Nocturne

11. Invasion

"What did you find?"

I took a seat beside Aeric and I watched as he flicked through a few pages of information back to the first one. Subject 6565B, codename: Stargazer sat on the front page. He looked to be in his early thirties, a slim build and...soft eyes. It struck me as different when I saw him, he wasn't postured for a mugshot like the rest. There was even a small smile on his lips, just barely noticeable to the human eye.

"Says that his real name is Stephen "Fawkes" Finch." Nolan leaned on the back of my chair, analyzing the screen quicker than I could ever read through it. "Red hair, unnatural dark colored eyes, and was born in Canada." He snorted. "Eh?"

I smacked him gently and he instantly began to cackle. I just rolled my eyes and turned back to the screen, reading his description and slowly becoming more awestruck as I continued.

"Codename: Stargazer was found in the Mojave Desert approximately two years ago, pulling "star dust" from the sands and manipulating it into a large, meteorite-like object within his grasp. His first attempt to flee resulted in losing the subject until he turned himself in on a later date for unknown reasons. Stargazer's ability is not defined by any category, as PASCI researchers are unsure whether the use of telekinesis forms the crystalline structures or if they are caused by some other means. The subject himself is not very dangerous, but the items he can create from various sources have different abilities. See example 65a-e for details."

"The example is one of his crystals, apparently he labels them as-"

"Star pieces." I cut Aeric off as the page turned, and I was staring at the image of the same rock that had been hovering above my figure.

There were different ones labeled here, collected at different points in time from different sources. The black meteorite he'd created in the desert had the ability to soak up toxic gases and liquids, almost like a chemical sponge. Pieces were being used in research for cleaning up oil spills and clearing battlefields of possibly toxic smoke and gas. Another one, a blue and green curved slate seemed to be able to turn any water that touched it from dirty to clean. A piece that looked like a fossilized sea sponge, when crushed up and drank, cured ailments of the liver and kidneys, and was being used in research to cure such diseases. Another could heal burns and mild injuries when poulticed with water and slathered into the wounds. And then there was the orange one.

"Example 65e is known as the "sun stone", a stone that has the ability to trap, absorb, and release both light energy and thermal radiation. This stone is currently in use in testing its ability to cure subjects of their abilities if they wish to return to a normal life outside of the facilities."

"Looks like you were the test subject, Spitfire." Marshall huffed and I pulled the orange stone back out of my shorts.

"Yeah," I clutched it tightly, "looks like it worked."

"Well, what it looks like is that he was being kept in the facility in New Mexico, but we've already swept through there." Aeric added with a snort. "Did PASCI have the stone before we released everyone?"

"No, no..." I shook my head, "they have Stargazer with them, just like Oracle. They wouldn't just let someone with that power walk free."

"I wish we could do somethin', you know?" Margo sighed, "He's stuck with those monsters and we don't even know where they are."

"So where do you guys think we should go now?" Marshall asked, crossing his arms over his chest quietly.

"Sacramento." I told him. "We need to find the girls, see what they've set up over there. Regroup. Get backup."

"It's a good idea, really." Nolan agreed. "We're too far away from the fight here. We haven't even seen the news in days."

"Aeric, do you think you could-?"