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xp_logsKevin holds a meeting regarding the recent loss of two legacy agents and reveals a bit of his past doing so.
“Thanks Doug.” Kevin said as the younger man stepped away from his laptop, connecting it to the screen through the modified Chromecast that he couldn’t figure out. To be honest, he was just happy he was able to make the presentation without Domino there to hold his hand. He winced and buried that thought about his former partner, not wanting to pick at that emotional scab any time soon. The seats filled up quickly and he took his place at the front, something, technological changes aside, he’d done for decades and started the briefing.
“Two days ago, as part of a normal intelligence run, Jubilee and Wanda discovered Emily Nvota dead. Killed with a single gunshot to the head. Nvota is part of an old CIA network, retired by them but reactivated by myself last year. Intel is older and limited, but an effective piece in our tracking of bio and genetic terrorism.”
“Yeah, we managed to pull some good security footage from the cameras but there wasn’t much. It was professional, I think the only reason footage was left was that there like, wasn’t time to wipe it all.”
Jubilee tapped out a few commands on her phone to throw up a still of the woman they’d found. The kill itself had been efficient, and brutal, and apart from the security footage the actual scene had been relatively clean. Definitely a professional hit as far as she was concerned.
"This is Mary Walker, a former CIA operative. One of our paramilitary units. She's known as Typhoid Mary, a mercenary/assassin for hire who has been operating mostly in Europe, Africa and South America for the last two decades. She's powered; physically enhanced as well as some psionic aspect to her powers which makes it hard to coordinate against her in the field. Most of what we have on her powers is conjecture, unfortunately. And, yes, that woman is in her early sixties."
Felicia shot a suspicious glance at Kevin, eyebrow already arched, but quickly focused back on Jubilee. "Steal name of plastic surgeon, got it. Where do we start looking for her?"
Wanda chimed in, placing her tea down in order to pick up her binder of notes. "We're not sure yet. We're reaching out to potential contacts that might have worked with her in the past, starting in the areas she generally operates out of and then moving out from there. Walker covered her tracks damn well when killing Nvota but she's got a trail out there somewhere, we're working on pulling that information now."
"Jesus, twice my damn age and she looks way better than I do right now," Doug groused. "Gee thanks, magic blood curse." He tapped several keys and moved some more items to the screen. "Here's what we've managed so far. Not much, but at least it's a starting point?" He cast his eyes to Kevin, being the resident expert on this particular person.
"Here's the truth telling part. Mary used to work for me directly. Back in the 90s, we were tracking a guy know only as 'Sugar Man'. A geneticist, capable of creating monsters. We thought we had him to rights, only to have the entire team other than Mary killed. He... experimented on her for months until she escaped. Nvota was part of the network we used to track him the first time. It's a good bet she's targeting them trying to find him." Kevin shook his head. "Sugar Man was a threat twenty years ago, and I don't like to think what advances he's made in the interim. But this is Company business, which makes it personal for me. So if you want to get involved, that's a call you all need to make."
"A geneticist who likes to create monsters is rather more than personal, Kevin." Marie-Ange pointed out. "Company business or not, attacking someone you re-activated makes this our concern." She paged through the binder of notes. "Why is she resurfacing now? Why is this Sugar Man..." She paused. "I hate myself for even saying that very stupid name.. Why is she going after him now, what brought this on?"
"I have no idea, but he has to be the reason. There's no reason to go after a network this old and specialized otherwise." Kevin shook his head. "Mary fought her way out of a mental facility. We can't guess her motives. But if we can get to her by dangling some bait, it might give us a line to go after him. I've got an old score to settle with him."
Gabriel snorted without really thinking about it. By this point, it was hardly a shock when another shadow from Kevin's past resurfaced to make things complicated. But now the others were looking at him, so he had to say something to prove he'd been listening. "To be clear, you want to dangle someone in front of a mentally ill former employee of yours with unknown powers that were subject to unknown experiences." He didn't bother to cock an eyebrow, since it was implied in his tone. "I so do not volunteer as tribute. And if this is what happens to all your proteges, I want a better retirement plan."
"After all my training, you still think any of us will make retirement? I must be more upbeat than I thought." Kevin shook his head. "We dangle a contact. A doctor that actually put us on Sugar Man the last time. Mary was a tactical operative, not a spy. She didn't know the intelligence assets we worked off of. If we seed a name for her, we can put her in a position where we can grab her and figure out why she's looking for Sugar Man now."
"How difficult is that going to be? Grabbing her, I mean," asked Amanda. "If she's a CIA tactical operative, there's going to be training. Plus powers...physical enhancement and some kind of mystery psionics. Could get messy."
Clea had been sitting and listening this entire time as the conversation went back and forth between the more experienced people. Sugar Man reminded her of what could be part 1950s cartoon commercial. "It could be very difficult, especially if she doesn't want to go willingly. And from what I am hearing, this sounds personal. Vengeance can be quiet the motivator. I think in this case you'll want to be a step ahead to get her."
Artie sighed. "This is going to be messy, no matter what we do." He typed a moment longer and added "And honestly, I"m not sure we'll get all our people out alive if we move on Sugar Man. I vote we kill Mary and feed the rest of this to the CIA and let them deal with it."
"No." Kevin said. "Mary isn't a villain like Sugar Man. This isn't going to be a termination mission."
"If she is as dangerous as you say, that may be our only option." Marie-Ange said. "As you say, none of us expect to make retirement. The option needs to be on the table."
"No." Kevin said, forcefully and finally. "At the end of the day, Walker is a mercenary; small potatoes, no matter what her powers are. Sugar Man, on the other hand, has been creating monsters for sale for decades. If she's got a line on him that involves those old resources, it's the best shot anyone has had on him in ages. Like I said, this is strictly a volunteer mission, but if you sign on, we do this my way. If not, I perfectly understand if you can't be involved."
Natasha was following the conversation with interest. Her fieldwork had dealt with scenarios of similar complication, but less fraught history. In many ways it was easier that way. It was also far easier having someone abover her making the final decisions. Though she was far from that same person Barton had made a different call on. The discussion about human experimentation hit a little close to home. She'd never turned down a mission and wasn't about to start now. "I'm in."
“I believe you’ve made your conditions perfectly clear, Mr Sydney,” said Emma. “So long as it is strictly voluntary, then I think people can make their choices based on what you’ve said. Any further discussion points.” Emma looked around the table, accepted the shaken heads as the end of the team meeting. As people began to stand and move away, her voice echoed in Kevin’s head. ~May I have a private word, Mr Sydney?~
“Thanks Doug.” Kevin said as the younger man stepped away from his laptop, connecting it to the screen through the modified Chromecast that he couldn’t figure out. To be honest, he was just happy he was able to make the presentation without Domino there to hold his hand. He winced and buried that thought about his former partner, not wanting to pick at that emotional scab any time soon. The seats filled up quickly and he took his place at the front, something, technological changes aside, he’d done for decades and started the briefing.
“Two days ago, as part of a normal intelligence run, Jubilee and Wanda discovered Emily Nvota dead. Killed with a single gunshot to the head. Nvota is part of an old CIA network, retired by them but reactivated by myself last year. Intel is older and limited, but an effective piece in our tracking of bio and genetic terrorism.”
“Yeah, we managed to pull some good security footage from the cameras but there wasn’t much. It was professional, I think the only reason footage was left was that there like, wasn’t time to wipe it all.”
Jubilee tapped out a few commands on her phone to throw up a still of the woman they’d found. The kill itself had been efficient, and brutal, and apart from the security footage the actual scene had been relatively clean. Definitely a professional hit as far as she was concerned.
"This is Mary Walker, a former CIA operative. One of our paramilitary units. She's known as Typhoid Mary, a mercenary/assassin for hire who has been operating mostly in Europe, Africa and South America for the last two decades. She's powered; physically enhanced as well as some psionic aspect to her powers which makes it hard to coordinate against her in the field. Most of what we have on her powers is conjecture, unfortunately. And, yes, that woman is in her early sixties."
Felicia shot a suspicious glance at Kevin, eyebrow already arched, but quickly focused back on Jubilee. "Steal name of plastic surgeon, got it. Where do we start looking for her?"
Wanda chimed in, placing her tea down in order to pick up her binder of notes. "We're not sure yet. We're reaching out to potential contacts that might have worked with her in the past, starting in the areas she generally operates out of and then moving out from there. Walker covered her tracks damn well when killing Nvota but she's got a trail out there somewhere, we're working on pulling that information now."
"Jesus, twice my damn age and she looks way better than I do right now," Doug groused. "Gee thanks, magic blood curse." He tapped several keys and moved some more items to the screen. "Here's what we've managed so far. Not much, but at least it's a starting point?" He cast his eyes to Kevin, being the resident expert on this particular person.
"Here's the truth telling part. Mary used to work for me directly. Back in the 90s, we were tracking a guy know only as 'Sugar Man'. A geneticist, capable of creating monsters. We thought we had him to rights, only to have the entire team other than Mary killed. He... experimented on her for months until she escaped. Nvota was part of the network we used to track him the first time. It's a good bet she's targeting them trying to find him." Kevin shook his head. "Sugar Man was a threat twenty years ago, and I don't like to think what advances he's made in the interim. But this is Company business, which makes it personal for me. So if you want to get involved, that's a call you all need to make."
"A geneticist who likes to create monsters is rather more than personal, Kevin." Marie-Ange pointed out. "Company business or not, attacking someone you re-activated makes this our concern." She paged through the binder of notes. "Why is she resurfacing now? Why is this Sugar Man..." She paused. "I hate myself for even saying that very stupid name.. Why is she going after him now, what brought this on?"
"I have no idea, but he has to be the reason. There's no reason to go after a network this old and specialized otherwise." Kevin shook his head. "Mary fought her way out of a mental facility. We can't guess her motives. But if we can get to her by dangling some bait, it might give us a line to go after him. I've got an old score to settle with him."
Gabriel snorted without really thinking about it. By this point, it was hardly a shock when another shadow from Kevin's past resurfaced to make things complicated. But now the others were looking at him, so he had to say something to prove he'd been listening. "To be clear, you want to dangle someone in front of a mentally ill former employee of yours with unknown powers that were subject to unknown experiences." He didn't bother to cock an eyebrow, since it was implied in his tone. "I so do not volunteer as tribute. And if this is what happens to all your proteges, I want a better retirement plan."
"After all my training, you still think any of us will make retirement? I must be more upbeat than I thought." Kevin shook his head. "We dangle a contact. A doctor that actually put us on Sugar Man the last time. Mary was a tactical operative, not a spy. She didn't know the intelligence assets we worked off of. If we seed a name for her, we can put her in a position where we can grab her and figure out why she's looking for Sugar Man now."
"How difficult is that going to be? Grabbing her, I mean," asked Amanda. "If she's a CIA tactical operative, there's going to be training. Plus powers...physical enhancement and some kind of mystery psionics. Could get messy."
Clea had been sitting and listening this entire time as the conversation went back and forth between the more experienced people. Sugar Man reminded her of what could be part 1950s cartoon commercial. "It could be very difficult, especially if she doesn't want to go willingly. And from what I am hearing, this sounds personal. Vengeance can be quiet the motivator. I think in this case you'll want to be a step ahead to get her."
Artie sighed. "This is going to be messy, no matter what we do." He typed a moment longer and added "And honestly, I"m not sure we'll get all our people out alive if we move on Sugar Man. I vote we kill Mary and feed the rest of this to the CIA and let them deal with it."
"No." Kevin said. "Mary isn't a villain like Sugar Man. This isn't going to be a termination mission."
"If she is as dangerous as you say, that may be our only option." Marie-Ange said. "As you say, none of us expect to make retirement. The option needs to be on the table."
"No." Kevin said, forcefully and finally. "At the end of the day, Walker is a mercenary; small potatoes, no matter what her powers are. Sugar Man, on the other hand, has been creating monsters for sale for decades. If she's got a line on him that involves those old resources, it's the best shot anyone has had on him in ages. Like I said, this is strictly a volunteer mission, but if you sign on, we do this my way. If not, I perfectly understand if you can't be involved."
Natasha was following the conversation with interest. Her fieldwork had dealt with scenarios of similar complication, but less fraught history. In many ways it was easier that way. It was also far easier having someone abover her making the final decisions. Though she was far from that same person Barton had made a different call on. The discussion about human experimentation hit a little close to home. She'd never turned down a mission and wasn't about to start now. "I'm in."
“I believe you’ve made your conditions perfectly clear, Mr Sydney,” said Emma. “So long as it is strictly voluntary, then I think people can make their choices based on what you’ve said. Any further discussion points.” Emma looked around the table, accepted the shaken heads as the end of the team meeting. As people began to stand and move away, her voice echoed in Kevin’s head. ~May I have a private word, Mr Sydney?~
