Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure

by Percival Constantine

  “That’s something else we need to discuss, sir,” said Gunsmith. “We have reason to believe that the Secretary may have been working with the Red Fist.”

  “Now hold on just a second,” said Lawson, his body tensing up. “Ramsey may be a pain in my ass, but that’s a pretty serious accusation. You’re basically saying he was an accessory to the murder of some of the most powerful people in this country, including the President of the United States. So you’d better have some serious proof to back up such a serious charge.”

  “How about the fact that he’s still alive when everyone else in the Cabinet was torched?” asked Wraith.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sir, my teammate’s unfortunate choice of words aside, he has a point,” said Paragon. “Ramsey was conveniently at the Pentagon when the Khagan attacked.”

  “Moreover, my exoskeleton technology was obtained and replicated by the Red Fist,” said Gunsmith. “The only people who had access to that tech were myself, Colonel Thorne, Zenith, President Hayworth, and Secretary Ramsey.”

  “There’s also the teleforce tech the Khagan had me construct his laser out of,” said Sentinel. “That came from government sources.”

  Lawson shook his head. “You make an interesting case, but it’s not enough to bring him up on charges.”

  “Yes, we understand that, sir. It is why we’ve remained silent until now,” said Zenith. “But we ask that you maintain a close watch on him.”

  “I can promise you that,” said Lawson. “Now, let’s get down to business. What the hell happened here today?”

  “The woman who attacked you is named J’Karra,” said Zenith. “She claims to be from an alien race called the Kotharians. And what is more, she appears to be a special.”

  Lawson shut his eyes and held up his hand. “Slow down. She’s a special?”

  Shift’s eyes went from side to side as she processed Lawson’s comment. “You’re more surprised about the special part than the alien part?”

  “She said something about taking back what’s hers,” said Paragon. “Do you have any idea what she meant?”

  Lawson looked away, rubbing his chin. He was clearly considering whether or not to tell them what he knew. But finally, it was Zenith who did it for him. “He knows. We both do.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Sentinel.

  “1947, Roswell, New Mexico,” said Zenith.

  “What the hell are you doing?” asked Lawson, rising suddenly. “That’s classified information, how did you—”

  Gunsmith rose and stared down the President. “Listen sir, if we’re going to stop J’Karra, we need to know what she’s after and where we can find her. We can’t do our jobs if we have no idea where she is. Now classified or not, if this information could lead us to her location, then we need to hear it.”

  “Given that we are already aware of J’Karra’s alien origins, I would say it’s a little late for secrecy, Mr. President,” said Zenith.

  “So aliens actually did crash in Roswell,” said Sentinel. “And the government did cover it up.”

  “It was the Cold War, we weren’t sure if what we discovered was alien or some new Soviet technology,” said Lawson. “So yes, we took the wreckage and covered it up. Once we examined it, we discovered that the occupants were aliens. Orange-skinned aliens, in fact. With yellow hair.”

  “Just like J’Karra,” said Paragon.

  “The crew didn’t survive the crash, but we kept them on ice for study,” said Lawson. “And we had top scientists work on reverse-engineering the ship they arrived in.”

  “The technology recovered from the crash has been a massive influence on the decades since. In fact, the Icarus would not be possible without technology salvaged from Roswell,” said Zenith.

  “So she’s after the ship and its crew,” said Gunsmith. “Did you tell her where to find it?”

  Lawson sighed. “Not exactly. She said she was going to pull the information from my mind. Then she did…something to me. That’s when you all arrived.”

  “She read your mind,” said Paragon.

  “She wasn’t really keen on sticking around,” said Shift. “Probably got what she needed.”

  “So where is it?” asked Wraith, staring across the table at Lawson.

  “Pretty much where you’d expect it to be,” said Lawson.

  Wraith scoffed. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

  “You’d actually keep it there given all the rumors?” asked Sentinel.

  “Who do you think spread many of those rumors in the first place?” asked Lawson. “It’s called hiding in plain sight. The story’s so ridiculous and most of the proponents so out there that most would write it off as nonsense.”

  “I don’t get it,” said Shift. “What are you talking about?”

  “Area 51,” said Gunsmith. “That’s where J’Karra is headed.”

  CHAPTER 7

  J’Karra’s craft exited stealth mode as she approached the massive military airfield near Groom Lake in Nevada. Her ship picked up radio transmissions, warning her that she was in restricted airspace, but J’Karra just ignored the warnings. She targeted the airfield and opened fire, the guns beneath her wings launching energy blasts at the guards on the ground.

  Her ship’s computer warned her of an incoming attack. J’Karra rolled the plane to avoid the energy blast that nearly struck her tail. She looped around to see the attacker and she recognized the Icarus from the White House flying directly at her.

  Teleforce guns below the Icarus started shooting at her plane. J’Karra’s craft was smaller and had less firepower, but it was also much faster and easier to maneuver. She dove to avoid the blasts and circled around to come up on the Icarus’ tail. J’Karra pulled the trigger on her guns and the Icarus struggled to steer clear of the shots. One of the wings was struck, but was otherwise undamaged.

  The rear hatch on the Icarus opened and two figures flew out—one in red and white with a cape flowing behind her and the other covered in an orange, holographic suit of armor. Paragon and Sentinel.

  J’Karra targeted Sentinel first, releasing a volley of fire. Sentinel stopped his pursuit, maintaining his position in the air so he could better guard against the attack. He diverted most of the power to his armor, shielding him from the blasts.

  Paragon flew in a direct line towards J’Karra. The alien pulled off Sentinel to engage the new target, her guns shooting wildly at the woman. Paragon evaded most strikes, but one hit her, causing her to stop in mid-air. A few other shots struck and Paragon staggered, but managed to remain in a hover position. J’Karra locked onto Paragon and was ready to fire again when she was struck from behind.

  J’Karra pulled up on the stick, the Icarus right on her tail. She shot towards the mountains and the Icarus increased its speed to keep up with her. J’Karra flew as close to the mountains as possible before suddenly pulling up to avoid hitting the ridge. Her hope was the Icarus wouldn’t be as easy to pull away, but she was wrong.

  The Icarus was still in close pursuit, firing more shots at her. J’Karra pushed her ship as fast as she could without engaging the warp drive. Signals were coming through from the Icarus and J’Karra listened to the robotic voice that pumped through her speakers.

  “Do not make this difficult on yourself, J’Karra,” said Zenith. “Land your plane immediately. We will take you into custody and you have our word that you will be treated fairly.”

  “The same way you treated my people?” she asked, before blocking the transmission.

  J’Karra dove again and the Icarus struggled to follow her course. She flew at the mountains once more, but this time she turned her plane to the side so she could squeeze through a narrow gap, one even the Icarus couldn’t get through.

  The Icarus instead pulled up, taking the long way over. But Sentinel and Paragon had no such qualms. They were back in the fight, with Sentinel’s jetpack pushing him ahead of Paragon. He followed J’Karra through the gap and held his arms out in
front of him. Blasts fired from the palms of his gauntlets.

  J’Karra evaded them, then took a sharp turn. Sentinel was still on her, but she pushed down on the stick and dropped her speed. Sentinel went right overhead and J’Karra hit her thrusters again, now following him.

  Sentinel stopped and turned, but it was just in time for J’Karra to release a powerful volley of blasts at near point-blank range. It overwhelmed him and he began to fall.

  J’Karra sent a transmission to the Icarus. “Your friend will be dead soon unless you do something.” She resumed the block and turned again. A video feed on her HUD showed the Icarus flying close to Sentinel and Zenith emerging from the craft to catch his falling teammate. A tiny smile played on the Kotharian’s lips. They’d become her enemies, but she respected Vanguard and didn’t want to see any unnecessary harm come to them. But she wondered why Zenith was the one to rescue Sentinel instead of Paragon, who was already in range.

  Her answer came when something landed on her craft. J’Karra looked up through the canopy to see Paragon atop her ship. She banged a few times on the forcefield that served as the “glass.”

  “What are you doing?” she asked. “Stop this now, you’re only going to make things worse!”

  J’Karra responded by increasing her speed as she flew back to the Area 51 airfield. The sudden jolt forward nearly threw Paragon off, but she grabbed hold of the tail fin. With her strength and her flight, she pulled herself forward.

  Paragon closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind. “J’Karra, listen to me, please.”

  J’Karra could feel Paragon’s thoughts poking around her mind. She shook her head, straining to keep them out.

  “I know you can hear me. I know why you’re here. We know all about Roswell and your people who were taken. If you let us, we can help you resolve this. But if you push ahead as recklessly as you have, you’ll only convince the government that you can’t be trusted.”

  J’Karra heard Paragon’s thoughts. She was trying to pull her into the mindscape, where they battled the Collective. But though Paragon was getting more powerful, she was still a novice in this avenue. Whereas J’Karra had been training to use these abilities since she was a child.

  “Stay out of my head, Anita. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You’re better than this. I know you are.”

  “Fine. You leave me no choice.”

  J’Karra concentrated and unleashed a psychic attack. Paragon screamed, releasing her grip on the tail. With her main opposition gone, J’Karra could return to the base. But now she was close enough that she could use the ship to keep Vanguard distracted.

  She engaged the auto-pilot and activated the ship’s teleporter. Blue waves of energy wrapped around her body, increasing in size and intensity until J’Karra vanished completely.

  When she rematerialized, she was on the airfield, drawing surprised looks from the guards. They all raised their guns and aimed them at her. J’Karra looked at all of them with her catlike eyes and smiled.

  CHAPTER 8

  Zenith flew back into the Icarus, holding Sentinel. He entered the hatch and Sharkskin, who stood beside the entrance, holding tightly to the handrail above him, activated the switch to close it back up.

  The robot carried his friend over to the gurney and set him down. Sharkskin came up beside Zenith and they both looked at Sentinel, who was already groggily coming to.

  “What happened?” he asked, rubbing his head. He raised the visor from his eyes.

  “J’Karra shot you at close-range,” said Zenith.

  “That armor’s pretty impressive, dude,” said Sharkskin. “Didn’t know it could withstand something like that.”

  “Don’t think it can,” said Sentinel, sitting up.

  “Zen, get up here!” came the voice of Shift over the comms. Zenith moved quickly to the cockpit. Sharkskin lingered behind, helping Sentinel up to the front.

  When Zenith entered the cockpit, Gunsmith sat in the co-pilot’s seat with Shift at the controls. “What is it?” he asked.

  “We’re coming up on J’Karra again, but it looks like Anita was just knocked clear somehow,” said Shift. “She didn’t fall, though, just lost her grip and looked a bit dazed.”

  “She’s moving to engage again,” said Gunsmith. He activated the comm-link. “Paragon, this is Gunsmith. We’ve got Sentinel and are about to get back in the game. Return to the Icarus, we can take it from here.”

  “Roger that,” said Paragon.

  “Hold on,” said Zenith. “Paragon, this is Zenith. I need you to try to fly above the cockpit. Confirm that the ship is occupied.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Gunsmith.

  “Communications from the ground state that an intruder is on the base,” said Zenith. “We need to know if we’re still dealing with J’Karra or if she has reinforcements.”

  It took another moment or two for Paragon to respond. When she did, though, she confirmed that the plane was empty. Shift furrowed her brow in confusion. “How is it empty?”

  “J’Karra used a teleporter at the White House. It must be connected to her ship,” said Zenith. “She must have activated the auto-pilot right before exiting.”

  “Auto-pilot?” asked Gunsmith, his eyes widening as he stared out the windshield. “Then how is it the plane looks like it’s coming around to engage us again?”

  Sure enough, the craft opened fire on them and it happened so far that Shift didn’t have a chance to evade. The Icarus rumbled with the impact.

  “Her auto-pilot must be a kind of artificial intelligence, capable of attacking,” said Zenith. “We have to bring that ship down before we can engage her on the ground.”

  “We’ve had a hard enough time keeping up with it so far, you think we can risk the time it would take?” asked Gunsmith. “Wait, I’ve got an idea. Sentinel, Wraith, can you guys get up here?”

  The two heroes soon joined them in the crowded cockpit.

  “J’Karra’s ship is on some kind of auto-pilot, and we need to take it down,” said Gunsmith, looking at Sentinel. “You think you’re up to it?”

  “He almost died a few minutes ago!” said Shift.

  “More like stunned,” said Sentinel. “I think J’Karra was only firing low-intensity blasts.”

  “So can you use your technopathy to take control of her ship?” asked Gunsmith.

  Sentinel gave a hesitant nod. “In theory, I guess. But it is alien technology. I’m not so sure how my powers will interact with that.”

  “We’ve gotta try anyway,” said Gunsmith. “Wraith, I need you to teleport him as close as possible to the plane.”

  “No problem,” said Wraith.

  “Zenith, take the controls. Shift, you’re coming with us,” said Gunsmith.

  “Where are we going?” asked Shift as she pushed her seat away from the console and stood, allowing Zenith to take her place.

  “After J’Karra. Once Wraith teleports Sentinel to her ship, he’s going to teleport you, me, and Sharkskin to the ground. Paragon, did you get that? Want you to meet us there, too.”

  “Copy,” said Paragon.

  “Good. Zen, you provide back-up for Sentinel. If he can’t take the ship, blow it out of the sky. We’ll regroup on the ground,” said Gunsmith.

  “Okay, so let’s do this,” said Sentinel.

  Wraith led him back around the partition to the cabin. He opened a portal and Sentinel looked through it, seeing the form of J’Karra’s ship right below. He jumped into the portal and when he emerged, he landed on the ship’s canopy.

  Sentinel began to slip, but he activated the magnets in his boots and stuck to the craft. He set his hands on the roof and closed his eyes. It was hard to explain exactly how his powers worked. He didn’t even quite know it himself. All he knew is that when he came into contact with machines and concentrated, it was like they spoke to him in a secret language only he knew. He could also see them in a way others couldn’t, observe how they were put together,
how their components interacted, and what needed to go where.

  But the usual method of communication was difficult in this instance. It was like a kind of language barrier. Sentinel was reminded of the time when he tried to use what little he remembered from his high school Spanish classes on a trip to Mexico. There was a lot of confusion, misinterpretation, and frustration as he tried to communicate with J’Karra’s ship. He was now using the equivalent of short, easy phrases and hand gestures to try and communicate with the ship’s computer.

  He could sense he was beginning to make some progress. The ship’s responses weren’t as hostile as before. He was carefully winning it over, but required a little more finessing. Sentinel glanced over his head and saw the Icarus still hovering behind.

  “I am prepared to strike once you are clear,” said Zenith.

  “Don’t think it’ll be necessary. But let me concentrate,” said Sentinel. His attention returned to the task at hand. Sentinel shut his eyes, trying to focus on breaking through that communication barrier.

  And then it happened. The forcefield over the canopy receded. Sentinel opened his eyes and smiled. He hopped into the cockpit and the canopy forcefield closed over him.

  “Zen, I’m in!” he said. “Now let’s get this thing on the ground!”

  ***

  Wraith’s shadow portal opened inside the gates of Area 51 and he emerged from it with Gunsmith, Sharkskin, and Shift behind him. The recovering guards raised their guns, aiming them at the team. Wraith rolled his eyes, muttering, “This crap again?”

  “Stand down,” said Gunsmith. “We’re here to help.”

  “This is a restricted area,” said one of the guards.

  Paragon streaked from the sky, slamming into the ground with her fists forward and generating a shockwave that caused everyone to lose their balance. “We don’t have time for this,” she said as she stood tall, dusting off her hands. “We’re the only ones who can stop J’Karra so you can either let us through calmly or we can go through you.”