[Meanwhile, Heinrick and Gottlieb have been summoned by Lydia to Briefing room #2 (on the first floor, don't get confused). I can't remember if the briefing you guys were in before was in the same room or not, but this one's identical to the one upstairs, so it doesn't matter. When you arrive, you find Lydia there, as well as Gabriel and Gertrude, who are sharing a desk.] [Go!] * Gottlieb raises his eyebrows, and nods courteously at the assembled people. * Heinrick walks in and gives a slight acknowledgement to the people behind the desk before putting his hands in his pockets. "You said it was urgent, correct?" [Lydia: "Possibly. Have a seat, Doctor."] * Heinrick nods and takes his seat. ( They cost $79.95 each ) (She said I could have it though. ;_;) [She continues: "I'm sure you're aware that Miss Oswald and Ms. Tavares are still recovering from their injuries, so I hope you'll be so kind as to inform your teammates of what goes on in this meeting."] * Gottlieb nods again. "Of course." * Heinrick nods as well. "I would expect no less." [Lydia nods. "Right, well, let's get down to it." She goes around to the main desk and hits a button. Instantly a holoscreen pops up, portraying several images. It looks like a large square building at the edge of a costal cliff. It's surrounded by a fence with barbed wire at the top, and has several guard towers with search-lights stationed regularly.] (Aww.) (Get Down to it should always be followed by exposure to a giant disco ball.) (Maybe there's a disco ball in the building.) * Heinrick looks intently at the building, but his expression doesn't change as he awaits explanation. [Lydia helpfully supplies: "This is Rosencrans Prison, a maximum security facility located on Corsica. It's a HESO-controlled prison, and one of the most inpenetrable in the world. It was thought to be impossible to escape from there."] Let me guess. Someone recently proved that to be a fallacy. (Where's Gilderstirn? :P) [Lydia nods. "As of last night, there was a riot. HESO did arrive on the scene in time to contain most of the prisoners, but seventeen are confirmed missing."] * Gottlieb sucks in a quiet breath through his teeth. * Heinrick mms at that. "Anything connecting these 17?" [Gabriel listens attentively. Gertrude seems a little disturbed. If that's possible.] ["No. Most of them were just in the right place at the right time."] * Heinrick nods and goes back to listening. What was the catalyst for the riot? [Lydia continues: "However, all of the inmates in this prison are considered class 1 threats. And I'll get to that, Mr. Kerner."] * Gottlieb nods and continues listening. (And it's Dr. for me too, not just Heinrick. :P) (Dr. Mr. Gottlieb!) (You mean Dr. Professor Gottlieb. ;P) ( Eh, ok ) (I'm just saying, if she's gonna "Doctor" Heinrick...) [Lydia continues: "I won't go into details on all of the escapees, but there are several with ties to our country. We need to look out for them."] (Shar's right though. Gottlieb's been introduced as Dr as well.) ( Fine, change it in the log. Whatever >.> ) [Lydia hits a button, and a man appears on screen. He's hunched over, with greying hair, a short beard, spectacles and Asian features.] [Lydia explains: "I'm sorry to say, one of the most dangerous minds in the past century was one of the escapees. This is Dr. Akira Shibamura, a geneticist."] * Gottlieb frowns. * Heinrick takes a good inventory of his features. ["He's willing to go to any lengths to get what he desires, and is obsessed not just with altering DNA, but creating life. Subservient life, that is. He has no unusual powers of fighting abilities himself, but if he manages to join an organization with resources for his experiments..."] [Lydia shakes her head. "He's a major threat. Kill him on sight if you see him."] * Gottlieb hisses. "No argument there." [Helga snorts. "I heard he was working for the Russians. He'll probably run right to them."] [Lydia nods. "Maybe, but it hasn't been proven. We can't do anything about that."] * Heinrick doesn't seem as much phased but turns towards Lydia. "Does he have any likely facilities that are still operational? [Lydia shakes her head. "No, HESO put an end to his operations twenty years ago. But a man of his intelligence wouldn't have trouble procuring new allies."] * Heinrick leans back. "So, essentially what you're saying is we have no likely leads as to were he could be headed?" [Lydia shakes her head. "We have strong speculation, but at the time there's nothing we can do about it. Just be aware. If he steps foot in this country, I want him dead."] * Gottlieb raises an eyebrow. "Hn. I see." [Lydia nods. "Moving on..." She hits a button, and another man pops up. This guy looks like an Arab. He's short, lankey, and has wide, terrified eyes.] ["Akeem Salazar. A rather bazaar man of the terrorists. He was only in the prison for three months."] ( Bizarre ) ( Whatev' He's arabic, he can be a bazaar man, too. ) ( y helo thar stereotypes 8D ) [Gideon frowns. "Him. I remember..."] [Lydia nods. "He took part in the bombing in Rosenburg, then fled to France. HESO finally captured him near Bordeaux."] ["Salazar is peculiar because he's a coward. Yet, when he's cornered, he gains phenonimal fighting ability. It took twenty members of HESO to bring him down the first time."] (I vote for the title of this channel to be "Come up Smelling like Rosen.") * Heinrick raises an eyebrow. "Twenty? Indeed..." Impressive. (On phone, so kinda gonna be afk) [Lydia has a different word for it: "Frightening. Remember, these aren't normals. The man is like a rattlesnake. If you see him, don't push him into a corner. Wait for backup."] ( orz, man. orz. ) [Lydia hits a button, and the man disappears. She looks like she's about to bring up another file when she pauses.] [Gertrude is the first to mention it: "Something wrong?"] [Lydia looks at her, frowns, then looks back to the console. "No."] [Lydia hits the button, bringing up the image of a woman with albino features: white skin, red eyes, white hair. Her hair is done in two brades behind her back. She's tall and very thin, but not particularly attactive. "Eileen Rhodes. Former German military. She-" Whatever Lydia was going to say is interrupted by a very lough crushing noise.] * Gottlieb starts and looks around for the cause of the sound. [It's not hard to find. Gertrude just put a big hole in her desk with her fist. Her glove was torn, and you can see glinting metal beneath. Her teeth are clenched, and her face is a mask of rage. Even Gabriel looks surprised. Lydia, however, does not.] (Oh. Well then. ) * Gottlieb blinks in surprise, then. [Gertrude breathes audiable. "Eileen Rhodes?" Her voice is very quiet at first, but shaky. Gets loud in a hurry, though. "Eileen Rhodes? That woman is still alive?!"] [Lydia answers calmly. "Of course she is. She was captured by HESO, not us. They're not in a hurry to eliminate any-"] [Gertrude cuts her off. "They should have killed her! She's a monster!"] * Gottlieb watches this byplay carefully. * Heinrick just looks in Gertrude's direction. [Lydia: "I agree with you, Gertrude. I honestly do. Especially after what happened to..."] [Gertrude screams. She stomps out of the briefing room in a huff. Lydia calls after her, but she doesn't turn around.] [Lydia sighs.] * Gottlieb tilts his head. "What happened to...?" * Heinrick folds his hands and says quietly. "Well that was entertaining." [Gabriel frowns. He looks at Lydia, who explains: "Those two have a bit of a history."] [She continues: "Six years ago, during the Byzantine War."] [Lydia pauses for a bit, frowning, but decides to continue: "Section 2 isn't the first time our country has tried genetically enhanced operatives."] * Gottlieb sits back and listens intently. ["There was a unit consisting of Zunkuft's genetically modified soldiers. Eileen and Gertrude were a part of it. Eileen took to the enhancements very well, and was showing great prowress in the field."] ["But something went wrong. She started exhibiting... abnormal behavior. A bloodlust."] ["Her commander was supposed to pull her out, and send her back to Zunkuft for examination, but she acted too late."] ["During an attack on an enemy occupied territory, Eileen went berserk. She killed the opposition, and then slaughtered the town and her comrades."] ["They did manage to get a distress signal off in time, and HESO was called in, but by then...." Lydia falls silent, and looks down.] * Gottlieb shudders slightly. [Suddenly, Gertrude returns! "By the time they got there, Eileen has killed everyone. Except me. She was busy having fun with me."] [Gabriel and Lydia look over to Gertrude. Gertrude kneels, rolling up her pant leg. The limb beneath is metal. "First she cut off my leg, so I couldn't escape. Then she cauterized the wound, so I wouldn't bleed to death."] ["Then she cut off my arm, and amused herself by slapping me with it until she got bored, and decided to chop it up piece by piece while I watched, making sure I could never get it back."] [She smiles humerously. "She'd just finished cutting out my eye by the time HESO got there."] [Lydia starts, "Gertrude-" But Gertrude cuts her off again. "Never fight this woman. You and your wards aren't capable of beating her, and it will cost you dearly if you lose." And with that, she leaves again.] * Gottlieb lowers his eyebrows, face set, and shakes his head twice, sharply. "Mein Gott." [Gabriel looks disturbed, but he says nothing.] * Heinrick watches Gertrude's explanation without comment. He watches her go. "Such a fate to endure." It's hard to tell if he's disturbed or not. [Lydia pauses for a few minutes, then composes herself. "What happened to Gertrude was a tragedy, but right now we need to focus on the fact that this woman has escaped and is at large."] ["If you see her, do NOT engage. None of you. Gertrude's right about that."] So what is our course of action? ["Escape and call for backup."] * Heinrick nods. * Gottlieb nods. "What enhancements did she receive?" ["Physical improvements. Strength, speed, stamina, heightened senses, some mental shielding. She's a master with most any melee weapon, but seems to prefer swords."] ["And her choice of victims tends to be young females, especially those she can exert her power over. She doesn't like to kill fast."] * Gottlieb frowns more deeply. * Heinrick sighs. "So essentially, our wards." [Lydia nods. "They're almost perfect targets for her, which is why I felt it necessary to bring up. It's also very likely she'll return to Germany, although in what capacity, I don't know."] [She concludes the subject of Eileen with: "Again, she's extremely skilled in combat, and highly dangerous. We'll probably need both teams to take her down, so engage under no circumstances."] * Gottlieb nods again. "Understood." [Gabriel imitates Gottlieb. "Understood."] * Heinrick smirks slightly. "I'd say it too, but it'd be rather redundant. So let's just leave it at that, shall we?" [Lydia nods. She hits another button. "And now, Dr. Kerner, that catalyst you mentioned earlier."] [A man appears on the holoscreen. He's a strange-looking one, with pale skin, but very dark hair. His eyes are red, and he's got an amused grin on his face. "This man. We don't know his real name. He calls himself the Ravenman."] * Gottlieb leans forward and looks thoughtful. ["He claims to have slaughtered a small village in France fifteen years ago. We don't know for sure, because everyone in the village was dead. HESO picked him up shortly after; he resisted without a fight."] (...what?) ( what what? ) ("resisted without a fight"?) ( Uh... ) ( You know what I mean. ) ( Didn't resist. ) ( Gave up without a fight. ) ( Choose your fancy ) ( It's late, dangit. ) ( I was just checking, since maybe he could have done something powerbased. ) ( Just wanted to know if that was something I should ask about IC or not. ) (Or done something Ghandi-esque) [The man on the screen is fairly young looking. He couldn't be older than thirty. Lydia explains: "We're fairly certain he's not human, but we had no idea of his capabilities until yesterday. Apparently, he decided he'd had enough of Rosencrans and staged a riot, just like that."] ["According to reports, he walked through the bars of his cell. Bullets had no effect on him, and he could kill at a distance with a swipe of his hands."] ["He was the one who let the others out of their cells, and was long gone by the time HESO forces got to the prison."] ...maximum-security? How far away is the nearest HESO base, anyay? ["Aside from the prison base itself, you mean? Mainland France."] * Heinrick narrows his eyes at that. "That's...complicated." Hn. [Lydia nods. "Unfortunately, we don't have much information to go on. Nonetheless, you should consider this man extremely dangerous. If you encounter him, don't underestimate him."] * Heinrick shakes his head. "Quite honestly, Miss Sohn, I was considering inviting him over for tea." ["I'm sure he'd accept. It's what he'd do after that worries me. And it's Ms. Sohn, thank you."] ( Eh? ) * Heinrick smirks slightly. "Of course." [Lydia turns off the display. "Any questions?"] * Gottlieb sits for a while, mulling over the information. "None...as of yet. I trust we will be updated as you are if any information about these characters' whereabouts or connections surfaces?" * Heinrick seems to be in thought himself but doesn't answer Lydia. [Lydia nods. "Of course."] * Gottlieb nods back. "Very well, then. We will be sure to share this information with Roseli Tavares." [Gabriel adds, "And I'll inform Karin Oswald."] [Lydia nods. "Then if there's nothing further, you're dismissed."] * Gottlieb stands and inclines his head to Lydia and Gabriel. "Good day, then." * Heinrick shifts his position as he stands up and puts his hands in his pockets. "Very well then. At your leave." He turns around to head out. * Gottlieb lets Heinrick go first, then heads out afterwards. [End!]