Eagle X, Mission 15: The Singapore Incident

Part 15: Kent

Troopers scrambled in teams of four and six, spurred into action by the klaxon alarm ringing throughout the launch bay. Kent watched and worried. According to the communications chatter three or more hostiles were loose on the ship. They'd avoided multiple attempts at capture or neutralization, and were leaving an ever increasing body count in their wake.

At first Kent feared the beleaguered passengers of the AST Singapore were in store for yet another disaster. Then he overheard Benji of the rainbow hair speaking to Bo Santos. Spider's team was still unaccounted for. Knowing Spider's team could be trying to save them filled Kent with hope, despite the odds being woefully against them. He was able to be enthusiastic... as long as he ignored the bodies piled just outside of the Singapore.

A squad of troopers escorted a team of clones bearing a litter of cleaning supplies. Behind them hovered a second litter stacked with a half dozen bodies. Some of the corpses were hours dead, victims of the Flesh Farmer attack, but some bore bullet holes fresh enough to still be bleeding. Kent watched the clones dispassionately unload the bodies and evenly distribute them between the two mounds on either side of the loading ramp.

He studied their blank faces and wondered if he had ever been so goal driven that he couldn't see the world around him. The answer was yes. He'd been taught to focus on the tasks given with a single minded attention which left room for little to no regard for anything else. The Free Labor Movement taught Kent how to open his eyes. Karen called it seeing the forest despite the trees. He pitied those clones, blind to the events unfolding around them, but party to it nonetheless. They needed someone to teach them how to see.

Troopers rushed to the loading ramp, leaving a small contingent to guard the prisoners. There was a big commotion as white tinted soldiers formed up behind yellow, and pink commanders. They stood at attention as a team of troopers approached. At their head was a trooper wearing a golden cape and pauldrons molded into the shape of golden roses. Beside her was Lieutenant Xavier. They were flanked by six troopers in black armor that seemed to shun the light. Each was armed with a long barreled shotgun.

The newcomers stopped at the base of the ramp and the gathered troopers saluted. They sang in a chorus of synchronized voices. They were joined by those still guarding the prisoners as well as the small cluster of constructs questioning the Singapore's stewards. Kent did not understand the language, but its cadence was warlike and aggressive, yet beautiful to the ear.

The trooper in gold raised a hand and the singing stopped. She removed her helmet, revealing the reddish skin of an Earth Prime native. Her pale blue hair was tied into three long braids and wrapped into a single bun at the back of her head. She was a handsome woman with strong features and a cold gaze. She handed Xavier her helmet, and the silver armored Xavier took it without a word. Her air of command was dulled in the golden woman's presence.

The golden woman bowed as a team of legionnaires exited the ship. Between them walked a single prisoner, hands bound by Mag-Shackles. Kent Duffy watched as Angelique Farnsworth, the leader of mankind, marched out between armed kidnappers. His heart jolted. He'd been sent by people he'd thought of as friends to kill her, but in that moment he felt an almost overwhelming desire to save her. The Movement wanted him to be their hero and trained him to be their instrument. Kent no longer wanted to be their weapon, but the hero's instinct was still within him.

"Don't move!" ordered a trooper. His weapon was trained on a man near the front of the group. The man looked toward the CEO with defiance, but he did as commanded.

Across the launch bay a twenty foot tall war construct stepped through a set of reinforced double doors. Kent was deterred. The killing machine was capable of murdering all of the hostages in a matter of seconds. Against such a behemoth there could be no heroics, only capitulation.