Still Not Safe [M&M 2nd ed]

[kamikasei]

Cat continues looking through the documents, trying to find a map of the area or anything that indicates where the nearest large bodies of water might be.

[Drascin]

Andrés turns to Emi. "Really? That'd be a lifesaver! The God is pretty heavy, though - they tell me it's easily ten times the mass of most other Sophium armors - you think you could carry me anyway? I mean, I'm going to be basically useless stuck here on the ground. Well, I guess I could get some pompoms and cheer you all, but little else. And I'm pretty bad at choreographies, so you probably don't actually want that, either" he jokes. He's pretty contagious, overall. His is not the suicidal overconfidence of the one who wants to fight everything, but of the faithful who is certain that he's going to come through the hardships if he works hard enough.

[Fri]

The new guy frowns as he read the paper. "James Redford, by the way. From SECT France." he says without lifting his eyes from the paper. "I didn't realize that we're supposed to meet for the first time on the field, that caught me off guard. Doesn't matter too much for me though."

[Matar]

Todd shrugs his shoulders, and looks over the paper one more time.

"So, eh, Laura. The Commander... where is he, anyways? I'd like to hear this plan soon."

He slips the hair-tie out of bright-green pony-tail, letting it fall free. He slips the hair-tie on his wrist and tilts his head to the side.

"Battle waits for no one! The sooner we are prepared the better!"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Time to switch to decaf, pal." Ben said from over by the street light. He was slowly massaging the bridge of his nose with one hand and still looked half asleep, as he rightfully should be after being dragged out to France in the middle of the night. "Where do you get your lines, anyway? Saturday morning cartoons?" he sighed. Who was this flamboyant dude? Was he really as idiotic as he seemed?

[Cubey]

There is no map of the local area attached, but when you were being transported to the place you did not recall seeing any bodies of water.

"Laura Ericks. I am pleased to meet you." Laura seems to regain her composure, making it possible to answer James. She turns her head back at Todd as he asks a question.
"The Commander? I don't know... I think he's somewhere safe far away. It's risky for command staff to be here, he will probably explain the plan using a video conference."

[Matar]

Todd's attention to drawn to the other hot blooded youth. The grin is still on his face.

"My lines?! Hah! They are more then just lines! They are the embodiment of passion and power! Each phrase is lightning! Each word is power!"

He scratches the back of his head, and laughs.

"And a few TV shows, yeah. Most are my own, but sometimes I use the words of others and fill them with my passion!"

[Drascin]

"...says the guy with a Princess Bride t-shirt" Andrés answers Ben with a mischievous look on his face. He's not as energetic as Todd by a large margin, but he seems a lot more attentive. And it's obvious he loves poking people. "But seriously, let's not start arguing. We have twenty minutes tops before we're in battle, ten of which are probably going to be listening to the plan, you know? I'd rather use the other ten to know who I'm going to have the honor of fighting next to. And it's also handy in battle to know what the others can do".

[Fri]

James nods toward Laura, eyes still focused at the papers. "At least this SE got the manner to appear at these hours. Won't be any civilians caught in the battle."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben looks at Andrés with incredulity as he crossed his arms. "You're seriously comparing 'The Princess Bride' with Saturday morning cartoons?" he asked. "What on Earth is wrong with you, man?" He shook his head.

"As for you," he glanced back at The Todd. "Just...keep it down, will you? It's too early and I haven't seen a drop of coffee since they flew me down from Heathrow." he sighed.

[Matar]

"But seriously, let's not start arguing. We have twenty minutes tops before we're in battle, ten of which are probably going to be listening to the plan, you know? I'd rather use the other ten to know who I'm going to have the honor of fighting next to. And it's also handy in battle to know what the others can do".

"Well, I already told everyone my name... but if you want to know what I can do, it'd be my pleasure to tell you! Now... from the start!"

Todd clears his throat, and continues speaking.

"I am Todd! I am the rider of the Green Wizard! It is my soul given form, and it shows! It grants me unmatched strength, and the power to leap to the top of the heavens themselves! It also lets me latch onto enemies too cowardly to fight me up close!

He continues on, but his voice loses some it's power, no doubt because he's talking about a flaw in his PSA.

"Sadly, though, I can't really do much when the enemy is far away. I can rip trees from the very earth itself and throw them at things, but besides that... not all that much I can do with things that are out of my reach."

[Tengu_temp]

Emi smiles slightly - there's no better way of lightening the atmosphere than silly jokes, after all.
"I am not going to lift you on my own. My Genesis has the ability to materialize solid energy, and make shapes from it. I should be able to create flying platforms that can carry you."
She only tried that with crates and other non-sentient objects, not people, and only during training, but decides to leave that part out.
"I... haven't introduced myself yet, have I? Um, my name is Emi. Kurokawa Emi."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Right...so my PSA is 'Infernal Requiem'. Anything a volcano can do, I can do better." Ben waves it off, a far cry from Todd's flamboyant bravado. He just didn't seem to enjoy hearing the sound of his own voice as much as the Chartreuse Wonder over there did. "France does coffee, right? Are any of those cafés open this early?" he asked, off-subject. Pulling his jacket tighter around himself he shivered in the crisp, morning air. He was tired, cold, and miserable. Where was a Starbucks when you needed one?

[Cubey]

"The area is evacuated, so there wouldn't be anyone around even if it was day. But it means there are no open cafes." Laura smiles apologetically. She tries to take a step towards the nearest hastily set-up tent - but the agent that stands right by her stops her.

"Please remain in this position. I will take care of the coffee." He walks away in a swift stride.

"Umm. Well, then I should explain what does The Great Pretender allow me to do. I can... overwrite local reality. This isn't as powerful as it sounds." Laura lowers her gaze, but only for a moment. "But it should be enough to nullify anything the SE uses to attack you. I will protect you, as long as I am close."

[Drascin]

Ben Brooks

Ben looks at Andrés with incredulity as he crossed his arms. "You're seriously comparing 'The Princess Bride' with Saturday morning cartoons?" he asked. "What on Earth is wrong with you, man?" He shook his head.

"Quoting is quoting. Let Todd have his fun. 'sides, you can actually get some important lessons for our line of work in Saturday morning cartoons, you know." he winks.

"As for me" he turns a bit more towards everyone, "I'm more of an Earth guy. My armor's called The Rumbling War God - but I'm not going to ask you remember all that. I'm pretty good at ground manipulation, and I pack quite a punch too if I do say so myself. But with all this concrete here and the flying enemy, getting into my schtick is going to be a bit hard" he clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Well, at least the wonderful Emi here is going to help me get up there and pound his face, so no problems!" he smiles, as he steps a bit back as if to motivate another person to intervene to fill the hole he leaves.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Quoting is quoting. Let Todd have his fun. 'sides, you can actually get some important lessons for our line of work in Saturday morning cartoons, you know." he winks.

"After five years in SECT, I have to say I disagree with that statement with every fiber of my being. If you think this is going to be like the cartoons, you're in for a crushing disappointment." Ben remarked. He looked a little happier now that the word "coffee" was being thrown around, and followed the agent with his eyes until the man disappeared into a tent.

[Fri]

"Passion is good, but passion alone won't help much, believe me. You'll need something to back it up." James finally finishes reading his papers.

"James Redford, from SECT France. Alternate Ego: Grey Fowl. Never actually fought any SE, but I've done some training mission and I've been field tested. I wonder do we really need to risk this much personnel, but I haven't fought any SE for real, so I can't protest." he shrugs.

"I guess... I punch things really hard."

He breathes at his palm to warm it up. "When's the SE's ETA, miss Laura?"

[Cubey]

"It should be 25... no, more like 20 now, minutes." Laura grabs her left wrist nervously.
Lorne notices something about the report (lack of posts so I assumed take 10 - but it's enough to beat the DC, the test wasn't hard because it's not that the report writers actively tried to hide info from you). According from readings about the SE's travel vectors, and including the Earth's spherical shape in your calculations, you realize that the SE is steadily dropping in altitude as it continues its travel. It should be on a lower height than when it was when the photo was taken - although not much lower, as the drop in altitude is minimal.
Also, before it entered the Earth's atmosphere, its path of travel was absolutely straight. At least since it was detected for the first time (which happened when it was about 500.000 kms from the Earth, more the distance from Earth to the Moon). If the path did not change before that, you could make a straight line across the known universe, and one of places along the line is the origin of this SE. That is, if it didn't change course before it was detected - which is highly doubtful.

(I think we should wait for TooManyQuestions now.)

[Tengu_temp]

Emi's blush deepens.
"Er, I am not really that wonderful..."
She feels as if everyone's attention was gathering at her (even if that is not true), and that makes her feel uncomfortable. In an attempt to change the topic, she asks Ben:
"Sorry, did you say five years? Hmm... I thought everyone here will be a newbie like me, for some reason..."

(EDIT: Ninja-ed by Cubey, of course...)

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Nope. SECT knocked on my door during my twelfth birthday. I've been training and preparing to fight the SE's ever since. Not everyone's a greenie like you." he grinned. "The reason it's a mixed bag of veterans and freshies is only because of the power rating assigned to our PSA's. We're not the elite group because we're the best trained, but because we have the highest potential." he explained. "Don't worry, though. You'll do fine. Laura and I will make sure you're safe, okay?"

[kamikasei]

"Well, my name is Catríona O'Donovan, but people usually call me Cat. My thing is water and cold. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much water around, but I should be able to gather enough to use... and if we're lucky I can counter this particular enemy fairly well. I can lower temperatures over a pretty large area, so it might be that that will weaken or slow it..."

Although it would seem the nature of the enemy is a fortunate match for her powers, it's clear Cat doesn't want to oversell herself. It's clear also she's not quite sure what to make of the more extroverted members of the group - she's smiling politely at their antics, but her eyes are somewhat wary as they watch them.

"Anyway, I was recruited two months ago so I haven't had a whole lot of experience with my armour, but for the most part my affinity seems to be for ranged attacks and disabling techniques. Um, my armour's name is Oisín."

((Also ninja'd - will hold off so.))

[Tengu_temp]

"Thanks.", Emi answers Ben's reassuring words. "But you don't need to worry about me too much. I didn't come here to be the useless shonen anime girl who never does anything and only requires protecting, you know.", she adds in a slightly teasing voice. She's still quite nervous, though.

[Haven]

Lorne files away the second bit of information for later analysis. Stork's Nest is certainly coming in handy...

The first, he remarks on after considering the available data. "Sorry to interrupt, but I've got a bit of good news for those of you who prefer, ah, close-- close-contact combat. It appears the SE is descending at a steady rate, presumably trying to make contact with its counterpart, which should make it a little less difficult to en-engage in melee combat." He also adds the specific altitude and rate of descent he's calculated, and pauses before continuing.

"As for my armor, it's called Aeolus. Capable of flight at over 600 kilometers per hour, precise control of air (including long-range blasts), extensive chemical and spectral analysis--he seems a lot more excited about this--and the ability to adapt its defenses to the enemy's capabilities. Possibly not as powerful as most of you, but..."

He becomes a little more relaxed, though still quite tense "...well, it suits me. So to speak."

[Tengu_temp]

"Air? I see a pattern here..." Emi gives Lorne a long look, and then does the same with Ben, Cat and Andy.

[Matar]

"So uh..." Todd clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and glances at James. "Your PSA's name... Grey Fowl. Well, uh, do I even want to know why it's called that?"

[Fri]

..."the devil flee at the first crowing of a fowl." is his only response as he sips his coffee.

[Matar]

Todd nods his head at James' words of wisdom.

"Even the deepest darkness retreats at the crowing of the mighty rooster!"

Todd pats James' shoulder, almost making him spill his hot coffie all over his lap. His eyes sparkle with the power of youth!

"Brother in arms, I think we will get along just fine! For with my harlequin aura, and the sound of your fowlish fury, nothing will stand in our way on our path to glory!"

[Fri]

James coughs and looks a bit flustered, unsure what to make with this new acquintance.

"You... you got it, uh.. brother." what do teenagers call each other outside the island, these days? He's never really comfortable in groups other than long time fellows...

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"No one gives that kid coffee. I mean it." Ben said, pointedly looking at the agent when he came back to start handing out the hot beverages. If Ben and Todd were going to be working together on a regular basis, he was going to put one of those shock collars for dogs around Todd's neck so every time his voice reached a certain decibel he got zapped. That or he was bribing the kitchen into putting a mild sedative in Todd's food every morning from now on. He couldn't quite hold back the laughter at the thought of it.

[Cubey]

The agent returned quick enough, carrying a vacuum bottle full of coffee and several one-use plastic cups. Laura doesn't go out of her way to engage anyone in discussion - she just stands there, looking moderately worried.

The parking lot seems to steadily get busier. It's probably because you're running out of time and everyone has to finish their work up before SE 01B arrives. What takes the orders so long? You didn't receive any details on the plan yet.