[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/figfmVw.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/oM6nPmR.png[/img][/center] Richard Midas sat behind his desk with a perplexed expression on his face. He had been going over the readings from Racheli’s first session inside the Power Plant, and he was nothing if not impressed. The young woman had demonstrated considerable aptitude while confronted with a significant threat, and although her vitals indicated that she had experienced an elevated sense of urgency during the battle, particularly after losing an arm, she was never in any real danger. Her vitals had remained strong. What he was unaware of, however, was if she knew just how little danger she had actually faced. It was while he had been pondering this very question that a mysterious person shrouded in shadow presented himself on Midas’ computer screen. He had introduced himself as a member of a new anti non-human group called the Hounds of Humanity. The group had claimed responsibility for multiple, simultaneous attacks on the metahuman community across the country.  After the man in shadows had finished his statement with a vow to eliminate all non-humans and those who support them, Midas leaned back in his chair and wondered just how big of a threat these so called Hounds of Humanity actually posed not only to the metahuman population, but to his interests as well. If the group’s claims to have eliminated STRIKE were in fact true, they have already hurt his interests as the government organization had been one of his best customers when it came to cutting edge tech. Suddenly, Midas was disturbed by the sound of his office door slamming open, and his assistant Nigel rushing in followed closely by his manservant, Livingston. Midas glared at the men, but before he could raise an objection, Nigel was already apologizing for the intrusion while offering an explanation. “Sir, there was a disturbance in sector fifty three.” Nigel said breathlessly. “Sector fifty three?” Midas asked as if he hadn’t heard correctly. “Yes Sir, just a few blocks from the Power Plant.” Nigel confirmed needlessly, as Midas knew exactly where sector fifty three was. The timing was too convenient to be a coincidence. It had to be these Hounds of Humanity moving against him and his facility. For a moment, he wondered how they could possibly know about what Midas and his people were doing, but then he realized that if they were able to take out STRIKE, there was little that would be out of their reach. “Alright. Get Mr. Jordan and his team down to the site of the disturbance. I want to know what is going on down there, and exactly who is pressing into our territory. If it is these Hounds, I want them dealt with.” [i][b] Twenty minutes later[/b][/i] Peter Jordan made his way through the twisting caverns of the “sewers” near Midas Industries. The part of the undercity that Jordan and his men found themselves in was more of an underground city than an actual sewer system. In the mid 1800’s, the underground city in Lost Haven had been a part of the underground railroad, and before that, pirates had used to expansive undercity to hide loot and some of their more grisly exploits. The tunnels had been used even into the 1920’s during Prohibition. But now they lie below the city mostly forgotten by the residents of the city, many of whom have no idea that there is an expansive city below their feet. However, the subterranean tunnels did intertwine with the city’s sewer system at numerous cross-sections. It was at one of these cross-sections that Jordan led his men into the proper sewers. “The sensors went off about five clicks from here.” Jordan told his men as they silently trekked through the maze of human waste. They continued through the seemingly ever narrowing sewers toward the source of the disturbance. Though Jordan believed it was most likely nothing, perhaps some homeless people trying to stay out of the elements. However, the timing was odd. The Hounds of Humanity have their big coming out party at the same time as there is a proximity alarm sounded just a couple of blocks away from his boss’ metahuman training ground. Jordan didn’t believe in coincidences, and was expecting a fight when he and his men crossed paths with whoever it was that was down there. “What in the hell…?” Jordan asked aloud as they rounded a corner and his eyes fell on the one responsible for tripping the proximity alarm. It was a woman, but not like any he had ever seen. She had almost pitch black skin, and her long hair was in complete contrast a brilliant white. And while she was sitting against the sewer wall with her head in her hands, there was something about her. Jordan could see that she was powerfully built and tall, looking to be at least six and a half feet tall, and she seemed to be wearing very little. To say the very least, Jordan could tell that she wasn’t exactly from around here. “Well, that’s not something you see everyday...not even here.” he said as he slowly approached the woman. Raeviir jumped to her feet at the approach of the armed guards, her scimitar and whip in her hands and already drawn. Suffering’s venom dripped from the blade, scorching and hissing as it hit the concrete on the floor, whilst Torment’s blades glistened in the dim lighting of the sewer tunnel. She was poised and ready for action - though she didn’t recognise anything about them, save from that they looked humanoid. Two arms, two legs, a head and a torso. They were probably human from the looks of it - shorter than her, too - and they were dressed in very strange body armour that she had never seen before. She could see their infrared signatures though, blindingly obvious against the cold stone that surrounded them, and she could see some sort of weapons in their hands, weapons that although she had no idea what they were, she could tell they meant business. Perhaps some kind of weaponised spell projectors? Nevertheless, she was ready for a fight if the locals were hostile. The lead human spoke, and to Raeviir’s amazement she could actually [i]understand[/i] what he was talking about. If they could communicate, then that would make getting them to either go away or understand what had happened much much easier… “[color=#9E005D]Stay back! I don’t know who you are, or what you want with me! I’ll warn you now, I know how to cut you down, no matter what in the hells that is you’re wearing![/color]” She didn’t, of course. Though Suffering was powerful enough to cut through anything that Raeviir had encountered, even the finest steel plating of the Burgundian smiths of Nevers, she had no idea whether these humans were using some futuristic technology or whether they had completely different materials to those on Theranys. Better to at least warn them she meant business, no matter who they were. If they raised their weapons, Raeviir could blind them and go in for the kill. Unless they could see in supernatural darkness… Upon seeing the strange woman’s reaction, Jordan immediately motioned for his men to lower their weapons. He saw that she was nervous, but at the same time ready to fight, and as he looked on her athletic frame, he had no doubt that she would be able to take them all out without so much as breaking a sweat. No, confrontation was not the way to handle this situation, Jordan just hoped that he could talk some sense into the woman. “Lower your weapons!” Jordan ordered his men. “Now!” he said when he saw that they were hesitant. However, after several beats the men did as they were told. With their guns no longer drawn on the woman, Jordan stepped forward, making a show of him lowering his own firearm. “It’s okay. It’s fine, we’re friends.” Jordan said as he took another step toward her. “I take it you’re not from around here. If you’re willing, I can take to someplace safe, somewhere that we can help you.” They were armed. Dangerous. They had lowered their weapons, but they were [i]humans[/i], and humans could never be trusted. Raeviir lowered her whip, but kept her sword at hand, eyeing the humans warily and looking around for any points of entry… or egress. This had the potential to go very wrong, very quickly. They’d blocked her escape through them - she doubted she’d have enough time to cut through all of them even with her stepmother’s enchantments before they used whatever it was that was in their hands… guns of some description? She’d be taking a huge risk… [i]Stall for time, damn it…[/i] “[color=#9E005D]Who are you? What do you want with me, and how did you get here so quickly? What do you humans want with me? And give me one reason I should trust you surfacers! I know you like to play games with your prey, lure them into a false sense of security…[/color]” Raeviir kept her stance and scimitar poised to strike at the lead human, unwilling to lower her defences until these… men… gave a really damn good reason for her to do so. “Put them down.” Jordan told his men as he placed his gun on the floor of the cavernous sewer. “NOW!” he barked when his men did not immediately follow suit. Once his men had also disarmed, Jordan took several steps toward the white haired woman. “My name is Peter Jordan, and I work for a man named Richard Midas and his company, Midas Industries. We are here because you tripped a proximity alarm to one of our facilities, and due to the recent terrorist attacks, we came down to investigate, to be sure that it wasn’t the Hounds of Humanity.” Jordan told the woman. “These Hounds are bad news, they’ve been attacking...people like you, and anyone who supports them, which we do.” As Jordan spoke the woman just listened, yet gave no indication whether she believed a word he said. “Listen, Miss...if you come with us we’ll protect you. We can give you food and shelter, and if you don’t like what you see, you are more than welcome to leave. Though personally, I wouldn’t recommend it, at least until the Hounds are taken care of.” Raeviir narrowed her eyes, squinting at the humans with a mixture of disbelief and confusion. So, this planet she’d landed on was just like her own. Theranys in a different dimension perhaps? Or simply a different world altogether? The humans were still there though, and from the looks of things, the dominant species in this place. The name of the organisation told her that much - the [i]Hounds of Humanity[/i] they called themselves? And they were hunting people like her? Pah! Let them come, it had been too long since her blades had tasted human blood en-masse! Still… if there were rifts and fractions between the various factions in this human world, Raeviir would do well to take advantage. She reckoned that if humans (and particularly Europeian-dominant humans, from the sounds of the names and the architecture) were dominant in this world, they would have formed countries, governments and the like. Perhaps, given the size and scale of the underground sewers she had found herself in, she was in a large urban agglomeration at this very moment, and would have easy access to reading up on the world that she found herself in. She gave a curt nod and sheathed her scimitar, before re-attaching her whip to the side of her rather insufficient dress. Though it was still rather warm in these tunnels, it was chillier than in the Subterranean - what weather systems existed in those cavernous underground structures were very warm and wet indeed. Enough to make one’s respiratory tract curl up and die with fungal infections. Speaking of which… Raeviir felt a distinct and familiar tickle in the back of her throat. [i]Wonderful… now is when it flares up of all times.[/i] “Excuse me gentlemen, you may wish to stay back slightly.” Raeviir’s voice had grown hoarse, and the coughing began. At first it was simply a matter of course, but then came the pain. Goddesses, the pain. Her lungs burned as she coughed, and she spat out a globule of thick red blood and saliva into the rainwater gutter in the middle of the tunnel. “Fuck’s sake…” The coughing subsided a brief moment afterwards, but the damage was no doubt already done. Raeviir’s lungs ached, as though acid slowly, relentlessly ate away at them - Qilaste’s parting gift was dealing more and more damage as Raeviir lived. Turning back to the humans, Raeviir cracked her neck and stretched slightly, before shaking herself down and sighing heavily. “Eugh… fucking lungs. Well.” Raeviir shrugged. “Looks like I haven’t got much choice than to go with you. This Richard Midas should be funny to meet, at the very least...” Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. Though he was more than comfortable dealing with “difficult” situations, there was something different about this coal skinned woman. Something that told him that should he engage this woman, even if he and his men managed to put her down, she would have taken some of them with her. “Right, Ma’am. Right this way.” Jordan said as he motioned for her to follow. [center]***[/center] Jordan and his men led the strange woman through the subterranean tunnels back toward the facility. Aside from the obvious physical differences, something seemed off about this woman. Jordan felt ill at ease in her presence. In fact, it wasn’t just a feeling that he had about her, the longer he was with her, the stranger he felt. At first it was a slight dizziness that seemed to get worse over time, then he began to feel slightly nauseous. Not to the point that he thought that he was going to be sick, however, it was less than pleasant and he wanted nothing more than to deliver the woman to his boss and let him and the lab rats deal with her. As the group of armed men and the mysterious woman made their final approach to the sublevels of the facility, Jordan reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, pressing the first number on his auto dial. “Mr Midas, we’re back outside the facility. You may want to come down here and meet us, we’ve got something here with us...let’s just say...it’s something you’ve got to see to believe.”