VS The Elements: mission 1

[Aerozord]

You find yourselves in an armored transport, it was hot and stifling. Temperature outside was 108* F and your mobile metal box wasn't helping. Atleast the ride was smooth as it drove over the Mojave plains. Your briefing officer was a middle aged man with graying hair buzzed short. He wore usual pure white uniform that desk jockeys tended to prefer. Each of your Comms downloaded the mission specs, though programmed to auto-delete by the time you arrived.

Most important of all, were the stats on your primary target

Name: Helen Shwarger AKA The Nymph
Gender: Female
Appearance: 5'10, shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes
Element: Water
Bio: known as an extortionist and thief. 2001 she assumed control of an American roving gang known as the Scorpions. First major terrorist act was instigating the Great Lake War of 2003 during which her gang looted the area. 2005 her group kidnapped Mississippian Barons son and was paid off with an unknown sum. She later gained more followers after her demands of the East Mexican government were not met and she freed 207 slaves in 2008.

Known Esoteric Techniques:
Water Pistol: fires high speed pulses of water comparable to small weapons fire.

Water Cannon: larger version of water pistol, from a distance it releases enough force to function like a fire hose, point blank it its like getting hit by a car

Water Prison: creates what are essentially giant water drops, once inside its hard to escape.

"As you know the Mojave Nation is able to survive thanks to three springs that provide the nation with much needed water. Two of which are inside the city walls, however the third is several miles away. Two days ago the terrorist Helen Shwarger and her group attacked and captured the facility. So far no demands have been made and it is still functioning.

The Sultan fears it is merely a matter of time before the supply is shut off, and as to not raise alarm has requested we handle things. All hostages are presumed dead, if reasonable and they live rescue them, otherwise cleanse the area, no survivors. Shwarger is your top priority, get her away from the spring otherwise she may escape through it.

You have downloaded floor plan of the facility which will not auto-delete but is advised you memorize it anyways. The main building is surrounded by two walls, outer wall makes off a half a square mile area, inside is an oasis whose fruit barring trees supplement the workers food supply. Sadly this means they can hole up there for weeks. Inner wall surrounds the main building that houses the spring. She has guards posted constantly at each main point and patrolling the grounds. Their skill level is unknown so exercise cation."

The vehicle slowed to a halt and the doors opened. "you have 24 hours, good luck"

[Astral Harmony]

Alice Wheeler was the first out. Despite the heat, she was still wearing her trenchcoat. And now that she was out of the transport, she could engage in one of her favorite pastimes...smoking.

"Water," Alice exhaled. "Not exactly my forte."

Though she couldn't complain. It was thanks to her employers that she was alive in the first place and even had a place to call home. "I'll try my best to help you guys out, but this whole water business is making me nervous."

[Menarker]

Grevan stepped out slowly afterwards, wearing only thick boots, jeans and an undershirt. The weather was unpleasant, although not terribly so. His arm were bare and he stretched them out lazily and without regards for protocol or decorum. It felt stifling inside the van.

Grevan stood near Alice, content to take in the smoke she breathed out, the toxic fumes being a welcome breath of... fresh air.

He pulled out 2 dollars and waved it in front. "Can I bum one off of you?" He smirked and chuckled indulgently. Naturally, he had a pack of his own, but he was curious to see what taste Alice's brand was.

"Water bitch, eh? I don't know if my oil and sludge will corrupt her water or be purified by it. Guessing it all evens out. Let's just bag us the mermaid, or put her in a body bag, and go home."

[Overcast]

Alex touched an open piece of metal on the armored box they'd moved here in. Not quite having the patience to wait for anyone to open the door for him since he had also been too itchy to enter the car and had ended up in the far back. He zapped his way off the outer body out of the radio antenna and hit the ground with a grin as he turned to look at Grevan,

"If she knows how to purify I might be in trouble. But if you can keep her dirty with your nasty ass I'm sure she's gonna fry."

He didn't pick up on a cig though, contaminated air did conduct better than uncontaminated, but he had just never picked up the habit.

[Astral Harmony]

Alice wordlessly checked inside her jacket and pulled out another cigarette. "Pall Mall," she said to Grevan. "I'm kind of a bitch for trends, and it's what my aunt smoked."

Once the exchange was complete, Alice held up her hand and snapped her fingers, igniting the tip of her thumbnail. "Need a light?"

Alice kept a lighter on her at all times, mostly so that she didn't betray her nature in public. "It's kinda strange that the terrorists haven't made any demands, yet." she said, looking in the general direction of the facility and starting to walk. "I think they had to have their act together in order to take over that place, but yet they don't know what to do with their spoils? They must have other plans for it aside from getting a hefty ransom."

Like maybe poison the water supply? That wasn't a happy thought. But the report on her really didn't have that "murderer" label that Alice feared. "So whadaya guys think? Should we show up at their front door and ask 'em what the hell they want, or should we try for a stealthy ol' takeover?"

[Menarker]

Grevan took the cigarette with a very satisfied expression as he popped it between his lips and leaned forward to light the toxic stick on Alice's finger-lighter. He took a huge breath inward, taking the smoke all inside and finally exhaled through his nose.

"Ah, very good. Much obliged." He then stared at the dirt floor as he reminded his allies.

"Our delightful nympho target is a water elemental. Taken control of 2 of the 3 springs around here. Seeing as she hasn't made any demands, I have two guesses of what she is up to."
His hands were lazily put in his pockets as he ground the heel of his right boot into the dirt.


"She never meant to make any demands but just wants to hoard all the water for herself, the witch. Or she intends to make the country squirm and sweat it out in complete dehydration before she monopolize the water supply at an absurdly expensive cost which she sets. The desperate farmers and townfolks will be desperate enough to pay nearly anything if pushed hard enough. Hehe, poor suckers."

The Titan of Toxin took a huge drag out of the cigarette as he continued.

"Either way, we have only 24 hours. And in either of those circumstances, there is no reason for her to negotiate when she either intends to play the waiting game or escape as soon as she seizes the goods. I say we sneak in and we all spank her uptight ass in turn. Hell, if she's pretty enough, I'll keep both my hands on them. It'll make it easier for Sparky to play a punishment game with her too, if his guess is right."

Grevan's uplifted smile became a toothy grin that was filled with perverted and dark anticipation for the entire mission, not just the target.

"Anyhow, I suppose I can corrode a hole in those walls. Acid and what not. Get in that way."

[Arcanum]

Ox was the last out of the transport, the tall man looking over Shwarger's profile a final time. Over the past year he started believing that people's personalities were influenced by their element. A lot of what he has seen since only strengthened that belief. He didn't know too much about his current team, but he was always watching, always calculating. People hear Ox's name and see how strong he is and think he's a dumb oaf. He liked it that way; people left their guards down when they thought you were stupid.

He figured Alice would be the easiest to anger, the first to jump into a fight. Irrational, eager, typical Fire. He hoped he was wrong. Grevan was, to put it nicely, disgusting. His personality seemed to mirror his element perfectly. Alex was a showoff, a flashy display for no reason. He either reveled in his element or had an innate desire to impress. Ox hoped it was the former.

Ox snapped out of his train of thought as Grevan finished his tasteless tirade.

"Anyhow, I suppose I can corrode a hole in those walls. Acid and what not. Get in that way."

"No need for guesswork," he replied. "I can get through the walls in about ten seconds give or take, depending on the size of the hole we need. They won't be a problem."

Ox paused, replaying Grevan's take on the scenario in his mind. There were a few flaws in his logic, most notably his understanding of Schwarger herself. She was manipulative, slippery, like most Waters.

"You're wrong by the way," he said calmly to Grevan. "Schwarger isn't in this for the long haul. She causes turmoil, reaps her rewards in the chaos, then slips away through the cracks she made on the way in. Poisoning or crippling the water supply seems the most likely, but she might have something else planned. Regardless, it doesn't matter what she plans to do. We can figure that out once she's captured. A precision strike would work best. We sneak in, keep a low profile until we locate her, and take her out before she has a chance to escape. That's my suggestion."

[Menarker]

Grevan's expression was shocked for a split second and then become somewhat disdainful as Ox contradicted him in such a blatant fashion. Straight forward and blunt without a single ounce of tact. But then he chuckled semi-mirthfully.

"You heard the mission data too. She looted and accepted ransoms from political targets. It seems odd that you'd tell me that I'm wrong given the tiny amount of information we were given unless you know something else no one else told us or are making assumptions that we weren't given. Besides, I was merely guessing, with my main point being we don't have the leisure to negotiate."

Grevan then took a huge drag, almost practically sucking on the cigarette itself before he let it drop to the ground, not even bothering to smoosh it out as the dying wisp wafted pleasantly in the air in a sort of helix trail.

"But! You're absolutely right that her motives doesn't mean shit. We aren't here to get friendly with her, so I really couldn't care about her history or anything else aside from what info can enable me to drag Miss Wet T-Shirt out of her fortress."

The Prince of Poison wiped his hands in his moist hair as he looked toward the enclosure.

"Can you open a hole in the wall without smashing it? I was thinking we make a tiny hole in the wall so I can gas inside it, clear the area a bit before we enter."

[Overcast]

"Don't call me sparky asshole."

Alex said with a bit of a sneer in his direction, he was not fond of nicknames and reacted with shocking offense when someone tried to tie one to him. He stared up, not a cloud in the sky, no descending upon his enemies like Zeus's almighty fury so it seemed he was stuck sneaking with these slags,

"Well if we are going to sneak in we better get on this, waste of time sitting here when we already got a plan. We can think about variables when we get there. Not like we know much more than, blah blah two walls, food trees, guards and a liquid bitch."

And he started walking. A bad habit, but he was already on the path of least resistance and he was going to keep on it till he he hit ground.

[Astral Harmony]

"The main problem will be that we can't just go all apeshit in there," Alice groaned, knowing that she was going to have to hold back on the epic explosions she loved so much. "It's not some enemy base we're taking down. It's a important life-giving facility and I'm certain the Sultan would like it returned to him as a life-giving facility and not a smoldering ruin."

Being careful with one's attacks was also not Alice's forte. Water or no, she was at a huge disadvantage here. Explosions weren't just for fun. Timed and placed correctly, they caused enemy casualties to skyrocket and were extremely disorienting, and then there was the fear factor. When your best shit was getting blown up and swallowed in flames, most enemies voided their bowels and offered no resistance to further attack.

And explosions were only a byproduct of Alice's true talent. Few things were more horrifying than being burned alive. Alice was sure that her mother could attest to that. Fire may create heat to warm your hands and bath water and light by which to guide you, but every other utility of it was bent towards destruction. Fire was a glutton that devoured everything. Fire could turn an air conditioned room into the mouth of hell itself. Fire choked away all the air and filled it with noxious smoke.

And just like the red devourer itself, Alice also hungered. It was almost like the element was a conscious entity whose emotions surged as Alice's did. Alice was almost fanatically passionate about justice and punishing evil. For her mother who died horribly bringing Alice into the world, for her aunt and uncle who raised her despite all the trouble she caused, and for White Shield who gave her a new home and a purpose she could believe in, Alice intended to burn away every last injustice from this world with a white-hot inferno.

Cigarette finished, Alice negligently dropped it to the ground and stomped it out despite there being nothing to set fire to, and tried to bend her will to the task. She would need to take care with her passions this time. Wielding the red devourer carelessly would end up destroying something very precious to the people of these lands.