* Taylor, Two Days Later *
"I was expecting beans on toast or something," said Taylor as she looked over the "welcome home" dinner.
"Seriously? Do I look like some English frigate?" asked Sacramento.
"So what's all this?" asked Danny, pointing at his plate.
"Beer-battered cod, rice, broccoli, salad, and a dinner roll," said Sacramento. "Nothing special."
"It smells good," said Taylor, before settling in to eat.
"Crew and officers eat the same thing, mostly," said Sacramento. "Ambiance is a bit different. Which reminds me, we'll need to source some refueling and resupply for future sorties."
"How is that handled anyway?" asked Danny as he used his fork to poke at the various items on his plate.
"I'm a resupply ship," said Sacramento. "Give me the raw materials and I can get them to any ships you have in your fleet whenever they're out. Right now we're all 'at base' so it's not as much of a problem. On deployment is when my work's cut out for me."
"You're talking a lot more than I'm used to hearing from you," mentioned Taylor between bites of fish.
"It's dinner," said Sacramento, that somehow explaining such a thing.
"Well, we've got this 'power testing' thing to get through, maybe you'll get more work then," offered Danny.
* One Week Later *
"The three ship-men are not human despite their apparent outward appearance. Their ratings are therefore likely to be misleading. Giving them a Changer-1 rating reflects that they were ships and in the future may be able to become ships again if needed. They state that having transformed, they are currently 'stuck' in their human-like appearance."
"Odds this is a lie?" asked Director Piggot.
Armsmaster seemed to consider that briefly. "50/50. As military vessels, they are likely to understand such things as operational security and not putting all their capabilities out where a potential enemy may be able to access records."
"I see, continue," indicated Director Piggot.
"USS Missouri, also known as 'Big Mo' is a World War II battleship upgraded significantly before retired to become a museum ship in 1995. This was at least partly due to the shift in funding from military spending to such organizations as the Parahuman Response Team. As an Iowa-class battleship he can manifest his rigging which includes three triple turrets of sixteen inch guns, six dual-purpose five-inch guns, eight quadruple Tomahawk cruise missiles-"
"CRUISE MISSILES?!" yelped Director Wilkins.
"Yes, added in the 1980s, I forget the exact year," continued Armsmaster. "Four quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Also four Phalanx close-in weapons systems."
"Why so many guns?!" demanded Director Wilkins.
"He's a battleship," answered Armsmaster, his tone indicating that should be perfectly obvious. "Most of these systems were disabled or removed prior to becoming a museum ship but remanifested when the ship did. On land he's fast but only to human levels of speed. On the water, he can skate at a top speed of 37mph. Overall, this gives him a Blaster 8, Mover 3 rating. His armored hull and engines give him a Brute rating of at least 5, possibly as high as 8 depending on the situation."
The various Directors, the President, and the Joint Chiefs all in on the teleconference made some comments amongst themselves as Armsmaster prepared the next report.
"The USS Nimitz, also a high Brute rating though likely not as high as Big Mo. A nuclear aircraft carrier serves a very different purpose than a battleship after all. When he manifests his rigging he can launch a variety of aircraft to perform various roles. The planes manifested are the size of model airplanes, but perform and can attack like the full-size models."
"That's a nuclear aircraft carrier. I remember when Leviathan went after it during the Honolulu attack," said one of the military people in the teleconference. "There were a lot of concerns raised in the press about the radiation."
"On water, Nimitz has the same speed as the original ship did. 37mph, for a water-based Mover rating of Mover 3. Brute rating of 4 though those two nuclear engines give him considerably less requirements for refueling than Missouri. Of more concern on an individual basis is the considerable amount of radars, communication arrays, ECM, the missile launchers that are primarily anti-aircraft and anti-missile, the two Phalanx CIWS, and the 90 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters that he can launch."
Director Piggot spoke up. "The helicopter that delivered Missouri was one of those?"
"Yes, they can go full size for such measures," stated Armsmaster. "Which means that Nimitz can be used for transport and deployment on a moment's notice. Not as long-range as some of the teleporter parahumans, nor as fast, but still a considerable option should Miss Hebert choose to join the Wards. Thinker-4 for his ability to intercept, block, and decode transmissions in any area he's deployed. Also shows an exceptional ability to multitask. His planes consist mainly of F/A-18 Hornet Strike Fighters, F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18F Super Hornet, though he also has tankers and reconnaissance aircraft."
Rebecca Costa-Brown spoke, the Chief Director using her override to cut out some of the chatter between various people. "I do not believe she is a good choice for the Wards. Having her do PR meetings, night patrols, and Console duty? These 'ships' act like military personnel. If given a credible threat, such as Hookwolf might pose, would anyone expect something that doesn't involve a dead parahuman and banner headlines about excessive force?"
Director Wilkins spoke up next. "I realize that she's been outed on social media, but do we have a cape name for Miss Hebert yet?"
Director Piggot answered, still glancing at the Chief Director's image as if trying to reconcile her previous statement with her infamous need for control. "Tentatively accepted was the codename 'Convoy' as Miss Hebert's cape name. Several other names involving groups of ships were considered but rejected by Image as there are a number of people in the press who would use a more military name as something to trigger over. We do not want someone like that to be confronted by large crowds of people shouting at her, penning her in. That would reinforce her Trigger Event and that does NOT go well with parahumans."
There was a brief silence following that, in which the various members considered the ways that could go wrong.
Probably involving fires, explosions, and terms like "mass casualty event" that all of them generally wanted to avoid.
Armsmaster took the opportunity to continue. "Finally there is the USS Sacramento, AOE-1. A support ship combining the functions of a fleet oiler, an ammunition ship, and a refrigerated stores ship. Also called a Fast Combat Support Ship. Mover-3 same as the others. Normal speed on land in human form. In the water slightly slower than the others with a confirmed top speed of 35mph. He has anti-missile missiles and four machine guns, an automatic cannon, and two Phalanx units. Sacramento is not a frontline fighter though, and will say so. His main function is to keep the other two supplied. He also can manifest a sidearm which fires off up to four CH-46A/D Sea Knight helicopters. These are amphibious helicopters capable of landing in the water and remaining afloat for a few hours in anything less than storm conditions. Brute-3, Thinker-2, Mover-3."
"I find it odd that you're acknowledging that Convoy is a parahuman that you don't want in the Wards," said Director Wilkins.
"The Protectorate, eventually - yes," said Chief Director Costa-Brown. "She could be a great help in a number of situations once she's old enough and experienced enough using her power to regulate their usage. Up until that point she'd be much less of a useful asset and more a problem waiting to happen."
"So you did read my recommendations," said Director Piggot, sounding mildly surprised.
"And in this case I agree," acknowledged Costa-Brown. "Either the Guild working with Dragon or with the US Navy who have the facilities and training to help her achieve the control and discipline she'll need to contribute to society."
Everyone went silent and stared at their screens for a moment.
"What?" asked the Chief Director. "It's a reasonable compromise."
"I thought so when you brought the idea up two days ago," said one of the military reps. "It's just... strange to hear that."
"These 'ship-men' are pretty strange to begin with," said Rebecca Costa-Brown. "Convoy is a parahuman, and THAT we know how to handle. A parahuman whose summon can put 355 megajoules of bullet onto a target the size of a human head is not someone we want learning to control her power while on patrol in a city like Brockton Bay."
"And THANK YOU for that," grumbled Director Piggot.
* Elsewhere *
[Data] was coming in, and the [Host] had not even engaged in conflict yet. This was good.
[Administrator] had no mouth, but felt the desire to smile nonetheless.
It was nice when a plan came together.
It also didn't require a [Future Modeling] capability to determine that more [Units] would eventually deploy. There were two in the queue already for such endeavors that promised utility upgrades to [Host] that should allow for greater acquisition of useful [Data].
Already, neighboring Shards had noticed and were requesting [Data Exchange Protocols] that might gain further insight into [Alien Network] and allow for unique opportunities.
She was considering it. Except for [Broadcast] because screw [Broadcast]. Too many promising [Host] compromised before they could properly discover new applications.
[Administrator] had plans. Glorious Plans.
* Taylor *
"You want to do what?" asked Taylor.
Missouri flashed that brilliant smile at her. "Accompany a Coast Guard patrol out of Boston that will pass near here. The Coasties suggested it and I promised I would pass it up the CoC."
"CoC? Oh, Chain of Command," mused Taylor. "I guess? Have fun and try not to sink anything."
"Unless they're a credible threat or firing on the Coasties, they're a lot more fragile than I am," suggested Missouri.
"Sounds good," agreed Taylor.
"Thanks, Admiral, I mean 'Convoy'," said Missouri before flashing her a quick salute which she immediately returned - having learned that the three would hold that until she did so.
Taylor sat back and considered the idea though. What could Nimitz and Sacramento be doing to make things better around here? Joining a Coast Guard patrol made a lot of sense, but what else could they do?
