G.H.O.S.T.: The Vaknar War

Seek and Destroy

The others were trapped under the rubble, unable to find a way to escape.
"Atlas, Amadeus, Malcolm! Are you all alright!" Xavier shouted.
"Yes, we have to find a way out!" Malcolm said.
"There are no exits," Atlas said.
"Where did Shane go?" Malcolm said.
"Over there !"
The clone was up and tapping about on a pad on the floor all of them knew all too well.
The Maximum cell of Marsa.
56 chambers and locks sealed the dark lady.
All the agents ran towards Shane with weapons trained on him.
Shane smiled and simply raised a finger and shook it.
"It's our turn." Shane said.
He began to activate the pods that held the cells. The doors opened and the cells emptied, slowly releasing the worst criminals in the world.
"We gotta stop him!" Xavier shouted as he raced towards Shane.
"We can't fight this!" Amadeus said.
"We can't let them free! They'll kill us all!" Xavier yelled.
Malcolm ran up to Shane and punched him straight in the face.
"Lookie here, a hero!"
Shane grabbed Malcolm by the scalp and held him by the neck with a blade emerging from a slit on his hand.
"No. Shane, you don't need him."
"Oh but I do. I also need you and Grim, Xavierrr." Shane said.
"Me?"
"Xavier, what do you think the lock to this safe is? It's your DNA and Grims Dark essence. The knight unfortunately lost his essence once he became my mistress' weapon."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because if you don't I'll simply kill him."
"That won't work. This is a new timeline, things are different now."
"Ah, so you know the future huh, so you know we're not the only ones out there. Our lord deems this revival to be essentially rewriting the universe's abandonment of us powered individuals. Throughout time and space we are the inferior, serving these lesser beings to "please" them."
Shane scoffed, gripping Malcolm's neck tighter.
Grim motioned everyone to stay still, and gave Amadeus a quick glance.
"Our lord wills it."
"Was it worth abandoning your comrades, joining your whole terrorist group?" Atlas asked.
"Whole? We are a cell, we are a fragment to the piece of a puzzle"
Xavier recalled the same words Hunter said.
"Is rewriting the universe what you wish to gain from this?"
"Yes. I lost my Uncle and father to the foolish whims of their ideals. We were happy, rich, but they both had to get sentimental watching those fracking plebes get what they rightly deserved."
"So what gives you the right?" Atlas asked.
"We are the only ones worthy enough to do so."
"You are nothing but a parasite. A creature that feeds off the misery of others, and you call yourself a god?! You are no better than her!" Atlas screamed.
"You should fear me Atlas. I am the one who can control the flow of fate itself."
"And I control death itself"
Grim appeared from behind Shane as the one standing next to the group disappeared in a mirage.
"Do not underestimate me, Grim. I have seen more souls pass through this universe than you could ever imagine."
Grim gripped Shane's arm and forced him back.
"You were wrong about us. We were never meant to serve anyone, we were born free!" Grim shouted.
"Free? From what? To live amongst a world like this? You don't deserve to live anymore. And you know why? Because you can do something about it! I can feel your hate and anger, because you know what you could have done, instead of running away! You could have served your people, your family, your friends! Instead of being a coward!"
Grim pulled out the baton and quickly stabbed Shane.
"I'll give you this, you might be stronger than the last time I faced you, but you are still the same. Weak little boy. You couldn't even defeat me when I was weak like I am now. Your ego is your downfall. You thought you were destined to be greater than everyone else in the universe. Why?"
Shane coughed on his own blood as he sank to his knees.
"I've...got one last secret..."
Shane spread his arms as his body turned pure white.
As if his body moved on its own, Xavier leaped in front of Shane as his suit opened up and inhabited his body. The Nano tech in his suit planted onto Shane and the thrusters emitted with a BOOM. Xavier's eyes widened as the suit expanded upon Shane's skin, and the thrusters burst open, blowing up in the air.
"NO! NO! NO!"
Shane's body exploded, sending ash and debris into the air.
Everyone sighed in relief.
It was far from over as the final lock had been undone.
Xavier looked at the pad, his blood on the screen as it dripped into the key and Grim's flame flickering in the other half.
"No..."
A ghastly smell filled the air as it became harder to breathe.
A hiss escaped the room as the debris of Xavier's suit glowed.
"This fracker..."
The particles entered the chamber and grew brighter.
Everyone unloaded every weapon they had currently as they awaited the threat they feared.
"...At long last."
Out stepped a woman in her 30's or so it seemed.
Youth covered her face whereas her body was bony and looked deprived of food.
She looked down at the agents and coughed up blood of her own.
They then unleashed all their weapons on her. Grim pounced head first towards her before a green mist covered her body. Grim phased right through her.
She reformed before she attempted to kick Grim, which he weaved in the last second as she hit the door of the cell, causing it to melt in acid.
She grunted in pain as she turned back to face them all.
"Shackled and imprisoned for years and this is how you treat your lordship?!?!!" she cried.
A cloud appeared next to Marsa in a *poomf* as a woman appeared next to her. She had a wolf shaped mask engraved in ancient texts and outfitted in a robe that had golden wreaths covering the garment in zigzags. On her heart was another wolf shaped object but it had a scroll in it's mouth.
"My lady, we must depart."
"So we're still going on with the plan aren't we?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Xavier aimed his pistol as he fired upon the two.
Both of them dodged it, however a stray electric bullet caught Marsa in her rib, causing her to collapse.
"Bastard!"
Grim leaped into action and the robed figure scuffled with him as Xavier fired three more shots at Marsa.
"Amadeus, BIND HER NOW!!!"
Amadeus proceeded to cast spells on the dark lady as the rest got to reconfiguring the lock to the cells.
As Grim was engaging the mysterious woman in combat, Xavier ran up to Marsa's body as he then tapped on his watch. Another Metal coffin arrived instantly as it jettisoned towards him. Every backup was important to him as he got deeper into missions, he had been saving his latest experimental suit for something of this nature. A bio-rejected suit of nanotec, built as a prototype replica his future version had with some more upgrades. As he donned the armor, he lit up the HUD as he scanned Marsa's body. She was still adjusting to coming back to life, Xavier did a partial scan to see if Ace had also somehow been revived, to which scans came up negative.
"She's still weak from her coma and Ace's mortality bond." said Xavier as he examined her injuries.
Amadeus held onto the woman's wrist with his left hand and placed a sealing dagger into her side. He put one final dagger through her throat before she went limp.
Amadeus finished his seal as he lifted her body.
"Okay Xavier, this is where the timeline changes drastically."
"What do you mean?"
"When you saved Malcolm, we didn't expect the seal to break the prison Grim was in. As much as time is relative and looped, there is an exception when the future ahead
of the present has changed. In essence, the future becomes the past. So in short, we are already in a new timeline."
"And that means?"
"That is a mystery that remains. But we must go now, as our old selves have found out about the Dark Lord and her plans for us. We must be quick, as the key to saving everyone lies within putting her back now."
As they inserted her into her chamber, the container started to close as the rest were configuring the terminal.
The lady in the robe weaved Grim's last attack and dashed over to Marsa, Amadeus and Xavier braced themselves.
"You shall never leave this place until you beg for death!"
Grim slashed at her legs as she fell onto the floor, but the cloaked figure reached out her hands and grabbed Grim.
She then grabbed Grim's neck with her other hand.
As she tried to pull him down, he pushed himself forward with his feet and punched her in her stomach causing her to scream out in pain.
He then kicked her, knocking her back into the wall.
She managed to get up and threw a punch at Grim, but he blocked it with his arm and gave a swift elbow to her gut. She collapsed into a heap, but Grim grabbed her again.
"Hngh."
Grim placed his hand on the ground and a blue glow engulfed him. He then stood up as he rubbed his stomach, feeling it burn slightly.
The rest of the agents looked at the masked figure and Amadeus took her from Grim's grasp and held her by her collar.
"You are now under my protection. If you harm any of us, you will regret it forever."
Atlas suddenly fell to the floor, coughing up blood.
"Amadeus!"
"How is he?!"
"We have to hurry, or we might lose him too!"
Dropping the woman on the floor,  Amadeus placed Atlas against the wall, he took the mask off revealing an older man with a beard and dressed in a tattered cloak.
"Atlas, are you alright?" Amadeus asked.
"I'm fine...just tired, that was intense."
Amadeus smiled.
"Can't have you dying on us, my friend. Missions not over."
Amadeus helped Atlas stand up as he held onto his arm.
The masked woman wriggled in her bonds as she struggled to get free.
"Grim, if you want me dead, I won't hold anything back."
"Why would I kill you? You're a valuable asset to this organization as of now."
As she continued to struggle, Grim approached her and attempted to tap a point on her neck, not before she threw a bomb on the floor.
"EVERY ONE JUMP!"
*BOOOOM*
As the smoke cleared, Grim jumped on his feet and  flipped his batons to clear the smoke faster, only to find she was nowhere to be found.
He simply grunted.
"Damn it." Amadeus said.
"I shouldn't be surprised by now. Malcolm, finish locking all the prisoners up. Amadeus, take Atlas to the medics. Xavier, come with me. We all have to get the building teleported back. I'm not about to answer to the UN on the first day back."
They all moved quickly.
Xavier walked over and picked up Atlas' limp body. They had to get out of here now.