A Resurgence tie-in

The armored hero known as Dragonfly flew into oncoming U’ntari Gliders. The one-man gliders fired bolts of energy at him which he dodged by spiralling side-to-side and as he did so, he released missiles from his wings. They crisscrossed through the air before hitting their targets. Dragonfly continued forward as explosions erupted around him. Below, a group of lesser-known superheroes took on U’ntari infantry and higher up, US fighter jets and drones did battle with crescent-shaped vessels with a large Commander Ship in the distance which was getting pelted by surface-to-air missiles (or would have been if it wasn’t for its personal forcefield). As Dragonfly continued through the air, a U’ntari super-soldier dubbed Bone-Breaker, picked up a car and hurled it at him. He tried to flip in the air to avoid it but was clipped in the shoulder which pushed him into a nearby wall, breaking off several chunks. “Damn!,” Dragonfly had spent all of his missiles but he still had energy blasts which he released from his fists. They hit the super soldier and while it didn’t kill him, they still sent him through a wall and away from the battle momentarily.

The National Guard had positioned itself in the streets, which allowed Dragonfly the opportunity to reload at multiple intervals. Once he landed, a supply team began reattaching projectiles to his wings. It was then that he received a message on his HUD.

“Hey Stern, it’s me,” Ryan greeted him.

“Little busy if you hadn’t noticed, Bennings.”

“That’s what I need to talk about. Me and Rex Robinson are getting as many people together as we can. We think New York is a distraction. Rex is helping out with the Badges in Lyon while I’m trying to get a team together.”

“If Robinson sends an order, I’ll do it without question. You don’t get that privilege,” once the team finished with the reload, he took off into the sky once again and the call ended.

Ryan sighed to himself, “It went about as well as expected.”vvIn his home in Boston, Ryan stood in his downstairs lab, pouring over the holographic screens in front of him. The U’ntari had returned after the Invasion of 1981 and were in the process of attacking New York and likely other cities as well. Rex Robinson and Ryan Bennings formulated a plan to gather as many of Earth’s heroes as they could and create an offensive but that proved to be more difficult than expected. Undaunted, Ryan called the next number.

In a bunker somewhere, Craig Levison answered his phone, “Ryan? What the hell? How did you get this number?”

“Where are the Upstarts? No time to argue, just tell me where to find them and I’ll bring them here for protection.”

“They were doing some basic training thing when all this went down. Last I heard, the Army had them in DC but wouldn’t tell me more.”

“Where in DC? I’ll go get them myself.”

“I don’t know, I told you! They kicked my film crew out and moved them off-base somewhere.”

“Don’t play games you thundering asshat!”

“First of all, screw you. Second, it’s out of my hands, Ryan!”

“I’m trying to keep them safe. You want them going up against some alien warlords? They’re gonna get themselves killed unless you let me help.”

“It’s out of my hands, I’m sorry!,” with that, he hung up.

“Godammit, Levison!”

Ryan threw his arms across his workbench, scattering notes and tools across his lab floor. He began to turn and leave but an alarm went off in his lab, followed by the voice of his security system, “Incoming aircraft. Brace for impact!”

“Shit,” he muttered, “Shields up!”

A U’ntari Fighter in the New York fleet had a side mission involving a trip to Boston as Ryan was listed as a potential threat; its high-speed capabilities allowed it to make the trip faster than most aircraft on Earth. Fortunately, Ryan anticipated this event and had sent Labrat to a bunker shortly after the attack on New York and he always had defensive weapons in place for such an occasion.

The Fighter Class ship flew to the cliffside penthouse and fired a single energy blast just as a force field wrapped itself around the home. For the most part, the explosion deflected off the surface but the shockwave managed to strike the base of Ryan’s multi-story garage. A load-bearing pillar was blasted apart, causing a cave-in. The second and third stories pancaked on one another, crushing multiple cars in the process as smoke rose into the sky. The explosion shook the rest of his house and caused his lights to flicker; Ryan fell to the floor and a shelf toppled onto him. “Stupid invasion!,” he crawled out from under the shelf, clutching his arm in pain, “Damage report!”

“The garage has collapsed. All vehicles offline and likely destroyed.”

“Looks like I’ll be walking for a while,” he stood up, “Give me visuals.”

A series of holographic screens surrounded him, giving him a 360-degree view. He watched as the Fighter Ship circled back and called out the next command, “Defensive canon.” A portion of the roof slid open and folded along the side of the house, then a rotating canon with twin turrets rose before turning and locking onto the moving target. “Once you have a shot, take it,” Ryan commanded the targeting system. The shield dropped briefly and the canon fired, a volley of plasmatic energy deflecting off the ship’s own forcefield. The impact pushed the ship off course as it made a pass, which stopped it from firing another shot but otherwise, it remained in the air.

“Ooooof course it has a shield,” Ryan said to himself, “Time for trial and error… decrease the caliber of the barrels. All the way to 7mm in diameter.” The canon’s turrets turned and a second section slid into place inside the barrel, followed by another. As each section moved in, the barrel size decreased until there was only a small opening the size of a pencil. It fired again, emitting two thin beams that also deflected off the ship’s shield as it curved through the air. “Sustained beam. Aim for the weapons,” Ryan commanded, “Let’s hope for a David and Goliath twist.” The ship’s canons were on the underside of its wings and as it prepared for another shot, the pencil-thin beam ran along the forcefield, finally finding its way to its destination.

Ryan surmised that the forcefield would likely have weak points, particularly near the weapon areas that would allow the ships to fire while the shields were raised (this was due to his own house’s forcefield limitations which could not allow a shield to be raised while his weapon systems fired). He was hoping for the forcefield to have a net-like pattern near this area that could contain large, blunt explosions but might be vulnerable to very narrow attacks that could find their way through small gaps. He was correct in this assessment.

The beam passed through a tiny pinhole, into the ship’s cannon which was sliced open as it charged up to fire. The explosion ripped off its wing and sent it hurtling into the hillside nearby where it exploded, the house protected from the flying debris and flames as the shield returned a split-second later.

“No more distractions, hopefully,” Ryan began replacing the shelf in his lab, “Back to work.” While he could contact the IMD, he knew Rex was on his way to assist them and would likely persuade the Badges to join up with the small army they were forming. The only remaining contact he had access to was the Cavalier. While he had never met this particular version, he had been given a communication code by Rex.

He hoped that the Cavalier would be receptive and that he might bring a few allies along. Additionally, he was worried about the Upstarts but since all his vehicles had been destroyed and the U’ntari were targeting him, there was little that could be done at the moment. “Initiate DL protocol,” Ryan said to his security program, “Image: smoldering rubble.” A holographic projection dropped over the house, the building disappearing and replaced by a 3D image of burning rubble. To anyone passing by, it would appear as though the house had been destroyed, likely with Ryan still inside. He felt it would be enough to keep the U’ntari away for the time being so he could focus on forming an alliance.

He couldn’t help but wonder if an established team should have already been in place. It was too late for that but perhaps a team could be formed later. Assuming the planet survived the invasion.

The Resurgence Reading List

The Resurgence Prologue

The Resurgence #1

The Resurgence #2

Formerly Known as Brain Boy #8

Winghaven #20

The Cavalier #21

The Badges #12

The Resurgence #3

The Resurgence #4

The Resurgence #5

The Resurgence #6

Astra Machina #10

The Resurgence #7

The Upstarts #11

The Resurgence #8

The Resurgence #9

The Resurgence #10

The Resurgence #11

The Resurgence #12

The Resurgence Epilogue