Faultline seemed like a practical individual. Contrary to the other parahumans in the room, she wore a functional costume that could defend against most weapons Anakin had seen in the Planet while also giving her a good amount of mobility, her black hair was tied in a ponytail and she had a metal mask not completely unlike his own.
Her companions slowly surrounded their table, two non-humans males and two young girls. Anakin could feel the hesitation coming from the youngest, but the others seemed used to such meetings.
Dinah seemed really interested in the non-humans, not with the usual disdain he had felt from most members of the Galactic Empire, but with a childish curiosity that almost had her reaching out to touch them, only the atmosphere stopping her.
“As I said, we’re capes for hire, if you can pay my rates I’m perfectly happy to support you on an attack against the ABB while protecting the girl,” Faultline spoke, breaking the silence between them. “We’re not assassins, don’t expect us to kill anyone, but we’re the best in the city when it comes to almost everything else.”
Anakin had gathered a relatively large amount of money from the criminals he had detained, probably enough to pay for a single day of work, but he wished to use the majority of it to acquire a new location for the youngling.
“I do not require assistance against the ABB. I am more than capable of dealing with them myself,” Anakin answered. “My concern is for the girl.”
“You only want us to act as bodyguards?” the woman asked, looking at Dinah closer. “What kind of difficulties are we expected to face? I doubt you’d be willing to hire a team of capes if this was something simple.”
“I encountered the girl over a week ago fleeing from professional mercenaries using what you call ‘tinkertech’ weapons,” Anakin explained. “I disagreed with their goals and have been taking care of her since then. Unfortunately, I believe my presence is the only thing stopping a second attempt at seizing her.”
“Hah, ‘disagreed with them’ is one way of saying it,” the youngest girl on Faultline’s team snorted. “More like massacred them.”
Faultline gave her a glare, causing the girl to lower her head and stop talking, but Anakin could feel how nervous the kid was. Young, inexperienced, she hadn’t felt afraid with every villain present but, alone with him; his aura was affecting her more than the others.
“Sorry about that,” the team leader said. “Do you know who’s after her?”
“The Travelers have shown an unusual interest in the girl, but it is unlikely that the group themselves are after her. Like you, they’re mercenaries.” Anakin said, making sure the team understood the danger. “None of the other villains present showed signs of recognizing the girl. However, I sense that Coil was not truly present.”
“A body double? So, it’s either Coil or someone outside the city,” Faultline wondered. “I hope you understand my rates will go up with the danger?”
“Money is not a concern, the girl’s safety is,” Anakin turned towards Dinah and asked. “What are the chances that Coil will try to abduct you tonight?”
Anakin hadn’t made extensive use of the girl’s power to find their enemy in order to spare her the headaches and because, effectively, he was still establishing himself and couldn’t have done much with the information but, thanks to having effectively narrowed the suspects to Coil or an outside power, he only needed a single question.
“Ninety-three point zero, three, nine, seven percent chance he’ll make an attempt,” Dinah growled, squeezing the can in her hand as she finally knew the name of her enemy.
“So it is Coil,” Faultline pondered out loud. “His mercenaries don’t fail, they never lose, he either retreats from an objective without losses or wins and nobody knows his power.”
“He’s a Thinker,” Dinah grumbled. “Ana… Polaris messes with my power, I’ll bet he screws with Coil’s as well and that’s why he failed.”
Faultline seemed to take in that information, pausing a few seconds to consider her next move as she traded a few glances with the rest of her team, both males nodded and the girls seemed indifferent to her decision.
“That makes sense. Thinker powers do tend to interfere with each other, that would explain why he’s after the girl in part,” she turned towards Dinah again and asked. “Can you tell me the chances you’ll be safe with us until morning again?”
“Twenty-nine point nine, eight, nine, seven, two percent chance,” Dinah said, her heart skipping a beat at the changed number.
“So, he must have changed his approach once he heard your prediction,” Faultline nodded once, leaning back on her chair and considering Anakin. “That narrows his power down to some form of Thinker precognition. I had suspected, but there was no way of confirming.”
Fighting against someone capable of sensing the future was difficult, particularly when the enemy had ample time to prepare. It was one of Darth Sidious’ most powerful tools. His mastery of that single Force ability had been what allowed him to manipulate the entire Jedi Order for so long.
Anakin doubted Coil was even close to his old master in both power and skill, but he would still be a difficult challenge. Easily overcome with brute force if his location was ever fully revealed, but very complex when acting from the shadows.
“You claim to be the best mercenary team in the city, I require that you keep the girl safe until morning, are you up to the challenge?”
“Yes,” Faultline answered immediately. “Knowing that an attack is coming, we’re more than capable of protecting her for a night, if you can pay.”
“I can help,” Dinah eagerly said. “I can answer a few more questions and, if my power interferes with his…”
Anakin lifted a hand and tousled her hair; the girl truly did remind him of the past. “Do not overstrain yourself, save your questions for when Faultline requires them.”
“Fine.”
That established, they started discussing the price. Faultline’s rates were actually higher than what Anakin was currently capable of paying, but she hadn’t chosen to sit with him instead of Coil because of purely monetary reasons.
As a Tinker, he had a lot to offer to a team of Faultline’s caliber and level of organization but, more than that, the mercenary was interested in making use of Dinah’s power. She had a personal goal, something private that she needed and the young precog could make it much easier to reach.
Anakin didn’t like using the youngling as a bargaining piece, but he supposed she was older than him when he had competed in podracing to pay for his own freedom. He couldn’t justifiably deny the girl the chance to help keep herself safe.
In the end, he agreed to pay Faultline ten thousand in advance, supply her with five personal shields, a blaster pistol, improve her team’s armor and allow her to ask three questions from Dinah, at any time she wished.
It was both more and less than expected. Ten thousand was most of the money he had gathered until now and a ridiculous amount for a single night of work, but it was a small price to pay for a team of parahumans that would almost certainly see action.
“Just so we’re clear, my team won’t be fighting to the death,” Faultline finally said. “We’ll do our best to fight anyone off, but this isn’t enough to continue fighting no matter what.”
Anakin nodded at her words. Discussing the job with the woman had given him a good understanding of her mentality, she was a mercenary to the core and, while she was not incapable of feeling things, they did not affect her decisions. Outside of her team, only money and advantages guided her actions.
Despite all the bombings and the devastation caused, Faultline would be willing to work for the ABB if they paid her enough and she thought her team could get away with it. By the same token, despite feeling sorry for the youngling, she would have been willing to work for Coil if the villain had gotten to her first.
Thankfully, he was sure that her reputation would stop her from taking two opposite jobs at the same time.
“The priority is the girl’s safety. If you must escape, take her with you, if that is impossible, her capture by the PRT is also acceptable as long as she’s not in Coil’s hand.” He said, his voice hard as he flexed his power, bringing the full extent of his presence into the room. “Do not betray me.”
“We’re not traitors. Besides, selling out our clients is bad for business,” Faultline answered, a hint of hesitation in her voice.
“Good, then let us start immediately,” Anakin said, his focus shifting to the fighting to come. “I have suffered the ABB’s existence long enough.”
“You really think you can deal with the ABB by yourself?” the orange skinned non-human asked, speaking for the first time in their meeting.
“Yes,” Anakin pushed himself out of the chair, squeezing Dinah’s shoulder with a gloved hand to offer her comfort.
“And if you don’t return?” Faultline asked, putting away the advanced money.
Anakin didn’t answer. Not returning was never an option. Under his hand, he felt Dinah straightening her back and taking a breath as she tried to copy him. “Humph, I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
Looking down at her, Anakin couldn’t help but feel a pain in his chest as the youngling repeated his own words. For a second, he wondered if this was what it would be like to have raised his family.
“Indeed,” he told the girl with some amusement in his voice. Motioning towards the droid still resting on her backpack, he continued. “Hal’s safety measures have been unlocked. Do not hesitate to use it if necessary.”
“Thanks,” she said, her fear and hesitation at being left alone with Faultline reverberating in the Force, but also her commitment.
“I will return as soon as my business is concluded,” he squeezed her shoulder one last time and started walking away. “It will not take long.”
As he walked away from the building, his mind started focusing on the battle to come, his movements growing rigid as he stopped forcing himself to relax, his steps becoming longer and more like a march than a normal walk.
When he was alone, the ABB barely presented a challenge to him. He was not a hero —far from it— he also was not going to obey those ridiculous unwritten rules, playing with civilian lives in order to keep his enemies alive and himself perceived as ‘good’, the chance of that had long since been ruined.
Oni-Lee could present an annoying challenge, his ability to teleport making him a hard enemy to target, but Anakin was fast and experienced enough that he believed it simply inconvenient, not even difficult.
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Lung was an impressive creature. Rumored to be able to battle an Endbringer by himself, he was a beast that only got stronger the longer one fought him. His most obvious disadvantage was that his power required time, time which Anakin was not inclined to give.
Bakuda herself was probably the most troublesome enemy under the ABB’s banner, the exotic effects of her bombs making her dangerous even to him, but no technological weapon was a match for the power of the Force.
Anakin barely noticed when he’d fully entered ABB territory, the streets growing quiet as the civilians didn’t dare get out of their rooms. He felt the attention of several people on him, from inside buildings and hidden behind corners.
Good, that would make things easier. Having disabled several gang members in the past week, Anakin already had an idea of where to find his enemies, but they could always have moved places.
Closing his eyes, he focused on the Force, sensing the emotions around himself, the violence and fear, letting it guide his steps, turning a corner, he entered into an alleyway and exited into a smaller street that ended in a tall building, an illegal brothel ran by the ABB he had located a long time ago.
A thug in front of the building noticed him, quickly lifting some kind of communicator to his mouth and starting to talk. Anakin let him, he wasn’t here to attack unnoticed anyway.
The man had a handgun tucked into his waist and a machete rested against the wall beside him; his arms were covered in gang tattoos, indicating he had been a member of the ABB even before their newest recruitment drive.
Anakin walked straight at him, causing the man to pull out his weapon and start shooting but, at the distance, the slugs flew wide. Suddenly, Anakin felt a scream in the Force.
Lifting his arm, he used the Force to pull the lightsaber from his waist, igniting the blade and lifting it in front of his face in a single movement, the distinctive hum of the saber rising in pitch as he moved it through the air.
With a crack, an electric discharge ran along the length of the blade as a slug was vaporized by the heat, leaving only a small cloud of superheated gas in its place.
Continuing to walk, Anakin blocked another slug before locating the shooter behind a window on the third floor. Looking at the building, he saw three other men and a woman walking out, all of them wearing heavy weapons.
Lifting his left hand up, he used Force pull, causing the window to explode as the first shooter was pulled out, his scream of fear and pain making the others look up as the man fell to the floor, breaking both legs.
He could have disabled the others with the Force, but it had been a long time since he was able to move as he wished. Stomping on the ground, he darted towards the gang members, his cape flickering behind him.
The enemies had been briefly distracted by the falling gang member, but they recovered fast. The one who had been acting as guard got another shot off, forcing Anakin to block high before arriving to deliver an overhead strike at another’s rifle, cutting its barrel in half.
With a Force push, he sent the now weaponless man flying to hit the woman before she could even lift her weapon, smashing them both against the brick wall and breaking her arm.
With a rising slash, Anakin cut off both arms from the guard before he could reload the weapon, leaving him screaming in pain and fear as he stumbled back, his cauterized stumps raised in front of his disbelieving face.
Another warning from the Force caused him to leap back as one of the two remaining men pressed the trigger, releasing a hail of bullets where he would have been.
Moving fast, Anakin darted towards the man, ducking down as he waved the projectile weapon and swiping his legs out from under him before delivering an elbow strike to his chest while he was falling.
Straightening up, Anakin watched as the last man desperately made a break for the corner, running as if his life depended on it. Turning off his lightsaber, he lifted his cape with his left hand and guided the weapon back to his waist with the Force.
Finally, he caught the man with a Force grip, lifting him in the air and dragging him closer. “No, no, no, no, I didn’t want to do it, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to do it!”
“I can sense your lies,” Anakin said absentmindedly. The man was trash just like the others.
Glancing around, Anakin saw that the ABB members were either in too much pain or already unconscious. With a flick of his hand, he threw his captive at the door, using his body to break through the wood but not killing him.
Stepping inside, he ignored the terrified women in the rooms and climbed up the stairs. A single boy tried to stop him in the hallway, but he just pulled his handgun away and used Ionize to fry the bomb inside his head, sensing that the kid was too afraid and disgusted with himself to be a part of the gang.
The boy fell to his knees, starting to pray desperately in a language he didn’t recognize, but the Force allowed him to understand. “Please, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.”
“Be quiet. I have dealt with the explosive, you are free to leave,” he said in English, not willing to rip the language out of the boy’s mind.
Finally, Anakin stopped in front of a door, sensing three men ready and waiting for him, as well as the trap at the door, his eyes darting to the entrance to an adjacent bedroom.
Inside the main room, Aoi Sato waited standing up behind his desk, his heart beating hard against his chest as he pointed an automatic at the entrance, one of the crazy bomber’s devices tied to the door and, hopefully, far enough away it wouldn’t kill him. Even if it did, that would probably be a better fate than telling Lung of his failure.
At each side of his desk, standing against the walls, his two lieutenants waited, each one holding a machine gun at the door. Suddenly, a bright red blade sprouted from Zhang Liu’s belly, the crackling weapon having cut through the wall he had been leaning against and pierced his body with barely any resistance.
Less than a second later, while Zhang was only starting to look down at the wound, the blade retreated and a large hand broke through the wall, grabbing him by the throat and pulling him through to the other side, leaving only a gaping hole in its place.
Sato and his last lieutenant turned towards the hole, their fingers already starting to press the triggers, but it was too late. With a flick of the wrist, the damn cape sent the heavy wooden desk flying at Tanaka’s on the other side of the room, smashing him through the opposite wall while also clipping Sato’s own gun and sending it flying through the floor.
With a cry of pain, Sato dived after the weapon, but he felt something grabbing him by the ankle and dragging him back, violently throwing him into his chair as the masked cape fully walked inside the room.
“Aoi Sato, I have a question for you,” Anakin said.
“I’ll never talk you fucking bastard!” the man cursed in his native language, trying to spit on his mask.
The glob of spit simply stopped in the air, flying right back at the Japanese man and smashing him in the eye. With a glance, Anakin caused the man’s pistol to float in the air, the barrel resting against his knee and causing the man to sweat.
“It would be wise to answer truthfully,” Anakin said, his voice lacking any signs of emotion. “Where are Lung and Bakuda?”
Five minutes later, Anakin had found out everything he needed. Lung was at an ABB warehouse deep inside the gang’s territory, the place filled with gang members while they prepared their next move. Bakuda’s laboratory was in a completely different direction, a large three storey gray building close to the water.
He briefly considered going after Bakuda first, her bombs were the main reason the city was in this state, but he had decided to eliminate the ABB entirely and a single ‘Brute’/’Changer’ was far more mobile than an entire tinker laboratory.
Grabbing a phone from Sato’s pocket, Anakin forced him to call the PRT and reveal Bakuda’s location before causing him to pass out and leaving the brothel.
Using Force Jump, he climbed on top of the building and started running towards Lung’s location, unwilling to waste any more time with the common thugs in the streets. Finally, he heard a roar and the entire street exploded with fire as he approached the warehouse.
Arriving at the destination, Anakin stood on top of a building at the start of the street, staring down at his target as he felt the usual anger igniting inside his chest. Around him, at least four buildings were already on fire, the warehouse he had been told about having completely collapsed and ABB members running away as fast as they could, burns all over their bodies.
Down on the street, at the epicenter of the inferno was a massive serpentine embodiment of flame. Anakin assumed this was Lung.
Nearly 14 feet tall, his body completely covered in silver scales and wing-nubs just starting to sprout from his back, Lung was an impressive creature, with an incredibly long neck and a face filled with hundreds of fangs. His form actually reminded Anakin of a Zillo Beast, a very small one.
Under Lung’s claws, being incinerated alive by his flames was a creature Anakin had never seen before, a mixture of cat and elephant almost larger than Lung, but he could recognize the intent behind the creature’s eyes, the same one he had felt in an alleyway when confronting Trickster.
The Force raged around Anakin turning his presence from simply awe inspiring to terrifying as the usual wrath clouded his judgment. He knew the Travelers had been working against him, he knew Coil was plotting something, but it still angered him to see their schemes in action.
“Another one, no matter, I will kill you too,” Lung growled, his words muffled by the shape of his mouth, but Comprehend Speech allowed Anakin to understand him perfectly.
Anakin didn’t say anything. With a step forward he fell to the ground, the Force twisting the four lamp posts closest to his landing point into strange shapes as the once-Jedi made no attempt to limit the area of effect.
Lung roared, one of his claws finally tearing off the head of the creature he was fighting, causing it to slowly fade away as if it was never here.
Anakin’s eyes glanced around at the spreading fire, the destruction, the fear that seemed to be spreading as people realized what was happening, before fully focusing on the flaming dragon at the other side of the street, his hands closing into fists.