Chapter 7 - Commander

Two large jeeps park up in front of a roadside hotel in the depths of the night. The passenger side door of the leading jeep opens up, and out steps a well dressed man in a Black and Burgundy suit.

He walks towards the foyer of the hotel, and the doorwoman steps forward.

The man in Burgundy speaks first "You the one who called it in?"

"No no, I was just coming on shift when I heard. I couldn't believe it, I had just watched the ne-"

"Room."

"Excuse me?"

"What room are they in? The fugitives?"

"Oh they're alone in the new building out back, their car is parked up next door too, thought it best considering"

"Considering what? Who they were? You better pray they're still there."

The man in burgundy turns around and heads back towards the jeeps. He taps twice on the side of each jeep, and two well organised groups of men funnel out.

All but one are wearing high end combat gear, and are rank and file troops. The odd one out is dressed similarly to the man in burgundy, but he is offset by navy.

"Where are they Roth?"

"We're in the field Kort. It's Commander. Or did you forget your place?"

"Yes, yes. Intel on the fugitives Commander?"

"Out back. Seems like our now off duty doorman thought it would be a good idea to seperate them from the main building. Let's hope they're stupid enough to not realise what he's done"

Roth moves away from the jeep he was stood beside, and leaves a crushed wing mirror in his wake.

"You know they're gonna take that out of your paycheck COMMANDER"

"Shut up Kort, just take your car around the other side, the rest on me, we don't want them getting away."

The men follow their two commanding officers around both edges of the hotel, and begin to converge on the room. Kort pulls out a metal rod with equally spaced rungs around the edge, whilst Roth unsheathes a cutlass from his waist. Both of them are battle ready.

Of course it was only natural to them. In the seven years since the incident, they had brought in hundreds of rogue Supers.

Roth raised his cutlass towards the sky, and to an outside observer you would think it magic, but his cutlass was just the hilt, and as if it was charging itself, light was taken from the surroundings, and pulled towards the empty space where a blade should be.

The light becomes condensed at the end of the hilt, and forms the shape of a blade using the newly absorbed energy.

Kort can be seen doing something similar, but this time the charge isn't coming from the surroundings, but from within him. If you have keen enough eyes you can see the transger of power taking place, from man to weapon.

These weapons are extensions of the hunter, and can not be easily replaced, and if they are damaged too severely it could have adverse effects on the wielder.

Roth points his cutlass towards the room they believe their targets are inside, the men behind him move closer to the door, and line up beside it. He orders them to standby as he looks over towards Kort, but this process comes so naturally to them Kort was already starting to fulfill Roth's desire.

Kort pushes the electrical charge up the metal rod he had been communicating with, and it begins to seperate at each of the rungs, as all of the 8 detachable pieces fly off into different directions, and finally form a perimeter around the room, settling themselves in the shape of a cube.

Once the metal pieces are aligned an electrical current is sent between them forming a seal around the room. No one could get in and no one could get out.

Their subordinates know what is coming next. They too have followed this routine too many times to count, and they know all to well that once the area is secure, then comes the noise.

Roth plants his cutlass in the ground, using the newly formed light blade, and flicks a switch on the bottom of the hilt. Before anyone can tell what has happened there is a giant flash of light in the room, followed by a sonic boom, blowing out the windows and leaving their men seemingly unaffected.

Now it was time for the ground troops to play their part. They had every opening covered, and like clockwork entered the room.

As they did so, Roth and Kort approached the building, but something felt off to the Commander. Why was it so easy to apprehend one of the world's greatest heroes?

-----------------------

It's been two hours. I can't sleep. I drift in and out of consciousness, but something is preventing me from being at ease. Something the doorman said. But what? I think back to that conversation, and it hits me. It was the first thing he said.

"Can I help you friend, we don't get many visitors around here"

"We don't get many visitors around here" I mumble to myself "Then why are all the rooms in the main building sold out?"

I walk outside for some air, surely it's just a coincidence, and they just happen to be busy this week. I look over towards the main building, and that's when I see it. There are no cars.

If so many people are staying here that we can't stay in the main building, then how did they get here.

I get closer to the main building, and I hear cars. An old reflex kicked in, and my ears picked up two large jeeps approaching the hotel, 15 maybe 20 miles away. In my prime I could pinpoint a location from 100 miles away, but this wasn't my prime.

I manage to make out bits of what they're saying to one another. I hear my hero name "Is it really Sheerforce", "thought he was dead", "Quiet, look at the list", and then nothing. The list. They know what powers I, no we, have.

We need to get out of here and fast. The speed they're going we have 10 maybe 15 minutes, but who are they?