I was transporting an experimental Resonance Imaging System cross country when the cargo transport I was flying was skyjacked by Agents of Iron Maiden. Namely the mentalist Mentalla and some goons. The hired help was easy to deal with, but Mentalla used diabolical mind control on me. She forced me to turn over the devices I was transporting. After that Mentalla decided to get cute. Seems she took my whacking her with my sword the wrong way. She had her lackeys bind me up with cargo straps. There wasn't much I could do about it with Mentalla controlling my will.
When the Iron Maiden Jet separated from the cargo transport, the hole they had cut into the roof was exposed to the elements. The cabin began to depressurize! The suction lifted me up in the air, pulling me towards the hole and the wild blue yonder, still wrapped up like a Christmas present!
I have to admit that I was really fortunate that the last thing Mentalla said to me was 'don't go anywhere now'. Meaning that since I was now being forced to 'go somewhere', I was free to try and prevent it. At least that's how I interpreted her command.
As I hurtled towards the opening, I twisted in mid-air forcing myself sideways. I hit the opening Iron Maiden's goons had made with my back, my shoulders and legs desperately trying to keep the rest of me from being sucked out of the plane!
There you have it, one very bizarre situation to go. My butt sticking out of a hole in a plane at twenty thousand feet. Talk about chills running up and down your spine!
As a result of the sudden depressurization, the cargo plane began to drop from the sky. All in all, quite a mess Mentalla left me in.
"Jaime!", I needlessly shouted telepathically. "Can you regain control of the plane?"
"I'm working on it," she sent back. I could sense the nervousness in her voice. "Hang on, Jess! Don't go anywhere!"
"That's what I had in mind..."
Unfortunately, I was rapidly beginning to tire. Slowly, more of my body was being forced into the opening. It was only a matter of time before I would lose my grip and go flying. These blasted straps weren't making it any easier, either!
I needed to get a better handhold, which was tough since they were tied behind my back. Then it came to me. I had replaced my sabre in my gear belt after Mentalla first took control of my mind. If I could reach it, I just might survive this!
I was working blind, as I didn't dare lean over to try and locate my sabre with my eyes. My bound hands twisted, reaching for where the weapon was normally stored on my belt. My fingers felt it a few times before I was finally able to grasp it. As I did so, I slipped even more towards oblivion!
As I worked, I failed to notice that the cut out from the hole was flying right at me. The piece of metal struck me just below my stomach and hurt like the dickens. The impact forced me through the hole!
Desperately, I grasped the sabre behind my back and activated its controls. I had trained myself to be so familiar with operating the sabre, that I was able to use it sight unseen. That practice paid off, as I fired off one of my magnetic swing lines back into the plane just as I was flying out of the plane. The swing line connected with the deck of the plane and I came to a halt with a jerk.
So there I was, all strapped up and hanging on the cargo plane by my energy swing line. Fortunately, I had the sabre secured to my belt, which in turn was all that was keeping me from becoming a spot on the ground. I am really glad that I'm not afraid of heights.
"Jess, you did it!", Jaime thought to me. "Pressure is beginning to stabilize. I'm regaining control."
"Great," I replied wearily.
Enough hanging around. I reached back and grabbed the sabre hilt again. Activating its controls, I had the magnetic swing line retract. I was slowly pulled back into the plane. Once inside and out of the torrential airflow, gravity took over and I fell to the floor. I was too tired to try and twist for a more comfortable landing, and ended up hitting hard, knocking the breath out of me.
I laid on the floor for quite some time, my heart going a mile a minute. It was a good fifteen minutes before I regained my breath and I stopped shaking. Being that close to meeting your maker can do that to you.
Jaime had indeed regained control of the plane. But, she continued to let the craft plummet, just in case our foes were watching. I think she gets a kick out of this close shave stuff. Since she doesn't have a 'real' body, she's not quite aware of mortality as I am. Jaime pulled the plane up seemingly at the last minute and a few treetops scraped the bottom of the hull. It was all for show, of course. The trajectory had been calculated long before the stunt was ever attempted.
Once I regained my composure, I worked on freeing myself. I didn't have a prayer of breaking these straps with brute force, so I grabbed my sabre once more. I turned over on my stomach and held the weapon in my hands. Jaime trained the interior cameras on me, so I could at least see what I was doing.
Switching the sabre into cutting mode, I gingerly maneuvered it towards the straps holding my legs. Once false move and I could cut my own leg off! But precision workmanship is something I inherited among my computer-like traits. The straps were sliced without any harm to me.
Freeing my hands was going to be tricky. Fortunately, being double jointed, I can bend much easier than a normal person. I wedged the sabre between my feet, and using the view provided by Jaime via the interior camera's, I was able to rub the straps against the energy blade. Again, I managed to avoid cutting myself. Squirming out of the remaining strap was a snap.
That ordeal over with, Jaime informed me of our condition. We were flying low, a mere five thousand feet above the ground. I would have to come up with something to patch the hole. Perhaps there was something in the Situation Van?
I found some scrap sheets of metal that should do the trick. Using some epoxy as a temporary bonding agent, I placed the sheets over the hole. To be on the safe side, I unrolled one of the cargo nets and positioned it over my patch job. In case the epoxy didn't hold the metal would just fall into the netting. And should it blow open once more, there would be something to keep me from being sucked out again.
"That should do it, Jaime. Take us back up to twenty thousand feet."
"What do we do now, Jess?," Jaime asked me telepathically. "Turn back?"
"No need, sis. Mentalla is an extremely powerful mentalist, but very poor in giving orders."
"I get it!", Jaime shot back, excitedly. "She told you 'give me the device you are transporting'!"
"Exactly. Mentalla didn't specify which device I was supposed to hand over. Once I realized that mind control was a lot like a computer program, that gave me the edge."
"In what way?"
"As a programmer, I know that I have to tell a system exactly what I want it to do. As you should well know, unless you do so, you'll probably get a bad result."
"That was so clever, Jess!" Ah, my very own private Number One fan. "Mentalla is really going to be upset when she finds out you tricked her."
"No doubt about that, Jaime. With any luck she'll find out after handing them over to Iron Maiden. In the meantime, we continue on with our mission."
"I'm changing course back to our original heading. Our ETA for Carson City is five hours, forty-seven minutes.
"Great. I'm gonna get a shower and then maybe a nap. I'm beat."
"I'll keep an eye on things."
"I know you will," I told Jaime in a reassuring manner. The fiasco with Mentalla had taken a lot of me. With Jaime on duty, there was no need for me to keep watch.
I went into the Situation Van, peeled off my costume, and took a nice, hot shower. The water felt great and I finally got my bottom back to a comfortable temperature. I only wish that the Situation Van had a tub in it as well. I dearly would have loved a nice long hot soak. After drying off and drying my hair, I took a nap on the couch.
It was now about noon, EST, when I got up. Jaime reported that all was quiet. There had been no further sign of Mentalla or anything else out of the ordinary. I made myself some lunch as Jaime brought me up to date.
Once finished, I put my Scarlet Sabre costume back on. Figuring that I should at least let home base know what's going on, I contacted my boss, Sheryl Campbell. Sheryl has a set schedule and I knew just when she would be free to chat. Jaime placed the call and less than a minute later, Sheryl was looking at me through the monitor.
We exchanged pleasantries and then I told her about the almost skyjacking by Iron Maiden's agents. She was greatly concerned about my safety foremost. Sheryl's that kind of woman. Working for her is a real pleasure as she places the welfare of her employees first. She was pleased, to say the least, that I was able to hold on to the RIS probes.
"If you didn't give Mentalla the probes, then just what did you pawn off on her?" Sheryl stared at me with those sparkling blue eyes as she questioned me.
"I remembered that there were several Scouts in the van. They superficially resemble the RIS unit and Mentalla bought it." The Scouts were essentially flying cameras that the Freedom League sometimes used for surveillance in the field. A variation of the Scouts, called Monitors, are used around the CII complex in New York.
"A lucky break. Still, it appears we underestimated how much security this job required. I'm going to send Microwave and FIST to join up with you."
"I appreciate the concern, but..."
"No buts, Scarlet. You're very lucky to be alive and I want you to survive this mission." Good old Sheryl. It's like I told you, she's an okay gal for one of the wealthiest women in the world. I liked the idea of being able to fend for myself. Still, I guess a bruised ego was a small price to pay for staying alive.
"I read you loud and clear, boss. I'll have Jaime plot an intercept course for the team jet to follow. We'll be in touch. Scarlet out."
Jaime overheard the conversation, of course, and carried out the necessary calculations. As I cleaned up from lunch, we went over what had transpired this morning.
"Clearly, Mentalla's reputation as one of the most powerful telepaths in the world is well deserved," Jaime stated. "As near as I can tell, the Alpha Wave Generator worked perfectly."
"And in spite of it, she still was able to control me. This does not bode well." On the one hand it was good that the AWG worked. In time, I created a miniature version that I carried around as part of my standard gear compliment. On the other hand, it was clear that the power Mentalla wielded was very frightening.
"Perhaps, perhaps not. I was able to get some data on Mentalla and have reached a few conclusions."
"Don't leave me hanging, Jaime. Spill it."
"First off, Mentalla generates a psionic force field about herself. That's what protected her from your attack."
"I figured that out for myself," I shot back to Jaime.
"Recommendation, use your cutting blade on her. I estimate only a probability of 10.3% of you actually doing grievous bodily harm to Mentalla."
"Sounds like a safe bet, based on those odds. Anything else?"
"A theory. Based on past reports I have been reviewing, I speculate that Mentalla's concentration can be broken with intense sonic bursts."
"High pitched sounds?"
"Correct," Jaime stated. "I located a report of a battle last year where the British heroine Chime was able to drive off Mentalla with her sonics."
"At least it's something. To bad Resonator is out of the country." Res was another member of the Freedom League. He wore an armored suit that generator sonic blasts. He would have been really handy against Mentalla! "Maybe I can come up with something from the parts in the Situation Van."
It was a long shot, but I had nothing to lose. I needed some weapon that could drive Mentalla off. I spent the rest of the trip working in the Situation Van on the project. Using old parts, I put together what I hoped would be a device that would give off one, very loud, sonic-scream before the components burned out. The device was tied into the Situation Van's horn. Jaime could activate it should that be necessary.
The Cargo Plane touched down at Carson City early afternoon, local time. The Freedom League Jet landed about twenty minutes later. The Jet was much faster than the plane, but I had a several hour lead. I watched it land and maneuver next to the cargo plane in my mind.
Microwave was the first out of the jet. She simply phased through the hull and flew towards the cargo plane. Once more, Microwave just flew through the outer hull and found me in the Situation Van.
"Nice to see you, Scarlet," Microwave said in greeting, as she phased into the Situation Van. I had seen her approaching, so I was not surprised at all to have the magenta and white-clad heroine pop in like that.
"Hi, Beth. Have a nice flight?" Beth is, of course, Microwave's first name. Her full title is Dr. Mary Beth Williams.
"As good as one can with FIST for company. But I imagine a lot better than the one you had."
"Let me think that one over for a while. It's a pretty tough choice," I joked back.
Our erstwhile teammate was still getting out of the Freedom League jet, probably cursing the whole while. His armored suit was in all actuality his prison. If he left it, he would die. That made him very grouchy to be around.
Microwave, on the other hand, was a pleasant enough person. She stood 5'7" and had short brown hair with blue eyes. Beth was also a scientist of some repute. She was also a mutant who could manipulate microwaves. Microwave could fly, throw several nasty energy blasts, and even turn herself into microwaves.
We chatted until FIST finally arrived. His metallic footsteps alerted us to his impending arrival.
"So, you dropped the ball, little girl," he taunted as he entered the Situation Van. FIST stood a bit over six feet tall in his green and silver body armor. "Good thing for all concerned Sheryl decided to put the A-Team into the game."
"A pleasure to see you as always, FIST." I could have exchanged taunts with FIST, but there wasn't much of a point. His attitude was his release for the cruel fate that had befallen him. "But, in all actuality, I didn't drop anything. The RIS is still here, all safe and sound."
"What's your game plan?", Microwave asked of me. "Wait here until morning, or start out to the mine now?"
"I figured we'd start out for the mine right away. No sense in waiting here for the next attack to come."
"Let's get this the hell over with," FIST complained. He took a seat on the couch. After a moment, he looked around. FIST's features were, as always, hidden behind his blank silvery face plate. "Where's the imp at?"
The 'imp' of course was Jaime. She liked to play practical jokes every now and then, and with his grim nature, FIST was often the target. He called her my 'technological familiar'.
"Hiding just out of your sight," I told my abrasive teammate. "Lurking in the shadows, just waiting to pounce when you least expect it."
"I wouldn't put it past her."
"Anyway," Microwave interjected, "times a-wastin'."
"I'll get us underway," was my response. Since FIST had parked himself on the couch, I figured that either Microwave or myself was going to be doing the driving. He's like that.
While Microwave poked around in the 'fridge for a snack, I climbed into the driver's seat. "We're getting ready to depart," I telepathically told Jaime. She would lower the loading ramp in the rear of the plane allowing the Situation Van to disembark.
"Uh-oh..." Jaime sent back to me. "We've got company."
"Mentalla again?"
"No... It appears to be several members of the Thugmaster's Elite," she telepathically reported. Jaime automatically crossed indexed her super villain data base to discover the identity of those approaching. "I have spotted Dark Knight and Chaos."
The Thugmaster's Elite was a band of superpowered criminals who were, obviously, in the employ of the Thugmaster. They were more like a training ground for supervillains, much like the current Young Champions is geared to train new heroes. Thugmaster himself remained a shadowy figure who generally operated behind the scenes.
Jaime sent me the view through one of the outside cameras. In my mind's eye, I saw a man in a dark blue body suit with magenta gloves, boots and mask. It was indeed the Dark Knight, the leader of the Elite. His gimmick was the unique throwing disks he used in battle. A multitude of them were strapped to his arms and legs. In use, these throwing disks moved in an 'L' shaped pattern-- like the chess piece. Which could be disconcerting since they appear to be far from the mark at first. Dark Knight had cooked up a number of tricks associated with his throwing disks.
Chaos was hard not to spot. His costume was quite hideous to behold. Imagine a white body suit randomly covered with purple concentric diamonds bordered by yellow. Ick. Chaos was aptly named. He apparently could change his size, growing larger or smaller, but seemingly at random. Chaos shrunk to three feet tall even as we watched.
"We've got guests," I informed my teammates. "Jaime has spotted Chaos and Dark Knight of the Thugmaster's Elite. I'd bet that others of the Elite are around as well."
FIST got up off his metallic behind in eager anticipation. "Good! It's been a while since I've had the chance to crack heads."
"How many Elite are there in total?", Microwave wondered out loud. "A dozen or so?"
"Something like that," I answered. "I sincerely hope that they are not all here. Any ideas on how we should proceed?"
"Who needs plans? We'll kick their butts and be done with it." To further emphasize his point FIST smacked his left palm with his right fist, making a loud metallic clap.
Upon seeing FIST's display, I quietly added, "I definitely think we need a plan of attack."
Microwave came up with the idea we used. Since both she and FIST had powers of flight, they would remain behind in the Cargo Plane while I drove off in the Situation Van. I would get the Elite's attention and give them something to pursue. Microwave and FIST would then come in from rear and hopefully catch the villains unawares. FIST liked the underhandedness of the approach. He would.
Jaime lowered the cargo ramp and I eased the Situation Van onto the tarmac. Unfortunately, I had foolishly pulled the van straight into the Cargo Plane back in New York. Meaning, I had to back out of the plane and then turn around.
That delay gave the new arrivals time to close in. Unexpectedly, a field of darkness appeared before the Situation Van blocking my vision.
"That's one of Shadow Queen's tricks," Jaime sent me. "Another member of the Elite."
Shadow Queen's field of darkness could have been a major problem if not for the fact I could fall back on camera views from the Cargo Plane. Although, seeing your actions from a distant point of view can be disconcerting. But I was used to it by now.
I floored the gas pedal with the idea of simply driving through the field of darkness. Big mistake on my part. Turns out that Shadow Queen could manipulate shadow stuff to do her bidding. In this case, she had her darkness lift the van off the runway! The Situation Van was now a few feet off the ground, its wheels spinning furiously!
All in all, Sheryl's fears were rapidly becoming well grounded. I could see Chaos and Dark Knight running towards the van. The Dark Knight threw one of his disks into the air. It unexpectedly curved and streaked into the field of darkness.
A second later, a minor explosion shook the entire Van. Fortunately, its armor plating was strong enough to withstand the attack. With all the modifications we had done to the Situation Vans, they were more like a combination mobile home, command center, and tank.
Since I was going nowhere fast, I took my foot of the accelerator and shifted into park. The plan of leading the Elite off seemed to be dead in the water, so we'd have to make our stand right here. I unbuckled the seat belt and moved into the rear of the Situation Van. I figured that the roof hatch would be my best bet to use as an exit. Might be able to surprise one or two of the Elite.
I never made it to the hatch as, seemingly out of nowhere, an energy blast struck me square in the chest! I collapsed as if my strings had been cut. I never saw the attack coming and before I could comprehend what had just happened my world turned black...
