I know, I know, I've made you guys wait an unconscionable amount of time before posting this chapter. But between losing my job, HeroCon, getting the flu, making the GOING ROGUE teaser, and trying to find a job, I think I'm going insane.
However, I give you not only the latest chapter, but art! Yes, courtesy of Brandon McKinney, aka CyberLynx here on the forums, I present to you
your favorite nerd lovers fighting the good fight!
(Ironic, isn't it, that right after Sora and Posi agree to keep their personal and professional lives separate, I commission art that has them together in uniform... I wonder what subconscious message that means...)
And as usual, discussions go
here.
So, without further ado...
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
*******
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE II: COURTSHIP AND CRIME FIGHTING
Chapter Three - The Face of the Enemy
"Well, that answers one question."
Raymond's voice was flat as he stared at the monitor, the image of the saboteur still frozen in place. Just when he'd thought the day couldn't get any worse, fate chose to prove him wrong.
I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.
Behind him and Synapse, the door to the lab opened, and Sister Psyche strode in, Manticore and Statesman behind her. Her eyes swept the room, then came to rest on Steve and Raymond in concern.
"Are you all right? I felt-" She paused for a moment, then went on. "Not quite fear. More like horror, really."
"That was me," Steve said quietly, still idly resting his hand over his side where he'd been stabbed. "Seems that now we know who's behind the attempted bombing."
Looking up at his roommate, Raymond could understand Steve's response to the situation. A near-death experience was a hard thing to forget, especially when it came at the hands of a cold-blooded assassin and a misguided shadowy clone of one's current girlfriend.
Manticore moved around his wife to get a closer look at the monitor. "Not someone I'd want to go up against in a dark alley," he remarked. "We got an ID on him?"
"Not quite, but we know who he's with," Raymond replied. "Especially now that we know he's the one who almost assassinated Synapse and me a couple months ago."
"Nova Dominion," Statesman rasped. "Terrific - well, at least we have what information the Star Patrol has on them, maybe we can dig up some more on this one."
"Unfortunately, they didn't have much," Manticore admitted, turning away from the monitor with a faint shudder. "At least not on this guy. I get the feeling this is the assassin they've been chasing for a while, but this may be the first real look anyone's gotten of him."
"At any rate, that's only part of the puzzle," Sister Psyche mused, shifting her attention away from Synapse to the rest of the group at large. "Now we know who planted it, and which group's responsible. We still need to figure out who actually built that bomb, and why they were trying to take out the portal to Recluse's Victory.
And there's the matter of what they were scanning for when Positron started dismantling the bomb."
For a few moments, they were all silent, lost in their own thoughts as they studied the image on the monitor.
"I don't think this is an isolated incident," Raymond said at last. "This has more of the feel of an opening move."
"Or a feint," Manticore suggested. "Something to distract us from whatever else they might have planned."
"Well, speculation won't do us much good," Raymond sighed, running one hand over his scalp. "Let's see what we can actually prove and then go from there."
"Suggestions?" Steve asked, leaning against his workbench.
Raymond frowned in thought for a moment. "You, Statesman, and Psyche can go over the info we got from the Patrol, see how many more gaps you can fill now that we've got this. Try and find out if any of their members have the technical knowledge to build a bomb like the one we found at D.A.T.A. Manticore, see if your contacts at Wyvern know anything."
The archer nodded. "Will do. What about you?"
Raymond glanced over at the disassembled bomb on his workbench. "See what I can get out of this thing. Maybe Citadel can shed some light on it."
"Then let's get to it," Statesman said as he turned toward the door.
*****
For the next three hours, Raymond sat hunched over his worktable, methodically cataloguing every aspect of the bomb, from its wiring to its parts, from its metallurgy to its electronics system. As he documented each part, he placed it in a pile on his workbench, soon it was covered with circuitry, metal plates, and wires. To help keep this thoughts straight, he was dictating into a recorder, even as he scribbled thoughts and ideas onto a notepad in his cramped, jagged writing.
He sighed, rubbing his eyes, and turned on the recorder again. "My initial analysis was right - the bomb is comprised of parts ranging from multiple sources. Whoever built this thing got stuff from all over." He picked up a piece of the bomb's shell and studied it as he continued to speak.
"Its exterior metallurgy is consistent with the metal shielding of those forcefield generators that the Sky Raiders have been known to use. The interior power systems, though... they remind me an awful lot of some of the tech we've taken off Crey."
Setting down the metal piece, he picked up a small circuit board and peered at it. "Then there's the electronics system... the components are almost same as the ones I've seen in Council technology, but the design is nothing like theirs. It almost looks like something Aeon Corp would have come up with, but it's too hard to tell at this point."
He tossed the circuit board onto his bench and rubbed his face, then went on. "And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see that whoever built this thing also had access to parts used by Longbow and Vanguard. The scanner system is almost identical to theirs."
Scowling, he switched off the recorder and glared at the parts that now covered his workbench in carefully labelled piles. "I'm not a demolitions expert," he said aloud. "But whoever built you sure as hell knew what he was doing."
Just then, the door to his lab opened and Manticore came in, a folder in his hands. With a casual flick of the wrist, he tossed it so that it landed in Raymond's lap.
"What's this?"
"Latest intel from Wyvern - picked it up in an info dump about five minutes ago. It just finished going through that decrypt program you wrote. The relevant part is at the bottom of page four."
Raymond opened the folder to see notes from a Wyvern team currently operating in the Rogue Isles. Turning pages, his gaze fell to the bottom of the page and read:
"
Increased hit-and-fade theft activity detected on Cap au Diable, Sharkhead Isle and Nerva Archipelago. Number of members uncertain, but descriptions of one member consistent across multiple events."
He looked over at Manticore. "Nerva, Cap and Sharkhead? Why those places? What's there?"
He scooted his chair over toward the bank of monitors and began typing at the terminal, and soon satellite maps of the Rogue Isles appeared on the screens. Focusing on the ones mentioned in the Wyvern report, he zoomed in on them, watching as intelligence data began scrolling past on an adjacent monitor.
Manticore looked thoughtful. "Cap au Diable, that's easy. Aeon Corp. Some of the highest hi-tech stuff in the world there, outside of Recluse's pet scientists in Grandville. Then Crey has one of its main facilities in Nerva, but you've also got Arachnos all over the place there, and the Circle of Thorns..."
"... though I doubt this is related to them," Raymond said wryly. So far as he'd been able to tell, there had been no arcane workings to the bomb's design or creation.
"Still, the place is a hotbed, one more reason why Ms. Liberty pushed so hard to found Agincourt there."
Raymond grimaced to himself. Agincourt, the primary Longbow base in the Rogue Isles, certainly had its uses when it came to the fight against Arachnos. But it was also something of a sore spot between Ms. Liberty and Statesman when it came to her handling of Longbow. Granted, they still fell under the jurisdiction and strictures of the Freedom Corps and the laws governing all metahuman activity, but Statesman's disapproval of Longbow's heavier-handed methods was almost legendary in the Phalanx. That, however, was between Statesman and Ms. Liberty, he thought.
"What about Sharkhead? That whole place is practically under the Cage Consortium's thumb." Not a fact he was happy about, either. Raymond might not have been born on the docks like Statesman had, but he still felt a keen sympathy for the dockworkers' plight as they were constantly being exploited by the Cage Consortium. Statesman had tried on more than one occasion to help, but without a regular presence there, things always fell back to a miserable status quo for the workers there.
"Not all of it," Manticore said thoughtfully. "In addition to their base on Striga, the Sky Raiders have got a sizable holding in the Isles too." He moved over toward the monitors and tapped one finger against a screen. "This is one of their main bases, though they've also got an airstrip somewhere nearby. Also, according to Wyvern, rumor has it that the Council have carved out a piece of Sharkhead for themselves, but ever since the Fifth Column have started cropping up again, they've been moving in on the Council's turf everywhere."
Raymond looked at his workbench again. "So if it is the Nova Dominion, either the Dominion's either working with all these groups..."
"... which is really unlikely," Manticore put in.
"... or they're stealing the tech they need," Raymond finished. "I may not have your millions, but my money's on the latter."
Abruptly Raymond frowned, and Manticore gave him an odd look. "What's wrong?"
"Well, whoever built this did so with tech ranging across a number of organizations. I just spent three hours cataloguing every piece of this thing. But it just dawned on me - there's nothing here I'd point to and say was Arachnos-built or developed. Why?"
Manticore opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again with a frown that matched Raymond's. "Good question. Maybe they don't want this getting backtracked to Arachnos?"
"Still begs the question of why. Especially considering that the group most likely to benefit from the destruction of the portal into Recluse's Victory is Arachnos."
"You think Arachnos maybe 'contracted' the Dominion to take it out?" Manticore mused, but Raymond shook his head.
"I couldn't say for sure, but I doubt it. More like someone in the Dominion is making sure not to step on Arachnos' toes. Plausible deniability or something, maybe." He shook his head again. "Damned if I know, I don't have your head for intrigue and skulking."
"'Skulking'?" Manticore asked with raised eyebrows. "I think I'm offended."
Raymond waved away the comment. "You know what I mean." He went back to reading the Wyvern report. "They give a description on the thieves?"
"Just one. Top of page five."
He turned to the next page and read:
"
Based on descriptions, suspect operative is female, tall, with black hair and pale skin. Eyes covered by goggles or other technological device. Wears body armor from neck down. Carries rifle of unknown origin. Expert markswoman. Possible related incidents associated with operative tend to be quick incursions with a minimum of damage, though operative does not seem averse to killing both metahumans and normal civilians. Operative also is almost always accompanied by robotic entities not unlike Clockwork."
"No name, though," he grumbled, closing the folder and tossing it onto his workbench.
"It's a start," Manticore reminded him. "We can run it against what we got from the Star Patrol, maybe match a name to the description."
Raymond leaned over and activated the intercom. "Hey, Synapse."
"
Yo!"
"You still got the Nova Dominion files open?"
"
I do now, why?"
Raymond quickly read off the description from the Wyvern report. "Sound like anyone in there?"
For a moment there was silence, then Steve answered, "
Hmmmm... bit vague, but that might match the description for one of its members."
"Which one?"
"
Woman by the name of Soulsteel. The Patrol's not had too many run-ins with her, but apparently she's some kind of technological genius."
"Sounds like our girl," Raymond said with a grim smile. "Thanks, Steve."
"
No problem."
Raymond looked back at Manticore. "Can you have Wyvern run a check on her?"
"Sure, but they'll have to be really circumspect about it, unless you want word possibly getting back to the Dominion about it."
That could be a problem, Raymond realized. While information was something they desperately needed if they were going to fight the Nova Dominion, it wouldn't do any of them any good if Banestar and the others found out that the Freedom Phalanx was already on their tail.
"Don't push things," he advised. "Better that they don't know we know."
"We're still gonna need more information than this, though," Manticore sighed. Then he straightened up. "Wait a sec... the Star Patrol said they had members working in the Rogue Isles. Give them a call."
*****
"
Star Patrol HQ, Agent Wright."
"Hello, Agent Wright. This is Positron," Raymond said as the audio/video feed synched up with the Star Patrol's communications system. "Listen, we have a possible suspect for this morning's bombing attempt, but we could use your assistance."
"
Sure, what can we do to help?"
"You said you guys have members working in the Rogue Isles, correct? Can they investigate a certain operative for the Nova Dominion?"
He saw Wright frown thoughtfully. "
Should be able to..." She turned her head to look at something offscreen, and Raymond heard her typing at the keyboard. "
Currently, we've got agents on assignment in Port Oakes and St. Martial. What do you need?"
"Anything they can find on a woman named Soulsteel. Wyvern'll be running their own investigation, but anything they could turn up would be a help," Raymond said, and Wright nodded.
"
Will do. How fast you need it?"
"Yesterday would be nice," Raymond admitted, and he saw Wright give him a wry smile.
"
I'll see what they can do. Anything else?"
Giving Manticore a quick glance, Raymond sighed. "Is Sorina there?"
"
Not at the moment, she's leading a rescue team over in the Hollows."
He felt his heart sink, and briefly considered contacting her directly, but they'd agreed to keep their personal and professional lives separate. "Damn... could you please ask her to give me a call when she gets back?"
Wright nodded. "
Sure thing. We'll be in touch. Star Patrol out."
"And you don't want to call her because you guys are trying to keep business and pleasure separate," Manticore stated after a moment's silence, and Raymond nodded. "Yeah, Shalice mentioned something about that. When you're ready to talk about it, let me know."
"I will, Justin. And thanks."
Manticore tossed him an abbreviated salute, then strolled out of the lab again. For a moment, Raymond sat at his workbench, staring at nothing, then he found himself reaching for the communications system before he realized what he was doing and pulled his hand back.
"Damn it," he whispered, resting his face in his hands.
To be continued...
You know... one of these days, we're gonna say something silly like this, and then Brawler's gonna go ahead and do it, just to spite us... >.>
