Chapter 31: Calm Before The Storm

-Colin POV-

Colin rolled his shoulders, idly working out an aching knot in his shoulder. He was a man that appreciated efficiency, someone who had dedicated his life to a single cause. Yet even he could admit that these last few weeks had been…stressful.

The days since leaving Kyushu had blended into a cycle of tinkering, exercising, planning, preparing and getting as much sleep as possible. Not an easy task for a man living in cramped quarters with entire groups of parahumans weary from the long voyage and angered at their loss in New Fukuoka.

Colin felt much the same, but unlike them he had Dragon. For as stressful as the trip was, at least he had the pleasure of her company to tide him over.

Then they had disembarked at the Okinawa islands. Dozens of pissed off parahumans had descended upon the warlord of the islands like a pack of starving hyenas.

It wasn’t even a contest.

The clean-up was where things became complicated.

The -now very dead- warlord had been a master, one capable of enforcing absolute loyalty upon anyone who consumed any liquid he had touched in the last twenty four hours. The man had maintained his control over the islands by strictly controlling the supply of water throughout his domain.

They had captured many of his thralls prior to finally defeating the master, however…

Colin’s face soured at the memories of corpses found in shallow waters, clearly having drowned themselves.

Ultimately they couldn’t save everyone.

Once twenty four hours had elapsed the rabid loyalty that had gripped the starving desperate people of the Okinawa islands had faded away. Now there was only a collection of broken and battered people, desperately searching for anything to cling to.

Thankfully it was shortly after this that the warships from the US had arrived. Trained medics and licensed specialists had taken over the care of these people. Many of them would elect to stay on the ramshackle forward base of the Okinawa islands to properly aid the victims.

But for the rest of them? The mission carried on, and they were once more packed like sardines and shipped back to Kyushu.

As frustrating as temporarily gaining space to stretch his legs and then losing it again was, at least the semi-imposed time for tinkering had been productive. His suit had been cannibalised only a day after leaving Kyushu, and Colin had feverishly reworked it using the knowledge he had obtained in New Fukuoka’s archive.

Carbon myomers thinner than hair now replaced electric-motors for moving his suit. This drastically increased usable space and even increased his armours strength by up to 7%! The ceramics that made up his armour were now leaner and more flexible, yet provided a wider range of protection against environmental hazards.

This had proved to be a boon when they finally reached Japan.

Attacking Parahumans came for them even before they had reached the shores. A hydrokinetic transporting two Blasters had harried them upon the coast, their speed in the water ensuring that any response was too sluggish to land a hit.

This was where the tinkertech additions to the ships came in handy. Hard light forcefields turned away the shimmering bolts of light and fire that the two enemy Blasters sent at them. Waves and whirlpools battered against the ships, but could not prevail against the buoyancy systems and neo-steel of the hull.

And so, the impasse continued for a few short minutes. The three Mount Ooe capes would flit about the oceans sending a barrage of energy and might that broke upon their shields and walls. Knowing that they would be unable to do more than distract us the three eventually dived down and disappeared from view, the sensors of the ships showing their retreating forms steadily heading north.

Then we disembarked. We did not immediately begin to march upon New Fukuoka. Instead Mecha-Shift deployed their foldable bunkers to provide a forward base and operating centre. Their the comms officers and scientists quickly established their positions before we left.

The trip through the forest was where he was now, standing over the decapitated body of one of the biotinkered creations of the Hyakki Yagyō. It was a particularly deadly specimen, the scales appearing like bark and leaves when viewed from a distance. This one, and others like it, had been ambushing us from the moment we entered the foliage.

The first sign of it’s presence was when it’s scything talons punctured the throat of a promising Shaker known as Room and dragged him off into the trees. Those that could sense the creature, whether by thermal or some other esoteric sense, had been ordered to track down and kill the creatures. The others were instead using their powers to remove any sort of cover the creatures could use.

The ground shook beneath him as the Blaster Quickshot -note to self, Clockblocker could never know- once more sent a concussive wave of force to tear through the surrounding vegetation.

The creatures had been deadly, but now that their presence was known their threat was quickly dwindling.

A flash of movement drew his eye, and he instinctively held his halberd in a guard. The next few moment proved his intuition was correct to do so.

A bolt of acid his halberd, smashing against the blade and began dribbling down the shaft.

Colin quirked his lips into something that might generously be described as a smile. His armour and weapons had become much more effective against environmental effects since acquiring the technology of this place. Honestly the technology was shockingly adept at using the surrounding environment to it’s benefit and existing alongside it harmoniously.

If it was tinkertech he’d probably consider it the creator’s specialty.

His eyes looked past the bubbling green liquid coating his weapon and locked eyes on his assailant. The creature was thin, painfully so. The white gaunt thing had skin so thin it appeared almost translucent. The fleshy wings upon it’s back and the large batlike ears almost evoked the image of a gargoyle.

But this thing was somehow more grotesque.

It hissed at him from the tree it had latched itself to. Perhaps it would have done something else, but Colin was in no mood to indulge the creature. A grappling hook shot out from the back of his halberd and dug straight into the creatures eye.

It’s pained shriek from the strike only amplified as the grappling hook began reeling in.

Bones and viscera spewed from the wound as it was dragged down from it’s perch. The gurgling squeal it made as it fell was promptly cut off as he impaled it upon his halberd.

With a twirl the monster was unceremoniously splattered onto a nearby tree, the last breath of the creature ignored as Armsmaster moved on.

The attacks were becoming more frequent the closer they got to the city and to make matters worse he was on a time limit, one imposed by his superiors.

As a Tinker who had been present throughout the inspection, and then retreat, of New Fukuoka he was considered an expert regarding the case. A boon to his career, but troubling in this case as they wanted him present when they confronted the Architects. According to the data provided to him their next target was most likely Hyderabad, India.

Judging by the speed at which the tunnel was being constructed he should have about five hours. Not nearly enough time to finish driving out the occupying capes, but enough to help his fellow parahumans through this forest.

The grip on his halberd tightened, a rare flare of irritation blooming in his chest. Of all the days for him to be called away, it had to be this one. In five hours he will be whisked away by Strider to needlessly be present as a group of Tinkers are brought into the fold.

There would be no glory for him there.

No, the people would remember the Triumvirate bringing in those rogues. Not Armsmaster.

And they certainly wouldn’t remember him as the spearpoint of this campaign, as he’ll be little more than a bean counter in the Chief Director’s scheme.

It rankled at him.

There were a dozen other ‘experts’ they could have called, and even worse he would be extraneous as Dragon would be there!

He stewed in that for a moment, barely registering the lizard man he decapitated as he did so.

Something would have to be done to recover this lost opportunity. He didn’t know what, but he was sure it could be done. Still bellicose, Armsmaster stalked through the forest. Determined to make some impact in this battle that would be remembered.

-Alexandria POV-

It was done.

Finally, after a month of frustration and chaos, they were in a position to bring that chaotic mess of an organisation to heel.

The Architects were -at once- an obstacle and an opportunity. By their hands decades of work that had been sunk into the Asian continent had been unravelled and now bedlam and anarchy ruled what were once stable lands.

Yet, at the same time, they had introduced wondrous technology and left it gift-wrapped and ready to be found.

Alexandria had pondered on that contradiction and come to the conclusion that they were either dangerously naïve, or dangerously idealistic.

Well, same thing really.

Either way they needed to be swept off the board and placed somewhere where they could be made use of.

Hence why they were here, witing in the flooded wreck of the city known as Hyderabad. It was partially sunk in 2001 by Leviathan. India’s capes: the Garama and Thanda, as well as a coalition of capes from other countries, had tried in vain to stop the Endbringer middle child to no avail.

Just being here, with a small army of capes, was an incredible show of trust on India’s part. One helped along by Contessa and the promise of sharing the technology gained from this venture, of course.

The city had been prepared. Chokepoints and static defences had been raised, both tinker and non-tinker in origin. Movers patrolled the city, vigilant for any sign of something awry. According to the latest information they would be here in an hour.

So, in an hour this whole mess would be over. The Tinkers would be taken in by Cauldron and interrogated for their secrets. How did they block Thinkers? What were their specialties? Was the technology found in New Fukuoka the only type of non-black boxed tinkertech in their possession?

Depending on their answers, and how compliant they were, many plans would need to be altered.

Their technology could be shared with groups of interest, ones Cauldron had taken the time and effort to pick out. The favours accrued from these exchanges would be immense.

And then there were the other benefits. Cities could be rebuilt with ease, making certain that the only loss that occurred from Endbringer attacks was people and not infrastructure. The PRT would be the ones to spearhead this new venture, she would make sure of it. The public relations coup would secure trust in the PRT for years to come.

With a thin smile on her lips she turned to face North-East, the direction in which the Architects were coming.

Reaching down to her armband, sleeker and more streamlined than the bulkiness the Endbringer model required, she pushed the button required to speak to Dragon.

“Dragon, any changes?”

“Negative, the scans all indicate no deviation from their route. Preparations are set to be complete in ten minutes,” Dragon said.

Alexandria nodded at that, it was unlikely for there to be any changes at this point. The worst case scenario would be if the Architects didn’t resurface and India wasn’t their target. If that was the case then they would have to teleport into the tunnels to confront them, abandoning the advantages of a battlefield they had personally prepared.

Not that it was likely to be needed. Even in the worst case scenario this group of Tinkers was still up against the might of the Triumvirate as well as a small army of capes.

“Very good. As you were,” Alexandria replied before dropping the call.

Just an hour to go. All preparations had been completed. Everything was in place.

All that was left to do was wait.

AN: Surprise early chapter! I’ve got a new schedule, so a chapter should be coming out every four days instead of seven. So next chapter should come out on Monday.

So here we are, moments before disaster. Alexandria and the rest of the PRT have set up a prepared battleground, not actually imagining that they’ll need to use it. The plan is to essentially intimidate the Architects into surrendering with a massive show of force. To even set this up in a foreign country they’ve burned favours and used Contessa. In their minds it’s a worthy sacrifice. In reality? Not so much.

Colin is still going ham with a much improved set of armour and weapons. He’s a bit salty about having to be in India, as he doesn’t believe he’ll be needed. Boy will he be wrong.

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