Symbiosis: At World's End

Subtraction

The faces on the pilots who came to give them their plane were absolutely priceless. They lowered the boarding ramp and came face to face with six symbiotes and one man wielding a standard issue rifle. They were yanked bodily from the plane and knocked out before Merrick and his group all clamored onto the plane and they took to the sky. Once they had it set to auto-pilot, they all met in the back and started to fill in the gaps as well as reorganize the plan.

In the end, they opted to have Terry accompany Brianna and Merrick, while Audrey joined Cruz, Paula, and Wendell to storm the base and kill Project Ark before it went live. After that, they split up, which was an excuse to leave Brianna with her parents and let them catch up as a family, especially since they were all about to enter a battle that could be the end of any of them, or all of them if they were that unlucky.

Merrick had sequestered himself in the back, where he was meditating on the floor. He theorized that if he and his symbiote connected more with this God of the symbiotes, he would somehow discover new abilities that could level the playing field. Brianna and Terry went to get some shut eye, leaving Wendell to return to the pilot's seat to occupy herself. Merrick had recommended she try to communicate with her symbiote so as to avoid it influencing her to do the things she wanted to do, but knew she shouldn't do. Terry and Brianna had reported that their own symbiotes were much more talkative now, and inquisitive.

Wendell wasn't exactly sure how best to communicate with it, and Merrick hadn't been very helpful on the matter. According to him, there was a mental link when a symbiote bonded to its host, which the nasty ones used to render the host's mind unconscious, thus allowing them to take full control of the body. It was almost like the symbiotes were wearing their hosts, as opposed to her and her new companions' situations.

She shook her head and began to have a mental conversation with no one in particular. She was hoping that her symbiote would take notice and respond in some way. Thus far, she hadn't had anything that resembled a response, but there had been a change recently. She felt like there was something in her mind that was best described as sleeping. She had begun hypothesizing that her symbiote was merely in a state of unconsciousness. As to why it was, she hadn't the foggiest idea, but she had yet to consult Merrick on the matter. Perhaps he would be able to shed some light on the matter.

In the meantime, they needed to prepare for the impending battle. Even if they were all superhuman, sans Mr. Cruz, they were still being confronted with a small army that was armed with weapons, all of which were tailor made to destroy symbiotes. The odds were not exactly stacked in their favor.

Suddenly, realization struck. She had an ace still yet to be played. Wendell opened a comm channel on a personal frequency, praying that there would be a response. Her prayers were answered.

"Hey, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need you to hear me out."

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Far away, deep underground in a secret section of Site Alpha, the Council stood in front of a large digital screen while scientists and workers bustled around them.

"What is the status on the cryo-suspension?" The head councilman asked, gruffly.

"All readings are completely normal. We're ready to activate the automated system upon your order."

The man nodded and the council left the section, returning to their main chamber. Suddenly alarms started blaring and the main screen lit up with an image of the current guardsman at the security hub.

"We've had a breach in the main hanger! Symbiotes crashed a ship through the door and ejected before collision! They're cutting us to pieces! We need..."