Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

[Silently Watches]

[] Social – Perfect Storm
Plus bonus social!

Heatwave 9.21

Friday, June 24

"Tim! Come in, come in. What brings you out this way?"

The magi-Tinker gives Lacey a smile. "Curiosity, mainly. Hey Taylor." You wave back at him. "After going to see the Adepts, I've been wondering more and more about all the background information we have been working without. Where Perfect Storm came from, how it does what it does. Stuff like that."

"Pleased to offer information," your Device announces with just a little pride in its synthesized voice.

"Where it came from?" Now Lacey is looking at the jewel around your neck. "I honestly hadn't really stopped to think about that. By the time I could sit down and wonder, I guess I had gotten so used to you wearing it that it didn't even strike me as odd anymore. Now I'm curious, too."

You smile, but then the complexity of the issue raises its ugly head. "We might need to give you a quick bit of background on that first…"

All in all, you think Lacey takes the news of extradimensional humans fairly well.

"…What the fuck?"

…Mostly.

Tim leads her to the couch so he can sit on one side of her while Samantha takes the other. She has to blink a few times, but when her eyes are clear, she focuses on the blue necklace lying on the table. "So," she says slowly and almost cautiously, "you're from outer space?"

"Correct. Designed and manufactured on planet Galea."

A screen appears, showing a planet from just outside its own orbit, and all of you lean in. It doesn't look too different from Earth, you have to admit, though with more water or perhaps just smaller and more plentiful patches of green and brown. "It's beautiful. Is the planet all islands like this?"

"Galea 80% ocean, 20% landmass. Largest continent approximate size of Earth Bet's Australia. Location of Lunar Palace and Nix, capitol of Galea following full colonization of dark side of the planet."

"…Dark side of the planet."

The image of Galea shrinks to show its revolution around its sun. As the planet moves, it does not rotate the way Earth did but instead keeps the same set of islands and mini-continents facing the star the entire time. "Rotation and revolution same length, plus-minus eighty microcycles. Roughly eleven Earth Bet seconds. Light side of planet desert due to heat and lesser protection against solar radiation compared to Earth Bet. Dark side cold and semi-barren, native life forms limited to non-photosynthetic flora and bioluminescent fauna. Humans initially formed small tribal groups in temperate twilight zone. Expansion to dark side and later light side of planet infeasible until arrival of explorers from Al-Hazard and introduction of proto-Device technology. Prior to such point, magic only occasionally utilized, primarily in early and poorly understood gene modification, bombardment rituals, and psychic domestication of native predators for warfare with other tribes."

"I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess Galeans were the first to figure out how to create Guardian Beasts, weren't they?" asks Samantha, startling Lacey who is reminded that yes, this supposed Case 53 she has gotten used to having around is actually an artificial life form.

"Initial uplifting protocol developed by civilization assimilated by Al-Hazard, but mages of Galea refined and distributed process to extent that reportedly surprised Al-Hazardan priesthood. Mistress's suggestion to assist in mass creation of Guardian Beasts via global communications system or autonomous Device much in line with Galean tradition."

Tim raises his hand then sheepishly lowers it, caught up in the moment and forgetting that despite the history lesson he was no longer a schoolboy. "Taylor mentioned a period called the Warring Ages. Was this Al-Hazard the one that started it, or an ally of Galea at the time, or what?"

"Incorrect. Al-Hazard destroyed in dimensional cataclysm multiple centuries before initiation of hostilities.

"Time period classified as Warring Ages began during extradimensional expansion of Galean Empire. Naval vessel of nearby Molse Conglomerate encountered and fired upon outpost belonging to world Belka. Unclear if firing accidental, purposeful, or manufactured propoganda. Belkan army fought and defeated Molsan ship with inferior numbers, and Belkan Empire thereafter attempted invasion, subjugation, or extermination of all worlds encountered. Galea first made aware of actions by attacked colony. Other imperial pretenders also initiated hostilities, leading to multi-front campaigns and unstable alliances."

"How long?" Lacey asks, finally speaking up. "How long did this last?"

Perfect Storm hesitates. "Undetermined. Immortal Assimilation Engine deactivated following usurpation of Galean throne. Reactivated only when found by mages initially believed to be Belkan scientists. Unaware scientists and marines citizens of TSAB until discussion with Enforcers."

"My turn to ask a question now." This is something that has been floating around in the back of your mind for a while, and it is more than slightly embarrassing that it has taken you this long to ask. "You told me a long time ago that my template, Calamity Witch, was based off a real person. What was she like? Are all the templates named after famous people?"

"Only Calamity Witch and Extinction Knight templates derived from individuals. Infinite Enhancement and Transcendent Gadgeteer collection of memories and capabilities tied to individual Linker Cores. Current skill sets not identical to originals. Much refinement and addition over centuries of use."

You look over at Tim, but if he is disappointed that his template doesn't have a special history, it doesn't show on his face.

"Calamity Witch origin, birth name Orianna Brevetti. Genetically engineered Galean bombardment mage in service to Dark Queen Lucrezia II. Highly decorated veteran, many successful missions against Belkan invaders. Sole bearer of Flare Mana Conversion Affinity. Died without issue. Bodyguard and lover of future Dark Queen Eleonora V. Brevetti volunteered as basis of Immortal Assimilation Engine bombardment template, and Dark Queen Eleonora signed imperial edict that template bear her call sign."

There is something wistful in Perfect Storm's voice, and you can't help but ask, "How are you doing with all this, Storm? Do you believe what the Enforcers told us, that Galea is gone?"

"Historical texts provided to Mistress comprehensive. High degree of consistency. Deception possible, but probability small. Conclusion: Galea indeed destroyed. I… grieve." You lay a hand on the jewel, doing the best you can to comfort the machine that is your closest friend. "Primary purpose: support Galean Empire against Belkans. Galea destroyed. Belka destroyed. Primary purpose lost. Secondary purpose: protect Mistress, assist in defeat of villains. Completion of secondary purpose yet possible. Much gratitude to Mistress."

Despite her initial doubts and surprised disbelief, Lacey seems to be getting more interested in the conversation as the information comes pouring in. It makes you wonder. Now that she knows your magic has an extraterrestrial origin, is she less interested? Has she thought about it and changed her mind about not wanting a template? You planned on saving the next template you make for someone you can trust to have your back, and Lacey has proven that she is more than willing to do that, even when it sets her against her own husband.

«Lacey,» you whisper, but she nevertheless jumps at the sound of your voice in her head. «It's okay. It's just me, Taylor. I wanted to ask you something, but I didn't know if you would want Tim and Sam hearing it just yet.»

«Is… how… …trol th… me?»

You couldn't understand a word of that. Thinking back to the advice Perfect Storm and Samantha gave you once upon a time – and by that, you mean just a few months ago – you tell her, «Pretend like you're talking out loud to me, just don't open your mouth.»

«Can you hear me now?» You give her a smile and a nod. Her telepathy is a whisper, but you can make out the words, which is good enough for the moment. «What did you want to ask?»

«Do you remember back when I gave Tim his template? I offered it to both of you. He was interested in magic, but you didn't sound like you were. Not right then, anyway. Have you thought about it any more since?»

She shrugs, distracting Samantha for a moment before the Guardian Beast goes back to asking questions about Galean entertainment. Maybe Samantha is trying to cheer Perfect Storm up? «Not really, I guess? I don't like fighting. If learning magic means I'd have to, I'm not really that interested.»

«You wouldn't have to fight, though. Tim doesn't fight with his template, and the Infinite Enhancement template Storm was talking about is for a support mage. It's all about giving boosts and healing to other people. Or you could ask Tim to make you a Device for a similar purpose. It's what he promised to one of the prospective mages we met up with a couple of days ago. He didn't want to fight, either.»

A contemplative look passes over her face. «That doesn't sound so bad—»

The front door bangs open, and Perfect Storm leaps into your hand without hesitation. Your Device's vigilance is unnecessary, as it turns out. It isn't villains or an angry mob that comes through the door. Just a single man, cheeks covered in stubble and shirt covered in rips and dirt and blood.

"Kurt! What happened?!"

For all that they were on the outs before this, Kurt immediately falls into his wife's embrace. "They're gone. Vince. Charlie. Ramirez. Max. They're all gone."

"Gone?" Tim steps up and pulls Kurt straight. "What do you mean, gone?"

He shakes his head slowly and with a pained grimace, as though his thoughts are jagged pieces of glass that he's trying to fit back together. "We went out tonight. Me and the guys. We thought we had picked up a trail on Fairyland's hideout. It was a trap. They were waiting for us. The regular crooks had guns, and Cinderella kept throwing more and more glass at us. I watched them die, Tim. Charlie was the first; they shot him before we had any clue what was going on. Ramirez got a big shard of glass right in his head. They all died." His voice breaks as a shudder runs down his spine. "The only reason I'm still alive is because Vince fell on top of me. I couldn't get up and keep fighting. I couldn't. I was too scared. Once they thought we were all dead, they left, and I still couldn't get up for a while longer. Big John was the only one still breathing, but he could barely walk out of there with me."

Damn. Dull surprise is the only emotion that fills your mind. You knew the more militant members of the Privateers were headed for trouble. You didn't think it would be quite so swift and sudden.

Tim gnaws on his bottom lip for a long minute. "Kurt, we need to tell somebody about this. The PRT, at the very least the other guys."

"I already did." His laughter is mocking, and he leans back into Lacey's embrace. "I told the rest of the team. I didn't realize how much we had torn ourselves apart before now, but this was the final straw. Carl and Alexander wanted no part of this mess and said they were walking away from it all. Everyone else followed.

"We're done, Tim. The Privateers are finished."


Just so everyone knows, the history lesson Perfect Storm gave about the Warring Ages may or may not be entirely accurate. He's just a little biased. You didn't get a full discussion on Brevetti because believe me, that would take a chapter all on its own.

THIS is the end of the arc. Interlude next chapter, then the AAR as always. I can promise that the interlude won't be such a downer.

 

[Silently Watches]

Heatwave 9.x

Dienstag, 21 Brahmanod, Year 0080

"I take it your idea was a success?"

Teana nodded at Admiral Tucson's question. "Yes sir. Taylor was more at ease on her own world and no longer in uniform and opened up about some of the details that she otherwise would have been more circumspect about. I also had Cross Mirage take images of all the displays and text plaques, which will give us more background information on Earth Bet-12."

"Very good. And your primary objective? Have you figured out what these Endbringers are?"

"Not for sure, obviously, but as much as I can. My analysis is in the full report I sent you, but in brief I feel confident that they can be classified as Class-2 Lost Logia. There should be no issues getting approval to intervene, especially as we have a ready-made cover story in claiming that we are parahumans in our own right. If some of the super-engineers on this world, these 'Tinkers', are any indication, no one will doubt our explanation for a minute.

"I am also more certain than before that there is a connection between the Endbringers and the source of parahumans' powers."

"Explain," the admiral ordered, but his expression was not one of doubt. It was more as though he wanted to be sure her rationale matched his own conclusions.

"The first Endbringer activated ten years after the debut of para-magic," she said with a slight grin at the name, earning a groan from Erga who was undoubtedly unhappy solely because he was not the one to come up with it, "and when it did so, it had a set of abilities that were very similar to the more immediately advantageous powers. Absurd durability, an aura of radiation and heat to cook anyone trying to get close, control over various forms of energy. In the parlance of their law enforcement, 'Brute' and 'Blaster' primarily. The second was faster, more agile, with a greater focus towards area attacks. By itself this means little, but the third? The third was the one to appear when Tinkers were truly coming into their own, and it has the ability to feed off the styles and ideas of nearby Tinkers. It also brainwashes individuals and appeared in a time when other pseudo-telepathatic manipulators were becoming more and more feared."

"And I would bet my last credit that this… 'para-magic' is the result of a fourth Lost Logia, and of Al Hazardan make, too," Erga added with a nod. "From what Taylor told us, the specific abilities that manifest are related to the circumstances of the new parahuman. Wish-granting artifacts were Al Hazard's bread and butter. Might explain why the Endbringers leave after taking so little damage. It isn't enough to really hurt them, but if they really are corrupted planetary defenders, it might just be enough to jostle their memory banks and remind them that they are supposed to be protecting these people, not trying to kill them. Then the corruption comes back as they regenerate, and the cycle starts all over again."

Tucson laced his fingers together. "I was thinking along similar lines. How do we explain this golden man, then? This Scion of theirs."

The Enforcers looked at each other for a moment before Teana hazarded a guess. "If we take the name literally, then he claimed to be the inheritor of someone or something. Perhaps he was the person who activated the wish-granting Logia, and it bonded with him? That would explain the variety and strength of his abilities. His disappearance two years ago could be that the Logia finally detached itself, or more likely it exacted a demand on his body that he could no longer sustain."

"Yet it has stayed active even without an obvious host." Admiral Tucson rubbed his chin. "Focus on the Endbringers for now. It sounds like this… para-magic Lost Logia may actually be working as intended. If that is the case, I doubt anyone on that world would appreciate us interfering with it. They can work that out themselves.

"Good work, Lanster. Keep me informed as the situation progresses."

A quick salute, and the communication ended. "Not gonna lie, kinda envious of you getting to walk around and stretch your legs around other people for a bit," Erga said with an exaggerated sigh. "Meanwhile I have to stay holed up in an old building sifting through their data. Interesting stuff, don't get me wrong, but after a while even that gets boring."

"We could trade if you really wanted," was her dry reply. "I'll sit back and read their 'Internet', and you can try restoring our credibility with the mage we nearly killed and who still doesn't exactly like us. There were a couple of times yesterday when I said or did something that I was worried she was going to blow up over."

"Eh." That was as close as Erga would get to admitting he was wrong, and he gave her a short wave as he walked out. Now alone in the communications room, Teana tapped her fingertips against the console. Taylor was their only local contact on the planet, and Admiral Tucson had made no secret of the fact that he would like to recruit her into the Navy when this mission was complete. Not that that was a surprise; Taylor had power, adaptability, and a different way of looking at things that would serve her well as a member of the TSAB. Joining would also give Taylor the resources and support she needed to truly grow into her full powers that Earth Bet-12 just couldn't provide. They just had to figure out how to overcome that gaff of a first impression.

That combination of thoughts sparked an idea, and a smile grew on her face as she told her Intelligent Device whom to contact. A long moment passed, and then a screen manifested to show a brunette woman standing in front of a sink, another woman and a little girl with heads of blonde hair sitting at a table behind her. Blue eyes sparkled with delight. "Teana-chan!"

"Hi, Nanoha," she replied with a smile. "How are things going out there?"

Nanoha laughed awkwardly at that question. "They're fine, they're fine. Sometimes I miss the action, but it's been nice just to spend time with Vivio-chan, even if Fate-chan tells me I'm pushing her too fast. Only once or twice, though!"

"Once or twice per week, maybe." Nanoha squeaked at the sudden voice behind her, and Fate winked one red eye at Teana. "She's been getting more and more impatient as the date for her to return to active duty gets closer." The elder Enforcer dropped her voice into a stage whisper. "Just between you and me, Teana, I don't think she's cut out for the life of a housewife."

"…Can I join you out there, Teana-chan? Fate-chan's so mean to me."

Teana could not help but laugh at the by-play between them. She could still remember staring in awe at the two Aces who had inducted her into Riot Force 6 all those years ago, but it did not take long for her to start seeing her then-superiors as friends. Especially not after Fate took her as a personal assistant and apprentice prior to joining the Enforcers in her own right. That had opened a whole new horizon of seeing how the Blitz Ace and the White Devil acted when they were in the casual setting of their own home.

The women smiled at her laughter before Fate continued, "Not that we mind you calling, but what's the occasion? Normally you only call when you need some advice, and I would have expected you to reach out to Bardiche for that."

"I need to talk to Nanoha this time, actually." That comment earned her the flight instructor's undivided attention. "I can't go into all the details right now, but the short version is that our current mission involved looking for a Lost Logia that was lost on a low-magic world. We had a local contact who we thought was a self-trained mage, but it turns out that she has the Lost Logia in her possession and has been using that to tap into her magical potential. Our first meeting… didn't go well. We thought she was an enemy and fired upon her, she had no clue who we were and why we were attacking; that sort of thing."

"Is everyone okay?" Nanoha asked immediately.

"Yes, we're all fine. We're okay, she's okay, that's not the problem. The problem is that because of this we didn't get off on the right foot, and now we're stuck trying to restore the goodwill she had towards us before we strained it with our screw-up." She sighed. "I just don't know how to fix it."

"Teana-chan, look at me." She raised her eyes to meet Nanoha's. "You're a good person. Impatient, stubborn, entirely too self-critical, but good nonetheless. I saw it immediately, and so did everyone else. You made a mistake, and that makes things harder, but it doesn't change who you are. It sounds like this girl is still upset about your actions, and not without reason, but tempers eventually settle and leave clear heads behind. Once she calms down, she'll start to see that you just want to help."

"As someone who has been the bad guy in a similar situation," Fate added with a small, wry smile, "I'll tell you now that there isn't much you can do to make things better. Not immediately, anyway. You fix what you can, obviously, and you apologize for your mistake, but after that you have to wait for her to forgive you. You can't make things better until she lets you."

Nanoha nodded. "Don't lose hope, though. Just because you start off badly doesn't mean it will stay that way. Arisa-chan, Fate-chan, Hayate-chan and the Wolkenritter, the Numbers. We were all enemies at one time, but now look at us."

"That was the reason I wanted to talk to you about it," she said with a tiny smile. She was not the most social and gregarious person, Subaru could attest to that, but if anyone had the advice on how to turn an enemy into a friend, it would be Nanoha.

A wicked thought crossed her mind as she thought of her best friend and old partner and some of the jokes she knew Subaru would have made in this situation, and she added with just a hint of nonchalance, "Well, that and I figured you two would be the best people to ask for advice on how to interact with your lovechild."

"…Whah?"

She sent a few images through the link so they could see what she meant. Most of them were images from Cross Mirage's recording during their fight, but a few she had picked up from Earth Bet-12's data network. "You should have told me you had a kid together when you were younger. It was obvious as soon as I saw her that she had to be yours. She has the same dark design to her Barrier Jacket and the same mana scythe as Fate, and Nanoha, her Shooter skills and Buster are pure you. Even her magic color matches; that bright a shade of orange can only come from mixing pink and yellow."

Nanoha stammered something unintelligible, and Fate looked like she was one comment from passing out. Vivio wandered over and looked at the various images floating next to the live feed. "Nanoha-mama, is she my sister?" she asked with all the innocence of an eight-year-old. "She looks like you, like I look like Fate-mama. Can we bring her home?"

That snapped Fate out of her shellshocked stupor, and she shook her head. "No, Vivio, that isn't your sister. It's just someone Teana met on one of her missions and decided to play a very mean joke on us with," she added with a glare at Teana. "I never thought I'd say this, but you've clearly been spending too much time with Subaru."

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. Besides, I know she isn't your and Nanoha's kid." She laughed lightly and doubled down. "Like I said, she tamed the Lost Logia we were looking for, so the only way she could be yours is if you had a 'party' with Captain Hayate once upon a time."

She expected the women to roll their eyes or make some dismissive comment. She did not expect both of them to blush bright red and immediately look away from the screen and each other. Her thoughts screeched to a halt as she realized how badly this had blown up in her face because now she had those thoughts stuck in her head too. Ugh, she did not need to be imagining three of her former commanding officers in bed together.

"Aunt Hayate had a party? You didn't invite me. Can I bring my friends to the next one?"

…Clearly help was not coming from that corner.

"Look, Teana-chan, it wasn't like that," Nanoha finally said, and Teana let out a tiny sigh. Her relief was short-lived. "Hayate-chan had just come back from her first big command mission, and we went out to celebrate, and we got really really drunk, and—"

"Thanks! I… I'm good. Don't need to hear any details I have another call I have to make thanks for the advice bye!"


Now how's THAT for some on-the-nose bad guessing? And good god, the Takamachi-Harlaown household has the potential to be comedy gold. Pity Seven Arcs squandered the opportunity ViVid gave them.

 

[Silently Watches]

After Action Report for Arc 9: Heatwave

For all that there was a lot to do in this arc (a LOT! I mean, 23 chapters including the two interludes?), I had a lot of fun, and it sounded like the rest of you did, too. The social slots helped a lot, so everyone give @lancelot and @Faraway-R a round of applause for getting that ball rolling.

Tickets to Gangland

• Laura warned you things were going to get messy, didn't she?
• The first week, you took to the skies to fight the not-Fantastic Four alongside Sere. Or, well, you were supposed to. Instead it was just you because you focused first on the only non-Breaker of the group (AKA, the only one Sere could defeat on his own). Because you gave Rubber Man/evil-Mr. Fantastic time to hit his emergency beacon and because you didn't suck everybody up into Recursion Field for reasons that I still don't understand, they managed to teleport out.
• The second week, you distracted Taylor and Vista both by chatting her up chatting away with her to plan your globetrotting trip cum sleepover. Had you paid attention to the press conference, you would have realized that the leader of the PRT reinforcements was Thomas Calvert (as many people figured out anyway), and you would have thought something about him was familiar. Was it worth it?
• Oh yeah!
• You didn't choose this activity the third week, which was sad. Primarily because Vista found out the truth about the villain Gush; i.e., that he is actually Tar Baby, the cape whose Trigger event following the Simurgh's attack on Brockton Bay killed her parents. This girl needs a hug, seriously.
• You took part in the conference in week 4, where you got to hear Jotunn's proposal that the heroes and villains of Philly join forces to protect their city from the outsiders pouring in. Now you know what political game Jotunn was playing toward the end of Arc 8 when he was agreeing with Chevalier about working together to go after the Maras.
• Had you not spent one-on-one time with Laura at the birthday party, Miss Militia would have called you to tell you about the meeting. Instead Taylor has a little bit better a relationship with a villain and is a little peeved with the other heroes.
• There were two opportunities to learn new spells, in weeks 1 and 3. You learned Multishot from the former.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

• You ignored this quest the first week, but you got to it eventually. The first activity was discussing the Enforcers' actions with Admiral Tucson. You also involved Dragon, which was a great idea if you wanted Taylor to more or less forgive the Enforcers. Not so great if you wanted to drive a wedge between her and the TSAB.
• The third week, you zipped over to the Sojourner to have a little chat with the Enforcers directly about various aspects of the TSAB in general.
• Is it bad that I was hoping for more out-there questions?
• You had a nice day trip with Teana the fourth week, and she pledged the TSAB's assistance in dealing with the Endbringers. As far as they are know, the Endbringers are Lost Logia, which puts defeating and deactivating them firmly in the Enforcers' bailiwick.
• Because you didn't start this quest in week 1, you lost the opportunity to take Tim to the Sojourner and offer his expertise in getting the Enforcers' ship off the ground again.
• There were no opportunities to learn new spells. This was a purely plot advancement subquest.

Long Live the King

• Does anyone else hear Jeromy Irons's voice?
• The first week, you tried to calm everything down and instead found out that because of your isolation from the rest of the Privateers during the quest so far and your willingness to protect civilians instead of destroying villains (what kind of Calamity Witch are you? ), you didn't have the kind of influence over the group that you thought you had. The "Danny would be ashamed" comment was still way over the line, though.
• The second week, you chose not to deal with the Privateers, which was not a terrible idea since it would have been an ugly argument, but it meant you had no warning something bad was going down in…
• Week three, when instead you found out that Ramirez, Kurt, and their half of the Privateers decided it was high time to try kicking Fairyland out of the city, mostly via bullets and lethal lasers. That was a messy vote for any number of reasons. It was also the last opportunity you had to salvage the Privateers as a heroic organization. Some of the individuals who remain may or may not be open to a different way of things. Still working on that.
  • The vote itself was fairly simple: save the villainess Snow White or help out the minimally injured Privateers. By choosing her, you all but proclaimed yourself to be a supporter of the status quo, at least in the Privateers' eyes. Taking her to either Tim or the Protectorate would have saved her life, but the former also would have made things a little rougher on Tim because he would no longer be a technically neutral party. Instead, the Protectorate was put on alert that this vigilante group was becoming a problem instead of a solution. Not that it helped much in the end.
  • A couple of people complained that voting to help the Privateers would be hypocritical and would fly in the face of all Taylor's previous character development. That was not the case. Had the vote been to help the Privateers (with the OOC knowledge that it was the only way to salvage the group as a whole), Taylor would have dilly dallied over whom to focus on only for Snow White to die in Samantha's arms. I expect the accompanying choice for this vote would have been to take them all to Tim, and when he examined Snow White's body he would have found that there was no practical way to save her because in this scenario, Ramirez had just a little better aim and had completely obliterated her abdominal aorta. She would have bled to death in less than a minute. That would have been enough to shock some of the militant Privateers, who were onboard with the idea of killing villains but would discover that surprise surprise, actually going through with such a plan is an entirely different beast.
  • I had in mind a paragraph or two where Taylor dragged Kurt to look at Snow White's unmasked, uncostumed body and demanded to know if this was really the work of good men. Fighting a villain who's dressed up for the part is one thing. Realizing how young she is and that they killed a "kid" (actually young twenties)? That would have been a nice emotional punch to the gut.
  • TL;DR? When I say "trust me", I mean it. I will never claim to be the world's greatest author or GM, but I'm not a blithering idiot either, and sometimes I actually do have a plan.
• The last week of the arc, you chose to do other stuff rather than keep an eye on the Privateers. As a result, no one knew Fairyland lured them into an ambush, and the results of that were… not great. Of the eight people of the aggressive faction, only two made it out alive, and that was the death knell of the Privateers as an organization.
• There was one opportunity to learn a new spell, which was in week 4. There could have been another in week 3, but that required doing parts 2 and 3 so you knew what they were doing ahead of time and could have chosen to join them on the condition that they stayed nonlethal.

Looking for Trouble

• Yet another patrol option. That you didn't take. I may put this in the social slot from now on.
• There were, of course, four opportunities to learn new spells.

The Taylor School of Magic

• You told Epoch at the start of Arc 8 that you would work with him and the Adepts to teach them magic. I warned you at that time that if you told him yes (which you did) but still didn't follow through that I would force the issue. Instead of delaying like I was afraid you would, you spent your very first social period meeting the Adepts.
• Who expected that revelation? As I mentioned at the time, I had already planned for only four of the Adepts to have Linker Cores. The rolls were to determine rank, with Epoch guaranteed to have at least a B-rank Core (because he can levitate/fly) and Thirteenth Hour/Standstill guaranteed to have a Core of a higher rank than Lilliput because Lilliput is an asshole. Epoch's Regenerator Rare Skill was a nice little surprise for all of us.
• Once the Adepts knew that they had wasted their time, they all left. Standstill is keeping her ear to the ground after returning to the Protectorate, and Argus joined her as a hero, so it's only Epoch and Maclibuin still members of the Adepts proper right now.
• What would have happened had you not gone to see them of your own volition by week four? Epoch made promises to the Adepts at large that you would come by, but after so many weeks of being ignored, the rest of the group would have dismissed his claims, and Gevaudan would have challenged him for leadership of the group. Of course, it wouldn't have been a fair fight, but in actuality a coup. Planeswalker would have teleported to you to get your and Samantha's help with the fight. I hadn't decided who would live and who would die, but rolls likely would have been involved.

Social Butterfly

• The second week, we really got this social-fu train rolling. You took Dragon and Tim to the Dragonslayers' lair, where everyone found out about Ascalon. Dragon appreciated watching that building burn more than she could put into words.
• You then spent a Saturday night hanging out with Vista and just hopping around the globe like… well, like two teenaged girls who can teleport and have no adult supervision.
• Week three was again spent with Vista and Dragon. Tim make Vista some concept art of new combat arms, of which you had her choose the most heavily armored version after finding out that unfortunately she does not have a Linker Core.
• Next on the list was finishing up the plotline involving Dragon and her crippled state. She now has a shiny new Unison Device body, and what she will do with that is going to be all sorts of interesting.
• The fourth and last week had three social events, primarily because one of them was Taylor's birthday. Sixteen doesn't feel much different from fifteen, unfortunately, and it isn't like she's even excited about getting to drive because, duh, flight. At the party, you chose to spend some private time with Laura (Shhhh! Don't tell Kayleigh!) and found out more about her and her unusual philosophy regarding capes and the limits of their power.
  • Had you spent time with Kayleigh, you would have found out a few surprises about your first Philly friend. Nothing bad, though, promise! I won't go into everything here because there's still a chance to find out some stuff, but at the very least you would have gotten an explanation for the "stuck cape switch" Laura mentioned.
  • Marcia was the worst choice of the three. Not that there's anything wrong with her personally – she's a nice enough girl – but trying to connect with her would have reminded Taylor of how different her worries and priorities are from those of the civilian girls at the party.
• You checked up on Standstill and the Adepts, which at this point is just Epoch and Maclibuin, and told them more about Devices and templates. You immediately thereafter voted to teach Standstill how to create a Guardian Beast and have Tim make a Boost Device for Maclibuin, and after some debate it was decided in a multi-split vote to teach Epoch telekinesis.
  • I was really worried at first that the plan to give Mac an Armed Device would win. Not that he would have refused, but an Armed Device is basically the worst option for his personality and skillset. The former I explained; the latter you'll have to wait for until you give him the Device. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
• After that you finally asked for some of the world-building I've been waiting to give you. Unfortunately(?), because you wanted to talk about so many things, you didn't get very much detail on any topic. A full biography of Brevetti (Calamity Witch Origin) would take an entire chapter by itself, I'm pretty sure.

I'm working on 10.1 now, and it should come out next week assuming work doesn't decide to thrash me.

 

[Silently Watches]

Heatstroke 10.1

Saturday, June 25

"Mistress. Update on investigation of Coil."

You freeze in your motions, and as a result the plastic staff in Samantha's hands lashes out and sweeps your legs out from under you. The impact of your butt onto the hard ground drives a frustrated huff out of your lungs, and you shoot her a glare that she weathers effortlessly. Yes, maybe this is partly your fault for asking your Guardian Beast, who is naturally talented with spears along with just about every other close-quarters weapon, to help you improve your abilities with your scythe, but that doesn't mean she needs to take quite such enjoyment out of beating you like a drum. "Really, Sam?"

"Distractions are part of the battlefield. If you can't block them out, you'll give your opponent an opening."

"And maybe I'll take advantage of other openings and talk Lacey into canceling the cable." The threat to her soap opera time finally gets you an expression of contrition, no matter how forced it looks, and you turn back your Device. "Sorry, Storm. You were saying something about Coil."

"Mistress tasked me with identifying identity and background details of Coil. Search and correlation complete." A dozen screens flash into existence, the foremost showing a facial photo that looks to be from some kind of official identification. So this is what Coil looks like underneath that mask. Gaunt cheeks, thin lips in a bored frown, cleft chin, buzzed haircut. Overall, he is not an attractive man; there is just something vaguely skeletal about him. "Birth name, Thomas Jonah Calvert. Born October 10 of year 1972, in Gordon, Wisconsin. Attended local education centers, minor role in secondary school football sport team. Enlisted in United States Marine Corp in 1990, dishonorably discharged two years later due to evidence of abusing captured enemy soldiers and reports of murdering civilians during Gulf War conflict."

"Well, he sounds like a peach," mutters Samantha.

"1992 through 1997, records difficult to obtain. From information gathered, employed as mercenary in various countries. Developed reputation for combat against parahuman warlords in Africa and South America. Reputation cause for recruitment into Parahuman Response Team early 1998. Promoted to squad leader. Certificates of merit due to combat effectiveness until 2002."

Perfect Storm pauses, and you have to wonder when it developed a sense of the dramatic. A moment later, you sigh and play along. "What happened in 2002?"

"Assault and takeover of Ellisburg, New York, by parahuman Jamie Rinke, alternate identity as villain Nilbog. Multiple combat squads and individual parahumans deployed. Summarily defeated. High casualties. Parahumans fled upon realization of deployment futility. Two survivors of ground forces. Calvert and Emily Sandra Piggot, former director of Brockton Bay PRT."

The two PRT survivors of the failed attempt to reclaim Ellisburg were both working in your hometown at the same time? You would think it is the perfect example of it being a small world, but something about this smells too much like a setup of some kind. "Any contact between Piggot and Coil while they were in Brockton Bay?"

"Negative. No contact found." That is good enough for you, and it continues, "Calvert served six months in prison following Ellisburg, official cause substantial dereliction of duty. Actual reason classified. During retreat, killed commanding officer so as to hasten own escape. Tried for murder, found guilty, sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment. Early release and sealing of prison record contingent on signing non-disclosure agreement regarding Ellisburg operation."

"Wait, wait, wait. This guy murdered his commander while running away from Nilbog's monsters, and they cut his prison sentence short so he'd keep quiet? Why? What could he know that was so damning they'd do that much to shut him up?"

Perfect Storm lets out a two-tone whistle you've come to associate as its recent attempt to translate a shrug. "Unclear. During imprisonment, had one visitor. Identified as Wayne Kent, investigative reporter. Hypothesis: Calvert in process to sell information to Kent for publication.

"Background of time period indicates waning governmental support for Protectorate and PRT. Emergence of multiple A- and S-Class parahumans. Scandals over abuse of power. Details of Ellisburg conflict highly dangerous to public relations."

You think you understand what Perfect Storm is implying, as does Samantha. "If it got out that the capes at Ellisburg ran, in that environment it could have spelled the end of the organizations. They hid it, and they figured letting him out of prison and shutting him up in the process would be the better alternative."

"Correct. Between six and eleven months after release, all parties involved in arrangement besides Calvert died. Various official causes of death, but premeditated murder by Calvert high likelihood."

"No shit, Sherlock. Where is he now?" you all but demand. The more you hear about how the PRT couldn't keep control over this monster, the angrier you become, both with him and the PRT in general. They knew what he was when they first recruited him, and again when they decided to let him out of prison. This was their mistake, and yet it was everyone else who has been forced to pay the piper.

"Moved from Brockton Bay to Chicago following Simurgh attack. Officially consultant for PRT but put in command of troops sent from Chicago office to reinforce local PRT due to tactical ability. Returned to Chicago day before Mistress's apartment destroyed."

Samantha snorts. "Nice little alibi there. So we know the who, and I can guess the why based on what flavor of bastard he is. Once Tattletale told him what she had told you, that was probably enough to piss him off and make him decide to murder you to cover up his tracks. He didn't move openly because he knew it wouldn't work. He's part of the PRT, so he has access to the same information on you the Protectorate does. Instead of hitting you while you were out and about as Calamity Witch, he tried to kill you when you were supposed to be home and not looking out for danger.

"Now we just need the how."

"That much, I think I've figured out on my own," you tell her with a frown. "Something about the whole situation just sounded familiar, so I did some digging. Remember that first time we talked to Dragon? She was working on a report about the bomb Tinker who turned a bunch of students at Cornell into stone. From what I can figure out, that Tinker goes by the name of Bakuda. If her first bomb could do that, glassing a building after having a few months to practice would be relatively simple." You sigh. "What are we going to do about this?"

"I hate to say it," Samantha says slowly, "but I'm worried what would happen if we tried to go to the Protectorate or the PRT. Coil is in a position of authority, part of the team, and while we are heroes we are also only minimally affiliated with them. They would have to investigate on their own before they trusted what we told them, and that would give Coil time to escape or manufacture an excuse or something. And that's if they are willing to believe us in the first place considering how much of the evidence is sealed. I trust the Protectorate here, but it isn't like we have spent any time with the unpowered side of the organization. They don't know us, and we don't know them."

"So it's up to us. The three of us against Coil, Tattletale, and Bakuda. Those are just great odds right there." Your smile is grim. Tattletale you can handle with one hand tied behind your back, but bombs are another issue entirely. Not to mention you have no idea what Coil's own power even is. He, on the other hand, knows much more about your skills than you are comfortable with.

"Maaaaaaybe. Maybe not." You turn a questioning stare onto Samantha and her self-satisfied grin. "Whoever said we couldn't call for a little backup of our own?"


You didn't think I'd make you take Coil, Tattletale, and Bakuda on all by your lonesome, did you? You can bring up to THREE people with you. The only restrictions are that they have to be characters named in this quest, and it has to make sense for Taylor (the character herself) to ask them for help. For instance, despite the fact that you (the players) know Alexandria wants Taylor on their side, she does not know that, so she wouldn't go pestering the Triumvirate unless you can give me a convincing argument.

This will also be a percentage-based vote, where a character needs to get a simple majority (>50%) of the votes to be eligible. Now get to it.

 

[Silently Watches]

[] Dragon, Vista, and Chevalier


"Maaaaaaybe. Maybe not." You turn a questioning stare onto Samantha and her self-satisfied grin. "Whoever said we couldn't call for a little backup of our own?"

Heatstroke 10.2

"What do you mean?" you ask. You don't exactly have any teammates you can call on. Well, Tim technically is a teammate, but he isn't the kind of person you want to throw into a combat situation. He's a crafter, not a fighter.

That said, if you're going after a ruthless bomb Tinker, someone with Tinkering skills of their own wouldn't go amiss… "You're talking about calling Dragon into this, aren't you?"

"She's one of the people I was thinking of," she agrees with a nod. "We're going after a villain who is clearly high up in the Protectorate hierarchy. If it's just us who accuse Calvert of being Coil, they might ignore us or drag their feet. If we have the world's greatest Tinker and a member of the Guild backing us up, it's going to be a lot harder for them to shut their ears. And then we'll also have someone who can defuse Bakuda's bombs."

"One of the people…" You blink and realize immediate who the other person is. "No."

"Yes."

"No! We are not taking Vista to confront a mad bomber."

Samantha crosses her arms. "And why not?"

"Samantha, dragging her into my fights already cost her an arm! I'm not putting her in that situation again."

The raccoon woman sighs and puts her hands on your shoulders. "Don't you think that should be her decision to make? Especially since you were the one who thought taking Vista to the villain meet was a good idea because she had implied she wouldn't mind being poached from the Protectorate."

That isn't the same thing, you want to say. That was a simple meeting, with little risk involved. This is going after a trio of villains who have no qualms with bombing a building and killing everyone inside just to kill two people. The dangers are entirely different. And yet, you can't ignore the point Samantha is trying to make. Missy's issue with how the Protectorate has treated her is that they are making her decisions for her. If you are concerned about that, shouldn't she have the right to refuse or accept of her own accord?

"Give her a call," Samantha tells you with a knowing look. "Tell her what we're doing, and let her make the decision. If you really want to give her that degree of autonomy, that's the best way to treat this situation. I'll call Dragon and give her the backstory."

With a wink, your Guardian Beast strolls off and calls up a screen in front of her. Your shoulders slump, and before you can even make your request Perfect Storm is already calling the other heroine.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Missy. It's Taylor." You can tell she is about to engage in small talk, so you hurry on. "Sorry, but I need to talk about work stuff. You know that apartment that was turned to crystal?"

"…Yeah?"

"That was where I used to live. We figured out who it was who did it and that he was gunning for me in my civilian ID. We're heading out now to absolutely wreck his shit," you hiss with rising anger. "Samantha wondered if you wanted—"

"Hell yeah. Give me five minutes, and you can pick me up at headquarters."

Well. That was… quick. "Vista, it won't just be a simple smash and grab. He's involved with the PRT, and he has a bomb Tinker on call. It's going to be dangerous. Another traumatic amputation–grade dangerous, even." Silence fills the line. "If you want to come even knowing that, I'll come by and get you. If you don't want to risk it, I won't hold it against you in the slightest. This is personal."

"…And you think you can put yourself in that much danger without me worrying about you in return? No chance. Bombs just mean I'll have acceptable targets to blow away with a particle cannon.

"Protectorate base rooftop. Five minutes. Don't keep me waiting, Calamity Witch."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx​

Five minutes later, you and Samantha swoop down to the Protectorate building with a smile that rapidly fades. Vista looks sheepish, and the reason why becomes obvious when Chevalier steps out from behind a section of air conditioning duct. He gives you a strained smile of his own. "Good morning, Calamity Witch. I take it you can explain why Vista was planning to run out without a word to anyone. And maybe why she's wearing a coat in eighty degree weather."

You glance back at Vista and her thin coat and gloves in surprise. "They don't know about…?"

"I didn't have a good opportunity to tell them?" she replies with a faint wince. Looking back and forth among the three of you, she sighs and pulls off the jacket to reveal the chrome-plated combat arm attached to her shoulder.

Chevalier stares at it for a moment. "I see. Shipwright's work, I presume?"

"Things were getting heated enough around here that we felt Vista would benefit from having some actual protection." You aren't ashamed of that choice, and you want to make sure that he knows it.

He shakes his head. "She shouldn't be in a position where she needs armor. Wards aren't meant to be fighting in the first place—"

"Oh, you've made that clear," snaps Vista, any embarrassment burned away now. "It doesn't matter that I'm a better fighter that Sere and have the villain captures to prove it. It doesn't matter that I'm the one who had to teach Flambé and Cherry Bomb about Protectorate procedure. I'm thirteen, and that's all anybody sees. Not my actual abilities."

"Because as powerful as you are, you're still a minor, Vista. That makes us responsible for what happens to you. It's our job to keep Wards out of danger as much as possible."

"Then I'll just quit." You blink at her in shock, and the leader of the Protectorate is caught equally off-guard at that comment. "I'm one of eleven Shaker 9s in North America, and I have four years of experience being a cape. If the Protectorate doesn't want my skills, I'm sure I can find another team that will, and you'd be rid of a troublesome Ward who won't stop complaining about how things are being run. Problem solved."

Chevalier slowly turns to you, and you raise your hands to ward off any accusations. This was not your doing! Not directly, anyway, and not intentionally. It just so happens that you are doing things in the Brockton Bay style as an independent, and that is the lifestyle Missy wants.

"We… can talk about this later, Vista," Chevalier finally says, clearly not sure what to do about the ultimatum that was just dropped in his lap. You don't envy him, either. "I still fail to understand just what you were planning on doing."

"Heading to Chicago to deal with the villain that bombed our apartment," says Samantha. At least someone is calm about all this.

"Or you could have told me. I would have passed the information on to the heroes in Chicago, and they would have been able to arrest him."

"Even when that villain is leading PRT troops?"

That shocks him into silence, and you take the quiet as a sign to explain the entire situation. You… may be a little bit more pointed with your comments than you would have been otherwise, but you have to admit that his pseudo-accusations stoked your temper just a little.

When you're done, the irritation and anger in his eyes has been blown out, or at the bare minimum banked to be sorted out later. Chevalier runs his hand over his mask. "This is… How could this have happened? Calamity Witch, are you completely sure of everything you said?"

"I double-checked some of their facts," Dragon says from her screen, the A.I. turned Unison Device having been called halfway or so through the conversation. "Not all of them considering the time constraints, but what I dug up matches what they found. Calvert at the very least shouldn't be walking around a free man, and the timeline for Coil's activity in Brockton Bay matches when Calvert lived there."

"I suppose it explains why every time I would have been able to talk to him in person, he was busy with something else." You tilt your head at the odd comment, and Chevalier explains, "It isn't common knowledge, but I have a minor Thinker power that lets me see an aspect of people's powers. It isn't perfect, and it can be blocked by some kinds of Stranger powers or Tinkertech, but it's something I've found useful from time to time and is in my files. Files Calvert would have access to."

"And now you know why we couldn't pass this through official channels," Samantha adds. "He'd see that we were coming and would have time to hide his tracks. We need to grab him now before he has a chance to run, and we can sort out everything else later."

He shakes his head. "It won't be that simple. If you're going to accuse someone like Calvert of being a villain, you need some kind of solid proof. Something that could be easily verified. Otherwise you need to make a demonstration he simply can't blow off."

"Like what?"

"Like literally unmasking him. Bring Coil in in full costume, then pull off the mask to show Calvert's face. It would be hard to argue against that, particularly with both Dragon and myself standing right behind you."

That… might work, too, you suppose.

"Concern. Chicago PRT administration scheduled for meeting. Target Calvert supposed to attend."

Chevalier frowns. "That makes things more difficult, but there were a few debriefings here that Calvert wasn't physically present for. He would just call in and talk over the phone. There's no way to know if he does things the same in Chicago or if he avoided the meetings here because he knew I would be present."

"Um, guys?" You turn to look at Vista. "Coil is important, but shouldn't we be more worried about the bomb Tinker? Masterminds tend to be Masters or Thinkers if I remember right, so while he needs to go down, Bakuda would be the cape who's the most immediate danger. Take her away, and he'll be left with just his mercenaries with no other capes backing him up."

"Couldn't we split up, then?" you ask. "Half go after Bakuda, and half go after Coil?"

"No," Chevalier and Dragon say in stereo, and he waves his hand for the Tinker to elaborate. "Capturing Bakuda means attacking a Tinker in her workshop, and that is always a dangerous proposition. On the other hand, Coil may not be as much of a danger on his own, but he has mercenaries at his disposal, and from what Samantha told me earlier, he has laser rifles as well. There is no telling what other weapons they have access to. The five of us should be enough to storm either location, but not both at the same time.

"Unfortunately, all three targets will likely reveal our intentions, so if we're wrong, Coil and Bakuda will be have time to prepare themselves for our next attempt. Not a lot, but they may not need a lot of time. We need to make our first choice count."


No! Vista, what are you doing? Now is not the time for this!

Sorry, my characters are, uh, doing their own thing at the moment. While I try to convince them to follow the script, you guys figure out which target the team will pursue.

[ ] Bakuda – Of your enemies right now, Bakuda is the most immediately dangerous (that you know of). Put the mad bomber down before Coil knows you're out for his blood.
[ ] Coil – You may have been hurt by Coil's dirty trick, but there are rules for capes, and you won't stoop to his level. Bring him to his knees and pretend to be surprised about who he really is.
[ ] Calvert – Coil wants to attack you at home when you're out of costume? You can return the favor. Hit him in the one place he isn't looking: his own civilian identity.

Don't worry about specific plans just yet. You still need to physically meet up with Dragon, and more information about whichever route you go will be provided next chapter so you can actually make a sensible plan.

 

[Silently Watches]

[] Bakuda


Heatstroke 10.3

If it's that important to make the first choice count…

"Bakuda," you say after only a moment's thought. It really is the obvious choice. "We move in on the Tinker, and that's one resource Coil can't call on to back him up when we go after him. It might not make him easy, but it will keep him from getting worse."

Vista pumps her fist in the air, but Chevalier frowns. "Unless he already has some of her handiwork nearby where he can use it."

"Then it won't make much of a difference whether we hit her first or not, will it? Like I said, it can't hurt."

If Chevalier has any rebuttal to that line of thought, he is keeping it to himself. You wave the two heroes over and look to Dragon. "I'm already en route," she tells you with a smile that is edging towards a smirk. "I'll meet you there. Particularly if you head to these coordinates."

Her face is replaced by a string of numbers in the same style as Perfect Storm's calculations for Spatial Translocation, and you give your Device the go-ahead. The orange sigil spits you and your companions out on a rooftop overlooking a brand-new city. Pushing your hat back slightly, you wipe your brow and realize you may have underestimated the size of the task you assigned yourself. «Storm, how big is Chicago?»

«Area 234 square miles, population 2.7 million individuals. 65% larger in area and almost double the population of Philadelphia.»

Oh. «I'm almost afraid to ask, but how many capes?»

«Total number unknown. Fluctuant population. Of stable gangs and hero organizations, roughly two hundred.»

Two hundred. And Philadelphia has thirty. No wonder the Chicagoan gangs wanted a piece of your town.

Something rumbles above you, and you hunch over and look up at the sky in worry. Is it a bomb? Does Coil already know about your plan to attack him? Maybe his power is precog, and he knew about your arrival for days already. Before you can stress yourself to the breaking point, or maybe to the point of dropping subtlety and just blasting the sky with Solar Wrath, a shape shimmers like a heatwave in the air before smoothing out. It isn't long enough for you to truly see it, but between the general outline, the peculiar sound that preceded it, and Dragon's sly warning, you have a pretty good idea what just happened.

Speak of the devil, and the Dragon will appear. "Well? What do you think?"

"Did you… turn one of your ships invisible?"

"Mmm. Somewhat. It depends on exactly what you mean by invisible. It's more like extremely advanced cloaking technology. I had some ideas for how to get it working now thanks to 'collaborating' with you and Shipwright, and I figured why not add it to the Sybaris Mk. II?"

Mark 2? The collaboration she's hinting at must be her conversion to a Unison Device, and you know that in this new form she can understand magitech in addition to Tinkertech. Is this newest member of the Dragoncraft lineup built with mana technology?

"Now that we're in Chicago," Samantha cuts in, "what's the plan to actually find Bakuda? I sure hope we have a better idea than just knocking on doors and asking if people have seen a bomber cape."

"Honestly? That is almost what I'm doing right now. I'm sorting through police and PRT reports. It's slow, but I'm hoping with enough sightings of criminals dressed the same as Coil's mercenaries, I will be able to pinpoint where their general territory is. It will speed up the search once we have a narrower slice of the city."

Chevalier nods at Dragon's plan. "You work on the PRT side of things, and I'll work on the Protectorate side. I'll head to the local branch and see what Myrddin can tell me about Coil and Bakuda." He gives you a look. "He'll want to know the reason for my curiosity, and I don't see any benefit in lying to him. His branch will be our best allies if things don't go according to plan."

You hear the underlying warning in his voice and give him a nod. It would be easy for things to go south, particularly since you are more or less making up your plan as you go. Moving quickly and quietly is going to be essential to catching Bakuda and Coil off their guard, but if shit does hit the fan, having the local heroes even somewhat in the know will be a nice bit of insurance. Particularly if Calvert has enough sway to try throwing PRT agents at you.

You want to take the villains down. Killing agents who think they're doing their job protecting their home from invading villains is way beyond the line.

"I'll head for the coastline and work my way inwards," Vista says. You glance at her in surprise. To the best of your knowledge, she is a space-warper, not a locator. Does she have a second power she's kept secret that lets her search faster than normal? "It's complicated, but the short version is that I can use my power to figure out if there are and aren't people in a specific place. Coil has to have an armory or a base or something for his men, and Bakuda may have assistants in her lab. Both will have to be hidden, which means I'd find people where there aren't supposed to be any."

Samantha nods. "I can start on the other side of the city and use Wide Area Search to look for the same. If I shut it down as soon as it finishes scanning, I can see what's lying around hopefully before anyone notices the little balls of light zipping around. Won't let us track anyone, but we can get a rough picture of what's going on."

Which just leaves you without something to do. Sure, you could out and start throwing Wide Area Search on your own to try speeding up the search, or you could back somebody up should things go south where they are. Or even go with Chevalier to explain some of the details to Myrrdin about just why you're in his city.

Decisions, decisions.


Remember how I said this was part extermination quest, part social event? This plays a role in it. You can accompany one person or head out on your own.

[ ] Dragon
[ ] Chevalier
[ ] Vista
[ ] Samantha
[ ] Go on your own and use Wide Area Search in another part of town

 

[Silently Watches]

[] Chevalier


Heatstroke 10.4

"Chevalier," you say after a moment, "do you mind if I head out with you? I should probably help explain things to Myrddin. Better than making you be the messenger all on your own."

It might also let you smooth over a new wrinkle that you really don't want causing problems. Vista's ultimatum still sits heavily in your memory. You don't need to be a genius to know which group she would offer her services to first, and Chevalier doesn't either. Nor is it a mystery that you'd accept her without a moment's hesitation. This is an unexpected and unwelcome complication.

You would love it if there were a simple solution.

He eyes you for a long moment before giving you a nod. "That would probably be for the best. You can answer any questions I don't know the answer to. I'm sure he will be just as curious about how you figured all this out as I am."

Samantha teleports away while Vista toys with space and makes her way to the northeast. A moment later, Dragon's screen winks out, leaving you all alone with the realization that you volunteered to discuss Perfect Storm's hacking with the heads of two different Protectorate branches. Oops.

Chevalier pulls a phone out of his armor and flicks through a couple of screens before putting it to his ear. "Myrddin, it's Chevalier." He sighs. "…Yes, I'm aware you have caller ID. I need to talk to you in private. … In person, actually. I'm here in the city."

«Storm, do you think you cou—»

"—without telling me?" another man's voice says into your ear. There are few days when you less than love the telepathic connection between you and your Device; today is not one of them. "Sonny, you're in for a spanking, that's for sure. When are you coming to headquarters?"

"That… might not work," Chevalier replies. "Do you know anywhere else we could meet? I don't want anyone to know I or my companion are in town."

"Mmm. Sure, I guess I know a place for some cloak and dagger games. Mac's Pub, near the intersection of North Ogden and West Ohio. I'll meet you there in, oh, ten minutes?"

"Sounds good. See you then." Chevalier hangs up the phone and looks at you. "He'll meet us on top of a restaurant a short distance from the Protectorate base. Can you teleport us to the intersection of North Ogden and West Ohio?"

"Easily." All it takes is for Perfect Storm to find the address, translate it into useful coordinates, spin the code for Spatial Translocation—

—and there you are, on a rooftop across the street from an Old World–style bar simply labeled 'Mac's'. Cheeky Device.

"How come you want to meet here and not at their headquarters itself like you said you were?" you ask once the world fully solidifies around you.

"If it were just me, I could talk my way around the situation to anyone who asked. With you along, it would make things more complicated, particularly if Calvert heard any whisper of your presence. From what little I know about him personally while he was in Philadelphia, he struck me as someone both rash and paranoid. I was worried he might rabbit if he thought there was a chance you were in town for him."

Fair enough. Another short teleportation takes you to your destination. Chevalier leans against some of the air conditioning work, his cannonblade propped up next to him. You, on the other hand, lay your staff horizontally in the air and sit on top of it. Now you just need some way to kill the next ten minutes.

A couple of minutes to think about what you want to say and how, and you give up. "I didn't know."

He turns his head to you but says nothing.

"About Vista. I knew she wasn't happy with being in the Wards since coming to Philly, but I didn't know she was thinking about quitting."

"How did you know she was unhappy?"

You shrug. "She told me outright. It's been getting worse the last several weeks, but it didn't take long for her to start butting heads with the way the Wards are held back."

"The Wards program is not a miniature Protectorate," he says with a long-drawn sigh. "Miss Militia has told me that is how it was treated in Brockton Bay, but that is not and never was its purpose. It's a place for young parahumans to learn to master their powers in as controlled an environment as possible. We're protecting her from getting in over her head."

"And that right there is the problem. She doesn't want to be protected. I wouldn't either in her shoes. She wants to go out and make a difference, and she can't do that when you're locking her up in your base whenever shit hits the fan. The Beasts, the Maras. She could have helped out, but you were so busy protecting her you treated her like a china doll instead of a fellow cape."

Chevalier gives you a tight-lipped frown. "And when going out and making a difference causes her to lose an arm?" You cannot help but flinch. "It is a low blow, and I apologize for that, but the point still stands. She got into a fight that neither of you were prepared to handle, and it cost her a limb and nearly cost her life. Is that not evidence enough that she should be protected instead of being tossed out on the field?"

"How many full-grown heroes died at Cadejo's hands?" you counter. "Being a cape isn't safe. Period. Some of us have better powers with which to survive, but at the end of the day we're all risking our lives every time we step out our front doors in costume. Your choice to do so is respected. My choice to do so is respected. Now Vista wants her choice to be respected, and if you ask me, I think she's earned it."

"There are many people who say she isn't old enough to make that choice on her own. The Youth Guard. The Protectorate and PRT at large. Me."

You shrug. "Then you'll lose her. I don't she was kidding about that. Her age doesn't make her any less able to do what she wants, regardless of whether she is allowed to or not."

Even through his helmet, you can feel the weight of his stare. "And when she asks to join you the way we both know she would were she to quit the Wards?"

"Chevalier, I'm not going to go out of my way to pick a fight with the Protectorate." He nods, but any ease in his posture is wiped away with your next words. "But that doesn't mean I'll leave a friend out in the cold on your say so. I like you, and I like Miss Militia, but I don't live for your approval. One of the advantages of being independent."

The rest of the wait for Myrddin to arrive is awkward, to say the least.

Finally, finally, the silence is broken when a cape in a thick burlap robe and cape flies up and over the edge of the building to land lightly on the rooftop. He taps the butt of his gnarled oak staff against the roof and strokes his brown beard. "This a new protege, Chevalier?"

"Not exactly," the armored knight denies with a shake of his head. "Myrddin, meet one of our locals, Calamity Witch."

You hop off Perfect Storm and execute a strange bow with curtsey that comes naturally to you. You are pretty sure you've done this kind of thing before, and you can not help but wonder if it is a movement carried down from the days of Galea in your implanted memories. "Hello, Myrddin. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"My dear, believe me when I say the pleasure is all mine. I would say that I hope you're enjoying your time in our city, but considering the circumstances, I get the feeling that pleasure is not why you're here."

"I'm afraid not." Chevalier turns to you. "Do you want to explain the details?"

Once again you find yourself detailing Coil's attack and identity and the reason for your trip to Chicago, and while Myrddin is surprised by your holographic screens he is not doubtful of your claims. Not blatantly, at least, though he does look to Chevalier for a reassuring nod a couple of times. When it is clear that you are finished, he turns fully to his Philly counterpart. "How accurate is all this?"

"I haven't had a chance to confirm anything myself, but the pieces fit together. It was enough to convince Dragon, for whatever that's worth to you." Chevalier sighs. "I don't like it any better than you do, but if Calvert really is a villain? That isn't a situation we can sit on. He needs to be brought in and questioned."

"I've heard a rumor that there is supposed to be a meeting among the PRT brass," you add. "If that's the case, then once we can bring in Bakuda, we could move on him."

Myrddin shakes his head. "I wish I could help you, but I really don't know if he's there or not. The PRT is our parent agency, but there is so much autonomy that we aren't always invited to their meetings. This is one of those, I think. It is being held in the PRT office, so while I have full authority to ask for a list of who was seen entering the building, those questions would be noticed. If you are a worried about tipping Coil off as you say you are…"

Well, that sucks. "Alright. What about Bakuda and Coil's underlings? Do you know anything about them and where they might be?"

"That's a hard question to answer. I can't say anything about explosions, but there have been a variety of strange things happening in Fuller Park and Englewood. We thought it was the work of a Shaker who perhaps couldn't control his powers, but a Tinker who makes bombs with unusual effects? That could be her doing. Unfortunately, the PRT and the Protectorate are no more trusted in those areas than are the police, so we haven't been able to find any eyewitnesses to know for sure.

"Mercenaries?" He shakes his head. "I don't know what to tell you. I've heard of people dressed like soldiers running around town in masks, but those sighting are sporadic, and I don't know that I would be able to track them down to one particular place in the city. I'm sorry I can't be more help."

"That is more than we knew coming in to this," Chevalier says with a slow nod. "Thankfully we were planning on attacking Bakuda first, so the fact you have some idea where she might be is actually rather helpful. But we need to make sure Calvert doesn't escape. Do you think you could station some people around the PRT building to make sure he doesn't slip away just in case he is there?"

"That much I can do without any trouble. Let me know if things go south, and I can send some people out to provide backup."

The two Protectorate heroes are still hashing out all the fine details when you step away and call the rest of your team. Samantha and Dragon open video screens while Vista's own is audio only. "We have a lead thanks to Myrddin. Focus on these areas. People have noticed weird effects that might be the remains of her bombs."

"I can't see where you're talking about."

"I have the coordinates, Vista. I'll come pick you up and take you there," Samantha tells the only person without any kind of high-tech communication system. "Calamity, are you and Chevalier going to join us?"

"Give me a minute or two for them to finish talking, and that's where we'll be. See you all soon." You turn around to find both men looking at you. "I gave them the locations you mentioned, so they'll head that way soon enough. Myrddin, thank you for the information. I can't tell you how much easier you made our search."

"You're quite welcome, but I need you to do one thing now that you know." You tilt your head in question. "Try to keep everything in one piece please. We still have to live in this city after you leave. Once I have a chance to brief some of my people on the very basic details and how important it is that we keep this quiet, I can send a team to you should Chevalier give me the word."

"Thank you, Myrddin. Just make sure you're absolutely clear that none of this gets back to the PRT before we make a move on him." Soon enough, it is just you and Chevalier again, and you offer him your arm to whisk yourselves away to the heart of your target area. "Now we just have to wait," you tell him with a sigh. "Unless you can use your power to search for people like Vista apparently can?"

"I'm afraid not."

A couple of minutes later comes a text from Vista with an address, and after relaying the message to Samantha and Dragon, the pair of you join her. "I found where Bakuda is hiding," she tells you while pointing a chromed finger at an old rundown apartment building. "Every room I looked into from the windows was abandoned, but there are definitely people there. Not squatters, either. I don't know where they are hiding, but somebody's there no matter what it looks like."

"Storm, can we get blueprints for the building?" A screen pops up at your command, and you point at a another unseen layer of the building. "There's a basement right here. I don't know if they're all crammed in there like sardines or if they expanded the basement into a proper compound or what, but that's probably where they are."

"They would have had to expand it somehow," Vista says with absolute certainty. "I don't know how to put it in a way you'd understand, but it doesn't feel right for the number of people in there to be that close together."

That makes the blueprint all but useless. "Fine. Storm, Dragon, I need you two to keep searching for where Coil's base would be. The rest of us? We need to decide how to get into her workshop and shut her down hard."


"Myrddin's phone number" added to Key Items.

So now you know where Bakuda has (presumably) made her workshop. How are you going to take her down?

[ ] Rush in through the front door
[ ] Sneak in
-[ ] How?
[ ] Divide and conquer, doing some of both in pairs
-[ ] You go with…
[ ] Other…

I WILL need details besides just this, especially if you pick the "Other…" option.

 

[Silently Watches]

[] Plan Contain and Capture.
-[] Deploy Recursion Field and scout out the building.
-[] After that lift Recursion Field. Samantha and Chevalier attack from within, while Vista, Dragon and Taylor provide support as needed.


Heatstroke 10.5

Chevalier shifts from where he stands next to you, the soft grinding of his armor's plates the only sign of his changed position. "Calamity Witch, your pocket dimension is an exact duplicate of your surroundings, correct? And you can choose which capes you bring into that dimension?"

"I can't choose who comes in," you tell him with a shake of your head. "It's based on the mechanics of their powers. It's a perfect copy of where I set up the field, though, yeah. Why?"

"Attacking a Tinker in their own workshop is always a risky proposition, and for Bakuda, I am quite concerned about where she might have placed booby traps for anyone sneaking in. If your field is so exact, is it possible for use it for reconnaissance? Figure out exactly what she has hidden where and where she is most likely hiding, maybe capture her in the process without anyone else knowing we were even here?"

You open your mouth only to close it again. That is a very good question, and one that you don't think you have ever considered before. «Storm?»

«…Undetermined. Recursion Field never used in such fashion. Previous deployments on high-magic worlds. All combatants mages and therefore brought into dimensional barrier. Earth Bet low-magic. Parahuman engineers questionable if affected by barrier. Stratagem possible.»

"I don't know that a Tinker would be sucked up, but even if she isn't, I can't think of a good reason why that plan wouldn't work," you tell him after another minute's thought on your own.

"Then let's do that. We'll search the building bottom to top, and if we don't find Bakuda, we can determine where the best place to attack is."

A twirl of your staff and a thought later, and a wave of not-color washes over the area. The faint greyscale of Recursion Field is a novel sight for Chevalier and even Vista, despite the latter hero having seen in once before during the ill-fated fight with Cadejo. Dragon's screen, on the other hand, goes on the fritz and vanishes with a staticky crackle. Chevalier glances where the screen used to be. "I suppose your assumption is right. A Tinker would not be pulled into this dimension of yours."

Sadly, he has spoken too soon. Another couple of seconds pass before the screen reappears. "Sorry about that," Dragon says, sounding slightly out of breath, as strange as that is to think about. "I wasn't expecting to be affected like the rest of you."

"So Bakuda's stuck in here with us, too?" asks Vista, her metallic fist opening and closing a couple of times in anticipation.

"I can't even begin to make that assumption. Since my current craft runs on similar technology to Shipwright's and Calamity Witch's, that may be the reason I was hit too. There is just no way to know for sure."

Chevalier nods before he, along with Vista and Samantha, make their way to the apartment. You, however, shoot the former A.I. a look. "Using mana-technology is enough to bring the Sybaris with us into Recursion Field?"

"Not exactly," Dragon says with a sheepish look, her digital avatar vanishing to reveal her real face. Behind her is not the metal walls you would expect from an aircraft nor the fabric of a pilot's seat. Instead it is open air and a couple of skyscrapers. "The Sybaris is still there in the real world. When the barrier went up, I found myself falling out of the sky. It's a very good thing I can fly. Otherwise the results would have been… messy."

"Because you're a Device," you say slowly, the pieces fitting together. "Recursion Field was designed to suck up mages into an arena where they could fight without wrecking the rest of the world. You're practically a mage in your own right now, so of course you wouldn't be an exception. It sucks that you can't bring your ships in here with you, though," you finish with a grimace. The Dragoncraft would have provided a welcome amount of firepower.

"There may be a way around that. I'll have to do some experimenting. For now, I can't exactly offer much help." The screen returns to the face she presents to the world. "You better catch up with the others. Keep the connection up; I might still be able to give you advice on what is what. It takes a Tinker to catch a Tinker, you know," she adds with a wink.

Somebody demolished the front door of the apartment building by the time you catch up, and you give… actually, all three of the other heroes a suspicious glance. You would have assumed it was Chevalier or Samantha, but considering the synthetic muscles she now has, Vista is a suspect too. The guilty expression she wears, the wooden fragments she is brushing off her knuckles, and the shocked face Chevalier is making seal the deal. A shake of your head, and you step inside. "Any guesses where the stairs to the basement are?"

"That might not be as relevant as you might think." You turn to Chevalier, who still flicks his eyes at Vista every now and again even though he otherwise is facing you. "Any chance you can make a hole in the floor? We can find the way up later."

A low-powered Solar Wrath is more than enough to make a new skylight for the basement, and you drop down to the ground and light up a Flare Shooter. Any doubts you had about this being a Tinker's workshop are laid to rest when you see the oblong shells sitting on a nearby table, some of them complete while the rest are in various stages of construction. That by itself is enough to worry you, but sadly Bakuda is not one to underwhelm, for only a couple of feet away sits a grenade launcher.

"Great," you say with a resigned sigh. "She doesn't just have weird-ass bombs. She's going to be shooting them at us."

"Worse." You look over to find Samantha squatting on the ground next to a boxy-looking thing. "Throw Dragon my way. I'm no Tinker, but I think this might be another bomb."

"Quite possib— Ugh!" Her grunt comes after you fling her screen like a Frisbee towards your Guardian Beast, and the upgraded raccoon looks down at her in concern. For all that her face is composed of blue numbers falling down the screen, she looks distinctly green at the moment. "Please," she begs, "for the love of all that is good in this world, don't do that again. I think I'm about to throw up."

Your eyes catch Samantha's and find the same question you are wondering. How in the world could Dragon throw up when she doesn't have a stomach? Or… does she have a stomach? How accurate did Tim make her anatomy?

On second thought, never mind. That leads to questions you don't need answers to.

The Tinker collects herself and looks down at the box. "It's a bomb, alright. No wires, so you can't just cut a cord and deactivate it that way. It could be set up to explode with proximity, but I have my doubts. Most likely it's either contact-triggered or remotely detonated. I'd put my money on the latter, which means Bakuda would have to keep the remote on her person. I can't tell you what it will look like, though. A television remote, a military-grade grip detonator. If her power is broader than just bombs, it may be more high-tech. Voice-activated, or a display built into an armband or even her mask."

"So bag her and strip her to be sure," Vista says with a frown. "Who's pouncing on her?"

Chevalier comes back in from a doorway at the far side of the room. "The best option would be Samantha and myself. We don't know how many underlings she has or how well they're armed. My armor and her power should protect us enough that we can focus on making sure Bakuda can't set any of these bombs off."

The Ward opens her mouth to protest, but you're faster. "That works. Guess that means you're stuck with me, Vista. I think I have a plan, too. If I dropped the field now, we'd all pop out in her workshop, right where we're standing." You turn around and point at two spots against the walls where random boxes are stacked up to make some convenient recesses. "You two hide there, and Vista and I can be outside. We make a loud, flashy entrance, get everyone running towards us, and then you pop out of hiding and hit her from behind. She won't expect you to appear out of nowhere."

"We'll need to check the rest of the building first," Chevalier warns. "Just because the building looked abandoned doesn't mean there aren't squatters living here. We can't bring down the building on top of them."

The four of you, five if you include Dragon, leave the basement and make quick work searching the upper floors for signs of life. You actually find some, but rather than the sleeping arrangements of the homeless you find cots and boxes of military rations. This is no one's home; is is a base for the mercenaries Coil must have loaned to Bakuda to help her do her dirty work. In other words, acceptable targets.

Now it is time to split up, and a screen for Samantha's face joins Dragon's. "In position," she tells you. "After you drop Recursion Field, we'll give you ten seconds to make as much noise as you possibly can before we jump out. Make 'em count."

"Oh, ten seconds will be plenty. Ready to rumble?" you ask the girl next to you.

Vista doesn't answer with words. She holds her left arm up, and her hand spins around and around on her wrist a couple of times. Her palm splits into pieces and reconfigures itself while her forearm unfolds. Soon enough, what used to be a functional hand looks like a trio of prongs surrounding a circular hole that crackles and glows a menacing acid green. The smile she gives you is feral.

No wonder you and Samantha like her.

"Three. Two." A dozen Flare Shooters form around you. "One."

Zero.

You let go of Recursion Field and watch color rush back into the world.

The building has barely returned to normal before the particle cannon built into Vista's arm lets out a high-pitched squeal and unleashes a bolt of plasma. Once more the door disintegrates, this time accompanied by large chunks of the walls next to it, and the residual heat barrels into the room to flash-ignite the wallpaper and the yellowing books on the desk. Vista's laughter is almost maniacal. "Knock knock, mother-frickers!"

You can't help it. You slap your hand against your face with a sigh. No more Samuel L. Jackson movies for her.

"…Sorry."

Samantha gave you ten seconds, but it takes only two before purple lasers lance out from around corners. They splash pointlessly against the shield you quickly cast, and a moment later your triangular shield is joined by a round one in the same green as Vista's plasma. Your magic bullets hurtle inside to punch through the walls hiding the mercenaries.

Or they were until part of the room is sucked up into a miniature black hole that forms in midair. That Flare Shooter must have hit a bomb, and if they're shooting Tinkertech grenades at you now…

A glint catches your eye, and you barely have enough time to spin the code for your telekinesis. A mental hand grabs the grenade right after it sails through the hole Vista made and tosses it skywards. This one is not a black hole; instead it explodes into an enormous ball of fire that you are sure can be seen from a good distance away.

That element of surprise you had going for you? You should probably kiss that goodbye.

The next grenade you catch you throw back to where it came from, which promptly disappears in a whirlpool of color. When the detonation is over, everything in that area is half-melted goop, even stuff that shouldn't melt. Like wood, or carpet. Or skeletons still dressed in ragged fatigues. You avert your eyes in time to see another mercenary fall after an orange fireball explodes in his face.

Is it strange that their own – admittedly assisted – friendly fire is more lethal than your own attacks?

While you were busy ruminating and throwing random grenades at people, Vista has been taking care of the lasers in the most breathtaking manner imaginable. Her shield can protect her, so like you she has not even bothered dodging. The different beams are now all bent towards a single point to create a three-dimensional sculpture of light hanging in the air in front of her as they constantly cross each other's path. The floating diagram shrinks down from three feet in diameter to a measly six inches, and she twists her head to flash you a smile. "Watch this. Fire in the hole!"

A hole forms in that cage of warped space. You know this only because the lasers race out as a widening cone of burning light, and the resulting carnage puts her particle cannon to shame. You blink in shock at the callousness you just witnessed as sweet little Vista kills the team of mercenaries attacking you, but then you hear it.

Groans of pain. Those henchmen are, somehow, still alive.

"I'm not a Tinker, obviously, but it's funny the kinds of things you can learn from them," Vista says as she deactivates her shield, either aware of your surprise or just wanting to brag a little. "Kid Win? Lasers were about the only things he could build reliably and that he didn't immediately take apart again, but he had a lot of trouble with math and stuff, and he was constantly puttering around with all sorts of equations. I was around enough that I learned some of the physics behind them just by osmosis. Then Miss Militia one day tried to teach us how to play pool, and she is phenomenal at bouncing pool balls off the bumpers. It's all about the angles.

"Put the two of them together, and a couple of times Kid and I tried to work on bouncing his lasers around corners and catching them again. The bouncing, not a problem. Catching, now that's harder. I can corral a laser, but keeping it too long in twisted space makes it spread out, and after a while the laser is just a big flashlight. Then again, Kid's lasers wouldn't hurt you if he shot you. They were basically just a strong punch. With these?" She walks into the apartment, her eyes moving around to make sure nobody would try jumping up or out from around a corner. "Either spreading the light out would make it harmless, or it would hurt them but still wouldn't kill them. No matter which, it was something we could use."

"You can say that again," you mutter while you stare down at the twitching form of one of the mercenaries. His clothing is singed with sunburned skin just barely visible underneath it, but his hands and eyes had no such protection. Those bits of flesh are shocked white and look to be forming blisters already.

You taught yourself a few things about how heat and light affects the eyes when you started using fireballs as your primary weapon, and as a result you decide not to tell her just what happens when lasers intense enough to burn skin hit delicate eyeballs. She doesn't need to know that most likely none of these men will ever see again.

The building suddenly shakes, and you lift off the ground as the floor bucks beneath you. That can only mean one thing: one of Bakuda's booby traps just went off. The floor is damaged now, and you fling Flare Shooters in a circle that quickly destabilizes what's left. You drop down into the burning basement, preparing yourself to start fighting a fully aware and well-armed Tinker.

Instead you see Samantha climbing to her feet, a lump of coal and ash lying close to her.

"Are you okay?" you demand, to which she finally gives you a nod. That loosens the tight band wrapped around your heart, and now you glance around. There is Chevalier, standing up himself, and a couple of mercenaries lying on the ground still, but of the mad bomber herself you see no sign. "Where's Bakuda?"

Samantha points at the ash pile. "Right there."

…What.

"All but two of her henchmen left to deal with you," Chevalier says, holding onto his side. "I focused on them while Samantha jumped on top of Bakuda. I don't fully know what happened after."

Samantha shakes her head. "I think her detonator was in her mask. I was busy keeping her hands occupied. She was facing that box over there"—she waves her hand at a gigantic scorch mark on the wall—"and then everything was on fire. I think she meant for it to be a fusion bomb or something; it looked and felt like I was staring into the sun right before the shockwave hit."

You hold back a sigh of relief. Trying to harm you or Samantha with fire? That is a terrible idea considering you are both fireproof due to Perfect storm's meddling. The blast itself could still do damage, but Samantha's own version of a Barrier Jacket would protect her.

Except now you have to deal with the fact that the scraps of burning wood are all next to weird bombs, and you have no idea how delicate they are. Would a nearby flame be enough to set them off?

The head of your staff swings around to point at the nearest grenade. "Storm, seal everything up!"

"Understood, Mistress. Sealing mode!"

The prongs on the staff head's flange unscrew themselves to reveal vents, and planes of orange light slide out from its arms. Shaped like this, Perfect Storm looks more like a ritual staff than a weapon. Blinding beams of light shoot out one by one to hit the bombs you can see; when they fade away, so have the bombs they were touching. You make a quick dance around the room to pick up everything you can. The smoke filling the basement is another problem, but that's one that won't kill your immediately.

"Good thinking," Chevalier says with a slight cough as he starts walking towards the door he had previously been exploring back in Recursion Field. "We can drop them off at the local Protectorate branch before we go home."

Sure, sure. You look down at Perfect Storm's head and give it a slight nod at its quiet question. You will return most of the bombs, definitely, but Tim and Dragon might be able to make something cool with some of these.

"Damn it. I hoped I was wrong."

The soft curse catches your attention, and you drift over to the doorway to peek over Chevalier's shoulder. Inside that room are rows of tables, each one holding a disheveled man or woman hooked up to an IV pole. "Chicago has a lot of homeless," he explains. "A dozen or two wouldn't be missed when they disappear, nor would they be remarkable when they turned back up. There's a cabinet at the back with surgical tools."

"Why would she need surgical tools?" you ask despite the bone-deep instinct that you don't want to know.

"I think she put bombs in these people. Planned to at the very least." Chevalier slams his fist against the wall, his righteous anger boiling over. "She was going to turn all these people into walking bombs. They wouldn't even know what happened to them until she set off the devices. It would throw this city into chaos."

You don't want to add to his bad mood, but… "Our fight outside wasn't quiet. I had to deflect of grenades into the air. If Coil saw that, or even heard about it, our window of opportunity to to catch him by surprise is almost over."

"Never count on luck. That's what kills even the most powerful capes." He shakes his head. "We still don't know where his base is, either. We definitely will lose our chance to move on him if we have to look under every rock in the city."

"Further search not necessary. Mistress, contact from Dragon."

Dragon opens a screen next to you. "Calamity, Chevalier. I found where Coil's base is. I was looking through his data some more, and that's when I realized he owns Fortress Construction, the company that built the Endbringer shelters throughout North America and Europe. From there I just had to narrow the search to where those shelters are, and I found it. It's in Hyde Park. It was started and then officially abandoned, so it was barred to the public, but it is still consuming power and water according to city records. It's active."

"An Endbringer shelter," Chevalier repeats slowly. "That would be a perfect base. Solid construction, entrances and exits into a resource-heavy part of the city. He could move himself and his men around easily."

It is a nice theory, and probably right, but there is still one big elephant in the room that no one is paying any attention. "How do we know he's even there? He still could be in that PRT meeting."

"There's only one way to find out. We need to search one of them." Another coughing fit hits him. "But let's get out of the smoke first."


"Bakuda bomb x5" added to Inventory.

A bit anticlimactic? Maybe, but from the way the vote discussion went, you put yourselves out of the worthwhile action. Thankfully, there will be more action when you go after…
[ ] Coil – Now that you know where the snake is hiding, you can hurry up and go after him. Maybe you'll even be really, really lucky and keep the element of surprise.
[ ] Calvert – The PRT administrators should still be in their meeting, weird bombs going off or not. Head back to the PRT base and bag a traitor where he least expects you.

 

[Silently Watches]

[] Coil – Now that you know where the snake is hiding, you can hurry up and go after him. Maybe you'll even be really, really lucky and keep the element of surprise.
-[] You have Myrddin's digits, probably a good idea to use them; give him an update on the Bakuda situation and find out if Calvert's at the PRT meeting or not. If he's there, Myrddin can do what he can to keep Calvert busy while you wreck all his toys.
-[] Drop the base into Recursion Field and begin a Wide Area Search.
-[] Breach the base with Solar Wrath near the biggest concentration of hostile capes and enter with Chevalier and Samanta on front, and Taylor and Vista on support.
-[] Once all hostile capes are apprehended find the control center/Coil office and drop the field. Hack the computers and put the base on lockdown. After that you can deal with Coil's minions at your leisure pace.


Heatstroke 10.6

You take in the damaged remains of Bakuda's workshop once everyone is out, and ideas roll around in your head. "Hey, Chevalier?" you ask. "What do you think the actual chances are that all that went unnoticed?"

He turns to you with an incredulous expression. "…Slim to none."

"That's what I figured. Do you think you can call up Myrddin again? We didn't want to tip off Coil that we knew his identity, but if Myrddin already has people in place like he said he could, they can hold him at the PRT building if he's there. We're already close to his base, which gives his men less time to prepare for us."

"But if he isn't at his base, how would anyone there even know we're coming after them? Or are we going there just in case he isn't at the PRT?" asks Vista.

"Some of it is a precautionary measure," Dragon agrees, "but a mercenary force like he has? They would be expected to be able to act independently when needed. They may even have contingency plans should his identity be revealed. They're a complication that we don't want making this a bigger mess than it will be already."

Chevalier needs only a couple of minutes to make the call and explain the change in plan, and he does that as the four of you take a trip into a nicer part of the city. It starts to become less of a surprise that he would pick this particular location as the heart of his territory, and Samantha appears to agree with you. "Is it just me, or would this be a bad part of town for a massive villain fight to break out?"

"It's not just you. Hyde Park is home to the University of Chicago as well as a major hub economically. The sort of area that if attacked would lead to the city government pushing the PRT to stamp out whomever caused the trouble in the first place. So long as his forces were not the ones at fault, or did not appear to be at fault anyway, they would reap yet more benefits from law enforcement."

"Especially considering that Coil could use his position to shift the blame to whomever his men were fighting anyway," Samantha adds with a nod. "Clever snake, I'll give him that much."

A squat, round building can soon be seen nestled in between large overpass bridges, and your party slows to a stop. "Coil's a paranoid son of a bitch," you think out loud. "Hey, Storm, Dragon, do you guys think you could look in and see if there's a security system or something you could take control of? Maybe we can check that he's actually there or even lock the doors on everybody inside."

«Attempting.»

Dragon also gives you a nod, but after a minute or two her avatar frowns. "It doesn't look like it. If I had to take a guess, I would say that he probably has his security on a closed system. There is one connection I can find that looks to go into the building, but it's hitting a firewall that I don't know if I could break without making some noise."

«Agreed. Control plausible if connected to physical node.»

"Looks like we're headed inside, then. Anyone want to vote against an encore of our Recursion Field exploration?"

With no voices of dissension, you throw out the dimensional barrier to cover the Endbringer shelter turned villain hangout. A sigil appears beneath Samantha as soon as the barrier stabilizes, and then she throws out the red sparks of Wide Area Search.

"What is that?" asks Chevalier.

"Search spell. Everything went smoothly enough against Bakuda that I'm worried Coil might have a couple of capes under his thumb as well. I'd rather know ahead of time if we will have to put them down." A screen appears at her elbow. "But it looks like we're once again in luck. No capes around, or at least none with powers that get them sucked up."

If you don't need to clear a bunch of villains out of Recursion Field first, that makes the upcoming task that much easier. A tightly focused Solar Wrath rips a hole in yet another empty lair, and your team makes their way inside without difficulty. As though to smooth matters out more, this base has no obvious bombs lurking in the corners to jump out at you. Instead you get a good look at the wide-open spaces and the crisscrossing catwalks while you slowly drift along. Everyone peeks inside various doors and hallways, but nothing obvious catches your attention until Chevalier finds an otherwise unremarkable office room near the center of the base.

"Five bucks says this is where Coil does most of his work," Samantha announces without preamble.

A shake of Chevalier's head, and he says, "No one is going to take you up on a bet that obvious. What I'm more interested in is whether he's here."

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" You wave Vista to fully enter the room. The door was closed in Recursion Field, which should mean that it is closed in the real world. So long as nobody outside has any clue that things are going south…

Chevalier gives you a nod, and you drop the barrier.

You had hoped to catch Coil off-guard, but it appears that will not be the case. The room is empty.

"Where the hell is he?"

"It is still possible that he is somewhere else within the base," says Chevalier, "but more likely he is at the PRT base. Hopefully Myrddin has managed to hold him there."

"That's all well and good, but we still have a bunch of mercenaries to deal with," Samantha points out. "They're going to make things complicated."

"Not as much as you might believe." You turn to Dragon's screen with a raised eyebrow. "One of these computers is bound to be connected to the overall security system. If Perfect Storm can hack one of them…"

«Suggestion likely.» Without a command on your end, dark purplish casting triangles spin into place and spit out long pronged cords. Those cords physically tear into the computer itself and plug into different spots in the circuit boards. A flurry of screens appear and vanish until there are only a few floating in the air. "Security system accessed. Mistress desires what?"

That is a very good question, and not one you have an immediate answer for. "Do you know where all the mercenaries are?"

"Affirmative. Can track enemy movements."

"Hit them all in small groups and beat the hell out of them?" Samantha gives you a nod. "I like that plan."

"The only issue is that Perfect Storm will need to stay connected to the system to maintain that level of control. Which means you would need to stay here as well," Dragon reminds you.

"It's alright, Calamity. We got this."

Chevalier does not argue against Vista's statement, and with a sigh you turn back to the screens. Another screen pops up without your command, showing a blueprint of the Endbringer shelter with a red line moving through it. "If I might make a recommendation," Dragon says, "this is the most direct path through the base. So long as the mercenaries are trapped in small groups, you should be able to neutralize them with little risk."

At this point you have little argument to raise other than not wanting to be stuck doing this part of the job, so you let out yet another sigh. "Okay. Storm, box them up."

Heavy metal doors slide shut throughout the building, and thanks to the screens you can see the mercenaries start grabbing weapons and slamming their hands on keypads. Those keypads won't help, though, not with Perfect Storm in complete control. Flicking a copy of the map screen to Samantha, you watch the trio leave Coil's office and head towards the first set of henchmen.

"I hate this part." You glance over to see the feed of Dragon's avatar has been replaced once more by her face. "Waiting, knowing that there is nothing you can do but watch as other people take risks you would gladly shoulder yourself."

"But you can now, can't you? I would have thought that to be one of the benefits of having a physical body."

"Not as much as you would think. Yes, I have a body, but this body can't exactly do much if I go out and punch people. I get to be closer to the fight, but I am still dependent on building machines to go out and fight for me." She gives you a tight smile and a shrug. "Which, to be honest, is far from the worst restriction I could possibly face. I just wanted you to know that I understand your current frustration."

A door opens in front of the trio at Samantha's command, and they rush in to beat the mercenaries unconscious before anyone has a chance to respond to their sudden presence. Helped in large measure by Vista widening the gap as the door opens so that the mercenaries have quite literally no warning between door being closed and then three people jumping inside with them. "Yeah," you agree when you see a couple of mercenaries picking up grenade launchers, "frustrating is one word for it. Guys, keep an eye out. It looks like these guys are carrying Bakuda's ammo. Marking which rooms they're in on your map now."

Between Samantha's speed and Inherent Forcefield, Chevalier's armor and cannonblade, and Vista's powers and prosthetic, they need little time to clear out the main rooms in the base. "Anyone else?" Vista asks via Samantha's map screen.

"Not that I can see, but I don't know for sure that Coil has cameras everywhere in the building. There may be a few blind spots."

"We don't have time to check them all," Chevalier interrupts. You look at the relevant camera feed to find him checking his phone. "Myrddin just sent me a message. Sounds like he finally lost his patience and barged into the meeting, except they had already sent Calvert out with a couple of the PRT teams to lock down Bakuda's workshop."

"What?! I thought Myrddin posted people around the building so that this kind of thing wouldn't happen!"

"He did, but it sounds like a couple of them were drafted by the PRT teams heading out. New members who may have thought this was all part of the plan. He tried to contact the team in Calvert's vehicle, but they're all in the wind. If I had to guess, I would say he grabbed a squad filled with people loyal to him in particular and rabbited."

Miscommunication and underestimation. That was all it took for Coil to try escaping from your grip. "I am not going to let him get away from me so he can try this all again and again. Storm, Dragon, find him!"


I know this chapter is subpar, but between RL being a bitch and my muse being uncooperative, I just wanted to get this chapter over and done with. I want this whole arc done with, honestly.

Anyway, this should technically be a voting block, but next chapter kind of writes itself, so… see you then.

 

[Silently Watches]

Heatstroke 10.7

"I have a lead on Calvert's position," Dragon says after a few minutes. "PRT vehicles are equipped with multiple trackers. He disabled most of them, but he didn't touch the toll pass put on all vehicles to waive the fee on interstates. There's a prisoner transport headed southwest on I-55 that I can't locate with any other method."

"That has to be him." He's on the run, but he won't get away from you that easily. "Can you get a better location for him?"

"Not yet, but I'm still working on it."

"Calamity, you and Samantha go after him," orders Chevalier. You had gone to join him and the rest of the group while you waited impatiently for Dragon's information, too angry to bear being by yourself or waiting for them to come back to you. "Vista and I can't fly, and there's too much chaos on the freeway for us to help chase him down. We'll stay here and finish securing the base. There are still a few rooms we can't see on the cameras."

Vista glares at his back for a second or two before sighing and giving you a nod. A twirl of your staff, and you laser yourself a hole in the ceiling. "Dragon, any directions you have would be appreciated."

"Sending toll booth coordinates to Storm now. The Sybaris will meet you there."

With the speed at which you two can fly, it takes less than a minute to race past the toll booth and slow down enough that you can actually see what's going on around you. "Come on!" you shout to Samantha. "This can't be that hard. Look for a PRT truck and cripple it."

If you had to guess based on the honking horns below you, most people in Chicago are less than familiar with heroes flying ten feet or less above their heads. Or maybe they're honking at each other because traffic is slow; who knows? You see several dark vans and only slightly fewer station wagons, but not a single one of them the boxy contraptions used to haul prisoners around.

"I'm going a couple of miles ahead," Samantha tells you. "I'll work backwards while you keep going forwards. I'll let you know if I spot him first."

"Same."

Orange light surrounds her for a second before she vanishes. Alone again, you continue your search, eyes never ceasing their survey of the road. After about ten minutes, you see Samantha flying back in your direction. "Anything?" you ask.

She shakes her head.

"Dragon, they aren't here. Maybe they pulled off on one of the exits. Can you find them?"

Dragon looks off her screen and reaches over as though to tap a button. "Maybe. If he pulled back into the city streets, it's going to be much more complicated to track him down. I will look through street cameras, but that is going to take a while. In the meantime, he may still be on a highway. He could have taken Highway 50 south; it would lead him to I-290."

Your Guardian Beast lays her hand on your shoulder. "Teleport to that intersection with I-290. We'll do the same thing on 50 we did here while Dragon is searching elsewhere."

This time you are the one who whisks yourself to the next location, and even though you keep your attention mostly focused on the road, you can not help but be distracted by the plane that just took off a short distance ahead of you. "Uh, Dragon? Is there any chance the reason we can't find him is because he decided to take a plane?"

"No. I already have a program running through the photo IDs of everyone who has checked in to O'Hare and Midway. He hasn't tried to buy a regular ticket, and there aren't any private flights scheduled for the next five hours. Trust me, I have that avenue of escape firmly in hand."

Thank goodness one of you is thinking ahead.

"Found him," she says after another couple of minutes, soon after Samantha meets up with you again. "He's headed down South Pulaski Road, not far from Highway 50. I think he's trying to get to the mall not far from there."

"At the mall, he and his men could buy new clothes. They'd be unrecognizable," Samantha says. "Between that and hijacking a car, we'd never find them again."

"But we have them now. Dragon, can you give me exact coordinates?"

"Here. They just turned onto West 76th going towards the mall."

"Ready for this?" you ask your partner. She gives you a bloodthirsty smile that you return without hesitation, and then the code is spinning through your head once more. You reappear over a road, and the instant after you find the truck you are throwing a white-hot Flare Shooter through the engine.

The truck stalls to a halt.

It takes a few seconds, but then the back doors open to let a skeletally thin man step out. You drift around and down close enough to see that yes, this really is Calvert. He looks up at you and twitches. He pulls his gun from its holster, and you create a swarm of Flare Shooters only for him to toss it away and raise his hands. A single motion on your part convinces him to kneel.

"The rest of your men, too."

It takes a moment, but he mutters something. The other fake PRT agents leave the truck and join him on the ground.

"Calamity, we found Tattletale," Chevalier says as a screen springs into existence. "I don't think she was after you of her own accord. We found her in one of the rooms Coil's cameras weren't watching. She's in withdrawal right now, but from what we could get out of her, he forcibly addicted her to heroin or morphine and forced her to give him information in exchange for another fix. Find that bastard and bring him down."

A wicked grin curves your lips. "Oh, we don't have to worry about Coil ever again. I have him right where I want him. On his knees."


More than a few of you figured out what was going on with Tattletale real early. Am I getting that predictable?

Hold onto your hats, because the end of the arc is coming up… right…