McHaggis

CANCELLED.

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2k4: New Class

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The Wolves of Red Lake (Completed)

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2k4: New Class

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Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

@ihinka

Sorry about that! Should be fixed now >.<

Agents of SHIELD - Concluded

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Arcturus Hale

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Location: The Framework
Skills: Telepathy

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They followed the route into the side-building and through the wreckage left by someone before them. Arcturus didn't dwell on the blood, and was only vaguely interested in the cassette tape. Whoever came this way before had good taste in old technology; it was just a shame he didn't have his Walkman with him, not that it seemed to be anything but a mixtape. Nikolova took it with her, which was her own prerogative, but Arcturus couldn't help but thinking it was a waste of space.

He had more important things to worry about. Whispers of HYDRA in his ears from afar. Someone was thinking about HYDRA. He wasn't entirely surprised –– it was a topic that constantly found itself at the forefront of his own mind –– but what he heard didn't sound like the, 'ooh, those bastards' or 'I wonder what they're up to' or anything along those lines. The words almost seemed reverent. Whatever mental signature it was attached to, Arcturus couldn't be sure. It didn't sound like someone he knew.

They carried on down towards the stairs, and that was where they found actual evidence.

The syringe was a different matter entirely. When he found it, he inspected it without touching, both due to memories of high school warnings about not touching used syringes kicking in and an unwillingness to contaminate it, on the off chance that they stumbled across the equipment to analyse it. Though there was little to be seen on the outer surface that betrayed its purpose, it was worth bringing with them. Part of the mission parameters was to find a way of preventing the virus, and who could say whether this contained it, or something like it? "I'm no scientist, but we should probably take that with us." The last part was directed to Nikolova or Sparks, given their background in Sci-Tech, but he didn't fancy stuffing it in one of his own pockets. That would just be unsanitary.

As they moved up to the second floor and surveyed the standard office environment, Arcturus stopped in his tracks. Stared, for a heartbeat, unable to process any thought beyond, 'Oh, fuck.' Positioned at the fringes of the team as they cleared the stairwell and entered into the offices, he hardly expected to come face-to-face with the first mutant threat of the day. Less man than animal, like his moniker suggested, Sabertooth had seized him before he ever had time to get out of the way. A white-hot flash of pain seared through his arm as he was tossed bodily into the wall, hitting it shoulder first. He remained in place for a moment, still as could be, to blink the haze of pain from his eyes before there could be a follow-up assault. How on earth would his power help with that?

That would bruise. He looked down at his forearm where the impact had scraped the surface of the skin, and though it was only a minor scrape, an ache settled in. It felt real, this Framework. Maybe this was karma for doubting it in the first place.

Omega Serenade

"Well," Daro said, at first struggling to find adequate words to make light of the serious topic at hand, "It's not like there's any other doctors on Omega you could go to, excluding those in Perix's pocket. It seems you're stuck with me either way."

But with grim finality, she nodded once and returned to the matter at hand to conclude it. There was no need to waste a perfectly good night in with drawn out discussion when it seemed clear they were on the same page. "So it's sorted. We reach him, starting with that warehouse, and put a stop to his operations. After he's out of the way as a competitor, we can see what happens. And, whatever extra we find––credit chits, contraband––it's all yours." It was certainly the least that Haze deserved.

The quarian paused and took another sip of her drink through the emergency induction port. She held up the half-empty glass in cheers, teasingly adding, "Now I sound like a proper mercenary, discussing terms. It's only a matter of time before I turn mad with power and start my own gang. Give it a few weeks."

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Daro accompanied Hazan on reconnaissance this time, no longer burdened by the strain of finding a new cubby-hole clinic to move into and without the distraction of being hunted. Granted, the respite was temporary. The mercs were still there, still looking –– just because she could not see them did not erase them from existence. One of her human patients (who described themselves as a 'frequent flyer' at her clinic and enjoyed introducing her to other such nonsensical idioms from Earth) had a phrase for such an occasion: out of sight, out of mind.

Tenus's mysterious warehouse was an enigma. She had taken a few shifts watching the front entrance in the past few days to very little activity. Far less than what was suggested by the routes in the courier's convenient information packet. Two turian guards, and an occasional intake of raw materials that Daro sincerely doubted was a front for anything sinister. However, there were no exports in all the hours she was present, or in footage from her drone. Nothing ever came out.

Nothing came out the front.

"These are such unsociable hours," Daro said when she was in position at the rear of the building, nestled in shadow and steam from the nearby takeaway. It was her usual surveillance spot. Low priority. The clatter of round-the-clock industry cluttered up the comms whenever she spoke and made it impossible to focus on the words of a novella even if she tried. "I'm already regretting the mercenary life."

There was a single guard posted at the rear door, and every hour, when he thought nobody was looking, he would skim something interesting on his omnitool. Checking his messages, or the news, perhaps. Daro didn't like to think of them having lives outside of Domititus's orders. There was a minute chance they might die as a result of her actions in the future.

Daro was tapping out a message to the broker who expressed an interest in buying the rest of the information when there was sudden movement in her peripheral vision. The air grew thick and heavy with exhaust fumes, and a clamor resounded in the alleyway from the direction of the warehouse. "Finally, there's life. It looks like they're moving something?"

A large transport vehicle lowered itself into a tight space, half-concealing her view. Daro's drone continued to record through it all. Like a well-oiled machine, the back door opened to a sea of new faces in sterile grey civilian gear. Mostly batarians, but with a few scattered salarian faces, they rolled out large white crates devoid of any recognizable logos, not even Perix's personal brand. "I don't think this warehouse is for storage," she mused quietly. Now there were an appropriate number of guards, matching what was mentioned in Tenus's irregular supply routes. "At least, not just storage. It looks like there's manufacturing going on. No reason to do it at this hour unless they're trying to hide something, right?"

D&D 5e - Of Seas and Snakes

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D&D 5e - Of Seas and Snakes

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