Major General Tina strode through the halls of the barracks, still in her regular clothes except for the general’s cap on her head. It had taken a great deal of begging, bribes, and promotions that had given aneurysms to most of the Army’s officers and required the President himself to get involved, but the U.S. military had finally gotten Tina back into the chain of command.
Sort of.
She, after all, wasn’t taking orders from anyone. And they had to pay her a bonus for every mission she chose to accept. She was basically just a mercenary with a rank.
And she was using said rank to hand out nonsensical orders to every high-ranking officer she could find, which is probably why they gave her her own facility.
And she was doing whatever she wanted with the team she had personally recruited and trained. The CIA was still upset about her swiping their candidates.
But finally, finally, the U.S. military and government had a mission-ready team of supers under their admittedly nominal command, with a commander who could be trusted to keep them straight. And that was a PR victory they would milk for everything it was worth, no matter how many hoops the commander in question forced them to jump through.
Major General Tina kicked down the door of that very team, blowing loud horns into their ears.
“Rise and shine, you maggots! I’ve never seen such a bunch of lazy bums!”
There was a great deal of cursing and heads contacting furniture as the team crashed out of their beds. They arranged themselves in a line, saluting, with bruises on various parts of their foreheads. Tina crossed her hands behind her back and began pacing back and forth in front of the team.
“We have a mission! Maximum danger! Incredibly urgent! They told me they needed the best! And I looked for the best! But I couldn’t find anyone so I came to you idiots instead!”
One man saluted.
“What’s the mission, General?!”
She turned her head to look at him.
“Knowing is half the battle…and I ain’t fighting any part of your battles for you, Private! Now grab your gear and let’s go! We leave five minutes ago and anyone who’s late is digging latrines later!”
At Fort Bragg, soldiers were scrambling to take up positions. With the ongoing crisis, most of the military had been deployed to protect major population centers…so the Fort itself was surprisingly empty. Most of the soldiers here were here to rest and regroup, and in no shape for a sudden fight.
But fight they did.
Deadly force had been authorized, and so America’s professional warriors got to work.
A withering storm of lead and explosives streamed through the air, tearing through the oncoming mob. Armored vehicles continued to arrive, adding their cannons to the barrage.
But these were warriors equipped and trained to fight the last war.
And a new war had arrived.
Bullet proof skin blocked bullets for the supers behinds. Walls of wind, shields of light, moving walls of earth all rose and blocked the barrage. Walls of flame detonated missiles before they reached their targets.
How were conventional soldiers expected to defeat opponents that could rip apart tanks with their bare hands?
The commanding officer made a grim frown as he watched the mob reach his battle lines. He looked to his communication officer.
“Where’s the air support?! We’re getting overrun!”
“Air force is scrambling what they can! Most of their jets are in maintenance or already deployed, it’ll be a while before they can send something over.”
“...we don’t have a while.”
“You sure about that, Lieutenant General?”
The commander’s eyes widened and he shook his head.
“Never thought I’d be glad to see you, Major General.”
“Well keep thinking! I’m retired, so you’re getting the dregs instead!”
“I’ll take it. My boys are getting hammered, could we get an assist?”
“What, you guys sleeping? Tina’s Titans, it’s go time!”
A plane passed overhead in the dark. Six figures leapt from it.
And a wave of explosions rang across the battlefield, separating the soldiers from the SLF mob.
“AHAHAHAHA!!!”
A high pitched girl’s laughter rang out and all the combatants looked up. A group of six landed on the ground.
A short girl with light hair and red camouflage-pattern clothes laughed, as bouncy balls grew from her hands. Nitromaker swung her hands and tossed a wave of balls into the air.
The balls bounced along the ground, landing in the midst of the SLF ranks. A moment later massive explosions rang out, further throwing the SLF into chaos.
A bullman roared and charged at the group. He lowered his head, angling his horns at the girl.
CLANG!
The bullman slammed into a huge metal shield and collapsed on the ground. In front of him stood an armored figure. A bear face was carved onto the shield and the chest of the armor.
The Steel Bear stood firm, swinging the shield around with one hand to ward away incoming supers. With her other hand, she held a vehicle-mounted minigun, laying down a hail of suppressive fire.
A muscular man in a tank top and camo pants held an assault rifle at his hip, opening fire. Starbright’s hands glowed with a blue light that surrounded each of the bullets he fired, piercing through the tough supers that blocked for the rest.
Some of the flying supers turned and dove towards the group, intent on ending their assault. But a rush of feathers burst past them and they plummeted towards the ground, hammer prints on their heads.
A man flew upon eagle wings, with an eagle head helmet on his head and a golden hammer in his hands. The Eagle Smasher cleared the skies.
On the ground a young man typed away at a laptop built into a briefcase. Small drones flew above the battlefield. Black Iris pointed and called out to the Steel Bear, who repositioned just in time to block a beam of light with the metal shield.
Just then a chameleon-man appeared behind Black Iris, his camouflage fading as he leapt at the man.
Black Iris rolled back, kicking the man’s shin and sending him to the ground. Black Iris didn’t even glance at him as a drone descended from the sky and tazed the attacker.
The SLF focused all their attention on the new squad, giving the soldiers time to regroup and reorient.
And soon they rejoined the battle.
Riflemen focused their fire on the flying supers and the unprotected ones.
Armored vehicles backed up out of range, using their cannons to target down the stronger supers from far away.
Machine guns layed down suppressive fire to keep the ranged supers from firing.
The supers were strong…but most of them had never been in a fight before, much less a battle. They could not match the discipline and adaptability of trained soldiers. Soon they stopped attacking and began milling around in confusion and fear. The SLF elites tried to direct them but Tina’s Titans and the supers targeted the leaders whenever they appeared.
It was then that a massive vortex appeared, right in front of Tina’s team. The Steel Bear slammed the metal shield into the ground, the rest of the team gathering behind.
The Galactic Vortex floated down in the air above them. Soldiers opened fire but a swirling vortex surrounded the super. The bullets curved around the man, swinging back towards the soldiers that had fired them. Even Starbright’s charged bullets couldn’t pierce through, or rather it didn’t seem they had struck anything at all. It was as if the very space they flew through spun and curved.
“You all are part of the new humanity, why do you strive with the old? Do you not know they will turn on you? You should be fighting with us, not against us.”
He intensified his vortex as a plastic glider flew towards him and exploded, the flames swirling around him and dissipating harmlessly. Nitromaker gave the man a rude gesture.
“Can it, baldie! Talk again when you’re not attacking people!”
The Galactic Vortex frowned and held his hands up.
“So be it. Liberation cannot stop for anyone, even if I must slay my own brothers and sisters.”
And then he began coughing.
Blood spattered on his chest. The light faded from his hands and his vortex vanished.
He began to fall from the sky…but the soldiers didn’t give him the chance to land.
His blood splattered as he was filled with bullets.
The leader of the SLF died before he hit the ground.
The entire SLF froze and began to glance at each other. The soldiers continued to fire at them. All around supers fell. Some began to run. Others fell to the ground, trembling with eyes wide open.
Suddenly the ground erupted. A wave of giant spiders emerged between the SLF and the soldiers. Bullets, shells, and missiles slammed into them but they continued to fight even as they were riddled with wounds. One spider took a tank shell head-on…only to continue attacking with a gaping hole in its body.
Arachnalich arrived on the field, riding on a giant spider.
“Come with me if you want to live!”
The SLF survivors turned towards the voice ringing across the battlefield. One by one, they began to run towards Arachnalich. She turned and led them into tunnels her spiders had dug into the ground.
It would be another hour before Tina’s Titans and the soldiers cleaned up the giant, undead spiders.
And by then, the SLF was gone, save for a few scattered survivors too shell-shocked to move.
Arachnalich grinned as she left the SLF meeting, having just been elected as its new leader. A small spider moved down, rappelling on a silk stuck to the ceiling and holding a small, empty vial.
Galactic Vortex talked big about how supers were superior to the ‘inferiors.’
But he ate and drank all the same.
Oh sure, he could probably do something with his powers to remove the poison…if he knew it was there. Which is why she used a slow-acting substance on a night he would most certainly be distracted.
And it turns out…the ‘superior’ died just like any other man.
Arachnalich’s grin grew wider.
Four down…just two to go.
"Breaking news, folks! We have word that an army of supers launched an audacious attack on Fort Bragg! It seems the U.S. military managed to stand firm, due in large part to a team of supers in uniform! Led by the legendary Major General Tina and appropriately named Tina's Titans, this band has been making a name for themselves as the tip of America's spear in this world of supers and monsters! The U.S. Government has released a statement: 'No matter who we must face, no matter what magic or monsters the world may throw at us, let us remember today the true heroes. The men and women in uniform who serve their country, and give their very lives in defense of the free and the brave. And know that the United States will not rest until peace and justice is restored to all.' Join us tonight as GNN consults the experts to discuss this story and what it might mean for you!"
