She had expected something more when killing a man, yet she felt oddly calm about it. There was no great judgment pressing down on her from above, and no glee rising up at inflicting death upon another. It was just another bullet fired, one that had struck true, an ‘accident’ if anyone tried to press her from the heroic side.
Like they would believe her, but the deniability was important.
“You, you killed him,” Cyber whispered.
“Killed who?” Regent asked, his voice as casual as ever.
“Crusader,” Tattletale answered. “That final shot, the ballistic arc was just right for a kill.”
“You can’t prove it was intentional,” the Major said. “I just fired one last round out of frustration.”
“Nobody will buy that,” Cyber said. “I could release the footage and this conversation.”
The Major smirked, even if she was just playing it up for the part, it felt right to do so. “By all means, please. Give my reputation a boost by proving that I can land a rifle shot through someone’s eye from a mile away.”
“Bitch move,” Tattletale said.
Regent chuckled. “Dunno, did you do a three sixty no scope beforehand? I won’t be impressed otherwise.”
“My rifle doesn’t have a scope,” the Major confirmed.
Regent whistled in appreciation.
“Whatever,” Cyber said with a snarl. “I refuse to work with a murderer. Fuck off and stay the hell away from us.”
And with that, the Major was removed from the channel and the line went dead. That didn’t remove her from the channel she shared with herself, of course, or the private line she had with Lisa. The Undersiders had continued their discussion, the ruse going off perfectly.
Movement had her gun snap up as a motorcycle came to a stop down the alley. She lowered her gun slightly, but still kept it at the ready as Miss Militia dismounted. A moment later, a shadow descended from the rooftop, revealing Shadow Stalker, who seemed a bit ruffled.
“You look like shit,” the Major said.
“Kept Rune and Crusader busy up top,” she answered with a huff. “Good job driving them off, that was badass as hell.”
“Yes, it was rather impressive,” Miss Militia said. “Though, we are curious as to why there was a cape fight right across the street from a casino where a robbery was reported not ten minutes ago.”
Well, it was good neither of them had noticed that last bullet striking true, but even her Tinker assisted vision had struggled there. Then again, maybe Shadow Stalker had noticed and just chose to not speak up. It would be just like Sophia to keep quiet when the right people were the ones getting hurt.
Taylor, having been one of those people, taught her that much. Still, Shadow Stalker was too useful of a potential pawn to just throw to the wolves and that burned at her. She wanted to be on her good side for if the heroes ever decided she was more trouble than she was worth. People willing to pin someone to a wall to save a girl were few and far between and such efforts might be needed before the Empire was excised from the city. Besides, it was Taylor, not the Major that had a problem with Sophia.
“Someone hired me to cover the Undersiders’ getaway,” the Major said. “The casino was an Empire laundering front, and proof was provided along with funds for my services.”
“You’re a villain then?” Miss Militia asked, her voice turned hard. “Your reputation and record have been sporadic in your travels, we had hoped to persuade you to join the heroes.”
The Major snorted. “I’ve done my time as a government lapdog, I’m good. Being a free agent is far more my style.”
“Next you’re gonna ask us to pay if we want you to help,” Shadow Stalker snarked.
“If you can afford it, I’d be happy to offer my services,” the Major replied. “Wouldn’t be the first time I worked with heroes, probably won’t be the last. Just know some of the people in this city have deep pockets.”
“Which isn’t me,” Stalker said with a shrug. “Wards make minimum wage. If I was still an independent I might actually be able to swing something, but not anymore.”
“Could always go free agent,” the Major said, smirking.
“Like how you’re working for the Undersiders?” Miss Militia asked.
The Major snorted. “More so I was hired to ensure they got away, though I’m pretty sure I burned that bridge.”
The distant image of Crusader dropping on Rune’s platform was still clear in her mind after all, and she wasn’t sure it would ever fade thanks to her cybernetic enhancements. A man, a horrible monster really, but still a man. Dead at her hand. She should feel worse about that, but it was hard enough to see herself as human at times, so why would she consider a Nazi any better than herself? They were the worst of the worst after all.
“Burned the bridge?” Shadow Stalker asked, her mask tilting slightly. “What, did you shoot one of them?”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“No,” the Major said even as her fists clenched. “They just didn’t agree with my rules of engagement. The Empire has a member with a Birdcage sentence that has been rendered twice. Hookwolf is a wanted fugitive being sheltered which makes them all accomplices. That doesn’t even begin to get into their own crimes being perpetuated daily.”
“You’re advocating for lethal force as a starting point?” Miss Militia asked.
Props to Hannah, she caught on quick.
The Major shrugged. “I’m just saying, don’t handle monsters with kid gloves and the people might actually have some faith in the heroes again. Krieg is under the foam, and this is the only chance I’m offering him. Either get him out of the city and into a secure holding facility, or next time I’ll put dragonfire through his eye.”
Miss Militia hissed out a string of curses, but the Major backflipped on the spot up to the nearby rooftop. Her sidearm had turned into a rifle and was aimed at the Major, not that she minded. The woman only used rubber bullets which would do next to nothing to her shell.
“I’d focus on cleaning your own house before worrying about those willing to clean up messes you’ve allowed to fester.”
Hint delivered, the Major began to move once more. Fester would be a more obscure reference to Lustrum’s movement, but it was one that would be fresh in Miss Militia’s mind. A reminder of the things she needed to be looking into at present.
Given the Empire would be demanding blood for one of their own being killed, she had to prepare. No doubt Coil would ensure the blame wasn’t placed on him, but he could easily tie it into the Undersiders, which was something she didn’t want. When the blame started being thrown out, she would make sure that the Empire knew she did it on Coil’s orders.
She needed her enemies at each other’s throats, and that it would give her more chances to end a few more threats, well, she wasn’t going to complain. Maybe she could even rope Shadow Stalker into helping.
----------------------------------------
“The Major really killed Crusader?” Grue asked again.
Cyber wasn’t present in person, which was why the masks had remained on even back in their base. Lisa had warned her that she would need to show up in person before the Undersiders truly trusted her, which was why Taylor was currently disembarking from the nearest bus stop. She had debated revealing herself in person, but everyone knew her identity anyway.
Toybox was on a short list of capes that you didn’t mess with, lest you risk alienating the entire organization, and no major group or player wanted to risk doing that. That was the only reason she was taking the risk, small as it was. Her flesh and blood was no longer her body, which meant it was technically expendable. She didn’t want to lose that part of her life, however. She was enjoying school, she had friends, she wanted to be able to take Lisa out on dates.
It was why her second shell was a mirror of her present appearance, aged up ever so slightly, to avoid the impression of a gangly young teen. It wouldn’t be ready until late May to early June, since Lisa’s shell was her priority. It would be needed for their plan after all.
“She did,” Lisa confirmed. She had been the only one to remove her mask. “Apparently our boss paid her to put the larger target on our back hoping that we would weed out a few of his enemies when they came for retribution.”
“Care to come clean about this mysterious boss?” Grue demanded. “If we’re getting this kind of heat, shouldn’t we at least know who we’re standing in the fire for?”
“Let them try us,” Bitch grunted. “We’ll handle them.”
Grue clearly wanted to rub his face or pinch his nose, but couldn’t because of the mask. Taylor had arrived at the Redmond Welding building and made her way in through the side door, which Lisa had conveniently left unlocked for her.
“I’ll admit, I’m curious too,” Regent said from his position on the couch where he kept waving scepter lazily. “Got anything for us, oh miss mysterious?”
He had directed that question to the stairs just as Taylor stepped into view. Bitch’s dogs snarled and darkness began to roll off Grue’s form before Lisa hurried over and pulled Taylor into a hug. There was a pause before things clicked for the others and they visibly relaxed, but remained wary.
“Everyone, this is Cyber,” Lisa announced.
“Call me Taylor,” she added, walking up to Grue before extending her hand. “It’s been a pleasure working with you and I hope to be of help in the future.”
“You already know who we are, don’t you?” Grue asked as he shook her hand. “No, don’t answer that.” He reached up and removed his helmet, revealing a strong jawed young man with his hair styled into neat cornrows. Taylor had to admit, he was quite attractive and she would have likely been drooling had she met him under other circumstances. “I’m Brian.”
“A pleasure,” Taylor said with a smile.
“Alec,” Regent called out, tossing his mask aside. “Nice to meet you, dork.”
Taylor flipped him off and he laughed. She looked over to Bitch who had already tuned out of the conversation to tend to her dogs. It was largely a formality since Rachel’s name was public knowledge.
“Your boss is Coil, and don’t worry, I’ve already shut down all the bugs he planted in the building, including on your phones,” Taylor said. “This conversation will be private, because after what he pulled, can we truly trust him?”
“Can we trust you?” Alec asked, his tone still casual but she could tell there was suspicion in his words. “The Major was like you, but worse, to my power. How do we know she isn’t with you?”
“I won’t deny that there is a connection,” Taylor said, shifting her irritation away. “Anyone who deals with Toybox risks that. My tech is for sale after all.”
“Does your knowledge of us also have a price?” Brian said with distaste. “Why should we trust you not to sell us out next? And before you say it, fucking Lisa doesn’t count.”
“We aren’t—” Taylor began, but Lisa put a hand on her arm, stilling her rebuttal.
“Who I’m seeing isn’t a factor, Brian,” Lisa said. “The point is, the boss is a prick and we need every advantage to bring him down. Some of those will be played fast and loose, others close to the chest. So what if the Major has some of Cyber’s tech? That means that Taylor here has full access to it through her backdoors.”
“Which means we have an advantage we can leverage,” Brian said, grasping the basics of it. “This seems dangerous, and I need the boss if it means getting custody of my sister.”
Taylor chuckled, already having pulled up Brian’s records as well as his sister Aisha’s. “That’s easy enough to deal with,” she said, already altering said records. “Congratulations, you’re now the legal guardian of one Aisha Laborn.”
Brian blinked, looking at Taylor as if she had grown a second head. “Just like that?”
“Just like that,” she confirmed.
It had been easy enough given much of the paperwork was completed, just held up, and it made for a nice little jab at Coil. And if it secured Brian’s loyalty, all the better. Taylor would need as many pieces on the board as possible if she was going to enact change in her city, and where better to start than with her girlfriend’s team?
Lisa’s grin grew wider. “Anyone else got something they want done while she’s taking requests?”
Alec’s vacant laughter was enough to send chills through the room.
“I hope you like a challenge.”