The warthog slowed down as we reached the fountain. The other vehicles created a defensive line as I hopped off and kneeled down beside the tanned alien princess.
The sounds of Fenris’s heavy stomps as he went to help Kara faded as I focused on Kori. Her bruised face and pained twitches were all I could see.
I looked over the prone body. The bruises were apparent and showed how hard that Tyrant hit. Her moans were audible as she struggled to move. Even now, she was trying to get up.
The comics always depicted her as a force of will. Her power complimenting her core mentality as a princess, a warrior, and a gentle giant.
From my limited time with her, it was true. She was a soft-hearted young woman, who fell into a river of bad luck.
Tamaran had fallen, and they raised her as a battle slave to the cruel Citadel masters. Her training at the hands of the more benevolent Warlords of Okaaran allowed her to keep parts of herself.
Then she escaped and came here to Earth. A foreign land where she had found a new home. A new home that needed her. Needed her right now!
Kori crept her hands to try another push up.
I let out a sigh. Kori’s proof of willpower was in work right now. I could see why, in another dimension, she was a core member of the Teen Titans.
“Miss Masks, please help us out here,” I said into the air as I turned Kori over. I felt my heart clench as I felt her tense and moan in pain.
Kori complained, but couldn’t stop me. She stopped struggling. Which I was grateful as I didn’t want to hurt her further.
“I need a permanent marker, and some paper,” I instructed as I laid a comforting hand and stroked her head to smooth out stray strands of hair. It seemed to help as Kori relaxed under my gentle touches.
There was a blurry zip as Kara found the needed items and handed them to me. I passed them to Candice as my writing was awful.
“Candice, summarize this. Stay still until it recharges you. Then turn to the gate and rip up this piece of paper. You will get transported to the mansion and then help us with this… Type-3 super monster.”
Candice quickly jotted down the instructions and then folded the paper. She slipped it into Kori’s hands.
“Miss Masks, please go to the landing spot where the Scopedog originally dropped. There will be a platform. In the center is a manhole cover like a plate. Please remove that and bring it over here,” I asked Kara again.
Kara glanced over to the landing point and there was a half foot landing plate there. The additional heavy metal plating was to help the cube land right side up. It would be stupid for the weapon of war to fall onto its side.
The Type-3, seeing her distracted, tried to hit her with a haymaker.
She weaved around a punch and then kicked with all her might. The Tyrant staggered back. A rain of needles peppered its hide as the other soldiers fired when they could.
The metal needles dug into the flesh, but the dense muscles prevented any deeper penetration. They were little more than annoyances. The monster only saw the blonde as a threat. Even the equally large robot was only an annoyance.
Kara flew off to the side and circled around. She picked up speed before spiraling to deliver an uppercut.
The sound of her fist striking into its body reminded her of the time she had to punch that armored car last week. It hurt her but had it sent the vehicle careening into the air. This was worse. Her right arm now hurt.
She quickly disengaged and zipped over to the platform. It was unmoved since the Scopedog had left.
She stared at it for the few seconds, and her eyes adjusted to what she wanted to see. In the center was the thick, round plate. They buried it under bolted covers.
Her fingers dug into the soft iron plate and ripped off the simple covering plate. This allowed her to lift the rather hefty plate. Part of it was the body to prevent damage. The other part was the large battery to power the one time use item.
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Kara felt a smile grow as she quickly examined its innards. They took some of her suggestions. The stabilizers and the redundant blocks of capacitors were right there. Where she had drawn them on the design sheets.
Kara zipped forward again, and she was now kneeling beside Kori. The most obvious plan to her was to send Kori to space. There, the far more intensive UV rays would quickly restore her powers.
They had discussed before this plan. It was obvious with Kori and her. Space was where they could quickly recharge. Sunlight worked wonders for the two of them as their physiology could convert the raw radiation into power. The issue was going up and coming down.
“Please freeze it to her and go back to the fight. We just need time now,” I said as I turned to see the Scopedog try to melee the Tyrant.
Was this the evolution of the infected? Level 1 was the basics zombie like creature. Level 2 strong bone covered predator. Then this was a level 3? A massive upgrade over the first two?
My suspicion was that it was the meta-gene that caused them to become so much stronger. It would allow them to become so different and monstrous. Then was this the expression of this person’s meta-gene?
Some growth and heightened durability? It was like the Thing and the blob had a child. My guess was that this creature had some limited invulnerability or super toughness.
The sonic blades could cut into, but not go through, the body of the Type-3.
“Status of the Red Guard?” I asked as I held the throat communicator down.
“The Red Guard is receiving final adjustments, and they will get deployed right away. ETA 10 minutes with travel,” Sue responded as she double checked her systems.
It rather surprised her at how stressed she felt at this moment. She wasn’t in danger, but the Supreme Leader was.
The logs of servicemen updates were every 30-60 seconds. The video feed showed how the military base was jittery. Everyone trying to keep busy as they readied the four test units that could save their leader.
The Red Guard’s all had red shoulder pads to designate their value to the program. Each pilot stared at their mech in anticipation. Even their power armor had the red motif on the shoulder pauldrons.
“Sue, please send Kori up,” I said as I stood up and backed away. I definitely was not ready to visit space at the moment.
Sue turned back to her screens and poked at the signal denoting the emergency teleport system for Test-Unit 5. Sue then touched at the Sky Gate Satellite. The current testing Doom-Portal to allow them access to space in Earth orbit.
The gate activated, and Sue dragged her two fingers together, creating a connection. The beacon activated and Kori vanished in a green swirl of lights and energy motes.
The Tamaranean princess reappeared in the cold space, her body floating by the silent cylinder over Earth. A small frisbee like crystal plate floated beside her. It was the crushed remains of the once large beacon.
The powerful and unfiltered UV bombarded her frail body, allowing her to absorb it. On a human they would eventually asphyxiate from the lack of fresh air, or freeze to death in the coldness.
Kori stirred. Her thoughts settled as the pain faded while her body greedily drank in the UV energy. She had used up most of her stored energy and this was water to the dehydrated.
—
Fenris moaned as it bashed him around. The protective armor he wore could only mitigate so much. The Type-3 roared as its massive fists beat into this Scopedog’s frame. Each blow tore at the armor, or stripped away chunks.
The raw power of the monster was shocking. The prototype armor was gold laced with titanium. Designed to resist anti tank weaponry, it was now crumpling like plastic.
The energy reinforced plating, or Phase Shift Armor, failed and quickly deformed with every hit received. His power reserves depleted with every hit received. The engine had taken four hits too many and turned off at some point. He only had battery power now.
Fenris watched as his HUD filled with warning symbols, and his ears a jumble of Maya’s unhelpful updates along with random thoughts. This test started fun, but its ending was disappointing.
The Power Frame slowed. Movement became a chore. Everything weighed on him. The last reserves of power only allowing him to escape.
A giant fist punched into the chest area, and Fenris’s world went black.
—
The creature had not slowed down at all, but she could feel herself becoming exhausted. She was slowing down, and the rest periods between her energy eye blasting were growing with each use.
Kara gasped as she watched the Tyrant punch Fenris through the wall. He got sent crashing back into the building they had exited a few minutes ago.
Her eyes stared and her X-ray vision kicked in. She could see the unmoving body of Fenris, but his heart and lungs were still working. The power armor had done its job and protected him.
The man was fine, but the monster had bust the power frame. She felt a flash of annoyance. She had help in designing parts of the defensive pilot area. Just because she did not prefer violence did not mean she didn’t couldn’t help. The knowledge that she had helped Fenris live made her happy.
What didn’t make her happy was this monster. If it escaped their encloser, then it would massacre the locals.
Kara flew in, using her momentum to ram into the bulky creature’s body. She felt like she slammed into a cement divider and unleashed a flurry of punches. The Tyrant fell back several steps. Each punch forced it back, but then it steadied its balance.
In return, it roared and took a wild swing at her. Kara stopped her attack to glide out of reach. She had been trying to trade blows with it. Then she got grabbed and then smashed through several walls and floors.
She had escaped when they made it out of the basement and the monster stopped to see where it was. Kara didn’t want to experience that again.
If this was just between it and her, she would be in some real trouble. Her eyes glowed and a ruby red beam shot from her eyes.
The creature growled as pain shot up its arm and then across its chest. Kara zigged and zagged her lines. While the monster was seemingly invulnerable, it didn’t mean it was invincible.
She just needed to find a chink in its armor.
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Chapter 37: A Type-3