Brotherhood of the Machine (IC Thread) [PG/14] {02}

[Tapewolf]

"We're on a construction site," Dorcan pointed out.  "Since we're going to blow up the tower, I doubt the Brothers really mind if we borrow some plant machinery and load this up onto one of their HGVs."

"Anyway.  Someone should investigate the stranger.  Want me to go?"

[Lisky]

Getting nervous, impatient, and with a growing sense of concern, Darkshine stretched his left leg out and retrieving the high caliber pistol from the hidden compartment in the calf plate. Doing his best to line up the shot despite the cuffs, he drew a bead on the door, and slowed his breathing... whoever comes through that door is never going to be expecting this he thought, while letting out a wolfish grin

[Arcalane]

Exo and Mackenzie finish up on the ground floor, and start moving up to meet the others. [We've found the sites for the charges and are making our way upstairs now. So far, things look clear. No other survivors in sight. Exo out.]

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Jathon and Mitchell have left for HQ with their "patient".  Dr Sally and the rebel's backup crew have just arrived at base camp.

PBH

[Azlan]

Morgan shook his head at Dorcan's question, "no, we should hold position for now.  I will inquire with Exo and see if they can investigate the disturbance.  There should not be anyone here who is not Brotherhood, so it is likely nothing or perhaps a hidden Zealot."

Switching to the comm frequency, Morgan sent to Exo, there appears to be some type of disturbance that could be a person a deck or two below us.  There should not be any civvies here, so I would recommend lighting the area up and asking questions later, but who knows what it may be.  If you are going to start sweeping the next floor up from ground level than I can send Dorcan or go myself at your discretion.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx was still wandering around the Tower.
   He had gone off to look for any armories or usable supplies, but with the lack of success he gradually forgot about that and just wandered aimlessly.
   As he traversed the endless hallways, rooms, stairs, and lifts, the environment nagged in the back of his head. Half-finished and deserted though it was, the basic architecture was almost...familiar. And it didn't have anything to do with the one time he had tried to get into a Tower on his own, either.
   Going down yet another corridor, he got bored enough to bring up his handcannons. Lazily, he shot his plasma balls in random patterns along one wall, the distinctive sound of his handcannons echoing down the corridor and through any adjacent rooms. Eventually, he got bored of this as well and turned to continue on, but saw another door on the opposite wall. He strode over to it, grasped the handle, and pulled. It didn't move. Frowning, he jerked the handle a few more times, rattling it and the door.
   Frustrated, he took a step back and brough his handcannons up again. He spit a concentrated volley at the handle, melting it into oblivion and and turning the area red-hot. He backed up again, then charged forward with a (relatively) small burst of a yell. He jumped up, metal feet first, in a flying dropkick.
   With a metal CRASH!, the door was busted off its hinges, and Jexx came crashing down on top of it.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Jexx, Report, Jexx where are you?" comes a questioning Female voice over the team comm link.  "This is Dr Sally.  Please come in Jexx"...

PBH

[Tapewolf]

"Oh gods," Dorcan said.  "That was Jexx, wasn't it?"  He could still hear the crash reverberating in the pipework.

"What happens if it's a contractor or someone and he gets killed?  That would make some nice propaganda for the Brothers, wouldn't it?"

[Azlan]

Morgan made a slight 'grrr' noise and shook his head, "yes, yes it would.  Not that blowing up the tower is going to do much worse if they know how to spin doctor that."

Morgan projected into the comm, Jexx report, what the hells are you doing out there?

[Lisky]

Not really sure what to make of the situation, darkshine used all his self control not to fire... He lined his shot up on the center mass of the newcomer and spoke in a slightly shaky voice "who the hell are you?!"  regaining a little composure and confidence " Wait... before you answer that, hands behind your head, NOW!"

[techmaster-glitch]

   As Jexx was lying on the fallen door, he shook his head a little as the stars settled. He was vaguely aware of multiple voices in his head. As his eyes focused, he was more aware of a man tied to a desk on the other side of the room, and somehow pointing a gun at him.
   Jexx heard what the man said, but either it didn't register or he plain ignored it. Without getting up, he drew his metal legs and feet up to cover his body, and laid his handcannons on either side. Now he was in sort of a kneeling position on his back, and the man could see nothing but Jexx's metal parts, plus two ominous red glows from the barrels of his handcannons. The was no possible good shot the man could take, and Jexx needed only to randomly saturate the area with plasma to barbecue him.
   Almost snarling, Jexx called "You don't look like Brotherhood, but all the same, I don't like little guns being pointed at me. Throw it away and I won't fry you where you...sit." Jexx's words were (unknowingly, at the moment) transmitted from his microcomm to all the rest of the team.

[Lisky]

"the hell... you think i'm brotherhood?!, if you assholes would have waited another 20 minutes i wouldn't be stuck here right now..."  Darkshine lowered his pistol, and started talking a little more calmly "ok, look, i don't know who you are, or what you want, but here's everything i know... people who know me call me Darkshine... and what happened, i got hired by a company the brotherhood screwed over... to send a message, they had me take out the paper pusher who originally employed them... he was here tonight. I came in through the roof about 10 minutes before you blew the gate.  I was lining my shot up when that siren came on... i panicked, dropped him and his bodyguards before they knew what was happening... Go up 3 floors, and check the nearly completed office, my target took a round, square in the back of his head, he had 2 bodyguards, one took a shot in the base of the neck, the other i emptied the rest of the clip into his back and side, as he started to turn"
he paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts " after that, i tried sliding out through the front gate, thinking that no one would really suspect anything, the last thing i remember is a flaring pain in the back of my head, and then waking up here... most of my equipment is sitting in that cubicle over there" gesturing with his should towards the bag on the desk... "but, i've got a few nasty surprises i keep hidden... just in case" he finished with a smile

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx was unusually still for a moment. The glow from his handcannons went out, and he slowly climbed to his feet, unthreatening and arms hanging by his side. When he stood, he was looking at the man like he was the craziest thing he had ever seen. Darkshine could now clearly see Jexx, wearing only black shorts, unusual red markings on his torso, and a Superbunny T-shirt around his head like a bandanna. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but I know that no Brotherhood bastard talks that much. Damn." Again, Jexx's words were transmitted without him realizing.
   Jexx continued looking strangely at the stranger before finally remembering the rest of the team. Remembering the microcomm on his tooth (but not that it had been on), he started to, seemingly to Darkshine, talk to himself.
   "Hey guys? Guys? I found some wierdo tied up in a room down here. What do you want me ta do with him?"

[Tapewolf]

"Disarm him and bring him in for questioning sounds like a reasonable first step," Dorcan said.  "Though at the end of the day it's up to Exo or Morgan to decide."

Experimentally, he banged the pipe a few more times to see if there was anyone else.

[Azlan]

Morgan 'barked' into the comm, Jexx if you are actually listening for once, do not do anything with him at all until we get there.  Morgan resumed a normal tone, If he even passes gas, hose him down with your cannons until he is a crispy.  He is not working for us, so that leaves very few options and none of them are Truth, Justice and snuggling puppies.  We will be rendezvousing at your location.

Morgan gestured to Dorcan and the other two rebellion soldiers to follow, "come on then lads, the generator is not going anywhere.  Dorcan with me, the two of you bring up the rear."

Morgan moved forward, gun out and pointed in the direction he moved, as they navigated the halls and stairs.  He and the two other soldiers moved with proper coverage and sweeps, making the trip a bit longer, but they didn't miss anything and kept good cover.  Eventually they arrived, Morgan sincerely hoped that Jexx had not been required to vaporize the captive.

"Oi, Jexx, sitrep... situation report... please.  What is going on?"

Edit: removed contractions.  I was so tired when I posted this, I forgot to keep it in theme... he will only use them when "in disguise" or when excited/hyper/injured/or in altered mental states.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx listened for a moment as Dorcan spoke to him. He nodded and took a slight step toward the captive, but then Morgan's voice blasted over the comm. Jexx initially bristled at the commanding voice, but what Morgan said next brought a bit of a smile to Jexx's face.
   Jexx held up his handcannons, barrels glowing. "Guess what? One of the guys I'm hanging out with says I can fry you if you move before he gets here. Do that, please?"
   Of course, Jexx's request went unheeded, and before long, Morgan and Dorcan arrived.
   At Morga's query, Jexx replied "Nothing much. Just found this sap all tied up here."

[Tapewolf]

"So the Brothers tied him up?  That's very interesting.  I've never really believed the old line about 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend', but still..."  Dorcan pondered, and glanced at the stranger, who appeared to be some kind of feline.

"So... if you're working against the Brotherhood, how come you're all tied up?  The first thing they did to me was put a gun to my head.  If they'd do that to someone who is unarmed and hasn't done anything, shouldn't they have made a hole in yours?"

[Lisky]

"to be honest, i think they wanted me alive to go after my employers... either that or they were planning something else for me, and needed me alive for whatever it is they were planning" he paused for a second to observe the people around him "but as for the unarmed bit, your highly mistaken, my gear is in that bag on the desk over there" gesturing towards the bag with his shoulder... "and as i was telling my new friend here" nodding towards jexx "i've got a few nasty surprises still with me..."  darkshine took a deep breath, looking back at the team and leaning against the wall "alright, so are we just gonna sit around here chitchatting, or are you guys gonna at least get these cuffs off... i've got a nasty cramp in my neck and it's starting to piss me off"

[Azlan]

"I will have to agree with Dorcan, that old adage rarely is very dependable.  Here is the deal, since asking you to reveal your nasty surprises will not likely result in much more than a fake out from you, in order to release you, you will have to exit the armour.  We will take your equipment and you with us to headquarters, you can discuss things with the person in charge and then that is that."  Morgan shrugged slyly, "you will get your stuff back once we reach base, once cleared that is.  And, no, you will not be given a weapon while we are here... I do hope you understand, you would not trust me if our roles were reversed, not that you do anyways."

Morgan narrowed his eyes, "first things first, what do they call you?"

[Lisky]

"They call me darkshine" he said in a low voice "and under present circumstances i guess i'll have to play along with your game" he said, "but one thing, i'll need the cuffs off to remove the armor, the primary pins holding this suit together are hidden in the shoulders, and i can't really reach them at the moment" he paused, and smiled evilly "oh, and i wouldn't recommend trying to pull them yourself, a couple megawatts of power is flowing through them at the moment, just a safety precaution, but i doubt anyone would like to feel that burn..."

[Tapewolf]

"There is another way," Dorcan said sweetly.  "We could stun him and keep him stunned until we get back to base.  Insulated gloves of the sort linesmen use wouldn't be too hard for the Rebellion to procure, and then we could dismantle the whole suit at our leisure."

"Though personally I suspect he's exaggerating about that," the Doberman added.  "With that much power and that short a distance he'd be arcing from shoulder-to-shoulder.  Though a suit like that would be handy for fishing.  You'd just have to swim around a bit and they'd all float up to the surface."

[Lisky]

"look, we obviously don't trust each other, and you've got the upper hand at the moment" darkshine admitted with a sigh, "i see 2 options at the moment, you kill me here, or i come with you as a captive... i know you won't trust me when i say this, but all i've got left is a pair of blades, and this pistol, everything else is in that bag" 
"the only reason i had this pistol is because i've got hidden holsters in the plated boots in the armor, if you don't believe me about that, look just above the calf, where the plate is mounted into the mesh, just under the mesh is a latch... press it down, and you've got a holster and a pair of mags."
"And as for the blades..." he clenched his hands into fists, and extended the blades in each or the forearm plates  "if you think i've got something else go ahead and stun me, but right now, i'd rather not waste more time talking while the brotherhood, our enemy, is assembling a strike team to counter-attack, and retake this tower"
"if you want me out of the armor, you will need to get the cuffs off though..."

[Azlan]

"Darkshine, I have heard of a mercenary by that name.  Tended to only work for the highest bidder... no matter which side of the 'ethical' chart that might be.  Obviously I have never worked with him, so I could not say that this is the real one.  I have worked against the side employing Darkshine, and made quite the mess of his employers operations on occasion, though never when he was still operating with them.  Tell me, do you know of anyone calling themselves 'Fox'?  It might not be a poetic oxymoron like your name, but it does suffice for an operational callsign."

Morgan raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms, waiting and signifying that this 'test' was important to his decision making process.

[Tapewolf]

"How about we leave him trussed up, but cut the pipe out from under him?"  Dorcan suggested.

"You can sense electric fields or something, can't you, sir?" he hissed to Morgan.  "Are there any EHT sources of the kind he's describing?"

[Lisky]

darkshine gave a puzzled look for a moment, then his eyes light up as the memory hit him "you said Fox? Callsign seems familiar, i believe my unit was offered a contract to hunt him down, within a few hours of his escape actually, we turned it down...  and besides that, i've heard rumors that it was him who took out the twins, who in turn, owed me something around 40,000 for a couple of past jobs... but the latter is purely rumor" 
"i'm sure i've probably missed something, but right now i can't really focus, my head is killing me... Maybe that brotherhood bastard hit me harder than i thought" he said as he leaned back against the wall, trying to relax despite the discomfort caused by his shoulders

[Arcalane]

[Having fun, are we? Try not to make a mess of yourselves in a sec.] The 'bot chuckles, still en route.

After a few moments, the familiar and rhythmic noise of heavy, metal footsteps on metal flooring can be heard slowly approaches the small group, walking in a slow and measured fashion. When in position, towering just behind the group, Exo raises the plasma repeater slowly - which begins humming ominously - to aim at the 'neutral party' and booms, "INTRUDERS DETECTED: INITIATING PURGE SEQUENCE."

[Lisky]

"Look, i have no idea what the hell you want from me, but right now i'm your prisoner, and do you really want to stoop to their level, killing a prisoner?!"  "we've all got trust issues, sure, but i've got a question before you we do something that we'll all regret... do any of you have an ion weapon? the lighter the better, anything that has enough of a charge to disrupt a networked system will work"
he said with a look of horror on his face at the realization of what the metallic monstrosity behind the group was preparing

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan made a sound like a dog being trodden on and pressed himself against the nearest wall.

[Azlan]

Morgan sent his response to Dorcan about the suit's output over the mental comm, the suit has a reasonably high output power source, probably an advanced fusion cell... very bad idea in combat armor... but it is not extra high tension at those pins or anywhere else for that matter.  Such a ridiculous bluff.

Morgan was about the say something in response to Darkshine's response, but instead he throws himself against the side wall, "bloody hell!"

Over the comms Morgan sends to Dorcan yet again, Kah Dorcan, that sounded like someone was killing puppies. 

[Arcalane]

Exo laughs deeply, "Now imagine if I'd been an unfriendly." The 'bot chuckles and glances out into the hallway. "I didn't think you were the type to lower your guard, Morgan... you're getting lax."

It lowers the plasma repeater slightly, although it's still pointed at Darkshine, and glances at Dorcan and Morgan momentarily before settling it's gaze back on Darkshine. "What have we here? I didn't think the Brotherhood regarded taking prisoners as a high priority. I guess I missed that memo."