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Grendyne groans and starts pulling on her boots when the alarm goes off. Again. She quick-marches to the broom hangar, sits on her machine and is handed a plethora of loaded weapons by attentive corporals.
"Two flyers in one day? They're getting way too common."
"It's worse," the commander informs them, "South Karlsland got hit with three at once. We're taking Lytee's express and sleeping there. You can sit out if you absolutely need to, but Freya's still recovering so we could use you as a comms relay."
"No, I'll come. I just reserve the right to complain about it."
The 42nd United Forces Witch Wing takes off and assembles into a perfect synchronized formation as Lytee charges her teleport power.
...This is not South Karlsland wilderness.
[note: halfway through this thread I created a unique account for Grendyne. Do not be alarmed by the change in account. -Rockeye]
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characterquarry
witchwatcher
"I will probably still attack people who look villainous and watch a crime unfolding without doing jack about it. The stunbolts are nonlethal, you know."
wormcan
"Oh. That.
Stalker does that sometimes, she likes to see if the victim is going to fight back. It's messed up. She does go in eventually either way, though. At least every time I've seen."
Stalker does that sometimes, she likes to see if the victim is going to fight back. It's messed up. She does go in eventually either way, though. At least every time I've seen."
witchwatcher
"Well. Yeah, that's messed up. This is faint praise, but at least she doesn't go around attacking people to see if they fight back, just failing to rescue them. Still. Even if nobody got hurt because she waited, probably dozens of them had a traumatic event last longer than it needed to."
witchwatcher
"Didn't get to pick my teammates before. You gotta make do with what you have, yeah?"
wormcan
"Yeah. No fun for us, but it beats having her as a vigilante as far as the city's concerned."
witchwatcher
"I helped track down a vigilante who liked turning criminals into animals, once. No fun for anybody involved. She got off relatively light, ten years plus a gaes, after undoing all the ones who were still alive. Irritating, but at least she can't hurt people anymore."
witchwatcher
"A gaes. A binding. She swore to never again turn someone into anything, and then she literally couldn't. There's a few, ah, capes who can do gases on my world."
wormcan
"That kind of power exists here, sometimes, but never that neatly and there's always something else that can mess with it. I don't think they'd trust it over regular prisons even if some master volunteered to help."
witchwatcher
"They're pretty ironclad from what I hear. But I understand the sentiment - anyone who manages to get around a geas gets put away, or put down, for good."
wormcan
"It's a lot more conventional here, most of the time. Anyone who isn't put in the Birdcage for good gets treated as much like any normal criminal as they can manage."
witchwatcher
"It'll be a change to fight nonlethally most of the time. You don't have to hold back against literal, city-burning monsters. I Hope I can find the balance between too much and too little."
wormcan
"Start at definitely too little and scale up? A lot of capes have to worry about that, and it tends to turn out OK.
I can't wait until you join us in the field."
I can't wait until you join us in the field."
witchwatcher
"I have at least one definitely non-lethal thing. Stunbolts. Made a special trip just to copy them from someone. I don't have any bolts between stun and lightning though. Yeah, fieldwork with new powers should be fun. The two of us could probably be almost excessively mobile if you ride along while I fly."
wormcan
"Sounds like fun."
Before any actual cape business, the PRT has to take care of some setup. The costume, of course. It's finished in short order, complete with gold and gems. (Smaller quantities than Coil supplied.) Aside from that, there's further power and basic combat training, and of course PR. Don't threaten people, don't swear in public, don't give away important information, don't conspicuously display destructive might unless the point is to display destructive might, the point is never to display destructive might, and so on. It boils down to "talk less, smile more" being a safe option to start out with.
Eventually she's cleared as ready for duty.
Before any actual cape business, the PRT has to take care of some setup. The costume, of course. It's finished in short order, complete with gold and gems. (Smaller quantities than Coil supplied.) Aside from that, there's further power and basic combat training, and of course PR. Don't threaten people, don't swear in public, don't give away important information, don't conspicuously display destructive might unless the point is to display destructive might, the point is never to display destructive might, and so on. It boils down to "talk less, smile more" being a safe option to start out with.
Eventually she's cleared as ready for duty.
witchwatcher
Her new Steelwing, wherever it came from, is a lot sleeker and smaller than she would have liked. Not much space to store gear inside. It's still bloody fast and maneuverable, at least. She adds her own gold things to the inside of the costume and starts charging them up with mana.
The first charge of Dauntless's power gets put into a particular amulet, one with a large citrine set into the middle. So does the second. It'll probably be a while before this has any useful effects.
Her official unveiling speech was mostly written by someone else, but she manages to deliver it with reasonable amounts of sincerity.
The first charge of Dauntless's power gets put into a particular amulet, one with a large citrine set into the middle. So does the second. It'll probably be a while before this has any useful effects.
Her official unveiling speech was mostly written by someone else, but she manages to deliver it with reasonable amounts of sincerity.
wormcan
As it turns out, superheroing is boring. The heroes are fast, but they aren't usually being called somewhere at any given time. A lot of the time, they're just patrolling the less safe parts of the city keeping their eyes open just in case and ready to be directed elsewhere if a call comes in. (Gren picks up details about the city: this part is considered Merchant territory, that part is contested between E88 and the ABB, and so on.) For the moment, they're sending her with groups that aren't expected to deal with anything more dangerous than unpowered criminals.
Dauntless has yet to get accustomed to the staring.
Dauntless has yet to get accustomed to the staring.
witchwatcher
Boring is fine. All those fights she got in during her first week here were starting to wear her down. She can relax, for a certain value of relaxing. In her downtime she reads up on this planet's history, gets used to some of the fiction, occasionally posts on that forum, plays internet poker with virtual money.
She doesn't actually need to stare at Dauntless to keep his power up anymore. She does figure out that she can pour extra mana into his power to generate charges faster - fourteen to sixteen hours if she does nothing else with a particular day's mana supply. She makes sure her stored mana is full before doing that, though.
After two weeks, the thing is starting to become noticeably better at holding mana. It retains it without excess effort, doesn't leak out slowly like it used to, and lets her call on more at once without feeling strained.
But after two weeks, the Endbringer attack is imminent. Yvette still thinks Brockton Bay will be the site of the attack. The UDF has gathered a large list of Witches who would like to volunteer for the defense, flyer and brute and blaster all, plus a wide variety of specials and no less than eight healers. They work out transport and temporary lodging with the Protectorate.
She doesn't actually need to stare at Dauntless to keep his power up anymore. She does figure out that she can pour extra mana into his power to generate charges faster - fourteen to sixteen hours if she does nothing else with a particular day's mana supply. She makes sure her stored mana is full before doing that, though.
After two weeks, the thing is starting to become noticeably better at holding mana. It retains it without excess effort, doesn't leak out slowly like it used to, and lets her call on more at once without feeling strained.
But after two weeks, the Endbringer attack is imminent. Yvette still thinks Brockton Bay will be the site of the attack. The UDF has gathered a large list of Witches who would like to volunteer for the defense, flyer and brute and blaster all, plus a wide variety of specials and no less than eight healers. They work out transport and temporary lodging with the Protectorate.
wormcan
The PRT is happy to have them. And even happier to have the warning. Endbringer attacks aren't predictable with a lot of precision...normally. A few questions to Yvette and they narrow down the date to May fifteenth. Calendars are marked. Many civilians decide it's a good time to take a vacation, and unlike with most Endbringer attacks they have time to take possessions and pets instead of just rushing for a shelter.
In the weeks remaining until the attack, presumed to be Leviathan, the city gets gradually emptier. Cape crime goes down steeply, since everyone including the various villain factions expects to be on the same side very soon. (Non-cape crime continues as ever, at least proportionately to the number of people present.) And as the scheduled day approaches, heroes start arriving, including the biggest of guns.
In the weeks remaining until the attack, presumed to be Leviathan, the city gets gradually emptier. Cape crime goes down steeply, since everyone including the various villain factions expects to be on the same side very soon. (Non-cape crime continues as ever, at least proportionately to the number of people present.) And as the scheduled day approaches, heroes start arriving, including the biggest of guns.
witchwatcher
Gren spends most of the days leading up to the attack taking scrupulous and detailed notes on all the fantastic and wildly varied powers available. Most of them she can't copy to a useful extent. Some she can.
Battery is interesting and potentially useful. Working with Mouse Protector's power improves her ability to teleport. Brandish meshes well with Knight's crystal spear. She can't copy Cache's ability to store away living things, but he makes her pocket dimension easier to access.
Bastion, Lady Photon, Glory Girl, Laserdream and Shielder are not very mana-efficient on their own, but after a few hours of work she combines the whole lot into one smooth and elegant force-field and laser power. Parian isn't too useful in direct terms, but her clothamancy is a nice break from all the simple, brutal powers that tend to show up in this world.
But Eidolon is completely uncopiable... And getting weaker. She can smell the telltale decay, the subtle degrading feeling that all Witches have. Food for thought.
Battery is interesting and potentially useful. Working with Mouse Protector's power improves her ability to teleport. Brandish meshes well with Knight's crystal spear. She can't copy Cache's ability to store away living things, but he makes her pocket dimension easier to access.
Bastion, Lady Photon, Glory Girl, Laserdream and Shielder are not very mana-efficient on their own, but after a few hours of work she combines the whole lot into one smooth and elegant force-field and laser power. Parian isn't too useful in direct terms, but her clothamancy is a nice break from all the simple, brutal powers that tend to show up in this world.
But Eidolon is completely uncopiable... And getting weaker. She can smell the telltale decay, the subtle degrading feeling that all Witches have. Food for thought.
wormcan
Eidolon doesn't comment. If she doesn't volunteer the fact that she knows, it might not be obvious whether he has even noticed the decrease.
For once everyone involved is fully briefed. Normally minutes of pre-battle speech is a lot, and here there is plenty of time to inform the newcomers. Leviathan is scary: powerful, strong, and smarter than he looks. When he's in the water he's faster than any speedster they have on record, according to a cape with no known upper limit. Those who aren't familiar with Leviathan can find video footage of him in action.
His hydrokinetic powers operate on a larger scale than almost any other powers; Brockton Bay can expect periodic tidal waves and catastrophic damage to or from the aquifer beneath the city.
Visibility will be poor. Armbands get distributed; when activated they'll keep track of capes' identities and positions. Everyone knows where to report, based on whether they can take a hit and get back up, blast from a distance, merely search and rescue downed capes, and so on.
For once everyone involved is fully briefed. Normally minutes of pre-battle speech is a lot, and here there is plenty of time to inform the newcomers. Leviathan is scary: powerful, strong, and smarter than he looks. When he's in the water he's faster than any speedster they have on record, according to a cape with no known upper limit. Those who aren't familiar with Leviathan can find video footage of him in action.
His hydrokinetic powers operate on a larger scale than almost any other powers; Brockton Bay can expect periodic tidal waves and catastrophic damage to or from the aquifer beneath the city.
Visibility will be poor. Armbands get distributed; when activated they'll keep track of capes' identities and positions. Everyone knows where to report, based on whether they can take a hit and get back up, blast from a distance, merely search and rescue downed capes, and so on.
witchwatcher
The time to covertly talk to Eidolon about how he's getting weaker is definitely after the intense battle, when it won't shake his focus.
Most of the Witches (and there are a lot of them, almost a hundred) plan to do a few minutes of blasting, then move to search-and-rescue or ferrying less mobile capes around. They fly machines similar to Gren's, carry lots of jewelry, and few of them are wearing masks. Only three Witches are confident enough in their durability to tank on the front lines.
When the time comes, Chatterbox establishes and holds a link with as many people as possible. If something happens to the armbands and she hasn't been knocked out, they might still be able to communicate.
The hour approaches, with as many people as possible ready and waiting to beat back Leviathan.
Most of the Witches (and there are a lot of them, almost a hundred) plan to do a few minutes of blasting, then move to search-and-rescue or ferrying less mobile capes around. They fly machines similar to Gren's, carry lots of jewelry, and few of them are wearing masks. Only three Witches are confident enough in their durability to tank on the front lines.
When the time comes, Chatterbox establishes and holds a link with as many people as possible. If something happens to the armbands and she hasn't been knocked out, they might still be able to communicate.
The hour approaches, with as many people as possible ready and waiting to beat back Leviathan.
wormcan
They've even had time to set up defenses in advance. Bombs captured from Bakuda and repurposed by other tinkers. Brightly colored strings that will hopefully be easily visible for safety after Clockblocker turns them into impenetrable traps. Any cape that could benefit from preparation time has something set up along the shore line.
The clock ticks down, but the skies aren't darkening with storm clouds.
The clock ticks down, but the skies aren't darkening with storm clouds.
witchwatcher
They wait. And wait. Everyone gets increasingly nervous.
At some point, "Dragon, how sure are we that it's Leviathan, and not Behemoth or the Simurgh? And why are we sure of that?"
At some point, "Dragon, how sure are we that it's Leviathan, and not Behemoth or the Simurgh? And why are we sure of that?"