Amy looked down at her and for once Vicky tried as best as she could to figure out what emotion was behind each little twitch of her eye or the corner of her mouth or how her nostrils flared. Okay that was weird. They stared at each other for minutes until Vicky's phone went off with a muted ring tone that was louder once she pulled it out. She handed it to Amy.
"Yes, Carol?"
"How else would I have her phone?"
"No, right now she is grinning like a fool lying on the roof of the PRT building."
"Yes, we are still there."
"No, I am not."
"I am going to the hospital."
"I know I have school tomorrow. I don't care."
"Don't tell me what to do. I am done listening. You lied to me. I never knew why you treated me so differently, but now I know. You are afraid of me just because my father is Marquis. And I am not Amy Dallon. I am Amelia Claire Lavere, but I am not who you. fear. I. am." Amy tossed the phone on top of Vicky's chest with the muted shrill voice of her mother screaming on the other end of the phone.
"What the fuck, Ames."
"It is not that I didn't know on some deep level. Our powers are somewhat similar. Though as he could only change himself, I can change everybody. I am not a changer; I am a striker." The screaming on the phone stopped so Vicky put the phone to her ear.
"Amy, Vicky, pick up the phone please."
"Mom, go to bed." She swiped the phone and the call ended before she shut it down. She pulled the battery out as Ames stared at Vicky in shock.
"What?"
"You told mom to go to bed."
"So, she sounded tired."
"And taking the phone apart?"
"We are not done talking about how my aura made you fall in love with me." Amy blinked as her face drained of all color.
"I get it and don't be shocked I figured it out. I mean you told me, and I didn't get it when you said it." Color returned to her face as she shivered. Being on top of a roof in the middle of April was not exactly warm even for the Bay.
"Come on I know a cafe that doesn't chase out kids this late at night." Vicky got up off the roof as she pretended to knock off some dust. Then she held out her hand and Amy took it. They had a lot to talk about, but in some way, she was sure it would all work out. If anything, she knew that it would be a few days before she could face her mom. Probably best to do it at her work.
MILLITARY INTELIGENCE
Arriving at Pease Air Force Base was easy. Even finding a spot to stop the moving van and hide it was easy. Moving over the fence and around the base just as easy almost too easy if it was not for the Force telling her it was that. The large hanger was the only part of the base that was busy and even then, this late at night busy was several guards walking around the building. Three rocket assisted jumps and they were on top of the building. Security looked good and would have found a climber, but power armor jumping to the top of the building was not expected and the lack of cameras on the roof confirmed such thoughts.
"So, we drop down and shoot up the place?" Mike as Cutlass asked.
"Nothing so." Skye as Saber replied as she watched the screen in her HUD as she guided the snitch around.
"Ya, we can't just be as bold as Uber and Leet. We are Saber Rapier, and Cutlass. We make precision cuts." Jeff as Rapier explained. Cutlass tapped his controls and watched the view from the snitch.
"Okay the ten guards outside we are not going to worry about until we open the main doors. We will drop from three different skylights. You will take care of anyone to your left and right stunning them. Trust your armor to protect you but be ready for a few that might hurt like a hard punch. Your body glove will stop their bullets. I will stun my share and so will Hast."
"Sounds good."
"Yep."
"Then the outer guards will most likely come in or run. Or both. Hast and I will stop the runners while you to take down those who attack. We round them up secure them and then Hast will bring the van through the fence while you two take down any cameras we missed."
"Let's do this."
"Ya."
"Master must the amateurs join us?"
"This is their trial by fire."
"Very well." Hast moved over to the farthest corner a countdown ticked off in their displays. Four sky lights shattered at the same time as blue circles shot out stunning nearly everyone present. Six technicians collapsed where they were. The four guards inside were too close together and were dropped with one stun shot. A minute later the other six guards were accounted for. Within three minutes they were all secured inside of a milvan container. By minute five the cameras were all shut off or destroyed.
"That was too easy."
"Come on Cutlass. You just jinxed us."
"I don't care this was too easy."
"The Force is saying the same, but it also not giving us a need to wary. However, we are on a time limit."
"Indeed master. Though I have to be impressed this craft has extensive repairs. It may even fly." Ayfour whistled and beeped as he traveled through the ship. Skye was more concerned about what she could scavenge from the ship. The hyperdrive was critical, but with time she could build a new frame and chassis for all the parts.
With the Way the Benign was made it would not be so hard. She managed to pack up her master's and her personal items. Feeling a huge relief as she secured his holocron. The engines took the longest time along with the hypermatter and coolant tanks. In less than two hours they striped the ship to its frame filling the moving van to the top. Ayfour and Hast were the last items loaded and they drove out as the Air Force personal banged on the milvan walls. Too easy, but not hard.
An hour later they unloaded the van in less time it took to load but making place to store the more critical items would take the rest of tomorrow. Skye was feeling good and fully prepared to listen to her master's holocron. She had missed him and though she still had no clue if he was alive or dead, she still maintained hope. Jeff and Mike had moved off to take a nap as Hast and Ayfour argued as they moved parts around. The fighter would hold what it could in its tanks and the torpedo tubes filled. She would take her morning run and hope that she could gain a bit more intel on ABB and what Bakuda was doing. She needed to get that criminal as putting bombs in people's heads were just as bad as slavers. Worse because she believed that Bakuda did it for fun.
Meditation helped calm her and restore her from the day's and night's activity. The guys would return the van first thing and from there they could do whatever. Though she was sure they would help her track down Bakuda. After an hour she pushed a bit of the Force into the holocron and the avatar of the device appeared.
"Greeting my padawan."
Greetings master. It has been a hundred and sixteen days locally since we crash on the planet called Earth. You are missing or dead and the benign is in pieces. I have found evidence and a home that once belonged to Ress. By his recordings he arrived in this system decades ago and is by his own words one with the Force. I believe I can build a new ship with the parts of the benign, the Scout, and the fighter."
"Then it is as my true vision predicted. I am sure as of this recording that I did not die, but I am somehow cut off from the Force or in a coma. I did not tell you because if you knew beforehand would have colored your actions. Use the skills I have taught you to gain the locals confidence. The vision was unclear on what we would face, but a Jedi's it will have, my knight. I know that I am not there to take your braid do know that you are Knight of the Republic and also stubborn enough not to take your braid out."
"That is correct master." She wiped her eyes glad she had not put on the soap resistant black stuff again. She had seen many uses for makeup but none so resistant to removal as Earth makeup.
"Good so let us record your experiences so far."
"That would take several hours, and my journal is not with me."
"Ah then when you are ready."
"Yes master." She bowed as she pulled her presence from the holocron. Her master's avatar bows as he faded from view.
INTERLUDE: AAR
Emily Piggot was tired, but that was how she always felt. Behind her was Armsmaster and Miss Militia and in front of them was a large board with very neat writing. Several columns listed off the known and guessed abilities of the Undersiders. They would be dealt with even if their powers were nearly perfect for what they do. With them having a thinker what they accomplished was not as far out of the scope of things and having those three beasts that used to be dogs made a five-man team grow to eight.
"Tattletale and Regent are their weak link. She is just a thinker so if we can take her out, they lose most of their intel. Regent if he is Hijack, is a problem. So far all he has done is trip people up, but he can if he gets enough time control someone out right. That creates problems as we have to enact stranger/master protocols." Piggot looked back at the two opening up for comment.
"I think that is a good assessment. I have come up with something similar and will have countermeasures for those bugs."
"Might have to have everyone adjust their costumes to show no skin. Panacea had to treat several for stings and luckily none of us have bee allergies, but she uses black widows and brown recluses as well."
"Hmm, the PR department will not like that, but if we don't, we have limited people who could face the girl. Write up a couple of combat scenarios and adjust their power ratings. I want that issued out to the PRT as soon as possible."
"Understood."
"Good." Emily stepped to the side to look over the next group. She disliked independents as much as she disliked villains. Especially if she could not control them in any way. Skye first appeared months ago, and she tore apart the Merchants within that time driving both Squealer and Skidmark into custody. Squealer was doing good in rehab surprisingly and given a full garage and access to a large junk yard has produced several interesting vehicles as long as several engineers are breathing down her neck. It has yet to pay off, but it might as the military is very interested in her vehicles, but more so her stealth tech.
Skidmark could be a major player, but his addiction was greater than hers. If Panacea was not so averse to using her powers as Piggot assumed then she could get another medium shielder, but so far, he was still spending five hours in containment foam every day.
Mush was an odd one and he was content to eat and sleep his gnomish body was almost enough to rate him as a case 53, but he lacked the tattoo. At least he was easy to deal with and clean now, but uncooperative.
That still did not solve the mystery of Skye. How she claimed to be a Jedi and that her power set kept fluctuating enough to keep raising her trump rating.
That she was public but still untouchable was frustrating on another level. Any agent sent to talk to her came back as if they never had such an assignment. That gave her a master/stranger rating that was growing nearly as fast.
Her tech was unique and the few reports from this military base did not seem to link into hers but on that note, it is assumed she just maybe a tinker that has been able to add the other ratings to her. It worked from one line of thinking as she first only had that blade but showed telekinetic ability. Though a tinker having a master ability with no sign of a device countered this thought.
Then once she was near enough to finishing with the remnant of the Merchants, she started hitting the ABB to the point she nearly has control of the international docks, the graveyard and train yard with the residential and commercial areas that are in that area.
She had not gone against the market. In fact, her influence has seen a marked increase of reported sales, but also and observed increase of black-market sales. She has not gone against Faultline's Crew, but they worked outside the city on their missions, so anything they did do did not attract attention.
Then she suddenly had full body armor and faced Lung. From the report she cleaned up after watching the bug girl now called Skitter nearly beat him on her own. With some interference from the Undersiders it made her wonder if Skye would join them, but Armsmaster's report suggest she would not.
Surprise came from Panacea as she had encountered her just before the bank heist. She claimed to be a healer and had left to come back and heal both Panacea and Glory Girl. Plus, she had no restriction on head injuries. She also thinks that whatever they talked about had to do with the split of Panacea and Glory Girl from New Wave, but that might be just teenage rebellion.
After that she gained two more armored teammates who revealed themselves last night as Rapier and Cutlass wearing armor similar to hers using energy weapons that stunned on contact which was new again and also had the same energy swords. Skye now going by Saber has put in doubt that this could be a fourth person.
The most frightening revelation was their fourth member and the one that was hopefully their tinker. It is assumed they are a cyborg but if they are not then it could only be a robot and one that worked very much like one of the models from the Machine Army. They had missed a camera and it had recorded them taking out the personal in and around the hanger stripping the craft that had crashed to the frame before leaving.
Several dozen drones flew around was the only odd part of the raid as one of them had similarities to the snitch that Uber and Leet had. It made the thinkers suggest that they had joined this girl, but their MO was such a fixture of their character she highly doubted they would just change. It was almost as if Skye and Saber were two different capes and their raid last night showed they had some link to the one in their medical bay who still refuse to wake up. Piggot sighed as she could not have another Nilbog or Machine Army form in her back yard.
The fifth member brought this to the fore as it could be nothing but a machine as it had done the most disassembly. With the drones serving a purpose as scouts the combat cyborg part of her attack team and the robot taking apart the ship it was clear that a better tinker was the cause and one that was not Leet. The multiple similar devices did not link into his abilities.
"Director you have been looking at that board for a long time." Armsmaster broke her out of her thoughts. Obviously impatient possibly to get back to some project he had running.
"Sorry I am tired, and this is something I do not like. Trying to decide what needs to be done."
"Have you decided?" Miss Militia asked.
"Yes and no. I want one of you to approach her at the lighthouse. I need confirmation that she is one just Skye or that she is also Saber. The similarities are not enough to not think they are two different people. If so then Saber, Rapier, and Cutlass are a new villain group that might be aliens and not capes."
"That would be bad."
"Bad or good we need to know, and I need to sleep before my dialysis."
"What of the robots they used?"
"Hopefully they cannot self-replicate, but I want containment protocols written up. Do not involve the think tank yet. If they are then this will blow up out of our control. We do not need to have quarantine protocols enacted on a city this large." Miss Militia gasped as she shared a look with Armsmaster. What she could see of his face reflected he was just as concerned. Director Piggot moved out of the room by entering the elevator.