The High Consulman - Part 3
PART 3
Psirus knelt down next to Kr’anri, attempting to soothe her as her slight frame shook softly. He shifted slightly, beckoning Kr’anri to come closer. She looked up and slowly shuffled towards him as she made a series of small, saddened noises. Psirus looked up to Vitality, who had briefly closed his eyes. He looked down before looking back up towards Mentella.
“We need to figure out what we can do now. I’m hoping you have a plan?”
Mentella stood at a holographic display console interacting with several screens filled with foreign symbols. She motioned to Psion who sidled up to her and assisted the process. She paused momentarily and answered Vitality as she made her way towards the group.
“Psion and I have finished compiling the necessary data for Sai’edra’s trial. It is currently being transmitted to the on board computer system. Once that process is complete, I’ll be on my way.” she stated.
Psion turned away from the console; it hummed softly as he swiped away the holographic projections. He walked up to Mentella and frowned at her;
“Don’t you mean ‘we’? I’m coming with you.”
“No. You’re not.” she replied.
He stretched his hand out towards the set of doors nearby; they opened as a blue cape enveloped in his telekinetic energy field drifted through the open doors towards him. Psion unclipped his cape and replaced it; he looked at his previous cape and mumbled dejectedly as he examined the three punctuated holes in the fabric. He looked towards Mentella again, an almost predatory smile appearing on his face as he held up two silver packets in his right hand; he flashed them at her as he spoke.
“Yes I am. I have these. Besides, what if there is resistance? Battle droids?” he smiled.
“Fine.” She frowned.
---
Su steeled her jaw as she focused on the small sphere of cosmic energy hovering just outside her force field. She looked back at J’asira;
“I have no way of being able to contain the explosion fast enough at least not whilst we’re in this situation. Do you have any ideas on the force of the impact? I’m thinking it’ll be enough to send us both through the lab walls, even with a force field.”
Techna bit her lip as she studied the small, slowly pulsating sphere of white energy;
“Yes, it should be more than enough. At the current rate of decay, Elyisaus’ time dilation effect should wear off in about eighty-five seconds in real time.”
Techna pointed towards the ground where the field of golden energy had started to withdraw; various energy blasts and missiles fired off as the temporal suspension field lifted. Techna watched as her robots regained real-time speed and movement; they looked around for her quickly spotting and flying up towards her. Techna raised her hands towards them from inside the force field, screwing her eyes shut. She dropped her hands and sighed.
“Oh wait…they can’t even hear me right now. I hate Elyisaus.” she grumbled.
The robots hovered around the golden blanket of energy surrounding the two sisters, entirely unsure of what to do. Su nodded and focused her attention on the sphere in front of them which was now slowly growing in size as it exploded in the slower time stream.
“I’m going to try and protect us as much as I can. I wasn’t expecting this, so apologies in advance.”
“Oh don’t worry, I won’t blame you when I’m scraping off my insides from the walls of my lab.” grinned Techna.
Su looked at her and rolled her eyes;
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Techna’s smile quickly dissolved into a grimace as she watched the sphere of energy expand outwards and grow in intensity. She backed away until she was pressing against the cool curve of the force field. Su gritted her teeth as the impact of the explosion launched her and Techna through the side of the lab; her force field faltered as she tried to absorb the intense explosive force.
---
Mentella narrowed her eyes as she looked at Psion; she opened her mouth to answer when Cavalier cut in;
“I hate to break it to you but we don’t have time for your lover’s tiff. We can just leave him behind when we get in the transport. See? There’s the solution right there.”
“What makes you think I’d be incapable of grounding the transp-” Psion started.
A bright explosion occurred outside the lab, sending beams of intense light through the windows. Without warning the lab wall exploded violently; a bluish sphere smashed through the lab walls and large chunks of metal rained down from above, hurtling towards the heroes below. Vitality raised his hands above his head and flew above Psirus, Sarge and Kr’anri, shielding them from the falling debris. Su’s eyes rolled back in her head as the psionic backlash overwhelmed her causing her to momentarily lose consciousness; the force field dissipated almost instantly. Techna screamed as she fell through the dissipating force field; the shockwave from the explosion slammed into her, knocking her out as her unconscious form was launched towards the opposite wall. Sarge crowded around Psirus and Kr’anri, bracing for impact.
Psion’s eyes widened as he saw the debris, he pushed Mentella behind him as his eyes blazed; he enveloped the jagged chunks of metal in a field of telekinetic energy, suspending them mid-air. Mentella started at the sound of her youngest sister crying out. Cavalier looked through the debris and saw Techna and Su flying through the air.
“Vit! I’ve got Techy, you get Su!”
Vitality flew around the debris; he looked up as Su fell. He reached out towards her catching her as she slowly came to. Cavalier leapt forward and jumped off the nearby console into the air; he vanished in a flash of pale red, appearing mid-air as Techna’s unconscious form collided with him. He wrapped his arms around her as they spun through the air. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the opposite wall coming up fast and vanished in a flash of pale red, re-appearing beside Mentella and Psion with Techna in his arms. Su looked up to see Vitality, she frowned momentarily and looked around, and she cleared her throat as she caught Vitality’s eye.
“Uhm, thanks. Thank you.” she smiled
“No problem. Are…you alright?” he replied
Su nodded at him as he descended from the height. He lowered her onto the ground.
“Thanks again. Wait…where, where is J’asira?”
“Cavalier got her, she’s fine, could be unconscious though.” he replied.
Su ran over to where Mentella, Cavalier and Psion stood. Cavalier carefully rested Techna’s unconscious form on a smooth panel which had risen from the floor. Psion and Cavalier voiced the same question.
“How is she?”
They quickly glared at each other, the jagged chunks of metal hovering above them within Psion’s grasp turned towards Cavalier as narrowed his eyes at Psion. Mentella closed her eyes and placed both her hands on her sister’s temples; faint ribbons of magenta energy flowed down her arms arcing over into her youngest sister. Mentella opened her eyes, concern evident on her features as Techna stirred slightly opening her eyes and looking up at Mentella; her irises flashed magenta and she closed her eyes again;
“She’ll be fine, she’s just unconscious.” Mentella responded.
Su squeezed Mentella’s shoulder lightly and looked down as Mentella stood and turned to her.
“I’m sorry, I-” she started
Mentella held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence.
“No, this isn’t your fault, how are you?”
“Me? I’m, I’m fine. Is J’asira going to be okay?” Su replied.
“Yes, she will be. Nothing more than a category one for J’asira, her armour was only partially active but still afforded her significant protection. I’ve put her at rest to allow her to heal.”
“Good. You need to get going, Elyisaus has Sai’edra now. I’ll take J’asira to the med bay, transportation will be along shortly I’d imagine.”
Su knelt down and formed a disc shaped force field underneath her sister. Su walked towards the centre of the room, accompanied by the force field carrying J’asira. She looked across the room to Mentella as the panelling beneath her began its descent towards the med bay.
<Be careful when you arrive. Elyisaus is High Consul, you may be forced to do things you wouldn’t. And keep in touch. Every step of the way, oh and don’t forget to explain things to Delta.> ~ Su
<I’m dreading the explanation but yes, I’ll keep in touch.> ~ Mentella
Psion nudged Mentella as she stared after her sisters.
“We should probably get going…we should not leave it too late.” Psion whispered.
Mentella nodded; the look of concern on her face quickly replaced by her usual stern look as she turned back to the Delta members present. Cavalier eyed the debris still floating above them, Psion smirked slightly, taking delight in the uneasiness he’d caused. Mentella saw several robots arriving on the scene; their arms shifting shape into a variety of tools, preparing to fix the breach. She turned to Psion;
“Why don’t you help out the assistance units with the breach? I’ll let you know when we are ready to leave.”
Psion opened his mouth to protest, quickly closing it as she raised her eyebrow. He mumbled something incoherent and flew into the air, lifting the hovering debris with him. Cavalier clapped his hands together and nodded to the rest of the team.
“Better pack your bags guys, looks like we’re off to Xen!”
“Ah yes, about that. There’s something to explain on that front.” Mentella sighed.
Cavalier frowned, cocking his head slightly.
“What’s to explain? We hop on a space ship and go, right? Do we need shots?”
“Not quite. No there won’t be any need for vaccination.” Mentella replied.
“What do you mean?” Vitality asked
“As a people and a planet, there isn’t that much…interaction with other species for past reasons…this has led to a prevailing negative attitude towards non-Xenian visitors, to the point that the only species which can actually legally visit the planet aside from Xenians are the Krotosmandian people. To allow you to accompany us would not only guarantee zero access to my home world but could also put us in a situation where we are breaching the well-established rules of our own planet and people. All this would only serve to halt our progress with retrieving Sai’edra.” Mentella explained.
Cavalier stretched his neck forward, his face showing a mixture of confusion and anger.
“Wait. So you’re saying we can’t come along because most Xenians don’t like other species? Yet you guys are dropping onto our planet and moon, and on top of that you stick around?” Cavalier pointed upwards towards Psion, “Some of you even cause trouble and we are just meant to accept it?”
Mentella narrowed her eyes and looked directly at Cavalier.
“I think you’ll find we do abide by the laws of your land. Your planet, depending on the country has rules on the legal status of extra-terrestrials, such as a large majority of my sisterhood. We have to comply with the rules of the state and country we reside in, even if that means we only receive a select number of civil rights. If there was a rule that only humans were able to reside on Earth then naturally I would not be here. We respect your laws and regulations; it is certainly not a stretch to ask you to do the same.” Mentella replied.
“Guys, she does have a point…” Psirus chipped in.
“Yeah, I agree. I don’t like it, but I understand.” nodded Sarge
“What?!” remarked Cavalier
“Why do I have the feeling this is going to go badly?” mumbled Psirus.
Cavalier shook his head at Psirus and waved him off. He stepped forward and pointed towards Mentella.
“I don’t think you get it. Have you ever been on a team? Teams work together. We work together, this is no different, us being there will-” started Cavalier
“Your presence there will only serve to delay the process of bringing her back. If this takes longer than I anticipate; you are all away from your home world, without transportation. And Sai’edra suffers as a consequence. That is a situation that can be easily avoided.” Mentella stated.
Psion descended from above, landing beside Mentella as he listened to the conversation.
“Look, Sai’edra is one of us; we need to be there to-” started Vitality
“To do what exactly, make the situation worse? Please, you have very little business on Xen.” Psion sighed.
Mentella sighed quietly, placing her palm on her face as she closed her eyes, opening them again as she glared at Psion. Psion frowned, a look of confusion on his face. Vitality flew forward into Psion’s personal space, anger flashed through his eyes as he spoke. Psion jerked his head back slightly as he was forced to make eye contact with Vitality.
“Don’t you dare bring that condescending Xenian attitude here.” Vitality growled.
“Excuse me?” scoffed Psion
Vitality drew back and shook his head.
“I need to clear my head, this is just…”
Vitality flew out of the lab, leaving the conversation entirely.
Psion wrinkled his nose as he noticed Mentella still glaring at him; he cocked his head to the side, his expression still displaying utter confusion.
“Am I missing something? I was just pointing out the obvious.”
“’Pointing out the obvious’? Wow. Really? This guy?” spat Cavalier as he pointed towards Psion.
Cavalier shook his head as he barged past Psion.
“Daniel, wait-” Mentella started
“And stay out of my head, both of you!” he shouted
Cavalier left the room turning into one of the corridors, the doors sealed behind him with a pneumatic hiss, leaving nothing but silence in its wake. Sarge sighed, he glanced back to see Psirus attempting to comfort a rather depressed Kr’anri.
“I’m sorry about David and Danny; I think the whole situation has gotten to them. Since we are staying on Earth, is there anything you need us to do?” Sarge asked.
“I’ll be in contact with Delta once I arrive, but what I will need are reports for Joule when she worked with Delta on specific dates. Those dates are vital for her defence for during the trial. Unfortunately, the exact dates required have yet to be disclosed, so once I have the necessary information I’ll pass it on.” Mentella explained.
“Alright, I’m going to see if I can contact Vitality and Cavalier, get them to come back, just to clear the air.” Sarge said.
Mentella nodded and turned her attention back to Psion as Sarge spoke into his com-link whilst turned towards Kr’anri and Psirus.
<Well, that earlier blow up could have gone better.> ~ Psion.
<If you had stuck to listening yes, yes it could have.> ~ Mentella.
<Hold on, you’re upset with me?! What did I do?> ~ Psion.
<Your comment was incredibly insensitive and unnecessary. You should know by now, humans are not accustomed to our rules, so there was bound to be tension. So far, you’ve only made the whole situation worse.> ~ Mentella.
<El’sai. Do you want me to call them back or go after them?> ~ Psion.
<Believe me when I say that could prove detrimental to your well-being.> ~ Mentella.
<You think I cannot defend myself appropriately?> ~ Psion.
<I have no doubt what you are capable of. It is just incredibly unnecessary. When they come back, I want you to apologize to them.> ~ Mentella.
<Fine. Whatever it takes to stop you glaring at me.> ~ Psion.
---
Minutes later, Sarge nodded his head towards the door as it slid open, revealing Vitality and Cavalier. Psion looked at Mentella; she nodded at him as he took a deep breath, moving to stand in front of both of the Delta members. They stopped as they looked at him, two sets of eyes staring daggers at him. Psion schooled his features and addressed them.
“Hear me out. I am officially…apologizing…for my insensitive and…unnecessary comment. My intention was not to offend either of you.” Psion ground out.
Vitality casually looked past Psion, focusing on Mentella and Sarge.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.
Mentella sensed the barely controlled rage building within Psion and reached out, quelling him.
<Leave it; don’t concern yourself with this anymore. The transportation should be ready, we’ll be leaving shortly.> ~ Mentella.
Psion’s fist tightened as the panelling in the room fluttered briefly, he steeled his jaw and nodded towards her. He hovered over towards where Psirus and Kr’anri sat in the room, his cape billowing dramatically behind him.
---
FORCE TECH MOONBASE MED BAY
Techna’s eyes snapped open; the earlier pain from the blast had thankfully lessened to a minor irritation. Fifteen spherical robots whizzed around her body as they fed steady beams of regenerative energy into her, they beeped happily as they realised she was awake.
“Hey guys…thanks for looking after me!” she smiled
Techna looked around as she slowly sat up, quickly focusing in on her sister sitting next to the vitals monitor. Su held a hard-light projection in her hand as she focused on the projection display; she looked up at the sound of something moving and gave a warm smile.
“Welcome back to the land of the conscious. How are you feeling?”
“I’m doing okay, a little sore. What actually happened? Where’s my suit?” Techna replied.
“Your suit suffered a bit, I extracted you from it and sent it off for repairs. You’ll be pleased to know your suit is doing well; shielding systems are the only systems which suffered a serious impact. I’ve altered the shield matrix for you, it was a little off. As for what happened, I think Cavalier saved you whilst you were hurtling through the air. I sort of lost consciousness myself, so you’d have to review the feeds.”
Techna fell back onto the med bay bed, a small smile on her face. Suddenly she bolted upright and turned towards her older sister.
“Before you ask, no, Mentella hasn’t left yet.” Su assured
Techna settled back on the bed.
“I can’t imagine what Sai’edra’s going through right now…I hope she’s escaped or something. I really do.” Techna frowned.
Su nodded in agreement as she turned her attention back to the hard-light projection for a moment.
“Transport is ready…I’m going to send it up. Did you want to join me?” she asked.
“Sure, I’ll help.” Techna nodded.
---
Psion sat down on the cushioned seats surrounding the elevated table at the end of the room; he looked across to where Psirus comforted Kr’anri, who seemed to be quite distraught, aftershocks of her earlier sobbing still running through her sleight frame as she sat up slightly. Psion scooted closer, unable to bear the weak noises and hushed tones nearby.
“Kr’anri? What is the matter?” he asked evenly.
“Kr’anri…Kr’anri cannot see the future, the future is…hidden. Kr’anri wants Joule back!” she sobbed.
Without any warning, Psion suddenly found himself with an armful of quivering Prosythian. He froze, unsure of what to do, his eyes widened as Kr’anri clung to his bicep; he made eye contact with Psirus who seemed to produce a cell phone and quickly took a picture.
“What are you doing?” asked Psion.
“Oh this is going straight on Insta-Snap!” Psirus grinned.
Psion cursed silently and glared at the smirk on Psirus’ face. Kr’anri’s voice drifted into his thoughts as he held her.
<Kr’anri thinks something is going to happen to Mentella. Something bad.> ~ Kr’anri.
<I will not let that happen. I am there to protect her, when she needs it. And even if something does, if she doesn’t take them down, I will annihilate them. I don’t care what or who it is.> ~ Psion.
<Kr’anri hopes you are right.> ~ Kr’anri.
She crawled out of his arms and onto the heated cushions next to him, leaving him to ponder what she had said as he rose to re-join the group.
---
Cavalier turned his attention from where Kr’anri now lay back to the gathering nearby, focusing in on the conversation between Mentella and the rest of his team. Frowning as he noticed Psion making his way back to the group.
“After you both…left. I spoke to Sarge about how Delta can contribute towards Sai’edra’s trial. I’ll need reports, recordings, eyewitness statements, whatever you can find to prove that she has been with you on certain days and how she’s working with you to combat issues on Earth. Those dates are yet to be determined, so we will be in contact as soon as we arrive.” Mentella explained
“Do you have an ETA?” asked Vitality
“If we manage to qualify for express transportation then it most likely will be under twelve hours in Earth time. If not then it could take up to seventy five to eighty one hours. The distance is quite considerable after all.” Psion stated.
“Well then, I guess we’ll be waiting for your call. Good luck.” nodded Cavalier
A holographic screen flew into the room, positioning itself in front of Psion, he tapped the display a few times, flicking his wrist as he dismissed it and turned on his heel. He exited the room following the light trail left behind by the display. Mentella’s voice drifted into Vitality and Cavalier’s minds.
<I’m almost certain you’ve picked up that there is an imposter in your midst. I don’t have time to properly analyze why he’s here, nor what he has done with Sarge, but think of this as a confirmation of your suspicions.> ~ Mentella
They both looked at her, replying with subtle nods as she turned and left the room.
---
Techna and Su stood beneath a smooth looking silver spaceship; blue pulsing lights decorated the exterior in a series of thin interconnected lines, travelling and flashing through the lines as they moved. Mentella and Psion exited the Moon Base labs, followed by the Delta members. Mentella reached her sisters and gave a small smile. Techna moved forwards, wrapping her arms around her sister’s midsection and held tightly. Su handed her older sister a paper thin device, laying it flat in her palm.
“The Class 7 is ready for departure.” she stated.
“Su, J’asira, thank you. Take care of yourselves.” Mentella replied.
“I still say we should go with you…just save Sai and hurry back okay?” mumbled Techna.
“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Sai’edra is not convicted for those crimes. I’ll be in touch.”
Techna looked up at her sister, releasing her from the embrace and nodded. Su gave her sister a warm smile as she boarded the ship. Techna and Su turned their attention to Psion as he followed; glaring daggers at him as he walked by. He stopped as he heard both of their voices drift into his mind.
<I hope you are picking this up, if you hurt my sister in any way or have ANYTHING to do with what’s happened to Sai’edra. I can promise you I’ll be the first and last to tear you apart. Understand?> ~ Techna.
<What you are both attempting is dangerous, so keep her safe, or you’ll have me to answer to. Remember that.> ~ ForceGirl.
Psion stopped dead in his tracks and turned around only to be met with two pairs of stern blue eyes. He turned back around and hurried towards the ship. He glanced back to them as he reached out towards the side of the ship; the metal exterior changed state, wrapping around him as it slowly dragged him into the vessel.
---
Mentella sat down at the control panel in the cockpit, and slid in the device from her sister, the ship’s on board systems activated, allowing her to type away at the various screens in front of her. The familiar footfalls of Psion soon echoed down the corridor towards her as he entered the ship. A small smile forming on her face as she brushed his mind, reviewing what her sisters had said;
“I’m assuming you had an equally nice send off?”
Psion pointed an accusatory finger at Mentella as he opened his mouth to reply;
“Your sisters are insane. Not to mention needlessly aggressive!” he whined.
“They are just worried, that and they don’t trust you.”
Psion shook his head and sighed as he sat down; he flexed his fingers before pushing his forearms into the two cylinders connected to the control panel. He grimaced as the chill of the cold metal made contact with his skin; he grabbed onto the mechanism inside, turning it towards the right as his side of the cockpit activated.
“Ready?” he asked.
Mentella nodded as she dismissed the final display.
“The flight is pretty straightforward; I’ve put in a request for priority, for obvious reasons. Once we arrive in the right section of space it should be accepted.” she explained.
Psion nodded and pulled his arms back, causing the ship to rise into the air.
---
ForceGirl and Techna ran back towards the Delta members as the large vessel rose into the air, several orange rings glowed softly towards the back of the vessel as it prepared to accelerate. Techna waved at the vessel before turning to go back inside, gesturing for Delta to follow. Su caught Vitality’s arm as he turned around, he turned back with a look of mild confusion.
“Hey, I just wanted to say…Mentella knows what she’s doing, Sai’edra will return to you guys. I know it seems like she’s leaving you guys in the dark but…please trust that she will keep to her word. Our rules are very different to what exists on Earth; she’s going up against the equivalent of an international government to save Sai’edra. It is not without its risks.” Su said.
“It’s not that I don’t trust her, it’s just…I feel useless, powerless even, to stop all of this. We couldn’t help against Elyisaus and now she’s on another world, held captive by him. He’s a maniac with incredible power at his disposal and I’m stuck here.” He replied.
“I understand the frustration; I think all of us feel that we were powerless to stop this. But we’re acting to alter the situation for the better. If there’s one thing I know it is best to operate within the law but, it’s also best to have people operating under the radar to help. I’ve got no doubt Mentella will be using her contacts to get as much information as possible. And she’s promised to keep us all in the loop.” She assured.
Vitality gave a small smile and nodded before heading back inside to meet with his teammates.
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