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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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2020-11-04
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2006-04-03
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The Militron's Return

Summary:

In the jungles of Peru, the fight for survival heightened his senses. Now, Detective James Ellison is a SENTINEL in the fight for justice. Seeing before others see. Sensing what others can't. An ever-vigilant watchman in the war against crime.
NOTE: Sentinel and related characters are tm and (c) Pet Fly Productions. No infringement of copyright is intended. The Militron Group is tm and (c) Broken Promise Productions.
WARNINGS-Something big will take place in this story, but in order to make it a surprise, I won't say what it is.
SPECIAL NOTE: This takes place after "Plague" and "Pestilence." This takes place after "The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg"

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter Text

After the Plague and its sequel swept through the city of Cascade, the populace found themselves doing the hardest part-the rebuilding. Thankfully, many of the issues surrounding the Plague didn't involve property destruction. It just involved bodies, and there were certainly bodies. Out of a population of four million people, only thirty-five thousand survived the Plague. Cascade used to be a great shining metropolis, but everything has now changed for the worse. The city was declared a federal disaster area, and the National Guard was called in to assist in repairs.

Out of the entire Cascade Police, only six survived, five if you don't count Blair Sandburg. Simon Banks certainly wanted to count Blair out sometimes, but this time, everything was different. The rules have changed, and Simon was ecstatic to have any help whatsoever. Right now, though, everyone needed help as Jim, Blair, and Simon said their goodbyes to many of their fellow police officers.

"Jim, why did they do this as a mass funeral, man," Blair asked.

"Chief, the city has to bury three million plus people. You have to admit there isn't enough space in Cascade to have three million funerals."

"Let alone have thirty-five thousand people attend three million funerals," Simon added, trying to lighten the moment. Many times Simon's humor seemed to escape Jim and Blair, and this time was no exception.

"It's too bad Rafe isn't here," Jim added.

"Yeah," Simon began, "with all the death and destruction going on around him, he finally snapped. I hated having to commit him, but what the hell else was I supposed to do?"

"Simon, you did the right thing," Sandburg said. "The last thing this city needs is a suicide on top of everything else."

"It doesn't make me feel any more right. I need all the damn people I can get," Simon replied.

After the final fifty officers were buried, the three men went their separate ways. Jim went through his city thinking he was an absolute failure. He didn't stop the plague on the first or the second run. He didn't apprehend or destroy the Militron. He didn't destroy the Militron Group. He wondered how he could even show his face around anyone in Cascade after such a "horrible failure."

Blair couldn't help but think about how close he came to death on two occasions. He thought about how the police force goes through this day after day. He mulled over the idea that maybe the police force wasn't his true calling. What was his calling? It wasn't research, as he had to make a mockery of his true thesis to cover things up. It might not be the police force. He thought that maybe he was destined to be a failure. He felt like he failed Jim. He felt like a failure on the force.

Simon couldn't stand the idea of committing Rafe. He was a good officer, and Simon needed good officers. There was a part of him that wished Rafe died during the Plague, because then he wouldn't have to do the commitment. He felt like he failed Rafe by doing this to him. He thought to himself that police officers just don't do that to one another, especially not in Cascade. Simon made it a point to know something about each officer, and he made every single one of him or her a part of a huge family. He never let anyone in his little secret, though, as he felt like that was a vulnerability. The vulnerability came out full force, when he had to say goodbye to nearly all of his "family." He felt like he failed the rest of the force, also.

In any event, the three men found themselves back at the Cascade Police Department. There were only six men left: Jim, Simon, Blair, Rafe, Brown, and Martinez. Of course Rafe was in the hospital, so only five remained to protect the city of Cascade. Simon decided to call a meeting with the four other men to discuss the police situation.

"First off, let me say this crisis is almost over. We have eight men that are in training for the force. Ten staties are in for now until we can get our numbers back up. We also have the Guard, and right now Cascade is under martial law. We all have jobs to do, and we are not going to go around like a bunch of meter maids and give out tickets. We can only focus on the big things until we can get enough people to do the small things."

"Simon, how are we going to do this with only five guys," Martinez asked.

"Glad you asked. Right now, the city is cut up into different patrolling sectors. We have sector three, which encompasses the areas around this station," Simon said.

"Jim," Blair whispered, "we don't have to go out of our sector to get back home."

"SANDBURG WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?" Simon's screaming put a fear of God into Sandburg. His eyes widened, fearful of what Simon will do or say next. "Our area isn't very large, thankfully. Basically, orders are to try and keep things sane in our sector. If you're chasing someone and they get close to the next sector, you are to inform them, then break pursuit as they cross. Hopefully, nobody will get wise to this idea."

"Simon," Jim said, "You know they'll get this system down in under a minute."

"Ellison, we have no choice," Simon replied. "We either do it this way or try and spread all five of us across Cascade."

"Will we be partnered up," Brown asked.

"Yes. Ellison and Sandburg are one. You and Martinez are another. I'll be on my own. If anyone is going to get cornered alone, it will be me. I won't risk any of you guys on that kind of thing. In terms of shifts, Sandburg and Ellison have days. Brown and Martinez have nights. I'll be pulling shifts. I wish there was some other way, but there just isn't."

After that comment, the night shift began its lonely watch. Simon agreed to work with them on this first shift. Jim and Blair went back to their home at 852 Prospect to get some sleep before the day shift begins. Along the way, they tried to have a conversation that wasn't about death.

"Jim, do you think I'm a bad cop," Blair asked.

"Chief, you're not a bad cop. You've actually been a good rookie."

"Thanks, man, but I don't feel like one."

"Look, I've been on the force for many years and there are still times I think I am a horrible policeman. I think I failed the city sometimes, just like with the Plague."

"Jim, you helped crack the case and get an antidote. You're a hero."

"Am I? Three million people and counting have died from this plague. Heroes don't exactly save their city after its been decimated," Jim coldly replied as the Sweet Sixty-Nine pulled into the apartment complex.

Blair could easily see the tension and depression in Jim's face. He reminded Jim that life doesn't exactly follow a comic book-like script, but it didn't cheer him up. The truth was that Jim liked being something larger than life sometimes. A big strong hero would come in and save the day (and save Blair in the process) right before doomsday hit.

Blair decided that he would make dinner for Jim tonight. He said to himself that Jim was in no condition to do much of anything tonight except eat and sleep. The dinner was rather simple; Blair didn't exactly feel like making anything spectacular tonight. In any event, dinner was still good and they continued the dreadful conversation that was started in the car.

"Babe, I don't want to drag you down into my feelings tonight," Jim started.

"It's too late," Blair replied. "I'm already there. Now you can either talk to me or sit there and brood."

"Sometimes, you get so highly emotional that-wait."

"What is it Jim?"

Jim turned on his enhanced senses; this time it was his hearing. He thought he heard a strange noise and it was confirmed by the enhanced hearing.

"I hear something outside," he said. "Get a gun."

Just then, fifteen men came through the door. Their collective might shattered any security latches that existed. With all the firepower pointed directly at Jim and Blair, they had no choice but to surrender. After their surrender, a familiar face entered the room.

"Aren't you going to welcome me," the voice asked.

"You again," Jim replied. "How in the hell did you get past everybody?"

"It's easy when you're the Militron," the voice replied, instantly identifying him. "You don't realize how many operatives I have in the military and on the state police. In fact, I still have one operative on the police force. Care to guess who he is?"

"Wait," Blair said, "there's someone on the force?"

"What did I just finish saying, you idiot? You'll never figure out who it is, but I will tell you it's not who you think. In any event, I feel the both of you have a future in the Militron Group."

"You can take your invitation and go back to hell," Jim replied.

"I expected as such. Chain them up," the Militron coldly said.

His men complied, first knocking Jim and Blair out before they were shackled up. As the two men tried to wrestle their way out of their shackles, they were only greeted with a cold smile from the Militron himself.

"It's almost sad to see the two of you ready to die. Bring in our weapon," the Militron barked to his men.

They brought in an unusual weapon. The Militron described it as something that would instantly vaporize every single human in Cascade. From there, the Militron Group would complete the destruction of Cascade. They felt this was necessary in order to rid the world of what they termed "The Human Menace."

"I decided to keep you alive for this event," the Militron said after explaining his weapon. "You have a certain...nobility to you, that I understand very well. You will still find escape from those chains to be impossible, though. And after yours go off, two more will go off also, wiping away your pathetic lives. I hope you enjoy humanity's last stand in Cascade."

The group left after that comment, but not before starting the device. It had a timer on it, set for thirty minutes. This meant Jim and Blair had thirty minutes to diffuse this bomb and two more of them. It's a task that seemed impossible.

"Jim, tell me the truth. Are we going to die?"

"No we're not Chief. You're going to be my hands here, and I'll be your eyes, ok? We can diffuse this bomb, but we have to do it together."

"Ok, man, we'll do it. If we're going to die, we're going to die fighting, right?"

"No, because we're not going to die," Jim replied.

The two men worked at a feverish tempo. Jim used his enhanced vision so much that his eyes almost couldn't handle it anymore. It felt like he was going blind, except for this little pin of vision he had, which was fixated on the device. He never used his vision for this long and the strain was certainly getting to him.

Blair's wrists were rubbed raw from the chains they were shackled in. They eventually busted open, and Blair howled in pain. The pain was so great it caused his hands to slip, nearly detonating the device. Jim calmed down his Guide and slowly told him what to do. Thankfully, Jim had a little bit of bomb diffusion training while in the Army, but that was years ago. Devices now are way ahead of what Jim worked on in the Army, and this device was almost like something from the far future.

With one final gasp and yelp, Blair got the final wire. It sent a small shock through him as he pulled it out with all his might. After pulling the wire, the timer stopped and Cascade was safe. Now there were ten minutes left, and the two men had to get in contact with Simon. This time Blair was the eyes for Jim as he dialed the number.

"Yeah, Banks."

"Simon, this is Jim. There are two weapons in Cascade capable of destroying the whole city. We diffused one and there are two left."

"Great, now we just have to scour the city to find it. We're all doomed."

"Jim," Blair said, "he said there were operatives in the other sectors. That's gotta be where the other two bombs are."

"You have a point. Simon hear that? Bombs are most likely in the other two areas of town."

"I'll get them started on it. Brown, call the other two and tell them to look for bombs."

"Why do I feel heat," Jim asked.

"What do you mean," Simon and Blair said, almost in unison.

"I feel heat, but the air conditioning is on," Jim said. He didn't know it, but his enhanced senses were working overtime after using his eyesight for that long of a time.

"Heat," Blair said. "You feel heat. You're closer to the device than me, the air conditioning is on, and you feel heat. RADIATION!"

"Simon, have them track radiation," Jim said quickly. "They find the radiation and they find the bomb. And get us untied when you're done. We're at home."

Simon alerted everyone possible to track radiation for the devices. The National Guard tracked it down almost immediately. They were stationed in Chinatown, right where a device was planted. They were able to diffuse the bomb with some difficulty and inform the other sectors of their success.

The state police weren't so lucky though. They found the device with only a minute left. They tried their best to diffuse the bomb, faithful to the end, but this bomb was different from the others. They tried exactly what the other groups did, but it only served to detonate the device. A full third of Cascade, Washington, was now devoid of human life. This sector contained roughly fifteen thousand citizens, who are now counted among the dead of Cascade.

The Cascade Police (all three of them) came in and removed the chains and shackles from Jim and Blair. The device was taken out and everything was almost back to normal.

"What is it, Jim," Blair asked.

"Something the Militron said," Jim replied.

"What was it," Simon said as Brown and Martinez left the apartment.

"He said that there were operatives in Cascade and one of them was on the police force. Simon, we have a double agent."

TO BE CONTINUED