Page 15 of Revolution

Revolution

  Is dedicated to everyone who believed in me, you know who you are

  End game

  The Earth looked incredibly placid and quiet like a blue and green marble it resembled from Arrin Frost's unique vantage point. He looked enormous as he stood proud next to his helicopter, his armour was now as black as the Mark Two and his eyepiece was glowing red. The reflection of the Earth hugged his body armour like a warm image of peace and hope which couldn’t have been further from the coming reality. Everything that happened in everyday life upon the blue planet, thousands of tiny humans being born at any given second, thousands of people dying and every kind of weather that Frost had ever known were all happening before his eyes. He felt like a god as he stood on the moon looking out as if on a watchtower peering out across a huge black sea. Countless particles of dust would lap his metallic feet if there were such a thing as wind on the white mini-planet where he stood.

  He lifted his black thumb and forefinger to the image of the Earth before his eyes and pretended to crush it between his metallic digits.

  ‘All the Earth is about to become mine’ he said to himself dramatically. He looked around at the stars and felt at home perhaps it was the alien material that had now become a part of his very soul.

  He turned his attention towards the Mark Two, the helicopter that had faithfully aided him all the way through his anarchical rampage. He had transformed from one of the best agents of the SIA into the world’s most deadly renegade. He knew what was about to ensue, Daryl Troy was still alive he could feel it but would he find him? As he looked at the Earth he knew that whatever happened this would be its last moment of peace before all life was extinguished. He felt like pummelling nucleonic pulse after nucleonic pulse into the whole globe until nothing remained not even buildings. His rage was reaching boiling point and his eyepiece beamed bright red giving away the anger that welled up inside.

  He placed his cold hands on the side of the Mark Two and whispered a vow of brotherly love to the lifeless machine that had become his only friend. He entered the black chopper and started up its main engines, the Ion drive kicked in and the Mark Two bolted back to Earth a dizzy pace. The moons gravity had no effect on the speedy vessel as it slipped away like greyhound from the traps. After only a few minutes Frost disengaged the engines and reverted to the fusion drive for propulsion. The Integral Grid was in sight, there were no visible connection cables between the satellites but Frost knew that it was all connected by invisible laser light. He and his doomsday helicopter avoided detection by the Grid and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, his final act was on the very edge of fruition and to his mind there was nothing that could stop him now, not even his brother. He took the Mark Two down to the huge built-up area below, as it came into view he smiled inside his headpiece. He could see the high-rise buildings bordering the sea; he was going to attack New York.

  He was now oblivious to the fact that only seven months ago New York had been his most favourite place in the entire world. But the armour was in control now and it was hell bent on death and destruction. Finally the Mark Two dropped to the level of the highest buildings and scoured them like a predator thirsty for blood. The black helicopter stopped just before a high-rise commercial office block and waited patiently. All the innocent workers sat staring at their computer screens ignorant to the dark menace just outside the floor to ceiling windows. Frost magnified the forward view and spotted a worker looking back with a perplexed face, seconds later the man returned his attention to his computer terminal believing the helicopter was some kind of police chopper.

  ‘So this is what the Human Race has been reduced to. Thousands of years progressing, diversifying, conquering and all for what? All so the greatest animal the Earth has ever spawned can live out its over-lengthy life in greed and squalor, working miserable jobs they hate for things they don’t really need. How very droll, how very pitiful’ Frost said in eerily prophetic way. Suddenly a column of green light shot from the front of the Mark Two and the office worker that had paid no heed to the chopper before now had no choice. Windows shattered and rained down on the unsuspecting pedestrians below as four whole floors erupted into flames. Another beam again entered the building and yet more flames engulfed it ferociously. Frost lifted the Mark Two skyward and darted off into the bright blue expanse. After only a matter of seconds he was again in space and positioned the Mark Two above a member satellite of the Integral Grid. He downloaded one of his super viruses into the advanced machine and waited for it to work. System after system failed as a blanket of silence suddenly enshrouded the entire globe, nation by nation. For the first time since the advent of the telephone the only way of communication was now person to person. The global powers that be had interlinked all the communications systems and now they all depended on each other. No one realised how vulnerable this would make the global communications grid. Back the Mark Two plummeted to Earth and it headed for New York once again.

  The black chopper skulked the skyline again once and hunted its next quarry. Intercept helicopters had been dispatched but now they had no way of communication, if only they had kept the radio devices that they had used decades before they would not now be deaf to the instructions of their superiors. The Mark Two followed each of the defenceless police choppers as they looked around for the mystery black helicopter that had been sighted. Frost picked them off one by one he was just playing around now, he felt like being cruel and tormenting for a while. His armour was black and so was his heart. After he picked off the final innocent helicopter he darted off towards the nearby sea. The super chopper seemed to move faster than light itself as it changed direction swiftly and dived into the ocean below. Down the sleek vessel went, into the depths. Just before the Mark Two struck the seabed it turned about to face the dark weed-covered rock that New York stood on and fired a nucleonic pulse. A bright ball of light shimmered through the water leaving a trail of huge bubbles in its wake, Frost waited patiently inside the Mark Two that was now illuminated red from his eyepiece. The blast erupted and millions of tons of shattered rock splintered off in all directions. Before the debris could smother the Mark Two it again bolted off at high speed towards the surface. It broke water and as it did it was just in time for Frost to see the destruction his attack caused. He watched with an evil smile as New York began to shake more violently than any Earthquake that man had ever endured. Office blocks tumbled and windows shattered, people, cars and chunks of aggregate fell into huge cracks that opened in the city streets. All that survived picked themselves up and brushed themselves down but the innocents who survived the first onslaught looked up in horror at an eighty-metre tidal wave that was about to engulf them all. The waves came crashing down and drowned nearly all of New York’s inhabitants, the mighty city of New York, the cultural and financial capital of the world was now reduced to ruins and sea water.

  ‘Well you all would have died soon anyway. Better that you all died in style’ Frost said to himself with a cold grin. He turned the helicopter around and darted off towards the next destination.

  An alert popped up on Troy’s screen showing that a pulse of unknown magnitude had been unleashed on the city of New York; he ordered a satellite image of the area from the Integral Grid but got no response.

  ‘Why is the grid offline?’ Troy asked the computer of his helicopter, bemused.

  ‘There seems to be a malfunction of some kind, possibly a virus but a complex one to be able to do this level of damage to the infrastructure’ the Gunship responded. Troy knew instantly who was responsible and entered the co-ordinates for New York.

  When he arrived a deep scan of the area showed that Frost had left and was on the way to the little town where their mother lived.

  ‘He’s headed to see our mother. Jesus it feels strange saying that!’ Troy said to himself as he re-directed the Gunship to reach the location before his brother did. After just under ten minutes he overtook Frost on route to his target and found a sheltered plac
e behind some tall red-brown conifers. The area was peaceful and serene, vast ongoing lakes passing through grand snow capped mountains, eagles flying overhead. Troy took it in for a second but time was of the essence. He exited the Gunship, activated the armour and ran towards where Frost was sure to land.

  He found the perfect vantage point and hid himself in a large tree where he surveyed the area and caught a glimpse of his brother’s target. He had never met this woman who sat at the edge of the huge lake, throwing rocks into the water while singing happily to herself. He felt an urge for an introduction but Frost’s arrival was imminent. What would happen now? He had no idea, all he knew was that he was facing the biggest test of his life and he might not survive it. A dark black helicopter thundered overhead and then slowed down completely turning as it did. Frost had arrived. The side of the Mark Two opened and Frost jumped out. Just before he hit the water below he slowed steadily and then seemed to float over the surface. The Mark Two moved off toward the hills in the distance. The lady by the water edge jumped up screaming at the alien before her, she ran backwards and fell frozen like she couldn’t move. As he approached both Troy and their mother could see that Frost's eyepiece was glowing red; Troy knew his brother was now beyond any hope of returning to the man he once knew and loved. He prepared for the final onslaught, the armour that had corrupted his brother was now the only thing that could protect him from his lethal enemy.

  As Frost approached his armour deactivated. Troy thought this would be a ploy to show he was still human but as Frost had said before the armour had become him and he had become the armour. The woman looked closely at her misguided unknown son and the tears flowed even more, she seemed to sense that this was someone she knew but didn’t know at all. His skin looked metallic and his eyes seemed to glow red just like his eyepiece had. Troy jumped from the tree that concealed him and fired a large quantity of holding gel at his brother’s hands. Frost seemed unfettered by the presence of his brother, he almost didn’t recognise him. He looked down at the holding gel that had now solidified and held his arms tightly; he looked back at Troy and laughed robotically.

  ‘Hello Daryl you survived your little fall I see. Wonders will never cease’ Frost said calmly and methodically, not a hint of emotion touched his robotic accent.

  ‘Here is our darling mother that gave life to us both. I ‘m incapable of compassion now but I still understand respect. And I do respect you our loving embryo donor. I mean that in the nicest possible way’ Frost said forcing a cold smile while the fear in his terrified mother’s heart reached epic proportions.

  ‘You have given birth to something far beyond your comprehension. Your genetic codes have become the next step in human evolution. For this reason I will spare your life although you will die with your son here when I wipe you all out’ he said looking at his brother as he did. A red gleam flashed in his eyes and a black knife-like object seemed to emerge from his stomach which sliced away at the holding gel rapidly. Frost's arms were now free; he lifted his right hand to his wrist communicator which now looked embedded in his arm.

  He tried to deactivate Troy’s armour but after a few seconds he was shocked to find his brother’s armour was still very much active.

  ‘Not this time Arrin this truly is the end. The next stage in Human evolution won’t be your doing, your just nuts Arrin that’s all there is to it’ Troy said confidently.

  ‘Then I guess it’s time. I’m sorry that you have to see your mother disintegrate before your eyes when you’ve only just met but they’ve got to go, all of them’ Frost said as his dark armour quickly slithered over him. He tapped his arm once again to fire all the Orgapulse detonators that Troy had so cleverly disarmed only a day before. Frost tapped away frantically wondering why his devices were not working, the blast was designed to travel at the speed of light and one would have easily reached their location by now he thought.

  Troy began to laugh robotically at his bemused brother as he tried and tried fruitlessly to activate his weapons of mass extermination.

  They’re all inactive Arrin, like I said this little game of yours is finally over‘ Troy was extremely happy with himself at what he had done to his unsuspecting brother. Frost swung the blade of his right scimitar frantically at Troy’s head. Troy ducked and sunk his left scimitar into his brother’s abdomen and with his other fist he punched him violently into the lake. Frost fell with a splash and Troy decided to divert the fight to somewhere more remote. He jumped high over a fence and ran down the picturesque street lined with ornate lamp-posts, he knew Frost would give chase. As he passed the second house along he saw two sports bikes sat in the driveway on their stands. He sat on one of the bikes and placed his blue metallic hand on the ignition, after a spark and a flash the engine revved and he darted off towards the nearest highway.

  Their terrified mother ran into the house screaming as Frost picked himself up. He took no notice of her, his target was Troy. As water droplets dripped from his huge black body his red eyepiece glowed brightly and lit up the whole area. He let out a deafening roar and all the nearby windows shattered. He thrust his hands skyward and his body began to shake. Forks of thick blue electricity began to jump from his hands and eventually every part of his armour was rippling with electricity. He regained his concentration and ran rapidly in pursuit of Troy. His armour was integrated into his brain now and its computer transferred knowledge to his own brain at the speed of light. He magnified the forward view of the street and saw Troy turning off a minor street road onto another. Frost kicked the stand from the motorbike and started it up, roaring after him.

  Wide country roads were unexpectedly full of traffic but Troy took no heed, he knew his brother was behind him somewhere and he needed to find a good place to face him finally. Frost gained slowly and tried to control his bike with one hand while at the same time attempting to aim his gun at Troy, unsuccessfully. As the strange bikers carried on their frantic chase onlookers were both shaken and mystified by the sight that flashed by them in the blink of an eye. Finally Frost gained on his most deadly enemy and aimed his weapon at Troy’s rear tire. A blast of green light shot from Frost's weapon narrowly missing the target as Troy manoeuvred cunningly around the cars. Frost fired again but this time the blast hit a car to the left of his target, crushing the bonnet and throwing it out of control. The car spun into the path of Frost's motorcycle leaving him no time for options.

  As fast as his mind now worked he could not stop time or the oncoming collision. He was thrown violently into the road at great speed, onlookers watched in amazement as the black terror rolled energetically and then threw himself to his feet, skidding backwards but perfectly controlled. Troy was now quite a distance away. Frost walked slowly and methodically towards a huge truck cab that was now honking its horn for him to get out of the way and travelling at quite a pace. As the cab passed he grabbed an exhaust pipe and held on tightly. Using the momentum of his swing he smashed into the cab and kicked the occupants through the opposite door. He could see Troy in the distance; he magnified the view and snarled robotically at his prey who was now way ahead. Frost pushed the truck to its limit ramming cars out of the way and into the barriers at the roadside. Troy looked miles away but surprisingly the truck was gaining on him. He maintained his pace and guile as he continued to slip around the busy roads. Troy was not the scared rabbit that Frost thought, he knew exactly what was going on behind him. Frost finally got close and they were now on a huge highway with spaghetti-like junctions all around them.

  Frost pushed the truck to its limits and it wasn't long before he could almost ram Troy’s motorcycle and knock him from it. Troy jolted forward as the truck clipped the rear of his endangered vehicle and he knew he must do something quickly. As Frost gathered momentum for another attack with his truck Troy turned sharply to the right, jumped the bike into the air and over the roadside barriers. There was a sheer drop to the motorway below, another three-lane highway filled with traffic snaked away to t
he right. Frost was beginning to get a little frustrated at his elusive brother as he aggressively screeched the truck to a halt. Troy held on tightly as he fell forty metres to the ground below. The bike slammed into the ground violently and sent Troy rolling into oncoming traffic that was now braking desperately to avoid him. He landed awkwardly and damaged his arm as he rolled. He regained his stance holding his arm and looked up to where he left Frost, taking no notice of the oncoming vehicles that swarmed around him. All traffic screeched to a halt and everyone who looked upon the mighty blue figure gasped in terror, though it was not Troy that they should fear.

  ‘Not sure that was good move!’ Troy said aloud.

  Suddenly Frost's truck appeared from above and broke through the barriers at great speed. Troy had no time to move and simply dropped to his knees for protection. The truck slammed into the highway where Troy crouched and a large portion of the road gave way. Troy, Frost, the Truck, a few cars and a lot of debris rained down on the ground level highway, smothering unsuspecting vehicles in a shower of destruction.

  Mystified onlookers got out from their vehicles as the dust began to settle. Nothing was moving in the mangled mess that had previously been a section of the road above. Finally they looked up to see a blue figure hanging on to a small steel railing just next to where the highway had collapsed. Troy managed to grab a steel fastening rod as he fell and avoided the destruction below. He hung in pain; although he was wearing his armour the force of the truck was not easily endurable. The twisted wreckage began to move and Frost was beginning to re-surface from the maze of concrete and awkward steel. Troy dropped to the ground below and ran across the highway dodging vehicles on the opposite side. He leapt over the steel girders and ran into a dusty field; he stopped after a kilometre or two and waited patiently for Frost. The assassin eventually clambered from the wreckage and a concerned onlooker ran towards him to ask about survivors, Frost sideswiped the innocent man’s head and it flew into the air as his headless body slumped to a heap. Frost continued the pursuit and finally they were face to face with scimitars engaged, they prepared for battle.

  Both menacing figures started circling each other, Frost's eyepiece locked onto Troy’s and Troy’s locked onto his. The adrenaline was pumping frantically through Troy’s veins now and so was something else, after a week of using his armour he could feel it beginning to bond with his body and he started to feel stronger. Frost leapt into the air and started firing his gun at Troy with cunning precision sending beams of green light from Troy’s armour dissolving into the ground. Troy’s left leg blasted from under him and he fell to the ground face first, Frost came down quickly and tried to slam his right scimitar into his brother’s head. He rolled away just in time and regained his stance.

  Frost turned again to face his brother and began to run quickly towards him, scimitars aimed at his head as they passed, Troy ducked as fast a lightening and jabbed his left scimitar deep into Frost’s lower abdomen. Black liquid poured from Frost as he dropped to the floor awkwardly. Troy seized his chance and sunk his right scimitar into the back of his brother’s head. The tips of the silver blades appeared suddenly from the front of Frost's black head and again black liquid fired out in all directions like a burst water pipe. Troy stepped back and Frost lay lifeless at his feet. He retracted his scimitars, the black liquid from Frost's inanimate body slid off them and dripped to the ground as the silver blades returned to his blue hands. He stood in awe at what he had just done. He had defeated his brother and saved the planet with one decisive blow.

  Frost’s black blood trickled at ever increasing speed towards its owner and he began to re-generate, Troy stepped back in amazement as Frost slowly got back to his feet. Troy now knew beyond a doubt that his brother was truly indestructible.

  ‘It will take much more than that Daryl, I assure you’ Frost said like a soulless entity bent on world domination. With lightening fast speed Frost jumped to his feet and slashed both his scimitars at his brother’s head. His body had completely healed. Troy had just enough time to knock Frost's scimitars away with the back of his hand and dived away from his attacking brother.

  Cunning move after cunning move Frost attacked with all his strength and skill, Troy tried frantically to block each attack and somehow managed to keep his angry attacker at bay. Frost let out a sly kick and knocked Troy from his feet. He slumped to the floor on his chest and quickly rolled away from certain death. He regained his stance and this time he made the attacking moves. His reflexes matched his cybernetic brother’s perfectly and he fought with a guile that no machine could ever beat. Their scimitars were barely visible to the many observers that had now run from the highway to inspect the commotion; they kept their distance and watched the fight. After some time the blue part of the brawling blur was sent flying backwards with awesome power, Troy skidded along the ground and came to rest fifty metres from Frost who stood glaring at him through a glowing red eyepiece.

  He got up and a smokescreen of sandy dust flowed from his armour like a cape in the cool autumn breeze. He regained his posture and once again prepared for battle as Frost ran at him quickly. He jumped into the air and prepared to finish the fight; Troy activated his right scimitar and ejected it powerfully into his attacker in mid air. Both blades stuck deep into Frost’s armour just below his neck and the sheer force sent him backwards uncontrollably. He threw his arms out to his sides and gained control of his fall. He flipped backwards in mid-air and as he did he poised himself for landing. He gracefully landed on one knee and waved Troy over to his position with his scimitar. Troy ran and jumped in attack and as he passed over Frost's head he landed an unexpected blow on his brother’s shoulder with his one remaining scimitar, spilling some more of his black blood. As he passed Frost he didn’t realise his brother had also landed a sly slash on his right leg. The wound was quite deep and as he tried to regain his stance his injured leg gave way.

  Frost walked towards his brother who was now clearly in a great deal of pain and prepared to finish him off. Troy managed to get to his feet once again and he to prepared for the final onslaught. Their arms seemed to merge into one as they moved faster than before each trying their utmost to land a fatal blow. Troy could feel his neurons burning as he skilfully defended himself from his attacker with only one scimitar. Finally the fight reached boiling point and Frost seemed to drop his guard temporarily, Troy threw his scimitar quickly at his brother’s head. Frost beat his brothers speed and thrust his right scimitar, catching Troy’s arm in between the two blades of his deadly weapon. Before Troy could counter the move Frost sank his left scimitar into Troy's chest, piercing his right lung and rendering him defenceless.

  Blood gushed and spurted from the grilled mouthpiece of his armour and as Frost moved back to watch his pitiful brother die, the armour deactivated to prevent the fallen agent from drowning in his own blood. Troy looked up at Frost who was clapping slowly and sarcastically, he knew his time was up.

  ‘So here we are Daryl, the end of the line. I can sense your armour is starting to bond with your body now’ Troy’s ears picked up, he could feel a tiny presence in his mind and he knew that if he didn’t die soon he would be corrupted like his twin brother. He sat silently, defeated with his arms at his sides wishing for the nightmare to end. Frost lifted his hands in the air and bolts of blue electricity began to ripple over his body, he lowered his hands as if holding a football and the electrical energy started to collect. After sometime the ball of light had grown and Frost let it go at the speed of light into Troy’s armour belt sending him skidding violently across the sandy floor once more.

  He laid lifeless, blackened by the blast when suddenly his wounds began to scab up quickly and heal, his armour started to pour from his buckle once again. The surge of energy that Frost had unleashed on him was enough to cause his armour to continue the bonding process.

  ‘Like brother, like brother’ Frost said to Troy who still wasn’t moving just thirty metres from him.
r />   Suddenly a beam of blue light filled the air and struck Frost powerfully from behind. Frost was taken completely by surprise and as he rolled on the ground awkwardly, thousands of blue beams struck him, he had no idea what was happening. The black vessel that was responsible for the assault turned around for another pass. Frost looked up at the black mysterious chopper that had come from nowhere. He immediately ordered the Mark Two to his location on his communicator but for the moment he was vulnerable. The Gunship came back and as it got close a constant beam of blue light hit the ground just in front of Frost and then struck his left leg. As he rolled over to move away he realised the beam had severed it. Horrified he grasped for his lifeless limb and as he did another blue beam sliced his right arm from his body. Incapable of getting away Frost lay severely damaged, he may have become invincible to all weapons that he knew of but he had never met the Gunship.

  The timely helicopter lowered itself to where Troy lay; the side door opened and a halo of shimmering light covered the agent’s bleeding body. He was suddenly lifted into the air and carried into the Gunship. Troy could not manage speech now and he wondered how the Gunship could possibly have come to his aid. Blood still dripped from his mouth although he felt much stronger. He lifted himself to the command console and took control.

  ‘Gunship to the rescue!’ Troy said trying to lighten his mood, he tried to de-activate the armour without success and knew that his fate was sealed. If he weren’t destroyed by Frost he too would be wiping out whole cities just for the hell of it.

  Down below, Frost's severed limbs began to slowly re-attach themselves as if by some kind of magnetism, they watched as he got up and climbed aboard the Mark Two.

  ‘The Mark Two is moving into attack position’ the computer announced. Suddenly the Gunship was rocked violently by the newly arrived Mark Two and its barrage of powerful green light, Frost was at the helm and the battle was far from over.

  ‘Let’s finish this evil bastard once and for all’ Troy said finding a new strength from no-where.

  The Gunship rose into the air and pelted the Mark Two with a barrage of Neutron beams, all six of the small openings on the Gunship’s wings fired beam after beam relentlessly. Frost could not control his chopper effectively and knew he was outmatched. This was only child’s play for the Gunship and it had in no way unleashed all of its fury into the humble Mark Two. Frost took his vessel to full speed and the Gunship gave chase, Frost tried to fend off the attacking chopper with an energy surge as he had done many times before, he felt threatened and it was showing. A large white ball ejected from the exhaust of the Mark Two.

  ‘You’re like a broken record Arrin’ Troy said as the ball of sheer energy dissolved on the Gunship’s shielding system. Frost had nowhere to run and certainly nowhere to hide. He decided to take Troy on a wild goose chase to try and shake him but he had no idea what the Gunship could do.

  Frost ducked and dived over the rocky terrain of the Grand Canyon. The Mark Two cut so close to the terrain that every so often it struck the tops of the mountains and sent fragments of rock careering down to the ground below. Troy kept hot on Frost's tail and managed to avoid the tops of the craggy rocks. Troy fired another barrage of Neutron beams at the Mark Two, knocking it off balance completely and sending it crashing into one of the orange canyons. The black chopper smashed at high speed against the rock, it rolled awkwardly and finally hit the floor of the canyon. Incredibly, Frost managed to regain control and again sped off to escape. The Gunship began to speed up rapidly and Troy rammed her into Frost's dying vessel. Frost was knocked from his command chair and he rocked inside the shell of his helicopter as it rolled uncontrollably.

  He scrambled back to his seat and prepared the Ion Drive for action. After a few moments the Mark Two bolted upwards at incredible speed towards space. Troy knew this would be the ideal chance to use the An-Tam torpedo that Janner had told him so much about. After a few moments the Ion drive aboard the Gunship thumped out its mighty roar and within seconds the Mark Two was in sight. A thick stream of green light blasted from the Gunship and hit the fleeing helicopter, the beam cut straight through the hull and damaged the Ion Drive. Frost knew all he could do was return to Earth as he had no chance of using the Ion drive again, it was damaged beyond repair. A ball of shimmering silver light fired suddenly from the Gunship. It was an An-Tam torpedo and it was heading straight for Frost's doomed helicopter. Frost had started his decent back into Earth’s atmosphere and the deadly torpedo narrowly missed his hull. The weapon exploded some two thousand Kilometres from where the Mark Two had been and the explosion was the like of which Troy had never imagined let alone seen before.

  The Gunship followed Frost's helicopter back to Earth, they were now just above the Antarctic continent and the Mark Two entered a steep dive. The Gunship followed matching in speed and skill, Troy could clearly see the huge gash in the side of the pursued vessel and he knew that the battle was close to conclusion. As he continued the steep dive Troy fired another An-Tam Torpedo in sheer rage, not thinking about the consequences, he was too close to Frost and he too would be destroyed. The two finest creations of the SIA rocketed to the ground below flanked by the most powerful weapon in the known Universe. There was a fraction of a second before the weapon exploded just above the atmosphere ahead. Troy's only chance was to activate the Ion drive and power the Gunship away to safety. The fearsome might of Janner’s An-Tam torpedo unleashed itself above the white continent below turning ice into vapour. A huge ball of dust filled the sky and turned day into night, the seas rose and swallowed whole cities. Thousands of tiny droplets of black americium from the fallen choppers rained down on the scorched desert below. Neither vessel could have survived in the mighty blast. Millions died in the huge wall of fire but that was billions less than what Frost had planned before his efforts were thwarted.

  Two months passed, the seas returned to normal and the sun’s rays once again immersed the Earth with their radiant glory. In the middle of a gigantic crater in the new Antarctic desert a middle-aged man in a cream trench coat walked around kicking rubble and dust into the path of his understudy, annoying him greatly.

  ‘Have you found anything Dr Janner?’ The younger of the two impatiently asked.

  ‘Yes I’m afraid I have. The blast would have been too intense for any biological remains to survive but I think I’ve found enough material to say they both died in their armour. There’s definitely enough debris to substantiate the theory that both the Gunship and the Mark Two were destroyed. I suppose it was too much to hope for, Daryl did his job and he did it well. He sacrificed his own life for the good of the planet’ Janner said half hopefully and half sorrowfully.

  ‘What now then Dr? Rebuild the SIA?’

  ‘Now Carl, we live our lives and try to forget about the whole affair. It is all we can do and it is all I have the strength for. Come on let’s go’ Janner said defeated. He turned around and looked back to where he had been stood thoughtfully.

  ‘Take it easy Daryl wherever you are now and all of you my friends, I will miss you greatly’ A tear formed in Janner’s eye as he left the sight were his most treasured agents lay in unmarked graves.

  Thousands of miles away on a tropical island drenched in searing sunshine, a young couple stroll along an empty beach hand in hand. He lifts his head to the deep blue sky and a look of sadness covers his face like a shroud. He touches two large scars on his upper chest and then looks back down at the beautiful young lady at his side, his sadness turned to happiness instantly and they walked into the deep red and orange sunset.

  End

 
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