Greetings to all my fantastic readers. Thank you so much for sticking around and the great reviews . Now to answer some of your questions; wii98 Bill Tanner is a reference to a James Bond character (MI6 chief of staff to be exact) but there is also a character in Alex Rider with the same name. The Bill Tanner I referenced is in all the Daniel Craig films. Lordpujan unfortunately the other Cepan's will not make a reappearance since there is no body to recover and I have too many characters running around as it is. As for the question of what Five meant when she said "the world will soon be ours"….the end of this chapter will hopefully give you some ideas. Feel free to speculate, the best theory will get a shout out. So please sit back and enjoy…..

Chapter 35

Seven

"WHAT!?" Nine exclaims loudly making Eight jump back in shock. "I thought Henri died and you guys cremated him? You said that he couldn't be brought back" Nine says looking at Talia.

Talia smiles and dangles her Loric pendant between her fingers. "It's true. Brandon's original body was destroyed after the battle in Paradise but he was near John's Loralite when he died, and luckily John was astute enough to preserve the ashes in a coffee can. When John asked me if I could bring his Cepan back I said it was impossible but after going through the ashes I found that there was enough viable DNA to create a clone."

Talia and the escort start walking from the direction they came, so we follow. "While the clone was growing under Olympus, I barrowed John's pendant to transfer Brandon's memories into the new body. Once that was done, I sent him here to continue growing and for training."

"He looks pretty old for being a few months old" Six comments as we walk towards a clump of tall plants at the beach's beginning. "It's a result of the growth enhancements" Hannibal replies pushing aside the plants to reveal a hidden cave. "If the clones grew at a normal rate they would never be ready for combat. But now Brandon will never age again so he'll always look young."

Then, Hannibal, our Cepans , and trainers enter the cave leaving us with Sarah and Brandon. Brandon eyes Eight and I closely before offering his hand to me. "You must be number Seven."

Surprised at being recognized, I almost forget to shake his hand. "How did you know?" I ask somewhat impressed. Brandon offers a small grin and nods towards Eight. "I remember you two from the ship and Hannibal was kind enough to keep me informed on all your training. I also knew your Cepan Adel quite well."

The mention of Adelina makes me look down causing Brandon lower his voice. "I am extremely sorry for your loss by the way." I nod and look back up. "Thank you. She died fighting for Lorien." Brandon pats me on the back and moves over to speak with Eight.

"Number Eight, your Cepan Reynolds was a great man and I was equally sad when Hannibal told me what happened to him." Eight's face takes a faraway look but he accepts Brandon's hand warmly. "How did you know Reynolds?"

Brandon looks out into the horizon and sadly says "I trained him at the Lorien Defense Academy. He was one of my best students always top of the class." Eight laughs. "That sounds like Rey."

"Are you guys resting or coming or what?" One calls out from the entrance of the cave. Talia shakes her head and mutters something about patience not being one of One's a virtues. Before Talia steps into the cave, she turns around and gives a sharp whistle.

When nothing happens, she whistles again and two enormous black birds descend from the sky. Hovering several feet above our heads, one of the birds squawks loudly before landing in front of Three. The second slightly smaller bird circles us momentarily and promptly places itself in front of Two.

"Two and Three, I would like to present your new Chimeras; Huginn and Muninn. They have served as my eyes and ears of the island and hope they protect the two of well. Take good care of them."

"Which one is which?" Three asks while stroking the beak of his new protector. "Muninn is the smaller one but smarter in my opinion" Talia replies. Huginn squawks angrily and flaps his wings causing Talia to add "However Huginn is a faster and better fighter."

Just then, another shadow passes over us and an eagle with an eight foot wingspan screeches at us from above. Talia holds her arm out and the eagle gracefully lands in the form of a falcon. "And this is Maleficent your new Chimera One."

One carefully holds her arm out and gingerly Maleficent hops on. One runs her hand along Maleficent back as the bird examines her with intelligent eyes

"Now" Talia says gesturing to the cave "Shall we join the others?" One at a time, we file into the cave until the last person enters. Unfortunately the cave appeared much larger on the outside than it actually is so after stumbling in the dark, we have hit a dead end and are forced to endure an uncomfortable press against the walls. "Hey what gives Five?" Sam calls out. "Please don't tell me this little cave is your super-secret base."

Talia just holds up her index finger and places it against her lips making the rest of us become silent. Suddenly, the cave is lit up in a bright blue light causing Six and One to quickly cover their eyes and others to gasp in shock. "Identification and passcode" A cool mechanical female voice says.

"Number Five. Passcode; Lorien" Talia calls out. The light narrows to a single beam and focuses on her face. After a few seconds the voice says "Access granted. Welcome back Number Five." The light then shuts off, returning the cave to darkness.

The floor then begins sliding downwards as we are brought deeper into the ground. After a few more minutes of darkness, bright lights illuminate our surroundings revealing what appears to be a rather large elevator shaft. What we assumed was the floor of the cave is actually the bottom of a large lift that continues to sink deeper into the depths of the Earth.

When the lift finally stops, Hannibal and Snow are patiently waiting, flanked by two clones dressed in black uniforms with a Loric symbol stitched on the front. "We were beginning to think you weren't coming" Hannibal quips as Talia steps of the lift.

"We had some catching up to do" Talia replies gesturing toward Brandon and John who are deep in conversation. "Well at least I can begin the tour of the main facilities" Snow says. "Follow me please."

Using a blue keycard, Snow opens a wide metal door at the end of the corridor and leads us into the inner workings of the base.

Six

While Snow rambles on about the multiple layers of the base, security, and the projects that his team has been working on, I focus most of my attention on the base. The hallways are completely white giving of the impression of absolute cleanliness. The windows offer us a glimpse of the ocean where dozens of fish swim by without even giving us a second glance. And like Olympus, this place is a beehive of activity.

Androids patrol the hallways armed with a wide variety of weapons, scientists in white lab coats bustle between rooms, and everywhere I turn I see clones of Hannibal. Some travel in groups, others are single, but all of them are wearing the same black uniform with the identical Loric symbol on the front. Made of what looks like a sun with a circle and two crossed lightning bolt through the center, I'm unable to identify it.

My curiosity getting the better of me, I finally ask Talia about it. "That is the emblem of the Loric High Council and the power they used to govern Lorien."

"What made you choose it?" I ask gradually growing more curious. "To strike fear into the hearts of our enemies when they see our army." Army? I think to myself. What army? Before I can ask her anything else, Snow takes us down a long hallway with glass walls on both sides allowing us to see everything below us. "As you can imagine growing a clone at a normal rate would take a lifetime. Now, we can do it in less than a year. These clones were created only six months ago."

When I look down, I see what looks like hundreds of identical teenage boys eating food on trays and siting down at different tables. In the next room, we see thousands of glass cubes containing children of various ages within ranging from babies to ten year olds. "All clones begin their lives in one of these incubation chambers" Snow carries glancing over the monitors connected to the cubes.

"After they are born they are sent for immediate training. Over the next few months we supervise their progress and make suggestions as to what type of fields they should go into based on their performance. Once the clones reach the development of a normal 25 year old, they cease to age."

"Why is that?" Adam asks from the back. "We feel that a person reaches the peak of their physical ability at that age" Snow replies. "Additionally if the clone continued to age at an accelerated rate, we would constantly need to replace our troops."

"So how many troops do you have?" Eight asks. Snow beams widely and says "I'll show you." Snow then leads us through the adjacent door which brings to a balcony that overlooks a room the size of a football stadium and a stunning sight.

Lined up in perfect formation, thousands upon thousands of clones dressed in full combat gear are marching, assembling guns, and performing military drills. Even from our height, the roar of stamping feet and guns being drawn and aimed is deafening. "Magnificent aren't they?" Hannibal says.

Looking at the scene below, I find it hard to disagree

I know that was short but it is a huge look of things to come. PS I will upload a partial picture of what I imagined the symbol of the Loric Council to look like. Don't forget to review and I hope you all have great weekends. The next chapter is on the way.