Intricate Contracts

Tomiko's Mercenaries take the fight to the Super Hybrids. After inflicting heavy casualties in Death Valley, a sudden epidemic in the enemy camp halts their campaign.

 

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Chapter 13: Intricate Contracts

 

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“It’s twins!” I exclaimed proudly as Ted came into my office. “Both boys, too. I know you have Alana and Nick back home but you’re used to that.”

 

“Where’s Zeke, Fin, Kodak and Ed?” He asked. It was then that I noticed Katrin and two kids were with him.

 

“In the tank bay.” I replied, noting the urgency in his voice. “What is it?”

 

“We need to get ready for when the Super Hybrids come.” Katrin replied. “We have very little time.”

 

“I see.” I replied, wondering what in the world was going on. “I’ll sound the alarm. “Oh, and welcome back Katrin.”

 

---

 

“I’m going to sneak in and get the girls out.” I told Dad as he and Tom prepared the base’s defenses. “It’s my fault things have gotten this far, after all.”

 

“I’m coming with you.” Fin said suddenly and out of nowhere. “I owe the Neo Sapiens some payback, after all.”

 

“Fine, then.” I replied with a grin. “I was going to make you come but since you want to come, that makes this easier.”

 

“As soon as you find them, come back here immediately.” said Dad. “After that, I don’t give a f**k how many people you have to kill.”

 

“Understood.” I said as me and Fin held hands. In the next instant we were deep inside Eve’s base.

 

“Do you know where they’re being kept?” Fin asked me.

 

“Yes.” I replied as I led the way. As we entered the prison area several guards suddenly came running towards us.

 

“That’s as far as you go!” one of them shouted.

 

“With you watching, maybe!” Fin said before punching his and the guy behind him through a wall. I used my Flame Lance to take out the ones behind us. After clearing the hall we pressed on. We really had to hurry before enemy reinforcements showed up.

 

“This might be a good time to use Force Energy.” I said to Fin when more guards showed up.

 

“I agree.” Fin said as we began to glow. While it enhanced Fin’s physical strength through his Guardian Weapon, it enhanced my powers as an Alchemist. With the boost in power we made short work of all opposition. We ran through a few more doors before finally reaching the cell where Sheena and Gina were being held. I was shocked to see Julie with them as well.

 

“Please tell me you’re not guarding them.” I said to her. “I really don’t want to kill a pregnant woman right now but will if I have to.”

 

“You can relax.” She replied. “I heard what you had to do to get here and know it’d be pointless. I suggest we meet up with the rest of my team before more trouble comes.”

 

“There’s a resistance?” I asked.

 

“Of course.” She replied. “Some of my kind have been trying to find a way for humans and Super Hybrids to live in peace. When they heard about what happened with me they stormed the compound.”

 

“After we meet up with them we’ll make our escape.” I said after untying Gina and Sheena.

 

“Don’t bother.” said a voice. I turned and saw nine Super Hybrids standing in the hallway. “We’re already here.”

 

“That was fast.” Fin remarked in surprise. “This saves however long it might have taken to search this place.”

 

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“Are you Katrin and Fin Toss?” one of them asked us.

 

“Yes.” Katrin replied.

 

“My name John Miller and I am the leader of the resistance.” He replied. “Me and my team would like permission to help your father repel Eve’s Forces.”

 

“Of course.” I replied. “We do have a serious shortage of personnel after all. My dad will welcome the extra help.”

 

“In that case, prepare to teleport.” said Katrin as she and I held hands. Moments later we were back on the base.

 

“Back already?” Tom asked when he saw us.

 

“And we brought some backup.” I replied with a grin. “Tell Zeke we got his sister back, too.”

 

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“How are we on munitions?” I asked Ed as weapons were passed around.

 

“We’ve got plenty of firepower.” He replied. “The problem is we don’t have a small army to go with it.”

 

“I thought Tom called the military base north of here?” I asked.

 

“Only to tell them to not intervene,” Tom said as he came in. “This way we’ll know the media will not show up to film the show. By the way Ted: Katrin and Fin are back with some reinforcements. You might want to check it out.”

 

“I think I will.” I said after sheathing my sword. I then grabbed two handguns from my locker—Meggido and Abysdos—and headed for the command room. I was met there by Fin, who stood outside the door with Gina and Julie. “I see you two found each other ok.” I said to them.

 

“Just about everyone’s waiting inside.” Fin said. “We’re ready to get started.” A few minutes later, everyone else came in and we were ready to start the briefing. First, John Miller introduced himself and his team. In addition to helping us fight against Eve’s forces, he offered to make their services more permanent once the immediate threat was dealt with. I couldn’t help but smile as this meant I could leave much sooner than expected.

 

“Even so, we’ll be outnumbered about 100 to 1 out there.” said Katrin. “It’s a good thing I called Midas and requested the others for this fight.”

 

“You mean the rest of my brothers and sisters?” asked Talen.

 

 

“That’s right.” She replied. “Except Rocky, who is staying behind. They should be arriving via the Space Bridge now.” We looked at the teleporter in time to see six figures appear. All of them showed some of the similar characteristics that Talen and Evelyn had.

 

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“I want everyone to meet Neo, Mecca, Mora, Ledah, Ein and Sabrina.” I said. “Together with Evelyn and Rocky, they are known as the Midas Eight. Each of them is trained to fight using both Kyomorian and Earth technology, just like Talen.”

 

“This should shift the odds in our favor greatly.” Dad remarked with a look of excitement. “This eliminates any need for me to get Celes, Alex, Mark Anthony and everyone else.”

 

“Couldn't you just summon Leviathan?” Fin asked.

 

“I plan to withhold all my powers until they are needed.” he replied. “That's why I'm using Meggido and Abysdos for this fight.”

 

“I’m picking up a large group headed this way.” Ed said suddenly. I looked at the screen and saw thousands of enemy personnel advancing from the east.

 

“It’s them.” John said, confirming what we already knew. “I suggest we get outside and give them the proper welcome!”

 

“You all can go ahead.” said Gina. “I’m going to stay here and have a baby now.”

 

“How long have you been in labor?” I asked her.

 

“A few hours.” She replied.

 

“I’ll take her upstairs.” Fin said before I could ask. “She’s having my baby, after all.”

 

“I think I’d better come, too.” said Sheena. “It seems both our kids will share a birthday.”

 

“You both can meet us outside later.” Dad said to Fin and Heat. “We should be fine until you get back.”

 

“Don’t die until I arrive.” Fin said teasingly before going upstairs with Gina.

 

“That’s about the only thing we can do against such odds…” Dad trailed as he checked and rechecked his weapons. The way he said it made me feel very nervous. Could it be that he'd finally met his match?

 

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As we took up positions outside I got a good look at the huge army amassing just ahead. It was as if we were fighting the entire population of North Korea and Cuba combined. As usual, Tom would be leading a group head-on into the fray along with John Miller and his people. Since Zeke and Fin were unavailable at the moment, Julie and I opted to play sniper. Seeing as Julie could give birth at any time I refused to let her fight unless she was no more than three feet away from me. “This is going to be like fighting the world....” I trailed as the opposing forces started to advance.

 

“You know, even if I died the babies inside me would survive.” She said as we set up shop on a ridge overlooking the desert. “In fact, I won’t be the least bit surprised if the first wave of infantry were all pregnant women.”

 

“You know, I remember seeing something like that on an episode of this show called Invasion once.” I remarked as I started tracking targets. “Still, you’re not dying on my watch. Now come on, it’s time to get to work.” I tapped into my Water Force Element. Since my guns never ran out of bullets I would use my own energy to turn the bullets into Icicles. The weapons glowed a light blue in response.

 

“Is it true you have two wives?” Julie asked me after blowing up an artillery battery.

 

“Why do you ask?” I asked before nailing someone in the neck. “And had would be more accurate. I divorced one of them.”

 

“Why was that?” She asked as she continued blowing up tanks and other armored vehicles with her surface to air missile launcher. “Did she betray your trust or…?”

 

“No, she just wanted out of it.” I replied before going semi-auto and mowing down a group of soldiers exiting the back of a truck. I got up to get another vantage point and signaled for Julie to follow. After getting into a comfortable position I continued the conversation. “Between both my wives I have nine kids and am expecting another—including you, obviously.”

 

“Well, if I asked you to marry me what would your answer be?” she asked me. I nearly shot Tom in the head when she said that. The bullet just missed him and placed itself in the eye of the guy in front of him. The look he gave me told me he was glad I nailed that shot.

 

“You know, I’ve got about ten grandchildren with two more coming soon.” I remarked as I stopped to recharge my Force Energy. “Aside from Talen and the Midas Eight, my second daughter has a daughter of her own and is expecting another. Add to that the child Fin's about to have and...yeah.”

 

“You know, you still haven’t answered my question.” Julie remarked. “If you can't, then I would completely understand--” I took that moment to pull her close and kiss her tenderly.

 

“To be straightforward, the answer would be yes.” I said to her but then added. “But first let’s make sure we don’t die out here—I kinda promised my current wife I wouldn’t die on a mission!”

 

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Several hours later the battle had finally ended. It took five hours but we had won. In total we killed 450,000 people. Katrin tapped into her Alchemy skills and created a hydrogen bomb that blew away the vast majority of the forces we didn’t kill already. About 2,000 retreated with the leader, Eve. The rest we took prisoner.

 

Funny thing is, all that was left were the dying and wounded. Miller’s team put down those who were mortally wounded while my team rounded up those who were treatable at the base. In total we detained 14,000 Super Hybrids. As Julie and Katrin predicted, all of the female dead were pregnant.

 

“We need to burn the bodies.” said Julie. “If not we’ll be overrun with more Super Hybrids very soon. Their first instinct will be to avenge the mother’s death.”

 

“I agree but we don’t have enough explosives to do the job.” Ed remarked.

 

“Katrin, your Force Element is Fire, isn’t it?” Ted suddenly asked.

 

“Force Element?” Julie repeated. “What's a Force Element?”

 

“Aha, finally something you DON'T know about Force Energy!” Ted exclaimed with a grin.

 

“Enlighten us, if you will.” said Miller.

 

“I don’t know who or where you Neo Sapiens learned Force Energy from but it’s one of the basics to developing your abilities.” He started. “There are eight different kinds of Force Energy separated into two groups—Terra Force Energy and Soul Force Energy. Earth, Fire, Wind and Water make up Terra Force Energy and Holy, Dark, Mind and Time make up Soul Force Energy.”

 

“From what I can tell you guys are born with Time and Mind Energy fully mastered.” Talen remarked. “That’s the case with those of us from Kyomora. I myself, as well as Angel were born with all of them mastered. In addition, each of the Midas Eight is a Master of a Force Element.”

 

“That would explain our ability to freely control our aging processes.” said Julie.

 

“Whereas most people are aware of their Soul Force Energy at an early age, Terra Force Energy has to be learned.” Ted continued. “Some exceptions to this rule are of course, Terra Force Masters like Angel and Talen. In my case, it’s my Terra Force Element is Water. This allows me to breathe underwater and manipulate water at will. I can even summon a Sea Dragon called Leviathan. As you saw with Katrin she can yield explosive results with her Terra Force Element.”

 

“Thank you for the long-winded lesson Ted.” I concluded. “Now unless everyone would like to get caught in the blast, I think we should go inside!” We went into the base just before the deafening explosion knocked everyone off their feet. I was so surprised at first that I thought the base had been caught in the explosion.

 

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“Is everybody ok?” Fin asked as he came downstairs. “And what the hell was that?”

 

“That would be Katrin getting rid of the bodies.” Tom replied. “And from the way it sounded I’d say she did an outstanding job.”

 

“I’ll go outside and put out the fire.” I said as I opened the door. When everyone looked outside the entire desert was aflame. I spotted Katrin nearby admiring her handiwork.

 

“Sorry for the mess.” She said apologetically. “I know you’ve been cleaning up after me forever now.”

 

“In this case I’ll look the other way.” I said as I drew the Time Blade. “For now I’ve got to put out the fire before the military decides to nose around.” I flew into the air and focused a lot on energy. Sensing a river flowing deep underground, I redirected it to surface to create a series of geysers with which to extinguish the flames. “Hydro Cannon!” When the water washed away the debris and bodies I returned the water to where it came from. This way, all evidence of the battle was gone. Upon returning to the ground Katrin told me something unexpected.

 

“Eve’s nearby.” She said. “She contacted us right after you left. It seems she wants to meet with us to discuss a peaceful resolution.”

 

“I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again—I don’t negotiate with terrorists.” I replied.

 

“She still has about 2,000 soldiers under her command.” Tom commented. “If she attacks again they’d be slaughtered.”

 

“I’m sure she knows that.” I replied. “It's obvious she has no other choice at this point. Come on, let’s go.”

 

“Just you two?” asked Tom. “You sure you don’t want any backup?”

 

“I think Julie and Katrin are more than enough.” I replied. “Julie's Terra Force Element is Wind and as a bonus she knows how to fly. If you want something to do Tom, destroy Eve’s base before the feds nose around there.” With that we rose into the air and flew to meet with Eve.

 

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We landed at a building Julie identified as Eve’s secret safe house in case her facility was destroyed. It was a low, one story building impossible to spot by aircraft. Eve was standing outside alone to meet us, which immediately made me suspicious. Where were the rest of her soldiers?

 

“What happened to the soldiers you fled the desert with?” Dad asked while I kept my an eyes trained on the ridge just above the building. “I know there were at least two thousand of you that got away.”

 

“That’s…what I need to speak with you about.” Eve replied solemnly. “Please follow me.” Having never heard her speak this way I knew her greatest fear was being realized inside the building. When we entered the building, rows and rows of beds lined the room. In each bed were Neo Sapiens and all of them were dead or dying. The stench of death was nearly overwhelming.

 

“I think I’ll wait outside.” Julie said before going back through the door.

 

“Do you recognize this?” I asked dad.

 

“Yes.” He replied before putting a wet rag to his face. “Talk about a Pandemic...it’s Polio.”

 

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“That’s impossible.” Katrin said as she put a wet rag to her face. “It was wiped out nearly 50 years ago!”

 

“Well, it’s mutated into drug-resistant strains over the last few decades.” I remarked. “Still, the fact that it killed all these people so quickly…”

 

“Do you know how it spread so fast?” Katrin asked Eve. “And please tell me whatever they're sick with is just inside this building.”

 

“Everyone is quartered in groups of five hundred.” She explained. “My people have gotten sick before and usually we put them and those infected into quarantine. This...it’s just too much…”

 

“Katrin, can you heal them with your Song of Restoration?” I asked.

 

“Not this many people at once.” She replied grimly. “And a lot of them are already dead.”

 

“Having seen how powerful they are in action, I admit I feel sorry seeing them go like this.” I said. At that moment a female soldier stumbled over to us. Her face was pale and sweaty and she looked very pregnant. She had almost reached us when she fell to the floor in exhaustion. The three of us quickly ran over.

 

“You shouldn’t be up.” Eve said to her. “You need to get back in bed.”

 

“There’s...no hope for us, is there?” She asked between gasps. “What a way for us to die...” After saying that she stopped breathing.

 

“She’s dead.” Katrin said after checking for a pulse.

 

“What the…!” I exclaimed when I saw the woman’s belly beginning to glow and move on its own. When I lifted her shirt we could see several babies inside trying to get out.

 

“They always do that when the mother dies before giving birth.” Eve explained. “If the mother’s death is quick they can get out in time. In this case, they run out of energy before they can succeed.”

 

“It’s probably better this way.” said Katrin. “If they survived we’d have a pandemic on our hands.”

 

“I agree.” said Eve. “And although we were enemies I will spare the human race what my people have been afflicted with. I have this building wired with enough explosives to destroy it and leave no trace behind.”

 

“I was just about to suggest that.” I replied as we went outside and closed the door. “But that would leave you as the sole survivor then, Eve. What will you do from here?”

 

“I plan to go to another planet far from here and start anew.” She replied. “Since I am the one all of the Neo Sapiens came from I can breed asexually. You will never see me again and you have my word that I will not start a war with humans ever again.”

 

---

 

“That eliminates any reason for me to detain you.” Said dad with a smile. “Of course, if you go back on your word I won’t hesitate to kill you.” After going a safe distance from the building Eve blew it up. We watched it burn to the ground.

 

“What do we do about the Super Hybrids at Tom’s base?” I asked her.

 

“I spoke with them telepathically after I contacted you.” She replied. “I told them they can either stay at the base and work for Tom or meet me in space. If any tries to revolt just kill them.”

 

“I’m sure everyone will go peacefully.” Dad replied before turning to Julie. “What about you? Will you be sticking around or will you be going with Eve?”

 

“Of course I’m staying!” She exclaimed. “We’re supposed to get married, remember?”

 

“WHAT?!” Katrin exclaimed.

 

“I’m so very happy for you, Julie!” Eve exclaimed. “I know you will do us Super Hybrids proud on earth. As my one true progeny I have great faith in you.” With that, she rose into the air and flew away until she was gone.

 

---

 

“What did she mean by that?” I asked Julie.

 

“Eve’s my mother.” She replied. “As she said, she can breed asexually. Unlike the others, I have a human father.”

 

“And who would that be?” asked Katrin.

 

“I have no idea to be honest.” She replied with a laugh.

 

“Maybe we’ll find out someday.” I said. “Assuming it’s not ME, anyway…”

 

“Come on, let’s head back.” Said Katrin. “I’m tired and I want to see my kids.”

 

“You and me both.” I replied as we flew away.