The Red Ranger, Chapter Six

Chapter Six

General Kenpachi

Joshua flew through the air, high over Silver City. The Black Cross compound had apparently been somewhere in the middle of the warehouse district, a detail he’d have to remember for later. But at the moment, his Birdies were starting to putter and give out. They hadn’t exactly been made to last longer than the escape, so Joshua pointed himself toward the nearest EAGLE checkpoint he could remember and worked his way toward the ground.

His birdies gave out just as he was about to land, meaning he dropped the last couple of feet onto the pavement below, his suit absorbing the impact. Several passersby stared and whispered at him. He imagined he looked quite strange in this suit, possibly even like a Black Cross Mask. He ducked into the nearby alleyway, away from watchful eyes, and stripped off the suit. He stashed it behind a nearby dumpster, hopefully making it clear to any watching EAGLE cameras where it was.

Joshua straightened his worn and tattered civvies and stepped back onto the street. He stood in front of a small neighborhood snack shop, a sign reading “GON” over the door. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The shop was nothing special, just your average local lunch spot. A long bar stretched the length of the restaurant, lined with stools. A few tables filled the rest of the space, a few patrons on their lunch breaks seated around them, eating sandwiches and sushi and other lunchtime favorites. A cushioned bench lined one wall. All in all, it was a perfectly normal restaurant, seemingly untouched by the war with the Black Cross. Joshua knew better.

Joshua let out a sigh of relief to finally see a sight this normal again. He only wished James could have been here too. A shot of pain pulsed through his heart. Pushing down his feelings for now, he stepped up to the counter and sat down.

A man appeared behind the counter, older and balding, with heavy bags under his eyes, scrubbing a glass with a rag. “Good morning,” he said. He stepped up to the counter and put the glass aside. “Welcome to Gon. What can I get for you today?”

Joshua picked up the nearby menu and looked it over, searching for the code items that would let them know he was with EAGLE. “I will have,” he said, doing his best to sound natural, “three extra large bowls of curry, a cup of coffee, and a bowl of ice cream.”

The man behind the counter looked up, meeting his eyes. Just as Joshua suspected, he was an EAGLE plant. “Are you sure?” the man said. “Our extra large bowls are a bit bigger than you think they are. Perhaps our medium size?”

Joshua shook his head, maintaining eye contact. “I can handle it,” he said.

The man nodded gravely, marking his notepad. “Very well. Coming right up, sir.”

“Thank you.”

The man headed back into the kitchen, where Joshua could hear him clinking dishes and moving around. Joshua looked around to see that some of the other patrons were giving him funny looks because of his order, but most were enjoying their own meals and minding their own business.

After a few minutes, the man reappeared, carrying a tray with Joshua’s order. Their extra large bowls were indeed a lot bigger than he had been expecting. Joshua almost cracked a smile, thinking of Dayton and wondering if he would have any trouble finishing it. Then he wondered if he was even still alive.

“Here you are,” the man said. “Three extra large bowls of curry, a bowl of ice cream, and a cup of coffee.”

“Thank you,” Joshua said.

“Enjoy your meal.”

Joshua picked up a pair of chopsticks and dug in. He didn’t realize until the food hit his stomach just how hungry he had been. After three to four weeks of the bare minimum of nourishment, this bowl of curry tasted like heaven. He shoveled the rice into his mouth, not even bothered by the spice, and blazed through the first bowl like it was nothing. He finished up his first bowl and set it aside, moving on to the bowl of ice cream for a change of pace.

Slowly but surely, the other patrons finished up their meals and headed back out to their jobs, leaving Joshua and the man behind the counter alone. Joshua almost finished the second bowl before he felt ready to pop.

After the last patron left, the man behind the counter stepped out and looked around, checking to make sure they were alone. “This way,” he said, gesturing to Joshua. He led him to the back of the restaurant, where a single door led to a small bathroom. The man checked inside before pulling out a badge and tapping the door. A loud rumbling sound filled Joshua’s ears as the bathroom moved to one side.

After the rumbling stopped, the man opened the door again, revealing a long hallway leading to an elevator at the very end. The man handed Joshua another badge. “Take this,” he said. “Use it to access the elevator at the end and take it down. You’ll receive further instructions from there.”

“Thank you,” Joshua said, accepting the badge. He leaned in close. “There’s a package behind the dumpster in the alley out back,” he said.

The man nodded. “We’ll get it,” he said. “Head in.”

Joshua stepped into the hall and the man closed the door behind him. Once Joshua had gone a few steps, the restroom moved back into place, blocking the door. Joshua crossed the length of the hall and tapped the badge to the elevator. A few seconds later, it dinged and Joshua stepped inside. The elevator descended slowly, traveling deeper and deeper underground. Joshua leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, the elevator taking a long time to reach the bottom. It sure was deep, he thought.

At last, the elevator came to a stop. Joshua stepped out to find himself in a small reception area leading to a heavy security gate. He stepped up to the receptionist’s desk, giving her his name and serial number. “Alright,” she said. “Welcome back, Captain Cage. You can head through security right here.”

“Thank you.”

Joshua stepped through the security gate and let himself get checked out by the security officers. “You’re good to go,” they said after several minutes of scanning and probing. Joshua took a step forward and stumbled, nearly collapsing to the ground, his body finally giving out after all he’d been through that morning.

“We need a medic over here,” one of the security officers shouted. A few seconds later, Joshua found himself being loaded onto a stretcher and rushed to the base’s medical ward. As they rushed through the base, he saw a number of familiar faces from his old base, many of whose faces lit up with recognition upon seeing him.

He was brought to the hospital and emptied onto a cot. A medic poked and prodded at him, looking him over. He didn’t seem to have any serious injuries except for some muscle strain and exhaustion, as well as some malnourishment.

While he was letting himself be treated, he heard a small commotion at the hospital’s entrance. Someone trying to get in.

“We heard he was back,” a familiar voice shouted.

“We want to see him,” another said.

Joshua’s face brightened. Could it be? He looked past the doctor bandaging his arm to see Katie and Dayton.

“Guys!” Joshua said weakly.

“Captain Cage!” they shouted, pushing through and running to him.

“We thought you were dead,” Katie said.

“How did you ever get away?” Dayton said. “Had to have been awesome.”

“What happened to James?” Katie asked.

Joshua tried to work up the energy to answer them, but before he could, one of his doctors ushered them away.

“The captain needs a lot of rest right now,” he said. “You can visit with him later.”

Both looked disappointed, but nodded. “We’ll see you later,” Katie said, touching him on the shoulder.

Joshua nodded. “See you guys. I missed you.”

Both of his friends were ushered out of the room, and he let the doctor finish patching him up. Then he was told to get some rest. He laid down, and within a matter of minutes had drifted off to sleep.

Joshua awoke several hours later. At first, he thought he was back in his stupid cell in the Black Cross compound. He sat up and looked around. A curtain had been pulled around him to give him some privacy. That wasn’t right. He could hear doctors moving around on the other side. That definitely wasn’t right. Everything came rushing back to him: the escape, the snack shop, the medics, James.

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

He rubbed his head. His body still ached, but it felt better than it had in a long time. He’d gotten some good food and a decent amount of rest. His tattered clothes and the rest of his belongings were stacked on a small desk nearby, along with a small white envelope. Curious, Joshua picked it up and opened it to find a letter asking him to come to Conference Room B at 10:00 once he’d been cleared to leave.

That was in a couple more hours. Joshua placed the letter back on his desk and laid back down, getting a little more rest and trying not to think about James. When the time finally came, the doctor looked him over one more time and cleared him to leave.

Joshua found his way to the door marked as conference room B and pushed the door open. Inside, a number of decorated officers sat around a large conference table, deep in discussion. As soon as he stepped in, the room fell silent. The man at the head of the table stood. To Joshua’s surprise, he recognized him as the same man who’d been running the snack shop above, now dressed up in full military regalia, rather that the white hat and apron he’d been wearing before.

“Captain Cage,” he said, stepping around the table. “Welcome.” He approached Joshua and shook his hand. “I am General Edgar Kenpachi.”

Another flicker of recognition. “General Kenpachi?” Joshua asked. He remembered James’s last words to him. “Head of the Ranger Project?”

The general raised an eyebrow, looking at him strangely. “That’s correct,” he said. He gestured to his fellows. “You know General Hunter and Blake, I presume?”

Two of the generals, Joshua’s former commanding officers, nodded.

“I do.”

“You know why you’re here?”

“Yes.”

“Then why don’t you take a seat.” General Kenpachi gestured to the one empty chair in the room.

“Yes, sir.” Joshua sat down.

General Kenpachi returned to his own seat and shuffled through his papers. “Let’s get started, shall we?” he said, leaning forward and looking Joshua in the eye. “Why don’t you start off with the Black Cross attack on the Silver City base and tell us everything that has happened to you since then?”

Joshua nodded. The generals around the room were all silent, waiting for his response.

“When the attack started,” he began, “I ran into the science building to find my brother. We ran into an ambush as we tried to escape. We were taken to a secret compound in Silver City’s warehouse district, where we were brought before their leader.”

Several generals looked at each other. “You met the fuhrer?” General Blake asked.

Joshua nodded. “The Black Cross knew about the ranger project that James was working on and wanted him to build a super suit for them.”

Several panicked whispers swept through the room. “You’re sure they knew?” General Hunter asked.

Joshua nodded. “From the way they were talking, it sounded like they had a mole within EAGLE who fed them that information. They also knew that James was one of the project's head scientists.”

Another wave of panicked whispers. Several started scribbling down notes. General Kenpachi held up a hand, silencing the room. He fixed his eyes on Joshua. “Why take you as well?” he asked.

Joshua swallowed. “They used me as leverage. They knew about our relationship and tortured me in order to force James to do as they wanted.”

“So he agreed to build the suit then?” one general asked.

Joshua nodded.

“The same suit that was stashed in the alley behind Gon,” another general asked.

Joshua nodded again. “We played along with their demands,” he said. “We built a fully functional suit. I acted as the guinea pig to test out the suit's components. Once we were ready, James wiped out their system with an EMP and a virus he had hidden in the code, and then I wore the suit to fight our way out.”

General Kenpachi was silent for a moment. He seemed hesitant to ask his next question. “And what happened James Cage?” he asked.

Joshua didn’t answer. A lump formed in his throat that pressed against his ribcage and made him want to cry out in agony. He felt the eyes of a dozen generals on him.

“Captain Cage?” General Hunter said.

Joshua cleared his throat and pushed past the pain. “He didn’t make it,” he said. “He was killed in out escape. The Golden Mask ambushed us with a rocket launcher. James pushed me out of the way and got caught in the blast. I wanted to save him, but . . . He told me I had to get out, to get the suit back to EAGLE. He told me to find you.”

He looked up at General Kenpachi. The general cleared his throat, picking up his papers and shuffling through them. His eyes seemed a little wet.

Finally, he leaned forward.

“I am sorry for your loss, Captain Cage,” he said. “James was one of our most brilliant minds, and EAGLE has lost a great asset today. Even more than that, he was my friend and my coworker. He will be missed.”

The room was silent. General Kenpachi cleared his throat and set his papers down, moving forward. “I take it, then,” he said, “based on some of your answers, that James told you at least a little bit about what he was working on.”

Joshua nodded. “He told me some,” he said. “Only mostly what the Black Cross already knew. And then a little bit more in code. I know that he was involved with a project called the Ranger Project. That their goal was to create a team of super soldiers using specialized suits that would enhance the wearer’s physical abilities tenfold, at least by his approximation. I know that James was brought in six months ago, because the original design had been faulty.”

Joshua worked his mouth, deciding whether or not to share the last detail that James had told him. “I also know that I had been considered and submitted as a candidate to be selected as the first ranger.”

Joshua looked up at General Kenpachi. The general was silent for a minute, writing down everything Joshua had told him. He looked at the generals around him, a silent conversation passing between them. General Kenpachi cleared his throat and addressed Joshua. “Your brother told you the truth,” he said. “All of your information was accurate. We are indeed constructing a series of super suits to combat the Black Cross, and James Cage was one of our head scientists on the project. That is all correct.”

Joshua raised an eyebrow. “Why?” he asked. “I’m not a scientist.”

General Kenpachi searched through his files and pulled one out, spreading it across the table. Joshua’s own picture stared back at him, on top of several forms detailing every facet of his service with EAGLE.

“James also told you the truth regarding that last part,” General Kenpachi said. “He approached me with your name about two weeks before the attack happened. After careful observation of you around the base and looking over your file, I ultimately agreed with him. We put together a request and submitted your name to the committee for evaluation. Their response came two days after the attack.”

He set down another file, with a big red “confirmed” stamp across it.

“You were accepted for the position,” he said. “As you can imagine, we believed you and your brother to be lost to us and hard started searching for new candidates for the role. That was, of course, before you showed up at the shop yesterday.”

Joshua’s eyes widened. He picked up his confirmation and flipped it over, hardly daring to believe it.

“Although you will have to undergo a new evaluation, and some rigorous training, our offer still stands,” the general said. “Will you accept?”

Joshua stared up at him. He thought of his brother, and his dying wish for him. “Become the ranger you were always meant to be,” he’d said.

Joshua’s eyes welled up, and his heart filled with determination. “With every fiber of my being,” he said.

General Kenpachi smiled and got to his feet. “In that case,” he said. “Welcome to the Ranger Project.”

The Red Ranger, Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The Escape

Over the next two weeks, the Cage brothers stuck to their task of putting together the suit, keeping their heads down and not drawing attention to themselves. Speaking in codes that they changed up every day, they carefully planned out their escape. The suit started coming together, the brothers finishing up the harness, helmet, and armor. It started looking more like a suit than a pile of random scraps.

Finally, they were ready.

“Alright,” James said, patting the small bench they had been using. “Sit up here and let me get this harness on you.”

Joshua grumbled as he normally did. They had started using Joshua as a test dummy for the suit’s parts and pieces, having him try them on and make sure they were working properly. The guards had raised some concern initially, but after James told them there was a chance of the suit malfunctioning and crushing their bones, they decided they’d rather Joshua did the job instead of one of them.

James worked steadily, treating it as if it were no different than any previous time, fastening each bolt and cinching the harness up so that it fit tightly around his brother. “How does that feel?” he asked, having Joshua move his arm around. “How are they moving? Do you think they’re about ready?”

Joshua wiggled around, not responding to James’s coded message of “Are you ready?”

“Feels good,” he said. “Just wondering how to get out to go to the bathroom.”

“Good to go,” was his coded message. James nodded. “I’ll let you know if it becomes a problem. Begin testing.”

Joshua stretched and moved around inside the suit like he normally did. James started flipping switches on the harness, following his standard procedures. He slipped his hand under the harness, where he’d installed a hidden switch. He flipped it, setting off an electromagnetic pulse and taking out the cameras, lights, computer, everything.

They were in the dark.

“What was that?” the guards said, stepping forward and priming their guns. “What did you do?”

“Sorry, sorry,” James said, standing back with his hands up. “Just a mistake in the programming. Just let me . . . Now!”

He dived down behind the table as Joshua jumped to his feet. He grabbed the gun of the nearest guard and twisted until he dropped it. He punched the guard in the chest, a surprising amount of force throwing the guard across the room.

“Whoa,” Joshua said, staring at his own fist.

The other guard stared, stunned. Joshua took the opportunity and leaped across the room with incredible speed and tackled the guard. He wrenched the guard’s gun from his hand, bending it out of shape in the process. James couldn’t help but smile seeing his handiwork performing so well.

Both guards down, James rolled out from his hiding place. “Let’s jam this door. Others are probably on the way.”

He and Joshua pushed the table up against the door and jammed it tightly.

“Come on,” James said. “We only have a few minutes. Let me get the rest of the suit on.”

“Yes, sir,” Joshua said, sitting back down on the bench. James gathered up all the pieces of the suit, and kicked the computer back on. He had thought ahead and insulated it ahead of time against the EMP.

He pulled up his programming and got it ready to download. Joshua slipped his arms into the suit’s coat and fastened it to the harness. He slipped the trousers on and got them attached as well. Once the program was ready, James pulled out two connector cords and plugged them in. He tapped on the keyboard to get the program downloading before helping Joshua with his gloves and boots.

Finally, all they had left was the helmet. The brothers worked together to squeeze it down over Joshua’s head. It was a bit of a tight fit, but not too bad. Once it was on, they only had to wait for the program to finish downloading. While they waited, James plugged in the virus he had written disguised as coding to wipe the Black Cross’s system of all records and blueprints involving the Ranger Program and super suit.

“How’s your helmet’s visor working?” he asked. “There should be a heads-up display coming on.”

Joshua nodded. “Yeah, I’m seeing it,” he said, his voice a little muffled.

Several heavy thuds started pounding on the door, making both brothers jump. James bit started typing faster. The program was only about seventy-five percent done.

The pounding at the door stopped, shortly followed by a larger bang that left a slight dent in the door. A battering ram. Another bang and the dent got bigger. James tapped his leg, wishing the computer would move faster.

Another bang, followed by a metallic crunch. The door crumpled in like paper. Ninety percent, ninety-two percent, ninety-five percent. Almost there. Come on.

Another bang and the door flew open, the table skidding to the side. A horde of Black Cross soldiers swarmed into the room, guns pointed at the brothers.

“Back against the wall!” they shouted.

James stepped back, hands in the air. The computer reached one hundred percent.

Joshua launched himself from the table, tackling the nearest group of soldiers as the room erupted into chaos. James dove behind the table, grabbing the gun one of their guards had dropped. Joshua grabbed one soldier and threw him into the next, sending them both sprawling. A spray of bullets rang out across the room as several soldiers opened fire on Joshua. Joshua stood there and took it, the bullets ricocheting off the suit’s armor, not even causing a single scratch of damage. Finally, the bullets stopped.

“Nice try,” Joshua said. He leaped back into the fray, taking down one enemy after another. James helped him out, sniping soldiers from behind the table.

The ranger suit was a sight to behold. Inside it, Joshua fought through the crowd with quick, fluid movements, taking them down like they were nothing. With every punch, he could hear bones cracking. He almost had to hold back to avoid doing serious damage. His speed was intense too. With every step, he covered more distance than he could have ever expected, and his jumps carried him several feet into the air.

The soldiers rushed him as a group, hoping to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. With a mighty shove, he threw them all into the air and back on top of each other. Everything they tried against him failed. Joshua punched and kicked his way through their ranks until there were only two left. They looked at each other and tried to rush him at the same time. Joshua merely grabbed them both and knocked their heads together.

The battle was over.

Joshua stood in the middle of a heap of bodies, staring around at what he had done with his own hands. James stepped out from behind the table.

“How did I do,” Joshua asked, putting up his visor.

“Awesome,” James said, looking him over. “Are you okay?”

Joshua shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much. Let’s get out of here.”

They stepped over the unconscious soldiers and up to the door. “Stay behind me,” Joshua said. “Keep the gun ready.”

“Got it,” James said, tucking up behind his brother.

Joshua stepped out carefully into the corridor. Everything was dark and quiet for now. “Come on,” he said.

They hugged the opposite wall, keeping it to their backs at all times. They approached the far corner, Joshua peeking around. He spotted some movement up ahead.

“Stay back,” he said. “Cover me.”

“Got it,” James said. Joshua stepped out as a squad of about twelve soldiers came into view.

“Looking for me,” he said.

“Freeze,” their leader shouted.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Joshua charged, barreling into them at blinding speed. Several bullets pecked his armor, but he ignored them and kept going,  throwing and punching and flipping them over like rag dolls. In seconds, every last one lay scattered on the floor.

“Not too shabby,” he said.

James stepped out from behind the wall. “Don’t get cocky, little bro,” he said. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

A faint sliding sound met their ears. James looked over his brother’s shoulder to see a wall open up, revealing a shadowy figure standing behind a secret door. His brain kicked into instinct mode and he shoved Joshua out of the way.

“Look out!”

A rocket shot from the secret passage, flying past Joshua and striking the wall behind James, exploding in a fiery blast

“No!” Joshua said. The force of the blast had been enough to destroy the wall and cause the ceiling to cave in. James was nowhere to be seen.

“James!” Joshua shouted.

A cold, cruel laugh broke through the dusty air. “You know, for as smart as he was, James Cage really could be quite stupid sometimes.” The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a smiling golden mask. He held a rocket launcher in his hand, pointed right at Joshua’s chest. “Well, look at that,” he said. “Our very first fully functioning Power Ranger.”

Joshua fumed, clenching his powerful fists.

“Truly a marvel, isn’t it?” the Golden Mask said, looking over the suit. “James Cage should be proud of the work he’s accomplished. Let’s see how it holds up against some real firepower.”

He fired. Another rocket burst from the weapon and headed straight for him. His visor lit up, showing him the rocket’s speed and trajectory, indicating the best option for dodging the attack. Joshua sidestepped the rocket and it blazed right past him. He turned to face the Golden Mask, rushing toward him, grabbing the rocket launcher, and pulling it from his hands. He balled up his fist with all the strength he could muster and punched him in the gut so hard he was sure something had burst. The Golden Mask flew through the air, hitting the concrete wall behind him so hard he left a small crater. He slumped to the floor and didn’t get up again.

“James!” Joshua said. He ran back to the other end of the hall and started shifting rubble around, uncovering his brother. Severe burns and gaping wounds covered most of James’s body, his face a mangled mess. Blood pooled around him and his glasses lay shattered nearby. He coughed and spat up more blood. Joshua had seen enough battlefield wounds in his time to know when a situation was beyond help. He knew it was too late, but he wouldn’t accept it.

“Come on, James,” he said, “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

He tried to move his brother, but everything he tried caused James to cry out in horrible pain. “Stop,” James said. He grasped his brother’s shoulder. “Stop. It’s no use.”

“No,” Joshua said. Tears filled his eyes. “We’ve got to get you out of here. Please, James.”

“No,” James said. His voice was weak. “You have got to get out of here. You need to escape and get this suit back to EAGLE. You need to become the ranger you were always meant to be.”

“Not without you,” Joshua said. “This was your project.”

“Not anymore,” James said. “Get back to the base. Find General Edgar Kenpachi. He will help you. Become a ranger and bring these guys down once and for all.”

Tears streamed from Joshua’s eyes. He popped his visor open. “Please don’t leave me, James. I can’t do this without you.”

James grasped his brother’s hand and smiled. “I love you, Josh.”

His hand went limp in Joshua’s grip. He let out one last ragged breath and he was gone.

Joshua stared at his brother. He carefully reached out a hand and shook his shoulder. “James,” he said. “James!”

He grasped his brother’s body with both hands, shaking him with everything he had. 

“Please, James,” he pleaded.

James didn’t respond.

Joshua slumped back against the ground. He stared at his brother’s body, his mind numb. The sound of more Black Cross soldiers coming met his ears. Another squad appeared around the corner.

“There he is,” one of them shouted. “Get him!”

The soldiers charged. Joshua stared at them blankly, only one thought filling his mind. His brother was dead. His family was dead. And it was all their fault.

He let out a cry of rage and charged his opponents head on. He ripped and tore through them, hardly paying attention to anything he was doing. He didn’t care. He just wanted to make them pay. The soldiers tried to fight back, but it was a futile effort. Eventually, most started running.

“Get back here,” he said, his vision turning red. He chased them down, bashing the slowest’s head against the wall before moving on to the next. He kept up his chase through the compound, tearing through every soldier he could find until he stumbled past a door through which a beam of sunshine drifted through a small square window. He stopped in his tracks, the sight triggering something in his mind.

He turned to stare at the door, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. He hadn’t seen real sunshine in so long. He reached out a tentative hand and pushed it open.

He stepped through the door, stepping out into a small nondescript parking lot surrounded by warehouses. He took off his helmet, feeling cool, fresh air on his skin for the first time in several weeks. The air and sunshine cleared his head and brought him back to his senses. Escape, he thought. That’s right. He had to escape. He looked back at the door behind him, hearing the sounds of more soldiers approaching. He took a deep breath and clicked on the Birdie Rockets at his belt. They fired up, and he took off into the sky.

The Red Ranger, Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The Ranger Project

Over the next several days, the Cage brothers set to work. Every day, they would be locked in their lab with whatever tools they needed, with two guards standing on opposite sides of the room at all times. James would use the blueprints and his own knowledge of the project to put the suit together, while Joshua helped out with most of the heavy lifting and grunt work.

“Find as many of these metal pieces as you can,” James told Joshua on their first day. “Follow the pattern on page two on the blueprints. They should form a rudimentary frame.”

“Got it,” Joshua replied.

Working side by side, the brothers started putting together the harness that would protect and brace the muscles against serious damage while inside the suit. James could tell Joshua had a lot of questions, but he wasn’t asking them just yet. With their guards watching them closely and the Golden Mask likely on the opposite end of those cameras, they had to watch their steps for now.

At the end of each day, the brothers were pulled up from their table, dropping whatever they were doing, and would be taken in separate directions to be locked up in tiny cells with no windows, a small cot to sleep on, and a bucket in the corner. Conditions were pretty miserable. The cells were small and cramped, and the bucket stank. They were only fed twice a day, and both meals tended to be dismal at best. They didn’t get much sleep either. They would be locked up in their cells for only eight hours at a time and had to work constantly the rest of the time.

Tired, hungry, and running on fumes, the brothers pressed on, refusing to give in. They worked hard, bringing the suit together. They found that their guards tended to be lenient when it came to conversation so long as they didn’t discuss anything even sounding like an escape attempt. This was probably because they hoped the brothers might leak sensitive information by mistake.

One day, they were working on assembling what the Ranger Project had dubbed Birdie Rockets. While James was busy writing the programing for the rockets, he couldn’t help but notice his brother staring at the tiny devices with an increasingly doubtful expression. “These things are really supposed to make you fly?” he finally asked.

“Yep,” James said. He smiled for the first time in what felt like ages. He was used to this question.

“And they’re attached at the belt level?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Wouldn’t that make the flier top-heavy?”

There it was. “Not exactly,” he said. He pointed to some of the harness’s connectors. “See how it's attached there? The harness redistributes the weight to keep you balanced.”

“Uh-huh,” Joshua said. He was clearly not convinced, but he decided to drop it. He glanced at the guards and the cameras and leaned forward. “So, this Ranger Project the fuhrer was talking about? This whole super suit thing we’re building?”

James looked up at his brother. He scratched the back of his head, not sure what to say. He supposed there wasn’t much point to hiding anything from Joshua now. The Black Cross apparently already knew almost everything important.

“Alright,” he said. He gathered his thoughts, trying to find the right words to say. “The Ranger Project is a secret project started by EAGLE about two years ago. The goal was to create a super suit that would enhance the wearer’s abilities tenfold. Ten times the strength, ten times the speed, so on. I was one of the top scientists working on the project.”

Joshua raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been working on this for two years?”

“Not exactly. I was brought on to the project six months ago.”

Joshua did the math in his head. “Six months,” he said. “When we both started at Silver City base.”

“That’s right,” James said. “The project team brought me in because they’d hit a stumbling block and wanted fresh eyes for the project. With my record, I was a prime candidate.”

Joshua snorted. “You don’t need to tell me that one, Egghead,” he said. He winked at his brother. James smiled back. “So this was your big top-secret assignment you couldn’t tell me about,” he said.

“Pretty much.”

“All those six months, all those times we had lunch together, you were working on this?”

“That’s correct,” James said.

Joshua messed a bit with the birdie, fiddling with the connectors. “Did you know about the project beforehand?”

James finished up with his next line of code and smirked. “Technically, not much,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, rumors and gossip tend to run rampant in the EAGLE science community. We had heard rumors about a super soldier project, but those rumors were mixed in with other rumors about fifty-foot human-shaped robots and the government using alien technology. We never really took any of them too seriously.”

Joshua started attaching parts of the Birdie Rocket to the harness where Joshua had shown him. “If these things work the way you guys plan them to,” he said. “That’s a really powerful army you’d have on your hands. A bit too powerful if you ask me.”

James nodded. “We know,” he said. “We had discussed the danger several times. That’s why we decided to put a limit on the number of suits. We planned to keep each line of suits to a team of five max. A tight-knit group of approved and reliable soldiers with impeccable backgrounds that EAGLE could keep a close eye on. Each candidate had to have their name submitted to and evaluated by a committee before being brought in, and once selected, they would have to go through rigorous training. We were just about to finish up the first suit when—”

“When the Black Cross attacked.”

“That’s right.”

Joshua was quiet for a while. He looked over the piece he was working on attaching and reattaching the pieces he knew how to work with.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” James said. “I wanted to, every single day.”

Joshua shrugged. “I get it,” he said. “This was a big secret.”

James nodded. “It was.”

“A secret we definitely wouldn’t want the Black Cross to get their hands on.” He rolled his eyes in the guards’ general direction.

James gave him a dry smile. “Yep, we definitely wouldn’t want that.” 

Their guards didn’t react.

James leaned in. “You should know, though,” he said. This was pushing the edge of what the Black Cross already knew, but he felt he should say it anyway. “About three weeks ago, I approached my commanding officer and submitted your name for consideration. He agreed and we put in a request to the committee for evaluation..”

Joshua looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”

James nodded. “You were my only choice.”

Joshua didn’t say anything for a minute. He looked over the pieces in front of him with a new appreciation. “Three weeks ago, you said?” he asked.

“Yeah,” James said. “We were just waiting on a response. We expected it to come back any day. And then—,” he trailed off. He didn’t have to finish.

James fell silent, looking over the fragments of the suit before him. “It should have worked,” he said. He picked up a piece and turned it over in his hands.

“It sounds like it was quite the project,” Joshua said.

James smiled sadly. “It was,” he said.

Joshua scowled at their guards. He fiddled with the piece in his hands and put it down. “We need to get out of here,” he said.

At those words, the guards tighten their grips on their weapons.

“Shush,” James said.

“I’m serious,” Joshua said. “We can’t let them have this suit.” He gestured to the birdie rockets he had just installed. “Look at this. You know what it can do. If we let them get their hands on it, we are basically handing the world a death sentence.”

“I know,” James said. The guard’s fingers were starting to itch toward their triggers. Joshua had said too much. “You’re right,” he said. “ But there’s nothing we can do about it. It would be pointless to even try, so don’t even talk about it.”

Joshua opened his mouth to argue, but James looked him dead in the eye. Closing his mouth, he nodded slowly. “Right,” he scowled. “Sorry. It was a stupid thing to say.”

“Let’s just keep working,” James said

“Yeah.”

The brothers worked in silence. Their next task was to hook up the harness and the birdies to the computer so that James could apply his programming. While he worked, he considered their predicament. If they wanted to escape, they would need a code of some kind. He had an idea.

“Okay, I’m going to need your help,” he said. He leaned forward and pointed to a series of lights on the harness that would be lighting up while he coded. “Pay attention to these lights here. Specifically, one, three, five, and seven. Got it?”

Joshua searched James’s face, trying to pick up on what he was trying to tell him.

“One, three, five, and seven,” James repeated. “Keep watching those lights. Okay?”

Joshua nodded slowly.

“Let’s just not talk about escape,” he said. “Don’t get in to trouble. Just watch these while I code.”

Hidden in those words were James’s coded message. “Let’s . . . talk . . . in . . . code.” One word in, then three more words, then five after, then seven more.

He watched Joshua’s face for any sign he had picked up on the code. Joshua stared back at him, confused at first. Then he subtly nodded. “What ever,” he said. “This is our life now. Make your stupid suit and stick to their plan.”

James did the math in his head. “What . . . is . . . your . . . plan?”

He’d got it.

“First,” James said carefully, showing Joshua the appropriate cord. “I must test the system connection. If the lights don’t flash, it’s a bad code.”

“First . . . test . . . the . . . code.”

Joshua nodded, thinking. He got down low, squinting at the lights to track their movement.

“Let’s see,” he said. He rubbed his head and groaned. “I’d kill for a soda. Ask the guards if we can have some. Guards!” He turned to look at the guards.

The guards didn’t respond to his coded threat. “No drinks,” they said. “Keep working.”

Joshua did so. He stared at the lights for a minute. “Change your code,” he said. “The lights aren’t flashing; your code is faulty. Write a better one tomorrow.”

James nodded. “Change . . . the . . . code . . . tomorrow.” That was a good plan. “I’ll do that,” he said. “Figure out what’s wrong with it on your end. I’ll work it out from here.”

While they worked, on the other side of the cameras watching them, the Golden Mask sat in a small control booth surrounded by Black Cross soldiers. He leaned forward, gripping his scythe. Something was off about their conversation. It sounded stilted. They had to be talking in code, but he wasn’t picking up on it.

“Play back the recording,” he ordered one of his soldiers.