3076/The Corner of 5th

The Corner of 5th
Date of Scene:	21 September 2015
Location:	Paragon City <CoH>
Synopsis:	Aeron Jernigan is kidnapped AGAIN!? Why are so many people after this guy!
Cast of Characters:	346, 560, 769, 842, 860, 876

---

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The heroes Saber, Berserker, and Testament had returned the kidnapped diplomat, Aeron Jernigan, to the embassy. This time they had made CERTAIN as well that his safety would not be entrusted to Crey of all people! The Paragon Police Department probably wouldn't be of much use in their current organizational state (though rumors were that they were working to fix that), but Jason Manfried had assured the trio that not only would he use his Contacts network to get the evidence they'd obtained on Crey's activities to the proper authorities, but that he'd request additional hero protection. The non-corporate type of hero. With Crey's threat no longer an issue for the time being, it was finally safe for Jernigan to reveal what had been going on!

    It could be a huge diplomatic incident, if not for the fact that heroes had saved him, leaving Crey to take the full blame for their actions! Who knows what manner of sanctions and law suits and arrests would be made to shake up that mega-corp? But there was still some unfinished business. Mark IV was still waiting in Founders' Falls for news of if HE was safe from Crey now as well.

    The Welsh diplomat had been quite upset when they'd left him, so some further reassurance likely would be appreciated when they're done here... But first thing's first. A cybernetic organism created by Crey Industries who just wants to live free and not be a tool for whatever unethical and illegal things Crey might want to use him for, anxiously waits to find out if he will continue to be hunted like a beast or not.

    That was the plan, anyway. But once Saber, Testament, and Berserker arrived, and had spoken to Mark IV, he'd informed them that he was glad to hear that this was all over with, and was deeply appreciative that he was now free to live his own life... When he contacted Jason Manfried, his friend who had directed the trio to Mark IV in the first place, the doorman had seemed... Different. Just slightly off. Maybe upset, though it was hard to tell. There was less verbal fluctuation, less hesitation in his voice... Maybe a bit more terseness? Unfamiliar with this phenomenon he could only conclude that was something wrong. Either his friend was trying to communicate to something in an extremely subtle manner because he could not speak openly... Or the person on the other end of the conversation wasn't Jason Manfried at all.

    Mark IV recommended that the heroes go back to the embassy as quickly as possible and investigate!

    And when they did, they were told by Manfried that the Welsh diplomat was waiting for them upstairs. Manfried DID seem subtlely different... Though it was hard to pinpoint how exactly. More confident? Less warm? Either way, however, before his behavior can be questioned more fully... Something happens upstairs.

    Two heroes are already on-site to guard Aeron Jernigan. They were contacted by the City Planner's Office in Atlas Park, trying to strengthen ties to the Union by involving Union heroes in the defend of the people. Upon traversing this massive city full of good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see (maybe not so much on the explosions right now, but fire-bombing Hellions are not exactly an unusual sight), the new arrivals would have reached the embassy, been directed by a friendly and warm individual named Jason Manfried to head on up to see the diplomat, and then encountered...

    A broken-into diplomatic suite, with men in red uniforms, helmets, and skull-like masks ransacking the room! It's up to them whether to attack, to watch from concealment, or whatever they wish to do... But shortly, three more heroes will be joining them. Directed by a less warm, less friendly Manfried.

Saber (346) has posed:
     What a tangled web is woven in the City of Heroes. Silently, Saber couldn't help but marvel at how convoluted everything could so easily become with at least five different groups of identified villains vying for control. It was almost impressive, in a way.

     Suppressing a sigh -- half frustration, half exasperation -- Saber merely called forth her armour and the Bounded Field-cloaked Excalibur when the group came upon the trashed office and Fifth Column apparently responsible. There might be a perfectly legitimate and innocent reason for minions of a known villain group to be standing in the middle of a missing diplomat's office...but most likely not. Even if they weren't the kidnappers, they were most assuredly up to No Good.

     "I must assume that you have not taken Master Jernigan, yet seek him as well. I fear that I cannot permit that."

     Arturia did, at least, wait for the split second until after their initial attack before closing the gap with some application of the Sword of Promised Victory.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The awful DIN of villainous ransacking tips Shirou off to something being wrong long before he's entered the embassy itself. At one point, Shirou would have simply charged headlong into the matter as a hotheaded idiot. Well, he's still hotheaded, he's still something of an idiot, but he doesn't CHARGE this time.

    Instead, swords fly through already broken windows and break a few more. The speed they strike with is tremendous, far beyond anything a bowman could accomplish... and yet he's using a black bow from half a block away, launching estocs in rapid succession. Almost none of the weapons are wasted - they are let fly whenever he sees that telltale red uniform anywhere near a window.

    Only after he sees SABER arrive and go plowing in does the arrow rain stop. That's when Shirou emerges from behind the bench he was using as cover, plowing headlong and leaping through a window. Kanshou and Bakuya are in his hands instantly but he's still avoiding jumping out into the wide open. Instead the boy hunkers next to a wall at a hallway's edge to get a view of the situation.

    He's pretty sure Saber can take care of herself. There's not a single man alive in in this goon squad who could keep up with her!

    "They were right about Aeron needing guards. Who are these guys?!"

Berserker (860) has posed:
Berserker is a bit slower to arrive than the others, being the least combat-capable of the trio of heroes that has been working on this so far. 'Heroes' being used loosely, aside from Saber. Thus the fight is already in full swing by the time she's in the doorway, standing there and fanning herself with a decorative fan. Or is it decorative?

"Ara ara, how can one person get into so much trouble! Really now, why don't we just capture one and convince him to tell us what's going on?" She considers. "Or let one go." Obviously, she could just follow any escapee out.

The fan snaps closed, then opens again to flick toward one of the men, launching a trio of tiny fireballs his way. Small ones. She doesn't want to burn the place down by accident.

Testament (842) has posed:
    As soon as Testament sees the strange attitude of Manfried, he knows there's something wrong. Coming up through the elevator is probably a bad idea. So it's in the lobby where the air around Testament and his raven warps oddly and his form seems to fold in on itself with that odd space-warping noise he uses when he teleports away.

    By now he knows the layout of the hotel. And the location of Jerigan's room. So the first of him that the people ransacking the room (and the other Elites here to protect the diplomat, for that matter) will see is a skull fading into view in the air. The skull chatters soundlessly for a moment before that space-warping noise is heard again, and the rest of Testament's pale, black-clad form unfolds from Somewhere Else and the raven takes flight from his shoulder.

    "...This is unfortunate," Testament replies when he sees the damage. Notably, he speaks in German (not that it matters, because of the translation effect; he IS swiss, though). "...You see, I don't like humans. And I don't make it a habit of repeatedly rescuing the SAME human. After all the trouble we've gone through to see to his safety, to find you here..."

    His eyes narrow, crimson-pupiled eyes trained on the perpetrators. Then he raises a hand to his mouth, almost delicately... and then bites into the skin viciously, tearinghis hand away from his still-clenched teeth. It's enough to draw blood. Enough, in fact, to produce a large arc of blood... which suddenly congeals right there in the air, changing shape to form the weapon he so prefers-- a scythe with a crimson blade. His voice is a bestial growl, still bearing that reverberating, almost mechanical-sounding distortion as he says, "I am VERY MUCH not happy with you..."

    To Shirou, he notes, "It doesn't matter. They'll be dead soon." And then he swings his scythe at the nearest of the people that had been ransacking the place.

Nerevarine (876) has posed:
     Immediately following Saber's announcement, there is a venemous oath spat from the shadows. If the sound of this stranger's voice were all that mattered, one would think that it belonged to a villain. When he emerges, it's a wonder that he was able to hide at all. Clad from head to toe in golden armor with blue detail, he cries, "You cannot escape the righteous!" An ebony mace swings with expert skill, capitalizing on the distraction caused by Shirou's attack. It's all in the elbows, really--and aiming behind your opponent's head is key. When the Nerevarine's opponent tries to back out of his reach, the mace simply slams into his head, exactly as planned.

     Watching in confusion as the unconscious villain disappears, Talis leaves himself open to attack. One of the guards brings up some kind of... staff? It's metal, held sort of like a crossbow. It's probably some kind of infernal contraption that serves the same purpose. Talis brings up his shield, the symbol of the Tribunal blocking the bullets as Vivec once turned aside a moon. They ping against the metal, only to abruptly stop as one of Shirou's arrows zips through the guard. That guard disappears too--must be some sort of Recall enchantment their masters included.

     The butt of a rifle slams into the Nerevarine's helmet as he ponders. With a furious roar, Talis bashes his shield into the soldier's face, then headbutts him for good measure. The gilded visage of Indoril Nerevar flies towards that of the soldier, sending him sprawling to the ground. The Nerevarine raises his weapon to send the guard on his way to wherever this enchantment takes them, but Berserker's fireball soon does that for him. He turns to engage another foe, but is distracted by a seemingly inocuous clinking sound. A metallic pineapple object lands at his feet. "Wha--"

     The blast sends Talis into the wall with an angry grunting sound.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The Reserei Ubermensch are the most fanatical among the 5th Column, and these huge, muscular men, all jacked up on super soldier serum, react to a sudden bombardment of sword arrows through the windows by ducking for cover, after one of them gets taken out right away! There's not a TON of them, but they are armed, capable, and know enough to keep their heads down. But Shirou keeping them down is exactly what allows Saber to charge in and attack without immediate retaliation, even as they turn their weapons on the entrance to the suite, and one of their Boss-level leaders yells out in accented English, "Zhey will not find him! Defeat zese interlopers!"

    As they react and respond, they actually move a bit faster than one might expect. More coordinately. Maybe it's the serum and the training, but as Saber's sword strikes one down, and Testament likewise takes out another with his scythe, the speed with which they determine they organize themselves and open fire with 12 Gauge shotguns that have longer ranger and greater deadliness than normal shotguns would have, throw Frag Grenades, and launch into hand to hand combat... Even firing a chaingun at Berserker...! Well, they definitely seem to mean business.

    So how they managed to get caught in such an obvious break-in when they're seemingly so competent is a mystery.

    Berserker's fire balls set one of them on fire, causing the chaingun's sweep to go wild, tearing into a wall instead. Nerevarine's mace knocks down one of the soldiers with a blow to the head. Likewise, others among these villains can take a beating, but with the combined forces brought to bear by everyone, soon the small group of bad guys gets taken out!

    Any plan to leave one for interrogation seems to be out the window... But evidence has been left behind, in the form of a crumpled note found on one of the soldiers! And there's a certain doorman downstairs who may need to be questioned.

    Clue Found!

    'A crumpled note was found on one of the 5th Column soldiers. It tells the officer in charge to gather up all of the surveillance equipment and then report back to a temporary base. It even helpfully includes the address... But WHERE the address is located is not so foolishly described.'

Saber (346) has posed:
     Once the Ubermensch had been defeated, Saber turned to express some surprise at Shirou's appearance. "Oh...hello, Shirou," she greeted simply before turning back to the Fith Column they had just defeated.

     Unfortunately, they had done their job a little /too/ well, even when she had been holding back specifically to question one of the. But fortunately, a clue remained..though apparently someone had the rare foresight not to blatantly spell out where the base was.

     "So, they were responsible, after all," she mused. "Yet why they would deign to do so is the next question."

Berserker (860) has posed:
The chain gun chews into the doorway, but Berserker still gets clipped. She's tougher than a normal human, so she doesn't go down... but she does look pained and hurt, with her hand clutching a bleeding shoulder. She might also be...

Mildly annoyed.

"An address?" Berserker perks up at that. "Well then. That is something we can investigate easily enough! Fortunately I happen to have a very thorough set of maps of this place, at least as of the last time they were drawn."

Whyyyy would she have that?

Nerevarine (876) has posed:
     The Nerevarine growls, dusting bits of shrapnel from his armor. Putting his mace at his side, he stands up and straightens the plume of his helmet, readying a spell. With a wave of his hands, he casts Hearth heal upon himself, the energy of the spell washing over him and knitting his wounds closed. Without being bidden, he makes the rounds and casts restorative magic on the other heroes, as well--although the Servants may benefit more from the raw magic than the intent thereof.

     "He's a diplomat." The Dunmer peers at Saber from behind the frowning face of his helmet. "Perhaps they want to ransom him back to his House, or replace him with a spy. Having arrived to find him gone, they looked for clues to his whereabouts, or perhaps for incriminating letters to use against him."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou didn't expect he'd be out of opponents to fight in no time at all. The others are just far too epic for him to keep up with. And now that he's closer and more able to examine these opponents... SHIVER.

    He's not sure going up against them in melee would be smart.

    Not unless he used the fighting style of... That Guy.

    That idea's worth another shiver.Leaving supposed fatal openings intentionally to trick an opponent into being predictable. It's a constant dance with death, but when you've no other choice... "It's something I can do though." He mutters to himself. He will never be able to match the sheer majestic force of Saber, the vicious scythework, Berserker's blazing efforts, or Talis' strength.

    Out he steps, into the open. "Saber. I'm glad you're here." Now he KNOWS they can win, such is his innate faith in her. "These guys stormed the building before we arrived. I hope they haven't gotten to the people I'm supposed to guard." He ends up nodding at the Nerevarine, for the two have been working together on this. Does SHirou even know the dude's name?

    With things calming down Shirou banishes Kanshou and Bakuya and instead projects his bow again. If Saber's here, he won't need to be fighting on the front lines, hopefully.

    He's much better with a bow anyways. "Well, this is an embassy. There's probably lots of sensitive government information and important people around. Maybe they're picking up equipment that was already here. Spy stuff. But doing it this way is pretty obvious... no, that doesn't make any sense at all! Are they after the normal video cameras?"

Testament (842) has posed:
    Testament... just laughs at the accented English. In German, he jeers at the enemy soldiers, "I speak German, idiot!" Even without the translation effect he'd be able to understand. So why not mess with the soldiers in the meantime? Jeering and taunting the enemy usually causes them to make mistakes.

    Shotguns are fired by the soldiers; Testament does not bother to dodge. He just CACKLES as the metal pellets tear into his skin. Why? Because no sooner than they tear INTO his skin, the metal pellets are being pushed OUT of his skin, the damage caused by the pellets knitting together nearly instantaneously. He's not showing it... but GOOD GOD those hurt. And the wounds may be small, but it energy to knit those wounds back together. More energy than he's letting on, in fact. He's trying to frighten them.

    Hopefully they'll have gotten the message before they're taken out. If they're still alive, they'll probably remember it if they saw. Maybe they'd turn their lives around and he wouldn't have to encounter them again. Probably not, humans were incredibly blind and foolish where their own stupid life choices were concerned, but he could hope, right?

    Testament looks to Saber as the raven alights upon his shoulder again. "Maybe they're also interested in keeping Mister Jernigan from asking for assistance for Paragon City. Theoretically any group interested in illegal operations in Paragon City has a vested interest in keeping it from being rebuilt. As it is, it's ripe for the picking for a gang turf war."

    Berserker's mention of the maps prompts a raise of his eyebrows. "That will save us some trouble, most certainly," he notes. "Do you think Manfried would be able to point the place out on a map relatively quickly?"

    Talis's suggestion, and then Shirou's comment, gets a narrowed-eye look. Not specifically aimed AT Shirou, but at the situation. "They're too well-organizaed to have been caught this easily," he observes to them both. "This whole fight might have been a distraction tactic, so they could get away with the equipment. It's not as though they'd lose people with those medical transporters."

    To those who've never heard him speak before, his voice has an odd, distorted, reverberating note to it. Rather than the sound seeming to come directly from him, it seems to just sort of emanate from the vague direction he's located in. It almost sounds like it may possibly be coming from the area underneath his feet.

Berserker (860) has posed:
    Berserker flicks out the maps and hands them around, while she suggests, "Manfried may indeed be able to help! We should give him a call." Tugging a cell phone from her suit, the young woman lifts it to her ear and murmurs lightly into it... but her face rapidly turns into a frown.

    "That was Flag-Bearer," she says to the others. "He requests that we meet him down in the lobby to explain matters. I suppose that works just as well, hmm? Someone more familiar with the city would know where this address may be."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    There are a LOT of people here Shirou has never joined up with before. Testament, Berserker, and Talis especially. It's the strangely innocuous appearance of Berserker that has him blinking a few times. He's not fooled though - he can FEEL that she's a Servant when they're THIS close.

    "How did these guys get in without setting off an alarm or something?" he suddenly asks, sparked with insight. "That's suspicious itself." An embassy SHOULD have security systems... right?

Saber (346) has posed:
     Sea-green eyes flicked to the Nerevarine and then to Shirou. "Perhaps, but this particular man has been involved with several attempts to kidnap him, already. Each time, the ones responsible sought more than a simple ransom. However..."

     There was something about his suggestion of replacement by a spy that seemed as if there was something to it, particularly with how off their contact had been acting. Her eyes shifted to Testament following his observations. "Indeed," she replied. "It would seem to be no simple matter..."

     Pale eyebrows raised slightly as she regarded Berserker. She was just full of surprises. "That is good to hear," she replied, refraining from comment on /why/ that would be in her particular skill set. She wasn't about to be picky right now. "That is most helpful."

     She frowned slightly once they had been contacted by 'Flag-bearer'. "I recommend maintaining caution. There have been a great many things which have seemed..'not right', as it were."

Testament (842) has posed:
    And yet more complications, Testament realizes, as Berserker's information nets them some news that could be bad. He sends his scythe away, realizing that heading down while holding such a weapon could frighten people. That's not his intent. Yet.

    he nods to Saber's words of being careful, adding, "Manfried has been seen talking with some of us, it wouldn't be too hard to make the connection that he was a contact of ours. Particularly if surveillance has been kept."

    He also nods to Shirou's statement. "The various numbers of enemies Mister Jernigan seems to have, have all been gaining access to him with remarkable ease, truth be told," he observes. "It's rather annoying to have to rescue the same human being so many times." Hard to tell if he's kidding or not.

    Whoever starts down the stairs first, Testament will follow. If they go via the normal way, he'll follow the normal way. Otherwise he'll just teleport down. Poofing into existence will probably startle some people... but at least he doesn't have his scythe here.

Nerevarine (876) has posed:
     The Nerevarine's raspy voice fills the silence of the room after hypotheses have been made. "I thought you were calling--hmph. No matter. I want to see what this... Flag-Bearer has to say." His hand rests on the handle of his mace as he exits the room, heading downstairs. The suspicion in his voice is as evident as the hand resting cautiously beside his weapon, but his stride is confident rather than aggressive. It seems like he's open to talking--but expecting trouble.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Flag-Bearer is a tall black man in a very stars-and-stripes sort of uniform, with a half mask that leaves his mouth exposed, and his flat-top haircut. On his back is a straight metal staff that looks like a flag pole... But without a flag, just several slots with some sort of technological whatsit inside. When the upstairs heroes join him, he looks quite serious, and just nods his head as way of greeting, before launching straight into things. "I'm Flag-Bearer. I was called by Jason Manfried to transport the data you all collected to City Hall. It was too risky to send it by other routes. Certain people might have tried to intercept it. Unfortunately, they may have gotten here before we did. Because I found an impostor of Mr. Manfried here who didn't seem to be expecting me. When he demonstrated he lacked information that the real Manfried possessed, and I confronted him on it, he attacked. And he had strength far beyond anything I've known him to have since I met him."

    The local hero shakes his head. "I was able to subdue him, but not before he got out a transmission. Thankfully, one of my Team members was with me, for the data transportation. He managed to trace it, so we know the general zone it was headed towards, but not the exact address. But maybe if someone went there and looked around they'd find a clue. I'm worried about the real Jason. And there's evidence the imposter has been letting people in and out of the embassy and covering up the evidence. If we don't catch the culprit, the real Jason might take the blame, wherever he is."

    If the note with the address on it is shown to Flag-Bearer, he frowns DEEPLY and says, "These serial numbers... I recognize the format. The 5th Column has pre-fabricated bases they can set up and dissasemble on short notice. They have them set up all throughout the city. Part of the number is coordinates. And given where that transmission was headed... I can show you on a map where you'll need to go, and provide a mission marker if you got one of the crime computers that City Hall hands out to heroes. You'll be heading to a place that used to be known as Venice before the Rikti invasion. Now it's known as Crey's Folly."

    Freaking Crey again!