Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2) (34 page)

The rear hatch on the Icarus opened and two figures flew out—one in red and white with a cape flowing behind her and the other covered in an orange, holographic suit of armor. Paragon and Sentinel.
 

J’Karra targeted Sentinel first, releasing a volley of fire. Sentinel stopped his pursuit, maintaining his position in the air so he could better guard against the attack. He diverted most of the power to his armor, shielding him from the blasts.

Paragon flew in a direct line towards J’Karra. The alien pulled off Sentinel to engage the new target, her guns shooting wildly at the woman. Paragon evaded most strikes, but one hit her, causing her to stop in mid-air. A few other shots struck and Paragon staggered, but managed to remain in a hover position. J’Karra locked onto Paragon and was ready to fire again when she was struck from behind.
 

J’Karra pulled up on the stick, the Icarus right on her tail. She shot towards the mountains and the Icarus increased its speed to keep up with her. J’Karra flew as close to the mountains as possible before suddenly pulling up to avoid hitting the ridge. Her hope was the Icarus wouldn’t be as easy to pull away, but she was wrong.
 

The Icarus was still in close pursuit, firing more shots at her. J’Karra pushed her ship as fast as she could without engaging the warp drive. Signals were coming through from the Icarus and J’Karra listened to the robotic voice that pumped through her speakers.

“Do not make this difficult on yourself, J’Karra,” said Zenith. “Land your plane immediately. We will take you into custody and you have our word that you will be treated fairly.”

“The same way you treated my people?” she asked, before blocking the transmission.
 

J’Karra dove again and the Icarus struggled to follow her course. She flew at the mountains once more, but this time she turned her plane to the side so she could squeeze through a narrow gap, one even the Icarus couldn’t get through.
 

The Icarus instead pulled up, taking the long way over. But Sentinel and Paragon had no such qualms. They were back in the fight, with Sentinel’s jetpack pushing him ahead of Paragon. He followed J’Karra through the gap and held his arms out in front of him. Blasts fired from the palms of his gauntlets.
 

J’Karra evaded them, then took a sharp turn. Sentinel was still on her, but she pushed down on the stick and dropped her speed. Sentinel went right overhead and J’Karra hit her thrusters again, now following him.

Sentinel stopped and turned, but it was just in time for J’Karra to release a powerful volley of blasts at near point-blank range. It overwhelmed him and he began to fall.
 

J’Karra sent a transmission to the Icarus. “Your friend will be dead soon unless you do something.” She resumed the block and turned again. A video feed on her HUD showed the Icarus flying close to Sentinel and Zenith emerging from the craft to catch his falling teammate. A tiny smile played on the Kotharian’s lips. They’d become her enemies, but she respected Vanguard and didn’t want to see any unnecessary harm come to them. But she wondered why Zenith was the one to rescue Sentinel instead of Paragon, who was already in range.

Her answer came when something landed on her craft. J’Karra looked up through the canopy to see Paragon atop her ship. She banged a few times on the forcefield that served as the “glass.”

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Stop this now, you’re only going to make things worse!”

J’Karra responded by increasing her speed as she flew back to the Area 51 airfield. The sudden jolt forward nearly threw Paragon off, but she grabbed hold of the tail fin. With her strength and her flight, she pulled herself forward.

Paragon closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind.
“J’Karra, listen to me, please.”

J’Karra could feel Paragon’s thoughts poking around her mind. She shook her head, straining to keep them out.
 

“I know you can hear me. I know why you’re here. We know all about Roswell and your people who were taken. If you let us, we can help you resolve this. But if you push ahead as recklessly as you have, you’ll only convince the government that you can’t be trusted.”

J’Karra heard Paragon’s thoughts. She was trying to pull her into the mindscape, where they battled the Collective. But though Paragon was getting more powerful, she was still a novice in this avenue. Whereas J’Karra had been training to use these abilities since she was a child.

“Stay out of my head, Anita. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re better than this. I know you are.”

“Fine. You leave me no choice.”

J’Karra concentrated and unleashed a psychic attack. Paragon screamed, releasing her grip on the tail. With her main opposition gone, J’Karra could return to the base. But now she was close enough that she could use the ship to keep Vanguard distracted.
 

She engaged the auto-pilot and activated the ship’s teleporter. Blue waves of energy wrapped around her body, increasing in size and intensity until J’Karra vanished completely.

When she rematerialized, she was on the airfield, drawing surprised looks from the guards. They all raised their guns and aimed them at her. J’Karra looked at all of them with her catlike eyes and smiled.
 

CHAPTER 8

Zenith flew back into the Icarus, holding Sentinel. He entered the hatch and Sharkskin, who stood beside the entrance, holding tightly to the handrail above him, activated the switch to close it back up.
 

The robot carried his friend over to the gurney and set him down. Sharkskin came up beside Zenith and they both looked at Sentinel, who was already groggily coming to.

“What happened?” he asked, rubbing his head. He raised the visor from his eyes.

“J’Karra shot you at close-range,” said Zenith.

“That armor’s pretty impressive, dude,” said Sharkskin. “Didn’t know it could withstand something like
that
.”

“Don’t think it can,” said Sentinel, sitting up.
 

“Zen, get up here!” came the voice of Shift over the comms. Zenith moved quickly to the cockpit. Sharkskin lingered behind, helping Sentinel up to the front.

When Zenith entered the cockpit, Gunsmith sat in the co-pilot’s seat with Shift at the controls. “What is it?” he asked.

“We’re coming up on J’Karra again, but it looks like Anita was just knocked clear somehow,” said Shift. “She didn’t fall, though, just lost her grip and looked a bit dazed.”

“She’s moving to engage again,” said Gunsmith. He activated the comm-link. “Paragon, this is Gunsmith. We’ve got Sentinel and are about to get back in the game. Return to the Icarus, we can take it from here.”

“Roger that,” said Paragon.

“Hold on,” said Zenith. “Paragon, this is Zenith. I need you to try to fly above the cockpit. Confirm that the ship is occupied.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Gunsmith.

“Communications from the ground state that an intruder is on the base,” said Zenith. “We need to know if we’re still dealing with J’Karra or if she has reinforcements.”

It took another moment or two for Paragon to respond. When she did, though, she confirmed that the plane was empty. Shift furrowed her brow in confusion. “How is it empty?”

“J’Karra used a teleporter at the White House. It must be connected to her ship,” said Zenith. “She must have activated the auto-pilot right before exiting.”

“Auto-pilot?” asked Gunsmith, his eyes widening as he stared out the windshield. “Then how is it the plane looks like it’s coming around to engage us again?”

Sure enough, the craft opened fire on them and it happened so far that Shift didn’t have a chance to evade. The Icarus rumbled with the impact.

“Her auto-pilot must be a kind of artificial intelligence, capable of attacking,” said Zenith. “We have to bring that ship down before we can engage her on the ground.”

“We’ve had a hard enough time keeping up with it so far, you think we can risk the time it would take?” asked Gunsmith. “Wait, I’ve got an idea. Sentinel, Wraith, can you guys get up here?”

The two heroes soon joined them in the crowded cockpit.
 

“J’Karra’s ship is on some kind of auto-pilot, and we need to take it down,” said Gunsmith, looking at Sentinel. “You think you’re up to it?”

“He almost died a few minutes ago!” said Shift.

“More like stunned,” said Sentinel. “I think J’Karra was only firing low-intensity blasts.”

“So can you use your technopathy to take control of her ship?” asked Gunsmith.

Sentinel gave a hesitant nod. “In theory, I guess. But it
is
alien technology. I’m not so sure how my powers will interact with that.”

“We’ve gotta try anyway,” said Gunsmith. “Wraith, I need you to teleport him as close as possible to the plane.”

“No problem,” said Wraith.

“Zenith, take the controls. Shift, you’re coming with us,” said Gunsmith.

“Where are we going?” asked Shift as she pushed her seat away from the console and stood, allowing Zenith to take her place.
 

“After J’Karra. Once Wraith teleports Sentinel to her ship, he’s going to teleport you, me, and Sharkskin to the ground. Paragon, did you get that? Want you to meet us there, too.”

“Copy,” said Paragon.

“Good. Zen, you provide back-up for Sentinel. If he can’t take the ship, blow it out of the sky. We’ll regroup on the ground,” said Gunsmith.

“Okay, so let’s do this,” said Sentinel.

Wraith led him back around the partition to the cabin. He opened a portal and Sentinel looked through it, seeing the form of J’Karra’s ship right below. He jumped into the portal and when he emerged, he landed on the ship’s canopy.
 

Sentinel began to slip, but he activated the magnets in his boots and stuck to the craft. He set his hands on the roof and closed his eyes. It was hard to explain exactly
how
his powers worked. He didn’t even quite know it himself. All he knew is that when he came into contact with machines and concentrated, it was like they spoke to him in a secret language only he knew. He could also see them in a way others couldn’t, observe how they were put together, how their components interacted, and what needed to go where.

But the usual method of communication was difficult in this instance. It was like a kind of language barrier. Sentinel was reminded of the time when he tried to use what little he remembered from his high school Spanish classes on a trip to Mexico. There was a lot of confusion, misinterpretation, and frustration as he tried to communicate with J’Karra’s ship. He was now using the equivalent of short, easy phrases and hand gestures to try and communicate with the ship’s computer.
 

He could sense he was beginning to make some progress. The ship’s responses weren’t as hostile as before. He was carefully winning it over, but required a little more finessing. Sentinel glanced over his head and saw the Icarus still hovering behind.

“I am prepared to strike once you are clear,” said Zenith.

“Don’t think it’ll be necessary. But let me concentrate,” said Sentinel. His attention returned to the task at hand. Sentinel shut his eyes, trying to focus on breaking through that communication barrier.

And then it happened. The forcefield over the canopy receded. Sentinel opened his eyes and smiled. He hopped into the cockpit and the canopy forcefield closed over him.
 

“Zen, I’m in!” he said. “Now let’s get this thing on the ground!”

***

Wraith’s shadow portal opened inside the gates of Area 51 and he emerged from it with Gunsmith, Sharkskin, and Shift behind him. The recovering guards raised their guns, aiming them at the team. Wraith rolled his eyes, muttering, “This crap
again
?”

“Stand down,” said Gunsmith. “We’re here to help.”

“This is a restricted area,” said one of the guards.

Paragon streaked from the sky, slamming into the ground with her fists forward and generating a shockwave that caused everyone to lose their balance. “We don’t have time for this,” she said as she stood tall, dusting off her hands. “We’re the only ones who can stop J’Karra so you can either let us through calmly or we can go through you.”

Sharkskin grinned as he came up behind Paragon, his form towering over hers and adding to the intimidation. He cracked his knuckles. “Choice is yours, fellas.”

Shift and Wraith moved beside their teammates. One of the guards raised his rifle, apparently making his decision. But before he could fire, an energy blast knocked it from his hands.
 

Gunsmith held up one of his blasters. He bent his elbow so the gun pointed at the sky. “Don’t push us. We’ve had a rough day.”

“Hold your fire!” shouted one of the guards, apparently a man with some authority. “We’ve just received a call saying that these people are authorized to go inside.”

Gunsmith holstered his weapon and breathed a sigh of relief. A massive shadow fell over the group and all eyes turned skywards to see both the Icarus and J’Karra’s ship lowering from the sky. Once they landed, both Sentinel and Zenith disembarked.

The commanding officer approached Gunsmith. “Listen. I understand you’re authorized to be here. But I have to stress that what’s inside this base is highly classified for a very good reason. If word of the work we do in here got out, it could not only jeopardize our national security but even cause a global panic.”

Gunsmith nodded. “I worked in intelligence for some time. Trust me, I know how to keep a secret.”

The commanding officer eyed the rest of the team with suspicion. “Can
they
?”

“I’d trust them with my life, sir,” said Gunsmith. “Your secrets will be safe with us. We’re not here to expose anything, we’re here to stop a very dangerous woman before she hurts anyone else.”

The commanding officer nodded and led the team to the entrance of the installation. He opened it for them with his security clearance and then stood to the side, letting the team enter the building.

“What’ve we got?” asked Gunsmith.