Captain Possible and The Centurion Legacy

Chapter Thirteen: Pariah

A squad of synthodrones patrolled slowly through the ruins of Tokyo, paying careful attention to the debris around them. Like most of the rest of the world, the once shining Capitol of Japan was now no more than a pile of rubble on the island with towering skeletons of corporate skyscrapers that cast frightening shadows from the red sunset.

Frightening, at least, to the six year old Japanese girl that was hiding in amongst the wreckage only a few feet away from the squad of synthodrones and their commander. She was breathing heavily, and a constant ache sat in her chest like a stone. Her tears had ran out a long time ago, and had left their stains in streaks on her dirty face. The clothes she had found were ragged, and barely fit properly. Her black hair was tangled into a mess that hung around her face, and as she motioned to move it out of her vision, her sleeve caught on a piece of metal that slid from where it had been resting.

She gasped as the piece of metal clattered to the ground at her feet and the squad of synthodrones turned in unison toward the sound and the girl screamed out of reflex. The nearest synthodrone leveled it's rifle at her, causing the girl to regain her faculties and run from her hiding place. The first shot struck where the girl had been standing, the next above her head as she moved, running faster than the synthodrone could track. The third bolt of energy severed a beam that was holding up a collection of refuse, dumping it between the squad of synthodrones and their target.

"You fool automaton!" Monkey Fist shouted at the trooper as he pulled the synthodrone's rifle off target with a swift, if oddly shaped and furred, hand. "Drakken wants her alive!" Monkey Fist gave a cursory search where the child had been hiding, and within the nearby curio shop that now passed as a makeshift residence, there lay an unconscious Japanese woman. "No matter. It seems this one leaves a very obvious trail." he said, his laugh reaching several octaves higher than his ordinary voice.

Joss Possible and Wade Load moved carefully amongst the small dome tents made out of rags and old clothing. There was no sound to be heard, and even animals weren't making any noise. Each soldier carried their own hand held scanner, and remained in their Global Justice uniforms, rather than their battlesuits.

"I swear I am this close to figuring out how to program in a stealth field into the battlesuits." Wade said, distracting himself from his scanner out of habit. "If we were still using the original schematic of Kim's battlesuit, it'd be easy. But mixing the technology with the Centurion Project is really causing some difficulties."

"Really." Joss added, her bored tone completely unhidden.

"Because of the energy to matter transformation, and the DNA specific bonding mechanism that keeps anyone else from wearing a suit, I need to program each new system into each battlesuit individually."

"Fascinatin'."

"And then there's Ron..."

"Tell me about it." Joss said, rolling her eyes. "If that boy held anymore sexual tension about his feelings for Kim, he's going to explode. Or I will." Her attention was diverted back to her scanner as it beeped at her, signalling a nearby life sign. She looked up from the sensor in the direction it directed, to see an immobile arm lying in the grass behind one of the tents. "Wade! Over here!"

Joss cautiously approached the figure she saw, with Wade coming up behind her. "Oh em gee." Wade whispered, kneeling down beside the first body and consulting his scanner. "They're alive."

There were several comatose bodies lying randomly, as though they had all collected in one place and simply fell over. "Yeah. Barely. But I'd say they've been like this for days, exposed to the elements and without food or water."

"Better call Kim and get them out..." Wade stopped suddenly as they both turned their faces to the sky. The sound of rocket engines pierced the silence in the Japan valley. "Erik!"