legionmissions | BODY SNATCHERS [modplot]

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BODY SNATCHERS [modplot]

Who| Rico, Tadashi, Zenyatta, Reinhardt, Joshua, Vance, Locus
What| "Body Snatchers" plot
Where| The planetary senate complex of prospective UP world Epryria, and the capitol city Mejehn.
When| The same time as "After These Messages"
Warnings/Notes| Plot has some really angsty stuff, mind control, character death. Please see ooc post.

Epryria and the UP have had contact for quite some time now, but it took new of the threat of Chronoblivion to finally push the world into joining the United Planets for safety in numbers.

The UP government has had its eye on Epryria for some time now, thanks to its thriving scientific community. The planet's advances in bioengineering even surpass that of the Coluans' in some respects. It's a large part of why why most of the population is sporting different cybernetic implants. The Legionnaires have found that to be something of a hurdle in acting as diplomats for the mission. Half of Epryrian communication takes places nonverbally, due to the sharing of words and images through implants.

Since the team is largely there as extra security and only the most experienced Legionnaires are being expected to help the UP ambassadors with actual diplomacy, Brainiac 5 and Kid Quantum were the ones that had opted to temporarily have optical and cortical implants put in.

There's one day left before the actual signing of the treaty, which is to happen in front of a crowded hall of government officials and special guests.

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"We'll keep you apprised if there are any changes, so that we're all adequately prepared," Brainy says, finally tucking his omnicom away in his belt. "But so far this seems a minor hurdle."

He holds up a finger.

"Oh! There is a slightly more serious issue - due to a malfunctioning Titanet array, our comms are currently cut off from Legion World's network. We still have secure localized communication, and Kid Quantum has secure access to several long-range comm stations."

He adds, "And before you ask, the issue doesn't appear to be the result of sabotage or related to events here on Epryria. Invisible Kid took a team out to confirm, due to past incidents sometimes being related to the Heralds and Chronoblivion's forces. The Titanet relay on Planet Madros was temporarily shut down for planned upgrades and the engineering team made several oversights in their implementation plan. Basic incompetence appears to be to blame."

Oh, this must be what it's like on the team back home. The urge to say Hiro, no is almost overwhelming, but Tadashi bites it back. Kid Quantum presumably knows what she's doing here.

He shoots a concerned look at Brainy when the Coluan flinches, wishing he could have retained his healing powers from the incident with the Metatron's Chair.

"That seems like it could be diplomatically awkward," he says, "But I'm probably more effective at crowd control than I am at using my powers without hurting too many people. Have you taking painkillers yet?"

The last is addressed to Brainy. He really does look like his head hurts.

Edited 2017-11-10 06:45 (UTC)

An assignment's an assignment. Rico as a first-year is familiar with this grunt work, even with his bloodline and name. He squints at Brainiac and Kid Q's shared glance though. So is it or isn't it?

"Alright," he says slowly. "So this will definitely not involve any kind of underhanded dealing. We'll just have new orders, under the table, factoring in the involvement of undercover operatives that have infiltrated the treaty signing, alongside a whole host of last-minute security changes. Gotcha."

He's still not entirely unconvinced they're not planning some kind of takeover. Isn't that how it goes?

Hrm. Despite a faint nagging sensation like he was missing something, Rico shrugs it off. He'll figure it out later. But whatever happens, at least he'll still be on scene to deal with the mess when it all inevitably goes to stomm.

"Our comms are down because of incompetence. Acknowledged." At least that's something he's not surprised by anymore.

Zenyatta listens. If the new security detail has passed their background checks, then he will have to trust that they will do their job. The Legion will do what they need to in order to make the treaty mission success. Although the communication troubles are a little worrying. "That may explain why my systems do not seem to be functioning normally. Please do not worry. It is nothing that should compromise my ability to do my task."

Being a machine makes him a little more sympathetic for how hard it is to do upgrades and patches that don't also introduce bugs like someone reaching unintended locations or voice lines playing incorrectly.

"So long as we can remain in communication with one another, it shouldn't interfere with the mission." And that's what counts, really. Do the job, get back safely.

It never goes quite that smoothly, especially when it comes to treaties of this magnitude, but it appears all in the group have some measure of misgivings. It means they'll be looking out for anything that doesn't quite fit. Better prepared than not.

"Is there anything else we should be aware of, or should we move into position?"

"You can go ahead and move into position now. We'll contact you as the situation developed," Kid Q says without missing a beat.

But Brainy just...stares at Zenyatta after he mentions the problem with his systems, and then he looks away, as if getting back to work.

It still didn't feel right. Reinhardt didn't know why, but it just didn't. Something about this just felt wrong, and it only further frustrated him the longer he went without figuring it out. But in the absence of evidence to support his instincts, Reinhardt simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Do not worry, my friend. We will be fine!" He said with a smile to Tadashi, patting his back. Although a pat from Reinhardt was definitely nothing to shrug off. "If anything happens, the Legion will have our backs."

He believed that, he truly did. But somehow, that sentence didn't sit well with him right now.

Well that's a clear dismissal if he's ever heard one.

"Yes, Ma'am," Rico drawls sardonically as he salutes. "I'll be awaiting my new orders."

Zenyatta notes the look that Brainiac gives him, but he doesn't draw attention to it. He trusts that if it was a major issue, Brainiac would have said something and pulled him from the mission.

"I understand. Let us depart."

"Unfortunately, Coluan neurochemistry loathes outside interference, so there are very few formulations of painkillers that are effective for my species." Brainy says to Tadashi. "Don't worry about it, it will pass. It's already subsiding from how severe it was."

He adds, "One thing that will remain a pain for all of us is the state of our comms system, by the by. Due to a malfunctioning Titanet array, on Madros, our comms are currently cut off from Legion World's network. We still have secure localized communication, and Kid Quantum has secure access to several long-range comm stations. It should be repaired soon enough. Apparently, something went amiss during scheduled upgrades."

Vance sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Unfortunately, that sort of thing is way too common. Those in power always think they know better than the people with actual experience." He'd run into it fairly often as a New Warrior and as an Avenger. Though the Avengers at least tended to get more leeway.

He starts reading through the information that they have. "It's a good question. Anything, Kid Q?"

Time to make their way into the crowd, then. It's a little more close and personal than he prefers, but this isn't a matter of preference. It's getting the job done.

Though he's curious about their replacements, and why the last minute change of plans. Something about this isn't setting right, though there's nothing he can call attention to.

Time will tell.

Tadashi staggers under Reinhardt's pat, though he manages not to need his flight ring to keep from hitting the floor. He frowns when Brainy brings up the communications snafu, looking from him to Kid Q and back again.

"'Apparently'?" he repeats. That seems suspicious. He'd have thought that there's interference in our communication would be something that Brainy would hammer at until he had a solid explanation, not an 'apparently'.

"We will make due without them," Reinhardt reassured, keeping his hand on Tadashi's back. The old man making sure to put up a confident smile, even if on the inside, he was torn. He couldn't ignore it anymore, not if even Tadashi was starting to pick up on something being wrong. But he also couldn't draw attention to it, not unless they wanted to make things harder on themselves.

This smelled of sabotage. The entire scene bringing to mind the original downfall of Overwatch, and leaving a bad taste in his mouth. They needed to get out of this office, to find out what was in the underlevels.

"Please, let us know when the comms are back up. I believe Tadashi and I should be getting ready."

There are strange delays going on in the setup of the treaty agreements. The Legion keeps insisting to the delegations that they have things under control, but something seems to be making the Epryrians hesistant to cooperate.

It leaves the different Legionnaires with not much to do other than keep watch over the people who are willing to show up and settle in.

That's when everything starts to go off the rails.

They get a text from some outside source. It's not over the Legion's secure network - the outsider can't access that. But they omnicoms do have options for communicating with people on other networks.

The sender's username is just a meaningless scramble of Interlac symbols.

The message comes to all three of them.

Say nothing out loud when you read this. And don't bother asking who I am. I'm just a friend, giving you an important message: You're being watched. Heat signature.

They get a text from some outside source. It's not over the Legion's secure network - the outsider can't access that. But they omnicoms do have options for communicating with people on other networks.

The sender's username is just a meaningless scramble of Interlac symbols.

The message comes to both of them.

Say nothing out loud when you read this. And don't bother asking who I am. I'm just a friend, giving you an important message: Your teammates are being watched. The group with the robot. They're about to find out and when they do it's going to get messy. They'll need you.

"Don't worry, Tadashi, Brainy looked into it for signs of possible sabotage. It looks like some every day, ordinary incompetence during an upgrade. We're outside the edge of UP space and that particular Titanet tower is so far on the outskirts that it isn't used for much traffic. It's nearly falling apart and not staffed that well. The only reason they got more support for fixing it up was because of the treaty negiotations here and the possibility of Epryria joining the UP."

See? A perfectly reasonable explanation for it.

"We'll let you know when comms are back up. It's definitely bad timing, having to go through so much work to reach home."

At that question, Brainy and Kid Q share another look that's almost concern but that can't be right, can it? Why would they be worried about them asking about the terrorist.

"We're still compiling intel on them. I'll be sending out a packet once we're done. The security forces here dumped their entire database on us and we're still sifting through."

Rico checks his omnicon and his face doesn't betray a single twitch when he reads the message, deleting it as soon as he's done.

Then he casually activates his helmet infrared vision, disguised as scratching his jaw. There's no sudden tension in his shoulders or any other clumsy giveaways as his gaze flickers behind his tinted visor, searching.

And then he texts Locus and Zenyatta, keeping it vague.

Any activity?

Zenyatta makes the motions like he's using his communicator to browse the network when in actuality he's looking at their surroundings without moving too much. Omnics have an advantage for hiding where they are actually looking. He's also channeling his omnic energy to get a "feel" of the area.

Nothing yet. The positive energy of the crowd is wonderful. Perhaps I could get used to being a part of a much larger group more often.

He hopes that is enough of a hint to let his teammates that he's using his power to sense threats.

Tadashi's eyes widen and he looks to Reinhardt.

"We need to move."

Thankfully, Reinhardt's helmet did a good job of hiding his expression. Because it was impossible for him to hide the way his eyes widened, that gut feeling he'd been having before only getting worse.

This must've been how Jack felt, he couldn't help but think.

"... Yes. Let's." He said simply, the usual humor in his voice gone. The large wall of muscle immediately starting to move, not wasting any time being subtle or silent.

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BODY SNATCHERS [modplot]

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skipping Kid Q

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Afternoon

Rico, Zen, Locus

Tadashi and Reinhardt

Joshua and Vance

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go ahead and skip brainy

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