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Ring-Maker [Worm/Lord of the Rings Alt-Power] [Complete]

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Radiant 13.3
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    • Many thanks to @BeaconHill and @GlassGirlCeci for betareading.

    -x-x-x-​

    "Sun's going down, boss," the Empire thug said nervously, his fingers rubbing the casing of his holstered pistol. The golden sunlight cast a sharp line of gold across his face where the last sunbeams streamed over the hills. "Sure we shouldn't, uh—"

    "Run and hide?" The scornful voice emerged from the open garage, its thick German accent sharpening the disdain even further. "She'd be a fool to attack us here. My defenses will stop her long before she gets this far. Just do your duty, soldier."

    "Yes sir."

    I lowered the binoculars and passed them to Sophia. We were huddled in the bushes atop a hill overlooking the house. The sun streamed behind us, lighting the neighborhood below. It was a gated community, and we knew the Empire had threatened or bribed the surrounding locals into silence. I had no doubt Auxiliary had also tapped into the HOA's systems to improve his own surveillance. "Could you make out what he was working on, Dragon?" I asked.

    "Looks like he's modifying large appliances," said Dragon. "Dishwashers, dryers, something like that. Three of them. Not sure what they do. And he's got his escape vehicle."

    "We should assume he has all the standard defenses," said Sophia, lowering the binoculars. "Could you make out what they were saying, Taylor?"

    "He definitely said his defenses would 'stop' me," I said. "Sounds like turrets or robots, something active."

    "I can always drop an EMP," Dragon offered.

    "That's a last resort," I said. "It's a civilian neighborhood—we don't want to damage the infrastructure if we can avoid it. But keep it armed, just in case."

    "You got it. What are you going to do instead?"

    "I can go in, poke the defenses, and see what happens," Sophia suggested. "I should be able to get out of just about anything they can toss at me."

    "No," I said immediately. "It's too risky—what if they have an electrical field to stop you from phasing, or something else that counters you?"

    "Then you can get in and pull me out," she growled. I blinked and looked over at her. She was glaring at me. "I'm not made of glass, Taylor," she said. "I may not be a juggernaut like you, but I've been doing this for a while. I know how to get out of tough situations. You don't need to protect me."

    His power wasn't worth that to me. "Is this about Hookwolf?" I asked.

    She looked away. "We'll talk about that later," she said. "For now—I'm going to try to get in close by the rooftops. Keep an eye on me—I'll try to stick to the shadows. Thank God for those big AC units."

    "Okay," Dragon agreed. "Miss Militia, Assault, and Gallant are in position outside the main gate of the compound. I'll send them in if things start to go south."

    "Fine," I said. "Please be careful, Sophia."

    She gave me a quick smile. "I always am." She turned away and in the blink of an eye was gone.

    I took a deep breath. "Dragon—keep eyes on her."

    "I'm doing what I can. She's slippery, but I'll keep an eye on her. She's reached the target block now."

    I gritted my teeth. This was harder than it had any right to be. I resisted the urge to check in with Sophia—it had only been, what, twenty seconds? At most?—and instead brought the binoculars back up to my eyes. Another group of patrolling thugs were rounding the house now. There were three of them, each carrying a rifle. The one in the back had a modified gun. Lumps of interconnected circuitry and exposed wiring dotted the sides and base of the weapon, and instead of a clip it seemed to have some sort of electrical hardware feeding into the barrel.

    "You see that?" I asked Dragon. "Tinkertech gun on that guy."

    "I see it," Dragon said. "Can't tell what it does yet, though."

    "So do I," said Sophia, her voice barely more than a breath ghosting my ears. "Tempted to try and make a distraction, see if I can get him to fire."

    "Too risky," I said immediately.

    "Agreed," Sophia sighed. "Next best thing might be to disarm him before he gets the chance. Problem is, I don't know how many of those guns are around. I'm going to try and get a view of the back yard, see what's hiding under that big awning and in the gazebo."

    "Good luck," I murmured.

    She didn't answer—she had likely already faded into shadow. She spoke again a moment later. "There's only one roof with a vantage over the back yard," she reported. "If they were gonna lay a trap for a rooftop infiltrator, I'd bet money it'd be there."

    "And that's the only way to see into the yard?"

    "Without going inside entirely, yeah. I can spring it, or I can look around for a better idea of their defenses first."

    "You're not springing a trap deliberately!" I said sharply.

    "This whole setup is a trap. Springing it is the entire mission, Taylor." She didn't sound upset, or even impatient, but her tone was unyielding. "We're going to have to bust their shell from one angle or another. Might be best to go in from multiple angles at once."

    I grimaced. "Dragon, how likely do you think it is that Auxiliary's trapped that roof?"

    "Very." Dragon's voice was grim. "Rooftops are a pretty common tactic—one you've used a lot yourself. He doesn't have to be a tactical genius to recognize a threat. And there are tacticians in the Empire, even if he isn't necessarily one of them."

    "What do we have on his psych profile?" Sophia asked. "Any obvious weaknesses?"

    "Nothing that clear-cut," I said. "Only thing that stood out to me was that he didn't seem as fanatically prejudiced as a lot of other Empire capes. He's more of a casual bigot. Other than that, pretty standard tinker profile—workaholic, more comfortable with machines than people, likes stability in his life and workspace. Like Armsmaster, only evil."

    "Armsmaster's more complicated than that," Sophia said absently.

    "So's Auxiliary. I was summarizing. I didn't see anything that would help with an infiltration."

    "I might have an idea. If he's anything like Armsmaster… Do you remember who was driving his getaway car, that time we fought him a couple months ago?"

    "Auxiliary was, I think," I said. "Why?"

    "He's gonna spend his time making tinkertech. Training people to use it isn't something he's gonna bother with, if he can avoid it."

    I blinked. "Yeah, that makes sense."

    "So the automated defenses are going to be more dangerous than human troops." She paused thoughtfully. "The traps on the roof will be automated. On your call I'll go for that guy with the tinkertech gun."

    "Okay," I said. "Dragon, everyone else is in position?"

    "Yes. Waiting on you, Mairë."

    The name was going to take some getting used to. I still wasn't certain I was worthy of it. "Okay. Now."

    I stood up, striding out into the street. Sunrise gave a joyous ring as I drew it from its scabbard. An explosion from the other side of the compound told me that Miss Militia had breached the perimeter. I saw men turning, some towards me, some towards the sound. Guns rose.

    I brought my sword up so that the flat glittered red before my face, then lowered it to my side again. Light and sound burst from the muzzles of the rifles, and bullets began to ping uselessly off my armor.

    For a moment I allowed myself to indulge in nostalgia. Once, this situation had frightened me. More recently, it had excited me.

    Now I was almost bored. I found myself hoping Auxiliary had something more interesting to throw my way.

    I banished that darker impulse. I had to remind myself that my friends, and the local civilians, might not see it that way, and nor should I.

    I bounced once on the balls of my feet and charged. The two blocks' distance between me and the Empire troops closed in seconds. Sunrise flashed as it sheared through the barrels of their weapons. Then I shifted my grip and, one by one, I struck each trooper carefully in the temple with the sword's hilt. There had been six of them, and they were all out cold in under a minute.

    Then a bolt of brilliant blue light shot past my face. I turned. Another man was frantically trying to reload a modified tinkertech gun. Sophia had been right—he didn't seem familiar with the equipment. Still, as I raised Sunrise into a guard and began to run in his direction, he managed to get the gun humming again and leveled it at me. A lance of luminous blue shot forth as he pulled the trigger.

    I brought Sunrise about to deflect the laser. The blue light scattered in a luminous pattern across the pavement around me, refracted by the rippling metal of the sword. Then I reached the man, slashed through his gun, and knocked him out.

    A humming sound made me look up. The streetlamps were shifting, hidden panels opening to reveal concealed weaponry. Here were the turrets.

    I rolled forward, out of the way of the first burst of bullets. They shattered the asphalt behind me. As I came out of my roll, I slashed at the base of the lamppost. An energy barrier flickered to life around the pole, but Sunrise tore through it as easily as it did through the metal, and the turret sputtered and died as its host lamp began to fall. It clattered down into the street, but I was already turning and rushing towards the next lamp.

    "Dragon," I said as I disabled the next turret. "Warn the other team about these turrets, would you?"

    "Already have. By the way—watch out for manhole covers. They're trapped too."

    "With what?" At that moment, I heard a resounding boom from the other side of the compound. I looked over and saw a metal disk soaring through the air, flickering lights decorating its underside, broken machinery sparking beneath it.

    "Explosives and robots on the underside," Dragon explained. "The mine propels the robot out of the manhole, and the robot then engages with automated weaponry."

    "Got it." I looked around. There was a manhole about half a block from me. I rushed towards it. When I was about ten feet away, I saw the edges of the metal disk light up. I jumped.

    The explosion shot the manhole up into the air—and right into my feet, propelling me upward. I drove my sword downward, through the metal circle, and heard the crunch as the robot was destroyed. Then I braced against the disk and jumped off of it, propelling myself upward and forward as the disk was driven down into the street.

    I soared thirty, forty, fifty feet, until I was right over the garage where Auxiliary had been working. I saw a turret extending from the house's chimney, but I raised Sunrise and deflected the two bolts of light it shot at me even as I fell. The shingles of the roof gave way beneath me and I whirled in midair, driving my sword straight through the plaster ceiling.

    I landed kneeling in the middle of Auxiliary's workshop. To my left, something that had once been a washing machine roared to life. Legs emerged from the base, arms emerged from the sides, and where the door of the washer should have been on the top, a robotic head emerged, two glowing red eyes trained on me. Machine guns affixed to the shoulders began to whir.

    Before it could even finish standing, however, I drove my blade into its body and clove it in two. Then I spun and bisected its brother, a mech that had once been a dryer. The dishwasher got two shots off before its arms were separated from its body. Then I turned and faced the car, with Auxiliary himself in the driver's seat, staring at me with wide eyes.

    "Surr—" I began, then lunged and slashed the tinkertech machinery off of the hood of the vehicle just as it began to hum. The cloaking field which had just begun to coalesce around the car sputtered and died. I cleared my throat. "Surrender," I finished.

    He blinked. His mouth opened and shut a few times. "You are stronger than I remember," he said, his harsh accent unable to mask either his fear or his awe.

    "Where have you been the past two months?" I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. Surrender. Or I can just knock you out and take you in anyway."

    He nodded. "Fine. I surrender."

    "Good. Deactivate your defenses." I fixed him with a stare as he pulled out a cell phone and began tapping out commands. I narrowed my eyes, but there was no sign of defiance. I sheathed Sunrise and turned away. "Dragon?"

    "I've told the others. They're converging on the other troops now. Cleanup shouldn't take too long."

    "Mairë." I turned. Sophia was emerging from the shadows in the corner of the garage, staring around at the destroyed tinkertech. "I saw you coming through the ceiling."

    I nodded. "Sorry I didn't wait for you."

    "No worries. You all right?"

    "Yeah. You?"

    "No complaints. No civilian casualties, minimum property damage. I even managed to salvage some of the tinkertech for Dragon, too."

    "That puts you ahead of Mairë," Dragon said, and I could hear the pout in her voice. "She ignored my needs completely!"

    I snorted. "Sorry about that, got caught up in the moment." I glanced back at Auxiliary. "Out of the car. Let's get you into custody. If we hurry the team might be in bed before midnight, this time."

    And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

    -x-x-x-​

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    Please also consider supporting Wildbow's Patreon, and purchasing the original works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • The upload will be coming to the AO3 and FFnet mirrors as soon as I'm back on my primary PC in an hour or so. Wanted to get it here ASAP.

    I'd like to explicitly solicit critique from the thread this time, since my betas and I all acknowledge that we're very out of practice when it comes to Ring-Maker. I already know that this chapter suffers from the same problem as 13.1--a lot of action with relatively low and unimportant stakes. I wrote it anyway, for the same reason as I wrote 13.1. It's setup for 13.6. I don't know if it's good setup, but we can't really discuss that until you've all read 13.6--and until I've written it.

    I had my university commencement yesterday. While I still have one summer class before I'm technically done, this marks the end of that part of my life. The job I have lined up has a good work environment where, once I go home, I should be able to let go of work and focus on other things. I hope that this will allow me to write much more regularly than I have the past few months.

    Thank you all for bearing with me as I struggle through this.
     
    It's good combat filler. That's all it needs to be and it does that quite well.
    If I were to nitpick, I expected a bit more detail on Auxiliary's reaction. He folded a bit too quickly for someone with such confidence.
    The characterization was spot-on. Little bits like Taylor's withholding the EMP and Sophia's patience really show how far they both have come.
     
    My first impression was that it's a solid characterization on the newly forming social interactions.

    I saw the combat as secondary, or maybe even tertiary, behind Taylor's new modus operandi, in terms of importance.
     
    Super glad to see you back.

    It's nice seeing how far the different characters have come, and how protective Taylor is of Sophia. I'll be honest, I can't even remember Auxiliary or his significance, and I agree that maybe a little more on his reaction and what convinced him to surrender would have been good.
     
    I've been pondering the nature of Taylor's powers, and their relation to what she would have been able to do in the beginning of things, and the difference is intriguing to me.

    In addition to her general Maia nature, she's got those mental blueprints of early-Age stuff that she can copy. And that word right there says a lot: "copy." Because under Arda Classic rules, it shouldn't be possible to do that -- the great works were always one-and-done, never to be repeated. And yet here Mairë is, remaking them willy-nilly.

    I doubt that the Secret Fire has been successfully stolen, as Annatar hypothesized; but has Eru loosened His restrictions on it, or even set it free?

    ...You've said that Taylor can't recreate the big First Age stuff, of course, but I wonder what that leaves. Could she craft new Palantíri? On the one hand they're the work of Fëanor himself, but on the other their capabilities are not all that wondrous in the modern age. And following from that, could she recreate silima? Not the Silmarils themselves, but the light-gathering artificial gemstone of which they were made.
     
    Last edited:
    Radiant 13.4
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    • Many thanks to @BeaconHill and @GlassGirlCeci for betareading.

    -x-x-x-​

    Sorting the prisoners out took a while. The jail was starting to get dangerously full, so Piggot, Armsmaster, and I had to work with the police to figure out which prisoners would need to stay on the Rig.

    Once we'd finished, the police chief had fixed me with a look. "There's a lot of Empire in the jail right now," he said. "A lot. Enough that they'll probably stage a jailbreak, if you don't take Kaiser and the rest of the leadership out tomorrow."

    For a moment a rebuke was on the tip of my tongue. Are you doubting me? I wanted to ask. I swallowed it, and simply promised, "I will."

    Then it was back to the PRT headquarters for Piggot and I, while Armsmaster retreated to the Rig. I bade Piggot good night and took the elevator down to my forge.

    I opened the door and froze, one foot hovering over the doorstep as I saw what—or rather, who—awaited me in the workshop. Sophia sat in the chair beside my workbench, her head drooping over her chest as she dozed. She had changed out of her costume into the utilitarian thermals she usually wore to her bed in the barracks. Cenya twinkled drowsily upon the ring finger of her left hand.

    Guilt surged up in me. How long had she been here, waiting for me, while I dealt with inanities that Piggot and Armsmaster could just as easily have handled without me?

    I reached out, but stopped before I touched her. She looked so peaceful. It was rare to see her without tension in her shoulders. I wanted to let her sleep. But sleeping in that chair would be awful on her neck and back. She wouldn't thank me. I forced my hand the last few inches and gently shook her shoulder. "Sophia," I murmured her name.

    Her head nodded a couple times before she raised it, blinking blearily. "What…? Taylor…?" Then she winced, and her hand came up to rub at the back of her neck. "Ow."

    "Yeah." I smiled apologetically. "You'll want to sleep in a bed. Maybe take a painkiller."

    "Mmh." She shook her head. "Right. Sorry I fell asleep in here, I didn't mean to."

    "I'm sorry I kept you waiting," I said. "I'd have hurried back if I'd known."

    "It's fine, you've got a lot of work to do, I know. I just…" She blinked forcefully and ran a hand down her face, as if to wipe away the sleep. "Sorry—I just wanted to talk about today. And yesterday."

    I bit my lip. "You sure you want to have this conversation now? You're exhausted, Sophia."

    She fixed me with a look from her brilliantly green eyes, suddenly sharp and alert. "Yes," she said. "No avoiding this, Taylor."

    "I'm not…" I sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry."

    "Hey, it's fine," she said, a faint chuckle underlying the words. I looked back up at her to see a wry smile playing about her lips. "I'm not exactly looking forward to this either."

    That, oddly enough, made me feel a little better. Although that might just be the smile on her lips and the way the faint red glimmer of the smelter danced merrily in her eyes. "All right." I sat down on my anvil and began to cross my legs. The scrape of mithril on mithril made me glance down. I'd almost forgotten I was still in my armor. I reached down and began to undo the straps holding the plate to my legs. "Do you want to start, or shall I?"

    "I will." She cleared her throat. "What you said when you took Hookwolf's power—you planned things the way you did to keep me out of danger. Even though it meant Hookwolf was going to get his power taken away. Right?"

    I nodded, stretching my legs out now that they were only clad in my black underarmor. "Right," I confirmed, starting on my gauntlets. "And I stand by that decision. Hookwolf had shown time and again that he was the human equivalent of pond scum. At my worst, I'd have thought that gave me the right to kill him. I no longer think that—but he has no such right to his power."

    "How safe is that?" she asked cautiously. "Only—the last time you used it…"

    I grimaced. "Noelle was being consumed by a power in its death throes," I said quietly. "Her relationship with it wasn't symbiotic. It was desperately trying to burrow into her as it died. There was no way to safely separate them. Hookwolf's power was natural, and its relationship with him was like most parahumans—symbiotic, and relatively non-invasive. Severing that bond was probably totally painless—at worst, he may have a migraine in the morning." Then a thought occurred to me. "Actually, I should probably ask the medical staff on the Rig to look at him—I think his gemma will just go dormant, like mine, but if the tissue actually dies the necrosis could have health complications. Even then, though, it's manageable—especially if Amy's willing to help. It's not urgent, regardless."

    She considered me. "You're sure about all that?"

    I nodded. "It's hard to explain what it feels like," I said. "It's like—the connection between a cape and their power is like a tether—no, like a harpoon. The power spears its host and ties itself to them like a whaler to the whale. The wound from Noelle's power was festering and deep—I couldn't pull the harpoon out without killing her. Hookwolf's was clean and as shallow as possible, so pulling it out was easy."

    "I… actually can kinda understand that," Sophia said, seeming to relax slightly. "Thanks for trying to explain."

    I smiled at her as the last of my armor clattered to the ground. "I'm happy to."

    She flushed slightly. "That… brings me to the other thing," she said. "All that happened because you wanted to… to protect me. And then tonight—I'm your best infiltrator. You know I am. But you weren't willing to let me infiltrate because it was risky."

    I nodded, my smile fading. "Yes. You're important to me, Sophia. I don't want to—I can't lose you. Not now. I don't know what it would do to me."

    She stared at me, her flush deepening, before averting her gaze. "That's… she coughed, looking down. "Taylor—I'm flattered, but…" She shook her head and looked back up at me, and her eyes were emerald-hard. "I'm a superhero," she said, and the tremor that had been in her voice, so faint I hadn't noticed it, was suddenly, notably gone. "I'm not made of glass. I'm not a civilian bystander that you have to protect."

    I bit my tongue for a moment before responding. "I have nearly unbreakable armor," I said quietly. "Even if something gets through that, I can heal my body with a bit of Song. Can you blame me for wanting to be the one in harm's way, instead of you?"

    She sighed. "No," she admitted. "But… even if I'm not as durable or as powerful as you, I want—I want to be in this beside you, not behind you. You let the others play to their strengths—don't make me an exception just because of… whatever this is." She gestured vaguely at the air between us.

    I chewed on my lip as I stared at her. "You pulled me back from a pit I thought I'd fallen down long ago," I said quietly. "You offered me hope when I thought I was too deep for any to reach me. I can't lose you."

    "I can't be kept in a safe," Sophia said, equally quiet. "I can't sit quiet and demure in a cabinet, like a crystal wineglass, only taken out when you're sure I'll be safe. That's not who I am—that's not who I want to be." Her eyes were shining, as though lit from within. "You pulled me out of a hole, too," she said. "And you did it by reminding me of what I wanted to be—a hero. You showed me how to do that. Don't stop me now, just when I'm finding my footing." She licked her lips. "Please."

    I felt my lips part slightly. A hero is the voice of the voiceless, the song of the mute, the sword of the disarmed, the shield of the defenseless. I had made this bed, and now I must lie in it. My chest surged with a tangled mess of emotions—pride, awe, fear, and other, deeper things I didn't know or didn't dare to name. "I…" It wasn't often that my voice failed me, but I was starting to notice that when it did, it was often with Sophia. I swallowed and tried again. "I understand," I said at last. "I'll try. I promise I'll try. I don't want… I don't want to stifle you, Sophia."

    "I know. Thank you." Sophia smiled slightly at me, then stood up and arched her back in a stretch. "Okay. Intense conversation over. Time for sleep."

    An amused smile broke across my face. "High time, I'd say," I said. "Do you want me to walk you up to the barracks?"

    She grinned down at me. "Nah, I know you've got work." She glanced over at the workbench. "Some of these projects look… targeted. Like they're for people we know?"

    "No spoilers," I said, laughing. "Out with you!"

    She grinned, turned, and strode out of the forge. "Good night, Taylor!" she called behind her.

    "Good night, Sophia," I replied as the door swung shut. I stared at it for a moment before shaking myself, sliding off the anvil, and picking up my hammer. There was work to do.

    -x-x-x-​

    In the early hours of the morning, before most of the base was awake, there came a knock on my door. "Come in!" I called.

    Brian walked in. His teeth were worrying his lower lip, and his eyes darted around the forge like he expected someone to jump out at him. "Taylor," he said. "Can I talk to you?"

    "Of course." I put down my hammer. "What do you need?"

    "I just got a call. Woke me up." He hesitated. "It was from Tattletale."

    I blinked. "Oh. What about?"

    He looked as though the rug had just been pulled out from under his feet. "That's—you're not upset?"

    "Should I be? Tattletale's benign, as villains go. Is this the first time you've spoken since you joined the Wards?"

    "Uh, yeah. I thought that was a term of my probation…?"

    "Oh." I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" I shrugged. "She contacted you. It's fine. It's not as though anyone is seriously questioning your loyalty anymore, Brian."

    He sighed in mingled relief and exasperation. "So all this time I've been walking on eggshells for nothing?"

    I considered him. There was a tightness in his broad shoulders and in the way he held his fingers. "I'm sorry," I said. "Things have been moving so fast, I haven't bothered to keep up with any of the others, including you. We should have talked about this sooner. But yes, Brian, you can relax."

    He rubbed his face. "Whatever, doesn't matter. The point is, Tattletale asked me to talk to you. She wants to make a deal."

    My eyebrow slowly rose. "Tattletale knows she's playing with fire, there," I said softly. "What does she want?"

    Brian hesitated, then reluctantly answered, "Bitch. Our old teammate. She and Faultline want to recruit her to their mercenary band."

    "So they want me to circumvent the legal system and make sure Bitch gets to them safely."

    He swallowed. "Tattletale said all you needed to do was let them set up a rendezvous in or near the city for them to pick her up. You don't have to get your hands dirty. She just wants your permission to come into the Bay to pick Bitch up, because 'there's no way her Dark Lordship would miss that.'" He coughed. "Her words, not mine."

    "I've come to realize, over the past months," I said, "that allowing something bad to happen when I could prevent it isn't much better than actively participating. What does Tattletale offer in exchange?"

    Brian looked even more unhappy. "…Regent."

    I blinked slowly. "The criminal is offering to turn in one criminal for another?"

    "No. Uh." Brian grimaced. "She says Regent wants to… join the Wards."

    I stared at him. "Regent."

    "Yeah."

    "Hijack. Heartbreaker's son."

    "He's not—" Brian bit his tongue to cut off the words. "…Yeah."

    I considered him. "You were his teammate. What were you going to say? He's not—what?"

    "He's nothing like his father," Brian said, and his voice was fervent. "He's… he described himself as a sociopath, yeah. But when he and I were both in prison, before you offered me probation? That night Trickster busted him out, he… he refused to leave without me. He only did it when Trickster put a gun to his head."

    My eyes widened. "Really? Why did I never hear about this?"

    Brian shrugged. "I mean, I told the PRT guys when they took my statement about what happened. I just never thought to bring it up with you. It never seemed important until now."

    "It changes things, though." That sort of bond, that attachment… I didn't know much about the psychiatric condition of sociopathy, but I knew the makings of heroic instincts when I saw them. Regent might not be a good person, but I could see the seeds of one in Brian's story. "I'll think about it," I told Brian at last. "Tell Tattletale we can meet—her and Faultline, Bitch, Regent, and me. I don't promise I'll agree, but I will promise to let them all leave that meeting free. I need to talk to Regent and Bitch before I can commit."

    Brian nodded, but he didn't look relieved. "I'll tell her," he said. "She said she'd call me back from another phone." He hesitated. "They were my teammates," he said quietly. "I don't know if we were ever friends, exactly, but… I trusted all of them with my life, once. When you meet them… if you can, be, I don't know—lenient?"

    "I don't know if I can do leniency," I said gently. "Right and wrong don't bend for anyone, whether we like it or not. Leniency is hard. But I can and will show mercy. I promise that."

    He swallowed. "Close enough," he said. "I'm going back to bed. Wake me when you need me."

    I nodded. "Sleep well, Brian."

    -x-x-x-​

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    Please also consider supporting Wildbow's Patreon, and purchasing the original works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
     
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    • It's so rare to find fics with good character development for Regent. I'm very interested in seeing which direction you take this.
     
    Radiant 13.5
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    • Many thanks to @BeaconHill and @GlassGirlCeci for betareading.

    -x-x-x-​

    Once the Wards had all awoken, I assembled them in the common room. It was late in the morning, getting towards lunchtime. In each face I saw mirrored the same anticipation, the same eagerness. Tonight, we'd finish the Empire for good.

    "All right, everyone," I said. "Dragon's been working around the clock to find outexactly where Kaiser's going to be and what he's going to be doing. But that's not all we're doing tonight. If even one of the Empire's capes escapes, the remains of the organization will rally around them. We could mop them up, but I don't want any loose ends. So Dragon has also tracked down all of the other remaining Empire capes. A lot of them are going to be with Kaiser tonight—but not all of them. So we're going to have to split ourselves, and the Protectorate, into teams for this operation."

    "Question," Amy said, an odd, conflicted note in her voice. "Is New Wave going to be working with us on this one?"

    I smiled at her. "They are," I confirmed. "New Wave wanted to work together, since they're best acquainted with one another's powersets. They'll be going after one of the three target groups—Krieg and Cricket. If you want—and only if you want, Amy—you can deploy with them."

    Amy hesitated. "Can I think about it?" she asked.

    "Of course." I looked around at the others. "That leaves two targets for the rest of us. One of those is Kaiser—and with him, most of the Empire's remaining capes. We expect to see Purity, Fenja, Rune, Oracle, and Alabaster with him."

    Vista let out a low whistle. "That's going to be one hell of a fight."

    I grinned at her, baring teeth. "Yes. For them."

    "That means the last target is Othala and Victor?" Carlos asked.

    I nodded. "Apparently, they're married," I said. "They're trying to flee the city—without Kaiser's knowledge, as far as we can tell. They're the most vulnerable group, since they'll be without any Empire support. Krieg is Kaiser's attempt to maintain some command structure if he's captured—if Kaiser is lost, Krieg is set to take control of the Empire. I don't intend to let that happen."

    "Where are those the groups going to be?" Sophia had a laptop with her in the squishy armchair, and seemed to be intent upon the screen, which I couldn't see from where I stood. Dennis and Dean were looking at it over her shoulder. She looked up and gave me a quick, intense look as she asked the question.

    "Is that a map?" I asked, gesturing at her laptop.

    "Yeah. Want me to put it up on the TV?"

    I nodded, stepping aside so she could fiddle with the TV cables. After a moment, the image appeared, and she stepped back. "Victor and Othala will be here," I said, pointing at the highway leaving the city to the south. "We think they're trying to get out of the northeastern seaboard entirely, heading for the Bible Belt. Our ambush is going to be here." I pointed at the place where the highway passed a small lake. "The road will hopefully not be too busy, and since we have a big numbers advantage, they'll hopefully surrender without a fight. But the worst case is a cape fight on a major roadway with civilians in the area. So be careful.

    "New Wave will engage Krieg and Cricket around here." I pointed at a neighborhood on the delta in the north of the Bay. "They're holed up in a bar whose owner is an Empire member. There may or may not be civilians at the establishment during the fight. There will be support from the Empire's general members there, but with all of New Wave on the assault I predict it'll go well. Just in case, though, we're leaving a small force on the Rig, ready to deploy at a moment's notice if any of the teams run into any unexpected trouble.

    "That leaves Kaiser." I pointed at a spot downtown. "He and his guard are going to be holed up in the upper floors of the Medhall building with, we expect, a helicopter on the roof. It'll be after hours, but Medhall is known to ask for overtime from its employees on occasion, so we can't assume that there will be no civilians. But we know that most of the loyal people Kaiser has left, cape and otherwise, will be there with him. I predict they'll empty the building of civilians and set up defenses around the entire block, but I'm not sure. Kaiser's desperate, and I'm not sure what he'll do when he's desperate."

    "Do we know why Kaiser's using the Medhall building?" Dennis asked. "It's one of the most high-profile buildings in the city."

    "Yes," I said, smiling grimly. "We found Kaiser's secret identity. He's Max Anders, the CEO of Medhall."

    At that moment, my phone chimed. I held up a hand to quiet the burst of incredulity from my Wards as I reached into my pocket. It was a text from Piggot. Need you in the interrogation room on floor 3. Now.

    I frowned. "No details?" I muttered as I typed out a reply. Be there soon. What's going on? Then I looked back at the other Wards. "Think about which assault you want to go on, each of you," I said. "I can't promise everyone will get their first choice of assignment, and some of you will have to stay behind for the support team. But Piggot, Dragon, Armsmaster, and I will be assembling the teams this afternoon, and I want your thoughts. For now, though, I have to run."

    "Who was it?" Sophia asked.

    "Piggot," I said, slipping my phone back into my pocket and picking up my helmet from where it sat on the table. "She wants me in the interrogation rooms. Don't know more yet, tell you later."

    "Mind if I tag along, actually?" Sophia asked, standing up and picking up her mask. "Nothing to do down here."

    I shrugged. "Sure."

    As the elevator hummed around us Sophia glanced at me sidelong. "I'm coming on the main assault," she said.

    I nodded. "I assumed you'd want to."

    "I know you said we might not get our first choice, but so help me, if you put me on the backup team—"

    "I'm not going to," I said as I turned to face her fully, my voice firm. "I want you there when we face Kaiser. And Oracle."

    Sophia breathed in sharply. Then her eyes hardened and she nodded. "Okay," she said. "Time to face up to it."

    The door opened before I could reply. Dragon was sitting in a chair in the corridor, the legs of her humanlike form crossed demurely. Her luminous electric-blue eyes glanced between us. "Taylor, Sophia," she said. "Sorry about the sudden alert."

    "What's going on?" I asked.

    "We've had an Empire cape turn herself in," said Dragon. "I figured you'd want to talk to her, see if you could figure out what her game was."

    Her. A strange mixture of hope and tension ballooned in my chest. Could it be? "Who?"

    "Purity," said Dragon. She nodded at the doorway. "Piggot's just down the hall outside her room, along with a few troopers."

    I bit down on the bizarre mixture of relief and disappointment. Sophia was less subtle when she slumped slightly beside me. "All right," I said. "I'll go talk to her. Sophia, you listen in—I might want your opinion."

    "Me?" she asked, blinking. "Why? You're the one with the social thinker powers."

    "You made conclusions about Auxiliary I hadn't seen, yesterday," I said. "Accurate ones. You're not half bad at this yourself." And I want someone second-guessing me, I didn't say. I want someone who will temper me—and even if you don't give a damn what happens to a Nazi, I know you do give a damn what happens to me.

    She looked away, her mask obscuring her face. "Sure," she said. "I'll be outside with Piggot."

    "I'll be listening, too," Dragon said with a wink. "But, then, I always am."

    I grinned at her and then headed down the hall. "Mairë," Piggot greeted when she saw me. "Dragon caught you up?"

    I nodded, coming to stand beside her. She was looking into the interrogation room through the one-way glass. I followed her gaze.

    Purity sat there, in full costume. The brilliant white fabric looked uncomfortably out of place in the dingy cream paint of the room. She wore only a simple, store-bought domino mask. But what drew my eye, and what made Sophia gasp beside me, was the small, sleeping infant bundled in her arms.

    I narrowed my eyes. "Dragon…" I growled.

    "I thought you ought to see for yourself," Dragon's voice emerged from the radio on Piggot's belt, sounding amused.

    I sighed and turned to Piggot. "It's hers?" I asked.

    Piggot nodded. "And Kaiser's."

    I raised a hand to rub my temples. "Well, that complicates things. Dragon—check on Kaiser, make sure he's not changing his plans after this."

    "Already on it. He doesn't seem to know yet, but he will soon, and once he does I'll keep you posted."

    I nodded. "All right. I'll talk to her."

    The door creaked as it opened it. Purity's head darted up at me. I carefully shut it, making as little noise as possible. "Mairë," Purity murmured.

    I smiled at her, my face displaying a warmth I didn't feel as I sat down across from her. "Purity," I said quietly. "Let's try to keep this quiet, so we don't wake the baby."

    Her lips twitched into a smile as she looked down at the child. "I appreciate it." Her voice, I noticed, bore none of the unnatural affects other members of the Empire seemed to favor—none of Kaiser's English lilt or Krieg's thick faux-German. The only accent I could detect in her was the faint remnant of Boston roughness, which she had likely trained out of herself. She looked back up at me after a moment. "I've come to turn myself in," she said. "I don't believe the Empire can stand against you, and I need to think of my daughter."

    "I appreciate you doing so," I said. "Let me explain exactly what that means. Because you came of your own accord, we'll do what we can to be lenient. You'll be funneled through the secret courts to preserve your civilian identity, and whatever sentence you receive for your crimes is likely to be far less severe than it would have been had you stayed and fought tonight."

    She bit her lip. "But I'll still go to prison."

    "I'm no judge, but probably," I said. "Your daughter will have to go to a foster family, in that case, but I'd say you're much more likely to get visitation rights than you would if you had stayed and fought. Just by coming here, you've already improved your situation a lot."

    Her brow furrowed. "…Already?"

    I smiled thinly. "Yes. Now we come to the meat of this conversation." I leaned in slightly. "I believe in redemption," I said, quiet but hard. "I believe that it is possible to come back from the pit. I must, or else I am lost. Do you believe the same, Purity?"

    Her blue eyes seemed transfixed by mine. "I… I don't know," she admitted. "I've tried, but…"

    My eyebrows rose. "Oh, you have?" I sat back. "Tell me about it."

    She licked her lips. "I was a member of the Empire for nearly eleven years," she said. "In the last year, I married Kaiser. It was that marriage which finally let me peek behind the curtain. It took me almost a year to realize who I had married, and by then I had already had my daughter. I divorced him and left the Empire. I tried to be a hero. For months I fought the ABB, tried to shut down their operations. But I made no headway. Kaiser offered me help if I rejoined the Empire as his second-in-command, and I thought I could temper his worse impulses if I took him up on it. He even agreed to step down and let me take over, if I wasn't satisfied with his methods in a year's time." The words were heartfelt, yet strangely smooth. Practiced. She wasn't lying, but she had thought about this speech of hers, about how to sell her good intentions. It made me wonder what she had chosen to polish away. "I was trying to do better. I was fighting villains, and when I rejoined the Empire it was only to try and get them out from under Kaiser's thumb."

    I considered her, searching her eyes for the flickerings of redemption that I had once found in Sophia. "We didn't notice your attempt at heroism," I said, carefully keeping the disdain out of my voice. "It was before my time, for the most part, but from what I've gathered all the PRT could see was that you'd had a falling out with Kaiser specifically. We weren't even sure you had left the Empire. Do you know why that might be?"

    Purity winced. "I never fought against them," she whispered. "I—I couldn't. I knew those people. They were my friends, many of them."

    So you didn't have the strength to stand against them, even when you knew they were wrong. "You said you fought the ABB," I said. "Did you ever fight anyone else?"

    "The Merchants, once or twice," Purity answered. "Maybe a random mugger or independent villain, a few times. Why?"

    I nodded. "And of the villains and criminals you fought as a hero," I said, "how many were white?"

    Her face twitched.

    "You needn't answer," I said with a sigh. "It's more than not fighting the Empire, Purity. It's that. From our perspective, there was basically no difference between your behavior and the Empire's, except that you weren't on the roster when they fought with us or when they intimidated civilians."

    "But those are the bad things the Empire does," Purity protested. "I stopped doing those. Even now that I'm back in the organization, I'm trying to cut down on them!"

    "Do you really think that's all it takes?" I asked, and was surprised at how tired my voice sounded. "Do you think redemption is just a matter of saying, 'I'll just stop these things and everything will be fine'? After diving into the abyss, do you really think you'll ever see the sunlight again if you just start treading water?" I tried to keep my guilt out of my voice. I had a long way to go to live up to my own words. But Purity was far behind even me.

    She swallowed. "What was I supposed to do, then?" she asked, and her voice came out harsh. The infant in her arms shifted and all the anger flooded out of her eyes as she cradled her daughter, quietly shushing it.

    I shrugged. "It depends on what you think good is," I said. "On what you think a better world would look like. I'm not denying that the people you were fighting were doing bad things, Purity. I'm not even denying that they were bad people. But I'll tell you what I once told a very close friend of mine: Being a hero isn't about beating up bad guys. It's about making the world a better place."

    "But I was doing that," Purity said, a note of desperation in her voice. "The people I stopped wouldn't hurt anyone anymore! Surely that's better!"

    "All the while making the Empire stronger in the balance of power in this city," I said. There was a glass of water in front of her—I reached for it, and brought it across the table in front of me. "And can you say in confidence that every criminal you stopped was a bad person? How many were just desperate, or hungry? I don't know. Maybe none. But maybe not." I reached a finger into the glass and let just the tip of my gauntlet touch the surface, so that the surface tension pulled the water up into it. "Our actions mean more than just the things we do," I said, pulling my finger away. The ripples that spread out in the clear glass were perfectly centered in the water. "They spread outward in the people whose lives we touch, and in the people they touch, onward and outward forever. The good you do today will still be felt in a million tiny ways a hundred years from now. So will your evil." I put down the glass and looked up at her. "Are you a religious woman, Purity?"

    She blinked, a wariness passing across her face. "I… I was raised Catholic," she said. "I never went to church as often as I should."

    I nodded. "Then imagine," I said. "Your life in the Empire, I hope you agree, was one tainted by sin. When you left the Empire, it was like going to confessional. You admitted your sin, and begged to be forgiven. But you are missing a part of the sacrament. There are three acts required of the penitent, in the Catholic faith—contrition, confession, and penance. What penance have you made, Purity? In the depths of your regret and shame, what have you done to amend for the evil you have done?"

    Her breathing was shallow as she stared at me. "I…" She whispered, but her voice failed her.

    I sighed. "It's never too late to try. I have to believe that, too. If you truly feel that what you did under the Empire was wrong, that the person you were then was a lesser and a worse person… then answer me this." I looked up into her blue eyes. "What is Kaiser's civilian name?"

    She blinked, then licked her lips. "Surely you already know…?"

    I shook my head. "He covers his tracks well," I lied. "If we have his identity, it will secure our victory tonight." That much, at least, was true. "So if you truly want to do better, Purity, you will tell us. Who is Kaiser under the mask?"

    She swallowed. "And… and what happens if I tell you?"

    "I would treat you as I have the other penitent villains who have come under my wing," I said. "As I did Grue and Shadow Stalker. I will do my utmost to give you a chance to become the better person you long to be."

    "…And if I don't?"

    "Then you will be funneled into the secret courts and tried for your crimes, as I said." I shrugged. "The road to redemption isn't an easy one, take it from me. You will be more comfortable if you take the second route. It will hurt less, even accounting for the separation from your daughter. Those who seek to atone for sins such as ours… the trials we are set are onerous." I remembered green eyes, and a smile on dusky lips. "But I think, in the end, it is worth it."

    She swallowed. She opened her mouth a few times, wordlessly. "I…" she tried. "Kaiser is…"

    I waited. The silence stretched.

    At last she slumped. "I can't do it," she whispered. "I don't even like him, but I loved him once. I can't betray him."

    "Then, Kayden Anders," I said, standing up, "we have nothing more to discuss."

    Her head snapped up. Her eyes flared—literally, light spilling from them in a subconscious surge of power. "You—you know! You knew this whole time!"

    At her furious shout, the baby startled and began to cry. Purity forced her eyes away from me and looked down at the baby. "No, no, shh," she whispered, her voice rough. "I'm sorry, baby, please don't cry…"

    I stepped around the table and knelt so that my head was level with the infant's. Her tiny eyes blinked at the reflected light of my armor. "Hush, little Aster," I murmured, and there was the sympathy, the thread of compassion. This little girl didn't deserve to grow up without a mother. But neither did she deserve to be twisted by Purity. "Everything will be all right." I hummed an ancient lullaby, first heard in the days before the elves ever came into the East, and as the haunting melody filled the room, Aster's eyes drooped and closed again.

    When her breathing was slow and steady again, I stood up. "I notice you didn't ask," I said quietly to Purity, "but Theo Anders will be taken care of, too. We'll see to it that he and Aster find good homes."

    She stared up at me. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

    "No, you're not," I said, and though I couldn't find much sympathy in my heart, I did find pity. "That's the problem." I turned and left the room.

    Sophia was waiting for me outside, a pensive expression on her face. She hesitated a moment before speaking. "Taylor… are you sure about this?"

    I raised an eyebrow. "You think she deserves another chance?"

    "I think it's not about deserving," she said. "It wasn't for me. Isn't there a parallel between her situation and mine? If I'd been asked to make a sacrifice that day you turned my life around, I might have chosen differently."

    "You did make a sacrifice," I said gently. "Though you were top-full of pride and hubris, you yielded to me. You allowed your carefully constructed world to break as the weak and strong switched places. You bore that, and still faced forward. You are better than her." I sighed. "We can give her another chance, if you think we should. She isn't penitent, Sophia, not really. She's still a criminal even with her conscience—she feels guilty, but not enough to change. She isn't reaching for redemption with both hands. And the people she's hurt deserve justice."

    Sophia bit her lip. "I'm not arguing with that," she said hesitantly.

    "She'll be tried by a court of law," I said. "For us to stand in the way, Sophia, is to undermine justice. Sometimes I feel we're right to do that, since I can help people the system can't. I don't think this is one of those times. But if you do, I'll trust your judgement."

    She bit her lip. "Putting it all on me, huh?" She sighed. "I'm worried about you, Taylor, not her. I remember when you showed me mercy, and when you offered Fume a chance. Are you sure that it's Purity, not you, that's holding you back now? So much has changed."

    I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, searching deep within myself for the seed of mercy which had allowed me to extend my hand to Sophia and Brian. For a terrible moment, I wasn't sure whether I would find it. But there it was, nestled deep in my heart, yet it did not stir at the thought of Purity facing trial for what she had done. "I'm sure," I told Sophia. "I promise."

    "Okay. I trust you. I can't help but see myself in her, a little—but you're right. If you don't think you can redeem her, I'm not going to argue."

    I put a hand on her shoulder. "You are better than her," I repeated. "Even at your worst you were better than her, Sophia. Never doubt that."

    Her lips twisted. She sighed. Her eyes held mine for a moment, then dropped away. "Thanks, Taylor," she said. "I should go get ready for the assault."

    "Me too," I said. "Shall we?"

    Together we left the holding cells. As we walked, I cracked my knuckles. Tonight, the Empire would fall.

    -x-x-x-​

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  • Threadmarks
    • An excellent way to deal with the Kayden question, I think. (The question being, how do you treat someone who wants to be a hero without having to actually be heroic.)
     
    On one hand, I fully sympathize with Taylor and understand her viewpoint of "contrition, confession and penance". And Purity hasn't really done any of the latter, true.

    On the other hand, it still left me wildly uncomfortable because what modern society believes to be "penance" is completely asinine and I would rather leave a bunch of people unsatisfied with "unpunished criminals" than chuck anybody but the most unrepentant monster into prison.
     
    On the one hand, I don't agree with the position that ceasing to do evil (and sticking to that) isn't sufficient cause to consider someone no longer a problem.

    On the other hand:
    • Purity obviously can't be trusted to work as a member of the Protectorate right now.
    • The normal course of justice is supposed to be just in-and-of-itself, without the two-tier system for useful Parahumans.
    • Even if she could, there is a cost to letting a recognizable villain flip.
    • Purity is definitely nowhere near the best hill to die on in the name of criminal justice reform. (Madcap and Grue are both better choices)
    • If Taylor isn't convinced she should be helping Purity, it will seriously impact her ability to do so.

    [EDIT]

    Some thoughts on Grue specifically:
    • He was ready to both stop being a villain and go through the justice system without a special offer.
    • He was never as bad as Purity was.
    • Taylor was both more morally flexible and felt in more need of allies at the time.

    Lithos Maitreya said:
    "So when I was captured and unmasked," Grue said, "I knew it was over. Even if I escaped, and the PRT didn't release my identity publicly, I would still never be allowed custody over my sister. That's why I came back—figured my best option was to take my jail time, and then take my chances when I got out again. I haven't killed anyone, I'm still a minor, and I hoped helping with the Endbringer would give me a reduced sentence."
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    Last edited:
    The thing about Kayden is that her "defection" was based mostly on realizing that Max is a horrible human being. She never seemed to understand that the beliefs and ideas she holds are the real problem. She hasn't changed, she just wants to get away from her abusive ex (a reasonable desire to be fair) while still maintaining her worldview.
     
    Whether or not one can make arguments about canon Purity at the start of Worm, once someone goes back to the literal (i.e., not just the political namecalling fad of the day) Nazis to take charge of them, that person has abandoned being a hero.
     
    Oh, I won´t argue that Purity needs some actual heavy redemption before she counts as even slightly a hero. I have no argument here. My point is more of a general dissatisfaction with the modern state of ¨punishment¨actions, and how the only option considered for her is prison, which does literally nothing but make a few vindictive people happy. It doesn´t improve anything, it doesn´t help neither the victims nor the assailants get better, and most of the time it actively makes things worse. Literally the only thing it´s good for is keeping someone entirely uncooperative locked up.

    Ironically enough, I have less problems with the Birdcage than I have with normal prisons. There just needs to be a much better vetting process for who gets sent there.
     
    Albert said:
    Whether or not one can make arguments about canon Purity at the start of Worm, once someone goes back to the literal (i.e., not just the political namecalling fad of the day) Nazis to take charge of them, that person has abandoned being a hero.
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    Oh, right, I forgot about the part where she went back.

    She didn't just epic fail her attempt to stop committing massive numbers of Assaults[1] and worse, she actually stopped trying.

    [1]: Assault does not require actually attacking someone (that's Battery), you just need to be doing something that reasonable person would consider a threat to commit Battery. Such as running around with a deadly weapon (Blaster 7) while dressed like a Nazi supervillain.
     
    DestinyPlayer said:
    Oh, I won´t argue that Purity needs some actual heavy redemption before she counts as even slightly a hero. I have no argument here. My point is more of a general dissatisfaction with the modern state of ¨punishment¨actions, and how the only option considered for her is prison, which does literally nothing but make a few vindictive people happy. It doesn´t improve anything, it doesn´t help neither the victims nor the assailants get better, and most of the time it actively makes things worse. Literally the only thing it´s good for is keeping someone entirely uncooperative locked up.

    Ironically enough, I have less problems with the Birdcage than I have with normal prisons. There just needs to be a much better vetting process for who gets sent there.
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    You should at least have a problem with the lack of possibility of parole. Even modern lifers and death row inmates have the right to an appeal, the Cage denies them that. No amount of vetting clears up Constitutional violations.
     
    DestinyPlayer said:
    Oh, I won´t argue that Purity needs some actual heavy redemption before she counts as even slightly a hero. I have no argument here. My point is more of a general dissatisfaction with the modern state of ¨punishment¨actions, and how the only option considered for her is prison, which does literally nothing but make a few vindictive people happy. It doesn´t improve anything, it doesn´t help neither the victims nor the assailants get better, and most of the time it actively makes things worse. Literally the only thing it´s good for is keeping someone entirely uncooperative locked up.
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    For the record, and without getting into a derail, I agree that the American prison system is a shitshow. But this particular story, being about Taylor, is not focused on that. The fact is that, in this context, Taylor decided to step back and let human justice take its course. Human justice is flawed, but it is human, and though Taylor has reached into human affairs arguably too many times already, this time she thought it best to let them sort it out themselves.
     
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