The Midnighter can add up the numbers, but he doesn't have to like the results. The hard truths of the superhero lifestyle laid out in a form that actually made me take an interest in mathematics.
One of the bare handful of remaining Stormwatch members comes to a party on the Carrier, and has a long-overdue conversation with Swift about the passing of their comrades. Perfectly comprehensible and touching even if you're not familiar with the old guard that the new team replaced.
Jenny Sparks is a hard woman to love. And that's the understatement of the year.
One dark night in Sarajevo, Jack Hawksmoor and the Midnighter find out that they have a few things in comon. A well-woven tapestry of sound and silence, which manages to make the idea of these two stoics opening up to each other plausible.
After the battle against Sliding Albion is over, Jenny Sparks and the Doctor talk about his little drug problem. One of the things I liked best about the early Authority issues was the relationship between Jenny and the Doctor, and it's great to see a story that does both of those difficult characters justice.
In the gap between the destruction of Stormwatch and the beginning of the Authority, Apollo and the Midnighter make an attempt at leading normal lives. They don't have a lot of luck. A wry and poignant tale that shows that you can take the Midnighter out of the leather, but you can't take the leather out of the Midnighter.
This story is rather unusual for an Authority fanfic: it's actually something like the comic it's based on :-). Although I'm as fond of character vignettes as the next reader, it was nice to see a good action adventure starring the team. The problem they face here is just the sort of idea Warren Ellis would come up with, too.