- - -Still-Defiant- - -
The sight I'm greeted with as I walk into Kid Win's workshop is… interesting. He's arm-deep in the mostly-complete guts of what clearly used to be my bike. The speaker system in the workshop is blaring rock music at an ear-splitting volume, Kid Win bobbing his head along to it.
He's clearly hit his groove - he hadn't even noticed me walk in. The bike has definitely seen a thorough work-over - the exterior panelling has been modified to mesh with his armour's look, and both wheels have been entirely replaced with what I quickly identify as hover units.
A hover-bike? Well, Kid Win knows how to play into his style, I'll give him that. The overall design of the bike, too, has clearly been heavily modified to allow for a modular framework. Despite myself, I smile - it's good to see that he's hitting his stride. From the looks of things, he's figured out his speciality well enough.
Kid Win steps back, turning to retrieve something from one of the cabinets, when he turns around to return to his work, he spots me. A wide smile comes to his face, and he fiddles with one of the controls on a nearby PDA. At once, the music cuts. "Armsmaster! I didn't see you there."
"Hello, Kid Win. I'm in The Bay on Guild business for a few days, so I figured I'd drop by to see how everything's going."
He drops the components he had retrieved on the bench. Gesturing to the bike, "Well - very well, really. I've been having a lot of luck with this project - I'd say it's almost ready for the review board."
That's good to hear - I know he'd had a lot of trouble in the past getting things to the point where they could be given the final OK. "No issues with the maintenance or anything? I would have liked to have stepped you through everything personally - I hope my notes have sufficed."
He shakes his head. "Nah - not really. Things have been pretty hectic here lately, but I've been coping. Your notes have been a great help, honestly."
"Hectic? I can't say I've really been keeping up with what's been happening."
He does a double take at my words - "You haven't heard? Shadow Stalker got busted. Big-time - word is she's headed for prison. Director Piggot came down on her like a ton of bricks - no mercy. It's all been kept real hush."
Really? Well, that's good to hear. It seems like setting Miss Militia on the case was a good call. I'm relieved to hear that things have been resolved satisfactorily. Even if she never knows I had a hand in things, I do hope things work out for the better for Weaver. There isn't much else I can do - best to just leave well enough alone for now.
He continues. "There's been a bit of tension in the Wards since. She was always prickly, but none of us figured that she was… well, you know."
"I see. It sounds like you've had your hands full." I nod to myself, coming to a decision. "Tell you what - I've got a few hours this afternoon free. Why don't I lend a hand here - see if I can't help you get this all sorted out a little sooner?"
It's true - there's not much of anything else productive I can spend my time on here in The Bay. We're pretty much just waiting for Uber and Leet to get back to us.
Kid Win breaks into a shining smile - "That sounds great! Here, let me show you what I'm looking at right now - I think you'll be able to help out."
"The Toronto Guild HQ is coming up now - prepare for landing." Dragon announces over the suit's speakers. Uber and Leet's pickup had gone smoothly - the two packed lightly, and had been ready to leave The Bay the day after we gave them our offer.
The pair are sitting next to each other in the suit, strapped in. They haven't said much of anything - either to each other, or to anyone else. The ride hasn't exactly had a comfortable atmosphere, but I suppose it doesn't matter.
Uber is set for The Protectorate, and so long as Leet can work with the other Tinkers, he shouldn't cause much trouble for us.
Lodestar's voice comes over our private comms. "They're nervous - I think they're practically dreading their meeting with Narwhal. They do at least want to put a good foot forward, I think."
Good to know - I'm satisfied with how well things have been going so far. It remains to be seen whether they'll settle in well, but getting two villains off of the streets is a positive regardless. Should worst come to worst, and Leet is entirely unsuitable for work on the project, we can shuffle him off to one of the Protectorate departments, or shift his work towards something that doesn't really require him to work with a team.
As the suit touches down, the troopers posted to the pad greet us and inform me that Narwhal is waiting for us in the meeting room. Lodestar and Flechette are dismissed, and go their own way as I show Uber and Leet to the room.
The meeting goes about as I expect. It's really Narwhal's show - she's laying down the law and setting down the expectations we have of them. No Villainy on the side or else she'll bust the both of them personally, no disclosing anything to the public or press, no more streams, welcome to the Guild and Protectorate - the works.
I'm fairly confident that her spiel has had the desired effect - Narwhal is a big deal, and the two of them now have her personal attention. That should more than suffice to discourage any sort of backslide into Villainy.
I'm only paying half a mind to it all - behind my helmet, I'm catching up on the reports our Tinker team has sent through. Things are proceeding apace - Corona and Gelid have settled into their workshop and have made a start on a weapons system for the Dragon's Teeth. Dragon's notes say the idea is a sort of particle beam cannon derived from Corona's tech, with cooling from Gelid's tech. We'll have to see how the development pans out, but I see no reason to interfere with it yet.
The meeting soon wraps up, and Narwhal takes Uber to introduce him to the Toronto Protectorate, leaving me to introduce Leet to the Guild facilities at his disposal. As I give him the tour, I notice he's quite subdued - a marked difference from the persona he typically projects.
"Now, I understand you are planning to seek out civilian housing?"
He nods. "Yeah, I figure things'll work out better that way."
"I'll see you to our legal team, then - they will help you sort out the details. Until everything is sorted, you'll have a room here at Guild HQ." As we walk down the hall, I gesture to a glass door in passing, a bustling office behind. "There's our PR department - I recommend you make use of it, even if only for ideas for your rebranding. They're the people who will ultimately have final say, so I also recommend you familiarize yourself with their expectations."
Given Leet's reputation, his contract is far more restrictive in terms of the freedoms he has with his own brand than Lodestar's is. Uber's contract is even moreso, given the Protectorate's public-facing position.
He nods again. "Right."
Coming to the door we're looking for, I step inside, Leet following. After exchanging a few words with the secretary we wait in silence. If Leet had instead been a Ward transferring in, I might have attempted to offer a few words of reassurance, but given his past, I don't think that will be well-received.
The person in charge of sorting out all of the legal minutiae in regards to Leet's situation soon walks in, greeting the two of us. Leet and the lawyer leave the room, walking into the office and I take a seat in the waiting room.
He isn't at all like what I expected him to be - maybe it's just the shock of it all, or maybe the persona he puts on is just a show for the cameras. Our research would suggest the former, but Lodestar has gotten bad reads before. I make a note to ask her for her opinion - we'll have to see how things develop once he gets properly settled in.
"Armsmaster!"
The man had spotted me as soon as I'd walked into the lobby. I nod to him, making my way over from the elevator. "Hardcase - I'm glad you made it up here well." It had taken a little bit of time, but he's a veteran Hero - I'm glad to have him on board.
He's clad in his armour - slabs of ungodly thick polymer plating, integrated ablative shield emitters, heavy-duty reinforced joints, and almost comically large pauldrons that serve to further shroud his helmeted head from the outside world - complete with his favoured greatshield, strapped atop his back. He cuts an imposing figure - that's for certain. He's got the chops as a Hero to deserve it, too - you don't stay in the game for nine years without being good at what you do.
I continue - "Come on up - I'll introduce you to the team and let you get acquainted with the workshop. You're the last person to arrive, so we'll be having the formal project briefing later this week."
"I'm eager to get to work. From the sounds of things, you've got quite the setup here."
"That's good to hear. We've got a lot to do, and limited time to get it done." We step into the elevator, taking it up to the workshop level. As we step out, I can hear profanity-laden shouting, accompanied by the screaming racket of power tools - Corona, no doubt.
Internally, I sigh - her creative process is quite… spirited. Still, she gets results, and nobody really expects the workshop to be a quiet place. It doesn't take long for us to find her - she's taking an angle grinder to a mess of tubing and cabling fitted inside a steel frame.
"Corona!"
She drops the tool, turning to face me. "Boss! I was just -"
I wave her off. "This is Hardcase, the other Tinker I mentioned would be joining us."
"It's good to meet you." Hardcase greets her, clearly amused by the show. "You were with the Fort Worth Protectorate, right? I think you installed one of your generators for us down in Raleigh."
She scratches the back of her head, nodding. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Don't remember ever running into you though."
I look around the workshop. Now that Corona's stopped, it's silent. "Have you seen anyone else around today?"
She shrugs. "Masamune dropped by earlier, but Dragon dragged him away to one of her factories for something. Gelid's been staying cool - prefers to plan things out in her room and only come down once she needs to make things. Haven't seen the other new guy since you showed him around, either."
I nod - I suppose we've come by at a slow time, then. Leet isn't cleared to begin Tinkering just yet, so it stands that he hasn't come by the workshop. It seems to me that he's getting to grips with things well enough, but I haven't exactly sat down to speak with him about it.
"I'll have to do the proper introductions at the briefing. We'll let you get back to it, then."
"Sure thing, boss." She picks her tool back up, flicking it back on.
As we walk away, the stream of curses that Corona had been throwing at her work return with a vengeance. Hardcase chuckles - "She's got a personality, that one."
"That's a word for it. I don't have any complaints, however - her work so far has been good." It's true - despite her rough exterior, Corona has quite the work ethic. The Dragon's Teeth weapon has already seen a number of prototypes, each better than the last.
AN: So, it's been a while. I've been fairly busy with life stuff, and none of the writing I did manage to do got put up anywhere.
I did, however, do an edit pass on all the previous chapters for this story. Mostly grammar and tone adjustments, but the final scene in 2-11 (the one between Lodestar and Flechette) did see considerable changes - it really didn't accomplish what I wanted it to, so hopefully it should fit in a little better now.
No promises on a timeline for the next chapter, but I would like to get it done sooner rather than later.