(Untitled)

[killerjoke]

WHO: The Joker and others
WHERE: All around the City
WHEN: Saturday the 5th t
WARNINGS: Violence
SUMMARY: Various attacks around the City
FORMAT: Quick to start, then whatever people want

Comments

[ctu_savior]

It was the first time using Rami's power in a mission, and Jack was a little tense with one of his people going comatose during a hostage situation. But it clearly had worked- these details would allow them to save the hostages, if they moved quickly and decisively.

Carrying his pointman's disembodied spirit in the radio changing from his belt was still a new experience, especially considering that Raimi's physical self was sitting limp in a SWAT van parked around the block.

For the sake of precision, he just had his sidearm, fitted with a silencer. A few moments crouched by an unguarded maintenance door with a lockpick got them into the building on the ground floor. Creeping in silently, Jack swept the deserted hallway with his pistol. Aside from a thin haze of gunsmoke from the initial takeover, the coast was clear.

He reached down and tapped the possessed radio, a silent signal for Raimi to leave and quickly check out the area ahead. Fast, invisible, and unstoppable, Raimi would lead Jack to the nearest group of hostages. Between his powers and 'Weaver's' sniper support, they should be able to secure them without raising an alarm.

[spirit_hunted]

This was a new experience for Raimi as well, riding on someone's radio rather than possessing them outright. The radio was comfortable enough, and would sustain him.

It was only a few seconds after Jack signaled him by tapping on the radio, and boy, that felt weird, before Raimi reported back. It seemed like longer to him.

"The elevators are locked down and there aren't any hostages on the bottom few floors. There are people guarding the other entrances and the stairwells between the second and fourth landing. They've moved since I was in here before." Raimi said, using the output that would feed directly into Jack's earpiece. "You might be able to go up an elevator shaft."

[ctu_savior]

Jack nodded and consulted his PDA for the nearest access point to a shaft. He had downloaded the schematics for this building before the operation and swiftly memorized them, and in moments he was moving in the right direction. The elevators themselves were locked down, but there was a nearby maintenance passage that led directly to the shaft. Quietly, Jack eased himself into the cramped space, contacting Weaver as he did.

"Black Star, we are inside and en route to the target. Will re-establish contact once we're close." It was going to be a long, dark climb up the shaft's ladder, but it would get him and John where they needed to be undetected.

[sands_in_mexico]

The beep from his device alerted Weaver that he had an incoming message. He took position on the opposite roof and began to set up his sniper rifle and scope. He tapped in the message using his keypad to alert Jack that he was ready. "Roger. Black Star is hot and high. God has control."

This meant that he won't make a move until Jack informs him that he's clear and there's a clear shot. Weaver knew that any premature move would be death to those that he was protecting.

[ctu_savior]

Rung after rung he climbed, floor after floor, alone in the dark except for a literal ghost. Jack's arms and shoulders were burning by the time he reached the right floor, and he paused on the ladder for a moment to recuperate before prying open the elevator doors and exiting that dark shaft.

Outside, the hallway was quiet and empty, but Jack knew there were dozens of innocent people in danger nearby, and armed men ready to kill him and them on sight. Staying in the elevator doorway, he tapped the radio again. One more round of scouting to make sure there were no surprises between him and the target, and then he could move into position to breach.

[sands_in_mexico]

Weaver stayed steady and readied his rifle. He used his scope to watch in the distance. It was better that he stayed there than opposed to being in the heavy of the firefight. He knew that others were needed and he could be a one man army if necessary. This wasn't one of those times. The agent part of him was glad for this chance to take care of business without being seen. It was what he preferred honestly.

His breathing was calm. He was in a state of meditation and detachment. It was the best preparation for a sniper. Any twitch and the target would be missed. If the timing if off, he would risk everything. Now was the time to be patient and he had enough to go around for miles now that he was focused.

[spirit_hunted]

John left the radio again. Never thought I'd be doing this professionally. he thought to himself, making a quick circuit of the floor, mentally counting guards, guns, and hostages.

It was a pity making things blow up by possessing them was so much easier than making them not explode, but he'd done it before.

Raimi did one last circuit and was back in no time. He took possession of the radio again. "Everyone is still in position. Nine in total between us and the hostages and another four on this floor guarding stair wells. There are two groups of two patrolling and five in and around the hostages."

[ctu_savior]

"Copy that." Nine wasn't good. Jack knew that even if he could get past the nine, once the hostages were secure they'd have to deal with the rest of the hostiles on the floor. He called up the building's map again, updated it with the information John had given, and studied it, looking for the best possible option.

The hostages and their five guards were crowded into a boardroom with windows, which was good- it would allow Sheldon to engage when they breached. Getting to the boardroom meant getting past the two patrols undetected. Eliminating them silently would make things easier once the boardroom was clear, but was also risky- a shout or missed radio check could trigger an execution.

It looked like the best route would be through the cubicles, using the homogenous little fabric boxes for cover on his way to rescue their occupants. Jack crouched low and shuffled forward silently across the carpet, darting from cube to cube as quickly as he dared, careful not to let himself brush anything that could create noise. It was only seconds before the heads of two of the people patrolling were visible above the beige wall. He took a mirror out of his pocket and used it to watch them from around a corner, breathing softly through his mouth as they walked slowly towards him. The only sound was an abandoned fax machine, beeping. When they got close he retracted the mirror and waited out the agonizing seconds before their carpet-muffled footsteps moved past his position. Only when he was sure they were past did he keep moving towards the boardroom.

Jack stalked forward until he was within sight of the boardroom door before taking cover in a cubicle that had a 'World's Best Mom' mug sitting on its desk, half-filled with still-warm coffee. From here, he could hear whispers and sobs from the hostages within. Jack readied his weapon and spoke as quietly as he could.

"All units, prepare for breach. Raimi, handle the explosives. Black Star, prepare to neutralize hostiles in the boardroom, then engage targets on this floor at your discretion." Jack would burst into the room and take down the hostiles furthest from the windows while Weaver eliminated the rest and Raimi possessed any explosives in the room to prevent their detonation. That would be the easy part. The three of them couldn't get all the hostages out of there themselves, so they'd have to hold the room against the remaining terrorists until White Dwarf- the callsign for the City SWAT team on standby- arrived to escort them to safety. "Signal when ready." This was it.

[sands_in_mexico]

"Roger." Weaver didn't have to respond. His dark eyes behind black shades focused on the hostiles. The gravel shifted under the weight of the sniper. His hand flexed and gripped in preparation. Leather shifting and creaking from the pressure and release, steady. Focused. Once Jack was in the room, Weaver pulled the trigger and sent a round through one man's head that sprayed the displays in front of him in a shower of crimson. This alerted the others around that they were being watched from outside and Weaver smirked.

"Come on, fuckers. Find me. I...AM...god." Another round from Weaver's sniper's rifle and another hostile is down. Two down. Chaos rang out and Weaver was picking targets one by one.

[spirit_hunted]

Raimi was out and moving towards the explosives. There was no sound as a ghost, but when he entered the room he could see the faint, distant flare of a muzzle flash. He was in the explosives and destroying the detonation device before the bullet even pierced the glass.

He left the explosives just in time to watch the bullet exiting a man's head in a slow motion spray of brain matter, blood, and bullet in more gory detail than he ever wanted to see it.

[ctu_savior]

Jack charged forward in a flash, firing a round into the lock of the boardroom door without breaking stride, then yanked it open, crouched, and aimed. The three remaining terrorists were just beginning to react to the sudden deaths of Weaver's targets, and the air was filled with the screams of hostages who had just been covered with blood.

These details became secondary for Jack as the world narrowed down to him, his targets, and his weapon. He double-tapped the nearest hostile in the head- the man's face was covered with a balaclava, which spared the civilians the full horror of what Jack's bullets did to his skull. The second gunman pointed a machine pistol at Jack, only to take a round to the throat a split-second before he could pull the trigger. The bullet penetrated to his spine and severed it, killing him instantly. He fell during the moment it took for Jack to shift his aim to the last terrorists, a moment which the man chose to spend pulling out a remote detonator and pushing the shiny red button repeatedly, frantically, uselessly. His eyes were just beginning to show his confusion when Jack shot him in one of them.

Jack stood up as his last target slumped lifelessly against a wall. Less than fifteen seconds had passed. Some of the office workers who weren't panicking began to get up, and Jack waved them back down, keeping his weapon at the ready- you could never forget the possibility of a plant. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" His voice roared out above the confusion. "We're bringing in people to evacuate you, but the building is not secure! Stay where you are until I tell you it is safe!"

There was no time to say anything more- the patrols and the stairwell guards have to be converging on their position by now. He could hear the nearest of them approaching already through the cubicles he'd just infiltrated by. Jack got out of the room and shut the door on the hostages, made a quick transmission ordering the SWAT team to start moving, and then pulled out a grenade. "John, it's time to try out your idea."

Killing five heavily-armed terrorists in seconds and saving dozens of lives had been the easy part. Now they just had to keep them and themselves alive.