Savior Part 2: Son of Eden (The Savior Series) (31 page)

The ground beneath my feet was reduced to a crater as I rocketed forward and the world around me became a blur. The entire battle was suddenly stuck in slow motion as my adrenaline levels spiked and heightened my focus while I sped forward. Bullets and debris hung seemingly frozen in midair around The Greater, who was also frozen in place and inches away from slamming his flaming fist into the ground before him.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him and lifted him from the ground as I slammed into his body and sped away from the battle at over 800 miles per hour with him still held within my arms. I wasn’t sure where we were headed, but I knew I wanted to get him away from the soldiers and the rest of the public. We crashed through trees and rocks and concrete as I continued to pick up speed and zoom forward with him held in front of me.

It was only when we smashed right through a skyscraper and came out the other end that I realized we had made it back to the city limits. Still, I kept running and we continued to crash through one building after another as I blazed a trail through the unsuspecting metropolis. Though we had plunged through countless layers of steel and concrete I felt almost no pain because I was using The Greater’s body as a battering ram as I continued to rocket forward at over 1000 miles per hour.

I finally slowed my speed as the left side of my chest suddenly tightened and a tingling sensation spread throughout my left arm. A few seconds later I crashed into the first level of a dimly lit parking garage and hurled The Greater to the floor as I doubled over and heaved for air.

He was completely motionless for about fifteen seconds but my heart skipped a beat after he suddenly slammed his hands against the floor and slowly began to pull himself to his feet.

You’ve gotta be kidding me!
I thought as I watched him somehow find the strength to stand after being rammed through an entire city. He appeared to be somewhat dazed at first but as soon as he laid eyes on me, the fury that had once burned in his eyes instantly returned. The ominous blue glow that emanated from his smoldering eyes seemed to shine even brighter in the dim lighting of the deserted parking garage. My heartbeat quickened as blistering blue energy emerged from his hands and slowly crept up his forearms and I finally realized that I probably should have listened to Howie when he had urged me not to take The Greater on by myself. Not only had I made a huge mistake by ignoring his advise but I had also dug myself into an even deeper hole by throwing my mask away and effectively cutting myself off from all communication with Howie. Nearly every great battle that I had been apart of up to that point was won by a combination of my brute strength and blazing speed combined with Ace’s deadly skills and Howie’s strategic planning.

I always felt that my role was by far the most important but as I stared across the parking garage into the fiery eyes of The Greater I suddenly found myself wishing that I had Ace by my side and Howie in my ear telling me exactly what I needed to do to defeat him. It pained me to admit it, but no matter how I played the next few moments out in my mind there was no scenario that I could think of that didn’t end with me losing.

I threw off my tattered coat and took a deep breath as I raised my clenched fists before me and watched as The Greater slowly and deliberately trudged toward me. Without my mask, I could no longer reach out to Ace by radio but for my sake I hoped that he hadn’t given up on me—and most of all, I hoped that I could hold off The Greater long enough for him to track the GPS chip implanted into my Reaper armor.

“HOW’S IT LOOKING, ECHO?!” I SHOUTED AS I PRESSED against my bike and sped down the Vegas street hoping to find Reaper in time to keep him from getting himself killed.

“Not good, Ace. He’s taking a real pounding, man. And you’ve got incoming!” Howie said just before a rocket zoomed in and exploded near my bike. Black attack helicopters scrambled overhead as several black SUVs poured into the streets in front and behind me. I weaved left and right dodging incoming gunfire as armed Stranger operatives popped out of SUV windows and opened fire at me.

“I need you to take control, Echo!” I shouted as I unholstered the automatic pistol on my right hip.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut in,”
an electronically distorted voice suddenly said in my earpiece.

“Echo?” I asked as my bike suddenly accelerated without warning.

“That’s a negative, Ace. This is Alias and I’ll be the one quarter backing your ride from now on if you don’t mind,”
the electronically distorted voice replied as my bike accelerated toward the approaching Stranger SUVs once again.

“I don’t think you realize who you’re dealing with,” I growled as I pulled my feet up to the seat of the bike so I could leap away once the oncoming SUV was close enough.

“I know exactly who you are, Jason Kilpatrick! And I’m afraid I can’t let you make it to your destination,”
Alias declared.

“Oh no you don’t!” I snarled. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with because if you did you’d know that you just made the biggest mistake of your life. There’s a chance that Reaper may die if I don’t get to him in time and if he does I promise you one thing. No matter how far you run, no matter how deeply you bury yourself away from me… I
will
find you—and when the time comes for me to put you down you may not see it coming but I
promise
you’ll sure as hell feel it!”

“I’ll take care of Reaper. In fact, I’m headed his way as we speak, but the last thing I need is for you to get in the way,” Alias replied.

Bullets barely whizzed by me as I fired my automatic pistol into the oncoming SUV, hitting the driver in the face and sending the SUV spinning out of control. I then leapt into the air just before my hijacked bike slammed into their vehicle and I latched on to the back of the SUV while it rumbled dangerously close to the edge of the road.

I let go of the SUV and tucked and rolled to safety just as it crashed through the side rail and plunged down the hill to the right of the street. I quickly leapt over the ledge and scurried down the hill as more Strangers hopped out of the pursuing vehicles and opened fire behind me.

“
Ace, come in! Ace, do you copy?!”
Howie suddenly asked over the radio.

“I read you, Echo! Got my hands full right now, though!” I shouted as I ducked behind the wrecked SUV at the bottom of the hill and took cover behind it as the Strangers continued to fire their automatic rifles at me.

“It’s not looking good for Reaper, Ace. It’s not looking good at all,”
Howie advised.

“What do you expect me to do?!” I shouted angrily as I momentarily leaned from behind my cover and used my pistol to drop one of the Stranger operatives at the top of the hill. My heartbeat quickened as the remaining Strangers suddenly fanned out and moved down the hill in an attempt to surround me.

“What do you mean? You’ve got to get there and help him!” Howie snapped as the squad of Strangers cautiously approached both sides of the wrecked SUV that I was hiding behind.

“What do you think I was trying to do before you let Alias take over my bike?!” I yelled as I popped out and fired a few more shots before my pistol ran dry.

“Dammit, Jason, I don’t have time for this crap! Reaper needs your help!”
Howie responded as I holstered my pistol and quickly drew my sword and a smoke grenade.

I threw the smoke bomb to my feet and flipped high into the air just as The Strangers whipped around the corners and opened fire. I landed safely on top of the overturned SUV as the smoke filled the air, and when it was clear that the squad of Strangers had lost track of me I slipped in behind them and silently moved amongst them, slicing them all to pieces before they knew what had hit them. In only thirty seconds they were all dead except for one and I cocked my head to the side and watched as he tried desperately to drag his legless body away before I could kill him.

In one leap I covered the twelve feet that separated us and cut him in two with one sweep of my sword. His squirming almost instantly ceased as a pool of dark red blood appeared beneath him and spread out in all directions.

“You’ve got to get moving, Ace,”
Howie insisted as I stood over the field of dismembered corpses as the wind picked up and my long headband fluttered in the wind behind me.

“What do you think I’m out here doing, Howie?” I shouted. “You keep screaming
‘Reaper needs my help’
as if I’m not already out here risking my freaking life trying to save him!”

“Look, Ace, I understand—”

“No, you don’t understand!” I yelled. “You can’t possibly understand what it’s like for me or Reaper because you’re not the one taking all the risks! We are! Instead of worrying about me doing my job maybe you should focus on doing your own. If you had done your job then maybe they wouldn’t have gotten that signal off in the first place!”

A wave of anger rushed over me when Howie didn’t immediately respond.
Guess I must have hurt his feelings,
I thought as I looked around for a vehicle to commandeer.

“You’re still a few miles out, Ace,”
Howie finally said, seemingly ignoring my outburst.
“The entire quadrant has been evacuated so you shouldn’t have any issues with traffic. If you can find a vehicle you should be able to get there relatively quickly.”

“That’s a negative, Ace. I need you to report to the moon base, ASAP,”
Wells suddenly ordered over the radio.

“But sir—”

“That’s an order!”
Director Wells insisted.

“I’m sorry to interject, Sir, but I would strongly recommend sending Ace to assist Reaper. Otherwise I’m not sure if he’s going to make it,”
Howie said.

“I don’t recall asking for your recommendation, Echo, and I’ll also need you to report to the moon base as well. We need to start planning for the arrival of the Anokian fleet,”
Wells snapped.

“Sir, but what about the plan? The Greater is destroying him! If Reaper dies then—”
Howie started.

“That plan is no longer an option, son! The Knights of Eden are already inbound and they will be here in less than an hour! I need all essential personnel off that planet ASAP!”
Wells barked.

“You expect us to just leave him?!”
Howie demanded.
“Ace, say something!”

I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. As much as I wanted to help Reaper, there was no way I could go against Director Wells’ wishes. I simply owed him far too much to defy him—far more than Reaper or Howie would ever know.

“The game has changed, Echo,”
Wells continued.
“I don’t think you truly understand what’s at stake here. Within the Anokian fleet is a ship known as the Pillar of Eden—”

“And it’s equipped with an Infinite Mass Weapon. Yes, I know,”
Howie scoffed.

“Then you know they can use it to destroy the entire planet if they wanted to. Our only hope at this point is to repair the main wormhole generator in the moon base and call in help from our Equillian allies. You’re the only one on my team that’s both smart enough and alive enough to get that done. I need you up here and I need you here now!”
Wells ordered.

“But we can still save him! Your plan can still work if we help him defeat The Greater!”
Howie pleaded.

“But what good does that do if he doesn’t have time to defeat The Righteous before the Anokian fleet arrives?”
Wells replied.
“As soon as the Knights of Eden get here they will start prepping to resurrect their Goddess and now that we’ve lost the Guardian there is no weapon on Earth that could stop Her. We need to reach out to the Equillian Federation and we need to do it quickly. I won’t ask you again, Vargas.”

“And I won’t leave here without him,”
Howie said firmly. I wanted to say something too but I was too conflicted between my loyalty to Director Wells and my loyalty to the assignments that I had mistakenly allowed to become my best friends.

“I’m going to make this simple for you, Vargas,”
Wells snarled.
“As you know, your family was transported to the moon base once I gave the order to evacuate all essential personnel from Earth. You should also know that the same articles that extend your safe passage rights to your immediate family also grant me the ability to revoke those rights in the event that you become a threat to our national or global security. If we don’t establish contact with the Equillians then we’re finished and I won’t let you throw everything away just to save one person. Get here in fifteen minutes or your family is looking at a one way ticket, son.”

“You wouldn’t! They could die if you send them back down here!”
Howie exclaimed.

“Just do what he says, Howie,” I finally said. “Just think about your family. We can come back for Reaper after we repair the main wormhole generator.”

“There’ll be no use coming back if he’s dead, Ace!”

“Well if we wait around here we’re all dead! Is that what you want, Howie? You’re the smartest person on the face of this planet so I know you have to see what’s coming! We have no second strike capabilities against an Infinite Mass Weapon. You know our only option is to call in the Equillians,” I urged.

“And what happens when they get here, Ace? Huh? I’ll tell you what happens! All hell breaks loose in the skies and the Earth is still destroyed as collateral damage to a war that it never should have been a part of. And if the Equillians are so damn powerful, why the hell are we waiting so late to call them for help?! You could have asked me to repair the main wormhole generator at any time, Wells, so why now? Why wait until we’re staring into the face of oblivion to try to call for help?”

“I’m done talking. You’ve got ten minutes
,” Wells said coldly before ending the transmission.

“Echo, I know he may come off as harsh but he’s only—” I started.

“Save it, Ace! You’ve said more than enough already!”
Howie snapped. I could tell by the quiver in his voice that he was holding back tears as he contemplated choosing between leaving Reaper behind and condemning his family to being jettisoned from the safety of the moon base.

“Howie, we may have had our differences but you have to know that we’re still fighting for the same cause! You’ve gotta save your family, man. Reaper can take care of himself and I’m sure you’re smart enough to find a way to help him once we get to the moon base. That’s what you have to do, bro. Just find a way. Find a way to save him and after you repair the wormhole generator nothing will stop us from going after him.”

“Alright,”
Howie finally said, with a bit more composure in his voice this time.
“I’m setting my beacon for the moon base right now. I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”

“Good deal. See you in a bit,” I confirmed as I took out my wormhole beacon and initiated the jump sequence.

“Hey Echo, try not to take that deal with Wells personally man. He’s—”

“He threatened to kill my family, Ace,”
Howie interrupted.
“How else am I supposed to take that?”

“Are you okay, Howie?” I asked, concerned by the bitter tone of his voice.

“What kind of B.S. question is that? Of course I’m not okay—but once I kill Director Wells I’m pretty sure I’ll feel a lot better,”
Howie said darkly.

My heart skipped a beat as I digested his ominous words and realized the reality of what I’d have to do if he was serious.

“Howie, I need you to slow down for a second, okay? I just need to know that you’re not serious about this,” I cautioned as the colorful wormhole that I had opened rapidly spun and crackled with energy in front of me.

“I’m completely serious, Jason. But you don’t have to worry about me sacrificing the mission. I won’t make my move until after I know the Earth is safe,”
Howie replied, in an eerily calm voice.

“Come on, Howie, let’s be serious for a second—”

“I am serious, dammit! He threatened to kill my family! What do you expect me to do?!”

“Howie, you know I’ll have to stop you,” I warned as I clenched my eyes shut and hung my head.

“Yeah… I thought you’d feel that way. You see, that’s the thing about me. I know people—better than they know themselves most times. That’s how I know you’re hanging your head in shame right now and you’re probably thinking about how terrible you’ll feel when you have to come after little old me once I make my move against your boss. But you can spare me the pity, Ace, because I don’t need it—and you’ll soon realize that I’m not as weak as you may think,”
Howie retorted, still speaking in a calm yet extremely threatening voice. “I’ll see you at the moon base,” he continued just before the transmission went dead.