1 One

Wind whipped against Roddick's face as he stepped out into the field where the aircraft that would be carrying him and the other participants of this mission hovered above the ground. His eyes traced the sleek exterior of the aircraft before his body lifted up from the ground, slowly rising up and into the open hatch of the craft.

"Nice of you to join us, Rod." One of the participants greeted as Roddick steadied his feet. He looked at the person, taking in the faintly glowing crystal embedded in his forehead. The crystal pulsed with a pale blue glow, seemingly in tune with his heartbeat. Roddick nodded, choosing not to reply. No one in the passenger compartment took it personally, as Roddick was known to be one who hardly spoke to people. Even more so since the war had begun.

What war, you might ask. It was the war that changed everything...

It all began when humans discovered the existence of other intelligent species on the planet. These species had been hiding right under their nose for centuries, advancing quietly alongside them. This species referred to themselves as the Razo. They resembled humans very much, except for some very minute differences. They tended to have much sharper, and distinct features than humans, appearing almost inhuman.

The Razo had long since blended in with human society, their technology allowing them to overcome the slight difference in appearances between them and humans- the Razo possessed a crystal embedded in their forehead. Along with possession of these crystals, the Razo also possessed the power to wield mystical abilities.

The war between the two races had erupted from a single incident. A child of the Razo race had been captured by the human government. After countless experiments, the ward that had prevented humanity of discovering the differences between humans and Razo had been discovered. The child's crystal had been pried out of his forehead, ending his life as a result.

When the upper echelons of the Razo civilization found out about this, it was too late, as the human government was already planning a war against them. A bitter war broke out, lasting many years.

The Razo initially proposed the idea of peace and co-existence, to which the human government had agreed, seeing as they were on the loosing side. Around that same time, a breakthrough was made in studying the physiques of the fallen Razo soldiers. After countless days of studies and experiments, human were able to wield the same abilities as the Razo!

During the period of truce, humanity struck out hard, badly damaging the Razo civilization. With this less than noble move, humanity gained the upper hand in the war for a time. With that, the war raged on for years...

At this time, it had been ten years since humanity and the Razo had begun fighting. The squad that was currently in the high tech aircraft was one of the Razo's elite squads. They were on a mission. A mission to stop humanity's greatest elite from discovering their place of refuge.

With a low hum, the aircraft rose, ascending into the clouds before shooting off into the distance...

A bit over an hour later, the aircraft containing the Razo elite squad slowed down, arriving at its destination. The aircraft hovered above a volcano. The volcano was on the precipice of eruption, lighting the dark evening with a dim red glow. The hatch opened and five Razo, lead by Roddick floated out of the jet. With a sonic boom, the jet accelerated, disappearing over the horizon. Roddick stared in the direction it left, thinking of his family once more before turning his full focus to the mission.

"The target should be arriving here within the hour. Set up a perimeter. The moment he gets within range, we'll shoot him down." His squad mates nodded before splitting up to do their respective duties. Not too long after, a high pitched sound drew the attention of all five of the Razo elites. The silhouette of a high tech aircraft sped toward them, not bothering to hide its approach. It seemed they had been discovered first.

Roddick frowned as the jet slowed down, stopping not too far away from them. The hatch opened and a lone figure descended from its cold mechanical inside. A human glanced their way before nodding to the pilot of the jet. The jet turned around, speeding up before leaving with another sonic boom. The extreme sounds didn't even make any of the elites present flinch.

Roddick glared coldly at the human elite, focusing all his attention on him. With a flick of his hand, all his squad mates rose up from their hiding places. They had already been found out by their enemy so there was no need for them to hide any longer.

"Nice welcoming party, boys." The human elite smirked as he scanned through the faces of the Razo elites. None of them were weak, but neither was he. His smirk warped, turning into something sinister. With a wave of his hand, a bright beam of light shot out in an arc, trying to suppress his opponents. He wasn't planning on wasting time with them.

Roddick and his squad mates reacted instantly, retaliating with their various abilities. The crystals embedded in their foreheads shone brightly as their powers were pushed to the max. Lightning flashed in the sky as Roddick raised his arms, summoning a torrent of lightning to bombard the human elite.

White light enveloped the scene as the human elite released his power from every part of his body to repel the lightning.

In the background, the volcano erupted with unfathomable force, seemingly stimulated by the excess energy in the air. Dark clouds of smoke formed in the sky as black ash rained down. Waves of water washed against the island that the volcano rested on as various powerful mystical energies clashed against each other.

Although the Razo elites had the advantage in number, they were slowly being pushed back, constantly on the back foot in the fight. They ha very unsightly expressions on their faces as this was happening.

Understanding that they were fighting a loosing battle, Roddick consoled himself in his heart as he steeled his min for what he was going to do next.

"Fall back." His command was clear and easy to understand. Shock ran through his comrades' eyes as they understood what he meant.

"Rod! You can't!" His closest friend, Derrick yelled over the sounds of explosions. Roddick was planning on sacrificing himself to let the others escape and warn their civilization.

"There's no time. No hope..." Emotions flickered in his blue-green eyes as he spoke. "Tell Lana I love her." As he spoke, an unbridled power began to bloom from within his body. The satellites that were watching the battle from above sent energy warning alarms to everyone who was observing the battle.

Roddick's skin begun to peel, flaking and drying up before falling away and giving way to the vast amount of energy that was blooming from Roddick's body. Within moments, Roddick no longer looked like a being of flesh and bones. Lightning erupted from his very core, composing his new body entirely from energy.

This was his Olympian Body. A form that was only reachable when one had touched upon the very meaning of true power. Roddick had only just gained access to this so using it in direct combat would guarantee death.

With a wave of his hand, waves of lightning engulfed the entire area, giving his allies the perfect escape window. They turned into streaks of light as they shot into the distance.

Roddick turned to face the human elite once more, his mind resolute as his body erupted with unfathomable might. With a last thought to his family that was expecting his return after yet another mission, he shot forward to engage the human elite.