The Golden Mark (OPEN)

James sat in his private jet, flying high above the pacific ocean, on his way to America, after a brief stop he had made in Russia and possibly heading towards one of the hardest jobs he's had to date. In one hand he had a glass of red wine, and in the other he an aerial surveillance picture of Fort Knox, something he had gotten from his contacts in the kremlin, along with a number of other sensitive documents such as the blue prints to the building...blueprints from 40 years before, but still better than nothing.

He had spent the past few hours pouring over all the information he had been able to gather, drawing up as best a plan as he was able to. Finally with a sigh James dropped the picture on his desk and lent back, stretching his arms over his head, only then checking his watch.

"We should be in America in another hour and a half, I suppose I should try to get some sleep before we touch down," James muttered to himself, before reclining his chair and shutting his eyes, the plans to break into Fort Knox laid out before him.

Operator: Thank you for calling Fort Knox tours and reservations. Currently all reservations, both future and pending, have been suspended until further notice. An updated status can be obtained on our website. Thank you.


Man: Hello! Mr. President!?

Woman: Ms. Lincoln would like to speak to an authoritative representative.

Man: How did you get this number...?

Woman: Those who understand how to Rise, will also soon learn to fall.


Woman: Representation is unnecessary. Ms. Lincoln will be on her way.

Man: What do you want.

Woman: An individual by the name of 'Conduit' will be targeting your facility. I suggest taking the appropriate defensive precautions.

Man: ...We will take into consideration your recommendations.

Woman: The information has been provided to you through the usual method. I wish you and your team the best of luck in your future endeavor.


-In the office.

"Sir...?"
"Prepare for a single level MetaHuman attack."
"Y-yes Sir!"

Another individual enters the room after the one exits, following orders.

"...Who was just on the phone, sir...?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the clearance to answer that question."
The phone that had rung was the red rotary phone, made to contact the President of The United States in the event of an emergency or threat to national security. He knew who was on the phone. Everyone in the room knew. She was about as well kept of a secret as Area 51. A familiarity across the board, but yet still unknown in so many aspects.

----------

A woman sitting in a dimly lit room takes a light sip of tea, and sets it black down on the saucer with the slightest clink of the materials colliding.
"Ahh... It'll be wonderfully entertaining to see how all of this will play out, wouldn't you agree, Revenant?"
A figure emerged from the shadows, only offering a simple nod as a response. A devilish smirk crept across the woman's face, as this was all a game to her. Meddling and manipulating the lives of innocent humans and MetaHumans alike. Another episode of her favorite show. Another page in a good book. This was the status and power of the woman known as Elena Vexus.

James sat, on the second floor of a typical house in the town of Radcliff, going over and over his plans to break into Fort Knox Bullion.

He had jumped in during the early morning, deploying his parcute late to avoid detection and had made his way to Radcliff, where he was now occupying the house of a very particular resident of Radcliffe, one Malcome Alwork.

You see what made Malcome so special was that for the past few months he had been an employee of the US depository, Helping to guard the very vault that James was trying to break into.

To James' right a 3D printer sat humming away, slowly making a prosphetic face, a face that, with each passing second, looked more and more like the face of the man occupying many of the pictures in the house, Malcomes face.

Beside the printer sat a radio, emitting chatter coming from the local military, a radio that suddenly picked up the following conversation.

Officer 1: Captain I need you to mobilise 150 men and reinforce Fort Knox bullion.

Officer 2: "Of Course sir, Right away Sir...May I request the specifics of the reason for this mobilisation sir."

Officer 1: "We've received word to that a Meta-Human may attempt to break into the Bullion Captain..These orders come from the very top"

Officer 2: "Mobilisation will be under way presently sir...damn meta won't know what hit him, if he tries at all."

Officer 1: "Very good Captain...I expect no less from the Us army"

At this James looks up from his planning, and grimaces slightly, thinking, 'It would appear I'm being set up,' before saying out loud, "No matter, this simply advances my plan slightly sooner than I had anticipated."

Looking over at the printer and then down at his watch, he states, "hmm, it would appear that I have a round half an hour till the mask is ready, that'll put me at 6.30, and I need to be at Fort Knox by 8.30...2 Hours should be more than enough time to get some last minute provisions"

Suddenly the laptop to James' left beeped, causing him to turn and look at it, signifying that the voice modulator attached to it, had finished calibrating to malcomes voice, using the video clips found on Malcomes PC.

"Excellent, everything's on track."