Gods Among Us 8 - First Earth Battalion [IC|Meta RP|Open]

[Dyelli Beybi]

"If that's an open question, last week." Zinnia said over the radio. "Never here, though. Always wanted to stay away from someone like Newton. Now I'm even more glad I did." She was basically twiddling her thumbs on a nearby rooftop waiting for something to happen so someone would signal her. "I was never really big on costume parties anyway. There's only so many ways you can do a bird or angel until it gets boring. Speaking of costumes, is anyone there dressed as me? I gotta see pictures of that."

"You bet you there are!" the JJ version of Imogen replied enthusiastically, "Mostly cardboard wings, but I think it's a nice easy one that's instantly recognisable. I'll try to get a selfie with some of the better ones... and the worst. Do you have your phone on you?"

JJ, perhaps a little predictably, had lost track of exactly what the mission was about now that she had actually managed to worm her way into a high-end party. Clearly something was said off comms, presumably by the real Imogen, as the initial comment was followed up by an audible, "Relax and have some fun! We'll still get the job done."

...
Seeing a dancing costume of Eprahel - and not knowing weather to be annoyed, or amused, and ignoring robotic fuming of a dissatisfied Malakian warrior ringing in his mind - Wikus decided to join in the dance floor. Perhaps Harriet would notice him if he excelled there, so he outperformed himself while dancing...

After no more than about five minutes on the dance floor, Wikus was approached by a huge, bald gentleman in a dark suit and unnecessary sunglasses. His neck strained at his collar, threatening to burst out at any moment, "Come with me." he grunted, nodding in the direction of the balcony that Newton had appeared on a few times. Apparently Wikus had done something to attract her notice.

Nobody else at this point seemed to have been singled out...

[Demencia]

"You bet you there are!" the JJ version of Imogen replied enthusiastically, "Mostly cardboard wings, but I think it's a nice easy one that's instantly recognisable. I'll try to get a selfie with some of the better ones... and the worst. Do you have your phone on you?"

JJ, perhaps a little predictably, had lost track of exactly what the mission was about now that she had actually managed to worm her way into a high-end party. Clearly something was said off comms, presumably by the real Imogen, as the initial comment was followed up by an audible, "Relax and have some fun! We'll still get the job done."

"Well I wasn't going to sit on this rooftop for hours twiddling my thumbs!" Zinnia teased. "I've got emails to answer. Can't completely throw everything to the side for a mission all the time." She kept scrolling through the communicator on her wrist. "A girl's gotta work to eat."

"Let's see, Gucci... Spielberg... Nolan..." she said, and it wasn't clear if she was joking or not. "Eh, just the same ones as always. Delete... delete... delete..."

She looked across to the building again, but didn't see anything she could discern. "Try not to get too drunk, I can only carry one person at a time!"

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Collinn McKinley
Warden

---

The chopper's blades sliced through the air as the chopper itself began to descend onto the Brooklyn skyline. Below Warden was the many low rises bricked building that made up the Brooklyn skyline. The people bellow seemed like ants to Warden. Small, little, ants. Warden felt the air beat his face down and flutter his hair all over. He swore under his breath for a second. All that hair gell for nothing. Warden looked to the left of him. A man about his hight with ruffled dirty hair was strapped into the seat next to Warden. He adjusted his wire glasses nervously and looked very pale. Warden poked the man in the shoulder and spoke into the headset, "Hey! Q, First time flying I gather?"

"Wil you stop calling me that?" Q yelled over the rotors while holding his hands over his mouth as if to hold in some vile bile. "I have a name you know."

"Yeah, I know." Warden now had that smug face he always had. The one that Q hated so very much. "It just sounds cooler. Makes you sound special and elite. Makes intelligence work more interesting."

Q looked a bit offended at the end of the second last sentence, "I am special and elite in my field. Who built you the voice changer during your month in Moscow? Who invented the face mask that you used during Operation Bublebank?"

"Careful! Remember we ain't supposed to talk about the operation that shall not be named."

"Sorry, I just remember how cool it was when you jumped off the dam using the parachute that fits in your pocket." Warden shot Q a very dirty look. Q's face reddened.

"You never know when to shut it do you?"

"Sorry."

Q looked away in shame but as if by luck the pilot interrupted them both, "We are coming up on target in a minute."

Warden sighed loudly, picking up the submachine gun off the rack behind him and checking its condition. Q looked a bit nervous at the gun but didn't show it in any major way. Warden picked up on it but he didn't say anything. "Remind me again what I'm doing, Q. This is honestly just silly."

"If I did read the file correctly you are to assist the Battalion in they're current and any future operation."

"Why are we helping them? As far as I'm concerned they're an organization that runs outside the jurisdictions of the United Nation of the world. They are a rogue element after the bombing." Q looked about nervously. As if he was looking for anyone listening in. Q took off his headset and pointed at Warden's own, instructing him to take them off as well. With their headsets off and bouncing about on their rubber wires, Q reached into the blue denim pants as pulled out an earpiece. They were like small little apple earphones but without the wires. They easily fit into wardens hand and in his ear. Q pulled a small fuzzy mike concealed in this collar and spoke into it, "What I'm about to say is extremely classified." Warden nodded, the smug grin now gone from his face. "The bombing at the FEB HQ was most likely done by someone on the inside. They knew everything they needed. They even stole a bomb from a base that could kill the council. Sorry, can't tell you what the bomb. That far too high up for you. The office suspects that someone from inside the Government did the bombing or at the very least someone in the army was very involved in the process of planning the bombing. We need you to go in and find out what they are and who they are. Right now the Battalion is at a party at 3972 Anmoore Road. They belive that one of those responsible for the bombing is at that party. They plan to ambush the target there but in all honesty, it seems more like an ambush for them. You also have a secondary objective."

Q handed Warden a small flip phone. It was battered and cracked. "The damage is fake. No common thief will pickpocket that piece of shit, that's if he gets away alive, and it's unremarkable enough so that it won't draw attention. That phone had direct contact with the director and most importantly the president of our very own nation and the secretary-general of the UN. We want you to be our direct link with the surviving council. As far as we and most likely the battalion cares, you represent the US government and are a neat little peace offering."

Warden nodded along. He looked out and noticed that the chopper was now descending. Their landing pad seemed to be stationed at some sort of harbor and storage facilities. But it was clearly long abandoned. The huge warehouse was rotting from every orifice. The steel connected roof was brown with rust and had many holes that let in the rain. Warden managed to get a quick look inside the warehouse through one of the massive holes and saw water pooling on it's cracked concrete floor. The warehouse's walls were covered in graffiti. From artistic masterpieces that would draw in even the best painters to phallic pieces of shit that would make your mother faint in shock. The entire harbor was surrounded by a fence but even that could not keep trespassers. Dozens of holes were cut and the main gate was busted wide open. The chopper set down just right next to the gate. Warden stepped out into the baking sun, "What are we doing here Q?"

Q struggled with the seat buckles for a moment before managing to tear them off with great difficulty. He walked right next up to Warden who was staring at the Brooklyn skyline. "We're here because you can't stroll up to some trashy club party in a helicopter."

Q pressed the big red button on the remote in his hand. A concrete garage had been built right next to the warehouse and it had three rusted garage doors. The middle one opened through the sound of gears grinding together scratched the ears of Q and Warden. Q muttered beneath his breath, "What a shit drop point". The doors opened to reveal a small four-seater blue painted sedan. The paint was sleek and the tires new. The pair walked up to the car and Warden opened the driver's door. He sniffed, ah, the smell of a new car. The soft leather smell that whisked away your troubles. "What little gadgets you stuffed in this little gal?"

"Gadgets? Nope, this is a completely normal car." Warden stood up and stared at Q with a face that had been offended at the highest level. "Fine. This baby, while a cheap Chevrolet Sonic LS Sedan, does have a few features. She has a nitro injector controlled by on the on-screen AI dashboard. The AI can calculate difficult sums for you. Like one plus one. And can do a whole list of other things. There is also an advanced communication system in the trunk that can directly patch you in into anything from the other side of the earth and the glass can resist bullets up to the 7.62mm caliber. There's also an arsenal just hidden under the trunk's map. Standard assault kit."

"Well, I better not waste any time." Warden cocked the submachine gun in his shoulder. "I have a party to crash."

"Oh, you spies and your completely unneeded one-liners."

[A Paradise for Few]

Ellehau Oan 'Elle' Maker
Omboovmatu

Elle arrived at the scene, and walked inside after showing a guard his fake ID. Indeed, the atmosphere here was quite nice: Music playing, crazy lights and stuff. He looked on, searching green eyes being utilized by a brain inside a skull made of calcium and other cosmic stuff, looking for none other than a fill of champagne. As he walked on, finding his target, he decided to greet his occupational buddies. Though there was only one thing that could actually hear him in all that noise now, it was his earpiece. But he hoped it would be kind enough to rely the info to the others. Elle spoke, going for a calm, friendly voice:
"Hello, guys. Omboovmatu here. I decided to come as a Death-Bullet. How is everyone doing? Hopefully no one will pull off an FEB HQ here, otherwise my imaginary demolition company will for sure be outcompeted." As he walked, he recalled the time when he arrived at the new HQ and was handed a report on the latest meeting as well as location of the club. It was a fine plan for sure, though of course it was most likely a new kind of mosquito trap. Or metahuman trap. Well, granted, he wasn't too worried. I mean, chances are, he thought, an explosion would be active at most a few seconds, and in an admitedly unlikely worst case scenario of a very long one, he could just run into a wall. Maybe even grab a couple of metas on the way.
Admittedly, considering the fact what the Council mainly did not appear to survive in the FEB attack, it was a possibility what the explosion would somehow bypass his ability as well. Is there a bomb which bypasses an ability which bypasss the bomb? No info to conclude one way or another, so he should be prudently watchful. That aside, he could not care less about people, but from experience, he knew what certain results had certain consequences and some could prevent him from obtaining what he wants or let him get it. Considering how FEB numbers dwindled lately, it would be annoying if some metacriminals would begun coming out to bother the general state of things, noticing this too. Or maybe not. No matter the outcome, though, this is going to be fun. He honestly hoped for some sort of a fight here, that would be nice. An explosion would be the most boring outcome. In the middle was, he supposed, the success of the first option of the plan. A better option would be a bloody fight while playing Monopoly. Though he forgot to bring the set. He supposed he would settle for a game of words then.
He poured himself some champagne and walked to a nearest sofa. As he dived on it, he felt it being comfortable enough. He settled in in a relaxed pose, his legs on the other's knee, free hand on top of the back of sofa. As Elle took a sip of his drink, few seconds later he noted an odd sensation coming from his additional sense. It was similar to the last time he tried alcohol few years ago. It had no effect whatsoever on him. The previous time he consumed a similar liquid was then he was a lil' kid, finding a big bottle of wine in his parents house. It tasted pretty bad even to his admiteddly very poor sense of taste and smell, but he was too hungry to care. It was a bad idea, of course. At least he did not become mentally drunk, though his thinking did seem to become more linear, but he was not sure about that either, it was such a long time ago. However, this time an unexpected thing happened, he also perceived a thought that he was sure also came from the sense: A suspicious entity encountered, recognizing threat as object of type "CC2N-MSER", queuing a high priority task for execution, algorithm "CC2N-74-FRE2YU". Processing...
This sounded pretty programmic, my kind of thing, he thought. But it clearly came from his ability's sense rather than his own mind, which did not happen before. He sipped the drink again, continuing looking around for anything of interest. Inwardy, he reflected on the previous incident. 'I suppose, most likely this was caused by two things: Over the last time, my skills had certainly improved from the perspective of controlling my ability, and second, it was first time I put an alcohol in my mouth since few years ago.' He supposed it only made sense, pun intended. Probably his 'spidey sense' became developed enough to drag out more information, and along with a sudden onset of a toxin, it most likely doubled the chances of him conciously noticing this. Indeed, as he observed, the repeating thought coming from his sense soon started to fade even as he continued sipping the drink, his sense apparrently becoming accustomed enough to this to drag it away from his concious awareness. It was interesting how it meshed well with a mind analogy. He focused for a few seconds, intending to sense the information again, but alas, that did not happen. He had a couple questions to ponder, namely "What are exercises he could use to speed the process of developing his sense more?" "What did the abbreviations mean?",and another one, "If there is a list of this inside his mind somehow, could he somehow access it?" and as he analysed them, he noted an Ebrahel dancing on the dedicated spot who was approached by a guard in sunglasses. Elle made out him motioning towards the balcony where he saw the target a couple of times, and spoke to his earpiece cheerily.
"Hey, I just noted a guard engaging with an Ebrahel in he dancing area. I don't know what they are speaking about, but I guess it involves something about Newton. I wonder if this is the actual Ebrahel." If this was indeed confirmed to be Wikus, Elle would cheer into his earpiece in amused voice: "Go, go, Ebrahel! Let's just try to make it so she does not get your head all very blurry, though."

[Granis]

FEB Headquarters
"God, you are just determined to be the miserable, angsty old war vet of the Feb, aren't you?" Michael asked, raising a brow at Wikus. "Well, I guess that's nothing I can't deal with. Hell, like I said before, I had a phase like that myself back in the day! I'll just wait till we get to your personal arc, and then we can sort this all out. If all goes well, you'll probably even come to begrudgingly respect me, finally accepting me as your rival, an essential factor to every good story..."

He looked to the others at the table when Wikus left, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be happier to see me next time we talk. Either way, he's at least kind of right about needing to get ready. I need to put a costume together after all, and I guess I'd also better look up a good parking spot for Omni... Costume first though."

And then he was off the chair, completely lost in thought before even making it to the door. After all, there were like a billion heroes he personally looked up to, and he had to figure out which out of them were still around in this world.

And also which would look badass enough to catch Harry's attention.

---

The Party
As the sounds of partying came down from the floor above them, a number of armed men and women waited in the floor beneath. Some were patrolling the level, but the vast majority of them simply milled about. Their job was simply to stand guard, only making a move in case something happened. Still the majority of them at least held themselves in a way that seemed somewhat professional, even when they had nothing to do.

And then there was one small group of four, each wearing a suit of powered armour with a small violet rectangle on the chest, that were distinctly not holding themselves as such. The closest they seemed to get was that one of them, whose armour suggested they might be the leader of the group, was inspecting an automatic rifle as his head bobbed silently, indicating a conversation audible only to those in their feed. What they could be talking about was anyone's guess, but considering the way one of them looked quite a bit like they were actually nodding off against the wall behind them, it was probably something stupid.

If only that were true.

"I still don't like it boss." A female voice came through the communicator. "We don't even know who's calling the shots here, and they managed to trick us into blowing up the FEB! I've been having trouble just getting to sleep, knowing that I was part of the group that di-"

"Sev, if you're about to say we did it, stop." Operative 614, leader of Salem's notorious Violet Squad, said with a sigh. "We were a distraction, someone for the heroes to shoot at while they did their work. We didn't know we were working for mass murderers. Hell, Macro didn't even know!"

"Yeah, but we're still h-"

"Seven sixteen." He said, using what he liked to call his commander voice, and she stopped talking again. "I don't like it either. You know I don't, just like I know none of us do. But we're here because Macro told us to be here, and he, if no one else, knows what he's doing."

"Well, he might." A tired male voice came from the one slumped against the wall, who even now slowly slid towards the ground. "Sure, he's smart, but I'm pretty sure he's just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks at this point. Just so happens that domestic terrorism makes for some pretty sticky shit."

"Agreed, but pretend I used smarter words than him." A fourth voice, also female, came through from the final member of the group, who seemed significantly shorter than the rest of them.

If not for the armour, 614 would have been vigorously massaging his temples at this point, just from the way his subordinate had phrased that if nothing else. Not that it stopped him from trying, of course, just that success was currently beyond his reach due to the metal barriers around both his face and fingertips.

"Three ninety-two, are you sure there wasn't a single other way you could have phrased that? I'd really prefer that, if nothing else, the members of Violet Squad can avoid sounding so flippant over a major terrorist attack, as well as not implying Macro was the one behind it, because I'm pretty sure he's not. And Fourteen thirty, use your own words, otherwise I'm gonna have to assume you're exactly as smart as he is."

"Whoa, wait, you know I didn't mean it like tha-"

"Hey, don't go equating me with that idio-"

"Christ, enough!" He shouted, cutting the pair off before they could start any real ranting. "Listen, we were involved in the bombing of the FEB, it's true, but none of us knew it was coming, and I'm fairly certain Macro wouldn't have sent us out knowing it was going to happen either. And yeah, we're still working with them, but no matter how much we might not like it, we're going to keep going, because Macro knows what he's doing, and he knows what we need to do as well."

As he spoke, the pair fell silent, and 614 ended his little speech with a sigh.

"And don't worry, we'll probably be over and done with this job before too long , and back at HQ with nothing horrible to do whatsoever!"

If only those words could be true.

---

Upstairs
"No, no I'm Archon." Michael said to a man who asked if he was Daybreak, as if he'd ever pick someone like Daybreak over Archon. "Yeah, he's the other light manipulator, the really powerful one who could turn himself into hard light. No, that's Morningstar. He could only make weapons out of hard light. Archons powers let him become hard light. Then he could move close to the speed of light, which in turn raised the force behind his punches, and as long as there was enough light shining on him, he would regenerate whenever he took any damage. I'm surprised he's not more popular, with a powerset like that. No, that's Sunspark."

Honestly, this party hadn't really been going the way Michael had planned. Apparently Archon vanished a good few years earlier, having never rose to prominence the way he had back home. Still, he was a badass, and he had at least partially done something that Michael had extreme respect for. If not for the implications that he may actually have been Lucifer, he probably would've been one of the most beloved heroes in the Knights, and maybe the FEB if he hadn't vanished before everyone could put two and two together.

Still, even if they'd figured it out here, it might've made things a little easier for Michael, at least, as it seemed nobody actually knew who he was. They vaguely recognized the uniform as one worn by one of the heroes with light-based powers though, which naturally meant they had to stand around and try desperately to remember who wore it.

Then again, it wasn't like he particularly minded, humoring anyone who decided to ask while simultaneously dancing.

Well, attempting to dance. It was really more like a standing seizure, but enough people had come to make sure he wasn't actually dying that the word of him not being in the process of dying had spread. It didn't stop more than a few visitors staring in a kind of terrified awe, unable to fully comprehend how someone could understand so little of the fundamental qualities of dancing.

But it was him dancing like an idiot that got Harry to approach him way back when they first met. Well, other than when they had fought before. Either way, it had never ceased to amuse her, to the point where he started actively ignoring the people who tried desperately to either teach him how to dance properly or break his legs to prevent him from ever dancing again, simply because it was an easy way to cheer her up when she was in a funk.

And now, as he made a fool of himself on the dance floor, he hoped that it would get her attention once again.

[New Aeyariss]

OOC: Not a lot to post about, so I will make it brief.

WIkus just smiled, and chose to follow the man. During the whole trip upstairs, he kept eyes around his proverbial head - seeking any potential threats, seeing if there is anyone posing an eventual threat around. After all, when surrounded by thugs, one had to keep awake.

"Statement: Five zero has contact with the target, over!" robotic voice of Wikus's mechanical companion on FEB's channel, informing them of contact being made.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Michael did get a slightly amused glance from Newton at the point she appeared on the balcony, though she didn't try to make contact; she had other things on her mind.

Imogen, this one sounded like the real one rather than Triggs, spoke quickly into the intercom as Wikus ascended the stairs to the top floor, "Omboovmatu, can you use one of your bugs to keep an eye on them? If something goes wrong I don't want Wikus in there blind."

Meanwhile, Wikus was brought before Newton, who gave him a quick once over with grave hazel eyes, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Wordlessly she turned, leading the way into what appeared to be a reading room, with rear doors that opened out onto the balcony, "You can leave us." she said to the guard, who gave her a mistrustful look. For a heartbeat it looked like he would say 'no' but he did eventually retreat, shutting the door with a click.

Newton took a seat in an armchair on the far side of the room, crossing her legs, "I screwed up. I thought I was helping people, but innocent people died," she said, more or less confirming who she was. She had looked pretty shocked when the bomb had gone off, "I'm assuming you are here to kill me? You might as well do what you need to do."

[Endem]

Andrew Scott

Andrew was pretty weirded out when he heard about another person who controlled bugs, with an unpronounceable name, he thought for a moment while he directed his fly to fly over Wikus and Newton. He then spoke to the comm "So there is another person on the team that controls insects? I'll keep eye on them as well if that's alright" He then decided to take control of as many invertebrates possible, as always most of them useless in combat, about 47 500 of them, but he had almost 2 500 insects that were combat useful. A lot of cockroaches, few wasps and a very small colony of Pharaoh ants. He walked them all into Newton's room, concentrating them on far edges, outside of either Wikus or Newton's eyesight.

[A Paradise for Few]

Elle recognized the voice as belonging to Imogen, but he decided to continue the misattribution game she must have unwittingly begun. He spoke in a laughing, good-natured manner. "Ay, Jocelyn, Jocelyn, getting a little old, aren't we? But, it is a good idea for a Hallowen costume, to be sure." He imagined his whole body covered with bugs. Amusing. He addresed Andrew. "Cuttlescope there must have mixed something up in her mind in all the excitement around here." He decided to continue the buggy train of thought, though. Aside from moving the bugs around my body, I guess I could shot them at something. Would a bug-bullet be effective, though? Elle mused. Probably not by much, aside from biochemical war scenario. "I have to say, your ability is very functional, though! Oh, all the spying opportunities! Or the infectious ones." Elle laughed, as he imagined various wild applications. After he was done, he stood up and took a walk around the place.

[Endem]

Elle recognized the voice as belonging to Imogen, but he decided to continue the misattribution game she must have unwittingly begun. He spoke in a laughing, good-natured manner. "Ay, Jocelyn, Jocelyn, getting a little old, aren't we? But, it is a good idea for a Hallowen costume, to be sure." He imagined his whole body covered with bugs. Amusing. He addresed Andrew. "Cuttlescope there must have mixed something up in her mind in all the excitement around here." He decided to continue the buggy train of thought, though. Aside from moving the bugs around my body, I guess I could shot them at something. Would a bug-bullet be effective, though? Elle mused. Probably not by much, aside from biochemical war scenario. "I have to say, your ability is very functional, though! Oh, all the spying opportunities! Or the infectious ones." Elle laughed, as he imagined various wild applications. After he was done, he stood up and took a walk around the place.

Andrew Scott

Andrew couldn't help but let out a chuckle over the whole monologue Ombov did there. He then spoke through the comm to him "Sure, it's useful for hero work, but not so much for my Starbucks job" he said the comment in the same tone and way Ombov did. He then added "Honestly, I'm still wondering why health inspectors didn't fire me yet" he then let out a chuckle

[Dyelli Beybi]

"Sorry you two, slip of the tongue." Imogen replied through the comms... though that was immediately followed by a laugh.

The laugh still sounded like her, but the tone was more that of JJ Triggs, "Hehe... Cuttlescope. I like that.... Hey Andrew, are there any guards in the room with Newton? I think I've come up with an idea to get someone else upstairs."

"That's a terrible idea that is guaranteed to arouse suspicion." Imogen, apparently had a fairly good idea of where her friend's mind was going.

"Relax! It'll be fine." JJ dropped the British accent for a moment, reverting to her normal voice, "We don't want Wikus getting into trouble without his big armoured suit. It'll be the easiest way to make sure we're in position at a moment's notice."

[Endem]

"Sorry you two, slip of the tongue." Imogen replied through the comms... though that was immediately followed by a laugh.

The laugh still sounded like her, but the tone was more that of JJ Triggs, "Hehe... Cuttlescope. I like that.... Hey Andrew, are there any guards in the room with Newton? I think I've come up with an idea to get someone else upstairs."

"That's a terrible idea that is guaranteed to arouse suspicion." Imogen, apparently had a fairly good idea of where her friend's mind was going.

"Relax! It'll be fine." JJ dropped the British accent for a moment, reverting to her normal voice, "We don't want Wikus getting into trouble without his big armoured suit. It'll be the easiest way to make sure we're in position at a moment's notice."

Andrew Scott

"Right, uh, no there are no guards," he said while maneuvering his fly all around the room while trying to keep the 49 999 rest invertebrates in a relatively motionless state, he then added one more thing through the comm "But, there is no need for anybody to come there, I have 'an army' if you can call it that in there" he then stopped talking and went back to focusing on what he was doing with his bugs. He then noticed a taste of blood in his mouth, apparently, he was bleeding from the nose... New, but not alarming

[A Paradise for Few]

Ellehau Oan 'Elle' Maker Omboovmatu
Elle just "uh-huhed" in a friendly manner in response to Imogen, a bit amused. He laughed, wondering what exactly did the bug user refered to. Did he passively attract bugs or some such? "Why would they fire you? Unless you spice the coffees you make with bug concoctions or I don't know, chat with your bug bodies during shifts, I don't personally see any problem... Heavens, I would like to try a bug-spiced coffee, actually! I remember reading something about insects being good, healthwise. I think they might be good on the palate as well." He spoke in a light-hearted manner. Elle noticed what Imogen seemed to already know what JJ was talking about. They knew each other pretty well, kinda like Weasley twins from Harry Potter books and similar archetypes. It certainly fit when Jocelyn'd acted as Imogen. What kind of 'army' did Andrew refer to? Bug army, of course, I suppose, Elle thought. As for the general idea Jocelyn proposed, it made sense to concentrate forces, of course, but what is the worst what could happen? Harriet trying to use her speed powers to attack Wikus? Well, Elle doubted what bugs would be fast enough anyway in this scenario, and he did not know anyone alive at FEB with with speedster superpowers. So, the only reason to concentrate forces is if there is a reason to suspect what any particular spot of this or upper floor would be attacked, perhaps by spontaneously appearing opponents. Is the upper floor more likely to be the hypothetical opponent's target or this one? Another factor to consider is whether Harriet is friendly or not. If she is, Ellehau supposed she could haul Wikus out of there using her speed powers in case of an attack. If she isn't, this is, again, a problem. If a Hellgate scenario would happen in this floor, this would be more managable here than in a place where Wikus is practically alone and probably has lower chances of survival given the circumstances, as Elle doubted that Andrew's bugs were fireproof. But, if the bug user's insect count was high enough, he could distract Hellgate and perhaps Harriet with them, helping Wikus to escape if required. As for an poweruser with less advantage over bugs, including, probably, Blur, and ultimately opponent with weapons as the only power, a bug army could be pretty useful indeed. He would have to ask the guy whether he has enough for a distraction at least for a moment if the need arised. But still, it would be better to get more people to there, so we could have more chances to regroup fully. He concluded what it was indeed generally preferable for one of them to try to get closer to where Wikus is. It turns out JJ's idea seemed to be not so bad after all. "Hey, that's a good call, Jocelyn... Andrew, I wonder, do you have enough bugs to cover a couple of humans? Say, if Hellgate appeared and with Newton were to attack Wikus, could your army provide a distraction? I do think that in any case, it is a good idea to send someone to the upper floor. You can count me in. What is on your mind?" He asked in a thoughtful tone, addressing Jocelyn. Perhaps the next stage of fun is about to set in.

[Endem]

Ellehau Oan 'Elle' Maker Omboovmatu
Elle just "uh-huhed" in a friendly manner in response to Imogen, a bit amused. He laughed, wondering what exactly did the bug user refered to. Did he passively attract bugs or some such? "Why would they fire you? Unless you spice the coffees you make with bug concoctions or I don't know, chat with your bug bodies during shifts, I don't personally see any problem... Heavens, I would like to try a bug-spiced coffee, actually! I remember reading something about insects being good, healthwise. I think they might be good on the palate as well." He spoke in a light-hearted manner. Elle noticed what Imogen seemed to already know what JJ was talking about. They knew each other pretty well, kinda like Weasley twins from Harry Potter books and similar archetypes. It certainly fit when Jocelyn'd acted as Imogen. What kind of 'army' did Andrew refer to? Bug army, of course, I suppose, Elle thought. As for the general idea Jocelyn proposed, it made sense to concentrate forces, of course, but what is the worst what could happen? Harriet trying to use her speed powers to attack Wikus? Well, Elle doubted what bugs would be fast enough anyway in this scenario, and he did not know anyone alive at FEB with with speedster superpowers. So, the only reason to concentrate forces is if there is a reason to suspect what any particular spot of this or upper floor would be attacked, perhaps by spontaneously appearing opponents. Is the upper floor more likely to be the hypothetical opponent's target or this one? Another factor to consider is whether Harriet is friendly or not. If she is, Ellehau supposed she could haul Wikus out of there using her speed powers in case of an attack. If she isn't, this is, again, a problem. If a Hellgate scenario would happen in this floor, this would be more managable here than in a place where Wikus is practically alone and probably has lower chances of survival given the circumstances, as Elle doubted that Andrew's bugs were fireproof. But, if the bug user's insect count was high enough, he could distract Hellgate and perhaps Harriet with them, helping Wikus to escape if required. As for an poweruser with less advantage over bugs, including, probably, Blur, and ultimately opponent with weapons as the only power, a bug army could be pretty useful indeed. He would have to ask the guy whether he has enough for a distraction at least for a moment if the need arised. But still, it would be better to get more people to there, so we could have more chances to regroup fully. He concluded what it was indeed generally preferable for one of them to try to get closer to where Wikus is. It turns out JJ's idea seemed to be not so bad after all. "Hey, that's a good call, Jocelyn... Andrew, I wonder, do you have enough bugs to cover a couple of humans? Say, if Hellgate appeared and with Newton were to attack Wikus, could your army provide a distraction? I do think that in any case, it is a good idea to send someone to the upper floor. You can count me in. What is on your mind?" He asked in a thoughtful tone, addressing Jocelyn. Perhaps the next stage of fun is about to set in.

Andrew Scott

He listened to Ombov's monologue about not being fired due to bug controlling powers, he then replied "You know what, they might keep me there because I can act faster and cheaper than any pest killer" Andrew laughed... He then thought about the questions, how many did he have, if his calculations weren't faulty he had 50 000 total and 2 500 of combat usefulness. He then replied to the comm "I have about 50 000 total bugs under my control, but only about 2 500 can cause harm to people the rest is a distraction" he was now expecting a rant or something from Imogen so to pre-emptively counter it he added "I grouped then in all corners of the room, and by all corners I meant all corners, even the roof ones, so, I don't think they'll spot them for a little bit more time"

[A Paradise for Few]

Elle thought for second afte hearing Andrew speak. "Well, this seems like a fine army to me." As he said this, he peripherally noticed what the music in the club had changed once again. Elle glanced at the balcony. He decided to warm himself up and joined the dancing area, seeing the swarms of people dancing various moves. He danced, physically stretching in rhymes of the music. He felt his body warming up, readying for more activity.

[New Aeyariss]

Meanwhile, Wikus was brought before Newton, who gave him a quick once over with grave hazel eyes, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Wordlessly she turned, leading the way into what appeared to be a reading room, with rear doors that opened out onto the balcony, "You can leave us." she said to the guard, who gave her a mistrustful look. For a heartbeat it looked like he would say 'no' but he did eventually retreat, shutting the door with a click.

Newton took a seat in an armchair on the far side of the room, crossing her legs, "I screwed up. I thought I was helping people, but innocent people died," she said, more or less confirming who she was. She had looked pretty shocked when the bomb had gone off, "I'm assuming you are here to kill me? You might as well do what you need to do."

"Kill you?" Wikus was a man well trained in what he did - thus the look of feigned surprise on his face looked perfectly real. He wasn't going to admit that he was sent here, nor who he was - at least not yet. Thus, he chose to maintain an aura of plausible deniability "I may look threatening, sure - citing that I am indeed ex military after all - but I am afraid you have mistaken me with someone. I came here to have a good party, that's all!"

Still, he looked calmly at her, trying to read her expression. Despite his plausible deniability, the stage to get into Newton's good graces was set:

"Is my dear lady threatened?" he gave her a concerned look "I believe that citing my background, I could lend a hand. Perhaps my dear lady could tell me more about them? I will try to help as much as I can..."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Newton sighed, tossing her hair over one shoulder, "Wikus van der Berg, the surname means 'from the mountain'. 6th Infantry, South Africa. An active member of the First Earth Battalion. Otherwise known as Ebrahel. Ringing some bells?"

She hadn't tried to get up from her seat, though she probably could, faster than Wikus could react. It was possibly out of some form of courtesy that she had put a fair amount of room between them, "We stole your personnel files quite some time ago and those include a picture of you outside the giant robot suit, so as much as the public might not recognise you, I do."

"We met the other day. You were throwing cars about and killing people with your buddies. I was the one running around trying to stop the massacre. Ended up just about bleeding to death." she had all but admitted who she was, which wasn't really a surprise, though she seemed to have cast herself as the one protecting humanity, "In any case, I screwed up. Hung out with the wrong crowd. All that kind of stuff. I knew the FEB would send a hit squad sooner or later; it only took someone going through hospital records to locate me. So I created this party to vex you, and also as an invitation. So that I could chose the time and the place. I couldn't kill myself of course. Suicide is a sin."

And it seemed she was religious. Not at all what her media persona portrayed.

---

Meanwhile, Imogen was getting agitated. She had managed to isolate herself in the corner of the room, ostensibly staring out the window with a glass of vodka in one hand, "Hey Andrew, can you see what's going on up there?" she asked, "Nobody has come flying off the top floor yet so I'm guessing its going fairly well."

[Endem]

...

---

Meanwhile, Imogen was getting agitated. She had managed to isolate herself in the corner of the room, ostensibly staring out the window with a glass of vodka in one hand, "Hey Andrew, can you see what's going on up there?" she asked, "Nobody has come flying off the top floor yet so I'm guessing it's going fairly well."

Andrew Scott

"Yeah, they are talking... Wait a moment, she showed him a picture of someone, I don't know who, wait, I'll repeat what I heard" Andrew then repeated what Newton said, "so, that's how Ebrahel looks when out of suit" Andrew said to himself, he then shifted his attention back to the comms "What are the orders?"

[New Aeyariss]

Now, if that wasn't pathetic.

Wikus once again cursed himself for lack of professionalism FEB had repeatedly expressed. Lack of clear chain of command was one thing - letting a leak of this magnitude happen was another. His secret identity was compromised, and there was no telling what kind of abominations could be coming after him now. Luckily, they couldn't learn about his real loyalty - but THE STORM wasn't going to be happy about this kind of compromise. Once out of this operation, he was going to act quickly.

Looking at the wallowing woman, Wikus felt no pity or no compassion. In his mind, she called God in vain - after all, he had created humans, not disgusting abominations that resembled humanity. That sorry sight of a woman had no soul, and sooner or later was going to return to her evil ways anyhow. If he could, he would have eagerly put a bullet into her head right now - but sadly he wasn't allowed to do it right now.

"All right then, gloves off" he smiled looking at her "Though you appear to be gravely mistaken. That bunch of idealists I call my comrades would not have ordered a hit on a fly. Actually, most of them see you as merely mistaken woman who will instantly regret her deeds and become a super heroine shortly after. Which, looking at your state, is not so unfeasible."

All the time, while speaking, Wikus kept his arm near his shoulder - where, concealed under the armpit, rested a Glock 17. Though a pistol of such a kind would pose a little threat to monsters like hellgate or blur, it was always some kind of a defense.

"I am not one of them. I do not believe that you will instantly become good upon hearing a speech, or that you deserve my trust right now because you regret your deeds..." Wikus continued "For all I know, that may be all a show. However, I am also a professional. If I wanted you dead, I would not have let you see me, much less coming here with just basic protection, against threats that put armored battalions to shame..."

He looked her into the eyes:

"So how about we go together to the roof; then one of our flyers snatches us both. Only instead of being killed, you get a second chance?"

Until when I am done with FEB. Then I blast your head off, you hypocriical, self deluding and righteous monster!

[Dyelli Beybi]

"A second chance?" Newton looked skeptical, "And you think I'll l but the 'I hate you but the others don't' story?"

She stood up, stretching her back, "I'm not that naive. As soon as I step out there I'll be on a flight to the closest third world country where torture is regarded as light entertainment before lunch."

Then, suddenly, she was moving, reaching along at an oblique angle to where Wikus was standing, making herself hard to hit... though the walls were close enough she might well hit one of those.

[Endem]

Andrew Scott

"Damn, people, it ain't going too well there, Newton started using her power" he then took a split second decision and his bugs were starting to cover as much room as possible while flies, mosquitos and other such flying insects were flying in the air. It looked weird, the walls were seemingly moving, the doors were completely covered, as well as windows, or in other words, for Newton or Wikus to get out they would need to blast through hundreds of bugs, he made a zone around Wikus where no bug was going into, thought Newton didn't get the same treatment, if she got close enough to Wikus he would still don't make bugs go in there. "Well, my bugs are spread throughout the room" his goal right now was to scare Newton into a halt.

[A Paradise for Few]

'Took them long enough.' Ellehau mused. He felt butterflies rip his stomach apart at the prospect of fighting, though it faded moment later. Perhaps it is false alarm, he thought. As he continued dancing, he listened to the comms for news.

[Demencia]

Zinnia overheard the commotion and sighed before standing up. "Well, sounds like you have everything in hand." she said sarcastically over the radio. She should have gone in herself to do it, instead of relying on someone else. She didn't really have much choice on what to do now, though, so she was just pacing back and forth on the roof. "Hasn't even been half an hour and things have already gone wrong. We're shooting for a new record here at this rate." To think she cancelled a photoshoot for this.

She stretched out her wings a few times, getting ready to take off at a moment's notice for when either Blur gives in to reason (not likely) or things get FUBAR (more likely). "I can't say I'm surprised, really. It was an obvious trap from the start, but here we are, waltzing into it trying to brute force our way past it. Keep an eye on your exits, I have a feeling you might need them. I can't ferry everyone out."

[Granis]

"Well, I don't know about you guys," Michael started, "but back home this is kind of just how it goes. We make a plan, it all goes to hell within the hour, and then we try to improvise. Then we either succeed, or release some kind of god-like super demon into the world. And call me crazy, but I don't see many ways we can release any new gods tonight without a lot of extra work, so I guess the only option we have is to succeed right?"

He looked around the room, where he saw members of security speaking into their radios and beginning to run. Thankfully, it was just your average suits at the moment, none of those annoying mercenary types just yet. That meant that they probably had... Oh, a few minutes maybe? If they were lucky? Which meant it was about time for him to get to work.

"And if I'm being honest, we've still got a pretty good chance of it too. We just need to get her to stop fighting. If you can get me in there, or I don't know, get me a radio feed to her or something, I can talk to her. Might be able to help, you know? Until then, I'll be in here trying to keep some of the security busy. Don't take too long though, or else they'll probably end up murdering me."

And then walked up the stairs to the now vacant balcony, and entered the small network of hallways behind it which he assumed led to Harriet's room.

In those hallways, he noticed around seven or so security guards ready to bust into the room, and decided it was time to get serious. Within about a minute, eight chain daggers had coiled out of the air around him, floating up to the roof of the hallway where they slithered along like snakes. Of course, these chains were hardly silent, and their rattling alerted the security guards, causing them to turn and face him.

"Hey, what are you doing in h-"

And then they dropped down, wrapping around the guards and slinging them around like some horrific combination between a scene from Spiderman and the raptor scenes from Jurassic Park. Of course, Michael made sure not to do anything other than knock them unconscious. He wasn't a particularly big fan of killing people if he could help it, at least these days. Still, things were clear for now, so he dispelled his chains.

"Actually, don't worry about clearing me a path, I'm here now. I'll try to talk her down, or I guess give Mr Wick a little backup if things really get bad!"

Right as he finished speaking, he had already busted through the door, hands in the air and eyes constantly shifting around the room.

"Harry no! You've gotta stop before things get worse!"

[Endem]

Andrew Scott

After hearing what Micheal said he managed to direct a fly outside the room and near him, circling above Andrew, he was finally able to see what was going on around him. He managed to lift himself up and walk, though he wasn't walking as good as he would not using his powers, he eventually walked behind Micheal and said to him "Right now, you wouldn't want to walk into this room" he then directed the bugs covering the door to stop covering it, he opened the door, walked inside and closed the door, which immediately got once again covered in bugs, under his feet a circle formed that bugs didn't go into. He then directed himself towards Wikus and Newton "Don't worry, they won't hurt you as long as I'm here conscious" he then started to walk towards them, small bug-free circles started forming under his feet. His milky white eyes probably gave away that he was controlling them, and, the blood that dripped from his mouth and nose probably added to the effect