Bastion
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Bastion</default></title>
<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>
<label>Status</label><format><label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Bastion is the leader of the Boston Protectorate team.
Personality
Likely appreciated the authority that being a superhero gave him.<ref name="BW e2">She reviewed her knowledge of him. Bastion had it in him to join the big leagues, but his attitude had most likely held him back. He was a hero for the same reason that some people became police; for the authority, the power and the respect. He created 'force fields' by pressurizing air, and could create thunderclaps by releasing it. He was usually careful enough to avoid blowing out some poor soul's eardrums, but would likely do it in a pinch. He could float, but it took him a moment to get going, and was slow even after he did.
He had good power and the sense of how to properly apply it, he understood fighting and how parahuman powers came into the equation. He came properly equipped, armored and helmed with even translucent lenses. Rumor had it that his helm also warded off psychic attacks. Disaster could dream of buying the kind of Rhizome gear he was wearing, but she wouldn't afford it on a small time villain's budget.
When she approached the door, she suddenly felt as though she had pressed against something. Bastion's head snapped to face her, and she frowned. He could feel his forcefields, and had used one as a sort of alarm. Damnation. -Before Worm (2004)</ref>
Reputation
Had a well earned reputation and name recognition. This kept people from trying to bundle him off to some out of the way department after a major social 'faux pas'.<ref name="R1">For what it's worth, there are still a few departments that are close to one another, but keep in mind that the PRT tends to ascribe roles to a given department. One department has tertiary responsibilties in managing an asylum, another has roles handling branding for surrounding departments and offices.
Denver Colorado is one of the earlier and larger departments, and somewhere along the line, Aurora Colorado was set up. Denver continues operations as a normal department with the ability to mobilize to states to the north, while Aurora is more of a rehabilitation center and hideaway for capes who the PRT wants off the radar. Had Bastion been someone of less standing or had the progression of the scandal with his racist remarks reached a less than tidy conclusion, they might have retired him to Aurora. Ditto for capes getting off drugs or away from the 'scene', where simply moving them to a small town wouldn't do due to lack of oversight (compare to Licit, who has addiction problems and is a party animal, who was stationed in a small town office, but doesn't really need strict supervision or structure beyond that measure). - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>
Abilities and Powers
Bastion is capable of creating a variety of force fields and deflector fields.<ref name="Cast1">Bastion – A major figure in the Protectorate, leader of the team in San Jose, capable of creating a variety of forcefields and deflector fields. Recently got in some trouble for making racist remarks that were caught on camera and posted online. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref>
Likely had a clairvoyant awareness of his fields, including what affected them.<ref name="BW e2" />
History
Background
May have tried to set up a scheme to capture several small time villains only for Faultline to intervene and rescue them.<ref name="S:BW" /><ref name="BW e2">I have a plan in mind that can make us millions with minimal effort and risk. The plan requires the cooperative effort of several villains, and I've selected you for my crew. Should you be interested, meet me at the enclosed address...
Either Bastion had intercepted the message, or he had sent it, knowing he had the ability to deal with the small timers.
[...]
“Nice scam. Invite the weakest villains to one place, beat them for a little while, then send them off to the authorities. You get good rep that way, taking out six troublemakers in one day.”
“You fell for it,” he replied. - Before Worm (2004)</ref>
Story Start
Someone used a cell phone to catch Bastion using the word ‘spic’ several times as he yelled at a kid who only wanted to take his picture.<ref name="8.1 e1">Knowing I’d seen two members of the leading three figures of the Protectorate, I looked for the third. I glanced past Myrddin, from Chicago, with his brown burlap robe and wooden staff, Chevalier, in gleaming silver and gold armor, carrying his cannonblade, and Bastion, who had earned a great deal of bad press, lately. Someone used a cell phone to catch Bastion using the word ‘spic’ several times as he yelled at a kid who only wanted to take his picture. He was studiously ignoring Kaiser, who was standing nearby, staring at him, taunting him without speaking or doing anything. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.1</ref>
Battle against Leviathan
Bastion was transported to Brockton Bay to help fight against Leviathan. He studiously ignored Kaiser, who was standing nearby, staring at him, taunting him without speaking or doing anything.<ref name="8.1 e2">Legend was still organizing the groups. “-forcefields, telekinesis, whatever your power, if you can interrupt Leviathan’s movements or help reduce the impacts of the waves, you’re the backup defense! Bastion will direct you!” - Excerpt from Extermination 8.1</ref>
Later, Bastion was put in charge of the capes that had an ability to interfere with Leviathan's movements. He interrupted Legend, shouting, before he worked alongside his new team to create a layer of forcefields around the front and back windows.<ref name="8.2 e1"> - Excerpt from Extermination 8.2</ref>
He reinforced a building with his forcefields until Dragon warned him that the building could collapse through the armband he was wearing. Leviathan lunged through the side of the building and Bastion's forcefields before Bastion trapped him. He told Vista to 'do it' on while creating more forcefields as Leviathan broke through them. Eventually, she complied and brought the building down on him and Leviathan, killing him.<ref name="8.3 e1">Flying capes left the roof of the building, each carrying someone. They were still leaving as Leviathan lunged through the side of the building and the forcefields that had been reinforcing the walls. He tried to retreat, was stalled by more forcefields. I saw a figure on the far side. Bastion. The hero who had been in the news over his racist tirade.
Bastion bellowed, “Do it!”
Leviathan lunged, crashed through one barrier, making it shatter like glass, only for another to appear immediately after. He turned to head our way, was stopped by another.
“Fucking do it!” Bastion called out, barely audible.
The building above him bent and the midsection, unable to support the upper floors, crumbled. The upper half of the building crashed down atop Leviathan and Bastion.
Vista turned, wrapping her arms around the Ward next to her, burying her face in his shoulder. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.3</ref>
Post-Leviathan
His name would be added to the Endbringer Fight Memorial.
He became something of a cautionary tale regarding public relations.<ref name="PRT29 e2" />
Trivia
- While he was originally placed in San Jose. He has been placed in Boston by the Author in later pieces and will be placed there in the rewrites.<ref name="PRT29 e2">"Nevermind that. It calms me. I try not to have many bad days, personal philosophy, but when I do have a bad one, I like to shoot a target. Plus, I'm trying to learn to use this stun rifle, but I'm a hair away from being a midget-"
"Little person," you correct. "Sorry, but we stress political correctness here, and one wrong statement can get taken a long way by the media."
"There was a guy in my old hometown, few years back, ran into that. You know Boston's Bastion?"
"That was more than one wrong statement, but yes. I know. Bastion ran afoul of the media."
"Okay, right. Well, I'm not much taller than a midget or a politically correct little person, and that means I'm not so good with the stun gun's size or recoil, is what I was saying. I was working on it back home, but it's been a week or two and I think I've forgotten what I learned." - Department Sixty Four, PRT Quest thread i p29</ref> As such this wiki will reflect the change. - He appears in the draft of TELUTT where he is stopped from capturing a group of villains by Disaster Area.<ref name="S:BW">TELUTT (2004) – AKA, ‘the events leading up to that Thursday’.
Not the first draft of TELUTT, the story switched between Faultline, the Triumvirate and Guts & Glory. It was an attempt at tying everything in together. I like that there’s one scene in there (At the end) that was pretty much copied exactly and inserted into Worm, even though I haven’t opened these documents in a long, long time. The nature of Faultline’s meeting with her ‘crew’ is essentially what happened in canon. That said, wow, are my protagonists a pain in the ass to read this early on (arrogant/annoying). At this juncture, I was still figuring out a way to make powers interesting. I was bored with many of them, and I was lapsing into some of the ‘standby’ powers, like tinkers without anything interesting to them. -Snippets: Before Worm</ref> - Despite speculation, Bastion was not part of the inaugural Wards team.<ref>Reddit comment by Wildbow about who was on the original Wards</ref>
References
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