Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure

by Percival Constantine

  The inhibitor kept her from using her powers, but she still had a lifetime of combat training that would help her last longer. She didn’t know who this strange, armored man was. But she knew he was angry, allowing passion to control his fighting style. And she knew the technology he possessed was beyond anything she’d seen on this planet.

  Chronos came at her again and J’Karra back-flipped, springing off her palms and into the corridor. She pushed off a flip and went towards the wall, planting her feet on the surface and coiling her legs before shooting towards Chronos.

  J’Karra went over his head and threw all her strength to a kick against his back, forcing him to stumble forward. His armor was thick, she felt the pain of hitting it even through her prison-issued boot.

  “Where did you get this armor?” she asked.

  “Recognize it?” asked Chronos. “It’s Kotharian technology.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You lie.”

  “Let me be more specific—it’s Kotharian tech from the twenty-fifth century.”

  J’Karra’s eyes widened. Kothar’s military scientists theorized that the tachyon generators their ships used to achieve faster-than-light travel could also be used for time travel. But the process was considered too unstable, the risks too great, and the project had been stalled.

  But this man—if he truly traveled from the future as he claimed, then how did a human get his hands on Kotharian technology? And what he said about her people killing his family—that means the invasion was a success.

  “You believe me, I can tell.” Chronos readied his staff. “I’ve spilled a lot of Kotharian blood with this armor. But it’s not enough. Not until I stop what’s coming.”

  ***

  Howard McCabe stood in his office, watching the various monitors and issuing commands to the Cerberus troops. The chaos caused by Chronos’ arrival had gotten the prisoners riled up. He saw surveillance from the deck, with Shift pulling agents from the water who had been rescued by Sharkskin.

  The door opened and McCabe spun on his heel. He breathed in relief when he saw Paragon standing there. “Am I glad to see you.”

  “Sorry we don’t have time for pleasantries.” Paragon crossed the distance from the door to his location. “What are we looking at?”

  “Sharkskin and Shift have pulled anyone who went overboard from the water and they’re starting to transport any injured down to the infirmary,” said McCabe. “I dispatched agents to deal with the prisoners and Zenith arrived to help them out with that. He’s confirmed that the defenses are strong. But there’s one problem.”

  He pointed to a monitor that just had static.

  “Where’s that from?” asked Paragon, although she already had a pretty good idea.

  “The maximum security level,” said McCabe. “I think your new friend has already reached J’Kar—.”

  McCabe felt a sudden gust of wind and turned. Paragon was gone.

  ***

  The elevator doors opened and the trio of Gunsmith, Wraith, and Sentinel were greeted with the scene of a battle between J’Karra and Chronos. Gunsmith ran out first, firing his blasters at both combatants.

  Both spun to face the new threat. While J’Karra flipped and dodged the blasts, Chronos stood his ground and defended himself with his energy shield. Wraith vanished into a portal and appeared behind J’Karra, striking her from behind with his ebon blasts.

  The alien warrior screamed and fell to her knees, curling into a ball. Wraith’s eyes were pitch-black as he channeled the dark energy into her body. Normally, he was indifferent when he used this attack on his enemies. But with what he’d learned of J’Karra, he took great joy from seeing her in despair.

  “Wraith! Remember the plan!” shouted Gunsmith.

  Wraith looked up from J’Karra and was about to attack Chronos as they discussed, but he was gone. A blur of tachyon particles appeared behind Wraith and he felt a searing pain across his back.

  Chronos stood over Wraith, the energy staff in his hand. Wraith lay prone on the ground, the scent of flesh, burnt clothing, and smoke rising up. Chronos fixed his gaze on Gunsmith and Sentinel.

  “Don’t worry, he’ll live. It’s her I’m after.”

  “How’s it going?” Gunsmith whispered, knowing the comm-link would transmit his voice to Sentinel.

  The young technopath continued tinkering with the orb-like device in his hands. “Still working on it.”

  “We’re running out of time.” Gunsmith raised his weapons, his fingers resting on the triggers but not pulling them. He aimed the blasters at his opponent and the eyepiece he wore displayed blinking crosshairs over Chronos’ head.

  “You going to pull the trigger, Gunsmith?” Chronos pointed at J’Karra with the staff. “Let this bitch destroy the world?”

  Gunsmith hesitated. What would be the harm in letting Chronos complete his mission? Zenith informed them over comms that the Island was secure and no criminals had escaped. And Gunsmith had personal experience witnessing how evil could flourish when good men stood by and refused to act in a timely manner.

  The guns quivered in his hands. There was another need growing within him. Even though he knew he could let Chronos kill J’Karra or end the situation without any death, a part of him screamed out for blood.

  “What are you doing?” asked Sentinel, noticing his leader’s hands.

  “Go on, Gunsmith. Pull the trigger. Kill the human race.” Chronos lowered the staff to J’Karra’s neck, the laser positioned right above her throat.

  “Stop him!” said Sentinel. “I need another minute!”

  The tremor in Gunsmith’s hand became more severe. The crosshairs kept vanishing, unable to get a secure lock on the target. Chronos smiled and raised the staff, about to bring it down to strike.

  But he couldn’t. Something stopped him. He tried to move, yet every muscle in his body remained still as a statue. “What the hell did you do to me?”

  “Okay, got it!” Sentinel threw the orb across the corridor and as it came within range of Chronos, bright, blue lights emitted from it.

  Chronos’ armor reported warnings about the tachyon emitter. It had been activated, although he had no idea how. “No, what are you doing?”

  His mental commands were ignored by the armor and the date selector went mad. Chronos couldn’t keep it steady, with random years flashing across the selector. A message flashed across his visor: CHRONAL EMITTER ACTIVATED.

  “No!”

  Bright, blue light emitted from the suit, and Chronos found himself sucked inside a tachyon portal.

  EPILOGUE

  “And that’s it?” asked Thorne.

  Lee nodded, sitting between Jim and Koji in the monitor room. Anita and Erin were on the other side with Zenith standing across from Thorne. The only one missing was Dom, who was in the infirmary recovering from his wounds. The colonel sighed and sat in his chair.

  “So where is he?”

  “We have no way of knowing for certain,” said Zenith. “I’ve been scanning for the unique energy signature of his tachyon generator, but at the moment I’ve found nothing.”

  “And the Island’s secure?”

  Zenith nodded.

  “What about J’Karra?”

  “Still alive,” said Jim.

  “If Chronos is right about this invasion, then she’s our only source of intelligence,” said Thorne. “She stays alive for now. Let’s all get some rest. We’ve had a long day.”

  The team all moved from the monitor room and into the corridor that led to the main area of the base. Zenith stayed behind with Thorne and circled around the table to where he sat.

  “Something doesn’t seem right.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Thorne.

  Zenith waved a hand and the monitors activated. Thorne turned to look at them and he saw surveillance footage of the maximum security level. Thorne’s lips tightened.

  “I thought Chronos interfered with the cameras?”

  “He did. This is from G
unsmith’s eyepiece,” said Zenith.

  Thorne looked at the robot. “You can record what he sees with his armor?”

  Zenith nodded. “It was…a failsafe included in the armor from when I first designed it. I’ve not used it until now because I did not want to breach his trust.”

  “But now?”

  “His experience with Bradshaw’s drug raised concerns, so I felt it best to be on the safe side,” said Zenith. “Especially given these vital signs recorded by his armor at the time of the battle with Chronos.”

  Those readings appeared on the screen over the footage. Gunsmith had an elevated heart rate and high blood pressure. The sensors reported an increase in adrenaline.

  “Now watch.” Zenith enlarged the image of Chronos raising his staff, preparing to kill J’Karra. “He remains in this position until Sentinel is able to activate the tachyon disruptor. It is a period that lasts far longer than it should. Not only did Gunsmith have ample opportunity to take the shot and stop Chronos, but Chronos as well had the chance to kill J’Karra and complete his mission.”

  “We know about Jim. He was on the fence about keeping J’Karra alive in the first place.” Thorne rubbed his chin. “But why did Chronos hesitate? After everything he’d been through, what possible reason would he have for not delivering the killing blow?”

  “I have a theory.”

  Thorne glanced at Zenith. “I’m all ears.”

  “Howard told me afterwards that Anita left his office in quite a hurry. She was also the first of us to join the trio on the maximum security level. Just seconds after Chronos vanished.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “Look at the footage again.”

  Zenith played back the video, this time keeping it zoomed on Chronos. He raised his arms and was about to bring the staff down. But he didn’t. And then Thorne saw what Zenith meant.

  Chronos’ arms twitched. As if he were trying to move them but couldn’t.

  “There was no hesitation,” said Zenith. “Anita stopped him.”

  To be continued…

  #14 - INVASION, PART I

  CHAPTER 1

  Abram Zukov stepped onto the bridge of the Olympus space station with a cup of coffee in one hand. Other agents of Cerberus were already up and at their stations. He sipped his coffee as he approached his second-in-command, Tamara Croft. She was a woman in her early thirties with her black hair cut short and held a tablet, reviewing information.

  “Good morning, Croft,” he said as he sidled up beside her.

  “Director,” she responded without looking up from the screen.

  “What do we have today?”

  She passed the tablet to him and Zukov accepted it with his free hand. The screen showed several images of protestors outside various Cerberus bases. There was also a fairly large protest in front of the United Nations in New York.

  “Specials and special advocate groups,” said Croft.

  “Let me guess. The trial.”

  Croft nodded. The trial of the Exemplar was fast approaching and tensions were high all over because of it.

  Zukov sighed and took another drink from his coffee. “This trial was supposed to show that we are going to treat specials with the same legal courtesy granted to any normal person.”

  “Many believe it’s a kangaroo court,” said Croft. “And to make matters worse, we have people like Eric Fox stoking anti-special sentiment all over TV, radio, and the Internet. Counter-protests have sprung up at many protest sites. It’s starting to get ugly down there.”

  “What are we doing about it?”

  “We aren’t worried about the bases, but agents there are on standby in case the protestors turn on each other. And we have a security detail mobilized outside the United Nations to maintain order.”

  “And the trial?” asked Zukov.

  “I’ve liaised with Agent Ellis. He and his…team will be on hand to provide security.”

  Zukov noted the shift in her tone and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I take it you don’t approve of our relationship with our costumed friends, Agent?”

  Croft took a breath. “It’s not that, sir. I’m just suspicious of them is all. I was in Las Vegas when Lucent attacked. I’ve seen first-hand the kind of widespread destruction specials can cause. It’s why I joined Cerberus in the first place.”

  “You were there?” Zukov turned his head to look down at her.

  She gave a nod, not turning to look at him.

  “Then you’ll also remember that if it wasn’t for Vanguard, no one would have had the power to stop Lucent.”

  Croft swallowed. “My apologies, Director. I spoke out of turn.”

  “That’s quite all right.” Zukov passed the tablet back to her. “It’s a new world, Agent Croft. No one said it was going to be an easy adjustment. But we have to remember that specials are just people. There are good and then there are bad.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  “Good, now let’s—” Zukov was cut off by the sound of an alert. “What is that?”

  “Sir?”

  Zukov looked down from the bridge. On the lower level were rows of terminals. A technician stood from his terminal, his hand held up. Zukov and Croft descended the steps down to the lower level and walked hastily to the technician’s terminal.

  The technician pointed to his screen. It displayed a map of the solar system. Earth could clearly be seen with Olympus labeled for easy identification within the planet’s orbit.

  “Here’s where we are.” The technician moved his finger to an empty spot of space. “And our sensors are picking up some kind of transmission from here.”

  “But there’s nothing on the screen,” said Croft.

  “Exactly. There’s a transmission apparently coming from the middle of nowhere.”

  An incoming transmission over her earbud drew Croft’s attention away from the terminal. She stepped aside and Zukov watched her. He saw that as Croft listened on her comm-link, the color began to drain from her face.

  “Croft?” he asked. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

  Croft slowly lowered her hand, her eyes wide with fear. “We’ve just lost contact with the hangar level.”

  “Intruder,” said Zukov, moving from the terminal. “Sound the alarm, all available combat personnel to the hangar level!”

  “Sir, where are you going?” asked Croft, running behind him.

  “This is my station, Agent Croft,” said Zukov, stopping to turn and face her. “I’m not letting anyone have it without a fight.”

  He climbed the steps and exited through the double-doors leading into a long corridor. Zukov turned to one of the rooms off to the side of the corridor and placed his palm against the scanner. The door opened and he entered, finding a small armory. Zukov took one of the rifles from the rack, checking to make sure the teleforce cells were fully charged. He was surprised when he saw Croft grabbing a rifle of her own.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Should be obvious, sir,” she said, holding up the rifle and looking through the scope to test it. “I’m going with you.”

  Zukov tried to suppress his smile. “Don’t slow me down, Agent.”

  “Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you.” She looked up, smiling, but then the smile faded when she realized who she was talking to. “…Sir.”

  ***

  The elevator doors opened and Zukov and Croft stepped out, holding their rifles at the ready. Three Cerberus agents were behind them, clad in Gunsmith exoskeletons, and armed with teleforce rifles.

  “Stay alert,” whispered Zukov. “We have no idea what we’re up against.”

  Zukov moved away from the group, slightly crouched as he walked forward, his rifle held up in front of him. He saw someone on the ground and moved to their side. The uniform identified the body as one of Cerberus’ people. Zukov checked the body—dead. But there was no visible sign of the cause. No bullet wounds, no cuts, not a single scratch
whatsoever.

  “KIA,” he whispered, the comm-link in his ear transmitting to the rest of the team.

  Zukov listened as his team relayed similar messages. Not a single one of them had found a survivor. The number of reported dead was equal to the number of agents normally assigned to hangar duty. Which meant their intruder had killed everyone on this level.

  “Any signs?” he asked.

  “Nothing, sir,” said Croft.

  “Gunsmiths?”

  “Scans are showing nil, Director,” responded one of the armored agents.

  Zukov sighed and stood, casting his eyes around the hangar. Other than the dead, nothing seemed damaged. One of the Gunsmiths approached him.

  “Sir, reinforcements are still en route. Should I cancel that order, have them hold position?”

  Zukov nodded. “Yes. And tell them to do a sweep of the levels they’re on. Maybe the intruder moved up.”

  Something felt wrong to him, though. Even if the scanners weren’t showing anything, Zukov was confident the intruder was still here. A lifetime of experience had honed his instincts and he usually trusted them more than any amount of technology.

  A scream tore through the quiet. Zukov and the other agents looked and saw one of the Gunsmiths collapse. There was a flicker of light behind where he had been standing, but now it was gone.

  A Gunsmith ran to his comrade and checked the body. He looked up, shaking his head. “Same story, no visible cause of dea—ARGH!”

  He collapsed as well, falling atop his teammate.

  Zukov opened fire at the space where the two had stood, the bright, azure blasts flying from the barrel of his rifle. But they passed harmlessly through the air before striking the far wall.

  A flicker of light appeared behind the third Gunsmith. Zukov and Croft spun when they heard his scream and then they saw the intruder. He held an energy sword, the beam piercing the agent’s back and coming out through his chest.