A bright red "Access Denied" signal flashed on the computer screen, followed by a cryptic meassage explaining Jack's lack of clearance.

"Damn it, why would the results from the test be that high of an encryption. Derek, call Fedora and tell her to go on stand by awaiting my command. I'm going to try and get Mrs. Daviar to release the information, but if that fails, I want Fedora waiting to crack it open, I don't like the idea of sending a team in blind."

Jack had always been a ladies man, or at least he liked to think so, and knew he could get whatever he wanted out of Nadja Daviar, she always had an itch that only he could scratch. Jack walked out of the Lab and down the corridor heading for his office, he pulled his cell phone from the belt clip it sat in and made a call. After two rings the Director of the Draco Foundation picked up.

"Jack zis better be important," Nadja's french accent always stirred something in Jack, "Do you know what time it is?"

"It is top priority, I ran an analysis of the sample your friend, Perkins, and the results need a higher level of clearance then I have."

"Interesting, forward me the log number and I'll look it up for you."

"Thanks, I knew you'd help out," Jack pulled out the p-sec he carried even to bed and sent the log number to Nadja.

Sore from the tattoo Chris had just given him, but loving the feel of the endorphins, though now there effects were starting to dissapate,Lingo Pulled out of the Slingin Ink tattoo parlor and started on his way back to the Complex. Rolling down his windows Lingo puts in one of his music disks into his car player, "It Came Out My Colon" the hit album from the "Druidic Priests of Mars". He skiped the intro track, which was a minute and a half of farts and things falling into a toilet, and listened to his favorite allbeit least publicly played song "Sexual Averice".

Returning to the gate of the Complex only to remember that he no longer had his ID, Lingo was relieved to learn that Jack had left instructions with the Guard to let those that had left come back. After many formalities Lingo finnaly makes his way back to the meeting area.

When Lingo gets back to the meeting hall, Paladin is already there waiting for everyone to show up. As the doors open, he reaches up and clicks off the late-night news and turns to Lingo. "Hey man, you get any rest?"

The cool waters soothed Minx's nerves as she glided along the pools tranquil surface. Feeling suitably relaxed, she knew the time for action was drawing near. Sighing to herself, she swam to the side and climbed out. Peeling out of her suit, she stepped into the shower, standing beneath the hot water for long minutes before heading to her locker.

Toweling off, she surveyed the available equipment. So many toys, so little time... she thought to herself. Good thing there are plenty of bad guys in the world who need their asses kicked...

With deft efficiency, she laid out her gear and quickly dressed. Athletic socks, underwear, sports bra, all black. Form fitting armor. A black catsuit to top it all off. Athletic shoes. Vest, holsters, belt and a wide variety of toys dangling from various loops and compartments. A backpack with the remainder of her gear. And of course, guns. Lots and lots of guns.

Heading to the staging area, she spotted Lingo and Paladin.

"Wow, I'm not last.." she said with a grin. Waving to her teammates, she settled into a chair and pulled out her Predator III, cleaning the handcannon one last time before heading into action.

2:15 Project Pandora: Jack Crawford's office

Jack leaned his chair back dangerously close to tumping over, he did this often and also fell over often too. As he rocked the chair on the axis he had created a buzzing on his desk sent him over, tumbling out of the chair and onto the floor. The confrence line, jack hit a button on the desk and a flat panel display used for trid confencing rose slowly out of the bowels of the desk. It was Nadja, finally.

"I'm sorry jack, Dunkelzahn himself encrypted those files and left me clear instructions not to disclose anything in them," Nadja frowned, the new lines made her sultry appeal even more breath taking.

"Can you give me a clue as to what it might be," he didn't like the sound of where this was going.

"No, jack, I cannot," she frowned again but this time all the color drained out of her face, "but if I were you, I'd tell you team to be extremely careful, this thing is dangerous, enough so that the very knowledge of it would cause mass panic."

"I see," jack wasn't worried about getting the information, as much as what the data held, "Alright, then I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Good night, jack," the creen when blank and slowly started to resend back from which it came.

Being the resourceful man he was, jack pulled out his cell phone and called Fedora.

"You have clearance to break down the archive, I'll try to lower as many defenses as I can, but the nasty ones will still be there."

"I understand, when I'm done, I'll send the information to your p-sec," Fedora's voice was calm and collected, she had been spending the time between her going on alert status and the go command practicing breaking down similar barriers to the ones she'd face. Clicking her cell phone closed she slid the datajack into her neck and dove into the matrix.

Burke, well rested and equiped for the teams event, returns from his vehicle heading straight for Jack's office. Seeing the light from underneath he gently knocks on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Burke. May i come in?!"

"Sure ... what is it?"

"Just inquiring about those building blue prints, were we able to get our hands on anything? Chipped copies would be best, but on short notice even old fashioned paper blue prints would be better than nothing."

As Lingo enters the meating hall he is greated by Paladin.

"Well," Paladin smiles, "At least my team is on time. You guys packed and loaded? I got a bad feeling about this, so lets go in ready for anything."

Burke had walked in just to miss the tail end of Jack telling Fedora to hack into the Draco Foundation mainframe.

"Ah the blueprints, yes," jack rummaged around in his desk, "I couldn't get in touch with [b]Perkins but I do have this."

Jack retrieved a large piece of blue paper from the desk, "It's not complete, it's only for the new wing."

Hawk wakes up from his nap a couple hours later and gets in the hot shower.

About a half hour later, he steps out and starts suiting up, heading to his equipment locker and digging out his stuff. Starting with an underlayer of form-fitting body armor, adding a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt onto that and topping it off with an armor jacket, he feels he's more than protected enough for whatever might show up.

Taking his Colt Manhunter out of the locker, he pockets it and about three extra clips, realizing he has no holster.

Damn. I'll have to ask Jack about that before we leave.

Finally comes the piece de resistance. Hawk takes the silver-finished, cross-shaped shotgun out of his locker.

The Hand of God. Don't leave home without it.

Pocketing some more clips (about 10 extras), Hawk realizes he needs a sling for this thing too.

15 minutes later, Hawk walks into the staging area, looking armed and armored for war. Which he was, basically.

"Anyone seen Jack? I gotta get a couple things from the quartermaster before we go," he said, slightly embarassed that he'd forgotten such simple items.

Paladin looks up as Hawk comes in. "Nope, he ain't been here at least. Try his office, I think his extention is 33857. The phone is in the corner."

In French "Any game of where you might lose your clothes intrigues me. Your on."replies Lingo.

Paladin glances between Lingo and Minx and clears his throat, hating it when he feels out of the loop, "So uhh... for those of us who speak English... How do you guys want to get down there? I've got my ATV with me and can hold a second in it, how about you guys?"

Lingo snaps back to reality"Oh, sorry about that, my mind was wandering. My trucks technically a two seater, but someone could ride in the bed. Though thats really more of an emergency option."

"I wonder, boxers or briefs?" Minx replied in French as she looked Lingo over, a cocky grin on her face. "And no cheating, I'll be watching... "

Turning to Paladin, she cleared her throat and switched to English. "My apologies, Paladin sir. Lingo and I were just discussing how I'm gonna kick his ass after this mission is done." She grinned broadly at that moment as she continued to speak. "As for a vehicle, I would say we should take the ATV if the target is in a remote location. If it's someplace more crowded or populated, we should take the truck, to better blend in..."

arriving at his apartment Donnovan plops on his couch and turns on the TV. after watching TV for a while Donnovan slips off to sleep.

0210 hours

suddenly waking up in a sweat from a terrifying dream where he was being constantly watched by an unknown force.


"shit what time is it." looking at his clock he sees its already 0210 and he lived 30 min away. "crap i better get a move on or every one's going to be pissed!" grabbing all his gear with no time to be picky Donnovan heads back towards HQ. "if i hurry i may be able to get there in 20-25 minutes."

25 minutes later...

arriving at HQ Donnovan heads for the meeting hall.

"whew, sorry i'm late guys but i forgot to set set my alarm and i like my sleep so it was not exactly a great combination." Donnovan says as he finds an appropriate seat to climb into.

Paladin says with a smile, "S'ok man, we're still waiting for our industrious Team Lead at the moment, so we're all on time as far as I see it."

Hawk goes to the wall telecom and dials Jack's number.

"Jack? Hawk here. I need a couple things: a sling and a holster to carry my firearms. The Quartermaster have any of those?"

0225 hours

Burke leaves Jack's office and heads down to the copy room to get a copy made of the blue prints.

Well, this is better than nothing if the team gets seperated. I hope everyone is ready for this, i just have a bad feeling about this place. Something leaving me feeling uneasy. I know we have the personnel to handle most anything, but still, i miss the old days of you shoot something, it bleeds and dies.

With that Burke cracks a smile, chuckling to himself. He finishes the copies on a stack of 20 some pieces of standard black and white copy paper .... looking at the quality ... throws them away.

Oh well, guess we operate on one set of plans and hope we don't need to seperate. At least we will have radio contact.

Burke makes his way into the hall .... taking a look around to see who all is there ... noticing everyone is there and glances at his watch. 0235 hours

"Good ... everyone's here. Jack was able to supply us with a set of blueprints to the site but only the new wing. So, we are going in somewhat blind. Now as for transportation, I have a GMC MPUV that seats two in the front and has a bench in the rear that should fit 4 of you somewhat uncomfortably, but safely. There will be room in the rear for our gear. If anyone has a better vehicle, feel free to suggest it now."

Minx finished cleaning her Predator before replacing the pistol in her hip holster. Looking at her gathered colleagues, she sat up in her chair and spoke. "Seems like we are all here. Lets cowboy up and get rolling. Since there's six of us, lets take two vehicles. How about Burke's GMC and Lingo's truck?"

Paladin nods to Minx's suggestion. "That works. Lets load up then people. Burke, can you spread that blueprint out so I can take a picture of it?"

Burke spreads the plans out on the table, doing his best to hold them in place.

"Well, my team can accompany me in my MPUV and Paladin's team can go with him in Lingo's truck. "

He patiently waits for anyone who wishes to take pictures or notes and when everyone finishes, he rolls them up placing them in his pack.

"Let's roll people!"

With that he heads to his GMC.

Paladin turns to Minx and Lingo. "You heard the man. I'll ride in back and go over that blueprint while we're on the way. Where'd you park?"

"Right out front, lets go."

Minx rose from her seat, stretching languidly as she replaced her Predator in its holster. Pulling her still damp hair into a simple ponytail, the young woman walked to the front door, the tight black fabric of her suit clinging to her slim figure. Casting a glance back at Lingo and Paladin, she called out. "Are you boys coming?"

Stepping out into the crisp night air, she walked up to Lingo's truck and ran her fingers across it's smooth surface. She turned up the tunes on her auditory implant as she sat on the truck's hood and waited outside for her teammates.

After Minx gets up and walks out the door Lingo stands up and turns to Paladin "You might want to ride with Burke and his team, it would probably be more comfortable for you. But if you want to ride over in my truck we can work something out."

"No problem, amigo. Burke will actually have a seat for me and with this night chill, I'd rather catch a ride with him. I'll see you two at the sight."

Paladin makes his way out to Burke's transport and climbs in with the rest of the group.

hoping down from his chair Donnovan heads towards burkes GMC with the other team mates. upon arriving at Burkes GMC he stops at the open door,

"um, little help?"

looking at the high positioned seat

Paladin reacehs out from inside the transport and help pull the little fella inside. "Welcome aboard", he says with a smile.

stepping outside just in time to see Donnovan being hoisted into the GMC, Lingo spots Minx sitting on the hood of his truck.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Lingo said "we were discussing travel arrangements."

Unlocking his doors Lingo heads to the drivers seat.

"No problem, mon cherie." Minx replies to Lingo as she lowers the volume on the music blasting inside her head. Opening the door, she slides into the passenger seat next to her teammate.

"Nice ride. Now let's roll, cowboy..." she adds with a cocky grin as she fastens her seatbelt.

Waiting for Burke to pull out in his GMC, Lingo and Minx followed them towards the site.

Hawk, giving up on Jack, heads out to join the rest of the team.

"Thanks for lift" returning Paladin's smile as he makes him self comfortable in the GMC
"maybe next time i'll bring a ladder a make it a bit easier on both od us"

Burke setting in the driver seat goes over his mental list of things to do, he notices that everyone is present. He drops the GMC into drive, looking in his rear view mirror for the second vehicle and heads towards the job site.

2:42am Outside the Project Pandora compound

The team sets out, following the directions given to them in the briefing by Jack. The rain still poured down making the backroads trecherous as thier muddy surface soaked up the water, becoming bloated and slick. As the truck and SUV barreled down thier well troden surfaces, there were times when both drivers thought that they would be stuck. Clearing the dirt roads for the time being, the team merged onto a higway that streched out far into the surrounding lands, they weren't going that far on them, but it seemed that way. The highway was for the most part deviod of any other traffic, the weather and the hour had much to do with this. After about twenty minutes on the highway they exited back onto the undeveloped roads they had fled from earlier. It wasn't neccisary for them to be driving on such under maintained roads but Jack's directions were always a combination of getting there the quickest and doing it unnoticed.

As the group joined back with the unpaved surfaces that lead deep into the forested lands that lay north of Seatle, they noticed somthing peculiar about the roads. They were still dirt but they didn't show the signs of weather like those near the compound, these roads looked like they would if it were high noon on a clear day, they even kicked up a dust trail, which was squelched by the rain. Seeing that these paths were in better shape then back at HQ both drivers instictively kicked up the throttle to make time.

3:15am Kurt Lazlow Mental Health Facility

The rain let up as the group approached the target and each felt that it was a little more then just coincidence. As thier vehicles approached a place overlooking the building, the clouds broke and the moon light shined down casting the facility in an wierd, but somehow welcoming light.

The Kurt Lazlow Mental Health Facility, according to the report jack had given them, was over 80 years old, but just from looking at the building it appeared to have been built yesterday. It was in emaculate condition, the walls were free of moss and dirt, common to older structures, the windows were all intacted and there was no signs that anybody had ever entered or exited through the doors, the parking lot, however was an entirely different story. The old concrete was cracked and broken in many places and weeds that looked like they had been unchecked for many years grew up through all the cracks. The lines that had been painted to section off the parking spots was delapadated at best, and few of the original block remained intact.

As the group got out of the vehicle Burke, the ever vigilant team leader spotted the none descipt car that the new recruits were using to keep an eye on the place.

Minx opened the door of Lingo's truck, swinging her long legs and exiting the vehicle. Blue eyes gazed at the towering building, looking for signs of life before noting the car nearby.

"Anybody see any sign of the scrubs?" she asked to no one in particular as she approached the recruits' car, peering inside the windows...

Pulling his GMC near the vehicle, Burke parks his GMC and gets out. He pops the trunk and hops out of the vehicle heading to the rear. He then grabs his pack and pulls it over and onto his back. He then grabs his baby, the Colt M22A2 assult rifle with the underbarrel grenade launcher.

"Nice to see you again baby.", Burke grins as he caresses her fine black finish. "Well, gentlemen ... and ladies .... let's get this show on the road!"

He then seems to fase out in concentration .....

Paladin steps out of the GMC and turns to give Donnovan a hand getting out, not wanting to drawf to fall flat on his face. One the little guy is out and doing ok, Paladin addresses Burke, "How about we check in with the on site security to see what the SitRep is."

As Paladin lets his gaze shift to the Astral, he staggers. This is something that catches the whole group off balance. [/b]Paladin[/b] never staggers. If there is one thing you've never seen from him, it is a hint of fear. "You seein' what I'm seein', boss?"

In a quieter voice, he adds, "There's something in there...Something old... and dark."

Having steped out of his truck Lingo sees Paladin and Burke looking at the astral plane. And hears Paladin mutter ...

As Paladin and Burke approach the recruit's car, a dawning realization that it's devoid of life sets on them. The only things inside the car are a half eaten box of donuts and what looks like old coffee. The wind picks up as they near the driver's door, with hint's of something foul on it's wings.

arriving at there destination Donnovan gets out of the GMC with a hand from Paladin. With a nod to paladin, Donnovan looks around at the area, "thats a pretty nice building, you sure you don't want to move in hear lingo?" right as he finishes, Donnovan notices Paladin stagger and hears

[QUOTE] "There's something in there...Something old... and dark."

"well then again maybe it's not such a great place for you lingo."
with that Donnovan follows the others towards the building.