Step 7.1
sys.t/ I'll be fine
sys.t/ I don't even plan on getting close
sys.t/ and Veda is here with Queen to back me up
sys.d/ you don't want to ask?
sys.t/ no
sys.t/ and no one else better ask
sys.t/ that includes you dinah
sys.t/ because it's going to be fine
And if not, I didn't want her seeing anything.
Her power gave her a giant blank for anything directly related to an Endbringer, but if anything happened to me specifically, it probably made the news. Dinah did not need to see that. She didn't need to fret that it might happen, or be worried that she saw more headlines about my death than my survival.
sys.l/ sorry
sys.t/ you've said that
sys.t/ don't worry
sys.t/ I get it
Lafter's family died by Behemoth's hands. She probably didn't want to face down Leviathan. It's not like her power could do a whole lot in the fight anyway. Maybe help keep her alive but she'd do that just as well by not being around the fight at all.
Maybe once I got her a suit, but it took way less time to build Queen than to start putting another piloted suit together.
sys.t/ I'm heading inside
sys.t/ see you guys soon
sys.c/ good luck
I nodded to Trevor's sentiment and closed the line.
I contemplated sending a message to dad. If the worst did happen, I didn't want to die with him knowing I was angry with him.
Things didn't exactly thaw much the past two weeks.
I did return home.
I slept in my bed. Used the same bathroom I'd used for most of my life. We ate meals together. I think the Haros kept trying to help. They'd been kind of weird. Especially Pink, with some really fancy dinners that legitimately made me wonder if I should open a Haro themed restaurant.
Somehow Veda and I did a reversal.
She talked to dad more than I did. That made it easier for me, because I still felt furious deep down. Less about the therapy as time went on I think, and more about the 'surprise.' At least Dad didn't follow it up with anything worse, and he didn't go back to drinking really hard. That thought worried me for a time.
No, instead he became somewhat, observant? He came to the factory to observe the construction of the interior. He helped the team of twelve Dockworkers helping to dig out the area under the factory. He'd picked all twelve men, who included Kurt, because he knew they'd keep quiet about it. Every villain in the city might assume I'd build a workshop around my factory, but I still didn't want them know how I came and went or exactly how I laid it out.
He took every opportunity to be where I was even outside the house, but we still didn't talk much.
I buried myself in putting the factory together, finishing the Full Armor modules, and building Queen. Trevor joining up as a "tinker for hire" helped with all of that. I probably wouldn't have produced Queen in time without his help.
Dad felt angry too. Which… Fine. We'd be angry at each other until we got over it.
And I wouldn't die. There's still too much to do.
"StarGazer," I said, "release the Haros."
"Releasing."
I pulled back on the controls, and Astraea's chest opened. The extra armor slid down and to the side, and the chest plate split down the middle. The seat lurched forward.
I stepped onto the ground, rain pattering against me from above. Astraea knelt on the pavement, about twenty feet from one of Dragon's transports. Queen stood guard behind it, both suits currently faking a GN purge.
At the same time, the pod on Astraea's back opened, and the Haros spilled out of the center.
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Up up and away away!"
"To battle, to battle!"
They took to the sky, the new cradles I built for them much more compact than the old design. I re-purposed the cameras, batteries, and motors. I strengthened the rotors and stabilizers for "Leviathan grade winds."
I glanced around my surroundings, noticing the very college feel of the… college.
It's weird thinking how many universities are in Boston, especially along the Charles River.
Harvard, Boston University, Boston Community College, Northeastern University. The Agganis Arena was part of the student park at Boston University, and even in a storm of clouds and rain it looked nice. The kind of place mom would have gladly seen me go to college.
Maybe I would, after we stopped Leviathan from sinking the place.
I checked the time.
Armsmaster and Dragon's program predicted Leviathan's attack an hour and twenty-three minutes before it happened. It took me forty to equip the Full Armor system and arrive.
A little over thirty minutes and it starts.
"Everyone is meeting inside," Ramius said.
"You didn't need to come," I said, pushing down what bitterness I felt toward her. Now isn't the time.
"I'm going to head over to the command center," she said. "I'll help there, and I'll see you again when this is over."
I nodded and turned toward the arena.
While most of the Haros went off into the sky and spread throughout the city, Green stayed with me. I walked through the wind and rain, spotting a line of capes quickly filtering through the doors. Nearly all of them stopped at a desk set up to the side, where two people in plain clothes and a cape handed out little bands.
"Push this button," the cape said. A young girl, maybe my age from the sound of her voice. I recognized the tone of voice, mainly the part where she tried too hard to project confidence. "Say your name and then confirm it."
The cape in front of her nodded and moved on, and the cape behind him stepped up.
"Green," I said.
"Okay, okay!"
Green hovered over and got into the line for me, and I proceeded into the arena.
Signs and troopers directed the capes through the building. I stepped out with a crowd of Wards from Seattle into the arena. The PRT assembled a stage below on the floor, and capes took seats in the surrounding stands.
I spotted Miss Militia first.
Really easy to see American Flags in a crowd.
I worked my way over that way, because why not? I didn't really know anyone else.
I saw the Protectorate with her, minus Armsmaster, and all the Wards. It surprised me they let Vista come given her age, but that's the Endbringers. Hiding children from them didn't really do anything. The monsters either got beaten back or everyone died.
Especially Leviathan.
Kysuhu. Jakarta. Newfoundland. Sweden. Since he appeared in the mid-90s, Leviathan sank three countries and twice as many cities. An irradiated city could be rebuilt, like New York and Frankfurt after Behemoth. A city hit by the Simurgh might be quarantined, but it remained standing and people continued living within them. Tenuous trade even continued, albeit under heavy restrictions. Life went on.
Not with Leviathan.
Leviathan just drowned everything.
"Newtype," Miss Militia said as I approached. "You made it."
"Yeah. Sorry I missed the teleport."
"Did you fly here?" Kid Win asked.
I nodded. "I needed to finish some equipment, and Queen needed a few final software adjustments before being flown out."
Vista and Kid Win gave me an odd lock.
"Queen?" They asked.
"I built another suit."
Dauntless, Prism, and Stratos turned their heads. Not sure why they felt the need to look so dramatic.
"StarGazer is operating it by remote," I said. "She's still at home. No need for her to be here in person."
Veda suggested I do the same, but how to explain it to her?
If I hid behind drones and machines, always acting from a position of safety… How could I ever criticize the inaction and cowardice of others? I needed to be seen, to act where everyone could see me.
Movements follow leaders, not directors.
For all her intelligence, Veda still didn't understand being human. She might never understand.
"Two is a better number than one," Stratos said.
I nodded and glanced around the room.
Veda began marking names and masks for me. Easier than asking her a name if it came up. I recognized many of them, though I couldn't put names to their masks.
Most teams stood together. Wards with Wards. Protectorate with Protectorate. Corporate Teams with Corporate Teams. Villains with Villains.
I spotted Purity in the back across the arena from me. She hovered in the air a little, Crusader, Night and Fog on either side of her. No sign of anyone else from the Empire, and they didn't teleport in with the other capes from Brockton Bay. That rift might be more significant than I thought.
They oddly sat a little close to the Ambassadors. Of the group I only knew Accord, but they seemed to number fourteen at the moment. Odd seeing a villain team even bigger than the Empire, but then again I'd taken three of their members.
Damsel of Distress sat as far from them as possible, surrounded by a small cadre of capes with no unifying theme or anything. People she just picked up along the way? Keeping track of events in Brockton Bay left me with little time to monitor the situation in Boston.
I didn't see the Teeth anywhere, but that might be for the best.
Outside of that, I saw lots of independent villains. Small timers who lived in and around Boston. Some were new, recent appearances in the area resulting from the war in the north of the city. Many of the capes I simply didn't know.
I knew of Haven, that Christian themed hero team from Charlotte, and I knew a few of the big name independent heroes and a couple villains. Surprised to see some of them, especially since they weren't from Boston. Guess they didn't abide Endbringers regardless of what they did the rest of the time.
Good guys greatly outnumbered bad guys in the crowd, though. By a fairly large margin. Is it always that way? The PRT doesn't publish who shows up for Endbringer fights, only how many and who died.
The Guild stood near the center of the Arena, Narwhal at the head talking to a gathering of Protectorate leaders. Aa tall woman, almost as tall as Astraea, with shimmering scales over her body and a horn jutting out her forehead.
She seemed kind of bored.
In my younger years I'd be completely geeking out over seeing so many big names in one place.
Eidolon, Narwhal, Cinereal, Chevalier, Myrddin – the crazy one who thinks his powers are magic – and Armsmaster all stood by the stage talking. Armsmaster carried two halberds instead of one. Never seen him do that before.
Right next to them, but up on the steps stood the big three.
The Triumvirate.
Legend. Alexandria. Hero.
Three capes who started the Protectorate and trained the first Wards. They'd survived every Endbringer battle to date, the first appearance of Siberian, countless battles with groups like the Blasphemies and the Nine. I might think the Protectorate didn't do enough, but it's hard to really make that judgement about them specifically.
They'd been doing the hero thing longer than I'd been alive. There's a weight to their presence even I couldn't ignore and fuck I based my mask on Alexandria's she's going to notice and I'm going to look like a complete nerd.
"Laughter isn't coming?" Miss Militia asked.
"Behemoth murdered her family," I said. "She doesn't want to be here."
Miss Militia nodded.
Green flew over to me, dropping the wrist band into my hand.
"Signed autograph," he chirped. "Signed."
Of course he did.
I turned the band over. A communicator of some kind, with a screen and two buttons.
"Like this," Miss Militia said. "Push this button and say your name. Dragon set these up to be used in Endbringer fights, for coordination and recovery of the wounded."
I nodded and put the band around my wrist.
I pushed the button and said, "Newtype."
I hit yes on the prompt after that, and the screen on the band showed a small grid space with my position marked.
They already mapped out the city?
I pulled my phone from my pocket, and messaged Veda. She could contact Dragon and work on getting Astraea and Queen directly linked into the system. That map would be useful, especially for the Haros.
I finished scanning the room. It almost seemed normal in a way, yet fake. People laughed in some places, others smiled and greeted one another. Forced. Like they all knew this might be the last day and no one wanted to say it.
I stopped at a familiar name.
Shadow Stalker.
My body tensed up.
"Something wrong?" Miss Militia asked.
"Nothing," I said stiffly. "Just nervous."
What is she doing here?
She stood off to the side, not really with anyone. Same costume, same crossbows, same 'fuck you all' demeanor. Definitely Sophia. Not a body double or anything like that.
"I understand the feeling," Miss Militia said. "It never goes away, no matter how many times you face them."
I nodded, watching Sophia from the corner of my eye. Ramius said she got shipped off to a quarantine zone. Suppose they always had spare hands around those. Probably sent her with others because they could spare the help, or maybe she so desperately wanted to do something she volunteered?
"Thank you all for coming."
My head turned, back to the Arena center.
Legend stood atop the stage, looking at the gathered capes.
"We owe thanks to Dragon and Armsmaster that we have this time. Time to gather, a fair deal of it. We're all here before Leviathan's arrival for once, not porting into the heat of it and organizing into mock troops for a desperate fight. I think this can be one of the good days."
"But you should know your chances, now. We've fought Leviathan so many times. The Protectorate is well aware, that by the end of the day, even at our best, a quarter of those in this room will be dead."
A quite murmur swept through the room.
I already knew. Many of the veterans probably did to. The PRT never released statistics, but they recorded how many capes showed up and divulged those who died. The information lay out on the Internet if you looked.
"I'm telling you because you deserve to know," Legend said. "We've never had this chance before, to tell everyone their odds. With the time we have left, I want to improve them. To impart as much as I can about Leviathan and his abilities. His behaviors. I've seen too many good heroes," he paused for a moment, "and villains, die because they let their guard down."
Good villains? He said it like he believed it.
Legend went into a description of Leviathan's abilities. I knew most of it, having done extensive research going back a few months. Some people thought the Endbringers used to be human, parahumans whose powers went out of control. Maybe. Parahumans tended to only have one main power, and I saw that trend in Leviathan.
His ability to control water extended into everything he did. The water echo, his speed, his strength. It all likely came from hydrokinesis. Why he never attacked anywhere in the middle of a desert.
All the while, Leviathan's power seemed to grow. He'd batter the land with ever larger and strong tidal waves. It wouldn't stop until we forced him away.
"Leviathan is physically similar to his siblings, but he's also different," Legend said. "Behemoth is raw power. Strength. Fury. Simurgh plays to our fear, tries to throw us off balance, uses what we know she can do to push us towards what she wants us to do. Leviathan is a different beast. Leviathan likes to play petty tricks."
The image on the overhead changed. I recognized it from my research.
"Madrid, 2005," Legend said. "Leviathan initially seemed to be attacking a city along the coast, but disappeared a few minutes into the battle. Twenty minutes later, after we falsely assumed he'd given up the attack he reappeared."
Legends voice became grim.
"He swam up the Tagus River and into the Manzanares. We moved quickly to defend the city, but by the time we gained position he'd blocked up the Lozoya, Tagus, and Manzanares rivers. He unleashed an inland tidal wave that swept half of Madrid away. Hundreds of thousands died because the city didn't have time to put the people into shelters."
I remembered seeing it on TV too. It shocked the entire world. Up unto that point Leviathan only attacked the coast. He never went inland before, and hadn't since.
"Leviathan is fast," Legend said. "He is strong and he is lethal. He will fight using feints and ploys. He will fight us, but primarily to distract us. We suspect his goal will be to use the rivers and bays around Boston to sweep the city away, and countless lives along with it. We need to damage him. Hurt him enough to drive him back. We know he feels pain, but we also know he's smarter than he pretends to be. Do not get overconfident, be careful, watch your surroundings."
Legend swept his eyes over the arena, almost like he intended to look every single cape in the eye.
"Capes who have faced an Endbringer before, raise your hands!"
Hands raised. Beside me, Miss Militia, Stratos, and Velocity all raised their hands.
"These are your leaders," Legend said. "Follow the Protectorate first. We've trained and prepared for this. If none of the Protectorate are present," - he pointed into the arena - "look to them if you don't know what to do."
"This is a good thing you're doing," he said. "The greatest thing. This moment, right here. This is why we are tolerated. Even Blue Cosmos doesn't advocate the abolishment of the Protectorate. They will never acknowledge it but they know! They need us. All of us, to fight these battles. It's why people will turn a blind eye to the destruction we cause in their streets, the damage we can do to the world itself. These are the moments that matter."
I saw it then.
Everyone knew the truth. Alexandria and Hero were the brains behind the Protectorate. Alexandria organized most of the teams and tended to command the field in major battles. Hero developed the tools and the strategies the Protectorate and the PRT needed to win.
Yet, Legend officially stood as the Protectorate's leader.
I saw exactly why.
Because you can read his face so easily. See the earnestness in it, the belief. Legend didn't say what he said to play anyone or give them false hope. He said it because he believed it.
"We're all heroes today," he declared. "Nothing that happened before this moment or after matters. Leviathan will be here in fifteen minutes. Good luck. God be with us."
He stepped down, and Armsmaster to my surprise stepped up. He explained the wristbands that were handed out and how to use them, and then immediately set into organizing a plan of battle.
"We will split into teams," he said afterward. "Search and rescue will focus on recovery of the injured and evacuation of civilians. Report to Recoil of the Boston Protectorate now. This team includes movers who can move others. Teleporters and the like."
Recoil stood and raised her hand, and numerous capes followed.
More than half the room.
That surprised me.
"Vista," Miss Militia whispered.
The small girl lifted her head. "But-"
"Go," Miss Militia said. "Your power is too useful for us to not use it this way."
She didn't seem happy, but she nodded. Velocity followed after her.
I watched Miss Militia's face, namely the relief on it when Vista turned away. Her age, I guessed. No one wants to see a thirteen year old die, hero or not.
"We need anyone who thinks they can take a hit, produce obstacles or force fields, or disposable minions at the front. We must hem Leviathan in, slow him, so that he can be damaged. Report to Alexandria if you can fly, or to Narwhal if you cannot."
As Armsmaster spoke, capes responded. Aegis and Clockblocker both got up, which concerned me. Clockblocker didn't have a brute rating. If he froze Leviathan it might be huge… But I didn't like his odds getting that close. Aegis meanwhile might be able to take a lot of hits but he wasn't a true brute. I imagined enough damage to his body killed him like it killed anyone else.
Prism got up with them, which made more sense. She got a big strength boost when vanishing her clones, and the clones could take hits without risking her own life.
"If you are able to damage Leviathan from range, report to Legend now."
I rose to my feet. Dauntless, Stratos, Kid Win, and Miss Militia did the same.
"Chevalier and I will lead all other combatants. Anyone who thinks they can harm Leviathan or support those who can but lacks the mobility or brute rating to avoid or take hits."
Everyone began moving. I got pushed around a bit by the crowd, but I still managed to join a mass of about sixty capes off to one side gathered around Legend. He seemed to simply be calling names, pointing capes to other capes.
"Miss Militia, take command of the rooftop teams. Stratos go with her."
They both nodded.
He listed a few names, including Dauntless.
"With me," he said. "Cinereal I want you on my wing with-"
I stood and waited, little prickles running up and down my skin. I felt each breath heavily, and my heart pounded.
I needed to be here. I needed to survive.
No matter what I did in Brockton Bay, no matter how many villains I locked up, how many gangs I dismantled… It didn't matter long term. Not with the world being ground into oblivion by monsters. I didn't harbor delusions. I wouldn't kill Leviathan here after so many years and so many others already tried.
But I'd get experience. I'd gather information. I'd learn more.
Not this attack, or the next, or even the one after that. But sometime, someday. The world needed to change, and for that to happen the Endbringers needed to die.
"Newtype-"
I lifted my head.
Legend pointed. "Report to Hero."
I flinched.
"Right here," a voice said.
I turned, looking up at the man many considered the greatest tinker in the world. Tall and broad shouldered, with red and gold armor that looked more refined than Armsmaster's gear. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Let's go," he said with a smile.
He turned, and I took a quick stock of the capes following him.
I didn't really know any of them. Heroes from the Protectorate and Wards, mostly Protectorate.
I only knew one by name.
Purity.
"How fast is your suit?" Hero asked as we walked toward the front exit.
Is he asking me he's asking me.
"Mach three point two," I said.
"Alright," he said. "I want you to take the front position. We'll all follow in your slip stream. It'll help the rest of the team with fatigue and speed." That made sense. My suit handled all the stresses of flight and I felt perfectly fine. "Our goal is to circle the city, keep line of sight on Leviathan by any means necessary, and making diving passes focused on hitting him as hard as we can while he's not moving."
Did they build the entire team around that idea? Purity wasn't as fast as Astraea, but she was fast. Hero too far as I knew. Did they manage to think so far ahead with the extra time given?
"I've spread my robots around the city," I said. I glanced over my shoulder to find Green still there. "And I brought a second suit. StarGazer is operating it by remote."
"Good," Hero said. "Your robots will help. He's at his most dangerous when we lose track of him, and he can disappear more easily than you realize. If anyone needs to break off for any reason let me know. If you get separated from the group, fly high and rejoin us. This is going to get hectic. Be ready."
I stepped back out into the rain and wind. Both were worse than when I'd entered the arena. It almost looked like a hurricane overhead. The clouds twisted and swirled. Hero guided the group of us to where my suits were.
I climbed inside Astraea and restarted the GN drive, and Veda did the same for Queen.
Hero gave both suits a once over, which I admit I felt a little self-conscious about.
"Looks like a lot of fire power," one of the other capes said.
"I wanted to hit as hard as I could," I answered.
"Good," Hero said. He smiled, and cheerily said, "Fuck Leviathan."
A bit more jovial than Legend?
Hero shot into the air, his boots and a pack on his back emitting these golden ribbons that propelled him along. Looked very strange to my eyes. Other capes set off after him, and they started circling.
Purity stayed on the ground. I'm not sure she wore a mask. Light shined from all over her body, including her eyes and mouth. Even with a filter I couldn't quite make out her face, and I didn't try to adjust it. Unwritten rules and all.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"I wanted to thank you," she said.
I raised my brow. Astraea rose to her feet, shedding some of the water that built up in some of the nooks.
"For?"
"Your threat to punish anyone who goes after families," she said. "I've been trying to make a break from the Empire for nearly a year. Kaiser was trying to force me back in by… Threatening someone I can't live without." Why did that not surprise me in the slightest? "After you made your threat, I told him I'd go to you with what he said and let you handle it. He's let me be since then."
Not sure I believed her. You know, Nazi. At the same time, it did explain some of her behavior the past year. She vanished from Brockton Bay entirely, and then the next time anyone saw her she was flying around Boston. She didn't commit any crimes anyone knew of, but she did knock around some street gangs. Minority street gangs. The obvious conclusion was the Empire wanted to expand into Boston, but she never seemed to push things quite that far.
"I see," I said.
"Thank you," she repeated. "It's all I wanted to say."
She lifted into the air, joining Hero and the others overhead as dozens of others started rising off the ground. I'd never seen so many capes at once, and… I'd never seen so many capes at once.
If I counted everyone in the arena it probably added up to near three hundred people. Panacea and others like her probably already found themselves at hospitals or a command center.
Could be as many as five hundred capes in the city for all I knew.
Here we go.
"Ready Veda?" I asked over a private line.
"I am ready," she said.
Alright.
"Let's go."
I launched into the air, curving during my ascent to get in front of Hero. He fell in right behind me, the others following after him and Veda positioning Queen at the rear of our line of sixteen.
I spotted Dragon as we flew.
She brought a much bigger suit, closer in size to a large SUV. It landed on a rooftop along the river, four legs standing it up right with a pair of wings and a torso with two arms. It suited the more typical aesthetic of her creations, looked more like an actual Dragon.
I spotted Kid Win on his hover board with her, among others.
I accessed the network the wristbands operated on remotely, getting a greeting from Dragon in the process. She patched Veda's network directly in, so I didn't really need the band anymore. Already inside my suit, I couldn't get rid of it either.
No matter.
Veda distributed the Haros along the shore line. They hung in the air two hundred feet high. Hopefully that kept anything from striking them down. If the hardest part of Leviathan fight was keeping track of him, then a network of smart UAVs was the best solution.
Before that though…
Nervously I accessed the communication system. It felt stupid in a way, but I needed to try.
"I have a plan to stop the first wave," I said to Hero. "I need to land on a rooftop to do it though."
Hero nodded on my rear camera and pressed a thumb to his wrist.
"Hero speaking. Newtype wants to try and stop the first wave. We're going to park ourselves downtown and give it a try."
He nodded to me and pointed toward a skyscraper.
Downtown Boston rested on this little curved peninsula that overlooked the harbor and bay. Right at the mouth of the Charles. Arms of land embraced the waters further out on the left and right, an array of islands shielding the city from some of the rougher waters out at sea.
The shore still got battered though.
Boats littered the bay, seemingly broken free of their moorings.
I landed on one of the tallest buildings in the city. Hero landed right behind me, and some of the others on the team as well.
I started checking weapon systems on last time.
Ten GN missiles in total, four mounted under the shield on my left arm and six in the missile pod over my left shoulder. Two GN cannons on my right arm, twin-linked for accuracy. A third mounted over the right shoulder. Extra armor plating over the limbs and chest, and a pack filled with GN capacitors and thrusters on my back.
This will work.
I flipped a switch, and two mechanical arms rose from the pack on Astraea's back. They lifted the two spare shields mounted on the back in their clamps and whirled them around to cover my flanks. I didn't plan on getting close to Leviathan, but if I did I was as ready as I could be.
Around my building teams of fliers few. Flashes of light and bursts of air showed teams of capes assembling on lower rooftops on both sides of the river. PRT and emergency response vehicles began gathering further back from the waters.
Everyone off ground level? Might backfire, but most definitely anyone on the ground risked being swept away in a wave.
"Alexandria. Leviathan is due any moment. Watch the shoreline. Brace for a wave. Stay off street level if you can."
It always started with a wave. Even Leviathans feints began with them. Flood the streets. Of course he started every battle that way.
The wave flooded the streets of his target. It gave him water to work with.
His entire gimmick revolved around water. Water was his speed, his shield, and his weapon. Flooding the streets hurt us too. It got harder for non-fliers to move, for emergency responders to help. Destroy as much infrastructure as possible and make the terrain advantageous to him. That's why he did it.
He'd succeed eventually. I couldn't reliably drop every wave he'd throw out, but stopping even one or two could make a huge difference.
That's where I needed to start.
Knock down the first wave. Keep Leviathan from making the terrain his.
"What did you have in mind?" Hero asked.
"A proper application of firepower," I said.
I set Astraea to crouch, raising the twinned GN barrels on my right arm and adjusting the cannon over my shoulder. The GN drive spun, green light spilling around me and lighting up the sky.
Queen landed directly behind Astraea.
A port opened on the pack, and Queen pressed her hand to it.
"Linking GN drives," Veda said aloud.
Two is a better number than one.
Queen's solar furnace joined mine, both working overtime to produce as many GN particles as possible and fill all the capacitors in Astraea's pack.
"Build it slow," I said. "We can only hold max synchronization for a few seconds."
"Confirmed," Veda said.
Hero stood silent and watched with the others.
I aimed the two cannons on my arm to the right, and rotated the cannon over my shoulder to the left.
"Synchronization ten percept and charging," Veda said. I checked the meters measuring the storage capacity of the capacitors. "Four point four per second."
"Stratos. Wave sighted."
I looked out past the islands. I didn't see it at first, not until the mass of dark water enveloped one of the islands further out and rolled over it. The wall seemed small at first. Only ten or so feet high.
Then it built, and kept building.
Fifteen. Twenty. Third. Forty. Fifty.
Veda and I ran countless simulations. Calculating the precise output needed to collapse a tidal wave. Leviathan at no point in his history showed fine control of water. He worked on the macro level, not the micro. He might be able to build a wave but if I collapsed it…
"Synchronization thirty-four percent," Veda announced.
Just a little more.
The wave grew taller and closer, enveloping two more islands and then the tips of the arms enveloping Boston's bay. A wall of darkness that emerged and blocked out the horizon, growing ever larger and approaching ever faster.
"Forty-eight percent. Maximum synchronization."
My heart stopped
The wave kept rising.
I pulled the triggers.
