Die wholesale; kill retail (open)

[N.P.C]

The warehouse is empty and dark, the only light the flickering display of a camera/holoemitter unit near one wall, and a holographic figure of a man in a dark suit.

"Thank you all for accepting our invitation – I don’t suppose anyone else will be joining us, so it’s time I explained our purpose here this evening." He gestures to his left, and another holographic figure appears, of an attractive blond woman in a revealing white leather outfit.

“As some of you may know, this is Emma Frost. Until a month or so ago, she was known as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club; now, she is a free agent. A week ago, she was responsible for initiating a coordinated military offensive against several major mutant organizations; specifically the Xavier Institute, Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants, and the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle. In the process she obtained a device that potentially makes her an even greater threat to both mutant and humankind” Another gesture, and the space to his right is occupied by an image of Cerebro.

“It is no exaggeration to say that, once she has time to repair and tune the device, Frost is in a position to dominate the world… in a literal and utterly ruthless sense. We represent a consortium of individuals who intend to prevent that. Which is why you are here.”

He gestures to the room. “You all no doubt know one another, by reputation if nothing else. You are the world’s premiere assassins and mercenaries, and we have an offer to make to you. It is simple: one hundred million dollars to any individual or group that kills Emma Frost and provides proof of her death. Another hundred million to any individual or group that destroys Cerebro beyond repair and provides proof of that.”

“We recommend you all cooperate… Emma Frost is a formidable opponent. But that’s up to you… work together or independently, as you see fit. Time is of the essence in this matter, so the first individual or group to succeed will be renumerated.

For those who accept this offer, we have collected a dossier on the target, including detailed analysis of her capabilities, weaknesses, resources, known dwelling places, and so forth, which we will provide to you on electronic request, along with instructions for how to report success. Those uninterested may simply disregard this offer, with no obligation. That is all.”

The figure fades out. A moment later the holoemitter bursts into flame, plunging the room into darkness.

---

Frank Castle, sometimes known as the Punisher, sits with his back against a wall, on a pile of crates, looking around the room. It irks him to be lumped together with this collection of mercenaries and professional assassins – he’s not a gun-for-hire, he’s a man with a mission. And that mission includes taking out most of the people around him, but this is neither the time nor the place. Besides, it certainly involves taking out the White Queen, if he can.

So, grudgingly, he taps the electronic request and acceptance code into his Blackberry, reviews the information that scrolls along it, and waits to see what the others do. If he can coordinate with them, so much the better – maybe he can take them out along with his main target.

---

(( OOC: This thread is open to anyone who has enough of a reputation as a mercenary, assassin, criminal, terrorist, etc. to be made the offer, or who otherwise would find a way to be here.

Assume you were contacted at some point and given the place and time of liason, and enough assurances to be convinced it was legit and not just a trap, and pick up RP from here.

After that, the thread is entirely up to whoever chooses to participate… nobody else will be “running” it. Mostly, it’s an attempt to give the unaffiliated assassin-types an opportunity to RP with more people, although from a plot perspective it’s perfectly acceptable to actually kill Emma (though she is tough) and/or destroy Cerebro.

Make up whatever details are most entertaining; coordinate over in the Plotlab if you need to; have fun with it!
))

[Larza]

Standing among the group of assassins and mercenaries and all manner of scum – most of who are either masked, or standing in such a way that makes them seem more professional and stiff and…stuff – Larza looks a little out of place to the casual observer.

Or, would, rather, if there were any casual observers around. Full gothic attire, no mask, no visible weapons, nothing to set her apart from any normal young woman - just a black messenger bag slung over one shoulder, half-gloved hands toying absently with a long red and black beaded necklace she’s wearing, twisting it around her fingers, and an amused smile on her face as she looks around at the others, inspecting them as if they’re of high interest to her.

"Thank you all for accepting our invitation – I don’t suppose anyone else will be joining us, so it’s time I explained our purpose here this evening."

Her head snaps up in the proper direction, towards holo!man, and she listens to his words, a slight arch of one eyebrow as Emma Frost’s image (still as nearly-nude as ever...seriously, does the woman ever wear anything that covers her?) appears, and the other of this “Cerebro” thing...

“You all no doubt know one another, by reputation if nothing else. You are the world’s premiere assassins and mercenaries, and we have an offer to make to you. It is simple: one hundred million dollars to any individual or group that kills Emma Frost and provides proof of her death. Another hundred million to any individual or group that destroys Cerebro beyond repair and provides proof of that.”

A grin flashes across Larza’s face, and she can feel the collective interest perked by the mention of the sum. Holo!man keeps taking, but she’s already stopped paying attention, at least for the moment. She’s already got a target at the moment – Magneto, if she could just get things together and ready and such – but in the meantime, she reasons, may as well go for it – not like there’s any harm in it, right?

For those who accept this offer, we have collected a dossier on the target, including detailed analysis of her capabilities, weaknesses, resources, known dwelling places, and so forth, which we will provide to you on electronic request, along with instructions for how to report success. Those uninterested may simply disregard this offer, with no obligation. That is all.

She jumps slightly as the holoprojector spontaneously combusts, and the timid-freaked carries over once the dark sets in. One hand reaches for the nearest wall, as the other one pulls a flashlight from the bag hanging at her hip. Clicking it on, her grin is back as soon as the light reaches her eyes.

”So. Sounds like a party.”

[vanessa]

Since Emma's exile from the Hellfire Club's inner circle, she seemed to have took it upon herself to move her life forward in a more aggressive and quite dangerous direction. She had always been a power hungry woman with great ambition and a desire which knew no bounds. Her manipulation of Sebastian Shaw was her first big step into becoming the world player, having utilized the Black King's fortune and vast reputation to establish her own name and secret little empires and now that she was no longer the White Queen, well, all those connections and monetary means would come in quite handy.

Making an enemy of three of the world's most powerful and influential factions may have not seemed like the best idea, but that was exactly what made it brilliant. Each faction was caught off guard and while playing Strikeback, making them think they were really moving against potential mutant threats, Emma was really just putting herself closer to her main goal....Cerebro. So far, only a handful of mutants had ever been able to successfully use the machine and not wind up vegetables, and only one was ever really able to master the device....now, it was Emma's turn.

This little meeting of assassins and mercs was inevitable once all the commotion of Strikeback settled down and that the large players were comfortable once again and as things would have it, Vanessa Madison was right in the middle of it. You see, Vanessa had a rather personal history with Emma, one that she kept to herself and one that seemed to lead to one very bloody conclusion in the end. Vanessa had always been denied her vengeance on Emma because the White Queen was a member of the Hellfire inner circle, but now that the bitch had been cast out, well...she was fair game. Sebastian had been the one to tip Vanessa off to this 'gathering' of killers and as such, Vanessa knew that the Black King was more than likely the biggest contributor of this "Queen's Ransom".

Dressed in a pair of black combat cargo pants, black combat boots and a black tight fitting tank top with a tactical vest over top, Vanessa leaned against one of the side walls of the abandoned building, her long hair covering part of her face somewhat and her eyes drifting slowly from one hired killer to another. She recognized a few faces in the room, especially that of Frank Castle (not an assassin really, but to be honest, not even the Punisher would pass up an opportunity to take out someone like Emma Frost), a sight which made her smile and bring her right hand up to unconsciously rub the small scar which ran across her right front shoulder, a little parting gift he gave her to remember him by the last time she was in Florida.

When the room went dark, Vanessa dropped her hand and sighed, waiting for some sign of light to surely appear somewhere and sure enough, with a bit of patience, there it was. One of the other women in the group turned her flashlight on, making some sort of mocking comment, one which merited an eye roll from Vanessa. Competition wasn't anything knew in this game, but still, it didn't mean Vanessa enjoyed it, she hated amateurs getting in her way and just hoped that the newbies had enough sense to walk away from this job.

[Tony Masters]

While Taskmaster had signed on with the Brotherhood, vowing his allegiance to fight for the mutant cause, this much money just couldn’t be refused. Not to say that he’s greedy, rather it’s just the force of habit, the years of mercenary work still tugging at him.

So he’d taken a leave of absence…without telling anyone of course. With any luck, this job would only last a few days and he’d be back at the Brotherhood headquarters before anyone noticed he was gone.

But there was another problem: this was an open job. Anyone who could fire a gun could take part in the run for the prize money, and Taskmaster didn’t like that one bit.

He stands there with his fellow guns-for-hire, listening intently as the holographic man explains the details of their mission, should they choose to accept.

Hell, for two hundred million, who wouldn’t accept?!

“We recommend you all cooperate… Emma Frost is a formidable opponent. But that’s up to you… work together or independently, as you see fit.”

Tempting, but no. Taskmaster isn’t one to work as part of a team, which still doesn’t explain his involvement with the Brotherhood. Of course, he remembers that even if he were to work with others, his reward money would still possess eight digits. But that extra zero tugs at him and he’s already making plans to go in alone.

With his wrist-mounted keypad, Taskmaster punches in the information retrieval code, watching the loading bar in his mask’s display. Once it’s completely loaded, he quickly flips through the pages, his photographic memory taking in every detail. The moment he’s memorized it all, he deletes it.

Content that he knows all he needs to, Taskmaster turns to leave. He pauses and gives Frank Castle, the Punisher, a curt but acknowledging nod. While he was not fond of the other mercenaries in the room, he did have a certain amount of respect for the vigilante. They’d run into each other on several occasions while nailing mafia hit men and the like. He couldn’t argue with a guy who readily fights for the common man...all the while not getting paid for it. And the old man likes skull-themed attire, so he can’t be all bad.

“See you freaks at the finish line.” And then Taskmaster’s gone, disappearing into the shadows.