[Nexus] ISF HQ

[Darkcomet]

A long-standing feature of the city of Inside, the headquarters of the Imperial Security Forces is somewhat less important than it once was, no longer acting as the main headquarters of the Empire as a whole, but instead simply as what amounts to Inside's police HQ.

But given the chaotic nature of the city?

To call it unimportant with an ISF trooper within earshot is almost certainly dangerous, at least in the sense that the subsequent rant you'd get aimed at you would give you a headache, and it's entirely possible that you'd get smacked, as well.

The compound is surrounded by electric fencing, arranged so that there are four gates into the compound in the middle of each fencing segment.

Areas of note include:

The Armory
The HQ contains a large and expansive armory, but the selection of weapons has become much smaller as of late thanks to K-Corp's sudden destruction, limiting what is readily available to ISF troopers. The list of available equipment is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8627432&postcount=17), most of it under Imperial Security Forces, and some under Equipment, Vehicles, and Sources, though some of the weapons are limited in availability. The main available weapons and armor from that list include:

-Pulse SMG
-Pulse Scattergun
-Laser Pistol
-Perforator Heavy Pistol
-FBI-9 Assault Rifle sans grenade launcher attachment
-EvR-1 Variable Blaster Rifle (sans attachments)
-EvP-1 Variable Blaster Pistol
-EvM-1 Infernal Edge (in combat knife form)
-Supercharger knife
-Stun baton
-Riot shield
-Flashbang, smoke, and stun/tear gas grenades
-EvA-1 Scout Armor
-Old ISF Trooper Armor
-Riot Suppression Armor

There is a limited supply of some other weapons. These will require a special requisition order to obtain thanks to the Imperial Army's needs in the wake of K-Corp's destruction. This means that officers will have to contact higher-ups before being able to use these weapons.

In addition, some may not be available readily due to being more meant for the Imperial Army's use.

These include:

-Pulse Carbine
-Beam Sniper Rifle
-Variable Energy Cannon
-EvAT-1 Precision Laser Cannon
-EvR-1 Attachments (Scope, Laser sight, grenade launcher)
-Inferno Heavy Blaster
-FBI-9 Assault Rifle Grenade Launcher Attachment
-Stealth Detection Visors
-Incendiary, fragmentation, and electro-grenades

Finally, some gear is reserved for individual PCs.

-Aether's Armor
-Aether's Assault Rifle w/Under-Barrel Shotgun
-Aether's .50 Pistol x2
-Aether's Grenades


Vehicle Garage
The HQ supports a large garage for the storage, maintenance, and deployment of vehicles, which was originally used for hovertanks in the base's earlier days. The ISF's vehicle access has not been hampered by the Imperial Army, the land vehicles available detailed under Imperial Security Forces here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8627432&postcount=17). These include:

-Warp Landspeeder
-Riot APC

Helipads
There are several helipads in the fenced-off area outside the HQ itself but within the fencing. These are used by ISF helicopters and other VTOL vehicles, also detailed under Imperial Security Forces here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8627432&postcount=17). These include:

-Transport Helicopters (unarmed)
-Deliverance Transport

Holoprojector Rooms
Otherwise empty rooms with large holoprojectors placed in them, these are used to set up 'face-to-face' meetings with higher-ups.

Sublevel
The ISF HQ Sublevel is the underground level of the base, once destroyed, but now restored. The sublevel is not used for much, other than storage and housing the HQ's shield generator.

Recruitment Office
The base's own recruitment office, where you go to sign up for the ISF. There are two main recruitment options:

Police-style: Some ISF troopers are not full-time 'military', their enlistment more like civilian police than soldiers. Police-style ISF troopers are rarely promoted beyond officer-level, meaning they generally act as addon squad leaders or fireteam leaders in ISF squads.

Military-style: These ISF troopers are generally much more dedicated than police-style ISF troopers, signing on similarly to an Imperial Army soldier. These are much more often promoted to division commander and higher ranks, and may elect to stay in the barracks rather than their own homes, similar to how a military deployment works. It essentially boils down to treating the city of Inside as a war zone thanks to the chaotic nature of the Nexus. Military-style enlistment also means that you may be transferred to the Imperial Army in wartime.

Naturally, there is some stigma in the ISF from troopers under the military-style option toward the police-styles, but regulations dictate that discrimination against police-style ISF troopers is forbidden.

Barracks
The barracks are just that, housing full-time military-style ISF troopers. Pretty simple.

Firing Range
The base has a simple firing range where ISF troopers practice their shooting.

Infirmary
The base's infirmary is large and well-equipped for dealing with combat injuries. It's rather lacking in any magical healing, though, and isn't suited for, say, surgery to remove a tumor. An actual hospital is much more ideal for most things.


OOC Notes
The purpose of this thread is to provide a more clear-cut location for enlistment in the ISF, along with providing an actual place to play ISF characters when they're not strictly 'needed'.

In addition, if someone actually wants something like that (not playing unless needed/only playing in this thread [and Inside, of course], or is trying particularly hard to get to be one of the higher-ups), this is part of why I included the multiple recruitment options. Plus I felt like including a bit of fluff, and it's a way for players to not have their characters be here at all times.

Also, I am aware that some of the lists, mostly for vehicles, are rather lacking in...well, things to be listed. This may or may not change in the future.

Changes may be made to this thread at any time. After all, this is experimental, and at the time of the original posting, DC was getting rather sleepy. Example: the fact that there was no infirmary in the original OP.

[The Bushranger]

A tall, blonde, female figure, looking slightly like a Valkyrie of old, approaches the ISF HQ...

...oh wait, it's just Eileen.

And she's heading for the Recruitment Office.

[Darkcomet]

Eileen will be allowed in after a quick explanation of her intentions, which I assume is simple and bland enough not to warrant playing it all out. :smalltongue:

At the recruitment office, Eileen will be presented with...oh dear.

Paperwork.

There are two forms, though only one needs to be filled out-one for each of the two recruitment options. Other than the parts already described in the OP, the more notable parts of it asking to detail any supernatural abilities and any prior training or experience. Otherwise it's pretty average.

And yes, Eileen will be provided with a pen.

[The Bushranger]

Her intentions are indeed quite simple: to take over the world join up to the police. :smalltongue:

And so Eileen makes good use of her pen, filling out the application forms. Declaring her supernatural abilities as 'divine magic', 'ninja skills', and 'Drunken Mastery'; and prior experience as 'Knight Hospitaler' and 'hotel owner'.

[billtodamax]

Jay, with a similar purpose to Eileen will show up here.

Hello?

His signing up to the militaristic police can possibly be timeskipped?

[Lord Iames Osari]

Iames appears in the base unannounced and begins poking around.

[Darkcomet]

Signups occur. Bill should inform me of which one he meant, as using both of those terms at once is a bit confusing! :smalltongue:

Iames gets to poke around. Woohoo.

And someone should be getting dispatched to investigate this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9171620&postcount=1336) right about now. Wonder who? Preferably one of the PC officers who decides to be the 'lucky' one first. (meaning: Godmod approved if you want to be the one. <.<)

[billtodamax]

It was only a similar intent, DC. Obviously I meant military, and I clearly didn't misunderstand BR's post at all.

<.<

Yeah. Military.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Iames wanders over to the recruitment desk and looks for somebody who appears to be in charge. "Is there anyone around here I can talk to?"

[Darkcomet]

Well, of course there's someone there to handle recruitment. Of course, the recruitment officer there has a question of his. "Aren't you that Army officer who went up against that giant...uh..." He doesn't seem to know what exactly it was. "Thing, a while back?" Like that's really saying anything around here. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...what's someone like you doing around here?"

Ah yes, confusion at the IA-ISF divide.

[The Bushranger]

Eileen, having finished her paperwork, looks to the recruitment officer, waiting her turn behind Iames to ask for an assignment. :smalltongue:

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Yes, that was me. I'm retired now, and I heard this place was looking for recruits and so forth. Now, I'm not really interested in joining myself, but I notice you don't seem to have an infirmary, and I thought I'd recommend my temple here in the city. My high priest is a talented healer, not to mention a powerful seer, both skillsets I know from experience you'll have a lot of use for."

[Darkcomet]

Oh, right. There should be an infirmary.

DC reiterates that he was half asleep when he finished this thread's OP.

So he handwaves it into Iames offering it anyway, but basically just removing the 'lack of infirmary' thing.

"I'll pass that along. It'll certainly be better than our infirmary."

And Eileen should go somewhere else. The recruitment officer is not the dispatcher guy. :smalltongue:

[The Bushranger]

And so Eileen, once she realises that, heads to find the dispatcher's office! :smalltongue:

Humming to herself on the way there.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Iames nods cheerfully. "I could set up a portal leading straight there from here, if you'd like."

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Field]

Eileen may come across a scene with a uniformed woman standing in front of a couple dozen recruits. Well, hardly recruits. Each one has obviously been in the military for a while. The slightly jaded look in their eyes, their complete attention and respect turned towards the woman in front of them, and the fact that none of them are unarmed.

A few forklifts begin to set down several large crates.

"Alright! Listen up!" Commander Vasquez says. "Any of you wimps want to back away now, do it. I won't accept any excuses later on. You know your purpose here." She turns her gaze towards the recruits.

None of them even blink or suggest that they think of leaving. She smirks at the sight. "None? Good! You're all here because you've survived against things that mortals like us shouldn't have. Gods, Monsters, Supersoldiers and the like. We've seen single people destroy armies, yet none of us flinched as they came barreling down on us."

Vasquez paces in front of them. "Now, I don't give a damn about what your rank was before, here, in this unit, we have none.. Except mine. You will listen to me, and only me, GOT IT?" She yells before giving a curt nod. Then she smiles. "Welcome to The Mortal Coil, ladies and gentlemen."

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

Eileen does indeed come across said parade field, and pauses, watching with curious interest, and leaning against the doorway of the exit to the field, brushing her long, blonde hair back.

[Darkcomet]

[Recruitment Office]

"They'll want to be able to shut it off and turn it on from our end, I imagine, but I'll pass it on." He's just the recruitment guy, he's not the one with all the authority.

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Field]

Vasquez raises an eyebrow at the watcher as well as her troops. "Any questions?" she asks in general. "Don't be shy, questions are good."

After a moment, a brute of a man steps forward a bit timidly. "Excuse me sir, but...what's in the boxes?" he says, gesturing behind her. She smirks. "Those, my dear troops, are the boxes containing your new equipment." The soldiers begin to grin as she walks up to one of the many metal crates and smacks a button.

With a hiss, the crate unfolds, showing racks of...wooden stakes, crossbows, and bolts with Latin words etched into them? "This is just the box containing the kit for vamps and Rakshasha ." She says as she turns back around. "You'll be required to train extensively with each and every thing in these crates, as well as to carry the majority of it." There's a bit of a groan when the troops realize just how many crates there are, but she just laughs. "Oh, don't worry, that's what these are for." She says before opening another crate, this one more of a shipping container.

The side raises and lights flicker on, revealing black suits of light powerarmor, unmarked and unblemished. "Meet your new best friend. Get to know her well, and today, you're going to get them fitted. Now, go put them on."

As the troops do so in glee, Vasquez turns and gives Eileen a questioning look.

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

Eileen has been watching with interest - and a slight sense of unease, seeing as these folk seem to be preparing to do much the same work as her one-time employers...

Noticing Vasquez's look, she nods in greeting. "'Evening," she says politely. "Some pretty fancy kit you've got, there."

[Lord Iames Osari]

[Recruitment Office]

"That makes sense," Iames agrees, and a portal (http://www.mickm.com/_assets/images/tutorials/portal/13.jpg) appears on one wall, with a button labeled "PORTAL ON/OFF" right next to it. "There. I've left it in the off position right now."

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Field]

Vasquez smirks. "You haven't seen half the **** we have." Yep, she's rather vulgar. "Which we need if we're going to do our job." she says as she turns around to watch the troopers.

[Darkcomet]

[Recruitment Office]

"I think that would go in the infirmary, not the recruitment office, sir."

[Lord Iames Osari]

"That also makes sense." Suddenly, that is where the portal is. In the infirmary. Not recruitment. Because that would be silly.

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

"So it would seem," the tall, blonde, rather Nordic-looking woman agrees with a nod, before offering a hand to shake. "Eileen Thorsson," she introduces herself. "Just signed up for the police force."

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Field]

"Commander Vasquez." Replies the hard woman. She may be recognizable as being Ex-Commander Edijar's second in command, but...times have changed. She still had the bullet scar her gut to prove it.

She smirks a bit. "Congrats. I tried it once. My commander shot me."

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

"A pleasure to meet you." Eileen, for better or for worse, isn't familiar with General Edijar, or his former officers. Vasquez's comment, however, draws a set of raised eyebrows from the divine warrior. "Oh, he did? I suppose you were on different sides during the...late unpleasantness, then. My condolences."

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Field]

Vasquez growls. "Yes...we were. Damned bastard didn't have it in him to kill me." she says in obvious distaste before sighing. "On the other hand, if he had..." she tells Eileen, her voice gentler. "Then I wouldn't have been able to form this little team."

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

Eileen decides not to comment that she approves of 'not having the heart to kill her', and merely nods. "I see. Well, I suppose that it's a good thing he didn't kill you, in that case." She then pauses. "...may I ask, what your mission statement precisely is?"

[UncleWolf]

"Our mission is to defend the civilian population from threats of a nature that are beyond normal." She gestures at the troops as they get their gear ready. "Vampires, werewolves, ghouls, godlings, angels, and demons. Hell, even Exalts if it is called for. We will be able to kill them all." She's not bragging, and sounds completely serious. "Anything that is at a level above the average Mortal, we will take care of."

[The Bushranger]

"I see..." Eileen mutters, a slightly...concerned? expression crossing her face. "And what, if I may ask, is the definition used to determine if something is a threat?"

[UncleWolf]

"Something that has done unreasonable harm to the civilian population. Or, if it's something animal like, lacking real intelligence, and is simply a possible threat, we take care of that too." She notices the look. "We aren't butchers."

[The Bushranger]

Eileen sighs a little, and nods in a slightly apologetic fashion. "My apologies. It's simply that I worked, once, for an organisation whose mission statement was...remarkably similar to yours. 'Defend from the Monsters', essentially. The trouble was...they had, I came to learn over the years, a remarkably broad definition of 'monster', and of 'defend', for that matter."

She pauses, then continues. "They...have a rather crappy retirement plan, you might say, too."

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Field]

Vasquez snorts. "Retirement plan? There isn't any for us. Each of us should have been dead a dozen times over. We don't expect to live past the end of the month, let alone plan to retire." She shakes her head. "They know the risks and their duty."

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

"If any of them, however, chose to...quit, for whatever reason, would you track them down and attempt to assassinate them, though?" Eileen asks. "For that is the policy of my...one-time employers. They don't like people who...leave their employ."

[UncleWolf]

"Of course we wouldn't kill them." She says, actually a bit offended. Vasquez turns to watch the troops gather the last of their gear. Each one is now indistinguishable from the rest. Their black powerarmor, stealth capes that shimmer even when inactive, and their helmets obscuring their faces with mirrored visors. "But, they'll fight till they die, then they'll fight some more. They don't want anything else."

[The Bushranger]

[Parade Field]

NO CAPES!


"Pity the Hospitaliers didn't think the same way," Eileen mutters, and sighs, falling quiet. "It sounds though, like any threats to Town won't have as easy pickings as they have in the past..."

[UncleWolf]

"They won't. They're going to learn the hard way that they will not live if they mess with us." The Commander says with certainty. Something in her voice tells Eileen that there's a very good chance that she's right...

[The Bushranger]

And Eileen nods, a smile crossing her lips finally. "If they value their lives, they'd better be somewhere else, eh?" she quips, mangling the famous TV quote.

[Darkcomet]

At some point presumably after that conversation has ended, Vasquez will have an officer walk up and give her a paper, then quickly depart.

An assignment readout, in fact. The assignment apparently comes from both the ISF and IA Generals.

Wolf knows what it is.

[UncleWolf]

[Parade Ground]

A portal opens up in the air well above the place, and 5 shimmering forms descend. After a moment, the portal closes and the forms land. Vasquez's squad of The Mortal Coil shrugs off their stealth cloaks and she gently sets the still tied Marley down before taking off her helmet. "Stand down." She orders the reserve squad, who had been keeping heavy weapons trained on the rendezvous point in case something happened. She gestures at Marley. "Now, where's the boss?"

[Darkcomet]

[Parade Ground]

General Noir of the Imperial Army and the two IA Spec Ops teams inserted into Lethargia seem to have been waiting for them here, mostly since this particular Mortal Coil operation fell under the Imperial Army's jurisdiction. Noir frowns when he notices their reduced numbers, his expression becoming slightly less grim when he sees Marley.

Hopefully GLoG will appreciate this. Soldiers like them weren't easy to find. "I see the mission was a success." He doesn't mention whether or not the secondary operation succeeded, believing the commandos' presence to be telling enough.

Those eight should be grateful as well. Their operation was rather reliant on the Mortal Coil's distraction.

[UncleWolf]

Vasquez almost growls at the man, but restrains herself. "We lost 4. Jenkins, Riley, Joana and Marth. We may lose more. Alpha and Epsilon were followed through their portal." She then gives the admiral a bit of a glare. "Tell GLOG they owe us, because we sure as hell don't want to see them." she says, spitting at the ground.

"Sir." She adds as an afterthought.

[Darkcomet]

[Parade Ground]

"I fully intended to tell them that, Commander. But we told them they would receive support against AMEN should AMEN's superweapon be destroyed, so they got it, and we eliminated a major threat in the process, thanks to you." Noir glances back at the commandos. "Captain?"

One of the commandos responds. "Sir?"

"Bring the former captive to a temporary cell. And get make sure he gets a teleport homer. Our WATCHTOWER friend was kind enough to supply a sample of the technology for this, and I don't trust GLoG to keep anyone safe."

"Yes sir."

Marley will get taken to a cell, fairly resemblant of a prison cell, with only one ISF guard at it. He'll also be given an injection of homing nanites, so that if he's about to be kidnapped again, they'll send a signal to ISF HQ to teleport him back to this particular cell.

Because GLoG is far too unsafe for such a thing to be installed there.

[ThePhantom]

Oh dear. I haven't thought what would happen to nanites if they were put into Marley, but something will happen. If just being in long contact brought his cane to life, then being in his blood will have an even greater affect. You might have created a monster.

[Darkcomet]

Eh.

I wouldn't imagine they could do much, considering pretty much all these ones do is send signals and make enough of themselves to stick around. Not to mention they're programmed and all.

So...

It's entirely possible that they'll just start attacking themselves should something crazy happen. Can't be too careful with nanotech.

*shrug*

[UncleWolf]

The remaining four soldiers of Vasquez's squad form a line behind her and they stand "at ease", keeping their helmets on. "Is there anything else you need of us, sir?" The Commander says calmly. Even if the four could be resurrected, it had been extremely painful to see their icons vanish from the HUD in her helmet.

She was going to have to speak to Hel soon.

[Darkcomet]

"No, that will be all." The General and the commandos soon leave, since this isn't exactly their base.

[UncleWolf]

As the Admiral leaves, the other group of Mortal Coil arrives, each of the 7 remaining soldiers landing at the target point. Ted, completely under painkillers at the moment, nods to Vasquez before grabbing his arm and straightening it with a crunch of bone. "We los-" he begins before Vasquez shoots him in elbow joint with a tranq. "Aw...fu-" he says before passing out.

She shakes her head. "We know. Someone get him to the infirmary."

A pair of soldiers drag him off as the rest begin to strip off their armor in the open, not caring if anyone sees.

They had one hell of a night.

[The Bushranger]

Eileen, meanwhile, has been exploring Headquarters...and hearing a commotion out on the Parade Grounds, looks outside. Then gasps, and hurries out.

"...what happened?" she asks, noticing fewer men in the squad, then there were before...

[UncleWolf]

"They F***ing died, is what happened!" Says the small slender woman as she takes off her armor. The Priestess of Horus is revealed as a dark skinned elf with black hair. She shoots the group a glare. "And I'm going to go get hammered. It'll ease the pain on my soul and I won't let any of you stop me." She heads to the barracks to change, and with a nod from Vasquez, so do a few others.

The Commander turns to Eileen. "We just came back from a raid, rescued a hostage. We lost four of our own. Even if we can bring them back, it's painful to see."

[The Bushranger]

"...oh." Eileen, having been on missions before, merely nods...not offering to join them.
After all, it was their mission, their fight...and their post-mission bender, not hers.

She takes a breath, and looks to the Commander. "If you have any need for it, sir, I have some...modest healing abilities."

[UncleWolf]

"Thanks." The woman says sincerely. "Head to the infirmary, Ted is the worst off. Compound fracture in his right arm and a slight concussion. The rest of us just have bumps and bruises."

After a moment, the rest of the squads have their armor off, dressed in only long johns, and goes to put it away before going to the Mess.

[The Bushranger]

"On my way." Eileen smiles, just a little, and nods to the Commander before turning, and heading for the Infirmary.

I assume in her offscreen explorations, she discovered where it was...

[ThePhantom]

(From the opening text, this place is somewhat known within the city, correct? And so, people could possible spy on this place from the outside, right?)

[Darkcomet]

((One could simply watch it from outside, but other methods not so much. The building is scry-proofed, for one thing, so that method of spying is blocked. Not to mention just standing there staring at it for too long might draw some suspicion from the ISF. Also, the parade field will have been surrounded by other buildings in the complex, making outward spying impossible unless from above. There aren't any tall buildings around the HQ, either, for the specific purpose of preventing such spying.))

An ISF officer goes to speak with Marley. He'll have been untied, if he was still tied up, by the way.

[ThePhantom]

Well, Marley woke up about now, so this is about the first time to talk to him.

"I'm going to die."

[Darkcomet]

The officer shakes his head. "No, you aren't. We rescued you from AMEN, but GLoG's not safe right now. Not that it ever is."

[ThePhantom]

"Thank you Thank you thank youthankyouthank youthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou."

Is Marley trying to kiss the officer's feet? Yes, yes he is.

[Darkcomet]

The officer backs away from Marley. "I'm not the one you should be thanking. The unit that rescued you lost four men. I hope GLoG's as grateful as you are."

[ThePhantom]

"Sorry."

Marley stands back up.

"About that, and your men."

[Darkcomet]

"As I said, I just hope GLoG's as grateful as you are. AMEN certainly seems to have it in for you, though. I understand that wasn't the first time this has happened."

[ThePhantom]

"From what I heard, to them, I serve as a battery for something, through I'm not sure what they mean by that."

[Darkcomet]

The officer soon gets a message. "The GLoG situation has apparently improved. Someone should be along to bring you back soon."

[ThePhantom]

Marley has been waiting, drawing a little something.

"Thank you."

[UncleWolf]

After a few minutes, a squad of Mortal Coil, completely suited up, arrives. "Marley, we're here to escort you back to GLOG."

[ThePhantom]

Marley stands up.

"I'm ready to go."

[UncleWolf]

Commander Vasquez nods and leads him to an APC, handing him a small remote on the way. "This is a panic button, press it in case of emergencies." she says. Barring anything else, they should make it to GLOG without problems.

[ThePhantom]

And Marley gets in. Hopefully, this will turn out fine.

[billtodamax]

Jay returns here, putting away his batons.

Well, that went nowhere. Jay says. Anything need doing? He asks.

[UncleWolf]

[Secret Room]

Vasquez slices open her palm, completing the ritual her cleric companion told her, and a black portal opens in the wall. She rests against the wall, panting, as four tendrils of dark energy snake their way out and towards four objects, each on their own bed.

The tendrils touch each of the four pinky fingers and shadows coalesce around them, forming humanoid bodies. She smiles to the Cleric of Hel next to her as the four who were killed in AMEN are resurrected.

The cleric smiles back and rubs the nub where he cut off his finger on the first day.

Just in case his fate was like the others...

[billtodamax]

Jay gets back to the headquarters, waving to anyone he recognises, before heading to the barracks to fall on his bunk.

Unless, of course, there was anything else that needed doing in the city.

[Morty]

Anatolij shows up at the ISF HQ, looking very uncertain. Once there, he will begin asking around about Mortal Coil.

[UncleWolf]

Anatolij will eventually be told to enter a room, a rather dismal one too. Assuming he goes, after a short while, Commander Vasquez enters. She's a hard looking woman with an edged sort of face and dark tan skin. Her brown hair is in a military style buzz cut. "You wanted to see me?"

[Morty]

Anatolij stands to attention. Yes. I wanted to inquire if it'd be possible to join your unit.

[UncleWolf]

[Interview Room]

The woman walks slowly around the man, looking him over and trying to judge his capabilities. "What are your qualifications? And why do you wish to join?"

[Morty]

[Interview Room]

Back home, I used to fight with a sabre and ride horses. I wasn't excellent at it, but I was good enough. As for why I want to join: I wanted to do something worthwhile.

[UncleWolf]

[Interview Room]

Vasquez continues looking him over. He seemed a bit...naive, but at least he was trained. "And your views on supernatural beings?" She asks, not betraying her thoughts about him. "Have you had any experience fighting them?"

[Morty]

[Interview Room]

I used to think all of them were evil, but I changed my mind after coming here. But I still think they're very dangerous and we need to protect ourselves from them.

[UncleWolf]

She nods at the good answer. "Most aren't evil, but all of them are dangerous. Even the good ones can be reckless enough to endanger the population." She sits back down. "What kind have you dealt with?"

[Morty]

[Interview Room]

Before coming here - none. I think they might be just stories where I'm from. But shortly after coming here, I was abducted by living dead and brought to a flying city and then escaped along with some other prisoners.

[UncleWolf]

"You'll have to be put through an extensive training program, and depending on how well you do, you may get your own squad. But, I hope you realize, if you want to go through with this, you will be called on at any time, for any reason." She then takes off one of her gloves. "And there's a cost." she says, holding up her hand, showing that her pinky has been removed.

[Morty]

Anatolij is a bit confused. Have you lost it during a mission? I'm fully aware the risk of death is very high...

[UncleWolf]

"While the risk of death and dismemberment is high, that is not how." she says as she begins to pull the glove back on. "We willingly removed it. It allows us to resurrect you if we need to. You will also need to agree to a pact with two gods. In return for our services, they safe guard our souls after our bodies are killed."

[Morty]

Anatolij looks torn for a moment. As long as I don't have to worship them... I suppose the ends justify the means. He'd rather not think about either it or the "ressurection" part too much, though.

[UncleWolf]

She shakes her head. "No worship is needed. We simply protect their followers when the time comes. They're Hel, the Norse Goddess of the Underworld, and Horus, the Egyptian God of War. If you want to know more about them, I can send you to talk to their clerics."

[Morty]

Maybe later. I ought to finish the training first, I think.

[UncleWolf]

Vasquez takes out a form and passes it over. "Just sign the bottom and tell us the next of kin. You'll be required to live here most of the time for the first few months." It's the standard form saying that he agrees to abide by the rules of the group, and so on and so forth.

[Morty]

Anatolij signs. I'm afraid I don't have any family here.

[UncleWolf]

Vasquez smiles a bit at that. It's a sad smile, but the first in a long time. "Few of us do. All we have really, is each other." She stands and offers her whole hand. "Welcome aboard."

[Morty]

Anatolij shakes it firmly. It's good to be here. I look forward to the training.

[UncleWolf]

[Interview Room]

Vasquez smiles evilly. "Good, because it starts now." her hand tightens like a vice and she draws her pistol, firing a couple of tranqs at him. When he slumps to the floor, two Mortal Coil soldiers come in and drag him off to be trained.

This is a rough place, and it either made people, or broke people.

(Godmod approved)

[The Bushranger]

[Somewhere around here]

...meanwhile, a figure in a cloak approaches the HQ, pausing to look it over from the street, studying it closely.

Considering it.

And smiling.

[UncleWolf]

[Wall]

One of the guards notices the figure, and watches it cautiously. A few people stopped and looked at it from time to time, but it always stood out. Usually though, nothing would happen and they'd walk on.

[The Bushranger]

The figure, however, does nothing of the sort.

Instead, walking torwards the entrance (wherever it is), with a limp.

[UncleWolf]

[Entrance]

One of the guards stops the figure. "Yes?"

[The Bushranger]

[Entrance]

"Is...is there a doctor here?" I injured my leg badly and need it checked, I fear I have blood poisoning... the hooded figure asks in a wavering voice.

[UncleWolf]

One of the guards speaks into his helmet and a couple of extra guards show up, armed. "Alright, these two will take you in, but we'll have to search you first."

[Mortal Coil Barracks]

A dark tan elf groans as her ear piece wakes her up. "Huh? A patient? Alright, coming right up." She kicks her brother awake and the two get dressed, grabbing their pistols by reflex. The two clerics sigh. It was just going to be one of those days....

[The Bushranger]

The figure nods, her hood bobbing, revealing an extraordinarily pale face framed by brilliant red hair under it.

"Thank you..." she says, turning to study the soldiers from the shadows under her hood. "I'm afraid I, ah, had my clothes stolen by bandits...this robe is all I have..."

[UncleWolf]

[Gate]

One of the officers, a woman (What? Thought they were all men? Geeze, don't you know about the equal opportunity employment programs here? :smalltongue:) steps up and smiles a bit. "Don't worry, it's just a simple pat down."

The woman will probably see two people in the distance headed towards the gate as well.

[The Bushranger]

[Gate]

But what if she likes girls? :smalltongue:

The hooded woman nods, and straightens for the pat-down.

Which will find nothing except a rather curvy figure, under the robe.

[UncleWolf]

[Gate]

The woman nods and searches her rather well before standing. "She's clean." She says before two other guards step forward. "Just come with us, and we'll take you to the healers." One says as they offer to help her walk if she needs it. Meanwhile, the Cleric of Hel and Priestess of Horus are now close enough for the woman to see them a bit clearly. They're both slender and fairly short for their elven heritage. Even though one is dark tan, and the other pale, there is still a strong resemblance between them, as if they're siblings.

[The Bushranger]

[Gate? What gate?]

The woman shows no signs of anything other than just allowing herself to be patted down. None at all of enjoying it. :smalltongue:

She nods in what seems to be a grateful fashion to the guards, and follows them torwards the Cleric and Priestess, needing no help, although wimping quite a bit.

...and also thinking, 'dang dirty elves' to herself...

"You are the healers here? she asks, voice soft, sounding weak.

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

The female elf smiles warmly and offers her hand. "Yes, we're here to..." Then she frowns, sensing something. With a growl, her hand turns into a fist, glowing slightly with a gold light, and it rockets at the woman's face. "Die, Abomination!"

The male looks startled for only a moment before trusting his sister's senses and his pistol is drawn quickly, ready for anything.

[The Bushranger]

[Courtyard]

Not having expected to be detected, the glowing fist connects with Falcon's face, and she staggers back!

"Die? Ha! I cannot die!" Resplendant Shadow Blade! she sneers as she collects herself, allowing the robe to fall to reveal her...usual skanky outfit. And, raising her fist, a swirling of energy, oozing with the sensations of corpses, tortured souls, and the grave, coalesces into a black-glowing blade. Even as an open ring of pitch black appears on her forehead, and seeming to ooze blood, a nimbus of black energy flickering around her...

"You, on the other hand, will make fine victims for Oblivion!"

...and she cockily makes a 'come hither' motion at the two. Grinning madly.

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

The two don't even seem fazed by the sudden transformation, but the female, her name Arla, steps back, the holy glow on her hands growing over her forearm, forming eagle's talons and golden feathers. The brother, Taul, simply raises his pistol and fires a trio of shots at her chest. These rounds are the standard ones for Mortal Coil solid projectile weapons.

In other words, silver with wooden tips, and blessed. Maybe something in that will upset her. :smalltongue:

[The Bushranger]

[Courtyard]

Well, the bullets will hurt. :smalltongue: And the Holy effects burn.

...but the duo might be surprised, to see that even as the redheaded skank winces under the hit to her left arm - incurred before dodging - she's grinning.

And laughing.

"Ooooh, it's gonna be that way is it?" she calls, turning her head and licking at the blood oozing from her wound - before charging with a shout at Arla, bringing her blade around for her neck!

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

Arla raises her arm to block the blade, but it still gouges deep through her armored forearm. She hisses in pain from the deep wound and goes back a step, a bit off balance from the blade's mental assault. It leaves a small opening for Falcon to attack. Well, it would if Taul didn't step between them by kicking at Falcon's blade hand, intent on disarming her. It's a bit awkward due to the angle, so should be fairly avoidable.

[billtodamax]

The combatants, as well as anyone generally near or in the ISF HQ might feel a little... unreal.

Kind of like they're fading away slightly. Infact, it's kind of like everything is fading away slightly.

Probable Cause: Jay, standing a bit away from the gate, swinging his batons.

His batons don't seem to be affected by the reality magic. They're probably the source.

((Hey BR. Wrong font colour for Falcon. :smalltongue:))

[The Bushranger]

((Heh...I'm still used to posting for her as Shrike. <_<))


[Courtyard]

Arla raises her arm to block the blade, but it still gouges deep through her armored forearm. She hisses in pain from the deep wound and goes back a step, a bit off balance from the blade's mental assault. It leaves a small opening for Falcon to attack. Well, it would if Taul didn't step between them by kicking at Falcon's blade hand, intent on disarming her. It's a bit awkward due to the angle, so should be fairly avoidable.

The difficulty in disarming Falcon would be that she doesn't have an actual physical blade - but rather, a blade of pure Essence.

Two of them, in fact, now.

Think of them as being like the Soulknife's signature weapon, in that respect...

She does have to dodge Taul's kicking, though - and she does so by tumbling, rolling forwards, aiming to pass between the duo of elves, arms thrusting out to try and hit each of them in the legs on her way past.

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

The two elves seem to ignore the feeling for now, and Falcon will find that her attacks miss, the two gracefully spinning to the sides in unison. They've fought together for years, so know what to do by instinct. Taul snags a black staff from nowhere and flicks the end up, trying to hit Falcon's chin while she's still low to the ground. In the meantime, Arla takes a doublestep back, giving her brother more room to fight as she speaks a foreign language, a golden form growing in the air above her.

[billtodamax]

Everything will be getting more and more dull and faded, aside from Jay's batons as he spins them faster and in more and more complicated fashions.

They seem to be getting... sharper, as well. An etherial blade which follows the direction of the swing, surrounding the batons.

Jay advances towards Shrike and the pair.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon (not Shrike! :smalltongue:) gets smacked in the chin, and staggers back, her eyes narrowing at the pair as she takes a defensive stance. Having realised that taking out the ISF's medical staff is going to be rather more difficult than she'd thought...

She doesn't notice Jay's approach.

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

It should be noted that the two elves are in ISF uniform, if that helps Jay any. :smalltongue:

It may be noticed that as he fights, Taul seems to get paler, his lips turning black as he smiles and shows a couple of short fangs. He twirls one end of his staff in a sweep at Falcon's knees, trying to break one.

With a flash of light, a small eagle made of golden energy comes to life above Arla before swooping at one of her foe's hands, trying to tear it up so she can't use a weapon.

[The Bushranger]

[Courtyard]

Taul's staff is easily jumped by Falcon, the pale, skanky woman doing a backflip in mid-air, which means the eagle likely gets to sink its talons into her leg, a screech escaping from her as she comes down hard on said leg...

"That hurt. Enough not to be nice. And what's a nice Abyssal like you doing with this bunch of losers?" she asks Taul with an (albeit pained) smirk before charging at his sister, both blades extended to impale her through the chest...

[UncleWolf]

Arla barely twists out of the way of the blade, gaining a deep cut along her stomach. She hisses in pain, but doesn't stagger back this time, having expected the mental assault. Her eagle in the mean time, flies high, gaining altitude.

Taul laughs and spins his staff, aiming for the back of Falcon's head. "I am no abomination like you. I am Hel's servant, and she wishes you destroyed!"

[The Bushranger]

Falcon tries to duck, but loses some of her hair to Taul's staff.
"Hel? Ha! Don't make me laugh. She is nothing compared to the mighty power of the Neverborn!"

As she kicks out her feet torwards his legs, intending to knock him over.

[UncleWolf]

Taul is tripped, but he jabs at Falcon's neck with his staff as he falls, growling in anger at the insult to his Goddess. At the same time, she may notice Arla's holy talons swiping at her face.

Above them, the eagle stops rising, and begins it's dive...

[The Bushranger]

Falcon manages to - mostly - avoid the jab to the neck - but not the talons to the face, screeching as they tear a nice set of gashes across her skin.

"Why you little -!"

And suddenly, she leaps into the air!

Intending to come down squarely on top of Arla.

[UncleWolf]

As Arla is kicked and pinned to the ground, and Taul stands, a golden bolt of holy force comes out of the sky above them to try to slam into Falcon's back. What had been the eagle, changed shape as it fell through the air, turning into something akin to a sledgehammer of energy.

This is likely going to hurt. If it doesn't knock her out or do anything else, it should at least keep Falcon from staying on top of Arla for too long.

[billtodamax]

((I'll compromise, BR.))

Everything become slowly more and more unreal, Jay charges forwards, and swings at where Shrike is.

Now, normally, that would have just passed right behind Falcon's back, not touching Shrike at all. However The edge of sharpness that surrounds the batons has extended past them, and as such the blade might well carve a long gash into Falcon's torso.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Ebon Mirror's voice speaks in Falcon's mind. You do realize you are a Day Caste, and not a Dusk or Midnight, and that a bit more discretion and subtlety would perhaps serve you better?

[The Bushranger]

((Heh))

Jay's batons would indeed score a direct hit - were it not for the fact that the golden sledgehammer o' doom had just slammed into her, knocking her clear - and knocking her silly, for a minute. Or two.

And off of Arla, for the record...

As the little juncos circle her head for a moment, she manages to respond to Her Master's Voice.
~That was the PLAN. I wanted to slip daggers into these two while they tended to 'the injured woman'. I didn't expect them to be freaking paladins with Detect Evil auras!~

...then, still wincing in pain, she does a backflip to spring to her feet!

Shadow-blades held poised.

"Three on one? Well, why don't we make things interesting?"

...and suddenly, her form seems to waver...

Strong minds, people, or not only will you not see her - you'll forget that she was ever there!

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

Taul and Arla don't forget her, being clerics and all, it's assumed they have to have strong will anyways. :smalltongue:

They move so they're back to back, protecting each other from the now invisible foe, but after a moment, Arla smirks and says a Word. A golden glitter fills the entire courtyard for just a moment, sticking to anything and everything. Hopefully it'll stick to Falcon as well.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon promptly takes advantage of her "you can't see me" Charm, sprinting for a nearby wall to scale, and start making use of her more skilled abilities...

When suddenly:
Glitterdust.

And she swears as it sticks to her, the bright shiny glitter being a huge 'here I am' sign!
...it's rather...warm too. Which makes her smirk.

[billtodamax]

What the... what the hell just happened? Jay asks, as reality starts to reassert itself as he slows down his batons.

[UncleWolf]

[Courtyard]

"She's an assassin, get her!" Arla shouts as she and her brother draw their pistols, chasing after Falcon and firing off rounds. Arla is shooting tranquilizer rounds, but Taul is still firing the special silver/wood/holy ammo. He's aiming for her legs however.

It seems the two want to take her alive.

[The Bushranger]

[Courtyard]

"How crude - I prefer 'troubleshooter'!" Falcon protests even as she continues fleeing. And spins around just before reaching cover, taking a barrage of transquiliser darts to the chest!

The goggles - er, darts -, they do nothing!

Even as she throws out her hand, and sends a barrage of lightining at her opponents.

...nope, it's not anything Exalted-y. It's the psionic ability she had as a mortal...

Rather like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2djFBetQK-I).

...of course, it's at this point that Taul's bullets arrive.

They prove rather more effective than the tranquisers, and Falcon dives behind the convienent cover!

Bleeding badly.

[UncleWolf]

Arla takes the brunt of the lightning and falls to her knees, stunned and in some pain from the shock. Taul on the other hand, continues advancing on the hiding spot, firing off the occasional round to keep her in cover. As he does so, his thumb flicks a switch on his watch, warning his commander of an intruder.

[billtodamax]

You've got range, right? Jay asks Taul, as he advances on the cover. Then stay back, and I'll flush her out. Jay's batons swirl faster and faster, and the world gets duller and muffled and etherial as he swings his baton towards the cover, intent on slicing it in two, following through with an overhead swing at Falcon, if he can see where she is, of course.

All interruptable, if Falcon, Taul or Arla wanted to.

[The Bushranger]

He might find himself, possibly, causing structural damage by cutting through the cover. But this may be acceptable losses.

Falcon wasn't expecting that, and sprints from cover, only to be brought down by the blow that lands across the middle of her back!

...oddly, she doesn't seem too injured...

[billtodamax]

((It was still razor sharp. Not sure if I didn't make that very clear or if Exaltedness countered it.))

The baton quickly reverses direction after it hits, continuing to spin rapidly, as Jay brings around the other, trying to hit her again.

[The Bushranger]

((For this time, I'm letting her Exalted-ness counter it, aside from being knocked down. Like (http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0044.html) so (http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0045.html). :smallwink:

Further response after Wolfy posts. :smallsmile:))

[UncleWolf]

Taul notices Falcon on the ground, and proceeds to fire off his remaining two shots, right for her knees. :smalleek:

As for Arla, she's slowly getting to her knees, her head spinning and aching from the lightning. Still, it was better than the hangover two days ago...

[The Bushranger]

One of the bullets misses as Falcon goes to flip over.

Delivering another blast of Force Lightning aimed directly into Jay's face, getting slashed across her arm by his baton...

...the other bullet, however, smashes into one of her knees.

With predictable results.

[billtodamax]

Jay utters a BAD WORD as he's hit in the face by force lightning, and stumbles backwards, his batons seemingly spinning by themselves. They're slowing down however, and reality is slowly reasserting itself.

[UncleWolf]

Taul drops his pistol and calmly walks over to the fallen Falcon, grabbing his black staff out of the air as he does so. A thin blade seems to grow from one end, and he'll attempt to hold it at her neck. "Who sent you?"

The others may notice a couple figures in Mortal Coil armor running towards the group.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon, having a rather mangled kneecap, finds herself with Taul's blade at her neck.

And she grins up at him cheekily, despite the pain.

"...wouldn't you like to know?"

...and she'll try to grab the blade, and discharge the rest of her electricity into it. :smalleek:

[UncleWolf]

Spears made of dark energy don't make very good electrical conductors and the lightning is absorbed. He grunts a bit, showing that at least a little bit got through. In retaliation however, the spear splits into a bident, and he slams the prongs into the ground, likely pinning her neck. If successful, a third spike will grow out of the center and stop right before it touches her neck.

"Yes actually. I would like to know."

Arla slowly finishes standing and a golden khopesh shimmers to life in her hand as she limps over. Maybe that'll be a bit more convincing...

[The Bushranger]

"Bah. You're all going to die anyway, why should I tell you anything?" Shrike insists, spitting at Taul's face. "Nirvana is approaching. Silence will fall."

[UncleWolf]

Commander Vasquez answers her question by stepping up and pointing her pistol down at Falcon's face. "Because I say so, Exalt." She looks pissed in her power armor. "And it'll decide if you live, or you die. Permanently."

[The Bushranger]

"Go ahead. Tie me up. Torture me. Shoot me. I'll like it."
Falcon grins manicially up at Commander Vasquez.
"You can't do anything anyway. You're doomed, all of you, by your own pain and suffering. But in that doom is your salvation. All of it, all the pain, all the tears, all the sadness, it will all be gone. All of it, taken away at the end of all things."

[UncleWolf]

The Commander sighs and gives a nod to the now close by Arla. The priestess slashes down with her Holy Khopesh, trying to slash across Falcon's stomach. Not too deep, but it'll definitely be more than a little painful.

"Who. Do. You. Work. For?" She asks, her tone cold and clipped.

[billtodamax]

One of you two's a cleric, right? Any healing magic at all? Jay asks, from the ground, his batons sitting beside him. His face is badly burnt from the lightning, and his nose and mouth are bleeding.

[The Bushranger]

"Fine, fine, don't get your unmentionables in a knot, dear. Lots more comforable to do without. And I serve The Most Secret Ebon Mirror. Happy now?" Falcon snarls.

[UncleWolf]

Arla breaks off from the group and kneels next to Jay, trying to heal him. He'll feel the heat of the desert sun course through his body as her powers try to knit his wounds back together.

Vasquez curses. "Should have known. One bad Exalt leads to another." She sighs. "Taul, do it." The third prong on his trident suddenly extends, stabbing into her throat. Her body paralyzes as the Hold Person spell takes effect.

It seems they never meant to kill her at all...


[A short time later]

The titanium chord tightens as her body takes the slack out of the line, pulling her arms above her body as she hangs, tied in metal and gagged with duct tape, outside the walls of the ISF, in plain view.

Around her neck hangs a sign, carrying a message meant to taunt her master.

"Come And Get Me"

[FireFox]

[Not very long later]

Toby walks by, his eyes on the ground and his hands shoved into his jeans' pockets. He slowly approaches the dangling Exalted and lifts his head so he can read the sign. He waits, figuring he's going to be accosted by the security personnel momentarily, if they haven't intercepted him long before he got close, of course.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon, for her part, looks rather...resigned to her fate, eyes closed, head down, and occasionally squirming a bit.

...Toby, however, from his angle, might be able to see that she's smirking.

And hear her quietly giggling to herself, too. :smalltongue:

[Lord Iames Osari]

Mist begins to rise from the ground, spreading and thickening, creeping closer and closer toward the ISF building, with a darkness that swallows all mortal lights close on its heels.

[UncleWolf]

Surprisingly, the entire area, and the wall as well, seems to lack any security personnel. Though, that may tip everyone off to something is "off".

[FireFox]

Toby suddenly disappears, gone offscreen to continue doing nothing at all.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon continues hanging there, quietly giggling to herself, smiling, and occasionally, squirming in her restraints...

:smalleek:

[Lord Iames Osari]

The fog and dark moves to envelop Falcon where she hangs. The keen-eared may hear the whisper of cloth and soft, furtive footsteps from within its concealing embrace, as two ninja zombies approach the wall to check for traps and automated defences.

[UncleWolf]

The ninja will find neither traps, nor automated defenses active. Probably a bit ominous really.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon's smirk grows a little, and the ninja zombies might find her lack of distress...disturbing.

"Mmmmmmm," she mutters, covering them a bit, perhaps, aurally.
And, of course, disturbing anybody who's sane within earshot.

[Lord Iames Osari]

A thin blade of pure force comes out of the heart of the misty dark, cutting through the fog with its razor-edge as it flies unerringly to cut through the bindings on Falcon's legs.

[The Bushranger]

Falcon holds perfectly still for the procedure, although somehow her expression almost looks...dissapointed...

[Lord Iames Osari]

Another blade of force, this time aimed at the cord holding her suspended.

The ninja zombies arrange themselves, ready to catch her as she falls, should she need their assistance.

[The Bushranger]

She don't need no steenkin' ninja-zombie assistance!

Landing on her feet, nimbly, and grinning.

"Aw, and I was having so much fun just hangin' around..."

[Lord Iames Osari]

The zombies escort her away, deeper into the darkness and mist, which slowly begin to recede. By the time the streets are clear again, Falcon, the zombies, and Ebon Mirror will be long gone.

[UncleWolf]

The two Mortal Coil troopers on the wall, under their stealth cloaks, slip quietly down to the ground level, follow Ebon and Falcon quickly and silently.

The bait had been taken...

[billtodamax]

Jay's wounds will be easily healed, and he'll nod his appreciation to Arla.

Thanks. He says, pushing himself to his feet, still holding his batons defensively.

He gives a sharp glance around the courtyard, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, places them back in their holsters.

Who the hell was that?

[Earl of Purple]

Gates

There's a gnome in a toga travelling as hard as he can towards the gate. Poor chap looks quite stressed. The toga really isn't helping.

[billtodamax]

Noting the gnome, Jay heads over to the poor fellow.

Hello, anthing I can do to help you sir? He asks politely, seeing the gnome's distress and wondering what he was going to have to fight.

[Earl of Purple]

"There's a monster eating my golems! Well, not literally, but it's sucking out all the magic out of them. The longer we wait the more money I lose! And it might get stronger from the magic it's draining." Good to see that Pontius has his priorities in the right order.

[billtodamax]

Lead the way, I'd be happy to help. Jay says, drawing his batons again, then presumably following the gnome out of the thread, cautious.

[Reinholdt]

After looking up a public phone number to call that looks like it comes closest to helping, probably emergencies or police assistance or something like that, it starts ringing.

*brrng brrrng*

Of course, if there is no such number... then I guess that doesn't happen at all then, huh?

[UncleWolf]

The phone is picked up by a rather bored secretary. Not many people call, figuring their PC status could take care of anything. Many jokes run through her head. Maybe she'd say "County Morgue, You Stab 'em, We Slab 'em."

Or, perhaps she could say her personal favorite and go "Roy's Taxidermy, You Snuff 'em, we Stuff 'em".

At the end though, she sighs and goes with what's required of her.

"ISF Emergency Services. What is the nature of your emergency?"

[Reinholdt]

"Greetings. I am Reinholdt, Destroyer of Worlds. And you're going to get me someone important and higher up."

[UncleWolf]

The secretary rolls her eyes. Geeze, another one of these freaks. "Sir, you do realize you're being recorded right now and anything you say, prank call or not, will go on record?" She flips the switch to trace the call anyways. "And really, d'ya think you're the only one to boss me around? You aren't going anywhere without a reason, Mister "Prime"."

[Reinholdt]

Tracing...
"For the love of... there are actual COPY CATS of me out there? Do they have any... blargh!" :smallannoyed:

"Look here. My minions and dupes have been setting up bombs all over the city. In only three hours, everything's going to be blown sky high. Now get me someone who can respond to my demands."

[UncleWolf]

She sighs. "Sir, we have a half dozen people a week calling and saying they're Reinholdt Prime, and don't get me started on Magtok..."

She sits up a bit when she hears the threat. "Well, then, you'll find that I am perfectly capable of handling this sort of thing. I'm sure I can have the panicked hordes where you need them. Which is...?"

[Reinholdt]

Tracing...
"I'm NOT REINHOLDT PRIME!!" :smallmad:

"Don't you dare relate me to that loathsome corrupted version of me! I'm the other Reinholdt. The one Magtok made." Sheesh. Get it straight.

"And you're a fool. How could I hold all these people at death's door if you have them someplace else? No, I need them inside the city, thank you. I couldn't very well kill them all if they weren't there, now could I? Duh." :smallannoyed:

[UncleWolf]

"Ooooo....you're his Clone? That's a bit more original. Congrats. :smallsmile:" She looks up with a nod as Vasquez enters the room and nods at the screen, showing the tracking. The Commander nods and puts on headphones to listen in.

"And really, it's much more complicated than you think to set this kind of thing up. Zoning laws, fines, building fees...I mean, geeze. Otherwise I'd have to come and fine you, and I'm sure you don't want that."

[Reinholdt]

Location found!
It's moving towards the docks.

"... What? What the hell are you talking about you idiot?! Do you fail to understand your entire city is going to be destroyed and EVERYONE IN IT?! All of them! The void is coming and all your friends and family are going to die!"

[UncleWolf]

Once the trace is locked, the secretary turns more serious, done buying time. "Now, Reinholdt, I believe you're smarter than this. I kinda doubt you're turning in your own plan to ruin the city. So, lets restart. Who is really planning this? Don't worry, your tip will be kept confidential."

Then Vasquez cuts in, getting a glare from the secretary. "This is Commander Vasquez. We have resources that have seen Ebon Mirror beating up a cat in the Cemetary. Was this you?"

[Reinholdt]

"Your compliment is oh so appreciated."
*grumble grumble*

"Do YOU know of any other cat even capable of taking a beating or annoying enough to deserve one? Yeah it was me."

[UncleWolf]

"Good, now that we know each other. I believe you need to explain why you're really calling. As she said, we'd like to think you aren't like Magtok and would spoil your own plan just to be dramatic. Where are the bombs located?"

[Reinholdt]

"... It could happen."
...
Probably not.
"I have no idea how many there are or where they're located. There are dozens I think. I only know of one at the abandoned warehouse at the docks at [Insert Address here]. I do know that they go off in a matter of hours and anyone left in the city is doomed to one of those fates worse than death things as the entire city is sucked into a void. And yes, Ebon Mirror's behind it. And no I don't want it to happen. So yes, I recommend immediate, total evacuation and that's why I'm calling."

[UncleWolf]

The Secretary goes pale and stammers a bit, but Vasquez gets a cold look in her eyes and flips a tab on her wrist plate, telling the rest of the team to get suited up and ready. "You're headed to the Docks, right? Do you need a team there to assist you?" She doesn't mention that no government in the multiverse would have the power or ability to move that amount of people.

She flicks a switch on the board to send the message to the ISF General. Maybe he could put out an alarm.

[Reinholdt]

Some evacuated is better than no evacuated.
"I could probably take out the support myself, but I wouldn't know what to do with the device once I got there. So I won't turn down the offer. Just make sure to send technical support in addition to whatever guns you can provide." He'd just blow up the device, but that might trigger it. Reinholdt really doesn't know.

[UncleWolf]

Vasquez nods to herself when the lights beep in her field of vision, her augmented eyes showing a small viewscreen telling her that all of her team was ready to leave. She gives them the OK to take off. One group to the docks, the rest to the Cemetary.

"Help is on the way, expect them to arrive shortly. Another group is going to try and buy everyone some time for the evacuation."

[Reinholdt]

"Right. Errr... sorry for insulting that other person. Gotta go kill some zombies. Good luck. Hate to talk and run?"
...
"Bye."
Unless Vasquez has something important to add, Reinholdt will hang up.

[UncleWolf]

"It's fine." She says. "Good luck!"

Vasquez cuts the feed and turns to the others in the Comm Room. "Get the battle screens and city maps up NOW! We have Non-Coms to save."

[The Bushranger]

Eileen, meanwhile, returns to PC-dom after thwacking her player repeatedly. And hurries for the command center, or wherever the most of what's going on seems to be going on, at least. Because she wants to know what's going on.

[UncleWolf]

[Combat Communications Center]

Eileen will find the Center a mess of activity and armed guards. Vasquez is talking between a phone and a comm unit on his head. "Yes, I know who Edijar is. Give him assistance and make sure he gets through, NOW!!"

She switches to the ringing phone to await Quinn's response at GLOG.

Maybe Eileen should talk to someone else...

[The Bushranger]

[CCC]

And so Eileen looks around quickly, and the blonde Valkyrie-ish woman quickly collars a secreterial flunkie. "Sitrep. Stat. I know something deathly creepy is going on, so start from there."

Being a divine warrior, the shadowland is probably making her itch.

[UncleWolf]

Eileen is able to find someone running coffee back and forth. She gives Eileen a glare before saying two words. "Ebon Mirror." and heading back to work.

[The Bushranger]

And Eileen throws her hands up in the air.
"Oh right, like that explains everything!" she complains, sighing, and looking for somebody to tell her what she can do about the osbedian reflective surface. :smalltongue:

[UncleWolf]

[CCC]

Commander Vasquez winces as she forms a link with Quinn, who'll likely feel a powerful wave of Anger. She then turns to Eileen. "A ****ing evil Exalt is ruining things in the city. What can you do?"

[The Bushranger]

[CCC]

"Divine caster," Eileen says simply. "Of two different spell types. Also, part-time ninja, but those skills are rusty."


Quinn's own emotions are faint confusion at something else, and wincing at the blast of fury. :smalltongue: But the connection is indeed made! ~Testing...~

[UncleWolf]

[CCC]

Received.

Vasquez raises her voice. "Link with GLOG confirmed and established!" she then turns back to Eileen. "Good, there's undead out there. Take what resources you can get, and start exterminating them. I'd give you more orders, but I think you'll be able to work better without them. I'll inform the armory ahead of time if you're headed there. They'll get you what you need."

[The Bushranger]

[CCC]

"Understood - and thank you, ma'am."
Eileen draws herself up and salutes, then heads for the Armoury!

~Ah, good. It was more difficult than I had expected,~ Quinn 'says'.

[UncleWolf]

[Armory]

The two guards there nod as she approaches and open the door, letting her pick whatever she needs from the Mortal Coil stash.

Vasquez needed more clerics out there, and she wasn't going to leave any of them hanging.

[CCC]

Good. And I was letting you in. If it was hard, then that means I'm trained right. Do you have any intel we can use?

[The Bushranger]

~Other then...there may be a troupe of Magical Girls assisting in some areas? Not especially,~ Quinn admits.

---

Eileen, for her part, goes looking for a Vorpal, Disrupting mace, if she can find one. :smalltongue:


**************

LATER

Eileen, bloody and looking like something resembling 'beaten to a pulp', limps her way back into the Headquarters.


Quinn has been 'on the line' this whole time.

[UncleWolf]

[Anatolij's Long Overdue Training Montage :smalltongue:]

Over the course of several weeks, Anatolij won't be given any instructions. Every morning, he's dragged out of bed to the training ground, still tired, where he's promptly beaten by other Mortal Coil members. They don't wear armor, and use bare fists, but each beating is harsh and without mercy. Every time he's beaten and broken, either Arla or Taul will come to heal him after letting him feel every drop of pain for several minutes.

Then he's dragged to his feet, where they do it again.

After the first week, his muscles harden and he begins ignoring the pain. He then lands his first solid blow on one of them. Sue only chuckles, spits out some blood, and goes back to pummeling him.

After the second week, Anatolij begins holding his own, and once he's able to fight three of them at once, they change the rules. The morning after, he finds them armed with knives.

The Cossack gets none.

Every time he learns and adapts, they change the rules. From unarmed vs unarmed to unarmed vs blades. They even get him against the combat mages and clerics.

Those fights don't end well for the most part.

It may take a while, but he'll find their unorthodox methods of teaching to be quite effective. After all, the best way to learn, is through having it beaten into your head. Then, once he's fought in power armor, armed, against several of his future teammates, the routine changes again.

This time, they let him sleep in before he's taken to several classrooms where he's taught the weak points of supernatural creatures. Vampires, Werewolves, Exalted, Dragons, Angels, Demons, and Undead, all of it. He's taught the best ways to enter buildings when under fire, how to defend his mind from attacks both magical and psionic.

All this will take a long time, but by the end, there's just one step left. He's taken to a medical tent and his off-hand is cleaned with iodine. "This is the last thing Anatolij. The price you have to pay. You can still turn back if you want." Arla tells him as she readies a sterile knife.

"Then, if you do this, all you must do, is sign the pact so we may retrieve your soul from the underworlds that have agreed to help us." Her brother, Taul, says as he unravels an old scroll.

[Morty]

[Training Montage]

Anatolij closes his eyes and nods. He can't go back now. I'll do it.

[UncleWolf]

There's a bit of a sting when Arla injects the numbing agent into the pinky of his left hand. While it takes effect, she flips the switch on a scalpel, and the edge heats up till it's glowing red. She flicks her wrist, and the finger is removed. He'll find that there's no blood, and the appendage is put into a sealed jar to preserve it.

The two wraps his hand in a bandage anyways and he's offered a pen and the scroll. "This just agrees that in return for protecting our souls, we will aid Hel and Horus in protecting their priests and followers when the time comes."

[Morty]

Anatolij gulps when his finger is removed. Even though it's not painful and bloody, it's still uncomfortable.
Alright... I agree to that. He signs the scroll.

[UncleWolf]

Anatolij will feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up when he signs, as if he's drawing the attention of two powerful beings. Taul smiles as he wraps up the scroll and seals it away. He offers his hand to the Cossack. "Welcome to Mortal Coil."

[Morty]

Anatolij shakes Taul's hand firmly. Thanks. It feels good to be here.

[The Bushranger]

Eileen, meanwhile, has finally been released from the infirmary from recovering for her injuries...and goes looking for somebody what's in charge.

[horngeek]

Meanwhile, Rose heads to the ISF HQ, and requests to see whoever's in charge of training.

[UncleWolf]

Rose is is asked to relinquish her weapons(if she has any) and if she does, will be led to a white room, plain, furnished with only a table and a few chairs.

After a while, two armored figures walk in. One is helmetless, Commander Vasquez of Mortal Coil. Her power armor is fitted tight to her, and light compared to her companion's. He, as best as Rose can tell anyways, is fully armored, his helmet a flat black mask, green eyes glowing. On his shoulder, is Vyrn's symbol, maybe cluing her in that this is Edijar.

"What is your business here?" The first asks calmly and professionally.

[horngeek]

Rose does, in fact, relinquish her weapons, pulling them out of Elsewhere. There are several Orichalcum daiklaves (basically artifact swords) and one Starmetal daiklave, as well as an artifact bow, also made out of Orichalcum.

"My name is Triumphant Rose Guardian, Dawn Caste of the Solar Exalted. As for why I'm here..."

The seemingly 15-year old looks at the commander. "Due to recent events, I thought it would be a good idea for the security forces of the ISF to have a good idea what the strengths and weaknesses of Exalted are in direct combat."

[UncleWolf]

[Meeting Room]

Vasquez smiles. Well, smirks a bit. "We have ways to deal with Exalted, we even stood toe to toe with Ebon Mirror on several occasions, forcing him to retreat. One time, he would have been dead if it weren't for his metal skeleton."

Edijar holds up his hand to stop her from going on. Even though there doesn't seem to be any clear symbol of rank between the two, she stops, giving a bit of a cold look, but not interrupting. "But, admittedly, they lost several soldiers both times. We would appreciate the training if it would let us stand up to them one on one."

[horngeek]

"You'd have to be very lucky to beat an Exalted one on one... but this could certainly help you lose less men."

[UncleWolf]

"The soldiers you will be training can already stand up to them alone for a few moments, generally long enough for others to come to their aide, but your help will be appreciated." Edijar gives a nod to Vasquez.

She gives the kid a glare. "But be warned, any tricks, or any sign of mischief, and we'll take you out. Teenager or not. Exalted or not. Understand?"

Edijar snarls a bit in his suit's helmet at the threat, but it'll go unnoticed as he makes no sound.

[horngeek]

Rose looks at her flatly. "I have no intention of causing harm to people who are trying to protect this city. Also, everyone gets this wrong, but I'm twenty-five, I just haven't physically aged over the past ten years."

[UncleWolf]

Vasquez doesn't seem to listen. "That's what they all say." she says with a bit of a growl before leaving to get the Mortal Coil team ready.

Edijar watches for a moment before turning back to her. "Her threat is real, and temper hot. Don't antagonize her. Also, you won't be given full information on what we have that can deal with your kind. There are some secrets, that stay secrets."

[horngeek]

Rose nods. "Fair enough. I can also demonstrate a couple of the points I'm going to make, if you want. All of them relating to Exalted defenses."

[UncleWolf]

Edijar stands in the room. "What would they be? Demonstrate them here. Against me if you must."

[horngeek]

"I need to be attacked to show the primary one I'm intending. It is, however, purely defensive. I intend to show the reason why big, flashy attacks are the complete worst way to go against fighting Exalted, and why lots of smaller attacks work much better."

[UncleWolf]

He nods. "We know that in part at least. And have tactics designed to do such things. To immobilize while another uses a sprayer unit, with either napalm, liquid nitrogen, or gas. I've seen your defenses in action, and know a few ways to subvert them. However, in melee combat, most of us are too slow, even with power armor, to last very long."

[Morty]

The Mortal Coil's newest recruit, Anatolij is also attenting the course.

[horngeek]

Rose nods. "There are some things that make even that a hit-or-miss proposition. I'd have to show more in the class itself, though. To demonstrate one of them, I will need a short-ranged weapon of some kind, preferably one of the swords you're currently holding, since mundane blades tend to break when they parry tank shells and the like."

[UncleWolf]

There's a moment of silence when he speaks to the guards on the Comm System in his suit. He nods when done. "You will be allowed one Orichalcum daiklave. Is that sufficient?" He asks, holding open the door. "I apologize for my restrictive methods, but our security has been tightened recently."

[horngeek]

She nods. However, she picks out... the starmetal one, which has a Orichalcum disk of some sort stuck to it. "That's fair enough. I also will need something that's able to fire heavy shells of some kind for the proper impact of the demonstrations."

[UncleWolf]

(I mentioned that one so she wouldn't get the seemingly special one. But oh well. :smalltongue:)

"That can be arranged. Eventually. And as I said, that is just one of the more common ways. A few are...classified." And rather inhumane.

But he won't mention that.

Edijar guides the exalted to the common grounds, where a massive anti-personnel cannon is being set up, the ammo belt showing 1 inch wide shells being set in.

The Instructor looks at Rose. "That good enough?"

[horngeek]

She nods. "Wait for me to call it before you fire, though. Okay, I'm ready to begin the lesson."

Actually? It's no more powerful than the Orichalcum Daiklaves. It just has sentimental value for Rose.

...

I really need to tell her backstory sometime. The full one. :smalltongue:

[UncleWolf]

The short woman at the trigger of the gun looks like she's about to fire, but a quick gesture from Commander Vasquez stops her as she walks back. "Showing is fine. But I think we'd all appreciate an explanation about why it doesn't work first."

[horngeek]

"Firstly, some terminology: the supernatural abilities of the Exalted are called Charms, and we use Essence to power these charms, as well as attuning to artifacts and the like.

Some of these Charms are what are known as perfect defenses. Essentially, they do exactly what they sound like. Allow us to block, dodge, or just plain ignore any attack we can activate that Charm against. Everyone, please step back, then you can fire one shot when ready."

Rose stands steps in front of the cannon, a bit of a distance away, and stands ready.

[UncleWolf]

The canoness almost fires again, but sighs when cut off by a gesture from Edijar this time. "So, all in all, you're drawing power from a source not native to this realm, to accomplish acts which cannot be done by mere mortals, with a force that we cannot hope to comprehend? Sounds like normal magic to me. Is there a difference?" He sounds rather skeptical.

[horngeek]

"You could call Charms magic, yes. There's also Sorcery, but that's a different matter, and you'd have to actually ask a Sorcerer about that. Also, Essence isn't from a different realm. It's actually part of the essential makeup of Creation itself. I'm not really familiar with what you'd call 'normal magic', unfortunately, so I'm not sure how to answer it any better than that. Plus, I'm a Dawn Caste. I hit things and lead men into battle, not analyse them. A Twilight would be better to ask about this point, I'm trying to teach practical points that I know."

[UncleWolf]

"So you're drawing energy from the world itself? Then you're basically a cross between a mage and a druid?" Vasquez asks, eyebrow raised. They suspected it was something like this, but it was different when an Exalt said it themselves.

[horngeek]

"I think so. As I said before, you'd have to ask a Twilight to get a full explanation."

Rose shrugs.

[UncleWolf]

"The explanation is good enough." It also allows them to come up with several more ideas.

Edijar looks at the Anti-Personnel Cannon. "This will fire a single shot at you, as you request. Then if allowed, we'll try to find your limit by improving the rate of fire. Possibly from several turrets like this at once. We'll give you a safeword for you to use so they'll stop firing. Considering what you are, we'll also be using live ammunition."

[horngeek]

Rose nods. "All right."

[UncleWolf]

Edijar and Vasquez take several steps back and the Commander gives a nod at the Cannoness. The mighty gun swivels towards the Exalt, and fires a single 1inch round shell, it's loud report cracking as it echos inside the walls of the HQ.

[horngeek]

As the shell speeds towards Rose, she shouts, and a brilliant golden corona bursts into life as she swings her sword towards the shell, and it deflects as it hits her sword, slamming into the floor and leaving Rose completely untouched.

Rose takes up a ready stance.

[UncleWolf]

The shell doesn't seem solid however, and fragments when hit, sending sharp shards of metal in all directions.

Mortal Coil and Edijar are all armored and protected, but Rose may not be. The shards won't kill, but they'll sting and slice.

[horngeek]

The Essence, however, deflects the fragments as well, leaving Rose untouched.

[UncleWolf]

Three nearby shipping containers open up near by, the walls collapsing, revealing three more cannon like the ones from before. Each takes aim. "They will be firing faster. Much faster, about the speed of a light machine gun. The safe word is..." Edijar thinks, trying to keep it simple.

"Waffles."

See? Simple.

"Once you say it, they will stop firing. Have any objections?"

It seems they're wanting to test the "teacher's" limits as well as learning what she offers.

[horngeek]

Rose nods. "All right."

[UncleWolf]

All four of the cannon fire at the same time, each aiming at Rose, but at various heights. One at her feet, another at her knees, then waist, then torso.

Vasquez gestures for Arla and Taul, the team's clerics, to get ready, in case Rose gets shot. Even though she didn't like Exalts, and hoped Rose would simply die, she knows it's better if she lived, giving them tips as to what the Exalted were and how to kill them easier.

[horngeek]

Rose almost erupts in a corona of Essence as she deflects the shots, lasting for a full ten seconds before shouting. "Waffle!"

By this time, her anima is fully iconic, rose blossoms seeming to fall in her wake.

[UncleWolf]

There's about an eighth of a second's delay by the time the word is shouted before the bullets stop. Edijar takes a step forward after they do, and looks closer to inspect any damage done.

The gun crews reload quickly, tossing out their half-used belts for new ones.

[horngeek]

Rose is... untouched. Her anima continues to glow in its iconic state for a moment, then dies down, still burning in a bonfire around her. "...that did deplete my Essence quite quickly. I could have withstood that for another half a second, maybe. Then again, in most situations you won't be forcing an Exalt to use Essence that quickly."

[UncleWolf]

"And how powerful are you? An average Exalted?" Edijar asks. Vasquez orders the cannons cleaned and put away, listening closely to what Rose has to say.

[horngeek]

"To be honest, I don't know. There are some more powerful than I am. But, at the moment, no Solar Exalted has borne the Exaltation for more than... ten years. Actually, that's not entirely true, but for the most part, the Solar Exaltations have only been cycling around again for ten years, and I'm pretty sure no one's been a Solar Exalted for more than a century. Given Celestial Exalted can live for well over fifteen hundred years? I don't think we've come into our full power yet, and won't for a while."

[UncleWolf]

"And since you have to activate your spe-Charm for each bullet or shell, that means it'd have been the same effect if we simply used real sub machine guns, correct?" Vasquez asks, running calculations in her head.

[horngeek]

"As it applies now, yes.

There's also another weakness... two, actually."

[UncleWolf]

Vasquez finishes running the calculations in her head, and nearly smiles. She doesn't show much other than vague amusement and caution however. "And they would be?"

[horngeek]

"Firstly, under normal circumstances, we can't activate two Charms at once, unless we've specifically trained to do so. The second...

Every perfect defence carries what is called a Flaw of Invulnerability. That is, there's a circumstance under which the user may not activate it. For most perfect defenses, there are four Flaws, of which one of which will apply. The Flaw of Temperance means the Exalted has to remain rooted to the spot for a certain amount of time after using the defence, the Flaw of Valor means he or she has to move into the battle and not shy away from it, the Flaw of Conviction means he can't use it if he's acting against his goals, and the Flaw of Compassion means the defense can only be used in the presence of something or someone he or she cares about."

[UncleWolf]

"And does this apply to those of a darker nature such as your Abyssals and Infernals?"

[horngeek]

{{Um. How do they know about Infernals? Given none of them have actually turned up yet.}}

Rose nods. "Um. Yes, they do, but... different."

She sighs. "The Abyssal Flaws are as follows: The Flaw of Compassion prevents activation when the Deathknight can percieve someone he cares about or who he thinks cares about him. The Flaw of Conviction prevents activation if he's acting counter to his goals, or helping somone he feels... negatively towards. The Flaw of Temperance requires the Abyssal to attack his attacker with as deadly a blow as he can. The Flaw of Valor requires the Abyssal to move away from his opponent."

[UncleWolf]

((As far as I know, the Exalted Castes(or whatever you wish to call them) have never really been secret knowledge. :smallconfused:))

Edijar nods, putting away the information for later. "Anything else that may help us finish them off quickly should the need arise?"

[horngeek]

{{Most, no. Infernals, however, are.}}

"Hit hard and fast, and don't give much of an opportunity for them to formulate a strategy. Having supernatural aid of your own helps."

[UncleWolf]

((Then I guess he doesn't say that one? :smallconfused: Eh, oh well.))

"We already know that. Though, tell me, what would happen if you removed one's ability to access their Essence completely?"


((Deadtime))

[horngeek]

"To do that, you'd have to get them to drain their Essence and put them in a place they couldn't respire Essence. As for what would happen? They couldn't use any more Charms until they recovered Essence."