October 3rd, 2020, Freedom Force HQ

Tracking down Mike Columbus was going to take some time.  Michael Thornton has also named Professor Xavier, who he believed capable of tracking any mutant on the planet, but the Professor was unreachable, and Freedom Force were not allowed to enter his private school without a warrant.

While they were waiting for the people at the NSA to do their job, Price had the entire team focused on their studies.  They all had to know the ins and outs of Federal law before they could enforce it.  And ‘knowing’ entailed a six-month, daylong, online course, with periodic tests administered by the FBI.  At least Price gave them enough credit for being responsible adults and didn’t demand they come to HQ for their virtual classes.

So when he DID call them up, they could all be sure that something was up.

The meeting was held in the conference room, as usual (the cracked desk has since been replaced), with Price so unusually anxious, that he decided to skip his morning shot of caffeine.

“Good morning, agents, have a seat” he waited for them to do so, while he remained standing in front of his laptop

“The NSA tracked down a Brotherhood Cell operating out of Brooklyn.  Five members identified, Mike Columbus being one of them.  Our mission is to arrest them, WITHOUT causing any civilian casualties.  A challenging task considering it's a densely populated residential area”
This message was last edited by the player at 14:39, Mon 05 July 2021.

In his usual seat, Frank listened as Price went into their briefing. Brooklyn was, as he said, densely populated. A fight between the Freedom Force and the Brotherhood could easily rack up a body count in the hundreds if they weren't extremely careful. They needed to neutralize the cell without engaging them in an outright battle.

"Who else have we identified?" he asked.

Ana Sofía invites the rest of the team to her new house a few times for combined study sessions and dinner parties by the pool. She clearly didn't go for even a moderate place, splurging on a place in Annapolis with a pool and jacuzzi among other things. The traffic isn't bad since she flies to work - so much safer than driving anyway since she still hasn't earned a driver's license. Of course, with the salaries they've got it wouldn't take long for any of them to buy a mansion in cash... provided they live that long, of course.

---

At the short briefing she listens intently. After Frank's question she follows with some of her own, "What powers have they been seen using? Have they been witnessed with weapons, explosives, or anything else dangerous?"

Danny would often accept Ana's offers, and wasn't shy on bringing contributions to the dinner menu, or the drink.

The team learned, especially during the parties, that Danny was a bit of a daredevil.   He could often be goaded into doing stuff on a dare; and wasn't shy of making challenges of others, either.
He loved a good laugh, and a good challenge.

But when it came time to study together, he was quite adept at 'knuckling down' with the books.
After all, he'd come through Med School well:  combining study and partying in complimentary measures.

_______________________________________

As usual, at the briefing, he sat quietly: listening to what Price had to say, and to the responses offered (and asked) by his team fellows.

Newton was living in the HQ, because it never occurred to him to have it is own place. As far as he considered, HQ was his own place.

He had attended Ana's study sessions and dinner parties, bringing copious amounts of food. He visited Michael Thornton in regular intervals, for his safety and for seeing if any of his copies tried to act. He felt genuinely bad about what happened to him.

He had also tried to contact with Professor Xavier over Dr McCoy in a science conference event. Though it looked to him that Douglas Price wasn't hoping to get anything from that attempt.


Besides that, he was working on his PhD (he had a very unfair advantage on that thanks to his mutation), and doing charity work. He would make a lot of hard physical labour so easy, he felt he was obligated to help people.

_____________________________________________

"Indeed, information about their abilities would help. If they are not too volatile shock and awe is good way to avoid any causalities"

As her new team members get used to seeing Ana Sofía at these study sessions / dinner parties, some patterns become pretty obvious. She likes to cook, mostly serving Mexican alongside mix of American and Diné. While her place came with a wine cellar, it's empty, probably due to her still being underage. She'll happily drink if any is brought along, though. As opposed to those working on their PhD's, she still working on her undergraduate degree, trying to at least finish out the semester at Columbia over Zoom without having to take a leave of absence. She's also flirty without going overboard, and sitting in the jacuzzi suits her quite well on that front; the pool is too cold for a girl from the southwest at this time of year.

“Mike Columbus has been keeping in touch with his mother and sister. The NSA managed to tap into his phone, and following that the rest of the cell’s too.   We haven’t been able to crack the code they’ve been using, but we did manage to eavesdrop on some of their conversations.    We know they are planning something big.  ‘Operation: Justice’, they call it.  The timeline for it is just before the upcoming election – within the next two weeks”

Price clicked on the remote to start his presentation.

“Cell is five members strong.  All residing at the Brooklyner Apartments, downtown Brooklyn”

Click.

The picture on the screen is of a mutant everyone would be right to assume to be Mike Columbus, on account of him having only one eye.   What Michael Thornton forgot to mention is that ‘Mike’ didn’t have any nose either.  Or ears.  Just the eye, and a giant maw.

“Mike Columbus.  Callsign: Basilisk.  We don’t know what he’s capable of, but if we can make an educated guess based on his nickname, then maybe petrification?”

He clicked on the remote yet again tp present the next member of the cell: a statute blonde woman in her late twenties.  Athletic, lithe figure, cropped hair, blue eyes.  Something about her stare was so cold it sucked the warmth out of the room even though she wasn’t present.

“Eileen Harsaw.  Callsign: Phantazia.  She seems to be the leader of the cell.  Powers: unknown”

The next person was immediately identifiable.  It was the portrait of Michael Thornton.  Or more precisely, one of his many clones.

“Jamie Madrox.  Callsign: Legion.  Powers: Create duplicates of himself at will.  We’ve met this guy before, we know what he’s capable of”

Knowing, however, didn’t make handling him any easier.
The next mutant to appear on the big screen was an unassuming man.  Average height, unremarkable face.  Black hair.  The only thing of note about him were the huge lobster claws he had instead of hands.

“Randall Darby.  Callsign: Shocker.  Powers: Unknown.  This guy doesn’t get out much, for obvious reasons.  He’s still part of the cell. While we have no idea what he’s capable of, we should at least assume his claws are powerful enough to snip a human’s thorax”

Last but not least was a young man, not older than the members of Freedom Force.  Blonde, and with a perpetual smirk, he completes the roster of the Brooklyn cell

“John Allerdyce.  Callsign: Pyro.  Powers:  Manipulate Fire and Heat.  This guy participated in the attack on the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California.  He can manipulate flames at will, shaping their form, increasing or decreasing their size and intensity.  His flames are hot enough to melt steel in a matter of seconds, and he can control them at a great distance.  Consider him extremely dangerous”

Price paused for a moment to give them the chance to process the information

“Question so far?”

"Legion can be easily taken out assuming they are not living with a battalion of his clones. Pyro guy looks like he is need to be taken out first to avoid any causalities. For Basilisk, I suggest tear gas.

If I had to make a plan right now I would say

I create a gravitational field to keep the fight contained.
Then we throw tear gas in.
You guys blast in, take out Pyro with a focused alpha strike.
Then we deal with rest of them.

Thing is, we are lacking some crucial intel, so this plan can go bad really fast. Are we allowed to perform our own reconnaissance or is it deemed too risky in case we alert the cell?" Newton thought a bit more before continuing

"However, facing head on with all members of this cell isn't necessary. If we can grab one or two of them without a commotion, and by we I am talking about you Ana, our raid the apartment would be much much easier. Though this makes timing really tight because we need to commit after capturing one of those guys."

Frank had no questions so far, but he thought it was possibly a bit premature to be making the tactical plans. There ought to be recon on the building before they decided anything.

"What do we know about the apartment building?" he asked.

"Yes, we better do more reconnaissance. Not only what you two mentioned, but also what the plans themselves are. It wouldn't end their operation if they've already planted some devices that someone else will set off, for instance. I would say we need to get going to New York right away. We can read up and get rooms while en route. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can start surveillance of our own."

"The apartment building is the tallest one in Brooklyn.  They Brotherhood are renting five different apartments on the top most floor - number fifty-one.  I will send you the schematics "

"I also agree we should leave as soon as possible, and set up additional surveillance.  Problem is we are on the clock here; the Brotherhood may act at any moment"

Price was somewhat surprised at Newton's suggestion.  Clearly he underestimated his powers:

"You can set up a 'field' that would cover the entire building? That's impressive.  Still, I am concerned.  If they manage to break out the situation can easily get out of hand.  I've got a quarter of a million people living in a half mile radius form the apartment building. I can't afford to put them at risk"

He shakes his head

"Our best option is to lure them out of New-York somehow.  Bait them out.  I don't know how, but fighting in a densely populated area is just too dangerous"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:05, Thu 08 July 2021.

Danny sat quietly, watching and listening.
For the moment, he seemed focused on Newton, as though attempting to peer into his soul.