Chapter 621: 60
Date
2011 February 23rd - Tuesday - Earth Bet Time
Taylor was having fun. So many live targets that nobody cared about and on whom she could go to town without a shred of remorse.
Finally!
She maintained a healthy amount of clones having each do different things, wanting to see what was the most efficient way to kill the abominations flooding American soil. Thankfully, because of the training she went through in the virtual space, she could connect to each clone at the same time and give instructions.
She loved multitasking!
Taylor herself alternated being in the thick of things with her spear, or without her spear smashing monster heads, or similar to her clones summoning lightning weapons or blasting them from up close or from within a cloud of her clones.
Sometimes she imagined Emma's or Sophia's, or even Blackwell's face on a few monsters, which for some reason increased her accuracy by several folds.
She was wading through a small army of green-skinned creatures similar to goblins, blocking shots from the weird dog things, when Tess contacted her.
"Lux, how are you holding up?"
"Good, Dragon, I can do this all daaaay!" she answered in a sing-song voice while bisecting a hulking monster. She ignored the flaking corpse and used the same movement to take two heads of a dog off.
"So, do you think you could keep them occupied while we set up?" asked Dragon in a worried voice.
She jumped up in the air, shot several lightning spears through a few annoying dogs in the distance, and then angled at her landing so that she could bisect another giant monster upon landing.
"Totally!" she answered with an enormous grin on her face. "Though, I think Nilbog went even stupider! I have been killing his creations, and he continues to send these weaklings…"
"Interesting…" replied Dragon. "Then have 'fun' and I will warn you when we join you. I have a few guns I want to test!"
Taylor dodged another barrage of weird green plasma and returned it with a barrage of her own lightning. Poor abominations didn't even have time to whimper, though their place was instantly taken by even more creatures.
"If you want, I can send a clone over and take it for a spin!" offered Taylor.
"Thanks, Lux, but I can do it myself. Just concentrate on distracting the Horde! And call immediately if you are in trouble!" answered Dragon with a chuckle. But Taylor believed she just didn't want other people to play with her toys before she took them for a spin.
"Roger!" she answered, happily bisecting three hulking monstrosities with a lightning great sword before summoning a few more clones. The clones, as soon as they appeared, shot up into the air and begin bombarding the incoming army with giant balls of lighting that, upon touching anything burst into immense explosions.
To answer this, the portal flooded the increasingly cratered plain where they were fighting with even more monsters.
Taylor smirked, dismissed a dagger made of lightning (into the head of a goblin that was sneaking up on her), and re-summoned her spear. She then coated the weapon in lightning, increasing its length, and with a war cry jumped towards the monsters who answered with their own earth-shaking roar.
Date
2011 February 23rd - Tuesday - Earth Bet Time
Alexandria looked at the buildings erected around their arrival site (the teleporter area already marked out) and couldn't help but be happy that Dragon was on their side.
The AI in a few short minutes erected a command center, several guard towers, a generous amount of wall, and emplacements for future guns and for parahumans to shoot from.
A little further away a medical building was being built by her suits and drones, and a few others were flattening the ground so that cars could drive safer and faster if needed.
Another was currently activating a monstrous machine, with a gigantic tank attached to it. After a brief inspection, it was a Medi-Gel container and dispenser. She could even see a few boxes of Armsmaster's handheld Medi-Gel dispensers.
A few more machines, under the twitchy and rather loud supervision of Nero, were unpacking boxes with so many warning labels she couldn't even make out what material they were made out.
Alexandria was broken out of her thoughts by Eidolon.
"Let's go then, and help the girl," said the Trump in his usual gruff voice.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that, Eidolon," answered Dragon, and Alexandria detected a faint chuckle in her voice. "Lux is currently occupying its attention, allowing us to build up defenses and formulate a proper response."
"Wouldn't two people be better than one? You know I'm not big on planning…" answered Eidolon, while bouncing on his toes, ready to start, and ignoring Alexandria's snort.
"That would be inadvisable. Based on the reaction to the power Lux Arcana is showing, I give it around 80% chance, that the more parahumans that are there fighting, the more monsters would come out. There is also a chance that the Simurgh programmed Nilbog to react to the Triumvirate specifically." explained Dragon, and Alexandria could see the Endbringer doing just right that. Though Eidolon wasn't so happy with the explanation.
"Eh!" he waved dismissively with his hand. "I can take care of myself…" However, he couldn't finish his sentence, because Dragon interrupted him.
"Eidolon," spoke Dragon with an icy voice, uncharacteristic of her. Her entire body radiated her displeasure. "Lux is one of my friends. I didn't ask her to hold the line because I enjoy seeing her in danger. So, please, let's make sure that we use the time Lux grants us with her action. Okay?"
Alexandria saw Eidolon swallow heavily, and take a step backward, probably realizing that the usually friendly AI was no longer shackled. She made a note for the future not to threaten or cause trouble for Dragon's friends (unless they needed to) because she had no need to add an AI to her list of enemies.
"O-okay," answered the man with a nervous nod.
Dragon nodded seriously, and her body language returned to relaxed. "I'm glad you understood. Now, might I suggest you head to the command center? Director Piggot is arriving, and she is not happy."
Alexandria nodded in understanding, grabbed Eidolon by the shoulder, and headed for the giant building Dragon erected, joining Legend, who was already there coordinating people and probably calming them down.
While they were walking over she heard several distinct noises that weren't coming from where a young woman was enthusiastically and with great abandon annihilating abominations. She looked up and saw the plane carrying the parahumans from Brockton Bay touch down next to the other Dragon vehicles.
And behind them in the sky, she could clearly see several news helicopters approaching…
Date
2011 February 23rd - Tuesday - Earth Bet Time
Assault walked down the ramp next to a smug Panacea and behind the Director. They were followed by the rest of the team, each of their faces lined with apprehension.
He was happy to note that the Director's complexion was much better, and she was even walking less sickly, so to speak.
Panacea sure did wonderful work!
He looked around curiously while following the Director towards the command center that Dragon managed to somehow erect in record time. Every time he looked away from that Tinker, she seemed to get better and better.
Not far from them he could see the parahumans who came from the aborted Endbringer attack resting and recharging themselves. Not all of them came, but even the few that joined them would be a great help. At least he hoped.
They reached the command center at the same time as Alexandria was striding in imperiously, while a silently fuming but twitchy Eidolon followed her. In the background, they could hear the sound of explosions, roars, and screeches from the battlefield, occasionally intersped with a bout of maniacal laughter.
Apparently, Lux Arcana was enjoying herself. Though Assault had to wonder: from where did Dragon get the powerful cape?
The center was bustling with activity, dozens of drones and twice as many people were running around, setting up computers and mysterious high-tech devices, while the rest were either staring at screens or talking on headsets or phones. Legend was also in front of a screen, but when they came in he immediately turned around and waved them with a smile.
As a group, even Alexandria and Eidolon stopped at the door, not wanting to add to the already present chaos, while Piggot advanced forward towards the most decorated officer, who was talking on the phone with a pained face.
"Commander, I'm Director Piggot," she began without greeting. "I'm taking over command immediately."
An aide standing near the flabbergasted commander began protesting, but Piggot silenced them with a glare. The commander of the site looked at Piggot for a few seconds, then back at his phone, then repeated the entire sequence a few times before finally coming to a conclusion.
"You know what? Sure!" he said while extending his arm that was holding the phone. "Here Director, the army wants to talk to you."
Assault chuckled, seeing the look on the aide's and the Director's face. Apparently, both expected a bigger fight. He continued to observe the room, and Alexandria, who was silently observing this while listening to the one-sided conversation with half an ear.
"Hello, General."
"Yes, we are ready."
"No, I haven't yet."
"That doesn't seem advisable…"
"North? Who is taking west and south?"
"Boston? Then I assume south is New York?"
"Very well, General. Good hunting."
She hung up the phone and looked at them with a deadpan face. "Good news everyone, we are not getting nuked."
Assault had to blink in surprise at hearing that. That was a pleasant surprise.
"Miss Militia, Armsmaster stay, the rest of you, out! Panacea to the medical!" Piggot exclaimed, then turned to the aide who was still standing there, like a deer in headlights, even after a commander retreated outside to his men. "Where is the situation room?"
The aide swallowed heavily before speaking. "This way, ma'am!" they said while motioning towards one of the corridors leading from the hall. The two aforementioned parahumans, alongside Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon followed them without a word, though Assault could see that Legend was smiling.
He then joined the others, leaving the tent, hoping to find a place where he could rest before the fight.
Date
2011 February 23rd - Tuesday - Earth Bet Time
Vicky walked next to Amy because no matter how much she wanted to go and smash some monsters to pieces, she promised to their mother she would protect her sister. And even if she hadn't, protecting Amy was one of the most important jobs here.
She still looked around, interested in the various machines and devices that littered the landscape. She could even see in the distance on an encampment a few PRT agents putting together some kind of gun under the supervision of several drones.
She was about to head for the medical building with her sister when Amy, instead of turning towards it, turned towards the shielded city.
"Hey, Ames! Where are you going?" she asked while she followed the healer, slightly hovering in the air, glancing behind her to make sure Brandish didn't notice. Her uncle Neil noticed, but he just gave them a thumbs up and began to talk to his sister-in-law.
"I'm going to help out a little before I'm locked away healing idiots," answered Amy with her usual deadpan voice.
"And how are you going to do that? Are you going to use your new fancy powers?" Vicky asked, getting interested. After all, there weren't many chances back in Brockton Bay for Amy to flex her new powers, no matter how much Shaper nagged them.
"Yep."
She nodded happily and followed her little sister, humming in a low voice.
It took them a few minutes to reach the area, which was between every defense that has been established currently and the fight going on in front of the city.
They unabashedly spent a few minutes watching as Taylor, in her Lux Arcana disguise, annihilated wave after wave of hordes without apparent need for rest. They saw her a few times in action in the virtual space, but only now did Vicky understand how powerful was their friend. And she was pretty sure she could have destroyed the monsters at the same time with one attack if she wanted.
Amy looked around, then get down on one knee and placed both of her hands palm down on the ground. She glanced up at Vicky and gave her a quick smile. "I'll be doing stuff, make sure to protect me."
"Of course, Ames!" she exclaimed grandiosely, then flew between her sister and the monsters. Nobody was getting through her!
"Good," murmured Amy, then she closed her eyes.
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then she noticed that a few nearby trees began to vibrate, and then the sound of exclamation reached her from the soldiers who were monitoring the situation. It appeared as they were staggering around.
She could also see several parahumans running, flying towards them in panic. The last thing she saw was the Triumvirate exiting the command center in haste before something else stole her attention.
Right in front of Amy, a giant plank of wood (made from the same hardened material as her armor) sprang up from the ground. Soon it began to multiply, and the line of planks began to encircle the city.
She flew a little higher, ignoring the rest of the flyers joining her, watching excitedly as the wall created by her sister surrounded the city containing the most horrible thing she ever had the displeasure to see. It took a minute for the speedy wooden planks to surround the city, and then they began to transform.
The wall thickened, towers, ramparts, stairs, and a few small buildings formed while at the main cardinal direction, enormous gates developed on the wall. Amy even took into consideration the already established defenses. Those only got a layer of the material on the outside, adding to their defenses.
"Holy hell!" She knew Amy's power was powerful, but this was a bit different!
The rest of the parahumans watched with open mouths, barely believing what they were seeing. And Vicky could already see a news helicopter coming a little closer. She hoped they got an excellent view because she was so watching this later!
Amy stood up slowly, dusted her hands and knee off. "Okay, that's done. I'll be in the medical if someone needs me."
Then, ignoring the gazes of the surrounding people, she ambled towards the aforementioned building. Vicky just followed her with a bemused expression.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone