Supers: Ex Heroes 6 - Ch 3

Turning back to the display, we all watched in awe as our ship was guided into of the one Letha believed her sister to be aboard. It wasn’t as pleasant as it sounds. Other ships were coming and going as we entered this massive opening, a dark, oppressive feeling taking over as if all eyes were on us. I had my sensor on, and it was going crazy with supers popping up. 

Our best bet was to go in cloaked, but they already expected us. My ploy sort of backfired when I noticed a soldier standing at ease, clearly watching us. It was the man who had just challenged us over the airwaves, with a team of four others. They didn’t look hostile, but clearly were expecting an actual debriefing. 

“What do we do here, big guy?” Charm asked. She glanced back at Darnell. “To be clear, I didn’t mean you.”

He chuckled, huge pecs shaking as he laughed. Damn, I’d turned the monster into a sex god. And… I really needed to stop thinking of it in that way. A laugh escaped my lips, and everyone turned to me. 

“Sorry, just…” I turned to Letha. “You’re sure your sister is aboard, right?”

“Only what the intel says, and… a hunch.”

“Ah, a hunch.” Eyeing the area, I shook my head, trying to talk me out of what I was thinking. 

“You want to charge out, guns blasting, don’t you?” Charm said. 

“How’d you know?” 

“Because I’m having the same thought.”

I chuckled, nodded, and glanced around. “Why, not the best idea?”

“It’d be suicide,” Rand said, though he didn’t look like he hated the idea. 

“Only if we lost,” I pointed out. “To be clear, we’re fucking badass. These amateurs?”

Charm laughed, then ran over and leaped onto me. “Damn, I love you.” 

I held her up as we kissed, her tails wrapping around me too as if they were extra arms. Meanwhile, Letha continued to bring the ship in for landing, though the ship’s autopilot itself seemed to be doing most of the work. 

“Need me to stall, or you two think you can do it in under thirty seconds?” she asked, possibly joking but I wasn’t sure. 

“While normally I’d say we accept that challenge,” Charm said, crawling down from me, “I get the severity of the situation, and think you were joking.”

“I was.”

“Ah. Rain-check then. When this is over—thirty seconds. It’s on.”

Letha scoffed. “Bullshit. Both of you to climax?”

Charm held out a hand for her to shake. “Oh, it’ll get done. Count on that.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Letha said, bracing as the ship landed. Instead of shaking Charm’s hand, she gave her a sort of high hive, motioned for the doors, and said, “Let’s go with Breaker’s plan.”

“Guns blazing?” I asked, unable to believe we were really doing that.

She grinned, wide. “Fuck yes.”

I started to smile, but then thought of a better plan. “Let’s do it if all else fails, but first—try not to.”

“Meaning?” 

“Meaning Charm goes cloaked, I use my illusion powers to try and make the rest of us unseen. If they scan us, our cover will be blown, but if not, we get as far as we can without causing trouble.”

“Why not just blow the whole ship?” Rand asked. “To be clear.”

“For one, I think Letha here wants some choice words with her sister,” I said. 

Letha nodded. “And the second reason has to do with why Breaker’s idea of going cloaked is smart—because if and when we take out my sister, the rest of the survivors might choose to fight under me. No point in killing off my future army.”

“Might being a big word here,” Charm pointed out. “They’re already moving full-stream ahead, so—”

“Steam,” Rand said. “It’s full steam.”

“What? Why the fuck would anyone move with steam?” Charm laughed, looked at me like Rand was an idiot, then turned back to him. “You know, like a stream, or river—moving with it. Or you could say like a stream of piss—moving full-stream ahead, like as fast as piss.”

“I don’t think…” Rand looked at me, confused. 

“Maybe, just maybe, the Earth saying and the one used in the Oram system are different,” I tried. Then had to laugh. “Really, Charm? Full-stream of piss ahead?”

She pouted, then indicated the door, which was starting to open. “Cloak, bitches.” 

With those words, she vanished, and I realized it was time. I used my illusion power to focus on our surroundings and make it appear to those nearby as if we weren’t there at all. It was kind of like bending light, in that I had to imagine the other side of each of us and project that image. Only, not quite so scientific. This meant that, if anyone looked closely enough, I don’t think my illusion would have held up. 

Still, as soon as the ramp was open we were out, moving past the soldiers who were awaiting our arrival. We had made it almost to the far doors before the officer in charge started to call out for us to come out from inside the ship. When they got no response the soldiers started to enter but by then we had made it through the door and into the next corridor. Shouts sounded from behind, but more in confusion than anger. 

“Keep moving,” I said, scanning the area ahead for supers. “Anyone here have any idea where the leader of a ship would—”

“Of course,” Letha said, and I changed the illusion enough so that we could at least all see each other. 

“How?” I asked. 

“I was practically raised on these things,” she replied. “And it seems that when you altered my mind, you made almost all of my memories as solid as if they had just happened.”

“Shit, sorry. Some of that has to suck.”

She nodded. “You have no idea. But the bonus is I can pretty much remember how these ships are laid out, and I imagine we’ll find her on the bridge. Come on.”

Each step by Letha was deliberate, each turn crisp, certain. She hadn’t been exaggerating about knowing this place, it seemed. We had made it up two stairwells and toward the front of the ship before the first scan caught us, an automated one with several turrets projecting from the ceiling. 

Nothing a blast of electricity from me couldn’t take care of. A second later they were smoking, not even a round fired, and Charm was already at the far end of the hallway taking out a guard who had come charging out in response to some unheard alarm. Her black breath again. She pounced off of him, a shot went off, then something slammed into the wall. I sprinted over to find her scowling at a point where one of her tails was smoking, then looked down to the corpse on the ground. A female, her head obliterated, blood covering the wall and floor. 

“Fuck,” I said. 

“Can’t keep ‘em all alive,” Charm said with a shrug. “Any that fire on me are fair game, way I see it.”

“True enough.” 

I led the next charge, working to keep up the illusion, though now they knew where we were, at least in a general sense. Three guards came around the next corner carrying rifles with facemasks on, instantly opening fire, so that one shot fizzled on my shield before we had managed to scamper back around the previous corner for cover. 

“Their HUDs are showing us,” I said, certain that was the only way they could’ve known we were there and fired accurately enough to land a shot. 

“We can take ‘em,” Charm said, ready to make a move. 

“Allow us,” Letha said, stepping forward, fire glove ready, blaster in her other hand. Darnell grinned, and I noticed that he now held a rifle—likely obtained from the woman’s corpse back there. The rifle, when held up, projected a shield across the sides. Useful. 

They didn’t wait for our approval, instead charging out in a fury. I knew Letha’s style from watching what little Planet Kill I actually had, and knew this was pretty much her thing. Charge at the enemy, catch them off guard. It worked, especially with her flame thrower fist thing. I’d have to make myself one of those, I thought as I passed by the burning corpses. Shot first, then burned for… what? The fun of it? I shuddered at the thought, as I hurried to catch up with Charm. 

“They’re ruthless,” she said. 

“I guess that’s what happens when you’re thrown onto a planet and told to kill and fuck your way to the top.”

She eyed me, then shook with a shiver. “Yeah, no thank you.”

More fighting followed shortly after, giving me the chance to try another illusion—making it appear that the ship had suddenly snapped in half and was floating away. The result was hilarious, involving several soldiers flailing around, falling, and one having a heart-attack. All were soon out thanks to Charm’s yellow breath. 

Turning, I flinched to see a fist an inch from my face. Another attacker had gotten around us, my scanner showing he was a super with ranged attacks. Not projectiles, but like his punch went far, which explained how it was so close to me while he was on the other side of the room. About to counter, I had the opportunity to see what Darnell’s life draining power could do. He closed the distance in three animalistic bounds, then was on the guy with a hand pummeling the super’s head. The super’s body shriveled up, energy pouring out and up through Darnell’s arm, giving him a slight greenish glow.

Charm was ahead, already at the hall this super had just come through, breathing out a stream of black so that three thumps sounded as more went down, and we all took up positions, ready. Sure enough, one super hadn’t been affected by the charm, and now he flung out with arms spread, what looked like wings streaming out. No, not wings, I realized as the super turned and almost hit me, but black smoke that swirled around us, hitting me first and causing my skin to burn. 

“Get back!” I shouted to the others, and immediately pulled on his health to replace my own. It worked, but only barely enough to keep me in the fight. He still managed to charge me, exchanging blow for blow, but luckily my blows were harder and faster than his. Three solid hits, and the fucker was down, gasping for breath, windpipe crushed. 

“Next!” I growled, skin finishing its recovery. 

“That would be the bridge,” Letha said, checking her surroundings to be certain. With a slight nod, she led the way down the hallways the supers had come from. We passed four more soldiers, collapsed here and there, just outside a set of wide doors. 

“You’re fun to bring along,” Letha said to Charm. 

“You have no idea how much fun I can be,” Charm replied. 

Letha shook her head. “If you’re trying to flirt with me, the moment right before I finally get to confront my sister probably isn’t the best time.”

“Noted,” Charm replied, but held up a finger. “But to be clear, that’s just how I talk. No flirting—not on purpose, anyway.”

“Good,” Rand interjected, stepping up to the side of the door, rifle ready. “I was about to get worried. Mr. Huge Cock over there is one thing, but a hottie with three tails? I’m not sure.”

Charm grinned, but Letha waved him off and said, “You’ll never have anything to worry about with anyone. Just keep your head on your shoulders, and I’ll take care of you.”

“Noted.”

“We doing this?” Darnell asked. Hand at the door, looking like he was going to attempt to ram it with his shoulder. 

“I got it,” I said, and pulled up my troubleshooter screen while moving to the pad that opened the doors. Instead of bothering with hand scans or whatever it had, all I did was make a simple adjustment, as if it had been broken by not opening on our entry. 

“Be ready,” I said. 

With a hiss, the doors slid open.

To my surprise, no attacks. Charm darted past, cloaked, and I followed, creating several fake versions of us to lead the way in case there were attacks. Still nothing. 

“Sister,” a voice hissed, as we followed through to see the main part of the bridge a level up above where several people were looking down at us. Or rather, the illusions of us. They all wore blue uniforms, high on the collar, and with civilian ranks and insignia. 

“I wondered if I would ever see you again,” the woman I had to assume was her sister said, “once I had heard that you managed to Ascend. Imagine my surprise that you made it that far. Of course, after that, I’m not surprised you’ve managed to make it here.”

“Well, here, actually,” Letha called out, waving and then nodding at me to uncloak her. I did, and let the other version of her fade. All eyes darted over, 

“Ah, yes. More like you.” 

“Kill her,” one of the others muttered. “There’s no reason to prolong this.”

Letha’s sister held up a hand, not even looking at the guy, who I imagined was an adviser. 

“She already tried to kill me once,” Letha snapped. “You think she’s stupid enough to try twice?” The man guffawed, turning to his leader, but the rest were frozen, their eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Tell you what,” Letha continued, “hand over all controls now, sister, and I’ll let you live. In a cell, sure, but live. Don’t… and I’ll show you how we handle problems Planet Kill style.”

Her sister’s lip twitched and she gripped the railing. “Do it.” 

As soon as the words were spoken, turrets emerged from the walls, tall robotic figures emerging from halls on either side. The robots, somewhere between androids and small mechs in size, with blasters on their shoulders and what looked like tasers where they would’ve had hands stood ready. They each had lines of red glowing across their faces. . 

I glanced around, wondering if this ship’s commanders would be stupid enough to enter into battle while standing on the bridge of their ship, but then noticed the shimmer of light. I sent a blast up toward Letha’s sister, and wasn’t surprised to see it fizzle out on an energy shield. Smart—keep us separated from them, so the shots wouldn’t kill the controls or blast away walls, leaving us to float off into space. 

“Charm, you got this?” I asked. 

She chuckled, vanishing. A moment later, and as we started fighting the robots and dodging turret blasts, shouts of surprise sounded from above, one of those blue suited assholes flying over and into the energy field a moment later. His body shook violently, then he fell back on his side, smoking. 

I was sending tempest blasts to take out turrets, but looked up to see the energy field vanishing, Charm waving from the ledge. A hand grabbed her tail and pulled, blade coming up, and she growled. Big mistake for some jackass up there. 

Blood spurted from the other side of that ledge but just then I had to turn as Rand took a hit to the shoulder, falling, looking bad. Letha grunted and went to help him. While this group was great against humans or even the odd super, here they were out of their league. 

Good thing I knew how to heal, but needed more enemy troops to take the health from, before I could give it to others. Now that the energy field was down, that shouldn’t be a problem. I turned, blasted the last of the turrets, and pushed up and went dragon mode. With a flash of my wings I was there, snapping at Letha’s sister and grabbing her by the arm, tossing her down over the ledge. Partly it was the adrenaline pushing me, but also a thought that it made sense to deliver her to her sister. 

Next, I transformed into myself as I grabbed hold of an older, meaner-looking dude, and together we went over the ledge. As we fell, I drained his health and directed it toward Rand. I rolled with the fall, coming up next to Rand to see Letha’s eyes going wide as his wound healed, his shock gradually receding. 

“Your sister,” I said, indicating the spot where the woman was on her back shouting, clutching what was clearly a broken leg. 

The woman saw Letha coming and reached for a blaster, but Letha’s fire glove sent a burst of flame over her that made her pause. 

“We can do this the painful way, or…” Letha stood over her, drawing her blaster, waiting.

“You were always too simple, too loyal,” her sister growled between grunts of pain from her leg. “Power isn’t something you have the ability to grasp—not true power. I’ve arranged something huge here. I’ve—”

Her head exploded with a shot from Letha, who then turned and said. “Good, the quick and simple way.”

I arched an eyebrow, then turned to see Charm holding two people over the ledge above. The rest, by then had apparently been dealt with. 

“We need any of these guys alive?” Charm asked. One already had a steady stream of blood flowing down her neck, the other messed up, but less so. 

Letha glanced up and said, drop her, keep the other one alive. For now. The bleeding one fell, hit with the unmistakable crunch of something breaking, and then she was out, either passed out from the pain, or dead, we weren’t sure which. With that amount of blood loss, though, she would be dead soon, anyway. 

“Keep him for questioning,” Letha said, pointing at the other one. 

I followed, when I realized my scanner screen was still up and had just registered several names. Not several, I realized as I spun, scanning. A fucking lot. 

“Shit, it’s a trap,” I said, turning to Charm. 

“What do you mean? Where?”

“We walked right into it.” 

The words had barely left my mouth when the doors opened and in stepped Asterisk.