[TheFightingSpirit]

Incursion Three: Force Majeure, part 2.

Soon Sergeant Cartwright and General Bryant left, the latter having had enough of them for one season.

Lieutenant Moses smiled at them. “I meant what I said earlier. We can be allies.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re a lovely person at home, but right now I’d rather be with my brother and my best friend. Thanks,” Allison sneered. If they thought they’d get away with this, they should have thought again. They’d pushed her way too far already.

“Okay, okay, we probably deserve that…” Moses raised her hands in defeat. “Kidnapping isn’t our usual MO, not by any stretch, but knowing your background we needed the leverage. I’ve been ordered to show you to your quarters and- and you just ask for me if you need anything.”

“We’re not prisoners then?” Robert folded his arms.

“Oh no, no… for now you’re guests.”

“So, we can leave whenever we want?” asked Ken.

“Afraid not,” she apologised. “General Bryant has a few more things he wants to discuss with you. Now, if you’ll follow me?”

o0o

The room they were shown to contained a set of bunk beds and a military issue camp bed, erected hastily after their arrival no doubt.

Robert settled down onto the camp bed and lay with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. The Powel siblings retired to the bottom bunk.

“How did you get here, Ken?” said Allison.

“They picked me up just outside the community centre. I–“

“You were trying to break into that basement again, weren’t you?” She accused. “Don’t lie.”

“I told you, Al. Micky thinks they’ve got a huge bunker down there. Apparently that’s where they store all their extra secret anti-mutant weaponry.”

“And now you’ve seen their real base, what’s your opinion?” She stood, and scanned the room hoping it wasn’t bugged.

Ken looked at his feet. “I still say there’s something down there. I just thought I’d take a look…while everyone was panicking... you know?”

Allison covered her eyes. “You weren’t picked up because they knew who we were. You were picked up for breaking and entering when you should have been observing the curfew. They used you to out our true identities.” She groaned and cursed herself. It still didn’t explain how Bryant knew their names though. “Stupid girl!”

“I didn’t even break anything,” muttered Ken

“It’s not your fault,” Robert sighed. He stayed focused on the ceiling. “We both know I’d have said something stupid eventually.”

Ken and Allison burst out laughing. Soon Robert joined them.

The two of them playing superhero against villainous mutants… The situation was absurd. Of course they’d incriminated themselves. They weren’t trained for this. They were just regular people.

As regular as magi could be…

“What are you guys gonna do?” said Ken.

“I was kind of hoping a plan would creep up on me.” Robert shrugged. “That way I’d have no choice but to go along with it.”

Allison shook her head. “You really are predictable, Rob…”

“Well, what’s your plan?”

“Touche...” she groaned. “We have lives though, don’t we. I can’t just leave all that behind to go chasing an ideal world that may never exist.”

A klaxon blared throughout the base before anyone could reply. Allison’s statement hung in the air like an apparition.

The patter of heavy footsteps sounded beyond the door. Robert leaped to his feet and craned his neck, attempting to see out of the little reinforced window of their ‘quarters’.

No sooner had he done so did the door swing open to reveal the General himself.

“If you kids,” he spat, “are serious about being heroes, then I have a job for you.”

They joined him in the hall.

“The Black Water has reanimated the corpses of the soldiers you didn’t want to protect and infiltrated the base through the morgue. I want you to join forces with a squad of my men headed by Sergeant Cartwright and take them down before they infect anyone else. Do I make myself clear?”

The rangers nodded.

Robert cringed and scratched the back of his head. “Why should I help you?”

Ignoring the new red ranger, Allison looked back at Ken. “We’ll do this, as long as you keep my brother safe.”

“You have my word and honour, Miss Powel…” the general said. “Reluctantly.”

o0o

The reanimated soldiers, eyes, nose and mouth dripping with black ichor, ransacked each and every room they came across. They seemed to be looking for something.

The corpse of Private Andrew Williams shambled out into the corridor and paused to stare down the barrel of Sergeant Cartwright’s gun.

“Hi, Drew. How is going? Having fun?” She taunted, before pulling the trigger.

The Private stumbled backward from the force, but, even with most of his jaw missing and replaced with Black Water, he didn’t slow down.

The corpse lashed out at Cartwright with its inhuman claws. She twisted out the away, narrowly avoiding infection.

“Let’s play, zombie dude.” Robert stepped from the ranks of Cartwright’s squad, followed by Allison.

They struck their poses, arms crossed down by their waists. The magi symbols blazed on the back of their hands. “Cross Form!”

The reanimated cowered from the light of their morphers. The power of the gems burst from them and clad them in their armour.

Before the corpses could find their bearings, the rangers leaped forward.

Red Cross barrelled into the remains of Private ‘Drew’, knocking him off his feet. He rolled with the momentum and sprung up into another of the reanimated soldiers, staggering her. He was grappled from behind by a recovered Drew and a pair of corpses lay into him with their fists.

“Tornado advent!” White Cross called a blast of wind to whoosh down the corridor, bowling most off their feet, yet freeing Red Cross.

They regrouped with Cartwright while they had the chance.

“What do we do?” asked the red ranger. “There’s not a lot of room in here.”

The Sergeant considered this for a moment. “We’ll lead them into the hangers. This way!”

A fire team from Cartwright’s soldiers cleared a path through the corpses allowing the others to break through.

Thankfully the corpses took the bait, with a bit of coaxing from Red Cross, and shambled after them. When they got to the hanger, the rangers were waiting for them.

“Flame advent.” Red Cross launch two pillars of fire at the corpses, cornering them at the door. This gave the soldiers a chance to pump them full of lead, concentrating on the head.

The corpses eventually began to collapse, though they tried to take as many of the living with them as they could.

Yet before it could infect anyone else, the Black Water relinquished its hold over them, and streamed up towards the ceiling, forming another large ball-like mass.

White Cross faltered in her attack. What did it want? Had it been testing them all this time?

“Eyes on the ball, guys,” called Red Cross. He felt a little silly ordering men who’d doubtlessly fought one of these things before.

The Black Water seemed to consider its options. It formed an eye and studied the rangers, then the soldiers and its former puppet corpses.

It shot passed them to the door, doubling back on itself at the last moment and swamping the rangers in its embrace.

“Hold your fire,” Cartwright ordered. “Don’t hit the rangers.”

Red and White Cross bucked and struggled within the blackness. Though protected from infection by their suits, their air would soon run out and they’d be completely immobilised.

“Storm advent!” a male voice hollered.

Lightning coursed across the surface of the black mass. A blue-armoured figure, his hand the sources of the electricity, stepped over the fallen bodies and into the fray. His armour sported a number of deep purple details and the symbol upon his helmet was a mixture of water droplets and a lightning bolt.

The Black Water screeched, and pulled away from Red Cross and White Cross.

The General himself, joined by a number of his personal staff, followed the blue ranger in.

Cartwright saluted. “General Bryant, sir.”

He was fuming, torn between detaining them all and watching them do their job. “Remind me to court-martial the man who built the barracks. The boy slipped passed far too easily.”

The blue ranger joined the others, and they ranked up between the soldiers and the retreating black mass.

“Al. Robert. I tried to get here as soon as I could,” he said.

“Ken? Is that you?”

“Of course, who else?”

“When were you going to tell me about this?” White Cross took her eyes off the Black Water for a moment. Her brother looked strong in his armour, nothing like the boy she used to know.

“Only just found out myself.”

The mass formed a mouth for itself and addressed the room. “You’ve driven us out again.”

“You better run,” said Blue Cross. “Before we do something drastic.”

“Times will change for your species, Magi. Fear tomorrow.”

Without warning the black mass zipped towards General Bryant and engulfed him, before blasting upward and breaking out through the rocky ceiling into the open air. The General was left panting on the floor.

His attendants helped him to his feet. “Scramble the jets,” he spluttered through a mouth full of Black Water. “Don’t lose sight of the mass!”

The call went out and pilots poured from their nearby ready rooms into their planes.

o0o

The sound of engines followed them, as General Bryant, his staff and Sergeant Cartwright escorted the three rangers out into the corridor, back to the barracks and quarters.

“You’ll be debriefed when I call for you,” he said on the way, giving them little chance to breath. “For now, get some rest. This isn’t over by a long short.”

Across the base, men and women were on clean up.

o0o

Once the General had taken his leave, Lieutenant Moses entered the room after Robert, Allison and Ken.

“I haven’t been entirely honest with you three…”

Robert quirked an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I know what magi are, and I know what you’re supposed to represent.” She sat on the camp bunk and averted her eyes.

Lt. Moses continued: “My father was always convinced he was one of them, bless his heart. Traced the family back centuries. He spent years talking of one day finding the remaining descendants of the nine clans.” She chuckled. “You know, it’s funny that I’m the one to see his dream through really.”

Allison joined her on the bed, and was about to question her further, but the lieutenant didn’t stop her confession.

“I didn’t want to believe him. Magic… it’s not real, is it? Shows what I know…” She sighed. “I want to start again. My name is Lieutenant Catherine Moses, and I’d be honoured to sponsor your place with the Agency, for what little good it’ll do.”

“Sponsor?” asked Ken.

“General Bryant doesn’t just let anyone join his ranks. You have to earn your place. I think you’ve managed that. That leaves a sponsor: someone in the Agency to vouch for your integrity. You’d be better off with Sergeant Cartwright in a sense as she’s seen you in action, but he trusts my judgement nonetheless - and I suppose I know a little more about magi than her.”

“We never wanted to join this Agency, Lieutenant,” said Robert.

“… I know how you feel, I do, but if it means a bit of anonymity from the rest of the army and the public, you’d be a fool not to accept.” She shrugged, though she seemed apologetic. “In my honest opinion.”

“She has got a point, Rob.”

“Alright, but this power isn’t part of the military. It’s ours alone. That’s important. We’ll use it to combat the Black Water and that’s it. No foreign dictators and no wars against terror. Got it?”

Lt. Moses stood and moved for the door. “I’ll work on the General for you then. Be back soon to escort you to debrief. Bryant doesn’t like to hang around… but I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

Robert sniggered. The man's a bloody whirlwind


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