At the back of the Cloudburst, Sean Pierce stood in front of Rex Robinson’s hologram, the sun slowly rising outside the window.

“Bennings and the Cavalier are in Boston and it looked as though they had a friend with them,” Rex explained, “I know we got split up in Lyon but I think it’s imperative that we have a strong frontal assault with as many men and women as possible. I’m going to pick them up as they have no means of leaving the area. What are your plans at the moment?”

Sean was tired but still alert, “As of now, I’m taking the Badges to a secret compound from my MI6 days. I don’t want to say more as we don’t know who’s listening to this frequency.”

“Smart. I’m picking up some strange movement on my tail so it’s possible I’ll have more company soon. We’ll rendezvous later. You know where to reach me.”

“Godspeed, Robinson.”

Pierce turned off the hologram and rubbed his old, tired eyes. “Stiff upper lip,” he said to himself and moved to the cabin where the rest of the Badges rested along with Femme Phantom (unsurprisingly, she didn’t appear to need sleep). Pierce sat next to Kisi who had replaced her helmet with a spare blindfold/ear-plug set kept onboard. She used a tissue to wipe her bloody nose but otherwise seemed in good health.

“How are you feeling, Kisi?”

“I’m fine, physically. Covering my eyes and ears does a lot to alieviate the sensory overload. I’d be lying if I said I was fine otherwise.”

“Understandable. During the attack, your mind was open to much more than you bargained for,” Pierce looked around the cabin at the Badges who were all sleeping or otherwise preoccupied, “I’ve received your message. I’m glad you brought the matter to me telepathically and am I to assume you’ve told no one else?”

“I came to you first. and only you”

“And you are sure about everything you’ve learned? It must’ve been a harrowing experience opening your mind in that way and we’d all be remiss if you were incorrect. If you have any misgivings, now would be the appropriate time to express them and I would hold no judgement.”

“Unfortunately, I am entirely certain of what I now know.”

Pierce nodded in contemplation, “If that’s the case, we’ll have to deal with this… correctly.”

In the Retribution, Shujai arrived on the bridge where Supreme Admiral Kull was still observing the invasion.

“Most of the IMD escaped,” Kull told him with a slight air of disappointment, “It was a clever strategy calling the Paris Commander Ship but you could have had the vessel fire on the entire compound, reduce the city to ash with no chance of escape.”

“I would sacrifice myself for our people,” Shujai explained, “But I am afraid I cannot make that decision for anyone under my command, sir.”

“Rex Robinson was there. We could have ended this war in an instant,” Kull gazed at the stars outside. He seemed frustrated and disappointed but did not raise his voice while speaking, “I understand your reasoning, however. You’re a good man. You have many qualities that have earned you the rank you have today. In the future, you will likely stand where I am and when that day comes, I hope you’ll realize that leadership sometimes dictates hard decisions.”

“Yes, Supreme Admiral,” Shujai bowed with respect and took his leave.

In a structure under the Pentagon, the Upstarts stood in a garage next to an armored truck. There was one door as the main entrance to the room and a dark tunnel behind them, leading to the surface. They didn’t wear their usual superhero costumes as they were mostly used for the their show; they wore black military gear in accordance to their secret mission. A sergeant debriefed them once more, “To reiterate, we will drive the truck through the underground tunnel, emerge topside and travel to the ship’s location,” he pointed to Kaley, “Sesame will open portals and place the explosives on or near the ship. They’ll be timed to go off to give the impression of an attack which will draw attention to fighter jets that aren’t there. Remember, this is all a ruse that will buy the president and his staff time to leave the area on Air Force One to a secure location. Are there any questions?”

“What if we hit a bump in the road or something on the way?,” Dante asked, “They said there’s enough explosives in the truck to bring down a whole building.”

“Unless you prime the explosives, they’re not gonna go off by bumping them around.”

“But like, if the bombs get hit with a missile or something, that would make them all go off, right?,” Da Mutt spoke up, “Or if we set one bomb off by accident and it starts a wholeass chain reaction…”

“Oh my God, stop talking,” Alexis snapped.

“We don’t have much time-,” the sergeant was cut off by the sound of distant gunfire, followed by a siren, “Goddammit!”

“What is it?,” Kaley asked nervously.

“We’re under attack,” Kyle answered.

“Wait, they got inside the Pentagon?,” Da Mutt asked with a slight nervousness to his voice.

“Stay here and guard the truck,” the sergeant took the gun from over his shoulder and ran out of the door, making sure to close it behind him. The sound of battle grew louder and more frantic, echoing through the underground structure. Dante peered out the door and saw a glimpse of U’ntari Silencers running through the compound but they all seemed to look the same. Additionally, he did not notice the one closest to him until it was too late. Before he could warn the others, the door to the garage flew open, knocking him to the ground; a U’ntari stood in the doorway with an energy knife in one hand. The teens froze as the Silencer surveyed the area carefully and seemed surprised by their age. A moment later, he was blasted out of view by a concussive force and another figure stepped into the room.

“Who are you?,” Alexis asked.

“Alysa Saraki,” she locked the door and glanced around the garage. She wasn’t use dot being the one in charge but she was willing to be and because of that, she spoke with absolute authority, “I ain’t got time for a big introduction but trust that I’m here to help.”

“You don’t look like you’re military,” said Kyle.

“I ain’t. I was… just brought here to help,” she opted not to talk about the fact that an angel named Briathos brought her to the situation but felt confident in releasing some amount of information, “I’ve been listening in so I know the plan. You gotta send this truck to that ship above the White House and I can get it there.”

“You’ve been spying on us!,” Kaley said in offense, “Why do people keep spying on us?”

“Who said you could just show up like this?,” Alexis added, not trusting this new interloper.

“An angel named Briathos, okay? Why you people keep asking questions?”

“An angel?,” Kyle repeated curiously.

“How many aliens are out there?,” Dante asked as he held his attention on the locked door.

“Only one. I’ll explain later but right now, we gotta get this truck outta here like they said. I’m coming with ya’ll.”

“Wait, are you suddenly involved in this mission now?,” Alexis sneered.

“Pretty sure I’m in charge of this mission now.”

“She looks like she knows what she’s doing,” Dante responded apologetically.

“So do we!,” Da Mutt retorted.

“We don’t got time for this,” Alysa shouted as the frustration of the situation finally broke her patience, “The Pentagon is getting overrun and apparently it’s up to me to save your asses as well as the president and who knows what else. Now, I’m not used to being the one in charge so I’m not very good at this but there are some things I am good at and those skills are gonna keep you alive `cuz I got no doubt you won’t last long without me. I mean, what’s the plan besides setting some bombs on top of that damn ship? Got a plan for escaping this base? What if things go south? If you do have a plan for all that then I’ll take my ass on down the road and good luck to you. If you don’t, the least you could do is hear me out.”

“I mean, she was sent by angels,” Kyle apologetically told the team once more.

Suddenly, the knob to the door clattered to the floor. When their attention was drawn to the sound, they caught a glimpse of an energy knife sawing its way through. A second later, the door was kicked in and the Silencer entered. “He came back,” Alexis extended their arms, slamming the alien into a metal shelf as he stormed forward. The U’ntari lay on the floor face down while an image of his body split off and began to stand up simultaneously. The one on the floor then slowly rose and stood next to his double. At that point, there were two figures in the room that looked identical and even had twin energy knives.

“Like I said, one guy,” Alysa let out another concussive blast that sent one of the figures into the wall as the second ducked to the side. Recognizing the situation quickly, Kyle rushed in with superspeed to throw the second one into the side of the armored truck. “So this guy can make doubles of himself?,” Da Mutt asked as he examined the identical figures that were unconscious on the floor. “And there’s more of him out there, so let’s move,” Alysa looked into the driver’s seat and was relieved to see the keys in the ignition, then she turned to the Upstarts, “Who knows how to drive stick?”

Not long after that, Da Mutt drove said truck down an empty street, the large ship looming in the sky. Kyle ran alongside it in case of further attack. Kaley, Alexis and Dante sat in the back along with several crates of explosives, Dante allowing himself to be jostled to absorb kinetic energy. Alysa, meanwhile, was in the front passenger seat.

“I can drive anything,” Da Mutt told her, “Trucks, Bugottis, Mustangs,…”

“Good, then keep it on the road,” Alysa told him as they speed down the street.

Kyle zipped up to the driver side window and rapidly began tapping on it. “Hustle says we got company,” Da Mutt exclaimed.

Above, the splitting Silencer flew on a series of identical Gliders. Alysa pulled a lever that opened the back of the truck, allowing the rest of the team to get a view. “Like I said, keep it on the road,” Alysa told Mutt as she opened her door. Above, the Silencer aimed his canons at the truck but Alysa summoned force winds that forced him to drift off course and when he fired, the blast broke off a chunk of the sidewalk. Kyle caught a flying piece of granite in his hands and spun, hurling it at superspeed. The alien that would later be dubbed Splitter swerved away from the rock and another duplicate moved into place for an attack.

In the truck, Alexis reached out while Dante held onto their waste to brace them. Stretchy hands gripped the front of the Glider and began to jerk back and forth. Splitter popped off another shot but due to Alexis and Dante’s actions, the blast hit the street in front of the truck. Da Mutt had to swerve the vehicle to the side to avoid the massive pothole which made the Upstarts in the back tumble over and nearly forced Alysa off the truck completely. She held on fast with one hand and cast another spell. Multi-colored lights danced across the night sky, blinding all versions of Splitter as they attempted another attack. Two of the duplicates swerved into one another and the mid-air collision caused an explosion, the debris spilling into the middle of the road. Kaley created a portal in front of another Glider while Splitter was distracted and opened a second in front of a nearby building. With Splitter blinded, he inadvertently flew into the portal and when he emerged, he wrecked into the side of the structure. Dante picked up an Army helmet on the floor of the truck and threw it while Splitter was still dazed. With his increased strength, the front of the Glider caved in and Splitter was hurled from the vehicle. In mid-air, Splitter duplicated himself with one version landing on the side of the truck and holding on while the previous version hit the pavement. He reached to his belt and produced the energy knife once more but Dante used the last bit of kinetic strength to punch him, sending him flying into the asphalt. With the last of the U’ntari gone, the truck rolled on toward the White House.

In Antarctica, Hyperion’s Light flew low between glaciers as beams of energy rained down around it. Rex Robinson surmised that the fleet of U’ntari Fighters had been sent by the Commander Ship he and the Badges ran into in Lyon. It took some time for them to catch up to him but once they did, they didn’t hesitate to open fire. The Fighters had force fields that resisted conventional weapons but he knew high impacts would be the best workaround. Rex’s robot crew took over piloting duties in the cockpit while he sat in the Captain’s Chair, taking command. He had plotted a looped course through the Arctic, a long way to Boston, as a means to avoid detection which was not entirely successful but he knew the area better than anyone else on the planet which he could use to his advantage. Hyperion’s Light banked to the right while releasing flares to blind his attackers. As the Fighters followed, one hit a glacial outcropping after taking a wide turn while partially blinded.

“We all know our destination, boys,” Rex called out to his crew, “Prepare the Tractor Beam.” The crew followed orders and as the ship flew toward a wide chasm in the ice, the dome at the bottom of the ship lit up and the metal parts surrounding it began to rotate. “Fire,” Rex called out just as they passed over the large hole in the ground. The beam shot down according to the sensor readings and hit the large orb and the remains of a base far below. As the ship flew, it tore out several chunks of ice and snow. Months earlier, Rex and Ryan Bennings had created a large orb of solid matter to stop a plan created by an old enemy. There was no way the U’ntari would have expected Rex’s ship to launch such an attack. The large black orb hung in the air for a second along with entire portions of the base that once housed it. One unlucky Fighter plowed into a wall and exploded on impact. Others found themselves dodging ice and mortar. “Shut off the Beam,” Rex commanded and the Tractor Beam instantly disappeared, which released the multi-ton sphere into the air. It rolled over one Fighter, caving it in, then fell off like a pinball, destroying another. A Fighter tried its best to swerve away from the massive wall of debris but ended up colliding into the side of a glacier. The final two Fighters pulled up and looped through the air but when they arrived back to the Arctic surface, there was no sign of Rex’s ship. Rex had outfitted the vessel to be submergible years ago and as the vessel rested peacefully under the icy water, the Fighters continued on in a vain search.

Alysa and the Upstarts parked on the grass and gathered together, the large Commander Ship hovering nearby. Because of the attack on the Pentagon, Alysa decided on a change of plans and brought forth a few new ideas. “They said they just needed a distraction so the president and everyone can leave,” Kyle began, “So why aren’t we keeping the plan?”

“Because we’re here to stop the invasion, not take orders,” Alexis answered.

“Alexis ain’t wrong,” Alysa looked up at the ship, “The Pentagon is overrun by that spy and the aliens might know the plan now. They won’t be distracted and are more likely to keep an eye on the White House. We need to throw them off their game.”

“I get it,” Kaley said, “But when I open portals, I have to see where I’m going. You’re asking me to do something I’ve never done before.”

“Just relax,” Alysa placed a hand on her forehead, then she used a spell to sense the largest collection of souls on the ship and transferred those findings into Kaley’s mind, “You should be getting a sense of where we need to put this truck.”

“I can’t see anything but… I kinda know where the largest concentration of aliens are,” she said aloud.

Alysa nodded to her silently, indicating that she was ready. Kaley opened a portal and stretched it out as far as she could and as she had no exit portal, it was simply a ring of light at the moment. It appeared at the rear of the truck and seemed large enough to swallow most of the trailer. Inside the truck, Kyle armed one of the bombs, setting it for five minutes, “Hope we have enough time to make this work,” then he hopped down.

Kaley concentrated harder, focusing on the sensations Alysa was giving her. It was time for the exit portal. She rotated her finger, indicating that she was opening a portal but none appeared. Despite this, a foggy image began to appear inside the first ring, indicating an exit was emerging somewhere. The image revealed what appeared to be a hangar bay housing multiple U’ntari Fighter Ships with crew and pilots milling about. As expected, they were soon noticed and they began shouting warnings and gathering weapons. “Push it in!,” Alysa shouted. Dante, Alexis and Da Mutt began pushing the truck backwards through the portal with all their might. The sounds of rifles could be heard as the armored trailer took a few hits. “Can I close it?,” Kaley asked nervously. “Not yet,” Alysa said as the trailer slowly rolled into the portal. Once it was fully inside, Alysa called out, “Now!”

Kaley closed the portal, cutting the truck’s cab in half while leaving the rest of the vehicle in the ship. Alysa and the Upstarts stared at the outside of the vessel, waiting for any signs of damage. Inside the ship, the truck exploded with enough force to level a building. With the military craft in the same hangar, it caused a chain reaction as multiple ships began to explode, sending a massive fireball throughout the rear portion of the ship that soon broke through multiple levels. Outside, the ship still floated idly in the sky with no visible signs of damage.

“Did it work?,” Dante asked. As if to answer his question, the Commander Ship seemed to dip slightly and despite the distance, they could hear a siren wailing. Soon, the ship began to descend and move toward the Potomac River. Escape pods began pouring out along with a few flying super soldiers. Then came the surface to air missiles and ground fire from the US military which shot many of the pods as they left while the rest escaped into the upper atmosphere, likely en-route to the Retribution. Meanwhile, the ship crashed down, the bottom of the vessel hitting the Washington Monument and snapping off the top portion of the tower. Next, the bridge across the river was flattened along with several monuments and museums along the river front. The block-wide ship came to a rest, nearly covering the entirety of Potomac Park, digging a huge trench in the ground in the process. Needless to say, the president and his staff were able to leave the area.

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