"Captain."
Ronnie glanced at the line of body bags that a pair of slim, gunmetal androids prepared to load into a waiting coroner's van. "We prepped this sting for a week. What the hell happened?"
"Sorry, Captain. We had an unexpected variable no one accounted for."
"What kind of variable?"
"The Vigilant kind." She pointed to a corpse that hadn't been zipped up yet.
Ronnie crouched down for a closer look. "Great. Another dead wanna-be Vigil."
"He must have already been staking out the job and was here right before us. He jumped the gun, got himself killed, and woke up the threat alerts on our drone officers."
"Drones aren't officers, Sergeant. They're weapons."
Brooks gave Isaac a wary eye before answering. "The drone… units treated the situation aggressively—"
"— by shooting to kill, I know. That's why everyone calls them street sweepers. But they can set their weapons to stun. I want to know why that wasn't the case."
Brooks stiffened. "Some of these bangers have better armor suits than we do. They laugh off stun blasts. The Commissioner stresses protecting personnel, pushing quick and overwhelming force to quell any potential for—"
Ronnie interrupted with a dismissive hand wave. "I read the policy, Sergeant. But look around. Do you see anyone that's going to talk? All we have to show for this bust are bodies and one shipment of contraband firearms. The ones that got away will go to ground and tighten their security. This is a dead end in more ways than one."
"What would you have me do, Captain? Put my people's lives at risk for a few lousy—"
"You said it yourself — the drones go in first. I just expect you to use them more wisely. Lay suppressing fire, deploy sick bombs and tech suppressors, then drop in and make some arrests. This isn't a war zone, and you're not a soldier attacking foreign enemies. The objective is to make progress, not body counts."
"Understood, Captain." Her expression suggested otherwise, but Ronnie knew she would at least consider alternative strategies the next time.
Ronnie glanced at the dead vigilante. "But, I understand how interference can throw everything off. Who is this guy?"
"Just a kid. Twenty-two-year-old from Manhaven. His online records show a lot of interaction with the Cult of V boards. Looks like he was inspired to try to be one of those Vigilant nutjobs."
"Yeah — now look at him." Ronnie sighed, gesturing for the nearest android to process the body. "What a waste."
Brooks tapped her holoband, projecting a holographic display. "Cult of V posts something nearly every day. Video, propaganda hashtags, blogs, digital meetings. Can't we do anything about them?"
Ronnie glanced at the screen, where a silver helmet rotated under a red, glowing letter V. "They're not breaking any laws, Sergeant. Freedom of speech, civil liberties and all that. No one's been able to connect a direct link between them and the vigilante activity so far."
"But it can't be a coincidence that the activity started only after this Sentry person started posting manifestos."
"I know. But whoever Sentry is, she's careful. If the Cult of V is directing any vigilantes, it's not through the site. We have people working on it."
"If you need any volunteers—"
Ronnie smiled. "You have enough on your plate, Sergeant. Let's get this scene wrapped up and regroup later."
"Right, Captain."
Ronnie glanced up at Isaac when Brooks walked off to confer with her officers. "Being mighty tight-lipped there, Mr. Silent Type."
He shrugged. "Just observing. Bethany has done well for herself."
"Bethany? You're on a first-name basis with the Sergeant? Hmm."
"We were in the same Academy. Used to be friends before…" he trailed off, looking at his reflection on the surface of a broken window nearby.
Ronnie's face softened. "I'm sorry, Isaac."
"Don't be. Things change. Point is, she's a good officer."
"She's a bulldog."
"Yeah. Reminds me of someone."
Ronnie looked up in surprise. "What? I'm not anything like—"
"That's why you give her a hard time. She's too much like you."
Ronnie shook her head with a grin. "If that was true, she's the best officer on the force."
"Yeah, and humblest too, I bet."
"Ooh, nice one. Come on, there's nothing else to see here. Besides, it's too hot."
"Yeah, still no relief in the forecast. Last thing we need. Crime always skyrockets in a heat wave."
"Not to mention amateur attempted crime-stopping."
"Poor kid. He never had a chance. Speaking of, all this Vigilant stuff makes it extremely difficult to narrow down any leads on the guy that started it all."
"Vigil." Ronnie slid back into the driver's seat of her aerodyne, grateful for the blast of cool air. She recalled the last time she saw him, leaping from the darkness to take down a lumbering military mech to save her life. "Nothing confirmed for months, just countless reports of activity. I wonder what in the world he's up to right now."
Deep in the darkness of the Underbelly, Vigil battled a trio of Beasts.
Faces hidden by bestial masks, dressed in clothing darker than black, they blended with heavy shadows like he did. Their nightvision-assisted eyes glimmered like polished amber; his visor glowed with scarlet light. To his right was a Leopard, to his left a Wolf.
In front of him was a Lion.
Vigil shifted as they flanked him, each seeking his back for a quick opportunity to strike him from a blind spot. The Lion was the largest of the trio, moving slightly slower, golden mane swaying with every movement. His fingertips gleamed with five-inch claws that cut through steel like moldy bread. Vigil's left g-span was proof: shredded and nearly disabled, throwing off occasional sparks from the damage, barely saving Vigil from a severed arm.
With a pop of expelled gas, the Wolf fired a cable from her gauntlet that wrapped around his legs. The Leopard leaped at the same moment, twiring a double-sided laser staff. Vigil tapped his wrist; a laser-edged blade slid out the holding as his threat detector activated an omni-shield from his right g-span. The staff struck in a shower of sparks as the Wolf triggered an electric charge through the cable. His armor barely withstood the deadly current. A downward swing of the energy blade cut through the cable. With his legs freed, his boot thrusters fired, allowing him to ram the Leopard, knocking him head-over-heels.
The Lion charged, claws gleaming in the dull light. Vigil blocked and counterattacked, g-spans glowing blue with every energy-charged blow. He ducked a nearly lethal attack, pivoting to kick the Wolf in her stomach and smash her into the wall in an explosion of dust and crumbling mortar. The Lion struck him in the back, tangling his claws in Vigil's flex-mesh cape. Vigil disengaged the fabric, thrust it into the Lion's masked face, and leaped backward, g-span humming as it charged. Squeezing the trigger in his palm, he discharged a powerful pulse blast into the Lion's chest that shattered his gold-trimmed armor.
Never slowing, Vigil whirled and caught the Leopard's wrist with one hand, the staff's handle with the other. Using his superior strength, he twisted, wresting the weapon away. Twirling it, he struck the Leopard across his head, destroying the mask in a shower of glimmering sparks. He shifted the staff backward in the same flow of movement, catching the Wolf in the chest. She gurgled as her armor cracked along with her sternum. Vigil shifted the staff, caught her legs, and swept them from under her. She slammed against the dusty flagstones and went limp.
Vigil finished off the Leopard with an electric blast from his g-span as he walked past, eyes on the Lion, who clutched his smoldering armor, groaning as he tried to sit up. Vigil slammed a boot into his chest and snatched the glorious Lion helmet off.