Rage stabbed like a thousand steel needles beneath his skull, while the foul, reeking air made breathing difficult. The stench of fresh blood and exposed internal organs was even more unbearable. Derrick Xian moved quickly—so quickly that before the other Mutants could react to their companion's death, a sudden dull boom and violent tremor sent every living thing in the room flying. The Praetorian Guard maintained his balance with supernatural agility, bracing himself against the floor with his spear shaft while drawing the backup weapon at his waist, the Oath Dagger—though to an ordinary person, it was more like a sword—and swinging it at the defenseless Mutants. He moved so quickly that, through the feedback of his visual systems, the Mutants seemed to be moving in slow motion. Derrick Xian saw the terror on their faces with perfect clarity. Then a visible sonic wave slammed into his wrist and body, forcibly knocking the Oath Dagger's edge aside and hurling him, Power Armor and all, several meters away.
These Mutants, clearly of the warrior caste, lay sprawled across the floor.
A soft white light rose behind them, blooming from a tuning fork set into someone's forehead. The man in a black bodysuit striped with white had covered the upper half of his face with a mask made of some flexible material. His eyes, visible through two openings, fixed Derrick Xian with blazing fury. Both sides recognized one another and became wary, though Derrick Xian believed Black Bolt did not know nearly as much about him, since he had never seen a Praetorian Guard before. Derrick Xian halted and stared back at Black Bolt. He was assessing the situation while his detection systems compiled the identified enemy's information. He did not know whether the assassin had completed part of the mission. If