Heroes vs Trial and Error

Heroes vs Trial and Error Conflict: Date: Late Fall 2015 Location: The City Outcome: Trial and Error are defeated. Breakthrough's hero cooperation network proves to be effective. Combatants Advance Guard Breakthrough Kings of the Hill Other heroes Trial and Error Cleat, Etna, and Crested Unpowered henchmen Damage Sustained/Casualties None None

Previous: Mathers Compound Assault

Concurrent:

Next: Goddess' Takeover

Heroes vs Trial and Error marks the battle between the villains Trial and Error, and a group of cooperating hero teams led by Breakthrough.

Prelude

After the remaining members of the Fallen sabotaged the the City's portals, crime in the City increased, and the heroes became less effective at responding to crime, due to the stranding of several key Wardens. As a result, Breakthrough began an effort to organize a hero network, sharing information and communicating between them.<ref>"Teams have other focuses," I said. "The gaps are getting wider. It doesn't help that the portals blew up like they did. A lot of key sites fell apart. Places where a team like Foresight might have headquartered are gone or hard to use. It means crime is up, there's more distractions, and there's a lot more places for people like Cheit's groups to hide without leaving the megalopolis."

"What are you thinking?" Capricorn asked. "An agreement? That we all take territory and commit to keeping the streets clean of crime there?"

"No," I said. "I'm thinking... more comprehensive than that."

"Comprehensive how?" Weld asked in a voice that was deep, the tone serious to the point of concern.

"Comprehensive... like jurisdiction. Why do we fight over it? We don't want to be crowded out or to let others take credit for our successes. Very often our territories are close to home, so there's a personal element. If there's crime and we want our people to stay safe, we want to rid that area of crime. Financially, it's easier to hero in some areas than others."

"Sure," Capricorn said.

"I think so long as those issues exist, no matter what we do, there'll be pushing, shoving, and trying to get people to take some cases or to get others for ourselves. If we can address those issues... say we all get a special allotment, we put funds into a pot and apportion it out, and we organize, with communication and sharing of information." - Excerpt from Beacon 8.2</ref> They began to contact various hero teams with proposals to cooperate, including Advance Guard.

The Hollow Point villains were another group hit hard by the raid on the Fallen compound. The leader of the Hollow Point group, Prancer, organized a mission to steal several trucks of livestock, with the capes Trial and Error accompanying them.<ref name="8.6 1">"Thank you for coming," Capricorn said. "I'll recap in case our teammate didn't spell it out in full when he reached out. Two villains, strong ones, just threatened civilians to get the good guys to back off so they could make a run for it. They're driving trucks of stolen livestock. The one we caught said they're working for Prancer, from Cedar Point."

I started my piece. "We feel the rules need enforcing. They can't threaten civilians. Help us, and we'll either owe you one or if you want a longer-term relationship, we can talk about building something." - Excerpt from Beacon 8.6</ref> Three members of Advance Guard, Spright, Shortcut, and Flapper, pursued the trucks. Mayday eventually called in Breakthrough to assist.<ref>Mayday
Re:Re:Re: Proposal
They're racing down Post st. in pursuit of unpowered criminals and should pass through Westport soon coming from the east. Can't call them but you should be able to help intercept. Notify if intercept fails or is too much trouble. Is Spright Flapper Shortcut. - Excerpt from Beacon 8.5</ref>

Battle

Capricorn, Antares, and Tress of Breakthrough intercepted the chase, joining with Advance Guard's patrol group. They succeeded in knocking over one truck, and stopping the others, leaving the heroes to fight the villains in person. Using his chains, Trial hit Tress, piercing her body, and Antares was caught by Error's Stranger power, preventing her from deflecting the attacks. As Antares focused on repairing Tress' body, Trial attempted to get the heroes to stand down, threatening Antares and Tress, as well as the civilians in the cars, before attacking.<ref name="8.5">Beacon 8.5</ref>

Despite being outnumbered, Trial's offensive and defensive power and Error's interference proved to be problematic, and Advance Guard decided that a continued fight wasn't worth it, letting the trucks leave. However, Breakthrough subsequently called for reinforcements, and discovered that Trial and Error were working for Prancer.<ref name="8.5"/>

Spright and Shortcut continued to pursue the villains. Heroes including Fume Hood, Tempera, Lighter, and Foxtrot came in as backup, and were briefed on Trial and Error before joining the pursuit. They eventually reached the drop-off point, where Trial and Error were joined by three other capes and a crowd of armed henchmen. The hero's Movers worked to harass the villains, while the remaining members of Breakthrough showed up, Swansong and Precipice by projection, and Cryptid in his Brooding Anger form.<ref name="8.6">Beacon 8.6</ref>

The civilians were evacuated. The less mobile heroes reached the site, and began their attack. The three Hollow Point capes, Cleat, Etna, and Crested, were defeated without much issue; cornered, Trial and Error surrendered, and Advance Guard began the arrest.<ref name="8.6" />

Aftermath

Trial and Error were presumably arrested, as were the three Hollow Point capes. As the heroes' cooperative effort proved successful, Breakthrough's network began to gain traction, with teams such as the Steelmasons, Auzure, and Shorewatch coming on board.<ref>Beacon 8.7</ref>

References

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