Poison Part 1: Introductions
Sep. 19th, 2010 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
antivanrufflesOriginal idea can be found here: http://satine86.livejournal.com/19920.html
The year is 2108, and Earth is under the universal rule of Silver Alliance; a galactic authority preserving peace and the basic rights of all living creatures.
After having completed a long and disastrous World War, the powers that be on Earth signed a treaty with Silver Alliance in the hopes that peace could finally be obtained. And for the last twenty years, life has been returning to normal; the world flourishing as the cities and lives of its people are rebuilt.
However the new peace is being threatened.
Casus Belli once specialized in arms dealing during the war, they sold to whomever had the money and the means, and quickly grew into an underground corporation ruled by a mysterious figure simply known as “Wise Man.”
Now Casus Belli is trying to take back the power it once had, wishing to take down Silver Alliance until it is the only power in the universe.
The two powers are now entangled in a war with one another; playing a global game of chess.
Winner takes Earth…. winner takes all.
The good people of Earth are completely oblivious to what is happening around them. They think life is good, and peace and freedom are finally theirs.
Little do they know their world is slowly being poisoned from the inside out.
After having completed a long and disastrous World War, the powers that be on Earth signed a treaty with Silver Alliance in the hopes that peace could finally be obtained. And for the last twenty years, life has been returning to normal; the world flourishing as the cities and lives of its people are rebuilt.
However the new peace is being threatened.
Casus Belli once specialized in arms dealing during the war, they sold to whomever had the money and the means, and quickly grew into an underground corporation ruled by a mysterious figure simply known as “Wise Man.”
Now Casus Belli is trying to take back the power it once had, wishing to take down Silver Alliance until it is the only power in the universe.
The two powers are now entangled in a war with one another; playing a global game of chess.
Winner takes Earth…. winner takes all.
The good people of Earth are completely oblivious to what is happening around them. They think life is good, and peace and freedom are finally theirs.
Little do they know their world is slowly being poisoned from the inside out.
******
Jace Sendoa, First General of Silver Alliance’s field team, entered Commander Starling’s office without preamble and tossed a thick file onto the immaculate desk that matched the rest of the Spartan room.
Commander Starling, a middle aged man with a long mane of premature white hair, was quite a handsome man with a strong carriage and sharp light blue eyes that tracked all around him. Looking up from under thick white eyebrows, Starling regarded the young man before him with a sigh.
“What is it now?” He was tired, having worked through most of the night after learning one of his men was missing, and was truly in no mood for the impetuous young General.
“New candidate.” Jace smiled as he sank down onto one of the leather chairs that sat before the desk, one long leg coming up to rest over the arm as he nonchalantly started picking imaginary lint off his knee.
“Oh?” Curiosity perked, Starling started thumbing through the file and found a candid picture of a beautiful young woman with large blue eyes, golden hair and a sunny smile. His thumb traced one fair cheek, thinking back on another girl with a similar smile. “What’s her name?”
“Mina Aeryn.”
“And you’re sure she’s right for the job?” Starling sat the picture aside and glanced back up at Jace. “She looks like a model.” The young man smiled, his slow catlike grin that usually meant he was about to drop a bomb of some sort.
Starling braced himself.
“Without doubt, sir, she graduated early from the Royal Academy, was trained by Interpol and has been hiring out as a mercenary and bounty hunter for the past three years.“
“Why did she leave Interpol?” Starling asked and started flipping through papers in hopes of finding her record.
“She left because she was tired of their games. She was known for her, uh, disregard of the rules.” Jace waved a hand airily, the grin still in place.
“No wonder you like her..” Starling sighed again, placing a hand over tired eyes.
“More than that,” Jace continued on despite the interruption. “She has a personal score with Casus Belli. Her father was a respectable man, a lawyer, but he unfortunately represented the wrong person after the treaty was signed and Casus Belli didn’t take kindly to that. They gunned him down when Mina was just a girl, her mother supposedly saw it all and never recovered; she’s been in an institution since.” Jace shifted in his seat, placing both feet on the floor and resting his elbows on his thighs. All airs of fun and lightness gone, his lips were a fine line and his eyes serious; in that moment he looked every bit the general he was.
“It’s my understanding that while Mina might not always use the most legal methods, she does know right from wrong and she hates Casus Belli. She seems like a natural fit for the Pax Team.” He shrugged a broad shoulder and leaned back again.
Starling nodded slowly, tapping the file gently with one finger. “Very well, you have permission to recruit her.”
“Thank you, Artie!” Jace stood from his seat and saluted his commander before turning and exiting the room.
Artemis Starling, commanding General of Silver Alliance’s Earth Branch, shook his head and smiled despite himself. Over the years he had supervised many men, but none quite like Jace; who was at once an unruly frat boy and well trained solider.
The young man had been drafted out of the French Foreign Legion when he showed extreme promise, and had quickly rose through the ranks of Silver Alliance. Now at thirty-two he was the youngest first General they had ever had.
Picking up Mina’s discarded file Starling thoroughly looked over the notes written in Jace’s sloppy chicken scratch to one side:
Name: Mina Astraea Aeryn
Date of birth: 22-10-2078
Age: 29
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Blood type: B
Trained in: Artillery, Jeet June Do, various forms of self-defense. Fluent in English and Japanese. Has a working knowledge of French, German, and Mandarin.
Observations: Quick thinker, good strategist, very keen spy (sneaky), scrappy, surprisingly tough and resilient.
Starling snorted. Sounded like Mina and Jace would get along swimmingly.
*****
Racing down the crumbling back streets of old Tokyo, Mina dodged around pedestrians, trash, and broken blocks of the ruined buildings, long legs pumping in time with her beating heart.
She ducked around a corner, cursing herself again for wearing heels, but she had thought it would be an easy mark. Finally having had enough she stopped momentarily to yank off her flimsy shoes and tossed them over her shoulders before continuing on.
With more steady footing she sprinted after the gorilla of a man, making up the distance. Mina saw him duck down an alley; skidding to halt she drew her weapon and took aim on her cornered prey.
“Drop your fucking weapon and back away!” she shouted.
The man, birth name Frank Skilling (lovingly called ‘Skillet” by his associates) had his own weapon pointed back, but his hands were shaky and sweat beaded on his pronounced forehead.
“I’m not doing a thing you want, Blondie, they’ll kill me!” He cried, muddy brown eyes shifted from side to side, looking for an out that wasn’t there.
Mina knew he was wanted for his involvement in a drug lords disappearance. She was quite sure the men who hired had her would do anything to get the answers, but that wasn’t really her problem. She didn’t care if she was hired by the police, the royal guard or criminals, so long as she got paid.
“And I’ll shoot you if you don’t play nice, now drop it!” The authority in her voice had Frank’s eye focusing on her, probably for the first time, and he obviously liked what he saw. Dark eyebrows rose high and a smirk quirked his lips.
Mina just barely kept from rolling her eyes and forcibly exhaled through her nose, quite aware of the picture she made; willowy legs encased in skinny blue jeans, cropped white leather jacket over a tiny yellow tank and long hair curling down her back.
Over the course of her life she had been leered at, hit on, and been proclaimed anything from a model to a fallen angel. More often than not her looks were a great asset in her line of work, no ever expected the cute blonde to pack a punch, but right now they were an annoying hindrance.
Frank probably thought her some sweet little thing he could manipulate or overpower, when in actuality she could take him down without batting an eye.
“Look, Skillet, I don’t have time for this shit. Drop your weapon and I won’t be forced to hurt you.” She nodded slowly, hoping he would concede.
“What could you possibly do to me, Blondie? Other than the obvious?” he leered with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrow. Mina made a retching noise in the back of her throat.
Mina started moving forward with a sure step when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Without missing a beat she stooped down, a firm hold on her would-be captures arm, and flung him over her shoulder; right into the chain link fence opposite of her.
The man hit it with a loud clatter and slid to the ground with a muffled oof! Mina became aware of thundering steps and watched on in horror as Frank Skilling raced by; a beefy arm knocking her aside like a bowling pin. She flew back from the force of the shove and crashed down next to the groaning man.
Mina staggered to her feet, readying herself to give chase, when a hand wrapped around her ankle.
“What the hell is your problem!?” She screamed, kicking at the hapless man. “My mark is getting away!”
Finally freeing herself she started back toward the mouth of the alley when the man’s voice reached her ears.
“Mina Aeryn? I have a job for you! One that makes Frank look like a small fry.” His voice was deep, refined, with a slight French accent that had Mina turning around to assess him.
He stood up slowly with a grimace, and started brushing off his shirt; he was tall, with a head of shaggy blond hair that fell over sky blue eyes. He was athletically built, long and lean, but there was an underlying power that had Mina wondering who he truly was.
Once he was satisfied with the cleanliness of his blue t-shirt and khaki pants, he turned toward Mina with a charming smile that showed off perfectly straight teeth and dimpled one cheek slightly.
“Glad you stayed, I’m Jace.” Mina took his extended hand and shook it firmly, silently marveling at how handsome he was. And against her better judgment, she actually felt comfortable around him.**
“What’s this job then?” Mina crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her head to one side.
“Something I think you’ll be very interested in. It’s a little more involved than what you’re used to, but it’ll be well worth it.” Jace reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small PC and handed the device over to Mina.
“What’s on here?” she asked, flipping open the case and scrolling over the screen.
“It’s you.” Jace shrugged. “Everything about you.”
Mina swallowed slowly and glanced up at the odd man; honestly, who was he? “I see, I’m afraid you have me at a complete disadvantage, Mister…. what did you say your last name was again?”
“I didn’t say,” he grinned widely.
“Right.” Mina sighed, handed back the PC to Jace and lifted a shoulder in question. “So you know who I am, I don’t know who you are, and you want me for some random job? Is that right?”
Jace nodded, “yeah, pretty much.”
“So are we going to stand here all day or are you going to make your offer? I can’t accept anything without knowing what I’m getting into… or who I’m working for.” She added with narrowed eyes.
He only grinned wider.
“Fair enough. I am Jace Sendoa, First General of field operations for Silver Alliance, and I would like to recruit you.”
Laughter bubbled up from Mina’s chest and soon filled the dingy alleyway, it was light, airy and entirely pleasing. It transformed her face from the hard lines of a skeptical woman of the world, into a young, carefree girl who glowed with beauty.
“Right,” she giggled and turned her back on him, again heading for the mouth of the alley. Before she disappeared around the corner she looked at him over her shoulder, a sardonic smile on her face. “If you are a general in the Silver Alliance then I’m the queen of Venus. Ja!”
Jace could still hear her twinkling laugh long after she vanished from view. Digging his hands into his pockets, he kicked at a random pebble and smiled to himself; the same slow grin that set Commander Starling on edge.
“I’ll get you yet, Mina, don’t doubt it.”
______
** I SWEAR TO SERENITY V NO COUPLING! Only friends. Okay? Okay.
So yeah, that's the start of Poison. *shrugs*
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