Red Star Rising 01

Continued from: [link]

This story takes place in the Angel Falls setting

Original line art and colors by

Soviet Superwoman is property of and appears with permission.

Text by and

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The Russian battleship Pyotr Velikiy had been stationed at Severomorsk for the last six weeks since capturing Somalian pirates off the Horn of Africa. The Kirov class vessel was the flagship of the Northern Fleet and it's crew of 710 were the pride of the Russian navy. Admiral Yvsiotsky stood on deck watching the sun rise on this bitterly cold October morning. The grey sky was just beginning to show a hint of sunlight as he began his inspection tour. He straightened his uniform and looked out over the deck at the assembled crewman, each one standing at attention. He stepped carefully down the iron stairs, a procession of aides and officers at his back. A young captian, first rank named Ydalog suddenly stopped and pointed into the sky. The Admiral followed his gaze, as did the others and looked up. There floating down toward the deck of the ship was a powerfully muscular woman, dressed all in blacks, with a long white cape. She was beautiful in a stern way, with short black hair and piercing blue eyes. Emblazoned on her chest in deep red was the symbol of the Communist Party. She met their stares with an icy one of her own before speaking to all gathered.
"Comrades! You are the once-mighty naval power of the failed capitalist puppet known as the Russian Federation. Your leaders have failed you. The world has ignored you for too long. Your country needs your help! Join with me comrades and we will make the Red Fleet proud again and powerful! Once our ships were technologically superior to anything in the Western powers. We can make it so again! We will rule the seas, as we did during the time of Peter the Great!"*
The crew looked at each other and the woman in confusion. The Admiral and his staff stood in place on the steps watching her defy gravity in front of them. It was an eternity before anyone spoke.
"I take my orders from the Russian President, not from the Communist Party or some costumed revolutionary. What you speak of is treason and neither I nor my crew will hear it. I warn you that you are in violation of Russian airspace and that if you do not leave, we will be forced to take action."*
The Admiral's voice was loud and clear, without fear behind it. All eyes were on the strange woman, her face cold and expressionless.
"Very well than Admiral. When I have removed your President from office and dissolved the government we will see who you take your orders from then. I will not forget your lack of courage or vision."*
The caped woman then levitated skywards again, one fist ahead of her as she began to fly again south, towards the capital. The Admiral watched for a moment before barking orders. The deck became a flurry of activity as men raced to battlestations and officers gave commands to their crews. If he could stop her here he would, before she got out of range. Who knows what kind of madness and destruction she would try to bring to Moscow. He made his way quickly to bridge just in time to see a volley of S-300 missiles streak towards the flying woman. There would be no revolution today.
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Olga heard the missiles shooting up behind her. Damn them! They were going to force her hand already. She had tried to make an impassioned plea and it had fallen on deaf, stupid ears. They wanted to cling to the scraps the new government gave them. She stopped quickly and turned around, facing the barrage. Her eyes flashed red as they approached, beams of intensified light ripping through the missiles before they could impact. She hovered in the air amid the nearby explosions and clenched her hands. She would have to make an example now apparently. She lauched back, through the smoke and falling debris towards the Pyotr Velikiy, eyes still blazing with a dim red glow. Another volley of surface to air missles was sheared in half before they reached halfway to her. The ship had turned it's 30mm guns on her, as well as it's kashtan and ASW rockets.
The bullets, even the 30mm shells, bounced harmlessly off her body, flattening against her adamant-like skin. The rocket barrages she focused her firepower on, causing multiple mid-air explosions. They were brave, but incredibly naive and foolish to oppose her. She put both fists out in front of her and slammed into the side of the great warship, punching through it's 3 inch thick armor like tissue paper at the waterline. She zipped around the left-hand side of the ship, ripping it open like a tin can, causing the water to flood into it's bowels. Explosions rocked the lower levels as the ship began to list to one side. She flew straight up when she reached the stern of the vessel, opening fire with her lasers at the ships defenses as they wheeled back on her in a flurry of devastating firepower. It was no match for the Soviet Superwoman. She paused upon reaching a decent altitude and looked down at the foundering vessel. The crew was abandoning ship, leaping into the icy waters of the Kola Bay.
Already rescue ships had launced to help them. Olga closed her eyes and said a prayer that they would all live. They were still her countrymen, her brothers and sisters, no matter how misguided they were by their leaders, like that fool of an Admiral. News crews had assembled on the docks and were capturing the incident on television. Olga frowned. Vultures and capitalist bottom-feeders. Now Moscow would be prepared and there was a greater chance for loss of life if they resisted her. It also made it more difficult if any of her old allies were watching or caught wind of it fast enough to interfere. She would have to move with greater haste now. Taking a deep breath she watched the rescue operation for a moment more before taking off an an incedible speed towards Moscow and her destiny.
(* translated from Russian)





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Walkiria watched the screen with a mix of shock and horror. She still couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The high tech display was showing a secure feed from the Russian military communication network. The new communication suite had lived up to her benefactor’s claims. Walkiria had experience with communication equipment from her time in Special Forces, but she never had anything this advanced. It too the gear less than five minutes to break the encryption on the soviet military communication network. Walkiria turned to the cloaked figure standing in the shadows. “This is really happening? What is she thinking?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps UltraViolet got inside her head. They say she did something to Freedom Star that got her all twisted around. Calls herself Dark Star now. Think that might have happened here?” replied the cloaked figure. The speaker was standing in the shadows, hidden in the darkness. The voice was female, with an odd mechanical tinge to it. Wearing a long hooded cloak, it was impossible to discern any details about the figure speaking to Walkiria. “If you still think she can be a part of this alliance, you better do something soon. Military units are one thing, but as soon as civilians get involved she will be always be looked at as a villain.”

“I know, I know. Any chance you are finally going to get your hands dirty? I might need some back up on this. The Iron Curtain might have fallen, but the Russians are still pretty serious about guarding their air space.”

The cloaked figure’s hood shook slightly. “Not yet, I don’t want to reveal myself too soon. I don’t want to waste the element of surprise.”

Walkiria scoffed, ”yeah, it will be surprising when you finally get involved, I’ll give you that.”

The mysterious figure seemed unfazed by the muscular heroine’s sarcasm. “I can do more for you from here. I have O.D.I.N. in the Air Defense Department’s computers. We will do our best to keep you off their scopes. If we can’t mask you, we will give them so many false returns they will be too busy chasing ghosts to bother you.”

Walkiria nodded. There was logic in what her partner said, she couldn’t deny that. “You and your supercomputer track Olga for me. Vector me in.”

“Time is of the essence here. You better push yourself getting there,” advised her partner.

Walkiria shrugged. “Speed isn’t the problem. I can go hypersonic, but at those speeds I can’t turn very well. Some Airbus or 767 crosses my path and it’s game over.”

“I’ll have O.D.I.N. plot an intercept course that keeps you in the clear. I’ll have him display the course on the heads-up-display we installed in your helmet’s visor.”

Walkiria nodded and strode towards the exit. “I’m on it. I’ll a way to make Olga see reason, one way or the other.”


To be continued...