A Resurgence tie-in

Kim Soyeon stooped over a coffee cup that rested on a metal disc in her lab. She lightly repositioned it, then pressed a button on the side of the disc; in an instant, the cup disappeared in a blink of space, similar to Agent Jones’ teleportation powers. Soyeon’s smile was hopeful as she pressed the button a second time; the cup returned to the disc (and all in one piece this time). She clapped her hands excitedly but her celebration was cut short by Jill Frakes phasing into her lab, “What the hell are you still doing here?” Frakes didn’t normally show much emotion so this outburst was a surprise. “I think I found out how to access Hammer Space,” Soyeon told her shyly. Frakes shook her head, “You’re supposed to be on a helicopter right now. Come on!”

When the U’ntari came to Earth, Sean Pierce had instructed all non-combatant personnel to evacuate Interpol HQ as he felt the metahuman agents would be considered a military target. He was correct in his assessment. The aliens did not come in a large Commander Ship as they had in other cities, however, but in a smaller shuttle, clearly in an attempt to get the element of surprise. The Badges were ready for them. “Most nations have declared a state of war,” Pierce told them shortly before the siege, “I see no reason to disagree. You have full permission to use lethal force on anything that enters this compound that doesn’t look human.”

Over an hour later, U’ntari infantry leapt from the outside of the hovering shuttle with chords strapped to their waists. They swung down toward a series of windows and smashed into the offices on an upper floor. Dave Bronson and Nadeem Alam had been positioned there already. Alam telekinetically grabbed a soldier and hurled him to Dave who close-lined him into a desk hard enough to flatten it. Alam then used telekinetic energy to hoist himself into the air and fly across the room while performing a 360-degree kick, taking out a few more. Just then, a U’ntari super soldier came into the room from the hall and emitted a sonic scream that stunned Alam and Bronson. They clutched their eras and dropped to their knees as the remaining windows shattered. A moment later, Lowanna Jones teleported behind the alien, grabbed onto her uniform, then teleported out the broken windows where she was sent plummeting to the streets below.

On the landing pad on top of the building, the Elite Squad and Dafne Mansoor were defending against soldiers on Gliders. Casey Hernandez used his spatial manipulation powers to extend the distance between the Gliders and the building, resulting in them moving forward without getting close. Once they were in place, he grit his teeth and concentrated before collapsing the space, crushing them along with their riders in a small heap of metal that fell to the ground. “I’m glad Pierce decided to call you guys in,” Mansoor told him as she took off into the air to fire on passing Gliders with her energy rifle.

Hovering above, the U’ntari champion Shujai studied his foes as they did battle against the Gliders. He could tell that the Elite Squad was very powerful and while Mansoor seemed to have limited abilities by comparison, she was obviously quite skilled. Once he retained enough information, he dropped down to face them personally. Bakshi fired a solar blast which was countered by Shujai’s own bio-blast, resulting in a brief burst of energy between them. Wang rushed in for an assist by increasing his mass and giving a flying kick that sent the alien warrior off the top of the building. A second later, Shujai flew back and returned the favor by punching Wang who had increased his mass considerably. Despite using enough force to burst through the hull of a spaceship, Shujai’s fist stopped dead against Wang’s forehead. “Impressive,” Shujai admitted and fired blasts from both fists directly under Wang’s feet which sent him through the landing pad to the top floor of the building and, because he had increased his mass as much as possible, he fell through a few more floors before he stopped himself. Bakshi flew in, using solar energy to boost his strength for a physical attack. Acting fast, Shujai caught his fist and flipped him onto his back, “You’re powerful… but untrained.” Mansoor began shooting him with an energy rifle but the blasts barely moved him, although they got his attention. With his enemy distracted, Hernandez channeled his spatial powers to force Shujai off the roof once more. In an instant, Shujai found himself several blocks away.

In a lower level, Frakes held Soyeon’s hand as she phased the young scientist through several walls. “There are some humvees outside,” Frakes told her, “You’re getting inside one and it’s going to get you out of here!,” to which, Soyeon silently agreed.

They stopped dead in their tracks, however, when they found three super soldiers in the hallway. The first was abnormally large, the second seemed to be creating an energy construct in the shape of a large melee weapon and the third had elongated limbs that slowly grew spikes. “Stay in until I get you,” Frakes pushed Soyeon into the closest empty room and slammed the door before preparing for an attack. The super soldier with the energy construct took a swing but Frakes phased through the attack and reached inside him. Alien biology was unknown to her but as they stood upright, there was a good chance they had spines. As she passed through him, she phased his spine out of his body, killing him almost instantly. Next, she phased into the large super soldier behind him, still holding on to the bloody green spinal column. The large soldier threw a punch but his fist passed through her. A second later, he had a bloody spine jutting through his torso that had just been solidified; he fell dead alongside his partner. Frakes had to become solid for a moment before continuing which was unfortunate as the third super soldier whipped his tendril-like arm around, slamming her against the wall. He loomed over her, ready to plunge a set of spikes into her but she quickly phased a hand into his gut and pulled, ripping out several green organs in the process.

At the ground floor, a series of metal barriers had been moved into place and both Sean Pierce and Adrian Klausman crouched behind them, holding energy rifles. They had already shot the infantry soldiers pouring through the front doors but there was a super soldier with enhanced speed to contend with. Pierce fired several bolts with the marksmanship of a former MI6 agent but the soldier darted between them in a flash. “You’re outmatched,” the super soldier called out, “Don’t embarrass yourselves.”

“I think this is more your speed, Blitz,” Pierce told Klausman with a wry smile, “No pun intended.” Klausman tapped the mechanical brace over his leg, indicating the injury he suffered after his recent battle with the Surrealist, “It will be a while before I can run but I can make do,” he stood up, calmly dipping his head to the side in a blur of motion as the speedster fired back with his own rifle. Klausman then raised and fired a quick shot, seemingly at the opposite wall, but a split-second later, the speedster dropped dead with a green hole through his chest. “The trick is to not aim at where they are but rather where they’re going,” Klausman said proudly.

Frakes entered the main lobby with Soyeon at her side. “We have to get her out of here,” she shouted.

“I’m quite certain I instructed her to get on a helicopter over an hour ago,” Pierce said with an annoyed tone.

“Sorry, I got caught up in work,” Soyeon said sheepishly.

“I’ll assist,” Klausman helped cover them as they moved through the door to the armored vehicles nearby.

“Sir, there’s a group moving toward the training facility,” Kisi Yeboah told the director telepathically.

“I think everyone else is busy,” Pierce responded as he made his way toward the facility, “I’ll go in… Not that Varkov needs my help. Meanwhile, I want everyone ready to rendezvous upstairs.”

At the training facility, a small team of U’ntari soldiers silently searched through the annex, seeing no signs of the enemy. When they made it to the adjacent medical facility, one soldier was snatched up from behind. Anton Varkov slammed the soldier over his knee, breaking his spine, then hefted a weapon from off the floor. The soldiers turned when they heard the dry snap and witnessed the large Russian holding a chain gun in one hand. “Came to the wrong planet, eh?,” he opened fire, ripping the team to pieces and spraying green blood in every direction.

The wall beside him caved in next and a large crab-like monster stormed through that was presumed to be a U’ntari super soldier. The Crab had four slender limbs with clawed toes that stomped toward Anton, digging large holes in the ground with every step. Its eyes were wide and it had an elongated mouth with two rows of sharp teeth. “Let’s go, Ugly,” Anton opened fire but the bullets bounced off its shell-like hide. The super soldier swung a limb hard enough to throw Anton into the closest wall, putting a large dent in the plaster. The next stomp broke the chain gun in half. Anton pulled a knife from his belt and the Crab leaned forward, clamping its large jaws onto his shoulder, then pulled him to the ground. Once on the floor, Anton rolled to avoid a stomp but as he cleared the attack, he indirectly rolled into the path of another limb. The sharp toes plunged deep into his chest, creating three cavities and pressed him into the floor hard enough to leave an indention.

“Пиздец,” Anton snarled before grabbing the leg and throwing the Crab onto its back. As strong as it was, the Crab seemed to have trouble getting up once it was on its back so Anton took the opportunity to leap on top of it, his knife plunging down its throat. A fountain of green blood spewed out of its mouth a second later. “Soft on the inside, yes?,” Anton let out a pained chuckle as he watched the super soldier fade away and once he was sure it was dead, he slid off and stumbled back against the wall. Pierce entered the area in time to see the dead Crab’s legs twitching and Anton slumped against the opposite wall with massive, bloody gashes in his chest.

“Varkov,” Pierce rushed to his aid and laid down his rifle to examine his wounds. For a moment, a worried expression crossed his face but he quickly laughed it off, “I suppose it’s good fortune we’re next to a medical facility.”

“Don’t bother,” Anton coughed up some blood, “We both know what this is.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, old friend” Pierce told him sadly.

“Old friend,” Anton chuckled, “Never thought… I would die with Agent Crown calling me… old friend.”

“I have word Rex Robinson will be here shortly,” Pierce smiled a bit, “Think you could hold on a while longer so he can see you off as well?”

His laugh was soft, “How fitting… Two old enemies crying over my corpse… like weaklings.”

Pierce laughed a bit, “Then again, the serum used to give you strength was adapted from a stolen blood sample of Rex. So I suppose, in a way, you’re taking a bit of him with you.”

Anton’s laugh was as loud and as hard as it could get considering the large wounds in his chest, “Shit… never thought of that.”

“I’ll stay here as long as you need,” Pierce’s laughter died down and he grew more somber.

“Don’t…,” Anton pointed to the dead aliens around him, “… No time.”

“You did well, Anton Varkov. I’ll see that you’re buried on your family plot.”

“Thank you… friend…”

Anton slipped away and despite the dire situation, Pierce gave him a moment of silence. In his mind, he could hear Kisi speaking, “Varkov was always kind, despite his past crimes and general demeanor.”

“He was a tough old bastard,” Pierce sighed, “…Is Rex almost here?”

“Yes, sir. According to my readings, his ship has been sighted a few blocks from here.”

“Let’s go meet him,” Pierce picked up his rifle with determination and rushed out the door.

The Resurgence Reading List

The Resurgence Prologue

The Resurgence #1

The Resurgence #2

Formerly Known as Brain Boy #8

Winghaven #20

The Cavalier #21

The Badges #12

The Resurgence #3

The Resurgence #4

The Resurgence #5

The Resurgence #6

Astra Machina #10

The Resurgence #7

The Upstarts #11

The Resurgence #8

The Resurgence #9

The Resurgence #10

The Resurgence #11

The Resurgence #12

The Resurgence Epilogue