- Oliver -
"Close your eyes and cover your ears!" Katherine shouted to the others.
Before they could comprehend what was happening, an intensely bright light flooded the room, instantly blinding everyone. Seconds later, a deafening boom echoed, like the roar of a thousand storms converging at a single point.
[Zeus Punishment]
They could hear John's strike through the communicator. However, no one could understand what had happened.
The air was charged with static electricity, making the hairs on their arms stand on end, and tiny sparks danced on the Ranger’s armor. The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet, and the smell of ozone filled their nostrils.
Oliver regained his vision, blinking repeatedly. "What—what happened?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
"It's John’s Boon. He’s quite ‘unique’. He was not born with the house's natural boon; instead of controlling blood, he can control electricity," Katherine explained.
Oliver could finally see again; he looked at his hands while continuing to blink his eyes. The Rangers, who had helmets shielding their eyes, managed to lessen the effect of the flash but were still stunned by the massive flow of energy the Golden Ranger had emitted.
When the group recovered, they could see through the window that the Titan had been blown apart. The entire upper body, arms, and head had been thrown in all directions. It was as if John's strike had torn off the creature's upper half.
"Don't stop!" They could hear Quinn's warning over the communicator.
Bringing them back to reality, the group resumed running, leaving the house and returning to the alleys. They advanced quickly toward the center of the fortress.
In a few seconds, they reached the ship's location. Quinn quickly pointed for them to enter the cargo bay.
"Alright. We have everyone here; only John is missing," she commented, speaking into the communicator again. "Hurry up, John, we need to get out!"
Oliver looked in the direction of the Golden Ranger. He could see him running over the rooftops, jumping and performing acrobatics as he quickly advanced toward the ship.
"I'm on my way," they heard him over the communicator.
John paused momentarily to shoot a few more arrows to delay the Titan.
Oliver, Katherine, and Isabella were already inside the ship, holding onto the side of the cargo bay along with the other Rangers, when Quinn and John finally entered via the ramp.
"We are ready to depart!" the General informed the pilot.
They could hear the engines' growing roar as the ship reheated its thrusters to leave the fortress.
"Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your seats," the pilot said over the ship's internal communication system. "Don't forget to rate this trip after reaching your destination."
"Damn it, if you make one more joke before we get out of here, I'll come up there and stick my foot so far up your ass that you'll have to call a mining corp to remove it," Quinn shouted into the communicator.
The moment she finished shouting, they could feel the aircraft detaching from the rubble and debris surrounding it, accelerating skyward.
Through some of the few windows in the cargo bay, some could still see the Titan trying to run toward the ship. But it was already too late. The ship, designed explicitly for quick extractions, gained speed in a matter of seconds, leaving behind the colossal silhouette of the monster.
As they broke through the atmospheric barrier, the front of the ship began to heat up, glowing in reddish tones due to friction with the upper layers of the stratosphere. With a fixed gaze and firm hands on the controls, the pilot maintained the course without hesitation. On the way to space, three Ork ships appeared on the radar, strategically positioned as an ambush.
"We have company. Don't worry; I'll shake them off," the pilot commented calmly.
The pilot seemed to have anticipated this trap. Without reducing speed for a single moment, he directed the ship precisely between the three, executing evasive maneuvers with millimetric precision. Enemy shots crossed the space around them, but none found their target. He dodged the attacks with superhuman dexterity, waiting for the exact moment to act.
Then, at the perfect instant, he activated the jump thrusters. The ship accelerated abruptly, approaching the speed of light. The stars around them transformed into continuous lines of luminosity.
Inside the cabin, a silence of apprehension took over. The passengers exchanged relieved glances but remained aware that the pursuit might not be over. The pilot's calm voice sounded through the communicator: "We are out of immediate danger. However, please remain seated with your seat belts fastened. We haven't reached our destination yet. Thank you on behalf of NEA Airways."
--
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
--
As soon as they passed the most dangerous part, John embraced Katherine. It was almost impossible to separate the brother from his sister. They talked for a few hours before he finally needed to return to his duties.
When the operation was successfully completed, the NEA Rangers returned to the main base, while John, Oliver, Katherine, Isabella, and the York Rangers returned to their command ship.
The group would return to Mars before Oliver and Isabella could be released; they needed to go to the infirmary and, finally, conduct a debriefing about their experience inside an Ork fortress.
A few more hours were necessary until the York command ship approached Mars. Katherine and Isabella were seated in two armchairs, sleeping all the hours they couldn't inside the prison.
However, Oliver was still too full of adrenaline to rest. Every now and then, he still felt his back burning from the lashes he had received.
‘I'd like to see Mars before getting some sleep,’ the boy thought as he looked out the window of his cabin inside the ship. He had seen what Selene was like and wanted to have a similar experience with Arcadia.
As the ship began to approach Arcadia, Oliver could finally glimpse the majestic capital of Mars. Through the window, his eyes marveled at the sight of a city that seemed to have been sculpted directly into the Martian soil.
The upper surface emerged like a huge translucent dome. However, he was told that much of Arcadia remained hidden below the surface, extending into subterranean levels that housed millions of inhabitants.
The city's grandeur was not only in its colossal size but also in its vast network of industries. Factories and technological installations spread across the red soil inside and outside the dome, connected by an intricate web of tunnels and magnetic pathways.
Metallic towers emerged from the ground like silver needles, emitting vapors and lights contrasting with the orange sky. Autonomous vehicles zigzagged between the installations while drones flew over in coordinated routes, maintaining order in that chaos. The lights of the factories created a hypnotic spectacle, highlighting the ongoing activity that kept Arcadia alive.
As the ship prepared to land, he couldn't help but think about how humanity had transformed Mars into something so familiar and yet so alien. Arcadia was a testament to human tenacity and ingenuity.
‘It's no wonder we've survived until now, even with all the problems we have,’ Oliver thought.
Several medical teams entered the rooms as soon as the ship touched down, prepared to take the trio straight to the emergency infirmary. Because of their time on Ork soil, they didn't know what they might be carrying.
A battery of exams was performed on the three—from common diseases to new pathogens. However, it seemed that the three, besides being dehydrated, tortured, and starving, were also suffering from slight radioactive poisoning.
"That prison didn't have any kind of protection for you," one of the doctors explained. "Orks are naturally resistant to radiation and therefore don't usually worry about that for their captives."
The three were immediately immersed in VAT tanks—a viscous and translucent fluid known for its accelerated regenerative properties. Behind the thick glass of the tanks, they received additional information about their conditions.
"Oliver, you'll need to be mindful of muscle atrophy," said another doctor, his voice echoing slightly in the sterilized environment. "You lost a lot during your time in prison. The VAT will help recover some of that, but we'll prescribe medications to help you return to peak performance."
‘No-not again,’ Oliver thought, feeling a chill run down his spine. He could hear the doctor speaking, but his mind was elsewhere. He was much more worried about being immersed in VAT again. ‘I have a life; don't make me wake up a hundred years in the future again,’ he silently pleaded.
The boy feared closing his eyes and being thrown back into a new reality. Slowly, the VAT's sedative effect began to overtake him, and sleep approached like an inevitable tide.
Unlike the last time, he woke up once a day, continuously monitored by the doctors. He had a few minutes of clarity to look around before his mind returned to the induced void.
Observing his arm, he saw it regenerated a little more each day. On the first day, there was only exposed bone; the next day, muscles began to form, enveloping the bone in a tangle of fibers; on the third day, there were already signs of skin covering the new flesh. As grotesque and disturbing as witnessing that process was, he felt no pain; his body was completely numb.
It took almost seven days before they were removed from the VAT tanks. The girls had healed practically all of their injuries, while Oliver managed to recover his lost arm, leaving only a thin scar as a reminder.
After being released from immersion, the three underwent psychological evaluations. Incredibly, none of them were in crisis at the time. However, knowing which scar would remain on each of their souls was tricky.
'Maybe Athena really isn't a sign that I'm going insane.' Oliver thought as he was dismissed from the psychological evaluation.
Athena replied promptly. 'I told you so.'
The first days in the medical ward were the most terrible. Although the physical pains no longer tormented them, now it was their minds that played cruel tricks. Nightmares invaded their nights like relentless storms, plunging them into abysses of memory and fear. More than once, Oliver woke up drenched in sweat, clutching a piece of metal he had found near the bed. His wide eyes scanned the darkened room as he listened to imaginary footsteps in the corridor, sure that the Orks were coming to take him again. The hallucinations slowly dissipated, leaving only the echo of his racing heart.
With each passing day, Oliver and Isabela longed more intensely to be released from the infirmary. They wished to see the world outside, feel the fresh air in their lungs, and remind themselves that they were still alive. That was not just confinement.
Katherine, on the other hand, did not share the same anguish. She seemed genuinely happy not to be alone, finding comfort in Oliver and Isabela's company.
From time to time, they received visits from John, who usually appeared at the end of the day, mostly to talk with Katherine. All that was left for them was to use a few local computers while waiting to receive their gauntlets.
Unfortunately, their original gauntlets were lost when the Orks captured them, and they had to craft new ones as soon as they returned to civilization.
"Hello!" John said as he entered the room, catching everyone's attention. "How are you?"
"Bored," Oliver commented, not realizing he was being too blunt.
John didn't know how to respond to the boy's sincerity. Seeing her brother in a pinch, Katherine tried to jump into the conversation to help.
"Any news about our gauntlets?" she asked.
"Oh! Great, I brought them," John said, handing one to each of them. According to the doctors, you should be discharged tomorrow. I don't know what your plans are, but I imagine you just want to go back home."
Isabella nodded in agreement. Oliver remained thoughtful, not knowing what he would do.
"Before you go, I need to talk to you about the fortress, your experience there, and what we found."