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Rasputin didn't know what to say to the bold little Graer except for, "I'm starting to like this one." And it was true. He stood up for himself, and didn't take any shi* from anyone. Ah, just how it's supposed to be.

Rasputin continued, "So it's all settled then. I think the point has been made clear, so when exactly do we carry out this plan?" He still had his gruff-and-tough voice, but tried his best not to sound so nasty anymore. After all, he'll have to be working with them, as a team, and his first impression didn't go so well.

And in addition to working with them, if Rasputin was hanging off a cliff, and his team was there, but nobody liked him one bit, do you think they'd save him? No, he thought not.

He wasn't being a pansy, and he definitely didn't want to be, but he let his ears prick up a bit. For sabers, that is a sign of trust. Not that he trusted them, anyway. He just wanted to sort-of make up for his behavior. Rasputin doesn't apologize, so this was an attempt at trying to be a bit more pleasant.

Through this, he never smiled. Rasputin never smiles anymore. Not after... what happened. When he was being brought back to life, he got most of his memory back. He saw images of his family... and them being killed.

He was surprised at Min. She kept quiet the entire time, even when he was trying to scare her into obeying him and not getting in his way. Rasputin made a mental note: Never be this nice again.

Ooc:// Sorry for all the short posts, but between school, work, church, and everything else, I really don't have all the time in the world. I'll try to make them as long as I can.

Ooc: Wolf Paws: That's fine. We're still trying to figure this all out, so I don't mind being a little lenient for now. Jersey: Yeah, I think after this mission would be the best time to officially jump in. It'll be hectic before then. Want me to send you a pm when we're ready for you?

Bandit glared at Rasputin, even as Graer was addressing them. She might have been annoyed at listening to him tell her not to screw this up, but she was more pre-occupied with her own mental preparations. Despite the fact that she was still staring at the saber, she wasn't thinking about the even that had passed between them moments before. She was playing the scenario over in her head as Graer said it, visualizing Rasputin as he snuck into the grounds and opened the gate from the inside. Then they were to head down to the basement and give Graer access to the security system. Seemed easy enough. Even the part about the androids was easy - she could smell the difference between humans and robots, and most automatons didn't have any fleshy covering, so anything that was fleshy but didn't smell human wasn't to be harmed, but deactivated. And the best way to do that was to hit them just hard enough to knock their heads a little off center. It would take them offline and only take a few minutes for a skilled technician to repair. Cake.

The only thing the raptor didn't like about the plan was the Archeopteryx's sudden attitude change. But, considering the tiger had taken a massive step over the line initially, she shrugged it off and finally moved her steely gaze back to Graer, fixing those sanguine eyes on him. She thought for a moment and a few questions popped into her mind, but time was starting to run out, and before long they'd need to get moving. None of the others had had any questions at all, which made her wonder if they'd really considered the situation closely enough. To her thinking, they probably hadn't. However, it didn't seem like they really cared about getting this right like Graer did, and to nearly the same extent, she did. Though she'd never admit that aloud to them.

"I have one," she said, staring directly into his face as she said it, giving him her full attention and thusly making sure he was paying attention to her. "Although he's more than likely on the third floor, he could, for all we know, be on the toilet at the moment we raid his mansion. Shouldn't we split up after you have the security system under control? And, more importantly, who should go where?" She only gave a moment after this statement for consideration, after all, time was of the essence, before adding, "I think the fastest of us should go to the top, and the slowest the first floor. We'll be spread out, which gives us efficiency in finding him and eliminating competition in our way, with the exception of androids of course, and we have the advantage of attacking nearly all at once. The guards won't know what's going on until it's too late, so long as phase one of our break-in goes to plan. Also, this way it gives them no time to call in reinforcements, which are certain to be there moments after a call from one of them, as I assume they will be outfitted with devices for outside communication. Better to prepare for the most complicated scenario."

She spoke so rapidly throughout her shpeel that she managed to drop most of her accent, though it lingered in places here and there. As an afterthought, she added, "Also, I wouldn't sstart calling uss freakss until after you prove your merit here." But she said it with a grin, albeit an unsettling one. She hoped that she got the message across that she liked his spunk, but he shouldn't push it. Without his toys he might be a wonderful Bandit-sized snack.

Graer snorted, ready to snap a smartass remark back at the raptor, when he suddenly stopped and held a wing to the earpiece of his headset. Listening intently for a few seconds, Bandit's question was left up in the air before the little winged dinosaur finally grunted back and lowered his wing. "Well, congratulations, Bandit; you've just been promoted. Set your plan into action, because HQ has just appointed you as team leader." The little Archeopteryx scratched his talons incredibly deep into the wood of the tree limb he was perched on. His eyes were but tiny marbles that flickered in the simulated night light down at the others.

Having said that, Graer straightened himself as another hologram of the layout outside complex fanned out. It detailed the barbed fence completely circling the building, the front gates, and was marked by blinking, red dots where the guard posts were. "The shifts at the front gate change roughly every six hours. That'll give Rasputin a window of only about two minutes to put those chompers to good use and open a way in the gate for Bandit and Min. Hopefully, you all have enough sense to remember what you have to do afterward. If you have to retire someone, do it quietly, and for god'sakes, try not to leave a mess!"

He cranned his neck over and pulled out a small pouch from his backpack. He rest the sack on the tree limb, then carefully used his talons to dump out the contents, which was nothing more than two pill-shaped pieces of what looked like gummy candy. He took them and threw one down at each of his team mates. "Now take these; slide them as far back into your mouths as you can without swallowing... if you think you can handle it. Your saliva mixes with it to make a sort of glue that attaches a communication device to the inside of your throat, so I can tell you freaks whenever you're doing something wrong. You'll eventually get used to the lump in your necks... just make sure you don't swallow it. I don't have any extras, so if you loose it, you'll be sniffing through your own piss and crud to get it back -- and right back into your mouth it'll have go again. So once again, don't screw this up."

Graer glowered down at the team. Had he anything not important to say, he wouldn't bother saying it, but so far, he was the one doing most of the talking. "One more little detail I forgot to mention," he said. "We only have thirty minutes to assassinate one of the most influential politicians in the world. The spot we're in now is the rendezvous point -- don't be late."

And then, with a toothy smirk, he laid back in his branch as though it were a sofa. "Mission start, freaks."

"Missions start, freaks"

Min quickly slipped the communication device into her mouth, trying not to swallow it. Her claws would crunch on the ground if she was not careful; caution was a must. In quite a short amount of time, the device was sticking to the back of her throat. She was dimly aware of it, and it was perhaps one of the more annoying things she had ever experienced, but she managed to ignore it.

She turnt to Bandit. They would have to enter the gates at the same time, it was most likely best they stuck together, for now. Min drew her sickle-claws in, retracting them. She would not need them yet, they would simply cause more problems. She looked up at Bandit.

"So, who's faster here? Me or you? I'd say that with you long legs, you may be faster, but also my small size makes me lighter and makes it easier for me to hide. Of course you could just rip any humans to shreds if they get in your way, though."

Her eyes darted around and she struggled not to voice the many things facts that entered her mind.

OOC: Sorry for the short post. Homework I've been putting off is piling up '-.-

P.s also, I'll be going away for two weeks form Saturday with very little compute access (staying at a hotel...) I don;t want to pause/postpone this Rp, but I don;t want Min to die/fail this early. Maybe someone (already in the Rp) could take over my character and just throw her in when shes needed?

"Alright Graer." Rasputin interrputed. "You can let up on the 'freak' thing a little bit. You're no different than any of us!" Rasputin decided to let Graer meditate on that comment for a minute, and he flicked the pill into his mouth. The lump was uncomfortable, but he got used to it.

Rasputin sat back on his haunches and simply observed the three. Min and Bandit were having a conversation, and Graer was jeering down at them. The tiger thought he was being nasty, but he realized how mean one can be to a point. If he didn't let up on calling everyone freaks, Rasputin just might jump up there and teach him a thing or two.

Rasputin wished another sabertooth was coming along. The humans went through the trouble to give him the languages he has, but he wasn't going to need all of them anyway. Especially the Feline. Sabertooth tigers were commonly overlooked, because of dinosaurs. Dinos were supposed to be 'superior' to prehistoric mammals strengthwise, but Rasputin knew he was stronger than most of these idiots.

Rasputin knew he could easily overthrow all three of them with one paw tied behind his back, but they were assigned to take care of this guy as a team, so be it.

"So," Rasputin said, "How exactly do we get there? Are we getting transported or something?"

Ooc: Suka, you can probably be a little lazy for you next post, xD. I tried to really give you something to reply to, but it just wasn't coming very naturally. Wolfie: I can take over, if need be. If you want, that is.

The velociraptor blinked in confusion at Graer's announcement. She was the leader now? Because of one suggestion which, in her mind, should have been obvious? Her brain stuttered for half a second before she was able to really focus on anything the others were saying. She ignored Rasputin's question, about how they were getting there. He must not have seen the room change before them to mimic the mansion grounds and the mansion itself visible a little ways away.

The panels would have extended from the walls and morphed to form most everything around them and give it the most realistic shape possible. Technically speaking, everything in the simulation would be made of this mix of an advanced holographic technology and this morphing material from the walls. The "real" way they'd be able to tell whether the simulated beings were androids, automatons, or human was by the degree of reality present. The automatons would be fully holographic and would appear even less real than anything else in the simulation. The androids and all of the structures (house, gates, control panels, weapons, etc.) were all mixes of the holographic technology and the panels from the walls, which had molded to the desired shape at the push of a button from the humans running the sim. And lastly, the humans were fully made of the morphing panels, which best simulated the structure and appearance of human skin, clothing, and body systems.

Though the whole thing would be largely an illusion, it was a fair representation of what might really happen. Any wounds they received would be real, though for safety's sake, all of the programed beings had been coded to use no deadly force on the intruders. They would fight as hard as any guards would normally, but the ammunition would automatically miss any vital organs or major muscles. The worst they might get in any of those areas would be a large bruise or shallow cut. After all, why seriously penalize them with major injuries for their first run as a team, even though they were all used to harsher conditions on their usual missions. Not that they knew the safety was back on, of course. No sense would come of letting them know they could afford to be sloppy, when in real life they could never be allowed to slack off.

Bandit turned and addressed Min first. "I'll let you decide that when we finish cutting the power. He'll probably be up towards the top, so if you think you can make it before me, or if you think you can take him out yourself without help you can go. If not, I'll go."

Next she angled her head back, arched her neck, and reached in pushing the communicator as far back as possible. It easily stuck to the roof of her mouth in the soft pallet, just before it angled into the rest of her throat. There she'd only barely be able to feel it, but she'd still be acutely aware of its presence. In addition, the scientists would have to be crazy to try and reach there to get it out. A plan started forming in her head, but she tossed her head and shook it away for the moment.

"Rasputin. It's your move now. Go get that gate open for us so we can get this over with. But be quiet. Give us a signal through your communicator when it's clear and Min and I will follow." She tossed her head again, in the direction of the mansion and then glanced up at Graer. "Can you tell how many guards there are outside in the perimeter and where they are? We'll need to get all of them so they don't call their buddies inside. Min and I can start in on them while Rasputin's making an entryway."

Graer quit lazing about and righted himself up on her perch. "All the outer perimeter guards should be heading back inside for the shift change. While they'll all be busy..." he suddenly hummed; the closest thing to dinosaur-ish laughter as he could get. "Ahem. While they'll all be busy... exchanging DNA... at the front gates, it should provide a big enough distraction for Rasputin to create an opening somewhere. Preferably somewhere that's not too crowded, yet close enough to the facility to get inside without being spotted. And when I say 'big enough distraction,' I mean two minutes' worth. Three tops. So you're all wasting precious time right now... if you miss that window, it'll be another six hours before the next shift change. And it'd be beyond pathetic if we fail -- I'm sorry, I mean if YOU ALL fail -- that crucial step already and blow the mission."

Graer squawked and flapped his wings. "Now all of you stop asking me stupid questions in person and get your magey tails into gear!! What do you think I gave you all communicators for!!"

Rasputin bounded past Min and Bandit and out into the illusionous simulation. He didn't fully understand what his next job was after he created a breach in the fences, but he figured he'd find out later; time was of the essence.

There weren't many creatures around except for the team, so it was pretty simple to find a good spot to create the rift. The sabertooth tiger slunk around the fence to find the closest spot to the building inside. He thought the fence was just low enough for Rasputin to jump right over it, but barbed wire and infra-red sensors lined the top and over the fence. This dude must be some millionaire to have this much security... Rasputin thought. He found the perfect place to rip a hole through the gates, so he bared his 8-inch-long alsironite-injected fangs and thrust them into the iron.

His teeth started to cut through the fence like it was made of soft cheese, but he ran into a problem when his fangs hit a reinforced spot in the metal. He tried to get them through, and his face turned red when he finally got through it. He then slid out his claws and also slid out the metal caps for extra strength. He finished the half-circle he made with his teeth with his claws. He never used this before, but he had a built-in alsironite helmet that was inserted behind his skull, so he could bring it on and off whenever he wanted.

He brought out his helmet, and it covered everything on his head but two holes for his ears and eyes and his snout. There was a red stripe that started at the back of his head and ended between his eyes, and the rest was silver. He flattened his ears and charged at the cutout circle, popping it from the iron gate, creating a hole big enough for everyone to fit through. The circle would have landed on the concrete with a horrible clatter, that is, if Rasputin hadn't dashed through the hole and caught the circle with his teeth just before it landed.

He laid the iron down gently on the concrete as quietly as he could, and he made his helmet fold back in. He looked backwards at Bandit and the others, and he picked up his paw and waved once along with a whisper through the communicator, "We're a go!" to give them the all-clear.

[Substitute post for wolfie123]

Min made quick work of wriggling her way through the bars. The 3-minute window Graer had estimated was just about to close, and already, she could see the new guards starting to approach their new posts. "We're through the gates," she reported. "Rasputin's cleared an entrance."

"Well whoop-DEE doo," Graer snapped through the crackling of their communicator. "That only took you seven minutes, I'm sure you can get to the basement, secure all androids, and take out Ivanov in the remaining twenty-three."

Min growled, the sound rumbling deep in her throat loud enough for the communicators to hear. She was about ready to say something before Graer spoke up again. "Three guards approaching your position."

Despite her obvious capability, Min didn't want to make the mission any more difficult that it already was (Graer hummed into his headset). If she could avoid killing anyone, she'd take that route on preference, unless it was absolutely necessary. Even though Min understood all she was taught... one thing she (or any of the other team members) was never given was the subject of pity, or remorse. She would kill if she needed to, without any second thoughts, and she knew the others would do the same.

The mission was what ALWAYS came first. Everything -- and everyone -- else was expendable.

Including her.

Min shook her head as she saw Bandit get through the sawed gate. "Come on," she gestured. "We can make a dash for it. Graer, how exactly, do we get inside the building?"

[My actual post]

Graer huffed. "The first reasonable thing you've asked all day." Upon a thought, Graer pulled up the blueprint of the mansion on his headset and quickly surveyed the best way to get in. After turning over the image multiple times, he spoke. "There's a back entrance through the kitchen that you might be able to get through. It's guarded, though." He looked over the schematics. "Card reader. One of the guards must have it on them. So get to work, and try not to swallow it!"

Grear had no time to think about what he thought of the orders he was being given to relay to the others. Not that he would've thought them any different. Everyone was trained to follow orders. If he told one of the others to dispose of one of the guards, they would do it. If he told one of them to take a bullet for the mission, they would do it. Graer rather enjoyed seeing the others do as he said, as he closely monitored each of their their vital signs though his headpiece. Their heart rates were slowly, but steadily, increasing. If not kept in check, the adrenaline could overpower their intellectual senses and have them raging around like the wild beasts they were. Surely then, they would all have to be put down.

And Graer was fine with that. After all, the mission was what ALWAYS came first. Everything -- and everyone -- else was expendable.

Including him.

Quick note: Suka's probably going to be posting out of order, just to make the flow a little more realistic for the mission, as Graer has to guide them through the mansion.

Bandit quickly followed the other two through the small hole in the fence, a few scales on her back and tail catching on the fence as she went through. She felt them peel off and leave a few scratches in their place and swore under her breath. For a single moment the only thing on her mind was to rip the tiger a new one once the simulation was finished. But then her tactical side kicked in and she made a mental not to be sure and torch the place once they'd assassinated this guy and removed all of the androids from the premises. She glanced up as Graer's voice reached them, then moved her gaze from her companions, to the main gate, where the guards were approaching them from. They wouldn't see them for at least another half a minute if they stayed where they were.

"You two go. I'll meet you there with the card. Kill anyone who gets in your way," she whispered.

Silently enough, the velociraptor departed from their company, stalking towards the guards via a wide arc. Within seconds she was behind them, listening to their murmured conversation. She clicked once, causing them both to pause, then flicked her tail deftly, tripping two. As soon as they'd met the ground, she'd wrapped her tail around the neck of one, and her hands around the other and twisted savagely until two simultaneous cracks sounded. The third guard was in the middle of turning when her head met the rear base of his skull and pushed it forward with another satisfying pop as the simulated bones of his spine separated. He fell with a dull, light thud atop the other two, his false life gone.

"Cake," she clicked quietly.

With the three of them successfully eliminated, Bandit rummaged quickly through their jackets, finding the access card on one and severing the cord it clung to. Within another minute, she'd made it to the back side of the building and whipped it through the reader. The doors moved open quietly, or as quietly as automatic doors ever could be, and the room that must have been the kitchen was clear. It was full of polished metal devices that Bandit could only assume were used to prepare the food for humans, but she couldn't tell if there were anything particularly special about it. It was her first time seeing anything akin to a kitchen, but would probably not be her last. The machines were scattered throughout the room, and they'd provide plenty of cover if any of them needed to hide quickly, but it the angles were bad. There was no perfect hiding place anywhere and she immediately decided they should proceed through as fast as possible. She glanced around again and her nares flared, but nothing new met her senses. With a light nod she moved in, approaching the only other door.

"Coming up on the hall. Which way after that to the basement, Graer?"

She heard movement beyond the door, but it didn't seem to be nearing them. Out of habit she ducked behind an appliance and waited for it to move even further away. It would be a terrible thing to fail the mission by being seen too early, she thought. As a result, she glanced down to be sure her tail was out of sight, and sure enough it was. The mission was the only really important thing on her mind other than survival. Sure, she'd been taught that the mission was everything; failing was unacceptable. Even from the beginning, she'd been told that her life was negligible, so long as the mission was completed, but to do everything in her power to return safely. After all, she was a several trillion dollar investment. Not that she really cared about the humans' money, of course.

But even without that last little additive to her orders, self-preservation was one instinct they hadn't been able to totally drive out of her. The mission was her only purpose in life. She absolutely could not fail. But this logic, and everything else they'd taught her had opened led her to reason on this matter. If she died in the course of the mission, even if the main objective was completed, it would be akin to failing. Thus, she could not allow herself to fail in this way. Not only that, but if she were to meet her demise, all future missions were then also failed. Therefore, dying in and of itself was complete and total failure of any and all missions current and future. The only exception was if there was another to carry on the mission. But of course, she couldn't trust them to do that. How could she know if they were capable of managing it?

The mission was everything. Everything else was expendable. She, and to a far lesser extent her teammates (pending circumstances), were the exceptions.

From the other end of the comm line, the microphone began to blaze with the sound of wind whirring past, and it could be assumed that Graer had decided to switch perches and was flying through the air.

And indeed he was. It was often difficult to remember that Graer needed to change positions every couple of minutes to avoid being detected and snuck up upon, with all that was going on. He scanned below him for a suitable landing place while he held Bandit's question up in the air; he couldn't look through his headset and concentrate on his flying at the same time. But within the minute, he found a tall tree hidden by bushy leaves in which to make his second post.

Once situated, he re-opened the schematics to the complex. "When's the last time any of you freaks looked in a mirror," he said flatly, "No matter WHERE you are, it's gonna be pretty d*mn hard to hide yourselves and hope not to be seen. There are cameras throughout each floor, and without access to the security mainframe, I can't tell you what they see. All I know is that the basement is out the kitchen, down the hall, sharp turn left, and the second door to your right. It's large, metal, and labeled BASEMENT, so unless you're incredibly daft, you can't miss it. There are also armed guards patrolling the corridors. We don't know which of them are androids, so wait for them to pass before you make a run for it. Keep an eye on the cameras to know when to go."

Rasputin leapt through the hole he'd created and sped up to the mansion. He kept a close eye on the security cameras, and when he knew they were all turned away, that's when he made a run for it. Because of his incredible speed, he was seen by no one. It was a seriously stupid move to just run out there like that, but time wasn't exactly on their side. Rasputin crept along the wall until he came to a door in the back, which was already open with a pile of guards by its side. If everyone's already in, Rasputin thought, All I'd have to do is follow in their wake, then show up when the exciting part kicks in; the fight. He snuck in the door and, since the lights were dim either because of old bulbs or it just sets the mood, used his God-given night vision. He stayed along the wall, hidden by a blanket of shadows, as there were a few humans/androids on the premises.

He wasn't sure whether it was his imagination or his highly-sensitive hearing, but a scuffle echoed and rang in his ears. It wasn't made by human/androids, but by something hard and smooth.

Scales.

Bandit.

Rasputin was careful to make sure that his claws didn't click against the ground when he walked, and he tried to keep them as far up as he could and walk on the back on his paws, almost on his heels. He made sure his tail stayed in close contact with his body and aligned with the black stripe along his side. His tail almost had a mind of it's own, and he didn't normally keep track of it. Every 5 seconds the muscles in his tail would relax... then he'd remember to tighten it to his body again.

He looked around at his surroundings in search of Bandit, for he had absolutely no clue what to do next. He wanted to ask Graer, but he didn't like him so much. Oh well, Rasputin thought, So what if we don't get along. I can't fail this mission. He whispered so low, he could barely even hear himself let alone any of the guards. "Graer." He whispered. "Next." He tried to keep the message as terse and brief as possible, so there's less of a chance that someone might hear him.