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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Aug 30, 2015 15:01:53 GMT
"Lena my love. Can you provide Monsieur Taffer with couple of details he asked about. As a sign of our GOOD will. I trust your judgement completely, my love. And I can assure that you do not have to worry about us sending in the spies. There is no need to send them in."
Marcel accidentally forgot to mention that spies were already on Micor's pay list, so the was no need to send anybody in. They were kindly asked to infiltrate and now they could act as hibernating agents for awhile and keep their eyes and ears open for additional information. So he spoke the truth about lack of the need to send spies in. Kind of the truth. Enough to fool even polygraph sort of the truth. The fact that he left something out from his talk, did not meant a thing.
While Lena told Taffer what she considered to be suitable quantity and quality of information, Marcel looked around. The feeling of well hidden panic and instability among the people of the base, was still there. Something strange was gong on here and Marcel had a huge question on his mind:
First - how to gain something profitable from the situation? He already had couple of ideas which might work but they involved messing with the minds of local folk. Marcel was not sure if he wants to do that. Not because he felt any conscious. No way! His worry was not to get caught during his manipulations. But he also knew that paranoia, fears and depression were powerful weapons to achieve something. It was a shame not to use them.
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Post by Sandy Bell on Aug 30, 2015 15:08:02 GMT
Sandy Bell woke up nude in an otherwise empty bed in the penthouse suite of the Red Deer Hilton to the sound of the annoying chimes of her hailer. For a moment she was in a panic, not feeling and then not seeing Volodja next to her, fearing that yet another force beyond her control had spirited him away again, but relieved when she saw him through the porch windows sitting calmly on the balcony watching the sun rise.
Sandy answered the hailer, her tone turning cold when she realized who was at the other end of the line, "... Yes we found Volodja. He's here with me now, in our bed, doing what lovers do... What DO you want Belle? Haven't you done enough to him? To us? Have you ever heard the term downtime?... Volodja needs downtime! I need it! We need it together!... " Sandy closed her blue eyes and sighed, seeing duty demands looming once again in her future, interfering with her immediate personal happiness yet again. "Okay, okay Belle! I'll round up Wolfram and have your VBI plane alerted to fly us right back to Fortress Kshaa... You're right Belle, you aren't my favorite person right now, but this isn't about me, or about you, it's about the team, and I've always been a team player, damn it! You can depend on me to get us back."
Sandy looked at Volodja enjoying the sunrise and was loathe to interfere with that peaceful moment, but knew the situation with Lady Christianna's madness must be getting worse for Belle to call Sandy here and now. She let Volodja enjoy nature's show a few more minutes as she called Wolfram asking him to meet her at the plane as soon as possible, and that he could bring his newfound friends with him if he wished, then called Candace Ash, the pilot of the VBI VTOL aircraft that was their transport, to please prep it for the return home. Sandy took the top sheet from the bed, wrapping it around herself a makeshift toga, grinning at the thought that at least something useful came out of all those fraternity parties she attended in college. Sandy then went onto the balcony, sitting next to him and holding his strong hand in hers as she finished watching the sunrise with him.
As the sun was now firmly in the blue sky, Sandy turned to him and kissed him passionately, the stared into his brown eyes with her sad blue ones, saying, "I know I'm too much of a creature driven by duty, and am really going to hate myself later for this, but it sounds like our team mates desperately need us - need you especially for your skills and talents! Lady has gotten worse in her delusions, kidnapping Indogenes all over the Bay Area, including Iri. Nobody knows for sure what the hell she is planning. Now both Chase AND Atticus are besides themselves with grief, and the situation sounds to me like a real powder keg. We have got to get back now, I'm afraid! I've alerted Wolfram and Candyass, and I'll call for a taxi to the airport as soon as we are dressed and ready to go."
Sandy reluctantly let go of Volodja's hand and stood up, kissing him as he still sat gently on the lips then went back into the penthouse bedroom to get dressed in silence and with a heavy feeling of impending doom.
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Aug 30, 2015 15:57:09 GMT
Vo waved his hand in reply to Belle as she was moving off in her Durango. He felt sad they have to part so quickly but at the same he understood that Chase needed immediate help and Belle was the best one to soothe him and get him back to the team. He mentally pushed the sadness away. Now he had a job assigned to him and he was going to complete it the best way possible.
Vo carefully wrote down all the evidences Kaj found and conclusions he made. The disbelief on his face quickly changed to approval as he said, "Nice job Kaj. Really nice." He looked at points Kaj showed and then looked around some more. One detail caught his eye and he kneeled at the front of the Challenger.
"The spot of a withered paint", he said, pointing at it, "As if the bright spark of light flashed right in front of it."
"Scanning the spot", Shirra said in his head, "Now we have a geometrical pattern of the spark and its spectrum derived from comparison of the withered paint and the relatively fresh one. It's definitely not a BMG, not a flash grenade and not electric nanites. It's something much more sophisticated given its discrete spectrum. I'll need to connect to the knowledge base to check if there's a known source with such spectrum. One more thing you should know about — given this the spectrum of the discharge, it can disable or even permanently damage the EGO unit if it's powerful enough. I highly doubt these frequencies randomly chosen. The pattern is too complex to be a coincidence."
"The scanning confirms that additionally to his injury, Chase was stunned by some powerful shocker which is able to disable or damage his EGO", Vo said to the team, "The source is unknown yet, But we should inform the Commander of that as soon as we can. And it would be much better if we inform him personally, not over the communication channels as it's too sensitive information."
He looked over the Challenger once more, at this time to see what was needed to get its rear wheel back to the ground. After assessing its position, he opened its trunk and searched for the tire jack. Once he found it, he used it to raise the other rear wheel into the air. Now the roller's rear end was hanging in the air with only a stone and the tire jack supporting it.
"Okay Kaj I'm afraid I need your help again", Vo said, scratching his head, "Just push it from this side slightly up and away from the stone. I could use my ATV for it, but I think you can make it with much less damage done to the roller."
As Kaj did what he was asked to, the roller's rear fell off both the stone and the jack and settled on all its four wheels on the ground. Vo pulled the tire jack from under the roller, put it back into the trunk and thanked Kaj for the job well done again. Then he started the engine and checked if everything is fine with it.
"Now team, here's your ride", he said to both his team mates, "I'm going taking my ATV as usual. I think I see there's a place we can get back on the road without having problems with its grip on the grass. The roller has a winch so we could use it if everything else fails."
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 30, 2015 16:02:38 GMT
Sandy missed his present to her, but Volodja remembered how it was when somebody else in their team made a gift to their loved one - they noticed it immediately and reacted accordingly. That kind of romantic scenes weren't just meant for him. It was actually his own fault. If he would have given her something really valuable or useful, then....Nobody to blame but himself. But Sandy came and watched the sunrise with him although she must have been bored of such a non practical sight. He thanked Sandy in his mind for self sacrificing herself because of his interest about the beauty of the nature.
His common sense opposed the thought of going back - he wasn't sure how he handles the pain he still felt inside? But since it was about helping others Volodja had to put his personal feelings aside, go back, do what he has to do and then...He was not sure what happens then. But he guessed that he will find out sooner or later. Once again he decided to act against his better knowledge.
With a sigh he got up from his seat, dressed himself and left the hotel room with Sandy.
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 30, 2015 16:21:11 GMT
"Listen Taffer," Asked Lena Marr innocently, "Is it really deception if you get paid by one person to work for them, but then gather information on that employer to sell to a second employer - or is it just good business? Oh... that's what I did with you guys here and Governor Skarr, so you probably are not the BEST person to ask that question of!"
Lena frowned as Hope took over control of her EGO device from the suddenly bored Greed, and who suggested that it probably was deception, which confused Lena to no end, so Lena dealt with the confusion as she often did; she ignored it, saying, "Nevermind, here's the bottom line: Marcus and I were making love - no that wasn't the bottom line, although we did have some bottom action, if you know what I mean!" Lena laughed wickedly at her own joke, then continued," Anyway, there is a knock on the door, and who should be, but Lady and her right hand man, Micor Newlo, the Mistress of Sorrow and Master of Stealth themselves coming right in and making themselves at home while a whole passel of their Inquisitors stand just outside intimidating my poor Raiders! She offered to give us a monthly retainer and throw us occasional jobs, the first one being to return you car, without details, but since you guessed them - pretty much - I think we lived up to our side of the agreement!"
Lena looked sidewise at Marcel Lestrange, her lover and partner in crime, with wide long lashed sky blue eyes before continuing, "Now don't get angry my love, but here is something I haven't told you, there just never being the right time it seemed. While you were finalizing the terms of our agreement with Lady Christianna, Micor Newlo was silently sidling up to me, copping a feel of my bottom line with his right hand! Now I didn't say anything to you at the time or cut off Micor's hand at the wrist because no good comes from a contract written in blood - it's bad for business! However, as Micor was discovering that my ass is as fine as it looks, I used the opportunity to pick his pocket and found this!"
Lena took out a folded piece of paper which she quickly unfolded, showing a map of the world with many places throughout marked with red dots, five of which in North America were connected by red lines. Two dots were located in California, San Francisco and San Diego, one in the Alaska wilderness, one in Saskatchewan, and the Fourth in Red Deer. As greed pushed Hope from the control booth of Lena's EGO, Lena said with a grin reminiscent of the cat that ate the canary, "Not sure what any of these dots mean, but I bet they have something important to do with Lady and the Inquisition's scheme! So mister Big Spender, how much is it worth to you and your team of do-gooders for our information now?"
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Aug 30, 2015 16:34:00 GMT
"Poor Micor," stated Marcel Lestrange. "I hope that Lady Christianna accepts the loss of the right hand of her right hand. And I did not said it twice because I stutter but because I am going to cut off Micor's right hand. And balls. Eunuchs are better at politics anyway. All that energy they ´would otherwise use to sex will be canalized differently." Out loud he said: "One of my conditions to work for you is that Micor is MINE. It is up to you how you will polish your relations between you and Lady Christianna after I have dealt with Micor in my own way. He broke our contract and he will have pay for that. He was disloyal and disrespectful to us and now we do not have any reason to treat him and his fan club with respect."  |
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Post by Sandy Bell on Aug 30, 2015 16:43:51 GMT
As Sandy Bell rode with Volodja Uljanov in the taxi ride to the Red Deer airport, holding hands, each with their own gloomy thoughts, Sandy's face suddenly brightened as she turned to Volodja with happy blue eyes, taking from concealment the silver locket he had given her from around her neck with her other hand and holding it up for him to see, "I love this locket almost as much as I love you Volodja! I didn't get to say anything last night, because, well, we go kind of occupied kissing and making love and stuff, but I remembered it as I got dressed this morning, but this is the first time I thought to say anything, as everything was a whirl to get to the airport! I still can't believe you kept that cherry stem all this time! This locket will always remind me of not only our love, but those weird circumstances that brought us together, that kismet, and our special night last night that brought us back together!"
Sandy threw herself into Volodja's arms, kissing him passionately, as the taxi driver smiled as he regarded them in his rear view mirror, thinking, "Who says Paris is the city of love, for Red deer is now the city of love!"
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 30, 2015 17:10:35 GMT
"She noticed! She noticed!" rang the bell in Volodja's head and his heart pounded in the same rhythm. He kissed Sandy back and held her tightly against him and if there wasn't a taxi driver, he would made out with her again right on the back seat of the car. Not because he had urges but because how he felt about Sandy in his heart.
She was so sweet and gorgeous in her dress and Volodja looked handsome as ever, so taxi driver could not do anything but smile, peek into the rear mirror and remember how he met his wife. He actually slowed down a bit and made a little circle, so lovers would have time to share their warmth, feelings and touches. He even turned the taxi meter off. It was his little present to lovers - some extra time with no extra charge. When taxi finally stopped, the taxi driver let them out and looked after them for a long time, saying by himself:
"Red Deer is City of love indeed. Hopefully they didn't burned a hole to my back seat, but seeing those two together would cover even that damage." It should be worth of mentioning that after work he bought a bouquet, went home and was extra nice to his wife.
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Post by Taffer on Aug 30, 2015 18:11:23 GMT
"Well, if you ask me, it is a deception to gather information on your employer on order to sell it", Taffer replied to Lena, "You know, there's a fine line which I prefer not to cross. It's okay to gather information which you may use in case your employer turns against you or tries to double-cross you. It's not okay to sell the information if the contract was completed to everyone's benefit. But that's just me, you know. I'm not the one who reads morals or whatever.
Now to the more pleasant part — the scrip. 35,000 for the Challenger. Those extra 5K is for its excellent condition. 40,000 for showing me that piece of paper. 20,000 more if you let me scan it for finger prints. 400% more for it if you manage to find out what those marks mean for them."
Taffer was sure his EGO already took a detailed picture of the map for him to see at any moment, and already had thought a little on what those marks could mean. It could be their agents or bases. They did have an assassin in Red Deer and he already managed to decrypt the logs of location points of his data pad. It turned out that he was there long before the team arrived so he was definitely just contacted with an order to perform the assassination rather than had to ride all the way to Red Deer, following the team. But then, If Micor is so pedantic with carrying this map with him everywhere, and then he should have been maintaining it properly as well. As there was no mark denoting the latest agent loss, those marks should mean either their bases indeed, or something entirely different, but definitely not single agents. This Duo would probably find out, but if not, he would find another way to know about it.
Another his thought was that he had to apprise Lu and probably Esthete that Red Deer clearly fell into the sphere of Inquisition's interests as well. Whatever it could mean for them, they better be prepared.
"About that Micor guy", Taffer continued, turning to Marcel, "I have no objections if you deal with him the way you want, but I tend to not give promises I can't keep. Chances are he'll be dead in the fight by the time you get to him. There's also a possibility he will detect things go south for him and slip away before we could commandeer their bunker. If the latter happens, I'll probably help you chase that guy, but that may depend on how things will go on our home front. Other than that, he's yours."
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Post by Lady Christianna on Aug 30, 2015 18:56:12 GMT
Iri and Eren's conversation was interrupted as the door into the room opened and a half dozen red armored and heavily armed Inquisitors entered the room, clearing a space around the door, before a seventh Inquisitor in red armor with silver trim, entered with a stepstool. As he positioned it so that anyone standing on it could see the whole room, the murmur in the room grew, so the Inquisitor announced loudly, "Hear ye, Hear ye, the Mistress of Sorrow had deigned to answer all of your questions Indogenes, so be good sheep and shut up and listen. He then turned to the open door beckoning someone unseen to enter the room which Lady Christianna regally did, resplendent in her black polymer armor with red trim and a red hell bug skin cowboy hat with an enigmatic smile on her young pretty chalk white face.
As Lady entered, she briefly glared at her announcing Inquisitor, admonishing him with a harsh whisper, "NOT sheep, brain trust!" She smiled enigmatically once again as helped her up the three steps so she could be seen by all within the room. "First, let me welcome you all to Presidio Bunker, my Brain Trust! I know most of you - okay all of you - don't really want to be here, but take heart! As soon as your great work here is done, I will release you to your homes, or anywhere you want to go, with a sizable amount of scrip for your time and effort! More importantly, I will return you to a world much better than the one you left! A world without strife, hunger, or disease! A world where people can bring up children not worrying if they let them go play outside, they'll have their little faces eaten off by hellbugs or die in some other horrendous manner! I will return you to a world that is the paradise we Votans were promised and that humans had before we mucked it all up so that instead we have the dangerous Paradise we live in now!"
Lady allowed her planned pause so that her words could sink into the kidnapped Indogenes' minds, as she smiled and gestured regally, signaling still more Inquisitors to bring in various foods that her research said Indogenes might like, and putting them on the tables scattered around the room buffet style, but also standing next to those tables, one free hand resting on the Olmec shock sticks they wore at their sides, as Lady began speaking again, "I wish that I didn't have to resort to these extreme measure, my Indogene amigos, but you guys just squandered your talent since you got here! I mean, you have awesome brains, the smartest race on the planet, and you just go around fixing small problems while ignoring the really big ones! If you had just used your smarts and solved the worlds problems, all the Votans and the humans would be living in Eden - that's the human paradise in their bible, if you didn't know! It would have been awesome! It WILL be awesome, for I, the Mistress of Sorrow, WILL make you do what you should have done long ago: CREATE EDEN ON EARTH! Bwa HA ha!"
Lady was proud of her evil laugh, having practiced it for some time alone and in front of a mirror. As she smiled at the crowd with her Mona Lisa smile and happily gleaming pink eyes, her thin arms tightly crossed against her small chest, the Castithan Inquisitors in the room clapped enthusiastically, glaring at the Indogenes until many of them reluctantly applauded as well. Lady's smile widened as she looked quite pleased with herself, and she raised one delicate alabaster hand to silence the room so that she could continue, "I know many of you - okay, most of you - well maybe all of you, hate me at the moment! I understand it! I've ripped you away from your friends and family, but someday you'll thank me! Once the changes are made, you'll say to each other, that Castithan teenager was a visionary, a shaker and a mover, and although she took a few years out of our lives, she left us with a much, much better world! Until then, I can be the one you hate, the villainess, for only a villainess has the fortitude and ruthlessness to get the job done! THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS! Bwa HA ha!"
"Maybe two evil laughs in a row is too much," Thought Lady to herself, "Oh well done now!" then asked hesitantly of her hostage audience, "Um... any questions?"
The red armored Inquisitors scattered around the kidnapped Indogenes collectively tightened their grasp on their Olmec charge rods waiting to see if any Indogenes raised their voices.
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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Aug 30, 2015 19:21:22 GMT
"Let me be straight in my expressions," said Wolfram von Eschen. "SCHEISSE! I was enjoying my vacation here in Red Deer. I had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do that drink brandy in good company. Sandy handled the Volodja situation herself. You two can come with me to the Paradise territory. Miss K'Shaa? Arnim?"
"I would gladly come along and continued our meaningful conversation with you, Wolfram and talked more with my old Captain and his adorable girlfriend, but I have a book presentation. You can have couple of copies Wolfram. To give one to Volodja. Let him read and maybe he changes his elitist mind about my books. Especially when meeting all of you gave me some thoughts. That means another nail in coffin of Captain Uljanov's public image - aqt least that's how he interprets my humble writing efforts - but he will have to learn to accept that burden of fame...and fortune. But we WILL meet again. Wenn die Leute auseinader gehen, da sagen sie auf Wiedersehn (When people part their ways, they will say "See you")."
"Auf Wiedersehn, Arnim," said Wolfram with slightly trembling voice before leaving Arnim and Lu. If she decides to come along then she has plenty of time to do it because as long as Wolfram understood she had her own car. If she has another things in mind then Wolfram can drive to the airport and join Sandy and Volodja. He can sleep during the flight.
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Post by Chase Lonehart on Aug 30, 2015 20:19:41 GMT
Iri was about to open her mouth, make a smart-ass remark about how foolish her plan was, when Eren's hand slammed into her shoulder. She could tell by the look in Eren's eyes that it was best not to say anything. Iri bit down on her back teeth, trying to keep her thoughts to herself. She began to wonder if Lady had planned on using the Omec drug as incentive to work or if she was going to save it for the much larger masses.
Don't count Chase and the others out yet, she thought. They may be looking for you right now, by hook or by crook.
Iri took ahold of Eren's hand and lightly squeezed it, feeling that it was the only comfort she was going to have at this troubling time.
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Post by Lady Christianna on Aug 31, 2015 0:55:59 GMT
Lady Christianna sat on her throne of skulls again, but this time she slumped, her chin resting on her chest and her skinny legs splayed outwards, surrounded only by the mind controlled Erika and Brody Smythe. Lady had sent her Inquisitors out to guard the entrances into the throne room so she could have some "Me" time, or so she said, although actually she had tired of their yes men antics. Lady was positive she could tell them an empty box was full, and they would cheerfully agree, shaking their heads in assent vigorously. She didn't miss the irony that the only two she truly trusted to tell her the truth were two people who were mind controlled, and she would have laughed if she hadn't felt like crying.
"They didn't understand, did they?" Asked Lady with a pout, as she blew a big bubble with her bubble gum, bursting it prematurely in her depression.
Brody just looked at his shoes, wanting to say something to make Lady feel better but not knowing what to say.
"You can't expect the kidnapped to understand the motives of their kidnapper," Said Erika, choosing her words carefully, wishing she could break the rod in her neck's control over her body so she could shake some sense into Lady, but since that wasn't possible, Erika tried to shake some sense into Lady through her words, "They want to go home to their friends and their family, and frankly, don't you think it is high time you did as well."
Lady sat up angrily, glaring at Erika with big pink eyes, then said, "No! Not until the world is right! Not until I prove I'm right!"
Suddenly Lady's enigmatic smile returned and Erika could almost see the light bulb turn on over Lady's head as she got an idea, just like with a animated character in the human cartoons, as Lady exclaimed excitedly, "But I can make Atticus understand! Maybe the others too! Brody, did you film the speech?"
"Of course I did Mistress of Sorrow, with hidden cameras in four different parts of the room! I'd be a lousy personal biographer if I didn't!" Brody answered with a lopsided grin.
"Edit it - take out the part with Indogenes crying and bad angles of me - then send it to Fortress Kshaa!" Lady commanded Brody, "Once Atticus and the others understand, maybe they'll leave me to do my legacy! Maybe!"
"Maybe," Thought Erika, "They'll realize how far gone Lady really is!"
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 31, 2015 4:58:29 GMT
Sandy Bell and Volodja Uljanov passed the airport hand in hand. They even didn't let each other go when someone was on their way. Instead of doing that they just rose their hands and let people to walk through their improvised Arc de Triomphe and nobody seemed to be mind. No cussing followed their selfish act although people had to bow to pass the gates. Sandy and Volodja could hear the laughter instead of cursing and see couple of thumbs up instead of receiving grumpy glances.
An elderly long haired gentlemen with a grey beard who was dressed in black on a sunny day looked at those and muttered by himself: "Well Wes...All you have to do is dream...The nightmare will be postponed for awhile. No need to hear anyone to scream. They lack an Elm Street in Red Deer anyway."
Lovers passed him closely but they didn't reacted to his weird remark, because they had a dreams of their own to follow. And their own nightmares to conquest. And a plane to catch.
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Aug 31, 2015 7:41:01 GMT
"It is a pleasure to make business with a realistically thinking man, such as you, Monsieur Taffer," said Marcel. "You just bought our loyalty for a while. Congratulations, because it is not that easy as you might to think. And do not worry - Marcel Lestrange never misses his target...unless he wants that. And I see no reason why should I change my mind about him. There are things money can not buy, so as American would say - I own Micor."
Marcel was not bragging. In certain circles he was known as a man that money could buy. Actually he was a man who could be bought with lot of money but for a reason. Marcel completed his tasks no matter what and was able to take out his "customers" even if they sealed themselves from the world. If there was even a single envelope to reach his selected target, it contained a present from Marcel and guy ended up dead. And if it was personal mission then...Poor Micor! He better use his hand for auto-communicative type of satisfaction, because after Marcel handles him, Micor will lose the all the means needed for that kind of thing.
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