Azrael finished rolling the equipment lockers into his room, and put them away. He'd managed to snag a copy of the Advanced Warfighter System, and the Future Force Warrior armor. It was the excess from TeCU-3 that the UN was tossing out.

With that, he stripped down to nothing and crawled into his bed.

"Good night Chicago.."

With that, he promptly fell asleep.

Next Day, 1003 hours

Jason did his best not to punch Director Stoyanovich as the man ranted and raved about "what went wrong" and "people getting hurt", completely ignoring the fact that they now at least had some evidence. Though it wasn't much to go on, it was at least a step in (hopefully), the right direction.

"If it were up to me," Stoyanovich wound down "I'd probably have you out of here. But it's not my call, and besides, the Joint Chiefs apparently need you for some kind of side project. Apparently they need you as an advisor and planner on some type of military operation. I don't even know what it is."

"Great," Jason said half sarcastically. "When do they want to see me about this?"

"As soon as possible today."

Jason figured he'd better just get it over with.

OOC: This is going to be a series...I'm just having trouble getting words down.

"Archon, Monk hassent a represenetive." Crow said as he monitors the station "We have as you ordered tried to re establish diplomatic communications after purging our modems, but we're finding ourselves unable to connect to the cyber world. Our servers are holding under the strain, We're bring Geo stations 5-12 online to compensate for the increased power demands. It seems the world has us under some kind of information blockade."

"We need to reestablish contact." Raven said. We'll need to hack satelites and use them to force our connection back online.

M4 rolled himself to the area he was given. He found it to be a small room with several ports; information, communications, power. He checked his internal battery and found that he indeed could use a charge. He drove over a power port and plugged himself in so that he could recharge a little, ready for whatever task they would have him do.

Jade was in her office playing bored out of her mind. Since Cyber Eden had severed all ties with all embassies, Jade had been left with no work. Sure she took on some extra jobs, mostly small systems hacking, but that was busy work. She was presently sitting at her desk playing Civilization for the umpteenth time. A knock resounded through her office. "Come in." A man in a military uniform speckled with medals approached her desk. While Jade was not fond of the army, she still knew respect, so she stood and saluted.

"Mrs. LaFleur, I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you."

"Sure, please sit down."

"No thank you, I need to be brief. We need you to come back into service."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "You know I can't do that."

"I'm well aware of your stance on the army, but this is an exception. Firefights have been breaking out all over the world. Our troops have been spread very thin and we have almost no reserves to spare. I need you to head up a rescue mission."

"Sir, I know I have prior experience, but I can't, please don't ask me again."

"Mrs. LaFleur...Jade...they've taken Carol."

Jade's eyes flashed. Carol was the Canadian UN ambassador and a good friend of Jade's. She was always smiling, always laughing and had really helped Jade get accustomed to her job in the beginning. Jade knew from experience what would happen if the enemy got ahold of an ambassador. "They could take the country." Jade sat down and ran a hand through her hair.

"You see the dangers this poses, both personal and for the country."

Jade looked down in though for a moment. She then stood up decisively. "I'm going alone. One mission General, that's all. I'm not doing this for you, I'm going to get Carol back."

"Very well. You leave tomorrow for Belize where she's being kept. You'll get an arsenal of your choice for the Cyber World combat. Good luck."

That evening Jade came home and told Monk everything. "I need to go."

"What?" Monk said after the information hasd been passed. "What do you mean you need to go? And did you say... alone!?" He stood up and rubbed his temples, pacing around the room for a bit, "Jade... You know I can't let you do that. Listen, I love Carol just as mush as you do, but I thought we decided that we were gonna stay away from the military and this whole stupid mess. I promised that I wouldn't run into this war, and I expected you to do the same..."

OOC: Collab post from MC and I

BIC: Jade flopped her head back on the couch. "Monk, you know that I don't want to do this. By all accounts this should be left up to the secret service. But they have no one left, and if I don't go, I'm basically handing the country over to them on a silver platter and signing Carol's death wish." Monk sighed and dropped his head, "What of me, huh? What would happen if when you fly in there solo, it's a plan to get you captured or worse, a plan to get you out in the open to kill you. Why did you even decide to do this solo, that's what I don't get at all."

"Because I didn't want them sending me with some new recruits who are just going to get killed. They don't have any experienced soldiers left to give me, and I'm not risking the life of some kid who got recruited...like me."

"Noble of you... I understand where you are coming from, but what can one soldier do alone? What are you going to do, what are you going to be up against, where is this all taking place? Have you thought all this through yet?" Jade replied with a wry smile. "Do I ever think things through? She's being held in Belize, and the intelligence reports say that they have limited weaponry and are common soldiers. These aren't agents Monk, I think I can handle them." Defeat... there wasn't anything he could use against that. Except... "Why didn't you volunteer both of us?"

"I have to break my promise. It doesn't mean you have to as well."

"Well... I can't have you going alone..." Jade looked at Monk, "why not?" He paused, and then replied, "I don't want to risk losing you when I could have had the chance to save you. Jade raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think I'll need saving?"

"Cause... You seem to have a knack of getting yourself in trouble..."

"Since when?" He shrugged, "I don't know... I just can't think of a good enough excuse to try and let me follow you..."

Jade stood up, "you really want to come that badly?"

"No... I just don't want you to go alone." Jade walked over and embraced her husband. "Thank you and I'm sorry I'm making you break your promise."

"Hey..." He replied, wrapping his own arms around her, "You started it..."
"...I know..."

"I love you."

"I love you too..." Monk picked his head up, "So... when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow..."

Then we better get ready, huh?"
"Yea. I guess so."


"Then let's get to work!" Monk said, a warm smile playing across his face. "Monk.." Jade said as he began to leave. "This will be the only mission ok?" He turned his head, "Let's hope so." He said, some hesitation in his voice. "We can only hope so..."

Standing downrange from the targets, Jax gripped his P99 tightly. Unlike Azrael, he'd gotten more than a little tired with the cubersome beretta, and had now switched to the MI6 staple.

He fired twice more, then took off the glasses and ear-protectors. Then he grabbed his binoculars. Twelve shots at 30 meters. Not bad. There had been better, but Jax had been awake for about half an hour.

The training with Cyber Force was...wierd. They left it up to you. There were no sergeants who remembered glory days. There were no 5 o'clock wake-up calls. There really wasn't anything. They put the facilities in front of you and let you do your thing.

Jax had heard there had been a casualty in the first mission. Going out on a limb, he checked Rhiya's service record. It was outstanding, superior to the history Jax had. Rhiya had been a front-line fighter with an amazing Cyber World talent. Jax was a washed out sniper who just came from law enforcement.

He was scared. He'd been told he had to protect the entire world. Above all, he felt inadequate. Glumly, he reloaded his P99, ejected the mag, and put in another bullet. Then he safed it and stuck it in his holster, which he carried by hand as he was still in his pyjamas.

He took a shower, he shaved, then noticed something odd while getting dressed. For once he didn't have a uniform. Thus he elected to just wear a black t-shirt with "RCMP" written on the front, and a pair of jeans. Abscently, he took his side-arm with him, as he'd been told that Cyber Force was considered to be on constant operational status, and as such had to be ready for most types of combat at any given moment.

Then he did something he didn't normally do. He took his breakfast with him, and walked over to Wolf's office. He knocked on the door, then entered. Upon seeing Wolf looking mildly flustered, he snapped to attention and gave the crispest salute he could.

"Sir! Permission to speak freely, sir!"

Wolf abscently looked up, shuffling some papers around and nodded.

"At ease."

Jax hadn't expected that much, but took it gladly. He looked at Wolf, then sighed sadly and said, "Sir, do I belong here? There are many more much more qualified. Why am I here? Why is there so much faith in me? Why me? Why should I be here?"

***

Azrael woke up a bit later than Jax, but didn't do any shooting. Instead, he got dressed in a comfy t-shirt, a bunnyhug, and a pair of jeans, and walked out to the garage.

There was his new ride.

GMC Sierra. 4x4, turbo-powered engine, complete with nitrous and bulletproof plating.

It could literally roll right over his old Firebird. Hot damn, Greg had outdone himself again.

"I take it you like it," came Greg's voice from behind him. Azrael spun and hugged him.

"You are a god among men."

"Yep, she's a monster alright. Even got heated seats."

"This is the most beautiful thing you've ever given me."

Greg smiled and pushed Azrael off. He then handed him the keys, and pointed at the big truck. "She's got an onboard computer akin to Wolf's car. If you ever get wounded, you just need to get in there and tell her to retreat. She'll drive you to the nearest log-out point or nearest safe zone, then continue going to the command centre until told to stop by Wolf or the Field Commander."

With that, Greg walked back inside. It was odd, Azrael noticed, to see Greg without a lab-coat. It was wierd to think that Greg was now his administrative superior. Those thoughts were pushed aside by sheer glee, and he jumped (literally) into his new ride. After revving the engine a few times, he took her for a spin and went by a mall.

At the mall, he bought some stuff for his room. Mainly the essentials, like toilet-paper and toothpaste And some Pringles. Finally, as a peace-offering, he bought a large box of assorted chocolates to give to Kaitlin, in part as a belated wedding gift. He hadn't been at the wedding. He'd been in Spain.

Wolf had read Jax's file, he knew perfectly well why the soldier would be feeling this way. Tough part was, he didn't really know how to answer either.

"Well, you're here because not only are we a bit limited in the sniping department, we also belive in giving second opportunities to people. In addition, since you were formerly a cop, you'll be able to help with investigative work as we track down whoever is using Mastermind's name, unless it is indeed Mastermind himself."

OOC: Live damn you!

IC: Jax crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"That's a pretty flimsy excuse. And you're definitely bullshitting me, I was never in an investigative branch. I took my shield test, and that was it. You don't know, do you?"

Jason decided discretion was the better part of valor. "Fine. I don't know, but that's because I am just as curious as you are to why you're here. But I'm sure there are reasons. And frankly, we need all the help we can get, so I'm glad you're here."

Jax wisely saluted, and left the office. He got out into the haul to see Azrael carring various bags from Wal-Mart to his room.

Apparently, Azrael bought extra soft toilet paper.

Moscow - 10 hours earlier

The beat up old car pulled into another warehouse district -- this one on the southwestern part of the city. Here it pulled into what looked like a truck loading area and stopped, coming neatly to rest and unloading its passengers.

The three that stepped out looked as shady as the warehouse did -- dressed in thick, nondescript coats and clothing, and appearing to have an agenda or two on their minds. Which they did.

Speaking in Russian to each other, a handful of men were busily going about moving boxes and organizing a few things, when one of them spotted the three people and tapped his boss' shoulder, then pointed to them and nodded his head back. The boss stopped what he was doing and squinted, though it didn't take long for him to recognize the man walking out front.

Telling the underling something, he then went over and addressed that man casually. "Hallo, my friend, long time no see."

"Good day to you, too," Wraith started, looking about the warehouse. "Busy day?"

The boss took a drag from his cigarette and motioned with his arms to the room. "I am a businessman, I am always busy."

"Well, then a businessman like you might know something about a man named Sergei."

The boss took a long, long drag from his cigarette then, wondering what Wraith was about to get at here. "Perhaps."

Wraith walked past him and gave him a look, and started inspecting the warehouse, though casually. The boss looked at Shahdee and Devin for a second -- who held their places and tried to look unimposing -- and then followed Wraith as he spoke. "Then perhaps you can tell me about just what kind of man he was."

"Was?"

"He's dead now," Wraith answered.

"Hm." The boss took another puff from his cig, now almost gone, and exhaled slowly. "He was surrounded by dangerous men. Frankly I am surprised he was alive this long."

"What kinds of dangerous men?" Wraith asked in Russian.

The boss stopped walking as Wraith did also, and studied his face. Then with a nod behind him, he asked, "Can your friends be trusted?"

Wraith nodded. "I would have left them in the car if I did not think so."

The boss finished his cigarette while he thought about that, then snuffed it out with his boot when he was done. "Sergei was involved with some very dangerous men, the kind men like us choose to keep at arms' length."

"Any of them have ties with Mastermind? Or with any splinter cells of his?"

Devin's head perked at the sound of Mastermind's name -- the one word he caught out of the rest.

"Most of the mafia had ties with Mastermind," the boss replied. "He was one of their biggest supporters and suppliers. And they him. Why do you ask?"

Wraith looked around the warehouse and shrugged, then took out a cigarette of his own and lit it. "It would explain a few recent events."

The boss watched Wraith start smoking, and nodded his head back. "I would be careful. It sounds to me you may be getting involved in something you don't want to be involved in."

Wraith nodded, blowing out the smoke. "I know. Believe me, I don't, but I have to."

The boss chuckled a bit, sarcastically, and asked him, "Risk is part of the job, hm?"

"That's what they say..." Wraith said, trailing off as he took a drag. Suddenly he snapped out of his thoughts then, and motioned to the man. "Anyway, what was Sergei's specialty? Information?"

"You could say that," the boss answered. He noted a few of his minions giving him uneasy looks, and decided that they should hurry up. "The things he knew undoubtedly got him killed. He had connections, contacts, resources... if you wanted to do anything or move anything, he was the man you would eventually talk to. A lot of men used him as a go-between."

The boss watched as Wraith took another drag in thought, and asked, "Does this have anything to do with the terrorist attack yesterday?"

Wraith nodded, not even bothering to ask how the man knew. "He had a hand in it. When the people he worked for found out we'd tracked him, they probably had him killed."

Wraith stopped watching the workmen working then, and gestured to the boss with his smoking hand. "You be careful too, it's not a wise idea to talk to me very much at the moment."

"Oh, thanks for the warning," the boss sarcastically replied, referring to the irony of that statement.

Wraith smirked and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, nothing's happening to you today."

He started walking past him towards the exit, but as he looked up his step slowed down. Another man was entering behind Shahdee and Devin, and from the way they hadn't turned around yet, rather quietly. But when they noticed the look on his face and his nod, they spun around and jumped to readiness, almost pulling their weapons but stopping short.

Perhaps because his appearance was a little surprising to them. He was dressed in Oriental attire, from the kimono all the way up to the ornate -- but modernized armor on his shoulders and biceps. Spikes were everywhere off of them, and the layered plating of his arm-mounted armors added an intimidation factor. But most telling as he drew near, were the tattoos on his face, especially the one on his forehead that was the mark of the First Order. A glance down at his waist revealed two swords strapped to his figure, both angled but low -- the blades at hip level, not shoulder level. Devin especially could already tell he had a unique fighting style.

They began to draw their weapons for real, but Wraith put up his hand and stepped between them. "No, wait..."

The man walked further towards them, but as he drew near he seemed to ignore them, until finally he passed right by Wraith's right side without so much as acknowledging his presence. Devin and Shahdee spun around with Wraith, and by then even Wraith was ready to fight -- because he was clearly about to, just because they were there.

The boss looked nervous, too. He shifted position several times and motioned to some of his workers, telling them something in Russian that even Wraith had trouble hearing. The new First Order man walked up to the boss then and began talking low, so low that even Shahdee's augmented hearing had difficulty making anything out.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Wraith muttered to Devin.

Devin shook his head, and so did Shahdee as she whispered, "No... he's being really quiet."

***

I'm not even gonna proofread this, so if I mess up... you know what I meant to say.
 

"I must say, Ivan, the people you've chosen to consort with don't meet with my approval..."

The boss nodded very nervously. "I know, I know... but, you see, they came to me--"

"Has the delivery been sent?" the man asked, changing the subject.

The boss again nodded nervously. He knew very well what was about to go down. "Yes, yes it has..."

"And my transport has been arranged?"

The boss again nodded. First Order then muttered in addition, "Tell me where to meet it then, and I'll be on my way."

"The-the northern depot, as we discussed," Boss replied.

"Thank you for services..." First Order said as he turned around. But after only a few steps he paused, and began to turn around. The boss' workers ducked behind cover then, and began arming weapons. "Oh, before I forget..."

The First Order man began arming the device on his right forearm as he turned to face the boss, but Wraith pulled a pistol in short time and fired it at him.

"NO!"

The First Order man leaned to the side with great speed and a blur, confirming that he was augmented. He paused for a second as a quiet stalemate settled, punctuated only by the sounds of a dozen guns cocking and aiming at him. A few lasers even broke the air and danced about his chest and head.

Slowly he looked over his shoulder towards Wraith, while the boss wisely backed out of the way and scurried for shelter. "You're meddling in affairs you shouldn't be, Major. But it can't be helped..."

He faced about and began drawing his swords, eyes burning holes in Wraith. "You're in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

Wraith's eyes twitched as he turned. Something about him -- his demeanor, his smug confidence, something -- was giving him the distinct impression that this was one hombre he really didn't want to mess with. He didn't see it, but Devin also had this impression, and was really quite shaken though he couldn't figure out why -- and while Shahdee didn't recognize him, she knew the moment he walked in the room that he was dangerous.

Then the boss ordered his men to fire.

First Order became a whirlwind of metal then as he spun in tight circles, deflecting the bullets handily with his swords. A few bullets even ricocheted back to the workers, hitting skulls and chests and downing half of them in an instant.

Wraith and Devin were next to jump into the action, guns blazing. They split off to the sides as the man spun about, flaying his swords around in neat, fast arcs. The bullets ricocheted back at them, but they were already diving behind cover, while Shahdee leapt into the air did a nifty little flip, then slung a pair of knives at him from her coat. The man deflected both with ease, but that had the effect of setting up Wraith and Devin's next moves.

That meant that Devin removed a submachine gun and had at him, while Wraith complicated matters by leaping forwards and hurling a set of knives in a blanket motion. The man went to deflect the bullets and knives, but soon the remaining Russians' gunfire added to that was too much for him. He took several hits in the back and forearms, the rest of the bullets deflecting off his armor.

He looked stunned for a moment, which gave Wraith the opportunity to charge with another load of knives, but the man recovered faster than Wraith would have liked and knocked him aside with a swift roundhouse. Devin watched as his old friend was tossed aside like a doll by that kick, and looked on as the man seemed unphased. Shahdee saw it too as his wounds began healing right before their eyes, and she also saw as her husband charged forward with his gun leveled.

"No, Devin, wait!" she started, going after him.

Devin gritted his teeth and fired away relentlessly, regretting inwardly the decision not to take a sword along, and kept moving as the man busied himself with deflecting bullets. And it worked.

For the first two seconds, anyway. As bullets started whizzing by Devin's head and the Russians had to stop to reload, he knew he had to change strategies, and he did so by unloading the last of the clip and tossing the gun at the man while breaking into an all-out nano-assisted charge.

First Order had to block the gun and knock it aside before he could engage Devin, which is why Devin landed a solid punch on his face. But that was all he would get, as the man spun with the hit and swept Devin off his feet, then planted his foot into Devin's chest in mid-air, throwing him off to the side of the room as effortlessly as he had Wraith.

He completed his roundhouse then, watching Devin's body fly away, but snapped his attention forward as Shahdee came at him with a flying kick. He blocked that quickly, then paused as she came to land on her feet and throw a couple punches at him. He blocked those, too, and eventually locked her arms and brought them down between their chests, drawing her nearer. "You, too, are in the wrong place -- Exalted One."

He then shoved her away and landed a very fast roundhouse kick to her chest -- that threw her away, also, and ended with his blurred form coming to rest as it started. He watched her land and roll into a stack of crates while his hearing picked up the sound of guns cocking, and the next thing the rest of the Russians knew, their bullets were flying back at them again as the other half were dropped like the first -- with ease.

After that skirmish, only First Order was left standing. The boss was hiding behind a crate near the back, along with a few wounded, but at that point he didn't care. A wry sneer crossed his face as he saw the result of his work, and he satisfactorily put his swords away, and walked out the way he came. He crossed Shahdee on his way out, and saw her beginning to stir, but he just ignored her. Now wasn't the time, really... they could wait until the stage was set.

***

"Major? Major?"

"...Wraith?"

Wraith's eyes opened slowly to see Devin kneeling over him. "Oh God, the angels here are butched."

"Very funny," Devin snorted, helping Wraith sit up.

"Shahdee, you recognize that son of a bitch?" Wraith asked her, getting back up with a groan.

She shook her head, and looked about the warehouse at the Russians recollecting themselves. "No. I've never seen him before, but I think he's a clone."

"Really? What makes you think so?" Wraith asked as he cradled his sore chest.

Shahdee was cradling her own chest, too... not because anything hurt really, but because the memory of ribs cracking kinda stays with you for a bit. "Just do. He kinda has that look of 'genetically engineered'."

"Yeah..." Devin muttered, going over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her.

Half a meter away, Wraith stepped forward a bit and looked around the warehouse, remembering that short little fight that just went down. For a while he just stared, looking out at the Russians collecting themselves, but finally he told them, "Guys... I think our lives just got a lot more complicated."

Jason shook his head in mild frustration after Jax left.

I've been at this job less than 24 hours and already I'm getting way too many questions i don't know the answers to. Furthermore, i still have to deal with this damn breifing. At least i don't have to leave the office to attend it.

Jacking into the White House's "War Room" server, he soon found himself on a VR spacestation in geosynchonous orbit over Washington DC.

Nice...guessing this was the Air Force's idea he mused.

As he took a seat, the other generals and President Hammond blinked into existence.

"Nice of you to be on time, General MacKenzie," General Wesson said. "I, the other Joint Cheifs, and the President, have a little side project we need your for."

"Interesting...what is it?" Jason asked.

President Hammond spoke "We need you to help us with a plan of attack against Cyber Eden."

Jason was taken aback. "What? Why in hell would you want to do that?"

A bunch of photos suddenly appeared in front of him in the form of pop-up windows.

"This is why;" the president continued. "As you can see, they are slowly building up their defenses and possibly offenses as well. Furthermore, those are some pretty big cannons they're building."

Jason thought for a second as he moved the windows aside with his hand. "That aside, they were recently the subject of terrorist attacks, of course they'd be on edge. Furthermore, I know Archon Raven. He was an ally of mine, and more importantly, he saved my life at Torishima. I have no reason to suspect he's builidng anything more than defensive weaponry."

Admiral Gloval of the US Navy interjected. "But, isn't it true that Raven is a clone of Coyote? An AI deemed unstable and insane, in addition to being Mastermind's AI brother?"

Jason didn't blink, he knew all this. "Coyote wasn't insane, he just had a knack for disliking authority, especially when they abused his rights of freedom...even if they weren't recognized at the time."

Gloval wasn't going to back down. "Cyber Eden has also been reported to house fugitive AIs, what if one of them is Mastermind in a new form?"

fortunately General Wesson decided to defuse the rising tension. "Look, General MacKenzie, we're not planning to invade unless they fire the first shot. If what you say is true, then it would only happen if this newly reborn Mastermind took control of Cyber Eden. We're just keeping our bases covered."

Jason sighed. "All right, but I want all of you to give me your word that that's what you plan to do with any advisement i give you."

All of the joint cheifs and the president did so. Jason was going to begin giving info when General Wesson stopped him.

"This will have to wait for another time, something has come up which requires our immediate attention...specifically that of Cyber Force."

He waved his arm and a holographic map of South America appeared, zooming in on the cratered and charred remnants of Argentina.

"This is Argentina, obviously. Right now it's still a far cry from the country it once was following the effects of Mastermind's Javelin bombardment. Currently plant life is being reintroduced and it's being made habitable again. To help with this, a series of high speed trains have been built to deliver nanomachines capable of recultivating the land and cleaning up air quality. However, there's a problem."

He waved his hand again, and the map changed to a 3D image of a burning train. "This train was targeted by terrorists. First they hacked the navigation systems, bringing it to a halt at a precise point. Then they made an attempt to overrun the troops guarding it. The battle was feirce, and in the end the guarding UN troops blew up the train rather than let the terrorists get their objective."

"Objective?" Jason asked.

"We believe that the attackers wanted to steal the environmental nanites and convert them to biological weapons. According to the people that developed them...they did say it was entirely possible to use them to deliver toxins to the soil and the air."

Jason did his best not to roll his eyes.

"Your mission is to get a team to guard the train, find the location of the attackers, and eliminate all of them."

Jason nodded. "I guess I should leave ASAP?"

Wesson nodded back. "Indeed. Good luck."

Jason saluted and logged out.

OOC: To be mission'd.

There was a loud series of clicks as the specially modified shell was loaded into the firing chamber. The "wings" locked into place on the catapult section of the shell. The actual payload wasa metalic egg shaped device. The massive railcannon motor sprang to life with a groan as the massive rails pointed sky ward. The rails crackled with electricity and vibrated slightly as bolts of azure energy streaked between them. The firing pin released sending the shell sky ward. the catapult turning to slag from the heat generated by the current. The shot left the rails, leaving behind the vaproizing catapult it climbed rapidly into the upper atmosphere, leaving the bonds of gravity behind. it journied forth into orbit before the egg shaped shell hatched as the explosive screws seperated. The new Satelite bloomed like a flower. extending solar collectors and forming focusing dishes. Soon it was joined by more breatheren in Orbit above the South Pacific.

_______________-

"Our stations are now in orbit above." Crow said. "Attempting to break interdiction."

The doors opened to the chamber as a new Ai was escorted into the room.

"While not who I was expecting, I'm glad your family was able to send a represenetive."

ooc:mc43 that's your cue.

OOC: (o 0) My cue?

M4 rolled himself into the room, bleeping a response, "My Master... friend... " He was having a little trouble with the adjustment, "...sent me, as well as his apologies that he himself couldn't make it. I hope that I can be of useful assistance.

(( Behold the McDroid... ))

~Southern Atlantic Ocean~

Present time

Nearby to Antartica, another drama was beginning to unfold. But with all the serenity surrounding the peacefully rolling waters of the Atlantic, one wouldn't think so... at least... until they spotted the black dot streaking through the sky.

It moved forward with blazing speed, knifing through the air at hypersonic velocity, but the object slowed as it neared Cyber Eden's platform, and began to descend. The sleek black jet then switched to a magnetic antigrav engine system -- highly experimental, mind you -- and lowered itself as quietly as a mouse onto the surface of the water. There its flat, smoothened lower body allowed it to float on the water instead of sinking. A Russian success in amphibious, hypersonic aircraft. Certainly the Americans would love to get their hands on this little piece of technology.

Inside the pilots dimmed the outside riding lights and lowered power output, meanwhile pushing the sensor jamming and masking equipment to full. Although uncloaked, that equipment would prove useful in hiding an otherwise visible ship.

"Status secure," the lead pilot declared.

"Sensor masking at maximum. Situation green."

The First Order man from Moscow looked over the backs of their heads, then at the floating platform, pleased with their work so far. "Prepare the uplink."

The lead pilot started to make the connection, but a series of warnings halted him. "I can't."

First Order looked down at him slowly. "What?"

"I'm being locked out."

"They've raised several firewalls... no unauthorized outside access is being allowed," the copilot added.

"Then circumvent them," First Order told them, with slow and measured words.

"I am, sir."

"And again, don't call me sir." First Order looked back out at the platform, as if having deep thoughts about what was inside. "It doesn't suit me."

"We are detecting a magnetic annomally." One of the labcoated ai's said.

"I'll handle this." Crow said. He walked over to the consule center. "Track it, if it approaches any closer I want an all freqency hail sent to it. Are you seeing it on radar or infrared?

"No sir. We're attempting to get visual confirmation with a predator remote droid."

"Keep me advised."

___________
A sleek black form in the shape of a robotic bird flew out of an open hanger. The bird flew at high speeds toward the magnetic annomaly
_____________

How are Jade and Monk, I hope the current situation isn't to hard on them.

"Bogey approaching."

First Order stepped over to the pilot. "Identify it."

The pilot pressed buttons and checked readings, but it was the tech officer to both of their lefts that identified it. "It's a hunter probe, Eden design."

"They haven't identified us," the copilot added. "If they had, all that new weaponry would be firing at us right now."

First Order looked out through the cockpit windshield at the platform's weaponry. He had a point -- it hadn't all been added there recently just for show. Thinking for only a second, he then turned and headed for the back, out of the way. "Send them a hail -- express our apologies and request permission to uplink with their servers. Tell them we ask only to speak with one of the fugitives. Say it's a personal visit or something."

"But--"

"In the meantime--" First Order said, stopping to face back. "Keep working on those access codes."

The pilot paused for a moment, then nodded and did as told.

"We received hail, it's claiming to be a refuge ship, wishing to uplink with a refuge." the tech said.

Crow's eyes narrowed as he saw the craft. It seemed fishy. He accessed the later Railroad passcodes "Ask them 'what did the rock say to the Sinner?'"

"Times have been tough as of late. I've noticed an elevated blood level and internal temperature the past few weeks. Most likely stress." He responded. "That, and they seem to be raising several decibels in volume when they talk, I don't know if it was my presence or if it was the situation or... I don't know. Humans can be confusing sometimes..."

~Stealth Craft~

A voice crackled over the comm system, a mechanical type of voice. "What did the rock say to the Sinner?"

First Order didn't hesitate in his reply. "Moses was here."

(the answer was "The rock cried out 'No Hiding Place'.")

"Open Fire" Crow said.

___________

The Predator popped several weapons bays the rapid fire lasers began to pulse out several shots every second. The Island weaponry sprang to life. Several other Predator were launched

____________

Indeed they can be. So gentlemen we've been interdicted and cut off from the outside world after we put up our newer and stricter firewalls. We need to draft our first message after we break this blockage.

The First Order man was stoic as the craft took heavy fire, staying calm as the pilots began working on the controls to submerge.

"They've opened fire!"

"Countermeasures!"

First Order smirked a bit. "As well you should, Uncle."

Through the chaos of orders and warning bells, the tech officer shouted to the man that he had the access codes. First Order went over and looked over them, while the ship began submerging underwater to get out of sight. Then once he committed them to memory he grabbed a personal wireless communication set and went over to an airlock, dragging the tech officer with him.

"Retreat twelve kilometers to the northeast, and hold position," he told him through the noise.

"What about you?"

"I'll contact you when I'm ready for retrieval."

He then worked the controls for the dorsal egress hatch, and got ready to leave the craft. The tech officer looked on in awe as the door swung open, and the First Order man leapt headfirst into the ice-cold water, with nothing to keep him warm. He watched in this half-awed/half-shocked state for a moment, but had to close the door lest water flood the ship. A few moments later they submerged and began retreating underwater, away from the platform.

Meanwhile, First Order dove to a depth of a few meters and activated his personal cloak. He would make for the nearest, most secluded place on the platform's underside, where he would make his uplink.

"I want Eden on high alert. If a single traffic light is a millisecond late i want to know about it." Crow said. "That was to easy."

(( Dun dun dunnnnn.

New chapter time. ))