“And things are about to get a whole lot worse for our kind. Unless you help us.”
“Who are you people?” asked Chronos.
“We are the Red Fist,” said the old man. “And you can call me the Khagan.”
17 - PRISONERS OF WAR
CHAPTER 1
Reina Davis’ eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times, trying to remember the last thing that happened. Cerberus located the Icarus and came after them. She’d managed to commandeer one of the Cerberus jets and her, Talon, and Chronos were trying to stall the fighters long enough for the Icarus to teleport to safety.
But now?
She looked around the small room. It was extremely sterile, made of metal or at least coated with it. And her cot was close to the ceiling, which meant there must be another below.
The woman also called Ink climbed off the bed and landed on the floor. She turned and saw there was another bed beneath hers, and her teammate sat on it, her back pressed against the wall. Vicky Asano’s knees were brought close to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She was awake, but her eyes looked distant.
Reina climbed beside her on the bed. “You okay, Vic? Where are we?”
Vicky said nothing, just continued staring blankly. Reina sighed. Even though Vicky was only a few years younger than her, at times it felt like an insurmountable gulf between them.
Reina realized Vicky wasn’t wearing her uniform. For the first time, Reina examined her own body and saw her uniform had been stripped. In its place, both young women wore orange jumpsuits with numbers branded across one breast.
Next, Reina held out her arm, staring at the jagged, tribal tattoo on her skin. She concentrated, but the tattoo remained in place. Her ability to bring life to her tattoos was gone.
Or blocked.
Reina carefully reached a hand behind her neck. Her fingers brushed on a foreign object at the base. A power inhibitor, designed to disrupt the signals sent from the part of the brain that controlled a special’s abilities. And now she knew where they were. She turned back to Vicky and began shaking her.
“Vic, I need you with me here, okay? I can’t deal with this while you’re just sitting there. You gotta say something, okay?”
Once more, no response. However, Vicky’s lips did move slightly, as if she were trying to speak. They were soundless words, though. Reina sighed and climbed off the bed.
From the center of the room, she took stock of her surroundings. A small toilet in the corner and that was about it. There weren’t any windows or, it seemed, even a door. But one of the walls had a different shade than the others.
Reina approached the wall and gently laid her hands on its surface. It wasn’t metal. Instead, she felt a slight buzzing sensation against her palms. There was no doubt about it, this was a forcefield locking them inside. Opaque so they couldn’t see through. Same kind of technology she’d heard Cerberus used to lock away specials back in the old, pre-war days.
“Hey!” Reina banged her palm against the field. It reverberated with a louder buzz but was otherwise no different in sensation than slamming a regular wall. “Show yourselves, you damn cowards! I want to speak to someone!”
The field suddenly became translucent and Reina jumped back. The sight of a Gunsmith standing right in front of her cell, staring at her through those inhuman masks they wore, nearly gave her a heart attack.
Reina paused and caught her breath. She stepped closer to the field. “What the hell’s the deal here? Where is this place?”
The Gunsmith scoffed in response. “You got no right to ask any questions, freak. Now keep the noise down or I’ll give you something to scream about.”
“Big talk, little man,” said Reina, narrowing her eyes. “Drop the field and show me what you’re made of.”
“Don’t make me laugh, kid. As long as you’ve got that new piece of jewelry on your neck, you’re completely useless. You’re nothing without those powers of yours. So spare me the act.”
The field turned opaque once more. Reina’s nostrils flared and she pounded her fist on the door. “Hey! I’m not done with you yet!”
She continued punching the field for a few more minutes before she started to get tired. Reina sighed and touched her forehead to the surface in frustration. If only her powers worked. If only she had a way to remove the inhibitor. Then she could bring her tattoos to life, have them tear through this place and that smug guard.
“It’s no use…”
Vicky’s voice was at such a low whisper, Reina almost didn’t hear it. She looked over her shoulder at Vicky’s bed. The youngest Vanguardian still sat there in the fetal position, staring blankly. But now she was at least talking and Reina supposed that was some form of progress.
“What did you say?”
“It’s no use,” she repeated.
Reina returned to the cot and sat beside her. She looked at her young teammate with tired eyes. “Well, I’ve got to try something, right? We can’t just stay here and do nothing.”
Vicky shook her head. “It all comes back to this.”
Reina placed a hand on Vicky’s knee. “What’s with you? This isn’t the Talon I know. This isn’t the girl I saw tearing through Cerberus fighters like they were paper.”
Vicky hesitated. She said something, but it was too soft for Reina to make out. Reina leaned in closer so she could hear better. “What? You gotta speak up, girl. I can barely hear you.”
For the first time, Vicky now looked directly at Reina. And there was something in her brown eyes that took Reina aback. A look of complete and total abject fear, the kind of thing Reina never expected to see from her teammate.
“This place,” she said. “I was born in one just like it.”
Reina took a deep breath. She always knew Shift and Sharkskin were imprisoned in a camp years ago. But what she didn’t know was that they had Vicky in one of them. And given that Vicky apparently had memories of it, that meant she spent some of her early years in a cell just like this.
“I’m sorry,” said Reina. “I had no idea.”
“In there, people vanished,” said Vicky. “Just…gone. There was this girl I knew. We played together in the courtyard. But one day, she wasn’t eating breakfast with her brother, like usual. I asked her brother where she was and he just said he didn’t have a sister. When I asked my mom why he would say that, she told me it’s just something that happens. She said it’s dangerous to talk about the vanished.
“After we escaped, for a long time I’d wake up in the middle of the night and I’d scream. Because I thought my parents had been vanished. Then they’d coming running into my room and Dad would pick me up. I’d hold onto him so tight and not let go. I’d beg them not to vanish. Not like that girl—”
Vicky let out an awkward chuckle.
“Oh my god.” She wiped her eyes and the tears that had begun to form. “Can you believe that I don’t even remember her name?”
“It was a long time ago,” said Reina.
“That’s what happens in these places,” said Vicky. “In some ways, I was lucky because I was just a kid. But my parents, every night they’d be exhausted. Forced to use their powers as slave labor for Cerberus.”
“And the vanished?” asked Reina. “What happened to them?”
Vicky shook her head. “After all these years, I wish I knew. I have no clue if my parents or even the Analyst actually knows. I’ve always been too afraid to ask. Too scared of what the answer might be. And now, I’m not a little girl anymore. So being back in this camp…who knows what will happen to me?”
“You’re right, you’re not a little girl anymore,” said Reina. “Now, you’re a warrior. You’re a Vanguardian. And we don’t take crap from anybody, right?”
Vicky scoffed, her eyes holding incredulity. “Maybe when we’ve got powers. But what are we going to do in here, locked up and waiting for them to figure out what’s going to happen to us?”
Reina sighed. She had no answer to that quest
ion, but she had to try and keep her hope alive. For Vicky’s sake.
CHAPTER 2
The jump-ship returned to the location where the Icarus has been. They hovered over the area in stealth mode, running scans all along the area. Inside the jump-ship, the Analyst’s hoverchair sat in front of holographic monitors, the scans showing no results.
“Anything yet?” asked Shift.
The Analyst turned his chair and lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry. We know the Icarus was here, but so far, we haven’t been able to locate any signals from them.”
“What the hell happened?” asked Tuwa.
“That can wait, we just gotta find out where they went,” said Sharkskin.
“It’s not necessarily bad news,” said the Analyst. “If the Icarus is in stealth mode, then not even our systems can track it.”
“Smart move,” said Gunsmith. “That way, even if the enemy gets access to one of your jump-ships, they can’t use it to find you.”
“It’s not helping us too much right now, though,” said Shift. “Why haven’t they sent out another message? It’s been hours since you received the distress signal.”
“I wish I knew,” said the Analyst. “All we can do now is wait.”
“Then while we’re waiting, how about we address the elephant in the room?” Tuwa took a step towards Gunsmith, glowering at him. “Find out why exactly this bastard betrayed us.”
“It’s like I told you, it wasn’t me,” said Gunsmith. “Didn’t you hear what I said back at the safehouse?”
“What, about your leak?” Tuwa scoffed. “As if I’m going to trust someone from Cerberus.”
“Take it easy,” said Sharkskin, moving between Tuwa and Gunsmith. “Erin and I knew Jim for a long time. Fought by his side. Followed his orders. We’re gonna give him a chance, okay? But—” Sharkskin turned his head in Gunsmith’s direction, “—don’t mistake this for trust. There are still a lot of questions we have and you’re gonna answer them if you plan on getting out of this in one piece.”
“I can’t believe you’re going to trust this guy.” Tuwa shook her head. “Your daughter could be dead right now. Or captured. And this man—” she pointed at Gunsmith, “—could be the one responsible. Are you willing to take him at his word?”
“If that’s the case, then he’ll answer to me personally, and our past friendship won’t save him.” Sharkskin moved closer to Tuwa, staring down at her with the black eyes of his shark form. “But don’t you ever use my daughter like that again, do we understand each other?”
Shift placed a gentle hand on her husband’s arm. “Don’t. We all need to just take a breather.”
“Wait!”
All eyes turned in the direction of the Analyst. His voice became excitable. “I’ve found something! Coordinates, they’re alive! It seems they managed to teleport away!”
“Thank god,” said Shift, exhaling in relief. “Can we get to them?”
“I’m programming the coordinates into the nav computer,” said the Analyst. “Everyone strap in, we’ll jump closer to their location. Shouldn’t take more than a matter of minutes to get home.”
Everyone did as they were ordered. Shift took her spot at the ship’s flight controls. She initiated the teleport sequence, using the coordinates the Analyst programmed. The teleport engines cycled on and blue, swirling lights surrounded the jump-ship. There was a bright flash and when it subsided, Shift could see through the window that the stars had changed. And shimmering into view was the massive form of the Icarus, its hangar door opening.
Shift tried to contain her relief as she piloted the jump-ship into the Icarus’ hangar. The door closed behind them and the stealth mode reactivated, shielding the Icarus from view once more.
The team quickly disembarked from the jump-ship and Shift was the first one. She looked around the hangar and felt something was wrong. There seemed to be fewer jump-ships than when they’d left. And she didn’t see her daughter as she’d expected.
Instead, she saw Cassie, who walked towards them with a solemn look on her face. Shift backed away, covering her mouth. Sharkskin changed into his human form, his hands settling on his wife’s shoulders. He examined the look on Cassie’s face. Koji looked from her to the Analyst, whose eyes seemed to grow heavier. And he began to realize that something awful had happened.
“Where’s Vicky?” asked Erin.
Cassie opened her mouth, then lowered her face. “We were attacked. Cerberus somehow knew our location. They sent fighters after us and Vic, Reina, and Chronos led the defense against them. They bought us enough time so we could teleport to safety. But the only way we could do it was while they were holding off the fighters.”
“So where are they?” asked Koji, stepping towards Cassie.
Cassie shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’ve been trying to track them ever since we came out of the jump, but I haven’t had any luck. We lot a lot of jump-ships, too.”
Tuwa’s face contorted in rage and she lunged at Jim. “This is all your fault!”
Jim was surprised by her attack, but still able to compensate. He grabbed hold of her as she attempted to tackle him and flipped her onto the ground. The enhanced strength granted by his armor enabled him to keep her pinned, but she still struggled against him.
“I told you, I had nothing to do with any of this,” he said.
“Right. More of your mole business.” Tuwa placed her hands against his abdomen and vibrational waves emitted from her palms. They threw Jim from her body and sent him across the room. She jumped to her feet and walked closer to him.
Koji, now in his Sharkskin form again, grabbed her from behind. He wrapped his arms around her, keeping her arms pinned to her sides. As he raised her feet off the ground, Tuwa kicked and struggled against him.
“You’re not helping anyone!” he shouted.
“This is his fault!” she screamed. “Cerberus sold out our planet, killed Cal! All because of him! Because he thought they could be used for good!”
Jim climbed to his feet and sighed. There was some truth to what Tuwa said. When General Callus’ sinister uses for Cerberus were exposed, Jim insisted the organization could be used for good, with the proper leadership. Maybe, if he hadn’t pushed for Vanguard to agree with that, then Cerberus wouldn’t have grown so powerful and enabled the Kotharians to so easily take control.
“Everyone will calm down right now.”
The voice boomed through each of their heads. It shocked everyone into stunned silence. Koji set Tuwa down and released her. She didn’t attempt to continue her attack on Jim, instead looking at the Analyst. Jim moved by Erin’s side and the two of them also looked at their former enemy.
The Analyst sighed, his eyes returning to their normal shade. “I apologize for having to do that. But our situation is dire and we can’t afford to waste time by fighting amongst ourselves. Now Cassie, what is our current situation?”
Cassie cleared her throat. “We’ve managed to escape any Cerberus pursuit.”
“Good. Do we know what happened to Chronos?”
“No. It’s possible he was taken or killed, same as Vic and Reina.”
“I can find out,” said Jim. “If they were taken, there’d be a record of it.”
“But they saw you with us, attacked us even,” said Erin. “Wouldn’t Cerberus have cut you out of their systems by now?”
Jim nodded. “I’d say that’s pretty much a certainty. But in the past five years, I’ve learned quite a few tricks. I can get past their security protocols. Not for very long, but it should be enough time to see if there are any new captures who match your missing teammates.”
“Please,” said Erin.
Jim gave her a sad smile and laid his hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing it. He studied her, his face going a bit quizzical. “You know, you look exactly the same as that kid who got pissed at me on our first mission. Amazing how much you’ve changed since then.”
“Benefits of shapeshifting, I d
on’t really age the same way you do,” she said.
“I’ll find her, I promise.”
Erin hugged him and Jim returned the embrace. Tuwa rolled her eyes and turned away from the display of affection. The Analyst saw her walk towards the hangar exit and he willed his chair after her, allowing the three old friends to share a moment and discuss the particulars with Cassie.
“Tuwa,” he said as he emerged into the corridor behind her.
Tuwa stopped in her tracks and turned, folding her arms over her chest. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Maybe I am,” he said, his chair crossing the distance between them. “This is a risk we’re taking. But whether you like it or not, we need someone with inside knowledge of Cerberus.”
“He’s not one of us,” said Tuwa. “Never was. Why they put so much faith in him—”
“If you want to play it that way, then technically, I’m not one of you, either,” said the Analyst. “My powers were the result of experiments conducted long before Chronos triggered the Event. I’m no more a special than Ellis.”
“That’s different. You still have powers.”
“And how many on this ship are not specials?” asked the Analyst.
Tuwa gave no reply.
“There are humans working with the Kotharians, that is true. But we can’t blame all of them. Let’s not forget that Cerberus apparently also has Lucent on their side. The lines aren’t so simply drawn.”
Tuwa stared hard into the Analyst’s eyes, her lips taut. “If he betrays us, I’ll kill him.”
“And I’ll let you. But we need to trust him. For now.”
CHAPTER 3
“You’ve been awfully quiet, my friend,” said the Khagan.
Chronos just stared at the strange man. The Khagan held Chronos’ helmet in his hands, examining it before casting a casual eye to the owner. The Khagan set down the helmet and approached Chronos, clasping his hands behind his back.
“You called yourselves the Red Fist. What is that? What is this…place?” asked Chronos.
Vanguard: Season Four: A Superhero Adventure Page 6