Power Core Series 2: Defy

Two weeks later. Only one remains…

Over the course of the two weeks since Darren was kidnapped, the UN and the Protectors had organised a new “Peace Treaty” which basically states that neither can kill the other or the other has the right to retaliate, and almost every  Cydonian ship had been destroyed by either the UN or by Naomi and her small team.

Other than that, very little had happened. The Vintos had not materialised, nor had they began attacking the Cydonians, they haven’t even made another move against the Protectors; and that worried Naomi. There was nothing more unsettling than not knowing where your enemy was.

“The Vintos came here first…so did the Cydonians, then they set up their Command Ship here, and then they placed their final ship here….What is so special about this place?” Naomi wondered aloud to herself as her ship approached the final Cydonian ship.

            “Why do you think we know?” Maddi questioned from her seat in the back.

            “I don’t. I was just thinking aloud,” Naomi explained as Jack brought the ship into the air from the hangar.

            “You ready for this?” Jack asked. “This is the final ship…”

            “Yeah, we need the resources currently being used to repel Cydonian attacks to hunt down the Vintos so that we can rescue Darren,” Naomi explained. Jack nodded before making the shuttle jolt forwards. “Everyone ready to finish this?”

            “We’re ready,” they called in unison.

The approached the enemy ship cloaked with the knowledge that the ship was far easier to infiltrate than the previously assaulted Command Ship. “Amplifier ready!” Connie called from the back of the ship.

            “Burn it on my mark,” Naomi ordered as they approached the opposing ship. “5…4…3…2…Mark!”

Following her orders, Connie began to pump fire into two absorbers which then took the fire, recreated it above the ship in a cannon like thing and amplified the hell out of it until it was the size of a ten foot trampoline in width and twice that in length.

            “Burn it Connie,” Naomi smiled causing her daughter to relinquish her hold on the giant ball of fire that was then catapulted forwards the floating Cydonian ship.

The resultant explosion illuminated every piece of shade in the town below and tore a massive hole in the side of the ship, allowing for easier entry. “Brilliant,” Naomi laughed as Jack pulled the ship up next to the hole in the wall before allowing the side door to open. “Set it to autopilot Jack, its time we all finish this. Together.”

            “Okay,” Jack agreed without hesitation, flicking a switch before standing and heading for the hole that allowed the switching of ships.

The two of them jumped over to the other ship to an extremely bloody sight. “Um…I think I know why the Vintos haven’t been doing much…” Jack stated uneasily.

            “But why attack it like this?” Naomi questioned. “Logically, surely it would be better off for them to just simply blow the ship out of the sky?”

            Not if they were looking for something came an eerily familiar voice inside Naomi’s head.

            “Of course you are still alive,” Naomi sneered, unaware that the rest of her team had not heard the voice.

            “Who’s still alive Mum?” Maddi asked.

            “Just the Cydonian leader,” Naomi snarled. “You know, the dude your Dad died trying to blow up, and then Lyle died trying to blow him up.”

            “All the Ethereals are psychic,” Jack noted. “How do you know it is the same one?”

            “Because this one spent a good few weeks interrogating and attempting to blackmail me…Basically this son of a bitch knows me extremely well, and well…he is different from the others,” she explained. “He likes to do his research into someone and then have them do something they would never think of doing with some kind of free will. That way it hurts us more when we hurt the people we love.”

            “Okay, he doesn’t act like an ordinary Ethereal. That could be a problem,” Emma clarified. “Lets just find the engine room and get this over and done with.”

            Remember, they may or may not still be onboard. I think they found half of what they were looking for ages ago though, the creature described. Watch your back.

            “Like you care about my back,” Naomi snarled under her breath.

The team soon started along the maze of corridors, crossroads and ramps in their attempt to navigate their way to the engine room. Surprisingly, every corridor had at least one dead alien. And the team didn’t really matter, Vinto or Cydonian, they were ripped to pieces. The corridors were also an unholy blood red colour that unnerved the team as the distance between the engine room and them shortened.

            Please don’t blow me up, came the voice again. I don’t know if you have figured it out yet, but I like living.

            “No, I defiantly figured that out,” Naomi laughed, much to the dismay of her teammates.

            The Vintos are gone. But you want the same thing. They only took fifty percent of what they were searching for. That means you get the other fifty percent!  the creature explained sadly. Do me and favour and kill them all when they come in force!

            “I’ll kill the Vintos…but defiantly not for you,” she stated bluntly while opening the door to the engine room.

            Naomi…please, the creature begged uneasily.

            “Is he still in your head?” came a strangely familiar voice from off to her right. Almost instantly two things clicked: one was that Tom was alive and sat in the same room as her, albeit slightly beaten; the second was that the Ethereal had told her that the Vintos took one half of what they were looking for; and that she wanted what they wanted.

            “Tom. Where is Emily?” she questioned quickly as everything flooded her at once. “Where is my sister?”

            “The fact that you jump straight to that means you know the answer,” Tom answered cryptically.

            “The Vinto’s took her?” she asked.

            “Yeah…and I’m guessing by the absence of a Darren that they also took him?” Tom replied, Naomi just nodded sadly. “We have two minutes,” he then added quickly, pointing towards the console. “The chain reaction has already started…”

The team quickly retreated to the ground and exited the house just in time to watch the ship as it erupted into colours of red, orange and yellow. “One race falls, another rises to fill their place,” Naomi groaned as five Vinto ships materialised in the sky above them. “Here we go again…”