Corso felt like throwing up. Even for a soldier of his calibre, using something like The Darkness made him sick. Maybe it had something to do with Gaia practically being the opposite. Bertrand seemed to know the inside of this mountain, and where there were shadows big enough. Soon enough, he and Corso entered the room.
There was no one there, much to Corso's surprise.
Made their job easier.
Corso activated Sonny's hologram.
"Sonny,You're not going to believe this. It's completely abandoned." Corso commented.
Sonny looked at him.
"Did you scan the weapon, Corso?" He asked.
Corso smiled as he heard a small beep in the background.
"Tell Benett to get started. I don't want to spend too much time here." Corso warned.
Sonny chuckled, as he connected him to Bennett, who was behind him in the Rebels' Command Center.
Bennett looked through the scanned weapon and started to give Corso instructions on how to safely open it. Bertrand, armed with a laser, was guarding the only door into the room. Corso started to open up the panels carefully. He saw the console where four keys were meant to be inserted. Three of them were there, and in containers on the wall behind it, was something that looked like severed hands.
Corso shuddered when he saw that.
Corso was finally able to reach into the center of the weapon. He tried to find the best place to place the explosives, but as he reached in, he found something he didn't expect.
Corso rose.
"Bennett, I am going to send in a bug drone to give you a better view before I make any further moves." He said and sent in the device.
Bennett kept his eyes peeled on the screen as the bug made its way to the center of the weapon. As the bug reached it, Bennett gasped.
"Our problems just got a whole lot worse."
Sonny was stumped. The weapon was a dud.
Where was the real doomsday weapon?
Sonny was mentally putting the puzzle pieces together and a grim picture was starting to form.
Corso was perplexed. Why was this a dud?
Bertrand nodded to Corso. They needed to move on to the next task.
They had to find a way to make The abraxian military, under General Bleylocks command, admit to what they were doing. And figure out how the missing scientists were involved. Corso looked at Sonny.
"You got a back up plan,Sonny?" He asked.
Sonny nodded.
"Both you and Bertrand need to get back to base. We need to regroup. We must know what the Abraxian army knows. We need to pay General Bleylock a personal visit."
D'Jok finally managed to get out of his restraints.
He had to look at his surroundings for whatever he could use to his advantage.
Soon, D'Jok noticed a weak spot. If luck was on his side, the ventilation ducts were not monitored.
D'Jok checked the panel, it came off pretty easily. Slowly, D'Jok crawled inside the duct.
Bleylock Manor… he'd hoped he never had to see this place again.
Sonny shook his head to dissipate the memories. He, Bennett, Artie and several pirates approached the gates. They opened for them. Inside, General Bleylock waited. Sonny looked at Corso, who nodded. General Bleylock gestured towards the main hall. His soldiers flanked the rebels and pirates. Sonny looked at the General.
"Are you ready to tell us about why that weapon was a dud? And maybe you know where two missing teams of scientists, one from Chissia and one from here, are currently hiding. The peace of the galaxy is at stake, and it is my duty as Flux Master to do anything in my power to uphold it." Sonny managed, forcing his voice to remain steady.
General Bleylock looked at him.
"I invited you because I need help with that exact problem. I need to know where the actual working weapon is." He said.
Sonny nodded.
General Bleylock pulled up three different files from his computer. It took Sonny seconds to realise that the theft of the real weapon coincided with the same time the two science teams had gone missing.
General Bleylock nodded.
"I wish to know who caused all this." He said.
Corso nodded.
"Both militaries covered up that these two teams went rogue. They even used clones to pretend the team was still at home. I only know of Operation Scout, because my unit was ordered to keep the project secure." Corso admitted.
General Bleylock looked at him.
"That was Team Alpha. The Abraxian team was Team Omega. You only know half of it." He sighed.
Sonny nodded.
"We need to find them. They're clearly responsible for the attack that destroyed the Circle of Fluxes. It was a deliberate attempt to destabilize the Galaxy. We need names, on all members of each of the two missing scientist teams. Secondly, we need to find where they're hiding. We find them, we find the weapon." He said.
General Bleylock nodded.
"Lucky for us, the Weapon has a tracking feature. The only problem is, we can't activate it if it's out of range." He said.
Sonny nodded, a grin forming on his face.
"I think I have the answer."
Brim Balarius was finally released from the hospital. Physically, he was fine, if not scarred, but mentally... Dame Simbai was worried. Brim Balarius changed after they lost the Circle of Fluxes. He wasn't himself. A fear had crept into him, one he didn't express openly. He also wanted to stay isolated, in deep meditation. Even the surroundings around him in his bubble looked gloomy, cracks that wouldn't go away covering the surface. Dame Simbai was not comfortable with this darkness. It felt hopeless. She looked into the room, and silently slid back out.
Brim Balarius' face was grim as he looked at the crowded space. The Flux Masters needed to be prepared, and he needed to come clean. He acted as a mole, a spy, all to protect his ancestors. He had been told, through his upbringing, about the debt they were in. That they were helped in their rise to power, only because they were the puppets of someone far more dangerous. Someone that wanted to take things back to the very beginning, when humans settled in this Galaxy. He had to admit to his crimes, and if they wanted him to step down, he would do so. This was bigger than him, bigger than any one person. He could only hope that it wasn't too late.
On the Black Manta, Sonny retreated to a silent room of the ship. Corso was in charge of the bridge, with a steady course towards Genesis. Callie was formulating a plan for how to find the soldier seen in the picture she had found of Mom Ice, before Micro Ice was born. As soon as they were back on Genesis, Sonny would start locating D'Jok. When Micro Ice wondered how, Sonny had just patted his shoulder, telling him that The pirates had methods they had not disclosed to anyone yet, and for just this kind of event.
Callie focused back on her laptop screen. This soldier looked familiar.
That was when Artie walked by and smiled.
"You need some help?" He asked.
Callie smiled.
"Much appreciated." She said and pointed to Micro Ice, who was paying close attention to Corso, who showed him something on a screen.
Artie nodded.
"Can't believe Micro Ice might actually become a Pirate." He said.
Callie nodded.
"Micro Ice admitted he was jealous of D'Jok when he learned Sonny was his father. I want to find out who this man is. He was with Mom ice only for a few short months from what I managed to find. Then, his unit was called home. It's possible Corso can help too, since this unit is connected to Chissia." She mused.
Artie agreed.
"Corso can come in if there's more we need to know. I'll upload the image to my personal data encryption module and start working on it immediately. I should have some results in a few hours." He promised.
Callie smiled at him.
"Thank you Artie, I truly appreciate the help." She said.
Artie smiled back.
"I should be the one thanking you."
In a quiet room, Sonny sat down cross legged. He had a lot of things on his shoulders, and he needed to get a hold of where to start. That required planning.
He brought along some papers where he put his goals. His first priority was to find D'Jok. The wide sweep Corso had initiated, would allow them to look closely at the more remote areas.
Then, he needed to put a team together for the robotic armies that Micro Ice had told them about. Then, they had to locate the Scientists. At this point, it was still unknown if they were the ones instigating a war, or if they were being forced.
He also needed to speak to Brim Balarius, and this time, he would demand some answers. Balarius needed to come clean. Was he a spy, or was he something else? Maybe, if he chased down the lead, he could finally find out what had caused the last Flux War to erupt and find a way to prevent a new war.
Then, there was the Life force. It had saved his life and it could be used to do good, but it was a synthetic Flux nonetheless. It tied back to the two missing science teams. He was going to need all the help he could get.
Sonny looked out of the window of his room.
He felt his fists clench.
"This isn't over. I will fix this, or die trying."