Log:SERAF, Issue 2

SERAF 2011/05/17 	 Jian Kubik Next Generation 1

Presently, Jian is the prisoner of Next Generation. She's disguised as top geneticist Dr. Walter Kim, and Next Generation is transporting her in the back of one of their flying vans, modified with a stealth cloaking system. Inside the vehicle, there's a pilot, and copilot. The door gunner, in full tactical armor has left his post at the van's chain gun to watch over 'Dr. Kim', holding the prisoner at gunpoint.

Jian can't resist. It's the classic action film line by the hapless victim in a thousand movies. "You'll never get away with this." she tells the NG commands in a nervous blusterly voice.

The door gunner offers Jian a pair of handcuffs with one hand. He's got an assault rifle ready in the other. "Put these on, and shut up."

The copilot says, "Other boat didn't make it."

The pilot replies. "I know."

"At least we have something to show for it," the pilot adds.

Jian obediently puts on the handcuffs with a slight show of distain, "I'm a scientist not some knuckle dragging moron with a gun. What do you expect me to do, jump you all on my own? The FBI will be here soon. I'll wait for them."

"I said, shut up." The door gunners look to the pilot and co-pilot. "How much time do you think we got?"

Jian says, "So what are you going to do if I don't shut up? Shoot me? I can oly assume you kidnapped me for my brains and genius. You won't get any use out of them if you spatter my brians all over the side of the cabin."

The pilot says, "Don't know. If they got the other bird, they'll know the location of the hangar. With any luck we'll be able to land and make the drop before any capes show up."

The door gunner scowls at Jian and shifts his rifle so that's ready to strike with the butt, if necessary. He seems to consider it, but holds back for now.

The pilot begins to take the flying van on a stomach flipping flight just over the rooftops of Downtown Colonial Bay. Over buildings and between them.

Jian cowers at the threat from the gunner and junches up in the seat becoming quiet.

The door gunner falls a little off balance, but grabs a ceiling strap to hold himself upright.

The pilot takes the flying van on an roller coaster ride just over the rooftops and ledges of the heart of the city to the coastline. He expertly brings the van into a warehouse through a large gate in the side of the building. The warehouse is large enough house two flying vans, side by side. The vehicle powers down and the hatch opens.

The gunner has his rifle trained on Jian. "Move," he says, motioning for her to move out the door.

Jian moans, "I think I'm goig to be airsick..." and stands up making a gagging noise. "Give me a minute, please." she pleads, trying to catch a glance of the navigation system in the front. Not that she'll know what any figures mean but if she can remember them..

The copilot hops off of the van. Inside the warehouse there are two techs in jumpsuits. Together, the three of them set about recharging and restocking the flying van.

The door gunner reaches for Jian, trying to grab the back of the hero's collar. He plans on pulling her out of the van at gunpoint.

Jian stumbles out just ahead of the grab. "What's going to happen to me?" 'Dr Kim' quires in the same blustery tone as before, looking around seemingly nervously to fix as much detail as she can in her memeories.

The guard reached for Jian and misses. He then shoulders his rifle and aims it at 'Dr. Kim's' legs. "What's going to happen? You're going to get your leg blown off, if you don't start cooperating."

Jian complains at the guards action, "I'm moving. I'm moving. You've got no matter at all."

"Move!" the gunner commands.

Jian moves.

The gunner leads Jian to an area at the back of the warehouse. There's a generator hooked into some kind of high tech machine.

A shimmering life-sized holographic image appears next to the machine:

Kubik: A masked man in a dark cloak, with his hands in near constant motion. Kubik stands about five and a half tall. His build is hard to judge due to his clothing. He wears a dark blue cape that wraps around and closes fully in the front. The cloak is hooded, shading his masked face. The mask is a hard faceplate, with yellow lenses for eyes and no articulation for the nose and mouth. His hands are in near constant motion, as he twists and rotates an old-fashioned puzzle cube in his hand. It's possible to catch glimpses of what this person has on beneath the cloak. It looks like light armor, and a belt full of gadgets.

The door gunner says to the image, "Kubik, open up the gate! We've got your package. Hurry up, we've got heroes on our tails."

Jian pretends to jump nervously at the image's arrival.

Kubik looks at the gunner first, and then Dr. Kim. His reply is electronically distorted to hide his true voice: "procedure. we set the rules for a reason. first we scan. then we open the gate."

The door gunner nods to Jian and motions for her to step towards the hypersite generator. "Put your hand on the palm thing."

Jian steps forward and starts to place her hand on the palm scanner. Suddenly her arm extends looping around to snatch away the guard's weapon. Jian knows she can't pass the test and so might as well start the fight now while she will hopefully have surprise.

Jian is still wearing the handcuffs, just her arms are several metres in length right now. She grabs the rifle and twists it out of the gunner's grip. "M28A, select fire, 30 round magazine, virtually no recoil, 1200 feetper second muzzle velocity. What was it you said..? Oh, yes. Drop and spread them or you'll be walking on plastic legs from now on."

The door gunner takes a step back, followed by a second one. He's surprised. He then turns and runs back towards the flying van. "Bug out! Bug out!" he shouts.

The rest of the Next Generator soldiers start rushing to try and get they flying van airborne. The copilot runs onboard, and the two techs start unlatching the power charger cable from the vehicle.

Meanwhile Kubik, says: "the boss is not going to like this" He twists the puzzle cube in his hands a few times. "five of you, against one of him. don't run. fight him."

Jian laughs, "That's much easier to say over there in Europe than here, mister twistly cube fondler." Extending her head on an impossibly long neck alongside her arms Jian stretches into the flying van and empties the clip into the flight controls, "Now as you said, the capes will be here shortly. You're not going anywhere now, so just give up and and I'll put in a good word for you at the trial."

The pilot and copilot raise their arms to shield themselves from the sparks that kick up from the dashboard. The engine revvs down. This flying van is not going anywhere.

Jian is hoping for a reflexive - 'I'm not in Europe' or even better 'How did you know where I was.'

The pilot and copilt put their hands up in the air. "Stop shooting. We give up." One of the techie guys surrenders as well. The door gunner and the other techie pause for a moment. They start fleeing in opposite directions.

Kubik says: "what do you take me for. a newb?"

Jian forms a second rifle out of her own flesh, identical to the real one. With her arms extended through the cuffs she aimsa the rifles at the commands, growing eye-stalks and turning her eyes in the direction of the fleeing commandos, one eye on each. Not that she can focus like this but it's all a bluff anyway. "Only one of these weapons is real. So I can only shoot one of you. But you can't outrun bullets. So the question you have to ask yourselves is, do you feel lucky? Well, do you, punks?" She states, cribbing the speech from a old movie.

Jian adds, "Oh, you might want to consider stopping."

The fleeing Next Generation troopers throw up their hands and freeze.

Kubik says: "well done. a shape shifter. which one are you?"

Jian shifts back to her usual form. "Jian."

Kubik says: "... if I had known, I would have opened the portal for you." Kubik's image flickers a little. The hypersite generator begins to smoke. "that would be the thermite... goodbye, jian. next.. time... you... *squawk*
 * sizzzle* *scartch*"

The hypersite generator ignites with a brilliant white spark and melts into a puddle of slag.

Jian thinks. o O (Wonder will never let me hear the end of this. He could have passed that scanner.)