They’d all gathered in the Hangar—the large, makeshift airplane hangar where they housed the choppers.
Revolution stood upon the bay doors of the Stealthhawk-2 to address everyone. As he peered out at the mass of humanity crowded into the large hangar—Minutemen, the HQ staffers, and the other Suns—he could see it on their faces, the loss they all were feeling. The threats against COR had made the rounds by now. Why had he never thought of this before? Everyone assumed the Council would come for them, that they’d come for the Suns. But it was COR that represented the ideal each and every one of them was fighting for.
The entire Resistance, all represented by those fifty people, still exercising the thing they had all lost.
And the impact had been just as the Council had hoped. Humiliation, fear, resignation.
He had to reverse this and fast. The symbol of the Resistance wasn’t him, it was COR.
And COR could not be allowed to fall.
“The trip to COR will take five hours by car. They will be expecting us to make that trip. We aren’t going to. A few weeks before the Man-O-War, our old friend John Bailey visited Hanscom Air Force Base and called in a few favors,” Revolution said.
“Can we get into Hanscom?” Rachel asked, incredulously.
“No, but we can get into the airport.”
Sophia’s jaw dropped. “Logan?”
“We have our own hangar there as well, thanks to Saratoga.”
“Do we know how much backup we’ve got from PPD?” Sophia asked.
“PPD? You mean the Philly cops?” one of the Minutemen asked.
Revolution nodded. “We have a friend in the mayor’s office.”
“Who’s that?” one of the Minutemen asked.
“The mayor.”
“Sir,” Lantern said suddenly, “we’ve got another problem.” Lantern hit a button on his RDSD and its image holographed above them as a two-sided screen. They all scrambled to be able to see it clearly.
An image of Philadelphia’s regal City Hall in ruins filled the screen. Smoke billowed from the elegant building’s tall tower. The great statute of William Penn at the top was shrouded in smoke.
A middle-aged blonde woman read the type in front of her from a Media Corp studio. “This just in from our Philadelphia bureau. A massive bomb has exploded in City Hall. We do not have any details on the health of the mayor himself, but early reports are that there are multiple fatalities in the mayor’s office. Repeat, multiple fatalities in the mayor’s office...”
“Shit,” breathed Sophia. “So much for our friend in the mayor’s office.”
“General!” The thin but very familiar voice of Willard rang up from the crowd, and Revolution saw the tall young man pushing through to get to him.
“General, we worked on a defense against that awful Lady Rage person. But...” Willard seemed nervous, like he didn’t want to tell them what he had to tell them.
“We sheltered in place,” he continued. “There wasn’t time to develop an anti-serum or sufficient digital defenses. We’ve done the best we can, General. The shielding is being uploaded now. But given enough time, she’ll get through these defenses. And if she does...”
“I understand, Willard.” Revolution reached down from his perch and put his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Thank you, son. You’ve given us a chance.”
“Good luck out there, sir.”
Revolution stood, so that he was once again towering over the small army that was assembled. “They wanted to kill our spirit by cutting off our head. They made one fatal error. By creating a diversion here, they forced us to concentrate all our power. Minuteman and Suns of Liberty alike. Today we fight side by side. Today we take back what they’ve sought for so long to take from us.
“I can’t tell you what we’ll face out there. They have an overwhelming force. But I do know that we have Saratoga with us today. Even in death he gives us strength! And we are unified in our purpose. The stakes are clear: we fight for freedom!” He raised his arm, closed his fist. “Freedom or death!”
The room roared its approval.
The members of COR had all retreated to their chambers as ordered.
All but one.
Leslie Gibbons sat upright in her seat, hands clenched on the podium in front of her, a vein pulsing across her forehead. Defiance exuded from her. She rose to her feet. “Let them go, I’m the one you want,” she said, stalking forward. “I’m the president of COR.”
Spectral turned toward her, and the android’s eyes glowed white.
“Stop right there,” Arbor barked.
“Or what? You going to kill me too? Is that your plan? Just kill each of us? What good will that do you?”
“Not all of you,” Tarleton said. “Just enough to get you all talking.”
“Let the others go and I will tell you what you want to know.”
“No you won’t,” Arbor said. “You haven’t even heard our demands.”
“Don’t need to. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead. Tell me.”
Tarleton stepped right up to her, face to face—which made Arbor nervous. He scanned the room for trouble and noticed both Scarlett and Fiddler staring at the dead body of the old man. They probably both wished it could have been them who killed him. Surrounded by fucking psychopaths!
Tarleton’s grin was menacing. “Locations for every insurgency headquarters. Access to the master list of all members. The identity of the Revolution, and the bank accounts used to finance the whole goddamn thing. That’ll be good for starters, and it ought to save the lives of your colleagues. At least for now,” he hissed.
The Sikorsky zoomed across the twilight amber Pennsylvania sky. Somewhere in front of them Revolution and Helius were making their way to the compound. Lantern estimated they’d be getting their just about now.
According to media reports, the area was surrounded by Council Guard. The skeleton crew of local Philly Minutemen had made contact with Lantern. They were holding off their assault until they received their orders—and backup. Most of the Minutemen volunteers had flooded into Boston and now had no way to get back to Philly in time.
Lantern peered behind him, and he could see the faint lights of the helo that trailed them. Another Stealthhawk. Bailey had done well at Hanscom. Far behind that was a squadron of five Sikorsky Super Stallions. Enough to carry an army of three hundred of the most elite Minutemen back to COR. This was the entire air armada of the Resistance. Unfortunately, there was no way to effectively shield them all. X-Ray was going to see them eventually. And probably sooner rather than later.
“It’s been one hour now, Dr. Gibbons. I told you what would happen if you stalled me,” Tarleton spat.
“And I told you, I don’t have that info on me. I have to get it.” Leslie nodded toward Ray, who was back in the Hall now. “You, Mr. X-Ray, you and your folks hacked into our system and triggered the failsafe. Now the system is fried. So, what am I supposed to do?” Leslie said.
“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” Tarleton barked.
The Council Guard had gone outside to set up a perimeter around the area. News media had begun to descend. Every Media Corp affiliate in the area, along with the national network, had arrived to cover the event, which had now leaked across the Internet.
Back inside the Hall of Chambers, Tarleton was protected by the members of the Legion. Most of whom were getting bored.
Tarleton pointed to Fang. “Go get one of them, I don’t care which, and bring them out.”
“Pleeeeeese, let me kill somebody,” Fiddler whispered to Arbor.
“That’s not really up to me right now, is it, sweetheart?” Arbor whispered back.
Arbor saw Scarlett and Spectral give each other a look. They were standing back away from the main group, by themselves. Scarlett seemed to nod to the android. But then she saw Arbo
r gazing at her and she locked eyes with him. Her lips turned up into a menacing grin. She turned toward Tarleton. “Let me do it,” she said.
Tarleton shrugged. “Always wanted to see your work. Go ahead.”
Fang brought out the representative from Texas. He walked under his own volition, but his wide eyes betrayed the terror he was feeling.
Scarlett stalked toward the man and raised her arm. The rep looked absolutely horrified. “Don’t worry,” she said. “This won’t hurt...” And just then the man felt her neurological grip. His body contorted, and his face scrunched in agony.
“...as much as you think.”
The man dropped to his knees.
“You see, what I do is send out a signal that makes your body think it’s been poisoned. The technical term is accelerated endogenous neurotoxin effect. My father got the idea after he was bitten by a Black Mamba in East Africa. He came back to the States and started experimenting with rattlesnake venom.”
The man convulsed and dropped to the floor. His mouth foamed; sweat covered his face.
“So, basically, your body thinks you’ve been dosed with a massive amount of snake venom and is killing itself.” Scarlett waved her hand again at the man, and his convulsions stopped. Everything stopped. “I lied about the pain, didn’t I?”
The man lay motionless on the floor.
“Mr. Tarleton, would you like Spectral to take this man out of the room? I’m afraid he could start to smell rather quickly. An unfortunate side effect.”
Tarleton was grinning ear to ear. He nodded. “Good work, Rage. Your reputation is obviously well deserved.”
Spectral strode over and without an ounce of emotion lifted the man into his arms and marched out of the chamber.
CHAPTER 40
Sophia’s blasters rocketed them across the city.
They crossed over the train tracks, following Germantown Av enue, far below. Sophia had veered around the city to avoid the direct route from Boston that she knew the Legion and the Council Guard would be expecting them to take.
“Local Traffic, this is the General. We are a go,” Revolution said into his com to the fifty-some Minutemen who had stayed behind in Philly and were now ready to assist in the first phase of the assault.
Dead ahead, Revolution scoped in with his telescopic visors to The Green Dragon Tavern, which served as the top floor and cover for The Hall of Chambers below. Patrolling Council Guard stood out against the black roof of the building. The large exhaust vents from its days as a power station jutted high into the sky, dwarfing the roving Guards as they scanned the street below.
The sun was setting behind the duo as they flew. The dying of the day cast a golden shroud over the city. The night would be windy, but the sky was clear.
Below them, Fairhill Cemetery passed as Sophia broke from following the avenue and flew over the light industrial section of the city. She banked right slightly, and the duo saw Norris Square pass below them.
From the press reports, the Guard had closed off all traffic around the Tavern from the Delaware Expressway on back to the river. Ahead of them they could see a deserted I-95 and the expressway, now devoid of traffic.
“Okay, the rendezvous point is clear. Give me cover and give me a door if you can.”
“Got it,” she said.
And dropped him.
His scarlet cape snapped rigid into the glider, and he rode the strong wind as he watched Sophia rocket ahead. Her cobalt boot-jets blasting across the gold-tinted sky.
Revolution dove. He scoped in on the grassy opening of Penn Treaty Park that extended just to the right of the compound as he approached it. A line of trees, walkways, and a small parking lot connected to the park were immediately to the right of the compound. But after that it opened up into a grassy field.
Council Guardsmen were congregated there, so in many ways it made little sense as a landing spot. But his landings were not exactly picture perfect anyway. The grassy opening would be softer than the steel and concrete of the building.
And this way he could take out a good number of Guards in his crash-landing. If you’ve got to crash, might as well make it count.
Meanwhile, Sophia climbed. She was flying high above the compound, circling, hoping that at this distance the Guard on the ground couldn’t see her. The only one who had a good chance of spotting her visually was the Spectral android, and he/it/whatever seemed to be inside the compound.
She watched Revolution as he approached and timed her own descent so that the two of them would more or less arrive together.
More or less.
Sophia rocketed down. Full blast on her propulsors. The compound grew in her vision, and Lantern’s digi-sphere viewer blinked to life, outlining each Council Guardsmen in digital red in her visors. Normally, this was an enormous help to her—to all of them.
This time, not so much.
Below her was a sea of digital red. They were everywhere. But the Revolution was fast approaching and she wanted to pave the way. There was no time left.
She powered the bracelets. They glowed with cobalt power. Finally, the Guardsmen on the ground noticed her.
And opened fire.
So did she.
Dodging and weaving the gunfire from the street, Sophia blasted the exposed Guardsmen. She showed no mercy. The beams of energy that hit them ripped them apart where they stood. Fusion energy against fragile skin, brittle bone, gelatinous organ.
No contest.
The Earth opened from the force of her blasts and the Guardsmen scattered. She shot over the right side of the building and blasted a path through the Guardsmen assembled there.
Bullets clanged off her armor, and she felt the cold stings redden her skin. A few months ago a barrage like that might have killed her, but now, thanks to Leslie’s team’s upgrades, they would only leave bruises.
And just as soon as the Guards focused their attention on her and rose to fire back, the Minutemen, now having taken up positions behind cars, buildings, anywhere they could find cover, opened fire.
More Guards fell. A call came up among their rank to fall back—and for backup.
Revolution fell. His cape was fully extended, like a red parasail. He readied his cylinder grenades. In his visors, he too could see the Guardsmen in digital red, thanks to Lantern. As soon as they turned to fend off Sophia’s brutal attack, he let loose the cylinders. They shot out from the ports in his forearms, spinning into the line of Guards taking cover from Sophia’s aerial assault.
The Guards rose to fire back at her, and the fifty hiding Minutemen sprang to life, broke from cover, and let loose their rounds, taking further toll on the Council Guard. And just at the moment that they found cover from the Minutemen guns, Revolution’s cylinders spun into their ranks.
The grenades struck ground and exploded. Earth, mud, rock, and bodies were flung into the air. And now he had a landing strip, if you could call it that. He let the cape relax and he dropped.
Just before he made landfall he saw a group of Guards fill in the empty space below him, raise their rifles, and open fire.
Revolution hit them like they were bowling pins as the bullets they were firing pinged off his armor and ricocheted into their own numbers. He smashed into the ground and tore a muddy trench into the green grass. The impact jolted through his legs.
That hurt.
Revolution peered ahead and saw an army of Guard sprinting toward him through the trees that lined the edge of the park and the compound. He rose, shook off the pain.
And charged them.
Inside the compound, Spectral heard the first explosion. The android’s advanced parabolic hearing scanned the outer perimeter of the compound.
Just then, Ray’s RDSD lit up. “Spectral’s right.”
“It’s time for you to go,” Arbor said to Tarleton. “Spectral, Rage. Help him down and kill anything that gets in your way,” Arbor barked.
Tarleton
and the duo lowered themselves down the gaping hole in the center of the room. Leslie did her best to peer down as they went. The Aquifer was COR’s secret entrance, yet in all these years she’d never considered that an attack might come through the Aquifer itself.
Leslie could see the bow of a large, flat submarine that the Guard had obviously arrived in. Much larger than the mini-subs that were anchored off to the sides. Spectral was helping Tarleton and Scarlett down the hole. But rather than entering the hatch of the sub that was just below the hole, she could hear them trotting down the concrete walkways that ran along both sides of the underground chamber room, meaning there was at least one more of those subs down there. Just how big was this attack force?
“All right, let’s get out there,” Arbor said to his team.
Fiddler smiled at Fang. “Finally, I get to kill somebody!”
And at that very moment, the lights all across the chamber blinked and Ray’s RDSD went crazy. His eyes saucered. “Holy shit! We’ve just been hacked!” Ray said.
“Hacked?” Arbor yelled. “By who!”
“It’s a virus,” Ray said, and in that moment, Ray’s jaw dropped. He gasped something inaudible and gazed up at Arbor. “Saratoga,” he gulped.
CHAPTER 41
Sophia circled back for another run. She could see the Revolution landing in the park. Earth exploded beneath his heels and then he started firing his grenades, charging into the thick of the Guards.
She took note of a second squadron up on the roof.
She dove.
The bracelets charged, and like an atomic bird of prey she swooped down, firing the energy beams into the helpless Guardsmen. In one pass she took down a third of them.
And she was circling back for more.
“Helius, how far out are those helos?” Revolution said over the com.
The Suns of Liberty: Legion: A Superhero Novel Page 27
