A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 27 - Dr. Atomic

Dr. Atomic congratulated the captains with a recorded fanfare of trumpets and bugles.

"Wonderfully done, team! You managed to complete every task I assigned you. You lost two members, but overall, a good learning experience."

"That was bull! You sent us in there to die!" Crocodile roared in frustration.

Dr. Atomic shook his head. "I did warn you, didn't I?"

Mystery spoke up next. "With all due respect, sir, that was too much."

"Exactly, the whole point of this exercise was to teach you when enough is enough."

"If you don't mind my asking, Doctor, what exactly was that simulation? It wasn't any scenario I would have expected to encounter." Gabriel asked.

Dr. Atomic grinned. "That's because it's top-secret! What you just experienced was a replica of a mission we ran near the end of the first Blitz. We kept it away from the public, but the Ruchin invaded the North American Continent while the MechaBlitz were tearing us to shreds."

"What? That's crazy! Why would they do that instead of fighting the Blitz off?" Rey exclaimed.

"They were fighting the Blitz, but they decided it would be a good opportunity to claim new territory. They invaded the Canadian wilderness with warbots and set up housing depots to amass a mechanical army. We started running routine missions to destroy them. Things were going well when a team ended up inside the Ruchin's camouflaged base of operations on one particular run. They were given up by an inside informant, and Red Global intercepted them inside."

"Did they die?" Mystery asked.

Dr. Atomic looked at her sadly. "Some, yes."

"Who were they?" Gabriel asked next.

"The Strike Force on that mission was made up of Zero, Myself, Calamity, and... Aphrodite," Dr. Atomic said the last name in a whisper.

The silence stretched on for what seemed like minutes before Dr. Atomic spoke again, this time in a more solid tone. "We fought our way to the last pillar as you did, but when Red Global appeared, we were arrogant enough to fight. In the end, we were forced to leave Calamity and Aphrodite behind, much like your team was forced to leave you, Gabriel. They didn't make it out."

"How is she so strong? Drugs?" Crocodile asked finally.

Dr. Atomic seemed to get knocked out of a memory. "Ah, unfortunately, no. Red Global is one of the few leaders of the Ruchin who reject such enhancements. Her power is natural."

Crocodile growled. "How is that possible?!"

"Her peculiar mutation absorbs energy in any form for storage and later use. She discovered - long ago - that by keeping more power stored for long periods, her physical abilities are heightened.

Storing such vast amounts of power has also kept her alive for over five hundred years. Only Gilgamesh, the leader of the Persian Dawn, can claim something like that. Also, judging from his most recent sightings, she may be aging backward. To be frank, it would take most of the Shield to take down Red Global." Dr. Atomic said bluntly.

Mystery was pale. "You mean you're going to send us on those kinds of missions?" She asked, frightened.

Dr. Atomic looked taken aback. "Why... yes. Seldom do we encounter such powerful opposition, mind you. This was a very significant building to the Ruchin war effort - led by Global herself. Take this as a lesson of what the worst possible circumstances could look like."

Mystery nodded her head and gulped, uneasy.

The doctor furrowed his brow. "Now, where was I. Ah yes! You all did admirably. Rey, good job as Captain. Global caught you by surprise; no need to beat yourself up. Mystery, I do have to say you could have been a bit more active on support. Crocodile, well done in that hallway. Gabriel, I enjoyed watching you work. You hurt Global. Not many people can say that.