Dog Days (Void) (11-04-2022)

## Stray Once More - GEO-7 Woods, Camelot [11/04/2022]

Silently, Void threw his duffel bags from the passenger seat into the back of his car and stared at the dash as the hum of the engine filled his ears. "Specter... I'll really never see them again, huh?" he muttered to himself. He pat himself down to see if he was missing anything, feeling his phone and his wallet, but... not his gun. "Fuck, I threw it to Wiz back there," he cursed under his breath before shifting the car into drive and moving over to a section of parking lot with a nearly indiscernible seam in it. "Kao, you there?" he said as he tapped the screen in the center of the car.

"I'm awake! I'm awake... why am I in The Vault? Why's almost everyone else here too?"

"Long story, we had to switch you over to the backup core. Can you open SA-M4 Maintenance Tunnel in the parking lot? Feds are probably five seconds from swarming this bitch."

"You got it then, opening it now."

The ground in front of the car rumbled as subterranean hydraulic mechanisms kicked into action, pulling two large slabs of asphalt from the parking lot and revealing a dimly lit train tunnel. As the tunnel's doors fully opened, a ramp extended up to the surface to allow a way down. "For Arthur's sake let this thing hold," Void said as he gingerly pressed the gas pedal, driving down the ramp as it ominously creaked under the car's weight.

As soon as he made it to the end of the ramp he floored it, racing down the tunnel as the tunnel closed back up behind him. Indecision weighed heavy on him as he thought about where to go next. He was a fugitive once again, forcibly resurfacing memories of his time before the Group...

Horrible silence screamed into his ears, only tempered by the rumble of the car over the tunnel's paved ground. Everything felt helpless, that no matter how good he thought he had it he'd keep running. A cold sense of doom infiltrated his mind, and yet some raging inferno burnt deep inside his chest. He snapped out of his deep self reflection and spoke up, even if just to speak and get into the right frame of mind.

"Kao, where do you think I should go?"

KaOS' avatar once again manifested itself on the center screen of the car, lazily laying down across its digital 'chamber' in thought. "Maybe Auris? It's pretty, sunny, peaceful, and they probably won't extradite you since you guys took care of the Archfiend for them... although..."

"Although what? What's up?"

"That device in your bag, the Portal Shear? It's incomplete, isn't it?"

Void's eyes widened as he glared at the screen seeing KaOS' smug reaction. "Shouldn't be connecting it to the data core unless you wanted me snooping around. Have I got you interested though?"

"You have, you little creep," he responded with a grin.

"You're one to talk. Anyways, you need a reserve of exotic matter right? Not to mention that you're component missing... can't remember the name of it? Falling back to The Vault might be safer, but..."

"Hurry it up before I install a virus on our work network," Void said in jest at Kao pausing again.

"Alright alright! Sending you the coords now, you might wanna find some shelter in San Arturo though... and a gun," they responded. The screen went blank for a moment as an overhead map of San Arturo popped up on the cyan display, with a marking saying 'Solstice Labs: Camelot Division.'

## Outrun the Wolves - San Arturo Outskirts, Camelot [11/04/2022]

The car almost entirely left the ground as it flew out of the tunnel exit. Almost no one knew about these backroads, even employees of the Group. Void's target was the freeway that led into San Arturo, although it was most certainly crawling with cops. "Kao, can you set my GPS to 1903 Irongate Boulevard?" Void asked aloud, flawlessly taking a corner and getting on one of the main roads out to the freeway. KaOS gave a thumbs up, feigning being thrown around as Void took the ramp onto the freeway.

It was a straight shot into San Arturo now, with about almost 40 miles between him and the city. Everything seemed it'd be smooth sailing, until Void noticed that the freeway was completely empty, with three pitch black SUVs following behind him. As soon as he realized what was up and got ready to floor the gas, one of the SUVs rammed the car's rear. Void recoiled, looking back to see the passengers in the SUVs readying an assortment of assault SMGs. "Kao, take the wheel!" he shouted as he activated the car's remote control system with a switch.

He dove into the back seat of the car for his bags, fishing out his Slug Rifle and unfolding it to its full form. Void lurched forward as the car was rammed by one of the SUVs once more, manifesting a layer of A-007 over his skin, rolling down the window, and leaning out to counterattack as his surroundings began to speed by increasingly faster. A hail of bullets followed as soon as his head met the open air, littering his car's bulletproof glass and tires with embedded bullets as an odd few satisfyingly 'plinked' off his pitch-black armor. He took a deep breath, shifting his focus from the hail of bullets to aiming down the scope. He examined the SUVs moving in formation before spotting a golden opportunity and honing in on one.

With a deep exhale, he pulled the trigger. With the rifle's monstrous roar, a metal slug sailed through the air and pierced the front left tire of the SUV on his right, causing it to swerve out of control and knock out the other SUV beside it as it spun out of the pursuit. There was only one vehicle left, the one that's been ramming the whole chase. As he drew a bead on the remaining SUV's tire however, he caught the faint yet distinct noise of blades chopping through the air... no doubt ready to track him down if the strike teams failed their job. "Kao, there's helo incoming. Take the next exit and get to the city through the backroads, I'll meet you there," he shouted over the howling wind, not giving the AI time to react as he climbed out of the car's window.

"For Arthur's sake, please let this work," Void muttered to himself, jumping off his car as KaOS steered it off to the freeway's upcoming exit. He sailed through the air as his jacket flapped in the wind, finally landing on the SUV's windshield and putting a large crack in it. The driver started to swerve somewhat, obviously panicked by their target's recklessness as the rest of the car's passengers readied their SMGs. Void didn't waste a breath as he crawled up on the roof of the SUV, slinging his rifle back over his shoulder and manifesting an armblade before prying the rear passenger seat door off with brute strength.

The gunmen didn't have time to react as Void swung down into the car, planting his shoes in one's chest and holding the other at swordpoint. The threatened gunman didn't need much more convincing after, dropping his SMG immediately as the blade poked right against his neck. "I'm sure you fellas want to get out of this alive, capturing me isn't the way to do it," he quipped, wearing a smug smile as he turned towards the driver, "Keep driving, tell that helicopter I'm right in here and pray to Arthur they like you guys enough not to open fire." Although the helmets and full face masks made it hard to tell, he was sure the driver got the message from the subtle tremors in his arms.

The driver shakily reached for the SUV's radio receiver as the helicopter drew closer. He hesitated, considering swerving off the road before Void pulled the sidearm off the guard he knocked out on entry and pointed it straight at his head. "F-Falcon-9 this is Rhino-2, the target has entered our vehicle. P-please hold your fire," he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. After the message, the helicopter rolled to the left of the car, shining a spotlight at Void and visually confirming his presence. All went silent for a moment, but after a few minutes a mechanical whirring started up that Void was all too familiar with. In a split second, he slammed his fist onto the missing door's frame, coating the entire left side of the SUV in A-007 and filling the void the door left with a sheet of it... just as a rain of armor piercing bullets rained down from the air unit.

"Well that wasn't supposed to happen," Void muttered to himself as high caliber rounds simply pitter pattered off the pitch black armor he gave the SUV, with the driver and remaining gunman starting to openly panic as the gravity of the situation hit them. "This is it... we're all going to die," the gunman said, defeated. Void clutched his eyes, slightly annoyed at the dramatics.

"Stop the car," Void commanded to the driver, bracing himself as the driver slammed their foot on the brakes. As soon as the car stopped and the helicopter blew forward, Void retracted the inky black armor from the SUV into the plate he manifested in the doorway, popping it out and jumping out of the car. "Come on Void, you can do this," he said to himself as he honed his eyes on the attack helicopter's tail rotor. He focused, taking a deep breath before closing his eyes and channeling the rotational energy of Gyros throughout his body. In flash he threw the A-007 plate with all the force he could manage.

The air hissed as the plate cut through the air, sailing right into the helicopter's tail rotor and slicing it off completely. The pilot was left no choice but to make a hard landing or crash. Void let out a loud sigh of relief when they chose the former, putting the helicopter into counterrotation and making a rough landing in a nearby grove as the two feds in the SUV watched on in awe. As the adrenaline left Void's body however, he felt a wetness forming under his jacket. He pulled it aside, revealing an alarmingly sized hole - likely caused by the helicopter's 50 caliber gun - pouring blood out of him like a fountain. "Fuck," he muttered before promptly falling to the pavement from blood loss.

## Rocket Powered Deliverance - Delta Dracan, Camelot [11/04/2022]

Archangel dialed in the number as the wind whipped by him, trying to keep his speed low enough so that he could actually be heard over the sound of the wind. The number was for the CSEA's acting director, Marcus Dewitt. He was a good friend and professional acquaintance, but most importantly he was Archangel's best shot at getting to Vela without raising any alarms. It rang almost three times before a familiar voice came across.

"Hello, hello? Arch, is that you?" Marcus asked.

"It's me, Mark, I assume you saw the news?"

"Yeah I did, I never would've thought I'd see your group's mugshots on the news. This isn't a social call, is it?"

"You'd be right to assume that, I need to get to Vela before the Syndicate completely locks everything down. The Seraphim might have an idea of how to fix this," Archangel replied.

"Then you've got one shot, over in Hanger 3A. They're about to roll out the Friendship-4 supply mission to the pad. I'll make sure the cameras go offline, but you'll have to hurry, I can't keep them offline for long."

"Thank you Mark, I'll fix this... for everyone."

Archangel got himself back up to speed after he hung up the phone, tucking it back in his jacket pocket. The wind began to howl as he cut through the sky in a bolt of luminous lightning, traveling with the storm over the skies of Camelot until finally reaching his destination. He was above the CSEA's Powell Space Center in Delta Dracan, the only major spaceport that Camelot operated. He was thankfully on time, with the main launchpad still bare and waiting for the last rocket out to Vela. It was set to be the Friendship-4, a diplomatic mission to build rapport with the Seraphim by sending out Grail exclusive supplies to Jericho as a show of good faith. It'd be the last mission of its kind if the Syndicate kept hold of Camelot.

He took a moment in the air to hone in on the target, pre-launch Hangar 3A. After found it, he blasted down and through the metal hangar doors. As he made it inside, he left his electric form and landed on the smooth concrete floor with a roll. He looked around and saw various flight engineers working throughout the large hangar, some prepping launch vehicles while others bolted on and checked payloads. No one had noticed him however, leaving him free to carefully embark the Friendship-4's barrel looking payload. He felt a wave of doubt clawing at his mind as he entered, remembering it was an unmanned and unpressurized cargo lander. He winced at the thought of having to hold his breath for the 23 minute flight, racking his brain for any other ways to get to Vela. He steeled himself however, and found a place to sit down as he awaited rollout and launch.

## Out of the Frying Pan - San Arturo, Camelot [11/04/2022]

"Ugh fuck," Void groaned in pain. He was slowly regaining consciousness, feeling movement around him and wincing as he felt the gunshot wound in his side once more. As his eyes opened he realized he was in the federal gunmen's SUV again, speeding down a backroad before slamming to a stop. Before he could regain his bearings, a car door opened and the driver threw him out. Pain rattled through his body as he hit the pavement radiating out from his wound, making it abundantly clear his body hadn't had a chance to regenerate or resurrect while he was out.

He laid still for a moment as the falling snow accumulated on him, eventually placing a hand over the bullet hole through his side. A-007 poured out of his hand, dissolving the first aid patchwork the feds must've done on him and transmuting into the missing tissue, flawlessly fixing an otherwise grievous wound. As his body was once again whole, and he was out of the clutches of the feds, he let out a sigh of relief and relaxed against the ground. Eventually he pulled himself to his feet, looking around and regaining his bearings.

"Seventh Street, huh? Lucky me," he said to himself, pulling his phone out of his pocket and shooting a message to KaOS to pick him up. It was time to make a beeline to Nikita's contact in Irongate, and raid Solstice Labs to finally complete the Portal Shear holstered on his side.

Meanwhile in the Vault, the remaining Roundtable Council solemnly sat around an array of briefing screens in the command room while the Advisory Board sat in a separate room, trying to coordinate staff over the intercoms. They watched events unfold in real time, with a newscast on one screen, a satellite map of the Grail tracking chipped operatives like Void, and more unnervingly, live camera feeds of Syndicate strike teams on the Vault's access bridges attempting to breach the facility's nigh-impenetrable outer shell. Explosive charges, arc welders, and even a large antimatter cannon were put against the Vault's unassuming gray exterior, being met with no other results than causing shaking up the complex's interior.

Finally, Strongman broke the silence. He placed his agency issued sidearm forward on the table. "Are we going to just stay cooped up in here? Or are we going out those doors to fight?" he said with an authoritative and fearless tone, prompting an excited 'Hell yeah!' from Agent B.

"Are you two fucking stupid or something? They have a whole ass army out there with more firepower than we can dream of. The only saving grace we have is that they can't get in right now no matter what they try, and you want to open the doors for them so you can fight? Why don't you just go ahead and shoot us all right now if you want us to die so badly?" Reptile spat out, his words almost as caustic as his venom.

"Let's not go too far here but uh... he has a point guys, even a Code MARY can't breach this facility. We'd have to have a death wish to go out until Archangel, Wiz, or Void are back," Thunder added on, giving off a slight electrical shock as another explosion rang outside the facility.

"And where the hell is Arch at that? The GPS only has a fix on Void and some dumbasses in intelligence that got captured," Reptile fired back, causing Calliope to pull out his phone and dial in Archangel's number. It rang, and rang, and rang until finally going to voicemail. Calliope shot his phone a weird look before texting Archangel instead.

Back in San Arturo, Void was slumped against a brick wall waiting for his ride. As he heard the familiar roar of his car's hydrogen engine in the distance, he picked himself up off the ground and shook off all the snow that had accumulated on him sitting outside for so long. Soon enough, his one and only coupe pulled up. Void silently thanked Arthur as he looked around his car, assessing the damage and seeing only superficial marks and scrapes from the chase. After mentally noting repair costs he finally got in the car, seeing Kaori in the center screen once more, unresponsive, visually glitching, and looking concerned before cutting out entirely. Almost immediately he knew something was off, but he was already this far.

"Weird... must be interference... right? Yeah, interference," Void muttered to himself, trying to convince himself everything's alright more than anything. He buckled into his seat, putting on the sunglasses Archie gave him despite the darkness outside and shifting into gear. He wasn't too far from 1903 Irongate, only having to drive just 3 blocks before coming up on his destination. As he stepped out of his car he laid eyes on it, a large apartment complex. It was a towering pillar of a building, composed of drab gray stonework and dimly lit by the lights of the city around it as well as the few lights on in its many windows.

Void locked his car and started towards the complex, keeping his head down and trying not to attract attention as he came up on the building's entrance. It was a set of double doors leading into a large lobby area, bathed in the warm glow of incandescent lights and filled with comfortable furniture, but the doors were locked behind a keycard reader and touchscreen. A motion sensor activated as he approached, causing the screen to light up with a simple digital face and start speaking, "Welcome to the Irongate Megacomplex! If you are a visitor, please search from our list of apartments and buzz in, if you are a resident, please swipe your resident access card!"

Void was slightly startled by the light and noises from the screen's sudden activation, looking around to see if anyone's attention was drawn before returning his focus to the machine. He slipped his jacket sleeve over his finger and tapped on the visitor search button on the screen, bringing up an array of housing sections, presumably floors, listed from 1-75. He tapped Section 19, then he tapped the button for Room 51. A little loading symbol came across the screen before it eventually being answered.

"Who is this?" a distorted voice questioned.

"I'm with Nikita, he said this was a safe place," Void responded nervously.

Without another word, the call disconnected and the door unlocked. Void took a sigh of relief before entering the building's warm interior and well-lit interior before getting self conscious about his increased visibility, readjusting his glasses and pulling up his scarf over his face as he walked across the lobby, thankful that it was barren at the very least. Once he was upon the elevator up, he steeled himself for what was to come.

## Into the Fire - San Arturo, Camelot [11/04/2022]

Void looked down at his feet while the elevator took him up to the 19th floor, fidgeting nervously until the elevator arrived to its destination with a soft 'ding.' The doors opened to reveal the floor, a massive rectangular ring of rooms and resident services with a well-lit courtyard in the middle. As Void stepped out of the elevator and approached the railing he could see that, aside from a few spaced out suspended courtyards, the megacomplex had a giant vertical open space stretching from the very bottom to the very top.

Void quickly retreated from the railing as his fear of heights took over and A-007 started to spread over his skin. He eventually pried his eyes away and turned his attention back towards the rooms, looking for 51 before eventually spotting it. His heart pounded with a horde of doubts swarming his mind, before he burned them all away and forced himself to walk forward. Step by step he made it to Door 51, staring at it for a few minutes in contemplation before knocking five times, as Nikita told him.

Before he could react, the door was thrown open and he was yanked inside by a hand around his neck. In a fluid motion Void was slammed up against an interior wall with a gun under his chin. A woman with black hair and dark green eyes stared back at him. She probably stood a foot over him, and was incredibly strong. Void struggled at the hand clasped around his neck, but it wouldn't budge. "Tell me who you work for and I won't blow your brains out, little man." Void held his hands up before shouting, "I'M NOT A FED I SWEAR!"

Then silence. She gently uses the tip of her pistol to pull down Void's impromptu mask, then knock off his sunglasses. As realization dawned upon her face, she let go of his neck only to lock him in a nearly bone crushing bear hug. "Little Void! Nikita didn't tell me you were coming!" The gleeful woman before him... It was Nikita's sister, Nadia.

"Ach- You're crushing me Nad!" Void manages to choke out. He lets out a large sigh of relief as she lets go, before shooting a wide smile back to her.

"Elurian greetings really do never go out of style, huh? It's nice to see you too Nadia! ...Although it'd be better if I wasn't immediately accused of being a fed," Void says as he chuckles, leaning up against the wall to catch his breath.