Real life always comes first. Don't worry about it.
But, be prepared, there's a lot of quotes to be posted now.
One: tens of thousands of people is probably an exaggeration.The Nine are excellent at laying low, which wouldnt really be possible if they left a mountain of dead bodies behind them everywhere. Furthermore, the Nine were frequently understrength due to their collisions with hostiles, sometimes severely.
Tens of thousands is a bare
minimum of what their kill count should be. Think of the sheer logistics. The S9's faces are put on billboards when they're detected nearby to warn the populace to simply run away if they see them, and the Nine have absolutely zero legal protection. If the Nine need to grab food, they can't just walk in anywhere and pay with cash. They take it and likely kill people. If they need fuel or supplies, they kill people. If they want to sleep anywhere besides inside their Residential Murder Mobile, they have to kill people. They don't have a non-cape identity anymore. They need something, they take it, and kill anyone in the way or just whenever they fancy to.
Yes, the Nine are excellent at laying low. That's either from avoiding conflict, or simply being very good at killing all witnesses and dealing with the corpses when needed, and given they have a pyromancer, two cannibals, and a bio-tinker; dealing with bodies is very easy when they don't want to leave their art around.
15.x said:
"The Nine," Dragon explained. "We know their general behavior. After a spree like the one they had here in Brockton Bay, they're going to retreat. They'll stick to back roads and isolated small towns, use time and distance to let the heat dissipate. Jack may keep his people engaged with games like what he tried to set up here. Scaling up slowly in a remote area, seeing how badly they can terrify the local populace, ending with a grand climax before moving on. They'll also be looking to recruit and replace missing members, and I expect they'll go easier on testing the recruits until they've replenished their numbers."
"What are you doing, then?" Assault asked.
"We're going after them," Defiant spoke. His voice was partially altered by his helmet, but it was still identifiable.
Why is everyone pretending they don't know that's Armsmaster?
Defiant continued, "And we're not going to stop. Pursuit will continue twenty-four seven, year-round. We keep them running until they get tired and hungry enough that they make a mistake, and we capitalize on that."
"We've tried this before," Miss Militia responded. "I'm not saying I don't appreciate the idea, but Assault was just arguing that it's easier to attack than to defend, and I agree. You won't be able to prevent every casualty."
"The primary issue before," Dragon replied, "Is that the previous efforts were squads, sleeping in shifts, always moving. Invariably, the Nine would catch on to what was happening, they'd take out the squad on duty and then they would disappear before the others could mobilize to stop them. Or the Nine would circle around and kill the off-duty squad members. We don't have that problem."
Even when "laying low," they still attack small towns and keep killing people.
They also are known to attack elementary schools:
Parasite 10.6 said:
They thought nothing of descending on an elementary school, just because they could. When the heroes came for them, they came with lethal force.
Jack's threat to personally kill a thousand people after two years is taken completely seriously by Theo:
Interlude 11b said:
"Fifteen year old Theo. How many people's lives will you touch in these coming two years, because I've spared your life? Two hundred? Five hundred? A thousand? How far will the flaps of your butterfly wings extend?"
Theo glanced at the phone. It glowed and moved again. Was Kayden in the lobby?
Jack went on. "If you fail in this, I'll kill nine hundred and ninety-nine people in your name. I'll even break my usual rules to get the body count that high, so it's something special, beyond my usual habits. Maybe a bomb, maybe poison. I'll come up with something. I can target the people you love, those you're closest to, people you've affected. Aster there can be the nine hundred and ninety ninth, and you'll be the thousandth. Perfect. Canceling out the impact you've made in the world, it's poetic."
Theo swallowed. A thousand people? Could he say no? Could he refuse the offer? Or would Jack carry what he threatened regardless?
----
Theo handed Aster to her mother. He felt dazed at the magnitude of what faced him. Two years.
Every time Shatterbird uses her power over an entire city for the first time, it maims and kills hundreds of people:
Interlude 11e said:
So that was why she hadn't hit the entire city with the blast, shattering the glass and maiming or killing hundreds. She hadn't wanted to kill any prospective members, wanted to reserve her power for when it would be most dramatic.
Shatterbird alone destroyed Dubai when she got her powers. She alone could have tens to hundreds of thousands of deaths just from that depending upon how crazy she went off in the United Arab Emirates, when a single scream can affect an entire city.
Individual members of the Nine can easily have hundreds to thousands of kills. As a whole? They have way more.
They came to BB with only 8 members, two of them new(Jack,Shatterbird,Siberian,Mannequin,Crawler,Bonesaw,Burnscar,Cherish) and three experiments(Hack Job, Murder Rat and Pagoda), then left with 4(Jack,Bonesaw,Siberian,Hookwolf). Gained 1 recruit(Damsel) then lost both her and Siberian a couple weeks later.
They have a high turn-over rate, yes; that doesn't mean they aren't an S-class threat that is compared to in the same breath as the Endbringers. Only two others are officially declared S-class threats at the start of canon besides them: Nilbog and Sleeper.
Besides, after their stint in Brockton during canon, with Defiant, Dragon, and the Dragon's Teeth on their ass, they pretty much don't make a come-back until the S9000 arc, which happens right before Jack ends the world by setting off Golden Man.
Before Scion and the Endbringers, they are literally the overarching Final Boss tier before the "Real" Final Boss shows up in Worm's canon story. Using JackFinder to kill them all with absolute prejudice is the smartest thing he can do while they're down.
Two: The Jack-led iteration of the Nine have been in operation since 1987 when he and Harbinger killed King.
Twenty four years and a roster of more than thirty members and candidates to rack up thousands of dead. Still a large number, but killing thousands over two and a half decades is a very different matter from doing so in a year.
Again, Shatterbird killed thousands of people when her powers first activated in Dubai, and kills hundreds of people every time she uses her power in a city. That's just one member of the Nine, and one of them that actually stuck around longer than most.
Interlude 25 said:
Most members of the Nine had lasted only weeks or months. She could count the ones who'd lasted longer than that on the one hand. A shame she didn't have samples for all of the past members, but she had most of the good ones.
Her, Jack, Mannequin, Siberian, Shatterbird.
Crawler had managed pretty well, too.
He'd been a doofus in the end, though.
Given she's in the same line-up as Jack and Bonesaw, Shatterbird has years with the Nine under her belt. Which means, even if she was only a member for three years, and used her power to announce the Nine's arrival in a city a dozen times, that's thousands of people dead, just from her.
But, given WoG, we know she's been a member longer than Bonesaw. She was part of the line-up back in 2005.
WoG said:
Gray boy would be gone before 2005. Crimson and Winter would be present. Bonesaw's been with the Nine six years, so she's either just joined or will join soon.
That means...
Jack, Crimson, Mannequin, Shatterbird, Winter, Chuckles, Crawler, Siberian, Hatchet Face.
If Bonesaw's joined, then Crimson's gone, as she replaced him.
Three: Black Kaze allegedly killed 20k over an unknown period of time.
When your principal targets are civilians in an unpoliced disaster zone racking up a bodycount isnt that difficult.
She started killing after Leviathan attacked Kyushu, and was only captured due to her scavenging nature:
WoG said:
At the end of the day, though, she was human, and living on one's own, scavenging, possibly getting sick, or having tooth problems, or missing nutrients, she started to slip. Maximum connection to
passenger, minimum quality of care for her own body. Might well have passed out or fainted in the midst of a confrontation.
At worst, assuming she was captured at the beginning of canon before Lung's internment into the Birdcage, that's only 12 years, half of how long the S9 had been active under Jack up until canon.
And given the Nine's principal targets are civilians and they constantly poke at disaster zones post-Endbringer attacks, the comparison isn't that far off.
9.4 said:
"The Slaughterhouse Nine," Clockblocker leaned back in his seat, groaning, "Fuck, that'd be all we needed."
"Wouldn't be the first time they've arrived at a location in the wake of an Endbringer event," Flechette pointed out.
Didnt remember that quote. Thanks for the citation. As of when though?
To the best of my knowledge the Nine were not considered an S-class threat when they came to Brockton Bay.
Hell, their threat rating might well fluctuate depending on current membership.
They most certainly were.
18.4 said:
"Didn't need doing in the first place," Triumph said, sighing. "I was prepared to risk my life the day I graduated from the Wards. Knew what I'd be getting into. Week I had clearance, I watched all the video we have of the class S threats. Leviathan, Simurgh, Behemoth, Slaughterhouse Nine, Nilbog, Sleeper. I knew what I was getting into. So I'm not shocked or horrified at the attempt on my life. What gets me is what you did to my dad. Set his career back years, if it's even recoverable, by forcing him to take that stance. The whole thing, start to finish, was unnecessary."
Triumph graduated before canon's start. We have no idea when they were declared an S-Class Threat, but it wasn't from what they did in the Bay.
They didnt dogpile them in Brockton Bay when they knew where they were either.
And noone questioned their non-appearance, not Piggott, not the public, not even Legend who was there.
Sure, Siberian can kill them, but so can the Endbringers, and they show up for EB attacks like clockwork.
Because, again, the Nine use whatever city they're in as hostages. It's part of their rules:
13.1 said:
Sirs and Madams,
The terms of engagement are as follows:
1. Three days to each member of the Slaughterhouse Nine so we can conduct our tests. Tests will be performed one after the other, with eight rounds in total.
2. A successful test or the removal of a candidate who has failed a test will earn the tester bonus time. 3-12 hours for a successful test depending on the number of candidates remaining and 24 hours for an execution.
3. Should a tester suffer a sound defeat at the hands of any individual during their allotted time, they will be penalized one day of allotted time.
4. Each tester operates independently, with no hands-on assistance from other members of the Slaughterhouse Nine. Assistance may be bought, bartered or otherwise rendered in a hands-off manner, possibly including medical assistance, information, provided equipment and suggestions.
5. Candidates may receive assistance, hands-on or otherwise, from Brockton Bay residents only. We are fully aware that Legend and his teammates are in Brockton Bay. Should they interfere with a tester, all candidates will lose the protection of any rules, all terms offered here will cease and the threat implied in point eight will be carried out. This only applies to confrontations with the active tester.
6. The Slaughterhouse Nine will handle the punishment of any members of their own team, in the event of failures, the inability of the tester to perform at least a partial round of testing or killing a candidate without notification.
7. Should the defending parties have two or more candidates remaining when the eighth round of testing concludes, the Slaughterhouse Nine will depart Brockton Bay without incident and refrain from returning for three years at a minimum.
8. If and when the Slaughterhouse Nine do eliminate five of the six candidates, or if any candidates leave the city, the Slaughterhouse Nine are prepared to penalize the city for their failure.
Mannequin is the first to carry out his round of testing. He has two days remaining.
We will be in touch.
Said unsaid threat being, "Bonesaw unleashes a plague that kills everyone here." Their threat is taken entirely seriously too, so either the Protectorate is playing it safe, or have
seen what happens when they disobey first hand, without a Panacea to undo it. If they ever pulled that off against a city with half of the Bay's population, that's over a hundred thousand people dead in a single attack.
Also, the Siberian is the one to have killed Hero, not an Endbringer. So, they kind of have a leg up on the setting's Kaiju there.
Riley only joined the Nine in 2006, and Shatterbird was well after that; I dont think shed been a member for a year when she got killed.
Nope. Shatterbird was a member back in 2005, before Riley. She's a S9 veteran for years before they get to Brockton.
I'll grant that the Nine were a S-class group AFTER Brockton Bay, where Bonesaw hit a large section of the city with a selective bioweapon that was only counteracted by Panacea.
But I do not recall anyone characterizing them as S-class before then.
And, going by the earlier quotes I've posted, you'd be wrong.
Canon only goes back so far, so we have no idea when they were declared an S-class threat, but considering how long Shatterbird's been a member, they've had a city ruining cape with them for over half a decade.
The Empire is a much smaller, less influential group than Gesselschaft.
Who can bring more resources to bear. Its the difference between having beef with a single gangbanger and having beef with the emtire organization.
Except we know more about the Empire in canon than we do Gesselschaft. After the Empire gets taken out, the Undersiders as a whole have no real reprisal from Gesselschaft at all. The biggest thing we hear from them is getting thwarted in their attempts to acquire nuclear weapons in Europe by local capes.
There's no real reason to assume they'll be a factor after the E88 is dealt with, since supporting the Empire is their main interaction with the cape scene in the States.
IIRC, Wildbow's PRT Quest had Upperhand murder a PRT cape named Hydrofoil for unknown reasons.
And they literally talk about Bastard Son in the same breath as the Nine. Many Elite cells are essentially mafia who avoid law enforcement, but not all of them work by those rules, especially if the target is juicy enough. The Elite are not safe.
Hydrofoil was also wrapped up in some unknown illegal activities, and likely entangled himself in Elite buisness. That's not the Elite going out of their way to target a Ward. That's them assassinating a crooked cape they don't care for. Attacking an adult is generally far more acceptable than kids.
Bastard Son is compared a lot to the Nine, but he's used as their enforcer. They don't send him on recruitment drives. The Elite may not be safe, but they aren't more dangerous than the Nine, especially considering Jack's role in things. If they do anything, they'll approach Starfinder/Jackfinder with a soft sell. They can't just kidnap a Ward from the Protectorate without reprisal.
Note that the Adepts poached a Ward off the PRT without expecting much reaction.
And the Fallen outright kidnapped a bunch. I would not make hard assertions about what a criminal group might or might not do given sufficient incentive. Especially since the Elite are cellular, and local policies differ.
Again, as LokiMotion stated, those two did receive retaliation from the PRT and Protectorate right afterwards. Also, there is no Elite branch in Brockton Bay.
We know that the Fallen canonically had branches as far north as Wichita Kansas and Kansas City Missouri.
And Valefor et al's move on BB in canon was a move of opportunity; they have no history of moving in to cities or areas that have survived EB attack. And they are opportunists; the Wards they grabbed in the Midwest didnt do anything to them either.
Which is a
far cry away from Brockton Bay, which is north of Boston. I'm closer to Kansas City than they are! They're literally half the continental US away from John! Come on.
What oppurtunity is Jackfinder giving the Fallen again? The Fallen's the last group John will target with his "Locate on Planet" power given Mama Mathers, so I don't see them grocking on to where he's at, nor moving against the Bay unless it gets visited by an Endbringer.
They dont need to grab the potionmaker to benefit from him; the Yangban can negotiate for or loot the medicines without having to worry about grabbing the tinker. Arguably intercepting and stealing shipments of drugs is a less risky endeavor than trying to kidnap the Tinker without killing them.
I don't see how well that will do them, considering the potions are a limited resource. Even if it does help with a heal there or here, it's obviously not as beneficial as having a monopoly over the substance.
A Thinker's services on the other hand are not just bottled and shipped; they need the parahuman.
True, but again, I don't see him not being on their radar as is in his much more public persona.
There's no guarantee that people will tie them together.
Dragon wasnt outed despite all the high level Thinkers she routinely worked with. Narrative inevitability will bring John into contact with Slash and the Nine, but I doubt its because people connected their identities.
There's also the possibility of John letting it slip to someone, and it spreading from there.
The S9000 was only possible because the Nine had Bonesaw, a ton of tissue samples, Mastered Blasto then looted Toybox.
And frankly, I suspect John would feel more than a little queasy plotting the premeditated death of a child who was abducted and brainwashed at six years of age. Thats probably why he did not start with Bonesaw.
You say that as if they can't get those resources here. They were mauled and hounded far worse in canon after all.
And I have absolutely no queasyness about plotting the death of someone like Bonesaw. It's not her fault, but that doesn't mean her death won't save lives. It's up to the author for sure, but until Jack's taken care of, or unless Contessa pulls her magic, you can't just redeem Riley that easily. The girl creates viruses that literally cause people to explode into meat sauce, and she giggles about it. If he can capture her and tries the harder path to save her, good on him, but I have no remorse if he gives the military the needed info to kill her and the rest of the nine either.
StarFinder is working via proxy though.
Remember, Merlin manages his PHO presence; he has never posted on there in his civilian or cape personas. If she was looking for JackFinder, she'd be trying to find Merlin, not John.
But as we see with Dean, that connection isn't perfectly hidden. And that's pretty much all you need with Tattletale to uncover some truth.
And even TT has limits; she never figured out Dragon was an AI, did she? Or which gender Circus was born as?
Tattletale did figure out Dragon was an AI.
28.2 said:
"I'm talking about Dragon."
I glanced at Defiant. I had my theories, but it remained a secret. One that Dragon and Defiant had both kept even as I'd gotten to know them better.
Defiant nodded slowly. "Tell them, then."
Saint glanced over the entire room, as if assessing us, trying to judge who his allies and enemies might be in the wake of whatever revelation he had to share.
"Dragon is a robot. A computer program," Tattletale said.
Saint's mouth was open, as if he'd been about to speak. He shut it. He looked mildly annoyed. "Yes."
I glanced at Tattletale, who nodded a little. In the corner of my eye, I could see Imp look at Rachel, surprise on her face. Rachel didn't seem to care.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Defiant. Dragon's a tinker-made artificial intelligence. I initially thought you made her-"
Defiant started a slow shake of his head.
"-But no. That'd make your relationship incestuous, and you don't give me that kind of vibe. Someone that isn't active anymore, probably dead. She was burdened down with nasty restrictions, the same restrictions that led to her outing Taylor here, despite her reservations. Rules she had to obey no matter what…"
And as far as Circus goes, Tattletale is far more correct about their nature than anyone else.
WoG said:
Circus is best described as a genderfluid cross-dresser and both of Tattletale's suppositions are thus correct, which is why her power can't give her a definitive answer. In being unsure and not knowing, Tattletale was probably closer in labeling Circus than anyone Circus has met. Circus is pleased on a level (being someone that defies/plays with their own gender identity to the point that it confounds someone like Tattletale), and thus takes it as something of a compliment.
