Executive Splashdown (IC): [GM]

[quotemyname]

Lukos watched as Tank sailed away over the city in the fading light of the setting sun. Some of the physical abilities of his fellow super heroes still astonished him, even months after he'd made himself a part of this world.

Slowly, as Tank faded into the distance, Lukos turned back to Slipstream. He closed the distance between himself and the other hero quickly. I'd better tell him the situation, but I need to respect Tank's privacy. I'll tell him as much as I can.

Finally, Lukos spoke to Slipstream, "I've sent Tank to retrieve something that may help us locate the victims. At the very least, it should provide us with some new information. But that's all I know for now." Lukos gave a shrug, and turned his attention to the bank. "We have to wait for him here, but that does not mean we cannot take a look inside for some clues." Lukos made a motion indicating that Slipstream should lead the way.

[Basarin]

"Fair enough." Ian was just as impressed at Tank being able to make the trip he did in a single bound as Lukos was. Entering the bank first, he asked, "So what do you expect to find in here? CCTV footage? License plate tracking? A ransom note snarking at us?" His voice might have had a light-hearted "take it as we come" tone to it, but his face was entirely obscured by the silver helmet; no facial expression could be seen otherwise.

As they entered, he also added to his question, "And what're you making of all this? You look like you've been around the block for a bit, and I wouldn't mind an opinion to refer against when we find something I can double check with AEGIS about."

[quotemyname]

Apparently the bank doors had been left unlocked, as this was still considered a police scene. As the pair ducked the yellow caution tape and made their way through the front doors, a smile formed beneath Lukos' mask. "I would not say I was looking, per se. Searching, yes. But looking does not quite enter into the formula."

Lukos picked a spot in the center of the entrance way. He crouched, and ran his fingers over what seemed to be gouges in the floor. Placing his face close to the floor, he breathed in deeply. The air was heavy with the scent of Lycanthropy. Mae had definitely been here. Almost unconsciously, Lukos 'saw' the trial that her scent had left. It left the bank, went down the steps, and quickly departed in an easterly direction.

"My earlier guess was correct. They did go east. Judging by how masked the scent is, they drove in a closed vehicle. Not open like a Jeep, or something." Lukos stood, and faced Slipstream once more. "All I know is that a friend of mine was kidnapped. I am helping to get her back." Lukos shook his head, "I apologize that I cannot be of more use to you. My experience with AEGIS is all but nonexistent. How did you come to work for them?"

[Basarin]

He answered, "I was a pilot. And I was pretty good at it." He shrugged as he continued, "I wanted to fly and be a superhero, but I never got any powers. So I took the next best step and flew for AEGIS. Then I got lucky with this thing." He knocked a hand against the metallic surface of the jetpack. "Long story about how I got this thing, but after we got it, they made an offer to let me fly with it. So here I am."

Glancing eastward where Lukos did, his eyes narrowed behind his visor. "So, east huh? If you can track down where the scent goes, I might have more for us to go on. We're going to have to follow your nose there; you have a heck of a better idea of where to go than any of us do right now." Turning his head toward the gasmasked hero, he asked, "And you? How'd you get started in this whole superhero gig?"

[quotemyname]

Lukos trotted down the front steps to the street. He gazed towards the east. If Slipstream could see his face he would know it was deep in thought. "It was only natural, really. At the time, it seemed like the best way to help people. I did not really start out as super, per se. Or arguably much of a hero. I evolved into the role, I think."

Lukos turned and looked westward, towards where Tank had launched himself. "I can follow a trail rather quickly. I hope he can keep up. I do not know how much control he has over those jumps of his. I hope he returns soon. We should get moving."

[Starsign]

Tank removes his head from the concrete that he smashed. While he was perfectly fine, he drew a bit of attention from the workers at the construction site. "Sorry! Just need to get something." He said rather quickly as he made a beeline for the storage room, picking up a uniform from one of the men that had gone missing. As he made his way out he heard a call from behind. "Tank!"

Tank sighed as he turned to Eugene. Despite being a smaller person, the Commissioner had a very stern look on his face. His eyes glanced at the uniform the Elderri had, which Tank responded, "It's... Uh.. needed to track the people down. Some guy says he can sect, er... scent a person with their possessions. Sorry!" He spoke quickly as he turned and jumped again, leaving a frustrated Commissioner with his hand smacking his head.

Tank came down crashing in the lot just outside the bank, dazed but unharmed. "I am never doing that again." he told himself, not liking the idea of taking off to high heights only to wipe out upon landing. He walked to the bank, where a surprised Lukos and Slipstream was handed the uniform. "Here you go guys. I don't feel like jumping from now on." he said as he hardened his body once more.

[quotemyname]

"With any luck, you won't need to." Lukos replied, accepting the uniform. He held it close to his face and took in the scent of the kidnapped worker. Concentrating for a moment, he came to a conclusion about the scent.

"I'm sorry." Lukos shook his head. "They did not pass this way. But I have their scent now. If our path crosses the one they took, I'll know about it."

Lukos faced east standing on the street again. "For now, we should take the lead that we do have. We can only hope that these cases are related. If not, we will be forced to canvas the city for the remaining captives afterward." Lukos handed the uniform back to Tank.

[Basarin]

"We should probably hurry then." Slipstream didn't seem like one for just sitting down and waiting. "If we sit around for too long, then we WILL have to play treasure hunt in every street." His tone indicated his own thoughts on THAT potential disaster. "Besides, they're not going to oblige us and just wait until we get there. The sooner we can find out where they are, the sooner we can surprise them."

[Starsign]

Tank did not have much to say at this point. The investigation was not going how he had planned it. He thought that hopefully all that telling he said won't come back to haunt him later.

Having a smile of confidence on his face, Tank says, "Alright, any time you two are ready then." as he gave a gesture as if he's ready to move anytime.

[quotemyname]

Lukos nodded to the other two heroes. "Follow me." Tracing the trail of his pack mate, Lukos took off down the street to the east. He moved at a pretty good pace. Slipstream was able to take to the air and follow with no problems, but Tank had trouble keeping up. The trio had to stop now and again between waiting for him, and Lukos having to decide which direction to go at certain corners.

They had traveled a few miles through the city when Lukos stopped at yet another corner. When Tank finally caught up, and Slipstream landed near him, Lukos divulged the reason for the halt. "The other scent...They crossed here." Lukos turned to Tank. "You are in luck, my new friend. It seems we are headed to the same place." Lukos turned toward the east and gazed down the street through city block after city block. "Unless I miss my guess, judging by the age, and direction the trail has been following, we're headed to the waterfront."

[Starsign]

The speed of the two humans gave Tank much difficulty in keeping up. "Sorry guys. The humans gave me this name for a reason." He wished that he could somehow move faster than his normal speed. Thankfully Tank never got tired throughout the trip, else he would have been a liability that wasn't worth taking along.

Tank caught up as they rounded a corner and stopped. The news that their searches were connected came as a great relief to the Elderri superhero. "That's great news! But why take them to the ocean?" Tank, still unfamiliar with Earth's oceans, was not quite sure of possible reasons, like kidnapping for ransom, or to force them away from the country.

[Basarin]

"The port'd be my guess," Slipstream suggested. "If they're going near the ocean, we can at least narrow down the search down to the port. Better than the whole darn city."

Turning to Tank, he explained, "Just a guess, but maybe they were figuring to hightail it on a boat and hide out in the middle of the ocean. It'd make a rescue operation a lot harder, that's for sure."

Still, the fact that they might have just effectively narrowed their search to something more manageable gave Slipstream pause for thought...

[quotemyname]

It was but a matter of minutes later that the three heroes arrived near the docks of Freedom City. "We are definitely very close now." Lukos said, rising from a crouched position on the concrete of one of the long piers extending from the city to the waterfront. This was where the larger ships were docked. Anything from cruise liners to cargo ships pulled in here daily.

"The scent seems to lead to that ship over there." Lukos pointed out to one of the larger cargo ships. He turned to Slipstream "Did you discover anything new?"

[Basarin]

"Yeah. Just got a report about the docks for the past day or so." He paused, as if listening to something, and nodded. "Okay, thanks, HQ." He then turned to Lycos and Tank.

"Funny you should mention cargo ships. There's one ship in particular that's standing out like a sore thumb. Crew hasn't come out since it docked, and no one in port's even made contact with them inside." Nodding to Lycos, he added, "I'm guessing it's that ship your nose's picked up. Would be a good place to start at least, though we don't have any intel on what's IN there; we're going in blind."

[Starsign]

Tank looked on to the big ship. "Why do they need a ship so big? If it can't fly, wouldn't that mean it doesn't need as much space?" The Elderri had little knowledge of the difference between spacecraft and watercraft.

After listening to Slipstream's intel, Tank said, "I don't see a way to walk in." There was no docking platform to get to the deck of the ship. the port was separated from the cargo ship by a pit of water. Tank looked to Slipstream, "You can make it over there easily. I can jump on, but the ship may be damaged." He then turned to Lukos with concern on the Elderri's face. "No apparent way for you to get on. The gap seems to big for a human to jump." Tank's face turned to a smile again as he gestured, "I'll go first Slipstream, you follow after me." As he walked up to the incredibly large ship. It's size was bigger than it first appeared.

[Basarin]

"Right behind you." The engines were still idling on Slipstream's back, but a low, stronger hum could be heard if you listened closely. "Not much for an 'in-your-face' style fight, but keep me at a distance and I can lay down some hurt." He took the opportunity to draw his blaster pistol; up to now in his new career, he hadn't had the need to use it at all. "Though...how exactly are YOU getting in?"

[quotemyname]

As Tank looked at his comrades, he noticed a few slight changes coming over Lukos. He seemed to be growing slightly in both height and muscular structure. Then suddenly, Tank saw dark brown fur begin to sprout from the skin all the way down his right arm.

"I think your first mistake was assuming that I was human." Lukos said quietly to Tank. "Going in blind is fine with me, Slipstream. Unlike you, I don't need my eyes to see." He took a few slow steps to the front of the group, then paused to look back over his shoulder. "All aboard."

Lukos raced towards the cargo ship at his top speed. He reached nearly fifty miles per hour before he gave a mighty leap into the air. He easily cleared the railing on the outside of the ship. When his feet struck the deck he quickly tucked and rolled, and attempted to take stock of his surroundings.

[Starsign]

Tank looked in shock as fur suddenly appeared over Lukos. "Wait! You're an alien too?!" His voice (thankfully) came over deaf ears as the other two heroes passed him instantly. Thinking, "Doing a jump like before would have me jump over the ship..." Tank started running and jumped...

...Missing the deck and smashing through the hull instead. Unharmed, Tank looked at where he landed, then looked back at the hole he made. "Oops." he quietly said to himself, realizing he was separated from the others. Tank started to check out the surroundings and it's neighboring rooms, deciding to check for the missing people from the bottom first.

[Basarin]

Slipstream just shook his head and punched the accelerator to take to the air. However, rather than just shooting to the sky to take into view the deck only, he made sure that he was in a position to support either Lukos above deck or Tank in his impromptu dynamic entry. He muttered as he kept his blaster pistol on hand, "I am so not in charge of this, and so not paying for damages out of my pocket."

[quotemyname]

WYEEEYOOOOHHH WYEEEYOOOOHHH WYEEEYOOOOHHH WYEEEYOOOOHHH. Red lights and klaxxons began blaring everywhere around the ship. The heroes had just set off the high alert systems.

From Lukos' point of view, he saw two troops of soldiers storm the deck. He'd jumped right into a flanking position. They came from opposite directions, from the doorways that would access the lower levels of the ship. Complete with camoflage pants, bullet proof vests, rifles, grenades, the whole kit and kabootle.

Lukos knew he was in for a fight, now. He dropped into a low crouch, and prepared to take on the military personnel that were funneling through the containers on the ship's deck like ants picking the carcass of a small animal clean.

Meanwhile, below deck, Tank heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights. While he was not too familiar with alarm systems, he did hear something that made his adrenaline start pumping. Footsteps. Lots of them. They were coming his way. After a few seconds, he could see the hallway out in front of him fill up with soldiers.

Slipstream saw both of his new friends in trouble, and knew that he had a decision to make. But which would he go to aid?

"If you attack me, then be prepared to die here. If you turn around now, and release my friend from captivity, I will spare you. If not, then I welcome you to hell!" Lukos challenged the men that were storming the ship.

[quotemyname]

Failing to heed his warning, Lukos could see the soldiers taking tactical positions around him. Lukos had had enough, he was at the verge of mauling the nearest soldier who was approaching him with an assault rifle, but he held back.

Rip. Tear. Kill Wolf begged him, but he refused to relinquish control.

No, they deserve one more chance. Lukos looked back and forth between the soldiers that were closing on him.

"You should know," He said to them quietly. "I think you should run." He threw his head back and released a triumphant howl.

HAWWWOOOOOOOOooOOoooOOOooOOoooooo!!!

The soldier's mouths opened. Terror filled their eyes.

[quotemyname]

The Soldiers holding the assault rifles seemed to be the smartest. They were the first to react. Most of them ran, headlong away from him, some even dropping their weapons in an attempt to flee faster. Only two soldiers remained. On stood on top of a container, and the other rolled around the corner of another container to gain a line of sight on him. Though the one on top of the container looked like he was shaking, he still listened to orders. "Fire now!" The two unloaded their assault rifles at once. Though the ground around Lukos' feet was riddled with bullets, not a single one seemed to touch him. Apparently, the two soldiers were more afraid than they looked.

[Starsign]

The alarm's sound blared through The Elderri's ears. Nothing had sounded as aggravating as this in Tank's life, and he didn't know the point of the siren. The sound seemed to have died down as Tank notices humans coming from the stairs, heavily-armed soldiers to be exact. "Uh oh,"

Tank thought, "2, 5, 7... 10 of them." He counted the number of soldiers in the way as he pounded the ground with his foot, ready to charge. With a smile of confidence, Tank shouted out, in his native language, "" as he came at the soldiers like a train, bowling them over so Tank could reach the hostages.

[Basarin]

Slipstream had to force himself to NOT run after hearing the roar that Lukos let rip across the deck. CRIPES, he thought to himself. Not exactly something I was expecting to work with...

With no small effort, he steeled his nerves and quickly surveyed the field. Inside, it looked like Tank had things well under control, and there were quite a few more soldiers above decks; Lukos looked like he could use a hand. His decision made, he punched the accelerator on the jetpack and flew above deck. Seeing one of the enemy soldiers hefting his assault rifle, he decided that that was one threat that needed to be dealt with and opened fire.

[quotemyname]

The blaster pistol made short work of the soldier with the assault rifle. The energy burned right through the ballistic vest with no problems, dropping the man where he stood.

It was at this instant that the soldiers with the pistols decided to react to the situation. Finally finding their legs after the bone chilling howl delivered by Lukos, they broke and ran. Only two stayed behind on the deck of the ship. Eight others dived off the deck of the ship as fast as possible. The two that remained aimed their pistols at the aerial threat, Slipstream. Both shots went wide.