ProfPotts Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 2008October 30th18:53Clintonville, New Jersey, United States of AmericaJenkins hunched his shoulders under the thick woollen overcoat he wore & hugged the bulging paper bag tight against his chest as he hurried back through the chill night air towards the awaiting van. The van was non-descript in every way – that was the entire point after all: a vehicle no-one would think twice about. At least, that was the official line. Jenkins tended to harbour a sneaking feeling that the overall crappiness of the van was more a symptom of the company’s budget limitations than any brilliant covert operations design – but it didn’t do to voice such opinions too loudly: there were worse assignments than even the tedious stakeout he found himself on at the moment. Sparing a glance up at the target’s cheap apartment as he stepped round the rear of the van, battered shoes splashing in the pools of rainwater gathered in the gutter, he noticed a light on. That was unusual – he was sure that he hadn’t been gone that long…… The back door of the van swung open & Jenkins hurried in out of the cold, cursing under his breath as he tried to shake dirty water from his footwear. Smitty made little attempt to help him, just grabbing the bag & starting to spread the already cooling junk food across the banks of electronic equipment which lined the inside of the vehicle. Jenkins noted that his partner was lounging rather casually in the swivel chair mounted before the consoles, headphones draped around his neck, rather than over his ears. Smitty had that damned Mexican soap-opera running on the main monitor again – for some reason the guy thought it was hilarious, even though he couldn’t understand a word of it. Jenkins let out a sigh & sunk into the second seat, rubbing warmth back into his hands even as Smitty sunk a voracious bite into the ‘SuperNova triple combo-burger (with extra pickles)’ he’d asked for. Between the Mexican soaps & the guy’s dining habits, Jenkins had quietly decided several nights back that, after this mission, he’d put in for a transfer. Protecting the free world from Nova-related threats just wasn’t worth living like this.“So, he’s back early tonight.” Jenkins nodded towards the secondary monitor – the one still doing the job it was meant for: focusing the thermal camera on the target’s apartment (& not on that of the lesbian couple two floors down, as he’d caught Smitty doing last week). The computer-coloured image showed the outline of a man – a shade under six feet, & only slightly overweight – in bright reds & oranges against a backdrop of blue. Smitty glanced over,“Yeah,” the younger agent managed to verbalise round a mouthful of pseudo-cow-&-soya, pickles, relish (God-only knew what was in that), & ‘bun’ (Jenkins couldn’t bring himself to call the stuff ‘bread’ – it just seemed like an insult to bakers everywhere); before turning his attention back to the soap – with a laugh which splattered particles of ‘food’ & spittle across the highly delicate sensory equipment.Jenkins sighed again, watching the thermal silhouette move from one room to the next. It looked like the guy was pacing – nervous perhaps?“That didn’t seem odd to you?”Smitty shrugged, this time not even bothering to take his eyes off the Mexican actress who was about to step into a shower,“Nah.”Jenkins frowned. Maybe Smitty was right – after all, the target was an Alpha - about as low a level threat as the Directive dealt with. Maybe the frustration of the assignment… & his partner… was just making him hope for some action…… The thermal-patterned man moved again & stopped, reaching down to pick something up & place it to his ear. A quick glance at the appropriate readout confirmed it,“He’s making a call.”Smitty snorted as he dragged his gaze away from naked Mexican flesh long enough to check the number which flashed across one of the digital displays,“His Mom – same as always.”It was true, he always called – the dutiful son & all that… but something was still bothering Jenkins: seven years in the FBI before joining The Directive just wasn’t something you forgot in a hurry,“Turn it up.”Smitty frowned,“Oh come on – it’s nothing.”The older agent nodded,“Yeah – you’re probably right… but turn it up anyway: he’s home early, & he never usually calls his mother until eight. Indulge an old spook, would ya’?”It was Smitty’s turn to sigh but, after a long slurp from his ‘Nova-sized orange-fizz-drink’, he reached across & flicked the speakers on…“… please, Mom – I don’t want you to get hurt.” The voice of their target was, by now, intimately familiar to the two agents – sort of thin & reedy, with enough of a whine to make sure the guy would never be the sort to boast a long list of friends, no matter how hard he tried. He fit the profile to a ‘T’ – jumped at a chance to join a cult – be part of something bigger than himself, be surrounded by like minded people, be told he was part of something special. Only this guy had joined a Nova cult, so he’d be bounced around the alphabet-soup agencies of the government until his case had landed in the laps of The Directive.“But… I don’t want to go to Los Angeles, dear – you know how I hate flying.” The guy’s mother was a voice almost as familiar as the target himself. Every night at eight, on the dot – dutiful son to an overprotective mother. Jenkins was, frankly, amazed that the guy had even managed to move out of the old lady’s basement – the cult had given him enough self-confidence to do that, but not enough to stop the nightly reporting-in.“Mom, please! This is important! You can stay with aunt Silvia. Please Mom!” The guy was getting really nervous about this – starting to panic even. Jenkins glanced sideways at Smitty – the junior agent had sat-up straight & clicked off his soap opera. The two agents exchanged ‘the look’ – something was happening…“Look, dear – why don’t I just visit your place in Jersey – that’s out of the city, isn’t it?”“Mom, no – it’s not far enough – you have to go to the west coast!”“But your aunt Silvia wouldn’t be expecting me… it’s such short notice. Maybe if I give her a call I could catch a flight next week, hmmm? How would that be dear?”“I…” the tension in the target’s voice was clear “… no, Mom – you’re not listening. You have to be out of the city – on the west coast – by midnight tomorrow. It’s happening Mom – the change is coming – if you stay, you’re gonna’ get hurt…”Jenkins leant over & clicked the speakers off, letting the system record the call. Smitty looked over at him,“You think?..”“Yeah,” Jenkins had that twisting knot in his gut, “yeah – I think it’s something big…”“Maybe it’s nothing, maybe…” but Smitty obviously didn’t believe that any more than Jenkins himself did, “… damn. You gonna’ make the call?”The elder Directive agent sighed deeply once again as he reached for the scrambler-phone,“Yeah – I’m going to make the call…”19:12Directive regional offices, New York City“Sir?” The young blonde poked her head around the corner of the door to check that the Colonel wasn’t busy before slipping into the cluttered office. The thick stack of files & field-reports in her arms looked ready to explode at the first misstep, but the young admin’ agent managed to manoeuvre them, & herself, over to Miller’s desk without incident – even stepping over the golf-balls scattered around the glass tumbler on its side on the carpet. The dull ‘whump’ as the files hit the desk caused the aging military man to look up, his one good eye glaring at the young woman with steely venom. Accustomed to the ‘old man’s moods when it came to paperwork she took the ‘death stare’ in stride, launching into a summery of the material she’d just brought in – knowing full well that most of it would never be read…… Miller stared at the young blonde, trying hard to prevent his one eye glazing over as she ran off the hourly reports in her usual all-too-perky way. The old soldier had to wonder where the girl got the energy from – she never seemed to get tired or bored… & managed to weather his own foul moods better than many a career soldier he’d commanded in the years before he’d joined The Directive. It kind of annoyed him that the admin’ assistant reminded him so much of his own daughter – another young lady he could never intimidate – even though his Sally had chosen to go to that damned Art college like her mother had wanted instead of trying to get a useful education. He tried to recall what his assistant’s file had said she’d studied, but found that the details escaped him – something impressive he seemed to remember, a Masters in some sort of computer thing that an old dog like him could never hope to understand. He hated to admit that he even had trouble remembering her name – he figured that it was the lack of a formal rank structure: if she’d have been ‘lieutenant’ so-&-so, or ‘captain’ whatever, then he wouldn’t have had any problems, but as it was he found that he had to keep stopping himself from calling her ‘Sally’. Maybe he was ready for retirement after all? Maybe…“What was that last part?” Something in the report had caught Miller’s attention. The girl started slightly at the sudden interruption, but quickly regained her composure,“Um… Field operation #0810-301Beta, sir – Jenkins called in a change in his target’s routine: a phone-call to his mother warning her to leave New York City. I can have the recording piped in here if you like, sir?”Miller gritted his teeth – the empty socket under the eye patch was aching again,“Jenkins was working on one of those ‘Darkness’ cultists, right?” He didn’t really need the girl’s nodded acknowledgement to confirm the answer – he had a feeling things were about to get messy. As he started to search his cluttered desk for the appropriate file he glanced up at his assistant again, “Get me the recording… & put a call into the Russian office: I need to speak with Ivan.”The blonde nodded, & hurried out of the room. Miller located the file & pulled it free, flipping it open to confirm his worst suspicions… he only hoped that Ivan would have good news for him, but knew that he wouldn’t…… Then it hit him – ‘Julia Carpenter’ – his assistant’s name was ‘Julia’. Typical – that was just about the last thing he needed to know at that moment: the name to put on the official death certificate if he was right about where all this was going…21:02“Right – let’s put it all together: what do we know?” Miller paced up & down in front of the bank of screens – each one putting a face to one of The Directive’s branch offices around the world.“We’ve confirmed what your initial intel’ told us,” that was Whitmoore – one of the Brit’s. Miller didn’t care for the man – too sure of himself & stuck-up for his liking - but couldn’t fault his work, “we’ve had over two-dozen reports of known or suspected Darkness cultists moving to the New York area over the last forty-eight hours. Something big is happening there.”“The techs have just come back with their reports on the break-ins, comrade,” Ivan – Miller’s old Cold War sparring partner, now as much Directive as he was, “both the nuclear facility & the university physics laboratory could have been carried out by a Nova with capabilities similar to those known to be possessed by Darkness. It’s not conclusive, but it does seem to point towards…”“What abilities?” Yamoto from the Tokyo office asked calmly. Miller had his doubts about the Asian woman, even though she, like Whitmoore, had a proven track record. There was something about the corporate background that an old soldier like him could never fully trust – still it was a relevant question. The Colonel nodded to Doctor Marx behind him…“We’re not sure: its form is some sort of energy field - gives off a lot of Taint radiation. It can mould its shape & seems able to manipulate space in some way – it might have achieved a poly-dimension state. The radiation it gives off also has an adverse mutational effect on organic tissue.”The image of Yamoto on the screen nodded,“Why do you call this Nova ‘it’ Doctor – surely we aren’t in the business of dehumanising our Nova cousins?”Miller bit his tongue – this wasn’t the time for damned political correctness, & that woman knew it! Luckily Marx answered quickly,“I say ‘it’, Madame, because we have no knowledge of Darkness’ pre-eruption persona, & no way of telling its gender from the limited surveillance we have now. To refer to the subject as ‘he’ or ‘she’ at this point in time would be both inaccurate & misleading. Once we’ve…”“Thank you Doctor.” The Asian woman’s interruption cut off the scientist with no room for further explanations – Miller thanked God for small mercies, & quickly tried to move on,“So – we have a theft of both a large amount of Soviet-era nuclear material & a batch of experimental sub-atomic physics sensory tools by Darkness, a general movement of Darkness cultists into New York City, & a warning that something – some ‘change’ – is going to occur at midnight tomorrow. What else?”Obermeyer – the German – cleared his throat, “We tracked the movement of a shipment of explosives & related equipment last month to the Darkness cult. At the time it didn’t seem like more than standard terrorist operations, if that, but now?..”“Yeah.” Miller rubbed his hand across his chin, “But what’s their game – what are they up to?”October 31st02:47“Sir?” Julia slipped into the Colonel’s office in her usual smooth way. Miller looked up from the files in front of him,“Yes?”Julia took a step closer – Miller tried to ignore the worried look on her face,“Sir – we’ve had another one. The little girl – ‘Pythoness’ – they had to sedate her, sir: she was screaming that everyone was dead – that Hell had been released on Earth… It was… it was so horrible, sir… I…”Miller shook his head,“Her family live in Manhattan don’t they?”Julia nodded,“Yes sir.”The Colonel closed his good eye tight & squeezed the tension at the bridge of his nose,“Damn it – that's three of our best precogs now confirming Armageddon in New York City. We need to move faster on this – what did Team Tomorrow have to say for themselves?”Julia looked crestfallen,“Sorry sir – Dr Marx confirmed that the equipment stolen from that Moscow university was likely going to be used to manufacture Quantum-sensitive detonators: advanced versions of the ones used by those Chechnyan separatists in the Moscow theatre siege of oh-two. Having Novas in the area…”“Yes – I get it. What about the rest of the stuff they stole?”“Just like you said sir – a dirty bomb. Marx thinks that Darkness is trying to recreate the Galatea incident.”Miller opened his eye & stared at the blonde girl,“Oh great – some Nova’s gone mad & wants to turn New York into more mad Novas? Brilliant. I take it the good Doctor doesn’t think it’ll actually work?”Julia shook her head,“No sir – plus with what the precogs have seen…”Miller nodded,“Yeah. What sort of casualty radius are we talking?”The young admin’ assistant swallowed hard,“Um… The whole city, sir – all of New York & about another ten or so miles radius beyond…”“Jesus.” Miller shook his head, “What about our best-case scenario?”Julia went pale,“Ah… that is the best case scenario, sir: Marx says that if the weather patterns are against us then… well – he says that the whole of the Eastern seaboard could be hit, & most of the Midwest too…”Colonel Miller blinked twice… Then a set his jaw firmly,“Right – tell Johnson to get his strike team assembled. Task all available personnel to locate this bastard & his bomb – pull rank on the locals: call in any police & military people you can to help in the search. Hell, get the fire fighters & paramedics out looking too if you have to. We need to move on this now.”Julia nodded, turning sharply on her heal to exit the room, but stopped with her hand on the door. Glancing back towards Miller she asked quietly,“Sir – shouldn’t we evacuate? We’re in the immediate danger area &…”Miller gritted his teeth & held up his hand to silence the girl,“Sorry kid – we stay until the job’s done.”“Sir!” To her credit the girl managed to get out of his office before the tears came, but the Colonel couldn’t find it in his heart to blame her for the reaction. He looked over at the picture of his wife & daughter on the corner of his desk… Why had Sally insisted on going to college in New York?..20:51Target site, Manhattan, New York CityCaptain Johnson checked once more that his team was gearing up, then looked over the support set-up: vans, tents, choppers overhead. The house was well & truly surrounded – no way were the Darkness cultists getting out. He only hoped that his team could get in, & get to the bomb, before the unthinkable happened. Waving over one of the techs he asked on the progress so far,“We cut the power ten minutes ago, sir – but they’ve got their own generators in there: not much we can do about that.”Johnson had expected as much – the Manhattan town house looked old, but their were the tell-tale signs of hi-tech upgrades all over – if you knew where to look.“What about numbers? How many in there?”The tech grimaced,“Sorry sir – unknown. We tried thermals, sonics – everything: there seems to be some sort of localised spatial distortion inside the building – nothing we have can get a reading.”Johnson nodded – he hadn’t expected that exactly, but these sorts of unknown factors were why The Directive existed – he & his team were trained to deal with the infinite variations of Nova powers in ways the local SWAT guys would never have been able to. Still a thought struck him,“I guess that means no communications with you guys once we penetrate the target structure?”The tech nodded,“No sir – almost certainly the same effect will block communications signals as well.”The Captain nodded again, then waved to his team to move out. Just before he clipped the respirator in place across his face he murmured to himself as much as to the tech,“Let’s go take a look then…”22:02“What th’… NOOOOO!” The scream sounded just as sickening from the audio-visual system’s speakers as it would have live. The grainy, bumping, picture waved around the scene seemingly at random: there a flash of blood-soaked ceiling, there an image of entrails-splattered carpet. Something lumbered from the shadows – a claw-like hand swiping across the camera lens… then just static…Miller took a moment to gather his thoughts, then turned back to Doctor Marx,“Johnson was the only one to make it out?"The diminutive Doctor nodded,“Yes - & then just barely. He’s not likely to make it through the night…”“He’ll make it,” Miller interrupted, “he’s a fighter.”Marx shrugged,“That may not matter now – we don’t have another field team in the area, & the local police or military certainly aren’t equipped to handle this situation. I’d say that time has run out for all of us…”“Um… excuse me sir.”Miller looked over to his young blonde assistant. For some reason the fact that she was caught up in all this made him feel a level of guilt he knew was irrational. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try to comfort the poor thing,“Sorry kid… I know this is a tough break, but we all…”“No sir.”Miller frowned – now that he thought about it, Julia didn’t seem upset any more…“What is it?”“It's just… I’m sorry, but the Doctor is wrong… we do have another team: just finished their Directive training & on leave in the city – I can have then here in under an hour, sir.”“Rookies?” Miller wasn’t convinced… But then again, he didn’t have much of a choice this time, “Make it thirty minutes.”22:40Miller skimmed over the personnel files one last time before he stepped into the tent where the new team was gearing-up: Tisha-Rani Petrovitch, Russian hostage rescue expert – she’d taken part in the Moscow theatre incident & was familiar with the tech’ involved; Karl Schmidt, German intelligence agent – expert investigator; Sume Mirumoto, Japanese scholar – medically qualified & the sort of guy who actually tried to understand what these cultist whack-jobs’ belief-systems were; Brian Courage, US Marine Corps – so at least there was one of these rookies he could trust to get the job done; Tyler Adams, British police force – top-level negotiator. It was a long-shot, putting the fates of so many into the hands of these few… but he could only play the cards he’d been dealt…“Gentlemen, lady: we don’t have long, so this briefing will be quick…”22:52“… which brings us to the here & now. We have an unknown number of cultists holed up in the house behind us with a powerful & unstable Nova, & a very nasty dirty bomb. The building is under a Quantum-effect which twists the local space, & data from Captain Johnson’s team’s recorders confirms that the place is wired with a variety of booby-traps. There’s also a high probability of something else in there as well – either another Nova or something twisted by Darkness’ radiation output – either way, something unnatural took out Johnson’s team. Johnson’s team was designated Darkling One-Zero, you’re Darkling Two-Zero. You have until midnight to find & disarm the bomb. I see you have all the gear you need – there’s just one addition. Doctor Marx?”The powerfully-built old soldier turns towards the hunched-over form of the elderly scientist, who shuffles across to a strange, but sleek-looking, rifle-type weapon left on a nearby rack. The gun is a bullpup design made of some sort of black ceramic & tapers into a rather pointed tip – the ‘clip’ has a small electricity symbol stencilled onto it. Doctor Marx quickly explains,“The data supplied by our Russian friends after Darkness’ break-ins, & Captain Johnson’s more recent readings on its Quantum signature, confirm that this Nova is invulnerable to conventional weapons. This device is a Lance II model pulse laser – a power energy weapon we’ve tuned to Darkness’s Quantum range. Unfortunately the gun is experimental – the power pack holds only three shots, & there are no spares available. If you encounter Darkness, this gun will be the only defense you have.”Miller turns to the team,“Okay people, no time for questions or doubts – move out!”23:00The team assemble at the designated insertion point into the building – a side door deemed to be relatively spatially stable. Petrovitch pops the lock & the door swings inward – to reveal a long corridor lined with doors & vanishing into darkness: a corridor far too big to fit in the space which should be behind the door. Debris covers the floor – broken bits of furniture, shredded pieces of newspaper, rat droppings, & less identifiable things. Plaster & paper is peeling off the walls here & there, & there’s a pungent odour of rotting flesh. As the team enter the building they receive one last radio message from Miller before the signal cuts off,“Good luck & God speed, Darkling Two-Zero. Remember: you have sixty minutes to save New York.”Mission Clock: 60:00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Boredom Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 22:52“… which brings us to the here & now. We have an unknown number of cultists holed up in the house behind us with a powerful & unstable Nova, & a very nasty dirty bomb. The building is under a Quantum-effect which twists the local space, & data from Captain Johnson’s team’s recorders confirms that the place is wired with a variety of booby-traps. There’s also a high probability of something else in there as well – either another Nova or something twisted by Darkness’ radiation output – either way, something unnatural took out Johnson’s team. Johnson’s team was designated Darkling One-Zero, you’re Darkling Two-Zero. You have until midnight to find & disarm the bomb. I see you have all the gear you need – there’s just one addition. Doctor Marx?”Throughout the briefing, Brian scribbles various notes and questions onto a notepad with his 'space-age' pen (then one that can right upside down and underwater). He seems about to open his mouth when...The powerfully-built old soldier turns towards the hunched-over form of the elderly scientist, who shuffles across to a strange, but sleek-looking, rifle-type weapon left on a nearby rack. The gun is a bullpup design made of some sort of black ceramic & tapers into a rather pointed tip – the ‘clip’ has a small electricity symbol stencilled onto it. Doctor Marx quickly explains,“The data supplied by our Russian friends after Darkness’ break-ins, & Captain Johnson’s more recent readings on its Quantum signature, confirm that this Nova is invulnerable to conventional weapons. This device is a Lance II model pulse laser – a power energy weapon we’ve tuned to Darkness’s Quantum range. Unfortunately the gun is experimental – the power pack holds only three shots, & there are no spares available. If you encounter Darkness, this gun will be the only defense you have.”Brian instinctively grabs the gun, measuring its weight, looks down the barrel and straps it to his back. As he starts fastening up the last buckles on his Tac Vest, he looks up, again prepared to ask a question...Miller turns to the team,“Okay people, no time for questions or doubts – move out!”23:00The team assemble at the designated insertion point into the building – a side door deemed to be relatively spatially stable. Petrovitch pops the lock & the door swings inward – to reveal a long corridor lined with doors & vanishing into darkness: a corridor far too big to fit in the space which should be behind the door. Debris covers the floor – broken bits of furniture, shredded pieces of newspaper, rat droppings, & less identifiable things. Plaster & paper is peeling off the walls here & there, & there’s a pungent odour of rotting flesh. As the team enter the building they receive one last radio message from Miller before the signal cuts off,“Good luck & God speed, Darkling Two-Zero. Remember: you have sixty minutes to save New York.”Mission Clock: 60:00"Right guys, not a lot of time so here goes. Tisha, you take point, CQB is your thing, and you've done this before. Boss said there's booby-traps, and you're the best of us at finding them. I'll take OIC, second position. I'll cover the front with Tisha and her flank. Sume, you're next, you've got our left and right. Karl, you next, you've got targets of opportunity. Tyler, you've got rear guard. Based on the briefing, I'm assuming this is a free-fire zone, all contacts are considered tangos." He pulls out his notebook with a rough drawing of the building based on info given at the briefing (Prof how much do they know of the interior layout?), "Ok, our primary mission is to diffuse the bomb, where would you guys put it?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezekiel Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 2008October 3122:01Cathedral of St-John the DivineTisha looked on in fascination as her big pale blue eyes fixed the black&white movie that started playing on the screen. There was a slight haze throughout the Cathedral and the atmosphere was electrifying. The organ music made her spine tingle in anticipation. This was her first halloween ever and the Procession of the Ghouls was a New York institution. The night before the team had celebrated their official entry in Directive ranks. She was proud of having completed training, a regimen that challenged even her, a veteran of Russia's Alpha branch of the FSB. She got along fine with the other members though Courage was a bit too...american...at least she could respect his skills. The man certainly knew how to hold his own...The organ music hit a crescendo as the opening credits ended. Her neighbor was a middle-aged man, telling his son, couldn't be more than five, not to worry, that daddy'll keep him safe from whatever the music was announcing. Tisha smiled...and her beeper went off. "Hooy na ny!" (No fvcking way!)She briskly gets up and starts running up the aisle towards the exit. Outside people were everywhere for the parade...traffic..."Fvck!"She quickly pushes her way to the street."Durak neshtiasnyI! Fvvvvck!" (You unlucky idiot..)Running towards an intersection, or at least walking as fast as she could, she noticed a mounted police, perched atop his horse in the the street, watching the crowd, and rolled her eyes...*right, like that's going to happen anytime soon...*Then, at the intersection, just what she wanted to see, a cop on his motorcycle. Running towards him she flashed her badge out. "Official business, drive!"At first the officer seemed annoyed, but soon knew she meant business. Tisha jumped behind him and held on tight as she gave directions, her long, thick hair flowing behind her as the cop smiled at his colleagues noticing he was be hijacked by a woman, and a looker at that. ::cool Half an hour later...The training paid off, it took her only five minutes to get her stuff from the vehicle and put on her uniform and armor. Soon she was listening to the briefing.. “… which brings us to the here & now. We have an unknown number of cultists holed up in the house behind us with a powerful & unstable Nova, & a very nasty dirty bomb. The building is under a Quantum-effect which twists the local space, & data from Captain Johnson’s team’s recorders confirms that the place is wired with a variety of booby-traps. There’s also a high probability of something else in there as well – either another Nova or something twisted by Darkness’ radiation output – either way, something unnatural took out Johnson’s team. Johnson’s team was designated Darkling One-Zero, you’re Darkling Two-Zero. You have until midnight to find & disarm the bomb. I see you have all the gear you need – there’s just one addition. Doctor Marx?”The powerfully-built old soldier turns towards the hunched-over form of the elderly scientist, who shuffles across to a strange, but sleek-looking, rifle-type weapon left on a nearby rack. The gun is a bullpup design made of some sort of black ceramic & tapers into a rather pointed tip – the ‘clip’ has a small electricity symbol stencilled onto it. Doctor Marx quickly explains,“The data supplied by our Russian friends after Darkness’ break-ins, & Captain Johnson’s more recent readings on its Quantum signature, confirm that this Nova is invulnerable to conventional weapons. This device is a Lance II model pulse laser – a power energy weapon we’ve tuned to Darkness’s Quantum range. Unfortunately the gun is experimental – the power pack holds only three shots, & there are no spares available. If you encounter Darkness, this gun will be the only defense you have.”,,Brian instinctively grabs the gun, measuring its weight, looks down the barrel and straps it to his back. As he starts fastening up the last buckles on his Tac Vest, he looks up, again prepared to ask a question...Tisha didn't bat one eyelid as Brian took the gun. They each new their places and Courage was the American Gung-Ho Gun toter.Inside:"Right guys, not a lot of time so here goes. Tisha, you take point, CQB is your thing, and you've done this before. Boss said there's booby-traps, and you're the best of us at finding them. I'll take OIC, second position. I'll cover the front with Tisha and her flank. Sume, you're next, you've got our left and right. Karl, you next, you've got targets of opportunity. Tyler, you've got rear guard. Based on the briefing, I'm assuming this is a free-fire zone, all contacts are considered tangos." He pulls out his notebook with a rough drawing of the building based on info given at the briefing (Prof how much do they know of the interior layout?), "Ok, our primary mission is to diffuse the bomb, where would you guys put it?" "Down...vith the generators and away from helicopters and snipers....but I suggest ve ask someone..."As she says this she raises her pistol for emphasis and with that Petrovich starts walking down the corridor, keeping an eye out for wires or other traps. Occasionally she drops an eye to her compass, checking if it's of any use at all or not. As she reaches a door she stops and listens, trying to determine if anyone's behind it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damanor Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 2200Karl sat hunched over a keyboard, hoping to file before his deadline. "Why the **** do they insist on punctuality? It's a ****ing tabloid, for ****'s sake."Frustrated that he can't be out celebrating with the other new Agents, he slams his head against the keyboard.The nova formerly knonw as the Bat-boy, after years in hiding, will be revealign himself to the world as one of the secret founders of the Teragen, who conspired with the Knihgts Templer to accelerate the second coming by ybnht ;g kkkkkkkkkg,dIt's almost a relief when he is paged...until he realizes who is calling for him. "This had better not be a joke," he says, knowing full well that the Directive never jokes.He files his story as written, typos and all, and pulls his jacket on over his H&K 9mm VP70 in its shoulder holster.2300"Right guys, not a lot of time so here goes. Tisha, you take point, CQB is your thing, and you've done this before. Boss said there's booby-traps, and you're the best of us at finding them. I'll take OIC, second position. I'll cover the front with Tisha and her flank. Sume, you're next, you've got our left and right. Karl, you next, you've got targets of opportunity. Tyler, you've got rear guard. Based on the briefing, I'm assuming this is a free-fire zone, all contacts are considered tangos.""Got it. Let's make sure our demolitions specialists make it in.""Ok, our primary mission is to diffuse the bomb, where would you guys put it?" "Down...vith the generators and away from helicopters and snipers....but I suggest ve ask someone...""I don't know how deep the basement would be in a coastal city like this one. Also, as I recall, most novas with god complexes like to look down on the rest of the world. A high position would give his followers the feeling of ascending into heaven to see him, a common theme among cults like this. And my journalistic instinct tells me that it will be upstairs. But what do the experts say?" He looks to Sume for the behavioral information, and Brian for guesses on the tactical situation.As she says this she raises her pistol for emphasis and with that Petrovich starts walking down the corridor, keeping an eye out for wires or other traps. Occasionally she drops an eye to her compass, checking if it's of any use at all or not. As she reaches a door she stops and listens, trying to determine if anyone's behind it.Karl pulls out his H&K ::getsome and glances around the open entryway ::unsure while he waits for Brian and Sume to go on ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brilyn Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Sume preps his sidearm, and prepares to move out.In a quiet, measured voice, Sume chimes in:"It would not do to ascribe generalities to Novas, especially not ones that pander to normal baseline.... irregularities."Lacking any psychological profile, I can only guess that given that the subject is immune to small arms fire, it's possible they will assume they can keep the device safe from all enemies."Thus I postulate that the most likely position of the bomb is either with the Nova in question, or in a central location, that is easy to defend." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkboy Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 22:18 Tyler takes a look down the length of the bar, he hadn't found out anything of use yet but things can change. Just before downing a shot the pager on his waist activates, setting Tyler into motion towards the exit and to his team.23:00"Ok, our primary mission is to diffuse the bomb, where would you guys put it?""Down...vith the generators and away from helicopters and snipers....but I suggest ve ask someone..."Tyler chuckles at the suggestion, "Yea, while we're at it let's just see if they'll tell us how to deactivate the thing. I'd venture to say it won't be exactly where we predict, so I'd have to say head to a central location and search from there." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfPotts Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 (Prof how much do they know of the interior layout?)Looking at the way the corridor stretches off into the distance before them, the team quickly realise that Captain Johnson's report was correct - some sort of 'spatial warping' effect inside the building has rendered the original floorplans useless. The basic appearance of the building's inside, although befouled & corrupted, does seem to match that of the late nineteenth century townhouse which it is meant to be - but the proportions are all impossibly wrong."Ok, our primary mission is to diffuse the bomb, where would you guys put it?"As the team 'science guy', Sume also notes that placing the bomb underground would minimise its impact, whereas placing it to detonate at a high location would maximise its spread. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll be keeping it at one place or another - just that the higher it is when it detonates, the better (or worse, depending on who you are... ::sly ).From a tactical point of view, Agent Courage agrees that the device is likely to be kept at a well-guarded central location - to help prevent just the sort of commando action the team are trying to take.Mission Clock: 59:48Proceeding carefully down the corridor Tisha pauses to listen at the first door on the left. Strangely she can hear a noise like wind whipping past the other side of the door. There's also a chill coming from under it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezekiel Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Mission Clock: 59:48Proceeding carefully down the corridor Tisha pauses to listen at the first door on the left. Strangely she can hear a noise like wind whipping past the other side of the door. There's also a chill coming from under it... Tisha froze, for an instant, unsure what to do. Could the other team have opened such a door, their innards sucked in an out of some nova monster spawned vortex? ::unsure What seemed like an eternity in her mind takes only seconds as her training takes over...The curvy agent signals a halt to the team and takes out her fiber optic camera, inserting it beneath the door for a look at what's on the other side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Boredom Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Brian relays Tisha's signal back to the rest of the team, then cautiously raises his M16A2 and points it towards the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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