Just Cause: Revised & Expanded Edition Read Free

protect the innocent, support your teammates, and come home alive .
    Good advice, she thought. She intended to follow it to the letter.
     

Chapter Two
     
    “When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.”
    -Napoleon Bonaparte
     
    December, 2003
    Chicago, Illinois
     
    Traffic clogged the roads for miles around the Convention Center as people tried to get away and emergency vehicles tried to get through. Sally and Carousel scouted ahead at high speed to find the best route for Spark to steer his motorcycle. Finally, they reached an impasse as the throng of evacuated conventioneers and onlookers became too thick to avoid.
    Spark brought his cycle to a halt, dismounted with an acrobatic leap, and uncoiled his whip. He swung it up into the air and snared the flying Bullet, who wrapped one of his huge hands around the tip. Spark’s momentum continued unchecked as Bullet lifted him up and over the crowd. Sally and Carousel picked their way through the thick crowd beneath the flyers.
    They reached the police line in seconds, where officers struggled to keep curious people back from the buildings and helped others maintain an orderly exit. The members of the Chicago Police Department looked relieved as the Lucky Seven heroes arrived on scene.
    “Fill us in, Lieutenant,” said Spark to a short, stocky woman who wore a helmet and armored vest.
    “It’s a giant robot thing,” said the officer. “It entered the main exhibition hall and began firing off tear gas canisters. Cleared the place out pretty fast.”
    Sally looked around and noticed many people in the crowd were coughing, with red faces and streaming eyes. Her breath mask would give her some protection from gas but it didn’t have a self-contained air supply, so she’d get a dose of whatever it was too.
    “Do you know what it’s after?”
    “What it’s after? Not at the moment. Security converged on it but it’s carrying some pretty heavy weaponry and they couldn’t get close to it.” The lieutenant pushed her helmet back and wiped sweat from her brow even in the freezing temperature. “We’ve got four officers unaccounted for, and there may be civilians stranded inside. Goddamn, but I’m glad you’re here.”
    A whine of feedback and a thrum of distortion filled the air as Stratocaster and Juliet materialized out of the sound and appeared right next to Sally.
    “Not late, are we?” Stratocaster flashed a tight grin at Spark.
    “What, did you stop for a latte and biscotti?” Spark snorted in derision.
    Stratocaster patted his vest pocket. “I saved you a couple. You want one with almonds or white chocolate?”
    Spark didn’t bother to reply and instead turned back to the lieutenant. “Has anyone possibly got a picture of this thing?”
    She nodded and pulled out her cell phone. “One of the missing officers was able to send this from his phone before we lost contact.” She held it up. The Lucky Seven members all crowded around to get a look. Sally strained to see past Bullet’s bulk, and just caught a glimpse.
    The blurry image showed an angular humanoid figure in dark blue and gleaming chrome, with four arms and two legs and a large bulky object on one shoulder. It was caught in the act of firing some kind of weapon from one of its intermediate limbs. A gout of flame jetted out and washed out part of the image from overexposure.
    Sally drew in a sharp breath. She knew this figure; he had haunted her dreams since she’d been old enough to understand what had happened to her father and who was responsible for his death.
    Destroyer .
    Destroyer had taken away half her family before she was even born, and she hated the coward inside his powered armor because of it.
    Destroyer .
    She whispered the name aloud and felt her perceptions accelerate out of fear. When she ran and moved at super speeds, her perceptions and thought processes accelerated as well, allowing her mind to keep up with her