The Mind Games -PM to Join-

[Elijah Francioux]

The Mind Games OOC Thread

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.::. Unknown Location in the Middle Rim .::.​

In the heart of what appeared to be a Military Installation, a man stood alone. In the confines of a meeting room his eyes watched as the connection status to a holo-communicator continued to blink. Nerves were wracked as he desperately tried to come up with some feasible explanation for the royal screw up that had befallen him. Not only that he knew he would have to answer for the attempted cover up of his teams said screw up.
General Long was a tall fellow, though lanky in appearance. It was apparent that years of continued stress had wracked his body. His forty year old face showed lines that only those in their 60's should have held. Quietly he gnawed on the inside of his lips, trying desperately to formulate an explanation that would save his neck. His dark brown eyes stared agonizingly at the comm. When the moment came and the fuzzy blue image of a cloaked figure appeared, General Long realized time was now up.
"You have explaining to do." The woman hissed. Her voice was silky, almost smooth. Under the tone was the veil of a threat. General Long did not need her to say it. The man knew he was on thin ice. "You were assigned a simple task. So simple in fact I have no doubts a Jawa could have performed it without a hitch. Why then have I found out my property is missing? Why is it that when I found out I was also alerted you attempted a cover up?"
"I am sorry, Madam." General Long responded.
"I do not want apologies. I want an explanation. Speak!" The woman commanded. What truly unnerved the General was the fact the only part of the woman visible was her lower face. Her entire frame was wrapped in a dark cloak giving nothing as to shape of her figure. Most disturbing was the twitch her lip made whenever the General gave a response she did not like.
"We experienced a electrical surge that brought down the power in the cryostasis lab. We were successful in stabilizing the subjects in our care." General Long explained.
"Except mine."
"Please Madam, let me explained." General Long interceded. "When we were rerouting power, his containment case opened. When he realized where he was he freaked and ran. Even after being in cryo for this long he overpowered the two guards assigned to the area and fled." General Long explained.
"Do you have my property's file?"
"Not on me Madam but I have read it."
"Then you know what he is capable of. I worked too hard to gain control of him. I will not allow some pompous fool ruin my plans!" Her voice shouted to the point that the Generals ears rang. Shouting into a holo-com was much like screaming into a megaphone; it amplified the sound for those listening.
"I know Madam. We have confirmed however that he still believes he worked for an Agency codenamed G.A.P.A. When he reemerged on Dantooine, he began looking for said agency which raised red flags since it does not exist. The adjustments you made to his hippocampus is still feeding him false memories." General Long explained.
"Let me understand this correctly. Your facility failed its own maintenance needs. You attempted to hide this from me. Now my property is on Dantooine? He isn't even on the same planet as you?" The woman snarled.
"No Madam," General Long gulped. "But I have a recovery team in place on Dantooine. They've found him. They are awaiting my orders for apprehension."
"You may save your neck yet, General. I wish to watch this event unfold."
"Very well." General Long said. Pressing several buttons on the holo-communicator, the General opened a live feed on a projector near him, "Madam you should have a connection to the feed on your end as well."
"I do." The woman said. "Let's see how good your recovery team is."
"They are at a storage facility on the outskirts of Garang. I promise you they are the best." The General boasted.
The cloaked woman smirked, "So you think."

..::. Garang Outskirts – Storage Depot 12 .::.​

The Storage complex was as wide as the great pyramids of Giza. They were also as cluttered with various buildings as the shipping port of Los Angeles. The Recovery Team had surveyed the area, using small aerial droids to coordinate the locations of all heat signatures. Luckily with it being well past midnight, there were only a few people around. Those were the guards. Quietly neutralized as they were encountered, the Recon Team had come to the farthest point North of the storage facility.
“General Lang. Reconnaissance has revealed multiple heat signatures coming from inside building 171. None have moves in the last hour.” The Leader of the Recover Team spoke into a small comm on his wrist.
“Hostiles?” The General asked.
“Negative Sir. They appear to be a collective of homeless taking shelter.” The Leader responded.
“You are to use non-lethal force. I do not want a series of dead bodies. Acquire the subject and withdraw, that is an order.” The General responded.
“Understood.” The Team Leader replied before going silent.
The team of five were dressed in paramilitary attire. From head to toe not a single portion of their physical body was visible. Cotton masks covered their faces while night vision goggles helped them see were they went. Their uniforms were a mix of black and dark grey camo patterns. Each held a rifle but upon the Generals orders, they each double checked their weapons. Every man switched the weapon to stun.
Raising a hand, the Team Leader pointed three fingers up. Slowly he began to put them down one at a time. Once the final finger fell, the Lead raised his rifle while another man blew open the door and tossed in several stun grenades.
In seconds the explosions ripped through the immediate area of the building. Rushing in seconds later, the Team Lead took charge. Rushing around large crates, his team made their way to the central gathering point. Dozens of duffle bags lay on the ground. Along with them was an surprising amount of trash and personal waste buckets. A small fire was lit in what appeared to be an attempt at keeping warm.
“Everyone down!” He shouted. “I said get your asses down!”
Instantly people began dropping. The sight of armed men rushing in caused most alarm and fearing what was about to happen no one seemed stupid enough to disobey the orders. That was until one figure rushed off towards the west side.
“This is Four. I have sight. Target on the move!” Another of the Team spoke.
“Three and Five go left and flank with Four! Two with me. Box him in!” The Team Lead ordered.
The sound of gasping air filled the ear pieces of the team, followed by the sound of a collapsing body in the distance.
“Team Check In!” The Team Lead commanded.
The responses came in quick.
“This is two.” One voice replied.
“Three here sir!” Another said.
There was a pause before a third voice, “Sir this is Five. Four has been taken down. Alive but unconscious. Target has his weapon.”
“Regroup.” The Leader Ordered. “Head back to central poi…”
A shot whizzed past the Team Lead who immediately hit the deck. Turning towards the source of the shot, he spotted a figure rushing against the walls.
“He’s heading back towards the entrance. Everyone to the front. He’s using the shadows along the walls to hide his movement.” The Team Leader ordered. “Move your asses! Don'”

 

[Elijah Francioux]

..::. Garang Outskirts – Storage Depot 12 .::.​

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“Sir?” Three asked into his comm.
“I saw.” The Team Lead responded as the Unit regrouped and fanned out near the door they used to enter the building.
Moments earlier the figure the chased bolted through the opening, rifle in hand. Instinct told the Team Lead to set chase but something felt off. Every ounce of logic said to chase after the figure before he got away but the Leaders gut was screaming warning signs. His own body was pleading with him not to do it.
As Three and Five closed in on the door, the Team Leaders fear became founded. On the ground outside the door, the Leader saw the momentary shadow of their targets head.
“Wait!” The Team Lead ordered.
Too late.
Their Target went from one side of the door and to the other. In that split second he let out two shots which brought both Three and Five down. Both men twitched as the electrical shock from the stun overtook their bodies before allowing both men to simply fall to the ground.
“I know you’re there.” The Team Lead spoke, “There is no need for this to get any worse. Lay down your weapon, come into view and drop to your knees.”
A single middle finger emerged back from outside the doorway.
“Cute.” Two spoke.
The Team Leader simply shook his head in disbelief. With a motion of his hand, the Team Leader informed his remaining compatriot to move forward. As the two men near the two, the Leaders eyes remained on the ground. He was waiting; anticipating almost that their target would reemerge at any moment.
Just was Two stepped through the doorway and back outside the storage facility, a hand reached out and grabbed the front of his rifle. Before Two could put up a defense, the butt of fours rifle swung inward. Twos nose popped with a sickening crack. Crimson fluid began to pour from his nose while he fell backwards.
Before the Team Leader could rush out, his Target reemerged. He stood at just about six feet. Lanky and apparently malnourished, it was apparent the man had not put decent food in his stomach since waking from cryostasis. The whites of his eyes were reddened with dark bags sinking down below them. His hair was tangled and tattered. His face in desperate need for a shave. Still he held the rifle as well as any trained professional.
“Put the weapon down.” The Team Leader instructed.
The man cracked his neck, “Who sent you?”
The Team Leader reinforced his statement with a more forceful tone, “I said put the weapon down.”
“Blow me.” The man responded.
Before the Team Leader could shoot, the Target let off a quick succession of shots. The first hit the last of the Recovery Team standing, the second missed, but the third and fourth connected.
For several moments silence consumed the facility. The target simply stood where he was, staring down at the members of a Team that tried to forcefully take him into custody. In these first few confusion filled minutes he contemplated his next move. It was here that a glimmer from a glass lense caught his attention.
Walking up to the unconscious team lead, the man spotted a small camera mounted on his chest.
“Don’t come after me again.” Elijah Francioux growled.

.::. Unknown Location in the Middle Rim .::.​

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The image went dark a second after Francioux’s statement. The General was left in a perpetual state of shock. His Recovery Team, the best under his command, had been taken down by a single individual. Every scenario that ran through his experienced Military mind could not figure out how this happened. It was not until a light tsking noise caught his attention.
Turning back towards the holo-communicator, the hooded Woman was staring at him once more. Her lips made the annoying sound and had her eyes been visible, the General knew he would be getting a death glare.
“I don’t understand.” The General stuttered. “How is this possible?”
“How you managed to work your way up the ranks is a surprise General. Obviously it is not because of your knowledge about human Psychology.” The Woman replied, “Let me enlighten you. You cannot erase a humans mind. You can overwrite it. This is simply placing new information over the old. Given enough time I could have fully embedded the new memories strong enough to hold down the old. Unfortunately your failure at containment has jeopardized my plans. What we just witnessed was the human subconscious at work.”
“What?” The General asked. “The false memories implanted did not have any sort of combat training like that.”
“Of course not. What you just witnessed was a momentary appearance of his prior training.” The woman replied.
“How can you be sure?” General Long asked.
“Because I was the one that taught him everything he knows.” The woman responded, “This brings me to a predicament. How do I reacquire my property without risk of him finding out the truth about himself?”
“Madam?” The General asked.
“That also brings me to another predicament. Your usefulness as run its course. I am going to leave you with a decision to make. You may do the honorable thing and end your own life due to your failure in acquiring my property. Or I can punish your wife and daughter. I have no preferences either way and I leave the decision completely up to you. I will have someone check on you later to confirm your decision.” The woman explained.
General Long was left in complete shock.
“Now if you will excuse me, I have plans that need some readjustment.”
With that the holo-image of the woman disappeared and the General was left to make the hardest decision he would ever face. Save his own skin or preserve his family?

 

[Elijah Francioux]

..::. Garang Outskirts – Suburbs .::. ​

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“All units be advised. Be on the lookout for a Caucasian male. Six feet, 180 in weight. He is currently on foot in Garang carrying a military grade rifle.” A voice broke over the Patrols Speeders Speaker system.
“This is awkward then.” Elijah said as he held the rifle towards two Garang Police Officers that sat in the front.
Both officers said nothing while their hands were raised.
“Slowly come out of the speeder. If you attempt to grab your weapons I will shoot.” Elijah warned.
Both officers slowly exited the vehicle. The one closest to Elijah joined his partner on the sidewalk. Neither gave any indication of fear; in fact both were trying to show as little emotion as they possibly could.
“Cuff yourselves.” Elijah ordered.
“We can’t see behind us.” One officer retorted.
“That’s why you will cuff your hands in front of you. I’m not stupid.” Elijah replied.
The first officer did as instructed, placing the steel cuffs on his wrists and tightening them until Elijahs eyes went to the second officer. “You, go through his pockets, get his cuff keys and toss me both his and yours. Then cuff yourself.”
The Second Officer did as he was told. Two small pairs of handcuff keys were tossed towards Elijah who simply sidestepped and let them hit the ground. Pointing with his rifle, Elijah instructed both men to enter the back seat of the patrol speeder. Again both officers complied.
Once they were in, Elijah climbed in the drivers seat and turned his attention towards a small computer console. Now it was time to get to work. Since arriving on Dantooine not a single person he attempted to speak too claimed to know G.A.P.A. How could that be? They were Dantooines elite Protective Service. ’Why would my own Agency go dark? What happened?’ Elijah thought. ’Are there other Agents locked in cryo someplace?’
One of the officers noted Elijahs search, “I’ve never heard of G.A.P.A. I doubt you will find any sort of location in that computer.”
“Shut up.” Elijah replied.
“He’s right,” The Partner chimed in, “Our computer can find information on anything on Dantooine. I also have some experience with Federal Agencies and I have never encountered G.A.P.A.”
Elijah was getting irritated, “If you don’t shut up I will shoot you both.” The threat was just that; a threat. The man was not going to actually act on such words. He was not a murderer.
Unfortunately the Officers were right. Regardless of the search parameters, nothing was bringing up G.A.P.A. Now it was time to try something different. Computer searches did not work; talking to Police Officers did not work. Now it was time to find his Mentor.
Before Elijah could turn on the speeders engine a new alert broke over the speeders speaker system, “Attention all units! Suspect spotted holding two Officers hostage! Be warned suspect is armed and incredibly dangerous.” The voice suddenly went dark.
In the rear view mirror Elijah saw several Police Speeders turn on the street and coming in his direction.
“Uh oh!” One officer said, “Looks like you’ve been found out.”
’How!?’ Elijah spat.
Jumping from the speeder, the man did the only thing he could. He ran down the street as fast as his weary legs could carry him.

 

[Elijah Francioux]

..::. Garang Outskirts – Suburbs .::. ​

Elijah’s heart pounded against his chest. His face dripped with sweat. His skin flushed with exhaustion. The man knew he could not continue on much longer. At any moment his legs would give out and when they did it would openly be seconds before he was surrounded by Dantellian Police. What was the man supposed to do? Getting into a fire fight with the Officers in broad daylight in an area that was growing increasing residential was not smart. Too many people would be put at risk of a stray shot or two.
If he allowed himself to be captured then what would happen? The Officers would probably drag him back to the Cryostasis lab off world. Elijah did not want to go back. He could not. Honestly though, the part that truly bothered the man was the fact he could not remember ever being taken captive in the first place. The even scarier part was that he could not remember much of anything at all. His mind seemed to be a mess of memories that all just blended together.
’Food. Sleep. Water.’ Those three words repeated themselves in Elijahs mind while the man desperately tried to keep his distance from the officers.
Several had been on foot but even in his exhausted state Elijah managed to maintain his lead on them. The problem was the Speeders that zoomed by him and up the street. They had already set up a barricade. Their own weapons were pointed right towards the man. Like with Elijah, the only thing that stopped them from firing was the potential of innocent bystanders in nearby homes to be hit. A civilian casualty was not what anyone seemed to want in this situation. How then was Elijah supposed to get away?
He couldn’t.
Perhaps that was the best way though? Hold off the Police long enough for Elijah to get in contact with someone he knew; he had to get word out. If anyone within G.A.P.A. heard he was in need surely they would come to the aid of a former Agent. Wouldn’t they?
Elijah turned his attention towards the nearest home. The moment his body began its change in direction, a shot rang free from one of the chasing officers. It barely missed Elijah but had come close enough that the man fell backwards in surprise. Turning his own rifle, with the stun setting still active, Francioux fired back. Three officers bolted behind different objects for cover. Two hid by Speeders on the street while enough took cover behind a tree trunk.
“Give up! You are surrounded. Drop your weapon. No one has to die today.” One Officer called out.
Elijah sent off a second shot to keep the Officers where he was, all while the man took cover near the houses front door. Using their front patio was cover, the man huddled down behind two wooden chairs. The objective was to ensure there was no direct line of sight to him.
“Don’t be stupid.” The Officer continued.
“I am Elijah Francioux, former G.A.P.A. Operative. I want to speak with Assistant Director Gregory Matthews. A.D. Matthews I was being held captive in a cryolab. ” Elijah shouted back.
“You’re what?” The Officer asked perplexed.
“I said I am a former G.A.P.A. Operative. Now do what I just told you to do!”
There was a moment of silence. Elijah peaked towards the tree where the first officer crouched behind. His brown eyes focused on the hand signals that officer gave to the two behind the civilian speeders. He was signaling them to go around the right side of the house. They were going to try and cut off any potential escape routes to neighboring houses.
“Sure. We’re getting on that right now.” The Officer replied.
Elijah suddenly stood and fired off two shots which forced the Officers to take cover again. With nothing more than all of his remaining strength, Elijah threw himself through the nearest window to the front of the house. The glass shattered upon his body’s impact and the man fell to the floor with a thud that knocked all of the air out of him. Taking in several deep gasps, Francioux took a moment to survey the area. The sound of the shots outside and the shattering glass of the home should have alerted anyone inside. Still he heard nothing. Either no one was home or if they were the residents were hiding. Either way was good; so long as they stayed out of Elijahs way.
As the man tried to sit up a sharp pain coursed its way across his back. Reaching behind him the man felt a shard of glass imbedded into his lower back. A small pool of blood covered the spot were he landed.
’poodoo.’ Elijah thought.
Pushing himself into a corner in another attempt to minimize line of sight as well as potential areas people could catch him by surprise on, Francioux sat next to a holo-television stand. He was so very tired; much to the point that the mixture of blood loss and exhaustion were making it next to impossible to keep his eyes open. If anyone stormed the house, the man would not have a shot. Still, he had one out. Reaching to the rifle, the man checked the energy clip. Four shots remained. Taking the safety off, Elijah Francioux simply waited for the next move.
Either he would kill whoever entered the home or they would kill him. Elijah simply was not going to be taken back to the cryolab. That much he could guarantee.