Otis ANGB
Warren was already headed outside after hearing the first part of the commmotion, and was well on his way to the scene of the accident when the screaming started.
Operating on reflex, he made his way to the crumpled truck, and gave the man inside a once over before whipping out his Benchmade and cutting through the seatbelt.
"You two." He said as he pointed to the two nearest airmen. "Grab this guy and take him out of here; they to keep his body stable. I've got the other guy."
Making his way around to the front of the truck, Warren took off his backpack and stood by the man pinned between the truck and the wall.
"Hey there buddy." He said with a slight grin. " can you hear me? We're gonna try and get you out of here."
Paxton stepped up to the door and gently knocked, waiting a few seconds before knocking again louder this time.
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
THE SLORG!
Otis ANGB
"Heh, you taught people that didn't spea-" Alex's response to Warren was suddenly interrupted by the wall next to him denting inward, followed by the bizarre vision that seemed to last forever but only really lasted a second or so.
Once it was over, Alex blinked a few times and got up to his feet. "The fuck was that?!" Alex yelled automatically, heading outside after Warren. Warren mentioned getting the driver out of there, so Alex moved to help with that, checking to see if the guy could get out on his own; and if he couldn't, carefully trying to get him out.
You are reading this.
Amateur Biologist
Boston
Grace-Ann sat up, straightening in her chair. “That’s the thing,” she said, “She told me she didn’t wanna talk ‘bout work.” The veela drained her glass again and looked mournfully at it, setting it on the table and picking up the bottle instead, taking a long pull. “Didn’t sound to me like she was lookin’ to leave town, neither, at least not for long,” Grace-Ann muttered, wiping his mouth, “She said somethin’ ‘bout callin’ me up ’n havin’ lunch or somethin’ after she was finished up with her meetin’s. She didn’t mention who though, which is nuts, ‘cause Karen isn’t usually so… quiet-like, about that, not unless it’s a hushy-hush business.”
Another long pull and a quiet minute later, Grace-Ann snapped her fingers. “Karen did say she was headed south, though. Rrrrrrrroanoke, I think? She said somethin’ about programmin’ her GPS for someplace in Virginia as she went to her car.” The veela took another sip of the whiskey, swirling the remaining liquid around in the bottle. Her expression was apologetic. “It ain’t much, Mister Alzey, but it’s all I got for ya.”
I added psychology to my biology.
Show an affirming flame
London
"To test a theory—and potentially to foil unwelcome guests," said Karla. "Enter!" This last to Paxton as she slid the phone into a bag and handed Lita some of the coins on the desk. She picked up a Euro penny and tapped it with her wand; the front and the back slid apart, revealing two thin transparent sheets.
"I have had these made recently. They carry the physical properties of the diaphragm in a telephone or microphone, both to transmit and receive sound. Linked with Protean charms they are much less noticeable than the silver lockets. Each person wears a pair, one at their throat, one at the ear." She looked at Paxton impassively.
"I do not know if you have had to work with field communications before, but we have had to improvise in the past. New methods."
Boston
"Roanoke, Virginia?" Alzey's voice became glacially steady with not a trace of agitation or friendliness, and his knuckles whitened around his grip on his mug. "Thank you. That is all I needed to hear." He frowned, seemingly oblivious to Grace-Ann's drinking, calculating times and distances. "Yesterday. Which IHOP? If it was the close one..."
Other half of posts will be going up tomorrow for Spain and Otis. Stay tuned.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
I really need a job...
Lita looked at the magical pseudo-phones with fascination. "Wouldn't a few sets of two-way mirrors have been more convenient?" She asked, leaning towards the invention. "How do you pick who you want on the receiving side?"
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore. http://thoughtfulspurts.wordpress.com/
Show an affirming flame
Otis
The driver was white with shock and completely incoherent, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated even against the slashing of the wind, and he made no resistance nor reply as he was hauled out by Guardsmen. The crumpled door interfered, and Price's efforts at levering it out of the way made slow progress until a second, smaller group arrived from around the corner, led by Captain Wilkins, who holstered his revolver when he saw the accident scene and helped to pull the door aside.
The man pinned by the truck was dead, killed instantly in the hallucinatory moment of the impact by massive trauma to the upper torso, and only barely recognizable as the clerk who had directed them toward the hangar by the clipboard in his outstretched fingers. The pages were smeared with blood; in fact, all around the accident scene snow had been flung outward; streaks of translucent white on the wall where winds had not only blasted the snow against the wall but compressed it into ice.
Air Force security guards in the distance struggled: they were barely visible outside the windbreak of the hangar, leaning one way and then the other against capricious winds. On one occasion the winds changed direction with such force and violence that a guard team lost balance and fell, scattered like leaves; others picked them up and continued to struggle forward. Somewhere in the distance metal shrieked under stress, and there was another crump of impact, drowned out by the howling air.
London
"Perhaps, but they would be less concealable," said Karla. "Think of them as a radio microphone and earpiece, all plugged into a common network." She handed a few more coins to Paxton, these ones US pennies. "Same idea: tap with your wand to open them. I had planned to hand them out at your final briefing later today."
edited 13th Sep '12 1:30:48 AM by SabresEdge
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
Amateur Biologist
Boston
“Yessir,” Grace-Ann slurred, intentionally, of course—she was nowhere near drunk yet. “Not far from here. Actually, ’s the one just a few blocks from this place.” She pointed. “‘N my hotel is ‘round the corner.”
She drained the rest of the bottle in one go and set it back on the tabletop with a clink. “Anythin’ else you need from me, hoss?”
I added psychology to my biology.
I really need a job...
"So any time two people are talking at the same time there'll be a massive amount of noise?.. we're alpha-testing these things aren't we?" She said with a small cringe as she looked at the coin.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore. http://thoughtfulspurts.wordpress.com/
Paxton listened quietly to the conversation before asking "In the unlikely event of enemies obtaining the coins is there any way to remove a coin from the uhhh... thing at a distance?"
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
The Man in Black
Clark watched as the man was questioned, though he had some difficulties understanding him. Spain wasn't his AO, and thus he'd not spoken Catalonian until he'd taken a crash course en route. He was certainly not a fluent speaker, though years of learning and speaking foreign languages had helped him speed the process.
"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir
I really need a job...
...the uhhh... thing at a distance?..? Lita gave Paxton a look. Depending on the way the objects had been made, you could probably either remove the protean charm from the object so as to have it not be affected by the same things as all the other objects linked anymore, or you could remove every object and then take forever re-linking the things. Worst case scenario, you could destroy them all if they were still linked together. She stood up.
"I think I'm gonna go pack now" Lita told Karla with a grin, remembering she was going to go to Spain, and meet with her grandfather, and headed out. Some of that proto-patronus mist started to form around her again as she skipped happily to her room humming Spain's national anthem.
edited 16th Sep '12 9:31:59 AM by Faramir
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore. http://thoughtfulspurts.wordpress.com/
THE SLORG!
Otis
Alex looked at the snow that had been compressed into ice by the wind, then glanced out at the guards who weren't being shielded by the hangar. There was what sounded like another nasty accident happening somewhere, too. "Since when does the weather get this bad around here?! We should work on getting everything tied down or something!" Alex yelled to Wilkins, still helping to get the driver out of the jeep.
"But first we should get this guy out of this weather, right? Any ideas?" Alex asked, giving the driver a quick check over for any obvious injuries.
You are reading this.
Actually, it's Euphinatrix.
Olivia tried to pay attention to the others. Really, she did. But at the mention of a lack of firefights, her mind started to wander. No shooting meant no injuries, and no injuries meant that her services wouldn't be needed.
She was, after all, just a simple medic with an itchy trigger finger. The cloak and dagger stuff could be left to her superiors, her job was just to pull the daggers out and patch up the wounds.
Besides, she barely spoke any Spanish, only knowing what was strictly necessary. And it sounded weird in her Rhode Island accent, so it would probably be better to just keep her mouth shut for now.
I am become Death, Destroyer of Miniputts.
Show an affirming flame
Bar
Alzey frowned, seeming to study his drink for a long time, drumming his fingers on the bar, before finishing it in one gulp.
"Listen, she spoke of you as a trusted friend before this, so I'll tell you," he said grimly. "Karen works in Massachusetts only. 'Roanoke' is a panic codeword. The one in Virginia means—oh, hell, polyjuice or imperio or something like that. 'Don't trust me.'" He dug around his pockets for change to pay the tab. "She also told me, by the way, about some of your party tricks, fireballs and wings and lots of guns."
Putting the money down on the table, he took a breath before he spoke, looking directly at Grace-Ann. "So. I've been doing my own investigation long before this. I think whoever it is who kidnapped Karen are really damn powerful. I think they've got access to something they really shouldn't. And I think Karen's life could be in danger. You've got two choices: you can get out of the city and go as far away as you can. I won't blame you, considering what we're up against." He hesitated. "Option two, you help me get her out of this mess. As her friend with some useful talents. I'd appreciate every extra pair of hands right now—can't guarantee you payment, though."
London
Karla nodded. "Difficult, but possible. I suggest you figure out how to work them. Remember: one behind the ear, one on the throat. Come see me in two hours, with Miss Szymanska."
Otis
"Weather never gets this bad naturally," shouted Wilkins back. Between the Guardsmen and the Occulus team members they had managed to prise the driver, still nonresponsive, out of his seat. Two of Air National Guard security police finally managed to stumble out of the winds into the small shelter offered by the hangar rear, among the slow trickle of National Guard and base personnel. What one of them shouted from twenty feet away was inaudible, but his gesture was unmistakably get inside.
Catalonia
Colom made one last answer in machine-gun Catalan, too rapidly for Clark to pick up, before falling silent. In response to a sheaf of papers someone had pushed toward him, he picked up a pen with shaking fingers and began to read, occasionally making a mark.
Diaz nodded and led his guests to a side conference room.
"The full translation is not yet available, but this is what we have," he said. "Caporal Ramon Colom there is the one of the Mossos team that went to investigate the building that showed up—maybe six or seven people total, two jeeps, they tell me. He says they went inside and almost immediately became separated. Colom walked for, oh, he thinks six or seven hours, before he became tired and slept. He woke up in an alleyway in Barcelona. He took public transportation back to Mossos headquarters." Diaz shrugged. "Thoughts?"
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
I really need a job...
Lita got to her room and packed surprisingly fast, floating all necessary things into her bag and getting the incriminating things out of it. Then she took a shower, washed her hair, cleaned up, put on some clothes (Jeans, T-Shirt and hat), and went to the kitchen to get something to eat, still happy she'd get to see her grandfather again.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore. http://thoughtfulspurts.wordpress.com/
Amateur Biologist
Bar
Grace-Ann’s easy, relaxed demeanor disappeared, and she set her elbows on the table, leaning towards Alzey. “Mister,” she said softly, her eyes harsh, “ If what you say’s true, then Karen’s gonna need all the help she can get. You’d have t’ be crazier ’n four-wheelin' in the dark and stupid’s a box-a-rocks if you think I’d leave her in trouble like that.”
She looked down at her fingers as if they might catch fire of their own free will, and smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile, the anger in her expression marring the grin. “‘Sides, I ain’t never backed down from a fight. Not anxious to start now. Where we goin'?”
I added psychology to my biology.
The Man in Black
A muggle-repelling charm. Well, at least whoever we're dealing with is competent. Clark thought.
"...How much, exactly, do you know about this situation and why I'm here?" He asked the colonel.
"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir
THE SLORG!
Otis ANGB
Captain Wilkins had put the emphasis on 'never', but what stuck out in Alex's mind was the word 'naturally'. Well captain, your men may have to take a trial by fire Alex thought, ignoring the slight irony that they were more likely to freeze to death currently.
"Come on, let's get inside!" Alex yelled, moving to get back into the hanger where they had just left their stuff. If this is some sort of attack, then I wonder what they're after...
You are reading this.
Otis ANGB
"Damn." Warren said as he looked over the dead man now pinned to the wall. The weather outside was still horrible, but now it seemed as though the personnel outside had decided to do the smart thing and head indoors.
Reaching through the mans top, Warren took his dogtags before turning to look out into the distance; pausing for a.moment to scan the area, he made his way back inside the hanger bay.
"We need to bring that body inside." He said as he handed the tags to Wilkins.
Show an affirming flame
London
Mission Briefing: Wizard Team
The room was broad and well-lit, and perhaps once had been an unusually large study before it was pressed into the role of a briefing theatre, Muggle-style, complete with easel in the front. Karla carried out the brief by herself; Charmdrummer sat in the front row, sullen but no longer murderously angry. It was an improvement, at any rate. Also in were Chessie and Paxton.
First on the easel: a passport picture, blown up to several times regular size, of a man's narrow face and dark expression. "This man is Erik Alzey, of Boston. He contacted Charmdrummer, in unofficial capacity, about the possible existence near the Massachusetts area of...some very dark magic. The specifics are unknown, but Innsmouth Village has always had an unpleasant reputation," Karla said quietly. "Human sacrifice may be involved. Given what little we know of, it seems unlikely that the Americans know about it. Your status will thus be that of illegals. Don't get caught. Charmdrummer will be your mission commander; your orders will be from him and from me. If Alzey asks, you are his coworkers."
That news did not seem to brighten Charmdrummer's demeanor at all.
"Since this may involve shooting, you do have permission to go through the Boston consulate with bags unopened. Don't go overboard, please. And Miss Szymanska, have the kindness to hand me one round of ammunition each from your pistol and your shotgun before you pack."
Next came a demonstration of the coin/microphone diaphragms; in effect, they were microphones and speakers, linked without the necessity of converting sound into electrical or radio impulses. Hidden in small change they were undetectable—no one had yet heard of anyone running coins through an airport scanner—and since they were transparent and very thin they were also very nearly invisible when stuck to skin. Their downside, of course, was that they were limited to one person talking at a time, much like a walkie-talkie network stuck on one channel.
"It is still morning there on the United States East Coast," Karla concluded. "I intend for you to be there by evening. Do what you need to, and report regularly. Have you any questions?"
Otis
Wilkins was staring intently at the streaks of ice on the hangar wall, but he responded quickly enough. "Yes, right. Sergeant, if you'll give me a hand—actually, first, switch that into reverse gear and be careful about it—"
The truck's metal groaned and screeched unnaturally, but the substitute driver managed to pull it away from the body, which a security man and a guardsman dragged into the hangar. By now there was nearly a platoon of personnel sheltered there; the winds were still variable, the sounds of distant chaos waxed and waned, but at a gesture they crowded into the hangar, where the clerk was covered under a scrounged groundsheet. The truck driver lay slumped against a wall, still unresponsive—nearly catatonic, and Wilkins had just finished shining a light into his pupils.
"Well, it looks like we'll be in here awhile," he said conversationally. The soldiers' murmuring was subdued, over which the radios of the security teams crackled and beeped.
Catalonia
"They called you, I think, because you actually had experience fighting against the magicians," said Diaz. "As for this situation—we know just what you have heard now." He gestured vaguely toward the neighboring room. "By the way, here are some more photographs of the Estate, from the front now, to give you an idea."
A handsome-looking castle, high-towered and aged but still dignified, with blue tiles, stood high on a rock outcropping from the slope of the Pyrenees (tales were still told of how, during the Napoleonic Wars, an English sea captain had escaped his jailers over the mountains from France by dressing in a bearskin); a steep slope, too, almost a vertical cliff. More photos, these ones looking as if they came from a tourist brochure: a flowing spring and baths, an old marble quarry, screened by the castle from the south, and inaccessible by foot.
A new series of photographs, these taken from the air from behind the castle, and evidently much newer, showed no sign of the marble quarry: in its place a series of rounded fortifications, built as extensions from the rock. The castle, too, now looked much less decrepit, and subtly different, somehow bigger, though its dimensions were the same.
"They climbed up to the old castle. There should be nothing there but wild goats and citrus trees," he said. "According to the corporal they entered the castle itself—never saw this second complex—became lost immediately."
Bar
Alzey grinned, and his teeth were a momentary gleam of white. "For now? Well, there are reinforcements—I called in a lot of help on this one," he said. "I think our first destination should be Karen's place, for lack of anywhere better. Whoever they are it's curious that they decided to try to throw you off the trail yesterday," he mused. "That's a good starting-point now, but I'd rather not be outnumbered and outgunned. If the Charming Brit keeps his promises that shouldn't be a problem." Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
THE SLORG!
Otis
Once Alex had gotten back into the hanger, he went over to where he left his stuff, and started looking through for favorite P90. If I had the ability to create this kind of weather, what would I use it for? Alex tried to think strategically for a moment about the tactical use of this magic, if it was magic; and tried not to think about the slight irony of applying tactics to magic.
He doubted it was just to kill people; the secretary's death seemed more like a coincidence than an orchestrated attempt. If their unknown opponents were planning an attack, then this magic seemed better suited as a distraction method or something to wear them down after keeping it up for days. Alex also realized that using the weather as a distraction might not just be for an attack on the base.
"Captain Wilkins" Alex called, not looking up from his search for his gun, "what all is on this base?"
edited 23rd Sep '12 3:21:33 AM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
"If anyone ask's what are we working on?" Paxton asked
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
Board Certified Sorcerer
Chessie shakes her head, "No."
Let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles.
November 1st
Lita summoned her phone from her bag.
"Why?" She asked as she put it on her desk.
Oct 29th-30th
Lita kept working on the document, occasionally drinking some Invigoration Draught to stay awake. She stayed in her room all night, and most of the day, only leaving occasionally for food. She filled two notebooks with her theories and was starting to drive herself nuts, so she went over to the woods near Hogsmeade and practised on disapparating and apparating a few meters in the air— then slowing herself down.
...It kept her sharp, that much was certain.
the morning of the 31st she cleaned herself up, left the safe house(with a hat on), and went to transcribe, edit, and print her notes formally in a nearby cyber café. After a few hours she was done And she sent Mr. Clark a text asking him if she could come by. There was no answer. She waited around an hour and asked again. Still no answer. She sent him a few more messages asking whether or not he'd received the previous texts until she got bored and apparated inside their base to ask about where he was and see if they could arrange for a meeting at some point.
edited 28th Sep '12 5:27:23 PM by Faramir
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore. http://thoughtfulspurts.wordpress.com/