Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot blinked...the place they had been in had just been firebombed? "Whoa, whoa, what the fuck? Okay, seriously, what the fuck? Those dudes that said they were cops blew an entire fucking building full of people?" Then he heard Argent's shouts. "Um, Argent, I don't think he can hear you, and even if he could, he might not know for sure. I got a good look at the two guys, maybe if I looked at a database or something, we'd end up with a better lead."

[SirNitram]

Gravitas winced; the scream through his earpeice cut through any level of painkiller. "....Garth." He said quietly. "Who did you really work for, because Argent is gonna come down here and kick the asses of those in proximity to you, because I think they just blew up the apartment building."

[Dark Silver]

"Working for? For the past three months, I been working for Ultima, no one else. If you mean who I was working for before that? Fuck if I knew their names, it was contacts I made when I fell on some hard times, they paid well for work done, even if it wasn't of a particularly legal nature...just some B&E. They paid me alot of cash for the jobs - all done through agents. They didn't know my real name, I didn't know theirs."

"And what do you mean "the apartment"? You mean My building? They building I lived in?"

That part registered shock on Garth's face, he had lived in that building for many a year, had made friends with not only the people in the building, but the entire neighborhood......

"I'm telling you now Phil...whatever the hell just went down, I don't know shit about."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost was running tuning out the normal chatter of his team when Argent's yell cut through his concentration. He did what any person would do when such a scream came through his ear piece, he stopped running. Which is not something one should do when on a treadmill going at a good clip. Suddenly, his feet went out from under him, his jaw striking the treadmill. "FUCK!" He shouted in pain. He turned on his comm. "ARGENT, DON'T FUCKING SHOUT IN THE COMM UNIT!" He shouted back.

[SirNitram]

Gravitas face turned icy when he looked at Saibot, hearing what he had been up to. "Well. There's a black mark on your celestial mandate." He muttered about the breaking and entering.

"And yes, it looks like your apartment building. Big explosion. I couldn't tell you more, not if we got the whole team in and scavenged. I'm gonna be watching this story..."

His eyes looked to Garth. "Who built the spare rings? The base? Start spilling. Because someone with the know-how about such things is officially causing mischief now."

[Dark Silver]

"Like I told you before when I told you about the Rings, Project: Guardian. The people who contracted me to lead their team, built our equipment, bank-rolled everything for us. It's all in the files I gave you, I never knew who they were, above my clearance, I was just field leader for the team. I've been researching them for years...trying to find out who it was it was all on the computers at my place...."

"someone with the knowhow? Could have been anyone on the tech teams...the people assigned to duplicate my Ring. There was a big team of them, Will workers and science techs. And I don't even know what happened after they disbanded my team, except they were abandoning the continuance of the Guardian Force teams. The other two survivors and I were able to get some of the stuff for ourselves, I managed to get the moonbase and some of the computer systems...."

[LadyTevar]

"Fuck Off, Ghost," was Argent's spitted answer. "Someone just blew up Garth's apartment building, with people inside." Gravitas relayed Saibot's answer down the comm, so the whole team could hear: Breaking & Entering, paid by Cash, and Garth had never bothered to find out who it was.

Anger lashed around her like a hunting tiger's tail. Her emotions were so strong that it was like a heartbeat in the air. Someone had was responsible for this. Someone had to pay for this. Whomever had burst into the apartment had to be the ones....

Wait.
Stop.
Think.

Someone would have already known this. Someone upstairs was playing games, sending the two paperpushers after her, throwing the book at Garth. Too many coincidences, one after the other. Something was rotten in Ultima.

Telepaths had been scanning Garth. "Blackheart. The Telepaths. What did they see, what do they know, and who did they report to." Her voice was calmer, but it was the calm of focused rage, beaten to the bridle and harnessed for her use.

[Hotfoot]

Telepaths? Hotfoot's own head hurt. There was a lot going on behind the scenes here, and it was stuff he wasn't sure he wanted to know, at least not right now. "Okay, look, shit is going down. A building is destroyed, people are dead, and all because of two things which I currently happen to be holding in my hands. The only question going through my mind at the moment is what do we do next? We've been assaulted by overworked paper pushers, assaulted by our own because of a hissy fit and a twisted sense of teamplay, and now we've nearly been blown up by two suits claiming to be with the government, but end up killing innocent people who had nothing to do with this. Now I would like nothing better than to find a shadowy mastermind and beat the everloving crap out of him using these two boxes as bludgeons, but barring that, what do we do now?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Ultima upper ranks," said Blackheart. "Why? What is going on?"

[LadyTevar]

"you've had your radio off, Blackheart," Argent accused, her voice deathly calm. "Shame on you. We got the boxes, had Men In Black break in, and now the apartment building has exploded.. with about 7 adults and 4 or 5 toddlers inside it. Would you like me to list their names?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Yes, I had the radio off," Blackheart said with more than a little annoyance as he switched on his radio. "I was making a fucking phone call. Considering that you can get into contact with me just fine and we aren't on a combat mission, that's not a problem. Now, what's this about an exploding building?"

[SirNitram]

"Blackheart, here's the status. I have reason to beleive whatever remnants of the Guardian Force project just went active again." Gravitas spoke clearly and precisely. "I'd lay good odds on Saibot being targetted here, so pretty please, have someone come up with a plan so the Ultima infirmary doesn't go up in a fucking fireball next. I quite like some of the guys down here, they look like decent people."

Gravitas' fingers painfully worked on the keyboard. "Whoever they are, they've destroyed a building in Little Italy after planting some kind of fake ring-recharger in Saibot's home. I am standing by if you need me to do anything that doesn't require too much limb movement."

[Cynical Cat]

"I'm on my way," said Blackheart. Fucking Saibot and his baggage. How many more dead? And Ultima hell bent of having the security of a fucking sieve. How many guys had just walked in or out in the last couple of weeks?

"Everyone, talk time in the infirmary."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost was already in the infirmary, a pissed off look clear on his face, as a bandage was placed on his bloody chin and he was handed an ice bag.

He headed for the room with Gravitas and Saibot, nodding to them as he walked in, holding the ice bag to his chin.

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot let Argent teleport him to the infirmary with the rest of the group, holding on to the two boxes very carefully. Whatever was inside these boxes, it was responsible for a lot of death. Idly, he wondered if Gravitas could teleport the stupid things into the sun. Still, he was hoping Blackheart had some sort of idea for what to do next, because he sure as hell didn't.

[LadyTevar]

That was Argent's cue. She slid into dragon form and moved, gathering all the team members who where in the gym with her: Legacies, Blast, Hotfoot, Warpath, and Tachyon, and took them Between

... It was a brief trip, giving the new team members only a glimpse of the vast dark void, with the gibbering echos of some damned soul crying out in the distance. The only light came from Argent's serpentine body as she swam through the darkness, the only sound a great Heartbeat that was everywhere and no-where....

One great beat of that heart, and they were in the Infirmary, with everyone on their feet. Warpath however, was crowded into a corner as best as she could get the huge mecha to fit. Luckily, it was a larger room than normal, otherwise she'd have had to try to skin the Doctor out of the machine.

[Dark Silver]

Warpath was making his way to the door - while he was just listening to everyone else chatter scream and bitch over the comms, "On my way."

That was until Argent teleported them all to the Infirmary, and he found himself stuck in a corner.

"Nevermind..."

----- o -----

"Got anything to support it's the remnants of the Force coming after me?" Garth asked Gravitas, "Aside from, you know, blowing up my home and murdering some of my friends?"

Garth was, understandably, annoyed, mostly because he was only getting information out of Gravitas, and had no idea the others were coming to the infirmary.

"You know....I figure somehow this is all gonna get fitted onto me, even though I been strapped to this damn bed."

When Ghost sat came in with the bandaged chin and sat down, Garth nodded, "You don't look very happy."

That was followed in by the rest of the team showing up.

[SirNitram]

"...If I'd known you were including the goddamn warsuit, I would have asked for a larger room." Gravitas muttered. "Really, Doctor, between academics... Do you need that daft thing on all the time? You look like a pillock."

The Nova shook his head slowly and slowly continued typing. "And as much as I appreciate someone coming by to say hello to us both, if they are targetting this place for destruction, they'll remove Mirage Team as a meaningful group if they do it now. So let's do what must be done and fast."

"It's how things work, Saibot. They use you up, then throw you away."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost gave Garth a look. "Yeah, that happens after you fall on a treadmill, cut up your chin and get a headache from your girlfriend." He said. "Anyway, so what is going on?"

[Dark Silver]

'Except I haven't been in contact with anyone from the Project for almost ten years. They 'used me up' along time ago Gravitas. Kinda late to come clean up their mess. It could just be one of those who I crossed swords with over the years finally catching up to me. It's not unheard of."

Garth was doing his best to ignore the others who teleported in, aside from sitting up a bit better in the bed.

----- o ----

"Well, after the little training excercise in the Gym, I think it's safer for me to be in the suit around this team. No offense."

[Cynical Cat]

"He's making that guess because massive unnecessary civilian collateral damage hasn't been the pattern of the other government agencies that have been after your stuff," said Blackheart. "I'm keeping an open mind, but its not a bad guess."

He paused for a moment. "No guarantee that if you walk away now that it will be over for you, but its liable to get bad and stay bad if you stay on. We'll also be cut off from a lot of Ultima resources. Everyone needs to decide whether or not they are in or out."

[LadyTevar]

"Shut up, Ghost," Argent snapped. The 'girlfriend' comments just made her bad temper worse right now. "Hotfoot, show Saibot the boxes."

That was before Blackheart slipped in and started talking... which made her duck her head and simmer down a bit. He was still the boss.

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost's head perked up. Was Blackheart really suggesting what Ghost thought he was?

"Boss, a word." He said, stepping out of the room, and expecting Blackheart to follow him.

[Dark Silver]

"No, they usually either try to recruit me or blackmail me into giving it up. If they are targetting me, then let me out of here, give me back my sword and Ring, and let me get far away from the rest of you. You don't deserve to get hurt for my past."

Garth looked at Blackheart, "None of those kids deserve to be put in this Blackheart. you can tell Bowman and your superiors I managed to escape medical, a single loose thread that can be caught later. I'll even come back and answer for my crimes - but I don't want the rest of you involved anymore. Enough people died already."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot hefted the boxes, lifting one after the other. "Flashbulb, Slo-mo, flashbulb, slo-mo. It's like a technorave action movie, but yeah, this is what I pulled. The guys that busted in, I'd recognize them if I saw them again, especially the freaky little gun with the crazy attachment. Now then, what's this about going without support? Are we going 'Off the reservation' here, 'Chief'?" He included the finger quotes as best he could while still holding the boxes.