Tag Archives: Accelerando

Arc 5.3: Breaking & Entering

Breaking & Entering: Part 12

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Flick threw a ball into the main group of heavy bird bots as they began to run across the floor toward us.

The ball punctured the bird bot’s chest, coming out the other side, and continuing through each bot behind it.

I’d never known for sure what her power was, but it had something to do with controlling mass and momentum. I’d heard that there were very specific rules about how it worked, but I’d never seen her in action, so I didn’t know what they were. Continue reading Breaking & Entering: Part 12 →

Arc 5.3: Breaking & Entering

Breaking & Entering: Part 3

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I digested that information in my head, and said, “I think the two of you should get out. Neither of you are immune to nerve gas, right?”

Jaclyn shook her head. Izzy looked down at me, asking, “But what about you?”

“The suit’s air tight, and the original Rocket fought gas using villains in the 80’s. Actually, he fought Dr. Madness as far back as the 50’s. So the suit should be able to handle it.”

“Should?” Jaclyn raised an eyebrow, and looked steadily at me.

“Will,” I said. Continue reading Breaking & Entering: Part 3 →

Arc 5.3: Breaking & Entering

Breaking & Entering: Part 2

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“Don’t move, or we’ll shoot!” Some kind of gun hung under each forearm of the lead guy—just like they’d hung under the forearms of Grandpa’s armor during World War 2.

On the one hand that could be a fanboy thing—Rook had said he’d admired Grandpa. On the other, it could just be more convenient.

The robot birds hovered near the top of hall, staying between us and them.

Filtering out the wings’ flapping, the Rocket suit’s newly enhanced ability to amplify sound turned noise into speech.

A tenor voice with a Midwestern accent said, “Teenaged girls? I’m shaking in my boots.” Continue reading Breaking & Entering: Part 2 →

Arc 5.3: Breaking & Entering

Breaking & Entering: Part 1

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Jaclyn punched too quickly for me to see her arm move, but the dome dented. She struck a second time as I registered the dent, and that time her hand went through.

She put both hands into the hole, and pulled back, tearing the roof like I might tear fabric.

I thought about reaching in to help, but I didn’t get the chance. Izzy reached in and tore it from the other side.

In seconds, they’d ripped a hole large enough for all three of us to jump through at the same time.

Izzy stared down into the gap, undoubtedly listening.

“They heard the roof tear, and they heard the jet. They’re sending people up.” Continue reading Breaking & Entering: Part 1 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 6

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“Oh,” I said, looking over the instrument panel in preparation for take off, “by the way, we’re thinking that they’ve got psi-blocking devices all over.”

Alex said, “Well, that screws us over big time.”

“Yeah, we’re hoping to take them out, but if we’re lucky we won’t need to. Our first group’s got a good chance of getting Captain Commando out by themselves.”

“Good, because without teleporting, we’re not going to be much help. No one here can fly.”

So if we got in trouble, and couldn’t take out the psi-blockers, anyone coming to help us would have to do it the hard way. Continue reading Here We Come: Part 6 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 5

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I thought about it a little more. No, my basic plan was still possible. We could have a rescue group and a distraction group. We just might have to join up afterward instead of having the distraction group get away quietly.

No, better yet, I thought—only risk the people who can take a lot of damage and whose powers allow them to get in and get out quickly.

“OK,” I said, “here’s the plan now that I’ve got an idea of what’s going on.”

Continue reading Here We Come: Part 5 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 3

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Haley’s lips twisted. “Are you sure you want them to connect? Remember when we flew into space and that robot attached itself to the ship? I don’t want anything like that to happen. Especially not right now.”

I remembered it very well, and I could see her point. Technically though, the gun wasn’t anything like that robot.

Arguably it was worse. The robot had just wanted to escape while the gun (at least the way Cassie described it) took joy in destroying things.

So if I was going to use the ship to boost the gun’s range, I needed to start carefully.

I reached out, detached the gun’s holster from the clip on the chair, and picked it up.

“Gun, can you contact the ship? I’d like to ask you some questions. It’ll make it easier to get Cassie back.”

Continue reading Here We Come: Part 3 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 2

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We let the telepathic connection lapse, and I concentrated on flying. Specifically, I thought about the route, and whether I ought to be getting special permission. The signal had come from Canada.

Theoretically dropping by without warning could cause an international incident.

Of course, Canada got along with the US pretty well. It wasn’t as if we were going to fly into North Korea, for example.

Still, Canada had its own supers as well as an air force, and I didn’t want to run into either of them.

Continue reading Here We Come: Part 2 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 1

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The flight to Ann Arbor to pick up Rachel and Jaclyn took less than 10 minutes.

We picked them up at a small lake Rachel had called “Barton Pond.” Whatever it was, it was large enough for me to find from the air, and float over while they boarded. Plus it was dark enough out that we wouldn’t be too obvious.

They were in costume. All in white, Rachel’s gun hung from her utility belt. Jaclyn’s costume was purple, as ever, and unlike anyone else on our team, she wore a mask instead of a bullet resistant hood.

Being basically invulnerable, she could do that.

As they pulled on their seat belts, Jaclyn said, “So, do we have a plan this time?”

Continue reading Here We Come: Part 1 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 25

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“Yeah, right,” Vaughn said. “Cause we’re going to let you guys run away, and keep on robbing banks, and protesting with monkeys. That’s totally brilliant.”

Unless Evil Beatnik planned to use magic to tell Justice Fist to stop, I didn’t know how he’d do it. I supposed he could use a cellphone if he didn’t care about the rain. That said, in this case, the rain would destroy Mr. Beacham’s cellphone, and Evil Beatnik probably didn’t care.

Continue reading Under 30: Part 25 →