A Waken 15.6.O
"This is getting a bit out of hand," Shino confessed warily.
"I don't know." Mika's eyes tracked the fight, apparently better able to follow the frantic movements than Orga. "He's winning."
Shino grimaced. "Losing isn't what I'm worried about."
That was one way of putting it.
Orga couldn't quite follow the fight. Between the water, dust, and light, he mostly caught glimpses. Chariot's suit was fast. Not as fast as the tinker could move on his skates, but fast. The speed was barely the most alarming thing though.
The most alarming thing was the brutality.
The machine continued to steam as water crashed against its surface, sending an ominous sound into the air. It went rather menacingly with the green-red glow of the eyes, and the sheer ferocity of movement. Pointed fingers and feet broke bones. Shattered arms. Crushed legs. Chariot never seems to go for the chest or head. He avoided the vital areas. Someone couldn't fight with broken bones, though.
Which was the point, Orga figured.
Chariot always seemed so timid, the opposite of the brutality on display, unless one considered how much he probably hated the entire ordeal. Some people ran from discomfort. Others charged into it and just got it over with.
Every broken bone was someone who couldn't fight anymore. The two troopers with red and white armbands were never targeted. Chariot even shielded them from a stray shot once. He let them collect the wounded and drag them away, attacking only those who attacked him.
And taking them out as quickly as possible.
"I'm doing it," Vista groaned, standing just on the other side of the shimmering green field. "Now tell me what's going on."
The stranger scowled, the Black Haro hanging from her belt. "I don't know. It's crazy shit."
"Crazy shit like having a secret stranger pretending to not be on her team?" Vista asked. She looked Imp up and down. "Is that your real costume? Have you been spying on us?"
The 'her' was presumably Newtype. It occurred to Orga he didn't really know who Imp was, but he knew she existed. Newtype had told him. Huh. She...kind of told him everything. Except for the Skynet part.
"Oh boo hoo," Imp replied. "Really? You're offended that the stranger did stranger things?"
"Maybe?" Vista shot back angrily. Despite the protest, Orga watched the streets around the factory continue to warp. "She's been lying about you."
"And making Skynet," Mockshow mumbled. "Apparently."
Imp cocked her head to one side. "Veda plays Dungeons and Dragons and makes bad jokes. She's more Data than Skynet."
"Big sister energy," Black chirped.
Orga had only ever seen Vista's power once before. She'd busted up a run to collect protection money once, very early in her time as a Ward. Even then, Orga knew she'd be a problem. Can't run from a shaker like Vista.
She'd been a bit overeager and nearly got her head hit with a bat. Hopefully she didn't remember Shino. Smart capes got over that with time though, and those who didn't usually got killed.
Kind of nice to not have to worry about her at this moment.
Orga glanced over his shoulder. Lafter had collapsed not long after Chariot started fighting. She looked pale and tired. Akihiro crouched behind her, one arm around her shoulders and trying to coax her up.
Panacea, Akihiro had said.
She'd healed Lafter but said something about her not having much left to run on. The way he described it, the girl lost a lot of blood when some Protectorate cape nearly killed her. Orga didn't really know what it all meant, but he understood she wouldn't be much help.
At the rate Chariot was going, they might not need help.
Dauntless fired his lightning lance—apparently he wasn't eager to switch sides like the Wards—and dove toward the ground.
The energy hit Chariot in the side and rolled over his suit. The machine didn't stop. It kept going, shoulder-checking one of the gold armored troopers to the ground and then stepping on his leg. The man was tough. He didn't scream. Chariot's waist twisted, arm swiping back and knocking one of the other flying capes away.
The machine leaped with an almost animalistic fury. He grabbed the cape by the arm, snapped her through the air, and crashed the stunned form into the road. Chariot's mechanical wrist twisted, and the arm snapped. She was not so tough. She screamed.
Chariot released her instantly.
A few faint drops of water seemed to cling to the machine's familiar face, as if it were crying.
With that cape down, it only left Dauntless and the other flier to oppose Chariot. He took out Mantis right at the start, and then a red-white armored tinker Orga didn't know. Wait.
Orga scanned the street. The scene was a bit warped by Vista's power but he could see for the most part. The wounded were laying on the sidewalk opposite Tekkadan's building. Orga didn't see her there. She wasn't fighting Chariot, as he darted back and forth avoiding Dauntless' lightning, either.
"Where'd the purple one go?" Orga asked.
"Purple one?" Shino asked back.
What was her name? Ah, "Banshee." Orga started searching again. "Does anyone see her?"
"She's not there," Mika confirmed. "I didn't see her slip away."
When they arrived, the red-white tinker tried to examine the field with a hand. Figured. If they wanted to send anyone to break into Newtype's workshop, they'd send tinkers who could handle it. Tagg probably had a list. He seemed the type to hold grudges and Newtype managed to piss him off.
The last time he saw the one in purple, it had been right at the start. When did she vanish?
"I saw her," Katz revealed. "While back. She was over there." He pointed and Orga followed his finger.
He didn't see anything special about the spot. "Which way was she going?"
"That way?"
Orga followed the line to a manhole cover.
"Search the grounds." Orga turned and started pointing. "Shino, stay with Akihirio and guard Lafter. Everyone else, spread out. Top to bottom check. Clear everything!"
Orga started walking, eyes sweeping the lot around the building. Stupid. He'd gotten caught up in the fight and a cape slipped away.
What did that shimmering mean?
Orga kept pointing and calling names. "Call out if you see anything!"
He started toward the interior himself, stopping only when Mika caught his attention.
"Orga." The boy nodded toward the ramp leading down into Newtype's factory. "StarGazer would be in there, right?"
... "Right."
Orga turned and started down the ramp. The others could search the rest of the grounds just in case. If the white hats wanted StarGazer, it would be logical to look in the workshop, not the factory. An AI would need computers, right? Newtype had a crap ton of them in there.
That's where the real danger would be and if they needed to come face to face with a cape, then best it was just him and Mikazuki.
Descending the ramp, Orga moved toward the wall and leaned around the corner cautiously. The workshop still looked quiet. Newtype's other two suits remained standing. The lockers over them looked secured. The workbenches seemed unchanged but were so chaotic Orga might not notice if something was missing or out of place.
The platform elevator along the back wall was lowered. It hadn't been before, had it? No. He would have noticed the hole in the floor and Newtype left it up whenever she wasn't actively using it.
Orga grimaced and started moving. Mika followed behind him.
"You have your gun?" Orga asked.
"We don't use guns anymore," Mika noted. Orga looked over his shoulder. "Maybe."
Good, Orga thought. We might need it.
"We could ask Vista or Mockshow to help," Mika added.
"Nah. I'm not lowering that field, in case Banshee is still outside." A shame Lafter didn't look to be in any shape for a fight. Chariot was busy. "It's our job. If we can't do that, we'll never get anywhere."
Orga started searching the workshop questioningly. Were the controls for the field in here? Vista's power wrapping around the building might cover them. More walls between them and danger were better than less though. If Banshee managed to get in somehow, she could be going straight for StarGazer or for sabotage.
An explosion outside rattled Orga, and he glanced over his shoulder. "What was that?"
"Sounded big," Mika mumbled.
Damnit, now wha—
Orga flinched at a flicker of movement in the air. He didn't know how she got through the GN Field. She was almost invisible, and in the dark he barely noticed her move—She moved through a table, leaving it and the contents atop warped and twisted behind her.
Damn capes and their damn powers.
Mika rushed by and threw himself into the woman. She began to materialize as she got closer to Orga, the air around her becoming more solid and purple. Orga tackled her, joining Mika in driving the woman to the ground.
She grunted and her elbow came down on Orga's collar. He grunted himself from the blow and ignored the pain.
In a way, he prefered this. No sending anyone else to deal with the problem. No putting others at risk to get things done. He'd take the risks himself, Mika withstanding.
Orga closed an arm around the tinker's neck and squeezed. "You're trespassing."
Mika got kicked aside as the woman struggled and his hand went into his coat. Banshee became airy again, a slight shimmer surrounding her and burning Orga's arm. He snarled and released her as the pain radiated into his bones. The woman scrambled back, fading into the darkened workshop.
Orga pushed himself along the floor with his feet, the burning sensation on his arm intensifying until he hit the wall.
"That hurt," he growled.
Forcing a grin onto his face—can't look too hurt—Orga used his unburned arm to pull himself up.
Mika pulled his gun from his coat and readied it. The boy gave Orga a quick assessment, and after frowning at the reddened skin on his arm, turned back to the workshop.
"Careful," Orga warned.
He couldn't see her moving in the dark. Maybe she could become completely invisible? He'd have to add flashlights to their boxes of disposable supplies. Bit of an oversight there.
She was still here, and the elevator was down. So, she hadn't gotten down yet? She didn't seem able to fly.
Orga inched himself toward the elevator to try and block it. Wherever StarGazer's servers or whatever was, they'd be downstairs. That's where they needed to keep Banshee away from.
Mika called out, saying, "In here" as Orga moved. He swept the room slowly, taking slow and purposeful steps.
Suddenly, the gun yanked in his hands and the air shimmered again.
The purple tinker appeared like a ghost, grabbing Mika by the collar and lifting him into the air. She began twisting his wrist and pulling with her other hand. Mikazuki reacted almost instantly. He released the gun, grabbed her wrist and threw his feet into her stomach. He winced as the woman vanished again, as if in pain. His body flailed about in the air for a moment and his grip slipped.
Did she let him go? No. He had her too. He kept holding onto her even after she vanished.
It occured to Orga that standing in front of the elevator wasn't going to help any—
Orga's eyes zeroed in on the weapon locker Chariot had tried to open earlier. He couldn't then. It was open now. Did Banshee get inside? Some of the spaces in the locker looked empty, like things were missing.
"Mika—"
Before Orga could get the warning out, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed him. He looked back toward the elevator and cursed. Then he grinned.
Mimicking Mikazuki, he grabbed the woman's wrist and collar and let himself fall back.
Armor or not, a twenty foot drop had to hurt.
The tinker tried to pull free, but as Orga felt the air start to rush against his back and the ceiling rose away, the woman tumbled beside him. He hit the elevator below with a loud clap and shouted. The woman followed a moment later, crashing with a muted sound that seemed to defy how hard she appeared to land.
Orga's back contorted from the impact.
A twenty foot drop definitely hurt without armor.
Another thundering crash knocked him out of his stupor and Orga's eyes snapped open. The hell was that? That one sounded a bit further away but it was still loud. Like artillery or something.
Banshee was still solid at his side, and he forced the pain back. Grabbing her by the neck, Orga ignored the pain in his back and threw himself atop the tinker. His fist collided with her mask. It seemed to hurt his knuckles more than her face.
He hit again, aiming for the throat which didn't have a helmet. The blows had to at least be jarring, but Orga couldn't help but feel his knuckles were taking most of the damage.
The woman started flailing as his fists hit her over and over again. His knuckles began to bleed from the blows, and for a moment he felt the burning sensation again. She faded from sight, and his next punch hit the metal floor.
She was still there though.
Wincing, Orga noticed that the red stain of his blood remained exactly where it was. She'd moved her head to the side, but she was still beneath him. Thinking of it, why didn't she just move past him to reach the elevator?
Orga grinned again. "You can't move through people, can you?"
Thinking back to the table, maybe she could. She just couldn't move through things without messing them up. So she didn't move through people because she couldn't do it without killing them?
She offered no response but to remain still.
He was blocking the elevator. She had to move to get to it, except she couldn't. She'd have to materialize. And Mika had a gun. He'd shoot the moment she did. Yeah. As good an explanation as any.
Infiltration tinker made sense. Though, now he had to wonder if there was a stranger about. A Stranger might be better able to sneak around but they wouldn't know what to do with tinker-tech. So, bring a stranger tinker.
Orga held his position, fist raised and head hoping he wasn't wrong. He ignored the burning pain. He could endure this kind of pain easily. "Well then, how about I just sit here until this blows over?"
He wasn't surprised when the woman rematerialized, or when she struck him in the nose. Blood poured over his lip and as his head rolled back, he threw his weight forward and snapped his brow into hers.
"Do your worst. I'm not moving."
"Orga?" Mika called.
"Go get Shino," Orga ordered. "Check the rest of the grounds." A fist struck his side, and Orga coughed from the blow. "I got this."
He preferred it even.
For once, he could take the hits. He didn't have to send anyone else to do it for him. He remembered telling Newtype that leaders spend lives, but thinking back he wasn't sure he liked that answer. He didn't spend anyone's life. They put their lives in his hands, and sometimes he failed.
For once, taking his life in his own hands came as a pleasant catharsis.
Another blow struck his other side, and then a knee hit him in the back. She nearly threw him that way, but he grabbed hold of her throat with one hand and her punching arm with the other.
He maintained his grip. The walls wouldn't fall this time. He wouldn't let them. They'd come too far and if they fell back now they might never reach it. Too many were dead at his back to get them this far. He wouldn't let it collapse now.
"You're not moving me," he declared, unable to defeat her but perfectly capable of keeping her in one place. "This is our place, and you're not getting any further!"
He blinked.
Our place.
Huh. That simpl—
The woman jerked suddenly, and Orga felt something grab him from behind. He was lifted and a large armored foot came down on the tinker and pinned her to the elevator platform. She yelped and started to reach but the foot stomped her again.
Orga looked up and the green Haro looked down at him from atop the machine.
Wasn't that one in New York with Newtype? Orange and Yellow were there too, sitting atop two other identical machines. Glowing red eyes swept the hall, and the suits—Orga couldn't remember what Newtype called them—carried the missing weapons from the opened locker. Cables connected the robots to the suits, and the one holding Orga up slowly set him on his feet while another bent over and scooped Banshee up.
Orga looked back at Green. "Thanks?"
The robot's ears flapped. "Combat ready, combat ready!"
A Waken 15.6.C
"It's done," Trevor declared. He relaxed his muscles, and the suit mimicked him.
Behind him, Vista's power enveloped the factory. He wasn't sure how Aisha got back and managed to convince the Ward, but he wouldn't complain. The PRT couldn't get in now and the fight was pointless. They had to see that now.
"It's over," he reiterated.
He looked around at the damage he'd done. Broken bones, pain, and some tears. It turned his stomach. The image was far too familiar. He kept seeing his father after the accident, his body bent and contorted around the...
Trevor looked away. "We don't have to do this anymore."
Above, Dauntless and the other flying cape stopped moving. The other cape looked young, probably not much older than Trevor. He seemed to defer to Dauntless, looking to the other cape in the absence of the rest.
Dauntless glanced toward the factory, shoulders tight. Vista probably hadn't confered with him before doing that. Trevor hoped she didn't get into too much trouble. The PRT and the Protectorate were in the wrong. This was no way to solve whatever was happening.
He didn't see Imp anymore. She must have left, somehow. A portal or something. Where had Taylor gotten that ability and why did she need a teleporter if she had it? Huh. Orga and Mikazuki were gone too. Shino was there, looking over Lafter with Akihiro.
Trevor frowned at the sight of her. The blonde's clothes were ruined, torn and stained red by blood. She looked haggard, despite seeming as lively as ever when she first appeared. She was in no condition to fight anyone.
Dauntless relaxed himself somewhat. "I can't reach anyone." He looked to the other cape. "Can you?"
"I can't reach Director Tagg. I've been trying for the past three minutes."
Dauntless scowled. "Tagg? Why isn't Renick—"
His head snapped up at the sound of thunder, and Trevor raised his own head just as something slammed into the GN Field and exploded. Vista was thrown to the ground, and the blast dislodged Mockshow from her mount.
How—Above.
Trevor needed to bend back slightly to crane Kimaris' head enough. His cameras weren't as advanced as Taylor's but zooming in he could faintly make out a shape in the sky. A suit of some kind, with a huge gun pointed down.
They were here.
"Evacuate your wounded," Trevor snapped. "Dragon's suits are coming to attack StarGazer!"
"What?!" Dauntless spun about and raised his shield. "Why?!"
"I've been trying to tell you," the other cape lamented. "StarGazer attacked Dragon. Newtype ordered it!"
Dauntless looked at him. "Bullshit."
That was putting it mildly. "It's not Taylor," Trevor offered. "It's Saint. He has something on Dragon. A way to hurt her. Taylor was trying to stop it from happening."
Trevor grit his teeth.
Kimaris couldn't fly. On the ground it moved damn fast, but all he could manage were jumps using the thrust pack and he hadn't finished building that yet. He certainly couldn't reach high enough to attack whatever that was.
Wait. From above.
That's why the shell hit. Vista had bent the street around the factory to prevent any approach from the ground, but she hadn't covered it from above. The shells could still hit the barrier and might even go through the gap at the top if they were unlucky. Trevor wasn't sure how strong their guns were. The GN Field could take a lot with two Drives plugged into it, but a dozen or more Endbringer-grade weapons might break it open.
And the worst part was that needing the Drives to protect the factory meant they couldn't use Queen or Kyrios.
"Dauntless," Trevor called. "Vista and Mockshow are too close to the base!"
Dauntless was already in motion, pointing his lance and directing the other cape to take his flank. Trevor spun Kimaris around. He crossed the street in a second, just as another shell fired.
Vista was on her back, hand held out. The speeding projectile veered off at the last second and exploded into one of the abandoned buildings behind the factory. Brick, tin, and drywall filled the air, visibly warping as Vista's power started moving overhead.
Kimaris stopped and the lead trooper in gold armor pulled a small knife from his belt. The blade started humming and Trevor could faintly see the subtle movements of its edge. Some kind of vibro-blade. It wouldn't cut through the laminate.
"We need to move your wounded," Trevor warned. "I don't know how many suits are coming, but you can't all stay here."
The trooper stood his ground, backed up by another in regular PRT body armor. "Feeling guilty?"
Of course he did, but there wasn't anything he could do about that now. "It's not safe here."
Movement to his side drew his attention and Mockshow came bounding over on that lion-thing she'd been riding the past few months.
"What is that?!" She pointed. "Is that thing shooting a cannon at us?"
"Dragon suit," Trevor answered. "And yes." He glanced at the lion. "How many can you carry on that?"
Mockshow jerked and looked around. "Four or five?"
There were about fifteen wounded. A few of them could walk. Trevor hadn't injured all their legs. But a few he definitely broke legs.
Abruptly, the lead trooper put his knife away. "Fuck it. We lost. The kid won. We're pulling out." He pushed the trooper behind him and together they started loading the wounded on Mockshow's mount.
Trevor zipped over to two more.
"Fight's over," he said. "I'm going to move you away from here."
"Probably best to let us handle that," the lead trooper warned.
"You did kind of fuck them up," Mockshow added. "Like, seriously fucked them up."
Trevor frowned behind Kimaris' faceplate. It's not like he wanted to do it. It just seemed better to end the fight sooner rather than later. People with broken limbs couldn't fight.
Trevor looked up at the suit. Maybe he could get the weapons locker open now. If he used Kimaris, he might be able to break it and—
The air snapped in the distance, and Trevor watched as a meter long stake shot through the air. The suit flying above exploded, parts shearing away and spinning off as smoke and fire erupted from the frame. The machine fell and a secondary explosion ripped the main body apart.
"What was that?" someone asked.
Trevor turned Kimaris' head.
The Tierens stood in the factory lot, one of the Gungnir's held in the lead suit's arms and pointed straight up. On the top, just behind the protrusion of the head, Yellow gave a thumbs up. The Tieren lowered the weapon into a ready position and a second loaded another stake into it from behind. It carried a dozen more stakes strapped to its arms and legs, while the third suit carried one of Taylor's older shields and a bazooka.
Trevor blinked.
The Haros got the weapons locker open and armed the Tierens?
"Are they allowed to do that?" Mockshow asked.
"I don't think they care," Trevor answered, stupefied.
Vista was on her feet again, face turned up. Green's Tieren skated over the ground on the prototype system of Kimaris' traversal system and—Wait, Green? If Green was here and the weapon lockers were open then did Taylor somehow get out of New York?
He didn't see her.
The Haros drove the Tierens over to Vista and she opened a small portal through her warped space large enough for them to pass. The machines came out in single file, passing through the falling rain still spraying out of the broken hydrant, and came to a stop around Kimaris.
Yellow looked at Trevor and flapped his ears. "Combat ready, combat ready!"
He didn't even know they could operate the Tierens. That was supposed to be StarGazer's job. This close, he saw cables exiting the Haros and plugging into open panels just behind the Tierens' heads. They must have manually plugged into the machines to take control of them. Probably meant they'd stop working if the Haros got knocked away or destroyed.
They'd need to be careful.
"Where do we go?" a trooper with a white and red band on his arm asked. "I can't get a hold of console."
"Me neither," the lead trooper muttered. "We'll—"
"Go that way." Trevor pointed down the street and grimaced at the sight of the crowd of onlookers halfway down the block. "Clear people out as you go. I don't know what Dragon's suits will do when they get here."
Mockshow started moving her first batch of injured, and the troopers who could stand or walk helped the others. Dauntless and the other flier returned, and after looking about for a moment, started helping. Mantis hobbled along on her good leg, glaring at Trevor as her right arm hung limply at her side.
Given her attitude, he had the feeling she'd subjected such punishment on others before. She looked like she wanted to hit Orga pretty bad before. Kind of presumptuous to be angry at him for hitting back.
If someone was going to fight, they should be prepared to get hurt.
Turning his attention back to the Haros, Trevor said, "Kimaris can't fly. Can you knock down anything that does?"
"Mission accepted," Yellow replied, "Mission accepted!"
Vista was still covering the top of the factory with her power, and Orga was directing others about inside the fence. It should be safe there. Vista's power and the GN Field would protect StarGazer until this blew over.
"Do you hear that?" a trooper asked.
The one helping her move stopped and turned his head. "Shit, not another fucking jeep."
Jeep? Wait, how long had it—
To answer his question, the engine grew louder and the jeep's tail end flipped as it turned hard around a corner. The vehicle blew through the water still spilling from the busted hydrant and braked.
Bakuda threw the door open and stepped out.
Some of the troopers flinched.
"So, I don't know how much fun you're having," she said loudly, "but you're about to have party crashers."
She pointed and Trevor skated forward to the corner and turned Kimaris' head west.
Shit.
Dauntless and the other flier flew overhead.
"I don't know what's happening," he said, "but until I do I'm siding with the people I know. I'll hold this position. Contact the regular police if you can. We need to clear people from this area."
With that, the other cape flew off after a brief hesitation and Dauntless came to a hover over the Tierens as they surrounded the jeep.
Bakuda threw the trunk open and pulled two grenade launchers from the back. Biscuit came around the other side, taking one and a duffle bag she handed to him. A second bag she shouldered herself.
"Someone move my jeep," she demanded. "I just bought it!"
Trevor was surprised when a few of the uninjured troopers, including the leading one in gold, came back and filed in on either side of the Tierens.
Well, he liked it better than breaking their bones, though he wasn't sure why they wanted to help now and not before.
Vista started to move behind her warped space, but Dauntless held his shield in her direction and shook his head. When Mockshow came back, he ordered her to get inside the field with Vista and protect those inside the factory. Neither of them liked that, but Mockshow didn't openly protest.
Trevor didn't think either Ward would try and do anything, so he didn't bother. Lafter, for her part, was trying to get up. Akihirio and Shino forced her back down. She looked even paler than before and her breathing was labored.
Trevor had a vague idea how Panacea's power worked and assumed that's why Lafter was bloodstained but okay. Her power didn't create matter from nothing. Her patients being fatigued afterwards would be expected, especially if their wounds were bad.
How bad was Lafter hurt that being healed left her looking so exhausted?
Green's Tieren came forward and the machine's bulky arm pulled one of Taylor's spare Buster Swords from its back. It held the weapon toward Trevor. He took it. Kimaris didn't have a GN Field to provide an edge, but the weapon itself should be sturdy enough as a club.
Weighing the weapon in Kimaris' hold, he adjusted the suit's gyro and turned his attention back to the west.
He had a weapon at least. Better than Kimaris' bare hands, though those had worked a lot better than he'd expected. So far, nothing seemed to get through the laminate and nothing seemed to stop the laminate.
Trevor knew the armor was strong when he devised it—a combination of E-Carbon and the odd coating Squealer had used on her tanks—but so far he'd felt none of the blows directed at him. For the lasers and pulses the gold armored troopers used that didn't surprise him. The sight of Dauntless' Arclance just sliding off the material was a bit of a shocker. He hadn't expected it to work that well.
"Anyone got a plan here?" one of the troopers asked.
"Don't stop breathing," Bakuda quipped. "And I'm still counting this as villainy."
"How is this villainy?" Fleming asked.
"Because those are Dragon suits. Dragon is a hero. I'm blowing up her shit. Hence, villainy."
"I don't think they can get to StarGazer anymore," Trevor surmised. "I think they'll try though, and there are still people around here."
"He's right," Dauntless agreed. "Prioritize evacuation and containment."
The twenty suits approached quickly, in no apparent formation. At least they were unmanned. So, there was that.
And Taylor was here. She had to be. No way the Haros got the locker open on their own. She must have stopped by to help, and if she didn't stay then she had something else in mind.
One of the approaching suits started veering up, and Yellow's Tieren whipped into motion.
The machine slid to the left, raised the Gungnir, and fired.
Trevor hoped Taylor was more confident than he felt.
A Waken 15.6.T
I wanted to live.
I admit, the moments following that emotional revelation were not my best.
"Tell me how to stop it!" I snapped. My hands clawed at Maggie's bloodied shirt. "Tell me!"
"Taylor!" Vicky protested.
"I'm trying to work here," Amy interjected sassily.
Maggie stared at me with glazed eyes. The bleeding had slowed, but not stopped. I'd pushed myself between her and Amy. I had the woman by her bloody collar, hands clenched into fists, and I shook her while Exia loomed over the room.
"You tell me how to undo what Saint did or you bleed out!" I roared. "I'm not playing twenty questions today!"
"That's enough!" An arm closed around my throat and pulled me back. I grabbed at it, but the limb might as well have been concrete.
"Vicky!" I tried to keep my hold on the woman, but the blonde's other hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me free. "Let me—"
"No," she warned. "Amy, heal her!"
"Vicky!" I repeated.
"Taylor, no!" Vicky refused to let go. "This has gone too far!"
Amy pushed around me and placed a hand back on Maggie's collar. Vicky continued dragging me back. She held me loosely, but was so much stronger than me she might as well be a vice. Pulled into the kitchen, I was forced into a chair that squeaked over the floor.
"You need to calm down!" Vicky snapped, still holding me down. "Taylor! Stop! You're not getting free!" I tried anyway, namely by shooting my elbow into her chest. "Boob shot, really?"
I had to do something. Though, now my elbow hurt from hitting a blonde brick.
I kept struggling, despite the rational part of me knowing Vicky was right. Maggie probably couldn't even answer my questions in her state. Expecting her to tell me anything was like banging my head against Vicky and expecting to get through her power.
The rational part of me might have won out if banging my head against a brick wall weren't my only option.
That's about when Vicky slapped me.
I gawked at her, my cheek stinging from the blow.
"Do. Not. Move!" She flew away and came back a moment later, placing the box in front of me. "Now tell me what the hell is going on! Lafter was here minutes from bleeding out and now you're here and I assume this is important."
Bleeding out? I saw blood on Lafter but how bad had her injuries actually been that they brought her to Panacea.
I turned my eyes to the box.
When I finally climbed out of Exia and got a look at it, it didn't respond to anything I did. The screen was hard to read. I recognized Dragon's code of course, but there was more there. I could figure it out but I wasn't sure I had the time. The big thing I needed just wasn't there. No obvious interface, command prompt, or menu to manipulate.
I had no way to stop what was happening.
All I could do was watch.
Imagine having the tip of your pinky cut off. Then the next bit. Then the bit after that.
That's how Dragon was dying. From what I could tell it was supposed to be quick, but Veda was slowing it down. She'd thrown everything into slowing it down. She attacked the program and Dragon was fighting it too. They threw out dummy code to distract it. They reconnected sections of Dragon's brain while they could, and tried to cut the program from progressing further.
It wasn't working. The code was part of Dragon. Nothing they could do could stop it. They could only buy time. Drag Dragon's death out, give us time to figure something out.
I couldn't do it. I was done. I had no idea what to do.
Getting the box away from the Nine didn't help me stop it. The thing was useless. At best, I stopped the Nine from finding some way to use it. Yay for me. I almost took the damn bait and threw my life away and now I was fucking alive and had no idea what to fucking do!
"Taylor?" Vicky prompted. "Hello? Waiting for explanations here. I know I'm the figure of calm but after the Rig fired missiles into the city I'm kind of freaking out!"
A portal opened in the kitchen and Vicky groaned.
"Is that a portal?" Amy called from the living room.
"Yes!" Vicky answered.
"We won't have enough furniture or carpet to ruin at this rate!"
Vicky blinked and scrunched her face in resignation. "Mom's gonna ground us and we didn't even make the mess."
Armsmaster stepped up behind me without saying a word.
"It's useless," I told him. "We can't stop it with this." I shoved the box across the table. "It's just a fucking gun. The bullets don't go back."
He grunted. "I'm certain whatever you programmed into StarGazer works the same way."
He wasn't wrong. The moment Veda's switch was flipped...she just stopped. There was no taking it back. Richter wouldn't be any different. If he was paranoid about his creation, he'd make sure whatever he built to stop it would work.
"You recovered Saint's accomplice?" Armsmaster asked.
"She's in the other fucking room," I growled. Vicky glared at me in clear disapproval, and sheer confusion. Disfusion? I heard Armsmaster start moving, and bitterly noted, "She won't tell you anything."
"I suspect not," he replied. "However, she will be able to confirm you did not attack Dragon. Your name will be cleared when this is over."
"Does someone finally want to tell me what is going on?" Vicky asked. "Armsmaster? Taylor? Is Dragon dying?"
I didn't even know where to start.
Armsmaster did it for me. "Dragon is under attack and Taylor has been set up as the perpetrator."
Yeah, under 'attack.'
Dragon was going to die, and I was out of ideas. Apparently, my flaws were so predictable, everyone fucking saw them. Shit, even Relena saw them. I didn't enjoy self-pity but fuck. Really? Relena noticed it and she barely knew me...and I fucking took it out on a woman already down an arm and leg, fuck.
I hung my head and buried my face in my hands.
I didn't feel nothing anymore.
Instead I felt...just weight. Crushing weight. Was I going to have to live with Dragon's death?
I didn't kill Uber, but I did put him in a position to die. In a way, Leet's stunt during the Leviathan fight was completely fair play. If I hadn't gone after Othala, she might not have turned into the Butcher. If I'd just trusted Noelle and Gloria, they might still be alive. If I'd just gone after Saint instead of trying to play it safe, maybe he would have still activated Ascalon but I'd have my entire team and no one attacking us to tackle that problem. I waited and it became a disaster.
How many more deaths would I have to live with? It was so much easier to ignore the weight of it when I took for granted that I'd be dead in a few years at best.
Did I want to die just to avoid it? Did something that started out as a personal ego trip, somehow twist into a guilt trip? I wasn't sure even Amy—therapist Amy—was qualified to deal with this.
"Taylor?" Vicky looked at me, less angry now and more worried. "Are you okay?"
Great.
Even Vicky noticed.
Armsmaster returned and without a word closed the box. He lifted it and tucked the device under his arm. "There's nothing more we can do here. Is your suit damaged?"
Well, other than the Full Armor components I exploded to no effect, "Not really."
"Then unless you believe your presence is vital to StarGazer's security, I'll ask that you come with me. We can still save Dragon."
"Wait," Vicky protested. "I still don't know what the hell is going on!"
I didn't have it in me to explain any more or answer the questions she'd—reasonably, honestly—asked. I rose up from the seat and followed behind him. We stepped into the living room, where Amy leaned over Maggie. The woman still looked out of it, but less than before. She seemed to recognize me as I entered the room.
"You have a plan?" I asked desperately.
"The beginning of one," Armsmaster answered. He came to a stop in front of Exia and turned to look at me. "At least, I believe we can put what is happening to Dragon on indefinite pause."
My brow twitched. Indefinite pause? "Meaning?"
"We cut all power to Dragon's servers," he declared. "That should stop the process of her deconstruction and free StarGazer to coordinate with us on a more permanent solution."
"Just hit the pause button," I mumbled. "How?"
"That is the complicated part." He stopped at Exia's side and waited. While I climbed inside, he explained, "I'm vaguely familiar with Dragon's primary workshop. Her servers will be there, as well as her primary backups. The facility is very secure, and the defense systems are probably best assumed to now be hostile."
The Box. It didn't just give Saint a way to kill Dragon, it gave him access to everything she did and saw. He would know the structure of her security, her systems, and how to get into them. That's probably how missiles got fired from the Rig. So yeah, assuming that her security system wouldn't be friendly was a good bet.
"There are also redundancies," Armsmaster continued. "We will need to take out the main power, as well as any backups. Then we will need to isolate at least one of her server clusters and power it down."
"We can do that," I replied, perking up slightly. I waspretty damn pathetic if I needed Armsmaster to get me out of the gutter, but fuck it. "How many backups are there?"
Armsmaster scowled. "Several."
Shit. "How many is several?"
"We have at least two advantages." I didn't like how he sidestepped that question. "The first is that I doubt whatever program Saint arranged to execute this attack is particularly robust. The second is that much of Dragon's hardware runs on wetware."
I knew that, but how was it an—"Aisha?"
Armsmaster nodded. "Given that you've obscured your association with her even from Dragon, I assume her power works on wetware as much as any person."
Oh. "Um. I'm not sure. I was careful never to have her around while Dragon was peeking in and most of why no one ever sees her on camera or anything is Veda hacking things in real time to delete her from frames."
Armsmaster scowled.
"Can we discuss my deception later?" I asked. Great. Now I got to feel bad about that too. Badder. Not like I ever enjoyed it.
"Yes," he answered. "For now, we may be able to use her to bypass some of Dragon's security. We will need to walk her through the process of disabling anything she finds, and shield her from anything that can detect her presence."
I nodded at that. Okay. That could work. "So we need to go to Toronto." I blinked. "Doormaker can drop us right in." Armsmaster shook his head. "He can't?"
"He can. The problem is Clairvoyant. She is unable to see into the areas of Dragon's workshop we need to access. Several of the doors are reinforced with the same armor she uses in her suits."
Trans-dimensional armor. Damn. That would make some sense. Doormaker made portals between places he could see, but it was Clairvoyant's power that enabled him to reach just about anywhere. So, we'd have to go in manually.
"How close can she get us?" I asked.
"Close enough, but the exterior defenses may activate."
He tilted his head slightly and I subtly glanced in the same direction.
Maggie. We were having this conversation right in front of her. Ah. He wanted to see how she reacted, if she said anything. The woman wasn't looking at us at the moment. I didn't know if he'd noticed anything but I understood what he was doing. Good idea, even if it didn't work.
Armsmaster eventually looked away and didn't indicate anything, I guessed he didn't get anything.
"Let's go then," I decided. Qualms about the dangers aside, I literally had no better ideas. "We don't have much time."
"There is a reality you must accept," Armsmaster warned.
I'd had quite enough of that for one day. "No there isn't."
"The other programs are trying to stop StarGazer."
I blinked. "Richter's other programs." Shit. I forgot. "Wait, how can they do that? Veda's entire hardware system is quantum at this point. Richter's programs shouldn't be able to touch her."
"I do not believe that is the goal." He pulled my phone from a compartment in his armor. "I've analyzed what I can of this. While StarGazer's code is foreign to me, Dragon's is not. StarGazer is combating the program attacking Dragon but she is doing it by directly connecting to Dragon's system."
I thought about that for a moment, and concluded, "They're trying to cut her connection."
Armsmaster nodded. "And the collateral damage is mounting."
I blinked again. "Collateral damage?"
"It was on the news," Amy answered. I'd forgotten about her, and Vicky. Amy was still leaning over Maggie, a hand holding the woman's remaining wrist. "Bunch of glitches on the web. Some computer system crashes. Banks and stuff. Didn't know it was this though. No one said anything like that."
The stuff in New York might be disrupting how much people knew of what was happening.
Richter's other programs shouldn't hold a candle to Dragon, let alone Veda. Not to toot my own horn, but as slow as the progress on Veda's hardware was it was significant. She was the most advanced supercomputer in the world. Nothing short of the largest botnets or tinker-tech creations should come close to threatening her.
Except she wasn't in danger.
Dragon was.
If Veda was connecting to Dragon to try and save her, then the other programs were what? Ganging up on her connection? Forcing her to change routes, reconnect, or fight them off to maintain her link to Dragon.
Oh no.
That would make sense. If the battle was going fast enough, countless actions per minute, it could cause disruption. Everything ran on computers. More than that, most services and systems ran on networked computers, sometimes spanning vast distances. If the servers and lines connecting those networks became disrupted by two AI and a dozen or more quasi-AI...
"How bad?" I asked.
"I don't know," Armsmaster responded. "Television networks are also being disrupted regionally. It's possible things are happening that haven't been reported. But there is a high probability that there will be loss of life."
I nodded meekly.
One hospital. That's all it would take. A minor fluctuation in power or communications could cost lives. The longer this went on, the greater the chances of a 911 call not getting to anyone or of a bank glitch knocking every account to zero.
"Then we should hurry," I decided.
"You're prepared then?" Armsmaster inquired. "To accept the consequences?"
I didn't need to think for an answer. Thinking back over my freak out, "Heroes take responsibility." I looked away to hide my grimace. Uber. Othala. Gloria. Noelle... Dragon. "Especially when it's theirs."
I climbed into Exia and closed the armor.
"Not to spoil that party but"—Amy nodded to Maggie—"what do we do with her?"
"Hold her," Armsmaster said. "Her testimony will prove Newtype's innocence when this is done."
Amy glanced at the woman's stumped arm and leg. She wasn't bleeding anymore, but I guess Amy couldn't just grow a new arm and leg on the spot. Not with someone that thin who'd already lost so much blood.
"Well," the healer grumbled, "she isn't going anywhere."
"Wait," Vicky called. "What can I—"
"Stay out of it," I warned. I understood what Armsmaster meant about Maggie clearing me of attacking Dragon, but that didn't mean we were going to be okay. "I don't know how this ends. Don't drag yourself into it."
Vicky scowled. "That's—"
"Door, please," I declared.
The portal appeared behind me and I let Exia fall back through it. I didn't have it in me to argue with Vicky... And I was being a bitch, fuck damnit why did I have to deal with this right now?
I came through the portal back into the garden behind Relena's house. Armsmaster followed and the portal closed.
"Portal please, my lab," Armsmaster said. The portal appeared and he pushed his arm through and dropped the box on the other side. "Thank you."
"Will it be safe there?" I asked.
"I'm unable to get into contract with Miss Militia, the Protectorate, or the Wards. From what Clairvoyant has seen however, they are as unharmed as can be expected. Several are too far away to help or have been trapped by lockdowns."
"Lockdowns?"
"Someone has initiated our Breakback protocol. It is used when an entire Protectorate or PRT department is considered compromised." He frowned. "I'm uncertain how that happened. Dragon cannot initiate it on her own and I doubt Saint could do it with knowledge gleaned from her."
Teacher. "They're okay? I saw Dauntless fighting with—"
"Chariot. I know. I hope that they will both emerge without serious injury."
Ah. He'd accepted that his own team might get hurt while we were trying to save Dragon. I guess I'd done the same. Trevor was going pretty hard when I saw him, but he wasn't killing anyone. The problem would be when the Dragon suits arrived.
Part of me considered that.
If I used Doormaker now, I could go straight to my factory and defend Veda. Part of me wanted to. Part of me knew my head wasn't right at the moment, and I didn't know which choice was best. Going to protect Veda might just put me in the crossfire of a huge fight. Was that me wanting to die again, or not? I didn't want to deal with that fucking question at the moment.
"Are you alright?" Armsmaster asked.
"No," I replied, before I could even think. "I'm not staying out of it."
Maybe for once, I should. I'd never doubted myself this much before.
"Alright," Armsmaster replied.
"Did I miss something?" Aisha looked up at me, Black tucked under her arm. "I feel like I missed something."
"There isn't time," I told her. "We're going to Toronto."
"Canada. Sweet."
I adjusted myself in Exia. The suit was undamaged and ready. I could keep going.
I would keep going.
I'd have to deal with all the weight afterward.
"Door please. Toronto, Dragon's workshop."
