System Supervillain, Book 11 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, Victory, HotStuff, Jester, Freedom, Aegis, Stars, Emerald, Snowflake, MagicGurl, RedHot, Scholar, CantSeeMe, Turbo, DontYouWantMeBaby, KoolAidMan, SliceNDice, Destroyer, Inquisitor, Narrator, PartyGurl, Chummer, TheWhiteHat, TripleThreat, LuckyDice, GrimDark, RazzleDazzle, DarkAngel, Chiller, Sparky, MultiMe, Stepford, Dollmaker, Quickfoot, Mindtaker, MrRoboto, ItsyBitsySpider, Valkyrie, TitaniumTits, Lolth, InfoGirl, ScoopGirl, HolyBlessing, and DonJuan are in the chat.

Snowflake: Two weeks in, and we’re still finding bodies here in Seattle.

Inquisitor: Even with the fighting being over so quickly, there?

Emerald: We took out the destroyer, but it came down in Redmond. Between the crash and the explosion, things were nasty.

Snowflake: And that was before the Gel-nak just started shooting anything that moved. We moved as quickly as we could, with help from surrounding teams, but they looked as though they were deliberately trying to cause as much damage as possible.

Chiller: They follow a ‘shock and awe’ philosophy. If they can win with an overwhelming show of force, that is what they’ll try and do.

MultiMe: Hey, Chilly, what you going to do with all those ships you emptied out?

Chiller: Well, I plan to keep one or two, see if I can’t find a crew for them after getting some refits from the Guild. The rest? I’ll probably sell them off to different governments, so that next time the Gel-nak come around, I don’t have to work so hard at something so tiresome.

ItsyBitsySpider: I hate how condescending that sounds. Like we weren’t fighting for our fucking lives in New York.

TitaniumTits: That’s just how that asshole is, don’t listen to him.

RazzleDazzle: Just curious, but why would you need two ships? And what kind of refit would you be doing?

Chiller: Well, obviously I’d get rid of those stupid Uprising Controls. Those things made my job insultingly easy, which made carving my way through that fleet exceedingly dull. After that? I was thinking of letting the super-science types have fun, and make me the most destructive weapons they can imagine.

Scholar: Just… how destructive were you considering?

Chiller: Let’s just say that I wouldn’t say no to devices that could collapse stars into black holes.

Valkyrie: Just what in Helheim are you planning?

Chiller: It would be extremely rude to not offer return gifts, after the Gel-nak have come so far to welcome us to the neighborhood, no?

DarkAngel: You’re talking genocide, though.

Chiller: I’m talking about making an example of the Gel-nak. They aren’t the only space empire out there, you know. And, as big as their losses have been so far, they have people and resources to spare. And you can’t rely on them being stupid enough to not rip out the Uprising Controls on the rest of their ships.

GrimDark: So, go Exterminatus on them? And what if someone decides to do the same?

Chiller: Mutually Assured Destruction. Worked with nukes, it’ll work in space. But it only works if it is mutual, which means you need to have the weapons, and show that you’re willing to use them, if necessary.

Mindtaker: I hate that I can’t disagree with you, there.

Stars: Really? But you’re a villain, too.

Mindtaker: Not all villains are the same. I mess with minds, but I can’t mind control a nuclear blast. And I’m not sure my powers would even work on aliens, since they are too, well, alien compared to human minds. Same reason why not all mind controllers can affect animals.

TheWhiteHat: So, your big idea is to wipe out entire star systems as a threat?

Lolth: It would certainly make people think twice about trying to attack Earth.

DarkAngel: So, this is, what, patriotism?

Chiller: Hardly. Earth is where I keep my stuff, and where my pets and children are. Anyone who threatens that is going to learn that I do not take kindly to such things.

Chiller: However, I don’t like being forced to repeat myself, so if I make the initial lesson impressive enough, I shouldn’t have to teach it again for a while.

Freedom: I’m finding myself hard pressed to care about the Gel-nak’s well-being, especially after the reports from Moscow. At least five million dead or missing. Anyone who was behind the shield should be considered dead.

CantSeeMe: The lucky ones are dead. These lizards are slavers, remember.

Lolth: The portal in Moscow connects to a planet in Wolf 359. Just under eight lightyears away. Any survivors would be there.

Freedom: What about the other portals?

Lolth: New Delhi connected to a planet in Gliese 65 (8.7 lightyears away). Rio di Janeiro is connected to Struve 2398 (11.5 lightyears away). London is linked to Epsilon Eridani (10.5 lightyears away).

Freedom: So, if we wanted to rescue any captives taken, we would need to either capture the portals intact, or use those spaceships.

DonJuan: Unfortunately, that’s more of a ‘government’ thing. Though I expect people are going to be maybe wanting to change the UN a bit, so that it is an actual functioning government, now.

InfoGirl: Speaking of government, how is everything holding together in the cities that had shields go up?

ScoopGirl: Brazil is OK, since Brasília is the actual capital, even though Rio is still arguably more important, economically. India and Russia are being held together by interim military governments, since all the high-ranking civilian leadership was caught behind the shield in both countries. The UK is technically functioning as normal, since the royal family was spending the night at Windsor Castle, outside of the shield, but all of Parliament and most of the ministers were caught inside, condition unknown.

Jester: So, bit of news from the UK. Military’s made Adams Park Stadium their command post for the moment, and we’ve got capes of all types coming in. Business is on hold until these wankers are evicted, yeah?

Turbo: Yeah, that tracks with what has been happening elsewhere. Villains all around pretty much either decided to help out, or made sure everyone knew they weren’t going to be conducting any attacks during this time.

Narrator: Simply good sense. Adding too many subplots spoils the work, and trying to have one plot compete against another risks making you into a side character.

SliceNDice: Plus, going after the lizards lets me get my fun, without anyone complaining or trying to throw me in prison.

Stepford: I have to retool my equipment, anyway, so that it would work on aliens. Now that we have contact with the outside world, there are new potential markets to explore.

Chiller: Plus, anyone who tried to take advantage of an alien invasion to conduct normal business would likely get blackballed. No one likes an idiot who ruins things for everyone else. Even if the Guild didn’t take steps to censure them, the other villains would know, and they would be sure to express their displeasure.

Scholar: Why would they care?

ScoopGirl: Because taking a step back, or even helping, is great PR, not just for the individual villains, but villains as a whole. Someone who ignored that would be ruining things for everyone. Just like how anyone who tried to play games on the national and international levels, trying to put strings on support for the attacked cities and countries, would get crucified by their own groups, because it makes them look bad.

GrimDark: More things change, the more they stay the same.