RPGWW

by **Shinigori V2** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 11:22 am

"A man after my own heart, I like that." Cannonaid nods. He moves out from between the two file photo projections, and clicks once more on his clicker. A third image shows up of a plain woman with dark hair and glasses, wearing a sweater, a very conservative, professional skirt, a labcoat and glasses. "Vanansa Cranston, wanted by governments the world over for crimes against humanity itself. She was one of the Empire's leaders in the magical sciences before the great war fifteen years ago. Several years prior to the war itself, she disappeared from her station in the magic labs and was not seen or heard from for several years."

Cannonaid pauses a moment to let all that sink in. "Shortly after the war started, she turned up again, arriving at the Emperor's castle and requesting audience. At her request, the Blue Falls Research Facility was constructed underneath Blue Falls, and she was granted leave to do any research that would be helpful to the Empire. She promised the Emperor an army of super soldiers. What she gave us-"

Cannonaid clicks his clicker again, and all three images change. Each one changes to a black and white photo of dirty prison cells, filthy surgical rooms, and pictures of men, women, and even a few children- Even a dog- who look at the same time to be in various states of death and decay, but still active and aware. "Was this. She disappeared again just before military police inspected her facility. It wasn't one of the Empire's proudest moments, and it was decided the best course of action was to send an Armored Corps in to sanitize and scrub the facility clean as quickly and quietly as possible. However, shortly before the mission commenced, the facility was breached by a third party and the support columns bombed. Blue Falls collapsed into itself, leaving the entire city a haunted, uninhabitable ghost town."

Cannonaid shifts. "I apologize for the history lesson. What you need to take from it is that Vanansa Cranston is not only quite powerful, but has very little in the way of moral scruples. She is a person of interest due to likely having a hand in the creation of Lelorniel, as well as having the magical power and know-how to convert a child into a Wunderkind. Further, much of her later research was in the existence of celestial beings many would refer to as "gods." Cranston is extremely dangerous and not to be engaged without a full squad of back up and an Armored Corps on stand by."

by **Besyanteo** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:16 pm

Amleth tried to keep the calm he'd been rocking since he sat down. This was all some cheesey-horror-movie-esque nightmare he was being told, but those nightmares weren't in the room with them. The half-stupor of his coffee fueled wakefulness helped somewhat. He was unable to think of a good question, so he sat and remained more or less as expressionless as before.

He glanced at Janda now and then. He'd meant to help out in the Doomsday event, but due to the length of time his training and education required that hadn't panned out. He found himself curious what she saw during that time, or even did. If she was cybernetic, for all he knew she could have been in a metal body for 10 years or more. She could have been some sort of soldier for the Empire during Doomsday. She may also have been in that body for five weeks and been seven years old during Doomsday. He resolved to talk to her later and find out, turning to focus on Cannonaid again now.

by **ChristianC** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:45 pm

Alistair took the news of zombies, mages and mad scientists calmly, nodding along with the conversation and occasionally glancing around the room. He'd been in the artillery since he joined the army and they hadn't been called in to clean up Blue Falls, but he'd heard of it. Hearsay and whispers, of course, but he never dismissed anything he was told by a superior, no matter how outrageous it seemed.

"This unit... our unit, could not have been created without having these kind of targets in consideration, no?" he smiled a little and put his boots up on an empty chair, "We're the men and women you assembled to deal with these kind of threats, so I say we get the dossiers and go hunting. Hm?"

by **Idran1701** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:16 am

Valentin glances to Alistair, pondering quietly. He still hasn't yet processed all of this, and in the back of his mind is a kernel of disbelief that, though shrinking, hasn't entirely yet vanished. All this, it's just...

Oh, he'd heard rumors about Doomsday. Who hadn't? But he always played them off as rumors. A terrorist doomsday cult striking Granville, striking all over the world in fact, stirred up by an approaching meteor that was deflected by Krynian weaponry in the nick of time. That was the official story, and that was what he always put stock in. But now, he's not sure what to think. Some of those other rumors, maybe they were true after all?

With everything he's seen in this briefing so far, now he's not quite sure what to believe. Except that perhaps they grabbed the wrong soldier out of his unit; he can't yet tell why they thought he was the proper choice for this squadron.

by **Gee Cee** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 1:29 pm

Emhyn appraises the photos grimly. Cannonaid has a gift for dramatic understatement, describing Blue Falls as merely 'not the Empire's proudest moment.' There's so much he still doesn't know about the incident, but it had been a nightmare, for morale, for image, and also personally. The opportunity to uncover the truth behind all the rumor and supposition, and to finally bring the woman behind all of that to justice...

He clenches his metal fist with a quiet clink. It's a good thing he wasn't using it to hold his coffee, or there would be a lot of shattered pieces lying around. As is, he nods to Alistair, determined. "I agree," is all he says, determined.

by **Shinigori V2** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:10 pm

"Yes, very good. I'm going to be assigning initial targets for everyone to scope out and gather whatever clues and hints you can. Be mindful and don't hesitate to put in requests for support. Though, I am interested..."

With a grin, Cannonaid nods his head at the collection of new guys and Wunderkind. "You guys. Viridian Team. If I were to set you loose, where would YOU investigate?"

The entire room turns to look at the group, and Cannonaid grins. "This is your chance, boys."

by **Idran1701** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:33 pm

"Hmph." Valentin looks over the photos, thinking just on what Cannonaid's said so far about the woman; pushing the oddities out of his mind, and focusing on the question.

"Somevone zis devoted to her studies vould not continue vithout continuing her vork. But zis vork could not continue in a vacuum. She vould require personnel, materiel, space to function. However...odd ze subject of her vork, the needs for it vould be entirely normal. I vould suggest contacting first ze...biology and chemisty departments of ze major Imperial universities, investigating reports of especially recent postings for lab vork, internships, and ze like. It is unlikely zat she vould be using an obvious cover, but she seems intelligent enough to have established some form of shell corporation. Look specifically into companies incorporated vithin...a year of her first major successes, especially those vich have produced only modest returns on funded research. And similarly cross-check vith ze major chemical supply companies and manufacturers - IASF, Nemours, Berling, ze like."

He pauses for a bit, considering, before offering further thoughts. "Equipment manufacturers as vell; vile personnel and materiel vould have to be correlated due to cover, if she is smart, she vould have an associated corporation in a seemingly benign business from vich to order the equipment necessary to maintain the laboratory she vould require. Depending on her level of forethought, she may even have formed a subsidiary wholesaler firm to improve her cover even more, purchasing equipment under ze auspices of resale. But subsidiary relationships are required to be reported to ze ITC, and I doubt she vould take a chance of being discovered due to somezing as simple as failure to file financial disclosure forms. A connection between ze companies vould be simple to discover vith sufficient digging."

by **ChristianC** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:33 pm

"The creation of a wunderkind..." Alistair in turn mused, nodding along with what Valentin had said. The man was a pillar of common sense, and it was almost annoying how many bases he covered in such a quick time. Leave some room for us others!

"How much power does it take? What kind of equipment? I can imagine their bills becoming sky-high, no? And we know roughly what parts are needed for a body, otherwise we wouldn't have these children here." He nodded towards their own Wunderkind. "I doubt they are manufactured commonly, and I doubt even more that she smelts her own alloys... not all of them at least."

by **Shinigori V2** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:47 pm

"Good. Anything else?" Cannonaid nods.

by **Besyanteo** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:37 pm

Amleth paused for a moment, wondering how it hadn't been said yet. Still, it hadn't. He spoke up, sounding somewhat deadpan in his state of caffeine induced not-fatigue.

"Missing children reports, focusing on children between the ages of five and fourteen. If she's doing any of her old work she'd need cadavers too. Corpses missing from hospitals, mortuaries and graves. Of course there's going to be some false leads there, but if she's performing a wunderkind conversion for the first time she's going to get it wrong at least once. Might be many more than once. I don't know how it is for magic, but in medicine knowing how is a long way from performing. That might or might not mean some young bodies lying around, depending on whether she finds other uses for her 'mistakes'. It will definitely lead to a sudden increase in the number of kidnappings and disappearances wherever she is though."

He held back a shudder, looking a little green as he thought about what he'd just said. It wasn't fun to think about, but from what they knew it was probably true. He wasn't keen to meet this woman, but he hoped they crushed her like a bug.

by **Shinigori V2** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:39 pm

Cannonaid nods grimly. "Good. I'll leave it up to you to decide where to investigate and get back to me. I'll let you do a little research before deploying you to investigate in the field. Any questions?"

by **Gee Cee** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 4:32 pm

"One," Emhyn speaks up, noting that his younger colleagues have taken to their work quickly. Good, they'll need everything they can get. "Given the events of yesterday, miss Cranston and her associates know we're on this, and them. Aside from what we've already gone over, what opposition do you think this investigation is likely to face?"

by **ChristianC** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:49 pm

Alistair shrugged a little and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not much of a thinker in these kind of matters, I'm afraid... I wouldn't mind leading an investigation team somewhere however, as long as inquiries are made about the subjects I brought up"

by **Besyanteo** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:44 pm

Amleth didn't answer immediately, but he did eventually come up with something.

"I'd like to coordinate with a few people in my research, divide up the job so it can be handled more quickly. Who can I speak to about that?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:44 am

"The people on your team, of course." Cannonaid says.

by **Besyanteo** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:23 pm

Amleth nodded hesitantly. He'd sort of hoped that he could get some interns they could use to help each of them with their separate ideas... No such luck. Well, they were the new guys here. He waited for the briefing to end so he could get some more coffee and get to work on his research.

by **Idran1701** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:43 pm

And Valentin keeps silent, having no questions of his own at the moment. Eager to get to the research - something that at least makes sense in all this - he waits for the dismissal, already arranging lines of research in his mind.

by **Shinigori V2** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:50 pm

"If you've got nothing else," Cannonaid begins, "Then get to work and contact me if you find anything."

by **Besyanteo** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:52 am

He stands and begins to make his way out. He's got a lot of data to dredge up and compare. He gets the feeling he should probably have a nap at some point, too.

by **Idran1701** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:15 am

Valentin nods to the Commander, and follows Amleth out, much the same thoughts running through his head. Once out, he relaxes just a bit, speaking up just loud enough for his fellow soldier to hear. "So...vhat do you think of all zis...insanity?"

by **Gee Cee** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 7:21 pm

Emhyn leaves as well. His first order of business is to research the... a little wave of drowsiness hits him and he realizes his cup is empty. Dammit. His first order or business is to obtain more coffee.

His second order of business is to get to research. Valentin had suggested looking into the flow of materials involved in Wunderkind creation, which seems like a good start.

by **ChristianC** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 1:12 pm

"I'll talk with the chemical corps. Shake them around a bit and see if something falls out." Alistair gave a small laugh. "Unless any of you have a better plan. Truth be told, I'm stumped at where to begin, I'm more of what you'd call... the muscle aspect of our great and powerful army. Haha!"

by **Besyanteo** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:36 pm

Amleth winced as Alistair laughed. The man just could not do right in Amleth's eyes. He brushed it off mentally, Valentine had spoken.

"Which part? We've seen a lot of things in a day that you could call crazy."

by **Idran1701** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:01 pm

"...vell, just about all of it, really." He frowns thoughtfully, trying to collect his thoughts.

"It's...I still vonder if all zis isn't some sort of elaborate con. I know zat vould be ridiculous vith all ze evidence. But...undead, angels, gods, robots...how can zis be real?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:49 pm

"Uh, hello!" Em shouts, waving her giant robot hands in the air. "Robots, right here! Helllooo, are you listening?"

by **Idran1701** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:45 pm

Valentin gives Em a hard-to-read look, stretching out a bit of silence.

"...It's rude to eavesdrop, girl."

by **Shinigori V2** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:48 pm

Em gives him a stern look back. As much as a girl looking the way she does can. "I'm not eavesdropping. I'm supposed to be watching out for you. You're part of our team, remember?"

by **Besyanteo** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:42 am

Amleth tried not to look irritated as Valentine and Em went back and forth. They were kids, it should be expected of them. Still, if they were going to get any work done they couldn't have them in their hair constantly. He was about to try to find a way to express that, calmly and kindly of course, when it occurred to him that that might be exactly what they needed. It might not be strictly appropriate, but the data crunching they were going to need to do for his own research alone would take ages. Normally.

So it may have seemed a bit out of the blue when he turned on his heel towards Em and said: "... Pardon. Do you girls interface with computers at all? Databases and stuff?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:47 am

Janda nods as Em decides her time would be better spent blowing the world's biggest raspberry at Valentin. "Yes, we can actually...Well, for lack of a better word, we can put ourselves inside of a computer as if we were data and interact with them expertly from the inside."

by **Idran1701** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:15 am

"...I suppoze you are, yes. Still-"

Valentin cuts himself off as Em starts her raspberry, crossing his arms. Children that aren't electronic are difficult enough to deal with. Though at least Janda seems sensible enough. He glances over as she describes her abilities, completely ignoring Em's scene now. "...Really? Hmm...Zat could be kvite useful, Janda. Ve could both get use out of zat, I imagine. Eh, Amleth?"

by **Besyanteo** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:25 am

Oh, wow. That... well, it sounded impressive. He wasn't sure Janda meant what he thought she was saying, but all the same that definitely sounded helpful.

"Definitely. Between all of our suggestions we have a lot of data to gather and process."

by **Shinigori V2** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:27 am

Em responds to the ignoring by...Raspberrying even louder. Red, you HAVE to HELP ME Here or they will NEVER take us seriously!

Janda nods, a slight smile on her face. "Yes, that's why they assigned us to you. That is perfect for our abilities. Just let us know what you want us to be doing."

by **Idran1701** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:08 am

"Vell..." He dismisses the last of his reluctance at this obvious boon for their team, thinking over all that Janda could help them uncover. After a pause to gather his thoughts, still ignoring Em's attempts at irritating him, he continues. "Ve have a number of sources of information ve vould have investigated. I can provide you vith a full dossier of vat I vould ask. I am sure Amleth can do the same. Vonce you have ze information, you need simply bring it to us, and ve can begin our own vork."

And over radio, Scarlett perks up from the corner where she'd been busying herself with a book, waiting to be called into action! What, huh? What did you do now, Em?! Did you ruin everything?!

by **Besyanteo** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:01 pm

Amleth nodded in response to what Valentine was saying. But he looked troubled. The girl looked all of fourteen, if that.

"Now... You understand that some of what we'd be asking you to research would be disturbing, possibly very much so, right? Especially the things I am looking for, considering. Kids your age... well. Anyway, are you sure you want to do this?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:03 pm

"I'm very mature for my age." Janda says. "I was in the Doomsday incident, remember. I'm here to help you, and I'll do whatever you need me to do."

by **Besyanteo** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:10 pm

He didn't answer right away. She was, so they said. Still. He sighed, and replied with a mutter before switching back to Imperial standard:

"Hvis du så sige... I'll have a dossier prepared for you in an hour. Where can I find you then?"

by **Shinigori V2** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:18 pm

Janda nods. "Jeg kan være, hvor nogensinde skal du mig-" She seems to catch herself, and frowns for a minute. "Er...Just let me know where you'd like me to be. If you don't need me, we've got training modules in the Wunderkind Lab, down in the Magitek area."

by **Besyanteo** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:33 pm

Amleth was mid-nod before doing a doubletake. What did she just-? Wow. Even the pronunciation was right. 'Wunderkind' indeed.

"U-uhm. Yes. I'll meet you back here then. Thank you Janda."

He started to walk off, intent of making that dossier... and not laughing at his own silly reaction. This morning had been an emotional rollercoaster.

by **Idran1701** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:48 am

"Yes, thank you. I shall prepare my own by zen as well." Giving her a slight nod, he heads off with Amleth for the same task, moving right past Em's continual raspberries.

Once out, he speaks up to Amleth on the way. "Very strange indeed. Useful, yes...but I shall still need to grow accustomed to zis."

by **Gee Cee** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:47 pm

Emhyn, who had gotten a bit turned around in finding his way but is now fully present, clears his throat. He feels no particular need to indicate that he's unimpressed with Em's shenanigans.

"The components involved in your creation, is that something you're given full access to?" he asks in her general direction, "someone who isn't busy should probably collect that, in case we miss something."

It isn't unrealistic for there to be discrepancies between their sources - it is a top-secret project, after all.

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