kusanagi

My invuln brute loved to pound on them. My /willpower brute gets shredded by them.

Every powerset has its kryptonite; Wailers are a severe pain for damres based sets.

But it still sets the bar for "dear sweet gods above that was hard".

[ QUOTE ]

Where did I put the number for that therapist?

[/ QUOTE ]
Mem-5.

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I decided to make a post of what players would like to see in a City Of Heroes 2 If NC Soft actually got their heads out their collective...

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Because nothing says "persuasive, compelling argument" like a thoughtless ad hominem attack.

I stopped reading there.

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I play 147 characters across all eleven servers, including multi-server characters...

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Edit: Also, remember a lot of us work or go to school during the day, dude.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sleep is overrated, clearly.

Request granted.

(Edit: Dammit, that worked when I first previewed it.)

[ QUOTE ]
-Waves white flag-

Ok what if they suspended people from making toons on Freedom and Virtue for a couple months.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because nothing says "great massively multiplayer game" like the additional clause "But new players won't be allowed to play with their veteran friends because the server they're on is restricted".

Really, REALLY bad idea.

The CoP trial was yanked because there were massively exploitable bugs in the design that allowed people to level up from 1 to 50 in less than an hour without doing anything.

Chances are it'll require a near complete redesign before it can be 'turned back on'.

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A filter based on keywords could be wiggled around by spaces inside the words, splitting them, or as they've been doing, by mispelling.

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Not if that filter is Bayesian. A Bayesian filter looks at words, words in proximity to other words, words in relation to other words, etc. It looks at the "language" of spam, not just the individual letters that compose it, and it uses that "language", the composition of advertisements designed to catch the eye and convince the reader to buy, to catch and remove the spam. It's highly effective when it's properly implemented, generally at or above 99% effectiveness, and with false positive counts below 1%.

[/ QUOTE ]

Welcome to about two iterations of the spammer/antispam software wars ago.

Some of the face selections were reorganized, too.

Choosing "Attempt to fix" and then fixing the remaining issues by hand usually works pretty well.

You'd have a much more persuasive argument if you stopped trying to claim that when your 'common sense' (coupled with admitted total ignorance of programming theory in general, this particular game's code in particular, or actual economic or management skill) disagrees with what several of the devs -- who have written the game and can be reasonably said to have a better understanding of what the engine is and isn't capable of or how difficult a given alteration would be -- have to say about a topic, they must be wrong.

When your doctor tells you something about your health, don't get your second opinion from Joe Plumber.

Get ready!

In fact, I'll go one further: Aside from PvP zones and the Hamidon areas, I'd like to see all level limits in Hazard Zones removed -- if it's somewhere that missions can occur in, make sure everyone on a team can get in regardless of their levels. I've had one too many fun, good RP teams break up because two of the people on it were below thirty and the arc we were RPing took us to Crey's Folly.

[ QUOTE ]
I know this suggestion has been brought up numerous times in the past, and it was vetoed everytime. However, the motivation of the suggestion:
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I personally hate standing in one area looking for a team or trying to create one when everyone around my level is in PI or Grandville asking to be farmed. I know I can play the game alone but this is a MMORPG, I would like to play along side other heros/villians. I just think the farm thing has gotten a little too out of control.


[/ QUOTE ]does has a point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even if she weren't (in my experience) vastly overstating the case, it /still/ wouldn't justify the fact that her proposed 'cure' would be much, much worse for the game than the supposed disease ever could be.

No.

[ QUOTE ]
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Hopefully, it won't be just side switching, but full on Open World. Go where you want, make what you want.

[/ QUOTE ] I'm in support of this idea.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not, because it'd either mean massive immersion breaking or all-world PVP, and I'm very much in favor of neither.

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While I understand that the way I type could be confusing, and I'm sorry if it is, but my point is that it's beside the point. What I say should not be ignored because you're uncomfortable with the way I portrayed it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bzrt, sorry, wrong.

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<massive pirate flag of ARR>

[/ QUOTE ]

Holy crap.
That is made of win.

I wouldn't even know whre to start in making something like that.
Y'arr.

[/ QUOTE ]

Arr! Ye start by sailin' the electronic oceans to the waters of [ARRRRRL]Port Degraeve[/ARRRRL]

I'm game to try and help. I've got an L50 brute, plus a L44 thugs/dark MM that I can finally allow to level again now that I've got the two RP-critical missions I wanted from the 40-44 range.

[ QUOTE ]
again the heroes need bases

[/ QUOTE ]

pony up the $ -5 you'd wind up paying for a copy of CoV in the bargain bin. You'll even get four shiny extra character slots to make more heroes with thrown in.

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Btw, please don't put Beacons in the PvP zones. I can just see some SG using a few characters to lure a larger group to the center of the map, where suddenly 10+ reinforcements Telepad right into the combat.

[/ QUOTE ]

1) This is what would be called a well-executed ambush, and hence a valid tactic.

2) Those 10+ reinforcements would need 30 seconds to clear their PvP flags, remember?

Here's an easy way to tell if he's held or not:

Have the controllers look at their combat logs. If they're doing containment damage, he's held.

((That concludes our April Fools intermission, now on with your irregularly scheduled programming. Sorry for taking this long, I blocked a few times over the start.))

Council supply base Sigma-5
0813 Zulu

The interior of the base looked as if it had been hit by a particularly vicious tornado. Bodies - human, lupine, vampiric and robotic alike - lay collapsed on the floor, sagged against walls underneath the cracks they'd made on impact, or hung draped over railings and consoles where they'd been thrown.

Shrapnel from more fragile or less fortunate robots littered the floors, scorch marks and bullet holes painted patterns on no-longer-pristine walls, and the smoke from destroyed consoles was starting to overwhelm the few air scrubbers that remained operational.

In the control center at the heart of the base, the wail of the alarms was drowned out by the sounds of gunfire and shouts as the remaining soldiers mounted a frantic last ditch defense against the invader, but they might as well have been trying to divert a Saharan sandstorm with naught but their hands.

The Cor Leonis had been the first to fall, their miniguns insufficient to slow their attacker in her tracks, and their armor had not held up to the brutal force of her blows when she closed the range. The Zenith mech had fared only slightly better, but its claws had failed to tear more than a rent in her jacket before a vicious double overhand strike had crushed its cranium and spine.

The Galaxy and Equinox adjudants fell only moments later, but the delay had been sufficient for the Archon to recover from the pain of his broken ribs enough to summon the concentration neccessary to shed his human guise, and the Warwolf roared its rage and defiance as it charged its enemy.

Foxtrot Juliet screamed a challenge of her own and met it head on, riding a high of adrenaline and fury as she traded blow for blow with a monstrosity twice her height and five times her body mass made out of bone and muscle and came out the victor. She whirled around as its broken body crashed to the ground, seeking her next target...

... And found none.

She lowered her fists, dismissing the magic she'd learned to use but not comprehend, swaying slightly on her feet as she willed herself to relax, to force back the red haze clouding her vision, to rein in her rage, to remind it that she controlled it...

Deep breaths. Calm.

I control my anger. It does not control me.

My rage is my servant, not my master.

I am its mistress, not its slave.

The chime of her comm unit broke her out of her reverie. She sighed, then keyed it. "Juliet here, go ahead."

"Jules, Charly. We got ourselves a situation and you're needed. Get back to base camp ASAP, default on the contract if you gotta."

Juliet smiled and started retracing her steps back to the entrance. "Fortunately that shall not be a problem, Charly. I was just about done here at any rate. I'll meet our client and let him know to expect our invoice shortly, then return."

"Done already? Nice. Don't worry about the mobster, I'll have Zulu contact him and send your regrets. Just head on home."

"Understood. Expect me in a few hours. Juliet, out."


Foxtrot Company Rogue Isles field HQ
1136 Zulu

"Yo, Jules. Glad you could make it." Charly nodded in greeting as she casually returned Juliet's salute.

She continued, "We have a mission for you with ominous overtones of danger and harm. One which will push your abilities to the limits."

Juliet merely raised a delicate eyebrow at the - by Charly's standards - highly formal speech, but before she could ask for specifics, Whiskey spoke up in her customary emotionless tone. "this shall require juliet to remove her garments so that romeo may fulfill his mission."

Juliet turned to regard the third occupant of the room, who had very emphathetically not twitched in nervous unease. Such a pity - but then again, much of the fun in teasing Romeo was in the challenge. She smiled and regarded him steadily as her right hand reached for the zipper on the front of her leathers. "Really, now? I believe I like this plan already."

"Thank you, Whiskey. Charly, do explain matters in a slightly more, full manner, if you would be so kind?"

Charly smirked at Romeo. "Aw, why? It's so much more fun this way..." Romeo merely looked at her. "... Fine, fine, we'll do it the boring way." She tossed a bundle of clothing at Juliet. "You're drafted for Operation Cheerleader Seduction Madness. Go and put these on."

Juliet looked at the bundle in her hands. It was indeed a cheerleader uniform, white trimmed with Foxtrot green and a stylized 'F' on the shoulder. She looked back at Charly. "May I ask what this operation entails?"

"Y'see, it's like this..."

"... So that's why we need to get the kid to come to Pocket D," Charly finished her tale. "Sierra and you will act as lures so that Romeo can sneak in and scan the kid's mind while you keep him entranced with your sexy, sexy body."

Juliet, who had been listening and occasionally nodding while Charly explained the situation, suddenly smiled. "But if I entrance Romeo with my body, how will he be able to scan the kid's mind?"

Charly smirked again. "Oh well, I guess that's just a risk Romeo is going to have to take."

"Ahem. The kid, not me." Romeo sounded somewhere between exasperated and desperate to change the topic. He must've been, at any rate; it wasn't like him to say something that carelessly rash. But that would have to be worried about later, when she had a chance to talk to him in private.

"Very well. When is this operation scheduled to commence?"

"Romeo and Zulu whipped up a beaut of a letter to the kid. I'll forward it to you so you at least know what 'you' wrote to him when you go meet him. As soon as we've got an answer back, I'll let you know the date and time. Consider yourself off any and all active duty until then. Sierra, that goes for you too - we can't afford to have either of you show up injured."

"okay." came Sierra's timid voice from a shadowy corner that Juliet would have sworn on her life had been empty when she'd looked at it earlier.

"Understood. By your leave, then? I'll file a report on the Family work I've been doing shortly, but I'd like to take a shower first."

Charly nodded. "The report can wait. Go shower. Dismissed."

Juliet saluted and left.

((To be continued, but not by me...))

((Chronologically, this comes before the post immediately above. Blame my slow writing.))

Foxtrot Company Rogue Isles field HQ
Time: 2315 Zulu

Charly was not feeling a happy teenager by any stretch of the imagination as she stalked through the halls of the base.

The Wyvern rep had been almost exactly as sceptical as she'd originally feared when she tried to explain that Stern had in no way been an authorized Foxtrot hit and that no member she knew had been responsible, but at least they were agreeing to adopt a 'wait and see' stance. Her habit of honesty when admitting that a given hit had been authorized and planned had bought them that much at least.

Still, the condescending tone when they warned her that she had better find out who had been using their name and logo had sent her blood boiling, and she'd silently seethed on the way back, and...

She shook herself. Control, control, focus. Right. Romeo'd been looking over the scene for a few days now; he'd call the moment he found anything important, but calling him now would at least make her feel a bit bette-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Romeo perched on one of the wall lockers, wearing the most casual clothes she'd seen him in yet. She looked him up and down for a moment before speaking.

"... That's kinda dangerous; those things are only bolted to the wall, not embedded. Nice scarf, though - I take it that's your undercover clothes?"

Romeo nodded as he nimbly leaped down from his perch and assumed his usual at-ease stance. "Indeed, thank you for noticing. My usual apparel rather stands out."

Charly nodded. "Okay, debriefing time. I might have another clue... But I wanna hear what you found first."

"Of course. The site itself was much as I expected, given the police reports. The bombs were professionally constructed and placed using a basic technique any Foxtrot would know - but then again, many special forces and the like use functionally identical techniques."

Charly nodded again. "Yeah, ours were boiled down from the usual suspects to start with. And if he managed to take down Super Patriot, it's fairly obvious that we're dealing with a pro here."

"Indeed, and- ah, Sierra. Good day to you."

Charly blinked at Romeo's non-sequitur, but forced herself by effort of will not to look wildly around the room. It most likely wouldn't do any good, anyway - there were very few people who could match Sierra's ability to go unnoticed when she didn't want to draw attention. "Hey, Sierra. How's things?"

"... oh, hi charly, hi romeo."

Charly finally allowed herself to turn towards the sound of the terminally shy girl's voice. She could've sworn that corner had been empty when she'd glanced at it when she came in; now it contained a little girl huddled up with a book almost as large as herself. "...i haven't been doing much fighting lately, sorry... found this huge library while i was fighting those legacy chain guys and i got sorta distracted..."

Charly brushed off the apology. "Don't worry about it, Sierra. Do what you like; if I need you to take a specific mission, I'll let you know."

"... 'kay. i'll be here if you need me." The diminutive girl fell silent again as she resumed her reading and Charly turned back to Romeo, only to notice a slender green figure standing somewhat unsteadily in the doorway to the medical wing. "Hey, Whiskey. Come in, have a seat, relax. Romeo's just finishing his briefing on the Super Patriot Incident."

The plant-girl nodded. "understood, charly. self will comply." as she walked to the nearest unoccupied chair and sat down in it.

Romeo politely cleared his throat. "If I might continue, there appear to have been no witnesses to the events preceding the explosion, nor was anyone seen departing afterward. Of course, that need not mean anything."

Charly nodded. "Two words: Patriot Lair. He needed SOME way to get the Patriotmobile out and in without people noticing."

"Indeed. Our subject most likely used the secret entrance already in place given that, logically, no one would know where to look for it."

Romeo continued. "At any rate, the lair itself is gone. The explosives were placed in such a way as to prevent much of anything surviving. There was, however, a partially damaged computer that the PCPD now has custody of. From what I was able to tell, the files were scrambled before the drives were blanked. I don't know if even Zulu could extract any data from a wiped hard disk or not, but I felt it imprudent to take them from the evidence room."

Charly had perked up at the mention of an intact computer but deflated again at the mention of its erasure, and finally nodded. "Yeah, given how we stand in Paragon right now it's probably not a good idea to push our luck. Turns out we need whatever's on those, we can plan a recovery op then."

Romeo's habitual smirk twitched ever so slightly in the way Charly had come to recognize and label as his "I've-done-something-really-clever-so-prepare-to-be-impressed" smirk. "Ah, that will be... Unnecessary." he said as he pulled a card out of an inside pocket and held it up for all to see.

Charly read it, then grinned. "... 'Special operative Raymond, Department of Homeland Security.' Romeo, you sly dog. So, the guy placed the bombs professionally, probably stole some data, then cleaned his tracks. That about sum it up?"

"Mmmm. The drives are a possible lead, although I would prefer to consult with Zulu before making another move in that direction. I've been comparatively innocuous so far, but if I go in and remove evidence, they may actually start more closely at the card than I would prefer."

Charly nodded. "Right. And for all we know, they might be unrecoverable."

"Yes, the mansion and lair were dealt with too professionally to leave much in the way of evidence, which moves us on to young master Darke."

"The kid? I really hate to think he did this..." Charly started pacing."Actually, that's one thing I wanted to talk about. I had Zulu double-check, then triple-check, and it turns out we never even heard of the kid until this incident. No files, no reports, no nada. There's also next to no paper trail on him at all beyond what Stern/Patriot helped establish."

Romeo nodded his assent. "From what I've seen, he is chipper, enthusiastic, idealistic, somewhat naive-- ah, good day, Oscar."

At least this time Charly didn't have to fight the urge to turn around immediately, as a rather more brightly than usual dressed Arabic youth stepped out of the shadows. She waved at him to have a seat, then motioned for Romeo to continue.

"As I was saying, almost perfectly stereotypical sidekick material. Were I the paranoid type, I might say suspiciously so..."

Charly nodded thoughtfully. "... Almost as if he was tailor-made for the role, then dumped somewhere where the Patriot would find him..."

"Possibly. He is human, at least. I'm uncertain about mind control; looking too, ah, 'closely', at such things might have alerted him if he has any latent powers of his own, or his controllers if they are using someone like myself to control him."

Charly nodded thoughtfully, then saw Oscar's quizzical look. "Some cape got murdered in a big way, Oscar, and someone's trying to blame us for it. We're investigating." Oscar nodded understanding, and she turned back to Romeo. "So there could be an enemy meta at work here..."

"That is a possibility. Although it could have been simple conditioning. I do, however, find it highly unlikely that one could take a child who has grown up on the streets and turn him into a happy, apparently well-adjusted sidekick over the course of one year."

"Yeah, that's suspicious. Hence I'm thinking meta work - it's a bit more than you can do with normal brainwashing..."

"... maybe he didn't grow up on the streets...?"

Charly barely managed to keep herself from jumping. Sierra's self-esteem issues were bad enough without people telling her how they tend to forget her even when she was in the same room. Instead, she turned around to where she thought she'd remembered last seeing the girl and nodded. "Good call, Sierra. He was FOUND there, but he could've been a plant. Er, no offense. Whiskey."

"self did not take offense."

Romeo nodded. "Sierra is most likely correct. There were no files predating his adoption, and his discovery by the Patriot was, in hindsight, somewhat suspiciously fortuitous."

Charly turned back to him. "Bait?"

Romeo looked thoughtful. "A very long-term op, if so..."

Charly growled. "Rrgh. We gotta get this kid figured out. I think he's more of a key to what's going on than the hard drives. Romeo, if we can arrange for you to have safe access to the kid, could you do a
scan without tripping alarms?"

"Perhaps. I should, at the very least, be able to learn whether there are any alarms to be tripped - which should tell us a great deal in and of itself."

"Okay, how's this: What if we have Sierra pose as a Patriot fan, asking the kid to meet her in pocket D?"

"... um..." Sierra tried to hide a forming blush behind her book.

Romeo shook his head. "Too suspicious, given the timing and the location. Plus, I expect it's still a rather touchy subject..."

"Point. Damn. Okay, gang, any suggestions?"

Oscar shrugged and grabbed at the air.

"Yeah, I know, we're grasping at shadows, Oscar. Not like we have much choice right now, though..."

Whiskey spoke up. "self could offer him sexual favors for his information. self's research suggests adolescent males often possess low resistance to this approach."

Romeo was the first to recover his voice. "No, Whiskey."

Charly wasn't far behind. "... Okay, for your files, Whiskey, he's a cape-for-brains heroic type. High morals and all that."

Sierra nodded. "and boys don't like it when you just let them have yourself. they like to feel like they had to work for it."

Whiskey nodded. "self will remember."

"...It occurs to me that there is an interesting property of Pocket D that could be exploited, if I can manage to get him there."

Charly jumped at the change to change the topic to something less disturbing. "Spill it, Romeo."

"It's rather difficult to maintain a psychic link with someone inside D when you yourself are not inside. So his hypothetical controller will, at the least, have a rather more difficult job of holding the leash. So if I can arrange for a meeting, I could take a closer look at his mind..."

"Eeeexcellent. So, Sierra-fangirl plan. Maybe a fangirl of the kid himself rather than the Patriot, or... Wait." She smacked her palm. "I've got it! Sierra and Whiskey, posing as cheerleaders who want to talk to the Lightspeed Lad about appearing at some charity function at their high school. That sort of thing is pure utter Cape, he'll go for it in a new york minute."

Oscar raised his thumb immediately. Sierra looked a little more dubious - and more than a little frightened. "... cheerleaders?"

Romeo had a more direct concern. "Much as I hate to introduce a monkey-wrench, Charly, but Whiskey may be a bit, ah, verdant to safely pose as a normal cheerleader..."

Charly wasn't about to be deterred that easily. "Nothing a quick trip to the Facemaker and some temporary skin tinting wouldn't be able to fix. The point here is to throw a situation at him that feels like a classic cheery heroic cape-like scenario."

Sierra piped up again. "um. do cheerleaders usually become invisible a lot...?"

Romeo shook his head. "No, but they do go to restrooms in pairs a lot, meaning that you will be able to leave with impunity."

Whiskey spoke up. "if self may suggest, perhaps juliet would be suitable as well."

"Juliet's out on a contract with the Mob, beating up on the space Nazis. Dunno when she'll be done with that."

"She is, however, a rather better actor than both Sierra and Whiskey combined, Romeo pointed out. "No offense intended to either of you, of course."

Charly nodded. "Alright granted. She knows how to work her sex appeal when she needs to."

"...and she can talk out loud..."

"Also a good point. Okay, Juliet and Sierra put on skirts and distract the kid while Romeo scans his mind. The whole op shouldn't take more than half an hour, tops. Oscar and Whiskey can run interference and keep an exit path open if things go south. Everybody okay with this?"

There were various nods of assent, and then Romeo spoke up. "One last detail, though..."

"What?"

"You get to ask Juliet to put on a cheerleader uniform."

"Pfeh, wuss. Anyway, Juliet won't be back for a few days, so that op will have to wait until then." Charly went from grumbling to checking her laptop. "Hm. Last I heard from Juliet, she said she'd probably be done with her contract on Wednesday or so. I'll brief her when she reports in, and we'll send out the invitation to the kid. Shouldn't be more than four days, tops. Romeo, you and Zulu work together on the invitation, make it something he's guaranteed to go for."

Romeo nodded. "Understood."

"Sierra, while we're waiting on Juliet your assignment will be to rent Bring It On and watch it until you've memorized it for undercover work research."

"...okay."

" Whiskey, watch that movie with Sierra. It'll be good for ya."

Whiskey nodded. "self will obey."

"... It wasn't an order, Whiskey. Sorry. Just meant, y'know, good for ya..."

Charly sighed as Whiskey followed Sierra out. "Need to do something about her sometime... Anyway. Let's see, name the op, name the op... Got it. Operation Cheerleader Seduction Madness."

Romeo coughed. "Succinct, as is your wont. At any rate, you mentioned there was something you wished to talk to me about...?"

Charly nodded and pulled out a handwritten note and laid it on the table. "This arrived this morning via unusually anonymous post. A list of five names, with the Foxtrot symbol at the bottom." She paused as Romeo and Oscar leaned in for a closer look.

"Two we already had in our files -- the Russian kiddie porn distributor that X-ray and Echo took out two months ago, and a Malta gunslinger who's on the watch list. The next two we didn't know, but Zulu did some poking around and we IDed them as an African slave trader and another Malta operative, this one in Italy of all places."

She paused to let the implications sink in, then continued. "The fifth, though, is just some lawyer in New York who's completely clean as far as Zulu can tell."

Romeo thought about it for a moment. "That could just mean he's very, very good..."

"... Better than Zulu is able to sniff out? He looked especially hard when he didn't find anything first time around and still found zilch. No, either he's clean or he's hiding so well we can't find anything. Not going to act on that until and unless we know more."

Romeo frowned. "I suggest we ignore it."

"... Wait, what?"

"Put the two on the kill board, by all means. But attempting to glean information from an unknown source whose motivation we do not know? At best, we'd be wasting our time. At worst, it's either an attempt to divert our attention while someone sneaks up on us from behind, or a direct trap."

"On the other hand, Romeo, it's the closest thing to a clue we have."

"True. Still, if we must investigate this, I suggest we do so using the utmost discretion."

Charly nodded. "Point. I don't like the idea of us leaping to work after getting an anonymous list. "

"Mmm. So where does this lawyer live?"

"NYC, according to Zulu. With Greenberg, Greenberg and Blatt. Hmm... Do you think we've got ourselves a fanboy here? Someone taking out people in our name, giving us 'hot tips', and the like...?"

"Unlikely - if we're dealing with a copycat, he would hardly be sending us the names of targets he could take down himself."

"Good point. Why wouldn't he take the glory for himself?"

Romeo shrugged. "Because he cannot, or because it's a trap, or because he wants us to take responsibility, or..."

Charly nodded. "He knew Patriot well enough to kill him, so maybe it's just less personal with these guys, or maybe he doesn't have the resources. Argh, too many possibilities..."

While Charly grumbled to herself, Romeo turned to Oscar. "Oscar, I believe I have a job for you..." Upon seeing he had his attention, he continued, "Go and watch that lawyer's office. See what he does, who he talks to, et cetera. I believe there is a sufficiently large pile of untraceable tens in petty cash to keep you around in New York for a few days. Three days, maybe four, should be enough to find anything."

"Don't blow all the tens on strippers, Oscar," Charly suggested, drawing a snerk from the mute boy, who then mimed taking photographs.

"... If you mean 'I'll spy on him', yeah, definitely. If you mean 'I'll pose as an Arabic tourist', keep in mind that this is New Freaking York." Charly pointed out. "It could be, as Romeo would put it, unnecessarily suspicious."

"Yes, yes it would. At any rate, there is a pile of rather good surveillance cameras in one of the equipment crates. Take a laptop, as well - Zulu updated the face recognition algorithms. If anyone whose photo we have in the kill files shows up, it will flag."

Charly nodded. "While you're at it, load our files on Malta into quick-reference. There's already two of their agents on that list, and that's three more than I'd want to see."

Romeo nodded. "Mmm. They have an unfortunate habit of turning up where we'd prefer them not to be. Not much we can do about that short of forcibly removing them, I fear."

"Yeah, well, there's others working on that. Anyway, I just thought of a name for this op: 1000 Lawyers At The Bottom Of The Sea sounds just about right."

Oscar nodded enthusiastically and gave Charly a thumbs up, but Romeo shook his head. "No, Oscar, regardless of the name you are not allowed to stick him in concrete and push him off a pier. Your observation mission is to remain an observation mission."

Oscar sighed and nodded dejectedly, then perked up again as Romeo continued. "However, I believe we do have a few other outstanding targets in New York... Charly?"

Charly consulted her laptop and nodded. "Yeah. Captain Smiler, the Ragdoll and Johnny Goodman. One kiddie porn purveyor, his chief 'talent wrangler', and one toucher whose attorney beat the rap on a technicality. Feel free to pay them a visit while you're in town, but making sure the lawyer has 24/7 surveillance coverage is priority."

Oscar nodded, mollified.

"Thought that'd make you happy. One final thing, though: Keep your calling card use to a minimum. We've got heat with the cops, we don't want to generate more right now."

Romeo shrugged. "I generally restrict my calling card to a general air of confusion and heartfelt inquiries as to what just happened."

Charly smirked. "I like to leave a huge burning Foxtrot logo on the ground like in that badass scene in The Crow."

"And that, Charly dearest, is why you're marvelous when I need to get something done. You invariably attract all attention in the area to yourself."

"Yeah, which is why I shouldn't be at Pocket D when things go down. With Juliet, and Sierra on the job you can keep it quiet. Oh, and Oscar, bring back an incredibly kitschy 'I Heart New York' souvenir for me. That's your tertiary objective." Oscar stared at her, then slowly nodded. "Right, anything else we missed?"

Romeo shook his head. "I think that about covers everything, actually."

"Okay. Let's break for now. Oscar, make sure you get a written report to Romeo by Saturday at the latest."

Oscar nodded, threw a salute, and departed, leaving Romeo and Charly in the briefing room.

Romeo was the first to break the sudden silence. "Ah, well, it's getting late. I do believe I'll turn in for the night. Good night, Charly; I'll see about acquiring cheerleader outfits for Sierra and Juliet tomorrow."

"Yeah, good night."

Charly waited until Romeo had left before bending back over her laptop with a mischievous grin on her face.

Make me be the one to drop this on Juliet, will you? You're going to pay for that... And I think I know just the perfect way to do it...

((To be continued, hopefully not too long from now.))

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Surly some of these things could be fixed with a simple run through with a spell checker.

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They probably can. And stop calling me Shirley.

Thanks for this. One quick question, though, from a melee-oriented perspective: Do web grenades (or any other -fly power) work against Duray?