System Supervillain, Chapter 129

Chapter 129 – Niflheim

“KILL THE INVA-AAAGH!”

Another guard fell to my blade as we pushed on. After the brief battle in the command center, we needed to get outside. It had only been a few minutes since we started our attack, so the Warriors on guard in the building were still at their posts, guarding the building, looking for threats, and waiting for orders. Which meant that they were not swarming us all at once, making our lives easier. Especially since we weren’t going down, but up.

According to Web Mistress, who still had a link to the surveillance systems, most of the Warriors were on the ground floor, as one might expect. There was a security checkpoint near the command center on the third floor, but clearing it had been easy with the power of concentrated and abrupt violence. After that, the only concern was a few Warriors on patrol on each level. None of which had much of a chance when I cut them with my blade. The Gel-nak racial weakness to cold was the MVP today, for sure.

“This almost feels like cheating,” Stolen Victory said through our comms, as we rushed past the fallen Warrior. Even while we were rushing to try and get to the roof and set up our ‘gifts’, the former leader of the Squadron Supreme kept her discipline.

“Supervillains cheat,” I said. “That’s how we survive. Fair fights are for exhibitions and training. When your life is on the line, the only thing that matters is that, when it is done, you’re still breathing. You can fix anything else that goes wrong after that, but the dead are stuck with their mistakes, forever.”

“Roof access coming up, another Warrior should be on guard,” Web Mistress called out through the network. She’d been guiding us as we got up to the sixth floor. After a point, the building had gone into lockdown as the workers we let escape started yapping to any Warriors and Leaders they could get to listen to them, but trying to use automated systems against a technopath of her caliber barely slowed us down.

“On it,” I said, simply, blade ready as I turned the corner. There were too many of us for true stealth, so the Warrior on guard was already looking my way. Didn’t matter, we were close enough that I could get to him before he could fire his weapon.

Segment 2:

Iceblade: +2 CSL to OCV (OCV 12)

Gel-Nak Warrior: +2 CSL to DCV with HTH (DCV 12)

Iceblade uses Martial Strike (+2 DCV, +2 DC Strike)

Iceblade’s attack roll (Warrior), OCV 12: 3d6 = 11 (Hits DCV 12) (Hits)

Winter’s Bite: 5d6-1 = 22 BODY (rPD 7 after AP)

Winter’s Bite: 44 STUN (x2 Vulnerability) (rPD 7 after AP)

Warrior: 25/40 BODY

Leader 2: -11/70 STUN (Unconscious)

Iceblade: 37/40 END

A quick strike, and it was over. I didn’t need to kill this warrior, after all. I just needed to get him out of the way. In fact, it wasn’t even a problem that most of the buildings in this area, if they were built to serve as defenses, would probably offer some shelter from the nuke, or the ice age I was about to force on this planet. In fact, it would probably be better if they were.

The reason was simple. The more of the lizards that survived this, the more of a strain it would pose on the Empire. The loss of the Emperor, a nuke going off in their base, and the sudden ice age would cause chaos and confusion. If the Gel-nak could communicate between planets in their empire, then that chaos would spread. Especially to the planets hosting the remaining portals. After all, anything that I could do on this world, I could easily do on another world held by the Empire, right?

Having survivors on an icy world would add to the chaos, no matter what the Empire did. If someone concentrated on relief and evacuation efforts, not only were those resources being diverted from other areas, but anyone too involved in that would probably be undercut in the inevitable succession crisis, since their attention would be diverted, and they wouldn’t be able to devote as many resources to claiming the throne. Someone too competent in the role of Emperor would be problematic for Earth as a whole.

If the empire ignored the survivors on this world? Well, condemning the population of a planet to eventual freezing death was going to be wonderful for the morale of the empire. The necessity of having such brute-force Uprising Controls on their ships suggested that, despite their nature of obeying orders, there was a history of mutinies and coups in the Empire’s past. Abandoning an entire planet to its fate, while the common folk could hear the cries for help from its people? The foundation of their rule would be full of cracks.

There was also the possibility that a particularly brutal and pragmatic would-be ruler would decide that silencing the planet’s population was the best choice. Glassing this world would eliminate the refugee crisis and silence the cries of the population, sure. However, that also would cause cracks in the foundation for a new ruler. They would be expending a lot of resources to ruin any surviving infrastructure on the planet, with little to no return. Slaughtering all their people would only make things worse, because, again, what happened to one planet might happen again. Fear could only do so much to control a populace.

Of course, the best solution, from the Gel-nak perspective, would be to bring in someone who could reverse the Change Environment effect I was about to put on this planet. However, since I arranged the power to have a permanent duration, and such a wide area, to undo the changes the Gel-nak would need someone able to do the same. The usual ‘counter’ abilities, like Dispel or Suppress, wouldn’t work here, since there was no active ability going on, just like those powers couldn’t affect a Transform power that had already taken effect. And that was easier said than done.

We burst out, onto the rooftop. The building we were on was roughly shaped like a step pyramid, but with six sides rather than four, with this top layer being almost forty meters from one side to the other. At the corners of the rooftop were four-barreled weapons on turrets, probably anti-air defenses. In the center, though, was a turret ten meters wide, sporting a single massive cannon, pointed upwards.

“Planetary defense cannon,” Web Mistress said, obviously catching on to what I was looking at. “Designed to attack ships in orbit. The smaller emplacements are anti-air. Don’t worry, none of them can aim low enough to hit us here. The Gel-nak designed them so that they couldn’t be turned on their own buildings.”

Iceblade uses Fuyu no Jumon (Winter’s Spell).

Iceblade: 35/40 END

“Sā, fuyu no sōko o akemashou.”

I spoke the command phrase, and slashed with my blade, opening the pocket dimension. I didn’t need to reach in and physically pull out what I wanted, just as I didn’t need to lift it and set it inside the storage space. The space responded to my will, and both the warhead and the Emperor’s head emerged just where I wanted them to be, sitting straight up. As I closed the storage dimension, I looked over to Web Mistress. “How long will it take to get to the portal from here?”

“Seconds,” she smirked. “I took the liberty of stealing a commlink while you were cutting down everyone in our path. We won’t need to go through the building’s network. I can connect to the digital tracers I left from the commlink’s node, and we’ll be in business. It will take me a bit to configure the warhead, though.”

“Get on it,” I commanded. “I’ll give the Gel-nak something else to think about.”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. It was hotter than I liked, but just barely cool enough that it wasn’t counting as ‘high heat’, which would cut off my powers. Probably 75F, or 24C, and it was almost nightfall, local time. This counted as ‘early spring’ for this planet, apparently. Not great, but I could deal with it.

Iceblade’s KS (The System) skill roll, 14-: 3d6 = 12 (Success)

According to the System, Change Environment raised or lowered the temperature based on ‘temperature levels’, each of which was roughly 5C. However, the ‘comfort zone’ of the user’s species was considered one temperature level, even if, for humans, that was 10C to 27C (or 50F to 80F). My Niflheim power was currently set to drop the temperature by five temperature levels, with a radius of ten thousand kilometers. That was huge, but it wasn’t enough to cover the entire planet, which was roughly Earth-sized, having a circumference of forty-one thousand kilometers.

However, I could adjust the power slightly, especially as I no longer needed Creeping Frost. I took a moment to focus, making the hand signs I used to guide my thoughts when quickly shifting my powers.

Power Configuration

Cost

Description

END

24

Frozen Armor – Armor (20 PD/20 ED) (60 Active Points). Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END, -1/2), Visible (-1/4), Costs Endurance Only to Activate (-1/4), Physical Manifestation (-1/4), Conditional Power (Does not work in High Heat, -1/4)

Icy plates cover Iceblade’s body, providing an impressive extra layer of defense against attacks, with the slight downside of the ice being quite obvious in its intended purpose.

12

38

Niflheim – Change Environment 1m radius (-4 Temperature Level Adjustment, Long-Lasting: Permanent), Megascale (1m = 100000 km, +1 1/2) (85 Active Points). Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END, -1/2), No Range (-1/2), Conditional Power (Does not work in High Heat, -1/4)

With a wave of his hand, Iceblade plunges a massive area of land into eternal winter, a lingering reminder of the cost of angering him.

16

23

Frostbolt – Energy Blast 10d6+1 (52 Active Points). Restrainable (-1/2), Beam (-1/4), No Knockback (-1/4), Conditional Power (Does not work in high heat, -1/4)

With a flick of the wrist, Iceblade sends a bolt of freezing cold at his target.

5

Points Left:

0

I could have dropped the third power altogether, but we weren’t out of enemy territory yet, so I wasn’t going to count on everything going as I hoped. Still, this would give me plenty of range on the power, letting it hit the entire planet. And it should drop the temperature below freezing, well below what these lizards preferred.

“Web Mistress, can you hook into the security cameras, and broadcast what I am about to say to the entire planet? And save a copy for us. I want a record of what happened here to survive, and we also need to show the remaining Gel-nak on Earth how screwed they are.”

“Sure, sure,” she said, not even looking up from the nuke’s control panel. “Camera six, next to the anti-air turret. Highlighted in your HUD. Goes live in thirty seconds.”

“Thank you,” I nodded, before turning to the camera in question. I took another breath, and made sure that the Emperor’s head was in plain view, at my feet. I did not need hand signs or incantations for this, but as one man once said, the difference between a villain and a supervillain was presentation. I looked into the security camera, one hand holding my blade, the other in a half-prayer sign before my chest, with one foot upon the Emperor’s head, and I spoke, my costume’s systems translating the words into Gel-nak.

“To the pathetic lizards of the Gel-nak Empire, you may call me the Rhuk of Earth. Your pathetic forces attempted to invade Earth. Your fleet failed, without a single Gel-nak in space surviving. Your forces on the ground have been beaten back in seven of ten invasion points, and this day marks the eighth site’s collapse. Your Emperor is dead. And, now, I condemn this world to eternal winter! Let Niflheim reign!”

Iceblade used Niflheim.

Temperature Level reduced by 4.

Current Temperature: -5C

Iceblade: 24/40 END

As I said the final words, I unleashed Niflheim for the first time. Instantly, a wave of power swept out over the world, something only possible thanks to the absurdities of the System. The temperature plummeted, causing the humidity in the air to flash-freeze into a mist, and frost to spread across the ground. I let go of the power, now that it was in place.

“Feed cut.” Web Mistress called out.

I took a breath. “Well, I expect this is the beginning of a mass extinction event for this world. I doubt there are many plants or animals adapted to the cold, here. At any rate, what about the bomb? Are we ready to go?

“Yes, bomb is ready, and I have it set for a five-minute countdown. Plenty of time for us to get back to London and shut the door.”

I smiled, and took a moment to store the Emperor’s head back in my sword. “Excellent. Set it running and get us out of here, Web Mistress. I need to take that head to a taxidermist.”