Chapter 40

Ascension: Part 1-Launch

Earth 97, 2050, 6:52 AM

Kelly's POV

The portal left us about 5 miles from the wall, Z sighed and said "this was as close as I could get us, the teleportation jammer field is just too strong"

"I'll fly ahead and double check the airfield, tell me when you're at the wall" Connor reminded us before dropping his illusion and flying off towards the fortress, cloaking as he took off towards the rising sun.

"This is what you guys trained for, let's move" Z ordered.

I followed the others, we were running at full speed in our human forms and reached the wall in about five minutes. As I saw the wall I couldn' t help but intimidated, one thing was for sure, the holomap didn't do the wall justice. 30 feet tall was a lot more than one would think just by looking at the number.

"Connor, were here" I messaged via telepathy.

"Copy, i'm cloaked above the wall, we're right on time" Connor replied as an alarm blasted our ears.

"Attention, we are in final launch procedures, engine start in T-minus 2 minutes" the base intercom announced.

"We've got to move!" I yelled.

"Relax, this is part of the plan, we can't afford to lose our head" Z barked as he took a metallic disk out of his backpack. He put it on the wall and pressed a button and stepped back a foot or two.

"Get ready to run like hell" Z warned.

"Shouldn't you get back further?' I asked as everyone took a hunched stance in preparation.

"It's just a glorified laser cutter that i powered up with a canister of Tentacruel acid for the metal in the center" Z admitted.

A horrid hiss emitted from the wall before the device began to glow, I was about to jump back when Connor telepathically said "I've got a psychic barrier, trust me" Connor requested.

Surely enough, the device exploded in a flash of red light, tearing a massive hole in the wall, but the blast never reached us as it was blocked by an invisible force field and dissipated. Through the hole I saw one of Castle's airships firing its engines, which now had red exhaust flames to match its black hull. My body moved without thinking, we ran as fast as our human legs could, not shifting out of fear of breaking Connor's illusion. Unlike his usual Illusions this was weaker, as he had to move at fast speeds while covering us.

We split off into teams just as the dome began to rise in the distance, the airship's engines thundering with power as they increased the thrust, however splitting off had resulted in the loss of our cover. Layla was behind me, she had gone with the wrong team in the rush but we didn't have time to change course. Connor got to the ship first and touched the side with his clawed hand. Causing it to distort and become transparent, he had made it intangible so we could enter. I quickly looked to the side and saw the the others had slipped into the ships via their closing hangers.

We jumped on the the ascending ship, but before we could get inside, one of the snipers at the wall took notice of us. I saw the sniper scope's glint and before I could react Layla put herself in front of me and shoved me into the transparent opening. The wall solidified just as I saw the bullet pierce Layla's heart, I heard a ching as the bullet hit the solid hull.

I fell to my knees, tears welling in my eyes. Layla had been a friend since I was in the MRPA, and she was gone, just like that. She took the bullet for me so I could go on, but i didn't care in the moment, why had she traded her life for mine, it was clear she had made the decision in a split second. She didn't hesitate and didn't care if she died for me.

I clenched my knees and wiped my tears as Connor put his arm on my shoulder, applying his human guise to console me. He sighed and said "I would say every will be ok, but I'm not lying to you at a time like this, she knew the stakes, and knew that one way or another this was the end of the road. We need to move or she dies for nothing" his voice cracked slightly, clearly he was sad too, but was putting his emotions aside for the situation at hand.

"You're r-right, we can grieve later, for Layla and for my dad, we have to move now" I mustered as i stood up.

"Keep going, keep going" I repeated that in my head over and over, i had to keep going for the sake of her, and for the others. I couldn't let any of them down…..

Earth 97, 2050,7:08 AM

Giovanni's POV

"1,000 feet and climbing sir" one of the bridge technicians informed me.

"Good" I replied as I turned to Calrok and saw him closing his eyes. I felt a small psychic pulse as he scanned the area.

He opened his eyes and said "he's here, the Latios and his students"

I gave a frown, there was no need to hide my dissatisfaction "unfortunate, but not unexpected, where are they?" I asked.

"They on the three ships, they split off into teams and boarded them all" he admitted.

"An impressive amount of coordination and planning, regardless of where they've reached we stay the course" I affirmed.

I turned to my purple and green guards and ordered "you head to colress, protect him and the reactor as you would protect me"

The guards bowed and left, Calrok stood at attention and asked "what are my orders sir"

I sized him up for a moment and said "stay here with me, if needed you will guard the blast doors, but only if needed. Hopefully Ghetsis, Lysander and Lusamine will deal with them, and if not there's protocol 13 to deal with the ships"

I was admittedly surprised, but we had prepared for every situation, even if they took the ships and made it to the Icarus, we would have quite a few surprises for them. Nothing had truly changed and for now, we were on schedule….

Author's note- yea, this finale won't be pulling any punches. The next three chapters will take place simultaneously, that's why the times will line up accordingly.