Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

Sarah: "...Have you heard of the Night Stalker?"

Like a computer, my mind instantly searched for that name, bringing back and replaying the memory of my conversation with Michael from Fox News in New York... This was something new... I was stood in the office, watching over myself, disguised as an office worker, stood next to Michael Jones, like I was watching something in VR. The edges of the scene around me were hazy, lacking in any sort of detail, only where the past version of me looked at at the time seemed to have any clarity...

*Past Me: "And this armoured Draconian... what's his motive?"* The past me asked with a hint of an echo, I stepped up close to the past versions of us, waved in front of both of our faces, with no reaction from either of them, even as I more or less stood between the memories of us and looked down at the fuzzy cctv still of this 'Night Stalker'. Michael shrugged his shoulders before replying,

*Michael: "No idea. Other than maybe half a dozen people at most who have only ever gotten a glimpse of him have lived to tell the tale, calling him 'Naitosutōkā' ... The 'Night Stalker'..."* He replied adding a dramatic effect to his voice... I liked Michael, in a quirky, weird friend kind of way, he was alright... I suppose I should keep to my word and give him that exclusive I promised him at some point. I watched the past me just raise an unamused eyebrow at him, I could see a grin trying to creep up one corner of my mouth, *"...Yeah... right... anyway, this brief cctv footage is the only time this guy has ever been caught on camera. But it seems Yakuza, mafia and gangs around the world, but mostly in Japan, are his main target, aaannd, they're afraid of him. Like, literally pissing themselves about it."*

In a Blur of white, which quickly faded out to black... No, not black... I had just returned to my present self, in the dimly lit room of Sarah's miniature workspace. I wobbled unsteadily, leaning partially, on the worktop to support myself.

Sarah: "Are you ok?"

Me: "How curious... What happened to me just now?"

Sarah: "I asked if you've heard of the Night Stalker, you didn't answer, so I turned to look at you and you were staring into space, your pupils had like a purple fog in them, like that I've seen surround you before when you've used your powers. Only for a couple of seconds though, but are you alright? What happened?"

Me: "I just revisited a memory, but not like watching back in my head, like I was actually there... But yeah, Night Stalker, I've heard of him, yeah, why?"

Sarah: "Not 'him', 'HER'..." She side glanced me.

Me: " 'Her'? You know her then?" Sarah went back to tinkering with her limbs.

Sarah: "I've known her since the fourth grade. My best friend... Heh... Use to be anyway." Grumbling at the last bit.

Me: "What happened?"

Sarah: "Well... I don't want to brag, but I got pushed forward a few years because I was smart, but Ember, that's her real name by the way, took the normal route. She tried to get into MIT when I was in my last year, but upbringing, personal problems and life choices meant she couldn't make it and dropped out of education altogether."

Me: "What went wrong between you 2?"

Sarah: "Nothing 'went wrong' as such... Just the separation of classes, school and like I say, life choices and the personal issues, there was an incident as well, she got put into foster care, kinda separated us a bit, but I think she held it against me. I don't know, but I tried to help her after what happened."

Me: "I guess you're referring to when SkyTech got to her?" She slowly nodded while still not looking at me.

Sarah: "They certainly got to her... Alex, I don't know how much you've looked into SkyTech's dealings when it came to the 'indoctrinations' but the first trials did not go well at all." I could have looked it up... I still might research into it more, but for now, I thought it was best to just let Sarah continue.

Me: "I haven't really, no, what happened then?"

Sarah: "You were from Delta batch right? All, these guys you've been fighting, Echo, Bravo... Alpha? Well you are all the more refined batches. Initially, the SkyTech simply did test runs... Thousands of subjects, only a couple hundred survived, and only a few dozen of them were anywhere close to what you would call 'alive'. Ember was one of them. She went missing, 2 weeks after my parent's funeral, I last saw her... Well, doesn't matter... I abandoned her when she needed me, I shouldn't have done. Then, that was it, she was never to be seen again... Until... Well... I'm sorry to say, Alex, but you were not the first converted ex-SkyTech that I tried to help... A little over 3 years after she went missing, she appeared at my front door. Scared the crap out of me at first, opening my front door and seeing a live Dragon on my doorstep. Anyway, after telling me who she was she begged for shelter, I of course took her in. She told me what happened, what the SkyTech did to her and the others, and that she had managed to escape."

The news of Sarah trying to help someone before me, came as a bit of a shock, there was never any hint, no signs, nothing to give away that there was ever any Dragons in the mansion before me. And why did she not tell me before?... Wait, does that mean...?...

Me: "Did Wrex know about this? He wasn't the first Dragon you met then?" She shook head, STILL hadn't looked up to me by this point.

Sarah: "This is where the tricky part comes in... I was going to tell him, because Ember fell perfectly into the plan we had, same as you did. But she wasn't keen on it either and chose to leave instead, saying she didn't want to go anywhere near the SkyTech, that they're 'Not the biggest evil out there'... she left before Wrex ever showed up... *Sigh*... Ember's dad was Japanese, he's Yakuza, her mother American. Something very bad happened when she was 14, I don't want to talk about it, she was taken away from her parents, they were going to do time, but he ran back to Japan, leaving her mum to go to prison and Ember was put into foster care miles away."

Me: "That explains her grudge against Yakuza and Mafias in general then. So... The real question then: Why did you build her a suit then?"

Sarah: "I didn't-!" I knew she was going to deny it, I was already recalling the cctv image still in my mind, then projected it over my open palm, like a picture of a picture, just as she was turning to defend herself and lie to me again.

Me: "That's got Jarvie tech written all over it if you ask me Sarah!" She looked at the picture, then after 2 seconds, just merely said...

Sarah: "Oh... THAT suit..." She turned back to her limbs.

Me: "You gotta stop with these lies and secrets Sarah, we're on the same team, we're friends, aren't we?"

Sarah: "Yeah, I know... Sorry... It's just... This was a big fuck up... I never really knew how or when to break it to you. After what you said earlier, when you lost your temper with us, I just felt guilty by not telling you about Ember at all, and what better time to tell you than when you're already pissed with me."

Me: " *Sigh*... We all fuck up Sarah, I mean, look at me, I'm a menace for it. But that's why we're here, right? To pick each other up when we do, right?..." She turned and partially looked at me, the corner of her mouth creased up, just for a second, then she returned back to her arms. "...So... What about the armour?"

Sarah: "I built it along side your Mk3, in the hope that she'd come to her senses and actually be a help to you,- to us. I didn't think she'd come back to my old burnt down house just to steal it it."

Me: "Well how did she know about it? Did you tell her?"

Sarah: "Of course not, I had no opportunity to. So I have no idea how she found out. But she's a sneaky mother fucker and quite smart, she must have worked something out because she knew where exactly to go for it."

Me: "Right... So what are the chances she's going to cause us problems?"

Sarah: "I don't know... You- Unlikely... Me- Possibly. She refused to help me against SkyTech so I refused to help her when she asked me for help with what she wanted to do... We didn't part on the best of terms... But her having the amour is not the worst thing."

Me: "What could be worse that that?"

Sarah: "From a young age, Ember started showing signs of being able to use the Shard's powers, even as a Human. When SkyTech transformed her, the strength of these powers did as well, despite never having come into contact with it, because, as you know, it was locked away in my basement. She has unstable abilities that come and go, which can be quite violent when they do come. Make no mistake Alex, she has a temper, a grudge and from what I have seen of her records reports from SkyTech, very deadly."

Me: "So I have another Shard empowered individual to contend with?"

Sarah: "As I say, I don't know if she will give you problems or not. But she doesn't have her own Shard like you, just it's powers, and intermittent at that. She won't be as powerful as you, probably more like these Executioners the Vanguard have."

Me: "How did she even survive the Shards powers then? Anyone the Shard has come into contact with as far as I have seen, has either died or been seriously injured..." I watched Sarah wince momentarily, clearly at the memory of her past injuries and resulting pain, "...that or like Reikon, Sora and all the Executioners, you have to be in close proximity for decades to obtain abilities and to be able to touch it."

Sarah: "None of that applied to you?"

I hate to admit, she had a point. Although my circumstances were extreme and probably a one time only incident, the Shard works in mysterious ways... Maybe it worked differently dependant on people's ambitions and drives?...

Me: "Still... wonderful."

Sarah: "I am sorry Alex, honestly. I really hope she doesn't give us any problems, but in case she does, then at least you have some prior warning now."

Me: "It's fine. I'll deal with it if I have to, WE'LL deal with it. What are you doing anyway?"

Sarah: "Well, I use to be fairly good down the range. So with access to more Xanthiam, and Titanium is naturally occurring on this planet too, I want to start making upgrades for us all. Where do you think we all got our armour repaired and repainted after the battle in the tower?" She replied gesturing around at the equipment and junk around her. I had indeed noticed the fresh repairs and repaints, and Wrex's armour having the number of stripes on his chest plate reduced to 4 and a half, signifying his captain rank, but I had just presumed that it was done by whoever sorts that sort of thing within the Vanguard.

Me: "So what is it you're building exactly? I don't see a hand..."

Sarah: "You'll see tomorrow at the gathering. It won't be finished but it would be nice to have 2 working arms."

Me: "Right, ok. I'll talk to the others in a bit. I'll leave you to it."

__________

After leaving Sarah to her own devices, I made a slow walk to my apartment, taking time to mentally dictate a text message to the group chat that I had recently renamed simply as 'Fury', which included all of Fury and additionally Kay... I couldn't exclude him...

-'Hi all... Listen... With regards to training earlier, I am sorry I lost my temper unnecessarily. I have not long finished talking with Sarah who suggested some much needed time off might do us all some good. There will be no training for the next couple of days, but also, you may have heard me mention a gathering tomorrow evening, to try and settle and mingle Ex-Humans with the locals. It would be nice to see you all there - RSVP as soon as you can.'- and with that, I deleted this copy of myself, fading from existence in cloud of red and purple mist as per the norm and woke the real version of myself up...

__________*_Real Alex_*__________

...I snapped awake with a deep inhale. I was still in bed, right where I had left myself, but there was an additional warmth, an arm crossed over me from behind. I rolled and turned to see Wrex, awake, looking down at me from higher up he pilllows.

Wrex: "Are you alright?"

Me: "Yes... I'm fine... Thank you." I replied with genuine affection.

Wrex: "Are you sure? When I got back, you were thrashing around and muttering the name 'Reikon', I didn't want to wake you, as you asked, but I couldn't leave you like it, so as soon as I cuddled up to you, you settled."

Me: "I-... Thank you... And I sorry about-" he silenced me by placing a clawed finger on my lips.

Wrex: "What you said earlier was true. Nothing to apologise for. I would like to lead again. But I don't have the confidence to do so. I just need some more time to acclimatise to my position as second in command. You are right to lead. Sarah and 42 will follow you unquestioningly. Jinx is young, somewhat irrational, she will mature and learn, given time."

A message appeared at that moment, in my head, from 42,

-'42: "Thank you for the invitation, a change to routine would be nice, I will be attending the gathering." '-

Me: "Oh good, 42 will be at the gathering."

Wrex: "Oh, well good, err, was there any mention of Jinx?"

Me: "I- no, there wasn't actually, I- hold on, she just replied and... Oh..." I stopped abruptly as I read her reply,

-'Jinx: "42 is mistaken, he and I will not be attending." '-

Me: "...Apparently neither of them are coming now."

Wrex: "What? Why not?"

Me: "She doesn't say, only that neither of them will be attending."

Wrex: "Hmm... You think 42 is under the thumb?"

Me: "It's certainly looking that way eh?"

__________*_Richard Jarvie_*__________

Benthoul, Aberdeenshire, Wed 2nd Feb 22 21:20

After drying myself off after a shower and slipping into my robe, I made 1 final glance at the mirror as I passed. Slicking my damp silver hair back once more, satisfied it was holding it's position, I made my way down the hall to my study, grabbing the newspaper that I had previously left on a side table as I passed and tucked it under arm.

"Mr Jarvie, sir?" My butler, David Moyles, called from ground floor below. I stepped closer to the hand rail of the mezzanine to look down over him,

Richard: "Yes Mr Moyles?"

Moyles: "My duties are complete sir, so unless you have any further need for me then I shall retire for the evening."

Richard: "Of course, it shan't be long before I head to bed myself. Good night Mr Moyles."

Moyles: "Very good sir, good night." He gave a small bow and a smile before heading off towards the staff area, out of sight and I continued on to my original destination, down the remainder of the hall, to the end where my study was situated. I opened the door to the dark room and turned to flip the switch for the light in the room... Though nothing happened. I did the normal flick it off and back on again a couple of times before sighing in slight annoyance and defeat. I was just about to resign myself head to bed properly and declare to myself that I would get Mr Moyles on the case tomorrow morning, when a feminine, yet vaguely familiar voice grabbed my attention and halted me.

"Don't go, we need to have a chat."

I looked back towards the only place in the room where the voice could have originated, the chair behind my desk. I couldn't see who was sat in it, but there was definitely someone there. Whoever it was though I couldn't see them as they had the back of the chair to me.

Richard: "Who are you? And how the devil did you get in past my security?"

"It's easy to get past security systems that my dad designed and had installed for you."

Richard: "Your dad-?..." I put 2 and 2 together and worked out why the voice sounded familiar, "...Sarah?!" I made a step further into the room but was quickly halted.

Sarah: "Wait, stop there!... I know it's been years since you've seen me, but I've changed quite a bit since then."

Richard: "To hear you talking again is a miracle in itself... Last time I saw you, actually, you were in a coma with so many tubes coming out of you... It was heartbreaking... Then you just vanished, just like that! Where have you been? I've been so worried."

Sarah: "Yeah, well, kinda had to go away if I wanted to get better."

Richard: "You sound healthy at least, but why can't I get a look at you?"

Sarah: "I've never been better, thank you. But I look very, VERY, different to how you remember me. Promise me you won't go mad or raise any alarms?"

Richard: "You're my niece, you have my word. Any change as to how I last saw you must surely be an improvement?"

Sarah: " *Sigh*... Okaaay..." The chair spun gradually, revealing a... Well, my first reaction was believing that it was Wrex, the Dragon that I had met before in Iceland, the 1 that asked for my help to save Sarah, though this wasn't the same. Even with this character being only partially lit from the halway behind me, it was enough to make out that this was someone different. The face looked thinner, more feminine, in fact, so did her whole body, even if it was covered in the same kind of armour that Wrex had on, it was slightly different. It was a glossy black as opposed to satin, and with purple accented lines here and there. "...your light will work now..." I glanced over to the switch and flicked it once more, the room lit up and illuminated this Dragoness perfectly now. "...Hi uncle Dick."

Richard: "I've told you a hundred times before, not to call me that... Though it is good to see you're... Ahem... 'Well' again. I was about to ask again where you've been all these past few weeks, but the answer now seems rather apparent."

Sarah: "Did ya miss me?" She jeered with a crease of a smile appearing up the corners of her very long mouth, revealing 2 rows of razor sharp teeth.

Richard: "I haven't seen you since your father's funeral, conscious anyway. You're family, of course I missed you, but at least I knew you were safe..." It was now that she was better lit, I noted her right arm was not natural, it looked almost mechanical and skeletal, like something out of a science fiction film, "...is that a prosthetic limb?!"

Sarah looked down at her arm, raised it and went through a range of motions with it as she spoke,

Sarah: "Yeah, well my arm got amputated, didn't it? So I made myself a replacement. This is version 2 though, much better, version 1 got cut off by a friend."

Richard: "Some friend!"

Sarah: "Maybe that came out wrong, look it was an accident, she was enraged, didn't know I was there I guess-"

Richard: "Sarah... I have to say... The way you look, you were such a pretty thing, what you're wearing, telling me you had your arm cut off, twice!, This accident in Iceland, Sky High Technologies... Don't lie to me, Wrex told me the whole story... This isn't safe for you! This life you've fallen into!"

Sarah: "Yeah, well, got my parents to blame for that."

Richard: "Exactly, and it shouldn't be down to you to put yourself in danger to sort it."

Sarah: "But it is. It's now my fault all of this has happened, so I've got to fix it."

Richard: "Sarah, what I'm trying to say is that, I don't want YOU to fix it."

Sarah: "What?!"

Richard: "You're all I have left of my brother, and he would have wanted me to take care of you and make sure nothing happened to you. Please, I might not know the whole story but I can see it's not going well, it's not safe for you. Just bow out of it now, while you still can. Please."

Sarah: "No. Alex and I will put an end to this, no-one else can suffer. SkyTech can't win."

Richard: " *Grumble* stubborn... Just like your father."

Sarah: "And that is why I will get it done. But I need a base of operations here, which is why I've come to talk to you."

Richard: "I wish you had been around sooner to be honest." 

Sarah: "What do you mean?" I tossed the paper I still had under my arm on the desk in front of her... The New York Financial Times.

Richard: "Turn to page 7..." She hastily leant forwards and opened the paper, skipping through to the correct page, "... with me being the only surviving heir to Jarvie Industries, I'm the next in line to take control of the company. However, my location in the UK doesn't permit me to take full control and any final decisions falls to the board of directors in the States... The money you blew over the past few years?, dumping most of your contracts? The board want to, and have the power, to enter into new contracts and are already in talks regarding some new military contracts." Sarah jumped to her feet, slamming the paper down on the desk.

Sarah: "They can't do that!" I had only realised just how tall she was now, I was 6 foot tall and she now must have been a good foot taller than me now, where as I use to be nearly a full head's height above her. And despite the fact she was clearly feminine, especially in comparison how I remembered Wrex, she was still bulky, intimidating, especially in her armour. I tried not to let this get to me though as I replied,

Richard: "Unfortunately, your absence allows them to do so, so unless you show your lovely new face-"

Sarah: "No. Can't happen. Not yet."

Richard: "Then I don't see any other-"

Sarah: "You can take control, if I transfer you my CEO status fully, giving all the power I have- had."

Richard: "Sarah... Darling... I'm retired, my empire running days are over."

Sarah: "I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important, please uncle. It will only be temporary, a few months, a year at most maybe. With what I am now I can't show myself publicly, not yet anyway. I need you to hold the fort for now and at some point I'll take the reins again, when I can that is. Please."

Richard: " *Grumble* oh alright... Alright!... But no longer than 6 months!"

Sarah: " *Relieved sigh* thank you."

Richard: "But how can you put this in place?, you'll need to see your lawyers won't you?"

Sarah: "I'll make it happen, don't you worry about that. In fact, you will have very little to do, you can just relay any company proceedings to me and I can tell you how I want them done, you'll just be the temporary face of the company, that's all."

Richard: "But what do I tell the board? The press?, the public?"

Sarah: "That I'm on vacation, recuperating from my accident. But listen, there's something else that I do need your involvement in..." She stepped around the desk to stand closer to me, opened her clawed and armoured hand flat and projected an image on it, an image of a very familiar looking building, "...about my old home, and your old home of course... I think it's recently become a little worse for wear and could do with a bit of restoration. And while we're at it, maybe some improvements to the foundations."

(-Jeff Williams (Red vs Blue) )