Elites Chapter III: New Empire Rising

XII

March 16th

Somewhere off the Coast of Kenya

It had been about seven hours since The Elites left London, and Sapphire was showing no signs of fatigue. The distant android was making his way to Kampala to find an Elite that had been considered as a candidate by Ruby months ago. About an hour later, he landed in an open field in the Ugandan Capital. He changed into civilian clothes and headed into the city.

Kampala was a very large city, so Zach quickly got to work, searching for the other Elite. He went up to a crowded restaurant and walked up to the bar. "You can't sit there kid." The bartender said with a thick Swahili accent. "You gotta be eighteen to get anything from the bar." Zach replied " I don't drink. I'm just looking for someone. I'm looking for Marquan Johnson." The bartender replied "Yes. He's a regular around here. The world needs more people like Mr. Johnson." Zach then asked "You have any idea where I can find him this late in the day?" The bartender said "If anything he's at the Makerere University Campus. It's a mile walk. And I would hurry if I were you. It's not safe to be out and about as a tourist this late." Zach headed for the door and said "I think I can handle myself." Outside the pub, Zach ran as fast as he could to quickly make it to the college.

A few blocks away from the campus he stopped. There were a bunch of men standing at the end of the block, wearing masks that looked like the skulls of wildebeest. They noticed Zach immediately, and started walking towards him. One of them spoke in the Swahili tongue "Je! Wewe ni mpiganaji, au wewe ni mawindo?" It took Zach a moment to realize that his translator was never repaired. He then said "Umm. Sorry. I'm looking for Makerere. There's someone there that I really need to meet so I'll just be on my way." He started to walk past them, but then his arm was grabbed by one of the men. Defending himself, Zach kicked him between his legs. The man dropped to the ground, clutching his groin in pain. One of the other men then pulled a dagger. As he swung it at Zach, he caught the blade between his hands, and gripped his arm. With the dagger now behind Zach, he pushed up on the man's elbow, breaking it instantly. The last man standing then shot a dart at Zach, and it struck him in the neck. Unfazed, Zach said "Is that all you got?" The man then pulled a trigger from his jacket pocket, and pushed it. The tag that was pinned on Zach emitted a piercing screech, causing him to collapse onto the ground. The screech caused him to have a seizure. After a moment the screeching stopped, and the man in the wildebeest mask carried him off.

Berlin, Germany

0900 Local Time

It was morning in the German city, and one man was running late for their project. When he reached the lab on his college campus, his partner asked in German "Running late again Doctor?" The Doctor replied "I'm never late. The Lab opens when I say it does. And I am on time I just had a late start." He put his key in the door and opened the lab. "Now if any of you need me I'll be in my lab upstairs." The Doctor walked up the spiral staircase of the modern building and unlocked his door. Inside the lab was a large suit held up by chains, a bunch of experimental weapons, and blueprints for a new stealth plane. Suddenly he heard a voice coming from atop his shelf. "Dr. Großel. You're a hard man to find." Großel was startled, and replied in English "Hello Nicole. To what do I owe the pleasure. Another drive you need me to decode? Or maybe some new weapons to make would be nice you never visit darling.

Doctor Albert Großel was fairly tall, about six feet, with untidied brown hair and blue eyes. He was also pretty young, no older than twenty. Nicole jumped down from the shelf and stood in front of him. "So this is your new lab huh. It's nice, organized as always. Given it's a lot harder to find, but that's a good thing." Albert said "Yes I like it here. But why are you here? You Elites have been all over the news here. The media is really loving you guys." Nicole responded "Some things have gone down in the past couple of weeks. I'm not here to ask you to jump into action, but rather to warn you. Endgame is out to get not just us, but all of our kind. We just need to ask that you watch your back and stay aware." Albert replied "That can't be all that you came here to tell me." Nicole pulled a communicator out of her pouch and said "I also came to give you this. A communicator. It'll allow you to stay in contact with us, and warn us if you're attacked." Großel paused, and asked "So you're gonna try taking the battle to them?" "I'm not sure. But we want to eventually. But for now we're staying low. Don't tell anyone I was here." Nicole said, opening a window. "Take care of yourself Doctor." In an instant, she leaped out the open window and into a bush below. Albert looked down to see Nic climbing out of the bushes and running off.