Alias: A New Era

[SoleStride]

New Angeles
Some street
2:00AM
Interactions: ( @Cresion Breezes ), Black Grace ( @Kat ), Drake ( @ChrisClark13 ), Black Glint ( @TreasureSniper )

Collab between:
Lucian Albrechtsen & Kemi Marks

Masses of soot and dust hung in the air, Lucian wiped some from his eyes and face, a bit annoyed as he stared at the "Miss Figurehead" that just showed up. She looks a bit familiar, but he wasn't in the mood for recalling Arcadia catalogs. The ebony woman that was with him fidgeted a bit in her place, and pulled out a taser gun. She then put the weapon away as quickly as she pulled it out. The entire sequence of actions felt incredibly strange to Lucian, but he couldn't pinpoint what, the light burns on his skin still stung and burnt ashes still clouded his vision. More importantly, the fact that Arcadia has caught up to him was the most unsettling fact. He was alone, with no chance of being able to fight back, and God knows what Arcadia would do to him.

"Give me that guy back; he can help me get close enough to see her so I can hit her." The woman's voice snapped the despair that crawled slowly up Lucian's back, she saw him being cuffed by an Arcadia figurehead, yet she didn't assume that he was a threat. Whoever this woman's alliance was with, it wasn't with Arcadia. That was the one solace in this situation. Slowly, Lucian walked up a bit, still trying to get soot out of his eyes, and purposely grazed the woman's shoulder with the absorber cuffs on him. As he passed he made it clear to look at her in the eyes, then at the absorbers on his wrists.

Kemi; however, had been focused on the Arcadian woman who was clearly not interested in her plan to tranquilize the young girl. She was paying little attention to the guy until he made his move to make contact again. In a situation like this, there was no way that was an accident. And no matter who this guy was, she trusted Arcadia even less. She had been paying attention though to what the Arcadian figurehead was saying, noting how she made a point to call the guy they were with 'Null'. It only verified her previous theory. This guy could nullify powers. He had shielded her from the heat with that ability, but it had also been the reason she wasn't able to access her pocket until he was handcuffed. She noticed him even more now though. His ability made her both curious and nervous; hopeful yet frustrated. That was probably a curse he felt more often than not around other people. Kemi made sure to lock eyes for just a moment, sliding a hand back behind her back and absently scratching at the tenderly burned skin beneath her shirt. It hurt.

Of course, Miss Figurehead from Arcadia didn't listen to the nice lady. Her voice dripped with that signature Arcadian hypocrisy. Yeah right. I would be alive if you didn't cuff my damn power. A sentiment Kemi shared at the thought of someone saving this dude who could clearly not be hurt by a power he could make disappear – if only he had his own power. But what really ripped at Lucian's conscious was what the figurehead referred to him as. Null. It's been years since anyone has called him that, that name was canned along with his memories of that time. Those weren't happy memories.

"Can you shut up?" His voice shook a bit with bitterness as he spoke to the dark clad figurehead, it was uncontrollable. "Arcadia was years ago for me, so is that dumbass codename."

Touchy… The Peacekeeper couldn't judge. Just remembering the stories told about Arcadia made her brain start prepping for a potential mental breakdown. Despite the wheels turning to ready her for foreshadowed PTSD, her brain was not prepared to see a fucking dragon… dude… walk on up as if he owned the place. Kemi gave Null a look that clearly said 'what the fuck am I looking at?' before returning her sights to the… big lizard. Announcing himself as another Arcadia figurehead made her so tense that the muscles in her legs were starting to get sore from being poised to run. Much too tense to answer his question about who she was, though she wouldn't have done so either way. These people were all too sketchy to be giving out names. And a powered individual could never be certain they were safe from Arcadia no matter how lame their power.

"Isn't it too early to dress up your pets for Halloween?" Lucian snarked at the newly arrived machina. "Right, Miss Hot Topic?" His voice retained the bitterness, but he had calmed down a bit. Currently anything he says or does can be used against him at any time in the future, he had to choose his next steps wisely.

Oh shit… Did he just…? Hell yeah, he did. Kemi had to admit that she kind of liked this Null guy, whoever he was. That kind of zinger made her want to point and laugh in the reptilian's face, but she did her best to stay in control of her facial expression. But one look at her would show her holding back laughter by tightly sealing her lips. The Halloween puppy's questions yielded no answers, which was a relief for Lucian. The hesitation to answer just further solidifies the fact that this woman was not a fan of Arcadia. Perhaps they could be allies, at least for this night. But not long after the techno-doggo's appearance, a techno-biker showed up at the scene. Lucian watched the newcomer carefully, was this the "reinforcement" that Miss Figurehead was talking about?

Luckily that didn't seem to be the case, as the man, if you could call a robotics humanoid a man, that stepped out of the bike had only questions without responses. It most likely wasn't Arcadia reinforcement, regardless of which party the mysterious newcomer represented, he escalated the chaos of the situation. Maybe with all these people, and this confusion, Kemi could make her own getaway as well. Her decision to aid the cuffed pretty boy was already made, but the question was really how she could do that. Now that he had on the absorber cuffs she could use her pocket. Maybe she should just shoot everyone and bounce on out? But if they were dealing with Arcadia, that answer would probably become more of a problem later on. The well of ideas in her head was running dry until robot cop showed up on the scene like some futuristic terminator. The problem was that she actually recognized this… manbot. 'He' was a transfer to the Peacekeepers in this district and well… not many people could forget an android-looking dude like that too fast. Somehow he was highly ranked, but just the sight of him annoyed her. His appearance could be a blessing for Kemi and Null, or it could be a problem above all problems. After all… A Peacekeeper couldn't really be spotted helping a supposed criminal escape. The pale guy was all handcuffed and everything after all. The situation looked bad.

"Uh yeah." Make first contact to direct the situation. Lucian answered the newcomer's question, his voice lost the hostility, but still had a hint of sarcasm. "There was this huge fire." The word "huge" was dragged on a bit as he leaned back a bit with his hands cushioning the back of his head. "But luckily this nice lady and her cool police dog helped out, they know more than I do." He continued while walking up a few steps to the robo-dog, half leaning on its metallic body, and then quickly fell silent as to give the Arcadia agents a chance to speak. How nice of me.

But the conversation wasn't as simple as it seemed, as Lucian had his back to the ebony woman while he walked up to the robot dog Drake. As he spoke he waved behind his back at the woman, then pointed upwards towards the building tops that looked around them, and finally down towards the cuffs on his wrists. Meanwhile, the Peacekeeper's eyes skimmed around the group for a moment, taking in as much information about them as she could. It would, hopefully, be easy to just walk out of this situation if she pretended to be dumb and fed up. So the woman rolled her eyes at robocop and did a few sidesteps away, waving the people there off as she had the blonde firestarter earlier - before the boom.

"Alright, I'm bored and I don't wanna play anymore. I'm going to bed. Actually, I'm gonna put on some aloe vera and then go to bed."

With another wave, the woman turned on her heel and took her leave. Now that it wasn't burning hot any more, she could easily retreat back in any direction she wanted without burning to death - which was a plus on any given day. If she could leave, it would be her best option at this point.

 

[junebug]

Black Grace
2:10 AM

@SoleStride @Cresion Breezes @TheQueensGuard @ChrisClark13 @TreasureSniper

It was a relief that the air had suddenly begun to cool. Stormy had done well to calm Maxine down but… In the end, Drake had lost her. It was a tough blow, but perhaps that's how it was supposed to pan out. Black Grace glanced over at Null. She had him though. She'd done what Gray had asked of her and hopefully, in that light, maybe he would loosen up a bit and try to see through her lens. Black Grace flipped her hair and calmly asked Kemi for her coat back, now that the fire had gone down and immediately dispersed with the anti-fire measures. Drake appeared and introduced himself– and her– for some fucking reason. Black Grace was in a pissy mood and having her identity spoken out of the blue to her prisoner and the peacekeeper did not make her any happier.

Gray's voice finally came over the intercom a few minutes later. She sighed at Gray's conclusion of her and Drake's mission; too late for the tranquilizer anyways, not that she would've done it herself. Black Grace was still suspicious about Kemi, even as she received her coat back in a courteous gesture. Arcadia loaded out of the trucks pulled up into her general vicinity and Black Grace wondered why Gray was simply content with letting the peacekeeper go. She had a fucking taser on her that she could've used against her at any given point. Good thing they had some strong men and women here now. Black Grace walked up to Lucian and grabbed his arm. She squeezed it and smiled a little, understanding now, how much the alias irritated him, "Null. Arcadia is excited to bring you home."

Gray spoke again through the intercoms and Black Grace turned around to face Drake, who was stuck with Kemi Marks (who'd inadvertently decided to walk off) and that sudden PK arrival (now that was suspicious), for the time being. She barely acknowledged the PK's existence, opting to get out of the area before shit blew up again. A dinner with Gray sounded amazing, aside from the fact that Drake would be joining, but she would live. Black Grace led Lucian to the Arcadia police vehicle and pushed him inside. She hopped inside the van and slammed the door shut, then buckled Lucian and herself in. A little spark of hope settled in her gut for her supervisor and she licked her lips in anticipation. 4 PM tomorrow evening.

"Wouldn't imagine it any other way, Gray."

 

[ChrisClark13]

New Angeles
Some street
Interaction: @Kat @SoleStride @Cresion Breezes @TreasureSniper

Drake

Drake pointed his head towards the new arrival, some... full-body replacement cyborg. Affiliated with the Peacekeepers, known for his 'expertise' in dealing with hostiles (one way to summarize the reports flashing across Drake's eyes). Thankfully for his analysis of this 'Black Glint' other people took the lead first, though he wasn't particularly fond of how Null decided to lean on him- or call him a what, a 'cool police dog'?

His tail snaked around Null's feet, the electric stun baton on the end looking somewhat similar to a rattlesnake's rattle as he wiggled it around to express his displeasure of this invasion of his personal space.

The potential terrorist also made some motions of some sort, though what he was trying to signal was unclear. An escape plan over the rooftops? Whatever, Black Grace soon came up to take the man away.

Looking back towards the cyborg once more, he spoke up with his synthesized grumbly (hopefully draconic sounding) voice, "If you want answers, the best person to get them from is probably your Peacekeeper friend over there who ended up wrapped up in all this." He pointed a foreleg at Kemi as she walked away, though curious he also pulled up a diagnostic program to try and get a feel of just what 'her problem' was. The body language readout was one of frustration, a general 'done with this shit attitude', but also one of her covering up the pain she's in, "Though it doesn't look like she was joking about putting on some aloe vera and going to bed. Probably best to wait until tomorrow to try and get her report on the situation. Besides, I didn't show up on the scene until the blaze died down." Truthful, from a certain perspective. He didn't physically show up until then after all.

"Now, if you'll excuse me... me and my colleague have a potential terrorist to lock up and get some answers from." With that, he turned around and started walking over to the van that was his designated ride.

@Kat
Though he did take the chance to open up comms to Black Grace, "Did you really need to say 'Arcadia is excited to bring you home?', more than a little creepy there. Besides, we did technically let him go in the first place." He let out a small chuckle at that, "Technically. Then he made friends in the wrong places. So less of a long-lost brother and more of a wayward- well, traitorous, son if you want to make that comparison."

He knew that Black Grace wouldn't be very excited to hear his commentary on the matter but after the stress of the events tonight venting in a small, mostly harmless way, was too appealing to pass up.

 

[Pupperr]

New Angeles
In the Sewer
What time is it even?
Maxine Saunders
Collaboration with @Applo @TheQueensGuard

Maxine wrapped her arms around Sarah's shoulders to secure herself in place but took extra care not to wrap her arms around the woman's neck. When Maxine was a little girl, her dad often complained that she wrapped her arms around his neck rather than his shoulders. The teen surveyed the surroundings as Sarah navigated through back alleyways for any drones, or people, that could be following them as her savior had instructed. The two of them reached an open lot with what felt like a giant spot light shining on it, when in reality, it was just street lights. Sarah was going to make a run for it.. Across an open lot of certain capture. Maxine swallowed her nerves, ignoring her heart beating heavily against her chest. "..we.. we're going to cross that..?"

The teen's voice was shaky with uncertainty but she trusted the vigilante. Sarah began to make her sprint across the parking lot and Maxine's hold on the woman tightened, most likely due to nerves. The girl looked up to the sky in time for a bright light to blind her.

"What the heck!?"

"FREEZE!"

It was exactly how she had felt; the parking lot had a giant spot light on it and the damn light made it impossible to see who it was shining the thing on them. It must be an Arcadian drone, there was no other explanation. The voice booming overhead caused Maxine to grip Sarah's shoulders even tighter, no longer with nerves, but now with fear.

Shielding her eyes from the blinding light with one hand, Sarah stared up at a drone for the second time tonight and swore. She could feel Max's grip tightening around her shoulders. It had been going so well. Part of her really believed they had been about to get away. She had heard the sirens pass them unseen on another street and hoped that all the focus of the incoming law enforcement was on the laneway she and Max had escaped from. Annoyingly, it looked like someone somewhere was irritatingly smart. Still she could deal with drones. She just had to feel…

As suddenly as the drone had appeared and barking orders, it was tumbling out of the sky and crashing into the floor. Sarah didn't know how, all she knew was that she hadn't done it. Maxine's grip loosened and she removed an arm to rub her eyes in an attempt to regain her vision and erase the sparkly dots floating around. "..it wasn't me. Did you..?" she asked, addressing the elephant in the room

"Up here!"

Looking around, the answer to that little riddle came in the form of a barely visible figure waving from a rooftop. Who they were or why they were helping Sarah had no idea and there wasn't time to find out. Almost as soon as she set eyes on the mysterious figure, a siren began to blare behind her and the red-head set of at a sprint once again as a wave of panic washed over her. Two legs against four wheels wasn't a contest she was going to win on a road like this.

Maxine clung to Sarah once more as she hurriedly looked for a place to duck into. With someone hot on their tale and being in the wide open, it would almost be impossible to get away unseen. Maxine frantically looked around and noticed a strange pink neon light floating toward the ground from the rooftop. Was she the one who blew the drone out of the sky? Maxine pointed toward her "Over there!"

"This way, we can lose them in the sewer."

Turning towards the voice, Sarah's eyes landed on the masked face of what looked like the figure from the rooftop. That wasn't what grabbed her attention though. It was neon pink bar with a sewer grate hanging from it that caught Sarah's eye. Recognition for the brit was instant. She'd seen it a hundred times on her phone. Without hesitation, she ran towards the manhole that even now Neon was disappearing through, all but throwing Max at the hole while staring down the approaching cop car before, with a little unnecessary flourish, giving the approaching a vehicle a little wave as she jumped down into the sewer.

Maxine fell down the hole, landing with a satisfying thud on her butt. Luckily for her, she landed on the concrete walkway along the actual trench of the sewer. The smell immediately suffocated her and the teen couldn't help from making a disgusted face. But she didn't have time to be grossed out, Sarah had landed almost completely on top of her if she hadn't have rolled out of the way. Now she was covered in mud and… god knows what else. Maxine looked up at Sarah with a stink eye and then to the new figure; painters mask, punk rocker clothes, hair pulled into a pony, and a shit ton of ear piercings. She wondered if this one would be friend or foe, but for now, without the woman's help, the two of them would have been caught. "Thank you.." Maxine offered while she pulled herself to her feet. "Where are we?"

"Right now we're on the edge of the Slum District and Downtown. Normally I just use the rooftops to travel around the city, it smells a lot better and easier to breath." Neon answered, waving her hand in the air to create a small orb of pink light. "But when Arcadia has drones out and about the sewers tend to be a lot safer." She took the lead, motioning the others to follow. "It's Maxine right? You seem to be pretty popular. I ran into some gangsters that were trying to sell your location to some mercenaries. Now Arcadia is looking for you too." The pathway came to a T, with a walkway going left and right. She paused, trying to remember which way to go."I'm Neon, a vigilante here in the city." She said, turning to the other two women, particularly the other masked one. "I'm guessing you helped her out before?"

"First time. It was my night off." The words came out too fast to sound as nonchalant as Sarah had hoped. Looking over at one of her idols bathed in the pink light they were famous for made the novice vigilante's stomach twist in knots with excitement and nerves; at least until she saw Max's nose wrinkling from fetied air around and her mind spooled back through what Neon had said. Sarah had been filtering the disgusting air almost reflexively since she had landed in the cesspit. She hadn't even remember the other two couldn't.

"Hold your breath for a moment."

For a few seconds a wave of pressure rolled over the group but when it dissipated the general situation of things was much improved. The air was far from fresh, but that cloying gagging sent of sewage was barely more than a footnote in the atmosphere.

Maxine followed behind Neon as she led them through the sewers, her leg was still in a great deal of pain and she walked with a limp. Her head hung low as she listened to the two speaking, somewhat mesmerized by the pink light emitting from the orb Neon had conjured. Both of these women, the women who had saved her, were extra-normals just like her. But unlike her, the two had ease of control over their abilities. Neon with her weird light and Sarah with whatever she did with the air. Maxine was thankful for it because it made the stench of the sewer less unbearable and she no longer had to make a face. A part of her was envious of them; if she had control over her abilities, people wouldn't die.

The teenager stopped in her tracks when Neon mentioned her name and the gangsters who were looking for her. The girl looked at the cold cement path, wondering why so many people wanted her. What made her so special? "You have it backwards…" Maxine returned to her hobbled steps behind the two. "Arcadia was looking for me first. This is the first time I've heard about gangsters looking for me too… Rapture helped me earlier. I was hiding in an old woman's house when Arcadia came breaking down the door. I ran. I ran into some women, I'm sure they were Arcadia too.. But Rapture showed up and helped me get away from them. And then you, you showed up and helped us too. How do you know who I am anyway? And why did you help us?"

Neon shrugged, scratching the back of her head. She never liked that question, to her it was sorta natural. "I like to help people. I have powers, so why not use them to help people." She glanced down towards the ground and rubbed her forearm awkwardly. "Plus it might've sorta been my fault Arcadia found you." She noticed Maxine was injured, a detail that she glossed over in the heat of the moment. "Here." Her eyes glowed for a moment and a neow yellow chair appeared beside Max, hovering in the air. "I'll carry you for a bit, looks like that leg hurts." The teenager curiously inspected the chair with her hand to ensure its stability, and safety, before taking a seat and muttering a thank you.

As they started moving down the sewer pathways once again, Neon told the story in more detail. "I patrol the streets when I can. Tonight I ran into some guys from a gang called the Hashimoto Clan. They're big here in the criminal underground. They were selling a folder with your picture and information to some mercs, so I stole it from them." They reached a crossroads and Neon pointed for them to go left. "I made the mistake of opening the folder where an Arcadia drone saw it. The papers got destroyed but luckily I remembered the location of where you were held up. Arcadia was already there by the time I got there." She looked back towards the other masked woman, stopping underneath a closed sewer grate. "Rapture right? Thanks for being there for Maxine when I couldn't. Was beating myself earlier about being slower than Arcadia, but it's nice to know I got another vigilante out there picking up my slack.." She extended a fist to the girl for a fistbump before pointing up at the grate. "This is our way back to the street."

"Yeah, no its cool yeah." Sarah had to bite down on nervous laughter as she returned Neon's fist bump just a little bit too enthusiastically. She'd spent the last six months following any mention of Neon on the internet and now they were thanking her. It was surreal "We gotta have each others backs and stuff like." Jumping onto the ladder that lead up to street level, Sarah was halfway up when a thought occurred to her.

"Where umm, where are we going after this? Were you heading somewhere Max?"

Maxine listened in silence as the trio made their way through the sewer to an exit. Who were the Hashimoto Gang and why did they have information on her? Who were the people the gang was selling her information to? Why did Arcadia want her? There were so many questions and no answers. The girl was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't notice Sarah fangirling over Neon or begin her ascent up the ladder to what might be freedom. It was only when Sarah called her name that she snapped out of her thoughts. "No… nowhere. I was just trying to get to safety but then.. I put everyone in danger." There was a long pause before Maxine spoke again. "I want to go to Arcadia. I want to know why they're after me."

"Ummmmmmm… what?! Arcadia is… You know what they do to people like us right Max? It's not good things." From her slight vantage point Sarah looked down at Max, then over to Neon with an eyebrow raised. It was probably shock right. It had to be. The kid would feel different in the morning. The only problem was they didn't seem to have anywhere to go to sleep it off. There was a long silence as Sarah weighed up the options in front of her before slowly and hesitantly pulling the bandana that covered her face down, smearing blood over her lips and chin as she did so. Max was barely more than a kid, she couldn't just let them go running to Arcadia. "How about for tonight you come back to my place? You can crash on my sofa for a few days while we work stuff out. I'm… I'm Sarah."

 

[SoleStride]

New Angeles
Some street
Interactions: @Cresion Breezes @Kat @ChrisClark13


Kemi Marks

It seemed, from what she could hear from behind her, that Arcadia was planning to burn rubber out of here before they could fess up to anything. The new peacekeeper on scene was probably something they didn't want to deal with in the slightest, and oddly enough Kemi felt the same way. Where she would normally be glad to follow rules and protocol and give a report right away, she had something else in mind before she could adjourn to aloe vera and sleep. Namely, a pale-looking dude in absorber cuffs. Maybe it was some sort of instinct or maybe it was just out of the spite she felt for Arcadia and their less than noble reputation, but she didn't like seeing that guy taken into custody. Maybe a little bit a vigilante was coursing through her veins, telling her to break whatever rules she should be abiding by.

Her hopes were that the new Peacekeeper on scene wouldn't try to tail her. She should have been giving report, but her first priority was to lose him, and everyone else for that matter. While the dragon-like man spoke to Black Glint, Kemi slipped away as slyly as she could. Her next plan involved getting a good vantage point so she found herself climbing the fire escape on a nearby building until she could get as high up as possible. She could be shadowed here in between two buildings in the dark, but was still high enough to see the general layout of the area in front of her. She could still spot Black Glint and the lizard man. The woman, Black Grace, was already shoving the guy known as Null into the back of a van. Sketchy enough, huh? The whole thing just didn't sit right with her. And even though the metal of the fire escape was still warm from the earlier temperature fluctuations, Kemi pressed a hand to the railing to see how stable it was.

Convinced it would work just fine, the woman hiked up the front of her shirt, pulling it up to expose her entire stomach, far enough that even her bra was showing. Luckily, there was no one who should be able to see her in her hiding spot. One quick motion later and the woman was rustling through the pocket in her stomach until she found what she was looking for. She pulled, slowly maneuvering out a large Peacekeeper issued sniper rifle. She quickly secured the butt of the gun, pulling the bipod free and resting it on the metal railing in front of her. Crouching down onto one knee, the woman got in position, readying her weapon as well as her mind as she did so.

This is probably going to be a mistake, but...

She fired, twice, in quick succession, hitting first one of the front tires of the Arcadia van that Null had just been dragged into, then hitting a rear tire as well. With the woman inside, there was no way for her to know the shots were coming beforehand, and the lizard guy was walking away as well, looking like he was talking to air. She assumed he had a comms on and was talking to someone else from Arcadia. The moment the tires blew, she quickly pulled her gun off the railing and put herself and her weapon flat on the metal beneath her, grateful that she was still in her black clothing from work. Even so, she assumed that she would not be getting out of this too easily. Pulling up her shirt again, she crawled over her weapon, letting it slide back into her pocket as she moved over it. Now there was no weapon to tie her to anything.

Fuck, I'm gonna get myself killed for a stranger...

 

[TreasureSniper]

Black Glint
Interaction: @SoleStride

With the lackluster response from just about everyone apart from the dragon, Glint received a reminder on why he had avoided the figure head position. Its interactions like these that would normally drive him up the wall, but fortunately he convinced himself all is not lost when his facial recognition picked up on Kemi's facial structure. The dragon went on to confirm that, said person was a Peacekeeper and had the information he seeked. While conversing with the Dragon, he had noticed that Kemi's slowly slipped away, his rear camera tracked her movements until she was out of sight. Glint found that strange since it was against protocol to leave without giving a report but gave her the benefit of the doubt since he could easily just ask about it later on tomorrow.​

​

He stayed in the crime scene for a while before deciding to depart. While on the road, his audio receptors had picked up a very familiar gunshot sound. He recognized that it was from a peacekeeper standard issue sniper rifle, which was something he hears on almost daily basis even the Advent marksmen used these weapons. Using his enhanced vision, Glint could see that an Arcadia van with two of its tires blown out in the distance. Worried about sniper threat, he launched himself off the bike and used his grappling hook the climb the nearest building. He surveyed the buildings in the general direction when he had heard the gunshot from, rapidly swapping between vision modes while his drones watched street camera footage of where and when the van was struck. Despite some areas being near pitch black due to the shadow of the taller buildings, his night vision allowed him to see just fine. Eventually he spotted a humanoid figure that appears to be pushing an object into their body in a way that defied the laws of physics.​

​

With a combination of his thrusters and grappling hook, he rapidly closed the distance between himself and this mysterious assailant. His left arm formed into its cannon configuration and fire a rapid barrage of psi bolts onto key points of the fire escape structure, causing the lower half to be severed from the building while top half became destabilized and crooked. After this preemptive strike, he landed on top of a nearby building and pointed his weaponized left arm. "Surrender." He spoke, to comply with Peacekeeper protocol. Unlike other Peacekeepers, he wasn't afraid to cause a bit of collateral damage if he felt that it was necessary. This makes him very unpredictable to both ally and foe.​

​

During this time, the two drones raced towards the area to cut off possible exit points of the assailant.​

 

[Cresion Breezes]

New Angeles Old Town
Some Street
Interactions: Anya Romanova/Black Grace @Kat

Lucian Albrechtsen


Ok, deep breath. Lucian sighed as he tried his best to ward off the panic that slowly crept up his back as the Arcadia figurehead dragged him away. Resisting was a terrible idea now that the woman that he thought could help him turned out to be a Peacekeeper, which sank pretty much any hope of her collaborating with him. Now he's surrounded by two Arcadia agents and two Peacekeepers, certainly the worse position possible for someone of his reputation. At least the Peacekeeper woman he was with left the scene, perhaps it's the furthest she can go when it comes to helping his situation. Lucian paused for a second, wondering if helping her out was a mistake, but quickly returned to the current problem on hand.

"Huh." When he was pushed into the vehicle without much other action taken, Lucian was confused for a moment and wondered if these Arcadia agents were actually Arcadia agents at all. No formal accusation of his alleged crimes, no declaration of arrest, no search, not even bothering to use his actual name, it appears that his past with Arcadia has caused them to forgo the formalities. He watched Miss Hot Topic get into the front seat as he began to slowly unfasten two metallic rods from the inner layer of his jacket. "You know Miss Mall Ninja, I'd expected more hospitality if Arcadia is home-y as the claim." Just kidding, this duo's professionalism is all the hospitality I needed. Raising his voice, Lucian tried to keep the figurehead distracted with his usual harsh and sarcastic tone, though he didn't expect the stoic woman to be as affected. But a distraction is all he needed as the sharp edges of the metallic rod ate through the seatbelt easily.

"Wouldn't imagine it any other way, Gray." The words piqued some interest in Lucian, he imagined that the Gray she was referring to was most likely New Angles' supervisor Gray. Though he didn't know much about the man other than his title, how casual the woman's tone was when speaking to him felt very unusual. The current situation was an unideal one because being captured by Arcadia meant the worse, but if he could avoid being "captured" by Arcadia......It would certainly be much easier than outright ditching the fiasco.

Taking a glance out the window Lucian noticed that the Peacekeeper on the bike was gone, he had missed where he went while he tried to break the seatbelt, but one less person on the scene means better chances for him. While the figurehead was speaking on her comm, with a quick forward step Lucian jammed one of the rods into the vehicle's gear switch box. Priority one, diminish the grasp the enemy has on the environment. The other rod spun around a few times in his fingers until Lucian caught it in a backhanded position in both hands before he attempted to do the same to the car door. The effectiveness is unknown, but it would make the vehicle even less usable as transportation now. Priority two, guarantee a way to access the outside world.

"Not a single formality even with your direct superior?" He dropped back into his seat, leaning back with legs crossed casually. As much as he wanted to poke fun at the Arcadia agent even more, Lucian can tell she wasn't the type to be humored by words easily. With a sigh, he dropped his voice to a more serious tone. "I believe this vehicle isn't very operatable anymore." Though Lucian didn't doubt that the woman could be calling in reinforcements right this moment. "Miss Black Grace, before your allies get here..."

"...I believe we can make a deal."

Priority three, change the relationship you have with the enemy.

 

[junebug]

Black Grace
2:10 AM

@Cresion Breezes @TheQueensGuard @ChrisClark13 @SoleStride @TreasureSniper

With the van ready to go and Null beside her, Black Grace was ready to get the hell out of there and go home for some well needed rest. She rolled her eyes at Drake's stupid commentary and turned off her comms the moment he shut up. The van started up and had been put into gear when suddenly, the front tires blew out and so did the rear end one. Black Grace heard a loud boom and the van wobbled violently before returning to a neutral state. The front driver put the van in park and suddenly, Null unfastened two metallic rods from his jacket and smashed the gear shifts. David growled and turned on Null with a gun, as did the other Arcadia agent in the front passenger seat. Black Grace pulled out her gun on Null immediately as well.

"What the fuck?" Black Grace growled and unbuckled her seatbelt, "David, Achilles, find out what happened to our van. I'll deal with this hot shot."

"You messed up again, BG!" Achilles sneered.

She clicked her gun and the two men left to check out their van tires. She'd forgotten Null was a troublemaker and hardly a person who complied with the law. Furthermore, it irritated her that Achilles was right. She'd fucked up… again… and it bruised her ego. She glared at Null as he kicked back like nothing had happened after he'd further damaged the vehicle for whatever god forsaken reasons he had. It wasn't like she couldn't drag him into another van and forcibly take his rods away. Reinforcements had been forced to come back, instead of leaving the scene as previously initiated.

His words about "making a deal" did not faze her. She wasn't interested in making a deal at all; she was interested in containing him and questioning him about Max.

"Drop those weapons now, Null," she hissed, "or I'll put a bullet through your skull."

 

[SoleStride]

New Angeles
Some street
Interactions: @TreasureSniper


Kemi Marks

For a moment, one long moment, nothing happened. And all was momentarily peaceful. But instead of feeling at peace or slightly relieved, Kemi felt herself tensed for the moment she would be caught. Because... she would be caught. And she knew that. With both Arcadia and that Robo PK in the area, someone was going to come to her as a suspect whether she had been the one to fire those shots or not. It was inevitable. Her only saving grace was in her ability to store her weapon away, successfully making it impossible to truly pin it on her. Like getting rid of a murder weapon. Except, she hadn't really hurt anyone and had only blown a few holes in some tires. Tires that belonged to people who were more or less kidnappers. There were a lot of reasons to explain away what she was doing in that particular situation, but there was no way she was going to get to do that before getting hauled away in handcuffs. Most-likely.

Her perch was rocked by psi bolts cutting away at the already damaged metal. It crumbled faster than usual considering the heat it had taken in the firestorm from earlier, and a few stories of charred metal just fell away as if it had completely given up. To be honest, she was probably lucky not to have caused the collapse on her own just by climbing it. She was thrown off balance, and being in a laying down position didn't really help her get her bearings when the metal in front of her lurched forward and sank downward, causing her to slide toward the very unsecure railing. Even expecting to get caught, she had not expected in the slightest to have someone destroy an entire fire escape to catch a shooter who had only plugged some tires. She was thinking about how much of an overreaction it was while her body was being thrown from the tower. Kemi was fast enough to grab onto the edge of the platform, leaving herself dangling from the edge while only her arms and a small portion of her upper torso keeping her from going over. But the burned skin of her back ached as it stretched to accommodate her strained position. At the sound of robocop's mechanical voice telling her to surrender, she whipped her head up to see him on the building beside her, looking about ready to blow her to smithereens. She was sure a blood vessel popped somewhere in her head.

".......Are you fucking CRAZY?! You just shot out a a whole damn fire escape and nearly killed me, you stupid robot! Can't a girl spy on some people without nearly getting murdered?! Christ!"

Her back stung, the skin pulling harder while she tried to keep her grip. With what strength she could muster, the woman pulled and forced the rest of her torso up onto the shaky platform, her legs still hanging off the edge. She wondered if his ridiculous robot eyes could tell who she was from way up there. But she had been yelling loud enough to make sure he heard how irate she was with him. The platform beneath her chest trembled with each slight movement she made. It was so unstable she feared it would also give way and send her how-many stories hurtling to the ground. Was she still carrying that parachute in her pocket or did she remove that a few weeks back? Shit, she couldn't remember. And looking for it now would be impossible.

"Got damn tin can with a brain! What the hell are you thinking?! Help get me down from here before I die!"

 

[ChrisClark13]

The night that just keeps on going, Some Street, New Angles
Drake
Interactions: @Kat @SoleStride @TreasureSniper

As Drake was about to get in the van that was his ride, shots suddenly rang out.

Within moments the riot drones that had docked themselves on his sides were up and about again, doing a sweep of the area. As well, he checked the stealth drone that had been in the process of recalling to see if it had picked anything up. Which, well, it had and hadn't; meaning that... he let out an annoyed huff... it had only really picked up some directional audio of the gunshots. Which well, was nothing that the ol' 'mark 1 ears' (normal ears) that everyone had didn't pick up on anyways.

Anyhow, it seemed that the PK's cyborg was on the case anyways. Which well, was good all things considered, something they can investigate on their own aside from Maxine and perhaps they could find another lead on all this nonsense.

Still, best to keep an eye on things. So he sent one of the drones (equipped with a few flashbangs) over to at least watch what was going on. Which was... Kemi Marks on a fire escape? Which was also where the bullets roughly came from. Great, another person to actually have to watch out for in case they felt like doing any additional stupid shit.

@Kat
With that in mind, he spoke into the Arcadia comms that Black Grace should be on. "Black Grace, please tell me you have the situation in there handled. Or rather, let people know if you need help."

Having said that, he took position at the back of the van Black Grace was in (just in case) and after a few moments of thought, set all the drones he had to making a thorough scan of the area for later crime-scene analysis purposes, "And don't try to move that truck for now, I'm setting the drones to do a scan of the area and hopefully the ballistics analysis will tell us something useful later."

Looking back at the Peacekeepers' situation, it was getting worse. The cyborg apparently being a 'shoot-first, ask questions later' kind of person when it came to combat situations. Which well, wasn't bad but Drake himself probably would've tried to open up with measures designed to capture the shooter rather than potentially kill them outright.

@SoleStride @TreasureSniper
A long-suffering sigh came out of the Arcadia riot drone watching the situation, "So this is what a nominally off-duty Peacekeeper gets up to huh? Spying? Maybe a bit of shooting at people on the side?" The drone rotated towards the cyborg, simply to serve as a conversational cue as to who he was talking to, "You wouldn't happen to need any help getting her down, would you? It seems like she's properly stuck up there for until someone can fetch a long enough ladder or the scrap she's on comes down on its own- which would be bad all things considered."

 

[TheQueensGuard]

New Angeles
Downtown ~ Apartment
Aster Neon Honor
The Next Morning.... 10:00 AM
@Pupperr @Applo

Aster sipped on the warm mug of coffee, tablet in hand as she scanned the news. Nothing too notable, and it mostly was just about remembrance on the terror attack the year prior.
A small video clip of her holding back some falling debris from hitting a group of citizens did make her smile though. It had been what pushed her to be recognized by the public. It also reminded her of last nights events. After Maxine, Rapture/Sarah and herself got out of the sewers they went their separate ways. Sarah gave Aster an address to where Maxine and her would be staying, then Aster went home. It had been a long night, and after getting shot at half of the time and spending the second half in the sewers, she was ready for some sleep.

But today was a new day. She had now idea who this Maxine was, nor what Arcadia and some mercenaries wanted with her. She tried to look into her when she woke up earlier that morning, but came up empty handed. Last thing she thought to do was actually ask her.

As she gathered her things to leave, she paused as she grabbed her mask. Sarah had been brave enough to expose her identity to her and Maxine. It was clear they didn't work with Arcadia, or she'd be in cuffs by now. Guess two people knowing her secret identity wasn't that bad.
~~
After roughly thirty minutes of walking, and a brief stop at a donuts shop, Aster arrived at the apartment. It was nicer than her place, near the coast but far enough away from the docks to be pleasant. Taking the elevator to the top floor and finding the room, she knocked on the door and hoped that this was the right place.
​

New Angeles
Downtown ~ Vertex Apartment
Vector Anderson
The Next Afternoon.... 2:30 PM
@Quake @The Wanderer

Stepping out of a blacked out van provided by the Hounds, Vector stretched his back before heading inside the apartment building. He was dressed in a suit, and while he had body armor underneath he certainly looked like someone going to a fancy dinner.
It It was nearly time for them to visit Gray and he was ready to get it over with. Barf-hest, or whatever his name was, gave Jaeger the address and meet up time to Vertex's apartment. Now they simply had to figure out a plan of attack.
"Oh 'Tex, open up its show time." He knocked on the door with the bottom of his fist, waiting only a moment before doing it again. "Don't tell me you're still asleep buddy. It's like-" he paused, checking his watch. "-Two thirty."
​

New Angeles
Cloud District ~ Arcadia Holding
Supervisor Gray
The Next Morning.... 10:00 AM
@Cresion Breezes @Kat

"Do you think he was going for Maxine, or it was merely a coincidence he was there?" Gray stood on the other side of the one way glass beside Black Grace, who he asked to accompany him in an interrogation. With them was his assistant, Melody Webb, who sat up a camera facing into the interrogation room where Null sat. Lucian wanted to be brought in as an informant, not a criminal, which Gray curiously accepted. He still had Lucian brought in and held over night, just encase it was a ruse and he was going to high tail it out of the city.
As Melody finished setting it up, Gray motioned for Black Grace to follow him into the room.
"Good morning Lucian." Gray said as he pulled out one of the seats across from Null. "I was told you wanted to make a deal."​

 

[Applo]

≋ Sarah Pendleton ≋​

---

Sarah's Apartment
10:00 am
Interaction: Maxine Saunders, Aster Honor.

"Coming!"

Slamming shut the half emptied dishwasher, Sarah grabbed her coffee and sped across the floor to the door, excitement and nerves blotting out how shitty she felt. It had been more or less three in the morning by the time she and Max had made it to bed. Despite the protests of her aching body, Sarah had been up only a shade over four hours later to clean. Her apartment hadn't looked so nice in months. Counter tops had been wiped, floors swept, empty bottles taken out to the trash and clothes put away, or at least shoved into drawers and cupboards, and the blinds that covered what had laughingly been listed as a sea view when Sarah had signed the lease had been drawn. Breakfast had been leftover takeout. It wasn't that she was a habitually messy person. It was just that between work, acting classes, working out, socialising and being a vigilante, most weeks Sarah thought she was doing well if she had clean underwear.

"Hey. Morning." Unlocking her front door, Sarah got a shock as she saw the blonde standing there. The woman was undoubtedly Neon; it was altogether strange to see her without her almost trademark painters mask and baseball cap. A small part of Sarah's brain couldn't help but think it was a pity Neon had to hide her face behind them all. She was kinda cute in a punky way. Distracted by the exposed face, it took Sarah several seconds too long to notice the box of doughnuts in Neon's hands. "Ooh , um you shouldn't have. Come in, we can take those through to the kitchen."

After leading her fellow vigilante into the kitchen, Sarah rummaged in the cupboard for a suitable plate for the pastries before checking that she couldn't see her house guest.

"So, about what Max said last night," Sarah had tried to be quiet to avoid waking Max during her manic cleaning spree but by the time she had poked her head out of her room the girl was clearly already awake. After cooking a plateful of eggs and bacon for her guest to help herself too and setting the apartment's voice assistant to listen to her, Sarah had largely left the girl to their own devices. She figured they probably needed some time to decompress. Still the girl and what she had said in the sewer had been on Sarah's mind the whole time. "what do we do if she still wants to run head first at Arcadia?"​

---

 

[The Wanderer]

Johan "Jaeger" Krauss

Johan arrived soon on scene, dressed up in what looked like a long-coat and clothes that no doubt hid lightweight armor and holding a metal briefcase, which housed official looking documents and other items that a businessman would need in the event of a search. But was merely a distraction from the disassembled rifle in the briefcase's lining.

The location he was arriving at, was the best sniping position for the upcoming job, the details of which were given to Vector in hopes the man would relay said info to their other members. If not, the comm's device in his ear would allow a quick update between him and the others.

To any on-lookers, he was a simple business man going into his workplace for the day to toil away at a dead-end job that most found themselves in. Especially in this current world. Taking the maintenance path and climbing up several stories via the elevator shaft's ladder. The man would find himself just underneath the spot from which he could snipe from. But he remained behind a rather large object so the man could not be spotted by any unwanted viewer.

Now all there was left to wait til Vector met their third member and contact him and notify him when the job was active.

@TheQueensGuard @Quake

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Shooting people?!" She called back to the tiny riot drone that came buzzing over to see what was happening. To her benefit, she did seem legitimately confused, concerned, and surprised about the idea of it.


"That won't be necessary" the cyborg replied as he leaped off the edge off the building and used his grappling hook and thrusters to save the screaming peacekeeper. She responded with a squeal of surprise and shock from the movement, but didn't really fight it. After putting her back at ground level the three motorcycles circled and activated a unique type of energy shielding, producing a phalanx-shaped barrier of plasma. This formation was usually used for road blocks or makeshift forward operating stations. The sound dampening properties and opaque color also made it useful to hold private conversations. The female Peacekeeper gave the cyborg a look of aggravation for a moment, but again, did not look like she was ready to fight her way out either.


"The wounds you've suffered from the previous incident are more grievous than anticipated." The two drones exited their respective bikes began spraying a fluorescent blue substance onto the lady's burns, eliciting a yelp from the woman who clenched her hands into tight fists to keep from growling in pain. The substance was a military grade healing fluid, used for a wide-variety of injuries allowing soldiers to completely recover from light injuries or postpone medical treatment for more serious injuries.


"Your files do not show any records of prior misconduct, which means you must have good reason for pulling a stunt like this. And what would that reason be?"


Kemi opened her mouth to speak. But was cut off before even starting.


"And please don't waste your time saying you didn't do it. A few camera checkpoints detected the sniper fire within this area, tracking the direction of the shot led me to your exact spot. Armory records show that there are currently only 6 rifles that are currently in possession of a Peacekeeper officers, 5 of which have not left HQ yet. Additionally, your powers would explain how you were able to conceal the weapon. Of course you can always prove your innocence by submitting yourself to a mind probe."


The female quirked a brow at the cyborg currently hounding her, taking vivid note of his words, one sentence in particular that bothered her. But she didnt start with that one. "Firstly, I'd like to make it clear that I was simply enjoying a very brief observation of Arcadia transportation of a potential criminal. It would be unprofessional to let a criminal out of my sight in this situation. What if he escaped? Secondly, I'd like it to be noted that there are currently NO PK rifles signed out under my name. Nothing larger than the standard carry handgun and tac knife really. Thirdly.."


And here was her most concerning question. Kemi's stance had altered to that of a soldier at attention before starting her spiel, her gaze straight forward. But now, she turned to look at the cyborg that in all honestly really creeped her out. "Thirdly, I'd have to question what 'powers' you're talking about. No powers of any sort have been reported to the Peacekeepers or any government affiliations and I have to wonder where you might be getting your information… Sir. Unfortunately, I'm a normal, boring soldier on record. You must be misinformed so please feel free to discuss it with my CO. Ah, but it would be cool to be able to do some of the things those vigilantes can do. Don't you think, Sir?"


"Listen, Ms. Marks, I want to help you. I don't trust Arcadia either, but we must proceed with caution. I suggest you follow me back to HQ, rest up and give me a debrief when you're ready. I'm afraid you're gonna have to put these cuffs on for now. These Arcadia folk are not likely to believe your arrest if they don't see you with them. You can remove them as soon as we are out of sight."


When presented with a pair of cuffs, Kemi lifted a brow yet again. He… knew that she had a key for these, right? They carried the same handcuffs. His words came as a bit of a shock, but even still, it was hard to believe he planned to release her. Wasn't this transfer dude supposed to be a little more by the books? Either way…


"It appears I don't have a choice in the matter, now do I?"


Once the cuffs were placed on her, the shields were lowered allowing the dragon's drone to witness the "arrest". The cyborg promptly escorted her into the passenger seat of his personal motorcycle. The motorcycle closes its hatch on the passenger seat, the cuffs deactivate, and a robotic armature from within the bike grabs them, returning them into their compartment.


"I'll be with you in a moment."he spoke through his bike's intercom. "I am taking her back to the station to be interrogated. I'll have the other two drones will assist your people with the repairs and escort you back to your HQ."


Peackeeper HQ

3:45 am

The motorcycle stops right in front of the Peacekeeper barracks and opens its passenger hatch. "I'll see you in a few hours." and with that the motorcycle sped off, disappearing into the dark road, leaving Kemi Marks in a bit of a confused silence.


Peacekeeper HQ

10:00 am


Kemi's CO had an important announcement for her division. "The recent performances of one of our officers has caught the attention of the higher ups and a decision has been made. Oh, shit. The woman tried her best to control her wide-eyed fear response, but it was evident on her face that she was worried. Ms. Kemi Marks…. O shit, oh shit, oh shit! Congratulations, you have been selected for Advent Elite training program." Whut? "You will be trained under the command of Captain Findley himself, effective immediately." Who? "Please proceed to the Advent dropship, at your earliest convenience." The other Peacekeeper members began congratulating her for her achievement, while some looked at her with green-eyed jealousy.


The woman herself couldn't help but mutter in confusion and shock to herself. "The what now? Captain who? Huh??" Ah. Maybe it was a guise for her eventual termination and abduction by Arcadia who would no doubt torture her to find out why their vehicle had been attacked. Despite the cheerful mood of her delightful CO and some of her comrades in arms, Kemi only felt incredibly anxious. Yes, cheer me off to my death, buddies. This is the end. She hesitantly stood from her chair, giving her CO a look that said 'uh… do I go… now?' The man merely nodded and Kemi, begrudgingly, trudged off to meet her fate.

The Advent dropship "Liberator" is Glint's mobile base of operations, responsible for transporting troops and equipment. It also functions as living quarters and maintenance bay for smaller vehicles and mechs. As Kemi approached the dropship's underbelly she was greeted by rows of Advent troopers saluting her. "Glad to have you on board, ma'am." one of them uttered. Once inside she was lead into Glint's personal quarters, where he had just finished re-assembling himself. Apart from the various robotic armatures and lack of a bed, the room seemed relatively normal, decorated with photos frames of him and his old squad mates some experimental weapons and broken robot parts being displayed as trophies. "Congratulations on being selected for the training programme, I look forward to working with you. First things first, are you ready for the debrief?"


Kemi followed along, an odd expression on her face for someone who was being greeted with such… authority? After being ushered inside a homey, kind of, type of room, all she could do was stare at Black Glint with a very wary look in her eyes. "What… is happening right now…?"


"Hmm where should I start? In the public eye we are currently running our annual recruitment event where a few Peacekeepers are selected to undergo elite training under the Advent group, a subsidiary group of the Peacekeepers. Normally this event is handled by one of our drill sergeants but given the circumstances, I saw fit to deal with it personally… The real reason we are here is due to a potential terrorist threat from the Hounds of wrath organization. After our recent success in Detroit, we discovered distressing information regarding an undergoing operation in New Angeles involving a list of super powered individuals, including that meltdown girl you met earlier this morning."


"But enough of that for now, let's talk more about you for the moment. Based on our previous encounter and your files, you are skilled marksman, not everyone can pull off what you did yesterday ...However…. you are reckless and impulsive. What exactly was your plan after immobilizing the vehicle? What would have happened if I wasn't the one to catch you? The Arcadia has had an extensive, albeit well-hidden, history of making people "disappear". And because of that incident you can't be seen by any Arcadia personnel, lest they suspect that we would allow such hostile actions against them by one of our officers."

"Fortunately for you, we have you covered. This is our latest prototype "Black Knight" armor, designed to eventually replace our current gen armor. Its development is just about done apart from field-testing. It offers a balance between maneuverability through its gadgets and light weight material as well as protection from light ballistic weaponry and low power energy weapons. The helmet features a state of the art HUD providing with useful information depending on your current objectives and an air filter for chemical based warfare. But more importantly for you, it features a voice modulator, allowing you to completely disguise your voice. Take it as part of your "training".


For a long moment Kemi was silent, looking from the cyborg to the weird metal bodysuit she was being shown. She looked the suit up and down for a brief second before giving the cyborg a look that anyone would comprehend as disbelief and disapproval.


"There's no way in hell that I am wearing that thing."


She lifted a finger to point at the suit. Even if she skirted around all his talk about how she was rash and whatnot, she would not overlook this masterpiece of hell naw.


"I'm not entirely sure what you want with me here. I know there's no way I've been moved to some special team that doesn't involve some tort of torment based on yesterday's 'occurrence', but this is a type of torture I will not allow. There is now way that you're getting my fine ass into that junk of metal."



"It seems you leave me with no other choice then….here it's our latest infiltration gadget called the "holographic shroud". It allows you to impersonate just about anyone that's within its database." Glint took out a small watch like device and demonstrated its ability to change his appearance, first changing into Kemi's CO, an Advent soldier and eventually Kemi herself. " It comes with a built in voice modulator so that you can mimic their voices too." He spoke with Kemi's voice before handing the device to her. "It doesn't offer any protection but I suppose it's more aesthetically pleasing".


Since he was handing the device over to her, she had no choice but to reach out a hand and take it. The woman frowned down at the object. There was very little chance that she was ever going to use this, and she was already assuming there was some sort of tracking device on it. annoyed, with his comment as well, Kemi looked away.


"It's not about aesthetics. I'm not that shallow, thanks. It's just impractical for a few important reasons."

 

[Quake]

New Angeles
Downtown ~ Vertex Apartment
Jason Vertex Wilde

Vertex's door opened inwards, as if presenting the Gold Shadow, who stood at his kitchen counter quietly pulling on his gloves and checking his vest. Seeing Vector waiting by, Vertex gave him a slight nod of recognition.

"Afternoon, bug boy." Vertex slipped his mask on, flipping his jacket hood down over it. "It's a lovely day to get some work done, ain't it?" While it wasn't visible, Reaching for his handgun he kept on the wall by the door, the Shade agent stuffed it into his coat, shutting the door and locking it.

"Anyways, let's get this done.." Vertex paused as the pair headed down the stairs.. "You did bring a vehicle, right? I'd rather not hoof it to the site in all this...gear.""

@TheQueensGuard @The Wanderer

 

[Pupperr]

Sarah's Apartment
The Morning
Maxine Saunders
Interacting with Sarah Pendleton @Applo and Aster Honor @TheQueensGuard

Maxine was in the washroom when the knock at the door had come and judging by the sound of rapid footsteps against the hardwood, she could only assume Neon had arrived. It was obvious to Maxine that Sarah envied Neon as if she were a celebrity with how Sarah stumbled over her words when she talked to or talked about the woman and how Sarah had frantically cleaned her apartment in the early morning hours. Sarah had likely thought she was asleep, but it was difficult to sleep when someone has transformed into a whirlwind cleaning demon.

The teenager splashed some water in her face at the sink before staring at her reflection in the mirror. A lot had happened in the last 24 hours that only confused her even further at just what had happened to her, at what she was. Maxine knew who Arcadia was and for the last year she had been running from them, but who were the other people that Neon had mentioned last night and what did they want from her? The child had already resigned to the fact that she would never return to her boring and normal teenage life but there were days, like today, where she wished she could go back in time and choose to stay in for her birthday dinner instead of going out. Maybe then her parents would be alive. Maybe then she wouldn't be a monster. She sighed, wiped her face dry with a nearby facecloth after smelling it for cleanliness, and exited the washroom.

Maxine could hear the women's voices before she rounded the corner to the kitchen where the two were, not shockingly, talking about her. She casually walked into the kitchen, glancing at the other blonde woman, who she had assumed was Neon. The vigilante was no longer wearing her get up and was rather beautiful. Maxine crossed behind Sarah to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup of coffee after opening a few cupboards in exploration of where the mugs were kept. One milk, one sugar, and the teen leaned her back against the counter while cupping the mug with both hands and holding it close to her face. "If you don't want to 'run headfirst' at Arcadia, then don't. I'm not asking you to. But I have to go there... Arcadia is the only one with answers."

"A year ago, I'm sure you all remember the 'Furor Attack' on the city. Well… it wasn't Furor." Maxine sipped her coffee, her face softening as she remembered that day. "It was me." The teenager's voice was somber, and she let the room's silence linger to digest the information before continuing.

"We were attacked on our way home from my birthday dinner… and our car was wrecked. There were gun shots… my mom…" The girl struggled to tell the vigilantes what had happened and the more she continued, the harder it was; her face twisted into a knot of pain. "I don't know how it happened or how I did it, but Purifier attacked us, he killed my parents, and all I remember is this feeling that I can't describe and then suddenly everything, everything was on fire."

Maxine put her coffee on the counter and anxiously massaged her hands before continuing. "Arcadia covered it up and instead of issuing a nation-wide manhunt for me for what could be considered a terrorist attack, they pinned it on Furor and came after me themselves. Why?" Maxine's shaky voice was replaced with resolve as she picked up her mug once more. "Right after we were attacked, among the chaos, I heard my dad on the phone telling someone 'Project Kenna is compromised'. Whatever Project Kenna is, Arcadia has something to do with it and so did my parents, and I have to know what it is."

 

[TheQueensGuard]

New Angeles
Sarah's Apartment
Aster Neon Honor
@Pupperr @Applo

"It was you?" Aster repeated the girls words, slightly taken back. She figured the girl was strong if she managed too stay ahead of Arcadia, but she nearly leveled an entire district. Looking at the expression on Maxines face drew Aster back to the task at hand. "If I was you, I'd want answers too. I just don't think going into the beasts den is the right move." She took a bite of her doughnut and chewed it a few times and shrugged. "Though to be honest I have no idea what the move is."
It was a tough situation. She was never put into the situation of actually playing offensive against Arcadia. "Maybe we can ask some people? Like another vigilante or hacker-type to see if they can dig something up." She immediately thought of Marx. He didn't seem to be a fan of Arcadia and was computer savvy. It'd be easy to get ahold of him. That'd also add another factor into Max's life though. "You got anything Sarah?"
​

New Angeles
Arcadia Holding
Supervisor Gray
@Kat @Cresion Breezes

"Why were you there last night Lucian? Are we to believe it was blind luck that you stumbled into the middle of an Arcadia operation?" Lucian didn't respond. "Were you looking for the girl? Was the Peacekeeper with you?" Met yet again with silence, Gray gave an annoyed sigh, slipping off his coat and placing it on the chair before sitting down. "What deal are you wanting to make?" Finally he gave some-what of an answer."Turn the cameras off."
Gray narrowed his eyes, trying to get a read on Lucian before sighing. "Fine." Turning back to the one-way mirror behind him he nodded to his assistant on the other side of the glass. "Melody, cut the cameras." Glancing beside him to Black Grace as she gave a disapproving look, he gave a encouraging nod in response before turning back to Lucian. "Cameras are off. Lets hear what you have to say."
​

New Angeles
Vertex Apartment
Vector Anderson
@Quake @The Wanderer

"I thought you were getting the vehicle!" He replied, before laughing. "Of course I got one! Black van out front." Heading off down the hall ahead of Vertex he said over his shoulder. "Has blacked out windows and is bullet proof encase things get dicey. Curtsy of the Hounds. Got a few extra toys to if that pistol of yours isn't doing it for you." He turned to face the other Shadow, walking backwards as he talked. "I've been working all day, and I'm just looking forward to letting my hair done and kill this guy." Counting on his fingers, he listed the various things he did through out the day. "I programmed some of my drones, hacked some things, I stopped to wash the van, grabbed lunch- Oh I should let Jaeger know we're on the way." Clicking a button on his left arm, a dull screen kicked to life. Swiping to a 'contacts app' he clicked on Jaegers name. "Hey German, we're on the way. Things set up on your end?"​

 

[The Wanderer]

Johan "Jaeger" Krauss

The German had begun to hum several classical songs as a method to pass the time, as he awaited word from his comrades on the mission, which thankfully didn't take too long as his ear piece received the call from Vector, who asked if he was set up.

"Ja, I've taken a spot atop a building, with plenty sightlines und just the right range to strike from. Now I wait for you to do your part, and send me the okay to start shooting."

He readjusted the rifle, making sure there was a bullet ready to be fired, the scope thoroughly cleaned and that the weather and light didn't oppose his position and risk causing the advantage of a sniper providing covering fire and even elimination of hostiles to become worthless.

He did peek from his concealed position to check around to make sure no technicians for the building were up doing a repair on something, or that there wasn't something nearby that could end up compromising his position before going back into hiding, awaiting the word from the two comrades to begin the mission.

@TheQueensGuard @Quake

 

[TreasureSniper]

"That will be all for now. I think that is enough excitement for one day. Your training officially begins 7 am, tomorrow. Bring a report of the incident along with you, I would like to review these recent events from a different perspective. Try to lay low for the next few days. These Arcadia folks might suspect something if they recognize you. " And with that, the door opens, signaling that she was free to leave. "If you get into a tight spot I am just a button away." referring to the device he gave that also acts as a communicator.

"You are dismissed. Feel free to leave, or if you wish to stay, I am sure the rest of the crew are eager to meet you. It's almost lunch time, they are serving tacos today. Although I cannot speak from experience, I've heard that they were "to die for". " The armatures began dissembling and reassembling Glint's limbs, ensuring that they are operating at peak efficiency. It was time for him to finish his maintenance.
@SoleStride

 

[SoleStride]

New Angeles
Some street
Interactions: @TreasureSniper


Kemi Marks

Unsure of what else could be said or done, it kind of sounded like she was free to go for the day. Did that mean she was getting a day off? No. Not really. Of course he wanted a report. A report that she would surely fix up to be missing the details about certain things she had noticed during her encounter last night. She would have to decide upon writing it exactly what would be omitted, but at this point, she was certain that there would be plenty to leave out. After all, it wasn't like she trusted this cyborg either. Unfortunately, it appeared that her interference from the night before hadn't done anything she really wanted it to do and instead only got her further entangled with the strange new robot-man that she had hoped to have little contact with. That man... Null... had still been taken away anyway. A stir of worry rumbled in her gut.

However, given her opportunity here to leave, Kemi turned on her heal without even a slight hesitation at taco day, and took her leave. Just being in the room with a cyborg weirded her out, so it was best to get out of there sooner rather than later. The watch was simply stuffed into the pocket of her pants, where it would likely stay until she could drop it off somewhere that wasn't personal for her. Meaning that it was highly unlikely that she was going to take it home. On another note... if she just stuck it in her void, there was no signal in or out of there, so tracking would be impossible and she could always pull it out if she really needed it. Hm... it was probably another trinket for the pocket then. Into the void you go... she thought to herself, gripping the watch in her pocket so it could slip right into the void opening up in her palm. Aaaaaand gone.

Just as when she had arrived, Kemi was escorted off the premises as well and returned to her usual precinct from where she had been taken. Her CO was there, so she stopped by to ask him some questions, wondering if he knew the details of her assignment change, but it seemed he had been fed some bullshit about her giving a great performance or something. It was all too vague for someone as intelligent as her CO to eat up so easily without question which made her assume that some pressure had been put on the man to agree to her assignment change. Any hint of getting switched back looked to be out of reach already. Aside from special assignment though, she was still permitted, and expected, to make patrols and show up for missions with her team unless special assignment took precedence.

With the strange new plans going through her head, as well as concerned thoughts about the mysterious man named Null, Kemi geared up and set out for a daily patrol.