The Experimental Chapters

Note: These few short stories are still being conceived and written. They are intended to show the darkest actions of the Empire and scecifially Victor Voktor, hence the higher rating although I'm not sure if it's bad enough to deserve that but I wanted to be safe. Also Case #1 needs a total overhaul and tons of storyline added in but for the purpose of advancing the overall plot and getting on to areas I had more planned out it had to be written rather hurredly.

Late 2006 through the Demise of the Empire

Case #1

Supreme General Victor Voktor sat in a bunker hundreds of feet below the Earth. The entire structure was above top secret and a precious few individuals knew about it. It was here, deep in the frozen recesses of Alaska, where he could not be found, that he would finally be able to direct his most sinister operations and carry out his most horrific plans. For ages rage and hate had been boiling up inside him and he now had the technology and authority to make the nightmares of his mind a reality. Less than a month ago, the Republic had collapsed. The Empire now dominated the world and the Freedom Leaders had gone into hiding deep in the mountains of Asia. No one would stop him now, not even Supreme Leader Merkuto, who had not been informed of any of Victor's doings here. Victor believed his plan was perfect. Once complete he was sure the new Dark Age would never end and he would be in charge of it forever. Now he was prepared for his first operation. One of the special Agents he had chosen to work for him stood before him. His name was Jason Mortalitis, he was a plain enough boy with one distinguishing feature, a terrible scar over his left eye which caused it to squint and forced his face into a grimace most of the time. He had no uniform, his ID stated his rank as Special Agent, and it said he had the authority of the Empire to do virtually anything. Victor knew that he was terribly cruel and unfeeling, he had seen him in action many times before and knew he was perfect for the job. And what a job it was.

Special Agent Jason Mortalitis stepped off the bus into a small town named Harmet in western Nebraska. Victor Voktor had chosen this area as the site of the experiment so here it would be. He checked into the only hotel in the small town and after entering his room began unpacking his few bags and preparing for the first phase of the operation.

Michelle was in Henry's, the town cafe at her usual booth when her friends Bryan, Angela, and Marti walked in. They were all in their late teens and were simply trying to live out normal lives under the Empire. Not that the Empire had ever had much concern with Harmet. But today something wierd had happened. "Did you guys see that kid with the scar come into town today?" She immediately asked them. Her friend Angela shook her head, "He was so strange, nobody knows him and no one knows where he came from." She said. "I think we should cut him some slack," Marti said, "maybe he was in the War, maybe he fought to keep us safe." he finished. They considered it for a moment and decided to wait and see before they rushed to a judgement.

Across town a married couple, known to be as close as any could be, Jacob and Nikki where leaving their house, after they left, Nikki had complained one of her knives was missing but that wasn't important, what was important was when they saw Shariff Mark Warner come out of one of the houses across the street. He looked sick. "Is there a problem Sheriff?" Jacob asked him. The Sheriff jumped in surprise and came over to him saying, in a voice barely audible, "There's been a murder." They both gasped in horror. It must have been Mr. Varning, he lived alone in that house. "How did it happen?" They both asked. "I can't talk about that now. I'm calling in help and we are going to have a meeting at city hall tonight, come then and we'll see what we can tell you." he said. Nothing like this had happened in the town for years. Within hours, word of the murder had spread around the entire town. Nearly everyone was discussing both it and the meeting that had been called for tonight.

For all the fuss about the meeting, it was surprisingly brief. The Sheriff merely told them that Mr. Varning had been stabbed to death and they were searching for clues. They had no suspects at the time and welcomed any information. After the meeting Michelle walked up to him. "Sheriff, what about that boy with the scar who just came in to town? It's far too coincidental that a stranger comes here and something like this happens." She said. "We'll look into it." Was all he said to her.

Jason Mortalitis heard pounding on his door exactly when he expected to and was ready. He agreed to come along to the Sheriff's office where he was led to a room and told to wait until Sheriff Warner came into the room. "What is your purpose in town Mr. Mortalitis?" he said to him. "Well officer, I am tracking a dangerous fugitive in this area who just killed an Imperial agent." The Sheriff's eyes flew open as Jason threw his ID across the table at him and the Sheriff looked it over. "I don't know his name or if he has accomplices, only that he is armed, dangerous, and wanted dead or alive." he said. "What can we do to help?" Warner asked him. "Keep an eye out, get these people to trust me, and begin a sweep of the surrounding area." He told him. The Sheriff agreed to help Jason in his investigation.

The next day nothing new had turned up and it was time for Phase 2 of the operation. Jason injected himself with a syringe and then grabbed a small canister and walked outside. He went over to the largely empty diner and released its contents in the restroom and left. No one having seen him enter or exit. No one that would be able to remember very long anyway.

Michelle and her friends entered Henry's diner at their usual time but something was wrong. The place was literally like a grave. At least a dozen people were lying dead on the ground, their eyes a terrible orange color and they themselves lying in pools of blood. The teens fled the restaurant in terror and went to the Sheriff's office. Within seconds the boy with the scar and the all the police on hand were at the restaurant. There they boy urged them all to stay back. He then went over to Sheriff Warner and said, "This is more serious than I thought. This is a terrorist attack. For some reason this town is under siege. I am calling in Disease Control, this whole town has to be quarantined. No one leaves, understand?" he said. The Sheriff grimly nodded.

The entire town was gripped with fear as they waited for Quarantine Units to arrive that evening. Fear was reaching the boiling point and now it was time for Phase 3 of the plan.

Jacob went to Sheriff Warner's office late that night and asked to speak to him alone. "Sheriff, none of this is making any sense. Nobody in the entire town has seen anything! Surely if terrorists were attacking Harmet, Nebraska of all places we would have at least seen them." He said. "What are you saying?" The Sheriff retorted. "Are you saying Jason did it? The last person who thought that was that girl Michelle and he turned out to be an Imperial Agent. How stupid do you think I am to butt heads with him?" He finished anger boiling up. "I'm asking you to think about this rationally." Jacob answered. "If that was a biological attack why has no one else gotten sick and died?" he demanded to know. "I don't know!" The Sheriff yelled back. "There must be a reason and we're working on it, now get out of here and let me do my job." He finished. Jacob left and went home to recount the story to Nikki. "Just relax," she told him, "Quarantine will be here soon and will straighten this all out." she said, trying to calm him down. Nobody in town slept well that night, except for Jason Mortalitis.

Jason demanded another town meeting the next day at noon. As the entire crowd herded into the square he began speaking. "My investigation has rapidly led me to the bottom of this. I know who the terrorist is!" he shouted to the crowd. As everyone looked at one another he finally said,"Jacob Atwater!" Everyone turned and looked at him. "This is insane!" He shouted. "You people know me, I'm not a terrorist!" "Indeed." Jason said sarcastically, "Aside from the fact that fingerprint analysis found it to be your knife used to murder Mr. Varning, an Imperial Agent. And a review of your background found that you studied biology and medicine during college in New York City and could easily have created a disease to attack innocent Imperial civilians." he sneered at Jacob. At this point Nikki began to cry as Jacob sruggled to defend himself. "You must believe me!" he said to the crowd to no avail. All their faces from the young to the old glared at them. "You are under arrest." Sheriff Warner said as he took him away.

That evening the Qurantine Units rolled into town and took control to the relief of the populace. Within hours, Imperial Quarantine Agents dressed from head to toe in bio-suits surrounded the town and began sweeping it for the contagion. Jason went to the prison and found Jacob alone there in his cell. "Why?" was all he said to him. "Because, this was an experiment. I wanted to let you know. You were the only one who failed." Jacob began to say something before Jason shot him three times. He slumped over dead in the cell. Seconds later Sheriff Warner ran in and Jason shot him directly in the head, blood and brains covered the office as Jason calmly walked outside. "Now." He said to the soldiers, actually more of Victor's secret agents in disguise. They moved from house to house in the town, releasing more of the deadly toxin and shooting any who tried to escape.

Minutes later it was over as the stench of death filled the area. Jason pulled out his cell phone and ordered the final phase to be initiated. The agents in the city then rapidly packed up their gear and pulled out of the area. There was a huge explosion in the distance behind them and light flashed for a moment. Then no evidence was left that the town or the people in it had ever existed. Little did they know any records of them had been destroyed months ago as project research began. And in the new world of the Empire, no one would ask any questions even if any evidence remained. Except, there was one problem that would not arise until much later. A survivor, Michelle.

Jason saluted Victor Voktor back in his top secret bunker. "I've read the report Agent. This seems to have gone well." he said. "Yes, sir. This psycological experiment revealed that populations, in extremely short amounts of time, under the proper pressure and circumstances, can be broken by fear and will then turn on one another and happily beg for protection they should fear. However, there was a margin of error. One man simply would not break." Jason concluded. "The purpose of this experiment was to find out if a population could be broken and controlled through fear, the experiment can only suceed if success is total. What was the wrinkle?" Victor demanded. "I don't know, sir. Perhaps he was simply rational. Perhaps smarter than the others, perhaps more feeling, we simply don't know." he answered. The War Lord scowled. "We must learn more about the human psyche. I will design a test to try and dissolve the strongest bond between humans and if that succeeds all else will follow. You are assigned to this new project." Victor said as he explained it. "Do some research but in the meantime I have other work to do. This all goes far deeper than murdering a few people in the middle of nowhere, or even beyond power or control. This goes further than the Supreme Leader, further than any one of you can imagine" Victor said darkly. Jason calmly saluted him and left the room.

Case #2

Victor Voktor was in India. A rebel soldier had just been captured and had to be interrogated. It was now January. Victor knew he had to find the rebels and destroy them because his other plans were progressing rapidly and they needed to be out of the way. He considered this interrogation as eating up valuable time. He walked down a long, dark, and cold corridor with his aide, a Captain named Christopher Cartwright. "Wait here." He ordered him as a guard opened the door and allowed him into a medium sized concrete room. Two Zaki policemen were in the room with black face masks on so they could not be identified by the prisoner. He sat bound in a chair with a black bag over his head. Victor tore it off and looked at the boy. He had brown eyes, was blonde, and stared defiantly at Victor. Victor sighed and lifted a black baton he had been holding. Without saying a word he immediately pressed a button on it, the extending baton hit the boy square in the face. He screamed in pain as his nose shattered and blood poured out of it. "I don't have time to waste on you," Victor said, "where are the rebels?" he demanded. The boy said nothing. Victor hit him in the head several times with the baton and in short order blood and teeth were spread around the area. Still the boy said nothing. Victor nodded to the Zaki. They attached several cables to the boy and threw a switch at Victor's order. Electricity tore through him and he screamed in pain again.

Outside the room, Harold Nuvat, one of Victor's Special Agents walked up to the door. Harold was a heavyset boy but muscular all the same. He heard someone screaming bloody murder in the room and looked over at the War Lord's aide questioningly. "The General will see you momentarily." Christopher said to him calmly. A few minutes later the Supreme General did come tearing out of the room. He threw a paper at his aide and said, "Look into that." "Yes, sir." He replied and then, "This is Special Agent Nuvat." "Ah, yes." Victor said. He shook Harold's hand who looked down at it afterward and found blood on it. "You were in the area and I need you for my latest experiment." "I am at your service, my Lord." Harold replied saluting him. Victor nodded to Christopher who handed Harold a folder. "Everything you need is in there." The War Lord said. "Get to work." Harold saluted once more as the War Lord and his aide stormed back up the passage out of the room. He left soon after them. He didn't want to stick around longer than he had to. He doubted anyone wanted to be around here any longer than they had to.

Harold Nuzat shivered in the bitter cold of northwestern Canada. Victor Voktor had set up another top secret facility here for the next part of his plan. It had about a dozen buildings surrounded by an electrical fence with barbed wire ringing the top. A few dozen Agents and Imperial troops loyal to Victor only manned the facility. Most of them were at the front gate armed to the teeth. Their first shipment of prisoners would be arriving today. Several hours later of them standing in the cold the trucks finally appeared. "Get out you filth!" A guard from one of the trucks shouted as he began to throw out those who didn't move fast enough to suit him. Thirty six people stood in shivering in rags just inside the entrance of the camp. Some stood bruised and bleeding after being hit with rifle butts for one reason or another. Some of them barely stood at all. They were of all ages but were evenly divided between male and female. They were all here for one reason or another, rebel, traitor, dissident, all undesirables of one sort or another. As far as Harold and his men were concerned they were getting what they deserved. "What in the Hell are you standing there for animals?" He shouted at them. "Get to the delousing center!" He ordered. They shuffled as fast as they could into a building where they were hastily sprayed with chemicals to clean them off and then were rushed back out into the cold and into their individual cells. Harold smiled, tomorrow, the experiments would begin.

"Let the first experiment begin." Harold said. The prisoner, a woman in her thirties, lay bound on a table with several needles in her left arm. Her eyes were lifeless and she was unable to look at her captors. Slowly, the formula worked its way up the tube and into her bloodstream. Harold knew what he was looking for on the screens and in the woman and he was getting neither. She began to violently convulse, then she vomitted blood and lay still. All the instruments went flat. The scientists near him took a few notes, the area was cleaned off, and a new prisoner brought in. By the end of the day half of his subjects were dead one way or another. Their hearts had given out, their eyes exploded, they vomitted terrible substances, blood poured out of their eyes and ears until death. Every experiment so far was a failure. Harold scowled and hoped for better luck tomorrow.

But tomorrow proved no better. By the end of the day all of his subjects had met gruesome ends. Harold walked over to a television screen and waited several minutes for his transmission to encrypt itself. Victor Voktor's aide, Capt. Christopher appeared on the screen. "What is it Agent?" he asked. "I need to speak with the General about the project." He replied. "The General is not here. He has authorized me to take your reports until he returns." The aide replied. Harold didn't like talking to him but he must be in on it all so he began talking, "All my subjects are dead. The first serum was a failure. I need another group to try the next one." He told him. Christopher nodded and said, "They will be there within a week. Continue to report until you have a success and the subjects will keep coming." The transmission cut off.

For two more weeks Harold and his men conducted test after test. After so long, the bodies began to pile up and create a terrible odor in the camp. An enormous pit was then dug in the rear of the compound and the bodies were tossed in day after day as the casualties mounted. Harold was now on his fifth serum and it had killed half of his subjects from this new batch. He was beginning to become impatient and frustrated. The next subject was a boy in his late teens. He was fair haired and looked very fit compared to most of the prisoners who passed through Harold's camp. He was strapped onto the table and the needles were injected as usual. The test then began as the serum was uploaded into his veins.

Harold had a look of extreme boredom on his face as the latest experiment began on the boy. Then all of the sudden his eyes jumped open in surprise. His readings were going wild! He looked over at the boy who was breathing rapidly, his eyes had turned completely black, and his veins and muscles were expanding rapidly. Excitement gripped Harold. "That's it!" He shouted. "By God that is the one we want!" he said, his voice full of fascination. Finally the test ended and the boy lost conciousness. "Get him into a proper cell and finish off the rest of the prisoners. We won't need them anymore." He said as he ran out of the room.

This time Victor Voktor himself appeared onscreen. "What is it Agent?" he demanded. "We have found it, my Lord." Harold replied. Victor's attitude changed immediately and he smiled. "Excellent. You know what to do now. Continue on as we planned. When he is ready for the first test contact me and I will be there." The General said. Harold saluted him as the transmission cut off. Harold then gathered up the scientists needed for the next part of the experiment and headed over to the subject's holding cell.

Harold walked into the boy's cell holding his file. "This is the last record of you remaining on this planet." He said. He pulled out a match and set fire to it. "Now you don't exist. To anyone but me and Victor Voktor." He nodded to the scientists who went over to him and placed what looked like a set of headphones on him. He nodded once more and one of them pressed a button. They boy's eyes rolled into his head and he slumped over onto the bed.

When the boy woke up his head hurt. He couldn't remember anything at all. Not where he was, how he got there, or even who he was. He looked up and around at the room he was in. It was totally white with a single iron door. In front of him there was a boy in his teens. He was big and muscular. He was dressed in a black uniform of some sort. The boy looked at him and said, "You are Agent Roger Antony. You serve Supreme General Victor Voktor of the Global Empire." "Why am I here?" He managed to stutter out. "You are here because your missions will save lives. You are here to begin a new era in the history of the Empire and the world." The boy no, Roger as he was now to be known managed to stand. "Do you understand this Agent?" The boy in uniform demanded. "Yes." He said. The boy smiled. "Your training will begin immediately. Follow me."

Roger was quite simply astounding. After his training and re-education had begun he flew threw them both with exceptional speed and skill. Physically he was stronger than anyone Harold had ever seen, his hand to hand skills were amazing as well. He could wield virtually any weapon with precise aim. Mentally, he could memorize virtually anything or solve any puzzle. Within a few short weeks, he was ready for his first mission. At this time however, Harold had no idea what that was so he went to the monitor and contacted Victor Voktor. "He is ready, my Lord." He said after saluting the War Lord. "Good." Victor crooned. "Then the time has come. I am sending you the mission outline now." He said. "Report again when the mission is finished." He ordered Harold. "Yes, sir." Harold said. He saluted as he always did when the screen cut off.

"Alright, Agent." Harold said. "This is not, I repeat not a training exercise. This is the real thing. You got that?" Roger nodded. "Good. We'll see you on the other side then. Good luck." Roger made sure his weapons were all in place and hopped out of the black van they were in, in the heart of New York city. He was dressed in a black business suit, his shoes were polished perfectly, and he wore a pair of black sunglasses and gloves as well. Overtop of his suit was a black trenchcoat. He was ready to prove himself to his leaders and to the Empire.

Roger walked several blocks before coming to a dark and dirty alleyway. A dimly lit steel door stood before him. Roger grabbed the handle and twisted it like it was rubber and it broke off. He pulled out two automatic pistols and kicked in the door. Screams and cries of terror broke out as the people gathered in the room scrambled for their weapons or to get out of the room. They probably thought a battalion of Zaki police had broken into the building to arrest them. When they realized it was one kid with two pistols the panic stopped. Soon two dozen weapons were aimed at Roger, who they believed was no threat. That was their final mistake. He opened fire and immediately six rebels fell dead. They began firing back but Roger was too fast. He was gone before a single bullet could touch him. When his guns ran out of ammumition, anout three quarters of the rebels were dead, or screaming and nearly dead on the ground. At that point he threw down the pistols and went at them hand to hand. He kicked one rebel in the chest and he slammed into the concrete wall behind him then fell, dead. Roger than did an impressive backflip landing behind two more rebels whose necks he immediately broke. Another rebel hit him with his pistol in the back. Roger turned around in a rage and grabbed his wrist snapping it like a twig. He dropped his gun and screamed in pain but only for a second as Roger's other hand closed around his throat and crushed it. The last two, a boy and girl made a run for the door Roger had kicked in. He then pulled a shotgun from out under his coat. One blast left no rebels but plenty of blood and brains running down the wall. Roger walked into a seperate room, picking his way through the bodies. He placed a drive into the one computer holding all the rebels' files. He quickly hacked their system and copied the information. Roger pulled the drive out and placed an explosive on the computer then quickly left the room. Several minutes later an explosion rocked the area he had just come from. He found the black van on Wall Street just as he had been told it would be. Roger hopped in the back.

"Do you have it?" Harold asked Roger. He truly didn't know. The look in Roger's eyes was no different. He wasn't breathing heavy and there wasn't a scratch on him. Silently he handed Harold the drive and shook his head one time. "Remarkable." Harold said under his breathe. He hadn't seen anything like it before. "Excellent work Agent. The General will be pleased." he said. "Can i meet him?" Roger inquired. He truly did want to meet whoever it was he was really working for. "I expect you shall very soon. Very soon." Harold said as he placed the drive into the computer. He smiled as he scanned the information on it.

Walt Malkin was a resistance fighter based in Chicago, Illinois. He and his friend Susan Jackson were part of one the few tiny cells in the former United States still trying to resist the Empire. What he had seen so far was not good at all. A girl his age sat trembling in the meeting place of the resistors. "What happened to you?" another one of the fighters asked her. She was from their cell in Boston. It had been destroyed just like their cell in New York. Chicago was the last cell they knew about east of the Mississippi River. The Empire was really cracking down. "I don't know." She stammered. "We were attacked by a single boy. He was like nothing I'd ever seen." she said. "What do you mean?" They pressed her. "He was stronger and faster than anyone or anything I have ever encountered. He killed everyone single handedly. Except me." Nobody in the room seemed to believe her. "How did you escape?" Walt asked her. "He went over to our communications room for something and I ran out while he thought I was dead." The questioning went on for some time before they took her away. "Something isn't right about this." Susan said. "And I think they are coming after us next." "So do I." Walt said. "We have to look into this." He said. She nodded and they got to work.

Victor Voktor looked at his creation. Roger was simply magnificent. He took Harold aside and said, "This is marvelous. Keep sending him on missions. I am considering this project a sucess. We will begin creating new soldiers from volunteers we can find who are just like him to avoid the risk of relapse. But aside from that problem this has all worked out better than I expected. Carry on." he said. "Thank you, sir!" Harold said. This would look good on his record and he'd made the second most powerful person in the Empire happy. How could that hurt him? The War Lord spoke with Roger for a few more minutes satisfying him and then he departed. "What did you think of him?" Harold said to Roger. "He was very interesting and very powerful. I could feel it." he replied. "You're right about that." Harold said. "More right than you know. But for now we have another mission." Harold said smiling wickedly.

Several days later, another shattered soul was brought into the resistance HQ in Chicago. It was a girl with an incredible story who had hunted the resistance down after months of searching to beg them for help. They checked her out and couldn't find any records of her anywhere, which in fact helped confirm her story. Walt and Susan were, by chance, assigned to her case. They sat down with her, Michelle, was her name and asked her what had happened to her. She then described to them how an Imperial agent had appeared in her town and within three days the town was gripped with fear and a bio-defense team had come in and wiped out everyone except for her. They tried to find some sign that she was lying but her eyes showed a deep terror as she recounted the tale that only strengthened what she was saying. "They killed everyone, my family, my friends, everyone. The Empire is evil and it has got to be stopped." She concluded pleading with them. "That's absolutely incredible." Walt said. "What is the Empire up to?" Susan added. "There is no reason I can see that they would want to slaughter there own people for nothing." She said. "I think that if this is true, we have stumbled onto something big here." Walt said. "We had better pass this up the line." Susan finished. Michelle seemed to beam at these remarks. She thanked them and then left for the room they were keeping her in until they could find out if they could trust her or not. Despite all the precautions Voktor was taking, he was beginning to leave quite a mess.

"It's time to finish the rebels remaining in America." Harold said to Roger. "This is the last cell we know of and then you shall have cleansed the homeland of the Empire of this evil once and for all." he concluded. Roger nodded his head and hopped out of the back of the van. He was getting bored with killing rebels, he was ready to move on to greater things. He set off for the destination he had memorized, deep within Chicago.

Walt and Susan, after several more fact checks including an extensive search of the area Michelle claimed Harmet was in, decided that she was telling the truth. They presented their findings to the council that ran their resistance cell and after a fierce debate had the report passed on. They weren't sure where it would go from there, maybe all the way back to the Freedom Leaders wherever they may be. As they were leaving the meeting exhausted disaster struck. Alarms went off all over the underground complex. There had been a breach of security! "Make sure Michelle is okay, I'm going to help hold them off then we have to get out of here!" Walt said to Susan. She shook her head in agreement and ran off to complete her task. Walt ran down several halls and had soon come to the source of the alarm. Several explosions went off and gunfire was pouring up the corridor at him. There must have been dozens of Zaki down there. His jaw dropped when a single boy ran up the hall and gunned down several more resistance fighters. Then he remembered what the girl in Boston had told them a few days ago. His eyes widened in fear and he immediately turned and ran along with those who had survived the onslaught with the Imperial super-agent right behind them.

Roger turned several more corridors killing rebels as he moved along. Finally he kicked in another door that he now knew led to their escape hatch. He couldn't let any of them escape. When he stormed into the room there were two girls and a boy standing there. They stared wide eyed at him as he raised his weapons. Then as he scanned one of the girls he had the strangest feeling. He hesitated for a few seconds and she said, "Well? Are you going to kill us?" Then there was a sharp pain in the back of his head that became blinding. He dropped his weapons and fell to his knees holding his head. All of the sudden it came flooding back to him. He remembered the men breaking into his home in the middle of the night, the cold, tortoruous truckride, and the laboratory, the experiments. "What have i done?" He said looking at his hands. The rebels couldn't believe that they had just been saved. Walt spoke first deciding to seize the moment, "Let us help you, it's not too late to right the wrong you have done." he said. Roger looked up, seeming to notice him for the first time. "Yes!" he cried. "Tell me what I have to do!" he begged them. Once more the rebels couldn't believe their good fortune. It was time to turn the tables on the Empire.

Harold looked at Roger. Once more the boy told him that the mission was complete. Something didn't seem right with him though. "Are you alright soldier?" he asked him. "Yes, sir." he replied. Harold thought nothing more of it as they drove back to HQ. Tomorrow was a big day anyway. The Supreme General was coming in again in a surprise visit and he was now prepared to deploy Roger into combat to see how he held up against the real rebels, not just these fools pretending to be rebels. His agent would be in for a surprise then he though to himself.

Roger thought long and hard about whether he was going to go through with the plan all night. The rebels didn't care, they didn't trust him either way and were prepared for anything. He wasn't sure if he trusted himself but he decided that in the end it had to be done. He would thrash Imperial HQ in the city, allow the rebels in to take what they wanted and then escape with them if they all managed to survive. The next morning he reported for duty to Special Agent Harold. "I have a surprise for you." he said to Roger. Seconds later Victor Voktor walked into the room. Roger's stomach churned. He hadn't expected this. But it was now or never, as soon as the General approached him to shake his hand he drew his pistol and fired point blank at him. The War Lord's eyes seemed to pop out of his head as he dove for the floor with the bullet barely missing him. "What in the name of Hell are you doing!?" Harold roared at him. It was the last sentence the Agent ever spoke as Roger turned the gun on him and shot him dead. But now alarms were going off all over the complex and he had an angry War Lord in the room with him.

"You incompetant fool!" Victor hissed at him. "You have no idea what you are dealing with!" The next second there was a loud explosion. The rebels were in the building, his bomb went off just as he had planned. But then Victor began to transform, black bat-like wings sprouted from his back, his eyes became a menacing red, and he nails became claws. "Prepare to die!" He shouted at Roger who fired several shouts at the War Lord. Victor dodged them as he had before and fired an energy blast at Roger that just missed vaporizing him. Roger ran out into the hall and the battle continued hand to hand as they each kicked and stabbed at one another. The entire building had become chaos as rebels and Imperial troops battled for control all around them. Finally, Victor grabbed Roger and slammed him against the wall. "I am your creator." he said. "Do you have any idea what is inside of you? What makes you tick?" he pressed the battered boy as he kicked him while he was still recovering. "It is my blood. Me." The War Lord said. "No." was all Roger coud say over and over again in disbelief. "I am what gave you your power and I can undo you!" Victor said. Roger lunged at him in a rage but Victor threw him aside, his strength was nothing compared to that of the War Lord who had created him. "Why?" Roger asked him as he struggled to his feet once more. "You will never know. Your destiny is to die. Nothing more, nothing less." Victor said, disgust dripping in his voice as he advanced again.

Roger dodged a jab from the War Lord's right arm and returned one of his own connecting with the War Lord's chest. Victor hissed in pain and threw another punch that hit Roger square in the jaw and sent him reeling backward. Victor stepped over several bodies as bullets flew around him in order to deliver another blow to his rebellious agent. Then Walt and Susan entered the area and saw Roger battling the War Lord. "He actually went through with it. I can't believe it." Walt said. Something had gone horribly wrong for the Empire this time. Susan nodded in agreement and they fired several shots in Victor's direction to get him to back off from Roger who was now bleeding from several places. Victor sent an energy blast in their direction which just missed them and blew concrete out from the wall next to them that landed everywhere. Shards connected with some of them and some of their soldiers causing serious injuries in some cases. Victor then turned his attention back to Roger firing another blast at his feet which knocked him off balance and sent him to the floor. At the same time a rebel ran up and shouted that they had what they needed and were getting out before too many Imperial forces arrived. Victor roared in rage and prepared to finish off Roger so he could prevent the rebels escape. Just then Roger grabbed a pistol and, knowing that firing it at the War Lord would do him no good, instead turned it on the gas pipes exposed by his energy blasts. They exploded immediately, fire engulfed the area along with many of the Imperial soldiers giving the rebels the time they needed to escape.

Victor Voktor struggled to lift himself to his feet. His ears rang and blood was running down the left half of his face from the blast. He looked around him and saw his troops trying to pull themselves together and assist the wounded. Charred and blackened bodies that had been burnt to a cinder lay all around him. Roger, that rotten traitor, was nowhere to be found. Victor stumbled outside the HQ and watched as rescue teams moved in to clear out the damage and take the injured away. Some of them screamed in pain others remained motionless. Nearly everyone's uniform was covered in blood, dust, or ash from the battle. This hadn't turned out how he had planned at all. He had to get back to Alaska and commence his final operation to clean everything up. This was creating an awful mess and he couldn't afford any more slip ups now.

"Well my Lord, we have proven that you can pass on your powers to others. This wasn't a total failure." Capt. Christopher said to Victor. "Yes, the plan is coming together. We know how to break humans, we know how to build them up, but we must make sure they stay broken. Then we will be ready to make our move, just as soon as the Freedom Leaders are finished off once and for all." Christopher nodded in agreement. "Begin the final preparations and get me Mortalitis. It is time to begin the final operation." Victor ordered. Christopher saluted him and left to carry out the order. Everything would soon fall into place and the world would hold its breath as its fate was decided for the next ten thousand years.

Case #3