Chronicles of PAGAN: Arc 1

[eegast]

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EVZA CESTMIR
25 / TAINTED / MALE[/hr]

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​

Evza could feel the unfamiliar eyes on him. He continued his gaze towards the wall, his facial expression blank. He was not going to show any sign of his own feelings to those he does not know. And of the list of people he didn't know was much, much longer than those he did. He finally moved his eyes slightly towards the gang of people who had gathered before him, since it was only fair he check them out.

The first thing he noticed were the soldier-like Normans. Or at least, he presumed them to be Normans, considering they seemed to be, well, normal. But then again, maybe he was the most jarring one here. He decided to catalog their names since he should probably know them for later. He mostly just did whatever they told him since he damn sure wasn't going back to purgatory. His eyes darted to the woman shouting at the man he presumed was Simon. After she introduced herself as Mishka, he noted how it made him think a bit of home. Not that he'd experienced much of it.

Evza was a bit glad that no one had asked him anything. He'd rather get this night over with as soon as possible. He watched them speak to one another. It reminded him of some classroom introduction.

 

[Greywing44]

"..." Simon stared at the stoic woman. Trying to gauge if her concern was actually real or a figment of his drugged up mind. But she was nice to look at, and that always calmed him down. Relatively. It mostly depends on how pissed off he is and he knows that Mish's outburst was his fault...Usually. Maybe...Ok he wasn't really paying attention. "Piss off I'm fine....Just drugged up like a good labrat. Yup! I am ok so long as nobody fucks with me." He then paused. "Though that does ring hollow when I can't even teleport five feet in front of me. Eh whatever. This happens a lot. Just ignore it like we do. Stay sexy." That'll be good for his psyche. And other things.

 

[Makomin]

Esmeralda Baylin

​

Esmeralda wasn't hungry. In fact, she was too full, considering the guards in charge of providing the essentials to all TAINTED made sure to stuff everyone enough of food for several days. And that was for a day meal. The reason of why they did this was unknown to her, but from what she could tell from the dreams of several older TAINTEDs living in this triple max security prison, TAINTED, who is now....gone, had manipulated a guard from before and the rest was history.

"No thank you, although, if it was possible, I would like to get my belongings back," the platinum blonde replied before following Stella. "And yes, one of them being my rifles but don't worry, I don't prefer bloodshed or violence when I can enjoy free meals and lodging." Esmeralda said.

@Shizuochan​

 

[Aero Blue]

"That's a shame. Brr-Brr-Burrito has this new dessert burrito. I bet it tastes gloriously terrible for you. I want it. Oh well, I might bring you one back later on one of my runs."

As if on cue, another guard entered the room when Esmeralda brought up the topic of her belongings. A sleek black bag found itself sat upon the table between Agent and Tainted alike. The young lady had been packing a fair amount of firepower, which should have disturbed Stella, but instead filled her with amusement. Two firearms. Stella made a mental note to ask where she had learned how to fire guns akimbo.

"Everything should be mostly intact, although the guns are unloaded. Check through 'em, and then let's hit the road, huh? How long's it been since you've ridden Sky-Rail?"

@Makomin

 

[Makomin]

Esmeralda Baylin

​

She pulled out her twin rifles before a small smile came to her face. In a world where she seen as an outcast who required to be categorised as something other than normal, Esmeralda felt at ease with her weapons finally by her side. She then checked at the magazine of the gun before noticing that the bullets were in the sleek bag that had contained her guns. She wanted to place the bullets in but knowing a PAGAN agent or the triple mac security prison, they'd assume she was getting ready for something else.

"Burritos are fairly alright, I guess, as long as there's no avocado in it," the platinum blonde mentioned as she tucked her gun against the gutter of her jeans before chaining a necklace around her neck. It was a medallion of a sort. She didn't really know what it was except that it belonged to her useless father. Why she was wearing it? She didn't know.

"Never probably. What is a Sky-rail?" She asked, oblivious to the outside world now.

@Shizuochan

 

[Aero Blue]

Stella jokingly adopted the appearance of a stern authority figure, "Miss Esme, that avocado-hating nonsense simply will not do here. You will respect and abide by the rules of the Holy Guacamole from this day forward, you hear me?"

She laughed at her own performance, before her tirade was cut off by her charge's inquiry regarding the Sky-Rail. Stella looked at Esmeralda thoughtfully, attempting to do some mental mathematics pertaining to her incarceration and when the Sky-Rail had become prevalent in society. Soon, she gave up.

"Like, a normal rail-road, trains and all, but it goes straight up and down as well as side to side. It's one of the easiest ways to get around this city."

Eventually, they would board the Sky-Rail, which would take them to their destination: PAGAN HQ.

@Makomin

 

[Ramboing]

Jericho Raines
​

The sudden outburst completely caught Jericho off guard. They weren't directed towards him, instead she was focused on the intoxicated man, Simon as she called him, stumbling into R&D. While the guy looked absolutely wasted, he hadn't said anything that would necessitate someone yelling. The woman, Mishka, looked into him with a stone cold expression, her blue eyes staring into him. Jericho didn't show any sort of emotions; however internally he was perturbed by Mishka. As he was about to breakup the little spat between Simon and Mishka, the woman who was checking him out intervened.

Jericho took another look around the room, noting all the out of place individuals. There was Mishka, the cat eared woman who clearly was not normal in more ways than one. There was the man drunk Simon stumbling in talking about teleporting. Another man was standing off the side just watching. There also the woman who had just intervened and the snarky Falkyn. Each of them had their own... unique traits that made them stand out. However, the fact that they might be grouped as a team worried Jericho. Personalities were already clashing and they had just met. If this were to keep up, they were probably going to get killed. Oh this couldn't possibly get any worse, Jericho sighed to himself, leaning against one of the tables.​

 

[Solunae]

[bg=#616060]

The somber elder gentleman had been standing at his normal station - dead center of the room atop a slightly raised console of computers that circled around 75% of his person. His eyes had been roving over statistics and mind numbing calculations when his most annoying 'patient' had a sudden outburst. Jade green eyes turned to take in the group that had begun to gather at his request. He could clearly see that the group was already clashing and he let out a heavy sigh. Well he'd tried to warn the Chief of just this. He wondered for a moment as Mishka and Simon clashed before realizing that the blue eyed demon was staring at him. He glared back at her and made his way down from his station.

Approaching the group he took them each in Falkyn, Jericho, Simon, Evza, Emily, Mishka ... two were missing. He knew all of them almost intimately without having never met them. Background checks and files on each of them had told him everything he'd needed to know. Before he ever reached them he snapped his fingers "Maya I need you over here." He then finished his approach.

"Settle down all of you. This is not a place to act like children - respect your positions and behave or I will see to it that each of you go through another round of testing." His purposefully looked at Mishka before clearing his throat. "Now as I do not feel like repeating myself today we will await the last two to join us and then we will begin. Until then try to behave please." He sighed and rubbed his brow while a meek and timid form came up along side of him. Long black hair and deep violet eyes adorned the young woman who looked barely late 20s. He was holding a holo screen and typing franticly into it.

"Yes Mr. Scala..." Fear edged her voice and her facial features twitched here and there when Jakob looked at her.

"Where in the hell are the other two?" He growled snatching the holo screen from the woman. She flinched in reaction but didn't move away from him.

"They should arrive shortly Sir. They're taking the Sky Rail. I ran the stratagem again and I believe I have worked out the fatal flaws like you asked."

Jakob looked at the screen. "So I see! Yes, this configuration may just work. Have we heard anything from the Seer's Stage yet?" He asked eyes still focused on the screen.

"No sir - dusk is only 2 hours out and all is quiet for now." She said meekly her eyes turning to look at Mishka as she noticed Jakob was working on the formula that was administered to her. "A-Are you changing her dosage again?"

"Yes. Mishka come this way please Maya will take you for a few quick tests. Maya be sure to do them correctly this time. No skirting the results please" His voice had an edge of warning to it that made the girl nod sharply back. Maya waited for Mishka to come closer then led her to a med bay table. After this Jakob fell quiet and said nothing else. Clearly trying to ignore those who were in his lab while waiting for two others to join them. His fingers tapping away almost non-stop at the holoscreen. ​

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[Solunae]

Simon's retort was met with a steely gaze of solem blues. Her face showed no emotional distress to being called bitch then having her gender confused - she actually prefered it this way, however she did catch a hint of interest from him as he took her ass into account - though she didn't realize it was her ass he was looking at. She didn't feel the sense to respond her mind came back as concerned feelings blossomed to her right and blue eyes trailed back over to Emily who decided now was the time to get passionate in the situation. Her notion of coexisting slightly amused her. She decided to reply in kind. "Let's hope none of you have to work with me" She meant it more for their own safety but it would probably be taken another way. Jericho seemed to be bubbling with an aura of concern and she had to fight looking at him when finally Jakob's bitch ass came off his high and mighty position and made his way over.

She was about to go ahead and tell him of her need for new meds when suddenly Jakob called his lap dog to his side. Mishka felt a mental flinch - Maya was in a way Jakobs armor against Mishka's influences. When she'd first come here Jakob had been a field agent and night after night she'd experienced the cruelty of that man as he'd experimented on Maya. The sweet Maya had been a bit of a light in her world. But as the years had rolled by Maya had changed and now she had no barrier up between her TAINTED persona and her Norman persona the girl's emotional status made her queazy to her stomach and she couldn't stand to be near her for some reason now. She let out a sharp glare at Jakob as he finished his conversation with Maya and instructed the woman to take her for more tests. She sighed and pulled her headphones back up as she moved to follow Maya off to the Med Bay bed not far from the group. She was asked to sit and was slowly leaned back and pulled into the cone of tech. She let her eyes close as blood samples were taken and CAT scans were made. Maya did her best at least to keep her moods wrapped down.​

 

[CalibansEnthusiast]

Falkyn remained impassive as more people entered the room and several had outbursts. He said scarcely a thing as others pushed for calm, before rolling his eyes and glancing at the camera in the room. Had he been spoiled with his last partner? Yes, she was an arrogant and cocky prima donna, but she was never this... childish.

Maybe he was just getting old. Then he heard what Jakob said, how this was some... experiment? And he was an unfortunate lab rat stuck in it. He blew out a deep sigh, looking around the room. "So, two ex military facepunchers, a dude with anger issues, Bane, someone else with anger issues, and an Agency facepuncher walk into a bar," he began, looking at everyone else in the room. "How the joke ends is up to you.

"Okay, who watches cop shows?" He asked, idly anchoring his hands on the collar of his armor. "My guess is, because I watch too many and see where this is going, and I'm just good like that," he added quietly, "we're all going to be put on a team together. Bunch of misfits whatever, and we either work together and somebody makes a TV show or movie about us in a hundred years... or we fuck up, can't get along and we all die."

"I've seen both happen." He admitted.

 

[Greywing44]

"Well obviously." Simon piped up first as he leaned against the wall. Still slurring his words slightly as his head rolled on his shoulders. "Like fifty fifty chance we all fuck up, the fuck up might be me since I'm drugged all the goddamned time. And not in the good way either." If there was even a good way. He didn't really know. But maybe he'd want to? And he was going around in circles again. "But you..." He pointed at Falkyn with an oddly serious look. "We're watching cop shows together in a totally not gay way." He needed to rot his brains with something other then drugs....Except Alcohol. He'd love some of that. Except for when drugged. He wasn't sure how alcohol and drugs would mix but he was sure he'd probably be even more blindingly pissed. Anddddd he was thinking too much again....

 

[eegast]

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EVZA CESTMIR
25 / TAINTED / MALE[/hr]

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​

Evza stayed still against the wall he'd been leaning on for some time. His eerie gray eyes looked to the man adressing them. He did recognize him, as his appearnce was quite different from those he'd seen before. Maybe I should've taken a pill before I left this morning. He reached into a pocket of his coat and retrieved a small blue capsule. He looked around, then put it back, realizing that he would possible have to remove his mask in front of others. That, he was stillnot ready for.

He just sighed audibly at this "gang of misfits" as one of the soldier-looking guys called it. Evza had never seen any cop shows but if what was said is true, he would rather just force himself to speak to them. Being here reminded him of Purgatory. Especially the struggling and the screaming. Then he really wished he would've taken a pill. He just wanted to get this over with. His featured turned into a slight scowl as he turned his gaze towards an empty area of the large room.

 

[Camleen]

Emily keeps her eyes leveled upon Simon, and for a brief moment a look of concern crosses her features. It doesn't last, she knows to keep herself as even tempered as she can here. She still isn't sure of the whole situation, the totality of the reason she had been summoned here. But some of these kids seem on edge.. so all the more reason for her to keep an even keel. And he stares back at her for a few moments, but she keeps her eyes upon his until he looks away. When he does, her gaze moves towards Jakob as he addresses them all.

Settle down?

With his words she looks towards the others.. she genuinely didn't think they were getting very riled up. An outburst, maybe a little loud, but certainly nothing to worry about. But then.. she's not in charge here. So what Jakob says goes. She keeps her eyes on Jakob as he speaks, as he asks them to behave. "Yes, sir." She says obediently. Maybe some would think she's mocking him, considering the seeming reputation this little group has thus far, but her words are genuine and respectful.

"Let's hope none of you have to work with me."

Those words catch Emily's attention, and her gaze is drawn once more to Mishka. Maya makes her way upon the scene, but Emily's attention remains upon Mishka. Her gaze would follow the girl as she is lead away, and her own chin draws up a little. She has heard tell of the TAINTED in this place being kept under control, usually through the use of drugs. Simon seemed to be evidence of that. Mishka clearly has some social issues, probably Simon that would be also true of. And then there's the still silent Evza. The young man wearing a mask. Emily thinks she can surmise that those three are TAINTED.. based on what she knows of them. Falkyn and Jericho.. they just seem like guys. Like the kind of musclehead gun lovers that go around everywhere armed for bear. Being in what occupation she's in, she sees that sort of thing all the time. It's not a bad thing, not really. Just funny to her. Falkyn, thus far, certainly has a cynical view of things, in her opinion.

"Listen…"

She says in an even tone to Falkyn.

"Your levity is appreciated.. but once we get our assignments, we're going to need everyone in. Focused." She looks around to the others gathered, her brows furrowing as she continues "We were all asked here by name, so that means we're all here for a reason. A specific reason. We all have something to bring to the table. Maybe you don't even know what that is yet.. but that's the point of a team. Helps you figure out just who you are.." Wow, she sounds like an ass. She knows not everyone appreciates the little shpeels she comes up with sometimes.. but she tends to speak her mind when she thinks she has to. Her focus is on Falkyn again, asking with a small smirk "Wait.. which am I? Agency or ex-military facepuncher?" She asks out of genuine curiosity, as if to see just how much he's figured out.

 

[Solunae]

[bg=#616060]

Once again seeming to ignore everything around him the grim scientist was busy with his figure by appearance, but in truth he was listening to everything that was said. Now taking into his figures, adjusting map out of just how he was supposed to make this work as the Chief had bluntly said. He was finding more and reasons to pair them up and set them to teams and he already had his two team leaders figured.

Knowing Stellar from records and reports he had a feeling he'd been justified in sending her off to pick up the one Esmeralda from Purgatory; but now he was starting to wonder just where in the hell they were. Still calculating things he was side tracked for a moment as the analysis Maya was running came to his holo screen. . . He would have to adjust her meds. And Simon ... he would need to bring him down from his drunken state if they were expected to go out tonight on call. He knew it would be unpleasant for Simon but at the same time it was a necessity. He called over a technician via page through his holo screen and ordered just such a remedy be ordered. In moments another technician approached Simon with a large syringe in her hands.

"Simon Jackal please remain calm and still. We're going to bring you down for duty tonight." She said and smiled up at him before going ahead and plunging the syringe into his arm. The bright green fluids would work in only 15 minutes to drag him down from his state. Mishka was also receiving a shot to take her fully down from her meds. Having been let off the med bay bed she had moved to rejoin the group her headphones back in place and the sound of classical music could just be heard from them. Maya was also back at Jakobs side.

MEANWHILE at the Sky Rail dock in the upper levels of PAGAN Global another technician waited for Stellar and Esme to arrive. This one had a solem appearence and seemed to be anxious about doing as Jakob ordered as quickly as possible. The moment the two appeared the technician cleared his throat and called out to Stellar "Stella Artemis, Esmeralda Baylin if you would please come with me" The technician left no room for argument simply turning himself on a dime and heading for one of the vault lifts (centrally located big ass elevators that move through the center column of the entire facility - quickest way to get about and large enough to move heliocopters and other vehicles used by PAGAN) Once in the lift they decended swiftly for the R&D when the lift opened they were led to the main group.

Jakob looked up as the large doors opened and in came his last two subjects. ~Finally~ He thought as they approached. The moment they were within speaking distance he jumped into the detail bit of this little introduction for them all.

"For those of you who have just arrived I am Jakob Scala head of the R&D department here at PAGAN Global. You are all wondering why you have been brought here and I'm here to inform you of our newest project. Chief Grigorie Bane tasked me with finalizing the details but he was the one who summoned you all here. 'Supposedly' chosen for your own unique abilities and skill sets to become our top two task force teams here at PAGAN Global. I'm here to get you all set up with your new partners and teams - to in a way give you an orientation if you are new to this facility. Being the top of your peers we're expecting a great deal from the lot of you." He seemed to not believe half of what he was saying as an arrogant edge toned his voice the entire time. "After I have set you to your teams we will set up a training run for both and see how well you function as a unit. However, if we get a call before training is finished you will be deployed to field. PAGAN has had numerous SHADE sightings and activities for the last few nights and as we only have ..." he checked his watch suddenly "An hour and a half until dusk I'm afraid that will be just the case again tonight and you will be required to deploy without an ... adjusting period."

Looking down at his holo screen again - though he didn't need to he started barking off names. Head of Team Alpha is Falkyn deLacy, partnered with Simon Jackal, with Stella Artemis partnered to Esmeralda Baylin. Team Bravo will be lead by Emily Brineux partnered to Ezva Cestmir, with Jericho Raines partnered to Mishka Vorona." He gave a second to pause. "Any questions?"​

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[Aero Blue]

Stella waltzed into R&D like a child embarking upon his first day at school, positively beaming with pride, waving to the rest of the lot. The rest of the PAGAN agents Stella knew either by reputation or by brief acquaintance, although she wasn't particularly well-connected to them on either a professional or personal front. The head of R&D, however, had a special place in Stella's art, even though she wasn't particularly familiar with him either.

She tugged at Esme's sleeve, leaning over like a gossiping teenager, "That Jakob guy? So hot. Goodness, man-buns and grey hair. Like anyone you see?"

The Initiative was an interesting one, and Stella was mostly thankful that she didn't have the lead of Team Alpha - she preferred to follow and offer only the greatest of moral support! Full on leadership was a bit of a headache. Partnership with Esme was a bit of bonus; oh what great friends they would be!

 

[eegast]

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EVZA CESTMIR
25 / TAINTED / MALE[/hr]

---

​

Evza was indifferent concerning his assignment. Only his eyes moved to He looked to his new partner Emily. He was slightly indifferent towards her as well and was mostly just glad to finally get out there in the field. He was glad to be partnered with her and not one of the guys. She seemed to be level headed enough. He did think, however, that she valued teamwork too early. They barely knew a damn thing about each other, yet teamwork was already on the table. The SHADE part was the least of his concern, really, and he more so felt it would be quite hard for him to work with the others, let alone the fairly talkative Emily.

Hearing the door open once more, he turned his head slightly to see what could be happening next. Seeing two others walk in, he presumed them to be the names he heard listed off that he didn't recognize. Hearing the first girl speak, he felt she acted young for the age he thought she might be. But, making assumptions is obviously not teamwork.

 

[Ramboing]

Jericho Raines
​

Jericho stood straight up when Jakob walked into the room. Whether it was instinct from his time in the military or it was out of respect, he stood at attention as the man introduced himself. Jericho already knew who he was, once again thanks to his orientation tour. He was the head of R&D in charge of everything before him. Rumor was he was your average mad scientists, doing anything in the name of science. The man went on the chastise the group for their behavior as another timid woman scuttled behind him. Apparently, based on their conversation, there were two others on their way. Finally, the man left as he had Mishka escorted to receive some medicine.

If the group was disappointing when Jakob gave them a talk, they were even worse when he left. The cynical talked continued as everything began to bicker amongst themselves. It took the woman to get down on Falkyns level and calm him down. She definitely had experience in these sort of situations, keeping her cool and others cool in stressful situations. The others, though, they were an interesting bunch. Unlike Falkyn and the woman, they didn't seem like ex-military or anything of that sort. If anything they looked like people straight from dark alley way or an sketchy bar. Why those three were here, Jericho didn't know but he hoped to find out soon.

The doors opened as two more people walked in: a young girl who looked completely out of place in this situation and another cheery woman with blue streaked hair. Once they joined the group Jakob once again approached everyone this time with bigger news. The people were apparently enlisted for some sort of anti-SHADE task force. They were to be split of teams, partnered with each other and trained in the next hour and a half. Don't be Falkyn. Don't be Falkyn... Jericho thought to himself as Jakob began to list off names. It was at this point the finally got the names for most of the others. Team Alpha was headed by the snarky Falkyn partnered with the drunk Simon and joined by the blue-haired girl Stella and the young one Esmeralda. Then there was Team Bravo led by the woman Emily with the sneaky man Ezva and Jericho partnered with... Mishka.

When his name and his partners were called out he turned and looked at her. While keeping a straight face he thought to himself, Oh great.... Team Bravo, his team, didn't really worry him that much. It was led by Emily who he could tell would keep them alive. Ezva was an unknown quantity so Jericho held his judgment for now. Then there was Mishka. She seemed emotionally unstable and not in check. He had now idea what was wrong with her; however he knew that whatever was her problem, it would come back to haunt them.

 

[Solunae]

Mishka took a place not to far from Jericho and Falkyn once more as she rejoined the group. Her headphones still pumping music into her conscious while her subconscious picked up on worry from some - anxieties from others as their teams were assigned. She'd read Scala's lips while he'd explained - unable to actually hear him due to her headphones. However, when the teams were assigned and the groups figured her eyes slowly traveled to Jericho - he seemed to bubble with mild anxieties, and she had a feeling it was towards her. She let her eyes move back away again but remained silent a light glare on Scala and Maya. Why were they doing this to her. She thought she'd only have to deal with the one partner. She was beginning to get angry at the whole situation.

She had to be careful though - had to reign in her feelings or she would affect those around her. So she took a calming deep breath and sighed very slowly in her exhale. She was not a happy camper still but she was in control of her own emotions - tinging her mind with the anxieties of the others around her helped to even her own. However, she was still worried. She hadn't been in the field in almost 6 months, and then only with the singular partner only one set of emotions to deal with and to anchor her when surrounded by the masses of citizens. She finally just turned her eyes away and to a wall hoping to ignore the situation and Jericho's angst she felt was probably directed towards her. She had a feeling this training session was going to be shitty.​

 

[CalibansEnthusiast]

Falkyn looked at the two who had just walked in, before Scala gave them their orders: Four man teams? This was new. He looked to, Emily? Who asked where she fell in with his snarky comment earlier, "ex-military, I'm Agency," he clarified. "Stiff posture, clipped tone, alertness, stuff like that," he explained before standing and looking to his new partner, and his other teammates. He spun his finger around in a circle in a gesture meaning to regroup on him.

"Maybe sometime, as a squad bonding thing," Falkyn told Simon, looking at the others. "Okay, experience, skills, abilities, I need to know them now," he told his new squadmates. "I'm a facepuncher, I've got a G4 ranking in Krav Maga, and I'm a hell of a shot and marksman," he told them, looking around at them. He looked around at each as they spoke, before looking to Scala. "Mister Scala," he spoke up to get the man's attention, "what will we be up against during training, and where will we be deploying after nightfall?" he asked.

Falkyn was a little worried about them, deploying without much of a period to adjust or get used to each other's abilities or ways of operating. Out of curiosity, he pulled out his phone and shot a message to Seri, asking for the dossiers on each of them. He wanted to know everything about the people he was going to be working with and putting his life on the line with.

@Greywing44 @Makomin @Shizuochan

 

[Camleen]

The same little grin remains upon Emily's face. She didn't want to make it seem like she was making fun of the man, of Falkyn. She truly wasn't, and she wanted to make sure everyone knew that. So that's why she kept that silly little grin. And his answer is a pleasant surprise to her. He's a very observant fellow, he summed her up well with saying only a few words to her. She's a bit impressed.

But that's pushed to the back of her mind as the good doctor Scala speaks. Wow.. a 'top' task force team. She feels genuinely honored. As he speaks (and as Falkyn noted), her posture is straight, her hands behind her back, her eyes on Jakob. And as the man continues.. it occurs to her.. they were all recruited to be the top task forces here at PAGAN, but they have yet to go on one mission together. Or even a training exercise. So while in theory they could be the best of the best of the best.. they have yet to prove it. That's always the hard part.. putting a squad together on paper isn't so difficult. But that squad working, really working, is another matter in of itself.

And now that moment of truth. Her actual assignment. And.. partners? He starts partnering people up, and she finds herself a little dumbfounded. Why would someone partner her with anyone? Who could possibly keep up with her, or not compromise her? Maybe her infiltration skills aren't going to be used as much as she thought they might be? Alpha is named off, and she doesn't hear her name. Falkyn's the lead of Alpha, her eyes drifting towards him. So he's observant and apparently also the leader type. Huh. Her eyes return to Jakob as he now names Bravo.. and she is genuinely surprised when she is named team leader. Just like that? Oh, no pressure. She makes no outward reaction to the announcement, as if she had totally expected it to happen like this. Each member of Bravo is named.. her partner is Ezva Cestmir. Ezva.. her eyes drift along those gathered.. save for the new arrivals she knows everyone's names. And save for the young man standing apart from everyone.. the one Falkyn called Bane? No, that can't be his name.. he must be Ezva. She meets his eyes for the briefest of moments when he looks towards her, and she just nods faintly to him.

This is going to take some work, isn't it?

The other members of Bravo are named.. Jericho partnered with Mishka. So.. if her reasoning from earlier is correct about who is TAINTED and who is not.. it seems like they partnered a TAINTED member with a NORMAN member. Well that's interesting. She watches Jericho a moment, and then she looks towards Mishka. She has.. no idea what they are capable of. Their brief interactions didn't tell her a whole lot, not what she needed to know out in the field.

So here's an awkward moment coming. From the start she doesn't want to seem bossy, but someone has to get this ball rolling. And since she was named lead, she decides she has to. She turns (a crisp smooth turn… left face, actually) and she steps closer in the direction of her new squad. She motions to all of them as she speaks. "So since we're going to be part of this new task force.." she pauses as she now steps closer towards them, stopping motion before she speaks, now in closer proximity to them all "We need to know what one another is capable of. We're going to be relying on one another from here on out." Okay reel it in, Emily. They aren't Marines, don't talk to them like they are. Adapt. She motions to herself as she smiles gently, her eyes meeting each and every one of theirs as she speaks.

"My name is Lieutenant Colonel Emily Brineux, my handle is Shadowveil. Feel free to use the whole name, or Shadow or Veil. One of my main specialties is infiltration and reconnaissance. I'll be your team leader, don't be shy about coming to me with any issues or critiques. And welcome to Bravo Team." She says with a nod and a smile. She looks between them, motioning in their general direction. "Who wants to go next? Don't be shy. Tell us what you can do."