[IC] The Bureau: Supernatural Division (Always Open)

[Melkor]

“Hello and welcome.” The smartly dressed German man addressed the recruits who sat around the long oak table in the modern boardroom. “My name is Alexander Biermann, I head the SND - the Supernatural Division of the Bureau.” He took a look around the room, then continued. “Contrary to what the name suggests, we typically solve cases that are too complex for other police agencies to handle. Though, this does not, by any means, mean that we do not deal with cases of a supernatural quality.

“You will notice laptop computers in front of you along with a briefcase. Inside you will find a belt, a collection of five mobile phones - switched off - a watch, and an assortment of other standard issue gadgets, courtesy of the engineering department here in the Bureau’s New York offices. I will allow Dr. Osamu and Dr. McCoy to explain their function and other uses. For now, I'll ask for your attention to be directed to the screen.” A screen electronically lowered itself from the roof, behind him. “I'd like to begin the investigation as soon as possible.”

When the screen had finally clicked into position, Biermann tapped a button on a remote he possessed and an image sharpened into view. The German turned to another man in the room, “Mr. Foster, this is your project.” He addressed everyone in the conference room and said, “Would you mind introducing the team to it?”

Mr. Foster stepped forward, cleared his throat, and began his quick briefing. “Two weeks ago I made a trip to Montana to visit a man who claimed to have knowledge on the whereabouts of an ancient artifact, the trident of Poseidon.” He paused as he heard several gasps, and one man half laughed, half choked on his coffee.

“You can’t be serious,” the man said.

“In our line of work, we must take everything seriously,” Biermann interjected. “I can assure you, Dr. McCoy, the trident is, in fact, real.”

Mr. Foster continued, ignoring McCoy’s outburst. “The trident, or, more precisely, the orb it’s contained in, was involved in an incident back in 1967 near Japan. The energy released by it created one of the largest and most devastating tropical storms in human history. Although it was thrown overboard and considered lost to the depths of the ocean, rumors are surfacing of its reappearance. I have been able to trace it to Vietnam, but that is where the trail ends.”

McCoy shook his head. “So, it disappeared. So what? It’s not like anyone else is looking for it.”

“That, is where you are wrong. My contacts tell me that the Russians are looking for it right now. We need to find it. If the Russians get it, it’s going to be Armageddon incarnate.” Foster stepped back and let Biermann finish the briefing.

“As you all can see, it is of utmost importance that we recover the artifact as soon as we possibly can,” He gave them all a moment to take in all that was said. “We will have access to the special enforcement unit. Lieutenant Colonel Evans isn’t here, at the moment, to explain but you will have contact with him and his men.

“It would appear that we should be going to Vietnam. Does anyone have any thought on where else it may be at the moment?” Biermann glanced around the room, curious as to who would speak up first.

[RyonOlson]

Garrett Foster looked around and waited for anyone to speak up. When no one did, he took the stage once again. "Yes, yes. I'm sure you're all confused. Why Vietnam? Well, it's because the orb has a habit of making tropical storms follow it, and the most recent one made landfall in Vietnam three days ago. If we are lucky, some fisherman found it and put it aside to sell. If all goes well we can buy it and be on our way."

Garrett took the remote from Mr. Biermann and clicked it, bringing up an image of the Pacific Ocean, Japan, South China, and Vietnam, along with the small island chains that dotted the area. He clicked the remote again, and it showed the tropical storm as it traveled from its origin point, up the coast of Vietnam, and then as it dissipated.

"The storm ended yesterday, so I have reason to believe that it isn't moving anymore. I have sent out several of my... associates, to try and make our search easier. It is my hope that we can resolve this situation quickly and be on our way."

He looked at Biermann, nodded, and sat back down.

"I hope those associates aren't criminals," Biermann stated, more for the sake of the others than for his own peace of mind.

"Absolutely not. They may be a little strange, and sometimes operate in not completely legal ways, but they don't do anything that is openly criminal. That would defeat the purpose of our organization."

He turned to the rest of the group. "Now, if anyone has any comments or questions, the stage is open."

[Melkor]

“Excuse me gents… and ladies,” It was Dr. McCoy that spoke up, “but Aki here would like to chip in. He’s off on a trip at the moment but he is well aware of the situation. I’ll just-” McCoy had opened his laptop and, without pressing anything, turned it to everyone. On the screen was a Japanese man, Dr. Osamu, who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties he was on a plane, not a public craft - a Bureau plane.

“Sorry Nate, I hacked your camera and computer, you should really get better preventative software.”

“Well, I don’t really count on you being the one trying to hack into it - and I designed the software, it’s some of the best and you helped me with it.” McCoy looked like he was just done.

“Oh? That’s why it seemed familiar… Anyway, back to the investigation - I have avionic drones in the area.” He turned the camera to another laptop where four vid-feeds could be seen they all had maps in the bottom right of their respective displays. They were in the Nam area. “I’ll be able to tell you if I see anything suspicious. If I do, you guys will be the second to know.” With that he closed his laptop.

“Don’t worry, he’s probably still got audio on the meeting.” Nathan made sure everyone knew.

“Mr. Foster,” This time it was Walcott who spoke, “When you say ‘Poseidon's Trident’ do you mean the trident? I’ve worked with you before and I know that you investigate very specific things, like that time we were chasing medusa’s head - nasty thing - it wasn’t really the head of Medusa, but it was damn close. Is this the real deal this time ‘round?”

Biermann seemed to think it was about time he’d gone so he left the room.

[RyonOlson]

Garrett made a slight nod towards Biermann as he left the room, then turned to Walcott. "Yes, this is the trident. At least, as far as we know. From what I understand, centuries ago, people found a way to contain it inside an orb. This orb, after all this time at the bottom of the ocean, has begun to crack apart, allowing the power from it to seep out and affect the world around it. The incidents involving it that I have researched have shown the orb to have exactly the same powers as the trident, and all descriptions match historical documents. We can only assume we are dealing with the real deal here. My only concern is whether this truly is a supernatural device, or a piece of ancient technology that is beyond our understanding."

Garrett paused for a moment to let everyone take in what he said, then spoke again. "Dr. Osamu, make sure your drones scan for electromagnetic radiation. From what little we have learned about the orb's properties, it definitely has a lot of energy contained in it." Garrett then addressed everyone else. "I don't have to remind you all that the trident is one of the most powerful artifacts in Earth's history, but I will. It's that dangerous."

He quickly changed his tone. "So, anymore questions? I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

[Melkor]

It wasn’t long after Foster suggested electromagnetic radiation that Akihito adjusted the settings to meet the suggestion. The screens displayed different colors on their maps along with a key on the side, indicating what all of the colors meant. The colors vanished as Akihito adjusted the settings to only scan for the radiation - the screens lit up like a christmas tree near the East shore of Vietnam. Osamu quickly hacked into Nathan’s computer again.

The screen lit up, displaying the meeting room with the computer still facing everyone present. “Guys, I found something. On Foster’s suggestion I narrowed the scanning parameters to just electromagnetic radiation and I found a clear bee-line from below the southern point of Japan to the east shore of Vietnam.” He gave everyone a moment to take it in, then continued, “When I enhance the image and zoom in, we can see that the trail clearly leads to the shore near Da Nang, it follows the roads for a few miles to a facility where the trail goes cold.

“I think we should get people on the ground and take the facility - maybe we can get them to tell us where to search next, if it isn’t there. I think that they have a container capable of hiding it’s radiological signature.” He took a brief breath, “If they do then that means that I don’t have a way to track it automatically, until I find another sort of trace it leaves behind.”

“Thank you Doctor,” Walcott stood up, “I’ll have the planes prepped and I’ll see about having Colonel Evans take the facility.” With that, he left the room.

“If that’s all, then I have some devices for you lot,” Dr. McCoy depressed a button on his watch and a panel on the wall opened up, he was proud of the presentation, even if no one else thought it cool. “Here are some experimental devices that need some field testing, Foster - would you mind taking some of them for a spin?” There were a few devices that resembled guns from a science fiction film.

“This one causes the target's muscles to lock up, depending on where you point it - could the arm, the leg, but it is programmed to not affect the internal organs - just the muscles in the limbs.” It was a small device that could fit in a pocket, also resembling a future gun. “This next one is something that Aki and I think is just awesome.” The weapon he removed from the rack was a gauntlet, it was red. “It looks like Iron Man’s gauntlet because it’s our version of it. The upper forearm has a high-powered laser built into it - it can cut through steel surprisingly fast. The underside of the forearm has two, small, rocket launchers with three rockets each - don’t worry, they’re short ranged and don’t pack nearly enough power to knock you down. Just lean forward if you use it. It comes with a targeting system built into this visor.” McCoy handed him a visor that looked like it was lifted from Dragon Ball Z. With that, McCoy left the room to see what he could do to assist in the search.

[Solame]

When she heard the words 'Poseidon's Trident,' Alice had perked up a bit, but her mind soon wandered away, to the Ancient Greek myths she'd studied for years. She barely heard anything after 'Vietnam,' and hardly registered the departures of Biermann and Walcott. When the weapons were brought out, however, the woman's full attention was brought back to the room she was in, and she studied the gear with childlike fascination. While the woman was far from being a soldier, she had a curious mind, and a love for weaponry and gadgetry.

"You're giving us the technology to be Iron Man?" Alice asked, her eyes wide as stared at the gauntlet. Again, McCoy's departure from the room barely registered in her mind as she leaned forward in her seat to get a better look at the weapon.

[Melkor]

“Attention,” the intercom of the AN-225 came to life with the monotone voice of someone who says the same things all day."T minus ten minutes to drop off.” The pilot of the heavily modified aircraft signed off. The plane had most of the seats arranged in the cabin in order to fit as many people as possible and many of the cargo rooms were modified for use of engineers and storage of uncommon cargo.

Akihito and Nathan sat in one of the engineering rooms across from each other. They were discussing a design for some equipment and gadgets in between a game of Magic: The Gathering, Nate was winning. Osamu was using a drone - he was in Japan at that moment.

Meanwhile Biermann sat in one of the office compartments, reading as much as he could of Foster’s reports of the functions and past appearances of the Trident.

Harry Walcott paced the plane’s cabin, thinking about the case thus far, trying to make sense of everything they'd discovered. He remembered a report Colonel Evans had mentioned about some new weapon the Russians had - something that could, seemingly, break through any defense that was thrown at it. There were attacks on American bases and British bases in the region, nothing that could be directly pinned on the Russians, but they were the highest suspect at the moment. There was no discernible pattern in the wake of whatever it was, the military had no idea, but they didn't want to announce it as to not alert enemies to their weakness. Walcott pushed the thoughts out of his head and focused back on the current case.

The investigation team was nearing the site where they would be dropped out of the cargo hold on two Hueys.

[RyonOlson]

"3, 2, 1, drop!" came the voice over the headset. Garrett pressed a button on the Huey's control panel, and the rear doors of the airplane opened. He switched to internal communications.

"Make sure you are buckled in. This is going to get rough, and I don't need anyone flying around back there." No voices replied, but he knew the message got through. The Hueys started to roll back out of the hangar, carried by a conveyor belt beneath them. A moment of weightlessness, and the helicopter dropped into free fall. Garrett watched as Roy Evan's helicopter did the same seconds later. He checked the altimeter and noted that it was at 35,000 feet and falling. "Wait until 10,000" Garrett thought as they continued to fall.

Roy's voice came over the headset. "Foster, what are you doing? Do you want to get yourself and your team killed?"

"I know what I'm doing," was all that Garrett managed to say as the g-force of the fall prevented much else from coming out. He checked the altimeter again. 15,000 feet. He fired up the engine, and the helicopter roared to life, the twin turbine engines of his signature UH-1N Huey fired to life. A special project created by himself and Nathan McCoy, the helicopters were designed so they could activate in free fall.

The helicopter came to a stop in midair at 10,500 feet. Garrett pushed the stick forward and the helicopter shot through the air, headed to the warehouse. He got on the comm. "You impressed yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, actually, I am," replied Roy. Garrett laughed quietly and set to work finding a safe landing zone. As he was about to activate the navigation display, an alarm went off on the control panel.

"Missile lock! Evasive maneuvers!" Garrett watched as four Surface-to-Air missiles shot into the sky. He veered left as the missies approached. They turned to track, but two collided. Garrett brought the Huey down to tree level and began to weave in and out of the tree-tops. Roy was doing something similar, just less flashy. As the missiles neared their targets, an idea came to Garrett.

"Roy, don't ask questions. Run straight at me." Roy did as asked and flew his Huey straight at Garrett's. Garrett turned to do the same, and as they nearly hit Garrett peeled off. Roy did the same, and the missiles crashed together, a fireball in the sky. Garrett allowed himself a moment of relief. "That was close" he said. Realizing that the crew might be hurt, he quickly got on internal. "Everyone alright back there?"

"Yeah, I think so," came a voice, weak with stress and fear. It was McCoy. Garrett spared a glance over his shoulder, and was relieved to see no notable injuries on the crew.

"That was some crazy piloting," Roy said, pulling alongside Garrett.

"Yeah," Garrett stated. "Now, for my next trick..." He trailed off as the crew laughed. He checked the navigation panel and found them nearly above the facility. "OK, time for landing approach. Thank you for flying Bureau Air. I hope you enjoyed your flight and will join us again soon." Garrett signed off and brought the helicopter for a landing. He saw that the facility was already cleared, and he was being approached by several military officers, one wearing the rank of Admiral.

"Oh, this is not good," he said, slumping forward onto the control panel.

[Melkor]

0237

“Sir, the facility appears to not be heavily guarded. There are about forty guards stationed outside - they appear to not be affiliated with any nation or army. We assume they’re mercenaries.”

“Or… they’re not dressed in uniform in order to appear that way.” Lt. Colonel Evans was not impressed as he sat in the command centre, aboard the Bureau aircraft. “Captain, what else is there as far as the facility goes? How many entrances are there? Do we know of anything inside?”

Captain Farris, a large hulking man, known for fighting on the front, with nothing but his fists and some augmentation - he was rather large, roughly seven feet tall. He dwarfed Colonel Evans by comparison. “We couldn’t see anything without alerting their men. However, there are four entrances to their facility and there seems to be a large amount of electromagnetic radiation being admitted from it.” He was reading from the report. “There are four towers used to vent fumes. From what we can tell, they’re only active during the time between noon and five o’clock PM.”

“Then we’ll incur from all four entrances, simultaneously, and send drones down the vents - incase they have security in place, I don’t want to lose any men in this attack.” He turned away from one of the screen he’d been observing, showing a live feed of the facility. Facing Captain Farris, “Go.” He ordered.

Farris snapped to attention, clicking his heels together, “Sir!” He said, saluting. He turned and left the room, getting his com out and ordering his men to move in. The rest of the room, filled with SND officers and other Bureau military officials, broke into chatter as everyone began ordering their men to do various things, over their coms. Many others in the room took control of Anatomically Correct Combat Drones, also known as ACCDs.

The enforcement unit made use of the darkness and the new moon, wearing all black with night vision visors, they moved in. They were all equipped with the new muscular disruption guns as well as conventional firearms. After the guards were taken out, it only took about twenty seconds for the alarms to kick on and the facility began to go into lockdown mode. More soldiers began pouring out of the entrances, challenging the SND forces. The battle didn’t take long, especially after the ACCDs made their way into the vents - the enemy forces were taken by surprise and quickly neutralized.

0312

After the base was secured and the AN-225 was within the dropzone, Roy climbed into one of the Hueys in the cargo bay. “Foster, I hope you know what you’re doing.” Roy announced over the com, linking the two Hueys together, just before the bay opened and they slid out. Evans had waited significantly less time than Foster to engage his engines. But it didn’t matter, they had dropped from thirty-five-thousand feet, they had plenty of time.

As they approached the base one of the missile towers engaged and fired four projectiles. “Missile lock! Evasive maneuvers!” Foster shouted over the com. Roy dove straight down and came back up above the treetops, two of the missiles collided and the remaining two went after one of the hueys. Roy brought his helicopter into a tight turn, nearly throwing the missile off when Garrett suggested that they fly at each other. Roy saw the logic in the plan and did so. At as they were about to collide, Roy shouted “I’m going left!” And veered off, the missiles collided and the two pilots found a landing spot. Foster landed first. Evans could see the approaching man, and his bodyguard, but couldn’t tell who he was and didn’t recognize him - he was probably just too far away. Roy got a com message that one of the facility’s soldiers had managed to make his way to the missile room and launch the missiles.

[RyonOlson]

Garrett straightened as the Admiral neared the Huey, and got out of the cockpit before the Admiral got within speaking range. "Admiral Thompson, what a pleasure it is to see you here," Garrett said, the sarcasm dripping off the words. Admiral Greg Thompson ignored his comment, but stopped walking and turned to Garrett.

Thompson looked Garrett in the eye. "You know why I am here," he said. Garrett did, and he hated having this discussion. Overtime the head of the Elite Command's Navy division showed up, he had to endure a lecture about safeguarding the ancient artifacts. This was going to be just like the rest.

"You want me to secure the artifact and hide it away in our secret facility in Alaska, don't you?" Garrett said, more of a statement than a question.

Thompson shook his head. This surprised Garrett, and he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I want you to destroy it," Thompson said, his face stoic but his eyes betraying his willingness to do whatever it took to take care of the trident.

Garrett shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Not without the approval of the Bureau. Biermann wouldn't allow it."

Thompson finally let his emotions out. "Biermann be damned! That artifact is too dangerous to be kept intact! One slight mistake with it and the entire world is going to be drowning in tropical storms like civilization has never seen."

Garrett didn't back down. "We don't even know if it can be destroyed. For all we know, the trident is made of a neutronium alloy, just like that gauntlet that we found last year. Besides, if we destroy it without properly studying it first, we might just unleash the same horrors as if we didn't. No, not this time, Admiral. Too much is at stake."

Thompson was furious, but he tried to get his anger control. That much was obvious to Garrett. When Thompson spoke again, his voice was more level, but still had a level of irritation in it. "You owe me, Foster. I'm calling in the favor."

Garrett was worried this was going to happen. "No, I'm afraid I can't this time," he stated, standing his ground. When Thompson didn't respond, Garrett determined he needed to explain why. "Listen, we've worked together a long time. We've helped each other out in dire situations. But, the Bureau needs a chance to study this artifact before we decide its fate. If used right, we could do good with it. All we need is a chance to prove it."

Thompson didn't speak for a long time. When he finally did, it was in a doleful tone. "I see. Well, then, Mr. Foster. It seems like you have made up your mind. I will be in the area if you change your mind. This is a device not left in the hands of ordinary men. Remember that."

Garrett grinned slightly. "We're anything but ordinary, Greg."

Thompson's mood seemed to lighten slightly. "Indeed, you are. Very well. If you need anything, give me a call. But, don't expect backup when the trident unleashes its fury on the unsuspecting." Thompson turned around briskly and walked away, headed off to a distant V-22 Osprey helicopter that sat waiting for his return. Garrett watched as the Admiral boarded the helicopter and flew off, its giant rotors kicking up dust and leaves as it took off. Garrett turned around to see the passengers of his helicopter standing behind him.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get going!" Garrett led the way to the facility, the others close behind him. He approached Captain Farris. "What's the status of the facility?" he asked. He waited for Farris to respond.

[Melkor]

Biermann climbed out of Colonel Evan’s chopper a few minutes after they’d landed. He had been on a phone call when they dropped and was taking a few minutes to finish it. “Yes Alan, I am fully aware of the current situation... “ The man, Alan, spoke some more. “If you have trouble dealing with it, I will have more men sent… Listen to be Conway, you need to contain the situation. -” He was interrupted. “Yes, I know about her. How could I not? Just cover your ears... yes… yes… Thank you Alan. Godspeed - whatever that’s worth.” With that he clicked the mechanical button on the side of his phone and stowed it in the breast pocket of his vest once more and climbed out of the helicopter, making his way towards the facility.

“Dammit man! How did he get away?” Roy spoke erratically into his com at one of the junior officers. “First Lieutenant, I want a detailed report when we get back to base.”

Nathan thought he was gonna die and vowed to never get into a vehicle operated by Foster again. It was bad enough that he got queasy at heights, but with that madman flying - it really didn't help.

“Nate!” Akihito was controlling an ACUD, Anatomically Correct Utility Drone. He was in Japan at the moment. “I finished it!”

“You did? It must’ve taken you ages and at least… forty two books worth of code!”

“Yeah it did.” He didn’t seem particularly happy about that part. “But it’s finally done! This all purpose physics calculator will work wonders in the classroom, at NASA, and with us. Though, I guess we won’t really use it too much since we hardly ever use calculators anyway - but for other people, stupid people, it’ll be great!”

While Akihito and Nathan were geeking out over the former’s coding abilities, Walcott made his way into the facility. He’d been assured by Roy that the facility was, in fact, secure now. Which is what he’d just heard an officer tell Foster, “The facility is secure, most of the combatants are being transported away as we speak and the researchers are being held for questioning.” He didn’t elaborate on what would happen to their soldiers, it wasn’t too good.

As Harry walked through the doors to the large, grey stone, building he noticed that Biermann was next to him. He seemed to just appear, or perhaps Harry hadn’t noticed because he was still a little shaken from the flight. “What do you think Alex?”

“I have a hunch that the trident was, in fact, here. All we have to do now is question some people.” The German made his way to where the prisoners were being held, a soldier showed him the way and Harry followed close behind. They had set up a de facto interrogation room in one of the labs and there was already a man sitting in a chair on one end of a table. The researcher was in his thirties, Asian, and wore modern clothing under a white lab coat.

The man spoke a string of what Biermann recognized as Vietnamese. He didn’t speak anymore for a few minutes, but when he spoke, Biermann cut him off.

“As far as I’m concerned, you can speak in your language all you want. But, I know that you understand me.” It was written all over his face, and his body, Biermann hadn’t been a detective for so long without picking up on how people behave. “If you do not reciprocate the favor of speaking in a familiar language that my friend here can understand,” he gestured toward Harry, “The Sun's rays will become a distant memory for you.” The last bit was in flawless Vietnamese.

Biermann’s effect on the man seemed to be overwhelming, “Okay! Okay! I’ll talk. Jesus man, I… What do you want to know? What are you here for?”

Walcott spoke up, “Oh, nothing much… I just want to know what you guys have been up to for the past few days… I don’t need to hear it from you either, we’re collecting your security footage now. I would just like to hear it from you first…”

[RyonOlson]

Only moments after Farris cleared him Garrett was inside the facility. He checked around him, making sure everything was as secure as Farris had said. He didn't trust trust anyone's judgment other than his when it came to safety. He unholstered his .32 caliber Webley revolver and wove his way through the towers of crates in the room, some even reaching the room. Some had fallen during the fight, and had spilt their innards out onto the floor. Ammunition, firearms, grenades, and electronic warfare devices sat strewn everywhere. Garrett went over and retrieved one of the rifles, an Israeli Galil, and shouldered it. He grabbed up a couple mags worth of ammo and placed them in a bag he found. None of the Bureau's military said anything about it. They were used to Garrett keeping weapons from raids.

Garrett rounded a corner a few minutes into his exploration and found two tech officers kneeling before a massive projector in the center of a large clearing. He looked up and saw it was projecting a massive hologram of Earth. The planet spun slowly, and was intersected by red lines crossing from one continent to another. As he watched, the hologram spun to their location. A red line was leaving the facility area and was headed north.

Garrett holstered his revolver and stepped forward. "They knew we were coming. We aren't going to find the trident here." He watched as the hologram continued to rotate, and he started to make connections. What they saw was a representation of air traffic around the globe, or at least part of it. He grabbed his radio and called up Walcott.

"Boss, weren't we going to send out one of our artifacts to the London facility today?"

After a few moments of silence, Garrett got his reply. "Yeah, we did. It should be halfway there."

Garrett shook his head. "Hold on for a moment." He walked around the hologram until the Atlantic Ocean was dead center above him. He saw a trail headed from Manhattan, on a route directly towards London. "This is not good," he murmured. He pressed the call button again.

"Boss, we're in trouble. Apparently our shipment is being tracked, as is every other one around the globe."

Walcott cursed. "How? That was supposed to be a top secret flight. No one but us and the destination facility knew about the shipment."

"Seems like they knew more than they were supposed to. That's not all. I think I found a map of every artifact that is currently known and in transit. Whoever we are dealing with, they've got a bigger operation than we first suspected."

Garrett heard footsteps behind him and he turned around to see who it was. It was Nathan McCoy, finally recovered from his flight, and Alice Weaver.

"Alice, Nathan. Any idea on what we are looking at? I'll give you a clue. It's big, and it involved a world-wide network of artifact smuggling."

[Melkor]

“Look here asshole!” Walcott’s tone gave no room to mistake his disposition for anything other than royally pissed off. “When did you plan on telling me that you’ve been tracking our movements?”

The man who Walcott had been interrogating did all but jump out of his chair as the detective stormed into the room. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about man! I don’t know anything!” He seemed genuine, but Biermann wasn’t impressed.

“He knew.” He motioned for Walcott to leave the room, “Take care of the situation.” Harry left the room with Biermann and the man alone. After Walcott had gone, Biermann turned to the man and whispered, “I know about her… Tell me her current whereabouts and I will be inclined to allow you to leave, after you’ve been screened of course.” He gave the man a moment to think about it before saying, “Unless you would like to join your comrades.”

“You Americans wouldn’t - it’s against your laws, I’m-”

“I wouldn’t now? Why would you say that? We already have most of your people in custody and they won’t be going anywhere any time soon. I will give you one more chance to give me the information I want.”

~

“Do you mean to say that they’ve been tracking our shipments? Dammit - how could they have done this? We are one of the most secure, if not the most secure, organization in the world!”

“Calm yourself Dr. McCoy, we need to think of how they would’ve got this sort of information on us.” Walcott had entered the room.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Akihito had taken control of one of the microphones and cameras on the “hologram”. “They have someone on the inside… I mean how else would they have been able to tack everything we’ve done? If I were to give it a shot I’d say it was someone in the operations office, given that they knew we were coming here, I’d say it’s someone in the evening shift. There, that narrows it down to about thirty people.”

[Solame]

Alice tilted her head, staring at the hologram map, and frowned. "Or they have a mind-reader," she said - almost a joke, but not quite. She took a step closer to the hologram, studying it. "Or a really good psychic. Of course, that would mean that nothing we do would remain a secret."

She glanced away from the hologram, to the men standing nearby, a thoughtful look on her face. "If it's just a mole, it's dealt with easily enough. Just don't tell them anything important from now on, and if anything on the display changes, then we know it's not one of them. Or, if you want it to be complicated, you could give each of the those thirty people a different job, and whichever one gets added to the map is our mole." She sighed. "That is, assuming this map gets updated, which it probably won't."

Alice fell silent, studying the map again. She frowned as the map continued to rotate, and poked her finger at a spot. "If those artifact smugglers go anywhere near my collection, I will be sorely displeased," she murmured, staring at the dot that was just about where her house was.

[Melkor]

Dr. McCoy threw his arms in the air, “Now we're considering psychics! I can't do this.” He made his way to the exit and said, before leaving, “I'll be in the helicopter.”

“Please excuse Nathan, he's never been quite convinced of the supernatural. For him, if science can't explain it then it must not be true. This works conventionally, but not in the Bureau's line of work.” Osamu chipped in.

“Well said doctor.” Biermann had entered as Nate left.

“What did you find out?” Walcott was curious.

“Level ten information, apologies but it isn't for your ears. I want this to go to the director's meeting first. I'm going to call one once we are back in Manhattan. But first we need to take care if this situation with the tracking. Walcott, I'd like you to meet with Alan Conway in London, they're dealing with the situation. Take Foster and our new man, Merlin - I'm very interested to see what he makes of the situation.

“Miss Weaver, I'd like you to come with me to the meeting. I would appreciate your input.” With that, the German left the room, making his way to the helicopters.

Walcott was left with Foster and Alice, who he assumed would follow the director. “Garrett, we should meet Isaac in London, I'll have travel set up and on the way back we’ll stop at an airport to board a Bureau craft."

Akihito signed off after saying that he had some public appearance later that morning.

[Solame]

Alice tore her eyes away from the map and watched as Biermann left the room, a thoughtful crease forming between her eyebrows. Why on Earth would he want her, of all people, to come to a meeting where they would be discussing things obviously far above her pay grade? Then she shrugged and followed, dusting off her jeans as she went.

[RyonOlson]

Garrett watched the hologram rotate one more time, then motioned to Walcott. "Looks like it is time to head to London, then. Is our transport ready?"

Walcott nodded. "The helicopter is ready to go. We'll fly to the nearby airport where the Antonov is waiting."

Garrett headed out of the room with Walcott following in stride. Over the next half hour they boarded the helicopter, flew to the Da Nang Airport, and had the helicopter loaded aboard their massive airplane. Twelve hours after that they were back in Manhattan, waiting for a commercial flight that Garrett originally protested, but realized the merits of flying undercover.

The two boarded the airplane, a Boeing 747-8I, without problem and soon found themselves seated in First Class, fully at the expense of Garrett. Walcott thanked Garrett for providing the luxurious seating, and Garrett grinned. "I thought it was about time to try First Class. I never travel outside of Economy Plus, but this time I changed my mind. What use is money if you don't spend it?"

A voice came over the speaker announcing the flight would be departing in a few minutes. Garrett and Walcott each fastened their seatbelt and watched the safety brief with only half interest. They each were more interested in who else was flying with them. No one that was within view seemed familiar, friendly or otherwise, but they had to make sure. Garrett reached into his bag and produced a small x-ray scanner. As he passed it over each seat with care, he was relieved to not see anything more harmful than fingernail clippers. He muttered something about clipping his way through the fuselage of the airplane, and put away the scanner. He gave a thumbs-up to Walcott, which Walcott returned.

A friendly voice came over the speakers after the safety brief. "This is your captain speaking. Our trip will take us from Manhattan to London, and we expect it to last for about seven hours. After we have reached cruising altitude, feel free to get up and explore the airplane. We will be flying among the clouds, so see the skydeck for an amazing view. Thank you for choosing Atlas Air as your courier today."

The aircraft began to hum and it slowly accelerated, reaching a speed of over two hundred miles an hour by the time it left the runway. Within ten minutes they were at altitude and the seatbelt light went off. Garrett got up and stretched his legs, while Walcott pulled out several pieces of tech and began to catch up on paperwork. Garrett realized he was also behind, but decided that it could wait until they got to London and settled in for the night.

Walcott’s eyes scanned the display in front of his eyes and said, “Mr. Foster, don’t you have some paperwork to get to? We have a long flight ahead of us.” Garrett waved off the comment and continued his pacing. Walcott had the aisle seat and as he spoke, noticed a rush of movement behind him reflected on his screen. One of the flight attendants was rushing for the flight deck. The way she moved suggested that she wasn’t actually a flight attendant, given that she body slammed the door on her way in. A moment later, there was a audible commotion in the room and the flight the craft suddenly tilted as untrained hands took the controls.

Garrett caught his balance moments before slamming into another passenger who was up walking. He apologized and rushed to where Walcott was standing. “What just happened?” he asked. Walcott began making his way, hastily, toward the flight deck. “An enemy combatant made her way into the cockpit and seems to have control of the plane. I’ll try and get in there to stop her-” He was cut off by the fist of another attendant, which met his face without causing real damage - he was just shaken.

Garrett quickly dove back into the aisle where he was seated and grabbed his bag. He produced his freeze-ray gun from it. “About time I tried this thing,” he said as he switched it on. It hummed and a status light came on. It read green. He watched as Walcott grappled with a flight attendant, and carefully aimed at the attendant. Right before he could pull the trigger, he was attacked from behind. The attendant attacking him tried to get him in a choke-hold, but he used her momentum to carry her over and she landed on her back. He tried to shoot her, but she battered his arm away. She kicked at his face, threw herself into the air, and landed back on her feet. Garrett fired a shot which caught her in the chest, causing her to lose her balance. She suddenly realized she could no longer move with speed. Garrett fired twice more, once into her legs and and again into her chest.

Walcott managed, with a lot of effort, to toss his assailant on her back and rushed the flight deck door. It was, surprisingly, open. He quickly delivered a fist to the side of the terrorist's head, she was knocked out. He shouted back, “FOSTER GET IN HERE!” As he tried to wake up one of the pilots who’d been severely beaten. The plane began to tilt to its right side again, as the controls were left, unattended. Harry strapped himself into the copilot’s seat. He took the yoke and tilted it back to a level position.

Garrett kicked the attendant for good measure, and rushed the flight deck. He slammed the door behind himself and strapped himself into the pilot’s seat. He looked the controls over and switched control back to the pilot. “Keep a watch on the fuel gauge. I’m hoping the attendants didn’t have time to dump the fuel.” He put on the headset that was still on the unconscious pilot and turned it on. The comm was instantly alive with chatter.

“Flight London One, why are you not responding. This is the United States Navy, please respond.” Garrett hit the comm switch to respond.

“United States Navy, this is Flight London One. We are royally screwed up here. The pilot and copilot are unconscious and the assailants are going to be breaking through the flight deck door at any moment.”

Garrett waited for a response, which took only seconds. “London One, how do we know you are not the assailants?”

Garrett looked over the gauges, trying to fabricate a reasonable, convincing argument. “We saved the damn plane!”

“We’re trying to save the plane!” Walcott was struggling to keep the craft under control as Garrett argued with a Navy officer.

“This is Garrett Foster, do you recognize me now?”

“No I do not, Mr. Foster.” The pilot didn’t seem impressed.

“What type of fighter are you flying?”

Garrett listened to static for a moment, then the connection came back. “I am flying a F-29 Thundercat. Why do you ask?”

“Those were developed by Admiral Greg Thompson, right?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss this any further, Mr. Foster.”

Garrett had a moment of relief. “Listen, call Thompson and tell him my name. I know he is on your carrier. He is the only person who operates these fighters. Elite Command authorization code Foster zero, zero, zero, charlie.”

The pilot cursed under his breath. A couple moments later he replied “London One, we just lost contact with our carrier, but we can confirm your code. However you got a code like that, I don’t want to know.”

Garrett shook his head. “Never mind how I got it. How did you lose contact with the carrier? It’s midday, and we don’t have a storm in sight.” He turned to Walcott to get his input.

“I’ve got nothing. Drawing a blank.” Walcott replied to the implication of his input.

“We could have only lost communication at the source, so something is wrong with the ship,” The pilot replied. “Is everything secure for now up there?”

“As long as no one gets through the door, we are fine. It would be extremely hard to punch a plane to pieces.”

[Melkor]

As the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk was on patrol, none of the crew knew that there was an artifact aboard the carrier, on it’s way to New York, where the ship was headed. On the other hand, some unsavory folk knew about it and made their move as Flight London One, flew overhead. Some of the attendants moved in the commercial flight to take it over, the one who’d taken the flight deck made a distress call.

The crew of the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk had turned its attention to the attack happening overhead, this captured most of the crew's attention so no one noticed the parachutes open mere hundreds of feet above their own deck. As the first of them were landing, another jumped out of the helicopter, which had transported the assailants. He landed on the deck, without a parachute, before he struck he punched the deck and broke through it. With the force he generated in the attack, he’d collapsed the first three levels of the carrier.

The ship’s emergency sirens blared and crewmen and soldiers alike began to flood the third level down from the deck. “What happened? A bomb that didn’t detonate?” The captain was shouting at junior officers. “A man? No, impossible!” Not long after the initial attack, there were many loud, shrieks as metal was torn from the ship and ripped apart. “What is that?” The captain squealed a bit.

“Sir! There’s a man down here ripping everything apart. Bullets don’t have an effect, we can’t hit him - he’s too fast. We need reinforceme-” The radio died.

“Mother of God…” The captain was at a loss for what to do. Within minutes, fifty-seven percent of the crew and almost every soldier aboard the ship were dead. Their remains were too dismembered to be recognized. They had to be identified by their dental records later, when the Navy got to that. All in all, the attack lasted for about six minutes before the helicopter descended on ship to collect the assault team. The mysterious man, who seemed to have the strength and speed of a god, carried a metal box which was too large for ten men to carry. He managed without noticeable effort.

Within minutes they had managed to disable the ship and cut off communications, rip the interior and the crew to rubble and make off with the head of Medusa, the real one, contained in a heavily reinforced container such that it couldn’t be easily transported or opened as a mistake.

[RyonOlson]

The airplane set down at the London airport with a rough bump, but managed to stay under control as it slowed and headed to the terminal. Foster sighed in relief as the engines finally shut down and the terminal connector expanded outward and attached to the side of the airplane. He flipped on the internal comm. "Ladies and Gentleman, we apologize for the rough ride and hope none of you were injured. Thank you for flying London Air." He turned off the comm and turned to Walcott. "About time we landed."

Foster and Walcott opened the door to the cockpit and were greeted by two Bureau security agents. The taller of the two addressed them. "Sirs, are you alright?" he asked.

Garrett nodded. "Yeah...yeah, we are. We detained the attackers and knocked them out, so you should have no problem arresting them."

The agent nodded. "Good. Please, come this way. Your car is waiting. Agent Merlin is waiting for you at HQ."

They quickly headed through the security check and exited the building, to find a black Cadillac sedan waiting outside. Two more security guards stood outside. Although they appeared to be unarmed, Garrett was sure they had some sort of high-tech weapons from Dr. Osamu's office. They got into the sedan and accelerated away.

It took nearly an hour for them to reach the London Headquarters. Located in the Westminster district near the Thames River, which was commonly referred to as "Central London," it was a massive but inconspicuous building, dating back to the mid-1800s. The ideal location for a top-secret, multi-national organization that hunted down supernatural artifacts and people.

The sedan rolled up to the security checkpoint, and a scanner popped out from the building. It made two passes over the vehicle before a green light appeared on the gate in front of them. It slid away and they entered the compound parking lot. After they were parked, which was almost right in front of the entrance to the building, Foster jumped out of the vehicle. Everyone else exited shortly after. Foster turned to the doors and watched as they swung open and a man in a trench coat and top hat exited.

"Good day, Agent Merlin. It is a pleasure to finally meet you," Garrett said, extending his hand to shake Merlin's.

[shadowcell]

Merlin began his day in his office. He had been given an assignment that will finally put his knowledge of artifacts to use. He is to meet agent foster and agent Walcott. He thought that he should look over there files so he knows a little more about them but decides to read one of the many books he has scattered around his office instead.

After a great many hours of reading he decided that it would be a good idea to get a look at who he is going to meet. He had been informed what plane they were on, so with a swift motion he pulled a spotless book on a book case otherwise filled with dusty old books. He opened to a page and the candles (yes candles) in his office dim and extinguished themselves. As his vision blurred and re focused he saw a battle field, but on a plane. He sees a battle for control of the plane and he thought while in the trance " I guess those two are the agents" as he watched as two people brake into the cockpit and take control. One man was speaking into the radio. Merlin then remembered that he can't here anything in the trance. "crap" he thought as he watched the two combat experienced agents take complete control of the plane.

Then his vision blurred and he awakened with a shock. He sat and wondered what could have pulled him out of the trance like that. "Must be an artifact near there" said merlin dismissively. He hoped that those two people were the agents. It would be sad to hear that they died and the plane they were on was hijacked. A few hours of waiting later the two agents arrived at HQ. He rushed down to ground floor to meet them. "Good day, Agent Merlin. its is a pleasure to finally meet you," one of them said with an outstretched hand "nice to meet you to, how was your flight" Merlin said with a smile.