Step 6.3
The plan seemed solid enough.
Goal, stop the ABB from moving bombs around the city. Plan, do it before anyone got a chance to press any on switches. Yes, that sounded simple.
Though, in retrospect, literally smashing the trucks didn't seem like a good idea. Might set the bomb robots off, or turn them on.
Thinking of robots, I called the Haros toward me. Even the ones nominally on patrol elsewhere in the city. Trevor would have to look out for himself for an hour or so.
I checked the preliminary systems one last time, fixed a balance issue in the GN propellant on the right leg, and braced myself.
"Astraea," I said, "Launching."
I pressed down on the pedals hard.
Momentum threw me back, thrusters firing in unison and propelling me into the sky. I'd forgotten the sensation a bit. The speed, and the freedom that came with it. Seemed a bit different without the feeling of the GN drive spinning at my back, but a bit more comfortable.
Glad I fixed that little design quirk.
sys.v/ astraea. , online
sys.v/ astraea. _field, online – 95%
sys.v/ astraea. _composite, charging – 49%
The van closed as it grew smaller in the distance, a stream of particles marking my ascent. People snapped pictures, and a few stared at their phones in confusion as they tapped the screens.
I forwent my bazooka. I didn't want one explosion, even a nonlethal one, to set off others.
I still activated the loading arm, just in case. A useful test case for my Full Armor design if nothing else.
The thin mechanical limb unfolded from it's place right off the GN drive and clapped it's vice like clamps twice. It reached over as I ascended, pulling a rocket magazine from a rack and placing it into the bazooka's receiver.
Better to have and not need, as they say.
With that done, I armed everything else.
sys.v/ astraea. _pistols, online
sys.v/ astraea. _blade, online
sys.v/ astraea. _shield, online
sys.v/ astraea. , OFF
I tested my triggers and arms one last time. The particle compressors filled, and each weapon charged rapidly.
I smiled. The best part of it all?
No more time limit.
"Haros, spread out," I said. "One to each site. Purple, stay with Lafter. Green with me."
"Okay, okay."
"Kay, kay."
"Okay, okay."
Veda marked my path, and the air shattered around me as Astraea clocked into its top speed in two seconds.
I tested the controls again. It felt different, and not just because I moved them to the chest and out of the arms. I felt more like a person in a tank than someone in a suit. Yet, the tank bore arms and legs. Awkward to get used to, but I managed to fly a straight line just fine.
"Veda," I said. I started filling five of Astraea's particle compressors. "Prep some of the backup compressors to eject. We'll let them spill… Five percent per thirty should be enough to saturate the area and give the PRT time to respond."
"Setting," she replied. "You intend to drop them on the stash locations?"
"Yes," I said.
GN particles interfere with communications. Bomb tinkering hopefully didn't include anything too fancy when it came to triggers and signals.
"We should call Lieutenant Ramius," Veda said. "The PRT is more equipped to dispose of the devices."
"Probably," I admitted. "Do it. We're going to need bomb squads."
"Calling."
I arced south, shooting over the buildings as I returned to Lafter's position.
"Can I punch now?" She asked.
I waited five seconds.
"Go," I said.
"Finally!"
I ducked under the roof line and slowed from 'glass shattering' speed. I slid around the street corner, throwing my feet to the side to arrest my momentum completely.
The ABB guys at the front of the building got to look up before I raised both pistols.
My feet hit the ground, a car squealing to a stop behind me as the lights over my head turned red.
"Stay back," I said from the speakers loud enough for the whole block to hear. "There are explosives here. Everyone should move down the street as far as possible." I pointed. "If you have neighbors warn them."
The targeting reticle spun on my screen, and I depressed the triggers.
"Four hand guns," Veda informed me after a quick image analysis. "Threat level zero."
Astraea fired, a stream of GN beams cutting into the air. The first guard hit the ground, and the reticle followed my eyes and snapped onto the next. The pistols followed, peppering the first three guards in stunning shots that put them on the ground.
I avoided the trucks, sliding forward and getting on the side of the other two guards. Or, that's what I planned to do. Instead, the window above them shattered and Lafter tackled one guy, slammed him into the truck, and then spun around and slapped her sapper into the second guy's cheek. She kicked him on the way down, and spun on her heel to face me.
"All done!" She declared.
"You got the two in the back already?" I asked.
"No," she said. "Purp did."
Purp?
I checked the camera, watching as Purple jumped up and down in the alley behind the building. Probably on someone's head from the sounds of it.
Okay then.
Looking back, I felt rather satisfied with the choice of pistols for a ranged weapon. They charged faster than my carbine did, and if I really needed ranged fire power, I could just build and equip a long range rifle in place of my bazooka.
The pistols gave me a lot more flexibility for day-to-day gang thrashing.
I checked my map. I moved fast, but they didn't arrange things in a nice line and the traveling salesman problem is a bitch even with super powers. If I went for the three furthest locations though, Lafter could make it to the fourth.
"Can you head over to one of the other locations on foot?" I asked.
"I can certainly try," she answered.
I ejected another compressors. "Just drop that in the area." I sent Veda a message to direct Lafter. "Purple, tie these guys up. And stop bouncing on their heads. They have few enough brain cells as is."
"No fun, no fun."
"Just take some pictures and put cat ears on them," I said. "Later."
I shot back into the sky, following the new route Veda set out while Lafter broke into a sprint.
Ramius' voice came over the intercom right as I reached the second set of trucks.
"Taylor," she greeted, "you have a new suit."
"Yup."
"That was fast."
"I had most of the materials laying around."
And all the money I'd ever need to buy all of them and get express delivery. No need to build up piece by piece like I did with O, or waiting ages for the TD blanket to complete.
I hit the ground right in front of the guards at the second site. The closest one fired, the bullets literally sliding over the GN particles surrounding my armor.
I slammed the barrel of my pistol into that guy's face, lightly enough so as not to break anything. Then I shot his friends to my left and right. Their guns clattered to the ground, and I turned to the remaining two guards as they ran for cover.
"Do you have bomb squads?" I asked.
I fired, my eyes pointing out the targets before they got far.
"… Why?" Ramius asked back.
"Because the ABB has bombs," I answered.
"They are mounted in mobile casings," Veda clarified. "We do not know the blast yield."
I ejected another compressor, turning my pistols to a second story window and firing off a series of shots before returning to the air. I needed to drop a compressor at each site before Bakuda or Lung or whoever got a chance to arm their new tinker weapons.
I flew backwards, peppering the window in shots for a second before spinning about and shooting back into the air.
I'd deal with stragglers on a second pass.
"Say again?" Ramius asked.
"The ABB has bombs," I said. "Some of them are in populated areas."
"One second. I need to find Director Piggot."
And we all know how she loves me.
I kept going while Ramius' footsteps echoed on the call.
I stuck low, flying through the streets. Throwing my feet forward and twisting to my right, I pivoted in a sharp turn. I might need to adjust the neutralizers. The inertia felt like a bag of guns pressing down on my chest. O Gundam didn't turn nearly so sharp.
I touched down on a roof at a street corner, shooting across the street and disabling two guards.
On my map, Dauntless and Aegis shifted trajectory, both flying in my direction. Not that I had time to wait, but nice that they noticed.
I dropped to the street, my heart jumping for a moment as two cars barely avoided a collision.
I lingered only for a second to confirm both drivers looked alright. With a short burst from my thrusters I jumped into the air, firing at the guard on a rooftop adjacent to the office space and landing between the two other guards. One I hit with my knee and the other with my shield. I shot both once they hit the ground and released another backup.
That's three.
The Haros reached their destinations and started tying up disabled gangsters. Green dropped stun grenades from above, knocking out a few guards himself.
"Make sure no one touches the compressors," I said. "Drag them off after they're tied up."
I didn't need any ABB interfering, and I needed to move the goons anyway. Leaving them in range of bombs didn't seem very heroic.
"What is this about bombs?" Piggot asked.
"StarGazer, replay my camera footage to the relevant sections."
Seemed faster than talking about it.
While Piggot watched, I noticed Vicky was also flying my way.
Yey.
Lafter got to the last site around the same time, Pink and Red joining her as she dodged bullets and started swinging her saber into heads and throwing her fist between legs.
I'm really starting to think there's something going on there.
She threw the compressor I left her like a Frisbee, but the brick of Tinker tech spun right into a window with a 'thunk' and a 'crack.'
Designed to be aerodynamic they were not.
I did a flyby over the fourth location, dropping the compressor from Astraea's back and firing from above.
After the first guard fell, I let myself drop.
The ground cracked as my suit hit it. Pieces of sidewalk and dust billowed into the air, and the other guards turned their guns my way. Might be threatening if I didn't have bullet proof armor even more bullet proof than my last armor.
"I need Armsmaster," Piggot. "Prep Bright's team."
I punched another guy, and threw yet another into the wall behind him. Bullets slid off Astraea's shell, one managing to ricochet and hit a guard in the arm. He dropped to the ground cursing.
"Red, I have an injury on my position."
"First aid, first aid."
"Do you have a plan?" Piggot asked. "Or are you just smashing things?"
"I'm dropping compressors at each site," I said. "The particles from my suit disrupt conventional communications."
One guard dropped his gun when I turned on him and ran.
I let him.
No need to worry about his safety if he moved himself along. I shot two more guards and threw my leg back into the last man standing. Kind of a love tap, up until I fired the thrusters and launched him thirty feet back.
"Hopefully Bakuda doesn't have anything more exotic than high tech WiFi," I added.
"This would be easier with forewarning," Piggot said. "Time to put teams in position."
"You've got time now," I said.
No explosions rang in the air.
I saw chatter on ABB lines about me appearing with a new suit, but no one calling to say I'd been hitting their stashes.
Other bright side of dropping compressors, no cell phone coverage. Everyone got to be in the dark for a bit.
"Lafter," I said. "You okay?"
"Yup." She punched something. "Doing just fine." Another punch. "Also, these guys all have glass jaws."
"Are any of the trucks weird?"
"Weird how?"
"Like there's bomb bots inside moving around?"
She paused. "I don't see anything but green shit everywhere."
"No unusual signals detected," Veda said. "It may be outside my ability to find, however."
Alright.
I turned to a nearby truck and drew a saber from my back.
I ran the blade through the cab back, cutting through the frame and glass before pushing the top portion of the vehicle off. Looking inside, I found more duffle bags - probably with more guns - and another case.
I didn't dare destroy any of it. My usual methods might result in explosions of unknown severity.
"Clear bystanders," I said to Lafter and the Haros. "Get the goons away from their bombs. And Lafter-"
"I'm checking on daycare kids," she said, moving before I even got to start asking.
"Thank you. Ramius, StarGazer is sending you the locations. Forecast didn't see any capes interfering, or any explosions when I checked with her."
"Right," Piggot said skeptically. "The precog."
She's just jealous she doesn't have one on speed dial.
After some thinking, I decided to pull the bomb case out of the truck and set it out on the ground. I did the same with the other two trucks at the location, and then waited. Green flew in and started tying up bad guys, while a crowd gathered around.
I repeated my early warning and picked up two ABB guys and dumped them at the end of the street.
I noticed two burly men approaching, and said, "It isn't safe here."
"Just gonna help move them," one said, pointing at the ABB. "We'll drag them off and watch till the cops come."
I raised my brow. A scan of their faces and a hunt through social media identified them as brothers. In between jobs apparently, but they didn't have any gang ties.
They kept going past me, grabbing three ABB between them and dragging the men along. I frowned, not really wanting them to be involved, but what could I do? Beat them up for trying to keep some criminals from getting exploded?
And, it's kind of brave, I thought.
Just two guys going out of their way to ensure a bunch of thugs don't wind up as bits on the street… Basically what I did minus super powers. Who am I to stop them if they know the risks? It's not like they're staring down Hookwolf in a dark alley and insulting his mother.
"Be quick," I said. "I don't know if the bombs can be activated remotely."
They nodded, dropped the men they carried, and went back for the last two.
I left Green to keep an eye on things and flew my route in reverse. I separated the bomb cases from everything else, warned any bystanders to stay back and made sure all the ABB thugs got moved a reasonably safe distance.
I shot four more ABB as they tried – and by tried I mean failed – to stop me.
When I got back to where we started, Lafter stood down the street. She pointed in the opposite direction and patted kids on the head as adults ushered them away. None of them seemed terrified, though a few looked confused. Given I had five sites and seven Haros, I pointed Pink their way to keep watch over the kids.
I separated the bombs from the guns as I did before, and then returned to the sky to watch. No explosions still, so either no one wanted to set them off or no one could set them off.
Worked for me.
"Newtype!"
I turned my head as Aegis and Dauntless reached me.
Dauntless looked down from the air, watching as Purple dragged ABB away from the stacked bomb cases one thug at a time. She gathered them in a pile at the end of the block and around the corner. She also took time to position them with their butts in the air while people took pictures.
"Those the bombs?" Aegis asked, looking at the cases I'd set out.
"Bomb bots technically," I said. "Found them while poking around."
"So," Dauntless said. "New suit?"
"New suit," I replied.
"Teams are rolling out now," Piggot said. "How long do these compressors you mentioned last?"
"They'll keep spilling particles into the air for about twenty-five more minutes," I said. "It's not a lot of time for talking."
"We'll secure the devices in sealed containers," Armsmaster's voice said. "Neutralize them at an off site facility outside Brockton Bay. Are the particles released by your compressors a public health hazard?"
Still no explosions.
"At the moment, I'd say no."
No sign of capes.
The gangs banked a lot on O Gundam's destruction. They rushed things into the city, got sloppy. I'd miss all the info that gave me, but lines need to be drawn and I think 'no bombs in the city' is as good a line as any.
I checked on the two guys from before, finding them both standing a fair distance from the bomb cases and talking to some cops who pulled up. The tied up ABB guys remained on the street behind them.
With that, I saw no one standing within a hundred feet of the bombs, barring anyone inside the buildings. Police and PRT started entering those through the back alleys and escorting people out.
While I waited, I did a quick reprogram of my sensor suit.
"Scan for any anomalous signals," I said. "I want to know if anyone is doing anything weird."
"Searching," Veda said.
Veda displayed her results in real time, and I passed the time by watching them and checking the Haros cameras for anything out of place in the area.
Lafter successfully got all the kids out of the daycare and down the street far from the bombs. She stuck over there with them, which I was thankful for. Then she started taking selfies with people which… Okay fine, whatever. As long as no one is being exploded.
"How did you locate these devices?" Arsmaster asked. He'd arrived at one of the other sites, a PRT van pulling up beside his motorcycle and disembarking a batch of troopers.
"A Haro fell through a window," I said. "Total accident, really we're just lucky it happened to be an ABB window."
"Your robot fell through a window?" Armsmaster asked.
"Prove otherwise," I replied, because I saw what he was doing and fuck him.
The laws surrounding capes came with mountains of pits and traps, clearly tailor designed for the PRT. It's easy to get rid of a cape when you make the law so technical that anything they do can be called a misdemeanor on some side of a split hair. Of course, it all worked better as threats of legal action than practical law enforcement.
So really, he couldn't do anything even if he proved I "entered the vehicle without the owner's permission."
But fuck him and his attempt to bully me.
"If we can stay focused on the bombs," Piggot snarled. "I'm getting preliminary results back from the Think Tank now and I don't like what they're telling me."
Armsmaster and the troopers at his location organized. If Bakuda could still set them off, now was the perfect time.
Kind of sad that I took a certain glee in the idea. Little fucked up, actually…
Nothing exploded though.
The troopers unloaded bulky robots from their vans and set them on the ground. Those rolled down the street on wide treads, bulky and unsightly arms manipulating the cases one at a time.
Each bomb bot got placed in a silvery canister, and the robot sealed the lids after putting each inside. The robot rolled back, and a pair of PRT troopers in incredibly thick and bulky armor went forward. They carried another canister between them, hooking it into each of the containers one at a time and filling it – I assumed – with liquid nitrogen.
The GN compressors emptied out just as they finished. Yet again, no explosions.
Good times.
"This is all significantly less exciting than it could have been," Dauntless said. I turned my head toward him. "That's a good thing," he added. "Boring is good."
I looked away. Not the words I'd choose, but whatever.
With troopers rolling the bombs away in their sealed containers, I dropped from the sky and landed back on the ground. Turning to the trucks and the duffle bags of guns, I contemplated.
Then I shrugged, because why stop now?
Above me, Aegis got the chance to ask, "What's up New-"
I drew a saber from my back and cut the back of the truck in half, and the guns along with it. Ammunition flared and went off, the crowds in the distance jerking back for a moment.
"Is that necessary?" Dauntless asked.
"Maybe not," I said. "But I find it cathartic."
I moved on to the next truck and destroyed it too, and let Purple detonate an overcharged saber in the truck behind the building. Across the city the other Haros did the same, melting all the weapons the ABB gathered into worthlessness.
"Piggot isn't going to like that," Dauntless lamented.
"I don't," Piggot said.
"The ABB is going to like it even less," I said. I checked some of the data Veda gathered. "Especially Charlie."
"Why, Charlie?" Aegis asked.
"These vehicles are registered to his rental business," Veda said.
"Eh." Down the street Lafter shrugged. "Fuck Charlie."
I heard someone behind her say, "Yeah, fuck Charlie!"
"This guy gets it," Lafter said.
I shook my head.
Vicky reached us at last, her head snapping back and forth. She wore casual clothes rather than her costume. Riding boots, a nice pair of jeans, and a trendy jacket.
"I missed it, didn't I?" She asked.
"Yes," I said.
She glowered at me. "You're no fun."
I rolled my eyes and checked on all the gang members. We didn't lose any, save that one I let run away. Good enough. The crowds parted as the police arrived and began collecting them.
So, thugs collected and bombs disposed of. No injuries in the crowds as I checked them over. Not bad for-
Huh.
Maybe an injury?
I directed Green toward the crowd near his position. Namely, I pointed him at the two kids crouching on the ground. A boy and girl, both about Dinah's age. The girl looked pained, the shopping bags sitting on the ground beside her while the boy stroked her platinum hair.
"Are you two okay?" I asked through Purple.
The boy raised his head, dark hair falling over one side of his face. He stared at purple, looking surprised and then afraid.
"Just a headache," he said. "She gets them sometimes."
Must be a really bad headache. Her back seemed contorted in an odd way, and she wheezed with each breath. A few people nearby turned and started showing concern as the sight struck them.
"Does she need a doctor? The PRT has some medical personnel here with them."
"I'm okay," she said. "Just came on suddenly." She looked at the boy. "We should go."
I watched quietly.
The boy helped her up, and she lifted the shopping bags in both hands. Purple's cameras got a straight look at the contents, and my throat went a little dry. I remained quiet though, letting them both walk a few steps away before pulling Purple back.
Flipping my com over to a closed circuit, I asked, "Were those cough drops?" I only got a quick glimpse.
"Yes," Veda said. "About fifty cases."
I'd seen Breaking Bad on TV. Come on, who hadn't? No one person needed fifty cases of cough drops for a cold, and they carried four bags between them. I also knew a fair bit about Chemistry, and we were right on the border of Merchant territory.
"What's up?" Lafter asked. "You're standing really still."
"There are two adolescents," Veda said.
Lafter tilted her head. "What about them?"
"Their bags are full of cough drops," I said.
"Must have a really bad cough," Lafter said. "Or they're breaking bad."
"You've seen Breaking Bad?" I asked.
"The convent watched reruns on Fridays." A bunch of nuns gathered around watching a white guy in his underwear say "say my name" is a weird image. "Should I…"
The kids exited the crowd and kept walking.
"Yeah," I said. "Veda can guide you."
"I'll be sure to be stealthy," Lafter added.
I nodded. Lafter knows when to be serious.
A few people started after her as she left, but stopped when Purple flew down and distracted them. I pulled Orange and Navy off watching duty as well to help follow the kids and keep any bystanders from drawing attention to Lafter.
How did the two of them manage to get that many cough drops?
A corrupt pharmacy owner probably. Surely the Merchants kept a few 'ins' like that around, but sending kids to do the pick up? At least they looked healthy.
"You know meth-labs explode really easily, right?" I asked.
"The beam sabers are capable of igniting such fumes," Veda concurred.
"I've done this before," Lafter said.
I believed it. As bad as Shanty Town was, a couple kids probably called her in on their druggie parents. She'd probably seen plenty of places that housed, moved, or manufactured crap.
It only occurred to me then, I'd never asked her for details about her family. It didn't seem appropriate given what happened and while she offered a lot, she didn't talk in that much detail about her mother or father. I think she had a brother and sister too before Behemoth came along. She kept a low profile for most of the years she'd been in Brockton Bay, but she went out of her way to help abused kids.
Must be a story to that, but I didn't want to ask.
"Newtype?"
I flinched, turning my head to Dauntless. How long had he been saying my name before I noticed?
I flipped the com back to open, and asked, "Sorry. Distracted. What is it?"
"The Director wants a word."
Of course she does.
I glanced in the direction of the kids. Simple meth dealers hardly needed a Gundam to be put down.
"You can handle this?" I asked after switching the com back the other way. What else is a team for after all?
"Sure," Lafter said. "I used to do it every weekend. Druggies are rotten parents ten times out of ten."
"I need to deal with Piggot. Again."
"Go deal with Ms. Whiny. I'll handle the kids."
I nodded and turned toward the PRT building. I lifted off the ground and flew at a more casual speed. Dauntless and Aegis followed me, leaving the troopers and the police to clean up the mess. Vicky glanced around for a little bit, shrugged, and started after us.
At the slower pace, we'd take a minute or two to reach the PRT building.
"Red," I said, "did you get that picture?"
"Picture, picture," the Haro replied.
The image appeared on my display. Nothing fancy. Just my van driving away from the boardwalk and making a turn west at the end of the street.
A smile crossed my face.
Time to find out how "crazy" or "arrogant" the Empire believed me to be.
"Veda, have our dear friend Jimmy White post that photo to some Neo-Nazi message board somewhere."
Might take a few days, but the right number of pictures with the right directions and even a dumb Nazi should be able to start looking at a map. I'd bank on the Empire expecting traps from now on. They'd need to be really dumb to keep falling for my tricks and not start looking at everything with suspicion.
"The image is posted," Veda said.
I took a quick peek and continued smiling.
The Empire might have retreated a lot of their communications into private message groups, but those aren't hard to slip into. To a point.
'Jimmy' need only prove his worth to the racist jerks who ran the groups. With luck he'd earn an invite higher up in the hierarchy. Would take longer than hacking and watching their phone calls and texts, but it could work in its own time.
And as the Empire got more information on me, they'd maybe make a play. A play I'd have a chance to punish them for making.
And this time I had a suit to greet them with.
It might be time to start planning to fight Hookwolf.
"Taylor," Veda called on our closed channel. "There is a problem."
She showed me footage from Green's camera. He followed the kids, and they looked fine, but a few streets over?
Three of Squealer's mini-tanks emerged from a garage, and two cars filled by guys with bats and guns. A few streets over from that, two more cars and an SUV, also filled with guys with weapons.
I watched them for only a second before seeing the messages passing through Merchant phones. Namely, one message sent by a number I'd never seen before to literally every other number I'd seen.
Go
"Merchant communication activity is rising," Veda said. "Forty-nine percent above norm."
Are they insane?
Why make a big move toward the Docks with me and the PRT in the middle- Oh. I checked the layout of the streets in the area, noting how three from Shanty Town converged on where we'd been, while four others went around us entirely.
The Merchants were going to pin us in one place and strike into the Docks.
Fuck me.
"Piggot is going to have to wait."
"What?" Dauntless asked.
"Merchants," I said.
I stopped, turned, and blasted away. Aegis got thrown back a bit by the force, which I felt bad about. I'd never flown so close to another before. Dauntless and Vicky weathered it better, Vicky's hair fluttering while she shielded her eyes with an arm.
"Lafter," I called, "let the Haros track the kids. More immediate problem."
She stopped in her tracks and turned to the sky. "More immediate how?"
"The Merchants are launching an attack!"
More mini-tanks appeared close to the Boardwalk, and another group by Downtown. More of them kept turning up. Apparently 'go' meant everyone get your guns and start walking.
"Piggot!" I shouted.
She inhaled audibly. "Armsmaster."
"Call Miss Militia and Stratos," he said instantly. "Velocity is out of city at the moment. Dauntless, you'll need to run interference in Downtown. Militia will join you. Prism. Triumph. Deploy to my position. Stratos will join us ASAP. Aegis, return to the HQ building."
Behind me, Aegis kept going.
"But-"
"That is an order," Armsmaster said before the boy could speak. "This situation is not so severe as to warrant deploying the Wards. Recall Vista, Clockblocker, and Chariot from patrol."
Like before, Aegis deferred. He peeled off and went back to the PRT.
I noticed the other name though.
Trevor is with Vista and Clockblocker?
He'd decided to join the Wards, then.
Felt a little divided about that, but really it seemed the safest thing for him.
I dove and held my right arm out from my body. The beam of E-Carbon swung forward from its position under Astraea's forearm.
I flew past the mini-tank in the lead and slammed into the ground. I swung my weapon, and the front end of the following car flattened. The back end flipped up. Glass exploding from the windows as the frame warped and airbags smacked the men inside against their seats.
I threw my foot forward, depressing the driver side door and pushing the vehicle off the road.
Turning my shield arm on the nearest tank, and fired. The beams vanished against the vehicle's armor.
Worth checking.
My thumb pressed down.
A mass of GN particle swirled around the blunt beam on my right arm.
Light flashed, a line slicing in an arc across the asphalt.
I swung across my chest, my eyes set on the joint joining the tank body to the legged chassis.
The mini-tank squealed to the left too late. My blade sheared through the front left leg and kept going. It felt so easy, like cutting into a fluffy cake with a fruit knife.
I cut clean through the axle, and the tank toppled over.
Vicky came in behind me, grabbing the second tank by one of its gun barrels and ripping it off. The tank spun around. I raised my shield, panels on the side opening and pouring a stream of GN particles into the air. The tank fired.
Astraea barely moved.
The round slammed into the GN shield, slid down, and cut a thin swathe into the asphalt behind me.
"That must be disappointing," I said.
The shield closed, and I swung the GN blade down and cut the other gun off the tank. Drawing a beam saber with my other hand, I stepped up beside the tank and swung.
Nothing. So her armor works on all my particle weapons.
I swung the GN blade down, the highly concentrated field slicing through the armor with complete ease a second time.
Don't want to test a GN missile on something with people inside.
Maybe if I refined the beams my sabers produced. Even a bad cut is better than no cut.
The guy inside the tank shivered, staring at me. Rather, he stared at Astraea's visage standing within a thin cloud of dust and green light.
"Get out," I said.
He got out. I swung my bade down and cut the entire tank in half.
"Jesus," Vicky mumbled.
I glanced back at her. "What?"
"You're fucking terrifying," she said.
My jaw slackened slightly.
"Oh, in a good way," she said. She put on a smile that looked honest. "Bad guys need to get a little fear in them!"
Okay…
"Also there's more bad guys."
Vicky pointed, and I turned my attention to the other two cars packed full of Merchants. Amazing how they seemed to just keep coming even after losing so many guys two weeks ago.
Veda read off their weapons, and showed me more groups traveling along roads and alleys toward the Docks.
Vicky flew ahead as men started piling out of the cars.
A few blocks over, Lafter slid over a car hood and swung a saber into a guys side. A bullet went past her side, and she spun, swinging the blade down into the shooter's collar. Green flew around her, dropping a grenade into the open sun roof of a car while Red waved a family of three into a store.
Veda began reporting all the Merchant groups to the PRT, and the scene from two weeks ago started all over again. Complete with Glory Girl and me smashing tanks.
I stood for a moment and cursed.
I asked Dinah if Newtype fought any capes. I never asked about all the non-capes who might do something. As I saw Mush emerge in Shanty Town - a walking golem of trash that grew larger as he walked - it also occurred that I specifically asked if Newtype fought any capes.
I wanted to prolong the break out of a full gang war.
I knew a cape would do something eventually and set it off.
Just… didn't expect the cape to be me.
