[IC] The Gifted: Insurgency

[TheDarkTemplar]

"Eh I figured I'd let her win the first one. Builds confidence before going into the field", Aaron replied with a smirk as he looked to Ace then back to Norville. Aaron noticed the ice forming over Norville's skin, "Type 2? He's got a physical that much is clear. If he's a 3 the hopefully the psychological ain't mind reading or something creepy". It took only a second for Aaron to realize the irony of that statement and once he did he had to stifle a laugh. "Speaking of fieldwork, any of you have an idea of when that'll be for us? I'd rather not spend the rest of my career in the training room", looking at his comms pad the squad roster showed that the present three members were cleared but had no active assignments. There was another member who from what the dossier said was undergoing "Orientation". "Three man team? I guess we could pull it off. Two physicals and a psyche can do some serious damage, especially with these eyes", Aaron glanced around the training room before finally deciding his time here was up.

"Hey you two doing anything tonight? Wanna go get some drinks or something? I've been stuck in this tower for so long I'm up for pretty much anything", grabbing his bags Aaron looked to his squadmates for their answer. He'd go out anyway if they declined but it'd still be fun to have others to converse with. "Look at you Walsh, giving it your all to make friends today?", he said to himself before checking his comms pad once more. "Shit, are either of you getting this on your pads!?", Aaron turned his pad around to show the news coverage of the shooting at Manhattan Memorial Institute. The cameras displayed a mass of CIR officers moving into the building before stumbling upon the numerous corpses scattered throughout the halls. The camera cut back to a reporter behind a police line interviewing one of the on-site officers and in the background Jack could clearly be seen escorting the shooter into CIR custody. "Fuckin' Storm Hounds man...", was all Aaron said. He knew this guy had to be Storm Hound, most would assume he was a member of The Scions but to Aaron the shooter didn't come off as the type to be a Scion. That and most don't let themselves get taken into custody, preferring to die in combat than be apprehended.

[Zeff]

Back at the Storm Hound's camp, not long after the departure of Sam Harris' truck.

Jack Hurtgen* was jolted awake from his midday snooze by the sound of an engine starting. As he unzipped his sleeping bag and rolled out, he heard a stereo playing a song distantly. "Aw hell," he said to himself, "What now?"

As Jack peeled away the door to his tent, the source of his disruption came into view of his tired, barely open eyes. Before him loomed the boxy figure of an armored truck, whose flanks were dotted with numerous handrails. Clinging to one of these was a fully suited up, combat ready Kyle, who was even wearing the original Storm Hound helmet. Back in service, they were prohibited from wearing them, and instead wore helmets of regular units. The Storm Hound helmet always had more than a slight resemblance to a modern redesign of the stahlhelm, which wasn't exactly the best image for a US military unit. Now they were free of such restrictions. Further along the rear cabin's walls and on the other side were even more fully armed and armoured Storm Hound soldiers, the artificial muscle of their suits allowing them to maintain their grips and positions indefinitely.

Jack blinked. Then blinked again. "Kyle, what the hell are you--"

Though the lower half of Kyle's face was concealed by his combat rebreather, the tone of his voice readily conveyed that he was smiling, even if the mask gave it a mechanical, slightly inhuman quality. "Hey Jack! Wanna come with?" he said enthusiastically. "Just don't try and get in the back of the truck. We've got stuff back there." He hastily added.

It was at this moment Jack noticed that in Kyle's free hand was the handle of a monstrously large, multi-barreled weapon, with a long belt of ammunition that snaked into a back mounted unit. Though this weapon would be otherwise prohibitively heavy, the power armor made light work of it.

"Kyle, what have you got there?" Jack asked as he stepped out from the tent.

"Ah, y'know. Chaingun. Pulled a few favours here and there with some old military buddies I've kept in contact with. Ones that -didn't- end up losing their jobs, I mean. Most of them are all high ranked now. Only got enough fuel and ammo for one engagement, but I intend to put that to use, yeah?"

Jack gave only a slight nod. He wasn't able to put any of the other thoughts whizzing through his mind into words. As he got closer, a mural on the side of the van came into view. Above it was spraypainted "Genoslide!", and the mural itself was a depiction of a playground slide. Riding down the curve of this slide was an emaciated corpse in a purple mask and cape; superhero garb. The exit of the mouth was positioned before a pit in the ground, one that contained many similarly gaudily dressed corpses.

"You like it?" Kyle asked. "Tom did it for me. He's really good, isn't he? Never knew we had a budding painter among us."

Jack grunted slightly, his fingers reaching his temples. "Yeah, it's a real masterpiece. Look, what's this all about? What about the kid, Sam Helter? Sam Skelter? I don't remember. Please just explain."

"Well, you see, Sam was always going to be a diversion, on top of the goals we'd already spoken about. Where we're headed is completely different. Besides, we've sent a few novices on the other truck to reinforce Sam, even if he's dead by now." Kyle nodded, then nodded again for quick measure. A slight giggle erupted from him.

At this, Jack's head fully shifted into his palm. "You're all on the combat stims again, aren't you? This is why I always avoided that stuff, you know.

"Yeah, well, you were never one for fun, were you? Still a damn good soldier. But man, you don't know what you're missing! Speaking of missing, we're getting worryingly close to 'late', so. Seeya!' Kyle gestured to the soldier adjacent adjacent to him, who in turn tapped on the roof of the driving compartment with the barrel of his LMG. With that, the truck picked up speed and rode off into the woods.

*[Zeff's OOC note: I actually completely forgot there was already a Jack in this RP. If Ace's Jack and my Jack ever appear together, I'll just call him by his surname "Hurtgen" for convenience.]
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And now back to Sam Helter, in CIR custody

Sam's face was bright red and his face streaked with tears, his heavy breaths bringing up booger balloons from his nostrils. It wasn't the most glamorous appearance the boy has ever worn. "At least I fucking killed my parents on the way here." He mumbled not so quietly. The CIR investigator peered over his shoulder at him with a quizzical expression, then continued leading him on.

Sam winced greatly as he passed by the noticeboard on the wall of the CIR station, each poster and flier he saw promoting mindfulness, equality and all that other lovey-dovey mutie shit turning his stomach. "You know what you muties are?" Sam spat venemously. "A bunch of... a bunch of fucking hackers! In real life! I was getting all the leet headshots, and then the fucking beardo weirdo, like... I don't fucking know how he did it, man! It's just mad gay!" The CIR officer took this moment to remind him of his right to remain silent, dearly wishing he would take up this offer.

In acute frustration, Sam spun around and extended his handcuffed hands at his CIR escorts. "I'm not staying quiet until you tell me which of you mutie fucks was the one that made my dad hit my mom, and made my mom hit me! I'm not staying quiet until you tell me which of the beardo mind control men made my mom take away my Xbox 1488! I'm mad as hell, and I want answers!" He sputtered through his phlegm, mucus and tears. One of the officers glanced around and, when he noticed there were no journalists in range, leaned towards him and said, "Kid, please for the love of god, shut the fuck up. I bet Kyle Kruger himself would be cringing like a motherfucker if he was here to see this shit." The verbal backhand was successful, and Sam was brought to his cell in subdued silence, with his head hanging down.

As Sam was shoved behind bars, the officer called out, "And 'beardo' has a name, for your information! He's called Jack, and he deserves more respect than you're giving him, ya dingus!"

Sam slumped onto his bed and huffed. As he rubbed away his tears and snot on the pillow cover, he bitterly reflected on the fact that they hadn't let him bring his dakimakura of Rainbow Dash with him. Little did he realize, Kyle had made arrangements to have it chucked into a pit, covered in gasoline and set on fire shortly after his departure from the camp.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back out on the highway, where the Storm Hounds are looking for adventure, and whatever comes their way

Kyle, his men and his truck had by now pulled onto the main road. They were surely noticed, but surely didn't care. The stereo blared music, and they all sang along. The armored truck sped down the NY 17 , without any regard for other traffic. Many cars had flung themselves off the road or into each other at the spectacle.

"We should be going south east if we're headed to New York City, shouldn't we boss?" Tom called out from the other side of the truck.

"Exactly!" Kyle called back.

Kyle breathed the chemicals dispensed by his rebreather deeply. Objects became mere jolts of colour that streaked and stretched beyond him as the truck sped by. Kyle giggled giddily as he was swallowed up by the velocity and the riot of sensations that engulfed him. The sound of wheels in motion, the voices of his men, the music, the beeping of horns, and the wind rushing by, all commingled together as one sing-song voice.

Memories of his first kill came to him. The greying skin of the French soldier on the ground resembled gravel. The gaping wound, the canyon of flesh, along the side of the soldier's head brought to mind images of a great eyelid, with blood gushing out like red water. Chunks of brain matter were carried along among the profuse liquid as flotsam. The blood never stopped flowing. The gushing reached the intensity of a burst fire hydrant, and soon Kyle found himself on his back, adrift upon the ocean of blood, gently tugged along with its tide. His heart was no longer wrenched by the guilt of the act. Fear had vanished. He was at peace as he drifted and bobbed upon the surface of the blood. The sky grew red. All around him was all encompassing red.

The sky grew closer and closer, and he began to notice it wobbled and shifted. More blood. Droplets from the mass above him dripped onto his face. They tickled him, and he giggled and grinned. The sky-sea-blood had gotten so close now that he could see his own reflection in it. His rows of straight, pearly white teeth became jagged like that of an animal's. His left eye swirled in place like the wheel of a slot machine. As the wheel eye settled to a stop, its iris was no longer green, but an electric blue.

Reality began to reassemble itself. Kyle was back on the truck, watching the fields and trees rush by. He had regained his senses, but they were clearer. They were purer. His ears pricked as he could hear the distant sound of sirens closing in from behind them. He swung around on his rail and pointed the many muzzles of his minigun towards the space to the rear of the truck. Sure enough, several police cars had pulled into view, their lamps flashing.

"Guys! Over there! We gotta protect Tom's sweet mural at all costs!" Kyle cried.

"FOR TOM'S SWEET ASS MURAL!" They cried together in response, all turning their respective weapons on the police behind them.

[Cuccoruler]

The Warren Residence, Los Angeles
October 27, 2049
11:27am

Natalie didn't go to work today. After what happened in Manhattan she wasn't in the best condition to continue her research. Instead she stayed at home with Josephine as the two of them got to work in the Net Room. "Mom, I just got an update from your guy in Manhattan. He says the CIR have the shooter under intensive interrogation but he's yet to get an idea of when he'll be transferred out of the station", Natalie said as she handed over a tablet showing the full report. "Good. Tell him to keep on it and the second he gets a date and time have him send it to us", Josephine's voice was focused and cold, she had no mercy for people like this and the two of them were going to have nice little chat. "What about Runner? He said anything about the cars?", Josephine added this time looking directly at Natalie.

"He says the cars are ready for us whenever we need them", the second Natalie used the word "we" her mother quickly shot a disapproving glance at her before returning to her monitor.

"I told you already you are not coming with me", she said without even so much as looking in Natalie's direction.

"Why not?! I can use my powers, I can make sure they don't-"

"Because I said no! You said you wanted to help and I agreed but I will not allow you to get yourself tangled into all of this!", Josephine's fist was clenched tightly to th point where the robotic servos could be heard beneath her skin.

"I'm already tangled into all of this! My mom is going to kidnap a meta killer, my dad is fighting two terrorist groups, and I work or both!", there was a silence as Natalie sighed in frustration before continuing, "...Mom, I'm already a part of this. I'm risking my life as it is so let me fight. This is what you and dad did, right? Fight for us metas? I want to do the same"

Josephine calmly got up from her seat and turned to face her daughter. Taking her hand in her own she said softly, "You're father and I fought so you wouldn't have to. If you were hurt during this what do you think that'd do to me? Please Natalie, just listen to me and keep working on your research. When I need your help again I'll be sure to ask". Natalie didn't want to hear it but her mom was right, this wasn't supposed to be her fight, but it is and if this meant she couldn't be on the front lines then she'd find another way to end this war. Reluctantly Natalie agreed and the two hugged just before the doorbell rang. Josephine instinctively grabbed the handgun on the table and exited the Net Room. Before Natalie could follow Josephine closed the Net Room with her daughter inside before heading to the door.

Cia had heard the commotion going on in the house, or atleast she could hear yelling she couldn't make out what they were saying. "I can't believe that Cole is making me work with her. She probably hates me after what I did to her." Cia said to herself outloud. Cia had gotten to the house through means of a personal driver. Due to her lacking arms she couldn't drive herself anywhere and when she worked for the CIR the often contracted a driver for her. How Cia rang the door bell was another question, most often she does this with her feet but this time she had used her head, it was quite the site to see.

Cia had left Pat in the orphanage again, it was a great day care after all, though she knew that soon Patrick would start demanding to come with her. She was afraid of those days and hoped to retire before then.

Josephine eased the front door open enough to see who was there. To her surprise it was Cia whom she hadn't wen since back in the old days. Holstering her gun she opened the door fully but said nothing.

Cia saw Josphine peek out the door. Cia almost fell down when she saw her, still not used to being near Josphine. "Oh.. Hi Josphine." Cia said nervously. "I got called here to help you with something, I kinda stopped paying attention in the meeting of what I was supposed to do though." Cia then remebered that Patrick had packed Cia a few tarts for Josphine. "Oh right! Patrick, my son, wanted to give you some of his tarts, can I come in?" Cia asked as she floated up some tubaware full of about 6 tarts.

Josephine gave Cia another quick look over with those steely eyes of hers before gesturing for Cia to enter. "It's clear, Natalie, you can come out!", Josephine called out into the house. A moment later the sound of the Net Room opening could be heard in the living room. Bringing her attention back to Cia, Josephine accepted the tarts and headed into the kitchen to put them away. "I'm guessing Cole sent you here?", she said upon entering the living room where the three of them now stood.

Cia tried to smile but it came out nervously. "Yeah, umm, listen. I'm really sorry about what I did to you back then." Cia said to Josphine. She knew she would have to get past this eventually, and doing it now was probably better than in the middle of a mission.

"Don't worry about it", Josephine replied quickly before looking over to Natalie. "A lot of good came out of it..well since you're here we should probably get to work. Josephine headed into the Net Room to fill Cia in on the situation, what they were about to do wasn't exactly by the books and they had to keep this under wraps if they didn't want to bring attention to themselves.

Cia followed Josephine, a bit happy that she didn't have any grudge against her. Though the event still scared Cia, and it wasn't because of what she did, but because of how she felt about it. Truth was Cia loved that feeling she had, it was like a drug, and this was what scared her the most, this was also why Cia stayed away from cast iron frying pans now. She would use any other kind of frying pan just not the cast iron ones.

"The CIR have apprehended the shooter but there hasn't been much word on when he'll be transferred to a proper holding facility. I have an inside man watching for me, when he gives the word that our target is on the move we'll move in to capture him. Until then you and I will be doing some investigations into the recent Enforcer killings", Josephine was glued to the monitors the entire time until she finally realized she had not introduced Cia to Natalie. "Natalie, get in here!", Josephine called out only to be replied with a muffled voice. "What?", Josephine called out again, this time in response was the sound of feet coming towards the Net Room. Natalie stood in the entryway just now swallowing the last of Cia's tarts. "You called?, she asked looking over to Cia and waving with a slight smile. "Cia this is Natalie, my daughter. Natalie this is Cia, she...she's friend", Josephine didn't want to tell Natalie that the woman she was working with had once killed her. Natalie knew her mother had extensive cybernetic prosthesis but she had been told it was due to an accident and as far as Josephine was concerned Natalie would continue to believe that.

Cia gave a nervouse smile to her. She would shake hands with her but Cia lacked arms to do so. "It's nice to meet you! I have two children of my own, plus the others at the orphanage." Cia said smiling. "You could have left some of those tarts for your mother though." Cia added realizing that the girl had eaten all of the tarts. Cia then turned back to Josphine. "So do you have any idea on where to start?" Cia asked looking at the moniters, Cia had not been much for technology, having no arms made it hard to use it, and she completely refused to get cybernetic parts. She believed them to be just too strange, she never had arms in the first place anyways and she wouldn't know what to do with them.

"Yeah sorry about that, I had one but after trying it I had to have more", Natalie smiled but quickly became stern upon hearing Cia ask about a possible lead. "I can answer that, the latest victim was a thirty-six year old Enforcer named Benjamin Morrison. From what I gathered he was on his regular patrol the night of his murder when he exited his car here", Natalie had brought up a map on a wall moniter and had pointed at the corner of a street which came up on the map. "Witnesses reported the officer headed down the street and entered this store over here", a photo of the store during open hours showed it to be a regular dollar store. "The officer entered the store but only a few moments after doing so did the lights inside go out. Witnesses reported screams and gunfire but never anyone else entering or leaving the store, the store owner was also found dead at the site. CIR operatives closed off the store for investigation but found only the body and it's scattered fragments. If I had to guess, the victim was probably stopping for a snack when whoever it was attacked. As for the attacker it was probably a type 2 shadow manipulator. However that does not account for the way the body was found. Multiple lacerations over The entire body with several pieces of flesh scattered across the store. Our Type 2 can either manipulate shadows into hardlight constructs, wield a edged weapon with incredible force, or they had an accomplice with a type 2 or 3 ability allowing them to rend flesh", Natalie looked to Josephine who displayed a look of pride in her daughter. "Thats our lead, the CIR has left the site for now so let's go while it's still clear. I'd rather not get hassled by some CIR hardass", Josephine said she headed out of the Net Room. Natalie rushed out towards her room calling out, "I'll go get my things!". Josephine sighed as she heard this but didn't protest. Time was short and after what she saw, having Natalie come along would help in all honesty.

Cia thought as she looked at the pictures and heard about the victim. "You people always assume that it's a Gifted, that isn't always the case you know. Someone could have had tools and been sick in the mind. There could be evidence of an actual metal too in the body." Cia said, she always tried to look at other leads for things like this she believed that an open mind was necessary. "It's possible that these kills were done to try and frame Gifted, make us look back in the media. Bring back the fear that Callahan brought." Cia said starting to head out the door. "These are all just speculations, but I just want you to keep an open mind, it could be anything, best to be ready for everything than just one particular issue." Cia added as she continued to look around. If Cia had to fight she could use anything in the area to fight with, that was one of the best parts of being a telekinetic.

"Perhaps, either theory is possible. Still, something like this doesn't feel human to me. Nevertheless I'll be ready, it's Natalie I'm worried about", Josephine grabbed a black duffle bag and opened it on the living room table. Pulling out a silencer she attached it to her holstered handgun before taking out another and looking towards Cia. "You're a telekinetic. You want one or no?", she asked Cia just before Natalie entered the room. "Woah, mom we're investigating a crime scene not preparing for war", Natalie stared at the duffle bag trying to guess how many more her mother had hidden around the house. "I'm not taking any chances, after the incident my left arm can't use my powers anymore and if this is a meta then I'm bringing whatever edge I can get", Josephine looked at Cia before digging through the bag once more. Pulling out a smaller bag she filled it with a body bag, a pair of handcuffs, and a syringe filled with horse tranquilizer.

Cia looked at the hand gun with a very unamused look on her face. "Do I look like I have fingers? I can't use a gun, my telekinises isn't all that price to just push buttons or pull triggers." Cia said looking at them both. "Besides to me everything, and one is my weapon." Cia added with a slight smile. "Anyways I won't be doing much in the way of handy work. So I hope that you two can keep my safe." Cia added, she really didn't want to get into a fight, she knew that if she did the scarrier side of her would come out.

"If being ready for anything is such a big concern then can I get one?", Natalie asked as she eyed the handgun. Josephine immediately put the spare gun away, "Absolutely not, if it comes to a fight you get away as fast as you can. I won't have my daughter be a killer at 19 or any age for that matter"

"But mo-"

"I said no, and I meant it Natalie. Could you please go start the car for us?", Natalie groaned before heading to the garage. "We'll take my car. It's safer that way", Josephine said to Cia before closing the door to the Net Room.

Cia smiled at the others as she followed them into the garage. "Yeah, I don't have a car, just a driver. Besides he already left I was assuming you would drive." Cia said getting into the car with them.

[Ace of flames01]

Ace scowled at Norville's sly remark and was going to give him an ear full but caught herself before cooly responding, " I may be a hot head but at least I don't give people cold shoulders, Norville. And as for confidence..... I am confident that I could beat both of your asses 6 feet into the ground!" Ace paused when she had noticed Aaron's expression turn solemn. "What is it?" she replied looking over his shoulder. She froze when she read the headline "Massacre at Conclave University!".

"oh no...oh no no no..... Jack!" Ace murmured as her eyes darted through the report. She then saw a photo of Jack escorting a young boy out of the university. She sighed relieved before smiling faintly, yet warmly as she collapsed to her knees. "thank god.....thank god he's ok.....dammit Jack.... you nearly scared me to death...... you aren't as young as you used to be.... you know that...." Ace murmured to herself. She then smiled, her expression held amusement and pride for her father's actions, " and yet.... I couldn't be more proud of ya, old man...."

[ShaggyDoo0]

Norville couldn't help but chuckle at Ace's remark. "Miss Stahl, I know for certain you could mop the floor with me. I wouldn't stand even a minuet chance against your skill and strength." Norville was not lying as he knew without a doubt that he would lose to Ace in any sort of fight. His attention had then been caught by what was displayed on Aaron's screen at a college he was all too familiar with as he graduated from there just a year before. The thought of that scene being played out while he was there made him take a step back, the shock being replaced by awe as Jack's figure appeared on screen as he brought the shooter into custody. "Miss Ace... Your father really is an oustanding man."