The Emperor's Dragon II

Politics 101

Even though Sozo had tendered his resignation to the Minister, he was still nominally in charge of the Hero Public Safety Commission and was responsible for dealing with the fall out.

And apart from figuring out how the brat had been able to raid Tartarus, they had to figure out why they'd had no warning. If they could work out how the brat had done it, that would let them figure out how to prevent it happening again. And if they could work out why there had been no warning, that would improve their intelligence networks.

Thankfully, the other High Security prisons hadn't been raided so the prisoners who'd been recaptured were still secure. That was something.

Tartarus was one issue. Osaka was another. The public would focus on Osaka, right up until they twigged how bad Tartarus had been, then there'd be... a lot of hysterical civilians probably.

"Let's go through this chronologically," he told the room. The virtual room. It was impossible to get everyone together in person at a time like this for a meeting. Irresponsible too given their priorities.

"First is Osaka," the HPSC's Chief Operating Officer said.

"The villain Dabi and Nomu," Sozo added context for others on the line. They all had a briefing, but he wasn't sure who would have had the time to fully read it.

Until the villains who had been freed from Tartarus started rampaging, most people would consider the events of Osaka to be the greatest threat. It was just the fucking diversion but losing the newly announced Number One Hero was something the public would focus on, especially with Hawks being injured.

The medics said he'd heal, and they'd managed to set his bones right, but he'd always have some damage from the burns. He'd never have quite as many feathers and Edge Shot... he had burns over 50% of his body. The hero was fast but hadn't managed to get away in time. Those who were closer...

If they survived, they only survived because their quirks gave very specific assistance against fire. Shouto had used his ice to drive back the fire and the evidence suggested Wash had almost survived but everyone else in that square... everyone else had died.

Endeavor.

His sidekicks.

The villain Dabi.

Those monstrosities he had with him.

Everyone.

The thing was, that event was over. The villains were dead.

Sure, there were heroes dead and injured as well, but for the square, that event was over. There would be fallout, but not additional events. Each of the survivors was being tended to by multiple doctors, and those with healing quirks. They'd have scars, but they'd be back on their feet relatively quickly. The HPSC absolutely needed that, because Tartarus had a lot more fallout. The villains were free. They could be planning anything, and they were still running the numbers to figure out where all of the prisoners were. There had been some murders at Tartarus. Sozo's callous side said not enough. Not with who had been freed and those who could do something. They were the real risk.

"We'll do Osaka next. I know it came first but let's focus on Tartarus," Sozo added before the conversation could get established. "Why didn't we know it was coming?" he put the question to the room. It wasn't just the HPSC here.

There were heroes, Police, intelligence, and even UA for some reason. Sozo would like to tell Nezu to take a hike. The rat was only the principal of a high school but technically, UA was involved since it was one of their students who attacked Tartarus... and maybe that's another angle to play off in the media.

It was something to consider. Especially if Nezu had not taken steps to remove Izuku from their enrolment.

But since Sozo didn't want UA, specifically Nezu to get ideas, he messaged his executive assistant to invite Shiketsu into the meeting. Kenshin would catch up on the purpose from context.