- - -Still-Defiant- - -

I dismiss the report up on the main lab screen. We've missed our opportunity with Bakuda - Lung broke her out from the prison yesterday. I didn't know when Lung was going to do that, but in hindsight, ensuring measures be taken in advance would have been a wise idea.

That was careless. I need to be more thorough in the future. There's a lot to keep track of - I'm not surprised that something fell through the cracks. I'll just have to do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again, and ensure the damage that this blunder will do is mitigated.

I make a note to forward our analysis of her to the Brockton Bay PRT later - she's dangerous, and a repeat of her bombing campaign is not desirable. Maybe we could include some future knowledge in the mix, presented as Lodestar's Thinker analysis? It bears consideration. I add to my notes - I'll handle it all tonight.

I stand from my seat, walking over to my workbench. My gear is complete. Or rather, near enough to it that I'm comfortable taking it into the field. I'll be tweaking things and adding minor optimizations over the next few months, no doubt. Things are slightly different, but for the most part it's the same gear I'd used as Defiant.

Save for two major differences: it lacks any sort of integration with cybernetics, and it isn't in the frilled, forest green and gold leaf aesthetic I'd had as Defiant. Rather, it complies with the futuristic style that I'd sported as Armsmaster - dark blue and silver, with both sleek curves and complementary well-defined edges.

My reasoning is simple - people in this time recognise Armsmaster, not Defiant. Reinventing my brand isn't worth the trouble. Personally, I'm conflicted - Armsmaster isn't who I am anymore, and were other factors not at play I'd choose to rebrand myself as Defiant once more. But, this is the real world - rebranding is expensive, unnecessary, and disruptive.

Perhaps I will if an opportunity presents itself, but until then I will have to stay as Armsmaster - regardless of my personal feelings on the matter.

I check the next thing on my to-do list: test helmet seals again. I grab my helmet from the table, lowering it onto my head. The click it makes as the latches catch is encouraging. I engage the seal, separating my armour's atmosphere from the outside world. "Run diagnostic: environmental seal."

With a hiss of air, the diagnostic begins. Where before I could activate such a thing through my cybernetic interface, now I need to use voice commands. A minor inconvenience - trivial. More important functions can still be accessed easily - my ocular interface, switches in my gauntlets.

There's another hiss as the pressure in my suit is normalized, signalling the completion of the diagnostic. The report appears on my display - everything within tolerances. Good. I pop the latches, removing my helmet once more.

Lodestar is on her way down now to give her input on what her armour will look like. The mission to recruit Masmune is soon, and I want her to be with me down on the ground.

I turn back to the lab computer, working through my backlog. A few minutes later an alarm sounds, signalling a visitor to the lab. My eyes flick to the camera feed, confirming that it is actually Lodestar. I push a button, allowing her access. She walks in, looking like a normal Guild paper-pusher save for the blank black mask covering her upper face.

"So, Armsmaster - Dragon said you had something for me?"

"I do - it's right over there." I gesture to the workbench where her suit was laid out. "Your own suit. Heavy duty protection without unreasonable bulk, a full suite of sensors, and a few other things you may find useful in the field. Made to fit, customized specifically for your abilities."

Her mouth hangs open. "You made me a suit." it clicks shut. She steps over looking at it closely. "You really did. I…" She shakes her head, turning back to me. "I'd ask if you were sure, but you've already made the thing. Why?"

"Your power lends well to both fieldwork and analysis. In the event that you are needed on a mission, we want you to be well-equipped to handle whatever the situation may call for, and well-protected from any potential threats."

"Right." She looks at me, appraising. Eventually, she turns back to the armour. After a few moments, and with a quiet voice she says "Thanks."

"It was no trouble. Now, Dragon's facilities will be able to handle whatever aesthetic work you want to do with no turnaround to speak of - give her as many or as few details as you want, and she'll make sure it will be ready for the mission."

"The mission?"

I nod. "That's right. I want you with me for when we make contact with Masamune. I don't expect any trouble - this is to help you get your bearings with working in the field. Before then, you'll be receiving training - both in how to operate the suit, and the rest of the basics you'll need to know about working down on the ground level. You may have picked some of it up already, but we just want to make sure there aren't any serious gaps in your knowledge."

The basics is an apt term for it - comms discipline, rudimentary threat analysis, first-aid, and so on. The training is a crash course, but if her actions since we recruited her are any indication, I'm confident she'll be able to handle herself well.

She nods along. "Alright - makes sense."

I move over to the lab computer, tapping through a few menus. A video feed to Dragon appears on the screen. "I'll leave you two to sort out all of the details - I have an appointment that I need to keep."

I sit down in the conference room, alone. Taking the remote to the screen, I begin working the controls. The call had been scheduled for four, on the dot - a minute's time.

As I wait, I sit and think. Our recruitment efforts are progressing nicely. Offers have been extended to a number of Protectorate Capes, and we're awaiting responses now. A significant amount of my initial list had been deemed non feasible for one reason or another - I'm not especially surprised, but the investigation had been worthwhile nonetheless.

Blasto and Leet are the only Villainous capes we've deemed as worthwhile recruits. The investigation into Blasto has stalled - we'll have to contact him before we go further. His recruitment has a clear purpose - getting him out from where The Nine can get to him. When we start moving to take The Nine out, under no circumstances do I want Bonesaw to start making clones - if that means recruiting Blasto, then that's a price I'll gladly pay.

On the other hand, I'm much more conflicted about Uber and Leet. Unlike Tattletale, the two have done some genuinely horrible things - they don't have a body count, but a few people still haven't recovered from their 'shows'. Lodestar seems to think that reform is possible, however, so I'll take her word for it.

They don't have a good reputation - even among Villains, let alone Heroes. The only reason I'm even considering them in the first place is Leet's technology. Uber is irrelevant - he's only even being considered for his relation with Leet. If we can recruit Leet without Uber, then we'll certainly do that.

I saw a lot of Leet's tech during my tenure in the Bay - mostly abandoned failures; everything he makes is just about ready to fall to bits, blow itself up, or just out-and-out stop working altogether.

There's only one stipulation.

I've never seen another Tinker with such a broad technology basis. Every single device I analysed used a completely different fundamental operating principle - even devices that were similar on a surface-level were completely and totally different when you get down into the nuts-and-bolts of things.

It says something about his speciality - or lack thereof: something that The Project could potentially make use of. I'd never even consider including something he personally makes in anything that gets deployed - but something derived from his technology? Something that Dragon and Masamune have torn down and re-engineered from the ground-up?

That's where his value could be.

It's a passing observation I'd made when The Guild had first recruited Masamune in the future. But, Leet had been dead for some time at that point. Even if that hadn't been the case, I can't imagine I'd ever have followed through with it. I hadn't known the true extent of our adversary, then.

I shake myself from my thoughts - it's time for the call. I put it through. Flechette's tinted visor greets me, a profile shot of her purple helmet taking up the screen.

"Uh - hello, Armsmaster." Her helmet leaves the lower half of her face exposed - a PR concession now absent from my own.

"Flechette. It's good to speak with you. Will we get right to it, then?"

"Ok. Sure. I'm calling to formally accept your offer. I've put through all the paperwork with the Protectorate and got my approval back this morning."

Under my helmet, I smile. "That's good to hear. We're glad to have you on board. When are you dismissed from your duties with The Wards?"

My notes on the specifics of the arrangement scroll up the interior screen of my helmet. It looks like Lodestar and Dragon managed to negotiate a very good deal. She'll still be getting all of the previously negotiated benefits of her Wardship when she turns eighteen - even if she stays with us until then.

"I'll be staying on until the thirtieth." A little under a week's time. "I think I'll manage to make it up to Toronto a few days after that? Dragon said that The Guild would be able to help me out with the move."

That's about as fast as we can expect a transfer like this to go through. "That's correct. I'll put you in contact with the appropriate people after this call. Was there anything else you wanted to speak about while you have me?"

"No - that's all. I just wanted to thank you for this opportunity - I'm excited to get to know everyone." She smiles once again.

"I look forward to seeing you up here, then." As way of goodbye, I give her a nod. She returns it, and I cut the connection.

White and indigo will suit Lodestar, I think. For the suit, she's chosen a two-tone design, with a lens-flare shaped decal across the chest.

Her helmet - the most different part of her armor to the gear that the Dragon's Teeth used - now has its full-face polarized visor in a bright, shiny purple.

While her costume as Tattletale was also purple, she's chosen a darker shade for her armour. I'm not going to read too much into it - she may very well just like the colour. If you looked at the two costumes side-by-side, you wouldn't make the connection.

It's flashy - attention-getting. But, it isn't ostentatious or crude. It looks good - it'll command attention far better than something more understated.

In terms of her power, it may actually be better if she's dressed to impress, so to speak. From what I know of her, she does her best work if she can get her target to engage with her verbally. Commanding respect is an important part of that.

I nod to her. "It looks good. Now, I'm going to step you through putting it on, taking it off, how to store it away after a mission, and how to use all of its features."