Chapter 57: Begin operation

Geokit - I can't get this out of my head now. If I was doing Omakes for this series I'd be fucking losing it writing that out.

Barabric Bob - Lol.

Geek-God of Speed - A simple but effective system.

[Amy's POV 15 minutes later]

I didn't want this to end. They'd be back soon, a half hour tops in my opinion, but to go after Baku-Bitch they'd still have to go. I was being clingy, and unreasonable, and I knew that, but they made me feel safe and wanted.

Especially now, being in a three-way hug with Phoenix and Taylor's bodies shielding mine, I felt more wanted then I'd ever been. (God, they gave me a fuckin crumb of affection and now I'm basically a limpet.) Granted, I knew it wasn't a 'Crumb' of affection, and wasn't just affection given the looks and things they said to me, but it wasn't enough to make me that dependent on them. (Probably fucking touch starved or something... Fuck, I've got too many issues.)

Before I could even think about that more my bestfriends, it'd only been a week and some change and they were already at bestfriend status, which said alot about my life, pulled away from the hug. Thankfully I caught myself, or else I would've fucking whined like a literal bitch at the loss of contact. Said contact came back though when one of Phoenix's hands ended up on my shoulder. "Remember, anyone gives you shit, you shoot them."

I snorted at that, while Taylor smacked him on the shoulder. "She can't just shoot anyone she doesn't like." The voice of reason between the three of us spoke up, I knew I was more of a 'Voice of consequence', while Phoenix was the 'Voice of entertaining violence.'

"No bullets. They'll never know it was her." Okay, wait a minute, he kinda had a point. "No bullet no crime."

Even masked as she was, I just knew Taylor's eye was twitching. "That's not how it works." She was right...

Didn't mean I was going to take her side on this though. "Nono, wait, he's onto something here." They both turned to me at that, and knowing that one of them would jump in, most likely Phoenix, I went on before they could. "I mean, sudden electrocution via Tinkertech gun could easily be misdiagnosed as a stroke." Phoenix huffed out a laugh while Taylor just stared at me through the compound eyes of her mask, judging the fuck out of me. "A very powerful stroke." We all knew that was bullshit... But it was funny bullshit.

My green haired guy bestfriend laughed even louder, part of me feeling real damn proud at bringing out his real and insane cackle compared to his more tame laugh, while the rest of me tried not to lose it under the judgemental stare coming from my female bestfriend. After what felt like a year, but was probably only a few seconds, she sighed, shaking her head. "He's infecting you with his stupid."

On the one hand, ouch.

On the other hand, I knew she may have had a point there. Though before I could voice that, I was suddenly wrapped back up in Phoenix/Anubis' arms, being pressed into his chest, my head resting on his shoulder and close to his neck and arms reflexively re-wrapping themselves around his waist. "Don't listen to her Amy! Being stupid means having fun at everyone else's expense. You love doing that, don't you?"

I was half listening to him before he asked that question. My brain being stuck on taking in a bunch of facts that I was suddenly being made aware of now that he was basically pressing my body against his. Foremost of said things was the fact that yes, his Suit was skintight, which meant I could feel the muscles in front of me... And goddamn was this a new experience. (I knew they were built, Phoenix more so then Taylor, but damn is this nice.) It didn't help that the feeling of being wrapped up in the arms of someone taller, and stronger, then me was pushing the buttons my monkey brain labeled as 'Happy fun times.'

It was a fetish of mine, one that came about from an obvious source, that applied to both him and Taylor. (Oh God, being the meat of a Taylor and Phoenix sandwich sounds amazing.) Gulping to refresh my suddenly drying throat, I tried to think anything else, literally anything to get myself back under control, when he asked the question. The question itself would've been fine... If it came at any other time. But with me in his arms, my face buried in his neck, lips by my ear, and asking me something worded like that?! (Oh fuck, don't do that to me!) My body shuddered, cheeks burning as I felt goosebumps forming on my arms and nipples hardening. (FUCKFUCKFUCK! STOP BEING A USELESS BOTTOM FOR 1 GODDAMN MINUTE!) We were about to deal with a fucking psycho bomber and a teleporting suicide bombing ninja that killed thousands, I DIDN'T NEED TO BE HORNY AT ANY POINT!

Thankfully for that thought, not the context behind it, that seemed to start calming my horny side down. Then before he, or anyone else, could notice my situation, Taylor/Khepri pinched the back of his neck, getting him to yelp and let me go. I shoved the disappointment about that aside, moving back to watch the incomi...- A beep sounded off from their Suits, and a familiar voice sounded out. "! As fun as seeing you three act like a newlywed/old married throuple is, !"

I nearly choked at that, the earlier thought of me being in a Phoenix and Taylor sandwich returning and damn near whacking me upside the head. (I'm going to need a cold shower when we get home.) I wasn't even going to address referring to The Roost as home, because that was already a thing for future Amy to do and I sure as hell wasn't her yet...

I was also conveniently ignoring the 'Throuple' thing, because this was real life and not some shitty harem anime. I had to be realistic...

Despite how sad that seemed to make me.

"! The Assault team will be moving in soon, so you're needed. ! Shaking that thought aside, I looked over at my friends, who were sharing a look. "! By the way, you can use your bikes, we're done with them. !"

That seemed to do it for them, a shared nod going on before they spoke. ""Start Your Engine."" A part of me snorted at that, that was some Power Rangers shit right there, while the rest of me was amused that Khepri went along with it. That didn't detract from the fact I found the pair of suddenly manifested bikes awesome, because Behemoth, despite being named after the big fuck himself, and Johanna, were pretty badass.

My friend's were about to get on their bikes, but a low hiss near my ear made them pause. Looking down to my daughter, who was visible now, I could see the 'Puppy dog eyes' being shot at them. I had no idea what she was saying, but considering the way she was looking at them, I didn't need too. (One of em's gonna fold.)

And lo and behold, Anubis sighed, stepping back over to me. Raising a hand, which made our Daughter poke her head out of my hood, and earned a few low gasps from the group behind us, he gave her chin scratches, getting a pleased hiss from her. "We'll be back soon lovie, take care of your Mother till we do, kay?" Scylla hissed something at him, getting a snort. "Try not to bite too many of them, we don't know where they've been." My lips twitched at that, while someone behind us grumbled something too low for me to make out. "I can MAKE you homeless if you wanna try me." Well apparently it wasn't low enough.

Khepri just let out a sigh though, a few bees coming over and distracting my Daughter, which was probably the point since she seemed to stop paying attention to her Dad and Aunt in favor of munching on them... I ignored the fact I hadn't questioned bees just coming to offer themselves up as food, that wasn't the most outlandish thing that'd happened in the last 72 hours. "You can threaten people later. Right now we've got work to do."

Anubis huffed, turning to look at the Wards behind me. "If I hear that any of you fucks hurt Amy or my Daughter, or make her sad, then there won't be a body to put in the coffin." Despite the blatant threat of murder, I couldn't help but feel warm at that. He didn't need to include me in that, but he did... It...

It was nice, to be included and wanted enough that someone would go that far for me... "Mhm." I blinked at that, turning an eye to Khepri, who was nodding along. "Wouldn't have made the threat as blatant as that," Fuckin what? "But you all get the point." As she said that the sound of a million insects chittering, wings buzzing, and just doing bug things rang out, putting me a little on edge... And I was getting used to her, so that was probably terrifying the Wards and Heroes with them. "Hurt them, we hurt you." Khepri let that threat hang in the air for a bit, then nodded, the sounds dying off as she turned and walked over to her bike.

Anubis scoffed at the whole thing though, giving Scylla one last scratch before turning away. "'Threaten people later' she says, then she fuckin goes and scares the shit outta everyone. Double standards are bullshit." Khepri and I snorted at that, which earned us both a middle finger.

With the both of them revving their rides, Scylla took notice that her Dad and Aunt were about to leave, poking her head out even more and hissing something. Whatever it was, probably a bye or something like that, got the both of them to wave at her before they hit the gas. I watched them go, a bunch of thoughts swimming around in my head as they did.

I was a little tempted to bring up a few thoughts of the... Naughtier, side of things, but I knew this wasn't the time. Probably wouldn't be the time for a while considering the fucking mess that the Bay wa...- I sighed, cutting that thought off now. I couldn't think about it. Thinking about the situation at large would send me spiraling, and I couldn't afford to do that with Scylla here.

Speaking of my snake child, I looked at her, lip twitching up as she gulped down the last of her snack. Feeling my eyes on her, she turned to look at me, eyes exaggeratedly big and begging. I didn't even need to speak snake to know what she was doing. "Nice try honey, but I'm not your Father or Aunt." They were suckers for her, probably because they could understand her, but I wouldn't be. She practically deflated at that, making me roll my eyes. (What a dramatic little Proto-Endbringer.)

Before anything else could happen I heard someone clear their throat behind us. Turning to look at who it was, I paused, suddenly very unsure about what to do. It'd only been a day.

Just a day.

And yet I had no idea how to talk to my sister anymore.

[Phoenix's POV]

[Still think it's bullshit. I threaten bodily harm and it's an issue. But when YOU do it, it's all good.] Double standards were a biiitch.

Uncaring about my rightful grievances, my girlfriend just huffed and put her foot on the gas. |Your threats are too on the nose. These things need subtly, which is why people don't say much when I do it.|

Okay, that was bullshit. I knew what she was getting at, but there was a big fuckin issue with that. [And what part of 'Hurt them, we hurt you', is subtle?]

She mentally snorted at that. |There are varying levels of 'Hurt' Mi Corazon, I would know.| Well, she wasn't wrong. |Someone emotionally hurting Amy or Scylla. Depending on how sad either of them were, I'd react accordingly.| I shivered at the tone she used at the end, mildly Dreading asking what she meant by that.

Too bad I was far more Curious then I should've been. I blamed it on the Reddit 50/50's I did in high school and my inherent nature. [What do you mean by 'Accordingly?'] Because seriously, she couldn't just say that and not expand on it.

My Other Half hummed, a sense of Vindictive Interest coming from her. |If Amy was brooding, I'd have a few bugs land/crawl on whoever was responsible. Maybe get them to bite here or there.| I shivered again, because yikes that was bad. |But if they made either of them cry... Well, I'm pretty sure you know about that thing about swallowing spiders in your sleep, right?| My skin fuckin crawled at that question, because Jesus Christ that sounded diabolical...

At the same time though... [I was fully expecting you to do something with centipedes and ears.] My imagination was a strange and dangerous place to be.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so Surprisingly given who she was, she took it in stride. |That's if they hurt them. Roaches would work too though, the smaller ones could easily navigate through the ear canal and go into their skulls. Feeling something crawling on their brains sounds like a good way to traumatize them for life.|

Processing that, I took a moment to marvel at the blatantly Horrifying scenario, because holy shit that was evil, I eventually nodded. [Have I told you how much I love your sadistic tendencies?] Because as fucked up as it was, I was with it. My default to anyone hurting my Daughter or Amy would've been murder, I was fiercely protective of anyone that showed me a crumb of Affection, which would have the problem over and done with.

Amused Affection was the emotional response, while the conscious one was a hum going through our Bond. |It might've come up once or twice.|

I rolled my eyes at that. [Well, I love them. They fit my evil mastermind of a girlfriend to a T.]

Taylor snorted, a thrum of Pleased Amusement coming from her as we rode through the street. I didn't bother asking anything else, knowing and inferring where her lines were when it came to Amy and Scylla. So we rode on, a mental request leading to background music starting up. ~Hand on the wheel...~

I felt it as some of the Anger and Concern she held onto was drowned out as she Relaxed, giving into the ride. (This really is our go too song.) Grinning a bit under my mask, I revved Behemoth's engine, kicking it up a notch to overtake my girlfriend. A spark of Annoyance came from her as I did, making me mentally snicker at her. [Try not to eat dust, Mi Reina.]

That said I slammed the gas, weaving through the street on my bike. Behind me the sound of an engines roar rang out, and I felt her closing in on me. |Alright you son of a bitch, let's go.| I grinned at that, Pleased that I'd managed to distract her, even for a little bit.

When we got home we would no doubt need XLR8 therapy, her more so then me, but for now I would do whatever I could to keep her from losing it. Watching as my girlfriend overtook me, I grinned. (Though, that doesn't mean I'll let her win.) Pushing Behemoth harder, I put on some of the boost, shooting forwards and weaving through the damaged street with ease. (Not gonna make it easy either.)

She met the challenge with a boost of her own, our rides turning into streaks of black, green and gold as we raced towards the meeting point for the Assault Team.

[Amy's POV a few minutes later]

Thankfully, I didn't have to figure out how to talk to Vicky.

After Anubis and Khepri left, the Containment Team was split up in groups of 2 each with atleast 1 Hero with us. I was paired with Vista, I wasn't entirely sure why considering she was usually with that new Ward Flechette, their Powers worked scarily well together, and Ursa Aurora. I didn't know much about the Master, just that she was a good Hero, had an accent, and had a protective streak a mile wide. (Which just takes being a 'Mama Bear' to the next level.) Mentally rolling my eyes at that, I gripped the construct's 'Fur' tighter, making sure I didn't fall off.

While the bears ran through the street, the occasional 'Jump' going on thanks to Vista bending space, taking us to our side of the border, I looked at my Daughter. Scylla was still staring at the bear we were on, no doubt confused at what exactly it was. I didn't want to tell her now, it wasn't exactly the time to explain to her how certain Powers worked...

That, and I didn't want to disrupt the tense silence we had going on. Vista hadn't really said anything since we started making our way to our destination, and Ursa Aurora was the same. No one spoke, and I'd be damned if I changed that. (Though this is still kind of fucking with my anxiety.)

I mean, I knew why they were this way, the city was fucking bombed, thousands dead, and we were after the bitch that did it... But... And not to seem like I was downplaying it or anything... But I'd seen worse. I'd participated in Endbringer battles, watched as people bled out, succumbed to wounds mere moments before I would be able to save them, or even the time when someone literally melted into a puddle of flesh and gore in front of me because of a Power interaction with Behemoth's radiation. I'd gotten desensitized to this kind of thing, so even if it made me sound like a bitch, I'd still say it could've been worse. She could've bombed all the schools while classes were in session, or attacked when everyone was out and about. But instead she attacked at the ass crack of dawn, so sure there were casualties, but it totally could've been worse. (And wow if that isn't fucked up I don't know what is.)

Putting the thoughts of the crazy bomber being more effective aside, I looked down to Scylla, idly watching as she changed the colors of her feathers. I wasn't entirely sure why she was doing it, but it was calming to watch them go from forest green to autumn orange. (Maybe that's why she does it?) We hadn't really had the time to map out how she hunted, because she was still technically a newborn, but I wouldn't be surprised if she could hypnotize her prey into letting their guard down before she lunged.

(Actually, what else can she eat?) Eating wasn't exactly necessary for her, but she still did it anyway. (Though considering her physiology, she could probably grow faster if she ate on a regular basis...) I thought about that for a bit, running a mental check on what I remembered of her physiology as I did. (If she ate a boar or something every week or so she'll probably hit 10 feet long in 2 or 3 months... Where the fuck are we going to get boars?) That very justifiable question brought me out of my thoughts...

...

...

...

And I took a few moments to recognize I was so far off point that I'd might as well be in a different fucking continent. (Ah, the joys of being a master of the 'Don't think about it, ever', school of thought.) Deciding to think about something more relevant, I focused on my Daughter, something I'd kind of been doing for a bit, which she obviously noticed if the curious stare I was getting meant anything.

It was strange really, I was kind of still getting used to the fact I had a Daughter, her not being Human not mattering in the slightest. I had this Proto-Endbringer that was fully capable of killing grown Capes, living for centuries, if not millennia, and was currently wrapped around my waist...

But it was kinda hard to see her as anything but adorable considering I'd literally seen Taylor scold her about her manners or some shit earlier in the day. (Plus she's my Daughter. She immediately gets all my bias.) A part of my mind rallied at that, some notions about Carol attempting to form, but I crushed them before they could take hold.

I wasn't going to think about her.

Not here, not now, and especially not when I was thinking about my Daughter. Scylla had initially looked at me like I hung the stars and the moon, hell she did that when I was woken up in the morning, and I REFUSED to treat her how Carol treated me.

Shaking that off, because while that was a healthy train of thought, it wasn't the time to think any of it, especially because it looked like we'd reached our destination. Knowing that, I dismounted from the bear, making my way over to my 'Team.' With us together, Ursa Aurora tapped the comm given to her by Dragon, who said it was from Pantheon but I mentally called bullshit on that since I never saw them use the Builder to do it. "Ursa Team's all good, whattabout ya?"

My comm activated at that, all members of both teams were given comms that connected to each other but were monitored by Stheno, so we could communicate with each other. "Assault & Battery here, ready and waiting!" Pretty sure that was was who Vicky was with. Her and Eric if my memory wasn't shit.

"Velocity Team, ready." Crystal and Dean.

"Triumph Team is a few minutes out, but nearly there." That Weld guy, and Flechette. Which didn't make that much sense to me since it would've been easier to pair Vista with them considering her Power, and that wasn't even getting to why I was actively out in the field, as far away from where she was suspected to be as I was, but fuck did I know?

"Dragon and Dauntless, in position." There weren't enough Wards to go around, so it was just the two of them... Well, Dragon no doubt had backup in the form of her sisters, but that was just all the better for the guy.

With everyone in the Containment team done checking in, it was obvious who would be coming next. And like I thought, a familiar voice rang through my ears. "Pantheon's in place." Short, but about what I expected from Khepri.

"New Wave is in place." I was so happy I wasn't anywhere near that clusterfuck. A fight would no doubt break out, and someone, most like Brandish, would end up finding out that my Daughter was more then a cute plant snake.

"Miss Militia, in position." The only one on by 'Herself.' She had a drone with her, so Dragon was watching over Miss Militia in case she needed it.

"As soon as Triumph and his team are in place we'll begin moving in. For now we'll be counting on Pantheon and our scanning equipment to find Bakuda's lab." There were a round of agreements at that, while I just mentally hummed. I wouldn't be able to do much, but atleast I could shoot someone if it came to it.

While I was thinking that I heard the telltale sound of Anubis' tech activating through the comms. "Armodrillo!"

I blinked at that, taking a moment to remember what exactly that was, before another cry rang out, loud enough that it sounded like it was right next to me. "Cabrakan!" My Daughter got spooked at that, head snapping around like it was on a swivel. It would've been funny if I wasn't trying to figure out why those names sounded... Familiar...

(Ah, shit...) I remembered now... (He won't hit the Bay with an earthquake... Right? RIGHT?!) I was worried that I couldn't immediately answer that with a 'No.' Thankfully my Daughter distracted me by rubbing my cheek, probably knowing I was internally freaking out. I gave her more scratches, relaxing as she flicked her tongue out in a happy hiss. (Best Daughter. Fuck other kids, mines the best.)

My bias was strong here, but I had a semi immortal alien snake daughter, so every other argument was invalid.

[Phoenix's POV]

I was never going to get tired of going Ultimate. The rush of power I got was the best, especially when it came from forms as strong as Cabrakan. Grinning beneath my armored muzzle I turned both of my arms into jacks, priming them for what I was going to do. (Now, let's see what I can find. Seismic Sense.) I brushed aside the part of my mind that cringed at that, giving it a minor comfort that I didn't say it outloud, and started hammering the ground.

I didn't go too hard, knowing better then creating an earthquake where we suspected Bakuda and her suicide bombing cyborg were, just hard enough that the vibrations would travel along the area, giving me a mental map of the Trainyard. |You know, I thought you were joking earlier about using Cabrakan.|

That got a snort from me, though I kept peppering the ground, the mental map I was forming coming in clearly. [I was. But then I realized that this would be simpler then using Cannonbolt and just zooming around the place like a demented pinball.] It was ironic really, my blind form had the best 'Sight' abilities out of all of my Ultimates. Granted, I could use Upgrade on some scanning equipment and probably come close, but I hadn't built anything specifically for scanning stuff. (Note to self, use Grey Matter and Juryrigg later to make a super scanner for situations like this.) He wasn't the only option either, Lodestar would probably help too, but there was too much metal nearby for me to get a proper look at everything, so Cabrakan it was,

While I thought about that, my girlfriend hummed, her bugs spreading out as they Swarmed the area. |Makes sense.| The two of us lapsed into silence at that, the only sounds around us being my jacks hitting the ground and the Swarm doing Swarm things. The option to distract her was there, but I didn't take it, deciding to do that when we were done here.

Around a minute in though the silence was ended. Mentally focusing on something, not the small and blatant grenade like mines, though I took notice of them either way, I felt myself growl as I found an anomaly. Normally I wouldn't have that kind of reaction, but whatever Bakuda was doing made the area... I wanted to say 'Blank', because while I couldn't really see it, that made it all the more clear to me that it was there. It was just the fact that I, an Evolved Talpaedan, couldn't see something in the earth set off some instinctual Anger and Annoyance. "Found yooou."

I was about to raise a jack up, fully prepared to slam it into the ground to erase the anomaly, but a hand on my tail, and a pulse of Warning from the Bond made me stop. Turning towards the source, I could feel how tense my Other Half was, the earlier Warning coming through loud and clear. Letting out a huff of steam from my back ports I lowered my jack, turning both arms back to normal. Feeling the Appreciation from her helped me stave off the instinct to get rid of the wrong space, which gave her enough time to ask the question. "Where is she?" Clearing my head I focused on where the anomaly was, then sent a mental picture of where it was...

Which was easy considering my 'Vision' was basically like one of those map holograms that's always in FPS'.

After taking a moment to process the image, her bugs Swarmed forwards, a veritable wave of flies and other flying insects zooming towards the area. As that happened I tapped the dial, turning back into Armodrillo, then tapped it again, turning into "XLR8!" I registered the passing Interest from my Other Half, and watched as her own form changed into her Kineceleran Hybrid.

After her transformation was done, and a few of her more negative and hidden emotions went through the good ol Kineceleran Processing Plant, her Swarm of fliers paused, then shifted and turned into an arrow pointing down. Tapping an ear, my girlfriend spoke. "This is Khepri. I've marked where Bakuda is,"

I let out a raspy scoff at that, "'Marked' she says. It'd take a blind man not to see that shit." That didn't exactly help, earning me a small whack to the shoulder with her tail. I could've avoided it, I just didn't because it wouldn't hurt.

Distractions came in many forms after all, and not all of them disruptive. "And am waiting with Anubis to move in."

My HUD immediately flickered, a tab that showed my Aunt Dragon plugged in. "We read you Khepri. All teams are in position,"

(When the fuck did those slowpokes get in place? Thought they were still a bit away?) My tail curled in on itself at that, the questions being incredibly important to my lizard brain. Sure, I knew they had to go the furthest, Taylor and I were taking the south, New Wave the west, Triumph the north, and Militia the east, but they could've totally gotten there faster then this.

My questions would unfortunately go unanswered "And ready to engage." Well, that was nice atleast. "W...-"

Another window opened, Stheno appearing as my map gained a marker. "! Oni Lee sighted by New Wave! Clone count is already at 6...- 7! !" Well shit. That was both good and bad.

Good because the suicide bomber was by Brand-A-Bitch, which opened up the opportunity of her being killed or something by them.

Bad because Lady Photon was there, and as the only good adult in New Wave, I didn't count Flashbang since he wasn't here, and oh if I didn't have ideas about why that was, Amy would be sad if she died... So I kinda had to make sure she didn't die. (Ugh, being a good person, how revolting.) Brushing that thought aside, and with a quick look to my Mate, who mentally nodded at me, I turned and ran.

Taylor could handle Bakuda, even if anything changed from the initial plan to push in with the rest of the Assault Team, but I had to handle Oni Lee. Lodestar could handle the clones, while I'd have to figure out how to deal with the main body. I already had some ideas on how to do so, which would hopefully work so I could go back to Taylor and help deal with Baku-Bitch, but without trying em out I wouldn't know.

Hopefully my supercomputer lizard brain could help me figure this shit out.

[Erin's POV]

Watching my Nephew speed through the Trainyard, I thought about how this would go. The chances that this whole thing succeeded were practically 100%, especially since Panacea would be in range to transport anyone injured enough for her to heal. The only issue I had was not being able to directly interfere. The team set ups could've been more optimized had they let one of us do it, but we'd helped too much already. (God, politics fuckin suck.)

Sure, Pantheon was involved, as well as our scanning drones and shit like that, but if we got involved any more then that then the issues would start coming up. The Guild was already smelling like roses while The Protectorate was kind of on thin ice. Should Dragon or the rest of us get involved and took down Bakuda, then The Protectorate would be eating enough crow for the government to take the reigns here in Brockton Bay and perhaps even more PRT installations.

Granted, the former was probably going to happen anyway considering the sheer scale of this attack, but Guild involvement would only escalate that. (And who knows what that one eyed bitch will do if she lost full control.) We weren't ready to deal with Cauldron, despite the superior technology we were still building and upgrading our existing tech, and needed time to grow to higher heights. None of us were sure how long we needed, but we'd take as much time as we could get.

Which then led to this 'All hands on deck' situation. The PRT needed a win, and since most of the world considered Pantheon as somewhat separate from The Guild, They'd still only joined recently and had the feat of beating back The Simurgh before joining, then they wouldn't give us as much praise and adulation if it were one of my sisters taking out the bombers. (We'll still get it since they are part of The Guild, but it'll be easier to manage.) Was it kind of scummy to prop up our kids like this? Yeah. But it was kinda necessary so Alexandria was still bogged down by Protectorate work.

Shaking that thought off I prepared a few processes to a...- I paused, confused for a moment. Something had disappeared from the network, so I dedicated an instance to find... It... (Oh... Oh no.)

I woNdER wHaT HAPpEneD