- Location
- Seattle area
Nah, Trainwreck has been discussed. I think it's too early to drop him in the story though. He'll make an appearance at some point.
The World is my Layout [Worm AU/Alt Power]
- Thread starter GeneralPatt1000
- Start date
Nah, Trainwreck has been discussed. I think it's too early to drop him in the story though. He'll make an appearance at some point.
- Location
- leiden (NL)
Just had a thought.
How limited is taylor when turning a model train car into a real one? Because if she can materialise armored trains there are some very heavy railroad artillery and even a russian train equipped with intercontinental nuclear missiles.....
And Taylor is the queen of escalation (nothing says escalation better than a 800 mm gun - not a typo)
How limited is taylor when turning a model train car into a real one? Because if she can materialise armored trains there are some very heavy railroad artillery and even a russian train equipped with intercontinental nuclear missiles.....
And Taylor is the queen of escalation (nothing says escalation better than a 800 mm gun - not a typo)
Wade Wilson
GIGA! 4TH WALL! BREAKER!
The US has one of the most efficient rail systems in the world, we just move goods not people.
- Location
- Right behind you *Stabbing Time*
@GeneralPatt1000 , so I know that you so
likely stay at 'normal' Trains, maybe upgraded by Tinkers, but can or will Taylor build something
Like The trains of Snowpiercer or from the Movie The Core(a Train that can easily travel into the Core of Earth + some crazy Laser that can eat through ANYTHING in front of it. "Oh? Is that behemoth? pull the lever Kronk!)
I sorry but this wouldn't let me alone until I wrote that...or maybe it's because im a little bit drunk, who knows!
likely stay at 'normal' Trains, maybe upgraded by Tinkers, but can or will Taylor build something
Like The trains of Snowpiercer or from the Movie The Core(a Train that can easily travel into the Core of Earth + some crazy Laser that can eat through ANYTHING in front of it. "Oh? Is that behemoth? pull the lever Kronk!)
I sorry but this wouldn't let me alone until I wrote that...or maybe it's because im a little bit drunk, who knows!
Wade Wilson
GIGA! 4TH WALL! BREAKER!
Why not just use the best train.
Isn't Trainyard pretty far away from the Rig? By the time sound of an explosion reaches the Rig, there should be nothing to see but smoke. After all, real explosions do not happen in movie-like slow-mo. The way I understood Chapter 2.1 the Merchants only blew up 3 boxcars, and then switched to railroad switches, so that flying boxcar should have been the 3rd one. Could Armsmaster have heard the second explosion, and then watched the third?
Well I don't think it's ever stated *when* he gets recruited by Coil, and he did live in the Trainyards, so it is perfectly reasonable to assume that Taylor could recruit him, even without the benefits that she would give him, him being a poor Case 53 and her being a nice young child (Is it just me or does that sound wrong?)
- Location
- Seattle area
Snowpiercer is a no. So is the Core vehicle. Mostly because neither is very close to our realm of reality. And neither are made as models as far as I know.
Good catch on the timing. Let me go fix that for you.
Edit: Okay, I think I got the timing better. Hopefully it makes more sense.
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There were a few lines like this that explained things anyone reading worm crossovers would know and I think the story would flow better without them.
- Location
- Somewhere
There are people who get into Worm by the fics. I've never read canon and got into the fandom by reading a crossover fic.
- Location
- Seattle area
That's completely intentional. My beta hasn't read the source material or fanfiction. Anything that leaps out as obvious like that is for her and people like that.
Chargone
Invisable operator
- Location
- New Zealand
It's also been having more and more lines closed in favour of using trucks. Oh, sure, the big trans-continental routes still see just as much traffic as ever, but the "last mile" gets ever longer.
This is usually due to manufacturing getting outsourced overseas, leading to less freight from a given location, leading to less regular service, leading to industries that need regular service moving, leading to even more loss of traffic, leading to the trains shutting down entirely, leading yo even more industry shutting down or moving. And at every step, more and more of what doesn't shut down shifts to using road and air instead.
Then there's the disaster that is the US postal system, that Also doesn't use the railways (preferring road and air in all cases), and the knock on effects of that.
(Note: privatising the rest of it would make this worse. Nationalising the privately owned parts and rationalising the whole thing might turn it into less of a disaster, but probably wouldn't help the railways much. There are reasons that mail cars tended to be attached to Passenger trains, not mixed freight.)
I'm sure there are other factors too. Just-in-time-delivery minimizes warehousing, but consequently Requires higher delivery speed and frequency. If you're willing to go back to actually having stock piles, larger deliveries less often are fine, and trains excell, but when you need small deliveries very frequently, they're not do good, for example.
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- Location
- Somewhere
Nationalization can be either good or bad. Depends on how competent and not corrupt the politicians and government staff are.
One reason British Railways went so horribly was largely due to a single man. And it wasn't Richard Beeching. It was the Minister of Transport Ernest Marples. A man who founded a road construction company called Marples Ridgway, so closing rail lines to open new roads would have been in his personal interests. Marples ended up fleeing to Monaco to escape being prosecuted for tax fraud.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
- Location
- Oregon, USA
Yuppers. Not really a superhero aficionado. My wife has dragged me into some of the DCU animations, specifically the original Batman: The Animated Series was amazing from a quality perspective (I am a huge anime and animation fan) and I adored the animated Teen Titans so much I helped run TitansGo.Net which was a premier fan site years ago when the series was airing (had dinner with many of the creators during SDCC in 2004 and my 5yo daughter got to play with Tara Strong which was awesome), but other than Superman I have really never been into the whole American superhero concept unless it is animated really, really well. And Superman only because I had a crush on Christopher Reeves from the moment as a little kid I watched the first Superman movie in the late 70's.
So yeah, this story it literally my first introduction to canon other than word of mouth over the years here and other places. I'm along for the ride (pun intended).
I'm just looking forwards to the time when Taylor can have something like the Marco Polo built- a heavyweight business car, complete with heavy armor plating everywhere you can manage. Hidden weapons are completely optional, though security cars/cabooses would likely be very useful to hitch onto the tail end of trains going through the city itself- just heavily armored coaches or cabooses, with firing slots for the guards on the inside.
- Location
- Somewhere
It just came to me.
Colin's favorite aspect of rail transport. Intermodal trains. The Intermodal containers are insanely efficient. With just one container goods from China can got to a store in the USA with only a single loading and unloading. No need to unload and load multiple trucks, trains, planes, ships, etc.
Colin's favorite aspect of rail transport. Intermodal trains. The Intermodal containers are insanely efficient. With just one container goods from China can got to a store in the USA with only a single loading and unloading. No need to unload and load multiple trucks, trains, planes, ships, etc.
Chapter 2.2
- Location
- Seattle area
Chapter 2.2
Wildbow owns Worm
Thanks to @DrYuriMom for her beta services.
Author's note:
Taylor ordered that clean-up begin immediately. The police dismounted from the locomotives and the buildings. They swarmed the 35 or so Merchants lying knocked out cold on the ground. Spectral ropes appeared in their hands, and the Merchants were quickly bound up hand and foot. Among the group of subdued druggies was the costumed form of Skidmark, who appeared to be drooling in his enforced sleep.
Even though his power had not affected the energy projectiles fired by the railroad police, Skidmark was trussed up, separated from his men, and half a dozen rifles pointed at him. They knew he wouldn't be able to escape but wanted to tackle no foolish risks.
Looking down from on high via her layout, Taylor grinned. Her first parahuman capture! Hopefully, the PRT would be able to keep a hold of Skidmark. She'd heard of the escapes criminal parahumans had pulled off from prison van convoys and even the PRT building. She didn't want that to happen here.
Speaking of the PRT, she could hear sirens and see flashing lights on the layout as they entered her projections sense ranges. A column of vehicles appeared in the sightline of some railroad police. Leading the pack of PRT vans and police cars were two motorcycles, each ridden by a Protectorate hero.
Miss Militia and Armsmaster drove up to the scene and quickly dismounted. They took in the scene of disarmed Merchants, the mighty rumbling locomotives, the gathered railroad police, and the scattered disabled vehicles.
Taylor was just about to close her eyes to project herself, but Danny grabbed her shoulder. She looked up at him quizzically. "What's the matter, Dad?"
Danny had a rather frank look on his face. "This is a much more serious matter than yesterday afternoon's incident. You've captured Skidmark and 35 of his goons. They blew up some boxcars and switches with enough explosives for the Rig to see them. This will require you to be more professional and less of a fangirl than you were earlier. In addition, the rest of the city will want to know what happened. The news may shuffle their overnight crews to the Trainyard or wake up daytime people to cover this event. Play things down if you can, but try not to over-awe them if you can't."
Her father shrugged, "Who knows, maybe the news won't show up at all. But they likely will. Things escalated too fast."
Taylor was about to say otherwise but saw Danny's point and changed her mind. "Alright, Dad, I'll be careful."
"That is all I can ask of you." Danny smiled, "Go on now, close your eyes this time and I'll watch over you."
-------
Armsmaster looked around the battlefield using his helmet's low-light vision. There was a new moon, so there was little natural light. Flames from the explosions a few hundred yards east licked at railroad ties, but that didn't affect this location. However, the twenty projections that stood around securing unconscious gang members provided a little ethereal light from their bodies, which was helpful.
Half a dozen men with rifles stood around a single person who appeared to be a cape. His dark skin and a rather scruffy outfit identified him as Skidmark. One of the projections standing there matched Miss Militia's description of the one called The Corporal. Armsmaster elected to approach him.
Walking up to the party surrounding Skidmark, the Tinker superhero hailed the Railroad Police Corporal. "Good Evening. May I presume that you are in charge here?"
"Until the Dispatcher gets here, yes Armsmaster," The railroad man replied, "That should be momentary. In the meantime, may I present Skidmark, the fool who probably disturbed your tinkering this morning?"
Armsmaster stared down at said cape. "You're right. He did indeed do that." He looked around as if searching for someone. "No sign of Squealer? I would have expected one of her tanks here."
The Corporal shook his head. "No, no sign of her. We only had regular folks driving normal cars, pickups, and motorcycles. There are very few females here too. She may be laid up or something."
Miss Militia piped up just then. "How many Merchants did you capture, Corporal? There's quite a few here."
"36 if you include Skidmark. 5 escaped. If it weren't for our abilities and weapons, they probably would have overrun us. Fortunately, the BAR we had in the tower slowed them down and allowed the Dispatcher to intervene."
"A Browning Automatic Rifle?" Miss Militia asked with some surprise. "I thought you only had Winchesters and Colts."
"It was ah, military surplus," The Corporal said with a somewhat smug grin, then schooled his features until they were professional again. "But anyway, it did a good job disabling the Merchant's vehicles at range and knocking out small groups with each burst."
"Hmm. I will take your word for it for the time being," Armsmaster allowed, "However, while we wait on Dispatcher, do you mind if we get Skidmark and his men in custody?"
"Of course not, Armsmaster. They're all yours."
Several vans and cars had arrived by now, some from both the PRT and BBPD. A squad of PRT troopers walked up and cuffed Skidmark while police began cuffing his gang members. As each man was secured and dragged to a vehicle, the spectral ropes disappeared.
Miss Militia's raised her eyebrows. "Temporary restraints? That must be very handy."
The Corporal nodded. "Indeed it is." He held a hand up to his ear and nodded for a moment. When he was finished, he looked back at Armsmaster, "I am informed that the Dispatcher is about to make an appearance. Please do not be alarmed."
Armsmaster looked at Miss Militia, who said, "As I said in my report, she'll just pop into existence like any other projection."
There was suddenly an audible popping noise, and everyone turned to see the image of the person claiming to be Dispatcher. Miss Militia noted that her appearance was the same as before, though her eyes appeared tired. "Good morning, Dispatcher."
"Good morning." The girl yawned and stretched. When the action was over, she blinked behind her mask. "I'm sorry, these nuts woke me up with all their explosions."
Miss Militia gave an unamused chuckle, "Don't worry about it. You are in good company. They likely woke everyone north of Downtown."
"Yeah, that's true." Dispatcher looked about at the Merchants being dragged to police vehicles, the fires left behind by the explosions, and the scattered cars and motorcycles. "These guys were earnest about nipping my operations in the bud, weren't they?"
Armsmaster's helmet flashed up a note that the question was likely rhetorical and so held his tongue.
Dispatcher turned her gaze upon the projection in charge of the railroad police, "Good work with the defense Corporal. That worked out splendidly. Skidmark never knew what happened."
"It was my pleasure, Dispatcher. That's one less superpowered goon leading a gang in this city."
"Only two more gangs and too many parahumans to go," Dispatcher murmured.
Armsmaster chose that time to speak up. "Aren't you discounting Squealer? She wasn't here, from what I can tell, but she is still on the loose."
----------
Taylor was keeping her inner fangirl very tightly controlled. Armsmaster was in front of her. Armsmaster! She wanted to squee but squished that desire flat. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her childhood heroes and all the PRT troopers and police officers in the area.
Drawing herself up to her full height, she answered Armsmaster. "I'm not entirely sure why Squealer wasn't here tonight. Didn't the news say she caused an accident in the Docks last week? Perhaps she is recuperating?"
Armsmaster seemed to consider that, then nodded in agreement. "That's logical. I had forgotten that fact. Thank you for reminding me."
The Tinker cocked his head, "I wonder if we can get anything out of Skidmark as to Squealer's location. Regardless, I must congratulate you and your projections on capturing him and so many of his subordinates. This will cripple Merchant operations throughout the city. Are you prepared for the consequences of that?"
Taylor nodded, "If you mean can I defend myself from the ABB or the Empire? Yes, I can." Taylor paused, considering whether to let the superheroes in on her powers some more. Trusting that the heroes would keep her secrets, she continued, "I will let you in on a secret Armsmaster. I can have 80 projections summoned at any one time. Now during a normal day, much of that number will be workers performing various jobs. But overnight or in an emergency during the day, all 80 of those could be Railroad Police."
Miss Militia's eyes widened like saucers. "You can have that many at once?"
"And continuously, yes. Not that I would need that many to keep the Trainyard secure."
Armsmaster seemed to struggle with that number as his mouth wavered in speechlessness. "So if you wanted, you could make the Trainyards an armed camp."
Taylor shrugged, "Yes? I mean, I don't need to like I said, but I'd only do that if Lung or the entire Empire roster decided to come and attack me unprovoked."
Armsmaster finally seemed to get a grip on himself. He turned to Miss Militia. "You were right about her not needing any protection. If she can't be located and her operations are guarded like this, then villains won't be able to hunt her down or cause too much damage."
"Yep!" Taylor announced. "I've got plenty of damage that needs fixing already; I don't need any more. Can I help you with anything else, Armsmaster?"
Armsmaster looked back at her, "It would be good to meet you in person. Would it be possible to do so in the next few days? Also, can you give me a verbal report of the incident here for our records?"
Taylor wiggled her hand in a so-so gesture, "Eh, possibly? I haven't actually secured a physical costume. This image is just a projection, you know. I will try to do so in the next couple of days, though. As for a report, here's how it went."
-----------------
Armsmaster left the Trainyards a little shaken. The story of what happened in the Trainyards before he and Miss Militia had arrived on the scene made him wonder what had gone through Skidmark's head. A cape able to summon dozens of projections to defend their territory as Dispatcher could was not on his list to cross. And flying trains? The young cape had provided a short demonstration of her stated abilities, and Armsmaster was sure he would have shaken in his boots if he had been a Merchant.
It must have been the drugs the Merchant cape was on that made him go off the reservation like that. Either that or the man lacked intelligence in general. Or the two problems were combined. At least they had the man in custody, and he would be receiving no support from the outside.
"The Director is not going to be happy about this," he said to Miss Militia over their helmet radios as the pair led the PRT vehicles containing Skidmark and the PRT squads back to the Rig. "Dispatcher's practical take over of so much territory and the Merchant's resulting weakness is going to upset the city's power dynamics."
"At least she will be a force for good Armsmaster. Her temperament won't permit any other actions. She wants to rebuild the city's infrastructure, and she can't do that without knocking some heads together."
"Hmm… I have to admit you do have a point. Still, it's going to be an exciting few days."
"I wonder what Squealer will do now that her partner is in custody and her forces are severely diminished?"
Armsmaster shook his head, "I'm not sure. Probably lay low for a while before trying to restart operations. We'll have to wait and see. Let's get Skidmark back to the Rig and in a cell. He's another person that's not going to be happy when he wakes up.
Miss Militia's laughter rang over the comm connection, and Armsmaster smiled to himself. Despite the strange happenings of the day, they had secured a significant victory over one of the city's gangs. Now they had to wait on pins and needles to see how the other gangs would react.
-------
When the explosions had started, Squealer knew that it was time for her to leave the hideout. Skidmark had taken all but a couple of men to the Trainyards to attack that new cape. Now was the only time that she would have to disappear.
As soon as Skidmark had left, she had taken a large rolling suitcase and stuffed it with cash from the safe. She had also grabbed enough food to last her a couple of days, as well as a few tools. With only two men on guard, it was easy to slip out the back door of the hideout and make her escape.
As she made her way from the rundown garage hideout on the edge of the Boat Graveyard, Squealer wondered where she was going to hide and what she was going to do later. Most people knew her by reputation if not by sight. She needed to turn over a new leaf and change her profession, lifestyle, and public perception.
Perhaps the new cape might need a mechanic of some kind? That girl seemed to be playing with trains, and that was right up Squealer's alley, being a vehicle tinker and all. She had never built or modified a train, except to strip a couple down for parts, but during those salvaging trips, she'd had ideas for train engines. Maybe the new cape would let her join her crew? It was something to think about anyway.
She was feeling the tinkering itch very severely now. She needed to work on something, or she was going to go nuts. She hadn't tinkered with anything all week. If she recalled correctly, rumors said an old locomotive shed deeper in the Graveyard held an old engine within it. Maybe she could play with that and give it to the cape, who she still didn't have a name for. Something like that might make a good 'Can I join you present.'
She could hear the sirens rushing toward the Trainyard now. She hoped that Skidmark would be caught so they could lock him up and throw away the key. The slime certainly deserved more than that.
Squealer walked through the darkness of night on the hunt for a new Tinker project and a place to hide. She just hoped that nobody came across her as she worked. That would be really inconvenient.
Wildbow owns Worm
Thanks to @DrYuriMom for her beta services.
Author's note:
This chapter did not want to get written, let me tell you. It's a little shorter than what I expected initially. I ran out of time though and had to ship it to the beta late. Please enjoy this chapter of The World is my Layout.
I have a Patreon if you want to support me. The link can be found in Informational.
I have a Patreon if you want to support me. The link can be found in Informational.
Taylor ordered that clean-up begin immediately. The police dismounted from the locomotives and the buildings. They swarmed the 35 or so Merchants lying knocked out cold on the ground. Spectral ropes appeared in their hands, and the Merchants were quickly bound up hand and foot. Among the group of subdued druggies was the costumed form of Skidmark, who appeared to be drooling in his enforced sleep.
Even though his power had not affected the energy projectiles fired by the railroad police, Skidmark was trussed up, separated from his men, and half a dozen rifles pointed at him. They knew he wouldn't be able to escape but wanted to tackle no foolish risks.
Looking down from on high via her layout, Taylor grinned. Her first parahuman capture! Hopefully, the PRT would be able to keep a hold of Skidmark. She'd heard of the escapes criminal parahumans had pulled off from prison van convoys and even the PRT building. She didn't want that to happen here.
Speaking of the PRT, she could hear sirens and see flashing lights on the layout as they entered her projections sense ranges. A column of vehicles appeared in the sightline of some railroad police. Leading the pack of PRT vans and police cars were two motorcycles, each ridden by a Protectorate hero.
Miss Militia and Armsmaster drove up to the scene and quickly dismounted. They took in the scene of disarmed Merchants, the mighty rumbling locomotives, the gathered railroad police, and the scattered disabled vehicles.
Taylor was just about to close her eyes to project herself, but Danny grabbed her shoulder. She looked up at him quizzically. "What's the matter, Dad?"
Danny had a rather frank look on his face. "This is a much more serious matter than yesterday afternoon's incident. You've captured Skidmark and 35 of his goons. They blew up some boxcars and switches with enough explosives for the Rig to see them. This will require you to be more professional and less of a fangirl than you were earlier. In addition, the rest of the city will want to know what happened. The news may shuffle their overnight crews to the Trainyard or wake up daytime people to cover this event. Play things down if you can, but try not to over-awe them if you can't."
Her father shrugged, "Who knows, maybe the news won't show up at all. But they likely will. Things escalated too fast."
Taylor was about to say otherwise but saw Danny's point and changed her mind. "Alright, Dad, I'll be careful."
"That is all I can ask of you." Danny smiled, "Go on now, close your eyes this time and I'll watch over you."
-------
Armsmaster looked around the battlefield using his helmet's low-light vision. There was a new moon, so there was little natural light. Flames from the explosions a few hundred yards east licked at railroad ties, but that didn't affect this location. However, the twenty projections that stood around securing unconscious gang members provided a little ethereal light from their bodies, which was helpful.
Half a dozen men with rifles stood around a single person who appeared to be a cape. His dark skin and a rather scruffy outfit identified him as Skidmark. One of the projections standing there matched Miss Militia's description of the one called The Corporal. Armsmaster elected to approach him.
Walking up to the party surrounding Skidmark, the Tinker superhero hailed the Railroad Police Corporal. "Good Evening. May I presume that you are in charge here?"
"Until the Dispatcher gets here, yes Armsmaster," The railroad man replied, "That should be momentary. In the meantime, may I present Skidmark, the fool who probably disturbed your tinkering this morning?"
Armsmaster stared down at said cape. "You're right. He did indeed do that." He looked around as if searching for someone. "No sign of Squealer? I would have expected one of her tanks here."
The Corporal shook his head. "No, no sign of her. We only had regular folks driving normal cars, pickups, and motorcycles. There are very few females here too. She may be laid up or something."
Miss Militia piped up just then. "How many Merchants did you capture, Corporal? There's quite a few here."
"36 if you include Skidmark. 5 escaped. If it weren't for our abilities and weapons, they probably would have overrun us. Fortunately, the BAR we had in the tower slowed them down and allowed the Dispatcher to intervene."
"A Browning Automatic Rifle?" Miss Militia asked with some surprise. "I thought you only had Winchesters and Colts."
"It was ah, military surplus," The Corporal said with a somewhat smug grin, then schooled his features until they were professional again. "But anyway, it did a good job disabling the Merchant's vehicles at range and knocking out small groups with each burst."
"Hmm. I will take your word for it for the time being," Armsmaster allowed, "However, while we wait on Dispatcher, do you mind if we get Skidmark and his men in custody?"
"Of course not, Armsmaster. They're all yours."
Several vans and cars had arrived by now, some from both the PRT and BBPD. A squad of PRT troopers walked up and cuffed Skidmark while police began cuffing his gang members. As each man was secured and dragged to a vehicle, the spectral ropes disappeared.
Miss Militia's raised her eyebrows. "Temporary restraints? That must be very handy."
The Corporal nodded. "Indeed it is." He held a hand up to his ear and nodded for a moment. When he was finished, he looked back at Armsmaster, "I am informed that the Dispatcher is about to make an appearance. Please do not be alarmed."
Armsmaster looked at Miss Militia, who said, "As I said in my report, she'll just pop into existence like any other projection."
There was suddenly an audible popping noise, and everyone turned to see the image of the person claiming to be Dispatcher. Miss Militia noted that her appearance was the same as before, though her eyes appeared tired. "Good morning, Dispatcher."
"Good morning." The girl yawned and stretched. When the action was over, she blinked behind her mask. "I'm sorry, these nuts woke me up with all their explosions."
Miss Militia gave an unamused chuckle, "Don't worry about it. You are in good company. They likely woke everyone north of Downtown."
"Yeah, that's true." Dispatcher looked about at the Merchants being dragged to police vehicles, the fires left behind by the explosions, and the scattered cars and motorcycles. "These guys were earnest about nipping my operations in the bud, weren't they?"
Armsmaster's helmet flashed up a note that the question was likely rhetorical and so held his tongue.
Dispatcher turned her gaze upon the projection in charge of the railroad police, "Good work with the defense Corporal. That worked out splendidly. Skidmark never knew what happened."
"It was my pleasure, Dispatcher. That's one less superpowered goon leading a gang in this city."
"Only two more gangs and too many parahumans to go," Dispatcher murmured.
Armsmaster chose that time to speak up. "Aren't you discounting Squealer? She wasn't here, from what I can tell, but she is still on the loose."
----------
Taylor was keeping her inner fangirl very tightly controlled. Armsmaster was in front of her. Armsmaster! She wanted to squee but squished that desire flat. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her childhood heroes and all the PRT troopers and police officers in the area.
Drawing herself up to her full height, she answered Armsmaster. "I'm not entirely sure why Squealer wasn't here tonight. Didn't the news say she caused an accident in the Docks last week? Perhaps she is recuperating?"
Armsmaster seemed to consider that, then nodded in agreement. "That's logical. I had forgotten that fact. Thank you for reminding me."
The Tinker cocked his head, "I wonder if we can get anything out of Skidmark as to Squealer's location. Regardless, I must congratulate you and your projections on capturing him and so many of his subordinates. This will cripple Merchant operations throughout the city. Are you prepared for the consequences of that?"
Taylor nodded, "If you mean can I defend myself from the ABB or the Empire? Yes, I can." Taylor paused, considering whether to let the superheroes in on her powers some more. Trusting that the heroes would keep her secrets, she continued, "I will let you in on a secret Armsmaster. I can have 80 projections summoned at any one time. Now during a normal day, much of that number will be workers performing various jobs. But overnight or in an emergency during the day, all 80 of those could be Railroad Police."
Miss Militia's eyes widened like saucers. "You can have that many at once?"
"And continuously, yes. Not that I would need that many to keep the Trainyard secure."
Armsmaster seemed to struggle with that number as his mouth wavered in speechlessness. "So if you wanted, you could make the Trainyards an armed camp."
Taylor shrugged, "Yes? I mean, I don't need to like I said, but I'd only do that if Lung or the entire Empire roster decided to come and attack me unprovoked."
Armsmaster finally seemed to get a grip on himself. He turned to Miss Militia. "You were right about her not needing any protection. If she can't be located and her operations are guarded like this, then villains won't be able to hunt her down or cause too much damage."
"Yep!" Taylor announced. "I've got plenty of damage that needs fixing already; I don't need any more. Can I help you with anything else, Armsmaster?"
Armsmaster looked back at her, "It would be good to meet you in person. Would it be possible to do so in the next few days? Also, can you give me a verbal report of the incident here for our records?"
Taylor wiggled her hand in a so-so gesture, "Eh, possibly? I haven't actually secured a physical costume. This image is just a projection, you know. I will try to do so in the next couple of days, though. As for a report, here's how it went."
-----------------
Armsmaster left the Trainyards a little shaken. The story of what happened in the Trainyards before he and Miss Militia had arrived on the scene made him wonder what had gone through Skidmark's head. A cape able to summon dozens of projections to defend their territory as Dispatcher could was not on his list to cross. And flying trains? The young cape had provided a short demonstration of her stated abilities, and Armsmaster was sure he would have shaken in his boots if he had been a Merchant.
It must have been the drugs the Merchant cape was on that made him go off the reservation like that. Either that or the man lacked intelligence in general. Or the two problems were combined. At least they had the man in custody, and he would be receiving no support from the outside.
"The Director is not going to be happy about this," he said to Miss Militia over their helmet radios as the pair led the PRT vehicles containing Skidmark and the PRT squads back to the Rig. "Dispatcher's practical take over of so much territory and the Merchant's resulting weakness is going to upset the city's power dynamics."
"At least she will be a force for good Armsmaster. Her temperament won't permit any other actions. She wants to rebuild the city's infrastructure, and she can't do that without knocking some heads together."
"Hmm… I have to admit you do have a point. Still, it's going to be an exciting few days."
"I wonder what Squealer will do now that her partner is in custody and her forces are severely diminished?"
Armsmaster shook his head, "I'm not sure. Probably lay low for a while before trying to restart operations. We'll have to wait and see. Let's get Skidmark back to the Rig and in a cell. He's another person that's not going to be happy when he wakes up.
Miss Militia's laughter rang over the comm connection, and Armsmaster smiled to himself. Despite the strange happenings of the day, they had secured a significant victory over one of the city's gangs. Now they had to wait on pins and needles to see how the other gangs would react.
-------
When the explosions had started, Squealer knew that it was time for her to leave the hideout. Skidmark had taken all but a couple of men to the Trainyards to attack that new cape. Now was the only time that she would have to disappear.
As soon as Skidmark had left, she had taken a large rolling suitcase and stuffed it with cash from the safe. She had also grabbed enough food to last her a couple of days, as well as a few tools. With only two men on guard, it was easy to slip out the back door of the hideout and make her escape.
As she made her way from the rundown garage hideout on the edge of the Boat Graveyard, Squealer wondered where she was going to hide and what she was going to do later. Most people knew her by reputation if not by sight. She needed to turn over a new leaf and change her profession, lifestyle, and public perception.
Perhaps the new cape might need a mechanic of some kind? That girl seemed to be playing with trains, and that was right up Squealer's alley, being a vehicle tinker and all. She had never built or modified a train, except to strip a couple down for parts, but during those salvaging trips, she'd had ideas for train engines. Maybe the new cape would let her join her crew? It was something to think about anyway.
She was feeling the tinkering itch very severely now. She needed to work on something, or she was going to go nuts. She hadn't tinkered with anything all week. If she recalled correctly, rumors said an old locomotive shed deeper in the Graveyard held an old engine within it. Maybe she could play with that and give it to the cape, who she still didn't have a name for. Something like that might make a good 'Can I join you present.'
She could hear the sirens rushing toward the Trainyard now. She hoped that Skidmark would be caught so they could lock him up and throw away the key. The slime certainly deserved more than that.
Squealer walked through the darkness of night on the hunt for a new Tinker project and a place to hide. She just hoped that nobody came across her as she worked. That would be really inconvenient.
You have given us another good chapter. Keep up the good work.
I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
Good to see the seeds of a potential alliance between Taylor and Squealer have been planted.
I do have to wonder what Colin was working on before he forced to respond to the Merchant attack on the train yard.
I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
Good to see the seeds of a potential alliance between Taylor and Squealer have been planted.
I do have to wonder what Colin was working on before he forced to respond to the Merchant attack on the train yard.
all I can say about skidmark is good riddance, hope that man stays in jail. as for someone taking the docks back? don't make me laugh, the moment they try it projector can have 80 men swarming them all over. also I feel like maybe people shouldn't try to antagonize our lady of escalation, she may be happy with just playing with trains, but if you disturb her hobby she will disturb your face and she won't be nice with it either.
Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
If Squealer does join Taylor, she'll need to rebrand. A new cape name with connection to trains.
MaskedCritic
Verified Obsessed with Yuri
- Location
- Fluttershy's Secret Dungeon Shrine to Metal
Big Sister Sherrel get?
Because I'm seeing distinct Big Sister possibilities here...
Because I'm seeing distinct Big Sister possibilities here...
- Location
- Somewhere
Agreed there. If the PRT doesn't talk, the moles will.
For a pun she could rebrand but keep the Squealer part and add "Rail" to the start of her name (Rail squeak is the term for the screeching noise caused by friction on the tracks by a train)