[Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kGkPwSC.png[/img][/center] [color=gainsboro]Keelan glowered sullenly as he stood in front of the displays. The resistance of these three had gone on for hours. Frustration set in long ago, the high value nature of two of these targets had so far prevented him from taking off the kid gloves. Hard earned regimental discipline and spite was all that had prevented him from calling in bigger reinforcements so far. He refused to let his military opponents dictate terms.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"You know it is not my way to second-guess, old friend. But murmurings from the top seem to bring your handling of a certain smaller resistence in Lost Haven into doubt.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Commodore Bayla spoke, breaking the silence and startling the Admiral, causing him to turn around.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"Some view your maneuvers to be overly passive. It seems that many of their other forces have managed to re-group and take up effective positions due to the additional support you've been sending towards this suspected weapons factory.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Admiral Keelan furrowed his brow in contemplation. The Commodore functioned well as a go-between who would keep the higher-ups out of his business, and also find and disseminate political information from rumours, innuendo and officers' meetings. Keelan considered his position and the unspoken nature of what Bayla was saying. The Commodore needed more. A wry smile crossed the Admiral's face. He'd give him more than he'd bargain for. He'd make him complicit.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"Perhaps...">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Keelan turned the display around for Bayla to see. It showed the small rebellion battling Arlaaekans in the city street, with the focus being a certain teal fighter causing significant damage to their fighters and ground troops.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"Is that--? The General's daughter..?>[/color] [color=gainsboro]He turned and checked the Admiral for confirmation. His grin was all the confirmation he needed.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"So when you said there was an 'additional piece of strategic value', you were talking politically...">[/color] [color=gainsboro]The Admiral went back to assigning troops and arranging formations.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"I take it, you would take great interest in my finding out how much value this piece is? With subtlety being of paramount importance?">[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"What I like most about you Bayla, is how rarely you need to be given a direct order...">[/color] [color=gainsboro]With unspoken commands issued, Commodore Bayla took his leave to find out just how much the General's defector daughter would be worth to him.[/color] [hr] [center][img] https://i.imgur.com/2cVYNXa.png [/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pzWrnNW.png?1[/img][/center] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YTDvTZf.png[/img][/center] [color=gainsboro]At this point the trio had been fighting for hours, punishing wave by wave of precision strike-force teams hellbent on their defeat. By now they had discovered efficient methods of teamwork - the Aquilifer would target airborne craft, Flux would cut a swathe through any and all both in the air and on the ground, and the Vigilante would "play clean-up" and target predominantly ground-based targets. So far they had proven to be devastatingly effective at each of their specific roles.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"They don't-- they don't let up! We've been going for hours!"[/b][/color] The Aquilifer complained between gulping down lungfulls of air. [color=yellow][b]"Exhausting!"[/b][/color] [color=turquoise]"My people are most relentless."[/color] Flux explained. [color=turquoise]"If they sense an objective is attainable towards achieving victory they will not cease in their willingness to pour men and ships until they seize victory."[/color] [b]"You can expend energy talking about how hard things are, or you can make the most of the few seconds break before the next wave and suck down more air."[/b] [color=gainsboro]The Aquilifer made a pained face in response to the Terrarian brawler before exhaling out a sigh.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"Hey! Wait a minute! Why am I the only one here who's gassed?! Aside from being teal, she looks like she just stepped out of a health spa, and you look like you've only just warmed up as well!"[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]Isaac shrugged.[/color] [b]"I've been fighting and scrambling through sewers for thirty-six hours before, WITHOUT your grandfather's gravity gauntlets. I AM just getting warmed up."[/b] [color=turquoise]"And I am Arlaaekan."[/color] [color=gainsboro]Dennis hunched over with a deep sigh and gulped in more air, before letting out a long groan as the trio saw another stream of aircraft bearing down on their position.[/color] [b]"I told you, you can expend energy whining about how hard things are, or you can make the most of the break before the next wave and get air..."[/b] [color=gainsboro]Dennis straightened up with another sigh, as he got ready to take to the sky.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"Yeah, something tells me you and my grandpa would get along great..."[/b][/color] [hr] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kGkPwSC.png[/img][/center] [color=gainsboro]Keelan's glower grew deeper with each passing failed wave. The trio had settled into a rhythm by now, with each insurgent knowing their role and tackling threats which their abilities were most effective at. Until he received further news though, this was all he had. Wave upon wave crashing upon them wearing away with fatigue like erosion upon solid rock. It was slow, it was tedious, it did not feel particularly rewarding, but he knew each attack brought them closer to inevitable success.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"I have news.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Commodore Bayla announced before his presence was even known.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"Good news?">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Keelan queried.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"Unfortunately not. I have news of the value of... the unique strategic threat... in question.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]The Admiral didn't ask for a follow-up, his glower being all the interrogative required.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"Unfortunately she has no value. She has been disavowed. The General has made no attempt to spare her officially, all paperwork has been lodged appropriately. If he has any desire for his daughter to survive her treachery he had made certain to cover his tracks in official channels.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]The Admiral growled out his frustration audibly. This complicated matters.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"And unofficially?">[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"The few bits of information I've been able to glean from whispers throughout the armada seem to support this position. She fled. Her treachery is not to be forgiven merely because of his status, and he feels his status makes the shame greater still.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]The Admiral turned back to his screens, following the battle once again.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"Keelan?">[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"Well, what else [b]WOULD[/b] he say publicly?">[/color] [color=gainsboro]He snapped out his frustration. This complicated matters. It rose further questions of his handling of the situation in Downtown Lost Haven if the Arlaaekan traitor truly had no political value. A situation he should have crushed swiftly had been treated far too softly. It reflected poorly, and without justification the wolves would soon be at the door.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"Have you heard from the Zlaxon's mouth itself?">[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"And what if the answer remains the same?">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Commodore Bayla's sense for the political tensions as acute as ever.[/color] [color=mediumaquamarine]<"How shall you respond to criticisms?">[/color] [color=gainsboro]A wry grin crossed the Admiral's teal face.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"Why with spin seeded with truth, my friend.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]A predatory tone of voice couched by his smirk.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"We found the General's traitorous daughter and were seeking out information on how we were to handle the situation. The delays were the result of my waiting for a subordinate trusted enough to properly carry the message without fear of exploiting the information for blackmail.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]The wry grin apparently contagious as it now had been communicated to the Commodore.[/color] [color=lawngreen]<"In other words, it took time for you to get here. Now go. Go and bring me back my answer, one way or the other.">[/color] [color=gainsboro]Bayla turned on his heels and set about his mission. Keelan returned to his console. Should the General not want his daughter back, that explanation would unlikely be believed by the Autocrat and the ruling class. They'd likely suspect his hesitation for the ranking officer he sent was as likely due to waiting for a trusted officer to carry out an intended attempt at blackmail - as was indeed the case - but such an accusation would be impossible to prove, with all evidence of any wrongdoing actually supporting his claim as to what occurred. If the General did indeed want his daughter returned to him, their combined power would be enough to see off any internal political threats to his position. Waves would continue to wash against the human in black, the rod wielder and the traitor until their inevitable defeat. Should the General decline - well, the Destroyer-class [i]DC Doomspear[/i] that was presently fulfilling a support role would make short work of the corner. Sure, it would indeed be a shame to end things prematurely with this rod-wielder of what the locals called Earth - he indeed had come to enjoy the tradition of savouring in their destruction to conclude the invasion. He enjoyed the pomp of ceremonially delivering the rods to the Autocrat himself, who had even allowed him to keep a select few over the years. These rested in artisanly created cases of high quality which he kept in proud places within his quarters. But this preference he held could not be allowed to get in the way of the war effort. It would never be permitted. Keelan despatched another wave upon the trio and awaited for Bayla to return with news of his answer. An hour later, as the [i]DC Doomspear[/i] edged closer to downtown Lost Haven, it's pulse cannon running preliminary diagnostics and being primed for firing, gave proof to the General's response.[/color] [hr] [center][img] https://i.imgur.com/2cVYNXa.png [/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pzWrnNW.png?1[/img][/center] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YTDvTZf.png[/img][/center] [color=gainsboro]Flux floated back down to the street as the three re-grouped after another wave's conquest. Isaac exhaled audibly through his voice modulator.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"So you're finally starting to get tired, huh?"[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]Dennis said gleefully, pleased to see some cracks of humanity showing through in the black-garbed hero.[/color] [b]"That wasn't me sucking in air. It was a sigh. You're getting tired and you're starting to get sloppy. It was going to happen eventually, but I was hoping it'd take a bit longer. You were slower when you plowed through on those three up there, you left your backside unprotected. If it were earlier in the wave or they still had stragglers, one of them probably tags you."[/b] [color=yellow][b]"Oh come on!"[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]He cried out in frustration, throwing his hands on his head and walking away shouting.[/color] [b]"I'm not being critical. It's fatigue. It's inevitable. I just hoped you'd last longer."[/b] [color=gainsboro]The Vigilante glanced down towards the building which Dennis said his father used to work out of. Flux looked at the Vigilante perplexed. She opened her mouth to speak and--[/color] [b]"Say anything and you doom us all."[/b] [color=gainsboro]The Vigilante hissed, out of earshot of the ranting wielder of the Golden Rod. Flux nodded glumly, not understanding, but believing him. This strange man who seemed to know more than anyone should about a great many things. The ranting hero re-joined the three, pointing at the one in black ready to sound off until... Another swarm of small craft swept down towards them from the distance, with an ominous floating disc seemingly in tow.[/color] [color=turquoise]"It's the Doomspear!"[/color] [color=gainsboro]Chrissy cried out.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"Doom-[u]SPEAR[/u]?? The thing's round. Who came up with that name?"[/b][/color] [color=turquoise]"The Doomspear was a mythical artefact from Ancient Arlaaekan legend. All of our largest ships are named after things from legend, our history, people or places. What are your ships named after?"[/color] [color=yellow][b]"..." "...Well alright then."[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]Dennis replied, avoiding the question. Flux looked glumly down the street back to the familiar building, before casting another glance at the Vigilante.[/color] [b]"I know. Soon."[/b] [color=gainsboro]He uttered opaquely.[/color] [color=turquoise]"If the [i]Doomspear[/i]'s pulse cannon is allowed to go off, all of this shall be in a crater."[/color] [color=gainsboro]Her brow uncharacteristically furrowed in an attempt to adequately explain the severity of their situation.[/color] [b]"How far?"[/b] [color=turquoise]"About six of your city roads worth."[/color] [color=gainsboro]The teal alien held her hands out and made three little 'jumps' further each way with her fingers.[/color] [b]"Six blocks?"[/b] [color=turquoise]"That is what I said."[/color] [b]"Then we'd better make sure we're somewhere else by then..."[/b] [color=gainsboro]Chrissy nodded in response.[/color] [b]"What about their own small fighter craft and infantry? Surely they don't want to lose them to friendly fire. Will they withdraw, or what happens there?"[/b] [color=turquoise]"They all receive an internal communications ping once the pulse cannon is charged and primed."[/color] [b]"So we wait until then and--"[/b] [color=turquoise]"--and by then its too late. The ping happens seconds before it fires. Aerial manouevers are choreographed around it, then the ping aids with timing."[/color] [color=gainsboro]The black garbed vigilante stopped and considered what he was being told.[/color] [i]So we need to be elsewhere.[/i] [color=gainsboro]He thought to himself, watching the enormous disc and it's prominant weapon drift closer to their position.[/color] [i]Pretty much now--[/i] [color=yellow][b]"So here they come again!"[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]Exclaimed the Aquilifer, taking to the sky once more with the Golden Rod, before the Vigilante could get a word out.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"I got these three!"[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]He called his shot, as he soared into combat once more.[/color] [color=gainsboro]Flux looked on stunned, as the Vigilante watched Dennis once more take the fight to the invaders, before he was able to offer any order nor warning to the contrary.[/color] [hr] [color=gainsboro]The older man was surrounded by two soldiers in crisp Marine uniforms. They spoke in short bites, concise and to the point. Or would have been if they had been instructed on exactly what was going on and were to actually convey the point... He'd been separated from his home, his wife and plunged into a world equal parts as vaguely familiar as it was foreign. Similar to the sensation you have when the world you know is invaded by aliens intent on conquest. But as much as that was related to this, that wasn't this. Whilst the soldiers did their utmost to convey the implied presence of control which lay in procedure, the tradition of the Marine Corps, and chain of command, the old man knew enough to know this was wrong. Which may have been the most deeply disquietening in and of itself. No... that was still probably the alien craft and weaponry raining down outside above ground. But if you were at all familiar for how fond of procedure the Corps is... well, it was a close second. "Retired Colonel Lewis 'Gunny' Bracken?" A voice in a different kind of suit spoke ahead of the trio. The fact it seemed to be a question rather than a statement did not seem to put him at ease. Even when the man then commanded the other two to-- "At Ease!" Well... yeah. When he ordered the other two to do that... Gunny nodded gently, his expression never changing from a squint. "Dismissed! I believe we can handle it from here." The two younger Marines saluted, turned on their heels ad departed, leaving the older man with this strange man in his suit. "I trust you and your wife are satisfied with the accommodations, given the situation?" "And what situation is that?" Gunny replied. "Answers have seemed to be a scarce commodity today." "Heh. They often are. I can see you probably have some reasonable questions, given everything that's--" "Given that you had me dragged from my home by military escort. Yes, quite a few." His expression still hadn't changed. "Perfectly fair." The suit eased. "Perfectly fair." He repeated, as if saying it twice would warm the frost from the older man's tone. "They saluted you." "Pardon?" Suit queried. "They're Marines." Gunny clarified. "They saluted you. A civilian. Presumably you're the new Commander in Chief. So... we have a designated survivor situation here? The President's dead?" "Nothing so morbid, fortunately." The suit smiled, pleased to actually have the opportunity to impart positive information. "No, I'm one of several people currently tasked to hold the power of Commander in Chief, as well as the Senate under special circumstances by proxy." "To what ends?" "How do you mean?" The Suit looked puzzled. Gunny sighed. "I mean 'What am I doing here?'. You said 'tasked'. Presumably there's a task you're here to do." "Ah. Well, today, you'll be pleased to know I'm tasked with restoring your career in the United States Marine Corps and with promoting you to the rank of Brigadier General. As you're well aware--" "As I'm well aware, the rank of Generals can only be nominated by the Commander in Chief, namely the President, and confirmed by the Senate. Yeah, I see where this is going. My question is 'Why?' There's gotta be about--" "In the first three hours of combat we lost eighty-fave to ninety percent of our Generals. As well as a significant number of obvious officers to be next to step into command. The President had the bright idea of re-commissioning past officers, beginning with those most recently retired - in order to prioritise more current and therefore more useful military knowledge." Gunny's thoughts immediately went to his wife, currently being kept elsewhere in quarters within the vast underground facility. "Ninety percent in three hours?!?" "Please remain calm, sir. The casualties already began to fall to a tickle in the last hour of those three hours, and further still since then. We believe the... unconventional nature... of this recent directive to find new high ranking officers has gone a long way to protect these officers. We suspect the invasion force had intel and targeted them early, to limit our ability to manouever and counter-strike." Gunny remained introspective, soaking in everything he had been forced to absorb. "In fact, sir. I suspect you and your wife may currently be in one of the safest facilities not only in the mainland United States, but the world entire." "So the question is: Now, when that world needs you most, Brigadier General Bracken, will you serve once more?" [/color] [hr] [center][img] https://i.imgur.com/2cVYNXa.png [/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pzWrnNW.png?1[/img][/center] [Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YTDvTZf.png[/img][/center] [color=gainsboro]Rock encircled Flux and decimated any and all stray Arlaaekan forces that had the wrong idea. The Vigilante threw impossibly heavy blows repeatedly with the help of the gravity gauntlets of the original Aquilifer's design, and Dennis soared through the sky blasting and hammering different sized alien craft with the Golden Rod. The trio could hear some kind of white noise emanating from directly above as the primary weapon of the Destroyer Class [i]Doomspear[/i] took position and was primed for firing. It was almost completely over the building the original Aquilifer had worked out of for so many years at this point.[/color] [b]"HEY!"[/b] [color=gainsboro]The Vigilante called out, trying desperately to be heard by the other two over the din of war.[/color] [b]"TOGETHER NOW!"[/b] [color=gainsboro]He pointed to space between the three of them. Dennis lifted his head, distracted almost took a plasma blast to the chest until he used the Golden Rod to safely deflect it into other Arlaaekan fighters, purely by accident. He nodded to the man in black and refocused, trying to find a way to free up time to get himself where he was needed, for reasons he didn't know. But then this guy seemed to have a lot of reasons for various things he did which he felt he didn't need to tell anybody. The Vigilante bounced over scattered infantry, punched a few stragglers and got to where he told the other two to meet. Only to find himself all alone. The Aquilifer was distracted and being held up by aerial combatants, but Flux looked even more absorbed in her combat. It didn't look like he'd even heard her. She was battering ground force infantry with a fervour that showed she had precious little control over the rage she had absorbed from the Vigilante. He'd let it go too far. Let her feel too much. She had no way of dealing with the concentrated bitterness he functioned with on a daily basis. She was the priority.[/color] [b]"GET THERE!"[/b] [color=gainsboro]He called back to the Aquilifer, who nodded. He was free to now, as fighter forces began to withdraw. But for no positive reason. The Vigilante sensed something going on far above, but didn't dare take a peek. He dove just beyond Flux, pulled by the added weight of the gravity gauntlets, before performing a roll to come to a stop. He quickly got to his feet and raced back to her. Pointing at the place where the Dennis now stood, and to the sky above. She turned and saw the Aquilifer gazing at the ship directly above, completely aghast, as the primary weapon charged. The Vigilante put an arm around Flux and threw a fist out in the direction of the Rod-Wielder, he tapped the gravity gauntlet and hoped it would be enough. The Aquilifer fired up an energy construct in the form of a golden dome. Chrissy and Isaac flew under the dome just as it began to seal them off completely. The pulse cannon fired and the force was felt by Dennis like nothing he'd ever felt before. He winced and shrunk the size of his energy shield in an attempt to keep it as strong as he could. Still the pulse cannon rained down on him with a crushing sensation, unparalleled by anything he'd experienced. A wince turned to a cry of anguish. Which turned into a silent scream in the cacophony of the pulse cannon's shriek. The energy shield went from fifteen feet, to ten, to six, to protecting the trio as they crouched in its final refuge. A bright pale blue light which echoed and painted everything a cleansing white even when you closed your eyelids enveloped everything. And when their sight was restored they saw first that they were still alive, and second that their saviour the Aquilifer was left unconscious on the only untouched patch of asphalt that remained in the enormous crater that was previously the city streets. Flux looked down at their fallen comrade and the desolate space where the building once stood. Before returning her view to the downed Aquilifer, her heart rapidly filling with sadness, anguish and despair.[/color] [color=turquoise]"For-- for nothing..? He saved us all. And for-- nothing?"[/color] [color=gainsboro]She began to flicker once more. Her powers teleporting her away under the shear weight of emotion.[/color] [b]"No."[/b] [color=gainsboro]The Vigilante corrected.[/color] [b]"Not for nothing."[/b] [color=turquoise]"For nothing!"[/color] [color=gainsboro]Chrissy echoed, as she was whisked away by her teleportation abilities.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"What-- What's she talking about..?"[/sub][/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]The battered and bruised Dennis Connolly murmured from the pavement. Far above, the pulse rifle began to whirr as it was once again primed for firing, as the swirling swarm of alien fighter craft moved back in eager to clean up what little resistance remained. [/color] [hr] [color=gainsboro]"You're asking me to co-ordinate a force of... have you even got ten thousand to give me? And be in charge of tactical operations under the kind of duress you would see in the middle of a hurricane. With no notice whatsoever. I couldn't even brief my men?" "Only by Zoom. That's correct. Given the loss of elite officer leaderhip we would expect you to command from your present location." "How many?" Gunny sighed, feeling every year of his age. "How many men?" The Suit clarified his question. "Of course." "About eight thousand, five hundred..." "How? I was out there remember. It was chaos. How could you possibly have pulled together anything close to a Regiment in this chaos?" The suit smiled a wry grin. "Well, there have been some interesting developments in the last few hours, Brigadier General..." [/color] [hr] [center][img] https://i.imgur.com/2cVYNXa.png [/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pzWrnNW.png?1[/img][/center] [color=gainsboro]Urban sprawl had given way to an artificial wasteland. A cratered city street, and two remained. No powers, mo metagene - alone before the might of an invasion force which had seized so many worlds just like theirs. The Aquilifer, the grandson of the man who had sold out the world, gurgled and slowly rolled to one side. The Vigilante, the paradoxical man born out of extreme agony who was incapable of experiencing pain, stood over him against the next Arlaaekan onslaught.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"Wh--what was she saying..? The alien girl..?"[/sub][/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]Isaac turned back to the laid out hero, and considered his situation. The force that opposed him, and the potential for others to be harmed. He sighed and bent over to try and help pick the younger man up. The fighter craft screeched down. Far above the white noise of the pulse cannon gave way to a whirring, which gradually increased in pitch and volume. The Aquilifer managed to get to a knee, the Vigilante hooked his arm around underneath the rod wielder's armpit. The fighters close enough that he could see finery of the detailing on the craft. Their plasma weapons fired, the Vigilante spied a building, and the boxer threw an uppercut to the heavens with all the hope of a punchdrunk shuffler on his last legs in the final round, down on all cards. He tapped the button on his gravity gauntlet and for a moment a man could fly. The pair soared towards a distant apartment complex.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"Rod's... so gentle... I can barely feel it..."[/sub][/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]The Vigilante looked down at the battered hero and flashed a smile behind his black balaklava. As their feet touched down on the roof, he looked up as the [i]Doomspear[/i]'s pulse weapon whirred louder in it's final throes. The Vigilante looked onwards and found another building and threw another flying uppercut. As the pair flew further away the Aquilifer looked down and saw the crater where their last stand took place.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"So-- so whatdid she say..?"[/sub][/b][/color] He repeated. [color=yellow][b][sub]"Or did you think you wouldn't have to say..?"[/sub][/b][/color] [b]"She's an empath. She reads emotions. And in this case she could sense... how I felt about something, was inconsistent with what I told you."[/b] [color=yellow][b][sub]"She knew you were full of shit..."[/sub][/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]The Aquilifer said, laughing at the thought of other heroes being as - less than perfect - as he knew himself to be.[/color] [b]"She did.[/b] [color=yellow][b][sub]"So... what was it..? You saved somebody's cat and gave it to the wrong little girl?"[/sub][/b][/color] [b]"That building, that corner, everything we've been fighting over for the last... Five or six hours..?"[/b] [color=gainsboro]He said, not looking down at the battered hero, as they came to another landing, before another uppercut sent them sailing away again.[/color] [b]"Yeah, that was all a bluff. It was for nothing. I was hoping they'd view it as having some kind of strategic value since your grandfather worked there. All of this. It was just about buying time, not for us, but for them. The people who are trying to organise, rally and fight this. The most valuable thing we can give them is time."[/b] [color=yellow][b][sub]"--what..?"[/sub][/b][/color] [b]"It wasn't about us, or beating them here and now. I found ourselves a bottleneck where we could take a vast number of them with us, with a fake strategic point to draw them here, and just bought as many hours and dragged as many of them into the muck with us here."[/b] [color=yellow][b][sub]"Wait-- how..? Why..?"[/sub][/b][/color] [b]"Three hundred Spartans once held back a seemingly insurmountable force two thousand, five hundred years ago at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae. Didn't have anything like that here, so I made my own."[/b] [color=yellow][b][sub]"It was all-- for nothing?"[/sub][/b][/color] [b]"Not for nothing. For time. For them. The people. It's kind of what this hero business is all about... Now, I'm taking you home. Because that's also what it's about. And I happen to be pretty good at it."[/b] [color=gainsboro]The pair kept taking their gravity-affected leaps back towards the home of the Aquilifer.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"You fought-- for almost six hours, not knowing if you'd live or die... for no other reason but to buy people time..?"[/sub][/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]The Aquilifer considered everything he'd just been told. The sacrifice that this man was prepared to make. Not even to save people, just to buy time.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"I'm not ready. I can't do this... I'm not ready."[/sub][/b][/color] [hr] [h3][b][i]Now...[/i][/b][/h3] [color=gainsboro]It was horrible, Dennis was muttering barely coherently. The Vigilante kicked the bottom of the door until the old man finally opened up. He carried the younger man with his torn flight jacket, who was covered in cuts and abbrasions.[/color] [color=yellow][sub]"mmm-mmm mmm-oo mmm-t..."[/sub][/color] [color=gainsboro]The Vigilante put the new Aquilifer down on the lounge in Alan's living room.[/color] [color=yellow][b][sub]"mmm-mmm mmm-oo mmm-t..."[/sub][/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]He muttered again.[/color] [color=goldenrod]"Sssh-ssh... It's alright. You rest for now, Dennis. You've been out there for hours."[/color] [color=gainsboro]Coghlan said, his concern for his grandson shining through, before turning to the man in black.[/color] [color=goldenrod]"You too, can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?"[/color] [b]"I'm fine. My rest was carrying him here. You just watch him til he can get back out there. This is a long way from over."[/b] [color=gainsboro]With alien ships still filling the Lost Haven skies, he stated the obvious. He stretched his back with a crack and then walked back out the front door.[/color] [color=yellow][sub]"mmm can't mmm-oo it..."[/sub][/color] [color=goldenrod]"What was that?"[/color] [color=gainsboro]The old man rushed to his grandson's side.[/color] [color=goldenrod]"What did you say, Dennis?"[/color] [color=gainsboro]A tear ran down a swollen eye that was lightly blackened. The younger man rolled gingerly away on to his side in shame, turning his back to his grandfather.[/color] [color=yellow][b]"I'm not ready. You were right. I can't do this... I'm not ready."[/b][/color] [color=gainsboro]He mumbled, giving voice to one of the older man's greatest fears. In a few moments he would pass out from exhaustion. The Golden Rod would fall from the unconscious young man's grasp. Alan Coghlan looked down at the rod which had caused so much anguish, but brought so much excitement into his life. He turned and looked at the television, and the devastation that was hammering humanity all around the globe. One more time Alan Coghlan picked up the Golden Rod. It had been an unwanted gift, but he was in a unique position to stick it to them personally.[/color]