A second chance for some

I used to fill my free time watching films and television, favoring Sci-Fi and fantasy movies. That hobby kept me occupied, but it kept me docile. My new "hobby" keeps me much more active, and is as good of a workout as most yoga programs, with the small caveat that my recovery may require the med bay instead of my hot tub.
 
Thinking about those sci-fi movies - It's probably no small coincidence that the number of movies about villains trying to take over the world and enslave the human race have dropped to zero over the past years - who wants dystopian fiction when reality TV would show the exact same scenes? I don't want to give Destroyer any ideas, but I'm surprised we haven't seen something like "The Running Man" with captured resistance fighters yet. It's these resistance fighters that have me out tonight - We've received a message that there are people who need evacuation, fleeing from Destroyer. I take off with Ghost and meet the one called "The Hot Shot" en-route - I really don't know her at all, but have heard her name mentioned by a few others over the past few weeks. I'm not sure, maybe we're hiring contractors now?
 
We arrive to one of the areas of Millennium City that isn't quite as shiny and new as the more prominent areas. It's a derelict warehouse, boarded windows and rusting ironwork - You can spruce it up and call it Millennium City, but underneath the paint, it's still Detroit. I suppose the same could be said of any city that's had its renaissance. We land on the roof and try to keep low. It's quiet, which tells me we should be expecting a trap. Ghost spots two women looking down through the skylight, but The Hot Shot and I are spotted by a bloke on the sidewalk, and he takes off running. I fly after him to either spring the trap or to find out if he's who we're here to rescue. He's smashed into the building through one of those boarded up windows, and I feel something strange, something I don't recognize at first. Magic. Magic is nearby, and I... I get the sense that it's… a defensive spell? If I'm walking into a trap, they wouldn't be using defensive magic. I'm jarred back to reality by the sound of incoming Black Talons and make the snap decision that he and the ladies are who we are here to protect and call out to warn them of the incoming forces.
 
I pair with Ghost to take one down, I'm hoping The Hot Shot can handle herself when I see a Black Talon crash through the vehicle doors at the end of the building and chase after it to try to protect those inside. Our team handles the Talons with help from the people in the warehouse, especially Shamrock - a real hulk of a man from the Emerald Isle, with a charming accent to go with it. How can anyone hate the Irish? I didn’t recognize him at first as he was not wearing the costume I’d seen him in previously, and his demeanor had changed – perhaps the Shadow Queen truly did have him under a spell? As I’m pondering this change, I recognize that there are five women in there as well, all of whom radiate magic, with one, in particular, radiating more strongly than the others. They're wary of us, but I'm able to diffuse the situation after a little time with the help of a few words from The Hot Shot, and the two parties begin to feel more at-ease with each other. I discover their wariness comes from within - they had previously been directly in the employ of Destroyer. The sisters had joined with Destroyer because of threats to their family, but they were all that remained. Seeing what Destroyer had been doing, they all wanted out and Shamrock helped them escape, but they needed extraction to someplace safe. Their story strikes a newly familiar chord, and I feel a compassion for them and an urge to help.
 
I remind Ghost and the others that these agents may not be working for Destroyer willingly, and I think she is slightly gentler extracting them from their suits. I separate each of the agents and I give them a stare I want them to feel to their soul and point blank ask, "Are you working for Destroyer willingly?" Two macho men act defiant, spouting off about eliminating "terrorists", which just gets them entangled and thrown in the corner for a time out like children. Clearly, too much testosterone. One man though, one brave man, stutters and I know what his answer is going to be. His wife is being held by Destroyer in Iowa to conscript him into Destroyer’s service. I thank him and tell him Destroyer's internment camps are in our sights and we will get his wife out of there as soon as we can. To keep up appearances, he gets sent to the corner for a timeout as well, a bit more gently than the other two though.
 
With some guidance from Socrates, we are able to get Shamrock and the Sisters to a Safe-house nearby, Destroyers men will be taken to our prison, and Cypher or Sandcrab have been called to check out these Black Talon suits - apparently they have new counter-measures in them. I didn't see them, but I understand Ghost didn't like these new advances very much.
 
Tonight, some folks were given an opportunity to have a second chance at making the hard choice. Being able to change your conclusion based on new data is difficult; people want to hold fast to the comforts of what they already know and accept. The comfort I knew and accepted is behind me, but I'm not giving them all up just yet. Tonight, the hard choice I want to make is white or red wine, and which rom-com to watch. I should really get Socrates a Netflix subscription...