audio; mirrornet

[notdaredevil]

[ It's not often that Matt actually has something to say publicly like this. He can't really think of the last time he did. However, it seems unfair to dump it all on Kate and make her do it, especially after he went all the way to Greece to make it happen. ]

Per the research into the Hornets done by Commander Shephard and Kate Bishop, and Kate Bishop's suggestion that someone attempt to track down Eleni Wang, I can now confirm that she is, in fact, alive and in Greece. Lil Crawley and I managed to track her down.

[ It may be a miracle that they managed to work together. ]

To that end, I have some new information about the Hornets and the Import situation in general circa 2010. I can confirm that, to the best of my knowledge, everything she had to tell us was the truth as she knew it.

[ He clears his throat. He's not going to elaborate on how he knows that. ]

Richard Peter Wayne, also known as the Black Arrow, was killed during his investigations. He had been attempting to look into potential government cover-ups, but came across the Hornets along the way. Ms. Wang believes they are probably responsible for his death, and that possibly a former hero was involved or may have committed the murder. However, her attempt to investigate his death was cut short by anonymous threats, so she cremated his body and left the country.

[ And deciding to discard some of the detail on her personal life... ]

In addition, she had a fair amount to say about the Import departure in 2010. Unsurprisingly, opinions were sharply divided between the people who believed it was the right thing for them to leave and the people who thought the Imports had run away with government permission. There was a shockingly brief period of increased National Security, which surprises me immensely given my universe's United States, but it later turned out that the Import departure did not in any way escalate international conflict, since the country no longer had it's own, uh...personal superhuman weapons. Consequently, they downgraded the alert after six months.

Ms. Wang also suggested that this may have contributed to the rise of the Hornets, and at least provided them with a new group of willing recruits who were dissatisfied with both the government and the imPorts, since the Hornets side with neither. She emphasized quite clearly that they should be handled with caution and considered dangerous, particularly if former heroes may have fallen in with them.

[ There's the sound of shuffling paper, while he checks his (hideously handwritten nobody can ever decipher) notes. ]

That's the main gist of it. If any of you should come into contact with her family again, she specifically requested that they not be told why she left the country, so I'd appreciate it if you would honor that. Given that she was more than willing to cooperate we should at least be able to do that much in return.

[ He's also deliberately left out some details, such as what her assumed name is or where exactly they found her, but Matt also figures that's something he can reveal to anyone who might want to go speak to her again, and not broadcast widely. ]

Comments

[selfequipped]

Thanks, Matt.

[That's always a good place to start.]

Did it seem as if the Hornets he found were involved with the government? Did she have any guesses on why they'd kill him for finding anything out?

[notdaredevil]

She didn't draw the connection that explicitly, but I suppose it's possible.

[ In fact, that's his hunch, but he can't substantiate it. ]

Something along the way to investigating the government led him to the Hornets, but if she had any guesses on what specifically would have led him there or what he found, she didn't share those with us.

[selfequipped]

So it's possible that whatever he thought were government cover ups was actually something else altogether.

[notdaredevil]

More than possible. Unless there's some link we don't know about yet. Which is also very possible.

[selfequipped]

If we could restart Wayne's investigation again, that would be ideal. I might have to retrace my steps a little with what I did before, figure out where he was last sighted, the works.

[brushoff]

[ hey Matt. hey Matt. it's your favorite person ever. ]

Why would she think a former hero killed Wayne? It sounds like a fairly big assumption to make.

[notdaredevil]

[ Ew who the hell invited you, bank-robber and shit-talker-to-girlfriends. ]

Because only someone like that would have had the necessary skill and experience to pull it off.

[ The duh is not said. ]

[brushoff]

Well, considering that I don't know how he died, it sounded like a fairly big assumption.

[ the 'you idiot' isn't said either. ]

[notdaredevil]

I can see how you might think that, if you're not used to investigating these kinds of things.

[ Incompetent jackass. ]

[brushoff]

Still, sharing with the class wouldn't come remiss. How'd he die?

[ stubborn asshole ]

not here!

[sizetwelve]

[ Up until now Mary hasn't said anything on the mirror network, but this speaks to her and she is super tempted for once. ...Still she'll just be continue to be a lurker and hope others ask the questions she'd like to. Sorry for being a disgusting stalker, everybody, but no she's not. ]

[notdaredevil]

[ Well, he did leave his name for a reason... but there's nothing wrong with being a disgusting stalker in this context ]

Video;

[databoner]

Funny, how one would happen to stumble into the Hornets when looking into government cover-ups. Isn't it also funny, how the Hornets also seem to coordinate a lot of their attacks exceedingly well with government-sponsored Import activities? It's a surprise anyone goes to the Swearing In ceremonies at all, with how frequently we find ourselves under attack when going to them. Of course, this could just be that the Hornets are very good at spying on the government and gaining access to their plans and preemptively striking, but... really. With how consistently it occurs, and the government never catches them?

I'm not exactly shocked at the potential that the two are working together for some reason.

[...Guess who feels like he can finally speak his mind, with this mirrornet.]

voice;

[notdaredevil]

[ Given that this is the first major thing Matt's had to say in months, it definitely is a useful tool for letting people get some things out there freely... ]

I'm not comfortable drawing a connection between the government at large and a terrorist organization, but that doesn't mean that somebody's not pulling the strings somewhere. It's a question of who's giving them information, and who knows who's giving them information. The Hornets wouldn't even necessarily have to be aware of their role as government pawns— or at the very least, not the majority of them. It's not totally unheard of for certain government agencies to pull something like that.

The alternative is that they just have a very good mole, and they're good enough at covering their tracks that nobody can make a solid case or arrest, or get to them in time. That's not totally unheard of either.

[ And for only a single second, Matt considers that it might be useful if the goddamn Punisher were here, because if anybody would know how to do that, it would be him.

But he's a lunatic and Matt stole his girlfriend, so it's probably best he's not around. ]

[databoner]

You might not be comfortable with that, but I hope you're prepared to accept it if that is the reality we face. How do we know the threat issued to Ms. Wang wasn't the government itself, trying to keep her from finding out the same secrets Black Arrow paid for? Even if it's not the whole government at large, I'd be willing to place money that it's someone high enough for it to warrant the at large addition. Surely you don't forget what's already happened to Captain Holiday, and how he's been censored and locked away for what- standing up for Imports? Telling us things he shouldn't have, maybe? Or planned to?

The Hornets are a red herring, here. They're a threat, but not the threat. From the encounters we've faced against them, their foot soldiers are largely without plan, and without much training. If they were better organized, I don't doubt we wouldn't have been able to escape them as easily as we did in the instance of the Maine Maze incident. Maybe it's because it's simply an "unorganized terrorist group" but then how would they be able to coordinate their attacks so well with Import Registration? I doubt a mole alone would be able to do this.

The only alternative I can think of is the group that led the attack on Imports during the camping kidnaping. That was the first real time I saw something well organized, on the enemy's behalf. And even then, I could still see the government being behind that one, although it seems less likely. If they wanted to know our ability to defeat robotic bears or whatever, then they could have simply asked us to spar against them as a form of training.

[notdaredevil]

[ God he is just way too old for this kind of shit from teenagers. ]

The Young Avengers both investigated and confirmed the Hornets aren't some kind of red herring. You'll want to talk to them for the explicit details; I'm not going to presume to speak for them.

[glassbox]

Y'sound like such a lawyer right now, y'know that? All informative an' everythin'.

[notdaredevil]

You don't say. [ He sounds amused, even though he's not sure she meant it as a compliment. Hard to tell with her, sometimes. ] Did I miss anything? I think I hit all the important points.

[glassbox]

Y'want me t'be honest? I was only half-listenin'. On account of already knowin' what happened.

[notdaredevil]

I appreciate your support, Lillian.

[ He doesn't find that as funny as she probably does. But there's a new weapon for the girlfriend arsenal: not listening to him when he talks. ]

[glassbox]

C'mon, hon. Y'were talkin' a while, an' I was there, y'know.

voice;

[andaway]

[So apparently Kate finally got someone to track the woman down. There's an incredible amount of capable people in this place it seems, his job has never been easier.

And he's just gonna... pretend the 'Wayne' and 'Black Arrow' similarities do not creep him out at all.]

Seems like reporters have a tendency to get themselves in danger in this place, I will have to be careful. Do we know anything about Wayne's investigation and where it was cut off? Maybe we could take it from there. See what he found out that was so dangerous he had to be put down.

voice;

[notdaredevil]

I can't make too much of a conjecture without more details. Details I'm not even sure may exist anymore, if they ever did.

[ Not so much the where as the how, and without being on the scene himself, there's a lot he'll never be able to fill in. Which is frustrating, because he knows he could have picked up so much more than practically anyone else. ]

I don't know a whole lot about Maurtia Falls, either, its history or its politics. Who knows who, who gets their illegal weaponry where, the best places to go where nobody's going to bother too much with asking your name or what you're up to. Who those people think might have the skill or the guts to pull off something like that. By all accounts, he was very good. It wouldn't have been easy.

[ Sorry Clark he's more Batman than Superman here. Daredevil definitely beats up thugs for answers. And though he's not out, he's also not pretending that Blind Lawyer Matt Murdock doesn't know more than an ordinary blind lawyer should about how those things go. ]

voice;

[andaway]

[If anyone had his same approach to things it’d be pretty boring. He might not approve but he wouldn’t throw a fit about it. He lets out a hum as he processes the information… but honestly Matt is right, there isn’t much about it they can investigate right away.]

Was his investigation focused in Pennsylvania? I’ve been trying to make some contacts but that kind of thing takes a while and a reputation I still don’t have.

voice;

[notdaredevil]

[ Isn't that the unfortunate truth. He'd been prepared to start over in a new city, even though it killed him to have to leave New York...but not a new city, in a new universe, where all the rules have been changed. ]

I don't know, I feel like not having any sort of reputation might come in handy.

[ Like when you don't have a well-known habit of criminal behavior in the pursuit of investigations, Kate Bishop. Oh for the leeway of their homeworld. ]

I don't know of any evidence that suggested it went beyond Pennsylvania. Or can't recall it at this time. I'll double-check later. What kind of contacts were you looking to make?