“In the quietest hours,

  in the deepest parts of me,

  I often wonder if my father

  would be proud of

  the man I’ve become.”

  - Leonidas Stryker

  Chapter 11: Descendant

  Dreams were always vague for him. Distant. Hard to remember after they passed. This one, on the contrary, was quite vivid. Lifelike. Less like a dream, and more like a vision. For a momentary lapse of awareness, he forgot it was not real.

  He was a ten year old boy again, running down the steps of his father’s mansion to the lush, green lawn, whose horizon had dawned the new day’s sun. The ocean breeze also came in to greet him, blowing through his dark curly hair as he ran towards his parents, both standing together to greet the new day. They turned together to face him, smiling brightly as they knelt down with open arms for an embrace. Nothing quite felt like the warmth and strength of their hugs. His eldest brother, Silvanus, also had that same type of hug. Craspus, the second oldest, used to as well.

  Flying away from their arms and through time, he found himself five years later on the mansion’s balcony, looking down at his mother. She sat alone, looking out to sea with tears streaming down her face. Father had passed a year ago that day, and his eldest brother roughly a year before that. Craspus had left in the time in between their deaths, and they had not heard from him since. Only he and his mother remained. Outwardly, he tried to remain upbeat, optimistic, and consoling. Inwardly, he hid a fiery wrath. One that, despite his mother’s concerns and protests, had led him to joining his nation’s fight. One that had led him right here.

  A sharp pain woke him up.

  “Ah ah ah... no sleeping on the job. We have work to do,” Tulius hissed, jabbing his electric shocker back into Magnus’ side. He winced in pain as the energy coursed through his body. Finally, Tulius stopped.

  “Please... please, stop. I’ll tell you what you want to know. Please...” Magnus whimpered through heavy breaths. A devilish grin appeared on Tulius’ face.

  “Finally. Tell me.”

  Magnus tried to speak, but he was too weak to project his voice. Annoyed, Tulius rolled his eyes as he drew closer. Magnus, tied to an x shaped, wooden device, tried once more to speak up, only managing to get out a faint, unintelligible whisper.

  “Speak up!” Tulius commanded. Seeing Magnus lacked the strength, Tulius begrudgingly drew a little closer, now standing just centimeters away, his ear close to the prisoner’s bloody, bruised lips.

  “You’ve...” Magnus began.

  “Yes, I’ve?” Tulius said, trying to help him along as he grew even more impatient.

  “You’ve... got... something on your face,” Magnus replied, his voice growing louder and stronger as he continued his statement, grinning as his droopy, blood shot eyes widened. Tulius’ eyes also widened, but in fear.

  Magnus, reacting quickly, spit a bloody, partially congealed ball of spit onto Tulius’ face as he drew back. Reacting as he had hoped, Tulius jumped in a panic, running to a service sink droid in the corner. Vigorously, the Commandant placed his face under the running water, scrambling desperately with his hands to find the soap and scrubber.

  Magnus, under the influence of multiple truth serums, laughed hysterically, and in a near maniacal fashion at the sight. Though not fully in control of his faculties, Magnus had managed to not let anything slip, and focused his loose tongued, slap happy state onto finding ways of agitating Tulius and the other torturers. Bloody, marred, and now lacking finger nails, Magnus found satisfaction knowing that this was as much his torture chamber as it was theirs. Regardless of how many shifts they took, he still had gotten under their nerves.

  “I’ve been doing some research on you, son of Jor-Dan. Apparently, you’re the last remaining heir to the Stryker legacy, since your brother Silvanus died and Craspus… well, abandoned your family,” Tulius replied, regaining his composure as he gently dried off his face with a towel. A devilish grin once more returned to his thin lips. Magnus grew silent.

  “Descendant of the great Leonidas Stryker, savior of Paradign. I’m almost saddened to think that, before all this is through, his lineage will be for not. With Silvanus dead, and Craspus gone, you’re the only one left to carry on your name. More importantly, you’re the only one who could’ve taken care of your poor, sweet mother. Now, she’ll be all alone. Well... not for long. I’ll be sending her your way soon enough I think. After all, there’s nothing worse than being alone.”

  Magnus knew Tulius was baiting him, but he could not let such comments stand. Gritting his teeth, he rattled his bindings in an attempt to wrench himself free. It was to no avail, but that did not keep him from trying.

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  “Don’t you dare speak of her,” he threatened. Tulius grew more joyful.

  “See? I can play the nerve game too. Speaking of nerves, have you seen your brother lately? No, not the dead one, silly, you’ll see him soon enough, I mean Craspus?” Tulius spoke, letting his words sink in.

  Magnus remained silent. Angry, but quiet. Tulius continued his aggravating dialogue.

  “No? Well, after all these years, I’d imagine you’d like to see what he’s been up to,” Tulius remarked, fidgeting with some settings on his H.I.C. Soon, a holo-image appeared. Magnus could not believe his eyes. Craspus was alive.

  *

  It had been by sheer luck they had located this guy, or so Red had guessed. Of course, she wondered if Kane had figured out where he was somehow. It was entirely plausible, especially after seeing his innate sense about things. They had just witnessed the scene between Kane’s friend and Tulius unfolding before them from a distance. Magnus did not look good.

  Maneuvering through machinery and sneaking past guards had been no easy task. This large, underground cavern was full of maintenance crews, soldiers, and what looked to be technicians in lab coats all buzzing about doing their various duties. This labyrinth of research seemed to have no end, and getting out any other way than which they came seemed unlikely.

  Hiding behind some cylinders, Red waited patiently behind Kane. She figured he would determine their next move, but she wished he would hurry. They had sat there for longer than she would have wished, and should someone spot them, they would have the fight for their lives to try and escape.

  “What are we waiting for? We can take Tulius. Let’s go get your friend. They could be there all night, and someone is going to notice us missing,” she suggested.

  Kane shook his head.

  “We wait till he leaves.”

  Exasperated, Red leaned back and prepared to do some more waiting.

  It was sad to see the man being tortured in such a wretched state. Bloody, bruised, and cut up, it was clear that they had not taking it easy on him. Had he talked, however, she imagined his torture would have ended by now. Despite the sympathy she had for him, she imagined Kane’s was far deeper, given he had broken into this place to retrieve him. If they were able to get to him, they would probably need to carry him out. He looked too weak even to stand.

  Tulius began to mess with his H.I.C. as a holo- projection emanated from his device. The image was of a man in a dark robe, with a hood concealing his face and a wicked looking scythe in his hand. She could not hear what was being said due to the shield partition separating them and the sizable distance, but it was clear that the man had some type of relevance to Tulius’ questioning. Magnus seemed to recognize the man. Kane seemed to recognize him, too.

  “Friend of yours?”

  Kane took a moment before turning to reply.

  “No. Come on.”

  Before she could respond, Kane began to crawl towards their right, and then up through a ventilation shaft. Seeing no better course of action, she followed him up through it. The shaft was tight, and although she was in peak physical condition, the condensation on the metal walls made it hard to maintain her grip as she slowly climbed up the vertical pathway. Kane lent her his hand, hoisting her up onto the horizontal section upon reaching it. The space was still cramped, but at least now they could simply crawl.

  “Where are we going?” she whispered, fearful she already knew the answer as she trailed behind him.

  Kane did not answer. Red supposed this was because his means of communication, his hands, were busy crawling in front of him in the confined space. She felt silly she asked now, but at least her query was soon answered as they turned a corner.

  Up ahead in the distance, roughly 20 meters away, a light shined up through a panel. As they drew closer, voices could be more clearly heard in its direction. It sounded like Tulius.

  “Maybe I’ll send him to end your mother when I’m finished with you.”

  Another voice, presumably Magnus’, fired back.

  “You’re a monster.”

  Tulius chuckled.

  “Compared to your brother, I’m an angel.”

  Footsteps resounded as he walked away.

  “I’ll let you drown in your thoughts for a while. Rest assured, I’ll be back soon.”

  The laser shielding below zapped open, then shut again as Tulius left the room. Red waited with Kane for a moment. Another zap could be heard, as the sound of footsteps resounded up into the vent. Kane turned to face her.

  “There are two of them. I’ll swing down and take out the first,” he motioned. She nodded.

  “And I’ll take out the second. Let’s go,” she replied, using sign speak as well so as not to be heard.

  Quickly, the two leaped down and onto the two guards that had entered the room. Kane landed on the floor, and then struck the guard to his right with an uppercut, launching up to the attack from a crouched position. Red, utilizing her smaller size, swung down from the vent’s ledge, kicking her guard squarely in the face. The guards, completely unprepared for the attack, now lay unconscious on the floor.

  The room had a nasty odor to it. All around them, Red noticed the various utensils of torture. It took a great deal of self control for her to not let her mind go down memory lane. Magnus, still tied up, was over in the corner, lifting his head to see what all the commotion was about. Kane walked over to him.

  “Heh, I knew you’d come for me,” Magnus weakly stated.

  Red looked over to the inactive droid in the nearest corner. In its needle chamber resided an all too recognizable drug. By the looks of things, the drug had been administered roughly thirty minutes ago, given the specs presented on the droid’s panel. The drugs effect would be taking a deeper hold any moment now.

  “He’s badly wounded, and under the influence of Remembraxine. We’ll need to carry him out,” Red stated, her fears about Magnus’ state now realized.

  Remembraxine was a hallucinogenic drug, inducing memories from the past. The latest in truth serums, and thought by many to be a harmful substance, nothing had been created to prevent its effect on the body. Most soldiers were inoculated to counter most truth serums, but Remembraxine’s effect could not be countered in such a way. They could do nothing but wait until the current dosage coursing through his veins had taken its course. In the meantime, Magnus would be incapable of situational awareness. It would be nearly impossible to escape via stealth.

  “Unless you have one giant distraction planned, we’re not making it out of here without a fight. A fight neither of us can win. If we take him with us, he won’t be shutting up. We don’t stand a chance without stealth.”

  Kane looked over to a compartment on the wall. Walking over and opening it, he looked down to see what was inside. Red turned to face him, bewildered as to why he did not seem to take her appraisal of the situation seriously.

  “Did you not hear me? We’ve got a big choice to make here.”

  Kane turned back around, having taken the contents of the compartment in his hands. Putting what looked to be dark armor on the floor, Kane looked up to face her.

  “There’s no choice at all.”