Angels Fall First (IC/Open)

[Kilel]

"Ms. Jamison, am I correct?" Ethlyn reached her hand out to Laurie as the party of 4 now headed towards the briefing room. "An honor to meet you properly. Ethlyn von Eisenfeld. Senior researcher."

---

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Monorail Car
1800 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

"Er... aye. Laurie." the fireheaded trapper responded, awkwardly accepting Ethlyn's offered handshake. She knew that GASPO's had a tendency to gain high standing within Heaven's ranks, but she'd never quite experienced it first-hand like this. It was a little jarring. "Guardian Angel Special Operations."

"Alright, everyone, let's get to the command center so we can get this ball rolling, hmm?" Lachesis urged, leading the crew back to the monorail station, and finally to the command center. A Massive tower in the middle of the station. Standing tall above the city, one could survey the entire station, or at least its "surface" facilities, with little difficulty. It was at the base of this tower that the four women found themselves after another 15 minute trip on the monorail.

Lachesis looked around as they approached but was unable to pinpoint Ethlyn's project, assuming it had already arrived.

"Uhm... Miss von Eisenfeld, could you check on the status of your project? I'd like to get to the briefing room as quickly as possible. It's quite a long flight from where we are to our target drop zone and I don't want Laurie and Ruby to miss their deployment time."

---

She paused in thought before speaking. “…This is Field Agent Gladis Mette, Rank V from Interpol, calling on behalf of Interpol Chief Alan Alastaire.” She heaved a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “He’s in critical condition. Hell, he was hardly able to give me this number. I don’t know any authorization code.” An Interpol Physician Tapped her shoulder from behind Gladis while she was on the call, startling her enough to nearly pull a gun on him.

Operator Station - Heaven
1800 Hours GMT - Nov. 28th

---

"Authorization Code 'Alastaire' accepted. Patching through to Lord Ortus." The young operator said curtly, ignoring the caller's distraction.

---

Phenom's Personal Quarters - Heaven
1805 GMT - Nov. 28th

---

Phenom jolted awake at the sound of the Emergency Line blaring in his face, manifesting as a hardlight screen flashing red with the words "Alan Alastaire" scrolling across the display. Phenom groaned and covered his eyes for a moment before the nature of the situation struck him and he shot upright in his bed, answering the call.

"Alan?! What's the trouble!?"

---

Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
The Inn at Afton, Afton, VA
1855 hours EST - 2355 GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

"Hilda Hazevale." Hilda responded, not breaking eye contact and cracking a sly smile. "And you...?"

"Of course, Hilda. Hilda, my name is of no importance to you. You can call me "Master" from now on, though." The white haired man stepped back and looked Hilda up and down, appraising her frame as he traced a path around her. "Tell me, Hilda. Do you have any... skills? Anything that would make you... useful to keep around? I would hate to have to dispose of such a lovely girl such as yourself."

[WizardMegumin]

Command Center | HEAVEN

---

"That won't be a problem." *Ethlyn smiled, pointing to a stranger standing right by the entrance into the obelisk. Ethlyn's finger guided her companion to a young girl with long, silvery pale pink hair sitting on a blocky piece of metal, floating slightly off the ground by an electromagnet on the bottom. The girl held a blank expression, swaying back and forth to an inaudible rhythm with black earbud embedded into her ears. She was wearing what looked to be civilian clothing: white tight-fitting camisole that hugged around her slender form, olive green shorts with little tears at the bottom, a dark leather boots that runs up to her shin, and a long, oversized leather parka with yellow synthetic material padded underneath.

"Miss Montgomery. I present to you, X-1 Aemilia. Prototype of my newest endeavor: The Bioroid Project."

---

The Inn at Afton | Afton, VA

---

Master. A fine moniker for someone grasping for what little power he could have on others in this day and age. Hilda would chuckle at the claims the man made before her, but she feared it would mean her demise. She's never been in a situation like this where she didn't have something up her sleeve. She'll just have to play along... whatever game this is.

"...why don't you ask your underlings what they found in my truck? All my little toys that are now seemingly yours." Hilda retorted, a hint of spite in her voice. "If you have someone smart enough to assess what I have created, that is. If not, then I'd be happy to give you a demonstration..."

[Slaughtveria]

Mikoto let out a relaxed sigh as he blew out a puff of smoke. A small smile grew as he listened to Luck. He shook his head at her question “Can’t say you’ve ever told me about her, but she sure does sound like one hell of a lady, she would have got along really well with my mom.” Memories flowed through him as he relaxed against the cupboard behind him. “She would always see the best in everybody. You could be the worst piece of shit in the world and yet she would be sure that there was good in you. Something extraordinary had to keep her with my dad.” His expression soured as he took another puff from the cigarette. “He always put work before us, but she always insisted that he was an amazing man who loved us with all his heart, and...well we both know how that turned out.” His sigh was much sadder as he tossed the used cigarette butt into a nearby trash can. He turned towards the still unconscious Daisuke, eager to ease the melancholic mood that had invaded the room.

“So who’s the kid? Is he...well you know?” he grumbled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head “Is he yours?” he asked the surprised Luck, now desperately hoping for a potent alcoholic beverage to appear before him.

[RaineTrifles]

Operator Station - Heaven
1800 Hours GMT - Nov. 28th

---

"Authorization Code 'Alastaire' accepted. Patching through to Lord Ortus." The young operator said curtly, ignoring the caller's distraction.

---

Phenom's Personal Quarters - Heaven
1805 GMT - Nov. 28th

---

Phenom jolted awake at the sound of the Emergency Line blaring in his face, manifesting as a hardlight screen flashing red with the words "Alan Alastaire" scrolling across the display. Phenom groaned and covered his eyes for a moment before the nature of the situation struck him and he shot upright in his bed, answering the call.

"Alan?! What's the trouble!?"

---

Gladis’s rant against the doctor stopped the moment phenom’s voice was on the line in the call. She snapped out of her anger, remembering she was still on the line. She cleared her throat as she answered phenom, somewhat hesitantly. “This is Gladis Mette, calling on behalf of Interpol Chief Alan Alastaire.” She repeated herself in a professional manner. “He's in critical condition. According to the doctors,” She stared at the man, who kept his distance from her. “…He’s been 'poisoned' by some kind of heated liquid metal that is causing him to have symptoms similar to a hemorregic fever.”

“We believe it’s a form of advanced techno-“ The doctor began to speak before she held up a finger for him to shut up.

“Look, I don’t know who you are. But it’s obvious that he trusts you and that you care. I’d like to believe you may have information on what the hell is going on with him. Maybe something he thought of right before he was out cold. The doctors here can’t help him and they have him in a faulty cryo-unit." She took a deep breath and let it out while she waited for the man’s response. What was she thinking, trusting a complete stranger with this information? Was she a moron? She asked this to herself as she leaned her back against the wall. As the doctor began to leave, she grabbed him by the arm and signaled him to stay.

Mikoto let out a relaxed sigh as he blew out a puff of smoke. A small smile grew as he listened to Luck. He shook his head at her question “Can’t say you’ve ever told me about her, but she sure does sound like one hell of a lady, she would have got along really well with my mom.” Memories flowed through him as he relaxed against the cupboard behind him. “She would always see the best in everybody. You could be the worst piece of shit in the world and yet she would be sure that there was good in you. Something extraordinary had to keep her with my dad.” His expression soured as he took another puff from the cigarette. “He always put work before us, but she always insisted that he was an amazing man who loved us with all his heart, and...well we both know how that turned out.” His sigh was much sadder as he tossed the used cigarette butt into a nearby trash can. He turned towards the still unconscious Daisuke, eager to ease the melancholic mood that had invaded the room.

“So who’s the kid? Is he...well you know?” he grumbled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head “Is he yours?” he asked the surprised Luck, now desperately hoping for a potent alcoholic beverage to appear before him.

“What the-” Luck widened her eyes and forced herself to lean off of Mikoto to give him both a horrified and shock expression. She held the cigarette away from her face and looked to the kid then looked to Mikoto. “Have you lost your marbles? No, he’s just some kid I found there-” She then looked around the room without moving her head, a sense of panic rising in her. Memory of what happened before she passed out came back to her. The files, the usb she stuffed in her bag, the information she had collected! Oh hell, no. Had they all been left back there? “Mikoto. Where’s my bag?” She questioned with a quiet, and panicked tone of voice.


____________________________________________________CRESSIDA___________________________________________________

Cressida watched as luck drove off on her only motorcycle through the cameras outside. She heaved a heavy breath in and out as she looked at the other screens from her office chair in the headquarters security office, watching more authorities come into the area. She recognized one face from HVN, staring at those screens intently with a red glint in her eye. Hopefully they would leave as soon as they had no more leads to follow in the area concerning the hovercraft crash.

----------8 Weeks after the Hovercrash Incident ----------

With little to go on in terms of the hovercraft crash and any connections to Connecticut communes, the majority of investigations had left the city and continued elsewhere. The citizens of Connecticut communes were at ease again, at ease as they could be in any case, given the screwed up situation their world was set in. Within the cobra gang, however, tensions were rising. A key member of the gang had suddenly broken contact during an infiltration mission he was on, and Lilac was able to track him to a nearby enemy facility in another commune. The majority of her gang had trackers in them, a precaution lilac took in case they ever betrayed her. She would implant the tracker in their skin discretely, so they had no knowledge of this. Most likely, however, he had been captured and was being tortured for information. Cressida stood before a mirror now as she got dressed. She attached a garter to her upper legs with guns strapped on them and put on a semi combat suit, although still somewhat revealing. After making sure the inside of her fur coat was lined with many, many small knives drenched and dried in potent poison, she put it on and headed out of her special hidden room in the building. Justin waited outside for her, leaning his back on the wall and crossing his arms.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Justin questioned in his deep tone of voice. His stare dug into her eyes as she looked back at him with a dangerous expression.

“Out.” Cressida lifted her chin and crossed her arms, “Why? Are you going to stop me?”

“Lilac…” Justin quietly said her name and leaned off the wall to approached her. He grabbed hold of her arm. Justin knew her ability, but unlike anyone else there, he did not fear it. He had the uncanny ability of withstanding high levels of pain. “Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m just going to negotiate his release.” Cressida looked away from Justin.

“With that coat fully armed? I don’t think so.”

“And what would you have me do??” Cressida pulled her arm out of his grip and looked up at him. “He knows too much.”

“He would never betray you. Besides, it isn’t like you to act Irrationally.”

“I have a feeling that he won’t have to.” Cressida turned her back to Justin. “I’ve had my eye on those bastards for some time. Something’s off about them. Now, if you’ll excuse me-” She gasped when Justin took hold of her coat and pulled her back towards him into a tight embrace from behind. “Por Favor, Corazon… let me go before I hurt you.” She warned in an impatient tone of voice.

“Hell NO. You think I’ll just let you go out there? Knowing what could happen if they found you?” His voice was angry and hurt at the same time. “Now if you hadn’t let your damn friend borrow the motorcycle… perhaps I would feel more inclined to go and do whatever the damn hell you pleased.”

“The investigation has left our area for the most part.” Cressida argued.

“This coming from the woman who used to be an intelligence operative at a super powerful organization. Haven’t you heard yet?”

“Hey, asshole, let go of me before I seriously hurt you.” Cressida struggled in the man’s grasp as she spoke and bit her lip. She felt tempted to grab the gun from her garter and shoot him in the foot so he would let her go, since she could always heal him anyway. However, she would hate to shoot her only ally that knew everything about her. She heaved an aggravated sigh. “What the hell is it then? What don’t I know about?”

“There’s a stranger in the communes, doesn’t look like police or Interpol. He’s snooping about.” Justin kept his hold on Cressida. “And it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere anytime soon. People have reported him asking a lot of questions, and he’s set his eye on us since our gang has control over this area.” He narrowed his eyes. “At least till we can make sure he’ll leave us be, don’t let yourself be seen.”

“Fuck.” Cressida stopped fighting Justin’s hold on her. Justin let go of her when she fell into realization. “How could he have passed by my surveillance systems in the communes? Unless…” She grit her teeth, turning around to face Justin when she got an idea. “Listen up… here’s what we need to do..”

(Kilel or whoever kilel assigns to this responds to cressida's post xD)

[Kilel]

"Miss Montgomery. I present to you, X-1 Aemilia. Prototype of my newest endeavor: The Bioroid Project."

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1810 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

Lachesis inspected the clearly synthetic girl before her. A rather curious project. Heaven had already mastered full-body cybernetics and android construction. She wondered what the difference between an "Android" and a "Bioroid" was. Perhaps something to do with being more human, as the name might suggest? She decided she would interrogate Ethlyn on the details of this project later.

"Well, Miss von Eisenfeld. I'll assume this project is sanctioned. Let's continue to the briefing room. You can tell me what she can do there. I hope she's combat capable."

---

"The doctors here can’t help him and they have him in a faulty cryo-unit.""

Phenom's Personal Quarters - Heaven
1810 GMT - Nov. 28th

---

Phenom quickly collected himself as he realized that this call was not nearly as urgent as his imagination might have led him to believe. Not that it wasn't urgent, his old comrade's very life was in danger as a result of an unknown assailant's assassination attempt. Probably something to do with his role as the chief of Interpol. Adopting a more professional tone, he began to speak to the woman.

"Gladis, was it? Don't worry. I'll take care of Alan for the time being. I assume you're at Interpol Headquarters? I'm activating a team nearby right now to secure and extract him. I recommend you clear your landing pad within the next five minutes. I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now. For the time being, simply understand that I am a friend. A friend with connections."

Throughout the conversation, Phenom flipped through display after display, dispensing orders to sleeper Angel teams on the ground and arranging for a dropship from a nearby HVN surface settlement to arrive for a pickup. HVN Medical services would far outmatch whatever Interpol was providing currently.

"It's strange that someone would attack Alan in such a manner... I wonder if it's connected to MKS..." Phenom mused to himself before remembering he was still on the line, "Ah, I'm sorry... Miss, I'm sorry but... you may have just been roped into something big."

---

"If you have someone smart enough to assess what I have created, that is. If not, then I'd be happy to give you a demonstration..."

Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
The Inn at Afton, Afton, VA
1855 hours EST - 2355 GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

The white-haired man raised an eyebrow at Hilda's retort, with a hint of amusement in his expression. As he spoke, he removed one of his gloves and placed his hand on her shoulder "Aaaah, a spunky one. Lucky for you, I like spunk. But unfortunately for you, I'm the top of the food chain here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a momentary electrical discharge not unlike that of a police taser surged through Hilda's body, sending her to the ground.

"And don't you forget it. Take her back to her cell. We'll hold onto her. For now. I want to break her."

"Right away, boss." The Greasy-haired man said. He hurried over to Hilda's slumped form and hoisted her over his shoulder before carrying her back to the cell he had retrieved her from previously.

[WizardMegumin]

Command Center | HEAVEN

---

"Of course. Her fabrication was authorized by the Support and Coordination Division and has been equipped for mission capability." Ethlyn nodded before gesturing to the younger girl as if beckoning for her to follow. The young girl, Aemilia, did so willingly, though it was her floating automaton that did the moving, not the girl herself. "Lead the way, Miss Montgomery."

---

The Inn at Afton | Afton, VA

---

The sudden jolt from out of the blue overwhelmed Hilda's defenseless body as she fell limp onto the ground, twitching. She was still seemingly conscious as her eyes darted about, but she was paralyzed everywhere else; she couldn't move her arms and legs, helpless to resist that warm-bodied greasy-haired thug who hauled her stiff body back to her cell and restrained her wrists together with the lock and chain.

"Charming." Hilda growled at the greasy-haired man sarcastically once she felt her lips and jaw move. "Not even a remote bit sadistic. You know, I think if he had a slight bit of patience he would realize just who he's dealing with."

[RaineTrifles]

Phenom's Personal Quarters - Heaven
1810 GMT - Nov. 28th

"It's strange that someone would attack Alan in such a manner... I wonder if it's connected to MKS..." Phenom mused to himself before remembering he was still on the line, "Ah, I'm sorry... Miss, I'm sorry but... you may have just been roped into something big."

Gladis gripped the doctor's arm in reflex to hearing the term MKS. That was what her last conversation with Alan was about. That Damned MKS infecting one of their agents. Things started to come together in her head suddenly and Gladis gave an irritated chuckle, releasing the doctor's arm as she put that hand on her waist and stared at the ground in disbelief. She put the phone off her ear for a moment and told the doctor to leave and get Alan's cryo unit ready for safe transfer before returning to the call. She was about to speak when she heard a dial tone on the line. She sighed to herself as she headed back to the guarded room where they kept Alan in. The guards let her through and she entered the semi-lighted room. The lights flickered since they were using extra electricity to power the faulty machine running. She approached the faulty unit.

"Alan, you crazy son of a gun." She spoke in a soft voice, gave a sad chuckle, and frowned as she looked upon his pale face, running a hand through her hair. "...Hurry and wake up, already." She placed a hand on the ice cold cryochamber and sighed again. "World's more of a mess without you in it.” Gladis gave a sad short lived laugh before letting her hand slide off the cryochamber. She looked away from his face when a lone tear escaped from her eye on her blank face. “Ah. I'm sure you'll be watching this later and thinking I look like an Idiot. Don't get any funny ideas, alright?" She looked to the security camera in the room before heading out to see what she could do to prepare for the dropship’s arrival.

-----------------------------------------------------------A SHORT WHILE AFTERWARDS----------------------------------------------------------------
Gladis ran up the staircase to the roof in a hurry. Interpol Headquarters had authorized her landing request rather quickly, maybe a little too quickly. They had also authorized the transfer to bring Alan to another facility where they could possibly treat him. To her frustration, they had already taken him and gone in the elevator by the time she got the news. She pushed the double doors open and spotted them a distance away, about to take off.

“Hey, stop! Wait!!” Gladis shouted at them and waved her arms as she ran to it. It started going up in the air, making her hair fly annoyingly into her face. She swept the hair off her eyes. “STOP!” She exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Suddenly the airlift landed back on the landing pad. They opened the airlift and two people in uniforms Gladis didn’t recognize stepped out with guns. A man stepped out from behind them, unarmed. The older man stared at Gladis, studying her every move.

“…Huh. I didn’t think that was going to work.” Gladis blew the loose strands of hair out of her face. “Name’s Gladis Mette. I’m the one who made the call.”

“We’re aware.” The older man motioned for the other two to put their weapons away. “The patient is in critical condition, so I apologize but we must take our leave. We hope you understand.”

“No, by all means, we should get going.” Gladis attempted to board the airlift, only getting as far as the ramp. The strange people blocked her way.
“Please step off the ramp.” The man warned her. Gladis remained defiant and crossed her arms. “If you don’t step off-“

Gladis frowned. “Look, either you take me with you, or I force you to take me with you by letting you beat me in a fight. In which case, would cause suspicion to my agency and bring unwanted attention to yours. Your choice.”

“…” The older man gave it some thought. ”Fine. Have it your way.”

“But sir-“ The other two looked to him, nodding when he eyed them. They allowed Gladis to get on, taking to the skies, but checked for weapons and took them from her, placing them in a locked area for safe keeping. Gladis sat in a windowless part of the dropship. They had placed her in a plain looking room that stripped any opportunity for the person in there to leave without notice. Cameras were on every corner. Alan’s cryochamber was in another room, connected to a more powerful energy supply to keep it running until they arrived. She only hoped she hadn’t made a mistake in trusting them. In any case however, she felt confident enough in her own skills to be able to fight them off to some capacity if she needed to.

[Kilel]

(OOC: gonna start speeding things up here so we can get to the first engagement)
Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
The Inn at Afton, Afton, VA
1900 hours EST - 2300 GMT - November 28th/29th (Thursday/Friday) (OOC: Just realized I had my timezone setup wrong. Not gonna go back and fix everything. 2300 GMT starting here.)

---

"Charming." Hilda growled at the greasy-haired man sarcastically once she felt her lips and jaw move. "Not even a remote bit sadistic. You know, I think if he had a slight bit of patience he would realize just who he's dealing with."

The Greasy-haired hooligan laughed boisterously at Hilda's words. "Who he's dealin' with? Boss don't give a shit who you are. All he cares about is what you're worth to him. And your worth will be clear in time. Whether yer a slab of meat or fuel for the fires, doesn't matter. You'll learn your place and you'll like it."

A series of gunshots in the distance could be faintly heard, clearly pulling the man's attention. "Sounds like some new blood got caught!" The man said with a grin, "I'll go welcome them to our loving fam'ly! Nobody go anywhere, now, y'hear? And don't worry 'bout tryin' to escape. We've got a pair o' those fancy mercenary types watching the place, y'couldn't leave if ya wanted to!"

---

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1815 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

"Lead the way, Miss Montgomery."

Lachesis did exactly as she was told, and led the group to the central elevator within the command center superstructure. Ushering the group into the large cabin, she ordered an unseen audience.

"Briefing, please, Vince. Thank you."

"Good evening to you, Ma'am. Next stop, Briefing." said an automated voice from within the car.

"The Command Center's AI, Vince. He kind operates things here, to a degree." Lachesis explained.

As the elevator lurched, they began to descend into the belly of Heaven. When they finally stopped, the doors slid open to reveal a group of unassuming doorways. Lachesis led the group into the furthest one away, which opened into something almost resembling a planetarium. This planetarium held a Hardlight representation of the Earth.


(back up image since the first wasn't working and I couldnt find it again)

BGM

"Please, please, take a seat. We've wasted enough time getting here and I'd like to get you guys to the field as soon as possible." She approached the holographic earth and spun it into place, placing her hand on the eastern United States seaboard. Specifically on the state of Virginia. "We've discovered, recently, a bandit clan encamped in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. First things first. We're going to be dropping you in via HALO jump with standard wingsuits. Miss Hyeon, I assume you're familiar with how the apparatus works. Miss von Eisenfeld, can Aemilia... float, for want of a better word?"

A series of hand motions enlarged the area in question. Satellite imagery showing the Inn at Afton in particular floated into view. Lachesis made copies of the hardlight screens and floated them over to everyone present.

"The AO is mountainous and densely wooded. There's a clearing on one hillside where you can overlook the camp, but you won't have much cover if you're spotted there. Satellite imagery confirms the presence of prisoners within the premises so check your targets before firing. Non-combatant casualties are to be kept to an absolute minimum. Unfortunately, we don't have the schematics for this building, so we'll be deploying you with a Pulse Pod to get a lay of the building once you get inside."

"What can we expect in terms of resistance, ma'am?" Laurie asked, her earlier clarity of speech retained.

"Thermal shows several dozen small patrols throughout the woods surrounding the complex. The main complex will likely hold another several dozen inside. We don't expect you to maintain stealth through the whole deployment. Environment is too target-rich. Someone is bound to be alerted eventually."

"Any Strays? Or are these all just normal humans?" Laurie added.

"We have at least one confirmed Stray. Their leader, Isaac Abramov, has Electrical abilities, but that's all we know. It's likely there are other Strays on site."

"Fallen?"

"None confirmed but be wary. We know there are a number in Virginia at least."

"That's all I have."

"Primary objective will be to clear out the main camp. We'll have Raska 1 on call for clean up and extraction once your team finishes up. We're aware that there's been a lot of human trafficking out of this area lately, but we're not sure why. Eliminate Abramov, free any prisoners you can find. We'll bring them aboard, treat them, process them, and release them back into the wild, amnestics and all. Raska team will stay on site until all prisoners have been loaded and extracted. You will exfil with the prisoners. Any more questions? Miss Hyeon? Miss von Eisenfeld?"

---

Heaven Dropship
Copenhagen Airspace
1815 GMT - Nov 28th

---

A hardlight monitor buzzed to life in the small annex Gladis was being held in. The face of an unkempt, middle-aged man with messy black hair came to light on the screen, his hand supporting his forehead in slight annoyance. "I'm surprised they let you come along," the unkempt man started, "kind of wish they didn't but... I suppose the damage is done. Are you close to Alan?"

[WizardMegumin]

The Inn at Afton | Afton, VA

---

Hilda remained in spiteful silence as her eyes followed the greasy-haired thug leave the prison before leaning against the stone wall, feeling the cold iron manacles around her wrists and ankles. Slab of meat. What a fantastically literal way to describe her potential future. She didn't even bother thinking about the "fuel for the fires" part; death is never in her agenda, after all. Still, it's a possibility, if she doesn't think of a way out, fast. If only she had some, or maybe even just a few of her toys from her vehicle on her...

---

Command Center | HEAVEN

---

Ethlyn kept the enigmatic, inquisitive smile on her face as her eyes scanned the premise, curiously observing the theoretical heart of HEAVEN operations, while Aemilia, finally having stepped off the floating device, landed on the ground with a surprisingly dense thud for her build and how low to the ground she already was. They approached the holographic globe and sat on a pair of chairs open to them as Lachesis interacted with the globe while debriefing.

"Aemilia has underwent a simulation of both atmospheric and orbital drops. Current observation is that she can perform military free falls up to 35,000 ft without any damages to her system. So yes, she can float." Ethlyn answered, amused by Lachesis' choice of words, before returning to listening. Aemilia did so as well, keeping that same, neutral expression on her face, occasionally tilting her gaze as the conversation went from one person to another. Eventually, the debriefing came to a conclusion. Assassination and rescue. Ethlyn closed her eyes as if to reminisce, until she was asked if she had any other questions. "No other questions from me, Miss Montgomery. Aemilia, how about you?"

The strangely humane project of Ethlyn's shook her head twice.

[Rupudska]

"Primary objective will be to clear out the main camp. We'll have Raska 1 on call for clean up and extraction once your team finishes up. We're aware that there's been a lot of human trafficking out of this area lately, but we're not sure why. Eliminate Abramov, free any prisoners you can find. We'll bring them aboard, treat them, process them, and release them back into the wild, amnestics and all. Raska team will stay on site until all prisoners have been loaded and extracted. You will exfil with the prisoners. Any more questions? Miss Hyeon? Miss von Eisenfeld?"

"Just one," said Ruby with a small shrug after taking a few moments to process the information. Originally she had a few, but as the briefing wore on (as long as it wasn't), most of her questions boiled down to do, which condensed down into one.

"RoE on combatants, and any non-combatants that put up resistance. What is it?"

[Monfrox]

The ride was over not long after it began. Honestly, the rest at the inn was only a small spot because Riley hadn't slept in a while so she needed to take at least a few hours. She checked the map through her NVG and had kept a mental note of the distance. The presence of some small fires marked outer patrol camps. That made things both easier and harder. She hopped off her horse and patted him on the side.

"Alright, Oddball. I'll be back."

With that, Riley slipped off towards the outer area of the patrol to try to pick off a few stragglers. She drew her M9A3 and took out the suppressor from a small pouch on her left leg, threading it on the end of the muzzle. First up was some weirdo in a mask. She stopped and thought about it for a bit, then decided she wanted it for herself. She had run-ins with HVN after her discharge. Well "run-ins" merely being vaguely operating withing a ten mile radius. She didn't know if they wanted her back or dead but she could always use more ways to hide her identity. She carefully moved up behind the man and shot him through the side of his head, catching him before he dropped onto the ground and easing him the rest of the way down so as not to make any more noise. One swift motion and she had a nice new ballistic face mask, which she put in her rucksack for now.

Next she needed some intel. One of the guards should be cooperative, and she picked the most civilian looking one out of the bunch. She waited patiently for him to start moving off on his patrol beat and came up behind him when he was alone. One quick kick to the back of his knee and she moved in with a knife to his throat after holstering her Beretta and grabbed his arm around from the other side, twisting it just enough to make him uncomfortable.

"Hi there. We're gonna talk."

"What?! Oh, yeah right!"

She twisted the wrist a bit.

"OWW! Ow! Shit! Okay, talking sounds good!"

"What kind of operation are you running here?"

"The kind that could use a girl like yo-agh!"

"Human trafficking, is it?"

"Y-yeah!"

"Business on the side?"

"I don't know, they don't tell me much."

"I see, so you're dumb muscle kept around to make sure people continue to get bought and sold like cattle."

"Y-yes?"

"How many guys are on the payroll for this job?"

"Not a lot but more than a few."

"How many inside?"

"I don't know, maybe more than ten or so in the building."

"Anything else you want to tell me?"

"Not really."

"Well, since you want to be like that, can you tell me why the world wouldn't be a better place without you?"

"Wait, what? What the fuck does that mean?"

"Didn't think so."

Riley quickly hooked her arm around before stabbing the man in the neck and punching out the front to sever the arteries and the windpipe. She let him slump out of her hand and moved on towards the building. The hard part would be getting inside unnoticed and trying to ascertain where everyone is. And if she remembered correctly, there were some Strays in the ranks too. That complicated things. It wasn't until she heard shots pop off that she got her opening. She didn't know what was going on, but the guys at the inn were now going to be very alert. It also would mean that they might pull some of the ranks to go check things out, which was about what happened, leaving her to take the long way around and slip in through the back. Of course, this also meant that she had a time constraint to get in and out before she got caught by the local goons.

"It can never just be easy, can it?" Riley said to herself as she came in through a small window.

[Kilel]

"RoE on combatants, and any non-combatants that put up resistance. What is it?"

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1820 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

Lachesis straightened up in her posture and took a moment to confirm her thoughts with herself before answering Ruby's question.

"Combatants can currently be considered all hostile, though I urge you to exercise restraint. If the alarm is raised, which is far more likely if there are Anti-Heaven Fallen in the AO, then you can go wild. You'll already have been compromised. I strongly advise you to check your targets, however. If the alarm is raised, the base may become chaotic. This is a bandit clan, not a regimented battalion. If mayhem breaks out in their base of operations, we may have non-hostile combatants. In summation: While you are currently weapons free, that may change."

"As for resistant non-combatants, we can only release them and offer them medical treatment. We cannot force them to come with us. If they would rather strike out on their own, that's their own prerogative. If they become hostile, non-lethal takedowns only."

Laurie chimed in, breaking her air of professionalism, "If any o' them git the idea tha' we're th' baddies, I've an underbarrel tranq gun. I'll take care o' them, don't ye worry yer pre'ty 'ead."

Lachesis cleared her throat authoritatively, "Alright then. If there are no more questions, Hangar 15 is your liftoff point. Your callsign for this mission is Seraph. Aemilia? You're under Laurie's command on this operation, I assume you understand. Everything you will need is on the dropship, BDU's included. Laurie, per the usual, all of your standard toys are already onboard."

"Much appreciated, ma'am."

"Drop time is approximately 6:45 PM local time. That's a little over 4 hours from now and you have half of a planet to cover before you're dropped, so make your prep snappy. Local weather is not great. It's going to be cold and snowy, so be aware of your movements. If there are any Anti-Heaven Fallen, they'll likely have thermals, and you'll stick out like a sore thumb... Good luck."

Without another word, Laurie hoisted herself up and made her way back to the elevator while Lachesis remained behind to analyze some further data.

"Let's get along, then, you lot. We can take this elevat'r to the hang'rs."

[RaineTrifles]

---

Heaven Dropship
Copenhagen Airspace
1815 GMT - Nov 28th

---

A hardlight monitor buzzed to life in the small annex Gladis was being held in. The face of an unkempt, middle-aged man with messy black hair came to light on the screen, his hand supporting his forehead in slight annoyance. "I'm surprised they let you come along," the unkempt man started, "kind of wish they didn't but... I suppose the damage is done. Are you close to Alan?"

"No. They're keeping him in a separate space." Gladis glanced at the screen and recognized the man's voice as the one she had spoken to on the phone. "I would say you've got a lot of explaining to do, but I'm concerned you'll try to silence me if I ask questions." Gladis laughed humourlessly in sarcasm. "You probably have something more potent than cameras hiding behind those plain looking walls." She glanced around the room. "Maybe some device to take me down if I try to leave this room. Am I right?" She asked from experience, remembering her time as a brainwashed morkt soldier. The tech people created in that era for their warships was frightening.

[Kilel]

“Listen up… here’s what we need to do..”

Connecticut Communes
Formerly Westport, CT - USA
1900 EST

---

Inside a quaint, unassuming home in the outer areas of Connecticut Communes, an elderly man sat with a married couple, their children clearly audibly playing in the floor above. At the table was some tea that the elderly man had insisted upon brewing himself, even at the humble requests of the couple to let them take care of it. Clearly nearing the end of their conversation, the elderly man, accompanied by one very tall, very large woman behind him, asked a few closing questions.

"And you are sure that the woman that you saw climbing out of the crash had crimson hair?" The elderly man asked, a hint of a French accent showing through.

"Absolutely. Red as blood."

"Aaaand she was heavily armed as well?"

"Well, maybe not so much, but we could tell she was a killer just looking at her."

"Do you remember which way she went?"

"Unfortunately not, I'm sorry."

"I see... Well, that's all I have for you tonight. Thank you so much for your cooperation." The frenchman finished before standing up from his seat, finishing his tea. "Thank you for letting me use your stove. You may have the rest of the tea I brewed if you like, it's very good!"

"Oh th... thank you." The husband replied.

"Come along, Angela," The old man began, addressing his monstrous accomplice, "We still have much work to do!"

"Wait uh... we never caught who you were with?" the wife interjected.

"Ah, right... just think of me as... a friend."

Satisfied with his non-answer, he made his way out the front door and into the cold November night.

---

"Maybe some device to take me down if I try to leave this room. Am I right?"

Heaven Dropship
Copenhagen Airspace
1817 GMT - Nov 28th

---

"Well uh... first of all, I meant like... are you... like... good friends with Alan? Where are my manners? I suppose I'm not on any international record, there's no harm in telling you my name. Phenom Ortus, at your service." The tired-looking man in the screen said in a very introductory manner.

"As for your suspicions," he sighed, "No, there's not really anything set up to 'take you out.' Just a door that won't open right n-"

Phenom's speech was immediately cut off by a shrouded figure suddenly... materializing out of nowhere in the small annex.

"Amanda!" Phenom shouted in excitement, "I didn't know you were in Copenhagen! It's been awhile since I've last seen you!"

"Yeah. Just keeping tabs on Interpol development. Saw the dropship overhead. Figured it was important, so I popped in. Who might this be?" The shrouded woman asked, face completely hidden underneath her hood.

"Her name is Gladis.. uh... could you give us a moment please?"

"Oh, of course sir. Sorry for the intrusion." Amanda replied before letting herself out through the door with a slight nod of the head toward Gladis.

"Now then... You're uh... you're not in any danger, my friend." Phenom droned. "Answer a few questions, and you may be deemed worthy of knowledge very few, Alan included, are privileged with."

[WizardMegumin]

((I'm going to start using Kilel's location and time tags to reduce confusion and help him with syncing stuff))
Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1820 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

The idle flourish of her fingers across the giant metal block gently floating next to her seemingly made her appear bored, but Aemilia staring into the eyes of Laurie with a gaze of uncanny curiosity said otherwise. The girl nodded as response to Lachesis and stood as her team leader headed to the elevator, looking toward Ethlyn as if awaiting orders.

"You'll do great, Aemilia. Make sure you listen to your commander. Record any data you find interesting down in the surface, and we'll inspect them together." Ethlyn encouraged her creation like a proud, caring mother. "Stay safe. I'll see you soon."

Aemilia nodded once more silently and followed after her commander to the elevator, a hint of excitement in her otherwise stoic face, made apparent by the lightness of her steps... as light as a gynoid made out of heavy synthetic materials can step, that is. Once she was inside the elevator, Aemilia hopped onto the floating device once again, awaiting for the last remaining member of the team to enter.

[RaineTrifles]

---

"Maybe some device to take me down if I try to leave this room. Am I right?"

Heaven Dropship
Copenhagen Airspace
1817 GMT - Nov 28th

---

"Well uh... first of all, I meant like... are you... like... good friends with Alan? Where are my manners? I suppose I'm not on any international record, there's no harm in telling you my name. Phenom Ortus, at your service." The tired-looking man in the screen said in a very introductory manner.

"As for your suspicions," he sighed, "No, there's not really anything set up to 'take you out.' Just a door that won't open right n-"

Phenom's speech was immediately cut off by a shrouded figure suddenly... materializing out of nowhere in the small annex.

"Amanda!" Phenom shouted in excitement, "I didn't know you were in Copenhagen! It's been awhile since I've last seen you!"

"Yeah. Just keeping tabs on Interpol development. Saw the dropship overhead. Figured it was important, so I popped in. Who might this be?" The shrouded woman asked, face completely hidden underneath her hood.

"Her name is Gladis.. uh... could you give us a moment please?"

"Oh, of course sir. Sorry for the intrusion." Amanda replied before letting herself out through the door with a slight nod of the head toward Gladis.

"Now then... You're uh... you're not in any danger, my friend." Phenom droned. "Answer a few questions, and you may be deemed worthy of knowledge very few, Alan included, are privileged with."

Gladis gave Amanda a nod, not shocked by the woman's sudden appearance. Then again, she had gone through hell and back through Morkt's brainwashed soldier corps. Nothing seemed to shock her anymore, except for when Alan collapsed in his office without warning. She looked back to the man speaking to her on the screen and gripped the edge of where she sat with one hand, wearing a controlled half smile.

"Phenom Ortus. Pretty unique name you got there..." Gladis tapped the surface where she sat with an unconscious nervous tick in her right hand. "Me and Alan are practically joined at the hip, if you get my meaning. I'm surprised he hasn't told you about me." She crossed her arms. "In fact, I feel a little offended." She gave an annoyed chuckle and looked aside, licking her dry lips. She suddenly wished she had asked for water before they left her in this room. "I'll make sure to get him back for that later, but for now..." She leaned forward a little bit. "I have nothing to hide, So ask away."

[Kilel]

Once she was inside the elevator, Aemilia hopped onto the floating device once again, awaiting for the last remaining member of the team to enter.

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1820 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

When Ruby had finally made her way onto the elevator, Laurie spoke aloud to the elevator, as Lachesis had previously.

"Vince. Hangar 15, if ye would."

"Of course, Captain Jamison. Hangar 15."

With a lurch, the elevator plunged even deeper into the facility, eventually opening up to a small hangar with carts filled with gear for the team to select from. Guns, grenades, knives, the works. In the middle of the hangar sat one Condor dropship.

"Take yer pick, lasses. Everythin' uses microshavings as ammo, so ye shouldn't need t'worry about runnin' out any time soon. A couple o' extra fills oughta last ye all night!" Laurie urged, snagging a rifle and a handgun before making her way onto the ship, taking stock of all of the equipment on board."

---

"I have nothing to hide, So ask away."

Heaven Dropship
Copenhagen Airspace
1817 GMT - Nov 28th

---

"No need for feeling betrayed. Alan and I aren't exactly frequent interlocutors." Phenom said with a shrug, noticing the slight twitch in Gladis's hand. He slightly raised an eyebrow at this involuntary gesture, but paid it little more mind. He noticed her licking her lips and tapped a few keys on his hardlight monitor, the result of which was a panel shifting in the wall beside her, a plastic cup within filling with water.

"Please, have a drink. On the house. As for my first question, why don't you tell me exactly what happened before you found Alan in his compromised state?"

[Slaughtveria]

“What the-” Luck widened her eyes and forced herself to lean off of Mikoto to give him both a horrified and shock expression. She held the cigarette away from her face and looked to the kid then looked to Mikoto. “Have you lost your marbles? No, he’s just some kid I found there-” She then looked around the room without moving her head, a sense of panic rising in her. Memory of what happened before she passed out came back to her. The files, the usb she stuffed in her bag, the information she had collected! Oh hell, no. Had they all been left back there? “Mikoto. Where’s my bag?” She questioned with a quiet, and panicked tone of voice.

Mikoto quickly rose to his feet “Well, it was just curiosity you know, I uh..” he stopped fumbling for words as she started frantically searching for her bag. He joined the search, crouching to look under the table she had been laying on. He rose back up and turned to leave the room, only to stop when he saw a young girl in the doorframe. The young brunette rubbed her eyes tiredly as she looked at the mercenary. “Uncle Mikoto, what are you doing?” she mumbled, still half asleep.

Mikoto crouched down to the little girl, a warm smile on his face. “I’m just helping a friend of mine look for something she lost.” The girl absentmindedly peered to the right and waved at the redhead.

“What are you doing up Svetie? It’s way past your bedtime,” he asked, mustering up his best disapproving parent look.

“I’m thirsty, can I have a glass of water?” she whined, to the amusement of Mikoto. He grabbed her and hoisted her up onto his shoulder.

“Tell you what, first we go on a treasure hunt, then we get your water alright?” the girl’s tired eyes suddenly beamed with excitement as she nodded happily.

Mikoto turned back towards Luck, giving her a small wave “Be right back Red, the hunt for the missing bag must go on..in another room!” he bellowed in an exaggerated voice as he pointed to the sky. He left the room, leaving it in relative silence sans the receding sounds of giggling.

A few rooms over in what most would consider a living room, Bridgette tore through the missing bag, determined to find something that validated her suspicions. She combed through the contents before her fingers rested on a red USB flash drive. She listened for any footsteps heading towards her before retrieving a laptop from a nearby drawer. She plugged the drive in and mumbled a curse as she discovered most of the contents had been encrypted. The few files she could access revealed names that were all too familiar. Black market dealers, scientists, and Charlie Peterson, the burned corpse found in the hovercraft crash. She looked in the bag for anything else. Spying another flash drive, this time a light blue in color, she reached for it

“That’s called stealing you know?” a voice startled her as she instinctively pulled the pistol off her belt and pointed it towards the sound. Her brother stood there, his arms crossed and a look of disappointment on his face.

Bridgette scoffed as she holstered her pistol again “I thought we all referred to it as borrowing at this point?” she returned to the files on the computer only to have them disappear as Samuel pulled the drive out of her computer.

“Hey! Give it back!” she yelled as she grabbed for the drive. Samuel stepped back away from her lunge and pocketed the little drive.

“Not a chance sis, I’m willing to give her another chance, and you should too.” Bridgette was practically seething at this point

“Why the fuck is everyone being so nice to her! Remember the last time we met up with her? She played us like a fiddle, she used us for her own goals, toyed with Mikoto, then left to who knows where to do god knows what!” she started yelling in her brother’s face, who remained calm as she raged.

“That was almost ten years ago Brig. You know Mikey was the most hurt by her, but he’s giving her another chance. Life’s too short to harbor hatred sis.”

“Mama?” a small voice instantly cooled her hot head as she turned towards her daughter, a look of concern on her face.

“Svetlana, what are you doing up?” she asked as she went and scooped up the young girl.

“I’m on a treasure hunt with Uncle Mikoto! We’re searching for the legendary Crimson Purse!” Bridgette smiled and chuckled as the young girl struck a dramatic pose in her arms. She let her down and with great reluctance, handed over the bag as Samuel tossed the pocketed drive into it.

“Congratulations young explorer! You found the treasure!” Bridgette let out her best dramatic voice as she gave her daughter the bag, who grabbed it and ran out of the room practically squealing.

“Uncle Mikoto! Uncle Mikoto! I found the treasure!”

Bridgette let out a sigh before turning back towards her brother, who had a smile on his face. “I’m proud of you for giving her another chance sis,” he said, giving her a big hug in the process.

“Well you know, life’s too short to harbor hatred and whatever other bullshit you said.” the two chuckled to each other.

Connecticut Communes
Formerly Westport, CT - USA
1900 EST

---

Inside a quaint, unassuming home in the outer areas of Connecticut Communes, an elderly man sat with a married couple, their children clearly audibly playing in the floor above. At the table was some tea that the elderly man had insisted upon brewing himself, even at the humble requests of the couple to let them take care of it. Clearly nearing the end of their conversation, the elderly man, accompanied by one very tall, very large woman behind him, asked a few closing questions.

"And you are sure that the woman that you saw climbing out of the crash had crimson hair?" The elderly man asked, a hint of a French accent showing through.

"Absolutely. Red as blood."

"Aaaand she was heavily armed as well?"

"Well, maybe not so much, but we could tell she was a killer just looking at her."

"Do you remember which way she went?"

"Unfortunately not, I'm sorry."

"I see... Well, that's all I have for you tonight. Thank you so much for your cooperation." The frenchman finished before standing up from his seat, finishing his tea. "Thank you for letting me use your stove. You may have the rest of the tea I brewed if you like, it's very good!"

"Oh th... thank you." The husband replied.

"Come along, Angela," The old man began, addressing his monstrous accomplice, "We still have much work to do!"

"Wait uh... we never caught who you were with?" the wife interjected.

"Ah, right... just think of me as... a friend."

Satisfied with his non-answer, he made his way out the front door and into the cold November night.

The amazon of a woman gave a curt nod to the couple as she turned to follow the old man. A sudden impact of something hitting the back of her boot gave her pause. She turned to see a small ball by her foot, aimlessly rolling away from her into a wall. She looked up to see a young boy at the bottom of a set of stairs. The boy looked at her terrified. A small feeling of sadness came over her as the boy cowered from her, looking to her right she could see the family was equally fearful. Angela picked up the worn and dirty ball before approaching the young boy, fear growing at each booming footstep brought her closer. She dropped to one knee, still considerably taller than the child. She offered the boy the ball, a small but warm smile on her face began to ease the boy's fear.

He grabbed it carefully "T-thank you" he whispered before rushing back upstairs. Angela got back up, dusting off her pants as she did so. She turned back towards the young couple, now much more at ease and even smiling. She once again gave them a nod before approaching the doorway. She grabbed the top of the frame and ducked her head under it as she joined the old Frenchman outside.

[WizardMegumin]

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1820 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

At first, Aemilia was in awe at the sight of the Condor dropship. While she had the airship's details engraved into her memory and cognition chip, seeing the data coalesce into the large aircraft in front of her was something awe-striking as Aemilia, her eyes widened, slowly approached the ship before her fixation was broken by her new leader passing by her with armaments that she recognized from data. She turned around, noting the various firearms and weapons laid out on a cart. She was in no need of a rifle; the metallic box giddily floating beside her was all she ever needed in simulations. However, the biological part of her brain suggested that perhaps it's safer to take a few back-up, just in case.

Aemilia glided her hand over the various weapons until she grasped a T-shaped submachine gun with a microshavings magazine attached on the pistol-like grip. Then her gaze glided to a short, sleek hammer with a button at the bottom of the handle that, when pressed, extended the body to be wielded with two hands. Aemilia thought up of strategies of using these weapons in close proximity where her companion would make too much of a ruckus. From what she understood, there were hostiles and civilians alike in their mission area; which meant any semblance of heavy ordnance with possible collateral damage is a bad idea. Retracting the hammer's grip to a one-handed form for easy transport, Aemilia beckoned her metallic block companion to follow as she chased after her leader like a puppy following her master.

[Rupudska]

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Command Center
1820 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

When Ruby had finally made her way onto the elevator, Laurie spoke aloud to the elevator, as Lachesis had previously.

"Vince. Hangar 15, if ye would."

"Of course, Captain Jamison. Hangar 15."

With a lurch, the elevator plunged even deeper into the facility, eventually opening up to a small hangar with carts filled with gear for the team to select from. Guns, grenades, knives, the works. In the middle of the hangar sat one Condor dropship.

"Take yer pick, lasses. Everythin' uses microshavings as ammo, so ye shouldn't need t'worry about runnin' out any time soon. A couple o' extra fills oughta last ye all night!" Laurie urged, snagging a rifle and a handgun before making her way onto the ship, taking stock of all of the equipment on board."

Ruby practically licked her lips as she looked over the carts filled to the brim with every kind of choppy and shoota imaginable. She liked her abilities, yes, but there was something to be said about whipping out a firearm and blasting holes in something.

What could she say? She liked to vent her anger in healthy manners (for herself).

The sheer variety almost paralyzed her, but after several minutes she finally settled on a double-barreled shortbarrel shotgun, a machete, and some flashbangs.

[RaineTrifles]

Heaven Dropship
Copenhagen Airspace
1817 GMT - Nov 28th

---

"No need for feeling betrayed. Alan and I aren't exactly frequent interlocutors." Phenom said with a shrug, noticing the slight twitch in Gladis's hand. He slightly raised an eyebrow at this involuntary gesture, but paid it little more mind. He noticed her licking her lips and tapped a few keys on his hardlight monitor, the result of which was a panel shifting in the wall beside her, a plastic cup within filling with water.

"Please, have a drink. On the house. As for my first question, why don't you tell me exactly what happened before you found Alan in his compromised state?"

“Thanks.” Gladis took the cup and drank the water down hastily. She wiped her mouth dry with her arm. “A bit of a situation going on in Interpol, as you may or may not be aware of.” Her eyes locked back onto the screen. She carefully worded her next choice of words. “Alan was looking into something I sent him. One of our agents went rogue with MKS in East Africa a couple of days before. He had a hunch that it had been planned. Only that agent had been compromised when his entire team had gone to investigate.” She looked to phenom to look for a reaction, crossing her legs. “Besides looking drained from drinking a bottle of alchohol he had brought back from his intervention in a mission, and lack of sleep, I didn’t see anything terribly wrong with him. He would have been fine after some rest. We were going up to the roof for a smoke, and that’s when it happened. That phone call. He didn’t pick it up, but…” She frowned, looking aside as she went back to what happened in her head. “There was classical music playing when he replayed the message.” She looked to phenom. “He collapsed then.”

[RaineTrifles]

“Well you know, life’s too short to harbor hatred and whatever other bullshit you said.” the two chuckled to each other.

“You found it...” Ladyluck exhaled a breath of relief when mikoto walked in, as if she had been holding it in since he left. She quickly grabbed hold of it when he offered it to her, checking the contents inside. “Alright, good. Everything’s here.” She mumbled to herself. She reached in to grab a file of the teen they had rescued and opened it to give it to mikoto, wincing in slight pain as she went back into business mode. “That's the kid's file. His name is Daisuke." She paused momentarily, remembering the child she saw at the door way. "Cute little girl, by the way." She gave a smirk and elbowed Mikoto weakly as he sat next to her to look at the file.

[Kilel]

She grabbed the top of the frame and ducked her head under it as she joined the old Frenchman outside.

Connecticut Communes
Formerly Westport, CT - USA
1905 EST - November 28th (Thursday)

---

The elderly frenchman gingerly paced down the cold, dimly lit streets of the rebuilding Connecticut Communes. It was unlike many of the cities on the coast. The population more accurately matched that of a singular suburb from the old world than anything. It was fairly small and quaint. Some light snowfall had allowed the streets to glow gently underneath the amber street lamps, with very little traffic around to disturb the relative silence of the early night. He had a goal in mind. Not a particularly fantastic goal, but a goal nonetheless.

"Let's investigate the crash site, ah? It's likely there's nothing left but... perhaps Lady Luck will smile upon us, yes?" The man, Pierre Gaspard, turned his head to Angela with a dumb grin on his face. Ever the optimist, he was sure something might turn up.

---

The sheer variety almost paralyzed her, but after several minutes she finally settled on a double-barreled shortbarrel shotgun, a machete, and some flashbangs.

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Hangar 15
1825 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

As a number of the Condor's machinations buzzed and spun up, the pilot stepped out into the dropship's loading bay. A fairly sizeable space to say the least. Enough room to seat at least a full squad. Not that it was needed for a night raid such as this. The pilot nodded to the two women already aboard his ship, and called out to the third still at the arsenal.

"Ready whenever you are, ma'am!"

(OOC: Since I know Rup's gonna pass this off to me since it's a minor response.)

As Ruby boarded the Condor, the pilot slapped a button on the side of the fuselage interior, starting the rear door to close. He made his way back into the cockpit and put on his best flight captain voice as he flicked on the intercom.

"Good evening, ladies, this is your captain speaking! I'd like to personally thank you for choosing to fly Seraph Orbital on this fine night! Local time is 6:30 pm, and we have a 10 hour flight ahead of us! Atmospheric re-entry will be in approximately 20 minutes so we're expecting extreme turbulence veeeeery shortly! As always, the restroom is in the middle of the cabin ooon your left, and in-flight snacks oooon the right! given the length of this flight, I DO recommend you ladies get some sleep! I'll make sure to wake you when we get there. Now sit down, buckle up, and enjoy your flight with Seraph Orbital!"

And with the end of his speech, the engines kicked violently as the hangar was cleared for departure. As soon as the last thing not bolted down was removed from the hangar and all personnel were clear, the blast doors lurched open and the Condor hovered through and into the emptiness of space. Destination: Virginia.

[WizardMegumin]

Orbit Above Earth
Heaven - Space Station - Hangar 15
1825 Hours GMT - November 28th (Thursday)

---

Aemilia intently listened in on the intercom. While she was in no need of a restroom other than taking a shower or brushing her hair as dictated by Ethlyn, the sound of in-flight snacks did sound appealing. She reached behind and grabbed a gray package, ripping it open to find a thick, brown wafer. Aemilia took a small bite, and her normally cold, blank expression turned into a warmer hue as the now bitten-off cookie filled the organic parts of her brain with a new sensation of taste: sweetness. She took a more eager, larger bite next, closing her eyes as if to savor the flavor of the cookie before leaning against her chair.

[Slaughtveria]

“You found it...” Ladyluck exhaled a breath of relief when Mikoto walked in as if she had been holding it in since he left. She quickly grabbed hold of it when he offered it to her, checking the contents inside. “Alright, good. Everything’s here.” She mumbled to herself. She reached in to grab a file of the teen they had rescued and opened it to give it to Mikoto, wincing in slight pain as she went back into business mode. “That's the kid's file. His name is Daisuke." She paused momentarily, remembering the child she saw at the doorway. "Cute little girl, by the way." She gave a smirk and elbowed Mikoto weakly as he sat next to her to look at the file.

Mikoto chuckled, "Yeah she is," he said as he watched the little girl leave the room. "Having a kid was the best thing that ever happened to Bridgette. She's seriously lightened up over the years. I...wait a minute" he stopped himself as he noticed something familiar in his file, namely where his mother worked years ago. Prometheus Solutions, a company often praised for its cutting edge developments in technology even as rumors persisted of immoral and unethical experiments, namely due to alleged funding and involvement from Morkt himself. Shock grew into a wide grin as Mikoto read further and further, his long hours investigating finally paying off. He broke into wild laughter as he hugged Luck "You're a miracle worker Red!" he released her and dashed after his cousins.

"I found it, I finally fucking found it!" he practically shouted at the two as the two almost jumped in surprise.

"Lower the volume dude, Svettie just went back to bed." Bridgette scolded him as he practically bounced up and down.

"Sorry" he grinned as he calmed down slightly. "I finally found the info we need. All of that crazy bullshit we've been hearing was right." he tossed the folder to the two. As they began to read, similar expressions of surprise flashed on their faces.

"Holy shit" Sam spat out in surprise

"I know right?" Mikoto couldn't help but beam in excitement.

"You're serious aren't you?"

"How could I not be? It's all there. The fucked up experiments, alleged mind control, mental degradation. They have to be behind this, or at bare minimum know something about it." Determination filled Mikoto's expression as they flew closer and closer to the drop off point for their very unconscious bounty.

Connecticut Communes
Formerly Westport, CT - USA
1905 EST - November 28th (Thursday)

---

The elderly frenchman gingerly paced down the cold, dimly lit streets of the rebuilding Connecticut Communes. It was unlike many of the cities on the coast. The population more accurately matched that of a singular suburb from the old world than anything. It was fairly small and quaint. Some light snowfall had allowed the streets to glow gently underneath the amber street lamps, with very little traffic around to disturb the relative silence of the early night. He had a goal in mind. Not a particularly fantastic goal, but a goal nonetheless.

"Let's investigate the crash site, ah? It's likely there's nothing left but... perhaps Lady Luck will smile upon us, yes?" The man, Pierre Gaspard, turned his head to Angela with a dumb grin on his face. Ever the optimist, he was sure something might turn up.

Angela couldn't help but smile at the thinly-veiled joke as she followed the older man, only for a young boy, no older than ten, to dash in front of her. The boy was pale and looked like he hadn't washed in a few days.
"
'Scuse me miss, got a message for ya. Someone wants to meet with ya down at the docks."

She dropped to one knee and gave a small smile to the boy "And who is sending this message?"

The boy rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly nervous. "Well uh, I'm not allowed to say."

Angela's expression hardened into a frown. Years of living on the streets acquainted her well with the boy's body language.

"Is this person part of a gang by any chance?" she tried to speak calmly to the boy, but anger still bled through, giving her voice an uneasy edge. All he could do is nod quickly.

"What's this person's name?"

"I-It's Justin but-"

Angela got up and turned her head towards Pierre, rage growing on her face with each second. "I'm going to investigate a lead, I'll meet you at the crash site." she growled as she started towards the dock, the boy running behind her.

"W-wait Miss, please don't!

Connecticut Communes Docks
Formerly Westport, CT - USA
1915 EST - November 28th (Thursday)

---

Heads turned as they saw the amazon of a woman stomping through the yard, the young boy following close behind her.

"Please, ma'am, I'll be in a lot of trouble." he pleaded with Angela as she marched towards a set of three identical office buildings, all bustling with life.

"Which one is this creep in?" she asked the boy, who remained silent. She pointed at the first on the left, no response. She pointed at the blue-colored office in the middle, and he visibly flinched. She stomped towards the office, the boy cursing to himself as he ran away from the scene as fast as he could.

She pounded her large fist on the metal door, she waited for a few seconds before she heard movement on the other side.

"What's the password?" a faint male voice asked on the other side of the door.

"I was sent here by a kid" Angela answered, trying to keep her frustration in check.

A chuckle broke out on the other side of the door. "Sorry lady, don't know what you're talking about."

"Let me in now!" she yelled

"Oh yeah? or wha-"

Her anger getting the best of her Angela leveled a massive kick towards the door, the dented piece of metal went flying off its hinges and onto the ground, pinning the once laughing man to the ground.

"I'm looking for a Justin, mind pointing me in the right direction?" she asked the remaining people in the room as she cracked her knuckles