Chapter 10: The Gathering Storm

The ride home was silent. No congratulatory words were spoken. No cheers of victory. No one jeered the prisoner at their defeat. All of them just sat in their seats and stared at D’Nak with murderous intent. For the first time in his existence, D’Nak was now truly afraid. Giving up their companion was part of their plan, but he did not expect his master to snuff him out. That made his position now all the more precarious.

The installed dampers on this ship and the cuffs he is wearing took away the Flow. As they marched him onto the ship they were all silent, not even the other soldiers said a word. He got put into his cell, but Bracus was on him, grabbed him by the throat and shoved him into the wall, slowly squeezing the life out of him. It took Seven, Death and Pericles to get Bracus off him.

“I will destroy you and your whole god damn race before this is over! D’ya hear me!” Bracus screamed at him as the three strongest men on the ship dragged him off.

“Are you calm? Or do I need to restrain you?” Seven asked Bracus. Bracus looked up at Seven and smiled. Seven started to chuckle.

“You do surprise me boy.” Seven said, laughing.

“Who to the what now?” Death asked, very confused.

“It never hurts to put the fear of God into a prisoner.” Bracus replied.

“So it was an act?” Diane asked him.

“Not entirely. I still want to rip out his eyes and shove it up his ass, but having a fearful prisoner is still better than having a defiant one.” Bracus told her.

“So now we have the tomb and D’Nak. So what comes next?” Remus inquired. Seven pointed at the door.

“Let them in.” He ordered one of the soldiers. In walked three men and a woman, all dressed up in military finery.

“May I introduce the leaders of the Sons of Adam. Leaders from the countries who refused to cooperate with the Hadnese. The American Patriot splinter group. The remnants of the African union. The Pacific Islanders coalition and the representative from the Chinese mainland.” Seven finished the introductions.

“China? I thought they were one of the Hadnese’s biggest supporters?” Jason asked. The woman smiled and extended Jason a hand in greeting.

“I am General Ming Luixhao. My government thought it would be prudent to have a backup plan incase our visitors were less than… benevolent. Officially my country will disavow my actions if things go badly for us.” She introduced herself, shaking Jason’s hand.

“You do know if things go badly for us today that you will have no government to disavow you right? Might as well bring the entire might of China along for the ride.” Death remarked.

She smiled back and smoothly replied: “My government thinks it has a good chance of survival if we fail here.” She finished. Death just shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs.

“General McAdams, where do we stand on air power?” Seven asked. The portly little general took off his hat.

“Since the disarmament of the old United States defense forces, a lot of our assets were decommissioned. Lucky for us I kept quite a few of them hidden. Remnants of the first and fifth fleets are at your disposal.” He reported. Seven nodded.

“Africa stands ready with the best of our soldiers. One hundred and forty thousand strong.” The African delegate said, stepping forward.

“May I introduce General Khambule. He and the former prime minister of New Zealand have been working together with the logistics of our campaign.” He introduced them both

“So what is China going to bring to the table?” Bracus asked.

“Our people, since the invaders arrival, have been studying their weapons technology, which sad to say is hundreds of years ahead of ours. Self-replicating ammunition, gravity fields to repel projectiles, the stuff from science fiction nightmares. We have been working day and night to reverse engineer their tech. As a result we have a few thousand of our soldiers outfitted with advanced weapons. Africa will be the hammer and we are the nail.” General Ming ended.

They all nodded with approval.

“Hang on! We are missing someone here.” Death remarked. Bracus looked to him and nodded.

“We are still missing one of the greatest key players here. Where the hell are the Russians?” Bracus asked Seven. He just sighed.

“Their involvement is minimal, yet existing. They wish to claim neutrality during the conflict. They offered military equipment and supplies and nothing more.” Seven said, the disdain clear in his voice.

“They do realize what happens if we fail here right? Humanity becomes roadhouse goodies!” Death remarked, throwing his hands up into the air.

“They still feel they can negotiate with the Hadnese. What price has to be paid in order for…”Seven started the next sentence when alarms started to go off.

“What’s happening?” Seven asked for a report.

“Something massive just entered our atmosphere sir.” The soldier replied.

“Put it on the viewer!” Seven barked the order. Everyone in the room gathered around the screen.

A massive oblong-shaped construct landed in the centre of Aegis Prime, supported by four pincer-like legs. It emitted a beam of sorts and deposited, what looked like soldiers onto the ground, as aircraft from landing bays started to leave it and circle it above.

“That, my friends, is Ilo.” Pericles said softly. Diane held onto Remus.

“Bracus and Death. Since you two are the most experienced commanders here, we need you both to lead the attack on Aegis Prime. Buy us time to free Adam.” They both nodded and left the room with the generals.

“You three come with me.” Seven ordered the rest, as they walked down below to the tomb. It was already standing upon a transfer pad.

“You have to stay here my dear. I am afraid this has now become a bit too dangerous for you.” Seven told Diane. She started to protest, but Remus interrupted her.

“Stay here my love. I will return.” He said kissing her on the forehead, then on her lips.

“You don’t get to die again. You hear me?” She ordered him. He just flashed a grin at her and stepped onto the pad with the rest of them. Pericles looked at her and she saw great sadness in his eyes.

“The same goes for you marble man.” She called out to him. He put a fist over his chest and bowed deeply.

“As you command my lady.” Pericles replied while looking at Remus. Soldiers entered the room and D’Nak was inside a dampening cubicle and was also placed onto the pad.

“Let’s see if you are as useful as I think you are.” Seven sneered at the pale D’Nak.

“Take us to Bermuda.” He ordered. And they, along with the tomb, dematerialized.

---

Once again he was on a boat. God, I hate boats, he thought. He took a step onto the prow and turned to face the men and women following him into battle. Some were young. Some were old. Different races and religions. All he could think about was the irony. A lot of these people were enemies at some point in history. How pointless all those wars looked to him now.

If they survive this and manage to drive out Ilo and his Hadnese, humanity will have a whole different meaning to a lot of people. He felt like he should say something. A lot of the men on this boat were nervous. Some even soiled themselves or threw up. He looked over to Death, standing upon the prow of his boat seemingly enjoying the moment. He touched the com piece in his ear.

“You are enjoying this far too much.” He told Death. He grinned and fiddled with the ammo belt.

“Of course! Battle and mayhem is what I live for!” Death replied.

Bracus motioned for everyone on the boat to activate their coms and listen in.

“Have you given your big battle speech yet?” Bracus asked him.

“Nah. I prefer my massive gun to do the talking.” Death replied, lovingly patting his groin. A lot of the men on the boats started to snigger. Bracus just shook his head.

“What about that beast of a cleaver you carry on your back? You going to use it this time?” Death asked him, referring to the massive ornate sword Bracus carried.

If I run out of bullets, yes.” Bracus replied smiling. It was working. A lot of the men started to enjoy this to-and-fro banter between them.

“That’s assuming you live long enough to run out of bullets.” Death replied.

“Then how about we make a game of it, a little wager?” Bracus proposed. Death nodded.

“What are the terms?” He asked.

“It’s simple; whoever kills the most Hadnese wins.” Bracus laid down the rules of the wager, but Death shook his head in the negative.

“No way to prove it boyo. I can easily say I killed a hundred more than you.” Death replied. Bracus turned around to the men.

“Then maybe we should put the rules for the men to decide?” He roared sweeping his arms across the boat.

All the soldiers on the boats roared with him. One soldier raised his arm. Bracus motioned for him to continue, but the sea erupted as the Hadnese started to fire on them. There were some panicked screams, but Bracus held fast to the nearest man.

“Are you afraid?” He yelled at him. The trooper looked around and nodded ashamedly.

“I am also afraid.” He said more calmly over the com. Another explosion rocked the boats as another near miss threatened to pulverize the vessel next to them.

“But the things I fear most, is not those cowardly bastards firing on us now. I fear of becoming a slave again. I fear death without meaning. Today I do not fear either. Do you know why?” He asked the soldier.

“No sir, why?” He asked the trembling in his voice subsiding.

“Because I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees!” Bracus pulled the sword from its scabbard, hoisting the mighty blade aloft and roared as loudly as he could.

Death did the same, hoisting the massive gun above his head. All the soldiers listening in started to chant their names loudly and when the next blast erupted, no one flinched or cried out in panic. They all stood to their posts, steady to their purpose.

“Not the best speech in the world, but I have heard worse”. Death told him. Bracus grinned at an old memory.

“George’s inauguration speech.” Bracus recalled.

“God it was drier than toast.” They both laughed.

Now, do you have some words of wisdom for that?” Death asked Bracus, pointing to the titanic form of Ilo in the distance. Bracus smiled.

“Kill them all.” He growled, gripping the hilt of his sword ever tighter.

---

They stood on the beach, far away from anyone on the island. They did not know what repercussions awaited them upon freeing Adam.

“So what do we do now?” Jason asked Seven.

We just channel as much power as we can into the tomb. Hopefully, it will reach critical mass and just crack open like an egg.” Seven told him, rolling up his sleeves.

“You don’t know what you are doing! You are unleashing doom upon us all!” D’Nak screamed from his cubicle. It made them stop short.

“What is he on about?” Jason asked.

“Fear has finally gripped him. He knows when Adam is released, he will die, a nasty prospect for any immortal.” Pericles said, smiling.

“Well it hasn’t stopped you from helping us.” Remus said, but couldn’t mask the sarcasm in his voice.

“I have different motivations than our prisoner here.” Pericles replied, folding his arms over his massive barreled chest.

“Come on boys, we can pull out the rulers later. We have work to do here.” Seven remarked drily.

Both Pericles and Remus just gave each other dirty looks. Seven walked up to both of them.

“Is working together going to be a problem for you two? Because I can’t have you two fighting like schoolboys over a girl when the world is at stake here.” Both of them started to protest over the notion, but Seven held up his hand to silence them.

“You both want that girl to live? Then stow your crap for two minutes and help me save this world!” He sharply reprimanded them. They both felt foolish. There were bigger things afoot than their rivalry.

“On my mark!” Seven commanded. They all started to channel. The wind kicked up. Small pebbles on the beach lifted off the sand as gravity seemed to shift. All of them filled up to the brim.

“Now!” Seven yelled. They all extended their hands towards the tomb and unleashed all the power they had within them. The earth started to shake in protest.

“We need more! This is not enough!” Pericles yelled, straining his body to the maximum. The rock started to crack, letting through a sliver of pure white light.

“We’re almost there boys! Just a bit more!” Seven told them. A second crack formed.

“I am almost spent!” Remus roared, veins in his neck showing the strain on his body. Seven looked back at D’Nak.

“Jason! Drain that bastard. We need more power!” Seven ordered him. Jason shook his head.

“I won’t! It’s unnatural!” He yelled back, his legs starting to buckle.

“If you don’t we are all doomed! Do it now!” Seven pleaded with Jason. Jason looked at the tomb and then at Seven. He extended his one hand towards D’Nak.

“You don’t know what you are doing!” D’Nak shrieked in a high-pitched voice before Jason dug into the core of his being and formed a bridge between him and their prisoner.

D’Nak started to scream and roll around in his cubicle uncontrollably. The power of the prophet flowed into Jason and almost immediately he felt renewed. God this was a lot, he thought as the raw energies of D’Nak flowed into him. It was sublime. Almost narcotic. He almost decided to keep the power to himself, but Seven shoved him.

“Focus! Unleash it!” He ordered Jason. His eyes flickered a bright magenta and just before he thought he could not stand the ecstasy any longer he extended both his hands once more and like a pure conduit let it all flow into the unyielding rock.

Two more cracks. Three more after that. All of them realized it was now or never and forced every ounce of power their bodies could muster into the stone. The earth shook violently and when their screams reached an ear-shattering crescendo, the rock exploded. The shockwave knocked them all down, casting them all into darkness.