Episode 1

File#: JTA78-002K written by Agent Commander Troz 

  It’s been awhile since an Agent of the Society and an Agent of the Liberation  openly engaged one another in combat involving civilians. Despite our opposing views such actions are intolerable the only Agent to commit such an act was Arcrimex on Atlantis. This time though things are different.

- Syracuse, New York 1991-
         
         I received an urgent message from the North Regional Council informing me of a disturbance in the New York area involving the Liberation and civilian targets. When I heard that all that came to mind was the battle between Arcrimex and myself when he totally wiped out an entire island just to get to me. I quickly flew to the incident site when I arrived Epsilon was already there with a survey team examining the carnage of the small town.
         “Can you believe this, sir?” she asked. The town was nearly vaporized the only things that remained were the chard buildings and the water tower not a single corpse was visible.
         “Yes, I can. What did you find so far?”  I asked. She turned to me.
         “Well as you can see they nearly vaporized the entire town of 4,000.”
         “Four thousand people lived here?”
         “Yes sir.”
         “And not a single man, woman, or child is here.”
         “That’s correct it is as if no one lived here to begin with. I’ve instructed the team to conduct a DNA scan of the entire area they should be back any moment with an analysis.”
         “Good work.” before I could comment further my Skin Armor’s earpiece chimed softly.
         “This is Troz.”
         “Commander Troz, this is Agent Cain from High Command. Are you receiving?”
         “Yes Cain I hear you just fine. What bad news do you have for me?” He started to laugh.
         “What makes you so sure that it’s bad news?”
         “Why else would the Voice of High Command call their favorite Commander.”
         “Sir you are the only Commander.”
         “Your point for calling Agent Cain.” he gave a slight chuckle before continuing.
         “Hold on to your Skin Armor cause what I’m about to say will make you flip. I just got off the COMMS with Council Member One of the Society who just finished talking to Council Member One….of the Liberation,”
         “What!” Epsilon looked at me and rose an eyebrow. I flipped a switch on my earpiece that allowed her to listen in on my conversation.
         “Now here’s the kicker. They just ordered an immediate cease fire and sent their Agent Commander along with several Agents of their own to help with the investigation.” I looked at Epsilon who had the most infuriated look on her face before I flipped another switch allowing the Agents in the immediate area to overhear the conversation.
         “So in short, we are under a cease fire with the Liberation and should be expecting their investigation team to arrive, and when they do don’t attack. Is there anything else, Cain?”
         “No sir. That’s everything you take care out there.”
         “You too.” I stopped transmitting and looked at Epsilon.
         “I know Na-vor lets just roll with the punches they’ll be here any minute.” I said cutting her off from making any comments.
         “Yes sir.” just then seven rips appeared in the space surrounding us at that instant our survey team phased around Epsilon and myself.
         “What did you find?” Epsilon asked the female Agent to her left.
         “It’s as you suspected ma’am everyone was vaporized from an ion blast of unknown origin. Nothing in our arsenal can do this.”  Six female Agents floated out of the rips a second before an average sized man no bigger than myself walked out of the last rip. Once they all landed the rips closed in unison.
         “Glad you got the word. We’d hate to get this cease fire off to a bad start.” he smiled revealing to me his fangs. He was an Energy Vampire he stood about a half inch taller than me with a lean build, dark complexion, and bright yellow eyes.
         “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Agent Commander  WhiteMoon of the Liberation.” he extended his hand.
         “I presume you to be the Legendary Agent Commander Troz, am I correct?” I shook his hand cautiously.
         “Just Agent Commander Troz would do.” I felt a familiar energy within him.
         “Why are you so familiar WhiteMoon?” I asked letting my hand go and folding my arms.
         “Your abilities of energy perception are sharp Commander. I was a student of the late Lord Arcrimex, his best to be exact.” to hear someone speak like that about him made me angry but I knew that’s what he wanted so I didn’t show it. Instead, I just smiled and said:
         “To bad he’s dead. So do you have any light to shed on this matter?” he gave me a slightly scornful look that made me smile inside before he turned away.
         “As a matter of fact I do. We have a missing God’s Fist.”
         “That’s the name of  the new weapon I’ve heard so much about? The one that uses an ion field and compacts it into a particle accelerator making it into an omni directional weapon that can target anywhere the firer can see.” he clinched his jaw out of anger and shock of how I knew of such a weapon.
         “But are you aware that we made two prototypes? How about that they are in the possession of a rouge Agent.” Epsilon leaned towards me.
         “Sir.”
         “I know.” WhiteMoon caught our little exchange of gestures.
         “Is there something that I need to be aware of?” I looked at Epsilon before continuing.
         “We too have a rouge Agent.”
         “And you think that our Agents could be together?”
         “Together meaning, working to meet the same goal? Yes.” 
         “Or against each other you can’t rule that out, gentlemen.” Epsilon interjected.
         “I suggest digging around in our databases to get more background information on them and reconvene somewhere else later.” WhiteMoon looked at Epsilon then narrowed his eyes.
         “Is there something wrong, Commander WhiteMoon, with my face?” she said with a hint of aggravation. All WhiteMoon did was smile.
         “You are just as beautiful as I imagined…you look just like your mother.” he teleported away. I looked to the survey team.
         “Go. Log your findings, file your reports. You are released for the night.” the five Agents teleported away.
         “Asshole!!!” Epsilon shouted releasing a wave of energy that shook the nearby buildings.
         “You don‘t like compliments?” I said trying to lighten the mood. Epsilon snapped her gaze at me and started pacing from left to right like an angry bull.
         “You’re not helping Senestry.” I stepped in front of her and grabbed her by her shoulders forcing her to look me in the eyes.
         “Na-vor, I don’t like this anymore than you, but we have to maintain ourselves. Don’t give them any ammo.”
         “What do you call what you just did?” I released her shoulders.
         “That was called putting him in his place. He knows not to trend on me and if he’s smart he would continue to be a puppet. But that was wrong what he said to you though.”  I looked up at the moon, then back to her.
         “Don’t think too hard about it. Just find out the background of our wayward Agent and get back at me in an hour.”
         “Yes sir.” she phased out.           


-Apache Junction Baptist Church; Apache Junction, Arizona (Neutral Zone)-

    We met inside an empty church, just me and him with nothing but air and opportunity between us I saw it in his bright, nearly florescent yellow eyes. I see potential also. Was it the same potential that Arcrimex saw? I will never know but I do know one thing for sure he wants a piece of me… bad and if it wasn’t for this stupid cease fire I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to him.
         “So what’d you got?” he asked as he stood behind the altar casually while I sat in the closest row of the congregation area to his left.
         “You first.” I shot back while leaning over to the right slightly in the moonlit room.
         “Very well it appears that my Agent was once a mental patient before in the outside world. He worked at a steel mill in Georgia for a little bit until he was turned into a Vampire by your Agent.”
         “I see so that’s their connection,” I said as I stood up. “so what are your orders?”
         “To secure the equipment and send him to his maker.” he walked out from behind the altar and placed his hands on his hips.
         “Well then, so how are you going to handle this, Commander Troz?”
         “Without mercy or prejudice. Yourself.”  he gave me a look of surprise.
         “You are going to do it yourself? Why?”
         “Cause, I’m a lot more experienced in this area than most. You take care of your Agent and I’ll take care of mine.” I turned to leave.
         “What about the prototype? There’s two of them remember. What if your Agent has one? Will you retrieve it undamaged?” I stopped and turned my head slightly.
         “I’ll see what I could do.” I left the church. I was about to enter the cockpit of my shuttle jet when I felt an energy spike to my far right and front. It was so strong that my Skin Armor completely activated except for my head. I looked to my front and saw a woman dressed in a long gray skirt with long sleeves her face was pale and expressionless. She stared at me with icy blue eyes that contained such contempt that it started to make me uncomfortable. But it wasn’t her eyes or her obvious misplaced hatred of me that worried me it was the fancy looking bandolier she had slung across her body and the silver handle that I noticed peeking over her right shoulder. I looked to my right and noticed a man wearing black slacks, white shoes and shirt. He too had a matching bandolier but instead of a silver handle it was black.
         “You must be the two rouges that took out that small town. Well, ya’ll just saved me a whole lot time and effort in looking for ya’ll.” just then WhiteMoon stormed out and formed his two straight edged long swords and completely activated his Skin Armor.
         “Agent  FireWing, Agent RipBlade return the prototypes and surrender yourselves immediately.” I demanded before I jumped off my jet and walked towards WhiteMoon stopping slightly in front of him.
         “Surrender?” RipBlade said as her icy blue eyes flashed a white. “Commander, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” she cracked a small grin as her energy level started to rise.
         “Understand that what you are doing, children, is going down a one way street. If you continue to resist we will have no other choice but to react accordingly.” Agent FireWing took a step forward as his bandolier clicked on making a low level hum. The look in his dark hazel eyes undoubtedly informed me of their intentions. They knew what a cease fire meant and what destroying civilian targets would do. Their intentions weren’t to take out anybody except for us.
         “So, all you wanted to do was take my position eh, RipBlade.” I formed my lance U.C.A.P and pointed the spearhead end towards her. She took and small step to the right, and clicked on the bandolier.
         “Commander, I am going to take your position!” she smoothly reached up, gently gripped the silver handle.
         “Well come and get it!” then in one deft inhuman move she yanked the gun out and fired a shot. I jumped behind my shuttle jet and kicked it into her line of fire vaporizing it. I glanced over to WhiteMoon and saw him with his twin long swords dueling it out with FireWing in a skillful display of speed and power.
         “Hey WhiteMoon I thought the weapons were omni directional. What happened?”
         “I guess they found a way to adjust the firing mechanism.” he said before he dodged a thrust from FireWing’s broadsword.
         “Remember no matter what we have to recover the weapons intact.” before I could respond RipBlade came at me with her claw tipped whip. I evaded it with a slight side step before I phased out and phased in directly to her left where I found myself staring down the barrel of the God Fist. I looked at her and she smiled.
         “See ya.” she pulled the trigger and the only sound was a click. Then the smile that she so confidently displayed turned into shock.
         “I thought so!” I smiled before I delivered a light telekinetic shove to her that sent her flying roughly five feet. She stumbled and tried to attack with whip again all I did was move my body to the side and watched it head in the direction of FireWing. Suddenly, FireWing snapped his arm up in time for the whip to wrap around in that split second he yanked it and pulled RipBlade next to him. I phased in front of RipBlade while WhiteMoon remained in his fighting stance in front of  FireWing.
         “Well then Commanders,” FireWing smiled. “looks like we have all the cards. Otherwise we’d be dead right now.” I retracted my U.C.A.P.
         “It also looks to me like that, that special weapon of yours need time to charge before each shot. It takes a lot of energy to use a condense particle accelerator in that fashion. Arcrimex must’ve left the blueprints laying around for you.”  I looked to WhiteMoon with a frown.
         “Ya’ll must be desperate.” then without warning I grabbed RipBlade by her throat and yanked her clean out of her bandolier tossing her fifteen feet away from me leaving the bandolier and God Fist temporarily suspended in mid-air.
         “That was simple.” I said catching it as it fell. I placed the bandolier across my body as I proceeded to walk towards her. She had look of absolute dread on her face as I slid the gun back into its holster. The look in her eyes struck a familiar chord with me.
         “Tell me your name-your real name.” She stood up slowly and started nursing a dislocated shoulder.
         “So you finally remember,” she snapped her shoulder back into place with a deep crunching noise. “my name is Vanessa Derge myself along with Agent FireWing were part of the Triumvirate during the Vampire Revolt.” I felt FireWing walk past me and stop next to Derge.
         “Yeah, I definitely remember now. I lead the final assault on your underground facility we met, fought, and right as I was about to take you down you escaped.” I looked at FireWing and grinned.
         “I take it that you and WhiteMoon are the other two members and you manipulated your position in both the Society and the Liberation just to get to me.” WhiteMoon laughed causing me to slightly turn my head in his direction.
         “Isn’t it wonderful! We’ve waited for years for the right moment to strike at you directly and with your death it would be enough momentum to propel the Vampire Nation into the light of the ages.”  I folded my arms.
         “You’ve done all of this just to get to me? I must say that I’m kinda flattered.” I took off the bandolier and tossed it to her.
         “Here. If you went through all this trouble to get to me I guess you earned this back.”  she gave me an astound stare before she quickly snatched it up and slung it around her body.
         “Goodnight, Agent Commander Troz.” Suddenly, she flicked her wrist unwrapping it from FireWings’ forearm before she formed a gladius sword and made a horizontal slash at my mid section. I jumped in to the air and FireWing  jumped to intercept me. As soon as he entered strike range he made a quick thrust with his broadsword I easily countered by trapping it with my forearms. He looked at me as he frantically struggled to shake free right before I broke the blade and delivered a sharp clean sidekick to his ribcage launching him into the distance. As he flew back he quickly drew his gun and fired a shot that I deflected by charging the broken blade with negative energy and holding it in front of me. The blade disintegrated on impact but better it than me.
         “How did you deflect my shot?!” he said as he caught himself and remained airborne.
         “It doesn’t matter now. Cause you’re all dead.” I began to quickly power up, deactivated my Skin Armor, and formed my U.C.A.P. Suddenly, Derge phased in front of me poised to thrust with her gladius sword aimed straight for my heart. I simply deflected her attempt with my U.C.A.P and countered by separating my lance and decapitating her with the ax bladed end. I heard her body crash to the ground as I clicked together my lance and started to descend towards the ground.
         “Are you sure that you want to continue?” I looked at Derge’s headless corpse, discreetly activated my Assimilation Scanning Module, and assimilated the schematics of the God Fist into my armor’s weapons drive. Suddenly, FireWing phased in to my right with the God’s Fist aimed directly at the side of my head a split second before he pulled the trigger. I felt time slow down as I turned slightly a saw a white light try to escape from the end of the barrel it was at that moment I formed a negative energy shield around my body.
    The impact created such a force that if I weren’t strong enough my body would’ve been shattered. I quickly locked on to his energy signature, reached out, gripped the barrel of the God Fist and crushed it immediately ceasing the blast. I saw the look of absolute fear on his face before I yanked him down and impaled him on my lance’s awaiting spear end. I felt his heartbeat slow down, his breathing quicken as his life-force smoothly escaped his body. I looked at WhiteMoon as his lifeless body remained motionless on my lance.
         “So are you ready to meet Arcrimex?” I started walking towards him. As I walked I vaporized FireWings corpse leaving only the bandolier resting on my lance.
         “That’s enough Commander Troz! We’ll deal with him.” announced the voice of a woman. Suddenly, in a fraction of the time it took for me to blink all five members of the Liberation Supreme Council surrounded us. Their energy signatures felt indescribably immense. It was like I was a child in a room full of adults. I never met one of them before but now I had the opportunity to meet all five of them. Knowing this gave me an adrenaline rush that was surreal.
         “Supreme Council. I deactivated my lance causing the bandolier to slide down and stop at my wrist making it look like an oversized bracelet.
         “This does not require your direct intervention.” I commented.
         “On the contrary, Commander,” sounded the very deep voice of the Talon male to my front left he was tall about six feet even and he wore a red silk, triple-breasted suit with a black tie.
         “this has everything to do with us.” Then an Asian male, who stood on his left, stepped forward.
         “You see, Society Commander, WhiteMoon here has just been found guilty of High Treason.” WhiteMoon turned to him.
         “Milord on what-”
         “SILENCE!!!” the females voice sounded with such force that it sent a ripple through the sand. She bared an uncanny resemblance to Epsilon with the exception that she was a lot older. There was no way to deny that that woman is Epsilon’s mother.
         “By the time we’re done with you, WhiteMoon, you will be wishing that Troz killed you.” she snapped to fingers up and WhiteMoon stood stiff as a board dropping his swords. He had a look on face of complete and absolute terror she then slowly lowered her fingers until they were parallel to the ground then like a doll WhiteMoon did the same. The instant he was parallel she snapped her fingers causing him to teleport away. There was about thirty seconds of eerie silence before they turned their attention to me. I felt two of them walk up behind me and stop shoulder to shoulder with me. Then she turned to face me.
         “Commander, I’ve just informed your superiors of what transpired here. We’ve agreed that the cease-fire will end as soon as I’ve left the neutral zone.” she made a gesture to the two that stood closet to me.
         “Is what’s left of the prototypes?” she asked as I tossed the bandolier to the one on my right.
         “Yes.”
         “Well I guess it back to the drawing board, huh, Commander?” she gave me a gentle smile that made me think of Epsilon. It gave me a warm feeling just like hers does.
         “I guess so.” I said shaking it off.
         “Leave us.” she said to the other members of the Council. They gave her a respectful nod, and phased out leaving the two of  us.
         “Before I go, Commander, I have one question to ask of you. It is your choice whether or not you want to answer.” my curiosity got the best of me.
         “What is it?” I asked deactivating my Skin Armour.
         “How’s my daughter? My Na-Vor. Is she well?” the look on her face was of concern and of guilt.
         “Why do you want to know?”
         “Would I be wrong to ask?” I let a slight laugh escape my lips.
         “After what you did, do you really need to ask?” she gave me a look of satisfaction.
         “So my intuition was correct, you love her don’t you?” I couldn’t believe she was coming at me like this. The NERVE of her!
         “Madam, with all due respect, my personal feeling towards Agent Epsilon are NOT your concern.” she gave me a simple grin.
         “Your reaction to my question just answered it for me. You know you should tell her sometime it would be a big breath of fresh air for you.” she turned to leave.
         “Wait.” she stopped.
         “She’s doing good.” she turned back around and looked at me with tearful eyes.
         “Thank you, Commander.” she held up her wrist and looked at her watch.          
         “And now this lovely cease-fire will end right about….now. I told everybody that you are here so if I were you I would be somewhere else. Later.” she teleported out. The moment that her last molecule left the area my Skin Armour’s radar kicked on alerting me that three hundred Agents were on a collision course with me and three huge power signatures were leading the charge.
         “She wasn’t kidding.” I whispered to myself. Suddenly, I heard a chime coming from my earpiece.          
         “Yes.” I sounded.
         “Sir,” it was Epsilon. “we are en route!”
         “As you were Epsilon. I’m just about to leave.” I said. Right when I saw the first rays of sunlight streak across the desert sands I phased out.

                                       -End File-