When not on a mission, it was a soldier’s duty to train in preparation for the next one. Horrigan had had that simple fact beaten into his head so thoroughly over the years that it was second nature to him. Of course, given his unique abilities, Horrigan spent almost every waking moment on some sort of mission, even if it was mostly just guard duty these days.

Horrigan had assumed that the days spent preparing for the assault on the Citadel would be much the same, so he was surprised to learn that he wasn’t currently in demand. Leaving the Air Force Base to protect another facility wasn’t an option until Senator Lily had finished a new psychic inhibitor for him and most of the scientists who usually ran tests on him were all based at the Exodus building. Even the President didn’t need extra security for the time being, so Horrigan found himself in the unusual position of having some time to himself. It wasn’t until he decided to head to the training yards that Horrigan realized he had a problem.

It wasn’t actually possible for him to train.

One of the drawbacks of being absolutely massive was the fact that almost everything had to be tailor-made to accommodate said bulk. The old Poseidon Oil Rig, where Horrigan had originally been stationed, had had almost an entire level dedicated to meeting his unique requirements, from exercise and combat training to medical care and armor maintenance. Adams Air Force Base, on the other hand, didn’t have any such specialized facilities.

Devoid of any other options, Horrigan was reduced to trudging through the snow-covered streets in a foul mood. His upgraded life-support systems kept his cardiovascular system in peak condition, so there was no need to do any endurance training, and running would be especially pointless thanks to his bionic legs. Horrigan supposed that he could do some weightlifting, but he was already capable of casually bench-pressing a Vertibird transport, and that was before his new magical strength was taken into account. Besides, the engineers had gotten unbelievably mad the last time he had benched a Vertibird and accidentally broken it.

Even combat training was out of the question for the moment. The engineers didn’t have the time to build a gun big enough for Horrigan to use just yet, and sparring was utterly impossible unless he could find an opponent he could slap around without turning them into a grease stain. Liberty Prime would fit the bill nicely, but the giant deathbot had been urgently redeployed to Project Purity just in case Unity decided to stage an assault.

Horrigan growled and clenched his fists. The thought of Unity being such a threat infuriated him, not least because he missed his chance to destroy her back in Raven Rock. Granted, her mind control powers would certainly have prevented him from actually fighting her anyway, but that hardly made Horrigan feel any better. Add in the possibility that it was her mind control that had convinced him to decide against attacking her in the first place, and he was more than looking forward to melting the bitch with his magical flames, just like her rotten minions.

Armor creaked as Horrigan jerked to a stop in the middle of a snow drift. He silently cursed himself as he realized that there was something he could practice. Horrigan slowly raised his hand and stared at his palm. With a little focus, he was able to make an emerald-green flame flicker around his fingers. Exercise and combat training were out, but there was nothing stopping him from testing the limits of his magical powers.

Next Chapter: Chapter 145 - Unity's Resolve Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 46 Minutes