Rex Robinson appeared on the Dragon’s display. “Hello, Cav,” he greeted him sadly, “I see you have Ryan there with you.”

“Yeah, we just want to talk one last time,” Cavalier was careful with his words and tone. If he remotely hinted at ulterior motives, Rex would clue in and their plan would be shot. Despite the revelation that Rex was far more unstable than they anticipated, they still knew he was one of the most cunning and analytical minds on the planet. “I know you have a read-out on my hovercraft as well as every weapon and person onboard right now. You know we’re not geared up with much. Meanwhile, we know you’re currently loading your ship with the compound to take out the U’ntari. All cards are on the table so can we just talk?”

“We’ll park on top of your ship and chat up there if you want,” Ryan added, “Honestly, you kinda owe it to us… if you are even half the man we thought you were.”

“Where are the Badges? Mr Creed?”

It was Ryan’s turn to choose his words carefully so as to not give away even the most subtle of hints of a plan, “Everyone is getting ready for a big strike in Brussels that’s currently top-priority. The Badges left and invited us to come along but we opted to come here first.”

Rex nodded, “You can tether to the north side of Hyperion’s Light. I’ll meet you up there.”

On a nearby mountain, Farrell Creed sat waiting on a sky bike. In Rex’s haste, he left behind one bike when he returned to his ship. Normally, it wouldn’t matter much as the bike had a short range by itself, could only carry two passengers and had no offensive weapons. It was hitched to the Dragon for most of the journey to the Catskills and managed to bypass Rex’s sensors due to being exclusively his own technology. It was precisely what Ryan Bennings was counting on. Now, all that was left was the signal.

On the Retribution, Supreme Admiral Kull addressed the hologram of Director Q’werz. “My Silencer in Brussels has informed me that most of our primary targets are located at the scene, although Rex Robinson alludes us,” Q’werz reported, “Grand Captain Shujai has been removed from the battle field, however. We’re sure he’s alive but has been teleported to parts unknown.”

“Our greatest champion, they say,” Kull sneered, “He’s been a pain in the ass this entire mission. We’re finally at a place where we can avenge my wife and every other person under her leadership and he keeps dicking around.”

“In all fairness, Supreme Admiral, he saved millions when he defended our main birthing matrix,” Q’werz reminded him.

“Yeah, he has a soft spot for the kids, I’ve gathered that. I just wish he’d grow a pair and stop crying over some young humans who took it upon themselves to put a target on their backs to defend a terrorist,” he turned to the communication officers on the bridge, “Open all secondary communications with all remaining commanders.”

The officers complied and soon, Kull was surrounded by holograms of all commanders, “Bring your fleets back to your ships, then pack up to return to the Retribution. I want every U’ntari vessel docked within the next 8 hours.” The commanders all began complying, leaving Q’werz baffled.

“Sir?,” she began respectfully, “I’m not sure of your reasoning.”

“Shujai had his chance to wipe out most of our enemies on several occasions and failed. Meanwhile, our fleets and super soldiers just aren’t cutting it. I’m taking this situation into my own hands,” he gazed out the window into space, his hands folded behind his back, “Council is destroyed and when I meet up with Shujai again, I’ll be relieving him of command. This essentially makes you the highest ranking officer here after me. Once I leave this vessel, you will be acting Supreme Admiral,” he turned to another officer, “Prepare my shuttle.”

Q’werz was concerned but asked no further questions other than, “Will you be returning to the ship, Supreme Admiral?”

“I don’t think I will. Once you have a headcount, I suggest leaving this solar system as soon as possible.”

In New York, the Fighter Ships began retreating to the Commander Ship. Dragonfly, now with badly damaged armor, watched them leave alongside other heroes, “Where the hell are they going?”

In Tokyo, a Commander Ship left the area as a group of colorful heroes, a giant lizard and a giant robot watched. In the Ural Mountains, a crashed Silencer shuttle received word to retreat but the Second Phase had ensured no one was alive to hear the command. In nearly every major metropolitan area in the world, ships prepares to leave the atmosphere.

The heroes in Brussels were likewise curious. They had barricaded themselves inside NATO headquarters and were in the process of shooting through the windows and holes in the wall at advancing super soldiers while Agent Alam and Alysa Saraki worked together to raise a forcefield to keep them at bay. Then, there was a lull in battle just before the super soldiers returned to their ship. They remained inside for several minutes, wondering where the next attack would come from until Sean Pierce poked his head a window in time to see the Commander Ship leave Earth.

Back in the Catskill Mountains, Rex Robinson met with Cavalier and Ryan on top of Hyperion’s Light. It was night now as the sun had gone down and the only light source came from the ship itself. Rex’s short hair blew in the breeze that came from the high elevation, “You men deserve to have your say. I just hope this doesn’t turn into another row.”

“You once told me that a good man doesn’t need to be perfect,” Ryan began, “Why would you say something like that while putting all this pressure on yourself to be the perfect, eternally-optimistic man?”

“Between Levison and your parents, I knew you had troubles. A bit of guidance and optimism served you well as I feared it would only get worse for you as an adult.”

“No… You needed me smart and sharp so I could defend against the aliens later in life.”

“That… is also true.”

“The same goes for the IMD or the time you tested the Upstarts.”

“I still believe in heroes, Ryan,” Rex’s voice was sad but confident.

“I chose not to be a hero,” Cavalier said finally, “… You convinced me otherwise.”

A bittersweet smile crossed Rex’s face, “I knew your family well enough to know you would be instrumental in saving the world, one way or another.”

“But if it weren’t for you trying to orchestrate an enemy for the Earth to fight as some bizarre bid for world peace, would you have let me be?”

Rex was silent.

“Jesus Christ,” Ryan muttered.

“I have always admired your family,” Rex told the Cavalier, “You men did what I couldn’t. You had wives, children,… you were able to be vulnerable.”

“No one said you couldn’t be vulnerable, Rex! Shit, if you confided in people a little instead of being so guarded, you probably wouldn’t have had a meltdown to begin with.”

“My actions led to the USSR dissolving. We avoided a nuclear war,” Rex said defensively, “Heaven knows what sort of wars could have broken out if I didn’t divert humanity’s focus.”

“Maybe it’s for the best if we deal with our own shit instead of involving people living on the other side of the galaxy,” Ryan told him.

“You are right about one thing, Rex,” Cavalier told him quietly, “You were an inspiration. You did save lives and make a difference,” he reached up and took his helmet in his hands, “And as much as you admired my family, we admired you more,” Cavalier removed his helmet, exposing his face, “My name is Michael Hawkwood. My father’s name is Arthur Hawkwood. His father was Hank and his father before him was Reginald. That’s four generations of heroes who all looked to you as a mentor, a teammate,… a friend. I refuse to believe we were wrong about you this entire time. If we were even remotely correct, you would turn yourself in and abandon this whole bio-weapon bullshit,” he waited for a reply, “Were we wrong, Rex? Were we fools for placing our faith in you?”

Rex hung his head, Michael’s words weighing heavily. His thought were soon interrupted however, as he heard an approaching rumble. The signal Creed had been waiting on was the removal of Michael’s helmet and while it was possible Rex could have changed his mind during the conversation, it was not a risk they wanted to take. Rex looked up just in time to see Creed flying toward him on a sky bike. The bike was not detected by any sensors and with Rex focused on Ryan and Cavalier, he didn’t check the area for any enemies along the mountains. If an attack came, he expected to see the IMD Cloudburst on the horizon or something far grander and while he had some suspicions regarding Ryan and the Cavalier, he opted to meet the two men on top of the ship in case they sabotaged his plan inside (another eventuality Ryan had counted on). As it stood, Rex’s guard was dropped and there was no time to react, the impact sent him tumbling along the roof of his ship where he remained unconscious. There was no celebration.

Meanwhile, Kull’s shuttle descended toward Brussels. He was hoping that the heroes would still be gathered there as, while there was a possibility Rex Robinson was not among them, this particular group caused enough problems that he would be satisfied looking into their eyes as he unleashed his final plan. Then again, if they weren’t there, then his plan would be even more likely to be a success. As his vessel lowered, he was alerted by his personal radar of an approaching ally and when he looked out his ship’s window, he saw a familiar figure floating up to meet him, “Son of a bitch,” he muttered. The ship was set to hover a few hundred feet above NATO headquarters and the side-hatch opened to invite Shujai.

“Supreme Admiral?,” Shujai called out curiously, “Is something wrong, sir?”

“You left your post,” Kull was found sitting calmly in the cockpit, his chair swivelled around to meet him.

“I was teleported off the battlefield and it took some time to make my way back,” Shujai closed the hatch behind him and gazed out the window, “If I may ask, sir, where is the Commander Ship and its fleet?”

“I have ordered all personnel return to the Retribution,” Kull’s tone was cold and he wasn’t getting out of his chair.

“Have we found Robinson?”

“No but with my next attack, we won’t need to,” Kull turned and set the vessel to land on the grassy area below.

Shujai became curious, “Sir, I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Of course, you’re not,” he rose to his feet, “I once chided you about tough decisions but I’m not sure that ever set in,” he came in close, the horns on their foreheads nearly meeting, “You have saved lives and I am forever grateful but you are too soft to undertake the responsibilities of a high ranking officer. Your unwavering need to protect civilians is noble but when it extends to the enemy to such an obvious degree, I’m afraid I have no choice but to relieve you of command. You are hereby stripped of your rank as Grand Captain. You may return to the Retribution with the rank of super soldier reinstated. If you choose to stay behind on Earth and share their fate, that will also be allowed.”

Shujai was conflicted. On one hand, the idea of being demoted was of great humility on his culture but on the other hand, he was surprised to learn he didn’t care. There was no longer any emotional attachment to his former rank. Kull’s final sentence, however, concerned him, “Sir, please clarify … sharing the fate of the Earth.”

“She was pregnant,” Kull said quietly, not facing Shujai, “My wife was pregnant… one of the few U’ntari who could say such a thing in many centuries. Intercourse is by no means unlawful to the U’ntari but as you know, procreation is. Genetic material is collected and stored in birthing matrixes and that is how we maintain our race. It’s… pragmatic. My wife and I still chose to have a child the old way, reasoning that with our combined status, we could easily bribe our way through certain institutions and pretend we adopted the child as registered spouses,” the ship landed softly near the crescent-shaped building nearby, “She was still with child when she entered hibernation which means she was very much pregnant when she was murdered.”

“What is the fate of the humans?,” Shujai asked again.

Kull shook his head in disappointment, “If it wasn’t already obvious… I’m destroying this planet.”

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