Information regarding a planned attack on the Senate building had reached the Fiend's notice during a separate investigation into the Crimson Dawn's activities. The information, however, had been received too late as the Devilmobile jettisoned from the Devilwing into the lower atmosphere of Fondor before rapidly traversing over the ecumenopolis towards the General Ministry Canton. Upon his arrival, the attack on the senate building had begun. With a cursory scan of the fighting below, the Black Ace developed a plan.
It was time to go to work.
["Sage, use the Devilmobile to shut down the scrambler device and provide aerial support below once you are done,"] the Demon grasped upon two levers before pulling upon them downwards, revealing a drop hatch,
["I am going in. Communications may be compromised. If I need assistance-"]
He let go of the levers.
["You'll know."]
Before diving headfirst from the sky. The wings along his back extended outwards and slowing him from a moment before narrowing his wingspan to glide far faster than before towards the building.
Meanwhile, a speeding shadow cast itself over the skyline and below as a black speeder dived in from above. A bombardment of laser fire escaped the black stealth craft speeder as it raced down upon an unknown gunship (
Saram Kote
). A scrambler could be traced and tracked with the Detective's instruments. The flying speedcraft fired two pronged cables from its undersurface as it closed the distance before seeking to attach them to the gunship. With a press of a button, if the wires attached and embedded into the outer hull of the spacecraft, an eletrocmagnetic current would run through the entirety of the wiring and disrupt the electrical wiring of the spacecraft.
Whether it disabled the whole craft was not the point. The real goal here was to disable the scrambler and render it fried and useless. Any damage to the craft as a result of the tactic would be a bonus.
Down below, the Demon's visor adjusted as it began scanning the battlefield below as he approached. Multiple hostiles. Several with stealth technology to render themselves invisible or shielded. A few of their numbers included droids. Each strike team would provide its own challenges, but the Black Ace could handle it. He had to stop them. Lives were on the line. Descending downward spreading his arms out, his glide arced before his winged extensions folded back into the suit. Right above the droids guarding the entrances along with the rest of the outside attackers, a series of grenades dropped from his hands onto the ground next to them.
Tthe Black Ace crashed through one of the upper windows into the building. The noise would have attracted the attention if not for the explosives and laser fire erupting throughout the area.
During his entrance, the adhesive grenades he dropped below exploded once they hit the ground, creating a thick yet breathable super-glue to entrap the various hostiles below. even the initial tactics failed, it provided a suitable distraction and a means of attracting attention away from the other soldiers and towards himself. The Fiend could handle being outnumbered. He had been trained for it.
The soldiers outside were far less equipped than he was. And so were the hostiles inside the building as well.
Glancing about as the various civilians and senators not yet under siege by the criminals below, the Demon spoke. It commanded everyone's attention and fear.
["Hide. Stay low on the floor and behind cover. Do not move until the Commandos find you."]
Before disappearing further into the building, towards the floors below. He would have limited time for setup, to create a message of fear. The strike teams below did not know the vengeance they had wrought upon themselves.
Traps and contingencies would need to be in play. Quickly, the Demon began setting up all the traps and devices he could on the second floor before heading downwards.
By the time the hostile forces would reach the stairs to secure the rest of the building and begin to ascend the upper floors after securing the lower decks, a cruel smoke and various obfuscating gases filled the stairway as several smoke grenades exploded at the feet of the ascending strike teams. The Proto-Predator would need to hit them hard and fast. Faster than anything they ever faced before and force their focus away from any hostages onto him. The thrusters in his boots roared to life.
It leapt forward and began to take them down. One after another. Then two at a time. Even three or four or five at a time. Claws and fists sinking into flesh and bone, past the armor. Shuriken leapt free from the arms before sinking into the limbs of the attackers, rendering certain limbs inoperable, before dragging others not trapped into the smoke. Clawed wires wrapping around legs or penetrating the flesh of the shoulders before dragging the invaders into the slowly dissipating mist.
When the smoke began to clear, as the laser fire finally became intense, there would be a singular moment. A flash of an image. A horned creature within the mist before it disappeared further and away. Its shadowed form last seen moving and hiding around a corner of the building, down and further away into the first floor.
As the smoke cleared, the insurgent soldiers would find their numbers thinned. A number of their allies either strung up with wire, broken and bloody, or rendered unconscious with no visible wounds would be found in the aftermath.
The question remained: who, or rather,
what did this?
Because something else was in the building with them. And it was
angry.
Who were the hunters and who was the hunted?