Repairing The Rift

Participants:

b_barbara_icon.gif b_cat_icon.gif b_lashirah_icon.gif b_lorraine_icon.gif

Scene Title Repairing the Rift
Synopsis Cat answers her crane and brings ex-Company Agent Lashirah Lee along to help stop damage to the timeline only a few months back in time.
Date June 26, 2010

Thompson Commune — Canada


From the forest where a certain time travelling samurai dropped them, the commune doesn't look like someplace that is about to become a graveyard and deathtrap. He'd told them they were going back to before the attack, and would be pulled out before it begins, and he warned them, rather seriously, that there would be no correcting the timeline if they messed up.

Only one person is being saved this time. Everything else, no matter how much they may wish it not to be, needs to stay the same.

The Commune is experiencing a normal day. Clothing hang from the lines, goats graze not far away, under the guidance of a single person currently walking around making sure none of them are sick. Cat had time to study the reports, study pictures, protocols. A month before the people in the states would make it up to the Commune to find bodies, and one remaining survivor, there's so much history that could be changed…

And one person among many, already there, who should not be.

One person sent to alter the course of events.

She is armed, carrying with her an M16 and two silenced pistols, her face is covered. Body armor protects her torso, a helmet rests atop her head, and measures have been taken against contact with negation gas. Just the same, Cat chooses to brief Lashiran in on that contingency. "If I get gassed, I'll effectively be seven years younger, but I'm prepared. I wrote myself a brief note on what to do. It's in my left front pocket."

Then she's on the move, recounting from memory what Barbara told her about how she escaped and angling toward that route. "The one to be protected should come this way when things go down, so interference is likely to also be in this area. We can scout it out and move forward from there, toward the commune."

[OOC] Lashirah laughs. "I'm not set up to set things on fire. Just make gun hill seem to be caving in
Lashirah nods quietly. She's wearing dark greens and browns. Natrual colors. A pair of .45s, sadly missing silencers sitting in holsters under her jacket. Negation gas isn't a fear of hers… but tear gas could be problematic. She shrugs and covers Cat's approach with sharp eyes taking in details, looking for anything amiss as they near the commune. Someone moving to lock doors out, for example, or block exits. The goal was pretty clear… but how to avoid helping OTHERS then the mission target was something that she would worry about later. One problem at a time.

The good thing about Cat's memory is she was able to look at pictures of many of the known personale that were lost at the Thompson Commune. Many of the faces that move in and out of the building are among those files in her mental catabase. But one face seen through a window registers, when it shouldn't. A blonde woman, in her late thirties, moving among the Commune as if she belongs there, but there's no reason she should have been in Canada, as far as Cat is aware.

Lorraine Fournier may be able to be in two places at once, but had she sent one of herself up to Canada after the Blizzard ended? Surely she would have seen something on that if she had.

"Excuse me," the woman's voice calls out inside the building, looking into a room that happens to hold a certain redhead. The redhead that two people were sent into the past to save…

And that someone was sent to doom.

"I'm the new nurse that just transfered up to Canada through the network. I was asked to give everyone in the Commune a quick check up."

Barbara had been relaxing for the moment, a hat pulled down on her forehead as she stares down at papers she holds in her hands, somewhat reclined in her seat. The entrance of a new person, one she doesn't recognise off hand, has the redhead sitting up looking with a bit of surprise.

"New nurse?" she responds with a bit of hesitation. "Did- Did Jackson put in a request without telling me?" She grimaces, sitting up in her seat, page folded and book set down aside. "Come on, then. We'll head over to the medical building. It looks like I need to have a word with someone anyway."

From a distance as she moves along the path and gets a view through that window, Cat spots the two persons speaking and continues on, moving quietly and carefully lest they be spotted themselves through movement until she gets close enough to recognize faces. What she sees makes her stop short and stare for a long moment. "The mission parameters have changed, Lashirah," she utters in a displeased voice, "we now have two people who can't be captured by the Institute here. Do you see," she beckons for her partner to approach so she can see them as well, "those two? The redhead is the one we came to help escape. The other one isn't supposed to be here at all."

Lashirah simply nods. "We found our 'extra'" She states calmly. "One we need to make sure gets away… the other… just not captured, yes?" She states this with a false calm. She'll worry about the moral implications later. If there was a later. After all, no guarentees in life. One problem at a time, though. "Getting to them without causing a ruckus inside might be a pain." the simple 'white' mask, almost like someone was making a V mask but didn't get to painting the details on covers Lash's face, her hair contained up in a bun under a 'borrowed' fedora, she eyes up the situation quickly. "Is there any outbuildings that either one would be likely responsible for here?"

"Of course," Lorraine says, offering a friendly smile as she moves out of the door, still carrying a small hard case in one hand. A hard case that likely contains some kind of medical thing. "My name's Raine," she adds as they move, offering that as they exit the current building. She takes a following position, allowing Barbara to lead the way toward the medical building, as she walks slowly beside, obviously following. A newcomer would likely still need to be shown the way. "It's nice to meet you." As she moves, her hands are fidgeting with the small hardbox in her hand. Or it looks like fidgeting.

"Raine? That's an' interestin' name. Not one I think I've heard before." Barbara offers a weak smile in return - the truth is she's a bit on edge, something being on the run from Company agents for a decade had taught her to be whenever anyone new suddenly appears. "So, where'd they send you up from? I hope you packed warm, it gets cold here, an' we try t' run heat an' all that as little as we can around here. Mostly to conserve power an' keep from drawing attention." Idle conversation will do until they get to the medical building at least.

Tracking the women as they move and emerge into the open, heading from one building to the other, Cat moves as well. Her head jerks toward the place they're heading for, an unspoken request/directive to follow as she seeks to keep the pair in sight. It's slow going, in that she seeks to be quiet and not alert others to their presence. "We'll need to intercept the non-redhead and have a chat with her, keep her busy. And keep eyes open for another copy of the woman. She's a duplicator."

Lashirah nods a silent acknowledgement as she keeps her eyes moving, even as she follows Cat's lead, trying to leave as little evidence of her passing as possible… She hasn't drawn her weapon yet… though she's considering it as she watches the pair. "… Sucicidal?" She asks suddenly as she spots the hard case and has a horrifying thought about one possibility.

"It's a short version of my name. I've personally always liked it better than going by Lori," the woman explains, before she continues to answer the questions. "I've been a lot of places over the years, but most recently I was down in New York, during that blizzard, so I know all about packing for cold weather," Raine responds with a small nod, as she continues to fidget with her box, keeping in close. "I helped out there and then requested a transfer out of the country, to avoid some troubles of my own. Everyone here has something to avoid, it sounds like." Something to avoid, and something to cause…

But even that has a reason.

As they move there's no time they don't have someone close enough to see if anything goes wrong. Perhaps that alone is buying some time. One of the citizens of the commune stops what their doing and looks for a time, before settling their eyes on Barbara. People don't recognize the new woman— but if she's walking with Barbara, she must be okay.
"Suicide bomb?" Cat asks as answer to Lash's query. "Doubtful. That could've been done already if it were the goal. Far as I know, the woman's aim is to make sure Barbara gets captured, and she's worked as a nurse, would have some knowledge of drugs. My guess is it's a sedative. Knock her out, keep her down long enough to be swept up, while she herself escapes."

It occurs to Cat, somewhere in her brain, that use of a sedative might help their cause.

"I know how that goes," Barbara replies quietly, hands slipping into the pockets of her jeans. A wave is given over to some of the onlookers, a bit of a loose wristed wave. For now, at least, this woman is okay. "I heard about the blizzard. Kind of made me glad that I don't live in New York anymore." Which is, for once, the truth, even if the glint in her eye says otherwise. "But it's always nice to have someone more to help out around here, particularly someone who's already done some helping out around teh network. So, welcome to Thompson." What goes unspoken is that that's pending Barbara getting in touch with who she needs to and properly vetting Raine.

"It was really cold. I think it will even make these winters seem like summer," Raine says, grinning as the there's a soft sound of metal latches popping open in the hard box. It's long enough to hold a syringe, at least one, if not two or three. As they round between the medical building and the other building, she seems to think she sees her opening, and a needle is pulled out, and moving toward the red head's upper arm. A quick motion, but one someone who's lived on the run for many years may come to expect.

The unlatching of Raine's box is what draws Barbara's attention back, curious both as to what the sound was, and what exactly her new arrival is doing - likely out of a trained cautiousness and prevailing sense of paranoia that always seems to wash over her when she meets new people. The look back comes just in time to see the syringe raised, just in time for it to break skin, Barbara jerking her arm back, stumbling and unsure of exactly what is going on. Besides trouble, of course.

"W-What the hell?!" she exclaims, backing away. "I knew Jackson wouldn't be stupid enough to send another request without me knowing…"
Observing Lorraine's move and Barbara's evasion, Cat's steps quicken with the intent of closing the distance and intervening before the attention of others is drawn to the situation. "It might've helped us if that worked," she mutters, "because then we could maybe let Lorraine leave thinking she pulled it off and carry Barbara into the woods, she'd never know a thing and wake up after the raid is over." But that's probably not going to work now.

"I think now we probably have to assist Barbara, dose Lorraine with her own drugs and ditch her somewhere in the woods while Barbara goes to ground."

Lashirah curses and breaks cover. There's no time for it now, as she dashes in a straight line towards the pair, one hand moving to smoothly draw her .45, a sign of something practiced to the point of perfection. NOtably, despite moving with speed, Lashirah doesn't trip, nor seem unsure of her steps as she closes ground, looking about to make sure there isn't anyone in obvious earshot other than the pair… before given a relatively quiet shout. After all, the idea seemed to make sense a few moments ago… and it couldn't get much WORSE right now.

She states calmly as she gets close enough to be heard without shouting. "FBI. May I ask you to politely drop that syringe? Otherwise I might have to consider you armed." Someone, somewhere, had to be laughing at Lash now.

It seems time is on their side— or at least working with them for the moment. The blonde quickly looks over, startled by the sound of the voice. Instead of dropping the syringe, though, she tosses it. Toward Barbara— past her, landing with a skittering on the ground, where a second hand reaches to pick it up.

Cat had warned there would be two of her, after all. And there are. Raine and Lori? Or perhaps Raine One and Raine Two. Who knows how Duplication messes with a perfectly good mind's identity.

But before much else can happen, there's a soft sound in the distance. So soft that it can barely be heard—

And it's a sound Cat definitely doesn't want to hear, especially followed by a soft hissing sound. It's at a distance, in one of the further buildings. But it's there. The sun isn't even down yet, but there's the first signs of the raid, soft, distant.

If this had already happened before, perhaps this headstart was what gave Barbara the edge to get away when she did.

Lashirah's appearance and claim to be with the FBI as Barbara scrambling backwards, unknowingly towards the other Raine. "What the- Someone! Help!" she shouts out, hoping that the folks she had passed earlier would be able to get in gear before this got really bad. Unthreatening as Barbara is - she doesn't carry a gun, and she can barely fight - she thinks she's going to need it as much as possible.

It doesn't help that the ruckus of what's going on her prevents her from hearing those first sounds of the impending raid. One can only hope her shouts will cover her on that front.

"Shut up, all three of you!" Cat demands in a voice which very clearly expresses she means business. Out come the two silenced pistols, aimed at the heads of both Lorraines. "You two, merge right the fuck now, or I swear I'll shoot you both in the head!" They're both watched intently, the masked woman ready to do exactly what she threatens.

Without looking away, she addresses Lashirah. "Take the redhead, make her walk quickly ahead of you into the woods."

It's a plan. Get the Lorraines reduced to one, then use the M16 to render her unconscious so she can be carried bodily.

Lashirah moves as Cat directs, before anyone can get their thoughts together and realize that something isn't right here. She missed the sound of the hissing… but then, that's likely a good thing for her. She steps forward to escort Barbara to the woods… preferably out of sight from the rest of reality. She doesn't even try to look friendly while doing it. Sometimes, being scary is more effective.

There's that hissing sound again. Closer— in the building they're near.

It's getting closer and closer to Cat, as the two Lorraine's go quiet and look at her, recognizing her. "You don't understand what's happening here. If I do this— some small things will change. Small, but— they'll save her life. My daughter's." Her voice is calm, sincere, only one of them speaking. The one closest to Cat. The one who raises her hands, to show she's no longer armed in any way.

The other one doesn't raise her hands at all, and just looks at her quietly, waiting. Perhaps waiting for the inevitable bullet through the skull. Or for the gas to make it's way to them.

Barbara is one thing, certainly, after all these years - she is a runner. With guns not trained on her, she is still back away, looking for an opportunity o burst off without having to worry about being shot. More worrying is the fact that no proper help has arrived yet. "Someone tell me what the hell is going on here!" she shouts frantically as she looks off, hoping to spot someone.

English isn't used to hiss at Lorraine when Cat speaks. French is the language opted for instead. "«We'll talk about what you're up to later. Now's the time to move. Into the woods, or Jensen gets to tell Liette you sold her out along with everyone else, and died.»" Her fingers tighten on both triggers. "«You aren't really stupid enough to believe anything good comes from handing anyone over to the Institute. Ever.»"

Barbara's question is left for Lashirah to field, and Lorraine has about five seconds to get obedient.
Lashirah sighs as she dashes up and tries to grab Barbara's arm. Time is critical. "We're from the Future. I was, well, I suppose with when we are, I still am, with the Company. We're here to help." She speaks even as she moves to escort Barbara away from the pair of Lorraine's. The impassive white mask works wonders for hiding the worry behind the mask. Too long spent on this means there will be tangling with the Institute. And that could lead to trouble for her partner in this scheme.

"«I'm not leaving her to the Institute. I was knocking her out so she doesn't witness something,»" Lorraine hisses back in French, while they take a second to glance at each other, perhaps confirming something that they both already know, or because— they don't have a telepathic link. They have to exchange signals in some way. "«And we weren't selling out Liette. You don't understand anything. You're going to change it just by taking her with you, so go ahead and shoot me.»"

Taking Barbara with anyone is no longer an option, not once Lashirah says those magic words - "we're with the Company". Barbara's instincts take over and she turns, hauling in a full sprint towards more populated areas of the Commune, pushing past the Lorraine that now holds the syringe as she takes. "Company!" she shouts to everyone who can hear her. "This is not a drill!" Barbara Zimmerman does not mess around when it comes to the possibility the Company is on the grounds, the mentions of help and the future completely lost to her.

The need to shoot Lorraines passes when Barbara runs toward the commune, but Cat still keeps them covered to guard against any attempt to interfere with her. "She's conscious," the panmnesiac offers toward Lashirah, "so I'm confident she'll escape after seeing what she told me she saw when brought back to the US. Now, these two… no telling what consequences would come out of Liette's mother suddenly disappearing and the story not being told for months. Game's over, Lorraine. You won't catch her and interfere with the proper flow of history now. You don't want to get caught by the Institute any more than we do, so," she nods toward the woods, "after you. Get moving."

Lashirah turns to cover the syringe wielding duplicate with her firearm. "Identical twins first. I insist."

While Barbara moves away, sounding the alarm, there's a flash of movement in the distance. Shiny suits. Not the kind that the Company wears. The kind worn by FRONTLINE. The chaos begins. People can be heard yelling out, reaching for weapons. A few crackles of some kind of ability can also be heard, but those get the answer of a sudden hissing sound that fills the area, causing it to die out.

It's the popping sound of rubber bullets hitting people that causes an upclose shock. Two rubber bullets rip near Cat, one grazing an arm, sending her to the side a bit, and threatening to bruise. One of the clones of Lorraine isn't so lucky. Struck repeatedly in the back. The other reaches out toward her, and suddenly they become one, clothes overlapping, the remaining one down on her knees, still suffering from the damage.

The gas wafts closer, carried on the wind. Barbara may be able to experience what she needs, but if the time travellers don't leave, they may get caught somewhere they're not supposed to be.

There's a bit of a look of horror on Barbara's face as she skids to a sudden stop, eyes widening at the emergence of the armoured figures, a rubber bullet whizing by Barbara's head, forcing her do duck. "SHIT! Everybody, run! Now, for the woods!" A look around, and the redhead takes off towards one of the hosues, only pauses as she gets a full view of teh commune's center square, or what passes for it, and immeidately she takes off in that direction, yelling something about a "Tyler".

Perhaps this terrible day will go just as it's meant to.

Actions have to happen fast. Sure, the Lorraines combined, but not as they were told to, and now it's time to bolt. Lorraine, as far as Cat knows, can't be left to fall into Institute hands, and there remains the issue of her deeds and how they impact the Ferry. Trying to alter the past of someone among their number, working to arrange Barbara being snagged in the raid… She can't be certain the claim of simply trying to prevent something being witnessed is the truth. Safety demands she presume otherwise, assess it as a lie.

It's a quickly made decision. Her hand moves, a muted sound comes from one of the silenced pistols as a round impacts somewhere on Lorraine's head, and Cat turns away. Into the woods she goes at a rapid clip, expecting Lashirah to follow.

There simply isn't time to check the Frenchwoman's pulse.

Lashirah moves to follow Cat, though she doesn't dash as much as she makes an orderly retreat, backing away. And she gives the one shooting rubber bullets towards the quartet-turned-trio a rude surprise in the form of return fire. The range is a bit long, but the .45 has enough power, and is loaded with live ammo. There's indeed no time to check for pulse. Or to do anything else really as she works on fading into the woods as soon as she's sure she isn't being shot at while trying to do so. "So how do we get out of here?" she finally asks Cat, since that DOES seem to be the one flaw in this whole plan.

Blonde hair darkens with blood as the twice clothed woman falls to the ground. The Agents of the Institute continue the massacure and assault of the Thompson Commune, with Barbara Zimmerman to be one of the only survivors. The ripples in time must not be too bad.

The time they return to is much how they left it.

A time rift averted— or so it seems.


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