Super Sales on Super Heroes: Book 2

Chapter 12 - Always Watching -

There wasn’t much else he could do right now. He could hunt down whatever station Lily was talking to now. He didn’t think it’d be anything different than what she said the first time around.

It’d be the same message, maybe with a few different words, but the same statement.

Bracing himself, and realizing that there wasn’t much else he could do right now, he linked into Eva’s camera.

And pulled up a view of Miu holding someone down to the ground. She twisted the person’s head up, revealing it as a pretty young woman. Her forearm flexed around her windpipe and the woman spasmed, then went limp.

Miu released the woman almost as soon as she passed out.

Reaching down, Miu took a hold of the back of the woman’s head. Glancing around at the hallway they were in she seemed to assess her options.

Eva tracked the same place Miu was looking, and they found a cord snaking out of a runner. The runner wasn’t secured very well and the cord had started to slip upwards.

Miu stood up, holding the woman like a doll and held her over the runner as if she were measuring something.

As cool as could be, Miu slammed the woman’s head into the steel doorframe halfway down. There was a sickening pop and crunch as her skull was stove in on the hard edge.

Miu released the woman and let her fall naturally. Leaning down, Miu inspected the work.

“She’s gone. The swelling in her head will take care of her,” came a male voice from the side.

Eva’s head swung around to the speaker. Felix found the Fixer staring at the body.

“Good enough. It’ll look suspicious for sure but… not that we were ever here, but more like someone murdered her. Let’s go,” Miu said.

That’ll be an ugly tombstone. Died by possibly tripping.

Felix flinched when the call incoming screen popped up in front of his view. The sound was ear splitting and dominated his entire helmet.

Damn it! I need to change that setting. Somehow. This is when it would have been a good idea to get a F.A.Q.

Felix mentally smashed at the accept button on Lily’s phone icon.

“Hey there,” Felix said, minimizing the window.

“It’s a magical battery. I had Felicia put a discharge tip onto them,” Lily said.

Huh? What… oh. I sent her a screenshot of the thing.

“Ah. Alright. Was interesting to watch. Cut right through the roof,” Felix said, watching through Eva’s camera again.

“It’s definitely a useful item to put in a tactical kit. I can’t make them that quickly, so don’t go expecting everyone to have one,” Lily said.

He could hear people talking in the background. It sounded as if she were in the middle of someone giving an interview in fact.

“Sorry about the noise. Some administrator showed up and is trying to do damage control. Too bad for them the documents relating to the zoning approval by the governor are already making the rounds on the net. Shame that the lieutenant-governor is also on the same approval,” Lily said. Felix could hear the smile in her voice.

“Have I mentioned you’re quite good at this whole corporate thing? You really missed your calling,” Felix said.

Miu stepped to one side and pointed to a door. The Fixer walked up and pressed his forehead to it.

“I won’t deny I’m enjoying myself. Did you watch the broadcast?” Lily asked.

He wondered if she was fishing for a compliment. Admittedly he had no reason not to compliment her.

“I did. You looked amazing. I’ll be asking for a high resolution digital copy of it for me to watch later,” Felix said.

The Fixer shook his head and said something to Miu.

In response, Miu turned and kept moving down the hallway.

The sooner they found what they were looking for, the better. Every minute they spent wandering around was more time to be discovered.

Miu at least had experience as an internal security guard for the guild, and knew the normal patterns and protocol.

Every major city had a guild, but they all shared the same procedures. It was a hell of a gap, but honestly, how often did they have to worry about someone who was foolish enough to break in?

“And here I thought you were already captivated by me,” Lily purred into the phone.

“I was, I just realized that you’re a natural ten, that goes up to eleven when she wants,” Felix said.

Miu gestured to another door and the Fixer pressed his forehead to it.

Several seconds later he nodded and stepped back.

“Well, everything is exactly as you asked. What’s next?” Lily asked.

Miu stepped up to the door and then opened it, charging inside.

The Fixer and Eva followed behind, shutting the door after all three were in. It was a rather simple office space that any manager or director would probably have.

“For you? I need you to keep playing the beautiful PR lady for now. Though when you get back to a computer, I could use you putting in some time at a terminal. Need to find out who the funding for the politicians are. We need to neutralize their spending power as quickly as possible. I’m going to be a third party candidate, so we’ll have to plan for both Democrats and Republicans. The sooner we shut down their money, the better. After that, we’ll need to look into what public works they were sponsoring and which ones were favors and to who,” Felix said.

Felix watched as Miu picked up a man slumped over a desk and laid him out on a couch. She adjusted him into as close to a natural position as she could.

The Fixer moved over and stood over the couch, watching the sleeping man. Eva went and stood next to the desk, lifting her right hand to her earpiece.

“This is Worm. Dirt is ready, need a hole. Mole actual, please confirm,” Eva said.

Whatever response Eva got, Felix didn’t catch it.

“That makes sense, didn’t realize you wanted to run for governor though. We can talk about your reasons later, but I think I already understand,” Lily said, competing for his attention at the same time as everything else was happening. “I’ll get on that immediately. Do you want to bury any of the candidates? I’m sure I could dig up quite a bit of mud.”

“No. If anything, we need to expand the playing field. See if we can funnel money into any of them to run a separate campaign apart from their party. We’ll need to use a…” Felix paused as a portal opened up next to the desk.

“… use a shell company. Make sure it’s not traceable back to us,” Felix finished.

“You want to increase the number of people running against you?” Lily asked skeptically.

“Yep. Their votes will be divided between the candidates. It’s why almost every political race ends up as one runner from each party. It’s how they solidify voting blocks,” Felix said.

A pair of hands reached out to the computer on the desktop and turned it sideways. They pulled the Ethernet cord out of the computer and pulled it into the portal.

“Understood,” Eva said, apparently to whoever she was speaking with. Looking at the rest of her team, Eva made eye contact with Miu. “Metal Detector will be done in ten minutes. Order is to stay with the dirt. Hole is to remain open until then.”

Miu nodded her head and stalked to the door, readying herself if anyone should enter.

“I… you’re right. I never really paid attention to politics,” Lily said.

“It’s a lot like corporate life, really. In this case, we want a lot of them running. Muddy the field and spread it around. When we find out who the financial backers are, and eliminate them, it’ll be chaos,” Felix said.

“As for what we offer, that’s easy. Jobs, protection, and separation from the guild of heroes. Our own brand of security, with regards to protection. Contracted out specialists who work with whatever needs and desires the companies or corporations have. It sounds terrible, but that’s how we win over the corporate backers,” Felix said.

Nothing was going on in Eva’s room, so he opened up the war-net map instead.

“Jobs, economy, and education will swing the masses over to our side. Jobs we’re already doing, so that’s just a matter of making it a known fact. Economy… well, the jobs take care of that. And the pawnshops tend to boost areas that we’re buying in. And education was the whole setup for us being here, which brings us back to the first point. Making sure everyone knows.”

Felix sighed and studied the map a second time.

Ioana and her team were deep into enemy territory. The rest of the security forces were fanning out and clearing everything behind her.

He imagined she wanted to get into the heart of this and tear it out. Remove the leader, end the resistance.

“That’s… all very clinical, Felix. Have you thought about this before?” asked Lily.

“Before Legion? No. It’s just what they’d want, isn’t it? It’s what anyone wants. Security, money, and the ability for their children to do better. It’s all rather simple. Everything else is detail work and an opinion that matches what the majority of the voting blocs want to hear,” Felix closed the war-net.

Looking back to Eva’s camera he found that nothing was changed. He didn’t think anything would change either, now that he thought about it. The attack was successful, and his IT people were on the guild’s network.

Access was always the hardest problem with any attack on a network.

“Sorry, Felix. I have to go. Another reporter is coming my way and I’m betting they want an interview, too,” Lily said.

“Knock ’em dead, dear. Give them that dazzling smile,” Felix said and cleared his windows.

“Will do, bye hun,” Lily said, closing the connection.

Felix looked out into the streets, watching as the stream of displaced citizens continued.

“This is Tip to Throne, actual,” said a voice on the war-net communications network.

That message could only be on the leadership channel if it was to Throne.

Tip would be Ioana as the spear tip. Throne being his own code that she generously bestowed on him.

Activating his own com link, Felix walked back to Victoria.

“This is Throne, actual. Go Tip,” Felix said.

“We’re under heavy attack and request assistance. Minimum force suggested is three wardens to neutralize threat,” said the Tip communications officer.

“Understood. Reinforcements en route,” Felix said.

Turning his head to Victoria, Felix lifted a hand.

“Send four wardens out to assist Tip,” Felix said.

“We only have two. I’ll get them moving,” Victoria responded, picking up a tablet she’d set down on a planter.

Felix frowned, staring down the street.

“I’ll go as well. I’m not at a warden’s level of power, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make up the difference,” Felix said, starting to go down the library steps.

“No! I’ll go instead, you remain here,” Victoria called out from behind.

Before Felix could argue, turn around, or change his mind, a number of refugees pulled weapons out of their clothes and began attacking his people directly in front of him in the line.

Guns fired, people screamed, weapons clashed on armor.

There were even clearly Super Villains in the sudden battle with the Legion forces.

Then Felix’s Supers sped out of the library to engage, and the battle escalated.

Three men charged straight for him, two with clubs and a third with a blade.

Victoria was out in front of him in a heartbeat, her sword speeding outward to pierce the closest man through the eye and into his brain.

He dropped like a stone.

Felix had been in action as well. He drew the pistol from his holster and racked the slide. As he pulled the muzzle up he was already slipping his finger onto the trigger.

He trained the iron sight on one of the hostile targets rushing him and then fired twice. Both shots struck the man center mass.

Moving to the next target, Felix pulled the trigger twice more. Again, both shots hit the chest.

Both enemies went down, groaning, screaming, bleeding out on the ground. Begging for help as they gasped for air.

Felix didn’t care.

They weren’t his people.

Marching forward, Felix maintained proper gun control. Looking for targets that he could fire on cleanly, he had no choice but to wait.

Clearing the dying men, Felix found two more targets and put two shots into each of them.

Eight spent, seven left in the clip.

Victoria danced ahead of him, her enhanced super powers making her a whirlwind of death. Her blade snaked out, skewering enemies on its length.

Legion security forces were highly trained. Drilling almost all day, every day. The simple reality was that their job was to prepare for situations worse than this.

They worked in tandem with their super partners, wardens, and coordinated the fight. Officers made snap calls on the communication line and the defensive line firmed up.

By the time Felix made it to the line of combat, his people had ejected the remaining attackers from the field. Who were then forced to cut and run, leaving behind their dead and wounded.

Confirming there were no active threats in sight, or on the war-net, Felix thumbed the clip release on his M9.

Catching the clip with his free hand he reached down to his left side and pulled out a fresh magazine. He turned the half spent magazine so that it didn’t fit right in the slot and slid it into the now empty space.

His goal was to make sure he could identify it later if he needed to.

Popping in the fresh magazine he thumbed the safety and returned it to its holster.

“This is Throne, actual. Team leaders, cart your wounded and dead back to HQ. Telemedics are to prioritize Legion.” Felix paused to consider the fallen enemies. Smirking to himself, he made the choice. “Power sausage the enemy wounded. Pile the dead.”

Apparently Felix’s dour mood was shared with his people, as he could actually hear the collective dark chuckle.

“Mole actual, this is Worm. We have contact,” said Eva’s voice over the high level security channel.

Felix turned his head down and to one side, pulling up the Eva’s camera with a thought.

Everything was more or less how he left it. Eva was pressed up to the door with her forehead touching the wood.

“Need a time on the hole. Farmer is about to notice,” Eva said again.

“Mole actual reads. One minute on the hole,” Kit said into the void.

“This is Worm, actual,” Miu said into her headset. “Moving to Hole. Prepping.”

The Fixer and Miu got up and went to the portal, stepping through it and to the other side. Back into SC:HQ, he imagined.

Eva twisted the lock into place on the door and moved to the portal and then stepped through.

She was staring back at the side of the computer and its missing Ethernet cable.

Felix knew that it’d be ideal if they could do this without being caught. Information was always best when it was retrieved with no one the wiser.

Turning her head around, Eva gave Felix a good view of where the portal opened up to.

Sitting in a rolling office chair was Kit. A tablet held in one hand, she was watching the tablet and the portal in equal measure.

She was surrounded by a crew of what could only be IT computer engineers who were all working on laptops that were wired into a router. That router had the Ethernet cord from the guild splitting the network feed between them.

An IT dungeon. They’re all working to crack the network.

Near the rear of the room was a handful of men and women in black suits with SMGs pointed towards the portal. Their fingers were inside the trigger guards and it was clear to him they were ready to fire.

Good protocol. This portal is a way into the base as much as it is a way into the guild. We should build a portal control room where we can launch sorties out of, and defend too.

Should probably talk to Felicia about it. Her machine would need to be moved wherever we put the launch room.

“Done. Everyone log out, I’ll leave the connection open as if I forgot to shut down,” said one of the engineers.

Everyone else started typing furiously into their laptops. Each of them closed their laptop lid after they finished whatever it was they were doing.

The engineer who’d spoken reached out and unplugged the guild cord from the router and held it out to Eva.

“Good to go,” he said.

Eva snatched the cord and ducked into the room. She was halfway in, and halfway out when someone started banging on the office door.

There were muffled shouts that were clearly punctuated by a curse.

Flinching, Eva dropped the cord. Immediately she bent down to grab it.

Smashing her forehead into the desk in the process.

Pressing one hand to her head, she grabbed the cord and then slipped it into the network port in the back of the computer.

Stepping back quickly she came back into the IT dungeon.

Kit shut the portal without any visible gesture as the sound of a door being opened could be heard.

“We’ll have data in a day or two. It’s all there though. Once we were in the network it was over. That was a lot easier than spending weeks trying to break in first,” said one of the engineers.

Felix couldn’t help but nod at that.

He could only imagine it was significantly easier being on a network line inside of the building.

“Alright. Good work. Let’s get this all spun up. I’ll need to let Felix know about it and send him a status report,” Kit said. “You alright, Eva?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Smacked my head pretty good,” Eva said.

He couldn’t see it, but Felix imagined it was probably more than a smack. The noise that came through the microphone was pretty loud.

“Alright. Good work everyone, you’re all dismissed to return to your posts,” Kit said. Everyone got up and immediately left, catching the intention behind her words.

Kit then got up and came over to Eva.

Felix felt his heart speed up a notch with how close Kit was to the camera.

She tilted Eva’s head to one side and began to inspect the injury.

“It’s going to be a heck of a bruise. We’ll need to make sure Felix doesn’t see it. He worries incessantly over you,” Kit murmured. “It might even be worth asking Felicia to put you in one of the tanks for a few minutes.”

“Huh? He doesn’t worry about me. He doesn’t worry about anything,” Eva said.

Kit released Eva’s head and chuckled softly.

“You forget I’ve seen inside his head. He’s done quite a bit of worrying over you. He’s also done a lot of things to protect you,” Kit said. “You’re probably the closest thing he values to what he’d consider family.”

Felix felt panic rising up in his heart. If she told her what he’d done, she’d want to go on many more missions. He’d have to tell her about the changes he’d made in her and how little they cost point-wise to do.

“What? Really? What exactly—”

“This is Throne, actual,” Felix said, activating his microphone and interrupting Eva. “Status report on operation Farmer.”

Kit’s eyes immediately flicked to the camera on Eva’s head. The corner of her mouth quirked upward as she stared into it.

“This is Mole, actual. Operation Farmer was a success,” Kit said knowingly. She didn’t openly call him out on it, but he was certain she’d considered it. “Expect a report within two hours.”

“Thank you. Throne actual, out,” Felix said and closed his mic.

“He was watching the OP, wasn’t he,” Eva said. Felix had no idea where she made that jump in logic, but he was proud for a moment, before being horrified that the conversation hadn’t stopped.

“He was. Pretty sure he still is. And he’s not watching from just any camera either. Want to guess which camera? Or rather, whose camera?” Kit asked, still looking into the recording device.

“Mine? I don’t… he really worries that much? About me?” Eva asked uncertainly.

Kit didn’t say anything to that.

“Felix? Can you hear me right now?” Eva asked.

He contemplated not saying anything. Then realized it would only damage their relationship.

“Yeah,” Felix said into her comm alone. “I’m here. We’ll talk later.”

“Ok. Thank you, Felix,” Eva said.

Felix disconnected from the camera and went back to work.

He had a campaign to plan.