[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

“Before Sentinels, we had developed ‘Stalkers”. They are quite strong, and have a drastically increased healing rate. As their name suggests, they are quite good at infiltration, sabotage, assassination, and so on. Unfortunately, they are very sensitive to sunlight, and get sunburned very easily. Though they do not have a need for blood, some flaw in our gene-splicing give them a sort of addiction to ingesting it. You see, all the legends about werewolves and vampires are simply cover for the technology we were using. “Werewolves” were what attacked you two nights ago. I must say you all did an admirable job trying to defend yourselves.

“Speaking of which, we will start your training program, today if you wish. You will become agents for the Praetorian. You will be trained to fight everything that we’ve ever come up against, and be given the best technology we have to fight with and complete missions in tandem with our Sentinels. We cannot allow you to go back to any normal sort of life, because already, you know too much. So, if you accept, simply follow me to the combat sparring room.”

None among the six teenagers stayed behind.

The Retributor stepped out of the hangar, which had risen out of the ground, and paused. Boss could see over miles of the flat, snowy countryside. He could see the village where they had stayed while they searched for the underground compound, and where they had prepared for their final mission. As the huge war machine walked away from Site 157B, Bear triggered the explosives. Suddenly, the ground shook and heaved. The hangar spat a great gout of flame. A mushroom cloud burst forth from the ground. Immediately a voice reverberated in Boss’s head. “Coven, what are you doing?! You have orders to proceed to sector AA-105.78 now! Move there or we will be forced to destroy you! Coven One restore order to your team!”

Boss simply ignored it.

“Eric, step forward.” The curly-haired, lean teenager stepped up to Monte’gärd and bowed. Montre’gärd put a dog tag around his neck. “Your tracking, infiltration, and assassination skills are commendable. You are now ‘Ghost’.” Eric stepped down.

Montre’gärd repeated the process for each of the six teenagers. Kevin, with his durability and disposition towards heavy firepower, became “Bear”. Tristan, with his technical knowledge and computer skills, became “Castor”. Sven, with his keen eye and ability to nearly disappear, became “Smoke”. Matt, with his awesome strength, fearsome ferocity, and large sideburns, became “Chops”. Finally, Peter, with his commanding presence and ability to quickly assess the situation, became “Boss”.

“Congratulations,” Montre’gärd said. “You are now the ‘Coven’, for you are brothers, and you will always fight as a team. Follow me. You will now receive your first assignment.”

The newly named Coven stared at Montre’gärd incredulously. Peter spoke first. “We have our own mission? Aren’t we just helping the Sentinels hunt down the Grendels?”

Montre’gärd smiled, but seemed vaguely disappointed. “Come now, you can’t think we gave you advanced gauss and microwave weaponry, neuro-chip communication that lets you sense with your podmates’ senses and talk to them without speaking, and computer terminal interfaces in your arms that allow you to connect to any computer undetected because you were going to be a plan B now, did you? We have been watching you develop for years. Your school was an experiment. District 107 is where we take recruits from. You six came out to be the best in the entire district! That is why you were selected for the Coven Project. That is also why your families were killed: the League found out about our plans, and tried to stop you from receiving your training. Don’t you get it? I told you that we have been developing weapons since we came into existence. Sentinels were not as effective, even with their upgrades, as we would like them to be. They are going to supplement you. You are the new weapon.”

As the Retributor crested the hill, Ghost brought it to a halt. He barely hesitated before commanding his podmates to lock onto the structures below and fire.

“Ghost, although Boss is your leader, you are the most important. There was much we forgot and lost in the aftermath of what you know as World War II. We came to know of a massive weapon system buried in the northern wastes of Finland. But during the war, the League stole the data. We are working hard to locate the weapon. Its name is Retributor. We are actually still unsure how it came to be on Earth. We did not manufacture it, and we are sure the League would have used it immediately if they had built it. However, regardless of its origin, you are the only one that can control it. You will be trained to control your podmates’ thoughts, and be able to command them so that when we find where the Retributor rests, you will be able to use it.”

Ghost remembered his training. He remembered how Montre’gärd had explained the controls with perfect memory. Montre’gärd had been the one trained to use it years before, but the terrible cataclysm of World War II and its aftermath, the Cold War, had deprived the Praetorian of the Retributor’s location. So Montre’gärd had explained to his pupil how to control the monstrous machine with only his thoughts, and how to command his podmates to assist him.

That knowledge was now being used against him. Had he not made one mistake, he might now rule the world. The Praetorian’s brainwashing of he and his friends had almost completely fooled them. Almost…

Ghost could not believe his eyes. He could sense, through his neurolink, that his podmates could not believe theirs, either. “This is… horrible,” Smoke whispered. He looked dejected, and simply stared at the computer screen.

Chops and Bear, meanwhile, looked furious. The rest of the Coven were beginning to feel the same way. “They… they killed everyone!” Castor almost screamed. “They killed our parents, our friends… they even killed my boss! Anyone who had even the slightest memory of who we were is gone!”

If they ever found a way how to, they promised vengeance. Ghost learned of a way. He would have to take control of his friends’ bodies, one by one. Even though Ghost could hide this thoughts from the Praetorian, if they ever found out his plan through his friends, the justice they so desired would never be realized.

For a while after the Retributor’s computer intelligence shut down the weapons systems because of severe overheat, Ghost merely sat, seemingly entranced. All the emotion he had ever felt, everything the Praetorian had suppressed, was coming back to him, and he was overwhelmed. Then a voice came on in his head. “Coven Six, Coven Six, do you read? This is Lot 413 alpha. Code?”

Ghost let out a long breath. “Code 41277. Praetorian target four-four-two destroyed.” Finally, they were gone. Their greatest weapon had destroyed them.

Despite all their psychology analysis, conditioning, and subtle bribery, the Praetorian Aetas did not make the Coven loyal to the fascist terror organization, but made them realize all they had lost in becoming part of it. Freedom, emotion, humanity. Ghost had none of this now. He was still controlling his friend’s minds.

The voice interrupted his thought. “Coven Six, you may bring your team to coordinates 9920-b5h.”

“No, League. We cannot come back. We know too much. We do not wish to endanger humanity any longer. If we were found out, we would be unstoppable, and a nation might use us to rule.” Ghost was letting his podmates speak through him, along with his own thoughts. “We are not even human anymore. We are no longer individual. We will go elsewhere, and start anew. Farewell, League. You have taught us much, and we are eternally grateful.”

With that, Ghost keyed the bit of code the Coven found in the control room, and the huge spacecraft now above the Retributor opened a hatch, and extended a ramp. Ghost piloted the huge war machine up the ramp, and into the blinding light of the hangar.