Well, Cende and I are taking advantage of NaNoWriMo 2011 to try and get our respective stories done (me - TCOSR II, her - Prophecy and Dreams). Especially since we both fear that the longer we wait, the more... umm... wonky, retconned, or outright trashed actual canon will become.
(And we actually figured out a timeline! Based on events of our stories, this is set approximately one year ago.)
So here's the next chapter of TCOSR II! Discussions, as always, go
here.
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
*******
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE, PART II: COURTSHIP AND CRIME FIGHTING
Chapter Nine - Up to Speed
"What do we tell them?" Sorina asked, her voice slightly husky. "For that matter, HOW do we tell them?"
Raymond frowned at her. "'Them' who?"
"The rest of the Phalanx... the Star Patrol leaders... not to mention Gaussian and Vanguard... oh,
bozhe moi, we'll have to explain this somehow to the Midnight Squad." With a wave of her hand, she gestured at the bank of monitors, still displaying the data they'd been poring over for the last couple of hours and the nightmarish truths that the Rikti had managed to keep secret.
"Oh, like
that's going to go over well," he groaned, covering his face with his hand. "Neither one of us is all that adept at magical dealings. Any chance that we can hand that one over to someone else?"
She shrugged, her mouth curved in a thoughtful frown as she rested her chin on her hand. "Perhaps Sharpe will be willing. Numina might not be a bad choice, either after all, she is also a member of the Midnighters. And as you said, the more magically talented may be able to find ways to deal with this matter that we cannot see ourselves."
"God, I hope so. This is going to turn into a major furball, just you wait."
Sorina's dark eyes turned to him in confusion. "'Furball?'" she repeated. "Is that not a slang term referring to animals of some kinds?"
"Wha- oh... it's also a more polite way of saying that everything is going to go straight to hell." It was also a lot more polite than the term he'd originally wanted to use, he thought ruefully.
"Ah." She shook her head in bemusement. "You would think after living here this long, I would be more conversant with the quirks of the English language, but it seems there are still some gaps."
"How about on our next day off, I teach you about English slang, and you can teach me how to swear in Russian?" Raymond suggested in an attempt to lighten the mood, and he was pleased to see her smile in return.
"As long as the day doesn't end like our last one did," she sighed, pushing her dark hair back from her face. "So... first things first. We tell the Phalanx-"
"And cross the other bridges when we get to them," he finished. "Sounds good to me." Then he peered at her a little more closely, taking her chin in his hand and turning her face toward his. With a frown, he saw that although she was doing her best to keep her emotions under control, tears were still visible in her eyes.
"Sorina?"
She closed her eyes and briefly turned her head away, swallowing hard before letting out her breath in a shuddering sigh. "I'm sorry... it's just... I helped them, Raymond. Omega Team... I was part of the science team that was working with them. I didn't know all of them personally, but... they were
tovarisch... comrades."
"Fellow soldiers," he said softly, and she nodded. "Well, we'll do our damnedest to avenge them, no matter what advantages the Rikti have taken away. You can count on it."
*****
They worked in relative silence for another hour or so, organizing the information they'd uncovered into a more cohesive and detailed report. As scientists, report-writing was a skill that Raymond had joked more than once was something they could do in their sleep, and before too long, they'd come up with a précis that covered the salient points each group would likely want addressed.
"I don't know about you," Raymond remarked, getting up from his chair and stretching. "But I think we deserve a short break."
"In a moment," Sorina replied, still typing at the keys.
He waited for a few seconds to see if she'd finish, but when she kept going, he moved to stand behind her and started massaging her shoulders. At first, she continued to type, but eventually her hands stilled and her head fell forward with a slight sigh.
Raymond smiled to himself he'd discovered fairly early on in their relationship that Sorina loved a good massage, and he'd used that discovery often to good effect whenever she got too focused on something. Of course, he'd had no complaints when she then insisted on reciprocating. As his thumbs kneaded the muscles of the back of her neck, he could feel them slowly start to relax.
"Mmm," she murmured softly, "that feels good."
"It's supposed to," he said flippantly.
"Of course, given what the rest of the day will probably be like, you may have to do this more than once." She turned her head slightly so that she was looking at him through the dark fall of her hair, and he thought he saw her mouth quirk into a smile.
"My tough luck, I suppose. You can pay me back when we're done with work today."
Now he was certain he saw her smile.
"Well, they say anticipation makes things all the sweeter."
"True."
She also stood up and stretched, and he leaned back on his heels to watch her, a faint smile of his own on his face. He might be tired and more than a bit stressed, but he could still appreciate the sight of her in her spandex Star Patrol uniform, especially during moments like these.
"You know, I wonder sometimes if that's why women like you wear uniforms like that," he commented before he could stop himself, then he abruptly blushed.
She froze in mid-stretch, her cheeks turning faintly pink, and then her dark eyes twinkled in amusement as she laughed at him. "And to think that all this time, I'd been wondering if you ever really noticed." His blush deepened, and still laughing, she stood on tiptoe to kiss him lightly on the lips. "But thank you."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Positron," they heard from the doorway, and they abruptly leapt apart, turning to see Sister Psyche there, a wide and all-too-knowing smile on her face.
"MUST you do that?" Raymond grumbled, turning away in embarrassment that the psion had picked up on his emotional and physical response to Sorina.
"Lock the door next time," she remarked cheerfully. Then the smile faded from her face as she glanced over her shoulder to look down the hall, then back at them. Stepping into the lab, she shut the door behind her. "Actually, I'd wanted to mention a couple things to you both."
"Such as?" Raymond waved her to a chair while Sorina resumed her seat in front of the computers, and he idly leaned against one of the mainframes.
"First, I take it you two found something seriously unpleasant in that data that Gaussian had sent over."
He grimaced in frustrated disgust. "Yeah, you could say that. Actually, we were just finishing up prepping a report for the rest of the group. I won't ask
how you knew... I gather the shock was easy to pick up."
"Definitely that," the redhead agreed. "And I'll leave you to explain the details during our meeting. But I also wanted to give you guys a warning to... well... keep out of Statesman's way today unless you absolutely have to."
"Any particular reason?" Raymond asked.
"Well, he'd probably deny it if he heard me say this, but he's seriously pissed off, and more than a bit upset."
"About what?" Sorina asked with a frown.
"You two were busy when he arrived this morning, but the reporters practically came crowding in after him. I'm surprised you didn't hear his teeth gnashing from the other side of the building."
Raymond winced. "Oh, terrific. And let me guess... his 'let's just handle this calmly and quietly' policy is wearing thin really quickly."
"You could say that. It's one thing when it's work-related, but now it's personal."
"What do you mean, personal?" Sorina asked.
"This whole mess with your teammate Cende. He can go on and on all he likes about how they're just friends, but we're not as stupid as he thinks we are, nor are we as blind as he is. Mix in the fact that part of him still feels a little guilty about falling in love again after losing his wife, plus the fact that he and Cende now have to stay away from each other. It's got him just a bit riled up."
"Great," Raymond said flatly. "So it's walking on eggshells time."
Shalice nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. He's been snapping at people all morning, I'm not sure we'll be able to properly close the conference room door any time soon without having a carpenter come in and look at it, and he nearly took off Ms. Liberty's head when she called earlier."
"Can you blame him, though? If she hadn't thrown a hissy fit, this wouldn't have happened. Christ, I feel sorry for Alexis, though, having to clean up this mess."
"At least she's good at it," Sister Psyche admitted. "And if office gossip is to be believed, she's arranged for Jessica to go out on a jaunt to Firebase Zulu, a surefire way to get her away from Statesman and the press if there was one. But I did want to give you two fair warning, just in case he takes
your heads off for no discernable reason."
"Thanks for the warning," Raymond said wearily, while Sorina nodded her thanks. "By the way... what's your take on those two?"
"Marcus and Cende?" Shalice shrugged. "He seems happy with her. I mean, sure, there's the age gap of course, but who am I to talk?"
Raymond could sympathize with that. Since Sister Psyche didn't age while mindriding, despite her relatively young appearance, she was actually over eighty years old a fact made difficult by the unavoidable truth that her husband, Manticore, was significantly younger than she... and that he would age and die while she remained young. It was one of the harder challenges the couple had to face, and it was one that he was grateful he and Sorina did not have to deal with.
He brought his attention back to Shalice, who was saying, "Besides, until this happened, he was actually... more relaxed. Not nearly as uptight as he'd been before he started his forays back into the dating world." She sighed. "I so hope this doesn't set him back even worse than he was before, or the man will be completely unbearable."
Raymond glanced over at Sorina. "Then I suggest we get this meeting out of the way now so we can get off the minefield."
"A meeting about what you found going over Gaussian's data?" Sister Psyche asked, and they nodded.
"Yeah... and you're not gonna like it one bit."
*****
Fifteen minutes later, the Freedom Phalanx was assembled in its main conference room, with Sorina seated next to Raymond. Statesman had been the last to arrive, and the moment he walked in, Raymond was grateful for Shalice's warning. The man looked like a thundercloud, his jaw set angrily and his posture tense.
And considering what we have to tell him... Raymond sighed to himself.
This is not going to go well.
Once everyone was seated, Statesman looked over at the two scientists. "I gather you two made some in-roads into that Vanguard data."
Raymond nodded, and started tapping the console in front of him, pulling up displays that the whole Phalanx could see. Using the précis he and Sorina had worked on, they gave the rest of the group a rundown of everything they had learned the presence of an entire underground facility, the destruction of the portal, the appearance of a new Rikti faction, and their challenge to Hro'Dtohz's authority.
"All of this, however, was what we'd learned before we analyzed the data we'd gathered from that mission. Vanguard has this information as well, from our debriefings after we'd returned to the compound." He paused and glanced over at Sorina, who tapped a few keys and modified the display.
"However, we were then sent the scans we'd taken underground in the War Zone, plus the bio-data that Major Vale and Captain St. John had taken from Av'Adn and his mages. We then confirmed what Lieutenant Phillips had stated... that this new Rikti group was using magic, but not Circle magic. And..." Her voice trailed off, and she swallowed hard, her hands clenching into fists.
"... and?" Steve prompted. "What else did you find?"
Sorina entered another command on her console, and suddenly the list of names appeared from Vanguard's DNA Registration database. As the names began scrolling by, it was clear from the Phalanx's reactions that they recognized the Omega Team roster.
"Oh, my God," Sister Psyche whispered. "Hero 1... Branforth... Alejandro... you mean..."
Sorina slowly nodded. "Yes. Av'Adn and his mages were created from the DNA of Omega Team. As Rikti are modified and mutated humans, they apparently created recombinant DNA sequences to take on their magical talents. We think it's why Hro'Dtohz reacted so negatively to them when they came through the Rikti don't use magic, so this must be abhorrent to them."
"However, this does
not necessarily mean that Omega Team is in fact dead," Raymond cut in. "After all, Infernia and Glacia made it back alive... as is Hero 1, although what the Rikti did to him is just beyond the pale."
"But now... unless I'm mistaken, this would mean that these new Rikti aren't susceptible to magic," Numina said slowly, and Raymond and Sorina nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes... which is why we'll be bringing this to the attention of the Midnight Squad as well. Perhaps they'll be able to shed a different sort of insight on this. Neither Sorina nor I really know all that much about magic."
"And you said that Hro'Dtohz views these Rikti as... traitors or abominations of some kind," Manticore said, leaning back in his chair and looking thoughtful. "This could work to our advantage, if the Rikti on Earth are now caught up in some sort of civil war. Get them so busy fighting each other that they have no time for us, give us some time to bolster Vanguard's ranks..."
"Unless Av'Adn takes control of the Rikti forces on Earth," Raymond reminded him. "If he does, with what scientific resources they still have? They could start creating armies of magic-wielding Rikti. Those regular Rikti Magi have been giving us fits... and you didn't see them, Justin. They hammered Hro'Dtohz's forces like they were insignificant insects. Not to mention Av'Adn himself..." He shook his head. "No. The only way the Rikti would be able to stomp on him would be for both Earthbound factions to unite, and that'll never happen."
Raymond looked around the table at his teammates. Synapse, Manticore, and Sister Psyche were all pale. No surprise there... after all, that's when we all died... Numina looked troubled, while Citadel was quietly uploading all of the data into his own circuits for further assessment.
A glance at Statesman, however, showed that the big man had gone absolutely ashen. Raymond couldn't blame him after all, he and Hero 1 had been friends, and they had agreed on the plan that eventually had saved the Earth, though at the cost of Omega Team's lives.
This is just not his week... first this whole mess of his love life, and now finding out that the Rikti have turned one of our own weapons against us... or more like fifty weapons against us.
"Does Vanguard know yet?" Manticore asked. "About-" He waved a hand at the display. "-this?"
Sorina shook her head. "No. Not yet, anyway. They're next on the list, though."
"So what's the plan?"
Raymond glanced over at his roommate. "Technically... we don't have one. Once Vanguard and the Midnighters are brought up to speed, then
maybe, but right now?" He spread his hands in a frustrated gesture. "What
can we do? We're not exactly in a position to fight the Rikti ourselves. All we can do is wait. Wait and be watchful."
*****
Later that afternoon, the two headed back to the Vanguard base in Atlas Park, where they were ushered through the portal that led to the Rikti War Zone. Sorina had called ahead to warn Gaussian of their arrival, and as they stepped through, Raymond saw that Gaussian had apparently called Lady Grey and the other heads of Vanguard.
Gaussian's eyes glanced over to Raymond with a slight frown, then he turned to Sorina. "I wasn't aware that you had invited Positron to this meeting as well, Dr. Tavarisch."
Raymond was ready to open his mouth when Sorina beat him to it.
"He was with me on this mission," she replied coolly, meeting him look for look. "And he helped me analyze this data. It only makes sense for him to be here." She glanced over at Lady Grey and briefly inclined her head to the other woman, then nodded in greeting to the rest of the group. "I assure you all, this will be unpleasant enough as it is."
"I do not doubt it, Doctor," Lady Grey said, her voice as coldly elegant as always. "Come with us."
A few minutes later, seated in one of the Vanguard compound's conference rooms, Raymond and Sorina gave the Vanguard leaders the same report that they had to the Phalanx. To Raymond's profound lack of surprise, their reactions were almost exactly the same as the Phalanx's.
"This... is a complication we could have most certainly done without," Gaussian said heavily when they were finished speaking. "The struggle between the Restructurists and the Traditionalists has been difficult enough as it is on our resources. Adding a third faction to the mix is potentially more than even
we can handle."
"Especially if what you say is true about their facility with wielding magic," the Dark Watcher rumbled from where he sat at the far end of the table. "They already had the advantage of superior technology... technology we're still trying to unlock."
"It's a morbid sense of payback, that's for sure," Levantera groused. "They have the technological advantage, and we start adapting it for ourselves. Now
they turn around and turn our own magical advantage against
us."
"Indeed," Lady Grey said quietly. "But we may still find hope in the fact that there are only five such mages among the Rikti at present. We must bolster our own magical personnel in response." Then she gave a soft sigh. "As for Omega Team... I believe it is time for further discussions with Infernia and Glacia."
"You're telling me that in three years, you haven't already gotten all useful information from them?" Raymond said, trying and not quite succeeding at keeping the disbelief from his voice. Apparently the Vanguard leaders caught it, because they turned as one to look at him.
"There has been the little matter of an ongoing war, Positron," Borea said with a faint sneer, but Lady Grey stilled her with a lift of her hand.
"Now is not the time for recriminations... there is far too much to do. We thank you both for your efforts, and I assure you, we will investigate this matter with all due haste. Your work in this matter has been exceptional, but that is to be expected from scientists of your caliber."
"So what happens now?" Raymond asked as they all rose to their feet.
The Dark Watcher gave them both a measured look. "Dr. Tavarisch mentioned that you two would be speaking to the Midnight Squad at the earliest possibility, a mission I agree is of the utmost urgency. After that..." He gave a slight shrug. "We see what hand fate deals us."
As the couple left the conference room, Raymond glanced over at Sorina, who had stopped in the hallway and had one hand to her ear.
"
Da, idti vpered, COUNTERMEASURES." She listened for a few moments, then frowned. "
Priznannyi." She covered her face with one hand and softly started cursing in Russian.
"What's wrong?"
"Emergency meeting at Star Patrol Headquarters. And you are not going to believe why."
"Do I even want to know?"
Her dark eyes were filled with worry. "Cende's going back to Nepal... tomorrow."
To be continued...
He's not a misogynist as such, but destroying the entire Midnight Squad essentially to impress the object of his unrequited affection does suggest he's got ... issues.
All other bets are off!