Frozen Shadows (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Frozen Shadows

January 13, 2012

One day, Miss Americana was busy at her desk at the increasingly thankless job of managing both Archetech and her own financial concerns when her last visitor turned out to be someone unexpected: Dr. Washington Roosevelt had made his introductions to her through all the proper channels, coming to her from his post at Freedom City School of Art: it was a little unusual for a man most famous for his knowledge of 20th century Socialist Realism paintings to seek out the patriotic heroine, as neither his professional speciality nor his nationality were terribly friendly to her chosen career: Miss Americana had heard of New Freedom, of course, the rogue nation in Antarctica that always seemed to be on the President’s national security watchlist, but given the nation’s insular nature and the close watch it kept on its scientists, she had never actually met a citizen. Though a friendly enough man, the visibly sweating Roosevelt with his black shirt and tie, capped off with the flat-brimmed cap favored by New Freedomites, was not a terribly strong argument for his nation.

From Miss A’s computer, Citizen watched as Roosevelt shook Miss Americana’s hand and took a seat before her desk: his long weekend visiting his mentor was, it seemed, about to get more interesting! “Thank for your agreement to meet with me,” said Roosevelt, using the odd diction and syntax of New Freedom English. He wrung his hands, studying the lovely paragon for reasons beyond what men usually had. “I have a very urgent problem that requires the assistance of a...a superhero.” He looked around nervously, then focused on her again. “Probably more than one. I am sorry for being vague about this but I am never to speak to American superheroes,” he said frankly. “It is a violation of the agreement that allows me to work in the United States.”

[Electra]

Miss Americana studied him for a moment, her eyes cool and assessing. She knew quite a bit about New Freedom simply as a matter of curiosity, and had delved even further once she'd taken the helm of the world's foremost institution for the study of superpowers. If Roosevelt was defying the commands of Leah Harper and the powers behind her, he could be taking a grave risk indeed. She tapped a panel recessed discreetly into her desk. "Maurita," she said mildly, "institute yellow protocol, raise secondary security screen, and delete all surveillance records for the past twenty minutes. Hold my calls." The afternoon light streaming in the windows dulled slightly, as though suddenly passing through a much thicker window.

She glanced toward Sharl's console, giving him the infinitesimal nod that indicated he could stay. Folding her perfectly-manicured hands on the desk, Miss A returned her full attention to the visitor. "I assure you," she told him calmly, "I understand your desire for security. What is the problem you need help with?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Oddly enough, Roosevelt relaxed a little at the talk of security and clearances. He was young enough to have grown up entirely in New Freedom before coming here; he'd lived his life within the secured boundaries established by the Harpers and their predecessors. "It is not a problem of my own. Rather, it is a problem of my nation...and my family. My son Lincoln is very highly-placed in the household of Colonel Harper," said Roosevelt carefully. "Though he has no uplifting metapowers, he is still very important. He is her masseuse. Yesterday, he was able to send me a message through a trusted friend." He produced from his jacket pocket what was of all things a 3.5 floppy disk, looking to Miss Americana's experienced eye like something out of the mid-1990s. "It is an audio recording, delivered to the office of the Patriotic Colonel herself some days ago."

Playing a 3.5 inch disk was something of a challenge in a modern office, even one as well-equipped as Archetech. It required bringing in a legacy industrial drive they'd been working on, but once it was plugged in and connected to an audio speaker, the chilling message rang out through a harsh buzz of static in a hissing baritone:

"Patriotic Colonel. This is the DARKNESS. We pronounce your nation an enemy of global peace and of our leader, NIGHTMARE. As punishment, we have stolen one of your so-secret nuclear weapons, as well as that sample of the Parched Death virus from the Socotrans you were so glad to keep in storage. In ten days time, we will detonate both within the borders of your beloved nation, showing the world the power and glory of NIGHTMARE. If you so choose, you may buy the survival of your precious utopia with the sum of one billion American dollars in diamonds, delivered to the summit of Mount Zimmerman by unpowered courier. Tamper with this, and all the world shall see your death. DARKNESS, out."

[Electra]

Miss Americana listened to the message as it played out, even as she copied the contents of the antique diskette to a file and began a distortion-cleaning routine. "Is this the first contact that New Freedom's had with this Darkness group? And do you know whether their allegations about New Freedom possessing nuclear and biological weapons are true?" She strongly suspected they were, as did most people who paid attention to the secretive micro-nation, but she was interested in his response. "Is the Colonel doing something about it?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I do not have metapowers," Roosevelt replied, evidently an answer about the fine details of New Freedom's government. He waved his hands slightly, a look of distress on his face. "I came to this country hoping it would be a step to peace. I..." He shook his head again and added, "New Freedom has many scientists from many nations, those whose genius was not appreciated by the nations where they lived. I am sure they have built many things, some of which might be nuclear or biological. As for the Patriotic Colonel, my son tells me that she has been bringing mercenaries to search our city and the lands around it." For the first time, his face grew accusing. "As well as others who have metapower teleportation abilities, to remove her valuables and send them elsewhere."

[Electra]

A flicker of distaste crossed Miss A's perfect visage for just a moment before disappearing into professional coolness. "I see," she replied, working the computer with one hand to try and get a better sound sample. Getting a voice to match, or any background noise, might help provide a clue into the identity of this new danger. With the other hand, she sent a quick text message to Sharl. Start searching for references to DARKNESS or NIGHTMARE on terrorist watchlists, see if there's any chatter. "I can't help but notice the somewhat archaic storage medium you're using," she told the professor dryly. "A flash drive would've been much easier to pocket, I'd think. Any particular reason?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Citizen vanished into the computer at Miss Americana's command, flying through the various criminal justice datastreams like a bird in the sky as he hunted for the information she needed. He found quite a bit of activity around both names, but none of it seemed immediately pertinent to this case: to the information he sent back to Miss Americana, he appended "Fake terrorists? Borrowing the name to try and hide their identity?" He didn't know himself, but was certainly nervous at the thought of thousands of lives depending on what he and Miss Americana did next! This seemed like the sort of situation where turning to the Freedom League would only cause more trouble. It was very hard for them to be discreet, and he knew from his Claremont studies that New Freedom was a very touchy nation, especially for one with a population smaller than a Tronik sector.

In reply to Miss Americana's comment, Roosevelt winced and said simply, "There are very few of us, compared to a great nation like this. Resources are husbanded. And not shared as much with those without metapowers."

[Electra]

If Miss A thought it strange or suspicious that a country with sufficient power and technology to make the Antarctic livable hadn't graduated yet to the 1990s in terms of computers, she gave no sign of it. "There's significant loss due to the compression from the storage media," she told him, "but I believe that background noise is an industrial waste-oil heater. Your malefactor is likely to be hanging around somewhere nearby, whether or not he can actually make good on his threat." She steepled her fingers and looked at Roosevelt. "What exactly are you hoping I can do for you?" she asked simply.

[Avenger Assembled]

"To help my people," the professor replied, pain in his eyes and writ large upon his face. "Patriotic Colonel Harper will never pay ransom demands, nor will she admit defeat and order an evacuation before the deadline. If Internal Security did not catch the bomb when it was planted, I doubt they will catch it now." He took a deep breath, then let it it out. "If you can go to New Freedom and, and present yourself as another one of the mercenaries for Internal Security, or as someone who has uncovered the threat to the nation and seeks to help..." He shrugged helplessly and said, "I am not metapowered; I do not know how these situations are handled. But my people cannot solve this alone."

[Electra]

Miss A pressed her fingertips together and studied him. "You understand that, of the American superheroes, I'm about as recognizably American as they come. And international law on superheroes is fairly elastic. If my identity were to be uncovered, it could be considered by your government to be an act of war, one they might see fit to meet with violence. I have no doubt that New Freedom's aggression would be met and put down, but there would certainly be casualties on both sides. Are you that confident that this situation is both real and grave enough to warrant response? Because I will tell you now that until today, DARKNESS and NIGHTMARE didn't exist as terrorists anywhere in the world."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I am a citizen of the Revolution of New Freedom," answered Roosevelt, giving Miss Americana a level look. "I have violated the agreements I signed to come to this country as well as betrayed classified information. This crisis was grave enough for me to risk not only my own death, but the imprisonment of my son in order to force me to return to my homeland." Nervously, he folded his hands on his lap. He took a deep breath. "I do not know if they have changed their names, or if my country is their first target. I plead with you...let this be their last one."

[Electra]

"All right," Miss Americana finally said. "But you're going to have to help as well. Whatever contacts you have in the country, use them. Getting in undetected and doing an investigation would be impossible in the time we have available. I need a cover story, and I'm going to need you to spread it. A couple of metahuman mercenaries are flying in to check out the purported awesomeness of New Freedom. I'll get you more details later, but you can start with that."

Even as she spoke and worked the digital recording analyzer with one hand, she sent a text with her other, to someone she thought could potentially be very helpful. Could use some help from Dragonfly on sensitive project of life and death importance. Busy? A.

[Fox]

Can un-busy myself for life and death, Mara sent back. She had to use her mind to do it, though; while she had her computer running displays to a wall full of screens, her keyboard was lost somewhere on her office desk under paperwork, plans, diagrams, and even more paperwork. She was pretty sure it was a living, breeding thing, now - that was the only explanation for how, no matter how many things she sat down to read or sign, it never, ever seemed to get smaller.

"Jacob," she requested, mentally hitting the intercom, "heading home for the day. Can call me if you need to, but probably going to let it go to voicemail."

And then she was off, headed for the elevator. Must be important, she sent Miss Americana, the dryness practically dripping off the letters, if you're asking Dragonfly for help on sensitive projects. Or desperate. Either case, on my way now. Where to?

[Electra]

Little of both, Miss A sent back, the fraction of her attention she was devoting to the texts as much brainpower as some people used all day. Archetech HQ seventh floor. High security protocol, dont let it weird you out. Because Dragonfly was a well-known hero, at least in ArcheTech circles, and because she was expected, there'd be fewer hoops to jump through, but more than if this were a normal day. Roosevelt himself seemed legit, but he could have been followed, or he could be unwitting bait for a trap. One could never be too cautious. Maybe some travel involved.

[Fox]

Mara didn't have a very good track record for not letting things bother her - the nigh-perpetual dour exasperation that colored her face was something of an occasional joke among people who were either comfortable enough with her to make such jokes, or who thought she wasn't watching. Still, that was one of the many pleasures of a full-body armored suit: she could make all the dour faces she wanted behind that mask and from the outside she was just a straight-faced, unamused machine.

The metal poker face usually helped get through security in a nice and expedient way, anyway. It didn't take her that long to work her way up to the seventh floor and Miss Americana's office, where she was immediately sure that she should know who this nervous man was. She strongly suspected this was one of those 'you should watch more news' things.

[bg=#555555]"Hello,"[/bg] the heroine greeted, with all her usual formality. So, not much, though she did at least close the door behind her. [bg=#555555]"Dragonfly. Here to help - apparently. Still not sure what I'm helping with."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

Dragonfly walked into the middle of a private conversation, though only private from the only normal human in the room. Miss Americana's sidekick Citizen was floating in a corner of the room, studying a hovering hologram of a circular arrangement of black domes and grey Quonset huts against a white and grey field of ice and rocks. Citizen was in the middle of asking Miss Americana via wireless uplink, "

At Dragonfly's arrival, Roosevelt nodded and said hopefully, "Yes, yes, she will do nicely! The armor looks very dramatic, and I am sure it can look more dramatic." Pen and paper in hand, he was already making a list of the intelligence contacts Miss Americana had asked him to cultivate. "And the armor will help with the weather...you will probably have to spend time away from the domes," he said thoughtfully.

[Electra]

Miss Americana rose with a courteous smile, even as she continued the wireless conversation with one hand resting on a keyboard. Most of the ones who follow her are metahuman bigots who think New Freedom is a staging ground towards bigger and better things. The rest haven't got much choice in the matter. Roosevelt here can't defect, for instance, because his family is there. It's a difficult situation.

Aloud, she said "Dragonfly, allow me to introduce Dr. Washington Roosevelt, lately of New Freedom. Dr. Roosevelt is here with a tricky problem for us to work on." She laid out the information in broad strokes, letting the doctor chime in where he pleased to add details. "Citizen and I can go in and do some reconnaissance work, but I need another skilled tech to cover all our bases. I'm willing to bet that the culprit behind this is small in size and very mobile, maybe just a handful of people. We can take them down with a small team, but the problem is finding them." She gave her colleague an expectant look.

[Fox]

[bg=#555555]"Mmh."[/bg] folded her arms and tapping a finger against her armored bicep (such as it was). [bg=#555555]"Interesting problem. Would normally search for suspicious activity remotely, but problematic there. Not as much....convenient surveillance coverage. Satellites to hack. Though, place like New Freedom...probably something to steal data from. Must keep tabs on citizens somehow. Unless they just use metahumans. ....annoying. Might still centralize somewhere, though. Storage. Worth looking into. Seems unlikely that threat just appeared out of nowhere, to do this. Big step. Should have been signs at some point, suspicions, alternate motives."[/bg]

She frowned, and shook her head. [bg=#555555]"Will help how I can. Supposed to be one of your mercenaries, or have somewhere else for me?"[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

"I've actually just got that taken care of now," said Sharl, piping up from his computer screen now that his impromptu lesson in the bizarre geopolitics of New Freedom was over. He'd mostly been using Miss Americana's software for that, but it was still nice to be trusted. "Gateway and Lady Laser, and Lady Laser's assistant Cyberman, ready to spend the weekend seeing the sights of New Freedom." He nodded, and said without a blink, "I am Lady Laser's loyal electronic assistant, looking on her behalf to see if New Freedom has the technical apparatus to support our work." He was perfectly smooth and natural with the lie as he emailed the fake information packets on their 'roles' to everyone. "The false background data should take a couple of hours to disseminate, but after that, I think we'll be ready."

[Electra]

Miss A might have preferred complete anonymity for Sharl, who likely would've been able to infiltrate the computer network unnoticed if most of the population was still at the floppy disc level of technology, but she supposed she had to appreciate his initiative. Being on that hero team at school was definitely giving him a very bold attitude about superheroics. That was all well and good, but on summer break they'd have some remedial lesson in subtlety. "Thank you, Citizen," she told him. "Have Maurita arrange for private transport, nothing we own and nothing chartered through ArcheTech, to get us as far as McMurdo Station. At least it's the right time of year for it."

She looked over to Dragonfly. "It'll probably work best if you and I present ourselves as unaffiliated mercenaries, working together at the moment because we both want a look at New Freedom. If we need a deeper cover story than that we'll roll with it, but this isn't going to be a long mission. I do suggest that some sensory calibration is in order to ensure private communications." She didn't want to reveal too much to Roosevelt, but a major benefit of working with another cyberkinetic was the near-telepathic communication it made possible.

[Fox]

[bg=#555555]"Am...sure we can arrange something,"[/bg] Dragonfly confirmed, tilting her head. too used to socializing with people who know my secrets - most of my secrets - a few of my secrets? - nevermind - should remember that though - avoid the deception - speaking of which

[bg=#555555]"Probably best if you do most of the talking, when possible,"[/bg] she added, in the even, 'used to it' kind of voice someone might use to ask their taller friend to get something down off of a high shelf. She was, if nothing else, quite aware of her own limitations. [bg=#555555]"Not a very good liar. Suit helps - full helmet - best to not push our luck. Especially before we know what we're dealing with. Like the unaffiliated idea, though. Simple. Clean. Less to remember, easy to explain."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

Getting to New Freedom wasn't easy, of course, even for people like Gateway and Lady Laser. A fast chartered flight got them as far as Madasgascar, the famous security at Antananarivo willing to open up and look the other way for people with powers willing to flash a lot of money around. The women both needed to change their look to blend in at their destination, an easy enough task for two technology-based heroes with access to their gear on a fast charter. Sharl wasn't around for most of the flight proper, he spent his time closeted away in his laptop doing his weekend's homework, one of the conditions imposed on him when it came to long trips away from the city with his mentor like this. One advantage of his particular powerset was that it was easy for him to change his appearance in the 'meat world', Cyberman wouldn't have to look anything like Citizen, and he could change that without much work on his part.

As their private flight from Madagascar to McMurdo finally approached its destination, the expensive charter with only two passengers (and one program, and gear), Sharl stepped out of the computer to look in on the others: in a bland grey jumpsuit with grey goggles, his body slightly translucent, he looked like just the sort of cybernetic program that a mercenary like Lady Laser would whip up to assist her in her work. Everything was going well, so far.

[Electra]

Lady Laser looked nothing like the Miss Americana Sharl was used to seeing. Instead of beautiful wavy blonde tresses, Lady Laser had no-nonsense straight brown hair scraped back in a no-nonsense ponytail, with dark brown eyes and thickly muscled limbs. She was fuller in the face, with a pugnacious nose and a ridged eyebrow, someone who looked like she was much better at trading punches than stealing data. If Sharl hadn't seen the many hours of work Gina had put into the sculpting, he might have doubted Miss A was under there at all!

Lady Laser looked up at him as he came in. "We should be landing soon," she observed. "What are conditions like out there? They going to be able to meet us?" Even her voice was different, slightly lower and rougher. It was, in fact, fairly close to Gina's actual voice, though it was hard to say whether that was intentional.

[Fox]

'Gateway' had clearly drawn on more militaristic, war-machine-like designs for her cosmetic armor changes - truth be told, Mara had drawn in no small part on designs that she herself had made before she'd escaped. Her modified suit still kept to a few of her fundamental designs - the slightly bulkier gauntlets, the heavy plating - but it looked heavier, more battle-like, with red highlights and a profile broken up here or there with exposed (but no less durable-looking) tubes or cabling connecting major pieces at the joints. The helmet had been completely redone with one single, long visor-like 'eye' and a pair of communication antennae, and for a final, practical touch she'd (reluctantly) exposed the suit to some damage, giving it a number of superficial scars and dings in the metal and paint.

It looked for all the world like a suit that had been stolen from some military project and piloted into a war zone.

[bg=#222222]"Probably be good to know what to expect when we land,"[/bg] she agreed, frowning. The voice filter on her 'new' voice was deeper, flatter, less expressive. [bg=#222222]"Hoops to jump through. Inspection."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

"Clear skies over Williams Field," reported Sharl automatically. "The New Freedom connector flight will be waiting for us on the runway." While the others got their respective stories straight, he watched out the window in fascination at the bizarrely familiar sight of Earth's southern polar continent, Antarctica. It was more familiar than most of Earth for the Tronik-born teen; though if anything the icy, barren surface beneath the plane was far lusher and greener than the ice cliffs at the edge of the halbmond that held Tronik. (Or seemed to, anyway).

Late January was a busy time in Antarctica given the good weather in the summertime; the airstrip had several planes on it beneath the brilliant white sky over the ice shelf. Carrying his equipment, including his projector, he followed Lady Laser and Gateway for the short walk to the New Freedom plane, a black and grey Lear jet emblazoned with the clenched fist that symbolized the micro-state. What had once been a logo of popular revolution looked more like a dictator's fist as the disguised heroes approached, the New Freedom guard instantly recognizable to the Freedom City heroes as a Freedom City supervillain no one had seen much of in a while.

It made sense, though; Sandstone was a famous mercenary, and her particulate body was immune to the Antarctic cold; her tall, muscular frame outlined in desert red that looked out of place in the cold. "Huh," she gave the two mercenaries a half-bored, half-curious look as she waved them up the walkway. "Welcome to Freedom-1, your charter flight to the freest place on Earth. We'll be touching down at Robeson Field in a half-hour." The interior of the plane was lushly appointed beyond even high-end corporate; the latest electronics on the walls, leather seats with real gold trim, and an eager flight attendant in the black jumpsuit favored by New Freedom civilians.

"Hello!" the Eurasian woman chirped. "I'm Sui Li and I am honored to be your host. I am yours for our flight."