Are we Heroes: The New Guard [IC]

[The Cyberiad Council]

Allan Crane, aka Overgrowth

"Really?" Allan asked as he flexed his powers. The villain must have not noticed the wall of plants forming all around them, vines carpeting the ground with woody trunks forming a barrier farther behind. The range on Allan's powers let him manipulate plants over a football field away. Aiming his powers a little ahead of the motorcycle, he caused the vines to snap up from the ground, getting tangled in the wheels while larger, more sturdy root-like growths wrapped around the main body of the bike, and its riders.

Using a more conscious control of his abilities, Allan grew dozens of small vines to pin their arms in place, or in Tenebrous' case, wrap them to the handlebars. "You shouldn't have given me time to lay traps for you if you were going to run," Allan shouted.

"Vector, can you secure them?" Allan asked as Floran unraveled, letting him step inside. The green gundam broke into an almost run, its long 'legs' allowing him to close the distance only slightly slower than an unencumbered man. All the while, more and more vines were swarming the duo. Unfortunately, Allan had to tap into another water main, but it was still small potatoes compared to the rest of the damage the city had suffered.

[Triassica]

Filia "Tenebrous" Umbrarum

As the thief drove on away from the heroes, Filia glanced at Wraith as she clung onto her for dear life. Yes, this was quite abrupt, but Tenebrous did not like being told that she was under arrest when she didn't do anything. Before Filia could say anything, however, the motorcycle came to an abrupt stop as it got tangled unexpectedly into Overgrowth's large and terrible vines. "Well I should have expected that. I'm smarter than this." Tenebrous said in disappointment and self criticism, but not quite bothered, "Oh well, guess it won't be by motorcycle that we'd be leaving..."

The cat burglar glanced around at the growing plants, pinning her down to the bike, blocking her from the sun. Soon enough both herself and her companion were covered in the vines dark shadows. "Hang onto to me love." Filia said quietly to Wraith, still holding onto her, "Got another trick on me. Warning though... most people would vomit the first time."

Without any further warning, both girls would feel a jolt and a twist before the world around them was engulfed in utter darkness. Their bodies would twist slightly before jolting upward and being engulfed again in the faint light of the clouded sun, with solid asphalt beneath their feet. Both girls would find themselves in a dark alleyway between two large buildings, some far away from the heroes. "That'll confuse them for about five seconds." said Tenebrous, looking around, finding that they were near a bar, "Any ideas from you of where we should go... Drinks, perhaps?"

Tenebrous suddenly remembered and turned back to Wraith. "Also, sorry about that. Negotiations was off the table once they said I was actually under arrest. I don't like wearing handcuffs thank you. Not that they're not easy to break out of..."

[Holy Lykos]

Finnbar "Wolfhound" O'Setanta

And for all that preparation and readiness, the whole debacle seemed to be over in mere moments. "Ach. The fuck just happened?" Finnbar shouted, throwing his hands into the air in frustration. "Gods, can people never just give me a chance to fight them?"

He sighed, trying to steady his breathing. No point getting pissed over something so trivial. "Did ya get them at least, plant boy?" He stepped forward, ready to jump in in case they in fact had gotten away. Not that it seemed likely, a wall of vines was a hard trap to avoid.

[Sraelyn]

Johan Vermaak
Vektor

"Johann, if tis comes ta blows, Ai've got your back."
"Much obliged. And I've got yours bru. Hopefully there won't be need for that tho." Yet it seemed that it would end that way. The standoff was getting more tense by the second. Everything was leading to a potential showdown with the outmanned Wraith and Tenebrous. Violence seemed to be the way most things ended up in this line of work, and his blood was pumping once again in anticipation. Suddenly, Tenebrous threw something to the ground, and then everything erupted into darkness.

"HAVE TO CATCH US FIRST!" She said as a motorcycle roared and took off. Trying to hear in which direction she had escaped, Johan rushed after them. However a car previously obscured by the smoke appeared suddenly in front of him. Swerving as hard as he could to the left, his right side still smashed against it. He half spinned, clutching his side, and bearing the pain he continued his persuit, now able to properly see the two escapees on the motorcycle. He accelerated behind them, gaining ground as they dodged the debris on the road, until a wall of vines grew from the asphalt, trapping them.

"Vector, can you secure them?"
"I'm on it boss." As he was about to reach the tangled mess of plant machine and women, a mass of shadow converged on them. And in an instant, they were gone.

"Damn! They've teleported away or some shit. I don't have a visual on them. But they should be close by, I'll keep looking."
He surged through the nearby streets and alleys, scouring for the pair. Tenebrous had mentioned a certain 'Doorman', and how they seemed to be behind the body snatching. The villian had some information, and he was perfectly willing to talk about it behind Argus' back, and even let them go if said info was good enough. A survivor was worth a hundred dead heroes at this point. The only problem was finding out where the pair would be hiding.

[Okayanos]

Alaric Kirin
Shine

"Definitely teleportation, or something comparable." Shine confirms. "Good news is, Argus is going to try and get some people over to us. With all four of us testifying, Wraith will get officially classed as a villain, so the wrath of god'll come down on her and all that. And more than that, Argus'll put her civvie identity out to the public, so that the threat's easier to deal with. If, uh, you're throwing a team together-" He points at Allan. "-could always try and go after this on your first mission. Cat burglar and traitor aren't too bad, danger-wise. From what I saw, they're just a teleporter and some kind of marksman."

He rubs the chin of his mask, a habit picked up some time ago. "I'd have to get back to my partner after getting out of here, but I can see if we can help you and your new team out, Plant Kid."

With their usual convenient, dramatic timing, armored soldiers of Argus finally show up on the scene. "You four, report to the Field Office after you're finished with evac." The leader of the soldiers orders after confirming Shine's identity. "You'll have to officially record your witness reports against Wraith and Tenebrous for filing. Squad-" The leader turns to the others who'd come with him- only 5 visible soldiers. "-spread out and find evac. Confirm deceased supers, and assume any missing have been taken by the Doorman."

[Parcia]

Filia "Tenebrous" Umbrarum

As the thief drove on away from the heroes, Filia glanced at Wraith as she clung onto her for dear life. Yes, this was quite abrupt, but Tenebrous did not like being told that she was under arrest when she didn't do anything. Before Filia could say anything, however, the motorcycle came to an abrupt stop as it got tangled unexpectedly into Overgrowth's large and terrible vines. "Well I should have expected that. I'm smarter than this." Tenebrous said in disappointment and self criticism, but not quite bothered, "Oh well, guess it won't be by motorcycle that we'd be leaving..."

The cat burglar glanced around at the growing plants, pinning her down to the bike, blocking her from the sun. Soon enough both herself and her companion were covered in the vines dark shadows. "Hang onto to me love." Filia said quietly to Wraith, still holding onto her, "Got another trick on me. Warning though... most people would vomit the first time."

Without any further warning, both girls would feel a jolt and a twist before the world around them was engulfed in utter darkness. Their bodies would twist slightly before jolting upward and being engulfed again in the faint light of the clouded sun, with solid asphalt beneath their feet. Both girls would find themselves in a dark alleyway between two large buildings, some far away from the heroes. "That'll confuse them for about five seconds." said Tenebrous, looking around, finding that they were near a bar, "Any ideas from you of where we should go... Drinks, perhaps?"

Tenebrous suddenly remembered and turned back to Wraith. "Also, sorry about that. Negotiations was off the table once they said I was actually under arrest. I don't like wearing handcuffs thank you. Not that they're not easy to break out of..."

Wraith

She had been ready to pop a Corrosive arrow head to burn through the growing foliage when she heard what sounded like reality bending at the seems.

She found her self falling a solid 8 feet and landing on the ground, smashing her had on the concrete. Her helmet took a good portion of the impact, but her HUD lit up with warning messages and critical alerts. From what she could gather, through the now blinding haze of pain and the growing feeling to vomit. She got on to her hands and knees, ripped off her helmet, and threw up the contents of her Stomache.

She reached up shakily and felt the torn skin and bits of bone that all sat in a way that they shouldn't. "Skull fracture...that...is unpleasant." She crawled over to the wall and sat up against it. Her vision slowing growing more red as the wound began to properly bleed. She looked up to Filia, her unnatural skin and hair color in the dim light from the entrance of the alley way.

"Bless your heart dear, that was fun...but stupid...Look...I like you, you got spunk, i can respect that. But I need to not be reclassified as a villain and running off with you is not going to help me in that respect." She paused, tossing her a business card for Tex Machanica that was mostly a decoy, but had a phone number written in purple ink on the back.

She then took a pack of Marlboro, lit one, and took a drag. "I'v got maybe one minuet or so before this." She tapped the bleeding head wound. "Likely makes me pass out, when that does, my suit is going to throw up an automatic Distress call to any Argus sanctioned Heroes and agents in a 5 mile radius, so if you don't want to be cuffed, you need to book it."

She took another drag, starting to relax as the nicotine, as well as the emergency sedative the suit was pumping in to her blood stream to keep her calm, began to kick in. "It was fun, Filia, call me later."

Turns out her timing was rather off, as soon as she said that, she nodded right off, slumping over slightly, leaving the cig to hang in her lips.



Over the Argus issued radio channel, a automated message would blare.

ALERT ALERT, Argus Sanctioned asset "WRAITH" is requesting assistance, this is an automated signal generated by a loss of consciousness and possible medical emergency, GPS coordinates to fallow, this message will repeat.

[Triassica]

Filia "Tenebrous" Umbrarum

Filia turned immediately as Wraith collapsed onto the floor, clearly injured from both the chase and the teleportation. She cursed under her breath, regretting everything as the cat burglar tried to help the other woman onto her feet. However, Tenebrous as forced to step back quickly was Wraith took off her helmet and puked inside it.

"Sorry girl..." Filia muttered, nodding regretfully as she saw the damage she has done to her new found friend, "That could have gone much better than it did, but I got reckless..."

However, when Wraith pointed out that a distress call will go off once she passes out, Filia knew now was the time to flee. "You make sure you get yourself checked out." Tenebrous replied, reaching for a grappling gun at her left side, "See you around when you feel better and look better, hot stuff."

And no moment after that, Filia aimed her gun and shot out a grappling hook onto one of the tall buildings. Just as Wraith's alarm went off, the cat burglar launched herself into the air, pulled towards the target building and landing spectacularly onto the roof with a flip. "Hope I'll see you around anyway..." Filia noted as she ran while the heroes below arrived, running and jumping across rooftops, before jumping down into another alleyway and vanishing in the darkness.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

While the sun was setting on the West coast, the Eastern Seaboard was already covered in scattered lights that traced out civilization's fingerprint. All of it was visible from the Olympus which looked down from on high. The view gave Adrian hope for his vision, and only served to strengthen his resolve to see it though. At that moment, however, he wasn't looking at the world below. The villain walked through the narrow metal corridors of the ship until the passageway opened up into something of a command room.

Several faced turned to look at him. The Pantheon, his gods to control. Yaldabaoth's escapade had made them hopeful, and now it was time to capitalize on that.

"Mimir, are the heroes still occupied?"

"Yep," the young man replied, his left eye glowing a soft orange. "The big hitters are just starting to leave."

Sol Invictus nodded, formulating a plan in his head. "Then this would be the perfect time to strike. Does everyone know their targets?" he asked, looking around the table in the center of the room where most of the Pantheon was gathered, as well as the ones that stood around the perimeter. "Incase any of you forgot: Amalthea here is going striking out on her own to solidify her seat on Olympus. She'll be attacking the Tex Mechanica with minimal drone support from Vulcan to keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, Svarog, Hodr, and Set will pay Daedalus Technologies a visit. Ares, Osiris, and Tezcatlipoca will target Gencore, leaving Chernobog, Cernunnos, Proioxis, and Myself to make Argus hurt."

"Will I get to know anything about the texan mechanics?" Amalthea asks, in a surprisingly quiet, slightly rasping voice- the kind that belongs to someone who doesn't speak often. Her French accent still bleeds through heavily. "Or will I have to, how is it... aller à l'aveugle?"

The newest member has left herself on the outer edge of the room, leaning with her back against the wall and her hooves crossed. It's probably important to establish at this point that Amalthea is a goat woman. Two furry legs, one horned head, the works. Her torso is still human, but covered by one of her buttoned-up jackets. The only covering on her legs is something like a bikini bottom, black and almost blending into her dark fur. Her head is left as it is. She'd figured that going more unclothed would be unfitting for an important team meeting.

"I'll guide you on your way in, and give you any information you need along the way," Vulcan spoke up in his dulcet tone, flashing white teeth. Sol Invictus nodded, "You'll be razing their weapons office to the ground while giving Vulcan access to their system."

"And I'll keep a lookout from here," Mimir said with a grin.

"Oh. That sounds easy." Amalthea replies, barely registering the connotations of 'weapons office'. She's been shot at more times than she can count, and it's never done enough to make her feel it. "Do they have any big weapons that we want to steal? Or is it all just... American? Not to offend, Sol."

Adrian chuckled, "No, we don't need their weapons, but Vulcan needs to to retrieve any of their computers, monitors, keyboards, things like that. An executive or something of the like is preferred, but not paramount. Grab any of those or protect Vulcan's drone while he grabs. It. Everyone else, will do the same at their target locations."

"Ah. Okay." The goat-headed woman holds up her hand in an 'ok' symbol as she says it. Despite appearances, she's been around the group long enough to give them the general sense that she's taking this mission plan more seriously than appearances would suggest.

[Parcia]

The Huntsmen

ALARM ALARM, Argus Sanktioniertes Gut "WRAITH" bittet um Hilfe. Dies ist ein automatisiertes Signal, das durch einen Bewusstseinsverlust und einen möglichen medizinischen Notfall erzeugt wird. GPS-Koordinaten werden brachliegend

Eriwn Sighed. He had heard the call for aid, though he hadn't answered it. He was wanted for the deaths of multiple Argus Agents and several ASET operatives and found it hard to think that they would sanction him off the street.

Even then, he had fallowed an old friend of his in her cute little purple Car.

He had watched her closely, even as the fight with the God went worse and worse. He did notice that she seemed to be collecting a few samples of some kind. He shrugged it off. She had strange habits.

He did take notice of the situation, her being snatched up by the thief and nearly getting in to an automotive accident after Over growth, his old friend from the academy days did his normal trick. As luck would have it, the reality warp the thief executed had dropped her below him in his hiding spot. He watched the two women and ease dropped on their conversation. He smiled, the two seemed to like each other. He liked that she was getting out for once.

He considered her a friend, though he doubted she did the same for him. So when she finally passed out, and the thief left, he descended down from his hiding spot, using his good climbing skills to scale the wall.

Kneeling down next to her, he gave her a once over. He knew of her skeletal fragility, and sighed a she realized just how banged up her head was. Taking a moment to conjur his little black friend, she came to life and squawked. "She seems hurt, friend seems hurt. He nodded. "Go and perch on the light pole across the street, alert me if any other Meta's or Argus forces arrive."

With a Affirmative Squawk, the Raven flew off and took her perch, keeping watch over the street as her master went to work. He knelt down and opened up his little satchel of equipment and set out a few first aid tools. He took a moment to check her pulse and found it to be strong and regular, if a little sluggish. He wiped down her head and face the best he could and unsheathed his knife. Cutting away at the tuffs of hair that were matted down with blood, he found the wound and breathed a sigh of relief. While she had banged her head pretty hard, and cut the skin, form what he could tell she had a cracked Skull rather then a full on fractured one, meaning her chances of survival were good. She had likely just passed out from the heavy concussion combined with the mood calmers her suit had injected in to her.

Not wanting to OD her, he elected to give her a simple mild painkiller in a one use syringe. Taking a moment wipe her off again with a sterile wipe, he brought out some disinfectant gauze and rapped her head with it, making sure to keep it tight and secure. Standing back, he shook his head. "You owe me one Fraulein." He gathered up his various papers and trash in to a nice neat pile and packed up his bag.

Taking a moment to look her over, he sighed once more before grabbing two things. The first was a empty 8mm Shell casing, clean of any distinguishing markings beyond a set of intricate engravings, he tucked it in to her palm before setting his second item, a calling card of sorts he had been using for some time.

and tucked it in to her chest rig, in plain view to any who would find her, and made one last sweep. He had left no finger prints, had disabled any and all security cameras when he had set up, and his Raven hadn't alerted him of any spying eyes. That was until she squawked again."Meta's Approaching master, time to leave." He sighed, her range of detection was a mile, some 10 odd times larger then his 100 meters and he did enjoy the coverage she gave him.

Taking a moment to once again (third time is the charm) check for any other trace of his presence he did not want, he spied the pouch on her rig were she had stashed those vials of what ever she had been collecting. Thinking on his feet, he reached in and removed them all, as well as the swab kit she was using to collect them with. Slipping them in to his own pocket, he turned back to the wall and began to scale it.

He made his way back to the roof quietly and sat back down in his little spot in the darkest of the shadows. While he had no real way of light bending tech, he did upgrade his suit to allow him to mimic the color and tone of the wall around him. Much more primitive and basic then his friends, but enough to allow him to sit in a dark spot and remain hard to detect, combined with his suit not giving off a thermal signature.

With his rifle chambered and loaded, his revolver drawn and ready, he waited, his little Friend giving him updates as the Hero team drew closer.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Jayden Woods, Argus squad leader

"Move on those coordinates, dampeners hot: precaution B," Woods shouted at his squad as the moved from where they had encountered the young heroes. A HUD inside their helmets plotted the course to where the distress call marked. Small sensors mounted around their body gave them 3d awareness while also picking up any and all electromagnetic radiation. Things like that were useful when dealing with superpowers. Of course, something like this could be a trap, or a diversion. So they were careful, and had several of the world's strongest heroes on standby.

After making their way between buildings, the squad entered the alley, and moved towards the unconscious figure with their guns ready to fire. As protocol, they readied a small grenade-like device that glowed with a soft blue light, and rolled it along the ground at Wraith. The short-ranged power dampener would keep her from being anything more than human in case it was all a setup.

[Sraelyn]

Johan Vermaak
Vektor

"Jackpot" Johan was close enough and fast enough to be amongst the first to reach her. The distress call was just another unexpected occurence that followed in the weird chain of events that had happened that day. Manouvering through the streets towards the transmited coordinates, he found Wraith, slumped on the floor against the wall of a building. There was no sight of Tenebrous, and when he moved closer to check her vitals, he saw a team of Argus agents deploying a power dampener.

"This is Vektor." He announced himself to avoid any missunderstandings, and moved closer to check on Wraith.
She was alive yet unconscious, her head was bloody and clearly injured, and someone had tried to apply some sort of first aid on the wound. "She is unconscious and her head seems heavily injured. She might have her skull broken, so bring in a medic. Any of you caught a sight of Tenebrous?"

Johan kneeled next to Wraith. "You don't look so scary without the helmet, huh. I'll make sure you get some proper treatment ma chérie, and then you'll have to explain this whole situation. Hope those DNA samples were worth shattering your skull for. Speaking of which..." He searched her body, trying to move her as little as possible to avoid any further damage. First he removed the array of weapons from her, just in case she suddenly awakened in shock. However, in his quick search he could not find the samples, either she had hidden them, or someone else had taken them. His second finding seemed to indicate towards the latter. It was strange card, engraved with a raven and a skull. Could it be? It was quite a shot in the dark, but he remembered someone from the Institute who liked those particular set of symbols.
"So the Kraut is in town as well, huh?" He said loud enough for the Huntsman to hear if he was close by. "Haven't seen you in a while. Hope you are not involved with the rest of the shit going on."

[The Cyberiad Council]

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

"Its a beautiful night for some mayhem. Isn't it?" Hodr asked as they walked down the middle of the Chicago street towards Daedalus Technologies' headquarters. A gentle unseasonable snow began to fall as cars veered to avoid the three men. "Да!" Svarog replied, reaching out a massive had to one of the stopped cars to his left. The metal glowed red-hot before melting and flowing up his arm as his hand passed by. Set was silent, equal parts not able or willing to speak.

The whine of sirens grew louder as the flashing light of police cars filled the scene. A few of them were equipped with power dampening rifles, but it wouldn't do them much good... Three cars blocked the path of the villains, but before they could even order surrender, a molten ball of slag bowled into the leftmost car, sending it flying back. The center car was hit with a blast of cold, causing a glacier of ice to plow over it, freezing it and its occupants solid. Set charged forward, and the cops opened fire to no effect. Set's body partially transformed as he stretched out his arms. A swift series of strikes quickly dispatched the two boys in blue, and their corpses and car were quickly turned to sand.

Sand swirled around set, making him larger and heavier, while Svarog melted more and more metal to fuel his powers. Hodr simply walked up the icy slope his powers had made before gently dropping down the other side. The trio reached the intersection in front of the DT building, and more cops with some Argus forces swarming towards them. Hodr raised his hands, and blasts of cold shot from his palms. Walls of ice shot up in a half-pipe around them, cutting off the streets in either direction. He extended the two walls forward, slamming them into the base of the tech building.

Guards waited in the lobby of the building, feeling safe with power dampeners active. Svarog and Hodr stopped a few feet away, but Set walked forward, the dampeners not doing anything to stop his powers. His twin Scythes made short work of the guards, their weapons completely useless. Once he was done, he dissolved into a swarm of sand and flew towards the ceiling. The small particles made their way into the complicated electronics of the dampener tech and wreaked havoc.

A second later, and the system switched off. Svarog burst into the building with a shower of glass as more private security came pouring in. The villain's hammer caught one of the men in its arc, and slammed them into the wall with a shower of gore. The remaining guards thought better than to try and fight, instead, they turned tail and ran.

"Bring her down, Svarog!" Hodr shouted to his fiery companion.

Svarog grinned. Hoisting his hammer he began to lay waste to the bottom floor. Set and Hodr helped to expose the metal frame holding the building up, and when they did, Svarog used his powers to turn them into slag. As the support gave away, the massive forces on the building started to make it flex and bend, until with barely any warning, the skyscraper tumbled to the ground...

[Parcia]

Johan Vermaak
Vektor

"Jackpot" Johan was close enough and fast enough to be amongst the first to reach her. The distress call was just another unexpected occurence that followed in the weird chain of events that had happened that day. Manouvering through the streets towards the transmited coordinates, he found Wraith, slumped on the floor against the wall of a building. There was no sight of Tenebrous, and when he moved closer to check her vitals, he saw a team of Argus agents deploying a power dampener.

"This is Vektor." He announced himself to avoid any missunderstandings, and moved closer to check on Wraith.
She was alive yet unconscious, her head was bloody and clearly injured, and someone had tried to apply some sort of first aid on the wound. "She is unconscious and her head seems heavily injured. She might have her skull broken, so bring in a medic. Any of you caught a sight of Tenebrous?"

Johan kneeled next to Wraith. "You don't look so scary without the helmet, huh. I'll make sure you get some proper treatment ma chérie, and then you'll have to explain this whole situation. Hope those DNA samples were worth shattering your skull for. Speaking of which..." He searched her body, trying to move her as little as possible to avoid any further damage. First he removed the array of weapons from her, just in case she suddenly awakened in shock. However, in his quick search he could not find the samples, either she had hidden them, or someone else had taken them. His second finding seemed to indicate towards the latter. It was strange card, engraved with a raven and a skull. Could it be? It was quite a shot in the dark, but he remembered someone from the Institute who liked those particular set of symbols.
"So the Kraut is in town as well, huh?" He said loud enough for the Huntsman to hear if he was close by. "Haven't seen you in a while. Hope you are not involved with the rest of the shit going on."

The Huntsmen


While Erwin wouldn't be tempted to speak and give away his little hiding spot, his bird friend took it upon her self to introduce her self. Flying down and letting loose a squawk, she landed in among the men. While she would be an extension of Erwin, since he was the source of her existence and he was outside the range of the dampener, she remained corporal. She would approach vektor and squawk happily, before uttering a few broken words. "You fast friend, master's old friend." She turned to the passed out Wraith and coowed. "I see good in her, good friend, misunderstood friend. Good friend is hurt, needs help.


Eriwn was...taken back. He was unaware his familiar could speak out like that, or that she could..."sense" things he could not. Perhaps her connection to the Void and her nature as a bound familiar meant she was capable of such things. None the less, he formulated his escape plan. He could make it across the roof in 6 seconds, slide down the latter in 2, and enter the sewer system in another 7 seconds, disappearing in to the tunnel system and being out of site. He even made sure he was covered on both sides by air conditioners and other heavy roof top equipment.

As he did so, he quietly reached for a flash bomb he kept on his belt, ready to toss it down and bolt, it would likely blind their sensors and give him enough time to bolt. As he did this, the Raven spoke again. "They walk In Darkness, Live in Evil, would be cautious with men in Black, fast friend, there is more to the eye then you would know." Her tone of voice and speech pattern would change from that of a light hearted and jittery little bird, to a darker, more female tone, as if some part of the familiar was making it self known.

She fluttered up and perched on Vektor's Shoulder, whispering in that tone of voice. "I would start asking questions about the Black forest raid, friend."

[Okayanos]

Alaric Kirin
Shine

"Can I get a break? Can there be just one break from stupid kids and their dumb shit?" Shine mutters. He reaches out with his Clairvoyance again, looking down from a bird's eye view at the coordinates of Wraith's fall. "Not too far from here... Vektor's on-site. Some... bird too. Hm." The bird sits on Vektor's shoulder, longer than a wild Raven would. Not to mention the fact that there even is a Raven loitering about in a disaster zone- birds shouldn't have come this far in just yet. "Kind of weird." Feedback hums in the back of his mind as he continues to watch- his power letting him know that its time limit is coming up.

He rubs the chin of his mask upon snapping back to the main group. "I'm going- I'm gonna try and meet with Vektor and the Argus team. You lot can follow but I don't think- look, I've got a bad hunch that something's going on. Something more." The masked hero sets off at a jog, leaving Allan and Finn behind without taking a chance to listen to their answers.

His power had taken in details- a lot of them. Most notably, a card with a raven and a skull on it. Now, what kind of crazed, bloodlusted serial killer could that represent?

[WhatsamattaU]

New York, New York

It was a ‘witching hour’ and most of the bars had closed. ‘Bogart’ walked on Florsheim shoes, largely unnoticed, through the streets of New York City. Under a gray trench coat, he wore a Brooks Brother’s suit. Bogart wore a fedora like a crown. Maybe some old movie aficionados might have recognized him, but they’d reason out that it couldn’t possibly really be him. The real Humphrey Bogart had died in 1957.

It had been a foggy night, the lights of Times Square dimly shown through the humidity. Only the struggling ladies and boys of the night remained on the streets. Still, walking the streets was a thrill. Eventually, Bogart left Times square and walked to the New Jersey bound entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. There was a traffic light and he stood next to the post.

Eventually, a little after five a.m., in the distance down 42nd street, the Daedalus Technologies truck drove into view. Bogart knew how much time it would take for the signal to change as he pushed the button for the crosswalk. The light to the tunnel entrance turned red too soon for the driver to run a ‘pink’ light and the truck came to a stop.

The truck driver felt the weight of the cab shift before the left window shattered and he was knocked unconscious. He woke minutes later, handcuffed the frame of the truck’s passenger seat, through a hole in the seat’s upholstery. Looking at the man driving his truck, the shackled driver knew he knew the new driver’s face from somewhere, but he couldn’t think of where. The prisoner knew from looking out of the windshield that they were somewhere in Union City. His attacker soon parked the truck, got out and headed for the rear.

In the side rear view mirror, the prisoner saw a door ripped off the truck’s rear. The prisoner then heard the sound of another truck, but it was in a blind spot and he couldn’t see it. Then the other truck drove off. The driver really had no idea of what was in the crates that had been loaded onto his truck, so he wondered about what had been stolen.

[Sraelyn]

Johan Vermaak
Vektor

"And the gorgeous magical bird brings forth interesting words. Black Forest Raid, huh?" Johan lifted his head, and studied his surroundings, scanning the windows of the buildings around him. He was most likely not going to find the Huntsman, as he was no doubt rather well hidden. He wasn’t really sure what to expect at this point. More things kept happening and the plot seemingly kept getting thicker. He had heard of how Erwin had become an assassin and about his one-man-crusade against Argus. Perhaps there was more to that shift than what he had originally thought.

"I’ll do my best to keep them from stepping over their boundaries with Wraith, but she has some serious explaining to do. If it is true what they say, then there’s not much I can do." He whispered for the raven to hear. "And tell your master that the Boer is willing to hear him out if he has anything worth listening to." He took a small business card form the back pocket of his slacks and discreetly threw it to the ground for the bird to pick up. "Also, I’ll have to inform the agents of his presence, I’m sorry. I can give him 30 seconds of head start, for old times’ sake."

Johan closed his eyes lightly and begun counting down. 5,4,3,2,1… He let out a small sigh, before moving to the leader of the agents and raising his voice.
“I’ve got reason to believe Erwin ´The Huntsman´ Konig is nearby. If you’re planning on finally capturing him, I’d suggest you bring some backup. And what’s the ETA on that bloody medic?”

[Parcia]

Johan Vermaak
Vektor

"And the gorgeous magical bird brings forth interesting words. Black Forest Raid, huh?" Johan lifted his head, and studied his surroundings, scanning the windows of the buildings around him. He was most likely not going to find the Huntsman, as he was no doubt rather well hidden. He wasn’t really sure what to expect at this point. More things kept happening and the plot seemingly kept getting thicker. He had heard of how Erwin had become an assassin and about his one-man-crusade against Argus. Perhaps there was more to that shift than what he had originally thought.

"I’ll do my best to keep them from stepping over their boundaries with Wraith, but she has some serious explaining to do. If it is true what they say, then there’s not much I can do." He whispered for the raven to hear. "And tell your master that the Boer is willing to hear him out if he has anything worth listening to." He took a small business card form the back pocket of his slacks and discreetly threw it to the ground for the bird to pick up. "Also, I’ll have to inform the agents of his presence, I’m sorry. I can give him 30 seconds of head start, for old times’ sake."

Johan closed his eyes lightly and begun counting down. 5,4,3,2,1… He let out a small sigh, before moving to the leader of the agents and raising his voice.
“I’ve got reason to believe Erwin ´The Huntsman´ Konig is nearby. If you’re planning on finally capturing him, I’d suggest you bring some backup. And what’s the ETA on that bloody medic?”

The Raven and the Huntsmen

Erwin watched his little friend keep the meta and Argus team occupied. He kept his squat stature and begin to crouch walk around his hidy spot. He kept the flash grenade (A 9-bang type, ones he favored) ready to drop and slung his rifle. Making it around the corner of the air conditioner, he made his way down the little path he had plotted out. Making sure to keep his steps quiet and quick. He had gotten good at being light on his feet.

His bird went on. "Indeed, Fast friend, ASET hides many things from us, does many things to our kind. My master will be in touch." With that, the bird plucked up the card, squawked in annoyance at the agents before taking flight.

Mean while, Erwin had come to the gap in his cover were he would be open to snipers/those with proper sight extension abilities. Taking a moment to secure his gear, he broke out in to a full sprint across the 20 feet or so of open roof and came to the fire escape. Grabbing the rung of the ladder, he locked his heels on the sides and slid down the length of the ladder. He had picked the lock on the security cover on his way up and thus didn't need to jump before reaching it's end.

Running another 20 feet, he reached the sewer grate he had used to enter the alley way. Cursing in German, he dragged the grate to open it up and before jumping down, snapped his fingers. With that, the bird Disappeared mid flight. With his familiar returned, he stopped and cursed again. Instead of jumping down, he climbed down the old ladder and dragged the grate closed behind him. He stopped for a moment as he suddenly found a business card in his palm.

Then he heard his little friend, in her normally dark and husky Tone. Your speedy friend wants to talk, master, gave me this as a parting gift.. He smiled, amused to him self. and replied to her in thought. "Your becoming more and more useful, little friend. It's a shame my Great Uncle treated you so badly.


He heard her laugh. "You Uncle got what he deserved, Erwin....In the end."

[Okayanos]

Simone Walsh
Amalthea
Tex Mechanica Weapons Development Base, 20 minutes away from Camp Blanding

"Ce soir, je vais m'amuser vraiment bien..." Simone sings quietly in her rasping voice as she walks away from her landing pod. The crater from her impact stretches out a ways, the only sign of the high-altitude deployment she'd been subjected to. It'd felt like nothing. Vulcan's drone buzzes beside her for a moment, and she wants to think that it's cute, but then it's gone, ascending up into the sky to keep watch of her. She ruffles her fur a bit, pulling her old denim jacket tighter around herself. Initiation missions require a measure of formality, and dressing herself close to proper would be better than going nearly nude.

Simone's plan for getting into the Texan Mechanical base is extremely simple and straight-forward. She puts her airpods in- a special project that Vulcan had undertaken- and tunes out the ambient sound of the world with a sound of her own. Music serenading her caprine ears, she heads straight down the road towards the discreet gates of the place- right where Vulcan had predicted. Her hooves tap out a rhythm as she advances without a care.

Amalthea sets off her power, and feels herself go numb.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

"How'd I get stuck with Gencore?" Tezcatlipoca whined as Ares sent a police car flying. "Why couldn't I go with Invictus?"

"Oh, come on now, Tezy. It isn't so bad gettin' stuck with us is it?" Osiris said in his smooth creole accent. "It's because we need someone who has range," Ares bellowed as a stray shot from a desperate cop caused a small shower of sparks when it glanced off one of the exposed metal plates that stuck out through his skin. "Now can I get a little help here?" Ares snarled as he held up a car as a shield from on coming fire.

"Ugh, fine," the purple haired girl said. She levitated into the air with six ethereal burning hands surrounding her. One hand expanded into a barrier, blocking incoming fire while the other five began launching streams of burning energy. The flames seemed to swarm anything and everyone in the vicinity, consuming them unnaturally quickly.

"Remember, Tezy, try to leave me a usable corpse if you can," Osiris said, as several unfortunate bystanders started to twitch. Green vapors swirled around their bodies, allowing the self-proclaimed necromancer to turn them into his puppets. "Yeah, yeah, I remember."

The girl altered her tactics, sending out the hands themselves. The burning hands clamped around the necks of whoever they could reach, and twisted themselves violently. Its victims were left with broken necks, ripe for Osiris' powers. The trio of villains marched through the streets that had rapidly cleared of bystanders, easily dispatching the ill-prepared cops. A pair of local heroes came running down the street, shouting at the cops to pull back. The one that led the way was Sampson, a giant of a man known for his strength. His partner, however, was drastically different. Vitri was a woman who barely came up to Sampson's elbow, but she could create mirror-like constructs and charge them with blinding light.

"Get back everyone!" Sampson yelled as he charged Ares. "Finally!" The villain bellowed. Vitri's power soon became apparent as Ares smashed through a barrier he didn't realize was in front of him. It broke like a pane of glass, but once he was through it, Sampson was nowhere in sight.

"Come on you fucking coward!" Ares shouted as he was met in all directions by his own reflection as tessellated mirrors formed around him. At random, they began to light up like floodlights, blinding the god of war.

The mirrors continued to spread in an almost honeycomb arrangement towards the other two members of the pantheon, who seemed almost bemused. "Surrender!" Vitri said, trying to sound commanding, but it was clear she was terrified. Osiris just laughed, a deep, chest heaving laugh. "Little girl, your bravery and stupidity are equally admirable."

Osiris was cut off from Tezcatlipoca, and saw an image of the hero a few dozen feet away, but knew it was likely a fake. Instead, he reached out with his growing army. The seemingly mindless horde surged towards his position, giving him extra senses of the world around him. Dozens of extra eyes helped him hone in on the girl's true location. "Tezy, burn the cell to places to my North East."

"Sure," the Aztec goddess replied , shattering the dome of mirrors surrounding her, and levitating higher into the air. Combining her hands into one, she fired a fiery blast of energy, causing a massive explosion where Osiris predicted the hero to be. "Nothing!" Tezcatlipoca said, after she failed to spot a body. The hero was more deceptive than the villain gave her credit for. Meanwhile, Sampson leapt into the air, bringing his bulk down onto Ares from above. The villain tried to shield his head, but he wasn't fast enough. Sampson's blow slammed Ares' head into the pavement, creating a crater as he did so. Before the villain could get his bearings, Sampson hoisted him up and threw him clear across the street and through the front of a brick building.

"Try the cell to the left of that," Osiris ordered, much to the young villainess's chagrin. Another blast of her flames yielded no dead hero. "Osiris, get your shit together," she called down, getting agitated as more of the triangular mirrors began to form around her. The fight between the brutes was still in full swing as Ares charged out of the broken remains of the wall like an enraged bull. For the first dozen blows traded, the fight mirrored what a fight between two ordinary boxers would look like. But slowly, the odds shifted. Every time Ares' fist made contact, he stole a bit of the hero's strength. Sampson's blows became sluggish, and weak, but he fought on regardless. That was, until Ares caught his punch with a wicked smile on his face. Sampson's eye went wide when he realized he couldn't pull away, but by then it was too late.

Ares' grip grew stronger, eventually crushing the wrist and bone underneath it. Sampson screamed out in pain, but even that took strength he didn't have. His legs gave out, unable to support his weight. But before his heart was too weak to beat, the villain gripped the hero's bearded face with his massive hand, and lifted him higher into the air. "I am Ares. I am the God of War!" Closing his fist, Ares crushed the heroes head like an egg, sending a shower of blood and gore pouring to the broken street below.

"Nooooo!" Vitri screamed, her voice raw with emotion and pain. "You monster!" The mirrors folded away, revealing a terrified Vitri gripping a pistol. She rattled off round after round until the magazine was empty, but the bullets just bounced off Ares' skin like they were pebbles thrown by a child. She continued to squeeze the trigger in hopelessness as Ares tossed Sampson's headless corpse to the side like it were distasteful garbage. He didn't even turn to face her, the villain just strolled closer to Gencore's NY headquarters, leaving the broken hero to be torn apart by Osiris' horde...

[Parcia]

Simone Walsh
Amalthea
Tex Mechanica Weapons Development Base, 20 minutes away from Camp Blanding

"Ce soir, je vais m'amuser vraiment bien..." Simone sings quietly in her rasping voice as she walks away from her landing pod. The crater from her impact stretches out a ways, the only sign of the high-altitude deployment she'd been subjected to. It'd felt like nothing. Vulcan's drone buzzes beside her for a moment, and she wants to think that it's cute, but then it's gone, ascending up into the sky to keep watch of her. She ruffles her fur a bit, pulling her old denim jacket tighter around herself. Initiation missions require a measure of formality, and dressing herself close to proper would be better than going nearly nude.

Simone's plan for getting into the Texan Mechanical base is extremely simple and straight-forward. She puts her airpods in- a special project that Vulcan had undertaken- and tunes out the ambient sound of the world with a sound of her own. Music serenading her caprine ears, she heads straight down the road towards the discreet gates of the place- right where Vulcan had predicted. Her hooves tap out a rhythm as she advances without a care.

Amalthea sets off her power, and feels herself go numb.

Tex Mechanica Weapons Development Lab "Skunk Works",
Blanding County, Florida.

The Guard house out in front of the Skunk works Lab building was small, really only big enough for the two man team, their duty weapons, and a pair of chairs. "Hey Bill?" John tapped the day dreaming Bill. "Wha-what what's up." John stood up and squinted his eyes. "I see her...fucking goat women? The fuck?" Bill stood there, He went down the expected guest list and found no mention of a Meta human visiting today and frowned. "She's not on the list." John was already loading his shotgun, sweating more so then normal, even in the Florida Heat. "Between the two of us, you have the MP5N, I'v got the 10 gauge, she's probably going to blow right past us." John was an Ex-Marine, had seen and fought a few unsanctioned Meta's in the middle East, and had been jumpy about seeing the women advancing.

Bill Looked scared. "Hey man, Maybe she's just lost." John ignored him, Chambered a shell in the shotgun and left the booth, a mega phone in his other hand.

"Ma'am , im going to need you to Stop and ID your self now!" He grimaced as the women moved forward, what he could heard to be the clicking of her heels...no, fucking hooves getting closer. He switched the safety off the 10 gauge and repeated his message once more.

Bill, Seeing this, picked up the phone and called the security office. "This is guard house, Iv got an unknown meta human approaching the gate and not responding to commands."

John turned up the volume once more on the megaphone (to max) and yelled. "Ma'am, you are approaching a secure site, advance further with out identifying your self and I will fire on you!

The Security officer replied to Bill. "If she doesn't ID her self or Respond to command or attacks, open fire." Hanging up, the Security Officer did two things. Firstly, he picked up the phone and made two calls.

One to JSO (Jacksonville Sheriffs office) and the second to the Base Commander at Camp Blanding. To the JSO dispatcher, he told them who he was, what the situation was, and that there was possible meta Human combatant. TO the Base Commander, he simply repeated the Report.

He then started the standard protocol for an Unwanted meta Human, possibly a Combatant. The 40 standard security officers were ordered to their postilions, while secondary security teams responded with being ready in 5 minuets, as they would need to "fast prep" the HUMMVs and Bradly IFVs." He then got up, opened the case behind him and began to hand out the side arms and Rifles to the rest of the officers in the room. He loaded his own rifle (a DSA Fal) and sat back down at his desk.

Back out side, Bill dropped the mega phone and shouldered the shotgun, gave her one last warning, and fired a 10 gauge slug at the advancing goat women.


Dear god help them all.

[Okayanos]

Simone Walsh
Amalthea
Tex Mechanica Weapons Development HQ

Simone’s yellow eyes blankly stare at the movements of the American’s mouths. They’re yelling at her, aren’t they? She keeps walking forward as the Texans hurriedly prepare themselves for combat. Right as her song ends, the big Marine-looking one is shouting another warning at her, to identify herself or stop advancing. Simone’s response is to quicken her pace.

BOOM.

Ah, there it is. She’s learned a bit about guns in her time being shot at. Mostly that they’re much louder than the cartoons and video games made her imagine as a child. Upon being shot, Simone stops for a moment. She looks down and searches the ground for a moment until- ah. The goat woman bends down and gingerly picks up the fired slug, intact and laying still on the ground. Her power had taken all of its movement away. Simone turns it over in her hands a few times, then suddenly charges in towards John, reaching sprinting speed instantly, without respect for inertia.

She stops on a dime in front of John, becoming still as unnaturally quick as she’d moved. At 5’5”, she’s noticeably shorter. Simone takes in the shock, paranoia, and fear in the man’s body language. Her goat mouth turns downward slightly, almost in a frown. She pokes her finger on the man’s chest, roughly where the heart would be, and turns off resistance force for her hand. As though armor, clothing, and flesh weren’t even there, she pokes a hole in John’s heart. After a brief pause, Amalthea lifts her arm upward, and carves out a vertical chunk of meat, blood vessels, and other body stuff that she doesn’t know much about.

Letting the semi-bisected body drop, she steps over it and walks up to the guard shack at brisk pace, rapping on the window with the knuckle of her bloodstained finger. “Do you ‘ave a moment to talk, Tex Mechanica?” She asks in the same quiet, accented voice she’d use to talk about her music or something innocent like that.

[Parcia]

Simone Walsh
Amalthea
Tex Mechanica Weapons Development HQ

Simone’s yellow eyes blankly stare at the movements of the American’s mouths. They’re yelling at her, aren’t they? She keeps walking forward as the Texans hurriedly prepare themselves for combat. Right as her song ends, the big Marine-looking one is shouting another warning at her, to identify herself or stop advancing. Simone’s response is to quicken her pace.

BOOM.

Ah, there it is. She’s learned a bit about guns in her time being shot at. Mostly that they’re much louder than the cartoons and video games made her imagine as a child. Upon being shot, Simone stops for a moment. She looks down and searches the ground for a moment until- ah. The goat woman bends down and gingerly picks up the fired slug, intact and laying still on the ground. Her power had taken all of its movement away. Simone turns it over in her hands a few times, then suddenly charges in towards John, reaching sprinting speed instantly, without respect for inertia.

She stops on a dime in front of John, becoming still as unnaturally quick as she’d moved. At 5’5”, she’s noticeably shorter. Simone takes in the shock, paranoia, and fear in the man’s body language. Her goat mouth turns downward slightly, almost in a frown. She pokes her finger on the man’s chest, roughly where the heart would be, and turns off resistance force for her hand. As though armor, clothing, and flesh weren’t even there, she pokes a hole in John’s heart. After a brief pause, Amalthea lifts her arm upward, and carves out a vertical chunk of meat, blood vessels, and other body stuff that she doesn’t know much about.

Letting the semi-bisected body drop, she steps over it and walks up to the guard shack at brisk pace, rapping on the window with the knuckle of her bloodstained finger. “Do you ‘ave a moment to talk, Tex Mechanica?” She asks in the same quiet, accented voice she’d use to talk about her music or something innocent like that.

John, to credit a dead man, stayed steadfast and still as the women charged him and was ready to fire another shot when she stopped, poked his chest, and then everything went numb and cold.


Bill, to his credit, was only mentally shitting him self, rather then literally soiling his trousers. He looked at john, the man's still warm corpse on the ground, and nodded his head. While he was still scared beyond all belief (Bill was one of the few non military personal and as such, had no experience beyond the training he got from the Company) a small plan did form in his head.

IF he could talk to her, keep her occupied, it would give the rest of the security forces time to arm and prep, as well as to allow the Civvies and tinkers to book it safely. So, with an audible gulp, he put up his free hand, the other still holding the MP-5N and stepped outside the booth.

Shakily, he answered the Demon Women. "If yer willing to talk, sure...what...what can I do for you miss." His Cajun accent Accent not hiding the fear in his voice.


Else were, the rest of the security teams were in full operations mode, the Civilians and scientists were in the process of saving their data to the off site servers and then wiping, while the Tinkers were spending the few extra minuets of time to trash their experiments. While many would wince at their hard work going to naught, it had all been saved to the server farm in Colorado, meaning they could start them again later. Behind the building, the Escape rout for them was being prepared.



The MH-53 Pave low was a...Impulse buy by the CEO, seeing a good Ex-Air force helicopter going for sale for so cheap. The Aircrew began to spool up the rotors and the first group of Civvies and non combat personal began to load on. They would need some time to get everyone in and ready, but all they needed was time.

[Okayanos]

Simone Walsh
Amalthea

"Ah, agréable." She replies to the scared-looking man. "Could you please give the order for your men to shoot themselves?" One of her goat ears twitches, and she looks up just for a moment. "And, as well, say where that, mm, hélicoptère is headed to?" It should be clear at this point that the chopper will either leave while it's half-empty, or not leave at all.

"And could you also point the way to a computer? I 'ave terrible intuition for finding my way through buildings."

[The Cyberiad Council]

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

While the rest of his pantheon targeted several of America's major corporations, Sol Invictus and the final contingent of his gods were attacking the Argus North American division in Washington DC. Invictus soared over clouds that hid him from the alerted Argus agents below. Even with Yaldabaoth drawing most of their forces to California, this was the administrative hub of their North American operation. That and it also happened to be the American Capital, something the Humans were quite fond of protecting against people like him.

The muted sounds of explosions from below still reached his ears. In the darkness of Night, Chernobog was a terrifying foe. Tendrils of his power, nearly invisible in the dark, swept entire buildings away and crushed enemies where they stood. The man himself simply strolled forward, engulfed in a shroud of artificial shadow in the visage of the mythical kraken of legend. Proioxis was dashing about, disarming as many soldiers as she could, depriving them of their hand-held dampeners. Cernunnos, on the other hand, was almost completely immune to the effects of the larger dampeners. Focused on downing them to allow Chernobog to advance closer to the Argus building.

Built next to Union Station, the building was a modern bastion, designed to withstand the assault of a small army. Likewise, D.C. had undertaken some significant upgrades over the years, utilizing the cutting edge of builder technology to incorporate defenses hidden from the public eye. Chief among them were large scale power dampeners designed to lock down power usage in the entire city. Still, the god of nature, with his enhanced strength and trained wolves made short work of the pylons.

Soon, the Pantheon had cleared a path to the Argus NAHQ building. But even with Chernobog's assault, the building held firm. Each blow from the arms of darkness only succeded in knocking away a shell of marble and brick, revealing a honeycombed material of unknown composition. A gentle blue light emanated from the lines in the hexagonal pattern, hinting at it's advanced technological purpose. "Inertial dampeners," Proioxis called over comms. A mass of bodies lay around the exterior with more pouring in only to be struck down by an invisible arm of the Black god. The three gods came to a stop on Argus' front porch, waiting for their leader's orders.

"Not a problem," Invictus called back as he ducked into a steep dive. Sol Invictus plummeted towards the city below, siphoning the force of gravity and scarce heat from the air. He broke through the clouds, gathering his internal energy reserves into his fist. Leveling out just a few feet above the street, Invictus flew towards the building without slowing down in the slightest. Lights in the buildings along the street momentarily blinked out as the former hero drained any and all available power that fell within the range of his power.

Like a glowing missile, Sol Invictus slammed into the front doors of Argus' HQ in a blinding flash. When the light faded, the Villain remained standing while the heavy, reinforced barriers had been knocked off their hinges so hard the metal had sheered. The Unconquered Sun strolled into the lobby only to be met with the barrels of dozens of guns aimed at his chest. "Kneel before your gods."

None of the soldiers made any attempt to move, prompting another order. "I said, KNEEL!" Chernobog lashed out with his power, unleashing the wellspring. Clutching their heads and screaming in pain, the soldiers fell to the ground, convulsing in the throes of madness.

[Parcia]

Simone Walsh
Amalthea

"Ah, agréable." She replies to the scared-looking man. "Could you please give the order for your men to shoot themselves?" One of her goat ears twitches, and she looks up just for a moment. "And, as well, say where that, mm, hélicoptère is headed to?" It should be clear at this point that the chopper will either leave while it's half-empty, or not leave at all.

"And could you also point the way to a computer? I 'ave terrible intuition for finding my way through buildings."

Bill Stammered, trying to make sense of these strange request of this women. He began to move backwards, slowly, his over whelming will to live through this fucked up situation making him do so. Luckily, Bill Didn't need to say much further.

The Parking lot behind the guard post contained, at each corner, a large rounded structure that most of the employees were in the dark about. Each structure would hum to life and with an audible mechanical whine before the top would open and a strange looking part would begin to spin to life, turning and scanning before all for locked on to the Meta Human. IDing her as not possessing her Employee issued ID card (which contained a a standard issue RFID card linked to a Employee Data base) did one final check of their systems, and opened fire.

The Tex Mechanica M258 Static defense Weapons system, Often called the "Wolf Spider" due to their pop up attack nature, the M258-A is a standard variant equipped with a 12.7mm Heavy machine gun built on the M3 platform (bought from US Ordinance) with an internal 10,000 round drum and air cooling system. Rated for 700 RPM standard, the system can be programmed for any were from 700 RPM to 1300 RPM. With a variety of ID programs, Point defense Programs, and alternate Weapon options, the M258 has garnered wide spread use by both PMC and Government Organizations world Wide.

The Four situated in the Skunk Works Parking lot are of the Rare M258 F variant, used for internal TM Security uses only, this platform sports upgraded targeting packages, an optional Manual control mode, a Mix of AP-IT ammo belts, a secondary weapon system in the form of a 40mm Automatic Grenade launcher, sporting a pair of 15 round magazines with HE-FRAG grenades and non lethal CV riot gas grenades.

The Final upgrade (and in fact one Unique to these 4), is a anti-theft and tampering system that discharges roughly 140,000 Volts of Electricity through the whole system should the on board Computer detect tampering or unwanted movement of the system.

With these 4 guns opening up, the system designated the target as caught in a cross fire, and notified the internal Security office.

Some 2 miles down the road , the roar of engines could be heard as the armored convoy sped down it and grew ever so closer. The MH-53 would begin to load more passengers as the last of the Civilian workers got on board, escorted by a pair of Security officer. the Powerful Turbine engine of the Helicopter began to rev faster and the bird began to slowly ascend, the pilots pushing it to max allowable RPMs to allow for a timely escape.