RPG Clandestine I: Terracotta [PG-VLS]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]A deathly silence shrouded the skies of the Australian Outback. The cloudless air exposed the barren earth to the stars above, flickering gently in the serenity of space.

The unassailable deserts felt more foreboding than usual that night. The small creatures scuttling in and out of their burrows seemed ill at ease, their searches for food hurried and desperate.

It was not a good sign.

A lone human stood on a thin metal tower gazed dilligently at the land around him. He allowed himself a brief smile at the thought of any traveller walking past, and having absolutely no awareness of the huge secret the ground underneath them harboured...

* * *

[i]I can't concentrate.[/i]

A heavy fist smacked the desk in frustration, causing a brief lapse in the various conversations in the library. It was unusually noisy today, even to someone with a highly-trained sense of hearing.

The man swiped his long fringe out of his eyes and stared blankly at the sheet of paper in front of him. A few sparse lines of handwriting lay before him, each one a failed start at a letter. Grunting in discontent, he screwed it up and hurled it in the direction of a nearby bin, which failed to catch it.

Utterly fed up, the man pushed himself out of his chair and stormed out of the room, muttering something unsavoury under his breath.

"So much for today's letter," he sighed, doing his best not to attract anyone's attention as he strode militantly down the steel corridors of the underground complex, wringing his leather gloves into a more comfortable position on his arm.

He hadn't written to them in six weeks- surely they'd be worried. Things had just been so busy lately, he'd-

Thump.

"Oh, sorry!"

Trace looked down at the researcher he'd knocked to the floor as he rounded the corner. She sheepishly picked up her books and straightened her glasses.

"What are you apologising for?" Trace laughed. "I was the one who knocked you over."

The researcher let out an embarrassed laugh. "Well, I never like to hedge my bets. People round here can get pretty aggressive sometimes."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. Take care next time."

She stumbled away, the sound of her high-heeled shoes slowly fading in the distance. Shaking his head, he continued down the corridor.[/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Much of the Rocky Mountains, like other mountain ranges, is almost never visited by humans. This makes it a great place for mythical creatures to make their lairs. But occasionally, there would be one that was not content to remain away from humans. Usually, these particular creatures were using the humans as food. This increased the risk of humans figuring out that these creatures were real, as well as being a danger to humans. So if the creature couldn't be convinced to stop, then it had to be eliminated. Which was why Laqara Solero was standing outside a large cave in the Rocky Mountains.

Laqara wasn't alone. She was a member of a seven-person team, and all seven were armed. Their mission was to eliminate Arseare, a dragon that had recently started flying through the Rockies, attacking, killing, and eating any humans she came across. Laqara had a lot of experience in dealing with dragons, which was why she had been assigned the role of team leader. If anyone knew how to kill a dragon, it was her.

Laqara faced the other six members of the team. "I'm only going to say this once," she said, "so listen up. We're about to go into the lair of a very powerful dragon, so I don't want any mistakes. If you screw up, you're probably going to die.

"Now, most of you have faced dragons before, but a couple haven't, so I'll go over the basics. Dragons are among the most dangerous creatures around. For one thing, they're very hard to hurt. Their scales are hard to penetrate. The best target is the eyes, but the eyes aren't easy to hit even with the accuracy-boosting features of our guns. The other weak point of a dragon is the inside of the mouth. A dragon's scales are only on the outside. If a dragon opens its mouth, fire into it. You'll be certain to hurt it, and a lucky shot might even enter the thing's brain.

"Of course, durability is only one aspect. The offensive capabilities of dragons are what make them so dangerous. They're big, and they're strong. A dragon can attack using its arms and clawed hands, it's legs and clawed feet, or its tail. All of those attack options are deadly. A direct hit will probably kill you outright, though you might survive a glancing blow.

"Some dragons have unusual abilities, but the one we're going up against, Arseare, does not. All we have to worry about are the physical attacks and the fire breath. Do your best to keep a distance. She'll be most dangerous when attacking physically, but she can't do that if we keep our distance, and I should be able to counter her fire breath, at least for a time. I'll probably tire more quickly than her.

"Dragons are able to fly, but that won't be a concern for us, as she won't have room to fly inside her lair. Of course, we'll still have plenty to worry about. Arseare is one of the largest as most powerful dragons to have ever lived. We won't have a lot of time before she kills us. We'll just have to kill her first. Now, let's do this." With that, Laqara turned and led her team into Arseare's lair.

------------------------------------------------

OOC: If anyone wants their character to be a member of Laqara's team, that's quite fine.

[Blayze]

[size=1]Xander sat in his room, in his human form, so he wouldn't set the bed alight, and he was practicing with his powers. He wasn't too good with them so he needed as much practice as he could get. He snapped his fingers, setting them alight, and then quickly smothered the flame with the palm of his hand in a flicking motion. He was getting pretty good at controlling it.

Next he tried his other hand. He wasn't too shabby with that one, either. Then, he clapped his hands together, pleased with the progress he had made. Then he realised his mistake.

"Oh, crap," he said calmly. His hands caught fire, turning into blazing fireballs, and the flame travelled up his arms, eventually turning his whole body into a figure made of pure, yellow-orange flame.

"This always happens to me!" he shouted, running out of his room, and into the showers. He turned them on, and they extinguished the flame pretty quickly, sending billowing clouds of steam into the air with a hiss. He turned the showers off and stood there, his clothes and hair completely drenched.

He stepped out of the showers with a wet splat, and began to walk back to his room. No-one would have been shocked to see a fully-grown man running around, completely aflame, not in the Clandestine base. In fact, as he walked back to his room, he got several comments, such as:

"Hey, Xander, you put the flame on too high again?" to which he simply smiled and nodded. He walked back to his room to put some dry clothes on...

(OOC: Sorry, I wasn't exactly sure what to write)

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[Snarktastic]

"...And I hope that you all are doing well..." Sally muttered to herself as she typed out a letter to her family on her laptop in her living quarters. It had been a long while since she had a chance to sit down and write them, but she knew they would understand.

Well, except for her mother, who would inevitably write a two-page guilt trip of a letter back. But she was used to it.

"Don't worry -- I haven't placed myself in any grave danger for well over a week now," she added quickly with a smirk. Hey, if she was going to get a guilt trip, it might as well be for something amusing.

She was telling the truth, though -- she had not been on a mission for what seemed to her like an eternity. There had been a mission that left for the Rockies, but that was more of a "search and destroy" mission, and she was not about to go along for that. She wrinkled her nose in mild disgust at the thought. [I]It's not the dragon's fault that humans are so crunchy and tasty, after all...[/I]

She raised an eyebrow at this stray thought. [I]Okay, I don't even need to know where I came up with that.[/I]

Returning to her letter, she typed, "I hope that Pop-Pop has kept himself out of trouble, and that--"

Suddenly, her screen froze up. "Oh, come on..." she grumbled, tapping the keys. "You bloody piece of -- ARGH!" She put her head down on her desk. "And I didn't even save it," she whimpered to no one in particular.

She let out a sigh and shut off the laptop, gathering it up in her arms. "Well, I should go let Indira take a looksie. It's been doing this a lot more lately."

She turned to the fishbowl and smiled at the fish idly swimming about. "I'll be back later, Phillip. Don't get into too much trouble, a'right?" She chuckled as she carried her laptop out of the room and down the hall.

[Sakura]

[color=Navy]Sakura sat lazily in front of one of the large computer mainframes. Her fingers skillfully danced across the keyboard and a load of numbers and letters scrolled past the screen, her eyes followed them, reading them quickly as they swiftly disappeared off the top of the screen. She popped her knuckles loudly and turned her swivel chair to her laptop that sat on a space of the mainframe to her right. Her eyes focussed on the screen as she typed quickly, glaring at the stubborn code before trying another calculation. She accessed a file and brought up the program, entering a bunch of data. She clasped her hands when the screen showed the words 'ACCESS GRANTED' in bold, bright green font.

She broke through the other barriers easily and got to the files, running a searcher to seek out the information she was after. Sakura leaned back in her chair and fluttered her wings to give them exercise. After a few minutes she checked the search and it was going slowly, there were a lot of files to go through. She yawned and closed her eyes, about to try and get some rest. Sakura changed her position several times, trying to get herself comfortable in the chair, finally giving up and sitting up, blinking at the large monitor owlishly. The search was 50% complete.

Sakura got off the chair and picked up a cable from the ground and plugged it into the back of her laptop, then hooked the otherside to the speakers in the room, normally used to hear others talking, but there was no one connected to the system at the moment. She pressed a few keys on her laptop and music blared from the speakers. She turned down the volume slightly and leaned back, swaying back and forth gently in her swivel chair. Her head bobbed lightly to the music as she relaxed. Most people said it was a boring job to be a hacker, Sakura argued it was just how you went about it. She did her work well, usually with music on unless working on a complex code that she needed to concentrate for.

Half an hour later, the mainframe made a sound which signalled the completion of the search, the file was on the screen. She hummed as she read through the files, checking they were right, after that she sent them off to whoever wanted it and turned off the music, disconnecting her laptop. She shut it down and tucked it under her arm, grumbling about the slowness of the mainframe computer when it would have taken her laptop much less time to do the exact same search.

Sakura strode happily through the halls, she had a break until someone needed help or she was due for her monitering duties. She passed a fellow hacker as they were on their way to a duty, she greeted them cheerfully, the hackers all knew each other well since there weren't many. Sakura knew Indira the most because they had worked together several times, even though it wasn't needed.

Sakura returned to her room and took a quick nap to refreshen herself before deciding to go to the Research area to keep going on her research of a new system.

[b][color=black]OOC: [/color][/b][color=black]Editted at the request of Snarktastic.[/color]
[color=Black][/color] [/color]

[Mimmsicle]

[FONT=Tahoma]The sound of a door slamming shut along with a loud bang as Adéle ran straight into the bedroom doorframe clashed like deafened cymbals, enhancing the beating of drums in her head. With tears stubbornly flowing out of her eyes she fumbled across the floor until her fingers touched cold glass. Curling up in a tight ball on the floor she played her fingers over the mirror frame and burrowed her head into the soft carpet. As much as Adéle loved the mirror she couldn?t stand seeing her own reflection in it, especially not when she was in this state. And even when she [I]would [/I]look into it her eyes yearned to stay unfocused, to see beyond the image of a sad young woman searching for answers in an inanimate object.

So she had failed again. Had anyone expected differently? After all, nothing had changed since the last time she tried and it would most likely go awry the next week as well. Why did there even have to be a next time? All it even amounted to was further humiliating her and adding another report on the consequences her inability caused. Adéle didn?t want to think about a next time. She kicked out with her leg in frustration and knocked over the bedside table, subsequently killing her alarm clock?s persistent ticking in the process. The sudden silence triggered sensory memories of agonizing screaming being cut like a string on a violin. Behind her closed eyes she could see the contorted colours and warped shapes all over again. Survival instinct told her to erase the nightmare but she gripped the frame and forced herself to remember each excruciating detail.

[I]You don?t get to forget. This is what happens because of you. Because you can?t remember. [/I]


Hours later her strained breathing had slowed down into tired sighs, her fingers continuing to caress the wooden carvings delicately. The tension lessened in Adéles body as fatigue draped itself over her. As she drifted off to sleep she made sure to store today with all the others, hoping that one day they would be like her memories. Gone.



The sleep was neither peaceful nor long. After one disturbing dream too many she gave up on the idea of a good nights rest and took a quick shower. As she was changing into some sweats her stomach grumbled audibly. Thinking of how nice some Spaghetti Bolognaise would be only furthered the growls. Since the alarm clock was broken she didn?t really know what time it was, not that it mattered. ?La Mirage de Rouge?, the restaurant she went to, was open all hours. She began to put her cap on but winced as it pressed against the bump from banging against the doorframe earlier. Rubbing the sensitive skin she wondered why they couldn?t give her something to help her with that stupid barrier as well. "[I]Any kind of aid that we could develop might be potentially harmful to you, Adéle. Until we know more about this power there really is nothing we can do for you[/I]", she repeated to herself. It was difficult to be thankful for all the assistance Clandestine had given her over the years when they could do nothing about her biggest, and only, problem.

[I]"It?s not like I really need you anyway"[/I], she said in a low voice to the cap and put it back on its hanger.

Not many people crossed her path as she made her way to the restaurant, which didn?t say anything about what time it might be. People around Clandestine rarely functioned the same hours as everyone else; a train leaving in the middle of the night could have more people on it than one leaving at ?rush hour? as it may be. One?s perception of ?normality? sure cashed in on the overtime here. Then again, those who ended up at Clandestine probably had no problem with seeing things beyond the norms of what is standard to begin with.

La Mirage de Rouge appeared as empty as her stomach, the smells only making her hunger more urgent. Upon browsing the menu she noted with disappointment that Spaghetti Bolognaise wasn?t on it. The meals were on a rotitionary basis so if a dish was served on a Monday it didn?t mean it would be available the next Monday again. Needless to say those with an obsessive compulsory personality never dined here. The chef cleared his throat just as she was about to leave and put a tray on the counter top.

?[B]What will it be?[/B]?

?[I]Oh, I .. uhm...[/I]? Adéle smiled apologetically while trying to think of a good excuse. That was, however, impossible since the chef broke into his trademark bellowing laughter. Though it vibrated with heart she still squirmed from discomfort of feeling like a small child that doesn?t understand something.

?[B]Voila, this is what you were looking for on that menu, non?[/B]? he said as a plate with Spaghetti Bolognaise appeared steaming hot on the tray.

Raising her eyebrow she looked at his big cheesy grin with confused amusement. Sure she was a regular here but it wasn?t like this was the only meal she ever ate. It was her comfort food, though she?d never admit it to anyone. He wasn?t a telepath or a man of heightened senses, that much she knew from what little information she had on him. So how come he ? The shy smile on Adéles face shifted into a sad frown.

?[I]I come here every Thursday, huh?...[/I]?

Chef George?s cheesy smile softened and he gently nudged the tray towards her without any further words. Despite not being a telepath of anything of the sorts, George had been a chef at Clandestine for long enough to pick up the quirks of his customers, quirks that even they themselves weren?t aware of. Serving her favourite dish to her after the Thursday Trial was the only way he could think of to help the young woman. Sometimes there would be other customers in the restaurant the same time as her and he?d try to sneakily coax then into approaching her, with mixed results. Unfortunately there was no one else dining at the moment and Spaghetti Bolognaise was the only thing he could offer. George sighed at the sight of the lone woman savouring her meal before turning his attention to the washing up, whistling an old tune.[/FONT]

[Kamuro]

[SIZE=1]Katz walked down a silent hallway, his hands in his pockets and cigarette standing erect from his mouth. As he approached a large steel door he took one hand from his pocket and flicked open a zippo. With a twitch of his fingers a flame appeared and his cigarette was lit. The door opened with a loud "swoosh" and the silent hallway was soon full of the chatter not uncommon to Residential Area. He walked in and caught the glance of several others within the room. He was rather tall and it was hard not to take notice as he walked throughout the crowded corridor. "Hey Katz!" a friend shouted from across the room. He nodded in acknowledgement as he hung a sharp left and entered a considerably more quite room.

He had entered a popular tradepost in which a good friend of his resided most of the time. A fellow alien named Fargoth who made it his job to temper weapons and sell various items to members of the force. Katz entered his friends personal store and found it empty other then Fargoth, laid back in a chair, his legs stretched out and placed upon a stool. He was sleeping, as usual. There was so many smiths and weapon shops among the base Fargoth got little attention, but Katz found it to be one of the best places to go for tips and advice on weapons.

As he approached the counter he kicked the leg of Fargoth's chair, knocking him from his slumber. "That wasn't necessary was it?" he asked with frown, scratching his muffled hair. "[B]You're always asleep, no wonder you don't have any business.[/B]" "Hmph, I like it that way, you should to. You're my favorite customer." Fargoth implied, followed with a wink. "[B]I need you to temper my sword. I've been training a lot as of late and the Superiors suggested I work on my weapon abilities, rather then just literal hand-to-hand battling[/B]."

"Will do, shall I add anything special to it? You know how I love inserting elemental crystals. Wouldn't your sword look so much prettier engulfed in red flames?" Fargoth asked with an evil smile on his face. "[B]No, I like my weapons simple[/B]." Katz said, unhooking the katana from his belt and placing it on the table. "[B]There is, however, something you can do for me. I want something larger. Apply more metal to the sword and make it thin, so that the blade is longer yet the weight is distributed evenly[/B]." Fargoth ran his eyes over the sword "That'll be quite the project, you'll need a new sheath as well I expect?" he asked inquisitively. Katz nodded "[B]Give it a shoulder strap, I'll drape it over my back rather then at my side[/B]."

Fargoth nodded in suit "It should be done soon enough. My home planet just shipped in a new type of metal alloy, I hear it's the best around. I wouldn't usually use it for such a stereotypical sword, but since I like you, I'll do my best." he added with a laugh. Katz just smiled "Thank you my friend. I'll be in my room. Give me a buzz when it's done." Fargoth nodded and took the sword behind the counter, readying his equipment for the weapon temperment.[/SIZE]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

The team moved in a wide-spread formation. They were spaced so that a surprise attack from any angle would get one or maybe two of them, but were close enough that they could all se and hear everyone easily. It was a common formation, employed whenever an opponent had any kind of area-affect ability, such as a dragon's fire breath. Even the couple on Laqara's team that had never actually fought a dragon before knew the formation and its uses. Everyone was trained very well, so even the ones who hadn't gone up against a dragon before knew what to do.

The cave entrance was big, but not as big as the actual lair of Arseare, and it actually looked too small for such a large creature to pass through. In this case, however, looks were decieving. Dragons were able to fit through spaces that seemed much too small for them. They used this to their advantage in their lairs, because a cave entrance too large would attract more attention than most dragons wanted. However, their lairs themselves were always a more accurate reflection of their size, and Arseare's was no exception. like many dragons' lairs, she had enlarged a natural cave to create her lair, then finished it by digging out any additional chambers she wanted.

After about half a minute of walking, Laqara called the group to a halt. Although everyone did have night-vision equipment, Laqara's seeing of the water was more effective. She saw Arseare's approach sooner than the others, so she halted their advance. Arseare, realizing that they knew she was there, came closer so that they could see her clearly. She hoped to intimidate them with her awe-inspiring size and physical power. She let out an ear-spliting roar, surprised that the intruders had not yet fled. When they still remained, she spoke to them. Her voice had an unnatural sound to it, but her words were comprehensible.

"I do not know who you are or what you want," she said, "but I do know that I do not want you here. Leave now, or I will kill you."

Laqara signaled the team to fall into attack formation, still spread out but positioned for the best set of angles for firing at the target. "We aren't leaving until you promise to stop your killing of humans. You are putting your own kind in danger. If you do not promise to stop, we will kill you."

"You threaten me? You can't possibly believe that you'll be able to kill me. Leave now, or you will die."

"We'll see about that," Laqara said. She gave the signal to attack, and the team opened fire.

[Blayze]

[size=1]Xander began walking around the complex, from the Residential area all the way through to the Research station. He loved to walk around the complex, seeing the simple concrete walls and the intricate metal tubing that ran across the ceiling. He would have loved to walk outside a lot more, but he had been told to stay inside, as he could cause damage outside.

As he turned a corner, Xander bumped into one of his team-mates, and alien named Katz. Katz dropped whatever it was he was carrying, and Xander bent over to pick it up.

"Hey, Katz, how's it going?" he asked, handing back the item Katz had dropped. Katz merely grumbled.

"Speak up, mate, I can't hear you."

"It's not too bad, Xander," replied Katz, "I've just dropped my weapon off with Fargoth to have it tempered. He's going to call me when it is finished."

"Well, that's not likely to be for a while, is it? Why don't you come and train with me for a while?"

"I don't know, Xander, I told Fargoth I'd be in my quarters, and I don't want to mislead him."

"You're not going to mislead him, Katz, you'll be fine. Come on, let's go and have a training session, what do you say?"

"Very well," replied Katz, sighing, "But not too long, alright?"

"Fair enough."

(OOC: Sorry, couldn't really think of much to write)
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[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkOrchid]Indira Gavaskar was sleeping.

One might argue that three in the afternoon was an awfully silly time to still be in bed, and [to some] this would be true. But to a hacker, things like "It's the middle of the afternoon," and "why are you [i]still[/i] awake? It's 8 in the morning!!!" had little to no effect. She didn't have ops duty this week, so she was indulging. She turned over in her hammock, subconciously making sure not to pin her wingtips. She was having a quite pleasant dream - about what, she wasn't quite sure, only that it was nice - when the knock came.

[b]Rappity tap tap...[/b]. [i]Go away...[/i] Indira's only move was to slide her head under her pillow. [b]Rappity tap tap.[/b] She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. [i]If I pretend I don't hear it, it will go away, right?[/i] Wrong. It got [i]louder[/i]. She jerked the pillow off her head, talons tearing into the pillowcase ever so slightly. That's when the hammock decided to join the fun as, off-balanced, it spun, dumping Indira, pillow, blankets, two books and a stuffed falcon she'd been given as a joke into an undignified, ruffled pile on the floor. [i]This does [b]not[/b] bode well for the rest of the day.[/i].

Talon combing her ruffled wing-feathers into some semblance of neat and tidy, she made her way through this mess of wires, fast food cartons and books to the door, keying in the code to send it sliding open. She blinked at the human standing outside her door.

[B]"Sally? What're you..." [/B] She stifiled a yawn. [B]"doin' here?"[/B] Sally looked apologetic.

[B]"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry, I just thought..."

"No no no! No apologizing..." [/B] Indira caught sight of the laptop Sally held protectively. [B]"It's being evil again?" [/B] Sally nodded, stepping into Indira's room.

[B]"Froze up for no apparent reason, right in the middle of my letter. It's been doing that a lot lately."[/B] [i]Uh, oh...freezing?[/i] Indira took the laptop gently, sitting down on the floor next to her own desktop computer, which [needless to say] was [i]not[/i] on a desktop. She pushed the one chair she bothered to keep around for guests towards Sally with her foot.

[B]"Have a seat...I'd tell ya to pick a spot on the floor, but..."[/B] She gestured around at the mess. Sally laughed.

[B]"You like the lived-in look?"[/B] Indira nodded, hooking Sally's computer up to her desktop. If this was what she thought it was, there was [i]no way[/i] she was hooking it to [i]her[/i] laptop.

[B]"Mother considers it the "controlled monsoon" look, but meh. She doesn't have to live in it, so she can keep her beak out." [/B] She flipped the screen of the laptop up and began typing, despite the blank screen. Minutes later, text began to appear, jumbled and looking like an example of what to do [i]wrong[/i] in HTML code. Indira frowned, tapping her beak with a talon. [B]"Ok, so that's what you are..."[/B] She tapped a few more keys, getting [as she suspected] absolutly no positive response. So...what does any computer user do in this situation? She spread her fingers to crack her knuckles, and then, as if swooping on prey, she hit "Ctrl-Alt-Del".

The results were dramatic. The screen turned red and brighter than any computer screen had a right to be, accompanied by a mechanical sounding laugh from...Indira moaned. [i]Her[/i] speakers.

[B]"BAAAA-hahahaahaaaa...." [/B] She hit the mute key on her keyboard. Needless to say, there was no reaction. She disconnected the speakers instead. Undaunted, the red-screen transferred slowly from [i]Sally's[/i] computer to [i]her[/i] computer. Indira glowered at her screen. Sally's letter was back, or most of it. She handed the laptop back to Sally, faking a grin.

[B]"There ya go...should work now, ignore it if it starts giggling..."[/B] Sally didn't take the hint to leave.

[B]"Um...what is that?"[/B] She pointed at Indira's screen and the black-and-red face that had formed there. The face was making very rude expressions, and - by the way the lips were moving - was implying many genetic impossiblities referring to great-grandparents. Indira gave a silent prayer of thanks that she'd disconnected the speakers.

[B]"That? Is d00m virus mark twenty-aught-nine. It's...uh....something-I-created-to-test-Clandi's-firewall-that-got-past-[I]my[/I]-firewall-last-week." [/B] The last sentance came out all jammed together. Sally blinked.

[B]"Why was it in [i]my[/i] computer?" [/B] Indira shrugged, scratching her left wing nervously.

[B]"I dunno...maybe it was just liking your..." [/B] She paused. That hadn't come out right. [i]Now is NOT a nice time to forget English![/i] [B]"Maybe it just liked your wallpaper. It's very irrational. It's supposed to be..."[/B] Sally looked as if she were about to burst out laughing.

[B]"So...you created this thing, lost it, and now it's come back to you?"

"Essentially..."[/B] Sally stood up, hugging her laptop.

[B]"Alrighty then. You have fun with that..."[/B] Indira waved her out, alrady frowning at her screen. That last line might have been a joke, but already she was. Outsmarting AIs was [usually] fun. Sally poked her head back in. "Thanks again!" Indira nodded, already trying to pull up her diagnostics program. Sally left, used to the seemingly brusque brush off.

[B]"Now, lesse what we can do about you..."[/B] [/COLOR]


[COLOR=DarkOrange]OOC: Sally used with snarky's permission.[/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Things happened fast. Arseare made the first move, attacking with her fire breath. Laqara was able to counter it, giving her team a chance to fire. A couple shots did hit the dragon on the inside of her mouth, and while it certainly hurt, there was no real damage done. Arseare reeled back with a suddenness that did not match the damage dne to her. It was simply shock; she'd never imagined that mere humans could cause her pain.

Laqara had anticipated Arseare's reaction. She had something that all the best agents had; she was able to tell a lot about someone from very little. For example, from what Arseare had said, Laqara could tell that the dragon was overconfident, and couldn't comprehend the possiblilty of being defeated by anyone short of another dragon, and she'd have trouble comprehending even that. Also, Laqara was able to figure out that Arseare wouldn't try anything in the way of trickery, but would use the brute force approach. She wouldn't think, only act and react, and she'd also be slow to learn her opponents' capabilities. None of this decreased the danger of the situation, but it did help Laqara predict what Arseare would do.

Laqara took advantage of Arseare's shock, firing a few shots of her own before the dragon could react. None entered Arseare's mouth or hit her eyes, and no damage was done. Arseare tried her fire breath again. Like before, Laqara countered with water, and the eam had a brief window to fire. Again, a couple shots made it into Arseare's mouth, hurting her but doing no real damage.

Arseare moved forward, grabbing one of her attackers and throwing the man against the wall. The team scattered, moving fast and erratically. They could dodge faster than Arseare could correct the direction of her attacks. However, this would not last forever, and Laqara knew it. Which was why she was extremly pleased to discover four eggs grouped together against the wall of the lair. She acted fast. At the same time that Arseare managed to grab another of the team members, Laqara shot all four eggs. And as dragon eggs were easily destroyed by gunfire, there was no way anything would ever hatch from them anymore. this got Arseare's attention. She dropped the person she'd just grabbed, who was a bit dazed but otherwise fine, and went for Laqara.

As she was enraged now, Arseare failed to remember Laqara's water ability, lowering her head to attack Laqara with her fire breath. However, Laqara didn't aim her water at the fire. She aimed a water blast at the ground, using it to boost herself into the air. She used the same move to blast herself away from the wall, over Arseare's fire, and towards the dragon. She landed on Arseare's head, waited until Arseare stopped breathing fire, then dropped off in fron of her still-open mouth. She fired into it at point-blank range, and her aim was good. One of her shots made it into the dragon's brain.

As Laqara used another jet of water to slow her decent and land unharmed on the ground, Arseare let out an ear-splitting scream of pain, then fell over. She was still twitching, but she was dead. After shaking themselves off, Laqara and her team rerieved the body of their dead teammate, intending to return it to Clandestine for the proper burial ceremony. They carried it with them as they walked out of Arseare's lair.

[Solo Tremaine]

[color=#503f86]The darkened concrete walls of the City* stretched out into the distance; signposts, directional arrows and posters positioned at regular intervals along the walls in numerous different languages. The ceiling, near-invisible past the suspended lighting system, was high enough to allow the air around the shop floors to stay at a temperature that was cool and not too humid. Trace could hear the faint hum of the extractor fans above him.

Some of the shops had closed for the night- large metal girders bolstered the windows and doors from any attempted break-ins. Others run by more nocturnal creatures stayed open for almost twenty-four hours a day. The traders bore a status close to that of local celebrity as they walked the corridors- everyone was appreciative of their ability to order items in for them. It always reminded Trace of [i]The Shawshank Redemption[/i]. but to call Clandestine a prison was more than a little unappreciative.

Stopping by a metal bench, he gazed at the two-storey restaurant in the corner of the City's central plaza. Its romantinc lighting levels painted those sitting inside with a wam, enveloping colour, and those on the upper garden level laughed and smiled at each other with equal colour in their bodies.

"It has been a long time, hasn't it..." he sighed under his breath, shoving his hands into his pockets before turning himself away and facing the Plaza's fountain. Biting his lip in a mild pang of nostalgia, he shook his head, smiled slightly and paced down another street.

Considering the number and type of people who passed through here, he always found it surprising how clean things were. Of course, Trace still hadn't seen the entire complex yet, so he couldn't be sure it was all like this.

He nodded towards a friend as he passed a shop. The golem's gravely expression broke into a wide smile as he noticed his partner of a few missions past, before turning his attention back to the shop window. Trace couldn't help but smile back- Boulder had that affect on people. Despite his lack of conversational skills (and indeed, speech), his smile was simply touching.

As he left the City and descended the stairs towards the lower levels of the Residential Complex he was aware of the other creatures around him. They lumbered, crawled and glided past him in ways that would make any ordinary person wide-eyed with fascination, but as with anyone who'd been at Clandestine for a certain amount of time you learnt not to stare. Occasionally someone new and unusual caught your eye; between you and them a mutual unease at being in such a strange yet familiar situation hung in the air. Fights weren't uncommon, but they were short and almost always initiated by fear. Many appeared human, but the sensing of a deeper power underneath evoked the response.

As he approached the lift, he felt something twitch in the pocket of his jeans. Seconds later, a piercing beep shrieked into his ears. Ripping the phone from his pocket, he cleared his throat and grunted into the receiver.

"Trace here."

[i]"Trace, this is Operator** 616. I know this is part of your designated holiday hours, but we've a large dragon coming in that needs transport to the Cemetary, and you're the only qualified Heavy Loader driver that we can get hold of. Can you get to the Hangar Gates in twenty minutes?"[/i] the young female's voice asked, in typical phone manner.

"Yeah, no problem. Thanks."

He clasped the phone shut and followed the signs to the train station.

[i]"Sounds like that mission went well..."[/i] he thought. Maybe he should have given up his night off to go with them...[/color]

*The City is part of the Residential complex- it's like a shopping mall with various traders and manufacturers' outlets, and it's of mostly concrete construction.

**Operators work in Operations. They direct phone calls and various other flows of information, contact Field Agents/Researchers/Hackers/etc. If you're needed somewhere, these are the ones you'll speak to.

[Mimmsicle]

[FONT=Tahoma]?[I]Amazing how food can have such a calming effect on people[/I]?, Adéle contemplated while brushing up the last of her meal with a slice of white bread. She?d thought of it plenty of times and even applied it to her work; there was always a piece of candy or fruit ready to offer those who were distressed when checking into her department. Though in some cases it had made things worse, especially in situations that involved people suffering with delusions and paranoia. Luckily it was an exception to the rule.

A middle-aged man entered the restaurant as she gulped down the last of the bread and upon recognizing him she nearly got it down her windpipe. He was part of the staff assigned to help/monitor the ?progress? with her uncooperative power. Not knowing what time it was, and just in case it was in the middle of the night, which would make him fire off the routine enquiry, it seemed like the best option would be to sneak off. She stuffed her right hand into the pocket of the coat to fish out some money, completely forgetting that her right hand was still tightly clenched around the knife. Unfortunately there was no time to toss it back onto the table as the man was already weaving his way through the tables, waving friendly. She smiled meekly at him while twisting her hand around nervously in the pocket, knocking the knife into her cell phone.

Chef George unknowingly came to her aid as he distracted the man with a hearty greeting. Thinking on her feet she fished up the phone, randomly punched in a couple of numbers and, in the vain hope of being able to pull off an escape somehow, anxiously waited for whoever it was she had just rung to pick up.

?H--?

The recipient (of her almost prank) call didn?t get a chance to answer as Adéle quickly began to act as if she had been called up.

"[I]This is Adéle. Oh hey, we?re still on aren?t we?[/I]"

"?What?" a voice on the other end of the line asked surprised.

"[I]That?s great! See you in five then, bye![/I]"

She mouthed a ?[I]gotta go[/I]? to the man and gestured with the phone, wasting no time to dart out into the streets. A relieved sigh came out more like a relieved groan, making passers-by nod their heads at her. They probably though it was her way of saying hello. Returning their nods with an embarrassed smile she slipped back the phone into her pocket and felt the knife graze her hand, much like a cat stroking itself against your leg. Figuring she?d might?ve scared people with her behaviour already she decided to wait until reaching the elevators to pick it up and dispose it in one of the trash cans.

Two of the three elevators were broken, the functioning one still being a couple of floors away. The area around them was empty so Adéle picked up the knife. She twirled it carefully around in her hands, admiring the pattern engraved on the shiny surface and smiling childishly at the reflections in it. Not being able to tear her attention away from the fascination it sparked she completely forgot about the world around her. All that existed to her in that moment was the reflection of her eyes looking back at her, for the first time with a glint of happiness.

As the elevator stopped at her floor and the doors opened the man inside was taken aback at the sight of a woman with a knife in her hand. Though what freaked him out even more was the fact that the space around her was warped and almost enveloped her. He decided now was not the time for pleasantries and lunged at her, determined to dispose of the threat she presumably posed. Having the object of her distraction knocked away brutally from her hands tore Adéle slowly back into the real world, her mind stumbling to understand what was happening. The barrier wobbled considerably and started to dissolve ferociously. It was as if it ripped, stretched and crumbled together the area it had covered around the two as they fell to the floor. The man pinned her to the ground with his weight, effectively protecting her from what looked like was going to finish them off, bracing himself for whatever would happen next.


And suddenly it stopped. Everything was the same as before the barrier appeared. Not sure what to make of what had occurred he stared around him bewildered, his eyes snapping back at the woman when she coughed and came to her senses again.

"Another strange ... yet rather normal, day at Clandestine", he grumbled to himself. [/FONT]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Anyone who'd ever participated in the elimination of a creature such as a dragon was aware of an obvious problem: leaving the creature's body where it fell invited discovery, but a vehicle large enough to transport something as large as a dragon would be easy for people to see. The solution involved alien technology that Clandestine had figured out how to use, but didn't at all understand.

Laqara's team followed standard procedure. When they emerged from Arseare's lair, they were immediatly spotted by the pilot of the Model ST-6G transport aircraft that was the standard mode of transportation for missions like this. The pilot, a woman named Vaxla, knew simply from seeing them emerge alive that they were uccessful, so she radioed a 'Mission Accomplished' signal to Clandestine. The body of Kajo, the team member who had been killed by Arseare, was placed in the ST-6G's cargo hold. Then, it was time to get Arseare's body.

Laqara and her team took cables back into the lair, and tied them around Arseare's body. When they were all securly fastened, the team returned to the transport vehicle. The cables, which were of alien manufacture and didn't break easily, were part of a cargo hauling system. Machenery in the ST-6G's cargo hold reeled the cables in, pullng Arseare's body towards the cargo hold.

The next part always gave people who'd never seen it happen before a bit of a scare. As the body, seemingly much too large to fit into the gargo hold, neared the ST-6G, it didn't slow down. The cargo hauling system kept reeling the cables in at the exact same speed. When Arseare's body was pulled against the open cargo hatch, the alien technology that nobody understood went to work. Arseare's body was somehow compressed to a size small enough to fit inside the cargo hold. When removed from the cargo hold, it would return to its original size. This process was commonly used by Clandestine, but nobody knew how or why it worked.

After Arseare's body was in the hold, Laqara's team jumped in the passenger compartment. Vaxla closed the doors, and the ST-6G took off. "I've got U.S. Air Force planes in the area," Vaxla informed the team. "it looks like a training excersize."

"Standard procedure," Laqara instructed. "Full stealth, fly low and slow. When we get back to base, we'll have hackers hack into and examine the Air Force database for anything relating to us, and they'll get rid of anything they find."

Vaxla nodded. "Understood."

--------------------------------------------

OOC: Solo, if there are any problems with any of that, please tell me. Oh, and just to make sure you know, the stealth fetures are radar and other scanning equipment only. Nothing they have can render an object invisible to sight.

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkOrchid]Indira glared at her desktop computer over the top of her bowl, even as she scooped rice and grilled chicken into her mouth. The computer gave every indication of glaring back. Thus far, the exorcism of the virus had failed, miserably. Thus far, the thing had deleted half of her work files [of which she had back up files, thank Garuda], and had attacked her playlists [which she did NOT have backed up]. The devious thing had also figured out how to hook itself into the intercom system, where it was now playing what seemed to be some American children's show theme song played backwards.

Sometimes, not often but [i]sometimes[/i], she despised her genius when it came to viruses.

Someone knocked on the door. She hastely set her bowl down and whiped off her beak.

[B]"It's open!"[/B] The door slid open, and a black-feathered head poked itself in. She smothered a yelp, shoving a pile of comic books and dirty clothes under her low table. [B][i]Why him? Why now?![/i][/B] Shyam Pawaskar, however, remained blissfully ignorant of the panic he'd caused, blinking at the screen and the blaring intercom in confusion.

[B]"I didn't know playing the Teletubbies theme backwards would make them swear..." [/B] Now it was Indira's turn to blink. Shyam, noticing her expression, shrugged. [B]"My little sister likes them." [/B] He strode the rest of the way into the room, talons clicking, to stare at the red screen. [B]"Oh, you finally got it to work!" [/B] Indira took the time given by his momentary distraction to shove more junk under her collapsed hammock.

[B]"Um...yeah, I did...and now I can't get it to [i]stop[/i] working."[/B] Shyam clacked his beak at the screen; Indira tried not to giggle when he tapped a few keys and almost instantly resorted to cursing and insulting the virus as the screen went a deeper shade of red. [B]"See?"[/B] Shyam backed away, shaking his head.

[B]"That I do...may I return later to help you?"[/B] Indira tried not to giggle again. Shyam noticed this time. [B]"That is, I mean, if you need help..." [/B] Indira nodded, trying not to seem to eager.

[B]"Help is good..."[/B] Shyam seemed to brighten; the almost smile made Indira dizzy. SHe shook her head, trying to clear the happy haze. [B]"Why'd you drop by?"[/B] Shyam jerked a clawed thumb towards the door.

[B]"Laquara just got back from a mission; they're calling up the hackers. Need to make sure no-one in America caught 'em. I told Farim I'd find you." [/B] Farim was the third Garuda hacker in Clandestine's headquarters; he was older than Indira and Shyam, and thus tended to boss them both...until the actual department head noticed, that is. Indira packed up her laptop, pausing to shut off the glowing screen.

[B]"Alright then..." [/B] She followed Shyam out the doorway, still glowing from the news that he wanted to help her. She listened happily as he chatted away, thinking to herself.

[B][i]Perhaps I'll have something to tell Mother that doesn't involve computers for once...[/i][/B][/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[color=Navy]Sakura was fiddling around with some of her research in the research area when her cell phone rang. She sighed and looked at it, the call was from the operators. She flipped it open and placed it against her ear.

[b]"Sakura here." [/b]she said, putting down her other things.

[b]"We need you here, Laquara just returned from having been on a mission. You need to check that no one saw them." [/b]the operator said quickly.

[b]"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." [/b]she told him, then they both hung up.

Sakura told the people around what was happening and left them with her project again. She picked up her laptop and left, quickly making her way to the Operations area (I think?).

As she entered she saw the other hackers that she knew. Sakura greeted them and they each took a station, starting their hacking.

Sakura set up her laptop and the group gained access into the Air Force database and any other places that may have spotted Laquara's group.

[b][color=Black]OOC: [/color][/b][color=Black]Sorry its short. Low on inspiration. I'm not sure where we should be so I just said Operations.[/color]
[/color]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

After returning to Clandestine HQ, Laqara's team had gone their seperate ways. Laqara and Vaxla made their way to Operations.

"Anybody see us?" Laqara asked as she entered Operations.

"Nothing yet," one of the hackers, who Laqara recognised as Sakura, told her.

"Good," Vaxla said. "It's nice to know I've still got it."

Just then, a man named Branit entered the room. Branit was an Agent Superior, and it was he who had recomended that Laqara lead the operation. He walked over to Laqara. "I take it things went well?"

"Better than expected," Laqara replied. "We lost Kajo, but he was the only casualty."

"That's too bad. I liked Kajo. The kid was good. Real good. Especially seeing as how he only came in a couple months ago. He'd probably have made Superior if he'd lived long enough. What happened?"

"Nothing that was his fault," Laqara explained. "He did everything right. Just got unlucky. He was Arseare's first target. Too bad, but at least he was the only casualty."

"Only by a small margin," Vaxla put in. "According to what the team told me, Laqara damn near got herself killed dealing the finishing blow. Apparently, she shot herself onto the damn thing's head, then dropped in front of the dragon's mouth."

"Jeus, Laqara!" Branit exclaimed. "You really need to be a bit more careful."

"There wasn't time for careful," Laqara replied.

"Well, it worked, at least. I don't suppose you'll actually be taking a break right now?"

"I got more than enough rest durring the flight back here. It's a very long flight."

"I thought so," Branit said. "In that case, why don't you meet me in Training Environment 4-A in about an hour? We're going to run a training excersize, and I'd like your help."

Laqara liked the sound of that. Branit always had something entertaining in mind when he said that. "I'll be there," she promised.

---------------------------------------------------------

OOC: When are you goint to start the main story, Solo? Oh, and the 'Training Environment' thing is basically a part of the facility dedecated to training excersizes. Each one is modeled after a certian type of environment (jungle, desert, etc.), allowing agents to get a feel for different types of terrain. Solo, please tell me if there's anything wrong with that.

[Solo Tremaine]

In a darkened room in the centre of Clandestine's Operations complex a single chair sat, separated from all walls. In front of it stood a black desk that looked as if it had been relaxed into shape, rather than constructed. On the chair, sat a figure.

The door slid quietly open and a shaft of light split the room in two, illuminating the figure's shoulder.

"Sir?" the Agent Superior at the door stepped inside tentatively.

"That's enough." A soft voice answered. "What is it?"

"One of our Field Researchers was killed yesterday."

There was a brief pause.

"Who was it?"

"Vivid- the chameleon. She had just finished investigating the new dig site at Xi'an when her helicopter developed a malfunction on the return journey. She and the bodies of the two Field Agents escorting her were found by the wreckage. Unfortunately, we haven't been granted passage to return the wreck and Vivid's report to our facility- the Chinese Government claim it was an American spy mission and have secured it in a military compound. We don't know where it is, though."

The figure at the desk fell silent, his head resting on his hands. The Agent Superior caught a slight glimpse of the brilliant white of his hair in the light.

" I'm sorry to have to tell you this, sir. I know it was a mission you were particularly interested in."

There was another brief, gripping silence. It pressed against the Agent Superior, almost stifling him.

"Form up some tactical teams. I want a covert team of Field Researchers posted into Xi'an to re-investigate the site, and they must be escorted by at least one Field Agent each. I want the Hackers to try and locate the position of the military compound and to take a Researcher inside to determine what happened and retrieve the initial report. This is not a situation that I will allow to be brushed off."

Despite the urgency of the situation, the Agent Superior was surprised with how soft his voice remained.

"As you wish, sir."

* * *

[color=#503f86]Trace stared at the body of the dragon with disdain. He hoped somebody would be facing a disciplinary meeting over this.

He wandered over to his vehicle, wishing to some extent that he'd never volunteered for Heavy Loader training. many new operatives get told by other Agents what to and what to not sign up for but unfortunately that was a luxury that he'd missed out on.

It was a massive bulk of a machine- a huge platform on two-metre wide wheels with a large mechanical tower on one side that slid up and down its length, huge claws poised for lifting, shifting and, without proper training, crushing.

Hauling himself into the cabin he cranked the ignition, sending the machine roaring into life. It rolled out from its holding bay and into the main hangar area.

"I'd better recieve a bonus for this," he muttered.[/color]

-------------------------------------------------------

[size=1]OOC: Each character wll receive a message through some form or another asking them to attend a special mission brief in Operations. I'll assign which characters are called to thich duty then, if nobody objects. Use the Underground thread if there are any questions.[/size]

[Blayze]

[size=1]Xander flung balls of flame towards Katz, who instinctively ducked and dodged the flaming hot balls of destruction. Xander threw more and more, until the room was almost completely engulfed by a flaming inferno. Katz still managed to duck and dodge, getting away from all the fire without harm. Xander knew that he could stop if he started hurting his friend, but he kept going.

Just then, his communicator buzzed. It was about the size and shape of a small cell phone, and he unhooked it from his belt, and answered it.

"There will be a special briefing in Operations in a few minutes. Everyone who hears this message must attend. Thank you," crackled the voice. The connection cut off.

"That's weird," said Xander, as Katz apparently received a similar message, "Normally they announce mission briefings over the PA system. Why go to all the trouble of sending us all messages?"

"I do not know, friend, but what I do know is that we need to attend the meeting. I suppose we should head over to Operations."

The alien and the fire spirit walked off, heading to Operations, seeing field agents rushing around everywhere.
[/size]

[Mimmsicle]

[FONT=Tahoma]Adéle sat with her head burried in her hands, trying to reach that happy place where all you can hear is birdsong. It was rather hard, though, with the incessant high-pitched argument going on in the adjoining cell? errr, room. It hadn?t taken security very long to pick her up from the elevator area and ?secure? her in a small interrogation room, fitted with the stereotypical mirror. The walls might?ve been thick enough to keep those with undeveloped powers out of the loop but she didn?t even need to focus her powers to sense the heated talk between her newly appointed (not to mention struggling) mentor and some suit. Getting into trouble at training sessions from being incompetent was already bad enough. She only had to endure humiliation to her ego in a controlled setting, with minimal damage done to unsuspecting bystanders (because, let?s face it, everyone in the training area were always forewarned about her sessions), but never before had it gotten out of hand like this.

Peeking between her fingers Adéle could see the blurred outline of herself in the mirror. She thought back at holding the knife and seeing the reflections bounce off of it. There had been a strange calm overcoming her as she?d twirled the shiny metal about, almost like a safety blanket wrapping itself around your shoulders. Her eyelids began to feel heavy as her mind wandered, the landscape in the mirror fading out like a painting where all the colours bleed into one another. In the distance she could hear how the fighting had subsided, a third voice talking with restraint. Whatever they were talking about was serious, a matter of importance that somehow might involve Adéle, yet all the while she fell deeper into a trance-like state from gazing into the mirror. Something had changed. With herself? The mirror? [I]Maybe both[/I], she thought and tentatively stood up. Looking more closely at the reflective surface it appeared there [I]was [/I]a difference happening, despite it not really having changed. The bare walls, table and chair, were still there. So was she. Everything was the same and yet not. She could see the image at the same time as she saw a completely different place before her. A place that wasn?t that room, somewhere where she wasn?t. Realizing this made her heart jump, flashes of other times floating by. It had always gone away or blown something away when she?d tried to reach out for that space of unknown. With one key difference. Back then she?d only felt a tiny fraction of what surged through her body right now. This time was not like the others.

*****

[B]?We think that with this new progression in Miss Palou?s powers she might be of interest in this mission. That will be determined once we know the specifics of today?s development, however. Is she ready for us??

?I think she?s had enough time to calm down. Just ? go easy on her.?[/B]

*****

Her hands shook as they touched the mirror?s frame, an image behind the reflection growing stronger. Alien landscape stretched out before her, new smells mingling in each breath she took, frightening sounds from animals echoed all around. Someone called out her name but she couldn?t tell if the voice was welcoming or ushering her away in anger. Adéle?s heart raced as curiosity faded to give way to fear, icy terror erasing the burning joy in her limbs. As she looked back she saw the door to the interrogation room slam against the wall as the three shocked men raced towards her, throwing themselves at her disappearing form to pull her back. It was too late and she fell backwards into darkness until a blinding light struck her eyes, her body slamming onto a cold, hard ground. [/FONT]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Laqara was waiting for a transport car when her communicaor beeped. She answered it immediatly. "Agent Laqara here."

"Laqara, you are to report to Opperations immediatly," the man on the other end instructed her.

"Understood," Laqara replied. When the other side terminated the connection, she looked around and saw that the transport car that went in the direction of Opperations had just pulled up. She borded immediatly. After taking a seat, she activated her communicator again, contacting Branit.

A couple seconds after Laqara initiated the call, Branit answered. "Branit here."

"Branit, this is Laqara. It looks like I'm not going to be able to make it. I've just been called to Operations. I don't know why, but I think it's something serious."

"That's too bad," Branit replied. "I was planing to give the squad participating in the excersize a real test."

"Tell me what you had in mind," Laqara said, "and I'll see if I have any ideas."

"All right. The scenario we have planned is a basic Delta-4. A mated pair of gryphons want to leave their lair, and they'll be spotted if they do. The team's job is to prevent them from escaping without harming them. I asked you to come because I have a little surprise planned. What the squad doesn't know is that I'm sending in a second squad, whose mission is to take out the first squad. I wanted you to lead the second squad."

"I'm sory I have to miss that," Vaxle told Branit. "Sounds fun. Anyways, I suggest you call in Treana as my replacement. You know her record, right?"

"Right. She's about as well-suited for this as you are. I'll call her in. Good luck with whatever your assignment is going to be."

'Thanks. Laqara out."

[Snarktastic]

[COLOR=Indigo]Sally had settled back into her room, and was about to finish off her letter when her communicator, sitting on her desk, began to beep, demanding it be answered.

[B]"Bloody hell..."[/B] she muttered, slightly annoyed to be interrupted yet again. She then brightened a little bit as she realized that this might be a call to go on a mission. Finally, some excitement around here again!

[B]"Hullo?"[/B] she said with a smile.

A young man's voice was heard on the other end of the line. [B]"Imprint, this is Operator 327. You're needed for a special mission brief in Operations immediately."[/B]

[B]"Immediately?"[/B] she repeated, sounding a little taken aback at the choice of words. [B]"That important, eh?"[/B]

The young man's voice became more terse as he replied, [B]"I'm not at liberty to give out any information over the communicator, Imprint. Please report to Operations -- now."[/B]

[B]"Alright, alright -- I'm going. Thanks."[/B] She turned off her communicator and clipped it on her belt, heading out the door and down the hall.

As she walked down the hall, she passed Vivid's room. Vivid was a nice enough girl -- she and Sally had lunch with each other every so often, even worked with each other on research projects a few times. They weren't exactly the best of friends, but Sally had great respect for her. The door was opened a bit, so she decided to take a look inside, seeing if maybe she had returned from her mission early.

Instead, she found two men collecting Vivid's things into boxes.

Sally paled at this, frozen in the doorway. One of the men looked up and noticed her. [B]"Are you looking for --"[/B]

[B]"No,"[/B] Sally replied, shaking her head. [B]"N-no, I'm not."[/B] She then gulped. [B]"Besides, it wouldn't make sense to go lookin' for her on this plane of existence anymore, would it?"[/B] she added, forcing a chuckle. [B]"I'll just be going now."[/B]

Backing out of the doorway, she quickly dashed down the hall toward Operations. Vivid was dead -- there's no other reason why they would be gathering her things together without her there. Her excitement over a possible mission had disappeared completely as she realized that this might be a recovery mission...[/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

The transport cars were fast, but Laqara had been pretty far away from Opperations when the call came, plus the car made several stops along the way, so it was a bit of a ride. When it did reach Laqara's stop, she got off. As she walked towards Operations, her communicator beeped again. She answered it. "This is Laqara."

"Laqara? Treana. Branit tells me you've been called for a mission."

"That's right," Laqara confirmed. "It's why I told him to call you in for the excersize in my place."

"Yeah, he told me. I take it this means we won't be getting together later?"

"Probably," Laqara replied. She and Treana hadn't had coenciding time off for a while, so had planned to get together in another couple hours. Laqara'a mission call changed all that. "We'll have to do it some other time."

"That's too bad," Treana said. "Oh, by the way, I have something to ask you about the training excersize."

"Seemed simple enough to me. Stanard Delta-4. Branit told me."

"Yeah, I know. What he didn't tell you is that the squad doing the excersize is made up of a bunch of assholes. I believe you know one of them, Daego. He's the squad's leader for this excersize."

"I know Daego," Laqara said. "guy's an asshole. Skilled agent, but an asshole."

"Well, the rest of the squad's that type, too. Cocky, overconfident, and generally unplesant. Branit's rigging this excersize against them. He wants them to get their asses handed to them. He's trying to teach them a lesson. Thing is, they're all pretty good, so the kind of spectacular failiur Branit wants won't come easy. He's already introducing all the predictable stuff; you know, a scientist team from outside (note: 'outside' means people who aren't with Clandestine and have no knolwedge of the supernatural), fighter pilots doing drills overhead, that sort of thing. He's even going to put an unexpected third gryphon in the lair with the mated pair, and not tell the squad about it. Then there's the group I'll be leading gainst them. But Branit wants more than that. He's wondering if you have any other ideas, and honestly, so am I."

Laqara had to think for a few seconds, but then it came to her. Gryphons weren't exactly prone to pack behavior, but neither were they solitary creatures. Mated pairs lived together and raised their young, and it was not unheard of for multiple gryphons, or even multiple mated pairs, to inhabit the same lair. That's the rationale Branit would be using for putting the third gryphon in. Laqara's idea took that a couple steps farther.

"Put two extra gryphons in," Laqara explained to Treana, "and don't tell the squad that there are any gryphons other than the mated pair know about. Daego will undoubtably send people in to contain the mated pair, while the rest remain outside the lair, ready to prevent a gryphon exit just in case. I assume that the squad will have full gear, including tracking headsets?"

"Correct," Treana replied. Tracking headsets were standard for most missions. They allowed instant location of any team members, came equiped with all the standard vision features (infrared, night-vision, etc.), and tracked mission objectives.

"Simulate an equiment function," Laqara said, "but don't make it look like one. That's just the rationale. Have the second pair of gryphons regester on objective tracking as Secondary 2 and 3. As soon as the squad finds them, they'll all go nuts searching the lair for a Secondary 1 that doesn't exist. Now, while all this happens, whoever the best steath expert on your squad is should be watching the outside-the-lair group unseen, while the rest of you are nearby. When the squad starts freaking out, you're person notifies you. You do some of your crazy shit, but make sure you're not seen by Daego's squad. You don't want them to see you, but you want to be noticed by the fighters doing their drill. When they react to you, stop your stuff. The fighters will converge on your location. Daego's squad will assume that the ellusive 'Secondary 1' has ben seen, and really start freaking out, doing whatever they can to neutralize all fighters, as well as the outside researchers. And by 'neutralize', I mean 'eliminate'. Destroy. Kill. WHatever word you like best. This is when you lead your squad in for the attack. You'll catch Daego's boys with their pants down at the worst possible time from their point of view, and you should have no problem eliminating them, or at least most of them. Next, you go into the lair and cause enough chaos to alow the primary objective mated pair of gryphons to escape. Game over, Daego loses."

"I like that," Treana said. "I like it a lot. We'll do it. Thanks."

"You're welcome. See you... well, sometime. Bye." With that, Laqara terminated the connection. She had reached Opperations. She was escorted inside the area, where she took a seat and waited for the briefing to begin.

------------------------------------------

OOC: Solo, I reccommend just having the characters whose players haven't posted yet arrive in Opperations in your post. That way, we're not waiting on everyone to post, and people will be more likely to post when the story gets going. So, I suggest that you have the characters reach Opperations, recieve their assignments, and get going.

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkOrchid]Indira's talons clacked against the tile of the floor as she almost skipped back to her quarters from Ops. Shyam had promised he'd come later that evening, giving her time to throw her room into better shape. Not that Shyam would've complained about the mess - if anything his quarters were even more of a disaster area - but it made [i]her[/i] feel better.

She was halfway to her quarters when Sally ran by.

[B]"Hi, Sally, bye Sally..."[/B] Sally didn't even pause to greet her. Indira shrugged, turning back around to finish the walk to her quarters, when he communicator beeped. It was Shyam.

[B]"Er...Indira, the Agent Superior says you need to get back up here, seems you're needed for something..." [/B] Indira turned to glance up the hall, where Sally was just disappearing around the corner.

[B]"Oh...crap." [/B][/COLOR]





[COLOR=DarkOrange]ooc: sorry, is short, I know.[/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[color=Navy][color=Black][b]OOC: [/b]Sorry I haven't been posting.[/color]

Sakura had stayed back for a while after the other Hackers left. Laquara's group hadn't been spotted, luckily. Sakura had remained to double check the system just in case, they could never be too sure of things. She found a small file that had been missed and started to leave.

[b]"Hey Sakura, hang around for a while." [/b]One of the Op people told her.

[b]"Stay here? Why?" [/b]she questioned.

[b]"A group of members have just been sent notices to come here immediately, you're to be briefed for a mission." [/b]the same person said.

[b]"A mission..." [/b]Sakura mumbled.

She frowned, she had hoped to help continue the research of her project in the Research Facility. She sighed and fell lightly back into her chair, flapping her wings as she waited. They were cramping, so she made a mental note to go for a fly later to give them exercise. The Op took the sign as that she would stay and walked away.

She waited and watched the door as Laquara entered, then Sally, and Indira came through not too long after. She greeted each of them as they arrived, lounging in her swivel chair that still sat near the computer mainframe she had been working with.

[b]"Haven't left, Sakura?" [/b]Indira asked her.

[b]"Yeah, was about to leave before I got told I gotta hang around." [/b]she sighed.

Sakura waited and continued to flap her wings, not noticing as she started to levitate from her chair, hovering a few centimetres above the seat.
[/color]