AN: This update was betaed by Fwee and moonberserker on the space battles forums. Thank you very much for the time and effort you put in clearing it up!
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Worm. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial purpose. I make no money from it.
Chapter 10
=MK=
Part 3
=MK=
7 January 2011
Lisa's flat
Brockton Bay
Really, Tattletale should have known better. She had a new stable job, well paid, even better compensated, with actual decent retirement package, instead of, you know, ending up chained and drugged in a Bond villain's dungeon. Lisa even got access to some neat advanced medicines, which did take the edge off her headaches, which was a very good thing considering how much her power has been working overtime lately.
She really should have known that the good times wouldn't last without a Coil-shaped snag. There she was – lounging in her bed, researching for her employers and trolling people on PHO, with snacks, drinks and painkillers in easy reach. Lisa should have known better, really. It shouldn't have taken her that long to process the words that suddenly came from her Mandalorian supplied communicator.
"Lisa, you're about to have company. Three transports chock full of mercenaries just entered your grid. We've got them locked in by a surveillance Droid and the QRF is spinning up. You'd better run, we'll provide overwatch."
For long, long moments, Lisa simply stared at the comm unit. Deep down, she'd always sorta believed that even Coil, no matter the exact details about his power, would dare try and grab her, when a whole damned interstellar nation had her back! One run by Sith who didn't share their toys and subordinates!
"Fuck! Fuck, fuck!" Lisa cursed and hurriedly dug herself out of the blanket cocoon she had been snugly comfortable in. Snacks flew every which way, she nearly dumped her laptop on the ground in her haste to grab her gun on her way out.
Tattletale then suddenly reversed to grab the comm unit once her power reminded her she left it behind, then whirled around, did pick up the gun – a nice hold-out blaster, which should be able to put down most things she was liable to run into while in Brockton Bay, and headed for the exit.
"What am I looking at?!" Lisa wheezed at the comm.
"Transports are separating, one is heading for the back of your building. I advise you try to slip out that way, less hostiles to evade in that direction. We can have boots on the ground in three minutes, try to remain in one piece."
"I love you too." Lisa snarked. She grabbed her jacket, stumbled trying to put her boots on while moving towards the door and cursing herself for a fool.
"Lisa, be advised, we'll distract the hostiles at the back for you. Just keep moving." That was Aria's voice, the Chiss sounded less than pleased too. That meant Coil's long term prospects didn't look so hot now, though that might very well be a cold comfort for Lisa.
She heard the telltale whine of repulsors followed by a loud crash and an explosion shook the building, rattling Tattletale. She heard windows shattering and people screaming at the sudden onslaught. Oversight had used a Scout Droid as a kamikaze, which had activated its self-destruct upon impact. The back should be clear for about a minute or so, until the rest of Coil's men could get there, Lisa's power promptly supplied. Little to no regard for collateral damage, extracting Mandalorian aligned assets takes priority, that one was more of a guess than a certainty. Running now might be a good idea as well.
Lisa barely paid any attention to her power's conclusions and suggestions, and instead concentrated on making herself scarce.
"We've got a second Droid ready to go, with two more on station within the minute." Oversight's voice echoed in Lisa's ears. "Be advised, five hostiles just disembarked and entered the building from the front, the second transport is accelerating, presumably to circle around..."
Lisa's legs pumped faster, she had to get to the back before either group of mercenaries could lay their eyes on her…
Another loud whine, a burst of automatic fire, a scream and a second earth-shaking boom, this time coming from the front of the building. The shockwave was enough to make Lisa stumble and only a desperately flailing hand that grabbed the railing prevented her from tumbling down the stairs while dust rained all over her.
"Transport neutralized. We won't have eyes on you for fifty four seconds, keep safe." Oversight added.
A minute? She could keep herself safe for a minute, right? With that thought, Lisa dashed down the stairs.
=MK=
7 January 2011
PRT HQ
Brockton Bay
Director Piggot put the phone down and settled as comfortably as she could in her chair. It was done, she had bitten the bullet and soon she would be having an appointment with Panacea, which was something that couldn't happen soon enough.
She needed a drink, God damn it, preferably before her goddamn job drove her crazier than the average Parahuman!
Emily looked at the printed reports on her desk, a security precaution that might have as well been useless, with her organization obviously infiltrated to hell and back!. Since yesterday, informants within the various gangs reported rumours that the villains and their normal henchmen were preparing for war, perhaps even a pre-emptive strike, because they apparently knew what Washington planned to do. A potential disaster in her city was all but certain – complete with rage dragons rampaging, swords raining upon everyone's heads, serial suicide bombers and now likely orbital strikes to polish out anything that survived the insanity about to unfold.
As if all that wasn't enough, there were other mercenaries running wild, threatening to push the city over the edge already. By all accounts, it was Coil's mercenaries who went after the Undersiders for some unfathomable reason, with the Mandalorians moving in to protect their assets.
Yes, a big stiff drink sounded like precisely what the doctor prescribed right now.
A hurried knock, followed by the door to her office opening to admit a harried Renick, interrupted her ruminations.
"We just got two messages from the Mandalorians." The Deputy Director wheezed. "The first is the official invitation for our government to send representatives for the celebrations of Empire and Victory Day on Mandalore and later Coruscant – with transport, lodging and security provided by the Empire."
That had been more or less expected after the first round of negotiations, and certainly no reason for Renick to look and act that way.
"Go on, hit me with the bad news." Emily sighed.
"The second is a demand that we put our house in order or they will do it for us." He waved a data-pad, one of the large and rugged ones favoured by the Mandalorians. "Apparently, Ms Veil had her fill of people attacking Mandalorian assets and affiliate interests."
"The Undersiders." Piggot growled. "What on Earth made Coil go after them, I'll never know..."
=MK=
Timeline A
Fortress Construction CEO Office
In his safe timeline, Thomas Calvert went over the accumulated paperwork, resenting the sheer waste of time and effort dealing with it represented. At the same time, he knew his alter-ego sat in a much more comfortable chair deep within his lair, waiting for the mercenaries to reach Tattletale's neighbourhood. It was high time to further test the mettle of the Mandalorians and figure out if they could prove worthy employers- something that he could manage thanks to his power- or simply an S-Class threat equivalent to avoid at all costs. As a bonus, if his scheme actually worked out, he might get to vent at Tattletale, even if it happened in a throw-away timeline. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the little traitor… At worst, he was going to gain some valuable information that he could sell.
=MK=
Timeline B
Coil's base
Often, Coil found himself glad that he had ended up with his power, it made it so that he could simply sidestep costly or even fatal mistakes, on a daily basis at that. With a power like his, the sky was the limit. Like today – he knew that his Tattletale had some kind of protection, however he didn't really expect that his mercenaries would face lethal response even before they could deploy. If he ever needed another lesson about the Mandalorians playing by a very different play-book compared to everyone else, this was it – the moment his people approached the building, he lost contact with one of the teams, with the other two reporting an explosion… Soon a second one died a fiery death as they were moving in to cover the back of the building. At that point, Coil was tempted to discard the timeline, but thought better of it. He still had a squad of mercenaries in the field and figuring out how they died was going to give him information as well. The only snag was that he would have to discard this timeline and end up actually doing the paperwork at his legal work, which was such a bother…
=MK=
Part 4
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7 January 2011
Coil's base
Brockton Bay
Perhaps Calvert should have seen it coming, even though he had not only kept but reinforced his security precautions ever since his Tattletale betrayed him. One moment he was experiencing the familiar and reassuring sensation of existing in two timelines, in the next, one of them came to an abrupt end. He had only a brief warning, one he was unable to properly process before it was all over – a distinct whine descended upon his office at the Fortress Construction HQ, there was a sensation of heat and pressure, then his safe timeline collapsed. That left Coil stumped for a moment. He had been assassinated before, true, so it wasn't exactly an unfamiliar sensation. However, it seldom happened out of the blue like that, and almost never in his safe timeline!
Meanwhile, his surviving strike team was busy chasing Tattletale. "Target in sight!" The team leader shouted. Subdued barks from silenced weapons came over the speakers of Coil's computer, and the distinctive discharge of a blaster answered.
"Do retrieve her weapon as well." Coil ordered with a deceptive calmness. He promptly split the timeline and sent his counterpart running for the closest emergency exit, while in both realities he was experiencing, he put the base on a high alert.
"Target suppressed. Flash and move to neutralize." The team leader's voice echoed in the otherwise quiet office, steady gunfire and the odd blaster shot cracking in the background. The familiar sound of a flash-bang came over the speakers followed by the sound of rushing feet and shouts.
"Incoming!" A loud whine, automatic fire, the distinct crack of laser attacks boring through the air, heavy blaster fire and then silence.
Coil grimaced. At least now he had the Mandalorian's response time pegged down, more or less, for all that it was worth. Losing a second group of mercenaries in as many weeks was a big blemish on his otherwise perfect record, one that was going to unsettle the people he had guarding his base. Until now, a large reason for their loyalty, besides hefty payments obviously, was his uncanny ability to lead them from success to success, usually with little to no casualties suffered. That ensured their loyalty – he was a well paying employer, who didn't pointlessly waste their lives, the fools actually believed that he gave a damn about them as well, a faith that would be shaken by recent events.
As if to reinforce the point, his second timeline terminated abruptly, and again the only warning he got was that maddening whining sound. Coil closed his eyes and grimaced. This wasn't good. He hurried to activate the base's self-destruct just in case and split reality again.
"All units, our location has been compromised." He began. "Prepare to defend the base until further instructions." Coil ordered in his first timeline. "We're leaving, gather at emergency exit four." He said in the second, retrieved his sidearm and ran to meet his mercenaries. It was high time to make himself scarce and leave Brockton Bay behind. He could worry about dealing with his Tattletale later.
=MK=
Mandalorian FOB
Docks
Brockton Bay
The last few days had Aria on edge. She itched for action, especially an opportunity to demonstrate to the local criminal syndicates just how much out of their depth they were. The sheer gall the so called Empire 88 demonstrated for example, simply grated and offended her sensibilities. To think that those fools believed that they could be a worthy partner to either the Freehold or the Federated Empire, the Chiss shook her head in exasperation. Oh, she knew why her Master required she stayed her hand for the time being – the local criminal element could prove useful in the short term, providing information, contacts, tinker-tech and people the local governments weren't ready to trade. That said, while she saw the point, Aria wasn't expected to like it and she couldn't wait to be unleashed.
At least it wasn't all bad. The ABB hadn't sent envoys, which was a good thing, considering that they were on the top of the list with obstacles to be removed. The trick was doing so without levelling most of the city, which required gathering of enough data on the enemy capabilities. As long as he lacked heavy munitions, the ABB suicide bomber should be something Aria could handle with acceptable collateral, as long as she was present. Lung, he was potentially more problematic – putting him down would likely require her undivided attention or enough firepower to raze a large chunk of Brockton Bay, which was less than ideal, especially if she had to decide between engaging him or dealing with Oni-Lee to prevent him from suicide-bombing her troops. Ideally, she would have liked to execute a pre-emptive strike, taking out the mad bomber before he knew that the ABB's time was over.
Aria was busy refining her plans for eliminating the ABB once and for all, when trouble came from an unanticipated source. For all of Lisa's concerns, the Sith hadn't really expected that Tattletale's former employer would have had the sheer gall to try going after her or the other Undersiders for that matter now that it was known they were under Mandalorian protection. Then again, what else could you expect from people who had been allowed to believe themselves petty kings?
The Chiss marched into the operations centre and looked over the various data streams. It seemed it was high time she made an example or ten.
"Use the Droids on station to neutralize two of the transports – first the one going to the back of the building, second, the one which might head that way after the enemy loses coverage in that area." Aria suggested.
"Ma'am?" The young communications specialist raised her head to glance her way.
"Ram two of their transports with a recon Droid apiece and have the clanker self-destruct on impact, that should be enough to neutralize them." Aria explained. "Do we have eyes on Calvert?" She asked aloud so the reconnaissance specialists at the far end of the warehouse could hear her.
"He should be in his base."
"Make our displeasure plain to see – I want his house, office and usual haunts wrecked yesterday, get a platoon armoured up, we're going to go visit his lair as well. If he tries to escape, ram him with a Droid. Tag his known associates, we might pick up a few of them, if Lisa deems them worthy of our attention. I want EW droids ready to deploy at his base, we'll test the upgrades and see if they are sufficient to slice into local hardware. Make sure Lisa make is out in one piece." Aria added and went to pick up her own gear. It was time to smoke a snake out of its hole and make an example out of it. Perhaps another gift for Zash was in order? Either that or something the locals would appreciate?