Samnell said:
This is getting deep. "Sure we can," Mark affirms. "I guess I'm living proof. I'm a lot more than I was a year ago. I don't think you're any different."
Star smiles and just hugs Mark tight, "You always know just what to say, I am not sure why but that means so much to me, it makes me feel safe. When I am around you, I also feel vulnerable at the same time... it's... it's...” she trails off and just holds Mark close.
In the distance the sky flashes a bright stunning purple as Star looks up and kisses Mark softly… as it ends the sky goes back to normal.
Inside the UNJE Suite for Legacy
There is a flash of bright purple in the sky, coming from the east, it lasts for a few seconds and then everything goes back to normal…
An island in the South Pacific…
0240 local time, July 15th, 2014
*Editor’s Note, Translated from French
Two UN Soldiers walk side by side, dressed in full body armor, one enjoying a smoke the other just scanning the area of the lush island locale. Behind them several hardened structures form a circular compound which I only the top portion of a several tiered facility under the earth, a UN sanctioned Elite Detainment Center, an Ultra High Security Prison, in the middle of nowhere.
The taller of the two soldiers pauses as he flicks his cigarette, “So what are you going to do once, we get some leave, Jacque?”
“I am going to spend lots of quality time with my wife,” the other soldier grins, “it has been six months, and I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Just a few more days, eh look at that,” the soldier gestures to the sky, “a shooting star, this must be my lucky night eh?”
“Hah, if you say so,” Jacque replies, “eh, is that shooting star getting bigger?”
“Huh… oh sh…”
The image from orbit…
A gigantic flash of light appears over the south pacific, brightening the darkened space for a few moments before it returns to normal. An astronaut watching the flash calls over his communicator, “Uh Houston this is Alpha Eagle One, and I want to confirm any strange activity over the South Pacific, I just saw a bright flash on the surface…”
“This is Houston, say again Alpha Eagle One?” a voice replies.
“I think there I something going on in the South Pacific, sending video feed now Houston, please advise,” the astronaut responds.
“Getting feed now, and reviewing… holy hell, what in God’s good name was that? Alpha Eagle One is their continued activity?” the voice shouts.
“Negative, it looks like the event has passed, any idea what it could be?” the astronaut replies.
“We will get back to you, Alpha Eagle One.”
Back at the Elite Detainment Facility, Eden
“UNJE HQ this is Eden, we are under attack!” the UN Officer shouts into the communication line, as another explosion echoed through the halls. In four minutes the building was breached and at early estimate more then seventy of his men were gone, not dead, just utterly vaporized.
“Damn it, no response, what is the status on the prisoners, is anyone still alive out there!” the officer shouts to the rest of the staff in the room.
A small portly woman looks sullen, “Sir we have no contact with the first four wings, lost video feed showed a single elite in the facility, a woman, she was glowing purple, and then we lost contact.”
“Damn it, only one elite did all this, that is impossible this place is impregnable, no elite on earth has that kind of power,” the officer roars.
“Sir, we may have to abandon the facility,” another staff member chimes in.
“We follow procedure, by now HQ should be on high alert, we have to only wait… seal off this sector now!”
“Yes sir,” the woman replies tabbing away at the keys.
Then there was a bright light, and only peace.
The silence and the brightness of the light dissipate as the glowing woman steps into the smoking ruins of the control center. She scans the room slowly, not a soul stirs, as she floated over the charred remains into the room. Satisfied that the baselines were dead she turned and floated back towards where the rest of her ‘children’ had assembled, standing at the front of the gathering was Bishop.
He bows his head as the woman approaches, “Cardinal… I have freed the rest just as you asked, what would you have me do now?”
The woman raises a hand, opening her mouth to speak, “Silence. Your faith is not in question, but those that have strayed from the path shall be punished. Do not begin to believe that you are free, your lives still dangle by a thread, those that choose to serve me in the coming war, shall be saved, those that deny my will shall be burned in holy fire.”
“Well I am not a Pantheon goon, get the hell out of my way woman!” a burly green skinned elite charged the woman.
“Good, an example,” the woman intones.
The elite never reaches Cardinal as a powerful pulse of energy lances out from her outstretched hand, obliterating the elite, leaving only ashes wafting in the air. She turns to the gathered elites and narrows her gaze, “You have two choices, serve me or die, do what you were meant to do, and be my soldiers. Or die, I have no qualms with killing all of you, to prove my point.”
An elite gulped, “I am on your side.”
“Good do not think I respect your opinions I do, if you question my authority then do so respectfully. I assure you I will do my best to guide you, my children into a new age. But if any of you, get any ideas that you can do a better job then I, or think you can challenge me, then know that you will die. So if you have a problem with that, then NOW IS THE TIME TO SPEAK YOUR MIND!” she finishes with a shout.
Bishop shivered, as a realization of the depths of Cardinal’s drive and ambition passed through him. For the first time, a twinge of questioning rose in his breast, but he did his best to fight the trivial emotion of remorse…
