"All right, let's get those 'copters in the air," Kate Williams roared out orders, the sandy blonde haired woman scowling as she stood on the ramp, the darkened towers stretching up all around the cluster of officers. Nearby several officers broke out the mini-helicopters from their crates, their heavy flight gear making them all look sort of fat and clumsy as they climbed into their seats. With a soft hum of power the large rotors started up and the officers were off, soaring up to investigate the powerless upper levels of the massive city. "Ma'am," a young man ran up, the collar of his uniform coat turned up to try to cut out the cold, "looting has been reported in Lowtown." "Crap," Kate scowled, "is it a surprise?" She looked him over, "Strife, right?" The white haired officer nodded, a unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. "Ma'am," he nodded, "do we have anyone we can send to help?" Kate grit her teeth in annoyance, silently wondering how the hell she had ended up in charge in the first place. She had just been headed out to a friend's New Years party when the first bombs went off, then like everyone else had found herself stranded. Climbing up emergency ladders she had made it to this police station to find it chaotically disorganized, no commanders available and without thinking had stepped in. "With the lift system dead? Not a chance in hell," Kate scowled. "Do we have a radio link running?" she asked. "Off and on," Strife handed it over then rushed over to help pull people out of a malfunctioning lift nearby. Kate pressed the switch and said crisply, "This is Williams, Detective Third Class, who's in charge down there?" "I guess that'd be me," the woman's voice answered, "Lt. Jessica Storm. Things are getting pretty crazy down here, ma'am." "Get your people together and hold up until we can get you relieved," Kate made a snap decision, swiftly weighing their options in her mind. "And let the looters run free?" Jessica blurted. "Without the city powergrid half your equipment won't even run," Kate explained, "and stun guns and riot gear won't cut it against a mob, they'll just overwhelm you. No, we just have to cut our losses for now and try to clean up the aftermath." "Understood," Jessica sounded much more agreeable. She hesitated, "I can't get through to City hall, is there anything wrong?" "I don't know," Kate admitted, "I've got one eye witness report they were hit, too, but no other confirmation yet." There was a long moment of dead silence as Jessica processed that piece of depressing information. "Thank you, ma'am, then I hope we hear from you soon," she said to Kate stiffly before she signed off. "I hope so, too," Kate muttered. Suddenly there was a soft squeal of static from their various communications devices as a all bands notice went out. "This is Section Chief Gwen Musashi from police headquarters to all units, we're switching to frequency 229 for all command broadcasts. Report in unit status and equipment resources immediate, please," she said before hanging up. 'Frequency 229,' Kate blinked, 'that's what the Chasers use. Does that mean she's set up a command center there?' Shaking off her surprise she turned to her troops and barked, "You heard her, we need a tally of people and gear ASAP! Go go!" As her troops rushed to work Kate's phone chimed softly. Answering it she heard Gwen's voice, "Kate, where are you?" "29th and Blake, level 55 police station," Kate answered, "we just heard your broadcast. What are you up to, boss?" "That explains it," Gwen sounded amused, "Beth was wondering why that station was more active than most on the emergency network. You took charge?" "Didn't have a lot of choice," Kate answered flatly. "Of course," Gwen sounded faintly amused. "We've got a secondary command center going here," she said, "we'll coordinate emergency responses from now on." "That legal?" Kate asked. "No, but I don't think anyone's going to argue it," Gwen answered. "Has Jen checked in yet?" Kate asked, feeling confident that the other officer would find a way to do so. "Jen was with her family, but is on her way back to headquarters," Gwen reported. She added with some amusement, "Your cousin is here, by the way." "What?" Kate blurted. "Miss Naru made her way here once the power went," Gwen said with amusement, "she was concerned about you." After a moment she said, "No comment?" "Not sure what to say," Kate admitted, "can you keep an eye on her?" "Will do," Gwen responded. Regretfully she continued, "I have to go, we need to keep most of the lines open for emergencies." "I'll try to keep things under control here," Kate agreed the they signed off. In the Chasers computer core the sound of muffled cursing was heard beneath the main consoles, a woman's bottom wiggling as she worked. "God damned piece of..." Beth Harris started, then a crackle of electricity was heard as the module slapped into place. Not leaving her spot she called out the order, "Naru, give it some juice!" The tall, black haired woman hit the on switch as instructed, watching as a three dimensional map appeared in midair. Large sections of it were blacked out but that was fine, it clearly was working. "It's on," Naru reported. Beth grunted as she climbed out then sat beside Naru in the main control chair, pressing keys as she ran standard checks. "Looks like it's as bad as we thought," the redhead said grimly as she looked up at the map. Gwen Musashi went down the dimly lit hall into the brightly lit main core, the elegantly dressed Asian woman answering the question herself. "Barely ten percent of the city has power at this point," she noted. She gave Naru a smile, "I finally reached Kate, she's fine." "Thank god," Naru sighed. "I'm rather surprised Kate hasn't mentioned you," Gwen said diplomatically. "My side of the family only learned of Kate's existence a few months ago," Naru said as she got up to walk over to a coffee machine in the corner, "and to be honest, she wasn't terribly happy to hear from us." "Kate's a pretty private person," Beth said as she hit a few controls, monitoring and directing emergency services, "so I'm not too surprised, honestly." "I was," Naru sighed. She looked amused, "I think my parents were pretty shocked when the private investigator reported back that her reply to our overtures was, 'Go away.' " Beth chuckled and Gwen had to fight back a smile. Naru carried over a coffee for Beth and her and Gwen said, "You really don't have to do this." Naru shrugged, "I don't see a lot of staff around here to help out while you try to get the city running again." "She's got a point," Beth bit her bottom lip in worry, "we can't even track down Julie." Gwen thought about it a moment then nodded firmly. "All right, if only because here is safer than out on the street," she said. "Thank you," Naru smiled. "Don't worry, we'll be keeping you busy," Beth answered as she considered all of the things they'd have to do to help get things back to normal.
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