SHADE (Carlos)

Carlos was supposed to be home resting up, but he'd honestly sleep better in the morning. Nights in the game always felt invigorating to him, succouring and supportive, focusing him in a way that made sleep impossible. It was one of the reasons he was glad they'd taken Naiad's advice to bring on Oscen, having someone else on the team to do info gathering during the day was going to make his life so much easier.

Unfortunately, Division was still being cautious about the newbies, insisting on pairing them up with one of the established members. Though whether it was out of concern for them or about them, he really wasn't sure. He didn't seem the type to go Galahad on women, and he'd thrown North Wind into combat in the same measured way as he did everyone else, so he was probably still being cautious about the two women's former attachment to the League.

Anyway, the new girl was already doing better than him in the light of day. His methods were pretty one-note, he lurked in the shadows hoping to overhear something interesting. Oscen, on the other hand, could pick up whispers and notice details from streets away, and he'd even watched her following a scent like a bloodhound.

She didn't seem to talk much though, answering questions in short passive sentences, using gestures as much as words to get her point across. Hopefully they'd find out more about her tomorrow in the OOC meeting.

With nothing else to do tonight, Carlos had snuck out to the drug lab, wanting to see how things panned out, and he was lurking nearby in case the gangers made a run for the shadowy side-streets where the others would have trouble tracking them down. He'd located the Divisions, both Alpha and the beta team, Revenant and Shift had been easy to place; but even with his incredible night vision, he'd had trouble spotting Artisan's new stealth drone, its earthy colours blending into the brickwork as it hovered silently nearby. He was sure the thing was white earlier, so the little alien must have a way to shift its colours.

Having located everyone, he moved back to the rear of the building where Division's clones were preparing to kick in the door.

REVENANT (Reece)

After removing the door and stepping inside, Reece found that the thugs had reacted a lot quicker and with more organisation than they'd been expecting. He supposed it was possible a suitably alert lookout could have noticed them surrounding the building and warned the others, but if so he was surprised they hadn't started shooting, attempting to catch their attackers divided and off-guard while still benefiting from the building's cover. Maybe they were expecting an attack, or drilled for it? He guessed it really didn't matter now.

He could see the blur that was Shift sliding under a table, taking out the legs of two guys pointing shotguns at the rear, where Reece could see one of the Divisions throwing away a crumpled steel door. Huh, that's new, he thought, filing it away for later as the other Divisions moved in, sluggish until they touched the one in front, and were then back to their normal crisp movements.

Reece moved slowly into the room, too worried about all the fragile things around him, canisters, beakers, furniture, people, to just charge into the fray. As long as he took some hits, it meant he was doing his job.

He saw Shift roll back to his feet, then vault a table, kicking away a gang member, and Reece moved to follow. Suddenly he felt the dull rhythm of gunfire beating against his armoured chest, the sound catching up to him a moment later, the rounds worked their way up, rising from the recoil until the last couple impacted his face and the gun clicked empty.

Turning slightly, he made eye contact with the startled ganger, shaking his head in rebuke and brushing away the flattened slugs from his chest. He felt his face itch slightly as his essence redistributed itself, and moved towards the shaken gang member, who continued to blink at him and click away on the empty Uzi as if he'd forgotten he held it. Reece made sure to flatten the shotguns on the floor with a heavy tread, before taking the Uzi almost gently from the confused man, crumpling it in his hands and softly flicking the ganger in the head.

One down, half a dozen to go, he thought, considering that whatever its source, the forewarning really hadn't helped the gang members prepare for what was coming.

"I appear to have tempted providence." he said, as his earbud began to buzz and chatter. Then something large and strong came through the wall beside him, throwing wood splinters and dust into the room, impacting his side and launching him through the front wall.

NORTH WIND (Mia)

Mia entered the building in a quiet tinkle of frosted glass while downstairs, guns began to fire. Being inside an unknown building like this still made her feel vulnerable, but Division had been working with all of them on using their powers to safely clear rooms, so she summoned a large shield and a short lance of ice, and moved forward as quietly as she could.

Her head was cocked and her eyes nearly closed as she listened to the breeze moving sluggishly through the upper floors, but it was the sudden unexpected heat spike above her that gave enough warning to get her shield up, intercepting the clawed figure that dropped from the ceiling.

He was much faster than her, she realised, as only her training against Shift kept her from being gutted on the first exchange. After seeing the figure's speed, she'd let her shield soften into its more malleable form, letting her move and adapt it by thought. It took a lot more concentration and limited her ability to respond, but it made the difference between life and death when dealing with a faster opponent. She tried to shout a warning over her comm, but it sounded like she was too late as she heard the chaos suddenly ramp up below.

The cat-featured man really didn't seem to like the cold, cloying feel of the shield as it moved to intercept his attacks, seeping over his claws to his furred hands. Hissing in frustration, he turned to make a run for the front of the building.

Mistake! She thought in glee, no longer fighting for her life she had the time and space to pitch the ice lance at the retreating cat-man, using the sluggish air to speed and direct the thrown missile. The man grunted in pain as the spear took him high in the left shoulder, throwing a glare back at Mia before jumping through a window, glass shards tinkling around him.

"What a stupid thing to do." She muttered to herself.

The creature could have picked up a weapon, or started throwing things at her, either of which would have made her harden her shield and probably force her to retreat. Or it could have just slunk further into the house, using the territory it knew far better than her, and the closer quarters to its advantage. Instead it got frustrated, turned its back and jumped out a window. She wondered if the transformation process limited its thinking in some way.

She heard Division override the comm to get clear instructions out, and followed the scaredy-cat out the window.