Spirit Operations Unit Leviathan (L3 | Open | SF/Fantasy)

[explodingstaples]

Nathaniel was moving quickly, but he didn't look as if he should be. The bags under his eyes showed the evidence of his sleep deprivation, the baggy clothing showed the signs of his under eating. Yet, he was still strong and fully aware of himself. Nathaniel entered the garage behind Richard, eying the man uneasily. There were some pretty nasty rumors floating around about this one. First and foremost that he could drive people insane just by looking at them or by a touch. The thought made Nathaniel squirm a bit. He knew he wasn't exactly the picture of perfect mental health in any way, but he wasn't crazy. The thought of not being able to control himself bothered him. The gaunt man stood up to his full height for six feet and two inches, making him appear even thinner. He wasn't exactly wearing protective clothing. Torn jeans, a large jacket, and a black t shirt wouldn't protect him from much beyond skinning his elbows, but Nathaniel couldn't bring himself to care. He hadn't dressed himself in uniform mainly due to the fact that the fabric made him uncomfortable. He would have to start doing that, too.

Nathaniel sighed and pulled a 10mm round out of one of the magazines he had shoved in his pockets and moved it around in his hand. It was a nervous tic of his. He moved coins, pebbles, and other small objects around between his fingers whenever he wasn't doing something with his hands. He even tapped his pen against tables and clipboards when he spoke to the psychiatrist or filled out paperwork regarding unsanctioned kills. It annoyed the office workers endlessly. The man looked around the garage, bouncing the bullet up and down on his hand, smacking back and forth between his palms. He sighed, not paying any attention to what he was doing with his hands. He was hardly even aware of it.  

[SiberDrac]

Strings stumbled from his seat and was thrown forward, inadvertently landing on his instrument case. While he was not accustomed to such things, the case blessedly was, and carried him safely for a few dozen yards before it finally flipped and landed on top of him, both bodies grinding to a halt. One scratched hand fished the MP5 out of his jacket, tucked it against his side, and began unloading at the oncoming knight's groin and knees. This was not intended to hurt, really, but more to attempt to put the thing off balance or at the very least slow it down slightly. Enough for Uso to get in its way.

His other hand went through the practiced movements of unhinging his case, but he didn't open it; instead, he sat on it, now using both paw-like hands to aim, and waited to see how the young punk and the phantom would interact. There were few thoughts flitting through his mind. Mostly, he was wondering if it was worth even getting the instrument out.  

[Venom3001]

Location: San Lazaro Streets

The phantom rushed forward and swung horizontally at Uso from the edge of its rather substantial reach; Uso ducked under and dashed in. The phantom, seeking to maintain the distance and seeing Uso go low, allowed the sword to continue its arc and spun, its body thrown by the weapon's weight, into a low kick. Uso's fist hardened. His reflexes were good enough not to take that hit.

He jumped over the phantom's kick. Before the phantom could execute another maneuver, Uso's fist slammed into its head. He felt the impact with the unyielding metal of the helmet all the way through his arm and up to his shoulder, but the phantom had gotten the worse end of the bargain. It was thrown to the ground, and hard. Uso followed it to the ground, grabbing for the helmet to rip it off, only to find the helmet didn't seem okay with this plan: he might as well have been trying to rip off its head.

Before he could consider the relative merits and difficulties of attempting to rip off its head, its left hand grabbed Jake's right and threw him to the side. As Jake rolled to his feet, the phantom stood again and stepped forward, bringing its blade in a slash from its left shoulder to its right hip.

Location: San Lazaro SOUL Garage
"Team Seven? Good to have you," a short and fit black man with a shaved head called out as they entered the gray vault that was the garage. "I'm Damien. I head up your on-site support. There'll be time for proper introductions and thanks later. Follow me," he ordered, all business. "Your ride is on the lift already." En route, he distributed their headsets.

Like the transportation of those coming to the base, their ride was a Terradyne Armored Vehicles, Inc., GURKHA LAPV (Light Armored Patrol Vehicle). Unlike the unarmed ones that had been bringing their compatriots here, this one had a Mk 19 on the top.

"Don't argue too much over who gets to use the gun. We just need whatever is attacking them dead. Good luck, and I hope I'll see you all at the welcome back party."

"Someone else drives," Eamon reminded everyone as he opened the passenger door and climbed in.  

[umbraja]

"I'll drive" the doctor nearly purred as she stepped past the others, not certain she really trusted any of them to and not seeing anything else for her to really be of use with. She could observe them decently from behind the wheel and once to the location she would appreciate having someone at the ready for a fast retreat but wouldn't want to keep one of the actual soldiers out of the fight for it. The only sensible thing was for her to drive so she climbed into the driver's seat and flattened her skirt, adjusted the mirrors, seat, and wheel to fit her, making a proper check as she waited for the others to arm up and get in.  

[NativeForeigner]

Richard acknowledged Damien with a nod and climbed in behind the Mk 19. If they were indeed heading out to face a demon, his powers would be largely useless. It only seemed appropriate that he should have the biggest gun to maximize his usefulness.

He glanced around at his team, primarily to see if anyone was going to challenge him about the Mk 19. Richard noticed Nathaniel eying him uneasily, he must have heard some of the rumors. Richard brought his attention forward and smirked. He enjoyed having stories spread about his power, people usually left him alone once they knew what he could do to their minds and few people chose to argue with him over small matters.  

[SiberDrac]

Hm. Seemed the boy would, in fact, stay alive long enough for Strings to be useful. In movements that hadn't the finesse to be called graceful but were still much swifter and more efficient than they seemed, the wrinkled gangster was soon seated on the wreckage of his late transportation with the cello leaning against him, its polished sheen glimmering in the grim sun like a wicked, classy debutante against the man she escorted.

And he played her.

"Incoming," he growled, and ground out an impossibly deep hum from his instrument, that speared through the air as a flame that was almost alive in its movements. As Uso was thrown away, it flashed in and detonated against the Phantom.

For Strings, the sounds of everything faded away. People on the streets, if there were any; the clanking of metal on asphalt; the noisome fumes of the wreckage on which he sat; the grit of a city; all of it was gone. The only things were him, Jake, and this Phantom... and his bow, and his strings.  

[explodingstaples]

Nathaniel looked at Damien, his eyelids half shut in an expression of utter boredom. In actuality, Nathaniel made this face to hide the emptiness of his eyes. Like a dolls eyes. He placed the headset on as he walked toward the vehicle, glad that it wasn't overly cumbersome, but didn't turn it on just yet. As the LAPV came into view, Nathaniel didn't find himself overly impressed with or inclined to use the gun. He shrugged, "I don't want it." he said simply, jumping into the car and leaning against the door, pretending not to notice the little smirk that had formed on Richard's face. He began planning just how to take this demon down. Obviously, he would throw the bullets using his High Impact spell, but beyond that? He had no idea. He imagined killing the demon in more and more interesting ways. Nathaniel smiled a little, which was totally unlike him, at the thought of using his Implosion spell to crush the life out of this supposed demon.

Nathaniel caught the bullet he had been bouncing around and sighed. The emptiness inside of him was growing. It began to gnaw at him, pushing him to kill. The gaunt man clenched and unclenched his fists several times as he struggled to contain himself until they arrived to the scene. He was dangerously close to becoming a burn out in addition to being a junkie. For the moment, he could still control himself. In all honesty, he could probably force himself to go all day without making a kill and still be fine. He just didn't want to. It was uncomfortable. Nathaniel dug around in the breast pocket of his jacket and produced a bottle of his medication. The man shook two pills from the bottle and swallowed them dry, in order to keep him from giving in to the addiction before he absolutely had to. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. Slowly, the gnawing feeling of the addiction began to dull and recede. It was a relief. If he lost control, he could potentially go rogue in one of his addiction-fueled homicidal rampages and hurt a member of his team. That would be rather counter productive to him killing the demon.  

[umbraja]

Rachel observed the team silently as they piled into the vehicle.The interaction between Richard and Nathaniel was telling on both their parts. She'd not had the opportunity to meet Richard but had read and been intrigued by his file before. That he got some small pleasure from fearful recognition did not surprise her. It was valid, fear and pride on both parts. She was not afraid though, she was honestly surprised the powers that be were allowing -her- this close to the man, given the interest in dissecting his grey matter she'd shown in the past. His unique power just might hold the secret to curing the others, treating them at least.

Nathaniel she knew well from her drug trials, one of the few they seemed to help. She couldn't hide the slight, smug curl of her lips as she watched him pop a handful of her pills. Psychosomatic the other doctors claimed and all the hundreds of tests Rachel had run did nothing to refute that. Still, even if it was only in his head, the pills did help. For now. She hoped this would not be the mission to push him over the edge.

With a quiet sigh the doctor started the loud, sputtering engine of the armored vehicle and let it warm up while the boys got settled. Of course Niko was lagging behind, she frowned at the armory door and shook her head. He would be along soon now that the engine was started.  

[Ivaylo_Sai]

The sound of the engine starting reminded Niko that lingering in the armory could only last so long. Shouldering the large sniper rifle he'd been checking over and grabbing as much ammunition as he could carry, the man trotted out of the armory to clamber into their transport. He simply ignored the others as he settled into a seat for the ride. In his experience it was best not to pay too much attention to your comrades on the way to a fight. It was the team leader's job to know who did what how well and Niko was not the leader. He was just another piece of demon fodder and he knew it so he kept his eyes down and mind busy hoping no one would notice the dark, wolfish ears laid back in his hair, especially once they hit the street where gawking witnesses were sure to be staring.

Street encounters were always a hassle as they risked involving citizens who, if they managed not to get killed (a hassle in itself), had to be dealt with as witnesses and Niko's magic was not exactly subtle. He'd managed to survive years outside of SOUL by avoiding exactly this sort of situation so it never sat well with him to engage in public. He could only hope that someone had managed to get crowd control over the area by now, much more concerned about that than the very real prospect of dying. If he died at least that would be the end of this. If he killed another bystander or got photographed again he would have to do more paperwork, get another damn lecture about 'control and discretion' from the brass, and of course talk to the damned shrink about it. Speaking of which, what the hell is she doing here? Niko gave the doctor a sneering glare once he noticed her watching him from behind the steering wheel.  

[explodingstaples]

Nathaniel noticed the smirk on the doctor's face. She wasn't his therapist or his psychiatrist, but she was involved with the drug trials. She had helped him more than the medication and therapy had. The medication suppressed his aggressive tendencies, sure, but aggression wasn't his reason for killing. The therapy... Well, he had seriously considered the idea of losing his career to kill his therapist. His therapist refused to believe that he hadn't killed his family out of preexisting insanity rather than being driven by his Illumination. His therapist also seemed to think that he didn't regret slaughtering his entire family. Nathaniel found the man incredibly irritating and often requested to be given a different therapist. The requests were always denied. So, because he actually respected her as a doctor, Nathaniel nodded in greeting. Dr. Miles was familiar enough with him to know that the gesture carried a significant meaning in Nathaniel's eyes.

His respect for the doctor also resulted in him narrowing his eyes dangerously in Niko's direction. For somebody so emotionless and neutral to just about everything in life, Nathaniel was oddly protective of Rachel Miles. She was the only person in his life who legitimately cared about his mental well being. The man stared at Niko without blinking, his dead, empty eyes locked on the other man's temple. It would be so easy to just throw the bullet. So simple. But, the demon was his target, not Niko. Nathaniel continued to stare, knowing that his eyes and blank expression would unnerve just about anybody.  

[SirBayer]

Eamon was, unsurprisingly, hardly paying any attention to anything that wasn't outside the car. True, it was his responsibility to keep his assets in line, but it was also his responsibility to ensure his assets had good information, and right now the second responsibility was more important. The streets seemed clear, other than various expected civilian traffic, but Eamon kept his head on the swivel, trying to keep focused and failing mostly.

"Any idea how far out we are?" he asked Rachel, shifting uncomfortably. They needed to get feet on the ground. That always made things simpler. Then it was do or die, and that was something Eamon could live with.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Uso had always had an advantage in the underground- obviously- but more than that he was actually quite a talented fighter despite his lacking experience. Among one of his notable traits was knowing when to make a tactical retreat. When the Black Phantom followed up, Jake knew it was time to give him some space and threw himself onto his back. What followed was a maneuver that martial artists practiced to train their reflexes during a fall. He tucked his chin to his chest, and as his spine struck pavement so did both his hands. It transferred most of his moment into his arms and left his hands feeling tingly. Now that he'd landed, he had to regain his footing and performed a backwards roll and came up on both legs, ready for round two.

Conveniently, it seemed Strings had finally taken to his namesake for this fight, and was playing something that sounded strangely familiar. He couldn't place it just yet, but he was willing to bet on it being Keenan of Tool fame or Marshall of Massive Attack fame. Few other artists could rival their love for bass that didn't go wub wub wub.  

[NativeForeigner]

While he waited for the vehicle to begin moving, Richard patiently inspected the Mk 19 and his own weapons to ensure that everything was in order. First, he ensured that the Mk 19 was correctly mounted and that the belts were properly fed, then he pulled the slide back on his Five-seveN to check for the round, and finally he loaded and inspected his Leviathan X6-S2. As expected, everything checked out. Richard was ready to go.  

[Venom3001]

Location: San Lazaro Streets

With each precise note Strings, immolated the invader, his music focusing his magic. The first few gouts of flame were direct hits, and appeared to be inflicting appropriate injuries. Nonetheless, the phantom seemed undaunted as it began circle-strafing, rolling every time Strings went for a blast. Silently, it dove behind an empty car. As the blast from Strings' fired struck the car, the phantom took cover.

Before a followup attack could be used, the phantom ran directly back into an alley and dashed, its sword strapped to its back, up a fire escape. As it ascended, it raised a fist, and every Illuminated in the area felt a lurching in their soul.

None of those present had fought something capable of doing what it just had. They simply felt - and resisted - an order to obey. Then they felt a sensation as though reality itself was beginning to roil.

The team deployed from base found their path surprisingly empty as they sped through the streets. They would arrive soon, no doubt.

Synchronization tracker active.
All subjects set to default: 05
> _  

[Ivaylo_Sai]

Most living things have a natural sense for when they're being watched, especially when they're being glared at. Niko's was particularly sensitive to the point of being paranoid. So when Nathaniel glared at him with thoughts of violence it did not go unnoticed. A fuzzy ear twitched in the man's direction and golden eyes soon followed. Niko arched a brow subtly at the empty stare but was not unnerved by it, no more than Nathaniel was bothered by the wolfish gold of his. SOUL agents were just used to that sort of thing and Niko knew there was no threat from this boy. He'd done nothing to provoke violence and if any was tried it would mean a swift end to the boy's existence. Even if he managed to take Niko out the others in the car wouldn't tolerate the sudden outburst. Niko knew this from experience as he'd nearly been put down on more than one occasion for just that. The only reason he was still alive was that he'd never severely injured another agent - at least not unprovoked.

This one may not agree a cold voice purred in the back of Niko's mind, Look closer. Niko's jaw clenched as he didn't ignore the voice this time. Only then did he truly look at the boy, only then did he recognize Nathaniel. Niko's upper lip twitched at the recognition, almost exposed sharp teeth for it but he kept it down to just a sneer with only a quiet rumble of growl deep in his throat. The doc's tin soldier. She must have requested him specifically, thinking he would protect her. They didn't usually put the delusional b*****d with a team. He didn't get along well with others, with reality in general. Niko almost broke his stare with Nathaniel to give the doctor another glare but some primal, competitive instinct had determined he would not be the first to look away. She is going to get us all killed that cold voice laughed in the back of Niko's head and he didn't argue against it.