Whew, wrote most of this in one sitting, and haven't really done much polishing. I'd appreciate feedback on any aspect, but primarily character voice. I'm still trying to learn to write distinctive dialogue, and don't really know how I did.
Unbeta'd as usual.
Previous
Embrace of Steel
Part 4
For Colin Wallis, known as Armsmaster in his armor, the day had begun simply enough.
Though he had been awake late into the night working on a new project for his Halberd, he had still awoken early in preparation for the day. Something told him it would be significant, or at least eventful.
The day seemed to be anything but.
Much of the morning was filled with his Tinker work, and by the afternoon he was on duty at the console while the duo of Assault and Battery were on patrol accompanied by Dauntless. There had been some rumors of a big push by the ABB against the Empire, and the Protectorate needed to put a show of force out.
Nothing had come of it, and by the time it had been his turn for the evening patrol with Miss Militia, Armsmaster had been feeling his instincts were off.
He was quickly proven wrong.
"Armsmaster, we have reports of a running battle between Merchant capes and Empire in the vicinity of Washington and Meadow Circle." The voice of Velocity came over the comms as Armsmaster patrolled one of the nicer neighborhoods near the Docks.
"Understood. Keep me updated on any changes." He signaled Miss Militia, who nodded, and they diverted towards the location noted on Armsmaster's GPS.
By the time they arrived, civilians had already fled the area, and superficial damage to multiple buildings had accumulated. Debris littered the streets, and more than one surface had growths of steel jutting outwards.
A block from their position, Armsmaster saw Skidmark and Mush working together to launch garbage at speed towards not only Hookwolf, but Kaiser as well.
The heads of the E88 and the Merchants, and their heaviest hitters? Armsmaster could feel the tension of opportunity here.
"Velocity, this is Armsmaster. We've located the Merchant and Empire forces. Skidmark, Mush, Kaiser and Hookwolf all present. We're going to need backup." Armsmaster spoke crisply and without hesitation, "There are civilians in the residences, and we are moving to engage."
With that, he readied his Halberd, and with Miss Militia in tow, waded into the fray to put an end to the fighting.
"Attention! Cease your current activities, surrender, and get on the ground." Armsmaster levelled his Halberd at the group, and delivered his ultimatum. "If you do not comply, we will use force to ensure cooperation."
The reply, as expected, was not positive.
Skidmark let loose a flurry of curses, and launched a barrage of garbage supplied by Mush through his field. Kaiser, however, took the opportunity to withdraw behind a wall of steel, Hookwolf guarding his retreat.
Swearing under his breath, Armsmaster deflected the refuse, and directed Miss Militia to intercept the fleeing Empire capes. If they could contain them until reinforcements arrived, they could make an incredibly significant capture.
Cautiously, he advanced, keeping the the Merchants occupied while the sounds of weapons fire echoed to the side.
Miss Militia had caught up, it seemed.
Abandoning all pretense of defense, Armsmaster surged forward, dodging the projectiles with practiced ease as he drove the pair of addict capes to the field of blades left behind by Kaiser's retreat.
Aware of his plan, Miss Militia had driven the Empire's head and his lackey back into the fray. The two pairs nearly collided in their respective retreats, and soon were facing off against not only the Protectorate, but each other as well.
Kaiser attempted to skewer Skidmark's legs, most likely in a ploy to leave the man as an offering for his own escape, but hadn't accounted for the Merchant leader's field. A shimmering field appeared and deflected the attack, sending the shaft of steel into the distance, where it presumably landed in the street.
Mush, seeing his boss in trouble, hefted a dumpster that had somehow been dragged into the street, and launched it towards Kaiser, but the bin was caught on Hookwolf's spikes and tossed aside.
Armsmaster had not been idle during the scuffle, and had repositioned himself alongside Miss Militia, in preparation for another assault.
"If you can keep Mush and Hookwolf pinned down, I can disable Skidmark at the very least, until reinforcements arrive," said Armsmaster.
"Understood," she replied, and the response was punctuated by the formation of a rather large machinegun.
Armsmaster smirked. He could always appreciate firepower.
His companion opened fire, and Armsmaster launched forward, intent on landing a solid hit on head of the Merchants before he could react to the sudden charge.
He was suddenly intercepted by the appearance of Kaiser, armed with a blade grown from his armor. Two quick jabs drove him back, nearly piercing the armor around his waist, and Armsmaster had to awkwardly fall aside to dodge a follow-up strike.
A hollow '
fwoomp' sounded from Miss Militia's location, and Armsmaster looked just in time to see a concussive grenade suddenly on course for the pair.
Kaiser must have noticed his shift in attention, and quickly turned to confront the scene behind him.
Armsmaster knew he would handle the shockwave with ease, but Kaiser would not be so lucky. Hastily, the Nazi batted the projectile away, redirecting it overhead, and into the street where it detonated with a dull '
thunk'.
'
This is getting out of hand,' thought Armsmaster, as he retreated to Miss Militia's side.
The Empire capes had regrouped, and the Merchants were even now gathering the garbage and debris that had accumulated as further ammunition.
It had been bare minutes since the battle had begun, and already things were going sour.
"Sir, reinforcements are ETA seven minutes," announced Miss Militia. "Do you think we should keep this up?"
Armsmaster scowled. "We just need to keep them contained. Play them off one another, and we'll have four captures by the end of the night."
She nodded. "Ready when you are."
With that declaration, Skidmark fired the opening shot on the second act of their fight, and cued Kaiser and Hookwolf in for another assault.
Miss Militia peppered Hookwolf with her heavy machinegun, and Armsmaster once more squared off against Kaiser.
A lance of steel erupted from the earth, and Armsmaster snapped his Halberd up, severing a foot-long section, which he promptly batted towards Skidmark.
The cape cursed, and deflected the lance right back at him, and Armsmaster deftly sidestepped, allowing the spear to carry on it's course past him.
A moment later, just as he was preparing a decisive counter-assault, the world went black.
-
"And when you awoke, you say this new cape entered the scene?"
Armsmaster nodded, as Director Piggot went over his written report. It contained the answer to that question, and more, but her decided to answer her regardless.
"Yes. After a few moments time after we all recovered, this new cape entered the fight from behind the Merchants, heavily wounding Mush and stopping Hookwolf in his tracks."
Piggot
hmm'd as she flipped through the report, leaning back in her over-large leather office chair. "And you say she did this with a copy of your own weapon?"
Once more, he nodded, humoring the question. "Yes. It was a perfect replica from what I could see."
"This wasn't equipment you had previously discarded, or lost on patrol?"
"No. She seemed able to generate copies of the Halberd I was using at the time, at will and multiple times."
Piggot
hmm'd again. "Miss Militia agrees with this report?"
Suppressing a frustrated sigh, he replied evenly, "Yes, as she states in her own report, everything I have reported is factual to her knowledge."
Piggot gave the report one last look, before she set it aside. "So you mean to tell me, that through your own negligence, a civilian was caught in the crossfire of your fight, and
killed in front of her family. One of whom presumably Triggered from the trauma, and can now copy highly dangerous tinkertech weaponry
at a whim?"
She had spoken calmly and evenly, but Armsmaster could see the boiling anger carefully held in check behind her words.
"I-," he began, but Piggot cut him off.
"And not
only," she continued, "did this
fiasco occur under your direction, you then proceeded to
incite an argument with an obviously traumatized child, by calling her reckless and claiming it wasn't
your fault?"
During her seemingly relaxed speech, Director Piggot had stood up, and placed both hands on her desk and leaned forward, staring him down the whole time.
Even behind the protection of his armor, Armsmaster felt more than a little nervous.
"What do you have to say to that?"
Cautiously, he responded, "I admit I made mistakes. I apologized to her, and gave the man with her a mask of his own to protect their identities, and sent in a request to Panacea for a session with them."
Piggot was silent a moment. "That," she said slowly, "is the only reason I'm not recommending a greater reprimand for you than you are already assigned."
She returned to her chair.
"As it is," she said coolly, "you will have your performance inspected, and your status as head of the Protectorate ENE reviewed."
The words came like a punch to the gut, leaving him cold.
"I understand," he ground out, and though he wanted to deny it, he
did understand it could have been so much worse.
Silence reigned in the office, as Piggot pulled a file from the stack on her desk.
"Now, about this new cape," began the Director, as if the previous threat hadn't just occurred.
"I've labelled her 'Mimic' in my report." Armsmaster interjected, already tired of referring to her as 'the new cape'.
Piggot quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that claimed?"
Armsmaster shook his head. "Surprisingly, no."
"Hm. Regardless, this 'Mimic' would be an incredibly valuable asset to our cause, with her ability to replicate tinkertech."
Armsmaster recalled the fight, and how Mimic had handled the weapon with skill to match his own. "She also seemed to be able to copy my style as well, either through some Thinker-based observation or skill mimicry."
Piggot hummed contemplatively at that. "And your report says that when you fought together, you felt a 'guidance' that led you through the battle? That it let you anticipate her setup with Hookwolf and Kaiser that disabled them?"
Armsmaster nodded an affirmative. "It was strange, like I knew exactly what she was planning, and how to cooperate to make it happen."
"Low-level Master, perhaps?", she murmured to herself.
He shook his head in a negative.
"It wasn't a compulsion, as such. Just a general notion of what she was going to do next, and how best to help," he clarified.
"Still. I say we put 'Mimic' down as a Master 1, Thinker 3, and Striker and Tinker 4. Better to be cautious than to go in unprepared." She scribble into a file folder as she spoke, and set it aside.
"Understood." Personally, he felt the ratings were high, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"You say she has your contact card?", she asked, as she returned her gaze from the stack of folders on her desk to his masked face.
"The man I presume to be her father took it, yes," He said impatiently. Armsmaster's fingers itched, and he already wanted out of this office and in his workshop. He had gotten some new ideas during the fight.
Piggot nodded to herself. "If they should contact you, let me know immediately."
"Very well." He hated PR work anyway.
"Unless you have anything else to report, you're free to go," she said, dismissing him.
Armsmaster turned on his heel, and left the office.
He had work to do.
A bit of the battle we didn't see from Taylor's point of view, and Piggot chewing out Armsmaster. The ratings are from what Armsmaster and Miss Militia observed, and as applied to a potentially hostile cape, so I'm all for recommendations for changes on that front.
I know the extent of Taylor's powers here, but I'm frankly terrible at ranking things.
Next part will have Avenger hitting the streets to mop up the loose ends.