Chapter 14
Rounding the bed of the truck, Nathan pulled down the back and began taking out his armor pieces. When it wasn’t worn, it was cumbersome. When it was snapped into place, it became a well-oiled machine, making the soldier inside almost invincible. Almost.
Nate knew he had an advantage with Kat Langely’s hack, but he hoped it would be enough.
John had described this place as a “former Project X armor factory.” The place wasn’t large since each X-suit was put together individually and not on a factory-line assembly, though Nate was sure the Conglomerate would have loved to be able to do that.
Each suit was worth millions. Alex had mentioned the Conglomerate couldn’t make suits because there was no more special polymer shielding.
The suits in circulation were now priceless.
The mission was to destroy the factory because it housed spare suit parts, and even though the Conglomerate couldn’t make more, the parts could be used to repair other suits in circulation.
There were also two reported active suits being used to guard the area.
It would be a good test run for Nate if he could get in and out without anyone alerting the Conglomerate of his appearance, which meant taking out their surveillance.
If not, they would know a rogue soldier was taking out suits and amp up security everywhere else.
Nate had situated the bottom half of his suit when he saw his cell phone light up from the truck bed by the rest of his armor.
The truck itself was in the shadows of an abandoned lot not far from the factory.
The area was blighted, though he noted this street was completely deserted.
Most of the streets he had driven down had pedestrians milling about.
It was as if people knew to stay the fuck away from here.
He wanted to ignore his phone, but another call came in.
There were only two people who had his number: John and Alex.
Although it could be spam, he assumed it was John, who was probably going to tell him some last-minute bullshit he should have told Nate a while ago but neglected to because that’s what John did.
Nate froze when he saw it was Alex. It had to be important because he knew she’d never call him out of the blue.
“Hey,” he answered, his heart hammering.
“Where are you right now?” Alex demanded.
“Uh, Cleveland.”
“Where in Cleveland?” she demanded.
“Look, I don’t want to give you too much detail, Alex. Just in case—”
“Where in Cleveland, Nathan?” she cried out.
“Oh, shit,” he grumbled and gave her the address.
“No,” she murmured. “This is the worst thing that could happen. You have to stop your mission.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Gray Tower got intel that there’s a super soldier suit facility there. We have an agent going to check it out right now.”
Nathan sighed and said, “Well, your intel was decent. It’s a factory—not in use, but still valuable. I’m going to destroy it.”
“You can’t. He’s on the way…”
“Do you know the ETA?”
“Uh…” There was a slight pause. “About twenty-five minutes.”
“That’s plenty of time.”
“Please don’t hurt him.”
“You know I wouldn’t do that,” he said softly.
“I know. I just…” She trailed off, leaving an awkward pause.
“What does this guy look like? I don’t want to confuse him for a Conglomerate soldier.”
“Well, he’ll be dressed as…” Another pause. “Oh gosh. How do I even say this? He’ll be dressed like the Grim Reaper.”
“Uh, say that again?” he asked, wondering if he had misheard her.
“The Grim Reaper. You know, the lord of death. He’ll be in combat armor and a mask that looks like the Grim Reaper.”
Nate shook his head in confusion.
“But…why?”
“Miles didn’t want him connected to Gray Tower.”
“So, he’s going to dress up in a Halloween costume?”
“Well, no. You missed it because you were locked up. Plus, it was a local thing. The guy went around Akron and took out bad guys until Gray Tower recruited him.”
“That’s fucking badass.”
“Yeah, I suppose. Miles wanted the Conglomerate to think it was this Reaper character if he got caught instead of Gray Tower.”
“That’s…not a bad plan,” Nate said. He glanced at the time. “I need to move. I’ll text you when I’ve left.”
“Be safe.”
He continued suiting up, and when he was fully armored, he checked the suit’s systems. The only issue it was complaining about was that the drug compartment was empty, which allowed the wearer to remain alert. Nate had dumped it. No more drugs. Ever.
Once the suit was completely online, Nate surveyed the area, found it deserted, and headed toward the factory.
The suit had infrared vision and could see any warm body.
It also masked Nate’s body’s temperature, so it was hard for someone else to use infrared sensors on him.
If a super suit was watching for visitors, they wouldn’t be able to see him until he was in range of the suit’s motion sensors.
As long as he didn’t sync up with their communications, they were blind.
Unfortunately, the other super suits could do the same, so he wouldn’t be able to see them either.
Of course, if he could get Kat’s program running correctly, he could turn that function off, but he only had one functional command working.
The intel said he had two suits to destroy, plus the factory itself. Any other person there needed to be eliminated as well. Hopefully, John’s information was correct because if not, this could get dicey.
John had given him building schematics and security plans, which Nate had uploaded to his suit.
The suit would map out a whole path for Nate, noting cameras and issues.
It all appeared on his display. There was a reason why these things cost millions.
The technology used to create them was astounding, and Nate was amazed that the program the suits were running was over a decade old.
What would happen if they were ever upgraded to a better AI system? It would be terrifying.
Using the clearest path, Nate stealthily made his way to a back door. There were cameras, but the AI had shown him where to go to avoid detection. John had gotten the keycode, and he slipped in undetected.
If all the missions were going to be this simple, he would have Project X shut down in no time.
Carefully keeping his HK416 aimed, he scoured a back hallway, finding it empty.
He continued clearing rooms: storage rooms, a break area, and restrooms. After he got to the end of the hallway, it led out to the factory floor.
It was small compared to something that would mass-produce items, but it could hide enemies easily—if he weren’t in his suit.
His motion detection sensors picked up four targets.
Two could be seen through infrared. The other two were his super soldiers.
Unfortunately, the soldiers would have picked up on his motion.
Blips appeared on his screen and moved across to the right.
Two security guards began shouting, coming into view.
They turned toward him and paused. Seeing another person in an X-suit would normally show he was supposed to be here. They lowered their weapons.
That was a fatal mistake.
Nate made two well-placed shots, and the men crumpled.
His display alerted him to the right, where the super soldiers were moving.
He found cover and waited, watching as the soldiers surveyed the scene.
They were getting cocky with their almost invincible armor and didn’t make the connection that there was another suit causing problems.
The soldiers moved to an open area. Nate steadied his weapon, took a deep breath, and gave his suit the command.
“Sally, lights out.”
An indicator on the upper right-hand side of the screen flashed. He just hoped that the order had gone through to the other suits.
Nate stepped out from behind the cover and smiled when he saw both super soldiers tugging their helmets off. Good. The program worked. He’d have to do two well-placed headshots, or the men could go behind cover. Then, he’d be stuck in a firefight with two guys in almost impenetrable armor.
As soon as one helmet came off, Nate fired. Headshot. This gave the other soldier pause, but the guy couldn’t see. He had to ditch his helmet. Seconds later, the other soldier was shot in the head, crumpling to the ground.
It was time for phase two.
John had given him a stockpile of goodies: food, cash, guns, ammo, explosives. Nate had grabbed some C-4 and would blow the place. The armor may be tough, but it didn’t outlast explosives. Everything in the factory would be unsalvageable.
After planting the explosives and setting a timer, Nate hustled out of the factory and headed to his truck. Unfortunately, there was always a hiccup in a mission, and this new problem was dicey.
When a person came into Nate’s range, he debated his options.
The cover in this area was shit. He could hide in the darkness and hope they didn’t see him.
The suit had glowing red eyes, but they only displayed when the AI deemed it appropriate—usually when intimidation was a factor in the objective.
It made for a menacing effect that played on a person’s psyche.
Some of Nate’s former team members thought they looked like demon eyes.
Nate thought it made him look like an inhuman mechanical beast.
He stepped into the darkness and watched as the person approached. Soon, a figure in black body armor appeared before ducking into the shadows. He was headed toward the factory. The guy had on a combat mask that looked like…
The Grim Reaper.
This was Alex’s Gray Tower guy, and he was headed to the factory, which was set to blow in about seven minutes.
Fuck.
Nate would have to intercept the guy and convince him to leave before the factory blew. They were still in the outer range of the blast.
Stepping forward, he yelled in his mechanical voice, “Stop!”
The Reaper guy pivoted, tucked his shoulder, and rolled like a fucking ninja. When he stopped, he was behind cover, though Nate could still see him on his display. He did have to admit that the guy was good.
“I’m not your enemy,” Nate said calmly, though he realized that it didn’t matter how his inflection was. He’d still sounded inhuman.
“Not to be an ass here, but you look like you are,” the Gray Tower agent said.
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“Enlighten me,” the man said, his voice a raspy growl. Nate wondered if the guy disguised his voice or if that was how he spoke.
“I can’t tell you much without jeopardizing my mission, but I’m here to help. This Conglomerate factory is ready to blow in…” Nate glanced at his display. “…four minutes, forty-six seconds. You need to get the hell out of here.”
“What’s your mission?” Reaper Man asked. “Oh, wait. You can’t tell me. And let me guess: You were the one who wired that factory to blow. Am I right?”
“Yes, and yes.”
“Interesting.” The man’s voice dropped from a growl and turned into a conversational tone. “So, yeah. This hasn’t happened to me before. What do we do here? Do I leave? Or are you going to shoot me in the back?”
“You have failed both parts of your mission,” Nate told him. “You were seen, and you won’t get to scope out the factory. Leave.”
Reaper Man went ramrod straight.
“What did you just say?”
Nate gritted his teeth, hoping he didn’t screw over Alex.
“We’re opposite sides of the same coin. You work for Gray Tower.
I work for myself. Our goal is the same.
You can tell Miles Bryant that the factory contained super soldier parts and two active soldiers in suits.
The soldiers are eliminated along with the factory personnel.
The factory will be gone in less than two minutes. ”
“Fuck!” the guy yelled. “Look, I don’t know who you are. I know you’re not going to tell me, so I’m going to get my ass out of here and hope you don’t shoot me in the back.”
“I won’t,” Nate promised.
He watched as the Gray Tower agent left and retreated as soon as the guy was gone. When he returned to his vehicle, he only popped his helmet off, got in the truck, and drove off. All he saw was the explosion of the factory in his rearview mirror.
Nate traveled a safe distance and found a spot off the highway to take off the rest of his suit. The primary mission had been a success, but he feared the fallout for Alex. Gray Tower would be on high alert. Their mission had to be top secret. Everyone involved would be under scrutiny.
Once he had his gear situated, he sent a text to Alex:
Nate: All set. Your guy is safe. Expect issues at work. Sorry.
Almost immediately, she responded:
Alex: Thank God! I’ll deal with work stuff tomorrow. I just care about you. Come see me as soon as you can. Please.
A flood of emotions swept through Nate as he stared at that last word: Please. It felt weird to have someone care about him, especially a young and beautiful woman. He immediately responded.
Nate: Will do.
Alex: Yay!
Feeling good for once in his life, Nate headed back on the highway, back toward Virginia. He would see Alex soon. If she wanted to see him, who was he to disappoint her?