Iron-Age Prologue: The X-Faction

My name’s Chase Evans and I’m a mutant. For years the world was at war with an army of high-tech iron soldiers. I was born in one of the last remaining cities that weren’t under their control. When I turned five, I realized I wasn’t normal. I found that I had the ability to make contact with electricity without any harmful effects. As the years past, my powers began peaking. I was able to not only manipulate electricity, but project it using electric currents. When I turned 18, the Iron Army attacked. My father went to help hold them off while everyone else escaped. I wanted to fight, but my mother told me I had to flee. She told me that I was a person with an extraordinary power and that I should use it to help the world. I watched as my home and family burned to the ground. But I wasn’t alone. Another mutant named Alyssa Taylor made it out alive. She had the power to see teleport from one place to another in an instant. While we traveled, we met a young mutant named Drake Sullivan. He was like us, but he had to the ability to become intangible. He called himself Ghost. We also met another mutant who went by the name “Tank”. He had the ability to cover his body with any hard surface he came into contact with. Together we became the X-faction. Hunted like rats, we travel around the world helping survivors and sabotaging the Iron Army’s factories and military bases. The battle seems hopeless, but as long as we survive, we’ll fight.

Chapter 1: Blooming Lily

The wind picked up as the dark clouds covered the sky. The air became damp and soggy. I stood, staring at the long road. My dark brown hair blew with the harsh winds as the rain struck my black jacket.

“Guess it rained after all. Good call Chase.” Alyssa said as she walked to me.

I watched as she slowly approached me. Her perfectly slim figure and raven-black hair were an irresistible sight.

She looked at me and said, “We found a small place with two rooms. Wanna share one?”

The thought of sharing a room with her was appealing, but I don’t know if I can trust myself. We’ve been good friends for years, but the temptations never go away.

“Can’t you sleep by yourself?” I asked.

“Come on, don’t leave me all alone.”

I exhaled my frustration and decided to agree. I figured it would be better than leaving her alone. It started raining hard so we walked into the small abandoned house. When we stepped in, I saw Drake a young blonde man with an athletic build. He’s a flirtatious guy who likes joking a lot, but he can get serious when we need him to be. Sitting next to him was Tank. He’s a large muscular man, but he’s very quiet. In fact, we’re the only people he ever talks to. They sat by a fire which warmed me up.

“So what’s the plan?” Drake asked me.

“We’ll rest up for now. When the storm’s over, we’ll make a move on the Ferrum Tech research facility. Hopefully we can find some survivors. We’re in their territory, so someone needs to keep watch at all times.”

“I’ll go.” Tank said as he stood up.

“Okay. So Tank stays on guard duty first, then Drake, and then me.”

“What about Alyssa?” Drake asked.

“I’m the only girl here; you have to treat me nicely.”

“Enough complaining. Drake, Alyssa, get some sleep.”

The truth is, I’m very protective of Alyssa. We were both born in the same city and we only had each other after it was attacked. Up until we met Drake and Tank that is.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” She asked.

She gave me this really playful look.

“I’ll join you soon; I just want to keep Tank company for a bit.”

I watched as Alyssa and Drake went to their rooms, and then exited the house with Tank. Unlike Alyssa and Drake, Tank and I really understood each other. I void him more as a big brother than a teammate. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.

“If you want, you can stay inside the house.” I said

“It’s fine.” He replied.

“Make sure you’re ready for tomorrow Tank, we’ll be facing some big dogs. Night.” Chase said as he walked back into the house.

Morning came and the rising sun illuminated the house.

“Everybody up, it’s time to go.” I said. “Make sure you guys have your equipment ready.”

Drake left his room, getting struck by the glare of the sun.

“Finally, we get to see some action! After two weeks of planning this damn assault, we get to get some Ferrum ass!” Drake said excitedly while placing his two metal blades in his belt.

Alyssa left her room, wearing tight black pants and a black top. She held two guns with “Stark Enterprise” written on them.

“Don’t go charging in like an elephant again, Drake.” She said.

I put on my black jacket and covered my head with a hood. I don’t carry guns or anything like that, my powers are enough. I do however carry a double bladed sword that I use to conduct electricity. It powers it like a laser, making it easy to cut through even the hardest metals.

“We’ll go in as planned. Tank goes in first. I’ll jump in right after him to take out the drones. Alyssa, you give me cover fire. Drake, you do your ghost thing and make it to the control room. You’ll be our eyes and ears. Are we clear? Good.”

We left the house and headed out. We continued down the empty road, surrounded by abandoned and wrecked houses. Once a largely populated part of Canada, now uninhibited. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a mechanical creature flew rapidly in the sky.

“Drone!” Alyssa yelled.

We immediately took cover behind a nearby car, nearly avoiding the drone. A few months ago, we sabotaged a Ferrum development factory. I found these goggles they were developing that can see far distances. It could also see in night and heat vision. I figured now would be a good time to use them. We continued on the road until we reached a large gate shelling the outer area of a building.

“Electric fence. Care to help us out, Chase?” Drake asked.

I approached the gate and clutched it with my bare hands, draining it of its electric charge. The current passing through my body and into the ground. One of the very many perks that come with manipulating electricity.

“Done. Drake, cut through the gate.” I said.

Drake grabbed one of the metal blades from his belt and clicked a button, projecting a laser from the hilt to the tip of the blade. The laser effortlessly slices through the metal gate. It’s tradition for mutants to create mutant names. We referred to each other by our births names when we’re around each other, but mutants aren’t welcome in this world. Since we fight for our freedom and salvation, so we go by our mutant aliases. I went by ‘Surge’, Drake went by ‘Ghost’, Alyssa went by ‘Essence’, and Tank went by… We, he went by Tank.

“Okay, so once we get passed this gate, we’ll need to keep low. The security is minimized during the day, so we just have to avoid the drones that are patrolling the area. Essence, I need you to teleport Tank to the back entrance. Ghost, you go through the walls and into the control room. I’ll cut the power so you guys can move without being noticed.”

An instant after Drake finished cutting the gate, I entered. I swiftly avoided getting caught by security cameras and made my way to the power generator.

I signalled that it was safe to go. Alyssa grabbed Tanks arm and vanished in to thin air. Drake changed from his normal human state, to a vaporous one, as if he were a ghost. That trick still amazes me. Just as I was finished draining the generator and redirecting the electric current into the ground, I fled. I sprinted past the security drones that were making their way to the generator. I entered the facility with Alyssa and Tank and hid in a small room.

“Ghost, did you find the control room?” I whispered into my earpiece.

“Yeah, I see you guys. Something’s off though.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“This place is small.”

“What about the underground section?”

Before we go on missions, we make sure we have a blueprint of the buildings. We usually get them from scouter drones or people who work for Ferrum. We found that almost every building had a large underground section. We usually take some fun toys, set a few bombs, and go.

“That’s the thing, there is no underground. From what I can tell, this is the entire building. All the security is stationed outside, it’s completely empty here. Must have been abandoned.”

“Shit, this is just a waste of time.” Said Chase.

After weeks of planning, hearing it abandoned was painful.

“Wait!” Drake voice rung into my ear. “There’s something in the center. I’m getting a huge energy reading. Be cautious though, there may be security there.”

“Okay, we’re going to move in to the center.” I said as we exited the room.

We walked down the dark hallway to a door with a bright light coming out of the bottom. Grasping my sword, I rushed in, only to find no one there. But then I saw something in the center of the room. A tube filled with liquid, containing a young blonde girl wearing a white dress.

“We’ve got a live one!” I yelled. “Drake, I need you to open the tube.”

The tube rose into the ceiling with liquid spilling out. Just before the girl fell, I jumped and caught her. Looking at her bright face, her shut eyes began to open. I couldn’t help but notice her angelic blue eyes.

“Chase?” Alyssa said.

“Chase, we’ve got an emergency!” Drake yelled into his headset. “Drones coming in your direction! And…”

I looked at the doorway, ignoring Drake’s last few words. As the room filled up with drones, we prepared for battle. Suddenly an explosion blew a hole through the roof. That’s when I saw it. A humanoid machine floated over us. A hunter.