[hr][h1][i][color=lawngreen]Sonya Mayfield[/color], [b]Henry Olin[/b] & Task Force RAVEN.[/i][/h1][hr]


[b]The previous night...[/b]


"Agent Merryday, how's it looking from up there?"

Maximilian's voice woke Sonya up from her reverie. She was obscured by the dead of night, wearing her armor. She was on the edge of the rooftop looking down the sights of her sniper rifle. She was staring at a scene in an alleyway. A group of cars facing a big black van (No license plate). Men stepped out of the car, and Sonya immediately identified them as Red Crowns. From their manner of dress (They were wearing Red Crown colors), their demeanor, their firearms, and... their skin color (She isn't racist). One of the men grabbed a woman out of the trunk, wearing a black bag over her head. Out of the van came a well dressed man, and a woman, they had to be REAPERS, or at the very least, with the Hands.

"The Red Crowns grabbed someone... I think it's a trade?" Sonya suggested into the comms. "Leon, you gotta get a good view of this and tell us what's going on." 

"Yeah, yeah..." Leon said, standing on another roof, an apartment building. He was leaning up against the rooftop entrance. These bozos were just in range. His eyes started glowing brightly as he observed the location from a distance. The meeting between the Red Crowns, and the Hands of Science.

One of the Red Crowns, a large African-American man, covered in tattoos, was pulling the woman along, and he threw her right between the groups. "Yeeeeah, alright, we got the bitch for ya'." He walked up, and snatched the bag off her head. She was an African-American woman with black hair, and a pretty little face.

"Hey, you can't do this to me!" The woman screamed.

"Shut up, bitch!" The Red Crown open handed slapped her.

Henry zoomed in on the woman, and highlighted her for Sonya to track.

"Get me info on this one, Eli." Henry said, sending the information through his uplink to his codemonkey in Verthaven. There was some mumbling on the other side of his earpiece, and within a few seconds all of her information about her on the Metahuman database came up on bot Sonya's and his own arm piece. Vanessa Smith. A metahuman that lives in Eagle-Rock Row. Not reported missing... which means they grabbed her not too long ago. She's a Metahuman capable of turning invisible. 

Which she aptly demonstrated when she immediately vanished from vision, and ran. She didn't get far because she was leaving footprints on the dirt that Sonya could easily track.

The Red Crown ran up, felt around until he grabbed, and gave her a solid punch to the face that sent her tumbling over. Visible.

"Ouch." Sonya said to herself, tempted to shoot the man right in between the eyes. Henry made no sound, but he did wince for the woman.

"Bitch, stay down! Do I have to beat you again?!" The Red Crown shouted at her, kicking her while she was down. She sobbed a little bit as he reached down and pulled her up. Presenting her to the people in suits. "As you can see, we grabbed the bitch you wanted. Where our bread?"

Leon quickly peaked into the heads of the people, and confirmed they were indeed members of the Hands of Science.... Including some other juicy information about a big meeting taking place at one of their bases. This made Leon moist. 

"Yeah, they're bagging people to bring back to their base." Leon put his finger on the comm piece. "Looks like we are [i]golden[/i]. Time to put your little plan in motion, Maxi."

Maximilian put his fingers on his own earpiece, and ordered, "Agent Inkshade, they are confirmed Hands of Science members. Place the tracker."

"On it, boss." Inkshade was already converted into her inky form. She slid across the ground, obscured by the night. She slid underneath the van, and a tentacle placed a tiny, circular, device, underneath the vehicle. She quickly slid back, and spoke into the comms, "Planted."

"Good." Maximilian said. "Now we wait."

"... We're going to save her, right?" Sonya had to ask the question. Because she was worried. Really worried.

Maximilian sighed through the comms. "We will Agent Merryday... Just not right now."

"What? We're just going to stand by as they beat her to a pulp?!" Sonya said in utter disbelief. "Then[i] torture[/i] her in whatever hell lab they take her to?!"

"Keep your voice down, Merryday. If they notice he she might not make it to wherever she's going." Henry said, prompting his partner to quiet down some.

"Look... Merryday, I knew that not all of you would agree with this...." Maximilian said, "... But Adam raised a few good points when he said that we can't keep fighting these one-off battles against REAPER. We have to find their base and destroy it."

"Even if it means we have to sacrifice an [i]innocent life?[/i]"

"When we raid the base, we will get her out, safe and sound, I promise." Maximilian pleaded with her. "But we can't tip the Hands off that we're tracking them."

"Can we at least break up these gangsters?" Sonya asked.

"Negative." Maximilian said. "They might get suspicious. Just let things play out - it'll pay off in the end."

Sonya groaned as she watched the REAPERS throw the woman into the van, and giving the men their money, before they all drove off. "... Affirmative, sir." Sonya said, finally resigning.

"Good. The tracker is working fine. We might be able to track them back to their base."

"Also gotta note a few things when we get back to HQ." Leon said.

"Alright, Agents, pull out."

"Mission Planned Parenthood is a go." Henry commented.

Everyone groaned.

[hr]

[b]The next morning...[/b]

Task Force RAVEN was gathered in the Headquarters meeting room. A dark room, with a oval shaped table, and various chairs pushed up against it. The Agents were sitting in the chairs - except for Sonya, who choose to cling to the ceiling. A fly buzzed around Helena, before Sonya's tongue whipped out, and grabbed the fly.

Helena winced. "Jesus, Sonya, watch it." 

"Oh, sorry. Force of habit! Hehe..." Sonya awkwardly smiled.

"I remember those days." Henry commented, a smile on his face as he watched the two argue in a way that an older brother would.

Maximilian walked into the room, holding a pile of files. He slammed it on the table as Adam flicked the projector on. "Alright, I believe this might be the breakthrough we needed in our fight against the Hands." 

The projector showed a screen of a building in the middle of a large clearing. It looked like an abandoned factory. Going off of how run down it looked, it was either in the Iron District, or close to it.

"We tracked the REAPERs back to the big one." Maximilian said. "We had Agent Vahan and some scouts go through the area, and we have confirmed that, beneathe this building, is a massive Hands of Science lab. Holding a large number of scientists, and REAPER weaponry."

"Okay, so beneath the building there's a lab. Any idea as to what's in there? Projects we should be aware of, dangerous materials, biohazards?"

"Oh, lots of them." Leon said, as he put his feet on the table. "Honestly, I think we should just throw a bomb at it, and call it a night."

Max threw Leon a narrow glare. "... Agent Vahan confirmed that this is where they're creating, and distributing the REAPER Mutagen... by extracting the raw form of the energy, and using biological materials. It's extremely votile, and dangerous. We also have confirmation on various dangerous chemicals, radioactive materials, and unstable Metahumans."

"Sounds like this will be fun." Helena snarked, crossing her arms. "I think I could use a tentacle or two. How about the rest of you?"

"What is Agent Obott's status?" Henry questioned. By the look on his face, he was cooking up a plan. Or at least, part of a plan. His hand was scratching his chin, his arm resting on his other, which was crossed over his massive barrel chest in a very 'thinker' like pose.

"Private Obott?" Maximilian asked. "She's still training with the rest of the Privates. Why?" He was hoping to never see that woman again. Not after that high.

"There's no way we'll be able to get in there, at least not easily or without a fight," Henry commented. His eyes shifted to the picture of the building on the projector. "But... we might not have to."

"Obott has some pretty powerful drugs in her body. Because there's a lab under the building, that means that the AC units are likely to be outside. If we can... you know, get to those without anyone noticing, we could very well knock most of the building out. Or at least drug them up enough to make them easy pickings. Since the lab's gotta be cold, the AC unit's going to be taking the cool air down there first and then circulating up."

He finished speaking with a smile on his face. "Chemical warfare."

"This might be a good idea." Maximilian said. He quickly gestured to Adam, who pressed a button and the projector changed images. Good thing that they took a picture of this building from every angle possible. They came across an odd group of AC Units outside the building. "There!" Max shouted. He rubbed his chin. 

"Those huge tubes connecting to the building, we gotta connected Obott to those. After that, we just gotta let her breathe."

"Ummm..." Sonya said, raising one of her bulbed fingers. "You really want to send a [i]private[/i] in there?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, actually, I want to send a private, AND her civilian brother OUT there." Henry said. 

Sonya's mouth went agape. Not a word came out her mouth.

"They wont be in much danger outside the building. We just need to take out the cameras monitering that area and make sure no one happens to come across them. All they need is an hour, give or take." Henry said. He sighed, knowing how crazy the plan must sound.

"Listen, we lost a lot of good people on that last assault. I think we're looking at a really high death count if we dont find a way to 'dull the blades'."

"... You do know there's dogs and shit, too?" Leon quickly noted.

"It's not hard to create a distraction. I know just how well a dog can smell, I know how to trick myself."

"Hmmmm.... While it will be a total shitstorm if the kid gets hurt, he does a point." Helena raised a finger, with her eyes closed. "We lost a lot of people - and we're god damn NEST Agents. Are we so incompetent that we can't cover a kid and a rookie?"

"I think," Henry said, looking around the room to his fellow RAVEN agents, "That we can handle that. Leon, you and I should probably go down there with them. If anything, I'll be the muscle and you can I will be able to see anything coming if any of our SNIPERS..." Henry said, directing his attention to Sonya and Maria (who would probably play Spotter in his place). "...Dont see them first. Then, after a little bit of breathing, a NEST van picks 'em up and we storm the castle."

"Well," Sonya said, "I'm NEST's greatest sniper. You know no one would be able to even get [i]close[/i] to them on my watch." She said, warming up to the idea. Though, it didn't come down to Henry in the end. It came down to Max, and Adam....

"I..." Max crossed his arms. Indecisive about the operation. NEST is known for phoning Metahumans for help every now and then, but this might be the big one. "... If you can get them on board with the plan, then we can go through with it."

Adam raised his eyebrow, "Are you [i]sure[/i] you want to do that, Maximilian?"

"Should they agree, I will take full responsibility for what happens to them." Max said. "I approve of the plan"

Henry clapped his hands together.

"I'll go and visit them. They know me well enough. His sister is an Agent through my recommendation. Anyone want to come along?"

"I'll accompany you." Max said.

"Now, should we discuss the next big thing?" Leon asked, calmly folding his hands on the table. "While I was scanning those REAPERs... they mentioned something about a big meeting. Where all the big shots in the Hands will be."

"This might be too good to be true." Maximilian said. Henry did some kind of fist pump happy dance.

"I didn't sense any lies in their thoughts." Leon answered. "If they were correct, we'll have every H-o-S big wing in one place... and if Olin's gambit goes as planned, they'll be sedated, and ready to be detained."

Sonya smiled widely. "This will be perfect!" She said with glee. 

"Lets make sure to have a car parked nearby for emergency evac of the Obott's. If we do this right, we could have just burnt the stump of the hydra's head."

"We'll be rid of them for good." Helena said, dryly. She knew that this plan wouldn't go [i]as planned[/i] but she was going to give it a shot. 

"Alright, Agents. Let's get set up." Maximilian said, standing straight up. "Agent Olin, let's go find the rookie, and her brother." He nodded his head at Henry.

"This is going to be [i]very[/i] interesting."