I listened closely as Lillian explained our current situation and the plan moving forward. "Claire's power is more unique than what you witnessed at Lucion's mansion. Her ability is not tied to her voice, rather, she can manipulate sound waves within a certain radius around her. She attempted to use this ability to escape multiple times, but it seems that Lucion knows a man with the same powers as Vlad. Though she may be powerful, Claire is no match for Dekala. None of us are. We're safe here because of a barrier produced by one of Jolene's devices. It prevents our detection from other super humans as well as radars of nearly all kinds. We've been preparing while you slept. After you regain your strength, we'll depart for Europe. That's where our war begins. We're going to launch an assault on the Germany." I slowly sat up and looked around the room. It took me a moment to come to terms with what had happened. I honestly had hoped it was just a bad dream, but Dekala is real, and he is coming for us. "Why Germany?" I asked. "They have little information on as. In fact, they know less about us than nearly any other target on our list. They're also one of the strongest. Taking them out first will make the rest of the war much easier." We talked for several minutes about strategy. Where to strike first, which targets were the most dangerous, and various other topics regarding out assault. Lillian urged me to rest, she said I would need my strength for the war we were about to engage in. She wasn't wrong. It took me nearly four more days to regain my full strength, but in that time I focused on mastering control of my powers. Though I could control each new power with little effort, Lillian insisted that I wouldn't be ready until I could use them without thinking. Once I was ready, we departed for Germany. Jolene already had a base there. I asked her why, but she never answered me. It didn't matter. We were about to cross a line from which there was no return. I was astonished at the complexity of the base Jolene took us to. There were devices lining the walls, each with their own unique function. Some of them protected us from detection, some detected incoming threats, but they all made me feel just a little safer. I had never been this far away from home, and I was about to participate in a war. Needless to say, I was quite nervous. Lillian did her best to calm my nerves, but it was Ferus that truly made me feel relaxed. It took a few more days for Lillian and Jolene to finish their plans. They also had to train Claire in order to ensure our success, as well as her survival. During that time, Ferus and I practiced a lot together. She taught me some of the tricks she had used to gain control of her powers and was very patient with me, despite my numerous mistakes during our exercises. "Take your time. No matter how many times you fail, you can still succeed," she would say every time I screwed up. Her voice was soft and soothing, almost motherly. During our breaks, I would ask her questions about where she came from and how she ended up in this situation. "I was an orphan. I lived with various foster parents growing up. None of them really cared enough to show me any attention, so I started acting out. They always sent me right back to the orphanage. When I turned sixteen, I decided to run away and make a life for myself. You can always rely on yourself, no matter who else betrays you," I could sense a great deal of sadness in her voice as she spoke, "I became a thief at first. I was pretty good, too. That's how I survived for a few years. Stealing anything of value and selling it to anyone who would take it. I even stole most of my food. Eventually, I saved up enough money to leave the awful town I grew up in. I thought that would make things easier, but it didn't. I had just arrived at this new town when I saw a poster for this experimental drug in the clinic window. They said they'd pay anyone who participated in the trial. I couldn't really afford to pass up the kind of money they were offering, so I signed up. Two weeks later, I found myself standing a puddle of blood in the middle of the courthouse. I was on trial for stealing from the local super market. The stress was too much for me and I blacked out. I don't know what I did to those people, but..." her voice trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes. I didn't really know what to do so I just held her close to me. She cried for at least ten minutes. It tore me apart to see her like this. I never would have guessed that she had been through so much. She pulled herself together and we continued our training. After what felt like ages, Lillian and Jolene finally called us together to explain the plan. We were to assault a major military base in Berlin. Jolene claimed that they had many of their most powerful super humans stationed there. It would be best for us to take them out before they even knew we were here. We split in to two teams. Jolene and I would hold a position atop a large building near the base where we would provide cover as Lillian, Ferus, and Claire launched a frontal assault. We got lucky, I had the power to manipulate density within a vast radius. Upon further use, I found that I could only manipulate the density of inorganic matter, but it would still be useful. Once Jolene and I were in position, I gave the signal. Lillian rushed forward, demolishing the gate in front of the base. The guards on the tower immediately took aim, but I lowered the density in the bottoms of their towers, causing them to collapse. Ferus leapt in over Lillian and unleashed a massive fire storm, wiping out several of the front guards. Things were going exactly as planned. That is, until the main building opened up, releasing three super humans. Two men and one woman, whose powers seemed to feed off of one another. The closer they were, the more powerful they became. They linked arms and unleashed a concussive blast, knocking Ferus and Lillian back. Claire ran in to assist them, blasting the three offenders with a powerful sonic boom that tore the front of the building apart. "Let's go," I said to Jolene and we jumped off of the building. I was able to control our densities just enough that we floated safely to the ground. We quickly charged the base to render assistance. When we arrived, Claire had already been knocked down. I helped her to her feet and we rushed in together. She blasted them with another sonic wave as I closed the gap. I landed a flurry of high density punches on one of the men, knocking him loose from the chain. The woman responded swiftly, grabbing my throat and hurling me across the base. I slammed in to one of the walls, using my power to soften the blow, and rushed back in. I was cut off by the man I had broken from the group previously. He launched a powerful onslaught of punches and kicks infused with some kind of energy. I dodged several of them, but he landed a few solid blows. I increased the density on my gloves once more to retaliate, but I never got the chance. He unleashed a devastating dropkick to my sternum, propelling me through the wall behind me and out of the fight. Meanwhile, Ferus was matching the assault of the other two, blocking their energy waves with chunks of ice. While she kept them distracted, Jolene made her way behind them and activated a device that repelled them from one another. With the group separated, they each took one on. Lillian attacked the man I had fought, easily dodging and blocking his combos. She retaliated with a swift three punch combo to his chest, knocking him back and further from his power source. Before he had time to recover, I made my way back and collapsed a portion of the building on top of him. "One down," I remarked as Lillian and I returned to the remaining super humans. Jolene was combating the woman with a shield like device. It deflected her attacks and unleashed powerful shockwaves to knock the woman off balance. Lillian rushed in from behind and stabbed her in the back with a small dagger. The wound wasn't fatal, but it had pierced her lung. She fell to the ground and gasped for air. Lillian swiftly snapped her neck. I couldn't tell if it was a mercy kill, or if she just wanted to do it. Either way, we only had one target left. Claire had already weakened him with her sonic blasts. All that was left to do was finish him. Lillian once again took charge, stabbing the man's temple. She then turned to Claire and nodded. "Get us out of here, Jolene." Jolene activated a portal as Claire unleashed a powerful blast, toppling the building entirely. We turned to enter the portal, but to our surprise, a man emerged from it. Dekala. He slowly approached us, an almost inhuman laugh escaping his lips, "I found you."

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