Episode Five: Roar of the White Dragon

Lance had been arrested. For street racing.

Solomon was rather taken aback when he got the alert. Things had been normal for about three weeks—Ilana had gotten an F on an assignment earlier that day, but that was hardly noteworthy. The two aliens were fitting into the school and the city was undisturbed by monsters. The crater in Sherman where the fire monster had attacked was still being rebuilt.

Why would Lance be street racing, though? These aliens had advanced technology, why would they bother with cars unless to blend in?

As far as Solomon could tell, they wanted to hide, and participating in illegal activity attracted attention. Lance had stopped his "phantom ninja" outings after he had revealed his robotic form in the bank robbery. Investigators were still swarming to find out what exactly had happened that night, but G3 carefully kept any real evidence out of the public's reach.

Due to illegal street racing, Lance's car was confiscated. And according to police records, it matched no standard model. Solomon, through G3 authority, organized a mission to investigate.

Solomon decided to do it personally. He dressed in civilian uniform, posing as an investigator. He came in at night, in late hours, with a few of his scientists who were also in disguise with him. His agents were monitoring the area to alert Solomon if Lance and Ilana came to get the car, whether legally or by sneaking in.

G3 wasn't going to leave any trace, as always. They would not leave a single fingerprint on the car, or a bolt out of place. Lance and Ilana would never know they had been here.

A regular policeman led them to the vehicle. The man was obviously confused and showed small signs of nervousness. He continuously glanced back at Solomon, and ducked his head a few inches when he felt Solomon looking at him. Solomon followed him through the parking lot without commenting on it.

The policeman finally pointed the car out to them. "So…" he began, "Am I supposed to write a report?"

"No," said Solomon flatly. He did not look at the man; his eyes were locked on the car. "We're just here to check something. It's all worked out; don't bother to do anything else. It won't take long. We don't need you here for it."

That was a dismissal, and the policeman knew it. He shuffled away and neither Solomon nor his men budged until they heard the sound of the policeman's door closing echo across the parking lot.

"Move," Solomon ordered.

The scientists swiftly approached the car, lifting their briefcases. They pulled out gloves and scanners, carefully examining the vehicle before they so much as touched it.

Solomon stood right before it, hands in his pockets. He wore dark sunglasses (rather than his regular googles) that didn't work well or make sense in the middle of the night. But Solomon preferred to keep his face at least a little hidden. Without his hat or high collar, he felt exposed. Yet he kept the appearance of being comfortable.

The car looked normal. It was of a firm design, with stainless metallic edges and a straight rectangular form. The only thing odd about its appearance was that it wasn't painted; the metal was uncovered. His scientists informed him that it was made of regular earth elements, mostly aluminum, like most cars.

However, they reported that a strange power source was inside. Solomon nodded his consent and they carefully, with their gloved hands, lifted the hood.

Solomon stepped forward and leaned down to take a look. The inside looked normal, too. There was no visible advanced or out-of-place technology.

One scientist reached forward with his scanner and located the power source in the engine. Solomon watched their every move as they carefully took apart the engine to find the energy.

Inside the engine was something that wasn't normal. It was a transparent, glowing blue orb. It was the size of a baseball; perfectly round and smooth in appearance. The little orb vaguely looked like water, but it was solid. It hummed slightly, and was attached to the rest of the engine through small wires that poked into it. As it was transparent, Solomon could see the wires were merely suspended through it.

"We have no idea what this is, sir," the scientist looked baffled.

Solomon stared at the orb for a long time. Where had it come from? Did Lance and Ilana make it, or had they brought it with them from their home planet? Did something like this power their armored suits? Did it ever run out of energy? How was it stable? What else could it be used for? How many of these things did the aliens have?

His agents did not move as he pondered all this, but patiently waited. They were perfectly loyal and understood exactly what he wanted.

The most important factor of this mission was not to be discovered. His superior had made that very clear when Solomon had proposed the idea to him. They were to study the car, nothing else. He almost didn't let Solomon go, but Solomon insisted. The aliens had built this—it was the only piece of their technology Solomon could get his hands on besides their ship. And this car was mostly made with human mechanics, so perhaps through that they could understand the alien parts interfaced with it.

Solomon didn't understand this, though. It was a power source, but it resembled nothing he had ever seen. He was tempted to take it. Perhaps Lance and Ilana wouldn't realize it was gone. G3 could research it all they wanted, maybe even use it.

No. Solomon's superior would never allow it if he were here. There was no telling how important this thing was to Lance and Ilana. The aliens were willing to leave it unguarded in a parking lot, but they might be eager to have it back. Solomon knew that if he took it, they were bound to find out it was missing eventually. And who knew what lengths they would go to in order to retrieve it.

He was tempted though. He was tempted to ignore the possible consequences, risk the chance of discovery, and seize the alien power source.

But he couldn't.

"Put everything back," Solomon said softly. "Take scans. Then close the hood; we're leaving."

OOO

Over a week later another monster landed in Sherman. Titan defeated it easily and dropped the body in the ocean. G3 retrieved the remains and began researching it, per usual. Solomon received few alerts from his spies, but he did get notice that Lance had passed his driving test and earned a license. Lance could now drive legally.

Episode Six: Shaman of Fear

Solomon made a difficult choice—to dispose of some of the bodies of the monsters. It seemed now that monsters would consistently appear about every month, and if that continued, G3 HQ would eventually overflow. The fire monster's rocks took up a lot of space, and the latest long-limbed creature was also a big load.

Even dropping half of each of these bodies would still leave a lot left for research. Solomon was reluctant to get rid of any of it—this was once-living alien matter—but every single rock of the fire monster was exactly the same. It was pointless to have so much of it.

Of course, it would all have to be disposed of very carefully. Solomon did not want another disaster like Steel's storm. Though all of the fire monster's rocks had lost their energy by now, Solomon would still make sure they were broken down very slowly and far away from anything important. Nothing could be left of the monsters—no one besides G3 could get their hands on the aliens. Especially not Steel.

As for what G3 did keep, Solomon decided to make it simpler to access. He would put it all on display; one of the fire monster's rocks, the blue ship that had first arrived, a limb of the latest creature, a head of the robotic dog-monster, and space for the objects yet to come. Records would be carefully organized in this space and information would be kept on how each monster had been defeated.

It was all for the purposes of examination. Construction was beginning when, one night, some very odd things happened.

Solomon had been sleeping when the scanners picked up something entering earth's atmosphere, but he was immediately fully alert. Something crashed onto earth. Solomon was ready for action in less than a minute.

Solomon took his normal seat in the control room. The room was white and brightly lit, but the large windows that showed the outside sky were pitch-black tonight; there wasn't even a moon out. Solomon could barely see the stars.

His men were sitting at computers around him. G3 had enough soldiers to work shifts and always be operational. One agent handed Solomon the records of the crashed object.

The object had crashed far outside Sherman, in a forest out in the middle of nowhere. There was no civilization for miles from the location. Good, there would be no causalities or damage. G3's satellite picked up Titan appearing outside Sherman a few minutes after the crash. Though the satellite was not as detailed or precise as Solomon would like it, it easily picked up the huge robot as it headed to the crash site. It watched the robot's journey the whole way.

Titan had reached the object when the satellite went dead.

There was a pause in the room. One could hear a pin drop in the silence. This had never happened before; G3 was always active. They had numerous backup generators and multiple cameras and signals. Yet Solomon stared at what was now a black, blank screen.

"What happened?" Solomon said into the silence.

His agents immediately began to work, searching for an answer to give him. Solomon remained perfectly still, hands steady on the arms of his seat.

"Sir, nothing's responding," an agent finally said. "The satellite…it's like it's not even there."

Then the screen flickered and opened up right back where it had been before. The image was immediate.

"Everything's back to normal, sir."

But it wasn't. The satellite was showing the same location. The latest alien object, black and blended into the darkness, was still there. But Titan was not. Titan had disappeared.

His agents must have realized that, looking up at the screen and glancing unsurely at each other.

"Find it," Solomon ordered.

Titan had disappeared every time its battle was done, but the crashed object was still here. So why wasn't Titan? Were Lance and Ilana there? Had they turned off the G3 satellite to hide something? How would they know to do that? Did Titan disappear on purpose, or was this something else?

The satellite's camera zoomed in and out, looking all around the forest. There were trees in all directions. "Sir, there's nothing in the area except for…the black object."

Solomon considered. There was something very strange going on. He felt, deep inside, that something was wrong…

"Keep monitoring that thing and report any change," Solomon got up from his seat and began to leave the room. "I want our spies to watch the Lunis residence all night, and report any activity to me." The door closed behind him and he began to rapidly walk through the halls. The base seemed eerily silent, and Solomon's footsteps echoed loudly back to him.

He reached the ladder and climbed down. Once he was at the bottom, he took a few steps in and stopped. "…Sir?"

He faintly heard the breathing, but there was no response. "Sir? Are you awake?"

"…Yes," the voice hissed through the air.

Solomon felt an odd chill go through him but he did not show it. He hesitated a moment before speaking. "Have you been watching the latest satellite feeds, sir?"

"…Yes."

"Then you know about the crash, and how Titan has disappeared."

"…Yes."

"Should we investigate the object, sir?"

Pause. Solomon waited. Second after second ticked by.

"No," his superior finally said. "Do not go anywhere near it, or anywhere near the Lunises. Tell your spies to keep a careful distance."

Solomon looked up, surprised. "Sir?"

There was no response, for Solomon's superior knew he had heard him. But Solomon did not understand. "Sir, I don't think that's wise. Whatever this thing is, it blinded our satellite and it has gotten rid of Titan. We have no idea where Titan is and we're not sure the Lunises are even home. We should be watching more, not less."

"No." His superior's voice dropped dangerously low. "Call back your spies."

Solomon tried to think of an argument, but he knew there was no hope of changing his superior's mind. He turned away and climbed back up the ladder. He paused when he was outside and then gritted his teeth. Titan was missing, he had no idea why, and he wasn't allowed to find out.

He was beginning to doubt his superior's leadership.

OOO

Solomon still received some information, even without his spies. The only information he had, though, was what Sherman High gave him. Both Lance and Ilana were present for school the next morning.

Solomon tapped his fingers on his chair as he pondered it. Why were they there? Why weren't they investigating the object? Why had they left it so abruptly?

He was surprised when, around midday, the school records said they had both abruptly skipped school, running from the classroom. Why would they leave so suddenly? Now would they go inspect the object?

After that Solomon had no information at all. He didn't know where they went. He had no idea if they were home or not. He kept the satellite trained on both Sherman and the object; Titan could reappear at either place.

Titan did appear in Sherman, right outside of the Lunis home. Solomon was alerted immediately, but when he pulled the live satellite footage on screen, Titan was on a knee. It was weak, Solomon could tell, its head was low and the lights throughout its body were dim.

He leaned forward. This wasn't good. Titan was earth's only defense against the monsters. And so far, Titan had defeated these creatures almost easily. There was no giant monster here, and yet somehow Titan was weakened.

How was Titan harmed? Solomon doubted any technology G3 had could stand a chance against the robot. The Wave-Motion Cannon might do damage, but it wouldn't defeat Titan. Solomon's scientists were working on new weapons, but those were still in development. His superior seemed uninterested in making such weapons, and only did so when Solomon pressed him.

So far the best thing they had was the 'Titan Prison,' a containment area in G3 HQ. It was big enough to hold Titan and carried a pair of huge handcuff-bands that Solomon's superior had designed. The bottom also opened up, so Titan could be removed or brought in from the area fairly easily.

Solomon was drawn from his thoughts as Titan moved. It stood from its kneeling position and then took to the air. But rather than head for the crashed object, Titan went in the opposite direction.

Was Titan…running? If Titan wouldn't defeat these monsters attacking earth, what would? And what was Titan running from? This object just sat there, it didn't do anything.

Just then, it did. Solomon, at the alerts of his agents, shifted his attention to the camera locked on the object. It was glowing—glowing turquoise in odd hieroglyphs. The unfamiliar shapes of some sort of alien language shifted around the object, and then the object shifted with them. Solomon watched the scene from the bird's view satellite camera as the object grew six arms and legs. It was no longer a useless form—it was a monster.

And then, it vanished in a puff of smoke.

…A monster was now free on earth, and Solomon had no idea where it even was. Titan was fleeing and weak. And if Solomon's spies had been allowed to watch what was happening, maybe he would have some idea of what was going on.

"Follow Titan," Solomon felt his voice go lower in frustration. "Watch news reports for any appearance of the creature in cities." The monsters seemed attracted to cities and large civilizations. He had no reason to believe this one might be different.

Titan flew for hours. It crossed time zones, and soon reached a place where it was night. It was difficult to track it through the satellite in the dark. Solomon's men struggled but managed.

"Sir," one agent spoke up, "Titan's current path will lead it over an industrial complex. That area is polluted, and currently overcast. It will be impossible to see the robot from the satellite."

"How big is the complex?" Solomon asked without looking up. He pulled up another hologram-screen and watched the area.

"Very large, sir. Between the complex and the overcast sky, even if Titan remains at its current speed, we won't be able to see it for almost ten minutes."

Solomon grimaced. "Contact anyone who might be at the complex and tell them to be alert and to report any activity to us. Once you lose sight of Titan, watch the spot where it should come out and begin the estimated time."

"Yes, sir." His agents turned away to carry out his orders.

Solomon moved his keyboard and began to prepare an order for Team Gamma to begin to head after Titan. The satellite was unreliable and couldn't do anything if G3 needed to get involved. Team Gamma would follow Titan and keep an eye on it. He was about to assemble the team when a top-priority message pressed itself onto his screens.

"Don't."

Solomon froze, hand hovering over the order key.

His superior almost never communicated with him outside of that room. He never gave orders from afar; Solomon's only interaction with him was when they were both there, in person. His superior never spoke over communicators and only ever messaged Solomon in an emergency. Solomon could count such occasions on one hand. Outside of that one room, Solomon's superior didn't exist.

Solomon clenched his outstretched hand into a fist. He pulled up a different holo-keyboard and typed. "I think this is the best option."

The message didn't even have identification. If anyone saw it, they would have no idea who Solomon was conversing with. Solomon didn't know why his superior insisted on remaining so ridiculously hidden. They were G3; everyone on this base was completely trustworthy to each other. They were the most secret and safe organization on the planet. No G3 member needed to hide from other G3 members.

A reply came; "Order: Don't."

Solomon gave the two words a flat look. He wouldn't be surprised if his superior was watching him through the security feeds; in fact, he hoped he was.

Solomon looked over to the screen where his unsent order was. He kept his expression blank, in case his superior was watching him. He was tempted to disobey and send the order. He didn't want to stand aside; G3 was in charge of alien involvement. So why weren't they getting involved?

Solomon sighed; he obeyed his superior, he was loyal to him. His superior had done miraculous things, and Solomon trusted him.

He deleted the order to Team Gamma.

Solomon leaned back in his chair a fraction of an inch. He obeyed his superior, but if superior kept giving orders like this, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Solomon had left behind the alien power source in Lance's car, and now he was abandoning the chase on Titan. Not to mention Solomon wasn't allowed to capture Lance and Ilana in the months they had been on earth.

One day, Solomon might actually disobey the man's will. When would that be, Solomon wondered, and would it be the right thing to do? He supposed he had to get through this first.

"…Sir," an agent said softly, and Solomon turned to look at him. "It's been eleven minutes. Titan isn't out yet."

Of course. Of course. The one spot Titan couldn't be seen, it just had to stop.

"Any word from the industrial complex?" Solomon asked.

"Yes, sir," another agent spoke up. She had a hand lifted to her ear, listening to a call. She swiped her other hand on a screen and it played on speakers for everyone in the room to hear.

"—Titan is down, the monster is beating it up! It's brutal…Titan doesn't see damaged—yet—but the monster is just hitting it over and over and Titan isn't moving!"

What? Titan was down?

Solomon immediately turned back to the message screen of his superior. He knew his superior had to be listening in on this, too. He hastily typed a new message. "Are you certain about this?"

"Yes." The reply was almost instant; he probably had seen Solomon's question coming.

Why? Solomon wondered, but knew his superior would never be willing to explain it unless they were in person.

"How did Titan and the monster end up in your complex?" the agent asked the man on phone calmly.

"After you told me to keep an eye out I went outside," the caller said nervously. "And all of a sudden, Titan and the monster came crashing down into the complex from high in the air. They fought each other but the creature has six arms! And then it shot a blast—a blue-green blast that seems to have stunned Titan!"

Stunned Titan? What kind of weapon was that?

A huge crash came through the phone. A few G3 agents jumped at the loud sound.

"Sir?!" the agent called, alarmed, "Sir?! Are you injured? Can you hear me?!"

"Y-Yes," the man said, but he sounded distracted.

The agent picked up on it. "Sir, I need you to tell me what's happening."

"Titan seems to have recovered," the man said shakily. "It just kicked the monster. It's up now…and now it's got a shield and spear."

Solomon wished this man was more descriptive. He leaned forward, listening intently nonetheless.

"The creature is charging at Titan—Titan stabbed it with the spear!" a humming, distant crash, and a large explosion were caught by the phone. "The creature just blasted Titan with the blue-green ray!"

Solomon's fingers tensed on the chair for a moment. The tide of the battle was shifting in Titan's favor, but if Titan was stunned again, that might be the end of it.

"…Titan seems unharmed. It's still up! And it's striking at the creature!" The man gasped. "Titan just swung the creature off its feet with that spear!"

The man continued. The creature attacked with a train, but Titan blocked with its shield. Titan moved forward, striking again and again, slicing off the creature's arms. The creature charged in one final act of rage, but Titan sprung into the air and hurled its spear at the creature, striking it right through the face. The creature went limp, finally defeated, and it exploded.

The man over the call paused as the fight was over. He reported that Titan turned and flew off.

"…Thank you, sir," the agent said softly. She glanced at Solomon, and he waved his hand in consent so she began to dismiss. "Help will be there shortly."

Solomon tuned her out and turned to his hologram-screen, organizing the retrieval team for the body of the creature. He paused with his hand over the order, in part suspecting his superior to intervene yet again. But there was nothing, so Solomon ordered it.

OOO

Solomon did not bother to keep his footsteps soft as he climbed down the ladder. When he reached the floor, his hard landing made a small bang that echoed through the room.

"Sir," Solomon hissed. "I would like to ask why you refuse to involve."

A deep rasp. "Displeased, Solomon?"

Solomon was in an honest mood. "Yes."

"My orders did exactly what they were meant to do; the aliens still don't know we exist."

Solomon clenched his hands. "Sir. Titan was in danger. It is our greatest defense against these invading aliens."

"Titan was fine."

"Titan ran," Solomon snapped. "And it was weakened, and it was stunned, and we don't even know why or how. We are relying on it to protect the earth and yet—" Solomon took a step forward "—we don't even know why it's guarding us. We don't know what it is or where it's from or what it wants."

Titan was protecting humanity, but to what end? What did it have to benefit from defending an alien planet? Why was it here, what was its mission, why were all these monsters coming in the first place?

"We will learn when we watch," Solomon's superior's voice cut through his thoughts—and this time, the tone was threatening. "You will watch them, Solomon. You may tell your spies to return to normal…they may watch, but they still must keep distance from the Lunises."

Solomon didn't budge for a moment, completely unsatisfied. He whirled around and headed towards the ladder. He had his gloved hand placed on the first bar when his superior called after him.

"Solomon." Another deep, difficult breath echoed in the room. "I need you to trust me. This won't go on forever. You just need to watch."

Solomon paused, but decided he was done with it for tonight. He climbed up the ladder and stalked back to his quarters.

Trust him. Solomon did trust him. Solomon had always believed that the course of action his superior chose was the right one. But now, Solomon was conflicted, between his superior's course…and what he thought was the right one.

"Sir!" An agent jogged down the hall and approached Solomon. Solomon stopped, wiping any conflict, tiredness, or confusion from his mind. He was the indifferent leader, as always.

The agent stopped before him. "Sir, a signal was just launched from the Lunis household and sent into space."

Solomon knotted his eyebrows in confused surprise. "Were we able to intercept it?"

"No, sir," the agent said softly. "It was…advanced. We were only able to detect it. Not even our planetary satellites were able to catch it." His agent straightened again. "Sir, there's something else. The last message sent from the aliens into space went through the portal." 'The portal' was swiftly becoming the G3 term for the rift that aliens were coming through. The mysterious point, high above earth, that the aliens appeared through. "This one did not."

Solomon tilted his head, pondering the situation. The only other message had been sent by the blood-red alien, the one that had come in on a ship. That had been sent by an enemy of Titan—so what did this message mean, if Lance and Ilana had sent it?

There was nothing G3 could do. The message was out, hurtling through space. G3 didn't even know what it said.

"Noted," Solomon gave a dismissive wave and turned away. "Continue with the retrieval process for the latest creature."

The agent nodded and Solomon left him. He would look into the remains of the creature in the morning.