Orbs of Power

Chapter Sixteen

Kaitlyn Blount was the youngest girl in 7 years to become captain of a squadron.  Not only that, Squadron B112 had been nicknamed the Demolition Squad, and was one of the most reknowned squadrons in all of the Elemental Conference.

She looked down at the file she had been given for their latest case.  Just another wall to break.

"Sir!"

She looked up at the call of one of her men.

"Shoot."

He winced.  "Captain, you really should use the technical terms.  What if we get a pleeb who doesn't know the lingo?"

She raised an eyebrow.  "Pleeb?  I could say the same for you, sailor boy.  Anyway, what do you got for me?"

"The wall is the thickest we've ever had, even thicker than it was a few years ago.  It's gone up from 12 feet to 16 and 4 inches."

She grunted.  "They must have their Earths working more lately.  Must really not want us to get in."  She stretched and rolled her neck.  "Shame.  Think we'll need more men then we have, regular shifts?"

He shook his head and grinned.  "Cole and Griffith have second, and Polly and O'Reilly have third.  This wall will be down in less than an hour."

Blount cracked her knuckles.  "And me and you on first, huh Evans?"

He nodded and went to stand beside her.

"Let's do this."

She took a deep breath and focused both of her powers on tearing down this wall.

Her Earth softened the wall, while her flames melted it away.  Evans used his Earth to keep it moving in a ripple effect, speading the concrete from one spot to make it thin and weak.

A lot had changed in twenty years.

Countries had stared to discover anomolies, people who had frightening powers.  Others simply locked themselves behind a wall unexpectedly.  In Old England, a man had melded the minds of all animals to his will, while a woman in Ethiopia grew plants that were incapable of growing there, as well as feeding thousands.  The stories grew of people who molded fire, who moved the earth, who bended water, who controled the very air.  Other still could control lightening, or cause miraculous healings, or horrible deaths.

All of them told the same story.  One day, they discovered an Orb, and through it gained powers.

For a while, the governments tried to regulate the Orbs, but soon realized that was a bad idea when the United States overthrew their government and burned the capitol to the ground (funny story, lots of people living there gained fire powers. Must have been a coincidence though).

The Elemental Conference was formed between the remaining countries that were not in anarchy or behind towering and thick walls. They formed various squadrons of people dedicated to keeping the peace. They didn't have to have powers, although some did. People everywhere knew that they could have an Orb power if they wanted to, they just couldn't use it for the harming of others.  Countries flourished and thrived, and poorer countries finally had a way to feed themsleves with those possessing a plant Orb.

Several countries, however, locked themselves up before any goodness could come for them via the Orbs, although, no doubt they had them.  They included Algeria, Guatemala, Croatia, Malta, Serbia, Germany, Denmark, North Korea, Greece, Brazil, and Colombia.

After most of the issues of the Elemental Conference had been sorted out, they put together special squadrons full of Earths to tear down those walls that the countries had put up almost twenty years before.  For the last two years, these specialty squadrons tore down approximatly 57 walls.  The one Kaitlyn's squad was working on now was one of the last 6.

She had only been apart of this squadron for the past year, but already she knew the capabilities of the men she was in charge of, and Evans was nearing his limit.

"Take a break. Cole! Griffith! You're up. We only need fifteen minutes from you and then you switch.  Let's go!"

She slumped onto the tree stump by their minibase, and Evans did the same.

"You did good, Evans."

"And you, Captain."

She sat back.  "You know, the people in here were some of the first secluded.  Before we even knew what was going on, they had holed up in here.  How do you think they will react when they see us busting through with all our 21st century gear?  Heck, our top scientists who are still trying to figure these things out have given us top-notch, element-enhanced gear that might seem super sci-fi to them."

Evans remained quietly huffing to catch his breath.

The sounds of the wall being destroyed were the only noises.

Suddenly, he spoke up.  "Why did you join the force, sir?"

She shrugged.  "Same reason as most.  I had powers, but no idea what to do with them.  Here, I found purpose.  You?"

He stared up into the sky that was full of twilight.  "I'm a mormon, you know?  When I was real little, my sister, Ally, she went on a mission, to a country that went on self-imposed lockdown.  I don't know what goes on in there, or even if she is still alive, but I want to find out what happened to her.  I need to know if I'm ever getting my sister back."

They sat solemnly like that for a while, and were soon joined by Cole and Griffith as Polly and O'Reilly took their place for the final stretch.  After not 10 minutes, Polly yelled out, "We have a break!"

Blount rushed off and they cleared the way.  She rested a hand on the deep fissure in the stone and smiled.  "My Earthy bisnatch is telling me that even though we got some decent feet left, this is a clean cut to the other side.  Keep working boys, we're almost there."

They cleared out to leave the third shift to do their jobs for the remaining five minutes.

Most other squadrons couldn't do it this fast.  For some, it would take weeks to get through a wall this thick, but Kaitlyn and her crew were the best of the best.  Six Drillers and a Healer for emergencies, all highly trained and equal to almost none in the whole world.

She and Evans were preparing for the last little bit where they would take over again.

"Which country did your sister go to on her mission?"

"This one."

She had no time to say anything as they began to eat at the wall once more, forcing the crack to grow larger to allow them entry.

She lowered her hands and the flames died, the rock going still.  Evans followed suit.  They were both sweating heavily, but they stared at the fissure.

One by one, the men followed their Captain through the wall to the other side, and she took a deep breath and smiled.

"Welcome to Deutchland, boys."