United Nations Recovery Base

Greenland Iceshelf

Clive took everyone in the party on a virtual trip through his memories. Even Joe went along for the ride.

Clive's voice provided the narrative for what they were looking at.

"Johan Schmidt of Hamburg, Germany. Thirty-six years of age. He's the lead chap, waiting to jump from a perfectly functional airplane."

The party saw a large man in winter camouflage, with the gears of war on every possible hardpoint on his combat harness.

"He's a retired ex-NATO officer. A lot of these mercenaries worked with him at one point or another. He's in it for the money."

They saw Johan and his men jump out and dive at the UN base. They all wore wingsuits, and not everyone in the first wave to drop on the base made it. They took fire from several dugs in positions, but enough men got through from the first wave.

On the ground they could see men running around, some were getting into defensive positions, while others were charging forth in combat buggies and other small, fast winter vehicles.

Johan noticed a soldier running for a combat buggy that slowed down enough for the man to jump in. He then lost interest and concentrated on the landing.

He glanced at the sky long enough to make sure that the second wave was deployed.

This time there were light aircraft and power armor on the way down. He raced towards the platform.

The objective was in sight. He ran as fast as he could with three others behind him.

The scientists had raised the frozen rock and were moving it to a metallic pallet.

Johan put away the assault rifle and took out an electric-shock battlestaff. He took the ramp running and clubbed a couple of scientists out of the way.

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He reached the objective when he was intercepted by Richard McLean and Sgt Petersen.

They saw the fight between the soldiers and the fight behind them when Lady Eleanore and Yuri surprised the mercenaries and took them down hard.

Then came the bright light and along with that light came the agony. The universe went dark, and then there was another bright light.

{Second user detected...} They saw the man make his selections. Alpha-class Camouflage Force Field, Alpha-class Telepathic Domination. Alpha-class Super Speed.

The soldier's image blurred and they saw as Richard flew like a rocket out of the base, and Petersen gets up after getting up recovered from his wounds. Henderson ran up to Petersen and the two soldiers began to secure the base.

As they began to get the men moving Johan was doing the same thing with the mercenary survivors.

The wounded were left behind. Johan collected two dozen men and he covered their retreat with his Camouflage field.

A few soldiers in Canadian forces parkas tried to stop them, but a mental blast from Johan stunned them long enough for the mercenaries to make their getaway.

The objective was gone. There was no reason to stay. When the mercenaries were far enough, Johan called for a pickup.

He was told he was on his own. Johan flew into a rage at the betrayal. He reached out with his mind and forced the sub commander to keep his word.

Johan was about to go back through the UN base. His new power to dominate those around him would enable him to take over the base with ease. They would take a few vehicles to facilitate their escape.

That's when another mind stopped Johan from continuing any further.

A quick, but brutal struggle, a battle of wills took place with Clive coming out on top.

Johan disengaged from the battle and put his Camouflaged force field back on. Clive knew where they were, approximately, but not precisely. His presence aura permeated the area, and Johan decided that it was better to stay hidden.

He knew that there were others with powers. The flying officer was back, and reinforcements began to arrive.

He led his men through the icefields at a brisk pace. No one complained. He doubled the speed, and again when the men kept up.

They reached a break in the ice and the black tower of a submarine was waiting for them. They embarked quickly and the submersible disappeared beneath the waves.

As they sped out of the area Johan's powers kept them invisible from the searching ships.

After a few hours, Clive's presence could not reach any further and the submarine successfully escaped from the tightened net around the UN Recovery Base.

"Bravo. Is a great story. But Yuri only had a very small part." Clive shrugged. It wasn't like the Russian did much.

"I thought it was a nice story." Lady Eleanore kissed Clive to show her appreciation.

"So that's what happened?" Joe had a different perspective on the event. What he saw from the evolved Xerys System lacked the human touch. "You know we owe that guy."

"How do you figure?" McLean asked.

"If it wasn't for his attempt to steal the artifact it wouldn't have gone off the way it did. It would probably be in some super secret private lab somewhere."

"Yes. Where it belongs." Clive argued.

"You're saying that because you would have been one of the people in charge of it. The benefits would have dribbled out and most of the power would have gone to governments with too much power in their hands already. I think I prefer this outcome."

"I do enjoy the benefits, as you call them, but the price was too high." Clive was getting upset with this blighter.

"Hey take it, easy man. It's not like I'm the one who started all this crap. It was you people who pulled the space rock out of the ocean." Joe was not going to take the blame for what they did.

"Enough. Clive do you want to join us in Dallas?" McLean asked.

"I would love to. However, I can't fly." Was the snide remark. He was still upset with the system administrator. The nerve of the man. He was also upset because he knew that this man was beyond the reach of his powers. Most vexing.

"Don't worry about that dear. We have a spaceship." Lady Eleanore giggled at his stunned reaction.