(Untitled)

[gone_byebye]

Mid-January, 2008
RCMP/Ministry of Extraordinary Threats Emergency Hangar
Alert, Nunavut, CAEven in times of the highest tension and most danger, people find ways to keep themselves busy, and neither the Ghostbusters nor the men and women of the world's northern watch bureaus were any great exception. "Ray? Ray! Ray, check it out." Venkman shook

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[works_in_space]

Jim takes a seat, knowing that the situation is past grim, he knows that. It may be beyond his skills. And yet, he is looking forward to the chance to see some action.

[gone_byebye]

"Hang on a second," says Ray to Kirk. "There's someone I need to get-"

He trots off and comes back with a Canadian in tow. The other man is shorter than either Ray or Kirk, dressed in the most modern Arctic survival gear currently available in Canada, marked with a number of insignias of rank and accomplishment in addition to the five-flag patch everyone here is wearing and the logo seen in the icon here. "This is Captain John Korpan of the Ministry of Extraordinary Threats' rapid response force," Ray says. "He's the on-site coordinator for this operation."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," says Korpan, and salutes. "I understand you're an officer of some unusual experience yourself? This isn't exactly orbital conditions, but..."

[works_in_space]

"...but I have some idea of what to expect, and I do have some training in arctic conditions." Not recent, but it will have to do. "Consider me completely at your disposal, Captain."

[gone_byebye]

Captain Korpan nods. "Fantastic. How are you with non-hostile nonhumans? Dr. Stantz here persuaded a unit of Deep Ones to lend us a hand with a possible rescue, but we need him and the other Ghostbusters in the same area in case of a full breach. My guys're good at handling the unusual, but they're... not so good at dealing with fish people, not just yet."

[trustydriver]

It feels weird to be working as part of a large group. The Red Panda always eschewed this kind of teamwork, feeling that he could be more effective if left to his own devices. He only teamed up with other superheroes when facing an immediate threat to the entire world.

The Red Panda's not here, though. And if Dr. Stantz is right, this is one doozy of an immediate threat.

The girl in the steel-gray catsuit and goggles greets Ray with a mock-salute. "Flyin' Squirrel reportin' for duty."

[gone_byebye]

Several people glance in the girl's direction in mild surprise, but Ray just looks glad to see her. "Fantastic," he says. "Squirrel, um, these are representatives from all three northern watch bureaus and the United States Marine Corps. The ones in the red and blue are from Finland, they're with Project Pohjola. The ones in blue and yellow are from Greenland, they're the Inquanok Patrol. And the ones who look like Mounties on steroids are the Canadians, they're the Ministry of Extraordinary Threats Rapid Response Team. That fellow over there is Captain Korpan, with the Ministry. He's the local operation coordinator. Apparently we're having a lot of trouble with standard radio communications, since the magnetic fields are going completely berserk. I really don't mean to be stereotypical about Canadians and their skill set, but do you by any chance have any skill at piloting snowmobiles or powered sleds or anything of that nature?"

[trustydriver]

"I can drive anything you've got," she says with confidence.

...no, she has no idea what a snowmobile is. Why do you ask?

[gone_byebye]

"Oh good," says Ray, relieved, and somewhere his dead grandfather is knocking his head against the wall about the whole failure-to-get-more-details thing. "Because the Russians seem to be doing something from both directions. The Deep Ones reported the presence of a helicopter with Russian markings at the site that used to be the North Magnetic Pole up until a few years ago, but they can't get close enough to tell what's going on. We need somebody to head in that direction for an intelligence sweep- can you and Tyler do it, do you think?"

[k_in_black]

Agent K steps across the threshold, bearing a gleaming, three-foot long, triple-barreled Korlian XT-17 on his shoulder. A jet-black MiBlackberry up to his ear. And what seems to be a grin on his face.

Been a while since he's had a mission worth toting one of these along.

Of course, the XT-17 isn't the only plasma heat he's packing. There's a Series 4 Deatomizer strapped to his hip, just in case. A Man in Black is never less than well-prepared.

"Zed, I'm crossing over now.... Affirmative, rest of the team's already assembling.... Right... Right... Got it. I'll check in with a preliminary After-Action Report at mission's end."

K stows the phone and takes a look around.

[gone_byebye]

The hangar is by and large a facility of the RCMP, at least in terms of logos and maintenance. Given that the Ministry of Extraordinary Threats was founded after a North-West Mounted Police encounter with Ithaqua the Wind Walker, the fact that it's shared isn't quite so surprising. Currently, it's got a lot of people in color-coded Arctic survival gear- red and blue suits, blue and yellow ones, and, yes, red, white, and black ones that strongly resemble Mounties on steroids in terms of design. The American contingent is probably the smallest, consisting pretty much of fifteen Marines (anyone who's ever dealt with the military can pick them out on sight no matter how they're dressed- this bunch looks like the people at GI Joe designed their clothes) and a couple of scientists who're conversing with people in Russian and in mangled English

[k_in_black]

K waves back and heads over to the four men. Oddly enough, the cold doesn't seem to be bothering him much at all, but he's definitely standing out like a bold-faced exclamation point on a blank page.

By the time he's in earshot, K is back to his usual game-face, as he calls out:

"You gents are looking like a suicidal stand against a potential Omega-Class Mythos Threat is somehow a bad thing."

[gone_byebye]

"I can think of better ways to spend my weekend," Winston returns- but he's smiling. "Good to see you again, man."

Ray just gives a wry, tired little smile. "I'm starting to understand some of the New Year's wishes I got this year," he says. "Hi, K. The Russians have a chopper out at the site that used to be the North Magnetic Pole before it started moving like a British royal with the paparazzi on its tail, which we figure can't mean anything good. Beaked Whale Moiety, and to a lesser degree Greenland Shark Moiety, sent a contingent of some of their better prepared deep sea swimmers to come and lend a hand. They've got even more reason not to want anything to come through the cracks than we do- they like it here just fine without the old home team."

Action Time: Team Helicopter

[gone_byebye]

It's a long, long way between the hangar at Alert and the site where the Russians' chopper was sighted. The snowmobile is easy enough to drive, and fast as any car owner of the late twentieth century might want, but the ice along the way is rippled, twisted and lumpy, the result of countless winter storms and winds whipping any free moisture at all into a frenzy before freezing it dead in place. Here and there are cracks, or holes big enough for something like a seal to poke its nose out, but those grow rapidly fewer with the distance. The GPS navigation built into the dash is trying valiantly to keep up with the snowmobile's location, but the amount of magnetic interference in the area is giving it an amazing amount of trouble. At least the odometer is working, and pretty consonant with what the Ministry said was the amount of ground they'd have to cover...

Re: Action Time: Team Helicopter

[trustydriver]

In the past, Kit has boasted that she can drive anything. However, she never said she could drive anything particularly well--particularly not a vehicle that's seventy-three years more advanced than anything she's ever used before. It's all she can do to keep the snowmobile upright and avoid the more extreme dips and bulges in the ice.

She glances over her shoulder at Tyler--sorry, 'Moon Shadow'--who's clinging to her for dear life. "You okay back there?" she asks, raising her voice to be heard above the wind and engine noise.

Re: Action Time: Team Helicopter

[tyler_marlocke]

Tyler's been on more bizarre bumpy rides than any gradeschooler should ever have to endure. That being said he doesn't particularly like riding on crazy-moving vehicles, so his expression through the cowl and helmet is as the icon depicts.

"I've had worse rides! Eyes FRONT PLEASE?" He yells over the wind and angine. "How much farther until we get to the goon squad?"

Re: Action Time: Team Helicopter

[trustydriver]

"Should be gettin' close now..."

Action Time: Team Submarine

[gone_byebye]

In the distance a small blackish smudge in the midst of the white and blue grows into a larger blackish smudge, and then resolves itself- a gap in the ice of a shape too regular to be anything but artificial. Huddling along one side are a group of about twelve humanoid figures; Tsybenko grunts. "You talk," he says as they draw closer. "I have no experience. Deep Ones are not so much my thing."

Re: Action Time: Team Submarine

[works_in_space]

"I'm sure that they won't seem that difficult to handle once you get to know them." Jim is clearly quite sure of himself.

Re: Action Time: Team Submarine

[gone_byebye]

"Americans are trouble enough," Tsybenko mutters, but he lets it drop as they pull up.

The Deep Ones present range in height from six feet tall to nearly seven. Their skin tones vary from dull greenish-grey to a grey-blue reminiscent of certain species of shark. Overall, their body designs are awfully similar- at least, to anyone who's read The Shadow Over Innsmouth and consequently expects a wider set of unwholesome mutations. Their eyes are too widely spaced to look them in both eyes at once comfortably, but it's obvious they have at least some degree of binocular vision, and they're all garbed in some form-fitting substance that hides the majority of their finnage from view.

Not the ones on their heads, though, or the webbing between their five fingers- one of the taller ones raises a hand in greeting. "Well, now," he says in passable English, "what do we have here?"

Re: Action Time: Team Submarine

[works_in_space]

"This is...Cosmonaut Tsybenko, formerly of the Russian Federation, and I'm James Kirk of the United States. I guess you can say we're representatives of the Ministry of Extraordinary Affairs. Doctor Stantz sent us, to try to deal with the submarine."

Jim tries very hard not to look surprised. How many aliens has he met, after all? But there is something a bit strange, a bit harsh, and a bit familiar. These, he thinks, are not really aliens, are they?