Retaliation

1

Lansing, MI

CBS National News

11:48 P.M.

“A year after the explosion that rocked the San Antonio building, authorities have advised that people steer clear of the area. Until now, the initial findings of a gas leak could not be confirmed as the cause of the explosion, but the investigation is still ongoing. There have been rumors of people seeing a chopper hovering above the building before the explosion took place and of a man on a surfboard in the sky. As you can see behind me, the area is completely…”

The TV is switched off. In a white T-shirt and checkered boxers, Joey Crandall makes his way to the sparsely decorated bedroom and collapses on the bed. A year had passed after being reunited with his sister and losing her all on the same day. Not a single day that goes by that he doesn’t wish he could relive those brief moments with her. He remembered the joy of reuniting with her, only for him to be unable, once again, to save his little sister.

Every day for the past month, there was news regarding the incident. Five Branches had managed to diffuse the situation a year ago when the incident took place before inactivating the Olympians. The sudden reemergence was concerning as it was believed that the matter was dealt with.

Joey Crandall, also known as Apollo. Is a gravitationally enhanced soldier of Five Branches and a member of the Olympians team. Joey assumed this persona because of his passion and desire for knowledge. As a kid, he was always intrigued by problems and puzzles. Like many kids that use their imagination and creativity this natural inclination came easy to Apollo. That curiosity and passion also served him well when he needed to cope and deal with his childhood.

Coincidently enough much like in Greek mythology Apollo had a twin sister Artemis. Joey did in fact have a twin sister, or rather had a twin sister. Janelle had followed along in Joey’s footsteps and had joined Five Branches to become a member of the Olympians program. Janelle was as determined and capable as Joey; they were inseparable and depended deeply on one another throughout life.

Joey and Janelle were orphaned at the age of four. Their parents were killed in a house fire and with no family members; and they were placed into state custody. Throughout their entire lives, they had come to rely only on each other. It was no surprise to the other Olympians the impact of Janelle’s death would have on Joey, then for her to be found alive and at odds with the Olympians and Five Branches was inconceivable.

Five Branches is a covert joint effort by the US military, where each branch secretly pools its resources. The organization was conceived and organized during the early part of the 20th century. A direct result of the Great Depression with a desire to share resources and personnel, they represent the five military branches of the US government. Sharing equipment, personnel and resources to support and enhance American life. Developing and implementing military and scientific advancements for use by all military branches of the US government. The Olympians program was the direct result from their desire to seek out and acquire any means necessary to develop military superiority and technologies. The program was developed by Dr. Cronin, where increased gravitational training produces superior soldieries and in conjunction with problem solving training they learn to maximize their effectiveness in any environment.

09:20 A.M.

The apartment was mundane at best. It lacked any form of homeliness. The walls were cracked, the floorboards squeaked anytime Joey walked on them, and the room had a depressing aura- an ambiance synonymous to how Joey felt. The apartment was designed in a way that the first thing you would see once you entered was the sitting room. The paint on the walls was broken with exposed cracks which seemed ironic considering how well represented the room was of how Joey was coping a year later after the incident.

He drags a stool out under the table located in the middle of the kitchen and sits on it while he pours himself a cup coffee. It was the same routine for the past six months. He sips his coffee while he plays the whole scenario in his head over and over again late into the afternoon.

Three knocks on the door snap him out of his trance just in time for him to see a black envelope being slid under the door. Without wasting much time, he gets up and rushes over to the door. It was clear what the message was. As he makes his way to the door, he looks through the door viewer and sees no one before picking up the letter to see on the cover the words written in italics “Apollo.”

Five Branches always delivered messages through a courier that worked for them. It was the only way they could be sure that the message got to the intended individual. As he opened the letter, the contents were as he expected.

When they were still undergoing the gravitationally enhanced Olympian training, they were instructed multiple times on safety measures, should there be any form of compromise. A color-coded system was used to convey the importance of the message found within, depending on the level of urgency or danger being faced at the time. Having a black envelop meant imminent danger for all individuals involved.

Joey opens the envelope and reads the letter.

“I write to you to inform you that we have a code black. All personnel have been advised to go underground. We cannot at this point ascertain the level of threat, but we can say with confidence that we have been compromised. At the bottom of this envelope is a card with an untraceable number. It can only be used once. Make sure it is worth it.

You have been activated. Apollo.”

Tucson, AZ

The sign reads “Do Not Enter.” Undeterred John Flask makes his way through the barbed wire. This makes the thirtieth time that he would be inspecting the facility. The same burnt down building, bits, and pieces scattered all over the place. In his mind, John felt he would stumble onto something; anything that would point him in the direction of those Hades had worked with. He needed to know how much they knew about them and if Hades’ death was the end to the attack on the Olympians and the incursion into Five Branches facilities.

A little under a year ago, two of Five Branches facilities had been infiltrated. This same facility that was abandoned by Five Branches and the training facility in San Antonio. The incursion into Tucson by Hades and Joey’s sister, who had been calling herself Hecate, had sent the team into action and lead to the confrontation in San Antonio. In that altercation, Hecate had sacrificed herself to prevent Hades from enacting his revenge on the Olympians.

John’s journey began at NASA overseeing logistics and scheduling of their rocket missions. From there through an extraordinary adventure and an unveiling of the mystery and conspiracy surrounding he co-worker Max lead him to join of Five Branches and then recruited into the Olympian program and then becoming Zeus.

So in their excess of free time John and his fellow Olympians sought to piece together any information that could. Over the past six months, what little information he was able to find out from his travels was that the men who Hades had worked with were so subtly guided and tipped off from the shadows about the Olympian program. Once he realized this information, Zeus focused his energy on these informants. Who were they and what do they want?

Following along are Dakota James known to those close to him as Hephaestus and Marc Rodriguez is known as Ares, were a couple of feet behind. They always looked up to John, and after being inactivated and asked to live civilian lives, they stayed with him ever since

“We’ve been here every day for the past month. What do you hope to find?”

“Answers Ares. Answers.” Zeus replies.

Just then, a siren blares in the background. Ares, as a force of habit was ready for an altercation.

He was poised and ready to take out the men who by now had their guns pointed at them when Zeus reaches out and restrains him.

“Afternoon officers.” Zeus greets in a friendly tone

“This is a restricted area. Who are you guys and what do you want?”

Zeus was about to respond when he noticed that all three men had the same tattoos on their neck. He knew he had seen the tattoos somewhere but could not quite figure where. All of a sudden, Hephaestus launched in and took out the man closest to him with Ares reacting in the same manner.

Zeus was now left with no choice but to take out the officer closest to him.

“Why did you do that?!” Zeus asks unsure of what had prompted the reaction.

“They are not cops they happen to belong to the Maloa cartel. Look at their tattoo.” The Maloa cartel is known mostly for kidnapping and seeking ransoms. Finding wealthy businessmen and extracting money, however they can. On occasion when the need arises, they remove a finger or slice off a portion of the persons ear to show they are serious. Thus far, they have developed quite a reputation; however, it seems they have ventured into other enterprises where the money is more lucrative.

Hephaestus responds as he leans closer to the man he had knocked out and checks for any form of information as to who the man is. While frisking him, he takes out the man’s phone, and while going through it, he sees a picture of all the Olympians with a bounty on it.

“What’s this?!” Hephaestus asks as he gives the phone to Zeus.

Swiping through the phone, Zeus checks emails and texts messages.

“Wow…looks like we have a bounty on us.” Zeus explains with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

“Really?! How much is on me?” Ares asks excited at the prospects of being a wanted man. The past couple of months had been torture for him. There was no action whatsoever. He was living a mundane life, while secretly longing for action.

Zeus’s mind was in overdrive at this point. How did they get their pictures? The Olympian program was supposed to be a secret even the generals at the pentagon did not know about, their existence and the specifics of their training were all kept under tight secrecy, so how did the Maloa cartel get to know about them?

Just then the smartphone begins to vibrate, the caller ID says “Boss.” Swiping to answer the phone Zeus puts it on speaker and holds a finger to his lips while looking at Hephaestus and Ares.

“Is the job done? Are those bastards dead? Answer me goddamn it Julio! I told you when we got the job to get it over with. We are not the only ones who accepted the job…Hello? You there?!”

At that, Zeus cuts the call. Something was up, and they needed answers.

They were being hunted, why? Zeus ponders this as he motions to Hephaestus and Ares that it was time to leave, Ares spots a card hanging out the pocket of one of the men he had rendered unconscious.

“What’s this?” Ares hands Zeus the card who immediately shudders at the sight of the card.

“We need to leave now!” Zeus orders.

Who needs cars when you move the way they do. The facility was surrounded by trees; it was like a forest, which was perfect. It made entry and exit unnoticeable. They could easily disappear.

Launching from tree branch to tree branch they covered hundreds of meters in a matter of seconds. After the encounter with Hades and finding out Zeus could conduct electricity, extensive energy, time and money were poured into rigorous experiments in order to determine the extent of this new found ability. That ability was way beyond the limits of what they had ever imagined possible for the Olympians and for the program and if it was something limited to Zeus or an innate ability they all possessed. During the first six months of them being inactive, experiments and research took the Olympians back into training. They had to go through a more vigorous training, which made them stronger, faster and agile than they were before.

Dr. Chase was placed in charge of reviewing and analyzing the results. As far as the Olympians knew, she was still going over the results, and that they had found some intriguing insights.

“Hey Zeus, where are we going?” Hephaestus asks.

Lansing, MI

Capital Region International Airport

2:00 P.M.

Lansing, Michigan home to General Motors and its manufacturing plants. Known for its abundance of recreational activities and the Lansing River Trail that stretches all the way from Waverly Road to Old Town. Altogether, there are over 20 miles of paved trails that pass through numerous parks and natural areas, as well as Downtown Lansing. In his self-imposed isolation, Apollo never ventured out and never sought to experience anything that Lansing had to offer. How strange it is now that he is just beginning to notice where he has been living these past few months?

Arriving at the airport, Apollo makes his way into one of the bathrooms on the first floor. Wearing grey khakis with a black top underneath a brown leather jacket. Being reactivated was a blessing in disguise. He had been cooked up in his apartment brooding and useless. He needed this. This life was all he knew how to do best. Besides, civilian life provided too much free time to be depressed and replay over and over the events in San Antonio and the loss of his sister. This was the furthest he had ventured from the apartment he had been given, besides venturing to the grocery store. Concerned neighbors who bothered to inquire of his reclusive lifestyle understood him to be a man dealing with a loss. Anything outside of that was left to their imagination.

Coming out of one of the bathroom stalls, he notices a white male, muscular build with a slightly oversized black leather jacket come out of the stall on his right. Both men head towards the sink as though they are in sync. There was nothing out of the ordinary, it was just the two of them that were in the bathroom, and the man seemed more concerned with his zipper than he was with him, so he thought nothing of it. One last glance at the man from the reflection of the mirror as he walks towards the sink next to Apollo reveals a gun tucked into his jeans on his left side underneath the leather jacket. He quickly shifts his gaze and pretends he saw nothing. After a few seconds, he switches off the water from the tap, and as he heads to dry his hands, he pretends to bump into the man on his right causing both men to stagger in an attempt to regain their balance. Without warning, Apollo grabs the man’s gun from its holster underneath the leather jacket and at the same time slides his free arm around the man’s neck while pointing the gun at his head.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Apollo demands.

The man makes a futile attempt at struggling to which Apollo, not having any of it, pins him to the floor. Apollo was aware that at any moment, someone could walk in on them, so to convince his attacker that he was serious, Apollo takes a handkerchief that is hanging out of the man’s pocket and shoves it in his mouth as he breaks his arm. The muffled scream was loud but not loud enough to be heard over the announcement. Still adamant the man refuses to speak, at which Apollo’s growing frustration was showing. Realizing the man was stalling in hopes that someone would barge in and alert the authorities, he knocks the man unconscious and drags his body to one of the bathroom stalls, then locks it. Patting the man down he finds the man’s phone and a credit card that he had on him and jumps over the door

As he combs through his phone, a father walks in with his son who by the looks of it needed help using the toilet. Apollo and the father exchange a quick but friendly “Hello” before he exits the bathroom putting the phone in his pocket.