A/N: Chap 19 review responses are in my forums as normal.
Chapter Twenty: The Power of Suggestion
Taylor couldn't sleep much. Because of her revelations about Overmind's victims, the initial plan of a night attack changed to a morning one, allowing Dragon time to bring in enough stun batons and extra batteries to ensure the encroaching force could do non-lethal take-downs where possible.
Most of the villains who survived the fight that drove Overmind out of Seattle years ago didn't think non-lethal would work. The minions weren't shambling zombies—they moved as fast or faster than unenhanced humans and would most likely be armed and ready to kill.
Still, despite the time off, it felt odd for Taylor to try sleeping in the middle of large, open room that had both villains and heroes. Instead, she meditated, letting the Force weave its way through her mind and body. It wasn't quite sleep, but it was refreshing. It passed the hours of darkness quickly. She didn't need the Force to know the coming day was going to be difficult. She felt a genuine premonition of ominousness. She didn't feel that she herself was going to die, but knew something bad was definitely going to happen.
Eventually she pulled out her phone. Earlier, after she'd sent Yuki a text to let her know she'd be a day longer at least, Yuki responded with dozens of pictures showing the work Jorge had already begun on their home.
After sending back the appropriate expression of enthusiasm, she turned off her phone to save batteries, closed her eyes, and attempted to meditate some more. It was easily two hours before dawn, so she figured she could get at least another hour of meditation in.
She managed three minutes. "Quintessence?"
Opening her eyes, Taylor found herself facing a cape kneeling down in front of her cot, whispering her name. In the dim lighting overhead, Taylor saw a woman in her thirties wearing a relatively loose bright blue and white costume. Like many, her mask covered the upper portion of her face, with a rising sun over a horizontal line in the middle of her forehead. She wore her hair tied into a coiled braid at the back of her head.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well, I've been wanting to talk to you, but not enough to wake you early. Then I saw your phone on and figured this was as good a time as any. Would you be willing to come with me to talk about the attack plan?"
"Who are you?"
The woman blinked, before giving a self-deprecating smile.
"Right, different city. My name's Horizon, Protectorate out of Detroit. When I mentioned my idea to the boss, Alexandria actually said you might be my best bet. Do you have a few moments?"
Taylor looked around her cot—including the empty, grease-stained paper plate that held her dinner earlier, and the empty water bottle. At least this cape asked nicely. "Sure. Lead the way."
Taylor left her cot and the mass of snoring victims (Grizzly's snores sounded like a race car engine) and followed the woman out of the room and into the back administrative offices. They entered a second, smaller lobby that was filled with dozens of work stations and large monitors all showing the same section of Vancouver, on the Washington side of the Columbia River just north of Portland. PRT agents and support staff were glued to every monitor.
Overmind had taken over an industrial section of the town near an old air force base, and her minions spent the past two days or so barricading a shopping area and a warehouse district for what everyone knew was a coming fight.
"So, you're a long way from home," Taylor noted as they slipped out of the manned command center.
"I'm finishing up my Triumvirate tour," Horizon said, as if that explained everything. When she saw from Taylor's thin mouth—the only visible part of her face—she again smiled in a sheepish fashion. "Right, not Protectorate. I've been tapped for a possible leadership position. It's traditional for heroes on the leadership track to serve under all three of the Triumvirate. I served as a Ward under Legend, a year or two under Eidolon, and now I'm doing a polishing tour under Alexandria."
Taylor didn't know how to respond to that, so instead just followed the older woman out of the building to a large, open parking lot where the PRT transports and helicopters awaited.
"Where are we going?"
"To one of the transports," Horizon said. "While the PRT has me classified as a striker, my primary power is a Thinker. Specifically, enhanced senses. I can zoom my vision in a telescopic way and visually process multiple scenes, or I can see through inorganic material, or I can see nothing but organic material. It's one at a time, but coupled with enhanced pattern recognition, I am very, very good at finding people and things."
With that explanation, Taylor understood. The attack plan that Alexandria outlined the previous evening to all the capes was a two-pincer incursion of capes and PRT at either corner of Overmind's territory, with National Guardsmen coming behind to solidify any gains. A flotilla of various county river patrol boats guarded the river side of Overmind's complex.
But with now over five thousand expected enhanced victims, Taylor knew they were anticipating a long, potentially bloody day. "You want to sneak in, find Overmind, and take her out before the body count gets too high," Taylor noted.
Horizon slowed her pace and looked over her shoulder. "Yes, actually. That's exactly what I want to do. And Alexandria thinks you can help us."
"How?"
Before Horizon could answer, they cleared a PRT transport truck and came across a large, futuristic vehicle that looked like it belonged on the deck of the starship Enterprise, rather than the parking lot of a defunct car dealership. Forward swept wings and a stylish cockpit that ended in a carved, snarling mouth made Taylor think of a dragon.
Her gut then clenched when she realized it was Dragon. Or at least, one of her transports. Standing around the transport, Taylor saw a team of eight men and two women in a sleeker, trimmed-down version of PRT combat fatigues. The uniforms were uniformly black, with the letters PRT in a slightly lighter shade of dark stitching. Instead of the huge, bulky foam dispensers, each wore a smaller, much more streamlined backpack that hugged their backs much better.
One of the men walked toward the two capes.
"Shit, Horizon, she's just a kid," the man said.
"Ya know, Scapetti, I'm pretty sure Alexandria was aware of that. She suggested Quintessence anyway."
Taylor knew for a fact that protesting to an adult about not being a kid just made her look like a kid. So she didn't.
"Why did she suggest me?" Taylor said.
"This," Horizon said. She stepped past Scapetti to the lip of the side loading door of the transport, and grabbed a tablet. She brought it back and stood so both Taylor and the PRT agent named Scapetti could see.
It was the lobby of the Washington University medical center. The footage was black and white, but otherwise good quality. And in the middle of it, Taylor simply appeared. Or rather, Taylor became noticeable.
The footage changed to another lobby—this one of Bayview West. There were the expecting couple with the smart-ass dad-to-be. And there Taylor appeared again, out of nowhere, behind them.
Scapetti grunted. "Huh. So, you're a healer. And a stranger."
"And a Tinker, if you built those batons of yours yourself," Horizon said.
"What batons?" Scapetti demanded. He glanced at her sabers. "Those look like flashlights to be."
"Hardlight batons," Taylor said, grasping for the easiest explanation. "And yes, I built them. But no, I'm not a tinker. I don't have fugues. I read that real tinkers have them. I don't."
"Let's see 'em," Scapetti said, holding out his hand.
"No."
The answer seemed to stump him. "Listen, kid, this is a PRT op, I'm senior agent in charge. And I'm not taking untested tinker tech into combat. Let's see 'em."
Taylor shrugged. "I'm not PRT. I'm not Protectorate. And I'm not handing over my lightsabers to anyone I'm not comfortable with. I don't care how you deal with it, it's not my problem. If you don't want me, then I'll go back to my cot and…"
"Quintessence, stop. Please." Horizon bit her lower lip a second. "Agent Scapetti has a point, but if you can hide us like you hid yourself, that makes you invaluable to the plan. Could you? Could you get us into Overmind's compound without us being detected?"
"I've never tried hiding so many people, but…yeah. Probably."
"Okay. So…if you're not willing to let Scapetti see your…what did you call them?"
"Lightsabers."
"Lightsabers, right. If you're not willing to let him see them, can you at least demonstrate them for us?"
Taylor was intimately aware of the other agents behind Scapetti, watching as they warily held their weapons. The weapons they held, however, were not foam dispensers. They looked very similar, in fact, to the weapons the Russians used.
"What kind of demonstration?"
Horizon looked to the PRT agent, a determined expression on her face.
"Fine, fine, stop with the puppy dog face," he muttered.
"I'm wearing a mask, Scapetti."
"Fuck that, you could have a bag over your head and I'd still know a puppy dog face when I seen it," he muttered.
Behind him, one of the two women laughed.
"Don't be a pussy, Scapetti. Two women on the squad is enough, the women's showers aren't big enough for a third."
That elicited more laughter, which Taylor was surprised that Scapetti went along with. He even chuckled a little himself.
"Fine, brief demonstration." He unclicked a large, black handle from his belt. With a flick of his wrist, it unfolded into a two-foot long baton. He flicked a switch, and it suddenly started to hum with electricity.
"I'm gonna come after you with this stun baton. Stop me with those batons of yours."
Taylor couldn't help it. She started laughing. When Scapetti frowned, that just made Taylor laugh harder. It was hard to stop, because even as she laughed she had a hard time remembering the last time she laughed freely.
"Okay," she said, gasping and trying to control herself. "I'm okay. I'm done."
Horizon seemed to understand.
"Quintessence, he's really good."
That just set Taylor off again.
"Is this kid for real?" Scapetti demanded. "Horizon, what was your boss-lady thinking?"
"She's thinking Quintessence is a very powerful trump," a now familiar voice said.
Taylor found herself swallowing her laughter as Alexandria stepped out from behind the PRT van that shielded the view of the transport from the dealership.
"I was just coming out to see how things were going when I overheard the conversation. Quintessence, I understand why you laughed, but it's rude. Agent Scapetti and his team volunteered for what's likely to be the most dangerous part of tomorrow's mission. That's worth some respect, don't you think?"
Well, that's me told. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, Agent Scapetti. I wasn't laughing at you."
"Yes, you were."
"Yeah, alright. I was, but not because of what you think."
"I do have a problem, though, with an agent playing guinea pig with untested tinker tech," Alexandria said. "Perhaps I'd be a better subject?"
Scapetti snorted. "Not laughing now, are you kid?" he muttered under his breath.
The Force provided no help to Taylor in determining whether she was in danger, just that Alexandria was dangerous. Which was pretty much self-evident. "You want me to just tap you?"
"Where's the test in that?" Alexandria challenged. "I want to see what you can do with them. More importantly, I want Agent Scapetti to see what you can do with them. I've known Charles for several years before he moved up to Seattle. He doesn't give respect easily; you have to earn it. But for this mission to succeed, he needs to know you won't be a hindrance. Likewise, I believe you could be the difference in succeeding. If we stop Overmind directly, it could save thousands of lives."
"But you're Alexandria. You can sucker-punch Behemoth."
The famous heroine smirked. "That's the point, Quintessence. If something goes wrong with your…tinker tech, I won't be hurt. Scapetti could be."
The fact it made sense didn't make Taylor feel any better about challenging Alexandria. "Fine."
She backed out away from the transport into the clear area between the vehicles. Both sabers felt solid and secure in her grips. She telekinetically flicked the focusing crystals and ignited the blades into solid white, instead of lethal blue.
"Probably need to test them anyway, I just finished them yesterday."
Alexandria burst into motion, far faster than any normal human could. Taylor didn't have time to do anything but spin away, slamming both blades against the powerful cape not so much to strike her, but to help add to the momentum to her own movement.
The hero stopped; she stopped so quickly the air blurred, and Taylor knew beyond any doubt that she used her mover power to cancel her momentum. This time she came head on, using her forearms like blades. Taylor countered, falling into a rhythm that felt natural and right in the Force. Several times the older woman struck out, either a foot or a hand. Each time Taylor parried the strike, knowing full well that Alexandria could easily have powered through it.
Abruptly the attacks ended. Alexandria stood perfectly still—she wasn't even winded. Taylor remained on guard, blades at the ready, as she refreshed herself with the Force.
"You built those yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Was that their highest stun setting?"
"Lowest."
She offered an arm. "Highest setting, please."
Taylor complied, touching the blade to Alexandria's arm after turning up the charge.
She kept a straight face, but Taylor could tell she felt it. "Interesting. That would be effective even against a brute. Agent Scapetti, was that enough of a demonstration for you?"
"Yes, ma'am." Scapetti and his team weren't laughing any more.
"Good. Horizon, it was a good plan. I have faith that you and your team can make it work. If things go south, though, pull out. Dragon will remain on site for emergency evac if necessary."
"Yes, ma'am. We'll make it work."
"Good. We're waking everyone up now. The attack begins at seven. I want you to insert before dawn, though, and remain hidden until the main attack draws away attention. Use the time to look for potential targets."
"Understood."
Rather than walk away, Alexandria lifted noiselessly into the air and flew back.
Scapetti stared at Taylor for a long moment. "Healer, huh?"
Taylor shrugged. "A girl's gotta make a living."
~~Quintessence~~
~~Quintessence~~
Dragon's transport flew a dozen feet off the ground. Through the long, narrow window, Taylor could see hints of trees whipping past in the darkness, but from her angle she guessed they were going under a hundred miles an hour.
The craft traded speed for silence. It was the quietest aircraft Taylor had ever even heard off, as if it were running on repulsor coils instead of…
She pulled out her small note pad and quickly traced out a diagram for a repulsor coil before slipping it back into one of the many pockets of her tactical pants.
She glanced down at the heavily reinforced, palm-sized tablet that contained the tactical information for Overmind's compound. Horizon was briefing them as they flew, which Taylor was mostly listening to.
"…southwest bank in the Columbia Shores neighborhood, but the Thinktank believes that Overmind won't set up base in a house or home. So, we're going to insert in Marine Park on the southeast bank of her territory. We'll get as far in as we can safely go before hunkering down and waiting for the other attacks to begin. We're landing in five."
The transport was cramped with twelve people stuffed inside. Even so, each of the agents turned to the other and went over the other's equipment. The slimmed down back packs with hardened sides contained a day's rations, water, and twelve cylinders that Scapetti described as foam grenades. They also carried blocks of bullets for both the carbines and hand-guns, though their primary weapons were supposed to be their stun batons.
Horizon herself looked across the small cabin at Taylor. "You okay?"
"Yeah."
"It's okay to be nervous."
Strangely, Taylor didn't feel nervous. Or scared. If she could pin down her feelings at all, it was…determined.
"We're going to be successful," Taylor said with conviction. "It's not going to be a good day, I don't believe, but I feel we'll be successful."
The agents shared a look with each other while Horizon simply stared. "Is that your power talking?"
Taylor shrugged. "Just a feeling. We're here."
Indeed, her stomach dipped as the dragon craft slowed and dropped to within a few feet of the ground. They wove between trees that remained mostly green despite the cold winter. The doors opened on either side of the transport and the agents spilled out without a word. Horizon nodded to Taylor before jumping out; Taylor jumped out last.
Outside the dragon craft, Taylor realized it wasn't quite silent. Instead, somehow it baffled the sound away from certain vectors using tinker-tech. The ship banked away from them, remaining just feet off the ground, before disappearing around a copse of trees.
They gathered behind another row of trees. Horizon removed her tablet. "We're here," she whispered. "Barricades are here. Quintessence, you're up."
Taylor nodded. "Stay packed tight, reduce the area I have to cover. Walk normally, don't squat or look suspicious. My…field is a suggestion, not an actual breaker field."
The agents did as instructed, forming two lines of five each. Horizon stood beside Taylor in front, and they started walking down a paved path through the park toward the barricade line. With her senses extended, Taylor could feel easily a dozen people walking picket behind the barricade, with sentries on top of the barricade keeping watch. The barricade itself not strong or secure, but it was tall. It looked like they'd taken pieces of roofing or pre-fab walls from the warehouses that used to sit just north of their current location and just plotted them into the ground with occasional poles for support. It was crude, wouldn't stop even a motorcycle at speed, but it provided cover and privacy.
Rather than speak, Scapetti tapped Taylor on the shoulder and held up three fingers, then made binocular shapes with his hands and held them over his eyes. While all the PRT agents had infrared and thermal vision goggles, they chose to go in without.
His intent was clear enough, but he was wrong. Taylor held up her hand, all fingers splayed, then pointed out the various sentries. She then flashed both hands once, and then three fingers after, and pointed at them behind the wall.
Horizon, meanwhile, had gone still for a moment, staring intent at the walls, before she blinked and nodded confirmation. Scapetti didn't speak, but his grimace told Taylor what he thought of their situation.
This close, Taylor knew it was time. She took a deep breath, pulled on the Force, and then pushed it out around her. It was the first time she'd tried covering more than just herself in a suggestive field, and the effort left her panting. Without explaining, she fell back into the middle of the five and gripped two of the agents by the shoulders as she pushed out harder.
In the center of the clump, it was easier.
"Go," she whispered. "Can't keep it up for long. Southeast corner, near the water. There's a gap. Walk fast, but don't run."
They moved. She found herself panting as she gripped the two agents. Without being asked, the man and woman each reached out an arm under hers, essentially hooking her in their arms and providing extra support.
The gap in Overmind's barricade wasn't intentional. Taylor could see ordinary-looking people in ordinary clothes—women and children, mostly—scurrying about in the act of building. The barricade simply wasn't finished—Overmind had claimed such a huge territory that even with thousands of minions it was taking time to barricade it. The two sentries stood on hunter platforms.
They had more augmentation than the workers—the backs of their heads bristled with Overmind's controlling tinker tech, and one of them appeared to have a lens protruding from his left eye. Both were black men who looked as if they might have been quite strong before Overmind took them.
Both were looking out across the water at the flotilla of patrol boats anchored in the river. Taylor could tell they saw her group, but their attention slid off her suggestive field before they could focus on her.
They walked into Overmind's compound. Ahead, on either side, warehouses appeared to have been stripped down of their pre-fab walls for the barricade, exposing stacks of goods inside that sat exposed to the elements.
Horizon led them now, with Taylor almost incapacitated in her efforts to keep them unnoticed. The warehouse ahead had a few tricks with beer labels on them parked at docks that appeared abandoned. They continued across a street, past a few landscaped trees, and into the long, huge warehouse.
Rather than go through the glass-walled office area, Horizon led them into one of the open bays. A few minions were using trolleys to carry bottles of water out to one of the beer trucks; they ignored the crates of beer. It was to a high stack of beer crates that Horizon led them to.
Once behind the crates, Horizon made a point of slowly scanning the area with her power before turning to nod the okay.
Taylor let the field collapse; a second later her knees gave way as a debilitating headache almost blinded her. She stifled a whimper as she collapsed into the arms of the two agents holding her. They let her down to the floor gently. One offered water; Taylor took a swallow.
"I'll be okay," she whispered. "Just need time."
"Good. I'll be back." Horizon slipped away. She didn't have Taylor's suggestive field, but her power provided her the senses necessary to easily avoid more minions.
Taylor took the opportunity to close her eyes, fold her legs, and meditate to try and easy the pain of stressing herself. It wasn't the Force that hurt her, she knew. It was her own mind struggling to handle the field. Her own inexperience and lack of skill. She instinctively knew that with effort and practice, she could do it all again without strain.
"Kid, I need to know now, are you gonna be up for a fight?" Scapetti didn't whisper, but he spoke quietly enough that his voice didn't carry.
This close under unsparing warehouse lighting, Taylor saw for the first time a thick web of scarring barely visible under his right ear, running down his neck.
"What happened to you?"
"Chemical tinker back in '03," he said, knowing what she meant. "What about you? You gonna be good?"
"Yeah, already feeling better. Don't worry about me."
He didn't look convinced, but he didn't say anything else. Seconds later, Horizon appeared.
"I know why she claimed this area," the cape whispered. "Warehouse we passed was a plastics company. Next warehouse over is medical supply. Iron Works after that, electric after that. The place is a tinker's dream."
"Did you find her?" Scapetti said.
"I might have," Horizon said. "Saw a pair of big enhanced in the medical supply company next door. Twenty or more enhanced, all guarding what looks like a couple of hundred civilians. I saw some being dragged into a separate room, probably to be enhanced."
Despite her age and experience, Horizon sounded shaken by what she saw.
Abruptly, the Force grew dense in anticipation of violence.
"The attack is starting," Taylor said.
A distant thud reverberated through the floor. Taylor could feel alarm amongst the enhanced. It didn't grow or spread organically like it might have in a normal crowd. Instead, every minion stopped what they were doing and straightened in alarm—a single, gestalt recognition of a threat transmitted instantaneously through the entire controlled population.
None of them spoke or shouted. They simply ran out of the warehouse in whatever direction Overmind required of them. More thuds reverberated through the floor. Rather than start their own attack, Overmind settled down to wait.
"So, if you had to choose, pizza or burgers?" Scapetti asked quietly.
Taylor stared at the man. "What?"
"Pizza or burgers. I'd ask what beer you drink, but we both know you're not legal. So, pizza or burgers."
"I prefer Chinese."
The agent scoffed. "Kids these days. Nothin' better than a big ole' greasy burger."
"Between your diet and your job, I'm amazed you're still alive, Scapetti," Horizon said.
"You ask me to go shoot monsters, I'm game. Just so long as I get a burger and a beer after."
More thuds. Taylor could sense more minions moving quickly. Horizon looked away from them, narrowing her eyes as she deployed her power.
"Okay, looks like they've thinned out a lot. No one's in this building. The nearest are along the short and barricades. Overmind's smart—she's not throwing all of her people up north, she's keeping some in reserve and the rest watching the rest of her borders."
"Okay, here's the plan," the senior cape said. She pulled herself to her feet, the agents and Taylor followed. "We want to use non-lethals as much as possible, but our mission is highest priority, and if that means we have to go lethal we will. The Justice Department put out a kill order on Overmind. We don't know what she looks like but based on everything she'll probably be the most cybernetically enhanced human on premises. Anyone who looks more like a Dr. Who extra than human, take them out. Quintessence, your job is essentially done. You got us in here. Let the agents take the lead from here. On the count of five, I'm going to blow the wall and open a door. It'll be loud, so we'll have to be quick."
Taylor frowned, then remembered that in additional to her enhanced senses Horizon had an explosive striker ability. Still, Overmind might have been engaged with two separate armies of parahumans, but she was obviously still cognizant of the rest of her compound.
"Why make the noise?" she asked. She toggled one of her blades back to its normal setting and then very quickly cut through the cinder block and cement board to open a door in the back of the building.
"That's not a stun baton," Scapetti muttered.
Taylor toggled it back to pure white. "It is now."
"We can talk about it later," Horizon declared. "We need to move, now!"