***
The elevator doors clanged open with a much louder noise than they did on any other floor.
With a glance at Benjamin, the pair exited the elevator.
It took Ajax all of two seconds to realize something.
The guard lied!
The elevator didn’t open into a hallway. It opened directly into the control room!
Heads turned to face the pair as both sides looked at each other in shock.
Ajax recovered first and with a shout he charged into the room, calling forth for his bear.
The massive beast announced its presence and glee at being set free with a earth-shattering roar that was amplified tenfold by the gray steel that formed the walls, floor, and ceiling here, like everywhere else.
Ajax charged amongst the men, swatting them left and right, trying to get to them all before any could pull their guns. There were more men here than they had seen anywhere else in the complex. He let his bear do its thing, his human mind almost taking a back seat to the action as massive paws reached out and crushed people with disdain.
To his right he saw Benjamin’s bear doing the same thing. His fur was a silver, almost metallic in color. Very unusual, he noted.
The pair made quick work of the place, and then set about using their size to destroy the panels and computers in the room.
One thing caught his eye, and Ajax shifted back as swiftly as he could.
“Wait!” he shouted at Benjamin. “Just hold on a second while I read this.”
He didn’t want the other shifters’ efforts to end up killing the power or anything to the terminal in front of him. It was set apart and above the others he noticed, looking around the room. This must be the command console.
There was a note on it.
Levante,
The Order may be no more, but they gave us the funding to continue this project for decades, and I intend to see it through to the end. If you think the money we have now is something, imagine what we could sell these formulas for on the open market. Keep setting up our new base as ordered, and hunt down those two that escaped. I want them in our program. They must not be allowed to tell others that we exist. I am sending four more teams of men to join you, including our first Extremis squad. Do not fail me again.
J
“Come read this,” he said, waving Benjamin over.
The other shifter ambled over, not bothering to shift. The bear tilted his head and it was clear he was looking at the screen. A moment later the eyes turned back to Ajax, and he tossed his head agitatedly.
“Okay, smash it. I think we’re done here anyway,” Ajax said. He backed up while Benjamin reduced the computer terminal to pieces with two swipes.
The pair swiftly got back in the elevator and then jogged the hallways until they exited at the loading dock. Andre was waiting for them, a pained look on his face when he saw Ajax.
Ice formed instantly in his stomach. “Arianna?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
Andre shook his head. “Truck’s gone, so is she. Rubber on the floor. I’m guessing she took off when someone spotted her.”
“Okay,” Ajax said swiftly as his heart began to break into pieces. “We need to get these men to safety first. Get them in the truck, and let’s get aboveground. Once there, call Flint. He’s going to have to find a place to stash everyone.”
“What about Arianna?” Milos asked from nearby.
“What about her?” he asked angrily.
“What are you going to do?”
Ajax snarled. “I’m going to get these men to safety like I promised. Hopefully she managed to get away and will make her way back to Flint’s club on her own.”
“What if she didn’t?”
“Then I’m going to find the men who took her, and I’m going to kill them all one by one until they tell me where she is,” he promised, his expression dark.
A shout from Benjamin, who had gone ahead to the cargo truck, drew his attention. He heard the engine try to turn over, but it didn’t start.
“What is it?” Ajax asked, drawing alongside.
“This thing is toast,” Benjamin told him, sliding out of the driver’s seat. “We aren’t using it to get out of here.”
Ajax swore. “Okay, well there are two pickup trucks over there. We should be able to fit most of us into them. Some of us will have to go on foot.” He shrugged. “Assuming we can get them running.”
Benjamin turned to the crowd. “Harry, you ever hotwire vehicles before?”
The small shifter looked uncomfortable. “You know I’m not proud of that time in my life.”
Ajax snapped, worry for Arianna pressing on him. “We don’t have time for that shit right now. Can you, or can’t you get them started?”
The shifter nodded unhappily and jogged over to the vehicles. Less than a minute later they were both running. Ajax and Benjamin, with Andre and Milos to help, loaded up their injured and wounded. The trucks didn’t have crew cabs however, and so the four of them were left without a spot. Andre gave directions to Harry, and the trucks screeched out of the parking garage.
“Well gentleman, I guess we’re on foot,” Ajax said, and he started to jog up the ramp where the trucks had disappeared.
They had just reached the top of the ramp when a van pulled out of oncoming traffic and screeched to a halt. The four of them looked apprehensively as twelve men piled out. They were dressed very similarly to the guards that he had dispatched earlier.
Something about them was different, but he couldn’t quite identify it.
“Not shifters,” Benjamin muttered.
“They don’t have guns,” Milos said happily.
Ajax noticed that, but he was seeing something else.
“They aren’t nervous though,” he said slowly, comprehension dawning on him. “These men believe they can take us.”
As the four watched, the squad of black-clad men fanned out in a shallow arc in front of them. The newcomers had arrived too late to block them into the ramp, and as they advanced, Ajax and the others continued to back away. Around them, pedestrians scrambled back, aware that some sort of showdown was going on.
“Benjamin,” he said softly.
“Call me Benji, will you?” the other shifter said as he stepped closer.
“What do you want to bet this is the Extremis squad that note read about?”
“No bet,” Benji replied unhappily. “Nor do I really want to find out how they earned that name.”
“Agreed,” Ajax said, as they continued to back away.
He wasn’t sure whether the men facing them had different priorities, or if the eye of the public on them became too much, but whatever it was, they seemed reluctant to pursue Ajax and company.
“They’re stopping,” Milos said.
Ajax didn’t waste any time. “Benji, fastest way to get back to Flint’s club. Now.”
“The subway. This way!” he shouted. The four of them turned and ran.
Although Ajax was happy he didn’t have to tangle with the Extremis squad yet, he had an unhappy feeling that he would have to at some point. He just hoped they weren’t what he thought they were.