Alpha Squad - Vecto: Vengeance

Episode 9.5

(Previously: The police try to make sense of how their missile was stopped and what went on between Vecto and Streamline. Then Streamline arrives.)

Exhausted, Streamline walked down an incline into the depths of the police vicinity. The walls on both sides stretched higher as he descended toward the parking garage entrance. It wasn't long before the welcoming committee arrived. Armed police officers lined up across the top of the wall, aiming their rifles at Streamline. They wore battle helmets, plates of armor-and each one wore a heavy backpack. Streamline took a few more steps, unconcerned about the men.

He glanced down at the below-surface entranceway as more officers spread out from the doorway. But these were higher-ups, save for a couple of guardians. They wore suits, complemented by the glare of medallions, a trait borrowed from the military. Streamline stopped in his tracks and settled the box in his arms on the ground, keeping his eyes on those approaching. He waited until they had reached a safe distance and then raised one hand to stop them.

"I've come for the bounty on Vecto," he said loud enough for them to hear.

"Vecto, you say?" One of the officers was curious. "Prove it!"

In compliance, Streamline bent over and tapped the top of the force-field box. The field disappeared and the edges retracted. The thin polls flipped together, enclosing the "x" at the top of the box into one rod, and jumped in the air from the reaction. Streamline snatched the springing pole as the contents tumbled slightly down the incline. They were the body pieces of Vecto.

It astounded some of the men.

"Ah, well done. Well done, indeed," one of older men said, walking over to the pieces to bend down and inspect them.

Captain Taupe, at the center of the group, remained silent, studying Streamline-his battered armor, skin with dried blood, scar along his face, and his eyes-especially his eyes, with their heavy brows and deep look. This man carried far graver scars inside his body than marred his outside, Taupe thought to himself.

"So, what do I get?" Streamline asked. "A hefty check? A free cruise of the omniverse? Or a shiny suit?"

Taupe walked up to face Streamline. "How'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Streamline asked to annoy him.

"How did you destroy him?"

"With a little elbow grease and firepower," Streamline joked, keeping his eyes on Taupe.

Taupe smirked and grabbed his wrists. He let go, and Streamline grunted in pain. Tiny disks sunk into his arm-through his suit. As if plants, roots embedded into his wrists, followed by a quick snap of magnetism, thrusting his arms together as the devices linked together, restraining him.

"You are hereby under arrest for attempted robbery in disguise, shooting a firearm within an occupied building, eluding the police, and aiding a terrorist," Taupe explained, stepping back. "You have NO right to remain silent, and you will be detained indefinitely pending trail. We will do the questioning here, so it'll be in your best interest to answer them."

Streamline looked up, feeling the sting from his cuffs. "I guess this means I won't get that cruise," Streamline quipped.

"Take him away, men," Taupe ordered, standing straight as the guardians patted Streamline down and removed his weapons.

Streamline complied, allowing them to search him, glancing at the police lined up on the walls. It was in his best interest not to fight back-not because they would attack, but because he didn't want to kill them. He was turning himself in.

"Oh, and by the way," Taupe said as the guards began to take Streamline away, "thanks for the prize." He reached down and picked up Vecto's blown head, wondering what kind of marvelous technology was inside, what made Vecto tick, what made Vecto so strong and omnipotent-only to discover the head was hollow.

(Why did Streamline turn himself in when he didn't commit the crimes he was accused of? Find out more in the next installment of Vecto: Vengeance!)