Hope Through Overwhelming Firepower 3.3
Taylor left the quick briefing Piggot had given her with a frown on her scarfed face.
The current leading theory for what had happened was that 'Bakuda', a bomb based tinker working for the ABB, had placed and detonated several bombs out of revenge for Lung's capture.
Annoyingly enough, the first thought that crossed Taylor's mind was blaming herself for everything. After all, if she hadn't captured Lung, none of this would have happened.
Taylor scowled at the thought. That was stupid. She couldn't have possibly predicted these events, and just leaving Lung to target children was unacceptable to her. No, the blame for all this fell firmly upon Bakuda's shoulders. And when she caught up to her...
Taylor clenched her hands. There would be a reckoning. A small part of Taylor even hoped for Bakuda to get a kill order.
But, there wasn't much she could do now, the PRT had to find something first. Until then, all she could do was wait. It was aggravating, and a large part of Taylor wanted to run off into the city and find Bakuda herself,
However, Brockton Bay was fairly large. And unless she was willing to go tearing through ABB territory shouting for Bakuda to "come out and fight" her, which had problems that really didn't even need mentioning, it would be most for the best to just let the PRT handle information gathering.
Her phone buzzed.
From: Miss Militia
I've been put in charge of the search for Bakuda. And, having seen your agreement to directly work with us, would like to ask for your help in the search.
Taylor mentally stumbled for an instant, before realizing that her scan power would be rather useful in a manhunt.
From: Buster
A chance to play a direct part in finding Bakuda? Just tell me where to go.
Taylor sent off the message, getting a reply a few moments later.
From: Miss Militia
Good to hear, meet me near this location.
Taylor was briefly baffled by this, before remembering that the underlined words constituted something important. She pressed her finger to the screen, and a map of Brockton Bay superimposed itself over the message. A small portion of it highlighted with a marker.
Taylor stared. "What the hell have they done to phones in the last four years."
After Taylor had gotten over twenty-first century state of the art phone tech, she moved on towards the indicated location.
A brief burst of her scan found Miss Militia standing next to Velocity and someone unknown. Taylor promptly walked towards them.
Noticing Taylor's approach, Miss Militia acknowledged it with a wave.
As soon as Taylor joined the group, Miss Militia began explaining. "Thanks for coming, Buster. You posses one of the few extrasensory powers in Brockton Bay."
Taylor nodded in response. "No need to thank me. I agreed to work with the Protectorate until Bakuda was brought in, and I would volunteer for this anyway."
She couldn't see it, but Taylor thought Miss Militia had smiled in response. "Good to hear, but nonetheless, thank you. Anyway, I imagine you already know Velocity." She motioned towards the named individual, who nodded. "And this is Earthshock, one of the local independent heroes." She motioned towards the unknown individual clad in a brown coat and mask, who gave a wave. "Yo."
Miss Militia continued. "His power allows him to project vibrations of varying magnitude through the ground. He is also capable of sensing anything his vibrations come in contact with. Buster, you and Earthshock are to search through all of the nearby buildings on the planned route, Earthshock has a greater range then you, while yours appears to be more detailed. So Earthshock will search for any suspicious activities, and you will check them in more detail. Velocity and I will be here for a fast response to anything. Understood?"
Taylor nodded, while Earthshock gave a hearty salute.
"Good." Miss Militia took out a phone of her own, and pressed something upon it. "We will proceed along the route I have sent over your phones."
Taylor's phone buzzed, and Taylor pulled it out of her pocket.
"Not even surprised anymore." Taylor absentmindedly commented in response to a route through the local area being highlighted. A comment which got a slightly confused look out of her teammates.
"This is boooooring." Earthshock complained. Taylor felt another slight vibration in the ground, symbolizing Earthshock searching the area again.
Taylor honestly kind of agreed with him, but... "What else are we supposed to do?" She questioned.
"I know, I know. But still, couldn't the ABB have the courtesy to just gather in one place so we can descend upon them all avenging like?"
Before anyone could respond, Earthshock slightly stiffened. "I've got an unusual amount of human activity roughly a half kilometer that way." He pointed somewhere north easterly.
Miss Militia nodded. "Buster, take point."
Taylor nodded, and moved towards the direction Earthshock had pointed, the rest of the team falling in behind her.
It was only a few minutes later, when Taylor could finally sense what Earthshock had spoken of.
It was a group of people, a bunch of what Taylor assumed to be ABB members all standing in front of a woman in blast mask, and a very familiar face. "It's Bakuda, and... Lung's there to."
Miss Militia appeared unfazed, but her heightened heart rate told otherwise. "I see." she stated. "Keep an eye on them, I'll get orders from Armsmaster and the Director. She pulled out her phone once more, and dialed a number. "Director? I thought I called... Ah, I see. Anyway, we found Bakuda, and Lung to. How did he- I see, why was the report so late? Hmm, what are our orders then? Wait, are you serious? But... Very well then, Director." Miss Militia finished her half heard conversation.
Turning to look at them, she explained the situation. "We are to stay here and keep abreast of their movements for now. Armsmaster is rigging something to get the less mobile members of the Protectorate here more quickly, while Dauntless and Battery are currently on the way as we speak. When Dauntless and Battery arrive, they will engage, and we are to back them up. However, if they either begin moving or break apart, we are to engage." She ended with her eyes creased slightly. "I just want you to know, that if it were my choice, we would never attack the ABB so lightly, but the Director believes the opportunity too great to pass up."
Velocity simply nodded, while Earthshock appeared kind of nervous with the situation. "Dammit, didn't expect to be fighting Lung today..."
Taylor replied in affirmative to Miss Militia, before turning towards where the ABB were located. Hey eyes widened slightly behind her orange goggles. "They're moving." She spoke out.
Miss Militia let out a strangled sigh. "Very well then, let's plan this out so it's not a total farce..."