***
Borea stepped into the war room of the Vanguard Compound, walking up to the central table. As was usual, it showed a holographic view of the crashed Rikti
flagship and what used to be the White Plains district of Paragon City. Tiny flickers of light played across the map, showing Vanguard forces, known Rikti
squads, even Arachnos, Malta and Crey units. And of course the heroes, most allied with Vanguard and struggling to keep the reconstruction of the flagship
halted.
"What happened?" she asked her aide.
"Recon Squad Sixteen was ambushed in Pavia," he replied, highlighting the area in question. "All except one of them Medicommed. Private Wells.
We've got his location, but they're blocking his Medicomm signal, preventing transport."
"Same old story," she said with a scowl. "What's his condition?"
"Mental trauma, plasma burns...no signs of mutagens," he reported. Borea nodded. It was a familiar story. The Rikti captured a soldier, prevented
medicomm evacuation, then made sure that the advanced medical systems built into all Vanguard suits reported exactly what happened back to command. War of
Nerves for the 21st Century.
"Time?" she asked.
"Ten minutes since capture." Borea nodded, doing the math. They had an hour at most before the Rikti disposed of the armor and they were left with a
corpse... or possibly a new Rikti soldier.
"Give me a list of all heroes in Pavia," she ordered. A moment later, a list of names appeared in front of her. Her eyes ran down the list, looking
at security rating, current Vanguard missions, team status... "Get me Purrfect Archer, open channel," she ordered the comm officer. He looked down at
his console for a moment. There was a pause, then all the other names vanished, a 'calling' message next to Archers name for a moment.
"Borea, what can I do for you today?" Archer asked, a respectful tone in her voice. There was a crash in the background of the call.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked.
"Just explaining corporate salvage laws to Crey goons," the hero replied.
"You're slamming my face into a wall," protested a weak voice.
"Which I'm doing because you're in somewhere you're not legally allowed to enter," Archer said. "Do you see the connection between
the two?"
There was a weak "Uh-huh..." and Borea let a faint smile appear on her face as there was another crash.
"He's sleeping now, what'd you need?"
"One of our soldiers has been captured," she replied. "Your orders are to rescue him."
"Give me the location, I'm on my way," Archer replied instantly. The moment the location was sent, Archers icon on the map started moving, racing
across the rooftops.
"Find our man and bring him back to us Archer," Borea said softly.
"I intend to," she said, ending the call.
***
Purrfect Archer opened the warehouse door quietly and stepped inside, pulling the goggles down over her eyes and noting the 'stealth' costume had been
a smart idea. She moved forward quietly, stopping at a corner and peaking around. "Conscripts and a Comm officer," she said to the cat on her
shoulder.
Neko was about to reply when a loud human scream made itself known across the warehouse. "I think we're in the right place," she said. "If
he can still scream that loud, he might be able to walk out of here."
Archer nodded slightly, watching the Rikti. She could sense the slight distaste of one of them, but the others radiating amusement at the noise. An angry scowl
appeared on her face as she watched them.
Whatever the truth of the Rikti was, human, alien, something else, right now, right here, they were the bad guys. Right now, she was right to hate them, like
she had since the day the lights appeared in the sky. She could sort out the rest later, if she needed to.
Stepping out from around the corner, she nocked a burning arrow and released it at a surprised comm officer. The other Rikti jumped in surprise, grabbing at
their weapons as she summoned more arrows.
***
Borea stepped into the war room of the Vanguard Compound, walking up to the central table. As was usual, it showed a holographic view of the crashed Rikti
flagship and what used to be the White Plains district of Paragon City. Tiny flickers of light played across the map, showing Vanguard forces, known Rikti
squads, even Arachnos, Malta and Crey units. And of course the heroes, most allied with Vanguard and struggling to keep the reconstruction of the flagship
halted.
"What happened?" she asked her aide.
"Recon Squad Sixteen was ambushed in Pavia," he replied, highlighting the area in question. "All except one of them Medicommed. Private Wells.
We've got his location, but they're blocking his Medicomm signal, preventing transport."
"Same old story," she said with a scowl. "What's his condition?"
"Mental trauma, plasma burns...no signs of mutagens," he reported. Borea nodded. It was a familiar story. The Rikti captured a soldier, prevented
medicomm evacuation, then made sure that the advanced medical systems built into all Vanguard suits reported exactly what happened back to command. War of
Nerves for the 21st Century.
"Time?" she asked.
"Ten minutes since capture." Borea nodded, doing the math. They had an hour at most before the Rikti disposed of the armor and they were left with a
corpse... or possibly a new Rikti soldier.
"Give me a list of all heroes in Pavia," she ordered. A moment later, a list of names appeared in front of her. Her eyes ran down the list, looking
at security rating, current Vanguard missions, team status... "Get me Purrfect Archer, open channel," she ordered the comm officer. He looked down at
his console for a moment. There was a pause, then all the other names vanished, a 'calling' message next to Archers name for a moment.
"Borea, what can I do for you today?" Archer asked, a respectful tone in her voice. There was a crash in the background of the call.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked.
"Just explaining corporate salvage laws to Crey goons," the hero replied.
"You're slamming my face into a wall," protested a weak voice.
"Which I'm doing because you're in somewhere you're not legally allowed to enter," Archer said. "Do you see the connection between
the two?"
There was a weak "Uh-huh..." and Borea let a faint smile appear on her face as there was another crash.
"He's sleeping now, what'd you need?"
"One of our soldiers has been captured," she replied. "Your orders are to rescue him."
"Give me the location, I'm on my way," Archer replied instantly. The moment the location was sent, Archers icon on the map started moving, racing
across the rooftops.
"Find our man and bring him back to us Archer," Borea said softly.
"I intend to," she said, ending the call.
***
Purrfect Archer opened the warehouse door quietly and stepped inside, pulling the goggles down over her eyes and noting the 'stealth' costume had been
a smart idea. She moved forward quietly, stopping at a corner and peaking around. "Conscripts and a Comm officer," she said to the cat on her
shoulder.
Neko was about to reply when a loud human scream made itself known across the warehouse. "I think we're in the right place," she said. "If
he can still scream that loud, he might be able to walk out of here."
Archer nodded slightly, watching the Rikti. She could sense the slight distaste of one of them, but the others radiating amusement at the noise. An angry scowl
appeared on her face as she watched them.
Whatever the truth of the Rikti was, human, alien, something else, right now, right here, they were the bad guys. Right now, she was right to hate them, like
she had since the day the lights appeared in the sky. She could sort out the rest later, if she needed to.
Stepping out from around the corner, she nocked a burning arrow and released it at a surprised comm officer. The other Rikti jumped in surprise, grabbing at
their weapons as she summoned more arrows.
***