Owner	Pose
Belonwu Mazi	The initial briefing happened at the FBI's New York Field Office. The CIA had been investigating possible cases of an artificial flu strain with 100% mortality in different places in the world. So far only a dozen total cases were known, but they had shown up in different parts of the world with no apparent link. The flu's genome was sequenced in each case and clearly artificial. The CIA and CDC were calling this strain 'Wendigo'. Yesterday, the FBI, CIA and CDC quarantined a small brownstone in the Bronx where two people were suspected of being sick with Wendigo. The patients both died overnight and were at Mt. Sinai waiting for full pathology. But signs were this was going to be Wendigo again. The FBI did a workup on the family of the Brownstone, a single mother and her young son. They had no criminal involvements and had no known links to foreign governments. A deeper check showed the woman had briefly dated Zheng Zhihao. Zhihao was a known member of the 'Magic Triad'. The Triad's moniker came from rumours that its members had access to magic and used them for protection. That might have seemed fanciful until the reports came in about a Magic Triad and Friends of Humanity firefight in the Red Hook port yesterday. The Triads had some kind of magical necklaces that gave them some protection against small arms fire. Reports were that one of the Triad members even shot fire at Superboy. The Magic Triad was largely involved in arms trafficking and high technology theft, with possible links to the Chinese government. Zhihao was believed to be one of their junior men, responsible for selling standard munitions. Intelligence from the CIA put Zhihao in a warehouse in Newark. The FBI was to take the lead on the operation to secure Zhihao and his warehouse to look for any information on Wendigo. The CIA provided a liaison to go with the team, an agent who had been investigating Wendigo since the first case. Agent Cody Garrett drew the lucky straw and would be commanding the 18 person strike team going in after Zhao. It is muggy outside and warm for anyone wearing more than shorts and a t-shirt. Dr. Belonwu Mazi, the CIA investigator, is standing at a table inside an empty film studio warehouse the FBI hastily secured access to for a staging area. Belonwu is in boots, black cargo pants and tactical shirt, with a heavy FBI tactical vest. He has a submachine gun slung over his shoulder, a pistol in a drop-holster and an FBI radio. Cody and each of the sub-team leaders are gathered around the table with Belonwu. "Satellite imagery is 12 minutes old. It showed ten people inside the building. We assume they are all armed and will defend themselves instead of surrender. Use cover, you saw the videos from Red Hook. Nobody wants to get cooked by some wizard," Belonwu says in a heavy Nigerian accent. "We will enter through the south gate and disembark close to these doors," he says and points to the spot on the overhead satellite image laid out on the table. "Speed is the most important thing. If anyone reaches for a cannister, spray, or lab equipment, kill them. If they run, kill them. We do not want any accidental releases of a bioweapon. This is anti-terror. The CDC is standing by to quarantine if necessary, but do not worry. Your masks will protect you. Any questions, Agent Garrett?"
Nemean	Agent Garrett had already been working a case against the Triad and their cooperation with the Gambini crime family in New York, however they had delayed the shipment he had intended to intercept due to the unexpected involvement of vigilantes, throwing several weeks of his work out until he can pin down the new date for the shipment. So he was more than happy to get another shot at the Triad, even if it's not the same group he's been working against. With his experience with the FBI's HRT, he had taken point on the actual raid part of this operation, with one of the teams reporting directly to him. He's not CIA so he doesn't get to pick his outfit, wearing the standard green BDUs and tactical rig for an operation like this. "For the sake of ensuring we all know what we're doing, are gasmasks going to work against this stuff? Would we still need to breathe it in to get infected, or is just being in the vicinity enough?" He is actually quite glad the CIA decided to work with them on this, but it also goes to show the level of threat this poses, because normally the spies tend to play things way too close to the vest.
Belonwu Mazi	"Wendigo is not as virulent as we would expect," Belonwu says with a nod to the concern. "Which makes us believe it is in development, or weakened for testing. So far, masks have protected field personnel. Physical contact is not enough. If we suspect Wendigo is on site, the CDC will establish red and green zones and provide decontamination when we transition out. Avoid concentrated gasses or pools of liquid and you will be fine." "Just remember, he is who we are after, the rest are secondary," Belonwu says and shifts the strap of his submachine gun slightly. "From here on it is your operation, Agent Garrett." Belonwu straightens up and nods to Cody.
Nemean	"Alright boys, you heard the man. Everybody mount up. You know what to do, I trust each of you to do what needs to be done." He takes one last second to point at the picture of their primary target, "I'd like to bring them all in alive, but I WILL bring each of you back alive, even at the cost of these guys." He moves out to his vehicle, taking the shotgun position as the rest of the teams move into their own vehicles. They're bringing far more men than the Triad have inside of their warehouse, but these guys have fatal viruses and magic on their side, so it's best to be prepared. The trip is uneventful until they are about a block out, "Alright gentlemen, thirty seconds. We're going to hit them hard and fast. Cover your corners, watch your battle buddies." Each of the trucks stops once they reach their designated point. The warehouse looks like a standard two story warehouse, the kind you'd drive past a dozen times and never know anything nefarious was going on inside. Each team has an assigned side to breach from. Cody would rather clear from the top down but there's no way to do that without a helicopter.
Belonwu Mazi	The SUVs peel into the warehouse lot and through the open chain link gate. There are a few cars parked near the main entrance, all white, BMWs and Audis. The teams pile out as the SUVs come to a stop and move into position. The teams all call ready and wait for Cody's signal. Then north and west teams hit their doors with portable rams. The north door takes two hits as the double doors are chained together. The second hit takes one side off its hinges. The west door gives way with a sprinkle of rust. The east team finds the door blocked open and an empty gallon paint tub nearby sitting with cigarette butts in the bottom. The north team enters into a large storage room. It is dimly lit and there are some large hard pelican cases stacked in the middle of the room. Moving through the room to the door on the far side opens into a main area. There are pallets and crates stacked in various places, making sight lines difficult. The west team enters into the main area. Across from them on the far side of the warehouse is a catwalk leading to a second story room. The light is on in that room. Close to the east wall are some couches, a TV and four men. They are grabbing weapons, a mix of pistols and assault rifles as they hear the doors breached. The east team enters into a hallway. The first two doors are to empty rooms. A head pops out of the third, then back in and several voices can be heard yelling in Mandarin.
Nemean	With one team in reserve to form a perimeter, the others move in. Cody is with the team breaching from the north side of the warehouse. With the other teams breaching simultaneously, he is the second guy into the building once they get the door of the hinges. Armed with a carbine, he starts to sweep. Lots of areas where someone could come out from. He doesn't like it. He uses his hand motions to make sure the team knows which directions to cover, and then taps the pointman on the shoulder and motions to the pelican cases in the middle of the room. That's probably the virus, or weapons. Either way they need to secure it. The other teams begin to shout orders at the guys they can see, ordering them to get down on the ground and drop weapons, the usual kind of things they would order. Each of the teams moves to get cover because they know that these guys most likely won't go down without a fight and they need to be ready.
Belonwu Mazi	Cody's team sweeps and secures the storeroom and Guiterrez slings his weapn and starts looking over the cases. He does not find anything that obviously looks like a trap. On closer inspection, the cases are labelled 'Hammer Industries'. Guiterrez gets one open and it has two new but pretty standard looking assault rifles. The next two are the same and the fourth has a row of semi-automatic pistols. It looks like a small arms cache. Belonwu follows the east team. The assaulter throws a flash bang into the room. It goes off and the team pours in. The first two dig their corners. The second two come in. The three triads inside have snake tattoos down their arms. One is pushed against the fridge getting half-cover at the angle. He makes the mistake of tracking his pistol on one of the first two in and gets dropped by the third in. The fourth man shouts orders at the two Triad men pointing their guns from across the table. One raises a hand and puts his pistol down on the table. The other screams something. The fourth man in fires at him and the bullets riccochet. There is a red glow from a necklace at his neck. The Triad man returns fire, catching the fourth team member in the vest. The first three in and now the fifth pour fire into the Triad. Bullets riccochet, then the necklace flares, the shield drops and the man is riddled. The first man in leans heavily against the wall with a riccochet wound in the leg. The sixth man and Belonwu move quickly to secure the living Triad and all the weapons. The west team's orders are ignored. The four Triad men run for cover and shoot wildly. The west team assaulter fires then the team advances behind cover. More shots ring out from the catwalk above. Two men with assault rifles are shooting down at the west team while a third yells orders. "Team 3 contact, taking fire. Objective sighted," the west team leader calls over the air.
Nemean	Hearing the commotion on the radio, Cody looks to the team and then down at the weapons, "Two of you stay here and secure this. I'm sure someone'll want to have words with Mr. Hammer later." Taking the other members of the team, Cody begins to head towards where the gunfire is coming from. Spotting a set of stairs, he grabs one, sending the other two on the ground floor while he and his partner move up stairs. Times like this Cody wishes he had super powers. It'd be so easy to fly in, absorb the bullets and punch these guys into space if he were Superman or something. But Superman is just one guy. He needs people like Cody and those men of his that are pinned down. Cody wheels around the corner to where the guys are shooting down from the upper level. Ordering them to drop weapons at this point would be pointless they have had chances to give up and opted not to. So he opens fire, aiming to double tap each of the guys with the rifles to leave only the guy giving orders, "Down on the ground, now!"
Belonwu Mazi	The east team leader leaves decides to exfiltrate his wounded man, the uninjured Triad and the Triad that was shot by the fridge. They begin to move back toward their door, covering down the hall toward the sounds of gun fire. "The hell are you doing?" The team lead yells at Belonwu, who is moving toward the gun battle. "Don't worry about it, I'll link up with the others," Belonwu calls back. He advances down the hall quickly, doing only the quickest scan of open doorways. He kneels, open the door and peeks out. He is looking back toward the west team from near the couches and the TV. "Friendly in the east door," he calls on the radio. Belonwu pokes his head around the doorframe again and sights on the side of a Triad man shooting and assault rifle over a stack of three Hammer cases. Two shots centre mass and one to the head, and the man goes down. "Flash out," the west team calls. A flash bang sails over a couple of wood crates, bounces off a wall and lands near two of the remaining Triad men on the ground floor. They are stunned and two men from the west team follow through and take them out. The last guy stands up slowly with his hands up and the rest of the west team move in to secure him. The men on the catwalk did not hear Cody coming at all. They are focused on shooting down at the west team. The first takes the rounds in the side and drops. The second starts to turn and catches the second volley from Cody. The last one turns and it is definitely Zhihao. He puts his hands up, but looks defiant. He starts saying something in Mandarin and the necklace around his neck begins to glow. The air starts to heat shimmer around his hands.
Nemean	Great more magic. Well if the intel is correct then shooting him won't do a damn thing. Cody has to act fast if he's not going to get himself cooked. He drops his weapon onto the sling and pulls his combat knife out from the sheath on his side. A Marine Corps KA-BAR style knife. He hauls back and throws it towards Zhihao, aiming for his right hand. He remembers an old movie, and a speech about not being able to push a button if you disable their hand. He hopes that logic still applies here. As he rushes forward after the knife is thrown, he grabs his baton off of his left side, snapping it downwards as he approaches Zhihao. He swings the weapon at his knee, to try to take his base out from under him. It's all a really stupid series of moves and he knows he's probably going to get killed, but it's better than standing there, waiting for the inevitable. He's never been the type to go down without a fight.
Belonwu Mazi	Time seems to slow in that flash frame way humans perceive the world under extreme stress. There is no sound. The knife flies out of Cody's hand towards Zhihao. He brings out the baton. Zhihao smirks. The knife deflects in mid-air. Zhihao's hands come together. Cody is mid-swing with the baton. A sensation of pressure. The baton hitting something. Falling. "Team 2 get upstairs!" Belonwu calls into his mic. Cody's team backtracks and charges up the stairs. They pour out onto the catwalk and advance straight on Zhihao. The Triad man is grimacing in pain, holding his leg, which is bent at a strange angle. The front of his clothes are smoking. "Take him out," barks Guiterrez. Johnson butt strokes Zhihao in the forehead and the man collapses. Evans and Perhar kneel down beside Cody. "Boss, you alright?" Evans asks, looking him over. The front of Cody's beast is melted to the ceramic plates. It smokes and plastic buckles still sizzle. Belonwu comes up the stairs and pushes past Evans. "Cut that vest off him," he says sharply in passing. He raises his weapon and moves on to the second story room the catwalk leads to. There is nobody there when he sweeps it. He starts searching the room.
Nemean	He knew it was a terrible idea from the moment he did it. But as soon as he sees the knife deflect, he realizes he's screwed up way worse than he thought he would have. By the time he impacts the ground below, he's in way more pain than he expected. But pain is a good thing 'cause he's alive. "Ow." Understatement of the year right there. Thankfully the team all has medical kits, and they can begin to treat the burns. There's some wicked looking cuts on his face and arms but he's alive, so those will heal, "Did you get him?" He asks. He half considers getting up but there could be a back injury so he figures he'll stay there for now.
Belonwu Mazi	"We got him, boss," Evans says as he cuts Cody's beast off him. "That was some John Wayne shit you did, right there. That asshole threw /fire/." Guiterrez calls on the radio for some ambulances. The teams start reporting in. The west team begins a detailed sweep of the building, reporting a few more cases of small arms and one of shaped explosive charges like the ones HRT uses for breaching. Belonwu walks back from the second story offices and crouches down by Cody. "I am a doctor, let me take a look," he says to Evans. Belonwu takes off his mask and looks Cody over, then smiles. "You are a lucky man. Your vest took the blast. The burns are not serious. Get checked out in hospital, they will clean you up. But you will be fine. Fortunately for your wife, you did not burn your face!" Guiterrez looks at Belonwu and his mask on the catwalk. "Nothing?" "I don't think so, but have your men search carefully. We have him though," Belonwu chin juts at Zhihao. "And his phone and laptop."
Nemean	Once the doctor tells Cody he's going to be okay, the agent pushes himself up to his feet. He's sore and still bleeding but he's alive, "Thanks doc." He says, "I'm gonna go meet the ambulances.." He looks at the team gathered around him, "You heard the man. Tear this place apart. Carefully." He motions at the other HRT members to find the stuff they're looking for, "If we don't find it, do you think you'll be able to get the information out of him?
Belonwu Mazi	Belonwu considers Zhihao. "I'm not sure. I'm an average interrogator, it's not my specialty. Is anyone in your office really good at interviewing?" Belonwu asks. "They are welcome to take a run at him, while I have the Agency deal with his devices." He looks around at the teams doing their thing and nods. "You have good teams, Agent Garrett. I think we will be seeing more of each other on this one," he says and offers a hand with a smile. "If you're not too cooked."
Nemean	Cody considers things for a moment, "I think I might know somebody." Cody says, "We'll take him in, I'll make sure he doesn't walk out with a slap on the wrist like a lot of his ilk seem to be getting lately. And good news is I'm not dead, so I'm gonna keep going." He grunts softly as he feels some pain spike through his back, "Well once they clear me at least.."