RPG SYF:

[liamc2]

[size=1]

Liam smirked and righted his bronzed orange anti flash glasses. He handed Bradley an M4 and tossed him a Kevlar vest. Liam clicked his fingers dramatically, the doors behind him burst open, and the Dragons ripped through.

?Bradley,? Liam said, ?where?s the nearest computer??

Bradley racked his brains, ?uh. I don?t know. That door??

Liam shrugged and opened it. Inside was a rather cramped room, but with a computer terminal. Liam grinned and sat down, pulling his watch off.

?Bradley, guard that door. It?s time for me to play some psychological warfare.?

Bradley raised an eyebrow, but obliged and closed the door behind him.

Liam checked the computer. There wasn?t a LAN cable, which was a bad sign. There could be over a hundred working computers in the facility, and he?d have to search for every one of them. There was a USB port, however, that was a plus. He picked up his watch and pulled the USB plug out of the band.

The watch wasn?t standard issue, Liam saw it at a computer store and thought it was useful to be able to carry around 256 megabytes on his wrist. Mostly it contained mp3?s. He plugged it in and ?Removable media A? appeared under My Computer. He dragged across three music tracks and checked the rest of the computer. Nothing of interest, there was barely anything worth urgent notice?

Not that it mattered, once this was over, the Singapore police would pick everything up and each hard drive would be scanned in detail.

Liam ripped open one of his pockets and pulled out a white audio plug, which he jammed into the appropriate socket.

On the wall was an in-house intercom. No doubt there was one in every room all over the building. He paid a closer look; it could even speak to individual rooms?there were over thirty of them? Then he noticed the microphone plug. His teeth showed like a shark?s and he slotted in the white audio plug.

The intercom crackled as Liam spammed the entire network with three tracks of music. REM: Bad Day, Jet: Be my Girl, Powderfinger: On my Mind

Something that would not only disarm the Triad communication, but make them wonder what the hell was going on. In fact, by the look Bradley gave him when he opened the door, he was wondering also.

Liam just grinned and lifted the Styer. ?We have some leaders to find.? He said.

[I] ?Baby I got you on my mind??[/I]

The Intercom speakers crackled and gave the music an odd tinny sound. Not that it mattered, because anyone in this room who could have listened to it was dead. Liam pulled out the cartridge and slotted in a new one. In a sick twisted way, he appreciated the speed at which the Dragon?s operated. Already half the complex was under their control, and the Triad were fleeing like rats?and finding themselves without a stomach. Liam gave a wince, he had no idea where Katarina had got the shotgun, but from what he was getting over the radio, he wanted one.

?Rae?? He asked into the radio. There was static in response.

Then a crackle. ?Bailey here. Rae?s with me. Her radio is out. We?re over the other side of the building. We?re patching up one of the Dragon?s, he got hit pretty bad in the stomach, the armour buckled and one of the bullets is sitting in his gullet?I reckon he?ll be alright.?

?Fine. Just keep out of harm?s way, or in, if you prefer.?

Liam watched, bemused, as two Dragons paused before a door. One pulled out a heat scanner, nodded to the other, who shot a hole in the door with a tactical twelve gauge and tossed a Napalm grenade in the hole.

The Dragon leapt out of the way just as a column of fire engulfed the room and spilt out in tiny jets around the gaps in the door.

Liam ignored the screaming, it was better that way.

[/size]

[BabyGirl]

[color=purple]"I think the bullet is too deep to find right now, he'll have to undergo surgery." Bailey was kneeling next to the injured Dragon, trying to calm his struggle after arriving at the scene to find a slaughter of Triad forces and a confident Katarina weilding two guns.

The Dragon's face was contorted as he writhed painfully beneath her hands, muttering curses in a language that she didn't understand, "You'll be all right." Bailey said in a low voice, though unsure of the truth in her own statement.

Rae approached the pair and handed Bailey a medic kit, "This is the best that the van had to offer."

"Thanks, that'll work." Bailey shoved stray hairs away from her forehead where they clung to the sweat on her brow, "This humidity is a killer." She muttered as she rummaged through the kit supplies.

"I'm going to go check on the rest of the team. I'm not sure how much longer we can safely hang around this place." And Rae reemerged into the building.

"There's nothing in here that I can use to help this guy."

Bailey directed her comment toward no one, but Katarina had turned to look at her after hefting Malania off of the ground, "You are too zoft."

Insulted, Bailey stood up and cocked her head, "I'm sorry?"

Katarina nodded her head in the direction of the felled Dragon, "I ziad that you zhould be carrying out zee mission rather zhan wasting your time with him."

Bailey felt an old feeling of defensiveness creeping into her body and she bristled at the comment. It was an old reflex from her days of living on the street, and back then they never just left anyone on their side alone. As far as Bailey was concerned, even though she didn't know the man, he was still doing the same job as her and the rest of their team, "That may be." She chilled her voice, a hint of her French accent flirting along the edges of her words, "But he is still a fallen commrade, and I watch out for them."

But Katarina didn't have a chance to reply as the sound of close gunfire interrupted the conversation.[/color]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]She finished up her buisness, and ejected the CD. Then, true to her character, slashed it in two pieces with her knife. Then, perhaps as a sign of derision rather than professionalism, she slid it into the cracks of the floor and sealed them off with spare mortar, dirt, and dust. There was no way in bloody hell she was letting them have the thing for themselves to deconstruct and discover. Finished with that, she wrapped her sarong tightly around her body, opened the window, and slid down the drainpipe. The computer was turned off, all systems green.

For now.

She had just started moving downwards as the volley of gun fire began around Bailey, Katariana, and the wounded Dragon. As a reflex, rather than anything else, she drew her gun and aimed in the general direction of the violence.

Several moans and a wild scream later, the shooting stopped, and Zharra sheathed her weapon after reloading. Bailey turned and looked at her.[/i]

"You certainly took your time."

"Go on in, their waiting for you. You to Katarina. I'll take care of him."

"Yar, kill it."

[i]Zharra's eyes flashed a brilliant golden hazel, and she picked up the wounded soldier gently.[/i]

"I'm taking him to a safehouse. I'll be back later. And my radio's on, so knock yourselves out."[/COLOR]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

Liam held the Styer up in his shoulder, Bradley was beside him and doing the same with his M4. Behind them the Dragons were cleaning up and re-checking all the rooms. The last door was left up to the SYF.

The heat scanner had picked up just one heat signature, from the looks of it, male, and quite comfortable behind a desk. There weren?t any traps either from the looks of it.

Liam nodded to Bradley and kicked the door open, waving the gun and hollering orders, scare tactics. The man behind the desk remained unfazed and beckoned. Liam looked to the side and saw someone in a rather odd suit. Behind Liam, an automatic arm, locking him in; and Bradley out, closed the door.

A thermal suit. The man was wearing a thermal suit.

Liam cocked his head to side and watched with horrified interest as the man removed the suit. His senses returned and he swung the Styer around. The man grabbed the barrel and twisted the gun out of his hands.

Liam only just managed to free his hands before his trigger finger was broken off. The Styer clattered onto the ground.

?My people may flee, but it is of no consequence,? stated the man behind the desk. He steepled his fingers. ?As long as I die knowing that I took some of you with me, I will die happily.?

?Prophetic.? Liam grunted and drew both of the Desert Eagles.

Just as quickly the Asian bodyguard gave a flick of his hands. Liam went to make a smart arse quip when nothing happened, then the clips fell out of his guns.

The Triad leader laughed. ?These doors are locked, and the rest of my people will take the fight to the streets if necessary. So many innocents dead, what will you do?? He opened a drawer on the side of his desk and pulled out a small black box. ?In my hand I hold the death of your entire team.? He pulled a small wire antenna out of the box. ?There are enough explosives wire to the foundations of this building to demolish it, and the tremors will take out the neighbouring skyscrapers. Effectively your entire team, and a quarter of the Singaporean business district.?

The repercussions of his statement echoed through Liam?s head. The bodyguard smirked and stood beside the Triad leader, who raised the box.

?You see, hatred overthrows fear.? The leader said triumphantly. ?Any last heroic words before you see the end??

Liam regained his composure and turned to face them.

?Yeah,? he said, ?there?s still a round in the chamber, you [I] moron [/I].?

Like a macabre fountain the blood was pumped from the two as they slumped to the ground. The walls dripped in all their gory glory. Liam knelt down and picked up the two clips and reloaded, savouring the snap made by the two gun slides.

The door behind him exploded into splinters. Liam?s eyes bugged out as the sound waves temporarily deafened him.

Bradley stepped over the threshold to find Liam clutching his guns to his ears and rolling around on the floor in agony.

?Ow, ow, ow, ow, [I]really[/I] ow.?

?Liam??

?There is no talk?only pain??

?I take it I should go and help with cleaning up the rest of the building then??

Liam managed to cock and point on of the pistols at him, ?unless of course you want to stay here so I can shoot you.?

Bradley backed slowly out of the room.

Liam sat up and shouted, ?get a bomb squad in and tell them to check the foundations of the surrounding block?and get a jamming frequency up, just in case.?
[/size]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]OOC: Apparently, I was wrong. Sorry it's so short. I don't have time...


Rae looked around, checked the time, and spoke to Liam through the radio that wasn't there. She cursed at the untimeliness of it's decision to cut out, and then made her way along the corridors of the complex, wondering where in [i]hell[/i] everyone was. Except for the bodies, people seemed to be clearing out left, right and center, and it wasn't just the Triads -- who didn't get far whenever she saw them.

She wondered what would make them clear out that fast, just as she ran into Liam and, furhter down the corridor, Bradley. "Hey," she smiled, happy to have found someone. "My radio's out. What's happening?"

Bradley's eyes widened, as Liam -- ignoring whatever lingering pain in his ears -- exploded. "Why the hell didn't you stay with Bailey? If you're radio's out, then you should be teamed. You know that. What if, oh, you know, there was, say [i]a bomb[/i], in here? How would you know to get out."

Rae's face broke into a grin and then faltered. Liam joked, yes, but he didn't do the brotherly thing, like he was now. And he didn't do [i]ifs[/i] or [i]buts[/i].

"There's a bomb in here, isn't there?"

"We think so, yes."

"Ah."[/size]

[liamc2]

[size=1]Liam checked the load in his pistols and the Styer. He tended to do that sort of thing when he was frustrated. It was an unhealthy habit for sure, but it was better than shooting things until his agitation left him, like before.

?Bomb squad is here.? Bradley offered. ?Shall I set them to work??
There was a crackle of static and Liam put his hand to his ear.

Liam nodded. ?Order everybody out first. All Triad in the building have been eliminated and the heat scan is clean?all computers have been picked up?? He faced Bradley, ?tell them that they?re free to go.? Bradley went to leave, but Liam stopped him, ?don?t forget to tell them to be extra careful?this particular Triad are not above booby traps.?

?Fine. Will do.? Bradley turned and left, jogging down the corridor.

[I] ?It?s been a bad day?please don?t take a picture??[/I]

Liam tapped his earpiece. ?All teams vacate the premises. I repeat, all teams vacate the premises.? Liam looked at Rae, ?that goes for you too Rae.?

?I know, I know.?

Katarina greeted them in the alley with an arrangement of body bags. She gave them a curt nod and lowered her weapon.

?Forenzics whill be arriving soon.?

?Good, then we can leave.?

The van started up and made its way out into the street, behind the Dragon ATV followed. Matt greeted them with a wry smile.

?Our casualties are non-existent...the Dragon?s lost two of their own? But the mission was a success.? He settled down into his seat, ?and the Singapore bomb squad will remove the explosives efficiently and effectively in no time at all.?

Something in Liam?s head twigged. ?Bradley, why are you sitting on the jamming frequency case??

?Oh??

?Start it up, start it up [I]now[/I]?

From a skyscraper on the other side of town, someone pressed a button.

The Semtex detonated, causing the implosion of the foundations of the buildings surrounding the Triad complex. The soundwaves shattered glass in half of the city. The SYF unmarked van was lifted and thrown by the force of the blast.

Inside, Liam?s day went from bad to worse.

The engine ticked over and went silent. Around the car the cries of shocked civilians rose up. Liam groaned and punched the ceiling, now the floor, of the van.

?A fleet of flying firetrucks??
[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]The wounded Dragon in Zharra's arms shuddered and moaned. Zharra held him tightly, crouching behind the sturdy walls of the safe house. She fervently moved her lips, chanting the prayer for both the dead and dying. The woman of the house took the Dragon from her arms and laid him down on the bed. Asian herbalist at her best, she began the muddy process of removing bullet wounds, scraping the wounds clean, and generally making him hurt as little as possible.

Zharra accepted the cup of tea they handed her, then changed her clothes back into fatigues. The children pressed their own weapons into her hands. Without warning, she found herself holding an M16 and several rounds of amunition. She blinked, then smiled and slung it over her shoulder.[/i]

Zharra: Thanks darlings, but I don't think I'll need them.

Child: I'm sure you will. Go on, we'll take care of him. He is our brother.

Zharra: ...Yeah.....ta kids.

[i]She exited and made her way back to the demolished building, to find what was left of her team.[/i][/COLOR]

[BabyGirl]

[color=purple]"Ow." Bailey rubbed her behind which had landed far too hard on top of Malania's bony knee -who appeared to be unconscious again- before she had been sent headfirst onto the ceiling of the van. She tasted the metalic tang of blood in her mouth and realized that she had bitten her lip...hard. All of the team members were sprawled in awkward positions, trying to right themselves after being thrown by the blast.

They weren't surprised by Liam's outburst, for some reason he always seemed to think he was the one who had the most to lose.

Wiping away the blood that trailed down her lower lip, Bailey crawled over to the van's door and attempted to pull it open. She managed to open it enough to climb outside and survey the surrounding wreckage.

Someone inside the van spoke up as Liam climbed out after her, "Where's Zharra?"

"Shit, she wasn't with us?"

Bailey tampered with her radio, only to find it broken into two peices, "She took one of the Dragons to a safer place. She should be all right if she wasn't too near the building."

"Yeah well half of the buildings [i]around[/i] the Triad building are lying in sudden ruin, too." Frustrated, Liam scratched his head.

"Look, zhere." Katarina tapped against the window, pointing in the general direction of the central blast, "Zharra."

Relieved at the sight of Zharra making her way toward them, Bailey sighed, "How did we not realize she wasn't with us?"[/color]

[liamc2]

[size=1]?Quite easily actually.? Liam stood up and gingerly made his way to the door at the back.

Thanks to the rough treatment the vehicle had, the rear doors were bent slightly in their frame, effectively locking them into place. Liam tried the handle to no consequence. Angrily he leant against it and pushed hard with his shoulder, the metal strained in protest.

?Right then.? Liam reached up and grabbed the seats above him and dealt the doors a vicious kick with all the g-force he could muster. The doors burst open, and closed back on his leg. Liam winced and fell on his rump.

?That?s what you get for being nasty.? Bailey said to him matter-of-factly.

Liam stood and ignored her, stepping out into the new downtown Singapore. There was a long while before he said anything or moved from the door.

From the little window inside the van, it didn?t look like much had changed?but outside it was a war zone. Dust from the foundations was everywhere, settled on the streets and making the air hazy. He could see right up to where the tremors subsided thanks to the broken glass.

There wasn?t a single window that wasn?t shattered. The only reason why the van?s withstood the blast, Liam assumed, was because they were high quality Lexan bulletproof windows.

Some people were just wandering the streets aimlessly, but a lot were already combing the ruins and searching for anyone who may have survived. Liam?s pessimistic nature flared and told him it wasn?t very likely.

There used to be three thirty-storey buildings around the Triad complex?and the ground was now level. The bombs had blown a monstrous hole in the ground, and the buildings had filled it.

Liam let the enormity of it rush over his head and pass him by. Now really wasn?t the time.

?Liam, get the fock away from zeh door. Zome people have a focking huge headache and need to stretch.? Malania grumbled to Liam in an annoyed tone.

Liam sidestepped out of the way and absentmindedly helped her out. Malania cocked an eyebrow at the mess and shrugged.

?It happens.? She said and cracked her back.

?Right, whatever.? Was Liam?s only response. In the present circumstances?you couldn?t argue?it wouldn?t be right.

One by one the rest of the team exited, each reacting differently to the CBD that now greeted them. Zharra arrived as Matt climbed out and checked on the unconscious driver.

?What are we going to do?? She said while pointing the M16 offhandedly at the demolished buildings.

?For one,? Matt growled, not unkindly, ?you can stop waving that gun around.? He snatched it from her and tossed it into the van. ?People will be snap happy all over this, and we can?t risk it. I?ll stick with the van until the driver wakes up, we don?t want someone cracking it open expecting to help and finding military weaponry inside. The rest of you are going to help look for people. Get the heat scanners out. We?ve got some work to do.?

?Great.? Liam muttered in an empty voice.

Matt rounded on Liam. ?I don?t have the inclination or the time to waste on barking at you Liam.? He pushed a scanner into Liam?s unresisting arms. ?Just start already and give these people a hand.?

Matt pulled out the other two devices and tossed them out before kicking the van doors shut and climbing on top of it.

?What are you waiting for?? He said, pointing at the crowds of locals that were pulling at the rubble with their bare hands. ?Check out the complex first, use the SAT trackers on the bomb squad equipment to find our people first, and keep an eye out for the Dragon ATV?I could have sworn they were right behind us??

Liam brushed the blood out of his eyes and put his hand to a scratch on his forehead. In the distance there was the sound of sirens. He walked over to the still standing rubbish bin, feeling it appropriate; his stomach emptied itself into it.

He wiped his mouth, and, in a husky tone muttered, ?lets get this over with.?
[/size]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][i]Katarina neatly sidestepped having a scanner foisted off on either Malania or herself, and dragged her inebriation-suffering vituperative virago of a companion off, muttering something about not considering a large explosion and a couple of fatalities in an overdeveloped, overpopulated city as that major a concern, all things, especially their current status and task. She was mid way through that when Malania interceded.[/i]

Malania: You're a racist, heartless bitch you know.

Katarina: I'm allowed to be, I payed a couple of taxes a while back.

Malania: I must have missed that one.

Katarina: Free beer.

Malania: For paying taxes? Why wasn't I invited?

Katarina: You were too drunk to hear me.

[i]By this time they were a good five hundred metres away from the epicentre, and just about to run into the crowd of confused, idiotic onlookers. Of course, that wasn't pretty, considering they were walking in the opposite direction, and Katarina was carrying a large, heavy black case. She stopped to shift her grip, which of course gave Malania a chance to disappear. Damnable.[/i]


OOC: No, I'm not that stuck for ideas, I'm setting something up for Raven.[/font][/color]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

There were scattered cries of excitement from one side of the rubble, the locals had found something. Liam watched and began walking towards them to help, then he noticed what they were pulling aside. Three objects where passed in a bucket chain, along with the rocks. Except...they weren't rocks...and the pins had dropped out.

'Oh...sh-

A convoluted burst of fire enveloped the team. Burning naphtha like substance was sprayed over the rest. Liam stood, lost for words.

And entire rescue team of mismatched locals lost their lives because of the mission. A quarter of the business district was gone because of the mission. The entire economy of Singapore would be crippled in the stock markets the next morning.

'This mission has gone to hell and danced on the Brimstone.'

Sirens got louder and came closer. Liam stepped aside as the fire engines arrived, pushing their way through the rubble that carpeted the bitumen. They stopped just in front of him and the firemen climbed out and set to work. Liam didn?t catch a word of what they were saying, but he heard the urgency and switched on the heat scanner, heading over to where Rae and Bailey were picking the ruins.

?Nothing?nothing?? Liam paused as something of an outline appeared on the scanner screen, it was moving. He faced the firemen and began waving and hollering before dropping to his knees and throwing the rubble aside.

The firemen rushed over, carrying long crowbars and a stretcher. Liam kicked the last bit of loose concrete aside and realised he was facing a solid floor of reinforced concrete. A basement. The firemen brushed him aside, and he was left to just staring blankly at their fruitless attempts.
[/size]

[BabyGirl]

[color=purple]Bailey hadn't realized it at first, too absorbed in her initial shock of being thrown a few hundred feet in a somersaulting van, but the cries of Singapore's citizens were rising up like an eerie, ominous chorus. It hit a chord of sorrow, of anger, of confusion, and left Bailey's stomach in knots. She figured the only way to untie them was to go get her hands dirty and help.

Wandering away from the rest of the team, unsure of where she was headed, Bailey felt weightless as she stepped over huge chunks of concrete strewn about the street. The total consciousness of what had happened was making her head spin. When she tripped over a piece of warped rebar jutting out between two blocks of concrete, Bailey tried to break the fall with her hands, but merely ended up rolling and getting wedged uncomfortably beside a burnt out metal structure.

Groaning at the scrapes on her hands where they had made contact with rough cement, she gingerly picked herself up and back onto her feet. Slightly more cognizant of the fact that she needed to snap out of her humanistic daze, Bailey heard Bradley and Rae both in her vicinity.

Bailey almost didn?t hear the girl at first, but another wail arose from beneath the rubble and caught her attention. The pair of eyes that stared up from where she had heard the cry were tear stained and pained. They couldn?t have belonged to anyone older than five or six.

?Oh.? Bailey let out a breath, completely overtaken by pity, adrenaline, and the need to help dig out whoever was trapped beneath where she now stood. Dropping to her knees on the broken, jagged cement, Bailey grabbed hold of a small piece of stone and tugged. It took a few seconds, but she eventually gathered up enough strength and concentration to pry it off of the child. She wasn?t prepared, however, for what she found beneath.

The girl?s arms and legs were still trapped beneath the surface, and she let out a magnificent wail as Bailey leaned down closer to her. Her clothes were stained with blood and dust, and Bailey?s heart started racing. She felt for certain that she?d be sick at the sight of it all. Shoving the wave of nausea back down, she instead turned her efforts to picking up the smaller pieces of debris that lay around the girl?s body. The child was now crying uncontrollably. As the wind started to pick up, the sun disappeared. The whole city seemed to be caving in on itself.

When a piece of tattered paper blew into her face, Bailey grabbed it in frustration and shoved it into her back pocket. She didn?t stop attempting to dig the girl out until an Singaporean officer pulled her away and gently placed her out of the way. A few strong men with tools took over for her, and Bailey was relieved.


Much later, Bailey was leaning on the overturned van, thinking over everything she had just seen. When a crying elderly woman came up to her and appeared to be pleading for help, Bailey stood and tried to calm the woman. And, as quickly as she had appeared, the woman set her sights on other people and left a bewildered Bailey behind.

Shoving her hands into her back pockets and turning away from the scene, she pulled out the forgotten paper she had shoved in them earlier. As she read it, it didn?t all click until she came to the end and finished it. Bailey?s eyes went wide as she read it a second time. Then, with a renewed sense of urgency, she hurried off to find Liam.[/color]

[The Unholy Newt]

[size=1]Bradley stood rooted to the ground in shock. If he hadn't been so goddamned stupid, none of this would happened. He yelled out a scream of rage and punch a hole in the outer shell of the van. He was so pissed off with himself that he didn't notice the pain from the steel cutting the flesh of his fist.

Matt, who was guarding the van, put a hand on his shoulder.

'Calm yourself Russo. We can't afford to have one of our agents running around doing even more damage to the city just because he stuffed up.'

Bradley swung around to glare at Matt and was met with a cool, calm stare.

'Yes?' He inquired.

'Nothing,' Bradley muttered and walked off to help the people that he had injured.

Looking around to see what he could do, Bradley saw an arm sticking out from underneath a large chunk of concrete. It didn't seem to have totally squashed whoever was underneath, just trapped him. Bradley ran over and appraised the slab. It was way to heavy for a normal person to lift, but then again Bradley was no normal person. He had once been referred to as the Incredible Hulk on steroids.

He grabbed the slab underneath with both hands and began to lift. It was just a bit heavier than it looked. Bradley thought the weight would tear his arms out of their sockets. By some miracle he managed to raise the slab. The arm belonged to a young man, luckily he was stil breathing. With great effort he yelled out for someone to come and get him out before he dropped the slab on him. A bystander rushed over and dragged the man out.

Bradley dropped the slab with a massive thud and collapsed to the ground.

ooc: Sorry for short post. Don't have much time.

~TUN[/size]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

?What, what? Can?t you see I?m busy being dirty and feeling nauseous?? Liam?s sarcasm was beginning to fire up as the initial shock faded. His swagger had begun to come back.

?Read this.? Bailey said as she pushed it into his hands.

Liam gave it a cursory glance, and then read it in detail. He dropped the paper holding arm to his side and raised the other to his ear.

?Matt, Bailey?s found some information pertaining to the secondary. Something worth checking up on, she?s on holiday with some of those metal men. She?s off on a botanical hunt, where Rae and I enjoyed out biology excursion. Looks like we?re going on a reunion hike. Great, you pick up the tickets and I?ll pack our gear.? Liam dropped his hand.

Bailey inclined her head to the side at the inane conversation. ?You think the frequency is tapped??

?Could be. Not all of the radios are accounted for.?

?Care to tell me what?s going on??

?Karen?s in Colombia according to the paper, right? Matt?s going to take it up once this mess has blown over. Then we get to pick up some flybys.? Liam folded up the paper and put it into one of the pockets in his cargo pants.

?How long will that take??

?I don?t know. Days, weeks, months, even years. But we?ll have plenty to do in the meantime. I want to find out whom that bastard was that set the bomb off. The best thing about it is that he won?t want to be leaving the country because of the security that is now washing over the country.? He smirked. ?He?ll be trapped like a rat, unless he wants to take a risk and jump a boat.?

?What makes you so sure he won?t??

?The boatmen are more unscrupulous than he?ll ever be. To risk going out to sea in the hands of some third party smugglers has too many things that could go wrong. No, he?ll want to sit here and keep it safe.?

Bailey frowned, ?I can?t help but notice you?ve already summed up this ?man? in one neat bundle, and we don?t even know if someone outside set the bombs off. It could have been on a time delay. Or it could have been a trip wire.?

?Trust me. There was an increase of radioscopic energy or whatever it?s called. The jammer may not have been on, but it recorded it.?

?How do you know? You haven?t touched the jammer.?

?I haven?t, but Matt did.?
[/size]

[Raiha]

[color=royalblue][i]As usual, Zharra heard every word for herself, and read their body language perfectly. Although she was occupided cleaning up the minor wounds that kept on flowing in her direction, she was able to multi-task with the same skill Jaudiar had employed. Just as she was finishing up a tournequit and an extra dressing of neosporin, she looked up to see Liam standing in front of her. As if nothing tragic had just happened, she smiled in a most dazzaling way, the way that made the child in her arms smile herself.[/i]

"I crashed the mainframe before the explosion. You can reward me later."

"We're shipping-"

"Out. I heard every word."

"Oh ..... right. But tell me Zharra, the point of corrupting their system was...?"

"Do you even have to ask, computer genius?"

[i]She hugged the child goodbye, closed up the now empty first aid kit and stood. As she brushed herself off, Liam stood closer, smelling the Purell and disinfectants on her hands and face.[/i]

"It would help."

"Simple really. I didn't crash just the Triad's computers in the building, I did the whole damn operating system they use. Corrupted every Triad harddrive around the world. Questions?"

[i]Her silvery laughter was healing.[/i][/color]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]Rae looked at the carnage before her. She'd seen worse. She had. Lord, she'd been in worse. Her friends had died in worse. Agents she knew had perished in worse.

The thought wasn't much comfort to her, somehow.

How long would it take for one of [i]her[/i] agents to die in an accident like this? When would it be her turn? Would she even manage to make it to the end of this mission, to make it into the ASIS?

Morbid thoughts, but sadly realistic.

She loved SYF, she really did. But every mission -- every injury, every death, every lie she told -- killed her just a little bit more. Her shell became a little harder every time.

Every day she could see herself turning into what Liam had been. And it scared her. Shitless. She didn't want to be like that -- she wanted to be happy, and innocent, and able to trust people and believe that everything will be okay.

Rae looked around again, eyes slightly unfocused, entire being focussed on the struggle to confront this particular evil and take it in her stride.

[i]Don't let it undermine you values,[/i] Adam had once said. He'd turned out to be a lying traitor, but she'd been with him too long to ignore his words. He'd known so much -- about everything. When he was younger, he'd kept files -- much like she did. Everything was in there, from current spouse to favourite colour to who their current partner was.

And, of course, there was always a file on the current partner, too.

Rae's eyes teared up. She was tired. So very, very tired of this destruction. She wanted someone -- preferably male -- to wrap his arms around her and hug her and tell her that it'd be all right. But that hadn't happened since she was a child, and it probably wouldn't happen for a long time.

So, instead of letting the tears fall, she made herself useful and prepared the first aid kits they'd need if anyone got out of this mess alive.[/size]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

?Zharra!? Matt?s shout carried across the expanse of concrete, but seemed almost irreverent in the now quiet space. ?I need to know.?

?Look?s like Matt?s needs are greater than mine. He?s probably going to want to know what damage you did. Nice work by the way.? Liam grinned at the thought of an international drug and gun ring finding all their files and receipts gone. From the sound of it, Zharra had hacked their bank account numbers.

?Yeah, whatever. As long as he doesn?t make a scene or something.?

Liam shook his head and watched her go. He turned back to face Bailey.

?Sir, can you give us an account of what?s happened here?? The voice questioned Liam.

?Everything just blew up. We?re trying to rescue people, but some were killed by a gas explosion when they moved the rubble.? Liam responded in a pained voice, of someone genuinely worried about what had happened.

The mid-twenty something reporter nodded. ?Where you in these buildings?? He waved his note taker at Bailey and Liam.

?No. We were driving in our van back to our flat, we?re over here on an exchange you see, and it just?happened. One minute we?re cruising along, the next we?re flying end over end in the air. We?re lucky to be alive really.? Liam appraised the reporter. ?The name?s Liam, I?ve told you about myself, how?d you come here? It?s not often an Australian reporter just hangs around in Singapore.?

The reporter smiled and looked sheepish. ?Yeah, well. I?m actually on contract for the Weekend Australian magazine. I?m meant to be talking about the shifting culture in Singapore. But when I saw this, well, I couldn?t pass it up. Name?s Arthur Brook by the way.?

Liam smiled. ?Pleased to meet you. This is Bailey, we go to the same Uni.?

Bailey smiled and gave a little cutesy wave. ?We?re all flat mates. It?s just so much cheaper to rent a nice big house and split the rent.?

?I assume you mean the others combing the rubble?? He looked over towards Rae and indicated over his shoulder at Matt, Bradley and Zharra.

?Yeah. We?re all taking this pretty hard. I mean, the twin towers, Bali, and now this??

A Singaporean police officer ran up to the three and explained in heavily accented English, ?please move. The area is still unstable, thank you for your help, but we don?t want any more civilian lives at risk.?

Liam couldn?t help but feel that the conversation was being directed at the reporter.

?Ok. Glad we could help.? Liam grinned and put a hand against the sticky blood that ran down the side of his face. ?Hell, I don?t know what to say. ?Glad we could help? just doesn?t seem to do justice to this situation. I feel as though I helped someone move house after saying that.?

Rae plodded over to them, escorted by another police officer. She looked pale and tired. Liam could have sworn she?d been crying, but the dust masked her face.

?They pulled me away?? She muttered.

Arthur looked as though his reporting career couldn?t get any better. He jotted notes onto a notepad that magically appeared in his hand. He went to say something when Matt jogged over.

?Van?s ok.? He said. ?Bradley and I managed to flip it over again; we?re going to head back. From the looks of it, we?re not needed here.?

?I?d better ask for an official report before the other members of the press get here.? Arthur said brightly. ?I?ll see you around, hopefully not under the same circumstances.?

He shook each of their hands in turn and wandered off. Matt shot Liam a look that said, ?Why are you talking to a reporter? You didn?t say anything did you??

Liam shook his head and Matt looked relieved. They began wandering back to the van when there was a whistle behind them. They turned and saw Arthur.

?Almost forgot.? He smiled and raised a compact digital camera.

The flash blinded the group.

?Thanks again. You guys will be all over the front page when I?m finished.?

Matt rounded on Liam and Bailey, but faltered. ?Screw it.? He said. ?I?m too tired. We?ll leave it and let him write it. As far as anyone knows, we?re nobody.?

?And Uni students.? Liam added.

?That share a house.? Bailey finished.

Matt wrenched open the door of the van. ?Whatever?where?re Katarina and Malania??

There wasn?t a response from anyone in the group. They just climbed in and sat down, exhausted from the day?s events. Bradley, the last one in, closed the door.

?Oh, they?ll turn up Matt, you know they will. Why thanks, you?re right, they do.? Matt said to himself as he answered his own question. He wiped his brow and marched to the front of the van. It started up on the third try and picked its way through the rubble.
[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Zharra rubbed her dusty eyelids quietly and quietly opened the First aid kit one more time. Liam held up a restraining hand, until she cocked her gun by his ear.[/i]

"No fussing. If we want to have a good time, I want a live leader if you know what I mean."

"B-b-but..."

"No butts!"

[i]Before he could protest, Zharra had installed herself next to him and taken out the remaining hydrogen peroxide. The sting slithered down his open cuts and she slapped on the bandaids with little regard for his comfort. Matt raised one eyebrow and smiled.[/i]

"I could've sworn you were nicer to the wounded children and women."

"They were in a great deal more pain."

[i]She gave them all a glare that would've iced over hell. Then she finished up and passed the kit over to Bailey and Rae who mopped themselves up with great expediency. As they did their buisness, Zharra took out a few pieces of technology that had survived and waved a few laser disks in front of Matt and Liam's faces.[/i]

"Say hello to Triad files. Non-corrupted Triad files."[/COLOR]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Malania ducked off quickly to empty her stomach once again, and glancing up, found two things. The first was a complete lack of Katarina, and the second was a russian KGB agent. Holding her hair back for her and smiling rather nastily.[/i]

Malania: Why thankyou, unexplained Russian person who most probably is going to fire me.

Unexplained Russian Person who is Just About to Fire Malania: Why, you're velcome.

[i]Leaning down, the agent pulled out a pocket knife and sliced Malania's left achilles tendon, grabbing the upper strand and pulling out the metal pin hidden inside. Malania slumped down, gasping and narrowly avoiding her own vomit. Reaching for another panadol, she passed out, noticing the complete lack of anyone at all in the alleyway to help her. Save her...[/i][/color][/font]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

Liam rolled his shoulder blades and nodded to Matt, who took the CD?s with what could be said as glee in his eyes. He blinked and smiled, slotting them into a wallet he picked out of his pocket.

?Very nice. I think our desk jockeys will have a field day with this. I?m assuming you have personnel and schematic files on here?? Matt asked Zharra.

?Of course, why?d you think I went to all this trouble?? Her voice carried a friendly sting in the tail. ?I got everything of note. It?s in five different languages or so, however. So you?ll have to run it through a translator first.?

Liam rubbed the grime off his arms and stretched them out. His muscles stretched and felt like a pleasant jelly when he relaxed. Letting the ghosts of the day?s past slip away, he leant his head against the wall of the van, pushed up his sunglasses, and dozed.

[center]~~~~[/center]

?Hey up, he?s awake. Might want to break the bad news to him...?

Liam blinked and opened his eyes?he was in a familiar hospital room?and that was him lying on a bed. All of twelve years old. Liam groaned, he hated it so when his mind saw it fit to play flashbacks.

?Don?t tell me about it...?

Younger Liam opened a dry mouth to ask what had happened, but found it bandaged shut, his entire head had been bandaged and he could feel his arms and legs were too.

The blurry doctor sat on the end of the bed, ?Hey mate...look...I?ve got some bad news...that explosion did some serious damage to you, your sis is fine, no need to ask, she was out of range. But...you however...we believe the flash may have done some serious damage to your eyes...am I correct?? Liam forced a stiff nod, ?Ok then...well put these on, they aren?t prescription, but they?ll do until we get you to an optometrist.?

The doctor leant forward and placed the glasses on his face, everything seemed to jump back into place, but the doctor still had a furry outline.

?Better?? Liam forced another nod. ?Good. Ok we?re going to have to keep you in bed and do a few more operations to remove those shards from your stomach and lower back, not to mention skin grafts and a small amount of plastic surgery to fix the third degree burns...? The doctor?s voice seemed to falter and the other one took over.

?You?re lucky mate,? he said, ?that was a pretty close call, if you?d been in Major Pine?s position then, you?d be pushing up daisies right now. He received the full blast of the explosion I?m afraid. The funeral is tomorrow but you will not be able to attend due to your present condition.?

There were footsteps and a youngish Jess walked to the end of the bed, looking more than upset when she came close to him. The two doctors got up and took their leave and she took the seat beside the bed.

?Liam...are you...y?know...ok?? Jessie?s face harboured worry. Liam twisted his pain-inflicted thumbs into a big thumb up and tried to curl his bandaged face into a smile. Jess gave a small laugh and she looked at her lap, knitting her fingers.

Nineteen year old Liam rolled his eyes at his previous bravado. He couldn?t believe he was like that. It had been a while since he?d had this dream, but it was always interesting. He pulled up one of the hospital chairs and sat down to watch.

?Mum and Dad are still on their mission in New York...Colombian drug lord ring trading and all that, you know...the usual.? Her countenance was brightening slowly, eyes now shining. ?We won?t be able to contact them until they contact us, but by then the surgery will be done and you?ll be all better and that.?

Liam tried to smile again and Jess returned his pained expression with a grin warm enough to melt a block of ice. She was always good at that...people relations, social relations...boyfriends, even though they didn?t last long, she was never able to get really close to anyone, her secrets were too dark to share with anyone but her family and her job.

Liam slid up in his bed when he saw the surgeon and some attendants walk over, apparently it was time for the procedure. Jess clasped his hand in hers before saying a jovial ?See you on the other side!?

The trolley rolled into the theatre and he felt the mask being pressed onto his face, and everything slipping away from him...


[center]~~~~[/center]

?Ugh.? Liam jolted awake as the van stopped.

?Everybody out.? Matt stated to all and kicked open the back doors of the van. ?Last stop. Good job guys. How it finished was unexpected, but we can win the war.?

A group of civilians walked past paying interest into their grubby clothes.

?Liam, just make sure you bring enough paintballs next time, ok?? Matt added in a bright note.

?Yeah, sure. They?re just so expensive though.? Liam?s heart wasn?t in it. He just plodded into the hostel and ignored the gap in the line of skyscrapers in the distance.

[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]She was showered and dressed in a record time, but before even that, she had sliced off a small lock of hair and burned it with a stick of insence. The small shrine was placed on the mantel of the drawing room, and she left it burning for a long time. Jizo statues were out of the qustion, but it was the least she could do for her comrades, Dragons and otherwise. Although none of their immediate team was gone, it was what she was obligated to do. Ananda had made her promise... And as she prayed the prayer for the dead, she watched the smoke curl upwards, forming fanciful swirls and patterns against the dusk colored walls.

She knelt before the makeshift altar and pressed her hands together and her forehead to the floor.[/i]

"Depart in peace."

[i]Then she stood once more and turned to go. The altar would remain, the insence in her bags would serve her well until the very end...and there was always more hair to cut off.

After the shower, she dressed in yet another pair of stylistic fatigues and waited at the rendezvous spot. True to her character, she climbed up to one of the higher places in the room and reclined gracefully. Liam walked in later....cleaned up in general, and looking slightly well rested. He didn't notice her immediately, until he heard a sliky brush of fabric against wood and a slight thud as she swung her legs around and landed behind him. As he turned, he felt her arms encircle his neck and her head rest on his neck.[/i]

"Zharra?"

"....you looked sad."

[i]While he blushed furiously, she looked up at him, smiling the heartbreaking smile he had seen Jaudiar wear once.[/i][/COLOR]

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink][i]Yeah, we're all a little fucking sad,[/i] Bailey thought bitterly as she overheard the comment. The malicious reaction wasn't directed toward anybody, but she was frustrated to the point of anger. Her back, which she had tried very hard to ignore, was throbbing, and her lip had swelled to twice its normal size, but only on one side so she looked rather freakish. All of this irritated her.

Bailey didn't really know where her usual sunny outlook on life and gone, but it seemed like it was on an extended vacation. She decided to blame it on being cooped up in a little room because she didn't know her way around the city. Maybe she'd see if anyone else wanted to go out and show her around.

Shutting herself into the small bathroom in her room, Bailey finished drying what was left of her wet hair from a recent shower. And there was a lot of it. But when she was finished, she felt as though she looked better than she had the past couple of days, and that instantly made her happy. She finished off by applying a few accents of makeup and, releived, felt like her old self again.

~~~~~~~

With another realization of the fact that she was starving, Bailey decided to head down to the cafeteria and grab some fruit. She'd rather eat dinner in town and experience some quality Oriental food before they left for Columbia tomorrow. She only had to hope that there were still restaurants open after today's fiasco.

"Bailey?" She stopped at the entrance of the cafetria, hands on her hips, trying to figure out who had said her name, "[i]Ma cherie[/i]!" an arm wrapped around her waist and spun her around.

She found herself face to face with Nick, the only other trainee she had been with who had survived to become an agent, "Nicolas!" She slipped back into French, and all but jumped on him with a hug.

"[i]Ca va, mon ami?[/i]?" Bailey laughed at how automatically her native language came back, "How are you?"

Nick kept one arm around her shoulder, a natural gesture for French companions, "I'm doing well, things are kind of uneventful right now for my team."

Not sure how to respond, Bailey looked up at him, "Is that good or no?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "I'm bored sitting in here. [i]C'est la vie[/i], I suppose."

She smiled in agreement, not wanting to discuss things in her team being far from boring, "[i]Oui, c'est la vie[/i]. Are you hungry?"

Nick, tall, dark, and extremely attractive Nick, caugh Bailey's eye, "Starving, actually."

[i]Was there some underlying meaning to that?[/i] Bailey raised an eyebrow at him. They had stopped walking down one of the many long halls, and her heart started to beat a little bit louder.

"I've missed you, Bailey." His voice was soft and incredibly French, and somehow she found herself pleasantly steered up against a wall.

Oh, she recognized that look in his eye. Early in their training they had been more than just friends, "I missed you, too [i]Nic[/i]." Bailey was breathless as his face inched toward hers. She couldn't stand how he was teasing her with his lips only a breath away from hers, so she wrapped one hand behind his neck and pulled him into her.[/color]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]Rae checked the clock in her room, then started down the hallway. She'd heard Zharra's comment about needing translators for the files and was eager to volunteer. Computers were never reliable, and they shouldn't trust anyone on the outside to translate it. Besides, Rae was fluent in three languages, and knew enough to get by on for most others.

She saw Zharra and Liam standing in the hallway -- Liam looking somewhat awkward -- and walked up to them. "Hey guys. Liam, I think Matt was going to change the date for the dinner. Want to come and track him down with me? I have to talk to him anyway."

He nodded and followed with her. They walked in silence for a while. Rae passed a group of guys and smiled at them, waving to a few.

Liam didn't seem to like being reminded that she had friends other than him. "Who...?"

"Well, the one with blonde hair, blue eyes and the pretty boy face is Christopher Munroe. You'd remember his sister -- Elyssa. She turned up beaten and tortured -- and dead -- at the beginning of the other mission." She didn't need to say anymore. She could tell by the blanch on his face that he remembered.

"Callum -- Matt's friend -- was there too. And so were some of his friends. I've met them a couple of times, but I can't remember their names."

Liam raised a sceptic eyebrow. "[i]You[/i] can't remember? Liar."

Rae grinned. "Yeah, okay. I'm just too lazy to bother."

They ran into Matt quite accidentally. It seemed he'd been looking for them, because he smiled and stopped to talk to them. "Hey Rae." His smile faded slightly when he took in their familiar comradery. "Liam."

"You wanted to see us?"

"Yeah. You know the dinner? We'll, I've gotten word that I might be doing something --" [i]His other mission,[/i] Rae thought, "-- so I was going to change it to tonight, if that's okay."

"That's fine with me." She looked at Liam, who nodded. "Well, I suppose I'd better go tell Callum."

She smiled happily -- her first real smile in a few days -- and jogged off, leaving Matt grinning and Liam frowning in her general direction.[/size]

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]Yes, I'm posting again. I wanted to break up these two parts because lord only knows that otherwise, it would have been one incredibly long post.

~~~~~~~~~~~[/color]

[color=purple]Bailey was extremely content again. Her and Nick had been close for their four years of training, and it had been hard to say goodbye. They had no idea that both of them would be in Singapore at the same time, so it had been a very pleasant surprise.

Kind of like the kiss, Bailey thought with a smile as she and Nick walked casually hand-in-hand. She wasn't exactly sure what they 'were', but she supposed that she'd never really know. Sometimes they were friends, other times they had been lovers. Maybe they were simply good friends with benefits...or something?

"Want to go here?" Nick pointed out a bar that seemed to be fairly popular. This part of the town had remained intact.

"Yes, I'm dying for some wine."

Nick laughed and held the door open for her, "You are still so French."

She snorted, "Well I don't know what else I would be."

"I don't know if you'll find wine this far east, Bailey."

"No?" And then she stuck her tongue out at him promptly after ordering a very nice glass of red wine.

A couple more glasses of wine later, Bailey was tipsy enough to realize it was time to stop ordering more drinks.

She was laughing hysterically at Nick's jokes, enjoying herself so completely that she nearly forgot about everything that had happened earlier in the day.

"Hey," she leaned over on her stool and rested her lips next to his ear, "meet me by the bathroom."

She didn't know if it was the lowered inhibitions, but she was incredibly flirtacious and just a little bit randy. She had slipped off of the barstool and sauntered her way toward the back of the crowded bar. The bathrooms were in their own little enclave, as if begging people to shove themselve into the space outside of them and makeout.

Nick met her moments later with her jacket in hand, "We should get going, Bailey."

She pouted and grabbed the shirt around his waist, "Kiss me, [i]Nicolas[/i]."

He oblidged, simply beacuse he couldn't resist touching her again.

"I'm leaving for Columbia soon," she smiled up at him, and Nick put a hand around her back to steady her, "will you make love to me tonight?"

Nick closed his eyes and drew in a breath through his nose. She was too inebriated and he wasn't at all, so it just felt wrong, "We'll see." He kissed her forehead and helped her into her jacket, "Let's get back, all right?"

"Yes." She took his hand and giggled.

At least she was cute while she was drunk.

By the time he got her back to her room, her eyes were half closed in exhaustion.

"Time for bed, Nick." She flopped down onto her bed and opened her arms to him in an invitation for a hug, "It was a great night."

He smiled down at her before leaning down and wrapping his arms around her, "It was. Now get some sleep."

"[i]Merci, cher Nicolas[/i]." And she fell instantly to sleep.

Nick watched her for a minute with a sad smile. She had been so through much in her life, and yet she was still beautiful and happy and amazing. He gave her one last kiss on the cheek before turning off the lights and leaving for his own room.[/color]

[liamc2]

Sorry about the length...(note: this is a key plot development for Rae and Liam ~_^)

[size=1]

?Talk about a right royal brush off.? Matt intoned sagely.

Liam gave him a slanted look and made a shape with his hand. ?What?s this?? He asked.

Matt squinted and shrugged. ?What? I don?t know.?

?It?s a hand that still doesn?t have a MS1 in it. Rae said she was going to help out with the red tape.? Liam turned and stalked after her, but Matt caught his shoulder.

?Leave her be. She?s happy, didn?t you see??

?Well, I?m not.?
[center]~~~~[/center]

Rae smiled and brushed the loose hair out of her eyes. It promptly fell back into place. Callum reached forward and hooked it behind her ear. Liam frowned from the other side of the hall.

?Yo.? He called out. Rae perked up and looked in his direction, looking surprised and frustrated at the same time. ?Sorry to interrupt,? he said, voice starched and cut, ?but I need Rae to help me out with a few requisition forms.?

Rae mouthed, ?what?? at him when Callum wasn?t looking.

Callum grinned and looked at his watch. ?That?s fine by me. I?ve got some work to do anyway. With all this moving your team does, it?s a wonder I have any spare time to myself.? He gave Rae a peck on the cheek and she blushed slightly, not because of it, but because Liam had an eyebrow raised and had his ?I?m so cynical? face on.

?Seeya at dinner.? She said brightly as Callum left.

?Right.? Liam said. ?Ready to do some typing? I need my MS1 back.?

?Excuse me? Is this what you broke us up for? A gun??

?Well, I thought that part was obvious??

?Liam. Guns aren?t everything.?

There was a pause as Liam thought over her words. ?That?s your attempt at sarcasm, right??

Rae groaned. ?Yes Liam, exactly.?

?Well you?ll want to leave that aside once we?re in the computer rooms. I want you focused, I need this MS1 before we leave tomorrow. That?s why I?ve ordered the room to be clear, no one will be in there when we are.? He grinned, ?I can almost feel it?s rubber moulded grip now??
[/size]