Operation Alpha

"Ah! S***! S*** S***!" the fox cursed under his breath as he waved frantically to dial down the voltage and amperage of the scrying interface. The tendrils of energy quickly withered away to little more than the occasional hair-thin flicker of arcana as Storm leaned in close, almost expecting to be able to see the little nanoscale specks. He held his breath for a moment as he felt the little cluster for electrical returns. Well, thankfully there was something there to work with, but the fox was sweating as he remembered that single nanites were actually very fragile...

Anyway, crisis somewhat averted! The fox interlaced his fingers and cracked some limberness into his joints. With a wave of his hand, he brought his trusty smart watch to life. Its volumetric display projected a touchscreen user interface, and with a few simple gestures, the fox scrolled through..... a surprisingly large list of eclectically-named apps. 

"Lets seeee... Hacksistant? No. Was it next to BagOfHolding? No.... where is it?" the fox continued to scroll. "Hmmm... no, not Buckyballer. That one didn't work as well as advertised." The fox stroked his chin as he flicked his way through the expansive list of apps. "Sheesh, I gotta clean out some of the junkware in here. Ah! There we are. BluGuSweeper." The fox clapped victoriously as he found what he was looking for. He navigated through the app's user screen as the room glowed all around him. "Alright, aaaand... inputting sample." the fox muttered to himself as he twitched his fingers over the holographic UI. "Yeah, of course you don't have this one in your database..." Storm huffed as he pressed the confirmation button. The whole interface circle around the room seemed to hum as the smartwatch processed the order. It flashed its diagnostic. 

"160 minutes... haahhh. Of course." the fox groaned as he tapped the 'Get Started!' button. This is what he got for using an open-source technomancy app instead of just getting a subscription to the professional grade. He plopped down in the circle and assumed his medetative position as the app prepared to assist him in locating the nanomachines in his house.

(I'm really sorry that I wrote my comment early. It's a stupid story but basically I uploaded my turn without thinking about it which was retarded of me. I'll delete it to avoid anything but the post order I think is:

C.S.O
Froshana
DracNos
Storm
Red Blur
Shrike
Shade)

(Thanks for taking your turn early, Shade! What's the turn order now, so I don't get confused?))

Caen watched the helicopter descend, and then he realised something. The ground was not flat. He panicked as it continued to descend "shit shit shit, no!"

The helicopter landed partially on a building, and he breathed a sigh of relief as people got out of the slowly toppling helicopter, except for one "wait, where's the pilot? where's the pilot?!"
The pilot was still inside, and he watched in horror as the helicopter toppled over, the rotor breaking into small pieces, which nearly hit Caen. He screamed at the wreck "NO!"
He dropped to his knees, staring at the wreckage in shock, as one team of soldiers closed in on the helicopter, most likely looking for survivors. Caen held his head in his hands "I...I'm a... A murderer..."

Caen lifted his arm to his mouth, his arm shaking constantly "Sh-shrike... I... I killed an innocent... I'm... I'm giving myself up... I deserve to rot in jail for what I... For what I've done... I know you'll do what you need to do, so... Goodbye..."
Caen took the communicator off and tossed it aside. He stood up shakily, awaiting the team coming towards him. He raised his hands above his head, and spoke those words that hurt him worse than the fact that he had killed a man "I surrender."

Tears were visibly streaming down his face, and almost all of his limbs were shaking. This wasn't just out of sadness, or anger, but also out of fear. He was scared of what was to come, of the countless trials he would face for murder, and for the damage he had done to the city. That is... If he even gets a trial.

-Shrike could hear his distress over the possible K.I.A pilot who might of perished in the crash, for Shrike losses were acceptable in times of need, it's the way he was taught, however with the words spoke by Caen of surrender he knew Caen's life would be far worse if they captured him.-

"Caen!...Caen do you read me...if you can...do not surrender..I repeat do not surrender...the loss of one being is no a option for that..we still have greater goal to finish..you do as well...remember what you told me..we still got un finished business...on your feet soldier and get moving, we got another chopper high in the sky, its out of my weapons range..but high enough to made evading easier...I'm coming to your position now..prepare for incoming."

-Shrike had to double time it to Caen as fast as he could, no doubt Riot teams would be converging on that location Shrike was not able to let him be captured, this was not how it was going to end, Shrike was going to pull him out, or at least try.-

"Hang tight Caen...back up on is on the way..."

-Shrike moved relentless and nimble, the suit granting him enhanced agility, clearing zones meter by meter be heads for his friends location.-

Shade barely made out the medical ant as he rushed around the room. Shade also found it hard to hear now, "what?" He then realised what the helpful Mobian asked, "oh, the name's Shade," he spoke weakly and began to black out a little. Shade looked at where his arm got moved, "I only... only got shot... a, a few minutes ago; it's probably... st, still in..."

Shade then remembered he was being chased, "shit, you need to go. If, if they find that... you're helping me," Shade then passed out cold and didn't move really.

Some of the nano machines had made quick work of infiltrating the walls and floor of the fox's home. The majority of the others continue to explore the interior of the room the fox was in, with some of them disappearing into furniture and appliances. The ones that came across powered equipment or the electrical system in the house started to work on tapping into it.


One of the teams closes in on Caen, moving carefully down the alleyway he's in, so that they can take him into custody.

Over at the downed helicopter, the team that had found it quickly moves in. There they find the pilot still inside and work to remove him and lift him out.


The wolf had worked his way over to the back of the house that Shade had landed in. His display indicated that the team chasing him was closing in and moving to circle the house. The wolf withdraws two more spheres from his pouches and tosses them towards each back corner of the house. He then moves to the nearest window to pry it open and climb inside, or just climb inside if it happened to already be open.


( OOC: And... posting order is as Shade pointed out. Thanks for fixing your post earlier Shade. I can probably guess the reason why you responded early. It happens. )

In her running about, Flame missed the helicopter's actual landing. She certainly heard it as well as a fair amount of the... panic that resulted, though. From her new 'hiding place', her eyes widened a little as she watched the downed chopper finish falling over off of the building. Was there someone still inside? The distant sound of the red hedgehog screaming seemed to indicate that there was.

Her gaze wandered back over to watch him have his meltdown. One would think he knew the guy, he was so distraught. Her ears perked up as he finally raised up his hands to turn himself over. Interesting, indeed!
Flame maintained this position for now, curious to watch the hedgehog get taken in. She still looked over to the helicopter as well, however, to see if they would manage to pull out the last person that had been inside and take a guess at their actual condition. It's not like the helicopter had exploded or anything...yet.

Storm barely registered the unfolding events on the news. He might have noted the helicopter crash and the more reports of chemical smoke were he not in a deep, consuming trance. His eyes were merely white slits, his breaths were deep and slow, and pupils themselves seemed to glow dimply with red force as around him, multiple holographic status displays, interfaces, charts and even a schematic of one of the many nanomachines hovered inches in front of his face.

Aided by what devices he could scrounge and a little magic, he probed for the millions of inconceivable specks that had entered his house. A cacophony of sensations greeted him. The passive neural link with his Smart Watch fed him app data as he tried to locate, identify, quantify, and record as much data as he could on the tiny intruders. The more he began to understand them, the more questions seemed to greet him. How could such miniscule machines spread so quickly through his apartment? Small as his home was, to something as small as a nanomachine, navigating the apartment would taken days, weeks even. Not mere moments. They targeted wired and electrical devices. But what information were they seeking? What importance was Storm in all of this? Furthermore, were these machines replicating? Would the fox have to deal with the gradual ecophagy of his apartment as the nanoswarm consumed whatever resources it would rely upon to reproduce?


Regardless of these hanging questions, part of the fox's organic processing was put towards the Sisyphean task of trying to collect the small machines. He was forced to rely on static attraction, using a collection of minute electrical charges along his interface circuit to collect the tiny nearby particles and urge them towards the growing collective suspended between the two levitating quartz crystals. The downside of this was that a little too much juice would fry the precious nanomachines. The upside was that at this rate, he might be able to gather a usable sample by some time next month. He had considered using a small force spell to pluck them one by one, but they were so small... It would have been as futile as trying to pluck a splinter from his thumb using the jaws of life.

The fox briefly fell from his mesmerized state back to the real world only to feel the dawning edges of a headache at the corners of his head. He rubbed his temples briefly and glanced out the windows. More of the strange smoke. Great. They were still coming...

Shadows descended into the cramped alleyway, as several figures dressed mostly in black began to move into it, aiming non-lethal weaponry at the hedgehog. He raised his arms higher, and spoke, his voice cracking a little bit "didn't you hear me? I surrender,"
Caen's communicator vibrated across the ground, as Shrike shouted words of desperation towards him. Caen closed his eyes "I'm sorry, Shrike. These are the measures I must take."

-Shrike moved as fast as he could but he still did not know if he was going to reach him in time, thankfully tracking him down was not the hardest thing, the device pinged his location in the form of a constant or fluctuating beep sound, he used this to track him down, by the time he arrived, Law enforcement were closing in fast, Shrike needed to think of a way to get him out of there, before they decided to use live rounds, he settles on a bold and dangerous idea, to use himself as a wall between him and them. 

emerging from the alley way adjacent to Caen's position Shrike moves in front of Caen in a defense like position, acting as a barrier force to the Law enforcement.-

" Hold it right there...no one move any closer...or I am the one who is going to have to use force..."

-He tilted his head back to Caen.-

" Caen..pssst, get on your feet...I'm not letting you turn your self in..chances are that pilot is alive still..the whole thing didn't explode you know...and these guys are going to interrogate the hell out of you if you just give in..a life time on the black list..you want that?..hell of a lot worse if you ask me."

While unconscious, Shade could sense the ant, Shade's mental abilities were still active even if he was not physically awake, but soon recognised a familiar wolf approaching. Shade also sensed Caen and Shrike in the distance as Shade had been exposed to their psyche for a while. While Shade couldn't sense the ant and wolf conversing, Shade knew they were both now aware of each other's presence. However, while Shade made small twitches here and there, both the ant and the wolf might not see Shade move around at all.

Shade suddenly sensed utter distress from Caen, a horrible sense of pain that Shade himself once experienced, a sense of pain that came after... Shade woke up abruptly, possibly startling the ant and wolf, and began to pant heavily. Sweat soon began to pour down Shade's face and Shade was soon trying to stand but felt quite weak.

"We... need... to... save him," Shade mumbled as he soon realised that his arm felt numb and was in a sling. Shade checked himself over and soon noticed he had been bandaged up. Shade looked up at the ant and the wolf and began to calm down, still panting and sweating.

The fox might be surprised to find that the number of nanomachines loose in his apartment was only in the thousands. They'd used him to spread themselves around as they tried to scatter from one another in an effort to gather whatever it was they were programmed for. But they weren't all programmed for the same tasks.

It might take the fox a while to break down that coding and determine the instructions though. It was highly encrypted, obviously by an expert.


The officers came to a stop some distance from Shrike and Caen. All of them had their shields raised in front of them, forming a wall to protect themselves from weapon fire. Several of them readied their own weapons for use.

Another group of officers closed in from the direction Shrike had arrived from, clearly hoping to catch the two fugitives from multiple directions in the closed space of the alleyway.


The wolf had quietly made his way into what he soon discovered was an occupied home. When he saw the giant metal ant, he looks at him curiously, the scanning systems in his helmet trying to determine just what he was. Then the ant saw him and spoke to him.

"Friend? No. Just an acquaintance." he replies, he then watches as the any begins treating Shade's injuries, "We're likely not going to have much time. I'd assume pursuit is right outside after all. We should be on our way before the noose tightens."

He moves towards Shade, keeping clear of the ant and remaining ready to act should it be necessary. Then Shade suddenly came around and mentions having to save someone. The wolf shakes his head slightly.

"Priorities." he tells Shade, "Escape first. Hero, distant second. So... up before your pursuers break down the door and help you up themselves."

Shrike had arrived. He was blocking the soldiers from descending any further towards Caen. He thought that the chances that the pilot was dead was slim, as the vehicle had not exploded, it had merely toppled. Behind the soldiers, Caen could see another group dragging a man from the wreckage, his chest moving slightly as they pulled him upwards and out. The man sat up by himself, and audibly asked what had happened. Caen stood up, his legs shaking "I guess you were right..." Caen said, "I guess that I used necessary force, then. I just... Need to be less reckless." Caen walked in front of Shrike, bowing "I apologise for injuring one of your men, but I retract my previous statement on surrender. I still have work to do. Some related to here and now, some more... Long term."

Caen began to walk in the other direction, but soon found his way blocked by another group of men "crap. I got us surrounded. So, we're either going through them, under them or over them. I would prefer to do as little damage to them as possible. Shrike, what do you think we can do?"

-Shrike could see they were coming in from all sides, boxed in and almost no where to go, it seemed like the odds were dangerous in no in their favor at this point, Shrike needed a option to get out and needed one fast. Good thing his days a G.U.N soldier taught him important information about what was in front of him.-

" I got a idea..but I am not sure if its going to work..let's see."


-He turned to face the officers, picking up his weapon in his hands he pulled back the bolt on it chambering a round into it.-

" I am surrounded by layers of thick military grade defense prototype exo suit armor.....I don't believe...you are."

-Shrike discharges rounds from his heavy weapon at their feet and one on the 7'62 DU round punched a hole through the shield as its tripple high velocity construction allowed the round to do such feats, the round did not strike any of the officers as it hit a wall behind...he was hoping this display would make them think twice before attempting any thing.-

" Caen... I'm gonna need your fire wall soon if they start shooting so I can clear us a way....let's roll the dice." 

( OOC: Whoa there guys. You skipped over three people. Ease up and give them a chance to post. )

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." the ant stated, stepping over to Shade, "...you aren't ready to move just yet, you're stressing yourself out." he said, pushing Shade back down, "Now, who is "Him"? I believe I and your friend here can deal with whoever they are," He reassured his patient, and also questioning the pronoun he uttered.

"Now, who requires aid? I believe that I require the name in order to help." The robotic insect asked, leaning out the window, peering around, "My, it seems like there is quite a scuffle out there..." He muttered, his eyes picking up multiple sources of smoke and gunfire, "Quite a lot of police, as well." He remarked, turning back to the two in his apartment, "Is this the trouble you were talking about?" He asked, the thought just popping in his head. "Hmm, Well, I guess I'm not going to sleep here any more..." He muttered, shrugging the thought off.

((Ah ha, okay wow. So I guess everyone except Storm and Shade decided that I do not deserve to post this round. Real swell, thanks a lot, guys. :I
C.S.O., doll, to keep things simple I'll just skip my post this round because that right there was ridiculous and it'll clutter things up if we try to fix it now. I'll still post after you, if I'm allowed, next time you make a post. My character isn't majorly involved so it shouldn't affect the flow of things.
So I guess that makes it Storm or Shade's turn. Have at it, fellas.))

((I'm going to give this a little bit to get sorted out before I make my post.))

((oh, bugger, why did I do that? Okay. Just post your replies and I'll move mine ahead to where it should be. Must've been really tired when I posted :/))

(Okay, I'm slightly confused. Is it my turn now?)

((Nah, Red, don't make a mess of it. Everyone who hasn't gone should just post like I skipped my turn for now. I'll post and just cover anything that's happened when my turn comes around again.
Shade, you should be able to post now, though I'm not sure if Storm is skipping his post or not. I'll let that be decided by you two.))

( I just saw Caen's post an naturally I thought it was my turn since I go after him, only then realized shit I didn't see what happened before.)

((Skip, I'll pick up at the next round, unless you guys are dying to see Storm continuing to mess around with the nanotechnology in his house XD ))

( OOC: So, that makes it Shade's turn right now just to clarify. )