History Fanfic / LegacyOfTheEnginseers

* StraightForTheCommander: Someone massacres the Chinese Union-Imperial leadership during a full cabinet meeting.

* GodzillaThreshold: Since Taylor has pinpointed [[spoiler:Noelle]] as the likely target for [[spoiler:Leviathan's attack]], she arranges to dump said target into the Sun should the latter get too close.

* OffscreenKarma: It's mentioned that after Taylor published a mountain of evidence proving her innocence on PHO, just about every single Winslow High School staff member and PRT employee involved in covering up for Sophia's bullying was either fired or arrested including Principal Blackwell and Sophia's handler.

* AlasPoorVillain: Cherish had joined the Slaughterhouse Nine for the sake of protecting herself from her father, only to suffer a lot at the hands of the other members [[spoiler:and end up getting headshot by Mechanicus' drones after witnessing Shatterbird's own death]].

* BenevolentBoss: When Taylor begins to recruit people for her Skitarii, she offers incredible benefits (full health restoration, the best training and care in the world, equipment that makes anything else look like Legos and a generous pay and retirement packet), is upfront about the downsides (lots of combat, an implant that will prevent the recruits from betraying her and another that will destroy their bodies in case someone is captured or killed and she can't rescue them), and makes it clear that she wants people willing to ask questions and offer genuine advice.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatOpposition: Seems to be a CentralTheme for this fic as the more powerful Taylor's technology turns out to be, the more people are willing to discard all rationality to try and capture her so they can get it themselves. Initially, the PRT/Protectorate were after Taylor because she had been framed by Sophia and made out to be a dangerous villain by her (lying) classmates and teachers at school. Once Taylor proves her innocence, however, the PRT ENE continue to hunt her. While this is partially due to them wanting to keep Taylor safe and prevent her from being recruited by the gangs now that her secret identity is public knowledge, their main reason for trying to capture her is because she demonstrated she was a powerful Tinker (and also out of pride because the way Taylor proved her innocence publicly humiliated Piggot). However, the PRT at large is willing to let Taylor be and it's mostly just Piggot's ENE branch that's hunting her put of a vendetta. However, when Taylor later destroys Ellisburg and kills the entire Slaughterhouse Nine, she becomes the focus of the entire PRT and even some foreign governments because they refuse to allow anyone to have the kind of firepower that Taylor does. [[spoiler:When Taylor kills Leviathan, she becomes the number one target of every major government in the world and Cauldron, who are happily willing to discard all traditions and regulations just for a chance to catch her.]]

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatOpposition: Seems to be a CentralTheme for this fic as the more powerful Taylor's technology turns out to be, the more people are willing to discard all rationality to try and capture her so they can get it themselves. Initially, the PRT/Protectorate were after Taylor because she had been framed by Sophia and made out to be a dangerous villain by her (lying) classmates and teachers at school. Once Taylor proves her innocence, however, the authorities continue to hunt her. While this is partially due to the PRT wanting to keep Taylor safe and prevent her from being recruited by the gangs now that her secret identity is public knowledge, their main reason for trying to capture her is because she demonstrated she was a powerful Tinker. When Taylor later destroys Ellisburg to the bedrock and kills the entire Slughterhouse Nine, major governments around the world are now out to get her because they refuse to allow anyone to have the kind of firepower that Taylor does. [[spoiler:When Taylor kills Leviathan, she becomes the number one target of Cauldron.]]

'''Armsmaster:''' Indeed. Any mention of Miss Herbert is enough to increase her stress and anger levels to an extent that may be untenable for long term function. Even more unfortunate, given our current situation, that avoiding the subject may not be possible.

* DidntSeeThatComing: Coil was planning to do his usual shtick of sending mercenaries to capture Taylor and give her [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an "offer" to work for him]]. He didn't expect Taylor to learn about his plan quick enough to counter it, much less that she would immediately go for a lethal option - ''before'' he could set up his SaveScumming power, meaning that his mercs experience their first apparent major loss, shaking their faith in him.

** [[spoiler:Heartbreaker is shot twice instead of getting stabbed by Imp.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Downplayed with Piggot. While she managed to avoid being fired over her heavy-handed approach to Taylor, there's a new oversight committee that can review her actions, and even ''Armsmaster'' can tell that she's burned a lot of bridges over the debacle, and with numerous PRT employees working against her she's likely to lose her command before too long.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Tattletale's plan to deal with Lung was to call the heroes and attempt to have them fight Lung while she and the Undersiders escaped in the confusion.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Contessa has a penchant for doing this when it comes to getting rid of people that could pose an obstacle to Cauldron. [[spoiler:When Taylor gives protective charms to everyone in the Senate Committee in charge of handling PRT oversight, many of them note that the number of potentially deadly "accidents" has increased, and they have become more ludicrous with time: one of the Committee's members mentions that he nearly got hit by a roof tile while he was showering - which was blown from a building a mile away, another had an entire truck dropped on them while he was on a bike, and a third nearly got hit by a prospective Ward Tinker's weapon misfiring and going through fourteen floors.]]

** Whatever respect Taylor had for the organization vanishes as they try to arrest her without even considering her innocence. As some people in PHO point out later on, this also loses them one of the most powerful Tinkers to ever show up.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The PRT is ''deliberately'' inefficient thanks to Cauldron, in order to ensure that as many Parahumans trigger as possible, in the hopes that they'll get lucky and one of said triggers will be useful against Scion (as well as making it look like only Parahumans can stop other Parahumans).

* TheDogBitesBack: When the Yangban lead parahumans Null, One, and Two die in the CUI strike, many of the now-freed brainwashed cape attack the CUI staff meant to control them.

* IHaveNoSon: Inverted. When Danny outs Taylor on TV, Taylor rejects him as a father and considers herself an orphan.

* AlasPoorVillain: Cherish had joined the Slaughterhouse Nine for the sake of protecting herself from her father, only to suffer a lot at the hands of the other members [[spoiler: and end up getting headshot by Mechanicus' drones after witnessing Shatterbird's own death]].

** When she builds her first [[MiniMecha Knight]], she decides to take it out on a joy ride, and begins to cackle and twirl on her chair when she reviewa the data.