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Post by Circe on Jan 16, 2020 18:39:41 GMT -6
With Molly appropriately distracted, Xiaolian was free to do a little more training with Maria. The new specialist showed promise, but also seemed undeniably anxious. But like most of the team she was driven due to a personal factor, which often helped through the long hours and crazy cases they took. Taking a sip of her coffee, she hoped the hot liquid would ward off the cold of the mirror station she now stood in. Mirror stations existed between the reality of one place and another. Well warded against most things, heating however, wasn't included in that. Often the temperature could be several tens of degrees colder than either end, so many users dressed accordingly in coats, jacket, cloaks, anything really to keep some warmth.
As Xiaolian surveyed the damage from what looked like a typical brawl, she listened half listened to the recount of the situation. It was this banality that often marked her days as a specialist, and it was all a symptom of Dallas being short staffed and ill trained when it came to common officers. "Okay so a fight broke out, you needed us why?" She drawled. Xiaolian found that the officers she worked with were getting increasingly stupid and increasingly likely to shoot first before asking questions.
"Well.. we think they might have wands on them." The officer answered slowly, as if he were unsure of himself. He was obviously new to the job and it's particulars. Something that Xiaolian had some sympathy for, but this wasn't really something that she or even Maria should have been called for. "So? You arrested them right?" She replied now annoyed with more than just standing in the cold station talking to a junior officer who hadn't yet figured out protocol.
"No ma'am. What Jacobs means is that after we broke the fight up one went after his partner and the other is still somewhere in the terminal. We haven't been able to find them." A second officer spoke this time. Squinting at their name badge, Xiaolian made out a name in the dim light of the terminal, Morris, female and a corporal as well.
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Post by demikara on Jan 16, 2020 18:57:46 GMT -6
Maria stared at them like they were idiots. Because they were idiots. "Did you at least shut down the terminal and block the exits?" Because if not, they were complete idiots. She ran a hand over her face. "There are procedures in place for this sort of situation. There are procedures in place for clearing the terminal." She pointed out. "Even for an armed opponent with magic." That was a bit ridiculous. Besides which, they were literally armed with tazers and guns. It took a press of a button to deal with a serious problem. That they couldn't handle it on their own...
"Where are you at on clearing the terminal?" Had they at least started or were the two of them going to have to do this. Why did she think they two of them were going to have to do this?
At least she knew where she was at right now. Maria slipped her hands into her pockets for a bit more warmth and gave the officer a disappointed look. It was more akin to what a mom would give a naughty child and she knew it, but she took full advantage of her experience with her large family. She may only be one of two, but she had a million cousins of somewhat questionable relation to her. She could handle children of all ages because of this experience, and right now, the officer might as well be a big child.
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Post by Circe on Jan 16, 2020 19:19:14 GMT -6
Xiaolian muttered something under her breath that sounded like a string of muddled curse words. These two officers were immediately on her shit list, which seemed to be growing by the day, with Molly of course alternating off and on depending on what her partner had done that week. "Okay fine." Xiaolian said tersely, shooting the two a glare. This was not what she had signed up to do, but Dallas's short staffing often lead to individuals like the specialists doing double duty.
"We've sealed off the mirrors and emptied the station per protocol Lieutenant." The Corporal answered quickly. "Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but it seems like they're using some sigils that we've never seen before to power the wands." Her partner added trying to be of use, but the man was still very much a rookie.
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Post by demikara on Jan 16, 2020 19:36:58 GMT -6
With the mirrors sealed off there would be a lot of angry people, wouldn't there be? They'd want to finish this quickly before anyone too important tried to go through to they'd have to deal with whining from people who could actually make a nuisance of themselves. This could be a headache and a half, couldn't it? "Alright." This was less than ideal. She sighed and looked to Xiaolian.
"How do you want to do this, Lieutenant?" She knew what the process was but didn't know which way that the other wanted to begin clear the station. Either way, it was the lieutenant's show and she was here as support. At least they had followed protocol on clearing the station and shutting it down. This would be so much worse if there were hostages.
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Post by Circe on Jan 16, 2020 20:00:53 GMT -6
Before Xiaolian was able to answer Maria's question a searing crack of magic resonated throughout the terminal, hitting the brick near the officers and specialists. "Wángbā dàn!"1 The lieutenant swore loudly as she ducked and dodged the falling pieces of brick. They had their answer about whether or not the mirrors were sealed off. Another shot soon fired, taking aim yet again at the officers. Where it was coming from wasn't easy to tell, despite the empty station, and it appeared that their suspect had found a way to bounce the shots off the mirrors. The second shot hit not far from Xiaolian, knocking her off her feet and raining more brickwork down on top of her.
As soon as she dusted herself off and got back on her feet, it was clear that she was far from happy with being someone's target practice. Looking towards the direction the shot had come from, she frowned. "Maria you're with me, Jacobs and Morris take the stairs." She instructed. It looked like the rogue mage was on one of the upper levels of the terminal.
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Post by demikara on Jan 16, 2020 20:11:21 GMT -6
Maria dodged and traced where the spell fire came from. "Yes ma'am." She pulled out her gun and considered it for a moment. Take in was preferable to take down. "It looks like it came from over there." She pointed and wrinkled her nose. "At least, if they only bounced it off one mirror." If they bounced it off more than one, she wasn't sure if she could trace it. It depended on how many mirrors they could bounce it off of. That was the problem wasn't it. Her eyes scanned the area and she careful to stay ready. Maria wasn't someone who fought with magic. She fought with mundane weaponry. Maybe it made her unusual for a specialist but she could handle this. Besides, despite what Molly and Mr. Rahal seemed to think, magic wasn't the answer to everything. She may be a specialist, but she was an officer of the law and was trained as one. She had decent aim and had a retractable baton on her and a taser. Maybe she wasn't armed for bear, but this was an idiot with a wand, not a bear. And idiots could be shot with normal bullets.
She moved closer carefully, keeping her gun at the ready and something between her and the wand waving idiot. Another spell shot out and she ducked behind a column. "I don't like the look of those spells lieutenant. Are we going to be able to get close enough to get a good shot?"
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Post by Circe on Jan 18, 2020 17:48:59 GMT -6
Xiaolian considered it for a moment as she watched the other two officers dash up the stairs to the second level terminal in the station. The terminal and it’s mirrors didn’t go anywhere out of the current dimension or on to other places on the tree. Guardians had made sure to limit this new technology so that this world would at least be somewhat safe and cushioned against things that had befallen others. But the mirrors did go places, anywhere on earth that had a connection. Sometimes one had to skip through several stations before they ended up at their destination, but for many magic users this was one of the few modes of transportation available for them.
“I’m not sure...” She answered. They would have to get close enough to start with ad Xiaolian didn’t know if casting a nullification field would damage the mirrors. The magic required to power them was immense and required specific runes to be etched into their surface at the right astrological time.
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Post by demikara on Jan 18, 2020 18:11:54 GMT -6
Maria peeked out and got another spell shot at her for her trouble. "I have a general location, I think. It's...sort of behind us and to the right?" That was what it looked like at least. "Almost even with us though. Whoever is shooting at us is on the same level as us though." That simplified things greatly. It was just a matter of getting a good shot. Still, if they were on the same level and bouncing off the mirrors, that meant they couldn't be far.
"Can we keep their focus over here while one of us circles behind them?" That might work. It was a valid strategy at least. "Maybe you should be the one who comes from behind them? Your nullification magic would probably do better here." She was thinking out loud more than anything else. "And I can dodge well enough to be bait."
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Post by Circe on Jan 18, 2020 19:00:03 GMT -6
“And here I thought you were the sane one.” Xiaolian wasn’t sure she had heard Maria right, but it sounded like the other was offering to use herself as bait. That was something that while necessary at times, was also discouraged due to the danger involved. But the shooter had them pinned down and it looked like their aim was getting marginally better with each shot.
Xiaolian swore as a bolt hit a little too close to her head for comfort. “Okay let me rephrase that, I don’t like injury paperwork. So let’s reverse that, you go around behind the guy and I’ll keep him busy.” Surely blinking in and out in a mirror terminal wouldn’t do any harm, the place was warded excessively and anchored as well. “If the bolts hit me, it’ll likely just hurt. If they hit you, who knows what they’re casting there.” The advantages of being a null or at least practiced in nullification magic was clear.
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Post by demikara on Jan 18, 2020 19:14:12 GMT -6
Maria frowned and wrinkled her nose. "That...is probably significantly better. Since you can basically teleport." She licked her lips and considered her options. "And compared to Molly, I am sane. Have you seen her at training? She's nuts." Molly was absolutely batshit as far as Maria was concerned. Good to have on your side, yeah, but absolutely batshit insane. "She threatened to turn Mr. Rahal pink all over yesterday. How did she pass the psych eval?" Maria had no clue how the fae managed to pass it and wasn't sure she wanted to know.
She traced a possible path with her eyes. "I think I see a way there. I'm going to take it." That said, Maria moved carefully backwards, trying to keep cover between her and the shots so she, hopefully, wasn't seen by the shooters. It appeared to work at least a little bit, as the wand fire didn't immediately slew towards her.
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