[OLD PREVIEW] The Supers Experiment (#1)

Five

Ash stood, arms folded, while Claudia reprimanded Wren. After they'd returned to headquarters the night before, empty-handed and short two new recruits, Claudia was furious. She'd demanded to see Wren the next morning. The fear in Wren's eyes almost made the whole ordeal worth it.

Ash raised an eyebrow when two scientists entered the room, carrying the soldiers that had been retrieved from the fight at the weapons facility.

Claudia rubbed her temples. "A mind-reader, Wren. Do you have any idea how useful she could've been? And I wanted that pyrokinetic, too." Ash could tell she was doing everything to keep from screaming.

"Why do you care?" Wren asked. "We have a dozen more pyros—"

"Two," Ash muttered.

"—and we can find away to get the telepath." Wren glanced at the soldiers that had been brought in, and her face fell. On top of losing two recruits, she'd cost them five soldiers. The three that she'd wasted on the police in California were long gone, and it was doubtful that these two would be able to fight anymore. Summer hit them with enough power to fry their armor, at the very least.

Claudia let out an exasperated sigh. Tucking a loose strand of brown hair back into her bun, she ordered Wren to get back to training. Wren, head held high, turned and walked out without another word.

"You should have let me lead the mission," Ash said.

Claudia ignored him and turned her attention to the soldiers.

"Their systems aren't responding," one of the scientists explained. "But with some work we might be able to get them to function. It could take a few weeks..."

"Don't bother," Claudia said. "Scrap them. Ash, come with me." Ash silently stepped away from the wall and followed Claudia out the door.

"Wouldn't it be easier to keep the science lab here at headquarters?" Ash asked as Claudia headed toward her office. The Scorpion laboratory was located a few miles away, so the scientists had to fly in and out to speak with Claudia. Ash had always found this strange. Everything else they had was kept at HQ.

"That's not important right now," Claudia said. "We have bigger things to worry about."

Ash narrowed his eyes. Operation Black Knight, he guessed. Claudia had been obsessed with the thing for months, and it was almost time to put it into action.

"Resources," Claudia said as they entered her office. "We've been gathering weapons, and materials to build soldiers, and soon all of that work is going to pay off."

"Speaking of soldiers," Ash said, returning his focus to Claudia. "Why are you terminating them? The scientists said they might be able to get them working again."

"Might." Claudia sat down at her desk. Ash walked over to stand in front of her as she booted up her computer. "It's not worth the money to try. We have more soldiers. We have a whole army of them."

"We're running low, though," Ash said. "We've lost a lot lately. Newman's Altered are getting better."

Annoyance crossed Claudia's face. "Ah, yes. Dr. Newman's little army of 'Supers.' It doesn't matter, we'll take care of them if they become too big of a threat. Tell me, Ash, how easy is it to take down a soldier?"

Ash frowned, thinking about the question. "I guess it depends. If I can get water into their system, it shuts them down. If you have a good gun and can get at the weaker parts of their armor, then I suppose it's pretty easy."

Claudia nodded. "Kids like Summer can take them down in a few seconds." She turned around the computer monitor so that Ash could see it. It took him a moment to realize he was looking at a soldier. But this one was different than the others.