The Khalanium Blades

Chapter 13: Conquerors

Ray was greeted by an aching, horrible pain in his head. But nevertheless he felt better. He only realized he was sitting upright when he felt the strong urge to fall back down on the soft pillow, but could not. His arms, legs, and all major body parts were stuck in the straight position. To his left were his four other friends, doing the same.

The thought of being paralyzed horrified him, but he decided to stay optimistic. He tried calling out to his friends. Nothing. Not even the slightest movement of his mouth opening. Nothing. Maybe he was paralyzed, but how? His thoughts drifted back to the events recently. The attack plan failing, getting trapped, three betrayers, and the Wash. The Wash!

Doctor Lok said something about their free will being replaced by a command in which there is no option but to do. And maybe this was a situation of the same sort. And as if waiting for Ray to realize, Agent Terah and Baron casually walked in the medical ward, acting like nothing happened at all, and that five teenagers frozen in place was completely natural.

Ray wanted to scream, but he still could not take control over his own mouth. The only thing he could move was his eyeballs and rotate his head a little. The two traitors had something attached to both their left and right ears. He saw the small rectangular device as Terah kneeled down beside his bed and said, "Don't worry. You're safe here, and forever will be."

Ray shivered at the last statement, which brought him to the terrifying idea that he and his friends could be used as a special weapon to destroy and conquer. And that all he could do was watch as he takes lives with no option. No, he wouldn't and couldn't let that ever happen. Never.

The former agent grinned at the boy's agonizing look before leaving. "Follow me, Specials." And in an instant, Ray immediately got up and followed. She really had taken full control of us, he thought. The fact that his friends also had done the same was a stark reminder that this mind controlling absurdity was indeed real.

They followed her to breakfast first. To Ray and the others, this was a blessing. They just hoped the food was as good as the one back in the watchtower. To their complete surprise, it was better by far. With the simple words "Eat at your expense", their situation, for a moment, seemed quite good. But of course, breakfast didn't last forever, and soon The Specials were taken to a large white room, similar to PROTECT's Training Room.

"Hello, my friends!" Came a voice from the other end of the long room. The teenagers recognized the person in an instant. It was Rob!

Despite the joy and relief of seeing his young teacher, Ray still couldn't do anything according to his will. He and his friends' faces were solemn, while Rob and Commander Rook stood there with the entire assault team. Guards surrounded the place, their plain shirts making them look pathetic. Soon, Rook and his group were on their knees in a long horizontal line as Rob realized the problem. "Kids, break out of it! I know you can!"

He almost shouted the last statement when someone kicked his back hard. The guard grinned as Rob winced. The sound of digital particles and technology doing its work caught everyone's attention. To Ray's right, blue particles revealed a man's body. He recognized him immediately. It was A.D. Chris.

"Hello, my new guests," he said, bowing sarcastically to Rob. "And old." He bowed to Ray, who by now lost all hope of control. "Now you may be wondering, 'Why did you bring us here?' or 'What is our purpose?' Well, we lured you here. Now let me explain how. First, we had Terah, Baron, and Lok as inside agents. By doing so we tracked your progress and made sure you were trained well. Next, we sent in that purposeless skirmish in the hangar, and stole your plans to Project Alpha. All that was to bring you here. And Baron and Terah convinced Director Quick to let you help.

"All that in the effort to successfully capture you for our purposes. Now, as an official welcoming, I therefore call you, Conquerors of Conquest." You now work for me." He smiled. "Guards, put them in place for Training Session 1."

Ray realized he was breathing rapidly. It was just too much to take in. It was all a setup. His training, their training. All worthless in the hands of justice, but apparantly useful in the sight of evil. But he still didn't know what he and his friends were needed and trained for. "Wait," he said to Chris. "Don't you have like a name for this organization or anything? Cuz you know we can't call you guys the unknown force forever, right?" Ray took a moment to realize what he had done. He talked! But only because Terah and Baron allowed it.

Chris whirled around after taking to a guard, who most likely was the leader since he was the only one with a dark blue torso. "Oh, yes. I almost forgot." He was not one bit surprised with the boy's sudden chance to speak. "Thank you, Leader of the Conquerors. We are a strong, united organization called Conquest. Many things strike fear into the many worlds, leaving them crippled and afraid. The Director and I formed Conquest to aim for the unification and fortification of the whole universe! Once our mission is completed, galaxies will finally...find...peace."

For a second Ray actually believed and loved what he was hearing, until he understood the last sentence. Find peace? He thought it was aubsurd. Even the earth couldn't make peace even for a decade. If other worlds were interlinked, it would become planetary chaos. He had to end this before the bad parts start. "Hey, uh, you know that's completly bonkers, right? Our world never had peace. How can different worlds even have a simple chat? I've seen movies and shows that predicted your crazy mind two decades ago."

And again, his own body didn't restrict him from shutting up. Ray watched Chris's expressions closely. He struck an infuriated glare at Terah, who stood beside Ray, as if trying to ask her why she let Ray speak. "Listen up, boy, you have no idea what I can do. Do you know what you can do? And are you ready to use it without accidentally killing someone?"

The thought scared Ray. He didn't know what mysterious capabilities he had, not to mention the possible added rage. But still, the man's plans were crazy as it was. But he knew he and his friends or "Conquerors had a deeper purpose. He realized he couldn't talk anymore, so he just simply rolled his eyes as weird as possible. And he knew it was very weird indeed, because Chris raised an eyebrow in disgust.

Then he remembered Rob, who stared right at his soul, telling him repeatedly to break out from the mind control. A nod back was all Ray could manage. Suddenly, all the guards stepped back until their backs touched the walls. Ray looked around, confused. Soon, A.D. Chris was nowhere to be seen. But a loud voice echoed throughout the room. "Training Session 1 starting in three...two...one...."

A sharp shrill took over Ray's thoughts completely, ordering him. "Destroy Rob!" His eyes glowed bright yellow.