Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2) (35 page)

Sentinel activated his scanners capable of locating the unique energy signature given off by specials. “She’s in the sub-levels.”

“Good, let’s get down there,” said Paragon.

“Scout ahead, find an elevator or stairwell,” said Gunsmith. “Paragon, a word?”

While Vanguard moved ahead to find an entry point into the sub-levels, Anita approached the team leader, who looked at her with concern in his blue eyes. “You sure you’re up for this?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Paragon.

“There’s something off about you when it comes to J’Karra. You two obviously have some connection after you mind-melded or whatever in North Korea.”

“So what? You think I’m going to go easy on her because we’ve shared thoughts?”

“I’m just saying, you were pretty adamant in saying she was a good person before she attacked the White House. And you seemed hesitant in the air. But then you get down here and you’re ready to tear through any barriers to get to her.”

“You’re worried I’m compromised, aren’t you?” she asked. “Being controlled by her, like the Analyst did to me last year?”

“No, I know that’s not it. But there is something odd going on here.”

“Does J’Karra have motivations for her actions? Yes. Just like I’m sure every other threat we’ve gone up against had. But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s a danger and I’m going to stop her,” said Paragon.
 

Gunsmith gave a nod. “Okay, good. So long as we’re on the same page. Just don’t let your emotions get the better of you down there.”

CHAPTER 9

J’Karra was able to move through Area 51 with relative ease. Any guards that came upon her, she quickly dispatched without dealing too much permanent damage. She reactivated her helmet and she found that there was a Kotharian beacon. It was faint, but still there and the position showed on her helmet’s HUD.

She moved down the stairwells, the beacon growing stronger as she approached. Just through one last corridor and then she’d be at the entrance. There were a few human lifeforms her suit’s scanners were picking up. J’Karra readied her bow and stepped out of cover.

The two guards she spotted flanking the door raised their weapons. J’Karra unleashed a pair of psionic arrows that dropped them both to the ground. She approached the door. It was thick and had a security lock on it. Even if she had explosives on her, the door would likely come out of it without a scratch.

J’Karra knelt down by the guards and set her bow on the ground in front of her. She placed her fingertips on the guards’ heads and closed her eyes, concentrating. She scanned through their minds, trying to see if they had the information she needed. But unfortunately, the guards were useless. They had no access to what was behind the door, they were just here to guard it.

She sighed and stood. Bending her arm in front of her, she entered some commands into the gauntlet. The HUD informed her that the suit was trying to break through the security protocols that kept the door closed. There was also a warning that Chaknaar-powered individuals were en route.
 

Vanguard.

J’Karra wasn’t looking forward to another battle with them. But she needed to know the truth of what had been done to her people. After another moment or two, the HUD reported success and she heard the locks turning. The door opened with a hiss, sliding to the side.
 

She took her bow and stepped inside, bringing it up and ready to fire. The room wasn’t very large. It was filled with computers and there were two men and one woman inside the room, all wearing lab coats. They raised their hands in surrender and a quick scan by her suit told J’Karra that they possessed no weapons.

“Please, don’t hurt us,” said one of the men.
 

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Dr. Beck.” He pointed to the next man. “This is Dr. Ambrose,” and then finally gestured to the woman, “and Dr. Roche.”

“We’re scientists, we’re just working on research for the government,” said Roche.

“You have something that belongs to me,” said J’Karra. “That belongs to my people.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Ambrose.

J’Karra reached a hand for her helmet. It receded into its housings, revealing her face to them. There was an audible gasp from the three scientists.

“My god…” said Roche. “She looks just like them.”

“Where is it? Where are they?” asked J’Karra.

“We’ll show you. Just…please, lower your weapon,” said Beck. We’re unarmed, we couldn’t hurt you even if we wanted.”

J’Karra performed a surface scan of their thoughts. It was difficult without physical contact, but she could at the very least act as a sort of lie detector. And she got the sense they were being truthful.

“Very well.” Her bow collapsed and she affixed it to the housing beneath her cape. “Show me.”

Beck breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his companions. “Come on, let’s show her.”

The three scientists led her from the computers to another door. Ambrose entered in his security clearance and the door opened for him. The adjoining room was a large hangar. A ship was on the ground in the center of the room, with a ramp leading up to it. Panels were removed from the outer hull, with the wires and technology inside exposed. And the hatch was open.

“This is it,” said J’Karra.
 

“It crashed here on Earth about seventy years ago,” said Ambrose. “We’ve been studying it ever since.”

“It was a research vessel,” said J’Karra. “Sent to explore other worlds. On a mission of peace.” She angrily spun on the scientists. “And you shot it down!”

“What? No!” said Roche. “We didn’t shoot anything down!”

“Listen to me, we’re not sure what caused the crash,” said Beck. “The flight recorder has remained a total mystery to us. Linguists have spent decades trying to decipher the language with no success.”

J’Karra narrowed her eyes. “The crew. What happened to them?”

Beck looked down at his feet. J’Karra’s eyes took stock of Roche and Ambrose, who were also looking away. She sensed hesitation from them mixed with fear. They were keeping something from her. J’Karra grabbed Beck by his neck and lifted him off the ground.

“St-stop!”

“Where
are
they?” she asked again.
 

“We’ll show you, just put him down!” pleaded Roche. J’Karra looked at the woman. The fear had grown in all of them. They were terrified J’Karra would kill them once she found what she was looking for.

“Do as I say when I say it and you shall be unharmed.” J’Karra dropped Beck and turned her back to him as he coughed. Ambrose helped him to his feet while J’Karra approached Roche.

“Just…follow me,” said Roche. She moved away from the ship, down to another door across the room from the one they entered in. Another security checkpoint to pass and then they entered. This was a long corridor leading to a medical laboratory of some sort. J’Karra looked around the room. There were gurneys lined up, and surgical tools. Bright lights and illuminators.
 

“This way,” said Roche, leading J’Karra to another door. Yet another checkpoint and J’Karra stared at Roche as she entered in her clearance.

“Your people are quite distrustful of one another.”

“It’s for security reasons,” said Roche. “If this got out…”

The door opened with a hiss and J’Karra felt the air grow cooler as mist coalesced out from the chamber. Roche entered, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering a bit. J’Karra’s armor adjusted to the elements, allowing her body to remain at a comfortable temperature regardless of the environment.

But when J’Karra saw what was in this chamber, she felt a chill go down her spine.
 

Glass tubes lined the walls. Most were empty but three contained bodies. They were mostly frozen with their eyes shut, but J’Karra could tell their skin tone matched hers. Pointed ears and long, yellow braids. Just like hers. If J’Karra could examine their eyes, she knew they would be identical to her own.

“What have you done?” she asked.

“They all died in the crash,” said Roche.
 

J’Karra’s eyes ran over the naked flesh of the Kotharian corpses. She noticed cuts on the bodies and angrily glared at Roche. “You opened them up?”

Roche gulped and then gave a hesitant nod. “W-we performed autopsies, yes. We wanted to try and understand their anatomy and where they came from.”

J’Karra took a menacing step towards Roche, her yellow eyes flashing with anger. “You cut. Them. Up!”

Roche backed away from J’Karra, stepping out of the chamber and into the medical room. She backed into a gurney and stumbled, falling to the ground. “No, please don’t hurt me!”

“They were in this galaxy on a research mission and you
butchered
them! For what?” J’Karra raised her bow, ready to fire a deadly psionic arrow. But before she could release the string, a powerful red and white streak barreled into her, slamming her against the metal cabinet. The glass shattered and there was a massive dent in the wall. J’Karra looked into the eyes of her attacker.

“I’ve had just about enough of your shit!” said Paragon.

CHAPTER 10

J’Karra launched a psychic attack that caused Paragon to loosen her grip. With her movement no longer restricted, J’Karra drew her bowstring and fired a psionic arrow right in Paragon’s face.
 

The pain in the special’s brain was searing and it was followed by more and more attacks. J’Karra was no longer playing nice. If Paragon still tried to stand in her way, she would tear right through her.

An energy blast struck J’Karra in the face. Zenith flew into the room, grabbing J’Karra by her throat and hurling her across the medical lab. Before she hit anything, Zenith rocketed at her, grabbing her in mid-air and taking her down the corridor into the hangar. He fired his cannon at point-blank range, blasting her against the hull of the ship.

J’Karra strained to get up, but before she could recover, Sharkskin pounced on her. His balled fists flew at her. She twisted her head from side to side, his fists pounding into the ship’s hull instead. J’Karra stared at his black eyes and he screamed as she launched an attack at his mind.
 

Shift tried to sneak up behind J’Karra, her arms stretching out as tentacles and wrapping around the warrior’s bow. J’Karra spun, holding tightly to her weapon and bracing her feet against the hull. She pulled back and the two women were locked in a tug-of-war. J’Karra took one of her hands off the bow and instead grabbed the string, drawing it back until a psionic arrow appeared. She released the string and the arrow struck Shift dead center in her chest.

Sentinel unleashed volleys of energy blasts at J’Karra from above while Gunsmith fired from the ground below. J’Karra hopped around the ship, nimbly avoiding the attacks. She launched arrows at the two, missing the mark but keeping them on their toes as well.
 

Wraith appeared from a portal behind her and unleashed his ebon blasts on the warrior. J’Karra screamed as she fell, struggling with the emotions that overwhelmed her. But she wasn’t as affected as strongly as most and just as Wraith came within range, her leg swept out and knocked him onto his back.
 

Paragon came charging back in like a rocket. She flew right at J’Karra, one hand wrapped around her neck, the other keeping a firm grip on her hair. Paragon flew J’Karra into the ceiling, slamming her hard against the surface. She pulled her away and released her grip just long enough to deliver a punch that knocked J’Karra down into the ground.

With her arms stretched out in front of her, Paragon barreled down at J’Karra. But as she came closer, J’Karra looked into Paragon’s eyes. There was a flash and suddenly Paragon found herself in a cavern. She looked around and she started to remember where she was.

“No…Not this…not again…”

She saw guards posted at the exits of the chamber. The ceiling and walls were rock, but fitted with lights and metal. She saw banners hanging around the room. All of them black with a red fist rising up. She saw a man. Silver hair, thin mustache, with a grim smile on his face.

And then another. Seated on a throne of power. His head bald, his western features a stark contrast to the eastern clothing he wore and the Fu Manchu mustache he sported. He rose from his throne, brushing his crimson cape behind him as he locked his hands behind his back. Slowly, he descended the steps to his throne and approached Anita, who sat on her knees, arms shackled behind her back. Still in her costume.
 

The Khagan reached a hand out and gripped her chin, his cold blue eyes staring right into her brown ones. He scoffed and smiled. “Did you really think you could get away from me that easily, Anita?”

“This isn’t real,”
said Anita.
 

“Oh but yes, it is. It is
very
real,” said the Khagan. “What, you thought you were able to escape? That you and your little team could stop my ascension? My dear, you have always been under my thumb. We only let you believe you had succeeded, a fantasy in order to better assert control.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?” The Khagan stepped back and looked to the Analyst. “Show her.”

“Yes, my lord.” The Analyst stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back. When he reached Anita, he stared into her eyes while his own seemed to change and shift. Swirls of color that she became lost in, like falling down a deep, dark hole. “Look, Anita. Look at what you’ve wrought.”

Anita gasped as she saw herself standing over the bodies of her fallen friends. Shift’s body had been stretched to its limit. Zenith’s head torn from his body. Gunsmith lay in the ruins of his shattered armor. Wraith’s eyes were open, black as usual but completely empty. Sharkskin’s head was turned completely the wrong way around. And Sentinel had a massive hole in his chest.
 

As Paragon stood over them, she glanced down at her hands. They were dripping with the blood of her teammates. Completely soaked in them. She dropped to her knees as the Khagan came up behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder.