[B] Blood and Truth - Veritas/BMCBirhan

[endejester]

It would have been impossible for him not to be excited, impossible for him not to feel that needles and pins anticipation that crept through him at the thought that things were, in fact, in motion.

"Is everyone ready?" He murmured through the purple crystal, it was a politeness, a nod because it meant nothing, there was no time left -not- to be ready. He waited to hear the chorus of murmured replies half smothered by his hand as he slid it back into his pocket so that the dark glow would not give him away.

He paced like a predator, glancing down into the old warehouse that stood dockside. He had not spent time investigating its original purpose, he was interested in one thing above others, that it's roof had a long glass area that was used in the past to illuminate the floor far below. The windows now were either fogged, or broken, a handful boarded up but enough of them were cleared, or cleared away that he could make out what was happening below.

Below where a Civilian it seemed, played a game of cat and mouse with Wolframite.  

[and be blue]

Ilmenite was actually rather terrible at playing mouse. He had too much attitude; added to the foot of height he had on Wolframite, it almost [but only almost, thankfully] ruined the impression they were trying to give. He was an underfed civilian bundled up in way too many layers of clothing for this heat, being menaced up toward the broad, open expanse of wall. The other Captain's aura swallowed his own, disguising the fact that they were actually two.

"Mister, I dunno what you want, but I ain't got no money." Only those who actually knew Ilmenite [or Ever, perhaps] would pick up on the dry note to his voice. Only those close enough to look in his eyes would see the mostly-smothered glimmer of amusement. Was this too over the top? hopefully not, and fortunately senshi weren't particularly bright anyway.

His hands went up and Ilmenite shook his head quickly, fighting down the urge to make a kissy face at the other Captain. If he'd dared, he thought the ruse might have gone a little bit too real. "Just lemme go, please?"  

[MoonKitsune]

Wolframite was not an actor. He didn't like the spotlight, barely spoke, and didn't have a very high opinion of himself to go on gloating. He did, however, know how to play cat. He had done it plenty of times before, most more recently as he watched civlians and senshi alike wiggle and squirm under the threat of personal harm. He liked playing cat.

Maybe he liked it a bit too much.

As he followed the other captain, he almost wanted to roll his eyes. Mister? Were they in the 1950s now and was Ilmenitie seven? He knew twelve-year olds who had swore at him on the street. Very few children, let alone teenagers, said Mister. Still, he went with it, as best he could, and spun his slender blades from their connecting chain. Every once in a while he would throw the blades out, barely nicking the other boy and luckily doing no harm. All little ways to taught and hopefully lure out the actual prey.

"Oh, you have something that I want that is far more valuable than money." Wolframite said, trying to speak clearly and loudly but not be obvious about it. The fact that they were hunting for a group he was most interested in made him VERY SERIOUS about this current matter.

"But I'll be sure to let....most of you go when I'm done." To which he smiled, but glanced about for any energy signatures. He threw his blades at the wall at the side of the fake civilian. It was best he stayed close to the other boy to snuff out his signature as best as he could.  

[and be blue]

Oh, god help them both, how was Ilmenite supposed to keep a straight face under the force of those words? The temptation was strong to snicker, to wiggle his eyebrows meaningfully, retorts coming to mind. Any other time [and perhaps later tonight, for that matter] he would turn those words back around on Wolframite, make them out to mean something entirely different --

The urge was so strong he had to cover his face, throwing up both hands as if to protect himself but actually covering up the grin that spread across his mouth. At least the flinch was convincing, shrinking back against the wall, and the senshi wouldn't be able to see the fact that he finally caved to kissy-face at the other captain from between his fingers.  

[MoonKitsune]

While Ilmenite had broken his cover only slightly to make the face, Wolframite nearly broken character all together at the face he was given. He wasn't someone who was comfortable with such displays, even if they were playful, and he stopped cold in his tracks as his one eyes flared wide at what was looking back at him. This...This was a serious matter here and he was making fish lips at him! Not only was it embarrassing, but it was it REALLY hard to focus!! He was here for BMC blood and Ilmenite was going to ruin it all by horsing around and doing ...THAT stuff!


As unease shook off his shoulders, he narrowed his eye (was it twitching just a bit now?), and moved to take what little distance there was. A hard punch was thrown at the other teenager's head. It helped get him back into character and recover what moment of suspicious might happen if there were any onlookers. That and ..well...he did admit he did take a degree of pleasure from it. The punk deserved it. He was already nervous about this mission, already stressed how dangerous this all was, and Illmenite, the ONE guy he had to work with in this part of the act, had to be giving him weird faces. He didn't need to get flustered at a time like this!!!



"Oops." Wolframite said, shaking his hand a bit, his tone similar to someone who dumped your books into a puddle on purpose. If lmenite looked up, he would see Wolframite looking at down at him. "Sorry. Your face just makes me want to punch you." To anyone else, this was something that wouldn't be strange for a Negaverser playing around with a civilian would say, but Wolframite was also making a point to Ilmenite. No kissy face. EVER!

 

[endejester]

"Be nice." Came the sharp admonition over the purple crystals they used as 'Radios' A thin lipped snarl easily imagined accompanying it. Realistic was one thing... too much damage before the -real- show down started was quite another. "I don't need you two killing each other before..." He paused listening, had he felt someone close... was he being paranoid.

"Before things really happen." the words were quiet as he watched them from 'on high'... he liked this view, he could almost imagine...well, no time for that. He stepped back and glanced around scanning the roof tops of the city for hints that his bait might have lured the quarry he sought.  

[Lucifer Force]

Kallichore was nervous. She'd never been on an operation before and with the Court as fractured as it was, she didn't feel they had the numbers for anything large-scale. It was disappointing, but she wouldn't turn her back on the people that she volunteered to help. They were spread out around the city, combing it for their intended target. The super senshi was perched on a building, kneeling low to the ground so she could scan without being too conspicuous about it. Her fuku wasn't really designed for stealth. No doubt Zinkenite felt her before she felt him.

They hadn't seen each other since her awakening and she was lucky to get away with her life. At the time, she had no idea what it meant to battle a general and Zinkenite had showed her. This time though, she had some backup. After her brief scan revealed someone (or several someones, she couldn't tell) twinkling on the edge of her perception, she moved closer by hopping from rooftop to rooftop. She was hoping to get an exact location on the persons she felt. Nearing the signatures, she found a very old factory on the edge of town and paused. Somehow, this looked quite foreboding. Drawing ever closer, she thought she spotted the man in question.

Zinkenite.

It was hard to mistake him for anyone else - that coat, being as short as he was, made him look almost like a statue. He must've been the person she'd felt several minutes ago, with someone else next to him she didn't recognize. Kallichore held no doubts about whether or not they could feel her presence in return and she backed up, drawing out her cellphone to speak quietly and concisely.

"Target spotted. In addition, he seems to have someone else with him. Can't tell who they are or what power level. Wearing green and black. Please send backup immediately. I repeat..."  

[kalindara]

Currently patrolling a section or two over from Kallichore, Birhan froze when the call came through on her phone. Her heart pounded and she fought to keep her breathing even. This was it. The operation had begun.

"On my way," she said to the semi-open cellphone line. They'd managed to program in a group-specific call - something like an open radio broadcast that would only reach the phones of the designated operation members. "ETA: one minute."

Birhan couldn't hope that a General hadn't noticed Kallichore's super signature, especially one as detail-orientated as Zinkenite was rumoured to be. As she raced towards Kallichore's location, she just had to hope that the rumours were also true about Zinkenite being reluctant to fight others himself. Though that still left his black-and-green companion.

It was stupid, Birhan knew, there must be half a dozen black-and-green Negas out there. But there was one she was very familiar with, who immediately leapt to mind. Birhan's heartrate increased at the thought of Wolframite, unsure if she wanted it to be him or not.

It didn't matter, now she was there herself. Kallichore was in sight, and so were the Negaverse agents. Her breath escaped in a hiss through clenched teeth. She raised the cellphone to her mouth.

"Second Nega is Wolframite. Repeat, Captain Wolframite on the scene." She paused. "He has a civilian."

Wolframite was between Birhan and the young man, so she didn't have a good view of him. Wolframite's actions were familiar enough to those who'd seen starseed or energy removal in action, though.

"I'm going for Wolframite," she announced over the phones. "Kallichore, get the civilian away while I distract him. Sirius, you're with me when you get here. Gunn, your firepower and experience will be the best we have against the General."

And hopefully if things got too tough for Gunn, Albali would be more willing to step in for someone who hadn't challenged any of Ares' decisions. Birhan had no hope that Albali would move to assist Birhan, if she were in trouble.

Birhan had no time to waste waiting for the others to arrive. Hopefully Zink would leave the fighting to Wolframite, at least until the other senshi arrived. Birhan dashed towards the black-and-green-clad Captain.

"Hello again," she said with a malicious smile. "How's the eye doing?"

Step one, get his attention on her rather than on the civilian. She didn't think she'd have too much trouble, given their history.  

[A Wandering Esper]

This had taken a lot of preparation. He'd powered up, then managed to bandage his chest again, looping cream colored strands that were unfortunately light enough to be all too easily noticeable, but were all he had. With Zinkenite's help, it hadn't taken too long. It made sense that the general would know how to bind wounds to a small degree. The bandages and the bodysuit were doing a good job of keeping everything compressed, and the energy he'd taken on the way was enough to dull the pain to a barely noticeable tang as he moved, even as it was consumed to hasten his healing. It also made him fidgety. It was hard to stay still when basically loaded on energy that wasn't yours, and he'd nearly fallen from his perch a few times already.

A normal human with a week-old broken rib certainly wouldn't be there, but Alunite was. He wasn't sure if Fluorite knew he was still part of this operation - he kind of hoped she wasn't aware, because she was probably shitting bricks.

He was also kind of hoping that Painite didn't know, either.

He had his orders, and those orders were very clear. Fight only in self-defense. Call for backup at the faintest signs of trouble. Try to stay in the General's sight as much as humanly possible. And he had no intention to disobey.

Zinkenite seemed to take his safety as his responsibility... But he couldn't help feeling like a burden.

It was a good thing he wasn't the only corrupted senshi posted on site. It would, hopefully, help muddle his precise location a bit.

He was hidden in a small nook, at about the same height than Zinkenite was, but three buildings to the left. A flick of the hand summoned his own crystal.

"Super senshi to the left. I see her. Thorn red and white fuku." He saw no need to point out Birhan at all.

"Im feeling other auras, but I can't see them clearly yet."

((Just don't kill him, guys ! S'all I ask. He will defend himself, but will probably try to keep close to someone else at all times. Feel free to ******** him. Hi Lu << ))  

[endejester]

He shifted his stance, casting about more clearly to see if he could see the energies he was feeling. Nothing that felt powerful enough to be Ares thank god... or even Scylla... his lips tightened at the thought though that he had not lured -them- out in all this. Still, what was the hold up!? Why weren't they... he glanced over the rooftops toward the general areas he felt them.

"... I think... we have them on the line folks." He bit back the fact he was starting to get the creeping suspicion that it wasn't Wolfram they were 'looking' for if they hadn't moved in.

He glanced down and saw red and white moving in on Wolfram and his eyes danced slightly. At least someone was interested in the 'bait'.
"Hello there... blood moon court 'Birhan'. He pulled his crystals as a primitive...rolling them between his fingers with a delicate touch. He gave a mocking bow towards the energy signatures he felt, as though he were assured that eyes were on him, and then gave a conspicuous almost inviting glance downward into the building where Wolfram his...'victim' and Birhan were otherwise occupied.

"Hold back...just a little people, I don't want anyone teleporting in before we're ready...just the basics for now." He murmured into the crystal.  

[Lucifer Force]

(( o rly u say, Zero~ Does you have AIM? wink Ping me if you do - Syriune ))

Kallichore understood the order coming from Birhan and her eyes darted around, looking for the civilian. He was backed up against the wall by the one Birhan identified as Wolframite, a captain. Alright, she was as powerful as a captain, or so she was told. An order was an order though, but she doubted she could get past Zinkenite without being gassed. Dropping to the ground, she noted that the general had his gas crystals out already and shook her head. Here goes nothing...

She took off in a sprint as soon as she saw Birhan closing in on Wolframite. They were exchanging words at that time, giving Kallichore an opening to dart towards the man against the wall. He was much taller than Wolframite (jeez, were all Negas this short?) and Kallichore wondered how a Captain could take on a civilian given their height difference. Negas have powers, just like we do. And weaponry. she reminded herself. Kallichore tried to keep low to the ground and move as quickly as she could, always keeping an eye out for those damned tear gas crystals. She had long sleeves to cover her face, but she doubted that would help her eyes.  

[and be blue]

Ilmenite's head still ringing from the blow, he might have responded to Wolframite's mockery except for the familiar mutter of Zink's voice over the line: shockingly placating, soothing. Comfortably familiar. The fact that it made Ilmenite relax and bite his tongue was <******** terrifying.

It also probably saved the ploy.

It meant he was still wincing against the wall as the senshi approached, his head tucked down under his hand, cringing and playing properly terrified civilian. He watched them from between his fingers, shoulders tense, and hoped that the bulk of his clothing would be passed off on it fitting poorly, not a secret disguise.  

[shibrogane]

Gunn settled herself on a rooftop, feet dangling over the edge. Last time she participated in something like this, it'd been much more… straightforward. Less waiting, really, and just altogether more satisfactory. She didn't think that she'd be doing this if she didn't want to continue to present a united front of the Inner Sanctum… or if she wanted anything less than Zinkenite's head on a platter. He humiliated her with that fire extinguisher trick, and she didn't want to see that happen again. Not to her, anyway. Birhan would probably benefit from a reminder that Negaversers didn't play very fair.

At Kallichore's request for backup, heard through the phone dangling at Gunn's fingers, she dropped. It was only two stories, and she absorbed the impact mostly by way of instinct; bending her knees, rather than holding them stiff.

She already had been moving pretty fast to catch up to the others, but when she heard it was Wolframite on the scene…

Her feelings towards the one-eyed Captain were somewhat confused. On the one hand, she'd had a lot of fun with him, and had meant what she said about keeping him as a pet. On the other hand, he knew her guardian's name. She'd said it out loud to him. That made him a threat, not just to Gunn, but to Kreszant and her entire way of life. All he had to do was breathe the name to a superior and her guardian would die, and possibly her cover with it. So she was a little confused where Wolframite was involved, but all the confusion led her to one conclusion: Wolframite had to die, and Gunn wanted to be the one to do it. In Rota, Ares had promised her that she could do it.

"What," demanded Gunn at Birhan's orders. They made no ******** sense. Firepower and experience were nothing against someone they knew could neutralize her powers, and directing all of the forces to the weaker opponent when they knew--

Besides that, she wanted to be the one to kill Wolframite. Still, she clenched her teeth and followed the brightest signature on the field. "What up, Zinkenite," she said, her usual grin more of a rictus. "Got any fire extinguishers I should know about?"  

[MoonKitsune]

Wolframite had not expressed his mixed feelings about the mission to Zinkenite. He had been afraid that if he showed he might possibly freeze when seeing hsi torturers of the past that the General would take him out of the mission as a risk. Wolframite had wanted to be involved. He wanted to be here. He wanted to kill the senshi who had been responsible for hurting those he cared for, for killing those officers in the most undeserving and undiginifed of ways, and for causing him to change and loose who he we once was. They ruined everything, and they deserved to die in the worst of ways.


It did not mean despite hsi crazed hate, that he wasn't afraid. For the figures responsible for beating him, starving him, standing watch over him every moment in a hellish eternity he never wished to revisit even in memory - he was afraid. Afraid of it happening again. Afraid of the figures that turned into something more, something less human and more monster, to reappear in the flesh other than his nightmares.


Hearing Birhan was the first shocker, and he turned away from Imenite to see the guard who had been with those 2 weeks. The one who in the end managed to tear information from his lips at the threat of popping out his only good eye. For the one who stood witness to countless attacks as he was chained to that seat and did nothing that came close to humanity. She had left his mark on him, a scar more emotional then physical, and he felt it sear hot in his very being. "Birhan." He hissed, summoning his weapon out of instinct and need of protection. I'm not chained here. I'm able to attack her. He reminded himself, thought the choice in picking a factory setting was now seen as a poor choice on Zinkenite's behalf. It made Wolframite on edge, paranoid, and caused his heart to pick up speed. The smell of it, the pressing force of this enclosed space, and this senshi here, now.


"My vision is fine. Glad to see you care. Not so much to see you alive. How about we fix that." He started to wind up his weapon, spinning one end before throwing it out into a sweeping arch. He needed to keep her at bay and off of him until they could set the stage. Lure all the rats out.


As he did, he stepped back closer to Ilmenite.
 

[kalindara]

Birhan couldn't help the quick surge of satisfaction she felt at Wolframite's reaction to her presence. She hadn't been the one to do the worst to the Captain when he was their prisoner, but she had been the one to break him, to cause the most fear that resulted in him spilling information to the enemy. It wasn't surprising that Wolframite would be torn between fear and the need for bloody revenge when he saw her.

His attacks hadn't changed, she thought, leaping back to avoid the instinctive strike out at her. A more desperate edge to them, maybe, but this might be easier than she'd thought it would be.

The only problem with avoiding his strike meant that Wolframite had used the time to move closer to his victim. Birhan hissed a breath. She needed to move Wolframite away so that Kallichore could move the civilian to safety.

"Did you miss me, Wolfy?" she taunted. If she made him mad enough, he'd come chase her. "Have you dreamed of me?"

Faced with the Captain who'd once had his hands around her starseed, it was easy to fall back into the 'everything is justified' mindset that had ruled her during Operation Rota. Birhan forgot her concerns, her doubts that she was becoming a monster, as Wolframite and the need for his blood to be spilled became the focus of her world.

She didn't know of Ares' promise to Gunn to be the one to kill Wolframite. Of course, killing him wasn't even Birhan's goal here. She kept enough of her head to recall that Zinkenite was the target, not Wolframite. Their former prisoner could be dealt with later.

"Sirius, change of plans," she said over the phone. "Assist Gunn with the General. I can handle this puppy myself."

C'mon, c'mon... come out and play, little Wolf!