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Heroes, Great and Mighty (Exalted x World of Darkness)

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[X] Plan Preparations

I'm surprised Task Force Valkyrie is already willing to throw Malcom into a mission when they don't even understand what he is. Maybe they're just that desperate for beings who can fight on equal footing with their enemies or they think being exposed to danger will help them get a better grasp of what he is?
 
Potato and Chip said:
[X] Plan Preparations

I'm surprised Task Force Valkyrie is already willing to throw Malcom into a mission when they don't even understand what he is. Maybe they're just that desperate for beings who can fight on equal footing with their enemies or they think being exposed to danger will help them get a better grasp of what he is?
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Probably a bit of both.

They have constantly said that Boston is fucked. Many have already declared it a lost cause. That is, until Malcolm revealed himself. However, it's likely there are still people who are skeptical of if Malcolm is an asset worth investing in, or just some random dude who got lucky and will soon fall to the Vampire/Mage Alliance in Boston. On top of this, Malcolm is a complete unknown to everyone.

He's not a Vampire or Mage, otherwise he'd probably either be in the Alliance or dead.

He's not a Changeling cause they can't just Vaporize a vampire like Malcolm did.

He's not a Werewolf cause the Werewolves might actually do something if one of their own was threatened.

He's not any of the known supernaturals. And that probably scares a lot of people in the higher echelons of TF:V. To the point where they would probably be willing to capture Malcolm and perform test on him if they had to.

Sending him into combat this early might be reckless, but it's the best shot they got of finding out if Malcolm is a worthwhile investment and if his presence can shift the tide in Boston.

If he survive, he'll probably be a great asset.

If he dies, then he wasn't worth the hype and they'll have to try something else.

Of course we, as the Collective Intelligence in Malcolm's head, know that if TF:V knew what he was, they'd put every single resource they could spare into him. Cause, at full power, he could probably solve most of the major issues in Boston in a month. Maybe 3.
 
LinkOnScepter said:
He's not a Vampire or Mage, otherwise he'd probably either be in the Alliance or dead.
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This is inaccurate. The Alliance is between some Vampires and Mages. More specifically, it's between the local Vampire Clans/Covenants in Boston that have allied themselves and with the few Mages making up the local tetrarchy of the Seers of the Throne.

Now, being a Mage does not mean immediate membership into the Seers's ranks. Hell, the Pentacle Orders tend to be pretty good at snapping up talent that Awaken within their reach, and that's not to mention the various minor Orders that might have only a Cabal to their name that get lucky enough to get a new member. Task Force: VALKYRIE likely counts as one of the latter - I highly doubt that the government is capable of recruiting that many Mages, nor capable of finding enough of them in one area to form an actual Cabal before an actual Order of Mages can snap them up first.

It's simply that the Seers control more of Boston than the nearest Consilium does, which means they have better chances of getting to a newly Awakened Mage first and recruiting them before the Pentacle Orders can.

LinkOnScepter said:
Sending him into combat this early might be reckless, but it's the best shot they got of finding out if Malcolm is a worthwhile investment and if his presence can shift the tide in Boston.
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Nothing about the last update said anything about sending Malcom into combat. They're calling him in to meet with his superiors to they can brief him on his first actual assignment.

That does not mean they'll be sending him into the field on a combat-mission. Doing so would be far too reckless.

Heck, it could be a mission to just do something totally routine like investigate a rumor about suspicious activity in one neighborhood by posing as law enforcement. Or to interact with some of the other supernatural-types in Boston to gather intelligence, either through social networking or through covert surveillance.
 
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Story Post 18
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    • [x] Plan Preperations

    "And I'll hopefully be back by late this evening, or tomorrow morning. If not, I'll give you a call and have Bart stop by to check up on you." Malcom said as he made the final preparations to head out to his first big mission. He had made Maggie some dinner for her to eat in case he was out late, chicken with a side of wild rice and green beans. "If you get hungry, just stick it in the microwave for a minute or so at a time until feels warm enough to eat, alright?"

    Maggie nodded as she looked at the plate of food and then to the microwave, following Malcom's hand as he pointed.

    "If you get bored, I've picked up a few movies and books from the library that I thought you might like. Try the books first before you watch any of the movies. They'll last you longer and will make you smarter." Malcom continued as he adjusted the collection of entertainment material on the living room table.

    Maggie nodded again, looking right at the movies in anticipation, much to Malcom's displeasure.

    Ignoring it, he stood up and struggled to think of anything he might have missed. She had hot, healthy food ready for her if she was hungry, entertainment if she got bored, a clear expectation of when she should go to bed for a proper night's sleep, an armed guard monitoring her status next door, a friendly face in the form of Bart who had agreed to check up on her tomorrow afternoon. What was he missing? What had he forgotten?

    "Any questions before I head out?" He asked, hoping she would jog his memory and remind him of anything he was neglecting.

    Maggie fidgeted, her calm acceptance of the situation suddenly melting away in to nerves. She struggled for a moment to find her voice before hesitantly asking. "You...you are coming back, right?"

    Malcom blinked, the question hadn't been what he had been expecting. "Of course I'm coming back." He said, looking confused. "Why are you asking?"

    Maggie shook her head. "Nothing, never mind." She said, shrinking back in to herself under his gaze.

    Malcom watched her, his confusion and concern mounting. "Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked gently. "It's okay. You can say anything you want. It'll be fine."

    "It's nothing." She said, not meeting his eyes. "I was just... I wanted..." she stopped again, took a breath and forced herself to speak. "I miss you when you're gone." She said, in a very tiny voice, looking at the floor.

    Malcom felt his heart stop at the words. "You do?" He asked, prompting her to speak as he willed himself to remain as calm and collected as possible.

    She nodded at the question, unease and embarrassment playing over her face. "Yeah. It's more fun when you're here. When you go, I, uh... I.." she faltered, her voice barely above a whisper. "I get scared you wont come back again."

    Wont come back again.

    Again.

    Again

    Malcom felt the guilt sink in to his belly like a lead weight. He had been her protecter, once upon a time, the wall between her and mom, her best and only friend in their garbage heap of a home. He had picked her up when she fell, read her stories when she was sleepy, cared for her when she was sick, played with her when she was lonely and cheered her up when she was sad.

    Then he left her to go to college and never came back, leaving her with mom until she got sick of taking care of a child by herself and dumped Maggie on his doorstep without even a farewell.

    It was no wonder she had been so scared of upsetting him. She had thought he had grown tired of taking care of her and abandoned her. She thought that she had finally done something wrong and driven him off, that she was to blame for his leaving her, for not taking her with him when he went to college.

    Why the hell hadn't he taken her with him? He knew that leaving her with mom would be horrible for her. Without him to act as a filter between the worst of mom's tendencies, living at home without him must have been a nightmare.

    The guilt had turned from a weight in his stomach to a knife in his heart, and he reached out to Maggie and took her in a tight embrace. She started at the sudden motion, but relaxed in to his arms when she realized what he was doing.

    "Maggie I'm so sorry. I never meat to leave you like that." He said, holding her tight, trying to fight off tears. "I didn't... I was thinking right when I left. I just wanted to get out, I just wanted to be done with that place." He had been so wrapped up on the preparations to move out, finalizing the paperwork for school and planning his classes that he had no energy left to spare to think of how Maggie would have been affected by his departure.

    "I'm sorry." Maggie said, crying in to his shoulder as her barriers fell. "I thought you hated me, that I screwed up and you got tired of me and didn't want me anymore."

    "No, Maggie no. I was just stupid, I wasn't thinking right." He said, holding her tighter as they collapsed and knelt on the floor together. "You're my sister, I love you, I'd never..." He stopped, he had been about to say that he's never abandon her, but he had, and she had suffered for it.

    "I'll never leave you like that again. I promise." He said, pulling back and looking her in the eye. "I promise I'll come back, and we'll have another movie night and pizza when I'm done with this job, okay? I promise."

    She looked at him, face red and blotchy from crying, and nodded. "Okay." She said, trying to mirror him and calm herself down. "Okay."

    Malcom smiled and pulled her tight for another hug. "Okay kiddo...

    [] "I think I can stall for a bit before I leave. Want me to stay a while?"
    [] "I'll call you when I get to work, alright?"
     
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    • A peak behind the GM screen:

    This post got away from me, and wasn't quite what was voted on, but I was partway through writing it when I realized it had to happen. Maggie had been in "scared kid" mode for long enough, and the barriers between them need to be lowered, at least temporarily, for any further progress to happen on her plot line.

    Apologies if it wasn't quite the cool mission stuff that was promised, but I'll be sure to deliver that in the next post for sure.

    Maggie will refuse the offer to stay, trying to be a big girl for Malcom, the choice has more to do with showing you have confidence in her vs if you feel you need to make sure she's safe and stable.
     
    [X] "I'll call you when I get to work, alright?"

    Good chapter. Maybe buy Maggie a magical/normal pup or kitten?

    I'm feeling a good amount of incestous shtick after reading your note in chapter 3.

    Like you said I blame anime and my incest bone. I mean... "You were the clock that was ticking in my heart, change your state of mind..." *Heavy thudding on door* "FBI, open up!"
     
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    LordOfPears12 said:
    Good chapter. Maybe buy Maggie a magical/normal pup or kitten?
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    You say that like a magical puppy or magical kitten is something you can just buy. Things like that aren't commonplace enough to be something one can simply purchase, even in someplace like the Goblin Market (or whatever it was called).

    Plus, we work for TF: V now; their MO is to either put down potentially dangerous magical-creatures and harvest them for materials to use in further anti-supernatural-weaponry, or to subvert them to act on the order of their human handlers to hunt down other supernaturals.

    A normal pup or kitten on the other hand... that would be much easier to deal with. We can help Maggie build up her confidence by helping her to take responsibility for the pet, as well as help with training and caring for the creature.

    Add to the fact that we're a Zenith Caste Solar, and Zeniths are the foremost beast-tamers of Solars... we might end up raising that cat or dog to be as fierce as a Simhata, and thrice as deadly. Maybe buy a dog that we already know will be a good protector for Maggie, and then help Maggie train them to be as fearsome a guardian as Mouse from the Dresden Files.

    Only issue would be for when Maggie needs to go to school, and can't bring her super-pet with her.





    Speaking of Simhata... we should totally buy a second-hand, broken-down motorcycle and turn it into a Simhata Motors "Road Lion"... We're a Solar who has great Crafts and the Craftsman Needs No Tools charm. We can totally make a tricked-out, magically-enhanced motorcyle once we have some more free-time.
     
    kenmadragon said:
    You say that like a magical puppy or magical kitten is something you can just buy. Things like that aren't commonplace enough to be something one can simply purchase, even in someplace like the Goblin Market (or whatever it was called).

    Plus, we work for TF: V now; their MO is to either put down potentially dangerous magical-creatures and harvest them for materials to use in further anti-supernatural-weaponry, or to subvert them to act on the order of their human handlers to hunt down other supernaturals.

    A normal pup or kitten on the other hand... that would be much easier to deal with. We can help Maggie build up her confidence by helping her to take responsibility for the pet, as well as help with training and caring for the creature.

    Add to the fact that we're a Zenith Caste Solar, and Zeniths are the foremost beast-tamers of Solars... we might end up raising that cat or dog to be as fierce as a Simhata, and thrice as deadly. Maybe buy a dog that we already know will be a good protector for Maggie, and then help Maggie train them to be as fearsome a guardian as Mouse from the Dresden Files.

    Only issue would be for when Maggie needs to go to school, and can't bring her super-pet with her.





    Speaking of Simhata... we should totally buy a second-hand, broken-down motorcycle and turn it into a Simhata Motors "Road Lion"... We're a Solar who has great Crafts and the Craftsman Needs No Tools charm. We can totally make a tricked-out, magically-enhanced motorcyle once we have some more free-time.
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    Ok. I like these ideas more.
     
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