1.14 Endgame Part 4

After leaving Freya with Narszara, I bring Aunt Mary to my lab for a private chat.

“So about bringing Freya here,” I say as the door closes behind us, “What do you think the government will do about it? Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that you haven’t done anything wrong, but I do want to be prepared for whatever is coming our way.”

“They’ll probably try and discipline me,” says Mary, “Reduced pay and bad assignments. They might even try and take Freya away from me so I don’t pull more stunts like this. They’ll find I’m a lot tougher than they expect. With the exception of Gregory, I’m the longest operating superhero that’s still active and they will not take my daughter away from me without a fight.”

“Aye,” I agree, “They’ll find the League of Heroes a bit more than they handle if it comes to that, but I feel that things won’t come that far. Especially once they realise how unrelenting we will be on this matter.”

“Too true,” says Mary, “But that’s just a worst case scenario. I’m certain they’ll just try and do that stuff and back down when I don’t. But enough about that, there is another reason I wanted to come here. I would like to take you up on your offer of assistance in upgrading the Warden armour.”

“In what way?” I inquire.

“We both know that you and Dad are both better inventors than me so no beating around that bush,” replies Mary, “I was hoping you could share your latest upgrades to the Sentinel armour with me, so I could add them to the Warden armour.”

“Sure,” I reply with no need to even think about.

Aunt Mary is family and is without a doubt completely trustworthy. No argument there and Granddad did always share his own inventions with her and I have absolutely no reason to not do the same.

“It’s nice to have some of the family back in the game,” says Mary suddenly, “Ever since your mum decided she didn’t want to get involved in the family business, I also thought it fall to me to continue the League of Heroes. It’s strange you know. When we were kids, I always assumed that if one of us was going to become a superhero, it would be Linda. Of the two of us, she was the one that inherited Mum’s powers.”

“Wait what?” I say, confused, “My mum has superpowers?”

“Like same as Helen and Mum, your grandma,” says Mary, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Lily develops powers at some point in her teens.”

“I’ll keep that information in mind,” I reply with frown.

Mum has portal powers? She has never shown any sign of the having them, but I guess she wouldn’t need to. Keeping the possibility that Lily might get the same powers in mind is important, especially as she wasn’t raised like the rest of us Leaguer descendents.

In fact, my little sis doesn’t even know about her connection to the League of Heroes.

But that is all in the future and whether or not Lily develops powers, there is nothing I can do about it.

Other than putting her through the Awakener that is.

As I begin to show the Sentinel armour Mk VIII off to Mary, Janelle interrupts us.

“Sorry to interrupt,” says Janelle apologetically.

“No need to worry,” replies Mary, “What we’re doing can wait and I’m sure what you got to say is important.”

“That it is,” says Janelle, “I have found the location of the Machine’s creator.

“Where?” I demand quickly.

“An old sunken Sektain warship that the original Lantern took down in the Invasion,” says Janelle, “About twenty one miles southeast of the Isle of Wight. Given the length of time, I personally believe that our foe is someone who has taken over the vessel as their base rather than a member of the original crew.”

“Hmm,” I mutter, “I’ll call the entire League together for this one. Given how dangerous, the Machine’s creator has proven, I think we should also call in some back-up.”

“I’ll call in the Albion Defenders for this,” says Mary.

“And I’ll call in Darrac,” says Janelle, “He is still planetside and his expertise should prove useful.”

“Darrac is one of the supersoldiers created by the Sektain right?” inquires Mary.

“That is correct,” I reply, “He has also helped me out against the Machine a couple of months or so ago. Plus he was the one who provided us with the equipment to locate the Machine’s creator in the first place.”

“I’ll be off to call my team then,” says Mary, “You call the League. I’ll be leaving Freya here by the way.  I am not sending her back after we just got here and I am most certainly not taking her with us.”

“I understand,” I reply as Mary leaves the lab.

I might as well get armoured up while I’m in here, I decide as I walk up to the latest version of the Sentinel armour.

“Hey Janelle,” I say as a thought enters my mind, “Are you sure this isn’t another trap?”

“Yes,” replies the AI, “For once, we have the upper hand and the element of surprise.”

“Good.”