Whoami

The Spirits Within

--Double Post--

The Spirits Within

I will be posting tonight. I'm going to roll a dice to decide if Kade handles the situation with or without violence, since I'm split between the two options.

I will also post part one of 'The Battle for Island de Los Muerta', the pivotal moment in Kade's history that led up to her eventual disappearance.

The Spirits Within

@Whoami And continued recycling, yay! Keeping our storylines green ;)

@Mr Rage

I felt a strange compulsion to keep the joke running. ;P

The Spirits Within

Kade acknowledged both Jomen and Ajax as they introduced themselves. Her gray gaze traveled past them to observe the scene beyond. Armed extremists, all augmented. The intel she had received was right, the Marshall's presence was agitating them. But to hold up an office building? She supposed they weren't called 'Extremists' for nothing. As Jomen moved past her to speak to the extremists, she whispered, "If things go loud, we need them alive. Non-lethal take downs if you can help it."

Kade let the younger student and watched for a brief moment. She heard Ajax's joke, which was indeed ill timed. Kade's response was simply a raised brow; perhaps her old self would have given a better response. "Stay focused on the task at hand. You can celebrate with humor after the situation is handled."

It was cold, sure. But Kade had witnessed her humorous friends pay the price for their humor. When Ajax asked about her assistance, she nodded. "A convoy under my charge is being slowed down by this incident. The longer it sits here, the more threatened it is. It'll need to be handled undoubtedly."

The guardian studied the building, "The question is: How? These extremists could have valuable intel, so taking them alive is a priority. But they have hostages, so they'll open fire if we make a move. If we can secure the hostages and take their leverage away, then we can move in to subdue them."

Her eyes looked off to an alley way. She stared in that direction for a brief moment and up nodded toward the alleyway. "That's how we'll do it. I'll take the fire escape and infiltrate the bottom from the roof. I'll send a spirit to give you the all clear. If not that, then the gunfire should be enough of a signal to move in."

Kade turned her back to Ajax and made her way to the alley. A handful of UDF troopers looked her way for instruction. She responded with a hand signal to stand by. When she disappeared into the alley, Kade looked up the fire escape, the ladder had already been pulled down. It must have been how they got into the building without causing a ruckus in the first place. The guardian focused some magic to enhance her senses. As she climbed the ladder, and went up the switch back stairs, Kade listened for any approaching footsteps through the wall of the building. All clear.

Kade slowed her pace as she neared the top. She heard noise on the roof, two extremists talking. She crouched and listened in for a short while. "Hey, Sidney. You sure leaving Brett to secure the hostages was a good idea? I mean... The guy is a loose cannon. He'll start shooting even if he hears a pin fall."

"I didn't make up the plan, Vinny... You should be taking this up with the boss." Sidney said.

"No way in hell am I going to question Nimbus' plans to his face. That guy would cut me in half in one swing of his sword!"

There was a chuckle, "Heh... Yeah, probably not a good thing. I hear he's been even more on edge since Sev stabbed his girlfriend in the back. Nimbus could never look at Ariel the same way after that... Damn shame."

"Damn shame..." Vinny repeated in turn.

Kade gathered enough information from listening to the two unaware guards. Their leader was name Nimbus. The man holding the hostages was quick to open fire. And there was internal strife. The longer Kade waited, the more tense the situation was going to get. It was time to act. If she wanted to get into the building, she'd have to knock the two guards out. Kade unclipped her cloak from her shoulders and bunched it into her fist. She channeled the magic away from her senses, and began to move the air around her. Once the two looked away, Kade leaped over the precipice of the building and tossed her balled up cloak. With a flick of her wrist, cloak exploded and stretched out completely, catching a gust of wind controlled by Kade. There was a whip as the cloak shaped itself to bolt of air. Before Vinny could turn, the cloak smacked into the back of his head and wrapped around his face. Kade ran up to the two, grabbed the back of Sidney's head, and drove her knee into his face. Sidney tumbled over, unconscious. Kade then span and went for a high kick. Her boot heel connected with his cheek, sending him spinning and landing on his front. Both were out cold.

Kade dragged the two together, and tied them up with her cloak to keep them there. She pulled the radios from the guards and crushed them. Then she grabbed the guns and disassembled them quickly, leaving the parts strewn about. Kade walked over to the rooftop access and laid a hand on the door. She heightened her senses again, making sure nobody was on the other side of the door, or in the stairwell. Clear again, it would seem Nimbus left the rooftop security up to Vinny and Sidney. The door was locked, but with a quick jerk and a bit of guardian strength, the door latch snapped and gave way.

Kade was in.

Notes

Act - Kade silently took down two roof top guards.
React - Kade reacted to Ajax and Jomen before they took action.
Observe - Kade eavesdropped on the rooftop guards to ascertain information on the extremists running the hostage situation.
Reflect - Kade reminded herself, and the other Guardians, that this hostage situation was slowing down the VIP's convoy.

The Spirits Within

Getting to work on my next post now. Kade is going head up to the roof of the building via the fire escape. ;)

The Spirits Within

Posted! A small Chronicle snippet has been added to Kade's CS, hinting at a major event on Isla de los Muertos, the Island of the Dead. Ajax Armstrong and Jomen Sury have also been added to the kinship section, though information is still yet to be added.

The Spirits Within

The limousine moved slowly through the streets of Oakridge City. While the escorts had done well enough to keep the crowds at bay, the roads were still congested. The civilian protesters lining the streets screamed and threw garbage at the jet black limo. Sirens blared in the distance, echoing through the concrete jungle. Here and there, officers and UDF soldiers restrained some unruly individuals who tried jumping the barricade. Things came to a halt when a large group of protesters refused to clear the roads. The entire convoy ground to a halt, and the Field Marshall took in a nervous breath. "Nervous?" a woman sitting across from him asked.

The Marshall looked back to her, "Why should I be? I'm an officer of the UDF. These people should be thanking me for my service."

The woman sighed and leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees. She was wearing some light Guardian Armor and a pair of plain black climbing gloves with steel knuckles. A holstered pistol rested against her left thigh. Her raven hair fell off of her shoulders as she stared at the Marshall, "No disrespect, Marshall, but I'm not sitting in an armored limousine expecting any thanks for my sacrifices."

The marshall swallowed his words and nodded, "You're right, I'm sorry, Sicario..."

The man let out a long sigh and stared out the window, watching over the crowds of angry citizens. "I suppose I am nervous. What with the leaked intel, and all. It's not the combat I'm nervous about. It's the possibility that combat might not even come my way. Extremists don't play soldiers, they play guerrillas."

Sicario nodded, "That's why I'm here, Marshall. I'll sniff them out before they make a move."

The man smiled weakly and relaxed a bit. The limousine cabin filled with an awkward silence, the woman remained focused on the crowds. The Field Marshall noticed that her eyes were glowing slightly. He had known plenty of Guardians, some of which were friends of the woman, and he knew that they could use their spiritual energy to heighten their senses. Sicario wasn't leaving anything to chance; she was ready for anything. The Marshall took the silence to observe Sicario. He was amazed how the years had changed her. Angelos had briefly met Sicario before she and her friends were deployed to the isles just west off of Accadia's coast. The stark change was tragic, and Angelos couldn't blame her for speaking to bluntly about his pride. He would never sacrifice as much as any guardian, let alone the famous Kade Sicario.

The limousine remained completely stationary in the grid lock. Eventually, Kade sighed and spoke over the radio, "Convoy lead, this is Sicario. What's the hold up?"

"Uhh... Just a slight delay, ma'am. Local PD are handling it, but..."

"But?"

"Well, these protesters getting pretty stubborn up here, ma'am."

Kade pinched the bridge of her nose and looked backed to the Marshall. She drew her pistol and pulled the slide back, loading a bullet into the chamber. The safety was switched off and the weapon went back into the holster. The marshall watched her as she prepared to head out. He got tense, "You're going out there?"

Kade nodded, "These people need to move one way or another. I've got a bad feeling regardless. Keep your head on a swivel marshall."

Robert Angelos sat up straight and looked out of every window he had access to. Kade shifted past him, and climbed out of the limousine. While the door was open, the cacophony of cries and shouts flooded the peaceful limo cab. It only served to make the Marshall more nervous. He let out a sigh of relief when the door closed.

Kade stood at the door of the limo for a brief moment and looked around. All seemed clear for now. Two UDF troopers from the trailing vehicle climbed out, who received a quick order by hand signal from Kade. They nodded and patrolled near the limousine. Kade began to make her way further up the convoy. While she walked, news cameras and reporters immediately began to focus in on her. Kade overheard some reporters stating their surprise that she was active so soon after her recovery. Others questioned while she was even here to begin with, why would a guardian be needed for such a mundane task? Cameras snapped photos of her, while holos in storefront windows were already broadcasting her live.

There was a time beyond Kade's memory when she would have been completely comfortable with this, but now it just made her feel exposed. Kade pulled her hood over her head and continued on her path. She knew one thing, if the extremists were watching, perhaps a guardian's presence would deter them from acting. Hopefully that would be all it'd take to ensure of successful mission. Upon reaching the head of the convoy, Kade saw for herself just how many protesters were in the way. They held signs in the air reading, 'Stop JENOVA!', 'It's YOUR fault!', and 'END THE MILITARY STATE!'. None of them understood what was out there. None of them truly knew how terrible things were so far from the safety of Oakridge. The very sight of those protesters frustrated Kade; she had suffered and lost a part of herself for those people.

She was about to speak to the convoy leader when a reporter yelled out to her. A small twin rotor camera drone floated right up to the guardian's face, which she quickly batted away harmlessly. The reporter quickly learned to keep the drone out of Kade's personal space. "Miss Sicario! Miss Sicario! Does you being here declare your support for the military's incitement of the JENOVA crisis?! You were there at Isla de los Muertos, how can you possibly support the UDF after such a massacre?"

Kade glanced over to the reporter for a brief moment, but decided not to answer. Kade had heard of the reports, of her efforts during that battle, but her memory on the event was cloudy at best. She remembered that it had turned into a three way bloodbath when the aggressors arrived. And she remembered people important to her dying, but they were only faceless silhouettes in her mind. Kade couldn't even remember their names. The reports had many names covered in black ink.

The reported waited for a response, but she was met only by a UDF trooper pushing her back into the crowd. A police officer used a drone capture net to shoot down the camera drone. Kade turned her back to the reporter and spoke to the convoy leader, "Report, lieutenant."

The soldier let out a long sigh and shrugged, "We've got no jurisdiction here so it's up to the police. But we're stuck here until they can clear 'em out."

Kade focused her magic back into her senses and took in her surroundings. She recognized that a large number of the protesters were augmented, much like the intelligence report they had received of the extremists. Not far from her, Kade could feel the presence of other guardians approaching. That got her attention. "Find out who's in charge of the police blockade here and offer some assistance wherever you can. I'll look into this."

The trooper nodded and quickly began to delegate tasks to some of his subordinates. Kade turned and made her way toward the other guardians. It didn't take long for her to spot them, guardians stuck out after all. She made waved them down before speaking, "Gentlemen. Guardian Sicario," she introduced herself, "Were you added to the detail?"

Notes

Act - Kade approached Jomen and Ajax to inquire about their presence at the blockade.
React - Kade reacted to the convoy coming to a halt.
Observe - Kade noticed just how many eyes were upon her, and figured that those eyes could easily shift their attention to the Field Marshall.
Reflect - Kade was reminded of the battle for Isla de los Muertos.

The Spirits Within

I've come up with a workaround, Kade will start in the Marshall's presence, but leave to link up with the others at the source of the sirens to investigate. I can work things out from that point on. ^.^

The Spirits Within

I see~ I was under the impression that characters could do any of the missions they chose, they just wouldn't get the opportunity to take part in the others. Can I get a quick confirmation on this before I continue further with my intro post?

The Spirits Within

Alright! Kade Sicario has been posted to the characters section! Feel free to look her over! Most of the characters here wont know Kade on a personal level, but I am still open to ideas nonetheless! So feel free to give me a PM regarding kinships. ^.^

As I said earlier, Kade will be taking the Daring Attempt mission. Working on an intro post now. Since she didn't depart with the rest of the group via the APC, I will write Kade in as having been in the area previously to run the security detail.