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<blockquote data-quote="Acquana" data-source="post: 1349784" data-attributes="member: 1616"><p><strong>Holy Crap Omg Omg It's An Update</strong></p><p></p><p>OMG Can this be an update?! You betcha it is! It's an update! Whoo hoo!</p><p></p><p>What do I have for all of you? Why, more story, a new player character, and more art! Yay! For the new art check the links, and in <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=albuo10&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php" target="_blank">Trudi's Sketchbook.</a> </p><p></p><p>This is gonna be fun.</p><p>_________________________</p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Chapter Four</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Interstate 10</span></strong></p><p></p><p><em>July 28, 1996</em></p><p></p><p>The morning after their wreck, the newbie Knights all gather in a spare office the Atlanta headquarters can offer. Marshall Whitman, their commander from Savannah, and Autumn Yieotanna, one of the high ranking psions from Savannah, both arrive in Atlanta. The Knights are told they’re about to be given new orders.</p><p></p><p>Whitman arrives first, Autumn close behind. Marshall sits down at the head of the small meeting table, Autumn stands by him rather than sitting. This is the first time the PCs other than Jared have met the psion, and none of them get a very fond impression of her. Mostly because of Autumn’s very smug expression, that and when she speaks half of what she says hints of her doubts on their performance and competence. Well, alright, that and she dresses and holds a manner of herself to make it seem like she probably just slept her way to the top. Del is horribly hungover, and <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=album71&id=Hungover&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php" target="_blank">has little patience for Autumn’s attitude.</a></p><p></p><p>Whitman finally clears his throat and pulls out a set of files. “Please don’t take Agent Yieotanna’s criticism harshly. You all did rather well under the circumstances.”</p><p></p><p>“Thanks!” Trudi blurts out.</p><p></p><p>Whitman is taken back momentarily, but smiles and continues. “Considering that you’re the only agents we’ve got who’ve faced the Untouchables head-on before ...” he says with a grin to Jared. “... You’ll be the ones on this case until further notice.”</p><p></p><p>Alex lowers an eyebrow. “Um. Aren’t we a little new at this? Shouldn’t an investigative team be on this case?”</p><p></p><p>“Don’t worry. You’ll have help. You both can come in,” he calls to the door.</p><p></p><p>The door opens and a large man with a mess of brown hair steps in. He’s wearing a Black Dog t-shirt over his gut, jeans that are too tight. A huge grin is plastered over his face. “Agent Greenman, at your service,” he announces himself.</p><p></p><p>Del’s headache gets worse as soon as he walks in and she grumbles under her breath.</p><p></p><p>“I’m your tech man,” Brian says, shaking Alex’s hand. “Or tech god is more like. I can make pretty much any computer sit up and dance for me.”</p><p></p><p>Jared smiles brightly at Brian’s t-shirt. “Hey, you play Black Dog!”</p><p></p><p>“You kiddin? I play everything!” Brian says, eagerly turning to the fellow gamer. </p><p></p><p>“I work there!”</p><p></p><p>“Hey, no sh*t! Awesome!”</p><p></p><p>Marshall Whitman clears his throat. “Agents.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh, sorry,” Brian says with a sheepish grin. He squeezes himself between Del and Jared, Del scoots away from him and stares deeper into her coffee.</p><p></p><p>“Greenman will your tech support. He’ll be handling most of the file searching and information gathering from Savannah,” Whitman continues, adding a glance to the door. “The rest of you will be on the road as soon as possible. We have a van for you, it’ll be up to you to fill in the gaps between what we can do from here.”</p><p></p><p>“How’s the divination going?” Watanabe asks.</p><p></p><p>“Not as well as it should,” Whitman sighs. “The Untouchables obviously have something they’re using to throw us off. It’s not very strong, we have found a trail here and there. Enough to tell that they’re at I-10 by now. We’ll get you on the road, just I’m going to inform you a little more in detail of what you’re going up against.”</p><p></p><p>With that he opens the files and sets out a series of photographs. The PCs recognize the members of the Untouchables they encountered the night before, and Whitman gives them names to put to faces. The minotaur, as they knew, is Dirk Bavarus, their leader. He’s been in and out of Gaian prisons for nearly twenty years, but for nothing major, only petty theft and the like. His main partner is the dwarf, a woman named Colma “Dyna” Anders, the Dyna is short for dynamite. She’s their demolitions expert. She’s the one with the biggest criminal record of the lot: Dyna was briefly an illegal weapons dealer, has been charged theft of components for explosives, and arson. The human the Knights saw was Harrison Felton, the first of two mundanes in the Untouchables. The BMM is unsure how Harry met Dirk, but all that matters is that Harry is now their hacker.</p><p></p><p>At the sound of the word “hacker,” Trudi tenses and everyone hears her repeat it in a furious growl.</p><p></p><p>Unfazed, Whitman continues. Harry’s younger sister is Sadie Felton, and is the Untouchables’s driver. She’s the enigma. While even her brother has had a criminal record (for hacking into corporate systems), Sadie is completely clean. She is one of a group of mundanes who own a completely legitimate, normal auto repair garage in Dallas, Texas. The Bureau’s sources can only assume that Sadie has been dragged into this by her brother.</p><p></p><p>The most disturbing news of the night had been the new addition to the Untouchables: Terrance Marks, missing Bureau psion.</p><p></p><p>While Whitman is speaking, Jared hears her voice speaking only to him: <em>Good morning, Belmont.</em></p><p></p><p><em>Morning, Agent Yieotanna,</em> he replies.</p><p></p><p><em>I’m giving you your orders on behalf of J’Qwuan.</em></p><p></p><p><em>I have different orders than the rest of my team?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Yes. Your only target is Marks. And when you meet him, kill him.</em></p><p></p><p>Jared accidentally knocks over his drink and fumbles to try to clean it up. When he looks back up at Autumn, she wears a dark grin over her face that lets him know he didn’t misunderstand her.</p><p></p><p>Whitman recollects himself after the brief distraction of Jared cleaning up the spill. He is about to say something more, until the door opens again. A stack of books lumbers in. Everyone who faces the stack can see it’s being held by someone, but the thin-armed someone is having great difficulty getting in. </p><p></p><p>“Will you be needing help?” Whitman offers, standing slightly.</p><p></p><p>“Oh. Oh no, I’m fine,” a soft, male voice from behind the books says. “I’ve go--” Before he can finish his sentence, the young man lets out a soft cry as the books begin to tumble from his hands. As the books pile at his feet, the Knights get a good look at the young man who has just entered. <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=album71&id=North&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php" target="_blank">He looks no older than seventeen, soft-faced and smooth featured.</a> He stares at the books at his feet with a look of disappointment more then frustration and begins straightening them.</p><p></p><p>“I hope you’re not planning on bringing all those ...” Whitman says softly.</p><p></p><p>The young man raises his face suddenly, his steel blue eyes widen and the long, platinum hair that hangs down his back flutters with the movement. “I can’t?”</p><p></p><p>“Who’s this?” Alex asks.</p><p></p><p>“Hey!” Trudi says, standing. “You need help with those?”</p><p></p><p>Before the young man can answer, Trudi rushes beside him and begins grabbing books off the floor. He turns red in the cheeks slightly as he stares up at her. “You’re tall ...”</p><p></p><p>“This,” Marshall Whitman begins, “Is your new member. His work with the Bureau has been brief so far, but he’ll be a big help. He knows at least something about everything. This is Pr--”</p><p></p><p>The young man coughs loudly.</p><p></p><p>Whitman stops and the two stare at one another briefly. The newcomer’s eyes thin slightly and his lips tighten. Finally sighing deeply, Whitman tries again. “This is North.”</p><p></p><p>“A pleasure,” North says with a gentle smile, offering his hand to Trudi. </p><p></p><p>“Hi! I’m Trudi!” she shouts, eagerly shaking North’s hand. He grunts as his hand is squeezed rather tightly.</p><p></p><p>“North, I briefed you beforehand. These are your teammates: Jared Belmont, Trudi Schneider, Twilight Lokya, Rebecca Watanabe--”</p><p></p><p>The other agents all face Watanabe. She rolls her eyes.</p><p></p><p>“--Delria, and your commander Alexander P’tarr. Brian Greenman will be tech. I wouldn’t worry about that,” Whitman adds when North seems lost as to what he means exactly by “tech.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s enough,” Whitman finishes, recollecting the files. “You’d all better hurry.”</p><p></p><p>_________________________</p><p></p><p>The Knights receive a new van for the journey, and Delria has a bit of evidence to start off the mission. Before leaving, she places an inhaler in Brian Greenman’s hands.</p><p></p><p>“I found it at the scene when the Untouchables fled. I’m pretty sure it must belong to someone in their group.”</p><p></p><p>“I betcha you’re right. The name’s been scratched off of this prescription sticker.”</p><p></p><p>Delria stares at him, not really up to speed on Terran medical practices.</p><p></p><p>“But hey, the insurance info is there … This is definitely good. I’ll get back with ya.” He pats the top of her head, something Delria absolutely can’t stand from tall folk, but she manages to control herself.</p><p></p><p>Trudi has packed the van to the brim with emergency supplies for the trip, most of it being snacks from a convenience store. While Alex tries to tell Trudi it’s not necessary, North slams a pile of books next to him. Looking between North and Trudi, Alex sighs in frustration.</p><p></p><p>“No,” he snaps to North. “What are all these?”</p><p></p><p>“For research.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s what Brian is for!” </p><p></p><p>North frowns. </p><p></p><p>“You were supposed to be on this mission for whatever knowledge you’ve got in your head. There is room for you, not all this crap.”</p><p></p><p>An expression much like his entire lineage has been insulted, North growls out something in a language no one in the party can understand.</p><p></p><p>Alex is taken aback by the thus-far soft-spoken youth’s outburst, then shakes his head. “Look if you understand nothing else, understand I am ordering you to leave the books and to get in the van.”</p><p></p><p>North notices the van as if for the first time. He looks it over, staring questioningly at the tires.</p><p></p><p>Delria has walked beside Alex and flies up close to his ear. “Did you hear what he was mumbling in?”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah … Not sure I understood it though.”</p><p></p><p>“Sounded Orcish to me.”</p><p></p><p>“No, no. Too much … I dunno, Greek thrown in to be Orcish.”</p><p></p><p>“Is there any other way to get there?” North suddenly asks, looking slightly ill.</p><p></p><p>Alex stares at him, dumbfounded. “What? No! Just get in the car.”</p><p></p><p>“You’re ordering me?”</p><p></p><p>“… Yes! Everyone just get in and stop wasting time!”</p><p></p><p>As everyone piles in Jared is once again driver, Watanabe takes shotgun, and the others try to find a comfortable seating situation. Predictably North is the last inside. As he crawls into the far back he is again muttering in his strange tongue.</p><p></p><p>“There it is again,” Delria whispers to Alex.</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, yeah … Funny, I feel like I’ve heard it before.”</p><p></p><p>_________________________</p><p></p><p>The trip down I-10 is fairly uneventful. The group receives calls from the Bureau every hours or so as the attempts to follow the Untouchables’s whereabouts grow increasingly more difficult. The group stops for lunch at a Denny’s (North chooses to stay outside of the van alone, and Trudi entertains most of those inside with much shouting at the claw machine and <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=album71&id=Flying&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php" target="_blank">playing with Delria</a>), and then head back on the road (Alex again has to order North back in the van before he’d do it).</p><p></p><p>Shortly after this a call finally arrives from Brian. The asthma medicine turns out to be Terrance Marks’s! Through the insurance he has managed to track that a refill prescription was put through only hours before, at a Walgreen’s in Tallahassee, Florida. (Most of the team more familiar with technology can guess that in order to get the information this quickly Brian isn’t using wholly legal methods, but no one lets on to the still oblivious Trudi that their new partner is a “hacker.”)</p><p></p><p>A real lead, and only day one. The team now has a direction to go, and Jared raises the volume of his skaa tapes in excitement.</p><p></p><p>They arrive at Tallahassee and begin a search. They all realize they probably won’t be lucky enough to run into the Untouchables at the Walgreen’s, but it seems a fairly good place to start looking. Jared parks the van and the group begins to get out. As soon as Alex, Trudi, and Twilight are out, however, they stop. Exiting the Walgreen’s is Sadie Felton and Terrance Marks. The pair look horrified and Terrance grabs Sadie’s arm to run. </p><p></p><p>“Everyone out, now!” Alex snaps.</p><p></p><p>The BMM team gets out, but are unable to beat Terrance and Sadie to their van. Watanabe tries to shoot out their tires, but the van speeds backwards straight out of the parking lot nearly as soon as it’s started. Quickly the team rushes back to their vehicle and Jared slams on the gas.</p><p></p><p>The two vans give chase through the middle of Tallahassee, swerving by other cars and taking sharp turns. Jared grits his teeth and tries to follow Sadie’s movements, but she’s a d*mn good driver. The other agents all keep their weapons ready; and also keep trying to tell Jared how to follow her. In frustration Jared snaps at the rest of the group so they’ll all stop shouting at once.</p><p></p><p>It’s at that point that a cold rush goes through the van. Jared’s breath nearly stops. How could he have forgotten what Terrance could pull off? Everyone in the van winces in pain as a sharpness pierces their heads. Jared is the only one left conscious, but even then as soon as he lifts his head he realizes he’d briefly not been watching the road. He lets out a horrified cry as he swerves out of the way of an eighteen wheeler. The car skids and screeches off the road, landing in a ditch. </p><p></p><p>When everyone regains their senses they see that the van has been wrecked twice in two days. While no one is hurt, North has disappeared.</p><p></p><p>More investigation follows. With the help of the BMM clean-up crew that arrives to aid them the Knights are able to find the hotel the Untouchables were staying at. Were. They had checked out in a hurry, naturally.</p><p></p><p>Frustrated and bruised, missing a team member, the Knights take up the offer of one of the clean-up crew to stay at one of the local motels. To their surprise, North is already there, waiting for them. Alex and North get into a short argument when North refuses to say what exactly happened, but Alex finally gives up and retires to a room.</p><p></p><p>Delria follows Alex briefly. “So, hey. Figured out what his language is yet?”</p><p></p><p>Alex shrugs. “Funny thing … It kinda sounded like Centaur.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Acquana, post: 1349784, member: 1616"] [b]Holy Crap Omg Omg It's An Update[/b] OMG Can this be an update?! You betcha it is! It's an update! Whoo hoo! What do I have for all of you? Why, more story, a new player character, and more art! Yay! For the new art check the links, and in [url=http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=albuo10&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php]Trudi's Sketchbook.[/url] This is gonna be fun. _________________________ [B][SIZE=3]Chapter Four Interstate 10[/SIZE][/B] [I]July 28, 1996[/I] The morning after their wreck, the newbie Knights all gather in a spare office the Atlanta headquarters can offer. Marshall Whitman, their commander from Savannah, and Autumn Yieotanna, one of the high ranking psions from Savannah, both arrive in Atlanta. The Knights are told they’re about to be given new orders. Whitman arrives first, Autumn close behind. Marshall sits down at the head of the small meeting table, Autumn stands by him rather than sitting. This is the first time the PCs other than Jared have met the psion, and none of them get a very fond impression of her. Mostly because of Autumn’s very smug expression, that and when she speaks half of what she says hints of her doubts on their performance and competence. Well, alright, that and she dresses and holds a manner of herself to make it seem like she probably just slept her way to the top. Del is horribly hungover, and [url=http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=album71&id=Hungover&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php]has little patience for Autumn’s attitude.[/url] Whitman finally clears his throat and pulls out a set of files. “Please don’t take Agent Yieotanna’s criticism harshly. You all did rather well under the circumstances.” “Thanks!” Trudi blurts out. Whitman is taken back momentarily, but smiles and continues. “Considering that you’re the only agents we’ve got who’ve faced the Untouchables head-on before ...” he says with a grin to Jared. “... You’ll be the ones on this case until further notice.” Alex lowers an eyebrow. “Um. Aren’t we a little new at this? Shouldn’t an investigative team be on this case?” “Don’t worry. You’ll have help. You both can come in,” he calls to the door. The door opens and a large man with a mess of brown hair steps in. He’s wearing a Black Dog t-shirt over his gut, jeans that are too tight. A huge grin is plastered over his face. “Agent Greenman, at your service,” he announces himself. Del’s headache gets worse as soon as he walks in and she grumbles under her breath. “I’m your tech man,” Brian says, shaking Alex’s hand. “Or tech god is more like. I can make pretty much any computer sit up and dance for me.” Jared smiles brightly at Brian’s t-shirt. “Hey, you play Black Dog!” “You kiddin? I play everything!” Brian says, eagerly turning to the fellow gamer. “I work there!” “Hey, no sh*t! Awesome!” Marshall Whitman clears his throat. “Agents.” “Oh, sorry,” Brian says with a sheepish grin. He squeezes himself between Del and Jared, Del scoots away from him and stares deeper into her coffee. “Greenman will your tech support. He’ll be handling most of the file searching and information gathering from Savannah,” Whitman continues, adding a glance to the door. “The rest of you will be on the road as soon as possible. We have a van for you, it’ll be up to you to fill in the gaps between what we can do from here.” “How’s the divination going?” Watanabe asks. “Not as well as it should,” Whitman sighs. “The Untouchables obviously have something they’re using to throw us off. It’s not very strong, we have found a trail here and there. Enough to tell that they’re at I-10 by now. We’ll get you on the road, just I’m going to inform you a little more in detail of what you’re going up against.” With that he opens the files and sets out a series of photographs. The PCs recognize the members of the Untouchables they encountered the night before, and Whitman gives them names to put to faces. The minotaur, as they knew, is Dirk Bavarus, their leader. He’s been in and out of Gaian prisons for nearly twenty years, but for nothing major, only petty theft and the like. His main partner is the dwarf, a woman named Colma “Dyna” Anders, the Dyna is short for dynamite. She’s their demolitions expert. She’s the one with the biggest criminal record of the lot: Dyna was briefly an illegal weapons dealer, has been charged theft of components for explosives, and arson. The human the Knights saw was Harrison Felton, the first of two mundanes in the Untouchables. The BMM is unsure how Harry met Dirk, but all that matters is that Harry is now their hacker. At the sound of the word “hacker,” Trudi tenses and everyone hears her repeat it in a furious growl. Unfazed, Whitman continues. Harry’s younger sister is Sadie Felton, and is the Untouchables’s driver. She’s the enigma. While even her brother has had a criminal record (for hacking into corporate systems), Sadie is completely clean. She is one of a group of mundanes who own a completely legitimate, normal auto repair garage in Dallas, Texas. The Bureau’s sources can only assume that Sadie has been dragged into this by her brother. The most disturbing news of the night had been the new addition to the Untouchables: Terrance Marks, missing Bureau psion. While Whitman is speaking, Jared hears her voice speaking only to him: [I]Good morning, Belmont.[/I] [I]Morning, Agent Yieotanna,[/I] he replies. [I]I’m giving you your orders on behalf of J’Qwuan.[/I] [I]I have different orders than the rest of my team? Yes. Your only target is Marks. And when you meet him, kill him.[/I] Jared accidentally knocks over his drink and fumbles to try to clean it up. When he looks back up at Autumn, she wears a dark grin over her face that lets him know he didn’t misunderstand her. Whitman recollects himself after the brief distraction of Jared cleaning up the spill. He is about to say something more, until the door opens again. A stack of books lumbers in. Everyone who faces the stack can see it’s being held by someone, but the thin-armed someone is having great difficulty getting in. “Will you be needing help?” Whitman offers, standing slightly. “Oh. Oh no, I’m fine,” a soft, male voice from behind the books says. “I’ve go--” Before he can finish his sentence, the young man lets out a soft cry as the books begin to tumble from his hands. As the books pile at his feet, the Knights get a good look at the young man who has just entered. [url=http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=album71&id=North&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php]He looks no older than seventeen, soft-faced and smooth featured.[/url] He stares at the books at his feet with a look of disappointment more then frustration and begins straightening them. “I hope you’re not planning on bringing all those ...” Whitman says softly. The young man raises his face suddenly, his steel blue eyes widen and the long, platinum hair that hangs down his back flutters with the movement. “I can’t?” “Who’s this?” Alex asks. “Hey!” Trudi says, standing. “You need help with those?” Before the young man can answer, Trudi rushes beside him and begins grabbing books off the floor. He turns red in the cheeks slightly as he stares up at her. “You’re tall ...” “This,” Marshall Whitman begins, “Is your new member. His work with the Bureau has been brief so far, but he’ll be a big help. He knows at least something about everything. This is Pr--” The young man coughs loudly. Whitman stops and the two stare at one another briefly. The newcomer’s eyes thin slightly and his lips tighten. Finally sighing deeply, Whitman tries again. “This is North.” “A pleasure,” North says with a gentle smile, offering his hand to Trudi. “Hi! I’m Trudi!” she shouts, eagerly shaking North’s hand. He grunts as his hand is squeezed rather tightly. “North, I briefed you beforehand. These are your teammates: Jared Belmont, Trudi Schneider, Twilight Lokya, Rebecca Watanabe--” The other agents all face Watanabe. She rolls her eyes. “--Delria, and your commander Alexander P’tarr. Brian Greenman will be tech. I wouldn’t worry about that,” Whitman adds when North seems lost as to what he means exactly by “tech.” “That’s enough,” Whitman finishes, recollecting the files. “You’d all better hurry.” _________________________ The Knights receive a new van for the journey, and Delria has a bit of evidence to start off the mission. Before leaving, she places an inhaler in Brian Greenman’s hands. “I found it at the scene when the Untouchables fled. I’m pretty sure it must belong to someone in their group.” “I betcha you’re right. The name’s been scratched off of this prescription sticker.” Delria stares at him, not really up to speed on Terran medical practices. “But hey, the insurance info is there … This is definitely good. I’ll get back with ya.” He pats the top of her head, something Delria absolutely can’t stand from tall folk, but she manages to control herself. Trudi has packed the van to the brim with emergency supplies for the trip, most of it being snacks from a convenience store. While Alex tries to tell Trudi it’s not necessary, North slams a pile of books next to him. Looking between North and Trudi, Alex sighs in frustration. “No,” he snaps to North. “What are all these?” “For research.” “That’s what Brian is for!” North frowns. “You were supposed to be on this mission for whatever knowledge you’ve got in your head. There is room for you, not all this crap.” An expression much like his entire lineage has been insulted, North growls out something in a language no one in the party can understand. Alex is taken aback by the thus-far soft-spoken youth’s outburst, then shakes his head. “Look if you understand nothing else, understand I am ordering you to leave the books and to get in the van.” North notices the van as if for the first time. He looks it over, staring questioningly at the tires. Delria has walked beside Alex and flies up close to his ear. “Did you hear what he was mumbling in?” “Yeah … Not sure I understood it though.” “Sounded Orcish to me.” “No, no. Too much … I dunno, Greek thrown in to be Orcish.” “Is there any other way to get there?” North suddenly asks, looking slightly ill. Alex stares at him, dumbfounded. “What? No! Just get in the car.” “You’re ordering me?” “… Yes! Everyone just get in and stop wasting time!” As everyone piles in Jared is once again driver, Watanabe takes shotgun, and the others try to find a comfortable seating situation. Predictably North is the last inside. As he crawls into the far back he is again muttering in his strange tongue. “There it is again,” Delria whispers to Alex. “Yeah, yeah … Funny, I feel like I’ve heard it before.” _________________________ The trip down I-10 is fairly uneventful. The group receives calls from the Bureau every hours or so as the attempts to follow the Untouchables’s whereabouts grow increasingly more difficult. The group stops for lunch at a Denny’s (North chooses to stay outside of the van alone, and Trudi entertains most of those inside with much shouting at the claw machine and [url=http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news/modules.php?set_albumName=album71&id=Flying&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php]playing with Delria[/url]), and then head back on the road (Alex again has to order North back in the van before he’d do it). Shortly after this a call finally arrives from Brian. The asthma medicine turns out to be Terrance Marks’s! Through the insurance he has managed to track that a refill prescription was put through only hours before, at a Walgreen’s in Tallahassee, Florida. (Most of the team more familiar with technology can guess that in order to get the information this quickly Brian isn’t using wholly legal methods, but no one lets on to the still oblivious Trudi that their new partner is a “hacker.”) A real lead, and only day one. The team now has a direction to go, and Jared raises the volume of his skaa tapes in excitement. They arrive at Tallahassee and begin a search. They all realize they probably won’t be lucky enough to run into the Untouchables at the Walgreen’s, but it seems a fairly good place to start looking. Jared parks the van and the group begins to get out. As soon as Alex, Trudi, and Twilight are out, however, they stop. Exiting the Walgreen’s is Sadie Felton and Terrance Marks. The pair look horrified and Terrance grabs Sadie’s arm to run. “Everyone out, now!” Alex snaps. The BMM team gets out, but are unable to beat Terrance and Sadie to their van. Watanabe tries to shoot out their tires, but the van speeds backwards straight out of the parking lot nearly as soon as it’s started. Quickly the team rushes back to their vehicle and Jared slams on the gas. The two vans give chase through the middle of Tallahassee, swerving by other cars and taking sharp turns. Jared grits his teeth and tries to follow Sadie’s movements, but she’s a d*mn good driver. The other agents all keep their weapons ready; and also keep trying to tell Jared how to follow her. In frustration Jared snaps at the rest of the group so they’ll all stop shouting at once. It’s at that point that a cold rush goes through the van. Jared’s breath nearly stops. How could he have forgotten what Terrance could pull off? Everyone in the van winces in pain as a sharpness pierces their heads. Jared is the only one left conscious, but even then as soon as he lifts his head he realizes he’d briefly not been watching the road. He lets out a horrified cry as he swerves out of the way of an eighteen wheeler. The car skids and screeches off the road, landing in a ditch. When everyone regains their senses they see that the van has been wrecked twice in two days. While no one is hurt, North has disappeared. More investigation follows. With the help of the BMM clean-up crew that arrives to aid them the Knights are able to find the hotel the Untouchables were staying at. Were. They had checked out in a hurry, naturally. Frustrated and bruised, missing a team member, the Knights take up the offer of one of the clean-up crew to stay at one of the local motels. To their surprise, North is already there, waiting for them. Alex and North get into a short argument when North refuses to say what exactly happened, but Alex finally gives up and retires to a room. Delria follows Alex briefly. “So, hey. Figured out what his language is yet?” Alex shrugs. “Funny thing … It kinda sounded like Centaur.” [/QUOTE]
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