He looked out the helicarrier window, It was such a clear night, the half-moon shone bright in the sky, Some of the lights from the helicarrier blocked out most of the stars, It would be nice to get back to New York, having spent  2 weeks in the sky’s of Malaysia thanks to Hydra.
William gathers some files from his desk tapping them down to adjust the papers inside he hears a knock at the door of his office.

“Come in.”

The door opens and the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D Maria Hill walks in, she has a tray in one hand with two paper cups and a fairly thick file tucked under her arm.

“William.” She says with a small smile.

“Ugh! Coffee and a smile? What’s going on Director?” he says in a sort of bemused tone.

“What? I can’t stop in and say hi anymore? And it’s just Maria ” she says feigning insult and handing him one of the cups.

“You can always stop in and say hi, but it almost never just ends there. Please don’t tell me we’re not going home.” He takes the offered cup and pops off the lid taking a sip.

“No, no. We’re heading back to New York. But I wanted to talk to you about Malaysia. Turns out Hydra was more help than they thought they would be.” She said her finger tapping the folder now in her hand.

“Well someone there won’t be happy to hear that. But now you have my attention.”   He said putting his files  to the side to make room for the one Maria had.


She put it the file on his desk and watch as he went around to sit back down. William glanced at Maria and then the file. Sitting down he opened it and started sifting through the pages.

“How did Hydra get our files? Wait… I haven’t seen this.”   He said flipping a photo over to show Maria.

“That’s what I mean, These are not our files. There are many similarities but some nice juicy bonus’s we haven’t seen.” She says picking up the picture. “ The picture Depicts a long dark haired woman in a two toned suit crouched down to the ground with her left fist hitting the ground knocking back about 6 Hydra agents.
“According to the Hydra agent that filed the report after the attack. She calls herself SpiderWoman. The report says they were attempting to recruit her. There are a couple more super-powered  people in the file that we didn’t have. So info in this file brings me to you.” She say’s her eyes studying the picture some more.

William wasn’t sure if Maria was searching for more clues or studying the woman in the picture sorta envious. Not that she needed to be, William has seen Maria in action. She was quite the fighter and Markswoman.

Maria continued. “ With all the Hydra issues S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t have the time or manpower to spend on this. I’ve asked to have you in charge of our Task force Division.”

William’s brows creased in confusion. ” Task Force Division?”

Maria Nodded. “ I want you to assemble a team and follow up on our files and Hydra’s. We need to know what the world is up against and which of these Supers are dangerous and which aren’t. With your background I think you’d be the perfect fit.”

William sat back in his chair quietly for a few minutes making Maria a little uncomfortable, he looked up at her Shaking his head slightly in a no fashion. Maria was confused, she thought he would like this but then she caught Williams smile.

“I’m so gonna regret this but where and when do we start?”   he said finishing his coffee….

Maria gave a small smile, I have a couple candidates that may be of interest to you. Covert agents have been out on the field investigating some potential candidates. she says flipping to the back of the large Hydra folder...

It was a couple weeks since his last discussion with Maria Hill about project Task Force, William was now set up in his new office in lower Manhattan. They chose an old base in the Whitehall district  near Battery park. The main floor looked like every other warehouse building.  A few offices in the front and a large storage area in the back. What the rest of the city wasn’t aware of is the other half a few miles below the surface.

William sat at his desk, pressed a button on it and the top of the desk rolled back and an illuminated keyboard appeared before him along with  three monitors that came up from the top of the desk....



TBC in Solo Threads...

{Bloodrager}

The jet head towards the Atlantic far from civilian eyes. for use of entrance 3 to the new Task Force base, The water separates and the jet hovers over the opening. In stealth mode
Agent 43 request landing permission. Package Big Red delivery
Permission granted. Please proceed came an automated voice.
The jet entered the opening and followed the tunnel under the Atlantic which lead to the bases under water hangar.
The jet rolled into position and the doors opened,
This is your stop. the agent said. Unbuckling the belt and getting set to step out.

Once outside the jet both men could see William standing near the stairs that lead to the upper platform.

I hope the flight wasn’t too much trouble for you Sword? William said signing the agent’s pad. He looked at Agent 43  get yourself a quick bite and you can return back to the helicarrier.
The agent nodded and left through the doors of the hangar.
William turned to look at Sword again.
Hungry? Do you need anything? He winced a little at the last question. He remembered the last time he talked with Sword… William gave a small sigh…



{Barbarian}

as Kent entered the building he walked into the office it looked like every other office building a 15’ long hallway about 12’ wide lead to double doors. Opening the door and you entered into a brightly light office  an arched oak desk with several monitors was just about 10 feet paste the double door  on each side of the office were several offices and at the back wall was an elevator with book shelves on either side.
As the double doors closed behind Kent a Holographic image of a woman with her dark hair in a bun and glasses holding an Ipad appeared,

Hello and Welcome, Please state your name and reason for your visit with us today?

Today was going to be hectic, Most of the people he tried to recruit should be showing up at some point throught the day. He had set up the Holographic receptionist to grant those people access to the lower Lvl and direct them to the common area until he was ready.
He still needed to go through some files of what mission he wanted to start. But he needed to know how many were actually going to show up.

He grabbed his phone and sent a TXT to the number Harbinger had given him. Working on your request. He wasn’t sure how much he’d be able to accomplish in setting something like that up. Be it was a noble cause none the less. He fired off a couple e-mails earlier and awaited the responses hoping he would have some news for Harbinger should she show up.


<b> Cue Those that have accepted to show up

It had been a long busy period of time. Her introduction to Penny Starr had been unique. Usually all she had to do was comfort or assure. Penny had been pressed too far she would have done the deed herself had it not been for Harbinger. As good as it felt destroying the wicked especially when it was your own monstrous father it set you down a dark road.

 She helped Penny say what she felt, to accept everything, and to cope with the "What now?" That comes after witnessing your dreams coming true. She had introduced Penny to some of her street kid friends and taught her the basics of how to avoid the system giving her special number. Afterwards she had gotten food and took a nap in an empty hotel room having climbed in through the balcony. Now she was on her way to meet this guy who wanted her on some super team.

She didn't care about his goals of protecting Earth. She cared about the trees not the forest. But it was something. She sat on the roof taking a few breaths before climbing down the back of the building and heading in the front pretending to be normal. If he could deliver his end she could make a home for the innocent. Somewhere the downtrodden could escape to . So they wouldn't end up broken and twisted like her.

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 3):

Getting out of his seat once unbuckled, Sword of Cup followed the agent off of the jet, placidly obeying any directions he was given. But while William was handling the paperwork with the pad, the barbarian was looking left. Looking right. Looking up and down. In his head and before his mental vision, the opening of a cartoon episode was playing from his matrix.

... Fangbone, Fangbone
Short of height but tall of fight
Fangbone, Fangbone
In a cave he sleeps at night ...

Was this a dungeon? He didn't know, but was trying to check for traps nonetheless. He didn't have Mask of Sword's thieving and disguise abilities, but he felt better at least trying to spot any. Not that he'd do very well trying to hunt monsters on his own, with his sword. Although... the thought reminded him, he should ask permission before attempting to go after something, in case it was a SHIELD unit that just looked different. SHIELD person, oops. Fortunately, blushing was anything but visible with his complexion.

"Flight will be restful," he answered the first question. "Water is being appreciated, sir." Sword of Cup did not need Heart of Heart's control to remember his manners and that William was a superior here.

SWORD

William watched sword look around once Sword answered still wasn’t use to how Sword talked,  nor how he seemed to examine everything as if it was the first time he’d seen it, He wondered if Big Red would adapt well to the team. Hopefully Doc could help in that department. Of course. This way. they walked out of the hangar and in front of them was a fairly large open area, The dining room in front of them was walled in glass on 2 sides.
Walking up the hall the area opened up again to the common area on their left and to a large spiral staircase that lead down in front of them. He turned to his right and pointed into the Dining room and Kitchen area.  William pointed to the water cooler that could be seen in the back of the room.
Glasses are in the cupboard. he pointed not really sure which one the glasses were in. I’ll have to look around myself as I’m not sure exactly what we have and where He admitted.


Harbinger


As the double doors closed behind Evelyn a Holographic image of a woman with her dark hair in a bun and glasses holding an Ipad appeared,
Hello and Welcome please state your Name and The person your appointment is with?
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 20:24, Thu 02 Aug 2018.

Once inside as the creepy hologram spoke her face was hidden by her symbiote mask as she looked at it. She tilted her head. "Harbinger. And I'm here to see the shadey dude who hands out business cards at night." she answered sarcastically observing the room from all angles simultaneously. With tech like this maybe she should have asked for more. Hmm.... Nah her Haven wasn't going to be perfect just excellent. The children and teens who came there had to be prepared for adulthood. Hmm that gave her an idea.

Hello Harbinger, I would assume you are referring to Mr. Naslund. The hologram gestured to the elevator in the back of the office.

Please use the elevator on the far wall, and welcome to Task Force.

The hologram vanished and the elevator door opened awaiting it's passenger
.

She didn't respond just heading to the elevator and headed inside waiting for it to take her to her destination. Closing her eyes thinking about what she was getting herself into.

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 7):

The red-skinned barbarian followed, watching his step and what path was being taken. He eyed the glass with peculiar intensity, not having Way of Sword's facility with mirror magic to make use of the reflective surfaces.

"Delicious in dungeon?" he asked in a confused tone of voice when he realized that he was looking at a kitchen.

He started towards the indicated water cooler, checking left and right as he went in case there were goblins, or worse, kobolds hiding in here. Not that the Blood-Red Swordsmen had yet encountered either in this world, but the instances in their matrices seemed to imply that they were common, frequently encountered monsters. Also that some goblins performed as professional dancers.

Assuming no chance encounters with something mistaken for a monster on the way, Sword of Cup approached the water cooler and put a cupped hand beneath the spigot. Pushing the button, he drank several handfuls of water rather messily before turning aside to explore the various cupboards.

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 3):

"Kent Hartford, and I'm here for a "task force" meeting". He felt slightly embarrassed although the people here already know much about him. He looked to see if there were any other people in the area. Was there anyone else being selected or was he by himself? He knew about super heroes and the teams they created but this felt less organic almost sinister.

The Green Goblin landed his glider atop the roof of the building Naslund has indicated, his GPS optics providing the flight of least resistance to the location. He wasn't about to fly a black smoke-trailing glider into the lobby of some warehouse and stink up the joint, not if they didn't deserve it. No, he was a new Goblin now. He was going to be part of a team. Working to located other heroes and villains. And then what? Well, he imagined he'd befriend some and incarcerate others.

Setting severe security protocols on his Goblin Glider to deter theft (it's hard to steal something when the flesh has been melted from your body, but the resulting charred skeleton does tend to dissuade others from trying), the Goblin strolled jauntily to the door on the roof. Leaning in to the panel next to the knobless metal door, he pushed a button on a panel next to the frame and looked up into the camera mounted above.

"It's the Fuller Brush Man!" he called.

***Sword***

Agent 43 Eyed Sword with a quizzical look as he exited and Sword entered.
William looked over to Agent 43 and back to Sword.

The agent finished up and headed out.

Sword, you are safe here, Yes this is called the kitchen  and this place is our base, Not a dungeon. There are no … William stopped himself he was going to say monsters but the sudden realization hit him.

Oh hell… I really to sit with this guy and let him know who’s coming. All I need is for him to flip on Green Goblin or Harbinger.

… dangers here. He finished the sentence. He watch Sword explore the cupboard knowing he would probably need to do the same… Just not like Sword was.

Pardon the interruption Mr.Naslund But some guests have started to arrive. a female computerized voice said from the panel on the side of the wall in the kitchen.

Thank You Jocasta, Please send them down and have them come to the common room. I will be there in a few minutes. he said into the console..

Sword…. You may see some things that could be new and surprising to you…. He tried to find the words.
William almost regretted bringing in Swords in first but he preferred having red next him instead of immediately facing someone like Doc Ock.

But again I am telling you we are not in danger. Whatever happens DO NOT ATTACK our guests. He stated the bearded Red man….




*** Barbarian***

Hello Kent, Yes Mr.Naslund is expecting you, Please use the elevator behind me and it will bring you to the required area

Once in the doors closed the elevator hummed and soon the doors opened again. The holographic receptionist now stood before you as you exited the elevator she walks Up the hall and turns to left at the end of the hallway.

Please make yourself comfortable while we wait for our other guests. Mr. Naslund. Should be here shortly.

She motions you to the common room. You can see two large love seats with a coffee table  which has Water, a large container presumably coffee and little cookies and cakes on them, between the two the middle of the common room has a large black trimmed tan rug a larger coffee table in front of a Tan 4 seat couch, a fireplace on the far wall and another love seat next to a large bookcase. There is no wall on the south side which opens up to another hallway and you can see a large circular staircase, and the glassed dining kitchen area,



***Harbinger***

Once in the doors closed the elevator hummed and soon the doors opened again. The holographic receptionist now stood before you as you exited the elevator she walks Up the hall and turns to left at the end of the hallway.

Please make yourself comfortable while we wait for our other guests. Mr. Naslund. Should be here shortly.

 As you look you see one other person in the common area Kent

** GREEN GOBLIN**

The screen on the panel lit up with audio wave lines.
Subject identified, Green Goblin the lines were replaced with a female brunettes face.

Welcome Green Goblin, Although we would appreciate the use of the front door, Access is granted for roof access. she says as you hear the click of the door releasing the locking mechanism.

Please proceed to the next floor where the elevator will be waiting to bring you to the required meeting area. .

Landing right in front of the entrance of the building, Spider-Man double checked the card he was given just to make sure he didn't read the directions wrong. He then opened the door, entering the building. "Hello?" said, hoping that he was in the right place.

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 14):

The big guy paused in his careful ransacking of cupboards (careful, as in he avoided breaking anything and put things back where he found them more or less once he ascertained there wasn't any obvious treasure in a given cupboard other than spices which made sense belonging in a kitchen) to listen to William. He blinked stupidly a few times, digesting that. "Not dungeon?" he asked, a bit rhetorically as he understood the statement well enough.

He continued to pay attention as Jocasta interrupted, taking mental note of her as a presumed female SHIELD unit in the staff. His ring suddenly lit up when William spoke again, completely limned by the crimson glow, and he put what was in his hands back in the cupboard.

Heeding the instruction not to attack, the hive mind rendered Sword of Cup's sword grace inactive, shutting down his barbarian class aspects along with the principle of violence. Though locked away from using his physical body, Sword felt suddenly timid and frightened inside.

"Guests have arrived. What am I expected to have serving them?" the big red man asked emotionlessly, the housekeeping/servant part of his nature bring brought to the fore as the hive mind followed what it presumed Jocasta and William meant by guests. The assumption that he would be waiting on them and bringing refreshments from the kitchen to the guests.

Whatever world the dude who'd recruited him for the Task Force lived in, it was clearly one with easy access to travel from anywhere to anywhere.  That world was not Kevin's at least not yet.  Kevin's criminal record and the heightened state of security made official air travel iffy and "unofficial" air travel expensive.

So, Kevin ended up accept Gavin Labourtraex's offer to help him run a load a cigs to New York City.  Which meant spending was felt like an eternity in a truck cab with a flatulent Cajun with truly awful taste in country music (not that Kevin thought there was such a thing as good taste in country music).  Still, he got to NYC and got a decent chunk of change for his efforts.  A nicked maid's key even got him a shower at a Hamnpton and a place to change clothes.

Soon enough he'd made his way to the address on the card.  "Bloom, party of one," he told the person at the desk.

Harbinger walked into the area where the other person was. Her costume had shifted into her black full body suit and hood along with her mask. Her sharp fangs were closed deciding not to do the menacing prehensile tongue. She felt out of place here but remembered her visit to Youtube headquarters to "politely discuss" demonetization off he chanel. While this visit wasn't going to be as aggressive as that one at least she felt more comfortable in an office building. She closed her eyes behind the mask and stood near the wall letting the symbiote form a chair underneath her which she sat on comfortably.

Kent saw the new person enter the room. He couldn't see too much detail due to the "Costume". Their appearance only made the sinister feeling of this whole ordeal even worse. "Hello" Kent said to the entity sitting on the flesh chair.