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Riot Force Reports: The Ties That Bind
Interlude: Session 24-240-A3
#26
[Warrant Officer Thompson enters the room. The prisoner is restrained as usual, but gives little hint of any attention to him.]
WO Thompson: Okay, let's start this again. We've been questioning you for three days, and all you've given us is...
Inmate W'tin: Inyme W'tin. Lance sub-commander, 24th reconnaissance platoon. 20395032093. Assigned to long term solo infiltration with intent to discern further details which may have been concealed by Hro'dtohz from the greater Rikti military.
WO Thompson: ...that. What you haven't told us is how you're able to pass as completely human, even to the Rikti we've brought in to examine you. If not for your story holding up and the fact you know things no one with your clearance level should, I'd almost think you were making this up.
Inmate W'tin: ....
WO Thompson: Uh huh...stony silence again.
[WO Thompson walks around the table to lean over to look at her.]
WO Thompson: Howabout you tell me why you turned yourself in when no one suspected you at all and your goal wasn't accomplished yet?
Inmate W'tin: ....
WO Thompson: Of course, if you don't, then holes start showing in your story. You're a solo infiltrator, the only one on your team, and yet you turn yourself in and give us the name, rank, and serial number routine to protect....what? If they definitively find evidence of you sabotaging Vanguard operations, Gaussian's pissed off enough about this security breach to try for a firing squad. So who're you protecting by taking that kind of thing? Unless you plan to tell me this is some kind of war guilt thing...
Inmate W'tin: ....
[WO Thompson steps back around the table, before picking up a file and opening it. Visible split second reaction from Inmate W'tin]
WO Thompson: Personally, the guys in intelligence think there's another infiltrator, possibly altered like you, that hasn't been caught. Me, I got another theory. You've been involved with this girl for months now. Very sweet. Everyone's happy. I bet there's a betting pool for when one of you'd actually pop the question, despite the fact you're both old enough to legally be just out of high school. But then, I know how that can be. I was seventeen when they started asking me about that kinda thing.

Inmate W'tin: ....
WO Thompson: Personally, I think you're trying not to drag her down with you, but I don't know that for sure, and I imagine the intelligence weenies will twig to it eventually. So I need you to work with me, and maybe we can keep her out of this together....
[WARNING: Psionic Activity Detected. Buffers Insufficient. Recording.]
Inmate W'tin: Don't. You. Dare.
WO Thompson: What the?
Inmate W'tin: Don't bring her into this.
WO Thompson: And why would I do that?
Inmate W'tin: Because I'm just waiting here to die. After all I've been through, it'd be a relief. However, there's one last thing that'd make me willing to put off wonderful oblivion, and that's the thought that someone like you would use Alice for leverage to get me to talk. Leave her out of this, or I'll do what I have to do. Psi buffers or not, I will reach into your head and switch it off. They'll find you a drooling vegetable. Probably put you on life support. But they won't be able to tell that I didn't trash your cognitive centers. You'll be just aware enough to see the sad faces when they finally pull the plug and you die of asphyxiation, starvation, or whatever comes first.
WO Thompson: You'd...
Inmate W'tin: To keep her safe from this? I'd do anything. You want to doubt me? Feel free. But don't think for a minute that I won't carry through on that.

[Warrant Officer Thompson stands up, visibly paler as Inmate W'tin looks directly at him. He closes the file and exits the room.]
[Recording ends]
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
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#27
Yow.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#28
***

Neko leapt up onto the table next to Sammy, ear twitching curiously. "So, what's this I hear about you, a Vanguard base, and Fusionette?"

"They're talking, aren't they?!" the hyperkitteh responded, eyes going wide in horror. "Whoever it was that heard me talking about it
blabbed and now everyone's gonna think of me as the hero that was so clumsy Fusionette had to save her!" Neko, with years of experience in dealing
with catgirls and panic attacks, sat and waited for Sammy to get the babbling out of her system. "It was Spacey, wasn't it? Spacey the gossip mage.
She talks and talks and talks-"

On the other side of the table, Alice looked up from her cereal, a curious look on her face. "You got saved by Fusionette?" she asked, a grin
breaking out. "How did THAT happen?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Sammy protested. "I had a plan, and it was a good one, but those stupid mean jerks in Vanguard ruined it! Not that
they're all jerks, I mean you work for them and you're not a jerk, except when you hog the bathroom, and 'Nettes nice when she's not shooting
at me-" Alice blinked, looking at Neko curiously. "-And they really shouldn't have locked me up, 'cause I was clearly in the right there,
given they were locking Inyme up for no good reason. Sure, she's grumpy and not really good at talking to people and she does smell kinda weird, but
she's not a bad person. And only bad people get locked up, unless the people doing the locking up are bad, like those stupid Council prison cells-"

"You what?!" Alice blurted, dropping her spoon. "You tried to break Inyme out of Vanguard?"

Sammy nodded. "I thought I'd worked it all out. I had a ninja costume and ninja are always sneaky and breaking things that mean they'd be
sneakier, and there's lots of ninja around Vanguard, so if I was really fast, they'd never know it was me. But they were a lot faster about that thing
then they always are on tv, so I had to break out of there, and then I stole a guys armour for another disguise, but it was uncomfortable and he definitely had
Mexican for lunch and he sweated a lot and it smelt real bad, so when the alarms went off again-" when she said 'again' Alice barely resisted
slamming her head into the table "-I got rid of it, and then 'Nette found me and nearly shot me in the back, which is hardly fair of her after all the
times I've had to save her, but then I talked her into helping me, and she told the guards I was a perfectly innocent catgirl, nothing to do with someone
breaking the power room at all, and then she told me Inyme wasn't even being kept there, which meant I went to all that trouble for nothing and I
didn't know where to look!"

There was a long silence. Then, Neko spoke up. "Samantha, did you breathe at all during that?"

"Hey!" Alice snickered, then broke down laughing entirely at Sammys indignant glare. "It's not that funny..." Sammy sulked.

Ifrit smiled, patting the girls shoulder. "It's okay," she reassured her quietly. "I think she just needed to laugh about something.
It's been a long week for her." Sammy frowned but accepted that.

After a minute or so, Alice managed to calm down, then looked at her mother. "Wait... you knew?"

"Of course," Ifrit smiled. "It's my job to know that sort of thing," she added as she placed Sammys breakfast in front of her and
continued on.

The purple haired catgirl watched her go, then turned back to Sammy. "What were you thinking?" she asked seriously. "Vanguard could have killed
you!"

"I went to break out Inyme," she replied reasonably.

"But Vanguard's not the bad guys," her sister pointed out. "Inymes locked up for a reason."

"Sammy shook her head. "Aunt Ifrit explained it all," she said. "Inyme's locked up 'cause she's a Rikti, even though she's
kinda small and doesn't smell like one and doesn't drop big stupid bombs on everything and talk real weird."

"Yes, that's part of it..."

"Which is really kind of silly, I mean, they don't shoot the Traditional Rikti or lock them up, and they're obviously more Rikti then Inyme."

"But Inyme... she works for the Reconstructionists," Alice said softly. "She was spying on us, on Vanguard."

"And she found out that we're not the bad guys, Nemesis is, and she admitted it," Sammy replied, broadcasting her confusion at the fact that no
one else seemed to be able to work this out. "He's the one that blew up her world and tried to blame Statesman for it, and she knows that now."

"She's the enemy," Alice said, although her voice sounded hesitant, uncertain.

"Nope," Sammy said with her usual direct honesty. "Inyme's not a bad guy. She wasn't evil before, and she won't be now. She's
just upset and so she's being a little silly."

Her sister looked at her. "You really think it's that simple?" she whispered.

Sammy nodded. "Yep. Everyone's just being silly because they usually make things really complicated without meaning to. People always do that, I
don't get why." She looked at Alice, took in her expression, and frowned. "Now you're doing it. Inyme thought she was doing the right thing,
but she was wrong. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?"

"Because it's more complicated then that," Neko said, drawing the girls attention. "But it can be fixed."

"How?" Alice asked. "How am I supposed to fix this?"

"Go talk to her," her advisor said, earning a shocked look. "It's been nearly a week, and Vanguard hasn't locked you out of the war
zone. I think they'll let you see her."

"But... but what am I supposed to do, to say?" Alice asked. "I can't just walk up and say 'did you use me to spy on us?'"

"Sure you can," Sammy said. "Get it out of the way, because you're both thinking it. Dunno why, making it all complicated," she said,
shaking her head. "You know she wouldn't."

Neko didn't respond to that for a moment, knowing that Inyme HAD used it for such a purpose, even if that wasn't the primary reason for the
relationship.

The younger girl stared at Sammy for a moment. "How can you trust her so much... you barely know her."

"'Cause you love her," the hyperkitteh responded simply.

"I d-" the angry denial died on her lips. Neko nodded slightly, having expected that. Alice might be able to lie to herself, to her advisor and
parents... but never to Sammy. "I do," she admitted. "I wish I didn't right now, but..." she bowed her head slightly, closing her eyes
for a moment.

Neko moved closer. "One way or the other Alice, we're not going to be able to sort this out until we actually face it."

"I know," she whispered as Sammy moved around the table and hugged her sister, providing a presence. "It's just... I'm scared. What if
you're wrong?" she asked Sammy.

"Won't know until you do it," Sammy admitted. She looked up to see Ifrit in the doorway, lingering and listening. Alice followed her gaze and saw
the fey, and a weak smile flickered over her lips. "You look like you disagree," she murmured.

With a soft, slightly bitter laugh, her mother shook her head. "No... I think you need to do this... I'm just terrified you'll be hurt
again." Alice looked at her mother, then slipped out of Sammys arms, went across the room, and hugged the fey.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

"Worth it a hundred times over kitten," Ifrit smiled, blinking back tears. They lingered for a long moment, before Alice broke the hug and wiped at
her face.

"Well," she declared with a lopsided smile. "I guess I'm off to Vanguard for one heck of a boss fight." Ifrit looked at her, before her
expression and emotions shifted to amusement. "What?"

Smiling, Ifrit turned Alice around and guided her towards the bathroom. "Shower first," she declared. "You're going to be properly cleaned
up before you see her. And I'm going to fix your hair too. Sammy, be a dear and fetch her standard hero costume?"

"Mum!" Alice protested as Sammy headed for her sisters room, grinning.

***
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Chapter Three: Division: Lines
#29
You can’t quit until you try...
You can’t live until you die…
You can’t tell the truth until you learn to lie…
You can’t breathe until you choke.
You’ve got to laugh when you’re the joke.
There’s nothing like a funeral to make you feel aliiiiiive!
Just open your eyes!
Just open your eyes and see that life is beautiful!
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry…
At my funeral?
I know some things that you don’t.
I’ve done things that you won’t.
There’s nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home.
I was waiting for my hearse;
What came next was so much worse!
It took a funeral to make me feel aliiiiiiiiive!
- Sixx A.M., Life Is Beautiful
****
“So you’ll be fine on your own for a week or so?” Pete noted, leaning against the doorway, a small pack hanging over his shoulder filled with a variety of assorted gear for his trip.
Brightsky gave him a look, closing the map she’d been going over and walking up to him. “Honestly. I think I can be left to my own devices for at least that long. I promise, no wild parties with Syn hiring strippers or anything of the like until you’re back to enjoy it as well,” she smirked, chuckling at the expression that got. Stepping closer, Bright kissed him briefly, before breaking it and smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty to keep myself occupied. Just get going. The sooner you do, the sooner I can welcome you home again,” she noted with a soft smile.
Pete smiled back, patting her on the shoulder as he stood away from the door. “Good point. Take care, Bright. I’ll see you when I get back.”
Bright watched as Pete stepped out of the building, switching to his Cyberman costume and zooming off at high speed. Truth be told, she was grateful for his absence.
After all, it was getting harder to hide her preparations.
Going back over to the table, she opened the map case again, going over the road routes from the Rikti War Zone, out to the city limits, cross referencing them with Vanguard compounds outside Paragon City proper. If the transport left at about 1300 hours…
She pulled out her phone as it buzzed, picking up. “Hello?”
“Hey there, Bright. Take a guess at what li'l ole me managed to...ah...stumble across.”
“You have the…”
“Yep. All neat and tidy and no one th'wiser. Looks like go time’s in 'bout a week or so. We’ll know more when th' time comes.”
***
So we're agreed," Gaussian noted, glancing around the table with a glare that suggested he might just break it barehanded at the next objection.  Dark Watcher was the worst, with his vaguely worded suggestions that the second in command of Vanguard wanted the Rikti spy released... on a technicality, of all things, without Vanguard being able to ascertain anything about what parts of their security she may have jeopardized.  In addition to what they already knew, of course.
It had been about a week since Inyme W’tin had turned herself in, simultaneously giving enough evidence to prove her confession true and simultaneously deny them any detailed knowledge about how much she really knew. Interrogation had proved fruitless, and aside from hints that the registered hero Purrfect Archer was somehow important enough to W’tin to risk revealing just how weak their psi-dampeners were compared to her powers, Gaussian had found nothing new, particularly due to Dark Watcher’s insistence that neither W’tin nor Archer be touched in the course of the investigation. Viewing the tapes, Gaussian could agree about leaving the young heroine and a member of Vanguard herself alone, if only to save whoever had to inform W’tin of it a potentially traumatizing experience, but the Rikti had proven resistant to everything Gaussian’s kid gloved hands could throw at her otherwise.
Which was why he’d argued to send her to a specialist within Vanguard. His own interrogators were used to POWs and defectors, not a politically sensitive(and that was the only thing Gaussian could think of that’d tie his hands thus) prisoner like W’tin. To his surprise, the Watcher had agreed, and in the face of no other opposition, Gaussian nodded.
“I’ll write up the orders within the hour. Honestly, the sooner she’s away from the frontlines the better anyway.”
***
It was a tired Nene Romanova that made her way into the house that afternoon. Tracking Alice had proven impossible whenever she vanished every so often these days, and Utena and Anthy had refused to say a word about where she had gone. Nene didn’t think that anything was amiss, really, but given all the emotions running high over the last week, it seemed like she’d failed again.
The house itself was silent and empty. Alice, of course, was missing. Sammy was off on some private errand. Ifrit, Nene had sent off to waste her anger on something, anything away from the base and home, where her instincts would continue to smolder over the flame of Inyme’s supposed betrayal despite Nene’s logic.
Walking through the house, Nene ran a hand over a small photo on the mantelpiece. A group image….Inyme sitting with Alice to one side, Nene and Ifrit on the other, and Sammy sprawled out on ground in front of the two couples. Thanksgiving, that’d been. Before the truth had come out. Before complications… A simpler time.
Heading up the stairs, Nene blinked as she noticed Alice’s door was open. Stepping in, she glanced around. From the looks of it, Alice’d taken another catnap while she’d been at work and left again before she’d come home. Nene sighed, rearranging the bed for when Alice would return, before she felt her foot bump up against something. Bending down, she reached under the bed and pulled out a knapsack which’d been hidden by the blankets. As she opened it, Nene browsed through the contents, and she felt her heart sink a little. Photos, a stuffed animal, a few scraps of paper….mementos, really. She’d done her research as well as Alice had, if not better. She recognized the girl’s biological parents. The trip to the RWZ early on made sense too, now. She’d gone to visit her home….her old home.
A part of Nene told her to be logical. Alice hadn’t been avoiding her adoptive family since that day…she was just still trying to piece together how she felt since Inyme’d shattered what she knew for certain about her life. But most of Nene couldn’t help but wonder why they’d been shoved under the bed where Nene or Ifrit were unlikely to find them. She wanted to believe it was a coincidence, but…
Taking a deep breath, she placed them back in the knapsack, returning it to where she’d found it. As tired as she was, she needed something to take her mind off things until she could find Alice and talk to her about it. Touching her watch, she summoned her armor, stepping out of the room and hopping out a retracting skylight as she leapt out into the city.
***
Inyme winced as light came into the cell again, looking up at the officers that came in. She couldn’t read them through their helmets, but their presence in such numbers meant she was being moved, and that meant only a few things. Then one of them unlocked her cuffs and she docilely accepted the mobile restraints, walking out of the cell and towards the front of the base. Checking her mental diagram of the base, she realized she was heading for the vehicle bay, off the secondary hallways. Which suggested wherever they were going wasn’t connected to the teleport grid.
As the possibilities flashed through her mind, she suppressed an expression of surprise as she saw the broad brimmed hat and dark trenchcoat that identified the second in command of Vanguard. As she was led into the heavy landmover and secured, she looked at him with suspicion, the dark skinned man saying nothing until he sat down across from her as they shut the door.
“Now then, Miss W’tin….I think we need to have a talk,” he said. “Mostly because, if I’ve read this situation right, a few things are about to happen. Some of them dangerous. And I’m going to need your cooperation so we can both get what we want out of this.”
Inyme gave him a skeptical look and the Watcher leaned back across from her. “First things first, we can start on how I knew about the fact you were a Rikti since a couple months after you got here…”
Inyme’s eyes widened, and her shock only grew as he continued…along with a tiny spark of hope.
***
“It’s go time, Bright,” Syndesis’s voice noted.
Brightsky nodded. “They’re using the expected route?”
“Yep. Probably don’t expect anyone but them an' the Rikti knows who they’re transportin', so they ain't too worried 'bout evadin' pursuit.”
“Well, thank heaven for small favors,” she noted, before looking up as she got a text. “…dammit.”
“What?”
“Code C. I guess I’ll have to hurry if I’m going to get this done before he gets back,” she noted, folding up the maps and strapping on her goggles.
“Right. This the part where you tell me t'stay out fer my own good?”
“Syn, you don’t need this. They might go light on me. They'll probably just throw you back into prison if you helped. I’m not taking you, or anyone, down with me in the off chance they disagree with my reasons,” she clarified, frowning.
“Uh huh. Sure. I’ll stay out of yer little FUBAR out there then, if it means that much t'ya. ‘Sides. You’ll need someone t'break you out if they toss you in the Zig.”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Bright chuckled. Just like her. “Somehow, I think that’s unlikely, but thanks for the thought,” she noted, hanging up and jumping out the window.
***
Nene blinked as the comm screen in the Legendary base’s main briefing room came up with an incoming call. She’d mainly been bouncing through the base to the teleport pads, but no one was on duty today except the answering service which would decide if the message was important enough to be shot up the chain of command. As it was, Nene hit the answer button -- and blinked as Alice showed up.. “…Alice?”
“Oh, uh…hi mum. Listen I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I’m headed for the RWZ now. I’m going to talk to Inyme….I need to talk to her. I know you, or Aunt Priss or a dozen others would try to try to stop me, but....trust me. Please. One way or another, I have to get this settled. Once and for all," she finished, looking her adoptive mother in the eye steadily.
Nene blinked, realizing once again that, as much as she'd worried about her, as much as this change had briefly sent her little girl into a tailspin, Alice was tough. She could handle herself as well as any ot them. Better than some. She considered telling her no for a split second, rejected the thought, and then nodded. “Of course, honey,” she said softly.
“Thanks. Love you, bye!” Alice said, before hanging up. Nene stood there for a moment, before a sense of hearing and gut instinct honed by avoiding other ADP officers as she'd sifted through the file room where she really wasn't supposed to be able to access alerted Nene as she heard someone quickly turn the other way before walking by the door. She immediately called up the security cameras, seeing William Bishop from their fisheye view as he stopped, then immediately made for the teleporter room.
Nene blinked in confusion, before she recalled Bill’s history…and it all clicked into horrific sense.
“Oh, shit,” she cursed as she turned and darted for the teleporters herself.
***
“We’ve just left Paragon City limits, sir,” the Vanguard officer in the front of the truck noted, leaning back into the passenger compartment. The Dark Watcher nodded, leaning back against his seat as Inyme processed the information, before looking up sharply as she caught a hint of a thought.
“What’s about to happen?”
That drew a chuckle from the dark-skinned man, as he looked up at her. “You are a sharp one, if you picked that up despite my trying not to worry you. Simply put, this is the prime location for an ambush. Which is why I expect a certain young lady to arrive just about now. Hopefully, I won’t have to get involved, but somehow, I doubt we’re that lucky.”
***
Jay Stewart was looking forward to getting out of town for a few days, away from all the craziness that Paragon City seemed to attract. This business trip should be nice and quiet, he noted as his car pulled towards the massive alloy doors that formed the main exits in the War Walls. No more villains, no more Rikti invasions, no zombies eating my lunch while I run for the nearest shelter…
Two seconds later, a flying white streak shot by his car so close he instinctively swerved to the side to avoid being hit. Several other cars reacted similarly, resulting in a four lane traffic jam as the ground-skimming form of Brightsky rocketed by at just sub-sonic speeds, stopping briefly to swipe her card through the main gate’s controls, authorizing a Rikti threat-induced lockdown. The guard in question only got a look at her Vanguard ID before he nodded, shaken, and hit the alarm. Brightsky smiled grimly at him before darting through the doors as the massive gates began shutting and sealing.
***
“Zulu Golf Niner, this is Convoy Control. We have an incoming bogey punching at just near supersonic, over. Prepare for potential interception.”
Major Scott Hearns nodded as he booted up the systems in his cockpit, sending the message down the line to Anders over in Zulu Golf Tango. “This is Zulu Golf Niner, confirming. Weapons free and ready, we are deploying.”
The two large trucks that were escorting the prison transport abruptly opened their top decks as a pair of Vanguard Warhammer-class heavy assault suits deployed from their stationary locked positions, weaponry and targeting sensors coming online, their torsos swiveling to meet the incoming potential threat.
***
“Registered Hero Brightsky, this is Convoy Delta Nine Control. This is restricted airspace. Please alter your flight path. Repeat, please alter your flight path.”
Brightsky ignored them, flying inbound. The longer they took trying to get her to break off, the longer it would be before the HVAS opened fire.
“Registered Hero Brightsky, this is Convoy Delta Nine Control. Abort your current flight path. Repeat, abort. You are on an interception path with a prison transport. Abort.”
One minute to intercept.
“Registered Hero Brightsky, abort your flight path! This is restricted airspace, and if you do not respond, we will open fire!”
Thirty seconds….twenty….ten…
“Registered Hero Brightsky, this is your final warning. Acknowledge and change course or you will be fired upon!”
Impact.
***
Zulu Golf Tango’s transport shook as the inbound flier hit it dead on, moving faster than anticipated. Anders released the clamps holding the HVAS in place to prevent the transport from rolling, even as the impact knocked them both off the transport’s deck and onto the ground around the highway. Brightsky didn’t take the time to stop and follow up on this, banking and rolling back into the air as plasma bursts and energy fire scoured the air from Zulu Golf Niner’s weapons, followed by tear gas grenades. Jinking and rolling, she slammed into it next, causing the forward transport to spin and squeal as its driver tried desperately not to jackknife. The prison transport’s driver slammed the brakes hard to avoid a collision even as Brightsky shot off into the distance, coming back around for another pass.
***
Inyme lurched, having not thought to brace herself like the Watcher apparently had, as the officer in front came back in.
“Sir, we’re under attack!”
“Resist as best you can. I’ll be joining you shortly,” the Watcher replied evenly, getting a shaky nod from the officer. Inyme could tell he was shaken and didn’t know why in the hell a registered hero and member of Vanguard was attacking them, but the Watcher seemed to be in control, so it wasn’t out of hand yet.
The Watcher meanwhile looked back over at Inyme. “Stay in here. Don’t get involved. I anticipated this, and frankly, in the mood she’s in, I don’t think my men can take her. So I’ll have to buy you some time,” he said, a portal opening in front of him. “Just stay alive. You’re more important than I think you have any idea about.”
Then he stepped through and was gone.
***
Pete stepped out of the Zulu Base portal, and immediately knew something was wrong. The Vanguard officers waiting for him weren’t the ones he’d take this mission on at the behest of, he didn't see the scientists that he'd requested to look over the dimensional tunneling hardware he'd managed to sneak out of the Rikti base, and every one of the men in front of him looked grim, with at least one looking outright angry. “Can I help you folks?” he asked conversationally.
“Yes, actually. You can tell us why the hell your woman just attacked a supposedly classified and top secret prisoner transfer after she cut off all land based methods of reinforcing its guard detail!” Officer Angry growled.
Pete blinked for a second, mind racing as he tried to catch up. “What?”
Officer Grim beside him frowned. “As of twenty minutes ago, registered hero Brightsky engaged a Rikti alert to seal the War Walls against exterior incursion, locking down the only ground route out of Paragon, then proceeded to engage the security detail around a prisoner transfer to Vanguard Central Headquarters in New York. At present, we’re aware that she’s engaged both the escort’s HVAS detail and troopers on the ground. That the exit time and route were kept top secret is, of course, a given. So we’re rather concerned about just what she’s trying to do,” he noted.
Pete winced, but not because of what they’d told him. The last week flashed by in rapid speed, various details sticking out. He’d thought something was odd. He should have seen it coming when the word had come down about Inyme. But she’d acted so normal otherwise that it just hadn’t occurred to him that she’d actually attack a Vanguard facility in an attempt to kill the woman.
Dammit, Sam. I thought you were past this.
“….right. I think I have an idea. I’ll be right back,” he noted, swapping to another costume and sliding his visor into place.
“Now, wait one second, here!” Angry started. “We can’t just let you tear of-“
Cyberman didn’t hear the rest. He was halfway across Peregrine, on a bee-line for the ferry back to the mainland as he remotely queried the Vanguard systems for where exactly Bright’s little altercation was. He hoped he was in time…
***
The RWZ stank. Not just the burning fumes and unnatural chemicals and the charred scent of burning flesh that anyone who recognized it could almost always detect on the wind. No. The RWZ stank of Rikti. It always had, ever since their mothership had crash landed here. Not that Bill had been prowling its lengths back then. Not before the pre-rumblings of a second Rikti War had brought him into this city and away from his cabin far away from all the craziness.
But now….now he was crossing it again, and this time not with yet another lethal confrontation with the Rikti hordes as the cause. Alice. That’s what it came down to. Cheerful, always smiling, probably better with a bow than he was on one of her good days. The girl that’d wormed her way into his heart without even trying in a way that almost made the pain of that day go away. Who made him remember that there was something more to this world than vengeance and hunting down every one of those blasted Rikti bastards till none of them were left. And then she’d been betrayed by them too. Not killed, thank God. If she had been, Bill was fairly certain he wouldn’t have stopped until either the Rikti race was dead or he was, likely the latter. But harmed just the same. In a way that he didn’t know how to work with. He’d never been good at that sort of thing with his older daughter. And this was a hundred times more complicated than that. Until she’d inadvertently given him something he could do.
She was going back to the Rikti that’d tricked her. Given her feelings in the matter, it wasn’t surprising she still didn’t know how she felt. But going back? That obviously wasn’t logic at work. Inyme’d been a Rikti. They were all telepaths. They got in your head and changed you. Clearly, this was Inyme’s doing. One last desperate attempt to get her out of Vanguard custody by using Alice as a shield and accomplice. Which meant he’d have to stop Alice before she got in the Rikti’s grasp again, before Inyme had a chance to exert her hold even further.
As he thought this, senses honed from decades of tracking experience warned him as a red armored figure landed in front of him with a thud that was almost too quiet for how much mass had just been catapulted over a distance that Bill expected had included hundreds of yards. He’d hoped to avoid this.
“Bill, I think we need to talk,” Nene Romanova, Net Sabre, noted, standing dead in between him and his target destination.
***
As Cyberman shot along the upper roads of Skyway, he absently noted that, even if this didn’t work, backup was on the way. He’d sent a message about the situation to the base as he’d headed across Talos, and gotten a receipt that the situation’d been noted. He wouldn’t be alone.
If Brightsky wasn’t in the mood to listen to reason, he’d probably not have a chance alone.
As he ran, however, he noticed an upcoming speedster behind him. A quick glance identified it as Syndesis, and Cyberman considered for a moment as she closed the distance between them that she might be coming to try to pull Bright out of the fire as well. Syn was one of Brightsky’s closest friends, regardless of her origin. And, for that matter, regardless of the fact neither would admit it openly, even if the way they interacted made it at least fairly obvious. He'd thought so, at least, but not everyone saw the same things. More importantly, she was also a bit more pragmatic than Bright’s tendency to leap into things first and plan later.
Cyberman was about to wave her over when Syndesis accelerated, hitting him from behind just as a turn came up. In fact, if he didn’t know better, it had to have been planned. Especially as they went off the edge, impacted the roof of the tram station a floor down, rolled off with momentum, hit the ground again, bounced through a fence, and promptly slammed to a stop against a concrete wall on the bottom floor of Skyway’s multi-layered architecture, about 70 yards down and 300 yards forward of where they’d started. Reacting without thinking, Cyberman’d rolled to shield Syndesis from the worst of the damage, but he still winced as her bones popped and snapped with the impact against him instead of the ground before they finally slid to a stop.
Intellectually, he’d always known Syn was tough. That her regenerative powers were considerable. Now, as he staggered to his feet, he saw firsthand proof in a way that he never had before, as Syndesis pulled herself up from the ground, bones knitting and realigning as he watched, until she barely looked as if she’d taken a scratch, except for her clothing. All in about five seconds.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” she smirked at him. “But I know where you’re going, and I’m afraid I can’t allow ya to go charging off at the moment.”
***
"Samantha, I think we need to talk," a calm, even voice noted beside her. She jerked, even as a portal opened up between herself and the HVAS she was on a collision course for. A second later, she was about two miles away from the stranded prisoner convoy, looking at the dark reflective glasses of the second in command of Vanguard. The Dark Watcher didn't seem at all threatened by her at the moment, and part of Brightsky's mind tried to remind her of exactly why that was. The Dark Watcher had been part of the original Freedom Phalanx, and the rumors about his combat prowess certainly suggested he hadn't achieved that lofty position by chance, the same being suggested about his current rank in the Vanguard. Of course, worse was that he didn't fight that often in public....leaving the question about just what he could do a bit hazy.
"What's there to talk about? You're letting her go. You're letting a spy with intimate knowledge of our defenses go free. I know how the system works. If we don't charge her for espionage, she'll be out in a couple months. And I know that you're pressing for that. Did she even get to you with her little defector act?"
"You don't know the entire situati-"
"I know enough. Enough to know that Vanguard isn't going to do what needs to be done. So that leaves me to do it. Even if it's against people I respect," she said, eyes invisible behind her omnipresent shades, before she turned and bolted towards the convoy.
The Dark Watcher sighed slightly as she left. He'd hoped to talk her out of this. But it seemed he'd have to play for time after all. As Brightsky neared the convoy, he gestured.
Brightsky had been expecting this trick again and rolled as a portal opened in front of her. More began to open as she did, taxing her skills to maneuver between them and maintain her momentum. She dodged another, but missed one opening in front of her path that she was dodging into, winding up yet again on the other side of the roadway from her target. Growling in irritation, she took off again, this time heading for the black cloaked man hovering in midair. She couldn't get at the convoy like this, so she'd have to take out the source of the interference first.
Dark Watcher felt his age as he saw Brightsky hurtle towards him. He'd known her father, albeit distantly. He'd seen her grow up during the first war. He'd seen to many like her grow up during the first war. He should've seen it coming. Should've prevented Nemesis from doing what he'd done. But he hadn't. The past was in the past. Which left him here, in the present, cleaning up the mess. As she closed, he concentrated on his powers, even as he mentally wished for the rest of the group to hurry and arrive. He wasn't as young as he used to be and holding off Brightsky without hurting her was going to require considerable skill.
***
"You heard what she said! She wants to see her alone!" Nene said as she bounced along behind Bill, taking what shots she could as they presented themselves. Unfortunately, he leaped over her electric fences without so much as a passing glance, and even draining his kinetic energy didn't slow him for long. She could possibly slow him down a lot more with....but no. She wasn't going to open fire on him. Not for this. Not like this.
Bill remained silent as he continued running. The wreckage of the Rikti War Zone gave him cover as he dodged Nene's various attempts to contain him. He understood her reasoning. He felt it himself. A part of him was proud of Alice. For bouncing back from the setback that she'd been presented with. A part of him was all too willing to believe she was going to confront the Rikti one last time, to let her know she had no hold on her before she came home.
But Alice was smarter than that. He knew she was. She would know what the Rikti were capable of. What Inyme was capable of. She wouldn't expose herself to this kind of danger if the Rikti traitor didn't have some kind of hook into her. It wouldn't be the first time that Bill had had to explain to a younger daughter something that she disagreed with for her own good. With luck, she'd thank him later. If not, he'd survive. So long as she did.
Nene growled behind her helmet even as she managed to siphon off a little extra speed. Giving up on staying behind him, she crouched and leapt forward, landing on a rooftop with years of practiced skill before jumping again, and again, and again. She knew he could hear her doing so. But while he had his tracking skills, she had her own, watching the glowing dot of his medicomm beacon change course as she did. Following him, she waited for the right moment, an open stretch of ground as they got closer to the crater, before leaping forward and landing in front of him. Now, she knew she had to do it.
Electricity leapt forward about his feet, snaring him for a crucial instant before it came to life again in concentrated bolts, a sphere of crackling ionization appearing around Bill as he was finally stopped. She landed, breathing hard, before looking up to face him. "That's....enough. We're going....to talk...this out...."
Bill felt himself growl in frustration as the electric cage crackled about him. He knew she could do it. In fact, he'd been expecting it earlier. But she'd held off till she could corner him in the open and had zero chance to miss. But even as the electricity sizzled about him, sapping his strength and holding him immobile, he grimaced, gritting his teeth as he pulled another arrow free. All he had to do was hit the gauntlets she was wearing....the ones controlling the tesla cage. One quick shot at this range would be easy, especially as she stared, dumbstruck, at him as he raised the bow and drew it back. One quick shot, and he'd escape, and she wouldn't be able to capture him again without going back for repairs. He'd get to Alice first. She began to react to the impossibility before her even as he took aim, closing one eye quietly. Her hands came up, but instead of lightning, he felt his arms weaken again as her powers sapped his strength. A part of him flinched as he let the arrow free too early, before he had time to adjust its trajectory towards its target. And he gaped in horror as Nene's head snapped back, the sharp crack of splintering transparisteel ringing through the air.
***
Alice's heart quickened in her chest as she caught sight of the front entrance of the Vanguard base, diving through the teleporter and coming to a stop in front of one of the sentries. "Inyme....the Rikti prisoner....I need to speak with her...." she panted.
The guard looked at her for a moment before consulting his datapad, before recognizing her. "Uh, I'm sorry, Miss Romanova, but she's already been transfered."
"Transfered? Where?" Alice's heart seemed to freeze in her chest for the long seconds that it took the man to check the details.
"She was being transfered out of Paragon, in order to keep her safe. They left about an hour ago and...."
Alarms blared as both of the duo's heads snapped up at the sound of a voice coming over the loud speakers. "Unknown metahuman is attacking Prison Convoy Bravo. Unknown metahuman is attacking Prison Convoy Bravo. Scramble all available mobile units to reinforce the convoy. Scramble all available mobile units to reinforce the convoy.."
Alice darted past the guard as he blinked, not knowing whether to stop her or not, before deciding that answering the scramble order was more important right now. As he headed for the chopper bays, Alice glanced at the holographic map showing the location of the convoy and headed for the Paragon City exit portal.
***
In hindsight, this should've been obvious as well, given Bright, Cyberman noted to himself as he ducked another punch launched at his head by Syndesis as the two ran up and down Skyway's massive streets, heading for the off ramp that led to Steel Canyon and the city limits themselves. Syndesis was playing up her durability for all it was worth. She'd already forced the issue by ramming him into a few cars. If she were any less durable than she was, she'd be a pulp smeared across the highway by now. As it was, even with his advanced construction, Cyberman was beginning to feel the wear and tear, and Syndesis didn't seem to so much as flinch when she collided with him again. He was faster than her, but inside city limits, without an emergency clearance, he was limited to the given speed limit for heroes, which meant that Syndesis could keep up with ease.
"Why are you doing this? We're on the same side!" He yelled over the slipstream as she came closer again.
"I ought t'say the same thing!" she yelled back. "I'm helping YER girlfriend. We're dealing wit' Rikti! Like we're supposed ta! Even if the others don't see it, you know her! Why ain'tcha helpin' us?!" she shouted back.
"We're heroes! We're supposed to uphold the law!"
Syndesis turned, her hair whipping in the wind. She smiled nastily.
"Hero? Maybe you are, tin man. Me, I just break stuff. But if yer talkin' serve and protect...'ey, one less alien freak THIS good at gettin' inta our ranks, safer everyone'll be, right?"
Her eyes flashed beneath the tinted lenses of her goggles. "Least that's what Bright says. And 'ey, I can get behind that reasoning!"
Cyberman grimaced as he processed that. In a certain point of view, it made sense. Inyme had gotten very deep in without being detected, and suddenly giving herself up was highly suspicious....but he'd become a hero to protect people. To ensure that they got justice, not vengeance. And he knew Brightsky well enough to know that "justice" wasn't what was motivating her now.
Syndesis pulled over again, shoving her shoulder into his as he overcorrected, sending both of them off the edge of the highway. This time, however, he was ready, and landed running at the same time as she did, though he'd lost precious minutes that it'd now take to get back up to the top of the highway.Syndesis had shown exactly what she'd do if he attempted to jump it when she'd grabbed onto his leg with her hands and some kind of....tendrils....and dragged him back down with her own body weight to a bone cracking crash at the bottom.
Smashing through barricades, darting around cars, they sped along the highways. Reaching the upper stretch, Cyberman swerved to the side as Syndesis approached, luring her into overcommitting and slaming face first into a Tesla Prince that'd been standing in the middle of the highway. At the speeds they were traveling at, Syndesis barely had time to prepare, but the Clockwork exploded as she ripped through it, trailing red and black blood for a moment as her injuries healed themselves, but putting her back a couple hundred yards as Cyberman accelerated to the limit of what he could manage in the city limits. A little above, in fact, but he couldn't go to the point of breaking the sound barrier here. The collateral damage to other drivers....
He blinked as he saw another accelerating form, brilliant white, heading this way. As he did, he pulled to the side, blocking it from Syndesis's view as he pretended to swerve to prepare for her upcoming attack. As she did, Cyberman realized that, even as limited as he was right now, there was one advantadge he still had. Syndesis, for all her speed, had a reaction speed just slightly above human norm, unlike his own lightning reflexes. She relied on being able to take damage rather than avoid it....and damage wasn't what he needed right now. Which was why he jumped as the oncoming blur came closer. Syndesis's eyes looked up to follow him, before she heard the oncoming form and looked down, just in time to see the white and checker-patterned metal speedster hurtling towards her in the opposite direction at the same max speed, fists crackling with energy.
"Paragon Special Delivery!" Thrust SSC announced as her energized fist hit Syndesis in the gut at a relative acceleration of about the speed of sound. The kinetic transfer of the energy-laden punch hit her about as hard, and even as he came back to the ground, Cyberman heard ribs shatter at the impact as Syn was brutally clotheslined. The other speedster folded up and over Thrust's armored fist, before hitting the pavement facefirst and rolling, losing speed all the while as Cyberman opened the gap. He'd consider what to do about Syndesis later. Right now, he had to get to where Bright was, and fast.
Thankfully, if there was anything he was, it was fast.
***
Bill stared, frozen even as the electrical cage shorted out, at the prone red form for a second, before he heard a groan of pain and Nene forced herself to her feet. Where a reflective purple visor had been, the entire assembly had been snapped clear off by the arrow, and Bill could see it with the blunt end lying near the severely damaged piece of armored glass a few feet away. But for the moment, his attention was rooted onto the blue eyes now revealed in the helmet, which stared at him with rock hard determination.
"Now are you willing to talk? You see it, don't you? You're having this much trouble holding me off....are you willing to risk having to do the same with Alice? Do you really want to breach her trust that badly?"
"It's for her own good. That godDAMNED Rikti is in her head! And I will not see her turned into a puppet of those alien monsters. Not while I can prevent it," he noted, deadly serious, as Nene's eyes narrowed.
"Alice can choose for herself what's for her own good now. She's grown up. As much as we care about her. As much as we're afraid for her, we have to let go. It's hard. I want to take her in and protect her from everything too. I've barely known her for a year, and already I want to tuck her into bed and lock all the doors to keep the bad things away. But she's grown up. She's her own woman. She gets to make her own choices."
Nene pushed away the images of the broken picture frames she'd found earlier as she straightened herself and prepared for combat again, eyes blazing.
"I know you care about Alice. I know you only want what's best for her. But this is her life. Her decision. And she is my daughter and I will be lying broken, bleeding, and unconscious on the ground before I let anyone deny her the right to that!"
Bill considered the woman standing in front of him. He knew that, in a fight between them, he'd win. They'd done it before in the arena as part of the cross-training their two supergroups had arranged. He knew she knew it as well. But here she was, standing in front of him, essentially daring him to take her down to get to Alice.
And, a small part of his mind noted, she was right. He knew Alice. Even if she wasn't influenced by the Rikti, he'd have to take her down as well to force her to go away from the Rikti...and she'd hate him for it. He'd thought he could do it anyway. For her sake. Endure it. But looking at Nene ahead of him, a trickle of blood rolling down the side of her head from what he could see of it through her missing visor, he wondered if he could even do as much to her. Could he? In anger? Hadn't he thought that he had to do anything to protect Alice? He'd.....
Slowly, he shouldered his bow, as Nene waited, still apparently alert for a trick. She needn't have bothered. He couldn't do it. Couldn't force himself to harm both her and Alice in the process of trying to save the girl from something she might not even need saving from. Not when he wasn't sure....but....the Rikti....no. No, he couldn't.
Nene watched as Bill relaxed, and in fact the life seemed to drain out of him, the older man suddenly looking centuries older than he was. Silently, he turned from her, and she started breathing again as the golden light of an Ouroborus portal opened in front of him. She wanted to say more....to try to console him....but somehow, as he stepped into that column, she knew it wasn't her place to say anything. Not yet, anyway.
***
Brightsky barely kept herself from growling with irritation as she unloaded another fusillade of kicks and punches that hit empty air. Not because she wasn't getting near her target, but quite the opposite. There just happened to be a number of portals to other empty air between her and her target.
The Dark Watcher could feel his own endurance being taxed as he cast portal after portal, always shifting, always moving. An oblong at head height to avoid a right cross. A small one in front of his solar plexus to intercept a crane kick. A pair of ovals to avoid a pair of axe kicks that would hit with enough force to crush a small car. She was going all out and he knew that even the impervium plate underneath his clothing wouldn't stop the kinetic transfer of the impacts if she connected. The shock and pain was likely to cause him to lose focus, and while he didn't quite think she'd kill him, she'd definitely make sure he was out of the fight before moving on. And he didn't know how close they were, so he obviously couldn't risk that just yet. Brightsky was on top of her game: a Security Level 50 hero with almost a decade's worth of experience. Inyme had been here barely over a year and wasn't even wearing combat armor. Even if her powers hadn't gotten rusty in the meantime, she'd be smashed to a pulp before long.
That in mind, he dodged another hammerblow, creating a portal beneath Brightsky and lifting it upward, a trick he'd reserved to give himself some breathing room. If her flightspeed was constant, he had about thirty seconds to catch his breath before she came at him again.
***
"Cyberman!" a familiar voice called out over the com as he ran down the highway, heading for the city limits.
"I'm a little busy...." he started to respond as Purrfect Archer appeared on his HUD.
"Yeah, I know, but you're not going to be able to get through that way! Brightsky sealed off the blast doors before she headed outside!"
"She wh- of course she did," he grimaced. As he saw Alice bouncing towards him in several prodigious leaps, he considered his options. Even the best jumper couldn't get all the way over the War Walls, and opening the blast doors would take too long. And going through them, well that wasn't even...an....option...
Reaching back into his pack, he pulled out the device he'd secured while patrolling the Shadow Shard. The average person recognized the War Walls going down during a Rikti attack as their dropships breaking through. However, the actual science behind it was much more advanced. While Rikti ground forces could be warped about with relative ease without the War Walls interfering, that wasn't because they used a different frequency or anything from the dropships, but rather because of the relative amplitudes. Jamming all Rikti teleportation within the city limits would similarly jam all teleportation period. And given the city's dependence on medicomm, especially during the height of the first Rikti War, as well as the variety of teleporting heroes, that option was impractical. Instead, the War Walls generated a field that blocked higher amplitude teleportational events. The dropships needed these higher "bands" to move from the RWZ to the surrounding city, due to their significantly larger mass. Since nothing human would be teleporting through those bands, jamming them across the city was a fairly elegant solution. However, the Rikti had discovered around the time of the second Rikti Invasion that the War Walls' interference could be broken by a specialized wave disruptor that broadcast a counter wave to the interference generated by the War Walls. It took a lot of power to punch through, potentially explaining why the only one known in Paragon was mounted within the mothership itself, but Vanguard intel had suggested the Rikti were woworking on smaller versions to mount in their dropships that would allow them to punch through War Walls at will at any time. Cyberman had been brought in to stop this, and retrieved one of the disruptors in hopes of refining the War Walls' functionality to perhaps lock the Rikti back into the RWZ for the immediate future.
"Alice! I need you to fire something at the War Walls!"
"What? Why?"
"It'll cause a disruption in them that'll let us get outside! However, it'll only be open for a second, so I need you to hop on!"
"Uh....okay...."
A quick hop, skip, and a jump later and Alice's legs were wrapped around Cyberman's torso from behind as his own arms locked them in place. Alice, to her credit, didn't so much as flinch as she lined up the arrow on the walls, waiting for his signal as they bounced across several rooftops to get the elevation necessary.
"Now?" she asked as they came to an edge.
"Not yet....."
Alice gulped slightly as they leapt off the edge towards the War Wall, the energy curtain flickering ominously in front of them. "Now?"
"Not yet!"
They reached the apex of the leap Cyberman could sustain with a passenger and began descending, the wind whistling around them. Alice held her bow steady despite it, eye on the walls now without any other distractions. "Now?"
"Couple more seconds.....NOW!"
Alice released the arrow, which shot ahead with its improvised payload. Hitting the War Wall, it sparked and shuddered before exploding, the wall making a dull moaning noise as a rupture in the energy curtain appeared. Alice ducked forward against Cyberman as they slipped through the rapidly closing hole, before the pair landed on the road, Cyberman opening up to full throttle now that they were out of the city limits. "Find Inyme! Keep her safe!" he noted as he let Alice hop off. "I'll deal with Brightsky!"
"Right!" Alice noted, seeing smoke in the distance and bounding for it.
***
The Watcher heard the vague explosive noise of the War Walls disrupting for a split second, and felt grim satisfaction in the back of his mind. Cyberman had figured on exactly the way to bypass the most demanding obstacle to getting out here, which was why the Watcher'd arranged for him to be assigned to that particular interception mission. Now that he was here, he just had to hold off a little bit longe-
His breath came out in an explosive gasp as Brightsky turned an axe kick into a straight thrust for his sternum faster than he could react, his focus having been lead into looking up by her pattern as she switched to attacking from below. As he felt his armor take the blow and began falling to the ground, he noted that the girl had pattern recognition...but then, she'd always been good.
***
Brightsky watched the Watcher fall, making certain he was out of the fight for the moment. She'd heard the implosion too, and assumed it was Vanguard being creative in bringing in reinforcements. As it was, she made a streaking line towards the prison transport, reaching forward and punching off the lock on the rear doors as she swung them wide open. In the back of the trailer, the Rikti prisoner cowered, covering her face as Brightsky stepped inside. "You've caused a lot of people a lot of trouble...but that's going to end right here and now," she noted, hands clenching into fists. She got a step closer before the "cowering" Rikti immediately stiffened, Brightsky getting a split-second look at an all too human look of determination before her hand came out. Bright avoided it easily, but a part of her brain noted that the girl wasn't trying to punch her, just as the air literally vibrated between them as she threw all of her flight capability against the blow that was coming.
"Sorry, I don't feel like dying today," Inyme noted with quiet intensity before she shunted the full measure of her telekinesis against Brightsky at near point blank range.
***
Cyberman saw the white streak head into the trailer and blanched as he realized he was too late to stop her from doing what she was about to do, until he saw the same white streak exit the trailer through the roof at high speed in a parabolic arc, landing in a heap a few yards away. As he ran closer, he saw Bright's visible anger on her face at maximum magnification, and then his eyes widened as her hands came up, utilizing powers that he'd known she had, but that she didn't display due to liscense restrictions. The white bolts of energy shot forward as he ran towards her, hitting the transport with a concussive blast that flipped it over a few times before it came to a rest on its side about twenty feet from where it'd started, a strangled shout of non-articulate grief audible from behind him even as he forced himself to put Alice out of his mind and concentrate on Bright who was still very much a threat to Inyme's safety.
Brightsky forced herself to her feet, about to charge forward to make sure the job was done when a hand caught her by the shoulder. Reacting on instinct, she came around in a complete circle, one booted foot snapping her unknown pursuer's head to the sidewith unconsidered force. Brightsky started to follow up before she froze, looking at the man she'd just attacked. "....P-Pete?!"
Cyberman rolled his head back into position as he looked at her, and Brightsky felt her face burning at the disappointed expression on his face. "If I'd been anyone else, that might've snapped my neck," he noted evenly, causing a fresh burst of emotional confusion to slip into Bright's mind.
"I...I didn't mean t-"
"No, you didn't, but you could have. As angry as this whole situation has you, you could've lashed out and killed someone innocent. Someone else innocent, for that matter."
Bright stared for a moment as her eyes narrowed behind her goggles. "Like hell that Rikti thing is "innocent!" You know what she did! They were going to let her go!"
"Did you ever stop to think if that might be because she didn't do anything wrong that they could punish?" he replied evenly.
"She's a Rikti! A Rikti spy! We can't let her just get away!" Bright snarled back.
Cyberman looked at her again, his frown only slightly more pronounced. "Bright...Sam...this isn't you."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" she shouted back at him, as confusion warred with anger openly in the back of her mind.
"It means you're a hero. Just like your father was. And even if the Rikti killed him, do you really think that this kind of thing is what he'd want you associating with his memory? Becoming a murderer?" he asked, quietly intent.
Bright started to make a retort as he spoke, before Cyberman used the two hammerblows that she'd been trying to ignore over the course of this whole impulsive plan.
"I...but they..."
"I know. They took so many things away from you...but not who you are. At least, not unless you go through with this," he said.
Bright wavered as the quiet reason applied with laser precision warred with the grief-mired rage that she hadn't felt this openly since immediately after her father'd died.
"Don't do this, Sam. It's not you. Let's just....go back home," Pete said softly, before her resistance crumbled entirely and she leaned against him, emotions completely in a state of helter-skleter mess.
"....okay. Damn it....okay."
***
Pain. That was what greeted her upon her exit from a temporary bout of unconsciousness. Inyme didn't know WHAT particularly had hit the trailer, but she hadn't been remotely secured when it did. Feebly, she forced herself to her hands and knees even as she felt broken ribs slide about in ways nature hadn't intended in her chest. Her left ankle screamed as she tried to put weight on it and she collapsed to the ground with a strangled sob, spitting up blood from where she'd bitten the interior of her mouth during one collision. The ringing in her head suggested a concussion of some kind, possibly even a fracture, but she had to get out of the trailer. Even if it exposed her, another barrel roll like that would probably put her in even worse condition. Crawling as she forced down the agony, Inyme pulled herself across the wall that'd suddenly become the floor, looking at the subtle crack of light between the doors. Odd shadows were cast from the jagged hole in the roof that she wouldn't trust herself climbing out of in her condition, and she choked down a scream as she pushed herself up somewhat to lean against the doors.
So total was her concentration on this task that she didn't notice when the wedged door shook itself free, merely anticipating the pain as she fell forward...and was caught by a pair of careful arms that supported her weight gently. She blinked, looking up through the haze as she caught sight of a familiar shock of purple hair and concerned...no...terrified green eyes. "Alice...you're here....I'm s-sorry...."
"Don't worry about it. It's okay. It's going to be okay," Alice said, holding her carefully, the other woman's pain screaming in her head, making her aware of the grievous condition Inyme was in. "There's an ambulance coming, just hold on."
"Hurts....and I'm...so tired...."
"I know it does, but you've got to hold on, Inyme. You have to stay with me..."
"S-sorry....so...tired...." she repeated. But....I'm...so happy...you're here... she 'pathed at Alice as her eyes surrendered to their heaviness and slid closed, Inyme going limp in her arms.
"Inyme? Inyme! INYME!"
[Akatsuki No Kuruma, Gundam SEED DESTINY ED 2]
***
Author's Note: Special thanks to Spud, Uni, and MD for being my usual sounding boards, as well as Acyl for some last second Syndesis accent coaching. Epilogue coming soon. Just....so tired. *ded*
Last edited by OpMegs on 18 Apr 2009 12:46, edited 1 time in total.
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"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
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#30
...Wow.

*stamps 'Approved' on the first page of the script*
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
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#31
Probably was long enough ago that no one remembers but; likely that there would be no way Amber wouldn't know this was happening when it did. I can just
chalk it up to indecisiveness and emotion, but would've done (or tried to do) somthing to help.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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#32
Whoa. Very powerful.

And I have to echo Ankhani... I wish one or more of my toons were involved. Ah well, as I recall, Brightsky is Legendary -- Evangelia will probably make an
appearance if there's any kind of internal review/discipline for her actions.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#33
Excellent work. I think you did a brilliant job at juggling all the different character appearances, given the number of personalities involved. No mean feat,
weaving all of that together.

As Bob said, powerful stuff, and very well played.
-- Acyl
Reply
 
#34
Wow... Very VERY well done!

From my perspective, I was pleased that you did Pete/C8 so well. The speeding through the city and the punching through the war wall weren't quite what I
expected - I never envisioned him having a passenger along for that, for one thing! But that may be more a function of me never seeing ANYone in the game
carrying anyone else at all! After a while, you almost forget about stuff like that. But of course Cyberman should be able to carry someone else along with
him. It makes perfect sense. And his confrontation with Sam was everything I could've hoped for.

Overall, very powerful story. I cringed when Bill shot Nene's faceplate by accident. I was afraid for a second that it had done serious damage! And their
confrontation was as powerful as Pete and Sam's.

(Technical geekery - what exactly ARE Dark Watchers powers anyway?)
Reply
 
#35
According to COH Titan wiki, the novels reference Dark Watcher having powers of extreme teleportation, force fields, invisibility, and the ability to confront
villians with their inner fears by speaking a specific phrase.

The closest powerset I can find that'd have all that and makes sense is an Illusions/Force Field Controller with Teleportation for a power pool. Of course,
I didn't know this at the time of writing, so Dark Watcher got to flex the one power everyone knows he has something fierce.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Reply
 
#36
If I'm remembering correctly, Dark Watcher in the novels is broadly an Ill/Force Field controller, yes.
He definitely generates traditional force-fields later on, and in his first on-camera appearance, he's seen scaring the crap out of a mugger...a 'THEY'RE ALL OVER ME GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF' moment with insects that only he can see.
In that same sequence, he's seen pretty much moving through the shadows at will, wandering Paragon without much effort. He goes invisible, and may be able to phase through stuff.
The fact is though, that in most of the book the power he really works is teleportation. He blinks around, he takes people with him. He looks at a Nemesis robot funny, and a second later it's many miles away at the bottom of the deepest ocean trench he can find. Later on, he trashes more Nemesis war machines by simply teleporting them very high into the air and letting them fall, then starts walling off the street with the remains.
(It bears mentioning that in the novels, even Statesman's sort of freaked out by what Watcher can do...when Devon first introduces himself to Statesman, States thinks, dear God, I'm so glad he's on my side.)
In the CoH comics, where it's revealed he's been crossing dimensions...well, presumably that's another function of his powers.
He appears to use Howling Twilight in the comics as well, or at least some kind of mass rez. Maybe he's got the Lady Grey patron pool? Wink 
-- Acyl
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#37
Quote:"Paragon Special Delivery!" Thrust SSC announced as her energized fist hit Syndesis in the gut at a relative acceleration of about the speed of sound.

your pizza in 30 seconds or less or your money back!
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
Reply
 
#38
wow is right.

and of course you had to end on a cliffhanger Smile

*eagerly waits for more*
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Reply
Finale: Aftershocks
#39
There's always someone to blame
For the things you do yourself
You think that everything that's going wrong
Is because of someone else
And you're trapped inside this world you made yourself!
'Cause I'm on the outside...
And I'm lookin' in...
But that's not the world I live in,
This is not the life for me
'Cause my world's bigger than your problems
And it's bigger than me
- 3 Doors Down, My World
The gavel came down as the various members of the court entered and took their seats once more. In any other court, it would've been a signal for quiet, but in this case, the only observers were members of the groups affected. Vanguard soldiers covered the entrances as the Federal Board For Investigation Of Superpowered Incidents once more sat in session. The head of the board of inquiry stood up, drawing almost every eye.
"All rise," the bailiff commanded, and Brightsky stood alongside the Vanguard officer that'd agreed to defend her. Truthfully, it'd been a fairly open and shut case, but she appreciated the sentiment behind it, given Syn must've pulled some strings in addition to keeping herself out of the line of fire, given what Bright'd heard since about what her idea of "staying out of it" had amounted to. Despite herself, she felt a tickle of fear in her stomach as the head of the board pulled out the official pronouncement of verdict. She'd been so sure of herself then....she still was, somewhat....but in the face of this....

"...in the case of the incident on the 13th of November, this board has deliberated extensively on the various charges brought against Registered Hero Brightsky. In the case of deliberate and premeditated misuse of Vanguard authority and clearance, the board finds Registered Hero Brightsky....guilty. In the case of deliberate assault upon Vanguard assets in direct contravention of standing orders to all Vanguard personnel, the board finds Registered Hero Brightsky...guilty. In the case of voluntary and premeditated assault upon a prisoner of Vanguard in defiance of the proper channels of law and the Geneva conventions, the board finds Registered Hero Brightsky....guilty."
Brightsky managed not to wince at each proclamation, though a tiny part of her mind noted she was lucky that the last one hadn't included "unlawful execution of a prisoner of war".
"It is the decision of this board that Registered Hero Brightsky is to be stripped of her current level of clearance, rank within Vanguard, and station within Freedom Corps. However, in recognition of her many years of service and potential extenuating circumstances, it is the decision of this board that Registered Hero Brightsky's hero liscense is to be re-evaluated rather than stripped entirely, in accordance with the proper processes of the law. This board's decisions are final. Court is adjourned."
***
"Well, that's that for now," Evangelia noted as the young heroine leaned back against the conference table in the Legendary base. "So, run the list for me, Lora," she said, looking over at the Kheldian sitting by the control terminal across from her.
"As you saw at the trial today, Brightsky's clearance levels have been revoked, but her hero liscense has not. She's decided to use the re-working of her liscense to register as a Blaster this time around, presumably to explore the limits of her powers in that field as regard her innate gravitational field."
"Makes sense. She's still with us?"
"Yes, her re-registration paperwork's already been filed."
"Right, next?"
"You'll probably need to talk to Amber at some point to reassure her about her inability to avert this. It's not her fault that her mind was somewhere several thousand years in the past driving Emet, but you know how she is. She'll only blame herself for not noticing Brightsky's plan ahead of time, despite the fact that no one, not even the Freedom Phalanx, had a hint of it before she attacked the convoy. Plus, even if she had noticed it, no one could've physically gotten there anyway. Peter's ability to penetrate the War Walls was a one in a million fluke chance."
"How is it I'm team counselor these days?" Eva wondered, getting a slight smile from Lora'lai.
"It's your inspirational speeches. They never fail to lift my spirits, at least," she noted deadpan, getting a giggle from Eva before continuing. "In relation to that, I've begun some research into a possible emergency teleporter to outside the city limits, in case of similar incidents. I'll give you more information on that when I have it."
"How's Inyme?" Eva asked, getting a brief glance down as Lora'lai considered her screen.
"She hasn't woken up since she passed out after Alice found her. Her vital signs are still strong, but brain activity is very low. Not enough to consider her brain dead by a long shot, but she's still in a very deep coma. Given the extent of her injuries, it might be for the best, at least while the doctors were realligning and setting the various broken bones and such. Assuming she wakes up, she should make a full recovery."
Eva nodded slightly. "Assuming she wakes up. Is that all?"
"Not entirely everything," a third voice noted, causing Eva to look up as a pair of familiar figures stepped in, one clad from head to toe in advanced power armor, while the other wore nothing so much as an elaborate set of robes that didn't obstruct the enormous pair of wings extending from her back. Eva nodded in recognition of the two leaders of Riot Force as they stepped in.
"I suppose we owe you an apology for not reining in Brightsky to...." Eva started, before Silicon raised a hand, cutting her off.
"It's hardly your fault. You don't have anything to apologize for, or we'll have to start apologizing for not knowing Inyme was a Rikti when she got involved with one of your members," she pointed out, before reaching up to the seals on her helmet as Eva blinked slightly. Then she blinked again when the face and hair underneath weren't the silver haired beauty she'd seen before, but a much darker haired woman with a brief, business like hairstyle...who she recognized immediately.
"Sylia Stingray?" she boggled. "You're...I mean, a classmate of mine did a report on your business career recently, but I never suspected that you were actually because of the other look and all and did you do that with holograms, or...wait. Stop. I'm babbling. You were going to say something," Eva said, getting a hold of herself.
Sylia smiled slightly. "I decided that, in light of recent events, we could do without some secrets that've been longstanding up until now, at least at this level. I imagine I can rely on your discretion, as much as I can on that of members of my family," she noted with a dryly amused smile.
Eva glanced over at Lora'lai curiously, before nodding at the statement. "Of course you can. Still, it's an honor to meet you, uh, ma'am."
Ifrit restrained a laugh as Sylia chuckled softly. "I think we can dispense with that, since we didn't stand on ceremony before. Just call me Sylia."
Eva nodded briefly, before glancing around. "Wait, we should probably tell Shizuru about this."
"Oh, she already knows," Sylia said. "I saw her earlier while asking a quick favor..."
***
Inyme's head seemed....remarkably hollow at the moment as her mind swam in the mires of semi-unconsciousness. She wasn't quite aware, and yet that definitively proved that she wans't dead. She continued drifting for a moment before a set of neurons fired in the proper sequence to remind her of her last conscious memories.
Alice!
She began to jerk forward, before she was ever so gently "laid back" by a gentle mental pressure.
There there, just rest a moment now, why don't you?
Who are you?
A friend, the voice noted pleasantly, it unique mental "accent" seeming maddeningly familiar to Inyme's addled mind. I'm just watchin' out for you while you recovered. You had a nasty bit of neural shock in addition t' all those broken bones.
I....where am I?
A hospital, though that's not quite why I'm lookin' in on you.

Inyme frowned at the tone. Then why?
Mostly because I recognize someone with...similar problems. I like t' think I've gotten over mine, though, and can advise others of the dangers.
What dangers? What are you talking about?
You love her very much, don't you? Alice, I mean.
...what does that have to do with anything? Inyme noted sharply, her suspicions flaring.
I'll take that as a yes. I saw the recordings, Miss W'tin. You'd do anything for her, wouldn't you? That's just fine...so long as you keep that within reason. Or you start bein' willin' t'do things she'd never want you to. Speakin' from personal experience, you understand.
Inyme scowled mentally, tired of the half-answers, and streteched out her senses. If this person wasn't going to answer her straight, she'd find out for herself.
And for a brief moment, she did, as a swirl of voices and snatches of memory were open to her.
I'll just watch over her from afar for now...
You're sure there's nothin' more I can do to help?
She's so cute when she lets herself relax like that...
That'll be enough...
Perhaps if you were a bit...duller...you probably wouldn't have suffered so much...

If anyone needs a counsellor, I think it's you.
But your love and my love...are two very different things...
I didn't want you to find out...this isn't the kind of love that can be requitted...
....Kiyohime.
Haruka!
Kiyohime.
..ma...ma...?
KIYOHIME.
Inyme was snapped out of the line of memories even as she heard the bestial siren's song that lay behind that word, gently pulled away by the mind occupying this null-space with her.
Yes, that'll be enough, little miss. While I imagine a first person perspective would be...educational...there are certain areas of those memories I'd rather not disclose t' myself, let alone another, you understand.
Inyme nodded, vaguely shaken by what little she'd seen as the voice continued.
Anyway, just...do be careful, you understand? I think you'll be right fine anyway, but it pays to be careful. Anyway, Alice is waiting for you t' wake up, darling.
Inyme blinked, as the strange pseudo-world faded about her, with light suddenly glaring at her unused eyes as she blinked them slowly and moved a hand to shield herself.
"Inyme!" a familiar voice cried out, as Inyme felt her girlfriend's presence cross the vague light and dark shapes of the room with rapid speed, pulling her in tight. She grunted slightly as not-quite healed ribs complained, and Alice's hug loosened as she felt the dull imprints of pain through their link.
"S-sorry, it's just...you hadn't woken up since I found you in the trailer and...."
"Alice...I'm...."
"Don't say it," Alice whispered, causing Inyme to look up in surprise.
"Just...let me ask....was it a lie?" she said, and Inyme could feel the catgirl's psychic potential primed and waiting. As it was, in this state, she couldn't really lie to her if she wanted to, which made that level of concentration entirely unnecessary, but Inyme decided that really didn't matter.
"No. I...I had to protect you. From what they'd do if they found out..."
Alice looked at her for a long moment, before whapping her on the back of the head. "You stubborn, paranoid idiot," she said, stray tears staining the fur around her eyes. "You could've just told me. We would've worked something out," she said, holding her tight.
"Maybe...but now...I..."
"As I recall, you never told me enough about yourself to qualify as lying to me, Inyme, so as long as you didn't lie to me about loving me....I wouldn't care if you were a Rikti or the Easter Bunny. Because I know who you are....and that I love you," she sniffled.
Inyme was silent for a long moment again, before leaning her head against Alice's. "...I love you too, Alice..."
Standing up from her chair quietly, Shizuru smiled softly at the two and stepped out the door.
***
"It seems the board agrees with your evaluation of the situation, Devon," the Lady Grey noted as she stepped into the conference room, the various higher ups of Vanguard looking to her as she entered. "Miss W'tin can not be proven to have engaged in any espionage or deception beyond deliberately hiding her origins, making her either the most incompetent spy in the history of espionage, or, as the board has decided to accept, her explanations of her purpose to be attempting to spy on other Rikti are accurate and her stated intent to operate alongside Vanguard in conjunction is genuine. We are satisfied with the board's ruling, and Miss W'tin will have her clearance with Vanguard reinstated immediately. Or, rather," she added with a twinkle of amusement. "Retroactively, since Devon sent her out to recover another potential Rikti defector a few hours ago. Borea and Levantera are, of course, speaking with this General Bu'Dekka now."
Guassian scowled somewhat, before looking over at the Watcher. "I don't know how the hell you pulled it off, Watcher, but this is turning into an intelligence coup bar none. I trust you're satisfied?"
The Dark Watcher smiled slightly, absently acknowledging the bruises still healing from where his last second force field hadn't quite blunted the entirety of the force of Brightsky's final blow, or the impact with the ground below. "Sometimes you just have to have faith things will turn out as they should, Gaussian," he noted softly.
***
"This is, of course, all very worrying. I'll see to it that a strike force is put together to disrupt Hro'Dtohz's portal work," Levantera said, getting a nod from the now helmetless Rikti general sitting across from her.
"In the meantime, I imagine you'll want to coordinate with C'kelkah, to ease the transition and such," Incandescent suggested, the heroine having returned from the UN to help with the more political aspects of the situation.
Bu'Dekka looked at her before glancing over at where Inyme was sitting to the side, and Inyme felt the general's amusement. If she wasn't so nervous about just having escaped treason charges, she might've shared it more. "Well, I don't think that will be exactly what we'll be doing," Inyme said. "I have a good deal of respect for Councillor C'Kelkah. The decision to break from Hro'Dtohz was obviously not an easy one to make when no one else had at that point, but....I don't think myself or the general will be joining her faction officially. We have rather different politics, you understand."
Incandescent blinked once, the only sign she gave of her surprise, and Bu'Dekka chuckled through her translator. "You look so surprised. Both Chief Mentalist W'tin and myself are Restructurists. And while, as Inyme has said, we do respect what C'Kelkah has accomplished, we're hardly going to roll over and be PR benefits without some compromise."
"Our homeworld lost millions in the initial attack by Nemesis," Inyme said, her voice not wavering for the first time as she described those events. "But the number could have been more contained if we hadn't let our military forces slip into disrepair and token levels. While Hro'Dtohz's intent of military rule isn't what we're after, the Traditionalists simply want to go back to the way things were. Bu'dekka and I don't see it that way. Humanity doesn't stand down their militaries to useless tokenism in times of peace, and you're far from the militant bloodthirsty lot that some Traditionalists expect we'll become if we keep a standing armed force at all times," Inyme noted, sounding amused.
Incandescent looked at the two of them, before sitting back and chuckling ruefully. "Oh, the UN is going to love you two," she noted. "But I can hardly fault your reasoning, so I guess we should get into the nuts and bolts of how to spin it..."
***
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Inyme said as she tugged at the collar of the leather jacket she was currently wearing over a tank top and rather decorated jeans.
"It'll be fun, and it's not like you can't sing. I've caught you doing as much before," Alice grinned, what she was saying reinforced as Inyme's was with telepathic communication to be heard over the current attempt at something like musical entertainment on stage. "Besides, you saw V up there. If she can actually lighten up and have some fun with a song like that, you can hardly do less."
"I guess," Inyme said, before sighing. "Besides, you won't give up until I do, will you?"
"Nope," Alice agreed, smiling like a Cheshire cat. "So get going. The song selection's on your right."
Inyme sighed melodramatically before getting up, heading towards the stage as she scrolled through the options, before picking one, a slight smile cracking her face at the appropriateness of it. As the most recent singer stepped off the stage, Inyme walked up the steps. She got a mostly quiet reception, which wasn't surprising. While the Legendary and Riot Force were both large, few, if any, would recognize Inyme's face, and even fewer would recognize her without her armor or even the standard jumpsuit she'd used as informal wear. In the new clothes Alice had taken her shopping to get, she was about as unrecognizable as one could hope for.
As it was, she began softly to sift through the memories of the crowd, looking for specific ones as regarded the song she was about to sing. Finding the ones she wanted, she waited as the music intro began.
"I was moving at the speed of sound. Hair spinnin', couldn't find my way around and....didn't know that I was goin' down. Yea-ah, yea-ah. Well, I've been where it's all a blur. What I was lookin' for, I'm not sure. Too late and didn't see it comin', yea-ah, yea-aaaaaaah...."
The music spiked as Inyme ignored the crowd, focusing on the one mind in the room that she was actually singing to, even as her voice gained strength with the chorus's musicians.
"And then I crashed into you! And I went up in flames! Could've been the death of me, but then you breathed your breath in meee...and I crashed into you, like a runaway train! Your will consumed me, and I can't walk awaaaaaaaay!"
The crowd began to make appreciative noises that Inyme didn't hear as she continued into the verse. She wasn't aware of just how well she was actually singing, or the emotion her performance was putting out. She ignored her telepathic senses and just sang.
"Somehow, I couldn't stop myself. Just wanted to know how it felt. Too strong, I couldn't hold on. Yea-ah, yea-ah. Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense....out of how and why this happened. Where we're headed, there's just no knowin. Yea-ah, yea-aaaahhhhhh....then I crashed into you! And I went up in flames! Coulda been death of me, but then you breathed your breath in me! And I crashed into you....like a runaway train! Your will consumed me, and I can't walk away! From your face, your eyes, they're burned into me! You saved me, you gave me.....just what I need! Oh, just what I neeeeeeeeeeed!"
The crowd was beginning to cheer and clap in isolated bunches as Inyme sang, eyes closed, the music and the warm place in her mind where Alice was the only thing that she heard. The only thing that she needed, as for once, the burden of her life and mission was completely gone.
"And then I crashed into you, and I went up in flames! Could've been the death of me, but then you breathed your breath in me. And I crashed into you, like a runaway train! Your will consumed me, and I can't walk awaaaaaaaaaay!"
As the crowd burst into applause, Inyme opened her eyes again, ignoring the sweat the heat of the spotlights had generated on her skin. She didn't need to look around, finding Alice's emerald eyes amongst hundreds of other heroes, and in that moment, that was all she needed.
Ties That Bind
An OpMegs Production
In Conjunction With Matrix Dragon Studios
And Industrial Sofas and Spuds
Featuring (In Order of Appearance):
Borea
Gaussian
Serpent Drummer
Levantera
Dark Watcher
Lady of the Peace
Gamma Emission
Purrfect Archer
Neko
Emerald Blast
Inyme W'tin
Amberlee
Captain Sherman
Fake Nemesis #34950-21-3950-A
Captain Wilhelmina Marlena Dietrich
Lieutenant Olaf
Sergeant Branston
Lieutenant Sefu Tendaji (posthumous)
Fake Positron
Brightsky
Syndesis
Net Sabre
Purrfect Scrapper
Edge Sabre
Street Sabre
Quicksilver Nano
Valles
Twilit Blade
Silicon Sabre
Mag Flashlight
Pooky Da Imp
Dark Glass
Lora'lai
Captain Levins
Fusionette
Lieutenant Sanderson
Lady Nogitsune
Warrant Officer Thompson
Cyberman 8
William Bishop III
Jay Stewart
Major Scott Hearns
Lieutenant Sean Anders
Officer Angry (Colonel Andreas Sturmhalten)
Officer Grim (Major Peter Thompson)
Thrust SSC
Evangelia
Shizuru
Incandescent
Bu'Dekka
_Jessica Riddle - Even Angels Fall_

You've found hope
You've found faith,
[Inyme walks out a Rikti portal into Atlas, a cut inside her helmet showing her determined expression]
Found how fast she could take it away.
[Alice leans over Inyme's shoulder in Riot's computer room, brushing up against the side of her face as she leans past]
Found true love,
Lost your heart.
[Inyme traces a fingertip along where Alice'd brushed up against her cheek.]
Now you don't know who you are.
[A shot of Inyme's human face in the mirror, a semi-transparent image of her Rikti face slowly fading away from her perspective, leaving behind a troubled looking human face]
She made it easy,
Made it free,
[Alice talking cheerfully with Inyme, their hands intertwined, Inyme's expression hesitantly smiling despite herself]
Made you hurt til you couldn't see.
[Inyme sobs into her pillow after their date at the movies]
Sometimes it stops,
[Inyme stops and looks over her shoulder, the cutaway shot of her beneath the helmet catching her slight blush]
Sometimes it flows,
[Alice leans against her back, ignoring Inyme's stiffness as she wraps her arms around her.]
But baby that is how love goes.
[Inyme relaxes slightly in her embrace, leaning back against her, camera pans down to her gauntleted hand taking Alice's in her own.]
You will fly and you will crawl;
[Inyme and Alice are fighting against Nemesis in the RWZ]
God knows even angels fall.
[The Fake Positron tears in half as the camera zooms through to see Inyme's tearful, enraged expression behind her helmet.]
No such thing as you lost it all.
[Inyme lets herself be cuffed as she's led away from Alice.]
God knows even angels fall.
[A small tear runs down her face as she looks away, Alice looking at her back with a shocked expression.]
It's a secret no one tells;
[Splitscreen between Alice sitting unhappily on a rooftop and Inyme chained to her chair.]
One day it's heaven, one day it's hell.
[Flashback view, Alice kissing Inyme for the first time, then Inyme led away from Alice's perspective.]
It's no fairy tale;
[Inyme's expression is set as she looks up at the Vanguard interrogators.]
Take it from me,
[Edge sits down alongside Alice, talking with her]
That's the way it's supposed to be.
[Inyme mouths Alice's name, while Alice looks out over the RWZ towards Vanguard's base.]
You will fly and you will crawl;
[Alice bounces across the city towards the outer walls, looking worried]
God knows even angels fall.
[Inyme crawls across the floor of a demolished prisoner transport, heading for a crack of sunlight visible where the doors are jammed partially open, struggling with the door and visibly exhausted]
No such thing as you lost it all.
[The door wrenches itself open, Inyme falling into Alice's arms, who holds her tightly to herself.]
God knows even angels fall.
[Inyme smiles softly, resting her head against Alice as her eyes close.]
You laugh, you cry, no one knows why
[Inyme's hugged tightly by Alice as she's lying in a hospital bed, the catgirl crying with happiness.]
Behold the thrill of it all...
You're on the ride
You might as well
Open your eyes
[Inyme stiffens against the contact, before slowly putting her good arm around Alice's back as she closes her eyes and leans her head against Alice's shoulder, her body relaxing as her other hand intertwines with Alice's.]
You will fly and you will crawl;
God knows even angels fall.
No such thing as you lost it all.
God knows even angels fall.
Mighty Glacier:
The Pace of the Plot
Lost His Head:
Fake Positron
Dialogue and Accent Coach:
Acyl
90 Degree Plot Swerve Providers:
Valles
Sofaspud
Chehkov's Gun Provided By:
Atlantea
Co-Writer and General Outsourcing Labor:
Matrix Dragon
Humorous Interludes:
Sofaspud
Nameless Mook Providers:
Nemesis Army
Vanguard
Longbow
Not Actually Appearing In This Picture:
The Rikti
SIR Not Appearing In This Picture:
Sir Alistair Warden-King, Esquire
Secondary Source Flashback:
Mai-Hime
Cast of Thousands:
The Legendary
Riot 6.1
General Troublemaker:
Inyme W'tin
Special Thanks To:
The Regular Sound Boards (You Know Who You Are)
and
The Readers (For waiting 5 months and 19 days for the conclusion)
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Reply
 
#40
Bravo.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#41
whee! not sure if I could call this an entirely happy ending, given all that's happened. But its a believable one Smile

Congrats on a a wonderful fic
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Reply
Epilogue: Letting Go
#42
It's a helluva world, Bill reflected sourly to himself, when things have to get to this stage. He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head, then settled
his beret firmly on his brow and brought his bow to bear, peering through the scope at the motion he'd spotted -- had been expecting to see -- where the
street ended in a T-junction, at a distance greater than most would consider possible for a man his age to see. Or a younger one, for that matter.

The girl he'd watched grow up over the past year came around the corner of the building, laughing in the cool afternoon breeze and chattering happily with
her companion. Behind her trailed the Rikti traitor. Bill scowled.

Through the scope her features were sharp and clear. He spared a quick glance down the arrow itself, to get the range, then returned his attention to the
magnified image in the glass. His fingers locked around the fletchings, and with a steady, smooth motion, he drew back the arrow. The head was dull,
non-reflective; a solid piece of razor-sharp impervium with bloodletter grooves winding in narrow spirals from tip to base, and backwards-facing barbs to make
removal difficult.

Bill had twelve more just like it, though he expected to need only the one. Rikti were tough, he knew from experience; but even the toughest of them
couldn't take one of these through the head, with no armor, and survive.

He couldn't believe the Rikti still had her hero license. It baffled and infuriated him, that by showing 'cooperation' -- hah! -- with her
Vanguard interrogators, they'd let her off the hook. Couldn't they -see-? It hadn't been until later, after he'd had time to think, that he
realized it wasn't their fault. Everyone knew the Rikti were telepaths. Obviously, a spy sent in to impersonate humans would have to be an excellent one.
Better than Vanguard specialists? He feared so.

And now she had her hooks into his little girl again. He wasn't going to let any damn Rikti hurt her. He couldn't stop it before, but he sure as
shootin' would now. He didn't give a good goddamn what Miss Romanova had said. Couldn't she see? The damn Rikti was in her head, that's all
there was to it. Making her think things that just weren't so. Just like she'd made his little girl into her unwitting puppet.

He hoped his shot might kill the Rikti; more likely, it would simply send her to the hospital. She still had her license; therefore, she still had Medicom
access. But it was for damn certain that at the very least it would mess up her brains a bit. Maybe enough to let his little girl break free of her spell.
He hoped.

His bow moved smoothly, unerringly tracking the pair as they wandered down the street. He almost took the shot then and there, but checked his fingers before
they more than twitched; he had to wait until it would be a clean kill, and there were pedestrians behind the Rikti infiltrator right now. He didn't think
the arrow would come out the other side, but if it did he wanted it stopped by a wall or the ground, not some innocent human shield.

Finally the pair came to the doorway. Alice fumbled with the lock, while the traitor stood behind her. The angle was good. A through-and-through shot would
hit the brick wall, nothing else. He took a deep breath and shifted his aim.

With his experience and skill, it wasn't conscious. He simply knew that, at this range and wind speed and direction, with the updraft from the building he
stood on and the downdraft from the road itself, the flexing and spin of the arrow and the natural unconscious movements of the head, all the factors, the
angle was thus-and-so. He couldn't have explained it, but he -knew-.

"I'm sorry, daughter," he murmured quietly as the arrow steadied on his chosen point of aim. He watched with his unaided eyes as Melissa finally
opened the door. Good. She was clear. His fingers could release the arrow now, it would streak through the air and blow that traitorous Rikti's head all
over the brick, and that would be that.

So why wouldn't they work? He realized, abruptly, that something was wrong. He had the shot, the Rikti was standing there, Melissa was beckoning her to
enter, and for some reason he just couldn't ... let... fly....

Alice.

Her name is Alice, you damn old fool, his mind told him, even as his body remained locked in tight readiness.

Alice. Not Melissa.

Slowly, the bow fell and the bowstring relaxed. His body, still in combat mode, dropped back down into cover behind the air conditioner units on the rooftop
without him deciding to do so. And then he was sobbing as the memories and emotions and rage and terror and all of it came rushing back to the forefront, all
over again.



At the doorway to the apartment building, Inyme turned and looked down the street, eyes squinted against the glare of the sun.

"What's the matter?" Alice said from inside. "C'mon in, you're letting the heat out."

Inyme entered the building and shut the door.



"Too old for this," Bill muttered as he threw the last of his essentials into his battered old duffel bag and cinched the top shut. He glanced
around the apartment and took a deep breath. He'd always lived simply, and now was thankful for that. The computer on the desk by the window would go
back to Mag, who was already on the way to pick it up; Bill had never gotten past basic email with it anyway and regarded it as more annoyance than tool.
Momentos and knickknacks and whatnot simply didn't exist; he didn't care for clutter much and all his pictures sat safely in a photo album. He did
feel a pang of regret over having to leave his library behind, but they would have a good home -- he'd left a note for his landlady that someone from the
Legendary would be by to pick them up. That plus the extra two weeks of rent he'd put in the envelope should keep her satisfied.

The only things left, then, were his clothes and his weapons, both in the duffel. And his resignation letters to Vanguard and The Legendary, sitting on the
table, ready to be dropped in the mail.

A knock sounded on his door.

"You're early, Mag," he called as he went to open it -- and froze.

"Running away, old man?" The Rikti stood there, blocking his doorway.

"I ought to kill you right here and now," he heard himself say.

"Then kill me," Inyme said, staring straight at the older man with an intensity that almost made Bill worry that, non-aggressive tendencies aside,
she might actually use the psychic powers he'd seen her demonstrate before. "You might as well. You're going to stab Alice in the heart if you
vanish. Might as well make a full go of emotional trauma and satisfy your bloodlust in the process."

Bill bristled, glaring back at her. "You'd love that, wouldn't you? Make someone like me out to be the bad guy for recognizing Rikti for what you
really are. Playing on the fact that I lost my family to you bastards in an attempt to make me do something stupid that makes you look better."

Inyme's jaw tightened, but it wasn't anger that Bill could see in those disturbingly human eyes. "No. I'm just trying to go along with your
patent idiocy, you stubborn old man! Don't you get it? If you up and disappear because you can't take what's happening, it will hurt Alice.
There's been enough permanent loss over this blasted, wasted war without you adding to it! Brightsky lost her parents, you lost your family, and Alice
lost her parents and even her past! And we all want the pain to go away, but we can't let go of the stupid hate! We kill you, you kill us, more and more
people lose people they care about. And now you want me to just sit back and accept this when I know losing the closest thing Alice has to a father over a
grudge is going to break her heart? No. You can go ahead and kill me, but I'm not letting you go. You don't get to hurt her like that. No one does.
Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Listen here, you arrogant little snot," Bill snarled. "Who are you to talk to me like that? -You're- the one that hurt her already, worse
than any of us. You and all your damn kind!"

Inyme's eyes blazed. "Yes, I did," she admitted steadily. "But I'm trying to fix it, not running away from it. Coward!"

Bill's hand lashed out, the grip that could crumble bricks in his younger years (and not much diluted by age) settling firmly around Inyme's throat.
He could feel her pulse under his palm as his fingers tightened and his teeth ground together in wordless rage.

Inyme raised her chin, her eyes defiant, leaving her arms slack at her side. There was no way she could speak, no air for her to speak -with-, the pressure of
his hand on her throat would have made any attempt at speech a hideous croak. But she spoke, and he heard her clearly.

"Do it."

He squeezed tighter. By arrow or by broken neck, he didn't care how she died!

"Do it." If anything, her voice was louder. He shook his head, a buzzing in his ears distracting him.

"Do it, you coward!"

Bill stared into her face, furious, as her eyelids began to droop and her weight began to drag at his arm. He marveled at the outward perfection of her
disguise, how it hid the hideous truth beneath. A tear leaked out -- my God, she could even cry, the illusion of humanity was that good -- and slid down the
curve of her cheek. His eyes followed it as it encountered his fingers and paused. He savored the moment, knowing that soon she'd be dead and her evil
influence would be over.

Oddly, he found himself remembering the last time he'd seen a dead girl in his doorway.

He'd been away from home when the attack came. It was sudden, and brutal, and had flattened towns and cities the world over. Hardest hit of all, of
course, was Paragon City itself, but that didn't mean the outlying areas went untouched. Rikti troops hit -everywhere-, it seemed, and in the early days
they were all but unstoppable.

His daughter's dead body, lying where it had fallen in the doorway, had been his greeting when he finally made it back to their home. Why she was there he
didn't know, but it didn't matter. His wife was in the living room, butchered by one of the strange blades the Rikti favored. The house hadn't
been ransacked, the troops had just crashed through and killed everyone they encountered.

Even those they had no reason to kill.

Bill flung Inyme away and fell backwards, landing heavily on the floor. Inyme hit the doorframe and staggered, but remained on her feet. Finally, one hand
came up to massage her throat. Her eyes remained bright despite the blue tinge to her lips.

"If you have reason to kill me," Inyme's voice said, causing him to glance at her reflexively and note with a sort of bemused detachment that her
lips weren't moving, "then -do- it. Satisfy your need for revenge, old man."

Somehow, the knowledge that she was in his head, that she had effortlessly heard his very thoughts, didn't bother him at the moment. He didn't feel
much of anything right now.

Her voice took on a different tone as she continued. "Kill me if that's what it takes. I won't stop you. But you are -not- going to abandon
Alice!" Her fierce, protective glare caught his eyes and held them. She dropped her hand from her throat and he could see the dark bruises already
forming, purple against chocolate, hard to see unless you knew what to look for but damning evidence all the same.

He opened his mouth to speak. Closed it. Closed his eyes.

For a time there was silence. Bill didn't know, or care, how long it lasted. Inyme seemed content to wait him out, even though he himself didn't know
what either of them were waiting for. He could tell she hadn't left, by the subtle noises and traces every living being carries with them that they
can't avoid.

If he'd unconsciously hoped -- hah! against a telepath? -- to wait her out, it didn't happen. Circumstance broke the tableau. Noise from outside
caught his attention; Bill raised his head and looked past Inyme to discern the cause.

"Yo, Bill, you sure about -- the hell?" Mag Flashlight appeared in the doorway, his bulky frame bounding up the stairs with that deceptive quickness
that kept his opponents so off guard. The shorter but broader man drew up short outside the doorway, raising an eyebrow and staring past the girl to meet
Bill's gaze. He scowled at what he saw there and turned his gaze on Inyme. Bill watched his eyes take in the bruises on her neck and nodded dully to
himself.

"You're -not- leaving," Inyme repeated. A quick glance told Bill that her mouth still hadn't moved. He winced at the sight of her neck --
his hand had very nearly encircled it entirely, she probably -couldn't- talk normally yet.

He cleared his throat. He knew he should say something. His upbringing and common decency told him that, at the very least, he owed her an apology.

He couldn't.

Not yet... possibly not ever, he admitted to himself, knowing full well that she'd 'heard' every word he'd said in the supposed privacy of his
own skull.

He cleared his throat again and spoke.

"Sorry to drag you all this way for nothin', Mag," he said in a voice so dull and lifeless that he wouldn't have guessed it for his own had
he not heard himself say it. "Looks like I'll be sticking around after all. Plans changed."

Mag Flashlight rolled his cigar thoughtfully from one side of his mouth to the other and back again, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so," he replied.
"No problem. I'll see you around, Bill." Nodding politely -- "Inyme." -- he stepped back, pivoted, and was gone.

Bill slumped.

"You're not leaving?"

"You know the answer, damn you," Bill said tiredly.

Inyme turned and left, the door closing softly behind her. He knew she paused on the other side of it, both from his own senses, honed by a lifetime of
tracking wild game and wilder criminals, and because her 'voice' drifted across his senses again.

"You owe Alice the apology, not me," she said, and was gone. Bill took off his glasses and rubbed tiredly at his eyes.

God, he was getting too old for this.


This has been sitting for a couple weeks now in final form, and I'm glad Ops chose the format he did for
the finale of Ties. I hadn't quite envisioned it this way originally, but seeing this as an
after-the-credits sort of extended scene really makes sense.

Thanks for letting me play in your story, Ops. You did some awesome work!

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
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#43
Quote:that deceptive quickness that kept his opponents so off guard

5 LotG +rech, expressed in fic, folks. Line for Wents forms at the right.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
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#44
Ok, Ops, I love the portrayal of Shizuru, and now you;ve got me thinking on how to do the freaking accent while I RP! Thanks... I think
*********************
In the epic rage of furious thunder
legends create their tales
when the twilight calls and the dark lord falls
our glory will prevail

[Image: strikersetcfinal9_th.jpg]
In the epic rage of furious thunder
legends create their tales
when the twilight calls and the dark lord falls
our glory will prevail

[Image: strikersetcfinal9_th.jpg]
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