We stepped through the narrow entryway of the wreckage blockade, finally free from the underground, able to see the Vyrane sky and sun once more. I looked back to see the wreckage had been piled up surprisingly high, probably taking well over a hundred vehicles to create that barrier. Made me wonder when it was done, and who all did it—and why. Assimilated soldiers just trying to trap in members of the resistance from making it to the capital, or was it meant for our company specifically?

  “Doublecheck your gear and get organized, we ship out in 10 minutes.” Seash announced from the front of the line.

  “We’re moving light after this; ditch everything you don’t need, only bring along the essentials.” Bryx added.

  I looked around to see our soldiers were all looking way worse for wear; even though we’d only been down in that tunnel for a few hours, it had clearly taken its toll on everyone, both the vyrane soldiers and the marines from our team.

  We’d only lost eight during the assault against the Predazoan drone forms, but with all the others we lost down in the tunnel, we were almost down to half of our original number.

  Considering how far we still had to go, I could see why everyone was looking so demoralized.

  Kianna and Gorgam quickly made their way over to Eve and me.

  “Adam, what the hell was all that?” Kianna asked in a hushed whisper, as though talking about a secret.

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “What are you talking about?”

  Gorgam gestured vaguely towards me, “We had no idea you’ve gotten any physical modifications or enhancements; there wasn’t anything in your file last time I looked.” He clarified.

  Of course, what was I expecting? Obviously people would notice I was moving with superhuman speed—not like there was any real way to hide it. But I still didn’t want the Imperials to know how much I’d been enhanced in case I ever needed to use it against them. I hoped they would only think I’d gotten legal soldier modifications somehow—or maybe even illegal ones, just so long as they didn’t suspect I’d been enhanced by Predazoan biological manipulation.

  I waved them off quickly with a lowering gesture, “Keep your voices down, I’m not trying to announce it for all the universe to hear.”

  “Why not?” Kianna asked, looking genuinely confused.

  Eve leaned forward, wrapping an arm around me and making it a point for her hand to rest on my shoulder, hooking her thumb inward to gesture towards the failsafe bomb implanted in my neck, “Gee, I can’t imagine why…” She said airily.

  Kianna blushed then, looking a little embarrassed; even if she didn’t fully understand everything we were dealing with, she knew there’d be plenty we’d want to keep secret from the Empire now.

  And at the top of the list of people who didn’t know what all was going on, Almana was quickly making her way over with a couple of her soldiers, looking rather excitable.

  “Guys, seriously, how the hell did you do all that?” She demanded, sounding both curious and impressed—and maybe a little suspicious.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move that fast.” Demma added.

  I began thinking over a possible lie as quickly as I could, wondering how I could dissuade any suspicions Almana and her people might have. Once already she accused me of being some kind of living bioweapon, believing humans had been an Imperial fabrication. Now, how the hell would I explain why Eve and I could move at supernatural speeds?

  But before I could even start, Eve took a step forward and held out her hand, presenting them with some strange looking syringe that had a futuristic digital display on the side.

  “A battle stimulant I’ve created, highly illegal in all Imperial systems, it enhances the user’s strength, speed, reflexes, regeneration and perception beyond anything a body would normally be capable of, even with cybernetic enhancements. It’s actually quite lethal without proper inoculation and preparation first, meaning Adam and I are the only ones on the team who can use them—the only people in the universe I would imagine.” Eve explained easily.

  The vyranes looked at the strange device with fascination and confusion—hell, I was confused myself, but I made sure it didn’t show on my face.

  “You’ve created battle stimulants as well, on top of all your doomsday weapons?” Almana pressed, almost sounding skeptical.

  Eve put the prop back in her pack, “I don’t think I’ve properly explained my skills and specialty if that surprises you.” She gestured to herself delicately, “My role is to create weapons for basically any scenario or situation, sometimes on the fly if needed. When I’m not on a mission, I spend most of my time researching, inventing or experimenting. Our team is the last resort to bring an end to whatever problems require our involvement, but realistically, it’s all done thanks to my weapons or inventions. My ingenuity is what solves all these dilemmas; I am the key player in all of this.” She boasted boldly.

  Well, that was certainly a better explanation than anything I would’ve come up with.

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  “Think of her as the Empire’s own MacGyver.” I added.

  Almana looked even more confused, “A what?”

  Eve rolled her eyes, “Another Earth reference.”

  The vyranes seemed more impressed than suspicious now, “So like when you reversed the polarity on the repulser barrier, that’s just something you came up with in the heat of the moment?” Demma asked.

  Eve shrugged, “Child’s play.”

  Almana crossed her arms, suddenly looking a little irritated, “Well I can see why your commanders want you to stay away from the front lines; why risk your own safety when the success of all your missions relies on you?”

  “But if I hadn’t gotten involved, everyone would’ve died, and then my flawless success rate would’ve been tarnished forever.” Eve said dramatically, as though the idea of a flawed record would be worse than death—really selling the mad genius persona now.

  “And why is anyone else even here if you can just end things on your own with your inventions?” Almana pressed.

  “I’m not completely infallible, you know? I require an escort and some assistance same as anyone really; it’s my teams’ job to get me to the heart of the conflict so I can end it.” Eve explained.

  “Alright, that I can understand.” Almana smirked and gestured to me, “But seriously, why is Adam really here? Just to intercede on your behalf?”

  “Hey, what the hell did I do?” I demanded, feigning sounding offended.

  Eve hugged me around my waist, “He’s here to support me in any way I might require.” She said sweetly, then turned serious once more, “But really, half of what I do is wildly illegal, and the other half breaks all kinds of wartime rules and regulations. Adam here intercedes on my behalf when it comes time to decide what all I need to do to complete the mission; he’s much more diplomatic than I am.”

  I shrugged, “What can I say? I’m a people person.”

  Almana ignored my witty remark, “I understand why you’re the last resort of the last resort if that’s really the case, and why your team operates with clandestine measures.” She narrowed her gaze, “And once again I find myself concerned over what kind of condition you’ll be leaving our planet in.”

  Eve waved her hand as though totally unconcerned, “Feel free to try and handle the separatist menace without our help, I’m sure you’ll manage on your own somehow.”

  Almana looked frustrated, but resigned to her fate, accepting Eve as some kind of necessary evil now—and she of course had no idea how close to the truth that really was.

  She let out a long sigh, “Very well, I suppose we have to trust you and your expertise after all.” Almana turned to me, “When it comes time for you to intercede with Eve on our behalf, I pray you’ll be merciful.”

  I nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

  Almana smiled, bowed respectfully, then left with her party to go see how the rest of her soldiers were doing.

  I let out a quick sigh of relief, feeling a mountain of pressure fall off my shoulders once it was clear our lie held up.

  “Worried?” Eve asked, hugging my waist again.

  I put my arm around her, “Feels like we’ve got everyone’s lives in our hands now; way too much responsibility for some random dude from a planet named after dirt.”

  Eve trilled a little giggle, “I think you’re doing remarkable well, darling; I doubt the clandestine agents could do a better job at this point.”

  Kianna walked back over to us, having given the vyranes a wide berth while they voiced their concerns or suspicions, “I’ll say, your fa?ade even has me convinced.” She looked up at me, “Have you really never had any spy training back on Earth?”

  I laughed and shook my head, “Hell no, I’ve just been fumbling my way through all this purely on instinct since day one.” I shrugged, “Maybe I’m a good liar because I’ve always been a natural storyteller.”

  Gorgam appeared next, standing beside Kianna, “Maybe it’s just another talent the humans possess. From our time monitoring Earth, we saw they had quite the clandestine network established themselves.” He reasoned.

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “You guys could see all that?”

  Gorgam shrugged, “We had to keep an eye on the agency that had an interest in Eve at the time.”

  I was curious about the spies back on Earth and what all the Empire had seen from them, but before I could inquire further Captain Seash let out a sharp whistle, gathering everyone’s attention.

  “I know we’ve suffered heavy losses, and there will be a time to grieve, but right now we need to push through and continue on towards Sesamna.” He said, standing atop some wrecked vehicle like a platform so everyone could see him. “From here on out, things are going to be even more difficult; we’re going to have to walk the rest of the way, and from our current position it should take another six days until we make it into the city. We’re going to need to be extra vigilante from now on, both due to our heavy losses and for the fact our available equipment will be significantly reduced without the transports available. We’re going to need to be minimalists from now on, only bringing with us the absolute necessities. We’re in the thick if it now, but we need to continue forward in order to finish this.” He gestured towards Alaman, and she took a step forward next.

  “Before we ship out, we’re going to rescan everyone just to make sure no one was assimilated while we were down in the tunnels. Everyone line up quickly so we can get this over with.” Almana explained.

  I formed up beside Eve as all the researchers gathered behind us, sticking to us for support and protection as always it seemed, even when we were just dealing with the vyrane scans again.

  Almana and Gryme made their way down the line, using that strange eye-scanner on everyone, even the other vyranes. They moved through the line quickly, no problems so far. When Almana came before me, I stood up tall and looked into the three flashing bulbs, hoping nothing from my Predazoan enhancements would make me fail the test.

  Almana scanned me, then looked through the strange little scope, a thoughtful frown on her face.

  “Problem?” I asked.

  Almana sighed, then just shrugged, “No, not at all, but honestly I was half-expecting something weird to happen with what all I’ve seen you do, even if it was thanks to some magic stimulant.”

  I gestured towards the little scanner, “I’m surprised it didn’t flag a warning for me being too handsome.” I said in a serious tone.

  Almana started to laugh but covered it up quick, then just rolled her eyes, “You’re such a dumbass, Adam.”

  It seemed like everyone was stressed out, and Almana was certainly carrying the weight of leadership on her shoulders now, but she couldn’t help but smile at my antics as she continued on down the line.

  Same as always, even in the middle of tragedy, I needed to make light of the situation; it was how I survived working as a medic back in Detroit, and it was how I would continue to survive in the Empire.

  Once everyone had been cleared, Seash took his place atop the destroyed vehicle once again to speak over the company.

  “Alright, we’ve still got a few hours of daylight left, and we need to use it to get as far away from this infernal tunnel as possible. We’ll be moving double-time from here on out—minimal breaks. It’s going to be hard, but if you fall behind you will be left behind.” Seash stepped off his platform and turned towards the foreboding highway, our destination at the end of the long, long road. “Everyone, move out!”