Death's Advocates (Started)

((It's cool, just glad you got it in. We start now!))

General Narrative

The Union of Humanity uncovers the development of the Common People's Empire's super weapon, something that will end the war once and for all; a bio-mechanical monster, combining the strengths of many animals with mechanical weapons as well as poisons. It could ultimately end civilization if unleashed, but it is still only in development.

The UH assembled a special team of military personel to infiltrate the CPE and sabotage the abomination, but word of their plans got into CPE hands, and they have assembled their own team not only to stop the UH team, but also find a way to stop the UH's ability to control the masses.

The two teams meet up to discuss tactics and strategies, getting to know each other to perform in the field better.

James Cambridge

"All right team, if you don't know why we're here, allow me to fill you in. CPE has a deadly weapon in the works, we're going in and making sure it never becomes operational. Now, I need to know everything about you, and I since I want everyone to hear it, I won't be reading your minds for it," James said, adressing the UH military operatives in the room.

"I am Agent James Cambridge of the TS department, information on a need-to-know basis and none of you need to know, so don't ask. I am a telepath, which means that I can use my mind to lift things, read other minds, comunicate with my mind to others, and I can control dominate the will of some people. Don't worry, unless your hopeless, I won't be controling any of you, and you wouldn't be here if you were hopeless." He put his hands to his head and communicated using his mind to the others, "Now, each of you speak up, tell me who you are, what you can do, and anything else you think we should know."

((Uh... did anyone actually take the leader of the CPE team? If no one has, can someone just edit to say they were put in charge (because my character isn't really qualified to do so))

Tacit

The young man flipped his visor down over his eyes and began shifting through the optical settings; normal, infrared, heat, and finally x-ray. He could see pretty much anywhere with the visor, and then attack them with his ray. However, the use of his visor was already taking its toll on him, so he raised it again, trying to adjust to the difference in his eyesight without the presence of his weapon.

Shannon Emer

"Hello everyone, now if you could all be quiet for a second let me brief you in on what our job is. My name is Shannon Emer, I see that some of you know me already, and I am this teams leader for the mission we have before us all. The government has developed a means of ending this war, but the Union has somehow gotten word of this weapon and in a means to keep the war going on they have decided to make a team of some of their most powerful individuals to infiltrate the Empire and destroy this weapon." Shannon said before pausing for a second and looking around at her soldiers.

"Anyways the Empire has decided to make their own team of individuals. We are that team, and it is our job to protect the Empire and end this war for the good of mankind itself. But not only will we be stopping the Union's team, we will be saving the people that the Union has brainwashed for years well. This does mean that we will have to stop the Union from invading the CPE, as well as invade the Union itself, but we are confident these things can be done with the team we have here." Shannon said with a nod before she looked down at a few notes she had written and flipped it to the next page.

"Now if we could have people please stand and inform us of who they are, what their specialty is, what their weapon is, and anything else you think your team mates should know about you." Shannon said before she took a step back and leaned against her desk.
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Zayn Armel

"So this is it." Zayn realized as he looked at the team surrounding him, they all looked pretty competent, their leader especially.

"My name is Zayn Armel. I am a Captain and my specialty is infiltration, but I can kick ass if necessary. My lungs can adjust to almost any environment they are in and thus gas really doesn't affect me, I can breathe underwater, and hold my breath for quite a while as well. I have been trained in the martial arts of Kickboxing, Bando, and Iaidō which involves a sword so it isn't very useful in the mittle of bttle unless there's a miracle or something. Anyways that's it." Zayn said as he sat back down in his seat before looking back up at Cambridge.

He knew that this wasn't the most professional introduction, but he didn't mind.
-/-\-/-\-
Jaromir Conall/Irene Waltraud

"So can we go?"
"No, it's too dangerous and you know it." Jaromir answered Irene's request for the fourth time that day, it was beginning to annoy the scientist, but he just kept working on the plants in the green house.
He had adjusted their DNA a bit and was not trying to see if they would grow using the unpurified rain in the area, they wouldn't it would seem.

"But it's only for today and we haven't gone for over four months since the last time we went to a bar. I can just teleport us into a back alley, we walk into the bar and when it's time to go we just head for the bathrooms and come home." Miss Waltraud pointed out as she looked at Jaromir with her rather desperate blue eyes.

"I'll consider it if you leave me alone, for a bit." Jaromir said as he looked up at the girl with annoyance, but can you be a bit more careful when I'm the one handling acid-like water? Besides for all you know you could pop up right in front of a security camera and then you have the entire Unin headed for that bar." Jaromir pointed out.

"Fine then, I'll just wait for you on the deck." Irene replied as she was already at the end of the room, she had obviously ignored her cousins warning, not that Jaromir actually expected her to hear it.

The dark brunette stood, the light catching the silvery specks in her icy blue eyes, which held the intensity only one with a past such as hers could hold, "My name is Alice Monroe. My specialty," She paused, giving a smirk as if remembering a dark joke from earlier on, "Well, you'll have to see about that one." Her facial expression once more resumed it's prior serious state. "Along the lines of formation and/or battle plan/strategy, I work best with a partner, or the back alone, due to the terms of my weapon, and make an excellent decoy. I'm not completely useless in hand-to-hand combat, but I've only taken the average training plus two extra courses. So, I definitely wouldn't trust me with that if I were you. Leaving me best with my other ability. The mind." She tapped her head lightly, referring to her being able to think well during loud combat, and under pressure. What could she say? It was something she'd developed since the bombing. It was now she reached behind her neck, and pulled something out of a small, nearly concealed pocket she had sewn to the back of her collar. She brought her hand forward, and seen between her two fingers was what appeared to be a small, glass eye.

"My weapon is one of complex mental invasion and physcial illusion. With it within my own body's possession, I can enter the mind of my opponent, and give them the illusion of expiriencing intense physical pain. And I can do this in various levels and ways. This can last from a time period of a two to six hours depending on my activity in which I am using it. The most I can use this weapon on at a time is currently two. And this lowers my time of usage with it. I am still working on opening the barriers of my mind, so I can better use it." Alice paused, putting the tiny weapon back from where she had removed it. Which she would find another place to put it now that her team members had seen. Just in case. "For whatever time I use it, my eyes will close. And they will remain that way, until I discontinue my usage of it. If I am too active, and push my limits, my eyes could remain closed even more so after that." Alice finished, and took her seat, her eyes never once leaving their leader.

Yamada Tenji and Dorothy Wayne

Yamada Tenji stood up and addressed his comrades, "I am Yamada Tenji, Second in Command of the Assassination Corp. My power is that to change my skin to blend in with my surroundings," to make his point, Yamada changed his skin to match that of the wall before changing back, "My skills are best for assassination. When we infiltrate enemy lines, I would be ideal to eliminate any coming threats."

He sat down, and Dorothy Wayne stood up simply saying, "I am Dorothy Wayne. My power is super-strength.", before sitting back down.

Fei

"I am Fei. My weapon is called the Cannon. It is a simple one, it fires a canister toward the pointed location and, in mid-flight, implodes. Upon implosion dozens of beams are launched around the area. On impact these beams make semi-big explosions, wiping out anyone within its radius. I am pretty good with weapons myself, and can use almost any kind." Fei explained as she stood up. After her introduction she took her seat. She felt honored to be chosen for this task. She was looking forward to all the Unionist scum she could massacre.

Sora rose from the back of the room, her dog tags clinking lightly at the movement. Her hazel eyes flickered over to James for a moment before fixing onto a spot on the wall straight before her as she stood at attention. I am Sora Stahle, better known as Syborg. As my nickname implies, I am part machine. I am also a technopath, and can control anything electronic that is within a fifteen-foot radius of myself." She didn't like admitting her weaknesses in front of everyone, but knew that it was better for them to learn of her limits now, instead of later when it was someone's life on the line.

"I am also a deadly shot with a gun." She patted the gun that was slung across her back for emphasis and then sat back down in her seat.

Her eyes roamed the room, studying each of the individuals there.

This should be interesting.

((OOC: The plague is back in business, and I'm ready to roll!))

IC: Agnor

He rose slowly, and quietly took in the occupants of the room. Dark tattoos covered his skin, and seemed almost alive as he looked about the room. His dark eyes came to rest on Shannon, before his rich voice filled the room.

"I am Agnor Godani, and I am a combat medic. My weapon is Butterfingers." Turning, he motioned at the small machine, who took them all in with it's large red eye. A cheeriful chittering soon came from the device, and one of the servitor arms waved at the grouping.

"I am no slouch in a fight, and I can take care of myself. I'll make sure most of you come back from this alive." The towering soldier gave a small smile, before his face returned to neutral.

"Liao, my allies." He returned to his seat without another word.

Once her brother had finished speaking, Lanja stood up and took his place. She looked around the room, taking a moment to fix her eyes on each face, before she finally brought her gaze to Shannon. A broad grin splayed across her face, causing her tattoos to writhe.

"I'm Lanja Godani, your neighborhood combat engineer. This is Vandal." She jerked her thumb back at her weapon, turning so that everyone could get a look at it. Its red eye glanced around, chittering its own greeting.

"I can hold my own in a fight and you'd be better off looking after yourself than worrying about me. Something breaks out there on the field, I'm the one who'll be fixing it." Her grin seemed to widen, if it was even possible. "And don't worry about demolitons, I got that handled."

She dropped back to her seat after that, folding her arms behind her head.

“I’m Colonel Mark Cross.” Mark said as he stood up from his seat.

“You will barely see me in battle, but that you don’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not there. I’m a stealth specialist and I promise you guys that as long as are with me, nobody will attack you... from behind.”

He removed his dark coat from his seat and sat down.

Looks like there's some talent here. This might just be more interesting than I expected.

Tacit

Tacit stood up after flipping his visor down. "I'm Tacit. My visor allows me to see heat, infrared, x-ray, and shoots off either widespread of focused beams of energy. I'm the scout, looking out for anything that needs to be seen. I also killed all of my comrades on a mission once," he said, and sat back down, flipping his visor back up. Something told him they weren't going to take to him too well, being extremely young and having that kind of crime over his head.

James

"Very good, you have the rest of the day to get to know your fellow operatives, learn who you can work with best. However, I'm assigning us into two teams; I will work with Sora when on the field, while Dorothy, Yamada, and Zayn will work together. However, if complications arise, and ranks are broken, do not limit yourselves to assisting only those you were assigned to," James said, and gave them all a smile. "And no need to look so serious now, there's a time and place for everything, so let's all try to relax and enjoy the times we have that aren't plagued with the constant threat of death or worse."

Shannon Emer

Shannon only nodded after hearing Tacit's information. She had read the entire team's profiles a few days ago and was uncomfortable that he would be on her team for such an important mission. "Well then let me tell you a bit about myself then. My weapon is the Clock, it allows me to stop time and move around. It also puts my life in danger every time I use so no I will not be using it for your own entertainment. In the case of my death leadership will fall to Commander Fei. My specialties in combat consist of Infiltration, Retrieval and Assassination." Shannon said before she looked back down at her notes.

"We will be split up into teams every now and then when not fighting as a group. Team one will consist of Tacit, Mark Cross, and on occasion myself, Miss Monroe, and Miss Godani. This team's specialty is scouting and infiltrating enemy territory. Team two will consist of Agnor Godani, Alice Monroe, and on occasion, Lanja Godani and I. This team's job will mainly stay on the back lines. Team three will always consist of Fei and will also use Mark Cross and Lanja as often as we can spare them. Team three will be doing the most fighting and will usually be on the front lines of a battle." Shannon finished reading her notes before looking up at her soldiers and studying each of them closely.

"Now if we are ambushed I already have a device that will allow me to track you down if we are separated, but we may have to split up without any planning. So I have assigned each of you a partner. Fei and Mark Cross will be partners. The Godani siblings will also be partners. I will be a partner to both Alice Monroe and Tacit. Are there any objections to these plans?" Shannon asked as she tossed her notes back onto the desk behind her. She had intentionally paired up the first two because of their personalities and skills, but the people she paired herself up with she did entirely because she knew both of their histories and decided that she would be the best person to handle them.
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Zayn Armel

Zayn looked at his partners and studied there features carefully. "Well they're both certainly attractive enough, I'm guessing Yamada would kill me if I tried anything, while Dorothy seems....distracted." Zayn decided as he based his first impressions on them. "At least the commander of the mission seems to be able to be professional without being a stiff all the time. Too bad I didn't get Sora or him." Zayn thought glumly for a second before a smile came to his face. "No matter, I'll just have to learn as much about everyone as I can before we start."

Death

"This leader of yours is young," Death commented to Dorothy, hovering to her right. She was the only one who could see him, the only one who had escaped him when she had been so close to releasing her soul to him. "And it's such a small group. I may be collecting your souls before this ends."

"I think you'll have little trouble with these people, Alice. They've sent their share of souls to me," Death told Alice, hovering next to her as well. "Of course, I'll be collecting all your souls if the young one turns on you, like he did on a previous team. I remember it well, he was the only one left alive, and I remember hearing him screaming as I collected the souls of the dead around him."

The short silence that followed was shattered by a loud and rather obnoxious mechanical screech. "I second that."

Lanja sighed and lifted herself from her chair. "Couple things, lady. First off, my brother does not belong in the back, he's just as capable as the rest of us for fighting. If not moreso. Second, what the hell are you doing putting me on an infiltration team? I'm not exactally the most stealthy individual out there. And if anyone should be bounce from team to team, it should be Agnor, you know, since he's in charge of keep us all patched up."

Vandal's single eye flashed angrily and his single normal arm made a rude guesture.

"And about the partners. Why Fei? Just because Vandal's got a demo arm doesn't mean I should be paired with another explosive weapon. And why the **** would you pair my brother with a stealth specialist?"

The islander looked down at her commander, her dark eyes hard, expecting a damn good explanation.

"****, she is as annoying as they said." Was Shannon's first thought as she saw Lanja rant at her, of course her expression was entirely calm the entire time. Shannon looked back down at her sheets and handed the team listings to Lanja. "Congratulations, you failed the first test." Shannon said as she pointed her fingers towards the actual partner assignments.

"You were actually put with your brother, but I needed to check and see if your attitude was as unacceptable as I was told, it is it would seem. I asked for your opinion on these issues, I did not ask for one of my subordinates to try and intimidate me because they disagreed with the plan. If you intend to do your job on your mission then you should know that it is your job to respect the people in higher positions then you. The reason I put your brother in the defensive position is because he is the most important person here and I will not risk losing him." Shannon said in a firm and otherwise unemotional tone.

"You are mainly going to be offensive Lanja, maybe it's good that you'll be blowing off steam."

“Yes it is, because with that attitude…” Mark said softly from the corner of the room.

Anybody with THAT attitude seriously needs to blow some hot steam. I guess I’m starting to see why she was chosen for this mission.
Mark thought. At the same time he analyzed each one of the members, especially Lanja who seemed... troublesome yet useful.

IC: Agnor

Rubbing his temples quietly, Agnor sighed. Butterfingers had hidden it's eye beneath it's hands, and was cautiously peeking out at the group. The islander rose from his chair, calmly placing his hand on Lanja's shoulder.

His eyes were calm, as he addressed Shannon. "Ma'am, my sister is opinionated, and quick to speak her mind. In no way was she intimidating you, this I can assure you. However, I feel the need to say that everyone here has passed their training already, and we do not need to be tested again, ma'am." His fearsome face sported a kind smile, as Butterfingers chirped happily.

"And I am not the most important person here, ma'am. Everyone in this room holds equal value in my eyes, and in the eyes of the spirits."

He cast his gaze over at Mark, his eyes still calm. "Please referain from saying things behind my sister's back, Colonel Mark. I would request that you say it to her if you wish to say something."

((OOC: I'll explain why Agnor has such good hearing later on. Now is not the time. Lemme know if you want to know before hand MSTM, and I'll fill ya in.))

Shannon looked at Agnor with caution as she studied and listened carefully to what the boy had to say. "Modest, dislikes conflict, and he seems intelligent. He isn't making it obvious about whether I offended him with my comments or not.....good man." Shannon decided after nodding when she heard the end of Agnor's explanation.

"Of course. It was merely....a test, that I had been encourage would be a good thing to try for the sake of the team. Now I hope that no one here holds this against anyone or now expects me to blindside them with random questions to test their emotional reactions." Shannon said as she looked at everyone in the room for a second.

"Now I suppose would be the time for everyone prepare themselves for when we leave in thirty-two hours. It is recommended that everyone get to know their team mates, and to finish any issues or tasks that you've been procrastinating from doing as there is a chance we could be gone for quite a while, or that you may die." The girl recited as she read her notes again.
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Jaromir/Irene

"Irene!?" Jaromir called out as he walked onto what was known as the 'Deck' of his home. It was really just a glorified sunroom and library that was at the highest point of the labratory.

"You ready to go yet, probably not, which is why I brought you these." Irene said without looking as she threw some clean and nice looking clothes at her cousin.

"I never said we were going.....and this is too formal for me to wear." Jaromir protested as he looked at the clothing he had been given.
"Then why on earth would you own it if you were never going to wear it?" Irene asked with a sly smile as she walked down a staircse towards her cousin.

"Beacause I....fine we can go, but only for two hours." The scientist decided when he realized he had just brought it because he didn't have one yet. "She would tease me about that for weeks."
-/-\-=-/-\-
A few minutes later Irene was smiling at her cousin as she walked up to him in a short dress. "Lets go then." She said as she grabbed onto her cousin and they disappeared from the room.

Great. Stuck with the guy who can read minds.

Gah... He probably heard that.

Sora climbed back to her feet and walked towards her new partner. She stopped a few feet away and stood stiffly at attention. After a few moments, she allowed her body to relax, remembering his words.

"So, what's your reasoning behind pairing us together? I'm just curious," she added in order to stop any misconceptions before they could arise. "I'm not questioning your decisions."

James

"I think you're attractive," James said, shrugging, then smiled, chuckling. "Sorry. Those three will be the main infiltraters, they will be going in first on the field, and we will provide backup, because our powers aren't meant for stealth or offense. I am a supervisor, my power allows me to examine the others, and keep tabs on the situation at all times, checking over an area after it's secure. You powers seem more suited to providing backup, should something go wrong, you can greatly assist with your technology. Plus, when we do sabotage the weapon, you are the greatest asset we'll have, I want to keep you safe as long as possible."

Tacit

Keeping an eye on the crazy guy, Tacit thought, smirking slightly. I'm not insane anymore, but they don't have to know that. If I can keep to myself, I'll use their own hesitation against them. It's not like I need to know what they can do anyway, I always work alone.

Alice watched and listened as people stated their opinions, rather loudly she might add, and as their leader remained calm in speaking to them. It must take real patience to remain this way when you know you'll have people like this on your team. Alice knew with her short temper she wouldn't have been able to pull something like that off. Alice didn't have much trouble with the team arrangements, she didn't really know anyone there, other than what they had told the team. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Death's voice behind her, but she didn't turn to him. He didn't frighten her, but she was still getting used to there being another...Presence, she supposed was the word, with her. Alice listened as it spoke to her, recalling how she thought she'd lost her mind when she first heard that voice. Her ice-blue eyes wandered over in Tacit's direction. Who apparently would be one of her two partners, and the one which Death was talking about. I don't have a death wish or anything... She thought to herself, before finishing her thought aloud in an extremely toned down whisper, "But death doesn't scare me anymore." After all she'd been through, she still didn't want to die. But were she to die on this mission, she could honestly say she had nothing to look forward to in her life. Nothing good ever really happened. It wouldn't surprise her if this entire mission turned out to be one big train wreck. Were she meant to finally die on it, she would fight it, and avoid it with every ounce of her being. But when the time came, there would be not a glimmer of fear in her eyes, or a speck of it in her soul.

Dorothy Wayne

Dorothy glanced at Death, but said nothing in response to his comments. She had gotten used to his presence recently. Ever since her near death, that...thing had been following her. She did not know if it was a figment of her imagination, or if it was actually real. No one else but her seemed to see it. The creature had claimed to be Death, though she didn't know if that was true either. It was possible she was going made, and was conjuring the image herself. Dorothy wasn't about to say anything about that, though.

((Will post with other characters tomorrow.))

Sora nodded, slightly irritated at the fact that she had to be 'protected'. She understood why, of course, but it still didn't feel quite right. She protected others for a living, not had others protect her.

"Got it."

I wonder if he actually meant that first comment? Her training had kept her from blushing, but it still she had felt the slightly giddy sensation any girl would at a comment like that. Nobody had told her she was pretty since her accident--not that she had really cared once entering into military training.

Ken

"Good to hear," Ken said, and then put a hand to his head. "I know you don't like this, but I'm glad to see you're not going to argue the point. It's our job, after all," he told her through his powers. "I also did mean my first comment, but seeing as how I'm your superior now, it's not appropriate to acknowledge it again outside of our minds. Also, I must apologize for reading your mind without permission. In my own department it's a matter of security to constantly examine the minds of my subordinates, but now it's not."

Death

"I shouldn't scare you," Death said to Alice. "I'm not your enemy, you would be worse off if I wasn't around. Your soul would never find peace, there would be constant chaos and enternal confusion and misery. I never take vacations for a reason. The only reason I didn't take your soul was because you fought back so strongly, you weren't ready to go, and I wouldn't force you to give up your life while you still had a chance."

"You're not crazy, Dorothy," Death said, guessing what was on her mind. "I'm very real, but you should know that. You were a fighter, you didn't give up your soul. And quite frankly, I'm bored. I'm here to see how someone with your strength lives their life before I come to collect them." He gave a low chuckle, and looked around the room at the team.

Tacit

Tacit got up and walked over to Alice, keeping his visor up. "As our wise leader said, we're partners. Thought I should say something, or whatever," he said quietly. He didn't want to get to know anybody, but he decided that it'd be better to at least look like it in front of Shannon. Talking with her would be worse than this quiet girl.

Sometimes I wonder about that...Maybe... Alice sighed. Maybe while Death was following her around, Life was somewhere coming up with new ways to torment her. She almost laughed at the thought of some force somewhere targetting her. Hey, it would make sense, if anything. She was slightly startled when her teammate spoke to her. She hadn't been expecting him, nor had she heard him walk over.

"Well...I guess if we don't know each other in some way, shape, or form there's really no chance on the feild." She said, turning in her chair to better face him. She kept her expression guarded as always, it showed nothing other than boredom and apethy. Though she held no hesitation to respond to him, even though he almost seemed to be acting involuntarily. It was so typical of Alice, keeping up all her sheilds, but always letting people in without even thinking to ask them whose side they were even on. It was a pointless act, but she was blind to it.

Fei

Fei raised an eyebrow at the outburst one of the members raised, but said nothing about it herself. She nodded at the selection of her partner. It was fine with her.

Dorothy and Yamada

Dorothy nodded at what Death said, but didn't respond as Yamada was coming over to her. "Since we are to be apart of a team, we must work together without interference. If you have any problems with me now, speak them. I am not going to let any petty differences ruin our objective. The Union must survive, no matter what. I will not let this mission fail, even if it means either of our lives. Understood?" the asian man asked.

Dorothy nodded in understanding. Hm, this was an interesting man. She didn't have a problem with him, so long as he didn't turn out to be a spy like...Dorothy shut down that thought. No, she would not think of that. She would never think of that vile man again.

Zayn walked over to hid team mates with a smile as he looked over them carefully. "I agree, which is why, I will be taking both of you out to dinner." The soldier said after he listened to Yamada's greeting to Dorothy. "Not only will we learn more about each other, but if we do die during the mission then at least we had that one final night of enjoyment." Zayn said before flashing both of them a large grin.
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Shannon looked up at the room as she saw the soldiers talking to each other, the woman quietly backed away from the group and exited through a small door behind her into what was a small office she had been given. "Well that was a brilliant job you did there Miss Emer, way to alienate yourself from from a few vital members of the most important mission you ever been chosen for." The leader mentally beat herself up as she sat in a nice and comfortable chair, her favorite part of an otherwise simple and plain office.

"Now I just need mention to Tacit I'm prepared to take him out if he shows even one slight step towards going insane and then I can be pulled off of the job." Shannon reminded herself as she groaned, wishing for a second that she was one of those more foolish captains who drank their problems away.