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Mutants & Masterminds: StarGate Freedom - Prologue: Shawn and Lori Wilson


z-Servant of Ra

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October 31, 2008, 1:55 p.m.

Walmart #1434, Colorado Springs, CO

Lori sighed and tugged on her blue apron as the ancient biddy counted change. The old lady had been sweet so far, but she was clearly near-sighted, lifting out each coin to peer at it. “Would you like me to count for you?” Lori offered politely, tucking her black hair behind her ears.

“I can do it,” the woman said, her voice becoming querulous.

Lori’s phone rang and she cursed softly; she was going to get in trouble for having her phone at her register. The old woman might be half-blind, but there was nothing wrong with the hag’s ears, because her eyes jerked up at Lori and she scowled. “Kids today,” she warbled as she went back to counting her change.

Angrier than ever, Lori looked down at the ID, silencing the phone and sending it to voice mail. It was her father, and Lori wondered what the neglecting bastard wanted. She hadn’t heard from him since Christmas last year, when he’d called Mom and managed to pick a fight with her. She was surprised he’d found room for her number among all his generals and majors and people he ‘had’ to know. Guess you don’t have to know your own dau-

The phone rang again as she tried to fumble the volume down; down the line, she saw Wanda, one of the managers go on alert. “Fuck!” she hissed, with earned a gasp from the old bitch. She saw it was her dad again, and she sent him to voice mail, finally getting the phone turned down.

“Lori, you know you can’t have your phone on the register,” Wanda said, staring at Lori with her dead, all-seeing eyes.

Lori repressed a shudder as she whined, “I know, but I have a cousin in the hospital, and Dad said he’d call-” Her phone rang again. “Please, this is the third time! It must be important.”

For all that she looked like a soulless minion of the undead, Wanda wasn’t bad. She stared harshly, then relented. “Alright, I’ll let you take your break early. I’ll cover your register for you.” As they switched places, Wanda added, “I hope your cousin is ok.”

“Thanks,” Lori said, now feeling bad about lying about it. She hurried to the breakroom, catching her father right before he went to voice mail. “You just got me in a lot of trou-”

“Get your brother and get out of town,” her father snapped. “Just get in your car and go.”

“Uh, what? I can’t, I’m in the middle of my shift!”

“Forget the job, Lori! They’re about to start barricading the roads to prevent a mob panic,” her father said. “You have about twenty minutes to get out of there. Just get Shawn and get to Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora! I’ve arranged for you to be flown somewhere safe.” There were voices, and he said, “Baby, just go, I can’t talk longer. I love you. Go!” And then he hung up.

Lori hesitated, unsure what to do. That hadn’t sounded like her father, at all. Mr. Work-Ethic saying ‘forget the job’? And the panic in his voice – she’d never heard him like that, not even when she’d been badly bitten by the neighbor’s Doberman when she was twelve. He’d been cool and calm her whole life; what could have shaken him so badly?

That made the decision for her. She grabbed her coat and purse and fled. “Wanda,” she said, stopping to talk to her supervisor. “I have to go – yeah, I know, fire me if you have to.” She paused, then stepped close and murmured, “Look, my dad’s with the military, he’s a big wig, knows a lot. And he just told me to get out of town. So I think you should leave too.” She left the woman gaping after her in shock.

She hopped in her call and pulled out of the lot, infected with her father's fear. She pulled out her phone and called Shawn, hoping he picked up.

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Shawn looked down at his cell and sighed as his sister's number popped up. He put the television on mute. It was turned to the local religious station. He picked up the phone and sighed, "Lori, what's up?" As Lori relayed the conversation with their father, he became paler and paler. He nearly dropped the phone as he heard the panic in her voice towards the end. Shawn shook his head and agreed to meet his sister at the air force base. He threw some clothes into a bag along with his bible and his collar and a small gold cross. Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he ran down to his 1989 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight and he sped off, heading towards the Air Force base at Aurora with nearly breakneck speed, but obeying all other traffic laws.

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As Shawn drove north along I-25, he was struck by people stopping along side the road, getting out of their cars and turning to stare south, back toward Colorado Springs. Carefully, he pulled over and got out of the car, looking back. His mouth dropped open, and he grabbed for his crucifix. A pyramid floated in the air over Colorado Springs, heading west. He could see golden pinpricks of light flying around the pyramid.

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He sped north, arriving at the gate in good time. Shawn expected to have to talk his way in, but instead, he was waved through once they confirmed his identity. He was shown where to park and given a visitor's badge. Then he was asked to wait for the general in a room.

After about ten minutes, the door opened again, and Lori walked in. Relief colored her features and she ran to her brother, throwing her arms around him. "Did you see it?" she asked, looking on the verge of tears.

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  • 2 months later...

Lori was shaking as she hugged him. "A... flying pyramid?" Her tone said that she half-expected her brother to mock her. Instead, Shawn found himself nodding in agreement. "You saw it too?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"What's going on?" she asked, only to have the door open. Their father stood there, looking tired and haggard. But he was there. Lori didn't try to go to him for a hug.

"Are you ok?" General Wilson asked stiffly. As always, Shawn could see the affection and concern in his eyes for his children, but the man had little idea how to express it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

"Tell... Shawn, I've never lied to you, and I sure as hell aren't going to start now," his father said tersely. "We've been invaded by aliens. I'm getting the two of you to safety, with the rest of the troops. What's left. We don't know much other than that they claim to be gods. We're still working out the information that we have.

"What I want the two of you to do is stay out of the way of the soldiers," the general finished. "Just let them do their jobs."

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"They have attacked us, son," the general said, frowning. "They weren't using harsh language, either." There was a knock at the door and their father put a hand on Shawn's arm. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

He herded them out the door to a waiting troop transport. There were other people who were clearly civilians, mostly women and children. "These are some of the families of soldiers we're taking to safety," the general said. "Lori, you ride with them. Shawn..." He hesitated then seemed to make up his mind. "Shawn, come with me, and tell me everything you know about the Egyptian god Ra."

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Shawn nods, "Of course. Ra was the ancient Egyptian Sun god. At different periods he meant different things. For example, at the beginning, the center of his cult's worship was Heliopolis. As it spread, he became merged with other regional deities like Horus and Amun. His high period was after the Fifth dynasty. That's all I remember off the top of my head. I'd need to research to find out more. Why do you ask this? Does it have something to do with that crazy pyramid?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

They left Lori behind with the troops and boarded another jeep, sitting in the back while a soldier drove. They were soon on the road, bound deeper into the mountains. At first, they were part of a convey, but that quickly dwindled to three vehicles total as the others branched off or dropped speed to put distance between the groups. Even Shawn could tell they were trying to mask their movements from an aerial observer.

General Wilson sighed. "Fellow driving it claims to be Ra. Don't know if he means that he's attached to the image or if he has some kind of alien claim. Not that it matters; we'll kick his ass, sun god or no. What do you need to research more? If you can get me a list of books, I'll see what can be found for you."

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