Chapter 2: Heart of Dixie

[Sonja Bahaar]

"Well, that could have gone better," Sonja commented with a sigh.

She watched Abigail lead the tempestuous Temple away before things could get more heated. Then the huge woman strode a step behind Davian to join James, watching the raptors play fetch. Civilian or Military - ex-military - they all had to work together with at least a modicum of trust. Just like with the dinos, I suppose...

"Looks like it will be just us three going on the run. Us... five," Sonja amended wryly, glancing down at Davian and James. "For what it's worth, I find Temple's behaviour trying as well. But if you are willing to accept the view of a mere actress, I've found Temple nothing less than professional and dedicated in the field." She frowned for a moment and added more quietly. "Maybe too dedicated, to her own detriment. But know, she takes 'leave no man behind' extremely seriously. I wouldn't expect you to extend your trust immediately - I didn't at first - but if possible, at least give her a chance to prove herself to you before you make your judgements."

The literally biggest woman in the entertainment industry smiled drly, nodding at the frolicking raptors as she began limbering up a little before their run - her Nova physiology might be efficient enough that it wasn't truly necessary, but habits were hard to break. "Like in most things, appearances can be deceiving. One of the best writers I've ever worked with never wore anything but bunny slippers and pajama bottoms and... nevermind. Hollywood is a strange place, even I still see that." She nodded at the raptors again, who had returned, one of the dropping the stick at James's feet. "How fast can they run? And what which one is which. I read their names in the brief, but..."

[Justin OOC]

Locke watched Abigail lead Temple away, already revising his teams for this mission, It would fall to Sonja to smooth things out with the new teammates, at least for the moment.  He'd have a word with them after the run.   He understood how they both felt, but they would have to adapt too.

"Enjoy your run, when you return we'll discuss team assignments, and what I'm going to need you to do, at least at first, on this mission.  While you're on the run, just be on the lookout for anything that stands out.   We're technically in a green zone, so there should be no Dinosaurs present, aside the boys." 

With that he went after Temple and Abigail.   Once inside the house, he looked at Temple.  "Okay, we really need to have a talk"

"Any other time, I'd ask Abigail to leave, but she's part of the team, so it's fine."  He speared Temple with a look that wasn't commanding, but more inquisitive.   "What is it you really want to do Temple?  Do you want to be discharged? Do you want to just kill dinosaurs? Going out there and working some damn effective sabotage on any sort of relationship with your new teammates is certainly not what's needed here.  You are correct, this isn't a military command, it's why I don't use ranks, why I don't insist on any title I could have.  We all have to trust each other, and you have made that fairly difficult for Davian and James already.  You don't trust me, hell you don't even respect me, even after fighting and surviving a raptor attack with me.  You had nothing left, yet we both made it out, because I too, don't leave anyone behind."

His tone was very even, there was no insincerity in his voice.   "We all need to be able to rely on you, not just in combat, God knows we'll do alot of it, but not always, there's so much more to this than that.  I do trust you, even if you don't trust me.   At the outpost, you didn't have to spend the last of your power to come back, you could have left me there, but you did.  That does mean something."

 

"So I'll ask again, not as the leader of this team, just as myself, Gerald Locke, What is it that you want?   What would allow you to trust me?" 

[Temple Faire]

5 hours ago, Justin OOC said:

"So I'll ask again, not as the leader of this team, just as myself, Gerald Locke, What is it that you want?   What would allow you to trust me?" 

Temple considers a lot of things she could say and decides on a very caustic reply but before she can speak she notices her sister standing beside Locke looking up at him a frown on her face. "What the hell are you on about Missy?"  The deep easy southern drawl from her right snaps her head around toward Abigail and sure enough Master Sargent Duke Maxwell is sitting right there beside her. Maxwell had been a senior NCO who died during the Fake Tyrannosaur mission, He had refused to fall back when the rest of the soldiers broke and ran, instead he stood his ground and kept the monsters busy allowing his men to get to safety at the cost of his life. She couldn't save him so she stayed with him all the way. "Your losing sight of whats important and that is not acceptable. Look around you little girl," She does and sees her soldiers, the ghosts of those she couldn't save and she couldn't let die alone, "you have damn near a platoon here to remind you what being a soldier in this war is about. And make no mistake, you may not be in the uniform but you are a soldier, and this is your war. We take care of our own."

As she looks at her ghosts her attention is drawn back to her sister who stands silent at Locke's elbow. As if on Que as soon as Temple turns her attention to Sam she speaks. "Layers add depth and cover up whats underneath. They enhance and hide. You don't need to trust him or even yourself. Trust truth."

5 hours ago, Justin OOC said:

 

"So I'll ask again, not as the leader of this team, just as myself, Gerald Locke, What is it that you want?   What would allow you to trust me?" 

A second passes, Temple looks at Abigail then back a Locke.

"I just want you to have my back, like I had yours."

[Justin OOC]

Locke could see something playing within her eyes, but said nothing as she made up her mind, and her answer was polite, far moreso than he ever expected.  "I do, as I trust you to have mine, Temple." 

"Now, the three of us will be going into the city to help with the investigations.  I'm going to put Sonja with our new teammates going out to search for the missing research team.  I figure the raptors will be in less danger in the wild, and if they run into anything they can call us for backup.  Still Sonja can wrestle down any mundane animal, so I'm not all that concerned."

"We will be working directly with the police as needed, and we'll be examining the disappearance sites individually.  Travel's going to be by mundane means, unless we get an emergency call, then The ball will be in your court.  Bring sidearms, and smaller weapons, no need to run around with heavier ordnance and raise suspicions further."

[z-James Walker]

“Ayrhee chorha,” James commanded the raptors. Heel wide. Marshall and Semper Fi took up positions to the left and the right of the three humans. “Adult raptors have been clocked at sixty miles per hour, but the boys are closer to thirty-five right now. They’re going to get faster, as time passes.”

James could have left it there, but she couldn’t. “I already gave her a chance. Her actions off the fight of battle are just as telling as her actions on. She hates dinosaurs. How can I trust her to look past that and pull the boys out of combat if necessary?

“It doesn't matter that they are dinosaurs.” James set her jaw sharply as the humans jogged along; she was having no trouble speaking at this pace. “I’d expect them to be extracted if they were dogs, and they are much smarter than dogs.”

“Oh?” Major Layont asked, interested.

“Yeah. They can handle door knobs.” The blonde woman smiled a little as she said, “They understand that a mirror is a reflection, not another raptor. They’re so smart that I’m not going to castrate Marshall, for the same reason I wouldn’t castrate a dolphin.”

She jogged with an odd, bouncing gait that she handled gracefully despite one leg being lighter than the other and made of a spring. “But more than her unwillingness to be a professional, Faire has serious issues. No one acts like that without major mental and emotional issues, and someone like that isn’t stable enough to operate in a combat situation. No army on earth would have her as she is right now; freakin’ Blackwater wouldn’t take her, teleporter or not. The fact that CRRD seems to think that she’s battlefield ready scares the shit out of me because I’m working for them, too.”

The raptors tightened up, loping closer to the jogging humans. James narrowed her eyes at them, then said, “They’re nervous. They feel like they’re being watched.”

[Sonja Bahaar]

Sonja could find Temple's antics and behaviour annoying but it wasn't as much an issue for her as it seemed it was for James and Davian, she could tolerate it enough to work with her. Then again, in the entertainment industry, it seemed like half the people had therapists, were on drugs - prescribed or illicit - were... eccentric in any number of ways or degrees, or some combination of all three. And the other half were Scientologists. They could be overlap too.

As a professional model and actress in Hollywood, Sonja had any number of issues about her body - real and imagined - and more so since she'd grown head and shoulders taller than everyone, but her new athleticism wasn't one. Getting in shape for a role, she'd always hated jogging or using the treadmill, but now she ran with smooth ease, defined muscles rippling in perfect coordination, her breathing hardly elevated despite almost sprinting all out.

She'd been concerned at first that she'd be too fast for her human companions and had shortened her remarkably long strides, but James' kept the pace easily regardless of the bouncing gait enforced by her prosthetic leg and Davian did too, so Sonja stopped holding back. With her mass and bones considerably harder than a normal human's, her footprints were quite noticeable on the dirt paths and the others could feel the impacts of her footsteps when they ran close to her.

When the raptors began running closer to them and James explained why, Sonja glanced around, but she had no sense for being watched. A lifetime in the public eye, Sonja took it for granted that eyes would be on her, didn't even consciously think about it anymore, for the most part.

"Well, for my part, I'll make the effort to become more comfortable having Marshall and Semper Fi around," Sonja said, then nodded at the raptors flanking them closely. "Should we be nervous that they seem nervous?"

[z013]

Davian had fallen into formation with James and the raptors even before the other Marine had spoken. He swallowed a smile at that, remembering Once a Marine, always a Marine. Quietly, he spoke to the lone civilian with them, "Faire needs help, not more trauma. It's concerning that she's been labeled too valuable to pull out of the field. It speaks to how expendable the CRRD views us in light of the dangers of the dinosaurs and enemy empowered. It doesn't mean she can't be worked with, but the extra energy needed to be spent to try to help her while simultaneously keeping her in lifethreatening circumstances - it's a disservice to the team, but even more so, it's a disservirce to a very troubled young woman who might never recover from this kind of abuse. And yes, we probably should be nervous if the raptors are nervous."

Already he held his morphic powers at "ready", prepared to adapt to whatever was to come.

[Justin OOC]

The raptors never seemed to really calm down for the entire run, but they did continue on, marking territory and eventually the trio of novas and two raptors returned to their temporary home.   Locke was there, waiting with everyone else, and he  nodded.  After the short talk with Sonja, he'd used the time to make some sandwiches from what had been provided for them which while not much, would hold until they could make a supply run, unless they planned on eating MRE's for their stay.

"Sandwiches are in the Fridge,  Get what you want and come back to the Den."   James had kenneled the Raptors for the time being, and joined them.  Once everyone was present Locke went into his briefing.  "We're going to operate in two teams, The first will be Davian, Sonja, and James.  You'll head out to the Green zone and investigate the area where the research team disappeared.  I figure with your ability sets, you'll be able to handle anything that you might run across.  First though, you'll head to the university and meet with Professor Richard McCall.  He's the head of the Biology and Medical Sciences program.  I was not told the details, only that he may be able to help narrow your search down somewhat.  Your goal is to find the team, or barring that, find out what happened to them."

He looked to Temple and Abigail.  "That leaves the three of us to head to the Police Department, and then visit each of the disappearance sites in town.  Temple will use her abilities hopefully to give us some clue as to what may have happened.   Try to keep a low profile, and we'll do well to not agitate the locals.   The police are being very cooperative, and be on the lookout for our missing nova."

"Now Does anyone have any further questions, or comments?"

[Temple Faire]

Temple Looked up  as the rest of the team returned from their jogging session. at the sight of James and Davian a momentary urge to continue the war surged but she tamped it down. Locke was right we had a job to do and well if daddy Gaalf saw fit to put them on the team who was she to argue. As Locke started on his briefing , she returned to her tablet. She had read the files and even did some basic research on the internet during the flight and while the others were out running.

When Locke had finished the brief and asked for questions she reached over and opened a bottle of water and waited a few seconds as the rest of the team digested what he had said. She took a long swallow.

"I have a few. Not sure if you have any answers though." She put the water down and picked up the tablet. "First, I'm looking at these missing person cases. There is nothing in the police files that connect them in any way shape or form. The only thing in common is gender, all women. Really The only thing that says mystery is the time frame in which they disappeared. Keep in mind Birmingham is still pretty much a thriving metro area It's population actually grew after the cascade as the those from North and South resettled here due to the incursions in those sectors. Six missing persons isnt that hard to believe with a population as large as what  is here and with  the high number of Transient population complicating things.  But even if they are related that points more to a serial abductor/killer in my  opinion. So why was the CRRD called, nothing in these files our level of involvement being needed. That is one, next, Why did the CRRD send only One agent, Nova or not she was here alone, and arguably investing what on the surface might be a serial abductor/killer of women." She holds up her hand in a gesture of exasperation. "Anyone see a problem with that?"

She flips the screen on the Tablet and turns i to show the two maps one the Dots for the missing persons cases In the city the other the greenzone located outside the city. "None of the Missing persons were seen in the green zone. Yet we seem to be linking the the missing university research group  with the others. and that group contained both men and women and again as far as normal research, google, facebook accounts, twiiter, no connections. So unless someone isnt being upfront with us." She looks at Locke. "Why are we here?"

She puts the Tablet down and before anyone can start in on her heartless dismissal of the missing she holds up her hands. "Before anyone starts pointing out how callus I am  in writing off the MIAs. I'm not. I'm not even saying we shouldn't be here. I just want to know why we are here. Nothing connects these two sets of cases. They are both Local police problems and just like the military has a rank structure so too does law enforcement. Local, county, state, federal, CRRD isn't in that lineup. And the locals went directly to us. Now there is nothing about suspected Nova involvement in these files, which is our ballpark. So why did CRRD send a Nova here instead of passing it to the FBI?"

Spoiler

Temple will be scanning thoughts during the briefing.

 

[Sonja Bahaar]

Sonja sat down in the loveseat after tentatively making sure it could bear her weight. Even still, it creaked audibly when she crossed her legs. On the side table was a plate stacked high with sandwiches. Even before erupting, she'd had an enviably efficient metabolism, so hadn't had to watch what she ate as much as most models. After erupting, she'd taken delight in eating nearly whatever she desired.

But she'd been slightly embarrassed by she sheer amount she had to consume to her massive frame. She had the mass of two very healthy men and near the appetite of three. A year later, Sonja was hardly embarrassed by it anymore, though maybe resigned would be more accurate, but her appetite did tend to raise brows as much as her towering stature did.

Continuing to fulfill her daily caloric requirements, Sonja quirked a brow in surprise when Locked assigned her to the team investigating the Green Zone. Immense strength or no, she was a social creature and had expected to liaise with the police department. But Locked seemed inclined in keeping a low profile while investigating the sites in town and low profile was something Sonja Bahaar just couldn't do, even before she had grown into an eight foot Jotunn. Besides, she and the raptors both would need transport by van.

When Temple voiced her concerns, Sonja pursed her lips, then nodded, seeing her point after she made them. "Good questions, Temple," Sonja said after finishing another sandwich. She tilted her head inquiringly towards Locke. "I can made some guesses for some of them, but they are just guesses. Despite policy and procedure, there is a tendency to see novas as superheroes, or at least supermen and superwomen. You can teleport and read minds, Temple. Abigail can turn invisible. I can toss a T-Rex - a normal one - twice the length of a football field. So rightly or wrongly, people tend to see one Nova as sufficient for a task."

Sonja ticked off her point on a long finger, then extended a second. "As you say, these disappearances don't seem to be falling in a typical pattern, so I can see local law enforcement wanting to reach for something beyond the typical levels of escalation." Another finger extended. "And I can see the CRRD agreeing, if for no other reason to get the public more comfortable with Novas in general." A brief flash of melancholy crossed her face as her thoughts went to her ex-husband for a moment. "We aren't exactly common and it would be easy for an us-versus-them mentality to develop." Her lips curved in a dry grin. "Everyone have seen it on the big screen in the MCU, after all."

"I... suppose we could just be here because a senator pulled strings in the search for his missing Nova daughter, but after what you said Temple, I'm really doubting that is the whole of it. Beyond the disappearances happening in the same general - very general - region, they don't seem to have much in common. I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it." She folded her well-muscled arms beneath her prominent breasts and turned her indigo gaze on Locke. "Is there anything else we should know before we start this investigation, Locke?"

[z013]

Davian's estimation of Temple went up several notches after her thourough read of the situation, though he was still deeply concerned about her mental state. Good at your job doesn't mean the rest of you isn't a mess. The CRRD shouldn't be risking her like this - for her sake as much as the team. Still, they were already here. Those other concerns would simply have to wait until the mission was over. "Local LEO's aren't the only ones that can have a tendency to think of novas as indestructable or unfailable," he reminded the group. "The threat wasn't seen as great enough to warrant more than one nova investigating, however incorrect that assessment was. I think beyond breaking up into teams, we should establish a buddy system. Not a joined-at-the-hip deal, just someone else that you're to check in with say once an or hour or so. That way if we need to split up or if someone goes missing on our free time, we'll know relatively quickly."

He'd piled his own plate high with sandwiches; as a man he'd never had to think about how others viewed how much or little he ate. When he was hungry, he ate until he was full if there was enough food. Food was fuel and that was the end of his thoughts on the matter. Waving at the dossiers on the missing women, he asked, "Has a profiler looked over these yet?"

[Justin OOC]

Locke looked at each of them.  "To my knowledge there is nothing going on here that should warrant a full team of us, beyond a senator pulling strings to find his daughter.  As to why she was called in the first place,  I don't have an answer.  The women who have disappeared are all from different walks of life, there is really no correlation aside from reports that they simply all vanished without a trace.  There is a profiler's report in there as well, and she came to no correlation as well.."

"As for the research team, they organized a helicopter overflight of their last reported position in the green zone and found nothing.  No gear, no people, just the expected native flora and fauna."  

"Now keep in mind, while the CRRD sent a single agent, she like us did have the support of the locals too.  The final file is her own notes, detailing the results of her own scan of the area.   Part of why we are here, why there is some connection is her mention of trace cascade energy readings, from each disappearance site and the green zone.   Understand, that the readings are miniscule, but she included them anyway, in her notes.  That's why we're here, and why we're going in teams.  If we encounter anything, Temple can get her team out, or get us to all of you, if you find something.   Radio's gonna be channel 3112, which is our reserved channel." 
 

 

[Temple Faire]

Temple frowns deeply and starts flipping pages.

"I'm sorry I don't have that part of the file." Keeping in mind the recent tempers She keeps her voice calm and Professional.

She reaches over and thumbs thru Abigail's File, shaking her head.

"Neither does Abigail. Matter of fact there is nothing about Quantum Energy Traces or Cascade effects anywhere below the plateau  north of us, or South of us for almost 175 miles in these files or any of the police files, Local news, what have you." 

She looks at the rest of the team as if to confirm what she has already seen in their own minds. "Any of you?" She shakes her head answering her own question. "I Doubt it, huh"

She tosses the file onto the coffee table.

"So Dr. Locke, is there anything else that isn't in these files that might bear on things that we should know about?"

[Sonja Bahaar]

Sonja's fair brows furrowed in consternation as Locke added some points and Temple made her counter comment. Her large, yet elegant, hands made the the file look small in comparison as she skimmed through it swiftly once more, a frown to match Temple's growing on her lips. From reading many, many scripts and lines of dialogue, Sonja had a pretty good memory for things she just read, but she didn't recall seeing anything about minute traces of Quantum Energy or Cascade Effects in the area.

"I do not have anything about this in my files either, Temple," Sonja agreed, a note of sharpness in her rich, resonant voice. She arched a questioning brow at Locke. "Is this an institutional failure, Locke, or something more serious?"

Dealing with a variety of production companies and other multinationals, Sonja was familiar with various departments in the same company not communicating with each other, even if that didn't make it any less irksome or troubling, that could lead to a disaster. If it was due to active meddling though...

[Temple Faire]

Temple shakes her head then gives Locke a smile.

"Nevermind Doc, whatever the reason, we are here and your right this needs to be solved, and we ," she nods to Abigail and Sonja and the newbies, "are the ones gonna do it."

She stands up hands on her hips.

"So when  do we start?"

 

[Justin OOC]

"We can start now."  He looked at Temple.  "It has to be clerical oversight."  He seemed abit concerned that they'd not been given the same information in their packets.   surely command knew he'd brief them.  

They quickly split up, With Temple and Abigail accompanying Locke to the police Police station, acquiring the various hardcopies of the incident reports and pinpoint locations.   They drove out to the first site and disembarked,  It was the city park, and Locke led them to the exact spot.   "Alright Temple, Let's see what you can see."   The site had been cordoned off since the attack.

 

On the other side the second team, ostensibly lead by Sonja, met with Dr. McCall.  "I have the position reports from the green zone, they were near one of the small lakes at last report, and when we did our overflight, there was no sign of them.  Now, we can arrange to drop you on the location or you can trek out to it on foot,  It's about ten miles into the zone."

[z013]

Davian nodded to James, "Are we taking the boys with us? If so, probably better we hoof it." 

He'd put aside his misgivings about the CRRD's policies, and apparently clerical issues, to focus on the mission. It had been enheartening to see Temple focused as well. Handle one thing at a time, and right now that one thing is finding these missing women. 

[Temple Faire]

City parks don't hold the reverence for Temple like they did once when she was...someone else. She got out of the car along with Sarge and Doc feeling naked without her usual arsenal but it was the middle of the city and the well kept park offered little concealment for monsters, plus it was daylight. Funny, she thought, the military mindset is so rigid that we still do 90% of our ops in the dead of night thinking that it gives us the advantage even when evidence shows that the dinosaurs didn't operate on any type of normal circadian rhythms. She shook her head and followed Doc and Sarge into the park, while the park had been closed and the gates locked they weren't alone. Her Hypersenses, never off, had already picked up the passage of people in a couple of areas at he periphery of her sense bubble, but that wasn't the troubling thing occupying her mind. As they walked she mapped and sensed and she could not detect any wildlife, not even insects.

Doc came to another police ribbon which he lifted for Temple and the Sarge. He paused “This is where it happened whatever it was. Temple see if you can get a map of the area, please.”

Temple stopped in a micro second her and her ghost came up and discarded about a hundred smart-ass replies but instead she stuck to the job. “Give a few seconds without moving or anything please.” Stepping to the center of the cordoned off area she really opened her senses fully.

In an instant Temples world expanded. It was impossible for her to explain it to anyone, and her attempts to show others what she experienced on disoriented and confused them. She was aware of everything in almost microscopic detail, every particle individually and it's relationship to each other particle Her mind scanned and record everything. Several moments passed then she stopped and knet down and pull out a bic pen, she scrapped the ground and pulled up the pen the end coated with some sort of goo. She turned back to the Doc.

“You got a sample tube? This stuff is emitting a low level QE sig.” She straightened up and deposited the pen in the tube Doc had produced. “The place is clean, aside from us and a couple abut 120 meters that way have a little celebration and three more people about 75meters on the other side of that copse of trees along the stream, there is no other life in range of my senses except plant life. Not even insects.”

 

 

[Sonja Bahaar]

Sonja pursed her lips, debating for only a moment before nodding down at Davian and James in agreement. "We hoof it. This is why the raptors are with us, after all." And while any local Search and Rescue Copter could probably handle her bulk and the raptors' cages, it would be very cramped and Sonja doubted she'd find it any more comfortable than they would. Besides, since growing more than two feet taller, she'd grown uncomfortable around helicopters, since her head was so much closer to the blades. "Anyway, if previous overflights didn't see anything, we might catch something on the ground under the canopy."

The giant (sized) movie star smiled down at Dr. McCall - Sonja had remained standing in his office since there wasn't anywhere for her to sit, her head almost brushing the ceiling - her rich, distinctive voice effortlessly charming. "Thank-you for your time, Dr. McCall. Now, unless there is anything else you think we should know, in the reports or not, we should be on our way." Sonja gave a small, deep chuckle. "We have a bit of a run ahead of us, and I'll playing catch to the raptors."

Before, she would have run only five or six miles at a go when getting into shape for a role and her physical trainer was strongly - maybe stridently - encouraging her, but she wouldn't have enjoyed it. Now, the prospect of running twice that, even after a jog earlier, didn't faze the enormous woman in the least. Admittedly, having the longest legs in the world and a super-powered physique might have had something to do with her taking it in stride, as it were.

And while she would do it when required, it didn't mean she wouldn't rather be lazing by the pool, of her LA home she'd had completely renovated to accommodate her... heroic - heroic sounds much better than huge - stature, working on a song or reading a good script.

[Abigail Boyde]

Abigail watched the exchange between Temple and Locke over the files and sighed to herself, hoping this was just a clerical error, she could not help but be doubtful though. she then swapped into civilian attire and slipped her handgun into the concealed holster under her jacket.

Once at the park she waited for Temple to do her.. scan? and then walked around doing her best to look for anything of note or out of place. Her senses did not even approach Temple's though, so it was no surprise that she found nothing. It stuck her odd though that Temple did not sense anything but a handful of people and the plants.

"Hmm.. A place like this should have plenty of insect life and small animals. Maybe whatever is abducting the people is not that discriminatory and just grabs all non-plant life.." Abigail pondered aloud as she looked around for the sign of a squirrel or any small mammal.

She stood there for a moment, thinking to herself.

<I really hope that -was- just a clerical error with the files though. Hopefully we are not going to become mushrooms.> she thought to Temple.

<Mushrooms?> Temple asked mentally.

<Yeah. Kept in the dark and fed shit.> she replied mentally.