Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis

Meanwhile, in the city of Atlantis, a funeral is being held for Ryu Miyazaki. Haruka is wearing one of the queen’s elegant evening gowns and is staring coldly at her father’s body in the open casket. She kisses him on his forehead and whispers in Japanese, “Rest in peace, father.”

She nods her head at the Atlantean and walks away to sit next to Rikki. They hold hands and Rikki wipes the tears from Haruka’s eyes with her free hand. Queen Thessalonike watches as her servants close the casket and carry it away to have the body cremated as Haruka requested. Dr. Frankenstein is sitting next to her and whispers, “May he rest in peace.”

“Yes, Ludwig. I have not had the pleasure of meeting him...and yet I feel very saddened by this loss.”

Later that evening, Haruka places the urn containing Ryu Miyazaki’s ashes on a circular table next to a picture frame showing his face. She takes a step back into Rikki’s warm embrace and asks, “What do you think?”

Rikki kisses her neck and replies softly, “It looks perfect there.”

Dr. Frankenstein is sitting in his office analyzing the results of the most recent findings of the ocean life in this mysterious new world. Indrid is sitting next to him and begins to stare. He looks at her and asks, “What’s wrong, Indrid?”

“The funeral of Ryu Miyazaki has made me think about how I would react when your time comes.”

He squeezes her hand tightly and tells her, “Don’t worry about the future. Enjoy what you have now.”

These words make Indrid think about Alexandria. She can feel her unbearable pain whenever she thinks about Joshua Garrison. She then says, “Joshua Garrison comes to mind, Ludwig.”

Dr. Frankenstein sits back in his chair and takes a moment to think. He says with a sense of pity, “Poor girl. I wish there was more that we could do for her.”

In her bedroom, Alexandria opens her Facebook account and notices, much to her disappointment, that Joshua still has not posted anything since the day that they were separated. Anne Gee becomes puzzled and at a loss of what to say. She then detects a presence standing in front of the closed bedroom door and says, “Brenda Echevarria is at the...”

“Let her in.”

Brenda slowly steps inside seconds after the door opens. She immediately sees Alexandria’s head buried in her pillow. It never ceases to amaze her whenever she witnesses someone express such a profound sense of loss when separated from their significant other. At times, amazement turns into jealousy. Brenda sits on the edge of the bed and says softly, “Hey, princess.”

“Hey.”

Brenda asks herself is she should reveal to her the rescue attempt currently being planned by herself and Indrid. No. It’s too soon and not even set in stone yet.

“You will see him again.”

Alexandria ignores her and keeps her head lodged in her pillow. She curses at herself for not reacting sooner and saving him from being abducted by that woman.

On Earth, the guard glances over the paperwork and then looks up at both Frank and Sasha. He tells Frank as he hands him the documents, “This is a great addition, sir.”

“Indeed, soldier.”

The gate opens and Frank drives onward toward the parking area. He parks the MS4 and shuts off the engine. Sasha reverts back to her original form and stands beside him while appearing to be tense. Frank notices this and tells her, “You’ll do fine, kid. Relax.”

Sasha doesn’t reply and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath and nods. She then looks down at Frank and says, “Thanks, Frank. Let’s do this.”

The top hatch slides open and Frank steps out while crouching. The sound of children playing and laughing can be heard coming from the nearby barracks. He whispers to Sasha, “Ready for the diversion, kid?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

Frank walks away from the tank and takes out a remote detonator out of his pocket. He sees the driver of a military truck step out of the vehicle and he asks him, “Hey. You gotta light?”

The driver becomes startled and, before he even has a chance to reply, gets stabbed in the throat by Frank’s knife. He swiftly enters the military truck and shuts the door. This is not bad at all. He can probably fit most of the prisoners in here and move out before reinforcements arrive. Frank asks Sasha, “Have you hacked into their network yet?”

“That was done long ago, Frank. All power will shut down now.”

He grins as he watches the entire military camp go dark. The yelling of confused soldiers is heard and Frank mutters, “Gonzo.”

Sasha’s main screen shows the activation of her weapons systems. She quickly chooses the high density plasma cannon and shouts emphatically, “Weapons are active!”

The turret elevates from the top portion of the MS4. Then, the cannon extends from the front of the turret and clicks into place. Sasha aims the cross-hairs directly at the entrance of the base and commences the process of charging it to a highly destructive level. After about two minutes, she fires a burst of plasma energy which lights up the surrounding area like a flash of lightening. A soldier sees a star-like object rapidly approaching and yells, “Incoming!”

The entire front part of the military installation explodes and several soldiers near the blast disintegrate instantly. The luminosity of the plasma explosion was so bright that Frank had to cover his eyes. He looks up at the damage and whispers, “Holy shit.”

To his shock, he sees that the entire front area of the base no longer exists...as if it was never built in the first place. Sasha shouts ecstatically, “Pow! Eat that!”

Just as Frank is about to turn on the engine of the truck, he feels the tip of a rifle touch his temple. The soldier holding the weapon yells, “Step out of the vehicle! Now!”

At this point, Frank pushes the button of the remote detonator resulting in a tremendous explosion nearby. The soldier gets distracted and Frank shoots him in the head with his Desert Eagle Hand-Canon causing both a massive wound and instant death. The engine of the military truck turns on and drives away toward the barracks.

Sasha is traveling at a high rate of speed and picking off soldiers easily with her mounted M2 Browning machine gun. She laughs as bullets bounce off of her body as if each one were tickling her. A soldier then points a bazooka at her. Sasha stops in her tracks and says, “Okay. Go ahead.”

He fires the projectile and hits his target perfectly. The smoke clears and the soldiers are stunned to see the MS4 still intact. Sasha shouts, “My turn!”

Near the rear of the tank, a compartment slides open and an MLRS missile launcher rises up. The soldiers yell in a panic and run away as fast as their legs can carry them. Sasha launches several missiles at them which cause a series of flashes and explosions.

Frank arrives at the barracks and shouts at everyone, “We’re here to save you! Get inside the truck! Quickly, quickly, quickly!”

“How’s everything on your end, Sasha?”

There is an odd silence. He calls again. “Sasha? You there, kid?”

Diana’s voice is heard saying coldly, “Hey, dad. Long time, no speak.”

Frank closes his eyes in defeat and replies, “Diana.”

Diana sits back on her throne and tells her father, “I must admit. This was very entertaining.”

She hears him saying, “If you want to kill then kill me. Leave these people alone.”

“No. I want to kill them...and you. Goodbye.”

She looks at one of the gun control system operators and nods. He types several commands and says, “Firing.”

On Mars, Victor Frankenstein is staring at the screen witnessing what is happening on Earth. One of the scientists tells him, “She knows, Victor. It’s only a matter of time now.”

“Yes. Make the preparations.”

A minute later, Victor whispers to himself, “Come on. Help them.”

Frank watches all of the remaining soldiers retreat and comes to accept the final outcome of his mission. He then hears someone shout from inside the truck, “Aren’t we leaving?”

Frank walks toward the driver’s side door and says, “We sure are.”

Sasha continues to fire directed-energy at the retreating soldiers and cries out, “Yeah, you better run! Bitches!”

Her hologram appears and she starts air boxing while saying, “You want some of this? Huh? Wow, Frank...that was awesome!”

The silence puzzles her and she asks, “Frank? What’s up, partner?”

A huge red star in the sky captures her attention. She asks curiously, “What the fuck is that?”

Frank notices the red star heading towards the military base and says, “I love you, Diana.”

Diana hears him and becomes momentarily paralyzed with a brief sense of remorse. She slowly sits back down and closes her eyes while whispering, “This is what you deserve...you murderer.”

Frank lights up a cigarette and exhales smoke. One of the passengers is heard yelling, “What is he waiting for?”

Suddenly, the entire ground begins to tremble violently. An earthquake? Here? The ground below the base takes form of a hand and slowly begins to close its palm. As the hand finally closes into a fist and sinks down, the earth shifts and then reforms to the point that it looks normal again.

Seconds later, the red pulse hits the earth and Sasha manages to give one final push but still gets hit. Her deafening yell can be heard miles away as her body gets torn into two separate pieces. The front half flies straight into the forest while the rear gets scattered all over the airstrip. Inside of the tank, the main screen begins to flicker on and off. While sparks of electricity caused by severed wires fly in all directions, Sasha is breathing heavily and saying, “Is this what it’s like to die?”

Her system gradually shuts down and her voice pitch is getting lower. She becomes frightened and says, “I...don’t want...to....die. Please...help me, Fr..” There is now total silence indicating that Sasha has ceased to function.

Frank sees nothing at all. He only smells the scent of the earth all around him and hears the fragments of soil falling on the hood of the truck. He turns on his flashlight and asks, “Is everyone back there okay?”

After several coughs, a few of them reply in unison, “Yeah.”

Frank opens the door and hops out of the truck. He uses his flashlight to observe the cave-like surroundings. While touching the wall of dirt, he asks in a perplexed manner, “Where did we end up?”

A deep and hollow voice is heard saying, “You are safe.”

The flashlight gets pointed at the source of the ominous sound and reveals a female figure with shimmering emeralds for eyes. The creature introduces herself by saying, “I am Gaia. Goddess of the Earth.”

Diana is grinning in a sinister manner at the sight of the destroyed MS4. One of her soldiers is heard informing her, “We are arriving at the station of Mars.”

She sits back and replies frigidly, “Good. Leave no survivors.”

On Mars, a scientist shouts to Victor as they all walk in a fast pace, “They made it!”

As Victor Frankenstein and his fellow scientists enter the crowded elevator, he lowers his head and says, “Thank you, Gaia.”

The doors close and it immediately begins its descent into the lower section of the research facility. Victor is staring at the floor while holding his cane with both hands. One of the scientists tells him, “I would love to see the look on their faces, Mr. Frankenstein.”

Victor does not reply and continues to gaze at the floor with a serious facial expression. The entrance to the Mars Research Facility control room trembles and then gets blown apart. A wendigo soldier walks over the rubble and searches the room for Victor Frankenstein as well as the scientists. One of the soldiers looks at one of the monitors and shouts, “Sir! You need to see this!”

The commanding officer arrives and sees that there are only ten seconds left on the countdown. The whole station shutters and is consumed afterwards by a humongous black hole. The station reappears a minute later near the Sun and is destroyed immediately by the intense heat of the star’s blistering hot surface. Everyone inside of the descending elevator cheers and claps after feeling the familiar vibration upon activation of the teleportation system. Victor allows a small grin to appear and says in a low voice, “Checkmate.”

One of the system operators informs Diana, “The station on Mars just disappeared, ma’am. It’s gone...along with everyone that was inside it.”

She pounds her fists on her lap and says while gritting her teeth, “Damn that old man!”

Hours pass by and, at this point, nothing but the wind is heard. The ground begins to shake violently and the remnants of Sasha gradually disappear into the ground.

Frank stares at the horrific sight of his partner’s mangled and twisted remains. He mutters to himself, “I’m sorry, Frankenstein. I couldn’t protect her.”

A young African-American man stands next to him, adjusts his eyeglasses and asks, “Was that your tank, sir?”

Frank looks at him, nods and, while placing his hand on Sasha, replies, “She was a bit more than that, son.”

The young man grins at Frank’s attachment to the tank and extends his hand. “The name’s Derrick Epps. Thanks for rescuing us.”

Frank shakes his hand and replies, “Frank Garrison.”

“Isn’t that a Ripsaw?”

Frank is impressed with how Derrick recognized the military vehicle and nods. He then asks, “You’re familiar with it?”

“I should be. I graduated from MIT. Mind if I take a look?”

Frank takes a step back and replies, “Be my guest.”

Derrick kneels down and proceeds to wade through the wires. He whistles at the level of advanced technology that was being used. He says, “Very impressive hardware, Mr. Garrison.”

“Yeah. Can it be salvaged?”

“With the proper tools. As you know, most of this tech is proprietary and not available to the general public.”

“Right.”

Frank folds his arms and immediately remembers the vibrant android created by Jerry Desmond. Yes. Her name was Phoebe. Perhaps he can find a way to access his lab? Maybe there’s a chance to create a body for Sasha? He asks Derrick, “This tank has artificial intelligence. You think there’s a chance she’s still lurking around?”

Derrick shrugs his shoulders and replies, “I don’t see why not. Give me a few hours, Mr. Garrison.”

Frank gives him several pats on his back and walks away to let him work without pressure. It would be foolish to attempt an attack on Area 51. Not now. But soon. Because he has her back.

Hours later, Derrick continues to relentlessly attempt to resuscitate the MS4. He grins as the main screen flickers and is startled by a female voice as she gasps and whispers, “Frank.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My mother, Lydia Esther Negron, and my father, Daniel Rodriguez for being the best, and most supportive, parents any kid could ever wish for. My brother, David Rodriguez. My cousin, Yashua Arroyo. The following friends, Yaritza Martinez Santiago, Debbie Echevarria, Christopher “Hmmm, Hmmm, Him” Rowson and Google+ member Bloody Kiss for having faith in me and providing support during my most difficult times in life. Thanks to all of you.