Surprise!

[Arsenal]

Mike returned Bishop's nod with one of his own. He sat, back to the wall, facing the others with Cass to one side.

The place was amazing, with the latest in communications hardware and software. It reminded him of shit his merc friends had...on steroids.

Connor swiveled his chair around so he faced the others.

"And now, we wait."

Mike sat for a few moment, and then spoke. He leaned froward as he did so, looking Connor in the eye. His pose was assertive but completely non-threatening.

Is there something you needed us to do? Establish a perimeter? Suit and arm up just in case?

 

[Shadow Weaver]

Illustra - War Room

Karen had been glad to receive a call from Delilah inviting her to bring her new allies Michael Armstrong and Cass to Illustra during the Six’s mission. She hadn’t been able to tell exactly how Delilah was feeling about what was about to occur. Admittedly, she herself was distracted. Karen hated not being at her best, but she was coming off an almost sleepless night.

<< FLASH! >>

Karen awoke to a noise in her suite at the Parthenon. She listened, not sure at first what it was. But then it came again – a muffled voice. Then louder…

Mother?...

Karen through off the covers and put her feet on the floor. It came again.

Mother?...

“Morgan?”

She moved to the door, her hand on the knob as the voice came again, more urgently this time.

Mother!!

And then again:

Mommy!

She threw open the door, and found herself outside of Illustra. Around her everything was dark and cold. She tried to open the door to the Crystalline lobby, but it was locked. She tried every door, but could not find a way in. And then she saw her.

“Morgan!”

Morgan was inside, just on the other side of the glass, her radiant self in all her perfection, smiling back at Karen. And then suddenly the smile fell from Morgan’s face and she was being dragged backwards. Karen saw someone looming behind her – BLACK! He had her in his clutches, his hands around her throat, holding her off the ground, choking her. Morgan was screaming.

“Hold on, baby, I’m coming!”

Karen turned to the door and ignited a spell, but it had no effect. She tried to teleport inside, but she didn’t move. Spell after spell failed. She could not get inside. Morgan was still screaming, her eyes pleading to her mother for help. She banged on the door until her hands were bloody. But Karen was powerless.

With a cruel smile, Black tossed Morgan to the ground, her body lying in an unnatural pose, unmoving.

Karen sobbed. Black looked at her and pointed towards her…

<< FLASH! >>

And then she had truly woken up at the Parthenon, bathed in sweat, her daughter’s screams still in her ears. She hadn’t been able to – or wanted – to go back to sleep after that.

The last thing she wanted to do was come to Illustra, but she had promised Delilah, so she had called Mike and Cass and asked them to meet her in the lobby of the Parthenon so they could travel together. Bishop gave them a better greeting than she had expected, and she was pleased to know that everything so far was going according to plan. But she couldn’t get that dream out of her mind.

She absentmindedly spoke as Bishop shook her hand:

“Mr. St. James…”

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was not right with that dream.

"And now, we wait."

She seemed startled as Bishop spoke.

“What? Oh, yes, indeed.”

Bishop: “Karen – are you feeling alright?”

She snapped back at him:

“It’s Doctor Victoria. And shouldn’t you be doing SOMETHING, not just sitting around?!”

Bishop just looked at her. She put a hand to her forehead.

“I’m sorry…I’m just a little on edge. I had a terrible dream last night and I can’t shake the feeling that there is something wrong. It felt like more than just a bad dream…I don’t know how to describe it…I just know there’s something…”

 

[Bishop]

Illustra - War Room

”Is there something you needed us to do? Establish a perimeter? Suit and arm up just in case?”

Bishop touched the control console. A multi-layer map of Illustra appeared, with red markings.

“Armed Clandestine, Inc. agents are stationed at strategic points throughout the building.”

Pressing another button, a video security feed is called up on a different screen, rotating images of the agents.

“We control everything from here. If you need to suit and arm up, you go right ahead.”

While he was talking, he kept noticing Karen out of the corner of his eye. She seemed highly distressed.

“Karen – are you feeling alright?”

She snapped at him, and he just looked at her, saying nothing. It was clear that something was wrong with her.

“I’m sorry…I’m just a little on edge. I had a terrible dream last night and I can’t shake the feeling that there is something wrong. It felt like more than just a bad dream…I don’t know how to describe it…I just know there’s something…”

He turned back to the monitoring screens.

“I’m sure it’s just nerves, Doctor. You’re worried about Delilah and the others. Shake it off, everything will be just fine.”

 

[Arsenal]

“Armed Clandestine, Inc. agents are stationed at strategic points throughout the building.”

Pressing another button, a video security feed is called up on a different screen, rotating images of the agents.

“We control everything from here. If you need to suit and arm up, you go right ahead.”

Mike nodded, then rose to head to the Armory. He knew it from studying the layouts the received. He turned back to invite Cass when he saw the exchange between Bishop and Karen.

Karen was agitated and obviously lacking sleep. He started to say something about it, but decided to give a her a bit of time to relax before speaking with her. He did go to the corner and pour a glass of water, placing it beside Karen.

Just in case you get thirsty Doc. Cass, would you like to come with?

Mike nodded to the room as he began to exit for the Armory...

 

[Ruby]

:: Cass wondered why Bishop wasn't with Delilah and the others. It didn't seem to be his character to be missing out on the fun of destroying part of MysTech's...whatever it was they were at. But she CERTAINLY wasn't going to voice her question out loud. Karen was on one side of her and Mike on the other. ::

Is there something you needed us to do? Establish a perimeter? Suit and arm up just in case?

“Armed Clandestine, Inc. agents are stationed at strategic points throughout the building.”

Pressing another button, a video security feed is called up on a different screen, rotating images of the agents.

“We control everything from here. If you need to suit and arm up, you go right ahead.”

“Karen – are you feeling alright?”

“It’s Doctor Victoria. And shouldn’t you be doing SOMETHING, not just sitting around?!”

“I’m sorry…I’m just a little on edge. I had a terrible dream last night and I can’t shake the feeling that there is something wrong. It felt like more than just a bad dream…I don’t know how to describe it…I just know there’s something…”

:: Cass was only half-listening to Bishop and Mike. She could only focus on Karen. SOMETHING was not right. Cass moved her chair closer to the doctor and placed one hand on Karen's shoulder. ::

*concerned*: "Are you sure you're okay?"

:: She wasn't sure what HER job was, but right now, Karen was her concern. ::

*gently*: I'm going to stay with you for a bit...just to make sure you're okay...."

:: Mike asked if she wanted to come with. Cass shook her head. ::

"I want to stay with Karen for a bit..."

 

[Arsenal]

*gently*: I'm going to stay with you for a bit...just to make sure you're okay...."

:: Mike asked if she wanted to come with. Cass shook her head. ::

"I want to stay with Karen for a bit..."

No problem. Be back in a few.

Mike made his way to the Armory. It was...MAGNIFICENT.

We have an ARSENAL in here!! Geez Louise...

Mike quickly found some large duffel bags in a storage and set about loading 5 of them with guns, ammo and other goodies. After fitting himself with some body-armor embedded suiting, Mike grabbed the weapons he liked for his person, added them to what he had already brought with him and started making his way back to the War Room, stashing duffel in strategic places as he went...

 

[MorningStar]

Somewhere over Canada...

Are you coming with us?

Delilah looked away for a split second, then back. It killed her to say what came next.

“No.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

“I’ll be here monitoring your movements.”

She pressed a button on the control pad, and the led panel became a 5-way split screen showing each of the mutants’ POVs.

“Your suits also have a built in camera, so I’ll be seeing everything you’re seeing. We’ll be in contact at all times. I won’t leave you alone in there.”

She had never felt as crippled as she did at that moment. She just was not meant to send others to do her fighting for her. She had allowed Morgan’s team to go without her, and look what had happened to them…she couldn’t bear that. Everything about it just felt wrong.

“Any other questions, now’s the time. Prepare yourselves, we’ll be there in 30.”

 

[Titan]

Somewhere over Canada...

Andrew kept taking sidelong glances at Mina. She moved differently, it seemed to him. But perhaps that was just his imagination. He couldn’t understand why she would choose to get hooked up to those machines all the time - to be BLIND – when she could be…this!
Despite his so-called ability, he still felt pretty normal. He had asked her as they were taking off what the differences were when she was a vampire, besides the seeing, and she had said she was stronger, faster. She was immortal all the time, but still. Sounded like a good gig to him.

Mina on the other hand, seemed to be keeping her distance from everyone else, asking a question about the mission every now and then, but other than that staying silent. Not that she usually talked much.

Andrew tapped his foot nervously. He had a bad feeling. Delilah was making it sound too easy. It couldn’t be THAT easy. He wasn’t sure they could even get INTO the place. Connor had checked the place out, so they said – but that was Gargantua. Was he really going to put his trust into THAT guy?!

As they got the final rundown from Delilah, she told them they had a half hour. So he started into his usual pregame ritual. He moved from the conference table back into one of the flight seats, and started breathing deeply, psyching himself up. You only live once, right? But then again, they could all die before they even hit the ground. Wouldn’t that suck.

 

[Matrix]

Rich looked as Delilah answered. He could see the pain in her face. She mentioned the cameras, and he found his. Grasping it, he placed it by his ear. He spoke again to Delilah, hoping to help and to take her mind off her immediate worries for a second.

Ma'am, the suit won't do me much good with what I do but if you have more cameras I'll take 'em. When I change I'll be sure to orient them to give you a 360 degree view if you want. Just let me know.

He turned away, then saw Andrew meditating by himself. He recognized the psyche-up from his sports days and did not disturb him. He walked back to his seat, doing some deep thinking of his own.

 

[Shadow Weaver]

Illustra - War Room

"Just in case you get thirsty Doc. Cass, would you like to come with?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Does everyone have to be so NEEDY?!

Karen put a hand to her forehead. It was very warm in the room. Her agitation was a shock even to her. What was wrong with her?

She needed to get out of here.

"I'm...I'm sorry - I need to leave. I need to be alone."

She rose from her seat and walked out abruptly, going straight to the elevator and hitting the down button.

"My poor Morgan..."

 

[Ruby]

Illustra - War Room

:: Cass felt hurt when Karen left in what seemed like a huff. Very much so, that she stayed in her seat long after Karen had left the room. ::

What do I do NOW?

:: Her instinct to follow Karen, would have to wait, as she already waited too long to follow her and she had no idea where she would be at this minute. She glanced over at Bishop, who was watching the monitors. There was only one thing she could do now. She slowly got up and walked over to Bishop's chair, stopping three feet away from his chair. When she spoke, her expression and voice was contrite. ::

*contritely*: "Um, I just want to apologize for the way I acted the other day. It was rude of me to just walk out and...I know that I acted like a brat. I was nervous. I'm sorry."

:: She stood there, looking down at the floor. She felt really bad about that day. ::

 

[Bishop]

Illustra - War Room

Connor turned back to the monitors. He didn’t have time to worry about Karen right now. Not that he would really have worried about her anyway. He had a job to do. She was acting odd – and it was probably better that she wasn’t around to be a distraction. And she wasn’t the only distracted one.

"Um, I just want to apologize for the way I acted the other day. It was rude of me to just walk out and...I know that I acted like a brat. I was nervous. I'm sorry."

He wasn’t the coddling type, and he didn’t look for (or give) apologies. He continued to flip through different screens, monitoring what was happening on the plane as it prepared to drop them at their destination point.

“Stop thinking about it. I need you here, now – not worrying about something else that doesn’t make any difference. If you’re going to be here, keep your head clear. First lesson: nothing else matters but the mission.”

Suddenly something caught his attention from one of the smaller security feed screens. He threw it to the main monitor.

“What the hell?”

 

[Arsenal]

Suddenly something caught his attention from one of the smaller security feed screens. He threw it to the main monitor.

“What the hell?”

What the hell WHAT?

Mike walked in all business and quickly came over to have a look....

 

[Seer]

Night Falls…

Darkness makes its way over the city. Bishop, Arsenal & Cass make the War Room their base of operations, but have little to do but watch. That is about to change…

Bishop notices on the security feeds that Clandestine, Inc’s soldiers stationed around Illustra suddenly become ultra aggressive with one another – ATTACKING each other for no apparent reason. Fights are breaking out all over Clandestine’s posts – Bishop sees one, then another, then another – incident after incident. Certainly not what is expected of such a highly trained precision fighting force.

Before sending anyone out to stop the fighting, Bishop decides to check on the only remaining inhabitant of the private floors of Illustra: Alycia Barnett.

Meanwhile, Karen steps off the elevator into the Crystalline lobby, but before she is able to leave, she gets a shocking surprise.

And so…we watch…

 

[Ruby]

Illustra - War Room

:: Before Cass could even reply, Bishop had thrown something onto the main screen showing soldiers, people on the same TEAM, going at it with each other with extreme aggresiveness. They were assaulting, no, ATTACKING each other for no apparent reason. ::

*shocked*: "They're...ATTACKING each other!"

:: Her whole countenance then changed. Her back became straighter, both her feet were planted firmly on the ground, her hands were on her hips, and her eyes narrowed with just a touch of yellow around her irises [she wasn't full on vamped out yet but she was pretty darn close; only thing left was her 'vamp face' and fangs]. She was all business and ready for anything. ::

*brusquely*: "What do you need from us?"

 

[Arsenal]

*shocked*: "They're...ATTACKING each other!"

:: Her whole countenance then changed. Her back became straighter, both her feet were planted firmly on the ground, her hands were on her hips, and her eyes narrowed with just a touch of yellow around her irises [she wasn't full on vamped out yet but she was pretty darn close; only thing left was her 'vamp face' and fangs]. She was all business and ready for anything. ::

*brusquely*: "What do you need from us?"

Mike looked at the screens.


This is a trap. Designed to draw us away from here and out there. Where did Karen go? Can you track her Connor?

Mike was all business, already tracking strategies whoever was behind this might be using.

 

[Ruby]

:: Cass looked from the screens to Mike and back again. She wasn't sure if this was a trap or not. ::

*confused*: "How can you tell? Maybe I've seen too many movies, but what if somehow somebody leaked gas in here designed to spark agressiveness in people? Shouldn't we find some gas masks...just in case?"

:: Mike asks about Karen. ::

"She...she just upped and left. If she's still in the building, somebody has to go find her. I don't want her to get caught in the middle of this..."

:: She gestured to the attacking soldiers on the screens. ::

 

[Artemis]

Illustra - Satellite Office

Alycia was quietly working at her desk. Ana-Leigh had helped her set up the office, and now she was burning the midnight oil so to speak, happy that Illustra for one thing at least offered her some PEACE to work in.

And security.

She looked down at the leaked WilPharma documents in front of her. She was closer than ever to exposing that scum company for what it really was. She looked at her watch. Delilah and her team would be in the arctic by now. Hopefully the right side would come out on top – on both the battlefield and in the court room.

Alycia closed the file folder in front of her, ready to call it a night - she was exhausted. And then she heard a noise in the hallway. It didn’t alarm her too much – Clandestine security had been with her since her accident and an agent had been periodically checking on her all day here at Illustra.

But there it was again – louder this time and unmistakably footsteps.

“Hello? Who’s out there?” she called, but the only answer was the sound of the doorknob turning.

Alycia reached into her desk drawer, her hand finding the golden Desert Eagle she kept there. She rose and came around to the other side of the desk, pointed the gun at the door, and released the safety.

A smiling man walked through the door.

“Alycia, is that any way to welcome an old friend?”

The smile became a sneer.

“How did you get in here? You’re…supposed to be in prison! I should know – I put you there.”

Anthony Zacchara stood before her – the stereotypical mob boss, she’d sent him to jail ten years before. What was he doing here?

Zacchara: “I’ve spent ten years thinking about you, Alycia, and now that I’m out, I have something for you.”

With that, he lunged at her. She fired, but he knocked her hand away, sending the bullet harmlessly into the wall. Zacchara had hold of her arms and slammed her gun hand against the desk, sending her weapon flying. She reached over the desk, her fingers searching for the panic button underneath, but he pulled her back and backhanded her across the face sending her sprawling.

Alycia scrambled to her feet, determined not to give in without a fight. She dove for him, her fingers finding his eyes, then his throat. If this was her time, she was taking his ass down with her.

 

[Arsenal]

:: Cass looked from the screens to Mike and back again. She wasn't sure if this was a trap or not. ::

*confused*: "How can you tell? Maybe I've seen too many movies, but what if somehow somebody leaked gas in here designed to spark agressiveness in people? Shouldn't we find some gas masks...just in case?"

Would be too late if it was. And some of those guys are outside. I am guessing something SPECIAL.

Mike grew somber as he said that. The implications were ominous should the three of them be similarly affected.

"She...she just upped and left. If she's still in the building, somebody has to go find her. I don't want her to get caught in the middle of this..."

:: She gestured to the attacking soldiers on the screens. ::

We should be able to find her easily here. With this going on we need to get there and back as quickly and directly as possible. Probably start with the living quarters and mover to the offices, then the common areas unless you can put them all up at once.

 

[Bishop]

Illustra - War Room

“Everyone just calm down. No reason to go off halfcocked. Illustra was just fine before we had Clandestine agents, we’ll be okay a few minutes more.”

Bishop began flipping through various security feeds.

“Karen got off the elevator in the lobby – and she’s not involved in any of these skirmishes. Believe me, we’d know it.”

The first thing to do was make sure their own position was secure. He knew Alycia was here working late – once they made sure everyone in the private floors was okay, they could go about figuring out the situation with the guards.

He called up the feed from the 99th Floor.

“Now there’s something you don’t see every day.”

Alycia was in her office, and she had her gun drawn. Bishop called up the reverse angle next to the original feed on the main screen…but he saw nothing – no attacker whatsoever. Alycia proceeded to drop the gun, flail her arms, leap across the desk only to fall back…

“She looks like she’s having a damn fit.”

The girl was fighting the AIR.

Connor picked his two Browning Hi-Powers off the desk and shoved them into his twin shoulder holsters.

Something was clearly wrong, but WHAT?