by Justin Sloan
HADRIAN KNEW many gathered that evening, but was distracted with the personal nature of the mission. When he set out to put together his team, he had known something was amiss and that the enemy was moving faster than should’ve been possible. He’d never suspected that the mission would be to go after the only other survivor of his own planet.
Needless to say, he couldn’t bring himself to eat.
He would sooner stay in his room, maybe have a one-on-one meeting with Orlean to discuss their plans, but that wasn’t the way of the Elders. They did everything larger than life. While he was technically one of them and even had a seat at the high table, it was for that reason he had refused to settle down and help rule. He liked action, not grand talk.
He meant to lead his team. With his capabilities, it was the only way that made sense. Plus, there was the issue of Earth’s defense and the war they were facing, along with the bigger war they were about to face.
Hadrian had to be the one at Samantha’s side to ensure it went according to plan.
The others seemed to be fitting in well with the locals, and Hadrian was glad to see Kwan had met up with his counterparts. If this was going to work, they needed to be a close-knit team, but also part of a larger, cohesive unit.
No one should see them as outsiders, or the privileged few. Even if they were, at least as far as Hadrian was concerned. When his team put their mind to a task, he had no doubt they’d see it through.
Orlean finally clinked her glass, just loud enough to get the attention of those seated at the high table.
Hadrian was already silent, so sat waiting for the dark-skinned Elivite, a tall race with pointed ears and fierce, tiger-like eyes, and the Oracat at his left with her feline nose and mouth, to stop talking. One of the Elders, the only other one to remain quiet for most of the meal, gave him a respectful nod. She was a Rhuramenti, a race that was practically indistinguishable from human and considered themselves peacekeepers. He respected that, and was always put at ease at the sight of her.
When all were silent, Orlean leaned forward, eyes fixed on Hadrian.
“I’m not sure you’re the best fit for this mission,” she said, the words hitting him like an Elivitian war hammer to the face.
“Excuse me?”
She frowned. “You’re too close.”
“If anyone’s going to find one of my kind, it will be me.”
The others whispered among themselves, then stopped at a glance from Orlean.
“Surely you’ve figured out who it is by now,” Orlean said. “It’s not just about this being a hunt for one of your own. You two were like brothers. Almost inseparable.”
“Karstrack...” Hadrian closed his eyes, finding it odd that his gut didn’t clench to the extent he had thought it would as he realized she was right.
She nodded, confirming it. “The prisoner cracked. Didn’t know much, but knew enough for us to be certain on this one fact… along with where we might start our hunt for him.”
“How can it be?” he finally managed.
“Only one body was never recovered,” Orlean noted, the blue of her eyes turning dark as she spoke.
“But I saw the explosion, I saw—”
“You saw what he wanted you to see,” she cut in with a wave of her hand. “Tell me, Hadrian the great and powerful, did you ever absorb his energy?”
Hadrian froze, eyes narrowed, feeling a heat burn in his chest. It was true that this had never made sense. When the others of his kind passed on, he had felt each of their powers, their energy and everything they were capable of, absorbing into his soul. Becoming one with him.
But not this one. Not the brother in arms he had known his whole life, the man who introduced him to his love, and who Hadrian would have done anything for.
“Karstrack…” Hadrian shook his head, eyes moving to the untouched food before him.
“There’s no other viable explanation.”
That much was clear, and Hadrian hated it. He almost hated Orlean for being the one to point out the obvious. And even now, faced with the truth, he couldn’t fully accept it.
He sat there for a moment, trying to gather his calm. Finally, he stood, placing his napkin on the table in front of him, and said, “If anyone’s going to kill my brother, it will be me. I must look him in the eyes and understand what he has done. Or do my damned best, at least.”
With that, he briskly made his way to the entryway.
“Hadrian…” It was Samantha, having stood to come after him.
He held up a hand with a shake of his head, and then continued on. Right now, he needed to be alone.
17
ENTONO FOS PRIME
The dinner had concluded soon after Hadrian’s departure, leaving Napalm, Samantha, Carma and Dex to return to their rooms. Instead, they meandered over to the palace courtyard, where Samantha found an edge of a fountain to walk along. She balanced, looking at the odd fountain of a woman that resembled Orlean, but was much older. Then her mind returned to Hadrian.
“Is he known to lose his temper?” she asked.
Napalm, likely the one who knew him best, considered this. “I’ve never seen it. What we witnessed in there was him leaving to think, I’d say. Losing his temper, at least by my definition, would’ve meant shouting and at least one explosion.”
Samantha laughed as she jumped down from the fountain. “Okay, not to that extreme. But he’s definitely off right now.”
The others shared a confused look.
“I mean, he’s distracted. His mind has too much going on.”
“Ah,” Carma said, then shook her head. “But… maybe you should’ve told him about the boy right away. I mean, when you first met the boy in the simulation.”
“The simulation that wasn’t a simulation, you mean?” Samantha asked. “First, there wasn’t an opportunity. Second, maybe he could’ve filled us in more to begin with. Then I would’ve had more reason to think the boy was something worth mentioning.”
“The boy who was a man,” Napalm noted, thoughtfully. “What do you think he was trying to get out of Sam?”
Kwan made a grunt, then motioned to Sam, still in her semi-revealing robes.
“It was a simulation,” she shot back, then frowned. “Oh, no… gross.”
Carma laughed. “Not the best way to get into a girl’s pants though, is it? I mean, arranging a meet-cute in the middle of a battle-ridden territory?”
“Intel more likely,” Kwan agreed. “But maybe also.”
“Okay, Kwan,” Sam spat back. “How about you stick to the whole mysterious and quiet type thing you usually have going on. I don’t know if I like what you have to say when you do talk.”
He smiled with a shrug.
“Right…” Napalm waited to see if anyone else was going to add something, then said, “So let’s go with intel, a booty call as a potential added bonus.” At a glare from Samantha, he added, “Or not. Maybe not. So he had some sort of scanner or sensor that showed someone had jumped in…”
“And wanted to find out who you were with, most likely,” Carma finished the thought.
Dex made soothing sounds, and Carma nodded.
“Dex says the boy was likely trying to figure out what sort of team you had, and who you were working for. The basics.” After a long stare as she bit her lip, Carma shook her head. “But of course you didn’t tell him any of that, right?”
Samantha frowned, scrunching her nose in thought. “I… don’t think so…?”
“Okay, well, a note for future interactions with strangers, even those we meet in simulations. Keep all information locked away deep down inside your cute little heart. Got it?”
“For your information, I have my shit together,” Sam said, staring at each of them as if daring them to contradict her. “Back home, I’m one of the main resistance warriors now. Part of the Last Remaining Resistance, Earth’s last stand against the Syndicate.”
Carma leaned up against a nearby pillar, Napalm sitting on the fo
untain.
“We have to stick together, no bickering,” Napalm said, staring up into the stars. “If we’re going to be going up there and putting our lives on the line to save the universe, we need something they can call us when they sing our praises. We need a team name.”
“I thought we were black ops,” Carma argued. “Meaning, not a lot of people will know what we’ve done, let alone sing about it.”
“Still, it’s a good idea,” Kwan chimed in.
Samantha nodded, already racking her brain for something.
“Team Flames?” Napalm offered.
Carma scoffed. “No. Team Hadrian?”
“Too on the nose,” Samantha countered. “And you were the one who said we didn’t want to be going around telling everyone who we work for and with.”
“True.” Carma pursed her lips in thought.
“Shadow Corps,” Samantha said.
The others froze, considering that. Then each started to nod and murmur agreement.
“Technically,” Kwan argued, holding up a hand, “a corps is two battalions or more. At least, our definition. But I love it.”
“And who knows how big we’ll grow eventually?” Carma countered. “After Hadrian’s gotten us all trained up and we’ve proven ourselves.”
Samantha smiled. “I thought of Shadow Force too, which was cool, but reminded me too much of a video game, Shining Force.”
“Huh,” Kwan actually laughed. “I can’t believe you know that game. Damn, I loved that game. Played it on this hacked computer I found. Didn’t think anyone else had access to games so old these days.”
“So, how’d you wind up here?” Samantha asked.
Kwan looked around at them all. “Me, nothing special. Became a ROK Marine to prove I was the best when my friend decided to join. Didn’t want him to think he was the better of us. When he gave his life to save me in the first Syndicate attack, I guess he proved he was. Now I fight, hoping he’s watching.”
Kwan eyed Samantha. “And what about you?”
“Damn.” Samantha sucked in a gulp of air and said, “You all wouldn’t believe half the shit that makes up my life.”
“Try us,” Carma said.
“You first,” Samantha countered.
Carma shrugged. “You all know my story, I think. But yeah, there’s more to it. One of the top fighters back home, they promoted me up the ranks of our military. Then it got political and they made me the equivalent of an Earth general. I learned what the civil war was all about—a family squabble had started it, nothing more. When Hadrian came calling, I was glad to raise my hand and volunteer to get the hell out of there.”
“But you often talk about getting back to join the fight?”
Carma bit her lip, then nodded. “It’s tough. I know my girls are back there taking shots, but it all feels so pointless now. So stupid. This here is a war I know is worth fighting, but I still can’t completely abandon my people.”
“It’s not stupid,” Kwan said.
Napalm nodded. “Agreed.”
Carma waved them off. “Whatever, I didn’t share to get all of you on my side, I shared so this one would open up.”
Samantha held up her hands in surrender. “Okay. The invasion came when I was only thirteen, but we’d received notice it would happen when I was eleven. Can you imagine two years of pre-teen life knowing an alien force was about to invade your world? It made everything different. You want to play a video game where you’re shooting bad guys? Suddenly every shot feels real, every NPC saved is a neighbor or the old lady you see every day at the corner market. It changed me, made me grow up real fast.
“Then there was the actual invasion, when I was separated from everyone I knew and loved. My mom was already off fighting with the Marines, my dad… well, the most I’ve ever heard about him was that he was some jackoff Marine who got my mom pregnant and then ditched her. So there I was, left to fend for myself.”
She sighed, glancing around at them all, sure they didn’t want to hear this. But the intrigued expressions on their faces said otherwise, so she continued. “Long story shorter, I ended up reconnecting with my mom, and we actually ended up fighting side-by-side for a bit. Now, here’s the crazy part… Last time I saw her, I was saving her and some others with the powers Hadrian gave me. It was also the last time I used those powers, until recently. I had started to think I had imagined them.”
“I’m damn glad that’s not the case,” Napalm said with a smile. “And your mom, what happened to her?”
Samantha sighed. “They must’ve thought I was dead. That’s what I hear, anyway. They told me she went after a ship that had the ability to time travel. She probably thought there’d be a way to get me back.”
“Do you know where she is now?” Carma asked, leaning in and eyes wide.
With a shrug, Samantha said, “I know she’s gone, and that’s it. I know that Earth is still fighting for its survival, and, as much as I’m not sure about Hadrian’s complete story, I know that being up here with you all, part of the Shadow Corps,” she smiled at this and earned a couple of chuckles, “well, I can’t think of any better way to serve. Any better way to make my mom’s sacrifice worth it, if there was a sacrifice.”
“Damn,” Napalm said.
“And you?” Samantha asked him.
“Me?” He frowned, looking at the sky. “Shit, now you all make me wish I had some exciting story. I’m a simple one. Hadrian came to me long ago to learn from me, so I could show him how to use my powers with energy. Then he taught them to his people, with my permission. Now he says he needs me to fight the terrors that hide in the shadows of the universe, so I’m here. Simple.”
“Okay, tough guy,” Carma said with a roll of her eyes. “Let’s see what kinda story you share with us when you’ve had a few shots of the spirits in you.”
Napalm laughed. “Deal.”
They all turned to Dex now, who stood in the corner with his robes moving about like slithering snakes. For a long moment the being didn’t make a sound, then slowly reached up and pulled off the hood.
Samantha could feel her breath stop in anticipation. But what she saw was a face not unlike those she had known back home. Its eyes were pure black and its skin smooth like porcelain, but otherwise it could’ve passed for human.
“This is me,” Dex said in a smooth, pleasant voice. “You have opened up, so I do the same. I have seen the errors of my people, the evil they have done in the name of the Great Deceivers. If there is any doubt in Hadrian, let me tell you now that such doubt is misguided. Wrong. He will lead us to victory, and I will be there the whole way, until my final breath, should it come to that.”
“You… talk.” Samantha stated the obvious.
Dex bowed slightly. “For me to remove my hood is on a similar level to you removing your clothes. But I figured, this one time, I can show you that I am a part of this Shadow Corps, that I mean to be at your side, always having your backs. You can count on me.” The black eyes flickered a quick flash of silver light, and then Dex bowed even further, exposing a bald head. “If you all agree I have shown this, I would very much like to put my hood back on now.”
They all murmured their agreement, and Dex pulled up the hood so that its face was once again shadowed.
“Thank you, for that.” Samantha felt an emotional ball welling up in her throat. Loyalty had always meant a lot to her, and if Dex was truthful about what it meant to remove its hood, she wouldn’t ignore the gesture.
“I mean, we don’t all have to expose ourselves now, do we?” Napalm said with a grin that was clearly directed at Carma.
She raised an eyebrow and said, “Someone get me my sword, in case Napalm does. I’ll cut it off right here.”
“Whoa, whoa, a joke.”
“Me, too… maybe?”
At that, he chuckled, but it was a nervous one.
Out of a need to change the subject, but also curiosity, Samantha asked, “And Hadrian? Did he really lose everyone?”
They were silent for several minutes. As the water from the fountain trickled down behind her, Samantha grew uncomfortable.
“Nobody here knows, or we’re not supposed to talk about it?”
“I have bits of information,” Carma said. “Nothing concrete, and maybe it’s a story best left for Hadrian to tell, when he’s ready. But yes, from what I could piece together, his planet was hit. Even with their ability to look into the future, and with the powers they have, it wasn’t enough. This enemy we’re up against… it’s the real deal.”
“Well, they haven’t met the Shadow Corps yet, have they?” Samantha said. “I for one mean to put them in their place. I imagine that will be at the end of my sword, breathing their last breath.”
“Damn straight,” Napalm said.
“Ooorah,” Kwan muttered. Then the rest of them joined in one loud, “OORAH!”
HADRIAN ROAMED the great arched halls of this castle they would have him call home. This planet wasn’t his, though, and never would be. After what the Great Deceivers had done to his people, and what they planned to do to the universe, he didn’t see how he could ever really belong anywhere but out fighting against them.
How many among the Elders truly believed in the fight the way he did? Some of his people in the early days had bought into the lies, calling his enemy the Great Ones, or the Old Gods. The idea that anyone could think of them as gods caused Hadrian’s blood to boil. They looked at the universe like the Buddhists did their sand mandalas, and it was time to sweep aside the sand, to destroy it all. Their message was simple: destruction was part of the process as much as creation. Everything was temporary, nothing permanent. Nothing, that is, but them and their allies.
He came to a point where tall pillars gleamed in the purple light of the sun. The wall along this walkway had been engraved with images depicting battles over the years. They showed spaceships shooting each other down, great cities sinking into oblivion, and species of various aliens struggling to avoid destruction.
