Cool.
Ive not really thought about the new powers and the various story options, but I liked this as a hint at the sort of people that might now be kicking around.
Part 2 - Vanguard
29th April 2002
So that's our argument Dr. Longstorm, finished the Vanguard representative, We need both your surgical skills and your power to assist us in the Rikti war.
So you're saying, said Rachel getting up and walking to the window, That I should leave all my patients, some of whom were injured in this war, just because the Vanguard want me to.
We are an official government body Dr. Longstorm, replied the representative, I could order you to join.
But you won't will you, replied Rachel, Because even if you do, I'll refuse.
You'd be executed for treason, said the Representative.
You know my powers, replied Rachel, You'd never find an executioner who'd go through with it. Besides, I've been working on you since you entered.
Your powers are to transfer pain and to make people comfortable around you, replied the Representative, It'll make it easier to order you.
Really, replied Rachel sitting down at the desk, Then do it, order me to join Vanguard.
The pair sat in silence for a few moments the Representative looking around nervously, he cleared his throat loudly a few times before speaking.
I have to be somewhere, he said standing up, Statesman expects me to report back soon.
See you later, replied Rachel bending down over her paperwork.
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A few hours later Rachel was doing her rounds when her beeper went off requesting her to go to the front desk, muttering to herself about patients who demanded to much of her time she made her way to the front desk. As she approached she felt a definite air of nervousness. when she arrived she had the shock of her life.
Most of the people waiting to be treated had moved to the edges of the room, the receptionist behind the desk looked relived to see Rachel and standing by the desk was the source of the nervousness, Statesman and Hero 1. They looked over at Rachel who smiled nervously and indicated for the pair to follow her.
Part 3 - The Request
Rachel sat down in her office and indicated to the two heroes to sit as well, the pair sat down and Rachel noticed with mixed feelings how the two large men were far to large for the small chairs in her office, any feelings of sorrow fled however, when she remember why they were here.
Gentlemen, she started, I'm sorry to have wasted your time here, but it is quite unacceptable that I...
We know where Samantha is, interrupted Hero 1. Statesman shook his head in amazement at the British hero's impatience. Don't be like that, said Hero 1 to Statesman, You know that it would have been harder to say later.
Rachel stared in shock. I've had, she said, The best detectives in Paragon City, no, the world, looking for her. I've scoured the continents, hired men to search the mountains and there's never been any trace of her or a body. Three expeditions to find her never returned!
Of course they didn't, replied Hero 1, They loved her too much.
Loved? asked Rachel, You mean lusted after her.
No, replied Statesman, MAGI have no clue why, but you and your sister can force genuine love for you onto them, it's strange but true, the affect dissipates when you're farther away from them, but never really leaves.
Where is she? asked Rachel railroading the topic back on course, Where is my sister?
Join, and we'll tell you, replied Hero 1.
What would I be required to do? asked Racehel.
You would be required to perform various forms of surgery on Vanguard agents, replied Statesman, Both normal and meta humans, you'll have a fully equipped surgery to suit your needs, but you'll also be required to work in the field.
So long as you provide me with the correct equipment I can work anywhere, she replied, Although I assume it won't be after the battle, what will I be doing for protection?
You'll have an assigned bodyguard, said Statesman, And you'll be trained to use your powers in self-defence.
I won't kill, stated Rachel coolly, I took an oath that I'd never take a life, and that includes the Rikti.
We never asked you to, replied Statesman.
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Rachel ran on the battlefield that up until a month beforehand had been Kings Row, the radio over her ear continually sent requests of her abilities, the battle had raged long and hard and with the limited resources in her bag and running close to her own pain threshold she was only responding to the most serious of requests now. She finished bandaging up one vanguard soldier and left a tracer for pickup when a request came through.
Command to Dr. Longstorm, came the voice, Hero 1's vital signs are at critical levels, you are ordered to render immediate assistance. Location is being sent to your tracker.
Acknowledged, she replied, she grabbed the PDA like device from her waste and checked the screen, a map filled most of the screen with a series of bars in the upper left corner, Hero 1's live medical data. She made a hand signal towards her bodyguard before sprinting to the location on her tracker.
Part 4 - Broken Bodies
Rachel ran towards the prone body of Hero 1 and knelt next to it, she pulled out her tools but knew what this would take.
She watched as her bodyguard swept the area and held her hand out over Hero 1's chest, she focused her power before she heard the rubble move. She glanced up to see a lone Rikti soldier staring with it's weapon raised.
Think about what you're doing, said Rachel calmly, You don't want to die here.
Kill humans : all, replied the Rikti.
Rachel grimaced and summoned her power, she drained the wounds from Hero 1 but instead of transferring it into her, she sent them towards the Rikti soldier and watched it collapse in agony.
She looked over Hero 1 and saw he was ok, he began to stir and she looked over at the Rikti, it had stopped moving. Remembering what she said back in her old office she sighed and carried her stuff to the Rikti.
She had to admit she didn't know Rikti biology as well as humans, but first she reasoned that the stuff coming out of the wounds needed to stay in the body and began applying bandages to it's wounds. Whilst she was doing this she heard Hero 1 stir and the bodyguard return.
What are you doing? asked Hero 1.
I don't think I can save it here, replied Rachel continuing to bandage the Rikti, We need to take it back to the base.
Kill it now, growled the bodyguard aiming his weapon at the prone figure.
Stop it, snapped Rachel forcing the barrel up, I won't let this one die.
Your oath doesn't matter here, said Hero 1 grabbing her, We've lost Kings Row, we have to retreat now.
Then I quit, said Rachel, I'm getting this one to safety now.
We can't afford to lose you, replied Hero 1, Just come on.
We bring him or I don't go, replied Rachel defiantly.
Hero 1 sighed then lifted up the Rikti and slung it over his shoulder. Are you sure it won't wake up? he asked.
Not entirely, replied Rachel, But unless Rikti have a higher pain threshold than humans, he won't wake for at least a few days without medical attention.
I can see myself regretting this decision, muttered Hero 1.
Part 5 - The Rikti
Rachel sat across the room from the Rikti as it stirred, Vanguard had confiscated the Rikti's weapons and armour but had allowed her to treat it, even if it was disguised in a thinly veiled attempt to gain information.
It finally sat up and looked across the room at her, it lunged for her but the restraints kept it from getting anywhere near her, after a short while of struggling it seemed to give up and retreated back to the bed.
Query: Location? it finally said.
You're in a Vanguard Outpost, replied Rachel, I had you brought here to be patched up.
Reason: Heal.
Human's have specific laws governing prisoners of war, replied Rachel, We aren't allowed to kill you and have to make sure you can return home safely after the war, amongst other things.
Humans: kill Rikti: all? asked the Rikti quizzically.
Not all of us are mindless killers, said Rachel, I'm a doctor, I help the sick and injured.
Sick injured: left behind: slow unit.
Not with humans, replied Rachel, We try to help all other humans survive, some of us anyway.
Rikti: Strong survive: rest perish.
Is that the way it's always been? asked Rachel, Even before the war.
Warrior: Cloned, replied the Rikti, Purpose: Battle.
Do you have a name? asked Rachel getting up, I need something to put on your charts except for Rikti. It sounds so impersonal.
Designation: RX665-TK32, replied the Rikti.
Anything else? asked Rachel appalled at the strange name. It looked thoughtful for a while before replying.
Squad designation: Ki'rarte.
Ki'rarte, replied Rachel writing it down on the form, I have to leave now, I'll see you get food but I don't know if you can eat it. She shook her head at this before continuing. If you need anything there's a buzzer above your head, either myself or one of the nurses will respond to you.
She walked to the door before the Rikti spoke again.
Human: Designation? it asked.
Rachel Longstorm, she replied smiling as she closed the door.
Part 6 Interrogation
Rachel walked into Ki'rarte's cell carrying a package, she moved the table into the centre of the room and pulled one of the chairs to one side and sat down, Ki'rarte moved the other chair to the other side and awkwardly sat.
Package:Purpose, asked Ki'rate.
It's a human game, replied Rachel placing it on the table, she pulled out the chessboard and deftly set out the pieces, I thought it might help you to relax.
Desire:Information?came the second question.
They're going to start on more violent interrogation methods if you don't give me any information in the next week, replied Rachel, I thought this might help you open up.
Query:Open Up?
Want to give information, replied Rachel patiently, Sorry, I forgot you have trouble with human sayings.
Game:Explain, said Ki'rarte.
She carefully explained the purpose of the game and how the various pieces moved, Ki'rarte looked thoughtful whilst she explained.
Piece:Comparison, he said moving his hand to the Black King on his side, King:Rikti Council, he moved to the queen and said Queen:Hro'Dtohz:Lord of War, before moving to each piece in turn and comparing them to the various ranks in the Rikti army.
The pair sat in relative silence, the only sound the clicking of pieces and the tick of the clock. Eventually Rachel shook her head and checked her watch.
I'm sorry, she said standing and going to pick up the chess set, I've spent to long her already, I have other patients to attend to.
Game:Leave, said Ki'Rarte, he looked up at her, Please.
She nodded and walked into the corridor where Statesman and Hero 1 were watching through a one-way mirror, they both turned to her when she exited.
Is that enough information for now? she asked.
He gave us the structure of the entire Rikti army, said Statesman, It'll do for now.
14th April 2001
Part 1 - Past Tense
Here he is, yelled the paramedics bringing trolley into the operating theatre, BP 180/10, fractured ribs, broken femur and fractured skull.
This the guy the building fell on, said one of the surgeons, her face hidden beneath her mask.
That's the one, replied the paramedic, There were others, but this is the worst survivor, surprised he survived actually.
We're a tenacious species when it comes down to it, said the surgeon bending over the body, Let's get to work.
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A few hours later Dr. Rachel Longstorm stood beside the patients bed, he'd survive, she was sure of that, partially because of his will to survive, but mostly because of her. She sat down and winced, she'd feel that one for a few weeks, she shouldn't have wasted her power on this guy, if a hero came in they'd be finished without her, but she couldn't have let him die.
Both Rachel and her twin sister Samantha had been born with the power to share the pain of the other one, a unique convergence of magical energies MAGI had said, but Rachel was thirteen when she learned that she could absorb the pain of anyone, not just her sister, shortly after with some experimentation they discovered that Samantha could do it too.
Rachel had gone onto Medical school whilst Samantha went on a round the world tour, Rachel had excelled, her powers extending to helping with the mental pains that serious operations brought meant that she had passed at the top of her class and had immediately been snapped up by Paragon City's top hospital, she'd been there a year and a half now and was well on her way to promotion.
Her sister's travels had been well documented until a year ago, both in her letters home and in the international pages in the newspaper. Wherever she went she caused trouble, MAGI had theory after theory on the difference in personalities between the two. But all the reports had stopped a year ago, both from the mail and the papers, even MAGI had lost track of her.
A groan brought her out of her memories as her patient woke up, she put on a smile and readied herself for the inevitable questions that would come.