6:00, October 12th, 2020, Freedom Force HQ

It took ninety minutes for their Black Hawk to make it from New York to Freedom Force HQ.  By that time, Ana was post-surgery, recuperating in bed in front of the TV with a very delightful dosage of morphine dripping down her vein.

Back on the helicopter, the hit-squad riding with Freedom Force kept their mouths shut.  Harpoon wasn't in the mood to talk, Scalphunter rarely ever did, and Blackbuster couldn't on account of his busted jaw.   All three of the failed murderers were escorted to the basement level once they made it to HQ, with Mistress, and a couple of decomposing animated corpses armed with machine guns, keeping watch until Johnson decided what to do with them.

Freedom Force's field commander already debriefed them during their flight.  He gave the team a couple of hours to catch their breaths before calling them into the meeting room for their new orders.   Gywenth was conferenced in from the hospital, and with Johnson's insistence, Ana from her bed as well, despite the doctors ordering her to get some sleep.

"Morning, Freedom Force.  Let me start with an update regarding Agent Garcia.  Her surgery was successful, and the doctors are positive about a full recovery.  I asked her to join the call because we need to decide what we are going to do about the rogue Telepath" Johnson leaned into the speaker  "Will try to keep it brief, Agent Garcia, but I am sure you understand both the urgency and the necessity of having you on the call"

Shiva had gone to sleep with a head full of nightmares. Mostly about the now dead little girl and her family. He had various dreams about her waving bye as he placed her on a train that fell off a cliff, or some other disaster.

When he woke, Six proceeded to smash a few walls while demonstrating what it would like to do to Harpoon via Hologram. John tired to ignore it while brushing his teeth and getting ready.

When he finally got to the meeting, he looked like he had not slept well. He looked as haunted as he felt. "Glad to see everybody is up and about..." he joked lamely. Trying to force a smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:48, Sat 16 Apr 2022.

Frank had slept in a chair outside Ana Sofia's hospital room. It wasn't clear if he was protecting her, or protecting everyone else from her, but nobody had asked him while he was awake. Eventually, though, he'd gotten up and forced himself into a shower and a new set of clothes.

At one point while showering, he'd found a small jagged piece of something stuck in his hair. He worked it free to discover it was a piece of Scrambler's skull. If he'd had breakfast at that point, he might've thrown it back up, but his stomach was empty.

When he came into the meeting, it was clear to anyone who looked at him for more than one second that he'd slept poorly. He poured himself a mug of black coffee and downed it in a few gulps, heedless of the temperature that would have scorched the mouth of anyone else. He poured a second mugful and sat down at the meeting table with it.

Kate was there, but looked grumpy, upset, and generally not happy.  She was in a generic t-shirt, generic sweats, generic shoes, generic everything.  It looked like she had raided the sports section of a college apparel store and didn't yet have a phone again.  She kept sneaking peeks at Ana on the screen but was otherwise rather quiet.

"We can't get the murderers you apprehended to talk, and I can only hold them for so long before we have to bring them before a judge.  Agent Garcia; is there anything you can tell us about the Telepath?  Agent Ohm; check the satellite images and street cameras for records of the event, and up to two days prior.  Good chance we can identify the rest of their team as they set up the ambush.  I also need you to perform an analysis of our servers and phones.  Someone hacked us.  It's not only that I was unable to contact you during the mission in New York, but that they knew EXACTLY where and when we're going to be"

Johnson was either too obtuse to notice the weary faces of the team, or simply didn't care:

"If any of you have anything else to suggest, now is the time.  Else, prepare yourself for guard duty.  Someone needs to constantly watch our prisoners, till we find a way to contain them"

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 5):

Jon sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sir, I would like to say that this attack succeeded because I did not detect the takeover of Agent Windtalker or the assault on the chopper. I should have sensed both and failed to save my fellow agent and the five people on the chopper. It is important to note the rest of the team bares no responsibility for these deaths, and I am willing to accept any conqesences I have coming."

He looks at the floor, not really wanting to meet anyones eyes. "That being said, I do have a plan to deal with future telepathic attacks, which could be put into place with or without me. However...I...er...cant tell you about it."


He rubs his neck as he looks up at the commander. "I want to of course, but every person who can have thier mind read is a potential leak. Not that they would ever tell anyone, but a telepath can pluck the info out of most people's heads. There is a way around that as well...but I am fairly sure you would not like what would be required."

This message was last edited by the player at 16:52, Tue 19 Apr 2022.

Kate was more than happy to be 'ignored' by the man she was increasingly sure was only on this earth to mess with them, not to actually help.  So she spent most of the meeting sitting quietly, trying not to draw attention.  She almost said something when Shiva tried to take credit for everything wrong in the world but just barely bit her tongue and held her silence.

"It's still my job to decide who is, or was, responsible for what, Agent Ohm.  Don't try shouldering all of the blame - you're not helping anyone by doing so.  And with regards to your initiative - I'm not going to authorize anything without knowing the details"

He kept his eyes on John, to make sure there weren't any misunderstandings

" - I believe you have work to do.  I will be expecting results within the hour"

"Then I guess I'll go take first shift on guard duty," Frank said. He finished his second coffee in two gulps. "See you guys later."

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 8):

"Ah...yes sir. I will, ah, prepare a report after accessing the satellite video feed." While a little relived he was not fired or worse, part of him still felt terrible. He could not help but remember the little girl he put on the chopper with her parents. Waving at Six as the energy hand strapped her in to be safe.

It was then he noticed Six forming images of the reptile faced child and her family. That and the images of the two chopper crew that had been controlling the doomed aircraft. "Stop it!" He snapped at the limb, and the images faded. He got ready to take over for Tank when he needed to rest, after he uploaded the data from the satellites.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:18, Tue 19 Apr 2022.

With things apparently over Kate looked to Ana and asked softly, "Are you okay, can you forgive me?"

In reply to Tank (msg # 9):

"Second shift," an otherwise quiet and tired Gwenyth quips cross the phone line. As the escort, she was already guarding the even-more-tired Windtalker.

"You failed.  Then you got yourself captured. So where do you get the galls to call me dumb?"

Tank arrived just in time to catch the last part of the conversation between Mistress, and the bare-chested burly man who went by 'Harpoon'.

The three members of the hit squad were huddled at the corner of the bomb shelter. It was the only room in HQ with walls thick enough to stop Blockbuster from punching through them in one blow.  Hopefully.  But for now, the blue giant didn't look like much of a threat.  He was stretched over the floor, his eyes closed and his chest heaving slowly.  Scalphunter was standing above him, quietly sizing up Mistress and the two zombies like a tiger preparing to pounce.

"Hey, Mistress," Frank said, entering the shelter through the heavy steel door. It was the one of the few doorframes in the complex large enough that Frank didn't feel like he was squeezing through it. It was built like a vault door, and probably as secure as one. That said, Frank (and probably Blockbuster) could rip it clear out of the wall given a minute to do so. "This guy resorting to throwing rude names now?"

"Yea" Mistress snorted while still keeping her eyes on their prisoners "That's the only thing he got left"

"Whatever"
Tank's arrival , ironically, put the prisoners at ease.  It looked like they were up to something, but now that 'reinforcement' arrived they had no choice but to bide their time.  None of them were in the mood of losing a few teeth.
"It’s not over.  Just you wait"

"Ooh, I'm scared." Frank rolled his eyes. Without his harpoons, this guy was about as dangerous as the cafeteria's lunch menu: smells a little funky, but really can't hurt you. "Come on, Harpo. If you wanna talk, then start with telling us who hired you. Otherwise, zip it."

"Or what?" despite the huge power discrepancy between the two, Harpoon didn't back down from the confrontation.  And not because he hasn't realized Tank could easily squeeze the life out of him
"What are you going to do, big boy?  You're the good guys, right?  You're not going to assault one of your prisoners without provocation"

"No, but we probably have different definitions of what constitutes 'provocation'," Frank replied. Killing a whole family, including a little mutant girl? That was lots of provocation for a beatdown. Part of Frank was just dying for an excuse to smack Harpoon around. "But if you're really interested in running your mouth, you just go ahead.

"You see, I don't need to do anything to you. Your friend here with the metal parts? He shot Scrambler to keep him from talking. The more you run your mouth, the greater the risk you're going to slip up and say something you shouldn't. So, sooner or later, he's probably going to try to kill you, just to shut you up.

"Worse, he knows that you're the one who's most likely to crack, of the three of you. He'd kill to keep others quiet, so he'd probably die rather than talk. We won't get a word out of him. And Blockbuster wouldn't talk even if he could. He figures he's still got a chance of beating me in a rematch, and busting his way out of here. But you? You've got the most to lose. You're the one we're going to parade through the judicial system and make the very biggest spectacle of. You blew up the helicopter, killing two pilots, and a family of civilians, including a little girl. We're going to make the biggest example out of you.

"And the longer you think about that, the longer he thinks about that, too.

"So, go ahead and run your mouth."

In his room, John prepared to access the satellites. He sat cross legged on the floor, typing on his unseen keyboard while his arms fanned out around him. Each beginning the process of accessing the data. John was about to hit the final keystroke when he paused.

He had not done this before. Sure he had downloaded images and video from those tech spy devices floating in space. This was different. He had never wanted to do this before...linking the arms to satellite signals, and then bouncing that signal to others. In effect, he would be everywhere. He knew he could do it, but never tried before. He had deliberately held back, because it was too scary to think about.

Nobody was supposed to know everything all at once.

Expect, now he needed to. Now he had to hunt down the hacker, who had targeted them and used the little girl and her family as bait. Then had their goons kill them 3 of them plus 2 chopper pilots because they where in the way. John had failed to prevent it because his senses where not enough.

They could be now though. He just had to stop being frightened of what could happen. When he refused to extend himself, people died. So now there was no other option.

"Commence probability calculation algorithm." He said, totally without needing to. The arms could be contacted mentally after all.

His awareness expanded as he used most of the computers on earth. Gathering up their knowledge and copying them into the arms. Accessing them like he did the first time he manifested his mutation, but it was only local then. Now it was commination across the globe, and maybe farther. His sensors building on themselves, expanding their capabilities exponentially. Effectively lauching his mind everywhere via the Freedom Force HQ Hub.

From there, he could create the Probability calculation program. The same way most people could guess at future outcomes by putting together what they know of past and present, the program would build on that. Using all the knowledge he had gained, he could do more than just guess. He could get there with high percentages of being correct. Granted it was only a short 'insight' into the future, but with time...who knew?

From there, he could find the hacker's device and track him down much easier...

OOC:
13:56, Today: Shiva rolled 9,3,8,6,5 using D10,d12,d8,d10,d8 with rolls of 9,3,8,6,5.  Creating an asset. Probability Calculation program

Wits-d10
Senses-d12
Computer like Mind-d8
Tech-d10
Resources-d8

Total=17
Effect die=d12

18:53, Today: Shiva rolled 10,9,6,2,12,5 using d10,d12,d8,d10,d12,d8 with rolls of 10,9,6,2,12,5.  Spending a PP for second chance. Hacking the Hacker

Wits-d10
Senses-d12
Computer like Mind-d8
Tech-d10
Assest-d12
Resources-d8

1 PP for second chance, 1 PP to add additional die.

Total=28
Effect die=d12

Harpoon's lips curled with anger.  He seriously considered punching Tank in the face, even if it resulted in little more than shattering his fingers over the invincible man's jaw. The fact that Tank was right about everything he said was what infuriated him the most; if he shrieked away from the confrontation Tank would get him to 'shut up'.  If he didn't, he probably would end up with that bullet in his brain - same as 'Scrambler'.  It was a hard choice to make for the proud man, between death and disgrace.  He would have chosen death, but his hatred for Tank was such that he wanted to stay alive just a little bit longer - if it meant he would get to see him die by the others.

Glaring, he clenched and unclenched his fists, taking long, deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Good boy," Frank said. It was a little uncharacteristic of him to actively taunt Harpoon, but it just slipped out. "Now go sit down."

Harpoon sat down.  He was too disciplined to be goaded into doing something stupid.  He gave Tank the stink eye though, which was the most he could do.  For now.

"Thank you for that.  He was starting to look combative before you got here.  I thought I was going to need to knock them all out" Mistress raised her voice for the last part, so the assassins could overhear her.  It would be good if they could fear her the way they feared Tank.

"I was trying to get them to talk, but hadn't had any luck.  Maybe we should call Gwyneth in here?  She has a way with people…"

John hacked the various devices of the hacker, making sure there was a few ways he could track the person. He wanted the whole deal, every crumb of data without the talented terrorist knowing what Shiva was doing. He made sure to do a total a profile he could get before moving in. He wanted the Hacker to think he got away clean before nabbing the target. He was worried about telling anyone directly, due to the telepathic eavesdropping that could be happening.

So he told Ana, so she could telepathically inform the others. It was the most secure line of communication, although he waited for her to feel up to the task. Instead, he would find alternative means to arrest the Hacker and be prepared to bring the person in.

Even if the enemy telepath read the minds of people near the hacker, they would only know what they knew. If they where not thinking about government arrests and Freedom force and mutants, and instead thinking about parking tickets for example, it would be hard even for a powerful telepath to pick out any threat.

Ooc-given my sucess, and that my mind cant be read, could I move in on the hacker or arrange a series of flase but mundane charges to bring the target in? Assuming what I now know about them shows them to be human.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:31, Sat 23 Apr 2022.

In reply to Mistress (msg # 24):

"Well, she's got the next shift on watch, but that's four hours from now." Frank didn't want to screw with Gwyneth's day too badly, but Mistress did have a pretty decent idea. "I think she'll probably be at the hospital for a while longer, though. Probably best just to wait."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Sun 24 Apr 2022.