Skyhawk will use Achilles to help him collect as much data as possible, and then catch up with the group from ECU. Hopefully by comparing data they can get closer to an answer on what is going on.
OOC: It is good to get started back!

Stalker will continue his routine of watching the sites know for gang and drug activity. As much as he is able to between his work shifts. The BSI guys are big league, not sure if he is ready for that.

GM to the group

Skyhawk - I'm waiting to hear from Jack Frost before I post a reply to you, as he's also in the area.

Stalker - Standby, as I need to kind of nudge you in certain direction, so work with me a bit.

Thunderbolt, stand by until I hear the Machinist's next response, then BSI will deal with your rather public intro to them. 

The Machinist - Agent Woo, doesn't look happy in the least bit. She informs you that her superiors have determined that they don't you guys running around "unsupervised", as most of you are still new to the scene. If, you're willing to play by a few rules, they'll back you, provide you with some sort of new digs, provide legal cover for your activities, and grant you access to information that you normally wouldn't have access to.

But, as you know, nothing's free. She informs you that "Mr. Smith", has flown in from DC, and has brought along a couple of people that they want you to meet. And with that, as if on queue, in walks "Mr. Smith", and a tall blond haired, male in a colorful uniform, who fits the bill of the individual you saw flying earlier.

Mr. Smith looks you dead in the eye, and says "Well, well, well...it's been a while, good to see you again." with a bit of snide tone.  "I'm sorry, that was quite rude of me. Allow me to introduce your newest member, Rampart."

Ghost - Your free to execute the actions we discussed previously, at this time.

Responses?

Lorenzo is in his shop making a few adjustments on a custom fuel injector system to squeeze a few extra hp from one of his engines when a flash of remembrance hits him.
"Oh yeah, that phone Thunderbolt gave me... I wonder if it works."
He dials the number and waits...

Unable not to overhear the exchange of seemingly adversaries, Jason listened carefully, trying to pick up on the cause of the tension between the two men. He had been given a quick briefing and had followed the public exploits of the Protectors. For the past few months they had done some real good for Empire City. They were a small squad so far, but had potential to be a power that could hold back the tide of forces that had arisen in the Guardians absence.

The Guardians had a great working relationship that had been built over decades. Trust had been earned over time on both sides. Obviously there is a bit more work to be done before the Protectors and BSI get to that level of trust. I haven’t seen two alphas marking territory like this since grampa and I went hunting coyote that last summer. I told these guys this was the wrong way to handle this. You can’t run roughshod over civilians, even ex-military, and expect them to smile about it.

Once Machinist is finished with “Mr. Smith” and turns to take his hand, Rampart shakes it with a firm grip and open smile. The fact that both of the two ‘masked’ men wear visors made it hard to get a true read on their facial expressions. There was no mistaking Machinist tone of voice though.  “Thanks, I appreciate that, but I think there’s been some mistake.” Here goes nothing. “I agreed to ‘Mr. Smith’ request to meet with you. I never agreed to being ‘placed’ on your team. I think he forgets officially I’m a civilian now. Maybe when your leader shows up … Power Chord, right? Maybe the three of us can take a walk and see where it leads.”

OOC: I'm a little confused as to what we should post, where... Here's Power Chord's turn, if he gets one... let me know if I need to post to the blog...

IC Power Chord:
Near midnight, close to the ECU campus, lightning flashed momentarily lighting the exterior of the early nineteenth century brownstone as large rain drops begins to fall.  There were no lights to be seen through the windows of the first two floors.  Something flickers like candle light through the upper floor window, but maybe a little too bright for candles showing through the fluttering curtains.

Inside the room a maelstrom rushes about the room, books and objects float in apparent chaos, but at the eye of the storm, a man floats in the lotus position.  Before him a dagger spins end over end.

Power Chord’s brow is dotted with perspiration; this is not the passive meditation he has become used to as of late.  Something is wrong…  The candles at the points of the pentagram again flare, as if something is coming against the wards.  His eyes do not open, and the murmur from his lips does not stop.  There must be something there, some relationship…

Power Chord’s mind returns to the prophecy he had intoned what seemed like an eternity ago.

“I see a dark time for this world, A King returns, and the dead walk again. Those that live on the blood of innocence, and cannot survive long the light of the day.”

“Evil from many sources focused on this world, but we shall stand against them, and they shall break like waves on the shore.”

Where these the things that interrupted his sleep? Was the dagger the key, or just a key?

As he slowly opened his eyes, the maelstrom subsided, and the candles returned to their normal brilliance.  Books that were floating around the room closed themselves, and floated back to their bookshelves, as Power Chord slowly lowered until he was touching the ground.   He glanced around verifying everything appeared to be in place, when his eyes widened.  The dagger still spun.  He had withdrawn his power, commanding it to return to the case across the room, but it remained.  The dagger suddenly lurched, and flew across the room, thunking solidly into an ancient wooden chest of drawers… Curiously, Power Chord wove a spell to detect any magical creatures or spells remaining, and verified he knew every one before he approached the dagger.   He opened the drawer, and withdrew its sole content, a pouch containing an amulet he had forgotten about.  He pondered the amulet, and grasped the dagger by the hilt.  It appeared nothing more than an ancient artifact, he could detect powerful magics within it, but it sat lifeless on his palm.  He returned it to the case he had specially made for it, and closed the silver lined glass lid.
Dirk turned and headed for a shower.   

Tomorrow he would contact the team; it was time for them to investigate Jonesville…

Jon, damn nice write up

GM Replies Part Two

GM to Power Chord: Power Chord's powerful visions lead him to seek out the other members of the team. After what was a restless night, he journeys to the BSI field office seeking to contact the other members of the team. As he arrives, he spies the striking young figure of a man hovering near the entrance to the facility (it's Thundebolt but you don't know that yet).

As he stares for a moment, trying to determine the young mans intent, the young man speaks, announcing his intentions to anyone within earshot. Within seconds, a squad of a half dozen BSI security personnel are out the door. While they don't have their weapons drawn, they don't look pleased.

GM Replies to T-Bolt: Within moments of you finishing your speech, a half dozen black clad BSI security personnel rush out the doors, clearly upset about your presence. While all of them are armed with automatic weapons, none of them are pointing their weapons at you.

GM to the two of you: I'll need actions from both of you.

GM Replies to Stalker: You've had a few days of piece and quiet at work, and are glad for the break, as it was a little on the hectic side for a while. The down time allows you to train, rest up, and keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary down at the port. Things look to be running smoothly as you arrive for your work shift. You clock in, and as you're getting your briefing, you can't help but notice what sounds like someone sobbing softly just outside the door.

After you a moment, you're able to make out who it is. It's Ramona Fitzpatrick, your dispatcher. She's an older lady, in her early 50's. You've only spoken to her a few times, and but she always seems pleasant enough when you speak to her. She seems extremely upset, which is very out of character for her.

Actions?

dsumner wrote on Jul 24^th, 2012 at 2:21pm:


Keith clocks in and turns to make his way to his patrol. Trying to ignore the woman's tears. As he reaches for the door he remembers Craig pointing out to him that if he doesn't make an effort to be more approachable,both in and out of uniform,he'll still be nothing more than a weapon. Keith closes his eyes,takes a deep breath and turns slowly around. "Ms. Fitzpatrick"He tries for a cheery tone even though he is out of practice using one.
"Can I get you a tissue or something?"

The Cougar wrote on Jul 24^th, 2012 at 3:34pm:

Receiving the comm from the Machinist, Skyhawk replies. "Hey, What's up? Achilles is picking up slightly elevated levels of background radiation. Nothing dangerous, but it should be watched. I have found the van and campsite of the team from ECU. There is nobody around. I am going to fly around and see if I can find them."
Skyhawk will fly ever expanding circles around the campsite to see if he can find the team.

The Machinist relayed the information Skyhawk gave him to Agent Woo.

The Machinist's smile dropped as he turned to face Rampart again. "Really?!? and when was 'back in your day' exactly?"

The Machinist sent a mental command to his home base computers to start a records search on 'Captain Air Force'

The Cougar wrote on Jul 25^th, 2012 at 3:16pm:

Still looking out the window at the present, while his thoughts drift in the past. His voice laden with the weight of everything that has came and gone since Operation: Tartarus. "Hmmm? Oh ... uhm sorry, was an Air Force pilot before all this. You know how it is. Briefings, debriefings, there always seemed to be a 'player' somewhere in the room."


The Cougar wrote on Jul 25^th, 2012 at 3:16pm:

OOC: okay I'll give you Air Force (duh huh  ) curious why you assigned him rank of captain?    Tom ... dude, that's me yanking your chain pal 

PS: For fun I googled Captain Air Force: About 20,000,000 results (0.36 seconds) 


Rampart: back IC
A soft sigh and suddenly deciding time to put the past away for another day, Jason asked light-heartedly. "Can you call Power Chord? There isn't any reason to stick around this place is there? Unless you'd rather interview me in the 'conference room'? . . . This weather is spectacular. Let's fly out and give Skyhawk a hand."

Power Chord IC: A smile crosses his lips as he observes the youth floating before the BSI.  His body language and gestures clearly indicate his intentions are not aggressive.

PC almost laughs out loud as the cell phone rings, and he takes the time to answer it, seemingly oblivious to what is going on.

He certainly appears prepared for trouble, with the number of weapons he carries and the fact that he is obviously “special,” floating above the pavement.  His apparent lack of concern leads Dirk to believe he has some method of protection beyond that of his duster…

Just to be on the safe side, PC will erect a Mystic Barrier (Force Field) around himself first, and then between the BSI agents and the young man.  From above and behind, “I don’t think they are used to un-invited guests like us.  Perhaps I could facilitate an introduction.  My name is Power Chord, and you are?”

"Let's walk out front and wait for Power Chord there. I will contact Agent Woo to let her know we desire to meet with Skyhawk at his location once Power Chord arrives."

Machinists activiated his comm to contact Woo. With the other hand he tossed a spare comm unit to Rampart.

Smoothly snatching the device tossed across the room Rampart gives it a once over. It looks like some of the better high-tech comm units he'd seen the STOP teams using when preparring for a training exercise. Crap, this is embarrassing. I could tuck it away and hope that no one tries to contact me with it . . . No, if he trust me enough to share his custom gear I need to lay my pride aside long enough to figure out how to use it. You never know when some 'cape' trouble is going to pop up.

'Cough'  "Sure sounds like a plan. Maybe you can show me how this thing works on the way?"  after they make it a few steps out the door,  "I don't suppose there's a way to integrate something like this into my visor is there?"

"You can do that? I knew you were tech-oriented but that's amazing." My engineering degree is twenty-five years old. I hope I don't end up needing a translator to understand half of what this guy is talking about. "Thanks ... both I guess. You never know which way the tactical environment is going to go."

As the two men walk toward the main entrance of the building, the sound of a tactical squad being mobilized fills the lobby, "What's all the ruckus outside about?"

Thunderbolt is ... very impressed by Power Chord, no knee-jerk reactions, no suspiciousness ... calm and ...regal after a fashion.  Thunderbolt realized he was truly in the presence of a professional superhero.

He was frankly... quite awestruck.

Thunderbolt drops his magnetic field and follows PC listening carefully, "Uh. Yes Sir."

"I was also interested in the meteor that landed.  I was curious what minerals might have survived re-entry.  Meteoric cobalt and nickel-iron could be very useful in some of my personal researches into magnetic monopoles!  But the serial killer seemed to be more of a public safety issue that should not be ignored... regardless of my personal curiosity."

Thunderbolt floats next to Power Chord, his metallic meshed white cloak fluttering to the magnetic breeze he creates with his will...

"YOUR Team?  I  did not know there was another Superhero Team operating in Empire City... or I would have tried to make contact much sooner!"

As they approach the door to the building Thunderbolt gestures...not even looking at the door and the metal door opens automatically to his passing desire.

"I have been busy with RONIN trying to track down the source of a highly illegal Trans-mutegenetic street drug that is being pushed called 'Boost'.  It gives the users superpowers and drives them into psychotic-rage fits before it potentially kills them from Overdose!"

He lands lightly on the floor of the BSI building lobby.  His costume makes a very distinct 'shinging' sound as he moves -it must all be made of some kind of metal mesh... The security scanner machines all almost immediately go off with their alarms as his overlapping magnetic fields trigger their sensitive electronic detectors.

"I have a vested interest... I an my little sister were abducted almost a year ago and I believe a 1st Gen version of this same drug was tested on us against our will... by a freak twist of fate it gave me my powers...permanently.  I have been trying to stop those pushing it... mainly the Leonetti Mafia Cartel Family.  I've gotten their ire and they have since hired super-powered mercenary muscle to protect their activities..."

Glancing at the security scanner booths and the racket they are making he gestures and there is an arc of electricity at his fingertips as he simply turns the machines off with some electrical machine control.  Magnetically Holding the door for Power Chord he follows walking next to  him into the building his attention focused totally upon Power Chord... seemingly not needing to see where he is going to navigate the hallways of the BSI HQ.