Amelia, Ch 408
FrustrationFailureLosingTooMuch. I gripped Taylor's shoulder. "Please, speak to me."
"Scion had contingencies, I think. Either some kind of precognition to let him avoid attacks on his main body, or he's just smart, or it's some kind of natural defense against other Entities. We lost Dragon. All of her." Oh. Fuck. "Wruenele's been cut off from my senses entirely." God damn it. "I'm controlling the Dragon bots as best I can through the backups, but they were never meant to be under my command. I've contacted Cauldron, maybe they'll be able to alleviate some of the burden."
I nodded. It was a good plan. "We need to send in the zerg, right? Use them until we get Dragon back."
"Yeah. I can handle tha- fuck." GuiltDespairNowHe'sStarted. "We just lost England. Or, at least, Bet's version of England. He's not fighting our forces. I... I think he's decided we're not a threat anymore. He's moved on to attacking civilians now."
He... what? Lost interest? Got bored? How does that even make sense? "We need everything, don't we? Like, absolutely everything." Maybe Primacy means we can't kill him, but if we cost him enough power, we can force him to retreat or starve. AgreementSorryWishItDidn'tComeToThis. I hit the com. "It's okay. Victoria, I need your help. Transition to Avalon's Capital."
"Be there in a moment, middle of a PRT meeting. We're kinda planning a counter offensive. Also, it's been how many years? Are you ever going to name your damn city?"
I smiled. Victoria, always there with a joke when I need it most. "We're actually doing the same thing. Avalon's regrouping, and we're leaving the second wave to Eidolon and the Endbringers, they can buy the rest of us time to regroup. I... I'm going to the Birdcage." They can't win this war any more than the rest of us, but they're more people we can hit him with. We can win the war of attrition if we do this right.
"Watch, after this the UW is gonna throw a fit that you didn't wait for their permission." She probably wasn't wrong. "I'll deliver the message and be right over."
I sighed, then walked over to Taylor. She was already feeling the strain of trying to control all of Dragon's defense fleet, plus her own zerg. A battlefield that stretched across however many Earths right now. I cupped her face, and kissed her softly. There wasn't even enough alertness for her to pay attention to her own physical body while doing everything she had to do. Even Taylia was lagging. "Stay safe, my love." I was the one who gave the order for her Matriarch VF to seal its faceplate.
Then it was my turn. The armor locked itself around me. A biomechanical system that was only barely organic enough for me to control, the raw material laced with Endbringer tissue to grant increased durability and a power source. Armor meant to fight a god. I padded an inch or so of unmodified Yggdrasil overtop the suit, just in case I needed something I could afford to waste. Chances were pretty low I'd need it, but I got as far as this by using every resource, I wasn't going to fuck myself over by forgetting that at this stage of the game.
Vicky manifested only a few seconds before I'd finished that stage. Her armor was beautiful, a white and gold knight. Enough WEB tissue that lightning danced along the surface of the armor when at full charge. After a Transition, that electrical field had vanished, but it would be back soon enough. At least once she took her feet off the Yggdrasil. "So, this is really it, huh?"
"Everything we've been working toward. Doormaker, take us to the Birdcage." The panel formed in front of us, and we stepped through, right into the central area. I smiled a little as my awareness extended outward, following the Yggdrasil already in the cage to receive an outline of the whole building.
That put us on the male side, by the population in the area. Circe's tech kindly let us know that several powers activated, either focused or trained on the pair of us. Several other self-targeting abilities as well. These are some of the most evil and powerful men on this or any other world, and here I am standing right in the middle of them. I took a breath and spoke. "I am Gaea. I expect you've heard of me, as you're enjoying the gift I created. You may also have heard that Scion has gone on a rampage." A rampage we started, granted, but let's ignore that part.
Vicky bolted forward, head down, and stopped not far in front of me. Then she brought her knee up and reached out with her hand. "The first was for trying something that stupid. The second was for having that thought while trying it. Now either turn off the power or I'll see how long it takes you to pass out."
Moments later there was a man struggling against her strength, an improvised knife dropped with a soft thud on to the plantlife below. Stranger power, really good if he beat the tech in our suits. Not good enough to beat Vicky, however. She dropped the man, who strugged to crawl away. My armor indicated that she broke several of his bones, including damage to the spine. He'd never be able to walk again without high end healing.
A surprisingly fat, balding man spoke up. "Interesting display. You said your name was Gaea? I take that to mean you're the one who made this?" He stomped the ground for emphasis, then continued before I could confirm. "You know you cost me a great deal of business with that stunt?" God damn it, are we going to have to beat the shit out of everyone in the Birdcage before they listen? "But it was worth the inconvenience. These plants of yours are the only half tolerable source of alcohol in this place. And let's not forget the fresh air!"
Oh, good, not going to have to fight everyone. Vicky will be so disappointed. "You're quite welcome. I need to talk to the cell leaders. All of them."
The large man chuckled. "I imagine so. I'll send some of my men out to deliver messages. I'm sure it won't cost me too much, as the others will no doubt be interested in what you have to say as well." He paused, as if inviting me to give him some more information, I didn't.
He continued speaking much more loudly. "As for right now, you're under my protection. And in case any men here don't consider that good enough, I would remind them that you are Marquis' daughter. I do not presume to speak for the man, but I doubt he'd appreciate his you coming to harm before the family reunion. And for those who don't care about that, either? Well, Glaistig Uaine herself speaks of you as an equal. If anyone is foolish enough to try anything, don't hesitate to kill them. No one will object."
"Awesome," Vicky perked up from where she was wiping blood of her knee.
I had to smile. Vicky will always be Vicky. "Thank you for your generosity, mister..."
He didn't miss a beat. "They call me Teacher. I imagine you haven't heard much about me. Alas, I have always been a rather obscure individual. By choice, mind." He was all smiles the whole time. Clearly an introduction he's used before. "Pardon me for not offering to shake your hand, but as I said before, Glaistig Uaine considers you an equal. I hope you do not consider that impolite."
Huh, wonder what this guy's power is. My tech wasn't registering anything dangerous directed at me, but I couldn't rule out his power being one that let him circumvent detection powers and equipment. "That's fine. No such thing as being too careful."
Next to me, Vicky snickered. Yeah, I didn't buy it either.
"A woman after my own heart," Teacher agreed cheerfully. I couldn't get a read on the guy, even the social analysis tech in my armor was coming back with nothing remotely useful. It couldn't even confirm a lack of sincerity in his words.
I entertained myself with studying the Yggdrasil while I was here. Bacteria that had adapted to the plant, living on its surface instead of trying to infect the new, hardier, version I'd force-evolved over the years. Places where people had carved into it to access the sap, probably to make alcohol. Spots where various powers had been tested on it. Sections where it had been burned away, despite the instructions that it was programmed to avoid areas that were salted. Which included salt derived from urine. Eventually we were led to our meeting, in front of the cell leaders. Behind them stood what I had to guess was a good percentage of the Birdcage.
"As Glaistig Uaine's not here, and we're in something of a rush, I say we dispense with formalities," Marquis opened. This would only be the second time I've had a chance to talk to my father. "I think we're all quite curious about the circumstances of this visit, and other business can wait for a later day." He paused, looking at the other men and women in front. There were nods of agreement.
"A question, first." A tough looking woman, every bit the stereotypical butch lesbian with messy cropped hair and the arms torn from her bright orange prison outfit, spoke. "Glaistig Uaine has had a method out of the cage for years now." Damn, that was supposed to stay secret. "Was that your doing? Is that what happened to Canary?"
No point in keeping in secret, now. Scion destroyed all of England in a single attack, no one is going to care about any crimes Avalon may have committed, as long as we keep saving lives and help rebuild. I glanced at Marquis, thankful that our armor was completely face concealing. I was about to admit that I could have taken him from this prison at any time in the past couple years. "Cauldron's resources, but yes, we were the ones that conspired to remove Paige, and a few others. Everyone here knows they didn't belong in this place." By an extension those we didn't remove did belong here.
My father's face was inscrutable, every bit what Accord wished his steel mask to be.
The woman nodded. "Okay, I'm willing to help. I assume you want to take us out of this prison, to help fight Scion?"
How did she? Well, I did announce the part about Scion already, and I guess we had a conversation much like this before, when trying to solve the problem with Khonsu. "Scion has started attacking the world, seemingly at random. Right now, the heroes are mobilizing. We're using Eidolon's Endbringer army to buy us the time we need to stage a counter offensive. We're opening the Birdcage." We have to, even with the Yddrassil, we don't have the resources to keep it running without Dragon.
A large, muscular man spoke up. His accent was vaguely Australian, but only vaguely. I only spotted it thanks to years of conversations with various world leaders. "And a guarantee you won't be sending us back after? Or killin' us after the fight?"
I paused for a second, thinking about how to phrase it. "Full clemency for your past crimes. Go back to old habits, and don't expect me to show you any kindness. I'm willing to offer citizenship on Avalon, and our medical faculties with that."
The overweight man chuckled. "I rather imagine that by the end of this, whatever countries sent us here in the first place will have greater concerns than us to worry themselves over. Very well, I and my students shall avail ourselves of your generous offer."
"My girls are in."
The others stayed silent, still clearly contemplating. I accessed the codes built into my armor. Seeds the size of a grain of sand full of Tinkertech programmed genetic knowledge. Around me, the Yggdrasil started breaking to pieces, revealing new biosuit uniforms. "These are the basic uniforms that Avalon uses for its people." Not quite true, but close enough. "Everyone gets one. They can fly, shunt between worlds, and will protect you from most attacks. We're not sure how well it will hold up against Scion, but at the very least it's better than nothing. Everyone that wants in on this, get suited up."
Marquis chuckled a little. "What do you say, Lung? Looks like your old nemesis has finally bitten off more than she can chew. Interested in bailing her out?"
Lung? I looked over at the tough looking Asian man, he'd been staring at me quietly the whole time. Strange, I would have expected those tattoos to vanish when he transformed. He didn't so much as blink. "Maybe after I'm done dealing with Scion, I'll see about a rematch."
I thought about Taylor, how she treated her missions. "That's fine, she enjoys a good challenge."
I watched as the various recruits started putting on their armor. Some more enthusiastically than others. Some clearly doing so against the wishes of their cellblock leaders. Whatever, their politics aren't my concern.
Marquis approached me the moment after he got his armor on. He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Amelia, I- I just wanted to say I was sorry. I failed you as a father. I don't blame you for hating me."
"I don't hate you. Not for that. Some people just don't have what it takes to care for a family, and I turned out fine, through some miracle that has exactly nothing to do with you. I think what I hate is that you don't even care about all the others you hurt instead. All the other families you've ruined over the years. The people you murdered. The people you turned into orphans and widows. I don't see you apologizing for them."
He stood there, silent. At least he has the decency to not explain away his actions.
"Now let's go. I may never see my family again after today, but at least I'm making that choice for a good reason. Doormaker, take us to Avalon as near to Scion as possible."
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A/N- Nope. No daddy/daughter reconciliation happening in this story.