Comstock didn't care about Geryon.  He figured the big guy might even like what he had to say.  When everything was finished, Comstock broadcast his voice across every frequency.

"To all points, especially the pinheaded idiot speaking for the Colombian government, this is Dillon Amargosa.  This is Comstock.

"I have received your transmission.  Let me to correct you on a few points: first of all, you have no sovereignty, so there's nothing violated.  Out where I'm from, the definition of a sovereign government is one that enjoys the free endorsement of its people in elections.  You stop conscripting, brutalizing and drugging your population and have a few fair elections and then maybe you get to make that argument.  Until then you can drop the righteous act.  It's bullshit and you know it.

"Second of all, stop putting words in my goddamn mouth.  I am not here to save plants.  Burn them for all I care.  I am here to save lives and end injustice.  Your government murders people and wages war on its neighbors through criminal organizations.

"Third of all, you do have a military.  If you've forgotten that, I can show you pictures.  They've been shooting at me all morning.  I'd say it's a pretty modern one, but don't exactly know because except for US Army boot-camp way way back my training is in PR and humanitarian aid.  Not fighting wars or running death camps.  I'm so nice, I even warn people before I punch them, so I must be out-of-fucking touch.

"Now I'm sick of your lies and crap.  You have nuclear weapons?  Want to pick on more defenseless people?  Sounds like a blast.  I'm telling my team to pull out, but I'm not going anywhere.  I'd like to see you dickless wonders fire those nukes if you're so scared of little old me.  In fact, I'm guessing you are in Bogota right now, so I'm going to head right over there as fast as these two feet will take me.  You feel like burning your land to the ground instead of admitting you're fascists and in the wrong?  Go for it.  But all the bombs in the world aren't enough to stop me.  I might not even feel it.

"This is Dillon Amargosa.  I'll see you in a few hours, and if you aren't willing to back off your shit than you'd best pray to God for a miracle.  Out."

Another wave of static blared over all frequencies as Comstock shut down 'transmission' mode.

With a frustrated grunt, he found his carbine, cracked his neck, grabbed a spare radio and stood tall.  "All of you heard me on your headsets, right?  Make ready to pull everyone out."  Next he rooted about for some metal siding or other discarded material and then went about fixing any damage to his extra plating.  He was low on juice, but was sure he could stay heavy for hours if he really needed.  He just wouldn't be able to perform his usual miracles.  "I'm headed out that way, and if they're dumb enough to try anything stupid I expect all of you to stay out of it."

Solitaire laughed at Comstocks diatribe, not just a chuckle, but a true laugh, light and musical. God, there were days she loved this job.

"Show them who's boss, Boss. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go have a chat with Geryon for a moment."

With that, she took off, heading to intercept the massively muscled nova before he caused too much trouble. Upon reaching him, she reclined easily in the air next to him, waving a hand cordially in greeting.

"Heya Geryon, here to join the party?" Her gaze flicked around the air about them as she spoke, "Anybody else hiding around here or is it just you?"

Even with his eyes closed, Quentin could image the look on Comstock's face. "I really can't recommend you going in alone," he protested weakly, knowing full-well that he was too exhausted to do anything about it. "I share the sentiment, but they've probably still got some of their test-tube novas in reserve, and at least a few of their natural ones as well."

"You should wait a few for the rest of us to catch their breath."

Suzukaze sits in silence becoming one with her senses and surroundings. She feels the breeze of the wind against her as her mind drifts. Her focused perception picking up the conversations of her team as her mind trails off. The images nearly dying from the reactor. How she was willing to just give up and sacrifice everything to thoughts of Shiro and her family. Finally to her meeting with the mysterious Logan. Her head drops slightly at the thought. She raises it again and without opening her eyes speaks to Phantasm...

"I owe you my life," she pauses. "We all do. But I was willing to just give up everything before the others came. I thought all was lost. I know I've done a lot of things to make you hate me, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to change that. I get to see my family again."

Suzukaze opens her eyes staring at Phantasm. "You know my cousin likes you. I don't know if you have someone, but happiness and love are precious things. If it's what you do in life, your family, friends or significant other. You must treasure these moments. You've seen what happened to Shiro. He was my happiness and my love. I would give up everything for him. But I've lost him, and today my family almost lost me."

Suzukaze stares down at the ground. "If you take a good look at my swords. The one on my right with the purple handle is Seiatsu, and the one on my left with the black is Nokemono. If anything happens to me promise that you'll bring them home. Seiatsu I want Miho to have, and if he should ever wake Shiro is to have Nokemono." She stands pulling her blades from the ground and re sheathing them. She bows to Phantasm. "Thank you for the chance to see them all again." She takes a knee. "And whatever life throws at you make sure you have happiness." She stands and walks off.

Imp's rage abated, then evaporated as Comstock expounded.  He smirked.  Grinned.  When the diatribe came to an end he wryly cocked an eyebrow, "Very well done sir, couldn't have said it better myself.  Except for the you going there alone.  That's crazy talk.  Not happening."
News of Geryon made his momentary good humor fade.  What the hell was he doing here?  How wold Pax respond to one of the Club so vocal in his views on nova separateness?  This could turn into a disaster.  "Go get him Sol, get there before anybody decides to do something stupid."

Phantasm sits with Suzukaze, trying to find a calm amidst her rushing thoughts and the chaos of recent events.  After moments that felt like hours, she started to feel a glimmer of the state she was looking for, a state of awareness without though... And then 'Kaze spoke.

Phantasm tried to get in a few words to contradict 'Kaze's self deprecating diatribe, but was mostly unsuccessful.  She settled for just replying to her last comment. "I... But... Yeah, I'll take them home for you..."

Still confused by 'Kaze, and then the odd turn of conversation, Phantasm yells out to her rapidly retreating companion "Hey, Thanks!  And I don't hate you!"

So confused... And what was that whole deal about her cousin liking me?

"No.  Get out of here, that's an order.  I can survive a nuke, the rest of you probably can't."  Granted, he'd never tested the idea.  He looked around for his XO to back him up, but Solitaire was still in the air.  "If it goes bad for me, I'm sure one or all of you can start taking big risks again.  And any minute the rest of Utopia and the allied commanders are going to start pitching a fit and getting political again, so it's better if its just me that's screwing things up."

It was about then that it started sinking in precisely what he'd done.  Were they going to fire him for going off script?  Would the Colombians take his speech at face value and fire their WMDs early?  Too late to back off now.  The doubt sapped some of his bravado and enthusiasm though.  "I really mean it, team.  Let me take care of this one, okay?"  He was already slowly walking away.

Gale flew up to Geryon, who stopped mid-air once he saw that he had been noticed.  Her sharp eyes caught a smirk on his face as he waited, hands on hips, for her to reach him.

"Hey there.  Playing with the big kids today?  Can I play too?"

His arrogance dissipated somewhat as Solitaire approached.  He lost the smile, and became much more serious.
"Yeah, and yeah.  Impetus made a request, and we've decided to give him what he wanted.  Though we make no promises as to whether he'll enjoy what he gets.

Either way, when you make your assault on the capital, you have help."

There was more to his plan, and he wasn't hiding it.  But he seemed sincere in his offer, and was certainly a powerful and useful ally in a battle where Utopia novas were heavily outnumbered.

---

The rest of the T2Mers on the ground were beginning to realize the full weight of Comstock's reply.  Frostburn came through with a muttered "Aw, shit" before everyone began talking at once.  Pax, screaming over the line, HQ telling Comstock to hold his position, and the other T2M teams asking what was going on.  General verbal chaos prevailed for several minutes.

Gravitas, and anyone else with a modicum of intelligence, realize that if a nuke was going to drop, it would be most useful for them to do it soon, and at the allied forces current coordinates.  Everyone is on edge, and tensed in preparation for whatever is about to happen next.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I want a moment more for people to talk before moving things forward.  But just a few moments of in game time. If people want to do anything, let me know.

Is Zero still around btw?  His quantum sight might be useful right about now...

---

Suzukaze stops when Phantasm says she doesn't hate her. She raises her right hand brushing back her hair. It almost seems as if she is about to turn back until she picks up Comstock's outburst and notices him start to walk away. She races in front of him placing her hand on him as is she could really try holding him back. She looks up at him. "Please don't go. I'm supposed to be the crazy one not you. We need you. We're not a team without you. And besides you wouldn't be able to stop me from going with you cause I would just beat you there."

Imp grinned again, "Sorry, 'Stock, but since I'm technically not on T2MA anymore, and am responsible for managing nova assets in this one, you can't really order me around.  But anyways," he toggled his headset, "Anybody who can possible see a porter doing their thing, or notice someone who can become invisible spread out and take sentry, everybody else, Comstock's called their bluff, let's hope that's what it is.  defensive positions, begin pulling back from this position.  I would suggest we novas move away from the baseline troops as we will be the primary target, but that might be what they want.  be ready for anything."  He then paused for a minute and closed his eyes then pulled more energy from his suit; he then focused on his node and his eyes in a way that he almost never did.  When he opened them again he saw the world awash in quantum energy, his compatriots shone like angry stars while the the baseline troops faded into the background.  He then flew up a hundred meters or so and slowly spun in place, searching for any trace of the enemy.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
activated quantum awareness.  Down to 2 quantum in my suit.

---

"Hey look I ...!"  This wasn't how he'd thought it would all happen when he was angry a minute ago.  "I'm not crazy!  Are you listening?"  He gave up on Imp, who'd turned to his headset and strategy, and so focused on the protesting Suzukaze.  "No, I can't stop you.  I've never been able to stop you from doing a damn thing.  But what are you going to do when you get there?"  What am I going to do when I get there?  "They need to see what one man can do.  All of you need to focus on saving lives and minimizing damage."  The words felt weak, even as he said them.  He wasn't good at this.  Persuasion.  He stopped walking, just a stone's throw from the rest of the team.

The hand-radio at his side started barking with chatter again and he shut it off.  He needed to focus.  He wished he could keep working the radio with his skin.  He wished he knew what the Colombians were thinking.  No matter what he did now, chances were he'd be too slow to have a major impact on the battle.  Again.

Imp dialed his headset so that it would only be heard by Comstock, "One man can give heart to an entire army, my friend.  It's not how many skulls you can break with your own hands."

Comstock might have felt a weak tugging back towards Quentin as the other man gestured futily at him, shaking his head, "Its just not a good idea, even supposing that everyone gets out of the way and they only drop this thing on you... I mean, you might be nigh invulnerable, but the second you're looking a nuke in the face, that 'nigh' part is going to catch up to you real fast." He kept shaking his head, as if rejecting current plans - not that there was really anything he could do about it, either way. "No, gotta find it before they launch it, or intercept it before detonation and port it away - fat chance of that. Most modern nukes use a pressure-sensitive trigger so that they air burst at an optimal altitude. Any bombs they've got are either tech they came up with from scratch - which means it could be anything - or stolen from someone else - which means a pressure trigger."

Quentin was, he knew, rambling at this point, and not really to anyone in particular. He was too tired to care who he directed his nearly stream-of-consciousness dialogue at, he just hoped someone might find it useful. "No, gotta know what sort of delivery system they're using - that would do wonders for figuring out how to prevent detonation."

Flare had been mulling over Comstock's decision for a bit and weighting the pros and cons.

"Sorry Bossman, for once I'm in agreement with 'Kaze.  You going out there alone may not be suicide, but it won't do anyone a hell of a lot of good either.  Also think about what it would look like to the world if you managed to stop them.  One man in T2M can intimidate a country.  Suddenly we are an even bigger threat.  At least if we're seen in groups people assume its our combined strenghts and training that make us so effective. Do we really want to give the world another reason to fear us?"

God but she hated even trying to think this way. The big picture was meant for brilliant minds like Grav and Imp. She managed a grin anyway.

"And besides, if you think I'm going to miss the chance to watch you catch a nuke and lob it into orbit you have another thing coming."

Flare was fresh and new (as she had done little in the last battle) so she pops a fire shield and prepares to either follow along with Comstock or give him a lift to the front.

Phantasm walks to where 'Kaze and the rest were trying to talk down Comstock, face unreadable.  When she's beside him, she looks up at his quicksilver eyes, and shakes her head.
"Suzukaze's right.  So's everyone else.  Not only are you too important to just throw yourself at death, not only will it be ineffective... but you'll also have to go through all of us to do that."

Moving closer, she lowers her voice so that only those nearby can hear,
"You've been through too much these last few years, we all have.  This is the end though, after this the world is different, and I get the feeling that we're going to be looking for a new line of work.  Don't let it all slip through your fingers Dillon, don't get lose who you are.  We just need to get through this one last mission, and 'Kaze reminded me I don't want to lose the only family I've got left.  We're all coming out of this in one piece."

Turning away from Comstock, she looks over at Gravitas, as she mulls over their options.  "You're right.  If I were them, I'd port it in, small hole, something we couldn't follow.  Question is, where do they send it?  The army attacking them, our HQ, or some populated city somewhere?  I think they only have a limited amount of resources to use though, if they had an unlimited supply of nuclear weapons then they'd be taking a harder stance, maybe detonating a few as a show of strength.  That's assuming they aren't bluffing of course.  And if they just have a few, then they'll have to use their resources carefully... and we have to hope they use them in a way that will let us counter their attack."

"Well Geryon, and whoever else might be listening, might I direct you to our little enclave over there?" Solitaire said brightly, pointing over at where T2M:A was gathered. "Everybody else might take it the wrong way, and since we are 'on the clock' at the moment, I'd really prefer not to deal with that kind of mess if you would be so kind?" She gazed at him mildly, as if to say, 'I'm not going to stop you if want to land in the center of things, its your business, but it would be much easier this way.' "Excuse me for a second."

She reached up and keyed her headset to the team channel to weigh in on the issue. "You know Boss, I've got your back either way, 100%, your call. And yes, I can still hear you from up here, if I really listen."

"Anyway Geryon, where was I? Oh right, so, who all did you bring along? Or are you going to keep it Hush Hush? Solitaire rolled lazily over in the air as she spoke, keeping her gaze locked on his, but not particularly concerned.

Gale hovered near Solitaire, crossing her arms.  'Playing with the big kids' indeed.  It was interesting to watch the instantaneous respect that Sol got from the huge hulking nova.

She didn't really have a lot to say about the situation with Comstock.  He was the leader; if he thought that was the best way to handle things, who was she to argue?  She did, however, try to keep a watch for anything unusual (besides Geryon) here in the sky.

"Ah ... damnit!"  He looked back and forth, everyone's words bringing him back out of it.  The bad guys were supposed to just shoot at him.  When the hell did all this get so complicated?  "They can't shoot it at a populated city!  It's ... alright, Grav, P, I'm stuck.  Make a best estimate of where we need to go."  He locked down and wracked his brain, trying to think through all the briefing data, maps, CIA reports, anything that could give him a hint as to where the Colombians might keep their weapons or launch facilities.  Coming up with nothing, he turned to other problems.

He turned the hand radio back on and tried to tune out the buzz in his head.  "Frostburn: get me Slider right now.  There is no time to explain, just do it.  ... I'll talk to Pax in a minute, but right now I need Landers."  He regretted the loss of the smart-software in the burnt out headset, which would have cut many seconds off of the effort.  He'd broadcast the signal over his skin, but did not yet trust that everyone would not hear.

When he finally got her: "Slider, this is Comstock: whatever happens in the next five minutes, we will need you to make a portal for us.  Get over here, over."  The team's quantum resources would have to be conserved for whatever happened.  "Slider, it is important.  Over."

As he waited for an answer, his eyes fell back on Phantasm, Gravitas, Imp and the others.  Even Suzukaze.  His expression softened for a moment.  Keep focused.  Plenty of time to feel emotional later.  "Everyone.  Thank you." he mumbled, acknowledging the need to supply an emotional response.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:50, Sun 10 Oct 2010.

Zero salutes. "Si, el capitan!" and takes position. The Doctor activates Q-Attunment to spot invisible attackers

Geryon replies to Solitaire, grinning a bit. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours.  When are you hitting their main base, we want in on the action."

---

Slider shows up seconds after the call, despite being ordered by several people, Pax included, to hold her position.  Maybe it was all the time she spent with the team, but whatever the case, she seems to owe more loyalty to her fellow team members than to the leadership of Utopia.

Landers arrives via a small gate, perhaps attempting to conserve energy, while attempting to juggle several medical kits and new comm units in her arms.  A few drop to the ground as she says, in near perfect imitation of her action figure "Never fear, Slider's here!" The grin that accompanied her statement is cut short by her next statement however.  "At least until they fire my ass and sue me for breach of contract.  What's up, and what can I do to help?"

---

Impetus, straining to use his quantum senses, feels more than sees a distortion nearby.  Likely it is outside his range of quantum sight, but it is further towards the bulk of the allied troops.  As Impetus notes the fluctuation, he also notes that Zero's mysterious senses seem to have caught the distortion as well.  The Doctor's head jerks around as his finely attuned quantum perception notes a vortex of quantum energy building, similar to the teleportation gates made by Slider and Gravitas.  But the T2M teleporters are all on location, all accounted for...

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
There is a single moment (action) to react to what is going on with the rapidly forming gate; a shouted warning followed by movement, attempts at disruption, etc.  Currently Imp and Zero are the only ones that see it, but with appropriate warnings others can react as well.

---

"GATE!" Imp shouts a warning into the headset in mid motion, diving towards the spatial disturbance.  He angles his flight so that it will take him into the portal, hoping that he can catch who or whatever is coming through and carry it back with him to the other side.

Gale gasps as she hears Imp's warning and turns.  It takes her a moment to spot anything, and she doesn't spot the gate directly.  She spots Imp flying for it.  Since Geryon didn't seem to pose an immediate threat, she took off after Imp.  She would make herself useful this time.  She would!

Suzukaze turns towards the sound of Imp's voice as he shouts the warning. She watches as he takes off. She hangs her head staring at the ground for a split second before going over to Phantasm. She places Seiatsu in her hands then takes off chasing after Imp.

Zero, feeling reckless, teleports blindly onto the other side of the gate. The Doctor will try to hide on the other side if a hiding spot is available.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Activate Quickness
Activate Teleport
20:53, Today: Dr. Zero rolled 1 success using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 3,4,7,5,1,3,3,1,5,4. Hide! 1MegaDex.

---

The gate that irises open is barely large enough for a person, and what comes through is about the size of a motorcycle.  The object is vaguely cylindrical in shape, mounted on all-terrain wheels for ease of movement, and registers to quantum senses as radioactive through heavy shielding.  The gate closes almost immediately after the device is through.

Impetus, 'Kaze, and Gale move toward the gate, and are in close proximity to the object as the gate closes.  Slow seconds speed by, and what is very likely a bomb rolls to a stop...

---

[Private to Dr. Zero: to actually trace a teleport you will need either an extra for your power, or an enhancement on your perception.  I would suggest the enhancement, it's cheaper in the long run.  I will assume you plan to buy it, and act accordingly in this scene.]

The Doctor, with keen quantum senses, fast reactions, and perhaps a bit of insanity induced bravery, uses the gate as a conduit to activate his own strange travel abilities...

And finds himself at the enemy base, standing in the middle of a contingent of heavily armed men serving as a guard contingent for the enemy teleporter that has plagued Utopia for the last year.  The area appears to be a small part of a much larger military base and air field, cordoned off from the rest of the base.  Three more devices exactly like the one that went through the gate are lined up and ready to roll.  The sky above look like there is constant heat shimmer, at least to normal senses, but in quantum sight the entire base is surrounded by a shimmering lattice of quantum force that prevent all travel in or out of the base (the hole made to allow the gateway is already closing).