Team Gold, Chimera RP

[Zeromark]

Adrian Kerr put a pillow over his head, trying to drown out the alarm clock buzzing next to his bed. He scrambled, feeling for the OFF button. Finding it, he removed the pillow, stretched his back, and yawned. Geez, what a night. Adrian had gotten in early this morning, from a training op out on one of Brewer’s training grounds. Add a long ride back, debriefing, and it had been nearly 3:30 before he had collapsed on his bed in the dorm.

He got up sleepily, grabbed a robe, towel and soap and headed for the male public showers. Thirty minutes later, he was dressed in his favorite orange hooded sweatshirt and the custom made jeans for hybrids. It was an early Thursday morning, about 10:30 a.m.; most of the agents and support staff were up and about. Adrian murmured a sleepy hello to someone who called his name, and pushed open the door to the cafeteria. The cafeteria floor was cool on his foot pads as he loaded a tray with scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and cranberry juice.

He found an open table in the busy cafeteria and tried to keep his eyelids from drooping. At least the eggs weren’t runny this morning. With a sudden twinge of memory, the recovery process of the augmentation came to mind; the days of crippling nausea, and not being able to eat much more than jello. Ugh. The taste of the greasy bacon managed to blank that from his mind, and he rested for his eyes for just a moment.

[Mophtran]

At the sound of the blaring alarm, Iwan Schleff's eyes popped open. He blinked for a second, remembering that he now had perfect night vision, and smoothly pressed his paw onto the sleep button. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and stood on his feet. He swayed slightly, his legs still not quite right under him, but steadied himself anyway. He stumbled off to the showers.

Afterwards, he staggered to his drawer, pulling out a dark tee-shirt and dark beige pants. He mumbled a curse as his new tail felt a painful jolt as it got caught in the folds of his pants, before he manuevered it into the hole in the back. Getting used to his tail was tough going, leading to him stumbling around some, but he had started to manage it, finally walking with at least a semblance of the finesse he had back when he was completely human.

Iwan walked into the hallways, following the signs (still slightly hazy in his English, though the speech therapy helped immensely) to the cafeteria. He let out a growl as a passerby bumped into him, almost sending him to the floor. The tiger-man's hand shot out and stabalized the newly spliced leapord-man. He showed his teeth in a smile of apology.

"I'm sorry, my friend. Still new on your feet, I take it? It took me quite a while as well." He gave Iwan one last smile before walking out of the door.

The black leopard spliced human swished his tail in aggrivation before heading off to the lunch line. A koala-faced lady smiled at him, talking in a british accent.

"Oh, hello! I haven't seen you around. First day?" Iwan nodded. "Well, you might want to have some of this, then." She slopped some jello on his plate, along with a bit of apple sauce and some thin beef broth. Iwan's heightened sense of smell caught a whiff of it, and he felt slightly queezy. Not quite glaring at the smiling woman, he exited the line and headed for a table. He sat down a few seats away from a coyote splice who seemed to be caught up in his bacon, and poked at his food a bit before slowly trying to eat it.

[Zeromark]

Sput.

Adrian's groaned. He had just fallen asleep in his eggs. Great. That's all he needed.
He heard a few people laughing in his direction. He grabbed a napkin and wiped at least some of the scrambled eggs out of his fur.

He struggled to get up from his chair, and towards a coffee dispenser. After burning himself on the hot coffee twice, he finally returned to his seat, nursing now scalding hot paw. Ow.

Adrian didn't have much on his schedule today - some required hours on the firing range and the demolitions lab, that was all. He could get that out of the way before 2 or 3, if he hurried. It was always fun to blow things up.

Of course, he heard that Team Saber, the highest rated of the permanent teams, had a running bet today. Beat them in the training facility in laser tag, and you won 50 bucks. There wasn't much chance an impromptu team could beat Saber, but the draw was high enough that people would try. He wondered if Teams Katana or Gladius would take them on the offer. That might be fun to watch.

[Mophtran]

At the sound of a splat, Iwan's head turned. The coyote man had fallen asleep in his eggs. Laughter sounded nearby, and Iwan couldn't help a small smile, himself.

He finished his food, which tasted more like pig slop to his queasy stomach, and put his tray in the neat stack by the trash bin. He walked out of the cafateria, and glanced at his schedual. Firing range. Oh boy. He was never one for guns, prefering to sneak up on his enemy and give a quick snap of the neck or slide a dagger into their back than to shoot from range. It was much quicker, much safer that way. Besides, the kickback set his teeth on edge.

He made his way to the firing range, almost getting lost along the way. The complex was confusing, especially when it took him outside. Managing his way to the range, he picked out a pistol that looked like it would be suitable to him. At least, as suitable as a pistol could be. He placed ear protecters around his furry ears, and aimed. He noticed that he could see a lot better at a distance, now, and it was almost like he had a scope in his eyes. He lined up the shot, and fired.

He looked at the weapon. Interesting. It seems his enhanced reflexes made the pistol a lot easier to handle. He squared off a few more shots, two in the heart and three in the head. Yes, he decided that he liked this weapon.

[Zeromark]

Adrian finished his breakfast, and walked wearily over to the trash bin and then headed on his way. He headed into the armory. Opening the doors he found it to be as spic and span as usual - shelves of guns, clips, and ammunition in neat ordered rows.

Adrian was a natural with side arms, but not so much with rifles. He gravitated towards the assault rifles, picked up one and felt it's weight. Not so bad. That would do, nicely.

Picking up a handful of filled clips, he went to the check out counter and filled out the usual forms. Brewer had to know what gun, and what clips he was using just in case of accidents.

Heading on to the outdoor firing range, he saw one of Brewer's engineering core's pride and joy's on top of a long pole. Sound suppression field generators. As the name suggested, it kept the crackle of rifle fire from making any one within a few miles nervous.

He took up a firing stall next to a black leopard splice wielding a hand gun and went into a kneeling position. The training computer automatically called up targets and he began to fire in bursts, trying to control the wild kickback. This was harder than he thought.

"Easy on the grip, son. It's a rifle, not a glass statue."
The steady voice behind him was from the original sniper of Team Chimera, the original five that had undergone the augmentation five years ago. They had broken up to form other teams or be a trainer. The sniper was Mel Hoffman, a gray wolf splice codenamed Timber.
"Thanks."
"You heard about the contest Saber is throwing? I can't believe those old farts can still think they're the number 1 group."
"Yeah, I did. Didn't Chimera beat them a couple of times in the past?"
"Yes. I was thinking of forming a practice team to take them on this afternoon. You interested?"
"Hell yes. So long as I can use flashbangs."
"Deal."

[Starscream]

Barnaby sat up and yawned. Loudly. He licked his chops as he blinked in the morning sun, trying to figure out what day it was and if he needed to feed the fish. He stood and stretched. Natasha still slept, her face buried in her pillow as was her habit. He ran a finger through her thin hair and grinned. God he loved her.

He finished his morning stretches and, after grabbing his clothes and toothbrush, loped off to the showers. The water was cool against his soft fur and he hummed a toon to himself as he washed his tail. "Morning, Vic!" he called to a lion morph, who scowled at him before returnin got he laborious task of washing his bushy mane. His shower finished, Barnaby threw on his standard Brewer uniform. Yuck. He hated the color gray. Oh well, it matches my eyes, he thought rolling up his sleeves and heading to the kitchens.

The kitchen was just getting busy, just the way he liked it. He waved to everyone he knew (which was most of the dining hall) and talked idly with the lunch ladies. He sat down and munch on a BLT, extra mayo for a few minutes, joining in the laughter as a coyote morph went for a swim in his eggs. The clock struck the hour. Time for target practice.

Barnaby headed towards the shooting range. It wasn't in his job description to have to fight in combat, but who would pass up the chance to shoot guns for free? He wandered up and down the aisles of the armory before selecting a standard pistol, though he had to ask someone where the right ammo was. The range was already busy for being so early in the morning. He sauntered up to the nearest open gate right next to a familiar gray coyote morph. He waved casually and slipped his ear protection onto his small round ears. He aimed carefully...and totally missed the target, instead kicking up a nice cloud of dirt.

"Easy on the grip, son. It's a rifle, not a glass statue."

Barnaby turned and saw one of the older morphs talking to the coyote.

"You heard about the contest Saber is throwing? I can't believe those old farts can still think they're the number 1 group."
"Yeah, I did. Didn't Chimera beat them a couple of times in the past?"
"Yes. I was thinking of forming a practice team to take them on this afternoon. You interested?"
"Hell yes. So long as I can use flashbangs."
"Deal."

"Mind if I join in, blokes? I could use a bit of practice against moving targets, if ya get what I'm meaning. I'm not as good with this here pistol, but give me some tripwire and I'm an ace up yer sleeve."

[Mophtran]

Some more targets flashed by, but Iwan still wasn't that great with a pistol. He thought he managed fairly well once the moving targets started turning into a blur and he only managed to shoot a few in the feet and arms. A tap on his shoulder startled him, and he almost dropped the weapon. Instead, he fired a shot into the ground just outside the protective barriers.

Taking his earmuffs off, lip curling, he turned around to see a gray wolf splice smiling at him.
"Easy, Private. Sorry to break your concentration." He said in an amiable voice. "I just noticed your shooting. For a rookie, I'd have to say that's pretty damn good."

"Vell... Uhm. Danke." He stated in a thick German accent.

"Anywho. I'm putting a team together for practice. One of the more arrogant teams is putting up a bet: 50 bucks for whoever beats them." He gestured over to the coyote, a spec of egg still crusted onto his brow, and an odder morph, one he couldn't quite place, with piercings galore and hair in a fauxhawk. "Care to join?"

50 dollars. Why the hell not? "Sure. Ven do we start?"

[Starscream]

Barnaby's ears perked up at Timber's approval and he spent the next minute calculating just how much effort it would take to tune his audio-disrupter into the opposing team's frequency. He grinned to himself and noticed the wolf splice talking to the nearby black leopard. Hmm, he didn't recognize that one, nor did he recognize the coyote. They didn't smell familiar either. Barnaby giggled silently at the notion of being able to recognize someone by smell. It was one of those small things that amused him.

The wolf seemed to be finishing his chat with the leopard and Timber moved down the line to the next splice, a husky with a beret. Barnaby shoved his pistol into his waistband and pushed past the coyote towards the black leopard.

"G'Day mah furry feline friend! I don't believe we've met. Well, no sense beating around the bush, I'm Barnaby." he shoved his hand towards the feline. "Mah friends call me Bilby. Mah wife calls me sexy. I'm stoked to meet ya."

This post has been edited by Starscream on Jan 25 2008, 08:00 PM

[Mophtran]

A little taken aback by the cheerful nature coming off in unsurpressable waves from the curious splice, Iwan shook his hand, eyes him suspiciously. He caught himself and stopped. He really needn't be suspicious of these people; they were working for the same operation as him. Still, old habits die hard, especially when your survival is based around it.

"I am Iwan... It iz pleasure to meet you." He couldn't help feel at least slightly good-hearted around such an upbeat creature. "I must zay, I am zehr curious... Was bist- Oh, excuse me. What kind of animal are you?"

[Zeromark]

Adrian half-listened to the two exchange greetings.
He kept thinking to the mission ahead. Saber was holding it on their home turf; their favorite practice arena, the underground bunker simulation. It would be dark, and flashbangs would have a greater effect. Adrian also wondered what sort of a leader Timber would turn out to be.

He turned as Barnaby stuck out his hand, and asked him his name. Shaking his hand, he Adrian said with some coy, "Adrian. Most people call me by my ...somewhat undeserved codename, Singe."

[Mophtran]

"Alzo!" Iwan exclaimed. "Vaht is die arena going to be like? I am hoping for dark, for you zee, my codename iz 'Invizible,' and not without good reason." He prided on his ability to move unseen. He'd be an invaluable teammate, should the arena suit his abilities.

[Starscream]

Barnaby grinned as he finished shaking hands. "Singe, eh? Got a bit of a spark in ya then, eh? Mah name's Wotchtower. I'm the surveillance slash counter surveillance bloke here. If the enemy's using it, I can crack it, disrupt it, freeze it, trip it, or remotely blow her to kingdom come!" Barnaby smiled and sighed. "I love mah job."

"Oh, I almost fergot." He turned to Iwan. "This beastie before you is wot we Aussie's call a tazzy tiger, or thylacine for those brainy bunches in the labs. I'm 145 pounds of sleek, sexy import, but be careful, I got me some devil inside." He laughed displaying his amazing jaw size.

This post has been edited by Starscream on Jan 25 2008, 08:24 PM

[Zeromark]

"To answer your question, Iwan, Saber's holding this match on their home turf. The underground bunker simulation back inside, a couple floors down. It'll be plenty dark."

Adrian ejected the clip from his assault rifle, catching it before it hit the ground.
"I don't know much about Saber's tactics, but they're supposed to be good. We don't have much of a chance of winning as just a temporary team. "

[Mophtran]

Iwan laughed slightly. "Exzelent. Vell, I don't know 'bout you, but I don't have too musch elze planned today. Juzt some training for meine balanze, wit die new tail and alles. After dat, I am free fuer pracktiz."

A bell tolled, alerting Iwan to check the time. "Speaking of wisch, I muzt get going. T'chuis!" With that he walked off, still slightly startled by how quick he was warming up to these people. He was detached up until he got to aerobics, where he was trained until his legs would no longer support him, then was yelled into training some more.

[Starscream]

Barnaby watched Iwan walked carefully to his next training practice. He'd see that German later tonight. Barnaby looked to Adrian. "So, we don't have much of a chance at winning, eh?" He stretched and drew his pistol. "Well, let's you and me head down to the basement and have a gander at this place."

[Zeromark]

Adrian walked back inside, checking back his gear into the armory.
He stopped at the counter and asked the attendant if his armor suit had been finished. Brewer tailor made every suit of combat armor for each one of it's agents, but each suit took a few weeks to make. Longer if the agent was a hybrid. The attendant replied in the negative, so he continued on his way, Barnaby in tow.

They punched the elevator button for the underground training levels, and waited patiently. "The training ground's probably going to be in use, just so you know. We can watch from the observation deck, but probably can't go inside. Pretty basic set up - two fortified positions, some 200 yards apart with hall ways, room and various amounts of cover in between."

Adrian paused, and said, "How long you been working for Brewer?"

[Starscream]

Barnaby busied himself with rolling up his sleeves. "I've only been here for 'bout a year and a half, going on two if I recall correctly. Not very long compared to some of you blokes. Been one hell of a roller coaster ride, though. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Barnaby stopped and sniffed the air. Something smelled familiar...

"Darla!" Everyone in the hall stopped at the shout, and seeing it was just him, continued on their way. One woman didn't even look up and tried to hurry on her way. "Darla! Come here, babe!" Barnaby wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her to his side. "Adrian, meet mah little sheila, Natasha." Natasha smiled weakly and mumbled a quiet hello. "She's a bit shy, but she's the best doc this side of the equator." He kissed her cheek, an interesting expression for someone without lips.

"How do you do, Mister Adrian." she said in her thick accent. "Pleasure to be meeting you." She twirled her hair absently.

"Tasha, why don't you come on down and take a gander at the basement arena with us? I know you got to git down there to check the medical supplies." he said tapping her clipboard with a nail. She nodded and Barnaby grined.

The elevator dinged on it's arrival.

[Zeromark]

Adrian smiled at Natasha, introducing himself, and then stepped off the elevator. He could think of a dozen Rocky and Bullwinkle jokes right now, but he'd save them for later.

"I've been with Brewer about three years, and I've worked with the old team Chimera before. That's how Timber knew me. It wasn't in the field - I replaced one of their own for training exercises while their leader was out with a sprained ankle for a week or so."

Heading to the upstairs observation deck, he found a small crowd watching the monitors. The person that stood out was the former leader of Team Chimera, Malcolm Stanforth, codenamed Grizz. Technically, Chimera hadn't disbanded entirely; their Medic and Malcolm had left. Malcolm had resigned because of a round he took to his shoulder. He could have continued field duty, but took a base job instead.; one of the team coordinators for the general pool of agents.

Adrian looked at the computerized map of the bunker layout; Saber was winning five to three at the moment; having taken out two of the temporary team members. Adrian commented to Barnaby and Natasha, "They don't use any sort of training or live rounds down here - too much risk of a ricochet. They just use the laser guns and vest - harmless, but if you're hit, the vest simulates a round impact."

[Mophtran]

The physical training left Iwan drained, but he seemed to be more limber when he headed for the showers. He was becoming more accustomed to his body through the rigorous training. The hot shower left him feeling a bit more revitalized -- and the beer after that didn't hurt either -- and he followed the signs to the training ground.

The elevator made a pleasant ding as it lowered the leapord morph into the training area. He asked an attendant where he could find his all-of-a-sudden team, and was directed to the upstairs observation room. He made his way up the stairs, glad that he didn't have to grip the railing for balance. His tail swished easily behind him.

He slipped into the room, unsure if he had actually been noticed, and started watching the fight. One team was pretty well beating the other. He assumed that it was the fabled Sabers.

[Starscream]

Gazing at the moniters, Barnaby gazed at the layout. Two towers, on opposite sides. The rest was a maze of passages and dead ends. He scratched his chin idlely. "It appears that if we're to do any good against them, we need to know the territory as well as they do." He turned to Adrian. "So we got flashbangs and smoke grenades. Hmm." Barnaby began to mumble to himself, then banged his fist on the desk, startling several of the spectators. "Sorry," he whispered, and slunk back over to Adrian. "Ok, I got some stratedgies working up here," he tapped his head, "but I'm gonna need some string, flashbangs, an extra laser, and an extra vest. And my tools, gotta have my tools..." He turned and began counting invisible numbers with his fingers and shaking his head.

Natasha turned to Adrian. "He's very smart, really, but he has habit of taking things apart and not putting putting them together again. So, try not to let him be destorying things." She turned to go, but stopped. "What is arena like?"