Introduction to Meta-human Crime Fighting (Open)

[Mister Druce]

“Did everyone enjoy the Memorial Day weekend?”

Mister Druce’s possibly rhetorical question was received with a chorus of murmured replies. Answers such as “yeah”, “sorta”, and “meh” were among the more intelligible, but nothing stood out. Even those students who’d enjoyed themselves immensely presumably felt it unseemly to express anything resembling enthusiasm on the first day back in class. It’s debatable whether the stone-faced instructor was even listening. He spent a minute fiddling with his projector before returning his attention to the class.

“Today we’re going to discuss operational tactics,” he began simply. “We’ll start with recon and infiltration, and if we have time, we’ll move on to evasion and counter-movement.” The students greeted the announcement with surprise. The first few weeks of class had been pretty dry stuff. Q&A followed by lectures on the Citizen Crime Fighting Act and the origins of the FBSA. Jumping right into combat training was somewhat unexpected.

“Information is the single greatest weapon you can have at your disposal during a confrontation,” Druce went right into it. “If you know your enemy’s weakness, you can strike at it. If you know his strengths, you can counter them. If you know his objectives, you can anticipate his actions. If you know how committed he is, you can make him back down. All of this should sound pretty obvious, but where and how do you get this information?”

“Reconnaisance!” someone called out from near the back of the class.

“Someone’s been listening, I see. Good answer.” The teacher almost cracked a smile. Almost. “There are many ways to gather information, and I will not understate the value of research and preparation, but the truth is that crime-fighting is largely reactive. You are going to be placed into developing situations for which there is no time to prepare and no knowledge of what’s going on. This is unavoidable fact. If the situation is urgent enough, you may even be forced to act without information, but that is the worst case scenario.

“In any case where immediate action is not required, your first instinct should always be to acquire as much information as possible. Step one is simple. Ask. If there are law enforcement officers on the scene? Ask them what’s going on. If there are witnesses? Question them. Even the tiniest piece of information now could lead to saved lives later. Including your own.

“Common things to ask are ‘who are we dealing with?’, ‘how are they armed?’, ‘have they taken hostages?’, or… well why don’t you tell me. What are some other questions you might want to ask?

[Taylor Brenton]

Taylor's first question would have been 'are they flammable?' but she was pretty sure that wouldn't be the answer that Mr. Druce was looking for. "Do we know what's going on? Is it a disgruntled employee with a shot gun and bad temper, or is it a full scale assault on something? Have they made any demands? Do we have any people on the inside?"

[Mister Druce]

"Very good, Miss Brenton," Mister Druce nodded in approval at Taylor's questions. "In particular the question about demands. That ties in with what I said about knowing your enemy's objectives. Knowing what a villain wants tells you all kinds of things about who they are and what they're likely to do. A villain looking for money or valuables is a very different animal than one looking for revenge or worse, to make some kind of statement. Then there are psychopaths who make no demands and simply want to cause damage or hurt people. Each of these opponents require a different approach and that one question has helped to put you on the correct path.

[Cadence Calloway]

Cady very timidly raised her hand. "Um...if there are hostages...it would be good to know if there are any injured...right? Or if someone's already um...started negotiating with the hostage taker..."

[Elijah Elliot]

Eli raised his hand to chime in. "What sort of environment am I going into? How might the environment help or hinder things? Are we heading into a criminal's stronghold? a burning office building? the sewers?"

[Arthur Rawlings]

Ar chimed in on the tail of Druce's response to Taylor, "But if they've already attacked, does it really matter that much why they did it? I mean, when is immediate action not required by the time they call us in? 'Citizens in danger', right? We kick the villain's butt or... what? What different approach do we take other than clear the citizens, take the baddies down, and slap Zig beacons on their asses?"

[Mister Druce]

"Good questions, Miss Calloway. Injured hostages puts a timeframe on your response. Knowing if someone else is already interacting with the villain is also important. You don't want to interfere with an ongoing negotiation, and you don't want to start acting independently when there are other heroes or agents on scene and possibly already engaged with the suspects. You need to act in concert, as a team, even if you are not familiar with them.

"That will be a topic we'll be covering later in the term, by the way. How to work with unfamiliar allies."

[Mister Druce]

There were a lot of knowing glances and even some chuckles throughout the class when Eli mentioned the sewers. Mister Druce just nodded in his direction.

"Good, Elijah. Knowing the environment is almost as important as knowing your enemy. Entrances, exits, possible hazards like fire, fumes, or loose ground are all things you should know about."

[Mister Druce]

"Immediate danger requires immediate action, Arthur. I've made that clear since day one. However it's not true that heroes are only called in when citizens are in immediate danger. A hostage situation can play out over hours. A robbery might take place in an otherwise empty location. And very often a Hero is tasked with bringing in a dangerous villain after they've been located by police investigators. In those situations there are no citizens in danger and the Hero may be able to take their time carrying out the assignment.

"Good information is even more important when tackling a villain in their own lair. In a situation like that, it's the enemy who has information on their side. They know the environment. They know the escape routes, the hazards, and the killzones. Anything you can do to level that playing field is in your best interests."

[Etienne Mbane]

Simon looked over at his roommate in the back of the class. As always, this was the only class he didn't speak up in, or even seem to be paying attention. Well, Etienne was good people, as far as Simon was concerned, and that meant he could cover for him. He raised his hand.

"Isn't it also good to know what other heroes are around? I mean, a good strategy relies on knowing what your assets are, and without an understanding of how those assets can interact, it would be difficult to make a tactical plan, right?"