Half-Dragon

NPC: Ultionis nodded. "I have a few ideas that have worked in the past against the tougher criminals. I'll need you to stay out of sight - outside the room if at all possible. If he thinks I'm the interrogator, he might not be ready for you. Oh, and whatever I say or whatever it looks like I'll do, I know better than to hurt him. Don't even get me started on the trouble a good lawyer can turn that into."(H-D)

NPC: Ultionis got up as well and turned to follow her out the door. If Aquarius did have some kind of mental defenses, it might still be possible for him to cause a sufficient distraction for Mystic to get inside his head. While Ultionis preferred the kind of distraction that made a hole in things (walls, doors, heads, et cetera) he could probably oblige here too.(H-D)

NPC: Ultionis stood up abruptly. "Then we have our plan. Skyra, we need you to tire yourself out. Get to a point where you can sleep again and hope she contacts you. If need be, find sleeping pills, the doctors here might have something. But don't sleep until we get to you. Mystic and I will handle interrogation." He glanced at Mr. No-One. "I don't think I got your name, but I need you to check CIA files for past Coalition bases. It might give us a clue we can put together with the rest. If anyone has any other ideas, or any questions, now's the time to speak up. Otherwise, move out."(H-D)

NPC: Ultionis glanced at Mr. No-One. "Technically speaking, torturing prisoners is illegal in this country anyway." Then he turned his gaze back to Mystic. "As I was saying, for more legitimate interrogation techniques, he's not easy to crack, and we don't have time for subtlety. He's just the sort to have some kind of psychic defense, but it's still worth a shot reading his mind. So you wanna try that first?"(H-D)

NPC: "I know some of the best interrogation techniques," Ultionis said, "but most of them would have to be used outside the borders. We could try prying the information from his mind, but he's something of a veteran supervillain. I checked his file. He's likely to have some kind of psychic defense, and I expect he's familiar with every legal method of information retrieval. In other words, a tough nut to crack."(H-D)

OOC: Yeah, sorry, had RL stuff again. Who knew I'd be so busy on vacation?NPC: There was a brief sound of tapping keys. "Alright, aside from Elliot Thomas, we've also got one William Elliott, two Ts, in the department. Honestly neither of them have ever struck us as shady, but-" Now a sound like a ringing phone. "One sec, someone on the other line." She cut off for a while. After a couple of minutes she returned. "Okay, good news and bad news. The bad news is Thomas has just shown up to work with a set of ugly bruises, claiming he got mugged on the way home last night. The good news is we know who to check out first."NPC: Ultionis considered the matter carefully. "What if... This dream connection stuff- that's like forming a psychic link, right? One psychic I worked with could track someone down using a link like that." He turned to Mystic. "Would that be possible? If he goes to sleep again and gets contacted, could you trace it? If we know the location, my side can give us some intel on the surrounding area, maybe even any construction efforts known to have happened there."(H-D)

NPC: Ultionis nodded. "An insider is the perfect opportunity... But only if that insider knows anything. What are the limits of her abilities? Does she know anything about the compound besides the cell she's in? For that matter, are we sure she's in the same compound? I'm as glad as anyone for a break, but we can't rush into this without knowing what's what." One thing his instructors in the Navy SEALs had drilled into his head until he could hear the words in his dreams was that Information. Is. Everything. (Come to that, he could just about hear it now) If they knew nothing about the building they were storming they would be cut down in four minutes and seventeen seconds on average. (H-D)

NPC: Jona sounded confused. "The DA's office? What would they have to do with a criminal like Eisling? Hang on, I'm pulling up the files... There's only one Elliot in the office: Elliot Thomas. Doesn't seem to be anybody important. You sure that's what he said?"H-D

NPC: At this point the League communicators in Surge, Magneta et al's ears buzzed. "This is Detective Chief Jona MacTaggart. I've been given temporary authorization to contact you via your League comms, just until this job's over. Have you found Eisling yet? Did he have anything to say?"H-D

NPC: Ultionis blinked. "Uh, what was that?" He'd just heard them spend about a minute spouting out completely random words with no discernible pattern or means of recognition. Stranger yet, none of them seemed confused, and Mystic walked out looking troubled and saying something about reporting them. Answers would be nice at this point.(H-D)

William Elliott woke up… or at least he felt like he woke up. But whether he opened or closed his eyes, there didn’t seem to be a difference. Everything was pitch-black. A voice, dark as the room and with a metallic edge, startled him into looking around. “William Elliott,” it said. “You hired Dylan Eisling to kidnap and murder seven people. You intentionally kept him out of prison so he wouldn’t talk. What do you have to say for yourself?”There was a brief ripping sound and a pained sensation around William’s lips – duct tape. He hadn’t even realized he was gagged. And now he tried to move, he could feel his arms and legs bound as well. “What is this? Who are you? Where have you tak-“He didn’t get a chance to finish, as something impacted with his gut, driving all the wind from his lungs. As he struggled for breath, the metal-edged voice spoke again. “I ask the questions here.” Another impact followed immediately, this time to his knee- and much harder. So hard that there was a cracking noise and William screamed as the pain shot up his leg. He was silenced with what felt like the back of a hand with armored knuckles smacking into his jaw. “Now tell me who you’re working for. I want names. All your associates. Everything.”William was silent for a while, save for heavy, labored breathing as he tried not to move his knee. “I… demand to see my lawyer.” This did not go over well with whoever was beating him – immediately there was another sharp impact on his other knee and again he screamed over the sound of a kneecap shattering. Another blow to the face shut him up.William tried to think through the thunderclouds of pain in his mind. There was no way anyone could know about that. He was one of the most well-connected men in office. He would have known instantly if any policeman or superhero was authorized to interrogate Dylan Eisling, there wasn’t even an arrest warrant. Unless… Unless whoever this was didn’t care that he would be interrogating a man with no convictions and no jail time.Apparently he was silent for too long. His assailant hit him in the gut again, hard. The man with the steel voice spoke again. “The names. Now.”“You have no evidence-“ Before he could finish, he felt a gloved hand close over the little finger of his own right hand and squeeze. At first this seemed like nothing, but then the heat began to rise. It went quickly from uncomfortable to painful and continued on, until the pain became unbearable and he started screaming again. He felt like someone had plunged that finger into an inferno. In a few moments the smell of burning flesh filled the air. He screamed and screamed until suddenly the pain stopped – like he could no longer feel anything in that finger. He was suddenly glad he couldn’t see it.There was a sudden, blinding light in front of him, and he shut his eyes tight. A wave of heat followed immediately. After several agonizing seconds his eyes finally seemed to adjust to the light and he stared. Before him was a gloved hand with metal knuckles, wreathed in fire that lit up the room, if dimly. And it lit up the face before him. “You have no idea how much pain I have left to give you.”William stared. “But- I know you! You’re with the League! You're-“ The next words were lost in an agonized scream.H-D

NPC: "Sure thing," Ultionis replied, and started to turn back to his ride, when he caught sight of Dylan Eisling and the heroes bringing him in. "What happened to him? Looks like someone dropped him in a metal box and shook him around." (H-D)

NPC: Ultionis nodded. "Truth be told, I wasn't asking to be forgiven. I'd rather live with my mistakes. I just hope we can concentrate on the good of the mission rather than our personal rivalries for a while. If we pull this off and get Ms. Thomas back, we can go our seperate ways."(H-D)

NPC: Ultionis stopped in front of Mystic and spoke up immediately. "Before you say anything, I'm sorry I exploded. You didn't deserve that. I assure you it won't happen again, and I do not intend to let my personal feelings get in the way of the mission." He cleared his throat, seeming a bit awkward. He wasn't used to apologizing. "Just thought you ought to know."(H-D)

NPC: "Yeah... Yeah... An' my arm... Was it that purple before?" For that matter there was a lot of purple showing up on him - bruises, by the look of it. Maybe that ride had been a bad idea. There was a particularly nasty bump on his head that had not been there when Magneta first got to him.NPC: Ultionis approached the mansion and spotted Mystic, along with a few others he didn't recognize. He shook his head a bit, sighed, straightened up and started walking purposefully toward her. He didn't exactly look like the picture of penance - more like a man about to do something unpleasant but necessary, and used to doing that sort of thing without complaint.(H-D)

NPC: "I'll tell you right now, I dunno who he is. He just showed up, beat me around and started asking questions. When I didn't answer him, he broke my hand." The hand in question wasn't in great shape after having been jostled about like that. In fact it looked a good deal worse than it had before the heroes got to him...H-D

NPC: The psychic soothing seemed to be doing its job. The criminal calmed down considerably, though he seemed a bit dull in the wits as a result. "Uh... huh? Right. Pertection." Then the fear started pushing back at the memory. "You gotta help me, the guy's a psycho!"H-D

OOC: Sorry about the gap - holiday preparations keep everyone here busy.NPC: Around this time Dylan Eisling stirred, having been knocked unconscious by the ceiling of the metal hunk of junk he was rattled in (largely, it seemed to him, for the amusement of his captors - that had to violate some kind of civil right). He was not a pretty sight, and the smell was even worse - absolute terror and severe nausea seemed to have taken their toll. He stared up for a while, as if unsure which way up was, then took a deep breath, opened his mouth and screamed.NPC: Ultionis got up. He'd wasted enough time brooding. He would apologize for his outburst, explain the circumstances that lead to it and put the whole mess behind him. Hopefully next time they would have a somewhat more thought-out plan and the scenario wouldn't be repeated, but that was a consideration for later. For now he left the coffee shop and began making his way back to the League mansion. Hopefully they would at least hear him out.(H-D)

NPC: Preferring not to go to the League mansion and be surrounded by superheroes at the moment, Ultionis had found his cycle, grabbed an overcoat (dark blue, because he liked the color) tossed it on over his armor and left to find a coffee shop. Right now he needed a hot drink and some time to think. It did occur to him that he had let his temper get away with him - again - but he'd rather not appologize for a few more minutes. Childish, yes, but he still didn't like the idea of that much power in the hands of someone without much real training. Of course she did have a point that the government would percieve and immediate threat if the League was trained, but he personally wouldn't. Well, okay, maybe a little, but not enough to warrant action.He'd apologize later. This mission was too important to let petty grudges get in the way. But still, when it came to the next step, he was going to have to insist they plan it out a little better. He hadn't been expecting Mystic to tell the terrorist the statue had been infiltrated while he still had the detonator. He sighed. Okay, now he thought about it, that was a really bad reason to get so angry...H-D

NPC: Ultionis just shook his head. "So the world she's happy to live in is one where a bunch of overgrown, untrained children with the powers of gods get to run around in brightly-colored tights and throw caution and tactics to the wind when peoples' lives are on the line. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. She's one of them." He slung the rifle across his back again and headed for the door, pausing only to look back at No-One again. "And for the record, the head's a better target. Less survival odds." Then he walked out the door without a another word.H-D

OOC: ...Huh, missed that. Okay, nevermind that part.NPC: Ultionis glanced up at No-One coldly. "Then it's not much of a man and even less of a gun. I've removed twenty-seven superhuman threats aligned with foreign, domestic and miscellaneous groups in a six-year service period. I know what a man with a gun can do." Then he directed his gaze at Mystic, and if his last look was cold, he might have fished this one up from the arctic. "But you're right about one thing: This isn't a matter of jurisdiction. I'm just expressing the concern that not one of you has any actual training or any understanding of tactics. You run in, throw your powers around and hope for the best - that's what I saw today, and it's what I've always seen from your type. But in this kind of operation that could get the hostage killed. I intend to rescue her. The way to do that is to make a plan, stick to it and above all maintain communication with the team you're working with so they know if you're about to do something to change the situation - something like telling the target your teammates' positions. If your League can't do that, then this is officially out of your hands. Am I making myself clear?"H-D

NPC: Ultionis turned around. He looked no less angry, but now it had turned from red rage to a cold fury. "First of all," he growled, "we are allowing your assistance because you supposedly have experience dealing with supervillains. The victim is our concern more than yours. Second, any action that alerts the guy holding the detonator to our presence qualifies in military terms as '****ing stupid' unless there's no other option. Third, I'm not the danger here. I have more experience of military operations on both foreign and domestic soil, including against superhuman threats, than any hero in this room." The tone he used for the word was one other people might reserve for 'complete and total moron.' "I'm more worried one of you will try some 'brilliant' move, blow the whole operation and get everyone killed."He sat back down, pulled his rifle across his lap and set to finishing up the cleaning job on his rifle, but paused to say one more thing. "Oh, and fourth, if your job in the League is dealing with others, I suddenly know why most heroes work solo. Your job in the statue was to monitor the situation and keep us updated, not go after the threat by yourself. That's what we had him for." He gestured at Skyra and returned once more to his work.OOC: Yeah... He doesn't think much of heroes. H-D

NPC: Ultionis did not look in the least placated. "You deliberately altered the situation without even thinking to inform your teammates. Have you ever worked with others before? If you'd had even the most basic military operations training you wouldn't have even considered something that reckless!" He looked just about ready to hit someone about now - luckily, however angry he may be, Ultionis was still a disciplined soldier. He turned his back on the heroes, still fuming, and muttered to himself angrily (and not very quietly). "This is why you don't put serious matters in the hands of a bunch of superpowered wannabe-cowboys shooting from the hip."H-DNPC: Now Dylan did throw up as the sudden increase in speed tossed him about - a combination with a very messy result.H-D

NPC: Ultionis looked up, eyes narrowing suddenly. "Wait a moment - you're telling me you alerted the terrorist? We had the element of surprise, could have easily taken him down from behind and grabbed the detonator, and you tried to make him surrender?" He stood up, looking angry. "Are you insane?!"H-DNPC: Dylan did not look as thrilled as Magneta. He was clutching his mouth, making odd noises and generally looking like he was trying not to puke.H-D

NPC: Ultionis sat back, checking his assault rifle and cleaning out the barrel. He did that after every mission, no matter how brief, to keep it in peak condition. In the meantime he'd pulled off his mask, leaving it to lie across his upper back like a hood and revealing his head. He was dark-skinned, with black dreadlocks and deep, brown eyes. His face was firm and surprisingly handsome, considering he usually kept it covered up, and he looked to be in his mid-thirties. Not normally one to talk much, he nevertheless broke the silence that had dropped across the group. "I've been wondering: How did he know we were coming? We didn't make any noise, but he jumped out the window when we were ten feet from the door. Anyone know if he's psychic?" It was a question that had been bothering him for some time. H-D