(( As originally posted by EvilBenFranklin ))
It didn't make sense. Certainly the Angels had enemies, and certainly she'd helped make more than a few of them, but there were only a few organizations or individuals with the reach to make something like this happen - and most of the individuals on Moira's mental short-list were more the grandstanding-in-spandex type.
That's when her PDA chimed, notifying her of more messages. Xenolizard dead. Imagika and Fenix on the run. James still at large. Sledge and Emily captured. The net was closing, and old instincts shook themselves, born of a life eating, breathing, and sleeping covert ops during wartime against the Nazi hordes.
First things first, if no one shows up here, go mug one of the Skulls' girlfriends for clothes and spank a Circle mage for their bagels, then get the **** out of Perez Park, she thought, They're not quite using wolfsrudel tactics yet, but it's still inadvisable to stay in one place for too long.
Still, something wasn't quite right. Longbow had the resources to do this, certainly, and there was never any love lost between the Angels and the candy-canes, but they were honestly fumbling around too much for this to be a coordinated defamation effort on their part.
Pulling up the to-do function on her stolen PDA, she began making a list of guerilla-style do's and don'ts when she heard someone else in the cavern with her.
"Clothes and food are here!" echoed down the cavern walls to her ears, causing Stern Impact to sit up from where she lay stretched across one of the warmer rocks in the cave, soaking up the heat and kinetic energy from a nearby steam fissure. She rolled to her feet and padded toward the entrance, noting the vampire and her cargo.
"Mmn. Not my color, but it'll do. Thank you, Caios." She reached for the bag, her usual prudishness forgotten, along with her typical cultured accent. As she dressed, she looked at the vampire with a hard light in her eyes and a dangerous Welsh lilt, remarking, "Glad t'see you made it. I 'aven't 'eard from anyone else who aren't still runnin' from the candy-stripers or Par'gon P'lice." Cinching a ragged pair of jeans shut, she picked a shirt out of the bags and shrugged into it, buttoning it closed. "I 'eard 'bout Xenolizard, an' tha' puts me in a killin' mood, so aye, 'tis a war." She smirked wanly, adding, "Thankfully, I 'ave some experience fightin' conflicts where my side's outnumbered, outgunned, and out-supplied. Do we 'ave a plan yet, pref'rably one that involves stomping some ****, or are we still waitin' for people to show up?"
As she said that, a strange grinding, wibbling noise sounded through the cavern as a ship materialized nearby. Muttering, "Well, that bloody well answers that," Dr. Stern dropped into a crouch, one hand on the stone to draw motion from the earth itself, the other surrounded in a whirling distortion of Cherenkov-blue flashes as she readied a kinetic blast. "'Oo'ever's in there, come out slowly wi' your 'ands up!"
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Snowdog ))
Talos Island
She usually stayed away from Pocket D, but it did have a few good uses. Besides having some of the best Mojito's around, it also was far more convenient to travel from the islands back to the mainland thought Talana as the pink haired mutant stepped out of the doorway into the cool evening air. She had been a bit worried, using Arachnos resources as she did wasn't technically what she was there for...but the propaganda value of trying the two Longbow murderers far made up for any transgressions in procedure she'd made. She almost felt sorry for the two of them. Almost. Ghost Widow herself was interested in the outcome of their trials
not that there was much doubt in the outcome. Even if there hadn't been overwhelming evidence against the two Longbow operatives, the sheer propaganda value of the trials would have guaranteed evidence 'appearing' Still, the world press was watching this, as were others...
Across the street, six stories up.
The Longbow Warden's patience was rewarded. He had an undercover operative inside the club , to inform him if she was spotted, and there she was. Two good men, Heroes, were now in an stinking Arachnos jail awaiting a kangaroo court. They'd protested to the PPD, or attempted too, their calls to the police department were not returned, and the chief, and most of her senior officers had quit. Fine, better to get scum lovers like that out of the way. He sighted in the sniper rifle, a clean head shot from this distance...just needed to make sure there were no witnesses-oh hell.
Talana smiled to herself as right on schedule Channel 8's news van pulled up. A simple tip to a useful idiot on the staff and instant distraction, and press conference as well. She had changed before returning, wearing a simple top and jeans, her pink wings folded behind her. After all she was a liaison, not an Arachnos operative. Honest.
Sam Whitford thanked whoever sent the anonymous text message, this was great. First they got the tip to have their traffic copter in Independence port, now a day later the same villain who abducted the Longbow agents waltzes out into Talos Island. And instead of flying off, she stood there outside the door, smiling? Why did that worry him? Ah well, this would definitely push over the ratings. The cameraman had the portable rig up and running already
we're live in Talos Island, where Talana Zavi of Arachnos has returned to the city-miss Zavi, what was the reason for the attack yesterday?
Talana smiled there was no attack. Mister Sukov and Fallaci have a long history of crimes against oppressed peoples
Crimes, in what way?
Sukov was dismissed from a UN Peacekeeping force in 2005 over allegations of abuse of women and young children. Despite this, he was hired by Longbow, where he was sent as part of their assault force against the Etolie islands.
She pulled out a usb drive from her pocket here is the information on the crimes he and his companion are charged with. In addition to murder of Arachnos personnel and civilians..there are allegations of sexual misconduct. Long bow likes to portray themselves as 'heroes of the oppressed' she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. There was a beep in her earphone and a short message. She looked straight into the cameras. instead they murder and ravage their way across the Isles, in a manner than they are beginning to show here as well.
Sam kept the serious reporter expression on his face your own country has been accused of many human rights violations as well Miss Zavi.
Accused yes, anyone can make accusations. If you want proof of longbows perdifery however..well there is some readily available.
like what?
Like the sniper perched on the building across from us. she smirked, pointing towards the roof across the street. red and white...not very good at concealment. She'd had her own spotters, dressed in less conspicuous clothing out here an hour before she arrived. She wondered if he'd be dumb enough to shoot. She half hoped so.
Enough of this farce!
From above the rest of the Longbow team dropped into view, their weapons centered on Talana. She just smiled, standing there casually what, are you going to shoot me in cold blood on live TV as well? I suppose it would make for good ratings, would it not Mr. Whitford?
Sam didn't quite gasp like a goldfish, but got close for just a second. The camera man, a veteran of a dozen small conflicts across the globe managed not to laugh at the frightened reporter, keeping his video rolling. Or trying too anyway as one of the Wardens grabbed as his camera Turn that off now!
so, longbow now has the right to stifle freedom of the press in your country?
SHUTUP! The Balista growled you're under arrest for kidnapping, and conspiracy to murder-
actually, no.
What do you mean no? You try to fight, you're going back to your spider lord in a body bag!
she just smirked Two words. Diplomatic Immunity. Or two single syllable words, since those are probably easier for you to process. 'Piss Off!
The Ballista growled why you little bi-
ENOUGH!
Now it was the Longbow teams turn to look surprised. Captain Spengler climbed out of his chaser, growling to the Balista Gather your men and return to post. with a glance at the rooftops he added All of them.
but Sir, she-
NOW!
...yes Sir.
Sam stepped forward Captain, would you like to make a statement? he asked, holding the microphone out. Spengler simply stared at it as if it was a dead mackrel no comment he snarled, before taking back off again, following the retreating soldiers. He paused, glowering at Talana This is not over.
She sighed as he disappeared into the clouds. no..it probably isn't. She knew, both from her own sources and from knowing several of them personally that the Guardian Angels were innocent. Spreading her wings she took off into the evening air...there had to be a way she could help.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( as originally posted by Killswitch ))
Upstate New York
Cold Springs Elementary School
15 minutes before final bell
Sister Diana's finger clicked on her throat mic hidden underneath her turtle neck as her and her duo of Knives walked down the hall. They both were dressed as her, black turtleneck and khakis overtop their tactical gear, they both carried briefcases full of their weapons for later. "Momma Bear here: Report."
"Baby bear: Activity increasing, numerous vehicles. No sign of the subject."
"Papa bear: In position and standing by."
The trio stopped in front of a classroom door, Diana peered in through the sliver of window not covered by finger paints. She scanned the children as they ran around, gathered their things, played with toys until she saw a quiet little girl in the corner. Long, thin velvet hair, pale complexion, green eyes, and drawing cowgirls dressed all in black. Diana double checked her file picture as she pinned her badge to her belt. "Wolf Unit, check in."
"This is Wolf Unit." a woman's shriek cut through in the background. "We've got Grandma." The woman was sobbing. "Mission complete shortly."
"Good. Retrieving Goldilocks now." Diana turned the knob of the door, eyes remaining locked on the child. "Wait here." She walked into the room, locking eyes with the teacher, a young woman, mid twenties. She looked puzzled as Diana motioned her close to whisper in her ear, her own face full of dread.
"I'm detective Hicks, with the police, specializing in child services" her thumb traced the badge on her hip, the teacher looked at it, slightly puzzled as to why a cop not only was in her classroom, but also why she was wearing combat boots with khakis. "I am afriad there has been an incident at Rachel Martinez's resisdence this afternoon involving her parents. I'm going to need to take her to the hospital." The teacher was flabbergasted for a moment. "Uh... ye.... yes of course. Rachel!"
The thin, pale girl looked up smiling.
Minutes later.
"Goldilocks is in bed. Repeat: Goldilocks is in bed."
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
Mr Ethan Green was one of many associates of Wolfram & Heart currently working in the Wolftech legal department. He was an oddity among the more senior and experienced associates of the interdimentional, and intergalactic legal firm. The fact that he was completely human was not what was so unusual about him. The fact that he was a human who had risen so high among the firms ranks AND still completely and legally had full ownership of his own soul is what made him usual. Only those who truly understand the deadly and cutthroat (often literally) nature of multiverse attorney services would realize just how impressive that is. To most people though, he was just a normal guy, and he preferred it that way.
When it became obvious that Dr. Wolfes associates would be making use of their legal assistance, Ethan Green jumped at the chance to help. Thus far he had taken the problem by the reins and was already working on a way to get everyone exonerated. Not that they were making things easy, unsurprisingly the majority of the Guardian Angels decided not to turn themselves in. Making a big legal mess of the whole situation.
Mr. Green didnt mind however. On the contrary he was rather enjoying the whole thing. After all he loved a challenge. He could have easily made partner at just about any other Law Firm in the US by now. But a boring cushy job like that was not what he wanted from his legal career.
These Guardian Angles however, with everything that was stacked against them, going up against a soon to be senator with tons of pull, no other attorney would even touch this case. As far as Mr. Green was concerned, the perfect case for him.
Mr. Green? His paralegal brought the attorney out of his thoughts. Looking up he saw the petite demon standing before him. Even though she was only a minor demon technically, the paralegal had an excellent mind for the law which had proven extremely helpful in her time here. Plus she was pretty cute too. Not that Ethan Green would ever even try to get into a relationship with her without an ironclad contract first.
Mr. Green. She continued once she saw she had his attention, You received a message from the home office. They want a response regarding the Cartel.
Tell them theyre going to hell. Mr. Green replied, As per the contract they signed. Their souls are third circle demon chowder now. While Im sure we can pull them out of the mess theyre in, its not cost effective unless they want to sign over the souls of everyone in their organization to the Senior Partners. Which I suspect was what the Partners were after all along.
I understand, Ill let them know. The paralegal nodded.
While youre at it, Ms. Scarlet, Mr. Green told the demonic Paralegal, Let them know to stop bothering me with consultations right now, they should be aware of the situation, and with the money Wolftech is paying the firm for our services well be damned if we dont give them our best service. Literally.
I understand. Scarlet nodded, Which is actually the other thing I wanted to talk about. This situation with the Guardian Angels. You have to know they wont make things easy, theyre not the sort to work within the system. At least some of them arent. Theyre bound to make things worse before anything gets better.
I know. Mr. Green smiled, In fact Im counting on it.
I dont understand. Scarlet said.
A case like this is all about perception. Mr. Green explained, Right now the perception is that the Angels are all criminals, so are their actions. Obviously that was the intention with fabricating all the initial evidence against them in the first place. So what we need to do is change the perception, show that their actions were in fact heroic, standing up against the world for what was right.
And how do you intend to do that? Scarlet asked.
Thats actually the easy part. Mr. Green smiled, We know White is crooked.
Of course. Ms. Scarlet said as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe, which it was to a demon like her. In fact most of the associates in their legal department could smell a crooked politician a mile away.
At the same time its clear that the entire Longbow Strike Force is illegal too. Its only because of the pull that Donald White has been using, along with his secret supporters, that theyve been able to get away with it as they have. Hell even Longbow doesnt know theyre being played. But all of their actions are based on showing the Angels as bottom feeding criminals. Take that away and everything else falls into pieces. He smiled knowingly at his para-legal and added, And the truth shall set you free.
Seems like that is a lot to hinge on manufactured evidence. Scarlet said thoughtfully.
Well usually that wouldnt be an issue. Mr. Green continued, We know from Ms. Blacks correspondence that who ever is really pulling the strings is part of the Malta group. Based on their profile its not hard to see that they were trying to trap the Angels. Look at what they were doing, taking away all of the normal city support for the heroes of this city. Turning the average citizen against them. Continuously putting pressure on them from every angle. The whole idea is leaving them out in the cold, desperate and alone, and ripe for easy pickings into their own organization. Why the do you think theyd go so far to grab just one of the Angels that fled to Georgia.
I doesnt seem to be working as they intended. Ms. Scarlet commented, Clearly they have severely underestimated these Angels. Im certain most average heroes would have broken by now, but not them. And I can see why. These souls are used to being on the very edge of damnation, they would not cower quite so easily."
Observant as always Ms. Scarlet. Mr. Green smiled, Also people like that tend to stick together when the **** hits the fan. Theyll continue to support each other and see themselves through this. Those Malta folks could never understand their resolve. That, and theyre also seriously bloody resourceful.
I see, so what are we going to do now?
The ball is still in their court, Ms. Scarlet. Ethan Green smiled, But theyll make their move soon, when they do we need to be ready to give them the information they will need. Right now that means finding out the most likely Malta cell responsible for all of this. Beyond that just prepare all the legal briefs were going to need for when this all goes to court.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Snowdog ))
Perez Park
Dr Michelle Schrodinger watched the cave entrance from up in a tree, her tail tip twitching. finding the cave wasn't near as hard as she had thought it might be. Of course the local goons cowering in terror, and the headless corpse of a mage type in long flowing robes was a good indicator that something around here wanted to be left the frack alone.
Odds are that was probably the place, especially when she correlated the location with the messages she had from this universes Dr Schrodingers i Phone. Still she hesitated, remembering when someone who claimed to be from Primal earth showed up in a resistance base, claiming to be there to help. Not to mention the news stories broadcast (in 2D only! This place was way backwards in some ways) calling her a murderer, charged with the death of this universes Dr Schrodinger, as well as charges of attacking Longbow, and a couple sex crimes? She puzzled that one over, evidently teleporting longbow soldiers gear and uniforms to a random location, leaving them standing there naked in the middle of a crowded street was a crime in this earth.
Still, nothing was going to get done with her standing out here. There was a blue flash of tachyons, and she disappeared from the tree, into the entrance of the cave, where there was a wooden door? Ok, this place gets weirder and weirder. Shrugging, she knocked on the door.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steel Canyon, near Perez Park entrance
She had watched the Longbow squad pursuing something for the last few minutes. She wasn't sure why she was following along, really it wasn't any of her business, and yet..it was longbow that ignored the evidence when she was arrested, who looked the other way when the Judge , bought and paid for by the Marcones, had instead of probation as the PPD and District Attorney wanted, sentenced her to 30 years for the death of the man who had done unspeakable things to her younger sister...who when the Judge was caught by the FBI and confessed, still refused to help in clearing her name.
Ok, yeah she did kill Jimmy Marcone...but then she was drugged out of her mind by drugs he slipped in her drink, and then tried to have his way with her. Self defense, everyone from the DA on down said. Longbow on the other hand? A mutant killing a normal human? Feh.
So now they were after others, who from rumors she'd heard during her exile in the Rogue isles, were no where near the monsters they were proclaimed to be. Funny how she trusted Arachnos news more than she did the Paragon press. Whoever they were after was fast, and fairly agile, a black shape that was hard to see, but from the looks of it, getting tired..They'd already killed one who was trying to turn herself in, and shot another out of the sky not long ago. She did her best to keep up, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Wasn't quite sure what she'd do when she caught up to them..but if they did try to hurt that batgirl...well she owed Longbow for a lot of things, including the ridiculous name they stuck her with when they arrested her. True Lime Porcupine fit her coloring and powers..but still.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Fenix ))
How is this possible? Imagikas too good for them to keep showing up, its almost if Longbow is tracing some sort of signal.
Some sort of... wireless... ID...
No.
NO.
****!!!
How had he not seen this sooner? Of course theyd keep an eye out for his signal, and sine Fenix had been hopping onto just about every wireless signal theyd passed for news and for some way to take down the men behind the Senator behind the Longbow, hed left an easily recognizable trail a mile wide.
....Fenix couldnt let Imagika be taken in due to his stupid mistake.
Hey, Im?
Yeah?
Stop at the next coffee house.
Kay.
-------------------
Im, Im going to need you to be brave for me, okay?
....Kay.
Go straight to the cave I told you about in Perez, okay? Ill meet up with you there in a little bit, okay?
....Kay.
Make sure that those bad Longbow dont see you, alright?
....Right.
Go, Im. Go, now.
And she was gone.
----------------------
<< Sacrifice Play. Take care of Im. - F >>
----------------------
The Longbow finally got a strong signal. The idiot had tried hacking into the Longbow database, probably trying to whipe his name off the banks. They got him and that annoying little girl now, though.
-----------------------
It was done. The Longbow picked up the laptop containing Fenix, appropriateing it as evidence. They didnt find a trace of Imagika, though. They would have some.... questions for that troublesome AI in the computer though. Nothing the Tech boys cant handle.
-----------------------
Fenix didnt care that he was apprehended. As long as Imagika was safe, then it was a triumph.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by EvilBenFranklin ))
<< Wake up, Katrina Rae Ellison. >> the Voice said in a cultured British accent, << It's time to get up. >>
Delta Rae turned over restlessly in her sleep, groaning. She'd had a long night of patrolling, and really did not feel like getting up. Natalya was up, judging by the old-school Russian grunge metal playing from the kitchen, and her head was pounding.
<< Blast it, you radioactive tart, get up! They're coming for you and your flat-mate, and I can't very well have my blasted vacation if you get incarcerated... and you're of no use to me whatsoever if you're dead twice. >> A quiet huff in the back of her mind, then in a nigh-demonic roar, << GET. UP!>>
Sitting up, Rae realized that it wasn't her head that was pounding, it was the door. The sonic assault from the stereo didn't even drop a decibel as the Siberian Inferno padded to the door to answer it, only to have it kicked open in her face, hurling her back.
"<What the ****?!>" she shouted in Russian, her eyes flaring with arcane energies as she readied her spells, landing in a crouch behind the sofa as bullets started flying. Rae stared open-mouthed from the bedroom as men and women in red-and-white uniforms started pouring through the door, some with their powers already up and running, others toting the ridiculous-looking multi-cannons that were Longbow's favored assault weapon.
Rae started backing away from the door, hands up, stray rads seeping from her pores as she struggled with confusion and panic. Meanwhile, Natalya was having none of this, grabbing one Longbow agent's head in her palm and letting it sizzle until they collapsed in a twitching heap, brain cooked. Her other arm shot out, hoarfrost forming on her hand as she formed her fingers into a cone shape which plunged into the gut of another agent in a spray of frozen blood.
"This isn't happening," muttered Rae. She'd stepped back on her work lately, only doing occasional local patrols, mainly keeping to King's Row for the most part. She'd even gone so far as to let her membership in the Angels lapse to reserve status while she tried to find a way to reverse what had happened to her. She didn't want to be a hero, and she never had.
Natalya had understood that, and under her cold, "power to The People" exterior lay a woman of surprising warmth, who had given her comfort. Rae wasn't sure what exactly was between them just yet, but so far it had been good and she knew that --
...And that's when several things happened at once.
One Longbow agent who had been hanging back stepped into the room, and fired three shots from a large-bore revolver at Siberian Inferno, who took them in the chest and crumpled against the dishwasher, bleeding out.
Rae's world came to a halt. Time seemed to stand still as she watched her friend and lover collapse, and her vision blurred as she turned her eyes toward Natalya's killer. In the back of her mind, a voice exulted, << HE SHOT YOUR NATYALA. AVENGE HER, KATRINA RAE ELLISON! STRIP THE FLESH FROM HIS BONES!>>
Katrina Rae Ellision, scientist, healer, and unintentional superhero, did just that. Her throat was grated raw by a scream of pure loss and hate. A small part of her mind noted that the agent's face looked vaugely familiar, and that his revolver did as well - certianly not Longbow-issue, perhaps more the match-grade weapons Malta used - and didn't care. Another part of her analyzed the radiation build-up with her and noted with clinical detachment that an uncontrolled release of this amount would result in not only the immediate death of anyone in the room, but a marked increase in infertility and cancer within a two-mile radius... and she did not care.
Malta Gunslinger Mustang Three Twelve Blue had been hunting this meta for awhile, ever since she got away from him during that raid on the Crey Biotech labs some time back. He had quietly waited for the opportunity to eliminate this last threat to his security.
He had perhaps three seconds to realize that he had just made a critical error before Delta Rae raised her arms, fingers spread, and a pencil-thin beam of brilliant blue radiance speared him and each of his team in the chest. It didn't hurt, it didn't even tickle. He snorted and raised his pistol again, sighting on her head, but never got the chance to pull the trigger.
It is a well-known scientific fact that air, left to its own devices, is not a very good conductor of ionized radiation. In order to release large amounts at specific targets, one must usually clear a path with a laser or particle beam that ionizes the air between the source and the target(s). This is, in effect what Delta Rae did, proving that even when grief-stricken, science can still **** you.
Mustang Three Twelve's last thought before a massive pulse of radiation melted him and his team to nothing more than glowing skeletons was, It's so pretty, to be so deadly...
Rae let out a small sigh as she felt the last erg of power dissipate. Ignoring the sound of bones sizzling as they clattered to the carpet around her, she walked into the kitchen nook, kneeling beside Natalya. Not even looking behind her as memory came flooding back, she snarled, "You can ******* wait for five minutes while I try to save her... or say goodbye if I can't."
Tony, now manifesting in her perception in his black slacks and polo shirt, harrumphed quietly. "...If you must. It gives me time to pack, anyway." He snapped his fingers, and a straw hat appeared on his head, accompanied by a lei of dead flowers around his neck. "All done."
Rae leaned over and hugged Natalya's body close, closing her eyes. There was still a trickle of life left there, and once again, she released her power from its leash only this time more slowly, healing with love rather than harming with hatred. She stayed that way for several minutes, until she could feel her friend's heart beating again, and her lungs start pulling air.
Gently releasing Natalya and laying her comfortably on the floor, Rae looked up at Tony, tears streaming down her blue-green skin. "We had a deal, but this isn't done. I'll be back for my life."
Snorting derisively, Tony - aka Thanatos, aka Azrael, aka Death Incarnate - snapped his fingers, his voice echoing behind him as he vanished. "I'm SO sure..." Suddenly Rae felt herself shoved aside within her own mind and locked away. << But at least you'll have a front row seat for what I'm going to do to this town. Now... >> Tony's voice gloated as she felt herself standing, and caught a reflection of herself in the mirror hanging on the kitchen wall, eyes glowing a hellishly unnatural green, << Get up, Katrina Rae Ellision. It's time to RISE.>>
And in breaking news, another member of the rogue Guardian Angels has escaped apprehension. Dr. Katrina Rae Ellision, known alias Delta Rae evaded arrest at her King's Row apartment by a Longbow squad. Unfortunately, all twelve Longbow agents were brutally murdered by super-powers, which carries an automatic capital crimes penalty of power nullification followed by execution under the Meta-Human Atrocities Act of 1986 should she be convicted.
If you have small children, please ask them to leave the room. The following images may disturb you.
< Footage follows of the interior of Rae and Natalya's apartment. Radiation burns coat the carpet, furniture, and walls, ten paths pointing to ten piles of bones, still glowing as they ionize the air around them. Nearby, two still-whole corpses are covered, hiding disfiguring injuries. >
There was only one survivor of the incident: Natalya Shilova, local singer and front-woman for the politically controversial gothic band Workers' Lament. Ms. Shilova suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, and is being airlifted to Crowne Memorial for treatment under close Paragon PD escort.
Delta Rae is still at large, and is to be considered extremely dangerous. If you see this woman, do not approach her. Immediately contact your local police authorities.
Next up: This week's weather, and Skippy the Wonder Turtle saves the day for a number of children at the East of Eden petting zoo!
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Caios ))
They were all coming. Slowly but surely all of the Angels who were not incarcerated were making their way to the cave. This was good, at least for those who made it. In here they could stay off the grid and out of sight.
Not for long however, they would have to make their move soon. Caios had enough experience in these sort of situations that she had to expect they would find them eventually. The sooner they got out and starting trying to solve this mess the better.
Just then there was a knock at the door to the cave. Immediately Caios held up her hand to let the others know to stay where they were, she would go check it out.
Michelle Schrodinger was waiting for only a short amount of time before the wooden door opened before her. From beyond the darkness of the cave a very tall woman, with pale skin and hair even more black then the leather pants and tattered trenchcoat that she wore, stepped out in front of her. This woman looked over Michelle for a moment, then strangely sniffed the air around her, before glaring down at the smaller catgirl.
Before Michelle could even offer a hello, however, she suddenly found the world around her spinning and moving like crazy, it was only an instant later that she felt a sharp pain in her back to let her know she had been slammed against the nearby boulder. Still shocked by the speed at which the other woman moved she only had time to register she was being held against the boulder in an extremely strong grip, with the other woman's face just inches away from her own, before she heard her speaking.
"You have 10 seconds to tell me who you are, and what you did with the real Shrodi." Caios told her menacingly, "If you don't start talking I will tear your limbs off one by one. Starting with the tail." Caios then gave her a feral smile, just enough to reveal her growing fangs underneath her lips, before adding, "Then again if it's true you were the one who killed her, I may do that anyway."
The speed at which the human - no , humans didn't have fangs like that - surprised her. Still, she didn't really think that whoever this person was, Caios she thought from the data Schrodi gave her, would like what she had to say. Nor did she really relish the idea of losing more limbs, after all it wasn't like she had a gecko in the teleport chamber with her-though that was a thought...she absently pushed it out of her mind for study later. Still, best to do the discussion when not in a death-grip. With a bright blue flash she dematerialized-then reappeared across the cavern.
Who I am is Dr Michelle Schrodinger, what I did to my counterpart I did on her instructions, and unless you have a PhD or two somewhere in that leather outfit It would probably be a bit over your head I'm afraid she said before there was another blue flash, and another. Badgers hated it when she did this, popping around in a random pattern as she continued.
It was the Xenoite exposure. It was causing her to lose cohesion, there were quantum resonance feedback incidents on multiple time lines where things she would dream were happening happened elsewhere. It's all to do with the nature of space-time. It's like a giant snowflake, and when she was sleeping she'd tap into the bleed between universes. That's why she was always using stronger and stronger stimulants. Anyway it was beginning to affect reality, or what passes for reality anyway, around here it's hard to tell. That's when she contacted me, we were hoping that a merge of the two of us would be enough to counteract the increasing effects of the quantum disruptions from the bleed breaking through, eventually if it got bad enough it could cause several universes to merge. Primal and Praetorian earth for example-which wouldn't be as bad as some-well it would be bad for you because Cole would kill you all-but not as bad as say Primal Earth and Earth Tau-4, which has a methane atmosphere, or Earth T-7, which is populated by nothing but a giant Hamidon, or Earth Teh-11, where Hitler was a renowned artist who made the 500 meter tall statue of Emperor Stalin in Kansas City. But I digress, trust me, it would have been bad for two earths to merge, even more so if the entire snowflake had collapsed in upon itself.
Caios only watched the other Schrodinger as she ported over and over all over the place. Though she managed to grasp the gist of what she was saying, but for the most part all of that crazy science talk went right past her head. More to the point she wasn't in the mood to keep hearing it. This Schrodi was proving to be just as long winded as the last one, and it was starting to get on the vampire's nerves.
Instead she watched an observed carefully. Hearing the sound of reality opening and closing around her, feeling the air shifting around her a milisecond before Schrodinger appeared in a new location, the tingling in the back of her head from the ionized particles that heralded every jump. Once she had the pattern down she leapt.
At her speed the leap was more of a full blown charge, all within the span of the fraction of a second it took Michelle to port from one spot to the other, not to were Schrodinger was, but to where she was porting to. Caios was suddenly in the same place that Michelle was at the same time she teleported there, and in the instant she was fully materialized Caios's open palm connected with her face.
It wasn't hard enough to do any real damage. That wasn't the intention. But it was certainly sharp enough to get her attention, maybe temporarily stun her, at the very least just stop her from porting like that.
"Stop that!" Caios cried out loudly once she had the cybernetic catgirl's attention, "I get it already! Schrodi is being Schrodi, let's just leave it at that for now. We got other **** to deal with so how about we go in with the others and talk like normal people. As in everyone stays in the same dimension preferably."
Michelle blinked, then blinked again. This woman was ridiculously fast, physically at least, ... though clearly lacking in the number of PhDs it would require to delve into the details of her situation. As much as she wanted to, it wouldn't do either of them any good for her to try to keep explaining everything.
"uh ... right, ok then, sounds good." Michelle said finally.
Without another word Caios turned and started walking back towards the others inside the cave. At least the tall scary woman with the fangs seemed to be satisfied for now.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
((Originally posted by yours truly...))
Michael Bateman
Location: a creepy old house
I am all too accustomed to places like this. People like this. The scenario plays out in my mind over and over, my creeping into the building, the youth enjoying their malt beverages and doing what young people do. Whatever that is. Of course, tonight will end very differently from the playback in my mind. Fortunately.
I could sense the presence of a killer in this abandoned old house. I have an affinity for such people, doubtless due to my unique background. I feel drawn to them. I grip the axe tightly in my fingers; ordinarily I might choose to bring my energy axe, for the stun setting. For a man like this one, though, I feel that I owe it to him to use my original weapon. Perhaps he will realize and understand that even a weapon once used for murder can be repurposed as a tool to protect the innocent. Perhaps that will make some difference. Or perhaps that is a convenient fiction to make me more comfortable with this violence. Either way, the original axe will do. Sometimes you really do just need to stick with the classics.
I lurch through the doorway into the musty living room of the house and glance about, searching for my target. Four young people in the room, enjoying pizza and inexpensive beer. I wrinkle what remains of my nose behind the mask at the smell of overcooked pork; I will not judge others' consumption of animals for food, but it is not something I could bring myself to do. Memories of the taste of flesh are still vivid in my mind. I do not care to relive them, fictional as they may be. The unreality of my past is a comfort, but a cold one at that. The youth stare up at me, as fearful as expected. I must appear to them to be like something out of a nightmare. Or a terrible midnight film. Is there a difference to them?
My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of boots clambering down the stairs to my left. My target. With a gravelly cry he throws himself at me, all 200 pounds of flannel-covered unwashed meat crashing into me as his knife penetrates my flesh. I do not care. I pull away, yanking the knife from his sweaty grasp and pushing him back against the bannister with my free hand. He smashes through the old, dry wood and catches himself on the side of the stairs, trying to pull himself back to his feet, but he is too slow. I raise my axe and catch him across the side of his head with the flat side of the blade. He goes down like a load of bricks, a massive bruise already beginning to form on the flesh of his temple. I reach down and slip my arm underneath him, then sling him up onto my shoulder and turn to leave. The two young women are screaming now, and the two men are on their feet with fists raised, but I understand that they do not wish to fight me. They never do. I should say something to calm them, to assure them that there is nothing to fear. I do my best to clear my throat and force something reassuring out.
"Acchh... hcchhhhh.... mmmrrrhhcchhh.... don't drive drunk. Good night." Yes. That will suffice. The youth have stopped screaming now. I turn and make my way to the front door, villain in tow, with what I am certain are awestruck and inspired eyes at my back.
"MICHAEL BATEMAN! THIS IS LONGBOW! DROP THE BODY AND THE WEAPON AND SURRENDER OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON!"
Oh, no. Spotlights in my eyes, I can't see. I drop the unconscious maniac and take a step forward, away from him. I raise my other arm to shield my eyes, I cannot see properly....
"HE'S RAISING A WEAPON! BAG HIM AND TAG HIM, BOYS!"
Gunshots. Pain. I feel those sapper guns on me, and I have difficulty standing upright. I do my best to move away from the unconscious body behind me, to draw their fire away from the subdued criminal. The pain does not bother me overly much, but I must not allow him to be caught in the line of fire. Speaking of which... Longbow use flamethrowers. What savage monster allows these people to use flamethrowers? I feel the heat of their flames, and that is the last thing I feel before sinking into oblivion.
Hours later....
<<WAS SHOT BY LONGBOW. GOT BETTER. BURNED FAVORITE SHIRT. I AM MAD. EN ROUTE TO CAVE. - MB>>
((Originally posted by yours truly, with input from Kai and Ascendant...))
Warp Factor
Location: the moon
This is sort of my getaway place. Not so much home away from home, since ya don't get very good internet or TV reception here, but a nice change of scenery for a few hours now and then. No TV news, no one running up demanding you save them, no sudden and burning need to 'port off to China or Pakistan to pitch in for earthquake relief or whatever. It's selfish, I know, but I'd go nuts without being able to just get away for a while and just unplug. Too much of a workaholic to just say "Nah, sorry, I'm off duty", I guess. Gotta remove the temptation altogether. Thank God I don't have telescopic vision or even this little mini-vacation wouldn't be any good. I'd probably hafta go to, like, Titan or something. I'd rather stick around here; the moon is what it is, but it still feels like ours. Earth, minus... everything, I guess. Kinda the point.
So I relax on a cusion of gravitational force and crank up my iPod. Would you believe this is the first time I've actually gotten to listen to Music in Motion? I grabbed a bunch of their MP3s off Amazon I don't even know when, it was that long ago. It's a little weird, but I think I like it OK. I can't sleep these days without at least a little sensory barrage, too used to the "noise" from my "gravity sense". Jesus, I really need to come up with a better name for that. Anyway, the silence up here is nice but it makes it tough to relax. Loud music fixes that. I start to settle down for a nice, long nap.
Speaking of "gravity sense"... I feel his disturbance in the moon's gravitational field before I open my eyes and see him. Like a transparent piece of glass dropped in water, that's the closest visual metaphor I can think of for it. Even if you can't exactly see the glass, you can see the disturbance it makes in the water and know that something's there. It's kinda like that. So opening my eyes I know someone's there, but it takes me a sec to recognize Ascendant. What the hell is this guy doing up here waving at me?
I'd never tell the guy, but running into Ascendant is still kind of a big deal for me. I mean, not a BIG DEAL big deal, but y'know. A minor big deal. Manageably big. Oh God, that sounded wrong. He is cute, but I don't date anyone who can come find me in space like this. This is exactly why. Anyway. He may be a mega-dork, but the Big A is the real deal, an honest to God real American superhero who probably even washes behind his ears and calls his mom at least once a week. It's kinda nice to see guys like him still around, given the kinds of people I usually traffic with.
So he's waving his hands weirdly at me, and it takes me a minute to realize he's trying to pantomime something. Sign language or whatever. I spent a moment trying to figure it out, then lose patience and gesture for him to come closer. A second's focus, and my force bubble expands to accommodate two people comfortably. "How do you do that?" I ask as soon as he lands. "Breathe in space like that."
He arches an eyebrow. "I don't breathe in space. I'd look really stupid if I tried to breathe in space. Why?"
Well, now don't I feel dumb. "Good point. So what's up, A? You just passing by and decided to drop in?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing that pleasant. Listen, Maggie. You need to get back to Earth. Now. Things are happening..." He really doesn't look like he's in the mood to joke around. He's serious. "...you really need to get down there and see for yourself. Some of your people are in real trouble and I don't know what I can do to help. They need you now."
"Right." I nod, turning off the iPod. "Should I be expecting immediate violence when I get there?" I don't like the way he stops to think before answering me.
"Touch down somewhere safe, you should be OK." I really don't like this now. "Don't stay in one place any longer than you have to though, at least until you figure out what you want to do. If there's anything I can do to help, just ring me up." I'm already gathering power for a teleport as he speaks. "And Maggie... listen. Whatever press you and your people get, the rest of us know you've done great work. You've changed a lot of lives for the better." He stops again. Like he has to choose his words carefully. "Don't lose sight of that. Whatever else happens."
I nod. "Thanks, Chief. I'm outtie. Thanks... any luck, maybe I'll catch up with you for a cocktail when things settle down, yeah?" A flash, and I'm away before he answers.
I blink back into existence back home, at the apartment my sister Sarah (that's Umbra Wind) share. My comm unit starts making noises immediately, picking up transmissions sent while I was offworld. I start my Macbook booting up while I read them; a quick surf of the news sites should clear things up.
The computer finishes booting. I reach the end of my messages. Holy ****. Xenolizard, Snowdog... Bateman, but the hell with him, nothing can kill that guy. Where the hell is Fenix now?
As if in response, my computer screen flashes a familiar shade of green. It doesn't matter. I can hear the pounding on the door and see laser sights zeroing in on me through the windows. They've been watching this place, no wonder Sarah's not home. Muffled shouts from outside.
I am so not going to prison. I raise my force shield, and smirk as a splattering of bullets bounce off harmlessly. Stupid Longbow. The door gives way to their battering ram as I gather energy for another teleport. A pair of sappers raise their weapons, and I have time to give 'em the finger before I blink back out.
I blink back in at the cave. It looks like most of the group is here, most that didn't get arrested or shot anyway. Bateman conveniently looms out of a nearby shadow. Looks like Caios already has the troops more or less organized, as organized as we get anyway.
I rub my eyes. I already feel like I haven't slept for days. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Got held up on the moon. So what's the plan?"
(( as originally posted by shadewing ))
-Atlas Park-
From Faultline all the way to Atlas Park without being detected. Shadewing thought she'd be used to long distance flights by now, but it seems she was incorrect.
"Just a...Little bit more." She said in a tired tone, before landing on a nearby building, "Ugh....No good. Need to rest for just a bit. Hope I don't get seen..."
Today was not her lucky day, because as she landed, she was spotted by a Longbow patrol, who had radioed for backup upon seeing her. "Guardian Angel spotted. By the looks of it, it's the one called Shadewing. Requesting backup, over."
"Roger that, ETA five minutes." Came the reply over the Longbow's radio.
----
Shadewing was just about ready to continue on her way when she heard a voice over a microphone coming from behind her, "We have you surrounded and a squad is on there way to apprehend you. Surrender and you won't be harmed!" The voice belonged to a Longbow commander who had a reputation for hating supers like Shadewing.
"I'm going up there. If they try to escape or do anything funny, open fire. Understand?" The commander glared at his troops: He wasn't known for his kindness, either.
Shadewing sighed, "Just great...Today this isn't my day." She turned around to face the team of Longbow that had climbed up the building and began to slowly walk towards them, "...Alright, I'll go with you guys, I'm sure this is all just a misunderstand--Eep!" BANG. One of the Longbow in the team was a rookie with a twitchy trigger finger. Although he only hit the ground at Shadewing's feet, that was enough to cause her to bolt and take off flying in the other direction.
"She's trying to escape! Men, open fire!" the commander shouted, his commands followed by a hail of gunfire.
"What the hell! i was going to turn myself in when all of a sudden this jumpy rookie looking guy shoots at me! Now they're all trying to shoot me down...This is really bad!" Shade said to herself while simultaneously trying to avoid gunfire, "I'm almost to Perez, just need to keep myself alive until then...Oww! Ahhh!" A stray bullet managed to nick Shadewing's wing, causing her to crash land on the ground within sight of the Perez Park entrance.
"Oww...Crap..." Shade said as she struggled to force herself off of the ground. Her arm had been injured in the crash, so she was trying her best to take the strain off of it. "Well...Looks like no more--errg....Flying for me..." She winced as she slowly made her way towards Perez Park.
She heard the sound of running behind her, so she turned around and was face to face with the very same team that shot her out of the sky, "Oh crap...Look, guys, this was all just a misunderstanding! I'm not in any condition to fight, so let's just calm down and talk this over....Alright?" She said with a concerned tone.
The Longbow commander looked over at Shadewing, then turned to his men, "Command says to take them alive, if possible. But they didn't state in what condition. Let's teach this freak what happens when you try and evade longbow!" The longbow squad made their way towards Shadewing, who was in no condition to fight.
"This is not good..." Shade told herself.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by sabakakrazny))
Maemir flew madly, pursued by gunfire and no less than two of those cute little planes Longbow liked to fly, dodging missiles, bullets and the odd bolt of energy as she chanted yet another flight enhancing spell dumping mana like water as her airspeed climbed still further.
The planes were cute all right, but she had decided that all the guns and stuff had sort of worn off the cute and now she regarded them more like flying piranha. Jinking wildly around a building she dove through an alley and swooped thru a mall and a missile blew a kiosk to smithereens. OOPS! Somehow she just new she was getting the bill for that one!
Zipping past a small herd ( troop? Squad? Mob? Crowd? She never knew for sure what you called em) of council guys standing on their big box on the sidewalk haranguing the passersby, she looked behind and saw that Longbow totally passed them by in favor of chasing her instead. Maemir had never claimed to be the brightest Baarin in the whole wide world, but even so she knew then that she was in big trouble.
She consulted Tail, whose only advice was dont get me shot off thank you very much. Some help Tail was. She screwed up her brow, belted out another spell and jinked again, wondering just what the hell had happened.
It had all started on that ill fated mission so long ago she had gone with Starblind on yet another jaunt into Orangeburger to take on the Circle of Thorns ( a bunch of low lifes if ever there were any, and unfriendly to boot thats what happened when you shared a body with demons, no good ever came of it. And the complexion issues? Oh my, it didnt bear thinking on!)
At any rate She and Starblind had been doing their bit, he with his dark stuff and she with the fire and they had been deeply engaged in being Very Heroic, when a CoT demony winged thing charged her and tackled her and BLOOP, right then and there pushed her into one of those circle shaped portals they were so fond of.
Well, naturally a big fight ensued, and when it was over, she looked around and, well
wherever it was, it wasnt Orangeburger. Matter of fact, while it was a city pretty nice one, too all bright and shiny- it wasnt one shed ever seen. Mechanical thingies called robots were everywhere, and people were very polite
and the place was totally **** an span. She was sure it was Canada, but later found out that, no, it was someplace else entirely. It was like Canada, sort of, but with resistance people and thought police and jails for Tailed Heroes who didnt think the Emperor was just the absolute bomb.
Well, the short story was, thanks to culture shock ( reminding her of a similar sudden appearance in Paragon way long ago and wasnt THAT a lousy experience) the local cops pegged her as a Threat To Society, an Unknown Quantity, and Potentially Disloyal. Naturally, they tossed her in jail.
For three years.
Well, needless to say Praetoria had by that time lost its charm and one day eight months ago the resistance had broken several of their members out of jail and she had tagged along, deciding that resisting beat pounding rocks into gravel any day and though luck and good fortune had one day managed to make her way back to Paragon.
Almost immediately she was in trouble. She had stopped by the Doughnut Hut in Faultline (they had the most awesome éclairs) and while some of the Guardian Angels had been at odds with the cops, she had gotten along with them. So she nodded to several, and they scoped her butt and she tail wagged just to be friendly and called the War Pie, whose phone wasnt answering. Hmm.
She pondered, and thought she remembered other numbers too, and tried Alherons, and Umber Winds, and finally, reluctantly, Caios. (She was always somewhat scared of Caios, and suspected the vampire didnt like her much anyway but she would be sure to know how to reach the others)
The phone bleeped, blirped, and chirped.It had never done that before, and she looked at it curiously, then as she looked up she noticed every cop in the place looking at her as they talked in her radio. That was when Tail told her that this was a great place not to be.
It had all gone downhill from there, and she didnt even get her éclair! Thee years, three years in jail in some other dimension and yanno what? They had never heard of éclairs! What was it with the universe not letting her get an éclair? This was so unfair!
So now here she was, dodging missiles, rockets, bullets, energy bolts, lightning zaps and a large seagull as she hit the edge of independence port and dug into her pockets and diiging out her old GA comm she screamed into it, hoping the battery was still good.
WAR PIE! UMBER WIND! Starblind? Caois? ANYONE? Is anyone home? Cause Im like , all in all sorts of deep ****! HAAALP!
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by EvilBenFranklin ))
"Right," said Stern Impact, her accent thickening as she stared at Dr. Schrodinger, "So you 'ad t'kill one o'me best mates t'prevent a four-fold cross-rift." Slowly clenching and unclenching her fist, making several rocks nearby vibrate audibly, she looked at Caios. "We can't stay 'ere forever. They will find us in time, an' we need t'keep movin'. I'm thinkin' someplace in Salamanca, next..."
Idly picking at a loose string on the sweater the vampire had brought for her, "That is, if we stick together. I've 'ad experience runnin' guerilla cells an' hidin' from people with more boots an' better tech while still managin' t'smack them in the **** now and again. Way I see it, we can work as a larger group, which gives us strength'o'numbers, but makes us a bigger target - an' makes for more collat'ral casualties than some of us are comfortable with," Looking around the cavern at her teammates, she quirked an eyebrow as she continued, "Or we can break into a cell structure. Harder to find, easier t'move, an' it divides their forces as much as our own, maybe more. Either way, we need t'lay low until we get enough recon on who's behind this, then coordinate a strike."
"One more thing," she added, "An' while I'm not th' grand high nibs 'ere, I think it needs t'be said. I know some of us may think th' best way t'go about it would be t'sanction White an' Spangler... God knows I've thought it. I'm even willin' t'admit that there may be some truth t'that, but think on this before we all go off half-cocked: As livin' men, they can make mistakes and prove themselves wrong. As dead men, they're martyrs and are thus in-fookin'-fallible."
Glancing at her PDA, "Whatever it is, though, we need t'do it quickly. It's bad tradecraft t'gather in large numbers for more than a day at a time."
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( as originally posted by Snowdog ))
Cave, Perez Park
Anti-Schrodi nodded glumly at Moira well , I hope she's not dead, there's a chance although slim. She had me set up a Trojan program in the Portal Corp system before I left that should trigger a chance for her to reform, without the Xenonite. Though she did tell me to bring you with me when I go back in.. she checked a readout on her data glasses thirty seven hours, sixteen minutes and eleven seconds. Mainly to make sure that it doesn't get out of control and like, suck the eastern seaboard into the bleed.
she sighed, pushing the glasses up on her forehead. Without them she looked even more like this universes Dr Schrodinger, except for the cybernetic limb. as for the last..well I admit I was hoping after crossing over from Praetoria that I could actually not have to spend my time looking over my shoulder she said with a bit of a grin but then, after all that time with the Resistance over there, I'd probably have been bored out of my skull in two days. I'll help where I can.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Fenix ))
Where are they hiding?!
Suck my power cord.
Click.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
WHERE ARE THEY HIDING?!
Bite me!
Click.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH!
You would not be the first rouge AI Ive persuaded to talk. Now, WHERE are the OTHER GUARDIAN ANGELS!?
Theyre....
Yes?
In...
Go on....
A galaxy far, far a- click. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I do NOT have TIME for this! You TERRORISTS will NOT pull off whatever you are planning!
Man... Youve been blinded bad, havnt yo- click ooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
Fine! If you dont want to tell me where the rest of your criminal friends are hiding, then tell me! What! Are! You! Planning?!
Nothing.
Click.
---------------------------------------
What. Are. They. PLANNING?!
It starts...
Yes?
It starts with...
Out with it!
It starts with an earthquake, birds, snakes, an aeroplane...
...what.
Lenny Bruce is NOT afraid.
Argh! I cannot work with this!
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
Slam.
....About... damn.... time.
The interrogator had done a number on his hardwear. Most of his systems were fried, there was no way that many surges so close together would have killed him, had they not used that particular wattage. But... Fenix made a quick check to be sure... Yes. They left the AI unmonitored in a room with internet access. Create a backup on the machine, so that the Longbow officers wouldnt go out looking for him again... Done. And now, to upload himself entirely to the internet.
...Its... so... big....
So much space....
So easy to get lost...
To explore it fully would take centuries alone...
And thats not counting on it expanding, which it certanly will...
But then.....
Fenix could copy himself, multiple times...
Base each copy off of a different node....
That way, seeing the entirety would be... simple...
Many other advantages to doing this, too...
Why hadnt he done it before?
Its...
Its time...
Time to spread.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by The Bobby Llama ))
University of Paragon, Steel Canyon Campus
Faculty Offices
Wednesday. Hump day. More term papers to grade. A whole ******* day of it. Dr. Milton Winters buried his face in his hands, looking up to see an unfamiliar figure walking past his door. He poked his head out furtively to investigate - anything to get away from his dreary work.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked. The figure turned to face him, a middle-aged woman, dishwater blonde hair up in a pony tail. She wore an old-fashioned black wool business suit, complete with a vest underneath the jacket. "Are you with the press?" he ventured. "You need to go through the chancellor's office, you can't be here."
"I am sorry, vhere are my manners?" The woman's German accent was unmistakable. "Gloria Linden, FBSA." She flashed a badge and a hint of a smile. "Just a routine followup."
He grunted acknowledgment and returned to his office. Her gaze followed him with icy disdain before turning to the office of Dr. Moira Stern at the end of the hallway. She stepped over police tape and through the doorway, surveying the room. The Longbow and PPD investigation teams had cleaned up the evidence from Dr. Stern's disappearance, but they had left her computer behind. The trail here was cold, but it was a start, at least.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( as originally posted by Snowdog ))
Perez Park Gate, Atlas Park
Shade watched as the group of Longbow closed in around her. The Commander pulled something out of his belt and made a comment about "not being able to fly again." The tool looked worn, as if he had used it before. Nothing about it made Shade feel any better.
Oh geeze...I guess this is it. Not expecting to get beaten by a pulp by LONGBOW of all people....Maybe if I just close my eyes tight it won't hurt as much... She thought as she gulped and shut her eyes tight.
The Warden grinned to himself as his team fanned out around the injured bat girl. They had chased this one for miles, and now, well it they were tired and angry, and more than a little aggravated. They've been made fools of by people in the group this freak was in. Now, it was time for a little old fashioned beat down. The group closed in as he pulled an asp off of his belt, the spring loaded baton showing plenty of wear on it from when his squad was in the Rogue Isles. Freak wasn't gonna fly any more when he was done with-
What the HELL do you think you're doing?
Just then she heard a pair of voices coming from behind the Longbow, so she slowly opened one eye to check and...It was the PPD! She was safe! Well, at least from being brutally beaten, but that was okay by her!
He turned in surprise at the two PPD officers, who normally stand guard at the Perez Park entrance to keep idiot locals from wandering into the Park. Longbow business, he said to them dismissively we're taking in a suspect.
Right... the lead officer moved closer, only to be blocked by several of the Longbow Squad looks to me like she's injured and not resisting...why don't you just climb back into your little airborne Segways, and we'll get her booked into the Zig.
I SAID this is Longbow business-butt out pig! The Squad raised their own weapons, pointing them at the two officers.
the momentary relief she felt faded...There were only two of them against a handful of Longbow, and they were severely outgunned. Crap...There goes my rescue, I guess...
I suggest you get back to your posts and ignore anything you see, if you know whats good for-ERK!
Angelina had been waiting for a good chance, when they shot down the girl she had despaired for a moment that she was too late. As the warden was raising his asp he jerked suddenly as a three foot long lime green spike erupted from his body, the Longbow officer collapsing to the ground in an unconscious heap.
Lime Porcupine grinned feraly so you bastards like beating on wounded girls? Try me instead! The other troops were frozen in momentary shock, which Angelina put to good use, her poison tipped barbs skewing two more , then a third. As the one with the flamethrower started to bring it to bear she vanished, only to reappear seconds later behind him, a quick thrust sending him to the ground unconscious with his squad mates.
As the last one fell she glared at the two cops who were...grinning? With shock she recognized one of them, he'd been one of the responding officers when she was arrested after the death of her sisters murderer.
Was glad to hear it when we heard you got cleared of those bogus charges, though if you keep doing things like that Longbow's gonna be annoyed with you.
She smirked as she retracted the spines, looking almost normal. Well as normal as someone lime green with huge ears and a tail could be I couldn't help it, they fell on them.
the two cops looked at each other Fell..well, they did seem kind of clumsy.
I dunno, I really didn't see anything , did you?
bah, sun was in my eyes. Besides, we're supposed to be guarding the gate to Perez, can't see anything from there anyway.
and if you want us to go on not seeing...you'd best be moving along before someone sees us not seeing, and then we'd have to see, you see?
Shadewing was confused. The green girl was talking to the PPD? It appeared as if they knew each other, as they didn't seem to mind the fact that the girl just completely slaughtered a whole team of Longbow right in front of them-no, not slaughtered, they were alive, whatever toxin her spines had wasn't fatal at least.
Lime chuckled as she went to check on the bat girl Clear as crystal, we'll be gone in a second. she says as she kneeled down to check on Shadewing
shocked as she was, Shade could only muster out a few simple words, "Who...Are you?"
Angelina de la Vega. Longbow railroaded me into prison a couple years back on what should have been justifiable homicide...because they and the Judge were bought off by the Family. Wasn't any way I could let the bastards do it to someone else-can you walk? We gotta get you out of here
Her arm was shot, and she was exhausted, but with help she wobbled to her feet. The two cops were discretely looking the other way-no they were looking to see if anyone was watching, fortunately there was usually never any people by this gate "I think so.."
Lime didn't like the way Shade's arm was bleeding, but this wasn't the time for doing much about it. "ok, lets get out of here"
"Hold on a second."
The two girls blinked at the cops. The taller one just grinned, as he reached into a box on the wall by the gate, pulling out a first aid kit, and handing it over "you're gonna need this, now scram."
Angelina smiled gratefully at the officer. Helping support the injured batgirl, the two of them disappeared through the gate into Perez Park.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( as originally posted by TheCheshireCat ))
"Space is not an ocean. It is a void. You don't 'float' in space; you drift, trapped inside the shell of your own body. You realize that your vessel is a prison, whether it's a body, a space shuttle, or a planet, you are locked there, prevented from expanding your consciousness beyond the confines of your shell into the great vastness of the void."
There were two guards standing outside her cell. The Crown of the Abyss had been confined in the holding cell for days now. She refused to speak to anyone without her lawyer present, yet her lawyer had made no attempt to contact the PPD. She also refused a temporary public defender until her personal attorney could be reached; she claimed that ms. Brennan was the only lawyer she trusted to represent her.
"What is she going on about?" one of the guards said.
"I have no idea. She alternates between absolute silence and this crazy babbling. I don't know if she's talking to herself or her imaginary friend or us or what." the other answered.
"Hey!" The first guard knocked on the window. "Who are you talking to in there?"
"What are you doing?" The other guard said.
"I'm asking who she's talking to."
"Whoever is listening." the woman in the cell responded. "Every life is a unique experience worth sharing. I've lived hundreds of lives; most of them short and violent. I have a lot to share."
"I don't understand squids at all." The guard said, turning back to his post.
"'Squid' refers to the nova form many kheldians share; it is not their natural shape, merely a reflection of a form of a past host. A more correct racial slur would be 'fluffy'. Though I suppose that sounds more ridiculous than offensive." she said. "If you're going to be ignorant you should at least use accurate terminology, dear."
*******************************
Julie heard the commotion from inside the cave. She considered drawing her gun, but she realized that the sound was far more likely being caused by the Guardian Angels dealing with the locals, and not the locals overpowering the Guardian Angels, and arriving at a meeting of wanted fugitives with a weapon drawn was not the best way to make a first impression.
She paused at the door to straighten out her suit and make sure her hair was neatly contained in its bun. She drew a pair of square reading glasses from her pocket; she had 20/20 vision, but she'd found that wearing a set of plain glass spectacles gave her an air of authority that made people more confident in trusting the things she said. It was the little things that made her good at her job; that last 10% that most people don't think about that influences how they feel about the other 90%.
Her "mask" prepared, she pushed open the door and stepped into the cave.
"Good afternoon everyone. My name is Julie Brennan, and I represent the interests of Dr. Ellen Timmit. Ms. Stern, I saw that Caios was bringing you clothing and thus decided against bringing an extra set; however I must admit I don't have the greatest confidence in a vampire's ability to choose appropriate food, so I stopped by the deli and brought sandwiches. I'm not certain of your dietary requirements so I bought several different varieties; the extras can be shared amongst the group in case anyone else has found their fugitive status has made procuring food more difficult than usual."
As her introduction sank in, she walked over to a rock that seemed a decent height for a seat, dusted it off, and sat down, crossing her legs. She pressed her glasses back up the ridge of her nose and drew a small notebook out from her pocket, flipping it open to a new page.
"I will be relaying the contents of this meeting back to my client at such a point that I feel it will be safe to inform her of your actions without being spied on by longbow or PPD agents. I suspect they are expecting one of you to attempt to contact Ellen during her incarceration; instead, relay any messages you intend for her through me, and I will ensure they reach her both quickly and uncompromised."
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Shadewing ))
Shadewing winced as Angelina helped her up. She didn't notice the fact that her arm had been shot until now: She thought it was just injured, broken maybe, when she fell. "They...Shot me? They actually shot me? WHAT. THE. HELL!" She shouted out as she stamped on the ground a few times before stopping to continue applying pressure to her wounded arm. "Sorry...I didn't mean to be rude...Thanks. I just never thought something like this would happen and...and...uhh." She slumped a bit.
"Gah! I must be more injured than I thought...Don't worry, I should be fine until we get to where the others are..." Shade relaxed her gaze a little, focused on walking, before the thought hit her: Angelina probably had no idea where they were going!
"Umm...You do know where we're going I hope?....Oh, doesn't matter, I'll tell you on the way..." She said as she began to recount the events that had happened to her.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by The Bobby Llama ))
PPD Steel Canyon Precinct Headquarters
Front Desk
15:44 hours
"Excuse me, young man." The clerk glanced up from his texting and into the eyes of an irritated middle-aged woman glaring down at him. She looked a little older, but definitely cougar material. He wasn't sure about the old-fashioned black business suit, but it did add a bit of a schoolmarm kink factor to it all.
"Sorry... Er, what can I do for you... ma'am?" he stammered. She brushed a lock of dull blonde hair over her ear with the rest that was drawn into a ponytail, retrieving a badge from inside her suit.
"Angela Neubech," she answered. Her steel-blue eyes locked him in a basilisk gaze, sizing him up. "Bundesnachrichtendienst."
"...Um, what?" He didn't dare break that stare.
"It... is like the German CIA," she said. German. There was a funny way that she talked. That explained it. "You understand, ja?"
"Sure," he replied. But he didn't understand. Not really. What would they be doing in Steel canyon of all places?
"Good." A cryptic smile played at her lips. "Now, I have heard that the vigilante Shadowstormm has been operating in the area," she continued, growing serious. "Naturally, this is of great interest to the German authorities."
He didn't know what to say to that. Luckily, she didn't wait for his response.
"I have reason to believe he is vorking vith his former allies in the Guardian Angels. I vant his case files, and the files of any of his associates."
"I'll see what I can do," came his reply. "Why don't you wait in Conference Room A - first right down the hall - and I'll have them brought up to you."
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by ... me, in collaboration with Shadewing and Snowdog 
))
Caios listened to all the comments being thrown around the cave and nodded, "I tend to agree, and I think I know what we need. It's going to be a tough ride for some of you though."
Suddenly she became quiet as if concentrating before turning her head to look behind her.
"Um, hold that thought." She added before quickly making her way out of the cave.
Shadewing continued to struggle across the park with the help of the Lime Porcupine. Though Angelina had little trouble holding onto the petite batgirl, her bleeding wounds made moving more difficult then it should have been.
"I'm all for heroic struggles," Caios's voice suddenly spoke up from behind them, "But right now I think it's best to get you two moving fast."
"Caios!" Shadewing cried out, "How did you find us?"
"You're bleeding," Caios said, "And well, let's just say your blood has a unique scent to it."
At first Shadewing smiled at the sight of her co-Angel, then she frowned as she remembered this was a vampire she was talking to.
"Relax," Caios said jokingly as if reading her thoughts, "I'm not hungry; I ate before I got here."
Caios looked over at Angelina for a moment. She seemed familiar, possibly some other hero that happened to come along, though it surprised Caios that she was here considering that everyone in Paragon seemed to think they were all criminals. It was obvious from the way Lime Porcupine was carrying Shadewing that she had been helping the injured teammate along.
"Lemme just say thank you, for helping her all this way." Caios told her, "But if you guys don't mind there's really no time for chatting right now." She looked back over at Shadewing adding, "We need to get you out of sight fast and try to get that wound treated."
With an uncharacteristic gentleness, Caios took off her leather coat and wrapped it around Shadewing before scoping her up in her arms. She started walking back towards the center of the park before looking back at Angelina.
"If you want to follow I won't stop you," Caios said, "But you probably don't want to hang out with us right now, not unless you enjoy the kind of Heat we'll be taking."
"If it's alright with you, I think I'll follow along." Angelina replied, "I'm no fan of Longbow, in fact I took down a couple of them while helping your friend here. I figure until they wake up I might be of some use to you guys. If you'll have me of course."
Caios just smiled and nodded appreciatively to the Lime Porcupine. With that the vampire leapt into the air, moving quickly towards the cave entrance. Shadewing grimaced as she saw the floor approaching quickly, waiting for the painful jolt that would signify their landing. To her surprise, however, she barely felt anything when they hit land just in front of the cave entrance.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by shadewing ))
--A cave in Perez Park--
She had arrived at the cave everyone was meeting in thanks to both Angelina and Caios. Her arm still needed attention, so after giving a quick "Hello" to everyone else she found a nice corner to sit down by and began to bandage her arm up.
All of a sudden there was a flash, which caused Shade to jump, and then Warp Factor appeared, saying something about being caught up on the moon. "You were on the MOON? Seriously? You just missed everything that happened!" Shade called out, trying to sound as non-accusing as possible.
---Later---
"Thanks again for the help, Caios." Shadewing said as she finished bandaging her arm, "Never thought Longbow would stoop so low as to try and kill off the people defending this place, how stupid can they be?"
She paced around the caverns for a bit. her arm was still sore, so she had her arms crossed, partly to support her injured arm, and partly because on the inside she was angry and wanted to beat the crap out of whoever set this whole thing up. "Then again...You did say they were set up by that politician guy, right?"
"It's obvious that footage of us robbing banks is fake, but the problem is going to be proving it to everyone else, right?" She asked. She was still mad, but she wasn't going to let her feelings get the better of her, "Alright then, I'll help try and find a way to clear our names. Who else is coming?"
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( OOC Note! With the current state of this storyline, with all the Angels on the run, this would be a good time for any fellow virtues who might want to jump in on the fun. Maybe you're a hero who wants to bring in these people believing they are the criminals the news makes them out to be. Maybe you're a vigilante who wants to help out those who have been falsely accused. Maybe you're a rogue who just wants in on the bounty for capturing such dangerous folk. Or maybe you're a villain who doesn't care either way and just wants to take the opportunity to take out these former heroes.
Whatever your motivations, feel free to contact us on through our forums: http://theymightbezombies.proboards.com/index.cgi
Or you can get in touch with me directly: @Caios
p.s. Just bare in mind any participation will need to be kept short and simple to avoid derailing the main story or overcomplicating the situation. ))
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
"Dammit Bateman, put a shirt on!" Caios swore as the exposed, and still burnt, chest of Micheal Bateman seemed to glare in her direction. "I get that you were set on fire and all, but come on, there are children present." Caios waved in the direction of the Irken as she said this. Everyone knew that the green alien wasn't a kid, much less human, but he liked to think he could convince everyone of that, and Caios had found it easier just to let him believe his delusions. Besides in this case it made for convenient joke fodder.
Caios didn't actually care about the level of Bateman's undress due to his unfortunate encounter with a flamethrower. What bothered her was the scent of still burning flesh that came off horror flick cliche which assaulted her supernatural senses. Eventually they managed to hand him some of the left over clothing that Stern had no use for. Though seeing Bateman trying to wear a shirt obviously two sizes too small, not to mention the lovely flower arangement on it, was rather comical. It's no wonder he wound up hiding in a dark corner of the cave after a while.
Not long after, Maggie finally made it to the cave. Caios was secretly relieved to see she was alright. Not that she ever really doubted it, of course. She knew all too well how powerful Warp Factor was and there was no way even the best Longbow operatives would have been able to take her out. Even so Caios had not heard from her in a while since she had been spending her 'alone time' on the far side of the moon, or where ever.
It was one of those things Caios just couldn't relate to, for all the crazy things she'd done in her life, she was in the end a very down to earth woman, and like to keep things that way. Then again she'd never really tried going off world; not voluntarily at least.
Only once Caios made sure that everyone was safe inside the cave, and Shadewing's wound was being properly tended to, that she began gathering everyone together.
"We can't wait any longer." Caios said agreeing with what the others had mentioned already, "It's time to move, now. So here's what I got."
"We'll need two groups. Most of you should be on the first group, and your job is intel. The intel crew will need to be looking for two things. First, what the **** is really going on? There's more to this mess then White and his Longbow cronies. Clearly White had some kind hand in the frame job so that's a good place to start. Second, we need evidence. We need to prove all these trumped up charges are nothing but ********. We need to be able to show those videos are fake."
"The second group, our job will be Havoc," Caios continued, then paused for a moment as she shook her head slightly, "I'll be honest here, I'm hoping the second group is just me. Cause the road I'm traveling is not going to be good for anyone. I'm not going to stop you but just know if you do this there's no going back.
"I'm talking dark side **** here. Our job will be to make a lot of noise and do all the bad **** they're already accusing us of when we need to do it. That means we'll start by breaking out Ghostveil, Fenix, and any other Angels Longbow's got caged up. But we're not just talking a breakout here. We're going to be loud and visible, we're going to be quite literally a target. Not just for Longbow, or the Cops, but for every ******* hunter, merc, and misguided hero that wants to take us down. We want people to keep their attention on us, so that way we can keep the heat off the Intel group. Probably won't let us keep our hero badges once all this is done."
Caios took a deep (admittedly useless) sigh as she looked around the room, "Think hard about where you need to go. Right now intel is most important. Most of us should try to go that route, but at the same time the more noise the havoc group can make the easier it will be for the intel folks to move. And that brings me to one last special task," Her gaze fell upon the completely normal human woman, "Ms. Brennan was it? I'd like for you to go back to your client. Being her lawyer and all it shouldn't be a problem. Ask her if she would like to leave her prison." There was a slight pause as she made sure the meaning behind her words sunk in. "While you're at it see if you can ask any of the other Angels who turned themselves into the cops the same thing. I'm guessing most of them won't want to add fuel to the fire, which is probably for the best, but I'd like to make sure we know how many of our people we'll need to bust out as well."
"As for everyone else," Caios added as she looked over the rest of the Angels in the cave, "Make up your minds quickly cause I'm leaving in ten minutes, and the havoc train is going with me."
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.
(( As originally posted by Snowdog ))
Ft Benning GA, 0215 hours
King Delta Seven wasn't expecting any trouble his team couldn't handle. They were originally supposed to rendezvous with Knight Raider five six, who instead was in a military morgue. Was a pity, he was a good man, a pilot who had gotten him in and out of tight spots in a past life,before he had seen the light and left the military.
Odd how little the place changed since he came through here all those years ago, for basic and airborne, then ranger school. There were some good people he met on this base, but still, it was just a training base for th most part. Opposition should be slight to non existent, despite the fiasco that Longbow created when they tried an open assault on the hospital. He smirked thinking about it. Do gooders who think the world is black and white, when it was anything but.
Ideally, no one would ever know they were here. The Meta they were after was still in serious condition, he had enough tricks in his bag to ensure that it would look like she took a turn for the worse. The drug was untraceable, one little injection, and the so called 'Snowdog' would bother Malta no more. Still, they were heavily equipped, no sense in taking any chances. He was hoping to get in and out with out having to take out any one else.
The hospital was quiet, nothing showing on the motion trackers, music coming from the nurses station at the end of the hall. Security was a joke, easily bypassed. They'd be in, done and out within an hour. Idly he wondered if that little 24 hour pancake house was still there in Phenix City. Might grab a bite once this was done and they were changed, before heading out. They got to the floor where the target was, slipping a fiber optic camera under the stairwell door, he took a look. Clear-no wait. There was someone sitting by a door at the end of the hall. Crap. So much for quiet, guard maybe. Still, they didn't look like they were paying attention, perhaps they could knock her out. He carefully pushed the door open, she didn't seem to look up, probably listening to an i Pod or something. He'd gotten more targets due to their being distracted by those gadgets. Nodding to his men, they carefully stepped out into the hallway.
He motioned to the sapper, who had the motion tracker as well. There was an almost ultrasonic ping, and he shook his head. Nothing moving on this floor. With a grin he started to move forward, when she suddenly looked up , staring straight at him.
you must be with the Malta Group
He blinked, how did she know that? She stood slowly, he and his men's hands tightening on their weapons. I am Ms Black, of Wolfetech Legal. You are undoubtedly here for Doctor Kincaid, I strongly advise you cease and desist this course of action.
or what? You'll sue us or something?
Ms Black just smiled, as there was a shimmer, then another beside her, the end of the hallway blocked by Fenris Class battlebots, painted in ACU pattern cammo. He started to raise his weapon when he noticed the red dots, on him, and every member of his team. Glancing to the side he saw in the open doorways to the other rooms on the hall, soldiers in black camouflage, laser sights zeroed in on him and his team.
He stood there open mouthed, as the troops moved forward, disarming the Malta team, and stripping them expertly of their weapons. how had they gotten the drop on him and his men?
Ms Black just smiled General? It's clear, they are in custody.
The door behind the woman in the business suit opened as General Knox stepped out. Hell son, you thought after Longbow pulled their stunt we'd just have the civilian security guards in here?
King Delta Seven didn't say a word as the instructors and Cadre of the Army Ranger School cuffed and blindfolded them. Director Pearl...was going to be pissed. And whether he himself lived or died, depended on him keeping his mouth shut. He didn't say a word as he and his men were hustled down the stairs.
General Knox sighed, he was getting too old for this stuff. Thanks for getting the authorization for those bot prototypes
Ms Black smiled and thank you for bringing your Cadre out for this ambush. One or the other they may have tried to engage, but both? She shook her head still...you may not be able to hold them long. Few Malta operatives are taken, hardly ever give up any information if they are held, and are often ordered transferred to other agencies custody and disappear.
I know. CID still doesn't believe Malta exists, they'll probably think these guys are a terrorist group or something. Still this should keep them from trying this again, and trust me, we're gonna hang onto those four as long as possible.
lets hope.
Caios - Modern. Vampire. Cowgirl, not Catgirl.
Karnage - Monster. Psychopath. Fun at Parties.
FyreShadow - Innocent. Naive. God-like Powerful.
Queen Armitage - Caring. Exiled. and out of Options.