Colonel Sato had placed the base on alert and recalled all of its personnel, leaving it more busy than it had likely been in decades.  Towards the end of the square, type 10 tanks were rolling towards their defensive positions.

    “We need something from your world, Atria,” Akari called out.  Atria unbuckled her antigrav from her belt.

    “Do not turn this on,” Atria warned as she handed the antigrav over.

    “Can you tell us anything specific about the mech?” Akari asked.

    “Its name is Volandpanzer,” Atria replied.  “It’s a Type VIIb command and control mech, sub-type III.  Everything in it works except for the autopilot, which is twitchy.”

    “So, is it true that we can now go back home if we want?” Cap asked Stella.

    “According to Akari, Daiki can open a gate,” Stella said.  “So, I guess so.”

    “You thinking of going?”

    Stella shook her head.  “It’s tempting to go back and visit.  I left a lot of people I care about back there.  But, this world is my home now, and it’s where my life is.  And, for anybody but Daiki, it would be a one-way trip.  So, I’m staying here.”

    “What about you, Atria?” Cap asked as Akari had Daiki touch the antigrav to the pommel of his sword.  “You going to go home when this is done?”

    Atria looked at him and frowned.  “I don’t know.  My duty as an officer of the Hyperborean Army is to return.  But, there’s already another version of me there, so if I do go, it’s a gamble – will the two of me be merged, and if not, which of us will be erased on when the information stream updates?”

    “I’d rather you stayed,” Stella said.

    Atria smiled at her.  “I know.  And no matter what I do, you will always be my best friend in this world.  But I still have to do what is right for me.  I guess I’ll figure that out once this is over.  What about you, Cap?  You staying or going home?”

    “Staying,” Cap said.  “This world isn’t my home, but my life back home is very empty.  And if I’m going to be replaced by the information stream when the next comic book comes out anyway, I’d rather make a new home here.”

    “Major Silversword?” a new voice called in Japanese.  Cap looked over to see the general approaching.

    Atria looked at him and nodded.  “That’s me.”

    “I’m Lieutenant-General Yoshida,” the general said.  “I’m the commander of the Eastern Army.  I thought it was time that we met.”

    “Ah,” Atria said, saluting.  “Apologies – I’m still learning the rank insignia in this world.”

    “No problem,” Yoshida said.  “Do you have everything you need?”

    “Yes sir, and thank you for your generosity.”

    Yoshida smiled.  “Not a problem, Major.  My daughter is a big fan of the show you are from.  I may impose upon you to let her meet you when this is done.”

    “I would be delighted, sir.”

    “Is it true that you’re going to summon your battle mech?”

    “That is the plan, sir.”

    “I look forward to seeing it.”

    “Thank you, sir.”

    Yoshida took a deep breath.  “I don’t think I’ve fired a weapon in combat in around forty years.  I was fighting a kaiju then.”

    “A giant monster?” Atria said, blinking in surprise.  “I wasn’t aware those existed in this world.”

    “They don’t,” Yoshida stated.  “It’s quite a thing to fall through a cliff face.  As I said, Major Silversword, you will have everything you need.”

    Cap and Stella looked at each other.  Cap grinned and said, “That explains a lot.”

    “Thank you, sir,” Atria said.  Yoshida nodded and stepped back into the crowd of onlookers.

    “There’s something bothering you,” Atria said to Stella.

    Stella nodded.

    “So, what is it?”

    Stella shrugged.  “I don’t know yet.  It just feels like there’s something important that we’ve missed about this.”  She motioned to Daiki and Akari.  “Wait, how big is your mech?”

    “About twenty-two feet tall, fifteen feet wide,” Atria replied.  “Why?”

    Behind him, Cap heard Kaguyama and Mitsubi whispering with excitement about being able to see Volandpanzer in the flesh.

    “Well, when you came here there was a sonic boom,” Stella said.  “I think that what happens is that when somebody materializes, the air is displaced at a very high speed.  So, there’s a shock wave.”

    Atria nodded.  “Makes sense.”

    “We’re about to do it, so please stand back,” Akari called out.  Cap, Atria and Stella took a couple of steps back.

    “And the bigger the object...” Stella continued, and then stopped.  The three of them traded looks of alarm.

    A massive explosion shattered the air, deafening them.  Cap crouched over in pain as his ears rang.  When he looked up, both Akari and Daiki were reeling, either from the sound or the shock wave or both.  He could barely hear anything through the ringing.

    “We should have worn earplugs!” Atria shouted.

    “What?!” Stella yelled.  “I can’t hear you!  We should have worn earplugs!”

    Cap looked up at the barracks.  Shards of glass fell from shattered windows.  The ringing in his ears was starting to fade.

    “What happened?” he heard Colonel Sato yelling, and then he heard Sato’s footsteps stop short.  Cap’s gazed moved down from the broken windows to the square.

    A battle mech, squat and bristling with missiles and guns and painted in a light blue and grey camouflage pattern stood in the square.  Beside him, Atria shook her head to clear it and then looked to at the mech.  Her eyes lit up and a giant grin plastered her face.

    “Volandpanzer!” she cried in joy.

    “So that’s what it looks like,” Sato said.

    Atria dashed forward and pulled a lever on the leg, opening the lower hatch.  “Extended pre-flight takes about an hour,” she said, climbing up.  “Once that’s done, I can be up in the air within ten minutes at any time during the next three days.”  She looked down at Stella, her grin widening, and held out a hand.  “You want to help?”

    Stella grinned back.  “Oh yes please!”

    “So Cap,” Atria said after helping Stella into the now-cramped cockpit and starting her pre-flight checks, “The radiation weakens you, but do you think you would still have enough strength to throw it at least ten kilometres into the air?”

    “Absolutely,” Cap replied.

    “So how does this sound,” Atria asked, flipping some switches and directing Stella to check a panel, “you throw it, I shoot it!”

    “That works for me!” Cap stated.

    “I was going to ask Major Silversword for some help with the field positions but I guess it will have to wait,” Sato said.  “I’ll leave you to it.”

    “Perhaps I can help,” Cap said.

    In the Volandpanzer cockpit, he heard Atria curse for a moment.  “The autopilot’s still twitchy,” she told Stella.  “That replacement me really needs to light a fire under the maintenance crew’s asses on this.”

    Sato gave him a kind smile.  “I appreciate the offer, Captain Infinite, but the military arts are a specialized area of knowledge.  A lay person cannot do this.”

    “Colonel Sato, sir, I don’t think you understand,” Cap said.  “‘Captain’ is not part of a superhero name.”  He snapped to attention and saluted.  “Captain Matthew Markham, United States Army, 42nd Rangers, serial number O-2993764, volunteering for duty, sir.  I served as a combat leader in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, and Rhineland campaigns.  May I be of service, sir?”

    “Very well,” Sato said, saluting back.  “Captain Markham, please check the fields of fire for the defences in depth.  We need to make certain that we can coordinate properly with you and Major Silversword once the fighting begins.  Make certain you get the effective range estimates from the platoon leaders on site – a lot has changed since the Second World War.”

    “Yes sir,” Cap said, taking a deep breath.  Nobody had called him Matthew Markham in over forty years, not since he had left the name behind along with his job at the newspaper after Janey had passed.  And yet...

    ...it felt right.  Like becoming himself again after an eternity of being somebody else.

    With a smile, Matthew Markham headed off to the inner line of defence.

    “There’s something everybody needs to know before we say anything further,” Akari Soto said in one of the images.  “One of The Destroyer’s powers is to use a scrying spell to see all of the intentions and plans of his enemies.  So, he will know everything we say in this meeting, and once we knows that we are in opposition to him, he will not waste time making his own plans and attacking.”

    “They’re very good,” The Destroyer said in English to Jenny.  “And quite correct.  If they’re going to oppose our war of liberation, we need to attack and take them out now.  It is a pity – I would have thought that they would fight on the side of liberty instead of slavery and oppression.”

    “Is that my creator?” Saline asked in Japanese, pointing to Akari Soto.

    “Yes,” The Destroyer said in Japanese.

    “She does not look like much of a god,” Saline stated.  “I will enjoy killing her.”

    The Destroyer turned to Jenny and smiled.  “You are going to meet your creator tomorrow morning.  Do with her as you will.”

    “How long will it take to prepare?” Jenny asked.

    “We will be able to attack at dawn,” The Destroyer replied.

    Jenny nodded.  It was a bit of a cliche, but that didn’t matter.  By tomorrow afternoon she would be holding Alice Matson to account, and every single creator holed up with her would be dead.

NEXT: “Apotheosis”