Diego Gonzalez
HP: 1
CND: Haunted
Form: Solid
The Coverup
Incidents like the safest and model ward becoming a super hero war zone don't just go away or have no repercussions. Praetor Null hadn't called on Diego yet, so there was time to do some damage control in the week after the incident. Carter was still out, so Diego wasn't able to get the answers he sought on what the stupid cowboy was doing packing a gun so visibly. It was like he was asking to be seen. Diego had other issues to sort out now and first and foremost was to see to it the base wasn't compromised and everything was redirected.
He already had the face of incident figured out. It had jumped at and destroyed a helicopter with people looking on as it somehow survived the fall and walked away. Stronghold would know the face didn't belong to anyone in particular. It wouldn't be in any databases. Still, Diego had to make it look like anyone other than Praetor Null or his forces had done the mission. One sure fire way to raise doubt of what group a person belonged was to record a video with a background that didn't give much away. To this end, Diego employed Tilly or someone she recommended to identify a ward not as heavily patrolled with ruined buildings a ward or two away from ward 3. Preferably one where someone who ditched a van in ward 3 would swap vehicles and head to.
Diego was in his element planning movements through a city and redirects. It took his mind off what was to come the next time Praetor Null visited. If the redirect worked, it might not be as bad as Diego was expecting it to be. Once the location and route was decided, Diego made sure Tilly had the more military like tasks lead as he focused on his unofficial namesake of deception.
Another aspect to handle, before heading out to make the video and get it uploaded, was having eyes outside the base. Eyes that weren't military ones. Diego heard Stronghold was going to start bringing in heavy equipment and found the van. So, having semi military trained people keep patrols would only raise Strongholds interest. A garden is a thing of patience. Wait long enough and it is beautiful. Diego's forgotten of the ward were ready to go. Nothing out of the ordinary of them was asked aside from dead dropping notes and keeping an eye on Stronghold troop movements during the clearing. No special movements, just normal nomadic behaviour keeping their eyes open.
With the word spreading throughout the ward, Diego made his way along the planned route to the video location with a burner video phone. The trip itself was rather uneventful. At times he floated in the darkness while other times he shifted into someone no one would pay attention. It took time when he had to contort his nature into something solid, but it was better than stating another battle with Stronghold.
At the location, making sure no one was around and with a rubble like backdrop, Diego shifted into the action hero visage with added healing cuts and burn marks consistent with someone who used themselves as a projectile to take out a helicopter.
"It is time to wake up Hadron City. Stronghold would like you to believe they are here to protect the city, make it better, and free. They aren't. They are running dark experiments like the one who caused havoc in Ward 8. That was just a taste of what Stronghold is doing under our noses. They are messing with forces beyond their comprehension. Whats the next one they will lose control over? I only saw a small taste of it in one of their monster labs with brains in jars plus tentacles in the ceiling. They have gone too far.", begins Diego speaking in a more rugged and manly voice with grit behind it. All the while, he streamed it out to the deep web plus made sure social media of all sorts got a link to the stream. He also ensured it was being recorded.
"What I had to do to the men in the helicopter, I did for everyone in the city. Stronghold cannot control their experiments and were willing to level the city around it to contain it. Today is when we make a stand. Today is when we say to Stronghold, you've gone too far. How many more lives will you risk for inhumane creations you can't keep control over? We, the People of Hadron, say enough is enough. While we may be a small group of former contractors who witnessed first hand the atrocities perpetuated by Stronghold, we are strong. As more voices speak up and tell Stonghold to stop and leave the city for the people, we will only get stronger.", continues Diego.
He maintains his expression of strength and restrained anger.
"If you don't believe me, ask the questions yourself. Stronghold as I speak is bringing in more power under the guise of protecting you. You need to ask yourself and Stronghold, what they are really doing. Strengthening their grip on us while they perform more atrocities to justify their previous ones. Stand up, unite, and Stronghold will be made to account for their heinous sins against us the People of Hadron! Stand strong and see the light!", finishes Diego with a flourish.
He turns off the recording and live stream. With everything off, he pockets the memory card with the video after uploading it and sending out messages of its location in the cloud for others to see again. If Stronghold saw the transmission, they would undoubtedly have people heading to the location. Diego didn't wait long enough to find out. He had to get out of there instantly, he did using his special talents keeping the memory card.
Infirmary
Diego spent the rest of the time ensuring the video would spread more. If internet sites went down, he'd find other phones of regular people in the city that he'd swipe to get the video uploaded again. Public sentiment would be on Stronghold side, hopefully the video would change that.
Once alerted to Carter stirring, Diego made his way to the cowboys beside. iona being there or not didn't bother Diego in the slightest.
"Why were you at the Ward?", inquired Diego going straight to the point in his native form.