After only a mere week of taking notes, Lina was back on the outskirts of the desert alongside several other scientists including Terrence. Apparently, the bomb itself didn't fully ignite and efficiently use up all of its energy. She hoped the leading group of the project fixed that issue, as a chained group of dissidents walked in front of them. Youden did say something about more people being used for the testing, but seeing the hundreds of people lining up frightened her.
"It's a whole town's worth of people." Lina noted the half-mile trail of people on the sole road in the area. "This will be conclusive then."
"It will be." A voice spoke among the masses, quieting everyone down.
Turning around, Lina and the scientists looked to see Youden himself wearing a custom suit, his bulging muscles showing through. He wasn't dressed like this for the initial test, so it seemed that there was something important about to happen. Or maybe it wasn't something, but someone rather.
After a quick salute, Youden looked among the prisoners as he walked alongside several of them. Lina could tell that he was dissatisfied, as he barked at a nearby guard holding a list. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, until the guard quickly nodded in fright and mumbled something into a nearby radio. Within several moments, guards quickly began to make their way through the crowd, beating anyone in their way, as if they were looking for someone. What was the threat? Was there a planned attack?
Eagerly watching, Youden only grinned as several minutes had passed by before an older-looking man was shoved to the man's feet. Turning her head slightly to the other scientists, Lina noticed how they all looked ahead in true concentration. Straightening ahead, Lina refaced the fallen man, as Youden yelled at him to get up.
"You found me, after all these years?" the old man wiped his nose, blood crusting onto his shirt sleeve. "I didn't think you even remembered me."
"Of course, I recall you, Thoam Halling. Just like how I remembered you killed my grandfather and half my family in your failed offensive." Youden clenched his fists tighter, "Did it feel rewarding?"
"Nothing about death is rewarding when it's all for an important cause." Thoam let the man process, before getting knocked across the face.
"I thought you had died! But your still up and about, and pathetic as seemed. Maybe if you were in your prime, you would have been a threat, but I'm only seeing a husk of a damn excuse." Youden began to crush the man's neck, causing him to gasp in pain.
"Is this going to relieve you of what I've fought for? Fighting for freedom and against oppression like this? Isn't this what you've caused among all these people? Creating weapons that I bet most of the population doesn't even know about." Thoam managed to croak out, slowly lifting his hands up.
"Shut up, you bumbling toad." Youden put more pressure, as Lina widened her eyes.
The man's life was getting squeezed out of him, as blood began to gush out of his nose. She didn't even think it was possible, as the man appeared to raise his arms in surrender, although too weak to get it up all the way. This was actually depressing, she could only shake her head, with the others near her in similar thought. At least that is what it seemed until the man managed to grip onto the man's hands.
Nothing seemed to happen, although Lina could tell Youden's grip loosened enough for the weakened man to get a better hold. Everyone around the pair stared, as Youden began to shake uncontrollably, as if in a seizure. The guards nearby quickly rushed to the prisoner's side and tried to pull him off to little avail. It was as if getting stuck onto the man was permanent.
"Give up. I don't stop that easily Youden. I'm showing you everything this old geezer has apparently." the man managed to mutter, despite getting hit with the butt of the rifles across his head. "Nothing can stop me now."
Youden himself was moaning in pain, as he began to shake painfully and huffing for breath. Lina was quite sure if he didn't recover through this attempt, would result in their leader's death. And everything they worked for, all in his glory, would have been in vain.
"Th-Thoam." Youden managed to cackle, before his moaning was starting to alleviate. "This is nothing."
"Are you sure?" Thoam laughed, before Youden managed to stand up.
Despite his condition, Youden seemed to have recovered as if nothing had happened this entire time. Lina herself was impressed in the man's raw energy, as she noticed a barely visible aura of darkness surrounding him. Before she could even evaluate and develop what she was witnessing, Youden had pulled his fist back, before slamming it onto the prisoner's side. Blood had shot out of Thoam's mouth, as his grip loosened. With no hesitation, Youden hammer-slammed him onto the sand, creating a small crater onto the ground.
"I was just considering whether I would give you a free pardon for having me in your reach, but it simply wasn't enough, was it now?" Youden laughed at the exhausted and bloody man. "Well, your time is up now. Guards, take him to the epicenter of the testing location, and everyone else to their selected positions. I will not be stopped by the weak and the undetermined!"
With a quick salute, Thoam didn't even have the energy to roll to the side, before a set of guards grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt and backed away. Looks like they weren't playing around with any of these threats, Lina had gulped, before quickly realizing that they had a new test of energic power among the sands. At least it was going to still happen regardless, and all of their enemies would pay. It was so simple and easy to not get into the position in the first place, and yet no one wanted to play the game the right way here.