Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

The late night carried on uneventfully, we headed back in after some time relaxing quietly by the lake side, Wrex astonishingly apologised to Sarah, for which she returned an apology for not telling him about the Shard before. She then showed us to a spare room each, until we both expressed our desire to share a room, to which she gave a deeply amused grin and allowed us to do so. So indeed, after both of us stripping off our armours except for Wrex with his Gauntlet and myself leaving just my torso section on, Wrex and I shared a bed. We spoke for a short about our past lives while laying close to each other but it wasn't long before we ended up pulling close to each other, with his arm under my neck I cuddled up on to his shoulder and we both fell asleep.

__________

Welcome, Tue 18th Jan '22 07:41

Crystal: "Alex, wake up please... Alex?" She spoke to me in my head causing me to stir. I didn't want to move, Wrex had pulled me in to an even closer loving embrace, my head resting on his neck, facing into his shoulder, his arms wrapped around me, holding me close... Close enough that I could feel his hot morning wood between our bellies causing an intrigued moan escaped my now smiling lips. I repositioned myself slightly to be able to gently grab it and start stroking, thinking about him using it to pound me again was getting me very hot again very quickly.

Crystal: "Alex, please you are receiving a call from Sora."

Me: "Mmm, can you take a message, I'm busy, or about to be anyway." I mumbled.

Crystal: "She says it's urgent."

Me: "Tell her to call me back in a bit. Or better still, I'll call her back."

Crystal: "I'm afraid I have already postponed her twice so far this morning, she is very insistent." I gave a large sigh and released Wrex's member.

Me: "You're such a kill joy Crystal." I whispered to her, swung myself gently out of bed so as to try and not wake Wrex. Grabbed and donned my neck and lower head pieces and also my helmet, closing it and muting the external audio.

Me: "Go on Crystal, put her through..."

Sora: "About bloody time." An image of her was instantly displayed in my eye sight, positioned in the center of the HUD.

Me: "Morning to you too, what's so urgent?"

Sora: "Yeah well it's the middle of the night here and I couldn't sleep. So I got talking some more with Star Light and it turns out that apparently they use to have some equipment to track and trace radiation flares created when using the Shard or the Heart. Create a Jump, 'ping' it shows up on the map. The more power that's used, the larger the radiation flare. So guess what."

Me: "You found him?..." Her image nodded, "...Where?"

Sora: "There has been a build up occurring in London, too small of a signature to pinpoint exactly, what ever he was doing was something small. Until an hour and a half ago, Kensington Gardens lit up, cross referenced that with today's news and I found out that Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park have been closed to all public suddenly overnight, with no warning, to carry out 'essential maintenance' ".

Me: "What's he doing?"

Sora: "I don't know, this equipment doesn't show me, what I do know is this is the best indication we've had since we lost him. So give me an hour and a half, I'll wrap things up here and make my way to you. Are you still at the Airstrip?"

Me: "Erm... No."

Sora: "Ok, where are you then?"

Me: "You know you shouldn't be coming here though, right?"

Sora: "Oh don't you fucking start, I'm helping you, end of discussion. Now where are you?"

Me: "Err... Crystal, mute mic and audio..." Sora's image of her face instantly turned to one of shock and anger then immediately started silently talking away. "... Crystal, mileage count between here and London?"

Crystal: "Approximately 4075 Miles."

Me: "So that's..." I quickly did the basic maths, "...about what? An hour and a half at our top speed?"

Crystal: "1 hour, 28 minutes."

Me: "So yeah, pretty much..." I looked over to the still fast asleep Wrex, "...And what's the progress on Wrex's armour?"

Crystal: "I am still four hours from completion, I don't have the faster equipment that was available to me at the mansion."

'I could get there just as she arrives here and before he wakes up then.' I thought to myself.

Me: "Unmute all... Ok Sora, we're at Welcome, Maryland, USA, I'll get Crystal to send the exact coordinates to you now." Sora's image swiped at an invisible display and very slightly shook her head,

Sora: "Closest please I know is Alexandria, Washington... Shouldn't take me to long to get there though, half hour, maybe, so 2 hours and I'll be there."

Me: "See you then." I lied and her image disappeared. 'Now I just need to get out of here without waking Wrex, before he asks questions.' I thought as I turned to see his unmoved slumbering form. As quietly as I could, I put on the rest of my armour, constantly checking on Wrex whenever a loud click or latching sound was made, he occasionally stirred but never awoke, until I just started putting the last few pieces of my right arm on. His eyes blinked open slowly and he looked at me with an analytical dazed expression.

Wrex: "What are you doing?"

Me: "Erm... Well..." I latched my upper arm piece on and picked up my glove and gauntlet and walked over to him, leaning over the bed slightly to get to him, giving him a kiss on his snout, then making sure I had stepped back enough before continuing, "...I love you, but err... duty calls." I said stepping quicker for the door.

Wrex: "What do you mean duty calls?! Alex?! Where are you going?!..." He leapt out of bed at me, narrowly missing as I stepped out of the door, quickly latching my gauntlet on as I rounded the landing and pegged it down the stairs. "...ALEX!" I heard him scream as he skidded around the landing behind me. I barged out the front door, clipping my last glove on and took off as fast as I could.

Me: "Need to get to London, fast as possible." Crystal set a marker on the horizon on my HUD and once again my air speed reading shot up until it settled again at Mach 3.6.

It was only a few minutes before Sarah's and Wrex's faces popped up in one corner of my HUD.

Sarah: "So Crystal tells me you're heading for Kensington Gardens after Sora telling you the Shard has been used there."

Me: "Crystal, me and you are going to have to have a talk about privacy settings."

Sarah: "And I will just override them."

Wrex: "Alex, come back, you can't face him alone, you asked me what I wanted to do and I told you! So why leave me behind?!"

Me: "Your armour isn't finished and you have no way to keep up with me."

Wrex: "So why not wait?!"

Me: "This is the best sign we've had in days. I'm just going to check it out then you can catch up after."

Wrex: "And if he's there?! Then what?!..." I didn't reply, I didn't know how to reply, "...exactly! Please Alex, come back to me."

Me: "I... Can't. I need to do this, I need to see what he's up to."

Wrex: "Maybe so, but you don't have to do it alone."

Me: "It's just a little recon? Just until you can get here yeah?" Sarah looked to Wrex, but Wrex just stared intently at me.

Wrex: "Fine. Recon only. But you remain hidden. And at the first sign, the slightest HINT of trouble!, you get out of there, understood?"

Me: "Got it."

Wrex: "Promise me!"

Me: "You have my word, Wrex..." I smiled at him, but in no way did he return it so after a couple of seconds, I ended the call. "...My drive playlist, please Crystal."

'E Pro' by Beck - Cape Lion Remix, started playing.

__________

Kensington Gardens, London, UK, Tues 18th Jan 14:22

I circled over the park silently using just my wings now, just in the cloud cover so as to hopefully not be seen by the people of the city of London.

Me: "Ok, what have we got Crystal?" My HUD zoomed in and scanned over the park.

Crystal: "There has been no further update on the parks closure status, Metropolitan Police are stationed at all entrances to the park denying access to civilians."

Me: "The police are involved? Sky High Technologies must have some serious pull. What about in the park?"

Crystal: "There has been no updated Shard energy pulses detected in the last 13 minutes and 18 seconds. We are overdue another pulse as they were occuring more frequently before."

Me: "Can you pin point the last location?"

Crystal: "I can narrow it down to the nearest 30 meters, here." A circular highlighted area appeared on my HUD in an area near a lake labelled as 'The Long Water', in the center of the park. I dived down, Wrex's voice bursting over my coms, sounding desperate and pleading,

Wrex: "Pleeeaasse... Go careful Alex." That was my intention anyway so I chose not to reply. I almost silently made contact with the ground, just outside of Crystal's marked area. I scanned around my landing spot, nothing, so I proceeded into the area. I walked down the path, looking this way and that, preparing for an imminent attack, making it into a small clearing, the metal fencing on one side revealing the lake and the other, opening up onto a small grass area with a statue of Peter Pan as the center piece. I walked toward the statue, looking at it I smiled slightly, 'think of happy thoughts' I reminded myself from the old films. I had to go through pain and misery to earn my wings, literally.

I was pulled away from my trail of thought by a rustle in the bushes behind the statue and snapped my arms up at the source. A Draconic head emerged, followed by her neck and the rest of her body,

Jinx: "Alex! I'm so glad you're here! Quick we need help!" I lowered my arms ever so slightly.

Me: "Jinx?! Wait, who's 'we'?"

Wrex: "Alex...?" He said uncertainly over my coms.

Jinx: "The others! We managed to escape! But D42, James!, he got hit! He's loosing a lot of blood, I don't know what to do! Come on! Please help!" She beckoned me through the bush so I followed, still somewhat keeping my guard up, but worried about '42's condition. We made it through the bush and Jinx ran on all fours towards a high corrugated metal fence. I dropped as well and followed.

Wrex: "Alex, I don't like this."

Jinx leapt over the fence and I followed, then something clicked with me as I jumped and landed on the other side. She was stood staring at me smiling menacingly.

Me: "Since when did you know his real name was James?!" I heard the familiar whining sound of a plasma jet charging up... But not my own, one sounding more powerful... I turned to the source to see Skylen holding out what looked like a stockless shotgun, pointed at me, the end of the barrel glowing a bright white.

Wrex: "ALEX!"

I tried to move, *POW*, but the plasma bolt clipped me in the right arm, sending me flying, spinning, into a pile of soil. I groaned as I pulled myself to sitting up, taking a look at my arm. The armour for the most part was intact, the paintwork completely fried off and the plate was smoking, sizzling and crackling, I could feel the heat gently warming my arm below. I was kicked back down by Skylen just as I was about to get up, holding me in place with his foot, the glowing end smoking barrel of his gun pointing inches from my armoured face.

Skylen: "I had wondered who would come sniff out the bait. You ruined my plans a bit, I was hoping to draw in some Vanguard, but I must admit, as I had left you for dead, I didn't think it would be you..."

Wrex: "Alex! Get out of there!"

Skylen: "...You like it?..." He made a gesture toward his gun, "...It seems your old friend Sarah was in a bit of a rush when trying to scrub all her data, made a sloppy job if it... Plasma cores make for so many uses eh? After seeing the damage you caused to one of my loyal followers, I just had to make my own."

Two other dragons, Jinx and B02, with seemingly a skeletal prosthetic arm replacing the one I had obliterated at the mansion, now lined up alongside Skylen.

Wrex: "ALEX!"

Me: "You talk too much." I batted his gun away and ignited my plasma jets, tearing out from under his foot. A mere three seconds passed before something hit me... My vision feeds fizzled and shut down and my plasma jets went silent... Everything went silent. I flailed as I realised I was falling through the air with no power, giving a small scream of fear as I saw the ground approach fast through the eye slits in my helmet, I tried to spread my wings, but it was too late. I smashed and bounced off the grass then crashed down again and skidded to a halt. I groaned painfully as I pulled myself from the floor, yet again fighting the servos.

Me: "No, not again! Come on Crystal! We need to get out of here!"

Crystal: "You-You-You-You..." Then her voice then changed to almost an almost natural sneering as opposed to her normal official computerised sounding tone... "...You were right where I needed you to be."

Me: "What? What are you on about?!"

Crystal: "I I I I have coororordinatesss for a rendezvous-vous-vous." Her voice returned to it's usual.

Me: "Not this shit again! Reboot! Crystal!" I started staggering away,

*POW!* I barrel rolled several dozen times, as the plasma round hit me in my side. It felt like I span and bounced forever before until- *SMASH* *CRACK CRACK CRAAACK* *THUMP* I heard a tree fall nearby, my back was killing me from how I had hit the tree, I felt so dizzy and had a very strong need to throw up. I pulled open my helmet, forcing it open, trying to breath the fresh air, gasping. Skylen landed a few feet away, stepping toward me, holstering his new toy in a holster that went diagonally across his back. I tried to stand up but immediately fell back down, I was too dizzy. Skylen reached down and grabbed me by the neck, hoisting me from the ground and I tried feebly to release his grip.

Skylen: "This time, I'll make sure you die properly... But first, I want that armour."

_________*_Sora_*__________

Welcome, MD, Tues 18th Jan '22 09:46

I glided down and landed next to the edge of a lake, behind a house a fair distance away that was located at the coordinates that Alex had sent me. I slowly and quietly moved toward it, dropping any subtlety as I got close enough to hear some rather loud voices arguing, one of which I could easily identify as Wrex.

Wrex: "I need to go!"

Female: "You think you're going to be able to fly all that distance?!"

Wrex: "Do you think I'm just going to sit here and wait?!"

Female: "For the armour, yes! Then you stand a chance of getting there in time!"

Wrex: "But then I still have to wait 2 more hours for it to finish, then the hour and a half flight!"

Female: "Listen to yourself Wrex you're being a dumbass! Think! If you wait it will be quicker than flying that far on your own, plus you'll never make it! Think about it!"

It went silent as I reached the back door and slowly made my way into a kitchen, Wrex standing on one side and a human woman standing the other, both of them turning their attention to me.

Sora: "What's going on?" Wrex's face lit up,

Wrex: "Sora! You need to get me to London!" He said stepping toward me.

Sora: "Whoa, what? Why?"

Wrex: "Alex!... She's!... She..." Wrex stumbled over his words, seemingly incapable to get them out, so he gave up and started walking away, shaking his head.

Female: "They got Alex." She said looking at the floor, Wrex spun on the spot,

Wrex: "HE'S got Alex!" He snapped back.

Sora: "What?! How?! How could you let that happen?! And who are you anyway?!" I directed at the woman.

Female: "I'm Sarah Jarvie, I know Alex mentioned me a few times." Wrex walked up to me, now looking extremely pissed off.

Wrex: "Hang on, 'How could 'we' let this happen'?!! It was YOU! YOU told her where the Shard was!"

Sora: "And you just let her go on her own?!" Wrex now looked rageful and spoke with a low growl,

Wrex: "You... Are really starting to piss me off... Do you really think I'd just let her go?" I stood my ground and growled at him, he stepped closer to me still, only a foot away now and returned a threatening growl.

Sarah: "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU! This isn't going to help get Alex back!" Wrex made an angry snort before turning away from me and heading out of the kitchen.

Sarah: "Where are you going?" He stopped in the doorway,

Wrex: "Getting my faithful old armour on, then... you!..." He spun and pointed to me "...are taking me to London to get Alex back!" And he left the room.

__________

Myself and Wrex floated along in the Jump, good for us that I had actually been to Kensington Palace and the Gardens before, otherwise I could imagine Wrex being more pissed off than he already was. I side glanced him, he stared straight ahead, not a word was said, not a sound, no giveaway expression to give any sort of indication as to what was going through his mind.

Sora: "Why are you doing this Wrex?" He turned his gaze to me.

Wrex: "Can you be more specific?" He replied bluntly.

Sora: "You've been in hiding all this time, why emerge now?"

Wrex: "You may have or may not have noticed, I come out of hiding and help when ever Humanity threatens it's own existence, or if my freedom to hide."

Sora: "There's more to it than that, I can tell, yeah there's a war coming, but it's not here yet and you could have kept right out of it if you liked, why are you really getting involved? You even told Alex that you wanted nothing more to do with it, so why bull shit?"

Wrex: "What does it matter to you? I still don't know who you are, so why should I trust telling you anything that you could potentially use against me?"

Sora: "You like her, don't you?"

Wrex: "The first person to be friendly to me in for a thousand years, of course I'm going to like her, certainly like her more than you."

Sora: "I think there's a little more to it than that..." He looked away, staring straight ahead again giving no further answer. "...I thought so. Wrex, I can't tell you who I am, but I promise you that you can trust me and I will do whatever I can to try and help get her back." He gave a disbelieving sideways glance back at me but still never said another word before I was distracted with our drop in speed. I looked ahead to see the whisper float towards us.

__________*_Wrex_*__________

'I knew that Sora knew that myself and Alex were already close, so what was she going to gain out of it by hearing me admit it? She still doesn't even seem to think it's important enough to tell me anything about her so why should I trust her? I know I asked her to take me to London but she could be taking me right into a SkyTech trap somewhere else right now for all I knew.'

I watched from beside her as she searched through the whisper, I didn't see anything to suggest as such, it looked like a park or garden area to me, but I wasn't going to let my guard down. She pushed the whisper away and we floated on for another minute or so before we entered the mist at the end of the the Jump, emerging onto some grass area behind some hedges. I immediately scanned the area only to see no one until I turned around to see a woman with long flowing blonde hair looking dead at me. I froze, contemplating my options as to what to do with this woman who had just spotted me...

"What?" She asked straight at me, the voice sounding familiar...

Wrex: "Sora?!"

Sora: "Yeah? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Wrex: "You're... Human?"

Sora: "A disguise, that way I can hide in plain sight. Better than hiding in the bushes like you do anyway. How far is it to where you last saw her?"

Wrex: "Erm, can you see the Peter Pan statue?"

Sora: "No... but there's a taped off area over there that looks a bit of a mess."

She stated, gesturing over the hedge next to us. I leaned up off of my hands and peered over in the direction she was looking, trying to make sure I didn't get spotted. Sure enough there was an area, cordoned off with police tape and plenty of police surrounding a fallen tree and masses of torn up turf.

Wrex: "Shit... That doesn't look good... I need to find a way to get a closer look."

Sora: "Orrr... You don't send a Dracronian to do copper's job." I turned to look at her confused, but realised that she had changed her outfit from a casual civilian set up to one of a British police officer's uniform. She adjusted her hat over her now ponytailed hair, gave a smug smile and walked in the direction of the crime scene.

(-Whiz Khalifa)