Last time on Section M: You met: Guns and Gear! Two techheads told you about all the fun new objects you'd soon be able to play with. Afterwards, you met your new apartments. Key feature there: Carpet! Everything was so clean and shiny and new. You hardly had a chance to settle in though as Major Rose received a call requesting your immediate presence back on the Control Level. [Thursday, January 12, 2063] [Inside the maglift heading back towards the Control Level] [Collar status: Still on!] [Session start] * MajorRose looks rather worried as the lift moves. Wonder what's going on? * Crow smiles knowingly. Sounds like a pressing matter has become over-pressurized. * Jess sniffles a bit. * Scratch stares straight into the wall ahead of him. "..." It's only a few levels to the Control Level and the lift doors quickly part for you. * Tanya heads out. * Scratch exits after the Major. His chin's up now and he appears to have regained his usual state of composure. Almost immediately you can hear a heated discussion between Colonel Hall and a older gentleman you haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting. The sounds are coming from somewhere to your left. The people working in Control area are doing their best to just ignore and continue with their work. * Jess follows the rest just looking sad. Oh dear... * Fallone has a look at the Control Level while the others exit, taking some time to assess her surroundings. * MajorRose leads the group towards the same general direction the Colonel's office. * Cara continues along, not really looking around as she moves on. * Tanya leans over to Jess. "You're uncharacteristically gloomy today. What's up with that?" * Crow walks right that way, trying unashamedly to eavesdrop. * Fallone takes the rear guard, doing the same as Crow. I..I won't get to say goodbye to Tiff. I just know it. There's a door to a glassed in room near to the Colonel's office door. Inside you can see a large table surrounded by chairs with Hall inside continuing her discussion with an older gentleman who is seated at the head of the table. You can tell from his uniform he's a high ranking officer. Higher rank than her. You will. Not today, likely, but you will. * Jess smiles a bit. "Thanks." * MajorRose knocks timidly on the door. The two occupants look up at the noise. Their discussion immediately stops and the Colonel takes up a position next to a wall as she gestures for the group to be let in. * Fallone tilts her head sort of curiously at the interaction. That's the Jess we know and love. Besides, you're rooming with Scratch. That ought to be something to look forward to. * Tanya gives Jess a grin. * Crow enters and finds himself a good vantage point. "Good afternoon, Colonel. Nice to see you again." It sounds like he means it. * Scratch gets something stuck in his throat at the comment, but clears it and proceeds to file into the room to stand at attention at an appropriate place behind a chair. * MajorRose opens the door for the group. "Here they are, as requested, ma'am. Sir. ... Sirs." * Jess enters and finds a place to sit if possible. Thank you Major. That will be all for now. Please continue with your actual work. They need you out there. Though we appreciate the time you gave us. *waves to the Major* Yes, ma'am. * Fallone looks from the Major to the Colonel and the older man * MajorRose nods at the group and heads back out to the floor. * Tanya nods at the Major, then the Colonel, then the General. So this is them? * OldMan eyes the group appraisingly. * Cara just stands there waiting to be told what to do. * Fallone eyes the older man in the same way. Yes, sir. This is the selected group that best fit our requirements. Very well then. * Scratch stands at attention staring dead ahead at an invisible place on the wall. * Fallone also flips her notebook open again. * Jess just watches the OldMan and the Colonel. * OldMan stands to greet the group. He offers everyone a hand to shake in turn. "Good afternoon, gentlemen, ladies. I'm General Ironside." Pleased to meet you, sir. * Fallone actually seems to mean it, rather than appearing neutral. * Scratch salutes the general prior to shaking his hand, though his voice doesn't have it's usual sharpness as he greets, "An honor, Sir." * Tanya smiles when he shakes her hand. * ColonelHall just watches quietly with her hands held formally behind her back. * Cara firmly shakes hands with the General. "Nice to meet you, General." Pleased to meet you, General. ^_^ * OldMan has a strong, firm, yet very warm handshake. * Jess just nods at the General politely. * GeneralIronside makes his way back over to his chair after greeting everyone in turn. "Everyone please have a seat. You too, Colonel." Yes sir. * ColonelHall takes the seat immediately to his right. * Jess is happy she found one already. * Fallone sits somewhere comfortable and sits her notebook on her knees, jots something. * Scratch quickly seats himself and sits straight, folding his hands in his lap under the table. * Tanya sits near the end of the conference table. Now I have all your names on file, but I'd still prefer you each introduce yourself. *he indicates a stack of files he has scattered about in front of them, most of them open to various pages.* * Tanya smiles with a nod. "Tanya Wazzo." * Scratch doesn't hesitate to quietly note the open pages spread out in front of the general. * Jess looks up. "I'm Jess, Sir." You can tell they're files about each member of the team as pictures are also included. I am Cara Espoire, sir. * ColonelHall almost twitches as she eyes the mess of files. You'd have to be studying her rather closely to notice, though. * Fallone misses it, because she's trying to read the files. * Crow may have noticed it. He sets his bow and quiver to lean against the chair he claims. "I'm Crow. As I said, pleased to meet you." * GeneralIronside eyes Crow's outfit for a moment, but refrains from commenting. * Tanya chuckles. * Scratch stands and faces the general. "Sir, Crispin, sir!" Having stated his given name, he reseats himself. * Fallone nods her head to the General and actually gives him a polite smile, "Fallone, sir" * Tanya gives Crow a look that reads "we need to slip him a whoopie cushion." * Crow , being the fine, upstanding citizen he is, would never think of such a prank, and therefore obviously doesn't see Tanya's look. Honest. * GeneralIronside smiles back at Fallone as the introductions finish. "Very good then. As you problem haven't yet heard there is a situation that needs dealing with." We did catch that much. We're eager to help, however we can. Up until now, when an awakened needed dealing with we had a specially trained team of marines to send in and solve the situation. Today that situation has become more dire, as the team appears to have been completely wiped out. * Tanya raises an eyebrow. Wiped out by whom, and how? * Fallone shivers. * Scratch almost can't believe his ears. Now normally in these sorts of situations, it is determined that only extreme measures can be used to solve the situation. * Fallone writes something. * GeneralIronside looks to Tanya. "We'll get to that in a moment... However, today is a special day. The Colonel here has offered up an alternative." * GeneralIronside gestures for her to speak. * ColonelHall stops focusing on the files and looks up at the rest of the group. "Well. This is going to be your assignment in 3 weeks, but if you are willing, we can send you in now and you can attempt to neutralize the situation as best you can." We're not entirely sure all the marines are dead. A lot of their transponders have been knocked out so we have no way of knowing what their vital signs are. * Crow leans forward, eager. "We'll save any we can." * Scratch furrows his brow in thought. Sending you guys in would be the best way to ensure that they aren't killed in a more direct assault of the location. * Jess looks up at the two in charge. "I want to save them." I'm in, too If there's anyway to prevent the loss of further life, or any life... yes. Doesn't seem to me as if there's any better people for the job. I'm in. It's up to you whether or not to go. Thank you for your support. *she smiles at the group gratefully. It's the first moment you can tell just how worried she is about the situation.* So. Where, and how long until we can get there? * Jess looks around at every one. "We want to go. Right? We can do it team!" You'll need to be deployed immediately. * Fallone is unable to help but smiling at Jess, and nodding. * Scratch scans the faces of the rest of the group and nods. Understood. Back to my original questions, who wiped them out, and how? As we don't have your suits tailored yet, you'll have to do the best you can with what we have available. We should be able to fit... most of you. * Crow waves negligently. "I'll be fine in what I'm wearing." * Scratch nods. "Yes, sir. Understood, sir." You... right. * Crow smiles. I'm sure it won't be a problem. At 600 hours this morning we received reports of an unregistered awakened manifesting in a hospital located in the Spanish province. * Crow leans back, once again apparently not paying attention as he stares through his too-long bangs at the ceiling. Authorities attempted to bring him into custody when he became violent, attack and wounding three police offices and escaping onto the streets. * Fallone taps her notebook with a pen and hmmms. * Tanya nods, taking it in. * Scratch absorbs the information, staring directly towards the Colonel. He was chased down to an old abandoned church where in our team arrived on location 2 hours ago and prepared to deploy. However, we met with more resistance than we were expecting. This awakened has obviously had military training. We're not yet sure by who. The name he used at the hospital isn't showing up in any of our records. What name was that? What can he do Sir? Ma'am. Is it not inconceivable that such a person would complete such training without being detected? * Crow just continues to stare off into space, breathing slowly. * ColonelHall opens up the file she has in front of her. "Vincent Creed is the name he gave." *write write* * ColonelHall looks over to Scratch. "That's why we're not sure. If we can bring him in alive we can question him and figure out where he came from." Is he still at the Church? * Scratch nods. "Yes, Ma'am." From what we could gather from the feeds, he's had experience with jungle warfare. Making traps and using explosives. Do we have a blueprint of it and/or photos of the surrounding area? Yes, the local authorities have the church surrounded. He can't get out or he'd be taken down by their snipers. What was he doing when he was in the hospital? Yes, you'll be given all that information to review on your way out there. It appears he was looking for treatment for some sort of infection. * Fallone raises an eyebrow. Contagious? We don't believe so. No one at the hospital has shown symptoms of anything, and their blood tests came back clean. He came in direct physical contact with several people there. Infection.... Was he wounded when he came into the hospital? * Fallone doesn't look entirely reassured. He wasn't able to be examined, as scanning for demi DNA is performed before any medical examination can take place. Time is of the essence. Assuming you all agree to go, we'll need to get you on a transport immediately. You can change and review the mission profile on route. Ma'am how long will it take us to get there? Two hours, thirty-seven minutes. Well, let's go then. * Scratch stands and waits to be shown out. "Understood. Leave it to us." He salutes, "Sir!" Then let's go. * GeneralIronside salutes in return. Make us proud. * Fallone nods, and closes her notebook with a certain amount of precision, placing it in her backpack. * Cara rises from her chair. "Hopefully this won't take too long. I've got homework to do tonight." We will, sir. *offers the General a sort of tentative, sketchy salute.* * Jess grabs Crow and just starts for the door. "No time to lose!" If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the landing pad. Your supplies should already be loading as we speak. * Tanya stands up * Crow sits up lazily, and flows to his feet in the same motion that he scoops up his bow and quiver of suction-cup tipped arrows. "I assume a standard sidearm will be waiting for those of us who use such on the transport?" * Crow is grabbed about mid-way through that, and follows, grinning good-naturedly. * Scratch turns in place and strides out of the room. * Tanya follows the crew out * Fallone takes the rear again. * ColonelHall leads the group back to the lift, scanning her card on the reader. *While waiting* This is proving to be an eventful day... Exciting, isn't it? It's only getting better. Those in the control area eye the group nervously. Major Rose sits at a desk overlooking the floor. She salutes as they pass. "Good luck!" Thanks! We'll be back for dinner, so keep it warm for us! * Scratch nods. "Ma'am." * Fallone looks at Rose and sort of half smiles. *to herself* yeah... we'll need it * ColonelHall closes the doors as soon as the group is inside. "Landsite B-12." The lift beeps and begins moving. We will do well! I know it! * Scratch nods. "We have been preparing for this for some time. I am confident we will succeed." I'm sure it will be fine. * Fallone shrugs a little, lost in through, sits at the back of the lift. I dunno. We're being rushed in, almost no time for planning, no real information on the target.... He's a demi, but we weren't told what his demi abilities, if any, are. * Crow shrugs. "We've got 2 hours of travel time with a full briefing. We'll be fine. After all, we're not some bunch of experienced marines." Yes, as suggested that more information will be made available en route. For now we should remain calm. * Jess smiles and tries to group hug every one at once. "I know we will do well!" * Crow hugs back. ^_^ * Fallone manages to avoid the hug, thank goodness. * Tanya hugs back slightly * Jess let's the group hug drop and then tackle hugs Fallone in one fell swoop. "You too silly!" * ColonelHall deftly avoids any sort of hugging situation. * Scratch remembers something he read in a book once and pats Jess on the shoulder two times for exactly three-quarters of a second each and nodding. Nnn! * Fallone stumbles, trying to get out of the way again. The lift counts down to the appropriate level, opening up onto a hall lined with numbered doors. It leads straight out to a set of large numbered doors like the ones you first entered the tower through. The Colonel wastes no time heading to these doors and once again scanning her ID card, the doors beep and open onto a large landing platform. * Cara finds a wall to lean against, lest Fallone use her as a barrier between Fallone and Jess. * Crow follows! He's almost in the lead, this time. * Fallone is relieved... makes a note to keep Cara well-positioned in this way in the future. * Jess skips out fling her hair back. * Tanya follows, about midway in the group. * Fallone looks about again, enjoying the new scenery she's been seeing all day. * Scratch enters the platform area, scanning for any incoming transportation. Scattered about the platform are aircrafts of various shapes and sizes as well as vehicles stacked with various boxes filled with supplies and weapons and various other substances. * Crow tugs uncomfortably at his collar, but doesn't seem to notice this behavior. Looks like there's enough stuff for more than just us here. * ColonelHall leads the group to a larger military aircraft. It has for large rotary blades on top as well as a set of wings that appear to fold out with a set of large engines underneath. The front end of it opens up into a large cargo area. * Crow laughs. "Yeah, you'd think there was an army base or something." This is where we stage all of our operations from, as well as the transferring of supplies. I wonder if any of these are the extreme measures... Which one are we taking? * Scratch waits for orders. * Crow doesn't actually seem interested in the surroundings. It's the XB-19 Skyshark. It's fully armed with enough cargo space to carry a tactical team of 12. You should have plenty of room. * Tanya looks around, having probably been here once or twice before * Fallone looks at Jess, finding reason to doubt Hall's assurances. YAY! Let's get going! * Scratch nods. "Understood." * Tanya heads into the afore-mentioned transport * Jess skips there humming. She leads the group inside the craft, where several crates are cargo netted to the sides. There's a door in the back that leads to an room with two rows of seats on either side facing each other. There's an open box here with unlabeled armor like you saw in the Techlab in an open box. Next to it is another box with the weapons and communications gear. * Simmons comes in from a door on the far side. * Jess starts to dig through the box looking at stuff. * Crow walks lazily over to the weapons and picks out a gun. After checking it over professionally, he nods, satisfied, and hangs the holster from the valentine’s-day sash holding his quiver. * Fallone looks at the box, then looks around the transport, looking as if she wants to say something for a very brief moment. * Scratch stands next to Fallone, saying nothing. Simmons here will brief you on putting on the gear. You'll be in constant communication with us back here at HQ so don't be afraid to ask any questions that might come up once you arrive. The only stupid questions are the ones left unasked. * Simmons salutes the group. * Scratch nods and barks, "Yes, ma'am!" Hi, Simmons. Pleased to meet you. * Scratch returns the salute. * Tanya nods Welcome! So you guys are the new cannon fodder, are you? * Simmons grins broadly at the group. Yep! None finer. * Fallone looks unamused. Hi! Nice to meet you! Try not to scare them too much before they even get a chance to get shot at. * ColonelHall heads back out the door she came in, shutting in behind her. Thanks for that vote of confidence, Colonel. At least she added the "at". *To Simmons* No, Sir! We are not fodder, Sir! Almost immediately you can feel the blades of the craft begin to move and you can hear the sound of the main bay door closing. Relax soldier, that just what we sky jockeys refer to the jarheads as. Well, not once we can stretch our wings, we're not. * Crow spreads his wings a bit, and tugs at his collar some more. This time aware of the motion. * Jess looks horrified and flips out her compact. "My hair isn't that bad is it?" Yes, Sir. * Fallone takes Jess' distraction as an opportunity to grab a set of armor. So how would you ladies like to do this? Personally, I'd prefer if the ladies stripped down first... I bet you would. *grin* * Fallone flushes. That makes two of us, Mr. Simmons. *grins, too* * Jess giggles. "Scratch, you'd shield us from eyes right?" * Cara politely ignores their comments. It is a bit drafty in here, and I'm sure the gentlemen would like to muster all they can... * Simmons still has the big stupid grin on his face. * Scratch blinks, not understanding. "... Pardon?" Or there's always the bathroom here you can change in on at a time. If you still believe in that modesty junk. * Tanya looks around. Is there a changing screen anywhere? Ah. * Scratch walks over to procure one of the generic suits. Finding one close to his size, he faces and wall and proceeds to disrobe. Scratch! We have a bathroom! * Tanya heads over to the box, finding something her size, and starts changing as well. * Simmons eyes Scratch. "Well that's the spirit!" * Fallone covers her eyes. * Scratch , without stopping, he puts on the suit one leg at a time. "Yes?" * Crow holds up one wing in front of the girls, shielding poor Scratch from their lecherous eyes. Coincidentally, there's a place between the pinion feathers that they can peek, if they choose. Now I've been instructed to keep your collars on until we land. * Fallone heads over to the indicated water closet to change, still half-covering her eyes, muttering to herself. Understandable. * Cara guards the restroom door just in case someone should get a bright idea or two. I haven't had the pleasure of being fully briefed on the full specs of the control device yet, but I'll try not to hit the wrong button and blow any of your heads off. ... You guys heal don't you? * Scratch buttons/zips/ties/etc. everything in place and turns around from facing the wall of the vehicle to look for Fallone, however she's already left. "Yes? Ah..." Some of us better than others. * Fallone muffled exclamation from the bathroom that sounds as unamused as her expression had been. * Fallone finishes changing and holds the door for Cara, presuming she's going to avail herself as well. The suit fits Scratch rather well. It's a bit loose in some parts as he doesn't quite have the chest of most marines but it's a workable fit. * Scratch flexes his arms and stretches his legs inside the suit, feeling it's weight. It's a close enough fight for now. * Cara goes into the restroom herself to change. Not that she doesn't trust any of you or anything. * Tanya steps out from behind Crow's wing as she adjusts her chest piece * Fallone leans next to the door. Not exactly like she's guarding it, but... Yeah. * Jess goes to get change. * Simmons looks over to Crow. "I don't believe we have any suits with holes big enough for your wings, however you can wear the pants separate and we have a vest you can wear over your chest." Unless of course you'd prefer to keep the diaper look. *To Simmons* Yes, Sir. However medical kits could be of use. Nah, I'll be fine. Thanks, though. ... If you insist. You might change your mind after getting shot a couple times though. * Crow actually doesn't have a diaper on, just white slacks. Neatly pressed, too. * Scratch takes a seat inside the cargo area and for the first time in a long time, leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His face is turned downward at the floor and he says nothing. * Cara , after making a few squeaks while putting the armor on, comes out with her hair slightly tussled. You girls look good in that. *smiles, oddly not leering* Hey, we've lived together for the last few months. You ought to know how I look in anything. * Fallone mutters something that might almost be construed as "thank you", and hurriedly goes over to make-busy with the guns, but doesn't look displeased at the compliment. * Cara doesn't seem particularly bothered with the new wardrobe. "So, what about the rest of this stuff?" The smaller girls have a harder time fitting fully into their suits. Of course there are woman marines but most of them are of the larger variety. Everything fits well enough to be workable however. * Crow just hums at Tanya's comment, and smiles at Fallone's back for a moment before turning back to Simmons, seconding Cara's question. * Simmons briefs the group on properly equipping their communications gear, and which pockets on the suit are best used for what. * Tanya heads over to the other crates, and looks through them, selecting a suitable pistol and one of the "spy kits". * Fallone does her best to tuck the excess suit material into the belt. * Fallone looks kind of dubiously at the pistols. Tanya finds a smaller, much more compact version than the one she was shown in the lab. I'm... not much good with these... *holds one up between two fingers, by the butt.* * Scratch checks his comm unit and stows it properly from his seat against the wall. * Fallone stows the other gear, of course. Comm unit, medkit, and the like. Then you probably shouldn't use one. I've been telling you to visit the firing range, Fallone. *gently chiding tone* * Tanya sets her comm unit in her ear. Well normally I'd instruct you to deal with it but I imagine you'll be slinging fireballs or bats that turn into ninjas or whatever so the sidearm is purely optional. * Fallone shrugs and puts the gun back down. "It's just too dull..." * Jess smiles at every one looking around. Also Jess, I was instructed to give you this. * He hands her a small black box. * Cara takes various gear and stows it away. "I don't think I'll be able to use this gear most of the time, but it will be nice to fall back on." * Jess blinks and opens the box smiling. It should help you with your card things. Keep them from flying all over the place during combat. It'll clip right onto your belt. Still, I don't know what you see in those cards. All I've been able to figure out to do with them is lose money betting... * Fallone is looking less irate, but mostly because she's just going to the trouble of trying to hide it now. * Jess smiles. "Would you like to see?" Will it involve a smoking hole in the side of the aircraft? Yeah, if you want to know how to build a killer deck, Jess is your girl. She really enjoys it, too. It might involve a smoking hole in your ability to process cognizant thought, for a few hours. * Tanya smiles sweetly, and refrains from commenting, pulling a single card from a small deck that... where was she hiding that? * Cara tugs on the fabric of her armor here and there to get it to settle right before settling in a seat. That doesn't sound good. I'll probably be needing that at some point. *grins at Fallone* * Fallone just smiles tightly and bites back remarks. So, Mr. Simmons...if that IS your real name...what're we up against? The ride in the craft is surprisingly smooth. Most of you have been standing since take off and haven't hardly been jostled at all, not even when the craft switched to jets. * Tanya holds up the card. "The Sun. I think we'll be victorious today." Well they keep telling me it's my real name. My mom gets real mad when I keep suggesting I was adopted. * Tanya puts the deck back. I don't think it would. And uh yeah, you probably would like to know what you're shooting at I guess. Please. * Fallone sits down and listens attentively. If you'll have a seat, we'll bring down the screens and we'll show you what we have. * Scratch brings up his face to pay attention. Yes, I would...ooh more movies! * Tanya sits, adjusting her belt * Cara is already sitting, so she just turns to face the screen, or whatever it is she should be looking at. * Simmons hits a button on the side and a screen slides down in the middle. It's the same material you watched the movie on in the Techlab. When it lights up, the image is viewable from either side. * Crow lounges, laying his quiver and bow on the floor. Incidentally, his gun joins them, since it's hooked to the sash that holds the quiver. Blue prints come up of a church. There're four bell towers, one in each corner. It's roughly rectangular, with the main hall taking up most of the floor space. There're halls down either side leading into a number of rooms as well as larger rooms in the back. It's shown on two floors. oooooh. It's pretty! We believe the target to be moving about the upper floors. It's an old structure and not exactly up to code. It's at least 2-300 years old. Probably more. He's placed traps in the bell towers and front doors, no doubt. How not up to code? Where is our drop? Our team went in the front door here, *he indicates on the plans* Spreading in a searching pattern. It was 15 minutes after entry that they were attacked and things became rather chaotic. * Crow zones out, staring at Fallone or Cara, probably. Well it's been declared a monument, so it's pretty much been left to stand and decay. I'm assuming they were issued similar comm gear. Do we have video footage of the attack from their cameras? Yes, we'll get to that in a second. Sir? Would we be in trouble if it goes poof? * Fallone glances at Crow, goes back to watching Simmons or the screen. * Cara is deep in thought, so she doesn't notice Crow. We'll be in trouble if it "goes poof" while we're still in it. It should be structurally sound to not collapse on its own. And I don't he intends to crush himself. * Scratch nods. "Is there an acceptable amount of incurable collateral damage?" I think the Spanish authorities would prefer you didn't destroy their church. And I think the soldiers still alive inside would agree with that. It's so beautiful. I want it to stand. Then there's still some soldiers alive? ... I hope so. Are our orders to retrieve or exterminate? * Fallone nods. Retrieve. They might be used as hostages, should things go south for them. There are two entrances to the first floor. The main entrance in front, and a smaller door in the back. He might, with rehabilitation, be as useful as we are. On the right-hand side there's a basement entrance. He'll first have to answer a lot of questions, I imagine. Anyway, that's not my job to worry about. * Jess grins happily. "I'm sure my Mystical Fairy Force Elf of The Sparkling Light can take care of the traps!" * Scratch shakes his head. "..." I'm sure that... You use that card? Always seemed like it cost too much mana to bring out... I should probably go in first. I'll locate our target and the marines. If they're alive, I'll free them. You shouldn't go in alone. I'll search for him while you look for them. * Scratch nods. "Understood." Best for you if you do it incognito. Sounds good. Oh but it's part of the Shining Guardians Set, if you get it and the others out on the field you can then transform them into the Avenging Guardian of Justice. I'm subtle. *says the man in the garishly red and pink and white cupid suit* You're going to just... walk in there? Through the walls, more than likely. I will wait for your signal in the event that I am needed. I'm not walking. And the rest of us? I'll keep Cara company then! I'll wait with Scratch. I'm not much for the subtle arts. Oh... Oh god... * Scratch nods. * Crow smiles at Scratch. "Your signal will likely be explosions going off. We'll probably need help then. Otherwise, we'll just call for you over the comm. It shouldn't take long." How close are we, anyway, Simmons? Understood. * Fallone realizes she will be waiting with Jess. * Simmons looks at Jess again, yeah but that takes at least 5 turns to bring out. Mike has this quick death deck that nukes me in three turns unless I work specifically to stop it... Jess, once we've found them, they'll probably show on your mat. And uh... We should probably talk about this later. Hit our target with a direct damage card, if you can. * Simmons scratches the back of his head nervously. Are you sure he won't see you coming? This ... *gestures at the transport* ... isn't exactly the most subtle means of arrival. It doesn't work that way Tanya. Your player is against the baddie not me then. I have to be in the battle... Actually... if you turn off our collars a bit early, I can get everyone's suits fitting properly, and start surveillance as soon as we're within a couple klicks. Uh... I'll have to ask on that. * Scratch gives a soft groan at that. Surveillance how? We already have satellite tracking as well as people on the scene. Do we have the comm-vids? Oh right, I'll pull those up for you... * Crow looks at Simmons oddly. "You'll see." * Simmons hits a couple buttons. On the display is a feed from a helmet mounted camera. "L. Black" displays in the bottom left corner. * Jess tugs on Fallone's sleeve. * Fallone looks at Jess. As we wait can I practice casting on you? I don't often get to do it... Practice? If you can, I'd love to see it. Go ahead. * Scratch takes note of Jess' conversation, looking up to watch. Maybe he'll have to deal with this at home sometime... Well...I just want to make sure I'm ready and my cards all go back into my deck when a fight starts... You see him enter the building, following tightly with his unit. He scans the first room, a large room with a set of double doors leading into the main chapel on the far side. On either side there's another door that leads to a hallway and stair access. Two marines split off to either side and four continue on to the main door. I... *glances at screen, then back at Jess, sighs* ...alright... Just be careful, for goodness sake. * Fallone attends to the screen Which one is our squad commander? As the doors open, the camera scans around the room, rows of empty pews line the chapel, leading up to a large dais up front. The only natural lighting is from a few unpatched holes in the ceiling. Most of the light comes from the flashlight mounted on the marines rifles. * Tanya watches Two marines head down the main aisle and two split off one to either side. You can tell from the feed that spiders have had their way with the place. There are cobwebs everywhere. Huge elaborate spiraled patterns connecting every piece of furniture with every surface of the walls. Hope nobody's afraid of spiders. The commander is the one in front there. Lieutenant Clay. * Fallone nods. * Scratch studies that unit's movements and compares it to texts and exercises he'd had in training. * Cara just continues to watch, trying to absorb as much information as she can. * Fallone pays more attention to the surroundings than the soldiers. She's seeing if she can spot the traps before they go off. The camera shifts back to the doors they came in from as the suddenly swing closed. There's a yell from behind and it swings back around to where Lt. Clay was moments ago but now there's only blackness. Rifle fire goes off to the left and the focus shifts up to the ceiling just as a pew swings down taking out the main POV. It crumbles and falls to the floor, most of the room can still be seen but is clouding up with smoke. Most of the feeds at this point were obscured by what appears to be several smoke grenades going off. We can confirm that at least three of them are dead as their vitals dropped to 0 before the transponders were removed. "Removed"? Not just disabled? Yes. Even if the marine is dead, the signal will still bounce and we'd be able to ping its location. Who ever this guy is knew that and disabled all the devices. They were taken out systematically, one by one. Okay. That's a positive sign. Only eight marines. The rest of the unit is surrounding the area, I take it? * Jess looks around. "That's bad, right?" Understood. Those 8 were specialists. Trained specifically to combat your kind. They had their unit supervisor overseeing the operation. We have photos of the surrounding area? And do we have any visuals of our target? One thing of note, before his feed was severed, one of the marines was showed being dragged up some stairs. It wasn't until the top that the camera was removed. We believe he was taken into one of the upper rooms, possibly for interrogation. The best we have are blurred photographs of a shadowy figure moving around. Not even hospital surveillance cameras from where he was first detected? He pulls up a couple images of a tattered brown coat with arms and legs moving through the smoke. Yes, although that's not much help either. We'll be the judges of that. Show them, please? He pulls up a video recorded from the hospital. The same brown coat is accompanied by a brown hat. The body never looks up and keeps the coat closed tightly around the body at all times. * Fallone shivers. * Jess blinks at this frowning. The DNA scanners at the door picked him up immediately. he definitely doesn't want to be seen by cameras. Did anyone at the hospital give a description of him? I'm not sure how reliable it is, but she said his face was blurry and shadowy. All she could make out was one glowing green eye. He never looked directly at anyone. Just demanded some medical supplies to treat an 'infection'. * Crow nods absently. Cliche mysterious bad guy. Yay. Sounds like it wouldn't have helped much if the cameras caught him regardless. It depends. Cameras can sometimes see things that fool the human eye, but in this case, I think you may be right. The feed continues showing him talking to one of the nurses, keeping his head down. Shortly, a pair of security guards walk over to grab him. One is flung immediately across the room. The other has his face slashed and he immediately goes down. The nurse screams and is immediately gutpunched and she too crumples to the floor. Of course there is no sound for any of this. He's a bad man. A very bad man! There. Was that a weapon? * Fallone bites her knuckle and finds herself unconsciously mimicking Crow's gesture, tugging at her collar. He looks to be about 5'6 possibly as much as 5'8. He is rather hunched over. Strong little fellow though. Superior strength, obviously. And what Scratch asked. * Simmons hits another button bringing up the freeze frame of the attack. It appears to be just his hand, though slightly deformed hitting the guard in the face. Ouch. I see... Crow, Tanya...Be careful? We will be. The guard is in critical condition. It didn't appear he was trying to seriously injure the nurse though. She was able to recover and tell us what she saw. * Crow laughs lightly. I'll be fine. I hope the guard will be. Poor guy. then...he's not that bad. Once we've located him... Fallone, Cara, Scratch, do you think you can take him? Oh yeah. I'm burning with anticipation. Being incapable is out of the question. I can weaken him... I think I'd better weaken him rather than strengthen you. And Jess, how close do you need to be? * Simmons pulls up the live feeds from outside the church. I..I need to see him and need to know that it's a fight I'm in. Is a live surveillance camera good enough, or do you need to be in the church with us? Umm... I think I need to be with you I think. In that case, go in with Scratch's team and enter the combat yourself. Don't let him come to you. The church appears to be on a hill. From the angles you can see there's a graveyard on the northwest side. The main door faces to the east, with the basement access to the north. The nearest building is a good 30 yards away. We can do that then. Right team? * Scratch nods. Crow, you go in through the belfry. I'll take the basement. Sounds like a plan. The rest of you, be careful going in. Chances are, he's had time to reset his traps... if they were traps and not his demi abilities. I'm careful. * Crow stands up and stretches, bending backwards to crack his back a bit, flexing his wings. He puts on his quiver and bow again. "I'll take care of any traps I can find." Same. * Jess smiles. "I'm sure my Mystical Fairy Force Elf of The Sparkling Light will protect us!" He's likely to have disarmed the marines as well, so he'll have rifles and shotguns as well as pistols with plenty of spare rounds. Not to mention grenades... Understood. Crow, Tanya, if anything happens, but you haven't been found, report back. I won't wait for you to stop responding if I think there's trouble. * Crow brushes his hair back out of his eyes, rubbing it vigorously with both hands for a moment before letting it fall back into place. A few downy feathers fall out and litter the floor. "Nothing I've not been hit with before. ...well, the grenades were paint bombs." Sure thing, Scratch. Don't get yourself hurt. You know he can't hurt me. * Simmons eyes Crow a bit awkwardly at that. These aren't going to be toys. * Fallone stares at Simmons as he's staring at Crow, but not long enough to be noticed. One thing... any gas grenades among the weaponry? * Scratch might be smirking, but when has that ever happened? "It is not necessarily you that requires worry." There's a full range of grenades. Smokes, flashbangs, frag, stuns... The marines had them all. Tear gas? Nerve gas? * Tanya is looking slightly worried. Anything else? Like a remote control for our collars, like you have? They wouldn't have something like that. The collars they have with them to apprehend the awakened activate as soon as they're put on. They don't get fancy ones like yours till they get back to the island. Speaking of which... * Simmons digs down in the box that had all the gear. "We have two for you guys incase you get a chance to put it on him. You can decide who carries them." * Crow holds out a hand. Crow and Scratch, I think, should have them. * Simmons hands one over. * Scratch raises no objection. * Simmons nods and hands the other one over to Scratch. * Crow examines it, seeing how it differentiates from ours. * Scratch stows the collar in a pouch at his waist. * Jess nods eyeing the thing... "umm won't that mean he could put one or two on us?" How many did the marines have with them? It's smaller and sleeker. It's designed to only have only one function. If he's got to where he can put that on any of us, Jess, we'll be in so much trouble, it won't be likely to matter. Well, they're nicer looking than ours. They had three I believe. Note to self, grab those collars. Remember it has to go around the neck. If it's not directly above the spinal column it won't have any affect. It is unlikely that he would be expecting a team of demis to meet him. He may have destroyed the collars or simply ignored them and left them with the marines. * Crow nods, as if he knew that already. * Simmons checks his watch. "It should be another hour before we touch down. If there are no further questions, I'll leave you all to prepare yourselves. I'll be relaying your comms back to the main base. I should go make sure I'm all set up for that." Have fun. Yeah. Non-stop party in the UAF. * Cara examines her standard-issue gun. "I'll be ready." * Jess smiles. "We'll be ready." * Fallone fidgets with her pants. You... wanted your collar off? To set up? * Simmons looks over to Crow. Yes, please. ^_^ Okay... I'm under orders not to, but you all seem nice enough. I think we could all use some time with them turned off, to get used to things again. Just don't do anything that'll get me fired. * Scratch goes back to his relaxed position on the bench, leaning forward on his knees. We won't tell if you don't. ^_~ Sir, if possible, I would prefer that mine stay active a bit longer... Alright, I have the controls up in comms... *turns to leave and stops* Yours? Uh, okay. Anyone else want it left on? No. * Simmons scans the group. Alrighty. I'll beep you guys when they're off. Thank you! *Jess moves to give him a big hug* Quick, run! * Simmons heads out the door, shutting it behind him. * Crow rolls his eyes at Fallone. * Fallone smiles faintly. * Crow smiles back. * Simmons doesn't hardly notice as the door shutting stops Jess short. * Jess shrugs and just instead throws her arms around Fallone, tightly holding her neck in a hug. Nnn! * Fallone struggles backwards. * Crow laughs at the two girls. [End session]