The sky above was smudged with twilight and ash, a ruined sun visible through the smoke, which still adhered to the ruins of the lab.
Justin waited patiently on a blanket, his limbs gradually regaining feeling. Von sat beside him, eyes lowered, fists clenched against his knees. Around them, scattered across a field of burned earth cracked and shattered, were members of the Resistance—some bleeding, some bruised, others unnervingly still.
Then Marco appeared, limping, an arm over a medic's shoulder for support. His once-clean armor was torn and gouged, caked with blood along the side of his face, but his eyes were still sharp.
Marco (shuffling up slowly):
"Are you guys okay, and is Justin alright?"
Von got to his feet, nodding just slightly.
Von:
"Yeah… we've got Justin. He's alright."
Marco (pleased):
"Good. That's at least one piece of good news."
(He looked around hopefully.)
"And the rest? The people from the pods?"
Von's lips trembled. His shoulders sagged. He looked down and shook his head.
Silence.
Marco (whispering):
"Von… What did you do?"
Von (trying hard not to cry):
"I'm sorry, Marco… I tried. I did. I—I applied everything I learned. Everything you taught me. But it wasn't enough. I couldn't save them… I was useless against the enemy; it was too great. I'm sorry.
The words broke apart at the end. Von looked away, his eyes burning. The guilt weighed. In his chest, like a rock.
Ace (placing a firm hand on Von's shoulder):
"You did what you could, kid. Sometimes the hardest part of fighting… is knowing you can't save everybody."
Von didn't respond. But he didn't push Ace's hand away, either.
Ace (whispering now):
"You saved Justin. You made it out alive. That's not nothing. And trust me—this? This is how warriors are made."
More Resistance soldiers limped in from the east, bandaged and bruised. Some carried stretchers. Some supported one another on shaky legs. But there were fewer than there had been before.
The battle was won… but at a terrible cost.
Marco stepped out, his voice echoing.
Marco:
"Everybody! Over here!"
The surviving Resistance soldiers stood before him, a ragged half-circle in the field.
Marco (voice firm but muted):
"We lost too many today. Good men. Good women. They all died believing in what they were fighting for."
"Don't forget them. Don't make their deaths statistics. We fight not just for survival but for freedom. And today, we dealt a blow… but we learned something sinister hides behind Dr. Rhane and his work."
He looked out at the smoldering wreckage of the lab.
Marco (grimly):
"That man who showed up… the one with the helmet… he was powerful. Too powerful. But he didn't seem like our enemy. Not exactly."
Whispers went around the unit. Everyone saw it or heard rumors.
Marco (confidently):
"We regroup. We recover. And then—we talk. About him. About what he said. About what Rhane was doing down there. Because whatever is coming… this was just the beginning."
But before Marco could continue—
A loud thud echoed through the dirt.
Everyone looked up.
??:
"MARCO!!"
A man crashed down in front of them, rolling from the sky like a cannonball. The man slapped the ground with a thud, sliding to a stop—his boots splintering the ground as they bit in.
It was Kevin, one of the scouts assigned to defend the Resistance's central hideout.
Marco (horrified):
"Kevin?! What the hell—what are you doing here? You were guarding the base!"
Kevin was gasping, sweat dripping down his chest. He dropped to one knee, barely able to say anything at first.
Kevin (gasping):
"Sir—the central base—it's been breached. The government—they found us. They're attacking right now!!"
A chill of shock traveled through the group.
Ace (gnashing his teeth):
"What?! How the hell did they find it?!"
Kevin (shaking his head):
"I don't know. Someone… someone must've told them."
Marco (grimly):
"A traitor?"
Marco (snapping into command mode):
"Alright—we move. Our mission's done here. Time to return and protect what's left."
Ace:
"Too beat up to make it there on foot."
Marco:
"Then we don't walk."
He spun around to Ace in a hurry.
Marco:
"Call Sparky."
Ace:
"On it. I'll need to get above for a good signal."
Ace took off for the closest wrecked building and leaped up its broken walls until he reached the top of a reasonably intact roof. He pulled out a battered communicator.
Ace (into the mic):
"Sparky, come in! This is Ace. Emergency pick-up—we need a mass teleport, now!"
In the meantime, Von looked at Justin.
Von (whispering):
"There's more at play than we knew."
Justin (tired but fully awake):
"Yeah… and I think we're going to be launched into it."
Marco looked over the team.
Marco (to himself):
"We're not in fighting form. If the government tracks us here before Sparky arrives. We're dead meat."
He clenched his fists.
Marco (thinking):
Sparky, come on. Pick up the damn call.