Once in the infirmary, Red goes about systematically checking everyone out.
Just then, some of the TVs hanging on the walls (there are TVs all over the base) cut in...
...DISASTER IN THE DESERT... "We have now confirmed reports that a spacecraft landed about an hour ago in the Negev desert in Southern Israel, leading to some kind of massive battle and a nuclear explosion of some kind. Sources close to Lord Barrington, leader of the One World Coalition, its military wing the Legion of Hope, and its social service arm the Compassion Corps, have confirmed some involvement, and will be speaking immediately. We have also just received confirmation that Freedom City's mysterious new supergroup, responsible for shutting down the Cholos and capturing Faust, White Knight, the Grey Gunner, international arms dealer Anatole Voderac, and a number of other supervillains in the past few weeks, were also involved, and their publicist has confirmed that one member of the team was killed in the operation. The team, which took over after the freedom league was captured by Barrington, has received much praise for its recent successes, but has also garnered controversy, having been accused by some of being a government front...oh, what...ok, the have the feed from Barrington coming in now. Lets go to it.
Barrington is shown in the red and gold power armor he was wearing when he attacked the Freedom League. Behind him is his upside down globe logo. He begins speaking.
"Today, on my orders, a Legion of Hope dropship, bolstered by superheroes from several Middle Eastern countries, raided a facility in the Negev Desert. This facility was an imperialist gulag, a prison for Arab superheroes illegally kidnapped from their home countries by Israeli agents. Unfortunately, that objective was not accomplished, because American agents posing as "superheroes" appeared to defend the facility. Many of the prisoners were executed before we could get to them.
Like the "Freedom League before them, these so-called heroes are the vanguard of the imperialist foreign policy that the United States has been pursuing since the Second World War. Within the country, they and are serving as a secret police, able to harm and detain anyone with impunity.
We call upon all fair-thinking individuals to stand up for the rule of law at home and abroad, to stand up for international law and basic human rights, and condemn these oppressive acts and the so-called heroes who perpetrate them.
Despite these setbacks, we will continue to fight for equality for all mankind. The world is in crisis, paying the price for imperialism and greed. Around the world there is famine, war, and oppression. Peoples and countries bully each other, while corrupt businessmen exploit the common man. Meanwhile, we are destroying our planet, polluting our air and seas, depleting finite resources, and destroying the ecological processes vital to sustaining life through causing global climate change.
The technology exists for all mankind to have a much higher standard of living than even the west enjoys now, and it can all be done using sustainable technologies that will neither deplete our natural resources nor contribute to global warming. This technology is held back do to greed and politics, but I will share it with the world.
The old order will continue to seek to discredit our movement, and we will protect ourselves. There will be setbacks, such the one that occurred today, but a future of dignity and prosperity for all mankind is worth some sacrifices. Back in Roman times, when they were in a crisis, they would appoint one man to lead them through those tough times. One such man, Cincinnatus, accepted this job, even though his own family might suffer because he would be unable to farm their crops. For 16 days, he ruled with strength and wisdom, and then he gave up his power and returned to his farm. Like Cincinnatus, I am willing to make sacrifices, and like Cincinatus, I only want as much power as I need to serve the people, and only long enough to do what I must for the world.
Some fear the One World Coalition, but that fear is misplaced. We are only doing our duty to mankind. This is not for ourselves or our own power. Our cause is for everyone. To remind myself, and to remind everyone, of the obligation to use power wisely, I, like nearly all the world's costumed heroes, will take on an alias. From this day forward, I shall be called Cincinnatus, and I look forward to the day when the world will call our movement to lead just long enough to repair our broken world."
