The Badges vs The Commission part 4

(Continued from The Commission #21)

The Cloudburst descended into a wooded area in Maryland; the engines blowing leaves out of its way and rustling the branches. The clearing was wide enough to fit the Badges’ aircraft inside, but not wide enough for the ship called Hyperion’s Light.

That ship was a golden saucer roughly the size of a factory and, because of its size, it normally hovered. In the grass below were the owners of said ship: The Commission. Ryan Bennings, the Cavalier, Alysa Saraki, Astra Machina, and Shujai stood waiting as the Cloudburst touched down. The only missing member was Dafne Mansoor.

Mansoor had been acting as a double agent between the two teams on Sean Pierce’s orders. When the US military sought to enlist the metahuman named Dante Greer, the Commission opted to help him flee, which put them at odds with the authorities and potentially made Dante a fugitive. Mansoor reported the matter to Pierce and was quickly discovered by Ryan Bennings. Needless to say, she ceased being a member of the Commission at that point and was now at a loss what to do.

Meanwhile, the rest of the IMD tracked Dante’s cell phone signal to a wooded area outside Baltimore. As expected, they saw the Commission there when they arrived, ready for a conflict neither of the teams wanted.

The Badges stepped out of the Cloudburst and stood at the edge of the grassy field: Frakes, Klausman, Jones, Alam, and Bronson. Above, Hyperion’s Light continued to hover. Jill Frakes was the first Badge to speak, showing the large vessel floating over the trees, “I take it Dante’s inside?”

“That’s right,” Ryan Bennings told her, “If you want him, good luck getting inside the ship.”

“Where’s the ship?” she once again showed Hyperion’s Light, “Because that’s just one of your holograms, Bennings.”

“Close,” he thumbed toward Alysa Saraki, “It’s actually one of hers.”

Alysa waved her hands, and the mystically induced ship disappeared. Frakes gave Ryan an exhausted look. “I won’t ask again… Where is Dante Greer?”

“I told ya,” Ryan shrugged, “He’s on the ship. Now, if you wanna know where we stashed the ship, I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”

“I hope we don’t get stuck in another stupid fight, mate,” Bronson told him.

Ryan removed his glasses and cleaned them. “Me too. And yet, here we are.”

“Did you consider the possibility we can track the ship down ourselves?” Frakes asked.

“Possibly, but you’re here now, so you’re gonna be busy for a while.”

In actuality, Hyperion’s Light was a few miles away, with Dante sitting in the cabin as it floated near a small Maryland town. Once the Commission caught up to Dante, they put him onboard and programmed the auto-pilot to carry him to a safe distance. He hated the situation he found himself in. He didn’t want to join the military, but he felt there was little that could be done. He often felt helpless. After the death of the Upstarts, he struggled to maintain a normal life and was dealing with trauma. He was angry at the Badges for siding with the US military – they had previously saved him and his teammates from Colombian cartels with high-tech weapons and he owed them something. And yet, Ryan Bennings had been there for him since the beginning, when everyone seemed to have a reason to exploit the team. He trusted the Commission, but their inclusion of the alien Shujai was a sore spot since a member of the same race killed his teammates. It did not entirely satisfy him with either team at the moment.

Back in the forest, the Badges and the Commission stood on two sides of a grassy field, surrounded by trees that were preparing for spring. “You are currently aiding and abetting a potential fugitive,” Frakes warned them. “Last chance before we use force.” “Let’s get it over with,” Alysa responded. Frakes nodded and turned to Adrian Klausman. There was no verbal command, but Klausman smirked and answered all the same, “Yes, ma’am.”

He disappeared in a cloud of dirt and grass, kicked up by his movement. He covered the distance of the field in half a second, first hitting Ryan and then Alysa in a zig-zag formation. Both had forcefields raised, so it did not render them unconscious, but they hit the ground all the same. Half a millisecond later, the Cavalier was also knocked down, his armor absorbing most of the blow.

Next, Klausman headed for Shujai, but before he could reach him, a thin energy beam shot across his path. He saw it cross inches from him, but couldn’t stop in time. He planted his feet, dragging them at high speed through the grass. Once he ran into the beam, it was revealed the level of energy had been calibrated to the exact gigawatt, ensuring it would only render him unconscious. He fell to the ground and rolled at high speed, eventually passing a group of trees before coming to a stop. Astra Machina had trouble following him physically, but as she was an artificial intelligence, she could predict where he would be and attacked accordingly. With Klausman unconscious, Astra turned to the rest of the Badges and shouted, “Where’s Intrepid?” Of all the Commissioners, she was the angriest as she had grown increasingly fond of Mansoor and her childlike demeanor made it a hard reality to accept.

There was no answer to her question, despite the somewhat surprising outburst. Astra shit another beam from the small weapon that grew out of her wrist. Frakes turned intangible just before the energy beam shot through her and, once it passed, it headed toward Nadeem Alam who generated a telekinetic energy shield to block it. Next, Ryan produced a stun-laser to attack Nadeem, but a telekinetic attack threw him into the air for his efforts. At the same time, Shujai vaulted into the sky and dropped, slamming a fist into the ground hard enough to send Frakes’ intangible form into the air. Meanwhile, Alysa used a mystic spell to grow vines from the ground and sent them after Lowana Jones, who quickly teleported away. An electric arrow from the Cavalier hit Dave Bronson and, in retaliation, rushed to him with a flying knee to the chest plate. Coming to the knight’s aid, Astra’s arm stretched out, striking Bronson hard enough to send him a few yards away.

A second later, Astra picked up a life-form directly behind her – one that hadn’t been there before. Having just teleported, Lowana Jones placed her palm at the small of Astra’s back and, before anything else could happen, the two women disappeared. “Astra’s gone,” Cavalier announced as he squared off against Bronson once more. Lowana teleported back to the battlefield with no signs of Astra and addressed the Commission, “We lost a teammate, you lost a teammate. Fair play, I reckon.”

Cavalier and Bronson delivered punches and kicks to one another. Neither man had superhuman strength, but Bronson had superhuman durability and Cavalier wore high-tech armor, forcing them into a stalemate. Bronson broke free from the brief slugfest and took a step back to activate the Hammer-Space bracelet around his wrist. Thinking fast, Cavalier activated his Round Table weapon; a glowing broadsword appeared in his palm and with a single thrust, he sliced the golden bracelet in half. “Bloody hell,” Bronson grumbled before spinning into a roundhouse that landed against Cavalier’s face plate. Cavalier fell against a tree trunk and as Bronson approached, his sword vanished. In its place, twin morning-stars appeared in each hand. The Cavalier ducked under the first punch, which tore a chunk out of the tree. Popping back up, he attacked; the first morning-star thrust against Bronson’s chest, pushing him back, then the second weapon swung into his jaw.

Shujai fired a minor blast of bio-energy at Nadeem who flew into the air to avoid getting hit. Suddenly, Jones teleported to Shujai’s location. Realizing her task in the fight was to remove the most powerful Commissioners from the battlefield, he quickly flew in reverse before she could tag him. What followed was a game of cat-and-mouse. He began flying in a zig-zag pattern while she teleported after him.

When Nadeem landed, Alysa was waiting for him. “Let’s see what you got,” Alysa grabbed the agent with her own mystic telekinesis and tried to send him into the sky. “Not bad,” Nadeem replied, countering with his own power. They pressed one another, rising into the air with no measure given in either direction.

Back onboard Hyperion’s Light, Dante Greer kept himself busy in the cabin by playing one of the onboard video games. Suddenly, he felt the ship move as if something startled it. “The hell?” he shouted in alarm. Astra’s voice came over the PA, “Dante? It’s Astra. If you can hear me, I’m performing a remote takeover of the ship.” Dante looked around as the ship shimmied, indicating it was setting a course, “You can do that?” “Yep,” Astra answered, “Ryan asked me to synch up with it a while back. Looks like it was a good idea. Anyway, I’m gonna bring the ship to my location and then we’ll fly it back to Maryland. You need to strap in.” Dante held on to the seat’s armrests as the ship took off to an unknown location.

In the forest, Ryan tapped his belt buckle, raising a forcefield as Frakes floated toward him in her intangible form. “This all could’ve been avoided,” she warned him. “What can I say?” he retorted, “I’m a glutton for punishment.” Frakes pushed against the forcefield and Ryan watched as it warped around her intangible hands. The energy field stretched as she pushed through, slowly but surely. “I thought as much,” Ryan said aloud and then suddenly expanded the forcefield to its max. The sudden expansion of the field hit Frakes despite her intangible form, sending her flying into an unconscious heap.

Nearby, Alysa and Nadeem spun through the air before hitting the grass. Nadeem stood to his feet first and witnessed a missile dropping out of the sky. Instinctively, he raised a shield above his head to defend and was confused when the projectile didn’t hit. With her illusion giving her the advantage, Alysa summoned force winds. It hit Nadeem in the gut and sent into a tree; as he struggled to catch his breath, Alysa approached. “I win,” she announced. “It seems that way,” Nadeem had his back to her when he activated his Hammer-Space bracelet. A moment later, a stun gun appeared in his hand and he quickly rolled over and fired. Alysa fell unconscious immediately. Nadeem sat up on one knee and braced himself against the tree trunk.

Seeing Nadeem fatigued, Ryan Bennings took aim with his own laser. Before he could pull the trigger, however, he noticed a shadow falling over him. Looking up, he saw a familiar face; Dafne Mansoor dropped out of the sky, delivering a blow to the base of his neck before he could defend against it.

Mansoor had been inside the Cloudburst for the entire fight, waiting for the right moment to act. And now, with Bennings unconscious, one of their main objectives had been achieved. Jones teleported beside her, “We have Bennings. Stellar work.” Intrepid didn’t share her excitement and calmly ordered, “Get him in the Cloudburst before they notice.” Jones placed her hands on Ryan and they were quickly teleported away. Intrepid released a sigh as she watched her former and current teammates fighting one another. It wasn’t how she wanted it to end, and yet, she wasn’t sure what other outcome there could’ve been. Once Jones secured Ryan in the hold, she started the Cloudburst and set it to hover.

Nearby, the Cavalier brought his morning-star down, but Bronson blocked the attack at the forearm and delivered a right-cross to the knight’s helmet. Cavalier spun, bringing the second morning-star across his cheek. Not far away, Shujai fired a strong blast against Nadeem’s telekinetic shield, sending him into the forest. With the threat neutralized at the moment, Shujai assisted Cavalier. Nearby, Bronson ducked under a swing and struck Cavalier with a palm-heel. The knight stumbled back and noticed Shujai flying to their location; he gave Bronson a shoulder thrust, pushing him into Shujai’s flight path. Despite his invulnerable body, Bronson didn’t have the strength to stand up to the next blow. The agent was sent rolling along the grass until he landed in some bushes, completely unconscious.

Shujai then landed next to the Cavalier, and the two surveyed the area. “Who’s left?” Cavalier asked as he noted the unconscious members of both teams. Just then, they witnessed telekinetic tendrils reach out and scoop Bronson off the ground. Nadeem rose into the air, carrying the unconscious forms of both Bronson and Klausman. Then they noticed Intrepid flying after him with Jill Frakes over her shoulder. “Intrepid!” Cavalier shouted after her, but she didn’t respond. They carried their teammates to the Cloudburst hovering nearby and quickly entered the side hatch. Once they were inside, Jones tended to the unconscious members while Intrepid sat in the cockpit with Nadeem in the co-pilot seat. “It’s nice having you back on the team,” he told her. She silently flew the aircraft out of the area.

“Should I fly after them?” Shujai asked. “We gotta regroup first,” Cavalier answered. As the Cloudburst flew off into the distance, he looked around the field once more. Alysa was stirring awake on the ground and he knew Astra had been removed from the battlefield already. That was when he noticed who someone else was missing. “Shit!” he exclaimed, “Where’s Bennings?”

In Washington DC, Pierce checked his phone, then turned to Senator Jackson. “There’s some good news, Senator,” Pierce slipped his phone in his pocket, “My team had a run-in with the Commission. They apprehended Ryan Bennings during the melee.”

“Yeah, but do they have Dante?” the Senator asked impatiently.

“His whereabouts are still unknown, but we have multiple means of tracking them down.”

“Then I don’t consider this a win at all. Why don’t we stop wasting time fighting these assholes and focus on getting Dante back?”

“With all due respect, Senator, leave the strategy to us.”

In the grassy field, Cavalier, Shujai, and Alysa looked up to the sky as Hyperion’s Light approached. It landed a few moments later, and the hangar opened. There, Astra Machina and Dante Greer greeted them.

Continued…