Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2)

by Percival Constantine

  “Should we go after him?” asked Sentinel.

  “How you gonna find him, kid?” asked Wraith. “He’s not a special, remember?”

  Sentinel looked up at Sharkskin. “Can you pick up his scent?”

  Sharkskin shook his head. “Nothing.” He noticed J’Karra turning to go. “Hey, hold on!”

  J’Karra paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Our work here is done. I thank you for your assistance, but now I must return to my mission.”

  She broke into a sprint and ran off into the distance. Sentinel stood up, watching her go. “I can try and follow her.”

  “For what? Helping us?” asked Wraith. “Let her go. Whoever she is, we’ll probably run into her again.” He looked up at the Icarus, which was in the process of descending. “Besides, we’ve got our own problems to worry about.”

  EPILOGUE

  Abram Zukov entered his office and closed the door behind him. He sat behind his desk and turned. The glass window of the Olympus space station gazed out at the Earth. But then the window darkened and images of five men and women appeared on the screen. They were representatives of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. But the faces remained darkened and the voices distorted. The only identifying information came in the form of the flag of the nation they represented at the bottom-center of their respective screens.

  “We have a problem, Director,” said the representative of the United States. “There’s been a situation in North Korea.”

  “We’ve received word from them that a research facility was attacked by none other than Vanguard,” said the Chinese representative.

  Zukov folded his hands and laid them in his lap. “That sounds most unfortunate, Councilman.”

  “What do you have to say on this matter, Director?” asked the Russian representative.

  “I would say that Vanguard was disbanded following the Red Fist incident,” said Zukov.

  “You made some inquiries into North Korea recently, isn’t that true, Director?” asked the French representative.

  Zukov nodded. “Following Director Callus’ disappearance, we decrypted some files indicating a connection between him and North Korea in regards to an illegal human experimentation project. But my attempts to investigate further were blocked.”

  “With good reason,” said the Chinese representative. “We cannot have Cerberus accusing other nations of foul play with such flimsy evidence.”

  “And if you had any role in assisting Vanguard in this act, that would pose a liability,” said the United Kingdom representative. “Cerberus is prohibited from employing specials.”

  “Except in certain circumstances,” said Zukov. “I should also remind all of you that human experimentation, particularly as it pertains to specials, is a violation of international law. And Cerberus’ mandate is to stop those who would conduct such experiments.”

  “Tread carefully, Zukov,” said the Russian representative. “Do not forget that you are only an interim director at the moment.”

  The images faded and the glass returned to normal, allowing Zukov to once more look out at the planet. He turned his chair back to the desk and sighed. He believed that bringing in Vanguard was necessary and from what he’d heard of their progress, they’d succeeded. But he now worried if he could continue this arrangement without the Security Council becoming suspicious or discover what he was up to.

  ***

  Jim heard a knock at the infirmary door and he looked up from his book. “Come in.”

  Anita stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Jim smiled at her and set the paperback down in his lap. She glanced at the cover and saw a colorful illustration on the front.

  “What are you reading?”

  “Don’t laugh,” said Jim, holding up the book cover so she could inspect it. The artwork resembled a comic book and featured characters dressed in colorful costumes. A logo across the top read The Sentinels. Anita smirked a little.

  “Don’t get to see enough superhero action in real life, you need it for entertainment, too?”

  “Koji gave it to me,” said Jim. “It’s pretty good.”

  “How are you doing?”

  “Better than you’d expect,” said Jim.

  “No side effects after what…what I did?”

  Jim shook his head. “Zen thinks that because I was unconscious when you took down the Collective, that somehow helped me get through it without any problem. So aside from a headache, I’m doing okay.”

  “Then why are you still in here?”

  “Zen’s just being paranoid, wanted to make sure I’m a hundred percent before letting me out.”

  “Good, I’m glad.”

  Anita looked away, her eyes focused on the floor. Jim reached a hand out for hers. “Hey, you okay?”

  She shook her head and pulled away, turning her back to him. “Those people…they died because of me. Because I couldn’t stop the Collective without killing him.”

  Jim gave a sigh. “Anita, look. I was part of the Collective for a brief period. I know what it’s like to be trapped inside that thing. And I can tell you this—the entire time I was possessed by him, forced to carry out his will, I was conscious of all of it. The one thought that kept running through my mind is that I wanted to die. Trust me, you did them a favor by releasing them.”

  “Doesn’t really make it any easier.”

  “Yeah, I guess not. But if you wanna talk about it, I’ve got some experience with this kind of thing. Being an ex-soldier and all.”

  Anita shook her head. “Sorry, I think I just have to be alone.”

  She left the infirmary and walked through the connecting tunnel to the main Atlas base. After taking the elevator down to the living quarters, Anita returned to her room. She wasn’t ready to go back home, not yet, so she’d decided to remain at the Atlas for now.

  Once inside her room, Anita closed the door and locked it behind her. She pushed her back against the door and shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. All she wanted to do was turn back the clock and forget this had ever happened.

  But then there was a flash and Anita saw something else in her memories. But no, not her memories. She saw the stars and a giant spaceship hovering above a planet. She watched as she emerged from a small craft, meeting another. An alien who had similar features to J’Karra, but was a man.

  Then she saw a beautiful woman wearing a robe, smiling down at her. Anita knew she was seeing J’Karra’s memories and looking upon the face of the Matriarch, the leader of the Kotharians. As the Matriarch spoke, it was in a language Anita couldn’t understand. But she could get a sense of what this was about.

  Anita’s eyes opened wide with fear, her mouth agape. “Oh god…this is just the beginning…”

  #10 - HARBINGER

  CHAPTER 1

  Twenty Years From Now

  Times Square was not what Chronos had expected. It looked more like the Times Square of the era he grew up in, not the one he’d seen from photographs of this period. Ash filled the streets and the sky was dark. The brilliant lights that once illuminated this popular destination had been burned out. The monitors remained, but they only displayed slogans from the invaders, like SUBMIT, and information about how to report specials.

  The young man was instantly attacked when he arrived by Kotharian scouts. His ally, the robot called the Progenitor, managed to lure them away. But now Chronos was alone, having taken refuge in a burned out apartment building. He bent his arm in front of him, the gauntlet projecting a holographic display. Chronos entered commands on the light-generated keyboard and a warning message flashed over the screen as well as the HUD on his visor.

  CHRONAL EMITTER DAMAGED.

  “Damn,” he cursed for what felt like the thousandth time since arriving. Without the chronal emitter in his suit working properly, there was no way for him to travel back in time to find out when the invasion began. He had to find a way to repair it, but he had no idea what sort of technology even existed in
this era. Chronos feared he may be stuck here without a way to complete his mission or even return home.

  Assuming his home even existed anymore.

  His HUD indicated a warning. Chronos moved from the wall and looked through the broken glass down to the street below. There were humans patrolling the streets. Bald heads and clad in crimson armor with masks over the lower half of their faces and in their hands, they carried hi-tech assault rifles.

  “Gunsmiths,” he muttered to himself. They were the foot soldiers of the Kotharians, humans who had agreed to turn themselves into weapons of the empire in exchange for the protection and well-being of their families. They were around in Chronos’ time as well.

  One of them looked up. His eyes flashed blue and he alerted his partner. They both raised their rifles and opened fire, shooting blasts of energy at the window.

  “Shit!” Chronos held up his hand, generating an orange barrier to shield himself from the blasts. He jumped from the window and components from his leg armor slid down, forming into a circular glider beneath his feet.

  Chronos extended his hand and his gauntlet fed a small baton into his waiting palm. It quickly telescoped into a staff and Chronos aimed it at the two Gunsmiths, energy blasts firing from the tip.

  The Gunsmiths leapt from the path, rolling on the ground and quickly moving into a crouch. They fired again and Chronos used the glider to dodge their blasts. His armor helped him predict where the blasts would strike, but with the short intervals, his response time could easily falter at any moment.

  The glider receded into Chronos’ armor and he dove for one of the Gunsmiths. He swerved in the air to avoid the blasts and landed on his attacker. Chronos jumped back to his feet, striking the Gunsmith at the weak points of his armor with the staff. He struck the Gunsmith’s legs from behind, dropping him to the ground. Chronos held the staff above the Gunsmith’s face and fired at point-blank range, a smoking hole where his enemy’s head once was.

  The second Gunsmith opened fire. Chronos spun, twirling his staff to keep the blasts at bay. He couldn’t find an opening to shoot back and had to resort to defense alone. With each blast Chronos deflected, the Gunsmith took another step forward. Chronos’ HUD alerted him to other units approaching.

  “Damn…can’t end like this…” he muttered through gritted teeth.

  The new Gunsmiths arrived via jetpack, a squad of three of them. They hovered above, aiming their weapons at Chronos. “You are in possession of unauthorized weaponry. Surrender now or be destroyed.”

  Behind his visor, Chronos’ eyes widened in shock when he witnessed some sort of energy signature fly up behind one of the Gunsmiths, wrapping around him. The energy was a swirling, bright green and for some reason appeared to resemble a Chinese dragon.

  The other Gunsmiths turned their attention to the new threat. The one who was on the ground with Chronos was attacked from behind by another energy creature, this one resembling a lion. Chronos watched in shock.

  The two Gunsmiths who remained in the air flew away from the dragon, opening fire on it. It didn’t seem to deter the creature at all and after it squeezed the Gunsmith it held until he fell unconscious, the dragon turned its attention to the other two targets.

  Chronos’ HUD picked up movement from above. He looked to the source, expecting to see another Gunsmith. What he saw instead was a winged figure against the moon. It dove down and Chronos could see it was a woman with long talons for fingers. The strange woman sliced into the jetpack of one Gunsmith, causing him to fly out of control.

  The woman touched the ground, but only for an instant before she sprung back up. The final Gunsmith opened fire on her, but she was fast and agile, easily dodging the blasts. She sliced upward, tearing into the Gunsmith’s armor. She tore it to shreds, leaving almost no trace of his protection and then dropped the injured figure to the ground.

  Chronos held his staff at the ready as the dragon and the lion both circled him, eyeing him carefully. But the winged woman landed beside him and then the creatures backed off.

  “Stop scaring him, Ink,” said the woman.

  Chronos picked up new movement and saw another young woman approach. She had long hair pulled behind her head. Her arms were bare and the lion and dragon flew towards her, shrinking as they did and affixed themselves to empty spots on her arms. Once they did, they changed into normal tattoos.

  “You’re no fun,” said Ink. She came closer and Chronos noticed that every inch of her exposed skin was covered with tattoos. He imagined there were more beneath the skintight costume she wore, too.

  The woman with the wings also had markings on her face and dark hair tied in a bun. She transformed before Chronos’ eyes, her fingers becoming normal and the wings receding into her back.

  “I’m Talon,” she said, then pointed to her tattooed companion. “That’s Ink.”

  “What are you doing out at this time?” asked Ink. “Practically begging to be nabbed by a Gunsmith patrol. And where’d you get that tech? Never seen anything like it.”

  “My name’s Chronos,” he said. “I’m—well, it’s kind of a long story.”

  “We’ll get you to shelter and you can tell us there,” said Talon.

  “Why are you helping me?” asked Chronos. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  Talon scoffed. “Despite what the Kotharians want you to believe, specials aren’t out to exterminate humans. We’re trying to fight for the freedom of the planet.”

  Chronos looked between the pair. They were young, only teenagers. “Just the two of you?”

  Ink and Talon exchanged a look and laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Chronos.

  Ink pointed to a badge of some kind pinned to her chest. It was a stylized V breaking out of an oval. “What, you never heard of Vanguard?”

  CHAPTER 2

  Present Day

  The Kotharian warrior called J’Karra sat in her ship. The seat was reclined and the ship had managed to tap into something the people of this world called the Internet. It was a limitless storehouse of knowledge and information about this world and its people. Ever since J’Karra had left the place called North Korea, she began researching this planet.

  She didn’t know how many hours she had been at this. But a prime focus for her were the beings she encountered in North Korea. As a group, they called themselves Vanguard. Finding information on them was J’Karra’s major focus.

  J’Karra watched videos of public battles Vanguard had engaged in with other super-powered individuals. There was a battle in a place called Chicago with a man dressed in blue and white, who had superhuman strength and invulnerability. He called himself the Exemplar and J’Karra found other videos of him also protecting people. It made her wonder just why Vanguard would be fighting him when both were working to help others.

  There was another video of them battling a woman in white who could control the very air. The video named her as Zephyr and the description said it was a battle in Central Park. And like Exemplar, there were other videos of Zephyr. Mostly made by her, speaking directly to the camera and talking about revolutions.

  The third and final battle was in Las Vegas and involved a glowing man called Lucent. This one seemed the most bloodthirsty of all of them. Whereas J’Karra could get the sense from the actions of Zephyr and the Exemplar that they believed they were doing the right thing—Lucent seemed to only want to cause destruction.

  She found other things connected to Vanguard from there. The destruction of some sort of white house by an organization called the Red Fist. Vanguard disappearing without a trace. The formation of an agency called Cerberus. And a name that was attached to these beings of incredible power—specials.

  J’Karra rubbed her chin in confusion. Why were there all these separate nation-states at odds with each other? Why was this planet being destroyed by the humans? Why were the humans battling each other? There was no sense of brotherhood or cooperation like with the Kotharians.

  Bu
t more surprising were these specials. J’Karra knew from her time in North Korea that the Chaknaar was most-likely responsible for their creation. And yet with her people, the Chaknaar only grants psionic abilities. These humans though—specials—they’ve been given a variety of powers. Something about their DNA has caused them to mutate in strange ways.

  Even more bizarre was how few of them there were. Judging from the readings she took on Earth’s moon, the Chaknaar would have engulfed the entire planet. Yet only a small percentage displayed these wondrous abilities.

  The ship’s computer flashed an alert. It detected a transmission. “Display,” she said and the ship acquiesced. It was a video transmission of a Kotharian captain.

  “Our exploration of the neighboring galaxies has not yielded anything worth note until now. This planet, Earth, appears to have a similar environment to Kothar, and a species that is somewhat compatible with our own. We plan to investigate further but—what? By the Matriarch, we are under attack! They’ve discovered us, they’ve—!”

  The transmission ended there. J’Karra’s mouth was open in shock. She checked the date on the transmission and found that it was almost seventy years old. But how was it still broadcasting?

  “Trace the source,” she said.

  The computer returned with an error message. She repeated, “Computer, trace the source of the transmission.”

  Again, an error message was returned. “Scan records of this Internet. Find any information that correlates with the date of the transmission.”

  Information appeared all across the canopy of J’Karra’s ship. One particular headline in something called the Roswell Daily Record read, “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region.” There was more information connected to this. Denials from government agencies about the “flying saucer” and other information hinting at a cover-up of the true origin.