Argonaut - The Kinetic (Part I)

Chapter 16 - Harbinger

"As you wish" Prometheus said quietly, hiding how eager he was to arrive at the site. The itch flared up again in his mind, the very notion that Atlas might be there drove it wild.

'Soon brother' he thought to himself, 'Soon.'

The specially equipped cargo jet hummed violently as the engines fired up. The missile bay had been completely stripped, replaced with rows of strap-in seats for a fast response team. Even this fine machine was completely obsolete compared to an Archaean jet, but it would suffice for its purpose.

"Why are we listening to that thing?" Tanner asked as he was shoved into a seat by a teammate, the hollow space fell silent, the soldiers knew better than to question their leader's judgment.

"It's a chance we'll have to take" Salazar replied bluntly, without even turning around "Worst case scenario is that he's telling the truth and there really is a doomsday weapon in Megiddo, if we do nothing we all die. If he really wanted to kill us he could have just brought the building down, he wouldn't go to all the effort of getting us on the other side of the world just to kill us there."

The soldiers accepted this, silently reassuming their duties as they readied for transport. Salazar rarely justified his decisions, but on the few occasions that he did he always revealed the best of reasons behind his choice. It was this that had earned him the unwavering loyalty of his lieutenants, and through them their teams. First in the fire, last out.

"Call in with the Rock once we're airborne" he nodded to Kahn as he ducked into the cockpit, "tell them where we're headed and to send backup."

"How much should I request?"

"As much as they can spare."

For an hour I had sat, cross legged at the back of the Argos attempting to prepare myself for what was to come. I had been correct in my earlier assumption, anger and adrenalin made my ability easier to use, granting power. But it was power with little direction, if what I had heard about the Kinetics of old was correct their power was far greater than mine.

In my relaxed state my mind was clear as a crystal pool, my mind wandered far as I waited. Perhaps this was the key, absolute serenity might be a leash I could put on my power, if only I had more time. If Serena was here I could surely do it in a heartbeat, she could just go inside my mind and show me exactly what to do.

But Serena wasn't here, the Archons had her. I pushed a sudden surge of anger back down into my subconscious; there was no place for it here, not yet. If only I had more time... There was one small comfort though; Prometheus would undoubtedly be having the same difficulties I was, if he had even figured out what to do. It seemed unlikely though, the clone was literally insane, the notion of him achieving both serenity and power was almost laughable. Of course the Archons must know, but it seemed unlikely. Giving an unstable servant access to that much power was suicidal.                         

"Halfway there" Cassius called out from the front. We had taken a longer route, opting to arrive slightly later rather than getting too close to Valhalla and not arriving at all, "Everyone to the front, let's get a game plan set."

"Good" I murmured, standing up and walking towards the cockpit. 

A holographic map of Megiddo was displayed hovering between the captain and us, an elevated area highlighted in red.

"The Aegis Device is most likely hidden beneath the ridge adjacent to Megiddo" The captain told us, gesturing to the map "Once the Archons get there they'll be nearly impossible to take on in a head-on assault. It'll be a tough nut to crack but we think we've come up with a plan."