Star Crossed: On the Line - 10. Chaos Ensues

Mekaias does not say a single word as we make our way back to Ember. I guess I should be used to this, but I just know he feels terrible. I heard his shouting in my headset. I could not hear who he was fighting but I can tell it got pretty bad. Now he’s just sitting behind me, possibly the most calm I have ever seen him. It’s creepy and I don’t like it. I know Enyod has taken control of him. Does that mean Mekaias has decided to fight back? I hope so.

No, no it does not. He wanted his friends to fight him and they would not. Why would he want them to fight back? Does he want to bring them to Tanner bruised and bloody? Surely he wouldn’t. I know he would not kill them. At least I think I do. He’s never tried killing any targets before. I am pretty sure he killed some the squads from U.U.P.P. before he finished.

The ride back lasted about three days. There weren’t any problems. Unless you count Norian waking up a problem. Mekaias gave him one of the shocking disks and that solved that issue pretty quickly. I could tell he did not want to do it. He hesitated. That should be a good sign, right? What if Enyod’s abilities are wearing off? I doubt it but there is hope.

I take a deep breath and bring us to a roof over the building that Mekaias lives in. I get up from my seat and grab the bracelets from Enyod. Like a robot, Mekaias holds his hands out in front of me and just seems to stare right through me. I try to get him to look at me but he doesn’t seem to notice. I clip the bracelets on and he turns to jump out my aircraft.

I frown as I watch him walk towards the stairwell. Six guards trail behind him. They are leading him back to his room.

Dozer comes out with Tony and they help me pull the Star Squad out and onto stretchers. They had to nail two stretchers together for Norian and also grab another pair of hands to help lift him.

I am technically free to do whatever I want so I decide to go sit with Mekaias. I do not want to watch the mess that will happen down in the middle of the buildings. Hopefully everything will go how Tony says it will. I probably should not trust him so much but I guess we do not really have much to lose.

~~
~~

I groan at the ache in my head. I try and reach up to rub on the soreness but instead find that I can’t move my arms. I frown to myself and try to move my hands out of whatever has bound them. It does not feel like anything strong so why does it feel like it’s cutting into my wrists?

I move my head to the side to try and make out where I could possibly be. Where am I and how did I get here? It’s a stone room. Pretty dark in here aside from the light coming from underneath the door that leads out of here.

I turn onto my side and then I realize something. I am not in my battle form. I...I am never out of it. I try to bring it back but it will not. The rocks refuse to grow from my skin. I start to panic a bit. What if I never can have my shield again? What is this shit? It always activates whenever I want. Nobody has ever seen me without it, except Mekaias of course.

Is this it? Am I in Firelight? I have a feeling it is. Well I guess this is one way to find their main base. I could be wrong though. I could be in some cell in the middle of another city on Earth. Again, I have the feeling it is not.

There is the fact that I can kind of feel Mekaias’ presence. I saw him yesterday. Well...I think it was yesterday. He only really punched me in the head. Speaking of, god it is sore right now. He sure knows how to make it hurt. I never really thought he could ever hurt me, but clearly I was very wrong.

He seemed….alright. I remember that he had started crying near the end. I guess that is somewhat of a good sign. I will say that his eyes seemed a little dull. Not at all as bright as they could be. If I had known he was just going to punch me out, I would have risked it further and tried to kiss him. It probably would have made him mad but to me it would be worth it.

The sound of the door being unlocked echos in the room. It’s the human from before that had picked up Mekaias. He walks into the room and steps behind me to help me stand. Two other guards stand by the door as the man checks over my restraints.

“I need you to hold out for as long as you can.” He whispers before pushing me forward. Hold out as long as I can? What the hell does that mean?

He forcefully pushes me out the door and I turn back to glare at him. He simply raises an eyebrow, possibly wanting me to do something. Good to know he’s a jerk.

Where am I going now? Where exactly am I? It way too hot to be Earth. Plus it is dark. Pretty sure the nights on Earth are not as hot as wherever this place is.

A group of Firelight guards meet up with us and they have brought Remelia and Remy. They give me looks of surprise at seeing me without my battle form, and also confusion. Not that I blame them.

They have their mouths covered in tape. Why didn’t they give me that? I don’t exactly mind being without it but it makes me a bit nervous. What are they going to do to us?

Mekaias. I immediately think about him. He is somewhere here. I do not know where but he is close. I need to find him. Surely he would help us now? He seemed to remember me before.

~~
~~

“I do not know if I can control him at all for much longer, Master.” I say. I can feel Mekaias fighting and wanting to break free from my magic. He has started to become immune to my abilities. I did not think it would happen so soon and it’s scary. How am I supposed to free him if he is just going to fight back? I know I can not fight as he does. He even knows how to use the floating blades because of me. He would defeat me at my own ways.

I can practically feel him clawing in the back of my mind. His old memories are barely on the surface. No doubt his last mission to retrieve his squad has done this. I knew someone else should have gone. Now look. His old memories are trying to get back to him and they are angry. I do not think even I would want to be here for that.

“Then tighten your leash on him. Do I need to get in there and beat him down? I will if I have to.” Tanner glares up over his coffee.

“Believe me, Master,” I bow down from his gaze, “He is angry and if he even sees you, he may try to kill you. I fear he may even break free of the block in his mind before we manage to oversee the deaths of the Star Squad.” His eyes seem to widen at that. Never have I seen a stroke of fear cross his face. To see it now is...terrifying. Is he truly afraid of Mekaias? I honestly had no idea.

“Perhaps I should free him now?” I say.

“No,” He shakes his head, “I need you to make sure that the Star Squad dies. This may be the best chance for U.U.P.P. to fall. I…” He pauses to think. He stands and begins to pace in front of his window. “I am going to Bridgehome. I will let my captains know. I will operate from there for a time until you are sure that Mekaias is back under your control.” I frown at that. That is very random and not at all a good idea. What if everything goes bad here? Sure it is only one Alentian but the damage he could do and number of people who could die are high. We need him here to give orders on what to do.

“Are you sure? Surely there is something else that we can do? What if things go wrong?”

“I have a backup plan.” He simply says while rolling his shoulders. “Ever hear about the living human detonator?”

“I am afraid I haven’t.” I frown. That does not sound good at all.

“Back on Earth, when Firelight used to be stationed there,” He sits back in his chair and begins typing while talking, “there was a captain who planted a detonator to his heart. He did not tell anyone but his daughter. He got it incase his base happened to get invaded and so he thought it would be best if he died, everything would die with him. He did not want anyone getting the information that Firelight had at the time. Well one day, he gets a heart attack. I think you can connect the lines from there, yes?” He glances up at me.

“I believe so.”

“Well, I decided to do the same thing. I was more open about it than he was however. I have already told my captains and they were fine with it. We had agreed to set up bombs all over Ember. Including the top ring that protects us.”

I look at him in shock. “You are willing to have the lava fall down upon us?” I ask.

He just shrugs and nods. “Absolutely. The things we have done here...I do not want anyone, especially U.U.P.P, to get our information. If Firelight dies with me...so be it.”

Surely he would not just want all of this to go to waste. All the lives that would be lost simply because this one man decided that everyone should die with him. It is just...perfect!

It does exactly what I want. To free all the Alentians. Mekaias will be freed and then so shall I. It all ends perfectly. Every single one of Alentia’s bloodlines shall be freed and live happily together again.

“That is a very brave decision, Master.” I say with a genuine smile. I am excited now. Perhaps I shall...loosen the reins on Mekaias. It would just be a happy coincidence that the deformed Alentian just happens to remember everything. Of course, I shall wait till after Star Squad dies. The amount of memories that will be released shall leave me tired for tonight and I must be at my best to control three minds at once. It will be tricky but in the end, it shall all be worth it. Tomorrow just can not come any sooner.

“I have asked one of the captains to preside over the executions tonight. Do not worry. They will tell you what to do.” Tanner says before glancing back down at his monitor.

“Very well, Master.” I grin and bow to leave. I hear him stand and start to pack his things. I shall have to tell Mekaias where the Master has moved. Strange to think that the Master has decided to cross to the very other side of the city. He must be truly afraid.

I can't wait for Mekaias and I to be with our families again. It has been so long. They may have banished me years ago but I know they must be truly thankful now. Soon everything will be at peace.

~~
~~

Remelia grunts as she is pushed forward and runs into me. She glares back at whoever pushed her and stays close behind me.

We have moved to a strange kind of stage that sits between two buildings. A bridge runs between them high in the air. Balconies are set on every floor and they are all filled with different people. I don’t think I have ever seen so many humans in one place honestly. There are some with white sleeves on their usually full grey uniforms. The man that led me here included.

We are pushed forward onto some steps that lead to the stage. A woman stands there. She is dressed in the Captain uniform. I expected it to see Tanner here but it appears that he is absent. However, what I really didn’t expect here was another Alien.

He...looks like Mekaias. Well he doesn’t look like him but he is also an Alentian. He looks older. I don’t even want to guess how old he is. He is gigantic compared to Mekaias. Possibly taller than his mother even. He only has one eye. It’s yellow. His other eye is covered with an eyepatch. He wears an old robe. Something about him doesn’t feel right. Why is he here out in the open while Mekaias, the other one of his kind, is somewhere else?

The super tall Alentian has his head bowed down and is standing behind the Firelight Captain. Shouldn’t Tanner, their leader, be here? This doesn’t feel right. I thought he would at least be the one handling stuff like this.

“Welcome, Star Squad.” The Captain says, she has a pretty harsh voice. A drone floats above her. I frown at that. “As you can see,” She holds her hand out to us and looks up at the drone, “You’re greatest protectors are not so great after all. Today you will see just how useless the United Universal Peace Protection really is. You must stop yourselves from allowing these buffoons to be in charge of your security. Let Firelight help you instead. Clearly it was easy for us to gain the upper hand over these so called 'defenders of the universe.'”

I almost laugh during her little talk. Everyone already knows that Firelight is the last thing that anyone wants to have on their planet. Though that thought is not a confident one. While I would like to believe that everyone would ignore Firelight, there is the small chance that they will listen. The thought of Firelight in charge of major planets in the universe is unsettling.

“Watch as the famed Star Squad not only failed to protect themselves, but also, kill one another.” She grins and turns to us. This time I actually do laugh. Remy and Remelia laugh as well, somehow louder even though they have tape over their mouths. “Yes, go ahead and laugh while you can.” The Captain smirks before stepping to the side. “Enyod.” She says and turns to the tall Alentian. I stop laughing immediately. I’ve seen what Mekaias can do. I am nervous to see what this Enyod will try.

He slowly steps forward and pulls out a stone from his robe. It looks kind of like Mekaias’ family stone. His one eye starts to glow a bright yellow. He mouth starts to move but no sound comes out. I stare at him in confusion until the stone begins to glow. He finally starts to chant and it is in a language I do not understand.

I am confused as to what is going on. I look over at Remy next to me and see he is standing completely straight and staring straight ahead. I look over at Remelia and see she is doing the same. The guards behind us cut their binds off and they stand perfectly still. Not at all trying to fight their way out or anything.

I start to feel crawling under my skin and I try to move to look at my legs. I find that I can't even move my neck to look. I am stuck staring at Remelia right now. I grunt as I try to move anything but I can’t move a single thing in my body. Not even my mouth. I keep struggling to gain back control but I just can’t do anything. Sweat begins to fall from my forehead and then my body starts to walk forward on it’s own.

I walk about five steps forward then I am turned around. A guard comes behind me and cuts my bindings off. I try to reach out for him or even try and push my battle form out but nothing works.

I am given a pistol and a small knife. My hands grab them both without my permission. The gun is strapped to my hip and I keep the knife out. Remy and Remelia are given the same things. I see that they are both sweating as well. They are trying to fight back.

This is terrifying. This is exactly what Mekaias was talking about. Mind-Control. My body shivers at this and I try to close my eyes. I can only manage a blink.

“Are you prepared, Star Squad?” The Captain says in a voice that clearly shows she is enjoying this.

“Yes, Captain!” We all say at once. I did not want to say that. I would never say that. The Firelight Captain laughs.

“You may begin, Alien.” She says before the Alentian’s eye glows brighter.

We all take one step towards each other before a loud gunshot goes off. My eyes go wide as I snap my eyes to them. None of them are holding a gun so what happened? A heavy feeling falls on top of me and I fall to the ground gasping for breath. A body falls in front of me with a thud.

I look up and see a giant hole that goes through Enyod’s forehead and out the back of his skull. His mouth is open and his eye is wide in shock. He saw it coming.

Shouting begins and then gunshots are heard all around me.

I push myself up and run over to Remy and Remelia. “Are you guys ok?” I ask before pulling them both into a tight hug. If I ever killed one of them...no. I don’t want to think about it.

They both nod and a hand touches my shoulder. “We need your help holding this spot off.” I glance up and the man from before is over me. He has his gun up and shoots at a Firelight member. I look around and see bodies everywhere. Firelight is fighting...itself?

A loud explosion goes up above us in the building next to us. “Shit.” Remy whispers.

“The ones with white sleeves are on our side. My sister, Alicia is trying to bring Mekaias. We are trying to help you.” He hands me a bigger gun and grabs my pistol. He carries both and runs over to shoot at...Firelight.

“This is insane! We need to get out of here!” Remelia shouts. We all pull out our weapons.

“We need to find Mekaias. That guy said he’s here!” I shout back. Where the fuck could he be?

A group of Firelight in full grey uniforms splits up from one building. One half runs around us to get to the other building, while the other half runs straight for us with their weapons raised.

I try to summon my battle form and it finally works! I start aiming my gun and start shooting. One soldier runs at me with a large machete knife and gets a spray of bullets to the face. I lean down to grab the machete and then a loud echoing voice calls my name.

“Norian!” It calls from the building that had an explosion. I turn and look behind me. On the very top floor is Mekaias. He is leaning a little over the edge and staring right at me.

Immediately, I turn and run right for his building.