Deep
below Neutropolis, in areas too choked by the thousands of cast off
experiments of the mad Neuron to be secured by the PPD, Calvin Scott,
mastermind of the Resistance, looked at the feed in front of him. A
woman with long dark hair was currently being interviewed by John
Houston, one of the Praetorian regime's main mouthpieces. The dark
skinned man watched quietly as the reporter made the usual pro-Cole
comments before moving onto the real reason he was watching this
garbage.
"-currently
speaking with Celia Stingray, the stunning Silver Sabre and one of
Praetor White's newest rising stars in Powers Division. Miss Stingray
amazed much of Praetoria over the last month with her stunning solo
career and lightning series of arrests and actions in defense of our
fair city. From the arrest of convicted murderer Paul Valus, to the
suppression of radical terrorist elements inciting riots in Nova
Praetoria, the Silver Sabre has been there, swiftly cutting a swath
through the forces of anarchy and injustice. And not only has she
devastated many of Praetoria's enemies, but also protected Praetoria's
finest such as when she rescued an entire squad of PPD who'd been
ambushed by terrorist forces within Sifotyne Industries' main facility.
But as impressive as her record is, we're not here to talk about that,"
Houston said, despite the fact the reporter knew full well how important
her record was and that he'd just highlighted nearly the entire thing.
"We're here to meet the woman behind the armor. Celia, it's a pleasure
to have you with us today."
"It's
my pleasure to be here, John," Celia said, smiling. That smile was one
of the first things that stood out to Scott as he watched. She smiled
naturally, fondly. Unlike Reese or several other Powers Division dogs,
she was well and able to act like "one of the people" as she fielded
basic questions designed to build her up as the interview progressed.
Her favorite food, hobbies while off the job, some sanitized details of
her work for Praetor Berry's public front company. However, Scott leaned
forward as the fluff finally finished and Houston asked the question
Scott wanted an answer to.
"So, Miss Stingray, just how did you decide to go from a simple technician to an armored protector of justice?"
Celia
looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Well, ever since I was
rescued from the Devoured on the outside of the city by the PPD, I've
always had a healthy respect for what they're responsible for.
Protecting the people of Praetoria from any threat, external and
internal, is a massive job, and everyone needs to consider what they can
do to ensure such things. While I could've stayed working on improving
the Clockwork and such under Praetor Berry and Professor Keyes, but I
felt I could do more. I got the idea for the armor both from some things
that were under research considerations for T.E.S.T., as well as being
inspired somewhat by Praetor Keyes' own powered armor. I tinkered a bit
in my off hours, and eventually got a working prototype design. With
that done, I petitioned for a brief audience with Praetor Keyes, who
felt the design had merit and directed me to some of his assistants to
pursue the idea. The end of the project discerned that the finished
product, while highly flexible, was just too expensive to mass produce."
Scott
considered what his spies had been able to find as he listened to her
talk. Files dug up had confirmed that Stingray was a certified genius,
and everything about this story was remarkably truthful aside from the
usual Praetor ass-kissing. In fact, Anti-Matter had actually been
confirmed to have stopped his current projects and personally assigned
Stingray to one of his top technicians, bypassing Neuron's people
entirely. Probably more in-fighting between the two, but given Keyes was
far more competent in hard engineering than Berry, it was a
considerable feather in the woman's cap from an analysis standpoint.
"This
was when terrorists attacked the lab you were working in, correct?"
Houston supplied, right on script as the woman across from him nodded.
"The
Resistance had heard about my work and planned to steal the prototype
in order to upgrade their existing equipment. The security Clockwork
were unfortunately much less than were needed to stop the invasion,
because we seriously hadn't thought my armor design would be that
tempting to the Resistance. Given I didn't have any other choice, I
activated the armor and fought them off long enough for PPD and Powers
Division backup to arrive. One of the Powers Division on scene, Warrant,
was suitably impressed with my work that he forwarded my name to
Praetor White. Since then, I've been operating along with him to get me
up to speed and keep the streets safe. Even if the armor isn't practical
for widespread use, if I can use it openly to protect people, it can
still serve its intended purpose."
Which
is where it got interesting. Despite the public portrayal, the PPD was
far, far too willing to utilized lethal force against the Resistance.
And Powers Division, if anything, were even worse. Yet the raids that
Silver Sabre had conducted had had almost zero fatalities and minimal
injuries. It was almost as if she was intentionally minimizing the
damage to any of the sides. Which would fit the squeaky clean image she
portrayed publicly, but didn’t gel with what Scott knew of Cole and his
henchmen. “So, what do you think of her?”
The
enigmatic mask behind him tilted slightly. “She is....unique,” Vanessa
DeVore said, the enigmatic leader of the Carnival of Light putting a
finger to the side of her mask. “She is deceptive in what she portrays
here, but not like the others. But not like ours either. She isn’t like
Paolo or Larsen, who deceive only because they have to. It’s something
she’s used to. Something that is as natural to her as breathing. If I
had to compare her to any of our people, Belladonna would be the closest
fit. But I can’t be sure at this distance. I’d need to meet her in
person to verify it beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
“There
are other ways to verify her loyalties,” Scott said, dialing a number.
He looked at Vanessa as the line rang. “And even if she’s a blind
idealist like she seems, there are ways to use her for our cause until
she’s used up.”
“Yes?”
“Cleo. It’s Scott. I’ve got someone for you to keep your eye on.”
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
below Neutropolis, in areas too choked by the thousands of cast off
experiments of the mad Neuron to be secured by the PPD, Calvin Scott,
mastermind of the Resistance, looked at the feed in front of him. A
woman with long dark hair was currently being interviewed by John
Houston, one of the Praetorian regime's main mouthpieces. The dark
skinned man watched quietly as the reporter made the usual pro-Cole
comments before moving onto the real reason he was watching this
garbage.
"-currently
speaking with Celia Stingray, the stunning Silver Sabre and one of
Praetor White's newest rising stars in Powers Division. Miss Stingray
amazed much of Praetoria over the last month with her stunning solo
career and lightning series of arrests and actions in defense of our
fair city. From the arrest of convicted murderer Paul Valus, to the
suppression of radical terrorist elements inciting riots in Nova
Praetoria, the Silver Sabre has been there, swiftly cutting a swath
through the forces of anarchy and injustice. And not only has she
devastated many of Praetoria's enemies, but also protected Praetoria's
finest such as when she rescued an entire squad of PPD who'd been
ambushed by terrorist forces within Sifotyne Industries' main facility.
But as impressive as her record is, we're not here to talk about that,"
Houston said, despite the fact the reporter knew full well how important
her record was and that he'd just highlighted nearly the entire thing.
"We're here to meet the woman behind the armor. Celia, it's a pleasure
to have you with us today."
"It's
my pleasure to be here, John," Celia said, smiling. That smile was one
of the first things that stood out to Scott as he watched. She smiled
naturally, fondly. Unlike Reese or several other Powers Division dogs,
she was well and able to act like "one of the people" as she fielded
basic questions designed to build her up as the interview progressed.
Her favorite food, hobbies while off the job, some sanitized details of
her work for Praetor Berry's public front company. However, Scott leaned
forward as the fluff finally finished and Houston asked the question
Scott wanted an answer to.
"So, Miss Stingray, just how did you decide to go from a simple technician to an armored protector of justice?"
Celia
looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Well, ever since I was
rescued from the Devoured on the outside of the city by the PPD, I've
always had a healthy respect for what they're responsible for.
Protecting the people of Praetoria from any threat, external and
internal, is a massive job, and everyone needs to consider what they can
do to ensure such things. While I could've stayed working on improving
the Clockwork and such under Praetor Berry and Professor Keyes, but I
felt I could do more. I got the idea for the armor both from some things
that were under research considerations for T.E.S.T., as well as being
inspired somewhat by Praetor Keyes' own powered armor. I tinkered a bit
in my off hours, and eventually got a working prototype design. With
that done, I petitioned for a brief audience with Praetor Keyes, who
felt the design had merit and directed me to some of his assistants to
pursue the idea. The end of the project discerned that the finished
product, while highly flexible, was just too expensive to mass produce."
Scott
considered what his spies had been able to find as he listened to her
talk. Files dug up had confirmed that Stingray was a certified genius,
and everything about this story was remarkably truthful aside from the
usual Praetor ass-kissing. In fact, Anti-Matter had actually been
confirmed to have stopped his current projects and personally assigned
Stingray to one of his top technicians, bypassing Neuron's people
entirely. Probably more in-fighting between the two, but given Keyes was
far more competent in hard engineering than Berry, it was a
considerable feather in the woman's cap from an analysis standpoint.
"This
was when terrorists attacked the lab you were working in, correct?"
Houston supplied, right on script as the woman across from him nodded.
"The
Resistance had heard about my work and planned to steal the prototype
in order to upgrade their existing equipment. The security Clockwork
were unfortunately much less than were needed to stop the invasion,
because we seriously hadn't thought my armor design would be that
tempting to the Resistance. Given I didn't have any other choice, I
activated the armor and fought them off long enough for PPD and Powers
Division backup to arrive. One of the Powers Division on scene, Warrant,
was suitably impressed with my work that he forwarded my name to
Praetor White. Since then, I've been operating along with him to get me
up to speed and keep the streets safe. Even if the armor isn't practical
for widespread use, if I can use it openly to protect people, it can
still serve its intended purpose."
Which
is where it got interesting. Despite the public portrayal, the PPD was
far, far too willing to utilized lethal force against the Resistance.
And Powers Division, if anything, were even worse. Yet the raids that
Silver Sabre had conducted had had almost zero fatalities and minimal
injuries. It was almost as if she was intentionally minimizing the
damage to any of the sides. Which would fit the squeaky clean image she
portrayed publicly, but didn’t gel with what Scott knew of Cole and his
henchmen. “So, what do you think of her?”
The
enigmatic mask behind him tilted slightly. “She is....unique,” Vanessa
DeVore said, the enigmatic leader of the Carnival of Light putting a
finger to the side of her mask. “She is deceptive in what she portrays
here, but not like the others. But not like ours either. She isn’t like
Paolo or Larsen, who deceive only because they have to. It’s something
she’s used to. Something that is as natural to her as breathing. If I
had to compare her to any of our people, Belladonna would be the closest
fit. But I can’t be sure at this distance. I’d need to meet her in
person to verify it beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
“There
are other ways to verify her loyalties,” Scott said, dialing a number.
He looked at Vanessa as the line rang. “And even if she’s a blind
idealist like she seems, there are ways to use her for our cause until
she’s used up.”
“Yes?”
“Cleo. It’s Scott. I’ve got someone for you to keep your eye on.”
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."