WilliamDArand
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Super Sales on Super Heroes - ch 17-
🕑 Added 2023-06-03 03:31:23 +0000 UTCChapter 17 - Extreme Pursuit -
Keeping himself occupied as they drove off, Felix did his best to button up the driver that was behind them. Firing directly into what he believed to be where the driver was looking out of.
Firing here and there and mostly keeping them on their toes. Or at least, that’s what Felix wanted to believe about the situation. It was entirely possible that he wasn’t doing anything other than wasting ammunition.
“Open the hatch, I’m tired of this. We’ve been driving for at least half an hour. Maybe longer. I want to take a hand in this,” Lily demanded, levering herself up and out of the seat. In a tight fitting skirt, snug blouse, a jacket that hung to her, and high-heels, she had a look that belonged on a magazine cover.
Myriad slapped a hand against it and it began to drop.
“Hold it there,” demanded the sorceress as she stepped up to the rungs that were on each side of the hatch’s frame. She grabbed onto one with her left hand and held her right up in front of herself.
In a flash, an entire wall of spell-runes appeared, then were set off. Blasting outward through the gap in the hatch and the vehicle. A purple ball of what felt like only bad things zipped off and out of sight.
Felix looked back to his camera and watched as it narrowly missed the vehicle directly behind them.
Though in dodging it, they lined up who was behind them, perfectly.
The spell crackled through that second vehicle, which happened to look a lot like a bright white super-car, and tore out the middle of it. Bowling through it with extreme destructive powers and turning it into a glowing metal U with four wheels.
Felix took the opportunity to lay down a steady stream of shots into the car that’d been hanging onto them. Hopefully taking away their vision.
Faith stepped up beside Lily, put one arm around the woman’s waist, and grabbed the rung with her other hand.
Elemental and nature magic bloomed to life all around Faith, then coalesced around Lily. Creating a shroud around the other woman in a bright rainbow hued cocoon.
“That just tastes weird,” hissed Lily.
“Hmph, I’ll show you something that tastes weird later with Felix,” countered Faith. “Hurry up and cast. My spells cost to be held, rather than only on cast.”
If it hadn’t been for his Legate helmet he doubted he’d have heard the exchange. Though given what was said, he wasn’t sure he’d been supposed to hear it to begin with.
“Tribune, are you connected?” asked Felix.
“No, Legate,” answered the AI.
“Damnit,” he grunted out before looking at Kit. Her hand was in front of herself, opening and closing. Over and over. As if she were attempting to open a portal right there.
Something was blocking her out of her powers at the same that they were jamming all the signals coming in or going out.
Are they using tech? Is it a super?
Need to find out.
Sighing, Felix didn’t like where this was going. They’d been driving for quite a while and were now out in the empty lands of nothing between major cities.
Dotted with random houses, farms, and wide open spaces of grass.
Endless grass and hills.
There’d been no sign of his people which meant whatever happened back there had been covered up. Covered up to the point that they had no idea where Felix was or where he was going.
He needed to punch through whatever this interference was.
“Can you determine the source of it?” Felix asked.
“Yes. It’ll get much worse the closer we get,” Tribune answered.
“Is Evie faster than Goldie?” asked Felix.
“No. Legionnaire Goldie allows Evie to win so that she has some confidence,” answered Tribune.
That-yeah, that fits.
“Goldie,” Felix called and stood up from his seat. He then grabbed Kit by the shoulder and pointed to the monitor.
As he did so, Goldie’s beautiful head turned her head his way. The golden rings tied through with golden chain in her horns clicking together.
“I need to ride you,” Felix blurted out, making his way to her.
“Goodness, right here and now?” Gaia asked in shock. “I never thought he’d be so forward. Or that Goldie would be willing for such a thing.
“Then… again… I suppose it isn’t as if animals care much for others watching. Why should I?”
Blocking Gaia out, he focused on Goldie.
“This interference is our biggest issue. I want to go knock it out,” he explained.
“Oh. Well. I wouldn’t mind doing that at all. Though… why not just upgrade Tribune so that it can be more powerful than the interference?” asked Goldie, standing up from her seat. She reached up and started to adjust the armor she wore.
The immediate answer to her question wasn’t one he wanted to blurt out.
Tribune was sentient. The further he moved her along the line of becoming impossibly strong the harder it’d be to curb her after the fact.
He was quite literally building up something that might be turned against him in the future. Creating his own worst possible enemy with every key to the kingdom, so to speak.
“Honestly, Felix, husband, I’m not sure we’d survive out there,” Goldie added, now standing directly in front of him. Her words were pitched low and aimed for him alone. “I could barely think when they used that thrumming thing. Evie is the one who got us out. Not me. It really messed with me.”
Chewing at his lip, Felix glanced to Evie.
“Evie, did that thrumming thing really mess you up?” he asked. If Goldie couldn’t make this happen, he wanted to know if it was possible with Evie.
“Yes, husband. It did. Badly. I only got Goldie and myself out because I was already next to the glass,” Evie confessed. “It wasn’t me resisting anything. I resisted it about as well as I’d resist you asking me a favor.”
Felix put a hand to his helmet.
Fine. I’ll just point up one of them so they can withstand it. Then we’ll—
“OpFor directly ahead!” warned Myriad. “Can’t pull off the road either. It’s a canyon. This vehicle is fantastic and all but I don’t think we’ll knock our way through!”
Closing his eyes, Felix realized he no longer had option. Upgrading Tribune was the fastest and most surefire way to get her connected back to her main program. Which would allow her to take over any equipment nearby and direct resources.
“Stop us,” ordered Felix. “Lily, we’ll need a big ass dome. Kit, reinforce it if you can. I’m not sure what parts of your power are working. Faith, same thing.
“Gaia, anything you can do from a godly perspective? Portal us out? Teleport us away? Something like that?”
“I’m only ever able to teleport to you, Felix. Given our… given our relationship, that is,” Gaia returned quickly with a small smile. “I’ll help however I can, of course. Magic isn’t really that possible in this body but I’m quite the physical fighter!”
Felix knew that, but it also felt like that wasn’t exactly what they needed right now either. Brute force could solve many things, but right now, it didn’t feel like a great option.
“Take your seats!” shouted Myriad a single second before the whole vehicle jerked to one side. Then it felt as if it was airborne.
Everything became weightless and Felix felt his stomach rise up in his throat. Before he could think about it or contemplate it, he was slammed down to the side of the interior. His helmeted head cracking against the hull.
Groaning, Felix lifted his head and looked around. Evie was above him now and was attempting to get him to his feet.
Either he’d blacked out for a moment or the Dragon was that fast.
Pulling him to his feet Evie stuck an arm around him and hustled him out the hatch. Stepping out into the afternoon sun he was surprised to find they were in the grass beside the road.
Looking the way they’d come he could see all the vehicles, flying heroes, and those who’d traveled on the ground, lining up. There was also a smoking crater in the road.
All around Felix and the vehicle was a glowing dome. Standing at the center was Lily and Faith. The former receiving power from the latter as she held everything together.
Fuck.
Looking back to the Legion armored car he’d made, he could see one of the wheels was destroyed. Half of it was missing.
A second one was bent in a way that showed it wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Goldie casually flipped it rightside up after both Myriads got out, only for them both to go back in. The turret atop swiveled around and trained on their opponents. The second Myriad came back out with a rifle and what was likely a bag of ammo.
Times up I guess.
Evie carried him around to the side of the armored vehicle and pushed him against it. One hand pressed to his shoulder and staring into his helmeted face.
“Husband, are you alright? You struck your head quite hard,” Evie asked, looking quite concerned.
“I’m alright. How’s everyone else?” he asked.
“Kit’s unconscious,” Goldie answered, coming over to stand with them. “Few others have some broken bones but that’s it. Nothing too terrible but we need medical aid.”
Groaning, Felix let out a slow breath.
Gaia had eased up to stand beside the two Dragons and had a nervous expression on her face. Her hands gently tapping into one another.
She wasn’t wearing Legionnaire armor and had dressed in a business suit similar to Lily and Kit. Even if she didn’t fill it out in the right way.
“They have some type of cursed weapon with them. It feels quite… wrong,” Gaia advised. “If you or are I were struck with it, it’d be very problematic.”
Nodding his head, Felix could believe that.
He needed to make choices and right now. Where to spend his points and how so that they could get the best resources to get through this situation.
Upgrading Tribune was one option, but that’d only punch through the communication block out. It wouldn’t get them the help they need.
“They’re clearly using tech that isn’t normal,” Myriad growled, coming over to join the conversation. “I can see it even from here. There’s some equipment that I have no idea what it does, as well as some heavily modified vehicles. I’m not really sure what to do about this.”
He needed resources. Out here in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t have anything on hand he could work with. Everything he had, were things that’d require a great deal of points, or need to be in front of him.
Tribune was different.
“Tribune, I’m going to upgrade you right now,” Felix decided. “Punch through immediately, get your big AI ass down here, and unfuck this situation for me immediately.
“Your Legates life depends on it.”
Felix desired to change Tribune as a whole. To give it enough power to punch through whatever was blocking her signal at this exact moment.
A window appeared.
Name: Tribune
Condition: Distraught, Frantic.
If No Action Taken: None
Action >> Alter Program: Cost 191,413 points
Well, that’s cheaper than I thought it’d be. Maybe the required amount of power isn’t that different from where she’s at.
Though… those conditions are most certainly a living being’s status.
Felix accepted the cost.
“Tribune, I need your help,” Felix called into his comms after a single second passed.
There was a click from his system after it transmitted. There was no response.
Then his HUD lit up as if it’d been turned into a tree festooned in christmas lights. Multiple icons flickered to life, flickered through several colors before settling onto one each.
Some blue, some green, many were red.
“Tribune? I need you,” pleaded Felix.
“Draco Custodes, Bellum Dryadum, and Praecantrix units inbound,” declared Tribune in what sounded like a very solid tone.
“No idea what those are, but that sounds great,” Felix agreed. The enemy supers had opened up and were firing, throwing magic, and attacking the dome Lily had erected. “How long are they out? Need that help fairly immediately.”
“Two minutes,” Tribune answered. “Positions have been marked on your HUD. Clear that area and do not enter it.”
“Great. Glad to hear it. Glad to hear you, Tribune,” Felix said, still really confused. When he started looking around he noted that there were a number of red beams of light now on his display that streaked up into the sky above.
“I… likewise, Legate. Likewise. Vice-Legate has demanded a discussion in regards to your security. I’ve put thirteen-hundred meetings on your calendar in regards to this to be held until satisfaction is achieved,” Tribune instructed him.
In other words, even the body-guards, the soldiers, and defenses we deployed all around the conference, as well as the hard-point assets, weren’t enough.
Whatever that was, was an extremely determined attack to take my life.
We planned extensively for this, and it wasn’t even enough.
“Tribune, who are the Draco whatever and the who else,” Felix prompted again.
“The Draco Custodes, Bellum Dryadum, and Praecantrix. Highly trained, highly determined, highly decorated, highly skilled units drawn up across all of Legion,” Tribune began to explain. “Their goal is to protect you and Vince. That’s it. They are the Campbell royal guard at this point. They are also immortal.
“If they die, Vince can call them back on his own. Should he fail, you can. As they’re all Legionnaires.
“This particular grouping was put together specifically with you in mind by Felicity and Yarris. Brace yourself, they’re making landfall, Legate.”
“Landfall?” Felix asked, then followed the red beams up into the sky again.
A large number of objects were falling from the sky.
Evie and Goldie were also staring upward. Then Gaia did as well.
Faster than he thought possible those objects screamed toward the earth. Large plumes of flames were shooting out of the top of them.
Propelling them downward of all things.
They were in the sky, and then they were on the ground.
Moving with such velocity that Felix couldn’t even keep his eyes on them.
There was muted booms and a large amount of thunderous racket. Everything shook and shivered.
Where all the beams had been were replaced by gigantic cylinders. They didn’t look that big on the way in but they were quite large.
Most of the side panels all popped off at once and a veritable onslaught of troops rushed out. The vast majority of them were in what looked to be specialized and upgraded Legionnaire armor. Many of them flashing with magical runes that ran up and down their arms and legs.
A number of these cylinders disgorged contents that were filled with Wardens. Modified and over-engineered Wardens that Felix hadn’t seen before. The leveled what looked to be chain-cannons and began firing into the ranks of the enemy forces even before they’d left the cylinder.
Lastly were what were clearly Dragons in their human form. They dropped down to the grass and immediately transformed into their Dragon shapes.
It all happened at once and there was a universal cry that was unmistakable as it cut through the com systems.
“Legion First!”
As the roar of voices filled everything, other Legionnaire teams were erecting defensive works from nothing but magic.
In those same teams, other Legionnaires dropped down weapon emplacements into those works. They’d lugged massive Warden weaponry that even Melody had balked at trying out into the field.
In seconds, a fighting force the likes of which left Felix speechless swept out and into the field. All of them moving with a purpose and as if they’d rehearsed it all.
Several squads moved in close and tight around Felix.
“Legate secured,” stated a voice over the command channel. “Engaging perimeter.”
Three of the Legionnaires with the magical runes clapped their hands together with the unpowered ones. A blue and green dome slammed out from it and engulfed Felix and his people. The edge of it slipping over Lily and Faith who had let the shield fall in the mad rush of Legionnaires.
A number of Dragons, Black and Platinum Felix noted, formed up around Felix and the Legionnaires.
An icon at the top right of Felix’s HUD, which he only now noticed was a throne, stopped blinking an angry red. It shifted to a yellow icon which was slowly pulsing instead.
One of the rune covered Legionnaires joined hands with one that wasn’t and they faced one another. The rest all took up their weapons and took up positions directly surrounding Felix.
“Well, that was impressive,” remarked the Myriad who’d been in the vehicle. Apparently she’d given up on the turret with all this going on. “Though… I think we vastly underestimated our foes. Vastly.
“They threw something strong enough our way that took out our security. Legion’s, security. Admittedly we were treating it a bit lower than we probably should have but… still.
“There’s power in this world we haven’t accounted for. We’ll need to get this buttoned up and figured out. And you… Felix… you’re not leaving the compound for much of any reason.”
“Yeah… just like old times, I guess,” grumbled Felix. “What about my current bodyguards?”
“They’re all slated for training and then inclusion into the new guard units,” answered Tribune. “We’re moving all the time tables up a week.”
Watching the brand new Wardens laying down unending massive projectiles into the enemies. Their chain guns whining and spinning away.
Dragons were prowling about where the rounds couldn’t reach. Snatching up foes and quite simply biting them apart. Only to dump the remains as soon as they confirmed they were dead.
Those in Legionnaire armor were slowly walking toward the bodies and hold-outs. Their rifles unslung and held before them.
“It’s a spec-ops team,” Myriad concluded. “I like them. Maybe I’ll see if I can slip a few of my Others into it. Learn their tactics. See what I can incorporate.
“Get some of their gear. I like the armor. Looks new. Looks fancy. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I bet it’s Felicia and the Whites.”
The Legionnaires continued to march forward. Pausing only briefly to police the wounded, zip-tie their hands together, and move on. A second combat line of Legionnaires was coming up and they looked to be triaging the fallen.
Well… enemies are great sources of information, after all. Great sources.
And if they don’t have any information to trade… well… I wonder what Super Sausage would be like.
“Do you think Super Sausage will taste good?” Myriad asked, apparently having the same thoughts he did.
Comments
Alex Lindsay
Super sausage!
Brian
So much goodness. Thanks, Will!
Matt
Please!!! Please!!! More warhammer 40K references. I was dying on the ground reading that. had to read the part about the The Draco Custodes, Bellum Dryadum, and Praecantrix several times, just cause it made me laugh so hard. I can see Felix as the leader of the T'au Empire, but with an emperor of man look.
Nukin Futs
Getting some BattleTech vibes picturing a Warden stepping out of a drop pod. I can almost hear the drop-pods too; "muted booms", and hollow thumps. Gotdamn. Wardens are cool.
David Fletcher
I fully accept that he’s been shaken up and surprised by what’s going on as a reason not to have done it though
William D. Arand
Fair. Healing someone seems counter productive if you might end up bringing them back to life later... but I get it. I'll try to word that in better.
David Fletcher
I loved it! My only issue this book has been Felix not using his points to insta heal his people like he always has. It seems like he forgot?
