No more Guardians. No more Knights. Agents of Protection. Agents of the Future! (The Agency)

Agent Jardin, like Agent Davis, was better with a gun than she was at hand-to-hand.  In fact, it had been her brother who had pushed her into martial arts.  Unlike her brother, who focused on jujutsu, Sarah had favored the more utilitarian art of Krav Maga: she was E2, equivalent to a black belt.

Instead of rushing the far more experienced Agent, Sarah noticed Davis tense.  So he would be the first to move.  Instead, she signaled for the other Agent, one she did not know off hand, to circle around to the right as she herself shifted left.

Meanwhile, she studied the fight. By now, Davis was demonstrating his rather elaborate techniques, a version of capoeira if she had to guess. The wide sweeping attacks could likely generate a great deal of force if they connected but they proved an equal problem for allies. This meant she would have to keep her distance, though she did begin sliding closer. Better to be closer, just in case she saw an openning.

Hopefully the third man had similar ideas...

Williams wandered around the facility, seemingly no rhyme nor reason to his boundless trek. There seemed to be absolutely nothing to catch his focus, though his posture never slouched and his very presence never faltered. It was one of the oddest feelings in the world, to look at a man that held so much pride but never boasted, so much tenacity and such skill...but never once thought to brag. Of course while he seemed to be entirely lost and aimless, nothing could have been farther from the truth.

   "...The subjects were last seen near here...Let's look." Williams said as he sat down behind Rowlins' terminal and accessing the files with his override code.


  Meanwhile, Nerovii continued his nap though a hand came up, lifting the cloak and revealing the bright crimson interior as his covered hand dropped onto his stomach, a lazy scratch sliding up and down. Several Agents looked on and seemed to internally question just how it was that this Agent had the liberty to do this while they were being chastised for being lazy or ignorant. Of course, Nerovii lifted his head and sat up a little before letting out a contemplative hum. Obviously he needed to do something. Something productive. Like go to the kitchen area and demolish the remainder of the donuts and fruit they had for breakfast.

  Entering the room there was a young woman with her cheeks filled with the remnants of donut and her big eyes boring into Agent Nerovii from behind his paintball mask looking cover. He let out a rather depressed sigh as he turned around and walked over to a computer and turned himself the the greatest culmination of knowledge mankind had to offer.

Google.

  Utilizing the great search engine, Nerovii found the number to the nearest Pizza Joe's and sent in his order. Three 12-cut pizzas of different flavors, utilizing a credit card that belonged to a metahuman he brought in yesterday he quickly set out in search for another agent. He quickly found a peon and began to sign out his desire. Essentially he informed a lower level Agent that he was officially his gopher and was going to drive him several miles away to meet the pizza delivery boy on the highway where they would wipe his memory and send back on his way before returning with food. Nerovii then informed the Agent that when he used the word "we" he did so imperially.

   With a new Agent sent out to do his bidding, Nerovii returned to the training room and went up, sitting against the wall and sliding down before sticking both his legs out and clicking his boots together, awaiting his tribute of delicious pizza at an affordable price. Well, actually..all pizza was affordable...with someone elses credit card...

Daniels wasn't impressed so far, but then again the fight had just started. Davis was using some sort of windmill kick type shit. Fancy and over choreographed in Michael's opinion, but everyone had their style. Daniels himself preferred a conservative and efficient style focusing on pressure points and quick take downs using anything to his advantage. He was trained to kill. Every blow had that intent, even in training. Why fight if you were aiming for anything less?  So far, he saw beautiful dancing, but no real martial competence.

He stepped down from the top of the arena-like training area, slowly making his way down the steps. The Agents near him didn't even stare, they knew better. He watched the fight intently, calculating the skill of everyone involved. Davis did have skill despite Daniels not liking his style, and from what he deduced of Jardin, she was item reliant. This wasn't the pair's field. The other just seemed to be too afraid to attack Nemesis, and that's when Daniels decided to step in.

He set foot in the combat area as the fight raged on, and then, in an instant, a razor sharp blade of solidified energy was pulled from the field that was projected around Daniels, something the Agency called film blades. He then sent it flying directly toward the face of Agent Jardin, faster then what you might expect of some bullets as the film was so light. If it hit, well, he would be upset he messed up Jardin's pretty face, but this was his leadership, and it was tough. You proved yourself or you failed.

Right after he did that, he kept approaching the third Agent, who was focusing on Nemesis. He moved quickly yet still seemed professional and dignified, blitzing the ambushed Agent. Once Michael got close, he tripped the man and grabbed him by the neck as he fell, squeezing harder and harder with a look of pure disdain and determination on his face. Within only a few seconds, the way he applied his peak human strength caused a few bones in the helpless Agents neck (upper spine) to crack, echoing out into the arena. Daniels dropped him.

"Never think a situation is as it seems. Allies can be enemies, including leadership. Never, ever let your guard down, not even here." He said, addressing all the Agents in the arena, including Davis and Jardin. His ambush happened so quickly and unexpectedly one Agent went down, and the other would likely get cut. But that was the moral of the lesson. He backed off, then took a seat in the arena again. He felt the need to explain these things to these people. Training wasn't the real world, it was much harsher. Unless of course Daniels was running it, then training was worse.

Nemesis followed each move, wondering what manner of actions they would take. Hopefully they wouldn’t do anything too obvious despite what appeared to be a fight in their advantage. Davis would lead the charge so to speak, moving into a rather clunky looking handstand that made them far too easy to avoid. Overly flashy moves, that while looked cool in execution were rather useless when used in an actual fight and he wasn’t going to give them the chance to continue. Nemesis was a rather stocky looking fellow, but seeing him move, one would be surprised by how nimble he actually was.

In a split second he was avoiding the whirlwind of kicks, feeling the brush of the wind created by the sheer force put into them. Honestly, the dodge itself didn’t look much to the layman, but likely the trainees would see. His eyes followed Davis launching themselves over him, and he whipped around to block the roundhouse with a forearm, quickly grasping for their leg before they could continue their combo, aiming to rip them forward and deliver a quick yet savage kick into the gut, namely the solar plexus. The others didn’t appear to make any real move, so that meant they were either scared or trying to find some manner of weakness within his style.

Should his counter work, he would sigh taking on a slightly more defensive stance. ”You’re being too flashy Davis. This is a fight, not some kinda ballet.” That was when Daniels would make their move, throwing something at Jardin and then taking another out with an audible crack. He held up a hand to Davis regardless, putting this session to a pause as he went to assess the downed agent. Even without wasting too much time looking at them, he could tell they wouldn’t be doing much.

”Alright, we have someone down. Broken….vertebrae it looks like, so just do whatever fixes that.” From there he would let the medical types deal with the whole damage, though having someone die in training may not look good on him. Once that was done he looked over the other agents, hoping he still had a few. ”Well that shoots things in the foot.” he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. ”Try to assess peoples skills and they break each others neck.” He removed a small packet of what looked to be cigarettes from his back pocket, producing a single one and lighting it with a big lighter pocketed in his jacket. Taking a drag, he exhaled a soft gray cloud through his nostrils.

”So that leaves me with Jardin and Davis...I think. Well I guess that’s better than nothing.” He let the cigarette settle in the corner of his mouth, taking a standing position that let him keep both within his peripherals. ”Guess i’ll start this time.” Davis was approximately fifteen feet away from him, and that was where he rushed first. He moved in a burst of speed, one that allowed him to bridge the gap between them within less than a second, a few quick jabs meant to more than anything keep their eyes on his fists as he would follow with a knee to their gut.

"Dammit, I thought I might catch the bastard."
Agent Davis was feeling foolish, but this wouldn't be his defining moment. In fact, Nemesis was fueling him more than he knew.
Everything came to a quick halt when Daniels decided to cripple another agent.
"Wow, I heard that guy was a hard ass but I didn't think he'd cripple one of us. Time to stay on my toes more." he thought.

Looking at the other agent, Jarvis if he remembered correctly, they weren't doing much. He was hoping his attack would've given her an opening. "Make sure you make use of your opportunity."he thought to himself, as the powerful agent came rushing him again, Davis took a breath. The punches were clearly going to be a diversion. He blocked two with his elbows, the next one got through. "Ouch." Yet he kept focused, blood forming at his lip.
He sensed a knee coming, and blocked it with his own.

Nemesis was good, shit he was great, but Davis learned from some great instructors. After their knees clashed, he ducked down, and came up with an uppercut. Following up, he threw a spinning back fist keeping his head low not leaving a target.

Finally finishing, sent a flurry of high kicks kicking left and right in case Nemesis would swivel his head. He leaped back onto his hands, and launched with all his weight feet first at the chest of Agent Nemesis.
"No more flashy."

Working on her own end of the conflict, Sarah only noticed Agent Daniels as he was hurling his blade. She tried to dodge as it grazed her cheek and trimmed her hair. Turning back the her surprise foe, she tried to warn the inept agent, but by now he was already falling. "Damn it," she hissed, annoyed that the rules had changed.

Before she could engage Daniels, though, he left the ring. She was perplexed by this but quickly moved back to Nemesis. If the rules could change, why not change back. But still, Sarah kept her eyes out for another late entry...

Returning to her original plan, Sarah tried to cycle behind Nemesis. Taking advantage of the the focus of the two Agents on each other, she wanted to find her way to Nemesis' blindside. It was really her best bet.

As she found her angle, Sarah also began to move in. After all, hand-to-hand meant close range. Finally finding her desired position, the Junior Agent kicked in time with Davis' attack. Rather than kicking high, though, Sarah aimed low, trying to stomp on the back of Nemesis' ankle. She hoped to injure his Achilles tendon, maybe slow the large man down a bit or at least leave him open.

Agent Williams went and took to a seat deep within the complex, going down to the deepest depths of their containment, hidden from all except the elite of the elite. The Fatal Five, the ghost group of five individuals believed to be even higher in lethality that the upper echelon. Granted three of the five were in the upper echelon, so only one person truly would have known if such a secret existed. It did. Because obviously the best way to keep a secret organization a secret is to keep more secrets, even from those secrets. Nobody truly knew The Agency the way their director did.

The seat automatically turned to a one-hundred and eighty degrees and the floor behind the chair began to break off from the other segments, rolling itself. Tucking under the other flooring and revealing a secondary staircase, lights flickering on and off, like a stalling car engine. Williams let out a small sigh of irritation. This facility was of the utmost importance. Subject Forge AND Subject Meltdown were still in containment here. If the electricity had been failing here then it would no doubt be a possible liability to have those two wandering the deep-dark secrets of the facility alone and undisturbed.

Nerovii, on the other hand found sleeping to be getting slightly more difficulty than he imagined. He hardly stirred at all, looking almost as if he were dead as he seemed to be staring at the recruits as they battled. In his mind he began thinking of counters and then reactions and retaliations. This outfit had really gone to Hell, especially when Nerovii himself had come from this outfit, not less than two years ago.

This place looks like the backside of a Yak. How have any of you survived this long? I came out of this same unit less than two years ago. When I left we were the house of the greatest potential. Now it's like sitting here and attending a funeral for my own family. I genuinely wish nothing but the worst possible Death to all of you who do not take this seriously. Nerovii began to sign out the words after he clapped pretty loud to gather some peoples attention. Of course as he was signing he seemed to be a very respectful person, holding himself with pride as he nodded in understanding, as he also bowed afterwards to everyone. Some people looked inspired. Others looked happy and content, as if they realized they were doing a good job. Very few realized the gravity of what he just said, and those whom saw it were left on their own to decide if the awkward man was serious, or not.

Many considered what Daniels had just did to be very unprofessional, evident by the whispering and general disdain of those in the crowd. Granted some took the lesson, but a good amount saw it as a radical move that wasn't part of the rules.

But Michael, he saw it different then everyone else. Everything Changes. That simple fact is Daniels' most prominent philosophy. Rules change, lives change, the once good reputation of an outfit changes. You can't go into anything expecting it to stay constant; that's how you end up dead. This lesson was more then him injuring someone, it was more then him showing the Agents anyone could be an enemy, it showcased his number one belief. Nothing is as it seems, everything is fluid, it all changes.

Agent Nerovii's little speech seemed to reflect this. After a simple two years one of the top outfits had fallen to such ruin Roamers had to come in and clean house. It was disgusting really. Half of these people would be thrown out if it were up to Michael, but they were low on manpower in this sector as it was.

The Chief of Forensics was not here to be professional, he wasn't here to stroke egos, he wasn't here to play with kid gloves. Any weakness in a unit was a reflection on the Agency as a whole, and that could simply not be tolerated.

Daniels got up before the fight resumed, turning to the crowd.

"I have other business to attend to....... But let me make myself clear....... This isn't high school football try outs. This isn't the training some of you might have got at the Police Academy. You all have a pretty high chance of not making it out of here alive, let alone decent Agents. And yet, our training is nothing compared to what you'll be facing out there. If any of you think i was a little harsh just there, i suggest you leave now, while you can. You won't last long against the infected...." Michael said, leaving the training room with his usual speedy walk. That was enough speeches for the day, he had to actually get on fixing a few things. Next stop: the database

Nemesis felt his blow connect with Davis’ face and man did it hold some weight behind it. There was the color of blood flowing from broken lip, as they formulated a quick response to his attacks, and yet they were not quite good enough. Davis was good, but Nemesis was just too good for him to even hope to do anything against him. Vaguely he was aware of Jardin, though they weren’t for the moment doing anything of note at the moment. They were trying to make their way to his blindside, maybe get a hit off when he was unaware of what they were doing. Not too bad. He thought to himself, kiting Davis’ movements as they released their own counter attack, keeping Jardin within the peripheral as a flurry of kicks came his way.

One of the kicks came out, something that he grabbed onto with his right hand, catching the male off balance and jerking them forward. With a deft motion he spun, using the force of his movement to drive his elbow into the agents face. This made the sound of bone crunching as their face took the brunt of the force, and he managed to avoid the attack at his ankle with the sudden movement. His elbow felt jarred from putting so much force, and yet he could tell that he didn’t overdo it with the agent. ”That means two down.” He noted, letting his eyes fall on Jardin.

”Alright, you have two of your partners down and you’re facing a superior foe. What do you do next?” He asked, accent lilting as he waited for a verbal or physical response, hands resting squarely on his hips.

Superior was right.  Not only did Nemesis have a size and reach advantage, the rookie agent had just seen the man turn an error nearly lethal while still dodging a kick he did not see coming.  She hissed curse inwardly, staring her senior agent in the eyes.  Windows to the soul and all that.

Sarah took her stance: head down; right foot forward; slightly crouched; palms open and ahead, leading with the right.  This happened to be her go-to.  Her staring point.  Other stances could evolve from here but this was where her fight began...

Part of her wondered how hard he would make this for her.  She knew he had been holding back but how much was much harder to tell.  She shrugged, trying to shake away her nerves.  "Now or never."

The Rookie darted forward, driving the palm of her left hand into the man's sternum. She hoped to follow this by turning in with her right knee, angling below the ribs. Soft tissue was her best target. Still, she doubted she'd be able to attack beyond that and hoped to fall back before a counter.

Blood continued spilling from her cheek where Daniels' blade had slipped by.

Watching over his investments had been something he did frequantly. But as of right now the only investment he had been entirely invested in was this one. He looked over it, examining it with great interest as the scanners ran over it. But what was it? What could possibly be of such importance that the Director itself would feel so inclined to keep secret? Well if I told you it wouldn't be much of a secret. Would it?

   The Director gave a soft yet satisfied sigh as he closed the chamber and slowly began his ascent. Soon enough he would be observing the groups himself, looking over and struggling to find which of these so-called Agents were going to be the ones that didn't need to go through Hell all over again. Williams would watch as Agent Jardin expressed herself in the form of combat against Nemesis, and soon after Nemesis there was to be Daniels. The Director gave himself a soft thought, wondering if his presence here was required any longer. Daniels was here and he was surly compatent enough.

  "Daniels. Keep a close eye on Jardin, she's a high-profile target from one of our enemies. It's highly possible that they will find us. This base is going on lockdown after I leave. The Lockdown will be lifted for only you, Jardin, Nemesis and 4 others. One of them should likely be Nerovii.... I don't care how you get them to come with you. Tell them it's a move up, a promotion or a transfer. Just get them out of here and await further directive." Williams spoke through his ear piece to Agent Daniels, though not really certain if Daniels was paying attention. If he wasn't then it was too bad, he'd better of had his "mailbox" emptied so he could take the standing orders later. There wasn't a rush on these orders, but they were standing, and until they were enacted there would be nothing going in or out of this base, save for The Director's car and it's contents.

    "....The state of this place is deplorable... " He mused to himself as his glasses began to pull up a ton of information, and some rather secretive documents. With a few moments entire documents had been reforged and set in motion.

  "Well....let's see what you know Miss Jardin..."

Christ all mighty. If it were up to me we'd wipe the place clean then start over, new staff and all... Daniels thought to himself as his eyes scanned the monitor in front of him. The database's organization looked like it came out of a twelve year old's laptop. Either they were employing monkeys in the tech department, or somebody came at the file system with a virtual chainsaw.

His hands typed rapidly as he sorted as much as he could, but even he couldn't do this in a single day. It was going to take a complete overhaul of the system and the people working on it.

Michael finally unglued himself from the screen—this situation was clearly hopeless. He needed to crack some heads and light some fires under asses instead.

He prepared to leave the database, but paused as he got a new order.

It was from the Director. Daniels could have put it on hold for a moment, but all he had to do was yell at people at the moment. Whatever Williams wanted was probably more important then the OCD expectations he had for this facility's file system.

"Understood. They'll be ready to move in five minutes tops." Michael said into his earpiece in response to the order. With a new focus, his speed walk picked back up again.

He strutted down the hallways while looking for the individuals mentioned. He knew Nemesis and Jardin were probably still in the training area, but Nerovil was nowhere to be found. Daniels figured he could contact him later, but right now he had to choose the other three unnamed Agents.

"Gavins, Edwards, O'Sullivan, you three are coming with me." Daniels said as he passed through the offices. He didn't stand around for an answer either, they knew better then to defy an order. Besides, he had the other members of their party to collect.

Michael would eventually get to the training area, where he saw Nemesis and Jardin going at it. Apparently Davis got taken down, though that wasn't a surprise with his technique. Daniels snapped his fingers to get the pair's attention.

"Nemesis, we're out of here. We have orders to go into the field. Take the trainee with you. She seems competent enough." Agent Daniels said before touching his earpiece, trying to connect to Nerovil.

"Agent Nerovil, meet us in the training area or otherwise. And for Christ's sake, get some help with your pizza addiction. I saw your search in the database." Daniels said. He was being as humorous as he could be, as he wouldn't actually tell Nerovil how to eat, but it of course didn't sound like a joke coming from him.

Regardless, once everyone was together and Willaims left, they could move out and lock down the facility.

((OoC: In spite of the topic's apparent abandonment, I would like to use it as an opportunity establish my character. If that hope is not viable, I hope we can at least ID this mess as non-canon to preserve agent Jardin for future use.))

Once again, the fight came to an abrupt halt due to Agent Daniels. This time, however, he simply gave a blunt order to prepare for the field. From what Sarah knew of the man, he did not give out complements easily. "Competent enough" would likely be the closest thing to praise she would recieve any time soon.

The rookie Agent quickly rushed to the locker room to collect her gear. There was a vial of superglue in there as well, a poor woman's liquid bandage. She covered the wound on her cheek, then collected her sidearm and tonfas. She thought about taking her rifle...then gave a nod as she grabbed it and a bag of ammunition. Better to have it and not need it...If it turned out to be useless, she could leave it in the vehicle.

Needs sorted, Sarah reported to the motorpool, ready to depart...

((OoC: So, I posted. I will defer to Zell and Red on whatever decisions they make regarding this topic. Even if they decide to kill it.))