by Jedi Reach
“I am.” Adron replied.
“Okay. So, like, how are we supposed to do that?”
“By baiting out the extraterrestrial who can give us the necessary ship. Make no mistake, he will eventually find us. It’s only a matter of time. It is best we confront the problem head on than running from it.”
“You want to steal an alien’s ship? This gets better and better by the moment.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “By the way, do you realize there are other Scions out there? The late Doctor moved us around from facility to facility. What about the rest of us that are still locked up and the ones that went free in the wild?” Victoria questioned.
“We will find them. One by one.” Adron said.
“Then why did you choose us first?” Sven growled.
“From what Lea told me, you two had notable history with the one called Jace, the Nova Leader?”
Victoria felt a sting in the back of her neck while Sven felt an enraging warmth in his chest.
“Yeah, a lot of us did. Him and that alien chick.” Victoria said bitterly.
“And Five. Five must die.” Sven huffed.
“They’re the reason most of us got locked up. I’m guessing they’ll be after us again.” Victoria wondered aloud.
“We have powerful enemies,” Adron held his hands behind his lower back. “If we don’t work together, they’ll dismantle us alone. No man’s an island as you earthlings say.”
Victoria looked at Sven.
Even the pyromaniac couldn’t deny Adron’s wisdom.
“What about the remaining virol?” Lea asked.
Adron turned to her and smiled.
CHAPTER 19
Jace, Xenia and Scott alongside a group of scientists, stared through the observatory glass of a facility test room. On the other side, Aiden was strapped in new robot armor containing virol countermeasures which Scott created with Xenia’s aid. Aiden’s suit was black and white like ying and yang, plated with light armor for mobility. The helmet covered his whole face and the eyes of the headpiece were illuminated. From Aiden’s point of view, he saw various vitals on himself from his heartrate to his psionic powers.
“How did I become the test dummy again?” Aiden communicated to his peers through the suit’s radio.
“Because you’re big and strong.” Jace teased.
“You forgot dumb apparently. Only an idiot would sign himself up for this.” Aiden replied.
“Hey, your words pal.” Jace smirked.
Scott checked his computer terminals before giving his underlings the thumbs up.
“You ready Aiden?” Scott asked.
“Bring it on!” Aiden clenched his fists.
In the middle of Aiden’s room, a small section of the floor opened, and a machine gun elevated from equipment holstering it into the room.
“Virol gun online, sir.” one of Scott’s scientists reported.
“Begin.” Scott ordered.
The gun aimed at Aiden and unloaded 50 caliber rounds covered in virol. Aiden unleashed a ferocious war cry, stood his ground and took the relentless beating. The machine gun emptied all its rounds and Aiden dropped to his knees, panting and struggling to compose himself from the tremendous pounding.
“Are we done yet assholes?!” he yelled.
Although Aiden’s suit was wrecked, it absorbed the impact against fatal wounds. Scott checked Aiden’s vitals and other important health information on his terminal.
“What are the results?” Xenia asked.
“Seems he’s fine. No trace of infection. No serious wounds. Maybe some sores.” Scott said.
“SCREW YOU!” Aiden shouted when he heard Scott mention the sores.
Jace chuckled.
“Commander Wills?” A Nova personnel called behind Jace while a communication came through his headset. “Bakker’s on the line for you in the debriefing room.”
“Bakker?” Jace wondered aloud. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
“Jace,” Xenia reached for his arm. “Be careful. Something’s not right.”
Jace nodded at Xenia and left.
**************
Jace entered the debriefing room alone and activated the control console. A live hologram of Bakker appeared overhead. Jace immediately thought of Xenia’s warning when he saw Bakker’s face. Bakker was tense and restless.
“Hello Jace. Glad you can finally make it.” Bakker said.
“We were running tests on new countermeasures. Where’s Stone?” Jace replied.
“That’s exactly what I called to talk to you about.” Bakker twitched.
Jace furrowed his eyebrows.
What is going on?
“We were attacked by the EBE. Stone was injured. He’s in ICU right now, probably won’t even make it…” Bakker said.
Jace felt his heart sink.
On top of that, he thought of their deal.
“…that’s not the worst of it either. Lea was there with the EBE. She helped him free some of the imprisoned Scions. Our backup forces came in time to chase them off, but they still got away.” Bakker continued.
“Wow.” Jace blurted out loud.
“Yeah. We’re about to move our virol storage to a safe location and we’ll be coming to collect yours.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly as I said. I’m aware your team made good progress on your countermeasures. If we’re going to be attacked like this again, then we need to use it.”
“We’re still in early stages. Rushing deployment could prove catastrophic.”
“That’s a risk we’re going to have to take. And there’s more. Since Stone is out of the picture, jurisdiction has been handed to me. I’m reverting the Nova team’s rights to operate independently. You’ll be reporting to me from now on.”
Jace scoffed and shook his head.
“What about our deal?”
“What deal?” Bakker starkly questioned.
“The deal for the mission completion. The one your superior offered me. Our freedom.”
“Maybe you didn’t hear me. I’ll say it again. Stone’s no longer in charge. I am. Whatever he offered you doesn’t mean shit. You Scions have proved time and time again that you aren’t worthy of being trusted. You’re too dangerous to be free.”
An utter disappointment crept over Jace. He felt like a letdown. Not only to himself but to his comrades, his friends, the love of his life and even the other Scions in the wild. Nevertheless, the Nova Leader couldn’t let his feelings best him. He had to somehow gather the strength to press on. Adron was still out there.
“I see. Well, I hope you’ll change your mind if we get out of this alive.” Jace said.
“I won’t.” Bakker said before terminating the transmission.
Rage boiled over Jace and he punched the terminal.
“Son of a bitch.” Jace blurted.
The Nova Leader wondered how he would break the news to the others. It was a tricky situation to deal with. The only one who would be truly understanding was Xenia and even then, Jace felt discouraged for having to break the bad news to her too.
“I have to overcome this,” Jace affirmed to himself. “I will overcome this! I will find a way. No matter the odds, I will succeed!”
**************
Just outside the orbit of earth, Daisha appeared from the nothingness of space. The beamship cruised forward for a few seconds before coming to a complete standstill. From inside, it gave Lars a beautiful view of the earth while the hunter accessed his computer terminal.
“Did you find anything?” he asked the ship’s AI.
Holographic screens appeared next to Lars, one of them displaying a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in flight while the other two displayed the contents of the cargo – virol.
“It would seem they’ve began organizing shipments of the virus to begin mass weaponizing.” Daisha said.
“Not for long.” Lars replied.
“Are we moving to intercept?” Daisha asked.
“Correct.”
Lars said.
CHAPTER 20
The midnight moon shone bright over patches of clouds while a C-17 Globemaster, carrying virol cargo, landed in a CIA black site located in a desert airport. The plane taxied from the runway to the docking area, only to have its right side ripped open from a sudden portal. The pilots inside the plane quickly realized they were under attack. Adron leapt on top the plane, hurried to the front and punched a hole into the cockpit, then ripped the roof clean off. He grabbed the pilots before they had a chance to react and tossed them outside.
Armed soldiers readied their weapons while they gathered around the virol. Another portal opened inside the cargo area and Sven hopped out and charged at the soldiers. They were about to squeeze their triggers when a sharp scream penetrated their ears. The soldiers fell to the ground with seizures. Victoria appeared behind the soldiers, walked passed them, and viewed the cargo.
“Is this what he meant?” she asked Sven.
Sven looked at the cargo.
There were mid-sized glass containers containing black goo, darting around inside, full of life. The plane rocked to the left and a large chunk of its side, including its wing, was torn off and thrown into the desert sands by Adron. The overlord leapt inside the plane and the virol inside the containers started dancing wildly. It was magnetized to Adron and tried to break free of its restraints.
“No matter how far we get separated, we always end up together again.” Adron spoke to the eager virol.
A portal opened behind Adron and Lea walked out.
“Will it work?” Lea asked.
Adron looked at the other two Scions.
“Step aside.” he said.
They followed his order, curious of the overlord’s next move. Adron punched open the containers and broke the protective titanium layers, allowing the virol to roam free on the ground. The black goo coiled around Adron’s feet and connected to his shadowy coated suit; essentially becoming one with its host. Adron clenched his fists and felt a surge of energy rushing up his spine. The flaming eyes on his head covering glowed with intense luminosity while his suit seemed to grow bulkier in size. Victoria and Sven were frightened and backed away, but Lea only came closer to observe.
“Adron? Are you okay?” Lea called.
The other two Scions looked at her, confused why she wasn’t more afraid of the shadow-looking demon transforming in front of them. Lea on the other hand, was far past that point. She had been to hell and back with Adron already.
“Mmmmh!” Adron felt power throughout his body. “The newly returning virol is resyncing with me. It has brought many secrets and much knowledge.”
“What does that mean?” Lea asked again.
“Virol connected to a synced host will always be connected to that host regardless of a period of separation. Should the separation occur, then the separated virol will go out and gather the knowledge of its environment and inhabitants. I can communicate with separated virol over vast differences but once they become one with me after absorbing life force, our power is multiplied.” Adron said.
“Fascinating.” Lea looked at Adron, astonished.
The overlord walked passed Lea and jumped outside.
“What is it?” Lea noticed something was off.
“He’s here.” Adron replied, the virol manipulating the sound of his voice; making it sound like multiple people talking at once. Lars appeared from the shadows in front of Adron and his crew. The alien hunter was armed to the teeth and his sight was fixed on the overlord.
“There’s only one way this is going to end Adron!” Lars said, his voice robotically distorted by his helmet. “This is your last chance to surrender.”
Adron twitched. It wasn’t how Lars said what he said but what he said. That word – surrender. It provoked the overlord.
“Never.” Adron stood his ground.
“As you wish.” Lars said then disappeared.
A quick plasma shot from the darkness whiffed into the middle of Adron and his crew. They scattered in opposite directions to avoid the fire but Adron knew that shot wasn’t meant for damage, it was meant to displace. A thin yet immeasurably strong wire wrapped around Sven’s leg and holstered him into the air upside down. The brute tried wrestling out of it, even trying to tap into his powers, but he couldn’t.
Adron went to cut the trap down and set Sven loose but another plasma bolt erupted from the shadows followed by two more shots that kept Adron and his crew on their toes. Victoria screamed; the vibrations of her voice echoing into the night. The soundwaves struck Lars, giving Adron sight from the sonar.
Adron charged at Lars with lightning speed, smashing the hunter into the broken plane. The overlord’s arm transformed into a bladed weapon while Lars drew energy blades from his wrist gauntlet. A melee erupted, both aliens skillfully dodging, parrying and at times, damaging one another. It was a fair fight until Victoria pointed her screams at Lars and stunned the hunter, giving Adron the chance to knock him away.
Victoria pointed her soundwaves at Lars and screamed at him again. Lars used his jetpack to fly into the air and fire a dart at Victoria. Lea opened a portal that absorbed the dart and opened another portal nearby Lars where Adron hopped into the first and reappeared at the other to confront Lars close quarters once more.
Amidst the fight, Lars grabbed his disc and tossed it at Adron which led to the virol reacting chaotically. It was effective, so the hunter kept using the weapon. Lea remembered the last time how Lars ambushed them and how it went. She opened a portal, stepped through it and reappeared in the middle of the fight through a new portal. She opened another portal and absorbed the disc. Lars reactively pointed his left wrist gauntlet at Lea and fired an energy net at her.
Seeing Lea trapped or hurt made Adron furious. The overlord pulled himself together and tackled Lars to the floor. Lars avoided a punch to the face that would’ve torn his head clean off, then, used his jetpack to slip underneath and gain some distance between himself and his foe.
Victoria screamed again. Lars’ shoulder cannon aimed at her and fired while Lars kept his sight on the charging Adron. The plasma shot landed at Victoria’s feet, sending her hurling into the air and smacking into a nearby wall, knocking her out. Lars leapt over Adron and allowed the coming soundwaves from Victoria’s attack to hit the overlord. The effect was minimal on Adron, but it gave enough time for Lars to land safely and toss another disc at Adron.
The disc ripped into Adron’s left side before hurling back to Lars and once it did, Lars was greeted by a pummeling wall of virol that expanded from Adron’s arm. Both aliens knocked each other back on their knees and got to their feet slowly, gazing into one another’s eyes. The fight was even but Adron had been slowly sensing Lars out since their first encounter. The hunter was vicious to get him that he made a grave error in his lust to catch his trophy. If the fight would continue in the same manner, both men would eventually destroy each other.
Adron charged at Lars again, knowing full well if he were to engage in melee range with the hunter, Lars would be more than ready and even outmatch him if he made the slightest mistake or if the fight went on long enough. Adron faked the charge and leapt toward Sven to cut him loose. Once Sven dropped to the floor, he growled and his pyrokinesis engulfed his whole body in flames then he fired two jets of burning plasma at Lars. Using the distraction, Adron went to Lea and cut her loose too. By the time Lars activated his energy shield to block the fire, his jetpacks were fried from the damage.
Lars rolled to the side and unleashed his energy whip, hurled it at Sven and knocked the Scion off his feet and on his back. Adron suddenly appeared behind Lars and pushed him into a portal that Lea opened. Another portal opened overhead, and Lars fell from the sky followed by Adron leaping out of the portal, grabbing Lars by his leg and smashing the hunter into the ground below.
“Daisha!” Lars called to his ship, his suit’s system malfunctioning from the damage he was taking. Lars’ ship quickly flew into the vicinity. Adron gr
abbed Lars by his throat and slammed the hunter into the ground with such tremendous force that the ground trembled.
“Foolish.” Adron investigated the night’s sky for Daisha, but the ship suddenly made an about turn and took off. Adron looked back at Lars, enraged.
“What did you do?!” the overlord smashed his fist into the ground next to Lars’ head.
“Exactly what I should’ve done before.” Lars said with a smile before blacking out. Lea, Sven and Victoria got themselves together and came to Adron who was seething over the unconscious Lars.
“What should we do with him? Should we kill him?” Lea asked.
“NO!” Adron hissed.
Lea grew startled from Adron’s anger.
Didn’t they win the fight?
Adron calmed himself and took a deep breath.
“It seems our hunter here has played a good game. We’ll need him alive. For now.” he said.
CHAPTER 21
Xenia tossed and turned throughout the night. The ET couldn’t get any rest and her partner next to her couldn’t help but notice. The room was shaking violently and though Xenia had her eyelids closed, her glowing pupils shone brightly through them. Jace couldn’t sit back any longer.
“Xenia!” he tried shaking her.
Xenia groaned, her mind far in her nightmare.
“Hey!” Jace shook her again, the room around them trembling; stuff falling off the walls and levitating midair. Xenia shrieked so loud Jace was caught off guard by the extent of her vocal range. The vibrations made his body shiver.
“Easy, love. Easy.” Jace said.
Xenia struggled to catch her breath and bring herself back to a conscious state, the glow in her pupils slowly dimming.
“Hey, hey, hey. You alright?” Jace asked.
Xenia focused on breathing properly. What was once levitating dropped to the ground and the heavy atmosphere in the room mellowed.
“It’s my brother,” Xenia finally said. “Something’s terribly wrong.”
A wall phone rang nearby and Jace got out of bed to go answer it
