Leaning back in her chair at the home she shared with her siblings and their parents (adopted for her and her sister), Kuroka shook her head, a slight, bemused smile on her lips.
While SPECTRE hadn't been called on, meaning that her Canadian colleagues weren't, as yet, dealing with anything, that this new city from nowhere had brought in both 1CBG and 2CBG, particularly the PHANTOMs in them meant it was likely to be 'interesting'.
At least her little siblings would be enjoying themselves for a while mulching Nazis. Well, her brother would be, her sister might wind up behind the lines if they didn't need to have the group run large or do a ground run.
Still, this whole thing with the superhero and supervillain… it worked with comic books, but it was usually just better to cull the idiots.
She frowned, reaching out to pull up the reports Irina and George had sent her.
From what the pair had dug out of the servers in the city so far, mostly from George being in Canada and in a better spot to get a hack going, it looked like this group had been hung out to dry years ago, dealing with more criminals than anything else.
BBNative hadn't been wrong about the place being a shithole, but that level of neglect could only be intentional if there wasn't anything else going on.
Scanning through the files, she frowned, reading what little there was on the three 'Endbringers'. How did a single entity manage to do what an entire global fleet was failing at?
Even if this Leviathan was powerful in using water, how did it manage to prevent global ocean trade? The Abyssal Fleet hadn't been able to do that and they had far larger numbers on their side, along with being incarnations of various ships. Just the numbers should let some trade through, unless something else was affecting things. Then there was air travel. Had that just completely cut off in whatever world that city came from?
What was going on with the whole parahumans thing for that matter?
From the info she had… twenty-five years, maybe less, was when things happened. Why though?
What caused some people to develop growths in the brain after high stress situations?
"What are you?" Kuroka muttered, scowling at the web page in front of her. "Yes we've only had things show up in the last century, nyah, but the evidence was there. Even in 1920 they could find traces of weres, dragons and others in the humans, or the Commonwealth could. We only brought things back into the light, so what's with these 'parahumans'?"
Come to that, could the emergence of parahumans be why the travel and trade died over and above these 'Endbringers'? Could those creatures have somehow made people think things were worse than they were for travel?
That was probably something to talk about with the others later honestly. There was no current sign of those threats so they were better off ensuring the current ones were handled first, then they could see what the BMPSD got out of people.
More interesting was the reactions of the various people to the threads on this PHO forum.
A smirk crept onto her face as her tails flicked in amusement. Even the things that slipped out or were purposefully revealed, it was likely that the people of that city would be having a few restless nights putting things together, much less dealing with the rest of what was going on right now.
The kids had been amusing, as had the comments about this 'Youth Guard'. Maybe she ought to see about getting over there with a camera just in case any of them tried messing with Rob, Shirone or their friends. The results were likely to be hilarious, not that the representative was liable to enjoy it, but that wasn't her problem, she was being entertained.
Tattletale closed her laptop and wiped the blood off her lip from her nosebleed, that flood of information, the headache she was feeling, she was lucky no one was looking at the Undersiders, most thinking they were a bunch of teens who got separated thus it was lucky that Coil didn't join the evacuation flood, since the cell phones didn't work, the Undersiders quickly regroup at their headquarters before decided that joining the evacuation is a good idea, aka. Tattletale forced them to join.
Now she wonder if she could get some aspirin to get rid of this Thinker Headache that she got from reading the PHO, because Jesus H Christ, the Commonwealth is scary as hell and their armaments are as scary as what she imagined, luckily Brian managed to get his little sister Aisha out of there, mostly because their mother is currently high with whatever drug she's on.
The minute her power look up what the various things mean and found out that FAB meant 'fuel air bomb' when her power saw CNB she whimpered when her power put it in as, 'conventional nuclear bomb up to 2kt', Willy Pete as 'white phosphorus' and the other munition types that her power is unhelpfully explaining what type of ammunition the Commonwealth considers incendiary which is extra scary.
Especially since her powers also helpfully added that all the Cadets including the oversized wolves had killed before, which was why they were sitting on Bitch or Hellhound as the PRT named her, they did not want to see what would happen if Bitch got close to those wolves, especially since different biology here is different than the ones on Earth Bet.
Now the question is, should they surrender themselves to the BMPSD, or the PRT, in which she doesn't know which is worse, but then again they aren't on Earth Bet, safe from Coil and every other danger that is after them, they are going to throw themselves into the fire one way or the other, in which now that she think about it, she really need that aspirin.
Now who to ask for aspirin…
Director Piggot could only groan as the Army Doctor attached her to the Hemodialysis machine the US National Guard managed to procure, she noted idly that it looked more advanced than those from Earth Bet, and they were talking about cloning her a pair of kidneys if they could, and since it's not Parahuman power or Tinker Tech.
Now the PRT would be talking with their counterparts the BMPSD while the US and Commonwealth Militaries dealt with Brockton Bay, which the more she read on PHO, the more she wondered what the hell was going on this Dimension's Earth, because what was basically their version of the Wards have more combat experience than all her Wards, combined.
But now she could also be happy that the Youth Guard can have as many heart attacks as they want with how much trouble the Cadets find themselves in, especially since they wouldn't have any authority on this Earth to do what they did, now that she thought about it.
"Where's Miss Militia and Armsmaster?" Piggot asked when she realized the duo who headed the Protectorate and the Wards of Brockton Bay was missing.
At that the various PRT Troopers, and the remaining Protectorate Heroes all look around wondering where the hell the two most senior members of the Protectorate ENE could have gotten too.
Especially since this is a Military base they couldn't get far… right?
Cadet Sergeant MagicalGeek is now trying to make sure the Artillery Cadets aren't going to bring any exotic ammunition to the fight, he doesn't want to know what they would bring to the fight, especially the Cryo and Acid ammunitions.
Especially the Enhanced Radiation Ammunition, which would be most horrendous because there is no way the Commonwealth HighCom will allow to deploy them on US Soil, because this is still considered a Conventional War, not an all out Nuclear War.
So now he and a bunch of MPs are checking each and every shell and crates to make sure the exotic ammunition are limited to more conventional exotics, not the more crazy exotic like Cryo, Acid and Enhanced Radiation Ammo they have on standby.
"Standard High Explosive, Air Burst, Dual Purpose, Illumination, CS Gas, Thermobaric and Tracer Shells." MagicalGeek muttered as he read each side of the 155mm Artillery Shells.
Luckily they only need to open the locks of the crate of the Artillery shells to check each one of them, so far most Incindaries they found are common Incindaries such as Willy Pete, Magnesium and standard Flare Shells.
So far they didn't find any Exotic Ammunition, which is a good thing, as such they would be done after opening the other five trucks full of Artillery Ammunition, luckily for them they have forklifts to help them with the ammunition check up, which is currently bringing up another crate of ammo for them to check.
Thus for the Cadets of the Singapore Parachute Regiment and the Singapore Military Police their jobs are checking each crate of ammo and making sure that each shell is what they are given, not the exotic ammunition that will have HighCom trying to hang them.
The remaining MP Cadets are guarding the trucks, perimeter and the guns, making sure none of the Artillery Cadets snuck out any of the Exotic munitions.
"Looks like it's more standard ammo." A MP Cadet said as he checked off the last Artillery shell he was inspecting.
"And let's keep it that way." MagicalGeek added as he opened another crate of artillery shells.
Ghrathryn gave his fellow wing commanders flat looks as the ground crews shuffled off the more interesting warheads for planes and helicopters. "Really guys?" he asked. "I mean I get Feathers, between her great-grandparents and having been caught a couple of times in time rifts and dumped in versions of World War II to deal with those shitholes, without the rest of us, but really?
"This is American soil, HighCom isn't going to let us use the nukes, CNBs, FABs, ERBs or any of the concoctions the tech boys came up with, this is pest control not a warzone or an apocalypse in the making," he pointed out, his golden tail lashing as he gave all of them a glare from his full, natural form, height of near nine feet tall.
"They're Nazis," Feathers exclaimed, waving her arms. "Surely they deserve freezing or melting in acid or radiation poisoning or something!"
Ghrathryn shook his head. "Neo-Nazis, Yankee ones, meaning unless you're willing to start a war, we're sticking with pest control," he pointed out. Eyes narrowing, he gave them looks. "Besides, the cryo weapons were actually intended for fire related enemies or for fire fighting, not for human targets. Acid's for rock or machine species or for opening things up, not anti-personnel work."
"But…" Feathers started only to cut herself off and mutter, shaking her wings and looking away from Ghrathryn's look.
Making his way over, Ghrathryn placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we'll get a chance to let you cut loose, but not here or now, okay?" Getting a nod from her, he looked around the helicopter wing commanders. "I don't know where you guys found them, but get the munitions back into storage, before the MPs finish with the arte units' supplies, get me?"
"Sir!" the group snapped salutes, hurrying off to deal with his orders.
"You okay, Thomas?" Ghrathryn asked more gently. "You're not usually like this, even with pricks like these about."
Feathers snorted softly, shaking her head. "You know that mess with the Fallen Idiots, Ghrath?" she asked, sighing when he nodded. "Wound up in a concentration camp, damn near got caught a few times, but… I-I saw what they put my great-grandparents through. Shit, it was so fucked up, I wish I could've interfered in it, but I was stuck 'out of phase', I was pretty much a fucking ghost."
He shook his head, giving her a hug. "Hey, if you need people to talk to outside your wing, the Dragons will give you an ear and a shoulder. Just remember, this particular set of fuck wits aren't the ones that need sent to Hel for your family." He smirked at her. "Though that doesn't mean they're due an express trip to Helheim for others' families."
"Thank's, Ghrath," Feathers replied, leaning against him for a moment before pushing back. "Why is it you always seem threatening to others, but a softie to those you know?"
Ghrathryn snorted in amusement, giving a crooked grin. "Probably because I am softer for those I see as friends," he commented drily. Pausing, he sniffed the air before turning slightly and looking at a spot of wall as the wind shifted.
No, it wasn't just a wall.
Narrowing his eyes, he blinked, closing the eyelids that shifted his vision into the infrared spectrum, revealing what looked like a thin figure, wings at her back, huddled against the wall. "Hey!" he called, making her jerk. "You okay?"
Feathers turned, blinking as the illusion fell. "Damn nose," she muttered, shaking her head. "Who are you?" she asked the blonde girl standing revealed.
"Eep… I-I'm Paige Mcabee," the girl replied. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to watch you, I just… this is the first time I've seen anyone else with wings. Are you… are you a Case 53 as well?"
"Case 53?" asked Feathers.
Paige shifted. "Uh… it's what they call 'monster capes' back on Earth Bet. I'm one because… of something I did before getting powers."
Feathers shook her head. "Nope, part-Valkyrie, at least part." She shrugged her wings. "Ghrath here is a Franthryn, there's at least another nine in his wing alone."
"So what are you doing out here instead of with the other refugees?" asked Ghrathryn.
"I just… I needed a break," Paige replied with a sigh. "Someone found out I was the idol, Bad Canary, and I've been stuck singing since. I love audiences, but it gets a bit much."
The military pair snorted softly in unison. "Sounds like you should try getting in touch with The Fleet's Idol on SGO… Ship Girls Online, that is," Ghrathryn commented. "From what I've heard, she knows exactly what that's like."
Feathers nodded. "You want us to walk you back?" she asked. "It's pretty easy to get lost in a military base, especially one this riled up."
"Yeah, thanks," Paige said. "Uh… if you don't mind me asking, but who are you?"
"Cadet Flight Sergeant Rob Farrell, call sign Ghrathryn," Ghrathryn introduced himself. "I'm Wing Commander of the 1st Dragons."
Feathers nodded. "Feathers, or Cadet Flight Sergeant Jessica Thomas, Wing Commander of the 82nd Strike and Reconnaissance Wing," she added. "Both of the 1st Cadet Battle Group."
Paige blinked a few times as she walked with the pair back towards where the other refugees were. "You're cadets?" she asked, getting a nod. "And you're both Wing Commanders?"
Ghrathryn nodded. "The Commonwealth's cadet programs start at five if people want to join. Certainly cuts down a lot on some of the teen detective hate, since most of those getting into that mess are on the detective track or join fairly soon after the first incidents."
"Also means that a 'green' trooper can have up to two decades of experience when moving into their adult role," Feathers added, making Paige blink. "Oh, and for reference, expect people in 1CBG to be polyglots and have varying accents," she said. "We're the international group. The other unit here, 2CBG? They're Americas focused, Canadians and Caribbean residents."
Ghrathryn nodded. "Out of curiosity, Paige, how'd you hide earlier?"
"Ah… I have a few abilities, I'm a parahuman, you see," Paige replied. "One of them is the ability to create illusions, though sometimes I get caught up in singing and I do it without realising. I can also sing anything pitch perfect or make people hear things that aren't there," she explained, not wanting to betray the trust they were giving her by telling her about things by not reciprocating.
Frowning slightly, Ghrathryn rubbed his jaw. "Hrr… Maybe I should send Keir and Vanora over at some point after dealing with the Nazis, they've got similar abilities so they might be able to give you a few tips," he commented.
"C-could they?" Paige asked. "Only the closest parahuman I know of to abilities like mine is Legend and… well, they're only 'related' in using light."
"It'd be worth a try," Feathers commented. "A lot of dragons, a lot of people, have abilities, some are more familiar than others, like most angels or valkyries having a baseline set of abilities. Dragons are more varied, but still there are groups of similar, similar enough that they're taught at school." She shrugged her wings again.
Ghrathryn nodded as they reached the refugees' shelter. "Yup, and here we are, you'd probably best ensure the guards are aware of you next time you go wandering. Some areas of a base are off limits to people, and getting into them can get you shot no matter who you are," he warned, getting a nod from her.
After leaving her with the guards of the refugee compound, the pair returned to their own units.