Interlude- Armsmaster.
The scene was - like many of Shadow Stalkers recent arrests - unusually tidy.
When she had first popped up earlier in the year, she had demonstrated a clear escalation in ruthlessness and violence over the course of a few months.
It followed the usual pattern for a new trigger. When she first got her powers, she had been cautious and tentative. There had been sporadic reports from dispatch denoting lone drug dealers she had supposedly ambushed, along with the occasional sighting of her running along the rooftops at night.
Then, once she had a better grasp on her powers, she had modified her strategy, switching to a bow, and then a crossbow. Neither item was tinkertech, and both were easily accessible to just about anyone who cared to go to a hunting goods store.
There had been some debate as to whether or not she was a Tinker at first, because of the strange way her bolts pierced their targets, but it had long since been verified that she was some kind of Breaker.
I should know. I spent a week following up with every vendor who could sell the equipment she would need for that, and then trying to sift through various transaction records to see if I could narrow down the girls civilian identity.
Typically we wouldn't do that, but it had been very clear to me from the start that the girl was going to kill someone eventually if she was left alone. All of her appearances were outside of usual school hours, and what few images I'd seen of her were consistent with a young teen - which meant she was Wards age.
It wasn't the most glamorous thing, but handling problems before they became problems was my job as leader of the local Protectorate team, whatever anyone else may say.
So when the call had come in that Shadow Stalker and another vigilante had called in a fight with another cape and some Empire thugs, I was quick to rush here.
Shadow Stalker had recently changed her pattern. She had a new weapon - possibly Tinkertech in origin - that, while apparently non-lethal, had sent a rash of her victims to the hospital suffering from severe shock. Whatever that thing did - witness testimony indicated it was some kind of pain gun - it was about the cruelest possible way to take someone out without killing them.
And 'not killing them' was heavily predicated on how quickly a paramedic could see to the victim in question.
If I was being honest, the weapon fit Stalker's MO perfectly. The problem was, I had previously already determined she wasn't a tinker. She wasn't likely to have the resources to buy something like that either, since she was a minor. Nor was she part of any team that could provide for her.
Thus, I was left to believe that she had teamed up with a Tinker, presumably the same one caught on camera with her weeks ago at the gas station.
Temporarily designated 'Pain Maker', the tinker demonstrated much less proclivity for stealth than Shadow Stalker, meaning I had been able to get a handful of security cam footage of him running along the sidewalk the last time he had been active.
My initial analysis was that he had a specialization that touched on torture devices in some way.
His only known technology was his armor - clearly an example of an early attempt at power armor - a beam weapon that froze whatever it hit, and presumably, Shadow Stalkers pain gun.
Shadow Stalker was a problem, but she was an easily managed one. Her ability to cause problems was limited. A tinker with this kind of specialty however, couldn't be left alone. I shuddered to imagine what the Empire could do armed with Pain Guns and other implements of mayhem.
I was apparently lucky this time, because unlike past examples of her work, Shadow Stalker and her partner had apparently decided to stay behind for once.
Turning away from my quick scan of the scene where the paramedics were already loading the thugs and the cape into an ambulance, I oriented on Pain Maker and began moving toward him.
He stiffened slightly as we locked eyes, which I noted down for later.
Power Armor with enough articulation to demonstrate microexpressions was rare. Even my own had certain limitations in that department, and I had been iterating on it for years.
While I judged what he was wearing now to be a flimsy defense at best, I had to admit that it clearly had some effort put into it.
"Shadow Stalker. Pain Maker." I greeted them professionally.
Pain Maker made a choking noise.
"Armsmaster. I- wait what the fuck are you calling me right now?" He blurted out, jerking slightly away from me.
"It is a temporary designation. I can have it amended if you provide me with your chosen moniker." I soothed him, my jaw clenching at his attitude.
"Just- jesus christ Pain Maker?What earthly fucking reason-" he blurted in confusion, turning to gesticulate wildly at Shadow Stalker who was crouched on the roof of the van that had presumably belong to the Empire thugs.
"What would you prefer to be called?" I cut him off. If I wasn't fairly certain he was a teen, I was positive now. I also took a recording of his voice, since he didn't appear to be masking it in any capacity beyond the slight muffling effect from his balaclava.
He paused in his complaints to turn towards me and sighed.
"Star Finder, I guess. It's not my first choice." He explained grouchily. I raised an eyebrow at that behind my visor. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I suppose it sort of matched Shadow Stalkers name in a strange way.
"Then, Star Finder, Shadow Stalker, please explain the situation to me." I requested before we could get sidetracked again. I wanted to get this part out of the way so I could ask the pair to come in to get registered. I would, obviously, suggest they join the Wards aswell - but as long as some kind of compromise could be reached, and I could caution Star Finder on the use of his equipment before things got taken too far, then I'd take it.
Star Finder tilted his head towards Shadow Stalker as though expecting her to speak, then sighed and returned to me.
Mentally I added 'subvocal communication device' to my mental list of his equipment.
"We were patrolling a block that way when a bunch of debris started to come flying at us. A window I was standing near broke and - actually just so we're clear, I didn't do any of that damage, a brick just flew past me into the window. I want that on the record." He started before immediately sidetracking.
I nodded at him, considering the woman currently being brought in. She looked old enough to join the Protectorate, if just barely. Hopefully she would be amenable when she woke up.
"Right. So, we came to see what was going on and saw those guys taking shots at her while she huddled up naked in the van. I put two and two together, and we took both of them down before anyone got hurt." He explained, clearly grimacing beneath his mask.
I was going to accept that for what it was - as I had already puzzled most of it out from the report from dispatch - but instead of ending it there he kept going.
"She's probably addicted to something. I wanna say drugs, but she could just be an alcoholic. You'll wanna run her last Panacea to help her detox without getting withdrawal symptoms or your pitch will fall flat." He offered.
That was... not information he should be able to pull out of thin air. And who was Panacea? I almost wanted to attribute it to a Thinker power. So, he either had a diagnostic device in that suit somewhere, or he was a grab bag, which meant he probably had a hard upper limit on how good his tech could get.
That would be good, in that it curtailed how bad he could get using just Tinkertech.
It was bad because a Thinker/Tinker combo presented it's own set of difficulties.
Ofcourse, I didn't allow any of my thoughts to show. My plan was still the same as it was before.
Eyeing the the gun Shadow Stalker currently still had in hand - her costume didn't appear to include a holster, which was sloppy - I changed topics.
"We would like to ask that you cease use of the Pain Gun Shadow Stalker has recently being wielding. I'm sure you're aware of the side effects but you can't rely on paramedics to prevent you from becoming a murderer. Things always go wrong in the field." I started lecturing.
Star Finder stared at me for a moment like I had just said something completely alien to him and muttered; "Side effects?" As though he had no idea what I was talking about - which I guess he didn't.
God save me from inexperienced Tinkers.