In reply to Gwenyth Blake (msg # 143):

Shiva responds via commlink as he keeps working on removing bodies and downloading tech.

Thanks, Gwenyth. Check for people on the street. They will need help, and if they are all together it will be easier to treat them, especially when the first responders show up. Here's a IR scan of people close by. Just make sure your prisoner behaves himself. I'm not sure if Ana's mind zap effects everybody the same.

For her part Kate settles for taking the various surrendered Mauraders into custody.  Cuffing, zip ties, whatever she needs to do to round them up and keep them in one easy to coral location.  Not yet getting them out of the rubble of the basement, as the last thing she want's to have to do is chase them down.  She will however also work to make sure that anyone who did survive the collapse is accounted for and if necessary receiving treatment.

The last thing she does, is make sure that nobody is thinking or trying to eliminate any remaining information.  Collecting computers, phones, papers and anything else she can suss out as possibly useful and incriminating.

Illya is stunned into silence and inaction by the discovery of the child's body. For many moments he just stares at it. Shiva's movement of the body snaps Illya out of his stupor. Looking around, with tears in his eyes, he sees the others attending to their responsibilities, so Illya quiet mimics them, moving the largest debris with great care. But his actions are robotic.

"Yes; establish a perimeter around the Black Site.  Don't let anyone come near until the police arrive to secure the premises" most people were still too afraid to step out of their houses, but that had started to change.  In fact, a small crowd began to form as he was giving his instructions to Gwyneth.
"Kate; any survivors down at the pit?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:26, Fri 08 July 2022.

The magnitude of the catastrophe became more and more apparent as Black Hole floated the rubble away.  Almost everyone trapped inside the remains of the building died when it collapsed - either from falling from a height of three stories, or from being crushed under the weight of several tons of steel and stone.   Men, women, children - entire families murdered by the nonchalant Slab, who looked upon the rescue efforts with an ever-widening grin on his face.

Ana Sofía keeps pushing her mental influence on these mutants to surrender to make sure they stay that way.

When she sees Tank jumping she comments, "Frank, you're nearly flying. Nice!"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:48, Fri 08 July 2022.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 149):

Shiva records all the data. Six uploads all of its information, and he wisely keeps it out of the loop his other sensors are gathering. Six would doubtlessly kill Slab, which is precisely what he wants. If it was not for Ana, Slab would have fought to the death. Counting on cloned resurrection as an escape.

That being said, he does not trust the mutants to stay cooperative. He contacts the team via commlink once more. However, he does not include Johnson or anyone else. He also makes sure the commlink message will not be recorded for later veiwing.

I have the clone chamber specs. I also have the location of the main Essex black site. No doubt that is where all this tech is coming from. Dont say anything about  the clone chambers. Its need to know, and I dont trust Johnson with tech this powerful. We need to drug these prisoners to keep them from trying to escape.

He moves over to Black Hole, and puts a human hand on his shoulder. "We did all we could. They wanted to blow up the whole neighborhood. Thousands dead. Just remember if you had not been here, many more would have died. We are not perfect, but we do stop the worst of it."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:02, Fri 08 July 2022.

In reply to Shiva (msg # 151):

Illya smiles thinly at Shiva, "Thanks, Shiva. I guess you're right. It's, just, all do different than I expected. Is it always like this?"

«I know, right?» he thought back to Ana Sofia, counting on her telepathy to pick up the response. Tank was trying not to seem so happy at the moment, given their surroundings, but the leaping ability was definitely going to come in handy. He'd seen video of the Hulk doing it, and it was definitely a successful mode of travel.

He moved a fallen section of wall and found another dead body. That knocked the pride right out of him.

This was going to look so bad on the TV news. 'Freedom Force Fails to Protect Civilians!' He could just see it now. Their public support was definitely going to take a hit.



1 XP - every time you worry how your (or the team's) actions might be perceived by the public (or point out why it is important to maintain appearance)

The first to arrive at the scene were the firefighters, who didn't have much to do after Freedom Force rescued all the people still trapped inside the building.  The paramedics who arrived shortly after had Shiva to thank for performing the first triage and treating the more seriously injured.  His assistance in the precious first few minutes undoubtedly saved several lives.

And the last to turn up, after the casualties were evacuated and the danger was over, were the police.  Dozens of officers swarmed around the neighborhood like ants, blocking the roads, containing the area around the pharmacy and the demolished building.  The presence of Freedom Force at the area at that point was redundant, but Johnson made them stay a few minutes longer until he had confirmation that Federal Agents from the Department of Homeland Security are on their way to assume command of the situation.

"Team, gather around" Johnson called all of them.  Though he could talk through their earpieces, he preferred to do it face-to-face.  "An aerial transport will transfer our suspects to Nomans Land.  The facility has been destroyed, but keeping them on a remote island is still the best we can do at the moment.  Tank, Windtalker; I want you to accompany the transport and make sure the suspects arrive on the island without complications.  The rest of you are coming with me back to Washington to wait for further orders"

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 154):

"The restraints needed wont hold them once Ana and Tank leave the area. We will need both of them very soon."He says.

"My scans have revealed the best way to restrain all but three of them via drugged sedatives. George does not breathe or even have any organs. Hairball can resist any drug. However both of them can be restrained in airtight bunkers with machine surveillance. The one exception to drug or bunker prison cell is Slab. His growth renders him immune to both."

One of his limbs produces a holographic image of something that looks like a high tech leg brace. "I'm calling this the Slab Restraint legbrace. It has a shaped charge of several c4 packs combined with an accelerate for burning. If he tries to remove it, it goes off. If he grows or shrinks it goes off. It is fully linked to my sensor array. The explosion will be limited to his injured leg, and the burning will cauterize the wound. It wont kill him, but most likely put him into a coma. It's up to him of it goes off. More importantly, he wont be able to use cloned resurrection as an escape method. He will have to live with one leg, and a gaint who cant walk is of no use to his employer." Shiva sounds very...cold as he clinically describes the device. None of his humor or warmth can be detected.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Sat 09 July 2022.

" President Davis banned the use of sedatives after she was made aware of the inmates' condition in Camp-X. I doubt she would approve of rigging people with explosives either.  But we'll see.  " Johnson was just as apathetic about the ultimate fate of the mutant mercenaries, but he wouldn't do anything without the president's approval.
"Get going everyone.  The FBI will take over from here"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:48, Sun 10 July 2022.

"Shiva, you should take a look at what happened with the two most recent detention centers." At least President Davis wasn't having it right now.

When Johnson reiterates his intent for everyone to move out Ana Sofía says, "Yes, sir. Frank, let's get going."

"I want it on the record that these people will escape any normal holding facility. Even if they just kill themselves.

The data and evidence we have gathered so far suggests whoever is cloning them cant make limitless numbers of host bodies. The current host needs to die first for a new body to be used elsewhere, that's why the kill thier own rather than let them be captured." Shiva points out.

"When that happens, we will have to fight them all over again. Or they will try trigger another mass casualty .

That's why thier cloning lab was surrounded by 1000 of pounds of high explosives. They have no fear at being in the center of such an event. In effect, we are aiding thier future escape and more mass murders by not doing everything possible. Only when they are alive and disabled can they safely be removed as a threat. I have a team of experts trying to find a way to disrupt the clone tech, but I dont know how long that will take. We need to be proactive against the enemy, rather than just reacting."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:56, Sun 10 July 2022.

"These sound like the same arguments I've heard before. And that's what led to murdering so many people, including truly innocent people. Do you have any idea what it feels like to experience the death of dozens or more people at the same time?" Ana Sofía then shifts from more upset to more somber. "Unfortunately, I do have a solution, but I really, really don't like it: I can be the warden. There is no need to permanently sedate people nor set up lethal booby-traps if the prisoners don't wish to escape. They can still live, though imprisoned. I really don't like it, though, because I will essentially have to be stuck there forever myself."

"YOU have a team?" the discussion they started on Mutant containment could wait for a few minutes longer.  What Shiva just said was of a more immediate concern "'clone' technology is classified.  Who exactly is your 'team'?"

In reply to Windtalker (msg # 159):

"Are you sure?" Shiva says to Ana. "It would require you to basically be in the brains of half a dozen or so sociopaths until the new metahuman prison is online. I dont want to put that on you, if there was any other way..." Even as he said it, he knew there was no other way. At least, not one that did not involve drugging or cutting off people's legs. Oddly he was more comfortable with that idea than Ana being stuck in the head of someone who had just brought down a building on 139 people, 40 of them children.

He realized, Ana was suffering more than he was. While he had heard the death screams of all those people, detected thier life signatures suddenly go out, Ana had it worse than him. She had felt their minds and thier terror of thier last moments.

He shook his head. "I will do whatever you want Ana. Thank you. Because you taking them off the combat field."

He contacted the rest of the team privately via thier commlink, once again assuring Johnson and his spies where out of the loop. I know their main base is.

He glanced over at Johnson. "You have problem with this? Fire me. We work out the paperwork after the team stops these monsters once and for all."

He started to walk away, and then paused. "Your first name would not be Richard would it? Because Dick Johnson really suits you." Then he heads for the remaining villians, getting ready to load them on the transport.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:05, Sun 10 July 2022.

They were back to the same old question: how do they imprison the super-powered criminals they were capturing? Ana Sofia serving as Warden wouldn't do the trick, unless she never slept. Was that one of her powers that he didn't know about, or was she just not thinking of that detail?

He was about to ask when Shiva started in with Johnson again. It was getting painful.

"Dude, you've gotta stop," he muttered. Shiva's sensor array would no doubt hear him. "He will fire you."

In reply to Tank (msg # 162):

Maybe. But is it worth working for someone who treats you like crap and gets part of your team killed? Shiva replied via private comlink.

"No" Johnson called out after Shiva.  He has made his decision.  The man left him no choice:

"You disseminated classified information to unknown parties.  I'm not firing you.  I'm arresting you"

In reply to Agent Johnson (msg # 164):

Shiva ignored him. There where more important matters to deal with then this petty tyrant. If he wanted to use Freedom Force against John, so be it. There was literally lives on the line right now, which mattered more than Johnson's power plays.

Illya whispered into the comlink, "Where's the base? I might be able to get us all there even without a functioning helicopter."

As Agent Johnson's accusations against Shiva escalated, Illya stepped inbetween the two, "That's crazy! You can't arrest him! Let's all just calm down and get back to helping people. Arresting Shiva just helps them! Not us!"

Gwenyth nods and gets to work, dragging George behind her. At some point she throws him down onto the mangled corpse of a mother clutching her child as if to shield it from the inevitable building collapsing on top of them both. "This is what you are party to, George. You enabled this." She admonishes the blood-stained mutant, cold and measured fury in every syllable.

Her dark mood just intensifies as Agent Shiva starts conspiring behind the back of their supervisor. "I don't want to have any part in this," she sullenly replies over commlink, half-covering her mouth with one hand to keep her voice from George.

---

Gwenyth is a little late to the group huddle, arriving just in time to see John and Johnson getting into it again. "Jesus, what did you do this time?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Sun 10 July 2022.

"Listen, boss... the fact is that we need John in the field with us, not locked up," Frank said, hoping to defuse the situation before it exploded. "Besides: we couldn't hold him. Maybe you place him on administrative leave once this Essex crap is resolved?"

"You are missing the point.  Being needful doesn't give you a license to break the Law.  Having superpowers doesn't either.  Or feeling like you have been treated unfairly, or because you think the Law is too restrictive.  That 'fuck-all', 'I'll-do-whatever-I-want', attitude is exactly how we got Magneto on one hand, and Camp-X on the other" both of which he considered abominable for nothing more than their lawlessness

"Change in this country is done by the ballot box.  If we allow this we might as well hand in our badges and let the country descend into Chaos.  It's not up to us to decide which law should be upheld and which disregarded.  Every time we do something like this we override the will of the American people.  Stabbing at the heart of Democracy"

Johnson looked at Shiva once more:

"And I am NOT going to let you do that. You're joining the transport to Nomans Land, Mr. Ohm.  Don't add resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer on top of 'unauthorized disclosure of classified information'"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:10, Mon 11 July 2022.