Raising an eyebrow at the new information, Chatter's smile vanished as he glanced in the direction of the convoy. It was approaching, they didn't have long.
His eyes being drawn to Arsenal as he spoke, he couldn't help but smirk slightly. He enjoyed the little reactions people gave him, and irritation really only fed the fire. It was in the cape's stance, in the slight change in tone, in the words he used. He responded, "They probably won't use bullets. They're more likely to rely on the capes and containment foam. Anything they do use will, of course, be quite non-lethal. I imagine our shapeshifter," he shot a smile at Love Craft, "...can handle." He paused a moment, listening further. Once Arsenal was done he nodded, got back into his car and repositioned it slightly on the side of the road. Once he was done he glanced at Sofia even as he again activated his bluetooth so that Headhunter could hear his question as well.
"Can you stop the convoy roughly in line with our car? We can use it for cover," he explained, hoping Headhunter would understand not to shoot the Convoy's engines out too far from the point he was indicating with his other hand...and his words.
His eyes remained locked on Sofia as he awaited her answer.
Evelyn Chambers - Tulpa
While typically she would have been much more vocal, Evelyn was quiet as she sat in her chair in the meeting room with her team. She was reflecting on the events of her day—her temper having calmed somewhat, though there was a heavy air about her. She was mourning and...brooding, in her way, as thoughts of how not enough was being done to apprehend the two villains responsible or to help Sonar.
So it was that she kept her mouth shut when their new team leader spoke, though she did dutifully pay attention, even glancing at Dean momentarily when he was mentioned, before she glanced at the others, and then back down to the floor when Messiah stopped talking.
She hated this...not being in the team, but having to face these ugly truths on her first damned day with the Wards. It really...really sucked.
Name: Jake Krain. Alias: The Outsider. Age: 19. Alignment: Hero. Loyalty: Minutemen. Appearance: Standing at 6'1 and weighing in at 171, Jake is a leanly muscled young man with a typically lazy posture and fairly relaxed, but oddly sinuous and predatory gait. He walks with an air of confidence and unintentional mystery, seemingly aloof, his gaze often appearing bored or disinterested. He's hard to read unless you know him well and he's the sort that most would call conventionally attractive. All in all he's a well built, but not muscly guy with a laidback look and a demeanor to match.
His costume consists of this outfit and a white mask that covers only his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Additionally he wears a pair of black and white gloves.
History:
Born alongside his twin sister, Ashlynn, to their single mother Jake grew up in a stable home with mother and sister both. Jake was what one might describe as an excitable and friendly kid. He did well in school—though not terribly far above average—though he was sometimes rather preoccupied or difficult to corral.
Around the age of 9 he expressed great curiosity regarding his father and that side of his family. His mother told him stories of the man and offered, when he was a bit older, to let him visit his relatives in Japan. He happily agreed, patiently studying the culture and the language over the next four years as something of an obsession while keeping correspondence with his grandparents overseas. Finally on his 13th birthday, his mother allowed him to travel to Kyushu, Japan where his grandparents lived.
As if he'd known them all his life, Jake took great delight in visiting them and quickly grew used to their company. One day, his grandfather decided to take Jake on a tour of the city. It was on that same day, while they were out on the town, that Leviathan attacked. With the city flooding, the two were pushed underwater as the water level rose and waves crashed into them, practically toppling a building on Jake's grandfather. With his grandpa pinned underwater, Jake was panicked, but tried to be brave like the heroes who fought nearby.
However, in an attempt to swim down to rescue his grandpa, Leviathan swam past him in the water and the beast's after-echo struck him hard, knocking the air from his lungs and slamming him back into an exposed pipe, which would have impaled him. However, perhaps out of luck, he triggered, causing his human body to swap out for the one he would one day term his “Second Vessel,” allowing him to survive being impaled by the metal pipe.
Scared, in pain, and confused, Jake instinctively thrashed and eventually pulled himself from the pipe, his body healing rapidly. He nearly balked and swam away, before the image of his grandfather, gasping for air, pulled him back.
So it was that he forced himself to swim towards the drowning man and extricate him from the collapsed building's wreckage. Once freed, he carried the man above water before—to his surprise—flying back to their home where he did his best to protect his grandmother as well. Eventually, the waves subsided, but the damage had been done.
It was hours before a rescue team came for them and it was not until he saw them in the distance that he moved out of sight and shifted back before joining his grandparents. Several days later the three were on a one-way trip to the states where they would stay.
Following the harrowing incident, Jake seemed quieter...withdrawn, but his sister—as she always had—helped him recover, though he would never be the same boy he'd been before Leviathan.
Time went on and the fear of his newfound powers grew less and less even as his curiosity rose—though both emotions were...less intense than he remembered them in the past. Like his powers, this would be just another thing he grew used to. No longer deterred by the watchful eyes of his grandparents—who had bid him not to use the frightening abilities—he began to experiment in secret. Of course, as with all things between twins, he couldn't keep it a secret from her for long.
So it was that throughout their adolescence and the drama of highschool the two practiced their abilities away from the city where prying eyes wouldn't see. This drew him and his sister closer than before, and so she would serve as one of few things that grounded his emotions and made him feel...well, somewhat more normal than he typically did among others.
With some rocky relationships in between, Jake and his sister eventually graduate high school with Ashlynn entering higher education, unlike him. He just didn't have the motivation or those sorts of aspirations it seemed—not anymore at least. Instead, he found himself a part time job, enjoying life as much as he could, and helping to support his family where he could.
More recently he's begun stretching his powers at night, taking out minor criminals, though never anything even vaguely high profile. He's been active for the last two months and has only had encounters with three other parahumans in that time. While he's remained essentially in the shadows, some rumors of a strange creature lurking in the night have begun to spread. While he knows otherwise...he hopes they're not about him.
Personality
Motivations: As per a promise he made to his grandfather, Jake, in all that he does, makes an honest attempt to leave things better than he found them. Beyond this he has a strong wish to protect those he cares about—especially since they are few in number.
Sexuality: Straight. Likes:
Girls with piercings.
Working out.
Parkour.
Coffee.
Curry.
Tea.
Dislikes:
People commenting on his other appearance.
Being inactive for long periods of time.
Cigarettes/smoke.
Monotony.
Boredom.
Dogs.
Derangement: Essentially, following his trigger event, Jake has felt more and more detached from reality, particularly the events and people around him on an emotional level. It became harder for him to form lasting emotional bonds or to just, well, care about most things. Additionally, he's noticed more and more that he only feels 'all there,' emotionally when utilizing his powers—and during a brief period of time after use as if a small part of him was cordoned off into his second body when he triggered.
While Jake has grown used to this, the activation of his power tends to cause an almost 'emotional high,' sometimes resulting in emotions becoming more intense in general—the reality being he's just experiencing the average intensity of human emotion which he is typically denied. Currently, Jake's working theory for why this happens is essentially as follows:
“When I triggered, I think my power cordoned off a small part of my psyche, allotting it to my Second Vessel so that when I inhabited it it wouldn't feel unfamiliar and unnatural, but instead would fit me like a glove. However, this appears to have resulted in a loss of emotional intensity in my...human half. Kinda sucks.”
Parahumanism
Skills: Having been practicing parkour for awhile, Jake is pretty good at getting through almost any environment with great efficiency. This also makes him a very athletic and somewhat acrobatic individual. Beyond this he knows how to throw a mean punch or kick properly, but he's certainly no martial artist.
Classification: Breaker|Brute|Mover. Details: Jake’s power affords him a subtly enhanced physical awareness and control, while sacrificing a measure of his emotional sensation. This emotional dampening is a side effect of his main power, which allows him to--at will--swap to a monstrous alternate form. This switch--whether from human to monster or the inverse--sends the unused body into another world, where it dwells in stasis. Inactive bodies are largely unaffected by time, but will heal as normal. In the case of his alternate form, known as his Second Vessel(SV), it will also ‘recharge’ its energy stores by absorbing the energy from light. When willed, Jake will swap to his Second Vessel, which causes a brief sense of nausea and disorientation that can be adjusted to, but not mitigated. What follows are the properties and capabilities of his Second Vessel.
Measuring in at 35 feet in length and 10 feet tall from ground to back, Jake’s Second Vessel is monstrous indeed. Sporting four arms and a host of prehensile tentacles, Jake has an even higher degree of dexterity and awareness in this form than when in his human body, allowing him to perform incredible physical feats. Among these feats are those of strength, as the sheer size and mass of his SV affords him rather considerable physical strength, allowing him to lift roughly 1.54 tons per limb, which with his 9 tentacles and 4 arms gives him a total lift strength of around 20 tons independent from his flight. Beyond this, the SV’s chitinous armor gives it something of an edge, allowing it to resist low caliber rounds, cutting implements and a measure of blunt force trauma. The natural armor is somewhat stronger than ceramic body armor, but with more impact absorption due to the nature of the material.
More central to his ability however, is the incredible metabolism of his Second Vessel, which generates not only copious amounts of biochemical energy, but also high voltages of bioelectricity. This energy goes on to fuel not only his regeneration, which allows him to easily recover from most surface damage or muscular tearing in seconds, but also his flight and kinetic barrier. In essence the energies are transmuted into potential energy, which then overflows from his body and flows along its surface. By intuitively controlling the speed and direction of this energy’s flow, Outsider can fly, turning on a dime or rapidly accelerating as needed. With this control, Outsider’s SV is capable of instantly accelerating from 0mph to 30mph after which his flight can propel him 15mph faster every second. Furthermore, as the potential energy on his body accumulates, it is compressed, forming a kinetic barrier roughly two inches away from his SV’s flesh.
The aforementioned barrier is primarily resistant to physical assaults, particularly impact force, as the more surface area struck in an individual impact, the easier the force is distributed and resisted by the barrier. Conversely, piercing and slashing attacks with sufficient force behind them are much more likely to break the shield. When broken, the shield shatters and disperses, reforming over the space of several seconds depending on how much damage was taken. The barrier is capable of resisting a significant amount of force, protecting him from most forms of physical damage.
Following from this barrier is the last kinetic manifestation of his power, which allows him to alter the flow of the potential energy around his body, focusing it in an area--or over his whole surface--and then release it in kinetic blasts of varying size and potency. These blasts act like shockwaves of invisible force, typically expanding from the point of impact as they disperse--though he can make them more focused and contained. The potency of a given blast depends on how long energy has been gathered prior to its release. The strongest blast that can be emitted without charge is capable of pushing a grown man off his balance and across a distance of eight or so feet and would be experienced as a force striking the whole surface of the body facing its point of origin.
Last among his SV’s capabilities are its senses, which include enhanced touch, drastically enhanced hearing, and the ability to detect magnetic fields and electrical impulses--natural and artificial. This electromagnetic sense allows Outsider to detect the aforementioned within a radius of roughly 264 feet. His hearing on the other hand is harder to quantify, but allows him to hear sounds more clearly and to filter sound to a limited degree. While physical structures exist to allow these sensory abilities, they are internal, and thus cannot be easily targeted.
Limitations: Possessing three particularly notable weaknesses, Outsider’s Second Vessel does have its downsides. First of these is its hearing, which--due to its sensitivity--is actually one of the few senses it has that can be used against it. Thus, particularly loud, high or low pitched, noises can be used as a painful deterrent against his form, causing pain and even a sense of nausea and discomfort. It should be noted that sound totally ignores his kinetic barrier, which reveals something about the shield’s nature as a primarily physical defense. Essentially, the kinetic barrier is only properly effective against physical assaults and is much less efficient and durable when attempting to defend Jake’s SV from energetic assault, including most lasers and electricity--though high ambient temperature or radiation will be warded off, unless significant temperature spikes or sufficient explosive force are utilized.
However, while the aforementioned details are certainly significant weaknesses, the biggest weak point of Outsider’s Second Vessel takes the form of a hyperdense crystalline ‘core’ located in the most armored portion of the form’s torso. This core is the only truly ‘vital’ part of his Second Vessel and if it is damaged, Jake will be shunted back into his body regardless of the current circumstances he is in. If the damage is minor, it will make the form unstable, perhaps causing unpredictable flickers back and forth between bodies. If moderate damage is sustained Jake will be shunted back into his human body at the time of the damage and a second or two following any attempt to switch forms. Any damage beyond this is considered major and will render his power unavailable until the damage is repaired. While such a scenario has clearly never occurred, the core can be completely destroyed and if this comes to pass the exact consequences are unknown.
While the body is not particularly damaged even by high voltages of electrical current, it can be distracting, unpleasant, and disorienting to have it channel through it.
The disorientation from switching bodies stacks, becomes more intense and deleterious the more times Jake swaps in a short period of time.
Cellphone: What it sounds like.
Disposable Prepaid Phone: A cellphone he uses sometimes when 'in costume' just so he can throw it away and not be tracked or the like.
Name: Jake Krain. Alias: The Outsider. Age: 19. Alignment: Hero. Loyalty: Minutemen. Appearance: Standing at 6'1 and weighing in at 171, Jake is a leanly muscled young man with a typically lazy posture and fairly relaxed, but oddly sinuous and predatory gait. He walks with an air of confidence and unintentional mystery, seemingly aloof, his gaze often appearing bored or disinterested. He's hard to read unless you know him well and he's the sort that most would call conventionally attractive. All in all he's a well built, but not muscly guy with a laidback look and a demeanor to match.
History:
Born alongside his twin sister, Ashlynn, to their single mother Jake grew up in a stable home with mother and sister both. Jake was what one might describe as an excitable and friendly kid. He did well in school—though not terribly far above average—though he was sometimes rather preoccupied or difficult to corral.
Around the age of 9 he expressed great curiosity regarding his father and that side of his family. His mother told him stories of the man and offered, when he was a bit older, to let him visit his relatives in Japan. He happily agreed, patiently studying the culture and the language over the next four years as something of an obsession while keeping correspondence with his grandparents overseas. Finally on his 13th birthday, his mother allowed him to travel to Kyushu, Japan where his grandparents lived.
As if he'd known them all his life, Jake took great delight in visiting them and quickly grew used to their company. One day, his grandfather decided to take Jake on a tour of the city. It was on that same day, while they were out on the town, that Leviathan attacked. With the city flooding, the two were pushed underwater as the water level rose and waves crashed into them, practically toppling a building on Jake's grandfather. With his grandpa pinned underwater, Jake was panicked, but tried to be brave like the heroes who fought nearby.
However, in an attempt to swim down to rescue his grandpa, Leviathan swam past him in the water and the beast's after-echo struck him hard, knocking the air from his lungs and slamming him back into an exposed pipe, which would have impaled him. However, perhaps out of luck, he triggered, causing his human body to swap out for the one he would one day term his “Second Vessel,” allowing him to survive being impaled by the metal pipe.
Scared, in pain, and confused, Jake instinctively thrashed and eventually pulled himself from the pipe, his body healing rapidly. He nearly balked and swam away, before the image of his grandfather, gasping for air, pulled him back.
So it was that he forced himself to swim towards the drowning man and extricate him from the collapsed building's wreckage. Once freed, he carried the man above water before—to his surprise—flying back to their home where he did his best to protect his grandmother as well. Eventually, the waves subsided, but the damage had been done.
It was hours before a rescue team came for them and it was not until he saw them in the distance that he moved out of sight and shifted back before joining his grandparents. Several days later the three were on a one-way trip to the states where they would stay.
Following the harrowing incident, Jake seemed quieter...withdrawn, but his sister—as she always had—helped him recover, though he would never be the same boy he'd been before Leviathan.
Time went on and the fear of his newfound powers grew less and less even as his curiosity rose—though both emotions were...less intense than he remembered them in the past. Like his powers, this would be just another thing he grew used to. No longer deterred by the watchful eyes of his grandparents—who had bid him not to use the frightening abilities—he began to experiment in secret. Of course, as with all things between twins, he couldn't keep it a secret from her for long.
So it was that throughout their adolescence and the drama of highschool the two practiced their abilities away from the city where prying eyes wouldn't see. This drew him and his sister closer than before, and so she would serve as one of few things that grounded his emotions and made him feel...well, somewhat more normal than he typically did among others.
With some rocky relationships in between, Jake and his sister eventually graduate high school with Ashlynn entering higher education, unlike him. He just didn't have the motivation or those sorts of aspirations it seemed—not anymore at least. Instead, he found himself a part time job, enjoying life as much as he could, and helping to support his family where he could.
More recently he's begun stretching his powers at night, taking out minor criminals, though never anything even vaguely high profile. He's been active for the last two months and has only had encounters with three other parahumans in that time. While he's remained essentially in the shadows, some rumors of a strange creature lurking in the night have begun to spread. While he knows otherwise...he hopes they're not about him.
Personality
Motivations: As per a promise he made to his grandfather, Jake, in all that he does, makes an honest attempt to leave things better than he found them. Beyond this he has a strong wish to protect those he cares about—especially since they are few in number.
Sexuality: Straight. Likes:
Girls with piercings.
Working out.
Parkour.
Coffee.
Curry.
Tea.
Dislikes:
People commenting on his other appearance.
Being inactive for long periods of time.
Cigarettes/smoke.
Monotony.
Boredom.
Dogs.
Derangement: Essentially, following his trigger event, Jake has felt more and more detached from reality, particularly the events and people around him on an emotional level. It became harder for him to form lasting emotional bonds or to just, well, care about most things. Additionally, he's noticed more and more that he only feels 'all there,' emotionally when utilizing his powers—and during a brief period of time after use as if a small part of him was cordoned off into his second body when he triggered.
While Jake has grown used to this, the activation of his power tends to cause an almost 'emotional high,' sometimes resulting in emotions becoming more intense in general—the reality being he's just experiencing the average intensity of human emotion which he is typically denied. Currently, Jake's working theory for why this happens is essentially as follows:
“When I triggered, I think my power cordoned off a small part of my psyche, allotting it to my Second Vessel so that when I inhabited it it wouldn't feel unfamiliar and unnatural, but instead would fit me like a glove. However, this appears to have resulted in a loss of emotional intensity in my...human half. Kinda sucks.”
Parahumanism
Skills: Having been practicing parkour for awhile, Jake is pretty good at getting through almost any environment with great efficiency. This also makes him a very athletic and somewhat acrobatic individual. Beyond this he knows how to throw a mean punch or kick properly, but he's certainly no martial artist.
Classification: Breaker|Brute|Mover. Details: An often misunderstood power, most believe Outsider's ability to be that of a shifter, allowing him to change his physical body drastically however, this couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, Jake's power gives him access to two bodies, namely the one he was born to and one that is typically stored in what he describes as 'an alternate dimension,' or a 'pocket of isolated space-time.' This secondary body is a rather monstrous thing, with its back reaching roughly 6 feet into the air and its body measuring in at 24 feet in length. This body possesses a slew of capabilities, but perhaps its most notable is its incredible metabolism, which consumes energy from an unknown source and generates an incredible amount of bio-electricity and bio-chemical energy thus fueling a considerable regeneration factor as well as the body's flight, not to mention its ability to manipulate and physically manifest, to limited degrees, kinetic energy. In essence this manifests as a kinetic barrier just off the surface of the body's skin, which is capable of absorbing a fair amount of physical damage before shattering—though it is comparatively weak against energy-based assaults.
Beyond this is the body's ability to transform its own bio-electric and bio-chemical energy into pure kinetic energy, which it can channel throughout its form or release in bursts of force. This as well as its size afford it a brute classification as it is capable of a sizable amount of damage if its kinetic bursts, and strikes are well placed. However, the body has other notable capabilities, particularly its senses, which include an electromagnetic perception, enhanced hearing and oddly sensitive skin on its many tendrils. This allows Jake, while in this form, to perceive bio-electricity as well as normal electrical signatures, hear things much further away or with greater clarity, as well as sense subtle shifts in air currents around his adopted form. Aside from this, Jake's second body is really only notable for its significantly boosted regeneration and the durable chitinous armor that protects its torso, head, and arms allowing it to shrug off low caliber rounds, normal bladed implements, and some blunt force trauma. What the Jake's body can't handle, its regeneration can recover from—though this doesn't necessarily mean he can tank just about everything—contrary to what one might think. Nonetheless, all in all Jake's ability is powerful...if monstrous in appearance.
Besides this, there is Jake's trump card—which is something he is quite unaware of—as should Jake's second vessel be destroyed or damaged in a manner that would be fatal to it, the body will not die, but instead go into a stasis—shunting Jake's mind back into his physical body. Over a variable period of time, depending on the extent of damage, the body will pull itself back together and regenerate, or just regenerate if much of it has been obliterated.
Side effect: Something he is faintly aware of, Jake's normal gait and movements in his native human body possess a strange predatory grace and fluidity. It seems that along with part of his psyche being given to his 'Second Vessel,' part of its was given to him. This has little bearing on his physical abilities but does make him either slightly more attractive in motion, or slightly more intimidating depending on the observer.
Limitations: While most would think that Jake's ability ought to make him a powerhouse however, they would be quite mistaken in that assumption as it is rife with exploitable weaknesses. First and foremost, Jake, upon swapping either from his human body to his monstrous one or vice versa, feels a brief, but intense disorientation and confusion as his shard readjusts his physical awareness to allow him to control his given vessel. While only lasting for a maximum of three seconds and not impeding him from switching back and forth, this effect stacks, making him more disoriented for longer should he swap back and forth rapidly.
Additionally, while his second vessel sounds durable, everything beyond its armor is relatively frail, allowing its tendrils to be cut off with relative ease—given the prevalence of parahumans and tinkertech—not to mention that its kinetic barrier is particularly weak against energetic assaults. While the barrier can withstand extended exposure to radiation or high ambient temperatures, it will gradually degrade if sudden temperature spikes occur, if explosive force is applied, or if electrical current is involved, which, while not inherently harmful to the vessel is disorienting and particularly painful. Its senses are another weak point as the vessel does not possess eyes and has no means through which to defend its sensitive hearing and electromagnetic detection from either spikes in electrical activity or exceptionally loud noise—both which can disorient Jake significantly.
While unknown to Jake at current time, his second vessel possesses a crystal-like hyper dense 'heart' within the most armored part of its torso. This core, while highly durable compared to the rest of its body, if destroyed, will permanently render the second vessel inert as it is effectively its only truly vital organ. It is unknown how the destruction of the core, and thus his second vessel, would effect Jake's power or Jake himself.
All of Jake's powers are supplied energy by way of photons, making it possible for him to run out of juice for his kinetic abilities, regeneration, and flight in the absence of light, given enough time.
Cellphone: What it sounds like.
Disposable Prepaid Phone: A cellphone he uses sometimes when 'in costume' just so he can throw it away and not be tracked or the like.
Since Pro's not got anything in particular planned for the Wards until the next in-game day, I'm planning to have my next post as Messiah timeskip everybody in the Wards to the planned meeting. @Kafka Komedy, @solokolos, @Lugubrious, @yoshua171, if anybody's still occupied with interactions with other PCs or NPCs and needs more time to finish off what they're doing, please say so. Otherwise, I'll get the meeting post started at some time tomorrow.
Having brought their newest member back to base and informed him of their mission, Drake had separated from the group briefly and made a point of using some of his funds. He bought a set of expensive communication devices...in the form of phones. He coerced several of his more thoroughly indoctrinated audience members to sign up for repaid plans and then bid them to forget he had asked them at all and instead that a relative had asked them to help out financially. He made each of their stories as plausible as possible before returning with bluetooth devices and smart phones in tow. He had also acquired walkie talkies. He gave both to his teammates, explaining them and then handing over the coordination to Headhunter and anyone else who wanted to. This way even if they got separated they could communicate and if their mobile devices were ever to be tracked, they could shut them off , crush them, and throw them away, using the walkie-talkies instead.
After that and another read through the mission briefing folder, he'd went and gotten two vehicles and set up another plausible story with his audience that had lended them to him. He'd made sure to put false plates on, though they were registered to someone's name that wasn't his own.
Bringing them back near the hideout, he had left them several blocks away and each time he'd left the given vehicle he had been wearing different clothes and gotten a taxi to his next destination. Eventually he'd returned to the hideout, asked Headhunter for a spare gun—having also acquired a taser and a knife from audience members to add to his arsenal—and then set about eating and sleeping.
He'd gotten up early the next day and had gone home, then called someone to bring him a holster of a particular sort. He ended up with a strap that went over his shoulder and wrapped around his stomach above his under shirt, the weapon resting beneath his crimson dress shirt, largely hidden unless one paid close attention. He kept one clip of extra ammo in a pocket, with his taser on the opposite side of his body, affixed to the same strap. The knife he affixed to a sheath in his left sleeve, just out of sight within the wide berth of cloth unless he moved just so or you paid very close attention. He made a note to order some kind of tailored overcoat for future operations, especially given the addition of a tinker to their little troupe.
Later he explained to them why he'd gotten two vehicles. Simply put it was to confuse anyone who might want to track them once they got off of Interstate 25. It would allow them to split into two groups and throw off the trail, before abandoning the vehicles for two others he'd set up in select locations—if they became necessary, and heading back to base. It was good to have contingencies, he'd said to anyone giving him looks.
They'd headed out soon after that and upon arriving he'd gotten out of the car—both appeared to be fairly common vehicles, but they'd been custom, and were quite the beasts when necessary. They had enough room for some supplies and of course their passengers.
Rising to his feet and stretching, his costume on already, though he was wearing a hoodie to conceal the goggles and much of his face to anyone nearby. He'd do so until the mission started in earnest.
Regarding their location he noted the flow of traffic, the hills surrounding, and then once he'd taken it all in he glanced at his teammates. Lovely was quick to begin their quirky banter, while Headhunter headed off to position himself properly. Then Arsenal started speaking and he listened, faintly amused, and pleased, at their newest member's intention to take control of the situation and lead where Headhunter had apparently decided not to. Before Arsenal opened his mouth, he'd activated his bluetooth channel, specifically the one connecting him to Headhunter, so that their marksman could hear the plan too and contribute.
Once Arsenal finished he glanced to Sofia as she raised her hand, and then attempted to contribute. The poor dear seemed so out of place, he had to admit, but she was as useful as she was out of place and that certainly made up for it.
"Well, Sofia, I think what would be most useful, personally, is if you let Headhunter shoot the engines, and in that moment you 'ignore' the wheels, causing their vehicles to sink into the ground. We wouldn't want the damage to flip them and harm our target." he glanced at Arsenal, "Or we could make the situation massively dangerous, thus over-complicating things with his power, and also possibly putting us at a severe disadvantage." He shrugged slightly, his expression serious the whole time. It appeared he wasn't putting on a show for them. There was no need, he'd figured, and it also appeared that they didn't appreciate the theatre like he did.
"Besides, once those convoys stop," he began, glancing at them and flashing a smile, "...it will really only take a brief time for me to lull them into an obedient stupor."
ℳ a i r y e ll Ҝ a s i o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .s ᴀ ɴ ɢ ᴜ ι ɴ ᴇ
"I'll let you off easy this time, but don't be surprised if next time things don't end so cleanly." Theme I ♦ Theme II ♦ Theme III
Everyone's words flowed off of him, and while he picked up some of their meaning, much of it was lost as he calmed his almost instinctual reaction of rage and hatred towards Szayeis. It took him a bit longer to calm down, but when he did he came upon the wounded individual speaking, followed swiftly by their host.
Additionally he noticed another newcomer, to whom he merely raised an eyebrow. Flashy, self absorbed, and maybe even more than a little stupid. Wouldn't survive long, he practically concluded before turning his gaze back to Zeki and then to the man who had said Szayeis' name, raising an eyebrow. The man didn't feel of Szayeis, didn't smell it either, in fact his worries were probably justified.
After all, Szayeis had been a wanted licenti on an international level before the prae had set their sights on his life and Mairyell had been to far too many places that were now ghost towns...or barely functional cities because of the licenti and those who followed him.
His eyes fell back on Zeki, but he decided that such was enough and pushed himself from where he leaned against the wall, a hand going to his pocket, retrieving what appeared to be a business card or two. He threw one towards Zeki and walked over to their 'leader,' offering one to him as well. “On that card is a way all of us can stay in contact. Private web server, of sorts, been using it for clients for hundreds of years without a breach. There's a sign in process even via any mobile device, but it won't take long and all the passwords necessary are on that card.”
Once Charles had taken the card, the hybrid would make his way to the door, passing the red haired overly muscular giant behind with an odd chuckle. “I'd suggest working out the plan in that server where we can all see it. I'll be in touch,” he waved without turning back to them, the gesture over his shoulder, before he vanished beyond the door and, soon after, into the night.
"Which will it be, your pride...or your life?" Theme I ♦ Theme II
Maintaining the worry in his tone and body language, the disguised Szayeis in truth felt amusement in his core. The arrival of the red head didn't bother him, but he made an effort to be startled, and then somewhat impressed by the magic the human displayed. He smiled at the man warmly, welcoming him with his body language rather than words, before he glanced back to Zeki as the words of their 'host' struck home. "Work for him!?!" he exclaimed, taking one, then two steps back, looking affronted, a look of abject horror in his eyes. "Do you know what that thing has done? Cities reduced to barely functioning towns. Towns into ghost towns, bereft of any inhabitants. Monstrous murders. Assassinations, and any number of other things I hope I'll never know," he shuddered at the thought, and shook his head as if to perish it. "I just heard he was in town through some of my sources. I'm a detective and private investigator. Some of my more wealthy clients...they like to know when threats or opportunities enter the city, so I have contacts who keep an eye on things like that. Szayeis is a threat, so I know he's here and having had to research the insane bastard, I know about him."
"So perish the thought of me getting a message to him. I'm getting my family out of the city. Who knows what he's got planned, but I won't have my own in danger of being caught up in it," in this he injected some of the human's real emotions, making it all the more convincing. After all, the human he had possessed had a family...once, and was truly feeling fear. The licenti noticed that some of that fear was assigned to individuals who had not lived in the house. It appeared he'd have more clean up to do.
He paused a moment as Mairyell gave his card to Zeki and Charles. He nodded his head to the hybrid before turning his attention to Zeki, an idea in his eyes. "I've, got a card too actually," he said, fishing one from his pocket. "I may not be much use in a fight, but I can do reconnaissance and keep my ear to the ground. Been evading the prae's attempts to find trails back to me for months, no reason I can't snoop some more into their databases, maybe get some key details." He smiled at Zeki, then Charles, a glint of mischief and intelligence in his eyes.
If they took the bait, it meant that Szayeis could use this human as an unwilling pawn, whilst dangling the man's still living relatives over his head. He'd use them as unwitting hostages and it would be glorious. If he hadn't been so hasty to arrive, he could have left the wife alive perhaps.
Ominar – Prae Headquarters 'The Spire' – Highest Office Day two - Morning Theme I
She had bid her newest little tool to arrive in her office soon, she thought as she once more gazed upon the sun as it ascended towards the sky's zenith. It was so different from their own star, a different color, different size. So many differences between her world and this one, each one a thing of intrigue, she thought. She was curious what the day would hold, especially since it did not appear that the Broker had gotten in contact with her again, nor showed up unannounced—which he had done before.
Hearing a buzz from her desk she turned and pushed a button, speaking as she did so, “He is here I presume?” Her voice was smooth and almost sensual, even in its natural and relaxed state, a beautiful thing.
“Yes Exeo, he will be at your door momentarily,” the operator on the other side responded. The exeo nodded and let go of the button, instead she sat down behind her desk, folding on leg over the other at the knee, and laying her hands gently on her lap, a smile forming on her face. She glanced down at the table of her desk, looking over some documents before her knight arrived.
There had been strange reports of alleys and streets that no one could pass, despite a total lack of physical barriers. There were also odd areas where nothing seemed to happen. No one passed through them, no one was in them. Anomalies of some sort, she thought, but couldn't be sure.
She would be sending some agents out to investigate later.
Beyond that she'd heard tell of some kind of gathering at the very edges of town in the industrial district. Apparently in a warehouse of some sort. Very few people had been apprehended as she had only managed to send authorities there after most of them had departed. It was unfortunate but it was enough.
Those in custody had been interrogated, given warnings, and then let go. What they had revealed both amused and worried her.
A rebellion was forming.
Interrupting the thought, she heard a soft chime at her door, causing her to look up and smile. It appeared that her knight was about to enter her office.
Wonderful~
She had a particular task in mind for him already and was certain he'd be hanging on her every word, the poor youngling.
“Yes, please do come in,” she said as a sound notified her that someone had swiped their identification/clearance card on the other side of the door.
She waited, wondering how he would present himself.