Will of The Force (Star Wars / Worm)

[Josematos977]

Fuck the PRT and all that cape nonsense.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

Hey, some of the best stories are ones that took control of themselves. Too many authors try to control their stores too much!

It's good to see Anikin can still fight skillfully without his armor, was worried he would make a mistake about being too used to it. And I like the dig about PRT competence.

 

[Yohnos]

For a second, he wanted to turn around and demolish everyone, it would be so easy.

Click to shrink...

Do it.
Joke aside a straight forward approach is clearly the best here. Subtility never worked for him.

 

[Okita-chan]

I improved it a little, but no major changes have been made. Just details.

Click to shrink...

Then I will reread once we have a new chapter

 

[firefall]

Honestly, kind of surprised they'd send a hero solo to deal with a demonstrated human master. I guess they *are* probably stretched pretty thin at the moment.

 

[Thunder God]

Anakin saying that Dinah was not his Daughter although that would have been the smart thing is Too Anakin, he is Smart but not Smart, an intellectual person but very stupid

 

[Amrynel]

Anakin saying that Dinah was not his Daughter although that would have been the smart thing is Too Anakin, he is Smart but not Smart, an intellectual person but very stupid

Click to shrink...

On the other hand, a reputation for honesty goes much further than a reputation for lying, and any plan that relies on her identity staying a secret from the PRT seems like a bad idea given the circumstances.

 

[Thunder God]

On the other hand, a reputation for honesty goes much further than a reputation for lying, and any plan that relies on her identity staying a secret from the PRT seems like a bad idea given the circumstances.

Click to shrink...

yes I agree but... I don't think Anakin thought of that, as usual he didn't think about the consequences before jumping

 

[Faralis]

Honestly, kind of surprised they'd send a hero solo to deal with a demonstrated human master. I guess they *are* probably stretched pretty thin at the moment.

Click to shrink...

They didn't know almost anything about him, besides "has put a ton of ABB goons to sleep" and "seems heroic".

 

[00loner]

Anakin thought about it, with the force, he qualified for just about every single one of their classifications,

Click to shrink...

How come he qualified for breaker and changer classifications with the force ?
Also how about a index thread in which you tell us how he qualified in which classification with the force .

I think there are some grammar mistakes in the chapter .

 

[S!ËGFR!ÊD]

How come he qualified for breaker and changer classifications with the force ?
Also how about a index thread in which you tell us how he qualified in which classification with the force .

I think there are some grammar mistakes in the chapter .

Click to shrink...

Two words: force wrath. While the change is not nearly as dramatic, it does give the user greatly enhanced strength, agility, durability, and stamina in exchange for becoming a raging berserker.

 

[CapCaverna]

Hey guys, I have bad news, this is the end of the daily updates, next chapter will only come Friday.

I do have an extra chapter on patreon if you guys are in a hurry, you can support me for a single dolar.

Ugh, that felt really odd, I really don't feel that confortable providing advanced chapters on patreon for a fanfic, but I have to confess things are VERY tight IRL right now. Still, don't worry, everything on Patreon WILL come out for free here and in other sites, it will only be delayed by a week or so.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjopy the chapter!

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With one last adjustment, Anakin released the droid, turning in his chair to watch it slowly float in the air. He couldn't make anything good, but a small and simple training droid was not that hard to create.

The ball of metal was the size of a droid's head, because that was what he had first intended it to be before realizing he didn't have enough materials. Still, it had one of the acquired blasters, a personal shield and was capable of interacting with stationary defenses.

He was also hoping to install it on a more humanoid body later, allowing it to help with Dinah's Matukai training.

While he didn't exactly mind going over the beginner stances with her —he even found it relaxing— it wouldn't bring him any advantages. He hoped to advance his own training and let the droid take over the earlier parts.

He… didn't actually need the power such training could give but, now that he had a fully functional body again, he found the more physical aspects of Matukai training very enticing. To be able to move, stretch, breathe again. It was satisfying.

TRD-1 beeped, its photoreceptor lens taking in his vision before searching for Dinah, its actual charge. The girl was taking a shower after her training, so the droid simply floated towards the nearest socket and started charging its own batteries. The wireless connection Anakin had installed, allowing it to start searching the internet for data about its goals.

In truth, the droid was ridiculously weak, its logic matrix was terrible, more akin to a smart animal than a true droid, and it would actually need training to be effective since Anakin didn't have access to the right programs and had to use a learning matrix instead, but it would do as an emergency protector until Anakin could make something better. It could block several blaster bolts and even kinetic weapons with its shield, as well as operate the turrets he had installed around the building.

Said turrets were made with almost all that remained of the blasters he had acquired from the mercenaries and the cannibalized parts from the geological compressor, the large device having served its purpose.

He was almost out of materials to tinker with but, right now, assaulting their base was far harder even if he wasn't here, so he considered it a good investment.

Anakin still didn't feel safe leaving Dinah alone, but now there were some safety measures in case he had to be away for an hour or two. The bombings in the city hadn't stopped and he had gone out in the city three times in the last 6 days.

He hadn't faced any other parahuman, and the gang members he faced were easily subdued with mind tricks, but he had deactivated close to thirty bombs with Ionize, more than half of them in the heads of Forced conscripts.

Anakin knew he had never been a patient man and those ABB were truly testing his limits. Were it not for the risk to the youngling, he'd probably already killed the parahumans involved. The droid was actually an attempt to get around that, even if it didn't quite have the power necessary for that.

Satisfied, he turned towards his second project, with a twist of the Force, the last piece of his saber clicked in place, leaving only the crystal chamber awaiting. Glancing towards the crystal, Anakin frowned, he wasn't happy with it.

Since he had not had the time to meditate and guide its formation perfectly, the crystal was uneven, bigger than normal… and red. It wasn't a surprise, without enough time, he had chosen to focus completely on making sure the formation was successful, and the process naturally formed red crystals, that didn't mean he was happy with it.

"What're you doing?" Dinah asked from above his shoulder. Her still wet hair falling over his shirt.

"Finishing my last preparations," he answered, glancing down at his now wet shirt with disapproval. "Go dry your hair. I have no desire to have to heal a cold."

"Humph, there's only a seven percent chance of that, more or less," Dinah snorted, but she did pick a towel and started to dry herself properly. "So, is that your weapon?"

"In a way. It can be used as a weapon, but it is a tool, an imperfect one. I will have to remake it once I acquire better materials. Regardless, it will do… for now."

"So, what're you waiting for? I want to see it."

Closing his eyes for a second, he grabbed the red crystal and carefully put it into the opening, pressing down until the energy matrix locked in place. Closing up the saber, he pointed it away from anything important and activated it.

With a thrum of power, the blade sprung into place, cracking with barely contained energy as a streak of electrical energy ran along the length. Anakin frowned, it really was quite faulty.

Getting up, he swung the saber from side to side, entering into the usual instances of Form V, using Shien to familiarize himself with the blade. He actually preferred Djem So, but he was unlikely to get into a duel here, blaster bolts and kinetic weapons were the more immediate danger.

He had really missed the characteristic sound of a lightsaber. Now, to see if the energy matrix wouldn't fail.

Focusing his mind, he used tutaminis to actually grab the blade, absorbing the energy into his skin and straining its energy matrix as much as he could. Sparks flew off the lightsaber, darkening the floor as he kept at it until he felt satisfied. It was unstable, but only slightly and wouldn't fail on him.

"Cool, can I try?" Dinah asked with eagerness in her voice.

With a flick of his wrist, Anakin slashed at the last remaining piece of the geological compressor, a large plate of metal. The lightsaber cut through the material like a hot knife through butter, the unstable blade leaving a huge area of damage.

"I… take that's a no?" she whispered, looking at the still melting metal as it collapsed to the floor.

"It isn't," Anakin said, increasing the stabilization field on the saber with only a flick of the Force and throwing the saber to the girl. She scrambled out of the way, letting it fall on the ground and giving him the evil eye. "Take it, there is a training mode."

"You could have said that sooner!"

"Yes."

Looking at the saber on the floor and back towards him, Dinah sighed dramatically, but hurried to grab the tool, igniting it in front of her face.

"Do not touch the blade, it will not cut you, but it can still hurt," Anakin warned, watching her attempt to imitate him with an impassive face.

He really didn't know what to feel right now. It was nice to see, but it brought very bad memories. Closing his eyes, he centered himself into the Force, dismissing the screams from his mind and refocusing on the now.

"So, when do I start training with this?" The girl asked, deactivating the blade after trying to cut through a wall and seeing only slight burns there.

"Not anytime soon. Using a lightsaber requires far more knowledge of the Force than you currently have," pulling the weapon back to him with the Force, he changed his shirt for the black robe he had brought with money he acquired from the criminals. "What you'll be using is this. TRD-1, activate."

With a beep, the droid disconnected from the wall and floated up at eye level, a red dot indicating where its photoreceptor was focusing. Dinah stared at the small round ball with wide eyes, poking it with a finger. "What is that?"

"Training Remote Droid 1, I am building it to help train you in Matukai techniques, but it has several other functions," he explained, watching as the droid circled the girl, taking her in. "It is capable of shooting blaster bolts of varying strength at enemies and maintaining a personal shield for an hour, hack physical computers, track your location and control the defenses in the building. Its logic matrix is still undeveloped, so you'll have to give it orders as its own judgment may be flawed without extensive training."

"You… built an AI?" Dinah stared at the thing with some hesitation. "Just how smart is it?"

"It should be slightly smarter than an average dog, but training on any single task will improve its capabilities. I have tasked it to protect you, so it will not go too far from your presence," Anakin warned, putting on his boots and gloves. "But it will obey almost any other order, do try to be responsible."

"You made it to protect me? Couldn't you get, you know, an actual dog?"

"I considered it but, outside of your 'Endbringers', your planet does not possess fauna capable of matching a droid. I did briefly consider using a Tiger or Elephant, but their usefulness did not justify the amount of attention such creatures would bring while in the city."

Beast control was an interesting ability and it had probably saved his life against a reek back in Geonosis, but it had limited usefulness without megafauna around.

"Does this mean you're going to leave me behind?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"No, the droid will increase your safety, but it is not capable of repelling an assault alone."

Dinah released a breath of relief, hurrying to finish drying her hair and tying it into a ponytail before putting on her protective body armor.

Even with only a week of Matukai training, exercise and large applications of Force Healing were already showing improvements in her body. She no longer got as tired while going out and could wear the armor without any visible strain.

After dressing, she adjusted the helmet and frowned. "What's this?"

Looking down at her, he saw she had activated the targeting program and explained. "It will help you direct the droid's weapons. The droid doesn't have an advanced targeting system, I did not have the materials to produce it, so you'll have to target for it."

With time and training, the droid would be able to learn, he had made sure of that but, for now, it would require directing. The failure was actually quite fortunate, allowing Dinah to feel useful and giving her some initiative.

"Sweet!" glancing aside, Dinah immediately used her new weapon.

The droid was set to non-lethal, allowing her to disable targets without actually hurting them while also saving power. A red blaster bolt shot towards the empty trashcan they had.

The first shots missed, but the third hit it and sent it flying through the floor. It didn't damage the metal, but it was enough to stun a normal human for several minutes.

Letting her play with the droid —he had a spare battery for it— Anakin grabbed his own mask, spending a moment just staring at the metal, it too brought bad memories. Shaking his head, he put the mask on and then clasped the new cape on his shoulders. He had considered not wearing one, but Dinah had insisted and he hadn't bothered to argue.

While he wanted to distance himself from his past, he had to confess that he did enjoy wearing the thing. "Let's go, it's time to test the droid."

.
.
.
.

Following the guidance of the Force and coupled with the city's current state, it had been easy for them to avoid another confrontation with the PRT.

They had mostly targeted the ABB in their outings, disabling their bombs while acquiring money and materials. It was a good way of getting started on the city and nobody would mind if he took some money from the criminals.

The city really was filled with acceptable targets and Anakin quickly found a group of drug addicts for Dinah to test her droid.

The girl laid into them with a little too much enthusiasm, the stun bolts flying as fast as the droid could shoot and pelting the men before they could even react. One still got a shot off, but it was high and no reason for concern.

Stepping closer, Anakin looked down at the unconscious bodies. There were three men and a woman, all of them smelt bad, wearing rags and with far too little fat in their bodies. Merchants.

The gang itself was almost insignificant, but the state of the city meant their number was extremely high, probably because of the way poverty and despair had settled in. They were also everywhere, often violating gang markings and territory without a care even if it was probably not on purpose.

Merchants never had much money with them, or anything useful really. Anakin wished to capture Squealer just so he could better study some of her tech but, otherwise, he called the police and dismissed them from his mind.

Dinah on the other hand, seemed to savor her first win, looking at the men with some guilt, but also a lot of excitement until he tousled the hair at the back of her head, almost ruining her ponytail.

Finally, what he had been waiting for happened. Pausing a block away from where Dinah had disabled the criminals, he sensed someone watching him. Sensing their focus changing to Dinah, he remotely activated her personal shield and looked up.

"Your interest betrays you," he said, waiting until a man wearing a black top hat appeared on top of a building, his mask slightly pulled to the side and a cigarette in his mouth while he clapped at their display.

"Impressive little device," the man almost shouted, gazing down at them and puffing out smoke. "The PRT has you pegged as a Tinker, but I confess I had my doubts. Trickster, pleasure to meet you."

Considering the man, Anakin sensed he was a little wary, keeping his distance to try and prevent the use of mind tricks, but also mostly indifferent to his presence. This was a job, not personal.

He considered jumping up or pulling the man closer, but he sensed two other minds with him and there was no need to scare them. He did not know what their powers were and, while he was confident of dealing with anything, Dinah was far more fragile.

The distance wouldn't prevent his mind tricks anyway, that was not how the Force worked, even if it was a common misconception. "I have no interest in lying."

"Dangerous that, almost as dangerous as being a lone tinker," he said, leaning forward, he finished his cigarette and adjusted his mask fully back in place. "I didn't peg you for a hero helping stop crime, not with the way you handed little Miss Patria her ass. So, why are you targeting Merchant? Not a very good idea at the moment."

"You are not here for the Merchants," Anakin growled, dismissing the man's question, his voice grew harder and colder as he stepped in front of Dinah, sensing the man's eyes lingering a little too long on the girl. "Do not waste my time."

"Fine, you may have noticed, but this dear city seems to be under assault," Trickster said, making a hard appear in his hand with a flourish. "The powers that be seem to think it's not good for business, you see, they're organizing a little meeting later tomorrow to try and fix the problem."

"I take this is an invitation?"

"Yep, usually, nobody would bother with a newcomer, but you kind of made a name for yourself," Trickster played with the card, preparing to throw it and Anakin felt a warning in the Force.

Pushing the cape back, he freed his lightsaber and prepared for a fight. From behind him, he sensed some kind of large creature hidden in the alley and a second presence inside a building, staring from the window.

The tension continued to build as Trickster adjusted his position, seeming to want to get a better look at Dinah, Anakin focused on his battle precognition, ready for anything.

Suddenly, Trickster tilted his head slightly to the side as if focusing on something, his body relaxed and Anakin felt the tension dissipating. Whatever their goal had been, it had just shifted.

With a flicker of his hand, Trickster hid the card away. A moment later, Anakin looked down and saw it lying on the floor right in front of him, exactly where a small pebble had been before. Some kind of teleportation?

Narrowing his eyes, he didn't pick up the card, still focused on the man in front of him. The Force warned him this was not the last time they'd face each other. "Impressive, you seem to have made a wise choice."

"What?" Trickster asked, his body tensing.

"A fight between us would not have ended well for you or your allies," Anakin said, slowly glancing towards the building where he felt the third mind. The creature on the alley seemed to be dissipating. "I do hope you do not change your mind the next time we meet, Trickster, for your sake."

"Intimidating asshole aren't you?" Trickster snorted. Throwing the cigarette down, he stepped on it and turned away, starting to walk out of view. "I guess we'll see won't we?"

Checking his surroundings once again, Anakin finally allowed Dinah's personal shield to deactivate. The girl almost collapsed as the tension left her body. "Who were they?"

"Mercenaries," Anakin answered, watching as the drone lowered itself and grabbed the card from the floor, handing it over with a beep. "Likely working for one of the gang leaders."

"Were-were they after me?" She asked, one hand crossing her chest to squeeze her arm. "Is he going to try again?"

Anakin considered the girl, he recognized the fear she felt when he first met her. Still, he didn't want to lie. "It is possible, but Tinkers ARE valuable, they could easily be after me," he finally said, doing his best to comfort her.

He didn't think he was the target, not with the way Trickster focused on the girl in the end, but it was possible and, even if not, it was just as likely to be another person and not the villain that had been after her.

"But you don't think so."

Looking down at the nervous girl, he almost sighed. "No."

"Thanks… for not lying, I mean," Dinah said, her hands squeezing into fists.

Anakin simply nodded before grabbing the card from the droid and reading the location. It was a local pub in the worst part of the city. For a second, he considered what to do. Finally, he asked. "Will the city improve without any gang leaders in it?"

"Eighteen point three zero four percent chance the city will improve," she said, it was the first question he had asked today, so there was no pain. "Nine point zero seven three four percent chance you can kill them all tomorrow."

Anakin's first thought was to be offended. Those chances seemed really wrong; he may not be the best at protecting the girl, but killing? Killing was easy. "I thought you could not predict me?"

"I can't, it's wrong," she said, her voice almost offended at the fact. "I started getting some numbers yesterday, but they're often wrong."

That… was very interesting. Was her power actually learning about him? Anakin still didn't have a good idea about the source of the girl's powers. It wasn't the Force, but many parahuman effects could be replicated with the correct tech. The capacity to learn would indicate it could be similar to a droid.

Anakin had thought powers were static and that seemed to be the common consensus on the internet, but this contradicted it. Was the power using the capabilities he had already revealed to predict the future through calculation? Or was it actually sensing the future and had just learned to pierce through his Force defenses?

"Come, we have achieved our objective."

Together, they returned to the abandoned building. Anakin would have to find a better location, somewhere with more comfort, even if only for the girl. Living without an actual home had been fine for a few days, but the situation seemed to be weighting on her.

Putting her to bed, Anakin watched as she squirmed, unable to get a good night's sleep. Closing his eyes, he started meditating, but keeping his temper in check was growing harder every day.

Tomorrow, he'll deal with everything tomorrow, one way or another.



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[bob1?]

interesting is she building a model of him in her head?

 

[Barbaric_Bob]

Shard: fuggin mumbo jumbo religion, force pfha, 3% chance to kill all the gang leaders even if they're all in one place, and that's only if conflict engine three tosses and asteroid at the meeting!

Anikin: i find your lack of faith disturbing

 

[Stroth]

Shard: fuggin mumbo jumbo religion, force pfha, 3% chance to kill all the gang leaders even if they're all in one place, and that's only if conflict engine three tosses and asteroid at the meeting!

Anikin: i find your lack of faith disturbing

Click to shrink...

Actually it's overestimating him. Coil sends his body double to meetings like this. Hell of a trick to get all the gang leaders when he's still down in his Bond Base

 

[CapCaverna]

Actually it's overestimating him. Coil sends his body double to meetings like this. Hell of a trick to get all the gang leaders when he's still down in his Bond Base

Click to shrink...

Does Coil send his body double in both timelines?

I mean, I always assumed he sends the body double in one timeline and goes himself in the other. If anything goes wrong, he drops the one he went and is left safely inside his own base but, if not, it gives him a better read of the situation.

 

[Yohnos]

Does Anakin as to relearn lighsaber fighting? Or at least bringing it up to part with what it was at the end of the clone war? He had to use a completely different style in the suit as Vader for 20 years. Even then he might want to slightly change style (maybe a bit of Vaapad to help balance himself with light and dark or Soresu since it's better for defence and he knows it well , it was Obi-Wan bread and butter after all) and is right hand is not as strong as it was since it's organic.

And maybe try electric judgement?

 

[firefall]

Does Coil send his body double in both timelines?

I mean, I always assumed he sends the body double in one timeline and goes himself in the other. If anything goes wrong, he drops the one he went and is left safely inside his own base but, if not, it gives him a better read of the situation.

Click to shrink...

Maybe he'd have done that before, but with anakin having crashed one of his timelines when he tried to grab Dinah? No chance he goes near him.

 

[Thunder God]

Why do I have a feeling that when Dinah can go back to her family she's going to hug Anakin's leg and not let go?

 

[00loner]

as well as operate the turrets he had installed around the building.

Click to shrink...

So the storage building have working electric line ( does it has enough electricity to power the turrets ) , working water line and other facilities ?
So shouldn't the people in charge of it or who owned it come to check it ?

Together, they returned to the abandoned building.

Click to shrink...

If it is abandoned then how come they are getting electricity , water , working toilets etc there ?

 

[Thunder God]

So the storage building have working electric line ( does it has enough electricity to power the turrets ) , working water line and other facilities ?
So shouldn't the people in charge of it or who owned it come to check it ?

If it is abandoned then how come they are getting electricity , water , working toilets etc there ?

Click to shrink...

for the plot?

 

[00loner]

for the plot?

Click to shrink...

What ?

 

[CapCaverna]

So the storage building have working electric line ( does it has enough electricity to power the turrets ) , working water line and other facilities ?
So shouldn't the people in charge of it or who owned it come to check it ?

If it is abandoned then how come they are getting electricity , water , working toilets etc there ?

Click to shrink...

I didn't explain because I sometimes assume people are just gonna take some things for granted, like I do. Probably gonna put a paragraph somewhere to correct that, thanks for pointing it out.

In fact, it is not all that hard to reconect a water and power supply or steal it from a nearby building if you know how to do it. It is likely that you will be found out eventually but, as the place was just a temporary location for him, Anakin didn't mind.

I said likely to be found out, but I knew of someone who stole energy for years and was never found out. Never could do it myself, mostly because I, thankfully, was never in a situation where I needed to, am not very criminaly inclined and because I don't have the guts.

I imagine it's a lot harder in the US, but I doubt the city could find out in less than a month unless someone denounced it. I imagine they have some surveilance for that kind of thing just to try and find Tinkers, but Anakin isn't currently using all that much energy. Only if the defenses activate will it become a problem.

 

[The_Bajar]

Depends on how much you use. Use enough and you will more rapidly be noticed. Use only a little bit and you'd stay under the radar longer

 

[Ramuthra]

"I can't, it's wrong," she said, her voice almost offended at the fact. "I started getting some numbers yesterday, but they're often wrong."

That… was very interesting. Was her power actually learning about him?

Click to shrink...

Makes sense. Dinah's power is a fragment off of Scion's navigation cluster, which is his PTV equivalent, and PTV is generally the shard they use to path around OOCP's like the Force.

Even if it isn't 100% successful, it's definitely getting good data right now.

 

[xbox432]

Does Coil send his body double in both timelines?

I mean, I always assumed he sends the body double in one timeline and goes himself in the other. If anything goes wrong, he drops the one he went and is left safely inside his own base but, if not, it gives him a better read of the situation.

Click to shrink...

Hmm, I always thought he sent his double in both timelines and just acted through a hidden camera and microphone to watch the area, and a small speaker in his helmet to give directions. After all, no reason to put himself in danger unless he has to. So he may as well stay back and puppet his double in both timelines. Though I'll echo what others have said, without his safety net there's no way in hell he'd go to that meeting himself.

Also, I find it adorable, and kinda sad, how Anakin is trying to be better and help Dinah. It's probably giving him more than a few daydreams of what it could have been like to raise Leia.

On another note, I'm kinda curious to see just how everyone will react when he finally loses his temper. Or just decides to stop holding back. Though I'm also curious to see how Anakin would react to finally coming up against a power that gives him trouble. Star Wars wanking aside, some of the powers in Worm are esoteric and dangerous as hell.

 

[Sanbashi]

Power: 9% chance you can kill all the gang leaders

Anakin: I have never been more insulted in my life and I have literally been cut in half.

 

[Vanbers]

Power: 9% chance you can kill all the gang leaders

Anakin: I have never been more insulted in my life and I have literally been cut in half.

Click to shrink...

It's alright, her power just hasn't taken into account that Anakin is stationed at an elevation that, in comparison to sea level, lies above where his enemies are.

If it took that into account, it obviously would have returned a 100%.

 

[CapCaverna]

So, I wanted to set a lot of things up with this chapter and I think I managed at least some of them.

Still, I have to confess, I wanted to write things differently. I rewrote it a couple of times, and even deleted it entirely once. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy it anyways, we'll be back to Anakin and Dinah in the next chapter.

I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
__________________________________________________________


Hannah let the water dribble off her body, the heat causing steam to rise from her skin as she carefully washed her hair.

She really hated Masters, she wasn't exactly a stranger to having to go into lockdown because of one but, with the city under such conditions, it had been really hard on her and she couldn't even sleep to pass the time. Or, well, she could, it just wouldn't help.

Being a Noctis cape, Hannah didn't need to sleep. When she actually forced herself, she didn't dream, instead, she watched a moment of her life, the memory going on for as long as she was asleep, with her trigger event being the most common.

It was little wonder she disliked doing it, with her perfect memory, it was like re-living the worst day of her life every time she rested. Also, experiencing her memories in perfect clarity didn't help pass the time, so she preferred to do something useful instead.

Still, this time it was different. Instead of relieving one long memory, she had just experienced the fight on loop for several hours. A development that had left her feeling very uneasy when she woke up.

She didn't regret her actions, it had been the right thing to do at the time but, after going through the conversation so many times, she no longer thought Anakin was taking advantage of the girl. Hannah couldn't help analyzing their fight, brief as it had been. How she could have reacted, what move she could have used.

It didn't make the loss and subsequent days in a cell any better though.

Hannah didn't usually become this focused on a single villain. She had lost fights before, ones with far worse consequences too, if she was right, that is. It had made her worried that his Master power had longer lasting consequences, but none of the other victims had shown the same reaction.

With one last release of air, she shook her head and stared right at the shower head, letting the water hit her in the face. No, she didn't regret her actions, but she really regretted not winning that fight.

On one side, Hannah believed that Anakin had really been acting to protect the girl. Despite how dangerous he was, he seemed tired and unwilling to fight her, but determined to protect the kid and now he was branded a villain.

Now, even if he was captured and proven to be well meaning, he had still resisted arrest, still fought her. It didn't make for a good position to negotiate from.

Then there was the other side, the one that had made her act even more than her orders. What if she was wrong? What if he really was abusing the girl?

Next time, she wouldn't be caught by surprise, engaging from a distance and with room to make full use of her power. Hannah would arrest him. She would beat him… next time.

Stepping out of the shower, she put on her costume, her power shaping itself into a knife at her waist. As a habit, she touched the metal, her finger tracing along the blade.

Tying up her boots, she grabbed the toothbrush and spent a few moments taking care of her teeth, they weren't really hers, long since capped by dentists to be perfectly shaped and colored, but she took good care of them anyways. Leaning forward, she looked into the mirror, frustrated bottle green eyes staring back at her.

Sitting on the bed, she finally pulled out the reports and started reading. She needed to find out what was happening in the city after getting locked away. The first document was about the PRT and Protectorate.

Immediately, she frowned. It seemed like the Director hadn't been able to acquire support, her request denied by the higher ups, the city was still left to the PRT and them alone.

Idly, she found herself twirling a dagger in the air, the green glow of her power at work. She loved this country, she liked just about everything in it, but that didn't mean she was blind to the way politics worked, or the faults with the system. Someone was playing games.

The very thought that some of the Wards were forced to deal with bombs, to take the job she had once been forced into…

Closing her eyes, she took a breath and continued reading.

Studying the bombs recovered from Anakin's victims, Armsmaster had been able to create a device to disable the implants without triggering them. Like all tinker-tech, the neutralizer couldn't be mass produced, but ABB members could now be arrested without the fear of them blowing up and hurting the people around them.

The PRT still hadn't been able to locate the bomb Tinker's hideout, but they had narrowed the location by a lot and now it was only a matter of time. Thankfully, the bombings themselves had started slowing down, with only one explosion per day as Lung re-established control.

The level of terror they were causing in the city meant they had absolute priority, but there were still a few people working on other cases.

Finally, she pulled out the information about Anakin. Classified as a Master 2, Tinker/Shaker 6. More specifically, they considered him primarily a Tinker, but he was to be treated as a Shaker because of the result of one of his devices.

They hadn't been able to narrow his specialty, but they had a good idea of what it was and, really, that was the least of their problems.

Opening the video file in her computer, Hannah watched the video from a bodycam as a couple of policemen approached him when he was without a mask. Anakin looked to be around 30 or 35, years with short hair and a handsome face, he didn't have any scars and had blue eyes that took everything in with barely any interest.

Hannah registered the amount of destruction around him, the amount of death all around and gulped.

Approaching him, the officers started talking. "Sir, are you alright? What about the girl?"

Anakin seemed to take their appearance in with some confusion, but easily answered, his voice cold. "We are well; I have already eliminated the danger."

The rest of the video was a little out of focus as the policemen quickly retreated, but Anakin didn't seem interested in attacking them and the girl didn't seem to be trying to escape, then again, with his power…

Eleven deaths, all of who seemed to be some kind of mercenary, millions of dollars in property damage and the abduction of Dinah Alcott, the Mayor's niece. The mercenaries didn't have any gang indications and the PRT was uncertain of who they belonged to.

It could be Coil. While most civilians thought he was a minor player, she knew he was actually a fairly heavy hitter with a fame for competency, but the intel indicated it was just as likely to be someone from outside the city or completely different.

Still, Anakin hadn't shown any signs of the same kind of power since that last video was taken, using only his Master power to subdue criminals and avoiding any law enforcement, so either the tinker-tech likely used was a one-time use item, or he didn't have the tools to do maintenance on his equipment and was avoiding its use.

Hannah… didn't know what to think. On one hand, the attack seemed to corroborate his story about saving the girl but, on the other, he had killed a lot of people with seemingly no effort or care. Yes, they had been mercenaries, but he didn't seem ruffled or even winded, as if their deaths hadn't bothered him in the least.

She… wasn't a stranger to killing, the video didn't affect her as much as some of her fellow Protectorate members, but she had been avoiding it for the vast majority of her adult life and taking a life always left a mark.

Finally, looking at the clock, she got up and put on her bandana, hiding her face with the cloth and putting her weapon away, the revolver sitting at her waist with no problem.

Taking a breath, she stepped out, the guards watching the corridor snapping into attention with a guilty look directed her way. "Miss Militia, Director Piggot has ordered a meeting in her office."

"Thank you," she nodded and started walking.

She really hated that the reason she hadn't been isolated for longer was because the city was turning into a warzone filled with bombs. She should have left that kind of trouble behind.

Again, her hand reached for the weapon at her side, a handgun this time. Exercising a large amount of control, Hannah managed to release the weapon and continue walking.

"Miss Militia," Velocity nodded at her, holding the door open for her. "Good to see you're already out."

"Velocity, any idea what this is about?" she asked as she passed through.

"Probably an update about the ABB or something about Polaris," he said as he walked beside her.

"Polaris?"

"Tentative name, Armsmaster thinks Anakin's specialty has something to do with magnetism," he shrugged, giving her a thin smile. "Something about bullets bending away from him, what he did to the bombs and the damage he caused when he first showed up."

"He did say he didn't fear bullets," Hannah commented, thinking about their meeting once again.

She had thought he was just a Tinker without time to create his devices when they had first fought but, if he had something so destructive with him, could she have beaten him?

She had to.

Entering the meeting room, she saw that almost every Protectorate member was already inside. There was a map of the city with ABB territory on the wall, several black dots indicating known ABB buildings as they tried to find the tinker's location. "Miss Militia, good to see you're out of containment."

"Director Piggot, Ma'am," Hannah answered respectfully, straightening her posture and stepping beside Armsmaster.

Her longtime companion barely spared a glance her way, far too preoccupied with getting his presentation ready. A second later, Assault burst through the door, his face flushed from running.

"Sorry, I'm late," he breathed out and Hanna noticed a few scratches on his costume as well as a lot of dirt. "Got into a little fight with the Empire."

"Assault," Piggot spoke with a warning tone.

"Hey, what was I supposed to do, let him kill the guys?" the man cracked his neck and smiled while giving a little wave to his usual partner. "Hi puppy,"

Battery avoided his eyes, putting a hand over her eyes and ignoring him.

"Anyways, it seems like our dear villains finally had enough," he continued, his voice even more satisfied at having annoyed her. "They're having a meeting at that old bar, probably to organize a cease fire."

Hannah cursed under her breath. On the surface, avoiding the chaos on the streets would be good, but a cease fire only meant they were going to focus on the ABB.

Lung and this new Bakuda had gone too far, it was no longer just about territory or power, if the villains in the city did agree to a cease fire it would be to completely eliminate the ABB, the fight would become one for survival and things tended to escalate when that happened, fast.

Hannah had been a hero for long enough to have seen more than one such fight happening. It was never pretty. It was also never clean and the unwritten rules tended to be thrown in the trash while it happened.

"We knew it was going to happen eventually," Piggot massaged her temples. "Don't interfere; all we can do is try to get to the ABB first. Now, for my second headache. Armsmaster?"

"Polaris, also known as Anakin… Even working with the Guild's database, I was not able to find any records of a parahuman with a similar powerset or that fits his description, but I did manage to trace his presence in the city," Armsmaster started speaking. "First located in the rubble during one of Lung's rampages, he had lost all of his limbs and presented third degree burns through most of his remaining body, including fourth degree burns at the extremities and internal damage to several organs. After triage, his case was deemed too severe and priority was given to other victims, but he survived long enough to reach the hospital and got treatment from Panacea who was on location."

"A Brute rating too?" Piggot asked.

"No, at least not that the hospital noticed," Armsmaster denied.

"Damn, he's a tough one," Assault noted and, for once, everyone agreed with him.

"He still remained in a coma for several days before waking up, Mastering a nurse into handing him a set of clothes and leaving the building. A few hours later, he encountered an attack on Dinah Alcott and eliminated the mercenaries, eleven deaths in total."

"You think he's not a Tinker?" Hannah asked, her eyes narrowing as the time didn't fit.

"The newest recording of Polaris and Dinah Alcott, tentative name: Cassandra in action revealed use of a drone, one that incorporated some of the tinker-tech weapons retrieved from the mercenaries," Armsmaster showed a picture of a round robot about the size of a head floating in the air. "He definitely has access to unique tinker-tech, likely to have been built by himself."

"So, the options are what?" It was Triumph that asked, his voice barely containing his anger. "He built something capable of killing eleven men in less than a day?"

"Impossible, it is far more likely he had the device ready but was unable to deploy it against Lung," Armsmaster shook his head. "He could have used the time to retrieve the device from a laboratory or hideout."

"Could he have help? What if he's not the Tinker or had a Shaker with him?"

"There's no indication of a third party working with him, but it is possible. Acting with Mister Calvert, I have been able to track his most likely location," Armsmaster taped something, causing a red dot to appear in the city map surrounded by a small circle of reddish color. "The area is an abandoned part of the Docks with very little traffic or interest from the gangs."

"So, when do we attack?" Triumph asked.

Everyone grew quiet as they watched the little dot. Hannah had the sudden urge to get into her motorcycle and drive right there, assaulting the location as fast as she could, but she knew better.

"You can't be serious!" He raised his voice, looking around the room. "He's got Dinah with him, who knows what he's doing with her!"

"Triumph, sit down," Piggot ordered but when the cape didn't move she reiterated. "I said. Sit. Down."

"You just… don't care about it?" The Lion headed gladiator mumbled, his face filled with disbelief as he looked for support around the room.

"That's where you're wrong," Piggot denied, taking a moment to adjust her position. "I care; I also care about ensuring the safety of the capes I have to protect my city… and having a city to protect in the first place. I'd like nothing more than to assault the place myself, but I just can't.

"A Tinker workshop is always a hard target, one with unknown capabilities is even worse. We simply don't have the manpower to fight the ABB, keep the city safe and attack two such workshops in short order."

"But…?" Triumph started to as asked but hesitated, he too had seen the results of Bakuda's bombings.

"Armsmaster, have the location watched at all times, if we manage to catch him out of it…" Piggot ordered, hating herself for it. "Otherwise, we will not be attacking him."

"Ahem… I hate to be the one to point this out but, have we considered he may be speaking the truth?" Assault asked, getting a glare from Triumph. "I mean, the girl was under attack when he met her and, well, if she's some kind of Thinker…"

"Ma'am?"

"Miss Militia, you have something to say?"

"I don't think he was lying," Piggot raised a single eyebrow at her and she hurried to explain. "I know it doesn't look good coming from me, but I have been going over the meeting. I felt that he was actually frustrated at being unable to hand the girl over."

"And what about the girl? Triumph, is there any possibility she's a Thinker?"

"I-I honestly don't know," the young man had to say. "Cassandra had several headaches, but her reported power is hard to prove without strict testing."

Yes, Thinkers capable of precognition were always hard to judge, not to consider how many attempted to fake clairvoyance to get money from gullible tourists.

No, while there was a good chance the girl actually was a Thinker, with only a few sentences recorded by Miss Militia and some half remembered statements by her parents there was no way of making sure. "We'll assume she has a power. It's best to be safe. Still, even if that's the case, Thinker powers are not unbeatable or the source of all knowledge, worse, until we know otherwise, we have to assume the girl is compromised by his power."

"But we are investigating his claims?" Miss Militia asked.

"As much as possible at the moment, yes."

Closing her eyes, Director Piggot centered herself, taking a moment to consider her next move. She absolutely hated leaving a young girl in the hands of a Master, with every fiber of her being, but her job had always been to make the hard decisions.

She had been holding this city together with duct tape and bubble gum for years now. Forced to manage the gangs and parahumans in it for so long…

The truth was, letting a Tinker… or whatever the hell Polaris was, roam free to grow was a mistake, even worse if the girl actually was a parahuman, but, sometimes, she had to choose the lesser of two evils. They simply didn't have the manpower to assault both his location and Bakuda's while also keeping the city from crumbling and, as hateful as it was, the terrorist bomber was the priority.

"I'll have Renick watch the Polaris situation, but I want all our focus back to Bakuda, if the gangs are going to stop hiding we no longer have time to split our attention," Glancing at the youngest member of the Protectorate, she continued. "Triumph, the sooner we deal with the ABB, the sooner we can focus entirely on Polaris. I swear, once Bakuda and Lung are dealt with and the city calms down, we will come down on him like a hammer of God."

"… Yes, Director," the young man replied, his hands balled into fists.

Hannah understood his worry. Dinah Alcott, the girl kidnapped by Anakin, was his cousin and, while they didn't have a deep relationship, they were related.

Damn, she really hoped she was right, that the girl was safe with him and not being abused in any way. She really should have won that fight.

"Dismissed," Piggot finally said, leaning back against the chair and closing her eyes. As Hannah was leaving the room, she glanced back to see the bags under the Director's eyes, the exhaustion.

All of them were stretched pretty thin. Panacea had allowed all of their heroes to get back into the field, but it was still taking a toll on them all.

Closing her eyes, Hannah saw herself surrounded by small kids, a Turkish man pushing her ahead in order to look for mines. A terrible choice, walk ahead and risk dying or being killed where she stood.

She remembered grabbing her power, changing it from a handgun into a full automatic, turning and using her captor's surprise to gun them all down before they could kill her.

No, she definitely wasn't a stranger to killing. She just hoped the city wouldn't need her to start doing it again.



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