Message no. 1

From:	Ratinac, Rand (NSW) RRatinac@*****.redcross.org.au
Subject:	Messy Work
Date:	Mon, 3 Apr 2000 10:46:42 +1000

+++++ PRIVATE: Seraph
>>>>>[ I know you wanted records of this op, girl, but I can't for the life
of me figure out why. It was NOT pretty. You had cameras in the helmets too,
right? Then you've probably already seen most of this. Still, here's what I
saw. I'm going to erase this once I've sent it to you. I don't WANT a copy.

+++++ BEGIN VIDEO

The image was cast strangely; brightly lit, yet with a reddish tinge to
everything. Something flicked down in front of the camera, then away again.
And twice more.

Bringing her hand up, Oblivion rubbed her eyes, blanking out the image from
her opticam for a moment, before she took it away and replaced her helmet.
She had to work for a minute to get it down over the loose ponytail her
honey-blond hair was tied back in. When she was done, she turned towards the
Wall, bending over towards the samurai, who stood a few inches shorter than
she did. With an idle tap, he pounded her helmet into place, rocking her
back on her heels.

"Damn, Wall," she growled as she refastened the neck seals, "you didn't
have
to do it THAT hard. Next time I'll get Rose to hit me." She glanced around
at the other six members of Blue Team as the Wall settled back without
responding. "The guards are getting restless," she said quietly. "I think
Darkblood will be making an appearance soon." She quickly checked her Alpha
as she activated her transceiver and spoke again. "Green One, Blue One. I
make two more guards joining the party."

Her radio crackled for an instant before Gryphon's voice came through, soft
and clear. "Confirmed, Blue One. Be ready to move. Gold One, Gold Two,
you're up. One, take your shot when you're clear. Two, be ready to follow
up."

Oblivion glanced at Alba as the Hispanic woman carefully looked out the
window of the abandoned tenement Blue Team lurked in. That was one of the
only good things about the Redmond Barrens. Abandoned buildings were thick
on the ground - in all probability, that was the very reason why Darkblood,
or his contact, had chosen the location. She smiled wryly as Alba returned
to the group. "Wanted to check for yourself, Seven?"

The look Alba gave her was inscrutable, aided a great deal by the faceless
mask of her helmet. "I concur. This Darkblood will be making his move soon."

"Glad you agree," Oblivion replied. "Check your gear one last time, Blues.
You don't want to get caught out here."

As the runners busied themselves, Oblivion looked them over. Not a bad crew,
really. Of course, there was Rose and the Wall, her people. She'd long since
learned she could trust them to pull their weight and more, and to watch her
back.

Alba - she seemed to be a loner - it was obvious she had a hard time
trusting anyone besides herself, but that just meant there was another pair
of eyes watching things, making sure no one made any mistakes. Oblivion was
grateful for that and she'd remain that way - as long as Alba did what she
was supposed to do.

Nitro was surprisingly quiet, considering the street name he'd chosen. He
was so quiet and inconspicuous he seemed to fade into the background. He
certainly knew what he was doing, though.

She wasn't sure what to make of the other three. Murtaugh was...unusual, to
say the least. She knew he was a mage, which kind of explained things. The
other two were entirely professional - they reminded her of soldiers. That
was the vibe she got from them. The younger one, Slipper, was a bit nervous
- or perhaps excited. He hung around Geraint like they were attached.
Geraint, on the other hand, was so calm he was almost icy. She had to smile
at that thought. In all probability, that was exactly how she seemed to the
rest of the team. He was definitely military, then - or intelligence.

"Geraint," Slipper murmured. "Are-" The young man broke off as Geraint
held
up an armoured hand.

"That's Four, Six."

Oblivion could imagine the face Slipper was making beneath his helmet.
"Yeah, yeah, Four. Don't worry, I'm not going to forget. It's not like
anyone can listen in right now, anyway."

Geraint grunted wordlessly. Before Slipper could go on, their radios came to
life again. "All teams, this is Green One." The runners met each other's
gaze as Gryphon's quiet voice spoke the words that sent adrenaline rushing
through their veins. "Get into position. They're moving out in force now. I
count six...no, seven. There - Darkblood's outside. Okay, people, switch to
team freaks. Use the command freak only to respond to me. Gold Team, it's
your show."

The runners were already moving, those who were seated scrambling to their
feet and heading towards the door and windows. Oblivion glanced at Nitro
with a smile. "Ready for a jog, Eight?"

"Don't worry, One. If we have to, I can keep up."

"Good to hear." As she reached the window, Oblivion glanced out. Gryphon was
right. Whatever the reason was that Darkblood had to visit the Redmond
Barrens, he'd obviously finished his biz. By that time there were a grand
total of ten metahumans standing on the sidewalk. Three humans and seven
elves from the looks of it. The elf codenamed Darkblood was sandwiched in
the middle of the group. They were all dressed down - not exactly the rags
of Barrens chic, but nothing that would gain too much attention.

As she watched, a pair of cars and a large van pulled up in front of the
group. Everything seemed to happen at once. As the pack of men split to
enter the vehicles, a globe of brilliant light sprang up around Darkblood
and two of his soldiers. Lightning seemed to coruscate over the globe once,
then twice and the goons began to pull weapons.

"Damn it, he's warded!" Gryphon snarled over the command frequency. "All
teams, move in now. Volume of fire counts. Put him down before he can clear
the area."

The barrier spell that had saved Darkblood's life continued to flash and
flare as fire from the two snipers sparked and splashed off it. "Move it,
Blues!" Oblivion barked as she headed for the door. The Wall was there
before her, kicking it open as he trundled into the street. Oblivion pounded
outside, racing as fast as her jacked body could move towards whatever cover
there was to be found on the far side of the street. She didn't see them,
but she knew the rest of her team was right behind her. Rose, the Wall and
Nitro were with her, while Alba, Geraint and Slipper took the side of the
street closest to the building they'd been sheltering in and Murtaugh stayed
put to snipe with his magic. "Blues, call it in!" she called as she threw
herself over the hood of a parked, gutted car and rolled onto her knees.
Each member of her team reported back swiftly as she brought her Alpha up to
rest on the car. A smile crossed her face as she squeezed the trigger. No
one hurt and already Darkblood had lost three of his soldiers.

"I count six more exiting the vehicles," Geraint added as the reports
finished, "four from the van and one from each car."

"Then let's do something about that. Rolling advance, Blues. Two, Five,
you're backstop. Three, Six, cover fire. Four, we're point. Let's move."
Oblivion squeezed off two more bursts, then rose to her feet and raced
forward, crouched low with her assault rifle held to her shoulder. Nitro
scampered across the broken pavement just behind her, while out of the
corner of her eye she could see Geraint and Alba matching them. They covered
the first ten metres in a matter of seconds and Oblivion threw herself down
again. "Three, Six, go!" she barked as she triggered a pair of concussion
grenades from her Alpha, then switched to automatic fire, scything bullets
into Darkblood's guards and vehicles.

Desperate shouts and cries echoed down the street to her ears. Attacked from
three sides, with deadly accurate sniper fire coming in from above,
Darkblood's men were being cut to pieces. The vehicles were bullet-riddled
and scarred by the fire of exploding grenades and only three of them were
still on their feet. Unfortunately, one of those three appeared to be
Darkblood's mage. The barrier, although much reduced in size, was still
intact, throwing off light as it resisted everything the runners threw at
it. Oblivion swept a line of bullets across the globe, causing it to spark
and flare, but without any appreciable result.

She ejected her first spent clip, slapping in a fresh one as the Wall
pounded past her. Rising in his wake, she prepared to follow him as Nitro
and Alba began to provide covering fire. On the opposite side of the street
Slipper sprinted ahead, stretching out to cover the distance separating him
and Darkblood. Suddenly a line of fire stitched across his chest. "Six, get
down!" Oblivion called as the impact straightened him up. Before he could
move, a second burst slammed into the faceplate of his helmet and he slumped
in a spray of blood. Oblivion cursed as more bullets chopped up the street
around her and she threw herself behind a set of stairs. "Blues, hunt
cover!" she yelled. The runners found whatever protection they could as the
deadly fire sought them out. Alba yelped as a pair of bullets punched into
her side, penetrating her armour. Even as she fell, Geraint was by her side,
dragging her behind a car that looked like it had already been through a
war. "Two, what's going on?" Oblivion called.

"I don't know!" came Rose's harried response. "They've got support coming
from thin air! Five and I are pinned down. I think they've managed to get
behind us!"

"Damn it," Oblivion growled. "Green One, Blue One," she snapped,
switching
to the command frequency. "I don't know about you, but we're in trouble
here."

"Likewise," added a voice she didn't recognise, probably someone from Red
Team. "They're all over us here. What do we do?"

"Close ranks and advance," Gryphon ordered. "We've nearly reached
Darkblood.
He goes down and we're out of here."

Oblivion gritted her teeth, but switched back to the team frequency. "You
heard the man, Blues," she said. "Clear some space and let's move." Rising
to her feet, she triggered her rifle at the surrounding buildings. She
couldn't see the shooters as anything more than indistinct blobs of heat,
but that was enough. The other runners followed her lead and their attackers
fell back as a number of them were hit.

Abruptly, something pounded into Oblivion's back, knocking her forward. She
spun with a snarl. Her back hurt, but it wasn't bad - whatever it was that
had hit her hadn't penetrated her armour. An indistinct blur flashed across
her vision and a glittering blade scraped off her raised vambrace. "Frag,
they're wearing ruthenium!" she spat as she fell back. Whoever this guy was,
he was fast - faster even than she was. Of course, speed wasn't everything.
As the blur of her attacker's body closed in on her again, Oblivion stepped
forward, into his path. He stuttered, then darted aside, but his very speed
had worked against him, bringing him in too close. Oblivion's free arm
snapped out as he tried to circle around her. She spun around as they
collided, but she kept her footing and her arm wrapped around his neck
firmly. She yanked him back into her body and suddenly she could make out
his figure, his hand reaching up to tear at the arm crooked around his neck.
Jamming the muzzle of her Alpha into his back, she squeezed the trigger. The
reports were muffled as the bullets blasted through her attacker's body and
he went limp.

Tearing the mask from the dead man's head as he fell, Oblivion's eyes
widened as she beheld his blank eyes and the long, pointed ears that
protruded through his short-cropped hair. "Frag, they're Ghosts," she
whispered.

A sudden burst of fire sent Oblivion scrambling for cover again. "This is
NOT good," she growled as she crawled across the ground.

+++++ END VIDEO

No question it was a mess. Either Darkblood knew we were coming, or he's one
of the most paranoid slots in existence.

I'll send you the rest later. This message is already big enough. I'd rather
not have anything to do with this traced back to me. ]<<<<<
-- Sweet Oblivion <10:47:03/04-03-61>