As Night Owl took his first steps onto the artificial island, one thought came to mind.
"I fucking hate this place,"
I-island was nothing more than an affront to science in his eyes. Not because of how it was built or the technology behind it. No, those alone were the most valuable pieces of technology he could ever want. He hated what the island represented. A supposed shining beacon of progress and science. It couldn't be farther from the truth, but he couldn't let his gracious host see his annoyance.
"Dr. Philips! A pleasure to finally be meeting you." David Shield greeted, holding his hand out. Hearing his fake name be called, he looked over at the man, before shaking his hand. A wide, friendly smile plastered on his face.
"And a pleasure it is to meet you, Mr. Shield. I must say, the island seems to be coming along well." Night Owl noted as he gazed out at the massive skyscrapers towering over everything. It was visible even from the landing strip, regardless of the massive wall blocking their view. He could admit the city itself was a marvel of technology.
The fact the city seemed to ignore the bustling oceans beneath it, the thousands, possibly millions of tons floating on top of it. But it only made him hate this place more. Technology like this and they build a symbol of lies.
"It impresses even me sometimes. So much work done in such a short time frame. However, I doubt you're here to discuss architecture."
"Actually," Night Owl began, "that is why I'm here. The World Hero Association has sent me to do an inspection of I-island's structural stability."
That was the simple explanation, and also his cover story. It was the WHA that sent him but under the orders of the HPSC. Boy, you just have to love corruption. Regardless, the President wanted him to scout out possible technologies that might assist the HPSC's efforts against the MSF.
She had effectively given him a bottomless check. A check he wasn't going to waste on her demands. He had a different target in mind, it wouldn't advance his goals per se, but it was more for a personal vendetta.
"I can assure you I-island is perfectly sound, and if it isn't we have enough backups to ensure it's safe," Shield told him, with Night Owl's smile shifting slightly. It appeared more dissatisfied somehow, while barely changing at all.
"I know, but orders are orders. And I'm not allowed back home until we're done."
"Well… alright then. If the WHA is truly adamant about this." David replied as the two began walking to the main superstructure. Once there Night Owl found the entire thing being held together by a large number of support pillars. And the pillars themselves were the size of some buildings. If that wasn't enough, he found his explanation for how the city wasn't affected by the ocean's waves.
The pillars were almost like massive shock absorbers, moving with the waves to keep the island perfectly stable. There had to be hundreds of them, all going through the same motion at a time. Truly a marvel of technology.
"What you're seeing, is pillar section A out of twenty-six others." David began, motioning to the area around them, "The entire section has around a hundred pillars. Periodically we shut down half for repairs while keeping the other half active."
"Impressive, although I'm a bit worried about how I-island does with external threats."
"In case of an external threat, the entire outer superstructure was designed to be stronger than a bomb shelter. Our security systems as well, are comparable to that of Tartarus."
Considering what had previously occurred in Tartarus, Night Owl debated whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Bad in that the most secure prison in the world lost to one quirkless man, granted, with inside help. Good in that the most secure prison in the world lost to one Big Boss. So really it was a coin flip.
The strength of the superstructure, however, might pose a problem. He might need to check if The Broker has any GBU-28s in his possession. If not, maybe he could raid an armory.
"And these are positioned all across the island, correct?" Night Owl asked him, as David began pulling him to a new part of the area.
"They are, and should a section fail, the others can pick up the slack."
"But that begs the question, how many sections are needed?"
"All would be preferable; however, the island can survive with half."
"And if they do fail?" Night Owl asked again, both to further his cover story and for his genuine intrigue.
"And if they do, we have several pumps across the island to keep it from flooding. Believe me, we've thought of everything." David answered.
"I'm sure you have," Night Owl agreed, "but you know how bureaucrats are."
"Heh, you've got me there," David replied, ignorant of Night Owl's true intentions. There was, of course, one last thing Night Owl needed to know.
"Now, this should be the last thing, but what about the power grid?"
"That was the first thing we worked on, see the entire island is powered by a nuclear reactor. Every aspect of the reactor is monitored at all times and is also guarded by people with danger-sensing quirks. If anything were to go wrong, we would know." David informed him, as the two then left the section, returning to the outside.
"Well, that should be it." Night Owl surmised, looking around the streets of the floating city.
"It truly was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Philips. Perhaps we'll be discussing something more scientific next time."
"Heh, one can only hope." Night Owl replied, taking everything he had learned to heart. Some slight changes would need to be made in his plan, but it was all in the realm of possibility. After all, he no longer needed the old dimensional constant. Now he could do, whatever he- wait a minute was that the same cafe from Israel, Night Owl thought, spotting the building out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps his plan could wait, as Night Owl went over to the small coffee shop.
"Holy shit," Eagle muttered, as he gazed through the scope of his rifle, "you were not kidding."
"I told you," Grizzly replied a smirk crossing his face. Disgruntled, Eagle passed him a twenty-dollar bill, before Ape did the same. Why you ask? It was quite simple really. Once word had been received that reinforcements were needed at a nearby refugee camp, they were ordered to go help. Along with an extra company that had just arrived, armed with the R&D team's new Walker Gears.
When they arrived, the situation seemed to sort itself out as, in an ironic turn of events, the refugees were defending the soldiers. But that wasn't the end. They reinforced the camp and received new orders. They were to intercept the fleeing heroes and ensure they couldn't regroup. It had taken an hour-long trip to the JLTV, where they discussed the heroes they were facing.
It inevitably turned to costumes, when Eagle pointed out the odd design of some heroes. This is where the bet came in. See there was a small group of heroes Grizzly learned about back home. They were stationed in Hawaii and had a rather odd choice of costume. I mean he wasn't one to complain but they were a bit worrying.
And when he explained this to the others, they claimed it was a lie. So, he made a bet, if they were to witness these heroes with their own eyes, whether it be photo, video, or in person, they would all pay him twenty dollars. It was the easiest money he made.
"I don't know what to think of this," Ape muttered, "it's utter bullshit."
"Heh, and you thought I was bluffing," Grizzly told him, before jokingly counting his money.
"I expected many things in life, the Bikini Brigade was not one of them," Eagle said, the man still surveying the area with his scope.
"Well, you seem rather interested." Grizzly joked, to which Eagle responded by flipping him off.
"This honestly doesn't seem fair; they've got about a dozen girls over there clothed in basically nothing. We've got the high ground, artillery, and Walker Gears." Eagle told them.
"What do you expect us to do, go easy on them?" Ape replied as Eagle looked away from his scope.
"No, but this might become a slaughter rather than a battle. I don't like heroes as much as the next guy, no offense Rookie, but I'm not keen on…" Eagle began, as he swapped to his binoculars. He slowly paused as he looked back at the enemy in front of them, before he felt himself become disgusted.
"Uh… Rookie?"
"Yeah?"
"How old was that Bikini Brigade you mentioned?"
"Eighteen to nineteen…"
Grizzly's eyes began to widen slowly as Ape looked over at the two.
"...So… they don't appear to be eighteen."
"Oh for fucks sake!" Ape exclaimed as the other soldiers in the squad began to worry. Quickly Ape pulled out his radio.
"CP this is Alpha five, we've got possible child combatants on the field," Ape replied angrily before looking back over to Eagle.
"Keep an eye on them, I don't want them getting killed out there," he ordered, as CP began to reply. Eagle for his part, turned over to the drone operator, who simply nodded. He then turned back over as the drone flew overhead. It flew just high enough not to be noticed but low enough for the sensory equipment. All that did was further his disgust at the sight, especially when he saw Grizzly grimace.
"Shit, they don't look older than sixteen," Grizzly stated, looking away from the drone's camera feed. One of the girl's legs was bent at the wrong angle, while another had something jutting out of their gut.
"The hell are they doing out here? I know the HPSC is low, but this is downright despicable."
"They might be on an internship. I did it a few years ago."
"Well, some internship."
The entire thing was a grizzly scene, the longer the soldiers looked at it. These were kids dying, and those injuries were most likely caused by them. Shelled by one of their own guns, completely unaware of who the true target was. One soldier threw up at the notion, caking the ground in shame. At that point, Ape had finally gotten word to the rest of the company.
Silently he looked out at the soldiers around him, examining every feature. He mentally eliminated each one before he looked at Grizzly.
"Alright, I need you, to walk out over to them."
"Sir?"
"You're the youngest out of all of us. Thought it might help them somewhat. Leave your weapons here and your helmet. Talk them down." Ape ordered. And Grizzly did so, unstrapping his helmet, before passing his M4 to Eagle. Then, he was off. He walked out nervously, anxious about his next course of action. He didn't want to appear threatening, so he walked slowly. As he got closer, he could hear the hero students talking.
"Katie, please breath it's going to be fine!"
"I-i'm t-trying… i-it h-hurts!"
Grizzly decided to quicken his step then, all the while grimacing at the girl's cries. It got worse the closer he got, every whimper becoming more noticeable.
"D-do we pull it out?"
"I-i don't remember, I wasn't in class when we did this."
"I-i j-just w-want t-to go h-home."
"Well get home, don't worry."
Getting close enough for the students to notice him, he held up his hands in front of him. Right as the first student turned over to him. She froze for just a moment, paralyzed in fear. The others reacted similarly, with only one getting into a fighting stance. But Grizzly could tell she was also afraid.
"It's ok, I'm not here to fight." Grizzly began, keeping his hands visibly in the air. It did little to ease their worries. They were deathly afraid, forgetting what training they had. Having a closer look, Grizzly could see it was worse than he thought. The girls were caked in mud, with small splotches of blood on their arms. Or dripping down their heads. The drone feed had been correct though.
One girl was impaled on a piece of wood, possibly caused by an explosion. The other one's leg wasn't just broken, it was hanging on by a thread. It was being held together in a makeshift sling, but it barely stopped the bleeding.
"Stand back villain! We're not afraid!" the girl in the fighting stance shouted. It was nearly imperceptible, but Grizzly could still hear the fear in her voice.
"Look, I'm not coming any closer. I'm just here to talk." Grizzly replied.
"Why should we believe you, villain? You're just trying to trick us!"
"I'm not. All I'm here for is to talk."
"Talk about what?"
"About your surrender."
"And why would we surrender! The moment we do you're just going to kill us!"
"We're not going to, trust me. No one wants more blood to be spilled. Besides, I don't think you have many options left." Grizzly began, before pointing over at the impaled girl, "If I have anything to go by the only thing keeping her alive is that spike of wood. And you don't have anything that can help her."
The girls seemed to ponder his words but were still hesitant.
"But we do, all you need to do is stand down. No harm will come to you."
"Why should we trust you? You, villains, are the entire reason we're in this mess!"
"I can't really give you a reason, we haven't done anything to earn your trust. So here, the hill behind me has forty soldiers hiding behind it. They have artillery on standby ready to flatten the area, and mechanized support not far away."
He then pointed off to a different hill, but the girls still focused on him.
"Over there are another twenty-five soldiers, and if I remember correctly several mortar crews. This area is completely surrounded, and this discussion is why the shooting hasn't started. We don't want to kill you, we never even wanted to hurt you. That's why we're asking you to stand down."
"And if we don't?"
"Well, that just makes the fight a lot harder. It's a bit hard to do non-lethal with a bullet. I mean I think it's been done, but I'm not a good enough shot for that." Grizzly replied, before thinking over what was just said, "That doesn't really help though, does it."
Reluctantly, they stood down. Although Grizzly could tell it was more due to a growing sense of defeatism rather than truly convincing them. He might need to take a class on how to talk people down because he honestly doesn't remember the one, he learned in heroics. The girls still looked at him with distrust, and he couldn't blame them. But at least a fight didn't break out.
And then an artillery shell landed right next to him.
Midoriya gagged as he looked at the Otton frog on his plate. Rody had a similar reaction, while Snake just ate unfazed.
"Do I really have to eat this?" Midoriya asked him, his face as green as his hair.
"Yes, sometimes you're cut off from supplies in the field. That means you make do with what's available, even a frog." Snake replied, before taking another bite of his food. Midoriya could hear him mutter, "Tasty" between bites.
"That doesn't explain why I have to do it." Rody commented.
"Because someone thought it wise to swipe my wallet," Snake replied, as he slowly turned to Rody, "That, and you want to become a pilot. So, should you ever crash or get stranded, this knowledge will help you survive. Now eat, else I start serving iguana as well."
Putting on his best brave face, Midoriya picked up part of the frog. It had already been cut up and prepared, but it didn't make it seem any more appetizing. Slowly he brought it to his mouth, before taking a small bite. He chewed for a moment, expecting to throw up what breakfast he previously had.
"Huh… it's not as bad as I thought." Midoriya stated, before taking a second bite, "Tastes kinda like chicken actually."
"Like I said, tasty," Snake told him, before finishing the last of his meal. Rody looked at the two incredulously, somewhat disgusted by their answers. But there wasn't a backing out now, so he readied himself for the next few seconds.
"Well, when in Rome," Rody muttered, before taking a large bite out of the frog. Surprisingly, it did taste like chicken.
"Now remember, there are some creatures that are dangerous to eat if not prepared well. As well as some that are genuinely inedible. I should know," Snake stated, remembering those poison dart frogs back in Russia. It was a mistake he paid dearly for; however, they did make his fight with The Fear easier.
"Do they all taste like chicken?" Midoriya asked, before taking another bite. It made him wonder what a python tasted like.
"Depends," Snake replied, before pulling out a cigar.
"This was honestly surprising," Rody comments. As he did so, Snake noticed a small pink bird, resting in the boy's hair. It had a mask and seemed to be asleep. With it came two thoughts, how long had it been there? And what did it taste like? Yet he was stirred out of his thoughts, when his codec began to ring. Answering the call, he found Miller waiting on the other end.
"Miller?"
"Snake, we've got a situation down in Africa."
Snake sighed as his hand rubbed his brow, "There's always a situation. What's it this time?"
"It's not completely confirmed, but I'm getting reports of children present on the battlefield."
"Child soldiers?"
"Child heroes actually."
"Great," Snake muttered, "order a halt on all offensives. Have the men focus on sneaking behind enemy lines and extracting them covertly. I'd rather not have some pre-teen blown apart by an artillery shell."
"Got it Boss."