“You knew how much I coveted that sword,” Merc seethed while leaning forward.
Attea fearlessly got nose to nose with her brother, looking him dead in his eyes.
“Not more than becoming High Region. So, end thy infantile moaning, so that we can ensure there is a throne for you to ascend to!”
A reluctant Merc sadly nodded in agreement.
CHAPTER 4
Regulator Base, the Ranch, the facility was officially on high alert as all active members stood within the central command center. Sergeant Abe Rogers, the team leader, stood with his arms folded as Erica Champion, also known as Lady Tech, navigated through holographic screens with taps and hand swipes while giving commands executed by Maxine, the primary artificial intelligence system for the base.
Agnes Shareef, also known as Sister Sledge, stood anxiously waiting for updates with her team. The unit's silver-haired senior Titan powerhouse was Rogers’s current girlfriend and longtime close friend of Freedom. Standing next to her was Adrian Esposito, who went by the call-sign Heavy Element. The Elemental EVO possessed the power to transform into almost any inorganic material he touched.
Standing next to him was Teuila Kalani, who went by the call-sign Cyclone, one of the team's newest members, with the ability to manipulate air pressure to create powerful tornados and cyclones.
Next to her was Adrian’s twin sister Rosann known by her call-sign Merge. She was also an Elemental EVO capable of taking any human or animal's appearance and abilities she touched. Merge stood mirroring Cyclone’s visage of concern sprinkled with the frustration that she was not out on the battlefield when the action took place.
Her sentiment and expression were championed by her boyfriend Oliver, the powerful electrical manipulating Apollo EVO of the group known as Blitz, and Aashif Salek, the resident Apollo class EVO thermo-kinetic energy wielder who went by the call-sign Nitro.
A semi-exhausted Lady Tech turned to them with updates after witnessing Earth’s first alien invasion, which consisted of Freedom doing fierce battle with a female alien from the invading ship. The situation became critical when Freedom’s energy spiked to World Buster level.
Power, if not subsided, would have either detonated or ripped the world apart.
Eventually, Freedom’s energy levels dropped, preventing a planetary catastrophe.
Minutes later, Freedom’s energy pattern disappeared from the planet altogether, before that Lady Tech detected the Eye of Ra on the Earth and attempted to contact him only to be told by his familiar Sol that he would speak to her the next time he returned to the Earth.
This left the Regulators where they were when all hell broke loose, still in the dark.
“The alien ship is now leaving our orbit,” Lady Tech indicated, turning to the team. “Communication is being slowly restored all over the planet.”
“If one ship can take down our entire network in one shot,” Heavy Element interjected. “We’re in a lot of trouble.”
“And we have no idea who they are or what they want,” Cyclone added in frustration.
“I think it’s pretty clear who they came for,” Lady Tech said while pointing to her screen. “The first attack happened on Dennison’s island. The whole battle across the planet was between Freedom and that female alien. Now she’s gone.”
“That still doesn’t answer the questions, ‘what and why?’” Merge shrugged. “What was their objective for coming after Freedom, and why the hell did the Eye of Ra allow this to happen?”
“Because he knew who they were,” Rogers dryly answered.
Everyone turned to their leader as Lady Tech reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“What about Kimberly?”
A nervous Sister Sledge inquired of Lady Tech. The look on her face told Shareef she was not going to get a happy answer.
“Kimberly’s energy levels went through a massive spike nearing her mother’s base levels approximately eight to five minutes before dropping close to flatline.”
“What does that mean?” Sister Sledge pressed with a high pitch in her voice.
“I don’t know,” Lady Tech earnestly shook her head. “Based on my readings, she disappeared the same time Dennison did, which means wherever they went, they’re both together.”
Rogers’s eyes shifted, glancing at the nervous expressions each of his team members tried desperately to hide. For Shareef, she wanted to know where her friend and her daughter, her second family, were taken. For everyone else, it was the fact that Earth’s primary and secondary powerhouses were gone leaving them vulnerable to the unknown.
“Alright,” Rogers elevated his voice, getting everyone’s attention. “Now’s not the time to be sitting in a corner sucking on our thumbs. We still have a job to do. Judging by what went down, it is safe to say that these hostile forces will return.”
“He’s right about that, folks,” Lady Tech acknowledged.
“Which means as of now, we will remain on official high alert,” Rogers announced. “Maxine, get me a meeting with the Pentagon and the White House. We need to discuss coordinating with our allies, and if necessary, our enemies in case these hostiles return for round two.”
“You think you can convince the brass to work with the Russians, North Korea, and Iran?” An uncertain Blitz inquired.
“They will because the survival of the human race as a whole will depend on it,” Rogers bluntly answered. “We can go back to hating each other if and when we survive this. Everyone dismissed except for Merge.”
The rest of the team, save for Merge, Sister Sledge, and Lady Tech, exited the command center.
Merge approached Rogers standing at attention, waiting for orders.
“Sir.”
“I need all hands on deck,” Rogers got to the point. “This means your suspension is officially put on hold until then. Can I count on you?”
“One hundred and fifty percent, sir.”
“I will hold you to that, and then some, dismissed.”
With a nod, Merge turned on her heel, leaving. Rogers turned his attention to Sister Sledge, who approached to have an audience with him.
“Permission to leave the base for a while,” Sister Sledge requested.
“To go where?” Rogers asked with concern.
“I want to go to Sanctuary,” she swallowed. “Make sure everything is okay there.”
Rogers knew that he could not stop her even if he ordered her not to go, gave a reluctant nod.
“Take one of the Tornados, be back here in three hours, no more than that.”
“Thank you.” Sister Sledge gratefully nodded.
“You should take Vincent with you.” Lady Tech advised.
Sister Sledge turned to her, unsure what she meant with her statement.
“Take Vincent with me? He’s not with Sophia?”
“I’m afraid not,” she shook her head. “She never got a chance to put on her armbands during the battle. Vincent wasn’t able to upload and was left behind.”
“So, how do I take him with me?”
“He can upload himself into one of the tactical Replicator bodies and provide assistance and support after you come back.” Lady Tech explained. “Maxine?”
“He is here with us.”
“Hello Miss, how may I assist?” Vincent inquired vocally, projecting himself over the Central Command audio system.
“Maxine is going to upload you into a Replicator body,” Lady Tech ordered. “While you’re at it, take a Sentinel body for additional back up. You will go with Sister Sledge to Sanctuary, and when she leaves, it will be your responsibility to aide, defend, and protect the people there at all costs until Sophia Dennison returns.”
“I shall execute your commands without fail,” Vincent confirmed.
“Thank you,” Sister Sledge answered with an appreciative smile.
“Not to push, but the clock is ticking on this one,” Rogers butted in again.
Sister Shareef nodded before exiting the room. Rogers turned to
Lady Tech with a look he deemed as disapproving.
“What?”
“You could have gone with her for moral support,” she shrugged. “That’s the boyfriend thing to do.”
“Boyfriend takes a backseat to trying to save the world from a hostile alien invasion. Now that the children have left the room, how bad is it? What shot do we have to win this without Dennison?”
“If I had some Intel and twenty maybe thirty years to prepare, we might have a sliver of a shot. Right now, to quote Vince, we have no chance in hell.”
“Elaborate for me.”
Lady tech rubbed the bridge of her nose before going into more detail.
“Let’s see, their ship shut down communication all over the planet, and considering that they came with just one, I’m pretty sure it was equipped with tech and armament capable of global devastation. They also sent down one warrior capable of fighting on par with Freedom, who then had a massive controlled power boost that completely outclassed her. Then there was the second one. His base energy readings were so monstrous it nearly crashed my entire system.
I’m going on a hunch that those two were the head honchos, and those underneath them might be a tier or two down on the power level chart.”
“Still, two that powerful is too much,” Rogers said while shaking his head.
“We’re in the realm of mortal gods,” Lady Tech concluded. “We’ve somehow got their attention, and not in a good way. Things are not going to fair too well for us if we don’t get some straight answers quickly.”
“The second the Eye of Ra shows up on your radar, you let me know,” Rogers instructed.
“Sergeant Rogers, I have the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff ready to conference with you,” Maxine announced. “Will you be taking it in your office?”
Rogers glanced at Lady Tech before answering.
“Negative, Maxine, patch them through here. They’re going to want to hear what we both have to say.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Less than an hour later, Sister Shareef touched down onto the Sanctuary runway within a Tornado piloted by Maxine.
The entire flight, she sat in silence in her head, while Vincent sat uploaded into a Replicator body with the appearance of a bald Middle Eastern man in his mid-twenties with golden irises. He was dressed in a standard black and grey IMPACT suit the team wore, with black boots minus the Regulator emblems on the shoulders.
Now and then, Shareef swiped away tears. She fought not to break down as her mind tortured her with unanswered questions about where Sophia and Kimberly could be and what was happening to them.
As the back-cargo bay door opened, Shareef took a breath pulling herself together before standing. She turned to Vincent, already up, waiting for her to exit.
As expected, she walked down the bay door ramp to a waiting crowd of Sanctuary Council members and villagers who cautiously walked up to her with a mixture of fear and concern in their eyes.
“Is everyone alright?” She asked.
Hector Lopez, Sanctuary’s Head of Construction, and one of the senior Counsel members stepped forward to speak.
“We’re all fine, but Sophia’s house has been blown off the map! And Earl …”
“What’s happened to Earl?” Shareef asked with a lump in her throat.
“He’s in really bad shape. What the hell is going on, Sister Shareef? Have we been invaded?”
His question ignited the natives of Sanctuary to ask their own questions, many in different languages. All aimed directly at her to answer.
She began to quell the crowd by first raising both her open hands into the air.
“Everyone, please! Calm down! I will explain everything!”
Vincent stepped in, repeating Shareef’s request with an authoritative tone in languages she could not speak.
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
“This is what I do know and can tell you,” Sister Shareef said. “The initial attack which took place here was from an Extraterrestrial force. We currently do not know the provocation behind this attack. What we do know is that both Sophia and Kimberly are off-planet.”
Her explanation ignited the vocal rumbling again with more confusion.
“Define off-planet,” Indrajit Singh, Sanctuary’s Chief of Finance and Junior Counsel Member, nervously asked, stepping in.
Shareef swallowed the lump in her throat before carefully elaborating.
“I mean…Sophia and Kimberly are currently not on planet Earth.”
Panic erupted amongst the crowd, which set off her irritation.
“Everyone, please, calm down!” Shareef yelled with a forceful motherly tone.
It worked as the villagers fell silent once again, waiting for her to speak.
“Now, unfortunately, that is all I can tell you about what happened. The one thing I need you all to understand is that this is currently the safest place on the planet right now. Also, you are not alone! Until Sophia and Kimberly return, I will be here for you! Now, if you are not a Council Member, I ask that you please leave and return to your homes! Please! Thank you!”
Hector nodded in agreement before joining in.
“You heard Sister Shareef, folks! If you are not a Council Member, please go home! We will update everyone as soon as possible!”
The rest of the Council members joined in with Hector to help send the villagers home. Reluctantly the crowd dispersed, leaving Shareef, Vincent, and the Council Members on the tarmac.
“So, who’s your friend?” Indrajit motioned.
“Hello Indrajit Singh, I am Vincent, Ms. Dennison’s personal A.I. system currently uploaded into an artificial body.”
The introduction shocked and stunned everyone standing on the opposite side of Shareef and Vincent.
“I knew it!” Indrajit yelled while pointing. “I knew it!”
“You didn’t know, jack!” Hector shot back.
“Vincent, is that really you?” An astounded Ms. Gertrude inquired.
“Yes, Ms. Gertrude,” Vincent answered. “I am detecting an elevated heart rate from you; did you remember to take your pressure pills today?”
“Yes, I did,” she nodded with a smile.
“Vincent is here to provide aid and support while I’m away,” Shareef explained.
“You’re not staying?” Hector asked.
“I can’t,” Sister Shareef shook her head. “Not until I bring our girls home. If you remember the android sisters, Vincent is just as capable as they are.”
“No offense, Vincent is going to protect this entire island?” Indrajit skeptically gestured.
“Although I am capable of doing so with this body, we have brought additional resources,” Vincent informed them.
Before the question could be asked, attention was turned to the commotion coming down the rear cargo bay door ramp. Once again, everyone except for Shareef and Vincent stepped back as a ten-foot-tall slender matt black two-legged mech walked down the rampway.
Its visor glowed white along with the other white lights emitting from different parts of its armor. It was more humanoid than Sam; aside from its bipedal feet, the mech was built for speed and agility. The mech carried a massive rifle in its hands, the size and length of a tank's main gun in a matching matte black finish with glowing blue lights on different parts of the firearm.
“That’s a big gun,” a wide-eyed Hector acknowledged.
“This is a Sentinel mech body, which I also control,” Vincent introduced. “It will ensure that the shores of Sanctuary remain secure.”
“Well, I feel more secure,” Indrajit admitted.
“Can you please take me to see Earl?” Shareef requested.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Minutes later, Shareef stood by Earl’s bedside, unprepared for what she looked down upon. She could no longer fight
the tears that ran down her cheeks at the sight of a comatose Earl with his entire foot missing on his left leg, while his shin and foot were gone from his right leg.
Head Nurse Adetokunbo somberly brought her up to date on his condition.
“We were only able to save his leg up to his shin; the foot was too damaged to be repaired. His shin and foot on his left leg were completely gone when Kimberly brought him in. He also suffered three cracked ribs. He fought with us not to give him pain medication. He did not want to break his sobriety. There was also some infection, so he has a bit of a fever, which we are treating. He’s been in and out since the surgery.”
“Who performed it?”
Shareef inquired, knowing Sophia was the only formally licensed surgeon on the island.
“I did,” Head Nurse Adetokunbo answered.
A surprised Shareef looked at her with amazement and gratitude.
“Where I come from, I’ve seen similar wounds like these caused by landmines and other weapons,” She explained. “Dr. Dennison is also an excellent teacher.”
Shareef leaned over a bit to hold Earl’s hand, which was limp in her grip. Their romantic fling after her release from prison was brief, but the friendship remained and grew.
“Whatever you need, anything. Just let Vincent here know, and I will make it happen.”
“Thank you, Sister Shareef,” Head Nurse Adetokunbo smiled. “We will take good care of brother Earl.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Before she returned to the Tornado, Shareef, Vincent, and Hector stopped by what was once Sophia’s home. The aerial view did not do justice to the devastation up close.
Although the smoke had clear, the raw burnt smell remained wafting in the air. What jarred Shareef was the blast pattern that went all the way to the beach.
“Nothing’s left,” she whispered with a headshake.
“We swept the area for anything that was still intact that would mean something to her,” Hector huffed. “We didn’t find much.”
“Hector, can you do me a favor?”
War of Mortal Gods Page 4
