Futuristic H A D E A N - Project: Theia

[druidquest]

Ephie kicked her feet up on the opposite seats, between Morgan and Ghoul. She sat with her straps unbuckled, hands behind her head as if relaxing on a cozy passenger train rather than a military aircraft thousands of feet above the earth.

"Does your... Helmet protect against anthrax? Or radiation?" He asked curiously, voice a little nervous still.

"It doesn't have to, because there won't be any nukes going off, or any anthrax getting released." She patted him on the shoulder.

"Besides, I can outrun it." She chuckled.

“Glad to know someone will live to remember us, then,” she sighed wistfully, gaze sliding off into the distance.

The other chopper was veering north-east, and after a moment her own blackhawk sped up to follow it, making Ephie lurch in her seat. Her legs dropped to the floor of the aircraft to brace herself, her smirk flickering somewhat in annoyance. It wasn't gone long though, and with its return so too did her feet jump back into the space between Morgan and Ghoul.

"On second thought, let's stay positive! No one's dying today, right ladies? Well, no good guys anyway." Her smirk widened into a sneer. "We're in one of God's little gardens, after all."

 

[MisoraUni]

"Ah what's that in the sky coming towards the ground? A flying thingamajig? WowwwwwwwWWWwwww"

"Carfo I think we should move, it's coming right towards us."

"Huh?" Carfo the snake looks at his other snake pal, "whadyamean? It just seems like it'suh comin' down to say hi, maybe it wants a hug!"

Boiko the snake looks at Carfo the snake and shakes his head side to side.

The hissing back and forth of the two snakes stops after Boiko starts slithering away, "Whatever, I'm leaving." He goes to hide under a stack of boulders.

Carfo gets blasted away by the wind coming from the propellers of the Blackhawk and lands ontop of the boulder with a smack. Goodnight Carfo....

The Blackhawk touches down and the SINS agents start to file out one after another.

Ianthe leaves first and awaits orders outside, Jinhua files out in the middle of the group and Mellina is in the back.

Once hopping out of the blackhawk in complete silence, Mellina starts to pick up some small rocks and places them into her pockets before joining the others.

 

[PiePillager]

"What terrible timing, these new threats popping up, one after the other!" Shinobiman stated. "But we need not worry! Through our valor, we will prevail!" As the Blackhawk landed, he exited with a backflip to the ground. "Now where do we start?! Where are our nefarious foes, eh?!"

 

[Lord Saethos]

• En Route
• Landing Zone
• Task Force Vampyrum
• Task Force Draco

• March 21st, 1991 - Location: Western Kyrgyzstan, Approaching Kolsai Lakes Region
  
  Morgan shifted awkwardly to the left as Ephie planted her feet on the seat, causing him to lean forward slightly. On the back of his jumpsuit, sitting around the left shoulder blade, there was a small, circular, plastic 'window' of sorts. Right now, all it really showed was fabric of an undershirt, but it was a strange addition to the uniform.
  
  Agent Ghoul turned to look at Ephie, gently patting the sarcastic super on the shin. "Let's not make promises we can't keep."
  
  "You two must love Roxette, because you sure are making this feel like a joyride." His tone had a little bite to it, as he reached under the seats to pull out a rather lengthy balistic case.
  
  A little note was taped to the top; 'From Gladden, With Love'
  
  Opening the case revealed the M24 Sniper Weapon System inside.
  
  "Huh, that's quite an upgrade." Ghoul remarked pleasantly.
  
  She looked between both Morgan and Ephie for a moment. "For what it's worth, our mission will be a success. If we can minimize collateral and casualties, that would be ideal. But failure is not possible, so you can put that out of your minds. Understood?"
  
  “What is Anthrax anyway? Like what does it do exactly?” A voice called out over the comms systems.
  
  Ghoul pressed a button for her helmet's built in comm system. "In simple terms, it's a type of spore that, when it gets into the body, activates into anthrax bacteria. Once it activates, it spreads very quickly. It's also very easy to inhale, and is even more deadly when it gets into the lungs. If those Fascists were to spray anthrax over Almaty using even a simple farm plane, they could theoretically kill everyone in the city. Even trying to send in doctors would be incredibly risky due to the durability of anthrax, spores could be there for weeks, or even longer, meaning anyone entering the city could become infected."
  
  "As much as I understand the severity of the nukes, wouldn't it be better to have us all focus on the anthrax right now? Especially since the nukes require some kind of firing platform anyways. Is it really that urgent?"
  
  Ghoul shook her head. "It's not just about these nukes. We need to find out who's acquiring them. We can be confident that they already have several at this time, which makes them a present threat still. As for the anthrax, don't worry yourself Mr. Writer. That's what I'm here to help with. Anthrax requires a quick response strike force, and the nukes require some... Detective work."
  
  As one of the other helicopters came into view, Ghoul, Morgan, and Ephie could see 'John' hanging from the side of a Blackhawk.
  
  "He's uh... Not on the investigation team, right?"
  
  "No, strike team. Why, would you like him on your team?"
  
  "I don't think that will be... Necessary. You'll need his abilities more I'm sure."
  
  Ghoul shrugged. "Suit yourselves."
• March 21st, 1991 - Location: Western Kyrgyzstan, Approaching Kolsai Lakes Region
  
  As the helicopters touched down, Morgan and Agent Ghoul both exited their Blackhawk, with Ephie close behind. Morgan slung the M24 over his right shoulder, while the Bren 10 remained holstered on his side.
  
  The Olive Drab uniform wasn't necessarily the most advanced type of camo he could have donned for this mission, but seeing as many Soviets still bore something similar, it might at least help to throw them off a bit, from a distance. He didn't speak any Russian, so it wouldn't help much up close.
  
  Agent Ghoul catches a glimpse of a dead snack that had been flung into a nearby boulder, then turns to see three of the young ladies they brought along. One of them, Mellina, started picking up rocks?
  
  "Congrats camarades, seems you've cursed your team." She pointed to the dead snake. "Bad omen that. To the Druids, snakes are ancient beings, filled with knowledge and wisdom from times long past. Tsk tsk."
  
  She turned then to Mellina specifically. "And you, the saying is 'take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints'. You'll be incurring something's wrath before we're even in Almaty. Speaking of which..." John now joined the group as well, impeccably timed.
  
  Morgan cleared his throat. "Alright 'Dragon Team', time to group up. We're all heading to Almaty I presume?"
  
  In the blink of an eye, Morgan now had a file folder shoved in his hands, as did everyone else who'd gathered. After the violent rush of wind, Agent Ghoul appeared about a second or two later.
  
  "Before you go marching to Almaty, read the dossiers. Before you can even get there, you'll need to take the Humvees towards Ile-Alatau. We'll have agents there with some localized vehicles to take you into Almaty proper. We don't need to alert the whole USSR that we're here, so we need to try to blend in around high risk areas like Almaty."
  
  Opening the folder, Morgan took in a few bits of information to start off with. "Areas of interest include Qonaev and Altyn Emel? What kind of interest, and are there any risks the KGB might be aware of something?"
  
  Ghoul tapped a finger to the part of her helmet close to her temple. "That's the thing, we suspect it's a low liklihood the KGB is aware of any of this, but it's not impossible they do. As for Qonaev and Altyn Emel, no idea as of yet. Could be locations to trade weapons and cash, could be part of a distribution route, or could be misdirection. Our informants have had to slow the investigation for now, to avoid drawing suspicion."
  
  "But we don't have time to slow down, this matter is fairly time sensitive."
  
  "Precisely why we're all here. Feeling excited?" She nudged Morgan, who didn't flinch or respond in any discernible way.
  
  Morgan looked to Shinobiman, who seemed perhaps more noticably jovial and ambitious than the others. "Well brave warrior, I'm not sure about Team Bat, but it appears for all of us, the villains are well hidden. Team Dragon will need to trek North-West, through treacherous mountains, if we're to have any hope of revealing them."
• 12:00pm, March 21st, 1991 - Location: Park at the South End of the Sairan Reservoir, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  Task Force Vampyrum stood in a thinning layer of snow, in a quiet little park that offered picturesque views of the Sayran 'Lake'. It had only existed for about 20 years, but as far as man-made lakes went, this was one of the prettier ones, with some small sandy beaches along the edges, and parks, like the one the team stood in, with trees and beautiful greenery.
  
  The city was surprisingly peaceful, for now. The wars and battles closer to the borders with the the other Soviet Republics felt far off to the citizens of Almaty. The Vampyrum team had switched into more covert, civilian attire. Though for some of the team members, like Shinobiman and John Doe, 'blending in' was certainly more of a challenge. It was the best they could manage for the time being.
  
  A familiar gust of wind alerted the team to the return of their Pro Tempore leader, Agent Ghoul. The helmet was gone for now, replaced with a cloak and hood pulled up over her head, as well as a black balaclava and sunglasses to cover her face. The visible parts of her face, around the eyes in particular, was covered in some kind of black paint or makeup, obscuring her features.
  
  With a jovial wave to the team, she began her update.
  
  "Well, team, I've had something of an 'epiphany'." She giggled to herself slightly as she nodded in the direction of a church that loomed nearby.
  
  "Svyato-Bogoyavlenskiy Khram - The Holy Epiphany Church." She shrugged as she began to move in the direction of the building. "Our contact is meeting us there. Locals shouldn't think of us as more than some strange farm folk, here for a bit of a pilgrimage. It's the best kind of cover we'll be able to manage at this point."
  
  As the team chattered away to each other and the building drew closer, a little old lady could be seen standing in front of the church, by the doors. A little hunched over, and had a colorful headwrap on that covered her hair. She was Kazakhstani, and regarded the group with a soft smile, but a sharpness to her eyes that spoke of distrust. The old woman knew who the group was, expected them in fact, and proceeded to open the door and usher them in. Even still, that look of distrust did not fade from her gaze.
  
  The church was mostly empty, save for a few of the Orthodox Faithful who were seated in the pews, but the group was led through corridors that eventually brought them to a stairwell leading to the basement. Inside, they were met by a small group of people, but the two most noteworthy sat opposite of the Vampyrum team, a large, old wooded table separating the team from the two men.
  
  One man, a Russian with a long white beard, was dressed in the garbs of the Eastern Orthodox Faith. The other man, Kazakh, was dressed in the garbs of an Imam.
  
  "Welcome to Almaty friends. Please, join us." The imam invited them to sit with them. "It's a... Strange alliance we've brought together here." He continued, smiling softly, almost a little somber.
  
  The priest nodded, with something of stern grunt in agreement. "For all the faults of Stalin and Soviet state, I would have thought such evil mindsets had been destroyed 46 years ago. Buried, even, in the dirt around Volgograd, or even floated down the river." He shook his head in distaste.
  
  The Imam gently patted his hand on the table, to urge the priest to keep himself calm and clear headed.
  
  "I am Darkhan, and this is Father Ignat. He lives up to his name, I assure you."
  
  The priest smirked.
  
  "We are part of a coalition of groups in Kazakhstan dedicated to resisting the forces of Russian Ultra-Nationalism. Some Kazakhs had originally been in favor of staying in the Soviet Union, but... All of this violence has made that prospect less and less tenable." Darkhan finished with a somber glance down to the table, and a light sigh.
  
  "Gorbachev was a fool." The priest interjected. "Church numbers have gone up, and the threat of American nukes has gone down, but now we have to worry about our own neighbors trying to bomb us."
  As the two men introduced Task Force Vampyrum to the current state of Kazakhstan, a guard at the side of the room brought a samovar to the table, along with tea cups.
  
  "Please, help yourselves." Darkhan indicated to the pot with a soft smile.
  
  Agent Ghoul looked at the samovar for a moment, then turned her gaze back to Darkhan to regard him. "Greatly appreciated, but I will have to pass. More for my comrades."
  
  Darkhan nodded, a little anxiously. She was a strange one, covering herself as much as she did. Something off putting about that.
  
  "Do you have some more details on where the anthrax is right now?" Ghoul asked in a neutral tone.
  
  Darkhan shook his head. "Not yet, we're waiting on further status reports to come in. We do have some more intel here however, that can tell you a bit more about potential troop movements and such of the Ultra-Nationalists, their gear and equipment, any information like that you might find useful. But fret not, we should have an update from one of our messengers soon, hopefully in less than an hour."
• 12:00pm, March 21st, 1991 - Location: South Jetysu District, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  Morgan felt himself transported back to distant memories, standing in the midst of so much noise, and the stenches of a thousand unidentifiable industrial chemicals. The Jetysu district of Almaty was home to a large number of the cities manufacturing plants, with everything from steel production, to automotive parts, and much more.
  
  Dreyfus was standing near one such manufacturer, watching as his fellow agents went through other worksites, weaving their way through crowds of workers. To avoid scaring the group, he hadn't told them he sent out literal eyeballs to perch on the roofs of the surrounding buildings, to give him a view on each one of his teammates. So far, none of them appeared to have been noticed, or were being followed.
  
  To the West of the factories they investigated, there was a large, forested area that bisected the industrial zone. Their contact was somewhere nearby in the Jetysu district, but the specific location hadn't been disclosed. The team was being forced to make contact with a messenger instead, which meant that their actual contact's cover was either blown, or they were being heavily monitored. Either way, Morgan hated being in this position, not exactly a trap, more like trying to tip toe in a pit of vipers.
  
  He spotted Daiyu in a yard of another manufacturing plant adjacent to him. Morgan gave a small wave of his hand to indicate he hadn't found the messenger yet.
  
  The team so far was doing a decent job trying to blend in and not arouse suspicion, but if folks started to try to come make small talk with them, it was going to quickly become a larger problem...

 

[DarKnight36]

Blood. There was blood everywhere. The stench of it filled Daiyu's nostrils. Pulsating, pumping through the veins of every civilian she passed, barely encased in the thin membrane humans called skin. It was the first time she'd been around others in years. The first time she'd been allowed free. The smell was so thick she could hardly believe no one else could smell it.

Daiyu noticed Morgan flashing a wave to her. He hadn't found the contact yet it seemed. To her right, about two hundred feet into the crowd, she could see Ianthe. The smell was different for her. She had powers. It was sharper, like aged cheese. How could anyone breathe in this air?

Daiyu slid like a shadow between passersby, weighing her options. She'd covered her face with a scarf, not uncommon in the air here. It was cold here, barely above freezing. She'd borrowed a coat from a rack about a half mile back, one with a hood that had gone up over her hair and ears. She hunched, walking with a slight limp, making her appear older than her hidden features would portray.

The others, they were not spies. Well, except for that one, Ephie, if she recalled correctly. Being covert was not their specialty. And indeed, turning a corner, Daiyu could see Rosarita arguing with another woman down the street. Should she intervene?

Wait. The messenger was nearby, about fifteen feet to Rosarita's left, looking nervous because of the argument. Short man, gray mustache and thick eyebrows almost overshadowing his eyes. Daiyu breathed deeply, locking in his scent. He looked ready to bolt.

She needed to get closer, but first she needed to signal the others. She straightened, her hand pushing back her hood. The cold hit her ears, but she ignored it. She hoped Morgan or one of the others would recognize her sign.

obscured_light druidquest MisoraUni Lord Saethos

 

[Sepokku]

• On the Ground
• Landing Zone
• Sairan Resevoir

• Boiko's tongue tasted the air, more out of habit than any real need for sensory information, the Master's gift had granted him sight beyond anything nature had provided the reptile. As he retreated into the vegetation, the creatures that rode the metal bird started to dismount. There were enough of them to make up a lethal fighting force, the auras of the creatures denoted them as metahumans: several Netzach, two Tiferet, a Da'at, Gevurah, and Yesod. 'Master needs to be warned.'
  
  Carfo's body caught their interest and one of the "Irregulars" knelt down as she began inspecting something on the ground, 'Of course the fool couldn't have died in a way that was convenient, instead he had to keel over in the most conspicuous place possible.' His tongue flicked out again, the nervous gesture betraying his otherwise composed demeanor. Keeping a careful eye on the strange arrivals, Boiko continued slinking away. The last of them alighted from the transport and the metal bird flapped its wings with the ferocity of a hurricane, departing as swiftly as it had came.
  
  'The last one is another Netza-' Boiko's body went stiff, the thing that had got off the bird seemed massive, impossibly so; how had he not seen it earlier? Its gaze appeared to sweep in multiple directions at once as it spoke in a cacophony of voices, the smell of death roiling off it. If it saw him, there would be no escaping it, he knew that much. The Behemoth stopped and tilted its head, Boiko cursed his luck, it was looking right at him, and he would surely die moment it decided to attack.
  
  At the very least, he would take one of them with him. Boiko prepared to fight, fire gathering itself in the back of his throat as he partially transformed; monsters tended to fear flame, hopefully this one was no exception. Then the Behemoth turned and walked in the opposite direction, 'It didn't see me?' Boiko swallowed the dread that had been rising in his throat, along with the fire.
  
  The Master would reward him handsomely for information on this group, and he was almost far enough away to escape unnoticed. The Behemoth made its way to his partner. 'Poor Carfo, "because thou hast done this, upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat." Fitting, considering how you bit the dust.' Boiko chuckled silently to himself as he continued his escape.
  
  It suddenly got dark, as if something was standing between Boiko and the sun, then that something seized his neck, catching him in between breathes. Unable to inhale, he could not produce any meaningful amount of fire, and struggle though he might, the assailant's grip was unyielding as the stone that had done in Carfo. Writhing, Boiko used his third eye to steal a glance at the Behemoth as it choked him unconscious; he would never forget the manic hunger painted on the creature's face.
  
• John yawned, putting one hand into his pocket as he stepped out of the helicopter. Their arrival had seemed to disturb the local ecosystem, or at least... Disturb it more than it already had been. He took a few more steps away from the aircraft, towards a decent-sized boulder that had absorbed a good measure of energy from the sun, radiating heat in the otherwise brisk mountain air. There was a reptile on the rock, unconscious and unmoving. Picking it up, he rolled the creature back and forth in his hands, the limpness of it was telling. With a bored sniff he put the creature into his inner coat pocket and began to look around.
  
  "Bad omen that. To the Druids, snakes are ancient beings, filled with knowledge and wisdom from times long past... Speaking of which..."
  
  John stopped for a moment before turning slightly and took a few long strides towards the others. "On the contrary," He was mostly facing Ghoul as he spoke, though his eyes continued to scour the area with purpose, "Snakes aren't native to Tian-Shen, at least not this far to the east. Too cold." He took a few more steps, expanding his search in a clockwise motion. "An auspicious sign, to be certain, but not necessarily a bad one. Though..." He turned to look at Mellina, his pupils mere slits against the glare of the rising sun. "I must question the wisdom in pocketing stones from a holy site on the first day of Tlacaxipehualiztli. Doubly so, since we have been tasked with stopping a plague."
  
  He suddenly went still, inhumanly so, even the slight rise and fall of the chest stopping as John ceased to move. Then he pounced, crossing from one end of the clearing to the other in a single stride and landing on all fours in the vegetation. When he stood back up, he had a creature clenched in his left hand. The reptile looked halfway between a lizard and a snake, and John proudly declared it "A Skink! Another creature I wouldn't think native to this part of the mountain..." He stared into the creature's eyes, holding it by the neck as it slowly stopped struggling and lapsed into fitful unconsciousness.
• The ground was wet, the snow had turned into a slush where it met the road, and runoff from the slurry was pooling in places. While they waited for Agent Ghoul to return, he contented himself by staring into one such puddle and becoming lost in thought. The city had been blessed by spring precipitation, in a past life, he would have spent weeks begging the gods for such plentiful rainfall. Memories flashed through his mind: a man tied to an altar, human pincushions releasing a deluge of blood onto the temple floor, donning a flayed skin as his hands went to work on the sacrifices, extricating their hearts with surgical precision. He had been a Priestess in that life, blessed with nimble and precise hands that slipped right through the diaphragm, reclaiming the Istli that had been trapped there. In his mind's eye he could still see the crowd amassed below, watching as her hands, like sculpted ironwood gestured toward the rack of skulls that waited to be adorned with its latest victim. The thought made him slightly wistful for a different life, as a deadly and gorgeous woman holding one of the highest seats of power, a life of dominion over millions.
  
  Not that he wasn't currently blessed with a beautiful form and bountiful life. He admired himself in the water's reflection for a moment, while most everyone else had donned clothing that lent itself to blending in, he had simply gone into a nearby department store and found a new outfit. Thankfully it qualified as a work-related expense, not that it would have stopped him from using his company credit card if it hadn't been. A gust of wind and the distinctive scent of Agent Ghoul pulled him out of his introspection.
  
  "Svyato-Bogoyavlenskiy Khram - The Holy Epiphany Church. Our contact is meeting us there."
  
  "A church!?" John spat on the ground, "More like an opulent shrine to madness." Nevertheless, he shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Agent Ghoul. Agent Blackwater still stunk of blasphemous cigarette smoke as they approached, one of many distasteful side effects from indulging in the nasty habit.
  
  Once they were properly inside, John did his best to behave himself. Something about being in temples that followed the doctrine of Nicaea tended to get under his skin. The ridiculous attire and beards of the local clergy did little to help his mood. He feigned interest in the proceedings, his mock attention bouncing back and forth between Agent Ghoul and the unkempt priests. Agent Blackwater interrupted the trio, urging them haste.
  
  As if to punctuate Arata's words, John approached the guard and knocked the samovar from his hands. When the metal container didn't immediately spill its contents onto the floor, he kicked it over, sending the hot water inside scattering across the floor. "My team doesn't accept refreshments from, as of yet, unverified sources... No offense." John produced a pipe carved from black quartzite from one of the many pockets on his coat, then removed the lid that kept a wad of properly prepared Kinnikinnick in the bowl piece. With his free hand he grabbed a loose match from his trouser pocket, dragging it across the stone wall of the basement and igniting it. He promptly used it to start puffing on the pipe, producing an aromatic smoke.
  
  Smoke rings rose from the bowl of the pipe with every puff, the scent of dogwood, bearberry, and natural tobacco drifting through the air as John casually exhaled a gout of smoke in the direction of Father Ignat. Turning to the other priest he nodded, "As-salamu alaykum, Darkhan."

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Arata Kin

Kin sat at the center of the blackhawk, leaned forward with one hand hanging limply from his knee and the other propping up his chin, keeping carefully still as to not disturb the weight distribution of the helicopter. Out of all the potential dangers he'd planned for when joining up with SINS, he hadn't expected boredom to be so prevalent. Especially considering the team he'd been made a part of, what with the super sentai ninja robot and the skinwalker embellishing his ride over towards Kazakhstan. Turned out almost anything could lose its glamour with sufficient transit time.

It'd taken a bit of coercion, but Kin had been willing to slip into something less expensive for the purposes of the mission. Surveillance, subterfuge, and all that jazz. Not that his obvious Asian descent wouldn't immediately give him away, but it was probably better than rolling in as a misplaced playboy. With his oversized bomber jacket covering most of his upper body he'd been eager to bring a hefty bunch of fire power to hide beneath it, but reconsider when he learned that Mellina would be joining. He enjoyed a good gun as much as the next guy, but having her losing her shit would probably be more inconvenient than having to use his own two hands. It would appear that they had more than sufficient force on their side regardless.

The helicopter finally touched ground, with only minor tragedies suffered on the ground below. Kin stretched his limbs as soon as his feet were on the ground, and reached into his jacket to retrieve a star-spangled pack of cigarettes and put one to his lips; a habit he picked up from everyone else at SINS, as soon as he realized how much dead time he had between missions. He was about to open his mouth and call out for the members of Team Vampyrum to gather around as he fumbled with his lighter, but before he had the chance to John and Mellina had already come to odds about collecting rocks. His expression was of disbelief as he looked up to the two, then followed with his eyes as John darted across the landing site and pridefully held aloft the first victim of his mission.

Kin kept his annoyed gaze stubbornly locked on John's as he lit his cigarette, well aware of the other's distaste. "And Shunbun no Hi is a day for praising the dead, not making more of them." With a cloud of smoke trailing behind him he started away from the landing site. "Come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

---

The church might've struck Kin as grand and impressive had he not been busy returning the distrustful looks of the woman at the door. Orthodox Christianity held architectural relics from byzantine times, with painted heavenly domes like that of the Hagia Sophia but lacking its grandeur. It felt adequately imposing for the matter at hand, with its slightly depressing twist. He eyed the tea presented cautiously, but followed up behind agent ghoul and sat at the table instead of partaking. He removed his leather-clad hands from his pockets and crossed his arms, idly tapping his arm with his index finger. "Good to meet you both. Please spare no time in presenting the intel, the sooner we can make informed decisions the sooner we can help." He spoke with polite words, but his voice betrayed his impatience. "It is a time sensitive matter, after all. I'd rather go ensuring the safety of your messengers than exchange pleasantries."

 

[obscured_light]

Rosarita had been in a foul mood. She had been silent on the trip over, eyes closed, almost falling asleep until the soft thud of their landing roused her to full attention. There was a nagging, biting, itch of irritation that lingered even as her feet found solid ground. Her back, her neck, her cheeks prickled with the heat of aggravation as she inhaled deeply the smell of the iron in the air. A long exhale followed.

Quiet. Subtle. Covert. She wasn't exactly a stranger to these concepts but as Rosarita strolled through the yard, she found herself unable to focus on anything but the growing aggression inside of her. The Storyteller's response. Glasses' dismissal. The loud ones. The quiet ones. The meeting that she was unable to stop replaying in her head. All of it on a loop that the wrestler couldn't, or rather didn't want, to grapple with.

So what should have been a minor incident only escalated when Rosarita was at first, unaware of why she had stumbled back slightly. She blinked and focused on the sight of a cross looking woman in front of her sitting on the ground, hands behind her to support herself, a few strands of hair out of place. The two stared at each other as Rosarita tried to figure out what had just happened and the woman stared back at her expectantly, looking from Rosa's hands to her face.

"What?" Rosarita finally growled, her frustration building as what had just happened still didn't click in her head. The woman loudly began to admonish her but Rosarita didn't understand the words. She knew that tone though. The way the woman was waving her hands, the way she glared, the stomp of her boot. Rosa knew she was pissed but the why still eluded her as her patience finally ended.

"Listen, I don't get what you're saying but you better shove off!" Rosarita snapped, her voice rising as she started arguing with the woman. All thoughts of the mission were emptied from her head. All thoughts of civilian safety began to cling from the edge of the cliff of reason as she made a step towards the woman, fists balled up, body tense.

 

[PiePillager]

Upon entering the church, Shinobiman had all but vanished from sight. Those would keen senses would notice a humanid figure darting around from shadow to shadow. He wasn't exactly trying to hide THAT well, but simply enough that civilians would be put at ease. Upon entering the basement, he had flipped down from the ceiling, landing on one foot, extending both hands in opposite directions.

"A waste of good tea is a shame indeed!" Shinobiman tsk at the beverage now spilled onto the floor. "Forgive my compatriot! It seems at times as if he is akin to an untamed beast on a short leash! Hoho!" he exclaimed, flipping forward towards their hosts.

"But fear not, holy men, fear not! A cool breeze rushes in to clear the fog of evil that coats your land!" Shinobiman assured the two, pointing towards the sky. "Brave warriors, united by a cause to see justice done have arrived on your doorstep at last to bring peace and good tidings to your peoples! So yes, please indeed spare no details of what you know so that we may further this righteous goal we so share!"

 

[druidquest]

Almaty. Alma-ata. Almatinsk. Verny. So many names, such an old town. Three thousand years of human settlement, stretching long, thick roots into the mountain soil so deep the earthquakes and floods couldn’t wash it clean even if they were given a millenia.

Ephie picked through dumpsters in a side alley, hidden in a dirty hijab and rags. Just another homeless vagrant which were oh so common in urban sprawl. Raised voices echoed down the street, an older woman berating Rosarita for bumping into her and the wrestler yelling about not speaking Russian. Ephie smiled to herself; the woman spoke Qazaq, not that the specifics would matter when the American started swinging.

Ephie shuffled toward the end of the alley with small, hunched steps, peeking around the corner to catch a glimpse of Rosarita throwing their entire operation into jeopardy. She spotted Daiyu across the street, watching with more concern for Rosarita’s behavior than Ephie displayed. Daiyu spotted something else, straightening her posture and lowering her hood. Giving up her disguise.

She’d scented their contact, then. Ephie followed her gaze, catching sight of the man who could not have been more obviously out of place. She clicked her tongue; they never thought about their shoes. The coming brawl had spooked him, but Rosarita’s language of choice had left him conflicted - he hadn’t decided if she were his contact yet. He was getting close to making that answer “no”.

They would need to reign Rosarita back in after all, then.

Ephie shot Daiyu a glance, straightening her posture. Time to get the show on the road.

 

[MisoraUni]

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  in the pic

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  Some church, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  Mentions/Interactions

  
  
  
  

  @ team bat | Sepokku | Prizzy Kriyze | PiePillager | Simon Strut
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Mellina

Agent Kitsune

“.....................................................................It’s just rocks bro.”

Mellina shuffled them around her hand and looked at Agent John with a blank stare. She dropped the bigger ones silently and only kept some very small ones and then pocketed them to mix with the small metal pellets in her pockets. John rushed away for some reason and she stood back up as it was nearing time to start this whole ‘stopping the anthrax before it kills us because it’s a nasty bacteria’ ordeal.

-
-

She didn’t particularly enjoy switching into different garb, but wearing neon on a mission isn’t the best plan. Mellina had slipped herself into a mundane looking pear of black jeans, hooded shirt, with a longer coat for the outer layer. She also had slipped on her special glasses that looked ordinary so that her vision wouldn’t be obscured by her sound waves.

-
-

She didn’t say a word or make a sound the whole way to their next point of interest, a church apparently. She isn’t religious so it’s just like any old building for her. All she was interested in was staying silent and unnoticed until it was time for things to get messy. Mellina glanced at Darkhan and Father Ignat for a mere second before wandering her eyes to the ground while they continued to speak. It felt like she’d stick out because of her odd eye color so she pulled her hood over her head and proceeded to run her fingers along the texture of the wall repeatedly while listening to the others speak. The scratching of her nails on the wall wouldn’t be audible to others.

Mellina took a few paces back as the liquid splattered across the floor which was John’s doing. Good for him, if Mellina was a bit more daring during this encounter she’d have done it herself. But she doesn’t want to bring too much attention to herself right now…

Honestly, she’s been very quiet this whole time except for when she was with Ianthe. The others would probably notice it’s as if her personality did a 180 because she was perfectly able to wine and complain about all of those guns following the crazy doc the other day.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[DarKnight36]

Daiyu nodded subtly to Ephie as she approached Rosarita.

"Rosa, hon," Daiyu said gently, her fingers tugging softly on the woman's coat. "Remember where you're at, dear." Daiyu put on a cheerful smile at the local woman as she patted her friend's shoulder. "My apologies, miss, she got lost."

The woman clearly didn't understand Daiyu's words but her tone was apologetic enough that her anger dissipated somewhat. She still glared resentfully at Rosarita however, barking several more phrases that clearly weren't the most polite.

"Not the time Rosa, not the time," Daiyu said softly to the taller woman. "Let it be."

 

[druidquest]

Ephie sank back into the alley, circling around the other way to cut off the contact's point of escape if he made a run for it. She hovered just out of sight around the corner of the building, eyeing Daiyu's approach on the wrestler. She would've preferred a chase, but they were supposed to be incognito.

 

[MisoraUni]

Ianthe and Jinhua branched off from the group and initially went in the same direction. A few minutes later, Ianthe nodded to Jinhua and went in a separate direction somewhere between Daiyu and Jinhua.

Jinhua kept her eyes peeled for anyone that would seem like who they were supposed to meet but met no luck.

Ianthe spotted Daiyu who appeared to notice something, then got sidetracked by Rosarita… Ianthe saw that the contact was getting nervous because of Rosarita. She met back with Jinhua and flicked her eyes into the direction of the contact. “Let’s approach them calmly from the otherside.. We don’t want the contact getting the wrong idea.” She whispered. Jinhua nodded and they went off, diverging between two very narrow alley ways so that they appeared slowly from behind the contact and to the right of Ephie. Ianthe quickly understood that Rosarita had unnecessarily spooked the guy by having an altercation with an older local woman. If one of them knew the language it would be easier to deal with the situation but unfortunately they don’t. Ianthe let out a slight sigh and motioned for Jinhua to stay back while she went forward to help Daiyu out with the woman.

Jinhua stood next to a nearby building window amongst some other locals, facing it but also looking towards the others ready to catch the man in case he tried to run and eyed Ephie briefly, who was also ready.

She wondered where Morgan was as it appeared he was the only one not here yet, but hopefully he was on the way. If not, they’ll have to find him after this.

.
.
Ianthe nonchalantly walked up from the left side of the woman and patted Rosarita on her back gently. “Yes, listen to Daiyu. You should compose yourself.” She said in a hushed tone. Ianthe turned to the woman and placed her hands together in a praying motion and bowed her head while saying “Sorry” and motioned to Rosarita. “She’s had a bad day.” And she repeated the sorry motion. Then Ianthe pulled a water bottle out of her weathered leather satchel bag that may or may not have actually come from the bag itself, along with an apple. She offered them to the woman as a peace offering as she looked to be a beggar and or most likely without a proper home. So she might be hungry? At least that was Ianthe’s thought process regarding the matter. She just needed to help get this issue resolved so they can carry on with the mission without the informant running off.

obscured_light | druidquest | Lord Saethos | DarKnight36

 

[obscured_light]

Soft voices. Gentle touches. Insistence.

The woman eyed the apple and water warily, looking from the offering to the beast the two newcomers were trying to contain. Rosarita's harsh glare lowered to the ground and she slowly uncurled her fingers. With the wrestler taking a step back, the woman finally felt confident enough to step forward and practically snatch the water and apple from Ianthe. Eyeing the hunched Rosarita, she uttered a few more words in a curt tone to Ianthe before briskly making her way forward, making sure to give them a wide berth as she walked past them.

Rosarita waited until her steps were faint and the eyes that had been watching began to move again. Held breaths were released and Rosarita let out her own, exasperated sigh out.

"Pinche mujer," she cursed quietly, looking at the two who had come to stick their noses in her business. "Y que? You two saw how she talked to me, right? I dunno what I even did. What the fuck are we in this shithole again for when people are this fucking rude?"

 

[druidquest]

"Munda, munda." Ephie waved the old woman over in a hushed voice, peeking out from an alley a couple of streets over. "Wf, amerïkandıqtar," she bemoaned, ducking back out of sight.

"Bul äyeldiñ jüykesi!" the woman spat, slipping into the alley and out of the wind. "Ol meni soqtığıstı, tipti keşirim de suramadı! Ol meni körinbeytin dep oylay ma?"

"Bul abswrd," Ephie agreed. "Kedeymiz dep bizge qaramaydı. Olar munda ne üşin keldi? Men olardıñ orıstardıñ odaqtası ekenine kümändanamın."

The woman's eyes went wide, peeking around the alley and pulling her coat tighter. "Men olardı döreki twrïster dep oyladım. Siz olardı şpïon dep oylamaysız, solay ma?"

Ephie scoffed, nodding up at the warehouses around them. "Olardıñ osı öner murajaylarına baratınına senimdimin."

The woman narrowed her eyes, pulling back from the lip of the alley. "Men buğan aralasqım kelmeydi. Sizge de bolmawı kerek. Saw bolıñız!" She turned and shuffled off, vanishing out the other side of the alley.

----

Ephie sat down on the bench next to the contact, greeting him with a warm smile before staring out into the street. "Bügingi awa rayı tamaşa."

 

[Lord Saethos]

• Task Force Vampyrum
• Task Force Draco
• Task Force Vampyrum

• 12:00pm, March 21st, 1991 - Location: Park at the South End of the Sairan Reservoir, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  The room went uncomfortably silent as Arata, very bruskly, tried to skip past the pleasantries. Darkhan and Father Ignat exchanged brief, uncomfortable glances, but figured maybe there was some cultural thing with Americans- or in this case, it seemed the gentleman might be Japanese? They were about to brush past it and continue, until the samovar went crashing to the floor, and the tall, hooded figure began smoking, blowing the smoke in Father Ignat's face.
  
  "As-salamu alaykum."
  
  "Wh-wha...." He looked to Father Ignat, who looked completely perplexed and increasingly concerned. Then there was the girl in the back, walking alone, fingers pressed against the wall as she walked. Were... Were they betrayed? Were these people with those Neo-Nazis? Darkhan felt fear welling in his chest, then that familiar, burning sensation of rage, boiling up into-
  
  "A waste of good tea is a shame indeed! Forgive my compatriot! It seems at times as if he is akin to an untamed beast on a short leash! Hoho!"
  
  The boistrous voice, and erratic behaviors of Shinobiman almost caused guards to go for their guns, but Father Ignat was fast enough to cast a hand signal for them to keep their firearms down. The loud, cheerful ninja waxed poetically about some noble mission they had, and despite his unpredictable movements and shouts, Ignat and Darkhan felt that the intentions were, indeed, righteous.
  
  Agent Ghoul's fingers rapped against the surface of the table as she stare ahead, at no one in particular. Finally, she turned to face Shinobiman, and gave him a gentle nod.
  
  "Thank you Shinobiman for reassuring our new friends."
  
  She turned to face Darkhan now. "You'll have to forgive them Imam, they're all extremely new, and very under trained you see. But let me put you at ease they were personally selected by Agent Gladden."
  
  Darkhan's face lit up as he looked to the group, face still a little uncertain, but he finally turned to John and gave a slight, polite nod in appreciation. "Wa-Alaikum-Salaam."
  
  Ignat was still a little shaken, and turned to Ghoul as well. "Can you... Tell him to cut that out?" He said indicating to John.
  
  "Agent Nayenezgani, please be a more polite guest to our friends here, and blow your smoke in a direction away from his face." She spoke politely enough, and though she had a somewhat lighthearted way of approaching things at times... Agent Ghoul was a tiny bit irritated at this point.
  
  "So, Imam, Father, what details do you have on the location of the Anthrax?"
  
  Ignat cleared his throat. "Well fortunately, we've narrowed it down to two likely locations. We know the Ultranationalists have two clandestine supply locations that our informants tell us it could pass through. One is a small village called Karaoy, near Lake Balkhash. Small fishing area, close to Ile River. The other location is the town of Aktogay, a major rail hub in between Lake Balkhash and Lake Alakol."
  
  Agent Ghoul nodded. "So they've been spreading some Counter Intel? That's made it harder to pin down the specific location?"
  
  Darkhan interjected. "Yes, but we're also waiting on an agent who hasn't reported in yet. He's several hours late, and we're getting concerned. He was supposed to be tracking down info from a potential Ultranationalist cell here in Almaty. But this is... More complicated than that too."
  
  "Go on." Ghoul responded courteously.
  
  "Can you conduct yourselves with... Discretion? Both of the locations the Anthrax may pass through are near major water bodies. If it gets damaged in transit, it could utterly poison the waters for years to come, possibly longer if it leeches into the soil. We... Need you to ensure the Anthrax gets transported past the two supply locations, but intercept it before it reaches its final location." Darkhan looked pleadingly at Ghoul. The lives of thousands rested with her and the SINS team.
  
  "Consider it done. And your agent?"
  
  Father Ignat waved a hand. "Shouldn't be a problem. He's a smart man, I'm sure he should be joining us before the evening. Just be patient."
  
  Ghoul sighed and nodded, casting a glance over at the samovar on the floor. "Too late to accept that drink?"
  
  Darkhan chuckled. "Not at all! Guards, bring us another!"
  
  
• 12:00pm, March 21st, 1991 - Location: South Jetysu District, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  Morgan caught Daiyu dropping her hood, exposing her head, as her gaze seemed drawn to a specific direction. He figured that wasn't necessarily the best move as far as keeping their profile low here, but he caught the meaning behind the gesture. He couldn't quite see where she was looking yet, but she undoubtedly had caught sight of the messenger.
  
  Before he could attempt to join her, Rosarita had begun shouting, having clearly gotten into some kind of a verbal argument, clearly shouting in English.
  
  "You- You've gotta be f***ing kidding me..." He muttered. The thought had crossed his mind to signal Daiyu to punch Rosarita in the mouth, but fortunately both Daiyu and Ianthe quickly went over to deescalate. Unfortunately, the messenger almost certainly saw that now, and was probably going to try to leave the area.
  
  He looked back to Daiyu, then to Ephie, and finally Jinhua. They were looking in a certain direction. Morgan focused the eyes he'd placed on the roofs to face the direction the team members were looking. Ahh, there he was. Ephie and Jinhua were already moving into positions it looked like, with Ephie going down an alley no doubt to try and intercept him if he ran.
  
  Morgan slipped through some crowds, making his way towards a warehouse. Sneaking inside through a side door, he quickly made his up a set of catwalk stairs, leading him to the top floor, where glass windows were built into the walls circling around the entire building. This would give some views around the entire perimeter of the building, and out onto the streets below.
  
  Reaching under his cloak, Morgan pulled out a smaller case that contained a the deconstructed sniper he'd recieved as a gift, as well as a fairly hefty suppressor. Once Morgan had finished putting it back together, he opened a window, placing his hand on the side of the building. He watched the streets below for about five minutes, as little orbs began to crawl from his hand, and up the side of the building, working their way onto powerlines that crossed over the streets. This was taking longer than he wanted, but he wanted to make sure he had more eyes available. No surprises or traps.
  
  Ephie came back out onto the street, and sat down next to the messenger. Here goes nothing...
  
  

  _________________________________________________________________________________________​

  
  The man sitting on the bench had been feeling extremely anxious today. The Fascists could be practically anywhere, it felt like he had to have eyes in the back of his head to keep himself safe. And now some weirdo was shouting in the middle of the industrial zone? In English it seemed like? There was NO WAY that was one of his contacts, but likewise, what was a non-Kazakh doing in Almaty?
  
  "Bügingi awa rayı tamaşa."
  
  His skin crawled and his blood went cold as a woman sat next to him and spoke. The man smirked and nodded slightly.
  
  "Jaman emes, biraq sizdiñ akcentiñizge biraz jumıs qajet."
  [Not bad, but your accent needs some work.]
  
  After he took a moment to calm down, he turned to face the woman. "We can speak English, I'm fluent enough in the language. You don't sound Kazakhi, or Russian. Where are you from?"
  
  
• While waiting for another fresh samovar of tea, Agent Ghoul chatted broadly with Father Ignat and Darkhan about the movements of Ultranationalist fighters, the Soviet Army, and other groups of interest. Several members of the team seemed to take less interest, more focused on enduring the wait until one of their agents would arrive with more information on where the anthrax actually was.
  
  Outside the church, someone else was also waiting. His head was covered by the olive green hood of his modified Soviet Rain Cape, and his face was covered up to the nose by a similarly colored half mask.
  
  It was dark around his eyes, almost a bit like they were sunken in, or tired. But his eyes themselves seemed sharp, calculating, one might even think cruel, but the way the lids sat, almost perpetually half open, gave the impression of nonchalance. Like he didn't care.
  
  Spying the old woman by the doors, he nudged his head in her direction, as similarly dressed armed men crept up on the church. He held up a hand to stop some of those still close to him, before speaking.
  
  "Poka ne bespokoytes' o ney, my mozhem voyti so storony tserkvi. YA predpolagayu, chto vrag, veroyatno, nakhoditsya v podvale, a eto znachit, chto u nikh ne tak mnogo putey naruzhu. Poshlite Svyatogora pervym. Pust' on ikh oslabit, a potom my podoydem i prikonchim ikh."
  [Don't bother with her yet, we can enter from the sides of the church. The enemy is probably in a basement I'm assuming, which means they don't have many ways out. Send Svyatogor in first. Let him weaken them, and then we move in after and finish them off.]
  
  The soldiers nodded as the cautiously moved to the side entrances of the church, carefully staying low or moving through whatever nearby trees could give them moderate cover. There was a heavy thudding sound approaching from behind the soldiers, approaching the side of the church. Like the sound of a log, or rock, being dropped on the dirt ground, it carried a weight to it.
  
  The hooded soldier checked the suppressor attached to his sniper rifle, as he settled down in some patches of grass and bushes. He looked down the scope of the rifle, and watched as something towering walked inside of the church.
  

  ___________________________________________________________________________​

  
  As a guard moved to bring the fresh samovar over to the table, everyone froze as a loud thudding filled the room, coming from the main hall of the church above.
  
  Agent Ghoul looked at the cieling, then to the Priest and the Imam. "Are you expecting anyone?"
  
  A faint sound echoed through the floors, like something was being chipped through, or drilled through? Almost like some kind of maintenance was going on for the floors.
  
  "If the people we're talking about are meant to be carpenters, then no, we are not expecting anyone." Darkhan spoke in a low, serious tone. No one moved for a moment, and they didn't have to. The entire room moved instead, as it was rocked by a concussive blast and a spray of rock, wood, and metal debris as the ceiling collapsed straight onto the table they'd been sat at.
  
  Before anyone could react, there was a loud thud on top of where the table had been, splitting the thing in two and scattering things around the room. Something slammed the guard who'd been carrying the Samovar, sending it crashing to the floor once more, contents spraying across the room, with some landing on John.
  
  Standing now center of the room was a 9 foot tall behemoth of a person, bright and shimmering in a pristine, white, Greek Orthodox Cassock. Despite his height he seemed... Mostly human. His hair had been a color at some point, but had faded to a strange white-cream color, as if it were dead and the pigment had been leaving it. And his skin.... Taught, incredibly wrinkled in areas, and an eerie shade of grey. His lips were pulled back in a near permanent sneer, as were his discolored, reddy and jaundiced eyes.
  
  Father Ignat looked on in abject horror. "WHAT IN WORLD IS THAT THI-"
  
  The behemoth grabbed Father by his vestments, heaving him effortlessly into the air, before throwing him directly into John. And then, the behemoth let out a bestial roar.
  
  Agent Ghoul vanished and reappeared near a back doorway, Darkhan standing next to her, looking dissheveled and confused after she ran him over there. "We're compromised! Get your people to a secure location, or GET OUT OF HERE. We'll handle this and secure the area."
  
  Darkhan looked close to tears. "They... They got our agent. That's the only way they could have found us. Please, they must have a base here in Almaty! There might be more information on the Anthrax there, and he might even be alive! I'm begging you, please help us find him and the information!"
  
  Ghoul nodded. "We finish up here first Darkhan, then we save the city."
  
  She produced an MP5N from under her cloak, before disappearing, and then reappearing, all around the room.
  Moving in a circle around the behemoth, Ghoul fired off small bursts at the man, but they seemed to be having little (if any) effect.
  
  "Alright team, time to show me why Gladden brought you to SINS."

 

[Sepokku]

John eyed the new samovar suspiciously; would it have been rude to knock it over again? Almost certainly, though, that did very little to dissuade him from his desire to do so. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, he didn't get the chance. Something massive could be heard lumbering about upstairs. John's form shifted slightly, his ears elongating and throat jittering as the vocal folds it contained were molded into a form that fit the purpose he needed. Opening his mouth wide, an ultrasonic wave of sound spilled out of his lungs, filling the room and bouncing back to him. Some of the sound escaped the basement, bouncing off something huge before finding its way back to where John stood. He let out another high-pitched chirrup, but before it could rebound back to him and provide more information about their attackers, the ceiling gave out.

An ear-splitting crack of wood prompted him to turn his ears back into the less sensitive hearing organs most humans possessed. With bored vindication he watched as the samovar had it contents spilled once more, a smirk spreading across his face "Damn straight, I've had more than enough tea." He was going to continue, make an off-color joke about the new arrival being from a Ukrainian Orthodox-Kyivan Patriarchate church without pews, and having a bone to pick because of it. Sadly, Father Ignat's frail body was snatched off the ground and thrown carelessly through the air.

He watched the priest, time seeming to slow down as pure adrenaline shot through him. There was nothing but concrete behind John, if he dodged, Father Ignat would surely be smashed into paste. Hell, with the force their attacker had whipped the body at him, even trying to catch the priest might have resulted in a fatality. So, John braced himself slightly but didn't move.

"For fuck's s-" The elderly man crashed into John, sending them both flying across the room and sprawling into the concrete wall that had been behind him. He could feel his chest compress as the inertia of the priest's nearly two-hundred-pound body sandwiched him. There was a crunch, and pain bloomed in his chest, the familiar feel of internal bleeding alerted him to the fact that one of his floating ribs had broken and punctured something. "Sake," He finished lamely. Father Ignat was still breathing, but unconscious, giving him a quick once over, John reassured himself that the priest wasn't in any immediate danger.

Throwing Ignat over his shoulder, John shoved his free hand into his side, nails tearing through flesh until he could feel the displaced rib. His fingers wrapped around the bone, and with a snarl he twisted his wrist and snapped it loose, pulling the bone out of whatever organ it had pierced. "Better," He dropped the rib on the ground and underwent a partial transformation, his therianthropic healing factor kicked in and the wound sealed immediately. He surveyed the scene, finding Ghoul and Darkhan near a doorway at the other end of the room, the assailant was between their position and his. "Typical." John craned his neck to the side, cracking his neck while his slitted eyes found the path of least resistance.

"!MƎHT ⅃⅃IﻼKILL THEM!!MƎHT ⅃⅃Iﻼ" That voice echoed in his head, blood pounding in his ears as a desire to revel in the viscera of his enemies threatened to take over. The taste of adrenaline and iron on his tongue was ecstatic, what a thrill it would be to simply start rending flesh from bone and lettings the Gods sort out the souls of whoever was unfortunate enough to get in his way. His eyes settled on Mellina for a split second too long, "!TƧЯIᆿ ЯƎHHER FIRST!TƧЯIᆿ ЯƎH"

"Shut up!" John snarled as he adjusted his hold on Father Ignat, clutching the priest to his chest in a bridal position. The muscles in his legs tensed as he crouched and waited for his chance. Ghoul peppered their attacker with small arms fire, seemingly to no effect, but it got its attention, which was all he needed her to do. In a blur of motion he launched himself in an arc over the creature; for a moment he was back on the ground floor, dozens of olive-green uniformed soldiers looked at him, then he started falling again. John landed next to Darkhan and shoved Father Ignat into his arms, "I believe this belongs to you."

He smirked, one of his hands going to the pocket that held- He froze. The pocket was empty. Sniffing the air, he realized what had happened. The skink had made a break for it; its scent trail was above him, and getting further away. "Oh no you don't," A growl grew in his throat as John leaped through the air again, intent on recapturing his quarry. In his haste, he strayed too close to the assailant, its grey-skinned hand outstretched to grab him. Their eyes met for a second, a bloodshot red reflecting the sea glass color of his own. Then its hand closed around his leg, a vice grip threatening to pulverize his tarsals as it dragged him back down to the ground and let out another bestial roar.

"You Christian types are all the same," John's lips turned up in a sneer as he turned his attention to the creature.

"!TI ⅃⅃IﻼKILL IT!TI ⅃⅃Iﻼ" That voice screamed in his ears.

"With pleasure!" Flexing his toes, John extended the claws that were barely contained by his shoes, until they burst through and embedded themselves in the flesh of his attacker's hand. Putting all of his weight on the leg that it had a grip on, he raked the claws downward across its palm, causing it to let go as it screamed in pain and outrage. "MUSIC! YOUR SCREAMS ARE MUSIC TO MY EARS!"

Spittle flew from the creature's mouth while it screamed, scarlet blood flowing from its hand and staining its pristine white cassock. It screamed and cocked a fist back, throwing an oversized punch at John.

"!TI ⅃⅃IﻼKILL IT!TI ⅃⅃IﻼKILL IT!TI ⅃⅃Iﻼ" The voice droned on and on.

He relished the idea, and would have continued to carry it out, had the stink of the skink not suddenly grown. The heady scent of reptile multiplied, by at least eight times. The Yuxa was on the move. "Pinche mierda." The assailants fist collided with the ground where John had been standing only a split second before; his beady red eyes widened in bewilderment as he realized his target had moved.

Claws outstretched, nails dug into the ceiling he was hanging from, John cast an expectant glance towards a cluster of his fellow agents, "Ya'll deal with him." Then he bounded forward, throwing himself through the hole their grey friend had fallen through.

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Arata Kin

It was bittersweet at best, being right. His urges of expediency fell on deaf ears, and here they were to pay the price for it. As the roof caved in he threw his hands above his head, and felt repeatedly as rock and wood crashed into him until the added weight of it all cracked the chair beneath him and sent him to the floor. His expression turned to a scowl when he realized the blast had compromised some support just above him, giving him an undue spray of debris and sending a piece of rebar to tear and pierce his jacket to the floor. Next time, no matter how anticlimactic it'd be, he'd just have to prop up a series of scaffolds and supports to prevent any eventual dramatic entrances. What with how long he'd waited for something to happen though, at least this served to spark his deadened nerves.

His skin was speckled with black spots as he tore himself loose from his ruined apparel and lifted a piece of concrete to get out from beneath the rubble. As they weren't designed to withstand this kind of pressure, his favorite sunglasses fell to the floor in two pieces. Beads of black started rolling down his body to pool on the floor. With one elbow against the slab of concrete and the other resting on his knee, he watched as Agent Ghoul's gunfire little more than tickled their assailant, and as John began to dash around the room not entirely unlike a cat. "It's more common than you'd think," He began monologuing, annoyedly. The combination of gunfire and bestial snarls served well to drown out his words, regardless. "Punks that are just a little stronger and a little faster, they often find themselves feeling a little too safe when approaching danger."

He pushed the slab away and stood up, brushing the dust off his shoulder as reflective black began coating his skin. John's foot was caught by the behemoth but he soon clawed himself loose, releasing a splash of the behemoth's blood in the process. "Oh, so you do bleed." He mumbled to himself as John's unhinged yelling sounded out in the background. The Aztec enthusiast slipped away from an attack and clawed his way to the hole in the roof, leaving them to fend for themselves. It didn't matter much. In this crew, Kin wasn't expecting much backup to begin with.

"Already on it." Kin spoke aloud, and the Behemoth pulled back his fist from the floor only to find it covered in dripping black metal. He'd paid too much attention to John, and not enough to the streams of liquid black slithering like snakes beneath the rubble on the floor. He raised a hand palm-side up, and a torrent of black exploded from the ground around the behemoth's legs like ferromagnetic fluid. It clung to his legs and hardened into thick layers of steel, chaining his feet together with rigid bars and spreading up his body towards his torso. When he tried to tear it from his body, it thickened like tar, clinging to his hands and rapidly adding tens towards hundreds of kilos of weight to his body until the floor beneath him began to crack. For every move he made, Kin responded by telekinetically opposing it with his steel. He turned his head to address his comrades. "I'll impede him. Unless you're waiting for me to reach his airways and clog them up, I suggest- oough!"

His sentence was cut short and he stumbled backwards as the giant launched a fistful of debris into him with his free hand. It shattered into dust against his hardened body, but broke his concentration long enough that the steel confining the giant's other hand dissipated into nothingness. Kin groaned in irritation. "As I was saying, feel free to kill him."

 

[MisoraUni]

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  Still tired. But things are happening?! Woooo!
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  Location

  
  
  
  

  Some church, Almaty, Kazakhstan. It's turning to rubble now..
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  Mentions/Interactions

  
  
  
  

  @ team bat | Sepokku | Prizzy Kriyze | PiePillager | Simon Strut | Lord Saethos
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Mellina

Agent Kitsune

“Oh..."
One of her hands faced upwards as a piece of ceiling came falling towards Mellina. The moment the hunk of ceiling made audible contact with her hand it proceeded to burst into mere pieces and dust which scattered about.
"That's the ceiling huh?... Ah- ah-choooo!"

"Eugh"

Mellina hurked and pounded the dust out of her throat by slapping her chest.

"Bleghf - stupid concrete."

She hopped around some rubble to where Darkhan is, where Father Ignat had been snatched from, then shoved back to and snapped her fingers while lowering her glasses. Her sound waves danced in her vision and located all of the immediate threats, it appears they were quite surrounded, but not too many were outside. Most of the enemies had entered already. She then looked from Darkhan to Ignat. "Wait over here for a bit please, then I'll help you get out of here."

She flipped around to see Arata struggling with the behemoth of a creature that had crashed their little party. Agent ghoul was using a gun much to Mellina's dismay, but it didn't seem to be doing much.

Mellina took in a deep breath, cracked her fingers, and released the breath. "Hey beastie, aren't you a little overdressed for your appearance?"

The sound of her voice amplified for the beast man to hear it in between all the other noise and chaos going on around them. His head craned around to the source and was met with a certain pink haired girl's foot. The impact of her shoe made a very booming SMACK which shot him through the wall on the other end of the room, which inadvertantly loosened more bits of the ceiling.

"Oops, didn't mean to break the ceiling more... Oh well he should be hurt now at least more than before."

Mellina patted Arata and Alexander on their backs and looked to Shinobiman. "I'm going to go deal with the upstairs and escort Darkhan and Father Ignat out of here."

She leapt back over to Darkhan and Father Ignat, then turned her head back to the others.

"I'd suggest you try to lead that thing out of this church before it colapses completely and go to a more open area if possible, we'll be able to do more damage to him without worrying about rubble falling all over the place."

She turned back. "You two, come with me. I can see where the enemies aren't to get you out safely." Just in case, she sonar scanned the upstairs again. Some had moved slightly but there wasn't really any super safe way to go. And she could sense John had already hacked through some of the guys upstairs on his way to follow whatever was in his pocket. So it'll be easier to deal with them at least.

She thought for a moment.. She didn't want to go up through the ceiling, as most of the enemies were there. She planned to get the ones outside first, put Ignat and Darkhan in a hiding spot, deal with the rest of them, and hope the rest of her team makes their way up as well to meet her. If she can keep Darkhan and Ignat safe that'd be a bonus but she'll probably have to get information out of them in case they don't last so that she can have at least some kind of a lead on the Anthrax.

Mellina looked around. This is a basement right? We're underground then.. I could probably...

Mellina tapped the wall and seemed to be looking through it. She sent a small vibration of sound through it to find any gaps in the ground until.... A sewer... That'll work.

The sewer was just under the street next to the church so it wouldn't be too hard to blast a small hole to it. And so, Mellina kicked the wall with her toe pointed to start making a hole the three of them could crawl through. It didn't quite make it to the sewer though. "Get in front of me." The three of them crawled through the hole until they met the part that wasn't blasted through yet. Mellina went in front of them and punched sound waves into the ground until a PLOP PLOP PLOINK of rocks and concrete met with sewege water.

"Alrighty, we should be okay in here for now, water's gross but oh well."

She turned to face the holy men.

"Care to tell me where I can take you so that you'll be safe? Or at least do you know where that anthrax information is? I assume you know where to get it. It couldn't have been just that messanger that knew something about it. He's probably dead now anyway. I'd like to get there before the rest of those people above us do. Otherwise we're screwed and everyone will perish. That doesn't sound fun, now does it?"

She spoke in a hushed tone while she came out of her hole and stepped into the human waste water. Good thing SINS made her change, she'd hate to get her good shoes dirty.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[druidquest]

“Around,” Ephie replied with a wave of her hand. “Here and there. There and here. I’m more interested in a different ‘where’, myself, though, you know? I don’t suppose you know the way to Lenin Square?”

The second largest city square in Almaty. It was easy enough to find, and would’ve been one of the first stops for a real tourist. It was marked on every map of the city, making it largely unnecessary to ask for directions, thus making it a suitable code phrase to signal to greet their contact with.

 

[Lord Saethos]

• Task Force Vampyrum - Church
• Task Force Vampyrum - Sewers
• Task Force Draco

• March 21st, 1991 - Location: Park at the South End of the Sairan Reservoir, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  As John flew through the air of the church, before landing back on the tiled floors of the nave, a hail of hot metal cascaded around him, as olive drab figures moved into positions of cover, obfuscating the sights and scents of the skink prey he sought.
  
  One singular, near silent, piece of hot metal flew into the church from the outside, flying higher than the other bullets. As John sought to recover and plan his next move, a terrific explosion of metal, flame, and crystal erupted next to him, as a large chandelier had collapsed from the ceiling.
  
  The Russian sniper outside neither smirked, nor frowned. Might as well have been pushing pencils and paper, making supply requests for some tractor factory in Chelyabinsk. Though in this case, instead of pretending to be working, he was more like a child thoughtlessly playing with his food.
  
  Perhaps his agile prey would give him something to be excited by.
  
  He frankly doubted it.
  
  

  _________________________________________________________________________________
  ​

  The bestial roars of Svyatogor went mute after his massive form became buried under the rubble of walls and the floor of the above nave.
  
  Agent Ghoul paused for a second to stare at the pile, then to Arata who was recovering himself, and Mellina who was helping the two priests escape. Although her expression was hidden from her facial coverings, her head gave a slight bounce in approval. "Pas mal..." She muttered to herself, before signalling Alexander, Arata, and Shinobiman.
  
  "I hate to do this friends, but we'll need to split up. I've got to go round up Nayenezgani. Can one of you follow Kitsune, make sure the priests survive? The other two, make sure the big boy down here STAYS down here. Understoo-"
  
  Ghoul felt a sharp pain in her skull from a small piece of concrete that cracked her in the side of the head. She stumbled over, disoriented. The rubble pile fell away, as chunks of rock and debris were thrown at the other SINS members still in the room. Svyatogor bolted towards Ghoul, grabbing her by the nape of her neck, and tossing her through the hole he'd come through, up into the nave above.
  
  

  ______________________________________________________________________​

  
  Ghoul felt her body lose all weight as she floated through the air into the church. As she hazily glanced around, she could see the olive drab Russians surrounding the entire room. She moved to try to dodge away as fast as she could, but... There was nothing to run on in mid air.
  
  "Merde..." The miliseconds passed by like hours for her, so she did the only sensible thing in that moment. With her MP5 in one hand, and pistol in the other, her hands moved like lightning as she fired in a thousand directions, causing the Russian attackers to dive for cover.
  Once her feet touched the ground again, she stumbled again, head still dazed from the rock to her head. "JOHN! Where are you!" She cried out, keeping low behind a pew as she and the Russians exchanged fire.
  
  

  ______________________________________________________________________
  ​

  As Ghoul flew through the air into the nave above, Svyatogor turned, arms bearing a large slab of concrete and quickly charged Arata. He jumped off the ground for a second to avoid any of the metallic goo the super produced, before he and the slab collided into Arata, all three crashing against a wall.
  
  "Requiescat in Gehenna-" The monster's words were sputtered out, almost like some kind of zombie-esque mantra, something it was repeating instinctively like an animal call, not actual human language. But the sounds and meaning were clear enough.
  
  Svyatogor pressed the concrete slab more firmly against Arata.
  
  
• 
  
  Darkhan and Ignat had more or less blindly followed Mellina, both feeling a tinge of regret as they entered the sewers. Ignat, still hazy, could muster up nothing in response to Mellina, except for incoherent muttering.
  
  The imam anxiously rubbed his thumb against the tips of his fingers, trying to calm down and get his head clear for Mellina.
  
  "Actually, yes... These sewer systems should run close to the subway that's being built. The Russians don't know this, but the resistance has been using the subway tunnels to connect with our own system of tunnels. We go through there, we can head up to the industrial zone, where we have more safe houses."
  
  He paused for a moment, the look on his face turning more serious and somber. "However... I believe these fascists are located in a Dacha possibly, over at the Botanical Gardens. We can easily reach there through the tunnels, but.... Well, now that we're being attacked here, I'm certain they know that we're aware of their location. They'll likely be moving any evidence they may have for the location of the Anthrax, and moving it quickly. Not only that, the area will be teeming with armed men. If we still have any time left miss... It's extremely limited."
  
  The noises from the church basement alerted them that they needed to keep moving. "Can... Can you and your people really save us?"
  
  
• March 21st, 1991 - Location: South Jetysu District, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  The contact took a brief glance over Ephie, giving her vague response some thought, but her remark on Lenin Square caused his expression to change.
  
  He went from suspicion to stiffling a chuckle. "Either you're new to this, or I'm not as experienced as I thought. Guess that's what happens when not employing any code words."
  
  The man held out his hand to shake Ephie's. "I'm Aset. Pleased to meet you, Qazaqtıñ dosı."
  
  

 

[Sepokku]

'Эстеликтер меники эмес, бирок Пулководогу жолугушуу унутулбайт. Бардык дубалдарды өзү үчүн курган. Анын ордуна эч нерсе сураба. Анын сени сүйүп калганына алтымыш жылдан ашты.' Words that didn't belong to John echoed in his head, at least they didn't all belong to him, he stopped for a moment to shake his head and try to clear his thoughts.

A stray bullet tore through his arm, flesh reknitting itself as quicky as it had been gouged out, but the words didn't cease to plague him. There was a sort of forlorn musicality to it all, he wasn't sure where they were coming from, fragments of prose punctuating his carnage as he tore after the Yuxa.

'Ошондо мен сенин баарынан акылман экениңди билдим, сенин барыңдын фонунда менин бардык көйгөйлөрүм жок болду. Мага эмне керек? Күн сайын ката кетирдим, мен жана менин көлөкөм. Ал маселенин маңызын түшүнүү үчүн көп ката кетирген. Бул менин көйгөйүм, биринчи болуу үчүн эмне керек экенин түшүнөм.' A light fixture that was so overtly ornate that it had to have been made with the intent to instill a sense of reverence crashed to the ground as the church started to burn. Were he more lucid, he might have laughed about the irony of it all.

He couldn't be sure who the words belonged to, the Tonali, himself, or perhaps one of the many poor souls he had gobbled up. It didn't seem to matter, he realized as his feet connected with the head of a machine gunner. The neck snapped first, the entirety of John's weight throwing the head sideways, as they collided with the ground. He could see the lizard creature in the distance, it was the size of a medium sized-dog, looking more like Komodo dragon than a skink at this point.

 

[druidquest]

Ephie shook his hand, smiling with a bit too much teeth. "Eleanor. My friends tell me you're the man to ask for directions. I hear you have a knack for finding unusual merchandise."

 

[Lord Saethos]

• Task Force Draco

• March 21st, 1991 - Location: South Jetysu District, Almaty, Kazakhstan
  
  Aset felt some mild discomfort at Eleanor's toothy grin, but at this point, he assumed it was just a thing with these Special Forces types. He always thought they were supposed to be more like Rambo or something, stoic and strong. But it seemed to make more sense that to be capable of causing so much death, you'd have to be a little crazy.
  
  Maybe even a lot crazy.
  
  He sighed slightly at her comment, lips contorting into a slight grimace. "Yes... Too much of a knack I'm afraid..."
  
  Aset eyed up Eleanor again for a moment before continuing. "There's something of a... Recent development. A complication. There's a forest to the West of us, nestled here in Almaty. Little less than a mile away. There's cemeteries and some religious spots in there, as well as some other things of importance. It's the sort of thing best seen, rather than heard."