Full Metal Superhero Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Haskell, Jeffery H.

  “How so?” Right, she didn’t see them.

  “They have these security robots with plasma weapons. They’re very advanced but just steel, titanium, carbon fiber, and plastic. All alloys derivative of modern science. Luke, without getting mad, could probably beat one to a pulp.”

  “But, if they were made of a certain super-genius’ armored battle suit though,” Kate finishes for me, “They would be nigh indestructible.”

  “He’s making an army capable of defeating whatever supers he can’t convert,” I say.

  And he is killing any telepath that does not join him. I believe Mr. Kana was going to be his next host. Something must have gone wrong and he was forced to kill him.

  “Okay, the next question is… what do we do now?” Kate asks. My heart drops. I know who and what we’re up against, but I have no idea how to defeat him.

  “First things first, I need to go back to Phoenix and get out of this armor for a while. Can we do that?”

  A genuine smile spreads across her lips, “Air Kate is on the job. Let me grab a few things and I’ll have you back in the Copper State in no time.”

  21

  How did you do all of this?” Kate asks as I wheel out of the small RV-like bathroom installed in the back of the semi-rig.

  “I didn’t, Epic did.”

  “He doesn’t have any hands.”

  Laughing, I wheel over to the mini fridge and pop the tab on a Coke. The cold soda feels good going down. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve had eight hours sleep and a solid meal.

  “You’d be amazed what you can order over the Internet.”

  It’s been sixteen hours since we raided Cat-7 and the news is going crazy. Shai-Hulud dumped virtually everything about them. Including a memo to make sure state teams were mishandled to allow for organic disasters to happen. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it in writing. The way Cat-7 treated the Diamondbacks in the past totally makes sense now. Luke is going to be so relieved. I thought it was just Arizona, but it’s everyone. The more the state teams screwed up the more Cat-7 would hire lobbyist and grassroots movements to put more of the teams in direct control of the big company by saying ‘the States can’t handle the responsibility’. I’m guessing Ericsson, or whatever name he goes by now, hoped to bring them all under his influence for his takeover bid. Well, that’s going up in flames now.

  The TV switches to a live broadcast of the FBI and DMHA agents raiding their New York corporate HQ. Not just any agents either, ones with superpowers. If they try anything… I guess Ericsson doesn’t have as much pull in the government as I thought he did. Or at least not openly.

  “Wow, talk about history in the making. Cat-7 founded the state militias. They’re the whole reason the super teams are organized and now,” Kate snaps her fingers, “they’re gone.”

  “Ask yourself this: are we better off because of them? Or have they been holding back the super teams since the beginning?”

  “Good point.”

  “This is all great and all, but it still brings us no closer to Ericsson. If he’s the telepath who altered my parents then he’s the only one who can undo it.”

  “I know you want that, but there is the possibility it can’t be undone, you know this, right?” Kate asks.

  I shake my head and wave the thought away, “I’m not ready to accept it as a possibility, not yet. Otherwise, what’s the point of continuing? No, I need to find him, Kate. I was hoping something in all these records would point to him but so far, no such luck.”

  Epic scoured both Cat-7’s servers and the Cabals and nothing gave us a central location or secret HQ. I opened up the files on my tablet and started browsing, glancing really, hoping my subconscious would trigger on something. The TV flashes through a few different stories, the raid on the underground bases, the Department of Corrections arresting everyone in the UltraMax while cheering inmates watch. On live TV the President orders the Brigade to turn themselves in at ADX Florence in Colorado. The military equivalent to North Dakota’s UltraMax. Not surprisingly, Behemoth and Mariposa have disappeared. How many are in it because they’re mind-controlled and how many because they are with this guy? At first I thought everyone would have to be mind-controlled but clearly, people are evil.

  “Do you think they can clear our names now?” Kate asks as we watch.

  “Can you contact the Arizona AG and find out?”

  “I have a few channels. It might take me a day or so. I’d have to go in person…”

  “Kate, you need your life back. It isn’t fair them prosecuting you for what I did.”

  She shakes her head, “Both of us or no deal. Besides, that can wait until we figure out what to do next.”

  “Epic, when we were fighting the Brigade, you recorded everything on Artemis, right?”

  Who exactly do you think I am?

  “Right,” I chuckle, “Can you replay and give me the energy signatures and magneto scans if we have them?”

  An idea forms, a glimmer of a plan really. It hinges on if he recorded the right info…

  When we were fighting it really felt like the battle took forever but to see it now… it lasted less than three minutes.

  “Damn,” Kate says under her breath when Behemoth slaps her hands together, “I’m both sorry I missed it and not sorry.”

  “I’m just glad everyone’s okay. Luke heals fast and Pierre was able to put himself in some kind of magic coma to enhance his healing. No one died, it’s a win,” I say as I watch the sky light up from the impact of the Arrow.

  “You put a weapon in space… isn’t that illegal?”

  “I’m not a country, I can do whatever I like in space. Epic, play back the last part from my armor and from orbit, scans side by side please and half speed.”

  He does.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Remember the thing about Tesla waves?”

  Just as the Arrow hits Behemoth’s magnetic signature goes off the charts. As if her powers are responding to the threat by amping up.

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I can find Behemoth using them. If she’s with Mariposa and they are with Ericsson…”

  “Then we’re in business!”

  “Yes we are. Epic, task Artemis to look for her magnetic signature. Now that we know what to look for we should be able to find her. I don’t think it would work with any other super. She’s just incredibly powerful so her magnetic field is commensurate.”

  Reconfiguring… scanning. Oh no.

  “That isn’t good,” I say.

  I’m detecting her magnetic signature, as well as the power source of over ten-thousand of their security bots, in a warehouse located a half mile from the White House.

  “The White House?” Kate asks. I hear the incredulity in her voice. If they’re in DC…

  “Epic, locate every world leader with super-powered assets along with-”

  There is a conference in DC hosted by the United States. I believe Luke was there with the governor. Over thirty heads of state are in various cities on the east coast. Now that I know what to look for I am picking up over a hundred-thousand security bots. I am reclassifying them as ‘warbots’. Amelia, I think—

  “I know,” I say. I can’t believe it, but I know.

  “Know what?”

  “The only reason he would want the armor would be to make the warbots unstoppable. The only reason for that would be he plans a coup de’tat… against the world and it’s happening right now.”

  “But he didn’t get it which means…”

  “Arsenal is the only unstoppable armor. Let’s hope we’re in time and it’s enough. I need to suit up. We need to get the word out. Epic?”

  Standing by.

  “Alert every team, every government agency, tap into the EBS if you have to. Initiate ‘Firefly’ protocol.”

  Confirmation of Firefly protocol required.

  “Confirmed.”

  “Okay all the Star Wars and Star Trek references I get, bu
t what about Firefly fits here?”

  “You can’t stop the signal, Kate. Epic always operates from the position of staying invisible. I just authorized him to get the word out no matter what.” She rolls her eyes as I wheel into position.

  “Amelia, maybe you should call your parents…”

  I shake my head. They don’t remember me anyways and I can’t afford to let those emotions in right now.

  “I can’t, Kate. Not right now. I need you to get to the Arizona AG and try and make him understand what is about to happen. He won’t believe you… Hell, I can barely believe it, but you have to try.”

  “On it. Good luck.” She reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. I snake a hand up and put it on hers and hold her there for a moment.

  “Thank you for being my friend.”

  She smiles and vanishes.

  “Epic… initiate!”

  22

  Even at our top speed of Mach 4 it will still take too long, a whole forty-two minutes…

  “Epic, we don’t have that kind of time. How’s the warning going?”

  I have almost cracked the EBS network. I hacked homeland and put them on ‘high alert’. However, it is difficult to give them an exact threat to defend against. They are already on alert because of the visiting dignitaries. Amelia, even if every agent turns out to be on our side, the probability of success is low. Even a ‘best outcome’ is likely to result in significant civilian casualties and fatalities among foreign dignitaries.

  “I think we need to go sub-orbital on this. Do the math, I feel the need for speed.” The Emdrive kicks in full power and Phoenix shrinks followed by Arizona. The sky above dims and the stars come out as the altimeter passes eighty-thousand feet. Epic puts a path on the HUD showing me where to go and how fast. The altimeter switches from feet to miles as we blow past sixteen.

  We have now exceeded the SR-71’s flight record.

  While the top speed in the atmo is limited by how much heat builds up around the suit after I break the sound barrier, I won’t have that limitation when I slip the atmospheric bounds.

  At thirty miles the atmo starts thinning and my speed shoots up. The HUD automatically switches from MPH to Miles Per Second. I let out a whoop. Four-point-nine miles per second and we hit a hundred miles up in less than two minutes.

  I take a deep breath. The Earth is beautiful from up here. The icy black of space above and the blue gem below. I could seriously get used to this. The HUD shows me DC’s local time. Just after five pm. Hard to believe that only twenty-four hours has passed since I came back from New York. At least I caught some sleep and food.

  Congratulations, Amelia. You are the first person to achieve astronaut status without the aid of a shuttle or superpowers.

  I’ve always wanted to do this. I just wish I could spend a few minutes enjoying it.

  “Epic, have the truck start heading east, you never know if we’ll need it when this is done.”

  Roger. Do you have plans on how to deal with Behemoth?”

  “No,” I sigh, “Not without killing her. I suppose I’m justified at this point but… I don’t like it.”

  I am glad you do not. You would not be the little girl who created me if you did.

  It’s suddenly very tight in the armor. Epic is my friend, he’s my family. I’ve had him almost as long as I’ve been on my own.

  “Epic, whatever happens tonight I want… need… two things from you.”

  Go ahead.

  “I want you to know how important you are to me. Thank you, for everything.”

  Of course. You are my creator and my friend.

  “Second, you survive. If something happens and the armor is—breached… you survive. Understood?”

  Understood.

  “Okay, let’s go be heroes.”

  The drive goes full power and I shoot through space at a crazy velocity without atmospheric drag. My eyes bug when we hit ten miles per second. Damn, if I had the capacity to load more air and maybe some food we could make a trip to the moon.

  “Epic make a note, let’s look at setting foot on the moon!”

  Note made. Even I would think that was awesome.

  “I know right?” I can’t help but shout for joy as we burn through the upper atmosphere. My faceplate optics polarize as heat build-up creates a light too bright for human eyes.

  We are going to perform a flip… hold on to your lunch.

  “Oh boy,” I manage to gurgle as we execute the maneuver. I pull my knees up as he cuts the thrust and I roll forward. Once I’m falling feet first I extend them again—slowly—and he locks the suit up and fires thrusters.

  We are unable to communicate with the ground for the next two minutes. When we emerge we will be dead center over DC.

  “Roger that.”

  The countdown pops up on the HUD and I start sweating. Not because of the heat, but because what is about to happen. Ericsson jump-started his plans because of me. Logically I know he’s off balance. He’s reacting, not acting. Which means he wasn’t fully ready to move on the government.

  Still… thousands of warbots. Who knows what heroes and villains they have on their side and even then… I still have to go into this with the intent to kill Behemoth.

  It is war, Amelia.

  “You a mind reader now?”

  No. But I am thinking it too. Communications blackout passes in five…four…three…

  The optics depolarize, allowing me to see again. We’re a hundred thousand feet up and everything seems so small.

  Amelia, brace for—

  The sky lights up and for a heartbeat my optics stay open nearly blinding me before going dark again.

  “What was that?”

  Non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse weapon. If we were not shielded against a nuclear EMP we would be falling dead. However, I have lost comms with everyone. The greater DC area is devoid of power.

  He isn’t exaggerating. There’s a massive black hole looming below us where a city full of lights stood a few seconds before. No traffic, no buildings, no beacons.

  “Any aircraft in the area?”

  Thankfully all aircraft have been diverted for security reasons.

  A flash of light catches my eye. I can see it now that we’re only a few thousand feet up. Thousands of camouflaged warbots marching through the city. Occasional bursts of green light flare through the night as they open up with their plasma weapons.

  The majority of the fire is happening at the Capitol building and the White House.

  “Unlock,” I order. Arms forward, we shoot off toward Pennsylvania Ave. Congress may or may not be in session, but there are lots of congress members. There’s only one president and while I may not have voted for him… he’s the symbol of our country. If Ericsson manages to kill him then it will be that much harder to stop his evil plans.

  “Go full ECM, give me a scan of the area. Bring up Artemis and have her for backup. Once comms are re-established try and coordinate this mess as best you can. Break whatever laws you have too.”

  Understood. I have located Behemoth. She is engaged US Marshals and Secret Service meta-human teams at the white house.

  “I see it.” I don’t normally curse but I want to right now. It’s a frigging disaster. Part of the White House is burning. Overturned armored fighting vehicles and a hundred bodies litter the lawn.

  “Full power to everything, unlock the safeties on the Particle Beams and go auto on the grenade launcher.” The HUD flashes as it switches to angry red. Weapons status, shields, and power levels all become easier to read.

  I’m not set up to fight a war. Fifteen grenades against thousands of warbots isn’t even a contest, more like a slaughter—mine.

  They spot me at a few hundred feet. Fifty mechanical heads turn at once raising their weapons to fire.

  I cut power to the boots and fall right at them. I hear the puff-puff-puff of the grenade launcher lighting up targets. No pods or bean bags today, nothing but HE. The explosions rip through th
eir metallic hides, setting off a series of secondaries as whatever powers them reacts badly to the explosions.

  I hit the ground a hundred feet from where Behemoth is pounding the tar out of a woman I don’t know. The US Marshal I met a while back, Bricklayer, ineffectively punches Behemoth from behind trying to force her to release the agent. There is a volume of small and medium arms fire as pistols, smgs, and heavy machine guns fire from every window pouring down lead on the army of warbots. I can only thank God and Epic that Ericsson never figured out how to replicate my armor.

  “Particle beams, sustained fire!”

  Arms straight out from my shoulders, wrist down, they fire. Hyper-accelerated silicon spews out at near light speed. Epic shows me where to aim as I rush forward, decapitating and decimating everything the beams touch. Metal slags as the beams pass through countless warbots.

  The world lights up and I’m upside down, flying through the air. My teeth rattle when I hit the cratered concrete walkway just outside the White House.

  Close proximity plasma detonation. Amelia, get up!

  Right! I roll over and kick in the jets. Two warbots come from behind the flipped over AFV and I tear right through them.

  “How’s Bricklayer?”

  He is incapable of slowing her down.

  I risk a glance at the field and I cringe. My stomach threatens me but I bear down on it. The poor woman is dead. Her body beaten to an unrecognizable pulp. As I watch, Behemoth puts Bricklayer through an armored vehicle. I don’t know if he’s getting back up.

  We need to engage her. She is the single most powerful super in America, possibly the world. Amelia, I know you did not want to set out to kill her, but I have run the numbers. The only way to stop her is to kill her.

  He’s right. I’ve killed before but only accidentally. “Unlock the sword.” The blade clicks free as I pull it around. The particle beams might pierce her hide but they would take time. She survived an orbital strike not twenty-four hours ago. No, it’s this or nothing. I swing a few times to loosen up my arm. I can’t imagine this is going to be easy.