Remember when Lonewalker and I were commenting about how Straight Arrow was never going to live down the fact that he let Penny Dreadful go? Well, here is the fruit of that discussion...
-----
Now that Yggdrasil is finished, UNITY is going through some mission/force re-design. Team A (unofficially nicknamed "Astra") is permanently stationed off-planet, to explore the galaxy and deal with threats before they reach earth. Simian Fury is to be reassigned to Team A, because they need a mystic.
Team B (unofficially nicknamed "Los Bravos") is to be stationed on Yggdrasil. They are to be the northern hemisphere's Rapid Response Team, to be instantly beamed anywhere there is a large amount of trouble –- a massive supervillain attack, an outbreak of war or rioting, or signs of alien involvement. Gadget Man has been reassigned to Team B, because they need a gadgeteer.
Team C is permanently stationed in Midgard. They are UNITY's Investigation Wing, to look into suspicious activity and try to stop it before it gets too hot. UNTIL is trying to recruit a magician to fill Simian's roll.
Team D is now being recruited and trained. Once Vanaheim (the southern satellite) is finished, that will be their permanent base. They will be the Rapid Response Team for the southern hemisphere.
Straight Arrow has been getting letters, emails, and text messages from a mysterious crush. However, he didn’t tell his team about it. He did ask LOKI to send an UNTIL team to track her down and see if they could find her. He thought it was a lead worth following, but didn't want to spend the time doing it himself.
In line with their mission, Team C began watching various news sources closely to keep an eye out for trouble before it got out of hand. Straight Arrow's eyes were drawn to a series of reports involving a rash of thefts and deaths in England.
A number of high-tech firms throughout London have been raided and equipment stolen. These have all been deadly raids – the perpetrator flooded the entire building with poison gas and then waltzed in, took what he wanted, and waltzed out. Straight Arrow told the rest of the team that the gas matches that used by the criminal genius Scarlet Specter, who hasn’t been active for nearly 3 years and who has a history of conflict with Straight Arrow.
The heroes started by doing their legwork, and they learned that the crimes have several links. They have all been robberies of brand-new, high-tech defense industry labs. All these companies are one year or less old, all of them work on bleeding-edge technologies, and all of them have defense industry contracts (some for UNTIL, some for Euroguard). There have been four robberies so far in the past five days:
• Tynsyn Electronics is working on the next generation of satellite based GPS for use by the military (they are working on improving the focus of Yggdrasil's Bifrost teleportation system).
• Debson & Debson Security Materials, Inc. is working on a new radar-absorbing material to make stealth jets from (they are doing something for EuroGuard, but that information is classified).
• United Industrial is designing a defensive laser system to shoot down missiles (working to improve Yggdrasil's defensive systems).
• Rapid Deployment, Ltd. is designing a new low-visibility, low-signature jet engine for use on military aircraft (they are also working for EuroGuard, and what they are specifically building is classified).
All four companies have shut down completely, not just from the robberies but also from the deaths of several of their top scientists and engineers. A little research revealed that the Specter released the gas into the buildings' air conditioning units. He raided computers at each site, copying information off the hard drives and then destroying them by releasing a virus which corrupted the entire system. He also stole prototype materials and/or designs from each site.
The heroes, being a proactive bunch, did a search on other companies that matched the profile. They found two: Lehume Information Systems, and Bluejack Aerospace. The teams split up to investigate each one -– Red Dragon, Aurora, and Tank went to Bluejack; Straight Arrow, New Man, and Ifrita headed to Lehume.
At Bluejack, the heroes met with the founder and president of the company. Simon Bluejack greeted the heroes warmly, and shared their concerns about the latest raids. He seemed happy to assist them in their inquiries – but he would not let them into his labs because of proprietary intellectual properties. He was quite firm and would not yield this point. All he would say was that they were designing a new hypersonic wing for military aircraft.
After some discussion, the heroes decided to hide Red Dragon on the roof. Aurora would stay near a light socket through which she could teleport to the roof if necessary, and Tank would remain hidden near the building's lobby. As Red Dragon realized he hadn’t got something to eat or drink before he hid, night began to fall.
At Lehume, the heroes met with Robert Lehume, Jr., the company's president. He was thrilled to meet with UNITY agents in person, but when told of their fears, he became very worried and offered to shut down his entire facility. They thought it would be a good idea for him to clear out his personnel, and they called in an UNTIL team to take their places – they feared that Specter would not want to raid the place if he thought the heroes were onto him.
They then all hid near the roof and waited. About that time, Straight Arrow got a phone call (forwarded from LOKI) from his children. He was in for a surprise, for when he answered he heard a familiar voice. "Hi honey, it's me! I didn't think that would work -– gosh, I didn't know you had kids! How romantic! I get all dreamy when I think about the kids we'll have, you and me. I want two girls and a boy. I bet you want two boys and a girl! That’s so typical of you! Oh, listen to us! We’re having our first fight!" and so on.
He demanded to know how she got his number, and she just laughed. "Oh, it's amazing the stuff you can find on the Internet these days! I've been trying to get ahold of you for so long; I decided to pretend I was your family and they let me right through!"
Straight Arrow put her on hold for a second, and told LOKI to trace the call. Then he got back on with her, hoping to keep her on the line long enough to trace it. She insisted on meeting with him, "And just you!" she said. "I don't want you bringing your friends along and spoiling our romantic interlude! You know how cross I get, and when I get angry, people get hurt!"
She told him to meet her at an old TV studio in London. "Carnations are my favorite flowers," she said. "And you'd better not stand me up, sweetie, or these cute little boys with the smart blue-and-white uniforms you sent to find me will get what’s coming!"
LOKI told Straight Arrow that the call was traced to an UNTIL radio. The team that was sent to find her has not reported back, they are not answering their calls, and their tracking devices are off-line. With a heavy sigh, Straight Arrow told his comrades that he had to go and deal with something –- that UNTIL lives were on the line –- and that they were to take care of Scarlet Specter if and when he arrived.
Meanwhile, Red Dragon was not having much fun waiting on the roof. It was raining, and he really had to use the toilet. But then, out of the darkness he saw a cloaked figure on an airsled silently fly up to the roof, near the air conditioning units. Red Dragon saw him pull out some kind of device which he started to attach to the AC. That was enough for the samurai. He called Aurora and Tank, and then burst out of hiding to charge.
It was a very short fight. Scarlet Specter went down easy; he never laid a glove on Red Dragon. Aurora suspected something was wrong, so she teleported back inside the building just as Tank arrived to help the samurai. As the two heroes were facing the badly beaten Specter, the villain's armor erupted in a blinding flash of light. The two blinded heroes found themselves under heavy fire from above! It was all a trap!
Meanwhile, Straight Arrow found himself in an old abandoned film lot. He decided to go through the roof, but accidentally tripped an alarm on his way in. The building was dark, but he found a big sign that pointed the way to "Da Penny D Show/Wedding Chapel."
He cautiously entered the studio and found five UNTIL agents tied up in the center of the stage. They appeared to be unhurt, just bound and gagged. He crept over as silently as he could and began to untie the first agent, but then the door slammed shut, the lights came up, and Penny's voice rang out – "Welcome one and all to DA PENNY D SHOW! Tonight's very special guest: my new sweetie! That’s right, folks – the heartthrob of heroes, the super-stud of the super-set, the darling of derring-do, the romantic Robin Hood, Straight Arrow! Come on down so we can get to know each other a little better!"
Penny Dreadful herself came out, posing and preening for the "studio audience" (a bunch of mannequins with a cheap canned laugh track from the 70s as their applause). Straight Arrow noticed that the TV cameras around the room were now active. He told Penny that he wanted nothing to do with all this, but she pressed a button and a huge iron cage dropped from the ceiling above to trap him.
The two of them fought for a couple of rounds, Penny insisting that they were destined for each other, Straight Arrow trying to convince her that he’s not that kind of guy:
SA: "You're a psychotic mass-murderer; I'm a boy scout!"
PD: "Isn't it funny how opposites always attract?"
Meanwhile, back at Bluejack, the heroes were in trouble so they radioed for help. Ifrita and New Man left their own stakeout to assist their teammates. They arrived shortly thereafter to find Tank and Aurora already down, and Red Dragon weathering a hail of fire from a half-dozen identically-dressed men on airsleds! The worst part of it was that obviously the Scarlet Specter had been planning this for a long time, as he knew everybody’s weaknesses! Ifrita and Red Dragon went down hard (though Red Dragon managed to take out one of the flunkies before he was dropped). New Man stayed conscious long enough to radio Straight Arrow that they needed assistance, and then he too was dropped.
Straight Arrow and Penny had stopped fighting for a moment and were trying to discuss their "relationship" like rational adults when New Man's call came in. "I’m sorry Penny," Straight Arrow said. "I have to go. My teammates need me."
"Aw, how sweet!" Penny gushed, little anime hearts appearing in her eyes. "You're so brave and heroic! That's why I love you so much!"
He turned to leave, but then she grabbed his shoulder. "Wait!" she said. "I've got a great idea! Why don't I go with you and help you rescue your team? That'll prove that we’re meant to be together, fighting side-by-side against the forces of evil! What do you say?"
To be continued!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Lonewalker
Bookmarks