London 2056 - A CyberPunk RP [Game thread - Started]

[Texas Joker 52]

~ Karl Adler ~ &

Irina Rostikova

​

Sleep was a wonderful thing, as Karl Adler was experiencing not long after Irina had arrived. He had fought against sleep at least until Young Sienna had had someone there that they could trust to keep an eye on her. And after two days of explosions, cold-blooded murder, interrogations and finally loss of limb, Karl needed the rest. So when he finally drifted off into blissful sleep, he finally felt relaxed, if only for the next few minutes.

When he heard the crash of the television remote on the nearby window, he shot out of bed in an adrenaline fueled haze, panting heavily as he thrust out his remaining hand. In an instant, the palm of his hand opened and a long, black blade shot out of his arm as he looked around wildly for the source of the disturbance. But only Irina and Sienna were there.

His eyes were wide as he stared at her, taking deep, gulping breaths as he forced himself to relax and retract the blade back into his arm.

From the perspective of the Cat Eared Former VidCaster, Mister Adler's remaining hand had been replaced a collapsable blade cast out of what appeared to be a black metal... highly illegal collapsable blades. Having run articles about various black market augmentations, Irina Rostikova was quite familiar with the blade module that Karl was using.

"Aratech AR-98. Effective Range 2 meters. Manufactured out of reinforced ballistic polymer nano-tubules. Teflon coated for armor penetration." Irina rattled off as the CyCorp Division Manager retracted the blade back into the housing, "Not exactly a CyCorp standard upgrade... at least not when I was looking at the specs for your arm."

There was a smirk on the Former Employee of Zaibatsu Corp's face. If there was one thing that she could appreciate and would make her forget about her Ex-Husband, God rest his soul, and his role in a conspiracy that could have ended the life of their daughter, it was Augmentations.

Karl barely had a moment to feel sheepish about his outburst when Irina rattled off the technical specifications of his illegal weaponry, and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he looked her over with newfound curiosity.

"That's right... Of course you never know when you might need to defend yourself, and it came quite in handy at the diner earlier this morning." he said, before adding, "Pardon the pun."

He spared a glance at the cracked window and saw the TV remote just on the floor beneath it before looking back at her.

"Is there something I should know?" he asked quietly.

The Fair Skinned Feline could barely stiffle the groan that attempted to escape her lips in response to Mister Adler's pun. Why was she the one being pun-ished. It's not as if she was the one who shot off his arm. But his question still remained heavy in the air. Did she trust Karl Adler, employee of CyCorp, when the message from Doctor Mercy Rabbit had leveled an accusation the size of a nuclear explosion against his company? He did assist in the rescue of her daughter.

"What do you know of Doctor Mercy Rabbit?" Irina asked, pausing for a moment before continuing, "She's leveled some pretty huge accusations about CyCorp and their board of directors... and against Nathaniel Cray... my Ex-Husband... dead Ex-Husband."

He frowned at the mention of Mercy Rabbit. His eyes darted to the bedside table and noticed that the datachip Sienna had given him was conspicuously gone. The part about accusations was new to him, as well as the fact that apparently the late Nathaniel Cray was involved.

"Well, I personally fired her because she was violating safety and human rights protocols regarding our Augmentation development. Besides the file I had to review regarding her violations, I can't say I know her well at all." he explained, "And as far as your Ex-Husband is concerned, I only knew him by reputation: That he was ambitious, but essentially an arrogant weasel. To be frank, I heard more about him from Karine than the company."

"What exactly is she accusing CyCorp and your dead Ex?" he asked, a note of concern working its way into his voice.

The young mother nodded at Mister Adler's response to her question. While was the Division Manager of Research and Development for CyCorp, he was still a ways off from being a member of the Board of Directors for his company. This was what Irina had to remind herself before she spoke again. This was something that she needed to remind herself of, otherwise her brain would have been filled with too much paranoia in regards to Karl and his possible involvement in this entire affair. Taking a deep breathe, Irina Rostikova forced herself to relax.

"She's claiming that CyCorp is behind the bombings... that this is all an elaborate ploy to get rid of some of the company's competition by framing them for this crime. She says she has a series of shipping manifests that have Nathaniel as being the one who shipped her the parts used for the bombings."

Having already surreptitiously copied over the data from the data chip, Irina handed it back to Mister Adler so that he could view the decrypted data.

"So far as I can tell, it looks genuine. I've seen Nathaniel's signature enough times to know that it's his. What I can't do is figure out why CyCorp would do this rather than just buy out the competition. The stock is in freefall at the moment."

Taking the datachip, he reached over to his phone and managed to plug it in one-handed, before looking over the scrolling data himself. All of it was disturbing on one level or another: That CyCorp was holding Dr. Rabbit's sister hostage in South Africa so that she would cooperate in installing explosive augments, and that it was all a ploy to take out some of CyCorp's competition. It also clearly pegged Nathaniel Cray as being the key link between CyCorp and the Neo-Luddites.

It was all very neat and tidy. That alone was enough to make him suspicious of it, but if he truly asked himself, he wouldn't put it past CyCorp as a whole to try that sort of tactic. But he doubted it was to reduce competitors in the market. No, with the mention of stock in freefall, he had a feeling it could have been for another reason entirely.

"With CyCorp's stocks taking a sharp dive, it would actually be a good way for the Board of Directors to re-consolidate control over the company stocks. Under normal circumstances, it would be prohibitively expensive. With the recent scandal and terrorist acts, partially attributed to CyCorp products? It would cost them less than a pound per share." he said darkly, before setting his phone down.

While she wasn't as Corp oriented as Mister Adler, what he said made sense. By purchasing up the stock at a reduced price, they could consolidate their grasp on the company for pennies on the dollar. When it came out that Zaibatsu Corp was to blame for the bombings, the stock values would normalize and CyCorp would have come out as if nothing had ever happened, except for the fact that those who were part of this plot would have been richer. Zaibatsu Corp would not only close down due to this scandal, its own employees would likely be arrested. Finally, H.A. Dynasty, a Corp not part of the conspiracy would have been hit fairly hard as well.

Because of people like Charlotte Sorrowfeld and Gungnir Security Consultants, The CatEared VidCaster knew that the data would have to be turned over to the authorities higher up than London PD. Someone like Karine. She would be able to take care of the people responsible for this plot in whatever manner her superiors saw fit. After that, the data should have be made public so that it would be harder for CyCorp to cover up. She turned to Mister Adler.

"Alright. The way I see it, we should give the Data to Karine and then we'll go public." The young woman stated, "If we do that, the board won't have time to cover this up."

Of course, this also meant that Karl's company would be a smothering wreck when the Londonites picked up their torches and pitchforks against CyCorp.

It took him a moment to imagine just what ramifications giving the data to Karine and going public would have, on him as well as the company. CyCorp could very well go defunct, leaving him out of a job, though the fact that he did his duty to help bring that knowledge to the public could help his prospects. Even if CyCorp didn't collapse on itself, it would certainly require some severe restructuring. Most of the upper-level positions would be replaced, and again, being part of the group that brought the corruption to the public would probably help him climb up the ladder a little faster, it would be legal as well.

Assuming, of course, his own illegal activities weren't found out in the process, which was highly likely. That would only force him to go down with the sinking ship, as it were. Still, it was the right thing to do, and while he was a murderer, embezzler, and a few other nasty words that amounted to 'unscrupulous bastard', he was not a terrorist, and he couldn't condone what they did.

"You're right. We should. Go ahead and send a copy to her now, and I'll make sure she gets the original chip in person." he told her.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Selene took slow, carefully placed footsteps as she headed down a small side alley towards the back of the Royal Refuge Inn; her gun raised and aiming down the alley in question. Further on ahead she could hear voices, two of them, both male by the sounds of it and somewhere in their thirties; sounded as though they were arguing about something. As she reached the end of the alley, it opened up into a backyard area.

Pressing herself against the wall to hide from view, Selene briefly peered out to see that her earlier hunch was right. Both of them were arguing whilst playing a game of checkers, a few assorted beer bottles by their feet and a couple more on a nearby barrel; obviously these two were meant to be guards for the rear entrance that was behind them, which consisted of a covered staircase leading up to a walkway. The guards themselves didn't look to be overly well built, slightly above average for someone for their age, no clear signs of augments, on the other hand, they both looked to be carrying revolvers.

"Didn't think a scrappy place like this needed armed security; chances are that they're working for Kaligian. No immediate way to take them out quietly; will have to down them before they can get a shot off; because of Kaligian is here, he could quickly leave the area, and I'd be back to square one." Selene thought as she assessed the situation. Her best chances would be to distract one, knock the other out, then question the first one; although that last part would probably require some persuasion.

First step, distraction. Picking up a discarded beer can, Selene tossed towards a nearby wall, it making a sound upon impact.

"Eh? What was that?" One the guards asked.

"I don't know, go check it out then." Grunted the other guard in response as he thought over his next move.

"Alright alright. Better not be trouble. The boss doesn't want anyone snooping around at the moment." Groaned the first guard in an annoyed manner as he got up from his seat to go check the noise out. As he reached where the can was, his friend would feel something hitting him in the back of the head twice, seconds later he had collapsed onto the ground, out cold from the tranquillizer rounds that had just been fired. When the first one turned back round he'd see a smartly dressed, red haired woman pointing a gun at him.

"What you doing here Missy? Ain't no trespassers allowed. Boss man Kaligian's order."

"Actually, I'm looking for your boss man now that you mention it; don't suppose you'd simply just tell me where he is? It would save us both a lot of trouble." Asked Selene in a somewhat casual manner, which angered the guard slightly.

"You think I'm stupid?! I ain't tellin' you nothing. Now back away Missy, otherwise I bring the pain." Responded the guard in his best impression of intimidation whilst putting on a pair of knuckle dusters.

"Very well, your funeral." Said Selene as she adopted a fighting stance [http://www.livestrong.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/fightingstanceTEXT.jpg]. Seemingly unfazed the guard rushed at Selene and was looking to deliver a strong right jab which Selene narrowly blocked, she then followed up with cross to the left cheek. This staggered the guard a little allowing the CyCorp cleaner to strike at the cheeks with a chop from both sides. Feeling slightly dazed and disorientated from the attack, the guard attempted a wild haymaker punch; given his staggered posture this was easier to deflect, allowing Selene to deliver a body shot to the abdomen followed by an elbow jab to the right hand side of the man's jaw, fracturing it.

The guard came to a staggered stop as he knelt down on one knee. Selene had hoped he'd give up at this point, but was surprised by the sudden lunge which sent her to the ground. A tussle soon occurred as both the combatants vied for control, the guard delivering a few quick jabs that had Selene put on a quick defensive whilst she was busy aimlessly trying to hit the back of the guard's legs with her boots. Eventually a kick aimed true, hitting the man in the groin, causing him to howl in pain and collapse onto the floor.

Taking initiative and not giving the guard chance to recover, Selene straddled the man, pinning him down whilst putting the shock part of the stun knife to the man's neck.

"Now, answer me this, where is Kaligian?" Selene asked, breathing staggered breaths as the buzzing sound the stun knife could be heard.

 

[FalloutJack]

With the implication of Zaibatsu made and Irina's resignation sent, the best reassurance that Asagi could make on the part of there being no one they could catch (aside from perhaps the hacker himself) was...

"We'll see, Irina. By pushing things so far, they've practically asked us to jump down their throats. It will neither consensual nor pleasant."

Really, at this point, the only thing they couldn't do was storm their home office with an armored battalion. Okay, a bit more than that, but the general idea was that with a clear connection to the situation and much to gain by denouncing the other corps with a situation they may have caused, the investigation could get heavy-handed without ruffling too many of the public's feathers. Still, this was only the next logical step. In a situation, you needed to be thinking ten steps ahead, if you could. This was alot of work for mere business gain. There were less-bloody ways to manipulate public opinion, ways that would not then leave enough leeway to think maybe you yourself were shit. Asagi had to wonder about that while Irina was talking to someone who sounded...strange. She set something in motion to make Talisian pay for his actions, not that there wouldn't be relentless pursuit of him now that Asagi herself knew about him.

"That takes care of that. I left you the address of the warehouse. I think I'll go and see Sienna."

"And I'll get this taken care of. I'll see you later."

Karine went off to pick up her coat from the interrogation room, and then ran into Charlotte, whose bitchiness had been toned down in favor of a rugged determination and a certain hunger for blood. The Operative wasn't sure what she wanted right now. Today had been hell. Tomorrow could be more hell. It could be a long time before the blood finally washes off. Not that she couldn't stand it, but this was altogether serious.

"So. What are we going to do? You know London PD is going to want a piece of this action... I want a piece of this action."

"Yeah...and so do I."

She thought about it for a moment, though.

"Listen, London PD is in, but PD's drones are out. Our hacker commandeered them somehow, either preset or something in realtime. I'm sending for something a little more secure, something he can't have gotten his paws into."

Namely...one of the military's more successful infiltration drones, the SD-15 Mantis [https://soundcloud.com/akpomuje_garreis/arcology_is_reopening], a sleek and medium-sized machine with an insect design based upon the praying mantis species. Its forearms were designed somewhere between that of a Shuang Gou hooked sword and a crowbar, meaning it was designed to pry things apart or slash and kill. It hooked onto things with its arms and legs to climb surfaces, with speed and technique that matched the skills of a marsupial. It could fit in numerous ventilation duct work and had two submachine guns on its back. For stealth robot action, followed by rapid-fire killing, turn to the Mantis. Asagi privately nicknamed it the Gigan drone.

"Everything will be prepared be the time we get there, including a bomb squad and snipers. When I send a memo, it has teeth."

She headed for her motorcycle to get to the rendezvous point for this joint operation. Viscus had said that he was going off on a lead. Three guesses which one it was going to be. Well...he'd probably find some none-too-pleased LPD and military personnel in the area. Good luck dealing with that.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

While the situation involving Elliot and company was allowed to play out, Kazuko had asked the rather innocent question of where Isaiah Kaligian was. The Armenian had shifted his focus silently to the weird altercation happening with the flying beer bottle and such for the moment, but he eventually returned his gaze to the man with the inquiry.

"Kaligian is out right now. Saw him leave earlier, hasn't been back as far as I know. His room is 318 upstairs if you want to make sure or wait for him."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Once Selene had kicked a sufficient amount of ass, the man she questioned so threateningly bleated out that Isaiah was staying in Room 318 at the Inn. Whether he was there right now was unknown, but he certainly had a room and the front desk would corroborate this story. Things could be coming to a head soon, no doubt.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Well, this was inconvenient, or perhaps it was just what he needed. With a number of unknowns walking into the vicinity all of a sudden, Isaiah considered for a moment what to do... He had at one time worked alongside Kazuko and the man DID owe him that drink, but...with what he personally knew, the man simply could not trust his old associate to be there just to catch up on old times or even renew old business. With his eyes and ears outside, he also witnessed the beating of his hired help. So much for that. He was almost on his own until he could get some support here... That was the question, then. He began to pace about the room, cigarette in hand while considering... What to do, then? Take chance and take flight? Or stand and fight with the countermeasures he had taken in case of pursuit? He decided, and pulled out his cellphone. He called Ira Soni, catching him after he had called his sister.

"Greetings, Mr. Soni. I am a member of Gungnir Security, currently undercover. I know your situation and I feel you can be trusted. Police and Military lines are being monitered for activity, but I can be brief here. I'm meeting the one in posession of the weapon at the Royal Refuge Inn, Room 318. Act quickly, and he can be caught and I maintain my cover. His name: Kazuko Wright. I must get off now, before I'm noticed."

Click! Isaiah chuckled at this. Even if he didn't believe him, the implication was now in the open air, and they would at least have to go there, to the room in question.

 

[Knife-28]

"Cheers." Kazuko said, before taking one last glance at the squabble taking place over the other side of the lobby and heading upstairs.

While it was disheartening to learn that Isaiah was out, he had nothing better to do other than head to room 318 and wait for him. With any luck, Rudolf had missed Isaiah coming back and he would wouldn't have to camp out in the corridor for god knows how long. He'd done that once, at an even worse off inn, and it was an experience he was in no hurry to emulate.

As he climbed the stairs, Kazuko's thoughts once again went to the Queen Bee's massage. His mind tried to work every angle, the timing of the message, how she (if Queen Bee was a she, after all a misleading handle went further than one would think) had gotten the pictures, if she could get the images, could a corp like H.A. Dynasty or CyCorp get them as well?

So many questions, but as Kaz arrived infront of room 318, he was confident that maybe he'd finally get some answers.

Rapping his knuckles on the faux-oak (mostly to disguise the fact he was clearing his throat), Kaz said, "Isaiah, it's Kaz. Are you home? I know it's been fucking yonks since we've seen eachother but... fuck, I got some stuff you might want to hear mate."

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | Gungnir Safe House #2
Dumped and Ditched.
Charlotte Sorrowfeld​

[hr]

"Listen, London PD is in, but PD's drones are out. Our hacker commandeered them somehow, either preset or something in realtime. I'm sending for something a little more secure, something he can't have gotten his paws into." The Military Operative advised the Gungnir Security Consultant as orders were forwarded to the military. With that task completed, Operative Asagi started off towards the Garage before adding "Everything will be prepared be the time we get there, including a bomb squad and snipers. When I send a memo, it has teeth."

The LPD Lieutenant was surprised at herself. Normally aggressive and domineering, Charlotte Sorrowfeld's natural inclination would have been to take the lead and balk at any orders that had been given to her by someone that was outside her chain of command. However, the Military Operative had resources that LPD Officer did not have and she had made some decisions that were tactically sound. The Lieutenant was slightly unconvinced that the unit that the Operative had ordered was completely impervious to being hijacked, so she made one last trip to the armor to grab anti-drone rounds for her assault rifle.

Designed for use against unmanned drone units, the ammunition type in question looked superficially like a standard round that had been jacketed in copper. Upon penetration of a drone unit however, the round with discharge a pulse of electrical energy, destroying any sensitive electronic components around it, disabling that portion of the drone or the whole drone if the destroyed component was important enough.

Satisfied with her load out, the Lieutenant entered the Safe House's garage and noticed that her car was missing.

"SON OF A *****!" The ***** cursed rather loudly at the non present Viscus. That fucking droid had stolen her car. That fucking dickless vending machine had stolen her fucking car. That fucking son of a ***** was going to fucking pay.

Walking back to the armory, the LDP Lieutenant opened a small box attached to the wall, revealing a plethora of keys. Looking over what vehicles remained at the safe house, Charlotte grinned when she noticed a key with a metallic rhino attached to the key chain. Grabbing it, Charlotte ran back to the garage and admired the ArasakaTech APC750 Rhino.

Designed for SWAT teams world wide, the vehicle came with a reinforced front end capable of ramming through brick walls and delivering an 8 man team with little fuss. The six ton vehicle was capable of reaching 130 kilometers per hour and was proof against bullets, moderately power explosives, biological weapons and chemical weapons. While not the most ideal vehicle to be taking on a high speed chase, the Lieutenant thought it would be rather fitting to take a vending machine on 6 wheels to deal with a vending machine on two legs.

Hopping into the driver's seat, engines fired up and unleashed a roar that pedestrians a block away could feel in their chest. As she pulled out of the garage, Charlotte began issuing orders to LPD dispatch.

"Dispatch this is Lieutenant Charlotte Sorrowfeld requesting tactical backup at the following address. I'll also need some patrol officers cordoning off a four block perimeter surrounding the location. Tell them to lookout for any victims of the hospital kidnappings, they may still be outfitted with explosive augmentations." The Lieutenant said as she pulled onto the road, firing up the lights and sirens. Changing the frequency, Charlotte radioed to Asagi.

"Asagi, looks like that Tin Can Bastard decided to take my car without permission... something the pervert probably did while I was taking a shower," The woman said with a shudder, "He'll probably make it there before us or your troops. You don't mind me arresting the bastard for Motor Vehicle Theft do you?"

[hr]

London 2056 | Warehouse District | Neo Operations Base
Meet the Juggernaut.
Remnant Neo Soldiers​

[hr]

The Post Neo Luddite Movement's forward base of operations was in chaos. Their hacker contact had sent them a warning that their location had been compromised due to the interference of one Irina Rostikova, the very woman that they had set up to be the patsy for this whole operation. Though this did throw a wrench in the operation, the operation had achieved it objective of sewing the seeds of distrust against the Corps that produced augmentations.

Unaware of the refrigerator sized world of hurt that was driving away, the Neo Luddite Clean up crew was hard at work dealing with the evidence disposal, which namely meant...

BAM!

The bullet caused the back of the victim's head to explode before that aforementioned kidnappee was pitched forward by the impact of the blast.

They'd been lined up and made to get on their knees, those of them that had knees at least. Others had simply been shot where they lay. At the sound of each shot, every one of them cringed and whimpered, knowing that every time a victim was executed, that was one less person between them and the executioner.

Charles Derek May attempted to push that thought from his mind as he was being ushered through a door by one of the perpetrators of this atrocity, Doctor Mercy Rabbit. Though the young doctor was a full head shorter than the one armed drunkard, she had no issued keeping him vertical thanks to her own augmentations.

BAM!

Another shot rang out, the report banging around on the barren metal walls of the warehouse. Charles felt the younger woman jump every time that another of her patients was killed. She'd tried her hardest to keep them reasonably comfortable, despite being aware of what was in store for them.

Charles wanted to ask her what happened to Sienna. He wanted to know what happened to the little girl but he needed to concentrate on making his legs move. It had been quite a while since his last drink and his head was killing him. He had to concentrate. The last thing he needed was to...

CRASH!

His legs gave out as he was hit by another wave of pain. Unprepared for the sudden Charles' sudden transformation into a sack of meat, both he and the doctor fell forward into a pile of trash. Stunned for a moment, the Doctor sat there for a second before moving Charles into a seated position. As she dealt with him, her phone chimed.

"Oh thank God." Mercy whispered in relief at the message she received. Someone had accessed the data chip that she's smuggled out with Sienna. The chip had been programmed to phone home as soon as it was plugged into a decide with a Grid Connection. The girl had to be alive, otherwise, the chip would have been destroyed along with Sienna.

"She's safe. Sienna's safe." Mercy said as she looked around.

BAM!

Another of her patients had expired due to a sudden and severe case of lead poisoning. Peeking around the corner, Mercy saw that the way to the road was clear and that Charles would likely be able to escape from this point. Turning to the slumped man, she whispered to him.

"Charles. You've gotta get out of here. They'll never notice you missing. But they will notice me." She said as she stood up straight, "Once the shooting stops and the trucks have cleared out, get out of here."

With that Mercy turned and traveled back towards the exit she'd sneaked the Irishman out of.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Back inside the warehouse, Mercy could only gasp at the horror that lay before her. Her patients lay in their very own pools of blood. Of the Seventy Five or so that she'd started out with, less than ten remained in the land of the living, at least for the next few minutes. The Post Neo Luddite goons laughed among themselves as they pressed the barrels of their pistols to the back of their victims' heads.

BAM!

Another one of Mercy's patients was flat lined, the woman's pleading falling on deaf ears. One of the Neos kicked the woman's body a number of times before they turned the woman over. Even from this distance, the former CyCorp Researcher could see the expression of extreme fear that had been etched on the woman's face just prior to the bullet exiting her forehead. One of the Neos made a rather lurid comment about what he would have liked to do to the woman, causing the others to laugh.

"STOP IT!" Mercy found herself screaming, without really thinking.

She found herself in the unpleasant position of being the center of attention. The Neos regarded her for a moment before one of them started walking to her.

"What did you say? Did you just tell us to stop?" Mister Primrose asked venomously as he pulled out a pistol, thumbing back its hammer as he closed in on her, "You're not going soft on us, are you Doc? I know you're an augie and all, but I though you was alright with the cause."

"I... I... well I." The Doctor stammered as she saw her own death approaching her. Backing away from Mister Primrose, Mercy quietly wished that she'd kept her mouth shut.

"Sir!" A guard called out from the roof position, "We've got a police cruiser inbound, sir! Whatever is behind the wheel looks like it's gotten all its parts replaced."

"The Grey Death?" Mercy whispered to herself, remembering the rumors that had surfaced about what they were doing in the North American branch of Research and Development. It had to be him. Between the bombing at their headquarters and CyCorp being frames for the bombings at Buckingham, it was only a matter of time before they would bring him here.

"Doesn't matter if they brought a giant radioactive lizard! Get your men ready and prep the Juggernaut!" MIster Primrose called out. He didn't need to tell any of the men to do their jobs. If the sound of a rather large suit of assault armor being powered on was any sort of clue the Post Neo Luddites were already on it.

[hr]

London 2056 | Hospital Floor 4 | Recovery Ward
Vengeance, Sweet Vengeance.
Irina Rostikova and Sienna Rostikova-Cray​

[hr]

"You're right. We should. Go ahead and send a copy to her now, and I'll make sure she gets the original chip in person." Mister Adler told told the Faux-Feline VidCaster. For a woman that did not seem to trust Karl even after he rescued Sienna Rostikova-Cray, she certainly was content with the CyCorp executive keeping such a vital piece of evidence in his possession. Granted she had a copy of the data chip's contents in her possession but she was more than willing to give Karl Adler enough rope to hang himself and his relationship with Karine with.

"Sounds good to me." Irina said as she looked back to her resting daughter, "Whatever happens, promise me you won't tell her about his involvement in the whole thing."

Irina didn't need to clarify who "his" was when it came to his involvement was in this whole ordeal that they'd just extricated Sienna from. Nathaniel Cray, Sienna's father and one of the cogs that was involved in the incident that had almost cost Irina's daughter her life. While there was little trust between the two, there seemed to at least be an understanding that Sienna should be spared the gory details about the incident.

A mobile phone rang, breaking the lingering silence in the room. Looking at the phone, stood up.

"I've gotta take this." She stated as she exited the recovery room, leaving Karl by himself for a moment.

Outside, the young mother looked at the screen of the mobile device and the name Katya Rostikova prominently displayed on the caller ID. Answering the call, Irina placed the device against her ear.

"T@k3n c@r3 0f s1s!" Katya's mishmashed verbage came through the speaker, "s3nd1ng j00 a l1nk!"

As quickly as the call was started, it was ended. The phone chimed once again, this time informing Irina that she had a message. The Novice Hacker knew better than to look through the header of the message, where all the sender data would have been housed. Compared to Irina, Katya was the Einstein of hacking. OF course, compared to Katya, Irina was the Einstein of human interaction. Irina's sister had always had issues dealing with people face to face and felt quite a bit more comfortable talking to people on The Grid.

Opening the link, Irina watched a scene unfold before her.

Location: XXX XXXX, United States

There was a high pitched hum before the Irina could see an image, rendered in green. A wooden door occupied the majority of the center screen. The image began to move as the camera's owner focused on the door knob, a pair of hands produced a set of lock picks and quickly unlocked the door with practiced ease. Rather than barge through the door and into the apartment beyond, the camera wearer waited and appeared to listen for movement on the other side of the door.

A loud sound, like someone packing a lot of heavy objects into several bags could be heard.

The wearer, satisfied with what she heard, slowly opened the door and into the apartment on the other side. All the lights were off in the apartment, as if the occupant wanted to make it seem like no one was home even as they packed their important items. A man crossed through the screen, unaware that he was no longer alone. The camera froze when she saw the man known as Talasian pass by.

The hands reappeared on the screen, this time holding a silenced pistol. A thumb flicked the safety off and then locked the pistol's hammer back into place with a soft click. Again the camera moved silently through the home and into the room where Talasian stood, pawing at a few items, unsure exactly what it was that he was feeling.

THWIP! THWIP!

The silence was shattered by the sound of a man screaming as a pair of twin bullets shattered his knees and brought him down to the ground. The hands reached for a light switch and the scene suddenly went full color as the lights were turned on.

"0h T@1@s1@n. J00 j00ked w17h t3h w30ng f@m1ly." Katya's voice could be heard as she told Talasian that "He'd fucked with the wrong family."

"K... Katya?" T managed to whimper through the pain, "I... did it for... u.."

THWIP!

"R1gh7. W@t3v3r, br0." The l337 haxxx0r stated quietly as she shot him through the head. Thumbing the safety on her pistol, the younger of the Rostikova sisters wandered about the apartment before spotting Talasian's Grid Deck. As the video faded to black, Katya's hands could be seen grabbing the object and taking it with her.

The Young Mother blinked as yet another message came in, this time from UPS stating that she'd been sent an item and to expect it tomorrow. Smiling to herself and the fact that Talasian had paid the price for stabbing a friend in the back, Irina re-entered the Recovery room and sat down with her daughter, holding Sienna's hand as she slept.

"That's one person taken care of." Irina stated with a feral smile, "I'm sure Karine and that Charlotte bi... lady are taking care of the others."

Which lead to the next point of order on the agenda.

"Speaking of Karine... what's up with you two. You seem to get along pretty well with her. You two dating?"

[hr]

London 2056 | Royal Refuge Inn
Misleading Leads.
Elliot Aubergine and Vermilion Weissbourd​

[hr]

If the fact that Vemilion Weissbourd had kissed him, despite the fact that such an act wasn't necessarily unwelcome, had been surprising, Elliot Aubergine was in for more surprises that day. For one he would eventually have to learn about the death of his brother, Edward Aubergine. Secondly...

"

Officer Aubergine, Dispatch.

" The officer's radio crackled to life, causing the large man to grab it and respond to dispatch, "

We have reports of a illegal weapons cache at the Royal Refuge in.  The source states that the suspect connected to the cache is one Kazuko Wright.  Please investigate the complaint.

"

Rogering the request, Elliot picked himself off of the floor from where he'd landed after Vermi had hit him be with him with a bottle. Straightening out his uniform and brushing the glass out of his hair, Elliot headed towards the front desk, stopping when he noticed the Vermilion was following him.

"You two. Stay here." The LPD Officer ordered.

"[color=e34234]Yu can shuv datorder up yur arse. Ain'tno way Ah'm lettin' yu leave me alone withim.[/color]" The Lady Hacker said gesturing at Dimitri, bringing a look of confusion on Elliot's face. Hadn't they just met? The normally outgoing Vermi would have been happy to entertain someone new... she would have only refused if she knew the man and disliked him. He didn't have the luxury of arguing the fact that bringing a couple of civilians up to a police investigation was highly against policy. He simply nodded as he headed towards the elevator, pressing the button to the third floor after he, Vermilion and Dimitri entered.

Nine doors down on the right was room 318, the hideout of weapons smuggler Kazuko Wright. Pulling out his pistol and holding it behind his back, he motioned for Vermilion and Dimitri to stay out of his way. Walking down the hallway, no noticed a man standing in front of room 318.

"Isaiah, it's Kaz. Are you home? I know it's been fucking yonks since we've seen each other but... fuck, I got some stuff you might want to hear mate." The man said.

"(Kaz.. Kazuko? Makes sense)" Elliot thought to himself as he closed in on the suspect until he was three doors away from the man in front of the door to 318 before calling out, "Kaz.. that wouldn't be short for Kazuko Wright, would it?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

After getting the information that she needed out of the guard, Selene fired a couple of tranquillizer rounds into the man; hopefully by the time he woke up, this would be over. Noticing a set of keys on the ground, Selene figured that they were for the back door and so picked them up and after taking a moment to adjust her attire. Afterwards she then pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to CyCorp, telling them that she confirmed the location of Kaligian and was moving in.

Proceeding up the staircase with her gun drawn and at the door, Selene used the keys to carefully open it and quietly slipped inside, pocketing the keys soon after. Now, her relative location compared to where Elliot and Vermilion were, Selene was at the opposite end of the third floor hallway and around the corner, the door leading from an offshoot corridor.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Selene pressed her back against the wall, and peeked out to see if the main hallway was occupied. She could see only a single individual, and she couldn't believe who it was.

"Kaz? What are you doing here?" She asked and was about to approach him before the sound of a nearby elevator forced her to duck back behind cover. Peering out from behind the corner, Selene could see that three more people entered the fray; one of them being what looked like a police officer, this made things more complicated than they already were.

"Kaz.. that wouldn't be short for Kazuko Wright, would it?" Asked the officer who approached Kaz, his tone of voice suggesting that Kaz was responsible for something. Selene realised she'd have to step in, who knows, maybe the the police's help, things could be brought to a quick conclusion.

"Indeed it is officer, but I fear you have the wrong man if you're thinking what I'm thinking." Selene announced as she approached.

 

[Knife-28]

Kazuko had barely returned his arm to his side before a voice broke the silence. "Kaz.. that wouldn't be short for Kazuko Wright, would it?"

Every synapse in Kazuko's brain screamed 'DANGER!' and it took all his nerve not to jump three meters backwards and take off in the opposite direction. Putting on a (very literal) brave face, Kaz turned and saw one of the men he had seen in the lobby, now standing just down the hall from him. The thought of some CyCorp goon having tracked him down was pushed to the back of his mind (though the thought wasn't entirely dissuaded) by the simple hope that a even lowest rungs of corp muscle wouldn't present themselves bloodied and with shards of wine bottle still dusting their collars. Though, from a psychological standpoint Kazuko couldn't deny that it made the giant of a man any less intimidating.

Kaz opened his, already formulating a finely crafted line of bullshit about 'Kaz' being short for Kazuhira, when a second, female voice spoke out from behind him.

"Indeed it is officer, but I fear you have the wrong man if you're thinking what I'm thinking."

Almost not believing what (or rather who) he had heard, Kaz turned again, and realized that he was not up shit creek, but firmly trapped in what was rapidly becoming a raging torrent of crap.

"Selene," He said, flashing a slightly pained grin, "Fancy meeting you here."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

~ Karl Adler ~​

As Irina seemed to nod, satisfied with his response, he let out a soft sigh and reached up to at least attempt to slick back his unruly hair. It felt like the past few days had done everything possible to strip away the veneer of class and style that he worked hard to cultivate, and it made him feel more naked than the hospital gown he wore. He wasn't fond of the feeling.

"Sounds good to me. Whatever happens, promise me you won't tell her about his involvement in the whole thing."


As she looked over at Young Sienna, it was clear to the German Businessman what she meant. With the mounting evidence against the late Nathaniel Cray, he had no doubt what potential effects knowing the truth would have on the little girl in the bed next to his.

"It wouldn't be my place to." he said quietly, looking up at Irina with subdued sorrow.

"Besides, I know what it's like to have an ugly truth be used to stain you at a young age. It can twist some children in ways that aren't clear for years. But this?" he murmured, shaking his head, "No. I won't tell her, I promise you that."

There was a companionable silence for a short time, only to be broken up by the sound of Irina's mobile ringing.

"I've gotta take this."

He nodded, watching her stride out to take the call. Then he glanced over at the sleeping Sienna, and let out a heavy sigh. He couldn't help but feel sympathetic. While her situation was worse than his had been, he at least had an inkling of what could happen if she knew even some extent of what her father had been involved in. And that was even if these turned out to be unsubstantiated accusations. The doubt regarding that could easily eat at her for the rest of her life.

He was reminded of it all too vividly: An elegant study in a spacious mansion in the German countryside. A door that was only just ajar. Raised voices, harsh words in German. An older woman and a handsome young man.

"--made you think that little bastard would be welcome in my household?! You and that English sow should both consider yourselves lucky that I hadn't been there in the hospital when that brat of yours was born, or else I would have strangled it with it's own cord!"

He could remember the angry lines on Grandmama's face. He had known she hated him, but not why, and not how much. He had to stifle a quiet sob even as he watched through the crack in the doorway as his father held up his hands to try and calm her down. She didn't even seem to notice.

"And then, you decided to marry her! That ***** was nowhere near the caliber I expected for you, Leopold, and I thought I made that perfectly clear. I am still the head of this family, and I won't tolerate any of this! You may have ended it with her, but that wasn't enough. You should throw that brat out into the streets where filthy, worthless rats belong!"

His father merely shook his head and stood his ground, but Karl could remember seeing his hands shake. Everyone in the Adler Household was afraid of Irma Adler, and his father was no exception.

"I did what I thought was best, Mother, and you shouldn't blame me for that. And you've always told me to take responsibility for my mistakes. I'm taking responsibility now!"

A disgusted, flippant sigh.

"And now you decide to take responsibility! At least you realize that that little shit was a mistake--"

And by that point, he couldn't stand to listen anymore. He had been five, and he realized that in the eyes of his German family, he was nothing more than a mistake. Unwanted. Unclean. That was the first time he had realized that, but it was far from the last.

When he found himself gritting his teeth and clenching his remaining hand into a fist, he hissed out a breath and forced himself to relax. Even thirty years later, just the thought was enough to threaten to crack his composure. By the time Irina walked back in, he managed to ease some of his tension, but not all.

"That's one person taken care of. I'm sure Karine and that Charlotte bi... lady are taking care of the others."

Her smile was vicious enough to cause his eyebrows to wing up, but he didn't make any comments about that. No, what she said next was enough to make him perform a mental one-eighty.

"Speaking of Karine... what's up with you two. You seem to get along pretty well with her. You two dating?"

He blinked, and he was a little embarrassed to realize that it made his jaw drop just a little. But he certainly hadn't been expecting that question.

"Ah, well... As it turns out, I'm a business acquaintance of her parents, Ari and Toshiro. We've worked together quite a bit before and even after they retired, and she learned a little about me through them. But we only just met through the recent crisis." he said before swallowing hard.

Just how much should he even tell her? He had no idea whether or not Karine wanted to keep their relationship, such as it was at the moment, a secret or at least private. Though, Irina and Karine were friends. Best friends at that. So, maybe Karine would tell her anyway? He couldn't be sure.

"I certainly like her." Karl told her after another moment of internal debate, "And that seems to be mutual. We haven't made any solid plans, especially considering recent events, but... We're seeing where it goes."

It was rather awkward to admit, especially since he wasn't new to dating. Still, with Karine it felt like he was in slightly uncharted territory, so he wasn't entirely sure of himself.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

London 2056 | Warehouse District | Neo Operations Base
End Task "Human Life" Y/N?
Viscus​

[hr]

The Warehouse rapidly approached as Viscus drove the cruiser like he stole it (Namely because he did, but the legal team would sort that out. After all, they had to prove he was the one who stole it).
As he pulled up not too far from the main entrance, the Android made his way out of the cruiser, leaving the engine running before taking a moment to examine the building.
It seemed like the kind of place a group like this would hold up; old, quiet, out of the way, and fairly easy to defend. At the very least, the figure on the roof certainly said something about there being a presence there.
He didn't really respond to the fact there might be a sniper on the roof, calculating the odds of him having a weapon that would cause lasting damage to his frame to be rather low.
No doubt the figure staring at him had raised the alarm by now, estimates as to the quality of the Luddites hardware quickly raced though Viscus's CPU as he made his way to the trunk, popping it open before examining the contents.

Primary Objective: [color=green]Acquire Information on ZaibatsuCorp Operative behind CyCorp attacks[/color]
Secondary Objective: [color=blue]Prevent Disclosure of Information on ZaibatusCorp Operative to ensure minimal engagement with Law Enforcement[/color]

Direct Assault: [color=red]Negative: Numbers too great. Risk Loss of Information.[/color]
In-Direct Assault: [color=green]Isolate -> Ensure Compliance -> [color=red]Execute[/color][/color]

Combat Log: [color=green]Connection Established: Company Datalink 1099. Transmitting...[/color]
File: [color=green]London DD/MM/2065 Case File 316 ([color=grey]Grey Death[/color])[/color]

Begin Operation

With his pre-operation checks done, the CyCorp enforcer took the police issue Riot Shotgun, still assigned to Officer Sorrowfield, before casually holding it in a single hand before closing the trunk and crouching down towards the rear end of the Cruiser.
Reaching down to the break line, he gripped it firmly in his hand before slowly applying enough pressure to crush it, prepping it for what was about to come.
Passing by the driver's side, he reached in under the wheel were the hotwire panel before tearing it open and making a few adjustments as well as nudging the steering to just the right angle.
The Wheel's skidded against the ground slightly before the Cruiser went racing right into the side of the warehouse, plowing right though it and most likely giving it's occupants something to keep them busy while he got into position.

With his distraction in place, his next order of business was taking care of the watchman on the roof.
Seeing that he was positioned on the roof, Viscus figured that the sniper was of little importance. Thus, Viscus's CPU set his survival priority as "Low" before pulling out his silenced pistol.
Standing motionless for a moment as he aimed, he crunched the numbers before firing a single shot with the intent to hit in the chest.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | London | In Transit to Warehouse District
This is (not) a Joke
Charlotte Sorrowfeld​

[hr]

It would be a rather short trial for Viscus considering the fact that the surveillance cameras in the Safe House had footage of the Cybernetic Organism getting into Charlotte's LPD Cruiser and driving off. In addition to this, London's CCTV camera network would have footage of the semi-autonomous drone driving said LPD cruiser all the way into the Warehouse District up until the point where the Neos had disabled the CCTV system. Despite the fact that London was a bustling hub of prosperity, it still took time to resolve such thing. Given the fact that CyCorp would like to keep their asset out of custody and the fact that he was working to procure information regarding the recent slew of assaults on the Corp, both on physical location and reputation, it was only a matter of time before someone made a call...

The Police Lieutenant was weaving the Rhino through traffic with surprising grace when she received a sudden secured message through the Gungnir servers. Glancing over the message as she ran through a traffic intersection, Charlotte Sorrowfeld clipped a parked vehicle as she tried to suppress a wave of rage that passed over her.

Operation Type: Obfuscation
[b]Assigned to[/b]: Consultant Charlotte Sorrowfeld
[b]Pay[/b]: 1,500,000 Creds

[b]Description[/b]: Miss Sorrowfeld 

The firm has received another contract from CyCorp.  The client requests assistance in removing traceable evidence linking the client's agent, Viscus, with his projected actions.  Additionally, the client requests that any police or military assets en route to the agent's location be delayed for as long as possible.  Due to the amount that the client is willing to spend on this contract, additional resources have been made available to you.

"You've got to be shitting me." The Mercenary Consultant stated angrily as she reread the contract a second time to ensure that she wasn't just imagining things. She wasn't. She had to cover for the tin can robot that had jacked her LPD cruiser, "YOU'VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!"

She punched the steering wheel a number of times in frustration as she contacted the Gungnir resources.

"It's Sorrowfeld. I'll need a perimeter of 8 blocks around the warehouse district blocked off. Use your metro access. I'll also need airspace denial. See what you can route from Heathrow. Also, shut down the CCTV Grid." The Lieutenant said over the secured line knowing that this was going to be a rather busy day for the London Police Department.

In what would be called a critical glitch by the media, all the traffic signals in an eight block radius around the Warehouse District turned green, signaling the start of the chaos as cars crashed into one another and blocked the intersections. Further exacerbating the traffic issue, ambulances were called to the scene to extricate the victims from their cars and transport them to area hospitals. Strangely, the sound of sirens wailing in the distance was not the most audible thing around the warehouse district. A giant passenger plane on its landing approach passed overhead, its engines drowning out the sounds of future gunfire.

The APC started to slow down as the ripple effect of multiple motor vehicle collisions turned the Londonian streets into a virtual parking lot. Looking through the windshield of the APC, Charlotte's radio suddenly crackled to life.

"Lieutenant! Are you alright? Your cruiser reported that it was involved in an MVA." The Dispatcher reported. It took a moment for the Lieutenant's brain to click as to what had happened.

"SON OF A *****! FUCKING TRASH COMPACTING BASTARD FUCKER!" She cursed Viscus' existence.

[hr]

London 2056 | Warehouse District | Neo Operations Base
This is (not) a Drill
Remnant Neo Soldiers​

[hr]

If the Post Neo Luddites had been under the impression that the occupant of the Police Cruiser was an LPD officer, Viscus had broken the illusion via a number of cues and missed procedures that would have been followed by the proper authorities like the Bible.

The first procedure involved the scouting of the location for civilians or hostages prior to a breach. If there were no hostages or civilians that would be caught in the line of fire, the breach could proceed. The second procedure would have been the start of negotiations in the event that hostages were found to be housed within the building that was to be breached. Talks would have been initiated in an effort to get the hostages out of harms way. If the talks failed, the breach could proceed. The third procedure involved the actual breaching process itself. The tactical team would have entered the building through a lightly guarded entrance under the cover of darkness or subterfuge. A direct assault was a sure fire way to get the hostages and fellow officers killed in the line of fire.

In none of these procedures was the user of a squad car as a battering ram mentioned.

"Incoming!" A PNL Sniper called out from the roof, warning his comrades of the inbound patrol car and allowing them time to position themselves away from the wall. The shriek of metal being ripped apart echoed in the near empty warehouse as the patrol car ripped a hole through the side of the Warehouse's metal wall... and kept going.

THUD! One of the Neos was caught by the careening vehicle causing him to get thrown in the air as his body bounced against the cruiser's windshield.

That guy was the lucky one.

TH-TH-THUD! Unable to move due to their bindings, three of the hostages took the brunt of the impact against the grill of the police cruiser before being dragged under the car. A moment later, it was over. The car came to rest against a parked transport trailer that was to be used to transport the hostages.

Mister Primrose scanned the immediate area, pointing his assault rifle at the hole in the wall while motioning to two of the Neo guards to check the crashed vehicle to ensure that there was no one inside. The ranking official of the Post Neo Luddites motioned for the others to keep an eye on the door as he checked the Neo that had been hit by the car.

"Broken ribs and arm." The Medic said as he started splinting the obviously broken arm. Nodding to the medic and his patient, Mister Primrose looked towards the crashed cruiser.

"You've got to be shitting me," One of the Neos cursed as he looked under the car, examining the bodies of the three hostages that had been crushed. This was clearly not the work of the authorities. There was no way they would have done something so irresponsible that would have cost the lives of the civilians.

"MOVEMENT!" The Sniper called out as he tracked the robotic figure in the distance, "It's... a robot!"

The sound of a shot rang out as Viscus killed one of the roof snipers in a single shot, giving away the Grey Death's position in the process.

"HE GOT MISTER PEARBERRY!" The Sniper called out as he returned fire on Viscus, "NORTH SIDE!"

"Take him out!" Mister Primrose called out as he turned to the rest of his men, "Finish up here. We get out in 10 minutes."

"But Mister Primrose, we can totally take out that bastard out there. He's just one guy." A younger Neo said brandishing a submachine gun.

"No. We have our objectives. We're not a bunch of cut rate amateurs that grandstand all day long. We clean up. We leave." Mister Primrose said as he started punching a series of commands into a computer terminal. Nearby, the remaining explosive augmentations chirped as the built in explosives were armed and set to explode in 10 minutes.

"Mister Orchid. Deal with the remaining hostages and cover our withdrawal in the Juggernaut." Mister Primrose said as he started looking for the former CyCorp doctor, Mercy Rabbit, who was just another loose end that needed to be tied up.

The sound of automatic fire could be heard from Viscus' position as the hostages were eliminated from the equation. On the roof of the target warehouse, a sniper took a bead on the the Cyborg's position and started firing.

[hr]

London 2056 | Hospital Floor 4 | Recovery Ward
This is (not) Kawaii
Irina Rostikova and Sienna Rostikova-Cray​

[hr]

Irina wanted the first thing for Sienna to see was her mother resting next to her as such she found herself laying down next to her daughter even as she regarded the recovery room's other adult occupant. Karl Adler had just freely admitted an attraction to Karine Asagi, Irina's next door neighbor, best friend and personal savior. Whether or not they were suited for each other was unclear but Irina couldn't help but feel a little perturbed by the fact that Karl had a working relationship with Karine's parents. This would have meant that Karl was at least old enough to have had a working relationship with Karine's parents. But if the old lech was what Karine wanted, Irina could have at least been supportive, she owed her best friend that and more.

"See that it goes someplace good," StripKitty said with a smirk, "Otherwise I'll use an apple corer on something that they haven't made an augmentation for."

With her warning issued to the CyCorp executive, Irina decided to be the bearer of good news and tidings. Lord knows that they could have used some after the day they had.

"The hacker that was behind this mess has been... eliminated. Is that how you Corp types say it? Right before you all start your sinister laugh" The Former Corp Sock Puppet said with a faux grimace as she poked fun at Karl and his position within CyCorp, "So lame. Talasian's dead."

There was a certain sadness in Irina's voice in that moment. For all the trouble that he'd caused her, Talasian had at one time been her friend as well as mentor when it came to hacking on the Grid. The knowledge that he was dead was almost as bitter a pill to swallow as the knowledge that he'd stabbed her in the back. Blinking a couple of times, Irina roughly segued back to a previous topic, wiping away a rogue tear with one of Sienna's sheets.

"Thank you for agreeing not to tell her about... him. You're right, even if it's not true, she could feel it for the rest of her life. It could possibly change her mind about wanting to try augmentations in order to live a semi normal life." The VidCaster said as she tried to figure out what sort of future her daughter was going to have, "If there anything that you can do to keep that out of the media as well, please.. could you?"

Thinking about the repercussions of a reveal of CyCorp's involvement on the bombings, Irina knew that the authorities would demand full disclosure of everything that was known. This information would include Nathaniel's involvement in the matter. The media would eventually get their grubby hands on the report sooner rather than later and then they'd hound Sienna for quite some time. The more Irina thought about it, the bleaker the future looked for her daughter.

"[small]Fucking Nathaniel[/small]" The woman whispered as she cursed the fact that even in death, her ex-husband still had sway over her life.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

London 2056 | Warehouse District | Neo Operations Base
Grey Death from Above (Mood music [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVB6Jp2jcGk])[footnote]Shoutout to Bluerocker's taste of tunes[/footnote]
Viscus​

[hr]

After taking down one of the snipers along his entry route, the Android quickly made his way towards the corner of the building while the others dealt with the mangled, right before a sniper round nailed him in the head.
He paused for a moment before glancing upwards at the man who fired it, his face glaring at him though the scope before calmly flicking the rifle round out of his forehead with one hand and returning the favor with the other.
With both assassin's down, he then put both of his weapons into his jacket before burying the tips of his metal fingers into the brick wall like climbing hooks, using his augmented limbs to claw his way up the side of the building as the enemy moved to his position.

Vaulting over the edge and walking past the dead/dying snipers, The Gray Death peered over one of the skylights into the operation below where several Luddites were busy covering up their tracks by killing several would-be suicide bombers.
Sure, it was a horrible waste of life and all, but considering his mission was to enact revenge for the bomb attacks on CyCorp, the fact they were getting rid of their own stock was a bonus, less bombs to attack company assets with.
The entire scene was being transmitted to CyCorp HQ and to his handler so there would be some record of it, might be useful for a PR move.

Glancing around, he noticed a series of CCTV cameras overlooking the entire building, mass production commercial civilian model and extremely out-dated at that, but what's what you get for wanting a secure building while spending less on cameras then the fuel you used to buy them.
It provided a rather easy access point for Viscus as it was just a matter of accessing the network it was set up on and inputting the manufacturer's master password.
While they were old, under-protected and had sub-par image quality, they still had a good coverage of the entire building.
That added with Viscus's CPU made getting everyone's positions rather simple and with that kind of information in the hands of a man with a silenced weapon and a good vantage?

Mister Primrose would soon notice his men suddenly start dropping like flies as Viscus began taking them out while his Cyber Investigation Unit ran a background check on each target before he fired, would hate to take out the ring leader too soon.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

~ Karl Adler ~​

Karl watched Irina as she laid down next to her daughter as he answered her earlier question, and he wasn't sure what he expected in terms of reaction. But it certainly wasn't the vaguely disturbed look that she leveled at him. Was there something wrong with him? Something that made him unsuitable for Karine's affection or interest? Or was it wrong of him to show interest in her?

But when her expression shifted into a smirk, he immediately quirked a brow.

"See that it goes someplace good, otherwise I'll use an apple corer on something that they haven't made an augmentation for."

Now that was more what he was expected.

"Understood." he said with a soft chuckle.

There was a slight pause before Irina changed subjects, and it was one that surprised the German Businessman.

"The hacker that was behind this mess has been... eliminated. Is that how you Corp types say it? Right before you all start your sinister laugh. So lame. Talasian's dead."

So, that was the reason for her phone call earlier. Ordering Talasian, the hacker responsible, to be killed. And since she had been given a notification not long after, apparently whoever it was was both quick and efficient. It also shed some new light on the Vidcaster, though he had no doubt that she did it in response to Young Sienna's involvement.

"I see," he murmured with a somber nod, "Well then, at least he won't be able to cause that kind of havoc again, now that he's rotting in Hell."

Then he gave her a sidelong glance, saying in a mock-haughty tone, "But I'll have you know that Corporate Executives never break into sinister laughter willy-nilly. We have special rooms for that you know."

He had hoped that would help cheer her some, despite the fact that it was fairly tasteless as far as humor went. He could tell that she needed it, not only with everything that had happened, but the fact that her voice was tinged with a bit of sorrow. He couldn't be sure of why, though.

So when she wiped away a tear with the corner of one of Sienna's sheets, the small smile he attempted quickly faded.

"Thank you for agreeing not to tell her about... him. You're right, even if it's not true, she could feel it for the rest of her life. It could possibly change her mind about wanting to try augmentations in order to live a semi normal life. If there anything that you can do to keep that out of the media as well, please.. could you?"

Karl grimaced.

"I'm not sure I can, but I can try." he said, before glancing down at the sterile cap on his left shoulder.

"To be fair, today has been a firm reminder that my place is behind a desk or in a conference room, not in the middle of a warzone like Buckingham Palace was earlier. I'm sure Karine will make sure that reminder sticks next time I see her." he said sheepishly.

 

[FalloutJack]

While no drone and no system is perfect, one thing that Asagi could be assured is that the machines she had sent for could not have been tampered with prior to their use, since they had not been deployed yet, and that they would be backed by England's finest security protocols, since these were the always-lethal drones. When militaries brought out little gems like these, they wanted you to die, quickly and efficiently. There was no margin for error on that, so there would be people monitering them in real time, as well. En route to the site, Charlotte radioed her.

"Asagi, looks like that Tin Can Bastard decided to take my car without permission... something the pervert probably did while I was taking a shower. He'll probably make it there before us or your troops. You don't mind me arresting the bastard for Motor Vehicle Theft do you?"

She thought about this for a second, then smirked.

"A corporate hatchetman does not have the authority to commandeer vehicles. Just remember to bring the shock-cuffs."

After all, Viscus would have the strength of ten men if not for the possibility of being shorted out here and there. Honestly, Asagi could understand the cyborg's work, but he was a creepy bugger and frankly not operating within hers or the police's guidelines. He would have to deal with that when the time came. Not her responsibility, though. More likely the LPD's or CyCorp's.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now, Asagi was way ahead of Charlotte, but her backup was caught in the traffic mess somewhat. About midway. These were a line of military and LPD vehicles, forced to sort out this mess...almost.

"Spearhead-1, do you have a clear path?"

"I have a sidewalk, sir."

"You are ordered to proceed once excess baggage has boarded your vehicle. We'll be en route ASAP."

The truck moved onto the sidwalk as other trucks behind it opened up and people saw some rather agile-looking machines go car-hopping over to the lead truck. A couple men had to get out and squeeze into the front cab to make room, and some grasped onto the exterior of the vehicle itself while others would have to trail behind.

"Authorizing clearance for low-flying aircraft in this sector. Namely, we need a cargo chopper."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Of course, once Asagi HAD arrived, a number of things had already gone to hell, but fortunately for her...it was a matter of them having a nice big gray-colored distraction, allowing her to get off the bike and sneak in. She was aware of the troubles a few blocks away, but it didn't matter, because even as she used Viscus' attacks to cover her own and kill some Neos...


...an overstuffed military truck came to a halt about half a block away and deployed 15 Mantis drones, who proceeded to respond to Karine's real-time input on the situation. Because the element of surprise was over, thanks to Viscus, the time for Shock and Awe was up. Very soon, boarded up windows would open up and doors cave in as the insectoid machines made their entrance, covering any perpatrator with a gun. Honestly, they were aiming to wound, but anyone posing a serious threat to the things would go down in a hail of gunfire or get torn apart.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Well, that's good for there, but what about at the Royal Refuge Inn, hmmm?

Isaiah watched through all the hidden cameras, listened through all the hidden bugs. He smirked and entertained a small laugh at the ensuing drama, despite himself. Kazuko had come to see him, but then the officer - Isaiah had seen his file when he caught a report of Edward's death - had confronted Kazuko, and now there was a third party - a woman that he was certain he'd seen in a corporate file somewhere - also getting involved and halting Elliot and his two associates. Honestly, this could become Reservoir Dogs if he could just throw in one solid paranoid.

Hold on. He had one. Isaiah picked up a microphone.

"Rudolf, go to the exterior of Room 318 and explain to the people there that you want them to leave before they wreck the place. Oh, and bring the AK-47."

Laughing to himself once more, Isaiah watched as the Armenian at the front desk called for someone to take over before picking up a Russian assault weapon and heading for the elevator. Kazuko and company would have maybe two minutes before Rudolf came down the hall, pointing the gun and saying...

"Alright, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not having any of it in my hotel. You take it away, far away, and don't ever come back. Or else this rifle's liable to become unfriendly..."

Those here new to the scene of Rudolf's face would notice that this man seemed overwrought in some manner or another, like he hadn't gotten much sleep and wasn't entirely focused. However, his aim was steady enough. Now what?

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | Hospital | Floor 4 | Recovery Ward
"Uncle Karl?!"
Irina Rostikova and Sienna Rostikova-Cray​

[hr]

"To be fair, today has been a firm reminder that my place is behind a desk or in a conference room, not in the middle of a warzone like Buckingham Palace was earlier. I'm sure Karine will make sure that reminder sticks next time I see her." The German Executive stated after examining the white sterile cap that been placed where the man's augmented arm had once been. Despite his situation, there was a bit of airiness in his air, a decidedly head in the clouds sort of look not typical for a supposedly grounded Corp Executive. If there was one good thing about the mutually destructive game of love, if Karine was as interested as Mister Adler appeared to be, Irina was going to be wonderfully fun to tease later on.

"... What about Auntie Karine?..." A soft, feminine and childlike voice asked next to the Cat Eared Former VidCaster. The sudden awakening of her daughter caused the Former Slave to Corp Advertising to jump a little as she'd not expected Sienna to be waking just after speaking of her and what information should and should not be presented.

"N... nothing at all, Monkey. Auntie Karine just wanted me to tell you to get better real soon. Your Auntie Katya also says she loves you." The Crimson Haired Cat Woman managed to state as she attempted to piece together a good story to tell her wounded child. The mention of Katya Rostikova had a rather profound effect on the young Sienna, one that was not doctor approved especially in her current condition. Sitting up straight, Sienna looked around the room for her beloved Auntie Katya.

"Auntie Katya's here? Where is she?" The excited Sienna asked as she attempted to peer through the door and down the hospital corridor. Given the impairment of Sienna's ability to maintain her balance in a seated position, the action might have had serious repercussions were it not for the quick actions of her mother, who wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders in order to keep her from pitching forward.

"Calm down, monkey. She's not here... yet." Irina stated, making a mental note to order a plane ticket for her sister the first chance she got. If Katya could illicit this sort of response from Sienna, her physical presence would be able to make the painful transition to augmented legs all the more easier down the line.

Grabbing her mobile, Irina was suddenly struck by the irony of her situation. Prior to the events of the Cat Eared Vidcaster would have never have been able to make such a purchase without planning out her finances for the coming months. Given that she'd just sold all of her shares in Zaibatsu Corp, while the price of the Corp's stock skyrocketing, she was definitely not going to be struggling over finances for some time.

As her mother pulled out the ever present mobile phone, Sienna looked at Mister Adler with a concerned look after she spotted the plastic cap that covered his augmentation anchor.

"Are you okay Mister Adler? Did Auntie Karine do that to you?" Sienna asked, clearly innocent of the relationship that was brewing between her "Auntie" and her potential "Uncle," "Mom always said that Auntie Karine was strong enough to pull an arm off of a man, I didn't think it was true though."

There seemed to be a difference in the way Sienna spoke when talking about her mother, one sense of caring that was noticeably absent the first time that Karl had met the daughter of Nathaniel Cray. Was the girl taking her "Auntie's" advice and going easy on her mother or was this a genuine change in attitude about her mother? Despite the horrible events of the day, was this the antidote to the poison that her father had been feeding her in regards to her mother?

"There." Irina exclaimed triumphantly, "Auntie Katya is going to be here the day after tomorrow. She can't wait to see you!"

Laying back in her bed, Sienna smiled brightly. Her hair, which was a copper color, seemed fiery against the snowy whiteness of her pillow. The smile, gleaming brightly in the early evening, was still on her face even as her eyes slowly closed.

"This is why she can never know." Irina whispered as she looked at her now slumbering daughter.

[hr]

London 2056 | London | Warehouse District | Neo Operations Base
"I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, *****!"
Charlotte Sorrowfeld and Post Neo Luddite Soldiers​

[hr]

[HEADING=2][color]HOOOOOOOOONK!![/color][/HEADING]​

The Rhino's horn seemed especially loud as if the armored personnel vehicle sensed the irritation that its driver felt. The frustration that Charlotte Sorrowfeld had manifested itself outwardly as anger towards the parking lot that had formed in front of the armored vehicle. Inwardly, however, the Lieutenant was seething at herself for being the cause of this traffic jam, especially since it appeared that the Operative had figured out a route into the warehouse district by using the sidewalk of all things. As she continued to wait for the opportunity to move half a car's length, a new message was received on her mobile form Gungnir's servers.

Assigned to: Consultant Charlotte Sorrowfeld
Pay: 1,500,000 Creds

This message is to inform you that the mission has been completed to the satisfaction of the Contractee and payment arrangements have been made to sent to your listed accounts. The Contractee has added a stipulation to the contract stating that by accepting payment, the contractor agrees to the terms of the included Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Attached: NDA - 20213421.pdf

The Gungnir Consultant blinked a number of times as she read and reread an re-reread the contents of the message until a car behind her honked its horn. Accepting the payment, Charlotte grinned to herself as she thought over what had just transpired.

"(So that's their game)" The Lieutenant realized as she turned the steering wheel to the left and gunned the engines. Following her commands, the Rhino mounted the curb and started bypassing the deadlock of cars that had been in front of her, its lights and sirens blaring. "(They want mt to stay quiet about any involvement they might have had.)"

It was an obtuse attempt at a veiled payoff. By offering an inordinate amount of money for a job that should have been a piece of cake, what CyCorp was doing was paying for Charlotte's silence, especially given that she'd failed to keep Karine Asagi and her military personnel away from the Warehouse prior to Viscus leaving the area. Were this a normal contract, the Contractee would have had the option of not paying for the services that they'd contracted out. Were this a normal contract, Charlotte wouldn't have gotten a damn thing.

While the contract meant that Charlotte was unable to speak of the events that had transpired in regards to Viscus, it did not mean that she had to stay back in the wings any longer.

[HEADING=2][color]SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!![/color][/HEADING]​

The Rhino has drifted too close to a parked car and caused the area to be filled with sound of metal grinding against metal. While the owner of the car might have cared were he present, Charlotte found the sound rather soothing and imagined that it was the sound that Viscus' chassis would make when she slammed the full weight of the Rhino through his shiny metal ass.

[hr]

Meanwhile... at the Warehouse...​

Things were not going well for the Soldiers belonging to the Post Neo Luddite cell that had been in charge of cleaning up the Forward Operations base. It was bad enough that the guards were being shot through walls and doors with amazing accuracy but the arrival of the military and their insectoid drones proved to be too overwhelming a force for the moderately trained soldiers. Despite the chaos, at least one of the Neos kept his head level, albeit behind a heavy metal desk.

Mister Primrose calmly issued orders to his men. With the arrival of Asagi and her men and the outlying lookouts reporting the presence of military cargo choppers flying low over the warehouse district, the plan to retreat had fallen by the wayside. The only option that remained on the table was to ensure that this wall hacking tin can and its military comrades were not able to get their hands on any information regarding the assault on Buckingham Palace or the kidnapping of hospital patients to be used in said assault.

Peaking over the side of his metal barrier, the Head Neo in Charge was able to get a clear view of the terminal and the timer that was slowly ticking down to zero. Ten Minutes. Ten minutes was long enough for the military to over run their position and capture everyone inside the building. He needed a delaying tactic, which in this case would be the two ton Juggernaut power armor.

"Bring the Juggernaut to the front." Mister Primrose ordered as he ordered more of the men back into the building, "Kill those metal loving fucks!"

Despite the bravado, Mister Primrose knew that they would not be able to repel the assault but that wasn't the point of all this, was it?

[hr]

Meanwhile ... Outside...​

The wall of the Neo's Base exploded outwards, sending bits of metal shrapnel flying every which way. While most of the shrapnel flew harmlessly into the unoccupied portions of the district, some of the military personnel on site took minor injury. A squad leader reported in to Karine as the forces positioned themselves around the perimeter of the Neo's base.

"Ma'am. A few of the men were wounded by the explosion that just occurred. We're having them checked over by the on site medic while the remainder of our men surround the base under the cover of the Mantis drones." Squad Leader Mitchell reported, keeping a watchful eye on scene in case of an assault by the Neos, "We're waiting for the smoke to clear to see if we can use the breach that the explosion caused as an entry point."

The was a burst of radar chatter that caused the Squad Leader to stop his report as he listened in. The burst of radar chatter was followed by an even louder burst of machine gun fire.

"Oh dear, it looks like they've got a combat armor with them." the man stated as brought up a schematic of the reported Power Armor model.

Weight: 2 tonnes
Class: Power Armor - Combat Chassis

- 2x Quad barrel mini-guns mounted along the forearm. Fires 7.62 mm shells

- 1x Grenade Launcher mounted on the right shoulder. Fires Anti-Personnel grenades

- Enhanced mobility system. Uses wheels housed in the soles of the suit's feet to move more swiftly with the aid of a propulsion system mounted in the lower legs and shoulders.

- Armor: Non Explosive Reactive Armor layer over Titanium Alloy armor. Heavier in front than back due to positioning of propulsion systems for the Enhanced mobility system.

- Misc Systems: Night Vision, Multiple Target Tracking, Radar, limited submersion, Nuclear/Biological/Chemical weapons protection, EMP Shielded circuitry.

As he waited for the Operative to read the schematics, a voice could be heard in the distance, the volume magnified by the armor's PA system.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, *****!" The voice yelled before following his words up with another burst of gun fire.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

London 2056 | Warehouse District | Neo Operations Base
Bombs away (Mood music [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43xRQOQgx1E])
Viscus​

[hr]

While his tactics were putting a sizable dent in the numbers of the enemy, the arrival of the military made the matter a lot more complicated.
Never-mind the fallout of a CyCorp Agent getting captured by a national military force on site of a terror cell, but if they killed the ringleader before he could talk, it would be a considerable set back.
Still, at least the fact there was something else trying to kill them that was keeping the majority of their ranks busy, but that Juggernaut mech would be a serious threat to any advances he would make.
Either way, he had to update his position as their members changed theirs, so he climbed in from the skylight before edging his way onto one of the upper cat walks above the warehouse floor.

From his new spot, he got a nice view of the Juggernaut spraying and praying against the incoming military, in a rather in-efficient matter he might add, clearly the Neo Luddites forsaken proper training as well as augmentation.
It was then that Viscus was able to get a visual on a possible target, namely the one they called "Mister Primrose" as he seemed to be directing the defense effort.
When he looked up the man with his Cyber Investigation Unit, all files came back either Blank or Non-Existant, seems fitting for some kind of Terrorist Mastermind.
Marking him as a possible lead, he then made sure that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon as he took aim for the man's right knee, a single 9mm bullet hitting it's mark before he began to turn his attention to the Juggernaut.

Keeping out of the war machine's cone of vision, he began to make his way towards that pile of booby-trapped augments they were trying to get rid of.
Thanks to the fact that his place was now a warzone, it was easy to take out any guards that might have been in the way, as well was using the CCTV network to check his path.
Once he neared the primed explosives (And cleared the scene of possible hazards), he vaulted over the railings of the catwalk before stomping down onto the concrete floor below.
There was a large collection of brand new CyCorp Superior range augments right in front of him, he even helped to give design feedback on a few of them, what were they doing with such augments? Some of them were worth more then the building they were in!
Each one was ticking down, a classic hallmark of rigged explosives and just what he might need to take out that Juggernaut.
Getting his hands on a replacement pelvis, he quickly patched himself into the CLI before rewiring the timer.
8:54
8:53
-:--
0:05
0:04

Logging out, he then threw the pelvis towards the Mech before grabbing a replacement arm and repeating the process, perhaps they'll believe it was just a military counter attack.
And if they didn't and made a move against him? Plenty of rigged augments to go around.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Selene." Kazuko said, flashing a slightly pained looking grin as he realised who had entered. "Fancy meeting you here."

Selene kept herself quiet as she glared at the DJ hacker with a look of both sadness and frustration as she pondered why it was Kazuko was here. Was he trying to get answers out of Isaiah? Or, was he trying to warn him about what was coming for him? There also existed the possibility that the answer lay somewhere in-between the two.

She was about to speak, when the sudden interruption of the elevator came a knocking. Selene turned around to see a somewhat giant of a man wielding an AK-47; judging from it's condition, it looked to be a little old, both its stock and grip a little battered and worn, but still very much serviceable, after all, it was very difficult to kill an AK-47. As for the man itself, he looked somewhat haggard, as if he hadn't gotten much sleep in recent nights, but his grip on the weapon was still strong.

"Alright, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not having any of it in my hotel. You take it away, far away, and don't ever come back. Or else this rifle's liable to become unfriendly..." The man demanded in a heavy Eastern European sounding accent.

"Apologies for the disturbance Monsieur, we don't mean cause trouble. It's just, I'm here on behalf of one of the companies effected by recent events, and according to our intelligence; we believe a potential suspect is behind that door. As for what the London Metropolitan Police are doing here, I have no idea."

 

[bluerocker]

Made in concert with FalloutJack

"Alright, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not having any of it in my hotel. You take it away, far away, and don't ever come back. Or else this rifle's liable to become unfriendly..."

Dimitri found himself putting his hands up carefully, not wanting to incite the proprietor any further. Giving a nervous laugh, he tried to rustle up some points in his favor by adjusting his tone to sound soothing, like he would to a customer who was feeling rowdy and had one too many, [color=3897e0]"Like the lady near me has said, myself and the company I have kept mean you and your property no harm, truly. If anything, I believe this is all one big misunderstanding. We're just looking for somebody."[/color]

The owner readjusted his grip ever so slightly with the rifle while listening to the bartender and Selene, then answered in his same demanding tones, "One of you is looking, I know. The rest of you look like trouble. And I don't care WHO you all are. There won't be a shooting in my hotel unless I'M the one doing it, taking down the riff-raff."

[color=3897E0]... Can't really argue with him there.[/color]
Turning back towards the crowd of varying individuals, Dimitri's eyes turned towards his (former) love, and the cop he found himself in collaboration with, giving them a pleading looks before addressing the crowd,
[color=3897E0]"Well, the man does bring up a decent point. How about we calmly and civilly put our guns down-"[/color]
"How about...you do exactly as I said, me being the owner and having you all covered?"
[color=3897E0]"..."[/color]

The young Russian man gave a soft sigh before trying to give another chance at diplomacy. While he was invested in his search with Elliot and Vermillion, the last thing he needed was for a fire fight to break out. Thinking over his word carefully again, he spoke one last time to the crowd, [color=3897E0]"Look, maybe if we just talk things out, the man with the machine gun here won't be liable shoot us? For that matter, I know why I'm here, I'm with him -"[/color] he gestured with his head towards Elliot, and finished with the question for the floor, [color=3897E0]"What are the rest of you doing here?"[/color]

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | The Warehouse District | Post Neo Luddite Operations Base (Interior)
Operation Bomberman
Mister Primrose | Mercy Rabbit​

[hr]

In a historical context, there were very few times that the activities of a Corporate Lackey, such as Viscus, fell in line with the operational guidelines set forth by someone in the Post Neo Luddite Front's leadership. Mister Primrose had altered the plans on Operation Bomberman's end game. With the arrival of London PD and the military and the subsequent blockade of available escape routes, the Neos were no longer in a position to clean up trace evidence and escape. They were now only in a position to eliminate all potential sources of evidence that could point out the identity of the Buckingham Palace Bombing conspirators. Knowing this, Mister Primrose had ordered his men back into the warehouse not to regroup for a counter offensive but to be present when the makeshift self destruct devices exploded. So when Viscus was busy eliminating the members of the Post Neo Luddite Front, he was actually doing Mister Primrose quite the favor by eliminating potential sources of evidence.

It should be noted that if your mission involved the acquisition of information regarding the falsified evidence that pointed out your Corp's involvement in a terrorist plot, the last place that you should be throwing explosives is in a warehouse that was filled with potential sources of said information, at least you should wait until after you've sifted through the information. But that was neither here not there. Viscus' priorities had been set and currently it was the destruction of the Combat Power Armor chassis.

The augmented hip landed next to the Juggernaut and exploded, sending out a wave of smoke and debris. A few of the Neos caught in the blast were shredded to pieces by the explosion's shock wave and the bits of shrapnel created by the metallic hip. A few targets of opportunity eliminated. This was fine, the grunts probably didn't have much to offer in the way of information, however Viscus' main target continued to move as if it had been utterly unscathed by the blast. Were Viscus to take a quick look at his primary target, he would have noted that the armor had been outfitted with Reactive Armor, a type of armor designed to negate the effects of explosive attacks by using its own explosive blast to counteract the shock wave. While the design was effective at stopping Viscus' initial bomb, sections of reactive armor could only be used once before the taking normal damage.

Were there any questions as to the reaction of the Juggernaut pilot, Mister Orchid, they were soon answered when the man's gravelly voice blasted over the P.A.

"GET OUT HERE, *****, AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" Mister Orchid roared as he unleashed a swarm of 7.62 slugs in the direction he guessed Viscus was positioned. It was probably a good thing that Viscus was facing a human and not a drone. A drone would have more than likely been able to calculate the trajectory of the bomb and pinpointed its origin.

Mister Primrose was not inactive either. Stalking the perimeter of the warehouse, he appeared to be looking for something or someone. Taking aim, the Neo commander fired his assault rifle at a desk, causing a woman to scramble out from cover. Using bits of cover, the woman moved from place to place as she attempted to put some distance between herself and Mister Primrose.

*CHUNK*

One of the slugs hit the woman in the shoulder, causing her to spin and land next to Viscus. Opening her eyes slowly, Doctor Mercy Rabbit could only stare and the thing that haunted her dreams.

"Oh... crap." She whispered as she saw the Grey Death.

The Juggernaut fired once again, this time its target was no longer Viscus but rather a Mantis Drone that had managed to infiltrate the building. The Mantis had thought to take the element of surprise and unleashed a torrent of small arms fire on the Combat Armor and its pilot. Unfortunately, the Juggernaut had the Mantis beat in terms of armor and firepower, the hail of bullets chewed through the Mantis like a female chewing through its mate.

[hr]

London 2056 | The Warehouse District | Post Neo Luddite Operations Base (Exterior)
Scenarios and Rescues...
Charlotte Sorrowfeld​

[hr]

For the forces on station outside of the Neos' Base of Operations, the situation appeared to be evolving rapidly. Due to the withdrawal of the Neo Soldiers into their warehouse, the infiltration teams were no longer under constant small arms fire. While this allowed them greater flexibility as far as their movements and positioning, it did set up the possibility that the terrorists were about to undertake a major move. Whether this was a counter offensive designed to break through the police perimeter that had been established or to go up in a blaze of glory using what explosives remained uncertain. It was also uncertain as to the condition of the remaining hostages within the warehouse.

On the south side of the warehouse, one of Karine Asagi's soldiers spotted movement and raised his binoculars to get a better view. It appeared that one of the infiltration squads had sent back two of its members with a third person being carried on a field stretcher.

"Ma'am." The Sargent called out and handed Operative Asagi the binocs. Were the operative to look at the occupant of the stretcher, she would have noticed that he looked rather familiar. She had, in fact, met Charles Derek May the night of Sienna Rostikova-Cray's kidnapping before he himself became a victim. Sienna would be happy to hear that at least one other person had made it out of there alive. Calling for a medic, the soldiers carried Charles away from the battlefield where he would be examined and treated before he was debriefed.

More commotion, this time coming from the direction of the operator that was in charge of monitoring the Mantis drones.

"Ma'am. It appears that the remainder of the hostages have been executed by the Neos," The Operator reported, his voice barely controlling the anger that he felt, "We've also lost Mantis number 5."

So that was the scenario that was set for the Operative and somewhere in it was Viscus. No hostages remained and the Neos were plotting something. It appeared to be a setup for either a royal fuck up or payday for the intelligence division. The only thing missing was...

"Ma'am, we've got reports that a Rhino APC just broke through the perimeter and is headed in the direction of the warehouse."

Charlotte Sorrowfeld, of course.

[hr]

London 2056 | Royal Refuge Inn | Floor 3 | Hallway in front of Room 318
"We're going to play a wonderful game called 'who is my daddy and what does he do?'"
​

[hr]

Officer Elliot Aubergine felt that he was at a slight disadvantage in the situation that he found himself in. While they had involuntarily identified themselves as Kazuko and Selene, that didn't tell the officer much more than what to call them. They, on the other hand, knew that he was an officer belonging to London's Police force and was bound to a spiderweb of procedures. Of course, this was only the most minor of inconveniences when one considered the fact that there was a rather crazed looking individual that was pointing and automatic weapon at him and the others. As much as Officer Aubergine could tell, Dimitri's attempts to talk the man down would be a disastrous failure. Still, there was no harm in trying, was there? At the very least, they would buy themselves some time while Elliot figured out what to do about the automatic weapon pointed at his face.

"I was here to meet a contact of mine and broker some information about ... a certain organization." Elliot stated simply as he nodded towards Vermilion, who was standing next to Dimitri. That part was fairly obvious since they had been seen meeting in the lobby of the Inn. What Elliot wanted to remain secret was the fact that they were researching Gungnir and their possible involvement in the disappearance of Dimitri's guardian, Mel.

"That was before I got a call to investigate one of your guests here. A man by the name of Kazuko Wright. It's been reported that he's got a stash of illegal firearms stored on the other side of this door." Elliot stated, making sure that the man known as Kaz could hear him, "Of course, given the fact that the man right here calls himself Kaz, which I can only assume is short for Kazuko, was knocking on the door that should be his, I'm assuming that the report was false and someone doesn't want him here and given that I've got you pointing your weapon at me, I can assume that the very same someone doesn't want me here. Am I right about that?"

As the officer spoke, he noticed that Vermilion was edging closer to Rudolf. If she was quick enough, she could grab the barrel of the rifle and move it up towards the ceiling before the first round could clear the barrel. She could then push on the barrel and hit the man in the face with the butt of his own rifle. That was a rather big if and there were too many things that could go wrong.

"That woman next to you is the contact that I was supposed to meet." Elliot stated loudly, causing the female hacker to back up and away from the man with the assault rifle, "Now that my introductions are done, how about we move on to Kaz here?"

Eyeing the woman that had identified herself as working for one of the Corps affected by recent events, namely CyCorp or H.A. Dynasty, Officer Aubergine wondered what her angle was. While he'd been counseled a number of times to stay out of the way of agents working on behalf of the Corps, this was the first time that Elliot had met one face to face and it was through this first encounter that he found himself irked by the woman's existence... or rather the existence of someone like her.

"As for you, Selene... that is your name, correct? If I'm hearing you right, you're telling me that you're here to apprehend a suspected terrorist responsible for the bombing of your London Headquarters... despite lacking legal authority to do so. I hope you're aware that if you do so, you could be charged with interfering with a police investigation, evidence tampering and attempted kidnapping."

The Officer appeared to be enjoying this standoff and resulting pissing match slightly. Anyone who looked close enough could see the blood pumping quickly through the man's veins in his neck. He was pumped up full of adrenaline and while some people might have used that rush to do something stupid, the Officer stood there calmly asking questions of the other people stuck in this situation with him.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

London 2056 | The Warehouse District | Post Neo Luddite Operations Base (Interior)
Fission Mailed
Viscus​

[hr]

So after aiding the very people he was sent to track down and kill, Viscus soon found himself on the receiving end of the business end of the Juggernaut's weaponry.
While the user didn't have the best aim in the world, considering the size of his guns and the amount he was trying, the lack of accuracy wasn't really a problem, as "CyCorp's Finest Agent" was quickly finding out.
He didn't really pay much attention to Ms Mercy, seeing how there was an entire battle mech currently shooting at him and that required his attention a bit more.
She was however able to see what the rumors were true, the Gray Death was in fact real and currently facing down a machine designed to take down entire buildings.
All those conversations with her co-workers about people getting dragged out of their homes and found mutilated days later, all the times her employers mentioned his legend, could the stories about his famous legend be true?

Of course not!

As she began to back away from the android, he was in the middle of trying to throw another bomb Aug at the mecha, a single volley from the war machine's mighty guns carved right though the Grey Death's arm.
His throwing arm.
Before he could throw the ticking augment at the mecha.
And Thus, just as quickly as the Augmented Nightmare entered Mercy's life, he left in a explosion of parts as several robotic parts rained down around them, namely his arms and legs.
His skull meanwhile comically bounced off the ground several times, a scorched metal skull with a almost surprised expression on his face coming to rest near Ms. Mercy, seeming to stare at her for a moment before the LED in his eye slowly died...

Spoiler: Character Inactive

Viscus isn't dead or leaving the RP, but I'm currently retooling the character as I'm not really satisfied with how he is interacting with the story or how I portrayed him.

The Grey Death will return, just not as you know him

 

[Knife-28]

"Alright, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not having any of it in my hotel. You take it away, far away, and don't ever come back. Or else this rifle's liable to become unfriendly..."

The business end of Rudolf's rifle made a welcome respite to the look Selene had shot Kazuko after he greeted her. While having any sort of weapon pointed at you was intimidating, Kaz had seen this song and dance before, being long familiar with Rudolf's antics. As Selene and the other man who had come with the officer (and it was 'the officer', how Kaz had missed the fact that he was a copper was beyond him at the moment) tried to, unsuccessfully, talk to Rudolf and resolve the whole 'having a gun pointed at them situation', slowly reached into his back pocket to grab his wallet, only to pause when the other man dropped the surprisingly simple question, "What are the rest of you doing here?"

"That was before I got a call to investigate one of your guests here. A man by the name of Kazuko Wright. It's been reported that he's got a stash of illegal firearms stored on the other side of this door."

That revelation caused Kaz to stiffen in fear. Who had told him that, and more importantly, who knew Kaz would be here and would try to set him up?

"Of course, given the fact that the man right here calls himself Kaz, which I can only assume is short for Kazuko, was knocking on the door that should be his, I'm assuming that the report was false and someone doesn't want him here and given that I've got you pointing your weapon at me, I can assume that the very same someone doesn't want me here. Am I right about that?"

Kaz exhaled, relaxing slightly at the fact he wasn't in quite as much immediate danger, and pulled out a handful of bills as the officer tried to get into a dick waving contest over what laws Selene was breaking. Ignoring him, Kaz stepped towards Rudolf, cash first and eyes forward (apart from the brief glance to the women who had been inching towards the Armenian just before).

"Rudolf, I know we'd be able to work this out much easier if it wasn't at gunpoint, so here." Kaz waved the notes towards him, and tried to keep his gaze from drifting to his AK, "Think you can turn the blind eye for the moment?"

Of course, should that fail Kaz was acutely aware of the weight of the stun baton resting inside the pocket of his jacket. If worse came to worse, he was close enough now that it would be trivial to knock away the rifle for long enough to knock the 180 pound innkeeper on his ass.