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Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, Earth Bet

Hebert Residence​

School was uneventful. I sat with Vicky, Dean, Amy, and Vicky's crew of hangers on. It was hard to gauge how Vicky and Amy were doing, but the pulses of emotion I occasionally felt from Vicky's aura were rare and cut off almost immediately.

She was making progress.

In my free periods I put together another paper, this one on more efficient methods of doing water desalination on a large scale. Without going full nanotech on the problem the options were somewhat limited, but some of those options were doable with Earth Bet tech. There were a few methods in particular that passively encouraged the salt to rapidly grow out in crystal form. That approach required very little energy, which was the biggest factor that made reverse osmosis expensive.

That alone could be a big help in ending the water crisis that much of Earth Bet was operating under. Combined with cheap, abundant power from the fusion reactor designs I'd already published to power traditional plants and it should effectively end the problem anywhere with a government organized enough to engage in the necessary public works.

Extreme political instability in places like South America and Africa was a whole other problem I would have to get to. I wasn't sure how I'd solve it. Killing the warlords would help, but there was a lot more to nation building than just offing dictators.

Well, one thing at a time. I was in no fit state to interfere in all that, and wouldn't be for some time.

Interrupting the printing of fusion reactor parts, I put in two other designs. The first was a copy of my blinding pendant, except made to look like a mouse head logo. When Mouse Protector dropped by I attached it to the center of her shield and wired it up to a switch on the shield's hand grip.

I gave careful instructions on just how powerful the flash was. She was delighted by the new toy, but seemed to take my repeated warnings seriously. The last thing I wanted was for her to blind herself.

It would be annoying to have to fix her eyes. Or make her replacements. I could probably do that now, a realization that was slightly uncomfortable.

Hopefully it would help keep her safe, anyway. And I felt like I owed her a thank you gift for all the work she'd been doing for my sake. I'd saved her life, sure, but that was no excuse for taking someone for granted. I'd keep making things for her as long as she helped out. It was the least I could do.

And I had to confess I was almost starting to look forward to her next terrible joke. They were sort of like watching a train crash. Horrible, but I couldn't help but want to know.

The next thing I designed and printed was a custom pistol. It was not particularly high tech compared to everything else I'd been working on, but it didn't need to be. The body was a dark blue ceramic resin super composite, strong and light. It fired caseless flechette ammunition, little tungsten needles with fins like arrows to stabilize them in flight.

The flechettes in the slim holdout design were too small to do much damage to a person unless they hit something critical. That's why the pistol had two settings, and two small internal reservoirs of fluid. Depending on the setting, each flechette was coated with the contents of one or the other.

When the pistol was done I took the two mixtures from my chemical synthesizer and filled the reservoirs very, very carefully.

The first was the fastest acting paralytic, anesthetic, hypnotic cocktail I could make, along with the necessary agents to make it stick to the flechette despite the air resistance of high subsonic flight. The cocktail would quickly disable and then render unconscious any human with ordinary biology for several hours. When the victim woke up they wouldn't remember the fifteen minutes or so before they went under. Handy if I wanted to disable someone without them knowing who took them down or how.

The second reservoir contained an option of last resort. It was the fastest acting toxin in my massive mental encyclopedia of medical and chemical horrors. Most toxins took time to circulate through the bloodstream before they could do damage, meaning even the fast ones generally took minutes to kill. This viciously ingenious stuff, injected into the body anywhere near nerve tissue, caused a rapid chain reaction of uncontrolled action potentials that traveled via discharging up to the brain and induced a massive uncontrolled seizure in seconds. When that happened the victim would immediately lose consciousness, their body thrashing while they suffocated, the brain and spinal cord unable to signal the diaphragm to breathe.

I was sure there were brutes and changers that would be immune as a result of divergent biology or being too tough for the tungsten flechettes to penetrate their skin. The flechettes also didn't have enough force behind them to go through very heavy rigid armor, or hard cover; that kind of energy wasn't practical to fit into a concealable holdout kinetic weapon. The recoil would be unworkable, among many other issues. That said, most potential opponents didn't fit into one of those categories. With this I could disable or kill quickly at range if I needed to.

I managed to jam thirty rounds into the thing, thanks to the ammunition being so slim. The gun was small enough that I could wear it in a holster under my arm or inside a pocket or even under a baggy sleeve without it being obvious.

I was finishing the best available safe storage procedure I had for the excess of horrifying neurotoxin (which consisted of using a sharpie to draw skull and crossbones symbols all over the old soda bottle I'd poured it into) when Prometheus spoke up.

"Miss, I believe your attention is required," he said, voice level as always.

I took my phone out. "What is it?" I asked.

"The PRT has mobilized two shifts' worth of agents and the entire local Protectorate, with the Wards on standby. The Brockton Bay Police Department has also begun directing traffic away from several blocks of downtown," he answered.

"Piggot's moving on Coil now," I said, coming to the obvious conclusion. "Prometheus, where is Thomas Calvert at the moment?"

"He entered his lair three hours, seventeen minutes ago, Miss."

"Do you still have access to the lair's systems?" I asked.

"Yes, Miss," he confirmed.

I padded up the basement stairs, thinking about how I wanted to approach this. "Okay. Infiltrate the PRT and Protectorate gear and put together a live map of where everyone is for me. Use the base security feeds to track Coil and his people. And get me audio from the PRT tacnet."

"Command acknowledged, forking and deploying ewar packages," Prometheus responded.

When I arrived at my computer I pushed all five charges I had waiting into tactics. While I mentally came to grips with the flood of knowledge I settled in to monitor the feeds and think.

Some time spent watching Coil's internal security cameras and plotting later, I was ready.

So was the Protectorate.

All eight members of the Brockton Bay Protectorate looked deadly serious, armored up as they approached the heavy vault-style Endbringer shelter door to Coil's lair in the subterranean parking levels below the office tower above.

Still in the street and separated into sixteen squads of four each were an additional sixty four troopers in black armor, each carrying either a rifle or a containment foam pack and sprayer. A few of the riflemen also carried medical or demolitions gear.

The Protectorate ENE only had eighteen squads on the books in total. That meant Piggot was throwing essentially everything she had at this operation short of the Wards, and assaulting a fortified position like this was potentially far too dangerous to be able to defend Wards involvement. Doing it with trained adults was risky enough.

Armsmaster spoke, and his helmet transmitted on the frequency the PRT was using for all-point announcements on the operation. "Plasma torch teams, proceed with cutting open the door," he ordered. "Protectorate heroes and rifle and confoam squads, stack up on the door or take cover positions behind concrete pillars. Battery and Assault, prepare to-"

I manually typed a command into a terminal on my monitor that had superuser access to Coil's system. The massive steel door, large enough to drive a truck through, began to shift as its hydraulics hummed.

I checked the internal entryway camera. It was a large room with four automated gun turrets. Concrete ties had been placed diagonally on the left and right to provide cover against anyone attempting to force the entrance. Six mercenaries that had been on guard duty were scrambling to take cover behind them after the surprise opening of the door.

"Prometheus, take control of those turrets. Go for non-lethal shots unless a kill is necessary to protect friendlies. Keep the mercenaries suppressed."

"Command acknowledged, Miss," Prometheus said, and the turrets swiveled and began firing in bursts to keep six armed men in pseudo-military fatigues hiding on the far side of the concrete barriers. They started trying to shoot back without exposing themselves to fire, but the bullets did not seem very effective against the armored turrets.

I could have ordered him to just kill the mercenaries and most or all would have died in the seconds before they got completely behind cover, but it wasn't necessary, and it would not have been a good look right in front of the PRT.

Hearing the automatic gunfire inside, PRT and Protectorate personnel alike went for cover and pointed every weapon at the door.

I thought about the options I had to work with. Of the heroes outside, Armsmaster, Dauntless, and a fully charged Battery were the only ones I was certain could reliably deal with grenades and rifle rounds while advancing. I would need Dauntless to protect the more vulnerable heroes and troopers from stray fire, and I wasn't sure if his shield would do anything to stop the mercenary's underslung tinkertech laser attachments.

Armsmaster's armor might be able to soak a laser hit, but I didn't care to bet on it, and he would be an easy target until the mercenaries were disabled because he didn't have inhuman speed.

I didn't have faith in Battery's impressive degree of invulnerability while charged to resist one of the laser hits without injuring her either, but unlike Armsmaster she could move very quickly. Lasers traveled instantly, but the user still had to aim them. She had a much lower chance of being hit. Velocity could disable them with confoam grenades, but he would be vulnerable while he briefly stopped each time he deployed a grenade, and a laser shot would certainly kill him.

Settling on my strategy, I pressed a button.

"This is Scientia," I spoke, and through my tap on the Protectorate communications channel I heard my words come out as a smoothly confident adult woman's voice. "There are six hostiles in the entryway, I have them distracted. Battery can secure the room if she goes now and moves to evade laser fire. I will provide cover."

Battery tensed and looked between the opening door and Armsmaster.

A horrible crack of air exploded into plasma and a flash of red light came from the widening gap between the door and the wall as it swung outwards. An error message scrolled by on my terminal, and the camera view of the entryway showed that one of the automated guns I'd hijacked had been destroyed by a laser shot from one of the mercenaries I was keeping suppressed behind the low concrete barriers. He'd chanced popping out long enough to shoot and had taken a bullet in the arm for it.

"The distraction will not last forever," I noted, my tone restrained calm until I watched a mercenary change his blind angle of fire and realized where the bullets would spray. "Dauntless, shield, now!" I barked out.

Shots flew out of the widening gap, sending armored PRT agents who were running down the entrance ramp from outside to close the distance reflexively ducking potential ricochets. Dauntless' shield projected a transparent hemisphere of white light ten feet wide in time to catch several of another series of ricochets, and he angled himself to better cover the widening opening.

"Velocity, do not go on ahead. I already know where all of the hostiles are located. Dauntless, Velocity, Armsmaster, and Triumph, you are in the next group, followed by everyone else," I said. "Triumph, remember you're in a space with rigid walls that will echo. Squads thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, pull back and take positions on the four street corners around this block. I will direct you if anyone batters down the back storm drain exit I've locked before the main force can clear the bunker. You'll be able to box in any escapees no matter which way they run."

"Boss?" Battery asked, looking at Armsmaster.

He looked conflicted for a moment before gritting his teeth. "Do what she says!" he shouted, and everyone began to move.

Battery, her suit glowing brightly with a full charge, moved through the widening gap at full speed.

Moving too fast to properly track she charged and vaulted the closest low concrete barrier, then began disabling combatants by grabbing and throwing their laser-underslung rifles before hitting their owners hard enough to put them down.

Shouts of pain and alarm were the mercenaries' response until one nearly got a bead on Battery with his laser weapon before a burst of gunfire from a turret caught him in the neck.

That reminded the mercenaries to keep their heads down, and they focused on Battery as the second group breached the door.

"Battery, cover!" I ordered, predicting the next move of a mercenary from his body language as he got ready to pop up and shoot.

With a flash of motion she went over a low concrete wall in time to avoid the crack of another laser flashing through the air.

"Next team, prepare to breach," I said. "Triumph, stun the ones on the left. Armsmaster and Dauntless, charge after Triumph's blast and taser. Ready. Set. Breach!"

The gun turrets fell silent to avoid friendly fire as the heroes came through. Triumph carefully directed a cone of sound to stun the mercenaries who were still active, causing them to fall or clap hands to their ears. Armsmaster and Dauntless rushed them, and between Dauntless' arc lance and Armsmaster's halberd set to taser it was quickly over. The rest of the Protectorate and the PRT teams entered as the mercenaries were being disarmed and cuffed, and PRT medics went to the wounded mercenaries. At a glance I guessed the one shot in the neck wasn't going to make it, but the others would be fine.

"Good work everyone. Battery, you've got time to recharge. I've disabled the base self destruct-"

"-the what?!" Assault shouted, looking at Armsmaster.

"A plan was in place," he said, brusque and a bit defensive.

"This place is rigged to blow under a high rise?" Dovetail asked Armsmaster with incredulity, confoam grenades clenched in both hands.

"Later," I said, barreling through the incipient debate with the whipcrack tone of a commanding officer. "As I was saying, I have disabled Coil's self-destruct and locked all the magnetically controlled doors, which is slowing them down. I've also disabled Coil's emergency exit. I'll do what I can to play merry hell with enemy communications in a moment. The floorplan is simple, it's a big figure eight shape with flat sides, like on a digital clock. You're halfway down one of the long sides, so out that door you can go right, left, and straight. Left is the fastest way to the armory, which has a traditional key so I couldn't lock it down. There are sixteen hostiles in that area and they're headed for the armory. Watch out for rifles with lasers, grenades, and heavy weapons.

"You're going to need heavy hitters for that area. Armsmaster, I suggest yourself and Battery with squads one through six. You and squads one through four push through to the armory, which will be the fifth door on the right. Squad five clears rooms on the right side of the hall and squad six clears rooms on the left side of the hall behind you.

I was speaking quickly now, watching the mercenaries trying to get organized inside the base as I rattled off instructions for what looked like the best plan of attack. Time was of the essence, and I needed to get the troopers and Protectorate moving.

"Primary targets in the middle path are two large rooms, the barracks and the mess hall. They currently contain thirty two hostiles, unarmed or with sidearms only. I advise Miss Militia, Dauntless, Dovetail, and Triumph take those rooms. Squads seven and eight will follow you in, squad nine will cover your rear. I advise using Dauntless' arc lance and Triumph's sonic stun to breach one room, Miss Militia's flashbangs and Dovetail's confoam in the other, with trooper confoam in support once hostiles are disoriented.

"The right path ultimately leads to Coil's office. Only eight hostiles along that route. I suggest Velocity, Assault, and squad ten push on to capture Coil. Velocity, he can't run from you, and Assault, he can't fight you effectively. Squads eleven and twelve can clear the left and right hand doors of the hallway behind you, respectively. Armsmaster, anything you want to change?"

That was a dirty trick. Without knowing exactly how Coil had altered the former shelter or exactly how many hostiles there would be or where they would have been arranged, Armsmaster and whoever else planned the assault likely would have had to rely on a very flexible plan with only general goals. My 'suggestions' were about the best allocation of skills and manpower possible, given reasonably complete knowledge of the layout, the enemy, and the forces I had to work with.

Armsmaster was a good tactical commander. He might hate that a strange cape had injected herself into his command at the last second without warning, but he would know that he didn't have anything better, and could be reasonably confident that I wasn't on Coil's side.

More to the point, I knew that his power nudged him to prefer optimal, efficient solutions. It was an exploitable weakness, and I was exploiting it. Time was now wasting, and arguing would be inefficient when the plan appeared sound and he didn't have reason to suspect ill intent on my part.

There was a pause of several seconds while he mulled it over. "No. Protectorate, troopers, to your assignments. Group up and move!"

I permitted myself a brief smile in victory. He and the Director would be upset, but that could be handled later. What I got in exchange was the surety that this would be handled as well as humanly possible. The difference would likely save lives.

I got to work getting Prometheus to issue counterproductive orders in Coil's voice over the base radio repeaters to the mercenaries.

I watched the central team quickly roll up resistance in the mess and barracks with shock and awe. Half the troopers and Miss Militia stayed back to control the prisoners while I directed the others to loop around and assault the armory from the other direction.

The men in the armory had been effectively keeping Battery, Armsmaster, and their support at a distance. Once they exhausted their supply of the one-shot underslung lasers they shifted to other options. One close call with a rocket-propelled grenade even narrowly missed Armsmaster as he attempted a breach and left a blackened pit in a concrete wall. I wasn't sure if whatever tinkertech alloys and reactive systems he put in his armor plate could have taken it, but from the way he got more cautious I suspected the answer was no.

After that, troopers taking cover behind low walls of containment foam traded shots with the mercenaries while Battery waited for an opening and Armsmaster tried a succession of ranged tricks he produced from his halberd and armor. He and the troopers were making progress whittling down the enemy's numbers, at the cost of a slowly mounting toll of injured troopers.

Then Dauntless and Triumph hit the dug in mercenaries from behind like a freight train, stunning the fighters with lightning and sound. A pair of containment foam grenades expertly thrown by Dovetail followed up, disabling the two largest clumps of mercenaries still fighting. Battery took her opportunity at last and charged in among them as blur, and that was it for armed resistance.

Velocity found Coil fruitlessly trying to pry his locked and armored escape hatch open with a length of rebar, appearing as if out of thin air to plant a confoam grenade on the supervillain. Coil never even got the chance to draw his pistol before he was covered. Velocity just shook his head and ignored the foam-muffled threats, followed by offers of bribes.

My satisfaction at Coil's ignominious end shifted to resignation when Velocity found Mr. Pitter dead in Coil's office one room over, shot in the head. Coil kept no security camera in that room, but it was clear enough what had happened even without any footage.

Because of course Coil would use tying up a loose end who could inform on him as the full stop to mark the end of his treacherous and violent career.

Total casualties of the operation were Mr. Pitter and three mercenaries dead, eight mercenaries and four PRT troopers seriously wounded. The only significant Protectorate injury was a bullet graze taken by Ms. Militia in the doorway of the barracks. Otherwise the heroes escaped with nothing worse than bruising, ballistic undersuits offering adequate protection from everything that had actually hit them.

I checked to make sure I wasn't broadcasting anymore before speaking. "Prometheus, go ahead and drain Coil's accounts. Do a secure wipe of his financial records for the assets you're draining, along with any references to Cauldron or vials. I don't want PRT forensics getting anything later. Actually, you'd better just set the machines on fire. Hard to say what a tinker or thinker could get, even through a secure wipe."

"Command acknowledged, Miss. Deploying hardware attacks and disabling the fire suppression system in Coil's office and server room."

"Thanks," I said, and let out a long breath full of relieved tension. "Oh, and you can let Director Piggot talk again."

"Command acknowledged, Miss."

"ARMSMASTER!" came the Director's voice over the all points PRT line.

I saw his reflexive jerk through one of Coil's cameras.

"Director?"

"So you're still alive," she said, sounding somehow profoundly unimpressed. "You've been in comms blackout. What the hell is going on?"

"Mission success, with a complication," he growled. "I will return for a full report."