Kinson looked back and saw Kael watching the sight with a pale face. Rachel looked calmly on, while Luthier turned his head away.
"Please… " Kael whispered.
Kinson looked at her, but she looked down, not giving a request. He nodded anyway and followed Andres out the door. Griffon had pushed the attackers around the corner a few dozen feet away, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. He squatted down and examined one of the bodies. They had the eagle symbol of Earth on their uniform. Beside them, though, an unmarked woman lay dead, with no insignia or identifying badge on them. If anything, they looked like the pirates Kinson had battled in his first real deathdream.
"What's up?" Andres called over from further down the other side of the hallway.
Kinson stood and looked at the rest of the bodies. "It appears they teamed up with the pirates, after all."
Andres sighed. "I guess that was inevitable. Still, I would have preferred to fight only one. The pirates have grown in strength these past few months. Seems they've been recruiting anyone not happy with the current system."
"I wonder where their psionics are. Why haven't any powerful people come? They should have known about Griffon," Kinson said worriedly.
"I was thinking the same thing. They might be using these troops as a distraction, and attack with the real strike force now that he's gone." Andres said slowly.
"Then he needs to get back here! Griffon! Griffon, come back!" Kinson called frantically.
"Don't worry. He already knows and is killing them as fast as he can. Besides, the binding will keep him up to date on everything that happens to us," Andres explained, calming Kinson a great deal.
More blasts of fire illuminated the hallway around the bend, accompanied by the occasional crack of lightning. Although Kinson remained by the door, he looked longingly at the explosions. It must be quite a fight.
He turned his head as something flashed in the corner of his eye. A steel panel above his head started to shift, then suddenly collapsed. He dove out of the way and rolled on the ground, gun trained on the exposed opening.
"Andres!" he called out as several shapes dropped onto the ground.
Kinson squeezed off a few rounds, but a green circle sprung up before the four newcomers, protecting them. That only covered his side, though, and Andres managed to hit one of them before another circle appeared.
"What!" the leader, who wore a red bandana around his head, cried out, whipping about to face Andres.
He waved his hand and the ceiling panel, which had clattered to the side, suddenly launched towards Andres. The piece of steel spun about sharply and sliced toward the old soldier's head. Andres ducked in the nick of time, but lost his balance and fell to the floor.
Another one of the psionics pointed at Kinson, and a sudden pressure appeared around his soul, crushing it. The psionic's face blanched though when Kinson suddenly smiled. This guy wasn't even as strong as Rachel! He easily ignored it and quickly reloaded. Perhaps it was their confidence, but they failed to even bring a traditional weapon along.
The remaining attacker finally acted and jumped toward Kinson, fist swinging. The force behind the attack couldn't be underestimated, so Kinson abandoned his attempt at reloading and leaped aside. The man struck the wall, which crumpled like cardboard. The stone behind the tunnel also cracked, and the whole passage shook.
"Restrain them, not kill them!" the red bandanna man shouted, irritated.
The superhuman grinned unapologetically. "Sorry. Guess I'm just too strong for my own good."
"Idiot. Do you think I'd buy that?"
"Not now, you two! Focus on the mission," the force field psionic reprimanded them.
As Kinson stood up, he took advantage of their bickering to size them up. They wore all-black combat gear, including masks and the Earthen insignia upon their chests. The letter 3 was printed on their right shoulder in small white font.
"What are you here for?" Andres called, having also regained his feet. "This is Alliance territory."
The leader chuckled, a motion that made his bandanna sway back and forth. "That's why we're here. Now, can you confirm whether you're the deathdreaming team working with the Alliance?"
Andres looked at him blankly. "Huh? No that's down the hallway," he gestured behind him.
"Don't play dumb!" the superhuman shouted, temper flaring.
The furious man stomped towards Andres, who promptly shot him in the chest. Somehow, the forcefielder managed to block it. Kinson only now realized they were a woman.
"Jack, get back here! I can't cover us all at once!" she called.
"What's a petty bullet going to do to me?" he snarled, although he did stop advancing.
He's got a psionic pistol, idiot. That thing could penetrate a literal tank!" she retorted.
"Oh," Jack said, and promptly retreated.
The leader sighed and facepalmed. Then, he looked up at Andres. "Look, we're not here to hurt you. If you come with us, I can guarantee your safety."
Andres raised an eyebrow. "What's with that strike earlier then? Were those just blanks?"
The man flinched. "They weren't supposed to start with lethal force. Besides, you shot first."
Andrew broke out into a shallow chuckle. "They hardly started with a parley. Likely, you wouldn't understand things like that though. I can tell from your crew's demeanor that you're hardly soldiers."
"Then please, allow us to introduce ourselves," the man said. "I'm Camerin, leader of the psionic mercenary band Trinity."
Kinson blinked. "Aren't there four of you?"
Camerin turned to him and frowned. "Look kid, we've grown a bit since we started. But names aren't as easy to change once it's established. Anyways, this is my wife Sheera."
"I'm Jack," the superhuman crossed his arms to look intimidating.
"And Reginal," the final one, who had used the soul attack earlier, introduced himself.
Kinson shook his head in disbelief. Why did they introduce themselves again? Still, he felt refusing would be rude, so he gave his name.
"I knew it! You're on the list of people to capture!" Jack cried out victoriously.
"Wait, I'm on a list?" Kinson asked dumbly.
"Of course! Your team's been a big thorn in the…"
"Jack, that's enough," Camerin elbowed him, then cleared his throat. "Please surrender. We'd hate for any of you to get hurt."
"Wait, I still don't get it. Why are you here for us?" Kinson asked again.
Jack opened his mouth but shut it again as everyone else glared at him.
"They're stalling," Sheera said quietly.
"Then we need to wrap this up. That secret passage won't remain secret for long," Camerin said. "Are you going to make us fight? With your limited abilities, you've got no chance of winning."
Sweat dripped down Kinson's back. There was still no sign of Griffon. From what these guys had demonstrated, they were all at least class 5, although Reginal felt a little weak.
"I'm afraid we can't do that," Andres stated calmly.
"What, really?" Camerin shook his head in disbelief. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way. But don't kill them," he said, looking sharply at Jack.
"They don't need their arms to stay alive," Jack smiled widely.
Kinson shivered, but fortunately for him, the man's attention was on Andres. He had other things to worry about, as Reginal thrust his power towards him, and pressure once again settled on him. He could tell from the psionic's grit teeth and bulging veins he was using all his power, but that was still in a tolerable range. Kinson managed to reload his gun and fire a few shots toward the group, but Sheera stopped them all.
A sudden force seized Kinson's body and lifted him into the air. His gun went flying out of his fingers, landing in Camerin's outstretched hand. Kinson cursed himself for forgetting he was fighting a telekinetic. This wasn't even fair!
"Jack's right about one thing. We can't tolerate resistance," Camerin said, a cold light appearing in his eyes.
He waved his arm, and Kinson soared through the doorway, crashing onto the ground. He felt hands help him up, and looked to see Luthier.
"Are you alright?" Luthier asked him.
Kinson tried to nod but ended up coughing up blood. He groaned, feeling a searing pain in his chest. "Broken… Ribs," he gasped.
Camerin stepped into the room and frowned when he saw blood on the floor around Kinson. "You deathdreamers are so weak, barely even special at all. How dare you think to stand against us real psionics!"
"Dear, calm down. Don't hurt him too much," Sheera said, placing a hand on his arm.
"Relax. I know their limits. We just need to crush the defiance out of them, so they do what they're told." Camerin said. He had none of the friendly attitude of before.
Kinson stood shakily and stood before Luthier. "Don't hurt them. They have nothing to do with this."
"What, you still intent on resisting?" Camerin smirked and slapped his hand through the air.
Kinson gasped as a force hit him aside, throwing him against the wall. A sickening snap filled the air as one of his already damaged ribs poked through his skin. Kinson collapsed in pain, barely able to breathe, as blood leaked from his side.
"Kinson!" Kael screamed, running to him.
"Now you're the one I want," Camerin said. "Class 7, huh?"
"Stay away from the young lady," Rachel suddenly said, standing up. Her usual flat expression was carved from stone.
Reginal appeared to block her, his power flaring. "Move aside, grandma. We have no business with you"
Rachel suddenly smiled, then unexpectedly raised a fist. Reginal, who expected her to succumb to his power, was caught off guard and fell backward as her punch took him in the face.
"Young people have no respect these days," she muttered crankily, rubbing her sore knuckles.
"Why isn't it working?" Reginal wailed while nursing his quickly blackening eye.
A few gunshots echoed from outside in the hallway, and Sheera ran outside to help Jack. Kinson smiled, though the effort caused him to grimace. It appeared Andres was still at work.
"Now then, let's end this," Camerin grabbed Luthier and Kael, binding their limbs together with his power and levitating them beside him.
"Kinson!" Kael cried, tears streaming down her face.
"He'll be fine… probably. Actually, that wound looks pretty bad. I hope he lives," Camerin sighed insincerely. "But don't worry, you don't need to worry about trash like him. We have no need for them."
"No, tha-mrrrgh," she protested, although a psionic gag silenced her.
"Much better. If you all didn't resist so strongly, none of this would have happened," Camerin shook his head sadly.
Kinson looked up, blinking away tears. The red bandana bobbed gently before him, sauntering past him with his friends in tow. He helplessly slammed his fist against the ground but stared dumbly as it came up red with blood. His blood. Why was he still helpless? Why hasn't anything changed?
Regret filled him, but that was soon overwhelmed by frustration. His vision began to turn fuzzy, and black dots circulated his view. For some reason, the face of Ashton appeared before him, stained with blood but filled with fighting spirit. Kinson looked into his eyes, defeated. The captain's eyes seemed to issue him a challenge, but Kinson looked down. He couldn't do it. He couldn't stand up again.
'But you can. How can you give up when someone you care for is being taken from you?' Ashton seemed to be saying.
"I'm not like them. He's right. How can a deathdreamer stand up to someone with a real ability?" Kinson whispered with bloody lips.
"There are no useless abilities. Only useless psionics." These words, which hadn't originally come from Ashton, passed through his lips now.
Kinson shuddered. He grabbed a nearby chair and pulled himself up. Blood gushed anew from his wounded side, and pain nearly crippled him, yet still, he stood. This pain was nothing compared to the loss and terror of losing everything he had cared about on Mars. how could this stop him?
A new power bloomed within him. No, not new, just dormant. A cry escaped his broken lips as he stepped towards Camerin, who turned to stare at him on the threshold of the door.
"How?" Camerin asked in shock. The battered and bloody figure before him was lucky to be alive, much less standing!
Kinson staggered towards him, too weak to do more than that. Camarin watched him with a raised eyebrow. "And what do you intend to do?"
Wordlessly, Kinson raised an arm and punched Camerin's stomach with all his might. The punch was weak and failed to make the man even grunt.
"Well, I certainly admire your tenacity, but… aaaarrggggh!" Camerin screamed as a brilliant green lance of energy appeared on Kinson's outstretched fist, piercing his stomach and flitting out the other side before disappearing. Kinson collapsed, his sight fading to black. The blood of the telekinetic psionic flowed over him, and the heavy thump of Kael and Luthier hitting the ground was the last thing he heard before everything went to nothingness.