When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.

[a_time_slip]

"We still have to complete the mission?"  Janie asked, surprised.  Giovan was gone- Lynn had taken care of that.

"In the absence of your supervisor, you will be required to complete the report and take charge of the team."

"I quit?  Did you miss that part?  My days of this are over."

"We have yet to receive a resignation letter which would begin the processing of offboarding you."

"I-  this is my last mission, and recon is all we're doing.  Anything else wouldn't be successful"

---

Her new team was filled with optimistic agents who were all excited to be part of something with a decorated leader.  They all heard about Oceania, but most thought it was either a conspiracy or that it was an exaggerated rumor.

Janie knew better, and also knew that she needed to complete this as quickly as possible.  Fasni was a very rural place, filled with xenophobic natives who'd stop at nothing to get rid of outsiders.  They were simply to map out the town and record the abandoned palace that stood guard over the area.

The palace was said to hold details about Fasian resources, something that had been a mystery for many years.  It's where they currently stood.

She still didn't want to be leading this group, but she had no choice.  The agents all readied their weapons before entering the building.  Janie would make sure that the final mission was the best she ever completed.
 

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[a_time_slip]

The unknown voice sent the two agents into a panic. They were ready to call the rest of the team back before going out in full force to save the two guards.

Janie shook her head name instead choosing to send one of the drone cameras out. She ordered the rest of the team to continue.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Smart. Much better. From what he's heard of Janie Malcom, she's intelligent, and a decent leader - pity she has such morons under her command. Solus has burned the second body by he time the drone unit arrives. There's only ash, and that black ooze dripping from the walls.

He re-materialises in a small chamber, which contains a team of two, the armed guard and one recording. They scarcely have the chance to turn and see him, let alone call for help. There's a soundless explosion of light and fire, as Solus turns the eight-by-eight stone room into a furnace that would melt steel.

The inferno subsides quickly, leaving him unharmed. But the room is left scorched, not even a trace of ash, and far too hot for anyone to enter.

[a_time_slip]

Janie looked at the screen, at the ash and the black ooze dripping from the walls while trying to figure out what happened.

"Camera two is out captain. Shall I send one of the team-"

"No. Try their comms, tell the others to continue. Review the feed to see what, if anything went wrong. Was anything about a black slime in the li- Nevermind. Veda, review the feed, Ashi, try the comms and tell the others to continue."

She stared at the scene outside once more before changing her mind. "Send them all back! Now!"

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Teleporting away from the chamber of the furnace, leaving all still and silent, apart from the sizzling of the stone, Solus appears in a corridor, down which two of the team are running after being called back. Summoning a sword, he cuts the one with a camera down, slicing across the agent's belly.

The armed guard opens fire on the demon, he de-manifests, reappearing behind the agent, to force the sword into his back... at the same time, Solus brings the palm of his hand down on the man's head, draining what's left of his life energy.

He repeats his pattern and swiftly burns the bodys, teleporting to another corridor, searching for more of the team trying to find their way back. Six dead, six left... not including Janie Malcolm.

The black slime is gradually transforming into dark red blood on the walls. It's as if the stone itself is bleeding.

[a_time_slip]

"Camera three." Janie said, watching the pair on screen, running back to the room. "Camera fou-"

She went silent as the camera fell to the ground. She couldn't see all that went on, but she knew that the team needed to get out of there now.

"Tell them to hurry. Tell them to hurry!!! Camera one."

The one called Veda noticed the walls bleeding. "Captain."

Janie watched the other team running as quickly as possible, and didn't want to take her eyes off the screen. This was happening again. Her team was dying before her eyes.

"Captain." she repeated "The walls..."

The captain looked where Veda directed, and her face went ashen.

"Start packing up what you can. When the remaining team gets back, we're leaving."

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

"Two by two." Solus mutters to himself. "Why does that sound familiar?" And he hurls a sheet of white flame down the corridor - two more agents, rounding the corner are caught in the blast. One is killed instantly. The second, a female is thrown against the wall, badly burned.

She looks up at Solus, weakly trying to speak into her comm "Captain... he looks human... he's.. CAPTAIN! Her dying scream might be heard over the comms as Solus feeds.

He needs more. Solus is expending energy, he's still partially weakened, for a Chieftain, from his time in Guln. This is not a hunt for food, but he'll need more energy. He ALWAYS needs more.

[a_time_slip]

The screams visibly affected Janie. She turned the comm on, to communicate with all of the remaining team members at once. Two were with her and the other two were on their way back.

She was fairly certain they wouldn't make it.

"Juni, I'm sorry I was short with you earlier. Windor, Veda, Ashi... All four of you are exemplary agents. I'm fairly sure we won't make it out of here. Teleport out of here if you can, while you have the chance."

Janie wouldn't leave her post, not until she was able to recover the bodies or confirm the absence of them.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

The last two outside of Janie's location, are hurtling down a set of stone steps, unable to use their teleports. Solus can block those, whether man made tech, or a lesser teleporting life form.

The first arrives at the bottom of the steps and stumbles to the ground, to find herself looking up at Solus Kaelen, he stoops swiftly, grabs her ankle as she twists and shouts to her friend, who draws his blaster and shoots. Solus de-manifests for a second, reappearing solid and shooting flame at the agent. He's killed at once.

The girl makes the most of her chance to leap up and run, shouting into her comm for help.

Solus could block that tech as well... but he wants Janie Malcolm to hear her team dying. He appears directly in front of the fleeing woman. All the remaining three people will hear, is her short, dying scream.

[a_time_slip]

The entire room went silent as they listened to the latest team member die.

"Leave!" Janie shouted, to the remaining two "You'll die if you stay!"

"We're not leaving, Captain." The one called Veda turned off the comm, and the video screen. "The mission is not yet finished."

"Are the two of you mad? I appreciate the loyalty."

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Leaving Janie the last one alive is deliberate.

Solus doesn't want to alert Phoenix to his presence, and lose the chance to find his grandson. What he wants, is the angel to be distracted, angry on behalf of his friend, or friends, get to work on finding out who's attacked them. That should leave the boy alone at times. Or give Solus more chance to dig around and find his whereabouts.

He materialises in the room where Janie and the last two agents are located, staring directly at Janie. He remains partially in spirit form to avoid being shot, but looks real enough.

"I'll let these two go." He tells her. "If you give me something I need."

[a_time_slip]

"What do you need?" she asked, willing to do almost anything to keep her agents alive.

She had to bite back her anger- her rage to do so. The two remaining agents aimed high energy blasters at Solus. The weapons were large and cumbersome, but some of the most powerful handheld weapons around.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

"A little piece of your soul." He hisses. And is lying about letting anyone leave here alive. Bar Janie.

[a_time_slip]

"Are you serious? Take what you need, but you can't have a piece of my soul because souls? They don't go into pieces. It's an all or nothing deal and I've worked far too hard to keep what I have. You didn't come all of this way for that. What do you really want?"

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

"Black mark. Veda pays." Solus flings up a hand, palm toward one of the mortals in the room, he solidifies and a stream of white heat shoots from his palm - it reduces the agent to nothing but ash in an instant.

"I don't like disrespect." He informs Janie. "Life force, spirit, soul. Call it what you will, but I'm hungry!"

The black ooze running from the walls turns a dark red as he raises his voice.

[a_time_slip]

It's at that instant that Janie realizes the situation is completely hopeless. The last agent, Ashi, is trembling as she holds her weapon up.

Janie wants to tremble. She wants to cry and hide somewhere, protect the child she's carrying. She wants her agents back, she wants to go home and listen to Lynn go on and on about some tween idol or even go back to trying to clean the blood stains out of her Jonas Brothers night shirt.

She can't, however. She's standing in front of Solus, everything else around them completely still. Even the trembling agent is standing like a statue. Time itself has stopped.

"I am no ones meal. If you're so damn hungry, go somewhere else and leave me the fuck alone."

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Solus can feel the power in the Time Traveller. He hasn't experienced their race yet, but he can feel her mortality, the effect on time around them... and the potential for a decent energy source.

"I could enslave you. Keep you.. like cattle." He darts a look toward Ashi as he speaks, and approaches her.

"That won't work." He indicates Ashi's blaster, and as she hesitates, he raises a hand and knocks it away from her. "But cattle are stupid, slow, boring. They lack... joy-de-vivre." Saying that, he places a hand on Ashi's forehead, almost paternally, and swiftly starts to drain her.

[a_time_slip]

"I'm the last" she said, realizing what he spoke of. It was a lie, however. Her Mother, her father- her children. The race would continue to grow.

When he walked over to Ashi, Janie lost it, and barreled towards him. She tried pushing him away, knowing full well that it was hopeless.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Ashi falls to the floor, pale, her eyes not yet fully white. Though she's already dead.

"I hadn't finished." Solus snarls, grabbing Janie and slamming her against the wall. "Someone needs to teach you when to leave things alone." He grabs at her , the palm of his hand over Janie's skull as his fingers twine into her hair.

[a_time_slip]

"Is that all you got, Nancy boy?" Janie tried fighting him off. She wasn't going to go down easy.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Solus moves her away from the wall, about a foot, and slams her back again. Janie is far smaller than his six foot two, and Solus has the strength of a demon.

"I know what Ravenhead did to you.." He sneers at her, and starts draining Janie's energy. "All I want is some of this excess life force."

She's strong, so very strong this immortal. Solus cares little if she's the last of her kind, he can't kill an immortal. But they're so much more sustaining than the alternative.

[a_time_slip]

She wanted to insult him further, but getting thrown against the wall made that impossible. She looked at him, refusing to show any sign of weakness, tears only welling when Ravenhead is mentioned.

The pain from getting slammed against the wall only seemed to get worse as he drained her energy.

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

Janie is luckier than the mortals. She'll be weakened, her skin will look uncharacteristically pale, but she'll be intact. Solus takes what he needs and lets her slide to the ground, still conscious, and takes a step back.

It's better. But only time and decent feeding will restore him to his full power. He does consider taking her.. as fodder. But that's not the purpose of his visit.

Finding his grandson is the priority. "Is it frustrating? Special Agent Malcolm?" He asks her. "I know so much about you, yet you haven't the first idea about me."

[a_time_slip]

"You killed my team." she accused "They... have families. Why? Why did you do this?"

[cursedsun.livejournal.com]

"Death is their only future." Solus is dismissive of any mortals. It's where their destiny lies, as far as he's concerned. The only choice they have is where they end up, and even that's not their conscious decision.

"They're the lucky ones, and they're too retarded to see it." He walks away, de-materialising into the ether, leaving her there. To her own destiny.