V.W.A.T. Director's Office (Fort Belvoir, Virginia)

Walking straight past the Mobster with an unfazed smile on his face Jaime shook Steeler’s hand with a good firm shake; it was going ok so far. He’d made a good impression; and was hopefully letting the prisoner’s know that he felt no fear from them.
“Good to meet you at las’ Sir, the lads in the Medical bay told me you came and checked up on me a few times while I was in t' coma. Am grateful for that, and don’t worry. I’ll mek the Tax Payer proud” He said, he thought that he was going to like it here. Rounding on the Mobster afterwards he wasn’t going to let what he’d said go totally unchallenged; he looked at Ladd’s suit and nodded slightly. “Mis’er Russo, tha’s a nice suit you got there, makes the blood stan’ out relly nice I bet” he flexed his fingers. “I bet it’s a nice privilege to ge’ killed by a man as refined and well dressed as yerself.” He really didn’t care what these people had to say, only Steeler deserved respect from him but these guys were trash.

“No I’ve not tried to take candy from babies, Mr?” he left it at that, he had to make sure he knew them properly if he was going to work with them. And if I go head to head with them in verbal wordplay that’d waste everyone’s time he though soberly. Now all that was left was to try and figure out the guy in bandages.

He was being ignored? Oh that just wasn't going to fly with him, oh no. He cocked a brow as the freak approached Steeler and lathered on another layer of ass-kissing. Scoffing audibly, he prepared to take his leave, suddenly sick at the deplorable sit. However, before he could leave, the robot man had addressed him, complimented him even. "Heh, well don't that just beat all. You ignore me and then you decide to flatter me? Yer startin to remind me of a nutjob I know back in New York. Difference is I actually like that guy. You? Yer flattery is just so ham-handed. How am I supposed to believe anything coming outta that blender ya call a mouth?" the mobster said outstretching both his arms with a shrug. Shaking his head, he didn't wait for an answer and headed for the door. He places to be, things to kill.

He wasn't convinced that none of the bloodsuckers would notice the one-eye, but, frankly, he didn't really care. If the freak ended up dead, it'd be a reasonable distraction for the rest of them. The ass-kisser was leaving a bad taste in the bandaged man's mouth; bet he didn't have to wear a collar... "Someone tell me when it's time to leave," he remarked, preparing to leave the room.

Sensing that the trio was beginning to get restless, the director decided to end the meeting there. He pulled a guard aside, "Get the one the dye and whatever else he might need for the disguise. Send the order to start prepping the weapons." The man nodded, then left the room. "That's all there is to say," he addressed the four. "We'll head out in three hours when. Take the time to prepare yourselves in whatever way you need."

"I'll be ready in one hour. Looking like a punk doesn't take too much effort at all sir."

>>>Exit to get Perdified and then onto the mission topic.

Taking leave of Steeler Jaime turned around and walked out of the door to prepare.

---->Mission Topic

(OOC) LAAAAAAAADD. And Executioner left. Haven't felt up to posting lately, if you couldn't tell, so I apologize for the wait on all this. I may actually leave control of Executioner to you guys this time around.

OOC: I apologize for the long wait, school and all that jazz. I thought I'd put the departure action in my last Ladd post but it appears it slipped my mind. Please consider him having left the topic and I'll meet you fine gentlemen in the mission topic whenever it is made.

As he monitored the mission from the safety of his office, the director couldn't help but feel the whole operation was about to come crashing down. Had he overestimated the abilities of those criminals? What would the higher ups think if all of them died out there, or even worse, if the whole city of Chicago died because they put their faith in them? Glancing at the computer screen, it started to read the Executioner's failing vital signs; one of them was already dying. He had no idea about the Teatime character. The signal was so scrambled he couldn't make it out. He could be dead, alive, a vampire, or even a toaster for all he knew.

Seeing as Bandages was about to kick it, he opened up a tab of potential recruits to find a replacement. At the same time, he made a mental note to see what the Japanese equivalent to his own group had just sent him over email. In addition, he'd have to look in to requesting more specialized soldiers; the cyborg they sent him seemed to be the most powerful of the group fighting now, so more like him could only help in the future. He was distracting himself, as he just realized, and took a long drink from some coffee before returning to his initial objective of finding a new criminal.

Nothing particularly special appeared at first: A strange clown, a scientist with a screw through his brain, some Australian boomerang person, a Latin bag of muscle, some nut working off the reputation of Jack the Ripper, and a guy whose M.O. was to hang people. There was one who interested him, however; a crime lord from New York who managed to incorporate almost all of the state's smaller gangs into his own. Recently captured, so it wouldn't be a problem to grab him. He'd conference with some others before he decided for sure, but this one seemed to be the most dangerous.

(OOC) Okay... Let's see what I don't like about this situation.

1. You've written everything in present tense. You have to write in past, per the rules.

2. You're a vampire, and would be shot on sight, regardless of who you know.

3. You've metagamed and godmodded a good deal by controlling my soldiers and, to a smaller extent, my character.

4. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to add this, but I don't like it when people just invite themselves into my base, especially my office.

5. That's pretty freaking convenient that I make a comment about needing new members to replace a not-yet dead guy, and a note about it magically appears on my desk.

(OOC: I am informed to Ignore the actions of Maxamillion. )

Roy was escorted up to the building were he would meet the director of his new assignments. Steeler was his name, and by the sound of it he was a pretty intimidating person. Roy entered the building escorted by two of the guards. When they came through the front gate he was told to leave his weapons with the person near the door. He did so removing his weapons and all of his ammo from his person including his bras knuckles and his normal pocket knife.

When they were done he was escorted to the office of his new commander and when the guard at the door opened it one of the soldiers went first, then Roy, then the other guard. Roy noted that these guards seemed to be introducing a new order of strictness. They seemed like they were well trained and used to performing tasks to the letter. They certainly had the security down over here yet. Something in the precision yet lack of grace of their movements implied that perhaps recently they stepped it up a notch. As they had not yet fallen into the grace of a repeated task yet.

Roy upon entering the office noted the slightly Irony smell of blood and the various stains on the floor. Hmmm, It appeared working with these criminals would be very dangerous.

When he was finally in the office and the guards had taken their positions Roy used to showing respect to higher authority Saluted his new commander and said to him. "Director Steeler, My name is Roy and it appears that I will be serving under you." Definitely not a very good military introduction but Roy thought compared to these prisoners it should be fine enough.

The director had been reading a report on their "advocate" and her progress, as well as learning of the demise of yet another asset, before the new recruit interrupted him. He pushed out the chair and stood, extending to his full height and walking around the desk to great the soldier. "I've heard of you," he said, not bothering with a greeting. "If you're as good as they say, then you shouldn't have a problem fitting in here." He pointed to one of the guards, who quickly produced copies of the profiles for the criminals in the group -excluding the Executioner and Jennifer- and handed it to Roy. "Those are your men. Learn them in an hour; they should be arriving at that time." Without another word, Steeler began to return to his desk.

"Yes sir, thank you sir." He responded to Steeler who was just as imposing as he imagined him to be. As he took hold of the papers. He noticed that there were a couple of papers he did not give Roy. Hmmm, it appeared not even the murdering psycho paths were safe.

The guard told Roy. "We shall give you your weapons back and escort you to your room if that is where you want to go."

"Uh, Ya sure sounds good. Lead the way." Roy responded.

From there the guards gave him back his weapons and his ammo and showed him to his room.

It wasn't to bad. Basically a simple 15 foot by 15 foot room. With a two person sofa, a desk, a T.V. held up by a wooden dresser, a bed, and other small things like spare paper and some pencils in a cup.

Roy took stock of the room and said under his breath a little. "Not bad, not bad."

He thanked the soldier and he left his room. Roy sat down on the chair next to the desk and started reading up on his new "comrades."

Senka moved along the hallway slowly while the guard behind him got frustrated with their progress. Despite where the guard thought he needed to be, Senka felt no need to move any faster, even found his uses for walking at this pace. The surrounding tapestries and whatnot caught Senka's eye but what he was looking at was the layout of the building, small comfort to this collar around his neck. Rather distasteful but from the sounds of it he'd have to start getting used to it. They finally came to the office and the guard grew silent, Senka glanced back before deciding that he had better not delay any further, wasting this guy's time would be a mistake, with that in mind he moved further into the room before he stood in front of the desk. Waiting for perhaps the first form of explanation he'd had all week...

Not yet realizing the death of Roy, Steeler continued work as usual. The two musclebound idiots had been subdued and returned to their cells. His secretary buzzed him, alerting him of the new arrival. Looking up from a stack of papers, he glanced over the new man, pulling up a file on the computer. "Hitman turned cop killer, are you? he read. You're lucky; if anyone else had found you, you probably wouldn't have made it past a week in a regular prison. This isn't a regular prison, though. He leaned back in the chair, folding his hands in his lap. "We go by V.W.A.T. Fight for the freedom of America by destroying the supernatural. You're here because you're expendable. If you accept this job, you'll get to keep doing what you do best, only more constructively. Refuse, and you'll be returned to where you should be right now."

Standing in silence, Senka really didn't know what to expect from him but his questions and prodding at his life before this seemed to irritate him. However keeping it to himself, he narrowed his eyes and looked the director in the eyes, seeing nothing but solid conviction. It was Senka that broke the eye contact, it wasn't as though he could make any lasting impression on this guy either way. 'Expendable' was the word he'd used, then he'd have to make use of himself and accept the offer, much better than rotting in a prison and being stabbed in the back. Much better to at least keep his skills finely honed fighting supernatural. "I'm not going to drag this out, short answer, I accept", Senka almost spat the last word with self loathing that he'd give in so quickly.

He grunted, acknowledging the response in the most disinterested way he could. "You'll be briefed later. Those men will show you to your cell. There seemed to be no end to recruits these days. It almost frightened him when he considered the state of the country. Almost.

Glancing back at the director one last time, Senka shrugged before he was 'escorted' from the room. Rough hands gripped his shoulder and barrels of guns hit his back urging him forward. Senka had n doubt he could kill both of them before Steeler had a chance to activate his collar, but these men were no doubt in the numbers. The feat would not accomplish anything but to sate Senka's own bloodlust at the moment. So he just let them do their job however they wished, he was sure more subtle and less self-sacrificing ways to make a point. It didn't take long before Senka's self absorbed thoughts found himself in fairly average looking room. Apart from the being locked in thing, it actually didn't appear half bad.
-------------------
Exit to Senka's cell

(OOC) After the cleanup team returned from the mission.

Worthless, all of them. This group was started so good soldiers wouldn't die at the hands of monsters like that, yet their science experiment costing millions in taxpayer money was torn to pieces like nothing. He'd ordered what was left of it to be kept for study; maybe they could find a use for the pieces at some point in the future. A plaque was meant to be hung in the common area to commemorate Roy's service to the group, situated next to other soldiers who lost their lives.

Angrily pressing down on the call button, he alerted his secretary, "Find that vampire. It doesn't matter how much time or how many resources; I want it found and I want it dead." He didn't wait for a response. Running his hands through his hair, he let out a long sigh. He was starting to feel his age. They'd lost a soldier, a science experiment, and a consultant today, and that wasn't acceptable.

Jaime was pushed into the office with a gun at his back and a man either side of him, he felt insulted by this and his patience was waxing. Swallowing the growing anger the Ex-Marine stood up straight and waited for Mr Steeler to address him, it wasn’t his place in the situation to speak out until he was told to and so he kept good posture and waited for the verdict. Though in his head he worked out what he was going to say, the fact that the quarters were well out of the way of anything might play in his favour though he wasn’t going to get his hopes up. I swear that I will beat the crap out of the Staff Sergeant if he has had anything to do with this crap; he said it would be ok if I went straight to the room and back and made sure he saw nothing until Steeler spoke to him. He thought to himself, Jaime waited to be addressed silently, this was going to end badly.

The sight of this man repulsed the director. How stupid could this ignorant bastard be? Standing from behind his desk, he briskly walked towards Jaime, unclipping his gun and pulling the abnormally large weapon from his holster. Raising the weapon, he smacked the Brit across the face with it to send him to the floor. He place the barrel to the man's temple, fully prepared to execute him.

"What in God's name were you thinking?" he bellowed, pulling the hammer back on the gun. "You take an unknown civilian into a top secret military base without so much as a Post-It Note left on my desk. Does your metal brain even comprehend the security risk you've just let in? Do you know what could happen to any of us if that man leaves here?" He wanted this moron to realize how badly he'd messed up this entire operation. By the end, he wanted him begging to be shot in retribution, and he may very well grant that wish with how angry he is.

“Sir, I left a message with Staff Sergeant Neal about him and I took him to Advocate and the others. It may seem stupid but do you really think I’m going to leave a Cyborg running around out there; his arm is unusual to say the least sir and I’m sure it’s not organic. And anyway if he went out of control me and Ad would have been able to handle it” Jaime said as the gun was pressed against his head. “You fought in Vietnam and you know the importance of instinct, the civilian I brought in could be dangerous if he fell into the hands of Vampires or a group that would wish us harm. So I had to think fast, while here and we could get a measure of him and while he’s surrounded by guards he couldn't cause us trouble.” While on the floor he could feel the cold metal of the gun against his head, it was scary to say the least. “If you really want to kill me Sir, do it, I deserve as much for not coming directly to you”

Pressing the gun deeper into his head, the fury still burned in him. He didn't care about these excuses. Even so, he needed men, and this one -no matter how stupid- was still of use. The same could be said for the one he'd waltzed in with. Removing the gun, he kicked Jaime in the stomach with all his might. "Get him out of my sight. Fit him with the upgrade." The upgrade he spoke of was a remote bomb, able to detonate the same way a prisoner's collar would shock them. If he stepped out of line again, he'd be going up in flames.

(leon is in Service dress uniform)

It was years since Leon was at this base.  He had a nostalgic joy to being back here even thought his former organization was twisted and bastardized into a criminal's play pen.  He walked through the hallways remember the respectable and skilled operatives that worked under the admiral.  He walked up to the new director's office.  He took a breath because he read the file and didn't like the man already. He was brash and didn't think carefully on decisions in his military career.  Though Leon couldn't necessarily blame him.  He served in Vietnam and that war in itself wasn't clearly thought through. However Leon was here to evaluate the effectiveness of this new approach.  Especially since two operatives were killed in a single mission.   One being a normal human while the other a cyborg.  The Special committee that oversaw this wasn't to happy about that.  Leon opened the door only to see the director putting a gun away by the looks of it Leon could deduce something had happend. "Major, why is your firearm out?" Leon asked without introduction, he'd assumed Steeler recieved a well worded letter explaining why he was here. Leon was unsure if the Director knew who exactly Leon was or Leon's service history.

No time for respite, it seemed, as just after the rebellious soldier was taken away, another irritant showed its head. No doubt this was the "inspector" they'd sent. "Discipline," was all he said before returning his gun to its resting place. Pressing a button on his desk to page his secretary, he requested, ""Fletcher, coffee. Two cups. We have a guest." Returning to face the man, he gave a practiced salute. Hopefully, the more formal things seemed, the faster this would be over.

Leon returned the salute and took a seat opposite of Steeler.  "Interesting word discipline is.  When I was in your chair, discipline was a form of training to better the soldiers I commanded.  It appears you're more radical.  But then again these hallways seem to filled with undesirables lately." Leon said, As you should already know, I am here to evaluate the effectiveness of the model you are using for the VWAT.  Let it be known that I plan to accompany and assist on some missions to see the combat effectiveness and overall control you have over these criminals.  Are there any operative who are not criminals that I should be aware of?" Leon kept his tone as spoke.  Steeler was at a disadvantage with Leon seeing as Leon didn't like him form reading the file. Orders were orders and he would critique fairly,  however his standards will be at the standards he had when he Ran this organization.

That was where he'd known this man from; he was the former leader of this group. How fitting that he was the one inspecting them. "It can't be helped, what with the tragic deaths of so many of the soldiers you commanded the last time they were deployed." Coffee would have been nice at the moment, but it seemed Fletcher was taking his time, as usual. Apparently, this man was actually planning to go into the field with his people. He might have been fit for combat once, but the director couldn't imagine he'd still be in such shape after being promoted to a desk jockey. "Several of note. Fletcher," he called back, pressing the button again. "Bring the files on the more notable personal working for the military."

Hearing the buzzer go off and knowing Steeler enjoyed his coffee Reese quickly made two cups of what he hoped both men would enjoy or at least tolerate. As he was about to enter the office he hard the buzzer again. Quickly he grabbed the requested files. He entered the room with the cups and files and placing them near his superiors the files and one cup closer to steeler he saluted and said to them.

"Black if you'll have it Mr. Leon, If not just say the word."

Reese was eager to get back to his calculations but he would not leave until dismissed in case Steele needed anything else.

Leon was off put by Steeler's comments.  For the record we only lost one operative, we were disbanded due to the budget crisis our lovely nation's law makers decided to get us into.  However your critique would hold more merit if it wasn't coming from a man who lost his entire unit in Vietnam.  Bad Intel aside, you were captured, and there are a few senators who question your psychological profile as well as your mental stability due to your past career." Leon said as the assisant walked in and addressed Leon by his first name.  "Rear Admiral," Leon corrected, "In the military you lose your first name in place of a rank and your last name. My last name is Valentine, so it would be Rear Admiral Valentine, however I may also be called Admiral Valentine.  It usually depends on the person.' Leon said as he took the coffee, "Thank you" Leon said.  He would have to see this 'so called discipline in action and see if it did actually work.

"Times have changed, Admiral," he countered. "Back then, we had people brainwashed into trying to take a country at the cost of their own lives without regret. Now, it's just Dracula with an illegal firearm, strutting about at night thinking he can do whatever he wants." Their riveting conversation was interrupted by the secretary. "That will be all," he said, inwardly annoyed at the young man's incompetence. He took a drink from the mug, the bitter liquid's heat scorching his throat on the way down. He pointed to the files. "Those are the military personnel currently working under me."

Reese was aware of this sign of respect although unfortunately for him he had only known this mans first name and nothing else other than he was an inspector. He realized this was a bad time to screw anything up but oh well it shouldn't matter to much.

Saluting his superiors he responded.

"Yes sir, thank you sir."

And exited the room.

------>Exit. To office.

Leon quickly flipped through the files.  "Indeed they have, I remember the days where they didn't let criminals who would receive the death sentence run around the world killing supernaturals. Instead they had highly trained operatives."Leon said, "Alucard, as he is known today, is indeed long overdue for eternal sleep." Leon had a strong feeling that their mutual hatred for vampires will be the only thing they can agree on.  Hopefully it would be enough to not cause the two to start fighting all too much.  

"I will be meeting with these individuals one on one in the conference room. I will be setting up shop there. Do these people also have your disciplinary device or is it just the criminals?"  This will be an interesting period for Leon, Steeler seemed reserved but also cooperative. Had a bit of a mouth but Leon dealt with worse.

The director scoffed at the remark. "Better to sacrifice people who are better off dead. If it means less good men lost in the field, I won't be shedding a tear for them." It seemed they'd found a middle ground, at the very least, concerning vampires. Steeler didn't trust them, even the ones who were supposedly tame. "There'd be no reason to do that. Those soldiers are loyal to their country and to the group; it would be a waste of good technology to bother with it." He put his faith in those men. Some of them had been blown to pieces, yet still chose to serve. Others loved their homeland and wanted to protect it. Whatever their reason, he felt he could trust them, so he had no fear of this man trying to interrogate them. "A good portion of the recruits are on missions around the country at the moment, so you'll have to have patience with this."

"Very well, and good I would've had to report that,  I want to see this organization succeed however I will tell you right now, I do not agree with the use of criminals, I understand how expendable they are.  But someday they may figure a way out of the collars, are you prepared for that? Leon asked.  He knew they had an extremely large security presence here but Leon always questioned if would be enough, especially since he read the reports on some of the criminals.  Some of them were bright and had the potential of doing so.  Leon would make it a point to make sure there are procedures in place for such an event.

"I may be old, but I'm not exactly ready for the home. I can handle myself, just as every soldier in here can. I make it a point to have my staff outnumber them at all times. A riot shouldn't be a problem. If we're finished with this discussion," he said, buzzing a soldier in, who saluted to both. "Show the admiral to the conference room. I'll be sending down our field operatives as they return. You're free to go anywhere on the base, but I'd recommend an escort; we wouldn't want you getting lost."

"Indeed.  If I have anything else I will ask." Leon said as he saluted the soldiers and left to the conference, before leaving he turned to steeler and said, "It may have been a while, but I still remember my way around the complex.  I ran plenty of laps around it for PT" with that he left.  It is going to be interesting.


===>?

There is a note on Steeler's desk.  It reads as follows:

Dear Maj. Steeler


I have taken the liberty of taking leaving and going for a stroll along the bayou.  I will be back in a day or two, but no more than three days.  Have fun in my abscence, as I will continue my interviews when I return.


Sincerely,


RAdm. Valentine

===>Mission and surgery

Entering the office, the top assassin of the Russo family was not clad in one of his characteristic three piece suits. Rather, he wore a pair of white slippers along with plain blue pajama style slacks and a comfortable button up shirt of the same color. Though he still moved with his normal swagger, a confident grin on his face, no one could miss the heavy bandages tired around Ladd's left forearm. Or rather, around the stump that used to be his left forearm. Badly injured during his last mission, Russo's reckless behavior had only worsened the injury and according to the surgeons that had helped patch him up at base, there was nothing that could be done to return the arm to it's previous level of health. Doing the rational thing, Ladd had them cut it off and then beat them to death with it. Time for an upgrade.

Or at least that was what the mobster thought as he waltzed into the office and sat down on the edge of Steeler's desk. "Hey old man, I need ya to give me a hand with something," he said, chuckling at his own joke before he could even get a response out of Steeler. "But no, I just lost a freakin arm doing yer dirty work and you bastards are gonna make it up to me, capiche? There are plenty of guys walking around here with fake arms and shit. I want one."

It was another long day. Finishing the note, the director pinched the bridge of his nose. Why would this fool want to put his life on the line during a mission? Hopefully, if he died, it could be blamed on the Admiral's own incompetence, but that would rely on the other two agents make it out. He held some faith in them being able to do that, considering they were two of the best the country had to offer.

The intrusive arrival of Russo was an annoyance, but not unwanted; he'd finalized the paperwork for his transfer only a few hours ago. They'd already received their new member from Japan, but finding a suitable candidate to represent the criminal element (i.e. one they wouldn't miss too terribly much) was a slight challenge. "Afraid I can't do that," he answered the mobster. "As three hours ago, you're no longer my problem. You're being transferred to Japan as an act of good faith, starting tomorrow." He was prepared for various protest and potentially violent tantrums, keeping his right hand in his pocket and hovering over the collar controls.

Russo blinked, visibly taken aback by the news. "Japan? The hell am I supposed to do in Japan? I don't understand a lick of it!" Ladd exclaimed, hopping off the desk to his feet and waving his stump of an arm to drive home his point. Suddenly though, the convict paused as a light bulb went off in his head. His indignation shifted to an excited grin and he leaned over the desk towards Steeler. "Wait a second, they got all sorts of robot stuff over in Japan. Just thinking of the fancy new arm those Asians'll give me's got me all fired up! Plus, it's freakin Japan! Who knows what kinda crazy ass monsters they've got running around there! Haha!" Ladd laughed, stepping back to dance in a small circle at the notion. "I'm gonna punch Godzilla face!" Doing a bit of one armed shadow boxing, Ladd jumped up and clicked his heels together before making for the door. "I'll send ya a post card, old man! Don't go forgetting about me now, I'll be back to bust open your skull before ya know it!"

Things went better than expected. Russo seemed to have convinced himself into going, which saved him the trouble of a lecture and excessive force. He sat back in his chair as the criminal began to leave, satisfied that things had worked out for the better.