Elites Chapter I: Rise of Endgame

Chapter XI: The Trial

April 27th, 8am

It was early morning when the SUVs pulled up outside the hospital. Nicole grabbed the drive and put it in the pocket of the dress she was given. She kissed her sister on the forehead and left. Jay and Rob quickly followed, now wearing suits and ties. They each piled into one SUV. "Good morning gentlemen and lady. Today you get your freedom back. No more running, and no more hiding." Mr. Francisco greeted the Elites with a smile. The cars then pulled away from the Hospital to the Capitol Building.

Outside the building, Director Pirce greeted the President and officials. "It's a pleasure to see all of you here today, I just wish it was under better circumstances. Please accept this pin as a symbol of my gratitude." He shook hands with each of them, and gave them a pin. After they all went inside, an IATO agent exited the building and said to Pirce "The entire building is wired, and a decoy car is ready to go." Pirce replied "Keep the car running just in case, and prepare the Clean Slate protocol. Leave no trace." As the agent left, Pirce then entered the building. Moments later, The Elites arrived, completely unaware that the world they knew was about to change.

Inside the Capitol, The Elites took their seats towards the front in order to make their plea as to why they should still be allowed to operate after everything that had happened a few days ago. The President then said "The Elites may now send a representative forth." Jay stood up and made his way towards the front. "Mr. Thomas is it?" The President asked. "Correct Sir." Replied Jayson. "Alright then Mr. Thomas. It would appear that your insurgent team was responsible for the sabotage of Project Endgame. This crime has put over 30,000 Americans out of jobs, and ended the life of over twenty innocent people when the satellites came crashing down on their homes. Not to mention you intentionally set the US Government back billions of dollars, and terrorists will continue to spread and kill innocent people worldwide. How do you respond to this?" Jayson then replied "I do apologize for all the terrible things that have happened as repercussions of our acts, but I can assure you they were all with good intentions. We intercepted information crucial to the creation of a superweapon. Project Endgame is not what it seems. It would have meant the destruction of America as we know it." Mr. Francisco then interrupted "He is correct. The FBI has been logging your activity since August of 2016. Your science department has been very busy. Developing clones, experimenting on children to give them paranormal abilities. These acts defy the laws of nature and are simply inhumane." The President then asked "So where are the clones and where are these 'enhanced' children exactly?" Director Pirce then said "The Cloning program was shut down back in 2015 by the Obama administration. And the only enhanced would be Android ZC-918, who was destroyed by the Elites merely days ago." "You lie!" Robert interrupted loudly. "We have the names of some of them here! Frank Hawthorne. Wade Turner. Marquan Johnson. Are any of these names reminding you of anything?" Pirce replied "None of those names are ringing a bell." Jayson then said "These are the names of kids that were registered under your unnamed programs in Uganda, Australia, and America. Teenagers that you recruited, experimented on, and set free in hopes they would come back to join the Elites." There was a loud breakout among the officials, now murmuring under their breath discussing the new information.

"Those have to be some of the most preposterous claims I have ever heard!" Pirce yelled. "But we can prove it. Does anybody here have a computer or laptop?" Robert asked the crowd. As Pirce tried to protest, the President said "We'll allow it. Someone please pass up their laptop." After someone passed their netbook up to Jay, he said "Director Pirce has been harboring intel through a private database, that can only be accessed by an IATO issued USB. Luckily we have one here. The very drive that controls the weapons systems from Project Endgame." Jayson then plugged the laptop into a projector at the front of the podium. "Mr. Francisco, the drive please." Francisco walked up to the center and handed Jay the drive, which was then plugged into the laptop. The computer then came to life and displayed a page, asking for a passcode. "Now if Director Pirce has nothing to hide from the public, he will come forward and unlock the contents of the drive for everybody here to see." Pirce sat still in his seat, and wouldn't budge. "Come on. Unlock the drive" Rob then said jokingly. Pirce replied "The contents on that drive are a matter of national security. Exposing the contents can result in riots and protests worldwide. All the country's deepest secrets are in there." The murmurs in the crowd now grew louder and louder, and the President finally said "These are grounds to have you arrested for harboring intel. Open the drive and the consequences will not be so severe."

When Pirce still sat in his seat, the President then said "Arrest him" Police then grabbed Pirce and handcuffed him. "No worries Mr. President. Now that we're no longer on the run, we can safely override the encryptions." After a few minutes on the laptop, the encryption finally came undone, and reactivated the weapons systems on neighboring IATO satellites. "Now If I activate all safeguards and set the systems to aim, there will be a red dot on each person that is a target within a five-mile radius." In an instant, nearly every person in the Capitol Building had a red dot on their chests, which sent the entire assembly into a panic, so Jay shut it off after a few seconds. "Nearly everybody in here was a target, except for Pirce and ourselves. Project Endgame wasn't a peace project. It was a safeguard. Pirce knew that people were growing suspicious, so Endgame was made in order to wipe out any threats against them. And they sent us to ensure that their secret was kept safe at all costs. Yes. The Elites are assassins, sabateurs, and spies. We take full responsibility for all the things we have done in the past. And now we want to make things right for everybody." The guards were escorting Director Pirce out of the chamber when he pushed a button in his pocket. The President then felt a splitting pain in his chest, and all the representatives and officials followed. The pins they were given were burning into their chests. As the guards turned to tend to their leader, Pirce snagged one of their guns from their holsters and shot both guards dead. The Elites sprang out of their seats to grab the President when Pirce said "I wouldn't touch him unless you wanna carry out a burnt corpse, or rather fifty burnt corpses. This entire building is rigged to blow." Jayson then said "You kill him, and you lose your only leverage." He held the laptop in his left hand, and the drive was still inside. "You blow this place up, and I'll upload every last one of your files to the Internet. IATO will fall permanently." Pirce replied "You do realize that by doing this you give out all your information too. Every recorded mission, every documented safehouse, all of your identities. Are you ready to have all your dirty secrets revealed?" Jay then spoke "Are you? Rob, get everyone out of here. We'll take care of Pirce." "I think not kids." Pirce said as he pulled a trigger from his jacket pocket. "My finger slips, and we all die." Jay then nodded towards Nicole, who pulled a circular disk from her pocket. Jay took the laptop and plugged the drive in. He accessed the files and was ready to upload them. "You click that button, and you risk your safety, and security. You will lose everything you've ever loved." Pirce had his finger directly above the trigger. Nic's silver disk then rotated in her hand, as curved blades slid out. Just as Pirce was going for the trigger, the shuriken was thrown, slicing Pirce's right hand making him drop the detonator as he clenched his hand, which was now bleeding. He grabbed a gun with his left hand, and started shooting at the Elites. Jayson lunged behind a pedestal as he clicked upload. All of IATO's Secrets and the Elites' were now everywhere for the world to see. Pirce then tried to run for the doors, but they were quickly blocked with a massive wall of red flames. "Going somewhere?" Nic yelled from behind him. Pirce then turned around and started shooting. Nicole quickly jumped out of the way as Pirce tried to find another way out. He ran up the stairs and opened a hatch on the roof. As he climbed out, Nicole was directly behind him. Pirce fired multiple shots at her. Nicole quickly pulled her retractable swords and blocked each bullet before throwing one blade. The sword knocked Pirce's gun out of his hands. When he turned around, he was on the edge of the building, with nowhere to run. "Looks like you've run out of floor buddy. What will you do next?" Nic said as she readied a pair of handcuffs she stole from an injured guard. Pirce then said "You're wrong. You've got nothing you can do. The Endgame cannot be stopped. It will still come. You may have won today, but next time your friends won't be so fortunate. Next time you face us, you'll be leaving in bags! There are only two sorts of people. The soldiers of Endgame, and those who oppose us. We are the visionaries with no name. No more hiding, and no more mercy." Pirce then stepped backwards and fell. When Ruby ran over and looked down, there was nothing but the street. He had completely vanished.

Suddenly, there was a massive blast coming from the chamber below. All the windows of the Capital were shattered, and the roof began to cave. Nicole jumped off the edge and climbed down the wall as the entire building blew up. On the ground, police and ambulances arrived. Nicole reunited with her friends when Francisco said "We should go." As the press came, Mr. Francisco declined comment as the Elites got into the Cadillac and returned to the hospital. "You've got twenty minutes to clean yourselves up and get all your things. You're all going home."