As they spoke, Morgan swallowed a curse as Acheron Dreadnaught appeared in the bay door, two canisters under each arm. He promptly dropped all but one, and then threw it at Warden, which did not make Morgan happy.
Suddenly she was even happier that Lilith wasn’t here. Morgan had no idea what had driven the attackers insane enough to expose themselves to the toxin, but she didn’t have time to worry about it.
She did worry about where Dreamer was, though.
Chapter 36
Wednesday, May 14th, 2031
Layton, Utah
Okris reached out mentally, only to recoil in irritation.
It had known all along that the spacecraft it wanted wouldn’t be easy to acquire, but Okris had expected the location to be no more heavily defended than the weapons disposal facility, even if it was also a military base. Perhaps it would have more mutants or individuals with powers, as well as weapons, but Okris hadn’t anticipated a barrier of mental energy to be encircling the base.
The savage’s mind might be powerful, but she couldn’t resist Okris effectively without training she didn’t possess. She struggled like an insect, but Okris could readily control her and up to a dozen others if Okris was careful. Still, Okris wasn’t entirely happy with not being able to see its destination, so it slid open the viewing slot in the side of the truck and examined the location visually.
Hill Air Force Base, that was what the savages called the location, and the sight before it irritated Okris even more. It hadn’t realized it when looking at the orbital footage, but the military base was carefully placed on a ridge that cut off most line of sight into the base proper. It could see the base gate, with the tire-shredding teeth on the ground and booths where several soldiers were keeping watch on what was in the area. Other than that, it could see some of the end of the airstrip and a few outbuildings, but nothing truly useful. The guards were armed with primitive but effective projectile weapons, ones which would pose a risk to Okris under normal circumstances.
These weren’t normal circumstances, though. At this, the most important stage of Okris’s plans, it was time to use everything it had to ensure that its escape was successful, even if that meant that a second attempt would be far less likely to succeed. It turned to the other equipment in the back of the truck and examined it. The iridescent blue suit of armor was the main reason it had been concerned about its host, as the armor wouldn’t fit if it took a different host, nor could another host use it properly. They definitely couldn’t use the cannon, either, so Okris mentally reached out to the armor, causing it to slowly hiss open and allow Okris to step inside it. Then Okris stiffened as it sensed the thoughts from the savage driving its truck.
A vehicle used by the authorities of the world had pulled up behind the truck, which was irritating, but not enough to frustrate Okris too much. It considered using its new puppet to deal with the savage but decided there wasn’t any point to that. The savage was too late to stop Okris.
The armor started closing, and Okris prepared for battle. This shouldn’t take it too long.
“Hey!” Justin said, rapping on the window of the truck, annoyed that the driver hadn’t rolled it down. It was one of those moving trucks that you could rent just about anywhere, and he wouldn’t have given it a second glance if it weren’t parked right in front of a fire hydrant just outside of the base entrance. That was probably part of why the guards had let dispatch know about the truck, too.
Justin frowned slightly as the driver looked at him, and his irritation turned to concern at the look of the man’s eyes. They were somewhat dilated and bloodshot, and the man was unusually pale-skinned, which was concerning.
Knocking on the window again, Justin asked, “Hey, you okay in there? Roll down the window!”
The man didn’t take his hands off the steering wheel, and Justin frowned more, reaching up to his radio. “Dispatch, I have a—”
The sound of the back door of the truck rolling upward interrupted, and Justin had just barely begun to look when a bright flash of light lit up the street, instantly followed by a high-pitched zot that sounded like a gun from a sci-fi movie.
Justin’s patrol car went flying backward, the entire front half almost bisected and now on fire, then it exploded, and he flung himself backward as the truck suddenly shifted gears and its tires screeched on the pavement.
As the truck began moving, Justin jerked halfway to his feet, then froze, his eyes widening at the sight of the creature hovering in front of where his car had been a moment before. It was human-shaped and taller than him, with an iridescent blue surface that had dozens of glowing orange veins across its surface, and to him it looked like armor, with several cable-like tendrils hanging behind it. It also had an enormous weapon of some kind held in both hands, one with a tip that reminded Justin of a scorpion’s stinger, and it was surrounded by a glowing field of blue energy.
“Villain at Hill Field and thirtieth, repeat, villain at Hill Field and thirtieth!” Justin called out, scrambling toward the nearest cover, thankful that at least the villain seemed to be ignoring him. He drew his pistol, but somehow Justin doubted it’d do much good against a villain in armor like that.
The figure instead floated higher into the air as the honking of car horns filled the air, other vehicles screeching to a halt at the sight of the scorched wreckage of Justin’s car in the road. There were muffled crunching sounds, and car alarms went off, prompting a wince from Justin at the sound of still more accidents from people who hadn’t been paying attention to their driving. More importantly, the creature pointed its weapon up the road at the gates to the base, and Justin’s blood ran cold as he saw that the truck was racing in the same direction.
Zot!
The brilliant blue beam lanced across the sky before the sound could reach Justin, followed an instant later by the whipcrack of an explosion in the distance, one which drowned out his radio. Seconds later there was a hail of rapid-fire gunshots from the direction of the gate as well.
As the villain began flying toward the gate, Justin gritted his teeth and hesitated, then decided that he wouldn’t be any use against the figure. All he could do was die, and instead he reached for his radio.
“—villain? McCarthy?” the radio was hissing, and Justin hit the key of the microphone on his vest.
“Villain is breaking into Hill. Disengaged, trying to handle civilian traffic. My car is totaled and on fire,” Justin said, standing up slowly and heading for the street again. “Recommend calling the Sentinels, Guardians, and anyone else in the area.”
“Copy that, McCarthy. SWAT is scrambling; assistance is on its way,” Dispatch replied, her voice calm, and he could hear typing in the background. In the distance Justin could hear sirens, and he winced as there was another zot from the direction of the base.
“We’re going to need it,” Justin muttered, and proceeded to try to redirect traffic away from the base. It was what he was supposed to do under the circumstances, but it didn’t make him feel any less like a coward.
Eden Manor, Glendale
Lilith parked the car and stepped out of it, stretching as the garage door closed behind her, and as she did, she glanced over at the other three vehicles in the garage, somewhat amused. One was Rachel’s, a small red car, while the larger black car belonged to Gina. The biggest vehicle looked more like an RV, and was something Circe had provided, in case they decided to go away from any of the bases. Lilith had been considering looking the vehicle over for a while, and under the circumstances she thought it was about—
“Mistress Lilith! The alien is attacking Hill Air Force Base. LANCE is out of position, with most of its reaction forces out of state, and according to my estimates the local superheroes risk being mind-controlled,” Circe interrupted bluntly. “Based on the direction of the attack, I believe that the alien is aiming for LANCE’s starjet.”
> “What?” Lilith said, freezing in place. “How do you know that?”
“My conjectures are based on some of Mistress Amber’s classified research. I cannot explain further,” Circe explained quickly. “I also believe that you can resist the mental assault of the alien safely.”
Lilith’s thoughts began to race, and a few niggling suspicions grew still stronger, but there wasn’t anything she could do about them. If Amber knew more about the aliens than anyone else did… well, she had said that she was in a difficult fight before, and that she didn’t want anyone conquering Earth if she couldn’t have it. That would explain the knowledge Circe seemed to have about the aliens, at least in part. The lack of information chafed, though.
Turning, Lilith began to jog toward the door into the house, which unlocked at her approach, and she opened it as she spoke. “Fine. What about the others?”
“Morgan and Warden are in the midst of combat and dealing with released nerve gas as we speak. I do not wish to distract them until the situation has stabilized,” Circe replied simply, prompting a wince from Lilith.
“Wonderful. This isn’t what I had in mind when I said I wanted to feel more useful,” Lilith said, darting downstairs toward the armory, dropping her bags at the top of the stairs. Laundry could come later.
“Of course not, Mistress Lilith,” Circe said, a hint of amusement in her voice as she added, “If I did not believe you would chastise me for it later, I wouldn’t tell you at all. I also would recommend the mega-cannon, but I’m afraid it would cause too much collateral damage.”
That prompted Lilith to laugh as she skidded into the armory, noting that her armor was open and ready for her as she arrived, and she quickly began to strip off her clothing, thankful she at least had her suit on beneath it.
“Well, hopefully they get things situated quickly,” Lilith murmured.
“Spark!” Decarin yelled, and the note of panic in his voice caused Spark to jump nearly a foot into the air.
“What?!” Spark demanded, spinning around as she tried to force her heart down out of her throat, and her grumpiness at being sidelined again almost made her bite the inventor’s head off.
“Secondary problem! Hill AFB is under attack, and calling for reinforcements!” Decarin explained, skidding around the corner to look at her, still wearing his headset. “I think it’s the alien, since the sensors are going haywire!”
“Oh, that damned… what about the others?” Spark asked, her thoughts racing as she unhooked the grounding collar. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but she liked being able to touch things without zapping them.
“Even if I turned them around now they’re going to be slower than you, and it sounds like the situation there is even more volatile. The Layton Guardians are en route, but no one else—” Decarin began, then paused, his gaze darting upward. “No, scratch that. Lilith’s in her armor and on her way north. LANCE is trying to recall a strike team from Denver, too. They’re not going to be fast enough.”
“Ah hell,” Spark said, wincing at the mention of the Layton Guardians. The team wasn’t bad, but it was currently down a few members, from what she heard, and something like the alien might be able to rip through them. Lilith, on the other hand… the woman’s face was vivid in Spark’s memory, and she shook her head to clear her mind. She did not need to be thinking about Lilith right now. Instead she looked at Decarin and nodded. “Right, I’m on it. Get the others once you can, though!”
“Will do!” Decarin said, but his words grew tiny as Spark shot out of the room, snagging her utility belt on the way, then hesitating before grabbing a set of goggles as well.
Most of the time Spark didn’t worry about goggles, but she’d had issues with encountering entire swarms of insects between Paragon City and Layton before, and she didn’t want to risk a bug in the eye right before going into combat.
Then Spark was out the doors and racing northward as fast as she could push herself. Even if she was a speedster, she couldn’t cover twenty-five miles instantly.
Chapter 37
Wednesday, May 14th, 2031
Toole Chemical Agent Disposal Facility
“Something is seriously wrong with these idiots!” Warden yelped, starting to feel the strain as she dropped yet another shield over a cloud of gas. Even if she was good with barriers, the amount of energy it took to keep air from going through them was significantly higher than normal, and she had six of the shields up so far. “They’re not even being snarky!”
A minion was shooting at her, his shots as steady as a metronome, and annoying enough that Warden wished she could take a shot at him. Not that she would, with how he was crouched behind one of the nerve gas canisters.
“Duh? They’re standing in the gas without any protective gear!” Morgan retorted, slamming a bright purple spear into Acheron Dreadnaught so hard that he went flying into the hillside, making a three-foot deep pit. It barely seemed to hurt him, as he began staggering forward, but Warden wasn’t sure if that was the nerve gas he’d been exposed to or Morgan’s attack.
“Pardon me for trying to make a point. This’s starting to push me, you know!” Warden said, shaking her head as a bead of sweat tried to drip into her eye, and winced as Viper lurched out from the right and lunged at Morgan, thankfully slower than he usually was. “Can you fix it?”
“I’m not a mental mage! They’re, ugh, harder to find than psychics!” Morgan replied, taking a punch in the stomach that Warden suspected would’ve knocked the wind out of her friend without her armor. Instead Morgan caught one of Viper’s hands to slow him down further, and magic poured out of her rings and into a ball in her other hand. Then the ball launched into his face, knocking him backward, and exploded into a purple web that immobilized the villain. “Fixing mind control takes time when it isn’t magic. Dammit, one down, several to go!”
“More like three down, but—” Warden began, only to wince as four more of the Despicable Dozen showed up with a cart of canisters. “Oh, come on!”
“Why won’t this stupid jerk stay down?” Morgan demanded, hitting Dreadnaught with another blast, this time creating a sheet of ice over and around him, but the villain barely flinched as he picked up a canister almost like a baseball bat.
At that moment there was a faint sound that Warden didn’t quite register, then the shadows behind several of the minions reached out and grabbed them, hog-tying them in an instant. The next moment she heard the sound of beating wings, and with a loud whump, Archon came down directly on top of Acheron Dreadnaught, slamming the villain into the ground hard as she drew her sword.
“You ladies need a hand?” Shade asked, drifting down from the sky, and Warden couldn’t help a grin, glancing at Archon’s flaming sword, then at Dreadnaught.
“That’d be awesome. Keeping the gas contained isn’t easy, and these idiots are mind-controlled!” Warden said, another trickle of sweat running down her neck, now.
“Yeah. I’ve been doing what—” Morgan began, a note of relief in her voice, only to be interrupted.
“We don’t have time for this,” Archon said flatly, stomping on Dreadnaught firmly, then raised her sword in both hands. “Warden, shield everyone but me from fire, if you please. Including the villains. Let the gas out.”
“What… oh!” Warden’s eyes went wide, and she released the shields around the gas, redirecting the energy as quickly as she could to surround the villains and minions, as well as Morgan, Shade, and herself. Releasing the barriers was a relief, but she braced herself as she realized what was coming.
The hazy gas began to spread, and with a sharp kick Archon launched the canister Dreadnaught had been holding toward the bay, then brought down her sword and the world exploded.
Fire raged across Warden’s entire field of vision, and she flinched backward as the blazing yellow-gold flames slammed into her shields, forcing her to stabilize them with still more power. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as constantly keeping the toxin from escap
ing, but it definitely wasn’t easy, and was made worse as she heard several muffled explosions and shrapnel hit her shields. That was the canisters cooking off, Warden realized belatedly.
The fire continued for nearly ten seconds before it died, and when it did, Warden winced. The concrete was scorched and cracked, the bay doors would likely have to be entirely replaced, and there was a good deal of other damage. The bad guys were still trying to attack, but Archon bent over and punched Acheron Dreadnaught so hard he sank a couple of inches into the concrete, which finally knocked him out.
“Um, wasn’t that a bit excessive?” Morgan asked as Warden retracted her shields, and Shade snapped out a spell that slammed the minions into a wall. “Even if it dealt with the toxin, I think we could’ve done it with a little less damage.”
“There’s no time. Hill Air Force Base is under attack by the alien, and I’ve identified Dreamer as well. Lilith and Spark are en route,” Circe interrupted over the com. “You may not make it unless you leave immediately. This was likely a feint to draw you out of position.”
“Oh no!” Warden said, blood draining from her face. “If Lilith runs into them alone…”
“Calm down,” Morgan said, but hesitated, looking at Viper.
“I’ll deal with the remainder of these jerks,” Shade volunteered, nodding toward the villains as he raised a wall of shadow to block another shot, then ripped the weapon out of the minion’s hands. “I’m not as fast as you, and someone has to deal with them.”
“Right, thanks!” Warden said, relief rushing through her, and took flight. Morgan was only a second behind her, then Archon.
“Warden? Aren’t you capable of teleportation? I heard that you managed to teleport to Lilith’s rescue once before,” Archon said, her voice a bit muffled by the wind.
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