Jace's quick weave takes him back far enough that the brodkil's weapon arm cant get good purchase, but also makes him just inches out of reach with his sword when the monster starts running. The monster charges forward, a beastial roar starting deep in his throat before being released in a rising crescendo just as he reaches the position of the huddled civilians at the edge of the city. Three dozen sets of eyes watch him approaching with looks of frozen impotent terror. When he lets go if the button is uncertain, but as he reaches his goal, he disappears in a blinding flash of light.
All those looking on are blinded by the brilliant white of the explosion, and the sound hits like a wave across the chest, knocking everyone to the ground. If anything, this blast was larger than the first, and this time there was no reinforced stone and steel wall absorbing the brunt of the blast.
Ace is probably the first to regain some semblance of consciousness, as his armour was specifically designed to deal with shockwaves. He vaguely recognizes a warning indicator on his HUD reporting that multiple airborne armour units have taken off from various points within the city. Time crawls as he gets himself to a sitting position and looks around. Nothing much is recognizable. The reception square is gone, with a ten foot deep crater centering on where the crosswalk between the first two building would have been. The earth at the bottom is glowing softly red, even in broad daylight. As he watches, the concrete facade of one of the two buildings hit slides off, filling the crater with a hundred tonnes of debris.
What seems like an instant later, a dozen suits of power armour, Titans, Predators, and even a repainted SAMAS suit are in the conflict zone. They appear to be assessing threats, and disarming anyone that appears to be armed. Ace sees Arsenio and Thumper, probably the two that were closest to the explosion, unconscious and handcuffed, lying face down near a pike being made of their gear. Jace and the others are being similarly disarmed and secured, probably still to stunned ti mount much of a resistance. K842 is being fitted with a Borg restraining collar. Even Hyperkinetic, having been flattened by the shockwave, gets cuffed and hauled dazedly to a security vehicle. Two pilots in Predator armour point weapons at Ace and order him to dismount his armour immediately.
A crowd of soldiers, mostly Juicers, but with a few power armour ground units like Sampsons, arrive about a minute after the airborne units, and within 5 minutes there are probably 2-300 troops within visible range. Medical services start arriving soon after, and once given permission by the soldiers, they start checking for survivors, and treating the injured.
The other 'armed' individuals, mostly from your team, are loaded up into security vehicles and transported out.
You are sure you have never seen him before, a white man of about 40, with pale blue eyes and dark hair, but for some reason, the sight of him sends chills down your spine.
Ace climbs out of his armor and raises his hands, and since he's the most conscious, he shouts "I wish to speak with someone in charge! I have important information about this!"
If someone listens to him, he'll tell the story from the first bomb that went off on the wall to the last bomb that just decimated everything. He'll swear that he and his teammates (pointing them out) did their best to stop the brodkils, pointing out how the specific types of weapon damage in their bodies corresponds to his teammate's weapons.
'Thumper' holsters his pistol and raises his hands, he waits to follow Arsenio's lead.
Hyperkinetic immediately cooperates with the authorities.
Each member of the team is cuffed, disarmed, and moved into an individual cell in a transport vehicle that is brought in for the purpose. Several other bystanders are placed in cells as well, either because they were armed, or had sustained moderate injuries that didnt require hospitalozation, but still needed urgeant care. Staff on board the transport provide medical attention to anyone that needs it.
All attempts to get attention, give explanations, or ask for an authority figure to speak to are either ignored, or given a very brief deflection.
"We are securing the area; please hold all comments and questions until you are asked to provide your official statement."
The transport travels a distance, though other than it taking about 15 minutes, you cant speak much in regards to details. When you arrive where you are going, your transport cell opens directly into a solitary holding cell. In each, there is a cot, a chair and small table, a small lavatory with a toilet, sink, and standing shower, and a data terminal that allows you to log your meal preference for the next meal cycle and not much else. A personal effects bin opens in one wall, along with a request showing on the data pad that all personal items, including clothing, be placed within. There is a set of nondescript clothing neatly folded on each cot.
While debriefing starts for some within an hour of reaching holding, the investigators are interviewing each witness one at a time, so for others, a few hours have passed by the time they are seen.
When you are shown out of your cell, you are escorted to an interview room like most others. Two chairs for the lead and secondary investigators, with one for the interviewee across a table. Though this room appears to lack the ubiquitous one way glass, there is a camera in each corner of the room, as well as a omni-directional recorder sitting in the middle of the table.
The apparent lead interviewer, a human woman in her early forties, indicates the chair opposite her and her partner, "Have a seat. I am Inspector Micheaux, this is my associate, Inspector Travis. Her partner is another human, though he is male and probably half a dozen years younger.
Once you are seated, she leans forward and touches a light on the recorder, "Inspector Elise Micheaux, beginning the interview with witness number , in regards to the assault and bombing of gate four, today's date. Please state your name, affiliation, rank, and serial number. Please indicate in either the positive or negative whether you consent to telepathic monitoring of this interview. Monitoring will be used only to confirm or contradict your belief in your statement. Our laws allow you to decline such permission with no penalty, though agreeing can significantly expedite these proceedings and allow us to more quickly verify your statement, and dismiss you from considerations regarding wrongdoing, when applicable."
Assuming each interviewee responds to her initial inquiries and is ready to go on, she continues, "Please describe the events of this afternoon, during your presence at Gate 4. Try to be as specific as possible, and keeping the events in chronological order."
It takes Arsenio some time to shake off his daze and process the information from after the crisis. He welcomes the few hours to mull things over and compartmentalize his feelings; he can grieve for the senseless loss of life once he has helped the local authorities (and hopefully avoided his team being blamed for the fiasco).
Thoughts of hiding his identity for the sake of the mission flash through his head, but are eventually discarded. This isn't the time to play coy, and whatever they've stumbled into is probably a higher priority mission than the one they were sent to perform in any case.
As such when the investigators come to take his statement, he decides to cooperate fully.
"I consent to telepathic screening. I am Captain Arsenio Deloso, with the Tomorrow Legion. Serial Number . I am a Burster, if it makes a difference in what security arrangements you want to make." he says, having to physically stop himself from snapping his fingers to conjure a flame to punctuate the statement.
"My team and I arrived at the gate to process through to the city after stopping off at a local bar in the course of pursuing our original mission."
"While waiting in line, there was a detonation; most of us were thrown to the ground. I didn't see where it came from, but from the aftermath it looked almost like the bomb had gone off inside the gate house."
"After that, one of the nearby APCs disgorged a group of armed and cybered-up Brodkil, who began firing on civilians. We engaged and killed several, doing our best to limit collateral damage."
"The largest Brodkil, the leader, was strapped with another bomb, which he threatened to blow up once most of his men were dead. He claimed they were all meant to die in any case. I believe him; the bomb was rigged with a dead man's switch. He charged at the cluster of surviving civilians, we were unable to stop him...and he detonated the Fusion Block."
Arsenio takes a moment to recollect himself after that.
"I'm not sure how we survived, or how long we were out, but when we came to your military had finally arrived."
He hesitates a moment before continuing.
"There was someone among them who didn't seem to belong. Caucasian, middle aged, blue eyes, dark hair. I suspect he was under some kind of cloaking spell or power; maybe tech but I didn't spot anything overt on him. I was the only one who seemed to notice him at all, since the soldiers almost barreled through him on at least one occasion. He was too relaxed, too confident to have been just REACTING to the event."
He shakes his head.
"That's all I know. This was clearly some kind of terror op, and based on the man I saw this is probably just the start of something bigger. He didn't seem at all concerned I'd seen through whatever was hiding him. He even winked at me. Like it didn't really matter."
Hyperkinetic spends his time literally bouncing off the walls of the transport cell, trying to find a way out. Unlike his mentor, he couldn't move fast enough to phase through objects, so he didn't really stand a chance of getting out, although the thumping did go on for a while before he finally settled down.
When he is deposited in the cell, Hyperkinetic activates his ring, which collapses his uniform back into it.
It's only then that he realizes that he's completely naked.
Fortunately, it's not long after he deposits the ring that he is given new clothing.
After what seems like forever, he is finally called, and he follows, excited to be going somewhere.
In the interrogation room, Hyperkinetic says "Ah wahn't muh Loy-ah. and mah phone kawl."
Ace will consent to telepathic monitoring, and tells his story from the first bomb that went off on the wall to the last bomb that decimated everything. He'll swear that he and his teammates (naming them) did their best to stop the Brodkils, suggesting that they compare how the specific types of weapon damage in their bodies corresponds to his teammate's weapons.
"Now, I have a VERY important question for you - where's my Glitter Boy???"
"Before I start talking, do you extradite to the Fed?" He will then go on to explain the fight from his perspective, which is very rich in detail about the workings of his devices and light in details about the rest of what happened.
..."at that point I pulled out the catalizer, my 'thumber' it had been a little lackluster in the past so during the last overhaul I changed the catalyzing spike out for a gold one"..., 90 seconds later, ..."I leveled it at the Boady and dropped the 'thumper' right into the turret."
Jace eyes the interrogator with as much suspicion as he does interest. "Separate interviews so you can cooberate our stories. Basic handcuffs, no way of hindering us if we wanted to cause trouble. Odd that. No, I do not want some mind jacker prancing around in my head. I will tell you what happened as I saw it. Take it or leave it."
Jace goes on to talk about entering the city, the almost barfight, the first explosion, the fight to stop the demons and the eventual white light and blinding headache he has.
... now can I get that third plate of potatoes and gravy now or what?"
"If your telepath can interface with what is left of my brain meat, go for it. So lets see, what happened. We went out to check on reports of a dragon, or maybe a vampire, I can't quite remember. I really wanted to fight the dragon, because who wouldn't. But it turned out that there were other dudes fighting the dragon and some other dragons, like babies or something. There was a juicer there who was maybe a dragon juicer, so we ran away from the mist and came here to look for the dragon juicer cause you guys are so good at making juicers. Also, we found this guy who's really fast, like mad fast. Then we came here on a long bumpy road. There was a bar, and we went in, and there was a cyborg, and I was going to pick a fight with him, and my mates were like, no, don't do that in here. So we went outside, and then we came to the gate and there were bombs, and I fought this demon thing, and then this cyberred up demon thing, and then more bombs, and then bam, I'm here."
Androva takes the interrogation in stride, answering the questions honestly.
"As I'm sure that my comrades will collaborate, we are innocent. We were trying to protect the civilians from those d-bees when one of them produced a bomb with a dead man's switch and detonated the damned thing! You should be thanking us that there weren't more casualties. Go ahead, read my mind if you don't believe me."
Once hearing an explicit denial, she moves on to her next question. If she doesn't get an explicit denial, she rephrased the question, but asks essentially the same thing again.
"In regards to this person you claim you saw? Did you recognize him? Had you ever seen him before? Was there anything distinctive about him beyond what you have mentioned? Would you be willing to have a telepath do a more thorough look at your memory of this person so we can construct a facial recognition profile? Any idea why you were able to see him when no one else apparently could?"
After Jace gives his statement, the officer thanks him, "I'll have more food sent to your cell. You're a Hyperion, right? Looks like you have an original Mark I Hyperion Biocomp from your chest plate. Means you are probably not the first Juicer to use it. You were registered in our system as a standard Juicer and given their rations. I'll make the adjustment in the computer and have the extra portions sent up. Anything else you'd like to add to you statement?"
"So, you came here on an assignment to find someone? A Dragon Juicer? That is a more unusual procedure, and we are one of very few places that performs that conversion. One of our citizens created the process, and most Dragon Juicers in existence were created here. Even then, there are not a large number of them out there; maybe 250-300 world wide. What did this Dragon Juicer do that motivated coming here to track him down?"
Jace glares at the unveiled threat, but keeps his mouth shut about it. Instead he simply says, "Nothing further, just hungry. " He eyes the interrogator until she is out of sight as he is led back to his cell. He wonders how his other teammates are doing.
[spoiler=Arsenio's Interrogation]
Arsenio shakes his head.
"Never seen the guy before in my life. Not sure why I saw him. Might be my background as a detective, I was able to put the pieces together against a shoddy notice deflecting ability? Or maybe it was just dumb luck I saw him in a vulnerable moment."
"If you feel like the deeper scan is necessary, I'm willing to cooperate, so long as your telepath doesn't go rooting around elsewhere. Classified information should stay classified if it's not relevant to this, which nothing I know of is."
At length, the party has their statements taken and retaken, their references checked, and their stories compared. The incident occurred at around noon, and by about 9 pm you are finally released.
Your belongings are returned, excepting any heavy weaponry, which you are informed has been transferred from police lockup to the holding area at Gate 3, which you can claim whenever you are ready.
Inspector Micheaux is there in a private room off the lobby of the security building as your personal effects are being returned.
"Through our investigation to date, we have managed to corroborate most elements of your respective statements. The cameras at gate four were all destroyed, but there where other city cameras that captured parts of the incident from further away. They didn't see everything, but what we were able to piece together certainly reinforces that you were all doing your best to help. That while your presence was just happenstance, you did a great deal to limit the scale of the event, and may have prevented a much deeper incursion past the gate that would have resulted in a much more severe casualty count. We are still piecing things together, but the investigation keep going in the present direction, your group will likely be hailed as heroes. If that is the case, it may do a great deal to normalize relations between us and Castle Refuge. I'm sure there will be many in the city that will want to thank you."
"That being said, we are going through the information very carefully, and should we find any inconsistencies, a great many people will be disappointed, and we will have some very direct questions to ask both you and the Tomorrow Legion."
"If you have any further questions, or remember anything else you would like to add to your statements, you can contact me through CityNet; I'm listed there. In the meantime, I understand it is late, so I have booked accommodations for you at this hotel," she hands Arsenio a card, "It isn't fancy, but it is honest, and relatively secure. They have instructions to host you, at City expense, through the rest of the week, should you choose. Have a good evening."
Androva thanks the inspector and heads for the aforementioned hotel. She is tired, hungry, and very sore.
Hyperkinetic joins the others in checking into the hotel.
Are you going to do anything about the Juicer who tried to take the baby dragons?" Ace asks before she leaves. "If not, do you mind if *we* do?"
Jace feels more relaxed now that he is fed and being released. When they get to the hotel, he takes a packet of Twinkies out and begins to eat them 1 by 1. "That was fun. I don't think she's going to let us muck up her city hunting down that baby thief. "
'Thumper' is sitting on one of the beds idly taking apart the bedside lamp. "They know we work for the Legion, and the guy knows we are coming. But I think I can co-opt the city's power net to try and locate the guy." He holds up the lamp.
Arsenio accepts the voucher gratefully with a polite nod of his head, and doesn't quite manage to suppress a wince as Ace gives out details of their mission without prompting, but files it away as an unfortunate consequence of the day they've had; slip ups will happen.
Are you going to do anything about the Juicer who tried to take the baby dragons?" Ace asks before she leaves. "If not, do you mind if *we* do?"
"Hunting dragons in the wildlands, even hatchling dragons, reprehensible as it may be, is not considered a crime here. Keep in mind that assaulting or kidnapping a citizen, most definately is. If the Tomorrow Legion would like to file a grievance against one of our citizens for crimes against one of it's own, I can give you instructions on the appropriate channels. Given your help, they may even consider helping you. It is up to you."
Jace stops eating his Twinkies long enough to talk once he realizes that the investigation is seeming to be locked down by the local law. "Maybe we have to do things more quiet like. Maybe grease a few palms and maybe 'convince' someone to come quietly so it is isn't 'technically' kidnapping. Where there is a lot of law, there are those that break it on a regular basis. We get in good with them, we find our guy." He emphasizes his words with the snap of a Slim Jim.
Arsenio mulls things over for a moment, once they're in their hotel room.
He scans the room for any surveillance devices, but assuming he doesn't find any, responds to Jace.
"Nothing says we can't do both. We can put in a request to the proper channels, and start making inroads on the improper ones as well. It would be easier if everything could be above board, but you're not wrong. Any city is going to have a criminal element, and most of them aren't above a little vigilante justice if they're paid for it. Especially against scum like kid killers and pedophiles."
'Thumper' lifts the lamp, "So I should continue?"
"Ya'll don even kno tha kinda thangs that capes deal wit. Thar's always some cop who thinks that 'Heroes ah menaces.' It'all gets tar-ring after a while."
"Arsenio - yeah, but the guy we're looking for is a Dragon Juicer, and given that harvesting young dragons isn't illegal here, *and* that this is the town that invented Dragon Juicing, I'd be willing to bet that Dragon Juicers aren't considered scum here. Many people here may even *protect* their Dragon Juicers!"
Jace nods, finishing a chew of something he picked off a room service plate earlier. "Yeah, we are used to doing things above board, you know, to keep the Legion's nose clean, but I think the reason they created our SET is so we can get stuff done, however we do it. Just give the word, Boss, and I'm on the streets to find some old 'friends '."
"If these people don't think draining sentients for power is scummy, maybe we should burn the whole place down around their ears. I don't have any interest in a nice hotel. All beds feel the same to my metal joints."
K-842 is clearly unsettled, loudly clanking as he paces across the floor. He pretty much has has two modes: If is is weak, protect it. If it is strong, either befriend it or beat it down.
Check in at the hotel proceeds without incident. The referral form the city is on file, and you are shown quickly to your rooms. No listening devices are found. Unless anyone has anything they wish to do during the night, everyone is able to get adequate sleep, and then regroup for a discussion in the morning.
Can Androva order a bath (or are bathing facilities available)? She wants to soak.
'Thumper' lifts the lamp, "So I should continue?"
"If you think you can do...whatever you're doing without getting caught or causing damage to the power grid, go for it."
Jace nods, finishing a chew of something he picked off a room service plate earlier. "Yeah, we are used to doing things above board, you know, to keep the Legion's nose clean, but I think the reason they created our SET is so we can get stuff done, however we do it. Just give the word, Boss, and I'm on the streets to find some old 'friends '."
"I'll come with you. I know a thing or two about finding criminal contacts; it was a useful skill in my previous line of work."
A grin crosses Jace's face. "Yes sir."
Androva is able to call up for a bath relatively easily. The facility has both private and gender specific communal bathing areas. The private bath has a bit more of a wait, but the public bath is available immediately.
Arsenio and Jace run into a bit of a problem almost immediately. Footage of the incident at gate 4 is playing on just about every vid-monitor in town, and while most of it is either from before the initial explosion, or from extreme distances and highly zoomed, some of the shots are just about close enough to make it possible to sort of recognize the participants. Obviously, a group of people that risked their lives to avert an apparent terror attack on the city is pretty big news, and is pretty much on everyone's lips.
At the first couple places you stop, people look at you a bit sideways, staring longer than they should at just some random patrons, as if trying to figure out where they recognize you from. By the second place, people are chatting almost everywhere, and making surreptitious glances or gestures in your direction. By the third place, you get a direct indication that you've been recognized.
Two young women, probably shy of twenty, approach you nervously. Both are dressed for a night out, in revealing clothing and carefully applied makeup. One is a blonde, with the scalp beneath her hair done with iridescent reptilian scales. They look like part of her skin, though whether they are natural, cosmetic, or a permanent body modification is too difficult to tell. Her friend has straight black hair, and dark bronzy skin, and a high-end cybernetic arm replacing her natural left one. It is one of the limbs designed for aesthetic appeal, and so it has transparent sections, glowing bits, and a variety of social convenience attachments.
They approach cautiously at first, but then scamper up the last dozen feet or so. They are staring intently at Arsenio and Jace, but apparently fail to even notice that Ace is along.
"Uh, Hi! Are you them? You like just like two of the guys on the vids, you know, from the Gate 4 thing. Was that you? They looked so scary! You guys might be incredible to have taken on those demon things like that! Are you like baddasses from the Wilds or something? Have you done that kind of thing before?" they both ask in a never ending flood of gushing questions and praise. They don't give you much time to respond, moving on to the next question before you've really registered the last, "Listen, we were wondering if you might want to head somewhere? We'd love to have a chance to talk and find out all about you!"
A woman at the bar, just slightly older than the first two looks at the three of you appreciatively, then settles her eyes on Arsenio. She makes a suggestive motion with her tongue, and a subtle signal with her eyes that indicates she'd like to get acquainted as well. Immediately.
A few of the men in the bar look at the newcomers, with a wide variety of responses. Some raise a glass and salute, some look jealous, but more than a few also look like they'd love to find an excuse to take you down a peg. The looks in their eyes say that you got lucky, just being in the right place at the right time, and if they'd been there, they'd have done it better. Others look at you with some sort of contempt, as though they are sure it was some sort of set up, and you must have been in on it.
The official Municipal Security Office Net-page says that they were detained, that statements were taken, and that while a full investigation is still pending, it does not believe at present that they had anything to do with the attacks, and that they were released from police custody. A little more digging gets you a less publicized report that names them definitively Tomorrow Legion.
Buzz on the CityNet starts up late in the evening, reporting that a few of them have been spotted out and around town. Sightings are being posted non-stop around the city, either of people claiming to be the heroes, or people suspected of being them based on appearance. The main concentrations seem to be in two places. There is a group of men in a place on Blitz Street (the nightclub district) that are playing up that they are the guys everyone is looking for, and taking heavy advantage of the good will and groopies that seem to be coming their way. The second set of sightings concentrate around a few places along Grafter, which is rougher area, within the Vice district.
|
The town was kinda dull after I delivered my missive--seems a waste of my wizness, but ain't that how it is? It's not like back home, but now, few things are, good or bad.
I was thinking about talking a long walk when the 'Net started flowing. Finally. Some excitement. My first peg was for my people, and of course I was right. No Fed dandies could make 'splodies that pretty for the trid. I should stop calling it a trid.
As the news comes fresh, I strap on the Huntsman, toss on the fabulous scarf, and mount the twin 227s. First stop is Blitz Street. The flotsam an' jetsam at the only decent stop in this two star town, the Sweet Doomed Angel, they might know. Was I them an' this famous, that's where I'da head.
Before I step, I jaz th' chips an' check. 'Hey Vikky, how's baby an' bottle?'
-I and the containment unit are under satisfactory conditions.-
Chill.
Jace doesn't bother with attempting to look like anything out of the ordinary for himself as he leaves the hotel. His usual urban camo armor and the pistol at his side does most of the talking for a bounty hunter that is attached to a military unit. When the two admirers approach, Jace is instantly aware that he is both probably being watched and these two are the bait and secondly, he hasn't had a decent night's company since the last few missions away from Refuge. He tips his head at the men that are saluting him and pays attention to the women. "Ladies, we can't all be heroes, now can we? Just doing our job is all. Come on, I'll buy you something at the vendor there and we can talk about what happened all you like."
With a nod towards Arsenio for approval, he heads to a more visible place to buy a bit of food for him and the ladies and proceeds to chat with them to get the layout of this area. He keeps the street in sight as he chats with the two girls, only half listening as he nods along.
Arsenio sighs inwardly when he realizes going incognito isn't an option any more, but decides to roll with it.
"Just doing what any good citizen with the means and training to help would have. But sure, I haven't eaten yet. Why don't we grab some dinner? Jay here seems to know a place." he says, locking eyes with Jace for a moment to make sure they're on the same page.