Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.

I've been reading the excellent Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer, who sadly passed away at the beginning of June 2021. Very good book, would recommend very highly, it's much better than even this story.

ScreamingStuka: Very cool that you noticed that, I simply figured that it was something I could make work since I don't have gameplay flow to worry about. I'm glad you liked Yuri and Felicia teaming up, I had a lot of fun writing them. Putting Felicia alongside any super serious character is always a good time. As for what Cooper will do after this arc?

"Good morning, gentlemen, the temperature is 110 degrees..."

DEF: Glad you think so, hopefully you're still enjoying it.

Alright, this is a pretty action focused chapter about our main characters going out and forcing a fight. So with that in mind I picked this track from Metallica's debut album, though it was also on their demo tapes. It has cemented itself as a fan favorite and live staple, it is, in fact, the bands third most performed song, traling only 'Creeping Death' and 'Master of Puppets.' This means it beats out songs like 'For Whom the Bell Tolls,' '...And Justice For All,' and 'Enter Sandman.'

Power Without Question – Chapter 93: Seek and Destroy

There is no escape and that's for sure

This is the end, we won't take any more

Say goodbye to the world you live in

You've always been taking and now you're giving

Running, on our way, hiding

You will pay dying

One thousand deaths

Running, on our way, hiding

You will pay dying

One thousand deaths

Searching

Seek and destroy

Closing the laptop, Peter Parker rubbed his hands over his face while the code he had finished writing began to be uploaded and installed into the Velocity Suit. The process would take several more hours, but once it was done, the Queens Native was sure that it would solve his overheating problems. Pushing back, Peter went across the room in his rolling chair, reaching back to grab his small box of Chinese takeout and shoveling some of the noodles inside into his mouth. For the last hour he had been working and eating while the police scanner jabbed away on the desk behind him.

Peter had just put the last bite of Chinese in his mouth when his phone started to ring. Staring at the device wide eyed, the scientist kicked his chair back towards his desk, casually tossing the empty container into the trashcan halfway across the room before picking up the phone and checking who was calling before answering. "Hey…" began Peter before remembering to swallow the last of his food and starting again, "Hey MJ."

"Peter! Head to SoHo!" instructed the redhead urgently. Peter was already on his feet, shucking off his labcoat when Mary Jane continued, "I have a lead I need you to check out. One of my jailhouse sources just told me that Hammerhead's guys are always at a certain Pizza shop. Maybe you can trail them – find out where Hammerhead's supplies are."

Peter looked at his Advanced Suit and contemplated putting it on before thinking better of it. He would probably have to go inside this pizza joint to find, or wait for, Hammerhead's guys to show. Spider-Man couldn't exactly do that, so the Webhead thought better of it and stuffed the suit into a backpack before slinging it over his shoulder. "You know, just once I'd like to have a phone call where we talk to each other about our days, like normal people?"

"Okay," replied Mary Jane with a small laugh, "So honey, how was your day?"

She had never called him 'honey' before, it made them sound almost domestic, for some reason, Peter liked that mental image. He was so consumed in his own thoughts he forgot to answer for a second until he gathered his wits. "Well, uh, I've been thinking about Cooper's offer."

"Oh, so you are going to be working together," replied the Associate Editor, the sing song sweetheart voice she had used earlier tinged with a bit of smugness.

The domesticity had been nice while it lasted. "Possibly," admitted Peter as he exited the lab and locked up behind him before heading downstairs.

"You guys have to find a way to work it out," insisted MJ soothingly. Peter knew that she didn't like the situation any more than he did and wasn't exactly pleased that she was confined to the Bugle offices while he was out here in the middle of the action. If nothing else, she wanted a chance to talk to Cooper, who she considered a friend, and Sable, who Peter knew she respected, and that feeling was likely mutual. "Hammerhead's too powerful to take on alone. My source also said that Hammerhead's using this Project Olympus stuff to, quote, 'Improve himself even further.'"

"Further?" exclaimed Peter as he exited the building and onto the street. "He was already a walking tank…."

"Exactly my point," countered MJ. "Listen, as much as you don't wanna hear it, I think Sable and Cooper might be on the right track. If this is as bad as it sounds, you're going to need the firepower of that Gunship and BT to stop him. And if you don't? Then he might become UN-stoppable."

Taking a deep breath in through his nose, the scientist exhaled and replied, "You're right MJ, as always." Peter hated saying that, admitting that such outrageous weapons had any place on the streets of New York, but the situation was dire. And besides, he could trust Matt and Sable, couldn't he? "I'll make this work between us, I promise. Love you."

"Love you too Pete," responded MJ before whispering softly, "And stay safe."

Pocketing his phone, Peter descended into the Christopher Street subway station and grabbed the 1-line train south towards SoHo, checking his social media feeds while trying to suppress a smile at the sight of a man reading a new edition of the Bugle. It seemed that at least one of J. Jonah Jameson's disciples had some pull over there, because the front page had a fairly clear picture of him in the suit currently in his backpack with the headline 'Who is the Spider Man?'

Part of him was annoyed that they forgot the hyphen.

His stop at Canal Street came up soon enough, and Peter made his way back up and onto the street before turning towards the address that MJ had sent him. When he rounded the corner and saw the joint, he recognized it as some high-end place serving all organic pizza, what made it stand it out was that it was organic pizza that wasn't completely terrible. That also helped explained why the place was jam packed and the line was out the door. "I think this is the place that got a four-star review in the Bugle last week – no wonder it's crowded."

While that was annoying, it also upped the chances that one of the many patrons worked for Hammerhead, so with nothing else to do, Parker took up position at the back of the line and waited. Using his superhuman senses to search for any sign of Maggia activity, he didn't have to wait long before hearing a distinctly thick accent say, "That mine or yours?"

Peter guessed that he was referring to cell phone beep he had heard a moment before and now looked over the shoulder of the couple in front of him, trying to get a peek at the possible Maggia men. "It's mine," replied a second man, which Peter saw place a phone to his ear, "Yeah, what's up?" There was a pause as the Queens Native watched the two intently before the one with the phone spoke to the person on the other end of the line. "Okay. Tell them we're on our way." The second goon then turned to the first, "C'mon, we gotta run an errand for Tony."

The first was, unsurprisingly, not happy. "Now?!" he grouched, "We're almost to the front of the line!"

"I know! I know! Just come on," beckoned the second as Peter watched the two men, dressed in suspenders, dress slacks, and button-down shirts, step out of line.

Peter didn't like to stereotype, but… "Need to run an errand for 'Tony?' Those have to be Hammerhead's men." He had to follow them, so he too stepped out of line and casually strolled forwards, watching the pair cross the street before mirroring the move a bit farther back. The lights changed and traffic began to flow down the street he just crossed, but he was now able to go over the bottom leg of the 'T' junction and slip in behind the Maggia men.

"So what do we gotta do for Tony?" asked the gruffer of the pair.

The other snorted, "Grab his laptop."

"Guess he left it in his car," said the gruff one with a shake of his head. "But you're serious? Why can't he get his own damn laptop?"

"Boss probably has him doing something more important," dismissed the other.

Peter wanted to see if one of them said anything more, but the ringing of his own phone caused him to have to focus on that instead. "Hey Miles, done with your assignments?"

"Yeah, and I can see why it's so important," returned the teenager. "But listen, I took a look at those webshooters in your bag, are those for me?"

Peter was taken aback as he processed what Miles had said but replied on autopilot. "Yes, but only when you're ready, but…what were you doing in my bag?"

The bag was probably the duffel bag with his spare stuff on top of FEAST, since that was where the two usually met up. He had put one of his old sets of Webshooters there to eventually give to the teen, and Miles was one of about four people who knew about that bag on the roof. "It was open," replied the Teen quickly, "And I could see them... sort of."

As far as excuses went, this was fairly lame and, judging by the nervous tone Miles had, he knew that too. Peter was also fairly certain that he always left that bag zipped up, and if he did forget to, it would just so happen to be the one time he left his signature spidey gadget in plain view of anyone who passed by? Peter didn't press, he'd do that later. "And… and I just noticed that the nozzle size and shape is the same as your other ones."

Looking forward to make sure he was still about a dozen yards behind the Maggia men he was tailing and that they weren't the least bit suspicious, Peter then responded a bit absentmindedly. "Yeah, so?"

"Well according to Hooke's law, elastic force is linear with distance given all factors are equal… but you and I aren't equal." Peter came to a sudden stop as he made sure he heard that right, causing someone to bump into him and shout a string of curses in a display of typical New York hospitality.

That caused the two Maggia men ahead of him to start to turn around, prompting Peter to put his head down and resume walking before they got suspicious. "Wow, you're right," admitted the Webhead, genuinely impressed. "Just a few pounds can affect tensile strength, rate of web fluid consumption…" he rattled off as he thought about it.

"And a few other things," agreed Miles, "But I've done all the calculations. If we just tighten the nozzle diameter by point seven millimeters it all pretty much evens out."

Peter did some quick math in his head, making a mental note to run the numbers more thoroughly later, preferably after he had gotten some more sleep. He was not going to trust the life of a sixteen your old to the math of a sixteen-year-old. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't impressed. "I think I've officially underestimated you."

"That's a good thing," returned Miles nervously, "Right?"

Peter smiled, only to have his sixth sense buzz and have to turn to look into the street as the Maggia goons turned around. "Seems like you're more than ready for field training. As soon as I'm done dealing Hammerhead," he qualified.

"Yes!" exclaimed the Midtown High student, "Can I start practicing with the webshooters in the meantime?"

"Nope. And if I find out you even left your house again then I'll call it off," warned the Webslinger.

That seemed to deflate Miles sails rather quickly, "Man, you're like the most and least fun superhero ever," complained the teen before hanging up in a huff, causing Pete to chuckle.

But as he put his phone away, Parker watched as the two men he was tailing went across the street and into a carpark that had a man in typical Maggia dress at the gate who promptly turned away a curious pedestrian. Grimacing and knowing he wouldn't be able to just walk in, Peter crossed the street and went straight passed the entrance before ducking into the building next to the lot. Offering a rushed smile to someone coming out the door, Peter blitzed his way to the stairs and flew up them in twos and threes. Once he was a ways up, he exited onto the floor and had a look around, spotting a closet that held cleaning supplies just down the hall. "Sorry…whatever cleaning guy has to fix this," apologized Peter to thin air before simply breaking the lock with his enhanced strength and stepping inside.

Once the door was shut, Peter changed quickly, "Well… it's not the weirdest place I've changed into my Spidey suit," he mused quietly, it didn't even crack the top ten.

Stuffing his street clothes back into the pack and pulling on his mask, Spider-Man exited the closet and strolled down the hallways like nothing was amiss. Hanging a left and heading for a window that led to a fire escape in the alley next to the parking lot Spidey wanted. Opening the window and climbing out onto the fire escape, the Wallcrawler lived up to his name, making his way across the brick until he unslung his pack and webbed it to the wall. Then he reached into the backpack and pulled a small spray bottle of solution out of a side pocket and sprayed some onto the webbing, solidifying it and ensuring that it wouldn't dissolve when he inevitably forgot to come back for the bag.

Down below, the two goons were carrying on their conversation, totally unaware of the Arachnid themed hero listening in from above. "Swear on my mother's grave. Guy thinks he's next in line."

"Ha! Next in line to shine my shoes maybe!" retorted another Maggia man.

"Ain't that the truth. Anyways, Tony said he needs his laptop," said the first with a shrug. "Guess it's got all kinds of important stuff on it."

"As laptops do. Hey you think he put the info for that trap he cooked up for Sable?" The other man shrugged. "We put it up in C3." Hearing that prompted Spider-Man to look over to the rack that held a bunch of assorted automobiles and spotted the high end black Mercedes Benz that occupied slot C3.

That laptop was his best bet at finding Hammerhead, so now all he had to do was get it. Jumping off the wall and flipping down to the railing of the fire escape, Spider-Man leapt from there and hit the ground in a roll, catching the attention of the two goons as he came to a knee and raised both webshooters. "Stimulating conversation guys," quipped the Webhead before firing an impact web from each shooter and pinning both guys to a nearby car, "But I've heard enough."

"Spider-Man?!" exclaimed one of the other three goons as he reached for a pistol, but he didn't even manage to get it up before a line of white synthetic silk plucked it away. Swinging it around, the Webslinger let the gun fly at the man charging at him with a stun baton, the impact causing him to drop to the ground in a heap.

The second charging man was a big brute, unarmed, but Spider-Man didn't want him to get into fisticuff range and so he clicked the buttons on his palms and unleashed a stream of web bursts. Systematically, Spider-Man started by pinning the man's arms to his barrel chest and then webbing his legs together to reduce his angry bull-rush to peeved hopping. The first man who pulled a gun was coming to help, but Spider-Man had a better idea as he sprinted forwards in a footrace he had no chance of losing. As soon as he was close enough, Spider-Man jumped up and spun around, delivering a kick to the side of the big man's head that sent him tumbling on top of his friend and pinning him to the concrete.

"Argh! Get off me you fat ba… mmph!" screamed the Maggia thug before a few more bursts of webbing pinned him to the ground and covered his mouth.

"I thought Hammerhead promoted a positive work environment? Don't make me report you to HR," Spidey mocked before turning towards the parked cars and picking out the Mercedes he needed. Using his webbing to pull himself up to it, Spider-Man tried the passenger door and couldn't believe that it was open, and he had a harder time believing that Tony had left his laptop sitting in the passenger seat. "Hello Tony's laptop," greeted the Webhead as he pulled the computer out and sat down on the beam of the frame. "We're going to be good friends, let me say hello."

Introductions out of the way, the Webslinger pulled a drive from his pocket and slipped it in, letting it execute his hacking program to get him in, "Bada bing," said Spidey as he got past the lock screen and was greeted with the desktop. "Looks like he's got a 'find my phone' app installed. Let's see where you are Tony."

Getting an answer back, Peter downloaded the info to his drive before uploading a spyware program to the laptop. Satisfied, Peter pulled the drive out and slotted it into his suit. With a marker coming up on his HUD, Spider-Man tossed the laptop back in the car and closed the door. Zipping to a streetlamp, Spider-Man handsprung off it and started swinging through the city towards Tony when he dialed a number. "Hey Pete," greeted MJ.

"Hi Honey, how's your day?" he asked as he swung through the city.

Peter could hear the redhead suppress a laugh and he could imagine the smile on her face, "Busy. Neck deep in research on Symkaria."

"I'll make it quick then," replied the Wallcrawler as he hung a left and passed a park in his pursuit. "Your tip was a good one. I'm on my way to one of Hammerhead's top men. If anybody knows where Hammerhead is, it's him."

"That's great," replied MJ, but she wasn't nearly as excited as he was.

"And one of his guys mentioned setting a 'trap' for Sable. What do you think that means?" he asked, wanting a second opinion.

The headstrong and spirited redhead replied quickly, "I think it means a bunch of old school Maggia thugs feel threatened by a confident, powerful woman."

Or maybe it's the fact she's driving a VTOL Gunship with enough firepower to rival BT thought Peter, but he was smart enough to know not to voice those thoughts. Instead, he responded with a less snarky, "Rrrright."

"Sorry Pete, I don't mean to blow you off, I'm on a deadline," said Mary Jane apologetically, "So…."

"Yeah, totally, talk later." With that, the call ended, though it left Peter worried about what MJ was up to. He knew he shouldn't, but it was something that was hardwired into him. He also trusted that if there was something actually happening then she would tell him before she went too far.

He couldn't worry about that now however, coming to a stop and perching atop a building, Spider-Man looked down to see a trio of well dressed men gathered around another black Mercedes. Checking his tracker, he saw that this was where 'Tony' was, meaning that he was one of those men down below. Rolling his neck and feeling it crack before stretching his arms and hands, Spider-Man looked down and prepared to go introduce himself to the Maggia Lieutenant and have a nice chat.

"Do we know where he is going?" asked Silver Sablinova as she strode across the hanger deck of In Amber Clad. She had landed not long after engaging the Maggia convoy and waited for actionable intelligence to arrive. In that time, the AV-22 she had taken out was being serviced, a second had been prepped, fueled, and fully armed, and it was this second airframe that was being moved to the elevator at the center of the deck.

Now, the tracker she had placed on Spider-Man had begun to move again after some time, and it coincided with him receiving a call from the reporter he was in a relationship with. It seemed probable that one of them had a lead, and that was what prompted the Superhero's activity. Upon receiving this news, Sablinova had ordered her aircraft made ready while Captain Jellicoe brought the 21,000 ton LHP into the wind. The junior ELINT officer briefing her on the details spoke in response to her question. "Not at this time ma'am. He took the subway to Canal Street, since then it looks like he's on foot. There are no reports of significant enemy activity at this time either."

Hopefully he did not just go out to get lunch mused the Symkarian as she did a round of her aircraft. Checking that all was as it should be, a hydraulic hum came from the elevator as it lifted Silver, the ELINT officer, and the Sparrowhawk to the flight deck. On the way up, Silver finished her inspection and returned to the officer waiting by the ladder up to the cockpit. "Radio me any updates as soon as they come in, no matter how minor."

"Aye aye ma'am," returned the officer as the elevator locked into place, exposing those on it to the elements outside the ship as she came up to speed. With that, he saluted, turned, and sprinted back towards the island on the starboard side of the deck while Silver climbed the ladder into the cockpit. With the engines already whirring softly behind her, the Mercenary settled into the ejection seat and donned the headset with radio and targeting eyepiece. One of the deck crew, an aircraft director, guided her off the elevator and to her take off position.

If one were not familiar with the capabilities of In Amber Clad, they would have been shocked at how it looked to Sable that her aircraft and the deck crew appeared to be floating on thin air. One of the last modifications during the ships refit was to integrate reverse engineered IMC active cloaking systems to the ship, rendering her effectively invisible to the naked eye as well as most sensors. It was not a perfect system, there was still a noticeable infra-red signature and it had no effect on the passive sonar of a submarine. The power draw, while high, was nothing that In Amber Clads new powerplant could not handle. As a result, the LHP could operate in more dangerous areas than otherwise possible since Sable International did not have a full force of escorting ships.

This meant that flight deck operations had to use IR strobes and markers as guides instead of painted marks, but the deck crew had been well trained, and soon Sablinova found herself in the correct position as she closed the canopy and went through her final preflight checks. Testing all of the controls, weapons, countermeasures, and avionics, Silver found everything to her satisfaction and keyed her radio. "This is Silver Bird, preflight checks complete, all systems normal. Request takeoff clearance."

"Takeoff clearance granted, good hunting Silver Bird," replied the air officer from the island.

With that, Sablinova turned to the aircraft director and offered him a salute as he turned and crouched down, extending an arm in the signal for take off. Adding power, the Sparrowhawk began to move forward as Silver got a 'running start' before pulling back on the Cyclic, redirecting thrust more downwards and using the power of the engines in addition to the lift generated by the wings to lift the AV-22 into the air. Airborne and out over the ocean, Sable retreated the landing gear and threw the VTOL over, feeling the weight of G press her into her seat. She cranked and banked while the air officer's voice filled her headset. "Silver Bird, turn heading 2-6-5, how copy?"

"Silver Bird, good copy," replied the Symkarian as she brought the bird onto that heading and went west towards Manhattan. At the same time, Silver dropped the nose and descended to wavetop level before opening the throttle and accelerating flat out up to 350 km/h, crossing the kilometers that separated the ship from the city in a matter of minutes. With the buildings bearing down on her, the Mercenary pulled back on the Cyclic and climbed, ascending to well above rooftop level. Now on station, Silver eased back on the collective while lazily banking towards the exact location the tracker was broadcasting.

As she closed in on the position, her radio came to life again, this time with the voice of the ELINT officer. "Ma'am, we're receiving some interesting audio from the tracker, transmitting to you now."

The only things that Silver could make out were the sounds of combat, some gunshots punctuated by a reverberating crash sound that sounded like one of the goons had been hit by a trashcan. But those were soon replaced by silence followed by a wheezing voice that said something very interesting to her. "Spider-Man…you see that Sable chick, you tell her my boss wants to have a sit down."

Silver's eyes widened for a second before narrowing, looking down to see the exact origin of the transmission on her LCD screens. Adding power and lowering the nose, the Sparrowhawk picked up speed again as the sound of the Webslinger's voice came through the headset. "Yeah, I could…" he began in his lighthearted tone, "But she doesn't really listen to me. Or anyone."

As soon as those words reached her ears, Silver saw that she had arrived and flared the nose back, losing the speed she had gained nearly instantaneously, ending up in a hover just above the alleyway that was strewn with knocked out Maggia men. Slowly descending vertically, Sablinova popped the canopy and removed her headset before jumping from her jet, planting one foot on the brick wall of a building to slow her fall and allow her to land on the concrete below. "Give me the address," she demanded curtly.

Spider-Man stared at her, the blank lenses of the mask wide as he looked at her, then the hovering AV-22, and then her again. "Wait – where did - ? How - ?" he stuttered in surprise.

Not bothering to answer his queries, Sablinova marched forwards, right past him, and right up to the Maggia man slumped against the wall in front of the Webslinger. Grabbing the goon by the collar, Silver slammed him against the wall, drawing a whine from him as she sneered at him, "The address!"

The man held up his hands in surrender, "Central Park," he managed, "In the command room of your old base."

Having got what she came for, Sable threw the man back down and looked back at Spider-Man before turning back for her hovering AV-22. She heard Spider-Man shout from behind her, "No, wait, it's probably an ambush…." as she picked up speed and jumped up at the wall, planting both feet to push off and backflip up onto the wing of the waiting VTOL.

Slipping back inside the cockpit, Sable lowered the canopy and donned her headset before adding power and gaining altitude. As soon as she was above rooftop level, she turned towards Central Park before dialing a number and being greeted with a dry drawling voice. "Howdy Sable. BT and me are locked, stocked, and ready to rock. What d'ya got?"

"I need you in Central Park soonest Major," responded Silver Sable, "Hammerhead may be located in remains of MOB Yankee. We will find him and kill him."

"Sounds like a plan, I've been spoiling for a fight."

Flinging himself over the building, Spider-Man could see Sable's VTOL in the distance, flying north faster than he could possibly go, swinging between high rises. Thankfully, he knew where she was headed, but that was of little comfort considering the obvious. Swinging with one hand and keying his mask phone with the other, Spider-Man waited impatiently as it rang before Sable picked up. "Sable, you're headed into a trap!"

"It does not matter," asserted Sablinova firmly, "As long as Hammerhead is there."

"You don't get it," retorted Spider-Man, "I'm trying to keep you from getting hurt." Why was it that people always ignored them when he tried to help?

That didn't stop him from pressing on, but it also didn't seem to faze Sable. "I can take care of myself."

Peter couldn't shake the similarities this conversation had to several others he had with a certain redhead. In fact, this was just like arguing with Mary Jane, a very pissed off and very heavily armed Mary Jane. "Usually you can," he agreed, "But Hammerhead's been using your Project Olympus stuff…."

"I know," cut off Silver curtly.

But Spider-Man continued, undaunted by her terse responses. "Then you know he's turned himself into some kind of…Franken-monster."

"And that is why I must stop him." Peter really wished he could reach through the phone line and physically shake some sense into Sable, but at the same time he respected her dedication.

Another part of him wondered if this is what he sounded like to the others when he was begin bull headed.

"But not like this," he insisted, "Not by going right into a trap!"

Her response to that was to simply hang up.

"Argh, Sable, what are you doing?" wondered the Webhead aloud, even though he knew well enough. It was the same thing that had driven him through some of his toughest challenges, she felt she had a responsibility to make things right, and for that he couldn't fault her.

Her methodology on the other hand….

Launching himself over the building that lined Central Park, Spider-Man flipped around and dove back to Earth. He was mainly looking at Sable's white jet circling the remains of her base, but thought he saw a familiar black shape emerge from the buildings on his left and immediately called another number as he fell. When he reached the bottom of his dive and fired a webline to swing under a tree, he almost hollered for joy and flipped as he heard his friend pick up. "Hey pal, hanging in there?" deadpanned Cooper in greeting.

"Matt! Is that you in Central Park? Did Sable call you?" asked the Wallcrawler, rapid fire.

"Yeah, it's me. Sable told me she had a lead on Hammerhead, and I'm itching to take another crack at him. You here too?" asked the Marauder. Peter could see the shape of the Titan through the trees as the machine marched towards the meeting point.

Continuing to swing, Spidey saw Sable's jet begin to descend as he got closer. "Yeah, but you need to know that this meeting is a trap!" he warned, "What are you planning to do?"

"Spring it." With that, the Marauder hung up on Peter too as all three converged on the camp.

Shaking his head, Spider-Man pulled himself over the remains of the security fence and launched himself some distance, coming atop a raised platform that overlooked an open central area of the base. BT was standing at the center of the open area below, 20mm cannon at the ready while Sable hovered overhead. Other than that however, the area was still, no movement, no unusual sound, no danger as far as his sixth sense said. There was nothing, at least not until a projector came to life beneath him, the scarred visage of Hammerhead appearing on the wall of the building across from him. At the same time, a series of speakers let out an ear-piercing shriek as they powered up.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that," began the Maggia Don as his mouth formed into a sharklike grin, "The gang's all here, just for me. It seems like I have all the attention, the respect, that I deserve." Hammerhead was still wearing a repaired set of the same Project Olympus armor he had at the construction site, only now he was sporting a fully mechanical hand to replace the one that Yuri had blown off, along with a new scar on his head that exposed the metal plate on his skull. "And all it took was to come back from the dead," mused the Don with a shake of his head, "Though I suppose I have you to thank for that, Miss Sable, so on the behalf of the Maggia, I thank you for your generous contributions."

The Symkarian didn't take that jab laying down, snarling back at the Mob Boss. "Then show yourself, so that I may give you one last gift."

Hammerhead smiled, showing the gap in his teeth, "You'll have to excuse my poor manners, but I'm going to have to decline. You see, I still got a few problems that need dealing with. The kind of problems that don't seem to go away, that don't know when to quit." There was a pause as Hammerhead took a moment to himself and chuckled lowly, "And I need to show New York how problems are solved in the new era of the Maggia, problems like the three of you. Even better? All of my problems came to the same place."

The Don made a slashing motion across his throat, and when he did, Spider-Man's sixth sense began going thrumming at the base of his skull, pounding his head like a jackhammer. Everything seemed to happen at once, the projector turned off while panels on all sides of the open ground opened up and lines shot out, sticking to BT and tethering the Titan before they crackled with electricity. The effect was the audible popping of the Vanguard's shields as they failed while Cooper and BT struggled against the tethers.

Silver Sable wasn't being let off easy either, Sable International SAM turrets powered up and began tracking her, forcing the Mercenary onto the defensive as they locked onto her, firing streams of laser fire and loosing a surface to air missile skywards. The VTOL dodged, firing streams of blinding magnesium flares to spoof the missile seeker, and did so successfully.

Already, Peter's eyes were scanning, searching for a way to help, but he couldn't help but open up a radio channel and say, "Oh hey, look, a trap! If only we had some kind of advanced warning…." Even as the words were out of his mouth, Spider-Man was looking for a way to help.

"You going to help?" grunted back Cooper as one of the missile pods extended over BTs shoulder and fired a trio of missiles into the base of one of the tethers, blowing open the side of the structure it was mounted too and causing the steel cable to fail. With a newly freed arm, the Titan grabbed a second cable and yanked, overpowering the magnet that was keeping it fixed to the Vanguards armor plate and tossing it aside before the Pilot inside spoke again. "Or would you rather sit there and quip?"

"I am sorta tempted to sit back and watch," admitted Spider-Man as Sable made her jet dance overhead, weaving through a hail of laser fire before unleashing her reply. The 30mm cannon fired a short burst, beating like a war drum as high explosive shells reduced one of the turrets to scrap. "But that would just be petty."

Leaping into action, the Webslinger fired a webline to make a beeline for one of the three generators he could see that were active around the camp. They had to be what was powering the defenses that were hounding Cooper and Sable, and they were what Spider-Man was going to destroy. Firing a webline, the Wallcrawler snatched up a crate and spun it over his head before throwing it into the side of the generator, cracking the casing and causing it to spark. For good measure, Spider-Man added bursts of webbing to gunk up the internals until the generator caught fire, causing one of the missile turrets to deactivate.

"Look alive people, we got Specters! I repeat, automated infantry on the field!" alerted Cooper as Spidey whipped around in time to see a rocket streak past, "And they got RPGs too, stay sharp." In reply to the RPG, the Marauder opened fire with his 20mm cannon, the echo of the weapon bouncing off the walls of the base.

If the Webhead needed any confirmation, it came when his own sixth sense buzzed and he flipped just in time to dodge a burst of gunfire before spinning around to see a trio of the bots marching towards him. Firing a webline, he pulled himself to the one in front, not holding back as he dropkicked it in the chest hard enough to shatter the armor plate and send the machine skidding back forty feet. The other two tried to bring their guns to bear on the Wallcrawler as he stood between them, but Spidey jumped up, backflipping over one as he kicked it in the back towards the third bot and then fired a webline at its leg to trip it up and send it tumbling into the other machine. Before the Specters could get up, Spider-Man grabbed one by its ankles and swung it in a circle up over his head before bringing it down on the other, smashing both to pieces.

Now he just had to smash the other two generators.

"Critical shield system failure pilot. Hypothesis, the electrical current transferred by the tethers is adversely affecting the shield generators," informed BT as Cooper grit his teeth and held up the vortex shield, absorbing the hail of incoming fire before throwing it back at the building the Specters were coming out of. He had gotten rid of two of the four cables and a third was no longer was electrified but was still restraining BT.

Retreating back towards where the two cables were anchored, Cooper turned the titan and brought up the Multi Target Missile System again, firing a pair of rockets to the base of the electrified cable. The ordnance had the desired effect, the red warning lights going away inside the cockpit, but that didn't mean that Cooper was out of the woods yet. To emphasize that point, one of the SAM turrets that had been engaging Sable turned on him and opened fire. Red laser bolts rained down on the back of BT-7274 as Cooper was forced to spin back around and reflexively hit his dash thrusters. The Vanguard lurched hard right, but only went a few yards before the last tether went taught and held him in place as more bolts scorched the composite plate.

"Come on you sonfoa…" snarled Cooper as he raised the 20mm and emptied the rest of the magazine, blasting chunks off the AA turret into it was a smoking wreck. But that wasn't the end as yet more automated infantry emerged, opening fire at him as the Pilot raised the Vortex Shield, watching it collect the small armory of bullets and rockets that came at him. "BT," he managed the grit teeth, "How long till shields recharge?"

"Shield system is functioning normally Pilot, and is currently at 38% capacity," informed the Titan dutifully. "Alert, additional incoming hostile armored vehicles detected."

But a flashing alert of was all the warning Cooper got before another RPG splashed against the recharging energy shields, depleting a chunk of them as the Pilot was busy shoving a fresh drum of ammo into the XO-16. "Sable," he called over the radio, "We got armor coming, can you do anything about that?"

With his gun freshly reloaded, Cooper had BT strafe back to the left, fighting against the last tether as he triggered the 20mm, sending a fusillade of cannon rounds downrange towards the source of the rocket that had hit him. The explosive shells went off like popcorn as they sent shrapnel ripping through anything around them, giving Cooper a second of breathing room as he went back to wrap the cable around one of the Titan's massive mechanical arms and begin to yank. "Negative Major, I am being engaged by…" there was an unladlylike grunt as Cooper looked up to see that Sable had thrown her jet across the sky to dodge another missile, "Engaged by multiple AA emplacements, I am defensive."

But there was somebody in a position to help with that. "I got it Silver, or is it Sable? Or something else?" asked Spider-Man lightly. But he only got a very angry silence in return. "Got it, hang tight while I work on the other generators. Ha! Get it, hang tight?"

Sablinova's legendary composure finally faltered and she responded. "Shut. Up." A moment later, she dumped the nose and put her VTOL into a dive as another stream of gunfire went over her canopy.

With hydraulics straining, BT pulled on the steel cable until it snapped and failed, dangling uselessly from the chassis. While he had full mobility back, it wasn't a moment too soon, as he saw the first of the sleek white Infantry Fighting Vehicles arrive, its own autocannon training on him. The energy shields hadn't recharged yet, so Cooper brought up the Vortex just in time to catch the full salvo of 40mm fire that came at him, the rounds swirling in the blue light projected from BTs left hand. Before he could return them to sender, the armored vehicle was enveloped in a cloud of white smoke that precluded it from view.

"Alright, that's two down, just one generator left powering that last turret!" announced the Webslinger as Cooper followed the stream of laser fire that streaked through the sky to the source. Raising the Vanguards left hand, Cooper launched the accumulated shells into the last turret, shattering it in a single stroke.

Even if that was the last of the initial ambushing elements dealt with, that didn't mean that Spidey, Sablinova, and the Marauder were out of the woods, far from it. More Maggia men were pouring into the former Sable MOB from all sides. Like a shark, it seemed that Hammerhead smelled blood in the water and was trying to sink his teeth into the trio.

Cooper gritted his teeth and hoped there weren't any more surprises waiting in the wings.

Commissioner Jean DeWolff blinked incredulously as she processed what had just been told to her by the Commanding Officer of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard. Running a hand down her face, the blonde distinctly wished that she could crack open her bottle of 'emergency bourbon' because she was really going to need it at this newest development.

Finally, she managed to respond, though not in the most professional tone, she really couldn't give a shit about that. "What do you mean you had a bunch of helicopters stolen three days ago?"

"You know guys, talking about your feelings has been scientifically proven to reduce stress and improve mood," informed Spider-Man before leaping up and then using his weblines to pull himself down onto an armored goon. His sixth sense blared at the base of his skull as he flipped away from a rocket that shot past him and turned to face the Specter that had fired it, only for it, along with the other bots with it, to vanish into a cloud of dust and fire as a pair of rockets from Sable's jet slammed into the ground. Throwing up an arm to shield his head from the clumps of dirt that were sent flying by the rockets.

Turning around, Spider-Man was in a bit of awe at the sight of the massive hulking Titan lift its feet up before the thrusters on the machine's back flashed blue. The entire Vanguard shot 30 yards to the left, passing just ahead of the Webhead before its feet came back down less than 10 yards form Spidey, shaking the ground. BT then raised the cannon it held and opened fire, the report of the 20mm hammering the Wallcrawlers ears as brass casings rained down around him, forcing Spider-Man to leap and dive away from the hot metal and take cover in a shredded tent.

It seemed that both Sable and Cooper wanted to reduce stress by taking it out on the Maggia, and while Spider-Man didn't entirely disagree with that, he wasn't as confident that they wouldn't be overwhelmed by Hammerhead's goons that were still flooding in. It was clear that Hammerhead wasn't here, and so the Wallcrawler wasn't as on board with continuing to slug it out here. "Uh, hey guys, let's get out of here," he suggested as soon as Cooper stopped shooting.

"No!" shot back both of them at the exact same time.

"Peter, listen to me," began Cooper, clearly not in the mood to put up with any counter arguments, "Hammerhead's committed, here and now. We beat these guys and he's got no choice but to come to us."

The Webhead wasn't convinced, "Uh, not so sure that's a good idea," he countered as he went out the opposite side of the tent and found himself face to face with a squad of armored up Maggia men.

"Even if he doesn't show, we put a big dent in his forces if we can destroy these vehicles and take down the goons. It's an opportunity we can't afford to waste." Peter was only half paying attention to Cooper, throwing outa web bomb to ensnare the four men before performing a sweep the leg kick on the nearest one and webbing him securely to the ground.

"Not sure what makes you call this an opportunity," admitted the Webslinger as he spun around and planted a right hook into another man's nose, breaking it as his head snapped back. Firing a webline at the man's leg, the Arachnid themed hero yanked him from his feet and slung him around before letting go to the line and sending him into another goon. "It feels to me like we're really outnumbered."

"You say 'outnumbered,'" began Cooper as Spider-Man turned to see one of the tanks drive out into the open across the wide-open space in the middle of the base. That was a mistake the tank came to regret when the rocket pods extended up and fired a pair of missiles that streaked through the air and slammed into the side. The pair of explosions left huge black marks on the armor plate as smoke poured from the top. "I say 'target rich environment.'"

Proving the point, another one of the six wheeled tanks rolled out behind BT and opened fire, its autocannon sending shells that exploded against the back of the Titan. The explosions echoed like rolling thunder as they went off against the shields and heavy armor plate once the shielding failed. But before Cooper could wheel around, before Spider-Man could fire a webline and zip over to the tank, the machine lurched back and began to move forwards only for a stream of tracer fire to come down from the heavens like it the finger of god. The rounds caused smoke to rise from the engine deck as one of the wheels was partially blown off, but the battered machine gamely moved forwards just as Sable swooped in like a bird of prey. Dropping the nose of the aerodyne, Sablinova pressed her attack, firing a rocket from the pod under each wing that slammed into the wounded vehicle, causing there to be a teeth rattling explosion that launched the turret into the air.

Spider-Man was starting to form the distinct impression that he was playing third wheel here. It seemed that his supposed 'allies' were running off a script that he hadn't been given. It's not like you ever asked to be a part of what was going on he chided himself internally. He knew he would have to make a decision on that front sooner rather than later but, unfortunately, it seemed that Hammerhead was keen to make a few edits.

His sixth sense buzzing, Spider-Man jumped up and fired a webline to pull himself up to a rooftop before scanning the sky to spy a few grey specks in the distance that gave Peter those uneasy feelings. "Um…did either of you call for backup?"

Sable's eyes narrowed as she applied power and gained altitude, still circling above the camp below as the Marauder fended off concerted attacks from multiple Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Two of the six wheeled vehicles were now smoldering wrecks, and the other two would be quickly dealt with. However, Sable mused, if their timing had been a little bit better then they might have been able to catch the Titan while it was still restrained and Sable under fire and unable to assist. But Hammerhead had finally made a mistake, and the Marauder and Mercenary were exacting a frightful toll for that mistake.

But the warning from the Webslinger about more Maggia reinforcements had Silver scanning the ground below for any sign of them. When she heard the tone from her radar warning receiver begin to fill the cockpit her moves became faster, though not frantic, at least not until the tone changed to fast, staccato beeps. Instantly, Sable deployed countermeasures and took evasive action, rolling her aircraft through a barrel roll while simultaneously spinning it around, leveling out just in time to see the missile that had been homing in on her rip past her.

Only the missile hadn't come from the ground, it came from above and hit the ground. Her head snapped up to see four helicopters that fired another salvo of air to air missiles before banking away. Chaff and flares poured from the dispensers as the Symkarian laterally rolled, evading the weapons as she required. "Major, I am moving to engage enemy helicopters. How copy?"

Before he could respond, Sable was already adding power and accelerating after the fleeing helicopters. "Solid copy, we'll handle things here," assured the Pilot.

Sable could see the helicopters, two AH-6 'Little Birds' used by the US Army Reconnaissance squadrons. Beneath stubby airfoils hung miniguns and FIM-92 Stinger missile tubes as the two craft sped North at treetop level. Without hesitation, the Symkarian latched onto their tails and quickly selected her own air to air missiles, French made Mistral heat seekers. Growling in her headset, the IR seeker heads had solid lock on one of the helicopters, prompting Sablinova to press the button on her stick to turn the weapon loose. Flying straight and true, the rocket streaked through the sky and exploded just behind one of the choppers, blowing off the tail boom and causing the small chopper to crash into a lake, throwing up a geyser of water.

Not stopping to needlessly confirm the kill, Silver switched her focus to the second helicopter, her more powerful AV-22 easily able to keep up as the second Mistral's seeker went from a gentle purr to an angry snarl in her ear. Just as her finger was poised over the launch button again, that hated tone overpowered it yet again, though Sable had no time to react before a stream of angry tracer fire filled the air ahead of her, and she could only fly through it as armor piercing rounds shredded her Sparrowhawk. The right wing was perforated, causing the ducted air fan on that wing to falter and come to a stop, the fuselage had fared no better, and the turbine engine sounded like it was ripping itself apart from the inside as power output dropped, causing her altitude to follow suit. Even worse was how the tail was damaged, causing her jet to enter a death spin from which she could not recover at such low altitude.

Knowing the VTOL was doomed, her hands grabbed hold of the handle of her ejection seat, but was unable to pull up before the wrecked aerodyne slammed into the ground of central park and skidded across the grass. The crash threw up earth as it slammed Sable around the cockpit, her head slamming into the canopy and clouding her mind, meaning she barely noticed that the smoking aircraft had ground to a halt.

Collecting herself, Sable spoke into her headset, "Major, do you read?" she asked, only getting static in reply. But the sound of Titan footsteps and the ensuing shaking of the ground meant he had to be close by. Popping the canopy, the Symkarian undid the straps of her ejection seat and began to climb out only for a massive mechanical hand to wrap around her and lift her up.

It was only then when Sable noticed that the Titan that had her was not the black one of the Marauder, but rather a striking white one and much larger as well. Even worse, the hatch was open to reveal the armored and grinning Hammerhead was at the controls, "Looks like I'm going to get to thank you in person after all Miss Sable."

Spider-Man was always awed by how BT-7274 could move when Cooper was at the controls of the Titan. When he felt the base of his skull hum, he dodged away as the tank fired at the Titan, only for the machine to lift it's left arm and 'catch' the incoming rounds with the vortex of swirling blue light. With a flick of the Titan's wrist, the shells went right back against the tank, exploding against the armor. In the time it took for the Webhead to flip up to his feet, the Vanguard had dashed forwards and reached out with that same hand, digging in and crumpling the metal as the back of the tank was lifted off the ground. With a single, simple effort, the hydraulics of the Titan flicked the wheeled tank over onto its back.

With that, there was only one left, and it chose that moment to reveal itself as it emptied a burst into the back of the Vanguard Titan, causing the machine to stumble forwards and trip over the overturned tank. Reacting, Spider-Man whipped around and fired a pair of weblines at the last of the Maggia tanks, one grabbing the hull and the other grabbing the end of the gun as he pulled the lines taught, holding the tank in place as its wheels spun angrily against the soft grass.

Digging his heels in, Spider-Man groaned against the strain before he felt his Spider Sense tingle again and turned to see an shambling, one armed STALKER raise its remaining arm with a laser gun in hand. Mind racing on what to do, before he could act, Spider-Man saw the robot's head explode as the machine collapsed. Looking back at the Titan, he saw that the machine was just getting back to its feet. Looking back at the tank he was wrangling with, a shapely black clad figure landed on the tank and dropped something on the engine deck. Alarm bells going off in his mind, Spidey watched the figure raise their arm and fire a line before swinging off towards him, the object they had dropped exploding a second later. The lines went slack as the vehicle stopped trying to move, black smoke belching from it, confirming that it was destroyed.

The black clad figure then landed next to him, confirm his suspicions as the eye lenses narrowed at her. "You're alive," said the Webslinger flatly.

Turning towards him, the Black Cat smiled mischievously. "Did you honestly think I was dead?" she asked in a way that told him that she already knew the answer. She was right of course, though Spider-Man didn't reply as he looked over his shoulder at the now righted BT, which then crouched down as the hatch opened, letting the Marauder jump out and stride towards them.

He had always suspected that he was being played from the start, but having it confirmed didn't exactly improve his mood, even if he was relieved to see that his friends were indeed alive. "So this was the plan all along, huh?" he asked, looking from Felicia to Matt before noticing a third person appear seemingly form thin air beside the Marauder. This was the grey clad form of Yuri, just as he had seen her at the construction site, this time cradling a scoped rifle as she seemed to scrutinize him behind her goggles. "Just…leave me out of things? I know you would use me Felicia, but you Matt?" snapped Peter, a bit more harshly than he intended to. "Why would you agree to something like this?"

There was a tense silence between the group before the Marauder answered, "Because it was better to do the wrong thing than nothing," admitted the Pilot quietly. "I don't regret that, I do wish it had gone differently, but I made what I felt were the best choices I could at the time. We all did, and we stand by those choices." Peter looked at the three again, he understood, it wasn't an apology, but it was more than he was expecting, and he nodded once. "But for one reason or another, those choices haven't worked. That means we have just one left: We work together. All of us."

"Oh, so now you want to work together?" snarked the Webhead instantly, "You think it's just that easy?"

Now it was the Black Cat's turn to step forward, "It would be easier for us to keep using you Spider," she replied frankly. "If I don't, then someone else will…" said the Thief as she reached around with her clawed glove, her fingers trialing down his head, neck, and arm until they suddenly dug in and plucked something from his suit. Shocked, Spider-Man's mouth hung open as Felicia handed him the tracker that had been planted on him, "It seems I'm not the only one with trust issues."

From the gunmetal color to stylized 'S' logo on it, it wasn't rocket science to figure out who put that there. While wondering when the hell the Symkarian had put that there, Peter managed to put together a coherent sentence. "So…now what? Where do we go from here?"

In response, Yuri held up a USB stick, "We know what hole Hammerhead has been hiding in, but there's been a complication," said the ex-Cop as she turned and pointed to a pillar of smoke in the distance. "Hammerhead shot Sable down and captured her. I'm willing to bet that this," she said, holding up the drive again, "Is where he'll be keeping her." Yuri then tossed the stick over to Spidey before continuing, "This is where we take the fight to him."

Sliding the stick into a slot on his arm, Spider-Man watched the schematics for the underground appear on his HUD, along with a highlighted route they were going to take. It seemed that Hammerhead had been hiding under their feet this entire time, which explained why nobody could find his base. And now that the group had this information, they were able to go on the offensive for the first time since this whole thing started.

"Alright pal, what do you say?" asked Cooper, "You ready?"

Peter managed a somewhat reluctant grin under his mask, "Ready to rock."

Mary Jane Watson Research Notes

'Comeback of the Maggia' – Return of Silver Sabllinova

To say that the sudden reappearance of Sable caught New York City off guard would be the understatement of the year.

Feelings in the city towards the Symkarian Mercenary remain decidedly mixed after the events of last year, with her going from being viewed with trepidation, to being hailed as a hero, and then considered a villain within the span of two months. Even though her actions following the release of Devil's Breath were controversial, the fact that she was always associated with Osborn in the eyes of the city damned her to scorn following the reveal of the mayor's role in the disaster.

But now? With that association gone, it is possible that people are willing to have short memories once more, especially if she can help stop Hammerhead. Unlike the last time she arrived, people are not seeing her name merely plastered on the pervasive checkpoints and on the white armor of the security troopers that manned them. People are seeing Sablinova herself playing an active role for the first time, and that might just be enough to change their minds about her.

Closing Notes: So, this is the segment of the DLC that will have the greatest deviation from how it appears in game. This was based on the setpiece atop the Colexico building, though I had to make many changes, mainly to accommodate BT. This did result in the loss of the fight on top of Sables VTOL, but I consider that so ridiculous that it wasn't really a loss at all. At some point I did realize that I needed to add a bit more to make the whole thing work, hence the abrupt thing with the helicopters, and I think it is somewhat obvious that they were a last minute addition.

And at long last, we get a tease of what Hammerhead found way back in chapter 84, which was a payoff that took much longer to get to than I thought when I initially wrote that segment.

We're entering the home stretch now, and it's time to assemble Bad Company.

Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.