Brookside, the familiar turf she'd run across back and forth back in the day. Er, over five years ago at the very least. Before....everything happened. That was as much as she'd preferred to term it to keep things simple on her side these days, but Powers personally had a finger on the breakdown of everything she knew otherwise. But when she'd gone back to the reports to get more info on the newcomers and so forth she'd found quite the resume before her....and likewise an enigma alongside that so very stunningly Bri'ish resume she was surprised the woman that came with him didn't speak Irish or Scottish or served him his midday tea every single day. Eh? Ok, perhaps it was a bad joke to think of on her end, but hell if it wasn't something if the guy didn't come off like he did and had confirmed actual MAGIC in his aresenal. But when getting the info on the coming mission, however, the crew for the mission, those coming along, and yet most notably the starting info they had to work with had certaianly drawn her attention.
"In addition to the Leftover surge, there are rumors that organized crime has been operating out of the area. Particularly, a small but resilient group of metahumans that have begun to call themselves the “Azure Skulls,” believed to be an attempted revival of the destroyed Blue Skulls, have been seen on the perimeters of the abandoned plants. There have also been loud machine sounds heard echoing from the depths of the facility at night. Again, it is presently unknown precisely what their motives are and if they are even associated with the plant."
Some people didn't know when to let go. Stubborn as all hell bunch of total of-.....never mind. Was it a bunch of newbies and metas inspired by the Bridge Incident from five years ago? Some slackers who'd avoided going to the bridge that no one had noticed due to the big news going on back then? Maybe some pocket of 'villain era' recruits they had tried to get together or such that HQ had kept under wraps before sacrificing the rest of them like cattle to the slaugher alongside everyone else? She sure as anything, even down to her bones, knew it wouldn't be anyone from HQ....she'd made personally sure of that years ago. Double-checked it, even, in the aftermath from the very top to bloodied and wall-painted bottom. Seen it in her nightmares, even, for by now a bit over five long years with at least four of those and a bit of putting more into working on herself than she'd ever done before alongside the rest of it.
The metahuman let an audible and loud click of notable dissatisfaction out of her mouth without batting an eye as the van pulled to a stop finally.
Leftovers, gang fights, it was all part of the Brookside life as far as she was concerned and had ever known. But some idiots with that ambitious of a goal and that much resilience setting up in the ruins of this place in particular? No, it wasn't a coincidence at all she figured. Nor was it a good sign they'd possibly found a means to live alongside some Leftovers or to use em' as cover or something. To hell with accusations of paranoia, she'd admit to it in a sense in this situation if asked outright. Do not underestimate the stupid crap that goes on in Brookside, and if anyone down in this building had been associated with the now-former leadership or been trying to work with em' on those 'big villain group' aspirations then it was more than doubly dangerous for all of them here to boot.
She wasn't as ridiculously smart as the kid they called "Wiseman", but she wasn't stupid either. Even caught up on her education and then some. Did her homework. Etc. Was a part of just learning how to survive in some capacity to her, so she'd built on that with new habits and such to try to make the best use of herself. Had to know your allies as much as your enemies and so forth. Not that surprises couldn't be there, etc, but even just a basic idea before going into a fight with another gang could spell better or worse for those involved. And she'd just been a dumb kid learning that.....and learning it in the worst ways possible.
While Lab Rat had ridden with Crane's truck, Ardent had taken to flying, and Mire just crawled out however it pleased, Luna took a brief second to get out behind them before anything else. And yet while the sight of the ruined-out building felt a bit too familiar for her liking, all the same she'd walk over to where Crane and a few of the others seemed to be congregating. Or, well, where others were congregating at Crane? Hmm. Maybe they could-
"Before we start." He glared at Lab Rat, who had emerged from Crane's truck. "I wanna know. Are you actually with us?"
He tilted his head up towards the tower.
"Or with her?"
”Is that human on the tower coming down here or is it going to annoy us?” They asked, hearing Ardent mention the ICOSA “supervisor.” ”Are we supposed to care what they think? If that’s the case, why would they put me here? When they already don’t mean anything to me?”
Mire turned and look up at Perez off in the distance. That strange approximation of a humanoid skull glared right through her, emotionless but obviously unamused. ”They want me to get rid of the same thing that I am, but they want me to stay here… Fine. Where are they? They’re my problem, now. But if that human points that… ”Weapon” or whatever they’re called at me when I get rid of them, it goes next.”
-....hell. She could work with the distrust of the ICOSA suits, but all the same it wasn't going to get their real job done any better to start
this sort of crap already. Already! They were here to help, but Mire was here to b**** like usual about everything, Mr. Vigilante was already tossing looks and words a little here, and Crane was already being caught in the middle of this while the newcomer was semingly trying to be nice to her or something. All they needed was Blur, who probably knew enough of Brookside like she did according to her gut instincts, and the Terraformer kid right over here too and it'd be an unofficial group meeting.
Alright then, they couldn't sit and do this all day and all night or else they'd be inviting everything bad to happen to them. Plan and simple, at least in the former ganger's mind. The girl would augment her durability and strength incredibly already to solid combat levels on her part, however, and briefly even augment some supporting things to boot like her eyes and ears using her power. She would then take a look far out at the moving Leftovers for a moment to try to judge a bit of distance. Terrazards? Why was it always blasted Terrazards? But she'd try to look for any 'suspicious movement' or the like in that brief time window as well.
Afterward, Luna would then finally pull up her watch and send a loud and clear group message to those who were here on this mission. Those who she was standing near would get her speaking loudly there to boot. Not too loud as to call to the Zards, but enough to talk over the others and get their vital attention.
"Hey there, party people, I won't be mincin' words here or sugar-coatin' even though no one died an' made me king or queen here.
Let's please keep our eyes on the prizes here for the time being, and on keeping each others' backs more than anything. We're not here to fight each other, and we're not here to shoot off glares and spit out words at each other for the moment. End of the day, ICOSA or HERO, we all should be right here right now to stop these things and then investigate things before it all can threaten innocent lives...or worse.
So I suggest we all listen up a second too, because I'm goin' to be droppin' some facts and knowledge for the uninitiated here because these Terrazards aren't going to pull punches or anything like that here. Even Ms. Perez is being pulled in on this call, so all of us will be on the same basic page for this stuff even if ya' already know some of this."She was going to call it as it was. If ICOSA wanted to keep an eye on them more than help people at the end of the day, then it would show. But for all intents and purposes they needed to keep their eyes on the prize and so forth. What they were going to face wasn't paltry kiddie play, and neither was what they had come to investigate to boot. Had to be focused, or it would all go southward in a heartbeat. She had seen it personally happen before years ago. All that was left of one guy she'd tried to get out of there once was his-....ahem. Yeah it wasn't pretty to be monster food, that was all she was going to acknowledge for now.
"Terrazards, or just known as 'Zards' around these parts, are lizard Leftovers that hunt in big packs, move quick, got razor-sharp claws, and their spit can paralyze ya' if you get bit. Hide is too tough for stuff like some pistol, but rifle'll punch into em' just fine. They are very clever, and they always like using their big numbers and ganging up on people an' otherwise gettin' you isolated or killed in smaller groups by pulling you away from the main group.
I'd say we're over two hundred yards downwind of the things for the moment it seems, thankfully, but they like hunting metas like us and if they get the scent of food should the wind direction change we won't have time ta' argue our asses off with each other later since we'll be dead if they get us badly enough or get us with our pants down.
So let's get to work here while we've got the time and chance to."Luna's tone was blunt, to the point, and speaking as clearly as she could to boot. Yet at the same time, a certain seriousness and somberness was obvious enough in her speaking if one listened for more than just two seconds.
She'd seen people die to this type of Leftovers as well as weaker ones. She'd seen people die in metahuman fights. She'd seen meta people who though they were 'all that' get gunned down by just some mundane guys in a car who used their heads to win at the end of the day. She'd seen mundane people die to the most simple and forgettable ways of dying. She'd even seen her own body parts severed, eaten, or sent flying like a football at an NFL kickoff for pity's sake. There was no mincing words or sugar-coating it to those involved, cleaning up things like this and fighting were not pansy little things you could fully understand in school. Not to be mean to the Lighthouse school nessecarily, but the only experience she had was in Brookside and on these streets and around these things and these people and the chance to die more often than not in one incredibly horrible or even pathetically lackluster way or another. The Depths held plenty of things and horrors on its own, and so did every corner of Castleburg as far as she knew. Horrors that were open and violent and easy to screan and run from, monsters that crushed you from behind closed doors, and things that though they were saviors or in the right no matter what despite the sufficient coating of blood and gore on themselves in the aftermath. Even her catch-up education in lockup had certainly made things clear when learning about history and the sort as well.
But, for now, she'd continue with the better part of what she wanted to say.
"So the local Brookside way I know to deal with em' is simple enough: Think like em' and get in their head a little. Use similar clever tactics. Do not go off alone or pursue them for any reason, even if you've got two people to do so. They and anyone inside of that building who doesn't want us alive here want you to do that, whether its out elsewhere in the open or inside a building or somethin', and you will potentially die.
Starting us off with the plan proper, though, is the bait. Role's pretty self-exlanatory, even if it at first seems to be against the general rule I just gave ya'. Bait draws the Zards out not too far out from their home, they're not stupid after all, to where the rest of everyone needs to set up a proper perimeter inside and out while keeping an eye out while the bait does their thing.
Outside of the perimeter is the majority of people whose one big job is keepin' the numbers of em' at bay, watching out for danger from the Zards or other sources, and keepin' us from getting surprised from other things from the outside as best as possible. Given the ambitious and reckless idiots the metas we're investigating inside are tryin' to emulate, expect sneak attacks or sniping or traps or that sort of thing as a potential hazard outright throughout all of this at all times.
Inside the perimeter, then, we then have our heavy-hitters. These are the ones whose main jobs is to kill as many of em' as fast as they can. Bait brings the first bunch into a hole we leave wide open on the front of the perimeter, then before the outer perimeter people get overwhelmed or hit in the back heavy hitters begin smashin' those that followed the bait in fast and hard. We leave that hole in the front of the perimeter because its where the bait brings em' in for the heaviy hitters ta' begin the meat grinder initially, and ta' make these things think its a weakness they can exploit ta' flank those on the outer perimeter so they keep sendin' more of their own in to get chewed up by the heavy hitters like a meat grinder.
Bait after kickin' things off and getting back ta' safety then helps the outside of the perimeter or even the inside as needed, at least unless the Zards stop coming into the perimeter opening an' start holdin' back. If the Zards stop sending more of their own inside the openin', everyone goes to perimeter and fills out the hole ta' help out and avoid getting us flanked and overrun." Cull the numbers, and then the Zards would not be as confident eventually. Would still be clever still to kill if they retreated and you opted to follow them like a suicidal idiot, but get a frenzy going to get them running in and dying by the numbers and it would pay off handesomely by killing them off before they could think to retreat overall. Even the gangs had to deal with or keep these sorts of things at bay in this part of the city, no matter how big or small you were as a gang, for that matter. Skulls had to do it often enough, and she'd been on those missions too after her power had kicked in. Had been part of her years of being in the meat grinder herself, almost quite literally at times depending on the fight and how much damage she took and the like. But having a basic plan of some sort to fight these things was certianly an important one when dealing with clever and deadly creatures who enjoyed using numbers and intellect as their two biggest weapons....same went for some gangs and villains or people in general, perhaps, now that she thought about it. Eh, that thinking was something to look at later really though....not right now while things were getting laid out to go.
"Finally, if anyone needs help, then damn well shout for help and don't stay silent or leave someone else to get overrun. Pride, loyalty, helpin' other people, and nothing else like that matters if you're dead. So if we're gettin' too overloaded, then, we all back the perimeter up together. Careful retreat unless situations demands otherwise badly enough. Get far enough away, Zards'll take longer to get to us or might go back home if they see us as not worth it if its been long enough. Eventually we get far enough ta' regroup and recoup before headin' back into things.
Even if we have to do anythin' like this or not, though, remember the first big rule and don't forget it.
Aaaand that's the basics of Brookside Zard huntin'!"You let anything, other metas or humans or Leftovers or any enemy sneak up on you when you aren't expecting it, or they make you fight on their terms, it wasn't ever a good sign in her book. Sometimes you had to handle such situations no matter how well you prepared, though, which was another follow-up to that. Simple. It didn't matter how strong you were, fast you were, or anything if you got yourself into a stupid situation or fumbled about things badly enough they could kill you either way. Either way it could be a death sentence all the same, and you might die simply because you didn't take it seriously enough. Overestimation had its problems, sure, but to hell if not focusing on the end goal or underestimating was going to help either. Going against Zards without a proper plan or people willing to do it was going to benefit anyone but themselves, specially the Zards and the so-called
'Azure Skulls' of all things. So yeah, she wasn't going to pull those punches here....not if anyone here wanted to stay alive by the end of it. Even if it pissed anyone here off to interrupt their lovely glaring and talking session, they had far bigger problems to face here than ICOSA in the short term situation of this mission for sure.
And it didn't help two of these kids were either her age or younger and didn't seem to have any experience with stuff like this, at least according to what she could glean on them beforehand when reading about her coworkers to try to get some idea of them across the board. Still, Luna stood there with her left hand in her pocket and her right wrist held up near her mouth to keep speaking things out to the group.
Better to have a plan than no plan. Better to say something and try to get them on task than mull about. Even a good enough backstabber in the streets knew when to cut and run with the profit and when to not let themselves and everyone else die in the process....in theory. Too many idiots in the world sometime, it seemed, to her eyes. But that was another matter altogether and she didn't want to get sidetracked in all of this.
"So, with that all in mind it is my strong suggestion we have someone like myself or Blur act as bait. Someone who's fast enough, in his case it seems, or expeienced enough with these things, like myself, who can survive to draw em' out to everyone else or has done this before. Point is ultimately for the bait and tactic here to bring them into our battle arena under our rules, and ta' not let them draw us apart and split us up and bring us into their territory instead where we get picked off one by one or two by two.
Ardent, you have air superiority here against these things if you stays high up enough, and you can best cover Crane if she's in trouble I believe. Terraformer can shape the land around us as we need, mind that these things can climb like crazy though, but all we'd need is enough to slow em' down or get em' to scramble where you can use rock or something to crush em' hard without holdin' back. Crane has the size and perspective advantage, so she could work in the perimeter or on the outside of it. Then Lab Rat has some speed as well as some durability of a sort too. That's even going ta' be my suggestion for a perimeter team at that.
Mire, you're my first thought for heavy hitters on the inside of the perimeter. Can melt em' down good and effectively. I'd be another suggestion for the heavy hitters, as I can be fightin' a few at once and hit hard. Blur is another suggestion as well. If me or Blur acts as bait, then the two of us with Mire can handle the meat grinder inside of the perimeter as the heavy hitters from that point.
And last, but not least, I will say this again: Do. Not. Go. Alone. Or. Follow. These. Things. Or. Anyone. Or. Anything. Else. Away. From. The. Group. For. Any. Reason. At. All. Not even if you see a meta inside the factory with chocolate chip cookies, or they're prestending to be your friend or something. No. Reason. Do not trust anyone but the group of us sticking close together, do not get cocky with the Zards, and have your eyes on your back and the back of the person next to you. Call for help if you need it, and if you are afraid of panicking just focus as best as you can on your 'lane' of the operation and role."Any questions? Could ask that, but she knew the easy sass answers to that question already. But if anyone had a question, an alternative idea, or the like then they needed to say it now or she was going to try to get them going and moving before it was too late. She really hoped they could get moving before they either broke apart or something from stupid internal fighting or sat around for too long and wasted the time they had for this mission by flushing it and themselves right down mouths of the Terrazard-shaped toilets running around about two hunded and something yards of into the distance. Literally or otherwise, she'd let them pick at that stage as otherwise she likely would be most busy at that venture trying to save as many of their collective carcasses as she could from the grip of death and further trauma.
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