Chapter 10: The Cold War Council
Sub-Level 42 of the Pentagon did not exist on any official GDA schematic. It was a room entirely encased in a vibranium-lead alloy, suspended in a localized electromagnetic vacuum. It was the one place on the planet where not even a Viltrumite's super-hearing could penetrate.
The silence inside was heavier than deep water.
Mira Lin sat at the center of a long, cold steel table. To her left were Rex Splode and Atom Eve, both looking unusually pale. To her right stood Robot, his optical sensors locked into a neutral amber.
Standing on the opposite side of the table were the heavy hitters.
Director Cecil Stedman stood with his hands planted firmly on the metal surface, his face unreadable. Flanking him were the core members of the Guardians of the Globe: The Immortal, his arms crossed over his massive chest; Darkwing, entirely consumed by the shadows of the room; Red Rush, vibrating slightly with nervous energy; and War Woman, her face a mask of stoic command.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, Mira," Cecil's voice was dangerously quiet. "My sensors detected an Alpha-Class psychic anomaly at that college, followed immediately by a highly localized concussive blast that didn't match Rex's chemical signature. You survived a targeted attack by a known extraterrestrial biological entity, and you didn't report it. Why?"
"Do not show them the underbelly!" Kaelen roared in Mira's mind, pacing like a caged beast. "They are weak! If they know the Viltrumite is a traitor, they will panic! They will charge him and be slaughtered like blind sheep!"
If we don't tell them, Nolan kills them anyway, Mira thought back, her mental voice sharp and absolute. Lyra, authorize the decryption transfer to Robot.
"Authorization confirmed," Lyra chimed softly.
Mira took a deep breath. She looked up, meeting Cecil's cold gaze, and then looked at the Immortal.
"We didn't report the attack because the alien that possessed Senator Sterling isn't the biggest threat to this planet," Mira said, her voice shaking only slightly. "We covered it up because Mark Grayson was standing fifty feet away. And if Mark saw what I can actually do, he would tell his father. And if his father knows what I can do... he will kill me."
The Immortal scoffed, a deep, booming sound of pure dismissal. "Omni-Man? Nolan? The man is Earth's greatest champion. If you're suggesting he would murder a GDA recruit out of paranoia, you are vastly overestimating your own importance, girl."
"She's not overestimating anything," Eve interjected, her voice tight but unwavering. "Robot. Show them."
Robot stepped forward. His chest plate clicked, sliding open to reveal a highly advanced holographic projector.
"Director Stedman. Guardians," Robot's synthesized voice echoed in the heavy room. "What you are about to hear was intercepted by the Third Vanguard consciousness residing within Recruit Lin's neural network. It is a Type-2 quantum-locked Viltrumite transmission, broadcasted from the orbital path of Mars forty-eight hours ago."
Robot projected a jagged, three-dimensional audio waveform into the center of the table.
"...The myth is real, General. The Star-Forged Legacy has arrived on Earth..." Nolan Grayson's voice—cold, calculating, and completely devoid of the warmth he showed the public—filled the room.
"...I will keep the host close. I will study its limitations. And when the time is right, before she fully ascends... I will sever her head quietly and deliver the Legacy to the Viltrum Empire myself."
The audio file clicked off.
For ten agonizing seconds, no one breathed. The only sound in the room was the faint hum of Robot's internal cooling fans.
Red Rush stopped vibrating. He stood perfectly still, his eyes wide behind his crimson cowl.
"That... that is a fabrication," The Immortal stepped forward, slamming a massive fist onto the steel table, denting the vibranium alloy. "It's a deep-fake! A psychological weapon generated by this 'Hollow King' to divide us! Nolan fought alongside me during the invasion of the Flaxans! He has bled for this world!"
"Vocal biometrics confirm a ninety-nine point nine percent match," Robot stated clinically. "Furthermore, the encrypted syntax perfectly matches the archived Viltrumite linguistic models. It is not a fabrication, Immortal. Omni-Man is a conqueror. He is preparing Earth for annexation."
"No," War Woman whispered, her grip on her golden mace tightening until her knuckles turned white. "If he wanted to conquer us... he could have done it years ago. Why wait? Why play the hero?"
"Because an intact infrastructure is easier to annex than a ruined one," Darkwing's gravelly voice cut through the room. The vigilante hadn't moved a muscle, but his mind was already racing, analyzing twenty years of Omni-Man's movements. "He's pacifying us. Eliminating major planetary threats while building our absolute, blind trust. When the Empire arrives, we won't even raise our shields until the knives are in our backs."
Cecil Stedman hadn't said a word.
He slowly pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, entirely ignoring the 'No Smoking' protocols of the sub-level bunker. He lit it, taking a long, slow drag. The cherry of the cigarette glowed bright orange in the dim light.
"Cecil," Immortal growled, turning to the Director. "You cannot possibly believe this."
"I believe data, Abraham," Cecil exhaled a plume of gray smoke. He looked older, suddenly. The weight of the world had just quadrupled on his shoulders. "And I've always wondered why a god would want to play house in the suburbs. Now I know. He's the vanguard."
Cecil turned his gaze to Mira. "He touched your shield in the bunker. He felt the cosmic energy. And he realized that if he lets you learn how to use it, you might actually be able to hurt him."
"Hurt him?!" Kaelen's presence surged, his deep voice suddenly overlapping Mira's vocal cords, causing her eyes to flash a brilliant, violent violet. "I will not just hurt him. I will mount his skull on the prow of my ship and burn his empire to ash!"
The Guardians instantly tensed. War Woman raised her mace, and Red Rush dropped into a runner's crouch.
Mira gasped, forcefully shoving Kaelen back down, clutching her chest as she gasped for air. "I'm sorry! He... he hates Viltrumites. They wiped out one of the previous hosts."
Cecil waved the Guardians down, his eyes locked on Mira. "Can he do it? Can this warlord in your head kill Nolan?"
"No," Robot answered before Mira could. "I have run the combat simulations based on Omni-Man's known physical parameters and Recruit Lin's current energy output. If Omni-Man were to attack the Guardians, the Teen Team, and Mira Lin simultaneously right now..."
Robot paused.
"The casualty rate for Earth's defenders would be one hundred percent. The encounter would last less than four minutes. He is, currently, functionally unbeatable."
The silence returned, colder and sharper than before.
The Immortal looked away, his jaw clenched so hard it looked ready to shatter. The realization that their greatest friend was an executioner—and that they were completely powerless to stop him—was a poison seeping into the room.
"So what do we do?" Rex Splode asked, breaking the silence, his usual cocky demeanor entirely absent. "Do we evacuate? Do we try to trap him in a black hole? What?"
"We smile," Cecil said flatly.
Everyone looked at him.
"If Nolan knows that we know, he will massacre every hero on this planet by lunchtime, tear this girl's heart out, and claim Earth for the Viltrumites today," Cecil took another drag of his cigarette, his eyes cold and dead. "We are outgunned, outmatched, and out of time. Our only advantage—our single advantage—is that he thinks we are still blind."
Cecil walked around the table, stopping in front of the Guardians. "Immortal. War Woman. Darkwing. You will go back to headquarters. You will train with him. You will shake his hand, you will laugh at his jokes, and you will not show a single ounce of fear or suspicion. Business as usual."
"You ask me to fight alongside a traitor?" Immortal growled. "To expose my back to a murderer?"
"I ask you to buy me time!" Cecil barked, his voice suddenly echoing like a gunshot. "Because right now, he is a god, and we are ants! We need a bigger gun!"
Cecil turned slowly, his eyes locking onto Mira. The pale scar on his jawline stood out starkly in the dim light.
"And she is the gun," Cecil said quietly.
Mira swallowed hard. The violent violet and sapphire blue energies swirled beneath her skin, reacting to her own terror. "Director... I can barely hold Kaelen back for five minutes without frying my own nervous system. I don't know how to fight a Viltrumite."
"Then you're going to learn," Cecil said, stepping closer until he was looming over her. "The Hollow King is hunting you. Omni-Man is waiting to execute you. I am officially taking you off the active GDA roster. You are going into the dark, Mira. Deep underground. I am giving you unlimited access to the deep-core reactors and the heavy-gravity simulators."
Cecil looked at Robot. "Robot. You are in charge of her physiological monitoring. Keep her human biology from shutting down while the Vanguard takes over."
Cecil looked back at Mira.
"I don't care what it takes. Let the warlord out. Let the computer rewrite your brain. You are going to bleed, you are going to break, and you are going to ascend. Because the second Nolan Grayson decides he's done playing superhero... you are the only thing standing between Earth and absolute extinction."