TRACK 3 –

“Dad!” Anna screamed, reaching out like she was going to grab her father through the viewing Holo-Screen.

Strong hands reached out and held the grief-stricken girl, her brothers Blake and Justin, each of their faces mirroring their sister. The three wrestled for a moment but then the struggle was over, and they were hugging. Less than a minute later they released each other, all the grief that was plastered over their faces and in their demeanor was gone. Decisiveness and stoicism radiated from Anna and her siblings. Then the Holo-Screen caught everyone’s attention again. The view centered on the NRE Commodore and the man knew he was the center of attention, he grinned broadly, then his amplified voice rang out.

“Students and remaining Faculty of the soon to be defunct, Warrior Academy, my name is Commodore Vladimir Rasputin Stalin, your new Headmaster.” The giant man paused.

The ships had moved from their earlier positions and now were behind the Commodore in a perfectly spaced and even line with the dreadnaught in the center position. He floated down and landed on the bow of the giant ship, the other ships and dozens up on dozens of ABAB’s floating up and coming into parade like formation. When they were all in position the Commodore held his hand up and hundreds of troops came onto the decks marching in lockstep and lining up in military dressed precision.

A clench of the Commodores fist and the troops stopped, boots striking the ground in time, and then each one banged his chest in salute and flared their Affinity Magic, followed by all the enemies on ABAB’s. The cacophony of different colored Affinities made the ships look like they were decked out in Christmas lights, albeit extremely dangerous ones. Bringing his fist down in another signal, each soldier reached down and grabbed one of the stun batons that the commandos from earlier had, and as one, hefted them in a perfectly timed salute.

“Now, as you can see.” Commodore Stalin said, holding his arms up and gesturing to both sides. “I’d like you to welcome your new fellow students, please give them a warm welcome.”

The Commodore pointed toward the school and the NRE ships and ABAB’s moved forward, along with all the students who could fly.

“Show anyone who resists how the Neo Rus Empire deals with detractors.” Commodore Stalin called behind his attacking forces, the echoes of his laugh following them.

Anna turned off the Holo-Screen getting everyone’s attention, fear and anxiety permeated the room. The young Belmont took control of the situation cutting through the emotions and giving everyone purpose, her commands sounded out like whipcords.

“You heard my father, we’re retreating, grab the teachers, we are leaving right now. Defensive Formation Cover Zero All Out. Follow me!” Anna commanded, matching her words by moving towards the exit.

I shared a look and squeezed Maggie’s hand and moved out along with the rest of the group. Everyone knew the play. It was a last-ditch defensive maneuver meant to protect the game when you ahead. You controlled the end of the game by retreating and defending the ball with all the remaining strength you and your team had left. It’s a good thing we moved out when we did, as the NRE were already halfway, the ABBA’s even closer, and gaining faster than I was comfortable with.

The infirmary was in between the coliseum and the dormitories, I saw dozens of kids leaving the dorms as we ran, heading towards the main gate and town, among many other directions. Someone needed to take control of them, then I realized all the teachers were either gone, or as in the case of the ones with us, otherwise incapacitated. It made sense to me that the Ninja Commandos we saw weren’t the only ones.

“Hey boss, I’ve been talking with the other sprites and things don’t look so great.” Tuki said from his position just above my shoulder.

“You’re telling me brother.” I replied, scanning the area as we ran.

The NRE students were still incoming fast, they were at the edge of the campus and meeting no resistance. I moved up to the front and ran next to Anna.

“Where are we going?” I asked, in between breathes.

“The Main Tower.” She replied.

I stumbled and caught myself, then gave her an incredulous look.

“Isn’t that heading towards the enemy?” I asked, trying to keep the skepticism out of my voice.

“They have ships and ABAB’s, we can only run for so long before they catch us. Our only chance is to get on the RKP Scout Ship that is docked there.” She said, matter-of-factly. “If we hurry, we can make it just before the NRE get there. I hope.”

The last was said under her breath but I heard her. I was about to tell her what I thought of the plan but before I could say anything, we ran into a group of commandos as we rounded the corner of Knights Hall. Both of us were surprised to see the other group and everyone hesitated for a second. There were five of them and two of them were carrying a semiconscious Lord Rhys in between them. Before they could react, I flared my AP and flashed forward striking the closest commando with a fire covered fist. Almost simultaneously, Anna and the triplets also flared their AP and attacked a different commando. All five dropped in seconds.

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“Blake.” Anna called.

“Got it.” Her brother said, nodding and picking up the RKP Assistant Headmaster.

The stun batons were looted from the unconscious NRE and divvied out to those without one, and then we were moving again. We were even more on edge now, with all of us knowing that time was running out for us if we were to make our escape. Everyone’s speed redoubled as did our resolve.

“There it is!” Cayden yelled.

“Shh!” Almost everyone called at once.

The sandy haired boy turned crimson and he practically shrank in on himself, while trying to hide behind Dwayne. After a few more seconds of glaring we all returned our attention to the giant tower across the lake. It was just a few hundred yards from us, but we could see the NRE would beat us to it. It was so close yet so far away.

“What’s the plan Sis.” Blake said, shifting Lord Rhys to his other shoulder.

Anna was quiet for a moment while she studied the situation, we all were, but time was short, and she nodded to herself once and made her decision.

“We go all out and take out anyone who gets in our way. Once we get on the LDS we defend it till it’s up and running and we get the obama out of here.” She said.

‘I can help with that Hiro. I’ll have the LDS up and running when you get there.’ Robyn said to me.

I cleared my throat and Anna, along with everyone else, looked at me questioningly. Well, not Ari and Bron, they had heard Robyn as well.

“I’ll have the ship ready to go when we get there.” I said, looking Anna in the eyes.

I decided to not tell them about Robyn yet. She raised an eyebrow as if saying, we will talk about this later, then nodded and turned back to the area between us and the tower.

“There’s no time like the present. Let’s rock!” Anna said, jumping up and running, while motioning for us all to follow.

There was no hesitation, even though we were all students, we were well trained students on our way to becoming warriors. The whole group moved en masse at top speed, staying in formation. Then, we flared our power as we hit the water and picked up speed, our feet moving so fast we stayed on top of the glassy lake top. A good thing for us that the day was pretty much peaceful, excepting the attacking NRE army and stuff.

Our formation spread out as we sped across the water, wakes shooting out behind us, rooster tails fifteen feet long and twenty feet high glittering in the sunlight. Unfortunately for us, our flared Affinity Power and couple dozen waterspouts, were like a beacon to the approaching enemy. The ABAB’s were in the lead and all of them turned and headed straight for the tower and us.

“They’ve spotted us!” Sarah called, pointing at the incoming enemy.

“Pick it up!” Anna yelled, flaring her power and going to level two, we all quickly did the same and the groups speed doubled, our trailing waterspouts shooting up higher into the sky. “JV team secure the LDS and Tower launch pad!”

Tiffany, Hadji, Michael, Serena, and the triplets, all ramped up their Affinity Power and hit level three, then rocketed off ahead of us, covering the last hundred yards in seconds. The seven sophomores made it to the tower just as the first dozen of the NRE ABAB’s arrived. The upperclassmen immediately went on the offensive. ‘We’re close enough now Hiro, I’m firing up the LDS, it should be ready to go when you all arrive.’ Robyn told me.

I relayed the information to Anna by screaming to her over the water, so she could hear me at our high speed, then flashes of AP caught my attention. The Sophomores

“Tidal Wave!” Hadji Ocean yelled.

TIDAL WAVE (LEVEL 3) –

His skill was a level higher than his brother Johnny’s. Hadji’s Affinity Power looked like waves on the beach beneath him and he was riding them as if he was on a surfboard. His sea greenish blue AP coalesced around his fists and he shot dual jets of hypersonic sea water into two of the closest incoming ABBA’s. Both NRE fighters took the blasts full on in their chests and were launched off their boards. The talented Sophomore finished his move by cutting his AP and landing on one of the recently vacated ABAB’s, then taking control of the flying board.

“Shooting Star!” Serena Whitelight called out,

SHOOTING STAR (LEVEL 3)

Like Hadji, Serena’s skill was at a higher level than her brother Dwayne’s. Her AP flowed around her, cosmic rays of light surrounded the beautiful ebony skinned girl, millions upon millions of radiantly twinkling stars spun around her, while AP trail behind her like the tail of a comet. Serena’s bleach white hair floated around her like a living thing, her eyes were glowing with starlight. In a flash she streaked up the tower and almost faster than I could see, then zigzagged striking three different ABAB’s and knocking the riders into the lake below.

“Show off!” Michael Irons called out, flaring his power as he hit the base of the tower, where a half dozen ABAB’s had landed and their riders were rushing the big Sophomore. “Bring it on! Iron Sides!” Michael growled loudly.

IRON SIDES (LEVEL 3)

His Affinity Magic firmed and formed interlocking iron plates that snapped together while moving into place around the big students muscled body. With a loud clink the armor settled, then Michael rushed into the incoming mass of enemy students, just as his Affinity Powered armor clicked into place. All this happened in milliseconds and a flaring of Affinities caught my attention while Michael knocked the enemy aside like bowling pins.

Meryl, Beryl, and Sheryl had reached the ship, it was they who had flared their AP and the few ABAB riders who had landed on the vessel were sent flying out into the lake. Their screams were almost comical, trailing behind them as they fell through the sky and then crashed into the lake a hundred feet below. Tiffany was right behind the three girls, but all the enemy had been knocked off the ship, so she beelined straight to the helm. That was all I saw because in the next moment we were at the base of the tower and ascending the stairs four at a time.