Soldiers clad in blackened armor and a combination of military gear strode towards the podium from both sides and stood at attention along the back of it. Another group of soldiers lined up in front of the platform as a highly decorated man in military dress made his way to and up the platform. “Mom…”

Morrigan turned to her mother with a worried expression. Her panic began to heighten when her gaze fell upon her mother’s furrowed brow. Helen intensely scrutinized the military presence. “Those aren’t ordinary soldiers…” she muttered as she reached for her phone.

The dean tapped the microphone, “Attention, Attention please!” He waited for everyone to quiet down and focus in his direction. “It seems we have an important announcement from our Federation military… uh…” He turned a sideways glance to the decorated officer, who gave him a stern nod in return, “I will now hand your attention over to… Lieutenant Colonel Amaranthe.” The dean stepped aside gesturing for the officer to take his spot in front of the podium.

The field was so silent, you could hear a pin hit the grass. The uniformed officer wore an overly confident sneer as he stepped up to the podium. Morrigan could smell bad news from where she stood as she watched the officer brush loose dirt off his lapel with a grimace. This was a man whose over exaggerated standards mirrored his ego.

“First, I would like to thank you for your attention… as you are well aware, our glorious Federation is under constant threat from insurrection by traitorous humans as well as from the scourge that is our Xenos adversaries.” Morrigan’s blood instantly boiled at the mention of the Saurian and Eskarii.

“With that knowledge, you are aware the military is allowed to draft citizens into glorious service for the Federation.” He paused, watching the quiet mummers throughout the crowd. A sly grin plastered his face as he saw the worry of the crowd. “Therefore, it is my honor to inform and carry out the orders of the Federation Marine Corps to draft ten recent graduates of the class of 2389!” Gasps and awes of shock spread throughout the crowd as he flourished his arms wide, the soldiers all adjusting to formal attention.

Morrigan turned back to her mother as Mr. and Mrs. Briggs looked to each other with worried expressions. Helen immediately opened her phone and hit a speed dial on it. “Svarosky, I need you to drop everything you’re doing and look up Marine Corps draft schedules!” Morrigan didn’t hear the reply as Lt. Colonel Amaranthe began listing off names. That pulled her attention to the first row of marines that began wading through the crowd.

Pleading cries began erupting as each name was called out. “Because we have two squads of Special Ops marines at the school drafting students!” Helen nearly yelled into her phone, pulling Morrigan’s attention back. “Then how are they here? Find me the superior officer of a Lt. Colonel Amaranthe!” Helen hung up and waited, chewing her lip in panicked irritation. Morrigan never saw her mother like this before, something was definitely wrong here.

“Mom what’s going on?” she asked, hoping her mother would answer.

“This isn't a sanctioned draft… I’m waiting for a colleague to send me this guy’s boss's contact information,” Helen all but growled. As weird as this situation was, she couldn’t understand why her mother seemed so angry about it.

I don’t know either, but I think I figured out whose anger you inherited.

Morrigan only heard half of what Apollyon said, her attention instantly pulled to the officer as he said a name that nearly shattered her heart. “Taylor R. Briggs.” Morrigan’s panic reached a whole new level as she turned to find Taylor and his parents both in a state of shock. Her mother tried to explain the situation but was cut short by a Spec Ops marine approaching and watching them closely.

“Morrigan E. Clarke.”

Morrigan's head snapped to the podium. “What?”

Well, this is a fun turn of events. Morrigan could feel her life falling apart around her. She could not believe this was happening to her, true freedom earned only to be stripped away in minutes. She was going to be forced to fight someone she could not consider an enemy; she would be made to kill Eskarii and Saurian…

Helen strode up to the marine, “stand down, this is an unsanctioned draft! You have no rights here!” Morrigan was surprised by the fierceness her mother displayed, in between panicked thoughts she wondered if it would come to blows between them.

“Ma'am, you will need to calm down. I am well aware of the situation,” the marine said, even through the speaker in his helmet, his voice was strangely harmonic.

“No, I will not calm down. You will not take my daughter illegally; do you know who I am?” Helen gritted her teeth, hands curled into fists.

The marine sighed, if the helmet was see-through, they would have seen the eye roll, “Special Agent Helen Rose Clarke–” that took Helen by surprise.

“How do you—"

“—married to James Edward Clarke, Sergeant of Denver Special Tactics Unit Echo Squad… trust me, I'm here to assure the safety of your daughter.”

Helen took a cautious step back, the look of confusion on her face worried Morrigan even more. “You have five minutes to say your farewells with your families, and remember the Federation always welcomes volunteers.” Amaranthe said, whose voice broke the fear gripped trance on Morrigan. She grabbed her mother by the arm.

“What are we going to do?” she asked her mother. Helen looked back and forth between the marine and her daughter as another marine came up from behind to separate the Briggs from Morrigan and Helen. The marine that watched them saw Morrigan go to move and slowly shook his head. Morrigan bared her teeth in a snarl before her mother got a grip on her, pulling her towards her.

Helen leaned to whisper in her ear, “This isn’t a Federation marine.” The look of shock and confusion on Morrigan’s face was met with a subtle nod by the marine. Looking over his shoulder to gauge the distance the other marine moved the Briggs away before stepping forward with a menacing air about him.

Leaning directly in front of Morrigan he said, “don’t look, but the human commander is watching you specifically. You've made powerful enemies—"

“What? Why me?” Morrigan pleaded in fear.

“Tawelwch! Now listen carefully, when it is time to go you will struggle but submit,” the marine whispered through the speaker before turning to Helen. “Sincerest apologies for any damage caused Matriarch Clarke,” he finished with a harmonic accent she finally recognized before he returned to standing to attention. Morrigan’s eyes widened as she recognized the Eskarii language.

I see, that’s why this creature felt so familiar, one of my sister’s earlier creations.

Morrigan's eyes twitched, this was becoming too much in too short of time for her brain to process. What was an Eskarii doing here? Why was it here to help her? How did she make an enemy so powerful that the military targeted her? What was going on?

Her brain reeled as she nearly lost balance. Luckily her mother held on tight to her and pulled her into an embrace. Morrigan wanted to do nothing but cry in her mother's arms but her emotions were locked in a struggle between fear, anger and confusion. Her mother did her best to soothe her but she was not prepared for this. After everything her father had taught her, all the hardened skin she grew and what she felt was a solid grip on reality, she felt like no more than a child; weak and defenseless.

Oh no-no-no! Maybe once before you were that of a mewling kitten, but you are stronger than that now. Morrigan gripped her mother tighter, knowing Apollyon had a point. She just was not ready for what was to come, whatever that may be. Oh Morrigan, you are more than ready, I see it in your soul. You wanted to change the world, for that you must be ready to do what it takes.

Morrigan sniffled against her mother as Helen stroked her hair. You are Lady Death, bearer of the power that ends all things! Not a sniveling worm under the boot of oppressors, you shall rise above them all and make them heel to your will, your fear will only hold you back girl. You have my power and I, what comes next, we will face together, now be the goddess of your namesake and get a grip! Apollyon scolded her for her cowardice.

Morrigan wiped the tears from her eyes and stuffed her fear deep in whatever crevasse she could find. Apollyon was right, she could not fear the unknown, she was no longer powerless. Fear was her enemy, so was the military, if she was going to survive she needed to steel her resolve and face this turn of events. If this Eskarii was really here to help her she would allow it, but if it tried to screw her over it would pay in blood. Morrigan pulled back from her mother and looked her in the eyes, Helen also had fearful tears. “It'll be okay mom,” she said with a modicum of confidence.

Helen could see the stoic expression on her daughter’s face. She was being stronger than she had to be. Wiping the tears from her face she took her daughter’s lead. Everything would be okay, one way or another. “I’ll get to the bottom of this sweetie, just… be as safe as you can be.” Helen worried about Morrigan’s safety the most. If the Eskarii posing as Spec Ops was right, someone high up in the military was pissed at Morrigan and this was their way of getting to her. Morrigan was a smart girl though, James taught her how to fight and think tactically while she taught her everything she knew about perception and analyzing a situation. Chances were whatever was thrown Morrigan’s way would at least have a difficult time.

The time to move had begun. Some families scrambled in order to keep their beloved son or daughter from being taken, others gave patriotic salutes to their children as they followed the first line of marines that had came to collect. It appeared there were several students that volunteered as well, arguing with family in their pursuit of personalized glory. The second retinue of marines stepped down and formed an armed barrier between the students selected for service and their families that tried to follow. Taylor knowing better to fight the inevitable, walked with the marine that escorted him towards the school. Morrigan’s heart ached as she watched him go. The disguised Eskarii grabbed onto Morrigan’s forearm, giving both women a nod.

Immediately Morrigan yanked on her arm, his grip tightening as she nearly pulled herself free. “Ma’am! You’ve been selected, it is your civil duty to comply with Federation law,” the Eskarii stated in a harshly mimicked human tone.

Families began to turn and stare as Helen and Morrigan tried to pull away from the marine. “Fuck you I'm not going!”

“You're not taking my daughter!”

Several of the second retinue took notice, two of which began to make their way over. The Eskarii somehow knowing this grabbed the girl's wrist with his other hand and used his now free right hand to back hand Helen to the ground. It was a pulled hit, with enough force to make it convincing to those around him. The Briggs rushed to her mother’s side as the two marines aimed their weapons at the three. The disguised Eskarii gave a nod to the duo before he dragged a fighting Morrigan along.

After seeing her mother get hit, she felt her rage spike to dangerous levels. It’s a show! Control yourself Lady Death. Now is not the time to use my power. Morrigan continued to struggle in his grasp as she repeated what Apollyon said in her head. It was right, this display was a show and she had to keep control.

The Eskarii shoved her in front of him and held the barrel of his rifle to her back. “Move!” he commanded. Morrigan played reluctant and raised her hands before she continued walking. She turned to the podium as they passed it, glaring daggers at officers’s sneering face as he obviously tracked her movement.

The Eskarii nudged her with the barrel trying to keep her focus on what was happening. Once they were out of sight of everyone on the field Morrigan turned her head and asked, “was it really necessary to hit her?” Her voice was laced with venom as here anger sat at a low boil.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“Yes, we had to make it convincing,” the Eskarii hissed. They continued around the high school till they came to the parking lot. Her eyes widened with fear as she watched an armored transport pull out. There were 12 marines stationed in the parking lot keeping perimeter as well as two other marines near the last transport that were loading up the last of the students. She had absolutely no idea how this Eskarii intended on getting her out of her situation much less off school grounds in one piece.

Before they arrived at the armored carrier, the back hatch closed with a sealing hiss and clunk of heavy locks before one of the marines beside it pounded his fist on it. Morrigan watched the transport begin to pull away leaving her with 14 marines and one Eskarii. The marine who signaled the transport to go waved, “seems we had more volunteers than we anticipated, we called for another set of transports,” he said. The Eskarii relaxed as Morrigan stepped forward a step with her hands still raised. “Looks like this one is lucky enough to catch a ride with us,” he said with a dark chuckle before stepping up to Morrigan.

She refused to look at him, instead choosing to look off in the distance. The marines hand wrapped around her jaw, forcing her to look in his direction as he inspected her. “At least this one is pretty cute, may be fun to play with,” he noted mischievously. One of the walls containing Morrigan’s rage broke as she tucked an arm under and over his arm forcing it away with speed that caught the Spec Ops marine off guard. Crimson electricity briefly wrapped her other arm as she drove her fist into the chin of his helmet forcing it down and backwards. The marine collapsed on the ground in shock as he looked up at her. She returned to her hands up position as the other two marines aimed at her.

“You little bitch!” the marine said as he went to get up, only to be kicked back to the ground by a shorter marine that had aimed at her.

“No, you deserved that Carlos, if you act like a pig then you’ll get treated like one, so you take your punishment as deserved,” came a female voice through the helmet’s speaker. The female marine looked to Morrigan and gave an apologetic shrug.

The marine grumbled nonsense as he backed away on his ass and got to his feet. The female marine watched the marine with a hidden scrutiny. Morrigan saw off in the distance, a small burst of red spraying. Oh shit! Did you see that? Morrigan's smirk grew wider, apparently Apollyon had never seen a sniper rifle work before. To be fair, neither had she, but she knew how they worked. Only problem was the female marine caught the view of another marine’s throat burst as the degenerate in front of her knelt to retrieve his rifle.

“Sniper!” she called out.

The Eskarii quickly aimed his rifle, pulling the trigger at the marine that held Morrigan at gun point who flinched at the call. A suppressed round bore through the helmet of the marine and exited in a splash of gore and brain matter. A shoot out with sniper coverage; not a bad plan as far as Morrigan was concerned. She let her rage sing as she lashed out with one arm, why she did that she had no idea however, in an odd way it felt like a natural reaction for the moment. The result was a crimson spectral claw that leapt forth and tore through the female marine’s armor like a tin can as blood poured from her wounds like a fountain. It made Morrigan feel a little bad seeing as the woman stuck up for her instead of assaulting her. Fuck that, remorse is for the dead. Apollyon had a point. It was war now.

The Eskarii put a burst of rounds into the degenerate before he could completely stand. Her companion crouched and fired several more shots at a distance before turning to her. “It was not said that you were Swyn’wyr, would have been nice to know,” the Eskarii said calmly as he continued firing.

Morrigan snagged one of the suppressed rifles and a spare magazine. She gave it a quick inspection before figuring out the safety and select fire. Stuffing the spare magazine into her back pocket, she dropped prone as marines began to return fire.

“What’s that?” she asked before shifting a body sideways as a shield and resting the rifle on the crook of the dead marine’s neck and helmet. She took aim and popped off single rounds across the open spaces around the parking lot as a couple enemy rounds pelted the corpse. She could not see the grin on the Eskarii's face.

“Equivalent to human ‘mages’ as you call them, your father taught you well I see,” the Eskarii noted with delight. Neither of them had the pleasure of leisure though, it was only moments before the broadcast of the attack was sent to every marine in the area. Tapping her shoulder, he said, “we need to move.”

Morrigan grunted as she pushed herself into a sprint to follow the moving Eskarii. Together they made their way between civilian vehicles as bullets flew past them. Morrigan may have had hundreds of rubber bullets fired at her recently however, it did not help much against the threat of real bullets sailing past her head. Morrigan spotted a marine spring up to her right who was hidden by a car one row over but had no time to react accordingly however, the vibrating hum of a large caliber sniper round and sudden sound of impact that sent the marine tumbling back into a car was instant relief. She could not help but cackle as she held her hand up in a thumbs up as she did not stop following the Eskarii. The entire situation was completely insane. Enjoying this aren’t you? I know I am. Apollyon said sinisterly. Morrigan was not certain if she was enjoying herself, but she could not deny there was a thrill behind battle that made her endorphins go crazy. Maybe she did enjoy it.

ΩΩΩ

Alarms and sirens went off at the Denver Police Headquarters. James Clarke sat in the main area filling out paperwork he had pushed back the past few days as Simmons came stomping through from the locker room. “Feet on the floor Clarke! Time to suit up!” she said excitedly before dashing back to the armory. James appreciated her sharing the overtime him with along with Santiago, though he could do without her cheerful demeanor. It was necessary for him to be working seeing as he left work to join the search party for Morrigan, but he hated not being at her graduation. He stood from his paperwork, leaving it the organized chaos that it was and headed to the armory.

Santiago was already fully armored, Simmons in the middle of equipping herself and a fully armored Bravo and Charlie squad who normally had the current shift. James walked to his cage and started putting on his armor.

The off-shift’s lieutenant pulled out a data slate and began scrolling, “alright listen up! We have reports of a potential terrorist situation down town at the Denver High School South.” James jerked up so fast he hit his head on a steel shelf. A short stream of obscenities left his mouth as he stepped out of the cage half armored.

“Have there been any casualties?” he asked, doing his best not to seem worried.

The lieutenant knew better and rubbed his eyes in irritation, “finish suiting up Clarke, another outburst like that and I will bench you from this,” he commanded. James turned to Santiago who merely nodded, his eyes apologizing for the order.

“Yes sir.” James returned to his cage to finish putting his armor together.

“Right, to answer the question, there has been no civilian casualties. However, there have been several fatalities involving Federation marines,” the lieutenant continued. This made James pause again. He wondered why the military had been at the school. He knelt and pulled out his phone to send a message to his wife.

‘What’s the situation at the school? Are you and Morrigan safe?’

“Intel has noted there were two confirmed assailants as well as an unknown number of snipers that are using large caliber rifles. The police have been ordered by the Federation to set up blockades anywhere that can be used to exit the city including subway stations and public transports. All flights have been grounded and every citizen found is being checked for identification.”

James finished suiting up and acquired his weapon and ammo before stepping out of his cage and joining in next to Santiago.

“The last known location of the two assailants, who are said to be a male disguised as a marine, and a female rogue mage, was south of the school parking lot. Our objective is to join up with Denver Police and fan out the entire southern districts and work our way towards the school looking for anything that sticks out,” the lieutenant finished. “Any questions?”

With no one having a question, the lieutenant gave each squad their marching orders and dismissed them. James grew worried the longer he waited for a response from his wife. It was not until his trio of a squad reached the parking garage that his phone buzzed in his hand. He immediately stopped to read her message.

‘Spec ops came to the school, ordered an illegal draft. Both Morrigan and Taylor have been drafted. Waiting on info for superior officer of officer here. Morrigan is target of the military, Eskarii here to help her.’

Even though his wife did not shed light on the supposed terrorist activity, his confusion, worry and anger were all over the place. He found himself wondering if the two terrorists had been Morrigan and the Eskarii his wife mentioned. That did not make sense though since his daughter was magic-less, however he was aware that his daughter was rebellious enough to pick a fight she could not win; going up against the Federation military.

Santiago noticed James had stood in the middle of the parking garage intently focused on his phone. “What is it Clarke?” James shook his head before waving him over. It was nothing he wanted to say while there were other squads piling into armored vehicles around them. Santiago strode over to his partner with Simmons in toe. James simply handed the phone over without saying anything while letting his stress begin to show.

Both Santiago and Simmons read the text together. Giving each other a disbelieving look Simmons snorted, “Well that’s seriously fucked Clarke.”

“Right, what in the ever-living hell are we supposed to do about that?” Clarke replied, his fingers raking his hair in an attempt to quell his anxiety. He could not keep from pacing around in a circle as he tried to figure out what was really going on. He knew Morrigan was not a mage, but if an Eskarii had shown up to held her, was it possible they mistook the Eskarii as a mage? Except the intel said that it was a male and female…

Santiago tapped his foot as he crossed his arms equally as perplexed. Simmons seemed to be the only one who did not have anxiety chewing at the recesses of her mind. She instead spent the anxious moments checking ammo and making sure her equipment was secured to her armor. With a final check she felt inclined to break the awkward silence. “So, what's the plan boss men?”

Santiago let go an exasperated sigh, “I haven’t the foggiest clue, Helen’s information is a lot to take in.”

“We can't do anything about the military… but if there is a chance Morrigan is involved in this…” James trailed off in protective stress.

Simmons readied her rifle. Stepping up to James and nudged him with her elbow, “Then we find these two suspects, detain them and find out who they really are.” James gave her a wide-eyed look filled with dread. He should have known her better than to think the worst, “If it turns out to be our Little Clarke, well then we will figure out what to do. We’re not letting the military have her, and we’re not letting her get in harm’s way either.” Her words were filled with fierce and hopeful determination.

Santiago planted a hand on her shoulder and gave James a hard look through his helmet, “she's right. Let’s do our job and play it by ear. We either bag two terrorists or we save our girl. Which ever it is we have a job to do.”

James nodded as he pocketed his phone that his boss held out. Checking ammo, James began heading towards an armored SUV, “alright, let’s do this.”

ΩΩΩ

Helen bit her nails nervously as she stared at her phone. Everyone in the field watched as the marines had begun rushing to cover the lt. colonel or rush over to the school. It was apparent something had happened, which did not ease Helen’s worry. Deep inside she knew it had to involve Morrigan. Without knowing for certain there was little she could do.

Word of some type of activity was obvious since the D.S.T.U. was now involved judging by her husband's message, her reply to him was the important details she knew as fact. The military for some reason targeted Morrigan and hid it under the guise of a formal draft that was unsanctioned. That meant nine other poor students got caught up in this mess including Morrigan’s beloved boyfriend.

She had to take one problem at a time though as she waited impatiently for her colleague to send her the information that she needed. She looked over to the Briggs, Samantha was an emotional wreck as her husband tried to comfort her. Helen knew what the poor woman was going through, and she placed her hand on Samantha’s back, “everything will be okay, we’re lucky enough to have two highly intelligent children, they'll be okay.”

Scott nodded as his wife continued to cry into him. He appreciated Helen’s efforts and knew the truth behind her words, as upset as he was, he knew his son would be okay. That did not make it any less hard though. “What have you been able to find out?” he asked as he looked around. He noticed there were only three or four marines left that stood guard, made to keep all the families in the field for the time being.

Helen gave him a stern look filled with anger, “this wasn’t a legal draft, that much is certain. I’m currently waiting for a colleague to send me that asshole’s boss’s information so I can report this.”

“So, you're saying we might be able to get our kids back?”

“I’m hoping so, not the volunteers but those who were selected for drafting can't be forced into a draft that shouldn’t exist. I’m also going to be aiming for a nice court martial for this dick.”

Helen let a confident evil smile show. She had no intentions of playing fair about this especially since her daughter was involved though she would do the same for any of the children involved. Her phone vibrated in her hand which drew her full attention.

‘Superior officer to Lt. Colonel Amaranthe is Colonel Theodore Sanders.’

“Good, now just to look him up,” she thought as she accessed her remote virtual network. Logging in and going to directory of all Federation personnel, she found the colonel’s contact information.

She dialed the number listed and waited as it rang several times. When it picked up Helen wasted no time, “this is Intelligence Helen Clarke, ID number 067134, I’m looking for Colonel Sanders.”

A young woman’s voice answered her sounding no older than Morrigan, “what would be the nature of your call Ms. Clarke?”

“I want to report an instance of a high ranking personnel abusing Federation law.”

“Very well, I’ll direct your call now.”

Helen grimaced as she waited on hold. The thought of old men hiring pretty, young women as secretaries irritated her, it seemed some things did not change from the old world. That was the least of her concerns though, not that she would be able to do anything about it.

The line had finally picked up, “this is Colonel Sanders speaking.”

“Hello sir, my name is Helen Clarke, I am calling on behalf of several hundred citizens who just witnessed an illegal draft of town graduates from Denver High School South under the orders of a Lieutenant Colonel Amaranthe…”

Sampson was quiet on the other end for a moment. She felt that giddy feeling swell up in her chest as she threw Amaranthe under the proverbial bus.

“Ms. Clarke, I assure you the order for the draft was not illegal, but an emergency request of the Federation that I had personally signed off on earlier this morning. So it is within the Lieutenant Colonel’s rights to choose up to the ten civilians he had chosen for drafting, now if that is all, I have work to do.”

Helen’s heart nearly split into two under the anger and despair. However, before she could question the authenticity of the order, the man hung up.

All her hope vanished in an instant as she eyed the remaining few marines guarding the area. “Fucking asshole!” she screamed as she slumped to the grass.