Special Branch: The Execution of Vixen Goddard

POSTED BY: SoulOfSerenity
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 1, 2011 15:54
VIEWED: 29582
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SOULOFSERENITY

Thursday, December 23, 2010 4:13 PM

SOULOFSERENITY

Thursday, December 23, 2010 4:20 PM

OOC: I made one of the character posters for Ciaran and posted it to the Blue Sun Room:

______________________

http://havenofsouls.wordpress.com/

WASHSYOUNGERSEXIERBR

Thursday, December 23, 2010 4:42 PM

The big day finally arrived with a crisp autumn breeze and clear skies. The execution was scheduled for the even hour of noon with crowds expected to begin gathering from the early hours to get a good viewing point. The gallows were set, the parking was arranged, and stalls were being set up to provide refreshments with the execution. Wisp and the real guards were taken to the square at the crack of dawn. After a brief tour around the area of operations everyone took their positions. The square was about a quarter of a mile on all sides with cobble’s filling the space. The buildings stood around three stories on all sides and Wisp knew were filled with snipers and counter-snipers.

The gallows stood made of the traditional wooden timbers with the platform standing around six feet and the noose around six feet on top of that. Wisp was placed around the base among eleven other men, six more stood on the platform along with the executioner. For the first few hours the guards were all on high alert but after that before the crowds arrived they became lax and bored. Wisp took this opportunity to wander casually beneath the gallows, making an inspection on the timber supports. Of course what Wisp was actually doing was planting small smoke charges at several key places. When the time was right he would detonate the bombs and cover the centre of the square in a grey cloud. Hopefully this would give him the time and cover to free Vixen and escape. Three more hours stood until she would be arriving.

He stopped to consider what the others were doing at this moment in time. Had they also heard the announcement and come to rescue Vixen? Had they heard it and not come? It was no secret that Vixen wasn’t the most liked person in the group, and she hadn’t exactly given them many reasons to trust her. Were they coming not knowing it was a trap? No they were all smart enough to know this stank. Maybe they were here planning their own rescue? If only he knew how to contact them all? But he’d been trying for the past two years to find them to get in touch to no avail. It was too late now. He was on his own for better or worse.

NEEDY

Thursday, December 23, 2010 5:16 PM

I've tried to put this as shortly and succinctly as possible - including an introduction to the Special Branch 'verse itself

Special Branch Intro
Here's how it is:
There's a parliament, a big bad government called The Alliance that seeks to unite all the worlds under its rule. Only some take issue to that policy, not to mention their methods. And so The Resistance was born.
They called themselves Special Branch - a group made up of fugitives, former soldiers, companions and a whole lot more. They became a thorn in the side of not only The Alliance, but a whole host of secret groups and private armies. And so they were hunted down, imprisoned without charge. Now the last remaining members are scattered across the verse, trying their best to rebuild their lives, or start over.
But one event will bring them back together, will force them to unite as they prepare for the oncoming storm.

Previously:
The crew are scattered to the winds.
But whilst they are left pondering of what became of their old friends, news travels fast that Vixen Goddard - the meddlesome rogue that had been a part of Wisp's life for longer than he can remember and had travelled with the crew - has been captured and is to be publically executed.
The individual members of the crew deduce that it's probably a trap, a means to lure in the rest of the group, but their loyalty to one another is stronger than fear, and they each make arrangements to get to Ariel before the girl is executed.

Whilst Wisp infiltrates the Alliance briefing room to learn of their specific plans, Safe regroups with Seryn.
Meanwhile, Soul learns more about Ciaran and her motives, before they too decide to head to Ariel,
Upon hearing about the impending execution and its implications, Kyra sends a warning message out to Needy's former friends and decides that its time to come clean to her new partner about her former life.
Elsewhere, the Crimson Squad's latest recruit Clayton Payne investigates the murders of former resistance fighters, and believes that Needy is responsible.

SAFEAT2ND

Thursday, December 23, 2010 6:01 PM

Safe sat cross-legged on the floor, pouring over Seryn’s detailed maps and adding marks of his own. Seryn perched on the bed reading Bernard/Needy’s obit for the fifth time.

“It’s definitely a message, all the times and dates match-up with the execution.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

“Who do you think sent it?”

“Does it matter, really? It confirms what I suspected and what you worked out. This is a trap, but what I can’t figure out is why? If we are all dead or presumed dead, why the sudden interest? Why the trap?”

“This means the others are alive! But how did the Alliance figure that little gem out?” Seryn tossed the Cortex Touch Pad (CTP) at the pillows in frustration.

Safe rubbed his hand over his face and grimaced at the stubble. “I wish I knew.”
He examined the map again. Buildings around the square marked with red circles indicated the towers where snipers were most likely situated. These over lapped, in some spot, Seryn’s blue circles which marked the building equipped with a landing pad.

“Here.” Safe jabbed at a building a little further out than the others. It was marked with only a red circle.

“Why there?” Seryn asked.

“It’s furthest out. The Alliance won’t put much in the way of guards there. They'll deploy most of their snipers closer. Remember they are there to pick us off, not a covert assassination.”

“So, you’re saying we take that building and try to pick off or lay down cover fire? You sure you can hit your mark from that distance? Wasn’t Grunt your sharp-shooter?”

“Ya, I can do it. Can you fly us in there, low and fast and still hit that building top? There won’t be much to land on.”

“HA! Can I?!? With my eyes closed.”

Safe stretched and yawned, “Tomorrow it is then. Can I borrow your shower? The barn I’m staying at doesn’t have one and I’d like to scrape the stink off.”

Seryn wrinkled her nose, “just don’t leave it here.”

“Thanks. We’ll meet-up tomorrow before dawn. I’ve got an old fighter, you should probably get acquainted with before trying to drop it on top a building.”

Seryn clicked on the TV. With the shower's white noise in the background and the drone of the news, she drifted off.

On his way out, Safe pulled a blanket over her. "It's good to see you again Seryn." He closed the door softly behind him.

Check out my blog for info and updates on my novels
http://drlong67.wordpress.com

KYRA

Thursday, December 23, 2010 11:06 PM

OOC: Bit of a long post, but figured it was better this way than splitting it up and dragging it out

---
The day before the execution:

Kyra hadn’t wanted to lie. Not to him.

She'd made a cup of coffee that morning. Real coffee, none of that synthesized gose. They’d been saving it for a special occasion, and what could have been more special than telling your partner that you’d been lying to them for over a year? She wished she could have savoured the taste, but it tasted like gravel in her mouth. Her stomach churned.

“What is it?” her partner asked, sitting across from her.

She closed her eyes and wished herself away from there, but when she opened them again, she was still there, the morning sun still low in the sky.

“I haven’t told you everything about myself,” she began, flustered. “I know you said that it was fine, that we could take time, but I specifically didn’t tell you everything because I was afraid of what you’d think of me.”

“Em, it’s okay,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
She’d been tempted to tell him outright that her name wasn’t Emma, but that would have made him shut off instantly. She wanted him to understand. Still, she withdrew her body away slightly so that his hand dropped off her shoulder and rested on the top of the couch.

“I lied about Bernie, the friend I lost. He wasn’t just a friend, he was my...” she didn’t want to use the word soulmate, it wasn’t a word that she used. And yet it slipped out anyway. She shook her head.

“I‘m sorry,” he said sympathetically. Instinct told him to hold her hand, but after the way she’d reacted to him touching her before, he questioned whether it was the best move.

“No, that’s not it,” she tried to explain, her frustration threatening to erupt to the surface. He placed his hand on hers, calming her. “I didn’t lose him like... when I told you that he died, it‘s not that...”

“It’s okay,” he told her, holding her hand tight.

“He’s not dead,” she said outright. “The man I loved... he changed, became something I didn’t recognise anymore.”

Luthor began to listen now, so much so that his hand began to draw away without realising.

“He did things that the man I knew would never have done.”

“Did he hurt you?” he said, fearing where the conversation was heading, not realising how abrupt his words might sound to her.

“No,” she said carefully. “A friend who I’d worked with. He came to me, warned me that he was dangerous. But I didn’t wanna hear it. I didn’t want to believe him." She hung her head and breathed deeply into her chest. "But then I saw what he was capable of with my own two eyes and I... I couldn‘t stay”

Luthor wanted to ask what it was that he had done, but he knew she wasn’t ready, he just let her continue.

“My friend he knew some people, people that could help me get away, build a new life, start over. It was away from him, it was the only way. I had to take the chance.” She gently shrugged her shoulders. "It was a new start."
Kyra glanced up at him, hoping to see in his eyes some indication of what he was thinking: anger; sorrow; apathy. But she could never read him. Even as he opened his mouth, she didn’t know what he was going to say.
“Your name’s not Emma Roberts is it?”
She breathed out heavily through her nose and shook her head. “No," she said almost with an embarrassed laugh. "It’s... Kyra... McTaggert.” It pained her to admit it, like her name itself was something to be ashamed of, taboo.
Her throat had become dry. She sipped at the coffee. It tasted a little less like gravel now, more like soil. Her stomach rumbled. The two of them might have laughed in any other situation. In this moment they simply ignored it.

“Listen, i wanted to tell you, but i was 'fraid that if my name got out there, he'd track me down, he’d find me.”

“You think he’s still looking for you," Luthor asked her seriously. "that he'd hurt you?"

“I don’t know," she answered honestly. "He swore that he wanted to protect me - what h

SAFEAT2ND

Saturday, December 25, 2010 1:27 AM

OOC: Merry Christmas and happy holidays you wonderful story-tellers you! I have to say, and no it's not just the egg-nog talking, that I really enjoy this thread.

I hope the new year brings continued happiness and health to you and yours.

Check out my blog for info and updates on my novels
http://drlong67.wordpress.com

WASHSYOUNGERSEXIERBR

Saturday, December 25, 2010 9:35 AM

OOC: Merry Christmas all! May the new year grant new adventures for all of us!

JAZAF

Wednesday, December 29, 2010 4:23 AM

"You're sure the target is on Boros?"
"Yeah, Kurren." came the reply. "Your guy..." There was a pause and the sound of various CTPs. "Your guy, Dawei Jones is on Boros."
"A lot of other hunters are after him. You hacked him onto the earliest passenger freight off that rock, yes?"
"yes."
"and you added on the the secure feeds in the area showing him getting on the ship?"
"yes."
"Ok. so where do the undoctored feeds show him?"
"Looks like he's drinking in the bar called The Comet's Tail."
"Anyone else we know there?"
"No.. I don't see anyone...wait...Looks like Early is already there and is looking to make his move. You better go into hard burn, boss."
"Good work, Nate. I'm heading in."
Kurren cancelled the comm link and exited the Bounty Baby. "Great, I gotta deal with the gorram chatterbox."
ooc:Hope everyone had a merry christmas!

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Mystery Man on the Sereni-Tree
Navigator on Destiny
Kurren, Bounty Hunter

SERYN

Thursday, December 30, 2010 12:02 AM

OOC, this is starting to get exciting isn't it? Sorry haven't had much chance to put a post together. Just hope you all had good Christmases and hope you all have a wonderful new years, though hopefully I'm going to come up with something before then x

(and this post was bought to you by being up way past my bed time.)

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