A consummate professional, Warden was more than capable of keeping up with Sherlock.  While he was nowhere close to the AI’s intricacies of datawork and coding, he was extremely potent in it from just being a human being with no powers.  While it took a few more pieces of code, Warden was able to simply attach certain lines of code to Sherlock’s packet, allowing him to be used as a remote access point in assisting the AI in shutting down the base’s defenses.  

However, this was also a very opportune moment for the merc, now being able to see exactly what STRIKE was capable of.  While the AI was right in its assumption they would not trace his involvement with such a target such as Sherlock, it was far too hard to pass up collecting some of the disabled data and schematics that STRIKE possessed.  The AI would most likely notice, but there was no denying it’s usefulness later on, and on top of that, the AI had Angel as a more important concern.  Whenever Sherlock would break a program or disable a protocol, Warden made a point to collect even a piece of it, hopefully to reconstruct it later on his own time.  Nevertheless, when Sherlock gave the advice to split, Warden was succinct and quick to adhere. 

[color=9e0b0f]“I’ll make sure the two of them don’t come to blows.  You make sure you get out of here intact...it seems like your friend really counts on you in more ways the one.  We will speak again soon.”[/color]

And with that, Warden’s signature disappeared from the grid.  His IP reconfigured on the spot as soon as the left, leaving no trace of his interaction with either the AI or STRIKE’s database.  It would only take him a few minutes to re-configure to War-Pulse’s comm frequency, but the two on the ground wouldn’t get into anything too heated, right?

[center][img]http://s22.postimg.org/jtr04y1ht/War_Pulse_Word_Art.png[/img][/center]

Upon hearing Equilibrium’s comment War-Pulse was only able to blurt out [color=0054a6]“Wait, what--”[/color] before the sound of the jump jets drowned him out, the robotic frame of the ATD jettisoning out of the base and tearing through the hole into open air.

[color=0054a6]“Well, guess I’m covering you then!  [b][i]Real[/i][/b] glad we’re establishing such good communications for this [b][i]dangerous[/i][/b] jailbreak!”[/color]  He sarcastically snapped back into his comm link.  The mercenary was quick to follow, with a rippling burst of energy catapulting him after the mech in a streak of blue light, tearing off in front of the ATD .  Of course, at this point Sherlock and Warden had done a fairly good job temporarily shutting down the STRIKE base, the Anti Air cannons lining the base's exterior remained silent during their exit.  However, as crafty as the plan had been, there was still one oversight in the escape. 

The hanger bay.

Even with the base temporarily on lockdown, the airships were separate systems, possibly with analog interfaces instead of digital, and War-Pulse had no guarantee that Equilibrium's powers or Sherlock's hacking skill would be able to disable the fighter jets while they were busy with other activities.  It was much safer to prevent them from taking off rather than risk being chased down by a hail of heat seeking missiles. 

Breaking off from Equilibrium's flight path, the mercenary came back around to the base's single runway.  As this base was built into a mountainside, there was barely enough even terrain to have more that one, which had been a calculated risk for STRIKE in exchange for being very well hidden and given superior cover by the rocky outcropping.

One that would not pay off well in this case.

Coming around the base, the mercenary was able to take note that while he was back in range, the soldiers were taking potshots with their firearms. The pinging noise of bullets ricocheting off of his kinetic barrier ring out as he rocketed towards the base's single runway.  Small arms had little effect on his trajectory, but it was enough of a nuisance that a few kinetic blasts were loosed back into the squads below.

With enough aerial maneuvers, War-Pulse made his way over the runway.  In his hand began to appear a small blue ball, a sphere of focus kinetic energy packed into a throwable package.  Like a baseball pitcher, the mercenary wound back, the energy ball crackling and distorting, turning him into a small beacon of light in the air.

[color=0054a6]“Hey!  STRIKE Assholes!”[/color]  War-Pulse called out, his voice booming down to the hangar bay to the pilots desperately trying to get their planes into the air. [color=0054a6]“When your boss comes by and sees what happened, tell him War-Pulse says hello!” [/color] 

With his words, the mercenary sent his kinetic package straight down, hurtling into the ground with impressive speed, the air rippling as the ball rocketed through it.  As it connected, the ground seemed to implode only for a brief second before a mighty explosion rocked the paved runway, pulverizing the concrete and reducing it into a rocky crater, the length of the runway becoming entirely unusable.  Before the ground even finished shaking, War-Pulse was off again, chasing after the ATD with a smirk on his face, knowing that STRIKE now had no way to pursue for a while.

The flight indeed took half an hour, as Equilibrium had so dutifully explained before.  The flight was rather silent at the beginning, the adrenaline of the hard-fought escape beginning to wear off, making way for the unsettling tension that came with being enemies only a few days ago.  Of course, War-Pulse was always the first to break the ice in this situation, and this would be no exception.

[color=0054a6]“Soooo...you probably don’t want to hear things from me, given the last time we talked I threw a truck at your head…but can we talk?” [/color] War-Pulse asked.[color=0054a6] “You don’t really have to say anything, to be honest.  And it isn't like you can stop me from saying my piece, either.  You said yourself that you don’t have any defensive abilities while we’re going to your homebase.   So you might as well sit back and listen to what I got on my mind.”[/color]

The mercenary manuered his way to the ATD’s front, flying with his back to the ground and staring into the metallic frame’s front.  He knew the kid could hear him, Equilibrium hacked into his comm link, there was no way the guy wasn’t listening to him right now.

[color=0054a6]“Now look, I’m going to be upfront with you...I know what you did with the helicopter back on the night of the riots.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that helicopters don’t just fall out of the sky onto your head, and on top of that, you aren’t the only one with an analytical program on your side,  Mine’s just organic.”[/color]

The merc sighed, crossing his arms as he spoke.[color=0054a6] “Look, here me out, between you and me, that’s one hell of a move.  It was ballsy and cutthroat, one hell of a shot in the dark in an attempt to put me down.  Sure, it didn’t work, but you wouldn’t have known unless you tried, right?  So while others are judging you for it, I’m just impressed you had the gumption to try such a move.  That’s the kind of ‘never say die’ potential I rarely see.

However, here’s the flipside of this conversation, and subsequently the point I want to make.  If it’s not clear to you by this point; I’m kind of a piece of shit, and due to my past track record, I don’t think you’ll find many who don’t agree with that statement.  My morals are screwy as hell, I take whoever gives me money to do literally whatever...Hell, before I was hired to rescue you I tried to poison the city with something that I now entirely regret doing, and you know what?  I don’t hold it against anyone that they’re going to probably blame me for it.”[/color]

War-Pulse let out a shaky chuckle, rubbing his eyes with a hand as he flew. [color=0054a6]“But that’s something I’m going to deal with later, and I’ll own up to it when the time comes.  That’s not the point…the point is if someone like me is agreeing with an action like the one you took, then what does it say about what you did?”[/color]

He glanced upward at the destination, by this point they were getting closer, the bustling coming back into view in the distance.  His brow furrowed, a stony grimace coloring his face as he looked over the rapidly closer city.

[color=0054a6]“Bah...Chances are you aren’t even listening to me, it’s not like I can tell behind that bucket of bolts…” [/color] His body turned back over, letting his chest point towards the ground once more as he began to decelerate, falling behind the ATD so it could lead him to the garage. [color=0054a6]“Whatever, thought I'd just say my piece, damned if you care or not.  Still...take it from someone who threw his ethical judgement away far too long ago.  Stand by your actions, but let your actions stand for who you are and what you believe...or else you end up without a moral to stand on when the finger is pointed your way.”[/color]

With that, he disappeared from the ATD’s view, now lagging behind with a more somber look on his face.  His brow furrowed now, lips pursed and contorted.  Where the hell did that come from?