Heroes: Endings and Beginnings

[rhoenix]

Walking with Heidi as she moved purposefully outside, Jason took the rest of the sandwich with him as he went, mentally having cataloged the specific people his new teammates were observing.

Eating the last of the sandwich as they got outside, Jason by rote began to examine the surroundings in the area, just in case, though he said nothing yet.

[Dark Silver]

Legion had positioned himself in a place to intercept the kidnappers, after having left before them. He understood the look Faulks had given him, yet he was practiced and experienced enough in his work, that he didn't let it phase him.

Yet.


When the kidnappers left, he moved to get to them, to "bump" into them, hopefully to sample the male's mind....

Unfortunatly they were quicker than he was, and got to their care

"Damn.." he said under his breat, unfortunatly it transfered over the comms."

"Targets are on the move," Legion said, describing the vehicle they were in. Undoubtedly the car was one of those bare means vehicle, with none of the fanciness that NeXT could track them with.

"I want full survillence on that car. NeXT, have HQ track their cells through the towers, give them the phone MACs, that'll let us know at least if they ditch them. Sky Spys don't let that care out of your sight. NeXT...hack into the City DoT and see if you can backdoor into their mainframe, and start screwing with the lights. Let's traffic jam them and prepare to spring on the car. Is the FNG here yet Heidi?"

[LadyTevar]

"Right behind me, Legion. I'll have him join you and Mike." Heidi answered, looking back at Pulse. "Rejoin Mike, he's coming out of the restaurant now. He'll take you to Legion."

That done, she continued walking into the pizza restaurant, finishing her chat with Legion. "He's on his way. I've suggested NeXT cause a fender bender ahead of the suspect car to make sure they stop. But first, I want to get a piece of evidence and have that waitress interviewed. Get me quick transport for her, please?"

To the left, by the coffee pot
Heidi followed Jerri's directions and closed with the waitress who'd served the Fulks. As the woman looked up and stuttered, Heidi pulled out her badge and ID. "I'm Agent Gemini, with Ultima," she started, talking softly but firmly, looking the waitress in the eye. "The foursome you just waited on is part of a sting operation. I need to ask you if you will come with us and answer a few questions about the two men and the woman who came in with them."

The waitress, quite naturally, was worried, wondering if she was in any trouble.
You're scaring her, just tell her that what she knows could break the case and rescue a little girl.
"No ma'am, you're not in any trouble," Heidi reassured the woman, still speaking low and gently. "You are a witness, and your information could help us put these people in jail for kidnapping a child."

The waitress frowned, but nodded slowly in acceptance. Heidi gave a reassuring smile. "Thank you. Let's get your purse and get you to one of our agents who can do a sketch of the suspects, and we'll need to fingerprint the money he gave you, as well as get your fingerprints so we know which ones are which," Heidi explained gently. "We'll probably just trade you bills so we can keep that one for evidence..."

Nicely done Jerri said as Heidi got the manager to let the woman go early and got her handed off to an agent who'd been outside the plaza as an extra eye in case of trouble. It took several minutes, but Heidi knew that this was just as important as catching the kidnappers. The more damning evidence they had, the longer the bastards would be in jail.
Who knows, by now the others might have them in custody...

[SirNitram]

It turned into a bad traffic day.

Red lights sprang up wherever the kidnappers went, as NeXT dove headfirst into the various companies that had followed OnStar. Technically, engine cutoff was only for stolen cars. But hey, these were criminals! It was easier than a warrant.

[B4UTRUST]

There was no OnStar or equivalent in the kidnappers' vehicle. It was, after all, only a simple rice burner. Fuel efficient, low-maintenance and reliable. No frills, bells or whistles beyond power windows and an AM/FM radio and CD player. There wasn't even a TomTom suction cupped to the windshield.

The kidnappers' vehicle merged in with the rest of traffic and began to turn the corner. The driver stuck his arm out the window, stretching it out like he was going to point at something.

A dirt bike's engine revved and whined as the rider weaved in and out of traffic. He swept in along side the car, heading in the opposite direction. He reached out with one gauntleted hand and seemed to hit the kidnapper's. The kidnapper retracted his arm and rolled up the window. The dirt bike swerved around the car in front of it and cut across the other lane and down an alley, weaving around a bum and a fallen trashcan.

The junior agent escorted the waitress down the street, heading to an unmarked car about a block away. As the agent and the waitress were walking down the road, several more cars started merging into traffic, threatening to lose the kidnappers car in the mix.

[rhoenix]

Nodding, Agent Sunter only said "Alright" to Agent Gemini before casually slowing down, waiting for Agent Gordon as if waiting up for a friend. He turned back with the friendly smile of someone who had no idea there was a deadly serious mission to save lives going on at exactly this moment.

"Hey Mike," he said to the other agent as he approached, "when are we meeting up with the rest of the guys?"

[Dark Silver]

Legion waited impatiently as the kidnappers climbed into the car and took off. Gordan and the FNG should have been here by now.

It got to the point, where he felt his voice was nessacry, "Gordan, Where the hell are you? Their getting away. Double Time Soldier, NOW!"

All sense of stealth at the moment, was gone, until they could get caught up....

"Sky Spy, report. What's happening with that tail."

[Agent Fisher]

Mike Gordon had already left the restaurant and retrieved the car. He stopped and rolled down the window to yell at Sunter. "Mount up!" The contractor waited till he was inside before slamming the gas, nimbly dodging traffic before stopping quickly right next to Legion. As soon as their leader was inside, he would hit the gas again, his driving training kicking in as he moved through traffic like it almost wasn't there.

[rhoenix]

Upon seeing Agent Gordon, and the lack of pretense on the man's face, it appeared to be go time. Jumping into the car seat the Agent had offered, the two agents rode in silence to their destination, Agent Gordon weaving in and out of traffic as if he had been trained in combat driving. Perhaps he had.

They suddenly stopped near a man who looked as nondescript as possible without actually being invisible. Remembering that face from the files he'd examined, this had to be Agent Legion.

As the senior agent got into the car, Agent Sunter, now apparently to be called Agent Pulse, nodded once respectfully to the man as he entered, and after he closed the door again. "Agent Legion? Agent Pulse reporting for duty."

[Dark Silver]

Legion climbed into the car as Gordan pulled up, clipped on his seatbelt, and slapped the back of the seat for Gordan to drive.

He settled his gaze on the FNG, nodded, and turned his eyes back on the road, "Save introductions for later, we have two Tango's carrying Precious Cargo ahead of us in a late model fast mover." Legion described the car, and eyes narrowed as the traffic jam formed ahead.

"Get us as close as you can...Pulse, what's your powers? and are you armed?"

[B4UTRUST]

Legion's comm buzzed to life once again.
"Omega Actual, Sky Spy. Request for orbital recon approved. Bird is inbound on your GPS signal to acquire target. ETA 45 seconds. Repeat four five seconds. Stand by for target acquisition..."

The comm went silent for about a minute then came on.
"Omega Actual, this is Sky Spy. We have acquired target and are tracking. Target is slow mover and is pinned in on all sides by other Victors at the moment. Traffic is extremely heavy and is congested in all directions.

"Thermals are showing three individuals in target Victor. Individual in back seat is a lot cooler than the other two. Will continue to observe."

[SirNitram]

"This is NeXT. In pursuit of possible accomplice. Escaped via dirt bike when signalled from car. Live feed passed on."

Albert's consciousness travelled at the speed of data, making it easy to keep up with the dirtbike. He kept screwing up the lights in the driver's way, but it was harder to stop this one.

[rhoenix]

Now completely in his work mindset, Agent Pulse replied concisely to Agent Legion's question. "I have my standard sidearm with me, but no other weapons apart from good rope. My primary focus is biomanipulation of living organisms, and my secondary is rapid relocation by means of teleporting."

[Dark Silver]

"Teleporting...good."

With the information buzzing in his ear from NeXT and Sky Spy, Legion formed his plan.

"What's your max range and load carrying for your Teleportation? I am able to copy your powers by touching you, and the plan I have in mind requires the use of two teleporters....As for sidearms,"

Legion pulled a briefcase from under the backseat of the sedan, and opened it, revealing a foam lining with places for three pistols, and two rows of clips, 3 clips per row. One of the pistols, and one clip from each row was missing. "Taser and Lethal ordinance. Take a pistol and a clip of each."

[rhoenix]

Nodding once in thanks to Agent Legion, Agent Pulse took the offered sidearm and ammunition. "Thank you. Max range for rapid relocate is line-of-sight, or anyplace I've been to before. I can bring along at most one human-sized object in addition to myself and all worn gear."

Following that, there was a moment's pause while Agent Pulse seemed to concentrate inwardly before extending his hand forward for Agent Legion to absorb from. "Be careful, Agent Legion."

[Dark Silver]

Legion removed his glove, and grabbed Pulse's hand, he held it only for a few seconds, as precious life force and a portion of the meta's DNA transfered to him. In the one slight grab, Legion knew everything Pulse did, a near perfect copy of the man's mind and powers, while his own consciouness remained in the forefront.

The rush of endorphins started flowing through him, and Legion stopped before he couldn't, overall, it was only three seconds, which seemed to Legion and to a lesser extent Pulse, like a Eternity.

"We'll get as close as we can in car, and proceed further along on foot till we find the kidnappers vehicle. We will then Teleport, myself on the drivers side, you on the passengers. We'll break the windows as necessary with the butt of our pistols, and double tap taser rounds into the kidnappers. At the same time, NeXT," Legion's voice traveled over the communications line, "I need you to shut off their cellphones when we give the signal...no damage to the unit themselves, just switch off their IMIE code. Precious Cargo is in the backseat, once the tangos are contained, we will secure Precious Cargo and teleport him back to a safe location, and proceed with detainment of the tangos."

[rhoenix]

Feeling both nauseated and dizzy, Agent Pulse closed his eyes, and took slow, deep breaths to rebalance his body properly. He'd encountered leechers before, as tactically they were good wildcards - however, it was always a disorienting experience. At least Agent Legion was experienced enough to only take what he needed.

Within about half a minute, Agent Pulse's metabolism and biomanipulation abilities had conspired to rebalance his body, none the worse for wear. That sandwich earlier had gone a long way to repowering his metabolism, but all the same, he would probably need a good-sized dinner and a good night's sleep when all was said and done.

His eyes opening, Agent Pulse replied to Agent Legion. "I'll be ready to hit the passenger's side."

[Dark Silver]

"Good"

Legion watched as Gordan drove the car, and they got closer to the car. Then the traffic jam was reached.

"Watch our six Gordan," Legion said, undoing the seat belt and placing a hand on the door handle, "Let's move Pulse."

With that, gun hidden in his coat pocket, Legion stepped out of the car, closed the door, and headed to the sidewalk, watching the car.

He walked forward, until they were near even, and Legion looked at Pulse, "Teleport in 3....2.....1...."

[rhoenix]

Getting out of the car at the same time as Agent Legion, Agent Pulse looked at the other Agent for his cue, keeping his other eye on the car. As soon as Agent Legion hit a heartbeat after the count of one, the space between Agent Pulse and the car's door collapsed into a field of bluish white, this otherworldly view of things, before restoring to normal in an instant as Agent Pulse appeared right next to the passenger side window.

The window was rolled up, so with a practiced whipping motion while holding the barrel of the sidearm, the butt of his pistol slammed into the window, busting in the window. Re-gripping the sidearm, Agent Pulse quickly aimed and fired twice at the passenger, hoping the taser rounds would put the passenger out quickly.

[B4UTRUST]

The dirt bike continued to weave in and out of traffic. Red lights and traffic jams were problems for cars and for drivers who bothered with traffic laws. Shutting down traffic was leaving block after block at a virtual standstill. But it was proving to be of little deterrent for the biker. Cutting down alleyways and driving down sidewalks where neccessary the biker showed little signs of care for the damage or distress he was causing to others around him. People were forced to jump out of his way as he rolled down the busy sidewalks and then hoped back onto the street, bumping cars and trucks as he weaved in and out of dangerously tight spots. He started looking around when he could safely so, trying to figure out who or what was screwing with him.

Stuck in traffic and the hand off made, the female kidnapper pulled out her cellphone and dialed out to the one number in the memory. The phone began to dial out, ringing the VoIP line NeXT had tagged earlier.

Two spawned sub-instances of programs NeXT had worked up kicked into action. One, designed to monitor the line began to monitor what was happening. The line rang, the data converting from digital mobile to analog telecomm back to digital VoIP and then once more into digital telecomm. And then the signal disappeared. It wasn't disconnected, but it didn't seem to ever connect. That presence that NeXT felt earlier reappeared, seemingly to analyze the incoming signal. That's where it disappeared.

About that time the other spawned program kicked in. It dived into the mobile provider for the cell phones and attacked the billing and payments system. Brute forcing itself through, it found the two phones in the system. And it was the easiest thing to switch the system to read as too many minutes used and account past due, effectively killing the phones access to the network, except for emergency 911 calls out. The network killed connection a few seconds into the start of the call, terminating it effectively. It didn't permanently damage anything and should the criminals ever return to a point where they might have legitimate need to use these disposable cell phones again, they could probably deal with the company directly to reactivate them, for a nominal service charge.

Legion's plan kicked off as it was intended. Space folded around the two agents and took them to beside the kidnappers' car that was stopped in traffic. The female kidnapper in the passenger seat still had the cellphone pressed to her ear and was glancing absently out the window when Pulse appeared next to it. His arm reared back and came rushing forward, pistol gripped backwards tightly in his hand. The butt of the gun slammed into the window, smashing it apart and flinging shards of glass into the interior of the car. The woman raised her arm instinctively to protect her face as she turned away from the impact. On Legion's side it was going much the same way with the male kidnapper flinching away from the window to shield himself.

While the two kidnappers were still surprised and shocked, both agents flipped their guns around and double tapped their respective targets with the tranq rounds. The little needle-tipped darts pierced the skin and administered the high-dose sedatives directly into the bloodstream, rendering them both unconscious within seconds. The male's foot slipped off the brake and tapped the gas slightly as it fell from its position as he slumped forward, chest hitting the steering wheel. The horn sounded and it was quickly realized he wasn't wearing a seatbelt as the car surged forward, gaining only a tiny bit of speed before colliding with the car in front of it, stopping it effectively. It might have minutely dented the bumper of the stopped car and the driver was already looking in the rear view at the commotion. The horn continued to blare as the kidnapper stayed slumped forward, hands at his side, head laying across the top of the steering wheel and chest leaned against it just hard enough to activate the switch there.

In the back seat Mr. Fulks slowly turned his head from left to right, taking in the situation. His eyes had a slightly glazed over look to them and his reactions were definitely slowed. A closer examination would reveal his pupils dilated. Lab examinations would later reveal a build up of sedatives in his blood stream that would eventually dissipate over time.

Several cars behind the kidnappers there came the sound of a car slamming on brakes and two doors opening. A second later a spray of automatic gunfire echoed through the air. The back window disappeared in a hail of bullets that ripped into the car. Dr. Fulks was clipped a couple times and took a round in the shoulder before slumping over and into the floor. The blood loss mixed with the sedatives wouldn't be good for him, but he'd live. Probably.

The female kidnapper was not so fortunate. She was still sitting upright, her seatbelt tight across her chest. Her head was slumped forward from where she had been knocked out. The rounds shredded through the seat of the vehicle and stitched a line from mid chest up to the top of her skull. Fragments of bone, sprays of blood and globs of thicker stuff exploded outward from the body. The only way Legion was going to be able to absorb any information from her was by groping the small lumps of gray matter that were splattered across what was left of the windshield.

The male kidnapper was a little bit luckier, being slumped forward already. His head was mostly out of the way and the rounds intended to kill him managed to critically wound him instead. One bullet punched through his lung and out again while several others made a fine mess of his torso. He was still alive, but he was bleeding heavily and the sucking chest wound wasn't going to help matters much at all. The rounds intended to take out his head instead penetrated the seat and continued unhindered through the glass of the windshield and into the car in front of them. The poor driver, still staring dumbly into his rear view mirror got to see the bullet with his name on it for a split second before it pinballed around in his skull.

The first initial blast had achieved its goal, seemingly, by taking out the kidnappers and the hostage. Or trying to anyway. Once Gordon, Legion and Pulse managed to turn to see who was shooting at them they would find a pair of men crouched behind open car doors, assault rifle barrels rested on the door hinge. The two individuals from initial glance gave every indication that they were very well versed in the operational theory and applied usage of the weapons as they were immediately trained on the two obvious threats of the teleporting agents.

[Agent Fisher]

Mike noticed the car a few behind him on his right. Two men. Something raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He raised his comm to his mouth about to warn Legion that something wasn't right when the doors were thrown open and twin barrels came out. Cursing, he ducked down, throwing the vehicle into park. He reached behind him, grabbing a small twenty inch case and a what looked like a small piece of gear. With practiced ease, he threw the gear over his head, the microrig resting across his chest. The case was popped open and a 17 inch weapon was removed. Mike opened the door to his car, keeping low as he exited.

The contractor kept his eyes on the chase car, keeping as low as he could. When he was a couple cars closer, he extended the folding stock on the KAC PDW and shouldered it. Finger off the trigger, he turned his left hand towards the backup and began firing stun blasts, ready to fire the much more lethal 6x35mm rounds if his blasts didn't stop the two shooters.

[Dark Silver]

"Fuck," Legion let the word ring out as instinctively, he pulled open the back door and moved to cover Fualk's body. The Kidnapper could wait a few precious minutes more.

"Pulse! Stop the bleeding on the driver, while I see to Faulks! Then teleport back to Gordan, take those tangos out! Alive is possible, dead if necessary."

"Command, This is Omega Actual, Precious Cargo has been secured. Under fire from at least two tangos, using heavy ordinance. Request immediate med-evac for two wounded."

With that, Legion flipped the comm channel, "Gemini! Gordan! I'm sending Pulse to assist you. We're pinned down by enemy gunfire, and I'm lacking my force field powers right now. Tangos are to my rear, sporting automatic weapons. They winged Faulks and hit both kidnappers. I want the shooters alive, if possible!"

For not once, Legion cursed the fact he couldn't shed the powers he stole on a whim....had he his force field powers...he could have wadded through the gunfire, and and kept Faulks and the kidnapper safe and relatively unharmed.

As it was, Legion put the gun on the floorboard, removed his contact glove, and pressed his hand to Faulk's face. The effect was instant, Faulks was a baseline, heavily drugged, his mind sluggish. Legion's command of his powers were excellent though.

He turned down the draw on his own power to a bare trickle, as low as he could, where Faulks would hardly feel the drain on his body, as he ordered the man's metabolism to speed up, and the flesh to reknit around the wounds.

Faulk's mind slowly began to copy itself into the headspace being shared by Legion's own mind, and Pulse's. The two current minds were awashed in the mental effects of the sedative flowing within Faulks veins, even as the man's body began to burn through it at a quickened pace. the good Doctor would be hungry after this was all done, but he could easily be fed.

Within moments, with the bleeding stopped, Legion hesitantly let go of the man, the effects of sedatives fighting against the rush of adrenaline and endorphines the use of his powers always brought on, as well as the small burst of energy he got from draining a otherwise baseline man, while ordering the body to sleep with the bio-manipulation powers he stole from Pulse.

so it was, that for a few precious, brief seconds, Legion's body and mind was in total war, fighting the effects of a sedative that was not there, and three minds fought for dominance.

[rhoenix]

Moving swiftly to the driver's side of the car while keeping his head down, Agent Pulse reached the driver, and reached out to touch the man's wrist. Almost instantly, Agent Pulse could feel the internals of the man's physiology as well as he could his own, and quickly knew the situation.

Repairing the damage enough to prevent the patient from risking critical injury or death, Agent Pulse mostly concentrated on stabilizing the driver and destroying any disease that had taken root as a result of the gunshots. Once the driver was stable, Agent Pulse quickly took his bearings, and located Agent Gordon. His equilibrium was still a little off, so couldn't teleport right away - however, he could plan for a minute from now, when he could.

[LadyTevar]

Heidi's meta-gifts were strength and endurance. Her skin would resist most bullets, and if she tried she could probably lift Alpha off his feet. However, fast-out sprints were not one of her strengths. In that, she was no better than a non-powered human at peak form.

The crush of cars down the block hampered Gemini as she tried to catch up. The rush of people fleeing the shooting further blocked the way, forcing Heidi to resort to running along the tops of cars to get around them. The dents she left in the car roofs as she went were sure to annoy drivers, but Heidi figured the gunfire would keep most from bitching too much.

What are you going to do when we get there?
Heidi's answer was an evil grin, as the gunmen were crouched down, using the opened car doors for cover. "Play Pinball".

One last car, and then Heidi was behind the gunmen's car. She crouched like a weightlifter, her arms stretching out to get a good grip on the car's metal body. But she didn't lift it, or flip it, or do any comic-book super-trick. Instead, Gemini yanked the whole car roughly two feet backwards.

The car doors reacted like the flippers in a pinball machine, just as Heidi had planned.

[B4UTRUST]

"Omega Actual this is command. Casevac is en route to your location," came the reply to Legion's request.

The two gunmen were still crouched down behind the doors that were opened, providing a fairly complete cover. They targeted the two lead Ultima agents and let loose a quick barrage about the same instant that Gordon started slinging stun blasts at them.

The stun blasts impacted the doors around the exposed areas of the shooters, throwing off their shots just enough so they missed Legion and Pulse. Both gunners started to turn their aim at Gordon's position, now the most pressing target. This was quickly becoming a clusterfuck as Metas seemed to start popping out of the woodwork. But one had to give it to the shooters. They never faltered, never hesitated. This was obviously not their first engagement and they worked smoothly, adapting as best as they were able to the very fluid situation.

What they hadn't anticipated was the rear assault by Heidi. As she came stomping and leaping from car to car they finally heard the noise of crunching metal and turned to peer over their shoulders at the approaching threat. They didn't have time to react before Heidi landed near the rear bumper, grabbed it and yanked back hard.

The doors moved forward and then backward, slamming into the shooters. The driver was thrown backwards by the blow, landing on the ground in a heap. The passenger wasn't quite so lucky. The door flew backwards, knocking him but didn't knock him far enough. The door closed on his arm. The sound of the bone breaking was audible, as were the screams of pain as his arm also popped out of place and broken in roughly the same second. He slumped down, back against the side of the car, arm hanging loose between the door and the car frame.

The driver was getting to his knees, still somewhat stunned. His assault rifle was wedged between the door and the car. He began to reach for his chest to draw his sidearm from the shoulder rig.