Lilith couldn't believe her bad luck. Her first birthday as an official Sentinel, and no one remembered. No one ever remembered.
She almost wished she'd been born on Christmas; everyone was glued to the TV on November 5th. The collective PTSD in the air almost made her sick.'Today is a day of remembrance,' the girls at the academy would say before rushing off to sit and watch the same gruesome investigation every year with their besties. They never invited Lilith.. or came to her birthday parties.
Well, they could piss off. Half those girls got sent to third-tier Teams. Losers.
What was it with people and serial killers, anyway?
To make matters worse, it turned out that Falco - her teammate - had been the killer this whole time. Lilith could absolutely believe Fatima's story. He'd been so aloof at the academy that no one ever really got a handle on his personality. No one other than Crocodile at least, and that guy was more of a stone wall than Rosenquartz, who was an actual stone wall.
Even after ending up in the same Strike Force post-graduation, Falco was still a mystery to her. She knew a little about his past, and it wasn't pretty. She could have taken his frivolous energy at face value like most people, but there had to be a deeper side of him than that happy-go-lucky joker mask he wore.
A rough jolt shook the orbital drop transport Lilith, Gabrie,l and Rosenquartz rode. With the dent her head made in the metal wall, Dr. Atomic might as well have shot them through orbit in a can of soda. She checked her WristPad and her live stream.
Four minutes to Munich.
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Not long after Falco had taken off to meet his Grandmother, the live feed had cut off. A black background with a red sickle replaced the broadcast along with the message:
"The Children of Retribution have come. We will have vengeance. Bring us Johann."
Dr. Atomic burst into the room moments later.
"Gamma! We have a problem." He gestured to the screen. "Run of the mill terrorist sect. They formed in the Russ Protectorate under the prime directive to avenge lost loved ones. Each member lost someone to Falco the day of the massacre. As you can see, they've taken the broadcasting building hostage."
"Doesn't sound like much problem. Ground and pound? Reinforce local troops?" Rosenquartz smashed his fists together.
Dr. Atomic smiled at the man's enthusiasm but shook his head. "That's not the problem." He waved his arm, and the tv display morphed into an advanced console. A few grainy satellite shots of a red streak flying through the upper atmosphere filled the screen. "She is."
Even Rosenquartz had nothing to say. Red Global's presence in the area was enough to destabilize the entire international balance of power. With the Sentinels detained and redistributed, Europe had been left without dedicated emergency response troops. If Red Global went on the offensive, it would take an army to stop her. One we no longer had.
"I've prepared," Gabriel said, breaking the solemn silence.
"Are you kidding? Gabe, I know you can beat her in simulation, but this isn't the same." Lilith prickled at the thought of Gabriel fighting Red Global for real. "We had thousands of Sentinels stationed along the Russ border to warn her off - not even to stop her - just to make an attack more trouble to her than it's worth."
Gabriel had been so distant since getting thrashed by MAD (a nuclear-based super) in a 1-on-1. Sentinel combat training was nothing compared to the simulations Gabriel had thrown himself into. With his constant tinkering in his lab, it had choked the nascent feelings before they could bloom.
YOU ARE READING
Looking Glass (Darkest Secrets Volume 2)
Science FictionFalco never had an easy life - and he's the fastest human alive. After stealing, hiding, and all-around scoundrel-ing his way through the world, he'd finally found his way out of the seedy underground of Vigilantes and onto the proper track of a Sen...
