A Wretched Hive...

[Nick Ryder]

FreeCloud -

A man in a dark blue and black suit walked down the neon lit streets, the reflective sunglasses he wore, even though it was night obscured his face ever so slightly, concealing it in a slight blurring effect. The rings on his fingers each signified a clan or guild he had membership in. The weapon on his hip was a custom made, one of a kind piece. He was a ghost in the system, no one really knew who he was, what he was. He worked for a high price and sometimes he worked for free. It wasn't clear exactly which side he played for. Ever since FreeCloud was formed he was a fixture and yet no one saw him unless there was business he needed to handle. Some even wondered if he was simply one of many men all with the same look and concealed identities. He only went by a code name. Epsilon. The Greek letter E.

"Hey E, how's it shakin'?" a local police officer said as he saw him cross the street.

"Same as every other day." he replied simply. "You look... perturbed."

"You can tell?" he chuckled. "Everyone's scared shitless about this Dominus guy."

"Are they now?" E muttered. "I hadn't noticed." he glanced around at everyone who was carrying some kind of personal weapon or had a bodyguard or security team around them. "What do you want officer?"

"You always have your ear the ground as it were... any word about this...?" the cop shrugged his shoulders. "Is he legit?"

"He blew up Mars and Gorvan Prime, that is as 'legit' as they come. I wouldn't worry. If he attacks FreeCloud, well... there is little that we can do to stop him. Just accept our fate..." E replied. "Good day officer."

E walked into a neon lit hotel lobby, walked down a corridor and entered a door that was hidden into the side wall. Within a moment, he walked out into a much larger suite. Removing his glasses, he set them into a case and pulled off his jacket and put the rings onto a plate. "Computer. End link."

Alpha Section Director's Office --

Nick Ryder removed a pair of glasses and holographic interface gloves and tapped a holographic display. Running his hands through his hair he got up and went to the large 'pool table' console in the center of his office and brought up a list. "Computer, cross reference the current list with the list I downloaded from FreeCloud."

"Cross referencing will take approximately thirty six minutes and twenty two seconds." the computer replied.

"Perfect." Nick put his jacket on and pinned on his Leo's pin to his lapel. "Page me when it's ready." he tapped his wrist and brought up a holographic transporter control, targeted a spot in the Manager's office and beamed himself there instantly.

"Hey boss, glad you're back. Productive trip?" Kirby said as she wiped her hands on a bar rag as she saw him walk out of the office.

"We'll see. Good thing we set up that relay on FreeCloud. Although have you been using Epsilon for your own missions?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"One or two... good thing I've worked around you enough to know how to move and talk." Kirby replied. "Oh and your wife called, said that Gale and her will be back in a day or so, thought it best to get out of the Capitol and there was that Tot Camp that Angel has her kid and Becca's in." she pecked his cheek. "And your daughter and I have a favor to ask."

"That Walker class?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "That piece of shit was old when my dad was a kid."

"We just need a warp drive and nav console." Kirby said as she handed him a padd. "And a few other... things I know you'll provide your favorite daughter in law."

"Now I know why I have so many credits and stuff left over... you haven't mooched off me for the past few years." Nick teased. "By the way... tell that pink haired wife of your's to actually call me back sometime."

"She's been hiding out in the recording studio... dropping another album. That girl's got the creative bug bite big time." Kirby said with a smirk. "So, any mission upcoming?"

"Perhaps... in the meantime... keep your ear open. I am sure Dominus has spies around. I would in his place." Nick replied.

[A'mira Stormborn]

"Whoever they are they have been very quiet," Agent A'mira Stormborn added. The diminutive Narlin was very good at sneaking up on people, and even better at her job as an intelligence operative. "I have a few I'm keeping an eye on, but they haven't done anything suspicious, which as far as I'm concerned means absolutely nothing. A good spy doesn't arouse suspicion. But, I will say there are a few irregularities in the Imperium Ambassador's file. I would keep her at arm's length if at all possible."

[Nick Ryder]

"What kinds of irregularities?" Nick inquired. "Should we arrange for a suite in the 'tell us who you're really working for?' Hotel or is this pointed conversation over drinks?"

[A'mira Stormborn]

A'mira shrugged, "Little oddities. Her profile says she's 1.7 meters tall, but she 1.65. Her comm logs are clean. Too clean if you know what I mean. Everyone has something that raises eyebrows. John in accounting spends half his day watching gay porn. He's married to a woman with three kids. Denise in Development loves to tell her BFF the latest office gossip. No net searches for shoes, and transmissions to friends or family. Nothing. Just work related. She sends her reports to the Imperium, which are excruciating in detail, and wholly mundane. If there's some sort of code embedded in it I couldn't find it, and neither could my contacts in NI or Section 31. She is perfectly clean... too clean."

[Nick Ryder]

"Interesting... " Nick hummed as he leaned against the bar. "Like they're embedded actors. Kirby and Olivia used to do that. Spend months at a time at some company or organization, be boring worker bees."

"My red flags are already getting raised." Kirby replied. "Maybe I'll have to have a little chat with John and Denise... " she hummed. "It could be nothing and they're being intentionally weird just to get us to THINK there's something else going on when there's nothing. That's also a classic Julie Lei move. Make someone think you're watching them and sit back watch the show as they get paranoid and slip up or end themselves and her hands don't even get so much as a meter of a target."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"I think we should start leaking information through the State Department. You'll need to release some real information, but we can sneak in some fake stuff, and see where the information goes."

[Nick Ryder]

"Make it happen, let's play a little... game with them." Nick suggested and crossed his arms. "Find out who and what we've got here. I didn't spend most of my personal fortune building a state of the art intelligence agency to be caught unaware..."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"Your experience has been traditional foes," A'mira observed. "You have an enemy that is much like you, and has access to knowledge and abilities on an unprecedented level."

[Black ANGEL Alpha]

"And he's a royal son of a bitch. Bastard even let me think I killed him a couple of times, then reminded me that I really didn't and..." Kirby said as she gripped the edge of the bar. "There is a world of difference between the two of them, any similarity is just skin deep. This man literally will give someone the shirt off his back. Risk life and limb to help someone. Won't lie, I had a crush when I was a little girl. Settled for Marcus... and Olivia. Dominus on the other hand, there's no compassion in him, no mercy, nothing but deceit, malevolence, and a nihistic notion that everything should end and he should be the one to do it."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"I didn't mean the personalities are the same. Only their intelligence, certain traits, and analytical skills are there," A'mira replied.