Futuristic HOUNDS: An 80s/90s Cyberpunk Inspired RP [CLOSED]

[Worthlessplebian]

Following the robotic member of the Hounds, Wolfgang had a noticeable pep in his step. He had not told anyone, but the prospect of delivering justice had gotten him excited. Not too dissimilar to a child getting his Christmas presents. There were... Or are rumours that Wolfgang liked to spout off laws (some of who are out of date, mind you.) as an intimidation tactic or for kicks as he pulverised a poor soul. He could tell that he would fit right into this little outfit.

The robot, which identified itself as Rook, quickly drew attention to the connection that his name had with the board game, Chess. The mutant did play the game before his radical transformation into an armoured beast. A pang of nostalgia hit him as he began to listen to the breakdown of this building. Or at least the levels relevant to Hound operation. What struck him odd is the inclusion of leisurely activities such as game night and movie night. Living quarters? Expected. Entertainment systems? Not in his wildest dreams. This must be an attempt by DynaCorp to further entice obedience out of the Bloodhounds. It makes perfect sense to Wolfgang. A person would not rebel if provided with adequate rewards. Providing prisoners with narcotics was also put in a new light. The addicts would prefer artificially induced highs as opposed to dopamine rushes that are provided by entertainment. Quite devilish.

After this little tour, Wolfgang would head to the garage to check out the vehicles! He'd never actually gotten a driver's license. Officially, anyway. Despite being a homeless bum, he had to learn how to drive. You'd be surprised at how many get-aways, drivebys, and other such vehicular activities, the King of the Homeless had gotten himself involved in.

Rounding the corner, another stroke of jubilation struck Wolf. The variety of weapons was amazing! This is turning out to be the second greatest day of his life. At first, Wolfgang went over to the high-frequency blades. Like Shizen, he unsheathed the weapon. Its' internal oscillator revved up while an alternating current of electricity danced faintly along the edge. Wolfgang loosened his grip and flourished the blade thrice before stopping. He sheathed the blade again. Returning the weapon to its' spot, Wolfgang meandered over to Rook. "I already have a request, actually. Do you have a knuckle type weapon? I've heard there were types that even accelerated the speed of your fists or ballistic ones. Any would do." The mutate would then pick up the Titan-7 pistol, this is the one that he will be using during the trial run.

With the pistol in hand, the mutant instantly identified his uniform by its' size. Slipping into the thing was incredibly easy, it didn't even get caught on the collar and it hugged tightly to his body. A bit too tightly. Walking back to Rook as the mutant holstered his pistol. He'd have to ask later Rook later to pad the back or sow plates between the fabric to keep it from getting caught in the grooves of his chitinous back. "What's next on the agenda?"

 

[joshuadim]

"Hey, you two. You here for the Hounds unit?"

Hector's attention turned towards the new voice that had approached them and he gave a nod towards the man. "Already am, DynaCorp contract." he replied as he pulled out his credentials to show proof of his employment. "Any particular place to go to here for that? NLAPD isn't exactly keen on signage regarding this whole thing." He then spared a quick glance over at Switchblade before sighing: "And I suppose the bot here is here for the same thing as well... though I don't know it or if it has a contract or not regarding this like I do."

---

After receiving a life-giving dose of morphine from the good doctor, Kane felt fresh like new as he noticeably stepped up his demeaner with almost a skip in his step. "Now that's the good stuff there!" he announced aloud to no one in particular as he followed the others towards the training area. The aussie quickly picked up a Titan-7 from the rack and admired its construction with a murderous glee: "Now that's some good hardware right 'ere!" he then commented, pointing it around without much care for firing range safety before setting it down onto his hip. Before he went to collect his "uniform" he saw the ninja fondling and toying with one of the blades provided.

He muttered some annoyances to himself over how pretentious such things were before gathering his uniform and loosely draping it over himself. "Alright. when do we get to shoot some poor people for you coppers?"

 

[Breadman]

"I had heard rumors of the Hounds reforming weeks ago. Over time it became more and more apparent that it was true." Switchblade turned to the officer. The machine bowed to show respect and continued to talk once it stood up in its usual position. "There was no obvious sign up process for someone like myself so I came in person to offer my services."
---
"Oh!" Cynthia exclaimed as she felt the adrenos work their way through her body "Darling, right now you're my favorite person." She said with a smile to Lily "I'll make sure to come by again when the time is up." She was practically euphoric for a while that she didn't register half of what was told to her. Something about where they'll be spending their free time while not risking their lives. Nothing out of the ordinary there. She snapped back into it once they got to the weapons. Nothing she couldn't handle. Rather nice too. What wasn't nice was the uniforms they were issued. Cynthia looked at her's with disgust. They expected her to wear this? Even touching them felt disgusting. Once the training wheels would come off, she would have a serious discussion with the the person in charge of uniforms. They can't expect someone like her to wear something like this. How was she supposed to be the face of the initiative while wearing rags like these? Awful!

 

[Infab]

"Already am, DynaCorp contract." he replied as he pulled out his credentials to show proof of his employment. "Any particular place to go to here for that? NLAPD isn't exactly keen on signage regarding this whole thing." He then spared a quick glance over at Switchblade before sighing: "And I suppose the bot here is here for the same thing as well... though I don't know it or if it has a contract or not regarding this like I do."

"I had heard rumors of the Hounds reforming weeks ago. Over time it became more and more apparent that it was true." Switchblade turned to the officer. The machine bowed to show respect and continued to talk once it stood up in its usual position. "There was no obvious sign up process for someone like myself so I came in person to offer my services."

As Jack looked over Hector's credentials, running a hand through his short graying hair, he nodded in response. "Yeah, the NLAPD didn't post anything public about it regarding signing up. Its a highly dangerous occupation, so you'd either get those that just aren't ready for it or complete idiots in the form of glory seekers. They figured the right ones would know were to look and what to do." he stated, eventually straightening up and looking to Hector. "Knew you'd be showing up sometime. Got a message earlier from the liaison from DynaCorp about you."

He then looked to Switchblade. "Well, we can get you signed up fairly quickly. Just gotta have a conversation with Alice, the liaison. She'll prep the employment forms, waivers, and other paperwork." he said, before taking note of an officer and another man that had just walked up. "Commander Hayes? This is Detective Oscar O'Doyle. He's here to see you. He says Chief Powell approved his transfer to the Bloodhounds unit." stated the young tanned skinned officer, who motioned back to the man behind him.

Jack cocked an eyebrow, but nodded. "Alright. Welcome to the team, O'Doyle." he responded afterwards, looking to the man before reaching out and shaking his hand. Must have been a recent approval, as he only knew of Lt. Jones and Sgt. Hanson being sent over. And just as he thought of them, he glanced back to see the pair walking through the front doors of the precinct. Lt. Jacqueline Jones, dressed in her regular street clothes, followed by Sgt. Sam Hanson who was dressed in full uniform with his helmet. Both were part of the Gang & Narcotics division, from what Jack knew. Likely under the command of Cpt. Meia Sujin, whom Jack had already encountered twice this week.

As they briefly flashed their badges to the officer at the scanner near the door, he waved them over. "Looks like almost everyone's here." he said to himself, before looking back to Hector and Switchblade. "I'm Jack Hayes, Commander of the Bloodhound unit. I'll be your boss from now on." he said, before motioning for them to follow, "Let's head down to the dog house, and meet the other recruits."

​

Rook ignored Kane's comment about shooting the poor, instead glancing towards Wolfgang as he spoke.

"What's next on the agenda?"​

"Well, next up is a quick trip over to the firing range. Gonna get you used to using your weapons. Then, we head up to the rec area. I'll let you pick out your bunks. Twenty four hours from now, you'll get to have your own apartments and such if you want. A bit better than living in the basement of a police precinct, I think." he responded. "Training will be in a couple of hours, to get you up to speed on standard police procedures and such. One of the lieutenants from upstairs will come down, and basically do a weekly class on Fridays to help you out with learning how to do your jobs outside of just 'go here and kill this'. You'll also get your team assignments from Commander Hayes. So far, Alpha team has been filled up. Bravo and Delta are still looking for a few more recruits, but nobody has been stuck on Charlie team yet. Probably because the Commander's the sentimental type. He used to be on Charlie team when the Hounds were around the first time."

He motioned for the group to follow, once they had dressed themselves and selected their weapons, and stepped back out onto the concrete walkway which went around the atrium. Across from them, on the opposite side, was the firing range. But as he went to walk around towards it, the group heard an audible beep sound off from Rook. He paused in place, and stood there quietly for a few moments. Then, he looked back to the group. "Change of plans. Boss wants me to take you straight down to the Briefing Room. Looks like you're getting tossed in the deep end. Sink or swim, boys and girls. Sink or swim." he said, before turning and walking back towards the staircase that they had descended to get to the armory.

The group followed, as Rook glanced upwards towards the uppermost level. There, he could see Jack emerge from the doorway which lead up into the precinct. Some other individuals were following behind him. "Looks like you're gonna have some volunteers joining you too." said Rook, pointing up to where they were on the upper levels before continuing on down. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, they started to notice more professionally dressed people walking about. DynaCorp employees, and well-dressed police officers. This was, after all, the command floor. At the end of the atrium was a large doorway, which Rook lead them towards and through. Inside, a room that reminded most of them of college classrooms. "Take a seat. They'll be here in a minute." he said, motioning to the tables and chairs on each level of the sloping walkway nearby.

Another door stood on the far side of the room, which soon opened to reveal a woman wearing a white dress. It was Alice, the DynaCorp rep they had seen earlier, but this time in the clay. She smiled at each of them. "Good morning, all of you!" she said, stepping over to where a small table sat on the opposite side of the room from the seats. She paused next to it, as Rook walked around and stood next to her.

 

[Dmaster]

"Training?" Shizen repeats, seeming rather intrigued. What sort of training could a force such as this possibly impart on him? As a contracted assassin of one of the most notorious crime syndicates the city had seen, the majority of the ninja's jobs were 'go here and kill this' or 'go here and kill this and make sure nobody sees you.' Beyond debriefing after mission success or failure, what more would be necessary than that? He could not imagine that whatever would be taught to him would be all that useful on the battlefield.

After that the cyborg took the time to slip out of his prison uniform and into the new one, finding a room where he could make the relatively quick change in private. Once he was fully outfitted he placed his temporary sword onto his hip, locking the sheathed weapon into place before he started to step closer to rejoin the others. Just in time for the announcement of the team being dispatched to a rather sudden assignment. Seems as though he was right about the training being completely superfluous after all.

Moving to the command floor, Shizen eyed the administration and officers with silent glares of judgment. There may have been an official or two that he was ordered to kill among them working still, the collapse of the Shinjikēto having robbed him of the opportunity. He had no intention of acting on old orders while he was here, as he only scanned those faces out of a curiosity most morbid.

He detached his weapon when asked to sit, taking up a seat near the entrance of the room as he placed the sword on the table before him. "This must be a matter most urgent if you would halt our... acclimations to gather us here." Shizen wagered.

 

[Breadman]

"Oh, we're going on a trip?" Cynthia asked playfully. She wanted to desperately get out of this ugly uniform and this might be an opportunity. Surely they would understand if it was a little bit...damaged. She walked right after Shizen into the briefing room and took a seat near him
---
"I am looking forward to work with you, Hayes-sama." The machine turned to face the rest and bowed to show respect "And to the rest of you as well."

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Kane's comment about eradicating the homeless had set off alarm bells in Wolfgang's skulls. He wondered if he would be able to... accidentally discharge his sidearm while carelessly pointing at Kane's head. Wolfgang would ultimately decide against that, it'd be waste of bullets and the cyborg could still prove himself useful. If not as a member then at least as a meat—or in this case, metal shield. Wolfgang's attention is diverted towards Rook's explanation. Listening carefully, the thought of training occurred to him as did it occur to Shizen. Wolf immediately assumed that the training would likely extend to litigation rather than deleterious fields. Unless they plot to formulate team bonding. This thought promoted an almost sickening chuckle from Wolf, he'd want for them to record the exercise so that he can have something to watch with popcorn later.

Though it seems that the mutant king would be left wanting as Rook momentarily beeped and informed them of a new situation. An emergency which required their expertise... Or what little there was, he thought back to when they were being escorted into the building. Perhaps, this will be the officer's chance to use their patsies.

Along with the others, Wolfgang followed into the command floor. Once entered, he nodded a greeting to his superiors. Upon Shizen's comment about the importance of this task, Wolfgang put forward his own idea. "It must be, ninja. I'm wagering 10% of my first paycheck; betting this is either a bomb threat with hostages or a mutate rampage." After placing down his bets, Wolfgang sat next to Cynthia.

 

[SniperComZero]

Deeby was, to put it bluntly, wholly uninterested in what Alice had to say to her and the group. She had already gone through the rundown back in prison, and had it committed to memory... even if memory shows that the current charges are hefty, and would probably take a good few years... or decades. Though, given the amount of what seem to be actual terrorists, that time may be expedited some. Or they all end up serving the unit until a death of natural causes. Still a preferable alternative to termination. What the captain had to say to them was only mildly more interesting to her. If only for the fact that it was the introduction of a kill switch to the rest of them. There was a silent relief that there was no avenue of injection. Though, the collar itself was... unsightly. The outburst by Shizen, in the face of being surrounded and shackled, whilst admirable, to a point, allowed for no confidence to seep through.

Lily, she spared no glance, and paid no mind to. After all, she didn't anticipate the organic doctor to be fixing her battle damage.

What seemed to be their final handler, the robot, had a bit more charm. At least to her, anyway. Not that any would have shown on the amorphous metal canvas that was where her face would be. Still, she had little want to bother with the fineries of testing weapons, content with silently grabbing one of the shorter blades along the rack and placing it to her belt. Taking hold of the uniform, and considering for a moment. It would be ungainly... but it would, likely, accelerate bonding with the rest of the team. She was still fairly humanoid, so it didn't contort over her body to an awful degree.

Deeby, rather pointedly, remained standing, almost, but not quite leaning against one of the walls as they awaited the arrival of the rest of their team. She did have to wonder what was so important that their orientation was stopped just to have them all in the same room. "With our current... roster. It is likely that our incoming orders are to be fulfilled by a very overskilled team, or a very underskilled one." Or, maybe a bit of both, given the bickering that's already gone on so far.

 

[Infab]

"This must be a matter most urgent if you would halt our... acclimations to gather us here."

"Indeed. Normally, we would send Bravo team on this operation, as it is currently still Shift 1, but Mr. Hayes believed that this would be an excellent training exercise. A chance to learn in the field!" explained Alice, turning and clasping her hands together before her as she spoke in Shizen's direction. "I shall leave the main details of the operation for Mr. Hayes to explain. I'll provide additional information as he explains."

And it wasn't long before Jack walked into the room, with a group of others following him. He glanced at the convict group, eyeing each of them as he walked, before stepping behind the table. He motioned for the volunteers to take their seats as well, and as soon as they did, he began. "My name is Jack Hayes. I'm the current commander of the Bloodhound unit, and formerly a member of the unit back during its first go-around. One of the few survivors, that is. I'll be your boss from now on. You'll get all orders from me, unless I'm overridden by the current chief of police, Richard Powell, or the new police commissioner, Felicity Cummings."

The lights dimmed in the room, and the wall behind him lit up in the form of a soft red holographic display. "Let's get right down to it." he said, before turning and glancing up at it himself. "During the walk down here, I received word from the Gangs and Narcotics division that there was a mass shooting here in Downtown New LA. The location of the shooting is over near the intersection of 5th and Roosevelt. Moderately sized parking area, sandwiched between a warehouse and a hardware store. Three undercover narcotics officers are dead, and six other officers are also dead. Other casualties include eight members of the local Liberation Front chapter, five members of the Emerald Tigers gang, and five members of the local Day Walkers crew. The investigation is currently ongoing as to what happened."

As he explained what was going on, Alice motioned her hand towards the screen. The emblems for each group appeared, along with brief snippets of information about each. The Liberation Front were a group of anarchists from north near Washington state. Most were military veterans of the last world war, or their descendants, and often were the better armed of the gangs in the area of New LA. The Emerald Tigers were similar to the older Triad, with their territory taking up a chunk of Downtown New LA in the area surrounding Chinatown. They were the more traditional type of gang, with interests in illegal goods and imports. The Day Walkers were an odd bunch, hailing from New Vegas. Mostly cybernetically enhanced, and with their stylings revolving around the legend of the vampire. Most were pale looking, and featured augmented mouths and jaws which featured long fangs which could be used to rip and tear flesh in combat. They seemed to be more focused on the trade of illegal adrenos and other drugs.

"Early thoughts: likely a gang meeting. Perhaps trying to settle some issues between them, or regarding a new threat in the city. My money is on a new threat. Gangs in this day and age are more likely to just fight it out than come to terms over things. I'm sending the new members of Charlie Team to assist in the investigation. They'll also be tasked with eliminating the threat, should there be one. I've already cleared the idea with Cpt. Meia Sujin of the Gangs and Narcotics division, as well as Chief Powell." said Jack, which earned a look from both Alice and Rook. Jack then pointed out specific members of the group before him. "David, Kane, Wolfgang, Shizen, Deeby, Cynthia, and Oscar are all on Charlie Team. Hector, Switchblade, you two will be on Delta Team for now. Alley, you're a member of the support staff from now on. The higher-ups think you'd be better suited to sitting behind a computer as our in-house hacker and tech specialist instead of out in the field. You'll be on Shift 2, helping Charlie and Delta team. Jacqueline and Sam, you'll be on the support staff as well."

 

[Dmaster]

The enthusiasm and excitement from Alice was somewhat off-putting to the ninja, and he gave single nod to the claywoman with only a slight tensing of his lip to show that. Shizen then quietly listened to Jack introduce himself, looking over the man with his now-typical silent gaze of scrutiny. Someone that had survived being in this apparently suicidal program was either skilled, resourceful, or lucky. More than likely he was a mixture of all three. While the shinobi had no intention of being insubordinate, things would be much better if he were taking orders from someone he respected.

To Shizen he had more than just cursory knowledge of the gangs, as with his line of work he would have to perform hits against their grunts and leadership alike. While he and his syndicate preferred more open challenges, they would readily strike other groups with stealth and assassinations. For his clan, their allies and enemies would often change like the weather, and that seemed to still be ongoing between other gangs even now that he was technically outside of the criminal underworld. Hayes was very right to think that they had only met to forge a temporary alliance to get rid of a new threat of some kind.

Once his team was assigned to him, the cyborg leaned a metallic arm onto the table before him as he pulled himself in closer. "A body count that high without any obvious evidence, done with firearms no less? Strange." Shizen asked aloud. "It would require extensive training and skill to leave nothing behind, though perhaps the current investigators are not the best. If our prey had forewarning of the meeting, perhaps they made use of a single or several sharpshooters. Struck at an extreme distance."

 

[Worthlessplebian]

It seems as though Wolfgang shared in Alice's excitement for the fieldwork. Though he must admit, the thought that he stupidly selected mutate rampage instead of a mass shooting; was not his finest deductive work. Bitterly, Wolfgang folded his arms, decked out in his new uniform. Then entered, their supposed commander. He was quite impressed with the man, though Wolfgang had hoped or hopes that this man's survival was due to his sheer competence and not monumental luck. Well, if it is luck then kudos to him.

When the lights dimmed, Wolfgang commented. "Just like the alleys." Then he hushed himself while Hayes presented the case. The presence of the gangs was surprising, three narco Paul Prys and six officers had caught the mutant completely off-guard. To systematically eliminate nine L.E.Os (law enforcement officers), singlehandedly was astonishing to him. The perpetrators that seem most capable of doing this was the Liberation Front, while the other two: The Emerald Tigers and the Day Walkers seemed out of place. Actually, Wolfgang has or had direct experience with one of them. Raising a hand, Wolfgang decided to put forward his thoughts on the matter. "I have had the unpleasant fortune of dealing with these... Bloodsuckers. They're formidable, surely, but these cosplaying cretins do not necessarily have the firepower—nor the skill for that matter—necessary to decisively and quickly eliminate nine officers of the law. Those fellows are non compos mentis—erm, not of sound mind, as the lawyers always say." During Wolfgang's verbiage, one could noticeably see him clutching his right bicep. "Those are simply my thoughts on the matter, perhaps they upgraded since last I saw them."

Hearing Shizen's explanation of the matter prompted Wolfgang to agree with him. "My thoughts are similar with the ninja. This smells like a trap sprung by the Liberation Front." Then Wolf casually turned towards the robot, Deeby. "What do you think, DBP?"

 

[SniperComZero]

Whilst her stance was completely unmoving, the robot was processing through the information that had been given, both that of the gangs, and that of the crime they were about to go investigate. Moreover, their 'commander', Jack, would only logically have to be an above-average commander, in order to have survived the previous, apparently disastrous incarnation of the unit. She canted her head in the direction of Wolfgang for a moment, before straightening it back up. "Unlikely."

Then, to the actual elaboration. "Liberation Front suffered the highest losses of any non-governmental organization. The only way to explain that would be if the other two had pre-agreed to an alliance to eliminate them." There was a moment of pause before her head tilted in Wolfgang's direction again. "Your reverence for the police is also misplaced. It is highly unlikely that responding officers would have been equipped to deal with such a large concentration of threats. Assuming that those bodies were all the threats. Current hypothesis places the addition of unknown party interference at approximately eighty percent."

Finally, she stood up straight. "I am in agreement with the cyborg, and the..." There was a blank pause as her registry caught up. "...Commander. It is extremely likely that all three gangs, and the officers, have been ambushed by an unknown quantity. I have also hypothesized that they may have fired within the group and left, in order to induce panic and sow mistrust."

 

[Breadman]

Cynthia's eyes wondered a bit until she saw him. Her hands began to ball up into fists as her nails screeched on the table surface and her eye twitched followed by a snarl upon seeing the all too familiar murderbot, Switchblade. That bucket of bolts had cost her too many times and way too much money for her to feel anything, but hatred towards it.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" She let out as soon as the machine took its seat opposite of her "I can't get away from you even in the suicide as a cop program?"

"Nice to see you too, Cynthia-chan." Switchblade responded with a calm synthesized voice and a short imitation of a chuckle "I would love to exchange pleasantries with you like we usually do, but we are here on important matters. I promise we will continue soon." The robot turned to Jack "Our apologies" It bowed its head "Please continue."

Cynthia let out a frustrated sigh and looked to their boss and the briefing in an attempt to distract herself from thinking about how much she wanted to dismantle the metal prick opposite of her. Nothing in this case spoke to her. Why would it exactly? She was a hired killer with little regard for who she worked for. Chances are she killed members of all the groups involved, but she couldn't remember it. Switchblade on the other hand was analyzing everything that was given as information and running it through its onw memory. It imitated a thinking motion with taping its finger on its 'chin'.

"Through engagements with the Emerald Tigers I can attest that they are not a trivial opponents. I can provide the data to back up that claim."

"Maybe you guys should crack open it's head and get the data right now."

"That wouldn't be necessary, Cynthia-chan." The robot snapped its head towards her "You wouldn't want to leave me out of your backup team now would you?" Switchblade accepted her disgruntled silence as a que to continue "I agree with the consensus so far that the enemy, while hidden and dishonorable, is not to be underestimated and likely of a very professional caliber. Further data is required."

 

[joshuadim]

The situation having changed into immediate combat rather than the "training" they were supposed to go through, Kane was now a part of the briefing that went through the information the NLAPD had on hand for their mission. He chuckled aloud as the names of several games came up: "Fuckin' hell, I know all those blokes." he commented about the gangs, "Dealt weapons to every single one of them. Mean bastards them lot." But them meeting together? That's new. he then kept as an internal thought. If given the chance, he'd ask around in the city's underbelly to see what exactly was up and got all their knickers in a twist.

But before he can speak any further a familiar voice cut through the atmosphere like venom: "What is this piece of shit doing here?" Héctor spoke aloud, pointing directly at the Australian cyborg.

"Well fuck me, if it ain't Samurai Jack himself!" Kane shouted aloud, mocking clapping his hands together. "I remember when you gutted me back in Tijuana. Nearly got me ya did, took four fucking months to recover from that."

"Maybe I should finish the job right now hijo de puta." Héctor growled back, putting a hand onto the hilt of his blade. This was enough to make Kane quickly take a step back before realizing that there was no threat to him in here, especially now that he was technically a cop. This revelation made him laugh aloud as he returned to his original position in the room and looked straight at his would be assassin: "You're more than welcome to try, but I doubt the coppers here would want that." Kane retorted with a smug tone. He then returned his attention to the conversation at hand: "Like the bucks of bolts said," he spoke, referring to Switchblade, "That's some serious firepower if whoever did that could take out all them coppers and blokes of the Liberation Front. So no, I don't think its those anarchist daydreamers. They've got better things to do than throw bodies away like that."

"A real good judge of throwing bodies away he is." Héctor muttered under his breath as he watched Kane with a spiteful glare.

 

[Infab]

"A body count that high without any obvious evidence, done with firearms no less? Strange. It would require extensive training and skill to leave nothing behind, though perhaps the current investigators are not the best. If our prey had forewarning of the meeting, perhaps they made use of a single or several sharpshooters. Struck at an extreme distance."

"I have had the unpleasant fortune of dealing with these... Bloodsuckers. They're formidable, surely, but these cosplaying cretins do not necessarily have the firepower—nor the skill for that matter—necessary to decisively and quickly eliminate nine officers of the law. Those fellows are non compos mentis—erm, not of sound mind, as the lawyers always say. Those are simply my thoughts on the matter, perhaps they upgraded since last I saw them."

"My thoughts are similar with the ninja. This smells like a trap sprung by the Liberation Front. What do you think, DBP?"

"Unlikely."

"Liberation Front suffered the highest losses of any non-governmental organization. The only way to explain that would be if the other two had pre-agreed to an alliance to eliminate them. Your reverence for the police is also misplaced. It is highly unlikely that responding officers would have been equipped to deal with such a large concentration of threats. Assuming that those bodies were all the threats. Current hypothesis places the addition of unknown party interference at approximately eighty percent."

"I am in agreement with the cyborg, and the...Commander. It is extremely likely that all three gangs, and the officers, have been ambushed by an unknown quantity. I have also hypothesized that they may have fired within the group and left, in order to induce panic and sow mistrust."

"Through engagements with the Emerald Tigers I can attest that they are not a trivial opponents. I can provide the data to back up that claim."

"Fuckin' hell, I know all those blokes. Dealt weapons to every single one of them. Mean bastards them lot."

"Like the bucks of bolts said, that's some serious firepower if whoever did that could take out all them coppers and blokes of the Liberation Front. So no, I don't think its those anarchist daydreamers. They've got better things to do than throw bodies away like that."

Jack folded his arms, listening as the group before him spoke on the gangs and amongst themselves. Good. Despite the vendettas some of them have against one another, they're actually willing to even talk to one another. Better than Bravo Team and Alpha Team. He might have just struck gold by sticking most of them on Charlie Team, but he wouldn't be sure until he saw them in the field. "We'll know more once you get to the scene and start snooping around. We've also got warrants to search the area around the scene as well for three blocks, so walk around. If you find any evidence or have any thoughts on things, bring them up with the investigation team on scene. You can also speak to me, Rook, and Alice over comms if you need to. We'll be in there." said Jack, pointing to the room on the far end of the room. The word OPERATIONS ROOM was printed above it in black stenciled letters.

Soon, the lights came back up, and the screen on the wall faded. And then Rook spoke. "All you volunteers that came down with Jack, follow me to the Armory. Gotta get you suited up and issued your new sidearms or swords, should you need one. The suit is mandatory, though. Helps with team cohesion if everyone's dressed the same." said the android. As some of them got up, Jack spoke once more which forced them to stop. "Another thing, I'll be monitoring all of you during this job. The one who performs best will be given the job of Team Leader. Not really my idea, honestly. The NLAPD just wants someone to be the figurehead of the team for publicity's sake. But its a chance for me to see if you can lead and keep everyone focused in stressful situations." he stated, "I'll also be watching for proper teamwork. Teamwork is key to your survival in this unit. Don't lone wolf things. That's a way to earn a quick death. Work together, and you can solve any problem with ease."

He looked to each of them, before nodding. "Delta Team, you're staying here at the dog house for now. Charlie Team, move out. Swing by the Armory first so Rook can give you your gear, then up to the Garage. A truck will be waiting for you."

And after that, everyone stood or straightened up. All heading for the doorway. Meanwhile, Jack and Alice moved towards the Operations Room's door. The walk up to the armory didn't take long at all, and once there, Rook gave everyone what they needed. Tactical belts with gear attached, handgun magazine carriers, drop pouches for spent magazines, vests, and so on. Everything they'd need in the field for now, until the day was up and they could move on to better equipment. And then, the walk up to the garage began. As they emerged back into the large concrete room they had passed through earlier, they found one of the trucks already running. Waiting for them to climb in.

They entered one at a time, climbing through the rear door into the back of the large truck, and found themselves taking seats on either side of the vehicle. The last one to climb in was David, taking a seat at the end on the left side after he closed the rear doors behind them. It had been a while since he had properly worked a case. Hopefully he hadn't gone rusty while locked up. Once he was seated, the truck began to move. Easing out of its parking spot before turning and heading down the tunnel.

And soon, up the ramp it went. Into the daylight which covered all of New Los Angeles.

​

The drive to the crime scene look about twenty minutes, as this particular truck was suited for classic ground transport instead of aerial movement like most newer vehicles. During the ride, some of the group conversed amongst themselves. Small talk, nothing too major. But as they arrived at the scene, they went quiet. David stood as soon as the truck stopped, stepping over and opening the rear doors. Scattered around them were several vehicles. Easily fifteen, with most belonging to NLAPD officers. A few, however, belonged to local news organizations. Reporters, with cameramen in tow. "Smile for the cameras, boys and girls. Both DynaCorp and the NLAPD want this to work, so make this look good. Otherwise, they might just send you back to your cells a bit early." said Jack, his voice sounding crystal clear through their collective comms systems.

David eyed some of the reporters whom were standing nearby behind holographic yellow police tape, some talking to cameras which were aimed at them or taking pictures themselves with high end personal cameras. As each emerged, a cascade of camera flashes could be seen. Big news, it seemed. And as the truck door was shut behind them, the reporters began to slowly disperse. Moving on to other places to ask questions and dig for information.

The group was lead over to a nearby officer, whom stood there in plain clothes. Observing what appeared to be the remains of one of the gang members as crime scene investigators photographed it and set down evidence markers. The officer was a woman, with short pinkish hair and pale skin. Her jacket was apparently real leather, which was a rarity these days, and she wore a grey halter top and blue jeans beneath it. Her badge hung on her hip, attached to her belt. As they neared her, she glanced over. "Ah, Bloodhounds. Just who I was waiting for." she stated, eyeing each of them as they stopped. "I'm Captain Sujin. Gangs and Narcotics division."

She then motioned to the scene before them. "Several bodies, some property damage. No witnesses, surprisingly. No security cameras here either. So, we're gonna have to look for solid physical evidence." she explained. Really, it looked more like a massacre than anything. Several of the cars on scene had bullet holes through them. Blood was smeared and splattered everywhere. Some of the bodies looked as if they had been mangled or shredded during the assault. "We have the three dead G-and-N officers marked. The other six officers that responded as backup are marked as well. You can probably figure who belonged to what gang by just looking at the other bodies."

She then pointed to a large building nearby. "Warehouse. Owned by a mister Thomas Wells. He owns a lot of them here downtown. Hardware store is over there." she said, before pointing at another building behind her. "Owned by John and Maggie Clark. They're in Chicago at the moment."

She then looked back to the group. "Any questions before I let you all start snooping around?"

 

[SniperComZero]

"I am incapable of smiling." The response put out was edging juuuust on the border between naïve truthfulness, and downright snarky. Though, Deeby was right. She couldn't actually smile. It was in her nature to blend in with the rest of the crowd anyway, not looking towards the wall of reporters trying to get their stories.

Looking straight past the officer in front and towards the bodies, the servos in Deeby's head whirred around as she updated her hypotheses. ". . .It is increasingly unlikely that shots were fired by the perpetrators to sow discord amongst the group. I have two current hypotheses. Most likely; the unknown group engaged in close quarters combat, and are highly competent to dismember in such a fashion. Less likely; the perpetrators have high-caliber, destructive munitions, there is, however, little physical damage to the environment to suggest this." It's actually not really clear whether she's even talking to the rest of the group at all, but... useful information, nonetheless.

The 'droid's head turned itself to Sujin. "What time did this occur at?"

 

[Dmaster]

The cybernetic shinobi raised his brow when the outbursts of two sets of personal vendetta came to pass, which was really just showing him how small this city was when it came to the criminal underbelly they all skulked in. Despite the reminder the situation was no less curious, leading Shizen to wonder if there might be any violence between the group's members if there were pre-established conflicts between them. It hardly mattered to him, and after a few moments pondering it he found himself quietly chuckling at the two swordsmen who were clearly not of Japanese descent using the weapons and presumably techniques of his people. The cyborg wasn't necessarily offended, as this was a common sight in this city, but he did have to wonder how shoddy their techniques would be. A short-tempered foreigner and mere machine lack the skill and discipline to be true masters of his combat arts, Shizen wagered.

Once the briefing concluded he made his way to the van and took up his seat, staying quiet for the ride as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited patiently. This ride seemed to go by much quicker than the last, and Shizen could not properly gauge if that was due to distance or the lack of wasteful conversation. When the doors swung open he felt more used to the sunlight than before, unflinching to it as he may have been after their first van ride to the precinct. This time he was emerging from the vehicle without chains, making this facsimile of freedom feel a touch more real.

"I do not perform vapid tricks or wave to an indifferent public." the cyborg replied over the comms as he walked out of the van with the others. "I would prefer not to be seen at all. It interferes greatly with my methods."

Shizen ignored the officer that was waiting for them, stepping over to the corpses as he knelt down and started to look over their fatal wounds. He was most interested in the mangled or shredded ones, as evidence of close combat could potentially rule out his idea that a sniper had been in play. He listened to the robot speak in its drone tone as it gave its assessment of the situation, the shinobi's hands lifting and inspecting the corpses. His goal was to see if he could find any common weapon used to deliver these destructive blows to the bodies, and see if they were left behind at the crime scene or taken with their mystery killers. Though with the strength of some cybernetics or mutations, he would not be all that surprised if it had turned out this damage was done with enhanced hands and arms with nothing else.

"The warehouse could bear fruit if it was used as a vantage point for a sharpshooter." Shizen comments aloud, his accented and somewhat raspy voice surprisingly carrying itself across the scene quite well. "But some of these bodies seem injured by close combat. Infighting between the gangs when they thought that they had been setup perhaps? Or a coordinated ambush."

 

[Breadman]

Cynthia looked at Kane for a second as he and the other swordfighter locked in a confrontation of their own. At least she wasn't alone stuck working with someone she hated. Even so, she preferred the other man over Kane. Much better looking and actually looks like he cleans himself with soap. Too bad he was going with Switchblade and not sticking around. Oh well, maybe in the future.

The ride to the location wasn't long and was actually sort of pleasant compared to the last one. Its no luxury limo craft but it was good enough. Cynthia perked up when she heard the magic words from Jack.

Smile for the cameras, boys and girls. Both DynaCorp and the NLAPD want this to work, so make this look good. Otherwise, they might just send you back to your cells a bit early.

"Darling, the cameras smile for me." She said with a confident smirk as she stepped out of the vehicle and into the outside. Much like the previous walk, the world was her stage and she was going to be the center of attention. The former model knew exactly where to look and how to look. She doesn't look good in uniform, the uniform look good on her, damnit. A final wink and a wave before she entered the building to leave them hungry for more and done!

Once inside, she didn't have too much interest in the crime scene as the others seem to have. Probably for the best. She's a killer with killer looks, not a snooper. Still she did wonder about some things.

"Did you find anything on the bodies? Like...product?"

 

[joshuadim]

As the 'team' (more like a dysfunctional group ready to kill one another at any moment to Kane) were herded out into the field for their first investigation, Kane was all too eager to greet the media with the same reception he had given the people that had watched him being corralled into the NLAPD station. But the words from Jack quickly made it clear that it would likely put him back into a cell, much to his disappointment, and he simply ignored the crowds as he walked out and followed the others to the scene of the crime. As the others looked around in the near vicinity of where the bodies lay,

Kane simply observed the area for a moment before scoffing. Everything about this looked and felt off to him and was surprised that nobody seemed to treat it the same way. A three way gang meeting would not go like this unless one or the other was specifically looking for war, and he ventured an educated guess that neither of the three wanted that at the moment. To Kane, he came to the most obvious conclusion in his mind: a fourth party was involved in some manner.

"We ain't gonna find jack shit here mate." Kane quickly commented aloud, "Stuff like this means whoever did it ain't just gonna leave evidence willy nilly for us, or their friends, to find unless they want to be found. You said three blocks? I'm going to take a hike, I suggest someone come with if you want to actually find anything of use."

 

[Worthlessplebian]

It surprised Wolfgang how quickly they had arrived at the scene of the crime. By his estimates, around 15 to 25 minutes have passed. Was it really that close to the police station? Or was the vehicle using its' sirens and lights to pave its way? Or has America's flightless cars become so rare that few people bother with them? Wolfgang shrugged as he pondered useless questions. The doors opened and Rook's minute voice chippered in Wolfgang's ear from the squad's collective communication system. Wait, there are cameras? Wolf suspected there to be reporters but NLAPD is actually allowing cameras to the scene? The mutate resolved himself to his fate. Might as well, smile and wave... Or at least, wave. He doubts they can see his lips under the chitin. The others simply refused to do so or were displayed their discontent like Shizen. And Cynthia did... Cynthia things. Is she a bloodhound or a runway star on a unique photoshoot? Regardless of Wolf's musings, he ceased his waving and unintentionally menacing stare and arrived on the scene of the crime with the others.

At first, Wolfgang stood with a hand on his chin and an arm on his hip. Looking at the corpses gave Wolfgang an odd feeling. As if they don't look right, but he can seldom answer as to why. He listened to Captain Sujin's explanation of the situation. Wolf moved past Sujin like Shizen, he moved around in a circular motion observing the bodies. He focused more on the bullet wounds than anything else. The reason for this is the existence of shredder ammo. Ammunition designed to slice and dice organic material, useful against mutants who regenerate quickly.

Wolf knelt by one of the G'n'N corpses, using his claw to lift up his jacket. "Have you determined the class of ammunition used?" He quizzed the Captain. After receiving an answer, Wolfgang will have to ponder on it later as Kane made an interesting comment. "Yes, the impertinent Kane possess the correct notion; the chances of discovering any potential clue are low." Then he raises from his knelt position. "Captain Sujin, have you filed a search warrant for Mr Wells' warehouse?" Strangely, Wolfgang's tone of voice elevated then again, he did come from a family of lawyers so things of this manner always excite him.

 

[Infab]

". . .It is increasingly unlikely that shots were fired by the perpetrators to sow discord amongst the group. I have two current hypotheses. Most likely; the unknown group engaged in close quarters combat, and are highly competent to dismember in such a fashion. Less likely; the perpetrators have high-caliber, destructive munitions, there is, however, little physical damage to the environment to suggest this. What time did this occur at?"

Meia glanced in Deeby's direction, before speaking. "An hour ago." she stated. "When the back-up officers went dark, a few other units were sent out to check on things. They found this."

"The warehouse could bear fruit if it was used as a vantage point for a sharpshooter. But some of these bodies seem injured by close combat. Infighting between the gangs when they thought that they had been setup perhaps? Or a coordinated ambush."

Meia nodded. "These three weren't known to get along all that well, but they also wouldn't be meeting like this under normal circumstances. I'll need to go over some of the data sent in by my undercover officers to see if there was another party involved. I can tell you that a new gang appears here in New LA almost weekly, so maybe a ballsy fourth party decided to make their presence known." She then looked over to where Shizen stood. "The warehouse might provide some evidence. I'll send an officer to help you get in if you intend to check it out."

"Did you find anything on the bodies? Like...product?"

Meia looked to Cynthia and smirked. "Plenty. The Emerald Tigers deal in classic narcotics, and the Day Walkers are hard adreno junkies. Most of the ones that showed up here were carrying something to use later. We already bagged and tagged what we found."

"We ain't gonna find jack shit here mate. Stuff like this means whoever did it ain't just gonna leave evidence willy nilly for us, or their friends, to find unless they want to be found. You said three blocks? I'm going to take a hike, I suggest someone come with if you want to actually find anything of use."

Jack's voice sounded off through his comms. "Right. Someone go with Kane. Maybe we'll strike gold." he stated. Meia's face shifted to an expression of confusion, before she realized what was going on. "Oh, right. Jack's in your heads." she muttered to herself.

"Have you determined the class of ammunition used?"

The CSI spoke up, squatting over the body near Meia. "A mix of shredding ammunition and armor piercing ammunition." stated the cyborg, as he inspected the bullet wounds on the corpse of one of the officers. "There's bits of metal left inside the body from the rounds impacting, mushrooming, and breaking apart as it punched through tissues and organs. Popular against mutants and bioweapons. Calibers seem to be standard for assault rifles and battle rifles, though it seems a high caliber revolver round was used as well. .454 Casull."

"Yes, the impertinent Kane possess the correct notion; the chances of discovering any potential clue are low. Captain Sujin, have you filed a search warrant for Mr Wells' warehouse?"

Meia nodded. "Warrants have been procured for the warehouse, hardware store, and three blocks in every direction. Feel free to look around. I'll have an officer go with you in the event you run into any trouble with civis." she stated.

David, meanwhile, had moved over to one of the back-up officers' bodies. As he squatted down, he noticed something odd about the face of the man. It had been cut into and formed into a smile, using a wide piece of metal. Almost as if they attempted to graft on a metal jaw. It was sloppy work, with muscle exposed and blood spattered everywhere. Likely due to the limited time they had before the cops arrived. David cocked an eyebrow. It reminded him a bit of some of the cases he had worked when he was still a detective himself.

A few moments later, he straightened up. "I'll go with Kane." he said. They wouldn't be leaving much more here at the scene. It was the area around the scene that would turn up something good. The warehouse, or a block or two around them.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Wolfgang was taken aback by the Captain's offer of an escort officer to open the building. With the back of his chitinous fingers, he dusted off the shoulders of his uniform. "I appreciate the offer, Captain. Yet I find myself with no need for assistance." Wolfgang says as he turns his back towards the pink-haired woman. First, he cracks his neck side to side then rotates his shoulders. If one listens close, one could hear the pops of whatever accounts for joints in his anatomy. He hasn't been able to stretch like this since before his incarceration. He flexed and stretched his legs. The mutant puts his left foot back, while bending his knees; also lowering his torso forward. Wolfgang measured the scale of the wall again, he also took into account the wall's material. His lungs drew in a deep breath then exhaled, preparing his circulatory system for exertion.

Wolfgang kicked into a sprint towards the warehouse. Once he reached a suitable distance towards the building, Wolfgang used his built-up momentum to leap onto the surface. His clawed hands extended out in front of him, like a predator preying on prey. The mutant's sanguine fluid rushed into the blood vessels of his claws, stimulating their unique thermal structure. The claws grew red hot as they met the walls of the warehouse, digging into the surface. A tuft of smoke or vapor flew up from the insertion points. Like this, Wolf scaled the side of the warehouse. Leaving behind tiny, smoking holes behind him. He also thanked whichever corporation made the NLAPD's boots, since they're surprisingly flexible. Reaching the edge of the roof, Wolfgang relaxed his blood claws, their red glow ceasing. Gripping the ledge, Wolfgang hoisted himself with his arms. His eyes surveyed the rooftop for any threats before rising up and looking over the edge. "I'll investigate here, then make my way inside!" He yelled.

 

[Dmaster]

The ninja seemed to piece together that the wounds he was examining were not caused by bladed weapons but rather shredding ammunition, though any lead he had on this revelation was moot when the investigator gave his analysis. As the officer spoke Shizen rose to his full height and flicked his metallic fingers free of the blood they accrued when analyzing the wounds and bodies. Seeing all he needed to, he turned his head toward the warehouse as he saw that as his next destination.

The cyborg saw no reason to request the help of the officer to get inside the building, yet Wolfgang relayed the sentiment to the captain before he started rushing toward the building himself. "I shall accompany him. Make sure he doesn't break anything." Shizen stated as he gauged the distance and height of the warehouse. The roof was the sniper vantage point he wanted to look into, so it seemed like he would be taking a similar route. A hand held at the sword in his hilt to keep it from knocking about too much as the shinobi broke into a graceful sprint, leaning forward as he got nearer and nearer to the building.

Bending his knees, there was a quiet hiss in the back of his calves before the sounds of metallic pistons sounded and launched him high into the air - the hydraulic jacks in his cybernetic legs carrying him exceptionally high into the air. It brought him somewhat above Wolfgang's leap onto the wall, and once the ninja's legs made contact with the surface he used his momentum to continue his run for a few steps to scale even higher. Before gravity can kick in and dismount him completely Shizen finds his footing on either insets for windows or his hands reach for cabling, allowing him to scale the building with a series of deft jumps and wall-runs.

 

[joshuadim]

"Bloody showoffs." Kane muttered to himself as both Shizen and Wolfgang went about doing dramatic feats of acrobatics to scale the warehouse before he walked off westwards towards the docks. "Well come on now, don't make me fuckin' wait." he then spoke to David, not bothering to wait as he continued walking.

 

[Breadman]

"Why don't you just use doors?" Cynthia asked as Wolfgang and Shizen made their dramatic exits. Being flashy was fine and all, but why do it when nobody, but the people in this room could see? Complete lack of forethought about image. The assassin looked at the mutilated body. That was obviously some form of execution and it looked familiar. Was it a smile? Very ugly one, but not everyone could pull off a metal jaw as well as her. "The boys have the warehouse covered, any other place that needs checking out?"