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This issue coauthored by Robert Butler & Carl Bonomo
Also in this issue cameo appearances from many characters of the Superhero Universe in action via satellite imagery
“I need a Sit-rep now!” Captain Midnight demanded upon arrival at the Arctic Circle Penitentiary.
“There are only the four guard posts around the outer perimeter” Falcon answered quickly “it seems they have two roaming patrols inside the grounds, each made up of three soldiers. The layout is pretty basic. The more dangerous or high threat criminals are kept in the very center of the fortress. I’m betting that is where your General is being held.”
The Squad watches as the Shadow Jet makes its approach to the frozen Tundra.
“What’s that?”
“That Falcon is the rest of my team.”
“See Falcon I told you this was going to be a great party.”
“Cut the chatter Knight. Squad lets move we’ll use the jet as a ready room.”
Inside the warmth of the Shadow Jet, Raven and Shadow Hawk are prepping for the arctic mission.
“Raven I took the liberty of “upgrading” your costume for you. It has Kevlar steel mesh armor plates while maintaining the flexibility of the old leather. I figured it would give you a little extra protection for the mission. I also put together two new nightsticks with a little longer reach.”
“Thanks Hawk.”
He really is a man of few words. I don’t really know why he stayed with us this long but I’m glad to see him marching into danger with us. As Shadow Hawk muses to himself Captain Midnight and Falcon discuss the battle plan.
“We should divide into two teams one for extraction and one to keep the guard force busy.”
“I agree Captain, any thoughts on teams?”
“Extraction team will consist of Raven, Shadow Hawk, you and I. Guard team will be Deadlaw, Neutron, Hunter, Knight and hey where’s Superion at?”
“He said he’d be along shortly.”
Infuriated at the gall of Superion not to live up to what he said Captain Midnight’s eyes glared red then white hot with rage “So the big blowhard has better things to do than save the world???”
“Midnight Superion is many things but he’s not a flake he said he would be here and that’s good enough for me.”
“I hope its good enough for us all Falcon. Now how about the logistics?”
“Well Captain the way I see it is we have about twenty five minutes. In and out, quick and dirty.”
“Okay everyone you heard the man” Cole Turner spoke with an authority that made these men listen and follow without question “twenty five minutes let’s move it!!!!”
As the force departs the Shadow Jet, Raven thinks to himself “these men are all heroes look at them they do this on a daily basis and me I beat up crooks with a stick this is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be here. I just hope I don’t get one of them killed.”
Captain Midnight, Neutron, and Deadlaw take the lead towards the base when a bright red blur flies in front of them and crashes at the feet of the ground force.
Superion rose from the shattered ice and snow, “I never accused you of being geniuses but seriously how stupid are you. Stay away from this base.”
“What are you getting at Superion? You just showed up and you think you’re going to bark orders like a general.”
“Captain I’ll give you the benefit of ignorance on this one seeing as you’ve only been here a few weeks but Falcon, come on, do your homework better. This is a Superia outpost!”
“Superia?”
“The Superia Council created Superion, his brother, and about a thousand other nastier things that we don’t even want to think about right now.”
“But why do they need a prison out here?”
“Falcon it’s not a prison it’s a test facility. Whatever defenses you think they have, well you are way off. This place is heavily fortified.”
With that an explosion rocked Raven and Shadow Hawk off of their feet and sent them reeling backwards.
“AMBUSH!!!” bellows Hunter as he pulls his plasma sword and starts firing his blaster at the unknown enemy.
“Hate to say I told you so” Superion smirked at Captain Midnight.
Four giant behemoths rose from under the ice and snow. Their eyes glow red but seem to be empty devoid of soul or feeling. Large cybernetic limbs flex as if they are coming to life for the very first time.
“What are those things???”
“They are called the Mindless, Deadlaw” for the first time that anyone can remember there was no Bravado in Superion's voice no empty arrogance like he could overcome this without his teammates
“ they’re part demon, part me, and one hundred percent killers. HEAVY HITTERS UP FRONT!!”
Plasma rifle blasts start to whiz pat the heroes’ heads as they rush towards the Mindless and the base.
“The guards are mobilized.” Raven shouts across the battlefield, Shadow Hawk, Hunter, and Falcon respond and head towards the guards.
“Let’s handle these jerks Raven they seem to be a little more up our alley” Shadow Hawk says as his blades spring forth and the two of them leap into action.
Meanwhile back at the Citadel…
Wraith begins screaming as his mind is overwhelmed by the disaster that looms on the horizon. His vision is filled with giant mechanical beasts wielding large trident like weapons and standing upon cloven hooves. Talon is there instantly patting his forehead with a damp cloth. Concern creeps upon her face as she calls out to Sebastian.
“He’s screaming out something about large beasts from outer space!”
“Calm him down Jess” Sebastian replies “get him to focus again if this is the threat we need their target.”
She continues patting his forehead while speaking in soothing tones “its okay Corey. But we need to know where they are headed if we are to stop them. You can do this, I know you can.”
“D.C., Boreas City, Sun City, Nighthaven, many, many more cities all around the world” Corey Wraithe rambles on agony in his voice “the whole world in ruins, very few survivors. Then lizard warriors come. They make a deal with the robotic beasts for the planet.”
At this point Wraith passes out from the mental overload. Jess starts crying fearing the worst. All of this commotion brings Sebastian running into the room with a large syringe in his hand. He jams the needle into Wraith’s neck and pushes the plunger sending the liquid flowing into Corey’s system.
“This should wake him back up” Sebastian King says to Jess as he throws the used syringe into a trash bin.
Wraith gasps as his heart and lungs start working in overdrive. He rips all of the monitors from his chest as he jumps out of the chair he was strapped too. He looks at both Jess and Sebastian with a wild look in his eyes before running from the room. The two of them followed close on his heels. Corey Wraith barges into the armory and goes straight for his energy rifle.
“Sebastian I need you to use that computer of yours and locate me as many heroes as you can. Since Midnight and Hawk are up in Alaska I’m going to need some closer backup” Wraith ordered and turned toward Jess “I need you suited up Talon. You’re going with me!”
As the Sentinel supercomputer connected with satellites all over the globe multiple images of costumed heroes appeared on the large screen. A green archer and a rifleman were shown saving the life of a woman whose car had went off a bridge. Then the image of a green skinned man and a warrior wielding sword and shield came up as they battled a pack of werewolves.
Several more images came up containing more and more costumed heroes as Wraith strode into the war room locked and loaded “who do we have?”
“Would you believe Robin Hood and Davy Crockett?” Sebastian replied “and also Mr. Hyde.”
“I don’t need urban legends, I need fighters” Wraith said.
“I’m dead serious that’s who these guys are. There is also this Seven guy but I don’t have much information on him yet. Then there is a skull masked guy ripping apart creatures in Central America. The locals have begun calling him Sugar Skull.”
“Will they be enough?”
“There is also the gun toting vigilante calling himself Ghost who seems to have just recently shown up on the scene.”
Just then the image flashed again showing Boreas City and four men fighting with an ink-black creature. Wraith already knew them for he saw them in his visions recently. He motioned Sebastian to keep searching for he knew they would best serve by staying where they’re at seeing as how their city would be hit as well.
“What about this guy” Sebastian said pointing at the screen “he seems to have some electrokinetic powers.”
“Who is he?”
“His costume reminds me of the professional wrestler Raging Thunder. But the intel says he calls himself Voltage.”
“I want them all, and I want them now” Wraith demanded as Talon walked into the room adjusting her gauntlets.
“I’ve found a frequency that will let you talk to all them” Sebastian said “even without communicators. The feed will be live in 5, 4, 3, 2, now!”
“All heroes who can hear me” Wraith began “I need you to rendezvous with me at the Washington Monument. There are alien invaders heading our way and they will be here within the hour.”
With that the frequency was lost and Wraith headed for the door “I’m heading out now. Talon, don’t fall behind.”
Unsure that she actually wanted to follow this man into battle Talon hesitated for a moment. She was used to her brother ordering her about but this man had a lot more anger in his voice when he did it. The fear she felt forced adrenaline through her system and that caused her to forgo her reservations. Jess headed straight to the parking garage where her Taloncycle was housed.
She wondering for a moment in Wraith was going to ride with her and then she saw him propel himself skyward “I didn’t know he could fly?”
Wraith had not known it either if truth be told. His body had undergone so many experiments during his captivity he was still discovering hidden abilities. He didn’t actually fly it was more like levitation. He had to be within a couple hundred feet of the ground, he couldn’t go higher than that. But either way it gave him another mode of transportation that would definitely come in handy.
Back at the Arctic Circle Penitentiary or rather what was fronted as a prison but in actuality was a Superia test facility…
The extraction team had made its way inside the fortress while the security was being kept busy by the rest of their teammates. Raven and Shadow Hawk took the lead using their night-vision to navigate the darkened corridors. Captain Midnight and Falcon followed close behind ready to tackle anything thrown in their way.
The battle outside raged as Superion delivered a haymaker to one of the giant behemoths sending it staggering backwards. Hunter’s blaster continues to bark energy laying down cover fire for the other heroes. Neutron was right there beside Hunter, his own energy lancing out striking the behemoths but not even scratching the surface.
Knight and Deadlaw moved in close. Deadlaw using his ghost like abilities to avoid damage and detection. Knight swung his sword with all his might coming in for the kill. A cybernetic limb swatted him away as if he were just an annoying fly.
Deadlaw delivered a phased punch letting his fist damage the circuitry and organs inside one of the behemoths. It caused the giant’s innards to short circuit causing it to catch fire. As it fell a bullet whizzed by the dead lawman’s head and he caught it with his thoughts. Then he turned it back in the direction from which it had come and sent it flying back at the security guard who had squeezed the trigger.
The bullet hit the man in the neck causing blood to squirt out as the skin was ripped apart. The man was dead before he ever hit the ground. Deadlaw had no time for remorse however, for the rest of the team needed him. He flew over to one of the other behemoths just as it slammed an open palm down upon the Knight burying the armored soldier in the snow.
Hunter holstered his blaster and charged with his plasma sword infuriated at the fate of his comrade. Leaping into the air swinging his blade in a horizontal swipe Hunter decapitated the large robot sending it crashing down into the frozen tundra. Landing near where the Knight had been pushed under he started digging into the snow trying to rescue his friend.
Deadlaw used his vast mental telekinesis to lift up the behemoth. His head started spinning as he became dizzy at the exertion. But he managed to get the momentum going and slammed it into the final robot that was barreling down upon them.
As the last behemoth staggered backwards from the impact Superion was there, slamming both fists into the torso finishing it off quickly. Hunter managed to pull the Knight out at the same time. Deadlaw and Neutron regrouped with the rest as the human security teams moved in blasters firing. Neutron managed to vaporize three of them with one of his blasts causing the others to pause and reassess the situation.
Just then the facility exploded! Fire erupted from the interior blasting metal and glass outward in a shower that would injure if not kill any human caught in its wake. For the first time ever Deadlaw summoned his powers in a new way. He surrounded his companions with a protective barrier, an invisible force field that caused the debris to bounce harmlessly away from them.
“What just happened in there?” Hunter asked scanning the area for any signs of the extraction team.
“They didn’t make” Superion replies snidely “they weren’t tough enough to survive that. They should’ve let me do the rescuing.”
As the dust settled down five men emerged from the wreckage that was once the Superia Outpost known as the Arctic Circle Penitentiary. In the lead was Captain Midnight followed close behind by Raven and Shadow Hawk who were supporting a wounded man, and guarding the rear was Falcon energy shields activated to deflect any attack from behind.
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I only hope Big Blue will survive the Patient Man story '
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