Chapter 3-6
Our van pulled over at a designated muster point near the PRT headquarters. "Why are we here again?" I asked. "Shouldn't we go back to the rig and debrief, or something?"
"The director wanted to give a general debriefing first." Gallant filled in for me. "She usually does that when there're a lot of rookies in the group. Don't worry about being in trouble, or anything. We did good. She probably wants to give the troopers a dressing-down for screwing things up."
"From what you said earlier, it sounded like they were supposed to lose."
"Well, sort off. There's a difference between just losing and getting completely demolished. They should have caught at least one of us. Probably you, all things considered. Director's going to be fuming that the troopers came home empty-handed."
"Piggy's always fuming." Kid Win added. "Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen her smile. Not sure if she even can."
"The director has a huge responsibility, Kid Win. I think it's okay if she's a little terse."
The Tinker snorted. "'Terse', right. You're not a Tinker, Gallant. Piggot drops the ban hammer almost everything we make. You have no idea how frustrating it is to have hours of work thrown in a bin because of some stupid little rule you didn't know exist."
"I can imagine. Still, she's our director, so at least try to pretend you respect her, even if you can't."
Kid Win scoffed. I sensed a lot of hostility between him and Piggot, but it wasn't my place to pry. Miss Militia showed us to a nearby auditorium. Probably the same place where the troopers had their briefing. I still thought it was strange that they want us to sit in on the debriefing too. If I had to guess, I'd say so that we'd learn what the PRT is capable off so we could better support them in the future. Well, I'd find out soon enough. No point in guessing.
The room slowly began to fill up as the four of us engaged in small talk. As interesting as it was to hear about Gallant's on-and-off relationship with Glory Girl (much to the former's annoyance), I quickly found myself listening in on the troopers.
"…will be reviewing the Master/Stranger protocols again. In fact, I'm going to wake you up in the middle of the night and quiz you on them. If you get one of them wrong, I'll make you run a mile. Do you understand me, soldier?"
"Look, I know you're mad about the friendly fire thing…"
"If this were the real thing, you could have gotten people killed. Gangs like E88 don't pull their punches."
Another.
"…couldn't hear anything. At all. I yelled, but there was no sound. Seriously, I'm going to need a therapist, that girl is scary as fuck."
"Crybaby."
"Fuck you. She got you first, remember."
"And you're still a crybaby."
Another.
"…and then Philip doubled over, laughing his ass off for no reason. Creepiest thing I've seen in a long time. Seriously, aren't kid heroes supposed to be all cuddly and stuff?"
"They don't get to chose their powers, son. Besides, you should have seen what Gallant did to Joe. Poor guy literally crapped himself."
Suddenly, the room fell silent. Director Piggot and her eternal frown had arrived.
"Gentlemen, I've reviewed the footage of today's exercise." She began. As expected, she was not pleased. "To say that we've been defeated would be an understatement." There were murmurs and chuckles in the crowd. Piggot's face remained unchanged. "I don't find any of this funny. In fact, had this been a real mission against actual villains, I would have called it an unmitigated disaster. There were fifty-two of you in total. When the exercise was over, only twenty-three were walked away unharmed. The rest were wounded, covered in containment foam, unconscious, or too emotionally compromised to leave on their own power. However, what really bothers me is the inevitable fallout. A real mission would probably have taken place somewhere in the city proper. In this day and age, I can guarantee that at least one civilian bystander will have a smartphone and catch some of this on camera. Think for a moment what will happen when a video like that gets posted on the internet."
The director paused for a moment and allowed the words to sink in. In the age of the internet, news spreads quickly. A video of a group of villains kicking PRT ass? Even Legend himself wouldn't be able to keep up.
"The first thing that would happen is that the video goes viral. Footage related to capes almost always does. Then, we'll get speculation. People will start wondering if the PRT is really powerful enough to keep Brockton Bay safe. Our four villains will gain prestige from beating the dreaded PRT so easily which will probably mean that they'll start pulling bigger and riskier crimes. Other villains will be emboldened by their success and get more aggressive. The common man, the people we're supposed to be protecting, will start to lose faith in us. If supervillain attacks happen too many times, or at the right time, we lose ground. Every time we're defeated like this, we lose legitimacy in the eyes of the people and when they start to think we can't keep them safe, they will turn to people who can. This is how we've lost entire districts to the gangs. This is how Empire 88, the ABB, and the Merchants end up controlling half of Brockton Bay between them and why there's no public uprising to kick them out. If we want to have any hope of reclaiming the city from the gangs, we cannot allow this to happen again. The PRT is one of the only things that's keeping this country from descending into barbarism. There's too much at stake for us to lose. I hope you understand the kind of responsibility we all carry and act accordingly in the future."
It was kind of strange to see the normally calm director speak with that kind of conviction. Sure, nobody here wanted the supervillains to win, but I got the impression that this was more than just a sense of duty. Something happened to her that made this personal to her, didn't it? I wonder what…
Piggot continued, this time focusing on one individual. "Officer Gonzales. You called for Master/Stranger protocols. Why?"
"Two of my squad disappeared without a trace, Ma'm. I don't believe in coincidences." I remembered her. She lead the first squad of troopers I took down. The woman looked though and strong. Definitely military. It's hard to believe that I was able to take her down at all. Funny that I hadn't considered her much of a threat during the fight itself.
"Intel didn't say anything about a Master or a Stranger class cape being present. In fact, neither the Protectorate nor the Wards have a cape that would make Master/Stranger protocols necessary."
"Intel has a habit of dropping the ball sometimes and my men didn't wander off on their own. Better safe than sorry. Turns out, Ward no. 4 can make sound disappear and is strong enough to beat my men to a pulp. I think I made the right call."
"Indeed." Piggot said, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face. Then she turned to the crowd and the frown came back. "Intel said that you'd only be facing three villains. Intel was wrong, as is so often the case. Banshee, the cape you're referring to, only joined us yesterday and because of that, we have no usable intel on her at all. You may think using her here is cheating, but a new cape joining a gang is hardly unusual these days. On average, Brockton Bay gets around three to four new capes a month. Since at least two-thirds of them inevitably turn villain, it is only a matter of time until you run into someone with a powerset you've never encountered. When that happens, you'll have to be able to deal with it. Sometimes, the new cape isn't that powerful and we can handle them. Usually, though, we're not that lucky. Fighting unknowns is what causes the most casualties in our organization." I was sure now, something bad happened to the director. The look on her face, the crack in her voice that no one but me heard…she hid it well, but not well enough. "Which brings me to officer Meinhardt. You were in the lobby with fourteen other men. Why did you let the villains pass?"
"Because the two 'villains', happened to be Vista and a cape we've never seen before. Vista is one of the most powerful Shakers on record and the only thing we knew about the other one is that she took at least a whole squad of trained officers out on her own. If we'd opened fire, our asses would have been kicked and we'd have nothing to show for it. The mission had already gone FUBAR, so I ordered my people to stand down and railroad them to the exit, minimizing casualties and collateral damage. It was the only thing we could do at the time." I didn't recognize this guy. He was probably one of the very shouty people in the lobby.
The director nodded. "As much as I hate to admit it, it was probably the right thing to do. Better to let the villains get away than let yourself be ripped apart failing to stop them. Nevertheless, we were still soundly beaten. There are other things I could mention, like failing to adhere to the Master/Stranger protocols, not considering the possibility that the comms could be hacked by the group's Tinker until it was too late, and your downright embarrassing attempts to corner Kid Win, but I'll leave that for you to work out yourselves so that you won't make the same mistakes again." By now, the room had become solemnly quiet. I felt for the troopers. We hadn't gone easy on them. Hell, we crushed them. Humiliated them. To think what could have happened if we'd been actual villains, if we hadn't held back… I couldn't imagine what kind of people would willingly put themselves in harm's way like that.
"In the end, though…I'm actually quite happy things turned out the way they did." Somehow, the room became even more quiet, but this time out of surprise. I could hear heartbeats with no effort on my part. "Most of you are recent transfers. Among you are policemen, soldiers, marines, even a few Army Rangers. You are some of the most elite our country has to offer. You are strong, you are skilled, and you are proud. I saw your faces during the briefing. The opposition was nothing more than three teenagers in silly costumes. Who needs the Protectorate when you've got a big gun? It's going to be a walk in the park. I think we all know how wrong you were."
A few members of the crowd chuckled mirthlessly.
"The first lesson each and every single one of us needs to learn is that all the training and equipment in the world mean little when you're up against a parahuman. To use our own Wards team as an example:" The director turned to the four of us. "Gallant's blasts will affect you, even while wearing armor. A few of them can reduce a grown man to tears. Kid Win can create equipment that is decades more advanced than anything you'll ever be carrying yourself. Vista is one of the most powerful Shakers on record; the last time we had an exercise like this, the vans never arrived. Banshee got into a fist-fight with Lung on her first night out as a cape. She walked away. Lung didn't."
I was starting to understand the point Piggot was trying to make. This whole exercise was a lesson in humility for them. We were just props, in the end. Tools she needed to show them just how powerful parahumans could get.
"These are the kind of opponents you'll be facing every single day as a member of the PRT. You underestimated them once and paid for it dearly. Do not make that same mistake again or you won't make it out alive. Our Wards have been told to go easy on you. Villains won't bother limiting themselves like that. This is why the PRT is generally tasked with supporting roles; why we let the Wards and the Protectorate do most of the heavy lifting. In cape battles, we are at the bottom of the food chain. We need the superheroes, no matter how much you dislike them or how strong you think you are. Never forget that." After a moment, she added: "Dismissed."
The troopers left first. They were much quieter than when they came in. At first, they sounded like a football team that just lost a match. Now… the atmosphere was somber at best. I thought that I'd seen all the ways words could hurt someone back at Winslow, but apparently I was wrong. Emma never hit me with the cold, hard, humiliating truth, not the way Piggot did.
I was kind of glad Emma hadn't.
"Piggy sure loves her speeches…" Kid Win said. "Not sure why she wanted us to be there."
"When the director wants something…" Gallant warned.
"I know, but that doesn't make it less annoying."
Suddenly, the pieces fell in place. "Piggot's doing this because she wants to show us why we're needed."
"Sorry?" Kid Win asked.
"Wards aren't supposed to get in fights with other capes but we do it all the time. Why? Because the city needs us. If we don't fight, then those poor bastards the next room over will have to deal with the bad guys on their own and we now know how badly that's going to end. They can't force us, but with subtle peer pressure, they can still convince us to come anyway."
Gallant looked at me and said: "Banshee, are you saying that Piggot's been trying to guilt-trip us into fighting all along?"
"Well, kinda? I mean, you never opt out, don't you? Even though you could."
"Of course, I don't. If I do then…" Gallant's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, she's good."
"Real good." Kid Win added, looking quite shocked.
Why did they sound so surprised? Was I really the only one that'd put all of this together? If I was, what does that make me? Is my distrust for authority figures so deep that I assume everyone has a hidden agenda or is everyone else just that naive?
And why was Miss Militia looking at me funny?