Codename: Arsenal

(NOTES: This is very much a work in progress. Being an avid comic book fan, I've wanted to do something with my own original super hero characters for a while now. This was a story I started writing a week or so ago, and while it isn't the first I've done with super heroes, I feel as though it's the first one thats any good. For now, I've posted what I feel is ready to be read, and I greatly appreciate any and all sort of feedback related to the story. What you liked, what you didn't like. What you felt could be improved/ommited/ect. Notable updates will go in this section as the story progresses. Hope you enjoy. :)

UPDATE

-06-30-2006: Yay! I came up with a title. I may change it in the future, but for now Codename: Arsenal will do)


“Wake up” The mysterious, echoing voice ordered. “I said wake up, you pathetic meat sack!” The male voice spoke again.

“Ugh…” He groaned as he opened his eyes. He viewed the darkened sky through a red filter. Digital readouts danced in front of his face as they calculated innumerable variables pertaining to the situation at hand at a speed far greater than any computer he knew of was capable. “Am I dead?” He asked the voice.

“Far from it,” The echoing voice responded. “Now rise, so that you may strike down this transgressor and deliver your world from his madness! This power I have granted you will NOT be destroyed by the likes of he.”

He remembered now. The creature called itself Xel-Kas. His slender form stood eight feet tall at the top of his shoulders with an armored hide as dark as night and glowing red eyes. The creature grinned with a mouth full of razors and a heart full of sadism as he struck down some of Earth’s finest. Scanning his immediate area, the man remembered that the battle with the alien had destroyed a good portion of downtown Vesta city. Buildings were gutted and roads were split and cracked as if several nuclear weapons hit all at once. He looked down at his hands. They were covered in a thick, dark blue armor the same as the rest of his form. The armor had an organic, almost carapace-like look to it, but felt stronger than any metal he had ever encountered. Rubble shifted nearby as his armor’s helmet picked up a faint groan accompanied a failing heart beat. Rushing over, he quickly grabbed a large slab of stone that was once part of Kings Avenue and tossed it a good distance away as though it were nothing. Underneath, a young woman in a form fitting, white costume lay, barely able to move her head. She glanced at the armored warrior standing over her, but was too weak to even speak.

“Designation: Porter, Carrie. Known to the general populace as post-human costumed adventurer…”

“Winter…” He finished the voice’s sentence just as the images came back to him.

Mere minutes ago
“This guy is too powerful to hold off on our own, is anyone else coming?” Winter asked as she draped a man’s arm around her shoulder.

“Give my head a second to stop ringing, Carrie.” Zenith said as Winter helped him out of the crater he formed when he hit the ground. His costume and cape were worn from the battle and for a moment he saw two of everything. His enhanced vision picked up movement on the horizon as he growled and prepared himself. “Watch out!” He yelled to Winter before pushing her away and sinking his fingers into the already ruined ground as far as he could. Winter staggered a bit and fell down as Zenith used his super human strength to rip a sizable chunk of the ground up and lift it over his head. He then launched it at an incredible speed before flying after it at just under the same speed.



“I hate this filthy planet.” Xel-Kas thought to himself as he flew towards Zenith’s location at an incredible speed. “The cities, the people, they all break so easily. If not for the prize, I’d wipe it from the star maps for good. These…rock throwing apes simply delay what they cannot stop.” The alien observed as he saw the chunk of ground Zenith threw at him closing in. With a mere thought, the alien’s arm shaped itself into an impossibly sharp blade as he sliced the concrete in two with one stroke and kept moving at his same pace, right into Zenith’s fist. “Commendable.” He said to himself just as Zenith’s fist slammed into his jaw. He flew back through the air from the force of the hit and Zenith took off after him without slowing up. The super-human grabbed Xel-Kas by his ankle before flying towards the ground with the alien in tow. Winter, having finally caught up to her partner, put her hands together before parting them to revealing a sphere of cryokinetic energy. She then threw her hands out and caused a bed of icy spikes to rise from the ground. Zenith slammed Xel-Kas onto the spikes as hard as he could. Purple blood splashed from the entry wounds and the alien’s mouth after Zenith impaled him. Xel-Kas gagged, thrashed about and coughed before he stopped moving completely. Everything fell eerily silent there after as the alien’s lifeless body lay there on the bed of spikes.

Zenith floated down and hovered a few feet off of the ground, folding his arms across his broad chest as Winter walked up to his side.

“That was a bit…underwhelming…” Winter commented, seeming as though she were disappointed the alien died so easily.

Zenith let out a sigh and glanced around. What was left of downtown Vesta was a war zone. This alien’s rampage had left countless numbers of people dead. The cost of the damage was sure to run in hundreds of millions and the super powered pair was probably going to have to explain why they couldn’t stop this menace sooner. He looked up as a light shone down from a helicopter passing over head. Winter covered her eyes to stop from being blinded by the lights.

“It looks like damage control is here. Come on, we should probably check out his ship. I think it went down close by.”

“HQ says it broke into two pieces at entry and both of them crashed in the city. I’ll check out one and you look into the other.” Zenith said before flying off.
“Sure thing…” Winter answered even though Zenith was already gone. As she turned to head off she heard a grunting come from behind and quickly spun around, preparing another icy attack as Xel-Kas got to his feet and his wounds mended. “Don’t leave yet, terran.” The alien spoke in his naturally venomous tone as he eyed Wintered up and down. “We’re just getting started.” He said with a grin as his eyes flashed.


Hours Earlier
Lights danced silently across its metal exterior as it tore its way out of slip-space and back into real space. It lurched across the dead calm of the cosmos within close proximity to planet Earth As the ship meandered on across the vast black sea of celestial bodies, her crew scrambled to get their bearings so that they could carry on their work.

“How many more cycles must we spend in this damned fringe system?” Riczo, the ship’s insect-like navigator exclaimed as he confirmed the digital readings on his astral charts once more from atop his elevated platform on the bridge. As a holographic screen hovered before his bulbous eyes, Riczo moved the image of planet Mars out of his way to view the small blue planet that their ship was en route to pass.

“Given the cargo we carry, I doubt the inspectors on the federated lanes would be thrilled with our presence” Ubbal, the ship’s pilot, explained. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back in civilized space as soon as the engines are ready for the next slip-jump.”
“You had just best exercise caution when we return to civilization, Ubbal. I did not brave the ruins Veltura Prime and waste precious cycles of my life out in the uncharted fringes only to be arrested by the federation and sent to rot on some meteor-prison for the rest of my days!”

“And you will not,” Ubbal assured his associate. “Our benefactor has made sure that the reward for delivering our cargo will be well worth the risk it entails.”

“Benefactor?! Tch…you don’t even know who the sorry son of a schrak is! This could be a federation sting for all we know.”

“You worry too much Riczo. This job has gone off without so much as even the smallest hitch so far…”

Almost as if on cue, an alarm began blaring on the ship’s bridge as a red light flooded the room, vanished and reappeared every other second in sync with the deafening alarm.

“The proximity alert! Something is close!” Ubbal announced.

“I know what it is!!” Riczo shouted with an obvious hint of annoyance in his tone. He frantically began pressing in a sequence of codes on the console in front of him. “Do you think it’s a federated ship?”

“Out here? We should be so lucky. If fortune smiles on us it’s just some space junk.”

“Well it would appear fortune doesn’t.” Riczo replied as he caught an image on his screen before transferring it to a larger one so that Ubbal could see.
Residual slip-space energy crackled across the hull of the hulking ship as the swirling warp door closed behind the vessel upon its exit. Sickly green light pulsed from the underbelly of the leviathan as it lurched some distance behind Ubbal and
Riczo’s salvage barge.

“Where did that thing come from Riczo?”

“Th…this can’t be right…” The insect-like alien commented as he double and triple checked the data in front of him, completely ignorant of Ubbal’s question.

“What is it?”

“My readings are telling me that…thing…is a Velturan Predator class warship.”

“What?!” Ubbal looked back over his shoulder at his partner. “Are you suffering from madness, insect?! The Velturans have been dead for over 500 macrocycles!”

“Yet we are being chased the same people right now!” Riczo snapped back. There was suddenly a cautionary blip on his holographic, causing him to quickly focus his attentions back to his duties. “They’re preparing to fire on us. Initiating defensive counter measures. Cyclone warhead salvos one through five online! NOW!!!” He gave the verbal command, to which the ship complied as, in the launch bays, a complicated system of auto loading mechanisms loaded cylindrical canisters in the aforementioned launch bays and prepared them for deployment at Riczo’s command.

“Diverting non-essential power to shields and taking evasive maneuvers.” Ubbal said calmly as he began pushing the ship harder. The rear thrusters output more power than normal while the alien’s stubby gray fingers clenched the controls tightly and prepared for the worst.



“These lesser life forms must pay with their lives for what they threaten to unleash upon the cosmos.” An echoing, androgynous voice resonated throughout the bowels of the Velturan Predator. “They have removed an ancient being of vast destructive power from permanent imprisonment on one of the dead planets for unforeseen purposes. We must assume that their intent is nefarious and deal with them accordingly.”

“What is the potential for loss of life in this star system should the prisoner escape?” A second voice, this one deep and ominous, questioned.

“A lone planet in this system holds life, the third one that revolves around the system’s star. It is home to approximately six billion terrans, but is notable for its number of individuals who are steps ahead of the general populace of that world from a stand point of evolution. These beings, post-humans, display a large variety of unique powers and abilities not yet common among their kind. Even with the large number of superior individuals inhabiting the planet, the potential for loss for life should the prisoner escape remains vast.”

“Very well.” The deeper voice said after listening to the projections. “We will deploy subject 4712-94432 if our attempts to destroy the interlopers’ ship fail.”

“An acceptable solution.” The androgynous voice responded. “Beginning reanimation processes. Subject 4712-94432.”

Deep within the recesses of the ship, fog rolled silently through the various rooms and corridors. Not a single sign of life made its presences known save for the occasional electrical impulse that rapidly shot across the onyx colored, bio-organic walls and ceilings. These impulses migrated to a derelict laboratory as they raced to restore life to a decommissioned chamber that rested against the far wall of the room. The thick, frost covered lines that ran from various access points in the room to the chamber glowed as the apparatus was restored to life. A display screen next to it activated and glowed when power flowed into it. Meters that read various vital statistics in the now dead Velturan language began their automated monitoring duties, fluctuating wildly as the ship’s life supports systems, now fully online, began reviving the chamber’s inhabitant.

“Contingency plan is underway,” The ominous voice observed. “Begin aggressive procedures towards the enemy ship and initiate preparation of solution X401.” He commanded the Predator, which silently complied.


“They’re firing on us!!” Ubbal exclaimed as his ship was rocked by violent blast from one of the Predator’s energy weapons. “How long until the slip engines are ready Riczo?!”

“Longer than this battle will last.” Riczo promised as he turned his attention to the Velturan Predator. “Salvo one. Fire!!” He suddenly gave the command.
As he did, a panel opened in the port side of the ship. As it did, a rocket fired silently and tore through the blackness of space towards the Velturan vessel. As distance was put between it and its source, the head of the projectile detached itself from the body, revealing a canister full of small missiles that all flew towards the Velturan Predator all at once. The flames from their burners ignited bright trails in their wake as they all silently made their marks across the Predator’s face and body with simultaneous explosions.

“Got them!!” Riczo exclaimed happily when he saw his missiles tear into the enemy ship.

“You make sure they stay dead this time!” Ubbal told him as he frantically attempted to push the ship into an escape velocity.

“Salvos two and three, fire! Cyclone warhead salvos seven eight and nine online, now!” Riczo voiced his commands with strengthened resolve as he was determined to make sure there was nothing left of the enemy ship.

Projectiles two and three fired consecutively and flew towards the Velturan ship the same as the first one did. As they broke apart in mid flight and the smaller projectiles from inside made their marks across the Predator’s body, the impact could be felt across the entire ship.


“We are taking heavy damage from the interlopers. The size of their projectiles makes neutralization difficult, yet they deliver tremendous power. Their shields can withstand the force of many of our own weapons. It would appear the other life forms have certainly perfected the art of warfare in our absence.” The androgynous voice spoke as the battle took its toll on the Velturan ship.

“They attempt to escape us, but that blue planet’s gravitational pull is making it difficult. We will cast them down on to that world and deploy our agent to dispatch them himself.” The ominous voice spoke in response.

“Very well. Preparing to fire weapon X401.”

“Finish this, bug!” Ubbal yelled to Riczo.

“They’ll be nothing more than space dust and rubble in a few moments.” Riczo promised. “All remaining Cyclone salvos, deploy!!” He gave the final command. Seconds later, the appropriate launch bays opened and Cyclone delivery projectiles four through nine all fired from the ship at once. As they sped towards their target, the fronts all detached the smaller projectiles raced towards the Velturan warship and spread their formation the closer they drew.


“Multiple projectiles in bound. Calculating all possible damage scenarios.” The androgynous voice from the Velturan ship observed. “Critical damage inevitable. X401 will terminate a large number of projectiles, but damage from remaining fire will compromise flight capabilities of the vessel.”

“Acceptable losses.” The other voice replied. “We do not have sufficient power to destroy enemy vessel. Cary on with contingency to engage them on planet.”
“It will be done.”


“I think we got them.” Ubbal said to Riczo after the alert ceased its blaring. He smirked as an image on his montor showed the missiles the ship launched closing in on the Predator. “Looks like we took very minimal damage. We should turn this thing around and salvage that ship for the trouble they gave us.”
“No, We only stay long enough to watch the missiles destroy it and then….” Riczo trailed off.

“Then what…?” Ubbal looked back at him. Noting the worried look on his partner’s face, Ubbal turned back to his video display of the Velturan ship. He turned just in time to a see a large forward cannon, X401, protrude from a compartment on the ship. There was then a bright green flash from X401 just as a good number of cyclone missiles connected with the hull of the alien ship.

“Brace yourself!!!” Ubbal yelled out just as every electronic instrument shut down and everything went completely dark. There was slight trembling felt across the entire freighter before a blinding green light similar to the one fired from the predator filled the salvage ship.


“Hey, come on!!” A man leaned out of the window of his 1992 Toyota Camry and yelled at the traffic that was backed up in front of him. As he honked his horn in a combination of futility and frustration, a courier on his bicycle sped past him and the other gridlocked cars in the opposite direction, skillfully navigating the narrow passages on the streets of downtown Vesta City.

“No honey, some idiot in a semi didn’t secure his trailer.” Local businessman Arthur Reilly chatted into his cell phone as he made his way down Penn Avenue’s crowded sidewalk. “Stuff he was carrying is spread out all over Penn avenue and the cops are trying to make sense of it all. Just my luck this happens a few feet from the subway. Cops aren’t letting anyone in or out. I’m gonna try my luck over at McKinley, ‘kay? See you when I get home. Love you.” As his wife hung the phone up, Arthur Reilly dialed another number and put the phone back to his ear. He began chatting as soon as the intended recipient picked up the phone. He jumped shoulders computer technician Quentin Hayes. Neither man thought much about the brief encounter as Quentin did his best to move through the crowd towards the store he could see just down the block marked Computer Village while readjusting the strap on the bag slung across his shoulder so as not to drop it. Small beads of sweat rolled down his dark skin, causing him to take a drink from his bottle water to cool off as the late afternoon sun

“Man, I wonder what’s happening up there.” He muttered to himself as he paused to look up the street, unable to find the source of the horrendous traffic jam. Eventually shaking his head and giving up, Quentin crossed the street to the store where he worked and left the city behind him.

On the way in to the store, the computer technician walked in front of the black Mercedes-Benz belonging to Miriam Leiter, housewife. “Oh come on, Jakey, not today. Mommy’s got a headache.” She tried to calm down her out of control five year old son. She let out an exasperated sigh as her son’s screams filled her head. She groaned, trying to drown out the sound before slamming her hand down on her car horn. Her blaring joined a never ending sympathy as she screamed at the top of her lungs, the combination of the traffic, the unrelenting sun and her child proving to be an overwhelming combination.

“MOVE IT!!!!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. She was pushed one step closer to the edge when the head of Jake’s pirate action figure flew to the front of the car and hit the rear view mirror. Jake.Please. The frustrated mother clenched her teeth to keep from yelling at her own child. She then reached up to make sure the mirror wasn’t adjusted when a massive, fast moving shadow passed over her car. She quickly looked out the windshield to see what it was, but jumped in fear when a loud explosion disrupted the dead silence that fell over the awestruck citizens who witnessed the dying alien vessel pass over downtown Vesta city.
People began to panic when, like a bomb going off in the middle of the street, a chunk of a building that the rapidly descending Velturan Predator clipped, smashed into a gathering of cars on the street below with an impact loud enough and powerful enough to shatter every piece of glass within the area.

Miriam quickly covered her own face when the window on her side broke but could feel the glass bite into the skin on her hand. “Oh god, Jake!!” She cried out as she unbuckled her seat belt and quickly got out of the car. She quickly opened the back door on the driver’s side and unbuckled her boy from his car seat, relieved to see he was unscathed from the broken glass. She held him close, unaware of anything around her as long as her son wasn’t harmed.

“What’s happening mommy?”

“It’s okay baby…it’s okay.” She whispered, holding him close. She let out a sigh of relief, only to be brought back to harsh reality mere moments later.

“OH MY GOD!!!!” A woman screamed at the top of her lungs just as people began fleeing. In the direction the traffic was going. People climbed out of their cars, rushing forward in a mad rush, not even stopping as some were trampled underfoot to get away from what was coming.

Miriam’s heart pounded in her chest as she turned back to see what everyone was running from. “Oh god….” She muttered, her skin turning a few shades paler when she saw it coming down.

The setting sun glinted off of the dull silver metal of the ship’s hull. A massive tail of smoke and billowing flame reached the very clouds from which Riczo and Ubbal’s ship was cast as the gigantic vessel plummeted towards Penn avenue. There was a rumble felt across the streets as people fled and cried in terror when faced with their inevitable ends. Miriam stood there in the center of it all, holding her son close as she clenched her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her face. The trembling grew more violent as the descending object got closer to touching down. All she could do was wait...