Colin tipped his head as a deep echoing BOOM! rang out across the city, audible above the sound of his bike. Audio analysis programs immediately began triangulating on the position of what had to have been a massive explosion, using the direct sound and the echoes. He wasn't entirely surprised to find, when the results popped up on his HUD, to see it had come from the direction of the Docks. Somewhere to the south of the DWU compound, as best his software could tell.
"Control, this is Armsmaster. Extremely large explosion heard, located to Docks area. Proceeding to scene. Backup required on site," he said, having given the short blink code to his helmet that turned on VOX mode. "Notify BBPD to rendezvous at location, coordinates being transmitted. Have medical services on standby."
"Armsmaster, Control. Received, Assault and Battery en route, Miss Militia prepping VTOL-1, ETA five minutes. Velocity and Triumph on standby if necessary. BBPD notified," the clipped tones of the PRT operator replied immediately and efficiently.
He approved.
Opening the throttle, he did a U-turn and headed towards the northern end of the city at flank speed, weaving in and out of traffic with the ease of long practice and fast reactions, coupled with a very good driving assistance program. As he zoomed through the streets of Brockton Bay, more explosions sounded, two nearly as loud, one even louder, then a whole series of smaller ones. Flashes became apparent on the horizon in the direction he was going, which he had a very strong suspicion were from the same source.
A couple of minutes later and three miles closer he could now make out a roar of gunfire, what sounded like dozens of light-caliber automatic rifles in operation, the much heavier thumping sound of a fifty cal machine gun, and an intermittent buzz-saw like noise that he recognized with shock as an M134 minigun. Each burst from it was at least a couple of hundred shots so close together it sounded like a lawnmower engine only louder.
'Fuck, it sounds like a full scale war,' he thought with worry. A couple more explosions sounded, then an enormous scream of reptilian rage that echoed across the city and sent chills down his back. 'Oh, Christ, that was Kaiju and she's not happy.' Opening the throttle further, he crouched down over the bike and went flat out down the freeway, his siren going. Traffic was pulling over as they heard and saw him coming, leaving a clear path down the middle he took full advantage of.
The flashes on the horizon grew nearer and more frequent, betraying the sheer level of firepower that was going on. He watched with shock as one of the taller buildings on the horizon, one he knew was associated with the Merchants, simply vanished in a huge cloud of dust which billowed up, back-lit by the flashes. There was no associated explosion so what had done it was something of a mystery.
It did seem to suggest, though, that was was going on was what he'd feared, a full out attack by the Merchants on the DWU. That was going to piss the Family off something horrible and no one had ever wanted to find out what would happen under those circumstances.
Unfortunately, it looked like they were going to.
Behind him, he could see in his rear view mirrors several police vehicles closing on him, with a heavily armored SWAT van in the middle. Behind them several PRT vehicles were also wildly exceeding the speed limit. Over on the Rig, a pair of combat VTOL aircraft were rising into the air.
Everyone who could, was responding to the scene. He wouldn't have been surprised to find the National Guard got mobilized under the circumstances.
A couple of miles out the entire convoy pulled off the freeway and headed into the maze of streets that led towards what seemed to be a small war, splitting up and taking different routes. They were forced to slow down enormously due to the narrower and much more damages roads, Colin cursing each pothole as he went around it.
The distant commotion started to die down, the flashes suddenly becoming much less frequent. One or two more explosions, which sounded like grenades to his experienced ears, echoed around the old warehouses. A few seconds later there was another screech, which sounded horrifically triumphant, like some great predator had claimed a kill.
He had a sick sensation that might be exactly what had happened.
The sounds died away, the orange flickering glow that had shown the presence of a large fire abruptly going out. Within seconds, the noise and fury of a battle had been replaced with a silence that was eerie in its completeness. Apprehensive, he slowed still further.
"Armsmaster, PRT lead. No signs of battle on south side."
"Confirmed, PRT lead. Approach with caution, do not enter DWU premises without authorization. Do not engage Family or DWU forces under any circumstances, assign them friendly status. Interdict and apprehend any Merchant personnel on sight."
"Confirmed. PRT lead out."
Looking back, he waved to the BBPD vehicles following him, then waited for the lead squad car to draw abreast. He passed on the same message to them, the officer operating the radio while his colleague drove nodding and relaying the message. While this was less efficient than using the same radio channels it prevented mix-ups in dual operations of this nature.
"Armsmaster, this is Assault. We're approaching from the south-east, ETA two minutes. Everything has gone weirdly silent. Any idea what's going on?"
"No," he replied shortly. "We can't hear anything either. Be careful."
"Got it."
A sound from above and to the west made him look up to see the two aircraft slowly circling the rough area of the DWU compound. "VTOL-1, please describe the scene," he transmitted.
There was a pause, during which they drove onward. Finally his team-mate's voice came over the radio, sounding more than a little confused. "Armsmaster, VTOL-1. No signs of hostile or friendly forces. There's a building missing, though."
"Missing?"
"Entirely gone. Right down to the foundations. Two more are piles of rubble. Steam coming up in a couple of places suggests a fire was recently extinguished. I can see craters in some of the roads, it looks like mortar shell damage. Thermal traces show residue from multiple explosions, but no bodies, alive or otherwise." She paused, then added, "Correction… There is one heat source moving around just outside the front gate of the DWU. No obvious hostile intent."
"Family?"
"Not that I can see, it looks like an ordinary human."
"Maintain distance and keep watch. Stay alert."
"Confirmed." Her voice went away, while he wondered what the hell was going on.
A couple of minutes later his part of the convoy turned onto the road that led right to the main gate. Checking with the others, he found they were all a few seconds to a minute behind him. Holding up a hand, he halted his backup, then stopped his bike and assessed the situation.
There were a number of potholes in the road that looked more like craters and were definitely new, based on the rubble around them. These grew more frequent the closer to the DWU they got. Off to the left he could see steam gently drifting from behind a row of warehouses. There were shell casings everywhere he looked, the brass glinting in the light.
"This looks like someone was filming a war movie," Assault said from beside him, making him look to see the other man. Battery was next to him, the lines on her costume glowing brightly and showing she was fully charged up and ready for action.
"I know," he said, looking around again, very carefully. "But where are the people? And the guns?"
"Only one I can see is that guy," Ethan replied, pointing down the street. In the distance, illuminated in the light from the guard post at the entrance, someone seemed to be pushing a broom around. They exchanged a glance, then Colin gave the signal to move out.
Rumbling slowly closer, the convoy approached the lone person, who ignored them completely. When they were closer, he could see it was indeed someone sweeping up the shell casings, using a large yard broom. The man was one he recognized as the guard who was often on duty when he came by. Mike, or something like that.
Even when they stopped again, only fifty feet away, the man kept sweeping the casings up into a large pile, whistling through his teeth. Colin could see a whole mix of calibers there, from fifty cal heavy machine gun rounds right down to nine millimeter handgun ones, although the bulk of them looked like 7.62x51mm ones which would have come from the minigun. Glancing around he could see hundreds of pockmarks in the surrounding brickwork, although an odd lack of them in any of the buildings inside the fence. The craters seemed to stop at the fence as well, except for one large one he could just make out in the distance off to the left.
"Um, excuse me?" Ethan said after they'd been sitting there for nearly thirty seconds, two dozen cops, as many PRT troopers, and the three Parahumans. The man looked up. He seemed unsurprised to see them, but also unimpressed.
"Yes?" he asked politely, stopping his cleaning up and leaning on his broom.
Ethan looked around, then back at him. "What happened?"
"What do you mean?" the man asked, seeming mildly puzzled.
"All this." Ethan gestured at the casings on the ground, the holes in the buildings and the street, and the steam rising in the distance. The guard followed his hand, then looked back at him.
"Still not sure what you mean, I'm afraid."
Colin took over, seeing that his colleague was becoming frustrated. "We would like to know what happened to cause all this damage," he explained carefully. "There seems to have been a large battle here, we suspect that the Merchants may have moved against the DWU and the Family."
"Who?"
"The Merchants."
The guard definitely looked puzzled now. "Who are the Merchants?" he asked slowly. "You mean like people who sell things?"
"You might put it like that," Ethan muttered, although the man overheard.
"You're probably looking for the farmer's market, then," he said, pointing back down the street. "Down there about half a mile, turn right, another two miles then left, right, and left again. Can't miss it. But it'll be closed at this time of night." He looked thoughtful as Ethan stared. "I think it opens about half past six in the morning."
"Not… those merchants," Colin tried again. "Merchants. Archer's Bridge Merchants. The gang."
"Oh!" The guard looked enlightened. "I get it." He stopped talking and just looked at them.
"So?"
"What?"
Sighing gently, wondering if the man had a learning disability of some form, Colin tried once more, while behind him the troops became a little restless. "We would like to know if the Archer's Bridge Merchants, the drug gang, have been involved in a battle here tonight."
"Never heard of them," the guard said slowly and clearly, mimicking his speech. He stopped leaning on his broom, shaking it slightly. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to clean up a little. Someone has left all this scrap metal lying around and it's untidy."
It was Colin's turn to stare. He watched the man resume sweeping and whistling.
"You've never heard of the Merchants?" Battery asked in disbelief.
"No, ma'am, I can't say I have." He kept sweeping.
"They're a big gang, based here in the docks. They've been here for years. They've got three Parahumans leading them, Skidmark, Squealer, and Mush. Ring a bell?" Ethan moved a little closer, peering at the man, who stopped his task again, seeming mildly annoyed now.
"No."
"Biggest sellers of drugs in the city, if not the state?"
"Sorry. Can't help you, I'm afraid. Are you sure you have the right place?"
Ethan was holding his head in his hand as if it hurt now. "Yes. The Merchants. Drug gang. From here. Do. You. Know. What. Happened?"
"As far as I know, there's no such gang," the guard said, staring at them all with an expression of bemused wonder. "Sorry, I can't help you." He checked his watch, then shrugged. "And I go off shift in five minutes. Mind if I finish up?"
With a muffled scream of annoyance, Ethan turned to his wife, who looked at him, then the man. She sighed, and walked over, putting her hand on his sleeve. Stopping yet again, he looked at her. "Sir?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Where are the Merchants, please?"
"Ma'am, I can only tell you this once more, then I have to go home." He looked into her eyes. "There are no Merchants."
She looked back at him. Colin could see that for some reason she shivered a little. "What did all this?" he asked, waving around at the damage in the same way that Ethan had done earlier.
The guard looked around, then shrugged. "Kids, probably. Some little tearaways come through here sometimes and litter. It's annoying, but what can you do?" Checking his watch again, he put his broom over his shoulder. "Sorry, that's the end of my shift. If you want to wait my relief will be here in a minute. Everyone else is off tonight."
Battery watched as he turned around, then headed back into the DWU facility, ducking under the barrier and aiming for the admin building. After a moment she came over to them. "We need to go," she said in a low voice, looking around.
"What? Why?" her husband said, puzzlement on his face. "We need to find out what happened."
"No, we don't," she said urgently. "We need to go home, forget we heard anything, and pretend we never heard of the Merchants."
"What do you mean, Battery?" Colin asked. She looked over at him. His emotional processing program told him she was emoting fear and worry.
"What I mean is, I think he was telling the absolute truth. There are no Merchants." She looked around at the buildings, very carefully. "Not any more. And I for one do not want to know where they went. I think the Family is on a very short fuse right now, so I suggest that we calmly and quietly turn around, go home, and do our very best to forget that Skidmark and his idiot friends ever existed."
Colin inspected her closely, then followed her gaze. The dark and empty windows of some of the surrounding warehouses abruptly took on a much more threatening appearance. The total silence surrounding them, broken only by the low rumble of a few still-running engines, was beginning to become oppressive, as was the now-complete lack of any signs of life in the DWU facility which normally had at least a few people wandering around at any time of day or night.
"You may have a point," he replied in quietly. Looking up at the circling aircraft a thousand feet above them, he wondered if they could see anything more, but decided that this particular time and place probably weren't the optimal ones to inquire from. Turning around, he motioned to the waiting troops and police, all of whom were now also looking around uneasily, hands on weapons.
Everyone seemed quite relieved to get back into their vehicles and start their engines. Shortly the convoy was heading back towards less peculiar parts of the city.
On the way, Colin wondered if anyone would ever hear from the Merchants again. He suspected the answer was probably no.
He, for one, wasn't going to ask. There were some things it was probably better not to know, if you wanted to sleep at all.