Chapter 3

January 20, 2011 (11:30 AM) \ Sunny

Brockton Bay, Dockworkers Union Office, Parking Lot

"Understood?" Folinic asked, standing before Rosa, Noir, and Yato.

Once she had finished talking with the blue-armored man, the leader of Delta had taken them aside. Though the Ursus noble was shocked that they were in another world, she completely understood the necessity of the task bestowed upon her. By the time Folinic finished explaining things, a bunch of armored vans with PRT markings had arrived.

"Relax Folinic," Noir smiled, leaning on his Dreadnaught Shield. Rosa took time to examine the PRT troopers, briefly reminded of Chernoberg police. 'This city must have a violent history for their police to be so heavily armored.' "We get it - protect Ambassador Rosa, clear up some misunderstanding about everything, and fish for information."

"I'll keep Noir in line, Folinic." Yato assured their team leader, glaring at her friend. Rosa giggled as Noir straightened up and gave a salute. "If anything happens, I'll whack his head."

Noir gave a fake gasp, grasping his chest. "The pain, the horror!" he cried out, looking up to the sky. "Will no one save me?"

The elite Vanguard just shook her head, heading towards the PRT armored van. Noir quickly composed himself and ran after her, giving a snap salute at the medic. "I will not fail you, Ms. Folinic," Rosa promised, giving her leader a bow. "I will do my best!"

Her fellow Ursus smiled, patting her on the shoulders. "I have no doubt, Rosa. You're the best one for the job, after all." She then shooed her away. "Now get going."

Picking up her harpoon launcher, she waved goodbye to Folinic before running after the two top operators. "Apologies for the delay," she announced, arriving as Noir was about to clamber on.

The...PRT Troopers, she guessed, turned towards her. "Hey, who let the kid in?" one asked, looking confused.

Noir poked his head out of the van, looking at the trooper that said it. "What kid?" he asked aloud, catching everyone's attention. "My companions are both capable and top rated operators - heck, Rosa here can nail a target at 100 yards using her harpoon cannon!"

"Indeed," Yato added, quickly appearing behind said trooper. Surprised, he yelped and fell on his butt. "Operator Rosa is a highly capable, top operator with enough missions under her belt."

She then clambered into the truck, sparing a quick glance at him. "Best not mistake her for a child...kid."

Hiding her smile, she followed after the veteran operator. She was the last one in, partialled filled with other PRT troopers and a heavily armored man, looking like one of those knights during the Kazimierz Major. "Thank you, Mr. Noir, Ms. Yato." she said, once she settled inside the van, an upright Poca settled between her legs.

The defender waved his hand. "Don't mention it," he grinned before making his voice louder. "After all, anyone who can wield a portable siege weapon is good in my book!"

The door slammed shut and the van started moving. "Seriously, that's a portable siege weapon?" the PRT troopers beside Noir asked, disbelief in his voice. The rest of the occupants also turned towards them, though their expressions hidden beneath the visors.

"Heavily modified," Rosa assured him, giving her trademark smile. "Mister…"

His visor retracted, revealing a dark skinned man. "Sergeant Foley, Ms. Rosa." the man introduced himself, offering his hand. The Ursus noble shook his hand, feeling pleased. "There's got to be a story behind that."

Rosa giggled nervously, unsure how to explain the events leading her to acquire the siege weapon. Thankfully, Noir came to her aid again. "You wouldn't believe it - hell, I didn't believe it!"

Yato shot him a look. "Weren't you the leader of the team that rescued her?" she pointed out, sounding amused.

Rosa remembered that day. "Do not blame him, Ms. Yato." she answered, smiling at the memory. "If I recall correctly, he kept looking between the harpoon and I all the way back to the VTOL before asking me how I got it."

"In my defense, we had better things to worry about." Noir turned the sergeant. "Her city got hit by a Catastrophe hard. There were riots everywhere, so her group of survivors had to defend themselves."

"We stumbled upon Poca by accident," she continued, thankful that they skipped the many details in between. "Outside of my friend's weapon, it was the closest thing we had for intimidation."

"What kind of disaster?" the Kazimierz knight-lookalike asked.

"Catastrophe," Noir corrected.

"Isn't that what a disaster means?" Sergeant Foley frowned.

Silence reigned in the van. "Looks like we've found the first of many differences between Earth Bet and Terra." Noir chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Class is in session!"

# # # | # # #

January 20, 2011 (11:50 PM) \ Sunny

Brockton Bay, PRT Headquarters, Underground Parking Lot

Once out of the van, Sergeant Foley handed her Poca. "That's probably the most educational ride I've taken." the man grinned, his face hidden behind the visor. "It's a pleasure, milady!"

Rosa rolled her eyes, accepting her weapon back. "As I've said before, sergeant, I'm merely a minor noble. No need to use that."

The trip to the PRT headquarters was full of surprises between the two worlds. Rosa enjoyed the full trip, especially the charming Sergeant Foley and the exasperated Private Ramierez. The ever friendly Noir ended up befriending all the troopers on board. Yato did strike a light conversation with the real life superhero Dauntless.

For the Earth Bet natives, they were completely surprised by the different inhabitants and technologies of Terra. A particular focus was given on mobile cities and Originium Arts. The Terrans, on the other hand, were surprised by the prevalence of capes and guns. At least wielding Arts had an exact science behind it - getting powers in Earth Bet meant you underwent something completely horrible.

They did find some common ground - Endbringers and Catastrophes had similarities they couldn't ignore. Even the language, while sounding weird to both groups, was amusingly similar.

The trooper gave a crisp salute. "Understood, milady." he chuckled, getting back on the van. "Ramierez, move it!"

The PRT van drove off, leaving the three Terrans along with their cape escort. "Come on then, Director Piggot is waiting." Dauntless ushered them towards the elevator.

"Who will I be talking to, Mr. Dauntless?" Rosa asked as they piled into the elevator. "Folinic mentioned I'll be meeting two directors."

Dauntless pressed the top most button before answering. "Direct Piggot and Chief-Director Costa-Brown." The elevator closed, moving upwards. "Ordinarily, there'll be a lot more involved since this is a first contact thing - ambassadors, treaty negotiations, the works."

"But since we're a private organization who are cut off from our superiors, things got thrown out of the window." Rosa guessed, half-listening to the elevator music. "Why those two?"

"We're considering your tower as a Tinkertech device for now." he answered once the elevator stopped. "We're here. The Director's office is just at the end of the hall."

Rosa gave the cape a sly smile, stepping out of the elevator. "Which means PRT has jurisdiction for the time being." she chuckled, walking past various offices. "The PRT acts as a mediator and middleman, while your government scrambles to prepare first contact protocol."

Dauntless shrugged as they arrived before the room. "More or less," he replied, opening the door for them. "Don't scare them too much, yeah? I'm gonna be having nightmares about the Originium spiders you mentioned."

Noir laughed, patting the cape on the back. "You aren't the first person to have those, my friend!"

Rosa entered the room, vaguely reminded of a more organized version of Dr. Hypergraph's office. Two small windows showed a part of the city, while opposite them were two shelves filled with books, binders, and mementos and a TV screen in between. A couch and two armchairs surrounding and a coffee table took over most of the room.

A large woman with steel-grey eyes and a bleached blonde bob-style haircut sat behind a stylish, wooden desk. The nameplate on the desk read E. Piggot, Director, PRT ENE. Behind her, a logo of the PRT was embossed on the wall, with photos and framed certificates on either side of it.

"Good morning, I believe you're the representative of…" Director Piggot paused, looking at the computer on her desk. "Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, correct?"

'Let the games begin.' Rosa gave her a warm smile, doing a curtsy benefiting a Ursus noble. "I am Natalya Rostova, daughter of Count Rostova of Chernoberg, and Sniper Operator of Rhodes Island Combat Division." she introduced herself, standing straight up. "I am also the unofficial heir of my uncle, His Grace Duke Alexander Guchkov, the current Chairman of the Imperial Duma."

With the bombshell dropped, she maintained her warm smile as Director Piggot's eyes widened in shock. Quickly recovering, she gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk. "Please have a seat, my lady." she offered, recovering quickly. "I am Director Emily Piggot of the Parahuman Response Team, East-Northeast. You companions may take the couch if they wish."

She took her seat, making sure to prop Poca behind her chair. "Thank you," she replied, sparing a glance at her teammates. Yato gave a small nod and two took their seats, with Dauntless taking an armchair. She did notice that they were missing one more person. "If I may ask, where is the Chief-Director?"

Before Piggot could reply, a shimmering of light appeared on the chair opposite her. Slowly, the light coalesced to form a woman of Iberian descent, with long, dark hair. "Apologies for the delay, my lady." the woman began, smiling. "This is the first time we're testing holographic communications. I'm Rebecca Costa-Brown, chief-director of the PRT."

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Rosa made sure to express her fascination. "I'm impressed - while holographic interfaces do exist, Terran technology hasn't progressed enough to use it for communications."

Director Piggot cleared her throat. "Now that everyone's here, let us begin." she turned to Rosa, gesturing towards some cameras on the ceilings. "With your permission, we will let Dragon record this meeting."

"You may."

"Dragon?"

The TV lit up, revealing a computer-generated face. She would have thought it was an AI had not Dauntless explained to them earlier who Dragon was. "Recording the First Contact meeting between Earth Bet and Terra," the cape began. "Present are Director E. Piggot, Chief-Director R. Costa-Brown, and Protectorate Cape Dauntless. Representatives of Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals are Operators Rosa, Noir Corne, and Yato."

Rosa cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "Let the records show that I, Operator Rosa, am here to clear up any confusion between Earth Bet and Terra, in terms of technology, terminology, and history." She gave the chief-director a look. "Under no circumstance am I allowed to sign any agreement without the approval of my superiors, Operators Folinic and Dobermann."

Costa-Brown nodded. "Understandable." she looked to the side. "In the initial report given by Armsmaster, Operator Folinic said you were protecting a device that...stabilizes Catastrophes?"

"It is a general name for a variety of frequent natural calamities," Rosa explained. "These are, but not limited to, earthquakes, storms, floods, and meteor showers. However, the key difference between Earth Bet calamities and Terra's Catastrophes is their frequency and the formation of Originium."

She paused, glancing at Dauntless. "However, I believe you already know that, given Mr. Dauntless has been feeding you our conversation earlier."

It wasn't too hard to discern the questions Dauntless was asking. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed it, given the rest of the troopers were also asking questions. Rosa, however, wasn't anyone else. "Impressive." Costa-Brown complimented. The cape had the decency to wince, though Noir gave him an easy smile.

"The Imperial Court is cutthroat and decadent." she answered, lifting her head up. "One does not survive the game of thrones without learning a thing or two."

The chief-director nodded, glancing at Piggot. "What is Originium?" the Brockton Bay director asked. "As I understand it, it is both a naturally occurring element, a powerful tool, and a source of problems for your world."

Rosa sighed. "We consider it as a double-edged sword, directors." the Ursus noble revealed. "On one hand, it is an integral part of Terra, advancing and improving our daily life. On the other, Oripathy has ruined many lives, both of what is known about it and the misconceptions formed."

"Should we be worried about Oripathy?" Costa-Brown asked, eyes narrowing at her.

"Has Originium been discovered here on Earth Bet?" she countered.

The two shared a look. "Dragon, have there been any ores or minerals that match the description?"

Dragon's avatar shook her head. "When Ms. Rosa was explaining it to Sergeant Foley earlier, I initiated a search for any mineral or ores with a similar description." she replied. "Nothing matches, unless someone manages to synthesize it without our knowledge."

Rosa gave a sigh of relief, not realizing she was holding her breath. "Then you need not worry. Originium cannot be synthesized - be glad you have not yet faced the horrors Terra has."

Piggot chuckled. "Never thought I'd be afraid of spiders - and I was there in Ellisburg."

"Moving on," the chief-director continued, moving something unseen by the hologram. "What is Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals?"

Rosa smiled. "What do you wish to know?"

Awesome Notes and Notification:

Hey everyone, hope you like the latest chapter of Catastrophic Escalations.

Now, before anyone clamors about Rosa's back story, just remember I'm filling in some gaps to her lore. Hope you like how I portrayed her in here!

Please leave your comments, criticism, and thoughts!

Best,
PinoyGamer