The forest was oddly quiet as he ran through it. He was running at a light pace. But as he ran he noticed the forest was getting quieter. Then he finally had to skid to a stop as he looked around at the trees.

He pulled out his knife as he switched to a fighting stance. A moment later several figures began moving out from behind trees. Jace relaxed a bit as he looked over their camouflage clothes and the improvised weapons they had.

"You are that foreigner." The one in the lead pointed out with a grunt. "We have a-"

"Pass." Jace told them before sighing and walking past. One of them reached up to grab him. But Jace just sliced through his arm and continued walking.

"Aaaargghh!" The man began screaming.

Another one growled. "Screw this! Shoot this bastard!" They called out but Jace dove to the side as a bunch of orange spikes came down from the trees above and slammed into the ground where he was standing before.

Jace then deflected another spike with his knife as a bunch of these Abyssal creatures dropped from the trees. Most of them were attacking the rebels who clearly came for his help. But a few tried to attack him.

Jace ignored them as he ran through the trees. Which was becoming thicker with less space to walk. But it allowed him to easily dodge the attacks before he suddenly burst through the tree line and into the open area.

The open area was the edge of a cliff over a mile up. It was also the edge of the island itself. But waiting there was a much larger Abyssal ship along with a group of Abyssal. It seems he was herded in this direction. Not that he minded.

The language was some form of the broken local dialect. "You are the leader... you will come with us... you can open the door..." The leader of this group declared. It was similar to the other ones but it was larger with a pair of spikey tails coming out the back of it. Around it were what must be its guards since their armor was thicker and their bodies larger. The ship behind them floated ominously.

"No." Jace chuckled as some of them took up positions around him.

"Not... a choice... loner..." It screeched out before tossing something up in the air. Jace watched as the round silver ball unraveled and spun. Ending up with several different parts spinning with a white glow in the middle. After a moment it froze in the air and the space around him turned gray and white aside from the Abyssal.

Jace froze as he watched them move forward and his suit was picking up some kind of signal between them as they moved forward. It was clear from the fact that everything from the grass to falling leaves were frozen in time. But these things were not. They thought he was as well.

So he let the leader with two long tails move forward, pulling out something. Jace watched as it moved forward, keeping his body frozen. "I suppose... only that vampire... was unique... we will have our conduit..." It went to put some type of metal bracelet on him. But his free hand grabbed the creature’s wrist while his other hand pulled out his knife and cut through the creature’s neck.

He was moving before it even registered with the other ones. His knife sliced through all of them with ease before they even managed to pull out their weapons. Jace then walked back to the glowing ball as the ship started to float away. But he pulled out his Wisp Rifle and charged a shot before firing it.

When he fired it the bullet left the chamber and then stopped mid-air. Jace frowned. "Huh..." He then looked at the glowing ball as the Abyssal ship flew away. He grabbed the glowing ball and the white and gray in the air around him seemed to be absorbed back into the ball.

Then the world seemed to move again.

Boom!

Even Jace was slightly shocked as the shell he fired tore through the air breaking the sound barrier immediately while around him black blood spilled out the Abyssal creatures before they fell to the ground dead. He looked at the Abyssal space craft as its tailend of tentacles squirmed and then straightened out before the ship seemed to disappear in a white flash of light. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Jace hummed as he put the ball on his back. It was an advanced piece of technology he had never used before. He had a feeling it might come in hand or even may be useful to study. Jace then walked to the edge of the cliff and saw the cliffside drop to the ocean. He then walked back a bit before running forward and jumping off the edge. As he flew through the air his hoverbike appeared under him and then hummed to life before he launched forward.

The hoverbike flew over the top of the water quickly. Barely even making a wave as he went.

—--------------------

"Gladiator is off grid." Catherine sighed as she rubbed her temple before looking at Sherlock and West. "Tell me you have some piece of physical evidence or something else on him."

"West flirted with him. But that is about it." Sherlock answered with a sigh. "Although, I am having the Carnival Squad bringing in his horse and the medical scraps he left behind. Messing with the Basilisks is a no go. We are having enough issues on the ground without adding a neutral group to the mix."

"Hmm... understandable." Catherine nodded. "We have a bigger issue though." She said as she brought up the reports on the other areas. Where some of their people were not just injured but died when they encountered Gladiator’s people. "It would seem these best of the best do not know their own strength."

"How are you still sure your son is alive?" West asked. Pulling their attention away from what they were focused on before.

"What? How is that relevant-"

"Gladiator’s reaction." West interrupted Catherine. "He hesitated and on the cameras it looked like his hand grip tightened almost subtly. His body control must be on another level if homemade such an unnoticeable motion almost instinctually."

Catherine and Sherlock exchanged a look before looking through the footage and finding what she was talking about. "He did. He likely knows about your son personally." Sherlock leaned back and tapped his chin. "Too bad he is wearing a helmet, we could have judged a reaction. But why did that not happen when you mentioned your son at lunch?"

"Annoyance, anger, or any other of the many emotions could have triggered it." Catherine explained. "But we have another issue we need to focus on before we capture him." She brought up a picture of the satellite view of the Northern part of the islands.

The final image from the satellite that was tracking him was of a blue line, the Abyssal ship flying away and the Abyssal that were surrounding Gladiator dropping to the ground. Dead if they had to guess. "One minute they were all surrounding him and the ship was here. The next, the ship was flying away on this path and they were all dead. Even Gladiator moved slightly."

"They used their time technology again. Why would they use such dangerous technology this far from their galactic territories?" Sherlock asked in confusion.

Catherine shook her head. "They need an anchor to get into the other galaxy. You know that is how they move into galaxies. Their kind has that restriction that prevents them from entering real space without a conduit or anchor of some kind." She then frowned and looked at him. "I thought you had access to the files on them."

"I do." Sherlock shrugged. "I just have not bothered to read all of the classified intel I have access to." He explained. "I prefer to keep my knowledge limited to what is relevant."

"Couldn’t they use you then? Aren’t you from the same galaxy?" West asked.

"Nope." Catherine shook her head as she leaned back in her chair. "I have been in this galaxy too long. But they are fresh and can be used. The reason the Abyssal never went after me is the same reason the demons and angels never appeared in my home galaxy either."

"Which is..." West asked.

Catherine shrugged. "No clue." She then waved at West. "You two mentioned that West and he flirted. Do you think you can seduce and bed him?"

West blinked and then raised an eyebrow. "I would gladly do so if given the opportunity. Are you giving me permission if the occasion arises?"

"Affirmative." Catherine nodded. "The prince has given me complete control over the situation and I believe that getting a sample of his genetics could be useful. I do not believe he has bled. So the other option is..."

"Oh god... I hate that I just heard this..." Sherlock ground as he rubbed his temples.