Chapter 39

The landscape ahead of them looked much the same as it had over the past hour or so; ruins and refuse everywhere. It was almost as though the entire planet had become one giant slag heap. Given what Alex had read about the Bombardment, it was kind of expected, with the damage the Confederacy had wrought. Still, it was a shock to see in person, even though he’d been mentally prepared for it.

With the level of devastation being so complete, it was hard not to understand why the locals were distrustful of outsiders. First the Confeds show up and ruin entire worlds, then the Federation abandons the people that had survived here. The sheer level of stupidity and nihilism that plagued the galaxy today was beyond what Alex had feared. It just boggled the mind why people had a senseless need to destroy.

“See anything, Alex?” Natalya queried, snapping Alex out of his thoughts.

“Nope! Keeping my eyes open, yet I don’t see a damn thing!” he replied, scanning the landscape for any signs of life.

“We need to stay vigilant! As I said, the Shadow Dancers are a mysterious lot and they don’t take kindly to trespassers! I’d be surprised if no one is watching us right now!” Dagan called out from the driver’s seat.

“I wouldn’t either, if I was trying to keep any intel of a group that I ran out of the hands of strangers or anyone who was too nosy!” Kasumi stated as she too kept glancing to and fro. No one had spotted anything yet, even though they were all staring out and around, trying to pick out any watchers from the rubble that dotted the landscape.

“I would be much the same, if I was—JESUS CHRIST!!!” Dagan cursed as he hit the brakes on the rover, trying to bring it to a complete stop.

In front of him, right out of nowhere, a grayish portal had materialized right in front of them. It was easily large enough to overtake the entire rover and their passengers, swallowing them whole! Dagan had tried to stop them cold, but it was too late, they were already through. He cursed as gunfire erupted from the area they now found themselves in, peppering the armor plating of the vehicle.

“GOD DAMMIT!! We need to get out of here!” Dagan screamed, as he ducked in his seat, trying to keep his head from being blown off.

“Foot on the gas, captain!! I got this!” Alex bellowed.

He brought forth his Aetheric power, remembering what he did on the station at Veldhern. This time, Alex made it so that it wasn’t just a shield protecting them, but a dome. A bulletproof dome that would ensure they would all survive the incoming fire. Moments after Alex started to bring it into being, he spread his arms and the violet bubble of energy snapped into place, protecting everyone in the rover.

“What the...” Dagan exclaimed, shocked at what he was witnessing.

“Keep driving!” Korsa told him, as she brought her gold energy to bear, strengthening Alex’s shield with her own power as well.

Dagan didn’t argue and put the pedal to the metal, pushing the rover forward and out of the ambush. The Shadow Dancers stared in awe at this new power, wondering who the fuck these people were! The rover continued on, passing the final killbox their assailants had set up, quickly passing out of range.

He kept driving, keeping the rover at maximum speed until they were easily nearly a dozen kilometers away. Once they were far enough away from even a sniper’s bullet, is when Dagan stopped the rover. The moment they halted was when Alex and Korsa brought down their shields. The group spilled out of the rover, needing a beat to process the situation they found themselves in.

“What ... the fuck just happened?” Captain Min questioned, beyond angry at their current circumstances.

“We were shot at!! That’s what fucking well happened!!!” Kasumi replied, more than a little pissed at being shot at.

“I know that!! What I want to know is ... how the fuck did we wind up at the ruins of Heliopolis! This ruin is nearly several hundred kilometers from Tanith’s Gully, yet we were brought here in an instant!” Dagan fumed as he looked around at the ruins that surrounded them.

“It must have been a portal of some sort. That’s how we got here so fast! That also solves the mystery of how people who go searching for the Shadow Dancers vanish. They must have had someone nearby, radioing their portal maker to open one up at whoever was looking for them. The portal opens up, the people go through and it looks to the rest of the populace that they vanished into thin air,” Alex surmised.

“I didn’t believe the rumors, but seeing it in real life was more than enough for me to become a believer!” Dagan breathed, still coming to terms with what had happened.

“It’s clever, really! Hell of a way to keep people at bay and drive everyone’s superstitions to a point where they’ll be the ones to make up the horror stories for you! Did anyone see what color the portal was?” Alex questioned.

“I’m pretty sure that it was gray. It blended in too much with the surrounding landscape to stand out,” Natalya answered.

“Hunh! What has me stumped, is how could a surface user draw enough Aetheric power to create a portal that large? I mean, such feats are beyond mere surface users, aren’t they?” Shazza posed.

“Hmm. I suppose it’s a question that we’ll have to ask the bastard when we find him or her,” Kasumi stated.

“Oh? Do you mean this bastard?” a masculine voice called out.

Everyone drew their weapons and pointed them at the source of the sound. It was a dark-skinned man who stood there with a smug look on his face. The look came from the fact that he was surrounded by men and women, who were also armed like the Darkstrider crew was. The biggest difference was that the weapons in question were pointed at the crew.

“In answer to your question, a lot of practice was needed to do that. But, like riding a bike, once you know how, you don’t forget. Put down your weapons and surrender. No one needs to die here,” the man stated. The crew looked around them and it was clear as day they were surrounded and outmatched.

“I don’t think so. You rely on people doing your bidding when you have them at your mercy. Newsflash boy, we won’t go down and if we do, we’ll incur a high cost from you and yours,” Alex growled, keeping his violet energy handy and in plain sight.

Seeing such energies daunted the man, as he stared down at the crew. He remembered that energy which had color to it was far more potent than the energy he possessed. It was definitely something that he’d have to consider, as he wasn’t told of this from his spies in Tanith’s Gully. Had they been aware of such things, he would have been informed, but regardless of the situation, he was formulating what to do next.

“Hey, Dak! Is that her?” one of the men there asked Dak, who was there helping the Shadow Dancers, despite his recent capture. The man squinted at the woman in question, then his eyes widened upon recognizing Shazza.

“Yeah, Rod! That’s the bitch all right!” Dak growled, leveling his weapon at the woman.

“Gun her ass down!” Rod called out to the Shadow Dancers. Some of the people assembled opened fire, while others were wondering what the fuck was going on. The moment Rod said that, Alex brought his shield back into being, keeping the rover crew safe from the oncoming gunfire.

“Wha—hold your fire!!” the leader boomed, causing some of the attacking group to cease.

“Who the fuc—” the man growled, intending to berate Rod for his insubordinate behavior. He would have continued, but Rod had already closed the distance and driven a long knife in the man’s gut. He looked down at the weapon buried in him and then glared at Rod, wanting to tear him to shreds for this betrayal.

“Sorry, little Matty! But you gotta die!” Rod sassed as he drew his pistol, intending to end his life. “Brutus protocol, initiate!!!”

Just then, two-thirds of the Shadow Dancers turned on the others, gunning down those who were close while sending the others scurrying for cover. A massive firefight ensued, with both sides trading shots, but neither one gaining the upper hand. Rod would have killed Matthias, but his hand was pulverized by a charging Alex, who knocked the pistol out of his grip, sending it flying.

Rod screamed in pain, but even that was short-lived, as Alex decked the man with an Aetheric punch. The blow sent the man flying over fifty feet through the air, but it wasn’t enough to kill the man. Alex had held back his full might, not wanting to end him, but question him after he subdued arrogant prick. Alex smashed the ground with Aether powered fists, and the ground itself rumbled, kicking up waves of dirt and debris, sending the nearest turncoats tumbling to their backs.

Korsa dashed forward, bringing her own shield into being, while Natalya, Kasumi and Shazza flew through the air, using the Aether to drive back their assailants. Kasumi called upon her power and pushed forward with her hands, creating a tidal wave of rocks and dirt. The men and women screamed in fear upon seeing this, not wanting to get buried in the debris.

Natalya punched the ground with her energies, which created massive human shaped fists to punch out of the ground beneath the turncoats, scattering them. Shazza’s display was no less impressive, as she literally flew through the air, using her Aetheric power to heft large boulders and throw them as a child might throw rocks. Fearful of what might come next, the Shadow Dancer turncoats fled, picking up their leader, their friends and running as fast as their legs could carry them!

Dagan Min and his men were bewildered at this turn of events, but did everything possible to aid Alex and his ladies. Even though the situation was beyond weird for the man, he figured it was best to go with the flow of things. He aided some groups of the Shadow Dancers, helping drive off the last bunches of turncoats as they fled. Once they were gone, the men took a beat and surveyed the damage that had been done.

“Damn it! We came all this way to find you lot, only for this chance to be stolen away by some gangbanger politics!” Alex griped as he hit his knees in front of Matthias.

“What ... are you ... talking about?” Matthias asked, as he held his gut closed with his hands, trying to keep his lifeblood inside him, but failing. Alex was just about to speak, when Natalya came up to him, fairly glowing with her Aetheric energies.

“I can help, if you’ll let me,” Natalya told the man.

He stared up at her, wondering who she was and how she was doing that. Moreover, Matthias was debating if he could trust this woman, as beautiful women had gotten the better of him before. Seeing how he had little in the manner of options, he stared up at Natalya and nodded, giving his assent. Natalya then kneeled next to the man, placing her hands on his wound as her power flowed through her.

Like magic, his blood reversed course, pouring back into the man as his wound slowly closed. Once the last drop was back inside him, the cut sealed itself up, as though it had never been. Both Matthias and Alex looked at her in amazement, never having seen anything quite like that.

“Babe, you gotta teach me how to do that!” Alex said to her as he drew Natalya in for a kiss.

“It might be a bit of an uphill fight for that, but not impossible,” Natalya told him after she brought her face away from his.

“What do you mean?”

“Talk about it later, hon. There’s people here that need our help,” she said.

Alex looked around and saw that she was right, as there were wounded everywhere. There were less than a dozen people still alive there, and at least half a dozen or more who were dead or dying. He nodded, seeing the gravity of the situation and let her get to work alongside Korsa, who was already out among the Shadow Dancers, healing them. He then stared down at the man he was looking for and extended his hand.

“It’s just like that? We get hurt and you help us out?” Matthias asked skeptically, looking at Alex and his hand with a level of suspicion.

“Believe it or not, not everyone is out to murder your ass,” Alex said. “Least of all, me.”

Seeing the man was being genuine, Matthias took his hand and let himself be helped to his feet. Once he was standing, Matthias could tell that trying to go toe to toe with this guy was a bad idea. Even without his Aetheric power, the man could tell that the big man was a fighter and that he’d be a literal juggernaut in a fight. It was better to have such men as friends, if it could be managed.

Alex took stock of the man he helped up, noting how well the man was built. He could have passed for a soldier with how he stood and comported himself. He was well over six feet in height, with skin that was more of a light mocha color. He had brown eyes and a mix of European and African features that stood out. Mainly that was because of how handsome the man was, a fact that the ladies present had obviously noticed.

“So, your name is ... Alex?” Matthias asked.

“Yes. Alexander Matthias Tomisic,” Alex answered. “I would assume that you are Matthias Renauld?”

“You would assume correctly. But why is a military man like yourself and four gorgeous ladies, who are also military, all the way out here on Prodosia? Surely, you’ve all got better shit to do,” Matthias questioned.

“How could you tell we are military?” Alex wondered.

“The way you stand and move is telling in and of itself. Then there’s how most of you have your head on a swivel, always looking around and assessing the environment you’re in. I’ve known a few folks who did that and pretty much every one of them was military or ex-military,” Matthias answered.

“Very observant! Something I’m certain that helps you with running the Shadow Dancers,” Alex remarked.

“You still haven’t answered my question. What you and yours doing here?” Matthias reiterated.

“Believe it or not, we’re here, looking for you,” Kasumi stated, as she ambled up to him. Matthias couldn’t help but admire the mixed woman, as she carried herself with an air that told him she would thrash his ass, then laugh about it afterward. Women who could kick his ass were always a turn on for Matthias, as he found them incredibly attractive.

“Me? What’s so important about me that you’d come here to Prodosia?” Matthias scoffed.

“Your forebear, Analisa, and the things she left for you, and all those who came before you,” Alex said to him.

“Why are you so interested in these things?” Matthias asked, getting defensive.

“As you can tell, we are much like you are. We were told that you and those of your family bloodlines would have what we need to learn about this power that we wield,” Shazza stated.

“How in the name of ... whatever you believe, would you know about that?” Matthias asked, spooked at the level of their knowledge.

“Because,” Alex started, before looking around to ensure that no one was too close to hear him speak. “I am the one who helped bring your bloodline into being.”

“Ummm ... English please?” Matthias asked, more than a little confused at the implications.

“Simply put, he’s your ancestor. The one who gave Analisa the children she carried and birthed,” Kasumi told him.

“Wha—how the—fuck—that’s impossible! The ship that man got on was lost in space! It was a Prometheus class dreadnought, known as the Perseus!” Matthias said, more than a little skeptical at this thought.

“A ship that my crew and I found, a little more than a month ago,” Natalya told him, walking up to stand with her man.

“Bullshit! No way any of those ships could have survived this long with any survivors on board!” Matthias railed, still refusing to believe it.

“Everything can and will be explained, if you’re willing to hear it. We wanted you, at least, to know the truth of why we’re here. You deserve that much,” Alex told the man.

“As much as we would all like to try to convince you of the veracity of our story, I’m sure you’d like to know why all of this just happened,” Shazza reminded him.

“As would we all! I don’t get it! Why in the fuck would my own people, people I trusted, turn on me like this? I mean, Rod gave me trouble here and there, but it was nothing serious! I don’t fucking get it!” Matthias griped.

“I ... may have an explanation for why that is,” Dagan replied as he ambled up to the group.

“You know something we don’t? If you do, then spill!” Natalya demanded.

“Oh, I know a great many things that you don’t know! But this little tidbit was passed onto me from my men just over the radio. They have told me that apparently, the Human Confederacy is here on Prodosia, operating under our very noses. I have received word from our dear Captain Sunara that a troublemaker we all know is apparently a spy for them,” Captain Min told them.

“Oh? Who?” Shazza queried.

“I could give you three guesses on who it is, but after that incident on your landing pad when you all got here, I would say you will need only one,” Dagan smirked.

“You’re kidding me! That sorry sack of shit I laid out is a Confed spy?” Alex questioned, looking as surprised as he felt.

“Wait, are we talking about Sargol? The snively whiny sack of dicks that took you hitting him to heart?” Matthias asked. Everyone else burst out laughing at this characterization, thinking it more than fitting for the man!

“Alex here didn’t just lay his ass out. He broke his nose and sent him to his ass with just one punch! All because that man was looking at me like he was going to take me from Alex,” Shazza giggled, while preening at Alex.

“Hold up! All three of you ... are with the man?!?” Matthias gawped, in a state of disbelief that such a thing was possible!

“Not three, four,” Korsa smiled as she walked over and gave Alex a toe curling, carnal kiss. The intensity of it was enough to steal his breath away, and it took him a few moments to compose himself.

“Wha ... how ... how...” Matthias stuttered, as his mind churned with how this could be real!

“That is a question that I have asked the good man myself! He did promise words with me before he and his crew would leave Prodosia!” Dagan chimed in, catching Matthias’ attention.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind knowing how he does that either!” Matthias admitted.

“Can we focus on the how the Confeds got here and infiltrated this man’s group?” Natalya wondered, steering the conversation back to more important things.

“Yeah! I’d like to know that as well! Last I heard, groups situated out here in the wastelands weren’t exactly recruiting,” Alex agreed, citing what Inari had told him.

“That was years ago, back when things were rough for everyone. After the Bombardment, most of the survivors banded together and scavenged what they could. There wasn’t much left, but with so few of us on the planet, we found enough to carry on. That’s how things were for a while, until we saw that most of our supply was running low, and we needed to come up with a solution,” Matthias started.

“I’m guessing that someone suggested raiding other groups or settlements?” Kasumi asked.

“Yeah, and we did. It first started with raiding other groups who were arrayed against us. It wasn’t that hard, and it started to take on a life of its own after the first few raids. Once we had a taste for it, we couldn’t stop. Especially after I had learned how to make portals, which made everything much easier, and less complicated,” Matthias went on.

“Having to kill someone for their stuff usually does put a damper on things, doesn’t it?” Shazza sassed.

“What have you known about survival, bitch?” Matthias snapped. Shazza growled and embraced her Aetheric power, but Alex put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“I understand that survival is never easy and we shouldn’t make light of it,” Alex said, giving Shazza a knowing look. She did look a bit chagrined, as she did start that one, but then a smile bloomed once she heard Alex speak again.

“But I’ll tell you right now; take that type of tone with any of my ladies again, and I’ll fuck you up so bad, that your own mother won’t know what the fuck to make of you. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Matthias nodded, seeing that Alex was dead serious about carrying out that warning. “Anyway, it wasn’t until the last few years that we got together a crew large enough to try raiding the town of Tanith’s Gully. Lot of our recruits who joined us were from there, every one of them looking to just vanish, where no one could find them.”

“Is that where the guy who stuck you was picked up from?” Korsa asked.

“Yeah. Rod always was a pain in the ass and a headache from time to time, but he always pulled his weight. He was always intuitive, and he proved himself to be more than capable of handling things himself if things went to shit,” Mattias continued.

“You didn’t hear about the rumblings back home? About how a few folks had heard some disturbing shit of him trying to take over?” one of the nearby Shadow Dancers asked, as one of Dagan’s men patched her up.

“No, I didn’t! What did you hear, Dana?” Matthias pressed.

“That there was something planned about him making his final move against you and Gloria. He was only waiting for the go ahead from his boss, before he did anything solid,” the woman stated as her arm and shoulder were bandaged.

“Fuck!!! How could this have happened right under our noses?!?” Matthias groused.

“Probably when you started taking recruits from Tanith’s Gully. Odds are, the Confeds got orders to integrate into whatever was left here on Prodosia. From there, they were all to play their parts as they should be, while waiting for the final order to come down. Once it did, they would all be in positions of power, which would give them what they needed to take things over without much of a fight,” Alex surmised.

“You seem awful familiar with Confed tactics,” Matthias accused.

“Actually, it’s more like the Confeds took the idea of it from chess. You strategically position your pieces on the board, make whatever sacrifices you need, and when the timing is right, you strike. Often, when all the pieces fall into place, you only need one final move to end the game,” Alex replied. Matthias wore a look of revelatory disbelief, but it was obvious that all the pieces were fitting together into a picture he didn’t like.

“You said you recruited a lot of people from Tanith’s Gully to join your group and raid the settlement. Odds are, most of them were probably Confederate sleeper agents, under Rod’s command,” Natalya put forward.

“Sargol ... he must have been the one to start all this shit! I remember people saying about how he had been here for a while, since just after the Bombardment. If he is a Confed spy, as my men and Captain Sunara believe, then the odds are that he is the one pulling all the strings,” Dagan interjected.

“And ... I used him ... as an informant...” Matthias breathed, now aware of how stupid he’d been in trusting that man!

“Believe us now? About these people who might well be Confed spies then?” Korsa queried.

“Too much of what you say adds up for it to seem like a lie! I knew Sargol was into some shady shit, but him as a spy? I thought he was too small-minded for things like that!” Matthias groaned.

“People who stab you in the back are the ones you least suspect. They always appear to be on your side, while they prep the knife for the killing blow,” Shazza told him.

“Speaking from experience, miss...?”

“Shazza, and yes. More experience than I’d like to have, to be honest,” she replied, with a grim look on her face.

“I need to warn them!!” Matthias said frantically, as he grabbed at his pocket, pulling out an archaic-looking comms device.

“Warn who?” Alex questioned as he put his hand on his sidearm.

“My mom and anyone over at home base! She’s all I got!” Mathias almost pleaded.

“Make the call, and I pray that she picks up!” Alex told him earnestly. Matthias breathed a bit easier and activated the device, hoping and praying that his mom got the signal in time.

Gloria was walking home with her husband, Jonathan, as they had enjoyed an evening out for their tenth anniversary. The night was crisp, yet warm enough for her to walk around in the green dress without freezing. Jonathan was in a short-sleeved dress shirt and black slacks, which made his muscular frame stand out all the more.

Jonathan Renauld was a sturdy man, with dirty blond hair, blue eyes and chiseled good looks that made him appear to be a real-life version of Captain America. The man walked with a solid, yet fluid gait, which conveyed that he was someone who would put up a fight, if you were stupid enough to challenge him. The tightly packed muscles on his frame spoke of his dedication to staying fit, but also the raw power he commanded.

He not only had the physique and stamina but also the mindset of a soldier. Though he had spent a good deal of time in the Federation military, those days were over. He was retired now and living his life as a schoolteacher, with his wife Gloria and his son, Matthias. It was a simple life, but one he had taken on with great gusto, which Gloria appreciated to no end.

Gloria was a lithe, yet strong ebon skinned woman, that literally looked like a goddess out of the old Earth legends. Almond-shaped green eyes, skin that was smoother than silk, was paired with a voluptuous frame that could only be an hourglass in shape. She stood at about five-foot nine, and had a dancer’s physique, which completed the look she had that drew many male eyes.

She was easily as fit as her husband was, having been a fitness enthusiast for years before meeting her husband. While she wasn’t military like he was, she did just as much as he did to stay fit and after a decade of marriage, she still caught his eye whenever he saw her. It surprised that even after all this time, Jonathan was still as enamored of her as he was from that first date.

“Eeeek! Jonny, we’re in public!” she squealed as he kissed her neck.

“Does it look like I care? Let people stare if they want! They should see how a man should look at his wife after ten years together,” he chuckled as he kissed her neck again.

Truthfully, it was taking all of Gloria’s willpower to not jump her husband right there in the street! He knew how much his neck kisses turned her on and she was trying to fob him off with little success. As they kept walking down the road to their small house, Gloria’s breathing became a little more erratic, as what she had planned for the man came into her mind’s eye.

“Just so you know, I am going to have my way with you, sir, before this night is over,” she told him.

“As my lady wishes, so it shall be,” he grinned, and she giggled at how much of a nerd he was being.

She loved having Jonathan back after his tours in the military. Gloria always worried that she’d get that call or a visit from other men in uniform, telling her that he wasn’t coming home. Him coming home after he’d done his last tour had been one of the happiest days in her life. Now that he was home for good, there would be no more goodbyes for a long while.

Leaning into her man, the pair ambled across the street and up to their home. It was on the outskirts of Heliopolis, but it was a fairly new building, and there were skeletons of other homes not far from theirs. This place would soon be a new suburb, and little Matthias would soon have some kids his own age to play with. They walked up the step to their new home, opened the door, and walked in.

“Hello? Mrs. Renauld?” came the teenaged voice of Nadia, their babysitter.

“Hey, Nadia! Did he behave himself?” Gloria asked, wondering if her son had listened to Nadia this time around.

“That he did! He was the perfect little gentleman! Wherever the little troublemaker he used to be has gone, it’s like he stayed gone!” Nadia told the couple.

“Glad to hear it! Any chance of looking after Matti sometime in the next few weeks?” Jonathan asked.

“I’ll have to double check my schedule back home, then I’ll let you know in the next few days,” Nadia told him.

“Great!”

“Oh, and here you are! A little extra for agreeing to stay late!” Gloria said to the girl as she transferred the credits to the babysitter’s credstick.

“Thanks, Mrs. Renauld! This will be handy getting that hoverbike I’ve been wanting!” Nadia enthused.

“Just make sure that you take the proper safety courses and not those cheap ones! Hoverbikes can be dangerous when you don’t have the proper training!” Jonathan told her.

“Don’t worry, I will! Oh, and my dad said to tell you that poker night is still on! He’s looking forward to ‘kicking your ass’,” Nadia giggled.

“Tell him this, from me. ‘It’s on like Donkey Kong!’,” Jonathan laughed. Gloria shook her head as they bid Nadia good night and locked the door behind her. It was then that Jonathan’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her body into his.

“Ah, ah, ah! Go and check that Matti is asleep! Once you confirm he is, find me in our bedroom,” Gloria told him huskily.

Jonathan grunted in dismay, but he knew it was temporary as he headed up the stairs to check on their son. Gloria was right behind him and headed down the hall to where their bedroom was located. He noted she put an extra sway to her step, making her ass bounce left and right, drawing his gaze. Jonathan was going to make her pay for that, and he’d ensure that he took it out on her round and ample rear.