16th September 2012
21:46 GMT +1
Unable to detect-.
Yes, I
know. Obviously he'd be blocking things like that. Just go through the faces one by one and highlight matches.
Compliance. Working.
"…to know that she is well."
Tante Gerri smiles at me as we fly in the direction of what was once Greece. The maps I've seen show it split between Germany and Italy, and I don't actually know whether there's a real 'Greece' left to speak of. I don't remember much about Greek participation in World War Two on Earth Prime, but on Earth 16 they saw off the Italians before being smashed by the Germans and brutally occupied until near the end of the war.
Here… They were brutally occupied until near the end of the war. Then they were annexed.
"Your alter-ego was one of the first people she asked about, once she woke up.
"
"I
have an alter-ego?"
"Oh yes. You're just about old enough that-.
"
She mock-frowns. "It's not polite to talk about a woman's age like that."
"My gran used to say that at a certain age it becomes a source of pride.
"
"Hah! I am not
that old." She looks curious. "Is she like me, this other Gerte von Hohenbrauer?"
"I don't believe that she uses the 'von', but I don't know her
that well. I believe she shares the same close friendship with Doctor Kameya that you do, which was a surprise for Angelika when she found out.
"
Ms. Brauer doesn't twitch in the slightest. And I'm fairly confident that she isn't going to ask any questions where there's the slightest chance of being overheard.
"It's good to know that she has some familiar faces."
"Though in our parallel her first name is 'Valerie'.
"
"Her
actual first name, or has she just taken a 'European' n-?"
"Donner,
Atom Man, prepare to deploy."
Ms. Brauer nods at The Bat's voice, checking her communication earpiece and throat mike before moving towards the cargo door, keeping a firm grip on the hand holds. She has the same Danner enhancements as her Earth 16 doppelgänger, but that doesn't stop her being tossed around if she isn't anchored. Atom Man on the other hand has an anchor system built into the boots of his kryptonian-derived power armour, and is content to stay in the middle of the hold to await deployment.
I could have flown ahead, but The Bat wasn't keen. He fed me a line about his honour not letting him let me face the danger alone, but… Well, it's not as if I let Angelika out of my sight until I was sure she wasn't going to try re-enacting the Holocaust. While I'm fairly confident that none of the superheroes they have on hand could stop me, they can at least keep tabs on me.
I hear the quiet sound of bullets hitting the aircraft's force field. Not too bad at the moment, but someone unfriendly knows that we're here.
"Enemy superhuman en route. Deploy-" The side of the aircraft drops away. "-
now."
Ms. Brauer leaps first, falling a dozen metres to the Greek street below. Atom Man follows her out, using his armour's flight system to land far more gently. I fly out after
him, generating a construct shield to cover us from the sporadic automatic weapon fire.
Ms. Brauer stands, nodding. "We're down."
"The Bat pulling back." Thrusters burn as the owlwing turns away and rises at speed. "I will stay on station in case you need emergency evacuation or fire support."
Atom Man deploys his forearm-mounted weapons, several parts of them glowing a familiar green.
"I think we can cope with some uppity subhumans, yes?"
"What do you call it if a subhuman is also a superhuman?
"
"Unnatural."
He raises his right arm and a lance of… Yes, that's a kryptonite laser, flickers out and hits the person shooting us in the chest. Their torso sort of collapses inward as their centre collapses in a cloud of ash.
"We
could use some prisoners, Atom Man.
"
"This is the fourth operation I have been on against these subhumans. The ones with guns don't know anything."
He lands, then begins walking in the direction of the screams.
"Usually, we call them 'empowered subhumans'. When they are not race traitors." Ms. Brauer marches after Atom Man, and I float along just behind her. "The local garrison should have evacuated people by now, but… Ah. We are near the Italian border."
"And they're less strict about enforcing certain laws?
"
"When it comes to the border, yes. They cannot afford to be too blatant; Greater Germany is a great deal more powerful than Italy."
"Does Italy want something?
"
"Yes. Greece. They cite the old links between Rome and the Eastern Empire. Hitler said that if they wanted it that badly then they should have fought for it harder."
"You understand that I have no interest in fighting an international war for the Reich?
"
"We would not want you to. 'Survival of the fittest', yes?"
"Of all the parts of the ideology for you to ke-.
"
Atom Man
slams into my construct barrier back first, dents clearly visible in the front of his armour!
"Atom Man, report!"
"I have found… Found the deviant."
He pushes himself off the construct, floating in the air as his armour shimmers with green light.
"I recognised her. I think she is one who fought for America during the war."
"Are you injured?"
"Nothing I cannot heal."
"Okay, who-?
"
A red
blur flies past Ms. Brauer, knocking Atom Man into the sky! I fly
up, keeping him in sight as he raises his fists overhead and slams them down on his attacker with a blast of green energy! His attacker lets go and he continues on a ballistic arc-. Does he not have stabilis-?
My construct shield
shudders as whoever this is decides to assail
me instead, giving me a brief view of a madly-grinning face before they pull back, heading back to ground level faster than I can easily follow with my unaided eye.
Fortunately, my rings can track better than that.
I form a railgun and fire.
