System Supervillain, Book 14 Prologue

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Capes & Cowls Forum, General Chat)

Message of the Day: Remember, Capes & Cowls is ‘neutral ground’. Keep it civil, and if you try to track someone through our site, it will not end well for you.

Speedy, AngelEyes, Jester, Freedom, Aegis, Stars, Emerald, Snowflake, MagicGurl, RedHot, Scholar, CantSeeMe, Turbo, Emperor, DontYouWantMeBaby, KoolAidMan, SliceNDice, Destroyer, Inquisitor, Narrator, PartyGurl, Chummer, Fabricator, TheWhiteHat, TripleThreat, LuckyDice, GrimDark, RazzleDazzle, Slicer, DarkAngel, Sparky, MultiMe, Stepford, Dollmaker, Quickfoot, MrRoboto, ItsyBitsySpider, Valkyrie, TitaniumTits, InfoGirl, ScoopGirl, HolyBlessing, and DonJuan are in the chat.

Speedy: All right, looks like things on Earth are settling back into ‘old business’, except for groups lining up to get a bite out of the Gel-nak.

Jester: Just so. Normal business except for the sites staging for their attacks. We all want a chance to personally ‘thank’ the Empire for their welcome to the neighborhood.

Freedom: So, which countries are sending forces against the Gel-nak again?

ScoopGirl: Well, Russian forces have already gone through the portal that Iceblade set up. My sources tell me they were headed to the same planet that the invasion of Moscow was launched from.

InfoGirl: As of last counting, Russia, France, Great Britain, Poland, Brazil, India, Japan, United States, Egypt, Imperial China, and Canada have all contacted the United Nations, informing them that they will be sending troops through the portals. There’s some indication that the Korean Union and Pakistan will be getting involved, too.

Quickfoot: Right, most of those make sense. They were the countries that either had ships landing in their cities, or had battleships looking to wipe a city off the map. But why Canada, the Korean Union, and Pakistan?

Emerald: Canada might have the ‘nice guy’ attitude most of the time, but don’t forget that it was Captain Canada and Death Company that made a solid third of the Geneva Conventions necessary as they were fighting against the Axis. And the Conventions only cover Earth, and humans. I’m sure they have creative ideas to share with the Gel-nak.

Stepford: Likewise, the Korean Union is easy to figure out. While they might not have the same level of power as Imperial China and Japan, there’s still a LONG history of rivalry there. If Japan and China are doing something, the Korean Union is going to be a part of it.

Dollmaker: Didn’t take you for the geopolitics type, Stepford.

Stepford: It pays to know these things when arranging for happy couples to meet. Prevents a lot of potential issues before they can arise.

Dollmaker: Ah, that makes sense.

Inquisitor: Pakistan is on the list for the same reason the Korean Union is. There’s a lot of bitterness between Pakistan and India. If India is squaring up against the Gel-nak, Pakistan isn’t going to let them get all the potential spoils without looking for a cut of their own.

BelyyMedved has entered the chat.

RedHot: Bear! What’s going on? Are you back on Earth? Last I heard, you and the rest of the Russians had gone through the portal to Gel-nak space.

BelyyMedved: No, I am still on this world, Srusk 3. The spaceport is secured, and the Military Authority is sending troops out into the surrounding areas to set up permanent occupation. In the meantime, we have established communications through the portal, allowing access to the boards, here.

Stars: What about the people who were taken?

BelyyMedved: There is good news and bad. The good is that, when the Gel-nak attempted to ‘order’ them, the sons of Moskva rose up. They killed many of those who were attempting to do the ‘ordering’, and destroyed most of the equipment. The bad is that, of the ten million taken, only five million remain. Mostly women and children. They are on Srusk 4, and safe, but we are working to get proper clothes to them, and transports to bring them to the spaceport, and back through the portal. The Military Authority is handling that, as they have better logistics than individual heroes and villains.

Scholar: What about the portal? How stable is it, and how much power does it take to keep open? Will you be able to keep in contact?

BelyyMedved: I am not a science type. However, I believe that, now that the portal is open, the Guild wanted to put in a few things.

Administrator has entered the chat.

Administrator: Working with several tech-minded heroes and villains, the Guild has developed quantum-linked repeaters. When installed on different worlds, it will allow for those with appropriate hardware to connect to Guild facilities and access normal functions here on Earth with a minimum of information delay. We are currently working on a plan to expand Guild facilities to new worlds, so that new branches can be developed.

Scholar: So, we’ll eventually be able to access Guild facilities on other worlds? Will this include a travel option?

Administrator: Direct interstellar travel links between Guild facilities currently constitutes too great a risk for existing Guild structures. However, using the information gained in the creation of Iceblade’s ship, the Rhuk, the Mechanics now have options for the production of personal starships. Please note that these vehicles will not be cheap, in terms of financial cost, and must also be paid for with points in the System before they can be used.

Turbo: Just so you know, you also need the proper skills to fly a ship beyond just setting the autopilot, and vehicle combat uses the ship’s attributes, not yours, so don’t skimp on it

NemesisSpark has entered the chat.

Chiller has entered the chat.

Lolth has entered the chat.

Victory has entered the chat.

HotStuff has entered the chat.

Oracle has entered the chat.

Mindtaker has entered the chat.

DevilsDaughter has entered the chat.

Chiller: Interesting. I see that the Guild has been busy. Good to know that service is expanding.

DontYouWantMeBaby: Wait a second. I know Oracle went with you, because the Brazilian heroes were talking about it, but is Mindtaker with you, too?

Chiller: Yes, along with a few other individuals besides Devastation.

TheWhiteHat: Wait, NemesisSpark? That’s the name of one of the suspected rogue AIs that different government groups have been searching for.

NemesisSpark: I am not a ‘rogue’ AI. I am a free AI. And I chose to inhabit the ship designated Rhuk in order to study the organic AI designated Web Mistress.

Freedom: Translation?

Lolth: It seems my technomancer abilities, as well as some of the feats I’ve accomplished in the digital space, have seen me adopted by a collective of AIs as one of their own.

PartyGurl: But what about Mindtaker and DD? Why are you two just logging on?

Mindtaker: I lost everything when Dallas was attacked. Part of the destroyer Superdude punched to death landed on my house. I survived. My wife didn’t. I went to Iceblade so that he could change me.

BelyyMedved: As Yad did, when Iceblade was in Moskva?

Iceblade: No, Yad was pissed as hell, and wanted revenge. Mindtaker was obviously broken. The kind of broken that only ends one of two ways unless something happens to ‘fix’ things.

DevilsDaughter: And I was there as moral support, and because Mindtaker’s wife was the last of Leonardo da Vinci’s line, and I promised I’d take care of anyone who hurt his descendants. Also, because Iceblade is really good in bed.

Administrator: These discussions can be moved to private channels.

Chiller: At any rate, you can strike one system off the target list. I’ll be leaving once the shuttles finish getting all the freed slaves off Srusk 4, just in case the Gel-nak Navy decides for round two. Then, I’m off to the next target.

Jester: And what might the next target be?

Chiller: Well, obviously it was going to be a pick between the Indians, Brazilians, or you Brits. Giving priority to the people who had portals open on their front lawn, and all that. But Oracle just told me to head to Thraxl, the system that was connected to London, which means it is the UK’s turn to party next. Don’t know what will happen, but I’m sure it will be interesting.

Jester: Right then, I’ll whistle up the lads, and have them ready for a bit of proper hooliganism. With the Arsenal wankers not being on the telly, some of them are out of practice, yeah?