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

NEW DAY

As the remaining agents, in the field got to work, the remaining Elites had descended down to the prison floor.
"Hey, you okay?" Xavier asked as he sat down beside his Toya.
"Just tired, that was something else." Toya said as she looked over at Marsa's cell, which was locked by the time they got there.
"So, what happened to you? You were unconscious for hours after the fight. I thought you were done for."
"I'm just really tired and probably dehydrated. It's nothing. Don't worry about me."
"Toy..."
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Xavier gave her a worried look but knew better than to push it, so he left Toya alone with her thoughts.
As the medic tended to Atlas, who was lying on the floor, Grim went over to Marsa and checked her vitals.
"She's alive, but only barely."
Amadeus stood at the center of the floor and muttered spells. "Time to bring us back."
"What should we do once we return?" Xavier asked Grim as Amadeus cast his spell.
"We failed. Much as we prevented all of this, we still have to deal with whatever higher power the Vaknar answers to."
"Then we need to tell the council and UN, right?"
"No, there is no way that will work. As much as I've wanted to, I cannot risk everything with one action. We have to wait until the proper moment arises, hopefully we can come up with a solution to this situation."
"Well, we got what we needed."
"Yeah, we did."
As the vortex closed, the Agents returned to the hidden world. The portal shut as the agents rose up, standing in front of the G.H.O.S.T. Headquarters buildings.
Oliver looked around in confusion.
"Did you make a mirage of headquarters, Amadeus?"
"Something like that."
Xavier looked at his father.
"Those beacons, they were 3d holographic terrestrial formers weren't they?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"So what were you talking about me being important to changing the timeline?"
"Not exactly, but yes, the events in the future did change the present. You were an integral part of it all, in fact, without you, the timelines would have gone haywire. Your future warning saved us. We all would've died without your quick thinking."
"To save the timeline from the Vaknar? It seems to me that they were the lowest on the food chain."
"I didn't want to put any concern on your mind to alter the trajectory...but if you didn't hadn't sacrificed yourself in place of your father, the path would've been set as your former future selves own."
"Grim could've revived him though"
Everyone turned to Grim as he wiped the blood off his batons.
"I didn't emerge now for no reason Xavier, the moment Shane gave you the choice, you chose a different path, whereas in the old future, you abandoned your father and let him die, stopping me from coming back as Amadeus was finishing his part of the casting to bind Shane."
"What realm was that?"
"Marsa herself, I know this sounds insane and I understand if you don't believe me, but she has alternate versions from other universes. All those in league with her bear the tattoo of a red snake."
"Did you know about that Amadeus ?"
"I did not. We projected that spell to paralyze the brat and subdue him."
"We can all discuss this in the debrief, all of us need to converge in the war room."
"Agreed."
Without a second to waste the Agents headed into the citadel.
As the agents converged in the war room, Kluas Borin called out for everyone to gather around.
"All of you are finally back safe and sound from your mission, I thank you for your service."
"Kluas" Grim said.
"Grim...I didn't think you'd ever come back my friend."
"I didn't either. We got a lot to talk about."
Grim activated the table as it lit up a star system.
"Alright all of you, I'd like to apologize first and foremost for taking a long time to come back. It's been a hectic time for me and I'm sure you all have been going through it too. Hunter, Xavier."
Grim nodded as the agent stood up.
"You too have grown into exceptional agents, and unfortunately our organization found yourselves at the center of work that's been going on even before the existence of the Elites..."
"I suspected it..," Amadeus said.
Kluas sighed.
" When the Vaknar found out about the Dark Lady's plans, they quickly mobilized the armies of the world. No one knew where they were heading, but some believed that they were invading the governments of the world, others perceived it as a struggling remnant of Marsa's army trying to survive. All those were false."
Grim zoomed in on the Vaknar holograms of Shane and the top rank soldiers.
"As Atlas has told me, these miscreants were running amok trying to put the pieces together to find where Marsa was hidden. Malcolm, our most important researcher, taken and nearly killed. Xavier, an important agent to this organization whose DNA is the key to unlocking the cell that holds her, and exposed their plans from our doomed future. Hunter gained a new portal ability from being shot with the serum, it's unclear whether they knew it would activate, but it helped them get inside HQ."
"I've gotten a hang of the powers, but still what about the soldiers they created?" Hunter asked.
"We've been able to stop them. A few agents were killed, but the rest are returning with us. The worlds are safe, and the Vaknars are all if not taken care of. The Hold is being repaired as we speak so they'll be held at our other facility."
"So where have you been this entire time, Grim?" Xavier asked.
Grim sighed, giving Amadeus and Malcolm a glance before pressing a button on the table.
The War room's lights turned red, as did the table as Grim drew up a picture on the display.
"This...is a creature known as Silas."
The picture showed a masked figure, the same as the one everyone had seen in Xavier's future.
"I discovered it upon my last mission as an agent, a powerful being who's been hiding in the midst of society for ages. On the island of Toipai, he was a withered old man when I last saw him, but he was timing the death of Marsa..."
"What are you saying? There's someone powerful who's afraid of her?" Frost asked.
"No, not afraid, you see Marsa is his protege. He bestowed his will onto her, as his life was almost over. As I approached him on the island, he's been preparing himself to return to his youth, using this machine."
Grim pulled up another schematic, a machine shaped as a ring.
Xavier's eyes widened.
"He used..."
"Yes, Xavier, this man is the reason the Vaknar assembled. The man who raised Marsa and the same man who experimented on his body to discover immortality."
"Jesus..."
"I engaged him in battle not before his eyes lit up white and blew the island to bits. I didn't know at the time, but he had resurrected and with the time triangulator, he obtained his helmet before the explosion your future self had created. I had gone through my time as Director thinking he was deceased, until the night of Shane's resurgence."
Grim then showed a visual from his mask's embedded camera.
A bloody Shane baring his teeth disappeared as Grim threw his baton at him, phasing through him and the blade hitting the wall of his office.
"Then I heard that bloody man's voice."
The footage showed Grim dropping to his knees, gasping to breath as he crawled to a corner of the room and pressed a hidden button embedded in the wall. It opened to reveal a blinding white room. Coughing blood he positioned himself in the middle as purple blue flames emitted from his body. His body then transported to a mountain, looking around he spotted Atlas in his mansion located there.
Grim sped the footage, up to his transference to a liquid space environment.
"I warned Atlas of the news, and then went straight to the source of the man's voice, only to find myself in this chaos.
Three Void's appeared before him, causing Grim to unsheath his batons and light them aflame.
"What madness is this?"
"Your not supposed to be hereee!!!" they seethed.
Grim paused the footage.
"Those there are-"
"Those are Void's from other realities." Xavier said.
"Correct. Silas is content on making sure his protege didn't fail like his did, and he wants them to complete a project he was working on with our version of Marsa to come to fruition. Recreating the universe...and remaking himself a god."
"A god?" Toya asked.
"Yes, I know this far from our run of the mill hitman and mad scientists, but what we're dealing with... is gods and monsters."
"We're missing two things from that future, this so called Silas, and our HQ was never teleported in the city as this one was brought down on top of a statue in the square. Xavier stopped one of them, and I the other" Amadeus said.
"What are you saying?" Toya asked.
"I presume you had an answer to this problem, Director?"
"Yeah, and the biggest thing that's kept me from dealing with it until now is fear...fear of losing everyone as I fought his army every damn day, Amadeus and Malcolm ran the possibilities, me coming back early was our only shot."
Grim then activated another display as a hologram of a man appeared, looking at the agents.
"You all have been on my mind, surviving that cabal, unable to come back. This man, he's a dangerous monster, and I want you all to help me end him."
"There is one link we have to end him before he fully heals, he will find another way to get his full power back. I'm counting on it. The masked lady was recently reported along with six other hooded figures on the coast of Australia. The Shadow Elites have been working under my orders until today to find anything they could about Silas and his lackeys. They could be government officials or one of our agents as Shane just exhibited. I want all wheels up by 0600. Every agent's main priority is taking down the remnants of the Vaknar causing chaos. Xavier, I have intel on Anitta Von Rosses own organization, as much as she is now locked up, Stalax seems to have taken over and on a rampage. Finding out you've been finessed by a secret organization can make someone mad. Elites, I want you all to track this lady down as me and Amadeus have much to discuss on stopping a universal war."