Still Not Safe #2 [M&M 2nd ed]

[Haven]

"One question, commander. Do we know if Thoughts of Ascension is aware that 03B was destroyed?" Lorne asks.

[Cubey]

"We are not aware of that, and we made sure it was not mentioned in their presence."

[Tengu_temp]

So much for the daring rescue plan... Although maybe it's for the better. Maybe we will be able to resolve this peacefully. Despite her inner thoughts Emi looks disappointed. Yeah, right. This will never be resolved peacefully. The most we can hope for is that the Thoughts will attack first this time.

"Okay. If I need to stay close to the hostage, then there is something I need to ask the cultists. Just one question." While aloud, Emi is talking to herself rather than the commander. This is something she made up her mind on, and she's not asking for his permission.

[Fri]

"Maybe I should come with you too then, and reinforce Frank's body to make him tougher and less prone to get injured? But what will we do if the SE attacks and my help is needed to defend against it..." Laura is obviously conflicted.

"Do you mean the others can't possibly deal with an SE without you for a few minutes? Believe in them for a bit, Laura. But I don't think that'd be necessary. I believe that by changing the property of my bike you'd mean you'll also increases the acceleration and decceleration, because otherwise, I'll need a couple thousands of meters to reach that speed and stop. That means I can reach Frank, stop for a second. Grab him when the others are still confused, and flash back here.

Of course, Emi will be needed because in high speed, one of the most important factor in vehicles is wind resistance. Especially in open vehicle like a bike. If the wind won't tumble us backward, it will rip an unprotected flesh. So if Emi will need to surround the bike and frank with an arrow shaped bubble. You can shape the bubble, can't you Emi?

Depends on the actual top speed and acceleration, we'll still get about, ten, to twenty G to our body for a few seconds. I know that even untrained people can stand up to 17 G of horizontal axis acceleration without any long term damage. I believe we can stand it with our PSE, and I believe frank would be able to stand it too, although he might need some medical help later."


James looks around. "What? I told you this is my other hobby."

[Haven]

"We are not aware of that, and we made sure it was not mentioned in their presence."

Lorne nods. "I see...if they are unaware, we can safely concede to a demand along the lines of an agreement not to attack the SE first. If they know, then we have a chance to see what their behavior is when their raison d'etre is not presently achievable." Like Emi, he's mostly thinking out loud.

[Tengu_temp]

Of course I can shape the objects I create! Haven't you paid any attention to the previous missions? James' question, and the fact that he doesn't seem to notice that the situation has changed, annoys Emi a bit. Not much though.
"I'll be close to the cultists when (and if) we start the rescue operation, so I won't have the time to create two barriers. The bike will have to remain unprotected, at least for a while. Didn't someone here plan on atmospheric entry protected just by PSA, anyway? Compared to that, a super-fast bike is nothing."

Emi is eager to get going. As Lorne said, they can use the situation and the knowledge they possess and the Thoughts don't to fish out some valuable info from them.

[Drascin]

"Well, the plan is more or less sound. Now all that remains is getting there and seeing what they want, and react on that. No plan remains unchanged after contact with the enemy, they say" Andy sighs. He looks rather unenthusiastic about the prospect of talking to the Ascenders. It's quite a lot of pressure, and they're all crazy as hell. It's not something he relishes. But he can't quite let Todd talk alone to a bunch of triggerhappy weirdos - someone has to be there to play sane cop, after all.

[kamikasei]

"If a fight starts, I'll try to give you guys some cover while Emi protects Frank. Plenty of raw material to work with here, after all," Cat promises the negotiators. "Good luck."

[Cubey]

The situation outside is as follows:

It seems the local area is guarded and access is restricted - not that the mountains have many onlookers to start with. Because of that, the presence of American army is rather small. Most forces present are SECT agents, some of them in armor, grouped in small squads and ready to move in.

Not only are there people and transport vehicles (mostly airborne) around, SECT had time to set up a few tents and provisory buildings. One of them has a small group of people in front of, and when you get closer you find them very familiar. As it is nobody else but the Japanese squad!

"Hello, Laura-san, everyone..." Akira welcomes you uneasily as you approach. He looks worried, and so does everyone else in his group - even the mostly cheerful Akiho and the usually stoic (but now concerned) Takeshi. However, Usagi is not here. Where is she?

She's inside. Entrance to the tent is not forbidden, and inside you find her and the whole American squad - including Anne. And Anne is the reason why they are all here. She's sitting on a bed, wrapped in a blanket, with an absent gaze. She's silent and does not move other than shaking lightly from time to time. Her teammates surround her in a circle, probably supporting her but it's hard to tell as they all go quiet the second someone enters this place.

"We meet again. I did not expect it to happen so fast... but I hoped for circumstances to be better." Elizabeth curtseys politely. Apparently her gothloli instinct is too strong to be suppressed even by a teammate's tragedy.
"Anne's in a bit of shock right now. She's not responsive, but the doctor said she'll get better."

"Anne..." Laura, who waved a little to both the Japanese and the Americans as she went pass them, looks saddened.
"I'm sorry, but we must talk now. Please gather everyone, we have a plan to deal with the Thoughts of Ascension. But we must act now... I'm sorry."

Her plea is listened to, albeit reluctantly.

"Please take care of her while we are away, doctor." Amanda asks an elderly, middle-eastern looking man in a white doctor's coat. He looks familiar to Ben - have you seen him before?

You all gather outside as Laura explains the plan to everyone. It hasn't been changed much, and still includes the potential of James's daring bike rescue, but also adds Emi to the list of negotiators. Other teams are mostly focused on observing the SE in case it goes on a rampage again, but Amanda's job is to assist the anti-Ascender group with support. Of course, should the Ascenders want to fight, all of you have defeating them (AND saving Frank) as the priority.

There is little disagreement to the plan. Everyone is ready to put it into motion - are you?

[Tengu_temp]

"Hello again.", Emi greets the members of the other two teams.
Yeah, I didn't expect to see you so quickly either... Or in such bad circumstances.
Anne's current state makes her feel a bit sorry for her, against her better judgement. She pushes this feeling away. Let's hope you'll learn something from this...

"Alright, so...", Emi says when the plan is shared with everyone. "We have a huge advantage in numbers and know some things they don't, so as long as nobody does anything stupid, we should resolve this without any further incidents. Are we all ready?" She knows she is. When the group heads out, she's summoning Genesis - going to meet them without your PSA on would be just foolish.
This is going to be easy..., Emi reassures herself - she is quite stressed, but this is a sensation she needs to fight off. Just make sure nobody gets hurt... And ask the cultists about that one thing. I need to know this...

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"You took care of Laura after the battle with the earth SE before we had to go up to Stork's Nest." Ben said as the others filed out of the tent where Anne rested, referring to the middle-aged middle-eastern man. "You must be part of the American SECT team's support staff." he guessed. "I never did get a chance to thank you for your reassurances that day. I'm Ben Brooks." he introduced himself, offering his hand to shake, as Laura began to lay out the plan for the others outside. "Will Anne be alright? What did they do to her?"

[Cubey]

"That's correct. You can call me doctor Tom - just that. It is good to meet you again, Ben Brooks." The doctor says. He returned the handshake.
"Anne is physically healthy. I already performed a check, and wounds she sustained in battle are very minor. The PSA protected her well. Her condition is a result of trauma - nothing drastic was done to her while she was held hostage... but being held hostage itself is a traumatic experience. Furthermore, her amplifier was destroyed."

"Will she be alright? With time, yes. But the girl will need some psychological help. She had a hard time."
And that's all he has to say on that matter.
-------

When everyone is ready to move out, a message comes from the Commander.
"Permission to activate your PSA granted. Good luck, everyone. Act cautiously and stay safe."

Once everyone transforms, you can witness the American team's PSAs for the first time.

Elizabeth's armor is a black gothic plate with gold decorations, although it is different from historical mail due to having a feminine shape. It's also relatively small and not bulky, fitting its owner stature. And of course, you're pretty sure that historical armor did not have giant bat wings sprouting from its back.

Amanda has a rich purple PSA, the color contrasting with the white of a long, flowing toga that it wears. Although metallic, the armor looks more like a sculpted figure than actual armor, including a (rather un-detailed) face and stylized hair of its head. In its right hand, Amanda's PSA holds a sword, looking ready to brandish it as a sign of victory.

Matilda's PSA is mostly black, and noticably thin - almost freakishly so. The exception to this thinness are large protectors on its shins and forearms, making the armor look as if designed for Kingdom Hearts a certain video game. All of this is rather hard to notice though, as the PSA's body is covered by a red cloak, betraying these features only when the wind blows it around. The facemask is silver, and has thin black slits where eyes and the mouth should be. Curly white locks tumble from the armor's head to shoulders, giving an impression of a judge's wig.

Surprisingly, Kazuma remains untransformed. Even more surprisingly, nobody from his team seems to consider this abnormal.

"Everyone, let's get into positions. I... I'll try to protect you as best as I can." Laura says.
"I'm not saying I want to do everything myself!" And then she starts to apologize, including appropriately frantic hand waving. It looks a bit weird, since she's in her PSA already.
"I just... want everyone to come back safe from this mission. So, umm... let's be safe, alright?"

"No worries! We went through worse and survived just okay. It's the Ascenders that should be afraid here, not us." Sara seems ready for anything that happens.

[Drascin]

Before going out, Andy gives Anne a supportive pat on the shoulder, and a nod. Yes, the girl is a troublemaker of the highest caliber, but he knows very well how unsettling and psychologically damaging it can be to screw things up and have others pay for your screwup.

And her amplifier was destroyed. That alone is probably a horrible weight as well. Especially for someone as proud as Anne, having been unable to protect something so important most likely hurts the most.

---------------------------

When they're out, Andy wonders for a moment, but transforms as well. If Frank wasn't there, I'd go without the God, but with him in there we'll need to react fast and there'll be no time for transformation sequences. Another handicap, then he thinks to himself as he does so. Fact of the matter is, the War God's menacing bulkiness and resounding, godly voice are rather unlikely to be helpful to the whole diplomatic effort with the bunch of paranoid weirdos.

Then he looks to Emi and Todd.

"Okay, then. You guys ready?"

[Tengu_temp]

When the permission came, Emi didn't hesitate a second to summon Genesis. She nods in response to Andy's question.
"I am ready. Let's go." Protected by her Armor, she feels much more confident and secure in their plan. "I just wonder about one thing - we could simply wait a few hours until the cultists get tired from being in their PSAs all the time and are forced to remove them. But they probably know about this too, and have prepared for this scenario. And how exactly did they prefer is what I'd like to know."

[Fri]

"They'll simply kill Frank."

[Tengu_temp]

I don't want to think about that... No more dying.
"And lose their trump card in negotiations? I don't think they're that crazy."

[Drascin]

"Most of them I'd agree. A couple of them strike me more as brainwashed than anything. But that dude with the camera... he gave me some serious bad vibes last time. I don't think he'd hesitate a second to kill if he thought Frank had become less useful as a bargaining chip. And the panther chick is just insane, as well" Andy says grimly.

[Tengu_temp]

"Good that neither of these two is here then, right?" Emi's tone is bittersweet rather than upbeat. Especially that, if Andy was talking about the same female Ascender as the one she thinks he is, then she is already dead.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. As long as I'm there, I won't let anyone die. Not this time."

[Haven]

Lorne looks a little horrified at Anne's condition.

"If they were that eager to kill, they would not have waited for the hostage exchange," Lorne reasons.

After Emi speaks, Lorne grimaces. "Unfortunately we can't be sure who is or isn't here due to their cloaking ability. Be careful." With that, he makes his invocation, shifts, and gets ready to move out - when the signal is given, flying 500 feet up and then towards the SE keeping the negotiation in range.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Nothing's as it seems with these guys. Keep your eyes open, everyone." Ben said just before he raised his amplifier to eye-level.

"Infernal Requiem...sing for the dead." he said, keeping in mind thoughts of the SECT soldiers that had already died today. His countenance twisted into a grimace of effort as his armor appeared around him in white-hot sections and latched onto his body. Each piece released a gout of steam as it came into contact with his flesh, but Ben didn't seem to notice if he had been burned or not. Finally, when his helmet appeared above him, he reached up and pulled it onto his head, where it secured seamlessly to the armor around his neck. The steam around him was then quickly burned away as an angry, flickering aura of fire replaced it.

He flexed his hands and arms, relishing the comfortable sense of power that his armor gave him. When he wasn't wearing it, he felt like he had an arm or a leg missing, so he was happy to be whole again. He felt a keen sympathy for Anne at that moment, knowing that she wouldn't be able to easily call her armor until she had a new amplifier constructed for her.

"Negotiation team, ready? Let's move out." Ben's deepened voice filtered through his t-visored mask.

[Cubey]

"Your enemy was in PSA for more than two hours already - if they grow tired, they may try desperate action. We will negotiate for now, but if we find their conditions impossible to accept then we will try delaying tactics. Everyone, stick to the plan." It seems Commander Clayton was listening in to your talks, as he comments as soon as the proposition to wait was voiced.

Laura might look worried, but it's hard to say as her face is partially obscured by her armor. And one way or another, she does not say anything.

You progress forward, towards the place where Thoughts of Ascension supposedly are. As mentioned earlier, there are small squads of MSAS-clad troopers stationed here and there - undoubtedly in strategic positions, ready to move in if things go sour. But you notice other people too, carrying normal guns... and even a rare armored vehicle. How good will these thing be against an SE, you can only guess.

The SE itself is visible once you move only a little bit closer - it is a wide plateau after all, and visibility is good. It is big indeed - it seems the tentacles are at least 20 meters long each, so you keep your distance. Especially since there are some unidentified... heaps on the ground near the tentacles. Some of them are roughly human sized, and the snow and rocks around them are red.

The Thoughts of Ascension themselves are situated about 500 meters away from the SE, under a small rock formation. According to the plan, most of you situate yourself between them and the SE - less than 100 meters away from the Shifters, so close enough to attack but far enough so as not to annoy them too much. Laura is standing by James, whose special motorcycle is at ready, brought from the base for occasions like this - to rescue Frank if there's a need to. It seems some of your allies can take off to the air: Akira's PSA is equipped with some kind of boosters, Elizabeth's armor flaps its bat-like wings while Amanda just levitates. This allows them to get in positions better.

As for the group you are going to negotiate with...
They seem almost casual. The white-haired coat-wearing man is sitting on the ground, in front of a small plastic chess set - and his opponent is Frank. Both of them have mugs with some kind of hot drink. The two other Shifters are standing around, observing the surroundings lazily. Or at least that's the impression you get, as their gaze is hard to notice under the silvery armor of the martial artist and the huge bronze (and headless) body of the other Ascender. The last one is also standing uncomfortably close to Frank - a reminder that even if the scene looks almost peaceful, it could be easily interrupted any second by crushing the man's head into bloody pulp.

As the negotiating group gets close, the game gets interrupted and the coat-wearer stands up.
"Hey." He raises an arm in welcome. The two others do not say a thing, although they turn in your direction. Frank is likewise silent, and did not stand up.

[kamikasei]

Cat stays on the ground - her control over her ability to fly has improved quite a bit since her first chance to use it on Stork's Nest, and she doesn't want to give any hints away to the enemy as to its extent. Instead she takes position with the others, watching the negotiation, and letting her awareness spread out in to the snow surrounding them, waiting to be used and shaped...

Spoiler

Show

((Besides trying to get a feel for the lay of the land, Cat will try to check if there's anything buried or hidden in the snow. And although the cloaking would probably conceal it, she might be able to sense the water in the bodies of hidden Ascenders.))

[Fri]

James sits on his bike, which is here for one reason or another. Seriously, who brought this thing here? Did they actually have this bike at each of their previous mission? Are there someone who actually thought "oh, I know. Let's ship this bike in case we need it to fight against an SE somehow."

Doesn't really matter. Now he's just readying himself to launch his bike if he's needed.

[Tengu_temp]

Emi takes the ground route as well, though her reasons are different than Cat's - she should stay in one group with the other negotiators, and floating in one place for a prolonged period of time is simply less comfortable and requires more effort than just standing. The metal part of her wings is already extended in case she needs to fly, though.

The contrast between the kidnappers' attitude and the bodies around the SE unsettles Emi, though she doesn't show this on the outside.
How can they be so calm with dead people around? I don't understand that...
She waits for someone else to start talking first.

[Drascin]

For all response, Andy raises an arm as well in a greeting. "Hello. I was given to understand you wanted to talk with us?". He even manages to disguise his disgust.

So this is the team leader. I was right on something - camera-****wad may not be around, but these guys would never be without a leader on hand he thinks. Can't risk them going alone, or they might actually start thinking on their own, eh?

[Matar]

Todd gives a smile and a wave at the person wearing a coat. He either seems to be ignoring, or simply did not notice, the bodies laying next to the SE.

He did notice them, of course. However, only someone who was capable of getting inside his head and figuring out how he thinks would understand that. Someone like James, or possibly Andy.

Putting his hands by his side Todd glances over to Andy and adds "What he said."

[Cubey]

The representative group is, of course, much closer to the Ascenders than the rest. Yelling to each other over a hundred meters would not be conductive for a good discussion. Just making sure here.

"Sure I wanted to talk with you." The opposing Shifter crosses his arms.
"But first, I wanna know what you have to say. We didn't do anything here. Some people got killed, sure." He looks towards the SE, and the crimson spots on the ground near it... even if they're too far for him to see.
"But it wasn't me who did it. Me and my two friends just sat here when some crazy girl leaps on us, ready to spill blood."

"What do you have to say about that? Give me your... how do you call it? An opening statement. Then we can talk." He picks up the mug from the ground and takes a drink of whatever hot fluid is inside.

[Tengu_temp]

I know you didn't. The SE did. And yet you still claim those creatures are our friends.
Emi glances at the rest of the negotiation group briefly. She's not going to start - what she has to ask the cultists about must wait a bit. The very beginning of the talk is not a good time for it.

[Drascin]

It takes Andy quite a lot of willpower to hold back the barking remark burning on his tongue. Instead, he shrugs diplomatically. No point trying to talk circles with these guys, they'll just twist his words. "What opening statement is there to make? Anne is a hotheaded person, she simply ignored orders and attacked. It has not been a full month yet since the matters at Berlin, after all"

[Cubey]

"Okay then." Andy's shrug is mirrored by the Ascender.
"Here's what I want: we came here to watch, not fight. Now we just need to get out of here. Guarantee our safety, that nobody will open fire or try to fight us, and we'll just release this guy and move out of the picture."