The General's amber eyes peered up and down the fading outline of Orpheus' Sougi Tower as he neared. At the foot of the building, a number of armed agents had already taken up post. Striding up to the officer, Masato gave the man a swift salute.
"Report, agent," the gunslinger barked, his eyes still locked on the sealed doors of the building. "...What have you got for me?"
"It's a mess, sir." The agent responded with dismay. "...He's tripped the internal security and seems to have overwritten its IFF Protocols. Everyone we've sent in has been gunned down. On top of that, we're detecting a number of unusual reiatsu signatures on the upper floors near to TACCOM."
"Probably brought backup," the General seethed to no one in particular. "...How's the Commander holding up?"
"He's been stabilized but without access to the medical bay, I can't say how long he'll last, sir."
Heaving a frustrated sigh, the gunslinger looked around at the handful of allies who had accompanied him to the tower. A few familiar faces, and a few not so familiar ones. But if they were willing to put their lives on the line to end this crisis, all the better.
"Ain't nothing for it, then." the grizzled man finally sighed, turning to face his comrades. "...We've got teams elsewhere who are running blind until we get central command back under control. I don't know about you lot, but I don't want their blood on my hands..."
Turning to face the building and stomping towards the sealed entryway, the gunslinger drew his twin revolvers.
Behind the Orpheus General, the first outsider arrived. Absolon Leveque seemed slightly distracted, his eyes fixated on the enormous Sougi tower in front of him. He wore a dark, brown leather jacket, with white V-neck below. A pair of dark denim jeans completed his outfit. His ragged brown hair, fell messily on his scarred face. To his side was sheathed his zanpaktou, wrapped in a mess of bandages that draped along the ground.
He looked over to the duster-clad General. Though he had never met Masato until now, the man’s peculiar choice of weaponry and outfit was infamous. His eyes scoured the area, wondering if any of his kin had arrived. As per usual, his intuition was correct. It seemed as if all of Tokyo’s problems could be traced to this single courtyard between both Sougi towers.
“Hmm... nostalgic,” spoke the man in a heavy accent, “If I recall correctly, Tokyo was on fire the last time I was here.”
To the credit of the General, he didn't so much as flinch when his shadow sloughed away from him. Rising upwards, the umbra slithered back to Masato's side as Arano emerged from it. A short distance away the Director's own shadow flittered curiously amongst the dark of the night, a solid mass of amorphous dark.
Arano's voice was blunt, and crisp. Not a word seemed to be wasted, and the deadened tone was somewhat off-putting. "First floor shows minimal signs of activity. Casualties and fatalities indicate minimal resistance. Automated defenses seem to have been activated."
His heterochromatic eyes flicked to the Masato briefly. One, an electric blue, stared with a constant intensity. The other, his left, was a deep crimson that lacked a pupil. Salient flame seemed to glimmer from within, a soft glow that waxed and waned like a candle.
"I don't suppose those are loaded with regular-grade ammunition?" He asked, only half-hopefully.
Dark blue hair fell down Natalie’s back as she calmly took in her environment. She’d always been a solo operator prior to being directed to Orpheus. They gave her training, a visa, and a lot deeper of an understanding of the monsters she used to put down. Now they needed help, and though she certainly wasn’t the most potent person in the room, Nat was going to do everything she could to repay the Initiative for its kindness.
The people around her didn’t really fit her definition of ‘normal’, but ever since she wound up in that ‘Sanctuary of the Lowly Outcasts’, not a lot of people she met did. And, hey, the general was there. She had a shot to impress him. Or to die. It really was A or B at this point, she figured.
She didn’t have some pithy remark to make, she didn’t have some deep insight, and with the exception of the General whom she knew by virtue of being involved with Orpheus but lacked any close relationship with, Natalie had no idea who the people she was working with were. She just knew that Orpheus needed a steady gun-hand and a lot of bullets, and this was something she was perfectly capable of providing.
Appearance: Natalie has dark blue hair and hazel eyes, looking exceptionally normal is a gift of hers. She typically dresses somewhat professionally, preferring a blouse and three-quarter length jacket of black, slacks and her charming smile to get by in the world.
Persona: Natalie takes herself seriously. Sarcastic retorting, sure, but for the most part it’s the work that keeps her going. Natalie believes its her place to help others, to do what she can to give back to them for the kindness she has had in life. That said, she suspects greatly the will of large forces that work to certain ends, and the purity of their intentions.
Race: Advent Human
Biography: Natalie is pretty good with guns. Her father, Nathaniel Spencer, worked for the American Secret Service, and training her in firearms was about the only contribution he made to her youth. She carries twin pistols partially as homage to her father, who despite her emotional (and physical) distance to him she respects greatly. Keeping with her theme of carrying memories of people she distances herself from, Natalie used to carry a ring given to her by "a mistake”, one that was taken from her by shinigami.
Awakening: Frostbite
Frigid Touch: Natalie has the innate ability to freeze things to an extreme. By paying 100 Reiatsu she can freeze water into ice.
Icicle Rounds: But by paying 500 she can freeze the water vapor in the air into ice. In the turn she does so, the ice is not melted by any outside force. Oftentimes, this means firing bullets of ice from her gun instead of ammunition.
Spreading Frost: As a Resonant Attack, she can take existing ice and rapidly expand it, freezing objects around it for the cost of 2% of her reiatsu. True Awakening: Sheer Cold
Frigid Veil: Her True Awakening allows her an even greater fidelity of frost. By paying 1% of her reiatsu per turn, Natalie radiates an aura of uncomfortable cold. While giving off this aura, her ability to freeze water is simply an at-will manifestation of the power she is giving off.
Blizzard Bullets: Natalie's icy bullets leave a wake of snow upon being fired. In addition to this cosmetic change, at the cost of 2% of Natalie's reiatsu, she fires a frozen round embedded in an enemy adds the reiatsu cost of Blizzard Bullet to the scope, size and effect of Spreading Ice, in exchange for reducing the damage of the shot itself
The wind whipped across Zakki's bangs and ruffled the sharp outlines of his bespoke Italian suit as he stood in front of the soaring needle of Orpheus' Sougi and felt a wave of wrongness striking at him. Everything felt twisted in Tokyo and it wasn't helped by the way in which they'd all been caught off-guard by this assault.
Walking up to stand in the group that included Arano, Masato, the strange man named Absalon and a hard-eyed woman he'd never seen before, he waited for Masato's orders. It chafed a little at his sense of pride but he knew that this tower was the General's base and therefore his responsibility. As such, he would respect the man's leadership for the moment. There was also the small matter of Masato knowing the inside of his own building.
"Now that we're all here, let's turn up the heat on this asshole."
A flash of reiatsu shone from either of the General's weapons, their steel forms wreathed in arcane energy as part by part, piece by piece, the gunslinger's post-human powers manifested; Sanzoku was unleashed without a second though.
It was a testament to how serious Masato was. Whoever this bastard was had not only wreaked havoc on Tokyo and caused the deaths of so many innocent souls, but also had the gall to invade the gunslinger's home and harm his comrades, his family.
The General would see that it was all repaid in kind, with interest.
"The automated security was designed to deal with Hollows," Masato frowned in response to Arano. "...High-calibur, armor-piercing, explosive yield."
He could practically feel the frustration form behind the boy's stoic façade. However, the weapons were meant to protect Orpheus. No one ever imagined they would be turned against them. And then there was the matter of the errant reiatsu signatures on the upper floors...
"Even if we manage to get past security, we've got to deal with whatever backup this bastard's brought with him," the gunslinger breathed, his spiritual energy spiking as reiatsu rushed into his ocular cavities. All at once, the color in the world washed away, replaced by the familiar yellow-orange hues of Ryoshi Kyoukan. Peering into the darkness of the tower's lobby, the agent's spiritually-enhanced eyes could make out the automated weapons slowly panning back and fourth over the room, as well as the various bodies strewn around them.
Taking a deep breath, the General raised his weapons.
"Move out."
Focusing on the nearest turret as he stepped over the threshold, he squeezed the trigger; Sanzoku spewing fourth a massive pillar of flame that tore through the leading weapon before the barrels had even spun up. To his side however, the gunslinger could hear the familiar, mechanical whirring of several more turrets activating.
Next to the General, a bright galaxy of starry light flared into life as Zakki's post human powers began to flow through his cells and transform him into a being of radiant energy. In his thin, pale hands the very stuff of the universe was moulded and shaped into potent, unbelievably hot orbs of molten plasma that he concentrated on one of the gun turrets to his left. As he let go of the orbs, his body was encased in a shield of mephitic radiation to protect him from any gunfire. The plasma that struck the turret was easily enough to turn it into molten slag and ensure that it wouldn't impede their progress any further.
Rapidly pivoting on his heel, he began to bombard another of the gun turrets with more of his superheated weaponry, causing a rain of melted metal to come pouring down the walls of the Sougi. Some of the building's glass also melted in the boiling metallic rain but it was a small price to pay for helping gain them the access to the inside of the building that they so urgently needed.
"How many of these damn guns are there out here, General?" He asked as he looked for other places to strike with his energy orbs.
Arano disappeared, falling back into the shadows that he controlled before his own shot forwards. The amorphous mass was blown open by its chosen target, explosive rounds parting the umbra briefly before the mass congealed itself once more.
Swiftly, the turret was engulfed entirely by the mass, before a soft crunch came from within. As Arano's shadow sloughed away to join with one of the many others that decorated the darkly lit room, it left the crushed remains of a single turret.
The Director emerged at the far side of the room, and his shadow leapt outwards once more. Leaning against the wall, Arano allowed his Potentiation to speak with actions.
A amber flash surged past the humans, a trail of white smoke erupting behind the vizard. Within a mere moment, two turrets on the eastern wall were reduced to mere cross-sections, severed cleanly.
The vizard reappeared next to the gathered group, energy spiking to match the gathered individuals. “Sakeru, Hakuja no Myoujin.” In his right hand, he held a light uchigatana. In his left, cradled between two of his knuckles were a pair of six inch knives. They colored a stark alabaster, white smoke seeming to permanently rise from the metal.
Not one to stay still, he weaved between to torrent of oncoming gunfire, “More importantly, where exactly are we going Fujikawa? I’m assuming you’re not going to have us take the stairs.”
Anything less would be near suicidal. Even though this was at one point the General’s sanctuary, the fortress had now been turned against him.
"Not the stairs," the gunslinger heaved, pulling the pin on one of his grenades and lobbing it down a narrow hallway leading away from the lobby. A few metallic clanks sounded as the device bounced over to a pair of turrets, detonating with a loud 'whomp' and the crackle of static; the tiny explosive releasing an electromagnetic pulse that quickly shorted out the weapons nearest to it.
"That'd be suicide. We have no line of sight up the stairs and the defences in the wells are positioned to take advantage of that. We'd be walking into massacre." the General hissed, putting down two additional turrets to Absolon's side with a pair of well placed shots. "...and the elevators are shut down in emergency situations. There's only one option for us."
Sprinting over to the elevator bay as his compatriots took down the last few pieces of artillery scattered around the lobby, Masato slid his fingers gingerly into the tiny crevice between the doors and pulled, wrenching the first one open. Leaning in, he looked up and down the shaft before giving his comrades a shake of his head and moving to the next one. Pulling the steel doors open slowly, he surveyed the abyss beyond once more.
"Here!" he called, his voice echoing from within the barren shaft. The lift had been stopped on the levels below them, giving them a clear, direct route to the upper floors free of any automated defences. Stepping back from the door, the gunslinger heaved another frustrated sigh.
"I hope you're ready for some climbing," the General frowned. "...We can avoid a lot of the security if we head this way. That only leaves the automated defences on the upper floors and whoever this bastard brought with him."
Looking around at his compatriots, the gunsliner gave an affirmative nod. "Lets get this done."
Stomping towards the open doors, he leapt inward and upward, crashing against the latticework of steel that supported the lift as his fingers found their purchase on an errant piece of pipe. Gripping it tightly, Masato heaved upwards, digging his combat boots into the metal framing beneath him before leaping to a precipice somewhere higher up the shaft.
Sighing and instinctively rubbing his palms in anticipation of what was to come, Zakki followed Masato’s lead and began flinging himself up the framework around the outside of the elevator shaft. His post-human agility, speed and reflexes made this a relatively easy task. It would have taken a truly well-trained, non-potentiated human a great deal more effort but he actually began to enjoy this process. Of course, he expected a loaded elevator to come hurtling down at them any minute but so far nothing was going on. He was hot on the General’s heels as they made their way upwards and mentally he began to prepare himself for whatever was ahead. There was a good chance that the opposition they were going to face was dangerous and powerful. Every force that had ever tried to destroy Tokyo and the Advents was always something that was terrifying. So far they managed to stop it but each time the Chairman expected it would be their last. It wasn’t a heartening feeling but here he was, once again, trying to stop it. Perseverance was high on the list of traits he possessed.
[189/553]
She had been picturing a bold scaling of the outside of the building, so it seemed almost mundane to be climbing the elevator shaft was downright refreshing. Either way, though, it would be a compromising position to be in. If someone on another floor knew what was going on, it wouldn’t be hard to pick them off. A few shots, a few well-placed bullets and that would be the end of the story. Staying sharp was the name of the game.
A few shots at security drones were nothing, this was dangerous. And, amusingly, it was the least suicidal adventure that could lead them to the place they needed to be. Exciting. But there was still the problem of potential vertical firefights which would be unfortunate. A plan, from here, was necessary and it didn’t seem like the people she was with were overly concerned about things like their plans failing, which seemed profoundl y unwise considering this would’ve happened if their plans were unassailable.
So they pressed on. Still, she could probably provide an effective counterstrike with her ice powers if really pushed to, it just wouldn’t be easy while climbing. Not that ‘easy’ was a concern at this point. She holstered one of her pistols and held the other one on her off-hand. And then, she began to pull herself up the elevator shaft. Someone’s brilliant plans were going to fall to dust, and she hoped it was the enemy. With any luck, things wouldn’t end in a bloodbath.
The dark-haired vizard gazed upwards as his human companions seemed to effortlessly bound up the elevator shaft. The sheer physical skill certain human possessed was truly amusing. Sheathing his weapons temporarily, he leaped forward into the depths. He hovered in air for a moment, his spiritual body seeming to defy gravity, before leaping once more and grasping the other side of the wall.
Kicking off once more, he repeated the maneuver repeatedly, nimbly moving upwards with each step. Perhaps he did lack the skill that the humans had; however, a non corporeal body had its advantages as well.
In the darkness above, a streak of light pierced through with a sudden jerk, drawing the general’s eyes to it in his ascent. Lurching closed and open again, the elevator doors several stories up were thrown aside with overt strength.
Just as quickly, the light reflecting into the shaft was eclipsed by a massive, shadowy silhouette. The apparent edges of his bulbous form gave a hint to his identity; it was a corpulent man in a white, buttoned shirt. At his scalp, there was short and black hair that faded from the sides towards the top of his balding head. Black slacks hugged tight to his meaty legs, the tips of his dress shoes peeking over the edge of the egress.
Hurried, panicked breaths could be heard coming from him, his flabby chest heaving in and out rapidly. Flinching cowardly, he caught sight of the shadows of the rescue team moving quickly towards him, though, lurched toward them as if eager to see who they were.
As Masato moved closer, gaining a clear view of him, he could see immense relief beneath the overwhelming fright in his features. Just as pathetic as his physique was the man’s voice as he shouted out, a weighty shrill of sorts.
“Help!” Double-taking to his rear, the fat man hollered a bit lower. “Help me!”
Halfway up the climb, Zakki’s eyes snapped up at the sudden sound and he realized that another bit of complexity was being added to the equation. He had no idea who this man was or what he wanted. His main concerns were, in order, whether or not the man was about to fall down the elevator shaft and take one of them out, not to mention die and if he was some kind of trap or ruse planted by the enemy. Either way, it would be beneficial if he was to stay where he was.
The Chairman shouted up, “Please sir. Stay where you are. We’re on our way up but for your safety, we need you to stay put.”
As he moved upwards, Zakki kept his attention focused, ready to respond in any way necessary. He’d have to rely on his energy orbs at this point because any bigger release of energy was too dangerous to everyone else. His kinder nature wanted to save this rather pathetic figure but his suspicious mind was concerned they were climbing into a trap. It was hopeful that those below him were having similar thought processes, especially with regards to assessing the risk they were facing.
“We should leave him,” she tried to be quiet, it was honestly the first thing she had said since infiltration and she wasn’t too excited about saying it, but given the Cerbie’s eagerness to help, she had to interject. “Either it’s a trap and involvement is dangerous or it isn’t a trap and we have no intelligence on the situation. No matter what, we probably do him more of a favor by taking back the building and use its automated defenses.” And, though it was heartless, if he died it was a much better price to pay than the mission’s failure. They had to succeed.
“If I freeze the doors shut on his floor, we maximize our chance of mission success. No one person is more important than retaking the building.” That was true. Not even the strike team. That was something they accepted going in, and horrible though it might seem, it was something anyone who worked in the building should be expected to accept as well. Some things were more important than no longer being alive.
The repugnant man flinched backward, startled by the boy rising from the shadows. There was a definite reluctance to speak, and he looked back behind him once more, searching for something that didn’t seem to be there. Then, he doubled-over slightly, clutching at his side.
“I-I...!” Shaking his head, he began to wimper as he painfully turned back to Arano. “I-I...! Just-just get me outta here! Please, I’m begging you!” Pleading to Natalie, he said, “I-I can help you guys!“
[68/289]
I can't really do much without Shade's NPC. Ours are pretty much tied together, so somebody get him to turn or get somebody to take over for him. It's been forever.
The metal structure they were scaling creaked and whined as the Orpheus general arrived at the man's floor, still clinging to the elevator's scaffolding with one arm, while his other was gripped firmly around the handle of his holstered revolver. The young agent who was accompanying them had said what they were all thinking. This was too suspicious to not be a trap. The bases automated defences would have gunned down anyone in the main corridors. The only way this man could be moving about freely is if he wasn't being targeted.
It was all supposition, but Masato wasn't about to make any moves without knowing exactly who this man was. Better safe than sorry.
"Sir," the grizzled agent began trying to calm the man, his tone low and neutral. "...Do you work in the building? If so please return to your office and bar the door. It's not safe to be out here. Go find somewhere safe to hide until we've resolved the situation."
Noting the man's reluctance to answer, the gunslinger's grip tightened on his stowed weapon. If he had his SIREN, it would be a simple matter to cross-check the man's identity. The General only hoped Caleb and his team were faring better than them.
“Ah, I don’t think you want them to help you Haru,” a voice called out to the assembled group.
A portion of the ceiling seemed to warp as a pair of eyes an a cheshire grin manifested themselves into the tiles overhead. After a second a full face united with the features revealing a rather masculine face. A long ponytail drooped in front of the man’s face though rather than loose hair it was made of a collection of dreads. One of these had broken free from the rest and hung around his left eyebrow accentuating a scar that ran the length of the man’s face.
“Ah forgive my manners,” the newcomer said with a small smile, “But I believe that if my associate does not want to experience a horrific case of indigestion he’ll be the one handling you for now. I’m not one to get my hands dirty as it were. Why don’t you lot just carry on like I’m not here.”
As if to prove his point the man’s hands appeared from the tiles as well and began to absently play with a butterfly knife as it glided between his fingers. “I trust Haru won’t disappoint me if he knows what’ good for him.”
