The air stank. That was the first thing Jim noticed. A day to get back, a day to talk to Cauldron in the morning, then Jim met Victor and a day of him getting yelled at and tested.
And now they were back. The Truce was over and the front line Protectorate Capes were withdrawing from New Orleans. Jim couldn't see the city, or what was left of it, but there was a breeze coming off the ocean, and it was picking up… A mixture of smells. Fire, chemicals, a sweetish scent that his trollish instincts were only too happy to recognize. The sky was clear, obscenely so, and Jim saw the interstate, parts of it washed out, abandoned and crumpled cars on it and tossed to the side, some sinking into the mire that bordered the road.
Many of those had red Xs painted on them, a number after the X.
Bodies for later recovery.
But right now they were here to get the living. The dead wouldn't mind waiting.
Jim walked into the big tent set up for the various Wards teams. Claire was with him, and oddly enough, so was Orb Weaver.
She'd shown up at the PRT building and just calmly said: "I can help with search and rescue."
Jim found his seat, Claire sitting beside him. She was still a little pale, glancing around at the others. She'd calmed down, but was still a little… Skittish.
Because she knows. And you know, and you can't tell. Every person in the room, except for any artificial capes, were victims. Whatever they had done with their powers, their powers hadn't come to them as a gift, but a curse.
Jim took a breath, thinking of poor Ann. You wanted to help Kenji, so did you get the voice of an angel, or a power that let you understand the law to free him? No, you got a power that let you smash things, and use your anger in the worst possible way. He hoped she wouldn't do anything rash while they were gone.
Glory Girl and Amelia were talking. Amelia had forgone her old costume for serviceable jeans, boots, white shirt and a jacket, along with a back pack holding biomatter for her to use. She'd be staying back at the camp, providing healing.
A decision she had made.
"Okay everyone," an older man said as he took the podium. "We don't have a lot of time. I'm James Tagg, and right now I'm your boss. All the front line capes have gone home so our job is recovery of any living people still in the condemned region, while also providing security for groups that will be going in and salvaging items of commercial, artistic, or scientific value."
His gaze swept over them. "You have been rated by your local PRT divisions as to what role you will play. I will not entertain requests to change that. Your superiors know you and know what you can handle and this…" He activated a map, the hologram showing the city before Leviathan, and then the ruins. Entire skyscrapers had fallen into the waters, cars, and debris bobbing from them. "Is going to be ugly. There are over a quarter million bodies out there, most of them unrecovered. Many of the survivors, a number we estimate to be at about 25,000, are either trapped or otherwise immobilized which means we're on a time limit. Still others are refusing to leave—and it is our job to get them out, regardless of their desires. Don't expect a lot of thanks, whatever you do."
Most of the Wards were looking uneasy. Fighting was one thing, but this…
"Because of that, you will be mentally evaluated after every shift." Tagg looked at them. "If your evaluator or your superior officer on the scene decides that you are no longer capable of taking part in this operation, temporarily or permanently, you will leave, immediately. Don't be brave, don't try to hide it, because that's how people end up eating a bullet. Because this is so time critical, you will be working twelve-hour shifts, subject to your PRT supervisor's evaluation." He nodded. "Get your beacons, meet your teams. We have a lot of people to save."
"Movers! Movers over here!" someone shouted. Claire patted Jim and went off. She'd been pissed when Piggot had red-carded her for working inside the city, but then the Director had threatened to not let her come at all. So she would be handing out the six beacons she'd made and serving as a central hub for the forward camps to return people to the main relief base at Gonzalez Park.
Jim didn't mind the fact that she wouldn't be going into the city. He didn't mind at all.
"Right, you're Trollhunter." The PRT agent looked up at him, his face hidden behind a visor. "You'll be teaming up with the Coast Guard, along with Kid Win, Aegis, and Gallant."
"Vista?"
"Not allowed in the city. She's handling transport duties on the Interstate."
Good.
"You'll also be handling one of our supervised release capes."
What? "I…who are they?"
"Parahumans in prison can volunteer for some jobs. This is one of them. Here they come now."
Jim looked up and heard Aegis curse. The cape was wearing a simple domino mask, with a bright orange jumpsuit with "PRISONER" stenciled on it.
But that didn't matter. Sophia Hess.
The PRT agent gestured and a Coast Guard officer walked up.
"I'm signing off custody of the prisoner to you, sir."
"I accept custody." The PRT agent looked over at Sophia. "You can be returned to prison for any reason this officer deems valid. If you move beyond 500 yards, your locater will trigger and you will be in violation of your parole. Any attempt to escape may be met with lethal force. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sophia said.
"Please state for the record that you understand."
"I understand! Now let me get some work done."
"Very well. Trollhunter, Petty Officer Jackson, I transfer custody of Phase to you."
No Shadow Stalker. Wonder why? I—oh… shit.
Orb Weaver was walking towards them. Jim didn't know what she was going to be doing, but she was walking towards them.
And I can't explain why this is a tremendously bad thing without…
Well, in the worst case, Jim could throw Sophia into the water… he didn't think there were any horrific insects that lived underwater…
But Orb Weaver walked up to Sophia, staring at her.
"You're the bug master, right?" Sophia looked at Orb Weaver. "Too bad Piggy lost her nerve before you showed up. I bet we could have done some good work together."
Jim indulged in a brief, silent, meltdown while Gallant stared at Orb Weaver with wide eyes, evidently at whatever emotions he was seeing. But Orb Weaver just stared.
"You're shorter than I recall," she finally said, then turned to Jim. "They'll have me on an air boat. My bugs can't help much with rescue, but I'll be tagging anyone in the area. I'm working with your team first."
"Okay, thanks!" Jim said quickly. "Now, Um, Officer Jackson, what are your orders?"
The older man had been watching Orb Weaver very carefully, but then he nodded. "Right, now listen up. Some of you have combat experience, some of you"—he stared at Jim—" have a lot of it. But this isn't combat. Half the city is falling down, the other half will fall down if you look at it wrong. Find a person under a car, pull the wrong thing, and you'll bring a building down on them—and you. Fliers, stay in the air, and don't put your weight on any structure. Trollhunter, here's your gear." He handed Jim a breather unit. "It's idiot proof, technically, but I'm going to show you how to use it. You don't swim that well, do you?"
"I'm heavier than water, but I can thrash my way to the surface." Jim stared at the breather. "But that will come in handy." You know, between Night and Fog and this, maybe I should ask Merlin if there's a way I can fix the armor to handle that.
Merlin probably already had the solution and was waiting for Jim to ask.
"Right." The man looked at them all. "This is my fourth Endbringer recovery detail. You are going to see ugly shit. Tagg wasn't kidding. You're heroes by being here. Don't make yourself a statistic by staying too long. If you need to go, ask. Trollhunter, you're my second. Now, let's go."
They headed off to the boats bobbing at the end of the Interstate, a crumpled school bus just beyond them. There was a red X with the number 5 on the bus.
Jim wondered if it had been one of the cheerleading team's buses. Or if the people in it had hoped that he would save them.
But there was no time for that now. Not while there were still living people around to be saved.