I watched the jet’s stats as we climbed. It had no issues. Then I thought of a possibility, “Ghost are you feeling anything?”
Rachel said, “No,” but she also gave the smallest shake of her head as if I shouldn’t talk about it.
Then she started tapping on her left forearm, using the “keyboard” I’d built into our suits. It was just a setting that made letters appear on either sleeve and turned the spots touch-sensitive.
Her text appeared in my HUD. Continue reading Castling: Part 5
Artemis flinched, “Sorry, sir, but my point is that it feels like internal warfare. No one else would know.”
I made a mental note that whoever Artemis was, she didn’t believe she was the goddess. If she had, she wouldn’t be quite so deferential.
Dixieclone nodded and then sighed, “That’s not a good sign. The moment’s too crucial to handle everything we need to and that too.”
Artemis looked from side to side as if to check who was in earshot, saying, “That’s my worry.” Continue reading Castling: Part 4
Rook’s ships went straight for the runway to no one’s surprise.
I flew a more direct route, aiming for the control tower at the end of the runway. Stopping there, we all stepped out of the hatch, floating downward with anti-gravity and our suits’ camouflage engaged.
It might not be invisibility, but if no one had anything specific trained on us, we might be able to pass it off as a teleport in. That at least was the theory behind all of us turning visible together as we touched the ground. Continue reading Castling: Part 2
Jaclyn’s idea solved the problem at the expense of letting Magnus know that we were there, but maybe we could devise a way to make it less obvious.
I asked “Is there any way we can make it look like it wasn’t us? I feel like we have to minimize their exposure to Artificer tech. A beam from our main gun, while we’re cloaked, would strongly suggest us, but they wouldn’t know for sure. Ghost could be invisible the whole time. Accelerando could move too quickly to see… Maybe both of you could also change your uniforms to something else? If they somehow caught a glimpse of you, it might confuse them at least.”
Jaclyn grinned, “Remember Derecho? The supervillain? I think she’s white, but she’s a speedster and if I use her colors and hide enough of my face, it might work. She’s even worked with the Nine. I don’t mind the idea of getting her in trouble.” Continue reading Castling: Part 1
The Xiniti sighed, making a noise closer to a hiss which technically came from a nose-like orifice on the Xiniti’s back, but whatever.
He added, “It’s not our intention to leave you alone now. Communications will be accepted and answered, but all our troops are committed due to the nature of the current hostilities. Any assistance we give will require reassignment from somewhere else. Keep us appraised of any troop movements that pass your position.”
Then the communication ended.
Marcus shook his head, “That’s bad.” Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 10
Hoping that Rook didn’t have a final bomb capable of shattering the complex, I used anti-gravity to send us upward and then moved forward, aiming the jet toward the red building.
Over the comm, I said, “Ghost? We’re heading in your direction. Are you okay?”
“Well,” she said, “I don’t feel more hurt than before, but I still don’t feel good. Stop over the complex and I’ll aim for the jet.”
As we closed in on the complex, I checked the radiation levels of the smoke floating out of it, and they were high. I avoided them. The jet probably had enough shielding to handle it, but why take chances? Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 9
I shrugged, “No idea, but I’m hoping that time travel only spins off a new universe now.”
“Hey,” Rachel said over the comm, “everybody’s exiting through the back doors. I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”
I checked the stand of trees where Rook’s backup group had been standing. They’d started running and then took to the air. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 8
“Get me out of here!” Rook’s helmet moved sideways as if he were trying to figure out the best direction to run.
Assuming his wings had been damaged, it didn’t look good for him. To the left stood the lake and aside from the copse of trees there wasn’t anywhere to run to and trees were occupied.
If that weren’t enough, Victor appeared to be having a hard time concentrating under Jaclyn’s assault because he wasn’t even teleporting himself out, much less Rook. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 7
I don’t have a reputation for attacking people without warning. If I’ve got a reputation as the Rocket, it’s for the exact opposite.
Rook didn’t see the punch coming. I put as much into it as I could, knowing that his armor could take it and that he’d kill all of us if he could.
It was a solid punch, knocking him backward into the henchrook behind him, forcing them to fall over backwards. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 6
I felt like quibbling about the “greatest inventor on this or any other planet” part of the statement if only because it might distract his attention from Rachel and everyone else.
Despite generally believing that sassing your opposition was more trouble than it was worth, I turned the suit’s PA to the maximum possible volume and said, “Greatest inventor? You’re nothing more than a second-rate copy of the original Rocket. Heck, you might even be a second-rate copy of me or the Rhino for that matter.”
I also activated the sonics as weapons on the off chance it might do any good since I was pointing at the copse of trees anyway. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 5