The wall vibrated again, stronger this time. Shin could see the tremors in the sweat dripping from his hair. He pressed himself closer to the view screen at the far side of the panic room, creating the illusion of space in the cramped environment.
"Shin, any new information?" Kyle said. He was in one of the wall alcoves, designed to provide further protection from building collapse. Everyone else were sitting or leaning against the wall.
Shin wiped the sweat from his eyes, ineffectually, because his palms were slick with sweat too. "The explosions are getting closer to us. There is no other data, so I don't think teachers or the guards have eyes on it." Shin said.
"Boom," closer. Much closer.
"Shin, don't worry. The panic room is concealed and armoured," Corporal Dale said, "be calm."
"Sorry Sir. It is hard to just stay still when you know something is exploding in the building though." The tremors, the fear, the closed space were all bringing him back to the day he lost everything. 'How can the rest of the Shimin be so calm,' he wondered. 'Will I ever be like them?'
"Nothing weird about that," one of the twins said. Shin still couldn't tell Cain and Able apart, so he just referred to them as 'the Twins'.
The wall behind the Twins exploded. There was fire, dust, smoke and a powerful force. The sound was so loud that it felt like all sound had been destroyed. Shin hit the screen in the far wall, the force crushing him against it. His yell of pain and shock was lost in the echoes of the blast.
"Guys! Corporal!" Shin tried to yell. He scrubbed his hands over his eyes and face, his vision now obscured by debris and a sticky wetness. He stumbled while trying to stand back up.
'Boom.' Another blast shoved him back into the wall, but there was less shrapnel hitting him this time. He tripped on some debris in the dark, moving towards the inner part of the panic room. He clicked the light feature of his multi-tool, "Guys, are you ok?" he called. They didn't look ok though.
"Oh shit."
The Shimin were in a bloody heap, shoved into the back wall by the successive blasts.
"Help," someone said.
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'Oh shit,' Flash Bomb thought, as he blew through the second wall and passed through the room of students. 'They were definitely students.'
Collateral damage happened on jobs, but he'd much rather face off against soldiers than accidentally blow up a kid.
A powerful kinetic force surged out of him as he ran straight at the next wall, blasting a large hole outwards.
Four more walls, and one stairway, later, and he was in a tunnel connecting this building to his target. 'They managed to get a team ahead of me earlier, I wonder if they know where I'm going?'
He didn't worry though, he was here to steal something unexpected and didn't think they would predict his exact destination. He started to slow down, firing off mild blasts in front of him to work as brakes. The force hit his body like a moving wall, but it didn't even damage his suit. All of his clothing was woven of fibers stronger than steel and kevlar, making it bullet and blast resistant. Necessary with his ability, or he'd be naked everytime he went Super.
'It's a good thing my ability my protects me, or my own force blasts would kill me.' The display projected by his visor showed that he was directly beside his target, only separated by 30 or so metres. Of course, there was nothing but a wall beside him, and the tunnel looked to continue forward another 100 metres before ending at a fortified elevator for the target building.
He turned towards the x on his display and used his power to blast the tunnel wall. It blew through the first layer, revealing materials resembling concrete and complex polymers. Beyond that, he could see dirt and rocks. 'Time to tunnel,' he thought while walking forward, using his power like a continual earth blasting tool. The tunnel filled in behind him even as he blasted his way forward.
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Mimi did what she knew best, she followed the plan and issued orders.
"Gather in Hall 2. Private Ryan, perform a headcount of our class as soon as we arrive. We might have further instructions from administration by then."
"Yes ma'am" Private Ryan said, saluting smartly and turning away.
Ten minutes ago the alarms went off and the building locked down. Immediately after, everyone received the announcement over their OHUD:
[Lockdown protocol 1 is in effect. Report to your designated shelter space.]
'I have a bad feeling about this,' she thought. 'I hope Shin is okay too.'
"Boom."
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Shin was covered in blood and dirt. The doctor was talking to him, her teeth flashing white above the blue veined marble of her neck. Her lab coat was blindingly white, the entire medical bay gleamed around them.
"-- remove it please," she said.
Shin shook his head slightly, his eyes squinted in concentration, "Sorry Dr., remove what?"
"Your uniform, Private. Now that your classmates have been assessed and stabilized, we need to take care of your injuries," she said, helping him remove his jacket and top, leading him to the examination table. "It was brave to get them all here, but you are clearly injured too."
"Not in comparison. Are they all--" he swallowed dryly, "going to be okay?"
"Everyone here is stable and being monitored," she said, while placing her hands on the angry bruise across his ribs.
"Ouch," Shin said, inhaling sharply.
"Several ribs on your left side are fractured. We'll know better after a full scan, but for now we will bind them up. Any other pain or injuries?"
"Just scrapes and bruises." He looked up into her eyes, they were brown with flecks of green. A little like the Twins eyes. The tears he didn't have time for spilled over his cheeks. "I need to go back for Cain. We can't just leave him there, alone in the dark. We tried to carry him too, but had to focus on who could be saved." He covered his face with his hands.
"I know Shin. We'll recover Cain too." She placed her hand on his head gently. " Your duty is finished for today."
"What the hell is happening today Dr. Grey?" Shin's eyes were wide, his arms moved briefly encircling the doctor in an awkward hug.
"I don't know. Don't worry Shin, the Academy is not defenceless."
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