It was almost funny. I could still remember when mom and dad would warn me away from the docks at night. They'd tell me that it was dangerous, that all sorts of people came out at night and that it wasn't safe.
These days, I was probably one of the most dangerous people in the docks. 'And wasn't that a weird thought.'
Valefor hadn't reached this part of the city, but that didn't make much difference. Leviathan's attack had ruined most of the docks, the giant cranes that were used to load the ships had been demolished, leaving them lying broken and crumpled on the abandoned containers.
Now that the dockworkers were officially out of work, the ruined maze of containers was the perfect hiding place for the gangs. Or so they thought.
A truck, practically brand new when compared to the grime around it, sat in a parking bay, its cooling engine shining like a beacon to Laserbeak's thermal vision as he glided silently over the docks.
The Empire gym Waspinator had found had turned out to be a gold mine of information. It had only been a few days, yet we had learned more about them than a week's worth of careful investigations by the police, and the data was still coming in. The virus he'd uploaded was spreading unnoticed through the Empire computers, feeding everything back to us.
Sure, almost none of it would stand up in court, but that didn't mean we couldn't act on it. Amongst the correspondence was details of a product the Empire was selling for a staggeringly large amount of money, and I wanted to know what it was. Guns was currently the favoured option on the betting pool the Autobots had set up, but I doubted that. If anything, it was probably drugs.
Landing on the twisted remains of a crane, Laserbeak focused on the truck. The driver was sprawled out in the cab, a cigarette in his mouth. Some ex-dockworkers were nearby, dressed like nightshift workers.
The sight of dockworkers helping the gangs after all the effort dad went to keeping them out made my blood boil. I made sure to capture pictures of as many of them as I could. I'd deal with them later.
Sitting on the trailer behind the truck was a steel shipping container with more heat signatures inside. That didn't feel right. Drugs or guns wouldn't give off heat.
"What's the plan?" Vicky muttered. She and Amy were crouched behind a stack of containers south of the truck. Cyclonus, Arcee and Rhinox were hidden inside another one just north of the truck, and I was standing on a ruined crane to the east, Divebomb clipped to my back.
*Wait for now,* Dragon said over the radio. She was using the cameras built into our costumes to oversee everything. "It's nearly time."
Vicky huffed. "Fine, but I swear to god, if this ends with me covered in rats again, I'm gonna drop you in the bay."
"Wait, again?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." I could almost hear her rolling her eyes,
"Vicky!" Amy hissed. "Don't make me laugh! They'll hear us!"
"Okay, I need to hear about this."
"No, you don't."
I really-" An icon appeared on my HUD, a vehicle was getting close. "I think they're here."
Immediately, we all went silent. This wasn't the time for games, no matter how out gunned these guys were.
Below me, a small SUV drove through the narrow paths between containers, dimming its lights as it crept forward. As it approached the meeting point, one of the dockworkers banged on the Empire truck. The driver jumped out, spending a moment straightening his shirt and putting out his cigarette.
When the SUV stopped, a tall man with blonde hair stepped out and walked forward. Behind him was a man in a dark suit who couldn't have looked more conspicuous if he'd been waving a signal flare.
The window showing Laserbeak's view changed, switching from thermal to normal and zooming in to catch a clearer picture.
Words were exchanged between the man in the suit and the Empire driver. The blonde haired man climbed onto the trailer, shining a light through a gap in the metal. He must have been satisfied, as a suitcase was taken from the SUV and passed to the Empire driver, who opened it to quickly count the bills inside. When he nodded, the workers walked away.
*Wait for it,* Dragon said quietly. Below, the blonde man pulled open the truck door and climbed inside. The moment the engine started, Dragon barked the order to attack.
Jumping off the crane, I let myself fall. Rhinox smashed open the doors of the container he'd been hiding in with a kick, and Arcee shot past him, following the Empire driver as he tried to run.
Pulling his gatling-guns, he opened fire, putting two dozen rounds through the truck's engine before anyone could react.
My hardlight sword came on with a snap and I landed on the hood of the SUV, driving the blade deep into the engine, killing it instantly. Some of the men were reacting now, bullets bouncing harmlessly off my armour.
Standing up, I extended my Null-Ray and fired back.
With me and Rhinox on one side of the truck, the Empire men were forced east, towards the bay. There was a gap between the containers on that side and the smarter men were running for it, only for Glory Girl and Panacea to meet them.
"Don't move ass-!" Glory Girl's shout was cut off as a bullet entered her mouth. Jerking back, she gagged as Amy dashed forward, the sharp rebuke of her blaster sending the man flying.
That was when Cyclonus came into view, the suited man slung over his shoulder like a sack and his sword in his other hand.
That, plus the growing realisation that they were surrounded, broke their spirit and those that weren't already out cold dropped their weapons and raised their hands up.
*Well done everyone,* Dragon said. On my HUD, I could see her moving towards us. *All in all a successful arrest. The police should be along soon, until then-*
Tuning her out, I walked towards the truck. The heat signatures in the trailer still puzzled me and I wanted to know what they were selling.
Rhinox had no problem crushing the heavy padlock and the doors swung open with a groan of metal on metal.
A dozen faces turned towards me, blinking at the light from outside, and bile rose in my throat.
"Amy! I need you over here!"
Jumping into the container, I went to the nearest girl. Her arms were bound together behind her back with a short chain that was welded to the container wall. It was so low down that she could barely raise herself above a crouch.
"It's alright, you're safe now. I'm going to get you all out of here," I said as gently as I could.
There were hurried footsteps behind me. "Matrix, what - Fuck me!"
One of the girls let out a choked sob at Amy's curse, that quickly dissolved into tears of what I hoped were relief.
There wasn't much room in the container to work, so Vicky and I took it in turns breaking the chains and carrying the girls out one by one. Before we had even got the first girl out, Wheeljack and Ratchet had arrived and put up a collapsible shelter for the girls to rest in while Amy checked them over.
We had just finished getting the last of the girls out by the time the police arrived.
There were fifteen girls in total, the eldest was eighteen and the youngest was just twelve.
"This is… " Vicky stared as the paramedics arrived and started helping the girls into ambulances, her face haunted. "Since when did the Empire… I mean… fuck"
I barely heard her over the pounding in my ears. My body was shaking and the matrix was hot in my chest. How dare they!?
"Somebody wake Lisa." My voice sounded more like a growl to my ears.
*I'm already here,* she said quietly. *what do you need?*
"Check the Empire data, I want to know everything about this." I didn't know when the Empire decided human trafficking was a good idea, but I was going to put a stop to it.
##
Sitting in his office, Kaiser glared at the various headlines before him. 'Human smuggling ring discovered. Empire Eighty-Eight suspected!' 'Human trafficking ring broken! Neo-Nazis the cause?' On and on they went.
Matrix and the Autobots had intercepted a deal, a single deal, then gone on to crush the entire enterprise in one night. His men never had enough time to run or hide before Autobots - often literally - smashed down the doors.
Did the girl not sleep?
This wasn't luck. A couple of capes stumbling on a deal in a dark part of the city he could almost accept. With the number of capes in this city, it was bound to happen eventually. But this was more than that. Matrix had gone after everyone involved with near surgical precision.
'Empire Eighty Eight suspected'. He snorted at that, throwing the newspaper aside. He'd been very careful when setting this up. No one and nothing at any of the scenes was linked to his empire. The Autobots didn't suspect — they knew.
Gathered in his office, the collected capes of his Empire waited for his command.
"I assume," Wehrmacht drawled, "that someone leaked the information?"
Hookwolf cracked his neck. "If they did, it wasn't from my guys. Lewis was the only guy who knew and he came to me the moment word of the attack got out. Swore he'd do anything to prove it wasn't him."
"Oh?" Wehrmacht's grin was downright predatory. "What did you make him do?"
"I told him to kill his brother. I never liked that guy."
Rune, who was curled up on the sofa, glaring at her phone, looked up suddenly. "Wait… wasn't his brother a doctor… the same doctor who treated most of our guys?"
"What of it?" Hookwolf rumbled. "There's no shortage of back alley quacks."
"Quite right." Wehrmacht laughed. "Treason should be dealt with quickly and harshly."
"Yes, but good doctors are hard to find and they get nervous when we start executing them. Please try to remember that in future," Kaiser said dryly, pressing a hand against his helmet and longing for a painkiller. Or a strong drink.
"Regardless, the fact remains someone appears to have betrayed us. I want them found and brought to me alive and mostly intact for interrogation."
"I have a question." Purity leaned forward in her seat, her eyes narrow slits behind the domino mask she wore. "When did all… this start? The Empire has never traded in humans before."
"We don't traffic in people." Victor snorted. "City is a dangerous place. If a few stray animals go missing, who's going to care?"
Her jaw clenched in a way Kaiser recognised. She would undoubtedly want to have 'words' with him later. Many of those girls had been young and children had always been something of a soft spot for her. Motherhood had only enhanced that.
At least she knew enough not to raise her complaints with him in public.
"We're getting a lot of hate online," Rune said, her phone spinning in the air. "And that vigilante website is offering a big reward for any pictures of us without masks."
"How big?" he asked idly. Someone had placed a similar bounty on his father once. And only once.
"Big enough that I'm tempted to send in pictures of some random bitch and claim it's me." Rune shrugged and Kaiser chuckled, the brief levity lifting his mood.
"Probably not a wise decision," he said, "the masses-"
A phone beeped, cutting him off, and everyone in the room stiffened. It rang a second time and Victor pulled his phone from a pocket, his eyes widening at whatever he saw, then he ran out of the room.
"Do your people often turn their backs on you like that?" Wehrmacht asked with a smile.
"Never twice and never without a very good reason." Kaiser glared at the man, resisting the urge to impale him. After Valefor, they needed Gesellschaft men more than ever.
There was shouting out in the hall, but it was muffled by the thick doors. After a few moments, Victor walked back into the room, his face red with temper.
"The Autobots just trashed the North Street safehouse," he said, his grip on his phone tightening. "Othala managed to escape thanks to a body double, but the building and everything inside is lost! We can't keep losing ground like this!"
"No… we can't." Kaiser nodded. He'd forgive the man for his attitude this time. Nearly losing one's wife tended to be… upsetting after all. But Victor was right. This couldn't continue.
Pulling a burner phone from his desk, Kaiser slowly dialed; each press of the keys felt like a stab to the gut. Had it really come to this? Yes, he realised with a glance at Wehrmacht, it had. It was long past time he dealt with this mess.
"Contact Coil," he snapped as soon as the call connected. "Tell him I will be there."
This would not continue.
##
[Coil]
Sitting back in his chair, Coil took in the ambience of the room.
Somer's Rock, while traditional, had always been nothing more than a dive. A filthy place he'd never willingly step foot in.
This, however, was much better.
He'd purchased - through a string of shell companies - a bar that had been abandoned in the wake of Leviathan's attack. Now a 'trusted' group was busy refurbishing the place into something a little more modern with no traceable connection to him.
So far, only this room had been finished, but it had a functioning bar that was currently staffed by one of his men in disguise. Maybe, when this meeting was over, he'd hold more meetings here? Once the city was suitably reorientated of course.
Maybe he could convince one of the Travelers to pose as the club's manager? He could run a number of minor projects through the bar, giving the impression of a syndicate using the building as a front.
His plans for how best to leverage this new addition were cut off when the cellphone he used exclusively as Coil rang -
-In another timeline, Thomas Calvert paused as his personal cellphone rang.-
For the first time in years, Coil's heart pounded in his chest as he felt a moment of panic. The chances of both his phones ringing, at the exact same time across two timelines was slim to impossible.
Except, of course, for them. Cauldron had always been able to reach him. Not that he had ever been so foolish as to try hiding from them.
Pulling the phone from a hidden pocket, he waved the barman away, barking orders not to be disturbed.
"Good evening Coil," she said the moment he answered the call. "Is this a bad time?"
"No, not at all. Is there something I can help you with?" He ran through all his plans, every deal, double cross or action he'd taken that he could remember but he couldn't think of anything that would have attracted Cauldron's attention.
"I'm not calling about our deal, if that's what you are worried about." There was a flicker of amusement in her voice that made him clench his teeth. "That matter was settled, in full, years ago. Actually, I wanted to make you an offer."
"What offer?" His irritation and fear at the interruption vanished almost instantly, replaced instead with curiosity. He remained, however, cautious. Cauldron had proven themselves trustworthy in the past; they always kept to the letter of their agreements. But that didn't mean he trusted them blindly.
"I know what you are currently planning and I wish to assist you."
That was… "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"That's fine. All you need to do is continue with your plan and I will ensure the PRT is unable to interfere."
"I see, and what would you like as payment?" What were they getting out of this?
"You currently have an anomaly in your base, a young girl with an uncontrolled mutation. I would like for you to surrender her to our custody."
Frowning, Coil tried to think of a reason they would want the girl. She was unstable, mentally and physically, and her power, while strong, was a liability. Why would they want her?
Maybe it wasn't her power that they were after? They had the ability to grant powers and he knew they could remove them. Maybe they simply wanted her as a test subject?
Either way, it was a question for another time. Sitting back in his chair, he did his best to sound put-upon. "I would like to accept your deal, truly, but her friends are-"
"Not an issue. I will arrange for someone to meet with them and explain the situation."
That was… better that he could have hoped. Noelle was proving to be more trouble than he'd expected and after Valefor… well, he'd be very happy to see her gone. "Very well. Then I accept your terms."
\\For now.\\
The phone cut off and he let out a shaky breath. That woman had always unnerved him in a way he couldn't quite explain. It was no one thing and certainly nothing she'd ever said. But perhaps that was the point. She didn't need to say anything. She could crush him easily and they both knew it and his power would be useless to stop it.
He would be the first to admit he was an ambitious man, but he was also cautious, and there were some forces he never wanted to cross. The list pretty much started with Cauldron and ended with the IRS.
He glanced at the bar, almost wishing his mask allowed him to drink without removing it.
There was a knock at the door and he put the thought aside. There would be time enough to deal with this later. Right now, he had a meeting to attend.
"Come!" he barked and the barman returned. Behind him was Siren, one of the few remaining Dragonslayers. She nodded in greeting, then took a seat at the table to his left.
Over the next few minutes more people arrived, all of them either gang leaders, capes or both. Many of them didn't know or trust him, likely here out of curiosity, but he'd reached out to anyone and everyone that he could for this, carefully approaching them through intermediaries at great expense.
As each representative arrived, they were shown to a table by his staff. The room had a large central table, with smaller ones on the edges. The outer tables were filled with the smaller or unpowered gangs; Coil didn't really expect them to offer much support, but it was important he appeared to be listening to them.
The last people to arrive were the ones he'd truly been counting on.
The first was a tall, elegant woman with a long neck and limbs. Her costume was a mix of samurai, headhunter and bloodletter, trimmed with razor-sharp blades. She was the Butcher, the current leader of the Teeth.
The name of Butcher was an inherited one and she'd only recently risen to the position. This made her unpredictable. Coil hadn't had a chance to more than lightly probe the Teeth or build a profile for her. Ideally, he wouldn't have included her in this, but she represented one of the strongest forces in the city.
He nodded to her as she slipped into her seat halfway down the table and one of his men offered her a drink that she waved away. He considered talking to her, just a few questions to gauge her response without being too probing, but he didn't want to risk her walking out.
He'd have to contact Accord later; he'd had more experience with the woman after all.
The room was nearly full when Kaiser walked in, flanked by his 'valkyries'. Bordering on late, he ignored Coil's men and purposely took the seat at the other end of the table, putting him opposite Coil in a metaphorical position of equality.
It was childish theatrics that Coil had not only expected, but planned for. There was a reason that seat had been left empty after all.
\\He is beneath you.\\
Trickster was the last to saunter in and with a jaunty wave and took a seat to Coil's left. "Do we need to wait for the Merchants this time?"
"No, I think they are rather indisposed," Coil said dryly, following the script he'd given Trickster. As he'd expected, quiet laughter rippled through the room from the smaller groups, especially the ones who had accepted the offer of free drinks.
"Welcome, all of you, to what I hope will be a productive evening," Coil said when everyone was quiet. "Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that you were invited here under a truce and I expect you to hold to that. If you feel that you can't, I ask that you leave now."
This was mostly directed to the smaller groups, many of them had only appeared recently as the ABB and Merchants collapsed. When no one made to stand or leave the room, he nodded to Kaiser and the Butcher. "Do you wish to say anything?"
Kaiser shook his head and the Butcher scoffed.
"Very well, we are here to discuss our survival. All of us have suffered losses against Bakuda's rampage, then Leviathan's attack and most recently the monster Valefor."
"Touching, do you have a point to this, or do you just want to hold a vigil?" a voice from a table said, but he chose to ignore it.
"My point is that six months ago we held the majority of the city in our collective control. Now, however, we are steadily being pushed back. Recruitment is down, trade is down, people are refusing to pay protection and arrests have increased. The PRT, once little more than a joke, now hold most of the city center and are steadily expanding. A rejuvenated New Wave are patrolling the northern parts of the city and various vigilante groups have taken the south.
"This is not the time for false bravado, we are all slowly losing ground and unless we do something soon, we will be over run."
"And what do you propose? Fighting the PRT directly is never a good idea," Kaiser said, leaning forward to rest an arm on the table.
"I agree, attacking the PRT will only make our situation worse. But we don't need to fight the PRT. The simple truth is, the heroes are only pushing like this because they think they can win. For years we held this city with the understanding that trying to remove us would be too costly to attempt. We simply need to remind them of that. If we hit the right target, we can break their spirit and restore our place in this city."
"What target?" the Butcher muttered. Her voice was harsher, more raspy than Coil had expected, but her words were packed with meaning.
Coil paused for effect, he had to be careful about this. Any hesitation, any perceived weakness, and they would walk away. "Autobot city."
Silence filled the room, the smaller groups looking to each other for guidance, or simply waiting for someone else to speak. Tellingly, Kaiser didn't react at all. Theatrics aside, he wasn't a fool, he'd likely known coming in what this meeting would be about.
"You want to attack a Tinker in her own base?" Trickster gaped. If Coil hadn't written him a script, he'd have thought the shock was genuine. As it was, he was simply impressed at the man's acting ability.
Outwardly, Coil remained calm. "The Autobots are now the largest force in the city. There are currently only six combat ready Autobots, but my sources tell me that nothing is stopping Matrix from building more. Furthermore, they are directly responsible for the destruction of the ABB, Uber and Leet and the Undersiders. It is because of them that the heroes think they can challenge us.
The Butcher gave him a long look. "I've taken one out before."
"You disabled one, at best, and that was with a surprise attack," Coil said with a shake of his head. "It took Matrix less than a day to repair it. She is quite protective of her creations."
"You shouldn't underestimate them," Kaiser said with a nod. "It's unlikely you will do so well a second time."
"You're just pissed they broke up your smuggling ring," Trickster said with a sniff. "I'd heard the Empire was better than that."
"We don't have to explain ourselves to a petty thief!" one of the Valkyries snapped, stepping forward, and Kaiser quickly raised a hand to stop her.
"Do not speak of things you don't understand boy. As I understand it, you and your little group have yet to come to the attention of the Autobots. I doubt you'll last long when you do."
Coil raised his hands, calling for peace. "The fact remains, the Autobots have inspired people. How many vigilantes attack us where they once fled? How many PRT squads push forward, trusting the equipment Matrix has given them instead of falling back?"
"What, exactly, are you proposing?"
"A combined assault of course."
"And what of the PRT? They won't just look the other way. To say nothing of Dragon and how she will react.
The PRT will not be an issue. I have arranged for them to be otherwise indisposed. As for Dragon—" He waved at the woman to his left. "This is Siren, a member of the Dragonslayers. They will ensure she can't interfere."
"I thought you guys were dead?" Trickster muttered. "You really think you can keep her from coming after us?"
Siren nodded. "Dragon is not… as kind as people think. Once Matrix is gone, she will soon move on. Even if she doesn't, she will be far too focused on us to care about any of you."
Coil leaned forward. "Regardless of Dragon's interference, we are at a crossroads. \\We must fight\\ if we wish to survive. Can I count on your support?"
Silence filled the room and Coil held his breath.
"No deal," the Butcher said suddenly.
"If you feel you are unable to-"
"That has nothing to do with it," the Butcher snapped. "Win or lose, we are the ones taking the fall. If you want us to fight, you must do the same."
It was the longest thing she'd said all night.
"I agree," Kaiser rumbled. "Doing this crosses a line and you need to be as culpable as us."
"My forces aren't as numerous as your own…" Coil protested, but it was just for show. If the situation were different, if it had been Kaiser or Butcher who had called this meeting, he would have demanded the same of them, if he'd even shown up at all. "Very well. If that's what it takes, I will ensure my men are present and visible.
The Butcher gave him a pointed look. "And what about you?"
"My power works better from a distance, where I have access to more information and will be better able to react to any unexpected developments."
"I'm sure."
"I understand Hemorrhagia was apprehended by New Wave last week," Coil said smoothly, watching as Butcher bristled. "Matrix built the device that keeps her trapped and you out of the PRT... and let's not forget, Crusader, Uber, Leet, Bakuda, Grue, Valefor, Raum, Eligos, Halphas, Mush, Skidmark, Oil Slick, Colossus and countless unpowered members of all our organisations. All of them, either captured by the Autobots, or by groups using tools supplied by the Autobots and then taken out of the city by Dragon. Tell me, when Matrix is done dismantling the Empire, who do you think she'll come for next? We need to fight."
Silence filled the room as Coil looked from one face to the other.
A quiet murmur broke out as one of the smaller groups got up and walked out. Others followed, but some stayed. Coil didn't care about them; they were never important.
"Autobot city is a treasure trove of Tinker-tech. I already have buyers lined up for everything and anything we can recover from the base. I'd certainly be willing to split the profits. I imagine it would go a long way to rebuilding our forces."
That made everyone pause; at least one group who had been halfway to the door quickly sat back down.
Sighing, Trickster held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, fine, you convinced me. I'm in."
Shoulders slipping slightly, Kaiser nodded and all eyes fell to the Butcher. After what felt like an age, she spoke.
"Yes."
Coil forced himself to adopt an air of resignation. "Very well, this is what I suggest."
##
Two days later, Director Renick frowned when he found a handwritten letter sitting atop his in tray.
Ignoring the twinge from his ribs, he picked the letter up and turned it over in his hands, amused by the novelty. Handwritten letters were rare, especially when email was so much more immediate.
The writing was messy, words spiky and packed tightly together, like the author was either unpracticed or unskilled.
Unconcerned, he opened the envelope. All PRT mail was screened at the main office in New York, then screened again by a device Director— former-director, he reminded himself with a sigh, Piggot had bullied Armsmaster into building.
He stared at the letter, uncomprehending until the paper slipped through his slack fingers. Turning, he unlocked his computer and started typing.
Chapter written under commission
Please consider supporting me on patron under MetallixMiscellaneous
AN: Yikes, this took far too long to write. I've been stupidly busy the last month or so and most of my spare time has had to go on commission, which is why I haven't updated in a while. Then someone went and commissioned me to write this XD