Empire 01 Sturmkrähe
Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
My editors are tired, please give TaleisinSkye and McClaw@CTC a cup of something warm to drink,.
07 April 2011
Brockton Bay, NH
No one is quite sure when things began. There had always been a trickle of minorities out the areas held by the gang known as the Empire 88. One could always expect some kind of hate inspired violence out of the rank and file of the group, and some of its Parahumans were little better; Hookwolf was a known mass murderer, Stormtiger was wanted in connection with several rapes, and several others were wanted for theft, assault, and other various felonies.
Truly, a charming group of people. Add in the rumors that they were being supported by the German terrorist organization, Gessellschaft, people were wondering why things weren't worse.
That could largely be attributed to the Brockton Bay Police. With the fall of the Archer's Bridge Merchants and the Asian Bad Boys quietly removing themselves from the gang scene, they were able to focus more on bringing in some of the worst offenders of the Empire. Unfortunately, they couldn't touch any of the Parahumans.
Thursday afternoon found the Wards in their new quarters, waiting for Miss Militia to arrive.
"I'm sorry," Dinah apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."
The person she was apologizing to had jumped when Dinah had come up behind him to say 'Hi!'. "It's not your fault," Dennis said, climbing down from the table. "Spiders have made me uncomfortable for a long time, ever since I've gotten bit by a black widow when I was four." He shrugged. "Also, one would not think that someone your size could move so quietly."
Of course, it was at that moment that Miss Militia came in. "Do I want to know what's going on?" she asked, an eyebrow arched.
"Weaver startled me, and spiders make me kinda nervous," Dennis admitted.
Missy chuckled a bit. "He screamed like a cheerleader and jumped onto the table," she explained.
Miss Militia sighed. "It may seem amusing now, but somehow I don't think your teammate found it so," she said. "Clockblocker, is this going to be a problem?"
Dennis finished climbing down from the table and sat in a chair. "No, ma'am, it won't be. I'll deal with it."
Miss Militia nodded, and sat down. "The new patrol schedules are out. Certain routes are for groups of four, others a group of three. The gangs, parahuman or not, are a little on edge right now. We've been notified by the BBPD that there appears to be an uptick in hate related crimes; nothing major thus far – vandalism, harassment and minor destruction of property – but something for you to keep an eye out for. Any incidents, involving Parahumans or not, should be called into the console; those involving normals will be forwarded to the BBPD. Those involving any of the Empire's Parahumans, you will withdraw out of the area, and the Protectorate will respond. The instructions are the same if you are attacked; you may defend yourselves, but withdraw if at all possible.
"Weaver has graciously answered four of the six questions she can during the day before she gets a Thinker headache for us. There is a 60% chance of a late winter storm blowing in out of the north. The outlook for cataclysmic events locally for the next two weeks is mercifully low. The chance for trouble for any Protectorate or Wards patrols is about average. I'll leave Aegis to assigning the patrol routes." With that, Miss Militia stood up. "Be careful out there." With that, she left the Wards area.
Aegis took over the meeting. "We'll be running two three person patrols today. Gallant will have console duty for the one before dinner with Mizuchi watching, and Vista will have the one after dinner with Weaver."
The afternoon patrols were a mix of the usual; a couple each of muggings, theft, assault, and vandalism. The few people who approached Naurelin's patrol were nervous – not because of the dragongirl who was sticking to the ground with her teammates of Kid Win and Weaver, but because of Weaver herself. Naurelin could see the girl flinch as people whispered to each other and shied away from the group, but not everyone.
It was the few people – men, women, boys, girls – who actually had something nice to say, and had more curiosity than fear that helped more than any encouragement.
Right now, however, Naurelin was sitting on one of a pair of girls, while Weaver was sitting down on another. The pair, Heather Woodrow and Alexis Brown, had gotten into a fight about whether or not her being a drider meant that something something something… It turned into a brawl between the two college students.
"I'm going to give you until the count of three to knock it off," Kid Win warned, turning up the PA on his armor, "or I will resort to stunning you. One...two...three!" As they hadn't stopped fighting, he followed through on his threat. His two shots were on target, and the two college students dropped to the ground. Naurelin and Weaver separated them. However they woke up much faster than anyone expected.
Naurelin decided to put both of them to sleep before things got out of hand again. She said a word, and both girls crumpled to the ground again, faintly snoring. At that point, they physically restrained the two, and were awaiting pick up by the Police.
As they walked through the Docks, the group was approached by several former members of the ABB. Naurelin had remembered the one who basically caused the gang to abandon Bakuda on the street for taking a second shot at Takara, and for the audacity of taking a shot at the Dragon; the one who had won the right to lead the ABB by rite of combat. "Console, Naurelin," she called in, "Li Xiao of the remnants of the ABB is approaching peacefully."
"Naurelin, Console: Find out what he wants. A note on your file indicates he may wish to talk about gang-related business."
"So noted. Console." She turned to her teammates. "Weaver, Kid Win," Naurelin asked, "could you please wait here? I shouldn't take too long."
The man bowed low as Naurelin approached him. As she had been instructed by both the PRT and Mizuchi, she gave a slight bow in return. "We will talk," she instructed the man.
The man stood up. "I am Li Xiao, your humble servant. What are your instructions?"
Inwardly, Naurelin sighed. She'd been briefed on this. It didn't make this any easier. "For the moment, maintain the status quo. Do not expand the territory. Certain things I would frown upon; should rumors of human trafficking be true, I would be most upset. Any money that may be mine, put it back into the community, use it to improve things."
Li Xiao frowned, but nodded in agreement.
She handed over a card with her contact information on it. "I can be reached here," she explained. "I especially wish to know if the Empire decides to move into the Docks. I will let you deal with any normal gangs as you see fit, for the time being. I would prefer nothing lethal happen."
Li Xiao nodded. "I understand. Your current obligations would make that complicated. We can send a message without a body."
Li Xiao paused to swallow, now becoming nervous and glancing at the two Wards waiting for the Dragon to finish. "I have a question for you," Li Xiao said. "We have heard rumors of a Húlí or Kitsune wandering around. This makes many of us nervous, since the ones with more than one tail have a fearsome reputation. The jurōgumo makes us nervous enough as it is."
"I will look into it," Naurelin said, resisting the urge to facepalm. "I must continue my patrol."
"I will forward requests to meet with you to the e-mail and phone number on the card." The man bowed, and went back and started directing the gang members to their various tasks.
Going back to their patrol route, the other two were in silence for a bit. "So, that happened," Kid Win commented. "I think this is a first; a Ward has become the leader of a Parahuman faction in the Bay."
"I don't know how long it will last," muttered Naurelin. "I think most are a member because it is the only way to make a living for some. Maybe, if we start slowly, we can keep the trouble to a minimum and restore a sense of normalcy."
Kd Win and Weaver chuckled. "Not much chance of that happening around here, any time soon," Weaver said.
No one gave too much thought to the people wandering aimlessly amongst the abandoned warehouses of the Docks. There were few people to watch such comings and goings, and most who would see such things knew it would be unhealthy to say that they'd seen such things. Most of the homeless would avoid certain warehouses anyway, the people who were using them often making a painful point to stay away.
Such was the case tonight; six men were meeting in a warehouse that only looked like it was falling down from the outside. Three of the men were well known in Brockton Bay; Kreig, Victor, and Alabaster. The three unsavory types across the warehouse from them preferred their anonymity, and were awfully hard to get a hold of. Then again, black market arms dealers like it that way.
Victor walked forward with a briefcase, while someone from the other side pushed a cart forward. Without saying a word to each other, Victor opened the case and looked at the contents with a flashlight. Nodding, he handed the briefcase over to the nameless man, who checked the contents. Finding things to his satisfaction, he closed the briefcase, nodded once, and walked back to where his companions were.
The three members of the Empire 88 waited for the non-descript vehicle the other party was using to leave.
"So, Krieg's contacts delivered?" asked Alabaster, looking at the crate on the wheeled cart.
Victor nodded. "Four Javelin block two anti-tank missiles, along with training manuals." He got in the SUV as the other two loaded the boxes into the back of the SUV before they got in.
"I wonder if they will work on a dragon?" Victor mused as he guided the SUV through the maze of streets that made up that section of the docks.
"It's a guaranteed kill on most things," Krieg added. "Shame the ABB turned over all of Bakuda's tech to the PRT. Rumor had it she'd developed an anti-dragon warhead."
"Probably sensitive as all hell," muttered Alabaster. "Fucking Tinkertech."
"Yeah, she'd need to maintain it so it would work when needed." Krieg leaned back in the seat as Victor pulled out into the more civilized sections of Brockton Bay. "Not something anyone sane would want happening anywhere near them."
"What we've been able to find out was that she was off her rocker," Alabaster added.
"Good riddance to trash," Krieg said.
Victor, for his part, added nothing, concentrating on his driving.
The kitsune stepped through the border ethereal into her apartment, the colors on her fur becoming more pronounced as the went from muted tones suitable for slinking around in the dark to her more natural colors. She sat down on the couch and leaned back, her face becoming more human until the very worried face of Lisa Wilbourn appeared, and the fox ears and tails vanished.
You've gone and stuck your nose in it this time, Lisa, a little used portion of her mind, her sense of self preservation, yelled at the rest of it. If they ever find out you were listening in on the whole exchange, someone will have a new rug on the floor.
She wished she could legally buy some beer, because she could really, really use one right now. Instead, she settled for a can of soda, and tried to figure out how she could anonymously send a tip to the PRT about what was in town.
At least her power was as sure as it could be that the modern anti-tank missiles wouldn't even faze Naurelin; she seen the footage posted on PHO with the grenade. They'd come very, very close to finding out what would happen if every last bit of energy was removed from a bit matter.
"E equals M times C squared is a thing, you know," she muttered as she tried to put her thoughts together.
Sitting back up, she went and booted up her laptop so she could add more information to the file she was assembling on the Empire 88.
There was a storm coming, it was only a matter of time before it hit.
07 April 2011
Brockton Bay, NH
No one is quite sure when things began. There had always been a trickle of minorities out the areas held by the gang known as the Empire 88. One could always expect some kind of hate inspired violence out of the rank and file of the group, and some of its Parahumans were little better; Hookwolf was a known mass murderer, Stormtiger was wanted in connection with several rapes, and several others were wanted for theft, assault, and other various felonies.
Truly, a charming group of people. Add in the rumors that they were being supported by the German terrorist organization, Gessellschaft, people were wondering why things weren't worse.
That could largely be attributed to the Brockton Bay Police. With the fall of the Archer's Bridge Merchants and the Asian Bad Boys quietly removing themselves from the gang scene, they were able to focus more on bringing in some of the worst offenders of the Empire. Unfortunately, they couldn't touch any of the Parahumans.
- - - - - - - - - -
Thursday afternoon found the Wards in their new quarters, waiting for Miss Militia to arrive.
"I'm sorry," Dinah apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."
The person she was apologizing to had jumped when Dinah had come up behind him to say 'Hi!'. "It's not your fault," Dennis said, climbing down from the table. "Spiders have made me uncomfortable for a long time, ever since I've gotten bit by a black widow when I was four." He shrugged. "Also, one would not think that someone your size could move so quietly."
Of course, it was at that moment that Miss Militia came in. "Do I want to know what's going on?" she asked, an eyebrow arched.
"Weaver startled me, and spiders make me kinda nervous," Dennis admitted.
Missy chuckled a bit. "He screamed like a cheerleader and jumped onto the table," she explained.
Miss Militia sighed. "It may seem amusing now, but somehow I don't think your teammate found it so," she said. "Clockblocker, is this going to be a problem?"
Dennis finished climbing down from the table and sat in a chair. "No, ma'am, it won't be. I'll deal with it."
Miss Militia nodded, and sat down. "The new patrol schedules are out. Certain routes are for groups of four, others a group of three. The gangs, parahuman or not, are a little on edge right now. We've been notified by the BBPD that there appears to be an uptick in hate related crimes; nothing major thus far – vandalism, harassment and minor destruction of property – but something for you to keep an eye out for. Any incidents, involving Parahumans or not, should be called into the console; those involving normals will be forwarded to the BBPD. Those involving any of the Empire's Parahumans, you will withdraw out of the area, and the Protectorate will respond. The instructions are the same if you are attacked; you may defend yourselves, but withdraw if at all possible.
"Weaver has graciously answered four of the six questions she can during the day before she gets a Thinker headache for us. There is a 60% chance of a late winter storm blowing in out of the north. The outlook for cataclysmic events locally for the next two weeks is mercifully low. The chance for trouble for any Protectorate or Wards patrols is about average. I'll leave Aegis to assigning the patrol routes." With that, Miss Militia stood up. "Be careful out there." With that, she left the Wards area.
Aegis took over the meeting. "We'll be running two three person patrols today. Gallant will have console duty for the one before dinner with Mizuchi watching, and Vista will have the one after dinner with Weaver."
- - - - - - - - - -
The afternoon patrols were a mix of the usual; a couple each of muggings, theft, assault, and vandalism. The few people who approached Naurelin's patrol were nervous – not because of the dragongirl who was sticking to the ground with her teammates of Kid Win and Weaver, but because of Weaver herself. Naurelin could see the girl flinch as people whispered to each other and shied away from the group, but not everyone.
It was the few people – men, women, boys, girls – who actually had something nice to say, and had more curiosity than fear that helped more than any encouragement.
Right now, however, Naurelin was sitting on one of a pair of girls, while Weaver was sitting down on another. The pair, Heather Woodrow and Alexis Brown, had gotten into a fight about whether or not her being a drider meant that something something something… It turned into a brawl between the two college students.
"I'm going to give you until the count of three to knock it off," Kid Win warned, turning up the PA on his armor, "or I will resort to stunning you. One...two...three!" As they hadn't stopped fighting, he followed through on his threat. His two shots were on target, and the two college students dropped to the ground. Naurelin and Weaver separated them. However they woke up much faster than anyone expected.
Naurelin decided to put both of them to sleep before things got out of hand again. She said a word, and both girls crumpled to the ground again, faintly snoring. At that point, they physically restrained the two, and were awaiting pick up by the Police.
- - - - - - - - - -
As they walked through the Docks, the group was approached by several former members of the ABB. Naurelin had remembered the one who basically caused the gang to abandon Bakuda on the street for taking a second shot at Takara, and for the audacity of taking a shot at the Dragon; the one who had won the right to lead the ABB by rite of combat. "Console, Naurelin," she called in, "Li Xiao of the remnants of the ABB is approaching peacefully."
"Naurelin, Console: Find out what he wants. A note on your file indicates he may wish to talk about gang-related business."
"So noted. Console." She turned to her teammates. "Weaver, Kid Win," Naurelin asked, "could you please wait here? I shouldn't take too long."
The man bowed low as Naurelin approached him. As she had been instructed by both the PRT and Mizuchi, she gave a slight bow in return. "We will talk," she instructed the man.
The man stood up. "I am Li Xiao, your humble servant. What are your instructions?"
Inwardly, Naurelin sighed. She'd been briefed on this. It didn't make this any easier. "For the moment, maintain the status quo. Do not expand the territory. Certain things I would frown upon; should rumors of human trafficking be true, I would be most upset. Any money that may be mine, put it back into the community, use it to improve things."
Li Xiao frowned, but nodded in agreement.
She handed over a card with her contact information on it. "I can be reached here," she explained. "I especially wish to know if the Empire decides to move into the Docks. I will let you deal with any normal gangs as you see fit, for the time being. I would prefer nothing lethal happen."
Li Xiao nodded. "I understand. Your current obligations would make that complicated. We can send a message without a body."
Li Xiao paused to swallow, now becoming nervous and glancing at the two Wards waiting for the Dragon to finish. "I have a question for you," Li Xiao said. "We have heard rumors of a Húlí or Kitsune wandering around. This makes many of us nervous, since the ones with more than one tail have a fearsome reputation. The jurōgumo makes us nervous enough as it is."
"I will look into it," Naurelin said, resisting the urge to facepalm. "I must continue my patrol."
"I will forward requests to meet with you to the e-mail and phone number on the card." The man bowed, and went back and started directing the gang members to their various tasks.
Going back to their patrol route, the other two were in silence for a bit. "So, that happened," Kid Win commented. "I think this is a first; a Ward has become the leader of a Parahuman faction in the Bay."
"I don't know how long it will last," muttered Naurelin. "I think most are a member because it is the only way to make a living for some. Maybe, if we start slowly, we can keep the trouble to a minimum and restore a sense of normalcy."
Kd Win and Weaver chuckled. "Not much chance of that happening around here, any time soon," Weaver said.
//\\//\\//\\
No one gave too much thought to the people wandering aimlessly amongst the abandoned warehouses of the Docks. There were few people to watch such comings and goings, and most who would see such things knew it would be unhealthy to say that they'd seen such things. Most of the homeless would avoid certain warehouses anyway, the people who were using them often making a painful point to stay away.
Such was the case tonight; six men were meeting in a warehouse that only looked like it was falling down from the outside. Three of the men were well known in Brockton Bay; Kreig, Victor, and Alabaster. The three unsavory types across the warehouse from them preferred their anonymity, and were awfully hard to get a hold of. Then again, black market arms dealers like it that way.
Victor walked forward with a briefcase, while someone from the other side pushed a cart forward. Without saying a word to each other, Victor opened the case and looked at the contents with a flashlight. Nodding, he handed the briefcase over to the nameless man, who checked the contents. Finding things to his satisfaction, he closed the briefcase, nodded once, and walked back to where his companions were.
The three members of the Empire 88 waited for the non-descript vehicle the other party was using to leave.
"So, Krieg's contacts delivered?" asked Alabaster, looking at the crate on the wheeled cart.
Victor nodded. "Four Javelin block two anti-tank missiles, along with training manuals." He got in the SUV as the other two loaded the boxes into the back of the SUV before they got in.
"I wonder if they will work on a dragon?" Victor mused as he guided the SUV through the maze of streets that made up that section of the docks.
"It's a guaranteed kill on most things," Krieg added. "Shame the ABB turned over all of Bakuda's tech to the PRT. Rumor had it she'd developed an anti-dragon warhead."
"Probably sensitive as all hell," muttered Alabaster. "Fucking Tinkertech."
"Yeah, she'd need to maintain it so it would work when needed." Krieg leaned back in the seat as Victor pulled out into the more civilized sections of Brockton Bay. "Not something anyone sane would want happening anywhere near them."
"What we've been able to find out was that she was off her rocker," Alabaster added.
"Good riddance to trash," Krieg said.
Victor, for his part, added nothing, concentrating on his driving.
- - - - - - - - - -
The kitsune stepped through the border ethereal into her apartment, the colors on her fur becoming more pronounced as the went from muted tones suitable for slinking around in the dark to her more natural colors. She sat down on the couch and leaned back, her face becoming more human until the very worried face of Lisa Wilbourn appeared, and the fox ears and tails vanished.
You've gone and stuck your nose in it this time, Lisa, a little used portion of her mind, her sense of self preservation, yelled at the rest of it. If they ever find out you were listening in on the whole exchange, someone will have a new rug on the floor.
She wished she could legally buy some beer, because she could really, really use one right now. Instead, she settled for a can of soda, and tried to figure out how she could anonymously send a tip to the PRT about what was in town.
At least her power was as sure as it could be that the modern anti-tank missiles wouldn't even faze Naurelin; she seen the footage posted on PHO with the grenade. They'd come very, very close to finding out what would happen if every last bit of energy was removed from a bit matter.
"E equals M times C squared is a thing, you know," she muttered as she tried to put her thoughts together.
Sitting back up, she went and booted up her laptop so she could add more information to the file she was assembling on the Empire 88.
There was a storm coming, it was only a matter of time before it hit.
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