Chapter 23 - Chapter 23: Alex

Chapter 23: Alex

A young white Mornan walked through the streets of Geronimo with a glint in his eyes as he surveyed the trading center around him. Geronimo was a simple city on the planet of Sudrat, one of the many planets controlled by the Mornans in the N-4-A-5 Star system.

It was simultaneously one of the most prosperous and one of the poorest planets under Mornan rule. The world was effectively split in two: one side for the abundant Red and Blue Mornans native to the planet, the other for the White, Silver and occasionally Orange Mornans who did business there.

Geronimo was located in the "bad side" of the planet. For generations, it had ranked among the worst places to live in Mornan territory. All that changed about six years ago when the newly appointed Sentinel Bastain from another star system began personally transforming Geronimo. His interest in this particular City stemmed from the fact that it was where he once lived and where the people he considered family still resided.

"Tamar, how've you been? It's been a while since I last visited, hasn't it?" The young White Mornan with dark hair and raven-black eyes said with a sly grin as he entered a trading stall where communication devices of all kinds were sold.

The Blue Mornan girl, Tamar, simply sighed as she stood up, setting aside the device she'd been tinkering with.

"Yes it has, a peaceful while, Alexander. What do you want now?"

"Oh, come on, you don't have to be like that," Alexander said, leaning on the counter, his grin widening. "I'm just here to catch up with my favorite person in all of Geronimo. And, you know, maybe ask for a little help."

Tamar crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "Help? You mean you want something. Spit it out, Alex. I'm busy."

Alexander chuckled, unfazed. "Alright, alright. I need you to hack into a device I picked up a few days ago. Let's just say I got it from a rather fast rat."

Tamar's face tightened. She glanced around the stall, making sure no one was listening. "You're still doing this? Going after people working for the 'good side'? Why can't you just stay out of it?"

She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. "You know how dangerous that is. If you hurt these people, they'll use it as an excuse to attack or undermine us. You know how much they hate what Bastain is doing. They're still fighting to have his assistance ruled as Renegade interference. Why won't you just let this go?"

"Because it's Geronimo," Alexander said, his voice dropping, serious now. "You know how much time it took this city to become what it is now. I won't let it go back to how it was before Bastain joined the Renegades and became a Sentinel. I might not like my brother, but I still respect what he's done for Geronimo."

"Safety isn't something I care about that much. Besides," he added with a confident grin, "you know how much it takes to hurt me."

She sighed again, heavier this time. "Fine, I'll help you. Please, just take care of yourself."

Alexander studied her worried expression for a few moments. "Don't worry, I will."

He waited in the stall for several hours as Tamar worked on the secure communication device he'd taken from a Blue Mornan spy he'd been tracking. Unfortunately, the Mornan had managed to escape before Alexander could question him, but he'd left the device behind in a hurry.

"I got it!" Tamar shouted as she rushed over to Alexander.

"It's a secure communication channel that's mostly used to relay the location for their next meetings in encrypted code. It took me a while to crack the code, but I finally did it." Tamar said as she handed him a piece of paper with all the information on the device.

Alexander scanned the contents, his eyes lighting up. "You're a lifesaver, Tamar. Seriously." He moved closer and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Her face flushed red, as she shoved him back.

"Get out of here, you idiot!" she snapped, but her lips twitched into a reluctant smile.

Alexander laughed, carefully folding and pocketing the paper. "Take care, Tamar. I'll be back to bother you soon."

He left the stall, his grin fading as he walked through Geronimo's crowded streets.

______________________

In a rundown warehouse on the outskirts of Geronimo, a Silver female Mornan with blonde hair and blue eyes stood before three Blue Mornan spies her organization had planted in the city. "Do you have it with you? The list of companies that recently established trading deals with Geronimo?" she asked, her voice cold.

She was supposed to be meeting up with four spies, each placed in a different developing sector of Geronimo but one of them had decided to not show up for a reason. A reason she would make sure to ask him before she punished him.

One Blue Mornan stepped forward, nervous. "No, not yet, madam, but we're working to get it for you. There are also other spies from different organizations in the good side looking to poach all they can from Geronimo. It's quite hard to work with them, so they make things hard for us occasionally."

"Hmm, I suppose it can't be helped," she said, her smile thin. "No one wants to see the authority of the good side undermined by a Renegade. White Mornan or not."

"You've all done well so far. You shall be paid handsomely for your efforts. Keep it up, and you may one day be allowed to enter the good side," she added, causing the Blue Mornans to exchange hopeful glances before she turned toward the door, signaling her two White Mornan guards to follow.

BOOM!!!

The warehouse door flew inward, forcing all six Mornans to duck as it sailed over their heads.

"Evening, everyone," Alexander announced, walking in with a broad smile as if he'd been invited. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

The Mornans immediately stood and reached for their weapons, training them on him.

"Whoa, whoa, easy now," he said, his voice light but with an edge. "Let's not get messy. Put those down before you hurt yourselves."

The Silver Mornan frowned as she studied him. "Who are you, and what exactly do you think you're doing here? Which organization do you work for? Don't they know it's forbidden to cause significant interference with each other's business?"

Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm a White Mornan born and raised here, no corporation involved. And you're all rats poking your noses where they don't belong."

Recognition dawned in the Silver Mornan's eyes a few moments later. "Ah, you're the brother of Bastain, the only other White Mornan to live in this dump. What was the name again? Oh right, Alex."

Alexander's smile dropped. "That's Alexander to you, actually. Doesn't really matter though, since you won't be remembering it for long."

The Silver Mornan chuckled. "How unlucky for you. Honestly, it's a shame you had to go looking for trouble, kid. Now we have no choice but to get rid of you. We'll have to make it look like an accident, of course. I wouldn't want to invite even more Renegade interference, especially on the orders of a Sentinel."

"Take care of him," she ordered the White and Blue Mornans as they readied their weapons.

"𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖," Alexander commanded, his eyes turning pitch black. "𝔻𝕣𝕠𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤."

The Mornans froze, their weapons clattering to the floor as they released them involuntarily. Their eyes glowed black, matching his, their faces blank and expressionless. The Silver Mornan watched in disbelief as her control of the situation evaporated.

She glanced back at Alexander and felt her own thoughts becoming increasingly frantic.

"You... you have a Heart shard ability!" she gasped. "But that's impossible. You're not a Renegade. It's illegal for civilians, regardless of species, to possess Heart shard abil—" Her voice cut off as her eyes finally turned black, like the others.

Alexander's smile returned as he began pacing around them. "ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟, 𝕝𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝔾𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕠. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥."

One by one, they recited names, locations, and assignments in flat, emotionless voices. Alexander committed each detail to memory, his eyes narrowing at how much these organisations were putting into interfering with this one city.

"𝕍𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕," he said when they finished. "ℕ𝕠𝕨, 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝔾𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕠 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟, 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕀 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕." He paused, considering. "𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕡 𝕒 𝕤𝕦𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟, 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕤. 𝔹𝕚𝕘 𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤. 𝔸𝕞 𝕚 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕕?"

"Perfectly," they all replied in unison, their voices hollow.

He watched with satisfaction as they filed out of the warehouse, moving like sleepwalkers. Only when they were gone did he allow himself a moment to lean against the wall. Using his ability on multiple targets simultaneously, especially stronger ones like the Silver Mornan, always drained him more than he liked to admit.

After giving himself a few minutes to recover, Alexander made his way back across the city toward the orphanage he called home.