System Supervillain, Chapter 154

Chapter 154 – Russians

Assembling the gate was simple enough, especially with the robot workers doing most of the heavy lifting. Take two pylons, each five meters high, put them eight meters apart, make sure the supports are set up properly, run cables to the control console and the small power core inside. Thankfully, the super-scientists who designed this thing made it so that the portable gates only enough power to force the connection, and then they were backup power, as the facility on the other side of the link would be the ones mainly in charge of keeping the gate open.

A flick of the switch, and the pylons glowed a brilliant green, before an energy field caught between them. The energy matrix flickered, stabilized, and then coalesced into a solid green pane. The portal was open.

Two familiar figures were the first through the gap. White Bear and Venom (since I wasn’t going to bother with the Russian words) had what looked like reverse-engineered versions of the blasters the Gel-nak Warriors used, properly resized and refitted for human hands, rather than the reptile’s claws, of course. More supers began pouring out of the portal behind them, with similar weapons, and I could hear the sound of engines behind them, as well. The Russian Army was coming to play, no doubt.

The first two made a beeline for me, while the other supers began forming a perimeter. White Bear was the first to speak, offering me a nod. “Iceblade. Never thought I vould be saying zis, but it is good to be seeing you. Vat is the situation?”

“Well, the last eighteen months has changed us all, no doubt,” I nodded. “At any rate, welcome to the Srusk System. Next door is Srusk 4, a mining resource world and training ground for the troops that attacked Moscow, and you’re currently standing on Srusk 3, agricultural world and one of the breadbaskets for the entire Gel-nak Empire. Or what is left of it, anyways.”

Venom frowned. “What is left of it? You haven’t been killing off the Empire without us, have you?”

“This isn’t my fault, though it is partly due to my actions. The Empire is in the middle of a civil war. The Emperor’s concubines apparently resented being forced into the role, so the moment they heard that he was dead, they killed their children and fled the capital. Without a living member of the royal line, the genetic processes they use to turn one of their Leader Caste into the Emperor won’t work without some big modifications, and different leaders are all fighting for scraps, to try and become the new Emperor.

“So far, the fighting has stayed away from this system. As I said, Srusk is a major resource system for the Empire. Srusk 4’s metals and minerals supply factories and Srusk 3’s fields fill bellies all across the Empire. Without them, things rapidly go from bad to worse, especially on the major industrial worlds.

“Of course, such a critical system was defended, but we destroyed or ran off all the ships in space, and knocked the orbital station into the far side of the planet from here. The Gel-nak ships are powerful, but they’re built with intimidation and fleet combat in mind, picking on helpless colony worlds or going up against fleets of a similar nature as theirs. My Rhuk was designed as a killer, pure and simple, which made all the difference.”

By this point, more of the supers had come to listen in, as well as a man in a Russian Army uniform. Couldn’t tell what rank he was, but he had the air of someone important, given that two riflemen were walking with him as bodyguards. I took a breath, and then said, “Now, I do have word on the people taken as slaves from Moscow.”

That got everyone’s attention, sure enough. The military man stepped to the front of the group, though his bodyguards moved to where they each had clear lines of fire, just in case I tried something. Professionals, I could respect that.

“I am Polkóvnik Siyalov Onufri Kirillovich, Russian Army,” he said. Polkóvnik was the equivalent of Colonel, if my translator software could be trusted. “While the Russian Military Authority thanks you for your efforts thus far, Iceblade, we must ask about the Russian citizens taken from us by the Gel-nak.”

“It seems that, when the Gel-nak tried to ‘cull the herd’ to try and curb genetic instabilities that interfered with their ‘ordering’ retroviruses, they found themselves with a slave revolt on their hands. Of the ten million, only five million remain, mostly women and children. However, the ones who died took out most of the researchers and machinery needed for the ordering process, and the civil war means they haven’t had a chance to replace them, yet. Currently, the remaining slaves are being held in a prison on Srusk 4.”

I held up a hand to silence a bunch of angry Russians who immediately wanted to jump up to the planet. “Srusk 4 is a tundra world, sparsely inhabited outside of mines and quarries. Half of my team, led by Stolen Victory, have already secured the prison where they are being held, and is hard at work eliminating the guards. Right now, they are safe, though they’ll need clothes to walk outside the prison without freezing, and you’ll need shuttles to bring them down here.”

I pointedly looked around at all the shuttles in the spaceport. “Looks like you have shuttles, and a spaceport to land them at. Also, I have Serafina up there, ensuring that the survivors have medical attention. Meanwhile, Srusk 3 is where most of the Gel-nak are, and is a major food producer for the Empire as a whole. I figured that a bunch of Russians wanting to ensure the Empire felt their ‘gratitude’ for how the Gel-nak behaved in Moscow would have more to do here, than playing in the snow.”

That shut up most of the Russians. The knowledge that the survivors were safe, if not exactly comfortable, and that they were where they could do the most damage to the Gel-nak settled all but the most anxious of them. Siyalov nodded once, and said, “Good. I will have clothes and supplies brought over to help facilitate the evacuation of the civilians. Do you have any idea how long we have before reinforcements arrive?”

I shook my head. “Impossible to say. Four ships scattered and flew in different directions, carrying combat logs of the battle. However, even if they were believed immediately, it is unlikely any aid could be sent quickly, with the civil war on, and, even so, they’re not likely to risk it without having some idea of how to counter the Rhuk’s defenses. We tore through their entire fleet and they barely managed to scratch the paint. They’ll be cautious about sending more ships after us, at least until they have an idea about how to stop us.”

Behind us, the procession of men and materiel coming through the gate continued. Trucks full of soldiers and supplies were joined by tanks, which quickly rolled out towards the edge of the spaceport. Mobile anti-air systems were deployed. The Russian Army was digging in, and didn’t seem to want to go anywhere. I was pretty sure that the Russian Military Authority that had taken over from the Russian Federation after Moscow’s destruction intended to make the Srusk system their first (official) off-world colony, if at all possible.

White Bear cleared his throat. “Vhat of ze administrators? Vill ve have problems vith them?”

I shook my head. “I struck a deal. I promised to protect them and their family, and, in return, I have a ready source of intelligence that I can use to start planning the next attack. I did take the liberty of modifying them, though. They’re now a distinct subspecies called Frost Gel-nak. More importantly, they can’t disobey me even if they wanted to.”

The colonel opened his mouth, but I shook my head before he could speak. “I am willing to share any relevant intelligence I get from them with you, but I do have a reputation to keep. The Local Administrator and their family are under my protection, and they’ll be leaving the system with me as I go hunting across other worlds.”

White Bear cut in again, and said, “How important are zese administrators to ze running of ze System? Vill Earth be at risk while you are gone? And vill zis world need managing?”

“In general, the System mostly runs itself. A couple administrators in place helps patch over any normal instability or trouble spots. However, the System can run for years without needing active intervention, though I wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t plan to be gone from Earth for too long. So, yes, someone will need to get elevated to Local Administrator for the Srusk system eventually. However, this also means that they would need to spend most of their time in Srusk, instead of going back home to Earth.”

I noticed Hoarfrost moving to the front of the group as people considered the implications of effective exile to this system. The ice-themed villainess was one of the few Russian supers that I actually considered a hard match for me in a fight, since her powers were similar to mine in a lot of ways. Ice and cold powers, extremely versatile abilities, and she was resistant to the cold, like me. She didn’t have a magic sword or a ring like mine, of course, but still, lots of similarities. Especially since she only made her debut a few months after I escaped from the people who wanted to use me as a lab rat to ‘graft’ powers onto people. As far as I knew, the only ‘success’ out of the project was boosting my own powers. But if someone snuck some samples out before I destroyed everything…

Hoarfrost’s voice snapped me out of that line of thought. “You said that Srusk 4 is a tundra world, yes? Like Siberia?”

“In the temperate parts,” I nodded. “Further from the equator it is more like Antarctica. Nothing that you or I couldn’t handle, but a bit much for most humans, and a definite death sentence for the Gel-nak.”

She chuckled. “A natural playground for the ‘Queen of Siberia’, then. So, what exactly can a Local Administrator do, and what responsibilities do they have?”

“The full extent of what we can do is best discussed in private. As for the responsibilities, think of it in terms of a system administrator back on Earth. Troubleshoot bugs, patch things that cause things to go unstable, stuff like that. We do not actually have any responsibility or authority as far as ruling the area goes. I am the chief Local Administrator for Earth and its solar system, but that did not automatically make me King of the World, nor did it give me any obligation to seek out that kind of power.”

“So, if I wanted to be Queen of Srusk?”

“That would be between you, whoever is in charge of the locals, and, most likely, whoever the Russian military wants to leave in charge, if they’re thinking about making this a colony, as I expect?”

The last bit of that was directed towards Siyalov. The colonel frowned, and said, “While such decisions have not been made officially, the Military Authority is looking at an amnesty and relocation program for those currently in Russian prisons. Official decisions have been tabled until a report on the situation on this side of the gate can be delivered, and so forth.”

That was pretty much what I expected. Not announcing anything officially until they observed things firsthand meant that they would not be embarrassed if the situation made it so that an actual colonization program wouldn’t be viable. And if things turned out favorable, like they had, then they could take credit for strategic planning.

I nodded, and looked at the crowd in general. “I will say that it is probably best if a ‘reasonable villain’ type takes up the mantle of System Administrator. Naturally, the more… psychotic villains are totally unsuitable for the role, and the power it would give them, but most heroes would be too tempted to bend the rules to help, since they would have the power, and that leads down a slippery slope. That means you need someone who is willing to turn a blind eye, unless things involve the System itself. With that said, does anyone else want to put their name forward?”

There were no takers. The reminder that they might be limited from doing all they might want soured most of them on the deal. I nodded, and turned to look at Hoarfrost. “If that is still your decision, you can join me on my ship, and Web Mistress and I will help get you set up.”