I hate the cold.
A bitter wind's blowin' in from the ocean tonight. It cuts over our position, shocking me to the bone despite my thick jacket. I hate the smell of it, that fresh salty spray ruined by the oily slime of dead factories. I've been here six hours and the place already feels like depression.
It's dark out. The street lights don't reach, and around me the PRT troopers're just settin' up the lights. Another breeze blows through and I shudder, instinctively throwing up a shield. It doesn't help. My shields block physical force and are air and water proof, but they don't insulate worth a damn. The eggheads had some kinda bullshit to explain that one, but I don't remember what it was.
Cold, out in the open, rearin' for a fight we ain't gonna have for another half hour. Tense, feeling useless 'cuz I can't really help with the staging...fuck, why'd I come out here again? I'm a Texas man! Cali was just fine, but this? Of course my special assignment's gotta be in the seventh circle.
I guess I don't really have much of a choice. It's this, or never get to fight again. Before the Protectorate, I had it tough. Hard to get a good job out in the West unless you're some kinda super genius or willing to throw yer back out. With the heroes? I got to brawl on the regular,
and people loved me for it. Everything a man could ever want.
So of course I fucked it up. I don't even really hate Asians, that twerp just wouldn't leave me alone and of
fucking course her mom was recording. I ain't a proud man, I know it's all my fault and I deserved it, but Jesus Christ did San Jose turn on me fast.
Gah! It's April, why's it so goddamn cold out he-
Someone taps me on the shoulder and I whip around, shields rais-oh. It's just Miss Militia.
"Fuck, Millie, 'djya have to sneak up on a man like that? I thought we were under attack!"
It's dark out, but by the light of the shield covering us both I can see her eyes twinkling above her bandana. The green energy that follows her around everywhere collapses into - was that a wiffle bat? Heh, yup. Wiffle bat. Then the energy comes back and settles on her belt as a knife.
She strikes a pose of mock offence before sarcastically replying, "Millie?"
I let the shield wink out and grin defiantly. "I ain't callin' you 'Miss Militia', that's too much of a mouthful."
Her eyes twinkle more and she replies, "Over comms, you will refer to me as Miss Militia or MM-"
Aw boo. "Cut a man right to the soul, eh?"
She holds up a finger, "But right now you can call me Hannah."
My eyebrows shoot up. She's shockingly open about that, though I guess there's gotta be a bunch of Hannahs in the Bay. I've just seen her around here, no time for real introductions when we're prepping for war, but she doesn't strike me as one who's got much goin' on outside work. Maybe she doesn't really care about her civilian identity all that much.
Fact is I don't either. I've got no friends any more, what's the harm in making one? I nod in respect and give her my hand to shake. "Hannah, you can call me Matt."
She nods back, then reaches for one of the pockets on her cargo pants.
Cargo pants. That I can respect. Some of these heroes have the dumbest costumes, can't even carry gauze or tape with 'em. I understand image, but damn. I've been a workman most of my life and I can never understand not havin' pockets.
She offers me two small cloth bags. "You looked cold."
I take them with an eyebrow raised, then pop a grin. Sleeve warmers! What a sweetheart. I crush them in my fists, softly for me but harder than most could probably manage, and tuck them into my coat. "Aww, you didn't have to!"
She moves to stand beside me, looking around warily just as I was before she showed. "I remember my first winter on the Eastern seaboard. It was...unpleasant."
I can't help but keep the grin going as I start looking the other direction as her, scouting for anything that looks like a Nazi. "What are ya', some kinda team mom?"
A soft chuckle comes from behind me. "I've worn that hat once or twice. For the Wards." I can hear the joke in her voice.
Cold-hearted, this one. "Nah, I got on the powers train too late fer that. Thanks, by the way. I fuckin' hate the cold."
"You get used to it."
Hope so. This's gonna be the worst otherwise.
----
We stand back to back for about fifteen minutes, and the street's dead silent save the troopers the whole time. Then, Armsmaster clanks out of the dark. I've never understood fighting in full armor, powered or not. Seems too heavy an' loud, anyone faster'n you can do some serious damage. Give me Kevlar and a knife vest every day of the week.
Ah well, to each their own. Looks like the command tent's up, and my earpiece buzzes with Armsmaster's voice. "The civilian curfew starts in ten minutes. Our final prep starts now."
As he's talking, a flash of light smashes into the ground beside him, and I almost charge it headlong before it resolves into Legend. Seconds later, another streak comes in over the horizon, considerably slower, and the crackling electricity and shining armor it wears can only mean Dauntless.
Damn. I've never seen Legend in person before. He's got a flair for the dramatic entry. Dauntless too, now that I notice it. No time for hand shaking right now, though, we've got a job to do.
Hannah and I follow them all into the command tent.
----
"Bastion, I assume you've read the dossiers we sent you?" Armsmaster opens the conversation the moment we're inside.
I nod. "Yes, sir."
Nasty pieces of work all of 'em. I know I can take Hookwolf, Rune, Victor, hell I can take most of 'em. Kaiser might be a problem though, him an' Crusader have powers that phase through most things, one way or another. I'll just have to keep part of my shield close to me to keep Kaiser workin' small, put a hole in it randomly so I can breathe.
I have no fucking idea how to deal with Crusader, though.
We stand around a table and something pops out of Armsmaster's suit. He casually tosses it onto the table and a bunch of blue lines spout from it, forming a map of Brockton Bay. Nifty. San Jose had a tinker too, but he had nothing on Armsmaster's reputation. That little gadget's pretty cool.
Armsmaster starts his speech. "This isn't going to be like any of the other fights the Protectorate ENE has had in a good long time. The Empire knows we have superior firepower and a public mandate to use it. Before, they survived because they just had more capes. Now? With the help of New Wave and you two," he nods over at Legend and I, "we finally get to turn that around.
That means one thing: they can only hide. If they fight us in one, open brawl, they lose, and they know that. So they won't. We expect them to be widely distributed throughout their claimed territory, planning on ambush and forcing us to split our superior numbers to create individual battles they have a chance of winning. It's the only potentially viable strategy they have.
Of course, we have no intention of creating an insurgency. If we let them drop into hiding, they'll just come back later, and we cannot allow that. So the PRT is going to smoke them out. Right now, thousands of officers requisitioned from all over the Eastern seaboard are making their way to every single suspected Empire hideout and business in the city. The judges have been rubber-stamping our warrants all day long, pretty easy to get them to do given the circumstances, and given the evidence provided by Watchdog. By hitting them hard, we force their capes to respond instead of hiding in their homes. If they don't, we get to break the morale of their organization. They cannot allow us to invade territory they have claimed unopposed, or they lose their ability to recruit new members. The idea is, no matter what they do, we win."
He gestures at the map, and around ten large areas of it begin to softly glow red. "This is the best information Watchdog was able to put together to target our parahuman strikes. Those glowing areas are our best guesses as to where cape fights might occur in the next 24 hours. Because we are the stronger force, we actively want those fights. Our plan is to keep PRT and parahuman eyes constantly on each of those areas."
The rest of the map outside the rough oval of lit up areas goes dark. "Brockton Bay has a large number of Movers, so we can afford to have a few stationed near each of these areas. Assault, Battery, Velocity, and New Wave are going to go with the PRT squads as escorts. Upon contact with parahuman resistance, their job will be to capture, if possible, or if not to prevent their withdrawal until the heavy hitters arrive."
He looks up from the map. "That's us. Legend? You are your own squad. I think we all know why. If a call comes in for backup from one of the peripheral hot zones, you will be able to get there fast enough to make a difference. If the call is at one of these intermediary zones," he taps the areas, and they shimmer in the air, "Dauntless and I can get to them within a few minutes, assuming Legend can't reasonably be there faster. These central areas," two red spots near our location on the map shimmer, "are Miss Millitia and Bastion's coverage zones. Bastion, I believe you have experience providing cover to Blasters?"
I nod. Domes come most naturally to me, but I can make 'em anything if I want. Huge walls with gun ports are what I get my name from. Unfortunately, I can only make one forcefield at a time, I have to concentrate to add bits to 'em without endangering my surroundings, and growing the fields is slower than walkin' speed, but those are my only limits. I can do a bunch with just that.
Armsmaster nods. "Excellent. Usually, we would practice more with each other on cross-department operations like this one, but all of us have significant experience with New Wave's shields, and yours are both stronger and more versatile. I don't believe inexperience will be a problem."
I crack my knuckles and grin. "No sir. Not at all."
Armsmaster nods. "Excellent. That is the plan, people. You will note it is not particularly detailed, and that is because I fully expect it to come apart somewhat as this night progresses. In my mind, flexibility is far more important than rigid planning. Are there any questions?"
I raise my hand, and Armsmaster nods in my direction. I ask, "My shields are good, but I've had problems with villains who make ghosts. They usually go right through 'em. What do I do 'bout Crusader?"
Armsmaster nods again. "Thank you for bringing that up. Should you encounter Crusader, you are authorized to withdraw for your own safety, along with Miss Militia, who will be similarly vulnerable. We will avoid dispatching you two to any location where he has been seen."
Legend follows him up. "Fortunately, several variants of my lasers are effective against incorporeal powers, and very few such powers have been able to penetrate my body in the past. If and when Crusader shows his face in the coming hours, I will handle him personally."
I nod. "Sounds good to me. Now, is it time to crack some Nazi heads?"
Armsmaster smiles grimly. "I am awaiting our final orders. Should be any minute now."
My earpiece crackles. Speak of the devil. "This is Interim Director Renick of the PRT-ENE. Yes, you all heard that right. Interim Director. Not Deputy Director. That would be because Director Piggot is dead."
Fuck. That can't be good.
I hear troopers outside the tent reacting badly to the announcement. Lots o' angry chatter. Inside, each and every one of us steps back in surprise.
Renick continues to talk. "This happened approximately twenty-five minutes ago, and I just finished being sworn in by video conference a minute ago. We do not yet have all of the details, but we know one thing: Found on the scene, at her home, were the steel spikes Kaiser's power creates.
You all have your orders. I do not intend to change them. Begin operations immediately."
Renick's voice cuts out, and on that bombshell we all file out of the command tent.
Let's crush these bastards.
----
I've used these comms before, and I know they'll give personalized marching orders to all the capes on 'em. So I'm not surprised when Legend immediately flashes bright white and vanishes off to who-knows-where. Dauntless begins to levitate about a foot off the ground, and Armsmaster runs for his bike to follow him.
Suddenly, it's just me, Hannah, and a pile o' troopers under orders to guard our command point. It's near the middle of the hotspots on Armsmaster's map, while not being in any of them. We don't expect an attack here, but the guards might have been what prevented Watchdog from guessing there would be an attack...fuck. I ain't no Thinker. Figuring out how all that time bullshit works is above my pay grade. Anyway, if they come here we can smash 'em. Easy.
The roads are dead, courtesy of the curfew. With a good PRT driver, I bet the two of us can make it to either of the spots we're covering in a few minutes. Whoever finds a fight first can probably hold out that long.
Hannah and I head for the line of vans, preparing for deployment. I look over my shoulder, and she seems...unsure?
"What's on yer mind?"
She looks up at me. "It is...unlike the Empire to kill the Director."
I snort. "Heh. They're Nazis, ain't they?"
She nods, seeming to think. "Nazis? Yes. Do they kill people? Yes, absolutely. Before today, though, I would have told you that the PRT and Protectorate were completely safe from them."
What? "They're. Nazis."
We climb into a van and nod to the driver. He nods back as Hannah keeps talking. "Do you know what happened to the man who killed Fleur?"
I scrunch up my face. "Who's Fleur?"
She looks absently at the wall of the van. "She was a member of New Wave. I guess they were still the Brigade, back then, actually. She was killed, in her civilian identity, by a man trying to earn a place in the Empire, around ten years ago. Do you know what happened to that man?"
Damn. I remember that from the news, now, but I didn't pay much attention at the time. "No?"
She frowns. "He was found quite literally crucified with steel spikes. His body showed evidence of torture prior to death as well. Kaiser executed the man, then mailed a video to the Brigade's headquarters personally apologizing for Fleur's death."
Huh. "What about it?"
She looks at me. "The Empire plays by the rules. They do kill, and they do commit terrible crimes, but they do not overtly upset the peace, they do not go after the heroes, and they do not tolerate those who do. Or rather, they have done these things until today. I do not understand why they have stopped. I...did not have any particular personal fondness for either Shadow Stalker or Director Piggot. Both were rather unpleasant people. But they were
ours. And that used to make them safe."
Oh. That...can't be good. "So something changed."
She nods. "Something changed. I wish I knew what."
My earpiece crackles, and by her face I can see Hannah's does as well. "Strike group three: Stormtiger, Cricket, and Hookwolf are currently at 5th and O'Malley. Rendezvous with the PRT and Velocity. Additional backup will be delayed, almost every Empire cape came out of hiding at once."
The truck starts up as I reply, "Understood. I think we can take 'em."
Hannah and I strap in as the driver screeches out of the lot. "Smart of 'em." I say, just to make chatter.
Hannah cocks her head, and I keep on the thought. "They can't win a long fight, we've got more capes an' more men. They can't grind us down, we've got more money an' more angry folks behind us, and we know whereabouts they keep their money, if Watchdog is any help. If they just hide nobody ever takes 'em seriously again an' we wrap up all their businesses in a few days. Death blow."
I can't see her mouth under that bandanna, but I can tell she's smiling as she finishes my thought, "But if they all come out at once, we cannot support every fight with sufficient parahuman force to ensure a clean takedown. None of us can be in ten places at once. Some of the fights tonight will be victories for the Empire."
I nod. "Yeah. Makes 'em look better to the kind a trash who likes 'em, and weakens us before bigger fights down the road."
My earpiece crackles again. "INCOMING!"
The vehicle skids to a halt and I slam up a shield, steadying myself and Miss Militia against the Gs with it. The whole vehicle rocks around us, and I expand my shield to cover the entire inside just in time to stop the enormous spines suddenly piercing the roof and sides from gutting the two of us and the driver!
Looks like the dogs've come out to play.
"I've shielded the inside o' this tin can, he can't get to us" I reply to whoever screamed.
"Oh thank God. When he broke our perimeter… Anyway, this is Velocity. How much time do we have to get him off you?"
I glance up at an awful, shearing, ripping sound as the roof of the van is shredded. The night sky looks awfully pretty, though the angry, twenty-foot-long dog made of steel blocks the view. One of its claws slams against the shield and bounces off uselessly.
Poor little puppy, can't dig for his bone.
"As much time as ya need. My shields're slow to grow, but they don't go down. Not with anything ol' Hooky can do. What's yer status besides him?"
"Cricket is foamed, Stormtiger still loose."
I nod. "Sounds good, sounds good."
As I finish talking, Miss Militia speaks up. For my part, I'm growing my shield out through the hole in the roof, trying to give us more spike-and-chain free space to work with. "We appear to be safe, but I cannot fire through Bastion's shield without risking Hookwolf using the hole against us."
My shield spills over the sides of the truck as I climb onto the now-ruined top. Hookwolf's still grinding away at it, the idiot, but I've pushed out all the horizontal areas into slopes he can't stand on and he's sliding off the side.
With some capes, I could've just wrapped a shield around 'em already an' waited fer foam. I gotta be careful with that 'cuz they can't breathe through the shield, but ain't never killed anyone that way. Hookwolf's too big an' fast for that, though. My shields flow like molasses to 'im. I'll hafta get creative if I wanna catch 'im with 'em.
This ain't a residential area, and the street's still torn up, probably 'cuz Hookwolf jumped off 'em like a tank hittin' a mine. The PRT's being smart and staying outta line of sight of the massive, angry pile o' steel, so it's just us an' the rubble.
"Velocity, I can't move my shield too fast, so if you want me or MM in the fight 'gainst Stormtiger, yer gonna need to bring 'im to me. I'm gonna try to surround Hookwolf."
"Understood. Unfortunately, we've lost track of Stormtiger at the moment. He vanished when Hookwolf broke the perimeter. If we find him, we will send him your way. Our cordon is just a few blocks over."
That done, it's time to do some fightin' back.
Looks like Hookwolf got a smart an' tried to dig under my shield. Good thing is that won't work, I"ve already covered the ground.
Bad thing is that means he's in a big hole outside my shield. I can't make it go through solid objects, just form it around 'em, so his digging in the soft ground under the street makes it real annoying to surround him. He can just dig deeper under the shield, and he's pretty fast in this loose sand.
Good thing is I ain't workin' alone. "MM, I'm makin' some stairs fer ya. When yer high enough to be safe, shoot 'im with the biggest thing ya got.
Beside me, she climbs out of the wreckage of our van and surveys my work. I think she's impressed.
Damn straight. I'm an impressive man.
"The 'biggest thing I got' is a handheld nuclear device. Do you want me to use that?" She asks sarcastically.
Shit. I've read up on how her power works. That's gotta mean..."What kind o' damn fool military designed a handheld nuke? Without Tinkers?"
"Judging by the number of such devices I can make? Most of them, at one point or another. They seem to have been popular for black ops programs in the 50s."
Heh. Sounds 'bout right, I guess. "Got anything less…"
"...Geneva Convention violating?" She finishes.
I nod. "Yeah."
She goes skipping lightly up the blue stairs I'm making. "I can work something out."
At this point, I'm in the middle of a massive, glowing blue tower in the middle of the street. If I'm not moving part of the shield, it stays put until I tell it to, so this ain't too hard on me yet. I've gone bigger before.
"I am in position. Give me an opening, Bastion."
I crack a grin. "You got it, MM. Hole on Hookwolf's head."
Suddenly, a mothafuckin' lightning bolt smashes Hookwolf! The light blinds me and I stumble back, and I
feel more than hear the thunder.
"Holy - What the hell was that!?"
I blink the blindness away as she smugly replies, "
Laser-Induced Plasma Channel. One or two governments designed them, but the energy requirements are...impractical, for anyone who cannot recharge a battery instantly. Enough were produced in secret for me to use them, but they never reached market penetration."
Damn. "MM, you don't need a hole in my shield to fire that. Lasers go right through 'em."
Silence on the comms. Jesus fuck, this is gonna be good! If she can safely shoot outta my shield… "You got any way to turn the power on that down, MM?"
"The two varieties of the weapon I have available are a stun gun and the lightning arc you just saw. The stun gun has a very short range, but it is safe to use on non-brutes. It fires far more slowly than an automatic rifle, so this is one of the only circumstances where I can use it."
Aww. "Too bad. Looks like Hookwolf really don't like what you got there, though."
"Indeed."
At this point, a few seconds after the shot, Hookwolf's still...I dunno what he's doin', actually. He don't seem to be moving too good, kinda jerking around.
Probably jus' recoverin' from the lightning. I start dropping more of the shield in the hole he dug, tryin' to get under him when I can and cuttin' off space fer him to gro-
FUCKING OW!
My shoulder explodes with pain, an' it feels like...yup, that's blood. Fucking...what happened?
Ah. I see. "Bastion to all, Stormtiger's outside my shield. Looks like he's touching it and makin' air claws on the other side. Damn clever of 'im."
My shoulder's pretty useless, but that don't really matter. It ain't a fast bleed, I'll live.
Stormtiger starts running 'round the outside edge of the shield as I slowly grow it out, tryin' to trip 'im up. Miss Militia lands next to me, but I'm focusing on Stormtiger too much to really pay attention.
"DUCK!" I hear, and I drop. Another air claw flies over my head, and I feel Miss Militia drop next to me just in time. She was watchin' for 'im to brush the shield again. Smart.
Damn, until I take 'im out he can keep doin' that, can't he? This might be hard...wait.
The maximum speed of my shields is like three miles per hour, but that's still pretty fast when yer growin' it straight
up. I pop up a second layer o' shield inside the first, 'bout a foot or two in. With any luck...heh, yup. Get fucked, Stormtiger.
His file said he can only control air real' close to 'im. That second shield means he can't fire at us at all any more. I grow the second bubble up 'round our entire area...and now he's totally useless.
"Bastion to all, problem solved. Stormtiger can't threaten us." I turn to Miss Millitia. "You got any way to wrap this shoulder?"
Her eyes twinkle and she pulls out some gauze. Damn. I like a prepared woman.
While she does that, I check in on Hookwolf. He's down at the bottom of his hole, an' the shields I wasn't payin' attention to seem to be sinkin' down around 'im more. Good...wait…
I take another look.
Hookwolf seems to have run out of room to transform an' he's totally human. He ain't movin'. Fuck. I might've suffocated 'im while dealin' with Stormtiger. "Bastion to Velocity and nearest PRT teams, I can't tell if Hookwolf is still alive."
Velocity shows up outside the shield. "What happened?"
I grunt as Miss Militia finishes wrapping the shoulder. "Careful, Velocity, Stormtiger's still out there. I dunno if he's left, and I can't check."
"I checked before dropping into normal speed. He's gone. What happened with Hookwolf?"
I sit down. "Miss Militia hit 'im with something I can't remember-"
"Laser-Induced Plasma Channel. It's an electrical weapon."
"Yeah, that. She hit 'im with a frickin' bolt 'o lightning an' he started slowing down. I would've just shrunk my shield down around 'im carefully to give 'im room to breathe, but Stormtiger showed up an' gave me this gash on my shoulder through my shield-"
"Through your shield? Shouldn't that be impossible?" Velocity asks
"He touched the shield an' made it on the inside. Damn clever. Got off a second shot before I made this second dome, might've given me a real close haircut if Miss Militia hadn't warned me. Anyway, I couldn't focus on Hookwolf when I had someone shootin' at me, an' I guess the shields got a little carried away."
"I can confirm all of that, Velocity. And I got it on tape."
Huh? Who was...oh. Duh.
Our driver climbs out of the wreck that used to be a truck. I'd straight forgotten he existed. He's waving his standard lanyard around, an' it looks like he's got his body cam.
Velocity doesn't reply for a moment, then nods. "Can I get into your shield somehow, Bastion?"
"Oh, sure. Sorry 'bout that." I fold a bubble 'round 'im an pop it once he's inside.
He walks over. "Officer…"
"Mendendez."
"Officer Menendez, thank you for getting this entire engagement on camera. It'll cut out a lot of legal hassle."
Velocity turns to me. "Bastion, lower the shields around Hookwolf."
"With all due respect, sir, that's dumb. If he's still awake, he'll gut us all. I'm not sure I can risk givin' him an air hole either, what with his shapeshiftin'."
Velocity sighs. "Open an air hole outside the shield. If he escapes, he escapes."
I shrug. "You got it. Wasn't my idea…"
I open the hole.
Spikes appear
everywhere, crawling 'round the outside, lookin' for a way in. It don't look controlled at all. Like there's somethin' that ain't human any more behind it.
And sure enough, it ain't controlled at all. The spikes start vanishing just as quick as they came, and a naked body falls out of 'em. I let Velocity out o' the shield to check on 'im.
"He's dead."
Damn. "Dya think it was the lightning or the suffocation?"
Velocity walks back up to the shield and I let him in. "I couldn't say. There...will probably be an investigation here, later. But I wouldn't worry about it. Since we have all of this on tape, I don't think there's a prosecutor in the country who would try to press charges."
I nod and sit back down on the ground. Feelin' a bit...dizzy, actually. "Ah fuck, I think the blood loss is gettin' me. O Positive, by the way."
Officer Menendez answers me."Good to know. When I saw you get hit I called for a medic. Miss Militia seems to have bandaged you fairly well, though."
Speak of the devil, I can hear the siren now. I'll be fine. Just sit here, keep breathin', an' keep awake.
I'm passin' out from blood loss, tired, an' I just accidentally killed a man for the first time since I got my powers.
But damn, does it feel good to be back in the game.
