Alarms startled Dire Sun out of a deep sleep in his cell. It took a few seconds to shake the cobwebs free from his mind, but when he realised what was happening, he snapped to full alert, years of training and conditioning kicking in. The rising tone was an evacuation alert. His door was ajar just a few centimetres, which was odd.
He picked up a sidearm and grabbed the cap that kept his bald spot from showing. Force of habit. He strapped on the weapon as he strode out the door and down the passage towards the fire exit. None of the other cell doors were locked, which further confirmed his suspicion that this was no drill. He and his fellow soldiers would be locked in during most mundane drills.
He passed door after door, checking in each one with a quick glance before moving on. Empty, empty, empty. Where was everyone? When he reached the door at the end of the passage, he could smell the smoke.
The door wouldn't budge and the smoke was becoming thicker and more visible. He braced against the floor, put his full weight behind the push, even shoulder-slammed it with his full 175kg of solid muscle, but it didn't even dent.
He pulled the front of his uniform shirt up over his mouth to keep from breathing in too much smoke. It didn't help much, though it might keep him going a little longer. The smoke started to sting his eyes. He raced to the other end of the military-grey corridor and turned a corner, almost tripping over a prone form at his feet. The man's code name didn't come to mind, only his serial number - D14. Dire Sun was D15. He hefted his fellow soldier's unconscious body over his shoulders with a grunt and charged for the fire door at the other end of the corridor. With the weight of two of them, Dire Sun couldn't move fast, but their combined momentum would be unstoppable. As he reached the door, he extended a meaty foot with his last step and let his and his squad mate's mass carry the kick into the door.
His whole frame shuddered with the impact on the reinforced steel, but the locking bolts bent and popped out of place. The door swung free on squealing hinges. The thickening smoke followed them out into open air, and Dire Sun collapsed, allowing D14 to fall from his shoulders and getting his breath back.
In a control room, not far away, a technician turned from his video monitor in disbelief to ask his commander, "Did you see that?"
The commander kept watching with stoic composure. "I saw."
"That was ten centimetres of hardened steel with *six* lock bolts! And he just, you know, POW!" The tech smacked a fist into his open palm to emphasise his point.
"Private, I saw it. It's why we made him."
"But, well, uh, permission to speak freely, sir?"
The commander nodded.
"Why the fire? Why are we doing this to him?"
"Super-soldiers escape, private. It's inevitable. We're just making escape part of the plan."
The technician nodded, without certainty. On the monitor, Dire Sun picked up his fellow soldier again and started for the fence.
Mokalus of Borg
PS - Dire Sun was one of my City of Heroes characters.
PPS - I was kind of vague about his back-story, but I think I'd like to write it like this.
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