Star Crossed: On the Line - 6. The Same yet Better

I’ve been out on a mission almost everyday now. Tanner wants me to scare U.U.P.P. It isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I thought my team was an annoyance that makes the mission harder than it should be. It’s tiring having to steal information from computers or kidnapping a Director. The fact I can teleport away makes it unfair. I just sneak in, do what needs to be done, then teleport to wherever Alicia is parked. Teleporting too much or too far really hurts my head so I try and use it once.

Alicia is the only one I see now. She has been given orders not to speak to me. She tries to break that rule and talk to me when she can. I ignore her. I do not want her to get in trouble. Let alone have her brother coming after me. Yet she still tries. She just doesn’t know what to talk about. I know she wants to help but there isn’t much that she can do.

Today just happens to be a nice day without a mission thrown in my direction. While the rest is needed, I do not like being in this box. I swear it gets smaller and smaller the longer I am in here.

I lay on my back with my legs in the air and against the wall. Occasionally I’d hug one of my legs close to me or literally any other exercise to keep my flexibility. It’s so boring in here. At least before I had a window to watch the sky. I loved seeing the sky changing colors or maybe even the occasional drone passing overhead. Some would even stop and stare right back at me. Obviously it didn’t have anyone to report to for suspicious activity. I guess I had a small sliver of hope. Well...in the beginning at least.

In this box there isn’t a window on top but I guess that’s fine. I would only be staring at the ceiling...like now. I wish I had my hammock at least. It’s surely a lot better than this stupid metal bed. I at least could use a blanket. It’s cold in here.

I guess the best thing about this is that the guards rotate their shifts. Everyday at night a nice lady, who’s name is Sadia based on the name on her monitor, sits down with the glass wall to her back and watches a bunch of movies. She tilts her monitor so that I can see which is awfully sweet of her. I wish I had someone like this on Utrio. Sadly the masters did not seem bothered enough to keep a guard on my room. The other guard, Gabriel, would keep watch of the door leading out in hopes of being able to warn Sadia of Tanner or Enyod coming to visit.

Tanner rarely visits. When he does, it is to talk about any last minute changes to whatever mission he wants to throw me at. He says he would also like to beat on me to ‘relieve some stress’ but he never does. He does have a habit of trying to pull on my ears. I am not sure what pulls him to do it but he always does. It is more annoying than anything. They are sensitive and it hurts each time.

Enyod comes the most. He says it is to prepare me to be free. He always says that with a great smile as if it is the best decision in the world. I tried putting his own thoughts into his mind with asking who would put him in his own stone. He just simply said he would do it himself. It kind of shocked me with how casual he was about it, as if he had it all planned. He said he would off himself when he has ‘freed’ every last Alentian. Unfortunately I am the last one.

It is kind of weird to know there are only two Alentians left. Sure I felt alone for a good portion of my life, but I never really thought of being alone in the sense of literally nobody else is like you. It creeps me out more than anything. I honestly don’t think I could ever kill Enyod. I can’t stop thinking of him as a friend even though he wants to kill me and himself. Maybe it is because as soon as he is gone then I will truly be the last Alentian. It is not a great feeling.

Sadia has decided to bring a scary movie today, so I am not in the mood to watch that. I do not like when there is scary things that pops on the screen and my ears can’t hear it coming. I am not used to that nor will I ever be used to that. So here I am bored as anything and just staring at the ceiling. The only noises in this room is Sadia getting scared and bumping her head on the glass or Gabriel's sniffing. He has a bit of a cold. I offered my napkin from the food they brought me but he politely declined.

I would really like to distract myself with magic like my mother used to do but these bracelets won’t come off. They only come off if Enyod tells them to. I find that kind of creepy. Does that mean they are alive? I get shivers just thinking about that. I’d rather not have weird things that are alive around my wrists.

I guess I’ll just stare at the lines in the ceiling. See if they make any shapes in my mind. At least they couldn’t copy that from the one in Utrio. I made a little map with the one there. You do a lot of things when you are bored. I guess you could say I am used to having nothing to do. For instance, I started counting each time Gabriel sniffs and the amount of time Sadia swears when she gets scared. Just something to do. I'm only waiting for the next day to come.

~~
~~

Never mind. Apparently I am needed to visit a base. While I find it annoying that I have to go immediately, I am grateful for it because that means that Kane is alive. The only downside really is that it must mean that he is having his mind peeked around in from Enyod. I mean there is also the downside that we are both stuck here but that was already a given.

I stand with my arms at my sides. I am not allowed to change in and out of my suit anymore. Pretty sure it’s because they do not trust me at all. Not entirely sure what I could do. I would not exactly try anything. I am following their orders because of Kane. There is also the fact that the guard putting my suit on is way too touchy, which honestly may be another reason they are doing this. I guess I am used to it. It is probably a bad thing to get used to but oh well.

I only really have one suit. It doesn’t even have a helmet since I am mainly going to Earth. I did see however that they may be working on a suit that could allow me to fly. I want and need it. It is fairly new technology but I have seen others fly around this base. Either it is the suit or I’m going insane. Possibly both?

The suit I have now feels more like a second skin. It’s way too tight. It’s easy to move around in but I wish it wasn’t so tight. My body needs air to breathe. I hate wearing clothes that are too tight or cover a lot of my body. Thank you to whoever decided that one of my arms could be bare and out in the open. Only wish there was more.

As soon as Mr. Touchy has finished putting the suit on, Enyod appears and beckons for me to follow. He steps back slowly, all the other guards here have their weapons raised and pointed at me. Enyod turns and I walk behind him.

We walk across the bridge to the building over. A few of the people stare as we cross over. I just keep my eyes on Enyod's back. We keep walking until we reach the end of the floor to the stairwell. We continue up the stairs till we are on the roof. Alicia is already sitting on her aircraft. Enyod walks in front of my and hovers his hands over the bracelets. They slip off and onto the floor.

“You only need to retrieve the hard drive in the Director’s desk. If you can manage to capture the Director of the base as well, then that would be most splendid.” Enyod grins and pats my cheek before picking the bracelets up and turning to leave. Of course I'll get the Director.

The guards stand by the door to the stairs until I make my way to my seat behind Alicia.

“Ready?” Alicia turns and smiles at me. I just nod and we start to fly up.

~~
~~

The squad and I are on a plane headed to another base in hopes to be ready for Mekaias. He has been attacking in a bit of a pattern recently. It's only the bases near the eastern coast. There are only four of them and he’s already attacked three. We are hoping his next target is the last one. Well, not exactly hoping but we are expecting it to be the next target.

Sector 11 is the base we are going to help defend. While we are supposed to defend against Mekaias, the squad and I are honestly just hoping to get to him before anyone else. If we have to capture him then so be it. I am sure that if he sees at least one of us, he would stop helping Firelight. That is...if he recognizes us or does not hate us. I still very much think that he is being mind controlled but I still can’t be too sure. I still haven't told Remy or Remelia that it may be a possibility.

He has left almost everyone in U.U.P.P. on edge. All the Directors are terrified of possibly being taken from their own bases. I don't even want to think of what has happened to all those men and women. Even here in Sector 11, the Director of the base has doubled the security. Sure we are here now, but she still wants more people. I personally find it a waste but at the same time, it’s Mekaias.

I keep hoping our Director is fine. I mean there is a huge chance that he is dead, but I am still hoping that he is fine. Firelight has been leaving random messages that sadly can’t be traced. They show a picture of a Director they have taken and then put crosses over their eyes. The only one I haven’t seen with that is Director Kane. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. If it means he’s alive then what are they doing to him? I shudder at the thoughts. I don’t even want to think of what they are doing to Mekaias. It just makes me angry and then I can’t think straight for the rest of the day. It’s already hard enough trying to sleep.

“We are here.” The pilot calls out. Her name is Diana and she’s been assigned to help us move from place to place. She is not exactly our pilot, but it brings memories of George and then that leads to thoughts of Mekaias going on a killing spree until he gets shot in the head and that just isn’t a path I want to think about right now.

Sector 11 honestly is pretty damn big. There is a large dam that is set in the middle of the base. There is a bridge that goes along the dam and it is dotted with flagpoles holding the U.U.P.P. emblem. On either side of the dam, buildings cover the area and a few people are seen keeping watch on various rooftops. The tallest building belongs to the Director of course. You’d think that would have a giant target on it.

I’m glad Director Kane was smart enough to have his underground, though that proved to be useless as well. That night wasn’t fair however. Firelight attacked in the middle of the night without warning and we couldn’t do anything but run. I didn’t see any signs of Mekaias. We haven’t been back there since the attack. I guess I am a little homesick but I am used to being away from home so it’s fine.

We land on an airfield just below the dam. As soon as we are out the plane, a truck is seen waiting for us. The drive to the Director’s base was short and as soon as we enter the front doors we are greeted by the lady herself. She’s a Syren, like Remelia, only she has a more greenish hue to her skin compared to Remelia's blue.

“Thank you for coming, Star Squad. Ivette here shall show you to where you are staying. Then you are free to do whatever but just be ready for whatever may come.” She doesn’t smile but her voice is somewhat kind. She has some serious bags under her eyes, not that I’d blame her. It’s not exactly easy when the one you are trying to catch can just simply teleport away instantly.

Ivette, a small human, shows us to our rooms and then runs off to find her Director. Remy and Remelia immediately start fighting over who gets what bed and who’s side belongs to who. I just roll my eyes and start unpacking my stuff.

We did not pack a lot. We only came here with the mindset that the attack should happen either tonight or tomorrow. We don’t even know if they are going to attack here honestly. We’re all just out of ideas on what to do.

Before Ivette left, she said it would be best if we carried our weapons at all times. That left us all feeling a bit worried. Well, mostly me.

“I’m sure he will be fine. You’ve seen him, Norian.” Remelia smiles, “Plus they said to only use stun ammo.”

Remy nods behind her, “I don’t know about you, but I hope I can land a shot on him.” When I glare at him he just laughs and backs off with his hands in the air. “Hey I want him back just as much as you do. If shooting him down with stun ammo works, then I’ll gladly do it. He beat me in combat before remember? Time for me to beat him at something.”

“Well please don’t shoot unless it is absolutely necessary.” I frown. I want Mekaias back but I really don’t want him to get hurt.

“And when would it be decided that it’s necessary?” Remelia looks at me with one brow raised. I try to think of something but I just sigh and shrug. “Relax, Norian. I’m sure he’d recognize us immediately and then he will come back home to us. He’ll give us the whereabouts of where Tanner is hiding and then we go in with guns blazing!” She grins and smacks my shoulder before going off to clean her guns for the fourth time today.

“Don’t worry, Buddy!” Remy smiles before picking up his rifle. “If it makes you feel better, I doubt he’ll let anyone get a shot on him.” That really doesn’t make me feel better at all. Sure he could save himself but that means he could get away. Yet there is the fact that this is a huge base that has everyone armed and waiting for him. It'll be tricky for him.

“Is it alright if I stay with you?” I ask. I probably didn’t have to ask but Remy could have planned something. He usually does have something to do as soon as we get somewhere.

“Sure! Just don’t hit on any of my ladies.” He grins. He manages to duck down in time before my hand can smack his head. “Ha! Don’t worry. Mekaias has you on a leash.” I smack at him again but smirk. Well he isn’t wrong.

We start making our way towards the bridge that is connected to the dam. Remy said there is a nice place that is setup as a secret bar. How he managed to find that is a mystery.

It’s a little past sundown so only a light glow of orange spreads around the sky. It’s a little weird carrying our weapons everywhere. While I love holding my ax, it doesn’t exactly feel great knowing what they want me to use it for. I do have a gun at my side, but I seriously doubt I’ll be able to use it. I can’t just shoot my soulmate. That’s ridiculous.

As soon as we reach the bridge, the orange in the sky have changed into a nice purple with slips of pink in the clouds. Remy is busy talking about how Ivette was cute and how he maybe should have invited her to join us.

I see a small glint in the sky. Like a reflection off a mirror. I squint my eyes but it disappears before I can check again. I frown but keep staring at the sky as we walk. I almost run into Remy but he just keeps talking as if nothing is happening. I look again and then I see it. A somewhat clear shape in the sky that moves along until it flies over us and behind the dam. It looked like a piece of glass flying through the air but I know what that is. It’s a cloaking device on an aircraft.

“He’s here.” I whisper. Remy shuts up immediately and looks at me with wide eyes. We both turn and immediately start sprinting to find the Director and Remelia.