Weeks passed as Helen, Torvil,
Jen and Mo’Emori traveled across the country in search of a starship to steal.
It had become a challenge once the main forces of the Federation were pulled
from the Middle East to increase defenses throughout the mainland.

Amaranthe had ordered a mass
conscription amongst the populace between old North and South America, using
most of the conscripts to set up checkpoints on every major highway between
both countries in an effort to weed out the socio-political outliers hiding
within Federation soil.

Between the amassing armada just
outside of Earth’s atmosphere, the forces between the fleet and those returning
home from the main conflict spurred numerous problems for those trying to flee.

They had even heard rumors of the
Federation going door to door searching for those disloyal to the government.
That did not include the deadly raids on Eskarii occupied city streets that
resulted in open massacre.

Helen was exhausted by the chaos
encompassing her world. The Eskarii she called a daughter jostled lightly
against her as Jen sped down an uneven road. She looked down and tenderly
brushed the teal hair out of Mo’Emori’s sleeping face as she sighed. The only
saving grace in their mission thus far had been that Jen stole a comfortable
SUV for them to travel in aside from the gross number of weapons she scrounge
up, though she would not share where she acquired that many weapons.

Torvil too napped within the back
of the truck as they traveled down a back alley road of Indiana. Helen took in
the sight of the Eskarii siblings, thankful to have them along to keep her sane
through all of it.

Having traveled as far south as
Georgia to find that military occupied nearly every airport, both private and
commercial, had been a massive wrench in their plans.

Given Torvil’s last experience
with stealing a starship from a military occupied airport, they voted against
trying again.

“So, what are you thinking?”  Jen perked up as she surveyed the landscape.

“That if we don’t find a ship
soon, I’m going to lose my mind,” Helen snickered as she gently stroked
Mo’Emori’s cheek.

Jen chuckled, “Too right but then
again, it’s been pretty fun blowing up checkpoints with you guys, so it’s not
all bad.”

Helen suppressed her laugh as
much as she could to not disturb either of the sleeping Eskarii. “It’s a wonder
how you managed to become a cop, given the amount of happiness you get out of
your most recent escapades, it’s a mystery how you just never went full
anarchist on us.”

Jen grinned at that as she leaned
back, “Well for one, I was D.S.T.U. not an ordinary cop, so I got away with a
lot of shit over the years. If I would’ve been an ordinary street cop, I
probably would’ve offed myself long ago, and second; there was little
opportunity to do any of these things back then. Shit,  if everything went back to normal tomorrow I
don’t think I’d have it in me to be civil again-no, if we go back I’m totally
going full anarchy. There’s just way too much fun to be had.”

Helen just shook her head as she
chuckled, “You’re ridiculous.”

Jen snorted and looked between
her and Mo’Emori. Helen saw a kindness in Jen’s eyes that rarely showed for
anyone and yet, there it was.

“Our life huh? I don’t think I
could imagine my life without these two now,” Jen said wistfully.

Helen hummed affirmatively with a
nod.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I
love you, James and little Mori to death but, I never really had a family of my
own, you know? No siblings, both parents dead, fuck all knows where the rest of
my family is these days. Only thing I’ve had was you, Mori and the squad for
years…” Jen stated as she eyed the rear view mirror.

“And now? I got myself a tall,
sexy broody and an excitable little niece whose over three times my age!” she
chirped in a disbelieving laugh.

Helen chuckled along with her as
she nodded, letting Jen say her piece. “Chaos aside though, which to be honest
has mostly been great too, I’m, well… pretty happy,” she finished with a
heartfelt smile.

“Yeah, this one has been the one
to hold me together,” Helen said sweetly looking down to Mo’Emori.

The conversation lulled as they
passed through farm fields, the smell of soybeans permeating the air.

“Hey, what about Canada?” Jen
chirped in curiosity.

Helen looked at her with a
quirked eyebrow, “In what sense?”

Jen bobbed her head side to side
before gesturing out the window, “I mean, any state side airport so far has
been overrun by the military, but what about Canada? It’s still an open expanse
of wilderness minus the few major cities and fewer blast sites… it would be
right to think the Federation would stick more towards to the main population,
right?”

Helen thought about it for a
moment, “So, you’re thinking we might be able to find something over the
border? I mean…” Helen trailed off into deeper thought trying to recall any
information she could have come across during her time as an Intel operator. “I
can’t, I can’t think of any real operations that far north!” she said in hushed
excitement.

Jen smirked sinisterly, “Road
trip girlie!”

Helen laughed, “This whole thing
has been a road trip you dork.”

Jen slammed on the gas and sped
through the fields of Indiana before heading north.

Four hours later, Mo'Emori and
Torvil both being awake in the back now, they arrived at the border of Detroit,
Michigan and the border of Canada.

Jen slowed to a crawl as they
approached, spying the checkpoint that would give them problems.

Two military SUVs sat on each
side of the checkpoint and a small guard house as a Federation marine flagged
them down. Jen crawled up to the marine before both Jen and Helen rolled down
their windows.

The marine approached the driver
side, “I’m going to need some identification ma’am… ladies,” he said firmly.

Jen gave him a wicked grin, “Sure
thing pretty boy,” before she started patting her pockets.

Helen dug through her purse under
false pretenses as she side-eyed, watched Torvil and Mo’Emori shrink underneath
the driver-side rear window, thankful that Jen was smart enough to steal something
with darkly tinted windows.

Jen feigned trouble finding her
license as the marine became impatient. Jen dug into the center console
animatedly, before pulling out the handgun hidden within and shot the marine in
the face twice.

Helen grabbed the grenade from
her purse and threw it through the window of the guardhouse close by as shouts
of panic came from within. “Go!” she commanded.

Jen floored it, zooming down the
desolate highway towards Toronto as the grenade detonated within the
guardhouse.

One of the older military trucks
peeled off the side of the road in hot pursuit after them.

“Shit, I didn’t even see anyone
in that!” Jen mused as she watched a marine stick their head out before
grabbing hold of the mounted machine gun that sat on top.

The sound of automatic gunfire
and bullets sinking into metal surrounded them became static as the rear window
shattered. Mo’Emori letting out a high-pitched yelp as she ducked, Torvil
letting out a stream of curses in his native tongue.

“Torvil? Be a dear and take care
of that would you sweetie,” Jen said coolly as she weaved side to side on the
road with complete control while Helen used the pistol she took from Jen and
returned fire, not that she expected much out of her actions.

Torvil grumbled incoherently
before sliding his arm over the back of the seat while Mo’Emori scooted over to
the other side of the car.

“Steady!” he called as he turned
around and opened the door, planting his foot against the open door as he
kneeled on the seat to lean out of the truck.

The gunner in the truck stopped
firing in disbelief, as if there was no way a white haired Eskarii was leaning
out the open door with a rocket launcher sitting on its shoulder.

The gunner panicked as the rocket
soared right for his truck, impacting underneath and igniting the gas tank
sending the truck flipping through the air.

Jen slowed down enough for Torvil
to climb back in as he tossed the disposable launcher down the road.

As soon as the door clicked shut,
Jen grinned at Helen, who just looked purely exhausted, “He’s damn sexy ain’t
he?”

Both Helen and Torvil let out a
derisive snort at the mad woman as Mo’Emori giggled as she sat up in her seat
to see the burning military vehicle slowly vanishing behind them.

◇◇◇

The desk was an expensive and
exquisite rosewood designed by hand to match the presidential desks of old. The
bright, pristine walls decorated to an ornate level with commemorative trinkets
highlighting the proud achievements of the Federation.

The perfect, micro suede leather
of the chair he sat in conformed to his body to his liking as Lord Commander
Amaranthe surveyed the room in enlightened appreciation.

All his planning and hard work
had finally paid off, basking in the memory of the faint cracking of glass that
snuffed out the life of his late superior office.

The gilded smile on his face
enjoyed every minute he imagined the look of shock and pain on the old man’s
face as he bled out on the floor of his bedroom.

“Rebecca,” he said smoothly
before letting go of the intercom button on his new desk.

“Yes, Lord Commander?” A
meek feminine voice responded over the open speaker.

He signed wistfully before
cooing, “Send in my administrator, would you?”

Within 30 seconds flat, a nervous
lanky man stepped into the grandiose office, his gaze flitting around the room
cautiously.

Amaranthe poured himself a drink
from a crystal decanter that sat on his desk and took a sip, “Tell me George,
have we any leads to where that bitch mage has hidden herself once again‽”

The man looked nervous as his
eyes settled on Amaranth, “No sir, the Chevelle reported an Eskarii
frigate within Castile V’s orbit upon arrival but quickly fled the scene… the
unit sent in to neutralize “the Rose” found only a handful of prisoners and
half as many Eskarii troops within the confines…”

“What do you think of the name Rose?
I think it’s fitting as I saw how much of a thorn the girl would be in the long
run- but of course no one wanted to listen,” Amaranthe said in a nearly
nostalgic tone.

George sputtered briefly before
nodding vigorously, “yes-yes, the name is quite the fit for your quarry, my
Lord Commander…”

Amaranth smiled before taking
another sip, “Yell me of our other progress.”

George nodded nervously before
calling up a holo-screen that came alive along the far wall.  Images of death and destruction within urban
and suburban settings flashed on the screen.

“As of this morning sir, we are
tallying 23,748 supporters of the enemy, as well as 67,023 Eskarii that hide
within our borders.”

The images and numeral fact made Amaranthe
grin.

George flipped to a recorded
video of a shipwright factory somewhere off world as sparks flew across the
screen,  “Production has been increased
as well as having started on the project you requested, my Lord Commander… they
just started the frame work and are expecting to be finished in the next 14
months…”

“I know full well how long it
will take to finish my ship,” Amaranth sniped, “Just make sure the shipyards
are aware that a single minute late, will be costly.”

George nodded in panic as he
turned off the holo-screen.

“So, its safe to presume that all
is going according to plans save for the girl?”

George nodded again, “yes sir.”

Amaranthe nodded to himself
before waving him away, taking a long look at the clear liquid jostling in the
glass.

“Either the Eskarii have you or
someone else does, don’t they? No matter, eventually you’ll show your face
again and next time, you won’t be getting away, little girl, and next time, I
will bleed your secrets from you,” he murmured to himself before draining the
rest of the glass.

◇◇◇

“Come on Apollyon, there’s
gotta be some way for me to do this!” Morrigan criticized in her head as
she palmed a blast of frost from one of the other trainees made to be her
sparring partner.

It was already bad enough that
she had to sandbag her powers enough not to tear through their shielding and
eviscerate them on accident, but the amount of emotional control she was
required to have to lock down the emotional gates on her energy flow was
becoming harder with the aggravation of not being able to form a simple shield
setting in.

What do you want me to do? My
power is an extension of me! Never once in my vast life have I ever needed to
shield myself, especially in such a paltry display! Apollyon growled, just as
annoyed.

Morrigan unleashed a crimson claw
at her opponent and wrapped the talons around the shield, squeezing and feeling
their willpower submitting to her strength.

She quickly released it when she
saw the young man drop to one knee tiredly, both her own energy as well as his
own winking out of existence. He quickly lifted his hand and signaled for a
time-out that she was thankful for.

She watched the man fall to his
back breathing heavily. She walked up and sat near him, keeping a gratuitous
amount of space between them.

“You know, you’re quite
powerful,” the man said.

Morrigan snorted as she felt the
tension in her back ease, “Can’t be that powerful, I can’t even manage to
create a stupid bubble shield!”

He laughed, “Coming from the girl
who could crush me like a bug… I mean, I saw what you did to the tank, and the
drones the other day, how are you not just… killing me outright?”

Morrigan let out a dramatic sigh
as she eyed the man. She did not want to explain the full mechanics of her
powers since even she didn’t understand them fully.

“Do you know how water filters
work?” she asked waiting for him to nod. “Its essentially like that only
mentally… or I suppose physically too. I’ll be honest, I’m not completely sure
most of the time. The only thing I do know is it takes a lot of restraint not
to destroy something…”

Dezinaria stalked over to both of
them with her ever present scowl on her face. “What are you two doing lounging
around?” she barked at them.

The man raised his hands in
defeat, “I’m sorry! I needed a break. She is a massive drain on my reserve,” he
exclaimed thumbing over to Morrigan.

Morrigan blushed lightly as she
dipped her head. Dezinaria narrowed her eyes at her, “Still no progress on your
shield, huh?”

Morrigan shrank under her gaze,
exhausted at feeling so negatively about being unable to complete the task.
Over the several weeks she had been training to become an Inquisitor, she had
aced every test, memorized as many doctrines and regulations as her brain could
hold and even passed her class of intuitive and practical investigation, though
that class was a close finish for her.

However, she despised not being
given a pass in defensive magic knowing full well she can protect herself. More
than that, she wanted to learn how to create a shield that she could use to
protect those at her side as the memories of those who died assaulting the
prison were still fresh in her mind and heart.

“Hey, why don't you apply that
filter concept into willing a shield?” the guy piped up.

Morrigan scowled, “Because it's
not the same, I mean that's not even a real…..” she trailed off in thought.

“Hey, you remember how you
taught me to actively call upon your power?” she asked Apollyon.

I see your gerbil scurrying, what
do you have in mind, kid? Apollyon
asked curiously.

“Well, you said your energy is
an extension of you right? Which is why it takes shape of your original body,
right?”

Yeah? That’s pretty much the gist
of it. The energy is a cosmic ambience through all creation, however, I was the
epicenter of this particular form of energy and its generation when my siblings
and I were born.

Morrigan’s eyebrows furrowed as
her brain worked faster at processing the possibilities of that meaning. She
even lifted her hand to do faux math calculations in front of her to assist in
processing.

“So, with that being said… you
were the original schematic? Relatively speaking, of course. I get you were the
generator but your body was what housed your eternal essence, right? So it
could be thought of a house per se, meaning that it was blueprinted from you or
something, meaning that if I gave the energy a new schematic to follow it
should in fact, form in its design… right?” Morrigan fired off in her mind
with rapid hopefulness.

Apollyon sputtered in deep
laughter at the process in which Morrigan thought through, causing her to
deflate a little.

Listen kid, this is our first
time for us both, but, that little gerbil in your head pulled out some sound
reasoning. Granted, it was a little more like that obnoxious game Tetris you
humans went crazy about back in the day but the principle applies,
figuratively. I say give it ago, worst comes to worst it doesn't work… or you
set off an atom bomb, I mean the odds are in your favor!

Morrigan laughed aloud out of nowhere
causing both her training partner as well as Dezinaria to look at each other
with questioning glances as if she just went mad.

She caught their glances and
waved them off, “Sorry but I think I figured it out!”

Dezinaria quirked her eyebrow
incredulously, “Is that so?  Let's see it
then.”

“Slow down, I gotta build a
schematic first!” she chirped excitedly as she sat in a meditative pose before
contemplating how to go about it.

She tried to envision a barrier;
thin, transparent and in the shape of a bubble and called on the power. She
could feel the energy release from her body from the ever coalescing form that
felt like a second body within her own skin.

When she opened her eyes she
found her hands in their familiar claw forms and the tips of her skeletal wings
poking at her periphery.

Morrigan growled in aggravation,
releasing the energy and closing her eyes again. This time she focused on a
tight lattice build in her mind. She knew solid objects had a tight molecular
structure that gave them their solidarity, so envisioning a real life molecular
structure should do the trick.

She called to her energy once
more only to find the same result.

You know this is the definition
of insanity, right?
Apollyon mused with a fading chuckle.

Morrigan growled once again as
she noticed everyone was now staring at her in interest.

“Come on! What am I missing?
Wait, how did your siblings build so much if it’s not just thinking something
into existence?”

Apollyon let out a hum as it
recalled its past,

I mean… with their hands… wait
with their hands girl! Literally!
Apollyon’s excitement baffled Morrigan as she looked down at her own hands.

On a whim she called on her power
for a third time, watching the crimson claws envelop her hands. With cautious
curiosity, she touched the tips of two of her claws together and squinted with
a breath of disbelief as a near blinding red light flashed to life.

“If your siblings wrote the
genetic structures of every living thing then…” she thought as she brought
her clawed thumbs together to form a circuit between her fingers. In the center
she focused on a crystalline lattice structure in the shape of a flat plane and
watched it as concentrated energy flowed along the pathways until she had a
small monomolecular barrier fitting between her hands.

She gasped in shock as she slowly
turned to her training partner holding up the small barrier, “Try and hit this.”

Dezinaria gave the man a nod as
he gave her a look of uncertainty before he formed a small ball of ice and took
aim, flinging it at the barrier.

The barrier shattered like glass
in her hands as the energy dispelled itself. Allowing the tiny ball of ice to
ping off her forehead.

“Fuck, shit!” she exclaimed which
drew out collective laughter throughout the class as she held her head.

Shaking the pain off and ignoring
the amused chuckles, she put her hands together again but this time the small
barrier appeared significantly faster.

She cracked a wide grin, now she
only needed to do was thicken the barrier. She tried spreading her fingers but
that only expanded the barrier so she tried inverting one of her hands and
watched a single new layer form over the old one.

“Yes!” she squealed as she
mimicked the motion dozens of times until she felt like the opacity and
thickness was sufficient enough. She realized her barrier was built like
ballistic glass the more she thought about it, which made significantly more
sense to her. This time when she held the barrier up to her partner, she felt a
world more confident. “Do it!”

The man considered not listening
but seemed intrigued enough to try for a second time, forming the small ice
ball and flinging it at the barrier with precise aim.

This time, it was the ice ball
that shattered into oblivion. Morrigan lost herself to hysteric joy as the
energy was released. The results were beyond what she expected.

“Well a tiny shield is
interesting Miss Clarke, yet hardly protective. Do you find yourself capable
now all of a sudden?” Dezinaria ridiculed.

Damn, what a kill joy, Apollyon quipped as Morrigan
deflated.

With a heavy sigh she reigned
herself in, she knew deep down that Dezinaria had a point though she wished the
old woman really understood the feat she had just accomplished.

She nodded along though and
re-summoned the tiny shield and considered what to do next.

“Okay energy… I need you to be a
dome of some kind, work with me here,” she pleaded quietly before deciding to
throw a hail mary, quite literally expanding her hands and releasing the
barrier above her.

Her energy responded to her
desire and expanded above her, coalescing into a solid dome barrier surrounding
her on all sides for about two feet.

Everyone but Dezinaria cheered
and clapped for her as she nearly burst into joyous tears.

Hey kid, you might wanna back off
a bit!

Dezinaria snapped her hand
forward sending a torrent of electrical bolts crashing against the dome.

Morrigan felt the impacts of each
attack as much as she felt the shield weighing her down. Each strike that
struck depleted more and more energy from her core.

Dezinaria called through all four
primary elements, striking each multiple times to test the integrity of
Morrigan’s shield before she was satisfied. She indicated she was done by
giving the girl a firm nodded.

When she dropped the shield, the
class cheered for her triumph, “Well done, Miss Clarke,” Dezinaria stated with
a look of pride in her face as Morrigan tried to stand up straight, only to
have blood pour from her nose.

A wave of dizziness passed
through her head as she stumbled, the young man she sparred with jumped forward
to catch her only to be met with a burst of crimson energy from Morrigan’s body
as she fell back on her ass, the man sent sprawling a few feet back.

“Shit, right, I forgot, I'm
sorry,” he winced as Dezinaria stalked towards Morrigan to inspect her.

Morrigan wiped the blood from her
nose and inspected it, “It’s okay… I'm fine, I've had this happen before I’ve…
just used to much power,” she said in embarrassed remorse as she looked over to
the trainee. She knew he meant well, but that did not keep her body from
reacting violently though she felt relief as she saw that he was more or less
uninjured.

A moment later the splitting
headache settled in as the exhaustion she remembered washed over her, “I just…
need to rest,” she breathed forcefully as her eyelids felt heavy.

“Are you sure, child? You look
worse for wear right now, I can call a medic,” Dezinaria said in concern.

“I’m fine, can you just tell
Solomon to send for Xol. Tell him I just over did it again,” she said as her
physical energy depleted though she could feel her power’s energy pull from the
cosmos.

“I will, just lay down. Take the
week to recover and I'll see you back here by the end of it,” the old lady said
as she guided Morrigan gently to the floor as the other trainees gawked.

“But I… I finished the class…”
Morrigan said as her vision started to blur.

Relax, little goddess, I'll have
you fixed up in no time, though we should figure out that whole new ability
thing soon, Apollyon
added as Dezinaria chuckled.

“Not quite but you're getting
there. You still have the last leg of the journey to take before you pass my
class,” she said with a proud smile as Morrigan’s consciousness faded to black.