RMA
Red Moon Advocate
Chapter 7
The Stage Sets Itself
Aiden stood in the middle of what remained of his lab, Lloyd’s sword gripped tightly in his hand.
The metallic scent of burnt circuits hung in the air. Sparks crackled from broken terminals, briefly lighting the dim room in orange flashes. Torn cables dangled from the ceiling like hanging vines.
Aiden slowly turned in place, his eyes scanning the devastation.
Across the room, Kira stepped carefully between shattered equipment, crouching occasionally to inspect something before standing again. Her brow furrowed as she tried to sense the lingering energy in the room.
Jensu stood a few feet away with his arms folded across his chest, leaning slightly against a cracked pillar as he observed the wreckage in silence.
After a moment, Kira exhaled quietly and straightened.
“So… he isn’t here,” she said, brushing dust off her hands.
Aiden didn’t answer.
He stared down at the sword.
Then his shoulders sagged.
“My lab…” he groaned, his voice cracking.
He slowly dropped to his knees, clutching the sword like a grieving relic.
“My beautiful lab! How could these fiends do this?!”
Jensu glanced at him and smirked faintly.
"Tch, he reminds me of Teyren."
Suddenly Kira’s head snapped toward the entrance.
A faint ripple stirred the air—like a gust of wind passing through a sealed room.
Her eyes widened. “Jensu—behind you!”
Camouflage flickered off a figure, his body twisting into a downward strike from above.
Sounds of shattered metal and a blade slicing through flesh could be heard.
A stone spire had erupted from the ground with a violent crack.
Piercing straight through the assassin’s abdomen.
Jensu stood a few paces away staring coldly.
“I don’t have time for you,” Jensu said calmly.
The stone shifted and shortened, pulling the assassin closer until he hung suspended just inches in front of Jensu.
Blood began to run slowly down the jagged rock.
Aiden’s eyes widened.
The entire exchange had happened so fast his brain barely caught up.
Jensu leaned forward, studying the man.
“So,” he said quietly, tilting his head, “where is our good friend?”
The assassin coughed violently, blood splattering the stone. “Taken.”
Kira immediately stepped forward, her voice sharp. “Taken where?!”
The assassin’s lips curled into a weak grin.
“I ain’t telling you shit.”
Jensu shrugged slightly. “I figured as much.”
With a flick of his hand, he pulled the stone spire free.
The assassin dropped to the floor with a heavy thud, clutching his wound as blood pooled beneath him.
Jensu slipped a hand into his back pocket and pulled out a small metal flask.
He popped the cap with his thumb and tilted it just enough for a single droplet to fall.
The liquid struck the assassin’s wound with a faint hiss.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then the flesh began to crawl.
Muscle twisted back into place. Skin tightened and sealed, not even leaving a scar behind.
The assassin blinked in confusion.
Fabric shuffled against itself
Metal scratched against concrete as the assassin drug himself to his feet, but was quickly silenced after meeting the bottom of Jensu’s boot.
His body collapsed limp.
Jensu bent down and grabbed the unconscious man by the collar. The fabric scraped across the floor as he hauled him upright and slung the limp body over his shoulder.
The assassin’s boots dragged across the cracked tiles.
Jensu glanced over at Kira.
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“Here,” he said casually. “You carry him. You’re a Superior, right? You’re strong.”
Kira blinked, caught off guard. “I—”
Jensu chuckled and waved a hand.
“Just kidding. I got him.”
Behind them, Aiden was still kneeling among the wreckage. Sparks snapped from a severed wire while he stared in horror at a half-destroyed circuit board in his hands.
“My lab!” he wailed again. “How could they do this?!”
Jensu jerked his thumb toward the exit.
“Grab whatever scraps you can,” he said. “I’m taking this clown to Naomi.”
The three returned to the Silver Eclipse and descended into the basement.
Jensu dropped the assassin onto the floor.
The earth beneath the man softened, swallowing his legs.
A moment later the stone hardened again.
The assassin was trapped waist-deep in solid rock.
Jensu pulled over a chair and sat down directly in front of him.
Across the room, Aiden dumped a pile of salvaged equipment onto a table and began rummaging through it frantically.
Tools clattered loudly as he worked.
BANG
The door burst open slamming heavily into the wall beside it. Somehow it stayed connected to the frame.
Lita stormed inside, her eyes darting around the room.
“Where’s Lloyd?!”
Jensu leaned back in his chair.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
“Not good enough!” Lita snapped, slamming her hand against the wall.
“Patience,” Jensu replied calmly.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Kira returned with Naomi close behind her.
Naomi stepped into the room, her eyes immediately scanning the space.
“…Where is—”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Jensu interrupted, gesturing toward the assassin. “Come here. Probe his mind.”
Naomi hesitated.
“He has to be conscious.”
Jensu stomped his foot.
The earth tightened violently around the assassin’s leg.
A sickening crack echoed through the room.
The man jerked awake with a scream.
Kira stepped forward and removed his mask so Naomi could see his face.
“There,” Jensu said.
Naomi stepped closer.
Her breathing slowed as she locked eyes with the assassin.
Instantly her consciousness slipped into his mind.
Images flashed past her vision.
Lloyd dropping his sword.
Raising his hands.
Surrendering willingly.
She pushed deeper, searching desperately for more.
Then suddenly—
The connection snapped.
The assassin’s body convulsed violently.
Foam spilled from his mouth.
His head slumped forward.
Jensu sighed.
“Cyanide pill,” he muttered, rubbing his temple. “You humans really do enjoy making things difficult.”
Naomi wiped sweat from her forehead.
“Lloyd is alive,” she said quickly.
“He surrendered on purpose. They took him to Skybase.”
Kira crossed her arms.
“So Skybase is real,” she muttered. “Built right under our damn noses.”
Aiden glanced up from his workbench.
“Yes,” he said quietly.
“I knew he surrendered. That’s why he left his sword.”
Jensu nodded thoughtfully.
“Interesting,” he said.
“A clue meant only for you.”
Across the room Lita began biting her nails.
“I don’t understand,” Naomi said, frowning. “Why would he do that?”
Kira answered immediately.
“Because he knew his father would capture him alive.”
Lita exhaled slowly.
“Lloyd planned this from the start,” she said quietly. “And I told him not to be reckless.”
The air temperature in the room suddenly dropped.
Lita’s anxiety began bleeding into her power.
“What does he think?” she snapped.
“That he can take Clay alone?! That I can’t help?!”
She turned toward Naomi.
“Your Echo Sight… is it always accurate?”
Naomi nodded nervously.
“Yes… why?”
Lita clenched her fists.
“Then Clay really is planning to assassinate my father.”
She stood abruptly.
“I’m going to Light City immediately.”
Jensu raised an eyebrow.
“And they’ll just let the General’s daughter—who is also a Superior—walk through the gates?”
Lita glared at him.
“If they don’t… I’ll smash my way through.”
Jensu leaned back in his chair.
“And then what?” he asked calmly.
“You scare the civilians? Fight the military? Kill some guards?”
Lita clenched her jaw.
“There are too many problems and no answers!” she shouted.
“I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing!”
Kira walked forward and gently pushed her down into a chair.
“Sit down,” she said softly.
“And breathe.”
She wrapped her arms around Lita from behind and rested her chin against her shoulder.
“It’s okay,” she whispered.
“We’ll get your man back.”
Lita blushed immediately.
“He’s not—”
“He’s not your man,” Kira finished with a grin. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”
Lita’s face turned bright red.
But her hands stopped shaking.
Across the room Aiden suddenly jumped up.
“IT’S DONE!”
All eyes immediately averted to him.
He held Lloyd’s sword in one hand and a strange device in the other.
“I infused Lloyd’s DNA into this blade,” he explained excitedly.
“The sword is tethered to him. Whenever he uses his power, this machine will pinpoint his location.”
Kira smiled.
“Your genius always impresses me, Aiden.”
“Of course it does,” he said proudly.
“But until he uses his power, this is still just a sword and a machine
Lita stood.
“I’m going back to the bar,” she said. “Aiden, let me know if you find anything.”
Jensu smirked.
“Kira, I’m glad you’re here to keep her calm,” he said. “She’s like a worried mother.”
Kira laughed.
“She’s been like that since I met her,” she said. “Always protective of Lloyd… and Brandon. At least before Brandon started following Clay.”
Aiden looked up from the machine.
“We need a plan.”
He looked at Jensu.
“Clay will strike soon. Probably at Light City.”
“We need one team to attack Skybase and another to protect General Altone.”
He hesitated.
“Jensu… we could really use your authority as an Advocate.”
Jensu sighed.
“You people keep dragging me into the middle of this.”
He stood.
“But I said I would help.”
He glanced down at the assassin’s corpse.
“But first… we should get rid of this body before it starts to stink.”
High above the planet, floating at the edge of orbit, loomed a massive fortress.
Skybase.
Clay stood inside the command bridge, watching Aureli-9 below.
Behind him, a hatch opened.
Lloyd knelt inside an airlock capsule, chained.
Clay turned slowly.
“You’re the same reckless child I remember,” he said calmly. “I’m glad you’re here again, my son.”
Lloyd glared at him.
“Stop talking like I’m here to help you.”
Clay smiled.
“Then why else would you come to me willingly?”
Lloyd snapped the chain binding his arm.
“For this.”
He lunged.
Light erupted from his armored arm, forming a beam aimed straight at Clay’s face.
But suddenly—
Gravity slammed him downward.
A powerful containment field activated.
Four mechanical sockets dropped down and locked onto his wrists and ankles.
Lloyd hung suspended in midair. Powerless.
Clay chuckled.
“You think I didn’t expect that?”
“I’m your father, Lloyd.”
“I knew you’d try to kill me.”
Electricity surged through Lloyd’s body.
His power began draining.
Clay turned toward the hangar window.
Thousands of Superiors stood below in formation.
Clay stepped forward.
“Brothers and sisters,” he announced.
“Today is the day we have endured so heavy for.”
Cheers erupted from the army.
“We are stronger. Faster. More powerful than ordinary humans.”
His voice thundered across the hangar.
“Today we take Light City.”
“Today we reclaim our rightful place among the stars.”
He raised his arm.
“Brandon. Step forward.”
The army roared.
Back at the Silver Eclipse basement
Suddenly the machine beeped.
Aiden’s eyes widened.
“There!”
He pointed upward.
“He’s… in the sky.”
Jensu smirked.
“So Skybase is real.”
Naomi looked pale.
“How are we supposed to get up there?”
Jensu pulled out his holopad.
A ship roared down the street and landed outside.
“You fly,” he said.
“Aiden, I’ve overridden the system. It will recognize you as pilot.”
Aiden blinked.
“Okay!”
Jensu jumped onto a rooftop and looked down at them.
“Good luck,” he said.
“Come back alive.”
Then he disappeared into the night.
Aiden stared.
“…Did he just say good luck?”
Kira smiled.
“I think he actually cares about us.”
Lita climbed into the ship.
“Enough talking,” she said.
“Move it, Aiden.”
The team split apart.
One group heading toward Skybase.
The other toward Light City.
Both racing toward a battle that would decide the fate of Aureli-9.
