Scene 23 - October 22nd

Interior MLED Compound, Late Evening

Abraham Armstrong

I tried my best to stifle a yawn as I leaned back in my chair in the common room. “Any news yet?”

There was a sigh from the console room. “No, Abe, we still haven’t heard or seen anything from Legion,” Ben said through the speaker.

“Maybe she’s left town,” Vulcan suggested, sounding almost as tired as me. The two of us had been on call for the last two days - me as the most experienced at fighting Legion, him as the only one immune to her absorption. After three and seven years as heroes, respectively, neither of us were strangers to long nights, but it was still tiring. Simone, being a Journeymen, wasn’t permitted to be on call for this long and was at home sleeping - lucky kid.

“We have no reason to think that, unfortunately,” I said before taking a sip of coffee. “We know of one thing that she was after, but we’ve sighted at least three bodies. That means, minimum, three objectives.” Vulcan let out a heavy sigh, and I reached up to pat him on the shoulder. “Chin up, kid - Aegis is still on track to be available tomorrow, so it’s only one more night no matter what happens.”

He nodded at that. “You’re right, sir. Just one more night.” The young man offered a tentative smile. “Could be worse, I suppose.”

“Goddamn it-” I began, but was interrupted by Starling’s voice from the console room.

“We’ve got a firefight on the north edge of town,” he informed us. “Buff Boy territory - looks like Legion decided to exit that way and they took exception without realizing just who they were pissing off.”

Vulcan began shrugging his shirt off as I pulled my cowl over my head. “How many of her are there?”

“Unclear. However many there are, she’s in full monster mode - much farther than she went when you ran into her, Abe.”

“Fuck.” I glanced at Vulcan. He moved surprisingly fast considering his size, but his weight kept him from being able to travel rooftops, which was a necessity for quick travel in New Venice. It would take him a while to get to the north edge. Simone was recharging her teleportation distance today and would be somewhere in Oregon right now - while she could be back in a moment’s notice, it would use up all of that distance, which was rather pointless.

“You go ahead,” Vulcan suggested. “I’ll catch up.”

“I can’t do much against her on my own, unfortunately - Sunday proved that. I can hold my own, but I can’t stop her from leaving whenever she wants.”

“Zookeeper has suggested that she can come and assist you, Canaveral,” said Starling. Emilia was on patrol right now, and her falcon form was fast enough to be anywhere in the city in a matter of minutes. “She believes that her control over her own shape might trump Legion’s ability to absorb her.”

This was my least favorite part of being a leader. I was constantly making calls that sent my best friends, and in this case my girlfriend, into danger. If I had the choice, I would wrap her in cotton and protect her from the world, shield her from everything I could - but I couldn’t make that choice, not when she was right. Not to mention that she wouldn’t want me to even if I expressed it. “Send her ahead,” I told Starling. “I’ll be with her in a matter of minutes.”