“Sorry I attacked you when I woke up. Together, you and the Khagan…well, let’s just say you’re lucky there’s a bigger threat to deal with.”
The Analyst sighed. “I can never make amends for what I did to you. Or to Pyre, Fuerte, Sentinel. And there’s no excuse for why I did it.”
“This Chronos you mentioned, do you really think he can do it? Stop all this from happening?”
“I hope so.”
They continued the rest of the journey in silence. Erin emerged from one of the jump-ships and she looked surprised when she saw them appear on the horizon. Once they came close, the Analyst quickly explained the plan and why he needed one of the ships. He boarded the craft Erin arrived in and it wasn’t long before Erin and Anita were watching the jump-ship’s VTOL system raise the plane off the beach.
As it rocketed off into the night sky, the two old friends remained in silence for a time. Then Anita stared at Erin. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
Erin gasped and froze. Then she looked down. Or to the side. Anywhere but at Anita. A hand fell on her shoulder and she flinched, half-expecting a blow. But it was a gentle hand and Erin relaxed a little under the touch.
“At first I thought it was our bond that made you the one I was able to reach out to. Vicky said you never stopped believing in me. I wonder if that was your subconscious knowledge that I wasn’t responsible for Dom and Howard.”
“How can I apologize for something like that?” asked Erin. “Not only did I frame you for murder, but I committed the murders myself. I killed two of my friends and then implicated another. If it wasn’t for me, the past twenty years would’ve been very different. The team wouldn’t think you were a traitor, you wouldn’t have been kept in stasis for years, and maybe we could have stopped all this earlier.”
Anita turned Erin towards her and stared her right in those big, yellow eyes. Erin’s lids closed, trying to avoid eye contact, but Anita never broke it.
“It. Wasn’t. You.”
Erin sighed. “But it was.”
“I know what you’re going through, I went through it, too. Back when the Analyst forced me to work for the Red Fist. But you have to believe me when I say it wasn’t you. That was M’Lak. He’s the one who killed Dom and Howard, he’s the one who framed me. You can’t be held responsible for his actions.”
Erin felt tears welling up behind her eyelids. She wrapped her arms tightly around Anita and her old friend returned the hug. They stayed like that for several minutes before Erin finally broke away and wiped the tears.
“Geez. You come back and all of a sudden, it’s like I’m seventeen again.”
Anita smiled warmly. “Come on, let’s go back to camp. And on the way, maybe you can tell me about some of the other things I missed out on. I’d like to know more about this daughter of yours.”
Erin nodded and they began the walk back. They talked about what Anita had missed, and shared stories of the old times. Anything to keep their minds off what would happen tomorrow.
CHAPTER 9
A blue light signaled the effect of a Kotharian teleportation system. The light brightened, slowly forming into a humanoid shape and something far larger. Once it faded, General M’Lak stood before the technicians. Behind him was a large object, a giant archway of machinery.
“General.” One of the men approached and saluted.
“Bradshaw,” said M’Lak. “You have the generator?”
“Yes sir, we’re just about set to begin on your mark.”
“Good, then get to work.” M’Lak waved a hand and Bradshaw ordered the technicians to move. They worked on setting up the tachyon generator and connecting the power source.
M’Lak watched them work with a smug grin on his face. Soon he would have the means to travel through time, to make his rule absolute. With everything he’d learned in the past twenty years, he was confident he could conquer the Earth in half the time as it took before, as well as advance his research enough to speed up his mission.
And then…who knows? M’Lak’s ambitions far exceeded his reach. They always did. He knew volunteering for the Earth mission would be the beginning of his plot to eventually rise up through the ranks of the Kotharian Empire. To change it from within, away from the superstitions that had ruled his people for centuries.
A klaxon sounded. M’Lak’s attention was drawn to the source and he approached a console where several technicians gathered. “What is going on?”
“We have incoming, sir,” said the technician.
“Then assemble Cerberus fighters to intercept.”
“Uhh…actually…” The technician pointed to one of the monitors. M’Lak fixed his gaze and huffed. The feed showed a craft with Cerberus markings opening fire on the base’s above-ground structures and guards.
“Find out who’s in that craft and summon all available fighters to this location,” barked M’Lak.
“There’s a problem with that, sir. Reports indicate that most of the Cerberus forces have been dispatched to investigate Vanguard sightings. The closest ones are at least a few hours out.”
M’Lak grunted and turned away. He raised his gauntlet and entered commands to open a comm-channel. A holographic screen was projected from the gauntlet, showing Callus’ face on it.
“We’re under attack, I need your men—”
“I’m sorry, General. But there’s been a change in plans,” said Callus, a smile forming on his face. “You see, we’re the ones attacking you.”
“Teleportation signatures, sir!” shouted the technician. “We’ve got…four individuals attacking the base. And…oh god, it’s the Hellhounds, sir.”
“Have a good day, General. I’ll see you soon.” Callus ended the transmission and M’Lak screamed in anger.
He spun in Bradshaw’s direction, pointing at him. “Get that portal up and running immediately, do you understand?”
Bradshaw furiously nodded and went to help his people work on it. But something grabbed him from behind and threw him across the room. The other technicians couldn’t see what it was, and then that same force attacked each of them in kind.
M’Lak approached the sounds of the battle. He removed a baton from his belt and an energy blade formed by his psychic energy extended from the device. M’Lak’s golden eyes flashed as he concentrated his powers, trying to locate the source of the attacker.
The technician said four Hellhounds, which meant the fifth was unaccounted for. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out who was in the room with him and his servants. Her armor’s defenses made it impossible for him to read her psychic signature, so he had to watch for the next attack. The technicians by the portal were down and that meant she would come for him next.
M’Lak took a breath and held the sword hilt in two hands. He focused his other senses, waiting for the opportunity. A shift in the wind at his side and he swung his blade. He heard a cry and then a flicker of light quickly formed into the figure of Blindside, slightly crouched and holding her side, where he’d struck her.
The Kotharian laughed when he saw her. “Callus is a fool for only sending you after me.”
“Who said it’s just me?” Blindside struggled as she stood. “By the way, I think something’s wrong with that teleportation shielding you have around this place.”
M’Lak growled as blue teleportation signatures appeared all around the room. Of course. Blindside was just the infiltration. Once she disabled the shielding, anyone could lock onto her signal and teleport in here without the need for access codes.
The light faded and M’Lak found himself surrounded by the members of Vanguard. Including a woman he hadn’t seen in decades.
“I’ve been waiting a very long time for this,” said Paragon.
***
Callus soared over the battle below, where the Hellhounds were engaged in combat with the base guards. He piloted the ship, relying on its weapons to provide air support for his team on the ground.
But the guards were quickly fighting
back. A few had managed to activate the anti-aircraft teleforce guns. Callus swerved, pulling the plane all over the place to avoid the projectiles that went off around him.
His HUD was filled with camera feeds from the Hellhounds’ armor, as well as from all around his ship. He watched on one of the feeds as Bruiser destroyed an anti-aircraft blaster, rending it to scrap. Coldsnap and Spark focused on using their powers from a distance, and Zero got up close and personal with the guards, his forcefield weapons tearing through them with ease.
Still, they were bound for more trouble. Callus picked up incoming bogeys. He checked the HUD and saw there were two Cerberus crafts on his tail, clearly launched from the base here.
Callus tried to avoid them, but they were experimental planes, far faster than his own. And he had trouble avoiding them. The craft shook, and a warning across the HUD indicated one of his wings had been clipped.
But he stayed in the air. He pulled hard on the stick to loop around, increasing his speed as he did. The two planes easily turned to meet him head-on and they charged up their weapons.
One of them exploded. Callus blinked for a moment, not sure if he really saw what he thought he saw. Then his comm system was overridden and he heard the familiar voice of the Analyst come through.
“Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.”
The Analyst piloted a jump-ship of his own and soared past the wreckage of the Cerberus fighter he destroyed.
“Still one left,” said Callus.
“Do that math again.”
Callus watched in surprise and a bright flash appeared on the craft. He zoomed in with his camera to get a better look and saw a humanoid figure with blue energy radiating off him tearing his hands through the craft. As it began a fiery streak towards the ground, the figure flew off the craft, hovering in mid-air.
“Lucent,” said Callus.
“Took some convincing, but he agreed to give us a hand,” said the Analyst.
Callus grinned as he watched Lucent streak towards the ground, aiding the Hellhounds in disposing of the guards present there.
***
Soldiers charged into the room, opening fire on Vanguard. Gunsmith, Cache, Tuwa, and Pulse focused their attention on the guards while the rest of the team concerned themselves with M’Lak.
M’Lak drew a second hilt, expanding that into a sword as well. He swung both weapons as he charged towards Paragon. But when he brought the blades down, they hit an invisible forcefield. Paragon smiled beneath it and M’Lak could feel her psychic fingers prying around his mind.
“How are you doing this?” he demanded.
“I’ve learned a few things in the time you kept me asleep.”
A powerful, invisible force shoved M’Lak away from her. Paragon jumped, instantly flying from her spot and slamming into him with all the force she could channel around her fists.
“Of course, there’s still something to be said for getting your hands dirty.”
She threw M’Lak and he was slammed down to the ground by something from above. M’Lak looked up and saw Shift towering over him—literally. She’d grown tall enough to reach the high ceiling and now raised her foot to stomp down on him.
M’Lak rolled away just as her boot slammed into the ground, damaging the flooring and causing it to rumble. M’Lak jumped to his feet, extending his psychic swords again. He crouched and jumped as high as he could. M’Lak bounded off Shift’s thigh and sprung higher. Within range, he sent a powerful psychic attack at her.
Shift recoiled and fell back. She began to topple and instantly shrunk down so she wouldn’t hurt any of her teammates. Once she landed on the ground, she saw both Sharkskin and Talon charge at M’Lak.
Talon reached him first, her wings enabling her to streak by and slice into his armor. Before he completed his fall, Sharkskin tackled him to the ground. They crashed down with Sharkskin on top and he pounded his fists against the alien’s head.
M’Lak’s eyes flashed and Sharkskin pulled away. M’Lak stood, bringing up his weapon. He glanced in Shift’s direction.
“I hope you’re watching.”
Shift gasped as she saw M’Lak raise his psychic sword. He rammed it into Sharkskin’s head and her husband screamed. Paragon gasped as well as she felt Sharkskin’s mind fade.
Koji Asano’s eyes went blank and he collapsed on the ground. Talon flew to his side to check on him. Tears began to fill her eyes and she looked at her mother.
“He’s not breathing!”
M’Lak laughed, only to be engulfed by the fiery breath of an ethereal dragon. He held up his arm, trying to shield himself. He saw Ink standing there, her eyes glowing as she commanded the dragon to come down upon him. M’Lak’s eyes flashed and Ink screamed, collapsing as well.
The dragon faded and M’Lak crossed the distance between him and Ink. He wrapped his hand around her throat and raised her in the air. With a flick of his wrist, her neck cracked and he dropped her on the ground.
“You bastard!” Cache absorbed energy from the guards’ teleforce blasters and now turned that same power on M’Lak.
The Kotharian deflected the blasts and send a mental command to Bradshaw. As M’Lak used his swords to strike away Cache’s energy blasts, Bradshaw went over to the portal and began the sequence to power it up.
CHAPTER 10
Shift approached Talon and knelt down beside her. They both stared into Sharkskin’s face, but his eyes wouldn’t open. Paragon landed by them and laid a gentle hand on her friend’s face. She closed her eyes, searching for some sign, but found nothing.
“He’s gone.”
Shift rose to her feet and fixed her gaze on M’Lak. She ran towards him just as he plunged his sword into Cache. The Vanguardian fell right before M’Lak’s feet and then the Kotharian faced his former servant.
“Ah, it’s you. How wonderful it’s been having you work for me over the past twenty years.”
“You bastard!” Shift tightened her fist and swung it at him. It grew larger until it was nearly giant-size when it slammed into him.
Shift jumped, soaring over towards him, wings sprouting from her back to give her added speed. She dove, stretching out one arm and forming it into a spike that shot through M’Lak’s armor and penetrated his abdomen.
He screamed. She didn’t care.
Drawing her arm out, it transformed back to normal. Shift fixed her gaze on him, narrowing her eyes. She placed her hand on his head. The molecules inside her fingers moved about and her fingers slowly penetrated his skull.
“What are you doing?”
“You know what it’s like to have someone’s hands inside your head? Let me show you.”
He screamed again but it didn’t stop her. M’Lak fumbled on his belt until he found the hilt. The blade extended right into Shift’s body. She convulsed and fell to the ground, lying there motionless, but still alive.
M’Lak tried to use his hand to steady himself against the wall. He looked down at Shift and was ready to finish the job. But he saw the portal was cycling up. He limped from Shift, trying to work his way over to the portal.
The ground quaked and parts of it shot up to block his path. M’Lak reached out with his mind and located Tuwa. Then he shut her down. He moved around the chunks of concrete until he reached the portal.
This was it. This was what he needed to go back. He was so close. He reached his hand out, but then the entire landscape changed.
M’Lak was standing in an empty, white void. And there was no one around. Until he heard a voice behind him.
“You think we’re going to let you get away with this?” asked Paragon, appearing behind him.
M’Lak scoffed. “Pathetic human. You never stood a chance against us. And now I’ll see to it that you die twenty years earlier.”
“You’re not going anywhere, M’Lak.”
Paragon’s eyes glowed with bright, golden energy. It reached out, bathing M’Lak in it. He screamed, every nerve on his body exploding. He felt like hi
s body was being torn apart. The pain centers in his mind registered constant attack all over his body. Like he was being burned alive and frozen to death simultaneously.
He collapsed, all the life fading from his eyes.
***
Gunsmith grabbed Bradshaw and pulled him away from the console. “What the hell did you do?”
“The portal’s active, there’s no stopping it now,” said Bradshaw.
Gunsmith snarled and placed his barrel to Bradshaw’s head. He pulled the trigger and turned his attention to the console. It looked like Bradshaw was right, there was no way to stop the portal.
“Now what?” asked Pulse as he came up beside Gunsmith.
“EMP,” said Gunsmith. “It’s the only way.”
Pulse nodded. He approached the portal. He could already feel its pull on his body, so he used his powers to tether himself to the ground, latching his body to the metal floor.
Electromagnetic energy arced between his fingers, forming into spheres. Pulse raised his arms up, his eyes crackling with power as he tried to focus on generating his namesake. An aura of energy flared around his body, reaching out further and further. Pulse felt the power straining against him, wanting to be released. But he had to focus it.
He let go and the lights in the room all shut down. Gunsmith’s armor lost power and his cybernetic eye went dark. The guards found their teleforce rifles would no longer fire.
The portal flared, blinking shut. Talon moved from her father and gasped when she saw Ink, Tuwa, and Cache all lying motionless. Paragon came to her side, carrying Shift in her arms.
“Is it over?” asked Talon.
“I think so,” said Paragon. “Your mother will be fine, she’s just exhausted.”
Talon smiled and looked down at Shift’s face. But then something else happened. A loud boom drew Talon’s attention. And everyone else.
“Oh god…” muttered Pulse. “The portal!”
The portal had indeed powered up once again. A swirling void of black and blue appeared inside the archway. And its pull was incredible. Pulse kept himself tethered to the floor and extended his power out to Gunsmith, tying him down as well. He tried to summon up the energy to generate another EMP.
Vanguard: Season Four: A Superhero Adventure Page 25
