While searching the city for clues as to what's going on, Jax's former students each made a remarkable and disturbing discovery...
Coattra and Galleion had gone west when their discovery had been made.
Jyuo and Jax had gone the opposite direction of Coattra and Galleion in the east when their own discovery was stumbled upon.
Harron and Bronnick had gone to the south of their original meeting place start point upon their discovery of a mystery.
Neeran and Zach had gone north when they'd made their own remarkable discovery.
"Well, I'm still alive apparently," sighed Zach as Neeran followed his gaze and saw the two figures she had dreaded seeing again.
"And I don't think that's a good thing."
"We need to find the others," whispered Neeran as she and Zach ducked away and commed the others in their group about their encounter.
"We need a meeting place," said Galleion. "Jax, do you know anywhere?"
"There's an Imperial office nearby Jyuo and my position in the east," said Jax thoughtfully. "It controls the going ons of the cities security systems and would have the data and footage needed to confirm these sightings."
"Why didn't we know about this before?" asked Neeran.
"It's not an easy to find place," replied Jax. "I believe it holds all sorts of secrets. I just haven't had a chance to enter and see for myself."
"Where is it?" asked Coattra, sounding more alert than the others.
"It's towards the space ports," said Jax, picking up on Coattra's concern. "Head to the place where you came from."
"Gotcha, see you in 10."
Coattra left the com-channel and the others quickly followed suit, leaving to meet Jax and Jyuo and enter this secret Imperial post on Gorse.
"He still didn't answer why he hadn't mentioned it before."
"That's Jax for you," replied Zach. "Cryptic as ever."
Once the group assembled out the front building across the street, they noticed a distinct lack of Jyuo and Jax.
"Where are they? They were the closest," asked Coattra, who was very close friends with Jyuo. They were almost like biological brothers.
"I'm here," said Jyuo, as he joined them. "Jax has other business to attend to."
Everyone else seemed to think understand immediately that Jax's 'other business' curtailed their pursuers. But that was only the beginning of Jax's quest.
"Let's go," said Neeran as the seven of them stormed the outpost.
The officer screamed in pain as the blaster bolt tore through his leg and he collapsed into the chair behind him.
"Oh shut up," snapped Neeran as she kicked his spinning chair away and placed her hand upon the computer terminal. "It's only a small flesh wound, nothing serious."
"You've blown a hole through me bloody leg!"
"And I'll blow another one through your bloody head if you don't shut it," replied Neeran, slightly mimicking the mans British accent. "Theta. Alpha. Omega. Sigma."
Theta, Alpha, Omega and Sigma all flashed on into the computer system as the rest of the team, minus Zach, followed Neeran.
"Beta," said Jyuo.
"Eta. Iota," said Coattra.
"Delta," said Galleion.
"Epsilon," said Harron.
"Gamma," said Bronnick.
The screen divided into 10 sections and the seven infiltrators could then confirm their bizarre stories of doppelgängers.
"So we really have no luck then," muttered Jyuo.
"Of course we don't," said Coattra. "We're former Squad A. We never had any to begin with."
"Who the hell are you people?" asked the terrified and distressed commander of the outpost. The other Imperials in the room all seemed equally terrified of the seven teenage looking intruders and how they'd taken them out so easily.
"You don't need to know exactly who we are," said Galleion. "It's too confusing for you to grasp."
"But we are soldiers," said Bronnick.
"And good ones at that," added Harron.
"But we lie," replied Neeran simply. "Lie to hide our shame, to kill our pain and as it filled our veins, he was the one to blame."
"And now our conscience has and will haunt us," said Neeran. "For the rest of our lives."
"Killing and violence isn't something you can just escape," said Jyuo. "We are soldiers after all."
"We are soldiers," confirmed Neeran. "But we aren't monsters."
"Not like them," said Zach.
"She's not a soldier," said Neeran, watching over the footage. "She's a monster."
"And what does that really make you?"
YOU ARE READING
SWRC: Too Soon... (Book 3)
FanfictionProblems new and old have arisen for Neeran and her ragtag family of misfits. At first, it seems like nothing the family can't handle but, what if it turns into something that they can't? What choices will Neeran have to make? And will they be go...
