Opening the door, Marc saw a familiar face. "Hey, Marc. Where have you been, man? Come on, everyone's waiting."
The person waiting at the door was Austin Arleth, a 17-year-old boy who was Marc's friend for as long as Marc could remember. He had a weaker physique than Marc but he had a brilliant mind.
" Waiting… waiting where and for what?" asked Marc.
" Oh, come on. Don't tell me you forgot."
At that time Marc remembered that today was his birthday and his friends had asked him to meet up at Austin's place.
"Uhh, Yeah I kinda forgot. Sorry, let's go," said Marc, smiling stupidly.
Both of them went to Austin's place and there Marc saw 2 more familiar guys waiting for them - Zayne Kennet and Urien Kehoe.
"Come on in," said Austin "We got a lot of catching up to do."
Austin's family was very welcoming. They had seen these four play and hang out and fight between themselves from the time they were kids. Going in, they had their lunch. Then they sat and had a good long chat. It had been months since they last met. Everyone had their training for joining the Sentinel Space Force.
The Sentinel Space Force was now training all fit males above the age of 17 to ensure that if and when the war continues, they'd have enough assets. The previous war had cut down their power by 70 to 80% and they now had to regain that power.
"So, the three of us were sent to different camps and Marc had his father train him. How did that happen?" asked Zayne. He was the same age as the rest of them and the most built one.
"Dad said he pulled some strings and started training me. I don't know why. I could've just trained in the camps like everyone else. But the training room that we used was super cool." replied Marc enthusiastically.
"I heard that Adrihel told you about your adoption. Is that true?" asked Urien.
Austin stomped Urien's foot hard thinking that Urien touched a live wire. But Marc did not show any trace of sadness.
"Yeah, it's right. But it's been many months since he revealed that. Well, I had my doubts too. But that doesn't mean that we aren't father and son. He has taken care of me for as long as I remember, so it doesn't matter if we're not blood-related."
"It's good to hear that this does not affect you," said Zayne smiling. "And by the way, are you going to join the Sentinels or just take the training and leave?"
"Well, I don't know. Dad says that I've got….."
The room suddenly got a lot warmer and a very bright light flashed outside which the 4 of the young men could see from the windows. They saw a building far away blow up.
Marc shouted "Austiinn, get your family to the bunker up north. Zayne, accompany them. Urien, you're with me. We'll go see what this is and help people get away. Prepare your escape capsules just in case. We'll meet up at the bunker. "
Austin, Zayne, and Urien nodded at the quick instructions and they parted ways.
As soon as Marc stepped outside the house, he saw a large ship above them destroying everything. Urien grabbed him and jerked him out of shock.
" Let's go, we don't have time," said Urien. Marc nodded in answer.
They started running towards the guard posts to grab hold of some weapons. Due to their training at the Sentinel camps, they could now act as temporary guards for outposts under emergencies.
They both took blasters and as they started sprinting, Marc heard the sound of a blaster being fired. He remembered that Adrihel had warned him to use his power discreetly. Marc reacted to the sound and covered his hands and chest in a red aura. The blast hit him square in the chest but it did not do any damage because of the red aura. All of this happened in just 2 seconds and anybody watching them could not see the red aura flicker over Marc.
Urien reacted just as fast and pointed his blaster towards the enemy. He fired before the enemy even had the time to get to cover. His aim was incredible, the blast hit the enemy in the face. More of them started appearing, Urien took out as much of them as he could. Marc took out a stick which turned into a plasma barrier and he pulled Urien to safety.
Then Marc and Urien, quick in response, blasted the rest of them away before any more enemies could join them. Seeing the clear chance to escape, they ran. It was the first time they took someone's life but they did not hesitate or regret it afterward.
Marc decided to first go check on Adrihel. The both of them passed heaps of dead bodies, hoping their families were still alive. Running tirelessly in the alleys they knew so well, now destroyed. Marc and Urien could now see some houses still standing. Those houses included Marc's and Urien's, too. They sighed in relief.
"Urien, go check on your family and meet me in that alley we just passed, in 5 minutes. Everything was destroyed there, so I think that place is deserted."
"Okay, understood. Don't engage anyone until you have someone who can fight, with you."
Marc nodded and ran off in the direction of his house. He got to his house and fortunately, it was completely unharmed. He went in to find Adrihel, but he couldn't find him in any of the rooms. Then Marc remembered that Adrihel was moving many big boxes to the basement. He went running to the basement, opened the door, and there Adrihel was, putting on a strange suit and connecting what looked it neural links to his body.
"Ahh, Marc. You're here. Good. Our conversation from before isn't over."
"Dad, that can wait. We have to go now. But why are you putting on that suit?"
"You see, Marc. I'm an Indominus in charge of this planet. So, I can't abandon the fight and wait for backup. I am the backup for those fighting here."
"What… Indominus. I never saw your powers while we fought…"
"Look, there's no time to tell you the whole story. Judging by their numbers, it's unlikely that I will hold them till the main force arrives. You couldn't tell that I had powers because my power is the super-enhanced processing speed of the brain. In this body, I can see everything that would happen in a fight but my body won't react in time ...." Adrihel pulled the covers off 4 strange things. There were 4 battle androids but their processing parts were not there, instead, there were neural links. "I control these 4 guys."
"So, you're telling me that you're gonna go fight all of those guys. Alone… Did your screws come loose with age, old man? You're coming with me."
"Marc, hurry. Go on ahead. I was one of the strongest of the 1st Generation Indomini. I'll just need to…." Adrihel was cut off by a huge explosion very near to them.
"Dad, let's get outta this house first."
Adrihel nodded in agreement and they hurriedly evacuated with the androids onto the street outside the house. Waiting for them outside were hordes of enemy soldiers. The person who was seemingly leading them had a strange device in his hand.
Adrihel noticed the device and said "They're here for us. There's some kind of a device with them. Running won't be a choice, it'll only put other civilians in danger. You watch my back and take care of anyone who creeps up behind me. I'll take care of these guys."
Marc backed off after realizing that Adrihel was emitting intense killing intent. Adrihel took out his handguns and looked at the androids. They would take 3 minutes more to boot up.
"Think you two can hold 'em yourselves? It'll be fun if I join in too." a strange man came out of the destroyed building to their right. He held a long, slightly curved sword. He wore a long jacket and there seemed to be light armor beneath.
Marc and Adrihel were surprised, they couldn't sense him at all. Marc had an above-average skill for sensing people but Adrihel's senses were finely tuned through experience.
- To be continued