DMA Base, Upstate New York
July 16, 2029
12:00pm
Mallory Woods, Director of the DMA's New York branch, strolled through the hall with her secretary, a young and very patriotic woman, close behind. Mallory glanced back at her secretary to find her writing furiously on her clipboard all the important events and due dates in her schedule. "Jean, have you scheduled my five o'clock already?", Mallory took another glance back to see a puzzled look on her secretary's face. Jean quickly responded after checking, "Of course ma'am, you entire day's schedule has been set up"
"Cancel my five. I've decided to visit R&D, see what they are working on", Mallory said as she arrived at a door and entered the conference room. "But the mayor-", Jean was cut off as Mallory had already left her outside in the hall "...I guess he can wait then".
Inside the conference room, Mallory was seated at the end of the table with eight others. At the opposite end of the room was a screen which at the moment was off but would be used later on in the conference. "Ah, Ms. Woods, I believe we can begin now", said a member of the board. The screen flicked on and displayed aerial views as well as head mounted camera views of the National Guard. The videos showed the masses of Gifted running for their lives and being shot down while some escaping out into the city. Another board member spoke, "As you can see from the drone cameras multiple metahumans were able to escape the park. Thankfully that same night the joint task force was able to execute a good amount of them. Our numbers project that only 5% of the original group has still eluded our searches". Various members of the board clapped in congratulations, this had been their most successful operation since Haven and if they were to completely eliminate the Rally group their publicity would skyrocket.
Mallory did not clap however, she sat there in silence watching the video feeds making sure to see everything and anything of importance. "5% is still a considerable number, ladies and gentlmen, large enough that they pose a threat to the city if organized but too small to perform a massive search on that would scare the public. Thankfully I have the perfect solution. My Wardens, I'll deploy a team with my best Warden with them. They are small enough to perform the search without raising too much public attention but they will be extremely efficient", Mallory waited for the boards response and as she expected their reactions were mixed. Hunters were fine, Gifted-Hunters were okay, but Mallory's Wardens were something else entirely. Those creatures were not simply mindless killing machines. The early versions maybe but the newer and more refined versions were tactical, powerful, determined, and far more deadly. One board member spoke up, "Mallory with all due respect the Wardens are-"
"The Wardens are the ones to send in when the problem is more complicated than a shootout in the park. These metahumans, they've escaped a massive slaughter of their kind meaning they either can fight back or they are very good at evading us. They've escaped the following search of the city, confirming the later of the two possibilities. They have by now blended back into the human populous and finding them by way of door to door house searches is too risky. Knock on a few doors and the ones hiding next door will get an earl warning not to mention the people don't trust the DMA as it is. To do a massive and extensive search would lower the public opinion of us further. We need the Wardens, they can do what our other assets can't, and they can do it quickly. So unless there are any questions, I'd best be going. I have an old friend to visit".
Mallory exited the conference room to find Jean loyally waiting just outside the door. "So how'd it go?", Jean asked eagerly waiting to hear what would be done. "I'm sending out a Warden with a hunter team. A quiet search is to be done of the entire island", Mallory replied before pulling out her phone and calling the Housing Department of the facility. "Dorian? Where is Malcolm? Doesn't matter, prep Pariah for deployment", on the other end of the call a man replied with an unsure response, "Uuuuuh I don't know if that's a good idea, you know how she gets when she listens to music"
"Tell her it's me you'll be fine"
"Alright then...", over the phone the sound of a door opening and Dorian's feet could be heard as he slowly made his way to wherever Pariah was in her holding chamber. When Dorian finally arrived at Pariah's location his voice could be heard, "Uuh Paria-ACK AHH!". Whatever Pariah had done to Dorian it was obstructing his airways and making it hard for him to speak. He barely uttered out the words, "It's...Mallory..". Pariah immediately let Dorian go and his feet could be heard sprinting out of the room before she spoke, "I was listening to music..."
"I know but fortunately I have something you'll enjoy more than that. You're going into the field, Manhattan"
"Metas on a riot?"
"Didn't I have them install a tv in your room?"
Pariah looked over to the busted tv that laid on the floor. "There's nothing good on"
"Well you missed quite a show yesterday. Turn on the tv, you'll see"
"...can't"
"I see, you realize we pay for those? Doesn't matter get yourself ready, your being put on a team. Your mission is to hunt down and eliminate as many metahumans as you can. Do it quietly, as always, and remember to play nice"
"What are you, my mom?"
"Sweetheart, I practically raised you!"
"Yeah, later mom", whether Pariah hung up the phone or broke it was unknown. Mallory put hers back in her pocket and headed over to the vehicle depot, she'd have to give Pariah something before she left.
Once at the depot Mallory stood by the designated APC tapping her foot as she waited. A few minutes after and Pariah came through the door to the depot with her usual field outfit on. Her SWC-Volt was slung over her shoulder and her mask rested atop her head. Pariah stood before Mallory with a look that showed she meant business, "What? Want a hug before I go?".
"No just need to give you this. One of our agents, Maxwell Declairmont, just gave us a lead on a possible High-Priority Target. Our analysts did their work and concluded it is a Cole Harland. We've been looking for him or some time now, it's likely that he's with others so be ready to face multiple hostiles. Eliminate any and all associates. With his history we don't want to make a martyr of him", Mallory handed Pariah a file filled with everything the DMA had on Cole along with the profiles of Pariah's squadmates.
"So John'll be on this one? Alright, but this Maxwell. I don't know him. Sure you want us working together?"
"Maxwell is a very skilled individual and his work is what got us the lead on Cole, besides you didn't know John and now look you two are the best of friends"
"Maybe in his eyes.."
"Well you have everything in order so I'll let you go"
"What not gunna stay? Might be some time before the others get here? Besides you can fill me in on what I missed"
Mallory knew what this was. Despite Pariah's unwillingness to admit it she had grown attached to Mallory in a strange way. Mallory after all did oversee Pariah's training since she was brought into the Warden Program so in a way she was an adopted mother to Pariah...an adopted mother who put her daughter through cruel and brutal trials but when you are given limited human interaction you'd become attached to the few individuals you see. "Sure, why not. If it helps you better understand the situation.."