I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.


Decision

I lean forward as Adam turns a dial, static emanating from the speaker on the dash. Six had had the idea to have Adam listen in on the warships to know what was going on. It was a fair idea, really. But so far we had had no luck. Finally, a Mogadorian voice begins to bark out seemingly random noises in his harsh native language. We sit in silence, waiting for our own Mogadorian to translate.

"You gonna translate?" Six asks, nudging Adam who's staring at the speaker like it's possessed.

"How bad is it?" I ask, instantly recognizing the expression.

"Moscow, moderate resistance," Adam begins, swallowing hard. "Cairo, no resistance. Tokyo, no resistance. London, moderate resistance. New Delhi, moderate resistance. Washington D.C., no resistance. Beijing, high resistance. Preservation protocols lifted-"

"What are these?" Six interrupts. "Their attack plans?"

"Their status reports," I speak up, feeling sick. "Jesus they're already invading."

"I thought we had more time!" Marina gasps.

"John attacking Setrákus must have jumpstarted it," I guess.

"Possibly," Adam nods.

"What did it mean by preservation protocols?" Six asks. "It said they were lifted in Beijing."

"Preservation protocols are Setrákus Ra's way of keeping the Earth intact for long-term occupation," Adam explains, and I laugh humorlessly, suddenly feeling cold.

"What?" Six asks.

"They're destroying it," I say, shaking my head. "They're destroying Beijing."

Adam nods solemnly before tensing, eyes widening before he spins the dial, turning the Mogadorian's voice down.

"Now what?" I ask.

"New York..." Adam swallows hard. "New York, Garde-assisted resistance..."

"That's John!" Six says excitedly but Adam shakes his head and my stomach drops.

"Guards-assisted resistance overcome," Adam says, voice barely above a whisper. "Incursion successful."

"What...what does that mean?" Six asks.

"It means they've won," Adam says. "They've conquered New York."

Before anyone realizes she moved, Six puts her fist through the speaker. Adam shouts in surprise, leaping out of the seat. Marina tries to hug Six but she shrugs her off, climbing out of the skimmer.

"Six!" Marina says. "It's not over! they haven't won!"

Six ignores her. She stands on the edge of the skimmer, rage boiling out of her. I climb up after her, grabbing her arm before she can go after Phiri Dun-Ra.

"Six, calm down!" I snap.

"It's over!" Six snaps. "We failed them! They're probably-"

"You have no scars!" I shout over her, making her blink in surprise.

"Not all of them-"

"Sam is fine!" I interrupt, feeling bad for letting my own anger out at her, but it works.

Six calms slightly, or rather, she starts crying. I wrap my arms around her, letting her cry on my shoulder.

"John's not going to let anything happen to Sam," I say. "Hell, for all we know, Sam got a dozen awesome Legacies from that thing in the temple and he's keeping John alive."

Six manages a laugh and pushes herself off my shoulder, wiping her eyes and nodding.

"Next time we see him he'll probably be throwing Mogadorians around with his mind," Six smiles.

"Exactly," I grin. "Who deserves Legacies more than him?"

"No one," Six nods. "Thanks."

"Of course," I nod. "Now, Adam, can you try and make a replacement from the other Skimmers?"

"I'll try," Adam nods climbing out of the ship.

He walks away to gather pieces of the other ships and Six goes to take stock of what the Mogadorians left for us. I sigh, sitting down where I am and resting my head in my hands. Marina climbs up to sit beside me, wrapping her arms around me.

"Are you alright?" Marina asks.

"I had family in New York," I whisper. "I had friends in Beijing. And..."

"I'm sure Hawkeye and Rookie are okay," Marina says. "They all are. "John wouldn't let anything happen to the others."

I nod. She's right, I hope. But still, it's hard to accept that your home planet is ending.

"I promise we'll see them again," Marina says. "We just have to wait for Adam to fix our ship and we'll leave."

I nod and stand, helping her up. Then, I go to visit our prisoner. Not for any real reason, I'm just getting tired of her watching us.

"Well well, a visit from the human," Phiri Dun-Ra grins. "I'm honored. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What's his plan?" I ask. "Is he coming here?"

Phiri Dun-Ra grins. I swallow hard just as Marina steps up beside me.

"What's wrong?" Marina asks.

"Nothing," I say. "Just asking our friend here to take a nap."

Marina seems to understand why I came over here originally and steps forward, tearing a strip of cloth from Phiri Dun-Ra's uniform and uses it to blindfold her. Then, she steps back, looking to me. I grin and nod and Marina smiles then walks toward the temple. She sits down facing it, as though planning to meditate, or pray.

"You can't protect her," Phiri says. "She's going to die."

"Shut it," I growl. "I'm less merciful than her."

"What, you going to kill me?" Phiri laughs. "I bet she'd like that."

I spin, my fist colliding with the side of her head and she's out like a light, blood dripping from her mouth. I'm actually surprised my hand doesn't hurt much from the punch, but I just assume that it's adrenaline, or that I'm not paying it much mind. I turn and walk over to Adam and watch him work for a while. He hammers and bends seemingly random parts into odd shapes, throwing away failed attempt after failed attempt. He finally sighs and sets the parts down.

"I'm going to go and check on Dust," he growls as he walks away.

I step up to the table, staring down at the things he's collected. Metal plate, computer casing, lamp battery, disassembled blaster, assorted pieces of engine and electrical wires from dash boards. I shake my head, well beyond being able to figure out how all of this is supposed to make a conduit. I turn, walking over to Six who smirks at me.

"How come you get to hit her and I don't?" Six asks.

"She wouldn't stop talking," I shrug. "Anyway, what do we have?"

"More blasters than the government could ask for," Six shrugs. "There's some C4 left, maybe a dozen bricks. And then there's the other two heavy cannons. Plus the ship weapons, which I think might work still, maybe."

"Well, we're ready for a fight," I laugh, then glance at the pyramid. "Shame that thing didn't help us much."

"No doubt," Six nods. "Just one of us being able to fly would be invaluable right now."

I nod as well. Then I look back at the blasters Six laid out in nice neat rows of ten.

"So, more importantly, when are you going to follow Eight's advice?" Six asked, grinning, despite the situation.

"I think there are more pressing matters than my relationship with Marina, don't you?" I ask, regretting my wording when Six's grin widens.

"So there is a relationship," Six grins.

"You know what I mean Six," I grumble.

"And you know what I'm going to say," Six says, crossing her arms.

"Your curse is bull crap and you should stop keeping her at arms reach because everything's going to be fine," I say and she nods. "And then I tell you that you're wrong and we stop talking to each other for a few hours. Look, Six, I appreciate you trying to talk me into being happy, and I appreciate you caring about whatever is between, don't start, between me and Marina, but I can't and you know it."

"Alright," Six sighed, hands raised. "I'm going to try to sleep. You should go make sure she's alright. She had friends in New York too, you know."

I nod and Six walks away, toward our skimmer. I sigh, walking over to sit beside Marina, seeing her mouth moving slightly. After a minute, she opens her eyes and smiles over at me.

"I decided to try praying," Marina admits.

"Good," I smile. "Honestly I think we need it."

Marina's smile widens and she nods before looking at the temple.

"Want to go see if it's talk to us?" I ask and she nods.

We stand and walk back to the stairs, slowly making our way down the steps, descending back to the room where the well was. It's exactly as it was before, still glowing slightly, the walls glowing brighter. We walk to the well and I can't help but look down into it, seeing something glowing far below it.

"Um, hello?" I call down the well. "Lorien's spirit, or ghost? Whatever you are?"

Nothing, shockingly.

"Lorien?" Marina tries. "We need your help. We need a way to get out of here, to get to New York City fast...Please? We need guidance. Please, we don't know what else to do."

Nothing. Again.

"Well, it was worth a shot," I sigh. "Come on. It's late. We should try and sleep."

Marina nods and we head back up to the rest of the world. We walk away from the temple in silence, not speaking until we reach one of the skimmers, climbing into it. There aren't any chairs in this one, except the pilot's seat, the rest probably having been removed by the mogadorians to make room for explosives or maybe by Adam for a replacement conduit.

"You think Adam can make the replacement?" Marina asks.

"I'm not sure," I admit. "He's not a mechanic. And I have no idea how to help him or I would."

"I'm sure everything will work out," Marina smiles.

I nod, smiling back and sit at the back of the ship against the wall. Marina sits sideways in my lap, wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her, resting my chin on top of her head, and smile.

"Maybe by the time we wake up we'll be in the air," Marina smiles.

"Maybe," I smile, praying she's right.

She drifts off soon but I find it impossible. No matter how hard I try, I can't find enough peace to rest. After a few hours, Marina stirs, turning her face into me to yawn then sitting up and giving me a knowing look.

"You didn't sleep at all did you," she asks.

I shake my head and look up at the lightening sky above us. It's not quite morning but it will be soon.

"I'm going to go and check on Dust," I say. "Then probably Adam."

We can still hear him working so Marina nods, standing and allowing me to leave the skimmer. Dust is still in the same paralyzed state he was in before. Six is still asleep in the chair beside him, though doesn't look to have slept well. I leave the ship and head over to Adam, seeing him having made numerous attempts at making a replacement, but had tossed most away and disassembled some to reuse certain pieces.

"No luck?" I ask.

"No," Adam sighs. "I'm no mechanic. This was never my field of expertise."

I nod, looking over toward the temple, seeing Marina praying again. I glance back at Adam's work again before walking over to Marina and sitting beside her. She smiles but doesn't say anything or open her eyes. I close my eyes as well. At first, I pray for help, for some sign of what we're supposed to do. With nothing else to do but wait, a bit of help from God was probably exactly what we needed. Then, I begin to pray for the others. I pray for our friends in New York, and that they all made it somewhere safe. I pray that they all make it out of the city alive, if they need to leave.

Before I know it, I've been praying for an hour, and the sun has finally risen above the horizon. Marina is still praying as well, and Six is on her way over. I stare up at the temple as she sits down on Marina's other side.

"Find anything useful in there?" Six asks.

"No," I sigh.

"I had hoped for some form of guidance, but it didn't respond," Marina says. "It's still in there, or at least, that's where it's spreading outward from. But it's not responsive anymore."

"I've been sitting out here praying on our situation," Marina says. "I suppose it might sound silly hoping for some kind of sign, but I don't know what else to do with myself."

"It doesn't sound silly at all," Six says seconds before a shrill buzzing fills the air.

I blink in surprise before my face splits into a grin, Marina having the same look and Six wearing a look of confusion. Then, slowly, a grin spreads on her face too.

"Six, aren't you going to answer it?" Marina asks.

Six pulls out the satellite phone, answering and putting it to her ear instantly.

"John?" Six asks.

After a half second, her smile drops, then returns twice the size. It's Sam.

"Sam!" Six exclaims, voice cracking partway through. "You're okay?"

I grin at her and she flips me off, even while continuing to talk.

I hear Sam say something about John and military but Six's smile remains so I assume it's good news.

"Of course he is," Six snorts, rolling her eyes then mouths something that I can only read "John" and "Sarah" from.

Sam begins to say something and Six's smile finally drops.

"Everyone's fine but-"

Sam begins talking fast, too fast for me to make anything out with the earpiece to tight against Six's head.

"There were no buttons," Six says. "We met, I don't know-"

"Lorien itself," Marina says.

"We met an entity," Six says. "It said some cryptic stuff, thanks us for waking it up, then..."

"Spread out into the Earth," Marina says, speaking loudly enough for Sam to hear while she pulls the phone away from Six's head so we can all hear what's going on.

"Oh hi Marina," Sam says, sounded distracted. "Listen, I think this entity of yours might have, uh, spread out into me."

I grin at Six whose eyebrows shoot up.

"What the hell does that mean Sam?" Six asks.

"I have legacies," Sam says sounding exited and proud, to the point that I can imagine him puffing his chest out while holding the phone to his ear. "Well, just Telekinesis. That's always the first one right?"

"You've got Legacies!?" Six more exclaims than asks.

I give her a knowing look and grin and she rolls her eyes.

"Called it," I grin.

Marina smiles as well, shaking her head as Sam continues.

"And I'm not the only one," Sam continues. "We met another girl in New York by chance who had gotten powers too. Who knows how many new Garde are out there."

"We're home Six," Marina says. "We brought Lorien to Earth. We changed the World."

"Well, we still have to win the war," I say.

"Did that entity give you a list of new Garde by chance?" Sam asks. "Some way for us to find them?"

"Nothing so useful," I say. "It seemed like the entity was pretty random in his selection of recipients. Now for the really important stuff, how bad is it?"

"It's bad," Sam says flatly, excitement gone. "Manhattan is, like, on fire. We don't know where Nine is, he's still out there somewhere. Where are you guys? We could really use your help."

"We'd love to help," I say, hands clenched into fists as I imagine my family's home in flames, or destroyed. "Problem is, the only Mogadorian we didn't kill here trashed every ship present. The only way we could get to Manhattan is if we walked. Can the military there send us a jet or a chopper or something?"

"Wait, you're still there?" Sam asks sounding panicked. "At the Sanctuary?"

"Sam, what's wrong?" Six asks.

"You have to get out of there," Sam says. "Setrákus Ra and his big ass warship are headed right for you."

We all fall silent, looking around at each other. I know instantly what Six and Marina have decided. And I don't like it.

"We can't let him have the Sanctuary Sam," Six says.

I have to bite back the first swear for what feels like forever. We're staying. No one is talking both Six and Marina out of this.

"Six that's crazy!" Sam pleads. "You haven't seen the ship! You have to leave! If you don't you'll all die!"

"We'll be fine Sam," Six says putting the phone back to her ear. "Sam? Sam? John? Someone talk to me!"

I can hear John's voice next.

"You too," Six smiles. "Want me to catch you up on the details? Or shall we skip to the part where you try to talk me out of fighting off Setrákus and his warship?"

John said something else and Six blinks in surprise.

"Oh, okay," She says. "Just a sec."

She holds the phone out to Adam and he takes it without question.

"How can I help?" Adam asks, then is silent for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "You're kidding right?"

John says something else and Adam pinches the bridge of his nose.

"John those ships were built before the fall of Lorien," Adam says. "Those shields were meant to sustain attacks from a planet full of Garde. No weapon on Earth short of a nuclear bomb could even potentially break through their shields. And attempting such and attack over a major population center would be catastrophic."

He glances at a skimmer and his eyes widen.

"Although," he walks away, toward the ship, the rest of us following. "Maybe brute force isn't the answer. I'm staring at an airstrip filled with disabled skimmers. It occurs to me that there are a hundred or so assigned to each warship. They act as scouts and transport squads of ground troops. They come and go from the warship quite a bit. Which makes lowering the force field every time impractical. So, the skimmers are equipped with an electromagnetic field generator that masks them from the warship's shields, allowing them to pass through unharmed."

John says something and Adam thinks for a moment.

"It is possible yes," Adam says. "But, while they wouldn't have to worry about the shields, they would still be targeted by the cannons."

John is silent for a moment before saying something else. Excitement appears on Adam's face.

"Twelve, plus two pilots," Adam says. "You're considering a less obvious kind of assault aren't you?"

John says something else and Adam grins.

"That depends on how many of those fighters have Legacies," Adam says. "John, have I ever mentioned to you that when I was young I always dreamed of piloting one of those warships?"

John says something else and Adam says goodbye then hands the phone back to Six, who holds it out so we can all hear again.

"You think we should try boarding the Anubis?" Six asks and I cross my fingers that he says to run. "Sam was just encouraging us to run as fast and as far from that thing as possible."

"I'm not sure what I want you to do for now Six," John says. "I just want to know our options."

He pauses and my head falls forward. Here it comes.

"Stay put Six," John says. "Help is on the way."

"Alright," Six grins. "We'll get this place ready for Setrákus Ra."

And with that, she hangs up, tucking the phone away into her pocket again and grinning.

"Well, looks like those weapons will come in handy after all," Six grins.

"We shouldn't be staying," I say, knowing it will change nothing.

As proof, Six walks away.

"It'll be alright," Marina says. "John said he was sending help. It'll probably be new Garde to help us fight."

I sigh, hoping she was right, but somehow knowing she wasn't. Either way, the decision had been made. I turn and follow Six, deciding to help set up the defenses.


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