RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 4] - Phoenixes, Caduceus and Zombies

DOWN BELOW...
Luca opened the box of grenades and hastily snatched up four 40mm grenades which had blue markings on them and read: 'Warning - Plasma - For use on Power Armour only'
"Tell me." Luca asked the woman, who was busy finding a hiding place, "Is plasma good against a powered armour? I've never really had to use one or fight against one before..."
"The armour he had vould be blown to shreds by Plasma." "The Super Demon power armour isn't great on shielding. Why do you ask?"
Luca held up one of the grenades and waved it at her, "Lets say I have some return fire."

She gaped at the grenade as Luca removed the other slug he had loaded in his M'Cel and replaced it, putting the spare one in a beltpocket, and the other 3 plasma slugs in the pocket of his jacket, "Luck seems to favour you. Probably a leedle too much for my liking."
"Better than no luck at all." Luca replied as he held up the grenade launcher and aimed it the door where the big lug with the gatling gun was due to enter.

"C'mon, slowpoke. We don't have all day..." Luca was waiting, aiming carefully at the door.

UP TOP...
"Let's not ponder on it." Mitch said, "Lets make use of it. Crane, what does that password lead us to?" He gestured to the keypad in the lift.
"It's for that keypad," He moved over and began pushing the corresponding, beeping keys as he said them, "Just 5146... and the hash key twice. And we should..."

The elevator then began to move, up towards Floor 5. The number lit up on the keypad with a beep-beep noise, "...get to where the head of the operations is. I'm supposed to deliver this folder to him."

"Right, I'll stay by the elevator and cover you if I have to." Vincent said, one by one flicking off the safeties on his (massive) arsenal.

DOWN BELOW...
That insane laugh could be heard behind the door, and Luca held the M'Cel tightly.
"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!!" The massive, heavily armed guard's voice could be heard, "YOU'LL HAVE TO FACE ME SOON!!"
He swung the door open with his gatling gun whirring with a maniacal laugh, then noticed Luca with the M'cel.

"Yeah yeah... I will." Luca quipped casually pulled the trigger and a red-white hot burst hurtled out of the barrel towards the Guard. His laughing ground to an abrupt halt.
"Oh, shi-" He wasn't able to get the last word out as the plasma projectile ripped a hole in his armour, and through him, leaving a massive hole where most of his chest should have been, and the big lug finally fell backwards with a mighty, firey crash. His Super Demon armour couldn't take it, and exploded, consuming the gatling gun and strewing shards of metal in the general area.

Luca just stood there, looking at his Grenade launcher, and the plume of smoke that had come out of it, and what it had resulted in.
"Hmm. That merchant seriously wasn't kidding around with this." Luca weighed the gun in his hands.
"Zat was your big plan?" The woman looked less than impressed.
"Yes. Might as well have tackled him head on." Luca shrugged to her, "As he said, we couldn't run forever."
The woman nodded, "Even so, you've made quite a mess. They'll find him easily. Besides, I think the noise from the explosion may have put the whole place on alert."
Luca rolled his eyes and shook his head.

UP ON THE 5TH FLOOR...
The elevator opened with a "Ding!". A desk with a female receptionist could be seen. She waved to the men in the elevator casually, "Good morning." She asked Crane, who was readily apparent in the elevator, "Do you have an appointment or something to deliver?" She asked as she chewed some gum and filled out a form.
The phone rung and she picked it up. "Hello, Mr. Simmons' office... Yes... Mmmhmm... Your call will be redirected to Mr. Simmons." She hung it up.

Mitch gave Crane a nudge to go forward. "C'mon."

Then the rumble from below could be heard. The receptionist looked around for a moment, but then shrugged and continued working away.

Vincent sighed. "Man, I hate secretaries." He said to himself before turning towards whoever was making the delivery.

"You're up."

Jim tried to make his large gun as concealed as possible as he walked past the secretary, but it didn't seem to matter, as she wasn't paying them much mind anyway. Reaching down to his holster, Jim made sure that his pistol was ready to fire, and took off the safety. "You all ready for this?" Jim said to the rest of them as they got closer to their final destination.

Vincent finished doing up his duster, which miraculously concealed his massive arsenal.

"I was bred ready, Jim."

UP TOP...
Mitch immediately facepalmed and quickly grabbed Vincent and Jim by the collars.
"God damn it. This is a stealth mission." Mitch whispered to the two, then wondered. Was Crane too scared to make the delivery, "Crane, move forward, act natural. We'll be behind you."

Crane nodded with the document in hand and moved forward to the desk.
"Hi," He told the receptionist, "Little delivery from the office to..." He almost forgot Mr. Simmons' name, "Mr. Simmons."
The woman took it from Crane's hands without looking and plonked it onto a tray labelled 'Simmons, IN'. "Thank you, sir. He'll take it up some time tonight."

"We need to make sure she, the receptionist doesn't hit any alert switches, or the place will be swarmed with not only guards, but the police." Mitch was thinking of a plan, "With Crane distracting that bint, let's try and sneak behind her and tie her up with a gag. Unethical as it is, it has to be done to ensure we don't get caught."
He then moved out, and scouted around. Nobody was in sight, aside from the unaware receptionist at her desk. Exits from the room were behind her, a door presumably leading to Mr. Simmons' office, and a door to the left labelled: 'To Labs - Strictly No Unauthorised Personnel'

He beckoned Jim and Vincent while moved around the desk and behind the woman, who was still at her Computer, and attending to Crane at the same time.

DOWN BELOW...
Luca went over to inspect the crater that he'd left, and found something, which by the powers that were, was left intact after the blast.
"Ohh..." Luca chuckled as he held up a green keycard, "Restricted Access..."
The woman again sighed at the fortunate predicaments and nodded. Now they could continue on.

They headed back down the cold steel corridors, down to where they were before, with the melted column and the door they couldn't open. It was promptly opened with a swipe of the card.

When the door came open, a small wave of smoke came out on the floor. The woman looked inside. There appeared to be a large room with a computer screen dominating the back wall. A series of keyboards underneath were dwarfed by the screen. The following Information was onscreen
"Wow..." Was all Luca said. He appeared to have hit the proverbial motherlode. He didn't know where to begin as he walked to the computer, looked at the keyboard. He was supposed to recover a sample of the virus, and its cure, but with such an arcanely devised interface, how?

Crane finally came to his senses and realized what his companions were about to do. Making an effort to keep the secretary from noticing anything, he began rambling on about the thing he knew best- cornbread! As an additional, precautionary diversion (in case she wasn't as into cornbread as he thought everyone should be), Crane quickly poured a cup of coffee and began pushing it in her face.

"Alright." Vincent said, removing the belt from his jacket and creeping up behind the secretary.

UP TOP...
"I see. You're a chef in your spare time?" The secretary smiled to Crane as she beared just a little bit of cleavage, not enough for a good look, though. "Thanks for the coffee." She took a sip.

Then a series of ropes went over her head and around her waist.
"Huh?" They then tightened. She still had a reasonable grip on the coffee. She looked behind herself and found Mitch.
"Sorry. We can't have anyone calling in the big guns." Mitch assured, "It's not personal." He managed to tie her legs to the chair and her hands to the back of the chair.
"Hmm. You lot seem to be the second set of people who came in to infiltrate this place." The secretary laughed, "One other bitch who was with the IPG came in just a couple of days ago, and we threw her in the cesspit when we found her out. She must be dead to the virus by now, and so is your little friend! I saw him fall in on camera!" Her voice was vastly different from the female voice they heard at the entrance to the facility

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Vincent, gag please." Mitch mumbled unamused by her dramatic speak, and Vincent promptly filled the request with a length of cloth on the desk, probably used to wipe up coffee stains. Mitch gagged the secretary quickly, "Thank you. Let's move on."

DOWN BELOW...
"...where to start..." Luca said as he examined each of the keyboards. His left index finger hovered about the interface, looking for the right button to press, while trying to look at the screen, "...do you have any idea how to use this?" He asked the woman.

She pushed Luca aside and she stretched her fingers. "Yes, as a matter of fact. Remember, I did surveillance on this place. I know how to use the computers, to a degree. What do you need?"
"Err, a sample of the virus, each, and a sample of the cure, each. We're gonna keep 'em safe."

Her fingers wove through the keyboard with ease, with commands and queries coming up and being dealt with easily. Eventually, she managed to extract the virus, and its cure into two pairs of nigh-unbreakable vials after a couple of minutes worth of extracting the samples of the substances from their tanks and into the hands of the heroes.
"Thank you." Luca said as he took his and put them in his inside jacket pocket.
"Вы радушны." She replied in her native tongue.
Luca just nodded and smiled. "Where to, next?"
"To the top - but first..." She turned back to the computer and input a command to send the containment temperature of the Virus to 200 degrees Celsius, effectively starting to destroy it. The temperature was rising a degree or two every couple of seconds.

"...This virus must be destroyed. Mr. Luca, break the keyboards."
Luca smiled at the prospect, "Yes, Miss!" He pulled the diamondised combat knife from behind his jacket and ran it through the primary keyboard. He then punched through the secondary, and then bought his boot into the final one. He pulled out the knife out of the keyboard and sheathed it.

"Let's hustle!" They rushed out of the computer room and down the corridors with weapons beared, looking for an elevator to the 5th floor as sirens rang and lights flashed throughout the entire facility over the eventual death of the virus. The temperature kept on rising. It was at about 60 and counting...

Vincent promptly laughed once (rather loudly) and tipped the chair over on its back, then walked away down the hallway following the rest of the group.

Jim followed the rest while thinking to himself, Well she certainly got what was coming to her.

Looking from side to side, Jim made sure that they were neither watched nor followed by anyone unwanted.

Crane snatched the cup of coffee from the secretary as Vincent tipped her backwards. He gulped down a swig to quench his thirst before quickly throwing it in the garbage. "Coffee..." He grumbled angrily to himself and shook his head as he walked toward the rest of the group. Thinking twice, he turned and grabbed the folder that he was supposed to deliver and shoved it under his coat. Could be interesting, he thought.

DOWN BELOW...
Luca and the mystery woman were rushing through the steel corridors under the facility with due speed, they got what they wanted and wanted to get out as quickly as they can.
On their way they plowed though a scattered series of guards, riddling them with lead.

Eventually, they found an elevator that was read as leading to the '5th Floor'
"Looks like this is the way out." Luca said as he waited for it to come, and reloaded cartridges into his shotgun by pushing the lever forward, and placing them into where the spent cartridges usually come out.
"Obviously," The woman said as she reloaded Luca's submachine gun with a new magazine, "It seems as though this little adventure is getting to a close."
"Nah, it isn't over yet." Luca said as the elevator went 'ding!' and the doors opened, "There's always something big that happens at the end." They entered the elevator and with due speed, "Can't remember what for now..."

Then the elevator reached its required floor and the doors opened.
The doors were in the same room as the Secretary's office, where it said it leaded to the laboratories. Mitch's head swivelled around to find Luca and the mystery woman. The secretary's reaction was unfavourable towards this, muffled cursing could be heard.
"...well I'll be buggered." Mitch flustered as he was sharpening his machete in preparation for the task ahead, "You even got a girl in tow too - somehow..."
"Nyet. I am not his girl," The mystery woman spoke up, "You're his companions, I presume?"
Mitch nodded.

Luca chuckled for a moment, then paused, "Gentlemen," he addressed his peers with his shotgun cradled and a smile, the lollipop that usually dangles from his mouth absent, and left with just a small stick, almost imitating a cigarette.

Meanwhile, down below, the temperature of the virus was at boiling point, 100 degrees.

"Luca. Good to see you again, sir. Who's the lady with the odd accent?" Vincent inquired, still standing somewhere by the door when lo and behold Luca and the mystery woman jumped out the door.

"Wait a minute... Were you guys coming through the same route down below? Because that secretary bitch said something about the girl coming from the IPG."

Jim chuckled, "Luca, you never cease to surprise me. Though by now I should expect anything from you. You get dropped into a deathtrap, and come out of it intact and with a beautiful lady in tow. Well done. You find out anything about that horrible zombie virus?"

"...You're with the IPG?" Luca asked the woman.
"As if it wasn't obvious enough!" She seemed resentful, "Three yamataians, a massive geshrin and an ID-SOL came to fish a virus for profit?"
"Partly," Mitch said tapping his temple, "Ask Luca, I'm sure he's told you what he wants to do with it."
"Ah yeah, about that..." Luca fished his pockets for a few seconds, and pulled out a bunch of flowers, "Whoops, wrong pocket." He kept on rummaging and eventually pulled out both vials, the one with the virus glowed reddish-white, and the one with the cure glowed a cyan colour, "Ta-daaah. For safe keeping."

"Interesting samples." Mitch commended, "What have you two done about the rest of the virus?"
"Is cooking." The woman replied, "Virus should be destroyed by now."
"Yeah, it's irreversible too 'cos I destroyed the interface hard!" Luca chimed in while he put the vials back in his pocket.
"There's one more thing to do." Mitch said as he held up his machete, gleaming in the fluorescent lights, "Apprehend this Mr. Simmons."

Luca slung his shotgun back over his shoulder in one swoop and pulled out his 10x25mm Pistol. "Hell yeah." He then noticed the woman at the Secretary's computer, typing out a message, a sort of distress beacon and sending it to the IPG.
"We vill have IPG backup here in half an hour to strip ze place bare. You're all flagged as friendly units and will be given debriefing and compensation when they arrive. You can all exact your justice on this Simmons man, but I've gotten vat I wanted." She stood up out of the chair and looked to the window that overlooked the grounds, "До свидания..." She looked like she was preparing to do a swan dive through the window.
"Wait! Wait! Before you go..." Luca interjected, "I still don't know your name!"

The woman sighed, "You may call me Nostrovia." She then took a running jump through the window and into the night sky. She fell, but disappeared in a flash of bright, white light.
Mitch walked over to the window and looked down on the ground.
"...weird woman." He mumbled to himself.
"Yeah. Her parents must've been interesting." Luca added.

"Then you guys would like the rest of the IPG. I met a few of their operatives when I was in the Marine corps. They're tough as nails, and most of them can actually just flash their ID and get access to whatever equipment they want. They're sort of like Nepleslia's special forces." Vincent said, drawing out his Hand Cannons.

"Anyhow, let's go catch a rat."

Luca and Mitch walked to the door with their weapons raised, and threw their feet to the door, smashing it clean off the hinges with their combined efforts. They and the crew stormed forward.

The room where Mr. Simmons worked in was unusually large office with an insignificantly small desk and a wiry figure behind it. To the left was a window which substituted for a wall, giving view of the entire facility, and the desert beyond, and the mountains.
Simmons himself looked out of place too. His facial features clashed with eachother in determining whether he was male or female on first glance.
"I see you found me. Congratulations." The voice was just the same as they had heard when the trapdoor sprung, "Seeing as though you're going to kill me, which you won't, I may as well reveal my master plan."

Is it a he... or a she... or an it...? Gah! Luca was already confused by this, but having the female voice come from a male-ish figure ground his cognition to bits. Mitch didn't look as phased, and was focusing on the task at hand.

It stood up, out of his chair and meshed her fingers, facing the wall and revealing more of its wiry figure, "What I wanted to do with the virus was to, simply put, profit from it. Anonymously drop it on Funky City's slums, create an outbreak, and sell the cure when they need it most. We were going to be rich..." He turned around with a syringe of what appeared to be glowing black or blue fluids, "Until you, your crew and that meddling bitch intervened. I don't intend to go down without a fight..." She raised the syringe and grinned, "I want you to bear witness to our latest product... fresh from the labs..."
There's another virus? Luca thought to himself, while still trying to determine whether Simmons was male or female.

"It's still being tested, and they call it Symbiotic Combat Enhancer VTX-03. Or..." He pulled back the arm on her business suit, "Black Vitriol." He plunged the syringe into his arm and injected the whole vial, then pulled out out and threw it away, cackling wildly.

Suddenly a jarring series of audible cracks and sprains could be heard as Simmons anatomy was being changed from the inside out, his body begun turning jet black, the bones in his hands were elongated, ripped through his fingertips and turned into claws and his teeth into vicious fangs, his eyes glazed over to an off-white colour and seemed to get bigger, widening across his face, his muscles bulged through his suit and tore the whole thing off, and his originally wiry figure now resembled a 12 foot tall, genderless monolith of bone, flesh, blood and fear.

It then let loose a terrible screeching roar that made the windows shatter, sending shards of glass everywhere, some hitting Luca and Mitch, and it flung the desk it was standing behind and its contents like toys into Mitch, who was bowled over by it. Luca narrowly dodged a marble statuette.
"Agghh...What the...!?" Mitch was astounded at the miracles that science could achieve, but also wanted to pound it till it didn't even twitch. He started to try and heave the desk off him, it was heavier than he imagined.

Luca didn't have to worry about determining genders, and could now truly focus on the task at hand. He pulled out the shotgun from over his back, flung the lever forward and came back cocked, holding it with one hand, this and his pistol pointed at this beast, Vitriol, "Come get some." He taunted contemptuously with a widening grin of anticipation. This very awesome looking action from the captain seemed to motivate the rest of the crew to get ready to face off against the seemingly insurmountable.

Click, click. The hammers on Vincent's Hand Cannons flicked back into the ready position, and as soon as they were back, Vincent was shooting, revolvers akimbo. The slugs, capable of smashing bone and tearing flesh, barely even scratched Vitriol.

"Err... Luca? I think we're going to need a bigger gun. You still have that grenade launcher?"