Description: Queensryche (1984). With fatigue and attrition claiming a few of her members, Elle decides to make one final push to revitalize her numbers, and hits the jackpot. Aislinn and Birdie display just what kinds of fighters they are: horrifying powerhouses. In the end, Elle makes sure they both have missions before sending them on their way.
The harbor in the late afternoon is when the place really comes alive. During the day, the harsh light of the sun scares off the very things that makes the town what it is: the criminal element. For as beautiful as Southtown is, it's bedrock is firmly set on a thin layer of grime and blood.
Elle is fairly well known here. A lot of business gets done here for her. Between her own projects, Blackjack, and machinations of her own crew, the harbor accepts and knows her as well as it would any respected Syndicate member. She's known for her fair deals and straightforward tactics. While that puts her at a disadvantage in some areas, most people are more than happy to do business with her and protect her interests.
It's hard to find someone who always pays their bills.
But today, it's not drugs or weapons. Today it's an inquiry of a different sort. Calls have been placed, and enough money has changed hands to make sure that people are coming. Blackjack is once again on a membership drive. Attrition, fatigue, and in some cases, unforseen circumstances, has slowed the newest organization down to the point where getting new people is a must.
Finding Aislinn was easy enough. Her ties with NESTS gives her easy access to most of the agents there, up to and including Zero, if she can manage to call the right day. Birdie, however, proves more of a challenge.
Having never met the man and only seeing his name in passing, the destruction of Shadaloo spread it's agents far and wide, meaning that it's not as easy as picking up the phone. Still, if Elle knows how to do /anything/ it's get people to show up with the promise of money, action, or both. And that's what she's done.
She stands in the Blackjack warehouse, direction Mad Gear goons, both current and former, to get some supplies ready to ship out to Metro City as she awaits the arrival of her two contactees. It's time to step up operations.
You think Birdie's coming to you? HAH! Then you... you know exactly what you're doing.
Being beaten badly by Guile last night, his name came up recently as he began some bar brawl that got him thrown out. This made it easier for Elle's people to actually find the brute, passed out in the street. Leaving a message and the promise of money and power, well hell, Birdie's coming. Oh, he's coming all right.
It might take him a little longer as he seems to be bad with directions, but he's coming. All muscle, and man, Birdie makes his way down the streets. He's a had person to miss, a hulking black man with a large blade on his head an a chain on his arm. You're better off not running into him actually.
Making his way down towards the docks and to the 'meeting zone', Birdie's going to get back in line for his bid for power. After all, after Shandaloo disappeared, he had to make a living some way of being a thug.
And a thugging he will go'.
It's a simple matter to get off of the Suiryuu for a brief meeting. NESTS might not be the premier evil organization going, yet, getting a quick copter out to the harbor and back is a pretty simple sort of thing. She will hardly be missed, after all, being as antisocial as she is... probably one of the least troublesome of the people on the Suiryuu right now.
However, she didn't get dropped off right at the Harbor--so Elle and Birdie will thusly see Aislinn walking up to the Harbor, calmly, hands in her pockets... her booted feet thumping on the thick planks that make up the dock. Her movements are sure, her directions precise, and so she arrives just a few minutes after Birdie.
"Elle," she says, without preamble, the young girl's attitude one of mild curiosity and complete patience for whatever is going to come next.
Elle waves out the last shipment to be loaded into the cargo freighter. Even with the tournament in full force, she can't ignore her other facilities. Elle's got people to take care of, goals to meet, and quotas to make. Even if she set them herself, she's not goign to cut herself any slack. "Be with you two in a moment," she says, scribbling a signature on the electronic pad presented to her by the shipping yardsman. For Syndicate record keeping of course. Elle plays by the rules. What rules there are in this world she lives in.
"Sorry about that," she says, turning to look at the two people she's called over. A diminuative girl with more science packed into her than an entire university, and a humongous mountain that looks more monsterous than man. Such interesting people you meet in her line of work.
"Here's the deal." Her voice is cool, dry, and atonal. Completely business.
"I run an organization of professionals. People that know what the rules are, and know how to get around them, by nature," she waves at Birdie, "or by circumstance." Aislinn.
"Right now, I need muscle, and I need tactical skill. I've got good reason to beleive that both of you have these abilities. Now," Elle pauses as she walks over to the office on the far end of the warehouse, motioning them to follow, "I know that not everyone is motivated by money, power, fame, etc. I /do/ know that not everyone here gets a choice. I also know that sometimes, a choice can be a dangerous thing to make, espeically when your life has been one big railroad track, laid down by someone else."
"The long and the short of it is this: what do you want that I can give you so that you work for me?"
The larger man, Birdie, raises a hand up to scratch his head. He looks down at the small girl, even letting out a snort. "Hah. Bloody well have just bought a text book." He mutters as he shifts his eyes back up towards Elle as she speaks. He pays attention to half of what she says.
"Alright. Sure, as long as I can bust some blokes's heads together you've got me in your jolly crew." The man speaks, grinding his right hand into his left hand, looking straight onto Elle, accepting the offer as much as he can.
Birdie ignores the whole 'choice' piece she speaks about. Internally, Birdie's listening. She makes a good point. Exteriorly, he's snoozing.
But when she asks what they want, and it all becomes clear. "Power. Money. Whiskey." And that's all he spoke.
... an interesting offer. Aislinn's head turns, to take in Birdie--truly a monster of a man, if that's what he is. And, though he might look thick, even people like them can be tough to manage. Ais? Ais is a true professional, so it might be easier for Elle to work with her. Even better, she doesn't have a 'professional ego' to deal with, for the most part. Okay, she can be egotistical about her fighting and her skills, but it's ego well-earned and hard-fought. So she regards Elle for a moment, her head swiveling back.
"I am currently involved in 'Jinchuu'," (and yes you can hear the quotes around it), "so unless your business coincides with that, any arrangements will have to made afterwards." Of course, there is also the possibility of work to be done on Suiryuu itself. A glance at Birdie.
"I believe that there should be no trouble in clearing myself for attachment to Blackjack."
It's always surprising what Elle can work with. Her crew is literally a cast of movie monsters. A mad scientist. A witch. A succubus. A vampire. And now, perhaps a frankenstein and an ogre. All kinds of personalities are tolerated. That either shows a lack of empathy, or perhaps some subversive level of insight.
Whatever the case, Elle nods to Birdie. "Done and done." She jerks a thumb behind her to the office. "You'll have to earn the first, but the latter is in there. I've got a seven grand, US greenback retainer and some Wild Turkey that Tran lifted when he was in Thailand. Go and help yourself. We'll talk about your first assignment in a minute."
With Birdie taken care of, Elle turns back to Aislinn, her face completely blank, although her deadened eyes seem to probe the younger girl's face for a second too long. "You," she intones, "didn't answer my question."
Birdie's pointed somewhere in the back. Money? Help himself? Why he sure will!
"Bravo, beaut." Birdie offers as he moves on towards the cash, one giant step after another. Birdie's answers were easy. But look what Aislinn got herself into! Hahaha. Sometimes it just pays to be quick about it. And this is the case for that rare occasion!
Birdie partakes himself in cash, a wide, toothy grin taking up most of his look. He might be a little harder to deal with, but if he continues to play it stupid, which he sure will, he should be easy to point and tell him where to punch. It just works that way.
"I didn't," agrees Aislinn, her gaze steady as she looks into Elle's eyes. Not really searching for anything, because she doesn't care and she doesn't have that kind of empathy. It isn't what she was made for. Ais lets the silence drag out, and then she finally replies.
"I don't want or need anything. I choose to work with you because of our association. And because my employers wish to see you succeed." Until, of course, Elle becomes a liability. If she does. "Your organizational skills aside, your ragtag crew is lacking in skills I can help provide. I choose to do so, that is all."
Make no mistake. Elle can identify intelligence. Sometimes, playing dumb is the smartest thing to do. While Vega's papers state that Birdie is dumber than snail snot, Elle's not gifted with psycho power. Therefore, she has to make do with her own senses.
And while Birdie may not seem /smart/ to her, he definitely seems cunning. There's something to be said for the ability to think on your feet. Sometimes being Patton or Rommel has no use when you're under attack by a crazed gangster madman.
And then Aislinn lets her ego show. Elle knows the girl is very proud of what she can do. But to attribute her success solely on her organizational skills is a backhanded compliment. Elle knows each and every one of her people on a level most 'leaders' don't bother to explore.
"Is that so?" Elle raises a hand, and motions. "Birdie, c'mere a second."
"Aislinn here thinks that my 'ragtag' band is lacking in skills. As part of my 'ragtag band', I think we should put that to the test, don't you?"
Elle looks at Aislinn again. "You're going to have to put that kind of thinking aside," she elaborates. "Even if it's true, even if the people I do have right now don't have your skill set, they've all worked hard, together, in order to compensate for what we're missing."
She backs up. "Put up or shut up time. Let's see what the two of you have. Think of it as a final evaluation. I want you two to square off. No holds barred. Show me what you're made out of."
Aislinn raises a hand, as if to forestall anything Elle might have in mind. "No offense meant. You would not choose folks who cannot handle what you're doing." She may not know Elle that well, but she knows that, for sure.
"But your group -is- lacking in certain skills that I do have, and also lacking in areas I cannot cover." Aislinn's eyes track over to Birdie. Clearly he has great physical strength, more than Aislinn herself... and perhaps he has a bloodthirstiness that she lacks as well.
A faint, faint smile, as she looks at Elle. "If you want me to fight him, then I will. But I do not want you to have me pit myself against him if it is out of pure spite."
Birdie's called back as he begins to take what he wants. Just enough now to buy some nice new bling, as well as get some whiskey. Maybe just some bling wax. We'll see. But then Elle raises a hand and called Birdie back. Coming back, he stomps, her call different.
Birdie might be stupid, but his guise isn't always fool proof. He'll just have to do something really stupid to throw people catching on to him off the beaten path. Nothing says stupid like challenging some one big to a fight, or trying to play Godzilla against a log of other fighters.
Still, when he hears Aislinn think bad of them, and now that he's one of 'them' too, Birdie smirks. "Heh heh heh. Alright, sweet cheeks. I can do that." Birdie answers as he sloths forward, a tower of power towards Aislinn. He stands in front of her as she speaks. She likes to speak a lot. That's all Birdie noticed. And a bloodthirstiness? Maybe. He's a thug, and thugs are weird.
"Because I'm such a bloody nice bloke, I'll let you have the first shot." Birdie pokes his chin out and points to her, almost kneeling so Aislinn barely has to move. "C'mon. It ain't for her. This ain't spite, girl. This is life."
COMBATSYS: Birdie has started a fight here.
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Birdie 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn has joined the fight here.
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Aislinn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Birdie
"Who am I? Geese? I don't do that," she replies as Birdie hits it on the button, which gets an odd look from her. Elle files that one away for further musing. "The fact is, your combat record shows a lot of solo fights. I'm introducing you to working with a teammate again, and this pile of man meat is going to be a partner of yours." She jerks her head at Birdie.
"Know your partner's strengths and weaknesses. This British bastard might be the only thing between you and a back alley beating some day, and you're going to want to know what he can do."
The woman sits on a box, picking up a notepad. "I'll make sure to call you all in for a meet and greet with the rest of the team later. Right now, consider this your first staff meeting." Her pen scribbles furiously on her notepad. "Get started."
There's almost a mental shrug. She figured Elle to not be the type, but then, one never knows... Right now, it seems, Elle wants to test her new recruits. That's all well and good for Aislinn; if Birdie thinks he's going to intimidate the smaller girl by sheer size alone then he's quite wrong, as she looks up at him, and... says nothing at all. Time for fighting, now, and so her vocal circuits are like, switched off. So Birdie will even give her the first shot... that's all well and good. She'll take it, then, and she'll see just how much he prizes his jewels, as she steps forward, leading with her left, the toe of her right boot scraping along the floor of the warehouse slightly, kicking up sparks...
... as she rockets her right foot forward for Birdie's groin, a quick and simple front kick to the groin. This kick is well-accompanied by a flaring red-white electrical aura that forces the casting of weird shadows here and there.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn successfully hits Birdie with Strong Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Aislinn 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Birdie
Now, Birdie was ready to get punched in the face. But he didn't expect a strong kick with energy to launch out at his groin. He goes to endure to pain, work through it, but it won't let him. The strike hits his groin hard, and almost ends the fight right there. He braces as it stings. He grunts, working through the pain. He looks up at Aislinn.
"W-what the bloody 'ell?!" He exclaims as he fumbles back. He's none too happy. Cheap strikes are his forte, not any one else's. Oh, Aislinn's going to wish she never did that after this.
"'EY! GIRLY!" Birdie cries, almost trying to distract her as he aims to grab her leg in the chains. His voice still is funnily high for a big black man. But don't let it fool you. "You're gonna pay for that!" If her leg's caught up in the chains? Well, you're about to see someone plastered against the warehouse wall.
COMBATSYS: Birdie successfully hits Aislinn with Bad Scrap.
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Aislinn 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Birdie
Aislinn is oddly silent as she feels that chain wrap around her leg. And... she's still silent, as she's picked up by the chain, and slammed into the warehouse wall. That... that definitely hurt. It might seem she's out, just from that, as she is imprinted into the wall for a moment... but as she 'peels' off the wall, she's catching herself, turning her fall into a tumbling roll that brings her up--but in a crouch.
And from that crouching position, she brings up her right hand, clenched into a fist... and she points it at Birdie, bracing with her left... and then there's a flare of laser-like energy, a wide, spreading burst that impacts rather than cuts, as one might expect a laser to do--it isn't really that kind of energy, however.
Already Aislinn is analyzing Birdie's fighting style and his strength. She'll have to be more careful--this could be very bad for her. Even now, internal systems are screaming with the aftereffects.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn successfully hits Birdie with Large Thrown Object.
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Aislinn 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Birdie
Birdie isn't really one for thinking. Once the women is tossed, he thinks he's out of it. She looked frail enough, right? Hah! She's probably in pool of her own blood right now. But wait, she isn't?! Birdie ain't none too happy about that. But he doesn't find out about until later. When somethings thrown at him.
As the wide, impacted flare comes at Birdie, he just has enough time to get out of the way. Haha. Yeah right. Birdie is struck, and he's struck hard. Falling back towards the ground with more pain involved in the effect, he breathes heavily, just looking up at Aislinn. Getting to his knees, he rests, looking up at her.
He's not moving for the moment. Rather, getting a second wind.
COMBATSYS: Birdie gains composure.
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Aislinn 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Birdie
Only a brief exchange in and Aislinn has the upper hand. If she were truly egotistical she'd be smirking right now, sure of her win. Instead, she calmly rises and approaches Birdie, who, apparently, is on his knees. He's probably still as tall as she is. Her walk is quick, but not hurried, her steps echoing on the concrete floor of the warehouse.
And as she walks, she's drawing her right hand back--not into a fist, but flattening the fingers, stiffening them. The last two steps are taken in a rush, Aislinn stepping twice forward and thrusting her stiffened right hand in a spearhand strike from Tae Kwon Do--a strike that, (im)properly applied, can result in a crushed windpipe and a long, torturous death by strangulation.
Should she hit, of coures, Aislinn will moderate her strike to not be lethal. It's bad juju, killing your partners.
COMBATSYS: Birdie interrupts Fierce Punch from Aislinn with Murderer Chain.
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Aislinn 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Birdie
You really going to count Birdie out? You really counting him out that quickly? Well, some people learn the hard way. Birdie is the equivalent of a freight train. Taking it, and giving it back out.
Aislinn's strike is well planned out, and definitely strikes, but something entirely else seems to be coming out of the woodwork. Birdie's hands fly up violently, the right hand grabbing the chain as the left flings it, only to tighten it quickly across the knife stab hand. "I told you were going to bloody regret that." Birdie smirks as he grabs as he tightens the chain, flinging Aislinn up and over his figure, neck still hurting, but he works through the pain. He's a behemoth, after all.
Once Aislinn comes back for a touch down on the cement, it's not over. Birdie flings her again, up and only and into the cement. But this time, the chain comes loose, allowing Aislinn to escape Birdie's grasp.
The damage was done anyways. Birdie's sure happy about it. With that stupid grin on his face, Birdie gets back up to his feet. And you can see that he kept his teeth bright, by the looks of things.
Actually, she certainly wasn't. Once again she gets crashed into something... her strike gone awry. But she, like Birdie, isn't nearly done just yet... as she lands, she tumbles once, twice, fetches up against a cargo container. Yet it's only a moment later that she is rising, with supreme effort ignoring the pains her body now presents her with. Condition yellow... and rapidly approaching red. Still, she only has two interests in this fight... the first is to survive, of course.
And the second, to deal back as much pain to Birdie as she can. Aislinn remains at the distance she was from Birdie... and she is clearly concentrating, for a moment... and then she raises her hands, like an orchestra conductor.
And what she is conducting could be considered a symphony--a symphony of pain, if Birdie is not fast enough. Suddenly, the dark warehourse is lit up bright as day, as five foot tall, dual-edged blades of electricity slice up in a wavefront, aimed straight for Birdie's position--to slash across and through him and perhaps... well, who knows?
COMBATSYS: Aislinn successfully hits Birdie with Shining Wave.
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Aislinn 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Birdie
Birdie eats it hard. The dual-edged blades of electricity slamming into the thick skin of the larger fighter. You could only imagine how much it hurt, shocking into him and leaving him as a BBQ'd Birdie. It's so powerful it even throws him backwards, hurling him a great distance as he goes. Even as he tries to block, all he gets is his feet ripping into the asphalt below, leaving a trail from where it hit.
He's still standing, but not for long.
He's gotta do something. He has to go for it. And sure as hell he has enough spunk left in him to go. Throwing himself forward, he hurls himself towards Aislinn, using his strength to propel himself into the air, float like a bird for a moment, and come down right in front of Aislinn. What next is pretty brutal.
Fists come in, aiming to strike at Aislinn with terrible precision, even for a man on his last legs. Amid the pummel, he stops, bending over and propelling himself one last time with his bull horn fight for the other fighters chest. He'll fall then, hit or miss, inside the warehouse with a dimwitted face, and a bad complexion. He's a lighting rod with all that bling on him.
COMBATSYS: Birdie can no longer fight.
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Aislinn 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn counters The Birdie MAX from Birdie with Lightning Reverse.
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Aislinn 0/-------/------=|
A lightning rod, you say? Well, Aislinn will take advantage of that. It's often said that, by and large, the ability to manipulate physical forces is -not- dependent on strength. It is dependent on knowing how and when to manuever and manipulate.
Again, Aislinn doesn't look cocky--just confident. And when Birdie leaps, well, she's glad he's not landing -on- her because that would be super painful. The ground shakea as the massive mountain of man lands... but fatigue must be wearing at him, because Aislinn watches, her eyes flicking back and forth rapidly, and she catches first one arm, then the other.
Pushing, she spins Birdie to his right while she simultaneously hops back--normally, she'd just send a shock into him, but she can see he's pretty much out as it is... and there's no reason to do further damage. He's already earned her respect--he hits very, very, -very- hard.
Birdie jolts a it... is it second wind?!?
%No. It's just lightning. One huge lightning chain.
He coughs up smoke.
Yes Aislinn, A LIGHTING ROD. Hell, a little more bling and you could call Birdie Mr. B, but that would be confusing because of Mr. Big. Which means that he'll just have to stay Birdie.
His last ditch effort to try to make Aislinn eat paste is thwarted by another jolt to the already metal black man, the electricity jolting into the chain and even his spike. He's down for the count.
He still lets out a puff of smoke though. You can't stop him! You'll inhale it and it'll choke you. It's Birdie's ultimate plan. Well... not really.
Well, that was brutal. Having remaind largely wordless throughout the ordeal, Elle finally stands up and strolls over to where the fight occured. Despite Birdie laying there like a lump of barbecued Birdie, Elle knows the score. It could have gone either way. Still, a win is a win.
"Small Wonder, you're already on the Suiryuu. If I guessed right, NESTS made you an analytical supercomputer, and slapped boots and purple hair on. This is what I need you to do."
"The whole ship is a giant chi amplifier and the circuit dead ends in the the hold. I need you to do some analysis and run some numbers on it. Give me some theories as to why they want the power, and whether or not they're just charging the ship, or if the ship is a giant capacitor used to charge something else. I need you to check out the rigging on the top of the boat. Some of the spires look odd."
Kneeling to help the giant man up, Elle grunts. Despite her small frame, Elle is considerably stronger than she appears. "As for you, Beef, I want you to get a hold of Katana. He's heading up a small invasion I have planned for that ship. I need you to talk to him and help him coordinate the boarding and assault, and how to best get crates off tub."
A gigantic chi amplifier. What's that phrase? 'They don't make 'em like they used to?' If Ais knew the script of Ghostbusters she might make a quip. Then again, she might not. Instead, she considers the information, then nods, as she turns on her heel. Not worried about Birdie--after all, he's a hulking monster of humanity, that little fight shouldn't've done him too much harm.
"I will act upon the information and contact you when I have found what I can." She pauses a moment then turns, "I cannot guarantee success or timeliness, but I will get that information." And that is that from her, as she simply walks out into the night, signaling her NESTS copter to come get her...
Birdie's hurting, barely can move, but with Elle's help, he can chug a long a little. "Yeah, yeah... I'll bloody well do it." Birdy mumbles as he saves most of his energy for staying conscious. He says nothing about Katana. He'll talk to that guy later. It'll sure be a hoot, that's for sure. Oh boy will it be.
Luckily, Birdie can just act stupid and get everything done like that. Two monkies have a better chance at writing Shakespeare than one, after all.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn has ended the fight here.
Log created on 21:32:01 09/06/2007 by Elle, and last modified on 01:39:41 09/07/2007.