure to never use their power, unless they suddenly became a monster. Should one ever reach past fifty percent infection rate, even by accident over a long military career, they would get put down by their fellow soldiers who had no other choice. A method to suppress and cure people has been sought out since the bioweapon crashed on Earth with billions spent in research to no avail… until Elliot decided to take a weekend chemistry class.

The scientist part of me wanted to get fitted for a date with a lovely noose, but after a few breaths I regained some of my composure, managed to smile, and meet the frustratingly blank gaze of Verdict Commander Elliot.

“Elliot… you intend to share this discovery with everyone, right? You’re going to make as many of these as you can and sell them for ludicrous amounts of money, yes?”

The questions were for the sake of my sanity, but they were answered quickly and efficiently.

“I have reported my discovery to my superiors. I am currently donating a liter of blood every week, which can make hundreds of dosages. It is giving me an incredible amount of money and support.” Elliot reported the situation to me without any hesitation or fear. I did my best to keep smiling and not try to throttle him for not leading with those particular words. My success was slim. “They have requested that I do not publish my findings. Despite the rarity and strength of my phenotype, it is likely that others like me will be unable to protect themselves and will be forcibly used. They are likely using it to reactivate powerful, former assets as we speak for a powerful edge.”

Powerful edge he says… off the top of my head, I knew at least five dozen legendary heroes who turned the tide of battle after battle, but were forced to retire because of their infection rate. They were celebrities, but most of them decided to live in the boonies out of sight of society. I was sure that if I made contact with a few old friends, I’d hear all about those people returning to service and being able to wield their power again.

Anyone going against the UN was going to shit themselves, especially once those dosages get to Lyons or Number 1 or Zero. They’ll practically be unstoppable once they’re sure that they won’t go crazy and wreck the entire planet by going over their limits. Without a doubt, the world was going to change as the balance of power was tipped wholly in the UN’s favor… by my nincompoop of a Commander who just offered me a vial of the world-changing drug without explaining all of that first.

“Dammit, Elliot, lead with that next time. I thought you were offering me these things without going through the right channels first.” A part of me was still screaming at how Elliot managed to discover such a thing over a weekend, but I ignored it in favor of taking one of the vials and administering to my arm. After applying it, I checked my wristband and found my twenty-percent infection rate dropping to ten. Years of costly fighting threatening my future… gone. “Thanks. I’ll the lot.”

“You are welcome. Use them whenever they are needed. Ask me if you need more.” Elliot nodded decisively at the prospect of giving me invaluable vials of medicine that could literally stop me from becoming a terrifying monster. He was allowing me to use abilities that I swore off, even if they could save my life, as a matter of course. He asked for nothing in return. “Our upcoming missions are going to be difficult. You must be capable of using your abilities to their fullest or you will die.”

A part of me told me not to ask for my own sanity, but the words left my mouth anyway

“…what’s the mission, boss?”

“A decapitation strike on organized crime in our Sector. They are about to complete the conversion of a flying cargo ship into a battleship. We will provoke it’s early commissioning by attacking the head of their operations and destroy both.”

My mind boggled for a few minutes at the mission, but I applied the second shot of suppressant without even thinking.

Yeah.

I was going to need everything I had to survive this.

…

Refurbished military drones were fearsome buggers, but they didn’t fare well in urban environments. Weighing nearly two tons because of armor and weapons meant that they couldn’t enter most buildings. Most floors would crack beneath them and rigid enough buildings would normally make it impossible for them to move around. They were designed to be deployed against Bioweapons and Hunter Killers… not as law enforcement in human towns and cities.

However, Point Zero wasn’t built entirely by humans.

Most of its megastructures and permanent fixtures were constructed by Intrepid… a race that considered power armor as casualwear.

Meaning that human-made military Drones were more than capable of walking through the halls of most buildings and using ridiculous amounts of firepower within it.

And, I decided that I hated that fact about Point Zero a lot as the Drone nearest me fired at autocannon down a hallway while unleashing a rocket pod.

“Target destroyed.”

“It’s bloody fireball at the end of the hall! I can tell!” I groused whilst coordinating the rest of the Drones down the hallways of the megastructure. The massive building with over a hundred floors a block wide had most of its top taken over by criminal organizations. Most of the lower flowers were abandoned with the few willing to brave it evacuated by the neighborhood watch while Verdict moved in. That was an hour ago and we were now on the ninety-fifth floor after making a bloody paste out of all the resistance we encountered. It was still hellish. “Flank the enemies in the next sector! Go!”

I was having flashbacks coordinating the buckets of bolts and bullets. A lot of unfortunate memories were coming up, but I couldn’t exactly wallow in them whilst the prospect of being murdered by high-caliber munitions was in the air.

The nearest Drone complying with my order got hit by a wire-guided missile from the eighties, shrugged off the damage, and kept walking forward while laying down fire as I checked my armor for breaches. I knew that I was wearing plenty of protection, especially for the pre-impact weapons that the criminals were deploying, but I couldn’t be too careful.

I wasn’t a damn demigod who could just weather anti-material firepower.

Such as my Commander… who waved at me upon brisk, coverless approach from the other half of the floor.

“My sector is clear. Where do you need assistance?” I had over fifty Drones at my disposal. Mechanized, bipedal warmachines toting assault cannons and capable of enduring obscene amounts of firepower. I was lagging compared to my boss, who was wearing an armored, furred coat, a suit, and a mask. He had the ability to send supersonic, mono-molecular whips at the enemy and had many powers besides. “We need to reach the top as soon as possible. The criminal elements of the city have deployed their battleship.”

“The ones guarding the stairwell are a problem.” No sooner did I say those words than the whips attached to the small of Elliot’s back, composed of muscle and highly-sharpened bone, surged towards the location. My HUD with the feed of the Drone’s line of view was gifted with the sight of an entrenched position being rocked by supersonic, guided projectiles that went through armor with ease. I filled away the sight as my therapist’s problem, while moving to finish the mission. “Everyone above us is moving and I’m picking up radar signatures like discontinued transports. I think that they’re going to be firing on the megastructure while evacuating.”

Anyone else would think the issue problematic. We were five floors away from the enemy, they were being airlifted, and a bloody battleship was coming to murder us. Most normal people would elect to retreat, but Elliot just gave a single nod.

“Then, follow after me as quickly as you can.” The whips returned and joined together into a giant drill tipped with pure white bone. It then surged upward and punched through the floor, then another floor, and another. When Elliot withdrew it the top was covered with snow from the rooftop… and bullets began to fly down the hole. He ignored it. “Continue to secure the area. Make sure there’s nothing that will compromise the megastructure.”

To that phrase, after that display of power, I could only nod.

Then, a moment later, Elliot leapt upward and engaged over a hundred hardened criminals topside that was about to receive gunship and battleship support. Most of the were likely to use their superhuman abilities, as they knew they would be imprisoned otherwise.

However, still, I could only feel pity for the morons who decided to keep practicing all sorts of criminal acts after Elliot stepped up.

For fuck’s sake, the guy rips people’s heads off as a routine attack!

I would’ve quit the day I heard about that!

…

I reached the rooftop of the megastructure after carefully clearing the last floors. Dozens of bombs had to be diffused to prevent the top of the building from crashing on the rest of it, while a battle raged above me and my drones established a perimeter around me that was under attack. I’d worked fast, under pressure, and did my best to survive several encounters with individuals of the insane nature who decided that suicide bombing was a valid tactic.

I managed to get through it and come to the help of my commander.

Only to find a scene of utter carnage on the rooftop.

The floor was strewn with a body bereft of heads or punched-through throats. Head with blinking eyes and open mouths rolled around in a corner of the roof and tended to by the massive eyes that Elliot created from his own flesh. They were using their tendrils to load them up into boxes and were probably flying them over to the nearest hospital for the head-in-jar treatment, while Elliot fought against whatever was left on the roof.

And, naturally, whatever was left was rapidly being torn to pieces.

Bits and pieces of several, infected people were spread across the roof. Pieces of a Rhino, Spider, and Wasp were prominent, but their heads were decidedly missing, while my Commander fought against what was a massive mosquito.

I thought it was strange the Elliot could be struggling against anything, until I realized the mosquito was at 100 percent and was a complete Bioweapon.

She was flitting around at supersonic speeds, enduring hits, and regenerating from them, and managing to land hits on Elliot with claws and limbs. As far as Infections went, the Mosquito was tame, but at 100% It was still obscenely powerful. It was probably some poor fool put under sedation and pumped full of corrupted blood to reach its current state, since most creatures couldn’t reach 100% naturally.

Seeing it gave me insight as to why the criminals thought they could take on Elliot… but they were being proven wrong.

The Mosquito was flagging, losing strength, and crying out with roars of desperation as the fight continued. However, Elliot was standing still, undeterred, and watching the horizon while he dealt with his opponent. Instead of the fight in front of him, he was worried about the incoming battleship… and noticed when I arrived on the rooftop via the stares.

“O’Hara. Prepare for electronic warfare. Jam the enemy’s weapons to ensure that they cannot fire power the city.” My body followed the orders instantly, but my mind was located elsewhere. I watched the Mosquito get caught by tendrils while Elliot took out vials of suppressant. It was the middle of battle, but he was testing his suppressant. He was a consummate multi-tasker. “Hm. It seems that the suppressant is poison to those who are too infected.”

Poison was an understatement. The stuff from the vial I injected into myself began to melt the Mosquito where it was injected. Her arm fell off in seconds and her regeneration failed to kick in upon its application. Though I’d seen the results of the cocktail of Elliot’s blood and some chemicals, and knew of the UN’s willingness to use it, I was disturbed by the simple fact that I injected into myself while Elliot casually killed a Bioweapon by crushing its skull with his bare hands.

Thankfully, despite my paranoia and fear, I managed to accomplish what was asked of me just as the floating fortress arrived by rising to the rooftop with all its cannons and guns bared against Elliot.