A frightening evening at the Cup

[Sorroe]

It had started as the perfect evening. I was sitting next to Rebeax on the couch in the Cup. We were chatting with my friend Garrod about the events of the day. I was enjoying the company of my two favorite people and just feeling peaceful. We were celebrating my new healing ability that Garrod had helped me gain earlier that day when an omni doctor walked in wanting to speak to me. Cashaura had insisted that Vixentrox was in trouble and had wanted her location. I relayed the message on my org channel to Vixentrox and the rest of her family, but didn’t give the omni doctor her location. Cashaura maintained that Omni-Pol and other organizations were looking for my guild leader and her safety could only be assured if she could protect her. Whisper’s Edge sent a guard of their own to Vixentrox and I went back to my friends worried but confident in my family’s ability to keep Vix safe.
I never made it back to the couch however. A Shadow Ops squad came in to the Cup first. They rounded everyone up to the middle of the room and left with Alabanis. I told Vix of the events through my org comm. and followed them at a safe distance. Shadow Ops threatened Alabanis’ life if anyone got to close to them. They walked all the way through West Athen, sending any guard in range to the reclaim and into Old Athen itself. Down the streets and up the hill they went, killing anything that got close. It was a massive show of force and a slap in the face for Clan that they strolled through the cities unharmed. They went through Tir and into ICC before Simon got wind of it. I lost them there and I have no more information.
Does anyone know what happened after this?

[Vixentrox]

Cathern was alone. She didn't like it one bit. Laying on her pallet she stared at the ceiling. Sleep would not come....just as it hadn't the day before. Relle....better known as Albanis had been taken by Omni-Tek Shadow Ops from The Cup for unknown reasons. What could they want with Relle? She was barely a politcal figure. Perhaps her relationship to Cathern had placed her in danger? Perhaps there was some past to Relle that Cathern didn't know about? It was no secret that she was a former Omni employee and had left some time ago. It didn't seem that her work for the company had been of a particularly sensitive nature.

The night of the capture was a busy one indeed. Cathern had been contacted by Noticiero from the Stratics grid news requesting an interview. Cathern thought briefly and accepted the offer, her schedule relativly clear for the evening. So, off to Reet's she went to meet with this reporter. "Clear schedule" Cathern snorted at the thought. The night's events were to prove anything but.

She had barely met with this reporter when she received a strange comm from an Omni named Cashaura, affiliated with the SoBe division. Cashaura started demanding Cathern's location for her own "protection". Cathern, the subject of many threats in the past didn't like the tone of this Omni. She called for backup and pulled her rifle out...just in case. The reporter didn't even blink but kept on asking questions. About this time she recived a distress call from Relle and had reports over her guild comms that Relle was being abducted by Omni forces. Cathern instantly dispatched her people to trail the Omni and attempt a rescue if possible.

The reporter droned on either not noticing or not caring the obvious distress Cathern was in. Finally when she took a long time answer a question Cathern snapped at the reporter. The little cold hearted bastard seemed devoid of human emotion. Typical leech...even her sister wasn't this bad. Later Cathern regretted and apologized for the outburst. On reflection she was suprised the reporter didn't jump at the chance for another story.....

Cathern's folks trailed the Omni through Athen, Tir, and ICC finally loosing them in Omni territory. Cathern had weeks before secreted a tracker in Relle's gear as she did for many of her friends just this purpose. Being friends with Cathern could be dangerous. Relle managed to confirm they were in Rome as did the tracker device. It didn't take Omni long to take her comm out of service though. The silence was unbearable. Cathern went back to her apartment after finally managing to complete the interview, slumped to the floor and broke down in tears.

The next day a bit of fortune smiled. After berating her Intelligence deapartment on incomplete data, one Drgrov of Omni-tek Shadow Ops was observed getting very drunk in Reet's, celebrating Relle's capture. Two can play at that game Cathern though and ordered an abduction of her own.

Quickly her team assembeled along with a solitary valor Eternal member. The team snatched Drgrov and brought him to a secret location in West Athen. There was some attempts at interrogation but nothing to serious. Cathern mainly wanted him for a prisoner exchange. Cathern opened a comm to that hated Omni general Zione..the bitch spawn of one of Cathern's childhood opressors. After discussing the situation with Zione, it was agreed on to transfer the prisoners the next night in ICC. Asking to speak to Relle, hearing her...it was obvious the Omni had barbarically tortured her. No suprise there Cathern thought. Something Omni excelled at. With the deal struck, Cathern administered a knock out drug to HER omni prisoner then hog-tied him and left Ariekel's slayer droid to guard him.

Cathern went back to her apartemnet slipped onto her pallet.....and stared at the ceiling replay events over and over. "I miss you Relle...you'll be free soon" she whispered to herself.....

[DrGrov]

Drunk, DrGrov staggered out of Reets just looking for some air. Even to his dulled senses, the danger posed by the clan gang made him shudder.

"Trouble" he thought. Nothing else more accurately described the moment. It was trouble, but not what he expected. With his armor off, the Shadow Ops sawbones was helpless when the nano-bindings cuffed his wrists. No quick escape to the grid this time. This would be his first trip as a passenger on a hostile ride.

White light engulfed the scene outside the once tranquil club.

"What the fu..." He never finished that quick, but telling thought. The clear vision of West Athen slowly focused on his retinas. Dread set in as he realized what was happening. Cold, unrelenting dread. He was not in control, and he knew it all too well.

Seconds passed, then minutes. As beads of sweat rolled past his collar, only the thought of death seemed to be of any comfort. If he was lucky, it would come soon. If his tormentors only knew how much he longed to die just to deprive the filthy scum of any further satisfaction.

"Ah, the queen whore" he almost said out loud as Vixentrox barked orders. Before the next thought had the chance to form, he was in a large storage room. Empty shelves and rotten crates told him that he was still in clan territory. The clan engineer had clumsily warped him to this lifeless hell. Only a poorly rigged warbot added mechanical noises to the shrill clan taunts. No distant sounds of vehicles, and worse... no air moving through the vents.

His comm unit stripped from his grasp, guns taken, and still no armor to protect him from the foul surroundings, the Omni doc knew it would be a very long night.

[Andross]

FYI: Noticiero isnt from Stratics. He is freelance

[Albanis]

'relle "Albanis" Clemente wakes slowly, her mind rising to the surface of awareness, like a rotten log floating to the surface of a murky swamp. She knows she's been having nightmares, but she can't remember what they were or why they were scary... oh, it can't matter that much. They're over now.

She gradually becomes aware of the body. There's a body in the corner of the room. The body hurts torture, drugs, assault, and nanos attacking its skin. 'relle wants to get up and do something for the body, ease its pain, or at least look away from it. She wants to help, vaguely, like she ought to help. She really should... can't remember why. Don't think it's really an option at the moment.

The more she thinks about the body, the nightmares, and this funny empty room with the tiles... The more she thinks, the less she really cares. The body is jarring, sure, but it's not her problem. Someone will take care of it eventually. Someone is bound to notice, she doesn't have to care.

'relle doesn't care about the body. 'relle doesn't care where everyone else is. 'relle isn't afraid, isn't worried, isn't much interested in anything.... that body though. The body in the corner, it kinda keeps coming back to mind, doesn't it?

Her eyes flick around the empty room. She sees the body's fingers touch the cold tile gently. The fingers move like cold greasy sausages against the tile, she's surprised not to see a trail of slime in the wake of their passing... but they don't move that much. The tile must be cold. Cold tile. White room. Room.

Looking again at the empty room, a window in her mind opens up and she knows why it looks familar. It's the apartment she shares with Jackdaw when they were married and she was an Omni Executive. Jackdaw will take care of the body in the corner. Why isn't he here? He's always here. He's the one who picks things like this up. He knows where everything goes and always puts it there. She almost works up the emotion to wish to see Jack, to try to remember why thinking of him almost makes her want to feel.... something. Feel something. Feel something. Nope, nothing here to feel. Just 'relle and the body in the corner.


---she passes out-----


Must have dozed off, eyes flick to the corner... the body is still there. Looks pretty rough. Won't someone help? Help. Help. Her thoughts are monotonous and slow, no feeling or emotion at all. She is empty, empty shell, empty shell sitting, empty shell sitting in, empty shell sitting in a, No. The Com. The body in the corner doesn't have a com. Bruises and broken bones, a chemical burn... no com. 'relle had a com once. She talked on a com. She talked on a com to a lady. A friend. A special friend. She should care about the friend. The lady. But there's nothing but sticky black tar where her feelings should be.

Vix. Vix is the lady. She cares about Vix, but she can't feel anything right now... that makes her want to feel sad... untill she remembers that the conversation she had with Vix was that Vix is coming to get her. That's good. She wants to feel elated and at peace, but there is just the fog, the emptiness. The corner.

Jackdaw will let her in when she gets here, 'relle doesn't have to get up. 'relle wants to get up, wants to go comfort that body, but it's just so hard to care.

Jackdaw will show Vix where the body is. Vix and Jack are going to get along okay, 'relle is sure of it. Jack will be happy that 'relle misses Vix. He'd understand missing someone. She doesn't feel these. Maybe those feelings are in the corner with the body. 'relle is not.

[Sidarion]

Creepy stuff, Albanis... real creepy stuff!

[DrGrov]

Thoughts last night as sleep set in...

Prisoner exchange? heh! They must be kidding! Vixentrox is out of her mind if she thinks we'll let that happen again. C'mon dying can be all that bad. Perma-death is just a big sleep... it just never ends.

Death. It's just another state. Hey, I'm a doctor, right? I shouldn't be afraid of the natural process even if it IS brought about by those filthy clanners. But... why dwell on it. I lived. Yeah... I lived.

Damn it, why did our people treat Albanis? I was so desperate to return a bloody, half-dead heap to that bitch. *Sigh* I can't believe I missed the chance to dump that coward's lover back at her feet. What a pair. The unstable traitor and the clan leader who can't even interrogate a doctor without hiding. Yeah, what a pair...

Hmm, I wonder what the lab managed to salvage from that primitive tracking device... *snicker* did they really think our scanners wouldn't pick up such a crude scrap device? Screw it... at least HQ replaced my damn shirt. *laughs out loud* funny when it detonated inside the chamber. I bet Gravin almost stopped breathing when the debris coated his precious scanner. Moron... why the hell did he scan at +52 if he was worried about overheating any hidden devices? heh.

Go to sleep, man... just close your eyes and sleep. Don't let this eat you up inside. Talk to someone? well...