Civil War 8.3
Silently Watches
Professional Stalker
- Location
- Right behind you
[] Plan Sky Command Restrained Version
Civil War 8.3
The blue giant shares a look with the flame-wielding knight for a moment before returning his gaze to you. "Need a hand? Not really. But I would never turn down the offer of assistance in these circumstances."
"Tell me you have a plan," Solaire asks in a less stuffy voice. "The best we had was 'get close enough to beat them to a pulp', and it's working out… not as well as we kinda hoped."
"To be honest, that's what a lot of our plans end up being," Samantha replies with a chuckle.
You shoot her an aggrieved look. You have better plans than that! Most of the time, anyway. "No point in me going inside after them. I'm artillery first and foremost. I can start shooting everyone on the top floor and work my way down while the three of you work your way up."
Jotunn nods. "That would work. Just one problem. How will you know where everyone is? I'm pretty sure there are other people inside besides these punks. We don't know it's a hostage situation, but we don't know it isn't, either."
"My attacks are nonlethal unless I want them to be." Which does make spray-and-pray a valid tactic, though still not the best one. The best way to deal with this requires something else. «I'm going to have my hands full flying and shooting. Shielding, too,» you add with a mental grimace at the memory of the last time you tangled with these guys. «Do you mind casting Wide Area Search for me and linking me to the feed?»
«You know I don't, but are you sure that's the best idea?» Samantha eyes the Winter Hill capes. «We haven't exactly been hiding that spell, but we sure haven't advertised it, either. There won't be any putting that cat back in the bag.»
«They'll know about it. That isn't the same as being able to do anything about it.»
Samantha shakes her head and cups her hands. "If you're sure. Don't make me say 'I told you so'."
"Dare I ask?" Jotunn wonders as he glances back and forth between you and the softball-sized ball of light in Samantha's hands.
"Just wait."
The ball breaks apart, and sparks zip around to blanket the area. Two holograms pop up in front of your Guardian Beast before she flicks one of them over to you. You position it to the side within easy reach and take to the skies once again. A few more Maras have crawled out of the woodwork while the four of you were having your little powwow, but while they try to shoot you down the triangular shield that forms in front of you prevents anything from slipping through. You upgraded your Barrier Jacket following the RPG incident, and since your shield is based on your Jacket you know it is tougher now than ever.
What will eventually be needed to break though, you have no idea, but it's more than this.
The other three were not idle while you were distracting MS-13 and setting up your perch. Samantha is pointing out different things on her own screen, likely where the targets and innocents are if the way some of the red dots on your screen turn blue is any indication. Lesson finished, Solaire steps back and banishes the sword still in her hands. Drawing the mace out of the sling on her back, she does something with her hand in front of her out of your field of vision.
The effect is obvious. A wave of flame races up her arm and over her torso, in its wake leaving plates of armor forged from still-molten gold. Seconds pass, and now the redhead with the pixie cut and yellow domino mask is gone. What stands in her place is a gleaming knight straight out of a fairy tale. Jotunn sloughs off the overlarge fur coat so he can grow to his full ten-foot height, white tribal tattoos standing out starkly from his blue skin and frost already forming around his feet. Samantha adjusts her fedora.
The three capes leave the cover of the car and charge at the enemy.
You can't help but wince when you see the result of their sudden attack. Jotunn hits the quartet first, his lanky build not enough to casually sweep them away but still enough to grab one gangster's head and fling him into the opposite wall. You carefully ignore the possible causes of the strange shattering sound that follows. As they do not possess such long legs, Samantha and Solaire arrive a few moments later. The raccoon woman rips the gun out of one man's hands and beats him over the head and chest with it until he falls; the pyrokinetic, on the other hand, wields her mace to brutal effect and slams it into her own target's head. The last visible Mara turns his rifle on Solaire, but the bullets do nothing to her, and he stops once the mace sends him to the ground as well.
You can't help but blink in surprise at how quickly that went. A total of twenty gunmen, and just the three Brutes already took out nearly a third of that number before running into the building. This wasn't going to take long.
Eying the second story of the short apartment building, you roll your head and shake out your hands. Might as well start on your contribution. A quick reposition has the Wide Area Search screen between you and the building in question, and a couple of taps turns the overhead map into an overlay so you can see where all the targets and hostages are. A slider to the side fills in the walls, giving you a true 3D map of the interior. No need to send your bullets through people's walls when they can fly around corners.
A pack of Flare Shooters slip inside via an open window much slower than you normally move them, but you aren't attacking just yet. Selecting one at random, you send it down the hall, around the corner, along the ceiling, and down. The red dot turns yellow; the blue dot that had been between the corner and the red dot scurries away. You eye a brace of red dots and take them down just as swiftly. None of them are dead, not on your end anyway. Miss Militia might have hinted that lethal force would be overlooked, but you are still a hero at the end of the day.
By now a few of the gunmen have figured out what you are doing, but their bullets do just as much to the shield floating between you and them as those fired earlier, and their attempts to shoot you down are quickly aborted when the Winter Hill soldier hanging around below you fire back at them.
In all honesty, the fight ends more with a whimper than a bang. Several more fireballs force the Maras to abandon their hostages, and the few that try to slip out the back fall to a clump of Shooters waiting for just such an escape attempt. The rest decide to take their chances against the Brutes, which ends how it always does when normal humans decide to fight parahumans who can't be hurt. A quick confirmation that all the previously red dots are either the yellow of unconsciousness or the black of death, and you drift gently to the ground in front of the apartment and dismiss your shield. "That was easier than I thought it would be," you admit when the trio returns.
"With all four of us in play, it was never going to be difficult," Jotunn says with a dismissive wave of his hand as he straightens up; you always thought you were tall, but truly height like that must be a pain to deal with on a day to day basis. "It was much easier with you attacking from a distance and hemming them in, though. Your assistance is appreciated."
"I didn't do it to help you. I did it to save the people stuck inside," you throw back with a scowl.
"Regardless of what your intent was, the effects are appreciated nonetheless." The giant starts to shrinking, his color diminishing as he drops down to mid-six-foot if your guess is right. Still some blue to him, though, and you can't help but wonder how tall he is without any help from his powers. He does not notice your contemplation but instead continues, "Besides, I think we might have more similarities than you assume. At the end of the day, we are both working toward what we see as the best interests of the people we have sworn to protect. My group just happens to be smaller."
"Is now really the time for philosophy?" grouses Solaire before you have the time to think up a good response to that because really? Her armor consumes itself in another wave of fire, and she reaches her hand out for Samantha to shake. "You were pretty handy with those clubs you grabbed. You ever want to spar all out, look me up."
Samantha's response is perfectly neutral. "I will keep the offer in mind."
Perfect Storm chimes, and an audio connection from Miss Militia's phone replaces the Wide Area Search window. "Calamity Witch, do you need reinforcements?"
"No reinforcements. Just a prison transport. And a couple of body bags," you add with a glance at the body lying on the other side of the road. "Some of us weren't quite as careful as others."
"They were holding innocents hostage," Jotunn cuts in loudly enough that Miss Militia can hear him. "The Unwritten Rules provide no protection for those who flout them."
You hear Miss Militia take a breath, but whatever retort she is about to unleash dies out. "Regardless, Chevalier just called an all-clear. It seems like any Maras who haven't been captured already have fled."
"What, all at once?" That sounds odd, to say the least.
"I don't like it, either. It was too coordinated, almost like they're planning something."
As if cued by her words, an explosion rings out in the distance. You share a glance with Samantha before the two of you are airborne and headed in that direction. The source of the disturbance turns out to be the PRT headquarters of all places, with agents in full body armor pouring out the doors like ants from a hill. From the way they are storming a nearby building, it looks like they have that angle well in hand, so instead you float over to take a look at the burned and broken rooftop on one end of the building. Try as you might, you cannot remember what this part is.
Samantha changes into her pet form and wriggles inside, then returns a couple of minutes later. "I think they were aiming for the PRT's armory," she says once she is human again. "They missed, but not by much, and if the PRT didn't build their office so sturdily it still might have done the job. Mortar fire is what some of the agents inside were talking about."
"How many Maras does Cadejo have on hand?" you wonder out loud. "Seven groups, 140 men in total, all for a distraction?"
"Some of them escaped, so he probably didn't plan on losing all of them. Even if he lost all the men he sent out tonight, if it were in exchange for crippling the PRT? That would be a good trade on his end. Not to mention," she adds darkly, "I don't think everybody's necessarily local. MS-13 is a Mexican cartel. Between their other branches in the States and those still in their home country, he has a lot of bodies he can call on. He would just have to sell it to his bosses. As Jotunn just proved, never underestimate the ego of gang leaders."
The implications of that are anything but comforting. "This war is just getting started."
That went well. And such an interesting decision in the plan; I need to figure out what to do with that.
Anyway, the vote for this chapter is what spell you want to learn. You should know where they are by now.
Civil War 8.3
The blue giant shares a look with the flame-wielding knight for a moment before returning his gaze to you. "Need a hand? Not really. But I would never turn down the offer of assistance in these circumstances."
"Tell me you have a plan," Solaire asks in a less stuffy voice. "The best we had was 'get close enough to beat them to a pulp', and it's working out… not as well as we kinda hoped."
"To be honest, that's what a lot of our plans end up being," Samantha replies with a chuckle.
You shoot her an aggrieved look. You have better plans than that! Most of the time, anyway. "No point in me going inside after them. I'm artillery first and foremost. I can start shooting everyone on the top floor and work my way down while the three of you work your way up."
Jotunn nods. "That would work. Just one problem. How will you know where everyone is? I'm pretty sure there are other people inside besides these punks. We don't know it's a hostage situation, but we don't know it isn't, either."
"My attacks are nonlethal unless I want them to be." Which does make spray-and-pray a valid tactic, though still not the best one. The best way to deal with this requires something else. «I'm going to have my hands full flying and shooting. Shielding, too,» you add with a mental grimace at the memory of the last time you tangled with these guys. «Do you mind casting Wide Area Search for me and linking me to the feed?»
«You know I don't, but are you sure that's the best idea?» Samantha eyes the Winter Hill capes. «We haven't exactly been hiding that spell, but we sure haven't advertised it, either. There won't be any putting that cat back in the bag.»
«They'll know about it. That isn't the same as being able to do anything about it.»
Samantha shakes her head and cups her hands. "If you're sure. Don't make me say 'I told you so'."
"Dare I ask?" Jotunn wonders as he glances back and forth between you and the softball-sized ball of light in Samantha's hands.
"Just wait."
The ball breaks apart, and sparks zip around to blanket the area. Two holograms pop up in front of your Guardian Beast before she flicks one of them over to you. You position it to the side within easy reach and take to the skies once again. A few more Maras have crawled out of the woodwork while the four of you were having your little powwow, but while they try to shoot you down the triangular shield that forms in front of you prevents anything from slipping through. You upgraded your Barrier Jacket following the RPG incident, and since your shield is based on your Jacket you know it is tougher now than ever.
What will eventually be needed to break though, you have no idea, but it's more than this.
The other three were not idle while you were distracting MS-13 and setting up your perch. Samantha is pointing out different things on her own screen, likely where the targets and innocents are if the way some of the red dots on your screen turn blue is any indication. Lesson finished, Solaire steps back and banishes the sword still in her hands. Drawing the mace out of the sling on her back, she does something with her hand in front of her out of your field of vision.
The effect is obvious. A wave of flame races up her arm and over her torso, in its wake leaving plates of armor forged from still-molten gold. Seconds pass, and now the redhead with the pixie cut and yellow domino mask is gone. What stands in her place is a gleaming knight straight out of a fairy tale. Jotunn sloughs off the overlarge fur coat so he can grow to his full ten-foot height, white tribal tattoos standing out starkly from his blue skin and frost already forming around his feet. Samantha adjusts her fedora.
The three capes leave the cover of the car and charge at the enemy.
You can't help but wince when you see the result of their sudden attack. Jotunn hits the quartet first, his lanky build not enough to casually sweep them away but still enough to grab one gangster's head and fling him into the opposite wall. You carefully ignore the possible causes of the strange shattering sound that follows. As they do not possess such long legs, Samantha and Solaire arrive a few moments later. The raccoon woman rips the gun out of one man's hands and beats him over the head and chest with it until he falls; the pyrokinetic, on the other hand, wields her mace to brutal effect and slams it into her own target's head. The last visible Mara turns his rifle on Solaire, but the bullets do nothing to her, and he stops once the mace sends him to the ground as well.
You can't help but blink in surprise at how quickly that went. A total of twenty gunmen, and just the three Brutes already took out nearly a third of that number before running into the building. This wasn't going to take long.
Eying the second story of the short apartment building, you roll your head and shake out your hands. Might as well start on your contribution. A quick reposition has the Wide Area Search screen between you and the building in question, and a couple of taps turns the overhead map into an overlay so you can see where all the targets and hostages are. A slider to the side fills in the walls, giving you a true 3D map of the interior. No need to send your bullets through people's walls when they can fly around corners.
A pack of Flare Shooters slip inside via an open window much slower than you normally move them, but you aren't attacking just yet. Selecting one at random, you send it down the hall, around the corner, along the ceiling, and down. The red dot turns yellow; the blue dot that had been between the corner and the red dot scurries away. You eye a brace of red dots and take them down just as swiftly. None of them are dead, not on your end anyway. Miss Militia might have hinted that lethal force would be overlooked, but you are still a hero at the end of the day.
By now a few of the gunmen have figured out what you are doing, but their bullets do just as much to the shield floating between you and them as those fired earlier, and their attempts to shoot you down are quickly aborted when the Winter Hill soldier hanging around below you fire back at them.
In all honesty, the fight ends more with a whimper than a bang. Several more fireballs force the Maras to abandon their hostages, and the few that try to slip out the back fall to a clump of Shooters waiting for just such an escape attempt. The rest decide to take their chances against the Brutes, which ends how it always does when normal humans decide to fight parahumans who can't be hurt. A quick confirmation that all the previously red dots are either the yellow of unconsciousness or the black of death, and you drift gently to the ground in front of the apartment and dismiss your shield. "That was easier than I thought it would be," you admit when the trio returns.
"With all four of us in play, it was never going to be difficult," Jotunn says with a dismissive wave of his hand as he straightens up; you always thought you were tall, but truly height like that must be a pain to deal with on a day to day basis. "It was much easier with you attacking from a distance and hemming them in, though. Your assistance is appreciated."
"I didn't do it to help you. I did it to save the people stuck inside," you throw back with a scowl.
"Regardless of what your intent was, the effects are appreciated nonetheless." The giant starts to shrinking, his color diminishing as he drops down to mid-six-foot if your guess is right. Still some blue to him, though, and you can't help but wonder how tall he is without any help from his powers. He does not notice your contemplation but instead continues, "Besides, I think we might have more similarities than you assume. At the end of the day, we are both working toward what we see as the best interests of the people we have sworn to protect. My group just happens to be smaller."
"Is now really the time for philosophy?" grouses Solaire before you have the time to think up a good response to that because really? Her armor consumes itself in another wave of fire, and she reaches her hand out for Samantha to shake. "You were pretty handy with those clubs you grabbed. You ever want to spar all out, look me up."
Samantha's response is perfectly neutral. "I will keep the offer in mind."
Perfect Storm chimes, and an audio connection from Miss Militia's phone replaces the Wide Area Search window. "Calamity Witch, do you need reinforcements?"
"No reinforcements. Just a prison transport. And a couple of body bags," you add with a glance at the body lying on the other side of the road. "Some of us weren't quite as careful as others."
"They were holding innocents hostage," Jotunn cuts in loudly enough that Miss Militia can hear him. "The Unwritten Rules provide no protection for those who flout them."
You hear Miss Militia take a breath, but whatever retort she is about to unleash dies out. "Regardless, Chevalier just called an all-clear. It seems like any Maras who haven't been captured already have fled."
"What, all at once?" That sounds odd, to say the least.
"I don't like it, either. It was too coordinated, almost like they're planning something."
As if cued by her words, an explosion rings out in the distance. You share a glance with Samantha before the two of you are airborne and headed in that direction. The source of the disturbance turns out to be the PRT headquarters of all places, with agents in full body armor pouring out the doors like ants from a hill. From the way they are storming a nearby building, it looks like they have that angle well in hand, so instead you float over to take a look at the burned and broken rooftop on one end of the building. Try as you might, you cannot remember what this part is.
Samantha changes into her pet form and wriggles inside, then returns a couple of minutes later. "I think they were aiming for the PRT's armory," she says once she is human again. "They missed, but not by much, and if the PRT didn't build their office so sturdily it still might have done the job. Mortar fire is what some of the agents inside were talking about."
"How many Maras does Cadejo have on hand?" you wonder out loud. "Seven groups, 140 men in total, all for a distraction?"
"Some of them escaped, so he probably didn't plan on losing all of them. Even if he lost all the men he sent out tonight, if it were in exchange for crippling the PRT? That would be a good trade on his end. Not to mention," she adds darkly, "I don't think everybody's necessarily local. MS-13 is a Mexican cartel. Between their other branches in the States and those still in their home country, he has a lot of bodies he can call on. He would just have to sell it to his bosses. As Jotunn just proved, never underestimate the ego of gang leaders."
The implications of that are anything but comforting. "This war is just getting started."
That went well. And such an interesting decision in the plan; I need to figure out what to do with that.
Anyway, the vote for this chapter is what spell you want to learn. You should know where they are by now.
).
