The End is Nigh!

Rocket drops the two restauranters off several blocks away. He reaches into his pouch and pulls out a wad of money.
 
The woman still looks like she is about to scream so he addresses the man. “Ok, here’s some money to help you get out of town. I’m sorry that Destroyer’s goons used you to get to me.” He looks around quickly.
 
“I know that you both have been trying to help the resistance, and keep doing so, but you have to get out of the city.” He pulls the man down so that he can whisper in his ear, then tells him how to contact a resistance cell.
 
He lets the man go, “There are several cells around the country. Go to one and let them know you were sent by one of the New Champions.”
 
The woman is still looking around, trying to get her bearings. Rocket says to the man, “I am going to miss both of your cooking. Go help others of like mind. Protect her, and get out of the city, now.”

The man shakes his head and begins tugging on the woman. She slowly comes out of her daze then whispers, “Thank you.”
 
Rocket watches them as they start away. <<I hope they get out safely.>> He turns and takes a couple of steps back towards the warehouse. <<I should probably head back to Homestead, but those agents have really made me angry. They were going to shoot those two just to get to me. Why can’t we get out positive ‘press’ for us.>> He shakes his head. <<Anyway, time for some payback.>>
 
ooO<<I don’t know if this link is on, but if anyone can hear me, I’m heading back to the warehouse, and it would be nice to have some backup.>>Ooo
 
Over the coms ##This is Rocket. I just freed two restauranters from inside the warehouse. I’m going back. If anyone is available for Back-Up, please respond. ## Rocket waits a few seconds, and doesn’t get a response so he heads out…
 
Sparks is in the Comm room working trying to improve the system due to Destroyer’s destruction of communication satellites. He catches the end of Rocket’s transmission.
 
“Socrates? Is there a mission going on at the moment?”
 
“I do not believe there is a team action being performed today.” His voice pauses for a moment, “Although, there is a strange blip in the data that I have been receiving from SCRT. It does seem to match up with a possible action tonight.”
 
Sparks nods, “Ok, let me work at cleaning up this transmission and see what I can get from it.”
 
About a minute later, “Not good…. Rocket called for backup. Where was he?”
 
Socrates gives Sparks the location as he is running out of the room and towards the access to the hidden garage. <<I hope I can get there in time.>>
Sparks jumps on one of the jet cycles that he helped liberate from NAGA. After adjusting his skillwires he rapidly runs through a preflight and takes off. Just before he leaves the base, he taps into NAGA’s net and ‘registers’ the cycle as on a regular patrol.
 
Sparks gets to the location that Socrates had given him. The run-down building screams trap to him as he shakes his head. <<I hope that Rocket didn’t go in blind. >> As he makes his way there, he doesn’t notice any activity. He finds an external access for the net and plugs in.
 
After a small bit of searching, he finds a video file that was about to be deleted. He is just able to scan it into the decks memory before it was deleted.
 
He reviews the video. It shows Rocket arriving from one end the warehouse then the laser grid popping up. Rocket moves up the side of the closest supports and runs along the underside of the roof. Turrets pop up and begin firing on Rocket. He drops down behind the two hostages. He reaches out and touches the woman who becomes ‘out of phase’ and starts to reach for the man but stops.
Sparks can see the laser targets begin to paint the man. Rocket makes some wild gestures, and the agents turn their head. Rocket touches the man and the three of them disappear into the floor.
 
Sparks is about to stop the feed when he realizes that Rocket has returned alone. <<No, what are you doing? Get out of there!>>
 
Rocket blasts one of the air agents out of the air <<Great shot!>> Sparks elation is short lived at two of the other air agents get smart and work together. Rocket is blasted and seem that he might survive the attack until the third one hits him. Rocket falls to the floor and the lasers start smoking on his suit.
 
The air agent’s high 5 each other and then shut the grid down. While one of them is checking on the agent Rocket took out, and the other two are watching over Rocket, a truck backs up to the building. Rocket is bound and tossed in the back of the truck.
 
Sparks hacks into the traffic cams and follows the truck to it destination. It pulls into a compound and the gate closes.
 
Sparks leaps onto the jet cycle and heads towards the compound. <<I hope I can get there on time.>>
 
He stops nearby and finds an open wi-fi connection. He hopes into the net and begins hacking into the compound. He finds video feeds and sees that someone is looking at Rocket’s suit. He also finds a single power damping device in the compound. <<Got to be where they are keeping Rocket.>>
 
He is just able to get into the circuitry of the device when he sees that someone is tampering with it. <<You go Rocket!>> Sparks does what he can from the outside. <<Get out Rocket, this thing is gonna blow, and blow big.>>
 
Sparks sees that the doors are electronically locked. He just catches that one of them is being tampered with, so he helps it along. <<Come on Rocket, move it!>> Sparks checks the device and sees that it is about ready to go. He fiddles just a little bit, and the explosion is going to be a bit larger than it should normally be.
 
The video feed shows Jerry pop out of the door and sneak behind some barrels. << Good job! >> About this time, the device explodes. It causes the agent standing outside of the container to be thrown across the parking area. Several people run out of the building and towards the explosion. Sparks sees that everyone is out of the building. <<Go in! Your suit is in there.>>
 
Jerry sneaks out from behind the barrels and into the first room. <<Keep going, it’s in the next room>> Jerry spends a couple of seconds looking in this room then notices the door to the next room. He quickly moves into the next room and sees his suit. Jerry quickly moves over towards the suit, and in a blink of the eye, he is suited up as Rocket again. Rocket looks around and scratches his head.
 
##Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I was captured, I have escaped, but need some help. ## A couple of the New Champions come back with offers of getting to him. ##I’m going to leave the area, as I have no idea where I am. I’ll contact you when I know where I am.##
 
Sparks starts to pull out of the net as he watches Rocket phase out and run through the wall. Sparks jumps on the jet cycle and starts heading the direction that Rocket took off.
 
##I’m at the corner of 5th and Main, just outside of the city. ##
 
Sparks heads that way and breaks into another wi-fi signal. He looks at the chatter on the net to be sure that Rocket’s escape hasn’t triggered any alarms yet.
 
Sparks notices that there is a strange buildup of energy in the area. He can feel it in the real world, and in the cyberspace. It seems to be centered on Rocket. Sparks tries to pinpoint the source, but it is hidden. He tries to reach SCRT but the firewall still has him blocked. ##Socrates, I think something bad is about to happen! ##
 
Just as he sends the message, he gets pulled harder into Cyberspace. He moves towards Rocket and the power surge. He sees Rocket begin running. He tries to follow as it stretches his connection to the real world almost to the breaking point.
 
He watches as Rocket tries to phase out of cyberspace and the power just holds him in. Sparks watches at the color is drained from Rocket’s after images. Rocket turns and looks at Sparks. “tell the team I didn’t give any of them up! Tell them I didn’t tell…… I… don’t… want… to… die!” Rocket throws a blast of energy toward Sparks. When it hits Sparks is thrown back into his body.
 
After what feels like just a moment to Sparks, he opens his eyes. The sky above him is just starting to turn into morning. Sparks is hurting across his whole body like someone has beaten him to within an inch of his life. He crawls over to the jet cycle and heads back to the hidden garage. He lands and slides off the cycle and heads towards Homestead. “Socrates….. I believe that Rocket has been vanished.
He collapses to the floor.