The last remnants of the Mod Squad and Super Soldiers Inc. were quickly cleaned up. Fortunately there was no immediate followup attack, as any more would have been more than we could handle. Rocker was down. I had somewhere around 10 mana remaining and Midnight was almost out. Everyone’s Force Armor was broken and my Stoneskin had mostly chipped away, leaving me with various weird bruises underneath.

Our captain was just finishing up a call with the Brigade. “We’ll have some people over soon to take these guys off our hands,” he gestured to the individuals in cocoons of ice. “The Brigade will keep SSI from causing more trouble, and figure out what they were here for to begin with. We’ve also got medics coming to cart off Rocker. And their boss,” he looked over over at the suits nearby, “Is having a necessary conversation with the Brigade. If we already had this kind of heat so early in the night, there might need to be some renegotiation. But that’s not our job. Unless the Brigade calls us off, we stay to protect the package… short of our lives, of course.”

The ambulance for Rocker arrived first. Some quick checks by the medical professionals made certain he was stable- there was a super with them who did some sort of quick healing to bring him to that state- and then he was off.

The pickups for the SSI troops came next, which involved a lot of quick divesting of armor and not a lot of gentleness. Some of them were unconscious and limp. “... Are any of them dead, you think?” I asked.

Captain Senan shook his head, “Could be, though SSI makes them tough. And I do mean that. They have some natural supers, but most of them are augmented. That’s not a cheap process. Which is why it comes with a twenty year contract. And why they’ll be paying us for the privilege of getting their soldiers and maybe their gear back.”

“So we might just fight those same guys again later?”

He shrugged, “Same with anyone. This way just doesn’t involve anyone breaking out of prison. And I’d rather deal with people I know I can beat than another group that might be better.”

“Or they could learn from this and take us out next time,” I pointed out.

“Are you gonna let them learn faster than you?” Ice Guy raised an eyebrow. “Because I’m not. And these particular individuals wouldn’t find themselves motivated to specifically kill us. It’s about the best we can get. Or we could have slit all their throats and lived sheltered lives for a decade so none of their death squads got to us. Wouldn’t matter if it cost SSI tens of millions or shut down their entire operation if we died.”

“Tens of millions?” I tilted my head.

“This here they can vaguely get away with as being a mission that seemed legitimate or whatever. I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out a few million lighter, though. Their gear has to be worth at least half a mil.”

After that, we had time to rest, looking around the ‘warehouse’ which had two large holes. One where there used to be the front door, one in the side. At least it still seemed structurally sound. “You alright, Midnight?” I asked the sprawled out feline in front of me. Technically I should have called him ‘Familiar’, but I didn’t.

“That was exhausting,” he said. “Way harder than training. And so loud.”

I nodded. “You alright, Acid Man?”

“None of them came with form-solidifying weapons, so I can say I’ve definitely been worse. Just drained. It takes a lot of work to dissolve some things. And just wrestling super soldiers, apparently.”

“How about you, Shockfire? Low on juice?” I couldn’t really help with that much at the moment, but I often built up his stores.

“Actually, I’d say more the opposite. Absorbed too much, and that’s also exhausting. Those blowtorch arms were crazy.”

I looked over to Captain Senan. “I’ve got more experience and endurance… but I definitely need breaks just like anyone else,” he admitted. He tossed something wrapped in plastic to me. “Don’t forget to eat.”

As exhausted as I was, I didn’t actually feel hungry. But I ate anyway. Power Brigade energy bars were… fine. I didn’t hate eating them, but they weren’t good. They were just something I consumed when I needed a boost. Using magic took more out of me than just mana, and scurrying around in battle and using Mage’s Reach like that was also tiring.

Half an hour passed without incident, after which our captain got a message. “Looks like we’ll be staying. Another squad is going to run interference away from the warehouse, but we’ll still be responsible for what makes it here.”

“Which squad?” Rasmus asked.

“Jim’s.”

“I don’t know if I know the rest of them,” Rasmus admitted.

“They’re more… traditional,” Captain Senan admitted. “Though pretty much everyone is.”

-----

My phone vibrated shortly after that. It was that reporter guy. I figured I should at least answer. “I’m working. Can’t talk now.”

“Oooh, anything newsworthy?” Zack Brannigan asked.

“Just guard duty,” I said. I wasn’t going to indicate where. “Why are you up in the middle of the night?”

Zack sighed, “I just had a good feeling, you know? My reporter senses were tingling, and most of my good stories lately involve you.”

“Yeah, sorry, maybe some other time.” After the job was over I could probably tell him about SSI attacking, depending on if the Brigade’s silence on that topic was paid for. The Brigade did encourage keeping good relations with reporters if possible.

-----

Two hours since the attack. We’d received official updates on Rocker’s condition. He had more than a handful of broken ribs and a few clean holes through him. None of that was great, but considering he’d been under a hail of bullet fire the fact that he was alive- powers or not- was quite something. Hopefully he’d learn he wasn’t invincible from this. Otherwise, he might not survive next time.

Resting was hard. Sure, it’s the default thing to do when tired, but it’s a lot of work. Especially when I had to recover as much mana as possible. Midnight and I were close to restored, with some exceptions. We re-upped Force Armor on our squad. It was hardly possible to think of a use of mana more efficient than saving someone’s life, and the spell was cheap and quite upgraded.

What remained of our Stoneskin unfortunately faded- it didn’t last much more than an hour. We hadn’t been able to reinstate that yet, though it was just about time. Just for the sake of caution.

With that amount of downtime, I honestly was beginning to believe the rest of the night would pass without incident. That was, of course, foolish. How could anything like this simply end with an attack by a villainous gang and rival mercs?

“Hmm, weird,” I said.

“What?” Captain Senan asked.

“Oh, it’s just a familiar power. I guess it makes sense. She kind of flies about New Bay as she pleases.”

“She… who?”

“Stargirl,” I said. I frowned, “Is there anything here besides docks and warehouses? Actually wasn’t this warehouse supposed to have a dock? How come I haven’t seen it?”

“The answers are no, yes, and I don’t know,” the captain said, looking suspiciously towards the roof. “Is she coming this way?”

“More or less,” I admitted. “I don’t really have a flight plan handy.”

“Can you set us up with some energy wards?” Captain Senan asked. “Fire.”

“Well sure I- you think she’s coming here?”

“I’d prefer to bet on it and prepare than to bet against it and be unready.”

“... Fair,” I said. “I can do you slightly better than fire, then. Midnight,” I called towards my buddy. “You remember the feeling during the fight with gloom? Right before I got scorched?” I transmitted that as much as I could remember.

“I do,” he said. “Clearly.”

“I’ll get us and the captain,” I said. “You get the other two.”

It was basically fire. Or plasma? That was more ‘correct’ for what stars did. But it was also kind of its own thing. Not actually stars. Well, my ability to fine tune Energy Ward wasn’t quite that good. It would be a lot like a basic fire ward in the end. I looked at a big crystal in a belt pouch… and crushed it in my hand. One would be fine, and if I needed the mana I would really need it.

Stargirl got closer. Soon enough my compatriots were able to feel her- though they could also see her light up the area outside our warehouse. She flew around the area for maybe five minutes.

“Maybe she’s just on a normal patrol?” Shockfire offered.

“Maybe,” replied our captain. He slowly walked towards the front ‘doors’. Where they had been, anyway.

A star suddenly lit up outside, the captain’s silhouette being the only thing that kept me from going blind. Even so it was like walking outside after adjusting to lower light. Absolutely brutal. Wasn’t there some law about how bright things could be at night? There should be. I began to rub my eyes. Hopefully they would adjust soon.

An arrogant voice projected into the warehouse. “I see battle damage. What happened here?”

Our captain responded smoothly. “Just mercenary business guarding a delicate shipment. It’s already been handled.”

“I’d like to take a look.”

“You can like whatever you please, but you’re not allowed in.”

I could vaguely see now. I still had my hand in front of my face to prevent most of the light from getting to me, but I saw the light seep into the warehouse as she walked closer.

“I have reason to believe there is criminal activity happening inside. Step aside.”

“Did you see anything with your own eyes?” Captain Senan replied. “Or do you have a warrant?”

Hmm, that was a bit better. I wondered if I could convince Vilhemiina to give me anti-flash goggles instead. Or maybe I should just get some from the Brigade and wear those. At least I’d adjusted enough that squinting let me vaguely see what was going on. Stargirl herself was too bright to see, but past her I could make out her dog. Spot, I think. The one that was almost certainly a Bunvorixian. How did he get here too, could he fly? Nah, she probably carried him somehow.

“I have enough suspicion to-” Stargirl’s posture suddenly changed. “Aha. An orc. Gotcha.”

If I’d been training with the Power Brigade for half a year and unable to respond to a charge, I might as well have just retired. So when Stargirl shoved our captain to the side and flew straight towards me, just skimming over the durable crates, my mind raced through options. I can’t say I consciously considered anything. I just drew mana as quickly as I could, ready to form it. Haste or Slow would have both worked if I had time to gather the mana, cast, and then avoid the incoming charge. Instead, the mana went into my staff, swinging forward towards the brightness as I tried to dodge to the side.

My staff hit something, and the mana flowed out of it. And then I could see, though my eyes were almost adjusted to light so I only managed to determine that my staff hit Stargirl’s outstretched fist as I was tossed to the side- and she suddenly was no longer lit up light a star and fell out of the sky, her momentum carrying her into the crates straight ahead.

I stumbled away, the negation of her power not having completely prevented all effects. But neither my staff nor my body was broken or exploded, so I would consider that a success. I was glad I’d pushed myself to get a whole ten mana in that moment. That might keep Stargirl down for a bit.

“Aaaargh!” I heard a cry of frustration. “My hand! That hurts! That really-” following that was a string of profanity that a proper hero was absolutely not supposed to use.

I wasn’t quite sure how to react, just readying myself as the rest of the squad rushed over, keeping an eye on the pile of crates.

“Shooting Star. This is a lawless intrusion upon private property,” Captain Senan said, raising his arm and gathering power in his palm. Not quite next to me- close enough to cover me while not getting in each other’s way or being part of the same easy blast radius, but around one of the crates.

I could feel the energy inside Shooting Star spasming. I would have to thank Vilhelmiina for her excellent adaptation of the functionality of the daggers into the staff.

“Nice… try, punks. I saw… an orc…” I could hear grunts of exertion as she was climbing to her feet. “So you’re all under suspicion of working with Doctor Doomsday.” The power that had been roiling inside of her push out my intruding mana. Then, like the starting of a car’s motor, she was suddenly bursting with power again. And way too bright.

Seriously, what was this woman’s problem? Then I felt a pulse of power from Spot, and knew we were kicking into an actual battle. If I knew she could recover so easily, I would have kicked her while she was down. Her grudge with me was way bigger than mine with her, but I was happy to reconsider.