The weariness was incredible, and it slammed into him like a ton of bricks, stealing his consciousness as a headache began forming. The last thing Russel remembered was that face before he passed out.
Chapter 24
Monday, April 29th, 2031
Paragon State University, Paragon City
The sun was just beginning to dawn, and Lilith wiped her forehead carefully before looking over at Morgan and arching an eyebrow. “Do you know if that’s everything? I think I’m starting to feel the lack of sleep.”
“You’re starting to feel it?” the dark-haired woman asked dryly, smiling and shaking her head at Lilith. “I’ve been feeling it for hours! But yeah, I think that’s everything. Damn it, the amount of damage dealt was insane.”
“At least no one died,” Lilith said, stretching and heading toward the exit, nodding politely to the handful of emergency personnel in the area as she did so. She didn’t have the helmet of her armor on, and the power reserves were lower than she’d prefer, but at least they’d managed to reinforce all the buildings to the point where they weren’t actively in danger of collapse. Those that hadn’t collapsed outright, anyway. That had been something Lilith had been able to help with far more easily than Morgan or Warden, which was at least a bit satisfying.
“Barely, in a couple of cases. I’m amazed that Russel didn’t seriously injure anyone else in the lab,” Morgan said softly, her gaze darkening a little. “He wasn’t in good condition.”
The morning had been interesting as they’d evacuated the people in the buildings, and the hole that Russel had ripped through the engineering building had led them straight to a pair of unconscious professors and several undergraduates, all of them unconscious but somehow barely injured, aside from a couple of extremely minor burns. When they’d woken up, the professors and students had been able to explain that Russel had been running experiments with them when he suddenly collapsed, then they’d almost all been knocked out.
The young woman who’d seen the alien had practically been in tears, and the missing device explained a lot to Lilith. It didn’t explain why the alien had stolen the machine, since it was supposed to be used to teleport objects from one machine to the other, but it at least gave a motive for part of the morning’s events.
Russel had been carted off to the hospital to recover and wasn’t expected to regain consciousness for a couple of days, which didn’t surprise Lilith too much. Apparently, he’d been suffering from internal bleeding in the brain, which his powers had patched up, and he’d massively overused his powers, so she’d have to wait before they heard anything more from him. Lilith was a little curious if he’d remember anything of what it was like for his powers to awaken, but she doubted it, considering he’d collapsed before they manifested.
Destruction Corps was a whole different matter, and the one captive they’d taken had been incredibly close-mouthed, but Archon had managed to intimidate the man into admitting that they’d been trying to capture the alien, and hadn’t said anything more. Unfortunately, while the Reaper Lilith disabled had crashed on the other side of the lake in the end, the occupants had destroyed the remains of the aircraft and evacuated after that, which meant that they didn’t have additional sources to confirm his claim.
They emerged from the building and Lilith winced as the sunlight hit her almost full in the face. She raised a hand to block the light as she looked around at the battered grounds of the university. There were a surprising number of students around, and Lilith supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that not all classes were canceled. The ones in the engineering building almost certainly were, and the art building had taken a fair amount of damage as well, so she wasn’t sure if they’d have classes or not.
It was also possible that a large number of the students were just there to gawk, she supposed, since she could hear shutters clicking as dozens of people snapped pictures, but she ignored it, instead heading over to where Warden was talking to Archon. Lilith was honestly uncertain whether more people were paying attention to her or the angelic heroine, which was a very welcome change, in her opinion. Usually it wasn’t even a question.
“Oh, Lil! Are you two done?” Warden asked, looking over and grinning at Lilith, her face practically lighting up with happiness. “I think we’ve wrapped things up out here.”
“Yes, we did,” Lilith confirmed, nodding in return. “The building should be stable until some professionals get out to repair it.”
“More like rebuild, in my opinion,” Morgan said, looking around with studied casualness, then asked, “Where’re Shade and Spark?”
“Someone decided that since we were occupied, it was a good chance to rob a bank on the other side of town. Spark showed them that they were wrong,” Archon said, looking at Lilith thoughtfully. “Shade said he had something to do today, so bowed out about half an hour ago. Decarin and Spark said to thank you for your help, though. Shade likely feels the same, but he’s not the type to say thank you. He’s too proud. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t capture most of them, but at least we were able to limit the damage and stop Destruction Corps from achieving their goal.”
“You’re quite welcome. I can’t say that I was terribly happy to be woken at that hour, but it isn’t like you had any control over it,” Lilith said, smiling at the woman warmly as she tried to shrug and failed due to her armor. That was obnoxious, and Lilith made a mental note to see if the armor could be adjusted to allow shrugging.
“The only question is what the alien was doing. I suspect it attacked Russel, based on what it said, according to Trish,” Warden said, referencing the young woman who’d seen the alien in the lab. “I mean, it called her a savage, of all things!”
“I don’t know, but I asked Circe to try to track it,” Lilith said, suppressing annoyance as she tried to shrug again. “We’ll see if she manages to, but until then, what can we do?”
“Nothing, really. If you do figure out where the alien is, it would be appreciated if you kept us informed. I imagine that the military would be interested as well,” Archon said, her gaze rising as she smiled, inclining her head as she added, “Speaking of the military, I believe I see them now. Better late than never, I suppose. Would you like me to distract them?”
Lilith followed Archon’s gaze and winced at the sight of three armored cars and several soldiers that looked like they were from LANCE from the gear they had. There was also a man in uniform who had close-cut hair coming toward them who looked incredibly unhappy.
“Ah… if you would? I’m afraid that I’m still not comfortable with the military,” Lilith said, her stomach knotting for the first time that morning.
“I’d say it’s time to go home, then,” Morgan said, yawning as she added, “Maybe take a nap, too.”
“Hear, hear!” Gina said, prompting a laugh from Lilith as she nodded, triggering the helmet to encase her head again.
“Have a safe flight. Hopefully next time we meet it will be under better circumstances,” Archon said, and turned toward the approaching soldiers, moving with an easy grace.
Lilith keyed her comm and spoke. “Circe, we’re on our way home.”
“The manor will be ready for you, Mistress Lilith. Do you have any requests?” the AI replied.
“Breakfast, a shower, and bed, in that order,” Lilith said, prioritizing the order mentally.
“A warm bath for me, please. I’m sore,” Morgan added, prompting a giggle from Warden.
“As you wish, ladies. Be aware that there are news helicopters along your flight path, and proceed with caution,” Circe said, and icons indicating the aircraft popped up on Lilith’s HUD.
“Thank you,” Lilith said softly, smiling as she tried to relax a little.
Shadowmind Redoubt Invincible, Asteroid Belt, Sol
Amber yawned, setting her mug of coffee on the workstation and turning the mug to face her so she could see the caption, ‘I’ll destroy you after I’ve finished my coffee.’ It amused her, which was why
she’d bought several of the mugs from the shop. She could make her own, but she didn’t see the point with as inexpensive as they’d been.
“Good morning, Circe,” Amber said, settling into her chair and turning on the terminal.
“Good morning, Mistress. You have thirty-two emails from other villains, most of them probing to see if you are actually dead,” Circe said.
“Delete those emails, then. I’ll check the others later, assuming they have anything worthwhile to say,” Amber murmured, adjusting one of the monitors as she sat back in her chair. “Did anything notable happen last night?”
“The alien attacked Paragon State University and stole some experimental equipment that a group of researchers were trying to use to teleport objects safely. Based on their files and my scans of the alien vessel, I believe that the equipment can be repurposed into an FTL drive system,” Circe explained, prompting Amber’s eyebrows to rise as she took a sip of coffee, but the AI wasn’t finished. “Destruction Corps arrived on the scene after a student awakened as a superhuman that I estimate to be at least class A, as well as most of the Sentinels. When Lilith and her companions chose to intervene, Lilith was ambushed by a Reaper, which she dealt with via the expedient of ramming the cockpit and destroying its flight controls. She determined that you have been limiting the information I’m providing to her during this, and asked me to tell you hello, then asked me to track the alien as it fled the area. I did so, but the alien noticed my drone and destroyed it before reaching its hideout. I believe it to be somewhere southwest of Paragon City, but have not found it yet.”
Amber didn’t say anything for a little while, sipping her coffee as she contemplated, still waking up. She was both amused and annoyed. Yes, she loved Lilith… at least after a fashion, but the girl could be tiring on occasion. Her ability to get into trouble was obnoxious, and her choice of company and actions was much less pleasing to Amber. Still, the girl was making progress after a fashion, and if she could gather heroines around her… well, Amber didn’t mind that at all. They would prove quite useful when Lilith finally realized that the rest of the world wasn’t worth protecting. Ruling it together would be ideal, once Lilith understood that.
“Well, that’s certainly an eventful night. What about the rest of the world? I’m certain that there were other things as well,” Amber said, setting her mug down. “I’ve never had a night go by when nothing else notable happened.”
“I believe that June 16th, 2022 was surprisingly quiet, Mistress,” Circe disagreed, startling Amber into laughing.
“Well, I suppose I’m wrong! Was that it?” Amber asked curiously, looking at the screen and clicking a button to bring up the current schematic of the alien vessel. There were still a great many parts that weren’t identified yet, but Circe was making good progress in deciphering what each was for, and how it functioned. The amount of psychic technology in the vessel was fascinating, and Amber was looking forward to making use of it herself.
“No. Sanctuary was attacked by a villain named Pacific Akula, but his torpedoes were destroyed by the city’s defenses, and he was forced to flee. There is now a fifty-thousand-dollar bounty on his head. Okinawa repelled another kaiju, this one a titanic lobster. Omega Code has begun construction of a new base in northern Canada, but is not at the site. Destruction Corps just unleashed an army in an attempt to overthrow the government of Libya, but the African superhero teams appear to be beating them back, at great cost,” Circe said, pausing yet again, then added, her tone even flatter. “SMOKE has increased their bounty on Lilith’s head to seventy-five million dollars for her capture as well. That is all of the major incidents that occurred while you were resting, Mistress.”
“Interesting. Arrange for Omega Code’s base to be discovered by anyone who might be willing to destroy it. If he goes there and you’re able to learn in time, arrange an asteroid strike on the site,” Amber said, shrugging and frowning as she hesitated, then added, “Let the others progress as they will. Try to give Lilith more information to keep her from wondering why you’re keeping information from her, but nothing which you believe would unveil my plans. As for SMOKE… watch for any sign of them coming close to success, and inform me if they do. I do not want them getting their hands on Lilith.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Circe agreed, allowing Amber to go back to her work.
Interstate 80, Western Utah
The armored van was driving along at just barely over the speed limit, its two escorts a short distance in front and behind it. While they were keeping an eye out, Dreamer was certain that the officers in the vehicles weren’t expecting trouble, not here, anyway. There wasn’t much cover in the area, and that was why she’d chosen the spot for her ambush.
The van’s front wheel shattered and went flying as a heavy bullet struck it, sending the vehicle to the ground harshly, sparks flying every direction as it spun and rolled off the freeway. Dreamer giggled, grinning broadly as she watched the accompanying cars slow, but not in time. Silent Sniper was an expensive mercenary to hire, but even if he wasn’t terribly powerful, his precision was incredible.
Another wheel exploded, sending a car careening off the road, and the last managed to stop before her mercenary could deal with it as well. She hadn’t paid enough for the villain to actually kill anyone, unfortunately, which meant the rest was up to Dreamer, Viper, and her other mercenaries. The officers didn’t have a chance.
The officers in the car which successfully stopped never managed to get out of their vehicle before Dreamer put them to sleep, leaving the ones who’d wrecked as the only ones able to react.
Dreamer had only brought a few of her other hirelings with her, a few of the Despicable Dozen, and they rushed out. One fell to a knee, taking aim before firing his sonic gun, knocking out a cop who’d just been dragging himself out of the car, and the others hurried forward, dealing with the officers with brutal efficiency. The other cars on the road, what few of them there were in the area, had screeched to a halt a good distance away, and Dreamer laughed, walking forward at a casual pace.
By the time she reached the armored van, Vincent had torn open the back of it and dealt with a couple more officers. Then she turned the corner and smiled as she looked up into the back, and Acheron Dreadnaught looked back at her, his arms bound behind his back, and restrained by a heavy harness of metal that Dreamer knew was designed for superhumans.
“Why, hello, Dreadnaught! It’s been forever since I last saw you!” Dreamer said brightly, and the man cracked a smile.
“Ah, I see my ticket out of SuperMax arrived,” Dreadnaught said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he nodded at her. “I was starting to wonder if you’d be breaking me out or not.”
“We were!” Vincent replied defensively, shifting from one foot to the other as he looked at Dreamer nervously. “We just couldn’t until they moved you.”
Dreamer shook her head, grinning as she spoke up, her tone bright and almost playful. “Mm, the snake isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s not that we couldn’t. It just would have been an unpleasant attempt, and might have failed. This was much easier, especially after this morning.”
“This morning?” Dreadnaught asked, blinking at her in confusion. “The cops were panicking a bit earlier, but they didn’t say what was going on.”
“They wouldn’t, and I believe it’s best to discuss that elsewhere,” Dreamer said, a hint of anticipation welling up inside her as she glanced toward a minion who was approaching, a large device in hand. “You can free him, yes?”
“They haven’t changed the restraints, so yeah, just give me a minute,” the man said, climbing into the armored car and reaching out to hook the device to the restraints.
None of the civilians were coming closer, Dreamer noticed, and instead she looked out across Utah’s western desert. It was a desolate place, with little more than sagebrush and a few hardy plants, along with the salt flats gleaming to the northwest. A part of her was almost disappointed that they weren’t bein
g interrupted by heroes, but after the events that morning, she supposed she could understand them being distracted.
“So, what happened? If I’m going to be sitting here anyway, there’s no reason you can’t summarize!” Dreadnaught interrupted, jarring Dreamer’s thoughts, and she frowned at the man in annoyance. Her irritation died as quickly as it flared, though, and she shrugged.
“Simple enough. Someone attacked the university in Paragon City, then Destruction Corps joined the soiree, which made things very exciting for the heroes. If we hadn’t been coming to spring you, I might have been tempted to join the fun,” Dreamer explained shortly, grinning at him again. “Plus, there was some very interesting information leaked, something about an alien being in the area, who was Destruction Corps target.”
“An alien? Really? I thought that the only aliens we’ve run into were those weird insect-merchants that wandered by just after the Advent and decided that we didn’t have anything worth trading for,” Dreadnaught said, his eyebrows rising as he looked at her, then shook himself as he focused. “Still, that is a good reason for the heroes to be distracted. Destruction Corps can be a pain in the ass, but they’re good for drawing attention away from you, if you’re lucky.”
“That they are. We’ll just have to get you out of here, get you your share… and maybe do another job,” Dreamer said, grinning broadly as the minion manipulated his controls, and soft clicking sounds could be heard from the restraints.
“What sort of job?” Dreadnaught asked, eyeing her warily. “This last one didn’t exactly go as planned.”
“We had annoying interlopers,” Dreamer said, sniffing softly. Vincent interrupted before she could continue though.
“Yeah, but this job sounds interesting. Who wants to bet that DC will pay a ton of cash for the alien, if they sent a Reaper after it?” Vincent said, glancing at Dreadnaught as he grinned. “If we could catch it, this could make for a bloody amazing payday, coupled with our other job!”
Queen's Move (Lilith's Shadow Book 3) Page 19
