Super Sales on Super Heroes 6 -ch 16- (Patreon)

Chapter 16 - Double Talk -

Watching the complicated dance that was tech and hardware, Felix couldn’t look away as the conference was set up. The large number of techs scurrying about in every direction was rather surprising.

He knew that the Association, and Legion in a way, had a lot of people working in IT related jobs. Whether hardware or software, it was a very large department.

Right now he was watching those budgets being put to good use.

They’d picked the location two days ago.

In those two days, his teams had descended on it, figured out what needed to be done, and started the planning of the event.

Now they were just going forward with that piece by piece. Getting everything together for everyone who would be attending.

Which ended up becoming a great number of people. From across the globe, in fact. A great many ambassadors, journalists, and people who simply managed to get a seat one way or another.

Felicity hadn’t been above selling specialty tickets through a “back channel” to make extra cash for Legion. Only after completing a few security checks for a select few.

As well as identifying personages that likely meant unwell for the Association. Those individuals were given a great deal of attention from the Legion security team, starting with Tribune.

“Legate?” asked a voice beside him.

Felix had noted that someone had walked up to him but he had assumed they’d go past him.

Turning, Felix looked at him directly.

Looking nervous, and worn, the tech was staring at Felix with somewhat wide eyes. He had a dark complexion, looked to be about five foot six, and had a fair bit of sweat at hsi hair line.

Clearly the techs were working hard.

“Yes?” Felix prompted after a pause.

“I need to do a sound check. You’re where I need to stand,” apologized the man. He’d lifted a hand and run it through his black hair. His brown eyes had slid away from Felix after he spoke, looking to the maintenance panel Felix was indeed standing next to.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” muttered Felix, stepping to the side. “You work for the Association?”

“Uhm, yes? I work out of the Colorado office,” said the man. “Senior tech Xander Skoll. Why?”

“Mere curiosity, nothing else,” admitted Felix. “Everyone who’s come out here so far has worked quite hard. I’ve had no complaints and heard no complaints.”

“Thanks. We do our best,” said Xand in a distracted way. He was rapidly connecting things and looking to someone else.

Felix wandered away. There was no reason to stand there and linger over the man’s shoulder. That’d just raise his tension and anxiety.

Instead, Felix went and stood by the rear door.

Slowly, he looked through the gathering crowd.

The conference had become far different than expected. Felicity had provided food and drinks for all those attending. As well as bringing in comfortable seats and decorations.

Looks more like something between… a corporate pizza part and an all hands meeting.

Ha.

Standing there, Felix tuned out the constant comms chatter he could hear as everyone went about their work. His job would be simple.

Deliver the address he, Felicity, Faith, and Kit had worked out. It was a fairly generalized statement that covered everything that needed to be stated.

Rather than stand here and let his mind start chewing at the anxiety building, Felix decided to check his point count. Later today he was supposed to go to the warehouse where remains were held.

He’d be attempting to resurrect anyone that fell within his power, and that was likely going to be costly.

Generated

Remaining

Andrea

2,480

2,480

Alma

900

900

Carlota

990

990

Faith

2,950

2,950

Felix

3,500

3,500

Gaia

100,000*   Avatar Limitation

100,000

Goldie

16,000

16,000

~Dragon Wing (41 total)

54,250

54,250

Kit

9,980

9,980

Lily

10,090

10,090

Miu

2,450

2,450

+Loyalty Bonus

2,500

2,000

+Marital Bonus

15,000

10,000

=Daily Total

221,090

221,090

Banked Total

—

2,031,312,111

Hm. That’s a good number. We’re increasing day over day, thankfully, but it’s still not moving very quickly.

I wonder if I’d get any bonuses for owning Legion. Or that all of those Legionnaire contracts still all roll up to me.

I get bonuses for just having Dragons, after all.

“I hereby restate my ownership over all of Legion. Rescinding it from it’s temporary ownership of Felicity Campbell,” Felix tried, wondering if this was some sort of legal loop-hole. That maybe he needed to state his ownership for it to transfer back to him.

Much like paperwork needing a signature.

Nothing happened.

There was no outward change that he could tell.

Felix tried to pull up his points again.

Generated

Remaining

Andrea

2,480

2,480

Alma

900

900

Carlota

990

990

Faith

2,950

2,950

Felix

3,500

3,500

Gaia

100,000*   Avatar Limitation

100,000

Goldie

16,000

16,000

~Dragon Wing (41 total)

54,250

54,250

Kit

9,980

9,980

Lily

10,090

10,090

Miu

2,450

2,450

+Loyalty Bonus

2,500

2,000

+Marital Bonus

15,000

10,000

+Legion Faith Bonus

95,240

95,240

=Daily Total

316,330

316,330

Banked Total

—

2,031,312,111

Oh, would you look at that. I did get a bonus. But only for faith.

And it didn’t give me any type of banked points that might have accrued.

Which makes sense since it’s just my power. Not that it’s everyone’s power or some universal system. Ah well.

At least I have more points now and —

A massive thrumming went through Felix’s armor. It made everything rattle briefly, in fact.

Everything as in even the furniture, people, and light fixtures. Followed by a massive shaking and rumbling now.

People were collapsing to the ground, hands to their ears. Glass was shattering all around and furniture jittered across the ground.

“Pancake to all elements, take control and—”

There was a crackling followed by the comms line going silent.

“Communications have been interrupted,” Tribune reported into Felix’s helmet. “An attack has begun. While there are no ground forces currently spotted, it is clear this is an attempt to kill the Legate. Please proceed to the emergency extraction.”

Turning on his heel without a word, Felix slammed a hand into the door he’d been next to. Not waiting he went straight toward the emergency exit door and pushed that open as well. He noted that there’d been some resistance as he did so.

Once he got it open he looked to the outside of it and down.

There looked to be bags of cement mix that’d been placed there. Stacked three high in four piles.

“Shit,” Felix growled, realizing that this was actually planned out to a degree. “Tribune, can you connect to anyone else?”

“No. This is your local Tribune program operating independently,” answered Tribune. “All forms of signals and waves are being blocked at the moment.

“My apologies, this is a limited emergency program that was inserted in case you were separated from everyone. This is for your safety.”

“Doesn’t seem very limited,” Felix stated while moving toward one of the Legion vehicles they’d arrived in. It was a heavily modified and up-armored large SUV that could fit eight.

“I’m limited in scope and capability,” argued Tribune.

Yanking the door open, Felix began to lay into the horn with his left hand. At the same time he jerked open the center console. There were ten pistols arranged facing downward in there.

Picking up the closest one he glanced to the safety, then flicked it off. He looked toward the slide and saw the indent raised signifying that there was a round already chambered.

While he wanted to believe that, he was just too paranoid to do so.

Letting go of the horn he did a visual check by pulling back on the slide. Confirming there was indeed a round loaded.

Setting it down on the dashboard he started honking the horn rapidly while starting the vehicle with his other hand. He got it turned over into drive rapidly.

Evie burst out of an upstairs window at the end of the building. A second later and Faith jumped out as well.

The two hit the ground and started sprinting toward him, the former in her Dragon Legionnaire armor, the latter in a business suit.

Not far away a door from a different building opened up and two Myriad Andrea’s in Legionnaire armor came out.

“Who’re we missing?” Felix demanded, watching the four come his way.

“Lily, Kit, Goldie, and Gaia,” Tribune answered quickly. “As well as a great deal of support technicians. The other vehicles are out front though it’s unlikely they’ll be able to enter it.”

Even as Tribune explained, Felix could feel the quaking ongoing. Whatever it was, it certainly felt like an attack. Though for whatever reason it didn’t seem to be doing much to him.

As Faith came up to the car he could see blood dribbling down from her ears and eyes. Running down in a ongoing trickle unendingly.

“Ah. I see. It isn’t that bad because I’ve got my helmet on. Which means… which means they’re likely all suffering from this right now, other than Myraid,” Felix remarked.

“That is very likely,” agreed Tribune. “I cannot complete scans at this time, but they do not seem to be responding to your continued honking. They are more likely responding to their training.”

Felix stopped honking as that seemed incredibly likely.

Then other people began stumbling out the back of the building. Including Xander, in fact. Quite a few were Association or Legion employees.

“Not big enough,” muttered Felix.

Looking down to the seat he was in, he focused on the vehicle. He wanted it to become something else. To quite literally become an armored Legion vehicle.

One that could withstand an environment that was hostile. From toxic vapors to sound disruptions.

Something that could become standard issue for military engagements in the future for Legion.

A box flickered to life in front of Felix. He noted the cost was seven-hundred thousand points and simply accepted it. The cost of the vehicle would be offset by the cost of bringing people back to life, or training replacements.

Not to mention I can just give it to Felicia afterward to study. Mr. White and her can break this down into component parts, reverse engineer it, and figure out how to make it.

If it’s cheap, we can mass produce it.

With a weird popping noise, Felix found himself looking out what looked to be a heavily armored window. The glass looked to be extremely thick and the rumble of the engine could be felt.

Looking at the controls he suddenly realized he had no idea how to drive such a thing. There were a great many buttons and controls that made no sense to him no matter how he tried to read them.

Glancing backward, he was thankful to find both Myriad’s had already gotten in before he changed the vehicle. They’d probably gone from sitting in the back seat, to sitting in rows that lined the interior of the now massive vehicle.

He felt as if he were looking into the back of a moving truck.

Except one that was filled with military equipment and resources.

One of the Myriad’s was looking up at something that was quite probably some type of turret, though it had some strange console attached to it. As if it could be operated without sticking your body out the top.

Waving a hand at the second Myriad, Felix then gestured at the controls. He’d unbuckled himself and was getting out at the same time.

Myriad thankfully understood him and swapped seats with him.

Felix took the opportunity to sidle up to the monitor he’d spotted. Sitting himself in the seat for it he quickly tapped at the screen.

It flickered to life and he found it was much easier to understand than the driver’s seat. In fact, it was a touch screen and the buttons either had abbreviated words or symbols that told him what they were.

Grabbing the joystick that was to the side he whipped it to the left.

Immediately the camera view spun in a three-hundred and sixty degree circle. It did it pretty quickly too.

“Oh look, my childhood playing first person shooters wasn’t wasted,” muttered Felix. “Remind me to hire professional e-sports athletes and get them behind some automated drones.”

“I will do so, Legate,” Tribune responded.

As he moved the camera about, he could see that a great many more people were all coming out of the building now. Each of them either ran away from the vehicle, or to it. The rear hatched was open now and he could see all his people clambering in.

Driver’s seat Myriad was staring at the back of the vehicle as the second Myriad was checking people at the hatch. Giving each a quick once over before letting them in.

Kit came in with a hand to her ear. She looked in desperate pain.

“I can’t summon a portal!” she yelled needlessly. As if she couldn’t hear anything at all. “Somethings really wrong!”

As he rotated the camera again he spotted something at the edge of the building.

Or more accurately, someone. They were standing there and looking down at the vehicle. Then they held up their hands and pointed it at the camera.

To which Felix hit the big damn trigger on the front of the joystick.

There was several muffled booms that were spaced apart.

As well as a pink mist spraying backward from where the individual had been. Whatever gun was on the top of the vehicle was heavy enough that it just gave that person a life-time supply of the weapons ammo.

The Myriad at the front’s helmet turned toward him and was clearly looking at him for an explanation.

Felix held up his hand, made a gun and held it upside down. He pointed it upward toward the roof. Then he briefly flicked his fingers across his throat.

Myriad nodded her head and turned back around.

He felt the entire vehicle shift as she apparently put it in gear. If enemies were showing up, that was the limit to her willingness to wait here.

The Myriad at the hatch got the clue. She hauled people in quickly and then slammed herself into a seat. She thumped the bottom of her palm against a large blinking and red button.

Immediately the hatch began to close itself up.

Before it’d even settled into place Myriad had the big armored vehicle rolling away.

Or into something.

Felix was pretty sure she just drove them through a convenience store in her rush to get them out of the area. Glass, bags of chips, and several twelve-packs of sodas floating up past his camera.

Only to be capped off with impenetrable and complete utter darkness.

He’d ended up keeping the camera angled upward and had either lost it in the breakthrough, or it was covered.

He hadn’t expected the sudden departure or he might have tried angling it downward.

Or backward.

As Felix was bounced around in his seat and given that his camera was quite dark at the moment, he ended up looking to the back of the vehicle. Faith was holding her hands to Kit’s head and was likely healing her.

Evie, Goldie, Gaia, and Faith herself, could handle their own injuries.

Suddenly Felix could see daylight on his screen again.

Getting closer to the camera he could see they were now moving very fast down the street. Myriad was quite literally playing bumper cars and knocking other vehicles out of the way as she went.

Driving up on the median, running over street signs, and turning a few bushes into not much more than twigs and leaves. There wasn’t much to be seen out ahead of them other than civilians and a road that led them away from the situation.

Spinning the view around he looked back the way they came.

In the air were a group of individuals flying after them.

On the road, were a number of vehicles that looked to be hand made.

As well as a number of people who were just running along beside them.

There were even what looked to be people jumping from building to building as they went. As if they had extremely overpowered leg muscles.

Aiming upward at those flying in a straight line, Felix started with them. If they fell from the sky they wouldn’t cause a pile up.

Or so he hoped.

Shooting a vehicle was far more likely to cause a snarl for civilians and end up taking lives.

Putting the crosshairs at the center of the screen over the lead target, Felix pulled the trigger. It went under them by a significant margin.

Then the screen flashed and a number that’d read as “50” swapped to “300”.

When the next round was fired off, it went straight toward the person flying along. It struck them dead center and their torso crumpled. By the time the third round was heading their way, they had already fallen from the sky.

Must’ve been some time of range correction.

I didn’t even have to do anything.

Like a bird hit with a full shotgun load they spiraled out of the air and vanished when they passed behind a building.

Moving the camera to the side he focused on the next individual.

It only took a single shot this time to knock them out of the air. One of their legs popping off as if they were a lego minifigure thrown against the ground.

A large green shield appeared in front of all the rest of those in the air.

To which Felix gave up on them and instead looked to the vehicles. He sighted on the closest one and hit the trigger.

Heavy booming rounds were spat out and what sounded like clattering brass against the roof felt loud inside his helmet.

Repeated rounds drilled into the lead vehicle, pounding away at it over and over. Most of the rounds didn’t seem to do much of anything though Felix did notice that it had the look of dent growing ever wider.

He’d break through in time.

Eventually the owner pulled back on the throttle and they started falling back. Rapidly putting distance between Felix and themselves.

A new vehicle slid into place and then raced ahead. Closing rapidly to the Legion vehicle.

Except when Felix lined them up and fired, the rounds were caught by some type of purple shell that came out of the armored plates. A shimmering holographic looking defensive mechanism.

Each projectile Felix set forth struck, was caught by, and then dropped by those purple discolorations. Felix could only assume they were some type of shielding.

Shifting his view left, right, and then up, there were no more targets he could effectively engage. He wasn’t sure if he should keep firing at the vehicle or if it was an actual waste of ammunition.

“— eak. Break? Break, break. Comms check,” came Myriad’s voice.

“Received,” Felix replied at the same time Goldie and Evie replied. They each had a headset that they wore to be linked into everyone else.

Kit, Lily, Faith, and the others, didn’t have helmets.

“Alright. Local is up, but distance is down. All the cell signals are down,” hissed Myriad as they continued to race along. “We’re going to keep going and try to break contact.

“Because let’s be honest… all my Others across my personalities are all rushing here. They’ll figure out what I’m doing because they’re me.

“For now, we keep going. Any questions?”

“Should I keep firing?” Felix asked. “That thing just eats rounds like nobodies business.”