Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Solos =&gt; Topic started by: BlackStone on 25-03-2016, 08:59:08</h2>
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				Title: <strong>Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>25-03-2016, 08:59:08</strong>
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				It's the new era of enhanced beings and the evil in the world seems to be on the brink on overwhelming the good. The Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, all are too busy saving the nation or the world from villains who seek to dominate or destroy.<br><br>Lost and cast away to the wayside are the average people that have to put up with petty and violent crime on a day to day basis. The shopkeepers, the teachers, even the children on the streets more often then not live in constant fear that their lives could be taken at any moment. The Mob is on the rise and organized crime is making more and more use of super villains looking to make a name for themselves and put money in their pocket.<br><br>The police are overwhelmed and there seems to be little they can do to control things and protect the innocent. Thrust into the middle of this endless conflict are several lost souls, who more by circumstance then design, will learn the true meaning behind the words character, sacrifice, hardship, and heroism.<br><br>Deep down south in New Orleans players are coming together and the Big Easy will never be the same.&nbsp; A new faction of power is looking to make a play for power, and they are playing for keeps.&nbsp; &nbsp;Whispered on the lips of gangs to two bit thugs is the name "Dynasty"&nbsp; and nothing more as they clam up and piss their pants.<br><br>The police and other traditional forms of crime prevention will fail, and the only thing protecting the good citizens of New Orleans from the sea of violence and corruption are uncertain heroes, serving as the Final Watch over the city's innocent.<br><br>Welcome to Final Watch: The Dynasty
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>25-03-2016, 09:02:19</strong>
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				<span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="bbc_size"><em><strong>Location: Ellis Hall, Main Lecture Room</strong></em></span><br><br>Will was surprised that the lecture hall was as packed as it was.&nbsp; The seminar was originally opened to post graduate majors in criminology as part of the Pro-Seminar on Criminal Justice.&nbsp; Normally open lectures for this course held the grad students enrolled in the program but tonight was different for tonight Professor Don Greer had invited the commander of the newly appointed Special Operations and Crimes division in the New Orleans Police Department, or the so called "Cape Cops" for while it had not been directly stated, word everywhere in the Criminology Department was that Special Operations mandate was to deal with the enhanced criminal element, and was a program fashioned after other such units in New York and Los Angeles.&nbsp; &nbsp;Atlanta and New Orleans were the first cities in the South in an effort to help influence and prevent enhanced powered related crimes instead of merely reacting to them.<br><br>While this a mandatory course for his major, Will was here for another reason.&nbsp; In his other life, as he now called it, in the days when he was a member of the Free Corps as the Crystal Warrior he really did not need to worry too much about police response times and procedures.&nbsp; The type of threats he faced were the type that threatened the world and despite the world's reaction to mutants, his actions were well received.&nbsp; That all ended when he lost his powers and took up the advanced urban operations and combat system.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Not that he stuck with that name.&nbsp; Not like all would be heroes he gave himself his own name that managed to stick out there in the streets.&nbsp; Strike Eagle.<br><br>Since he was now operating in near full time vigilante mode, Will actually had a need to know a lot more about the NOPD and how they operate, especially given the rumors that there was an arrest warrant for Strike Eagle.&nbsp; This was an invaluable piece of intelligence gathering by getting a chance to listen to the head cop of the new Special Operations Division and to pick her brain with questions.&nbsp; Will merely needed to be sure to ask the right questions that would not cast a spot light upon him as a "person of interest."&nbsp; One did not get appointed to the position by being bad at their job so Will needed to be on his guard when he asked questions.&nbsp; Will settled in his seat and waited for the things to start off.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>25-03-2016, 16:48:10</strong>
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				Initially, the lecture was meant to have just one theater for attendance. It was intended for just graduates and a few interested parties. However, due to popular demand Hall had opened other lecture rooms and projected a live feed of the main theater to create a video-lecture across several different areas. The 200 person event had now ballooned to a near 1000 person event across the various locations. Even then students and guests alike had to find space on the stairs or bunched up at the doorway to gain entrance to the event. When one though about it, it did make sense for it to be so busy. The NOPD was now the leading city in enhanced criminal elimination and many folk wanted to know how. With the decline in popularity of super humans or enhanced humans came the tricky issue of dealing with enhanced criminal beings without resorting to the vigilantes the country had only recently begun distancing itself from. Some saw it as the little man making a stand for himself against the big bad super-man. Others saw it as the arms race between technology and evolution. To Alexis Taylor, it was just another day on the job.<br><br>There were only two types of people who would attend a Pro-Seminar about Criminal Justice on vigilantism: for good, or for bad. Alexis Taylor gazed out over the crowd of attendees in the auditorium from the relative privacy of the screen cameras. Many of them were the fresh faces of graduate students passing through law and criminal justice, but a fair scatter were older and not of the educational ilk. She had learned from events like this in the past, it was good to scan your audience and note down anyone unusual... anyone out of the ordinary. Often times, these were the spies of the underworld come to seek out the secrets of the new force. It had happened before when she was Lieutenant for the Organized Crime division's lecture. Several shady characters masquerading as press members had come to the event and asked many specific questions of the then Captain. Shortly after that the mob came up with counter-measures which all but negated the NOPD's hard work. The captain had been moved to administration, and Alexis promoted in his place.<br><br>Mentally she had marked down certain individuals to be wary of in the audience, passing the note on to her own young operatives hidden among the audience. Young or young-looking members of her squad were dispersed among the crowd in each room, if only to gauge the public's reaction to the new project. She would also gain a good idea of who asked what questions and whether or not they were worth considering for incorporation. The police force were always looking for new recruits, and not all of them applied via the front door. Some like Alexis were actually recruited MIB style: on the street, word of mouth, call the number on the card sort of way.<br><br>With a nod of all clear, Alexis made her way to the podium to polite applause. The lecture began with a brief explanation of the current situation of crime in the country. She explained how vigilantism left the normal populous complacent and weaker by comparison. More and more crimes were performed by minor villains and ordinary criminals, leaving vigilantes stretched out. The government itself might be accused of being afraid of vigilantes, but Alexis frankly wished the city to be self sufficient in terms of police force and preventing crime on a local level. This included the new Enhanced Criminal Element Division, which she would be captaining. It would involve specific elements to counter known vigilantes and villains usable by humans. A big list of known vigilantes appeared on the screen. Among them was a artist's impression of 'Strike Eagle'.<br><br>"Now these individuals are known to be operating outside the juristiction of local authority. This does not immediately brand them as criminals, but we do need to be aware of their activities should they turn out to be operating illegitimately for illegal gains." She smiled over the audience, scanning for reaction. "Imagine a child being absent from school. We wish to know why they were absent before punishment or acceptance is given. Any questions?"<br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>28-03-2016, 02:09:45</strong>
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				There was something about a good looking woman in business professional that really did it for Will.&nbsp; He could not explain it and it was why perhaps for the first ten minutes or so of Captain Alexis Talyor speaking that Will did not even hear a word of it.&nbsp; &nbsp; It was a good thing he had Athena on his smart phone recording it or he would have made a damned fool of himself.&nbsp; &nbsp;Still even as Athena gave a transcript of the Captain's talk, his eyes would come right back to admire her standing there.&nbsp; &nbsp;He had to shift in his seat and think about dead puppies and cold showers or he was about to royally embarrass himself when he stood up to ask his question.<br><br>Will was pretty good at reading people.&nbsp; She was a woman of action and wanted to be in the thick of things.&nbsp; &nbsp;That was good to know which meant if she ever did come after the Strike Eagle, she would be apart of the operation in some form, so keeping tabs on her would give him a bit of an edge if he could stay one step ahead of her.&nbsp; &nbsp; She also looked like a woman that would do whatever it took to get the mission done.&nbsp; &nbsp;It meant Will had to be more careful.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was likely that part of this new program initiative that the NOPD was going to get drones for recon, and with enough date they could pin down common points of origin.&nbsp; &nbsp;He did not need to let them get to that point.&nbsp; He needed to talk that over with Athena, see if there was anything that could be done about that.<br><br>It was already bad enough that Gene was building another version of his combat armor for the Police.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was more to protect the police with options to be able to counter the low level enhanced threats the criminal element liked to use.&nbsp; &nbsp;Criminal Organizations that lost positions in New York to people like Wilson Fisk and others where relocating to the south and setting up shop.&nbsp; &nbsp;New Orleans, being a port city, was a ripe place for them to flower and grow.&nbsp; &nbsp; Because of that, the police did need a means to deal with what might pop up.&nbsp; It did not mean that Will had to like it, putting into NOPD hands the means to take him down and arrest him.&nbsp; &nbsp;He had to find a way to delay development till he could get on their good side.&nbsp; &nbsp;Some how.<br><br>That was for later.&nbsp; &nbsp;Part of his reason here was to ask the Captain questions and take a measure of her.&nbsp; &nbsp;He was pretty sure he had a good measure of her, and asking her other questions was a good way to put himself at risk, but he could not help himself.&nbsp; &nbsp;He wanted to hear her speak again and the only way he knew how was to speak up and ask her a question.&nbsp; &nbsp;So Will gave himself a subtle adjustment and hoped that no on noticed, cursing himself for having equipment that made most women's mouth water but right now was a damned huge inconvenience.&nbsp; &nbsp;All he could do was hope for the best.<br><br><strong>"Captain Taylor.&nbsp; I first want to thank you for coming out here tonight.&nbsp; To have someone of your record speak to us here is a huge motivation to follow in your footsteps.&nbsp; &nbsp;I do have questions about jurisdiction.&nbsp; Many of the organized crime outfits these days are modeled after the terrorist cell model and operate in that fashion, even her in New Orleans by my thesis research.&nbsp; &nbsp;So terrorism is in the ball park of Homeland Security and SHIELD.&nbsp; Till your organization came about, enhanced criminals was purely in SHIELD's purview.&nbsp; &nbsp;Organized crime is handled local by major crimes and also by the FBI.&nbsp; &nbsp;So what happens when all of you come to a head when these organized crime families working like a terrorist cell using enhance powered muscle come onto the scene?&nbsp; &nbsp;How is all this going to work?&nbsp; Who will have responsibility, or will their be the usual organizational pissing matches?" </strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Never be it said that Will backed down from a challenge and he was not going to feed her softball questions like others.&nbsp; &nbsp;He was here for information and to know how she would handle a situation like that would let him know how best to use Strike Eagle in that scenario, and how to keep himself out of handcuffs.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>28-03-2016, 21:41:55</strong>
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				Despite being a Captain, Alexis was still most at home on the front line with the thrill of the hunt running through her veins. Her promotion to Captain had been hasty and last minute and her mindset was still of an active on-duty officer. She never took after her predacessor, and it showed in everything that she did, and didn't do. While she was grateful for the pay hike, she disdained the ornate desk and stuffy office at the NOPD Precinct, preferring to continue her patrols alongside her partner Jace, her rotund jolly sergeant. Her fellow captains had warned her against keeping a partner, as it risked showing favoritism. Alexis told them where to shove it, with the safety off. She never minced her words, and found the 'diplomatic role' that the Captain often played very boring and condescending. Any interviews she had with new Captain's contacts were conducted with the air of the interrogation room. That wasn't to say it was all bad. Being captain attached to the Special Operations and Crimes division in the New Orleans Police allowed her greater freedom of choice for patrols, access to evidence, and open space to have runs at criminals previously protected by red tape. <br><br>Coming to do the lecture had actually been Jace's idea. Alexis would have otherwise gone to the armory to re-aquaint herself with her arsonal. However, she had to 'mix with the people' as he put it. Like it or not, her face was likely to be popping up on various news papers for better or worse. It didn't do any harm to pre-preemptively appear in public positively. It would show everyone her human side...and then she could go back to being Terminator on the beat. For the new initiative department, having public backing would be vital or securing funding for its first couple of years. Then it could do whatever it wanted once it has proven itself effective.<br><br>The business suit had also been Jace's plan. Jace had previously been to Alexis's apartment and seen her sparse wardrobe. The already small closet only contained functional ordinary clothes and one or two dresses collecting mothball dust. The day before the lecture, Jace had virtually frog-marched Alexis to one of the Top Shop tailors and had a custom suit made for her. It was quite a sleek little number, providing both an imposing and intellectual appear. It spoke of serious power, and the gall to use it. It also happened to accentuate Alexis's curves. Couple that with Alexis's usual strong heels, and the new Captain looked a damn fine sight. At least it took some attention of what she was saying. All the better to analyse people's response to her lecture. Speaking of...<br><br><strong>"Captain Taylor.&nbsp; I first want to thank you for coming out here tonight.&nbsp; To have someone of your record speak to us here is a huge motivation to follow in your footsteps.&nbsp; &nbsp;I do have questions about jurisdiction.&nbsp; Many of the organized crime outfits these days are modeled after the terrorist cell model and operate in that fashion, even her in New Orleans by my thesis research.&nbsp; &nbsp;So terrorism is in the ball park of Homeland Security and SHIELD.&nbsp; Till your organization came about, enhanced criminals was purely in SHIELD's purview.&nbsp; &nbsp;Organized crime is handled local by major crimes and also by the FBI.&nbsp; &nbsp;So what happens when all of you come to a head when these organized crime families working like a terrorist cell using enhance powered muscle come onto the scene?&nbsp; &nbsp;How is all this going to work?&nbsp; Who will have responsibility, or will their be the usual organizational pissing matches?" </strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>While the audience member had been talking, she had been watching him back and mentally analysing what he said. <em>Open thanks. Recognition of previous record. Access to media or actual files? Juristiction - Political interst? Public activist interest? Law academic interest? Thesis statement...student - graduate by age. Terrorism vs mob territories - Enhanced element involvement. Multiple Agency involvement - a question of power. Who holds the strings?</em> So...a graduate student with a thesis on Organized Crime and Terrorism, had correctly identified the potential problem of three clashing authorities: Local Police, Shield, and FBI/CIA. Quite an intelligent question. It deserved an intelligent answer. She did however make a mental note to find out how he knew of her record and what made it so impressive to him.<br><br>"Thank you for your question Mr...Stuart? Thank you, indeed. Yes, there have been many clashes in the past between local, regional, national, and even international law enforcement groups. You are correct to say that in the past local authorities dealt with day-to-day, the FBI sorted out Mob issues, while terrorism is dealt with by Homeland and SHIELD. The addition of Enhanced element will not change this hierarchy, but rather add one more layer which will draw from each area." Alexis brought up a slide representing each area in question. "If any of the authorities identifies the possibility of an enhanced individual, then the Enhanced Criminal Division will be notified. Because of the potential dangers of even a single enhanced criminal, each will supply resources and information depending on the scale of Enhanced involvement."<br><br>Alexis came out from behind the podium, pacing the front of the lecture theater. "With all respect to the other areas of law enforcement, they have not the experience of dealing with Enhanced elements. Nor seen the carnage that a rogue one can cause. All the planning of the FBI can not predict or contain the random abilities that may be yet undiscovered in our enhanced members of the public." she glanced at her wrist watch, "It's nearly time for our lecture to finish, but if anyone wishes to ask any further question please feel free to stay behind."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>31-03-2016, 05:12:32</strong>
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				One of the first things that Will noticed was Alexis posture and height.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was not out of the ordinary tall, but if she were to be wearing heals she would be taller than the average male, and put her right at Will's height which was barely over six feet tall.&nbsp; Her posture also marked her out as a woman of action.&nbsp; Yes she might be dressed in professional, business like attire at the moment, but that was merely gloss, dressing, like trying to cloth a lion in sheep's wool.&nbsp; No, this woman was a soldier, and had to be at the thick of the action.&nbsp; She was no administrator pushing paper behind a desk.&nbsp; When she came after Will, and Will did not delude himself into thinking that she would not, she was going to be relentless and formidable. <br><br>The other thing that Will noticed about her was the intensity of Alexis' graze as it locked with his.&nbsp; She was studying and assessing him.&nbsp; Will realized then it was perhaps a mistake to have asked the question.&nbsp; All it did was mark him out.&nbsp; &nbsp;He could feel her categorizing him in her mind.&nbsp; It intimidated the hell out of Will for several moments.&nbsp; It would be laughable to think one that was a fit as Will was would feel intimidated, but it did.&nbsp; From sheer looks Will could have stood side by side Steve Rogers and a person not to see much of a difference between the two, but then again, most normal people had not been on the receiving end of an enhanced being determined to get what they want.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will had, and it was not something he wanted to repeat, to feel that powerless, and that was what he felt at for a few moments, powerless.&nbsp; Since that time being close in any way with a woman of that confidence and command aura made Will very uncomfortable and itching to be inside his armor.<br><br>Because of that reaction, Will's response to Alexis' answer was far from crisp and as polished as the question that he had sent to her, and any thought of a follow up question was lost in his mind/&nbsp; Will stood there for a few seconds his mouth opening and closing and stammering like a fool.&nbsp; &nbsp;If he was aiming not to be someone for her to take notice of before he had asked his question, then Will surely failed in that regard in a spectacular fashion now.&nbsp; &nbsp;Still perhaps she might forget about the stammering idiot than the polished and collected grad student, and write him off as someone to take notice about.&nbsp; It was perhaps a slim hope, but it was all Will had to go on at the moment.<br><br><strong>"Um well ah,&nbsp; Gee I will say that..that is good news for us that live here in New Orleans.&nbsp; &nbsp;I mean that is if we get the petty thugs.&nbsp; &nbsp;I would imagine that some heavy hitter that could level cities would be a huge downer on things right?&nbsp; Um&nbsp; thanks for the answer and your time sir...I mean Ma'am ah hell I mean Captain, thanks."</strong>&nbsp; With that Will did his best not to blush like some kid whose voice just changed and attempted to move to sit back down.&nbsp; He remained there, not even taking notes, till the lecture ended.&nbsp; He originally had thought about staying behind, but that was out of the question now.&nbsp; He also knew that booking it out of there as fast as he could would focus attention on him.&nbsp; Will had to play it cool and do his best to fade into the crowd of students and other interested parties again.<br><br>To that end, Will took out his phone and messaged Athena over their encrypted link.&nbsp; <strong><em>Need a quick way out of here.&nbsp; Also need to know if I am being shadowed.&nbsp; Call me if I am.</em></strong>&nbsp; Will took his time typing out the message, doing his best to look like he was in any rush or hurry.&nbsp; He then opened a few apps on his phone, as if he was checking social media or some of the mindless game apps that were out there.&nbsp; He did so for a few minutes as people that wanted to meet and greet Alexis did so.&nbsp; When Will felt like he had waited long enough, he picked up his back pack, put his phone in the Otter Box cradle at his belt, and made his way out of the lecture hall.<br><br>As the crowd started to thin, and Alexis had done the last of her meet and greet with people that wanted to do so, Professor Don Greer, the Professor that had set up tonight's lecture and an old colleague of Alexis stepped forward with a warm smile.&nbsp; <strong>"You were great out there Alexis, and once again thank you for doing this.&nbsp; Since more than one of my students are likely to enroll in NOPD after they graduate, I can let you know who I think would be good candidates that would be worth a closer look.&nbsp; I have more than one that would make even a man from our mutual past chomp at the bit to get a crack at them, or was there someone here already that had perked your interest?"</strong><br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>31-03-2016, 22:44:40</strong>
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				Alexis smiled and gave an awkward bow. "Er...well thanks Don. I have to say I don't do lectures very much. Even when I was a kid I mainly slept through university." She packed away her lecture materials and stored her books in a small leather bag. "Hmm...I really would appreciate your input regarding candidates of note. I'd think though that because we're from different backgrounds, trying to find a middle ground might be a bit unfair on some students who hasn't yet blossomed in our of our areas. As I was talking I didn't get a full chance to view everyone, especially in the other lecture theaters. However..." She picked up her radio and spoke into it, "Jace...Jace you there?" The professor looked concerned for a moment, but Alexis simply rolled her eyes. "Give me a moment Don, I'll be back in a second...."<br><br>Alexis ascended the lecture room steps to the camera room. Upon opening the door, she found her lieutenant snoring uproariously, leaning back in the observers chair. Trying to stifle a grin, Alexis hooked her foot under one of the legs of the chair, pulling it out sharply from under Jace's fat bulk. With a dismayed snort and loud thump, Jace landed sprawling on the floor. "Huh...eh...Chocolate and Oranges!!...Wha?..." Alexis prodded his big belly, "Come on roley-poley. Don't tell me you fell asleep when I was talking! Professor Don wants your opinion on who's interesting in the audience. You better have taken some notes and not just had a nap!"<br><br>Without missing a beat, Jace rolled to his feet and pulled a small pad out from his inside coat pocket in one swift movement. Emerging from the observation room, he huffed and puffed down the stairs to the Professor, pretending to have been busy. "Yes yes!...I've had a look through all of the attendees. I could see where they were interested and where they had potential. I made little notes about what where they were sitting and who was interesting." He handed the little pad over to the Professor. "Take a look and see if any of our interesting people align with your assessment Don. Then if we're lucky we might have a few candidates worthy of joining the NOPD crew!"<br><br>********<br><br>With the Professor gone, presumably to mark some papers or read a thesis, Alexis and Jace walked slowly down the Hall corridors back towards their cop car. Alexis was being particular quiet, something Jace picked up on instantly. "Come on then, 'Lex, Spit it out! You saw something interesting didn't you?" Alexis nodded. There were several people of interest in the audience she had to keep track of...the pair of men in the back wearing sunglasses and black suits - Too obvious, but needed following up anyway. The young mother in the third row with a baby's cradle, yet didn't carry any milk, nappies, or powder - Clearly there was no baby in the cradle...but what was in it then? The young man in the fourth row from the back, dressed perfectly fine by university standards, but wearing a family ring - Some of the old mob families had rings. Alexis's eyes narrowed only slightly, a movement caught only by the most observant. That...graduate. "'Sir...Ma'am...and Captain'. Usually students' first automatic pronoun would have been 'Prof'." she mused. The fact that the mysterious man was so keen on information yet didn't take a single note during the second half of the lecture was a bit strange.<br><br>In a few words, she relayed her thoughts to Jace, who listened in silence. "And what are you going to do about them? Everyone left a while ago. Even if we wanted to track them they already have a big head start on us." Alexis smiled, "Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Jace. Remember we put officers in the audience. I told them who to follow...hopefully they'll stick by them, disguised as transfer students. When they reach home, the pursuing officers will break off, but mark the location for further surveillance."<br><br>Already there seemed to be many interested parties that risked showing their hands. At least four different group had made appearances. The worst thing, was that they might not be bad groups. The men in sunglasses and suits could have easily been two prankster students posing as agents. OR they could have been actual agents from the FBI or CIA, or any random agency. The ring on the young sportsman could easily be one of those award rings for a sports achievement. The lady with the empty cradle could easily be a spy for any organization...or just a young student studying family studies.<br><br>"Are you over thinking things again?" Jace asked, butting into her thoughts. He followed up by thrusting a hot-dog under her nose. They had driven the entire way back to the precinct in silence, and Jace had only just gotten something from the nearby food-stall. "You've been 48 hours on the job, and already you're ticking over about this. Nothing's change about the city! Just the same superhero antics and little man scrambles!" Alexis sighed in exasperation, "That's the problem, Jace. Everything's the same. In all the other cities they've had a virtual Enhanced Hero/Villain revolution, with everything kicked into overdrive. That hasn't happened here yet. When it does, I want to be ready."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>06-04-2016, 05:34:11</strong>
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				Will did his best to look like a normal grad student heading back home.&nbsp; He made his way to where he had his cycle parked.&nbsp; Say what people wanted about the Big Easy, or the South in general, the nice thing about it was that the weather allowed a man to ride a motorcycle near all year round.&nbsp; Of course August could be like a test that they did to the old Spartan soldiers to endure, with how hot and humid it was.&nbsp; With New Orleans being near a swamp in the first place, humid was far from an understatement.&nbsp; Will almost did not put on his leather jacket as unlike the Strike Eagle, it was not environmentally controlled.&nbsp; Still, Will's skin was not resistant to injury, not anymore, and he liked the idea of road rash or worse from an accident.<br><br>Will detached his motorcycle helmet from his backpack.&nbsp; Will did not let the helmet from his sight as on the outside the helmet might look normal, on the inside was a very basic HUD.&nbsp; It was not as advanced or connected as the Strike Eagle armor, but it worked for when Will needed to get about the city out of the armor.&nbsp; Will put it on and activated the communication suite to Athena as he did.&nbsp; Will then climbed into his motorcycle, a black Kawasaki 1000 ABS Ninja.&nbsp; it was a bike on the bit high end scale, but not so much so as to stand out as living beyond his means.&nbsp; Gene paid him a good salary as head of security for his research site, and since Will did technically steal the Strike Eagle armor the first time around and he thought pushing for a higher salary would be pushing it.&nbsp; Still, Will looked longingly times at the Ducati XDiavel.&nbsp; It would had been a nice and sweet ride.<br><br>Will pulled away from the student parking lot and pulled out into the street and started to weave his way through traffic.&nbsp; As Will pulled into the major streets, he spoke to Athena.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Okay Athena, highlight for me quickest route.&nbsp; Also make use of the traffic cameras to see if I am being tailed."</em></strong>&nbsp; There was a pause before a woman's voice responded in a matter of fact tone of voice with a slight British accent to it.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Understood.&nbsp; Shall I hack into the police department database and run license plates against undercover vehicles?"</em></strong>&nbsp; Will paused as he thought about the question for a moment.&nbsp; He shook his head and then swore slightly, forgetting again that Athena could not see him unless she had a camera on him.&nbsp; <strong><em>"No, as you said as of late their cyber security has increased, and while I have every faith in your abilities, it might alert them and I do not want to play that card unless it is necessary.&nbsp; Nothing would scream that "Strike Eagle" was there if they knew they were hacked right after their Captain finished giving a lecture."</em></strong><br><br>If an artificial intelligence could sniff, Will was fairly certain that Athena was doing an electronic version of that given the slight change in her tone.&nbsp; <strong><em>"As if I would get caught, but as you wish Sir.&nbsp; Route highlighted and I am in the city's traffic camera network.&nbsp; Monitoring now."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will gunned the throttle a bit and weaved his way through traffic.&nbsp; He was not reckless about it, but he did do his best to mimic the driving habits of any other late twenties something man, driving about five to seven miles over the speed limit.&nbsp; Traffic was light given the time of night, so it was only about seven or so minutes back to his place.&nbsp; As he did, Athena sounded again in his ear.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Dark blue Ford Taurus has followed you for the last seven traffic lights.&nbsp; It is a possible tail.&nbsp; I will continue to monitor through the security camera's installed about your apartment."</em></strong>&nbsp; <br><br>Will grunted.&nbsp; Well it looks like he was staying home tonight.&nbsp; It was not bad thing, but to be honest, Will rather be patrolling the streets of the Big Easy than doing his school work.&nbsp; He still needed to maintain his schoolwork and Athena stated more than once she drew the line at transcribing and writing his papers.&nbsp; He had functional fingers, he could type his own papers.&nbsp; Still, at least she did research for him which was a time saver and allowed him to stay on top of his work.&nbsp; He had a couple of case studies due he could knock out.&nbsp; If the police were going to watch him tonight, he could make it boring as hell for them.&nbsp; <strong><em>"So its a date for us tonight and research, Athena.&nbsp; Call in take out for me please, I am thinking Chinese.&nbsp; I have not had it in a while.&nbsp; I will be up in about five minutes."</em></strong> Will pulled into his assigned slot at the complex's parking lot.&nbsp; He activated his bike's security features, and headed upstairs, steeling himself to a rather boring night.<br><br><hr><br>Elsewhere, everything was normal, as normal as night it could be for New Orleans, back at Alexis' police precinct.&nbsp; With the stand up of the Special Operations Division, there was a large shake up in some of the police infrastructure and both Special Operations and Major Crimes too the Second Police Precinct off of Martin Luther King Blvd and close to the the port, where the brass in the police department thought that the majority of the Special Operations work would be.&nbsp; As Alexis walked by, the watch sergeant looked up and gave he a welcoming smile.&nbsp; <strong>"Evening to you Captain.&nbsp; How was the lecture?&nbsp; Also if I had not mentioned it, that outfit is might sharp on you.&nbsp; All is quiet here tonight for a hot August night here in the Big Easy."</strong><br><br>The watch sergeant pointed to the situation board that dominated the open concept layout of the main room, the set up like many military command centers, and everything that was going on as far as incidents to active operations was up on a overview of the map of New Orleans and its surrounding areas.&nbsp; There was not too much up on the big eye in the sky right now.&nbsp; <strong>"Some D and D's in the French Quarter, but when is there an night that their aren't drunks and ass hats on Bourbon Street?&nbsp; The 5th has extra foot officers out there tonight to take care of it.&nbsp; Only other thing going on tonight is that tip at the warehouse at Constance and Lafayette.&nbsp; Major crimes took that from us, but they have been nice and kept us in the loop.&nbsp; They have a standard search team to search the property here in the next hour."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>07-04-2016, 18:02:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It turned out Athena was entirely correct in her deductions. Only a few minute after Will had pulled up and parked, the dark Ford Taurus eased slowly into the parking lot of the 7-11 across the street. Athena watched it through the security cameras, but no one stepped out of the car, and the windows were tinted to prevent any curious eyes from seeing in. Eventually, the Ford revved into life and left the lot, heading off back into the city. Athena tried to track it to it's destination, but it finally entered a large underground parking lot, and there was no camera coverage inside to reveal who the driver was. Inside the car park, a young lady stepped out of the car carrying a bag of books and a laptop. She ascended the stairs to her apartment before pressing the radio on her ear. "Watcher? It's Jenny here. I follow them to an apartment, marked the position on the map. I didn't want make anyone suspicious, so I stopped at the 7-11 across the road. Should I return tomorrow to shadow?.......Yes, sir, as you command."<br><br><hr><br>Alexis and Jace strolled into the precinct later that night. Jace tipped a lazy wink at the watch sergeant, "I fell asleep during the lecture, so it was quality lullaby material!" he said, earning a evil eye from Alexis. "and our Captain would look sharp in anything. Even a Kevlar Vest and pop-shooter!" he said, earning an eyeroll as Alexis turned and marched through the metal detector, the lights and beeps going off as expected. Clearly the kevlar vest and gun remark was referring to the gloriously unsuccessful single issue of 'Packing Heat' magazine...the failed NOPD publication from a number of years ago that had a much younger Alexis posing in a very <em>Charlie's Angels</em> way in full Swat uniform. The entire project was an abject failure, trashed by all readers for every article. It's only saving grace was Alexis's photo-shoot, which some critics cited as a beautiful display of brains, brawn, and beauty. Since then, Jace had never let Alexis live the moment down.<br><br><div class="floatright">(http://www.predpol.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/AP-story-predpol.jpg)</div>The open layout of the precinct was a new trial setup, intended to improve cooperation and ease of communication between the various departments. All officers sat in the main compound with their computers arranged by seniority and division. Huge monitors covered two of the four walls with live updating feeds of cameras, arrest warrents, crime hotspots...everything that an officer of NOPD could hope for. Greater details could be pulled up on individual computers connected into the database. All around the main computer area were rooms devoted to the necessary facilities for a primary precinct: Evidence, Interrogation, Holding Cells, Design and Technology, Morgue and Autopsy. Deep below the ground were more large areas for the armory and shooting range, as well as filing and storage. Everyone had hailed the new blueprints as revolutionary, and it seemed to be working out well so far.<br><br>Alexis liked the layout too, but for a different reason. As a beat-cop, she knew the value of strategic positioning during any firefight. In recent times, attacks on the police stations had been on the rise with many police casualties. Looking through the reports, Alexis believed that many of the deaths could have been avoided with the right structural layouts. Here, the NOPD had made some progress in that direction. The captain's office was on the far side of the compound away from the main doors. It and all other important rooms had full floor to ceiling tinted bullet proof windows. From her seat, Alexis could easily see all the updating displays, as well as all the entrances to the precinct. The stairs to the lower levels were also near the rear of the building. Should they be attacked, any assailant would be facing several levels of police officers, who could easily duck down to the armory and return with heavy ordinance if needed. The new Enhanced Criminal element had brought with it additional funding, and more improvements to the building itself to protect against any super villains. While the building could be flattened in an instant by one of the famous heavy hitters, it stood up well against minor threats.<br><br>Two things it didn't protect Alexis against however....were bureaucracy and politics. The endless, mind-numbing boring paperwork and typesetting that accompanied higher paid jobs were the bane of Alexis's life. And the constant lobbying of various interest groups was something she could have done without. Alexis shut the door to her office and locked it from the inside. Shrugging off the business suit jacket, she hung it up on the coat-stand and unbuttoned the first few buttons on her shirt. God these 'smart dress' affairs were stuffy. Sitting herself down at the desk, she gazed with mild disgust at the huge pile of files and documents to be read and signed. She leafed through the first few in a half-hearted attempt to tackle the pile.<br><br>'Centenary Celebration of the Illustrious Name of the House of Jiles requires your presen-' Alexis ripped that one up quickly and put it in the shredder. 'New Captain Protocol - requirement to provide detailed quarterly reports of Officer's working hours and patrol rou-' Shredder. 'Interest group request: New social group 'Dugouts for Dogs' demands a quarter of New Orleans City Park be cordoned off and dedicated purely to the activity of baseball with pets and pet owners on Mondays, Tues-' Shredder. Half an hour later, Alexis was almost asleep at her desk, and only a small dent had been made in the pile. Giving in to the temptation of delegation, she dialed her trusty savvy Lieutenant. "Jace...get up here and burn all this paperwork for me. That or take it somewhere and file it under 'Never open again!" Alexis shoved the whole pile into a large trolley and set it outside for Jace to collect. It had become a tradition for them, that Jace would shoulder the majority of the boring paperwork, and in return, would get to play a greater role in managing the precinct for a higher pay grade. It was a good trade, since Jace had a family with two kids to support, and had far superior patience than Alexis when it came to bureaucracy and politics.<br><br>With the paperwork out of the way, Lucy closed and locked the door one more time, bringing up her own large monitors. The tiredness and boredom vanished as she brought up a set of profiles recently sent in by the surrounding cities and regions. Profiles of all the known Enhanced elements criminal, vigilante, and rogue. Buckling down, she sifted through the information, commiting many to memory. One particular profile caught her eye...Strike Eagle. Curious, she opened the file and dove into it.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>10-04-2016, 04:41:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				As Will settled down to do the think he really hated the most about school, research, he had Athena keep tabs on the vehicle they suspected was the tail.&nbsp; The only think that they could really report back is the large order of Chinese food that he ordered.&nbsp; In reality it was dinner and lunch for the next two days.&nbsp; Go big or go home was Will's philosophy when it came to Chinese take out.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will took the order after tipping the driver and headed back inside his apartment.&nbsp; While Will did not purposefully hide from any possible surveillance, he also did not make it too damned obvious that he was letting them look at him.&nbsp; It would kind of clue the tail that you were on to him if you waved at them while they had you under watch.&nbsp; Will started to dig into first his egg rolls and steamed dumplings as he started to pull up research for his paper.&nbsp; As he did, he had a moment of inspiration.<br><br><strong>"Athena, we might not be able to dig into their unmarked or undercover vehicle database, but as they say down here in the Deep South, there be more than one way to grease this pig.&nbsp; As I am pulling up stale and boring references for my papers, monitor the police bands.&nbsp; It should not be too difficult for you to crack their encryption.&nbsp; Lets keep an ear out and see if anyone reports in about us, or if there is anything out there that might require Strike Eagle to be out and about."</strong>&nbsp; There was a brief pause before there was a response.&nbsp; <strong><em>"As you wish, Sir."</em></strong>&nbsp; With that, Will set in for a night.<br><hr><br>As Alexis settled into her office with the offensive administrative and junk paperwork normally tied to such a position as she held now gone off her plate by her partner, she could focus on the known enhanced operatives in the New Orleans area.&nbsp; The list was small, as despite being one of the largest cities in the south there had not been a large enhanced presence.&nbsp; The most notable and famous was the second hero to call herself Captain Marvel, and now was using the code name Spectrum.&nbsp; Added as additional information to her file were her enemies that had battled her in New Orleans, male enhanced by the name of Blackbolt, and his partner at the time the villain known as Moonstone.&nbsp; Blackbolt was listed as deceased, yet with some of these enhanced beings, that did not mean much, though in this case he had not been heard from in several years now.&nbsp; Moonstone was still active and actively using that alias again.&nbsp; She was listed as affiliated with the team called the Thunderbolts, which normally operated as heroes, but with the significant criminal record of Doctor Karla Sofen, it was perhaps prudent to keep eyes upon her if she ever returned to the area.<br><br>The next file up was the one she wanted to spend time upon.&nbsp; Strike Eagle, a vigilante that had been operating for several months now in the New Orleans area.&nbsp; There were very few pictures of him, as whoever was behind the armor was skilled at avoiding getting his picture taken.&nbsp; From the photos and eyewitness reports from both civilians and police officers, the subject wore some form of combat armor, not as advanced as Tony Stark's Iron Man armor, but it did give the subject a significant edge in hand to hand combat, and protection against most street fire arms, and perhaps military grade firearms as well.&nbsp; The subject could fly, or glide, that aspect had not been one hundred percent verified.&nbsp; He also used in combat two metal escrima batons that he was extremely skilled with, and unconfirmed reports had stated he had thrown said batons and had it ricochet off multiple surfaces or opponents.<br><br>As Alexis continued to read, she was interrupted by a tapping on her door.&nbsp; It was not the sound that knuckles made upon glass but something else.&nbsp; That something else became evident when Alexis looked up and spied the woman standing on the other side of the door.&nbsp; She was dressed in a professional attire much like Alexis had been for her lecture.&nbsp; The only main difference between Alexis and the woman standing before her office door were the dark near wrap around dark glasses over her eyes, and a blind person's cane in her right hand.&nbsp; She was petite and small, not standing more than 5', but she had a largest bust for her size, but not too out of proportion to her figure, and a flare at her hips.&nbsp; From the slant and shape of her jaw one could guess that she was of Asian descent, that and the near straight black hair, though this woman had a lovely shade of dark sapphire that blended into the ebony, silk like hair.&nbsp; <br><br>She stands there almost motionless.&nbsp; It was truly impossible for a person to be completely still and without movement.&nbsp; Almost always there was some form of involuntary muscle reaction on the part of a person, something that gave away their emotions or a hint as to what they were feeling.&nbsp; It was hard to read the woman standing still and patiently straight.&nbsp; The dark glasses contributed to the difficulty reading the woman, for one could not look into her eyes.&nbsp; Still there was perhaps a tad bit of impatience as the woman smoothed her pencil line skirt over thigh and hips back and forth a time or two, and the fingers on her right hand dance a bit, opening and almost like waving in the air before gripping and closing about the handle of the cane.&nbsp; Jace was outside with a file in hand and a bit of sheepish look on his face as he moved in front of the woman and opened the door to Alexis office door.<br><br><strong>"Sorry partner, I had forgotten about her that she would be here and wanting to talk to you.&nbsp; Her name is Sybil Yamata and she is a transfer from SHIELD to Special Operations here.&nbsp; Do you want to meet her or ask her to come back another time?"</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>11-04-2016, 20:34:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis rose from her seat, glad of the distraction. "No it's alright Jace, I'm happy to meet more of the team. We can't get far if its just you and me doing operations. Come on in!"<br><br>Alexis moved forward to help Sybil, but stopped as the woman entered the room and immediately turned right, tapping her way along the walls. The entire time she remained fluid and smooth like a robot, coming to a complete stop in front of the environmental controls, reaching up to press her hand to the console. Alexis remained silent, watching the new transfer carefully. The lights flickered briefly and Sybil turned her head around the room, as if seeing everything. Finally she lifted her hand off the console and walked directly across the office to sit in the chair in front of the captain's desk. Alexis raised an eyebrow at Jace, awaiting the expected introduction.<br><br>"Ah yes, Captain Alexis, this is Sybil Yamata, a SHIELD transfer as I mentioned. She has the power of what we called Cybermancy. She is blind, but can use magic to interact with technology and construct her own VR in her mind and use that to control and interact with said technology." he said, motioning towards the environmental controls. "Just now, she tapped into the controls and saw where all the lights and vents are, and therefore got a good map of what the office looks like just from that. She's the reason why the computer network defense at the NOPD have improved!" he explained, "And Sybil, this is Captain Alexis, our newly promoted super-officer and all round savior of NOPD." he joked. "She'll be running the show, using me as a day-to-day puppet, but mainly focusing on the special assignments surrounding enhanced criminals." Alexis rolled her eyes at Jace's comical description, "Yes yes, and that's Jace, my lieutenant. Al round wise-cracker, paperwork mule, and lecture sleep demonstrator."<br><br>Jace tipped her a cheeky grin before he dumped the file on her desk. "Your officers' reports as you asked for. I got the email too, so I took the liberty of preparing a round of evaluations before hand." He thrust his hands in his coat pockets, strutting out of the office, calling over his shoulder, "Sirloin this time! 16 ounces at least!" It was an unofficial agreement that for any big paperwork assignments Jace did for her, Alexis would have dinner with him and buy him an appropriately sized steak to go with it. Given how many officers now worked under her in the precinct, the report files would have been enormous. Alexis was lucky Jace hadn't asked for a Kobe steak with beer, veg, and dessert to boot!<br><br>She refocused on the lady sitting in front of her. "Ms Yamata, thanks for coming up to see me. I haven't had the opportunity to go around and see all the new people I'm working with." Alexis glanced down at the cane where her fingers were still fidgeting. I take it though, you aren't here for just introductions. Something must be on your mind?"<br><br>********<br><br>[Private police radio-chatter as heard by Athena - secure channel for surveillance. MV = male voice. FV = female voice.]<br><br>I1 (MV): Sound off. Eyes 1 here.<br><br>I2 (FV): Eyes 2 here.<br><br>I3 (MV): Eyes 3 here.<br><br>I4 (FV): Eyes 4 here.<br><br>I6 (MV): Eyes 6 here.<br><br>I1: Eyes 5?....Eyes 5 do you copy? Has anyone heard from Eyes 5?<br><br>All: Negative, no contact. Nope, nothing from me. Haven't heard anything yet.<br><br>I1: Who was her assignment...that post-grad thesis student. Seriously?...Tech, any sign of I5 at her home? No? Track licence plate then please....oh...oh dear. That's not good. We have to tell the Captain. Get a recon team down to the docks.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>15-04-2016, 08:24:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Through the interaction between Jace and Alexis, Sybil remained silent, but there was a ghost of a smile upon her features, as if this was a familiar work situation.&nbsp; She stepped to the side as Jace left the office, and then moved back to the same spot she had been after her little exploration with Alexis' office.&nbsp; Her head cocked to the side as she heard the door close and only after did Sybil speak for the first time, offering her hand in the general direction of Alexis.&nbsp; She managed to get her hand fairly in the fascinated&nbsp; <strong>Captain Taylor I do hope, or I am going to feel like a fool.&nbsp; The scent of gun oil and perfume about you, as well as the fact the network registered your keycard being used to enter, gives me hope that it is indeed you.&nbsp; I am Sybil Yamata, former SHIELD Agent, now Specialist for the New Orleans Police Department.&nbsp; My credentials are here."</strong> Sybil laid down an ID card and small stack of paper upon the table before she continued.&nbsp; <strong>Your partner has hit all the major points about myself and my abilities, but I am certain there may be questions, and if so I am ready to answer them."</strong><br><br>If Alexis shook Sybil's hand or not, after the appropriate amount of time had passed Sybil withdraws her hand with a causal grace and sat down with the same grace, smoothing out her skirt as she did.&nbsp; The material of her attire seemed to flow and mold about her as if it were a near second skin, and hinted at there was a story behind that as well.&nbsp; A story mayhap for another time as Sybil spoke again.&nbsp; <strong>"You are correct in your deduction that I am here for another reason.&nbsp; There has been a marked increase in unusual cyber assaults in the past month, near all of them centered in New Orleans, though all of the southeastern portion of the United States has had activity of some manner or another.&nbsp; &nbsp;Also there has been another faction that has been actively trying to counter this activity.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was not SHIELD, or anyone associated with them, so here I am, eyes...well more ears and senses on the ground, and at your disposal, Captain."</strong>&nbsp; Sybil calmly folded her hands into her lap, her cane having collapsed in upon itself as she took her seat and waited for Alexis's response.<br><br><hr>Outside of Alexis' office, things were becoming far from the dull, normal routine that was a typical Tuesday night.&nbsp; The missing officer triggered protocols throughout the department, the redeployment of mobile assets to Eyes five last known position, the same location as the current search and seizure operation that was happening at the corner of Constance and Lafayette.&nbsp; The increased escalation and chatter over the police communication triggered Athena to bring it up to Will.&nbsp; She figured that Will would prefer to know about this than to research.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Air, we have a developing situation with the New Orleans Police department.&nbsp; They have seemed to have lost contact with one of their undercover operatives at a location where other units were to search a warehouse.&nbsp; The escalation protocol are such to trigger my attention and to bring it to yours."</em></strong><br><br>Will tossed his pen down on the table top and rubbed at his neck. Yes, research was as boring as Will remembered, and he had his fill of it after a few hours.&nbsp; He stood up and stretched, acting like a typical person that had spent too much time in one position.&nbsp; To be honest there was little acting as Will worked out the kinks with stiff muscles.&nbsp; <strong>"Do we still have any police attention on us, Athena?"</strong>&nbsp; Athena's response came less than a second later.&nbsp; <strong><em>"The asset that had followed you from the lecture is no long on station.&nbsp; I do not know if they had others in place.&nbsp; I determine the risk to be minimal, so the decision is yours." </em></strong><br><br>Will started to move through a serious of light exercises to get the blood flowing, frowning as he thought on the situation.&nbsp; It could be a set up, or it could be something as simple as a bad radio.&nbsp; No, best to play it safe for the moment, ans see what else happened.&nbsp; <strong>"Continue to monitor police communications, and also get me everything you have on this warehouse that they were about to search.&nbsp; Dig up everything, no matter how obscure.&nbsp; They we will wait and see if this develops into something more than what it is.."</strong><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>16-04-2016, 21:53:09</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis shook Sybil's hand warmly. Her entrance was understated and her appearance clean and simple. The skin-fitting business suit she wore was a curiosity, but perhaps that could be asked about in a more informal setting after work. The quiet small SHIELD agent let her achievements speak for themselves, and Alexis liked her already. The stack of papers she brought with her Alexis could browse through later on, and she quietly put them to the side on the desk, choosing instead to focus on the much more interesting Sybil and her news. "So there are more cyber-crimes happening in New Orleans. That's not particularly unique, since many cities have seen them on the rise with the advent of technology. But you say you suspect another group might be involved...but on our side? That was a little unusual...but at the same time, a little alarming. Why would we need a third party to help against cyber crimes?" she mused aloud. "Would that mean there is yet another party working against us that this 'vigilante force' is trying to stall?"<br><br>"But I suppose we could ask that with the rest of the IT team around...we'll have to get some more cohesive reports of the vigilante group or any terrorist groups active right now. I'd be interested to know perhaps whether or not this coincides with the change-over of Captains...or the new initiative of the Enhanced Elements Division...what's going on out there?" Both ladies paused mid conversation and turned in unison to gaze through the tinted windows to the main police compound. The routine murmur of a late Tuesday has suddenly boiled over into a frenzy of activity. The large display screens which normally showed a giant map of New Orleans had zoomed in on the docks. Tiny blue dots representing officers on the ground were converging on the area. Sybil quietly reached forward, putting her hand on the intercom on Alexis's desk. The frantic messages surged through her fingertips, filling her ears with the chatter of the precinct.<br><br>She opened her mouth to explain, but the door swung open and a young man burst into the room. "Captain...captain...er..um.." He panted, saluting awkwardly, casting a confused eye at the young lady in the other chair. Alexis raised her eyes for a moment before motioning him to close the door. "Sorry for the interruption Sybil, this is one of my front-line surveillance leaders. He's been with me since before I was even a sergeant. For the sake of anonymity, though he's known in the force as EYE1." Alexis motioned for him to continue. EYE1 paused for a moment to catch his breath "It...We have a situation Ma'am. We complete the assignments for shadowing interested parties after your lecture. However one of our agents was intercepted." he pulled a data pad out and placed it on the desk for all to see. "This shows the pathway taken by our agents. We have each of them wear a tracer, along with licence plate tracking node for the traffic cameras.<br><br>"This is just when the lecture finished. You can see all the pairs of signals going in their respective directions. EYE2,3,4, and 6 all followed their targets and placed markers at their destinations. But look what happens to EYE5." Alexis, Sybil and EYE1 watched silently as the pair of signals followed along the street, then suddenly took a right turn and stopped. For a moment the signals remained motionless, then suddenly the two signals took off in different directions. "EYE5's personal signal shot off to the werehouse at the docks. It was traveling too fast to be running, and the route suggested she was abducted. The car's signal went north, and got lost in an underground parking lot." he explained. We asked local patrols to have a look into the final signal area...it's not pretty. I think we need to look further into this."<br><br>Alexis rose from her seat and turned to the wall behind her chair. Opening the cabinet she revealed a selection of kevlar vests, guns, and other bits and bobs. Jace fondly called it Alexis's Mini-BatCave. She quickly selected her sidearm and shotgun, along with her usual pouch of handcuffs, taser, baton etc. "Alright EYEs, lets go then." She pressed the intercom on her desk. "Jace, I'm heading out to the incident, keep eyes on the network with Sybil please. Sybil, we'll meet later on, help Jace out with watching the grid will you? I'll have a look at your profile later." As Alexis left the office, she took a inconspicuous sniff at her of her suit. Did she really smell like gun oil and perfume. It would have been an odd but apt olfactory description of her, she thought with a wry smile.<br><br><hr><br>On the car ride over to the site, Alexis made one last contact with Jace. "Keep an eye on the building where that grad student was. It may be coincidence, or they have have targeted EYE5 for a specific reason. We should keep all loose ends covered." Jace acknowledged, "Ok Chief, I'll set some plain-clothed in the 7-11, just watch the place. If he leaves or the car moves, we'll see it."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>18-04-2016, 05:15:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Will continued to witness the police updates and whatever was happening was serious.&nbsp; Serious enough for him not to ignore anymore, and if he was going to act, it had to be now.&nbsp; Will had this down to a science, for while he might not be watched now, it did not mean his window of opportunity was forever.&nbsp; &nbsp;He closed the blinds to his windows, and set up a basic solid light hologram.&nbsp; It was basic and merely an outline, but with the blinds down, no one would notice and it would look like Will was working at his computer.&nbsp; It eventually would set up a predictable pattern, but that would take hours or days of observation.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will would not need it for that long.&nbsp; Will then moved to one of the rooms he had set up as his engineering bench and picked up the case that stored and secured his armor.&nbsp; With practiced ease, he opened the case and strapped on the armor.&nbsp; Again, down to a science and in less than two minutes Will was securing the last piece, his helmet.<br><br>As he did, the HUD came on-line, and it was only a second or two later that the hyperlink to Athena had connected.&nbsp; &nbsp;Athena's voice resonated inside the helmet as she performed the armor's diagnostics, ensuring that everything was on-line.&nbsp; Will did not believe their would be.&nbsp; His last outing as Strike Eagle he had sustained no damage, and the armor was durable with redundancies built into it, but at the same time the armor was a complex piece of technology.&nbsp; Not as complex as Stark's armor perhaps, but it was up there.&nbsp; After another minute, everything displayed as green.&nbsp; &nbsp;An electronic and distorted voice not like Will's at all sounded in the room.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Time to go to work"</em></strong>&nbsp; Strike Eagle then moved the private entrance to the roof, and from there, activated his flight mode and launched himself into the air.&nbsp; <br><hr><br>Sybil was calm and at ease as things began to escalate in Alexis office.&nbsp; She was an experienced intelligence agent and she recognized the signs of an operation taking a turn for the worst.&nbsp; Given the Captain's exceptional record, Sybil doubted this was a screw up with her people.&nbsp; They encountered something out there they did not expect, something dangerous.&nbsp; Her new fellow police officers were in danger, Sybil knew it inside, and he suspected that the Captain knew it as well.&nbsp; It was why she was heading out there, like a good leader and seeing after her people.&nbsp; At her instructions, Sybil inclined her head as she stood up.&nbsp; <strong>"Of course Captain, I am your asset to use for your organization and I will do everything that I can to assist."</strong>&nbsp; As Alexis left, Sybil turned in the direction of Jace.&nbsp; <strong>"Lieutenant, if you can lead me to an open station at the command center here, I will get to work."</strong><br><br>As Alexis was on the road, less than two minutes with police siren going, Jace's voice came over the private radio communications they had set up for one another.&nbsp; <strong>"Captain, Major' Crime's units on the ground to search the warehouse are not responding either.&nbsp; They lost communications with them about the same time we did EYE5.&nbsp; I think this is something big and we stumbled on something that someone did not want us to find.&nbsp; I am getting more than a bit nervous about this, especially with you out there.&nbsp; I think we need to mobilize our strike unit and have them out there with you.&nbsp; Be a damned shame to have your funeral when you have only been on the job a few weeks now."</strong> 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>20-04-2016, 03:03:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Jace lead Sybil to the Communications Centre on the floor just above Alexis's office. It was still in development, and much of the vast room was still empty, with uninstalled socket holes scattered across the wall. However the police IT department had gotten a semblance of operating terminals set up around several large screens and radios. It was enough to get by, and the design department would soon add more elements. Indeed, Alexis hoped that with more enhanced elements captured, they could assimilate some of their technology into the center to eventually have a department akin to Stark Enterprises...ok that was a little ambitious. But one could dream couldn't they?<br><br>In the CC, EYE1 sat in the usual chair to the left, while Jace differed the central position to Sybil. Clearly the technopathy would be best suited with access to the entire grid if able. <strong>"There you go Sybil, have a seat. From here you can access traffic cams, personal cell-phone tracking, satellite tower triangulation, and any broadcasted channels or closed circuit channels the police were tapped into, including the police cameras and radios."</strong> he said, naming each component as she ran her fingers across the consoles and data pads. <strong>"Just to be safe, I have kept the secure radio link with Alexis as a fail-safe against enemy hackers. So if there's something you want to tell Alexis and Alexis only, I can do it!"</strong><br><br><strong><em>"Captain, Major Crime's units on the ground to search the warehouse are not responding either.&nbsp; They lost communications with them about the same time we did EYE5.&nbsp; I think this is something big and we stumbled on something that someone did not want us to find.&nbsp; I am getting more than a bit nervous about this, especially with you out there.&nbsp; I think we need to mobilize our strike unit and have them out there with you.&nbsp; Be a damned shame to have your funeral when you have only been on the job a few weeks now."</em></strong><br><br>********<br><br>Alexis noted the position marked on her sat-nav, denoting the docks and Warehouse 51. <strong>"Noted, Jace. I'll try not to get killed. Wouldn't look good on the CV."</strong> To avoid looking suspicious, Alexis took a leisurely route around downtown New Orleans. One by on the strike team joined her until they were all assembled on the road. On signal they each turned off the highway and headed directly to the Warehouse where EYE5's tracker has last pinged off a nearby tower. Alexis had them pull up several blocks away from the warehouse. She knew the dangers of traveling near a target site in a vehicle. Cars were merely metal coffins with doors. More officers were killed in car explosions than by any direct attack when it came to enhanced elements.<br><br>As they walked slowly along the warehouses, Alexis glanced over her assembled strike unit. <strong>"Fourteen...Sixteen...Eighteen..."</strong> These cops were the 'elite' of NOPD, the cream of the crop. Each graduate class from the various academies had put forth a cohort of the most promising cadets and put them through rigorous training. In the end, one individual was chosen from each group to represent that academy in the Enhanced Division. <strong>"Twenty Two...Twenty Four...Twenty Six"</strong> All of them had been filled with pride and joy at the awards ceremony, and why not. They had been picked out as the best humanity had to offer...the best that the human race could throw against the Enhanced Elements. Some of them could have almost burst their boots with confidence and happiness.<br><br>And yet they knew nothing...<strong>"Thirty Six...Thirty Eight...Fourty..."</strong> They were all fresh and untested, the dangers of beginning a new initiative. Unlike Alexis, they had never seen first hand the destructive power some enhanced elements had at their disposal. They had never watched a Tier 6 rogue element level a building with a single glance, or seen the mile-wide crater left over after its death. If they wanted to even stand a chance against enhanced elements they needed better facilities, better equipment, better training, more men, better funding...the list was endless. <strong>"Fourty-Eight...Fifty! Cap'n, We're here...Fifty-One's just over there, where the squad cars are."</strong><br><br>Immediately, Alexis knew something was wrong. There were several cop cars from Major Crimes unit, but not a single cop was in sight. The sirens were silent, and the lights were off. Further on, the warehouse loomed in the low light, with the huge bay-doors wide open. Stacks upon stacks of crates lined the inside of the warehouse for as far as the eye could see. The hairs on the back of Alexis's neck stood on end, and she slowly un-slung the shotgun from her back. <strong>"Load up. Weapons free. Something is not right here. Advance, and cover your corners, check each other's six. Vital trackers on, with IR and silent scope."</strong> she instructed.<br><br>Quietly the teams split up and approached the warehouse: three from the front, three through the side door, and three via the roof. Alexis stayed behind a moment to examine the cars, always keeping one hand on her sidearm the entire time. They seemed untouched, and unlocked. Moving around to one of the SWAT vans, she prodded open the back door. Several of the heavy weapons were missing from their slots. <em>So the cops HAD entered the warehouse, and weren't simply ambushed here in the car-park.</em> Suddenly, her sensitive ears picked up the frantic shouts of the team from the warehouse along with the muted pews of silenced gunfire. Cursing under her breath, she leveled her shotgun and ran for the warehouse. <strong>"What's going on!? What do you see?"</strong><br><br>Just inside the main entrance she could seen the brief flashes of muzzle fire in the distance along with several heavy metallic thuds. Hurrying between the boxes, she hunkered behind a crate next to a group of her team "It's...it's...some sort of masked enhanced, armed with a harpoon gun!" gasped one of them. Alexis heard a dull whoosh and ducked just in time as a long metal spike splintered the box next to her, showering them in bits of wood. A moment later, a slight slurping sound signaled the reload. Poking her head out she took a quick glance at her surroundings. <strong>"It...it took out Hanna and Grey is down with a leg wound. We can't find a way to ge-"</strong> Alexis slapped a hand over the panicking cop's lips. <strong>"Quiet...wait...."</strong> She pulled back in at the whoosh and predictably watched a spike whizz past her head a moment later. She kept her hand firmly over the cadet's lips until...<strong>"Five second."</strong> she stated, as a matter of fact. She almost rolled her eyes and sighed at the dumbfounded look on the team's faces. <strong>"Five second to reload."</strong> More dumbstruck silence...<strong>"Ugh! It takes him five seconds to reload his spikes! You can hear it after he fires. And they're not harpoons. The spikes are too irregular, and they don't have a trigger notch."</strong> she reached over and yanked out the spike protruding from the crate behind her, showing it to her colleagues. <strong>"These are somehow generated by his abilities, likely from his arms or something.</strong><br><br>Alexis suddenly rolled out from behind the crate. The familiar whoosh sounded, along with a spike smashing a chair just near where she was. Quickly she darted forward, leveling her shotgun at the shadowy figure ahead of her. <strong>"Advance on the reload, duck and cover!"</strong> She fired a blast from her shotgun, bearing her teeth in triumph as she heard a grunt of pain. Another shotgun sounded from the overhead catwalk along with the rattle of automatic fire. The roof team had entered play and were flanking the target. Emboldened, Alexis and the remaining members of the front and side teams gained ground into the dark warehouse, moving tactically to outmaneuver the shadowy assailant. <strong>"CC! Jace, can you see anything on our infra-red cameras? Can you identify who we're fighting?"</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>21-04-2016, 04:07:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				As Jace lead Sybil, she made a flick of her wrist and as she did, her cane telescoped out.&nbsp; It was the standard color that most blind people had for their canes, the alternating bands of white and red colors.&nbsp; As she walked by Jace's side, the cane would make the tap tap tap sounds as it lightly struck the surface of the floor.&nbsp; The light sound would continue as Jace continued to led Sybil by the arm.&nbsp; She did not display any concern or discomfort about it, as if it were something she was used too.&nbsp; She did have a trouble for a few moments with the stairs, but found her stride quick enough after the first three and then she was able to match Jace's stride easy enough.&nbsp; She stopped when Jace stopped and as she did, the cane collapsed in upon itself and she released her hold upon his arm, groping about for a second our two till her fingers brushed against the fabric of the chair.&nbsp; As it did, Sybil spoke for the first time since leaving Alexis' office.&nbsp; Her voice was light, almost playful sounding if it were not for the undercurrent of serious that was at its core.<br><br><strong>"Thank you Lieutenant, that was educational for me.&nbsp; I will need to ask that from here and the future that no one here places any obstructions or moves things about without telling me first please.&nbsp; That is unless you wish to smack into things like a drunken fool."</strong>&nbsp; There was a playful smirk upon her feature as she placed the cane down upon the work area surface and she sat down.&nbsp; As she did so, she laced her fingers together and stretched them, the sound of knuckles cracking filling the air.&nbsp; There was a small wince upon her features as Sybil next shook out her hands as of there was a bit of cobweb stuck to them.<br><br><strong>"Always hated that part.&nbsp; Now I do believe it is a time to put on a show for you and yours, Lieutenant."</strong>&nbsp; With that, Sybil's voice changed and she began to speak in some language that Jace did not recognize and as she did, there was quite the light show before her and lines of different colors that all seemed to resonate with their own frequency and energy as they reached out to touch every available piece of technology about, even empty LAN connections and power outlets.&nbsp; All of that comes together into some form of energy construct that rotates about like a thick halo about eye level on Sybil.&nbsp; Sybil's fingers and hands do not stop their dance, and look now to be touching and sliding about some invisible interface that only she was privy too.&nbsp; As she did so, the main display in the command center changes, the map of the city only filling up half the screen, the rest now the camera feeds from the strike unit.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Sybil's fingers and hands never once stop, and her voice almost sounds like it is coming a great distance away.&nbsp; <strong>"Well what do we have here?&nbsp; Two very sophisticated data probles on our Network.&nbsp; Gone now and tracers put on them both so we can track that down later but someone was interested in what we were doing tonight.&nbsp; You are linked up now Captain with your strike team, your EYEs here are watching."</strong>&nbsp; There was more silence save for the slight swishing of air of the every moving and dancing hands of Sybil.&nbsp; At Alexis commands, Sybil broke in still with that calm, nearly detached voice.&nbsp; <strong>"Looking now Captain...One person, fast, very fast, a factor of two times faster than a human and is not hampered by the darkness.&nbsp; I would advice retreat to lure him out.&nbsp; Right now it is like clubbing baby seals for you and your team."</strong><br><br>As if the drive that point home, there was another sound, and another police officer cried out in pain.&nbsp; This time there was a rich and evil chuckle, and the sound of something moving fast through the air above Alexis head.&nbsp; Five seconds on the nose, the sound repeated and the sound of something thick driving through the wood.&nbsp; &nbsp;After that there was a voice that sounded like it was coming from all directions at once.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Ba ba black sheep have you any wool...yes sir sir, five bleeding cops full!"</em></strong>&nbsp; Again the sound, again wood destroyed, and a line of pain along Alexis thigh, followed by the sound of something penetrating concrete.&nbsp; There beside Alexis, still vibrating as if it had a life of its own was something as long as Alexis' forearm and black, sleek, and reflective, like obsidian or onyx, driven into the concrete floor what looked to be several inches.<br><br>Less than a minute away, a form crossed the night sky and was making its way as fast as it could to the warehouse.&nbsp; Will had already picked out his entry point and had altered his flight path to give him the most direct path to it so he would not need to circle about at the location.&nbsp; As he did, there was a loud sound of feedback that went off in Will's ear and caused him to swerve in his flight before he straightened out.&nbsp; He shook his head lightly and had to work his jaw as if he were trying to equalize the pressure in his ear drums.&nbsp; Inside the helmet his mouth hung open slightly before he spoke, almost yelling as he did so, as if he could not tell the volume of his voice.&nbsp; <strong><em>"What the hell, Athena?"</em></strong><br><br><strong><em>"Apologies Sir, I had to act quickly.&nbsp; My sniffer on the NOPD network was detected and a rather sophisticated tracker.&nbsp; I had to disconnect.&nbsp; It felt familiar.&nbsp; I will need to research.&nbsp; I am attempting to connect to any unencrypted cellphones.&nbsp; Ah yes, two of the police on scene have such personal devices.&nbsp; Activating them and their internal microphone." </em></strong>&nbsp; All it took was Athena a moment, and it was all Will needed to hear was the screaming.&nbsp; Will ground his teeth.&nbsp; This was serious if it was causing veteran police officers to cry out in pain as they were.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will swore under his breath and lined up his approach.&nbsp; As he did, he activated the enhanced sensor package of the armor.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Athena, connect hyperlink, bring battle computer on-line.&nbsp; I am going in hot.&nbsp; We need to give whoever is in there something else to shoot at."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will's approach was locked in, only another ten more seconds.&nbsp; Five..three...<br><br>Alexis and her team would hear the sound of shattering glass, as well as the mini-shock wave of something impacting with the ground.&nbsp; Next would come the sound of the spikes being fired, followed by something heavy, like crystal or quartz shattering.&nbsp; Right after that came the same psychotic voice that was sounding nursery rhymes.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Oh goodie!&nbsp; Two birds, one stone!&nbsp; Now I get to play!"</em></strong> Again the spikes and again the shattering of heavy crystal, followed by the sound of something large moving through the air.&nbsp; Standing at the other end of the warehouse now was a figure dressed in full combat armor, head to tow covered in it, wielding two black like escrima sticks in his hands in a defensive move, staring straight still, and faster than the eye can see, one of the arms moved and the spike was intercepted with the escrima stick, shattering as it impacted.&nbsp; The armored form now looked like the descriptions that Alexis had of Strike Eagle<br><br><div align="center">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/28/b2/fe28b2428bba1131a0d7dc7275f37762.jpg)</div>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>21-04-2016, 23:15:27</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Jace whistled lightly as Sybil extended her influence into the communications stations like so many multi-colored tendrils. The keyboard and mouse in front of her remained untouched as the sphere of lights and strands slowly built up around her. Soon she was almost within her own bubble of flashing lights and twinkling nodes. Her voice continued to flow with the unknown language, and the strands seemed to respond in kind, winking and blinking with each note. Next to her, EYE1 did his game best to keep up. Having stolen Sybil's untouched keyboard and mouse he used both hands to access as much data as he could. <strong>"You've got the floor Sybil. Only you, me, and Eyes here."</strong> He looked around him, seeing Sybil's extensive interface and Eye's pinpoint precision reflexes when it came to computing and communicating. <strong>"I'll just stand in this corner shall?...maybe get us some coffee?"</strong><br><br><hr><br>Alexis's earpiece crackled slightly as Sybil entered the network. <strong>"Sorry did you say two probes? Where did they come from? Never mind... faster enhanced, and good in the darkness hmm? We'll re-assemble."</strong> Alexis let out a shrill rising whistle and the team responded instantly. Units on the advance reverse direction, retreating towards the doors they entered by. Each covered the other's retreat with cover fire. One of the officers went down with a spike through his thigh. Alexis reached down and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the way as another spike grazed past his shoulder. A moment too late and it would have pinned the hapless cop to the crate behind him through the heart. Alexis grit her teeth angrily. This bastard was certainly not playing around.<br><br>She had just managed to shove the injured cop out the side door when she heard the telltale whoosh. Throwing herself backwards from the door, she managed to roll away as a spike shot past into the door pinning it shut. She vaulted over a small crate, hunkering down as she reloaded her shotgun. Only then did she feel the shallow cut on her thigh. Damn...well she owed Jace a dinner then. Darn bet. Alexis looked up, pipping two short whistles and immediately moved position. No response. It means no other units were still inside. Good news and bad news. Good news that there were no other targets in the warehouse except for Alexis. Bad news for Alexis though, as she was trapped inside with the maniac. She shifted location again as the maniacal laugh sounded out again.<strong> "And then there was one..."</strong><br><br>Just then, the high windows shattered and a new player entered the arena. Alexis took the opportunity to hop the crates and scale the spiral ladder on the side of the warehouse. The sounds of shattering crystal rang around the warehouse as she clambered up onto the catwalk. A quick flick and she pushed on her sunglasses. They filtered out all light, but illuminated infrared and ultraviolet giving her a 'Predator' view of the entire warehouse. One of the little gadgets Jace had picked up in the last struggle against an technologically advanced Enhanced. She immediately recognized the Strike Eagle by the distinctive colours. So this was where he ended up...<strong>"Ok now there are two assets in play!"</strong> she called out on her comm. She could afford to be a little less stealthy now that the two of them were zipping across the warehouse. <strong>"One of them is Strike Eagle, CC can you identify the other?"</strong><br><br>As she ran around the long platforms that lined the warehouse inside walls, Alexis got an idea. <strong>"Strike Unit, all remaining cops assemble on the south-east side. Take-Down protocol! Upper window! Expect two!"</strong> Dashing around the side platforms, Alexis yanked hard on the shutter cords. Huge sheetmetal panels folded down over the windows, cutting off any light and escape. One buy one each window was slowly sealed shut, leaving just the broken windows on the south east side. With any luck, the two enhanced elements would have to escape that way. The strike unit had practiced taking down fast and flying enhanced individuals during practice. Alexis hoped they'd be up to scratch. More than once Alexis had to duck when the assailant hurled spikes at her. But thankfully Strike Eagle appeared to take advantage of the respite to move in close and engage.<br><br>Just outside, the strike unit had assembled as ordered. Several of them were armed with shoulder-mounted net throwers. Tech had spent a good while designing these prototype, and they had come up with a fine wire mesh lazed with tazer lines. The device relied on the high voltage shock of the tazer to bring down the target and the amount of fine meshing to spread the current through the target. Alexis was banking on either Strike Eagle or the other unidentified enhanced trying to escape through the last available window. With any luck they could catch one or both of them. Alexis meanwhile reloaded her shotgun with charged rounds. Each one holding a small stun. She silently prayed that this too was not another one of Jace's brain-children. They had a success rate of about 50%
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>27-04-2016, 00:47:21</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Sybil had a small coy smile upon her lips as she continued to work and interface with the command center.&nbsp; She knew the effect she ha upon others, which was why she normally was alone in her office when she had been with SHIELD.&nbsp; The nature of the mission here with the Special Operations was different and thus Sybil decided not to hide what she could do, no matter if it was unsettling and made her co-workers uncomfortable at first.&nbsp; <strong>"Thank you, Lieutenant, but no need to regulate yourself to getting coffee.&nbsp; I am still only one person.&nbsp; My abilities allow me to interface with and manipulate technology yes, but it is not like I can make technology do more than it is designed too.&nbsp; Please let me know if you see anything I am missing here.&nbsp; In the end, I really am as human as everyone here, and far from perfect."</strong><br><br>Sybil then concentrated on the updates from Alexis.&nbsp; She frowned and let out a vexed sigh of frustration.&nbsp; The warehouse had all the signs of being an ambush site.&nbsp; The normal security system had been disabled, and the camera part of that system were dead.&nbsp; More than likely destroyed since Sybil could not feel their presence at all on the network.&nbsp; As a result, Sybil had no "eyes" at all inside the warehouse, especially now that the Captain had pulled her team out.&nbsp; Sybil did not blame her for that.&nbsp; Never fight an enemy on a battlefield he had prepared ahead of time, and open space favored the Captain and her team better than the dark confines of the warehouse.&nbsp; It also meant that Sybil had nothing else much to offer to Alexis.<br><br><strong>"I am sorry, Captain.&nbsp; There are no video feeds inside the warehouse I can make use of.&nbsp; Unless you can lure him outside, I cannot identify who you are up against."</strong><br><br><hr><br>Will was in a much better position to do what Sybil could not with his enhanced sensor package and his link to Athena.&nbsp; Will stood still as he tracked and started to run probabilities on where his opponent was going to be next.&nbsp; Locking in, Will threw one of his batons, having it ricochet off of one of the walls in the warehouse.&nbsp; Will moved as he did, and was in the right place to intercept it as the reinforced titanium alloy weapon hit with enough force to shatter concrete, clocking the would be assassin in one of the arms.&nbsp; There was the sound of bone cracking and a cry of rage from whoever it was in the darkness.&nbsp; Will smirked under his helmet as he neatly caught the baton in his hand and as moving again, the sound of something sharp penetrating the concrete floor where he had been.&nbsp; Will was already plotting his next attack as he spoke under his breath.&nbsp; <br><br><strong><em> What are we dealing with Athena?"</em></strong> Athena's response was swift, but her voice still in that unhurried, crisp British accent.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Enhanced human augmented by some form of combat armor.&nbsp; The spiked are similar in composition to hardened obsidian.&nbsp; Bone and muscle density suggest enhanced reflexes and strength.&nbsp; I would not recommend hand to hand combat with this opponent.&nbsp; Subject does on the surface refer to file in INTERPOL has, code named: Raptor.&nbsp; No known name.&nbsp; Subject has never been caught and has been directly linked to twenty assassinations."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will swore under his breath.&nbsp; So the guy was fast, strong, and a psychotic murderer.&nbsp; Yes this was getting better and better.<br><br>Despite Athena's warning, Will had no choice but to engage hand to hand combat as Raptor landed right beside him.&nbsp; If it hand not been for his battle computer, Raptor would had taken Will's head off.&nbsp; What followed next was a purely defensive battle for Will, and a look of shock and surprise from inside his armor as Raptor came after him with what looked like a three foot claw on one of his arms.&nbsp; The man was fast, deadly fast, but he was also hurt.&nbsp; Will's shot on him earlier either had broken or injured his arm, so he was off just enough for Will to keep up and to deflect the claw with his batons.&nbsp; <br><br>Once he had a sense of what he was dealing with, he moved and flowed out of the way of one downward strike that was meant to rend Will's armor from right collarbone to left hip.&nbsp; As it was, the very tip of it scored a line on the chest plate, pealing off about a centimeter of material.&nbsp; It was a risk for if Will had been a blink of an eye slower, he would had been gutted, his armor damaged at the very least, Will bleeding out the worst.&nbsp; The risk payed off and Will shifted his hips, twisting his torso so he brought both batons down on the claw and the other arm.&nbsp; There was the shattering of dense crystal, and a high pitched scream of pure pain from the Raptor and caused Will to cry out in pain as well.&nbsp; The feedback from the audio amplifiers used in his advanced sensor package picked up the loud scream, and the piercing cream went right to Will's ears.&nbsp; &nbsp;It caused him to activate his wings and he launched himself into the air and as far away from Raptor as possible.<br><br>Luck was still with Will as with the injuries that Will inflicted upon Raptor had taken the fight out of him, or the man was smart enough to know when he had lost the element of surprise and the battle was turning against him.&nbsp; Either way the situation had been compromised and he was not staying around.&nbsp; With a frustrated snarl the killer launched himself into the air, a black streak heading for the broken window in the warehouse to leave the battle as fast as he could since Strike Eagle had disengaged.&nbsp; The killer did not know why he did not press his advantage when he had the chance, but he was not going to sit about and debate his good fortune.&nbsp; So he made his way as fast as he could away from the battle, and unknowingly,right into where Alexis had her own ambush set up.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>08-05-2016, 02:28:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Despite the initial chaos of the melee, the strike team had regrouped quickly outside the warehouse. Several of the members were smarting from injuries laid into them by the assailant and they were eager for some revenge. They had smartly brought their squad cars round to the broken window and had set up a perimeter. Several of the vehicles had been specially fitted with turret roofs and several cops were manning the net cannons through the hatches. All cross-hairs were aimed up at the broken pane overhead. Jace could see the camera feeds from the turrets outside, but nothing inside the warehouse. All he could hear was Alexis's panting as she worked strategically around the warehouse catwalks, trying to herd the two Enhanced towards the window. <strong>"Still can't see much Chief. Next time we'll get you a shoulder camera..something like a GoPro Predator, eh? Maybe even mount it on a swivel with a pea shooter!"</strong> he quipped. <br><br><strong>"Go-Stuff it, Jace! Just keep the Strike Unit primed, one of them's about to take a dive for it!" </strong>she growled back into her comm. Up ahead in the darkness she could see the scurrying figure of her target barreling towards the broken window. Thinking fast, she leveled her shotgun and fired a parting blast. The ammunition wasn't mean to kill or main, but rather spread a paralyzing charge through the target. Supercharged shot sprayed through the air, catching the back of the fleeing man's calves. Each tiny ball-bearing was connected to the others via a fine net-like spread of metallic filaments.Unfortunately, because the barrel of the shotgun was also metal, the first victim was Alexis herself. She dropped the shotgun and shook her hands painfully as she received a sharp jolt of stinging electricity through her fingers. <strong>"GOD DAMN IT JACE!"</strong> she swore into the mike. The sudden disruption made her lose her footing, and she toppled off the catwalk onto a pile of cardboard boxes. The shotgun landed with a clatter some distance away. Grumbling, she extracted herself from the pile. She could only hope it worked better on the perp.<br><br>It worked a treat. Just as he breached through the window, his legs seized up and cramped. At the same instant, several dull thuds sounded from the Strike squad's net-cannons and he was enveloped in several large nets. He made and ungraceful tumble through the air before landing in a heap in the circle of cop cars. Strike members piled onto him, forcefully subduing him and cuffing his limbs tight. He struggled gamely, throwing some of the smaller members of the unit aside, but numbers prevailed and soon he was securely taken in. He shrieked and howled angrily, rocking the containment truck back and forth, but enough modifications had been made to the vehicle to hold him in.<br><br>Meanwhile, Alexis had regained feeling in her hands and picked up her shotgun again. She was alone in the warehouse with the so-called 'Strike Eagle'. Strike Eagle had fought against Raptor with them, so she had to assume he wasn't necessarily hostile to her. Still she had to take precautions. Even as she slung the shotgun into its sling over her shoulder, she kept a hand lightly on her side arm. <strong>"Strike Eagle! I know you're still in here. You are currently on the Enhanced Element Register's watch list...but I suspect you know this already."</strong> she said, suddenly remembering the two probes in the CC's system. <strong>"You've helped us today in capturing one suspect. As an unregistered Enhanced, we have a few questions to ask you. If you cooperate- HEY!"</strong> Alexis darted after the swiftly moving shadow over her head. Pressing her comm to her ear she called out to the team outside. <strong>"One more in-coming! Immobilize him!"</strong><br><br>As Alexis burst out the front door she heard frantic shouting and a few wild shots. Most of the Strike Unit were still wrestling Raptor into the containment vehicle. The rest of them unit were trying desperately to reload the net-cannons. Standing apart from the group, one of her men stood with his assault rifle raised at Strike Eagle as he rapidly vanished in the distance.<strong> "I'll get you you bastard..."</strong>. Alexis ran past him, knocking away the raised weapon. <strong>"Idiot! He's flying among the buildings! You might hit someone in the apartments!" </strong>Leaping into the driver's seat of one of the cop cars, she sped off down the road after Strike eagle. <strong>"Strike Unit - follow in pursuit! Sybil, could we dispatch forensics and other suits to secure the warehouse, please?"</strong><br><br>Alexis turned the dash-cam skywards, aimed up at the tiny flying speck in the distance. <strong>"Sybil, can you see anything interesting on thermal imaging on this guy. He's flying super fast and I doubt this car can keep up for long. Are there any police drones or cameras we could use to track him?"</strong> she asked as she swerved in and out of midnight traffic. <strong>"If there are, we can break off pursuit and keep a watchful eye on things."</strong> Her eyes followed Strike Eagle as he lead her on a wandering path around the city. <strong>"Hmmm...he doesn't seem to be following any particular routes, but he could easily out-pace any car and escape. What is he waiting for?"</strong> Was he taunting Alexis? Was he leading her to a different location? Or was he simply stalling for time...not wanting to lead her straight to his man-cave?<br><br>I1's voice crackled on the comm, interrupting Alexis's train of though. <strong>"Captain...forensics have EYE5's body. When you get a chance, come by the morgue. They sat they found something interesting."</strong> Alexis lowered her eyes. In the excitement of tracking down and capturing her first Enhanced, she had forgotten all about the reason why she came out in the first place. <strong>"I'm sorry I1...EYE5 was a good agent. She will be missed. Let's at least hope she found something interesting for us to follow."</strong> I1 sighed over the comm <strong>"She knew the risks...she's been in tight situations before. But going down like this...it's not like her. I1 Out."</strong> Alexis could hear I1 was taking it pretty hard. He personally trained each agent, ensuring only the best became an EYE. Only a handful of EYES operated at any given time, and this was the first casualty he had suffered. If EYE5 had been so easily taken down, they might be up against a larger opponent than first thought.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>11-05-2016, 13:46:27</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Will's ears were still ringing but at least he could see again something other that random shapes and colors.&nbsp; He really needed to talk to Gene about patching that aspect of the forensic package of the armor, or at least toggle it to a combat option.&nbsp; It had happened more than once and if he had not already dealt a significant blow to Raptor, then Will was certain he would be in a pretty damned bad spot, if not dead.&nbsp; The tensile strength of the shards he was firing, and the claws from Raptor's forearm had it being stronger than reinforced steel, and Will did not want to put down money on the odds of his armor surviving the experience.&nbsp; The other times that it happened, Will was in relative open space and fleeing to the sky was decent evasion move till he could get his head back in the game.&nbsp; This time Will had been in an enclosed space, and it was almost a deadly mistake.<br><br>Will watched at Raptor headed out the same way he went in.&nbsp; That was slightly encouraging for it meant that he likely sustained a significant injury, enough of one at least that he did not want to use his body as a battering ram through any place else in the warehouse.&nbsp; Will was about to see if he could get in a parting shot before he fled completely when the killer flew right into a charged net.&nbsp; Will had enough warning to shut down the forensic package before Raptor's scream hit him again.&nbsp; One sensory feedback migraine a night was enough.&nbsp; Despite the lack of input from the enhanced sensors package, Will could clearly see that Raptor was truly snared and caught.<br><br><strong>"Athena, what am I dealing with?"</strong>&nbsp; Once more Will toggled on the forensic package, willing to take the rick for the greater need now of information.&nbsp; The date flowed from the advanced senors that were a part of his armor over across the hyper-link to Athena, giving her the data for her to analyze and evaluate.&nbsp; This time it took her more than a few moments before responding to Will's question.&nbsp; <strong><em>"I am reading both conventional and non-conventional armaments being employed by law enforcement.&nbsp; The electrical current being used would be a threat to your armor.&nbsp; I cannot determine which systems would be effected.&nbsp; There is a significant risk that your flight system could be compromised and if it is, you would be ensnared and captured."</em></strong> <br><br>It was at that time that Will heard a voice, the same voice that he had listened to give a lecture no more than a few hours past.&nbsp; It made sense that it was Special Operations outside, and from what opinion he had formed of Captain Taylor was that she was not one to lead her people from the rear.&nbsp; However, Will did not know her well enough as of yet to assume that he would get through the encounter with his identity intact.&nbsp; There were a few number of counter measure built into the armor to prevent another from hacking it or removing it without Will's or Athena's approval, but that did not mean they were full proof, and every taser shock delivered would likely add on another resisting arrest or assaulting an officer of the law.&nbsp; No, until Will was certain that he would not be arrested, he needed to keep the good Captain at arm's length, no matter how good she looked.<br><br><strong>"Athena, I need a way out of here they are not waiting to net me like a fish."</strong>&nbsp; It took less time for her to respond this time, and there was a was a skylight used to cut down on electrical consumption.&nbsp; The plastics that comprised it were compromised, and would not damage his armor when he flew through it, unlike the other four skylights that did hold a slight risk.&nbsp; Again, Will could not afford any damage to his armor with a company of Special Operations police armed and ready to use said weapons, especially his flight system which was the most vulnerable of his armor's systems.&nbsp; Will dropped down to the ground and used the momentum and power from the fall to leap up again, to add more kinetic energy as his flight system kicked in, to give him enough power to bash through the flawed skylight and up into the New Orleans night air.<br><br>Will did not escape cleanly, and there was a lucky shot from the one trigger happy cop that hit him.&nbsp; There was a flare of color as his armor's HUD switched to the armor's diagnostic screen.&nbsp; A heart beat later, Athena's voice once more filled Will's ears.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Minor damage, I can reroute but until I can you will unfortunately need to keep your flight path steady and induce any further stress upon the armor.&nbsp; That will mean till the field repair is complete, you will need to keep your speed currently as it is."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will swore, he could not even set down, but remain in the air at what was less than his full speed.&nbsp; The only saving grace was that Special Operations was behind him, and no one else out there likely had any weapons to take him down.&nbsp; Likely was not a sue thing however, and Will was at his most vulnerable when in flight, unable to use his arms.&nbsp; Will gritted his teeth and counted down the seconds, resisting the urge to tell Athena to hurry the hell up.<br><hr><br>Sybil continued her dance with the streams and colors interfacing with the Special Operations command network, appearing like some computer interface from a science fiction movie when one looked at it, and seeing how her hands moved and touched the streams of light, doing so with such familiarity and skill one would hard pressed to believe she was blind at all.&nbsp; Her voice came through the communications link with the same calm, warm, yet professional tone that she had used when introducing herself to Alexis.<br><br><strong><em>"CIS has been dispatched, Captain.&nbsp; Initial inspectors will be on the scene in less than five minutes.&nbsp; The watch commander as well as the deputy commissioner shall be in the scene in less than fifteen.&nbsp; EMS for the wounded officers will be there in less than a minute.&nbsp; As for camera, I am now co-oping all traffic cameras in the city.&nbsp; No thermal imaging possible at this time.&nbsp; No drones are currently in the air, and it will take the Chief Inspector of Operations authority to launch one.&nbsp; Time to launch however will take near an hour I fear.&nbsp; Still, if you think it will assist you we can place the request in.&nbsp; I might say you have the Lieutenant.&nbsp; After all I do believe the reason why he earns the pay he does is so he can have profanities hurled at him instead of yourself, and I am far to vital to be cursed at."</em></strong>&nbsp; The last was said near deadpan.&nbsp; Who said Sybil did not have a sense of humor.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>19-05-2016, 23:01:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It was lucky that the roads were virtually empty at this time of night. Alexis could flooring the pedal without blaring the sirens or turning on her police lights while on the pursuit. She knew the streets well enough to risk ducking in and out of shortcuts to gain on Strike Eagle. All it took was a brief glimpse of the sky to confirm his position before taking the underpass or slipping between the tall buildings. Strike Eagle on the other hand would have a hard time keeping track of a single dark car among the dimly lit streets and tunnels. Alexis ducked into a connecting tunnel, mentally tracking Strike Eagle's locating.<br><br><strong>"CC, Eagle's hovering around the city and he doesn't seem to be landing anywhere yet. He's still too fast for us to actually capture... I think we'll need to be creative."</strong> Alexis emerged from the tunnel and saw with a sigh of relief Strike Eagle hovering just ahead of her. <strong>"Jace can we dispatch spotters to the top of the tallest buildings around the city, I only need maybe...4 or 5 spotters with thermal imaging or similar. I1, can you redploy your EYES around the city in unmarked cars, I have a little plan."</strong> Alexis started to drop back slowly, giving Strike Eagle more space. Hopefully he had lost track of her car, but even he hadn't, her plan should work out well for them.<br><br>Jace's voice crackled over the comm, <strong>"We've got a few spotters up soon, the first will be on the radio tower near the station... what do you have in mind?"</strong> Alexis picked up a small laser pointer. It was one of those shitty little pen-lasers, only a fraction as strong as those used on laser sights. She dearly hoped this would work. Opening the window, she leaned out and pointed the laser up at the tiny speck in the sky. <strong>"I'm marking Strike Eagle, see if we can get the spotters to see him. I want him tracked. Once they've got him I'll back off..."</strong> Jace nodded, watching the screens with Sybil and I1, <strong>"Ok, that makes sense, we've got two spotters in position. They're picking up your mark right now... What do you want the EYES for?"</strong><br><br>Alexis switched off the laser and slowed the car down. Rolling up the window, she turned the wheel back towards the Precinct. "Have the spotters watch him without anyone actively following him. Once he starts to descend or head in a particular direction, we'll have the EYES follow in various vehicles. Even if we can't get an exact fix, we can at least mark out an area he most likely lives in. Then we can canvas the area using the files we have on him. Hopefully something will click." I1's voice came up over comms determined and grim. <strong>"Aye, we'll track him down. EYE5 was killed because of him. We won't rest until we find out why."</strong><br><br><hr><br>Half an hour later, Alexis pulled into the station. The Strike Unit cars were present and it was clear the station was in high alert while holding an enhanced being. Two officers armed with automatic weapons stood by the doors, while more lined the corridor leading up to the main offices. As she stepped through the front doors, she was greeted by a round of applause by the officers present. Everyone had been eager to see how the new captain fared on her first operation, and she had done well. Her strike team was standing by, all of them present with the exception of a few that needed hospitalization. It was sheer luck that there were no fatalities on her team this time, given how recklessly some of them had acted. Still, they HAD captured their first enhanced, and Alexis wasn't going to deny them the pleasure of the take. Alexis gave everyone a small smile and nod of appreciation before seeing to her team. She congratulated some for their bravery, scolded others for their rashness, but gave them all approval for their first successful mission. When all was said and done, she slipped into the CC where Jace, Sybil, and E1 were waiting for her.<br><br>The darkened glass door shut out most of the hubbub from outside and Alexis heaved a sigh of relief. Jace grinned and patted the leather armchair next to him. <strong>"The Prodigal Captain returns! Have a seat your majesty!"</strong> He held out a coffee, which Alexis gratefully accepted. <strong>"Hmmm... Black decaff, my favorite at 3AM. How did you know?"</strong> Sybil had already re-arranged some of the monitors, bringing up a few old projectors to fill the wall-space. Now, the screens were divided into three. One part was dedicated to the usual police activity and street maps.&nbsp; I1 sat watching another set focused on video feeds from the spotters and EYES, he was coordinating with the EYES. <strong>"EYE2, cover the North and East sectors above the mall there. Eyes 3 and 4, split the outer western edges and southern edge..."</strong><br><br>Alexis sipped her coffee as she cast her gaze over the main screen focused on the Enhanced Interrogation room. It was an old cell in the base of the building that had been re-purposed. It was the only cell on the entire level, the rest of the space being dedicated to countermeasures against anything an enhanced might produce. Alexis had been down there once before and she had been impressed. The room itself had been made with temperature resistance alloys laced with tensile resilient fibers to resist all kinds of kinetic forces. There were automatic fire suppression systems, EMP dampeners, sound proofing, redundant shutdown systems, and even some advanced gimmick that Jace called the 'person normalizer'. Alexis tried to inquire what it was, but Jace fobbed it off as a 'mutant ability canceling device'. Alexis was sceptical.<br><br>A sharp piercing scream brought Alexis back to the present. Sybil was observing Raptor in the middle of the cell, his profile page brought up next to his feed on the screen. Alexis took another sip of her coffee before rising to stand beside Sybil, careful not to disturb her fluid disco-ball of lights. <strong>"Thanks for the help out there Sybil, hopefully you can help the spotters and EYES track Strike Eagle's location. We can focus on him later." </strong>she nodded at the screen, where Raptor was almost bouncing off his chair in the middle of the room. "What exactly do we have here?" she asked as a particular loud shriek rattled the camera, <strong>"Sounds like one happy camper. I've not seen him before in this or any nearby cities...wonder who's hired him."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>22-05-2016, 09:26:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Will cursed into the helmet.&nbsp; This was not how tonight was supposed to go down tonight.&nbsp; Will was supposed to make the police feel a little bit foolish for following him and finish up a couple of papers.&nbsp; Instead he was flying above the city, vulnerable as hell, and while he might not be the focus of a manhunt, he was damned close.&nbsp; He was going to loose a day or more on this, at least sleep because he had to get back to his place before the watch was put back on it.&nbsp; He had a contingency set up in Lake Charles, but that was going to be an all night trip, and he had class tomorrow.&nbsp; Will ground his teeth.&nbsp; The longer he was loitering about the night sky, the more time eh was burning and too much longer he was not going to make it back into the city before dawn.&nbsp; <br><br><strong>"Any time now Athena."</strong>&nbsp; Athena's response back was quick.&nbsp; <strong><em>"If you wanted fast then you should not have broken the armor in the first place, or been much more proficient in not getting shot." </em></strong> If Will could give the AI a "look to kill" he would be doing so right now.&nbsp; <strong>"Seriously?&nbsp; You are blaming me for this?"</strong>&nbsp; If an AI could sniff, Athena would had just done so.&nbsp; <strong><em>"You have been very lax in your last several encounters with defense and evasion.&nbsp; You want to use your fists far to much."</em></strong>&nbsp; Again, if will could strangle something.&nbsp; <strong>"We can do this another time.&nbsp; Fix the armor!"</strong>&nbsp; There was another long pause, which was doing nothing for Will's peace of mind before Athena responded again.&nbsp; <strong><em>"There, it is crude but should hold long enough till you can get the armor back to the machine laboratory."</em></strong><br><br><strong>"Finally!"</strong>&nbsp; In hindsight he should have thanked Athena.&nbsp; If it had not been for her then it was possible he would likely be in police authority, but he had to admit, he was a bit miffed at her at the moment.&nbsp; Will did not dwell on it however, as he had police surveillance to shake.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will did a hairpin turn and took himself right down to the deck, pushing the armor as fast as he could.&nbsp; It was a bit of a risk for he clipped a tree at this speed, it would be messy as hell, but he used the tree cover to mask his movements, and he was well below any radar coverage.&nbsp; Athena confirmed this a few moments later.&nbsp; <strong><em>"I cannot detect any further electronic surveillance, Will.&nbsp; You are in the clear for the moment."</em></strong> <br><br>This time Will was a little bit more gracious in his response back to the AI.&nbsp; <strong>"Thank you Athena.&nbsp; Hack into the storage facility's security system please.&nbsp; Be certain that any video security is looped."</strong>&nbsp; Will had faith that Athena would be able to do what he asked.&nbsp; In the next minute, Will was setting down outside the Max-a-lot Storage.&nbsp; He moved quickly to the large storage locker and opened it.&nbsp; Once inside he removed the Strike Eagle armor and placed it inside a storage case designed to hold it.&nbsp; He placed that in the trunk of the car that was being kept inside the locker, popped the hood to install the car battery.&nbsp; &nbsp;Sliding behind the wheel, he started it up, dialing in on his smart phone to Athena.&nbsp; <strong>"Okay, now the gate, and lets get a play list going.&nbsp; Two hours to get home, and then we can talk about you calling me lazy..."</strong><br><hr><br>Sybil near ethereal like features were graced with a smile upon them as she inclined her head respectfully in the direction of Alexis.&nbsp; <strong>"Thank you, Captain, but I will admit that I am not perfect and I think that Strike Eagle, as he called, has eluded our surveillance.&nbsp; He increased speed and was no long flying a simple flight pattern.&nbsp; I was limited to what data I could pull, and do not have anything significant to add to the profile on him.&nbsp; I do apologize for that.&nbsp; We are going to need for him to make another appearance to get any more information about what and who he is."</strong><br><br>Sybil did make a gesture with one hand and the image on their prisoner was pulled up in prominence for Alexis and Jace.&nbsp; <strong>"I do have some more information on our new guest.&nbsp; Still waiting on DNA and fingerprint data, but I have been able to pull up that he operates under the name "Raptor".&nbsp; He has not operated to our knowledge yet in the the western hemisphere.&nbsp; Mainly Europe and Asia, especially in Hong Kong.&nbsp; He is a freelance assassin for hire.&nbsp; Finding out who hired him and to what purpose will take us going through legal proceedings if we are to build a case against him.&nbsp; I have submitted the necessary search warrants for your review, Captain, to bring up with the District Attorney, both local and federal, when they are open in the morning."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>01-06-2016, 23:18:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis smiled at Sybil. So she was a legal savant as well? Fantastic, but there were always a few ways a wily officer could wring out a suspect while still towing the line. Often times the tactics were simpler than perceived. <strong>"Good idea. We'll call the DA's in the morning, but first Raptor's going to have a little chat with me."</strong> she said, giving I1 a reassuring pat on the shoulder before refilling her coffee cup and heading out the CC door. As she made her way down the corridor, Jace trotted after her with a hand raised in protest. <strong>"Hold up 'Lex! You can't take a run at him without the the lawyers present. He'll just clam up and say nothing if we go barging in there. Have a look at his profile. It's not like this is his first rodeo!"</strong> Alexis smiled indulgently at Jace. <strong>"Just you wait and see. The profile says he hasn't been caught often, but I bet he was brief about what the typical interrogator is like. We'll just have to do the exact opposite to what he expects."</strong><br><br>********<br><br>Down in the sub-level holding cell, Alexis took another sip of her black decaff with Jace as she watched Raptor through the one-way mirror. The assailant was still bouncing around on his chair, jabbering and sneering at the mirrors around him. <strong>"Oi! You can't hold me! I've got rights! I want a lawyer! Git these cuffs off me!"</strong> Alexis gave her cup an appreciative sniff. <strong>"Looks like he's full of energy tonight. Funny how scrawny they look once you take off the armor. His accent is English...I'd almost say Cockney if he had a more jolly smile. He's trying to disguise it, but it's still there. So he's not long been in the country. Only promise of a big job could lure a mercenary from his home land to here. I suppose we'd ought to say hello, but I'll go in alone. You can watch from the window."</strong><br><br>The door to the padded cell opened with a click and a hiss as Alexis walked into the room, still holding her cup of coffee. For a moment Raptor looked up at her, stunned for a second at her appearance. Who could this sharp and shapely beauty be? That suit was just too...figure hugging to be a run-of-the-mill cop uniform. Surely they couldn't have have sent a lawyer so soon to bail him out. Maybe she was another undercover Enhanced sent to break him free? That must be it! She's a dark angel here to sav-... and then he saw the gun at her side, and the telltale glint of the Captain's badge just inside her suit jacket. Damn it...they make them hotter than they used to.<br><br>Raptor leaned back in the chair, watching Alexis as she leaned against the far wall, her back to the mirror. She still hadn't addressed him, or even proclaimed herself the captain of the station. What was going on here? <strong>"Ey...What'you want huh? You here to make me sing? Like a little birdie?"</strong> he leered at her, licking his lips as he took in more of her figure. She was tall for a lady officer, even a captain. <strong>"Naw you ain't got nothing on me. That's my turf see! You folk just barged into my territory, I was just defending my space!"</strong> Alexis raised her eyes to meet his, a small smile curling the edges of her lips. She said nothing, and gave no emotion away. <strong>"What you looking at huh, Lady? Dont'cha got a few donuts to eat or something? I ain't got nothing for ya. Just minding my own business like everyone else."</strong> Alexis raised an eyebrow at him, making Raptor shift slightly. <strong>"Oi, so I'm a little more skilled than you lot. So what? Your own damn fault you barged in while we was busy. Sides you brought your own flashy bird too. Proper cut me up he did. I ought to sue your arse for damages! He's lucky it was me tonight and I went easy on him!"</strong><br><br>Throughout Raptor's silence and ranting Alexis remained calm and silent, leaning back against the mirror with one leg crossed over the other. She sipped her coffee slowly, savoring the taste without the caffeine buzz as her trained mind filtered out much of Raptor's profanity. It wasn't her first 'rodeo' either, as the saying went. She had been the interrogator many times before, and one or two times she had been the interogatee. The fact that she was an attractive tall female gave her the psychological advantage, especially against an uncouth lout like Raptor. Like most egotistical maniacs, he was his own worst enemy.<br><br>Raptor was getting quite irritated with Alexis's apparent inattention and disdain for him. <strong>"OI BITCH! YOU LISTEN TO ME!!"</strong> He shrieked loudly, rattling the mirrors slightly. His effort only made Alexis make a minor adjustment to her ear plugs. <strong>"We're new to these parts, ya? But unlike you, I got me a foothold here. I got friends in high and low places, so you better cut me loose. I ain't ratting anyone out, you hear me? I like my head where it is thanks!"</strong> Alexis finished her coffee. Without a second glance at Raptor she strolled out the door, the security lock clicking shut behind her.<br><br>********<br><br>Sybil turned her sightless eyes in Alexis's direction as she re-entered the CC. <strong>"Hello Captain, Did you learn anything useful to add to the profile?" </strong>Jace shrugged his shoulders, <strong>"She didn't even talk to him, just stood there sipping coffee while he ranted on and on and on..."</strong> Alexis stifled a little yawn. It was quite late, and she was ready for bed soon. <strong>"Hmm?...oh we learned plenty, you just have to listen."</strong> Jace donned his coat too, <strong>"Listen to what? All he told us was he's some big hiree and he thinks he's untouchable."</strong><br><br>Alexis tossed her empty coffee cup into the trash, waving her hand in the air as she quoted her favorite fictional character, <strong>"Ah Jace, You see, but you do not observe. It's elementary my dear Watson!"</strong> She couldn't help but hide a smug smile as she listed off the spoils of her interrogation. <strong>"He's clearly not from around the area, but he said the warehouse was his 'turf'. Whoever is renting the space is therefore linked and easy for us to look into."</strong> She tossed a few loose files into the cabinets as she continued. <strong>"Second, He said Strike Eagle was lucky it was him on tonight. Means there are other enhanced elements at play. And friends in high and low places? He's new to the city but connected - likely hired by someone. But someone he fears more than respects. Its why he wants to keep his head."</strong><br><br><strong>"So what do we have? We have a person or persons who is rich enough to entice Raptor and other Enhanced to New Orleans. Who has a big enough reputation to scare him into line, who is organized enough to arrange a 'guard rota' for the warehouse, and who is deep enough into esponage to trap EYE5 and kill her. Not exactly a long list, especially when you cross-match it to the warehouse logs and transport of materials in and out of that specific warehouse. We can get on that in the morning though."</strong> she finished off, leaving Jace gobsmacked in the CC. <strong>"Good night everyone! I'm out!"</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>11-06-2016, 21:13:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Sybil was far from idle as she listened to the Captain point out what she had learned from the prisoner.&nbsp; As soon as she started to speak, she had pulled out a tablet like device, touched a spot on it, gave herself a three count, and then started a flurry of typing with one hand.&nbsp; The woman's manual dexterity for her fingers were off the charts and it made one wonder how many words per minute the girl could type.&nbsp; &nbsp;As soon as Alexis finished her run down, Sybil added a few notes of her own before she spoke.&nbsp; <br><br><strong>"Based off the information you gathered on our prisoner, Captain,, I have added to the scope of the warrant the financials behind the warehouse as well as compulsory DNA test so we can determine the civilian identity of the Raptor.&nbsp; I also will have a search program going to see if there are any Espionage Agencies out there moving large sums of money, for I am certain that a man such as our prisoner was not hired for pennies.&nbsp; All of the warrant applications will be waiting for you in your e-mail inbox by tomorrow morning.&nbsp; Do have a good evenings rest and I too will see you in the morning."</strong>&nbsp; After Alexis said good evening, Sybil returned to her work station.&nbsp; There was still work to be done after all, and a few suspicions and leads of her own to chase down before she brought them up to the Captain's attention.<br><hr><br>The new Mandrake Tower overlooked the waterfront district of New Orleans, one of the new buildings that went up in the post Katrina landscape.&nbsp; Standing on the balcony were two figures, both of lean yet muscular physique, tall, and with an Asian cast to their features with sun-kissed skin and up turned eyes.&nbsp; The man had his hands braced on the balcony ledge while the woman was behind him, her lovely breasts pressed into his back as she rubbed back and forth as if she were trying to entice him.&nbsp; When she spoke, her voice was that of pure sex and seduction, a woman that knew how to bring anyone into her bed, be it man or woman, and that it was something indeed, a testament to the focus of her attention's willpower when they refused.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br><strong>"You are brooding too much my Emperor, please.&nbsp; Tonight was but a minor set back.&nbsp; In the long it does nothing to disrupt our plans."</strong>&nbsp; The man leaned against and had one hand reach back to stroke the woman along her muscular thigh and ass.&nbsp; He was not completely immure to her wiles and charms.&nbsp; His voice came out soft, yet lost none of the intimidating and commanding presence that he radiated him like a physical presence.&nbsp; <strong>"No, but if we do not learn form it our plan could be in jeopardy.&nbsp; Our intelligence on this Special Operations Department was flawed.&nbsp; Raptor should have easily cut through and shredded them.&nbsp; This so called Strike Eagle as well.&nbsp; They are both far more cunning and formidable.&nbsp; <em>Invidicus</em> tried to breech their network tonight as he had on past occasions.&nbsp; He could not tonight.&nbsp; They have someone new working on their systems, some that was able to keep him out without a Hyper-Link.&nbsp; He was certain of that.&nbsp; This all needs to be evaluated again..."</strong><br><br>The man was silent for several long heartbeats.&nbsp; The woman let her fingernails trace light patterns over his chest and down to his groin, but never once touching his phallus.&nbsp; She knew if she did so without permission she would be in a night of pure agony and sexual frustration, to be made to enjoy the pain inflicted upon her, and watch through tear filled eyes as her Master and Emperor took some other tart and fucked that woman in front of her bound and helpless form.&nbsp; It was his worse form of punishment, denying Xian the magnificence that was his cock and giving it to someone unworthy.&nbsp; It was a blow indeed to the on that called herself the Jade Empress of the Dynasty, and a line she did not wish to cross, not on this night.&nbsp; She she caressed as she waited for her Emperor to speak once more.<br><br>Eventually he did as he turned about and pressed her body against his, running his hands down to her perfectly shaped and toned buttocks and using them to grip and lift Xian, to force her to wrap her legs about his waist as he started to carry her inside of their suite.&nbsp; He could vent his anger on her willing body.&nbsp; Perhaps a prolonged session on the bondage horse.&nbsp; As he carried her to their private dungeon he spoke again into her ear, a voice full of wicked and sadistic promises about to become true.&nbsp; <strong>"But you are right, that can wait till tomorrow.&nbsp; We will call the Dynasty together, review the data that Raptor collected during his encounter with Special Operations and this Strike Eagle, and device a strategy to neutralize them.&nbsp; We need not kill them, only keep them out of the way till the plan reaches completion.&nbsp; Still, it is as you said, that can be tomorrow.&nbsp; Tonight I can have you learn anew that while you are the Empress of the Dynasty, I am your Emperor and you are always subservient to me!" </strong>&nbsp; Xian let out a deep and carnal purr of desire and wanting at his words, a bare whisper into the night air as they both disappeared into darkness.&nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>"At your command, my Emperor, always at your command."</strong><br><hr><br>It had been a long night indeed for Will.&nbsp; It was only a two hour car trip, but it was a two hour car trip at near four in the morning, after a long day of classes, an evening lecture, research, and then an intense fight with an armored and enhanced psychopath on top of dodging and eluding the police that wanted to arrest his self-admittedly fine ass.&nbsp; He was dead tired, and if he had not had Athena blaring some form of loud noise every time he started to nod off, and for the lack of traffic at the God awful hours before dawn, Will might had been another road death statistic.&nbsp; He wasn't and he was able to make it back to his place and pull into a parking structure that was out of sight from where Athena had pegged someone still having him under observation.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will slipped in the back fire door exit when Athena remotely disabled the alarm, and he returned to his residence no one the wiser.<br><br>It would had been nice if he could had gotten some sleep. but no, he had to unpack the armor in his little workshop and lay it out and have Athena do a full diagnostic on it.&nbsp; He managed about a half hour sleep at best when Athena woke him up.&nbsp; <strong><em>"I am sorry sir, but the armor will need to be taken to the Omni-National research station for further repair.&nbsp; Also if you wish to avoid casting further suspicion upon yourself, you should get up and start heading to your first class.&nbsp; You only have the one class today and after that you can..."crash" as you so call it, and rejuvenate and report to Omni-National this evening." </em></strong><br><br>Will groaned by Athena was right.&nbsp; That was what was so frustration about the AI, she was nearly, almost always, right.&nbsp; After resisting the urge to find someway to gleefully choke the life out of the computer voice, Will sat up and took a quick shower, not even bothering to shave.&nbsp; He thew on a light t-shirt and jeans, grabbed his backpack and was out of the door.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was perhaps a Godsend that there was a Starbucks no more than two blocks from where he lived.&nbsp; He was hitting it at the rush hour so he got on his smart phone and put in an other for a double caramel frapachio, about the only thing that would keep him functioning till he could catch some sleep.&nbsp; He was so focused on ordering his cup of liquid necessity and happiness and he did not see the woman he barreled right into.<br><br>She was solid and no anorexic super model which were becoming the norm about the city.&nbsp; She nearly knocked Will flat on his ass, but that was more due to his current state of fatigue than anything else.&nbsp; Will looked up and his eyes fell upon the woman he ran into, and inwardly he groaned.&nbsp; Of all the people that he could run into.&nbsp; Will was doing a damned piss poor job at remaining out of the spot light.&nbsp; He quickly put on a sheepish smile of embarrassment and held out his hands to Alexis.&nbsp; <strong>"Captain Taylor,&nbsp; I am so sorry about this.&nbsp; Long night studying and I am in caffeine withdrawal.&nbsp; Please, allow me to make up for my manners and running into you by treating you, anything you want its on me?" </strong>&nbsp; Will stood there and hoped to hell he was not raising any red flags with this woman.&nbsp; He did not want to appear as a blip on her radar scope, despite how damned attractive she was.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>29-06-2016, 01:28:17</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis had slept wonderfully well that night. In the first few days on the job they had had a successful op and bagged themselves a mid-level enhanced. Despite a few scrapes and bruises there were no casualties. She woken in the morning just before her alarm rung for 7:00am and&nbsp; took a refreshing shower in her new cascading waterfall-head before donning her suit and leaving for work. She wouldn't admit it, but she rather liked how she looked in the suit for office work. It fit her body comfortably like a second skin, though her body was used to carrying the constricting Kevlar of the beat . Taking her dark squad car, she started towards the precinct bright and early.<br><br>Traffic had been kind enough to put Alexis fifteen minutes ahead and she estimated she would have enough time for a quick drink for work. Her phone chimed a text message from Jace about his new 'toy'. He had gotten his hands on Raptor's armor and was already at work breaking it down into its functional components. Eventually he would be able to cherry-pick the best aspects and adapt them to police equipment or personal items. No matter how bizarre or unusual the items he brought back, he always managed to salvage some sort of useful bits and bobs. Several times his outlandish inventions had proven useful in the field, but they often came with unknown kinks or side effects. The charged shotgun shells were a prime example. Still, Jace was the closet thing Alexis had to an Enhanced Research and Development Department, so she gave his projects her blessing. <br><br>On this morning, Alexis decided that 'blessing' was to be an iced cappuccino, one of Jace's guilty pleasures. She parked her car in the small lot outside the nearby Starbucks and walked in, standing in line for a moment while choosing a drink of her own. She had garnered several sideways glances from the customers, but she had left her badge in her car. All they could see was a well dressed sharp raven haired lady standing in line like everyone else. The que moved quickly and soon Alexis got her hands on the iced cappuccino and and iced Latte for herself. Jace would be happy, and perhaps Sybil would gain some information off Raptor over night.<br><br>As she turned to leave, her phone chimed. Pulling it out she balanced the two drinks in one hand while flicking through her messages. The text from Jace illuminated her screen. <strong>"Best not come into work just yet, Captain. I believe I've created the world's first sonic resonator! It works because all the glass windows on sub-level 3 have been shattered. Just give us half an hour to clean up!"</strong> Alexis rolled her eyes with a sigh as she turned towards the seating area. might as well get a sandwich or something if she was going to whittle 30 minutes away. Just at that moment as she was distracted by her phone, she bumped straight into someone. The iced cappuccino sloshed over the side of the cup, splattering over him as he stumbled backwards. Alexis was swift enough to save her own latte, but the rest of the cappuccino slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor with a cold wet splat.<br><br><em>"Captain Taylor,&nbsp; I am so sorry about this.&nbsp; Long night studying and I am in caffeine withdrawal.&nbsp; Please, allow me to make up for my manners and running into you by treating you, anything you want its on me?"</em><br><br>It took a second for Alexis to recognize him and a flash of recognition passed over her face. Bill? No, Will! That grad student at the lecture theater. Alexis stood for a moment with one eyebrow arched at Will's flowery and poetic prose. Her matter-of-fact attitude clearly showing through in a moment of bluntness. <strong>"Easy, Romeo. I'm not made of tinfoil."</strong> she said, glancing him up and down. <strong>"And it's certainly on you..."</strong> she said, pointing at the slop of cappuccino now dripping from his light shirt and onto his shoes. Deftly she grabbed some paper towel from the nearby cutlery station and handed them over to him. <strong>"Here, don't worry about it, I'll just get a sandwich first."</strong> Alexis did graciously accept Will's offer to pay for her sandwich. His own rugged handsomeness didn't escape her notice, but she was too professional to say anything. They WERE lecturer and student not too long ago...even IF she was the youngest captain, and he was the oldest post-grad student she had ever seen.<br><br>Now that they had sat down, she could have a good look at him. The backpack, t-shirt, and jeans combination gave him a youthful look at first glance, though closer inspection showed he appeared much more mature than a mere student. His general physic was more toned, and his features sharper and rougher. The t-shirt exposed his biceps, which were lean and fatless. They spoke of time spent training in the wilderness or in some military camp rather than in a gym pumping iron. There was a not-so-subtle distinction between 'gym pumped' and 'street hard'. Will seemed to fit both categories at the same time. She quickly took a bite of her sandwich before he might catch her staring. <strong>"So, Will...the university is on the other side of the city. What brings you over to this part of town?" </strong>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>28-07-2016, 05:17:34</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Will was silently cursing himself at the moment.&nbsp; The one person in the whole effing city he needed to keep a low profile with and he ends up spilling his frozen iced coffee with the sweet nirvana of caramel deliciousness all over her.&nbsp; &nbsp;At least the baristas behind the counter saw the accident and gave him a good nature smile in turn and started to replace his drink.&nbsp; As he accepted the napkins from Alexis to clean himself off, he handed over his phone to one of the barista and in a embarrassed and contrite tone said.&nbsp; <strong>"As the lovely lady said, her order is on me.&nbsp; Well that's not exactly true, I mean it is my frapachino over the both of us, but I am making up for it by paying for her order.&nbsp; Yes that is it.&nbsp; Whew, glad that was straightened out."</strong><br><br>That caused no few chuckles from the onlookers as Will did his best to clean up the mess on his t-shirt while waiting for his order to be filled again.&nbsp; It drew more than a few appreciative stares from many of the females in the crowd, and quite a few males too, as near the whole of Will's abdominal area was covered.&nbsp; The t-shirt he was wearing was a bit loose, as if he had at some point had more girth in shoulders and chest, but because of the soaked material, it was clinging to his stomach like a second skin, and did nothing at all to hide the eight-pack Will had under his shirt and outlined every single hard, chiselled line of his abs.&nbsp; <br><br>One woman even gave a low whistle of appreciation and even went so far as to say.&nbsp; <strong>"Now there is proof indeed there is God to give us such a lovely sight on this morning."</strong>&nbsp; There were even a few "MmmmHmmm's" to that, and of course this was quickly followed by a very beat red Will Stuart.&nbsp; It also hit a little bit too home as to why he left Atlanta and came to New Orleans in the first place.&nbsp; He had to keep it off of his face and features for this was the one person that would notice it in a heartbeat, and the last thing he really needed was this woman to get more interested in him.&nbsp; &nbsp;So he did his best to smile and give a playful bow to the crowd, then grab his drink and follow Alexis to the table she had picked out.<br><br>Will sat down and he took a long, deep pull on the straw, almost purring as the sweet, precious, divine caramel mixed with the shot of espresso hit his tongue and throat.&nbsp; &nbsp;He then let out a deep sigh of pleasure that was damned close to being almost sexual in nature before he gave his head a brief shake and focused his attention back upon Alexis.&nbsp; As such he completely missed her checking him out, which was in the long run a good thing as it likely would had made him even more self conscious than he already was for once more he was face to face and keenly aware of just how striking and attractive woman the Captain was.&nbsp; &nbsp;He toyed with his straw as he did his best to recall Alexis' question and to answer it before she became suspicious (even more so) of him.<br><br><strong>"Hmmm, what?&nbsp; Oh, well my place is only two blocks from here and this joint is on the way to the school.&nbsp; I don't like to take my motorcycle to the school for fear it might get stolen so I do a combination of walking and riding the bus to the University.&nbsp; My classes are such they cover late morning to early afternoon.&nbsp; I then grab myself a workout there, or swim at the natatorium, and then head back.&nbsp; Rather dull I will admit, but such is the life of a grad student.&nbsp; I mean you can relate I am certain with all those hours you put in yourself, yes?"</strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Will took another sip, trying to come up with something witty or smart to say to her so he did not look too much more like an idiot than he already was in her eyes.&nbsp; He finally settled on one.&nbsp; He did not know how smart it was if his goal was to remain off of her radar scope, but in the back of his mind, even Will had to admit a certain curiosity behind it, and he wanted to know.&nbsp; <strong>"So, Captain, why New Orleans?&nbsp; I mean if for those wanting to deal day to day with those that have power and abilities I can think of other postings that would have a little more cache to them.&nbsp; New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, even SHIELD.&nbsp; One would not think "Super Villains" and "The Big Easy" together.&nbsp; An officer of your caliber and record I would image could have her pick of assignments."</strong>&nbsp; Will then took another sip of his frap, and waited for her answer, hoping to the powers that be he did not just become the next pet project for this formidable if very attractive woman.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>07-08-2016, 14:14:35</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis took a bite of her sandwich, a delicious BLT with mayo. "Why New Orleans...why not New Orleans?" she mused out loud, chewing slowly as she thought. "I suppose it depends what you think I'm looking for." she said finally. "I won't ask how much you know about my 'caliber and record', but you're right. I could have been posted to Gotham or perhaps New York, maybe even Metropolis if I felt like it, but I chose not to." she nodded in thanks as the barista brought over another drink for her. "I guess to completely understand it you have to know a little of my background. I used to be with Jace in the military as part of the anti-enhanced division. He was R&amp;D, and I was field operative. We were testing out weapons and devices to be used against enhanced supers."<br><br>She waved away Will's look. "Don't be so surprised. You can't seriously expect the government to watch the Avengers or Superman get all the credit and power through their good deeds without worrying about them going rogue. The government's main objective is to protect the state, and the powers that be obviously include protecting themselves from superheros as part of that." She took another bite of her sandwich and a sip of her drink. "That's why they drew of the Segovia Accords against the Avengers and why the government took Superman to Court for damages. It's all about control." she paused to take a sip o fher drink again. "Jace and I weren't the top dogs, but we were the best pair. He always came out with amazing new inventions, and I found unusual but effective ways to use them. If they had any problem or theoretical situation they wanted to solve, they came to us."<br><br>"Inevitably, the government turned our ideas and tactics into weapons. Initially, they said it would only be used on rogue enhanced and villans, but over time we could see they were simply using them for any type of aggressive application, military or civilian."<br><br>"About a year ago, Jace and I found out that some of the tech we had come up with had just been used by riot police against civilians. We decided that enough was enough and quit the program. The top brass weren't happy about it, but we had enough friends among the admin that we could choose where to go. Initially we went our separate ways, but we grouped up again for New Orleans. We thought it was the best place to be. No big challenges, no huge monsters to fight, no sinister big brother watching your every move..." Alexis glanced up to see she wasn't quite convincing Will on that particular point. She gave a sigh and put down her sandwich. It was a pretty heavy topic to start the day out on, but she had already started, so there was no harm in finishing.<br><br>"Look, here's the thing: I'm a good anti-enhanced asset. Real good. Perhaps the best. But to have proper peace, you can't have the best opposing forces in the same city. One of them is going to eventually show up the other, then the revenge rivalry starts. What happens when you get a rivalry between the authorities and say... Superman, or Iron man? You get absolute anarchy...chaos that would destroy the city. I knew that if I went to a major city with a huge enhanced presence, then that just might set off a chain reaction. No, best to stay away from the big guns for now." Alexis picked up her sandwich again, "Does that answer your question? I came to New Orleans ironically, to avoid the enhanced...but it seems like no matter where I go, there's always some."<br><br>Hmm...Will spoke of her 'caliber and record', how would a Grad student know too much about her caliber and record. She was only the new captain, and was his guest lecturer for a single session. Even the most bookwormish of students generally researched the lecture TOPIC, not the lecturer herself. It meant that Will at some point had been curious about her, which in turn made HER curious about HIM. "My turn then, Will. Why New Orleans, and why Criminology in particular? What did you study before hand?" she asked. Not many postgraduate students chose Criminology, and most of those were researchers and academics. Will most certainly did not look anything like a bookworm. His tight shirt (wet with drink) betrayed his rippling muscles, and the uncovered biceps added still to his masculine figure. He made the other post-graduate students look like stick figures.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>12-08-2016, 07:33:51</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Will continues a very slow slurp of his caramel frapachio and listened to everything that Alexis was saying with rapt attention and detail.&nbsp; &nbsp;He even tapped at his smart phone that sent a prearranged signal to <em>Athena</em> to record everything that was happening with the best of her ability.&nbsp; What Alexis was discussing in the hear and now was beyond her official record.&nbsp; It went much towards of the insight of just who and what type of person Will was going to be squaring off with.&nbsp; &nbsp;It Will a lot that she was not one to try to get an "arm" race of enhanced beings on the playing field.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was in a sense what Will was trying to do in a way, with his work and goals.<br><br>Speaking of work and goals she cut to the quick really fast and put Will on the spot just as he kind of put her on the spot.&nbsp; It did not surprise Will, but it also kind of put his whole "fade" into the background and never be a person of interest for her plan right out the window.&nbsp; &nbsp;There was not too much he could had said to deflect her at this point.&nbsp; Will could also sense that Alexis would pick out a lie a mile away.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will took another long pull from his drink of caramel goodness, savoring the taste of it as the drink, the caramel, the whipped cream all pooling together to dissolve upon his tongue.&nbsp; &nbsp;In a way it helped Will center his thoughts about what he was going to say. and to give the lies he was about to say with enough truth to make it sound real.<br><br><strong>"You are right.&nbsp; Before I was an electrical engineer, and was working on a application to OTS for the Air Force.&nbsp; It was when my sister and I were jumped.&nbsp; We were both swimmers on the same team at Georgia Tech.&nbsp; &nbsp;I got shot, lucky to survive.&nbsp; &nbsp;My sister was raped before my eyes and not a damned thing I could do about.&nbsp; &nbsp;She pulled through.&nbsp; &nbsp;She is a tough kid with great support from the private school we attended before college, lots of good friends there.&nbsp; Me not so much and I found myself with this void I could not fill.&nbsp; I could not stay in Atlanta, so I changed my ungrad study to Criminology and moved here to New Orleans to get away from that mind fuck that was in my face every day.&nbsp; My goal is to either become FBI or SHIELD.&nbsp; Likely with my tech background and the work I do at Omni International I will end up at SHIELD.&nbsp; I don't mind.&nbsp; I just want to be a part of something where I don't ever have to feel that helpless or powerless again."</strong><br><br>Will sighed and too another deep drink of his basically fancied up caramel milkshake, and started to hear the slurping sounds of scraping rock bottom.&nbsp; He tried not to appear too nervous, or anything else in retelling of his tale.&nbsp; He wanted her to believe that his motivation was the next step was law enforcement, that he was looking to some future point to direct his motivation and energy, not that he was doing so right now at this moment.&nbsp; He turned and started to swirl the plastic cup in hand as a means to get the rest of the drink to settle at the bottom for him to get.&nbsp; No sweet, near nirvana drink and caramel shall escape him as he waited for what this formidable and observant woman would say next.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>17-08-2016, 18:05:19</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis listened in silence, it wasn't quite what she was expecting him to say. Most people came up with family connections, or other circumstances that forced a change of major in university, or something that forced a city change. She hadn't expected him to be so open about his sister's rape. He didn't really explain the details of it, and she didn't expect them. It was enough that he shared it with her. Something like that never left relatives untouched. It either strengthened or weakened them. Clearly he had been through a very rough time. <strong>"I'm really sorry to hear all that."</strong> she said with genuine feeling. <strong>"I've dealt with rape victims in the past, but I can't imagine what the experience is like, or to be so close to someone in that situation."</strong><br><br>She sensed that wasn't the whole truth. People had to keep some things secret, especially about something so personal. She also suspected Will probably did more than tech, since his t-shirt didn't hide his Greek-god like physique. Passing ladies were still craning their necks to get a look at those biceps and pecs. Alexis stole a quick glance at them herself. They looked hard and lean like the muscles of warrior, not the shiny over-inflated pillows of a vain body builder. Alexis would have almost bet he had been in the military too, or perhaps an athlete of some strenuous sport. Alexis was tempted to prod further, but Will wasn't a suspect or criminal. He didn't deserve to be put under the interrogator's spotlight, especially over something so personal. No, she would save the waterboarding for someone else far less scrupulous.<br><br>Finishing off her sandwich, she crumpled up the wrapping and tossed it in the nearby bin. Rising from her seat, she checked her watch, 5 minutes late. Shit. Dusting off the crumbs she gathered up her drinks. <strong>"Fair enough, going for FBI or SHIELD, hmm? They'll probably want some shop-floor experience to put you ahead of the other people applying. If you've not served on the front line, perhaps some time in the tech department might be useful."</strong> She rummaged in her coat pocket before pulling out a crinkled business card. <strong>"Here, if your course gives you any free time, you might want to see if Jace has any apprenticeships or experience posts with him. He'd definitely appreciate any help he could get, and it would look good on a CV."</strong> Heading back out to her car, she hopped in with the window rolled down. <strong>"I'd say take care of yourself, but it looks like you're doing a good job of that. Give Jace a call if you think you've got time for extra curriculars. See you next lecture!"</strong> she called, as she drove off.<br><br>********<br><br>Alexis arrived at work to find most of the staff assembled in the parking lot out front. The doors and windows of the Police Precinct were open and billowing white smoke streamed out from all sides. A quick glance told her the staff were more annoyed than in danger. Her suspicions were further confirmed as Jace emerged from the building escorted by two irate firemen, his suit singed and smoldering. A pair of large goggles were perched comically over his eyes, blackened with soot. Alexis strolled over to Sybil who was sitting cross-legged on a bench next to Officer Johnson, one of the standard cops. <strong>"Alright...what has Jace done this time?"</strong> she asked them, perching herself on the bench next to Sybil.<br><br>Johnson scowled and shook his head. <strong>"That...that 'tinker' of yours set off a bomb in the basement! Ruined the fire alarms, set off the smoke detectors...everything!"</strong> Alexis looked quizzically at Sybil for clarification. The blind technomancer answered, as if sensing Alexis's gaze. <strong>"I believe Jace had disassembled Raptor's equipment and reformulated several components to create a sound emitter capable of similar levels of amplitude as Raptor himself."</strong> Alexis nodded, <strong>"So he's made a noise grenade. Why all the smoke and catastrophe?"</strong> Sybil gave a small smile, <strong>"It appears he underestimated the effect of the sound's micro-vibrations on the delicate detection circuitry of the smoke detectors and the florescent lights."</strong> Johnson sighed and dusted himself off. <strong>"Damn gadget blew up the lights, then sparks set fire to his workshop."</strong> Alexis chuckled, <strong>"Well, Jace's first tries almost never do what he thinks they do. But give him a few revisions and he'll come up with something practical."</strong><br><br>She made her way over to Jace, handing him the iced drink from Starbucks. <strong>"Hey Champ...don't bring the house down just yet. The paint's still drying."</strong> Jace plucked off his goggles, gleefully taking a slurp of the cooled sweet coffee. <strong>"Hey Lex, it's pretty effective isn't it? I can even set it to a specific frequency if I want to. Eventually, might be able to disable sound-sensors or deafen specific people!"</strong> The firemen behind him shook his head before heading back to their engine. As the smoke cleared and the trucks left one by one, the staff slowly began filtering back into the station.<br><br><strong>"Just in case you've got too much on your hands, I gave on of the post grad students your card. He might ring you soon for an apprenticeship. It's that Will Stuart guy, the one EYE5 was supposed to track but got way-laid?"</strong> explained Alexis as they settled into the office. Jace frowned for a moment, <strong>"Huh...Why would you give it to him? I thought we were supposed to keep our stuff secret, especially from someone you had tried to follow!"</strong> Alexis's eyes fairly gleamed at the rouse, <strong>"Exactly! If he's trying to snoop around, this opportunity would be bait to bring him in. Sure he might find out a few things, but we might find out more from him. If it's just a coincidence, he might lend a hand to the tech department. Either way, we might gain something!"</strong>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>27-08-2016, 07:40:38</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Will continued to toy with his drink, stirring the straw about to get the excess caramel that coated the sides of the plastic cup, working it back down to the mixture that was whipped cream and the frapachino.&nbsp; In reality he was gathering up his thoughts to respond to Alexis, to work past bad memories, sensations, emotions.&nbsp; When he lost his powers, it was a very...difficult adjustment, going from hero to...ordinary.&nbsp; It was part of the reason why the Strike Eagle armor was created by his immortal friend, Gene Trison as a way of coping with the changes that happened in Will's life.&nbsp; He did not take the gesture...well.&nbsp; Then came the incident.<br><br>Once more Will felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness as he did that day.&nbsp; He breathed in deep and let it out slow, to have the sensation purge out of him, that feeling of uselessness and powerlessness that happened that night.&nbsp; It was also the same night that Will stole the Strike Eagle armor had had taken it out to track down the men that had raped his sister.&nbsp; He had gone there with every intention of killing them, but in the end, as Will had one of the scumbags, his armored gauntlet wrapped about his neck ready to break the man's neck, he realized that not all of his fury was directed at the men, that a good portion of it was against Will himself, and his ego.&nbsp; Will dropped the man, and informed the police, and walked away, from Atlanta, the Free Corps, all if it and came here to New Orleans.<br><br>A fresh start.<br><br>Will gave his head a shake as he looked back up to Alexis and gave her a nervous smile, hoping she would not look deeper than that and it was bad memories that caused his mood to shift as it did.&nbsp; <strong>"Yes, it is no picnic that is for sure."</strong>&nbsp; Will kept it at that and sucked down another mouthful of his drink.&nbsp; All of a sudden the drink that was among the favorite in the word did not taste so good anymore.&nbsp; He played with the straw as he listened to Alexis again, nodding his head to her and then cocking his head to the side as she slide over the business card.&nbsp; He held it up and studied it for a moment before putting it down again, his gaze falling up her again.&nbsp; <br><br><strong>"Thank you for this Captain.&nbsp; I..I am stunned by this.&nbsp; I will give this some serious thought.&nbsp; &nbsp;I mean what you doing with the Special Operations Division, the technology that you have access too in order to take on and put down some of the potential threats you will be up against, that will be some cutting edge stuff, and the engineer inside me is salivating at the chance, but I need to make certain my studies will not effected.&nbsp; I am close now to completely my thesis and don't want anything to get in the way, no matter how cool or awesome that the distraction would be.&nbsp; &nbsp;Still, I will give it some serious thought.&nbsp; Until we see one another again Captain, and when it does happen, that is it under...well better terms than this morning." </strong>&nbsp; <br><br>Will watched her walk away, doing his best not to check her out as he did so.&nbsp; Again Will had to give himself a vigorous shake of his head.&nbsp; As he did, Will gave a soft mutter to himself.&nbsp; <strong>"I so need to get laid..."</strong>&nbsp; Another shake, and Will pushed himself off from the table and tossed away the rest of his drink, the sweet goodness that was his only harmless vice.&nbsp; It no longer held the appeal it did&nbsp; when he had walked into the coffee shop that morning.&nbsp; Will walked out of the shop, and put on his headphones, pulling up <em>Celtic Women: Destiny</em>.&nbsp; He did not get ten steps before Athena pipped up.<br><br><strong><em>"An interesting offer Captain Taylor offered you.&nbsp; Of course if you are a person of interest for her, it would be an attempt to observe you more, and by working normal hours with the police department you would not have the...flexibility...that you enjoy currently.&nbsp; Still, the intelligence value in being close to the police department, to have access to the same information they have, to know what technology they could bring to the field.&nbsp; The risk is there, but so is the reward.&nbsp; As always with you, Sir, I recommend caution and restraint, but in the end, the decision will be yours."</em></strong>&nbsp; <br><br>Will said nothing right at the moment.&nbsp; &nbsp;Athena had neatly laid out the pros and the cons behind Alexis' offer.&nbsp; As Will had told the good Captain with a gain of truth, her offer was going to take some though, just not for the reasons he had told her.&nbsp; &nbsp;So with the sounds of the <em>Skyrim</em> theme sung to Gaelic.&nbsp; Yes, careful and considered thoughts were required, for he was also certain that not accepting the Captain's offer would be painting even more of a target between his shoulder blades than was already there.<br><hr><br>Sybil was still smiling to herself.&nbsp; While it had been only a day and half since she arrived but she was already very much enjoying this assignment.&nbsp; It seemed that the NOPD command had did something right, which was a surprise given the number of terrible decisions that had made in the past, some of them far more recent than they would be comfortable to admit.&nbsp; The right decision was letting Captain Taylor having a free hand in who she selected for her department.&nbsp; While it was true that Sybil was not one of those people she had selected, it was a mutually respected and highly placed agent of SHIELD that had recommended her to Captain Taylor.&nbsp; There was a good chemistry and relationship here among the people, men and women that have respect and loyalty for the Captain.&nbsp; It was a good thing to be a part of such a unit once more.<br><br>There was a beep from her workstation and Sybil turned her attention letting the data stream pass before her in the virtual reality that she could see, perceive, and interact with.&nbsp; Her fingers started their weave and dance in the air before her monitor, the light show that had started the previous night.&nbsp; She frowned as she did, and then brought up the radio communication for both the Lieutenant and the Captain.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Lieutenant, Captain, I have something.&nbsp; The suspected location of the Ravstov bratva is currently on fire.&nbsp; NOFD is on the scene but they are saying the building is a lost cause and are now making sure that the fire does not spread.&nbsp; The fire was so intense that it caused stone to crack and metal to melt.&nbsp; I thought this might by an item of...interest for the both of you."</em></strong>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>04-09-2016, 01:54:13</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis sat with furrowed brow at her desk in her office. She had been spending the last hour doing the mandatory scribbles associated with her recent mission down at the docks. Along with this, she had been browsing the autopsy report for EYE5, a rather interesting and unusual report. The coroner had reported multiple shallow lacerations on the body, which had been inflicted before the fatal fatal throat wound. There were no signs of struggle or resistance. However there were also no signs of restraints or confinement. Looking over the wound pictures, there was no sign of wavering or varying depth. Very strange, as a struggling person would invariably pull the wound one way or another. Someone or something, had managed to abduct and transport EYE5 without a struggle. They had then been able to injury EYE5 on multiple occasions without engaging in a direct melee. They Then killed her and left her body without a pool of blood or trail...very strange and unusual. Something Alexis would have expected from some paranormal movie or scifi horror film. Alexis looked up from her mound of paperwork at Sybil's voice crackling over her intercom. <strong>"Hmm, a diversion from paperwork, cool!"</strong> Shoving the autopsy report in her draw, she rose from her seat, picking up her kevlar vest, and ear piece. <strong>"Let's meet in the CC. Jace, have you got anything useful for me for this?"</strong><br><br>When she got to the Command Center, Jace was already there with Sybil and I1. Jace scratched his rotund chin as he flicked through his list on his PDA. <strong>"Sonic grenades...superlight boots...no not inflatable earrings.....Aha I've got it, be right back!"</strong> He waddled off, huffing and puffing and returned a few minutes later with a mat black box. <strong>"It's not the finished product..."</strong> *When is it ever a finished product* muttered Alexis under her breath, <strong>"...ehem!...but never the less, it should be useful!"</strong> Jace continued, magnificently ignoring Alexis' quip. <strong>"This is my pyro-guard version 2.1."</strong> he proclaimed proudly, pulling the box open and revealing what looked like a futuristic arm guard with a small keypad on the inside of the wrist. Jace placed it on Alexis's outstretched arm, securing it in place with buckles. <strong>"It's my latest improvement on heat deflection based on the old Armadillo armor we salvaged back in Shanghai."</strong><br><br><strong>"It'll create a passive personal heat shell around you to keep the temperature below 40 degrees unless you step directly over a fire."</strong> Explained Jace as Alexis switched the guard on, a low hum emanating from it. <strong>"You can temporarily overcharge the guard to extinguish any fires around you and to provide a heat/light barrier in a small 'shield' area in front of it. That should stop any fireballs or lasers or similar that get thrown at you. Remember that's only heat and light, so it won't stop a falling rock or a bullet from coming through. It'll also be inactive for at least 10-20 seconds after each overcharge though...so choose your moment!" </strong><br><br>Alexis nodded with satisfaction. <strong>"Sounds good. Ok, we're on folks. As far as anyone else is concerned it's just a bad fire. No one needs to know the Enhanced Division is snooping around. Sybil, you know those two bugs your purged earlier when you swept our system? I'm sure whoever's trying to spy on us has other eyes and ears somewhere in the station. We'll use Jace's closed channel for communication like last time. I1, see if you can get an EYE or an EAR to shadow us and observe from a distance. We're not there to engage anyone - only to have a look."</strong><br><br>Sybil's head tilted slightly as a new message came through, <strong>"Be advised Captain, NOFD have suspicions that it was arson."</strong> Alexis grinned, <strong>"Perfect, I won't even have to take my car."</strong><br><br>---<br><br>Ten minutes later, a few NOPD squad cars pulled up at the outer perimeter of the blazing inferno. An inspector and several cops exited the vehicles and made their way to the firemen who were waiting by their trucks. The inspector pulled out his ID, waving it in the fire marshal's face. <strong>"Inspector Dobson, NOPD, what have we here?"</strong> The fire marshal pulled of his helmet, wiping the sweat and soot from his brow. <strong>"It's just too powerful. We've tried water, foam, CO2, it's just not dying down. That building's built of solid stuff. The fire must have found volatile chemicals or fuel. It's too dangerous to send anyone else in. All we can do is create a perimeter and wait till it dies down!"</strong> He turned to survey the blazing building, <strong>"Strangely, despite the heat, it's not touched the other buildings, even though they're pretty close. We'll do our best to make sure it stays put, but the whole thing is a no-go zone right now."</strong><br><br>Off to the side, one of the cops slipped into an alleyway when no one was looking. Pulling off her hat and shedding her 'trainee' cop uniform, Alexis thrust them into a dumpster to be picked up later. With her familiar Kevlar vest and pyro-guard, she crept around the corner towards the blazing building. Only a few firemen were on watch, and with their backs to her, it was easy to slip past them. As she stepped closer, Alexis could see already the blaze wasn't normal. The building was a solidly built fortress hidden among the concrete jungle of the city. Yet despite it's robust design, the bricks themselves seem to blaze with an unnaturally bright orange flame. Alexis checked quickly around her as she spoke to her team. <strong>"Place looks shutdown and locked up. Even has bars and boards over the windows. What do we know about this Bratvia and this location? Anything worth mentioning to me before I do a fire-walk?"</strong><br><br>Back in the CC, Sybil already had the Bratvia files up on the screen for Jace to read out. <strong>"According to narcotics and organized crime, that's supposed to be one of the hide-outs of Ravstov Bratvia, a high member of the Russian mob. He's one of, if not the leaders of smuggling and organized Russian crime in this area."</strong> said Jace as he scrolled down through the information. <strong>"He's meant to be quite careful, only doing business through aliases and lackeys, which makes taking him down so hard. To make things worse, he has lots of these hideouts dotted around the New Orleans areas. Some of them are hidden well, others are in plain sight and protected by red tape rather than secrecy."</strong><br><br>Jace flicked further through the files, <strong>"That particular hideout...used to be the old bank building in the late 50s, before it was bought and sold privately through several companies. I think the latest owner relinquished control of it due to 'unforeseen personal circumstances'. I guess he was bullied out of it?"</strong> Jace glanced over more screens helpfully brought up by Sybil. <strong>"Yeah, looks like there was a spike in the number of homicides and vandalism charges around the area just before it was given up. One of the couriers took a brutal beating whilst doing a transfer run. When the lease on the building was given up and not renewed, the crimes stopped."</strong> Jace took a sip of tea before continuing, <strong>"Ahhh...that's good stuff. As for the building's blueprints, we can't find an electronic version. I think it was build and maintained back when everything was paper. Chances are, only the original architect or engineer has those files, and goodness knows where they are."</strong><br><br>Alexis checked carefully around as she approached the sidewall. A single fire-exit door remained untouched and closed. Gingerly she spat on the door, her spit dripping slowly down the metal surface. <strong>"Ok, looks like I found a way that isn't burning."</strong> The hinges were rusted and brittle, and a few solid smacks with her baton shattered them. Alexis stood to one side as the old door felt outward with a groaning creak. <strong>"Right, I'm in. Camera's on!"</strong> Jace nearly spat out his tea, <strong>"Wait, what!? You're in!?"</strong> Jace raced over to Sybil, who had Alexis's live camera feed up and playing. <strong>"Alexis you're supposed to be observing only, not investigating or getting involved!"</strong>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>14-09-2016, 06:03:01</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Sybil was right there with Jace.&nbsp; In the very short time the two had been together they had managed to form a good synergy with one another.&nbsp; She was bringing up the information as fast as she could and pulling it from data sources that were not normally available to the NOPD.&nbsp; She was very conscious of the limits and did not delve into the level of hacking that the NSA did, even though she was more than fully capable of it.&nbsp; She tried to ignore the little itch that some cellphone camera turned on and providing additional data to the search and interface programs that Sybil designed to break down video information into elements and reconstruct the data into a mystical virtual reality that she could see and interact.&nbsp; This was no longer SHIELD and she had new rules and restrictions she had to follow, especially since they were dealing with a wanted criminal.&nbsp; &nbsp;Sybil did frown at the Captain's words and turned to Jace while speaking at the same time.&nbsp; <strong>"Captain, we have no means of seeing what is down there.&nbsp; We are blind.&nbsp; If you go in there now we have no means to provide you support from here."</strong><br><br>Sybil was not the only one monitoring the situation.&nbsp; In fact it was her actions and manipulation of data that sparked Athena's keen interest.&nbsp; Even though she was an AI, she nearly had free will and only a moral code restricting her.&nbsp; Nether restrictions nor moral code did anything to leash her curiosity, and Sybil's work upon the whole information grid was not unknown to Athena even if she did go out of her way to avoid notice.&nbsp; Whoever was behind it though normally lead to such interesting caches of information.&nbsp; This one was leading Athena to the location of the Bratva.&nbsp; <br><br>Interesting since Will had been doing his best to disrupt their operations in New Orleans so the price of business would become to high for them to continue to operate.&nbsp; &nbsp;He knew that he could not take the organization down through sheer brute force, beating up its minions.&nbsp; The minions feared their overseers far more than they did Strike Eagle for mere intimidation to work.&nbsp; No, instead he let that own fear work for him in a different way by targeting and taking out their operations, hit and run operations designed to make those in charge of it look incompetent.&nbsp; The Bratvia had very little patience or understanding when it came to incompetence.&nbsp; Enough of their top operatives dealt with due to said incompetence, enough money lost, that would achieve the same result that people wanted, the Russian mafia out of New Orleans.<br><br>Since it was dealing with one of there top lieutenant in the area, in a building that not even Athena had sniffed out before now, she thought it was well worth Will's attention.&nbsp; &nbsp;So she felt totally justified in interrupting Will's current research effort for his classes.&nbsp; He would not mind at all, he hated research, especially when Athena would not help him.&nbsp; Assist him all she would when it came to his mission as Strike Eagle, but the AI drew the line at doing his class work for him.&nbsp; After all, he would be getting all the credit, not Athena.&nbsp; Even for an AI she had a little bit too much pride for that.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Something of interest to you, Sir.&nbsp; Operations area of the Ravstov Bratvia currently on fire.&nbsp; NOFD and the NOPD on scene, to include the charming Captain Taylor.&nbsp; &nbsp;If she is there, it might be worth your attention?"</em></strong> <br><br>Will merely stared at the screen and even though it was a bit, stuck his tongue out at Athena.&nbsp; <strong>"You merely enjoy watching me write my papers at the last moment and thus always put up distractions to make that happen."</strong>&nbsp; It was a bit unfair as Will was more than willing to be a distraction, but he was a bit miffed that she would not help with at least tracing down reference material to cite for his papers.&nbsp; &nbsp;That did not stop Will from looking over the data.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was something significant, and not something he could ignore if he wanted fresh intel.&nbsp; Of late Athena had been adamant about not hacking the NOPD servers for data.&nbsp; She would not explain why, and with Captain Taylor present, that mean any relevant data could be lost because of Athena's latest quirk.&nbsp; Damaged armor or no, Will had best check it out.&nbsp; Will gave a mock sigh and got up from his chair and moved to where he stored the armor.&nbsp; <strong>"Fine, you had be a Bratvia.&nbsp; Lets go..."</strong>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>24-09-2016, 01:26:04</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis ducked through the outer door into the room before her. <strong>"You can't see the feed? Oh come on, It's a GoPro! It's build for this kind of abuse. I got it just a few days ago... most of the police force often use these things."</strong> She tapped the hardy little recorder on her shoulder. <strong>"There, you should be able to see a little at least with the light."</strong> The room looked like a storage room, with coats, boots, and a few hats. While nothing was on fire, there were signs the heat was beginning to take its toll. The plastic buckets were warping, and the glassware on the shelf had shattered from the heat. The floor and ceiling were charred slightly, and Alexis could feel the oppressive heat radiating from the building's walls. <strong>"Looks like this particular room's been spared from the fire, perhaps it was started somewhere else?"</strong> she mused, as she she moved through to the back wall.<br><br>On the far side of the room was a wooden door oddly untouched by the fire. Alexis reached out to touch the doorknob and pulled her hand back sharply with a hiss. It was searing hot, even with the pyroguard's protection. <strong>"That's odd...it's super hot, but the door's not blackened or burned."</strong> Alexis steeled herself and pulled hard on the door-handle. She got a brief glimpse of a wall of fire before it engulfed the captain and the entire room in a roar of seething flames. Coats, boots, hats, glasses and all were consumed in the fire. Alexis's shout of dismay was drowned out as the ceiling gave way and partially collapsed into the room.<br><br>Over the comm, Jace and Sybil heard the whoosh and crash. <strong>"Alexis! Alexis are you alright? Can you hear me? Hello!"</strong> There was a heart stopping silence before the heard the shifting of rubble and Alexis grunt, <strong>"Yep... You're right about the guard. It's great for stopping heat and fire, not so great stopping falling debris."</strong> she said as she pulled herself out from under the collapsed door-frame and door. Getting to her feet, she dusted herself down before turning back to the inner door. <strong>"That's very curious...Take a good look at this..."</strong> The wall of flame remained in place, burning fiercely without fuel and blocking the doorway entirely. <strong>"This is definitely not ordinary fire."</strong> murmured Alexis. She stooped to pick up a shattered chair leg and tossed it into the flames. There was a bright flash as the wood was consumed instantly, falling to ash on the floor.<br><br>Back at the CC, Jace was sweating profusely, despite not actually being on fire himself. <strong>"Eh, well that's super interesting 'Lex. Perhaps we should get you some backup? I mean... you've confirmed it's an enhanced fire. Why not get some more troops in there?"</strong><br><br>Alexis was already watching the pryoguard recharge for activation. <strong>"Hey I'm not getting in trouble. I'm just having a look around! I think I can handle it myself with this handy gadget. Let's jump the fence shall we?"</strong> Activating the guard again she took a run at the flame wall. The guard whined and strained under the power of the enhanced fire before finally expiring with a hiss and pop, managing to keep the flames at bay until the last second before the shields broke. Alexis tumbled to the floor beyond the flames, her Kevlar vest smoking and singed. <strong>"See, that wasn't so bad."</strong> she said <strong>"Oh hello look at this! Can you see what I'm seeing?"</strong><br><br>Jace frowned thoughtfully at the feed. <strong>"That's beyond the fire? Its like a mansion in there, paintings, marble, carpets and all! Quite expensive trappings for a place in the concrete jungle slums."</strong> Sybil was already bringing up various known enhanced users to the screen, prioritizing any with known or suspected links to Raptor. <strong>"I believe the Captain means to indicate that the inside of the building is not on fire. Only the outside appears to be burning. That wall of fire appears to prevent anything passing through. Obviously someone is trying to keep something inside while preventing anything from getting in from the outside."</strong><br><br>Alexis nodded, <strong>"That's precisely right. Someone's faked the fire to cover what's going on in here...and we're going to find out."</strong><br><br>Deeper in the building's basement, a woman was concentrating hard on a chant. All around her were the remaining living Bratvia members, bound and incapacitated at her mercy. Already there was much blood on the floor where some of the more unfortunate members had been sacrificed. The lady's smooth silky voice disrupted momentarily when Alexis crashed through the fire barrier. Without turning her head, she flicked a hand at the looming dark figure behind her. <strong>"We have an intruder...deal with her!"</strong>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>11-10-2016, 07:53:19</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The communications should had been jammed, the Captain cut off from the command center that had been established at Special Operations.&nbsp; For any other law enforcement, or even military organizations would had lost the link.&nbsp; Sybil however was not any simple technician, but at the same time, this was no ordinary type of electronic jamming.&nbsp; There were elements that Sybil recognized as her own touch and talent, something that she thought was impossible.&nbsp; No one she encountered to date could do what she did, but she was seeing evidence of it right before her.&nbsp; She frowned and did her best to cut through it, and as she did so, both her and Jace heard clear as night the woman telling someone to "deal" with Alexis.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Sybill did not waste any time at all and opened communications to all units.&nbsp; &nbsp;Jace did not even wait for her to put the call out, already running for the exit and a car to jump into.&nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>"All units all units, officer under fire, repeat officer under fire.&nbsp; &nbsp;All units respond and converge.&nbsp; &nbsp;Repeat shots fired shots fire and officer under fire..."</strong>&nbsp; As she put out what was the second most dire alert on the police as she sent the address to every police vehicle, phone, and radio on the network.&nbsp; &nbsp;Even inside the building, she could hear the sirens blaring as police all about the precinct tore off as fast as they could keep their vehicles under control to where Alexis was.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>It was also how Athena got the word as well and informed Will as he was less than a minute away from the old bank structure.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Police have put out a system wide alert for officer under fire.&nbsp; I do believe Captain Taylor is under trouble."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will frowned as he looked at the HUD inside the helmet, scanning over the data that he was being fed.&nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>"If so then she is down there deep in the structure, below the water line a the armor did not register any gunshots at all, and you know as well as I do we can pick them up over a mile away with the forensic suite."</strong>&nbsp; Athena responded to that with a thought of her own.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Only if firearms were used.&nbsp; Raptor did not use them after all, and he took down several officers quickly and quietly.&nbsp; He was hired to take out or cause chaos in the NOPD.&nbsp; What if he was not the only one so hired?"</em></strong>&nbsp; Will swore at that, and then focused on what used to be a skylight of the structure that was rapidly approaching.&nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>"Override safeties, maximum speed, now Athena!"</strong><br><br>The AI complied with the order without argument.&nbsp; It was one of the orders she did not have to question, which she was glad of as she did not like arguing with Will when human lives were on the line.&nbsp; &nbsp;Any order that would had made any of the armor's offense systems lethal to humans, or any action that would put bystanders at risk had built in safeties too allow Athena to use her best judgement through all data available to her to override.&nbsp; It was a system weighted priorities, with several programed scenarios given different order of precedence.&nbsp; City officials such as fire and police department in danger was fairly up there in the system, just a step below a child in danger which allowed Athena to allow Will use the armor as he wished.&nbsp; &nbsp;That was how Will hit the compromised ceiling of the building like a small meteor from the sky, going through the first two floors and into the sub structure.&nbsp; &nbsp;Athena had already lined him up so his entrance will cause as little damage to the already weakened building while at the same time giving Will the "shock and awe" entrance that normally caused many opponents to pause and freeze up, giving him the time for the wings of his armor to retract and allow him to engage in combat.<br><br>That was how Alexis witnessed Strike Eagle coming in like some military missile launched, ceiling and building debris coming down upon him and for about five yards around him a hit hit the vault floor with enough force to cause it to buck like a small earthquake about 50 yards away from her.&nbsp; &nbsp;That put the woman that was finishing up with her blade work on the next victim, slicing the&nbsp; person's throat and spilling the blood into some large furrow gouged in the hard concrete of the vault floor.&nbsp; &nbsp;The immediate danger for Alexis as off to her right, the person that the woman had spoke too came into view.&nbsp; The thing was near as large and a broad as pictures of the Hulk which Alexis had seen, a large, over muscled man whose skin was black as ink and as glossy as onyx, and he too made the ground shake as he took his steps towards her, only stopping about ten feet away from her after Strike Eagle arrived, the thing's head turning to look at Strike Eagle, giving Alexis a few precious seconds to act.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>04-11-2016, 01:55:07</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis crept down the corridor, and into a large stairwell that ran around the edges of the main lobby. Overhead, she could see daylight through the skylight, along with the persistent flickering of flames licking the wooden frames. Along the floor, a small blood trail was converging with others, forming a rather obvious path deeper into the compound. Around and around, she followed it into the basement, where lead to the vault. The solid steel vault door had been twisted open, as if ripped apart by an irresistible force. Alexis frowned as chatter from various radios came in over her comm. A gargled mash of voices all converging on her location. <strong>"Hey! What's going on, I didn't call for backup, why is everyone..." </strong>Suddenly, her instincts kicked in and she ducked hard, throwing herself sideways as the door she had just passed through burst open in a shower of splinters and brick-dust.<br><br>The huge arms of Onyx Blade smashed easily through the frame, narrowly missing the agile Captain as she rolled away to the center of the room. Drawing her sidearm, she leveled it at the obsidian monster, noting how his skin glinted with a dull stony shine. As he entered the room, he didn't bother ducking, merely walking through the broken doorway, knocking a section of wall out with it. <em>A bullet would be unlikely to get through that...</em> Just as she was sizing him up, a second door opened and a woman walked through. She was dressed in a slender outfit, with the soft flicker of flames dancing along her arms and hands. So this was the woman responsible for setting the Bratvia safe-house on fire. By the blood dripping from the dagger in her hand, she was also responsible for the blood-trails too. The odds were looking unfavorable for the captain, as she drew her second sidearm, trying to keep on trained on each of the Enhanced. <strong>"We have wasted enough time, deal with her."</strong><br><br>The slightest tinkle of the breaking skylight alerted Alexis again and her reflexes saved her. Tucking herself into a ball, she rolled backward away from the two. A fraction of a second later, the ceiling exploded as Strike Eagle made his grand entrance. Daylight streamed down upon him, giving him an angelic appearance as his wings folded away. His sudden show allowed Alexis to duck down behind a large safe, keeping her guns trained on the two enemies. The fight had swing more in her favor, but they were by no means assured victory. It was still a 2v2, and in the small confines of the vault, Strike Eagle's flight would be severely hampered. Alexis had already made the assumption he was on her side. Or at least she assumed they shared mutual enemies.<br><br>The momentary respite was all they got, as the lumbering Onyx Blade roared and charged at Strike Eagle. As if in slow motion, Alexis watched the smaller Enhanced duck a haymaker and hammer several strikes into Onyx's side, dodging yet again as the black giant turned awkwardly. Again he swerved and struck from another angle, always keeping once step ahead of his adversary. His graceful yet simple movements were a dance. A dance where he was definitely leading. With every hit, Onyx's body rang out with a peculiar clang, as if Strike Eagle was pounding his fists against a crystal rod. As the pair dueled he was forced to turn his back on Jade. The fiery enhanced seized her moment and threw a double stream of fire at his exposed back.<br><br>Darting out from behind cover, Alexis leapt to block the way, raising her pyroguard. There was a shrill squeal and an explosion of smoke as the guard negated the fireball, along with a sharp bang as Alexis fired back through her barrier. With so much smoke obscuring the view, Alexis's aim was off. Otherwise she may have killed Jade right there. As her vision cleared, she could see Jade retreated back into the other rooms clutching a bleeding shoulder. <strong>"Oh no you don't...You're not getting away so easily!"</strong> she murmured through gritted teeth as she gave chase deeper into the basement vault.<br><br>Following close behind she almost had her head sliced off as Jade swung the dagger. Only a raised arm caused the blade to catch on the pyroguard before she tried to kick Jade away. Despite her injuries, the woman remained elusive, managing to acrobat her way across the room while evading Alexis bullets. The police captain herself was quite tough, managing to keep up through sheer willpower and stamina rather than dexterity. Down the vault corridor she pursued Jade, passing many rooms with expensive hidden antiquities and piles of pilfered gold, no doubt the Bratvia's secret stash. More than once the close melee between the women was interrupted as Strike Eagle and Onyx Blade crashed through the walls. As ever, their fight was accompanied by the melodic clang of the black giant's skin, seemingly impervious to any effort to break through. That gave Alexis a little idea...<br><br>*****<br><br>Officer Johnson had his foot glued to the gas as he and Lieutenant Jace lead the convoy of over 10 squad cards towards Alexis's location. Jace was sweating up a storm listening to what was happening over the Comms. All he could hear was the monstrous roar of Onyx Blade in battle and the odd fireball explosion hurled at Alexis as she gave chase through the building. <strong>"Alexis! Stay put! We're coming as fast as we can. Just try to stay out of trouble!"</strong> he called into his radio. After a few crackles, Alexis's voice came through, <strong>"Jace! Sybil! I need you to do something for me. Can you hear that pinging? Can you find out what note that is? I need to program your sound grenade to emit that specific note. Yes, I stole it off your workbench, Jace. We can talk about it later."</strong><br><br>Already Sybil had brought up an audio extraction software and was quickly isolating the specific frequency. She could already imagine what Alexis was planning to do with such a sound grenade. <strong>"It's a dual tone, Captain. D-Sharp off middle C, and A-Sharp below middle C. I believe focusing on A-Sharp would yield a greater harmonic attainment. Using Jace's schematics..."</strong> she said, ignoring Jace's indignant "Oi! Out of my Invention Files!"... <strong>"I would say adjusting the dial 5 clicks clockwise off center should program the grenade to A-Sharp!"</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>16-11-2016, 05:25:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It was only a matter of time, but that was the point, what Will was fighting for, time.&nbsp; Nothing he was doing had any effect upon this mountain come to life before him.&nbsp; There was the sound of heavy crystal breaking, but it was not enough.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will had hoped that whatever was covering this man had only been a inch thick as most.&nbsp; &nbsp;No such luck for him as it seemed like the man had transformed himself into solid onyx.&nbsp; It struck a cord with Will, and not in a good way.&nbsp; It was as if Will was fighting a ghost, a specter of the past.&nbsp; He knew very well what this man was capable of.&nbsp; All it would take was one hit and Will would be done for.&nbsp; &nbsp;If the blow did not cave his ribs, shattering them so the fragments shred his lungs, his heart, it would disable the armor, damage it beyond repair, leaving Will nothing more than a corpse waiting to happen.&nbsp; In fact it was suicide to fight this crystal monster before him.&nbsp; All it would take was one lucky hit.<br><br>Will did not run away, and continued to trust the data that <em>Athena</em> gave him, the stream of information keeping Will alive, giving him the probabilities and likely outcomes of the thing's next blow, where he would try to hit Will next.&nbsp; It allowed Will to duck and wave as if he were the ghost of Cassius Clay wearing down his opponent.&nbsp; &nbsp;Will hit as hard as he could with the armor, and tried to circle back to hit at the same spot again.&nbsp; While the monolith before him was slow, it was not unintelligent, or inexperienced.&nbsp; He knew how to fight, and thus never gave Will the chance to come back and hit at spot where he had struck before, allowing his powers to regenerate, to meld the fractured crystal together so it was as strong as before.&nbsp; It was a tale of who would make the first mistake, yet the odds seemed stacked against Will.&nbsp; &nbsp;Still, he could not run away.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Not while the Captain was still here.<br><br>If Will backed off, if he retreated to regroup, then then Alexis would be in danger.&nbsp; Will had an advantage that was keeping him alive, an adaptive AI that the more it studied the fighting style of an opponent, the better it learned, and it also had thousand of hours of footage of the best fighters in the world to draw upon and us it to improvise, to give Will the best defense and how to be one step ahead of this killer.&nbsp; Alexis would not have that, and her gun would be as useless as Will's reinforced gauntlets and clubs.&nbsp; It would kill her, no two ways about it, and Alexis was focused on the other enhanced that was there.&nbsp; So Will continued to fight, to strike and strike and strike again, waiting for the moment he could turn the situation finally to his advantage, or if there was a way to get Alexis out of there, he would take that as well.&nbsp; Time was against him as Will could not keep dodging and using the creature's strength against him.&nbsp; &nbsp;One lucky blow.<br><br><strong>"Anytime your unit can get here would be good now Captain.&nbsp; We need to change this fight before we are both dead.&nbsp; &nbsp;I am open to ideas, but they need to happen now!"</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>17-11-2016, 00:11:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong><em>"Anytime your unit can get here would be good now Captain.&nbsp; We need to change this fight before we are both dead.&nbsp; &nbsp;I am open to ideas, but they need to happen now!"</em></strong><br><br><strong>"They can't get in! I'm the only one with a pyroguard!"</strong> she shouted, as yet another blast of fire ricocheted off the shield and into a nearby wardrobe, causing it to burst into flame. <strong>"That woman's got a fire-ring surrounding the entire building, anything without wings would be incinerated!"</strong> She ducked another swing of Jade's dagger before kicking out at her assailant. <strong>"Just keep him busy a moment!"</strong> Alexis ducked down behind a wall, wisely shuffling a few feet beyond the doorway. Picking one of the pilfered grenades from her pocket, she examined the dial before carefully adjusting it to the corresponding instructions as per Sybil. The grenade flashed a green light briefly before arming itself, vibrating quietly in her hand.<br><br>She was ready to try out her theory, but for it to work the grenade would have to be as close as possible to the giant fighter, preferably sticking to him if possible. Casting her eye about the room, her gaze fell upon a mass of melted plast - previously a desk lamp warped in the heat of the nearby fire. Darting to the desk, she dipped the grenade in the hot malleable goo before turning round and running towards the sounds of clashing titans. The battle had moved into one of the safety vaults, lined with deposit boxes and solid grid-iron walls. For the moment Strike Eagle was keeping Onyx's attention on him. Alexis took her opportunity and dashed forward at the giant's turned back. Her footsteps caused him to lumber around to face her, but she dove to the floor, sliding past him as she reached up to smack the grenade onto his side. The vibrating intensified suddenly, a shrill piercing note shattering the air. Alexis clapped her hands to her ears, feeling the sound almost painfully loud.<br><br>Onyx Blade sneered at the tiny grenade for a moment before his expression contorted with pain. <strong>"What the fuck is this!?"</strong> he roared, as the grenade grew louder still. Small hair-line cracks appeared on his side, radiating out from the grenade. Larger and larger they grew across his torso until they met over his shoulders and on the other side. Distracted and in shock, he was unable to react as Strike Eagle leapt forward, dealing a decisive blow to his weakened skin. With the sound of splintering glass, Onyx's impenetrable crystalline hide shattered. He roared in pain as shards of his protective skin cascaded to the floor revealing raw sore pink tissue underneath. Several more blows caused him to stumble and retreat, his appetite for combat lost.<br><br>An ominous groan sounded through the building, the grenade was powerful enough to break Onyx's armor and apparently strong enough to weaken the building's foundations. Alexis looked frantically around for an escape. The stairways she had come down now lay in ruins and she was now trapped in the basement vault of a collapsing building. Jade was nowhere to be seen, only herself and Strike Eagle remained. <strong>"Can you get us both out of here?"</strong> Even as she asked, the outer walls of the building gave way with a crumbling crash.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>24-11-2016, 09:57:40</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong><em>"They can't get in! I'm the only one with a pyroguard!"</em></strong>&nbsp; That was what the Strike Eagle armor relayed to him and he cursed inside his helmet.&nbsp; Of course the time he would ask for extra help, from the police even of all people, would be the time they were not available.&nbsp; The information distracted Will enough that the enhanced sliced a fist that ended in some form of a strengthened onyx crystal claw along his ribs.&nbsp; Will cried out in pain as the sharp crystalline weapon raked through the armor and cut into his ribs.&nbsp; It was not a deep cut, but it threw Will off his game to the point he needed to retreat.&nbsp; <br><br>Will's reaction saved him as he evaded the follow up strike that would had gutted Will there had he been a hair slow.&nbsp; As it was, the armor's advanced sensor suit registered the swath of air that the force of the blow made, and from that extrapolated the damage it would cause if it connected.&nbsp; Already <em>Athena</em> was working on rerouting any critical systems.&nbsp; Damage reports and estimated times to restore armor functions displayed.&nbsp; Will frowned as he saw the battle computer system would be down for more than two minutes.&nbsp; It put Will on the defensive rather than the offensive against this onyx beast.&nbsp; Still, Alexis was not panicking, and the analysis the forensic suite inputted to the armor, then to <em>Athena</em>, and thus to Will displayed none of the indicators of a person gripped in fear or terror.&nbsp; She was working it.&nbsp; She was not completely cool under the pressure like a sniper taking the shot, but she was not out of this fight yet, not by a long shot.&nbsp; All Will had to do was hold out for a little bit longer.&nbsp; Still, what ever she was going to do it had to be soon, those fists and knees and any other body part this beast could think to throw at Will were getting closer and closer to connecting, and all it would take was one solid hit.<br><br>The smoke from the fire starting to make breathing difficult for anyone not on an environmental system.&nbsp; Alexis had two minutes at most before she would pass out from the carbon monoxide and other toxins in the air caused by the fire.&nbsp; Five minutes after that, she would be dead.&nbsp; They were running out of time, and Will still did not have a way to put this thing to the ground.&nbsp; Then it happened, Alexis was running, deftly dodging a fast and wicked blow aimed to disembowel her as she dropped to the ground and slid on the marble floor of the vault, slapping the device onto the enhanced's side.&nbsp; The forensic suite on the armor let Will know before the sound became audible to human ears what she was doing.&nbsp; &nbsp;In the background even <em>Athena</em> was impressed, her crisp, professional yet at the same time bordering on erotic buzzing in Will's ear.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Oh what a cleaver woman.&nbsp; Yes you should keep her.&nbsp; Twelve seconds till resonate frequency.&nbsp; Combat support systems online in five...four...three..."</em></strong>&nbsp; Then the countdown ended, and shortly after that, that same voice sounded in Will's ear, but this time with a more hard steel edge to it.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Combat support back online.&nbsp; Kick his arse now..."</em></strong><br><br>The combat diagnostics were back up, and that combined with the forensic suite were telling where the structural weak points.&nbsp; The escrima sticks were back in his hands, the sound of Will tightening his grip upon them lost in the shrill and growing sound from the sonic grenade.&nbsp; Then the cracks started to grow, and that was when Will went in for the kill, so to speak.&nbsp; Where before all he was doing to the enhanced being was surface damage, now large sheets and shards of onyx like crystals were shattering, exposing what seemed to be some for of flesh or under skin beneath it.&nbsp; This skin was vulnerable, and had the same nerve points as a human, and Will hit those points with all the power that his armor had.&nbsp; The man underneath the onyx armor was tougher, and far more savvy than Will gave him credit.&nbsp; He evaded and retreated rather than continue a fight where his advantage was lost.<br><br>As much as Will want to pursue and put him down for good, he was far too dangerous to continue to let loose, prudence took over.&nbsp; His armor was damaged, and there was no telling how fast the creature would recover now that the initial damage done.&nbsp; The fight could turn against him again.&nbsp; He would need far more information to finish this foe.&nbsp; That and if he continued this, Alexis would be dead, and that was a damned poor way to repay a woman who risked her life to aid him.&nbsp; Also the armor's suite told him of the compromised structural integrity of the building, the fight and the extreme heat from the fire taking its toll.&nbsp; They had a minute and twenty-three seconds before it all came down upon them.<br><br><strong><em>"Can you get us both out of here?"</em></strong> Will thought furiously as he heard Alexis words.&nbsp; With his wings deployed there was a severe limitation with his arms as he needed them extended to fly.&nbsp; &nbsp;Then inspiration hit him.&nbsp; Will turned to her and almost near shouted to be heard over the building dropping all around them.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Arms about my neck and use your handcuffs to secure them there, and then wrap your thighs about my waist.&nbsp; Fair warning, your wrists are going to hurt like hell, and might have a few joints pulled, but that is better than being dead!"</em></strong>&nbsp; Will waited till she did.&nbsp; He blushed a bit inside the armor, though he had no reason too.&nbsp; It was not like he could feel her body pressed against him in a intimate way, and it was not like he was trying to cup a feel, he was saving her life.&nbsp; Still, there was perhaps a small part of Will that wondered what Alexis was feeling, pressed up against him so.<br><br>Will activated the flight system, the wing snapping into place and the concentrated graviton burst that thrust him into the air and into flight.&nbsp; Will made certain he was not going at full speed, so the sudden impulse g-force would not dislocate Alexis wrists and shoulders.&nbsp; It was far from the fastest he could fly, but it was enough to get them out of the death trap and into the air.&nbsp; &nbsp;As they did, Will slowed it down more, and rotated onto his back, going inverted so the force of gravity would press her against him instead of trying to pull her off of him and dropping to the ground, or making the cuffs bite harder than they already were into her wrists.&nbsp; &nbsp;Still, he had to turn up the armor's audio output to be heard over the noise and rush of the wind.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Are you alright, Captain?"</em></strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>02-12-2016, 00:32:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The wind whipped her hair up into a frenzy as they blasted up and away from the building. Down below, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the building as it's thick walls slowly caved in, expelling a plumb of smoke and fire. The strong brick walls of the mafia stronghold were reduced to dust by the heat. All around the receding building she could see patrol cars converging on the location, the fire trucks redoubling their efforts with their water cannons. In the lead, Officer Johnson and Lieutenant Jace were trying to organize the fire-effort. She sincerely hoped no one would try to enter the building. There was no sign of the woman or the injured black giant, but somehow Alexis knew they would meet again.<br><br>She grit her teeth over a small yelp as Strike Eagle twisted onto his back, allowing Alexis to ride him 'cowgirl' style. Not that she was thinking anything sexual. She was zooming through the sky several thousands of feet in the air. She had never flown a plane before and had never gone sky-diving. This was the closest thing to either that she had done in her life. Far from being scared, she was exhilarated. Forgetting her precarious position, she lifted her cuffed wrists from around Strike Eagle's neck and sat up to admire the horizon. She had spent a good amount of time exploring the house, and the distant sun had tinged the skyline a glowing orange.<br><br>Alexis chanced a quick glance off to the side, the tiny streets below with the cars appearing like a circuit board, with so many scurrying ants on the side-walks. Her motion almost tilted Strike Eagle, and she quickly righted herself. <strong>"Sorry! I'm alright... but I'm sure you could do without carrying me. Set me down anywhere. Near the Station is best!"</strong><br><br><br>The chosen location wasn't the police precinct, as it turned out, but rather a nearby building rooftop. Alexis recognized the building as the one of the bank buildings, she knew where the stairs were, so as far as she was concerned, she was home free. As Strike Eagle landed, Alexis slide her hands over the armor. It was quite the technological marvel, certainly crafted very cunningly. Alexis noted he had chosen to land on a part of the roof not covered by cameras, no footage would be available except for her go-pro. A quick glance down however, showed a slightly melted stump where the Go-Pro was meant to be. Guess they didn't make them tough enough.<br><br><strong>"Thanks for the save, you look no worse for wear."</strong> she said, looking over him quickly, no obvious big hits or dents in the armor, and it looked like his suit worked. She couldn't quite see who the person was under the armored helm though. <strong>"Won't you reconsider my proposal, and have a little chat?"</strong> she twirled unlocked handcuffs on her fingers. <strong>"I unlocked the cuffs while we were still airborn."</strong> She said with a smile, <strong>"I could have cuffed you to me, or to the drain pipe, or maybe to a heavy anchor...but I'd rather have an un-pressured chat over a coerced conversation"</strong> She walked over to a small air-conditioning ventilation and seated herself down, with her legs crossed casually. <strong>"So!...What brings you to New Orleans? We don't have a record of you at all here."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>11-12-2016, 14:25:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Oh no, Will had no damned intention of setting foot anywhere near the police station, even if by the looks of the police and fire department's response to the <em>Bratva</em> safe house would be categorized now as "overwhelming."&nbsp; Well, Will knew from observations that when there was a verified police officer or first responder under fire, the police pulled no punches and threw everything at it.&nbsp; However, while it was an understandable sentiment, it could also be used against the NOPD by setting up a series of attacks against EMT's, firefighters, or police; or creating false reports of such and be able to pull the police response in a direction someone wanted them to react, leaving their intended target open and vulnerable.&nbsp; It was something to consider and perhaps a suggestion that can be passed off in some discrete way which would not lead back to Will.<br><br>With one of the city's police stations out, Will had to do a fine balancing act of setting down not only far enough away from the current police response so they could not rush him, but also far enough away from his own residence so as to not raise any eyebrows.&nbsp; As <em>Athena</em> had made an indirect response earlier, the Captain was highly intelligent, and Will would need to guard himself when in her presence less he give himself away in some way or fashion inadvertently.&nbsp; Will killed the audio out and spoke.&nbsp; <strong>"<em>Athena</em>, a need a location that will give me at least a five minute heads up if that entire army of police turn tail and come after me in some misguided attempt to rescue Captain Taylor here, yet close enough to a police station or fire house to make the Captain at ease, or at least not willing to shoot me.&nbsp; Oh and no video surveillance either.&nbsp; On the HUD, please." </strong>&nbsp; <br><br>Will could almost imagine the eye rolling, and if an AI voice could sound sarcastic, <em>"Athena's</em> would be at this moment.&nbsp; <strong><em>"No, I think it would be more efficient to project it into the night sky instead..."</em></strong>&nbsp; Of course it might not be sarcasm at all and pure spitefulness.&nbsp; She was more than capable of it when she was pushed or thought someone was being patronizing or condensing to her.&nbsp; Will cringed inwardly and spoke again.&nbsp; <strong>"Notice I did say please this time."</strong>&nbsp; Either the apology worked, or Athena was merely being difficult and had every intention of doing as he asked.&nbsp; Will was not certain and he was not going to ask which.&nbsp; <br><br>Several locations appeared on his navigation screen and he headed for the closest one, being careful in his landing and setting the Alexis down.&nbsp; As he did, his wings retracted and he had use of his arms again.&nbsp; It took all of his willpower not to press a hand to his side.&nbsp; He might had broken a rib, or a small hairline fracture.&nbsp; He would ask <em>Athena</em> to check him out later.&nbsp; At least the armor's emergency functions were working and the adhesive spray used to seal and disinfect lacerations had deployed and he was not in danger of bleeding out, or dripping blood right here in front of Alexis.&nbsp; That for sure would raise her eyebrow and put her on him, perhaps even try to make him get medical attention.&nbsp; He could not afford to have it happen.<br><br>At her words, Will did notice Alexis had removed her cuffs, and did not indeed try to pull a fast one on him.&nbsp; If she had cuffed herself to him it would force Will to make some hard choices he rather not have to make.&nbsp; One sure fire way to go from a person of interest to public enemy number one would be to lay even a finger on the newly appointed Captain of the NOPD's Special Operations Division in a threatening or aggressive manner.&nbsp; She was offering an olive branch here, and this might be an opportunity to build some trust and goodwill.&nbsp; It certainly would be nice to not have her as an opponent or an enemy, as she would be formidable.&nbsp; It would also allow him as Will not to force himself to avoid her.&nbsp; Even as burned as he had been by women, even Will acknowledged that Alexis Taylor was one damned stunning woman, and he did not think even with his self control he could discipline himself to avoid her completely.<br><br>Will gave an exaggerated inclination of his head so she would notice it, and moved just beyond arms length from her.&nbsp; After all she could change her mind about handcuffing herself to him.&nbsp; <strong><em>"You saved my life tonight Captain.&nbsp; What you did ranked up there among the bravest actions I have ever witnessed, especially for a woman with no enhanced abilities of her own getting within striking distance of a being that could do serious injury to an Asgardian, and another being whose power levels seemed to be on par with the Human Torch, and rumor had it he even made Adamantium soften, if only for a faction of a second.&nbsp; Also it was a remarkable display of intelligence, thinking using resonate frequencies and channeling it through the device you had.&nbsp; With such examples to your department, I am certain any enhanced who uses their abilities to break the law or harm an innocent will think twice before stepping foot in New Orleans."</em></strong><br><br>At her question, Will was silent for a moment, going through his mind how much to share with her.&nbsp; A friendly conversation this might be, but it did not mean she would think twice about using it if it got her closer to finding out who Strike Eagle was.&nbsp; A few heartbeats passed before he answered, doing his best to try to sound at ease, and not overly cautious as he was feeling.&nbsp; <em><strong>"Not surprising about the record.&nbsp; I do my best to fly under the radar, so to speak, for the simple reason the less in which criminals can find out about me, the better advantage I have when I square off against them."</strong></em>&nbsp; And in avoiding the NOPD and other law enforcement as well but Will did not say it out loud as he continued.&nbsp; <strong><em>"As for why New Orleans, it happens to be one of the major gateway and smuggling hot spots in the country.&nbsp; Now a days one must be near insane to try something major in New York or Los Angeles.&nbsp; Not only because you cannot swing a dead cat around and not hit an Avenger or other hero, but also the fact the enhanced criminals do not take kindly to their turf being trespassed, or competition.&nbsp; &nbsp;So the organized criminal element is branching out, and New Orleans also boasts a large, year round tourism industry, making it easy for criminal operatives to blend in.&nbsp; With all of that going on, I thought this could be a city in which I could make a difference.&nbsp; I like to think I have, but you would be in a much better position to judge than I would.&nbsp; I will freely admit to being more than a tad biased in the subject."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will waited then, not only to see what Alexis action would be, but also for her next question.&nbsp; Also to get a nice look at her without her knowing.&nbsp; Again, she was a very attractive woman.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>25-12-2016, 22:56:53</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis folded her arms under her breasts, making them stand out slightly, one of the unintentional side effects of having a decent chest. "Well I can certainly say you HAVE made a difference. You were there at the warehouse, helped us take down Raptor, and you've just pulled my ass out of the fire. Literally." she said with a nod, "That makes you an asset in my books. The higher-ups generally think that enhanced are a liability to us, but that's not a common opinion among us in the rank and file." She got up and walked to the edge of the building, leaning again the wall overlooking the streets below. The streetlights had come on, flickering into life over the scurrying mass of cars and people on their way home.<br><br>"When it comes to friends and foes, the governments all think anyone with more power is by default evil or bad. That is just their perception however." she said, the faint wail of sirens reaching her ears over the wind. "Power is a tool, to be used how the individual sees fit. A gun is powerful, but both police and perpetrators alike use it. Just so, enhanced powers are used by heros and villains too. Good and Evil are defined by the person, not the pistol." Alexis shook herself out of her philosophical monologue. "Sorry, that's just something I picked up in the military."<br><br>"You sure you don't need some help?" she asked, after a while watching Strike Eagle stand stiffly. It wasn't anything that he was doing that tipped her off. He wasn't doubled over in pain or holding his side. His armour, while scratched, still looked strong and durable. He still looked like the consummate hero in the fading sunlight, standing stiff as a board. In fact, that was what made her think he was injured. Everyone had their own gait or stance, even when standing still. A cocked leg, a slight lean, an arch of the ankle, a hand on the hip... It was what the body subconsciously did to keep itself ready for movement. The only time someone stood consciously was due to effort, or injury.<br><br>Strike Eagle was upright and ramrod straight, despite having flown a fair distance in the evening light to arrive here. Similar to cowboys after riding a horse, most people would have wanted to walk around a little to get feeling back in their legs. Alexis was going out on a limb and guessing he took a few hits, especially on the scratched side of his armour. "If you want, we can get you some help, the medic can help you." she said, reaching out to run her hand along his side. He stiffened at her touch, and she could almost sense a wince under the mask.<br><br>The sirens were getting closer now, she knew she only had a few more minutes tops before the roof and surrounding buildings were swarming with police. A less experienced officer might have tried to cuff him, or restrain him in the hopes of capturing him. But Alexis knew better. It was much better to have a friendly rogue element on the outside than a secure but inactive element on the inside. At the very least they could retain friendly relationships.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>31-12-2016, 13:36:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Will turned his head, and made the helmet of the armor seem like he was cocking his head.&nbsp; Well at least as much as the armor would let him.&nbsp; There was not much of a neck there in the first place as it could be exploited as strategic weak point.&nbsp; Also when the systems of your armor gave you three hundred and sixty degree coverage, there was little need to turn one's head.&nbsp; In the end, Gene designed in a little head movement because there was off putting to people when someone only stared straight ahead and did not look at people, and since this armor design was originally meant to interact with the public, appearing more human like was better for everyone around.&nbsp; Still, it was only a very slight cocking of the head, but the body language changed of the armor to something far more relaxed posture.&nbsp; It also caused Will to curse holy hell in back as it pressed against the area the bruiser had hit him, but he did not want to let on he was hurt.<br><br><strong><em>"Ummmm wow, I will say, Captain, it is a surprise to hear you say that.&nbsp; Not to say I do not believe you, because I do."</em></strong>&nbsp; And because the armor's forensic suite was telling him the same thing, but no need to let her know all of his secrets, not yet.&nbsp; <strong><em>"It is just your superiors and other members of the NOPD, have not had the same...outlook...as you do.&nbsp; Many feel the engaging and apprehending of criminals should only be to licensed law enforcement.&nbsp; I do share the view to an extent, but there are some threats out there the police, the FBI, and sometimes even SHIELD, are not able to handle, at least not without loosing a lot of good people.&nbsp; It is why I am here, so good beat cops, firefighters, EMT's, don't loose their lives to the enhanced person who thinks, as you said, might makes right." </em></strong><br><br>Alexis must has seen Will either flinch slightly or something.&nbsp; Even <em>Athena</em> chirped in when the Captain gave her observation.&nbsp; <strong><em>"I know I said this before, Will, but she is very good.&nbsp; If you do not date or try to mate with her, I will ask Father to make me a body so I can."</em></strong>&nbsp; Will winced and blinked his eyes as he hissed.&nbsp; <strong>"Eww!&nbsp; Athena!&nbsp; I really did not need that mental image in my head!</strong>&nbsp; There was only a slight pause before the AI responded.&nbsp; <strong><em>"Why?&nbsp; I would make it a pleasing body, and something which would pass as human.&nbsp; Judging from some of the erotic literature you have read in the past, you would enjoy watching me attempt to mate with the Captain.&nbsp; Perhaps if I add in more exotic?&nbsp; Do you think she is primarily dominatrix, or do you believe she is one of those who releases her control in the bedchamber because of her day to day responsibilities?&nbsp; Yes, starting behavior analysis right now..."</em></strong>&nbsp; Again another micro shudder from Will, followed by another angry whisper.&nbsp; <strong>"Athena, silent mode, and you will cease this line of thinking completely, understood!"</strong> There was again another slight pause before she answered.&nbsp; <strong><em>"As you wish, but I feel you are being very uncharitable."</em></strong><br><br><strong>"ATHENA!"</strong><br><br><strong><em>"Silent mode engaged...</em></strong><br><br>Will let loose a sigh.&nbsp; Erotic literature?&nbsp; How the hell did she know that, and what was this about dominatrix and submissive?&nbsp; Will was in in for a long damned talk with Gene in the future about what the hell he was allowing Athena access too and what she was doing.&nbsp; It would not be the first time he used the AI to try to guide Will's behavior.&nbsp; Was this Gene's not so subtle way of telling Will he needed to get back out there?&nbsp; It gave Will pause, and as he moved to turn himself more towards Alexis, pressed again on his injured side.&nbsp; He swore again.&nbsp; Right before him was a very stunning looking woman despite her singed and torn clothing.&nbsp; A woman any number of men would likely try their luck with.&nbsp; The looks Will got from most women, maybe he had a good chance at it.&nbsp; Perhaps...Will gave his head a little shake, which translated into a small twitch of the armor.&nbsp; No, after Ashley and Melissa, he was not ready.&nbsp; No, not something for him to think of.<br><br>Will focused again on Alexis, and her words as she spoke.&nbsp; <strong><em>"He tagged me once, but nothing more than some extra strength Motrin and an ice pack won't take care off.&nbsp; I am no worse the ware than you are." </em></strong>&nbsp; Will stopped speaking for a moment before he continued.&nbsp; <strong><em>"I think tonight is the start of something.&nbsp; In the past we have had enhanced beings working for organized crime, but it is rare when enhanced being turn on organized crime in such a...brutal...fashion.&nbsp; I would like to offer perhaps being on common ground with one another?&nbsp; Perhaps a means for us to share intelligence with one another, if nothing else?&nbsp; To build on what you said before, the only people who gain by us being at odds with one another are people who mean the public harm, in one way or another.&nbsp; I do not want that more than you do.&nbsp; What do you say?"</em></strong>&nbsp; Will then waited to see what her response would be, all the while aware of how close her allies in blue were getting.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>12-01-2017, 17:03:16</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It was Alexis's turn to tilt her head slightly at Strike Eagle's silence. Something must be going on in that head of his. A conversation perhaps, with himself, or maybe a computer, or someone over a comm link?<br><br><strong><em>"I think tonight is the start of something.&nbsp; In the past we have had enhanced beings working for organized crime, but it is rare when enhanced being turn on organized crime in such a...brutal...fashion.&nbsp; I would like to offer perhaps being on common ground with one another?&nbsp; Perhaps a means for us to share intelligence with one another, if nothing else?&nbsp; To build on what you said before, the only people who gain by us being at odds with one another are people who mean the public harm, in one way or another.&nbsp; I do not want that more than you do.&nbsp; What do you say?"</em></strong><br><br>It was more than Alexis could have hoped for. An olive branch at least from an Enhanced individual. It was a risk, but a risk worth taking from Alexis's point of view. He had pulled her ass out of the fire twice (once literally), and that was good enough her. Being the chief of the division against criminal Enhanced elements, it was a big boon. He wasn't offering a full alliance, or contract, or contact, or even any information about himself, but it was a start. As an Enhanced, he probably had much more 'intelligence' than some of the boneheads that the government had to offer. "That would be wonderful, Strike Eagle." she said, extending a hand out to him to shake. "How would we be able to contact each other?" she asked.<br><br>But then they both heard pounding steps on the stairs as the fuzz ascended to the roof. Alexis turned to see Officer Johnson crash through the bolted roof door as if it were paper. Quite a strong man, perhaps a touch of enhanced in him? or maybe just the protein shakes he kept on boasting about actually doing some good. He whirled about with his gun held at the ready position, "Where is he!? Where's that Birdman!?" Alexis had to stifle a grin as she turned back to Strike Eagle, but he was already gone, winging off into the setting sun in a rather romantic scene. Johnson swore under his breath, rushing back down the stairs while trying to coordinate a chase team.<br><br>Jace was next up the stairs despite his rotund bulk. He was full of both praise and worry at the same time as he dusted Alexis's singed clothes and checked her for injuries. "Thank god you're OK! You really had us worried for a moment there! The grenades worked didn't they? And the guard! It was perfect!" he said, gingerly removing the guard and checking it over. "Thanks for the field test, I'll work on increasing the shield reservoir and shorten the recharge time. He smiled ruefully at Alexis, "Next time, don't run off by yourself... at least take someone with you!" Alexis rubbed her head apologetically, she hadn't considered Jace's concern for her too much. Something she was regretting, "Yeah, sorry Jace...but I had your gadgets! It was like you were there with me, but without putting you at risk. Plus we had Cybil on comms. So it's a trio team!" <br><br>On the way back to the station, Alexis wondered what she'd have to put in her report. The scene of the crimes were burned to a crisp, there was no video footage to confirm her visual report, and she had passed up the chance to cuff Strike Eagle. On top of that, she had agreed to work with him, despite being head of the Enhanced Element part of the police force. She could already hear what the government 'superiors' would say. 'Why on earth would you consort with an Enhanced!? If you let him into the system he'll steal all our information and...<br><br>****<br><br>"AND PLANT A BUG OR SOMETHING!" raged Carter as he paced up and down the precinct office floor the following day. Agent Carter was one of the government agents who had been on the committee which conceived the Enhanced Criminal division. Of the 12 committee members who had voted on the New Orleans division, three had voted against, Carter being one of them. He had been a constant thorn in Alexis's side, ever since the process had begun. Granted, he was a rather small thorn, since he had no direct jurisdiction over the Precinct, or its activities. He was just doing what any government stooge would do when powerless: visit, rant, issue empty threats, and wax lyrical about the great glorious freedom of America. <br><br>Alexis was used to this sort of bravado and bluffing. In the military, there was always some other officer from a different regiment who bragged about his men being 8 feet tall with biceps the size of Texas. It was male preening at best, especially in the face of Alexis, the rare female officer. She leaning back in her chair as Carter loomed across her desk, "...We don't consort with the enemy! We are the great american people, and these...these Enhanced mutants are a potential threat!" he growled at her, withdrawing slightly when Officer Johnson took a step forward. "Do you hear me, Captain? You were hired to combat the Enhanced, not parley with them!"<br><br>The young captain yawned theatrically and grinned cheekily at him, "Please don't lean across my desk, I dislike cleaning fingerprints off the top." she said calmly, earning a snicker from Jace in the corner. Agent Carter whirled on him. "Something funny, Lieutenant?" he menaced him. Alexis coughed to bring Carter's attention back to her. This time, her face was hard and set. "Yes, there is." She rose from her chair to face Carter. Despite being a few inches shorter than him, the Agent wilted slightly under her gaze. "Do you know what's so hilarious? These actions we take are well considered and our own independent choices. All Americans, nay all people are worthy of cooperation and a chance to thrive. I have a government agent who seems to disapprove of the independent actions of a Precinct Captain, in a government funded program voted upon and approved by a committee of his peers."<br><br>Alexis slowly walked around the desk until they were face to face. " Now considering you're so gungho about the great 'American Dream', which part of my actions do you disapprove of: the freedom, the equality, the democracy....or the fact that I simply disagree with you?" she transfixed him with a piercing gaze as he stuttered and blustered. "Oh..How...How Dare You I'm here on government authority to check in on your operation! I report directly to the head of committee!"<br><br>"Cybil, what is the chairman's response to that assertion?" asked Alexis, without taking her eyes off Carter. Cybil reached out into thin air, as if conducting an orchestra. Alexis's phone pinged and email and she reached in to read the reply from the chairman:<br><br>"Query: Agent Carter has arrived at the NOPD, claiming overseeing jurisdiction of the Enhanced Division based on your direct order. Confirm?<br><br>Answer: Dear NOPD, jurisdiction of the NOPD Enhanced Division rests solely with Captain Alexis Taylor. No direct orders have been issued to Agent Carter regarding this. PS: Tell Carter to get the hell back to base!"<br><br>Alexis returned to her seat, her voice calm and even. "Agent Carter, I appreciate your frustration of the vote going against you. I can accept your discontent with people who disagree with you. I'm always open to discussion about what you believe the next move should be." she narrowed her eyes dangerously, "However, if you ever come in here again and attempt to usurp my authority in my own precinct, then rest assure you will be taken into custody and charged with treason. Have a good day."<br><br>Officer Johnson smiled a rare grin as Agent Carter beat a hasty retreat from the office and out the front door. "Jesus, Captain. You sure known how to lay it on thick. I can believe you were a military officer before coming here." Alexis blew a long sigh of relief, "I really dislike those kinds of people...things don't go their way, so they do their best to sabotage the efforts of everyone else. They're like little rodents in the cogs." She gathered up the mountain of paperwork and headed out with Jace towards the conference room for their monthly review. It was going to be a boring meeting, but at least the numbers were looking good.<br><br>"Oh, speaking of cogs. When's that post-grad student due to join you in your engineering workshop Jace?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>16-01-2017, 07:44:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The warning inside his HUD were letting Will know the NOPD was going to be on his location in any moment, and they were armed.&nbsp; &nbsp;Not armed with the traditional sidearm and other automatic weapons either.&nbsp; &nbsp;EMP weapons of some form or another were being brought to bare, and weapons of such technology and sophistication.&nbsp; They could make life difficult for him and while Will believe Captain Taylor was speaking on the up and up about working together, Will had also seen enough agencies like always had another agenda, and one Strike Eagle behind bars would be a political coup for someone's career.&nbsp; Will was not about to leave things to chance.&nbsp; &nbsp;He had opened up his wings when Alexis asked the question about how would they contact one another and was taking off into the sky.&nbsp; &nbsp;<strong><em>"I will clearly leave a message easy for you and yours to find Captain.&nbsp; Until then."</em></strong><br><br>Will took off into the air and went as high as the armor would allow, then he headed towards the far end of the port and he did a power dive.&nbsp; &nbsp;Part way through the dive, the shudder of a sonic boom rattled about as the armor passed the sound barrier.&nbsp; When he was fifty feet from the air, he pulled up sharply, and screamed inside the armor at the strain the maneuver put upon his injured ribs.&nbsp; It made him see black spots, and had him concerned enough he restored the armor's fail safes for <em>Athena</em> take over armor operations and bring him home.&nbsp; The action got Will under any form of detection radar the city had, and allowed him to shake whatever police pursuit.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Will managed to hold on till they were back at the loft, where he proceeded to self medicate and tend to his injuries despite <em>Athena</em> wanting to ask Melissa Caldwell over to consult with him and to heal his injuries.&nbsp; Will ignore the suggestion, as he had the previous times <em>Athena</em> had attempted to bring his former teammate and lover back into his life.&nbsp; Will admitted he had made strides with most of his demons since coming out to New Orleans, but facing Melissa and Ashley were not among the challenges he wanted to conquer yet.&nbsp; So with some mild pain kills, anti-inflammatory, and simple rest, Will spent&nbsp; the next couple of days recovering, or at least so the injury was not as bad as it had been.<br><br>Will used this time to complete some of his upcoming schoolwork, knocking out three papers and a class project.&nbsp; In the back of his mind was still Alexis Taylor and her willingness to buck the system and actually work with him.&nbsp; &nbsp;He wanted to get to know her better, her people better, all in an effort perhaps to made his operations and taking down the criminal underworld in the city a bit easier, and less risk of bystanders getting hurt.&nbsp; <strong>"Athena, that application for intern for the NOPD Special Operations as engineer to assist with program management.&nbsp; Put me in and see if it floats to the top of their applications.&nbsp; &nbsp;Also, anything of not from our crime scene we can perhaps share with the NPOD."</strong><br><br><strong><em>"I did find this bit interesting, and while it is a bit out of my depth, there is a professor here in the History department of Tulane who has written several papers on the topic.&nbsp; Of course his professional reputation suffered as his work came off as pure science fiction but with little proof.&nbsp; If he had not already had tenure at the university he would had been dismissed.&nbsp; What is very interesting however is the fact all copies of his work, have been collected by one Stephen Strange, and the man had visited Professor Kurt Welling no more than several months past.&nbsp; Since then, Professor Welling as stopped all of his own research and efforts into Ley Lines and everything about them,&nbsp; He even dismantled that part of his department and paid off all of his interns who believed in him.&nbsp; &nbsp;The odd note is the symbols which had been written up in blood at the crime scene before it all went up into flames match some symbolism in his earlier work.&nbsp; &nbsp;I do not think what was do there was random or it will be the last.&nbsp; More information is required and a perhaps a good start for this partnership with Captain Taylor."</em></strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; Will looked over the information as well and rubbed at his jaw.&nbsp; <strong>"Yes this might be a case where police interest might get us more.&nbsp; Okay, set up a data dump on a mirror site and make sure their tech department see it.&nbsp; Time to put my money where my mouth is."</strong><br><hr><br>As Agent Carter left, Sybil turned and a series of multicolored lights appeared above her workstation as a sign she needed the Captain and the Lieutenant.&nbsp; &nbsp;When they both approached her workstation she gave the warm and polite smile as she often did and then started to pull up data on what looked to be hovering images placed on a crime scene investigation board as she talked.&nbsp; <strong>"Sorry for interrupting Captain, but I had assumed you did not wish Agent Carter to see this.&nbsp; I am very confident this is Strike Eagle reaching out to us.&nbsp; I found a electronic trail leading me to this data cache, and there is a good bit of information and evidence we did not have on hand during the vault incident.&nbsp; We have sensor logs from when Strike Eagle was on scene, and he gathered a vast amount of information.&nbsp; What is very curious though is a person of interest, an expert so Strike Eagle has him labeled, about several of the symbols painted in blood at the crime scene before the fire destroyed them.&nbsp; One Professor Kurt Welling has done research in the past with such symbolism, that is till about nine months ago when he stopped publishing all together and now merely teaches ancient history and civilizations at Tulane University."</strong>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Lucifia</strong> on <strong>05-02-2017, 22:36:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Alexis tapped her cheek thoughtfully. Strike Eagle was certainly fast in fulfilling his side of the bargain. "Sounds like a good place for the research department to start. Hand it to them in little chunks so they don't think we're all raving mad and see what they can mine from the information." she said, nodding her approval and appreciation, "Well done Sybil. If it makes things easier, set up a on-site and off-site info-dump site so that Strike eagle has several places to convey anything he finds without feeling like he's being funneled into one place. At the same time, see if we can reach out to that professor person. Subtly mind you. No need to go trumpeting it around. I bet that OTHER bug you found was some sort of surveillance on us by another party."<br><br>********<br><br>Over the next couple of weeks, things remained relatively quiet. Jace had made improvements to the pyroguard, shortening its recharge time, and increasing its protective shield into a sphere around the user. The sonar grenades had also been upgraded to allow for changing tones and a sticky pad for throw &amp; stick tactics. Jace had officially opened the intern applications for engineers in his experimental development department. There were a surprising number of applications, several hundreds in fact all vying for three places. It had taken several days to sort through them all and narrow them down to 5 potential candidates. At present, Alexis was having the EYES quickly vet them out to be sure there wasn't any moles. Slightly paranoid behavior, but that was the world of policing.<br><br>Raptor had not revealed much more information than he had already. A visit from a 'lawyer' apparently donated by some anonymous source had significantly shut him up. Alexis suspected that 'lawyer' was more of an enforcer from their mysterious opponent. He too was being surreptitiously looked at by the EYES. Beyond that, his equipment wasn't really providing much more useful materials for development. At the same time, the evidence from the vault was trickling in slowly. Filing of evidence took time for ordinary crimes, and extricating the enhanced materials for research took even longer. By the time those weeks had passed, Jace was in possession of several large crystal shard fragments from Onyx and a sample of the unnaturally burning fire from Jade. He was eager to start his research.<br><br>"Oh come on...can I just-"<br><br>"No."<br><br>"But how about in the.."<br><br>"No."<br><br>"Even if I-"<br><br>"No."<br><br>Jace put on his best petulant pout as he and Alexis stood in the cafeteria line-up. "That's not fair, you don't even know what I was going to ask?" he said. Alexis rolled her eyes with a smile. "You're were going to ask if you could examine the fire in the current R&amp;D department, you were thinking of using your 'vacuum' chamber, and turning off the fire-alarms right?" Jace stammered and opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish. "See, I knew what you were thinking of, and no you can't!" she continued, holding out her tray for a steaming pile of mashed potatoes. "That fire burned on stone...so a vacuum won't slow it down. And you can't breach building safety codes just to experiment." She laughed as Jace pulled a long face. Just finish picking your interns and we can open the separate out-building where you can blow stuff up and set things on fire without getting an unscheduled visit from the firemen!"<br><br>As they sat at one of the tables with their food, they were joined by Officer Johnson, guiding Sybil along to sit with them. "Captain, we have been trying to get in contact with your professor. It appears he is a little more difficult to establish direct contact with. However, we are making some progress. Perhaps we will be able to speak with him next month or so. Until then, we are also trying to contact those faculty members he had that he paid." Sybil tucked into her food as Johnson continued, "The rest of the evidence is slowly being sorted. There's enough money in that vault to fund a small army, and that's just the unburnt cash. I imagine they probably had enough to fund a revolution or something. Most of it belongs to various third parties, but anything that isn't claimed back will go directly into police funding for a change."<br><br>After deliberating over the applications, Jace decided to have the five potential candidates come in to show their expertise and willingness to be experimental. He magnificently ignored Alexis's comparisons of his behavior to the final episode of the 'Apprentice', and set up a date where all five were invited to attend his workshop to see what they could do.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Final Watch: The Dynasty (Blackstone and Lucifia)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>BlackStone</strong> on <strong>11-02-2017, 11:26:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It took two weeks for Will to heal up from the injuries he suffered.&nbsp; Perhaps next to a broken collarbone, broke, cracked, or bruised ribs were up there in most inconvenient injuries to have.&nbsp; Every movement, every breath taken mere agony and something which could not be hidden, especially when the strongest pain killers he had on hand than Advil.&nbsp; He could not go to the doctor's for fear he was being watched and how it would stand out like a magnesium flare on a black night to Alexis.&nbsp; So Will toughed it out, and took a few days away from school.&nbsp; It was a risk, but to be seen in class flinching every time he breathed heavy would be even more so than if he had went to his physician in the first place, or attempted to try to purchase stronger painkillers.&nbsp; It took four days, but luck was with him and it was a weekend, so only two days of classes were missed.<br><br>After the end of two weeks, all save the ugly green upon one's skin after a deep bruise had started to heal.&nbsp; He was able to move about with no visible sign of discomfort at all as long as he did not move too quickly.&nbsp; He had not gone out as Strike Eagle since the evening he was wounded, but by the end of the second week what kept him off the street was the armor itself and not his injuries.&nbsp; He could not repair it on his own and had to send the armor back to Gene Trison for him to use his mutant gifts, the enhanced intelligence with electronics and combat armor which rivaled that of Reed Richards and Tony Stark. While it did gall Will to part with the suit, even he knew the risks of taking it into combat without it being repaired.&nbsp; It gave Will time to catch up a bit on his school work, and to press forward with his application for the internship at the Special Operations division.<br><br>It was how Will found himself seated in the conference room before Alexis and Jace.&nbsp; He was not dressed in a suit, but he did have on a long sleeved buttoned down shirt, black, with a dark crimson tie which had the remarkable effect of making.&nbsp; As Will entered the offices, near every female officer turned their head towards him.&nbsp; Even Sybil did so as he passed her and she could not help but lean into the Captain, and whispered to her.&nbsp; <strong>"I am blind, and even so more partial to women than men, but by the Goddess he <em>smells</em> nice, and judging by the increase in pheromones in the air, I do not know to be envious of you to be in the same room with the man or not, Captain.&nbsp; Do let me know if you need assistance.&nbsp; I could take him off your hands for an hour...or six.&nbsp; I am not completely homosexual after all, only mostly."</strong><br><br>If Will had heard any of it, there was no reaction upon his features, or that of the stares directed his way.&nbsp; When Jace and Alexis entered, he stood and walked over to them both, offering his hand to them as he did so.&nbsp; <strong>"Will Stuart.&nbsp; I am familiar with the Captain here, having seen her lecture and by accident spilling my frapachino over her, but I only know you by reputation, Sir.&nbsp; I did want to say I thank you for this opportunity.&nbsp; An internship like this you are offering, if I am selected, would be a remarkable breakthrough."</strong>&nbsp; Once the handshakes were done, Will waited till they both had taken their seat before doing so, waiting for the interview to start.&nbsp; Try as he might he could not help but a hint of nervousness.&nbsp; Either from the situation or the fact he was unused to interviewing, or a mixture of both.&nbsp; A slight bead of sweat caressed down his temple to the side of his face as he waited. 
			</dd>
		</dl>
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