Renegades Read online

  ***

  My heart slowed when I finally made it to the area that housed my Mother. She was lying unconscious on a slab of concrete in the middle of a cell, next to her stood a complicated looking machine that I had never seen before. Tina was trying her best to disconnect her from the device when she looked up at me and smiled. Mother looked peaceful, but, that was a façade, I knew she was in trouble. The bright side was that she wasn’t dead, not anywhere near it. They wouldn’t kill her until they had me.

  Next to the room she was in was a central computer behind an intricately made glass wall. It was a form of barrier that was Specter made and nothing was able to pass through, unless it had the proper clearance. Tina would only be hurting herself if she tried. They used this method to protect their key databases from falling into the hands of spies. Too bad for them, I guess, I actually used to work at this place. There were card swipes that granted them access, and it was in that moment that I remembered the ID cards in my back pocket. “Go Leon.” I whispered to myself as I pulled them out and tried them one at a time. No such luck. The guards that these ID’s belonged to were probably nowhere near the level of clearance I needed. My only other option was to punch right through the wall itself. I cocked back my arm and shot it forward with enough force to shatter glass into dust, but not only did it absorb my blow it managed to fire it back at me.

  “Crap!” I screamed as I pulled my hand back. I was bruised, not something I was used to seeing. I had half a mind to give up right then. I wanted to run back and tell Austin that I couldn’t help him. That I wasn’t going to be able to hold up my end of the bargain, but I was not that guy. All over this complex Specters were fighting just so that I could have my mother back. Who was I to even think about giving up? If it was going to push energy into me, I was going to push energy right back into it. Behind me I could see Tina still trying to free Mother. They had her thoroughly hooked in, and if she were to just disconnect her from the machine that held her to the slab who knows what type of damage that would cause her. So as a gazed back upon the glass, a new determination entered my eyes.

  I punched it again. My kinetic force went into it and it shot back all that energy into me, only this time I caught it. Two can play this game. I propelled my fist even harder against it. My eyes had gone completely black, I could not see but I could feel the energy around me. I felt Tina panicking as she did her best to not kill the woman that gave her a fresh start at life. I felt Mother, though she was fading. I felt Angel and Austin in the distance. I felt Tech, Aaron, and countless other Specters in combat. In that moment, I found the strength to shatter the barrier in front of me. The glass shattered so finely it was like sand again as it fell to the ground. I dropped with it. I was tired, but I needed to press on. With a smile on my face, I stepped into the room and accessed the computer. Everything was finally working out, and it was all about to be over. That was, until a force picked me up and launched me against the wall.

  “Ouch!” I shrieked as I pulled myself off of the ground.

  “I see you got my note, it’s so nice to see you again.” A voice said as the figure of a man materialized. “However, breaking that barrier wasn’t wise of you. Now you won’t be any fun”

  I recognized the uniform and the voice before I saw his face. Agent Ghost was one of the highest ranking agents in the Attix Corporation, and not because he was the nicest guy around. He invented tortures that were even outlawed by the ruthless Attix.

  “Give it up Jet.” He said as he hoisted me off of the ground. I had used up the last of my energy in that attempt to save my Mother. I had nothing left. We were all going to die, and it was because I failed.

  Just as I was about to give up all hope, a hand phased through Ghost’s heart.

  “Drop him.” Tina ordered. I fell to the ground in almost the same second.

  Ghost wasn’t going to be defeated that easily though. The second that Tina dropped her eyes to check on me, he blasted her through the wall and into my Mother’s cell.

  “That was sad.” Ghost said with a chuckle. “Clearly you have no killer instinct my dear. Allow me to help you with that.”

  In that moment Ghost steadily made his way towards me, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop him. I was too tired, too spent. I had been fighting for what felt like days. Nonstop. He was already out of my league, far beyond me.

  “After I kill you, I can finally dispose of the distraction laying on the table and get back to doing my real work.” Ghost hissed at me before picking me up.

  And in that moment, I lost control.

  I knew this was going to end badly regardless. Every possible outcome ended with me dead, or worse. I had to try. I had to give it my all, the last of my energy and my whole being. So in that moment, I forced a fist into his face that sent him hurling against a wall. Then I shot towards the data bank.

  {I’m in Aaron, wipe it} I scream through his head.

  In an instant every known Specter hideout was being wiped out of the database. I watched names like DAWN, Jericho, and something called Soldier appear then fade before my eyes. Tech was really brilliant. The last thing to appear was Requiem. It looked like he was taking his time recoding and then deleting all of the files. Then, all of there data in general started to disappear.

  I stepped out of the room and allowed my eyes to meet Tina’s. She can see Ghost getting up behind me. I can feel him. There is no time to argue. There is no time to develop a new plan.

  “Tina, grab my Mother and get out of her!” I commanded as Angel finally reached the computer room. I looked to her “Help Tina.”

  Angel’s eyes were the exact opposite of mine, filled with light and hope. Despite the fact that she had probably already taken the lives of many guards today. Maybe even an Agent or two. “Alright Leon” Angel replied.

  She looked like she wanted to fight with me, but instead chose to obey. As she went through the wall with Mother and Tina in tow, Ghost picked me up and flung me in the opposite direction. Every bone in the right side of my body cracked upon impact with the wall, and his childish chuckle was driving me out of my mind.

  “That was very noble of you.” He started. “I will make sure that goes in your file.”

  “You’re not going to win this!” I spat out. Even if I didn’t believe it, that didn’t mean he didn’t.

  “Your friends are useless, your strategy lacks skill, thought, and a basic understanding of the word ‘strategy’, and the only reason I’m letting that woman go is because you were the only objective and I do not care to bother with her.”

  I was going to respond, but I was cut off by the humming of a dart. Right before it hit Ghost; he caught it and broke it in half.

  “Nice try kid, but I heard you coming. Also your aim needs a little work.” He spoke condescendingly.

  “I’m not leaving without Leon,” Austin’s voice strained.

  At least I thought it was Austin. I was fading fast; the pain from my right arm was enough to put me down. The exhaustion was just adding to it. I had to be the hero, I just had to.

  “Save yourself,” I manage to get out. “Don’t worry about me; I’m going to be fine.”

  “But Leon” Austin said. I could see the thought of giving up crush his soul. His face reeked of stubbornness.

  “I got this. Go!” My words slurred together as I yelled. “Do what needs to be done! For Requiem!” came out a little clearer. My head dropped to the floor. Austin’s face looked like statue of a soldier as he turned and walked away.

  {Were going to get you} Tina screamed into my head. Austin was silent. Angel was silent. There were still explosions in Aaron’s background. I could hear Tech telling everyone to pull out. {Were going to get you} She said a little softer this time, and in that moment I believed her.

  The only reason Ghost hadn’t killed Austin was because I was his target, his only target. I knew if Austin had made any sudden movement he was as good as dead. That wasn’t going to happen on my watch. His
footsteps grew faint as the water built in my eyes; it burned more than I could bear. I didn’t know what was going too happened next, but I was prepared for what was to come and I welcomed the darkness that came next.

  ***

  A loud bell pierced my sleep as I rolled out of the bed. I was late; this was something that would simply always be. I had managed to make it across the campus just before they started sending the guards to look for missing students. I don’t remember ever being here before, but at the same time I was all too familiar with the place I was in. The classically modeled structures and the aged trees that littered the courtyard, and Ghost standing in my path.

  “Good Morning Jet.” He said to me with a smile. “Running late again I see.”

  “As always”, I said with a smile. It was ironic that they called me Jet here, considering I was everything but fast.”

  Without another word, Ghost sidestepped so that I could make my way into my homeroom. Everyone here was quiet, calm and nice. The instructors were people I could really look up to. I had always wanted to be here, and it felt like I had always been here.

  “Good morning,” The intercom said, quieting the whole room. I loved the words that preceded the lecture.

  “Welcome To the Prep.”