1 hour after extraction
Flying away into the vast dark blue sky above the desert, it's none other than the Chrome Plane, formed like a C-17 Globemaster III. It's a hundred-foot giant of chrome, aluminum, and glass; a jewel of a plane, perfect in every detail. It sparkled even in the moon.
Inside the cockpit is Seiner manning the plane, with Lucy in the co-pilot seat. The rest of the teammates including Rian are in the back of the plane, wide enough to carry lots of supplies, weapons and even commodities for long trips.
"What a beauty," Luce says as she looks at the windshield showing the landscape. "It's loch a dream come true. ye pure got th' best gift after all."
"And I swear it's no gift, Luce." Seiner replies. "I was picked cautiously or whatever."
"Ye know what? I think it's not a gift. Ye're just really lucky."
"Oh yeah?" Seiner grins.
"Aye." Lucy answers. "Yer one of those who got the luckiest person in the world. And yeah, that include good Tany herself. I think she like ya."
"Yeah, she does." Seiner groans as he rolls his eyes from her. "But we're just friends, nothing more, that's the best I can describe it between us both."
"Really?" Lucy chuckles. "But ye're still friends with her, eh?"
"Of course." Seiner answers, still grimacing from the thoughts it reaches in his head the more she presses him with that grin of hers.
"Well, ye're very lucky, pal. I'm sure ye're always 'th' luckiest person in the world." Lucy says.
"No, I'm not!" Seiner snaps out of his trance. "You know, you should be the one who gets the luckiest person in the world. Not me. You don't know how much I wish I could be the one who's been through all this."
"Oh, guess I hit a nerve, eh?" Lucy chuckles. "Well, I don't mean to poke and pry into ye're personal life, but yer just like one of those people who like being naughty and being cheeky, but yo're always there for others. I never knew ye're like that since we never get a chance to talk much."
"That's because you're too busy to do so." Seiner snorts. "Besides, you're not a good listener."
"Like hell I'll ever be. Ah listen tae mah own pace." Lucy laughs.
"Hey! Don't say that!" Seiner shouts.
Luce giggles in response. "Why? It's true."
"Honestly, you can be just as irritating as her," Seiner adds.
"Ah really? Just her?" Lucy teases.
"Just, cut it off, will you Luce?!" Seiner lashes out in a sudden burst, enough to make Andrei throw a glance at the cockpit.
"Guess Jack isn't alone now," Andrei chuckles from the implications.
Lucy, who's still giggling, stops immediately. "Sorry yerself, Seiner."
"I'm sorry." Seiner sighs. "I'm just being... I don't know, being nervous I guess."
"Don't worry aboot it." Lucy chuckles. "I ne'er get angry with ye."
"Yeah, sure." Seiner replies, sweatdropping. "Let's...keep it quiet until we reach the base, you got it?"
"Sure thing, co-boss." Lucy smiles.
"Whatever, we're fine." Seiner sighs as he keeps the plane to fly.
Afterward, Lucy looks through the windshield, seeing what's ahead of them. There's nothing at all. The windshield is all dark blue, no clouds, no land, nothing else but the endless big night sky. On the ground, the road is empty and dark, littered with debris of various vehicles and weapons, Humans and Zlocan alike. Such experiences would be bound in giving memories for a lifetime in one way or another.
In the back of the plane near the cargo hold, Jackson sits near a weapon cache while Rian stands beside him, holding his Zlocan blade, a look of uneasiness on his face after what happened today in his duel with Boris.
"You okay, brother?" Jackson asks.
Rian shrugs. "I've been better."
"Yeah..." Jackson nods. "Me too. Boris did pretty well, though, for a geezer of that age."
"Guess we can't take him lightly in a fight if he becomes full robot at this point." Rian sighs. "I've learned lots from that battle, though. I can't get any better than that after that."
"I think that's up to you to find out if you know the right tool for growth, especially with that shiny blade of yours you just "borrowed"."
"Well, lucky me." Rian chuckles.
"Don't know about that. The way you hold that thing, it makes me wonder if you're planning to use it to kill someone, or simply harm them. I hope you don't do the latter."
"You know me too well, brother." Rian nods. "I'll try that I won't. Emphasis on try."
"Logan would make sure you try well." Just then, Amira approaches the group as she holds her hands near her chest.
"Mr. Jackson, not sure if this is appropriate but, how do you know that man called Boris? Did you two ever met?" she asks.
Jackson shakes his head. "Not personally, no. But I read his files, lots of them. And it makes you wonder if you can either hate him...or just pity him. Cause I heard some stories about him. Some of it is really hard, you know?"
"How hard?" Amira asks.
"This should be interesting," Rian adds.
"Well, I'll make it as short as possible. He was born in 1960 in a town in what could become the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. He was just a boy who did whatever made him happy, no matter how small things were. It was the only noteworthy thing in his life in his childhood. At least, until the 1968 invasion by the Soviets in response to Dubček's reforms. He saw his neighbors taken away when they protested, and could only narrowly escape a house fire. From that, they were forced to move to Moscow. From there, they had to live in fear and vigilance from any sight of dissidence."
"Guess these Soviets were always a bastard bunch," Rian says.
"It remained that way until an agent from the KGB went to the house to inspect potential dissent activity when he was a young adult. Afraid, and unwilling to lose any further, he ambushed him, bludgeoning him until he stopped breathing. This attracted the attention of the government, but curiously enough, instead of deciding to execute him right away, they gave him an offer: He could either serve the government or die. He took the offer, knowing he would want to avoid the death penalty for himself and his family, and became a soldier for them."
"Oh dear." Amira chokes.
"It gets worse, his first deployment was in Afghanistan in 1980. From there, he experienced many things most of us wouldn't believe. Witnessing butcherings and massacres both his fellow soldiers committed as well as torture from guerrilla fighters. He was even forced to take part in any of them. It was a nightmare for him. But he did it all because he knew his family would need him. Or so he thought, he received news that would forever change him; his family perished in a hunger strike. Combined with the withdrawal and the ensuing collapse of the regimes in 89, from then on, he lost his mind. He couldn't stand the fact that he survived the war while everyone else dear to him died. Left with nothing else, he took what he felt what was the thing that he thought could fill him: blood money. That was the last straw for him. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted to make himself feel better."
"I'm glad he found something to make him feel better," Rian says dryly.
"He became a freelance mercenary, taking whatever he was paid to do. He was spotted in many countries like Bosnia, Congo, Colombia, Haiti, Syria, East Timor, among many more. While the full of extent of his activities in these countries remains unknown, given the crap these countries had in these conflicts, it's not surprising he would further become the empty husk we see today. His last job for the Humans was when he was guarding a billionaire's safehouse in Alaska as the invasion started. Given what I've seen of him, it won't surprise me if the Zlocans fixed him so he can be their attack dog now."
"If only he could have received the help when he needed it..." Amira mutters as she looks down from what she heard from him.
"I wouldn't say that," Jackson replies. "I'm surprised he was able to survive this long, and keep his skills intact, even after the things he's witnessed and done. We'll see. Besides, even if he is working with the Zlocan army, he isn't on the same side as them. He's the same man he was, just with a different coat on."
"I wonder what will he do now..." Amira sighs.
"Beats me," Jackson shrugs.
"To ever think that man's life couldn't get any shittier...guess I'm the lucky one here," Rian says. Just then, an alarm sounds in the plane.
"What the hell is going on?!" Eddie shouts.
"We're under attack!" Seiner exclaims as he sees a set of lines approaching the plane, representing a barrage of missiles heading their way. "Deploying flares and evasive maneuvers, hold tight!" He then quickly presses a series of buttons and pulls a lever, ejecting flares from the plane's wings and engines to distract the missiles as the plane dives to the ground below, just enough for the missiles to miss them.
"Holy mother of God..." Lucy says, holding on tightly to the plane handle.
"I'm guessing these things don't belong to the Zlocans?" Seiner asks.
"It appears not..."
"Seiner, Luce! It's everything alright? Who tried to hit us?" Logan asks as he approaches the cockpit.
"Currently unknown, but they seem to be long-range missiles given how far the trajectory was. We should have lost them by now, but we're definitely being tracked by something," Seiner replies.
"Any idea who's doing this?" Logan asks.
"No clue, but doesn't seem to be Zlocan," Seiner replies. "Above all, we've got to know who the hell would want to shoot at us."
"People, we have a set of bogeys approaching fast in our direction!" Lucy says as she spots the radar which highlights four dots heading in front of them.
"Take cover and have the turrets ready. This will be one hell of a fight."
"We have incoming hostiles! Get ready to fight!" Logan yells. "Everyone, prepare to engage any hostile! Weapons hot!" Eddie and Malak head to a set of stairs where it leads to guarded ball turrets in both the upper and lower half of the planet respectively. Rian and Jackson head to the other ball turrets near the wings. Tany, Andrei and Amira hunker down near the cockpit for protection.
"We got visual on the targets. They seem to be...Human planes?!" Seiner shouts as he sees the planes heading their way. "But who...?" He sees the largest being a plane veering into the right side with smaller plane like vehicles following suit, as they open their wings revealing another set of missiles.
"Homing missiles, incoming!" Eddie shouts as he fires a series of blaster fire right at the incoming missiles from the planes. The blasters decimate the incoming missiles, but in return, the planes simply fly upward in evasive maneuvers as they surround the plane at high speed. The main large one flies from above, revealing two railguns from the upper bays of the plane, which has a kite-like shape and twin engines with outer-canted twin tails. The railgun fire on the left wing, exploding as they make contact with the outer hull of the plane.
"Luce, they're targeting our engines!" Seiner shouts as he sees another set of missiles heading their way. But just before they can do anything else, one of the drone plane fires a laser near the front hole, homing it from right to left to cut the right-wing in half. The plane itself spins out of control as the large plane flies away from the plane, but not before firing two missiles from the left wing at the tail of the plane.
"We've lost the left engine, we're losing energy in all controls, we're going down!"
"Can you pull up to lessen the impact?!" Logan shouts as he holds tightly.
"Without an engine, no can do!" Seiner replies.
"Then we have to do this the hard way! Everyone, get ready!" Logan shouts as he holds onto the pilot's seat. While Seiner unbuckled one of the devices from his belt while maintaining enough balance to get it to work. Pressing a button, it glows purple as he points it at the plane's nose, which begins to glow as he presses another button.
"What is that?" Lucy asks.
"A makeshift shield to help us survive the impact, now hold on!"
"Oh God..." Lucy mutters as she holds on to her seat.
"Don't worry, we're gonna make it!" Eddie shouts.
"Hold on tight, this will be a bumpy ride!" Malak shouts as the plane nears the ground.
"CHROME PLANE, RETURN!!!" Just as Seiner shouts these words, the makeshift shield grows in size as the plane dissolves back in its chrome cube form. The warriors bounce off from the shield as it lands on the ground. After the final bounce, the shield dissolves as the warriors fall to the ground.
"We're safe..." Logan says as he opens his eyes and gets up from the impact, with the rest following suit as well while shaking off some minor cuts.
"Whew, I can't believe we madely made it!" Tany says.
"Man...you just keep on giving, don't ya?" Rian says as he breathes slowly.
"That ain't the half of it..." Seiner mutters. "We've got a lot of explaining to do when we get back."
"So what now? Are we just going to keep on running like this?" Andrei asks.
"We have to keep moving, time is of the essence," Logan says. "I'm sure Seiner would have other vehicles suited for this."
"But first, we need to know more of that plane. The shape, the weapons, it all looked like it was made by a country in this planet," Seiner says.
"But how?! Since when did they make a plane like that?!" Rian asks.
"That's the $64,000 question..." Seiner replies.
"Luckily, I got some pictures of it and their lil' mates, not sure if they're high quality though," Luce says.
"Mind sending them to Sylvester? I think he knows this better than anyone," Jack says.
"Sure, hon." Lucy then presses some buttons from the photographic device in her vest, sending them to her phone. She then sends it to Sylvester, who answers it right away through a phone call.
"First off, glad you're still alive, people. But now to the main point, this is the plane you took a picture of that shot you down, right?" Sylvester asks.
"Yeah, I'm just trying to see if they'll turn out alright, not sure if they're high quality enough," Luce replies.
"Doesn't matter, I think I know what it is...and it's not pretty."
"What is that plane, Sylvester?"
"The top secret project developed by the Russians after the war, codenamed: Orlok. From what can I infer, it was originally meant to be used against surrounding in the event that they invade Russia again. But it seem the Zlocans stole it from them, and now they're using it for their own gain. This plane is a serious deal, and it's not even considered to be the very best of their arsenal. If they get in your way again, you're gonna be in for a hell of a ride."
"Damn...shit..." Seiner says.
"No happy words from you, huh? So what do we do now in that case?"
"Luckily for us, recent contracts with advanced designers plus the Vibana PMC means we can work out a deal with them to lend-lease four of their advanced fighter jets, and hire some high-ranking pilots to be your air bodyguards. In the meantime, we have to keep moving, and fast. The Zlocans are getting impatient, and could strike any second now."
"Tell 'em to begin the delivery, and we'll be back in touch soon. We may arrive a bit late, but at least we'll be safer."
"Got it. Be safe people." With that, the call ends as Seiner summons the Chrome Truck to head back to base.
"This may not be the comfiest ride, but I'm sure as hell it'll get us faster. Now hop in." The warriors board the truck as they stop for a moment, looking into the distance, as they see the trails of the plane they just faced.
"Promise me a good beer when we get back..." Rian mutters as he groans.
"A good rest will suffice, dear Rianito," Amira says.
"Don't call me that..." Rian says as the truck starts up, and heads to base. What is in store for them, will change how the EW will conduct things onwards.
At the same time, a group of Zlocan spaceships land on the underground hangar of Area 51. A large circular platform made of metal, with guards examining every single space ship that lands as the Zlocans all unload themselves from their ships, including the Quripeno twins. Kedris is in front alongside Jeanette and Dakrin and two knights.
"Looks like all of them are in, General," one of the Knights say next to Kedris.
"Even if they did not fulfill the mission, I hope some growth is expected from them," Kedris says as he observes Mora holding Rioso tightly, still shivering from his experience back on the train.
"Oh, we got a crybaby here it seems. You disappoint, lowly general," Dakrin taunts. Mora then walks forward, glaring at Dakrin while still holding a silent and puffy-eyed Rioso.
"If you have something to say, spit it out already," Mora says as she tries to stay composed.
"You are weak. By allowing that little bitch of yours to get on that mission without even knowing what killing is. Hey, you Zlocan guard, would you accept someone like them in your ranks!?" Dakrin shouts.
"Not my concern."
"I'd rather help him than keep on some mindless killings!"
"Then why didn't you try to stop them? If you were so eager to fulfill the mission, then why didn't you do anything to the lowly warriors then?"
"They at least have a functioning mind, unlike you," Jeanette replies back.
"Shut up and let her answer!"
"I...I didn't know what to do...it's our first time like this..." Mora replies.
"HAH! You're worthless, you hear me?! Worthless!!" Dakrin says as he grips his sword and aims it at her head.
"Enough!" Kedris shouts. Dakrin stops as he looks at Kedris, who then looks at her with a frown on his face.
"You will not insult a Zlocan warrior ever again, is that clear?"
"But-"
"One more word or I'll cut your tongue like the insolent man you are. You better give these trainees some space before you utter any word, man who barely passed the sword training." Dakrin then glares at him, but Kedris doesn't budge at all as he faces him down.
"Fine, I'll concede to you this time. But you'll regret it."
"Not if I cut your head off first," Kedris replies as Dakrin walks to the side, giving his cold stare to Mora.
"Remember this, crybaby. As long as I'm here, you're just a weakling that drag the Zlocan name down. Keep this up, and you'll be dust," Dakrin says as he walks away.
"Sorry about that, he's just a showoff, nothing more," Jeanette says, reassuring the pair.
"Master Kedris...do I have to face this kind of thing every mission...taking a life away...?" Rioso whimpers as he buries his head on Mora's chest.
"It's not your duty to do so, but you will face it in the future. If you want to see her survive, then you need to be strong, Rioso. You're a Zlocan warrior now, you have to be strong for her, and us" Kedris says. Rioso looks at him and nods.
"I'll try, Master Kedris." With that, Kedris nods as the group walks away, leaving them alone with their thoughts.
"I'm sorry, they're facing this" Jeanette whispers as she nears Kedris
"No need to. They needed a more stable life than the usual Zlocan mantle. I could not bear to see any more of children like them suffer so pointlessly for this madness."
"I see..."
"Get some rest, Jeanette. You will be back on duty early tomorrow." Jeanette then nods and follows the general, leaving him to the other guards as he ponders the events of the day.
"General, permission to ask...do you really think it was the right choice to take such developing beings?" one of the guards asks.
"I do, because it's better than what they have. They will learn from this, and so will he. When their keen eyes grow sharper, I'm sure they'll be of use to us."
"Hope you're right."
"Trust me. We'll be sending them on many more missions, but I'm sure they'll learn in the end."
"You seem certain."
"Now, dismissed."
"Yes sir." The guard salutes before he leaves as Kedris turns around to look at the window, looking at the clear view of the moon shinning down.
"We will be sending them on many more missions, it seems?" Kedris then says to himself before looking back, with a stern look on his face.
"I am counting on you, young ones..."
5 hours later
Meanwhile, in the dark room of the base, there is a lot of machinery in every corner of it. In the center of it all lies a strapped table with what seems to be an armored being in it. The entire room shines bright with lights and computerized panels as Raven, Boris, Yamja and other scientists approach the being.
"Okay, when will it be ready?" Yamja says
"We're almost done," the other scientist in charge replies.
"Will 'it' work?" Boris asks.
"For far too long, Human flesh was a piece of useless filling for the Human body, too feeble to defend it from any attack. Therefore, we modified the process in which we could create an ultimate body that could be used by the strongest of warriors in the universe. From this very planet. That is why I have created this," Raven says.
"A being that tried to prove the flesh itself is enough. But in the end, he failed. Weak flesh is useless and weak flesh is a burden. That is why we must stop that from happening again and truly prove the strength of the flesh. If it succeeds...then Humanity will impress me even more." Yamja says as he looks at the armored being. Heavily armored, and nearly all covered in silver, only the face is exposed, with some sort of visor covering the eyes.
"Vital signs reaching 99% activation," one scientist says.
"Preparing to initiate the final phase," the other says.
"Prepare to initiate experiment 'Joshua'..." Raven says.
"Beginning the procedure..."
"...For a perfect flesh." Yamja finishes it.
"And with some guests to witness it," Boris says as a door opens, revealing some people entering. Some are those who were in the same train a Jason's ill-fated defense. Among them middle-aged men though, is a young-looking, dark-haired man with puffy eyes in his face while breathing heavily.
"Ok, ok, why are we here? Why is this so important right now? Can you tell me please?!" the man asks as he breathes.
"Will you shut up for once?" an elder man says to him
"This is the day you'll respect us, dipshit,"
"Like hell I should! It's not like I signed up for this right?!" Then, the table rises upwards as the circuitry of the being activate, causing it to glow brightly.
"Activation at 100%"
"Initiating the transfer of the memory core into the armored being."
"Scanning..."
"Memory scanning..."
"All data transferred successfully... the next evolution can now begin."
"100% done."
"Deploy weapon command..."
"Weapon guidance set."
"Activation of the being initiated."
"Charging..."
The armored being then starts to breathe in and out slowly, as he starts moving his body piece by piece.
"Perfect synchronization between the mind and the body. Full control of all functions, no errors detected."
"Scanning..."
"Data is being transferred... perfect... mind is awakening..."
"Memory of the one who is to come, will be born with this flesh."
"The one who... will come."
"Awaken...Jason Garreth." With those words, the visor lifts up, revealing a scarred face, yet with a very familiar shape. The rest look in awe as they smile at the sight of their comrade being resurrected. All except for the young man, whose eyes widen as he stands paralyzed from what he sees.
"D-dad...?" he spits it out, his body shaking like no other. After some pause, Jason, now mechanized looks onto the group, but his eyes are set on the one who is his son.
"Julian...?" Such are the first words of Jason, one addressed to none other than his own offspring.