My Weekly Gag Villain Job is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 11

My Weekly Gag Villain Job is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 11

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Commissioned by Arksoul

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Interlude: Chroma Scarlet: Aine Campbell

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I had to give my predecessors some credit.

They fought a losing battle against the Legion, popped out tykes, and then held the line while those tykes grew up.

Then, those tykes repulsed the Legion before they even started high school.

I didn’t know whether to be proud or terrified at what I had to live up to, especially when the Legion’s first move was to show that they had bloody orbital superiority. That fact, along with the ability to just show up wherever they wanted on the planet in an instant, had me wishing that we had to face giant monsters that ravaged entire continents.

Instead, our moon was slowly being engulfed by shadow domes for all to see.

Yeah, I decided to bite the bullet and brought my pa into the sanctum because I needed his advice.

His words after discovering that his little lady had superpowers and had to face off the latest threat to the entire planet?

“Well, damn. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.” In his tweed jacket and trousers, he looked right out of place in the sanctum’s archives. A military history professor in the middle of a crystal palace. Even with all the crystal books and records, he was like a patch of tweed amidst smooth, refined gemstone walls and furnishings. “You say that you’ll soon have an archway linked to the moon? Can you girls fight in a vacuum, with no gravity, without support, and surrounded by glass dust?”

Right, almost forgot that moon dust alone can shred a person to itty bitty pieces.

“We can do all those things, but winning while doing all those things? Yeah. That’s the problem.” We can fight in the ocean’s depths just fine. Without the ocean’s currents, it might be easier to fly around, honestly. The lack of support and constant barrages of particulate that could tear us up? That was a big deal. “We’re meant to hold the line until we have kids bathed in the light from the moment of conception. Our tykes go on and beat the stuffing out of the Legion and help fix the world up.”

“Then, it seems the Legion of Darkness learned from previous defeats and has adopted another strategy. Can I have records of the previous engagements with the Legion, please?” Pa asked nicely, and there was a shimmer by his side. A table, chair, and even tea were on it, along with multiple tomes and books. “Ah, very good. Can it be filtered to solely the troops, weapons, and tactics that they use?”

Several books turned into one.

“I’ll be poring over this and drafting a report while bringing in a few of the old guard. The Americans have always been keen on space, so a few of them might listen if I call. Don’t worry, I’ll be discreet.” Pa gave me a wink before shooing me away and enjoying his cup of tea. Jasmine, as was his preference, and with neither milk nor sugar. “I’ll tell them that one of the Sentinels stumbled upon me and provided me with this book for advice. It may be prudent for you and your friends to hand them out to others outside of the military.”

“I’ll give the order.” Pa was always adamant about leaders taking command and responsibility. Meanwhile, I’d just wanted friends. Now, though, I could see why he wanted that for me. Hesitation felt too much like weakness now. It was something we could ill afford with the proverbial guillotine hanging over our heads. “For now, though, is there any way you could think of to prevent the Legion from getting supplies of food?”

Pa’s answer was immediate.

“Are you willing to burn down every dockyard in every nation that is willing to trade rare metals for food?”

My answer was swift as well.

“No.”

“Then, your hands and my own are tied. Let us keep it that way. I would rather you and your friends not have to resort to such things. If things truly become dire, the hammer will be held by more callous, cold hands of adults. As it should be.” Pa gave me a look over his shoulder and a nod. I returned it, feeling the weight on my shoulders lighten just a bit. “Focus on what’s in front of you. Leave international matters to the ministers and the generals.”

With a heart a bit less heavy, I went ahead to speak to my fellow Sentinels.

It was time to see if there was something that we could do to contest the Legion and prevent them from just endlessly growing.

The moment that I left the archives of the Sanctum, however, my mind was pulsed with calls from my friends and fellows.

I unmade myself into light and reached the command center.

All over the screens was the ISS Unity in orbit, covered in drones repairing massive gashes on its hull and half of its armored belt gone.

“What happened? Did we see it?”

“Aye, we did. The rest of the world was left in the dark.” Tsubaki’s features were grim as she gestured at one of the screens and willed for the battle to be brought up. Wherever the sun shined, we were able to see and record with perfect clarity. A battle between the moon and the Earth? Our sight was unimpeded. “It was barely a battle.”

The ISS Unity was centered around a singular piece of technology that held the key for humanity’s expansion in the stars. The Alcubierre drive shifted space to create a negative energy environment around it to move faster than light. Pa called the principles similar to making a vacuum tube around a single object, thus allowing that object to move at great speed. In practice, it was so fast that the ISS Unity seemingly just appeared in orbit of any planet within four light-years. It just needed monumental amounts of energy to do so.

Upgrades to its energy storage were meant to allow it to go to Alpha Centauri, recharge within days, and then return this year.

I hoped that it was still possible.

“The Legion summoned itself all over the surface of the station, and I presume even inside it. Whatever shields it has didn’t work.” Tsubaki practically growled. She was so antsy that she was standing rather than sitting. At the very least, she wasn’t pacing. No, she’s decided to do so now. “They were fortunate that commander didn’t appear and cut it in two!”

I watched the carnage for a few seconds. The Unity was in orbit for less than a minute before returning to above Earth.

Leaving behind all the Imps that were on its surface and presumably inside it.

Hundreds of little monsters faster than dogs, untiring, and capable of tearing through steel suddenly boarding your spacecraft through its shields?

The captain probably initiated the return trip the moment the first alarm tripped, and that saved the vessel.

“We need to take a more active approach. Now. Tsubaki, your family confronted the commander, correct?”

“Hai, I did as well. I could not even cut his neck with all my strength.” That was terrible news, honestly. Tsubaki was the most martially adept of us. The person I would send forward and trust to come back the victor. She looked murderous as she stared at the screen. It flickered to her encounter with the commander. I suffocated the fear that rose up in my chest at that cloaked figure composed of darkness. “I believe it was a ruse. He tried to entice me to attack him by myself alone after training. I know now that it is impossible. We must work together to defeat him. Perhaps even relying on others of the world who have powers similar enough to ours.”

Bridget, Mehri, and Lina sat up a bit straighter at that and finally offered their own opinions.

“I will work to get an audience with the Queen Mother. I am sure the strength that she wields will be of great use.” Bridget stated with a nod. It was odd that I was in charge and not her. We wouldn’t even walk the same streets or go to the same school, let alone be in the same room, if not for us both being Sentinels now. “I have several cousins who may be of help, too.”

Lina hesitated but spoke softly.

“I’ll need to ask Dad, but I’m sure he’ll help, especially with what happened to the station. There’s too much riding on it, and it’ll be years before we start making another one.” She was quiet and reserved, despite being from a nation considered the loudest and most boisterous. Not only that, but she is being set up as the heir of the company over all her other siblings. I had no doubt that she was the smartest of us in the room. If not for her temperament and reservation, she’d be the leader without a doubt. “I have some people I talk to online that might be able to help, but they may be too busy after this.”

It was Mehri’s turn, and she took to the stage without a hint of hesitation.

“My people will not be found lacking. We will challenge this threat to the planet without a doubt. I will issue the call, and many will come to our aid. It will be more difficult to find those who can truly assist on the surface of the moon, but rest assured we will not be lacking for labor.” Though her family was theoretically under the Indian government in terms of authority, they put their old wealth to use when the British Raj was dissolved. They had fingers in every pie, not only investing but also elevating. They kept private, but if they flexed their muscle, the world would know. Mehri was practically a queen in waiting. “My parents will listen to me, and they will provide.”

How I oversaw all these heiresses and princesses, I didn’t know, but I did know that it was good that we were all in agreement and ready to act.

We were going to have a lot of tough fights ahead of us.

…

Hm.

“I think we can move onto the kaiju of the week now. Design a good monster, support it with Imps, and when it's on the ropes, we make it big.” Lunar regolith was being cleaved up and carried away in big blocks. The dome of shadow that I was making was sealed well enough to allow for me to funnel some atmosphere over from Earth into the bunker complex that I was going to live in. Of course, a sprawling palace of darkness was needed, but I was going to make a big, habitable underground complex first to build its form. While that was being done, I went over the plans for next week with Ebb. “Oh, and I guess we have a few cells of Imps going around causing regular havoc once a day. Nothing bad. Just enough for people to see our forces get defeated and to lower their guard.”

Going for the moon frightened a lot of people. Loads of people were going over the strategic implications of me being on the moon. The ISS coming over to try and blow me up was a good set piece to establish the Sentinels being the only power that could oppose me, but I didn’t want to fight regular people. The Sentinels are my goals, and getting the rest of the world complacent would be easy if they just kept addressing us.

Feign weakness while you are strong, and all that.

“This international response would need that change. I underestimated humanity. The moment you bared your middling fangs, they’ve united and acted swiftly.” That was probably the closest to a compliment that I was going to get from Ebb. I took what I could get. There wasn’t any point in telling him that I told him, either. “You have noticed that many of our Imps have been attacked, right?”

“Yeah, and they’re figuring them out.” While Imps were plenty tough, there remained the fact that enough firepower could deal with them. Sure, that meant along the lines of assault vehicles or super-heavy infantry rather than common people, but enough dogged effort by all the people of the planet? I wouldn’t be able to reinforce my forces fast enough. That’s without the Sentinels handing out enchanted bullets or something like fire at my stuff. At that point, some skilled people with small arms and reflexes can deal with them.”

The clock was clicking now, but we had an advantage.

A whole alien homeworld.

One that still had facilities making use of gates to other worlds to extract resources from to try and take their planet back.

“Let’s make sure that we take things over on the other side and keep those facilities fixable. The Sentinels will have Earth work against us, so we need to improve as well. We have the advantage of not being their only problem, too.” Earth had a lot of crises on its plate. We were the hot topic because we just appeared. They want to be rid of us, but if we’re sturdy enough and resistant enough, they’ll settle into their current tactic. Containment and investment into countermeasures. “Let’s start attacking the other problems, too. Problematic warlords should be fair game, along with aliens and any interdimensional horrors. We’ll attract their attention soon enough, so it’s best that we start getting a grip on what they could do.”

“Hm. I agree. This world offers many challenges. Trampling them down without inviting immense reprisal is unlikely.” Ebb grumbled. The swift response with the ISS sobered it up a little. If the Sentinels had been empowering the vessel, if all the munitions it launched and its shields were given their power, then we’d have been in trouble. It was honestly lucky that they weren’t on board. Even then, we lost more than a hundred or so Imps from its weapons and defenders in less than a couple minutes. Whoever and whatever they had on board that thing was effective against us. “I believe it is time to create a general. Do you agree?”

“Sounds about right.”

Mid-season escalation of odds along with stronger weekly monsters and a new elite bad guy made perfect sense.

The only question was what archetype I’d choose.

Demon general or dark rival?

Choices, choices.