FIEB Chapter 51 (Patreon)

Dylan POV

Sigh...

And the night was just getting started. I had only wanted to relaxwith Vicky, but no. I stared at the four nervous youngsters standing a few meters in front of me. We were in an empty, secluded plot away from the public eye. It had taken us some time to reach it, as the four had to walk and find medical masks to cover their faces—which worked somewhat. Despite their agreement to wait for the Protectorate, I had to shadow them. I never thought I would get involved in something like this, though.

Well, with great power comes great responsibility...

Uncle Ben wasn't exactly wrong. I sighed again. Vicky and I had decided to split up after she called the situation in to the PRT, as she wanted to bring in New Wave herself quickly. To say they were on edge with the whole situation was an understatement. They were wary of the four newly triggered parahumans and spooked by the fact that the ABB's tinker, whom they had taken lightly—a foolish decision on their part—was implanting tinker-tech bombs inside people.

If the situation wasn't handled properly, it could lead to the city entering a mass panic. I vaguely knew how the original Bakuda situation turned out. It caused every organization of power in the city to band together to take down the madwoman who had gone on to bomb and take hostage the entire city, causing massive casualties. If I remembered correctly, she had tortured the Undersiders on live TV.

I would not be going easy on her.

The only man in the group of women in front of me shifted and started to say something before the mousy-haired one, whose name I had learned was Talia, elbowed him and whispered something. I could have tuned into their conversation via my armor but decided not to. It didn't matter; there was nothing they could do to me, and at this point, the Protectorate members were on their way. From them, we would decide how to proceed.

The situation was complicated. On one hand, we didn't have an immediate attack, just the possibility of one. But the four in front of me had families or friends in Bakuda's hands, and their condition for compliance was to rescue them. When we attempted to do so, I didn't know what sort of dead man's switches Bakuda would have. And when Lung found out, he would escalate.

What do I do...?I grimaced in indecision. Any plans I tried to come up with didn't seem very good and could probably end up with a blown-up city.

Any plan I tried to come up with felt half-baked and risky. I pinged Macky, who was monitoring everything from HQ.

"HQ, you got anything?"

"Nothing suspicious in our quadrants," Macky replied.

"...Okay, just keep an eye out."

"Will do. And you take care of yourself and Vespera, Vigil."

I cut the connection and felt that all my effort to create a surveillance system was futile. No, I shook my head, I just need to perfect it and spread its reach.My sudden action must have spooked the four, as they focused on me.I thought of reassuring them, but before I could, my HUD pinged me of Taylor's location, and she was almost here. Looking up in her direction, my HUD zoomed in on a mass of writhing blobs of inanimate flying bugs carrying Vespera.

I turned to the four tense figures. "My teammate will be here in a moment," I said through the modulated voice of my helmet. "There's no need to panic."

They gave me a nervous nod, still looking very tense. Vespera landed a few seconds later in all her buggy glory, the swarm dispersing around her as she touched down. I opened a private channel to her comms.

"Sorry you had to come out for this."

"Don't worry about it," she replied. "This is what I signed up for. I already guided my dad to the HQ. He's safe there now."

I nodded. Before I could say anything else, another ping lit up my HUD—the Protectorate was arriving.

A few moments later, Miss Militia rolled up on her motorcycle with Assault and Battery riding alongside in an armored van. They stopped about a hundred meters away. Velocity blurred in right after them. Finally, Armsmaster arrived on his signature bike. I noticed Dauntless and Triumph were absent.

Miss Militia dismounted and walked toward us.

"Vigil. Vespera," Miss Militia greeted us reservedly. She nodded toward the four nervous parahumans. "I need to speak with them first." She moved off to talk with the group along with Battery while Assault and Velocity stayed behind, giving the new triggers some space. Only then did I clock Armsmaster power-walking towards Vespera and me.

"Vigil, what is the situation?" He asked me without pleasantries. This man, even after everything, is still so stiff,I sighed. Still, it seemed that the Protectorate had learned from my incident and were seemingly handling the situation more pleasantly.Militia and Battery were talking with the four new parahumans, and even from here, I could see the situation calming down.

I quickly explained the situation—the four new triggers, their families held hostage by Bakuda, the threat of bombings, and Lung's very possible escalation—without going into too many personal details. Just as I finished, Miss Militia walked back over, looking tense. Battery stayed behind with the four, trying to keep the peace, but I could tell we were reaching a turning point.

Armsmaster quickly informed the woman of the situation, who grimaced and said,

"The four of them are willing to join the PRT provided we rescue their families."

Armsmaster tilted his head and said plainly,

"Rescuing them, while not simple, is doable, but the problem comes after that." He looked at Vespera and me and continued, "We do not know what the Bomb Tinker is capable of, and the Protectorate and the PRT will handle this assuming the entire city is rigged to explode."

Taylor questioned the man,

"So the PRT is not going to help?" At her sharp question, the man didn't say anything, but I could see Assault and Velocity move closer to hear the conversation.

"It is not that we don't want to help them," the woman truly looked anguished by the situation, "it's just too risky, and we know nothing about the situation."

I took a deep breath.

"So you're going to take them in?" I questioned the man in blue armor. Taylor's head snapped to me, possibly sensing my unwilling agreement, and from whatever bond we shared, I could feel her muted surprise and a smidgen of betrayal. It's not that I didn't want to help, but—

The Force was blaringat me. I was in danger. Something was not right.

"It would be the best-case scenario," Armsmaster said slowly. Vespera, taking offense to this, looked to me in disbelief.

"We have to help them, Vigil..." she stated.

I looked at the four, who were now looking more comfortable, hoping against all hope that everything would be alright, but looking further, I could sense their fear and desperation.

No! This is not who I am.

But what can I do? I thought fiercely, breaking my thoughts. "Vigil, do I have the Arbiter's support in this matter?" asked Armsmaster.

I turned my head and stared at the man.

"...Can we conduct an alpha strike at Bakuda?" I asked him lowly. "The only reason we can't act boldly in this situation is the possible repercussion of her opting to hail Mary the situation and blow up the Bay... but she might not have planted the bombs yet."

"You said it yourself, she could have a dead man's switch," Militia replied. "And the same can be argued that she could have planted them and will blow them up, and conducting a strike like that is against the unwritten rules."

At her explanation, I felt a surge of white-hot fury that had me grit my teeth and spoke in a controlled voice.

"I am aware of her unwritten rules, but does it matter if the ABB holds the entire city hostage? Will you simply give up the city?" I questioned her sharply.

"...That is not what I meant, Vigil..." the woman sighed.

"We just don't have the relevant information and time," Armsmaster continued. "If you have any other ideas, I'm open to considering them. I don't want this either."

I looked at Armsmaster in surprise, then calmed down. At the end of the day, they were not bad people; they were just trying to do good in a really shitty situation. I sighed. I could feel Taylor shift uneasily at how the situation was unfolding.

Just like Armsmaster said, I didn't have a plan of action that could work. Feeling lost, I did the only thing I could do and called upon the Force, falling into its embrace. It did not show me a path or a vision or a particular future, but all it did was reassure me that despite the danger that was around me, I was not alone, and that gave me a sort of clarity.

Time...

It was as they said, we didn't have time, but could we buy some more? If we broke down the situation, the only pressing issue was the families or friends of the newest capes. If we could rescue them quietly, we could buy some time, maybe even a day. And not everything had to be a fight. I could sneak in and mind-trick them into compliance and make a quiet exfil.

After all, even though the four of them had triggered and escaped, there had been no incidents or escalation from the ABB.

It might be risky, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

Before, I might have been worried about how people would perceive my ability to hypnotize people, but now people knew of my strength. They couldn't twist my hands without repercussions, and most importantly—

I have the Force with me. Who shall stand against that?

I firmed my resolve and laid out my plan to the listening Protectorate members, who listened with a strange tension. When I was done, I could tell they were wary, and Taylor had moved to my side in support.

"...Director Piggot would like to talk with you," Armsmaster said neutrally. He detached a comm unit from his armor and handed it to me. Despite his usual stiffness, I could sense he was surprisingly okay with the plan.

Huh... would you look at that. The sun can rise from the west after all.

I took the offered comm unit and held it against the side of my helmet.

"This is Vigil."

Director Piggot's cold, calm voice came through.

"Can you succeed in your plan?"

"Yes," I said, now calm through the Force.

She stayed quiet for a long moment.

"...Very well. The PRT will work alongside the Arbiters."