"Ah, I see. Very well, I shall see to sending aid should you require it. I can't make any promises, but I am more than glad to help if I can."
"Thank you. I'd also appreciate your discretion in this matter."
"Of course. As always, I shall insure that no one knows the true purpose of this phone call."
Both men said their ending pleasantries and hung up their respective phones.
Winters breathed out very heavily and leaned over his desk with his elbows. While it was true that the situation between Russia and the United States were strained, every president of both countries always talked about the necessary response to any situation like what Winters was facing right now. It was to ensure that any terrorist threat, like the one the United States was seeing now, wouldn't cause a global thermonuclear war. Vetrov had been the first in the line of Russian presidents to propose the idea of mutual, discreet cooperation to end the situation before anything catastrophic could happen. Winters had agreed and they had worked out an informal system for responding to a threat. Neither of them had ever expected it to actually come to use though.
Suddenly there was a very loud and urgent knock on the door. President Winters stood up and rushed to the door, ripping it open with a mild amount of force.
"Sir, we've just received a report." the woman on the other side said. "There's been a nuclear missile launch."
##########
"So, by now you must be wondering how I'm going to insure your death." the voice said to Max as she stood there staring at a nearby security camera. "But first, I have a question for you."
Max glared at the camera. She really hated the slow nature of the voices speech and wished the person would hurry up.
"Are you really planning on trying to save everyone?" the voice asked. Max let her glare respond for her and didn't open her mouth.
"Well you won't be able to." the voice replied. "You see, I've done enough to ensure that you die. And even if you don't die, they will. If you want to know what I've done just go grab the remote and check out the television you have there with you. It's all over the news right about now."
Max stood still for a moment and then turned. She cautiously entered the control room nearby, where the remotes for the television were kept. She had to dig through the rubble but she found one intact. She pressed the power button and the television farthest from her turned on. It was already on a news station, so Max didn't have to search for very long.
"We've just received word on the coordinates programmed into the missile. It appears to be headed for Wallbottom Maximum Security Prison, just outside of Brittlewall North Carolina. Residents in those areas are urged to evacuate immediately and get as far away as they can."
The news swapped back to the news anchor, who had a very horrified look on her face.
"I'm sorry but I have a sister in that area." the woman said. With that she ran off the camera. There was a very short pause as another anchor took the womans place and began to talk.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I'd just like to repeat the story for those of you just now tuning in. We have received reports of a terrorist organization taking over the United Nuclear Facility in Arizona. It appears the first missile launch has been programmed to land at the Wallbottom Maximum Security Prison near Brittlewall North Carolina and..."
The anchor paused and turned sideways for a moment as he received a small piece of paper. He paled as he read it.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to inform you of this" the man began, swallowing slightly. "But we've been informed of another nuclear launch. This missile appears to be headed towards the town of Brittlewall North Carolina itself. All residents are urged to evacuate immediately."
Max turned off the television. She had turned completely white and the blood in her veins felt like ice. This bastard had actually launched a nuclear missile at her.
Max thought for several seconds about the situation. Her first conclusion was that it made sense. She had super powers and the voice clearly thought he knew which ones. Of course he'd launch a nuclear missile to take care of the job. And it would work. Max wasn't invulnerable. She had super regeneration sure, but invulnerability didn't belong to her. She cursed under her breath.
Still she wouldn't allow the man to win. She had to think of something. Anything at all to save the people in harms way. While they were evacuating, there was no way they'd escape a nuclear missile. It would land in only a few minutes. There was no way to outrun that kind of firepower that soon.
'Well, I can think of one way to save them.' Milia said.
Chapter 23:
Sacrifice
'And what plan would that be?' Max asked Milia. She was desperate for a way out. There was a fucking nuclear missile aimed at her, after all.
'You're not gonna like it.' Milia warned.
'If it'll save all of these people, then I'll do.' Max replied.
##########
"We've already scrambled the jets to the location sir." someone said to President Winters as he entered the bunkers conference room.
"Good. I want them to converge on the one headed to the city first. I want it downed yesterday. There innocent civilians there. We'll wait until it's downed before going after the other one." Winters commanded. Instantly the rooms activity changed as the orders were issued to the appropriate people.
Within a minute the location of the missile headed for Brittlewall was tagged and the fighter jets began to swarm towards it intent on destroying it as soon as possible.
It took 5 minutes for the fighters to reach the location where the missile would be passing them by. When it reached the location, the fighters jumped it and began trying to shoot it down while the conference room watched a grainy black and white video from one jets perspective on their main monitor.
"Sir, we have a problem." another person said. President Winters looked at her and she took that as her cue to continue. "The missile is too small and moving too fast. The fighters are having trouble targeting it."
President Winters thought the plan over for a few moments. While it was true they were literally shooting at a nuclear missile, the explosion mechanism was extremely delicate and difficult to set off. That meant the fighters could use their missiles to take out the weapon. But apparently the fighters couldn't get a good lock on the missile in order to take it down.
"Tell them to keep trying. If they have to fire without a lock then do it. I want that missile down before it drops too low for the fighters to hit." Winters responded. In a little less than 7 minutes the missile would be too close to the target to risk firing at it. Less than 5 seconds after that it would detonate and kill tens of thousands of innocent people.
"Sir we're reporting the second team is gearing up now. Estimates say they won't make it in time to stop the other missile." a third person from behind the President said.
"Let's see if we can't prove them wrong. Tell the team to double time it!" Winters replied.
##########
'We stop the missile ourselves.' came Milia's simple answer.
'Say what now?' Max asked, almost completely stunned.
'We have super powers Max. This is what superheros do. We have to stop the missile ourselves, before it's too late and these people die.'
'But... how would we even do that. It's flying at us from too far above.'
'We have to jump up there and meet it.' Milia said. Max thought for a minute and came to the same conclusion. With her powers, she might able to reach it.
With a plan in mind, Max ran out of the room and, using her super strength where necessary, made her way to the roof of the prison complex.
Once on the roof, Max squinted her eyes against the morning sun and tried to locate the missile.
'Wrong direction genius. The missile is coming from Arizona, in the west.' Milia said with a hint of exasperation. Max's cheeks turned slightly red and she turned around to look westward. This proved much easier without her having to look almost directly into the sun.
As she stared at them another pinprick became visible off to the left. Max focused but she couldn't make out anything more.
'You think that's it?' Milia asked.
'I hope so.' Max said as she stepped back. She tensed up and prepared to take a running jump.
She took a single swift step forward and fell down to the ground. As she lay on the ground tears began to stream from her eyes. A moment later she could be heard sobbing very loudly. Then she passed out.
##########
Max awoke inside her minds landscape, as she'd come to think of it. She found herself lying face first on the ground next to the table. She turned over and looked up to see Milia standing over her.
Without a word Milia grabbed Max's hand and helped her stand up. Milia tried to let go of Max's hand but Max wouldn't let her. She held on firm and Milia relented with a smile. Together they walked over to the table and sat down.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Max stammered out suddenly. Milia gently squeezed Max's hand. "I've been such a terrible person, especially to you."
"Don't worry about it Max. It's okay." Milia replied.
"No it's not okay. The first time we met I killed you. And then I got us locked up in prison forever. And now I might get us both killed. It's all my fault you never had a life of your own."
Milia stood up and moved to the other side of the table and grabbed Max in a tight hug.
"It's okay Max. You're doing the best you can with life. I couldn't ask for a better sister or friend." Milia said. "And we'll both make it through this together. Okay?"
Max sat there and tried her best not to cry for a long time. Finally she managed to look up from the ground and into Milia's eyes. Suddenly she grabbed Milia and hugged her back.
"I promise I'll save you no matter what." Max finally said. With that the world around them faded.
##########
Max stood up from the roof of the prison complex and looked skyward. She instantly spotted the missile headed for her location because it was now beginning its descent through the atmosphere. She only had another few minutes to stop it.
Max steeled herself and stood on the edge of the roof looking up. She bent down and brushed her hands against the concrete surface. She tensed her legs and pushed against the surface with as much force as she could.
The concrete crumbled underneath her feet and the top and side of the building cratered in instantly. Max made it all of 5 meters into the air and fell stumbling into the exercise yard. She landed on her back and jumped to her feet instantly.
She tried jumping again from the yard and managed to soar a few hundred meters into the air, but she left a 55 meter deep crater behind her as a result. This time she managed to at least land on her feet.
'I can't do it Milia!' Max said, her voice barely more than a strained whisper as she realized she couldn't jump high enough to reach the missile.
'Yes you can Max. You have to put more power in your jump.' Milia replied.
'I tried that. I can't manage to get high enough even at full strength.' Max replied. They both sat silently for a moment.
'Listen Max, think about all the lives that will be lost if you don't do this. Think about the innocent people who are relying on you, on us, to save them. Use those emotions. I know you can do it because I am you. I know you have the strength.'
Max swallowed hard and bent down, brushing her hand against the grass just outside the exercise yard. She began shaking slightly as she tensed her muscles as much as she could. The ground around her began to rumble and loose debris rattled around.
Suddenly, with as much force as she could muster, an adrenaline fueled Max launched off the ground. She left a crater so deep and wide in her wake that it swallowed the outer exercise yard of the prison, which was almost a kilometer away from her now, completely. Parts of the outer wall threatened to collapse as the crater reached them before stopping. It went deep into the earth, carving a hole that could been seen from the jets flying overhead desperately trying to down the missile headed for the nearby town.
Max shot up in the air like a super powered rocket and hurtled towards the second missile at over twice the speed of sound. She left a shockwave that could be heard for miles as she flew up towards the missile.
It took more than 2 long, scary minutes for Max to reach the missile high up in the atmosphere. When she did she grabbed onto it near the back and managed to claw out most of the casing when she grabbed onto its side.
Hanging on for dear life she clawed her way back to the front and away from the flames exiting the back.
Once there she had to dig her hands into the metal casing just to keep herself attached. It didn't help that the missing pieces of the case caused the missile to begin spiraling madly.
Max focused on the earth, which she could barely see, and tried to get an idea of where the missile was headed. But it was no use. The earth was rotating too fast for her to get a clear idea. So she grit her teeth and grabbed more of the casing.
Max began randomly tearing away at pieces of the casing in a mostly hopeless attempt to stop the spiraling motion. However she soon realized that if she bent the casing into an obstruction she could use it to control the motion of the missile.
It took several attempts to create a fin like structure from the pieces of the remaining casing but once she had it, Max grabbed onto it and twisted it around. As she did the missile began to slow its rotation and Max fine tuned the new fin as much as she could. It took a long time, longer than Max would have liked, but she eventually slowed the rotation to a manageable level.
Looking out at the ground once more Max couldn't help but smile for the first time in almost her entire life. She was no longer over land, instead finding herself flying across the boundless ocean waters while straddling the worlds single deadliest weapon. She looked behind her but couldn't see any land in that direction either.
Letting out a small cheer, Max grabbed the missile and aimed it down into the ocean. After she was sure it would head down into the ocean she dug her feet into the casing and let go with her hand. She tensed up her legs again and prepared to jump in the hopes of landing far away from the nuclear blast that she was sure would ensue once the missile struck the water.
Then suddenly her entire world went white hot as the missile detonated early, setting of a blast that was capable of levelling an entire city. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the pinpricks of heat covering her entire body in a scalding bath of energy.
Chapter 24:
Aftermath
"Sir, we downed the first missile!" came a voice in the Presidents bunker below the white house.
'What about the second?" Winters asked without hesitation.
"It's gone off course sir, cause unknown." came a reply from somewhere in the room. The President couldn't tell who said it or even where it came from because the room was overly crowded with personnel attempting to coordinate with the military outside.
"Plot its trajectory!" the President said as loud as he could without yelling, which failed miserably.
"Trajectory shows it landing about 100 miles off shore in the ocean. If it doesn't detonate then it will land harmlessly on the bottom of the ocean."
"Get me a satellite image of the missile now!" President Winters yelled back at the room.
"We have a satellite in position. Imaging now." came the response. A moment later images of the satellite popped up on the main monitor.
"What's that on the missile?" Winters asked about the small orange shape attached to the side of the missile. They could see that the missile appeared to have been badly damaged.
"We don't have the necessary quality from this satellite image to determine what the object is sir."
"Bring ano
ther satellite to bear and get our jets out there. Find out what that is immediately!"
"Order relayed. Fighter teams en route. The next satellite image will be available in 13 seconds. 12 seconds..." the person began counting down.
"Fighter jets will arrive at the target in 7 minutes."
"How long until it drops into the ocean?" Winters asked.
"3 minutes sir!" came the reply.
"Damnit" the President swore under his breath.
"Sir the second team is in the air. ETA in 2 minutes."
As soon as that line was uttered the rooms monitors all went haywire. After a few minutes the images smoothed out.
"Report!" the President ordered, scaring the room into a flurry of activity.
"Sir, satellite imagery shows the missile detonated at 15 miles off the coast! Electromagnetic pulse recorded at 10 miles inland minimum."
"Approximately 5 passenger planes were potentially affected by the pulse. We're awaiting word from air traffic control on their status."
"Radiation fallout interfering with communications in the area. We have a last report of no ships close enough to be affected by radiation, but we can't get any contact on the other side of the radiation zone to confirm."
"Mark the affected area and the surrounding 21 miles as a no go zone for all manned vehicles immediately. Send word to the United Nations assembly for an emergency meeting in 2 days time. And figure out what the hell that was on the missile." Winters barked out as fast as he could. There was still more to be done though and he stood up while thinking over the options. They still had to deal with the terrorists.
"Evacuate the crews from around the base and have 5 air strike teams prepped and ready for launch. Send them up with a full compliment of MOAB bombs and have them level the base. I'd rather lose it and irradiate the surrounding area than have civilian casualties." The President ordered. The MOAB was the largest non-nuclear explosive the United States had and the base was secluded over 50 miles from any form of civilization. There were only 2 roads leading to the base, so there wouldn't be a problem with evacuating citizens from the area.
Chronicles of the Supers (Book 1): Born From Darkness (The Story of Max) Page 13