New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (32 page)

“Mr. Blake,”
Commander Sullivan called out. Garrett shifted his eyes to meet
Commander Sullivan’s. “Did you get all the information
you were looking for on the Blueranium?”

Garrett froze, “I…”

Commander Sullivan
threw a hand up in the air signaling Garrett to be quiet. “Retrieving
the Blueranium that was stolen is our top priority. Agent Hardine and
his team will be working with you until it’s been retrieved.
Get to work people!”

Commander Sullivan
left the room leaving the fate of the world in the hands of his
agents and the League of Protectors. The League looked around at one
another still in disbelief over the revelations. If this Post Human
army successfully harness any of the power the Blueranium had, things
were going to be even more challenging.

31

That
Defining Moment

One month passed
since the Blueranium was stolen from the vault. Since then things had
been relatively quiet. Which wasn't necessarily a good thing. The
League and G.U.A.R.D were slowly rounding up some of the escaped
criminals but so far Joe Dorgan and company had eluded them.

Agent Hardine and
his unit were becoming quite acquainted with The League of
Protectors. The two sides were beginning to have some trust and
familiarity with one another. Something that years ago seemed
impossible. Both Mr. Connors and Commander Sullivan believed that if
they were going to have any chance of defeating this inevitable
threat, they needed to work together. Vice President Martin and some
of the other high ranking officials were still adamantly against the
level of cooperation that was taking place, but the President would
not hear their complaints.

Since successfully
aiding in the rescue attempt that saw the League of Protectors freed,
Bianca slowly become more comfortable in the field. She was starting
to feel as if she belonged and that she could provide more than just
healing the wounded. It didn’t hurt having a good instructor
guiding her. Agent Hardine was extremely patient and put in a great
deal of effort working with her.

While some things
improved, other things stayed the same. The dislike between Jason and
Noah continued growing with each passing day. There was such a
philosophical difference between the two.

Shayne and Jackson
were becoming quite the formidable duo. Shayne's dedication to
excellence and Jackson's drive not to be out done drove the two men
to push each other harder than before. Garrett Blake still wanted
nothing to do with field missions. He was forced to train just like
the others, but he didn’t like it one bit.

There was a knock
on Commander Sullivan’s door. The Commander was on the phone so
he ignored it. Sitting up straight and tall at his desk, Commander
Sullivan listened intensely to the other person on the line. Again
someone knocked on his door. Commander Sullivan tried to ignore it
but the continuous noise forced him to answer.

“Come in!”
he shouted. The Commander’s nostrils flared and his face had
the meanest of looks on it. “What is it?”

“I'm... I'm
sorry sir,” a tiny woman replied in a faint voice. Commander
Sullivan waited impatiently for the woman to explain herself. “Well
get on with it, what is it?”

“Sir,
something big is going down and I think you better see it.” The
Commander apologized to the person on the other line for having to
end the call prematurely. Begrudgingly, the Commander followed the
small woman to the command center. “What is it?” The
agents inside, the tech crew and everyone else watched the screen in
sheer shock, “Turn it up.”

Sheryl Anders, one
of the top news reporters from Washington was reporting live a few
blocks away from Pennsylvania Ave.

“What in the
world is going on down there?” Commander Sullivan asked.

There was a violent
battle taking place between an army of Post Humans and the National
Guard. The camera crew zoomed in to get a closer view on the violent
conflict that was taking place.

“It's them!”
Commander Sullivan exclaimed as he

recognized Joe
Dorgan, Erik Masters, Seth Maddox and Kyle Stanton leading the attack
like generals in an army would do. Levitating above them was someone
in a long hooded robe, a short man and a woman in white.

Commander Sullivan
watched as the Post Human army cut through the police and National
Guard with alarming ease. He watched as they mercilessly killed
anyone that got in their way. The streets were filled with chaos.
Fire and smoke polluted the air while hundreds of civilians did their
best to get to safety. Commander Sullivan noticed the path the Post
Humans were heading and his eyes went big. The commander let out a
slew of curses directed at the screen.

“What is it
sir?” one of the agents asked.

Commander
Sullivan’s face was as white as a ghost, “They’re
heading straight for the White House!”

Everyone inside the
room looked around at each other. This was what so many people
feared. The emergence of Post Humans would eventually be a major
threat to national security. Whoever was leading this group of Post
Humans had an army of them and Commander Sullivan was fairly certain
a lot of them were enhanced with the stolen Blueranium from the
vault.

“What do we
do Sir?” an agent asked.

Everyone waited
around to see how Commander Sullivan would respond. He hesitated for
a moment as he watched the Post Humans bully their way down the
street. It was clear that these particular Post Humans didn’t
want to talk. They didn’t want to negotiate or find common
ground, they wanted to destroy. They wanted to conquer. They wanted
to rule.

“Commander,
what are our orders?”Agent Hardine asked. His entire unit were
fully dressed and awaiting their next assignment.

“We go to
war,” Commander Sullivan replied.

“Yes sir,”
Agent Hardine replied hiding any trace of concern that he rightfully
felt at that moment. He was ready to defend his country, but knew
good and well he would be facing a threat greater than anything he or
anyone in G.U.A.R.D had ever face. Not even anyone in the military
could've faced anything like what was taking place in Washington.

Agent Hardine and
all the head agents met with one another and began formulating a
coordinated attack. Commander Sullivan was on the phone with Mr.
Connors getting the League prepped for battle.

“This is what
we’ve been training for. Our country needs us; this is where we
make our stand. This is where we show the world what The League of
Protectors is all about. This is where we protect our people; this is
where we protect our country,” Mr. Connors said to his team.

The woman in white
used telekinesis to disarm the soldiers firing at the group. Her
mastery of telekinesis was well beyond that of Noah Winters. Joe
Dorgan and Seth Maddox enjoyed free reign of their abilities. Joe
heaved cars towards the police and soldiers while Seth Maddox lit the
cars on fire. This combination attack left the soldiers scrambling
about, desperately trying to avoid the attacks.

The short man was
in possession of a loud speaker and used it to make threats; Stating
a new dawn was approaching and that this country would no longer be
held captive by the human population. He expressed great frustration
with the public’s opinions on Post Humans and vowed to dispose
of the hatred and ignorance that polluted the world. There were many
more Post Humans that marched with them. More than Mr. Connors and
Commander Sullivan could've anticipated.

Stephanie Morgan,
who was on the Star Foxx, was putting her abilities in overdrive
trying to identify the individuals in this army and their abilities.
“Mr. Connors, there are dozens of people out there that I can’t
identify. What does that mean?” Stephanie asked. The young
woman rested her head on the headrest. She needed to let her
abilities recharge before she attempted to identify anyone else. Mr.
Connors looked at her with a bland look.

“It means one
of two things my dear. It means that this hooded man has successfully
powered regular humans with the Blueranium. That or this individual
has somehow developed a way to shield them from your abilities.”
Neither scenario was good for the League of Protectors.

The Star Foxx
landed moments before a swarm of G.U.A.R.D jets touched down in the
designated meeting place, just a half a block away from where the
Post Human army was marching. Mr. Connors, along with Garrett Blake,
Stephanie Morgan and Bianca Ramirez exited the jet. Moments later
Shayne Tucker sped in with Jackson Prescott.

Jackson wanted
possession of the automated jet Jason Shaw had recently finished
developing, but he was denied. The argument was that with Jackson
living on campus, there was nowhere to store the jet. In addition, he
and Shayne lived together so Jackson's transportation was covered.

The latest jet,
against Jason's blessings would remain with Noah Winters. Noah's
responsibilities to the streets of Chicago and his inability to fly
or run past the speed of light, made him the perfect candidate for
the newly built automated jet. Jason argued that Noah didn’t
deserve the jet because of his rash behavior and vigilante antics,
but Mr. Connors insisted Jason reconsider. His main reason was in
case Noah was needed somewhere and all fast transportation was
occupied. With the automated jet, Noah could get to the location in a
timely fashion. Begrudgingly, Jason agreed to give the jet to Noah.

Jason Shaw and
Jessica Prescott were the next ones to arrive on the scene. They were
joined shortly after by another wave of G.U.A.R.D jets. Noah was next
to arrive. As he walked off the jet and towards the team, everyone
could see the seriousness on his face. His dedication to protecting
the innocent was what Mr. Connors admired most about Noah. Jason and
Mr. Connors were standing side by side when Noah walked over and
interrupted the conversation the two men were having.

“What’s
the plan?” Noah asked taking no interest into whatever their
conversation was about. Before either man could answer Noah, another
flying vessel made its descent. This vessel was much bigger. It
looked more like a spaceship than a jet.

“What in the
world is that?” Jackson asked. His mouth dropped as he stared
at the massive vessel.

“That would
be a spaceship,” Shayne replied nonchalantly.

“I thought
those things only existed in movies and comic books!” Jackson
said.

“Yet, humans
that can fly seems normal to you?” Shayne retorted. Jackson
chuckled. He had to admit, a man that could fly or a man that could
produce ice from his hands was just as outrageous to imagine. The
doors on the spaceship opened up and several dozen men got out. It
looked to be a mixture of G.U.A.R.D agents and other military
personnel. Jason looked at the men with great curiosity. Some of the
outfits on the men he didn't recognize. They weren't regular military
personnel. They looked more like specialized units similar to that of
G.U.A.R.D.

“Garrett do
you copy?” Jason asked via League comm link.

“Loud and
clear.”

“You see the
giant ship?”

Garrett chuckled.
“Um yeah, everyone in the world is seeing this giant vessel. I
didn't think G.U.A.R.D would actually let this vessel be seen by the
public. The U.N is going to be in an uproar over this!”

“Never mind
that, I want you to run background check on these men in non military
uniforms. I don't recognize them at all.”

“Copy that,”
Garrett replied and ended transmission.

“Ladies and
gentleman we find ourselves in one tough situation,” Commander
Sullivan exclaimed. The tall burly man was the last one to exit the
ship. All attention was on him. “Today we face a threat unlike
any other that we have encountered. Walking the streets prepared to
destroy all that we are is an army of Post Humans. This army is
intent on making the human race submissive and they intend to do so
with deadly force. It is our job to stop this radical threat. It is
our job to protect the innocent.”

A few of the men
looked back towards The League of Protectors. They trusted the League
about as much as they trusted the army of Post Humans looking to
eradicate them.

“I stand
before you confident that we will meet this threat in battle and
defeat them,” Commander Sullivan looked towards his G.U.A.R.D
agents. “This is what we train for. Long before The League of
Protectors worked with us, we were out there stopping these
nuisances. While are military was out battling terrorists from around
the world, it was us that dealt with the terrorists here in our own
backyard.”

Commander Sullivan
turned his attention to the marines. “You guys are trained to
handle any threat regardless of the circumstances. You are trained in
all forms of combat and the word fear does not exist in your
vocabulary. You may not possess the abilities that these Post Humans
do, but you are every bit as dangerous as any of them.”

Commander Sullivan
then turned his attention to The League of Protectors, “The old
saying goes with great power comes great responsibility. You guys
have taken those words and applied it to your everyday lives. You
choose to use your abilities to help protect this country. You are
loved and respected by some feared and hated by others. Yet whenever
you are needed, we always have been able to count on you.”

Commander Sullivan
paused and looked towards the blackened sky. Smoke and fire filled
the air.

“Today is a
defining moment. Today we battle our worse fears. Today we either
give in to our fears or we face it head on and overcome it. I’ve
been afraid of many things in my life, but never once have I been
afraid of confronting my fears. Our enemy is heading for the White
House. Our President, our country is in danger. Today we fight! Today
we stand! Today we protect!”