ic Searching for Vanguard

[Aoiroo]

Jasmine watched as Young Britannia and the attacker mounted even higher and out of her effective range from this angle and pulled the rifle into the window. Turning her attention she was greeted with the odd sight of a winged man carrier someone heavily bleeding. The plead for help was geniune and it didn't take a doctor to know that man was going to die, well a medical doctor anyway. Opening the door she pushed pass the guards and sprinted over,

"Let him down,"

She pulled the goggles off her neck and produced her glasses from her shirt pocket and a pair of gloves from her purse which she put on hastily as she went over the man's injuries and checked his pulse, or lack of pulse in this case. It didn't take long to figure out what had to be done, even if it wasn't her specialty it was still, obvious since his heart had stopped,

"Here,"
She pulled out a thick pad and pressed it on the injury and looked at the winged man,

"Apply pressure while I get out the AED."
The AED in question was about the smallest you you could buy of a portable one. It took a second for her to go over the instructions before she asked him to move his hands, removed the tattered shirt and placed the pads on the man's chest,

"Clear!"
She pressed the button and watched as the first jolt went through the man before doing it again,

"Clear!"
She pressed it again, and then waited a second and put a finger on the man's throat to see if his heart had started again.

[Tiffany Korta]

As this Osprey clung on Agnus continued to shoot up into the sky. If they weren’t careful she’d have to consider aircraft along the list of hazards to look out for, though at the moment being crushed to death was fairly high on that list for some reason.

“I let you into a small secret. I don’t need the breath and I don’t feel the cold. So all this is a walk in the park for me. how about you stop trying to crush me to death and we can talk about setting you back down to terra firma?â€

 

Luckily she had a good 60 miles before she was outside her jurisdiction, though if he was stubborn enough to hold on that long she might be in a touch of trouble.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The "Osprey" was, however, cold, and did need to breathe. And the air was cold, and getting colder. And thin, and getting thinner. 

 

His muscles convulsed, and went limp. His lungs were not full and rich enough to emit his husky croak, but he gave Young Brittania a look of black vision. There was something deeply powerful about the bird man. He was larger, stronger, and faster than Young Brittania, or the Osprey. And meaner, more deadly and violent. 

 

He was, however, very short in the brains department. He tumbled back to earth in a lazy, swooping arc, his wings held fixed, gliding back to England. 

 

Meanwhile...

 

"That's the biggest goddamn bird I ever saw, or I ain't Big Nelson" whistled the man, his shotgun held limply in his hands as he saw the Aerial battle spiral off into the dark London sky. 

 

He whirled around to the Vanguard van, seeing the action of his ex-captive, Catalyst, and Synpase. 

 

"Hold it there, Osprey, and whoever your friends are. I ain't letting you go without saying toodle pip!" he sneered with a mock upper class accent, and pumping his shotgun for effect. 

[Thevshi]

Dee had easily been able to slip into the surface thoughts of the man she had guessed to be the leader of the motley group that had been in the other van. She did her best to ignore the dirty thoughts that crossed his mind as he focused on her. It was far from the worst thoughts she had found in the mind of man that was thinking about her.

But from his meandering train of thought, it was pretty clear that he was not one of the good guys, though she had no idea who this "Middleman" was. But he did not seem the brightest guy around, and clearly did not appear to have any idea who he was dealing with here.

Glancing back towards Jasmine and the other Osprey (whom Big Nelson appeared to believe was the real Osprey), Dee sent Jasmine a quick mental message. These guys are clearly criminals, they want the Osprey near you back. I am going to try something to see if I cannot just get this whole thing under control.

The young woman then focused back on Big Nelson and his men. "I believe I said put your weapons down!" She said a little more forcefully.

At the same time, she reached into Big Nelson"s mind once more, this time trying to take it over completely, and have him put his weapon down and order his men to comply as well.

[Supercape]

GM

 

BIg Nelson stiffened briefly and then dropped his weapon with a resounding clang against the wet tarmac of the docks. The night was still cold, the rain still fell, but the perceptive would notice the hint of far-away glazing in Nelson's eyes, oblivious to the disagreeable climate. 

 

"Show's over, boys. Drop em..."

 

His thugs were chosen for strength, brutality and loyalty. Not for perceptiveness. The nuances of behaviour washed over them like oblivion. 

 

An echo of fallen weapons followed Nelsons Shotgun on the ground. 

[Thevshi]

Dee gave a small sigh of relief as she was able to make Nelson do what she wanted, and his men blindly followed his lead.  "There, that is much better."  She said out loud.

 

Glancing over into the van, she looked at the two Ministry agents.  "Why don't you two make yourselves useful and go secure this lot and their guns."  She said much more quietly, as she maintained her control on Big Nelson.  She wondered whether Young Britannia was alright, glancing up into the air for some trace of the patriotically costumed heroine and the large bird-man-thing that had grabbed her.

 

Seeing no sign at the moment, the young woman then looked over to where Jasmine was working on the injured thug, focusing on the figure that was apparently the real Osprey.  "So, what is your story then?"

[Ari]

 

"So, what is your story then?"

 

The eagle-themed vigilante had been absorbed in watching Catalyst restart the man's heart, claws digging into the ground in desperate hope. They relaxed, leaving short marks in the asphalt, when the unconscious thug was rescued from the very brink of death. He looked up sharply at Synapse's crisp question. 'Hm...voice sounds familiar...eh, not important right now. Look into it later'

 

"I was with him" Osprey said, nodding at Big Nelson's van "Heard an odd story about another me, figured I should look into it. Got another crime boss in there, Bullet Tony, you and the mops might want to ask him some questions. One moment." He closed his massive yellow eyes. With a soft rustling and creaking as muscle and bone shrank and realigned, the monstrous head reformed into a more human shape, the wings withdrew from sight and the talons softened into his clawed gloves and boots. The costumed man who stood in place of the beast was well-built under the heavy outfit, but not a fraction as freakish.

 

Rubbing a neck that didn't have white and brown feathers bristling from it, Alden drew back the goggles over his face and turned back to Jasmine with a blink-and-you-miss-it smile "Thanks for saving him. So," he stepped back from the van with a very guarded expression, "I'm guessing you're after something pretty big here, aye? Don't see Young Britannia, some rich girl and a Yank with the mop suits too often." He offered a hand "If it's a problem in the area, I'll help put a stop to it."

[Aoiroo]

Jasmine raised an eyebrow at the man and stood up. She motioned to the men in the vans to come over and stepped around the body of the now stable man.

"Je suis effectivement français canadien."

Taking off one of the bloody rubber gloves she produced a clean hand and put it into his,

"But, I did spend most of my teenage life and got my doctorate in the States. As for the problem, It is not exactly one we want to discuss in public. If it would be too much trouble, we would like to talk at a more private venue,"
She turned her head and looked at the MOPS as he called them,

"Without them if you like, I'd prefer that actually. I know they haven't been very welcoming too you, and they haven't been very welcoming to me either. But they've somehow misplaced a good bit of their superpowered influence along the way, so I doubt unless they really tried for a unified front it'd make much of a difference."

Edited January 2, 2014 by Aoiroo

[Thevshi]

Dee's eyes narrowed slightly as the real Osprey referred to her "some rich girl," but said nothing of it.  It was not like she did anything to hide having grown up in an aristocratic family and having an expensive education (even if she managed to get herself kicked out of most of the schools her parents had shipped her off to). 

 

She was more concerned about how he casually mentioned that he was "with" Big Nelson, which seemed a bit at odds with what she had picked out of the criminal's mind.  Maintaining her control over Nelson as the Ministry agents secured him and his men, she regarded both Osprey and Jasmine.

 

"We were actually looking for you."  The young woman commented.  "Though would be interested to hear why you were in the company of these petty thugs though."  She then added.

 

"But our French Canadian, but American educated, friend is right, we should probably discuss things more in private.  Although we should wait for Young Britannia, assuming she is alright."  Dee added, looking back up to the sky for any sign of the patriotic heroine. 

[Ari]

"No sure that's the right grammar. Been a while since my French forms though." Osprey admitted with a shrug "Canadian? My mistake. Accent's a big signpost for me, so's word choice, says a lot about who you are, where you're from." At that he glanced over at Synapes's eyes, and resisted the urge to smile openly when he saw the slight change in her expression. Her point about him being with the crime lords was more or less the elephant in the room.

 

"Only way for me to keep an eye on both at once," he explained, the costumed crimefighter standing loose and relaxed, watching the others with real curiosity "neither trusted me, and Big Nelson was the power there, so gettin' him to take me and Tony in 'cuffs was  the quickest way to the scene without leaving a loose end. I was following the trail of some smugglers hauling that Max stuff into the city. Things went on from there."

 

"Tough girl" he added, glancing up when Dawn did "doubt Tylluan can hurt her. Reminds me," he crossed his arms and looked at the duo closely "You know I'm Osprey, so who are you lot?"

[Aoiroo]

"I'm a colleague of Blackpool,"
Jasmine said it frankly,

"Though we don't exactly see eye to eye on the subject of well,"
She gestured to him before continuing,

"But that's a topic for another time."
 

She looked up to see if Young Britannia was coming back down before looking back to Osprey,

"My name is Jasmine Benoit, you may call me Jasmine or Dr. Benoit if you like, however, despite my possession of an AED and some premed classes,"
She looked over at the unconcious man that had been brought to her,

"I'm not that type of doctor, so lets try to avoid making a habit of that."

Edited January 4, 2014 by Aoiroo

[Ari]

Alden's manner shifted as soon as the word 'Blackpool' left Catalyst's lips. For a few seconds he visibly struggled with the idea of just leaving, glancing longingly at the nearby river before snapping his eyes back to the woman. "A colleague of his, eh? And you knew? Yeah, we'll save the mad science talk for later" 'If they bother to stick around' "Nice to meet you, Mz. Benoit, hope we can get something done. Welcome to England."

 

"How about you?" he asked Synapse "What's your problem? New Ministry recruit? One of the hundred and ten who claim they know where Champion's team is?"

[Thevshi]

Dee watched as Osprey seemed a bit uncomfortable after Jasmine introduced herself, while also glancing back over where the Ministry agents were handcuffing and otherwise detaining Nelson and his thugs.

 

The young woman glanced back at Osprey as he turned his attention back to her.  "Someone who would rather not talk openly about things while we are still in earshot of a bunch of criminals.  Assuming you are not really one of them as well."  She replied back flatly.

 

"Though, I am the one who has been keeping Big Nelson complacent and cooperative in surrendering to us without a fight."  She added.

[Tiffany Korta]

At just that point Young Britannia dropped behind the little huddle of (almost) British heroes.  With the glow of light that accompanied her she could never be called subtle though what she did next was a complete surprise.

“Yeah I think we could do with a little privacy.â€

With a sudden burst of light the group of them were no longer in bustling London, but a rather windswept cliff overlooking the sea.

“Cornwall. It’s this little place I like to go to have some me time, either that or LEO and I don’t think that would work for everyone.†she gave a broad grin.

 

“Hi there I’m Young Britannia and together with my two friend here we’re the new Vanguard. I’d like to talk to you about join our group. We can either do that here or there this quaint little pub just down the hill.â€

[Thevshi]

Dee glanced over as Young Britannia came streaking down from the sky, appearing a bit injured, but otherwise alone.  Before the young woman could say anything, there was a flash of light and the four were standing on some cliffs at Cornwall.  Dee was no longer connected with Big Nelson's mind, and hoped that the Ministry agents had things well enough under control before that had happened.

 

She looked over at Young Britannia and frowned.  "You know, it might be good to confirm just what the situation is with the rest of us before whisking us away from the scene where we were assisting Ministry agents in arresting some criminals.  For instance, things were nice and orderly, because the crime boss leading that little gang had ordered his men to put down their weapons and surrender.  And the crime boss did that because I was mind controlling him to behave.  Now he is free from my control and hopefully the agents had things well enough in hand that they won't be in any danger."

 

Dee paused a moment then added, "so, what happened to that bird thing that grabbed you?"

[Aoiroo]

Jasmine let a sign pass when he asked if she 'knew',

"Not until today actually, but yes, later."

Jasmine saw Young Britiannia land but was not prepared for the sudden transport and she jumped with a squeak before she got her bearings and looked at her surroundings. She put a hand over her heart and looked around. Not that she could really pretend to be dignified after she just started like a cat over the burst of light. She glanced at Dee who got onto the point much more quickly,

"That is a good question, though not the main one."
She turned to Osprey,

"We have been assigned a job it seems from the Ministry of Powers about some reacquisition of resources. It isn't illegal, but it may very well be dangerous. So I am asking, would you assist us in this matter? I have no qualms with you simply walking away and have no intention to pursue you otherwise. You needn't associate with the ministry anymore then you wish at this juncture."

[Ari]

Retaining the same manner of cautious interest got a lot more difficult when the national heroine Young Britannia swung down and zipped them Britain's largest city to the country's outskirts, Synapse detecting a tell-tale burst of frantic confusion as his mind adjusted to the sudden change of scenery, pressure, atmosphere and the deep chill of standing next to a cliff. His eyes widened in shock, but quickly resumed their suspicious squint behind the yellow lenses as he recovered from the teleport.

 

His cape snapping behind him like a flag, he nodded politely to their conveyer "Thanks. Better than just shufflin' around the corner. And-"

 

 

"Now he is free from my control and hopefully the agents had things well enough in hand that they won't be in any danger."

That was a nasty reminder 'Hm. That's a problem, yeah. Hopefully those mops are good at quick arrests' Aloud he said quietly "We can be back in a second. They won't escape," 'I hope' "not from us."

It was nice to be able to use that word. As Jasmine spoke up, explaining what she and the rest were doing together, Alden suppressed a flicker of suspicion at how 'coincidental' it was that the Ministry had gotten all these people together. Glancing from each of the three woman to one of the others, from the shining patriotic flyer to the demure chemist to the punkish psychic, he deliberated in a whir. On the one hand, this was obviously about something else, and aimed at some ulterior motive. But on the other, what if that something else was meant to be good? If it was bad, not being in on it would be dangerous too, but this might be a chance to be part of something greater and better than he'd ever been before. He might be able to make it up to Rose...

 

Relaxing, he nodded once. "Alright. I'm in. For you lot, not for the Ministry yet. 'Reacquire' and 'dangerous' sound like very government words." In a long stride he approached the trio and offered Dee and Young Britannia his hand after doffing a glove. That done, he turned to the shining emblem and added "Oh, and, Britannia, I'm Osprey. The real one. That other chap who attacked you's Tylluan. A wacko, not like me, 'course."

 

"We should get back to London" He said after a second's pause "Then we do this job for the mop suits, and we get drinks. Ever had English ale Jasmine?" the cowled vigilante asked the Canadian woman casually "Not to be missed."

[Thevshi]

Dee was quite a moment as Jasmine explained a bit more about why they had come looking for Osprey and to the vigilantes responses. When he offered her hand, she shook it without any delay. "Dee." The young woman stated in introduction.

"To answer one of your earlier questions, no, I don't claim to know anything about the whereabouts of any of the missing Vanguard members. But that happens to be what the Ministry is hoping we will be able to assist them in learning, just what happened to the original members. Thus far, there is very little to go on. I have looked at the more recent reports filed by Vanguards' members, other than signs the team was drifting apart, there was little clue as to where they might have gone or what sorts of things they might have been working on that led to their disappearance."

"Getting access to the Haven, the Vanguard's headquarters under the Thames, is our most logical first step, as there could be clues there. But current it is locked down and the defense systems are not letting anyone in, and are set on lethal."

[Supercape]

GM

Later....

The Haven was built under the Thames, with the entrance lying on its north bank, winding through a reinforced tunnel into the concrete maze that was the Barbican Arts centre.

The four members of the new Vanguard stood in front of an huge metal door, looking thick and mighty. A large "V" was engraved on to it.

Sir Cruxberry stood with them. He was no stranger to getting his hands dirty, quite literally. The tunnel down to the Haven was a little damp and a little beaten...signs of various machines being transported up and down the tunnel.

"Here it is" he said, carefully. "The Haven. Boogie trapped to blow the whole place, and bring the Thames down on it. Not to mention enough death traps and defence program's inside to take apart anyone who actually does get inside. We managed to get a team inside a few months ago, cracked the door open for a few seconds. Heard nothing since, the poor blighters...."

sir Cruxberry was not best pleased about that.

"Whatever happened to the Vanguard, this is the secret box. And the vanguard clearly didn't want any prying eyes..."

[Thevshi]

"Or at least that is what we hope." Dee commented at Sir Cruxberry's final comment. She could not help but feel a bit angry at the likely waste of the lives of the prior team that had been sent in before. Of course, now she was going to be putting herself in the same danger, along with the other three with her.

But then, her three companions were anything but ordinary the young woman thought as she glanced over at them and then looked back over at the large metal door to the Haven. "But only one way to find out." She added as Cruxberry was explaining to Osprey trying to cut through the doors was very likely to have them all drowning in the muck of the Thames.

"Yes, cutting our way in should likely be the last resort." She stated as she reached up to put her black hair into a ponytail. "Though that might come in very handy once we get past the door." The young woman then picked out a small electric screwdriver from the tool kit the Ministry had provided, one with a flashlight built into it.

Turning her eyes towards the wall to the right of the door and the array of panels located along the wall. She mentally ticked off distance as she recalled the blueprints for the door’s systems. Finding the right panel, she walked over and began removing the screws holding it in place. One the cover was off, she opened an electrical tool kit and set to work.

Minutes passed as Dee began working through the numerous wires inside. Crimping some to bypass them, cutting a select few once she had disabled some sensors. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead as she held a small flashlight in her mouth, using both hands for her work. Finally she crimped a few more wires and placed the wire cutter around a wire, but left it complete for the moment as her free hand began picking up the tools she had gotten out and returning them to the case. Taking the flashlight out of her mouth, she glanced over at the others.

"Okay, get ready. Who knows what is going to happen once the door opens." She stated before looking back into the open panel. She then squeezed the cutters closed, cutting the wire. The sound of metallic locks disengaging echoed in the entryway as Dee turned back to the door, surrounding herself with the red glowing forcefield of psychic energy.

The large metallic door then began swing open…

[Supercape]

GM

 

To Cruxberrys suprise, the doors of the Haven parted open, silently. 

 

Inside, the Haven.

 

It was big, and tall, with the ceiling over twenty feet above them. If one listened carefully, one could hear the faintest sound of the Thames churning overhead. 

 

The decor was austere, like an Iron Cathedral, with well formed curves of metal bending and looping, making the overhead feel like a tent, with spires and archways. It was dimly lit, making it hard to see, except for Osprey and Young Brittania. 

 

The Central spoke of the Haven was dominated by a massive plated column of computers, flickering away. The central hub of the Haven, the spider at the centre of the web. In this case, literally, as it was plugged into the web and who knew what else. 

 

Off, in spokes, lay the various chambers of the Haven. The living quarters, power systems, infirmary, laboratory, library, conference room, and workshop. All in good functional order. The Haven was top of its game, with cutting edge equipment and built to last. It was like a Victorian monument to engineering, but with modern fittings. 

[Thevshi]

Dee picked up the bag of tools and the laptop she had gotten from the Ministry and started forward into the Haven.  She was still surrounded by the red glowing forcefield, and carefully scanned the room as she moved slowly towards the central bank of computers.

 

Spotting the various hidden weapons about the large room, she frowned slightly at the faint signs of them having been discharged.  That certainly did not bode well for the team that had entered the base previously.

 

I have spotted a number of weapon emplacements.  She mentally communicated to Young Britannia.  They are active, just not deploying...yet.

 

Moving over near the central column, the young woman began studying the various computer screens as she opened up the laptop and got it up and running.

[Tiffany Korta]

Understood. I have an idea hang on a sec.

It must be really difficult being a telepath hearing people's thoughts all the time... And she's probably still listening, bigger! Um sorry about that.

Young Britannia began to float down to earth her costume began to fade and at the same time a rather nice suit began to take its place. Even her hair seemed to tie itself up into a ponytail.

"Hi I'm Agnus, we can get the formal introductions out of way later. I'm going to try something look around and try not to break anything. After all I helped pay for this!"

Walking through to Synapse she eyed the weapons with some suspicion. When she normally visited here she and Lucy would go straight to the living quarters, she wouldn't have been allowed here even if she wanted to. Entering the computer hub where Synapse was working she didn't bother explaining who she was, she guessed she had the same mental siginal she did as when in costume. Instead she offered a small apologetic smile.

"Vera this is Agnus Stone guest of Vanguard member Lucy Diamond. Please acknowledge?"

[Aoiroo]

Jasmine was a few steps behind everyone else. Being the only person without any particular power (even if she didn't know the extent of the others) she decided to let them have a go at the highly dangerous building they were entering. Finding a computer console she started to look through the files and layout of the place. It really was quite extensive, but she managed to get through it all the same, there were a few notes about it when she got the broadcast from Synapse.

Oh, are we doing the whole no talkie mental communication thing again. Alright, well lots of this equipment is rigged to trap, but a lot of it will simple self-distruct, though not in a explosion like manner. Lots of very advanced equipment that'll do it too, they weren't kidding about the owners of this place being paranoid. It's a good thing we read up on this before coming down, that may of been pretty messy if we activated all this or had to explain why all this delicate machinery is not suddenly a pile of ash.

[Ari]

Alden noted Jasmine's reluctance, and so marched in along with the rest, his booted feet practically inaudible even in the harsh and echoing chambers of the power-house.

Leaving the finer technical matters to the others, Osprey set about prowling the Haven for any traps or sensors that might impede them, paying especial care to small corners, the jutting metal doorways, places where the eye would not normally be directed and where a small electronic eye could be watching. Thanks to his altered bodily chemistry, his eyes were better at gathering light than they had been before, making the place merely shady instead of brutally dark.

 

This gave him plenty of excuses to stare in awe at the austere and cold, but still grand fortress that had just a short time ago housed the United Kingdom's mightiest.

'Champion walked these hallways once...and Lucy Diamond made ruddy jokes here...this must be what archaeologists fee-right. Sorry Dee, I'll stick to the job, shall I?' The idea of communicating just by thought briefly repelled him, but he had to agree that it made sense. Sound might prove too slow when trying to do their work. 'Lots of visual scanners, putting throwing knives next to them' he added lightly, stopping next to one at elbow-height and jamming a talon in a fairly conspicuous spot.

 

Sliding around a just-seen sensor he'd noted glaring down from the ceiling, he stopped, halting his cape as he realized what he was walking towards. Looking down, he realized what he was walking over. Dropping at once to his hands and knees, he inspected a rounded bulge on the floor's edge that turned out to be a hinge. Looking up, he gauged the height of the roof '...About six feet...' and hurriedly measured the space between each hinge '...and four feet. Dee, You- Mz. Britannia, Jasmine, I'm near the workshop, found something that might be hiding...I dunno, prisons or something. Going to check one out.'

 

Taking the makeshift torch he neatly cut a small hole in the floor, peering down...and at a very snug containment pod. His mental voice became very uneasy '...Yep. Looks like something to hold blokes in. Do the records say anything about prisoners, or the recent investigators? There's a few pods here, might be more scattered about.'