Spider-bear: Thanks again…nothing really more to say *smiles*
Chistalina: Don't worry Adrian is NOT coming back. I've used that storyline once already, the story is coming to an end, I'm not about to revive a character to get killed once more.
Here's a very long chapter to finish it off.
Anyway let's move on.
The jumpship landed and the two got off and Carrington greeted them immediately.
"Ah, you always seem to be the one who takes the beatings Sean" Carrington said
"Comes with the job I guess" Sean replied as they walked up to Carrington's office
"Take a seat" Carrington said but neither needed to be told as they sat down out of exhaustion.
"Anyway, I called you in for two reasons. One was to congratulate you" Carrington said
"Second is another assignment?" Sean asked
"In a way, now don't look at me like that" Carrington gave a smile "No it's to tell you that the Maians are ready to accept you to their planet again. I said a while back that two people could go, I know you've already been Jonathan but I'm sure you wouldn't mind a second visit and Sean is really the only other person one I could give this honour to. That is of course you want to do this, because they are picking up Elvis tomorrow and have agreed if we wish to take 2 of you along" Carrington said
"Sure I'll do it" Sean said not noticing any sign of his tiredness because of the opportunity that was presented before him
"Jonathan? What about you? Too exhausted?" Carrington asked
"Of course not, I wasn't there for very long last time" Jonathan said
"Excellent. You guys rest up, be here early tomorrow" Carrington said
"I'll see you here tomorrow then" Sean said as he left
"Bye" Jonathan replied not far behind to leave the room
Jonathan went down to Firing Range to talk to Foster about how stupid the guards were when it came to the CMP150. However he found a familiar face.
"Hey Joanna" Jonathan said
"Hi Jonathan" she replied
"How's it going?" Jonathan asked
"Quite well thanks. I obviously heard about the other place" Joanna said
"These things happen I guess. How's she going Foster?" Jonathan replied wanting to avoid discussion of the Skedar especially with Joanna who was supposed to be totally oblivious to it.
"Excellent as usual, although she has got to stop coming here, doesn't she have a life?" Foster asked
"No, she doesn't" Jonathan laughed
"Hey! Just because I want to get a head start doesn't mean I don't have a life" Joanna retorted
"De Nile, great river in Egypt and also a great excuse to try convince yourself of lies. Come on Jo, it's nothing to be ashamed of I don't have a life either" Jonathan said. Foster gave a chuckle.
"What's the Nile got anything to do with this?" Joanna said
Foster and Jonathan exchanged looks.
"Never mind, when does Carrington think you'll start training?" Jonathan asked
"A few years off, but that's my choice. I want to see the world a little bit more before I put my life into this" Joanna said
"Smart move. You'll be surprised at how much time this takes from you" Jonathan said
"What about Sean though? He started when he was my age, now that's somebody without a life" Joanna said
"There is a special reason for that. Don't tell him I told you this, but his parents were Institute agents, he saw his parents die in front of him and Carrington took him here and basically he was raised here" Jonathan explained, not wanting to tell Joanna about the truth with Adrian.
"How awful, I'm sorry I said that now" Joanna said apologetically
"You weren't to know. He hides it quite well" Jonathan said
"Yeah I was convinced, he seemed so cheerful when I met him" Joanna replied
"Anyway I better get going" Jonathan said
"See you later then" Joanna took her weapon and started another test.
Jonathan left and headed for his car. As he drove through the emptiness around him, Jonathan somebody and as he got closer the figure looked familiar. Jonathan got a look and pulled in front of him and opened the window.
"Hey Sean, you walk home from the Institute every day?" Jonathan asked
"Yeah, it's pretty rough but what choice to do I have" Sean replied with a smile
"Here let me run you down to where you live" Jonathan said
"Are you sure?" Sean asked
"Sure I'm sure just get in already" Jonathan said
Sean went around to the other side and got into the car.
"Thanks Jon" Sean said
"No prob" Jonathan replied as he drove "So Sean where do you live?" Jonathan asked
"Well it's about 30 minutes by foot from the Institute, its straight walking though" Sean said
"How do you do it? You are exhausted by a mission and you walk a further 30 minutes" Jonathan said
"It's not easy, but I wanted something I could call mine. Carrington's villa is great but it just didn't seem right after a while. Although it was easier with the old Institute, I could get a bus to about 5 minutes from home before" Sean replied
"By the way how did you escape?" Jonathan asked
"Well it wasn't hard…" Sean started to tell his story.
Flashback…
Sean woke up from his sleep although it wasn't a very peaceful one; the water was still falling from the roof. He heard the growls of a Skedar standing guard. He needed to work out a way to escape, although it was pretty unlikely. However a thought crossed Sean's mind. He pushed the bed to the door, and then got on top of the bed, and banged loudly against the door with his Falcon 2. Predictably the Skedar guard turned and headed towards the door. On trying to lightly push it open it wouldn't work because the bed was in the way of the door. Using a bit more force the Skedar still couldn't open it. Finally trying a little hard the door burst open and the bed flew to the other side of the room. The Skedar crept in and looked around for Sean. Little did he know that he had hid himself above the Skedar above the door. Lightly landing from his hiding place he dropped, ran and closed the door leaving the Skedar trapped in there.
End Flashback.
"That was rather easy, although how'd you know the Skedar would fall for it" Jonathan asked
"I didn't. You never know anything, but yeah that's how I escaped. Even more foolishly, he left his ammo behind so I loaded my weapon as well" Sean said with a bit of a laugh.
Sean continued to give Jonathan directions to where he lived. Jonathan pulled outside a small house.
"See you tomorrow" Sean said
"Yeah, take care" Jonathan replied as he drove off.
Jonathan continued to drive and soon got home himself. He wasn't around much so the place was usually in good condition since there was little time to mess it up. It was fairly small but Jonathan didn't leave need space. On getting to sleep that night he wondered whether the Maians had negotiated the ceasefire or not yet. Jonathan was exhausted though and fell quickly to sleep.
On driving to the Institute at 6 am to arrive at 7 as Carrington instructed, he noticed something unusual. Dead men, in those white coats the Skedar had while in human form, something was definitely up, as he drove on he noticed a few in the normal form too. He just wondered what was going on and how long this row of bodies was. He begun to hear gun shots and he drove even closer and saw somebody fighting with a Skedar in its normal form at close range. Instinctively Jonathan drew his Magnum and a shot the Skedar and the person who had been fighting was Sean. Jonathan pulled over and Sean ran over exhausted to the other side as Jonathan fired a few shots at the pursuing Skedar killing them, there was also a Skedar ship and it was going into the air in a retreat as Sean got in the car. Sean turned to face Jonathan and if Carrington thought Sean looked beaten up yesterday it was nothing to how he looked now.
"I owe you one… again" Sean breathed in and out. His face was bleeding in 3 separate spots, clearly some of the Skedar had got closer then Sean would have liked. Jonathan also noticed his right arm had some blood as well and his left leg had clearly been attacked as well as his pants leg was torn slightly.
"Never mind that. Dark to Carrington you here me?" Jonathan said through the communicator
Carrington replied about 10 seconds later "What's wrong Jonathan?" Carrington asked
"Sean had been badly injured by a bunch of Skedar, there are heaps of them dead on the road here. I have him now and will be there in 5 minutes" Jonathan said
"We'll be ready for him then" Carrington said
Sean passed out soon after, on arriving at the Institute he was placed in a section of the hangar since the Institute didn't really have anywhere else. Elvis came and worked on Sean's injuries with Maian technology, they would heal and wouldn't affect performance since they weren't as serious as Jonathan's were. After Elvis was finished he woke up.
"Man, what did I do to deserve this?" Sean asked holding his head
"Would being on that list have something to do with it?" Jonathan asked
"Damn Skedar" Sean moaned…
"Our Maian leaders tell me, that as part of the ceasefire agreement that they must give up their chase on you, at first it was get off Earth but we knew there was no way we could check on that unfortunately" Elvis said
"Well I hope it doesn't take too long, I don't know how much longer I can keep alive at this rate" Sean replied
"Don't worry, while you are on the main Maian planet you are entirely safe. The Skedar may not come within a striking distance of the planet. If they come within a certain distance we can question them before they can advance and search the ship if necessary. Until the Skedar agree not to chase you anymore, I suggest for your own safety you stay on the Maian planet" Elvis said
"You mean we are going now?" Sean asked
"We are already heading there" Jonathan said
Sean sat up and took a look around, sure enough they were in space, Elvis was waiting for them at the Institute anyway.
"Why the interest to protect me? I'm grateful for it but doesn't it seem a bit much?" Sean asked
"Not at all. For one you are a human and we want to treat you as one of our own, especially if a political contact between your race and ours is later made, for two you are the only one who possesses the knowledge of how to kill the Skedar King. Which is the exact reason the Maians seek to protect you, and the Skedar seek to kill you as it would be a winning point in the war if we have this knowledge and can use it, however we don't want to fight, we only want peace, but if we need to fight again a successful assassination attempt on the King would end the war decisively" Elvis explained
"So you are basically telling me that I possess the knowledge to end this long drawn out war?" Sean said
"Exactly. When you are ready you can tell us what happened in the battle step by step" Elvis said and Sean nodded.
When they arrived Bea Tles and another Maian stood in front of the ship with a line of 20 protectors on each side.
"Greetings Earth Warriors, I am the Maian Leader, King whatever you people call it.. Jonathan is it? You've met Bea Tles I understand" The Maian Leader said
"Yes" Jonathan replied
"You are Sean is that correct? The one who killed the Skedar prince?" The Maian Leader asked
"Yes, this is a wonderful place" Sean said looking around, but tried to keep eye contact with the Maian Leader. The Maian protectors gave Sean a salute. He was taken aback as he looked at the all those Maians stare at him as if he was some kind of all powerful being.
"Hmm… it's not that great, Earth is what I call wonderful. Varied climates, some open spaces, lots of water, the list is endless according to your research Elvis." The Maian Leader said, Jonathan and Sean noticed his pronunciation of Elvis' name was a little unusual, starting with an A sound.
"If Sean is ready he can tell us the secret of the Skedar shields" Bea Tles said
"Very well" the Maian Leader replied
Sean and Jonathan with Elvis, Bea Tles and the Maian leader walked into one of the buildings.
"This is your halves…" The Maian Leader said
"Quarters, I think you mean" Bea Tles said
"Oh of course" The Maian Leader chuckled "Learning your language hasn't been easy… actually only the 5 of us understand a word of it, but that doesn't matter. The Maian race looks on both of you as heroes, for you Jonathan rescuing a large amount of protectors, and then destroying the planet. For Sean killing the most savage of Skedar aside the King himself" The Maian leader said
"We are honoured" Jonathan replied
"Excellent, if you are ready you may tell us now what the secret is, I am anxious to hear it" the Maian Leader said
"With respect, Sean was just attacked by multiple Skedar, at least 20 of them according to Carrington" Elvis said
"No, I am ready. Whatever you used Elvis is really fantastic. If we had stuff like that, our hospitals would be very efficient" Sean said
"This is one of the reasons why we are eager to make a political contact. There are many things we have that you want, and many things you have that we want" The Maian leader said "Unfortunately, we too understand Carrington's logic, at this time the Skedar are still on the planet and will be with or without the ceasefire. As well as that, they may not be ready as Carrington also told us" The Maian Leader replied
"So are you ready?" Sean asked
"We shall move in there" Bea Tles said as they walked into a room that looked very similar to Carrington's office.
Jonathan, Sean, and the 3 Maians sat down.
"You may begin when ready" The Maian leader said
"After I rescued the British Prime Minister from 2 Skedar, he ran and left me with just one Skedar, the prince" Sean told them
"Forgive me, but what is British and what is a Prime Minister" The Maian leader asked
"Britain is like a country on Earth, and a Prime Minister is a political leader" Elvis explained
"I see, do continue" The Maian leader replied
"The Skedar and I got into a fire fight, and I slowly worked down the shield of his but then when it got to its weakest point the Skedar lay on the floor and I kept attacking and it regenerated. I couldn't understand it" Sean said
"That's the problem we've had for years. We want to make a clean quick kill but the shield regenerates and either our assassin gets killed or the King calls in back up which in turn kills or captures the would be assassin" Bea Tles said
"So what's the big solution" The Maian Leader rubbed his hands and asked eagerly
"After a while I worked out I couldn't defeat him merely by gun fire, so I lured him underneath a monument with a sharp edge and lower his shield to nothing. I then shot the monument and it fell impaling him and this killed him" Sean said
Silence filled the room for a good minute. The Maian Leader and Bea Tles were talking in Maian so neither Sean nor Jonathan could understand.
"It would be difficult to get such a position though" the Maian leader said
"Of course, however don't the Skedar have those religious stone monuments with a sharp edge?" Sean asked
"Very true… if this is ever needed this knowledge it is indeed useful. I know even if this ceasefire goes ahead the Skedar aren't going to stop with weaker attacks on our smaller planets. Until we find their main planet wherever it is, this war will never be over. We all know this, but at least half the battle has been won, but finding the planet would be the other half" The Maian Leader said
"Hmm, the next meeting for the ceasefire is ready to take place" Bea Tles looked at a strange tank the size of a fish bowl filled with bluish liquid that seemed to move, Jonathan guessed this was the Maian equivalent of a clock.
"We are never going get them off your back, even though you've told us what we want to know. The Skedar are very vengeful, however as Elvis told you, stay here until we are assured it is safe" The Maian Leader said
"You mean the Skedar are here?" Jonathan said
"Yes but do not fear, they are thoroughly searched and go through various checks even before they are allowed on the planet, one of their conditions was that the talks take place on our planet. Of course little did they know the parts of the planet they are allowed to see will be changed when negotiations finish, so the knowledge they have will be useless" Bea Tles chuckled.
They moved to this meeting room about 30 seconds by foot away from where they just were, Sean and Jonathan sat down with a bunch of Maians who were watching proceedings. What each speaker said was translated in English, Maian and Skedar by a computer in front of the person who spoke the respective language. 5 Skedar sat a desk on one side and 5 Maians on the other, including Elvis,
The Skedar spoke first as Jonathan and Sean read off the screen.
"We agree with all of the conditions listed except for one. The King agrees to remove all those on the death list except for one, the human. As such we cannot agree to this" The computer had on the screen.
"You really want him that badly?" One of the Maians replied in Maian of course.
"Indeed" The same Skedar replied "Although I know he is present unlike most Skedar we do not kill, we negotiate"
"So you are telling us you will go to war simply to kill one person that isn't even a Maian" Another Maian replied
"Indeed" The Skedar repeated
"That is crazy. He's told us we wanted to know, so now there is no reason to chase him down" Elvis said
"You are willing to risk your own life as you are on this list of 4 I believe, just to protect one stupid human?" Another Skedar stood up as the two before him sat
"You are willing to lose this war because of this one human?" Elvis replied and the other Maians sat
"Listen, we don't write the rules, the King said if we didn't get what we want don't sign it" The same Skedar replied
The Maian group chatted for a while. None of what they said was coming up on screen, the Skedar too exchanged conversation.
"Then we go to war" Elvis said
"So be it" The Skedar replied
"Wait just a moment" Another Skedar stood up this one hadn't spoken yet
"What? They are never going to agree" The Skedar stared at his partner
"Let's give them time to negotiate between themselves and possibly their allies as well as I see them in the crowd. Maybe they will change their minds" He replied.
"Very well. About a 20 minute break" The Skedar said, the message was a little slower to come through, probably because the computer was translating the time period the Skedar said.
"I don't see the point but whatever" Elvis replied as the Maians and Skedar left the room.
Sean and Jonathan joined the Maian group in another room with Bea Tles and the Maian Leader.
"Are you telling me all that is keeping you signing that paper is my life?" Sean asked them
"In a way yes, but we know the Skedar will try to get away with what they can. It's not just your life, it's where you live, on Earth. What if you were killed by a bunch of strange creatures in the middle of a city or something, can you imagine the consequences. Who knows what could happen, the Skedar may take it a further step and concentrate a full assault on Earth while they are there. They won't be able to send squads of Skedar if they are fighting because they'll be too busy fighting the war, as a result it will protect your planet" Elvis explained
Sean thought for a moment…
"He has a point Sean, I mean if the Skedar come here we may not be strong enough to get rid of them without Maian help and by that time the Skedar could have killed thousands, maybe more. However on the other hand, you could lose thousands of Maians fighting this war" Jonathan replied
"Yes we know the Skedar would never agree to restrictions on your planet. For the moment you are able to handle them according to Elvis is this correct?" The Maian leader asked
"For the moment, yes" Sean replied
"Then it's settled, we go to war" The Maian leader said
"You do not want to go to war and I know it" Sean said
"No, but what choice do we have? The Skedar will never agree" Bea Tles replied shaking his head
"I have a plan that will work out without you going to war" Sean said
"Go on" The Maian leader said
"If I may be allowed to do this, I could…" Sean stopped "No, it won't work"
"Go on, we would do almost anything for it to work out for both of us" The Maian Leader said
"You have the restriction on the planet right?" Sean asked
"Yes. No Skedar can come anywhere near the planet unless it's for diplomatic reasons, which pretty much means this is a No Skedar Zone" The Maian Leader said
"A human can live here right? I could live here I guess. This is the only way I can think of that will work for both of our races, but if it's a big inconvenience or I can't live here for a long period of time or whatever, what you do is up to you" Sean said
The Maian Leader thought for a moment.
"It is no problem at all for us, it would be perfect. However are you sure you wish to do this to yourself, just to protect us, just to give us what we want?" The Maian leader asked
"I'm positive. I could stay here and report to Carrington about your planet" Sean said
"That's a fantastic idea, if you are willing. Not only this, you could train the protectors as well. From what I hear from Elvis you know more about Maian and Skedar politics then most Maians do" The Maian leader said sounding overjoyed.
"We should head back" Bea Tles said
"Very true" The Maian Leader replied as Elvis and the 4 other Maians headed back into the room.
The Skedar entered not long after…
"So do you still declare war or not?" The Skedar asked. This was the one who had barely said a word in the previous discussion.
"We do not declare war" Elvis replied
"On what conditions?" The Skedar asked
"The same ones you agreed to, which excludes the one not allowing you to give chase on the human" Elvis said
"Hmm. May I ask the human to sit on your end of the table" The Skedar asked
"Why?" Elvis asked suspiciously
"Because, I want to see why he values his life, less than yours" The Skedar said
"Hmm… guards check them" Elvis ordered
"Honestly!" The Skedar replied as a bunch of Maians checked the Skedar
"Checks are complete. Nothing found" The Maians said
"Very well… Sean?" Elvis said
Sean stood up and walked behind the table and stood up next to Elvis.
"Firstly, how long do you expect to last to the squads? You know you will be killed or captured fairly quickly" The Skedar said. Sean read what he had said and replied.
"Not long, although I'm still standing for the moment" Sean said
"Yes, we heard about your latest battle against us. Although as I already said, that we are purely looking in the interest of peace" The Skedar said
"Do you really expect us to believe that" Sean replied
"Of course not, although I worded that badly. We as in us 5. We are personally against the condition to destroy your life, but if we didn't push it the King would have us killed" The Skedar said. Maybe not all Skedar were merciless monsters after all, Sean thought.
"However I am a little suspicious of how quickly you agreed. Is there something in this agreement that stops the Skedar army killing him?" The Skedar said and one his partners looked through the conditions.
"Nothing I can see" The Skedar replied as he flicked through the pages of conditions
"Afraid not. There is a condition" Elvis said
"I can't see anything here that says we can't touch him or can't go near Earth" The standing Skedar said
"Yes but you can't come near here" Elvis replied
"How is this relevant" The Skedar said
"As long as Sean is here, you Skedar can't touch him" Elvis said
Silence filled the room. Sean expected the Skedar to go into a rage and stood back a little, but instead he seemed to be happy.
"Absolutely brilliant. Was this your idea?" The Skedar said
"Mine?" Sean asked
"Yes, you" The Skedar replied
"Well yes…" Sean said not knowing what the Skedar would do.
"That's fantastic, I mean the King will be fuming if he found out, but what he doesn't know can't hurt him. I am not going to be the one who tells him that the human himself found a loophole to evade our forces" The Skedar said
"So you agree?" Elvis asked
"Of course" The Skedar replied
The 5 Skedar signed the agreement, Sean couldn't believe that the Skedar had just agreed to the ceasefire, Jonathan looked equally confused. However the Maians didn't look confused or puzzled at all by the Skedar's strange agreeable nature. The Maians signed the agreement and then the Maians handed the lead Skedar a Mauler, Jonathan was puzzled yet again as Elvis took a Phoenix and the two of them knocked them against each other and handed them back. The Maians broke out in applause.
"I hope I won't be seeing you for a while then" The Skedar leader said
"I hope not either" Elvis replied
The Skedar were taken to their ship and it took off and left.
"Why were the Skedar so agreeable?" Jonathan asked not being able to hold the question any longer
"Well, they are controlled by fear. One toe out of line and the King has them killed, however they were completely obeying the King's orders. That is why they seemed so happy and agreed since they won't be killed and got what they wanted, they didn't want war either but for fear of their own lives they had to do whatever the King wanted, several Skedar diplomats have died before them. If they had it their way the ceasefire would have been agreed to on the first day" Elvis explained
"And why did you knock weapons against each other?" Joanthan asked
"It's the equivalent of shaking hands" Sean answered for Elvis
"Ah I see" Jonathan said
Parties on the Maian planet started as the news was spread around the Maian planet by use of their boards on buildings. It read in English, Skedar agree to ceasefire after Sean Lombreson, who killed the Skedar prince finds a loophole in the agreement to protect his life and planet without going to war. Jonathan Dark who destroyed the Skedar planet is also present on the planet. In sport, Del Waino wins the Peloroka against Onsneta 74 to 63.
"What's Peloroka?" Sean asked
"Err… the best way I can describe it to you is a twisted mix between basketball, water polo and paintball" Elvis said "It's something that has to be seen to be believed"
Night soon fell which was very similar to Earth and the way sun rotated around the planet, but the Maian sun was a bit smaller then Earth's but the Maian planet was closer to the Sun and the planet itself is a bit bigger then Earth. Jonathan and Sean drunk dinner, fish tonight. Then they headed back to the place where they would sleep later.
"Hey Sean, this sounds a little bit mushy but I'm going to miss you" Jonathan said, Sean gave a smile.
"You're not going yet, you're here until tomorrow night" Sean reminded him
"I know but still, I don't know how you are going to do this. I mean I don't have much of a life on Earth, but I couldn't throw it all away" Jonathan said
"It's not like I'm never coming back, it will be a long time though" Sean said
"Elvis tells me that there is a combat simulator that is really good. Wanna try it?" Jonathan asked
"Sure" Sean replied
Elvis was nearby and were told where he was. It was quite hard to find the way but eventually they got there.
"You said something about a combat simulator mind if we check it out?" Jonathan asked
"No problem" Elvis replied
They walked again through the busy city but it wasn't far away.
Elvis said something in Maian to some of the Maians around. A group of Maians flocked Elvis, Jonathan and Sean and all said something different in Maian to all of them. Elvis then shouted something and it must have worked because they all went quiet.
"They want to play a game with you, I think. We'll play this way, you get a pistol and go around and try to kill your opponents. One shot will kill, but if you die you reappear somewhere else? Got it?" Elvis asked
"Sure" Jonathan said
"Seems easy enough" Sean said
"Although what weapons do we get?" Jonathan asked
"Anything that we have found, including both of your usual weapons" Elvis explained "So I assume this is what you want?" Elvis asked
"Definitely" Jonathan said
"This is the rules, at the end of each minute the being with the lowest score is eliminated from the game. The winner is last man standing" Elvis explained
Jonathan and Sean with 6 other Maians including Elvis were taken in and placed at various points in a simulated area. It seemed real, the walls, the grass, even the sunlight. No time for looking as a Maian approached Jonathan's right and he aimed his Magnum and hit him down. Elvis entered their names into a computer before and there were scoreboards and Jonathan saw himself on 1 because of his kill, a timer was ticking down from 1 minute, Jonathan was reading this information before getting hit by a shot, taking him by surprise and knocking him on the ground.
"Hey sorry man" Sean said smiling reloading his Falcon and taking out an enemy behind him.
"You will be sorry soon" Jonathan replied before getting transported somewhere else
Another Maian was in front of Jonathan but was in a fire fight with another, Jonathan took advantage a shot them both before taking cover and reloading. He noticed that Sean was taking down a lot of Maians as was on a score of 5 by the end of the first minute and hadn't been killed yet as somebody was removed from the game, Elvis was on 2 and had been killed once and Jonathan was on 3.
Jonathan then went further down some steps and looked around the corner and spotted Sean and his Falcon 2 scope firing off killing a few. Jonathan knew Sean hadn't seen him as he sneaked around the next corner and took him down.
"I told you'd be sorry" Jonathan said
"Ah well, see you later" Sean said as he disappeared to reappear somewhere else
This continued until there were only 4 left. It was between Sean who was on 20 kills, Elvis who was on 18, Jonathan who was on 16 and somebody else who was on 10. Jonathan then went around nailing Sean again followed by Elvis who tried to come behind, and was looking for another victim when the time eliminated somebody else, which put him in equal second place with 18. Elvis tried to be sneaky and nail Jonathan from behind but he heard him turned around and shot Elvis down, only to be shot in return by Sean.
"Damn" Jonathan said to himself as he regenerated. At the end of that minute Elvis was eliminated. Sean had 21 and Jonathan had 19. However Jonathan heard Sean's footsteps and jumped out and nailed him in a single shot with his Magnum.
Jonathan tried to find Sean quickly but he got the feeling Sean was trying to avoid him, time was running out. He continued to look around the corridors but there was no sign of him. With 10 seconds left, Sean came from behind and shot but Jonathan moved behind a wall and Sean missed and tried to wait for Jonathan to come out of his hiding place but Jonathan waited until the last second to jump out, he fired and hit him, ending the match in a 21 all draw. After that they were warped back to the entrance.
"Nice shooting guys. I was hoping one of you would win though" Elvis said
"Ah well, it was really great though. Thanks Elvis" Sean said
"Yeah it was great, nice to be beaten once in a while" Elvis replied
The next day came and it was time for Jonathan to leave. Sean talked to Carrington, and Carrington said he was pleased and glad, but would miss him being around. Carrington understood Sean's reasons, and welcomed him back whenever he wished to return but Carrington knew this wouldn't be for sometime.
"Good luck Jonathan" Sean said
"You too" Jonathan replied
The two went to shake hands, but instead gave a hug and patted each other on the back.
"Say hi to everybody for me" Sean said as Jonathan got on the Maian ship
"Oh I will, keep in touch. See you" Jonathan said as the ship closed as the Maian pilot took off.
"So sad. I wonder if I'll ever see him again" Elvis asked
"You will. I bet on it" Sean replied
Thanks again for all your reviews etc. etc.
I know that might not have been the ideal way to move Sean away from the storyline but I had to it somehow, and killing him off was used before in the form of Natasha. So now that's done I can start my new fic that will come sometime soon, but I may not be able to update it as often as I did this one. I'm still deciding whether to write extra chapters for this or not. It's been great guys, look forward to your reviews for my next fic.
Special thanks to Spider bear, Chistalina who were my main reviewers and also to DJ cat who read parts of this but didn't review it because he wanted to wait until it was finished before reading it all.
Chistalina: Don't worry Adrian is NOT coming back. I've used that storyline once already, the story is coming to an end, I'm not about to revive a character to get killed once more.
Here's a very long chapter to finish it off.
Anyway let's move on.
The jumpship landed and the two got off and Carrington greeted them immediately.
"Ah, you always seem to be the one who takes the beatings Sean" Carrington said
"Comes with the job I guess" Sean replied as they walked up to Carrington's office
"Take a seat" Carrington said but neither needed to be told as they sat down out of exhaustion.
"Anyway, I called you in for two reasons. One was to congratulate you" Carrington said
"Second is another assignment?" Sean asked
"In a way, now don't look at me like that" Carrington gave a smile "No it's to tell you that the Maians are ready to accept you to their planet again. I said a while back that two people could go, I know you've already been Jonathan but I'm sure you wouldn't mind a second visit and Sean is really the only other person one I could give this honour to. That is of course you want to do this, because they are picking up Elvis tomorrow and have agreed if we wish to take 2 of you along" Carrington said
"Sure I'll do it" Sean said not noticing any sign of his tiredness because of the opportunity that was presented before him
"Jonathan? What about you? Too exhausted?" Carrington asked
"Of course not, I wasn't there for very long last time" Jonathan said
"Excellent. You guys rest up, be here early tomorrow" Carrington said
"I'll see you here tomorrow then" Sean said as he left
"Bye" Jonathan replied not far behind to leave the room
Jonathan went down to Firing Range to talk to Foster about how stupid the guards were when it came to the CMP150. However he found a familiar face.
"Hey Joanna" Jonathan said
"Hi Jonathan" she replied
"How's it going?" Jonathan asked
"Quite well thanks. I obviously heard about the other place" Joanna said
"These things happen I guess. How's she going Foster?" Jonathan replied wanting to avoid discussion of the Skedar especially with Joanna who was supposed to be totally oblivious to it.
"Excellent as usual, although she has got to stop coming here, doesn't she have a life?" Foster asked
"No, she doesn't" Jonathan laughed
"Hey! Just because I want to get a head start doesn't mean I don't have a life" Joanna retorted
"De Nile, great river in Egypt and also a great excuse to try convince yourself of lies. Come on Jo, it's nothing to be ashamed of I don't have a life either" Jonathan said. Foster gave a chuckle.
"What's the Nile got anything to do with this?" Joanna said
Foster and Jonathan exchanged looks.
"Never mind, when does Carrington think you'll start training?" Jonathan asked
"A few years off, but that's my choice. I want to see the world a little bit more before I put my life into this" Joanna said
"Smart move. You'll be surprised at how much time this takes from you" Jonathan said
"What about Sean though? He started when he was my age, now that's somebody without a life" Joanna said
"There is a special reason for that. Don't tell him I told you this, but his parents were Institute agents, he saw his parents die in front of him and Carrington took him here and basically he was raised here" Jonathan explained, not wanting to tell Joanna about the truth with Adrian.
"How awful, I'm sorry I said that now" Joanna said apologetically
"You weren't to know. He hides it quite well" Jonathan said
"Yeah I was convinced, he seemed so cheerful when I met him" Joanna replied
"Anyway I better get going" Jonathan said
"See you later then" Joanna took her weapon and started another test.
Jonathan left and headed for his car. As he drove through the emptiness around him, Jonathan somebody and as he got closer the figure looked familiar. Jonathan got a look and pulled in front of him and opened the window.
"Hey Sean, you walk home from the Institute every day?" Jonathan asked
"Yeah, it's pretty rough but what choice to do I have" Sean replied with a smile
"Here let me run you down to where you live" Jonathan said
"Are you sure?" Sean asked
"Sure I'm sure just get in already" Jonathan said
Sean went around to the other side and got into the car.
"Thanks Jon" Sean said
"No prob" Jonathan replied as he drove "So Sean where do you live?" Jonathan asked
"Well it's about 30 minutes by foot from the Institute, its straight walking though" Sean said
"How do you do it? You are exhausted by a mission and you walk a further 30 minutes" Jonathan said
"It's not easy, but I wanted something I could call mine. Carrington's villa is great but it just didn't seem right after a while. Although it was easier with the old Institute, I could get a bus to about 5 minutes from home before" Sean replied
"By the way how did you escape?" Jonathan asked
"Well it wasn't hard…" Sean started to tell his story.
Flashback…
Sean woke up from his sleep although it wasn't a very peaceful one; the water was still falling from the roof. He heard the growls of a Skedar standing guard. He needed to work out a way to escape, although it was pretty unlikely. However a thought crossed Sean's mind. He pushed the bed to the door, and then got on top of the bed, and banged loudly against the door with his Falcon 2. Predictably the Skedar guard turned and headed towards the door. On trying to lightly push it open it wouldn't work because the bed was in the way of the door. Using a bit more force the Skedar still couldn't open it. Finally trying a little hard the door burst open and the bed flew to the other side of the room. The Skedar crept in and looked around for Sean. Little did he know that he had hid himself above the Skedar above the door. Lightly landing from his hiding place he dropped, ran and closed the door leaving the Skedar trapped in there.
End Flashback.
"That was rather easy, although how'd you know the Skedar would fall for it" Jonathan asked
"I didn't. You never know anything, but yeah that's how I escaped. Even more foolishly, he left his ammo behind so I loaded my weapon as well" Sean said with a bit of a laugh.
Sean continued to give Jonathan directions to where he lived. Jonathan pulled outside a small house.
"See you tomorrow" Sean said
"Yeah, take care" Jonathan replied as he drove off.
Jonathan continued to drive and soon got home himself. He wasn't around much so the place was usually in good condition since there was little time to mess it up. It was fairly small but Jonathan didn't leave need space. On getting to sleep that night he wondered whether the Maians had negotiated the ceasefire or not yet. Jonathan was exhausted though and fell quickly to sleep.
On driving to the Institute at 6 am to arrive at 7 as Carrington instructed, he noticed something unusual. Dead men, in those white coats the Skedar had while in human form, something was definitely up, as he drove on he noticed a few in the normal form too. He just wondered what was going on and how long this row of bodies was. He begun to hear gun shots and he drove even closer and saw somebody fighting with a Skedar in its normal form at close range. Instinctively Jonathan drew his Magnum and a shot the Skedar and the person who had been fighting was Sean. Jonathan pulled over and Sean ran over exhausted to the other side as Jonathan fired a few shots at the pursuing Skedar killing them, there was also a Skedar ship and it was going into the air in a retreat as Sean got in the car. Sean turned to face Jonathan and if Carrington thought Sean looked beaten up yesterday it was nothing to how he looked now.
"I owe you one… again" Sean breathed in and out. His face was bleeding in 3 separate spots, clearly some of the Skedar had got closer then Sean would have liked. Jonathan also noticed his right arm had some blood as well and his left leg had clearly been attacked as well as his pants leg was torn slightly.
"Never mind that. Dark to Carrington you here me?" Jonathan said through the communicator
Carrington replied about 10 seconds later "What's wrong Jonathan?" Carrington asked
"Sean had been badly injured by a bunch of Skedar, there are heaps of them dead on the road here. I have him now and will be there in 5 minutes" Jonathan said
"We'll be ready for him then" Carrington said
Sean passed out soon after, on arriving at the Institute he was placed in a section of the hangar since the Institute didn't really have anywhere else. Elvis came and worked on Sean's injuries with Maian technology, they would heal and wouldn't affect performance since they weren't as serious as Jonathan's were. After Elvis was finished he woke up.
"Man, what did I do to deserve this?" Sean asked holding his head
"Would being on that list have something to do with it?" Jonathan asked
"Damn Skedar" Sean moaned…
"Our Maian leaders tell me, that as part of the ceasefire agreement that they must give up their chase on you, at first it was get off Earth but we knew there was no way we could check on that unfortunately" Elvis said
"Well I hope it doesn't take too long, I don't know how much longer I can keep alive at this rate" Sean replied
"Don't worry, while you are on the main Maian planet you are entirely safe. The Skedar may not come within a striking distance of the planet. If they come within a certain distance we can question them before they can advance and search the ship if necessary. Until the Skedar agree not to chase you anymore, I suggest for your own safety you stay on the Maian planet" Elvis said
"You mean we are going now?" Sean asked
"We are already heading there" Jonathan said
Sean sat up and took a look around, sure enough they were in space, Elvis was waiting for them at the Institute anyway.
"Why the interest to protect me? I'm grateful for it but doesn't it seem a bit much?" Sean asked
"Not at all. For one you are a human and we want to treat you as one of our own, especially if a political contact between your race and ours is later made, for two you are the only one who possesses the knowledge of how to kill the Skedar King. Which is the exact reason the Maians seek to protect you, and the Skedar seek to kill you as it would be a winning point in the war if we have this knowledge and can use it, however we don't want to fight, we only want peace, but if we need to fight again a successful assassination attempt on the King would end the war decisively" Elvis explained
"So you are basically telling me that I possess the knowledge to end this long drawn out war?" Sean said
"Exactly. When you are ready you can tell us what happened in the battle step by step" Elvis said and Sean nodded.
When they arrived Bea Tles and another Maian stood in front of the ship with a line of 20 protectors on each side.
"Greetings Earth Warriors, I am the Maian Leader, King whatever you people call it.. Jonathan is it? You've met Bea Tles I understand" The Maian Leader said
"Yes" Jonathan replied
"You are Sean is that correct? The one who killed the Skedar prince?" The Maian Leader asked
"Yes, this is a wonderful place" Sean said looking around, but tried to keep eye contact with the Maian Leader. The Maian protectors gave Sean a salute. He was taken aback as he looked at the all those Maians stare at him as if he was some kind of all powerful being.
"Hmm… it's not that great, Earth is what I call wonderful. Varied climates, some open spaces, lots of water, the list is endless according to your research Elvis." The Maian Leader said, Jonathan and Sean noticed his pronunciation of Elvis' name was a little unusual, starting with an A sound.
"If Sean is ready he can tell us the secret of the Skedar shields" Bea Tles said
"Very well" the Maian Leader replied
Sean and Jonathan with Elvis, Bea Tles and the Maian leader walked into one of the buildings.
"This is your halves…" The Maian Leader said
"Quarters, I think you mean" Bea Tles said
"Oh of course" The Maian Leader chuckled "Learning your language hasn't been easy… actually only the 5 of us understand a word of it, but that doesn't matter. The Maian race looks on both of you as heroes, for you Jonathan rescuing a large amount of protectors, and then destroying the planet. For Sean killing the most savage of Skedar aside the King himself" The Maian leader said
"We are honoured" Jonathan replied
"Excellent, if you are ready you may tell us now what the secret is, I am anxious to hear it" the Maian Leader said
"With respect, Sean was just attacked by multiple Skedar, at least 20 of them according to Carrington" Elvis said
"No, I am ready. Whatever you used Elvis is really fantastic. If we had stuff like that, our hospitals would be very efficient" Sean said
"This is one of the reasons why we are eager to make a political contact. There are many things we have that you want, and many things you have that we want" The Maian leader said "Unfortunately, we too understand Carrington's logic, at this time the Skedar are still on the planet and will be with or without the ceasefire. As well as that, they may not be ready as Carrington also told us" The Maian Leader replied
"So are you ready?" Sean asked
"We shall move in there" Bea Tles said as they walked into a room that looked very similar to Carrington's office.
Jonathan, Sean, and the 3 Maians sat down.
"You may begin when ready" The Maian leader said
"After I rescued the British Prime Minister from 2 Skedar, he ran and left me with just one Skedar, the prince" Sean told them
"Forgive me, but what is British and what is a Prime Minister" The Maian leader asked
"Britain is like a country on Earth, and a Prime Minister is a political leader" Elvis explained
"I see, do continue" The Maian leader replied
"The Skedar and I got into a fire fight, and I slowly worked down the shield of his but then when it got to its weakest point the Skedar lay on the floor and I kept attacking and it regenerated. I couldn't understand it" Sean said
"That's the problem we've had for years. We want to make a clean quick kill but the shield regenerates and either our assassin gets killed or the King calls in back up which in turn kills or captures the would be assassin" Bea Tles said
"So what's the big solution" The Maian Leader rubbed his hands and asked eagerly
"After a while I worked out I couldn't defeat him merely by gun fire, so I lured him underneath a monument with a sharp edge and lower his shield to nothing. I then shot the monument and it fell impaling him and this killed him" Sean said
Silence filled the room for a good minute. The Maian Leader and Bea Tles were talking in Maian so neither Sean nor Jonathan could understand.
"It would be difficult to get such a position though" the Maian leader said
"Of course, however don't the Skedar have those religious stone monuments with a sharp edge?" Sean asked
"Very true… if this is ever needed this knowledge it is indeed useful. I know even if this ceasefire goes ahead the Skedar aren't going to stop with weaker attacks on our smaller planets. Until we find their main planet wherever it is, this war will never be over. We all know this, but at least half the battle has been won, but finding the planet would be the other half" The Maian Leader said
"Hmm, the next meeting for the ceasefire is ready to take place" Bea Tles looked at a strange tank the size of a fish bowl filled with bluish liquid that seemed to move, Jonathan guessed this was the Maian equivalent of a clock.
"We are never going get them off your back, even though you've told us what we want to know. The Skedar are very vengeful, however as Elvis told you, stay here until we are assured it is safe" The Maian Leader said
"You mean the Skedar are here?" Jonathan said
"Yes but do not fear, they are thoroughly searched and go through various checks even before they are allowed on the planet, one of their conditions was that the talks take place on our planet. Of course little did they know the parts of the planet they are allowed to see will be changed when negotiations finish, so the knowledge they have will be useless" Bea Tles chuckled.
They moved to this meeting room about 30 seconds by foot away from where they just were, Sean and Jonathan sat down with a bunch of Maians who were watching proceedings. What each speaker said was translated in English, Maian and Skedar by a computer in front of the person who spoke the respective language. 5 Skedar sat a desk on one side and 5 Maians on the other, including Elvis,
The Skedar spoke first as Jonathan and Sean read off the screen.
"We agree with all of the conditions listed except for one. The King agrees to remove all those on the death list except for one, the human. As such we cannot agree to this" The computer had on the screen.
"You really want him that badly?" One of the Maians replied in Maian of course.
"Indeed" The same Skedar replied "Although I know he is present unlike most Skedar we do not kill, we negotiate"
"So you are telling us you will go to war simply to kill one person that isn't even a Maian" Another Maian replied
"Indeed" The Skedar repeated
"That is crazy. He's told us we wanted to know, so now there is no reason to chase him down" Elvis said
"You are willing to risk your own life as you are on this list of 4 I believe, just to protect one stupid human?" Another Skedar stood up as the two before him sat
"You are willing to lose this war because of this one human?" Elvis replied and the other Maians sat
"Listen, we don't write the rules, the King said if we didn't get what we want don't sign it" The same Skedar replied
The Maian group chatted for a while. None of what they said was coming up on screen, the Skedar too exchanged conversation.
"Then we go to war" Elvis said
"So be it" The Skedar replied
"Wait just a moment" Another Skedar stood up this one hadn't spoken yet
"What? They are never going to agree" The Skedar stared at his partner
"Let's give them time to negotiate between themselves and possibly their allies as well as I see them in the crowd. Maybe they will change their minds" He replied.
"Very well. About a 20 minute break" The Skedar said, the message was a little slower to come through, probably because the computer was translating the time period the Skedar said.
"I don't see the point but whatever" Elvis replied as the Maians and Skedar left the room.
Sean and Jonathan joined the Maian group in another room with Bea Tles and the Maian Leader.
"Are you telling me all that is keeping you signing that paper is my life?" Sean asked them
"In a way yes, but we know the Skedar will try to get away with what they can. It's not just your life, it's where you live, on Earth. What if you were killed by a bunch of strange creatures in the middle of a city or something, can you imagine the consequences. Who knows what could happen, the Skedar may take it a further step and concentrate a full assault on Earth while they are there. They won't be able to send squads of Skedar if they are fighting because they'll be too busy fighting the war, as a result it will protect your planet" Elvis explained
Sean thought for a moment…
"He has a point Sean, I mean if the Skedar come here we may not be strong enough to get rid of them without Maian help and by that time the Skedar could have killed thousands, maybe more. However on the other hand, you could lose thousands of Maians fighting this war" Jonathan replied
"Yes we know the Skedar would never agree to restrictions on your planet. For the moment you are able to handle them according to Elvis is this correct?" The Maian leader asked
"For the moment, yes" Sean replied
"Then it's settled, we go to war" The Maian leader said
"You do not want to go to war and I know it" Sean said
"No, but what choice do we have? The Skedar will never agree" Bea Tles replied shaking his head
"I have a plan that will work out without you going to war" Sean said
"Go on" The Maian leader said
"If I may be allowed to do this, I could…" Sean stopped "No, it won't work"
"Go on, we would do almost anything for it to work out for both of us" The Maian Leader said
"You have the restriction on the planet right?" Sean asked
"Yes. No Skedar can come anywhere near the planet unless it's for diplomatic reasons, which pretty much means this is a No Skedar Zone" The Maian Leader said
"A human can live here right? I could live here I guess. This is the only way I can think of that will work for both of our races, but if it's a big inconvenience or I can't live here for a long period of time or whatever, what you do is up to you" Sean said
The Maian Leader thought for a moment.
"It is no problem at all for us, it would be perfect. However are you sure you wish to do this to yourself, just to protect us, just to give us what we want?" The Maian leader asked
"I'm positive. I could stay here and report to Carrington about your planet" Sean said
"That's a fantastic idea, if you are willing. Not only this, you could train the protectors as well. From what I hear from Elvis you know more about Maian and Skedar politics then most Maians do" The Maian leader said sounding overjoyed.
"We should head back" Bea Tles said
"Very true" The Maian Leader replied as Elvis and the 4 other Maians headed back into the room.
The Skedar entered not long after…
"So do you still declare war or not?" The Skedar asked. This was the one who had barely said a word in the previous discussion.
"We do not declare war" Elvis replied
"On what conditions?" The Skedar asked
"The same ones you agreed to, which excludes the one not allowing you to give chase on the human" Elvis said
"Hmm. May I ask the human to sit on your end of the table" The Skedar asked
"Why?" Elvis asked suspiciously
"Because, I want to see why he values his life, less than yours" The Skedar said
"Hmm… guards check them" Elvis ordered
"Honestly!" The Skedar replied as a bunch of Maians checked the Skedar
"Checks are complete. Nothing found" The Maians said
"Very well… Sean?" Elvis said
Sean stood up and walked behind the table and stood up next to Elvis.
"Firstly, how long do you expect to last to the squads? You know you will be killed or captured fairly quickly" The Skedar said. Sean read what he had said and replied.
"Not long, although I'm still standing for the moment" Sean said
"Yes, we heard about your latest battle against us. Although as I already said, that we are purely looking in the interest of peace" The Skedar said
"Do you really expect us to believe that" Sean replied
"Of course not, although I worded that badly. We as in us 5. We are personally against the condition to destroy your life, but if we didn't push it the King would have us killed" The Skedar said. Maybe not all Skedar were merciless monsters after all, Sean thought.
"However I am a little suspicious of how quickly you agreed. Is there something in this agreement that stops the Skedar army killing him?" The Skedar said and one his partners looked through the conditions.
"Nothing I can see" The Skedar replied as he flicked through the pages of conditions
"Afraid not. There is a condition" Elvis said
"I can't see anything here that says we can't touch him or can't go near Earth" The standing Skedar said
"Yes but you can't come near here" Elvis replied
"How is this relevant" The Skedar said
"As long as Sean is here, you Skedar can't touch him" Elvis said
Silence filled the room. Sean expected the Skedar to go into a rage and stood back a little, but instead he seemed to be happy.
"Absolutely brilliant. Was this your idea?" The Skedar said
"Mine?" Sean asked
"Yes, you" The Skedar replied
"Well yes…" Sean said not knowing what the Skedar would do.
"That's fantastic, I mean the King will be fuming if he found out, but what he doesn't know can't hurt him. I am not going to be the one who tells him that the human himself found a loophole to evade our forces" The Skedar said
"So you agree?" Elvis asked
"Of course" The Skedar replied
The 5 Skedar signed the agreement, Sean couldn't believe that the Skedar had just agreed to the ceasefire, Jonathan looked equally confused. However the Maians didn't look confused or puzzled at all by the Skedar's strange agreeable nature. The Maians signed the agreement and then the Maians handed the lead Skedar a Mauler, Jonathan was puzzled yet again as Elvis took a Phoenix and the two of them knocked them against each other and handed them back. The Maians broke out in applause.
"I hope I won't be seeing you for a while then" The Skedar leader said
"I hope not either" Elvis replied
The Skedar were taken to their ship and it took off and left.
"Why were the Skedar so agreeable?" Jonathan asked not being able to hold the question any longer
"Well, they are controlled by fear. One toe out of line and the King has them killed, however they were completely obeying the King's orders. That is why they seemed so happy and agreed since they won't be killed and got what they wanted, they didn't want war either but for fear of their own lives they had to do whatever the King wanted, several Skedar diplomats have died before them. If they had it their way the ceasefire would have been agreed to on the first day" Elvis explained
"And why did you knock weapons against each other?" Joanthan asked
"It's the equivalent of shaking hands" Sean answered for Elvis
"Ah I see" Jonathan said
Parties on the Maian planet started as the news was spread around the Maian planet by use of their boards on buildings. It read in English, Skedar agree to ceasefire after Sean Lombreson, who killed the Skedar prince finds a loophole in the agreement to protect his life and planet without going to war. Jonathan Dark who destroyed the Skedar planet is also present on the planet. In sport, Del Waino wins the Peloroka against Onsneta 74 to 63.
"What's Peloroka?" Sean asked
"Err… the best way I can describe it to you is a twisted mix between basketball, water polo and paintball" Elvis said "It's something that has to be seen to be believed"
Night soon fell which was very similar to Earth and the way sun rotated around the planet, but the Maian sun was a bit smaller then Earth's but the Maian planet was closer to the Sun and the planet itself is a bit bigger then Earth. Jonathan and Sean drunk dinner, fish tonight. Then they headed back to the place where they would sleep later.
"Hey Sean, this sounds a little bit mushy but I'm going to miss you" Jonathan said, Sean gave a smile.
"You're not going yet, you're here until tomorrow night" Sean reminded him
"I know but still, I don't know how you are going to do this. I mean I don't have much of a life on Earth, but I couldn't throw it all away" Jonathan said
"It's not like I'm never coming back, it will be a long time though" Sean said
"Elvis tells me that there is a combat simulator that is really good. Wanna try it?" Jonathan asked
"Sure" Sean replied
Elvis was nearby and were told where he was. It was quite hard to find the way but eventually they got there.
"You said something about a combat simulator mind if we check it out?" Jonathan asked
"No problem" Elvis replied
They walked again through the busy city but it wasn't far away.
Elvis said something in Maian to some of the Maians around. A group of Maians flocked Elvis, Jonathan and Sean and all said something different in Maian to all of them. Elvis then shouted something and it must have worked because they all went quiet.
"They want to play a game with you, I think. We'll play this way, you get a pistol and go around and try to kill your opponents. One shot will kill, but if you die you reappear somewhere else? Got it?" Elvis asked
"Sure" Jonathan said
"Seems easy enough" Sean said
"Although what weapons do we get?" Jonathan asked
"Anything that we have found, including both of your usual weapons" Elvis explained "So I assume this is what you want?" Elvis asked
"Definitely" Jonathan said
"This is the rules, at the end of each minute the being with the lowest score is eliminated from the game. The winner is last man standing" Elvis explained
Jonathan and Sean with 6 other Maians including Elvis were taken in and placed at various points in a simulated area. It seemed real, the walls, the grass, even the sunlight. No time for looking as a Maian approached Jonathan's right and he aimed his Magnum and hit him down. Elvis entered their names into a computer before and there were scoreboards and Jonathan saw himself on 1 because of his kill, a timer was ticking down from 1 minute, Jonathan was reading this information before getting hit by a shot, taking him by surprise and knocking him on the ground.
"Hey sorry man" Sean said smiling reloading his Falcon and taking out an enemy behind him.
"You will be sorry soon" Jonathan replied before getting transported somewhere else
Another Maian was in front of Jonathan but was in a fire fight with another, Jonathan took advantage a shot them both before taking cover and reloading. He noticed that Sean was taking down a lot of Maians as was on a score of 5 by the end of the first minute and hadn't been killed yet as somebody was removed from the game, Elvis was on 2 and had been killed once and Jonathan was on 3.
Jonathan then went further down some steps and looked around the corner and spotted Sean and his Falcon 2 scope firing off killing a few. Jonathan knew Sean hadn't seen him as he sneaked around the next corner and took him down.
"I told you'd be sorry" Jonathan said
"Ah well, see you later" Sean said as he disappeared to reappear somewhere else
This continued until there were only 4 left. It was between Sean who was on 20 kills, Elvis who was on 18, Jonathan who was on 16 and somebody else who was on 10. Jonathan then went around nailing Sean again followed by Elvis who tried to come behind, and was looking for another victim when the time eliminated somebody else, which put him in equal second place with 18. Elvis tried to be sneaky and nail Jonathan from behind but he heard him turned around and shot Elvis down, only to be shot in return by Sean.
"Damn" Jonathan said to himself as he regenerated. At the end of that minute Elvis was eliminated. Sean had 21 and Jonathan had 19. However Jonathan heard Sean's footsteps and jumped out and nailed him in a single shot with his Magnum.
Jonathan tried to find Sean quickly but he got the feeling Sean was trying to avoid him, time was running out. He continued to look around the corridors but there was no sign of him. With 10 seconds left, Sean came from behind and shot but Jonathan moved behind a wall and Sean missed and tried to wait for Jonathan to come out of his hiding place but Jonathan waited until the last second to jump out, he fired and hit him, ending the match in a 21 all draw. After that they were warped back to the entrance.
"Nice shooting guys. I was hoping one of you would win though" Elvis said
"Ah well, it was really great though. Thanks Elvis" Sean said
"Yeah it was great, nice to be beaten once in a while" Elvis replied
The next day came and it was time for Jonathan to leave. Sean talked to Carrington, and Carrington said he was pleased and glad, but would miss him being around. Carrington understood Sean's reasons, and welcomed him back whenever he wished to return but Carrington knew this wouldn't be for sometime.
"Good luck Jonathan" Sean said
"You too" Jonathan replied
The two went to shake hands, but instead gave a hug and patted each other on the back.
"Say hi to everybody for me" Sean said as Jonathan got on the Maian ship
"Oh I will, keep in touch. See you" Jonathan said as the ship closed as the Maian pilot took off.
"So sad. I wonder if I'll ever see him again" Elvis asked
"You will. I bet on it" Sean replied
Thanks again for all your reviews etc. etc.
I know that might not have been the ideal way to move Sean away from the storyline but I had to it somehow, and killing him off was used before in the form of Natasha. So now that's done I can start my new fic that will come sometime soon, but I may not be able to update it as often as I did this one. I'm still deciding whether to write extra chapters for this or not. It's been great guys, look forward to your reviews for my next fic.
Special thanks to Spider bear, Chistalina who were my main reviewers and also to DJ cat who read parts of this but didn't review it because he wanted to wait until it was finished before reading it all.