Her inability to trust others has resulted in a known mass murdering neo-nazi taking up residence in their base. Said Nazi who can blast her way to the surface is in no way impaired by the walls of the base should she decide she wants to go back to the Empire and that Recluse's head would be a great gift.
who wants out and it's only a problem for them for the following issues:
Lisa did it without consulting beforehand and it was an 'impulsive' choice.
They now know one of Recluse's bases
Danny wanted them to go to and join the Protectorate, instead of letting Purity go elsewhere.
it's not Amy's " I'm this close to going Biotinker" or "imply that my Recluse friend could unleash a Xenomorph Horde just because I told her to come and get me out of here".
so, yes it's an easily fixable issue because their issues are communication issues that they are somewhat willing to aknowledge and they were willing to help the "mass-murdering neo-nazi" get away from the Neo-Nazi Gang, who I remind you was willing to alter her and her daughter's 'appearance' in order to get away from Kaiser.
that is easily fixable along with delivering Purity&co to 'freedom' or the authorities unless you are talking about Purity's Issues and tendency to go over the top when she feels that Aster is threatened.
Purity has Aster and "Michael" with her
Purity wants to protect Aster and "Michael"
Purity went willingly with The Cabal's plan and into their 'protective custody'.
she is not going to suddenly go Batshit insane and 'kill/capture' her hosts when there is enough personnel to retaliate onto her more vulnerable targets AKA the baby and step-son.
unless somehow she decides that no, she cares more about Returning to Kaiser's Side than the lives of her baby and Theo.
Dad had sounded distinctly unhappy. I put down my the new test battery model. It was significantly more energy dense, but downright caustic. Stabilizing it was ok, but I'd rather my units not burst into flames or melt when cut open.
Oh god, she's even giving her xenomorphs acid for blood…
I don't know if you have officially gone too far, or haven't gone far enough but one day someone is going to actually encounter one of these and it will be a glorious day.
Oh god, she's even giving her xenomorphs acid for blood…
I don't know if you have officially gone too far, or haven't gone far enough but one day someone is going to actually encounter one of these and it will be a glorious day.
Amy creates less problems for herself than for Taylor, mainly because Amy keeps screwing herself with one or two problems that keep snowballing into everything else, what is worse is that she gives Taylor ideas.
While Lisa keeps making problems for everyone, but then again those problems are actually solvable with relative ease and have the bonus of making people look into their other issues and she has stopped innadvertidey giving Taylor ideas.
Her inability to trust others has resulted in a known mass murdering neo-nazi taking up residence in their base. Said Nazi who can blast her way to the surface is in no way impaired by the walls of the base should she decide she wants to go back to the Empire and that Recluse's head would be a great gift.
Danny seemed about as worried over the boy as he was with Purity when Taylor butted into the conversation.
Purity has a lot of red in her ledger, which isn't fair to her victims to skim over, but Taylor doesn't really have the mental perspective to do it justice.
they were willing to help the "mass-murdering neo-nazi" get away from the Neo-Nazi Gang, who I remind you was willing to alter her and her daughter's 'appearance' in order to get away from Kaiser.
Well, that deal did fall apart because Purity wasn't willing to commit, and Danny lost enthusiasm.
Purity considered changing her daughter's skin color, but the deal did fall apart.
11.5 Interlude 11: Emily
"Paige McAbee will be transferred to your holding cells, and her subsequent transfer to the Birdcage will be merged with the transport for Lung."
Confirmation on having to deal with transporting Canary as well as Lung was not pleasing, but it was also expected. "I request that our leg of the transfer include the forces delivering her in the first place, in particular the capes involved."
"Noted. I'll pass the request on to Boston. It has my approval, contingent on the situation in Boston."
With that, the business between myself and Chief Director Costa-Brown was concluded. We politely closed the connection, and the conference room screen shut off as the lights brightened up.
It was my responsibility to request help, if I needed it, but I didn't believe I'd actually get the extra support.
I needed to get back to my office. I could feel my joints ache as I stood. Getting old was a bitch. Not that my kidneys being a wreck helped anything. Arguably that was the main reason. Charles was older than I was, but he kept reasonably spry.
Shutting down the conference room lights and equipment, I then stepped out and moved with intent down the hall. Regardless of my health, appearance was crucial. Those doing work, I meet their eyes if they glanced to me. Those at a metaphorical water-cooler didn't exist for me.
My secretary greeted me, getting a nod and question for any notifications in return.
He said Charles Renick, my deputy director, wanted five minutes, that Armsmaster had changed the patrol roster, again, and the containment foam shipment from Dragon had arrived.
Bad, neutral, and good. I ordered overtime to have the foam unpacked and distributed immediately. While any remaining moles within our ranks might note the unusual haste in distribution, it was preferable to any loss in ability to tamp down on gang activity prior to Lung's transfer in five days.
Canary would likely arrive tomorrow or Wednesday. None of the people would be allowed to stay through until the next leg of their journey on Saturday. Capes could be spared even less. They'd be immediately on their way back to Boston. Armstrong had nearly twice the capes within his branch of the Protectorate than I had, but he also had to deal with Accord and the Butcher. The Boston PRT Director wouldn't, couldn't, spare the capes for near a week.
If only there were more teleporting capes.
Might as well get the full story from Renick, as to whatever had gone wrong now.
After paging my secretary to let the Deputy Director know that I'm free, I sort through emails; responding as necessary, but as briefly as possible.
Charles is quick to arrive. One of his more positive traits.
He greets me, "Director Piggot."
And I respond, "Deputy Director Renick." He seldom wastes my time, and in this case that's it for polite conversation.
"I've finished interviewing Shadow Stalker's handler. Mrs Michaels has been of limited information. Currently, we are unable to substantiate the allegations made by Miss Hebert. I feel that Mrs Michaels does not know more than what her weekly reports state, suggesting that she is less involved in assisting Shadow Stalker's management of her personal life than is desirable."
'Less involved', that is to say, not useful to find any potential warning signs indicating that Shadow Stalker has not actually fulfilled her side of the bargain in our arrangement. Ms Hebert's allegations were prior to Shadow Stalker joining the Wards, but said allegations could be construed as assault and battery. Shadow Stalker's parole was contingent on confession of all past crimes. She confesses to any and all fucked up behavior and crimes, and we would sweep them under the rug and get a new Ward to beat into some semblance of a decent cape.
"Is there a reason Mrs Michaels remains employed?" I don't have the patience to beat around the bush on this topic, and I trust Charles to not gossip.
He grimaces, "Honestly, no. Her reports on Vista, Aegis, and Shadow Stalker have seldom provided me with any useful information beyond what I already learn from their monthly psychologist interviews and the occasional notes from the PRT personnel overseeing their patrols and transportation."
"Tell HR that I want her gone. Not replaced, gone. We could use the budget space for more containment foam and other equipment. Evaluate the other handlers for the remaining Wards. If they're all dead weight, well, the budget is never big enough. In the next year, after Aegis and Clockblocker join the Protectorate, put Vista in Clockblocker's group. Vista's got years of experience, and hopefully she's professional enough that we can trust her on a limb for a while. We could really use that money to finish out the budget for the year. Do try to keep an eye on her, and check with her for any currently ongoing problems that might not have made it up the ladder."
"Understood. To move on from that topic, Kid Win has been eating through his tinkering budget faster than usual. He will run out in September, possibly in August. Tinker trends for past Wards suggests that he may be figuring out his specialty, if he is developing designs for more complex or advanced projects."
Yeah, that would be nice. I provide the counterargument, but with barely any heat to my words, "Alternatively, he's getting desperate." Tinkers were massive drains, but Armsmaster was a deeply valuable cape, at least in combat. Kid Win, if he was truly getting closer to figuring out effective methods of tinkering, may become significantly more useful in about 6 months. "Until he requests a budget increase, don't change it. I want to see if he can justify the increased expense. Communicating his abilities and developing long term plans is a current weak point for him, and maybe he'll rise to the challenge. However, try to save an additional 75,000 dollars for his last quarter. Mrs Michael's budget can go to that instead of the PRT, if need be. If he is really at the 'building a workshop' stage, he's going to need it to get his first iteration specialty tools built.
"Returning to Shadow Stalker. What are your recommendations?" Regrettably for Charles' career, he's not likely to make Director, but I see no reason for him to not improve.
I watch him visibly consider it for a moment before he speaks. "Bring Miss Hebert in for an interview. Armsmaster's recordings of their conversation suggest that she is quite starstruck. Have Battery, as she is readily our most emotionally versatile Protectorate member, play the Helpful Hero. We need to clarify this situation. Have Battery pursue as much information about the crimes Miss Hebert may be aware of regarding Miss Hess. We can stress that we are moving slowly to ensure that Miss Hess does not become aware of these allegations."
Well, not a terrible idea, but not great either. "Why would the Protectorate be interested in something that, by appearance, is a non-cape case?"
"I see your point, especially if we aren't yet pushing the Wards for Miss Hebert."
At least Charles is smart enough to not suggest a plan that tips off Shadow Stalker.
I make my decision, "Bring in Principal Blackwell. Have Dauntless interview her in an interrogation room, with Armsmaster behind the window using his lie detector to provide prompts. Have Dauntless start slow, but build up enough to find out if Blackwell knows anything. Instruct him to switch from interviewing her to an interrogation if she tries to clam up. We need to know if Shadow Stalker did actually confess all of her crimes as part of her deal. Potentially even worse is the possibility that if she could keep bad habits secret, she may be continuing to do so."
"Understood." He pauses for a moment, then continues, "Any chance of using the lie detector to interview our personnel more broadly?"
"Not as of yet. The legal ramifications are still being kicked around by the lawyers. When I pressed him about it, Armsmaster admitted at least one instance of a false negative, and two of false positives due to the mental states of the questioned individuals . We can either clean house with it, but open ourselves up to being sued, which we can't afford, or find another way. As angry as I am about Coil, I expect that Xanatos did a pretty thorough job. It's a low priority."
Except for Calvert. That warrant is never being put in the cold bin. He may have gotten away, but he's going to have to keep running forever. I should have monitored him. I knew what sort of man he was, from Ellisburg.
"Yes ma'am. Will there be anything else?"
"We're not getting extra support for transferring Lung and Canary. Do you see an options for hiring Strider to teleport in outside forces for the day of the transfer, or just pop in, pick up the pair of them while they're sedated, and pop over to Dragon's pickup point?"
"His rates remain brutal, aside from assisting pro bono on Endbringer fights. If we do that, we won't have the budget for Kid Win. That's also assuming that we can even win the bidding for a time slot. Aside from that, maybe? I'll look into it. I understood that high value shipping companies generally eat up his time, and that he doesn't break contract."
"Let me know our options in the next two days. Thanks, and dismissed."
========
Sleeping had been a mistake. I flailed for a moment before finally grabbing my phone and shutting off its annoying chirping.
"This is Piggot." My clock says 2:44 am.
"This is Renick. Lung remains in transit to Canada for Guild pick up. Canary was extracted by a diverse force of capes. The ABB did eventually catch up to the real transport. They chased the decoy initially, but they attacked it heavily, including a few tinkertech explosives, and quickly discovered the ruse when the PRT troops were unusually willing to retreat.
"They attacked the actual transport about half a mile from the edge of the city north. During the fight, Oni Lee was engaged by Armsmaster, while the remaining Protectorate fought off the non-powered forces of the ABB, as there was occasional Tinker explosives or possibly a new variable effect Shaker cape involved.
"However, within minutes of the attack, the Undersiders, Sandra, and an unknown cape joined the fight. It is unclear at the moment, but initial reports suggests that a portion of these third party capes attacked the ABB gang members, flanking them in support of our own forces, while the remainder broke into the prisoner transport, extracted Canary, and then withdrew.
"The biggest surprise was that they brought an extra van, which they left for the PRT to use, as our van was destroyed by some sort of concussive ice blast. Their degree of foresight is concerning.
"Still, Oni Lee continued to harass the PRT forces after the gang members were driven off and the third party capes withdrew. Eventually, the arrival of the capes from the decoy transport, first Dauntless and subsequently Miss Militia, provided sufficient firepower to ensure that he couldn't free Lung, and he was eventually driven off."
I struggled to process that, but I at least had the reflexive first question for the aftermath. "Casualties and injuries?"
"Three dead, ten wounded. The driver and passenger of the decoy transport were killed by the explosion that destroyed the cab of the vehicle. Same for the passenger in the cab of real one. The other driver is injured, severely. One wounded trooper was hit by an ABB vehicle, and the remainder have gunshot wounds. I've got somebody calling Panacea, and I've sent a car for her. The driver is unlikely to make it. Too much shrapnel. There's a chance though, and we're rushing him to meet Panacea en route. The others are various degrees of injured but are expected to make it. A few need immediate stabilization from Panacea and will meet her with our car, but the others are being transported to the hospital.
"The Tinker bombs that were used hit hard. I don't know if we would have gotten Lung out if the third group hadn't come for Canary and hit the ABB alongside us. At best we would have been transporting Lung in the back of a car. Regardless, Armsmaster's sedative continues to kept him unconscious. He won't wake up until halfway to the pickup point."
Well, I know my next priority now. "Is there a chance the transport van might be hit outside of the city?"
"Unlikely. state police met up with us outside of town to clear the highways, and the convoy will be running sirens and going eighty until we're an hour away from the city. Unless there's a long range teleporter or high end Thinker, we're simply going too fast along a route that will be unknown for them to catch up."
"Good. Is there anything else?"
"No, Director."
"Fine. Call me when my men pull through, or to let me know the bad news. I'll be in at eight thirty."
"Understood ma'am. Goodbye."
"Goodbye Renick."
I hung up the phone and lay back down, flat and with the closest my body could manage for comfortable.
I'd believe Lung was gone for good when he actually got to the Birdcage.
One gang leader down. Two to go. Possibly three if Xanatos doesn't get the hell out of my town.
========
My secretary interrupted my thoughts while I was filling out paperwork on Bakuda. "Ma'am, over twenty new bomb explosions. Very small yield, possibly single person targets. No obvious pattern. My guess is at least double that number, and the police will be a while finding the the victims due to the small size and highly spread out nature. No suggested responses from on site personnel, so the PRT and Protectorate forces are simply being updated as a caution."
I thanked him, and closed the intercom connection.
Bakuda was angling hard for a Kill Order. That was the paperwork I was filling out for submission. This would likely clinch it. By intent, negligence, or even hidden victimization, Bakuda was rapidly facilitating the deaths of hundreds of people. This had to stop.
Before I could continue, my intercom beeped and I activated it for the new information, "A series of rapid, possibly simultaneous, large explosions reported in ABB territory. Dauntless and Velocity are investigating. New Wave possibly in the area."
"Understood," I responded, "keep me posted as updates come in."
If Bakuda had really killed Panacea, then the city would have even more problems. The girl had apparently been in one of the hospitals that had been hit. The details were unclear, but New Wave was unable to find her, and that did not point to a good outcome. The last update I had from them was their search through the rubble of the hospitals. If they had given up on finding Panacea alive, then I was fully willing to believe they had gone after her killer.
Hopefully they would communicate with any Protectorate capes in the area.
In many ways, keeping New Wave at arms length was a hassle. We couldn't share operational information or equipment according to policy, because they weren't willing to affiliate themselves with us. They flat out wouldn't accept the appearance of a subordinate position of power.
As capes they were distinctly unsuited for operating as a solo team. Lacking Thinker or Stranger type parahumans, and without any other form of intelligence gathering, they couldn't readily find crime. They simply flew through the air, looking good doing it, and hoped to make a difference.
What they usually did was find a cape fight in progress and make it worse. Glory Girl was a frequent problem. Well, that wasn't entirely fair. More accurately, Gallant was a frequent problem. I refused to blame the effect rather than the cause. The Ward refused to keep his mouth shut about his patrols to his civilian ID parahuman girlfriend, and so Glory Girl frequently happened to 'just be in the area' to make things more complicated.
Again my intercom beeped, and I answered. My secretary's crisp voice came through, "The site of the simultaneous blasts shows ongoing parahuman effects. Some kind of static explosion, approximately 10 feet in diameter. There's significant destruction in the surrounding area. Some human remains suggest that either Bakuda, or a decoy, was killed in the blast. Additionally, city police reported Oni Lee and New Wave were fighting. No clear information on the winner, but it looks like that fight has stopped."
Again, I thanked him and closed the line. If I didn't keep it brief, I'd be tempted to try backseat commanding of PRT and Protectorate forces, which wasn't a good idea. I was tempted sometimes though. Still, there's always something more to be done. I connected myself to console for dispatch to the Wards. They were patrolling the border of E88 territory, and under strict and explicit instructions to monitor but not engage any Empire capes they found.
Normally one of the Wards was on console duty, to learn operational management and how the PRT troops worked with the Protectorate and Wards as an organization. Given the disasters of this day, a PRT agent benched due to injury was fulfilling that role. Likely doing a better job of it too.
Console updated me with the reported activities of the E88. There had only been a single ABB bomb but they had Krieg cleaning away debris with his telekinesis, while Crusader with his Master projections searched for survivors. It was deep enough in their territory that if we came for them, they'd have plenty of time to decide to fight or just be absent. Regardless of what we did, it was free extra publicity for them.
It wasn't actionable information. We couldn't engage while Bakuda's bombs were still going off throughout the rest of the city. At least Kaiser hadn't publicly shown or advertised Othala since her brief stint as Sandra's kidnapping victim.
Odds were they'd be gone well before Protectorate or PRT forces could be made available. Hopefully the Wards would be of some use in deterring any overt territorial expansion though. The E88 generally took a minor PR hit every time they fought the Wards, and I doubted they'd want to distract any of the media from Bakuda.
========
New Wave was done. The actual people were alive, but their movement was dead. Various news stations had begun releasing recordings of New Wave's poster child going out at night and maiming people she thought were criminals. The local forum for PHO was experiencing user punishments of varying sorts at almost 9% of the posting rate for the thread on the topic. I was informed was unusual.
The things my job required me to care about.
It was only a matter time, likely hours, before the news stations bribed somebody to get the details of Brandish offing Bakuda, and the rest of New Wave killing Oni Lee.
There was a reasonable chance that, if I wanted, I could keep one aspect of the story quiet. New Wave was apparently fucked up enough that they failed to notice that Panacea was kidnapped for three days. I was bearing them enough of a grudge over this shitfest to count all of Sunday too.
Yesterday's return of Panacea by Xanatos had been an exercise in frustration from start to finish. I don't think I would actually shoot Xanatos if I ever saw him, but it was damn tempting. His insulting manner and the information that had been almost useful, but not really, was well on its way to giving me an ulcer.
I was also severely tempted to try and somehow give Recluse a copy of our security protocols, just so that the paranoid idiot would implement her security in a way that made a lick of sense. It was like she read every conspiracy theory she could and then had a teenager write up countermeasures. Or maybe she had been drunk when she designed them.
Our recordings of all the conversations over that nonsense had been analyzed by Armsmaster, and of course Chief Director Costa Brown had also taken an interest. I was effectively sidelined in analysis because of the personal nature of the questions directed to me.
A moment of sympathy made itself known in me for Director Armstrong. This was probably how he felt all the time for dealing with Accord and his hyper-detailed plans, counter-plans, counter-counter-plans, and assorted other bullshit plans.
Hostile communications assessment included the assumption that the information was intended to be divisive, but it had to look damning for me due to the implication that if this information was true. I supposedly had failed to notice or attempt to help Purity with whatever blackmail was forcibly holding her to the E88. Recruiting her, or even just getting her out of the city would have been up there with getting rid of Oni Lee in terms of helping Brockton Bay.
I had no idea where the implication that I was somehow involved with sabotaging Canary's trial came from. Beyond attempting to transport her further north, I had ignored the case out of disgust. Operational security meant I didn't even have access to the other PRT division power assessments beyond the vague public releases.
The final point was like the conclusion to a thesis, that my actions had an underlying logic of hating parahumans as motivation. Xanatos' attempt at character assassination made me feel like repaying the favor in a more literal form of assassination.
If Xanatos was a Thinker cape, then he could have a power geared towards understanding and dividing organizations. Perhaps a power thematically similar to Accord, but instead of creating extremely complex plans, he could know the flaws and weak points in the plans of other people or groups?
Alternatively, there was the Chief Director's idea that Xanatos was simply an alter ego for Accord himself. The villain had been staple in Boston for years. I could believe he would expand outwards, but capes were vain as a rule. They generally wanted credit for their actions. I would be surprised if Accord would use a fake name.
I sighed. Of course, I hadn't voiced such a thought, as Armsmaster and Costa Brown might have considered it indicative of my supposed 'cape racism'.
Privately, in my own mind, I could concede Xanatos had hit at a weak point. I wasn't much for soul searching, but I couldn't remember the last time I called any member of the Wards or Protectorate by their real names, even in my head. It was always Armsmaster, not Colin, or even just Wallis, and I met with the man near daily.
It was a good habit to get into, and officially recommended. By intended policy for the whole PRT, I never interacted with their civilian IDs, and thinking of them as such just increased the chance of slip ups.
Perhaps it was an enabling crutch for me.
Ellisburg had been a nightmare. It still gave me nightmares. That I was back to being a grunt in my squad, and we were back there. Running from Nilbog's creatures that had devoured the people of that town.
The Protectorate members with us had both been fliers, protecting and covering us. They had panicked and flown off when some gliding snake creatures jumped at them, leaving us to run on the ground.
That hadn't worked out well for us.
It had been, in total, only a handful of minutes. Panicked running and shooting, running quickly short on ammo. Losing people left and right, hauling myself forwards, with wounds, people falling behind and not catching up, and finally climbing the ladders to the helicopters.
Maybe Falcon and Aerolight would have come back if we had held out for longer. Maybe there had been nothing they could have done even if they had. I did concede that at least they had just fled. Calvert had shot his captain in the back, for climbing the ladder too slowly. He had been a coward, but also a traitor. I never understood how he weaseled his way into a mental health discharge.
Hell, I think back then Falcon and Aerolight had been closer to Wards age then compared to their own ages now.
In retrospect, they had been traitors by cowardice, but none of us should have been there. Definitely not a couple of wet-behind-the-ears Protectorate capes or two lightly armed PRT strike squads flown in by helicopters. With the exception of Calvert, I wouldn't put any of us back there. At the time, the PRT and Protectorate had been much more naive about how dangerous some parahumans could be.
I couldn't help a grunt of annoyance as I dragged my thoughts to the present, and its literal family of problems.
If New Wave was composed of good people, or at least people who wanted to be good people, then we had them over a barrel for their fuckups. If not, they were a collection of Blasters that could likely break out of their 'voluntary' stay at the Protectorate Rig at will.
I was leaning towards requiring them to join the Protectorate. They had pretty amply demonstrated that they weren't functional as an independent team. Glory Girl wouldn't be allowed to operate solo, and Panacea obviously needed protection. Shielder and Laserdream had no marks against them, besides helping kill Oni Lee. Shielder could go into the Wards and Laserdream could go into the Protectorate. It was the founding four, the 'adults' of the team that should have known better, that should have been responsible.
Brandish, being a lawyer, had clamped down like a lock, and told the rest of New Wave to copy her. They acknowledged that they had been in the wrong, but only in a non-legally binding sense. Negotiations, such as they were, revolved around either the PRT punishing them for their crimes, or them staying in the Bay. If we held them responsible for their failures, and punished them for what they did, they'd easily cop a plea deal to join up with the Protectorate or Wards, even with the demand that they get a location away from PRT ENE. That would leave Brockton even more lopsided between the hero and villain capes. Alternatively, they'd stay, if their actions had been acceptable under the circumstances, but of course not joining the Protectorate.
Their gall, that they'd seek to manipulate judgement for their own crimes, despite their founding principles of transparency and trust, wasn't much of a surprise to me. If I discriminated against parahumans, it was only by a small amount more than I disliked most people.
It was the potential loss of Panacea that was the harshest part though. The healer made it possible to push the Protectorate and PRT strike squads into engagements hard, and allow a higher risk to the Wards when fighting back against the gangs.
The girl had been complaining about being trapped with her sister, cousins, and the Wards at every interaction, and extremely tight lipped about whatever it was that Recluse did to secure her freedom from the Travelers. The phrases 'fix her' and 'surgery' had each once come up, and with an implication that it had failed, requiring Panacea to heal the subject to avoid a death.
Between Recluse and Panacea, the resulting outcome had been successful enough that the Travelers had apparently left Brockton Bay that day. The PRT was looking for them, but we weren't hopeful. The Travelers did cheap jobs and were powerful, which made them hard to find. Armstrong had forwarded me a rumor that Accord had driven them from Boston prior to them coming here, but it was just a rumor.
Recluse had apparently lived in the Bay for years, and so I assumed there was no chance of finding the woman since nobody had known about her until she helped free Canary, and even then, nobody knew who she was until she contacted- well, until Xanatos contacted us. Velocity was the only person who had just even talked to her. His description was of a tall woman, or man in a padded suit perhaps, with no skin or more than vague body features shown, and poor social skills. Coupled with disturbing implications of cybernetic tinkertech, I was fully willing to believe she simply never interacted with anybody in order to pursue her research without interference.
Panacea was the only source for information, and she was being a surly teenaged brat about the parahuman that was possibly experimenting on humans in her city. She apparently trusted Recluse more than us, even if the interviewer had made a note that she seemed to be slightly nervous about her work.
Still, it cost me nothing to try to earn some innocuous goodwill. Panacea wanted to visit a friend and get away from the Wards and PRT for a few hours? Fine, if she would accept an escort, I could play good cop. Even if I had to assign somebody to listen to her whining.
Not that I was hopeful that it would help. I refused to physically shudder while thinking about it, but I was forced to rely on teenager gossip from Gallant.
Apparently, Panacea had been secretly dating, or 'something', Ms Hebert, because of fucking course she was involved with the girl who either may have the evidence we needed about Shadow Stalker or might just be some kind of unhinged conspiracy theorist that got lucky.
And Panacea wanted to visit her. A bitter, but undefined problem between the two of them had led to their breakup and contributed to her withdrawal from her peers and family in the few days prior to her kidnapping.
Of course, this was based in part on Gallant's ability to see emotions. The boy was as thick as Armsmaster at understanding people, and as useful at explaining what he could see with his power.
I was fully aware that Panacea's little 'it's not a date!' meeting was as likely to improve her mood as it was to set her off worse. Managing 6 children, 5 of them teenagers, had burned down my hopes about the next generation's good sense, and then salted the earth for good measure.
It was the best option I had at the moment though. Even if things go so poorly that the PRT agent I'll send has to drag the girls apart after they decided to kill each other, at least we'll finally be getting some direct evidence to one part of whatever the hell had been simmering in this cauldron of shit.
That reminded me, I needed to catch up on the results of Blackwell's interrogation to find out what the hell Shadow Stalker had actually been up to before, and possibly after she joined the Wards. Between Hebert's accusations, as prompted by Panacea, and the cryptic garbage from Xanatos, Shadow Stalker was getting closer and closer to either juvie for failing to disclose assault and battery in her civilian ID, or a transfer to some crap assignment in the middle of nowhere where she couldn't screw anything else up.
Of course, that presumed Xanatos' hint didn't mean she had killed somebody else, accidently or otherwise. That would get her thrown ass over teakettle into prison.
Sometimes I really wondered why society found the murder of teenagers a greater crime than the murder of adults, rather than assuming an inherent provocation from the brats. Sure, they grew up eventually, but the real wonder was that any of them lived long enough to grow up at all.
========
My office was quiet, despite the mess. Had been that way all morning.
Life is odd, the way things work out sometimes. I had been officially granted my Director position on a Wednesday. I had come in on that preceding Monday, unofficially, to meet people, get the tour, walk through the building, and generally hit the ground running.
Official word would come out tomorrow, but it was Monday, unofficially, that my tenure as Director had simply accrued too many political problems for me to continue in that role after an Endbringer attack. Especially when that Endbringer was the Simurgh. My options had been: retirement.
I would be announcing it tomorrow. Too much politics was still settling for it to happen today, but it was unofficially my last day as a full Director. Tomorrow, or whenever the paperwork came through, would just be dotting the i's and crossing the t's.
Still, Brockton wouldn't be condemned. Ziz had been driven off quickly enough that a quarantine wouldn't be necessary. That was something good.
I glanced around my office, looking at pictures on the wall, various citations of excellence, some nonsense civic awards for the occasional year the PRT had managed to force a reduction in crime, and other things that were politically necessary as a kind of combined resume and intimidation tactic..
I was tired anyway. Dialysis never seemed to give me back quite the energy it sapped from me. One last 'fuck you' from Ellisburg that just kept on taking.
Well, I found it fitting that I had presided over the defense of a city that succeeded in a situation where many had failed, and that it simply wasn't good enough. All the more for getting no warning.
That lack of warning meant that Saint and his Dragonslayer mercenaries were catching a lot of interest that they would be regretting. The formerly small time soldiers of fortune, with a reputation only from occasionally being able to steal tinkertech from Dragon, and use her equipment for jobs, had decided attack one of her primary factories and server centers.
They did it occasionally. Dragon would complain, the Guild would make a fuss, and nothing would happen.
Well, not this time. Dragon had been temporarily incapacitated fighting them, and then they had bombed her computers. Said computers included the ones running Dragon's Endbringer tracking and prediction algorithms. The two separate and independent backup sites, both run by groups that were unconnected to Dragon, had been hit by suicide bombers minutes after the Dragonslayers begin destructively exiting the factory. The attacks took out computers and communication gear with their deaths. One suicide bomber had already been identified as having been presumed killed in a prior Ziz attack.
Dragon's incapacitation and subsequent lack of warning had been bad enough, but the resulting lack of armbands and dispatch system were an enormous complication for tracking the capes fighting the Endbringer. In addition, translation issues, location tracking and leadership coordination with Thinkers, any healers, and theatre command had all been deeply affected. The only positive was that there was a tentative suggestion that the utter chaos of the fight had actually overwhelmed the Simurgh's precognitive abilities.
The remote possibility that the Dragonslayers had gotten lucky by incapacitating Dragon and incidentally throwing off the Simurgh's plans was the only positive thing they had going for them at the moment. Most of the Directors at our debrief had darkly favored bringing them in for very serious questioning about what had prompted them to destroy equipment dedicated to protecting all of humanity, and about all the implications that their behavior suggested.
The Gesellschaft had put out a warning for the Dragonslayers to never enter Europe, and a reward for their deaths in general. I hated agreeing with fascists, but if the Dragonslayers were compromised by Ziz, they simply had to go.
There was no Kill Order, yet, but if those assholes fucked up anything else that Dragon was doing to stop the planet from getting any shittier, the informal and unofficial poll from the other Directors was that there were already enough deaths they could attribute to them that there wouldn't need to be much debate over assigning the lot of them Kill Orders.
Not that Ziz had done much with her surprise attack. A lot of people had died, but not as many as would have been predicted for a surprise Endbringer attack and a lack of coordination. The numbers weren't complete, but a rough estimate suggested between 1 and 2 out of every 40 people in the city had been killed. Fittingly, the civilians that had done as instructed and hid in the Endbringer shelters had almost no casualties. The majority of deaths had been from people that had tried to flee by foot or by vehicle, panicked over possibly being trapped in a quarantine. Ziz had mostly stuck to car sized objects and smaller, rather than focusing on crushing buildings. That meant sending debris rocketing down streets and alleys. There were still a lot of bodies still being picked up.
The goal of the attack was unclear. Whatever device Ziz had be making had been shattered. Armsmaster thought it was seismic in nature, maybe to destabilize the aquifer underneath the city and collapse all the buildings at once. Possibly even sink the city into the ocean.
Well, 'water under the bridge'. The phrase came to my mind with only a small amount of irony.
Not that the poor bastards that didn't make it through the fight knew that.
The yearly official Protectorate team PR photo was the last one showing the full team. Dauntless, well, Jerome now, his will had made his ID public, and Velocity, had both fought well. Sometimes that just wasn't enough.
The Merchants had been cowards, fleeing the city, while the E88 had been of limited assistance. Purity hadn't participated. There were a few grainy pictures of her fleeing the city, carrying a boy, likely a son, and a bag.
The Empire had lost Crusader. Their ground capes had been mostly ineffective. Several of them had helped clear roads leading out of the city near their territory.
Krieg had been their only other participant close to the fighting, using his telekinesis to protect and clear a major route from the fighting to the medical site. Various speedsters and mover-based Tinkers using it to rescue downed capes and bring them in for healing, to try and get them back in the fight. Victor and Othala had been there, providing medical help.
Clockblocker had done an admirable job there too, helping stabilize the wounded, freezing them in time. Using his power to prevent them from bleeding out. Panacea, Othala, Victor utilizing his stolen medical skills, and of course any relevant hospital workers, especially emergency doctors and surgeons that could be gathered up to help, had tried to deal with the injured and dying.
The two Wards with flight, Kid- well, Chris now, and Carlos, formerly Aegis, had stayed in the city to help. Chris' body had been recovered some hours later, but there wasn't enough left of Carlos to find, much less do anything with. Some out of state Tinker had bitten it while flying a tinkertech jetpack, and the resulting explosion had been violent, large, and right next to the boy.
I had last year's group photo of the Wards as well. PR didn't do calendars of the adults or kids, said it was borderline suggestive and best avoided, and preferred to pose the Wards in real environments in the summer.
For some kids, I could at least give them the favor of wondering who they would have grown up into.
They were already 'heroes'; damn little consolation that it was to them, or anyone who gave a shit about them.
The nameless faces to the public eye that made the whole thing actually work had been far from unscathed as well. My troopers had been hit hard, half the squads with near total losses, and the remaining three significantly depleted. Nothing that could've been done better, but replacing a large fraction of personnel had just made it easier to bring in a new Director.
One of the roving Directors that cycled around military bases in the middle of the US had been quickly chosen. Their management of multistate extended patrols, for the villains that wanted to rule kingdoms of only one tiny hick town in the middle of nowhere, supposedly made them more flexible. Those of us that were cynical, such as myself, also thought that it kept available a ready supply of replacements for us, for when we got killed, or retired.
Director James Tagg would be bringing three of his strike teams, and their equipment and support personnel, to basically supplant what remained of the forces here. Renick would be staying on to help with the transition, as well as most of the support personnel here that remained.
I didn't envy Tagg the distracting crapfest that was New Wave at the moment, especially since they would almost certainly continue to be chum for every media shark on the east coast that was trying to drive ratings using parahuman drama. Even after and Endbringer attack, it was likely that a dozen reporters would actually drive up from Boston. However, they'd have to hike into the city itself. The roads would take a while to clear.
Tagg would have to find his own secretary though. Henry had come to dispatch facilities in headquarters, rather than head to a shelter. He'd helped assist with communication between the PRT and city services personnel scattered throughout the city and the Protectorate forces deploying from a site outside of the danger zone of the Endbringer.
Ziz had taken out the building's entire communications and supplies wing at around the 8 minute mark, and the motor pool below it, by throwing two semis and a loaded cement truck into that portion of the building.
I shut the door to my office. People could knock.
Well, time to seriously start packing up. Out with the old and in with the new. If pride is the only thing holding this body together, then it was plenty sufficient for this job. I certainly wouldn't let anybody help me with the pictures and similar things, so I'd need a couple hours to deal with this crap. It wasn't like crying about it would bring back the dead, and people tended to get uselessly sentimental for no reason.
I'm going to be slowing down in posting for a while. An average of a post a week for a year is tiring. Updates will still be Fridays, just not every Friday.
I think ths is one of your longest chaoters to date? A pity you'll slow down but it's for fair reasons, I honestly dont know how you manage an update a week.
So, the casualties in the heroes seem to be Kid Win, Aegis, Velocity and Dauntless (what a surprise!). So far so good. Can I ask how New Wave are doing on that front?
Director James Tagg would be bringing three of his strike teams, and their equipment and support personnel, to basically supplant what remained of the forces here. Renick would be staying on to help with the transition, as well as most of the support personnel here that remained.
Oh, Tagg. At this point I would be willing to guess that the whole Ziz thing was just a plot to get Tagg as PRT director in the same location as Taylor and Co. They are going to get on just great, I can tell. :/
Ah fuck, Tagg. Looks like Taylor isn't going to get any peace, and Panacea is going to have to run away if she doesn't want to be forcefully conscripted into the new regime.
Tagg isn't that bad. People are just overly fond of viewing scumbag terrorist Skitter as the 'wronged' party through their protagonist-centred morality.
Second longest out of 55, though a couple had been close. I wonder if the enormous Chromatic chapters are influencing how Tascion writes this story.
Speaking of: It's no wonder this pace is unsustainable. If you write chapters that are three times as long as your average, it would be surprising if the frequency of updates remained the same.
Tagg isn't that bad. People are just overly fond of viewing scumbag terrorist Skitter as the 'wronged' party through their protagonist-centred morality.
Tagg is an idiot who doesn't know when to back down. His interactions with Skitter largely consisted of him crossing line after line as she repeatedly warned him to back off, until he crossed one line too many and collected his Darwin award. The main difference here is that Recluse would probably make him disappear as soon as he threatened Danny, rather than keep trying to negotiate until she actually saw someone arrive in a body bag.
I was fully aware that Panacea's little 'it's not a date!' meeting was as likely to improve her mood as it was to set her off worse. Managing 6 children, 5 of them teenagers, had burned down my hopes about the next generation's good sense, and then salted the earth for good measure
Sometimes I really wondered why society found the murder of teenagers a greater crime than the murder of adults, rather than assuming an inherent provocation from the brats. Sure, they grew up eventually, but the real wonder was that any of them lived long enough to grow up at all
I liked this chapter, and this Piggot. I'm a little sad we didn't get to the bit where she finds out that the transfer of the cape Recluse was trying to keep alive won't happen after all. It will be interesting to see if the PRT comes to the conclusion that Dinah was a threat to the Simurgh's future plans or not.
Tagg is an idiot who doesn't know when to back down. His interactions with Skitter largely consisted of him crossing line after line as she repeatedly warned him to back off, until he crossed one line too many and collected his Darwin award. The main difference here is that Recluse would probably make him disappear as soon as he threatened Danny, rather than keep trying to negotiate until she actually saw someone arrive in a body bag.
The difference here is that Recluse isn't openly a terrorist who tortured his men, took hostages and was in the process of committing treason. Tagg is reasonable and good to those under him. Is he over aggressive? Yes, but here Recluse is a borderline asset and NOT A TERRORIST! Skitter did not get the privilege of demanding her terms. She surrendered and had a long list of things to prove she belonged in prison. Murdering criminals done't get to set 'lines' the cops have to not cross.
Tagg should not act like he did in canon towards Recluse simply because the situation is completely different. Recluse is a shadowy figure who has openly only done good and has shown that they are willing to work with the PRT if only a little verses Skitter the stubborn warlord.
Tagg really shouldn't be put in charge of anyplace that isn't an active war zone, but he is far from the caricature that fanon paints him as. Give the man some respect. He deserves it.
The difference here is that Recluse isn't openly a terrorist who tortured his men, took hostages and was in the process of committing treason. Tagg is reasonable and good to those under him. Is he over aggressive? Yes, but here Recluse is a borderline asset and NOT A TERRORIST! Skitter did not get the privilege of demanding her terms. She surrendered and had a long list of things to prove she belonged in prison. Murdering criminals done't get to set 'lines' the cops have to not cross.
Even when dealing with actual terrorists, there are lines you can't cross. As a specific example, remember this bit from 21.1?
Imago 21.1 said:
"Not my style. I'm thinking more about pressure. I could pull your dad in for questioning every time you pull something, for example. Doesn't matter where, doesn't matter who it's directed at. You or your team do anything that gets an iota of attention, I drag the man into the building, and grill him for a few hours at a time."
Turns out, targeting non-combatants is a violation of the Geneva convention, as is taking hostages. And no, "Skitter did it first" isn't a valid defense. If Danny doesn't commit any crimes himself, Tagg has absolutely no right to punish him for Taylor's behavior.
Tagg should not act like he did in canon towards Recluse simply because the situation is completely different. Recluse is a shadowy figure who has openly only done good and has shown that they are willing to work with the PRT if only a little verses Skitter the stubborn warlord.
She broke Canary out of a prisoner transport, and I doubt she'll be willing to return her upon request. Since Tagg has no idea how to back down or compromise, they're not going to get along.
Tagg really shouldn't be put in charge of anyplace that isn't an active war zone, but he is far from the caricature that fanon paints him as. Give the man some respect. He deserves it.
Tagg's apparent belief that he isn't obligated to follow the very laws he's supposed to be upholding is emblematic of everything wrong with the PRT, and he shouldn't be put in charge of anything more important than a lemonade stand.
The difference here is that Recluse isn't openly a terrorist who tortured his men, took hostages and was in the process of committing treason. Tagg is reasonable and good to those under him. Is he over aggressive? Yes, but here Recluse is a borderline asset and NOT A TERRORIST! Skitter did not get the privilege of demanding her terms. She surrendered and had a long list of things to prove she belonged in prison. Murdering criminals done't get to set 'lines' the cops have to not cross.
Tagg should not act like he did in canon towards Recluse simply because the situation is completely different. Recluse is a shadowy figure who has openly only done good and has shown that they are willing to work with the PRT if only a little verses Skitter the stubborn warlord.
Tagg really shouldn't be put in charge of anyplace that isn't an active war zone, but he is far from the caricature that fanon paints him as. Give the man some respect. He deserves it.
Didn't canon Tagg say "I'd let the world burn to give you black eye?" Or something along those lines.
That's not being hard on a criminal, that's endangering who knows how many people because you're a petty dick that can't handle when someone doesn't bow to your authoritah.
It doesn't matter what Skitter did, when an enemy power warns someone against an action that even the reasonable people on their side would agree is a bad idea, and they go full speed ahead because "fuck that guy especially", I can and will say that person is an idiot.
Tagg's attitude and his actions are such that he goes from "authority figure we should root for and respect" to "fucking idiot that poked a bear after receiving warnings not to do so".
The only thing I remember about Tag that stood out to me was that he threatend THE WARDS for being children simply based on the fact that they were capes. I might missremember. But I sincearly hope that he dosn't stay for long. I will however wait and see what you do with his charackter.
Turns out, targeting non-combatants is a violation of the Geneva convention, as is taking hostages. And no, "Skitter did it first" isn't a valid defense. If Danny doesn't commit any crimes himself, Tagg has absolutely no right to punish him for Taylor's behavior.
In his defense Danny was the only thing that Taylor still seemed to care about. If he could curb her being a monster by doing being a dick to Danny I think a lot of people would do the same thing in his place. Not saying it is nice nor legal.
Didn't canon Tagg say "I'd let the world burn to give you black eye?" Or something along those lines.
That's not being hard on a criminal, that's endangering who knows how many people because you're a petty dick that can't handle when someone doesn't bow to your authoritah.
It doesn't matter what Skitter did, when an enemy power warns someone against an action that even the reasonable people on their side would agree is a bad idea, and they go full speed ahead because "fuck that guy especially", I can and will say that person is an idiot.
Tagg's attitude and his actions are such that he goes from "authority figure we should root for and respect" to "fucking idiot that poked a bear after receiving warnings not to do so".
Tagg is a man who came from a war zone, one where there were no rules. Everyone was a combatant and him letting a single person Ziz bomb escape meant millions could die. His response never changed and that is a problem. The man never should have been put in charge of a city that isn't an active war zone.
I will not say he didn't pull stupid shit. I can admit he went too far, but I highly doubt that he would actually let the world burn for her. He was a soldier first and foremost and that means not killing your own guys. To back this up, his tactics were supported and approved of (by not shutting him down) by Alexandria (and thus RBC) and have worked in the past.
Tagg and Skitter were bother very similar in personality seeing as both were stubborn to a fault and would NOT back down to someone defying them. Everything you accuse Tagg of Taylor did as well.
Tagg went too far, no denying that but he is still far from the evil and malicious portrayal that most fanon shows him at. Furthermore as bad as Tagg was, Taylor was worse. Tagg was her foil, showing most of her negative (and some of her positive) traits in a character set against her, I find it hilarious on who people heap most of their hate on, when they would love them if they weren't put against the protagonist. Tagg is an older Taylor who Wildbow set against Taylor.
Do not excuse her actions yet condemn Tagg. She is just as bad, if not worse than he was and I don't see people throwing a fit about how horrible Taylor is whenever she appears.
The only thing I remember about Tag that stood out to me was that he threatend THE WARDS for being children simply based on the fact that they were capes. I might missremember. But I sincearly hope that he dosn't stay for long. I will however wait and see what you do with his charackter.
I don't think that was in canon. He was on good terms with those under his command. He comforted Missy about Lily leaving and urged her to keep contact and her friendship alive even though Lily turned traitor. He is the living embodiment of A Father to His Men and what you speak of doesn't ring a bell or seem close to in character. Tagg recognizes the threat that parahumans are, but he doesn't hate or mistreat them. He treats all under him with respect.
Tagg and Skitter were bother very similar in personality seeing as both were stubborn to a fault and would NOT back down to someone defying them. Everything you accuse Tagg of Taylor did as well.
Tagg went too far, no denying that but he is still far from the evil and malicious portrayal that most fanon shows him at. Furthermore as bad as Tagg was, Taylor was worse. Tagg was her foil, showing most of her negative (and some of her positive) traits in a character set against her, I find it hilarious on who people heap most of their hate on, when they would love them if they weren't put against the protagonist. Tagg is an older Taylor who Wildbow set against Taylor.
Tagg is also an adult and a law enforcement officer. The fact that his behavior closely matches that of a teenage supervillain is not a point in his favor.
Tagg is also an adult and a law enforcement officer. The fact that his behavior closely matches that of a teenage supervillain is not a point in his favor.
Not denying that. He does fine for containment, not so well in a recovering city. I am just arguing that his isn't the 1D frothing at the mouth "NUKE THE UNDERSIDERS!" jackass who attacks everyone regardless of the reason.
The bright side here is that most of his tactics will be pointed at the E88, an organisation that can be harmed by his PR tactics.
What they usually did was find a cape fight in progress and make it worse. Glory Girl was a frequent problem. Well, that wasn't entirely fair. More accurately, Gallant was a frequent problem. I refused to blame the effect rather than the cause. The Ward refused to keep his mouth shut about his patrols to his civilian ID parahuman girlfriend, and so Glory Girl frequently happened to 'just be in the area' to make things more complicated.
The above in my opinion makes Piggot, Armsmaster and Aegis in this story incompetent. They cannot control, train, reassign or just bench (put on console duty until further notice) a single Ward? Then they have no business being responsible (in their various ways) for the Wards.
New Wave was done. The actual people were alive, but their movement was dead. Various news stations had begun releasing recordings of New Wave's poster child going out at night and maiming people she thought were criminals. The local forum for PHO was experiencing user punishments of varying sorts at almost 9% of the posting rate for the thread on the topic. I was informed was unusual.
Honestly, Vicky the violent thug that people play up in a number of stories is a turn off for me. We know of her doing it six times in total since she triggered, so it wasn't a thing that just happened. And given her strength and her flawed toughness it could have happened a lot more if she was careless, vicious or actively out to do damage.
And the time we saw in Interlude 2, was when the guy had assaulted a woman so badly the young woman's teeth were knocked out and she needed medical attention, he stated he did not consider what he had done worth caring about, he told Victoria to lick his balls, called her a cunt and flipped her the bird.
The man was a twenty something Caucasian with a shaved head, a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, jeans and work boots. He took one look at her and bolted.
Victoria grinned as he disappeared down the far end of the alley. She rose from her kneeling position, dusted herself off and ran her fingers through her hair to tidy it. Then she raised herself a foot off the ground and flew after him at an easy forty five miles an hour.
It didn't take a minute to catch him, even with the head start she had given him. She flew just past him, grazing him. An instant later, she came to a dead stop, facing him. Again, the wind made for a dramatic flourish as it stirred her hair, her cape and the skirt of her costume.
"The woman you attacked was named Andrea Young," she spoke.
The man looked over his shoulder, as if gauging his escape routes.
"Don't even think about it, fugly," she told him, "You know I'd catch you, and trust me, I'm already pissed off enough without you wasting my time."
"I didn't do anything," the man snarled.
"Andrea Young!" Victoria raised her voice. As she shouted, she exercised her power. The man quailed as though she'd slapped him. "A black college student was beaten so badly she needed medical attention! Her teeth were knocked out! You're trying to tell me that you, a skinhead with swollen knuckles, someone who was in the crowd watching paramedics arrive with an expression bordering on glee, you didn't do anything!?"
"I didn't do nothing worth caring about," he sneered. His bravado was tempered by a second look over his shoulder, as though he'd very much like to be elsewhere right that moment.
She flew forward, her fists catching him by the collar. For just a moment, she contemplated slamming him up against a wall. It would have been fitting and satisfying to shove him hard enough against the brick to crack it, then drop him into the dumpster that sat at the wall's base.
Instead, she pulled up a little, bringing the two of them to a stop. They were now just high enough above the ground that he'd feel uncomfortable with the height. The dumpster, mostly empty, was directly below him, but she doubted he was paying attention to anything but her.
"I think it's a safe bet to say you're a member of Empire Eighty-Eight," she told him, meeting his eyes with a hard stare, "or at least, you've got some friends who are. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to either tell me everything the triple-E's have been up to, or I'm going to break your arms and legs and thenyou're going to tell me everything."
As she spoke, she ratcheted up her power. She knew it was working when he started squirming just to avoid her gaze.
"Fuck you, you can't touch me. There's laws against that shit," he blustered, staring fixedly over one shoulder.
She turned up her power another notch. Her body thrummed with current – waves of energy that anyone in her presence would experience as an emotional charge of awe and admiration. For those with a reason to be afraid of her, it would be a feeling of raw intimidation instead.
"Last chance," she warned him.
Unfortunately, fear affected everyone differently. For this particular asshole, it just made him dig in his heels and become obstinate. She could see it in his body language before he opened his mouth – this was the sort of guy who reacted to anything that spooked or unsettled him with an almost mindless refusal to bend.
"Lick my hairy, sweaty balls," he snarled, before punctuating it with a spat, "Cunt."
She threw him. Since she could bench press a cement mixer, though it was hard to balance something so large and unwieldy, even a casual toss on her part could get some good distance. He flew a good twenty five or thirty yards down the back road before hitting the asphalt, and rolled for another ten.
He was utterly for still for long enough that Victoria had begun to worry that he'd somehow snapped his neck or broken his spine as he'd rolled. She was relieved when he groaned and began to pull himself to his feet.
"Ready to talk?" she asked him, her voice carrying down the alley. She didn't move forward from where she hovered in the air, but she did let herself drop closer to the ground.
Pressing one hand against his leg to support himself as he straightened up, he raised his other hand and flipped her the bird, then turned and began to limp down the alley.
So very rare and either deserved, provoked or both. Not something that made me ever see the character negatively.
I had no idea where the implication that I was somehow involved with sabotaging Canary's trial came from. Beyond attempting to transport her further north, I had ignored the case out of disgust. Operational security meant I didn't even have access to the other PRT division power assessments beyond the vague public releases.
Given that nothing like the above was said... Are you having Piggot be vaguely (or not so vaguely) aware that Canary's trail was less than decent and read too much into the previous statements or are you having her misremembering things to better fit her view?
Dad looks thoughtful for a moment. "I wouldn't mind trading questions, as long as you don't mind me making use of my own lie detector as well." He smirks and gives Lisa an air high five. Honestly, dad is pretty decent, but he is never going to be cool. He shrugs off my concern for his social standing. Hmph, it wouldn't be terrible for at least one of us to be cool.
Armsmaster responds, "That would be acceptable to us, although we cannot answer any question pertaining to operational security of the PRT or the Protectorate."
"That is acceptable, and expected. Director Piggot, in your personal opinion, outside of your role as Director of the PRT ENE, do you feel the trial of Paige Mcabee was conducted in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law?"
Are we recording this or something?
Lisa gives me a thumbs up.
Director Piggot responds, "In accordance with her crimes, I feel the law was upheld." Lisa looks confused, and gives a mostly upright thumb. So, the Director bought into the hype or something? Does she know something we don't know?
I'm suddenly pretty ok with having kept Paige in quarantine since we picked her up. It's a lot better than the Birdcage for her, and maybe she's not all that harmless.
"Now for my question. Would you be considered a Master rated parahuman according to PRT guidelines?"
"You can't seriously expect me to answer that, especially since I've already made a political issue of the Mcabee case between us. That is like asking if I oppose the Gesellschaft simply because I'm black. Still, I didn't specify such caveats, although I considered then reasonable and expected, so go ahead and try again. Do avoid questions I can't answer due to operational security."
"Understood. Describe your disclosable goals for the area." Armsmaster, this time. I'm still psyched that I got to meet him and Miss Militia.
"My goals are very limited. Primarily, I'm supporting Thrawn. You might more accurately consider it as a joint partnership though. I suppose my second goal is attempting to gain a measure of influence over Recluse's goals. You know, we didn't flip a coin to see who goes first for these questions. You may ask the next question if you like."
"Do you consider yourself a hero?" The director again.
"I think everyone sees themselves as the hero of their own story." Ah, that's sweet that he's quoting mom. Sad too. I guess it's better to remember her though, even with it aching.
Dad mouths a word at Lisa, and she nods. "Have you made any attempts or plans to free Purity from her blackmail?"
"No. What is your interest in Purity?"
"At the moment, just to know if you were going to do anything that might make her lash out. This city is already fairly unstable. Interesting question by the way, I would have considered my answer obvious. Anyway, I'm nearly through. Director Piggot, I have one more question for you. However, it is rather harsh, and you may prefer to hear it alone, or at least put the phone to your ear."
There's a shuffling noise, and then Director Piggot tells him to go ahead.
"Director Piggot, as this is a personal question, please understand that have no interest in judging you as a person, but since it affects my operations I feel obligated to ask. Do you consider the aspect of your personality that is functionally equivalent to racism, but against parahumans, to negatively affect the morale or quality of the efforts of the PRT, the Protectorate, or the Wards working for you?"
OK, I'm sure that I'm super glad to not have my voice on record now. Holy shit is that going to ensure we're never liked by her.
Her answer is rather gritty, likely due to how much I'm guessing she's clenching her teeth. "I think your accusation is inappropriate and unfounded." I wonder if she chipped a tooth or something.
On the other hand, I'm really surprised her answer is something other than a curse and hanging up.
She continues, with a clipped and cold tone, "For my question… What would you consider the most useful information as an answer to the appropriate question that I might ask to get that information?" I think she was reading that off a script. It sounded recited.
The Gesellschaft had put out a warning for the Dragonslayers to never enter Europe, and a reward for their deaths in general. I hated agreeing with fascists, but if the Dragonslayers were compromised by Ziz, they simply had to go.
Tagg isn't that bad. People are just overly fond of viewing scumbag terrorist Skitter as the 'wronged' party through their protagonist-centred morality.
Tagg knew Alexandria was knowingly involved with human experimentation, with selling people, with mind wiping people and that the organization she was involved with assassinated numerous people. And he worked with her to break a person using methods that if the footage came out via lawyer it could be used to bring hell down on the PRT.
Honestly, Vicky the violent thug that people play up in a number of stories is a turn off for me. We know of her doing it six times in total since she triggered, so it wasn't a thing that just happened. And given her strength and her flawed toughness it could have happened a lot more if she was careless, vicious or actively out to do damage.
This has been discussed before. Kaiser only released one or possibly two recordings that he may have had people purposefully provoke. The PRT does not know how many times it happened and thus are trying to find out what exactly went on.
The difference here is that Recluse isn't openly a terrorist who tortured his men, took hostages and was in the process of committing treason. Tagg is reasonable and good to those under him. Is he over aggressive? Yes, but here Recluse is a borderline asset and NOT A TERRORIST! Skitter did not get the privilege of demanding her terms. She surrendered and had a long list of things to prove she belonged in prison. Murdering criminals done't get to set 'lines' the cops have to not cross.
Tagg should not act like he did in canon towards Recluse simply because the situation is completely different. Recluse is a shadowy figure who has openly only done good and has shown that they are willing to work with the PRT if only a little verses Skitter the stubborn warlord.
Tagg really shouldn't be put in charge of anyplace that isn't an active war zone, but he is far from the caricature that fanon paints him as. Give the man some respect. He deserves it.
When those lines are things like don't assassinate my friends and family they do, Tagg and Alexandria might have only pretended to do so, but he was convincing at it.
And why do you call canon Taylor murdering? at that point she had killed all of once, and that once was Coil, a supervillain much worse than her, and not someone who it was known she killed, meaning as far as Tagg was aware, she didn't have a body count.
Nor were canon Skitter a terrorist, unless you want to label all mob leaders as terrorists, because those are the people she can most be compared to, except unlike them she didn't kill anyone.
The situation with Taylor turning herself in, is a little like if a mob leader tried to turn themselves in, in return for leniency for their men, and not only did the negotiators refuse this(which is reasonable enough) but they decided that since he clearly know a lot about the mob, they are going to pretend, that they are sending soldiers out to execute known affiliates of the mob, until he tells them everything he knows about the mob.
Taylor's negotiation position was bad, and it was reasonable of Tagg to deny her claim, it was not reasonable of him, to try to force her to tell her all she knew about her gang, by threatening to have her loved ones killed, if he had gone with threats of long prison sentences, and promises of leniency if she gave him information, then that would have been reasonable, but that's not what he did, he decided to go with phycological torture, which is not okay in general, but especially not okay when she turned herself in, as there need to be some incentive to turn yourself in.
While if a terrorist turns themselves in, you are really going to want them to name their comrades, but it's still foolish and wrong to force it out of them, using promises of a shorter prison sentence in a better prison is okay, but if you go to beatings and other torture, then you destroy any incentive to turn yourself in, as running away is now in fact not making things worse for yourself, as you are already treating them about as bad as you can.
