The Vanguard Protocol
Copyright© 2024 by Sci-FiTy1972
Chapter 12B: The Price of Power
Act III — A Stronger Body, A Heavier Soul
Bastion One gave them walls.
But walls didn’t win wars.
They needed people.
They needed time.
They needed an edge the Kael’dar couldn’t anticipate.
The edge arrived like a whisper in Elena’s voice.
“Thomas,” she said over comms. “You need to come to the lab.”
He found her hunched over a holographic interface, eyes bright with the kind of fear scientists got when they discovered something too big to be safe.
Hidden deep in the Erebus archives were encrypted files older than the rest—tagged with a crystalline hexagonal symbol Elena had never seen.
She projected the contents.
Schematics. Biological diagrams. Neural maps.
Thomas stared. “What is it?”
Elena swallowed. “Nanotechnology. Symbiotic. Military enhancement.”
Zara’s expression hardened. “What’s the catch?”
Elena hesitated. “It wasn’t built for humans. And the notes mention ... dependency.”
Solace’s voice filled the room like cold air.
“The nanobots are Aelyth biotech. They enhance physiology, accelerate healing, and stabilize trauma response. Integration must be voluntary. Synchronization with Erebus-derived systems is recommended for stability.”
Gear muttered, “Recommended sounds like required.”
Solace did not deny it.
Thomas looked at the vial—a shimmering silver liquid that didn’t reflect light so much as drink it.
“Can it help us?” he asked.
“Yes,” Elena said. “If it works.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Zara pressed.
Elena’s voice went quieter. “Then we could lose people. Or worse ... change them.”
Thomas didn’t flinch from that.
“We need every advantage,” he said. “But nobody gets forced.”
Zara’s smirk returned—thin and protective. “If you become a super-soldier, Captain, I’m not letting you outpace me.”
Gear snorted. “I just want knees that don’t hate me.”
Lyara didn’t joke. Her glow dimmed. “Power is never free.”
Thomas met her gaze. “No. It isn’t.”
Lila’s First Steps
They didn’t test on soldiers first.
They tested on someone who had already paid the price of life.
Lila sat in the medical bay, paralyzed from the waist down, Zara standing beside her with a tension she tried to hide under sarcasm.
“You don’t have to do this,” Zara said softly.
Lila smiled—steady, stubborn. “I spent years watching life happen around me. If this gives me back my legs, I’ll take the risk. If it gives you a chance to win ... I’ll take it twice.”
Elena’s hands trembled slightly as she prepared the injection.
Thomas noticed. He didn’t comment. He just stayed—present, accountable.
Solace spoke quietly.
“Initiating integration.”
The nanobots entered Lila’s bloodstream like liquid starlight.
Seconds passed.
A minute.
Her vitals spiked. Elena held her breath.
Then Lila’s toes moved.
Zara made a sound—half laugh, half sob.
Elena whispered, “It’s working...”
And when Lila sat up—shaking, trembling, alive—Thomas felt something press behind his eyes.
Not joy.
Relief.
Because for once, the future wasn’t just war.
It was healing.
Hours later, Lila stood.
Then took a step.
Then another.
Tears streamed down her face as she whispered, “I’m whole again.”
Zara turned away quickly, wiping her eyes like it was sweat.
Gear muttered, “Okay ... that’s ... yeah. That’s something.”
Thomas swallowed. “That’s everything.”
Recruitment Begins
Once the nanobots proved viable, Bastion One changed overnight.
It became not just a base—
but a beacon.
Carefully controlled. Highly concealed. But still a beacon.
Thomas reached out to Earth—quietly at first, through trusted channels. Military leaders. Engineers. Scientists. People whose loyalty was to humanity, not politics.
Commander Halstrom answered with a face full of skepticism and a voice that sounded like sandpaper.
“So you’re telling me aliens are real, they’re coming, and you’ve got a ship?” Halstrom said. “That’s your pitch?”
Thomas didn’t blink. “No. My pitch is this: come see it. Then decide whether you can live with doing nothing.”
Halstrom paused. Then: “Send coordinates. No promises.”
When Halstrom arrived and watched an asteroid “open” like a mouth into a hangar bay, his professionalism cracked for a moment.
“Holy...” he breathed.
Thomas greeted him with a handshake. “Welcome to the front lines.”
The Helion Core
That night, Thomas gathered his senior crew—Zara, Elena, Gear, Halstrom, Lyara.
Solace hovered, dim.
Thomas didn’t ease into it.
“Elena found references in your programming,” he said to Solace. “A weapon. A failsafe. The Helion Core.”
The room tightened.
Solace’s light pulsed, as if considering how much truth to release.
“The Helion Core is an Aelyth Dominion safeguard,” Solace said. “A device capable of neutralizing galactic-scale threats. Activation requires precise conditions and authorization. It was not designed for casual use.”