Hope Through Overwhelming Firepower 2.3
"...Vista, you are going to make it so that they only have one escape route, then lengthen it as much as possible." Aegis had been explaining the plan on the move since they had left a few minutes ago.
They had been moving at a rapid, but not unsustainable pace for the less enhanced members there towards the bank since they had made the declension to move out. Vista shortening distances where possible to make a several hour walk, into a several minute one.
"Now, Buster, I know you're not a member of the wards, but will you adhere to my orders for this battle?" Aegis questioned her.
"Sure. You've all got more experience anyway." Taylor responded.
"Good. Then, if possible, I want you to keep the Undersiders back with a light use of your power-"
Taylor winced. "A bit of a problem with that."
"Really, what is it?" Aegis queried.
"Well, I never got the chance to explain my powers to you all, so I should probably do so before we get there." Taylor stated. "If that's alright?"
"No, go on. That's an oversight on my part."
"Alright. So the big problem is, my... Blaster power?" Taylor paused to look at Aegis, getting a nod in response. "It starts at 'vaporize normal human' and only goes up from there. So unless they're superhumanly durable like Lung..."
Aegis sucked in air. "Yeah, that's a bit of a problem. Is there anything else?"
Taylor explained the rest of her powers. "...And while I'm not sure of what the upper limit is, I can estimate it's somewhere in the area of fourteen times what I used to take down Lung."
Clockblocker whistled. "Blaster Seven my ass."
"Clockblocker!" Aegis scolded. "You know what the Director says about swearing on the job."
Clockblocker sheepishly rubbed his head and apologized. While Taylor began to question "Blaster Seven?"
"Ah, that's the rating assigned to your Blaster powers. It's a generalized system used to give a quick and easy idea of what a cape is capable of on a moments notice." Aegis explained. "In this case, a 'Blaster' rating rating signifies that the cape is able to preform long range attacks of some sort. Your rating of seven telling them that it's fairly powerful. Although, as Clockblocker so crudely put it, you're apparently due for an upgrade."
Huh, that would be useful wouldn't it. "How many ratings are there?" Taylor questioned.
"Twelve, but we don't have time to get into them now." Aegis immediately responded.
"Sorry." Taylor apologized.
"It's alright, these were all things I meant to explain to you anyway, but these meeting keep getting interrupted." Aegis replied, a bit of frustration entering his tone. "Anyway, we need to continue the plans. Buster instead, you'll be put with Browbeat and myself as the most durable ones here in the line intended to catch the Undersiders if they make a break for it..."
Taylor listened in as Aegis continued planning.
"So... we're just gonna stand here until the rest of the Protectorate shows up?" Taylor questioned.
"Yep. It may be boring, but it's almost guaranteed to work. We win the waiting game, and they lose the offense game." Clockblocker answered, arms behind his head. "Welcome to the Wards, no where near as awesome as they sound at first."
Taylor honestly didn't have a problem with that. The less she had to try and deal with things without conflict, and potentially having to use her Blaster power, the better. Taylor caught the flickering of a cape out of the corner of her eye.
Glory Girl, Gallant's apparently 'not girlfriend right now' was hiding on top of a nearby building. She had called Gallant on his phone to inform him that her sister was inside the bank, and that she was willing to work with them.
Aegis had been fully willing to accept her help, which had brought the counter of people arrayed against the Undersiders to nine.
It honestly seemed like overkill to her. On the other hand, Taylor didn't really have a problem with that either.
Aegis ended his phone call to Miss Militia. "It's only going to be a few more minutes till the main force shows up." He told the group. "They're estimating only ten minutes till they can finish up, and then another two for Velocity to get here. The rest showing up a further ten minutes past that." A pause as the information sank in before Aegis continued. "But it's probably not going to get that far. The Undersiders aren't stupid, far from it in fact, but they're probably getting desperate. So expect a break for it soon."
Taylor nodded, before refocusing her attention on the bank shrouded in shadows.
Sure enough, shortly after Aegis' proclamation, the shadows around the bank exploded outward. Taylor heard a last curse from Shadow Stalker before she was covered in darkness.
Absolute, smothering, darkness. Darkness which evidently didn't just block sight, but reduced hearing and sense of place too. It was beginning to remind Taylor disturbingly of the Locker.
Taylor took a deep breath, and told herself that she hadn't moved, that no one had moved according to the plan. Aegis was still on her left, Browbeat on her right. The bank still in front of her-
Suddenly, Taylor was knocked to the side by some force she couldn't determine.
Where.
Where was she? Where were the others? Where was the bank?
Taylor was panicking. She couldn't tell where anything was. The oppressive darkness bringing back memories of cold, of the smell of vomit and used tampons, and of being trapped.
Taylor began to hyperventilate. Rapidly breathing in and out, she didn't know what to do. Everything was wrong. She didn't know anything. She needed to know what was happening.
Ar&*a Sens(*& Onlin&^
And then Taylor's consciousness moved outward. Expanding rapidly to encompass the entire battlefield.
Suddenly, she could see everything around her. Anything she wanted, she knew she could tell where every bug within her radius was if she wanted to.
She refocused herself on the humans around her. Aegis, currently wrestling with some sort of monster. Vista, removed from shadow and staring down another of those monsters. And the rest, ignorant of what was happening. All had what appeared to be a form of error code floating around them. Flickering between understandable English, and random gibberish which caused her head to ache.
But Taylor didn't care about any of that right now. She focused in on a teen inside the bank, watching the proceedings next to a girl, another teen, and another one of those monsters.
It must be Grue. The one who created the shadows, according to Aegis.
Taylor scowled.
Bounding towards him at her top possible speed, she crashed through the window, coming to a stop in front of the older teen in a skull mask.
"Hi" She spoke out.
The girl attempted to open her mouth, before she apparently decided to bite her tongue. $#*^%&n ef*&)^*. Cataloging for fu*^&*(.
Taylor absentmindedly noticed that Glory Girl had apparently saved Vista at some point. Bitch having been frozen by Clockblocker stumbling in, and her monsdog brutalized by what was most likely Glory Girl.
Taylor decided that it wasn't really relevant anymore. As the rest of the Wards appeared to have things well in hand.
Taylor held up a hand towards Grue, red light visibly appearing in its palm.
"You, are going to lift all of the shadows, and then turn yourself in. Otherwise, you die." Taylor statbluffed.
Letting out a distorted sigh of disgust, he lifted his hands into the air. And with them, all the shadow.