Blood and Profit: Chapter 31

Arthur waved as the first of the busses approached. It slowed and then suddenly stopped about thirty feet short of where he was standing, He began to close the gap when the door opened and Rusty practically fell out of the bus, doubled over and started vomiting. By the time Arthur reached the bus, Rusty was standing up right again. “Nervous?” Arthur asked, rusty nodded and two shallow breaths and doubled over again. “Let it out now then because once you’re on the ship there’s no easy place to pop.”

Rusty stood up and wiped his mouth. “Really?” he questioned.

Arthur laughed. “Of course there are bathrooms, it’s not Star Trek!”

Rusty blinked “What’s Star Trek?” he asked as Arthur ushered him onto the bus.

“What’s Star Trek!” he nearly shouted. “Did you learn nothing in your little back water hell hole?” The bus closed its door and drove the rest of the way to the command ships stationed in the grass just beyond the air field.

The second bus split off and parked closer to the squadron of fighters. The door opened and the pilots flooded off the bus and gathered in formation to wait on Toll. He and Sharea made their way to the front of the squad. He took a moment to look them over. They were anxious, adrenaline pumping. He suppressed a sad smile. “I know you are excited. I know you are scared. I know you want to prove yourselves. This is our first mission together and we have a lot of people counting on us, so make every shot count.”

The squad answered back in a unified voice. “Hoorah!”

Sharea stepped closer to the squad. “OK people, preflight check’s in fifteen, command escort’s with me, carrier escorts with Toll, last one to report in buys the beers!” The formation broke as the pilots all scrambled to their ships.

Toll and Sharea walked over to Toll’s ship. The rolling steps had not been moved since he deplaned yesterday. “What do you think ‘raya?”

She looked over the squad as they ran their preflight checks and joked amongst themselves. “None of them have ever been in a real combat situation before. I want this to go well, but it could very easily fall apart.”

“Ok for the last time I promoted you for your ability to maintain a positive ‘yes-man’ like quality and blow smoke up my ass on command.” Toll said as he walked up his steps.

 “That’s funny, Preacher is under the impression that you promoted me because you don’t expect to live much longer.” Toll froze, then sat on the top of his rolling steps.

“I’m not stupid, and I’m not suicidal, I just know that once the eye of history see’s you, your life is no longer your own.” Toll glanced at his unit.

“Pretty defeatist attitude don’t you think sir?” Sharea asked,

Toll shook his head. “You misinterpret my meaning. I do not wish to or feel like I will die any time soon. But for the first time in my life, I have willingly taken on responsibilities for something other than my own skin. This unit matters to me ‘Raya, That’s why I chose you.” Toll stood up and opened the cockpit of his ship. The rest of the squad started to line up to get their flight checks confirmed.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 30

The sun was going to rise any moment now, the sky was getting lighter by the second. This was Arthur’s favorite time of day on the airfield. He was sitting at the far edge of the area Toll had chosen to park his little squadron of fighters. They were a motley crew of hand me downs, not unlike their pilots. Arthur looked over the rusted and worn paint with a sense of loving awe. The squad had painted fresh call signs under the rear edge of their cockpits. Arthur was sitting in between Dog Breath and Smart Guy. He watched the light steadily creep over the grass and onto the concrete, shortening shadows and forcing the steady retreat of night. Finally feeling the warmth of sunlight on his back.

He heard the carrier ships before he saw them but it wasn’t long before the absolutely massive pair of ships appeared screaming up the coastline. The airfield was just big enough to land both ships and  Arthur folded up his chair, laid it in the grass as the carriers were landing. He made his way over to the opening door on the front carrier. Once there was enough space in the opening Carter jumped out followed by an assistant. 

“And let’s see if we can’t siphon off nine tenths of the water this time, I would like to see that osmosis field at peak functionality.” The assistant was tapping furiously on his tablet. “Do we still have a clean tracking signal on our target?” He turned to see the assistant hold his tablet up and show a map with a blinking light on it. “Fantastic. How’s your coffee Arthur?”

Arthur held up his old worn metal travel mug. “Same as a always, hot, boring, dirty river water.”

Carter smiled. “The way God intended.”

Arthur nodded. “Amen”

Each carrier ship was extruding was a clear foam that would harden in when the ships outer body shot off a low level electric blast. The foam was designed to reinforce each ship from crushing under the pressures of the ocean. By the time the reached orbit the covering would be gone but this process was the only reason these carriers could travel in both space and under water. Carter looked out at the ocean. “By my watch, we’re on schedule, we’ll be out of the way by the time the crews are ready to board the command and control ships. Anything out of the ordinary I should know about?”

Arthur shook his head. “It’s going to take months for the grass to grow back but that’s basic biology, nothing you need to worry about.” Arthur pointed at the neglected field where the command and control ships were parked. “How’s the star of this show?”

“I’ll let you know in about a half hour.” Carter turned to his assistant. “Are the carriers ready for submersion?” The assistant’s hand blurred over the tablet screen and then he nodded. Carter turned back to Arthur. “I wish you were going with us old friend.” Carter and Arthur shook hands.

                                                            

Arthur shook his head. “I don’t, with you gone someone’s gotta run the store.”

Carter tapped his headset and spoke to crew on both carrier bridges. "Initiate slave protocol, from here on out we're flying as one ship." Arthur watched as hatches on the front and rear  of the carrier ships opened to reveal the osmosis field generators.

The assistant made his way back into the front carrier ship.Carter stepped onto the stairs of the ship. “No parties, don’t answer the phone unless it’s me calling and absolutely no boys.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Yes mom.” He shouted as the door closed and the engines started up. Arthur got clear of the lift off and watched at the carriers headed out to sea and eventually sank beneath the waves, at almost the exact same time as the buses carrying the command and control crews came out of the tunnel and finished his coffee, the sun was just barely above the horizon line and he had a long day ahead of him.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 4

Technarius sent the kids back to the school. They appeared in the gaping hole in the front of the library. The crash site was crawling with Cretacian warriors.

“These fancy motorcycle suits come with any weapons?” Sonya asked the open air.

“Why yes they do captain smartass.” Technarius’ voice came over everyone’s comlink. “your suit is communicating with your body on a sub conscious level. In your heads up display you’ll see the suits available options. But if you let it, your suit and your body will work together on a level your conscious mind cannot match.”

Sonya opened up her hands. “Comedy and Tragedy!” she commanded a tonfa into each hand. She spun them, testing their balance and ran into the middle of a group of Cretacian warriors. “Come on guys don’t leave me hanging!” She yelled, catching a Cretacian in the jaw with Comedy.

Dante look a long flying leap toward another group of warriors “Tsunami Hammer!” He shouted in mid leap, bringing the hammer down onto an unprepared warrior. Another group of Cretacians moved to flank him.

“Vine whips!” Warren shouted, catching two of the flanking Cretacians by their ankles. He pulled hard dragging them to the ground and leaped toward them. Landing an elbow on the back of each skull.

Sonya was surrounded but holding her own, Several Cretacians suddenly launched into the air like bowling pins. Gordon had excessively large red mechanical gauntlets that stopped just short of his elbows. He flexed and the Gauntlets released steam from vents. “Invisible Gauntlets!” He said with a smile you could hear.

The Cretacians that were still standing unsheathed their weapons and gathered in a line. The kids regrouped as well. Kelly was in the center. “Let’s finish this! Blacklight Saber!” She yelled as the shades charged into the Cretacians. Her neon purple blade cut through weapon and Cretacian with equal ease. The others dispensed of their own opponents with ease. As quickly as the fight had begun it was over. The Shades had protected the school. 

A slow clap echoed off the surviving wall of the Library. The Shades turned their attention to the lone soldier leaning against a fragment of wall. “About time Lumarion found himself some new pets.” This lone soldier was uglier than the other Cretacian’s, and easily seven feet tall. He like a Triceratops with curved ram like horns coming out of the right and left sides. “Now let’s see if your any better than the last ones.” He stepped away from the wall fragment and revealed a staff made of what appeared to be bone. He spun it effortlessly in his hand for a turn. Gordon Charged him and caught him full force in the chest with his right gauntlet. The soldier stopped, looked down at the gauntlet and then back to Gordon. “I’m sorry, was that supposed to hurt?” He asked. The staff flashed nearly unseen and caught Gordon in the side, taking him off his feet and tossing him into the rubble of the library. He spun the staff again until it was upright. He glared at the other shades. “I am Commander Raptarus. Leader of the pathetic excuse for a Cretacian scout squadron you just defeated. I look forward to finding out which of you will give up Lumarion’s location in exchange for a quick death.”

Blood and Profit: Chapter 29

This time the meeting was much more intense and yet less filled with drama. Toll apologized to Carter and attempted to apologize to Rusty but he had dark circles under his eyes and waved him off to scan lines of code on a tablet. Preach and Third spoke for a while and by the time they were done Toll was glad he had asked Sharea to come to the meeting. Rusty announced wearily that he had an plan for turning the rings back on, he just needed to code and test it. Carter spoke for a while, updating schedules and talking about the squid, It was during this time that Toll pulled Sharea out in to the hall.

Once out in the hall she leaned against the wall and slid down slowly. He tried hard not to laugh but couldn’t help smiling. “That’s about where I was twenty four hours ago.”

She looked up at him in a daze. “people are going to die.”

Toll nodded. “right now that is our only real weapon. But it’s also why I brought you here.”

She looked up at him with even more confusion. “what could including me in, this,” She waved her had at the meeting they had just left. “do to change any of what’s about to happen?”

Toll sat next to her on the wall. “I taught you how to fly and fight as a team, and while I look forward to leading you through this, there will come a point when we’ve done all we can do and it’s time to bug out. I want to make sure that there’s a pair of eyes and ears focused on the safety of the unit. From here on out, unless you refuse, I’d like you to be my second in command.”

Sharea blinked a few times, stood up, and walked over to the nearest window to look at the fish. “Would I have to move down here?” She asked.

Toll shrugged “It would make things easier, but it’s not required.”

Sharea smiled “I like it down here, it’s quiet. The city is nothing but noise all the time.”

Toll squinted at her. “So is that a ‘yes’?

Sharea nodded. “Yes, I’m a citizen of the last unincorporated territory on earth, citizenship comes with responsibilities, this one is mine.”

Toll nodded. “You know there’s a pay raise right?”

Sharea smiled “Responsibility is no fun unless it comes with privileges.”

Toll stood up. “Anything else before we go back in?”

Sharea shook her head but blurted out “What if I screw up?

Toll thought it over for a second. “That’s the eternal question isn’t it? At least, I’ve been asking myself that every day of my like as far back as I can remember.”

“Did you ever figure out an answer for yourself? She asked.

Toll nodded “For a long time the answer was ‘run’. An option you unfortunately do not have.”

Sharea pushed the fear down in anger “I don’t want to run.”

Toll “Then you’re stronger than I used to be.”

Sharea “Used to be?” Toll nodded. “Are you still afraid?”

Toll nodded “All the time.”

Sharea considered this as she followed Toll back into the meeting.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 3

The kids and the Robot appeared in a well-lit cave. Dante was the first to speak up. “Whelp we’re dumb.” He stated as the robot walked down the stone hallway.

“How so?” the robot asked.

“Because we just teleported to god knows where with some robot alien who for all we know was working with those cannibal alien lizard things.” Sonya said with a sense of depression.

The robot stopped and turned around. “Ok A: my name is Technarius. B: you saved my arm, I saved your lives, so let’s be friends. C: those things don’t work for me.”

Warren called out after Technarius as he rounded the corner. “what were those things?”

“Not my friends, now get in here we’ve got a lot to cover!” His robotic voice echoed down the hallway. The group exchanged down the hall. None of them expected what they saw around the corner.

The rough cut natural stone hallway gave way to brushed metal curves that opened up into a huge open command center. There were rows and rows of computer stations and on the far wall was a dull crystal mosaic. Technarius was busy at the nearest computer console.

“Lumarion, I’mmmm Baaaaaack!” Technarius’ robotic voice auto tuned his statement and the dull crystal mosaic lit up in a flash.

“Who are the children Technarius?” The crystal wall flashed fields and stars of colors.

“These children are a direct result of you wanting me to go to the prismatic cluster when you could have just sent a beam of light.”

“You were attacked.” Lumarion blinked.

“I was shot out of the sky by a Cretacian patrol squad. I crashed into a high school library and almost killed myself and these five kids. Thanks for making it sound like I stubbed by toe.”

Sonya snapped “What the hell is going on?” Technarius turned his attention to the kids, Lumarion’s lights began to fluctuate.

“You have stumbled upon on ancient secret, and if you choose to, you will carry the burden of that secret for your generation.”

Gordon was looking at the consoles. “What’s the secret?”

Technarius pressed a button on his console and five chairs appeared out of thin air. “Have a seat.” The kids all sat as Lumarion’s lights sped up.

“I am one of the last of the Shimmeron, overseer and the guiding light of earth. Technarius is my loyal friend and trusted assistant.”

“I’m his partner, his right and left hands, and the enforcer of his will in all things.” Technarius gloated.

“We get it!” Kelly groaned. “Lumarion why would earth need a guiding light?” she asked.

“Before time was time, the Shimmeron traveled the universe and populated every corner of it with the light of creation. We had no rules, no boundaries, our only goal was to banish the eternal darkness of the void.” Lumarion shimmered as he explained.

Sonya asked “So how come we’ve never see any of the stuff you’ve created?” Lumarion’s lights paused as he considered the answer.

We discovered the void had no interest in being banished. It created Stygian and his void soldiers to destroy what we had made. Stygian is a creature of pure darkness, and his warriors follow his every command without question. We lost countless worlds to their fury. Stygian and his solders exterminated our light with ruthless efficiency. Those of us who had survived that first assault came up with a plan, we created the Machinate and sent them to every world we had populated. Our emissaries empowered countless races to defend their races from the void.

“Empowered?” Gordon asked.

Technarius produced a box, he lifted the lid and revealed five pairs of sunglasses, the box had an indent for a sixth pair as well. The glasses were red, black, blue, purple, and green. Lumarion’s lights began to pulsate again.

“As I said, if you choose, you will become the last line of defense between earth and the void. You will become the champions of light, you will become The Shades of Justice!” Lumarion’s voice echoed to the ceiling of the room. The kids looked unimpressed.

“What does that mean?” Kelly asked.

Technarious walked over to her and held the box out for her. “Pick a set of glasses and find out.”

Kelly looked at the glasses and picked the purple pair. Technarious moved down the line, Sonya took the black pair, Gordon took the red, Dante took the Blue, and Warren the green. One by one they tried the glasses on.

“Now, bond to your new armor by speaking your name and the command ‘Step into Shade’”

Sonya broke from her inspection of her glasses, everyone else was looking at her. “What?” She asked.

Kelly nodded at her glasses, “You’ve kinda been taking the boss roll so far. So, you first.”

Sonya thought it over and then put her glasses back on. “Sonya Cooper, Step into Shade!” There was a black flash and then Sonya was dressed head to toe in her shade suit. Her helmet had a solid black visor. Lumarion’s lights flashed.

“Sonya, you are Grayscale, able to harness many powers of the void but tempered by the application of light to reveal the truth and be a guiding light in your darkest hours.”

Dante put his glasses on. “Dante Wallace, Step into Shade!” A blue flash of light and Dante was wearing a blue suit and helmet similar in design to Sonya’s suit and helmet.

“Dante your mind is a tactical playground, your incredible talent for planning and execution make you a perfect example of Abyssal Blue.” Lumarion flashed.

Kelly stepped forward, her glasses already on. “Kelly Sullivan, Step into Shade!” When the purple flash of light faded she was wearing her own purple suit.

“Kelly, Your drive pushes you harder and further than many others. The time you spend alone gives you incredible insight into yourself and the world around you. You see what others cannot, you are Ultraviolet!”

Warren was next “Warren Reed, Step into shade!” A green flash and he two was in green armor.

“Warren green is the color of growth, the color of progress, the color of determination. You are Evergreen!” Lumarion flashed.

Gordon was staring into the lenses of his glasses. Lumarion waited a moment and then pressed forward.

“you fear that the heat of your barely controlled rage makes you a danger when the truth is without you the team has no heart.” Gordon put his glasses on.

“Gordon Andrews, Step into Shade!” The red flash of light cleared to reveal Gordon’s red suit.

“Gordon, Infrared light is not visible to the naked eye. But we use it to see the heat of the universe that’s inside all of us. What you think of as anger is misguided passion. What you have always seen as a weakness is 
your greatest strength. You are infrared! And together you are, The Shades of Justice!”

Blood and Profit: Chapter 28

One of Toll’s favorite things about space flight was the stars. He had spent his childhood looking into the night sky and making up stories for all the constellations. As an adult he still loved looking at the stars but now the constellations he had grown up with were gone. The sky was filled with different god’s and their foreign names and adventures, but they were still beautiful. He often found himself staring at these brilliant points of light and wondering if any of them were just the opposite side of the sky he had always known.

He had the squads split into groups of three, they were dog fighting, each team had a secret member worth ten points. If shot down, but if the other two members were shot down first then the ten points was void. It was a target awareness drill and it left a team of three sitting on the side lines at any one time.

Toll’s mind had wandered out into the stars as the drill went on round after round. His plane drifted into the engagement zone.

“Sir, it appears that you have moved into the engagement zone, is the drill over?” Preach’s robotic voice crackled in his flight helmet. Toll was brought back into the moment and moved himself back out of the zone. “Are you ok sir?” Preach asked.

“Yeah I’m fine Preach.” Toll watched the teams facing off against each other, move and counter move, both sides looking for something to betray which ship was the real target. “Hey Preach? Who in this group do you think is the best pilot?”

“Sharea” he answered almost immediately.

Toll was shocked. “What’s your reasoning?”

“She has fewer engagements than all but one other pilot, but she has the third highest kill to death ratio.m She doesn’t start fights, but she will finish them. Her record of being show down is in the bottom quarter of the squad which means she’s most of her time in the air waiting for someone to pick a fight with her. And most importantly when assigned as a wing man she has never let her lead get shot down before she is.”

Toll pulled her stats up on his console to verify. “So not quick to anger, self-sacrificing, and efficient in a fight.”

The loosing team from the closest engagement few to the side lines. And Preah’s team entered the combat zone. Toll contacted Darren privately to let him know he was the secret score plane.

When they had returned to Earth Toll was approached by Preach. “I believe you left the meeting before we had fully explained the scope of the assault plan. If you would like I can set up a meeting with Third and Carter and we can finalize our assault.”

Toll thought it over for a moment as Preach got onto the bus with the rest of the squad. Toll stood by the door as his pilots climbed on one by one. He stopped Sharea as she approached the door. “Get civil and meet up with Preach, you’re going to join us at a meeting.”

“Yes sir.” She nodded and climbed onto the bus. Toll followed her and doors closed behind him.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 27

Toll was sitting in the infirmary letting a medic bandage his hand. Ophelia came around the corner and entered the little area where he was being treated.

“You must have really had enough of that wall’s crap.” No humor in her voice.

Toll just stared at his hands. “I go blind sometimes.”

Ophelia nodded. “So much frustration builds up until you can’t even see. One way or the other it’s going to come out.” Toll waved off the medic who glanced at Ophelia. She nodded and took the bandages from the medic as he left the room.

Toll took a deep breath trying to stay on an even keel and failing. Pinching the bridge of his nose with his undamaged hand. “I keep trying -“ He stopped suddenly and took a few more breaths to try and avoid breaking down. “People are going to die because I was bored.”

Ophelia sat on the medic’s stool and continued to bandage where the medic left off. “Well that’s bullshit and you know it. Your arrival hasn’t here hasn’t done anything but give us the opportunity to maybe save some lives in the long run. And anything that was going to happen back on your home planet was going to happen whether or not you were there. Toll is not the mover and shaker of universes.” She sealed the bandage with tape.

Toll looked at his hand. “I’m pretty sure I’m not even a mover and shaker of Toll most of the time.”

Ophelia let go of his hand and stood up. “No you’re not. I’ll bet you’ve spent most of your life reaching the precipice of life changing moments and consistently run away from them.”

“I’m not a coward!” Toll almost hit the bench he was sitting on.

“Cowards know why they're running. You just run for reason’s I doubt even you understand.” Ophelia sat next to Toll on the bench as he stared at his bandaged hand.

“Was there anyone in history that didn’t want to be what history turned them into?” He asked. Ophelia nodded.

“George Washington.” She smiled.

“Who was he?” Toll asked.

“The first President of a country called The United States of America.” She pulled her tablet out of her jacket and brought up a picture.

“I highly doubt you accidentally become the leader of an entire nation without wanting to.”  Toll took the tablet and stared at the man.

“The United States had just fought for their independence from a country called Great Britain. The war was hard and the British army vastly outnumbered the American forces.” She stood up and began to pace in front of Toll.  “Washington suffered several defeats and yet through incredible bravery and desperation he led his men and ultimately the American people to defeating the British and winning their freedom.”  She stopped pacing and looked at Toll, a smile on her face.

“And that’s how he became president?” Toll asked.

“No, after the war he retired to his farm for five years. Only returning to oversee the organization of men that set down the rules of law and reason for the newly formed United States because they asked him to. He never took power, only accepted its burden willingly at the behest of his countrymen. For that and many other reasons his name and legacy was a point of pride even long after the end of the United States.”

“So history remembers him as a great leader and he didn’t ever want to be. Yeah that sounds like a guy who got a raw deal” Toll handed the tablet back to Ophelia.

“He did get a raw deal, because for everything he did and for all the greatness we remember him for. He ultimately failed to stop the creation of political parties. An idea he felt would lead to the inevitable destruction of the country he loved. He wanted a unified and focused leadership that worked for the greater good. Political parties inevitably split the nation down the middle and devoured everything great about it like wild animals. He became one of history’s greatest leaders and yet the nation he loved ended up giving nothing more than lip service to the ideals he held and the goals he strove for. He saw it happen right in front of his eyes and it happened until there was no more America left to betray him.”

“And why would I want that?” He asked.

Ophelia sat back down. “You don’t. And luckily you won’t ever have to worry about it. You’re so afraid of doing the wrong thing you’ve never done anything, and history doesn’t have time for people who’ve never done anything.” She put her tablet back in her jacket.

“Thanks for that.” Toll sighed.

“It’s a harsh truth dear. You’ve run away from more chances than most ever get, so shit, or get off the pot. If you don’t, Rusty will, and then he won’t be there to save you anymore.” She stood up for the last time, leaned over to look Toll in the eye and then kiss him softly on the forehead. “You’re an amazing person Toll, you just need to pull your head out of your ass.” She smiled and left the alcove.

The medic came back in with some pills in a tiny bottle. “You’ll probably want these once the numbing gel wears off.”

Toll nodded took the bottle with his uninjured hand and pocketed it on his way out of the alcove.