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[silentmagi]

Heroine Squadron - Chapter 6

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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Chapter 6

Izuku was finding that the night shift in the laundry room was very relaxing and a good way to keep an ear out for the thoughts of others as they were relaxing for the night. He knew for instance that Lt. Hatsume was trying to get him more time in the workshop, Col. Kayama and Captains Yamada and Aizawa were all friends from school, and sneaking the ones on night guard some extra cookies and snacks with their coffees was a way to keep them happy and talking about anything that catches their interests.

Thank you Lt. Jiro for the many band recommendations that he probably could get her to give just by asking, but it was a way to pass the time while folding the base laundry. So it was probably not a surprise that he was already on the way when the alert for the Nomu attack sounded. Nodding to Jiro and Hagakure, he held the door open as they rushed out and he took up the control station until someone else would relieve him. It was a small band of Nomu, just enough to scramble most of the squad.

“This is Corporal Midoriya taking comcon, report in,” he stated as he watched the board lighting up. After a moment, he heard a voice with gunfire in the background.

“Specialist Tako here,” the scared communications expert chimed in. “We are holding against six Nomu of the ground variant.”

“Earjack and Ghost are en route, eta 3 minutes. Creati, Uravity, Pinky and Hawkeye are scrambling as we speak,” Izuku assured the soldier seeing the dots moving towards the action zone. “Hold steady.”

“Roge-” the voice stated before a roar reached over the radio, followed by screaming and rapid fire far closer to the microphone.

Switching channels to the Heroine’s team he picked up just in the middle of Colonel Kayama giving orders to divert the Nomu. Letting her finish, he spoke up, “ComCon here, the Nomu are pressing hard on the garrison of Listening Point Echo. Sounds like they’re being overrun.”

Getting an affirmative response, he felt his feet bouncing as he watched the scene play out. Hearing the door open, he glanced back, and let his shoulders relax seeing the Captains and Kaminari pop in. Relinquishing the headset, Izuku watched as they took over, focusing on the displays. Getting a nod from Aizawa, he exited, seeing Pvt Rikido getting coffee prepped for the command staff.

Seeing nothing else for it, Izuku went to the laundry room, and sighed as he felt something in his chest burning. He could hear that the Nomu were being kited by Jiro and Hagakure, but it was rough. With the others on the way, it was dangerous, but manageable.

Thinking that did not help with the intense feeling of not being able to do anything. If it wasn’t for the cover-up, Izu would be out there, fighting with the others. Glancing out the window, she tried to find where the fighting was, tracer fire or the glow of weapons would be visible for miles. What she found instead drove a cold spike through her heart. There was a tear in space just outside of the walls, and she could see Nomu emerging. “CAPTAIN!” He shouted to the other room, trying to get their attention. “We have a portal!”

Aizawa was in the room instantly, and followed the hand of the non-com towards the portal seconds later. “Get to the armory.”

Taking the order, he double-timed it to get armed to defend the base. He could barely make out Yamada and Aizawa diverting some of the heroines to repel the attack before an alarm klaxon began blaring and drowning out all other noise. Grabbing his helmet from his room, he also snagged the bag with his sidearm from his mother that he slung over his shoulders.

Sprinting out of his room, he made it to the door out in the open and drew his sidearm to cover the others as they made it across the empty courtyard of the school to where the armory was located. Once he saw others post up with guns at the opposing door, he made his dash to get his own submachine gun and some ammo.

Following Iida’s pointing, he ran to defend a section of the wall near where the portal was. Clicking the magazine into place, he chambered a round and waited with his finger on the trigger housing. He waved to Sero who was hunkering down behind a pile of sandbags, getting his attention and a nod. They were going to have to hold things here for a while.

Faintly he could hear the hum of Midnight’s engines, drawing his eyes to the faint glow of her magical aura fighting just outside the gate. He could see three or four Nomu, and she was doing her best to hold them at bay.

Flood lights filled the area, and the men prepared to repel the creatures. The Nomu were at the edge of the lit area, and they could see Midnight outlined against the night’s sky, the muzzle flashes of her dual machine pistols punctuating the darkness.

The observation of her fighting in the dark would have to wait until later, as one Nomu broke off from the group and charged towards the source of the lights. Izuku waited until the creature got in range, before squeezing the trigger and calling for the others to fire. Hundreds of rounds began tearing into the creature’s undead skin, stopping with the pure weight of munitions impacting it. The firepower didn’t hold it for long, but there was the sound of pins being pulled and frag grenades landing on the tarmac. Iida’s voice called out that the explosives had been thrown seconds before the flashing light would have temporarily blinded them otherwise.

Seeing that the Nomu had dropped, they stopped firing and checked to see if it was dead again, before it moved and hefted up a chunk of tarmac.

Izu could only watch and barely moved her arms to block herself as she called on magic to help protect her body. The flash of her rabbit ears flowing out hidden in the sea of light from the flood lights, Izu felt the impact around her, and that she was now trapped in a stone coffin. Taking a few breaths, she lowered her arms and looked around there was no chance of getting out of this quickly through any of the walls, but the cracking underneath gave her a thought.

Lifting her foot, she stamped down on the crack, and heard rubble falling beneath her, slowly the cracks spread and a hole began forming. Hearing a crackling noise from the radio, she picked it up, and spoke into it. “Midoriya here, no injuries, but the ground is giving way,” she stated, watching a hole widen under her. “Looks like natural caves under the compound.”

As Aizawa’s order to hunker down came through, Izu smirked and leapt down into the widening hole, landing with a roll on the hard stone. Better to get down first and move away from the oncoming stones than to wait to be trapped.

A soft clattering noise of a toy mask bought on a whim caught her ear, and a new whim came over her. A desire to get out there and help, in a way that only she could. Slipping the mask on, she cinched it tight and stripped off her uniform, leaving her in a green compression suit she used to hide her body and combat boots. She’d have to work fast and get back here faster, but it was time to get out there.

She could almost feel the fighting over her, the energy and impacts rattling the stones of the cave around her. Pulling into herself, she flicked out the green-black energy tendrils she had long hidden and sent it up towards another crack in the cavern. Her strength and hardened energy around her fingers allowed her to dig up like a rabbit, and she peeked out just as she crested dirt. Seeing the backside of the Nomu that had thrown the tarmac at her, she decided it was too close to her allies.

Exploding out of the ground like some subterranean terror, she flashed out the tendrils of energy and grabbed the creature, letting its strength pull her lighter form through the air. Her feet made contact first with the back of the thing’s skull and dragged it for feet across the ground. Not letting up, she planted her feet and began spinning around, lifting the creature up and chucking it back the way it came.

Watching its arc, she smirked as it slammed into another of the creatures that had been trying to get behind Midnight. Cracking her knuckles, she began running towards the creatures, wanting to get their attention on her instead of Midnight to give the others time to arrive and defend the base. Closing the distance with the creatures, she slammed into the two that had just collided with double clotheslines, sending them flying back and tumbling across the ground.

Sadly she had over extended herself, and found out when a Nomu got a claw scratch against her back, which flashed with magic deflection. Still hurt like a bitch, but at least she wasn’t killed. She really wished she had some armor though.

Turning on the creature, she caught its next blow with her tendrils and rolled her body underneath, lifting it up and over her, to slam into the ground. Sparing a second to look for any other undead trying to blindside her, she watched as Midnight dispatched a Nomu with her machine pistols.

Without a firearm, Izu decided that she’d have to do it a different way. Picking up the Nomu, she pile-drove the exposed pink dome containing what looked to be a brain into the ground. The splattering of the pink-grey matter was enough of a hint of what she had done, but it was soon covered by the body of the creature going slack over it.

Refusing to lose her last meal over it, she turned and pressed on, flung herself into another Nomu, barely missing getting slashed by a chainsaw arm as she implanted into its jaw. The creature’s flailing hands went wide, giving her room to move, which she did by lashing her energy tendrils onto the arm with the chainsaw and yanking, sending the spinning blade into the weak point and removing that Nomu from the fight.

Seeing Hawkeye’s ‘Valkyrie’s’ suit in its plane form, she smiled to herself and knew that the tide was turning. That smile faded as she saw a dark outline fall in behind Hawkeye, claws reaching out for her suit. Without thinking, she picked up the still spinning chainsaw hand, spun and flung it past Hawkeye and into the wing of the Air Nomu, which let out a terrible shriek as it spun off heading towards the ground, right into a set of rockets from a pair of heroines, that looked to maybe be Uraraka and Asui arriving.

Turning back into the fray, she heard the reports of the others cleaning up the six at the listening post, and questions about the renegade going into fight with only magic, rage, and muscles galore.

She didn’t spend more time listening to the chatter, focusing on the Nomu that were surging towards her. Leaping up, she spun around and dropped her heel on the Nomu’s soft, squishy skull in a hatchet kick, sending the damn thing down to the ground and propelling her into the air and seeking for more.

Unfortunately for her, the Nomu managed to find her first, and she was swatted out of the air and into the wall. After pulling herself from the rubble, she growled and hefted up a few pieces of said material. If they wanted to use the wall as a bludgeoning object, she was going to oblige.

Surging forward with her tendrils flowing after she ran at three that were harassing Mei in her unit’s ground mode. Spinning up some momentum, she slammed the sections of wall into the creatures, and flung two of them into the distance, while the other managed to sink its talons into the ground and held firm.

That was fine with her, as she was going to show the damn thing the error of its ways. As the thing caught the first swing, she snarled, and brought in the second which knocked it around by the jaw a few times before it caught the rock as well. The third through tenth tendril drove the point home in several jagged rebar reinforced sections, turning its exposed brain and upper half into chunky salsa.

Spinning around, she flung the rocks into the nearest cluster of Nomu, knocking one over, and sending the other sprawling with its head now concave. Turning back to Mei, she directed the tendrils to set her upright and nodded to the pink haired girl she knew to be inside the suit.

Then she turned to look at the fight, and saw that the heroine squad was mopping up the remaining Nomu, deciding they had it in hand, she sprang up into the air, and dove into a hole, using her tendrils as claws over her fingers to burrow back down into the ground. Really, she was heading back to the cave so she could get back in her uniform and await the recovery efforts. 

She couldn’t reveal herself yet, the Command personnel that were looking for her were still out there, and if she was found out again, it would be bad. For a lot of people.

Sadly those jag offs would be the least affected.

[silentmagi]

Heroine Squadron Prologue + Chapter 1

Ao3

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In year 22xx Earth is visited by an alien race known as the Nomu, who warn of one of their own, Tomura Shigaraki, who has set his sights on a planet with a powerful energy source he plans to use to destroy the more planets. Due to the energy being human beings themselves, humanity decides to listen and prepare for the invasion. With the alien technology, the power source can be tapped into and grant what is commonly called magic to the users. The only problem? Only women can access the power. Of these, the Heroine Squads are formed. It is theorized that the powers are nature based as when active the users will get animal traits, normally ears and tails.

Prologue

The future was promised to be many things, a battle ground for alien refugees and their undead pursuers was not on the list for many. At first, the animalistic looking Gaians were treated with suspicion and disbelief that someone would take their dead to turn into creatures out of nightmares.

Turns out zombies are real, and that this version was technological behemoths brought about by the work of an insane scientist, and a traitorous spoiled man-child of a brat. Tomura Shigaraki was the nominal leader of the undead, while his companion known only as Dr. Garaki performed the necessary work to bring the dead back to life and weaponize them for their battles. These are currently classified as Nomu.

Thankfully the Gaians brought with them the tools to defend humanity and fight back the Nomu. Their advanced technology woke the core of the Earth’s own magical energies, and in turn magic began to awaken in humanity. Strangely it manifested stronger in those that identify feminine as opposed to masculine, and so they developed their spells. Many unlocking unique family specific abilities.

From this, the rise of magic using women brought about a change in the military doctrine. Combining the magic with technological advancements of the Gaians, they developed the Heroine Combat Suits, magic infused plates of armor that shape and form to bond with the choices of the wearer.

Yes, the animal attributes are tied to the magic. No, they are not necessary. No, no one’s bothered to find a way to stop them. A magic user, once properly attuned to their suits are able to pull off feats that would require several people or machines to achieve.

Of course, the old boys club were not thrilled to have their monopoly on warfare threatened. Though they cannot actively act, what with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, these types often act in small ways that build up over time.

Which is where sometimes even Heroines need a hero.

Chapter 1

Staring at the desolate remains of what had probably been a school grounds once before the invasion, the green haired soldier sighed as they adjusted their uniform and cap before taking up their duffel bag. After the results of the hacking of the Commission and following the trail of corruption resulted in them being wanted in several countries, they realized that they needed to change a lot to stay safe. Their mom was safe, protected by her status as a hero of the country along with the fact that they had used an alias for gathering intelligence.

So while being a member of the elite magical Heroines was off the table, they could still serve as a member of the support forces, to work around the schemes of the old guard that refused to accept the new way of things.

Izu Midoriya, currently known as Izuku Midoriya, shouldered her bag and set off to report to her Captains. Several hallways, a stop for directions, and a single hallway more, and she knocked on the doorway, getting a gruff, “Who is it?” from inside, she figured she was in the right location.

“Corporal Midoriya reporting as ordered,” she answered while pulling out her orders. Studying the nameplate on the door with the name “Captain Aizawa” before her while she waited, she started to wonder if her research on the man had been wrong.

He was supposed to be gruff and efficient, but she was already up to thirty before he responded. “Enter.”

Was he sighing? Okay, so maybe this was a bad time. Opening the door, she entered the room and stepped in three steps before saluting crisply at the two captains before her. Seeing the gruff and barely passing regulations of a scruffy man with black hair, she recognized her future captain, and across the desk trying to look strangely casual, Captain Yamada seemed slightly more disheveled than he usually was.

What could they possibly have been… oh.

Maintaining as straight a face as she possibly could, she focused on Aizawa’s face, and saw that he knew that she knew what she suspected they had been doing before her arrival. Getting a salute in return from the man, she held out her orders and returned to attention. “At ease Corporal, we seldom go for the full regulations here. Have a seat while we read over this.”

Taking a seat next to the door, she watched the two captains reading over the papers while trying to not give away what she suspected to have happened before her arrival. If they did not address it, she would not address it, and they could all go about their day. Aizawa glanced over at her as he reached into his desk and pulled out a folder that he began flipping through. “There’s that room near the workshop that the Corporal can use, might need to give it a once over to clean it up, but it’ll be dry and warm,” he muttered, which Yamada picked up on, and pointed to a spot on the map. “Yeah, I think that’ll do. Midoriya?”

“Sir?” she answered crisply, instantly providing her full attention.

“You might have noticed that this is a conversion from existing structures, and as such we don’t have the standard billeting. You’ll be getting a small private room, there are three others in the same hall, Sergeant Tenya will be at the opposite end with two specialists from the motor pool filling between you. Come here,” he motioned for her to join them over a map, and he began pointing out where everything was. “I don’t expect you to memorize this right away, but get a basic layout… I’ll get you a guide to show you around.”

“Thank you Captain,” she answered while studying the map, storing it in her memory as swiftly as possible. It was an ability that had come in handy while she was investigating the Commission.

Just as she finished studying the map, Aizawa picked up a comm unit and set the dial before placing a call. “Sergeant Iida, please report to my office.”

“Sir, yes sir,” the voice on the comm unit responded after only a couple seconds, and Izu could almost swear that she could see the forest up this particular sergeant’s backside already.

Hearing Aizawa sigh, she glanced over, giving him her full attention. “Please do not judge him too harshly to start with, he’s not as bad as one might think. Uptight, for certain, but not unreasonable.”

Something in the tone of his voice told her enough that he was trying to convince himself as much as her, but she wasn’t about to call him out on it just yet. After all, Izuku Midoriya shouldn’t be looking that deeply into things. Izuku Midoriya would keep his head down and focus on doing his job and supporting the Heroines.

Several minutes of awkward silence later, there was a sharp rapping from the door. “Come in Sergeant,” Aizawa stated without hesitation, which suggested it was normal for the man that was to be her immediate superior. Once the blue haired man with glasses entered, and saluted, which the captains dismissed swiftly before introducing the two of them. “Sergeant, this is Corporal Midoriya, he’ll be replacing Corporal Shang in the Support Division. Izuku, this is Sergeant Iida.”

“Understood, will he be in the same quarters, sir?” the energetic sergeant asked briskly while his attention turned to Izu, looking over the new Corporal with a sharp, critical eye.

Aizawa gave Yamada a glance that Izu could tell that he was having some regrets that he’d talked with the other captain about previously. Okay, so this was going to be an experience. At Aizawa’s nod, Iida turned and extended his hand towards Izu. “Pleased to meet you, I hope that you are ready to work hard. I will add you to the schedule for tomorrow. For today, I will show you around.”

“You two are dismissed,” Aizawa stated with an exhausted tone as he motioned for the door. Making their tactical withdrawal, the pair walked the hallways towards the back of the base, pointing out such highlights as the PT area, the mess hall, the officer mess, and infirmary wing in passing.

Getting to his new room, Iida pulled out a key and passed it over to the Corporal before letting him open the room. “As you can see, this is a fairly spacious single room.”

It was cleaned up to military standards, crisp and sharp lines in the bedding, and the floor practically shining. “I apologize, I had not had time to clean it this morning, so you may find some dust in the corners.”

“That’s fine, it’s a good room,” Izu answered while stuffing her duffle bag into the closet. Pulling out the bare minimum to continue with the tour. Trading out her travel green cap for a plain raspberry beret that she had been given upon graduation. Tucking it into her shoulder lapel, she signaled that she was ready to continue.

Stepping out of the room, the pair were shocked when a pink haired woman dropped out of the vents over the room, a manic grin on her face. “HELLO!” she shouted as Izu gripped her arm and flipped her to the ground without a second thought before Iida could stop her.

“Woah! Nice muscles there greenie!” the pink haired girl called out with a laugh as Iida began apologizing for the actions of his corporal, who seemed to realize that this was an officer. Scrambling up, she offered the pink haired girl a hand up, one that she took before waving off the apologies coming from the two non-coms. “Good danger sense there Corporal Muscles, I’m Lieutenant Hatsume, you can call me Hawkeye.”

“Thank you, ma’am?” Izu started, noticing a weird look on the pinkette’s face before correcting herself. “I mean Hawkeye. You’re not injured are you?”

“Nah, it’s not like when Shang screamed like a banshee and then passed out,” she offered with a shrug. “So what’re you doing? Is it a tour? Can I show him the workshop?”

Iida seemed to take on the expression that Aizawa had earlier, like he was regretting having met the girl before him for at least the millionth time, and expecting a million more. His eyes searched for some reason to deny her request. “We would be heading there eventually, however we need to go about showing him the other work areas.”

“Oh? Really? That means that you and I can show him around? Like he’s going to be working in the workshop area as well, right?”

Iida seemed to realize the error in his phrasing almost immediately, before reluctantly nodding in agreement. “Very well, our current itinerary is to go to the laundry room, then the common and rec areas, and finally the motor pool and workshop. We would not want to delay you from your du-”

“Nonsense! I’m here now, and this is perfectly fine. We’ll show him the base, and then it should be shift change,” Hatsume reasoned as she beamed at the two of them, and began to frog march them through the halls. Much quicker than would have been preferable, Izu was dragged along and found herself staring at a row of cages holding weapons and armor. These must be the Heroine weapons, since most of them were too heavy for most to hold up.

Turning to look over at others, she saw a row of four tanks, and several half-tracks and jeeps. Most of which had some signs of being modified. Izu wasn’t going to comment on that, knowing of the resources being stretched thin across the entire front from her previous information gathering. “Can you tell me that I’m not imagining a GAU-8 Avenger Autocannon in that cage over there? The one which has been ripped apart and has most of the barrels against the wall?”

“Oh that’s a special project for Captain Creati!” Mei gushed as she dragged her closer to look at it. “See how the motor is still set to use the old battery system? We just barely got this one from the salvage yard, and are converting it over for Heroine use.”

“Captain Yaoyorozu does specialize in large armaments,” Iida supplied, seeming a bit strained with an officer manhandling his subordinate. Though, there appeared to be a “better you than me” nature to his stance when looking at Izu, not reaching out to help free the poor Corporal.

Despite the name striking a bell with her, Izu was mildly distracted by the fact that Mei was trying to pull off her arm. Deciding to play into her interests, she began looking at the weapons closely. “How are you countering the magic munitions weight limitations?”

Mei brightened up, leaning in towards her face to seek interest and understanding, before turning to Iida. “You’re dismissed Sergeant! I’ll take over the Corporal’s tour.”

Izu could only watch as the Benedict Arnold runs away, before turning to keep Hawkeye talking about things. The pink haired girl was grinning eagerly, looking like an excited puppy. “You actually understand the limitation of what magic can do in propelling munitions?”

“Well yes, mom was always talking about how sometimes they needed to work on that after she retired,” she answered, before Mei seemed to be trying to process something. Pressing on, she decided that she wanted to avoid being recognized this early. “She said something about chemical propellants being more stable and powerful?”

“Oh right! Yeah, see, magical propellants are great as they can be used endlessly so long as we have magic in us, however it also means that we are limited to magic sensitive materials,” Mei explained instantly going into inventor mode. “The current clips that are used to channel the magic can’t channel it fast enough for the needs of the gun, and the crystals are too unstable to use for less than the missiles of something like Lieutenant Uravity’s missile launcher unit.”

“How big are they?”

“Huh?” Mei asked, confused by the question for a moment before holding up her hands about three inches apart. “The crystals are about this big, why?”

“Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but crystals are formed by growing onto one another forming the larger part right?”

“Well yeah, the molecules form a lattice that expands and… and forms into a larger crystal,” Mei started explaining as pieces began forming together like the crystals they were talking about. “But if we go with a shorter growth time, we could make smaller crystals, which can be put into a reinforced hamper.”

“GENIUS!” the pinkette cried before whipping around to go to a work desk and beginning to plan out the details of what Izu had prompted her with. It seemed like a simple idea really, however those smaller crystals would likely be the most unstable crystals ever made unless there was some way to stabilize them. When she slowed down, Izu realized that she was faltering over the problem of the crystals exploding multiple times over.

She pouted as she glanced at a signed and framed order on the wall from Colonel Kayama stating that Mei had to fill out forms and submit them to her directly before experimenting with things that might explode. Izu just barely managed to read over the order before a pile of forms slammed onto the desk before them. Izu gave her a small smile, stepping away slightly as she tried to avoid drawing her attention. There was a real possibility that she’d be dragged into working on the paperwork as well, and she really, really didn’t want to do that.

Thankfully being behind the Lieutenant meant that she was avoiding her focus enough to turn and run like hell. There was a shout from the workshop, but it was too late, and Izu was making good her escape.

Sliding around the corner, she barely managed to stop before smacking into a captain and colonel, who looked almost bemused as she rebounded off the wall and into a salute. “Corporal Izuku Midoriya, support technician.”

The face that she saw before her, in the captain’s uniform, was someone she knew. It might have been several years, and they were both kids when their mothers had last met up, but Captain Momo Yaoyorozu was nearly identical to her mother. Glancing at the Colonel, she almost seemed amused with being crashed into. “At ease Corporal, I’m guessing that was Hawkeye?”

“Yes ma’am,” Izu offered, trying to act natural despite the fact that her entire plan could be ruined within seconds if Momo remembered her. “I mentioned something to help with getting one of the projects to work, and she was a little too excited until she saw an order.”

“Which project?” Momo asked, seeming eager to find out more, and mildly hopeful it was the project that she was waiting on.

Izu hesitated as this was operational security stuff, and she really didn’t feel comfortable talking about it, even with the two superior officers before her. “Perhaps it might be best to go and find out ma’am, where it is more secure?”

The reminder seemed to get the Colonel spring into action as she motions for Momo to go to the workshop to check on Mei, while she remained behind to address Izu directly. “Thank you for keeping the security in the forefront of your mind Corporal. I will address that with the others as well.”

Giving her a smile, the Colonel patted her on the shoulder and lifted the beret tucked into the lapel there. “Your mother must be proud of you going through advanced training before your posting here. I once trained with an Inko Midoriya, is she related to you?”

Izu blinked slowly before nodding, after all it was in her files, and she felt that the Colonel was in a position to know that detail by just checking on her files. If it wasn’t for the fact that the records department was burned down months ago, this would make sense. “Yes ma’am, my mother.”

Midnight leans in, her voice getting soft as she glanced around the hall. “There’s a lot of hubbub about the family around Headquarters. Do you know anything about what happened?”

“Not that I am at liberty to speak about ma’am,” Izu answered, her eyes searching the overly close superior officer.

This got a nod from her, before clapping the corporal on the shoulder again. “Keep that in mind, one can never be too careful about security matters like that. You are dismissed. Go and get some food in the mess.”

Once the Colonel was out of the area, Izu subtly checked over her clothes to see if the officer had left any listening devices on her. Her paranoia might have been playing up right now, however it was better safe than sorry. She’d have to take care of her room later, but for now she couldn’t afford being seen as suspicious.

Moving to the mess hall, she decided that a meal wouldn’t be terrible, and she might even be able to find some of her coworkers, and other people to socialize with. 

She just couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible was happening and for once she wasn’t at the core of it. It wasn’t like she left her childhood friend with a woman that had just seen her resolve a major lynchpin in a magic weapons system within only a few minutes of seeing it.

Focusing on the bustling and busy cafeteria before her, she decided instead to grab food and find somewhere to sit. Well the tray of… supposed food… looked edible, and at least it wasn’t field rations and MREs. The steam actually smelled good too. Now where to, oh there’s sergeant Iida and some of the support boys. Walking over, she gestured to an empty spot, and got a few nods.

“Yo corporal, nice to see you before shift,” the blonde next to her offered, holding out a hand. “Private Denki Kaminari, sorry about not saluting, mess hall rules are lax on that around here.”

Taking the hand, she gave him a warm smile before responding, “Corporal Izuku Midoriya, that’s fine, I don’t mind a little informality. Hey Sarge, did you get the schedule updated?”

“I did, you should have it in your room after the meal if the Captain approves. Private Sero, you’re getting pulled from night duty and back on days,” the blue haired man answered, causing a dark haired guy with a wide, but exhausted smile to give him a thumbs up before putting his head back down on the table and snoring.

Izu chuckled as Denki subtly pulled the sleeping private’s jacket over his head without missing a bite of his meal. “Sorry about Hanta, he’s not been handling the night shift well.”

“Understandable, not everyone functions well at night. Hope me being here helps him recover,” she offered, nodding to a few of the other privates that were at the table nearby before beginning to eat the food before her. Before she could ask, the tabasco sauce was in front of her. Ah yes, the savior of many a meal.

“So Sarge, about leaving me with Hawkeye…” she started, feeling everyone except Hanta stop breathing, before giving him a warm smile. “She’s not nearly as bad as you made her out to be. I just distracted her with shop talk, and then she was in her own little world.”

Seeing the instant relaxation around the table, she joined in with the playful ribbing, keeping an eye out for the officers she had left behind, or maybe some of the others. She didn’t know all of the Heroines on base, and it was game over if any of them could sense her magic. It wouldn’t make sense for them to be in the noncom mess, when their mess was nearby, but she supposed they might pop in to check if they sensed her.

Then again, if that ability was strong enough to do that without her powering up, she doubted they, or she, would be at this base in the first place.

Seems she might have to visit the file server and do some reading on the officers of this base. Especially the mysterious General Nezu that ordered her to go to Captain Aizawa instead of himself, or the Colonel.

[silentmagi]

Heroine Squadron - Chapter 5

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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Chapter 5

The days following the run to town were filled with alertness and tension that the one nomu would be leading to an assault in the area, so squads were taking patrols with Heroine escorts. This meant that there was a lot of wear and tear on equipment and pushed the base staff into exhaustion. The one thing that Izu could find to be grateful for was that there were far less cameras all over the base.

Still had to deal with random audio bugs, but they were easier to deal with.

Sipping the coffee that was probably fighting back against the acid in her stomach, Izu looked at the latest project in the motor pool. It was thankfully just a routine oil change and inspection due to mileage, but the truck had certainly seen some miles.

Adjusting the coveralls, she set the coffee on the table near the wall, laid out on the creeper and slid under with a bucket to drain the oil. Sliding in, she loosened the plug and began draining the old oil, when she heard approaching footsteps. Tilting her head back, she could make out two sets of booted feet.

“-need to cut back on the active patrols, we’re starting to see illness and injuries rising from overwork. The constant alert level needs to be lowered,” the dry and gruff voice of Aizawa cut in as he and another officer came into the motorpool. After a moment, he called out. “Midoriya?”

“Under the two and a half sirs, oil change,” Izuku called out tapping a boot against the runner. “Be with you in a moment.”

“Stay there,” Aizawa ordered with a sigh. “Just wanting to check in on you. You’ve been pulling a lot of double duties lately.”

“Holding steady Eraser, sir,” he called out watching the flow remain steady. “Everything alright?”

There was a grunt of acknowledgement from the Captain, getting a fond chuckle from what Izuku could make out to be Midnight. “Oh everything is fine Midoriya, we’re just doing our rounds. Are you on night duty tonight as well?”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am. Mostly laundry, but if the heroines need anything, I’m a call away,” he answered politely as the oil just did not seem to end.  Stupid deuce and a half’s bottomless oil tanks.

“Good to hear, adjusting alright after your first shakedown?” she teased, though Izuku could hear the concern in her voice. He had noticed that the others were checking on him more regularly since the skirmish with the Nomu.

While it was a good idea, he really hoped they’d focus on getting more staff, if possible. “Nothing to complain about, ma’am, just hope the Lieutenants think I comported myself properly.”

Hooking the second bucket with his boot, he slid it up along his side to go under the second tank, while screwing the plug back in place on the first one, tightening it with a wrench. Moving the first bucket to the side for now, he began loosening the other nut, which seemed stiffer than the first.

Flicking on the headlamp he wore, he inspected the plug, and sighed, seeing the dirt and grime holding it in place. Gently he used a brush to work loose the stuck material before trying again and letting out a sigh as the seal loosened enough to let the plug move freely. Using his hand to finish off the last of it, he looked around at the rest of the undercarriage, noting the build up in some of the hard to reach areas for later.

While the oil drained into its bucket, Izuku began using the brush to dig out some dirt, grit, and corrosion to make sure that there wasn’t something worse being hidden behind them. “I would say they did,” Midnight commented to his boots with a laugh. “If you need anything, please let us know.”

“Any of the Captains too Midoriya,” Aizawa supplied gruffly.

“Yes ma’am, sir,” the non-com called out from under the truck.

“Please tell me you’re not saluting us under there.”

“No sir, hands are full at the moment.”

“Carry on,” Midnight offered as she and Aizawa left, barely holding back a laugh. It seemed that his acceptance of the more laid back aspects of this base was right so far. He managed to drain the second tank, replace the plug, get the buckets of oil out, and was working on removing the filters when a blonde specialist came in.

“Hey Corporal, I think I’m supposed to check the radio on this one, that okay with you or should I come back?” he asked looking at him and the exposed oil cautiously.

Midoriya gave the engine a look before nodding and giving him a thumbs up. “Go ahead Kaminari, I think I saw them mention something about power failure?”

“Ah, thanks for the reminder, let’s see…” the specialist stated before climbing into the cab and beginning to run wires. The two worked in a companionable silence for a while, taking care of their respective tasks.

So it was understandably a surprise when the truck’s lights and horn went full on, followed by a loud crack of electricity. Rushing around from under the hood, Izuku found Kaminari sprawled out over the bench seat staring at the radio while slowly blinking. “Found the short,” he stated as his brain caught back up to him.

“You… uh… you good?”

“Oh yeah, this is nothing. Uncle Nitro used to get zapped by a sub’s power system. At least I’m not singing Sinatra,” Kaminari explained as he pulled himself out of the cab, walked around to the hood and removed the connectors to the battery terminals. “My family has a thing with electricity, in fact mom is Lightning Lass on the Southern Front.”

Izuku took a closer look at the blonde, and could actually see it. They had similar hair color, facial structure, and mannerisms. “Oh, I think I have her figurine back home,” he offered without thinking too much about it. He looked in on Denki as the specialist went into the cab again, and began rewiring the radio.

“Heh, she’d love to know that. Don’t tell her that, at least not while I’m there too. She gets weirdly hyper about those figurines and… I dunno, just weird for her. Ya know?” he asked, stripping a wire. “Last time was back in school, and we had to spend an hour having her sign a bunch of them for career day.”

“Makes sense, mom was special forces so I don’t have the same experience,” Midoriya explained as he watched Kaminari reseat the wire and tighten the bolt on it.

He ran a finger over each connection, humming a song while examining it. After a few passes, he looked up. “Hey, think you could hook the battery up for me and I’ll give it a test?”

Giving him another thumbs up, Midoriya hooked the terminals back on and heard Kaminari running the diagnostic tests. About two minutes sealing the waste oil buckets later, he heard something coming from the cab. He’d not taken Kaminari as a classical music fan, but there he was playing Ode to Joy by Beethoven, and it was coming in nice and crisp. Leaning over, he paused as it wasn’t the radio playing.

He did not know that the human body could replicate an entire orchestral ensemble, but Kaminari was doing an amazing job of it while cleaning the radio insides up and replacing the cover. Going back to his work, he decided to focus instead on getting stuff done and just enjoy the music. And it’s like he said, at least he wasn’t singing Sinatra.

By the end of the song, he’d managed to get the tools cleaned up, and most of the oil off of his hands, at least enough that he wasn’t going to stain the laundry tonight. Doing a walk around inspection, he verified that it was fit enough to go back into the motor pool. Patting Kaminari on the shoulder, he chuckled at the expression. “Was I…?”

“Yeah, Ode to Joy, good stuff,” he confirmed, giving him a friendly chuckle. “It was nice to clean to, so don’t worry about it. Is it always classical music?”

“Oh, uh not always, basically I seem to tune into things like a radio,” the blonde answered with a chuckle. “It helped when I was reading Hemingway and Shakespeare. I got to listen to music without the teachers getting huffy.”

Midoriya smiled as they got into the truck to drive it to the main garage. “Really? Like King Lear?”

“Thank you for not saying Romeo and Juliet, but yeah. More A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but I find it more fun if you give the characters voices and read it like the play they’re meant to be.”

Nodding as the engine started smoothly, he put it into drive and pulled out. “Never got into it much, but I’ll have to give that a try.”

“If you get into one let me know and we can talk about it. I’m pretty much down for whatever.”

“Will do, mind telling me more about your uncle? Is Ni-”

“Nitro is his real name, he got the nickname Mike after serving on a sub for a war game… I don’t know how much of what he told me was made up, but there’s a lot of stories to tell.”

“I know what that’s like,” Midoriya agreed as they drove along, passing by a striking bi-colored mop of hair that watched after them long past what would be considered normal. “So do you have any news on our new Command staffer?”

“Loads, want the juicy bits?”

“How about the elevator pitch for now, this is not a long drive,” Midoriya pointed out with a chuckle as they continued moving through the base.

“Right, what I’ve heard is that he is the son of General Enji Todoroki, yeah, that hot head, and the ice queen of the North Major General Rei Todoroki. He’s got two or three siblings, depending on the source. Really does not like either parent, and keeps to himself. There’s a rumor that he’s a conspiracy nut and more observant, even with the messed up eye on his scarred side. Some people have said that he even sees better with that eye, some theory with lingering magic in the blood,” Kaminari ran through the list rapid fire, pausing after the last one, to tilt his head in thought as if something just occurred to him.

“Like you and your uncle Nitro taking so much electricity?”

“Yeah… that suddenly makes a lot more sense,” he stated tapping the door at the base of the windows in thought. “Never thought of it like that. So, I guess that’s more possible than I thought?”

“And welcome to the world of magical theory and study, where we do not know enough about half of what it can do, and less about what it can’t do,” Izuku joked with a laugh. “I mean it makes the Heroines possible, and really messes with physics.”

“Ye canna change the laws of physics,” Kaminari drawled in a rough Scottish accent, before joining Izuku in a laugh. “It does seem we can bend them though.”

“Yeah, and it’s a good thing too… hey speaking of scuttlebutt, any news on new blood coming in?”

“Stretched thin across the front, we may actually have to ship some out with the way things are going at some of the bases,” Kaminari answered with a sigh. “It probably doesn’t help that we’re essentially trying to cover the glove since the Nomu seem to appear anywhere, and we’re all on near constant alert.”

“So as the old saying goes, SNAFU?” Izuku asked as they pulled into the outlined spot for the truck and turned off the engine. “Listen Kaminari, there is a lot that’s going on, and it’s tough, but we’re only going to get through it by keeping each other safe and lifting each other.”

“Yeah, I get that, but we are going to go through hell.”

“Then we had best keep going before the devil finds out we’re there.”

[silentmagi]

Heroine Squad Ch 2

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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Chapter 2

Izu had managed to settle into the base easily enough, and she noticed that she wasn’t the only one that seemed to be somewhat paranoid about things. She would see people scan the room upon entering, searching corners and hiding spots with what might have passed for casualness, if she didn’t know the signs.

One thing that had surprised her was when Denki pulled out a small device that sparked and hummed in the laundry room one day, and three little bugs she hadn’t gotten around to removing ruptured in tiny puffs of smoke. She then watched him sweep up the remains and put them into a bag marked “For Command”.

Not asking, not judging.

Just going to deal with what she knew to expect. Whatever representatives of the Command staff were stationed here seemed to love bugging the base, and were not imaginative. She almost suspected that they were smoke screening, except her tests into other means of surveillance turned up nothing more than the base commander’s own private cameras in most of the public places. Something was up with this base, and it was more than just Command being… well Command.

She wasn’t sure what was going on here, there were obvious holes in the coverage that just raised more questions in her mind. She’d have to investigate this, however that would have to wait until she finished with her work on Command. Sifting through the two of these, or maybe more, would take time she didn’t think she had.

At least she was working nights, which meant that she generally had less interference and more leeway with her time, so long as the laundry got done, the service requests were filled, and the night watch had plenty of coffee and were fed sometime during the night.

As the ranking noncom on nightwatch, it fell to her to serve whatever it was that the mess had prepared for them. Sadly it seemed that the two that were her counterparts were the worst case scenario for her. One could go invisible, and could talk the ears off of a stone if she got started. Plenty friendly and very intuitive. Izu had seen her pick up on things that others missed, so she had to play careful with her.

The partner was possibly harder for her to predict. She had great hearing, even without magic boosting it. While she was professionally courteous, she focused on Izu with an intense glare and silent judgment that left Izu questioning if she’d been made, or if something else was going on here.

Which leads us to where Izu found herself, she had just been delivering a fresh pot of coffee and the night’s meal, heated up by the poor sods that were in charge of scrubbing the pots and pans, and Jirou had cornered her. “Listen, I need a favor, and since you’re replacing Jamminwhey, you’re the one I’m going to ask.”

“Can you stay here for ten minutes while I handle some personal business in the latrines? We just need two bodies watching things in case of an alert. Tooru can tell you what to do.”

So Izu was now sitting down across from a grinning girl with the messiest seafoam green bun to ever pass regulations, feeling like the canary the cat was about to introduce to her digestive tract. “Hello Corporal,” she started while stirring her cup of coffee that was probably only 25% coffee at this point, the rest sugar and cream. “It seems we have time on our hands, time to talk.”

“I suppose we do,” Izuku commented as the noncom’s hands sat on the table before her, watching the officer with a neutral expression. This was a trap, a set up, this was planned, and any moment now the MPs were going to come in and drag her off. She couldn’t tip off that she knew, not until she had a plan to get out. “I’m sorry I’ve been too busy before now.”

Taking that as an opening, she began to press forward with the conversation. “That’s quite alright, I guess being the new guy must be hard on you. Are you settling in alright? No one’s giving you grief?”

“Aside from the informality of it, I suppose only Lieutenant Hatsu- sorry, Hawkeye,” Izu tried to deflect, giving a genuinely awkward smile at the reminder that the mechanic inclined Heroine was still hunting for her. Thankfully, Izu’s shifts did not line up with the ones that Hatsume had. 

“I heard about that, I’m surprised that you got away. Has she been bothering you? We can help get her to back off,” Tooru offered, sounding genuinely concerned and worried. She was a convincing actress at least.

Izu shook her head, she didn’t need someone getting too close, so she’d have to handle this one on her own. “I’m managing it on my own, thank you. I’ll keep your offer in mind. Thank you Lieutenant.”

“Call me Ghost. You’re not kidding about not getting used to being informal, huh? Don’t worry, we’ll help you with that. What’d you do? She was saying that you pulled a miracle out of thin air and saved her baby.”

“Nothing really, I just pointed out that if she couldn’t fix the end product, maybe it was somewhere in the ammo, so I asked about the crystals they use and she went from there. Does that make sense?” Izu tried to explain, being vague to avoid slipping how interested she actually was in the subject. It would lead to revealing too much.

Tooru glanced over at Izu with a curious look to her eyes. “That’s not how she told it. She said that the skies parted and your finger reached from the heavens to tap upon the blueprints and granted her a vision divine.”

The slow blink that Izu gave the officer, as she reviewed how to politely call Tooru out on her layers of bull shit, must have given her away as the seafoam haired girl let out a soft giggle. “No, nothing that extreme, but she did say that you must have some sort of eye for this, and she looks forward to when she can pry you away from the night shift to work in the shop with her.”

“Why does that sound like a threat?”

Izu had not expected to get a laugh out of that, let alone one where the person tipped their head back and cackled. Perhaps the joke was on her instead, and with each second the suspicion grew and grew. “You catch on quickly. That might just save you from being her assistant.”

Izu made a mental note that she really needed to be as far from Mei as possible, there may be benefits to the position, but also the girl seemed to have no concept of personal boundaries. Which, one, no thank you. But also, she was not supposed to have the body that Mei will be feeling up to match her profile.

Yeah, as nice as it might be to use the resources Mei had available, she couldn’t afford the risks.

“I’ve also heard that you have an interesting meeting of our support captains,” Tooru mentioned with a conspiratorial smile as she sipped her tea. “Want to share with the class Izuku?”

“That is an authorized personnel only answer, to be cleared by the captains in question,” Izu answered with military precision and formality, before giving her a smirk. “You want to try and ask their permission?”

The chaos of expressions that played out over the officer’s face was like a fine, delicious wine that Izu was loving seeing each one as it unfolded into the next. Then when Tooru realized the joke that was played on her, they joined in a mutual laugh.

It seemed like she was just about to follow up when the door opened and Colonel Kayama stepped in, blinking as Izu stopped mid-laugh and snapped to attention. Returning the salute, she looked at Tooru for an explanation.

“Kyoka had to pull a 10-100, and has a comm unit with her. The corporal was ensuring we had two people in the ready room per standing orders.” the Heroine explained.

The colonel sighed and nodded while rubbing her eyes tiredly. “You’re dismissed Midoriya, and no need to salute me like that. Thank you for stepping in, and I’ll take it from here.”

Before the corporal could protest in defense of the lieutenant, the officer smiled and shook her head. “Sorry, she’s not in trouble, and I’ll take over the post for you. I just need to talk to these two, and I’ve had a long day.”

“Would you like some coffee or tea? I think I saw some cookies in the mess, as well,” Izu offered, figuring that it would be best to go with what she was being ordered.

That seemed to brighten up the Colonel’s spirits as she beamed back. “That’d be wonderful, coffee black and two sugars. Bring me a cookie as well. That sounds like just the thing.”

Behind her, Izu watched as Tooru relaxed at the suddenly lighter, brighter expression of her commanding officer. The look in her eyes made it seem like she was ready to put her in for a medal of valor, or maybe sainthood, Izu wasn’t sure which. “Of course Miss, I’ll get that for you right away.”

The cooing noise that came after Izu’s escape from the senior officer was not what she expected, but apparently the colonel liked to be treated like one of her junior officers, instead of a senior officer. Which was a note that Izu filed away as she strode towards the mess hall to find the strongest coffee known to man-kind, and taint it with sugar. Then adding one of the cookies over the top to trap the steam and add just a hint more sugar, she returned to the ready room.

Seeing the door closed, she knocked softly for clearance, before being called in. Seeing Jirou back, she nodded and brought the coffee and cookie over to the commanding officer. “Actually Midoriya, please stay a moment, you might be able to help me out.”

Careful to keep the welling panic from showing on her face, Izu nodded and stood to the side of the room, before being waved to take a seat opposite the two lieutenants. “How’s your driving Corporal?”

“I am rated for jeep, truck, half-track, and two-ton. Have not had any citations or warnings from MPs or commanding officers,” Izu answered, trying desperately to figure out where this was going. There was something going on, something that she just couldn’t place her finger on.

The Colonel nodded and let out a sigh of what almost seemed like relief. “Good, I need a driver for a supply run to the city. It would be tomorrow afternoon, and I will get your Captain to add a bonus if you’ll drive the lieutenants to town and help them get the supplies.”

With tomorrow having been a scheduled night off, an afternoon trip wouldn’t even affect her work shifts, so Izu couldn’t rightly think of a reason to refuse without raising suspicions. However, there was one tiny saving grace. “I would need directions to where to go, as I’m new in the area. I trust the lieutenants will be able to provide that?”

“Got it, consider it thanks for filling in for me,” Kyoka offered with a two finger mock salute.

That seemed to satisfy Midnight as she clapped her hands around the hot cup of coffee and smile. “Good, I will have the official list ready to go by 1100 hours. I trust that any and all arrangements will be made by then?”

The three made noises of agreement, and Midnight removed the cookie lid and inhaled the steam coming off the mug. “Oh yes… the support staff brews the best stuff.”

Now, Izu had seen the coffee strip paint off the walls if left steaming too close to it, and she was pretty sure some of the shop used it to dissolve metals, however Midnight gulped it down like it was water.

Hot water, but water nonetheless.

“Thank you Midoriya, that will be all for tonight,” she offered, before waving her hand holding the cookie that was missing a sizable bite towards the door.

Making her exit, she went to the laundry room, glanced around for any new cameras or bugs, and put up a blue slip of paper on the notice board, in the lower left hand corner. The green pushpin was right next to the number 11.

Smiling, she went to tend to the machine that was just about to beep, never knowing just what the trio in the ready room were talking about. She was about to be a very popular non-com, with several envelopes of money and notes slipped under her door.

While it wasn’t exactly a black market ring, but it never hurt to be friendly and help people get some extras they wanted, right? She just hoped that Sarge would let it slide.

Several hours later, Izu had several envelopes of cash and wishlists. Surprisingly, Sarge was one of them, asking for a model car kit from a local toy shop. The name and address was going to be very helpful with Izu’s own collection. 

No, she was not obsessed with Heroine figurines. No matter what mom said about the room of figures back home, nor the detailed list of owned figures, nor even the questionable levels of structural integrity of the shelves due to weight.

Surely that’s not an obsession, she just had a collection to tend to.

Back to the requested items to pick up while they were in town. Most of them were easy enough. Candy, comics, toys, and other things not found in the base store. Curiously, it seemed that they were at least adhering to the unwritten rules of what not to request. Maybe they were taking it easy on the new guy.

Picking up her raspberry beret, she went to the colonel’s office where the other two were waiting. Increasing her speed, she knew she wasn’t late, however she never liked making others wait. “Sorry Lieutenants, didn’t expect you both to be early. I hope you were not waiting long for me.”

“No worries Midoriya,” Jirou answered while hiking a thumb towards the office. “We had a short meeting that ended, and the Captains are in with her now. Got any stops to add?”

At her confused face, Jirou chuckled and held up a small stack of her own envelopes. “Denki let slip on the little enlisted tradition, and we Heroines do the same.”

“Ah, umm… mostly candy and stuff from the general market, but I may slip away to a toy store if we get time,” Izu explained as she relaxed slightly, patting the hip pouch she’d picked to go with her uniform. It wasn’t the baggy BDUs she would have preferred, but at least it wasn’t the dress uniform. That thing was designed to suck the life out of you.

The lists were rehidden in pockets and packs, after all, the senior officers needed some plausible deniability. They were given the supply list that they were to pick up, confirmation paperwork to show that they were authorized to pick them up for the base, and Izuku was handed a map with directions to the store they were to go to.

That’s helpful, now she would just have to get them there, and back, with all the little extras that were on the list. Then she had to sign out the truck to get them there. Fun… being held responsible as the lowest rung of the ladder.

Signed and ready to go, she was given keys and they were off.

Really, one would think this was an entire process designed to be efficient and precise. Ah well, at least there was sunshine and a nice breeze. Even having to wear the helmets wasn’t so terrible, not when the officers were lugging their Heroine units into the vehicle and having to be ready at a moment’s notice.

Back up pistol was loaded with the safety on, and slipped into her boot, but she signed out a standard submachine gun that got holstered in a mount while she drove. Something about a war still going on.

Precautions aside, the drive should be uneventful, and they should be able to get to the shops with plenty of time. took would take the first round of loading the supplies, giving the other two the opportunity to get their other shopping out of the way.

[silentmagi]

Heroine Squadron - Chapter 4

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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After getting a selection of the local heroines, and a model of her mother that she hadn’t seen before, Izu made it safely to the truck, and smiled seeing that they had been cleared to have weapons out on the return trip. She even got a couple extra magazines for her sidearms.

Sure it wasn’t the TAC-50 or the Bullpups that the lieutenants were carrying, or the .50 cal they were mounting on the cab, but there was something that gave her a sense of security. Securing the precious models to be constructed in the safety of her room, under the driver’s seat, she pulled out the keys to the truck and watched the lieutenants hold a silent discussion about who would mount up to use the machinegun.

Earjack was not sulking as she slammed the door to the passenger side shut, and Ghost was not giggling as she strapped her harness into the attachment points. Absolutely not, that would be unprofessional of officers of their caliber. The tarp holding down the supplies was tested by Amajiki and Togata, before they were given the thumbs up. Turning to Jirou, Izu raised an eyebrow. “Orders ma’am?”

“Get us home by supper and you can have my chocolate bar,” she stated waving a hand forward.

“We’ll talk about that later, ma’am,” Izu offered, turning over the motor and pulling out at a steady pace, keeping to the speed limits in town.  That got a weird look from the lieutenant, before they passed the gates and she was focusing on the horizon.

The return trip was far less hectic and stressful than the trip out, which was a good thing to all parties involved. One running fight with a nomu was one too many in a day, thank you.

A debriefing with the three commanding officers was held, detailing the run in with the single ground unit, the repairs to the truck needed made (Izu was excused from that to get some rest for the night shift), and then the inventory of the supplies was unloaded, with some small ‘care packages’ the lieutenants pulled aside left near the doors. The senior officers seemed to have missed those as they were set aside and covered in a tarp.

An hour later, and they were done, and dismissed.

Now came the fun part, playing Santa and delivering the goods to all of the good little soldiers. To Sargant Iida, a midnight blue muscle car with light blue flames on the hood, and flames coming from the pipes on the side. Private Hanta Sero got some teas and spices from the market, Private Denki Kaminari got a stack of comics, the cook Rikado Sato got some cook books, and Izu was not going to not even ask about the cat calendar and records left in the drop box by the commander’s offices. Nope. Not a question to ask there.

After the final delivery was made, Izu made a loop back to the motorpool and got the package that had been under the driver seat, and then stuffed into the locker that holds the work overalls for when she worked in the motor pool. Getting back to the room she was using, she opened the bag holding her projects for the next few months. She would put together the models and then send them home to her mother. First would be the one with her mother’s spec ops. They always got a laugh over it when they modified it to make it less than accurate, and…

Wait, she didn’t remember buying a mask. Oh, it seemed the shop owner gave her it as a bonus. The green rabbit was not the traditional white that her mother’d been assigned, likely based on her camouflage mask from when she was deep in the forests in the early part of the war. Huh, she’d have to send her mother a picture to see how close it was. For now, she began lining up the figures of her mother, Midnight, Creati, Froppy, Earjack, Uravity, Ghost (which actually had a clear figure to put together, and not just a wire frame like she suspected), Pinky, and Hawkeye. Each one had the official seals showing the Command branch had officially licensed these, and their ratings went from 3 to 5, so the details should be fairly accurate.

Here’s hoping they don’t find out about this and find it creepy. Putting them in the foot locker under a spare blanket, Izu racked out for some shut eye before supper mess was called, when a knock sounded at the door. “Coming!” the NCO called while rolling out of the bed, and shrugging into his uniform.

Opening the door, he saluted Lieutenant Jirou who was standing there with a bored expression. “At ease,” she grumbled with a blush coloring her cheeks. “May I come in?”

“Yes ma- Earjack,” Izu corrected at the sharp look from the Lieutenant. It was still a trick being informal with officers. “How may I help you?”

“Wanted to talk to you about the deal we made.”

“De- oh, the chocolate bar. No need to worry about that,” Izu offered with a laugh and a shrug. “I wanted to get back quickly, and don’t eat much chocolate to begin with.”

Jirou studied him, seeming to listen to something that only she could hear before turning away. “I prefer to stick to my word, so, I’ll give you one favor, within reason.”

“Actually, there is one thing I’d like to know, and just ask that you please don’t judge me…” Izu asked nervously, while scratching the side of his cheek. “I’m a bit of a Heroine fanboy, and was wondering what the stance on figures are among the Heroines here. I collect them, and my mom keeps my collection back home. Was somewhat debating asking for autographs after I put them together, but I know that can be creepy, but the designs they use look so bada- I mean impressive, so I was-”

The ramble was cut off with a soft laugh from Jirou. “I see, you are a fanboy. Yeah, I’ll sign mine when it’s done, the others will not be offended, but Mina may make you sweat a little. That’s Lieutenant Pinky, she finds it funny. And Hawkeye…”

As Jirou trailed off, the interaction with said mechanic came to mind and Izu let out a heavy sigh. “Dignity or work?”

“Yes.”

With that ominous warning, the lieutenant gave a coy smirk and headed off to handle something else. Izu let her walk a few minutes before shutting the door, drawing the curtains and laying out in the bed to process what had just happened.

Seemed that Izuku was settling into the base better than expected. It wasn’t quite time to start digging again, not with the amount of bugs she’d been finding. Curiously, it almost seemed like there was a competition going on to find the listening devices. The unofficial winner is probably Hatsume, but the components are never tallied as they vanish.

The less said about what they become the better.

Otherwise, Izuku was just a new NCO adjusting to the life in the base, informality and all. There were some oddities that were piling up, such as how stretched thin they were for personnel, the trip into the town had been very strange, and Command was very off to themselves, except when they plant their little listening devices. It was listed as counter-intelligence training, but everyone knew it was pure and utter bull.

From what she could tell, they didn’t do the private rooms, and focused on areas that would not be secure for any conversation needing clearance.

The next thought that was coherent was that someone was knocking on the door, and it was later than it had been. Rolling back out of bed, she walked over and ruffled up her BDUs to Izuku’s usual just regulation before opening the door. There before her was the sergeant.

“Apologies for the early wake up, Command has called a meeting before supper, and I have the others running to gather the others from the barracks,” the blue man stated sternly, before looking Izuku over and sighing. “Please take a moment to straighten yourself up before coming.”

A quick P-T-and-A cleaning, and Izuku was joining the majority of the base staff into the mess hall. Grinding a spot near the back, there was little time to find familiar faces when a smarmy gremlin of a corporal walked up onto the stage and began speaking with what must have been an attempt to sound cool and suave, ruined by the lisp and row of purple balls forming a fauxhawk hairdo. It was so distracting that he missed most of what was said, Finally focusing, he was able to catch “-in truly heartbreaking news, I have been called up to go back to Headquarters. My replacement is Second Lieutenant Shoto Todoroki. Please do not mourn the loss of our close and personal bonds.”

Looking at the crowd, it seemed that the assumption that however this was, was delusional about his popularity with the base staff. In fact, judging by some of the looks they were giving, there was a non-zero chance that they would send him first class tied to a long distance rocket. Instead of witnessing the plots of potentially stupid actions, Izuku focused on a new face. Over by the back wall was a scowling lieutenant with a distinctive burn on his face. Apparently this was the gremlin’s replacement, and he hopes that the new guy is a step up.

Long shot, he might actually help get the base up to the standards that it should be at in the first place. Wait… Todoroki? Is that the son of the general Todoroki?

He took a step forward, his scowl sweeping the crowd with a clear superiority complex in place. “Hello, I am Shoto Todoroki, I hope that we can work well together. Let us thank Corporal Mineta well on his new position at Head Quarters. You may have guessed, yes my father is the General at Head Quarters, and I ask that you not hold that against me.”

Izuku paused as he tried to process the apparent joke that the new lieutenant had slipped in. That was not what he had expected, but it was a good way to get a chuckle from the crowd at least. Maybe he’ll be better than the purple creep. At least he was better looking.

Even before the Nomu invasion, he looked like what an agency would dream of as a recruitment poster: muscular, pretty, stoic, and the scar added an air of danger and mystery. His mismatched eyes and bicolored hair was a bit strange, but she had seen pictures of his entire family, and his siblings all had different hair colors similar to that. Shame about the rumors about the parents, and the real piece of work that was his father.

General Todoroki was a hot head, coming up through the mechanized, and rumored to be trying to get the flamethrower unbanned from service against the Nomu, since they were made from the dead of various creatures, he argued the cremation would be more merciful. That they seemed undeterred to being on fire and still attacking was probably ignored by the man. So that joke may not have been a joke at all, and his completely serious delivery was him making an outright statement.

Not that such a theory was not concerning in and of itself, but there was the fact that Izuku’s mind was pulling up incidents where his temper had caused friction with the other members of the brass, including General Yagi, and his own wife Brigadier General Rei Todoroki. About the only thing going in his favor as far as the corporal could tell from his investigations was that the man had an unshakeable sense of honor and seemed ready to tear apart some of the names that Izu had been finding pop up time and again.

Studying the Lieutenant as he and Mineta left, presumably to get the gremlin on the next transport out, Izuku decided that he’d have to keep an eye out on him. He could possibly expose the Izuku Midoriya cover, and that would be a rough bit of court marshaling.

[silentmagi]

Heroine Squadron - Chapter 3

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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There are few things that say hubris as racing flat out over bumpy unpaved roads with a giant monster chucking hunks of the countryside at you.

Izu glanced at the giant beast in the rearview, swerving just in time to miss a boulder half the size of the truck. “How's it going?” she called back her SMG having been depleted a few miles back.

The two officers in the back let out a cry of dismay as they leaped over another crest, landing with a spine compressing crunch before slamming them backward as the tires regained traction. “Sorry!” Izu shouted without taking her eyes off of the road and was grateful that she’d heard that the pair of them were calling back as well.

Cranking the wheel hard, she saw a boulder fly past where they had been in the rearview mirror. Letting out a cuss, she fought hard to keep the wheel under control as she tried to keep them from dying.

“Hold her steady! I’ve almost got the weapon seal unlocked!” Jirou shouted from the back, which caused Izu to roll her eyes. Sure, she’d hold the truck steady, just long enough for the Nomu to land a boulder in the cargo bed. Instead of responding, Izu made another sharp turn, and gunned the engine, creating a spray of dirty and stone that hopefully masked them a little bit .

Holding the turn until she did a full 360 degrees, she straightened out and rocketed out of the doughnut, just in time to see a rock fly into the path from the other side of the circle. She doubted that would work, but it should buy a couple seconds, seconds enough to get into a riverbed and have a wall on the side towards the beast that was trying to flatten them.

“Hurry up, don’t know how long we have,” Izu warned as she slowed down so the beast couldn’t just guess where they’d be from their previous speed. Taking the chance to catch her breath, Izu focused on the twisting riverbed, trying to keep from running into the bank.

Three turns in, the bank dropped and she gunned the engine again, surging up the loose soil and leaping into the air, just in time to see the Nomu coming at them from the side with a claw swinging down on the back of the truck. The sound of rending metal that Izu had expected didn’t come, and instead she heard a solid clang with a grunt followed by the hum of magic. Glancing back, she saw Jirou with her longsword holding the Nomu at back, her bat ears sticking up while her wing flaps under her arms stretched to look almost like a cape.

“Alright, let’s rock,” Jirou quipped before pushing off the truck and into the air. Flying around the Nomu as it took swings at her, while slicing at the thing to keep it occupied.

Taking the chance that Jirou provided, Izu straightened out, and slowed down so that Hagakure could have an easier time digging around. While they were slower, Izu glanced at the beast, and wished she didn’t. Seeing the foot long claws, razor sharp fang lined maw, and exposed inner organs, Izu felt her stomach lurch. This would likely come back to haunt her nightmares to come. 

Focusing on the area in front of her again, she tried to figure out how to get back on the road to make it to town. She’d leave the creature to the two better equipped members. The sound of a round chambering was the only warning she had before the whole truck shook from the force of the anti-material round being sent out, and then a good chunk of the beast’s skull was removed from existence.

Izu slowed a little more as Jirou swooped back over, her leg armor glowing faintly as she landed in the truck bed. “I think we can keep the weapons out until we get to town, and then until we’re back at base. Any objections?”

Hagakure chambered a second round and put it into the body of the Nomu before she responded. “None from me.”

“I’m just driving, so leaving that up to you two,” Izu answered as she pulled the truck back onto the road, heading towards town. “Do we radio this report in, or should we-”

“It can wait until we get back to town, looks like it took the radio antennae,” Jirou ordered before patting Izu on the shoulder. “Good driving, I’m sorry that I snapped at you.”

Izu gave the lieutenant a weak smile before focusing on the road again. “Don’t worry about it, we lived.”

It was little comfort, and she knew that she would probably be feeling this in her spine for decades to come, but at least she was going to see those decades. Their drive to town was perhaps a little faster than intended, and at this point they would take the reprimand from the MPs if they tried to pull anything.

What they didn’t want to talk about was that it was a land Nomu, and land Nomu seldom worked solo. Scanning the horizon and the skies for any signs of their allies was left to the officers. The non-com was more than happy to apply a little additional speed and focus on driving. She doubted her backup Mauser would do more than tickle a Nomu.

The sight of town down the road was an utter relief as they pulled in, stowing their weapons back in the crates. They’d have to check in with the outpost here, and hopefully use their landline to call HQ. Maybe they could get a spare clip or two for Izu’s SMG while they were there. Again, not that it would do much good against the bioengineered hulks but it was the thought that counted.

The big blonde that was at the gates saluted as soon as he could make out the rank insignias on the Heroine’s uniforms. “Welcome to town ma’ams, corporal,” he offered over the rumbling engine while holding out a hand for their papers, which Izu slapped into his hands with an exhausted expression. “Rough ride?”

“Had a nomu chasing us for several miles,” Jirou explained as she leaped out of the truck bed and motioned to the nearby shed. “That got a line to HQ?”

“Yes ma’am, you can go ahead and use it. Dial 9 and it’ll hook you up to the non-emergency switchboard,” the sergeant offered cheerily as he began a walk around inspect. “I see you had one with claws on it. Glad to see you all made it in one piece.”

“Thanks,” Izu grumbled as she realized that she was responsible for the damages. Great.

“If you’d like, I can get Tamaki to look at these scratches and see if we can’t patch you up before heading back to base. Supply run, right?”

“That’s right,” Tooru confirmed as she slipped out the passenger side, subtly pushing a crate a little more closed than it had been. “Any reports you want us to take back with us?”

“Yeah, that’d be great! I’ll get them pulled together for you before you leave,” the sergeant offered with a bright grin. “Oh! I’m Sergeant Togata. Corporal Amajiki has some training in engineering so I guess he could help.”

Izu looked at the damage, seeing the claw scratches were not nearly as deep as she thought. “Looks like it’s mostly paint scratching, I can help with that as I’m trained for the motor pool,” she mused while running her fingers over the deepest one she could see.

“Even better!” Mirio cheered as he clapped Izu on the shoulder. “If it’s just that, those can wait and you can get out to enjoy the city.”

Tooru looked over the damage, nodding her head in agreement. “Do a once over of the damages, and if there’s nothing too severe, it can probably wait until we get back to base. I’m sure they’re going to give you a pass this time, though you may have to help with the painting,” the lieutenant teased. 

Izu let out a sigh as she pushed her mounting anxiety down to focus on the tasks at hand. “That’s good news at least.”

“Yep! So where do we go?” Tooru asked, getting directions from Mirio, a bay with a pallet of supplies already set to be loaded. 

“We got your stuff over there. Why don’t you pull over, and I’ll get Tamaki to swing by.”

“Thanks Sarge,” Izu offered as she got back behind the wheel. Five minutes later, they were parked and loading when an MP escorted a few work detail members to help unload, with a dark haired corporal bearing tools and a look like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Honestly, she could get behind that philosophy.

After an exchange of monosyllabic greetings, the pair went over the tears, grinding down some edges and replacing the antennae, meanwhile Tooru and the MP watched the men loading the truck. It took an hour, and Jirou was back from her call looking purely exhausted, not that Izu blamed her, it was never fun delivering news like that.

But they now had a few hours in town to get their lists done, and Mirio’s promise to keep an eye on the truck. Time to get the unofficial supplies.

Thankfully they still had town maps here, and Izu could find the locations that the others had mentioned, which meant she was getting the items they wanted from where they wanted it. Thankfully there was a lot of overlap in requests, and the shop keeps were used to seemingly arbitrary bagging of goods.

The last stop was chosen to be the last one, for three reasons. First, it was the furthest out. Second, it was on the opposite side of town, so she could stow away the rest of the goods.

Finally, as the faint tinkle of the bell over her head tinkled out, she knew this was exactly the place she hoped. There on the far side was a wall of Heroine models. She’d get Sarge’s model car, and then she would spend the rest of her time trying to find heroine models that she didn’t already have back home.

Or she could get another copy of her mother’s toy, “The Briar” was among a few models that had a masked face, and didn’t give many details of their missions… oh, they even had knock off masks too!

What was that sound? It was like a wallet crying tears of bills.