Chapter 1 - Outbreak

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Introduction-

Out there in that vast universe....swimming in the sea of infinite space lies a wyrm known as the Geostigma. Once in contact with a living being, it infiltrates a cell and slowly begins to infect other cells in the area, beginning with the skin, creating a beautiful pattern known as the Geos. Slowly, it spreads through out the body, and as the infection grows so does the Geos. One gradually loses control of their body, starting with random blackouts and leading to complete loss. and mutation of the cells. There is no cure. Right now, the man with the Geos lies in wait upon the ship, waiting for a lead, and right now, his team is on the planet of Waokin, planet 4th from the sun in the Alcedim system....

She didn't belong here. Then again, she didn't belong there either. Her body accentuated in a glittery, fitted costume, her hair pinned up, away from her face, some smaller strands framing her visage. She is too young for this, and somehow, too old. By title, she is the siren, by birth, she is Siren. As the lights dim, she takes her place on stage, a model of an old theater on earth, circa 1800s, closes her eyes as the chatter ceases, and attention turns to her. She can not hide her grace or delicate features. Then she sees him, and his eyes are trained on her. As she begins to sing, a slow, hazy feel permanents the room. He, the boss of this place, approaches, and trained on the back of his head, just 30 feet away on the upper balcony is his assassin, her back up. The second he crosses that imaginary line, he will be shot by a plasma rifle, not to kill, only to stun.

Afterall, bounties are worth more alive.

He will fall, paralyzed, and hell will be raised as her companions show themselves. Shots will ring out in every direction; none of them will hit her. No one would suspect the pretty singer of this set up, although it was she who lured him from the protection of his bodyguards, it was she who opened the backdoor, allowing her partners in. She will play her part, put up that frightened look.

And what should transpire if the shot missed? The job of the bounty will be transferred to her, and for that, she would have to kill him, meaning less money. It is generally understood that the mark must be captured, even at the risk of virtue, and this 'siren' was as pure as they come. However, she knew the risk when she took this job, same with her comrades. Although, they all knew a screw up on the part of one could mean suffering on the part of another, and such was the case here. Her eyes turn to the balcony as he edges closer, mystified. She sees the shadow up there, the shine. She smiles. There won't be a miss today.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:04 pm

He watched through the scope, watching Siren's performance from the balcony. He wouldn't tell her upfront, but he partnered with her on this mission not just for the money, but he liked her singing. A quick glance up from her, however, told him it was time to concentrate.

He moved the scope, the man "dead" in his sights. He grinned as the sniper rang from click to click as he changed to stun. He watched Siren as she took a breath, the shot ringing out in the silence.

Without out a moment's hesitation, he pulled the trigger several more times, immediately working on the guards.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:17 pm

She sat in her seat watching her comerade on stage, her eyes filled with envy. Siren was a gorgeous young woman. She was always the one to go undercover because of her good looks. Having her be on stage seemed to shove all these things into Claire's face.

Whatever. It doesn't matter.

She waited patiently keeping her eye on their target, and when he went down she moved. Pushing her way through the panicking crowd, she watched carefully to see how many of the bodyguards Don was able to take down. She needed to reach the unconcious body quickly.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:31 pm

He watched Siren perform from backstage and smiled at the complete setup they made, he kept an ear open for trouble just in case she got into to much trouble. His ears caught the sounds of the shots clearly and he pulled out his own revolver just in case as well. With all the screams and shouts he made sure to keep the back door clear for all of them to make a quick escape.

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In the confusion of the scuffle, Siren took the time to slip around the curtain, sure that her comrades would be able to handle attaching a transfer klip to the body of the mark and getting him back up to Fever. The hard part was getting out unnoticed, especially for her, well, more devious looking partners. The least she could do was provide some cover for a quick getaway. Siren removed a small, square box from the bodice of her dress, and opened it, producing a small wooden stick with a red knob at the end. The match, a product over 400 years out of date. Striking it again the box, she set it down next to the curtain, watching the deep red velvet drapes quickly engulfed in the hungry flames. This place was done for now that the boss was caught. Might as well give the old decors some rest.

Siren tucked the matches away into her dress again, and felt her way to the back door, where a bright red EXIT sign illuminated the backstage safety exit. Out of the frying pan, and into the freezer. It was winter time on Waokin, and the flimsy sequin dress (Horribly out of date, meant to match the old 1800's feel of the place, but more of an old western saloon get up, not that many non-humans cared about the difference. Siren hadn't minded though, she rather liked old costumes) did nothing to protect against the cold of the night. She ripped off the feather clip holding her hair in a neat tail and tossed it into the nearby trash can, enjoying some futile warmth; at least her hair covered her ears.

"White swan, mission accomplished, heading to the rendezvous point, coordinates lateral 50 north, longitudinal 30 west. Map coordinates in your Contact-Com if you need. Meet you there in 20." she said, pressing one hand against her ear, opening the recording channel in the Communicator. She didn't need the coordinates herself, she'd programmed them into the ships navigation system herself, part of her job as navigator. Trusting both the ship and ground units had gotten her message, she hiked up her dress and hurried along the alley way, to the rendezvous point, keeping out of sight of passersby.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:04 pm

"Ah...I see you all have had no problem then, as usual." A voice would ring over all their Communicators. From his captains chair, Alastor could see current feedback from each ones Eye-Com. "Once you're all back, we're going to head for the Federation Station to collect on this bounty, and then I've got a lead for Starnz...I'll brief you more on the way. Looks to be an...interesting one."

"More wine sir?" A kitchen girl with honey-glazed eyes walked over, holding a small pot of tea, a bottle of wine, and a pile of cakes on a platter. As usual, Alastor was splayed out on his chair, long cloak swept behind his official tunic, which he preffered not to wear, but the more dignified the better, he supposed.

"Hm...please? Thank you Marie." he nodded, amused as the girl giggled and skittered away, probably off to tell her kitchen friends he knew her name. Why wasn't Alastor Nightwing, proud Captain, down on the ground with his crew? The simplest answer would be, they didn't need him. He was quite confident in their abilities. On the otherhand, it was unneeded stress, which may contriube to the growth of the wyrm lying in wait within. He would give it nothing. With a small smirk, he took another sip of the wine, lying in wait for his crew to return.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:12 pm

He watched Claire tag and grab the body.

That was his cue to get the hell out. He strapped the rifle to his back and hopped off the balcony for there was no time for stairs. He landed on the shoulders of a man, lightening the landing. With a grin, Donovan stood up and whipped out his pistol, and pointed to the left. BANG! To the right BANG! The stationed guards fell to the ground. One with a wound to the heart, the other now nicknamed cyclops.

He let out small laughter as he plugged a one or two more people before reaching Claire. "Can you carry him?" he asked, firing at the last of the guards that were slowly coming out of their forced daze. "Fuckin' tazer gets weaker and weaker as the years go on." he flicks his wrist, as the six empty shells hit the ground and he pops six more in.

He grinned, spinning the chamber and fires one last time.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:40 pm

"Hmm, she sure does look strange running in that..." he said as he emerged from the shadows outside. He holstered his gun and gritted his teeth and changed into his normal form. Afterward he jumped up and clawed up the side of the building to the roof, he started running after Siren. "Might as well follow the person who knows where to go."

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:06 pm

Claire looked at Donny. "I don't need any help," she said as she carried the body out the doors. Thankfully their target was a rather petite man, otherwise she would have let him help. She hated asking for help, especialy from a male. She headed off toward the rendezvous point.

"Let's go."

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:41 pm

He shot a look at Claire and rolled his eyes. For a new "comrade" she had quite a tongue behind those lips. He holstered his weapon and ran ahead, clearing a path to the door. Surely one of the others would handle her, so he made his way back to the ship without a second thought.

As he made is way to the rendezvous point, he saw Siren and caught a glimpse of Raiz not far off.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 3:31 pm

Distant flickers of star light through the near orbital position of the ship's window bounced off the fine constrast of Nostromo's eyes, who for themselves hung lazily parted over lips pushing the stem of a small alien mint flower between them. He rested in his favorite chair, the kind he only reluctantly gave up for anything but the most important assignments, like the very one he was about to do.

"Hey kid, its about time you get down there," the voice of the captain rang out over the speakers, jolting the ever passive features of the Yunra warrior to jump out of his cabin and make his way to the N.O.D.S (Near Orbital Drop Ship) port hatch, or the Kāmao, at least as far as what Nostromo calls it. "Some tea before you leave?" he would hear a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Heh, maybe when I get back!" he answered before closing the hatch and loading the on board computer system into its active stage, engaging all disengaging operations before he could drop out of the ships belly and fire up the rear thrusters. Many would likely have opted to scanning and plotting their flight plan unto the planet, most likely so for the difference in conditions that every planets environments held, making each so resoundingly different from the next. But nothing seemed to worry Sparky beyond a little visual inhibition, making him abandon the purely visual screen for a more infra-engaged computerized scan.

"Kāmao to White Swan, received your coordinates! Thanks a bunch! ETA in 2:35, dont turn into popcicles before I get there!" he would remark, pushing down through the cloud cover and into the sight below, seeing the idiocy of some ingenious non-geniuses who decided to try and stop his descend, allowing him to send the dropship into some more artistic evasive maneuvers, pushing a button that engaged a series of distorting emp clouds beyond the wake of the dropship, causing most of his pursuers to crash into the scenery below.

Soon he would be able to rest the dropship down at the planned coordinates, opening the port hatch and making things ready for immediate departure into the skies, readying the ships cloak now that he was sure the energy reserves would suffice to carry them back aboard with complete cover engaged, "Alright people, lets get off this rock!" he called out on all ground channels, putting on some nice enjoyable heavy metal while he waited.

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Siren checked her watch. 5 minutes to pick up. She glanced skyward, to the top of the building where the drop ship would be landing. It was at least 7 stories tall, and wall the other may be able to climb it...well...let's just say if she tried the stunt in a dress and heels it would kill her. When she'd placed the pick up location on top of this building she'd figured they'd have more time to get up the stairs, but now that didn't seem too plausible either. A shadow glanced quickly over the wall, and Siren turned around, expecting to see something, someone, but no, just the night. Must be her nerves.

"Well...we can scale it quickly with the plasma grapple, but....would it be possible for one of you two to carry me?" She asked Raiz and Donovan as they waited, rubbing her arm uncomfortably for the request. She knew that physically she didn't have the stamina of any of the other crew members, and even a scale up would be difficult for her. She had her strengths and weaknesses, and yet still, it was embarrassing to not be able to do some things that the others did with ease. She wondered, sometimes if they viewed her as a weakling. Afterall, unlike some of them, Siren didn't have the glint in her eyes, the spark of life that meant death to those who would dare cross it. Like a sheep among wolves, or so they said.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:51 pm

He knew he wasn't the strongest of the two men currently at Siren's request, but knew that when it came right down to it, if they were attacked it would be much easier for wolf boy to defend them then it would be for Donovan to try and hold on one handed and fire at them. What if he had to reload? No, it definitely wouldn't work.

He stepped forward and unstrapped the rifle from his back, offering it to Siren. He then kneeled down, back to her, so she could climb on easier. It wasn't the most graceful way of carrying a lady, but it was the most efficient for the circumstances.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:04 pm

He saw Donovan move forward and offer his back to Siren, he would rather take them both up at the same time but he wasn't going to voice his thought, instead he offered his left arm, "when shes on, jump on my arm ill throw you up and cover you both. Then follow." he said as he kept his ears and eyes focused on everything he could.

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Siren nodded calmly before positioning herself piggy-back style on Donovan's back. "You should wait for Claire first Raiz, she has the mark. You'll have to help her up too more than likely." she gave him a small nod, before turning around, hanging tight to the back of Donovan's trench coat. Scaling never was her most favorite thing in the world. "Captain better be cutting us double for this kind of work..." she said, half joking.

Within Nexus there was no cut of the bounty, but each member had a card connected to the ships bank data base, each with a separate pin number. They could buy what they pleased when they stopped on planets (within reason) and it would be processed through the Nexus account. If one wanted actual money (Which was uncommon, as cards were an easier way to carry items around), they could visit the NTM located within the ship, similar to an ATM. Because Nexus employed roughly 50 people, this was the easiest way to handle funding. If someone was found to be spending insane amounts, the database recognized it instantly and terminated the account.

((Just so you know how the money system works ;3))

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:00 pm

He almost smiled, "I was hoping on getting away and sleeping, but sure ill wait for Claire." he said and padded off into the shadows of a building, "Don't drop her Don, ill hurt you if you do." he joked, his voice sounded from the shadows around them.

He waited and watched making sure to stay vigilant but he was a lazy person at heart, his body cried for sleep "Come on Claire i want sleep" he thought

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:04 pm

He ignored wolf boy's threats. "Just aim well jackass..." he rolled his eyes and got into position. He crouched, so amidst the throw, he pushed off his arm with a mighty jump, allowing him to land well up on the third fourth floor fire escape. He then put his hands under Siren's backside to hold her up and sprinted up the stairs.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:15 pm

Claire aproached Raiz. She dropped the man roughly onto the ground, and lossned up her shoulders a bit before pickign the body back up. The target was alot more awkward to carry than she thought, which slowed her down slightly, but now she had an easy way up.

"Okay, I'm here now, let's get going McGruff."

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:24 pm

He raised a eyebrow at Claire, "McGruff? is that how she sees me?" he thought in disappointment "Ide Rather not be McGruff" he said to himself and picked up both Claire and the unconscious man with his left arm.

He let his legs push him up part way then dug his other hand into the building, using his free hand and legs he climbed up and over the edge. He put down Claire and the mark then stood up to his full height and took a deep breath letting the night sky and breeze fill him.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:27 pm

He was out of breath by the time they got to the top. Arriving a bit before Raiz and Claire. He let Siren done, controlling his breath as to not show weakness.

He was tired, but Donovan was too proud to let anyone help and let anyone know that he might need it. He stepped just out of ear shot of the group and took in a few heavy breaths as he peered over the city.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:34 pm

He laid there in his quarters, just waiting for the rest to return. Emmerich had decided that being a swordsman, he would have no place in this sort of roundup. But he didn't let that worry him, because after all when its his turn, he will be victorious.

Just then, he felt the hum of the ship on his wings. And as he headed to join the captain for the crews arrival, he thought to himself, "Are they done already? But it has only been a couple hours. I hope everything went right."

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Siren let out a relieved sigh as they reached the top of the building. She'd never liked tall buildings, and especially not scaling them. She shifted her eyes towards Donovan. Although he liked to put up a tough front, she could tell he was winded. Her first most thought was "...I'm that heavy?!", but she quickly pushed it away, giving a concerned look.

"Are you alright? You weren't hurt in the skirmish were you?" Although she wasn't a master medic, she had some experience treating wounds, and it was the least she could do for her lack of experience in combat. "And...it's too cold out here to be that hard on your lungs. I apologize for burdening you."

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:40 pm

"I'm fine" he snapped. Not out of anger, but embarrassment. He felt bad instantly for snapping at her and sighed.

"Don't concern yourself with me....I will be fine." he said quietly, almost as if he was uncomfortable speaking with her. After a moment of silence he looked at her. "uh...compliments on your singing by the way..." he moved the attention away from his condition.

Subject: Re: Chapter 1 - Outbreak Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:49 pm

Alastor turned his eyes to Emmerich as he entered the room. He couldn't suppress a small laugh. "Is everything alright? This is the Nexus you're talking about. We have a capture ratio of 100%. I'm sure you have some idea what makes this possible? It's more than luck." he stood up, pushing his cloak to one side, pointing towards the monitor where several screens displayed the feedback from the Eye-Cams of the ground unit. "it's a balance of inherent talent and honed skills. Fine bounty hunters are like scarred gems. Few can see the potential behind the flaw, but I...let's just say I see beyond your surface. Only the best of the best make it in this world, you see, and my inherent talent is to find those who have the drive."

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Siren was a bit taken back by his compliment to her singing. "O-oh! Really? I'm glad you enjoy it, it's about the only thing I can do for us." she flashed a quick, awkward smile. It did make her feel a bit better about Donovan that he did have a more sensitive side, small as it was. Even more so that he'd compliment her, that was a first!

"Hm..." Siren glanced around at the other Nexus members, then at their target, lying motionless on the ground. "I hope Nost arrives soon....it's so cold, and there is no telling when he may wake up..." Not that she wasn't confident that anyone here could simply knock him out again just as swift as the first time.

((Siren +2 affinity for Donovan))

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