Log:Starguard Adventures, Scene 1

Starguard Adventures 2013/10/02 	 Bee Felicia Guardian Kubik Malcolm Paul van Sterran Pleiades Spirit 1

It wasn't too long ago that Starguard's headquarters in Colonial Bay was devastated by an attack by Dr. Scarletti's drone fighters. Now, however, the repairs are just about complete. The construction would not be complete without the help of Quinn Industries, who generously offered to do the work at cost. The last of their crews are on hand. A skeleton crew of SGG staffers are on hand as well. The main work force will return in a week or two...

In the meantime, Paul van Sterran has asked the active team members to be on hand to cover a several-hour long window during the repairs when the security grid will be offline.

She was overseas when the attack happened, but Abigail came home the moment she heard about it. She's been lending her hands to the construction effort. She's no engineer or even professional construction worker... but what she is... is stronger tha most folks. She's the walking forklift, the one to airlift heavy supplies up to the folks on high ground. Just basic manual labor. Of course, the fact that it makes her a visible volunteer and gives good PR to the marines for their help... that and the Marine corps of Engineers who she got assigned to help, all make for excellent photo ops.

Right now, Abigail has finished a long shift of helping and showered in the duty barracks of the current building. She's stepping out front with damp hair and looks for Mister Sterran.

Pleiades idly drums her gauntleted fingers on the desk as she swivels back and forth in her chair, keeping one eye on the montiors.

Star Girl is doing forklift duty too, with her lower-middle class meta strength. She's got a supercomputer module on her back as she carries it in from a transport vehicle parking in the Landing Field. Her path takes her in through the back of the building, away from where Abigail is, but probably past the control room where Sigi is.

Paul comes out of the HQ and breathes a sigh. "Hello, Captain," he starts, before catching himself. "... Rather, it's Colonel now, isn't it?"

The new construction requires a series of custom-designed circuitry and computer chips a few boxes of which have ended up being delivered by Felicia. Of course in light of what's happened it's not just a simple drop off. Her ID is checked, her bike and bags are searched, the arcels are inspected and each and every one of the components is tested while Felicia cools her heels to one side under the disapproving gaze of two large security guard. o O (Good thing I stashed the costume down the block or I'd be in a little cell listening to Milli Vanilli on endless loop)

The reception area has muted black tiled floor, with the walls and roof painted off-white. The secretarial desk enclosure is barely twenty feet from the double set of glass doors. To its left is a large double-hinged door ominously labeled 'Security'. A seating area full of soft couches is to the right. Down the hallway that leads deeper into the building is the office of the Director of Operations and the exit to the landing field outside.

It seems like Malcolm Gibbs is forever getting reassigned to other tasks, other teams within Star Guard. His latest adventure - in Zu no less - wasn't one of those things. Malcolm's patrolling the HQ at a steady clip, in his Star Guard uniform. Sometimes it's hard to be a hero.

If you want to be official, it's only a Lieutenant Colonel's rank now but... how about just Abi, eh?" she asks with a grin. "So Paul.. anything special going on? Or are we just kinda on hand just in case now?" she asks as she reaches a hand up and brings a bit of energy to her fingers before running them through her hair like a thick comb. Talk about drying your hair the hard way!

And then she angles towards the front room, reception area... in her BDU's and black tanktop... she steps out and inclines her head as she gestures to Felicia but looks to the guard... simply raising a single brow without a word.

Star Girl pauses by the door to the monitor room, where Pleiades is. "Anything good on?" she asks, with a smile. The big computer console on her back doesn't seem to taking much effort for her to lift.

Pleiades grins, "Nope! Looks like it's all quiet for a change."

Felicia, obviously in civilian attire, smiles and returns Abigail's nod, doing her best to seem casual and non-threatening while the components are verified. The technicians doing the examination seem in no particular hurry, their work, thorough and meticulous. Star Guard seem to be taking absolutely no chances.

Paul smiles. "Alright Abi... No, nothing special. Just a precaution. Oh, a message came in for you while you were busy helping out. An Agent Simms from NCIS wanted to speak with you."

"For once," Star Girl says with a smile. She sways about to continue on her way, but pauses for a moment. She turns to face Pleaides. "By the way... didn't get a chance to say it before.. It's good to have you back on active duty and all... Maybe we can go on patrol together one day, like in the old days."

Pleiades nods enthusiastically, "You bet! It's good to be back, and to not have the worry about my partner hanging over me."

Raising a brow, Abi pulls out her cell. "A message, but he didn't -call- me." she remarks before dialing the main NCIS number. The main switchboard isn't a difficult one for a Marine to memorize. "Why are we keeping the delivery girl here?" she asks Paul. "Can't we do whatever checks need to be done and get her on her way? I mean... I'm sure she'd rather be elsewhere."

And then when the switchboard operator picks up, "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Hearns here. I was told to speak with Special Agent Simms."

Helpfully, Malcolm rounds a corner and marches past almost everyone else, including the delivery woman. Malcolm offers a pleasant smile and a nod of his head to the deliverywoman in passing, continuing his rounds. One of these days, he vows, he'll get the hang of military bureaucracy.

Bee strolls into the control room. She is looking more relaxed than she has in a month, now that the Zu issue is resolved (more or less).

"Simms here," a male voice on the other side says. "Lt. Col. Hearns... I was wondering if I can talk to you about a case I'm working on, involving stolen government weaponry. I'd prefer to do it in person if you can."

Pleiades spins in her swivel chair, waving to Bee as she rotates into view, "Hi Bee!"

"Well, I'm at Starguard HQ right now. To be honest, I'd prefer not to leave here at the moment." says Abigail into the phone. "If you could stop by here, that would be great. One sec." she hits mute and looks to Felicia, "Would you like a cup of coffee or something while you wait at least?"

One of the technicians turns to answer Abigail's question, straightening to attention. "Security protocols Sir! Until we verify the contents of the parcel we keep the delivery agent on site in case we have any questions about authenticity. Would you prefer we let her go sir!"

Felicia for her part returns Malcolm's nod with an equally pleasant smile, seeming relaxed but attentive, soaking in the details of her surroundings. o O (Guardian AND Forge? This where the big kids play).

Star Girl smiles and nods to Pleiades. "Hey Bee. Gotta run... I should get this computer thingum to the lab, before the computer geeks get angry..." And with that, she departs, haul the computer bank on her back.

Felicia smiles and nods. "Thanks, a soda would be great!"

Looking to the guard, Abigail raises a brow and gestures back to the soda machine with a bit of a smirk. Rank it seems, hath its privileges. Then she unmutes her phone and puts it back to her ear. "Sorry agent Simms. Can you visit here?"

Pleiades says, "Bye bye Star!"

Simms says, "Yeah, I can do that. I can be in Colonial Bay in... 2 hours?"

A cold sensation runs down Malcolm's back. He looks around as though expecting someone to come running toward him, an urgent question or update to his orders ready to be delivered. Nothing happens. Malcolm shrugs and continues on, though he can't quite shake the sensation that someone just called him big time.

"Perfect. I'll see you then." Abigail already knows what weaponry is being spoken of. As the guard gets the soda, she steps over to Felicia. "Sorry for your delay. Anything else we can do for you?" she asks as she places her phone back in its holster. Then she offers a hand to Felicia, "I'm Abigail, or just Abi..." she remarks.

Still under the grudging surveillance of two security guards Felicia straightens smoothly and saunters toward the soda machine, fishing through a pocket fr change. Before she can make a selection however one of the guards steps in front of the machine. "I'll make the selection for you, what number do you want?" Felicia's brows arch. "The diet cola." She points. The guard nods and then makes the purchase, handing over the can once it drops out. Felicia looks at it for a moment. "Am I allowed to drink it or do you do that for me too?" She grudgingly takes the proffered can. "And if I need to go to the can later you guys are totally not invited ok?"

Turning, Felicia seems caught unaware by Abi's introduction, shielding the soda as though she expects it to be confiscated. After a moment she shakes the offered hand. "hi, I'm Felicia... Felicia Dunbar."

Star Girl's voice crackles over the comm channel. "Guys! I just got back to the computer lab on the basement level and the techs down here have been knocked out! There's no sign of who did it... just this... it looks like one of those colored puzzle cubes. You know the ones where you twist the sides. I wonder... Zzorcht!" Star Girl's comm goes dead.

Bee waves back but keeps mostly silent (and a bit stealthy).

Bee waves back too.

And Abi's hand goes to her earpiece. "What? A puzzle? Don't touch it!" and of course, she's a hair's breath too late. "Damn." She eyes Felicia and says, "Sorry about this..." And then she reaches past the guard at the desk and slams her palm down on a red -lockdown- button. Whether it works or not, she switches to the general guard frequency and says, "Lockdown, authorization Alpha Hotel Gamma. I repeat, lockdown." She doesn't yell it. She's just using... -the voice-. That done, she says, "Paul, Simms will be here in about two hours. I would very much appreciate it if you could find a secure location for yourself.... you may be a priority target."

Meanwhile, outside of the Starguard building, we're Paul presently is, a flying van appears in mid-air, shimmering into view. Those who have seen them before might recognize the colors: it's a Next Generation capture team transport. The side door opens up revealing a door gunner. Four armed troopers with rocket packs disembark the transport.

Pleiades bolst from her seat, "Star!? Bee, let's go! Blitzraeder, Hurricane Stampede!" Her skates chirp, "Ka Kumpel!" as a white triangle of runes form beneath her. She dashs to the outside at top speed!

Bee runs for the door, takes flight where she has room for her wings, running on walls where she needs to make a sharp turn and otherwise covering a much ground as possible

Malcolm freezes mid-step. Metal starts streaming out of his pores and washing over his entire body as he fishes out a slimline headset, settling it over his head. As a holographic beam lights over his eyes, Forge's Colossus' Flesh finishes concealing his body in liquid metal.

"Forge online. What's the game plan?"

"If they are true to form, and standard tactical doctrine, this one will be the magician's hand pointing where they -want- us to look while the real attack comes in from somewhere else." says Abigail over the comm as she flits her eyes about the reception area. "Okay, regardless of whether it's a diversion... it's a deadly one. Everyone down or get into the back!"

With the security still partially down, the lockdown button simply alerts the SG personnel on site to the emergency situation.

Pleiades skates through the hallways heading for Star Girl's last know location

Felicia freezes at the sudden appearance of a full-fledged Next Gen extraction team, her eyes widening as she watches their approach and dpeloyment. At Abigail'sinstructions she looks to see what the guards might be doing before committing.

The Next Generation move well in concert. One of the troopers seems to direct the other with hand gestures. Trooper number one, she directs at a Starguard solider, who's just outside the Reception Area. Trooper number two, she also directs at the soldier, closing one hand around her fist. As she readies her weapon she points to her goggles and then towards the entrance to SGHQ. The door gunner and her wingman get ready to blast any targets that present themselves.

Shram! The NG trooper's gun fires an energy net that wraps around the trooper and take him to the ground. His partner swoops in and hooks him into a cable that connects to the bottom of the flying van.

The NG troopers are armed with tactical armor and helmets that seem to include flash protection and breathers. They are armed with high-tech rifles and rocket packs.

"Interesting weapon." remarks Abigail with a shake of her head, "Paul, you take tactical command from behind the desk. Where you are -safe-. You are still likely the priority target here." That said, she simply strolls out of the front door, activating her tunneling power, but not firing up her plasma field to -use- it....

A pair of Starguard troopers escort Paul to behind the reception desk and take up defensive positions there.

Felicia says, "heedless of the dictates of good sense or Abi's instructions Felicia runs out of the door toward the grappled guard. "Get away from him you nut-job!""

High frequency sonics eminate from the door gunner's weapon causing the air to blur as he fires down on the entrance of the Starguard building.

The Lead Trooper fires her net gun at Abigail.

There is a reason why Abigail has a reputation. She flares with power, glowing with white hot plasma as she simply melts her way out of this net with seemingly zero effort. She actually -sighs- and says to the last trooper. "Seriously? Drop your weapon. You are hopelessly outmatched." She smirks a bit and says, "Oh, and tell your pilot to park, leave the keys in it, and get out."

There is a reason why Abigail has a reputation. She flares with power, glowing with white hot plasma as she simply melts her way out of this net with seemingly zero effort. She actually -sighs- and says to the last trooper. "Seriously? Drop your weapon. You are hopelessly outmatched." She smirks a bit and says, "Oh, and tell your pilot to park, leave the keys in it, and get out."

The flying van gets some altitude, zooming up to 20m above the ground. The roped-in soldier is plucked helplessly from the ground, dangling beneath the van by a wire.

Felicia looks appalled as the soldier is hoisted aloft by the hovering helijet and lifted way out of her reach. Without pause she twists in toward the Next Gen trooper she's standing next to and swings a powerful elbow at his face plate.

Felicia's elbow cracks the trooper hard enough to drop him to his hand and knees. The knockdown might have been more out of surprise than out of damage though; his helmet absorbing the worst of the strike.

Bee flies full out, but isn't flying and running toward a door, but in a nearly straight line to a blank wall. As she nears the wall, she points her left hand at it, slaps her left gauntlet with her right hand and disappears, to reappear past the obstacle and still moving in a nearly straight line toward the outside.

Shaking her head as the van moves -upward-... Abigail lifts herself into the air. "Okay then." she mutters as she aims a hand upwards at the van and launches a ball of plasma into it. Her plan is to detonate it behind the gunner, hopefully to hurt the driver -and- maybe knock the door gunner out of the ship.

Boom! An explosion rocks the flying van. The door gunner is ejected from the side of the craft, only to be saved by his safety harness. He's dangling a meter out of the door as the craft starts to list to the side drifting with gathering speed towards the building across the street from SGHQ.

The remaining flying NG trooper tries blasting Abigail, just a moment too late though. Poont! Her gun fires a canister towards Abigail, exploding in a mist of brutally cold crystals.

As the canister goes off, the freezing mist assaults Abigail. She inclines her head as she looks down at the trooper, the mist literally being absorbed entirely into her... and she doesn't -go- anywhere. "That was remarkably effective." she mutters.

Pleiades slams through the stairwell door and barrels down to the basement.

In the basement hallway, about 15m down the hall, Pleia can spot a man in a costume, Kubik. His attention seems to be on hacking the lock of a storeroom. He's in the opposite direction down the hall from the computer lab where Star was headed.

Pleiades shouts, "Panzerfaust! Load zaubermunition!" A chamber on the back of her gauntlet racks back and forth, ejecting a smoking brass casing. "Cannon...!" A triangle of blue-white runes forms beneath her skates. The air shimmers around her gauntlet as a standing shockwave builds in power. She punches at the cloaked man, unleasing a mighty blast! "BURSTER!!!!"

The shockwave is a bit magnified in the confines of the basement hallway. It's strong enough to bust open a water pipe running along the ceiling, causing it to shower water down. Kubik, gets blown down the in a manner that instantly reveals 'his' nature -- a hologram projected from a puzzle cube. The cube is tossed down the hall, pinging off the walls. In breaks into chunks of colored plastic and electronics. The holo of Kubik disappears.

Felicia looks at the copter as it veers drunkenly to one side, the bound Star Guard agent bobbing and swaying like a cork on a string. An instant later she turns back to the next gen agent on hands and knees beside her and drives a powerful knee into his ribcage.

Pleiades blinks, "Huh."

Whump. The guard fall flat against the pavement. Unconscious.

The Lead Trooper swings a fist in the air like she was handling a lariat. The jetpack troopers begin to retreat. The Lead herself pauses to collect the door gunner as he cuts himself from his harness before jetting away. One trooper descends to pick up the comrade that Felicity just KO'd.

Yep, diversion. "Paul. Team, check in." she instructs over the comm as she turns to look back towards the reception area. "Whatever these guys were here for, it wasn't to actually -grab- anything. As expected, the frontal assault is just a distraction."

Dorian enters from Alien District.

Paul says over the comm: "I'm here. I'm ok in the Reception Area. Everyone else?"

Pleiades concentrates, holding her gauntlet before her. "Magic Skill: Yggdrasil Scan." A circle of runes forms beneath her skates and seven small portals appear in front of. She sweeps around, searching the area.

Pleiades says, "I'm in the basement. There was some sort of cube that was projecting an image. ... Focusing."

Pleiades says, "Star... Girl... is alive... unconscious... Enemy ... is outside... stairwell.... ground floor."

Felicia takes up the rifle the batter next gen agent dropped and quickly inspects it, setting the selector to the most direct fire option she recognises before quickly shoulder the weapon and taking aim at the departing helicopter. There is a pause of one maybe two heart beats as she lines up on the cable connecting the stargard agnt to the copter, more specifically the point where the cable is moored. Having sigted her target she fires.

Poont! The gun fires another canister of freeze-mist that strikes the cable at it's anchor point. The wire freezes and cracks. The SG agent is falling 15m to the ground.

"All agents. All agents. Respond to assist agent Pleiades in the cellar! Converge and support!" That said, Abigail surges forward, plasma rocketing her towards the van. She'd prefer to slide in and control it but there isn't time. So she just aims for the bottom where she grips the underside and changes her flight direction to try to pull the van away from the potential crash.

Felicia's lips twist, her expressing torn between the thrill of having succeeded in her long shot and having condemned the poor agent to a fifteen metre fall that may well kill him. Tossing the rifle aside she looks ready to start forward to try to assist the falling man.

Under the van, Abby's bared arms (she's wearing a tanktop after all) flex, and the muscles stand out against the flesh as they ripple. Her body glows and she grunts. "Grrrraahhh!" she mutters before arrowing the van away from the impending crash. "GET OUT!" She cries to the pilot inside.

Inside, the pilot is out cold.

Pleiades says, "Enemy... withdrawing... heading... for rear... entrance... airfield..."

Spirit is flying in toward the van, coming from the south, a trail of light behind him. He reaches out a hand, and energy extends outward, attempting to wrap around and grab the falling SG agent.

Starguard troopers flood the corridor that separates the main stairwell from the airfield. According to Pleia's sense, they should be right on top of Kubik. "Negative contact," the trooper reports.

"For the love of... he's got a cloaking field. Fire extinguishers, the foam should... oh I bet it's too late now damnit." Abigail looks up at her carried van and aims for the airfield to set it down, "Guess we get to add another to my collection at the very least." she mutters. "Is Star okay? And the agent? Heck, someone give a commendation to that delivery girl!"

Spirit sets the SG agent down on the ground gently. "What's the situation? I was out of contact for a bit."

Pleiades says, "Star and the techs down here are unconscious, but it doesn't look life threatening."

As she runs forward Felicia suddenly spots Spirit who effortlessly saves the day, rescuing the agent that she had plunged to certain doom. o O (I could've killed that guy, n' if I'd waited Guardian had it all under control. Man am I small cheese compared to Star Guard). At Spirit's question she just looks confused. "Um... these guys tried to snatch that guy." She summarises, illustrating which guy is which with vague hand gestures.

The reception area has muted black tiled floor, with the walls and roof painted off-white. The secretarial desk enclosure is barely twenty feet from the double set of glass doors. To its left is a large double-hinged door ominously labeled 'Security'. A seating area full of soft couches is to the right. Down the hallway that leads deeper into the building is the office of the Director of Operations and the exit to the landing field outside.

"Van and assaulting troops were a diversion. Enemy agent believed designated Kubik... tapped into systems. We have no idea how much information was gained." says Abigail, giving a sitrep when Dorian requests it. She adds, "The delivery girl out front was very helpful. She has quite the initiative and I'd very much like to talk to her a bit more." That said, Abi launches again and angles back over towards the front.

Spirit says, "Kubik. This is the puzzle guy, right?"

Denied access to the radio frequency half of the conversation Felicia's brow furrows at the apparent non-sequitur. "Ummm... I don't know." She replies after a moment's consideration... or confusion... take your pick.

Spirit looks to Felicia, "I don't think we've met. My name's Dorian. But I go by 'Spirit'." He offers his hand to Felicia to shake.

Landing out front, Abigail nods to Spirit. "Indeed. the Puzzle guy." she says as her golden glow fades and she turns to face Felicia. "So, those were some impressive moves." she remarks, standing beside Spirit of course, as he greets her.

Felicia's eyes widen and she shakes the offered hand. "Uh... hi... I'm Felicia." . o O (Holy cow! This is Spirit!!!) She looks back to Abi. "Well they were trying to grab that guy and I thought if I just hide they might get him but if we all swarmed them we could save him." She looks back at the entrance. "I kinda thought the security guards might think I was in on it and taser me unless I did something to show whose side I was on too."

"Right. Did you think maybe that jumping into action might've made their itchy trigger fingers go haywire?" asks Abby with a bit of a smirk. "To be honest, they're well trained... so of course it didn't happen. This was, as I predicted, merely a diversion to focus our attention out here. The real attack was taking place in the basement."

Felicia blinks at that announcement. "Huh? There was another attack? Is everyone ok?" She looks back to the building. "I didn't hear anything..." She seems a bit troubled to have completely missed the main event.

Spirit changes form to a more mundane looking appearance in a brief flash of light, and looks to Abigail. "Any idea how they got in?"

"Kubik has his ways. Star Girl said something about a communication, then went offline. That's when the van decloaked. Pleiades went below to investigate while I came out here to give them something to shoot at." Abby eyes Felicia then with a shrug, "You did just fine kid." she says. Ouch, the -k- word, kid....

Dorian grimaces, "I'm getting a little tired of our security feeling like swiss cheese."

If Felicia feels the sting of Abigial's comment she hides it bravely, or perhaps she's so wired by hanging out with genuine heroes she simply doesn't notice. "Well, I almost killed that guy, I didn't want him to crash with the copter but you had everything under control." She shrugs. "I got a bit confused." She falls silent as Spirit vents his frustration, given this nerves are still raw from the Scarletti thing.

Dorian smiles and looks to Felicia, "You did fine. That's a long drop...and he might have been injured...but it worked out. And that's what matters."

"Initiative is important Ms. Dunbar." says Abigail as she looks to Felcia. "But... I do tend to give instructions that I kinda expect to be listened to from time to time." she shrugs her shoulders, "You're not under my command, so it's all good. As for having things under control... trust me, it would've been a lot harder to redirect that van and -not- send the agent careening into the wall there if you hadn't disconnected him."

Felicia's cheeks darken a little as Abigail talks about instructions. "Sorry Colonel Hearns" Her shoulders lift in a small shrug. "I'm just glad everyone made it out okay, thanks to you and Spirit... and Pleiades."