Anonymous Rex

[Pterano]

Vincent Rubio stormed out of the South California Council chambers in a huff. That had been most pointless! The Council was still in deliberation over the outbreak that had occurred on the east coast in New York City last week. It was all over the news, but what wasn't being reported on the mammals' news agencies was that the virus was targeting only humans. The Council had received intelligence that dinosaurs were completely unaffected by what was now being ruled a serious threat by the United States' Government.

Vincent's suspicions were immediately aroused, and he'd called upon the Council to consider the possibility that the Progressives were involved. But the Council's response was that the Progressives had been broken with the death of Raal, and posed no further threat with their leader gone. While Vincent had to admit that Raal seemed to exercise an almost hypnotic control over his followers thanks to his freakishly strong scent glands, the velociraptor wasn't entirely convinced they weren't involved. The councilors would "pass the information on" to the Grand Council, but for now, would only continue observing the situation.

The whole thing disgusted him, and reminded Vincent of why he hated being on the South California Council in the first place. They were just a bunch of talk, as usual, and no action. If only Vincent lived on the east coast... he'd be taking this case without anyone even asking him. But as it stood...

Pounding the pavement with his human guise's shoes, the velociraptor decided to maybe head to the store Heather Corrigan worked at, as he was in the neighborhood.

Making for the store now, Vincent suddenly paused in mid-step as his nostrils picked up a particular scent... not just any scent... a scent he thought he'd never smell again. It was herbs... a mixture of them all combined. Oregano, basil, cilantro... blended together, it was familiar to him... so familiar... it was a scent he'd never forget as long as he lived.

Whirling his head, he glanced around in a desperate fashion, trying to pinpoint its source, but that was useless in this crowd. It was nothing but humans and dinos in human guises on this street, and they all blended together and it was impossible to track down that sweet, sweet source. It was her... but where? Was it her? Was he just imaging it? He could no longer smell it, the scent having faded very quickly, and Vincent sighed, angry at himself for having deluded himself that he'd smelled her scent.

Figuring he was wasting his time using his eyes alone, and unable to detect the herbal concoction anymore, the PI turned on his heel and continued for the store. He really needed to stop thinking about her. She was dead... and nothing could bring her back.

Entering the store's front door now, the velociraptor PI looked around. Even if Heather couldn't pick up Vincent's Cuban cigar scent, she'd know his guise by now.

[bushwacked]

Another one? What the hell's going on?

Nicholas Chaseman slouched back in his chair, the fingers of one hand idly scratching at an armrest. Someone who didn't know him might have thought that he was slacking off, but his eyes were focused intently on the computer screen in front of him and a frown creased the brow of the thin, pale face he wore. Elizabeth Skyson, age 43. Dead.

He didn't need to contact the council again, he knew what the answer would be. He knew she was human, and he knew her symptoms would be the same as the others. So many had been affected by the virus that was working its way through New York, and in so little time...

And none of the victims have been dinosaurs. "This can't be a coincidence," he muttered under his breath. Why wouldn't the council take any action for this? All attempts he'd made to voice his concerns had been met with promises that they'd 'look into it'. Sure. Could it be The Progressives? They've gone dark ever since...

A cop walked past his desk and clapped him on the shoulder, startling him. "Hey Nicky, what're you looking at reports on that disease for? Ain't you coming to the party? Come on man, you finally caught the 'Alley Butcher', you don't need to work overtime anymore! Come celebrate with the rest of us!"

Nicky looked up at the cop and straightened in his seat. "Something about it just has me interested, that's all. You go ahead Johnson, maybe I'll come down to the party a little later," he lied.

"Alright, I hope you do. You don't give yourself enough credit." The cop sneezed and made a face. "I've been doing that all day. Hey, I hope it's not a bout of whatever's got New York by the balls!" he said, laughing as he walked away.

"Have fun." Nicky gave him a small smile, which vanished as he watched the cop leave.  For the sake of everyone at the party, I hope that's just a cold. Sighing, the compsognathus turned his attention back to the computer, running a tongue over small, sharp teeth.

[Ducky123]

Heather stood at the cashier's office, pulling in the money from her customers. It was a boring job, every day being like the previous one, and the day before that day... Nevertheless, it was just the kind of job she always wanted to have. Heather didn't quite like the overload of requirements many jobs took for granted these days. The only skills her job required were advising people - mostly elderly women - and being friendly towards those. She was working thirty hours a week for five days. She was paid rather well since the clothing store was aiming at the upper society and running well.
Heather was already looking forward to attach the martial arts self defence course after the early shift she was usually working in would end. She went to both dinosaur and human courses since there might be lurking a danger behind every corner. One can't be careful enough...
Suddenly, sje picked an all too familiar scent... Vincent!
 I sure do wonder why the heck he can't wait 'till my shift's ended... Must be something reeeeeaaaaaaaaaaally important.

[Pterano]

Vincent could easily pick out Heather minding one of the registers in the store as she usually did. This store mostly catered to higher end elderly ladies, and held almost no interest for Vincent, as his parents didn't shop here, and he currently wasn't dating anyone.

But what they did have was water. In a small fridge sitting by the store's entrance were bottles of water, Pepsi, root beer, and iced tea. It was a smart marketing idea, and Vincent usually stopped in for a refreshing drink if he was in the area (which was every Tuesday, as he had his weekly Council meeting then).

Opening the fridge and taking a bottled water, he moved to stand in line at the counter, waiting patiently as the holiday shoppers filed by one at a time past Heather's station. Setting the water down in front of her when his turn came up, he flashed her a smile and dug around in his trench coat for his wallet. "Hey, Heather, how's work?" the PI asked as he tossed two dollars on the counter. "I was in the area... my weekly Council meeting." He made a face here, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "And you know how I just LOVE the endless debates about whether or not we should repaint the fleet of company cars black or green." he joked. They didn't REALLY talk about that stuff... at least not mostly, but Vincent could never resist cracking a joke at the Council's expense.

===================

"I sure hope he doesn't got whatever New York's got." a voice murmured at Nicky's side suddenly. The voice belonged to Dan Patterson, a brontosaur homicide detective. Patterson opted for an African-American guise that bore a passing resemblance to American actor Samuel E. Wright. Like Wright, Patterson opted for the bald approach, figuring his fake mustache was enough hair to apply for the times he had to reorder his guise every few years for the aging process.

Detective Patterson watched the cop who had been talking to Nicky head off, and looked over the compy's shoulder, reading the article his fellow detective had pulled up. The bronto was close friends with Vincent Rubio, and had contacts in most major Federal and local law enforcement agencies, making him a rather invaluable contact to the velociraptor. They would take a fishing trip once every two years due to both their schedules, but it was always a highlight for the two of them.

Patterson's latest service to Rubio had been putting him in contact with a deprogrammer who specialized in dangerous cults. The deprogrammer, Dr. Beaumont Beauregard, had been a fateful choice, as unknown to either Patterson or Rubio at the time, the good "doctor" had really been Raal, leader of the Progressives, in disguise. The situation had worked itself out, but Patterson made it a point to thoroughly ensure his contacts at the FBI checked out each and every person he'd refer to the PI from now on. Not that it would've mattered with Raal; he'd fooled everyone back then.

Having briefly glanced at Nicky's article, Dan placed a hand on the compy's shoulder and bent over to speak in a more discreet fashion to his fellow dino. "It's not public news yet but... the FBI's recovered what they're calling some sort of aerosol device in New York." he said in very soft tones, right in Nicky's ear. "A dino discovered it, and turned it over to our kind in the Bureau first. He'll be releasing it to the mammals later today or tomorrow." Dan muttered. "Initial analysis suggests it might've been used to distribute the virus... meaning this is no simple freak of nature mutation... but more like a terrorist attack. It was discovered in the ventilation system of one of their subway stations by maintenance, who promptly contacted the Bureau. That's all the info I have at the moment I'm afraid though... but since you've taken more than just a passing... interest in this recent occurrence, thought you'd like to know."

It was not known (to humans at least) that J. Edgar Hoover had been a dino, and thus, the Bureau ALWAYS maintained dinos in prominent positions in their upper echelon.

Dan had kept his tones low, not even looking at Nicky, but instead keeping his eyes directly in front of him, on the screen. To any other cop walking by, it would've simply looked like the two detectives were reading the news article and not conversing in hushed tones.

[bushwacked]

Nicky swallowed. He'd never held more than a passing conversation with Dan before, but he knew the brontosaur was well respected in the LAPD - this wasn't something he'd share if it wasn't good information. "An aerosol..." Nicky glanced back at Dan before returning his eyes to the screen. "If that's true and someone's actually designing this virus... making sure that it only works on their kind..." A cop trudged past the desk and Nicky stopped talking, leaning closer to the computer and folding his arms over the wooden surface. When the office door clunked shut behind the cop, he resumed his hushed tones.

"...Someone with that kind of know-how is a serious problem. The obvious assumption is that the 'Progressives' are making a new move, but have their actions ever been this... specialised before?" Nicky paused as a thought occurred to him. "Dan, you said it was found in the subway station? There isn't any surveillance footage of anyone suspicious messing around with the ventilation systems?"

[Pterano]

Detective Patterson merely nodded twice in response to Nicky's first question. "In terms of technology? Never biological things but... from what I know from the guy who took them down, they were packing serious heat... enough weapons to start a small war... and had numerous labs set up for the creation of fake fossils, which was part of another one of their schemes. My guy said he saw rows upon rows of computers and laboratory equipment... so who knows?" Dan shrugged here now.

"Also, in regards the surveillance footage, nothing was flagged aside from maintenance workers last night. The only access to the ventilation systems is through the maintenance tunnels, and while the Bureau's conducting preliminary interviews with the staff now, I doubt they'll come up with anything. My hunch? Uniform was stolen, as was a key card, and viola. Goodbye suspect. It could've been anyone, from anywhere." he muttered now.

=======================

The Skylark Condominiums were one of the more affluent places to live in Westwood. They housed several prominent politicians and councilors, including Vincent Rubio. A parking lot surrounded the building, and two black vans pulled into the entrance, the words "Evolution Cleaners" emblazoned in white lettering on their side. One came to a stop in a space near the front entrance, its brake lights flashing, while the other circled around to the back.

A group of five men in coveralls stepped out, their leader carrying a clipboard close to his chest. Two carried duffel bags, a third wheeled a mop cart with him, and the fourth carried some brooms. Swinging open the double glass doors, their black shoes clicked on the marble foyer as they strode toward the square security desk in the middle of the floor.

The two guards on duty raised their heads, and one stood up from his chair and circled around from the desk. "Let me handle this." he told his partner, holding up his hand. He discreetly touched a bluetooth device on his belt that would broadcast a signal to the desk's main security system if not deactivated within 45 seconds. This would in turn trigger a silent alarm at the LAPD. He then undid the catch on his holster, keeping one hand on the butt of his sidearm but not drawing it. "Can I help you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Sure, Mac. Just cleaning the place!" the leader said, offering a friendly smile as he strode toward him.

"I don't think so. This building has its own cleaners, and you guys aren't it. I'm afraid you'll have to leave." the guard informed him.

"Really?" the leader lowered his clipboard slightly, as if gazing at an address. "Nah says this is the place. Skylark Condominiums." he stated, tapping a finger on the paper, but not lowering it enough for the guard to see.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but if you don't turn around and exit immediately, I'm going to have to-" he was cut off when the head cleaner suddenly lowered the clipboard all the way, pulling a 9mm silenced Glock pistol out from behind it and fired a shot right into the guard's throat. The guard toppled backward and before his body hit the floor, the assassin pivoted and fired off another quick round at the second guard, who was in the process of rising from his chair. The bullet's impact with his heart sent him reeling violently backwards, throwing the chair a few feet back on its wheels.

The first guard, still alive, tried to dig his pistol out, but was stopped by the assassin pumping another round into his forehead. Moving quickly over to him, the assassin bent down and checked the bluetooth device on the guard's belt. "Dammit!" he muttered, noticing it was on. "All right, let's go, people!" he called out to his comrades, who were busy letting in five more "cleaners" and locking the front doors. "Silent alarm's gone out. We've got 15 minutes tops to wrap this up!"

He grabbed hold of the first guard's body, and began dragging it behind the security desk while his companion with the mop began mopping up the blood on the floor. "OK, our targets are on the 8th floor. 8092 and 8096. Lewis, when we go up, send all elevators to that floor and then lock them down." the leader ordered. All these guys were dinos, and the one called Lewis pulled out a tablet from the duffel bag whilst the others began distributing automatic weapons amongst themselves. "Also, buzz the guys at the back in."

Lewis set to work, inserting a USB cable into the security computers and copying their protocols over to the tablet. He also pressed a button on the console, buzzing in the second assault team through the maintenance door in the back of the building, another ten guys streaming in from that direction, weapons at the ready. "Hey boss... the senator's goons are outside his place. I got two suits on the camera in the hallway in front." Lewis called over. The boss nodded once, and took a headset from one of his subordinates.

"What about Rubio's place?" he called over.

"Nothing on the cameras. Should be able to gain access without any problems." Lewis replied back, his voice slightly nasally as he finished copying the protocols over.

"Good... all right, let's head up. Feller, Mitchell, you two take Rubio's place. The rest of us will deal with the senator's security detail and take care of him. Stay in radio contact. We'll discuss the exit on the way up." All nodded, and together they began making their way towards the elevators.

[bushwacked]

The corner of Nicky's mouth creased slightly. "I suppose footage of someone planting the device would be too much to ask for," he said grimly, "Though in this case I guess it isn't surprising." Nicky swiveled in his chair to look at Dan. "If any of this equipment you just mentioned is still available, it might be worth our time to take a look. This guy of yours, is he..."

Nicky was interrupted by a high, insistent beeping noise coming from the computer. He turned his head to see a notification flashing on the screen: Alarm warning - Skylark Condominiums. Please respond. He groaned. "Damn it, not this again. I thought they fixed their alarm system?" Nicky sighed and stood up. "The chief'll probably get pissed if nobody checks it out." Looking around, he could see that he and Dan were the only ones left in the office. "Probably don't need to wait for backup, they'll only tell us it was another glitch." He picked up the holster containing his pistol from the desk and clipped it to the side of his belt, smoothing his suit jacket over it and straightening his tie.

Nicky looked up at Dan, who stood a clear head taller than him. "Want to come along?"

[StarfallRaptor]

Outside Skylark Condominiums, a tall, wiry looking figure in a black duster coat paused, noticing the van outside and the dead security guards.  Swearing to himself, the figure reached into his coat pockets, drawing a set of bladed tarot cards and ducking inside the building.   His name was Cailan Sablewind, a Velociraptor, and founder of a small movement who believed that humans and saurians could coexist, and that saurians should abandon the masquerade of humankind, living as themselves.   He had been on the run ever since he first made his ideal known, and, as of late, had moved into a luxurious condo that he had bought under an assumed name.  
"Progressives...damn terrorists..."
He muttered to himself, making his way towards the stairs...

[Pterano]

The bronto glanced at the screen to see... wait a minute. Skylark? The alarm had been tripped a few times... but it was mostly the fire alarm, not the general security alarm. It had maybe happened twice when they'd installed it. "Sure!" Dan said now, his gun already at his side. He whipped out his cell phone and nodded at Nicky. "Lead the way to your car!" he suggested, and speed dialed Vincent.

After a few rings, the velociraptor picked up. "Vincent! It's Dan. The security alarm's been tripped at Skylark. I'm heading over there to check it out. Just thought you should know!" he spoke hurriedly. "Yes... the security, not fire alarm." Dan added before hanging up. "What were you saying about this guy of mine?" the detective asked as he jogged to pull even with Nicky.

=====================

Vincent sighed as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, he shot Heather an apologetic look, saw it was Dan Patterson calling, and slid the answering button to the right. "Yeah?" he asked, listening to what Dan had to say, concern suddenly washing over his features. "What?" he asked, leaning forward a bit. "Not the fire alarm? Cause that's gone off a few times while they were installing it." Upon receiving confirmation it wasn't the fire alarm, Vincent got hung up on and glanced around.

OK his car was... six blocks away. Six blocks was a stroll in New York City, but in LA, that was a small marathon. The city was laid out in such a haphazard fashion to follow the terrain of the hills that it'd take him at least ten minutes to get there. Sighing, he turned back to Heather. "Heather I hate to ask but... can I borrow your car?" he inquired. "The stupid security alarm's gone off at my condo building, and while it's probably nothing... I want to make sure." he informed her.

=======================

The elevators all stopped on the 8th floor thanks to Lewis's control over them (he'd also deactivated the security desk and removed the DVD containing security footage of the assassins' violent entry into the building). Lewis tapped a few buttons on his iPad and the elevators were all locked down on the floor they were currently on. This would deter investigators and also keep civilians off this floor as well. The building supervisor might get some complaint calls, but by the time the super figured out no one was answering at the security desk, they'd be on their way out.

Five of them stayed behind to watch the foyer around the elevators and stairs. Ten headed for Senator Sebastian Morrow's suite, two made for Vincent Rubio's apartment, and the other three began patrolling the hallways, feigning cleaning as they kept an eye out for any civilians. As it was late afternoon, most who lived in the building were still at work, and wouldn't be around this time of day.

Rounding the corner, the ten divided into five, with five remaining behind and just out of sight as the leader led his strike team toward the two security guards outside Morrow's suite. "We got movement. Cleaners." one of the guards said into his lapel mic, but noticed something was off. They weren't moving like cleaners... they were moving like...

Whipping their guns out, the first guard got off a shot which downed one of the oncoming mercs before they were both dropped by a burst of gunfire. Charging forward now, Lewis's fingers danced over his iPad's surface, overriding the security lock on the door by the protocols he'd downloaded, and soon, all ten were pouring into the suite, the four guards inside just barely having enough time to draw their sidearms before they were swarmed by the strike team.

Down the hall, Feller and Mitchell approached Rubio's unguarded condo unit. The door was surprisingly unlocked, and Mitchell grinned as Feller nodded at him to open it, cradling his silenced HK MP5 in his arms. As the door slid open, Mitchell jerked his head up to gaze into the deepest, most verdant eyes he'd ever seen. Standing before him was a completely unguised female raptor.

"What the hell?!" Mitchell called out, raising his weapon, but was far too late. The raptor's tail whipped violently around, slamming into Mitchell's neck and snapping it as he was sent flying off down the hall to the side. Feller's MP5 raised rapidly but before he could fire, the raptor's foot connected with his face, sending him sprawling backwards against the far wall and knocking him out cold, his gun clattering uselessly on the floor beside him.

"What was that?" their leader's voice came over Feller's headset. "Feller? What happened? Booby-trap? Feller? Respond!"

The female raptor darted down the hallway now and made for the nearest stairway, leaving one of her victims dead and the other groaning as he struggled to regain consciousness. "We've lost contact with Feller and Mitchell. Bronson, Clarke, Pagoya, check it out!" the leader ordered, the three on patrol diverting from their routes to converge on Rubio's place now.

[Kor]

Karl walked out of an office building towards his car, a red tesla roadster.  He had attended another meeting.  He thought he would go ahead and head home.  There wasn't another meeting till tomorrow.  Some of the meetings could be interesting and some could be borring.  He did his best to make it through the more boring ones.  He wasn't sure he could do this full time, but several times a week, or a bit more, and he could stand it.  Even the times when there was 2 meetings in one day.  He preferred to do his writing, but helping to run the family main business and the sub companies they owned was important and not to bad of a chore so he was willing to do that.  It could even be enjoyable at times and some elements of it was.  Plus he had some benefits as well and not just the decent amount of money he had.  He thought he'd go on home & eat there and decide what to do, likely spend part of the rest of the day writing, unless something came up.  

He arrived and parked at his usual parking lot at the Skylark Condominiums.  He started to walk towards the entrance.  Seeing the black van & then the dead security guard he could see outside he took a quick picture with is cell phone making sure to get the license plate in the picture then ran back the short distance to his car and got in an drove off.  He parked a 2 blocks away in another parking lot.  First he used his cellphone to call the police to report what he saw and gave the information needed.  Then he called his father to tell what he had seen.  

"yea, some black van and at least 1 dead security guard, no way I'm going in there."  Karl said.  

"Quite right, stay at the house as long as you need." His dad said, from where he was working.  

"Thanks, I'll be hanging out in the basement." Karl said.  The basement was windowless and they sometimes hosted parties that were human disguise optional so dinos could take off their human diquise if they wanted.  At all other times the family would sometimes hang out down there, again so they could go with no need to wear a human disguise.  

He drove to their house, a mansion with start of the art security.  After he had gotten entry to the property he drove over and parked his car in one of the covered garages and entered the house.  Waving to the butler, also a dino, he went to the area where the secret entry to the basement was, closed when it wasn't hosting a party.  It looked like a normal thing.  Since it was in a windowless room he took off his human head part of his disguise and went the retina print match unlocked the door so he could go down to the basement.  Once down he promptly took off the rest of his human disguise and hung it up in it's usual place.  Then he want to turn on the large screen tv and a video game system to play a Mario game to unwind.

[bushwacked]

Nicky kept quiet as they walked through the entrance lobby, then spoke up once they were heading down the steps to the parking lot. "I was going to say, this person you're talking about sounds like he has experience in dealing with these guys, especially if he was the one who took them out. I don't suppose he'd be willing to lend a helping hand here?"

They reached his car. Nicky unlocked it and slid into the driver's seat, waiting for Dan to get in. "Given that we're the only non-mammals on homicide, and the Council is being... well, as helpful as the Council tends to be, our options are limited here." He pulled the car out of the parking lot and joined the main flow of traffic. Ahead of them, Skylark Condominiums rose high above the buildings crowding around it, its lights glowing in the waning afternoon light. If the traffic stayed consistently low, they'd be there in a few minutes.

[StarfallRaptor]

Inside the Condos, Cailan opened the door leading out to the eight floor, where his condo was.  As the female raptor dropped the two Progressives, he ducked behind a wall, observing for a moment before stepping around the corner, throwing cards held at the ready...

[Ducky123]

Heather was a bit annoyed that Vincent had shrugged her off like that but she knew he was just doing his job just like she did hers.
"Hmm..." she muttered. "Mind a woman driving? I'll be off in a few minutes anyway. I'm sure my boss doesn't mind."
"Maybe I'll even save your skin, who knows?" she mused.

[Pterano]

The edges of Vincent's mouth creased into a smile, and he gave Heather a grateful look. "Thanks a mil, Heather! I'll owe you for this. And no, I don't mind you driving." he told her, patting her hand with his own as he opened up his water. Heather would know by now that Vincent was always good on his promises to others, and it usually meant offering a free service here and there somewhere down the road.

He patiently waited by the register, making funny comments about several customers after they'd already left and trying to make Heather laugh, which was probably terribly distracting. As his cell phone was in his trench coat pocket, he didn't immediately feel it vibrate, indicating he had a new text.

=====================

"Well he should be, though he doesn't typically work for free." Dan pointed out to Nicky. "He's a private eye, after all. But yes, he really helped break the Progressives earlier this year. They've been quiet ever since April from what I can tell. He didn't so much take Raal out as..." Dan paused here, wondering how to word this. "Well... someone he loved did. But in doing so, she took herself out as well." Dan commented, before their radio crackled to life.

"Attention all units in Westwood. Possible 11-60 in progress at Skylark Condominiums. Reports of shots fired inside. All units in Westwood, please respond. Repeat, possible 11-60 in progress at Skylark Condominiums. Reports of shots fired on the premises. All units in Westwood, please respond."

Dan looked at Nicky, his face deadly serious now. "I think our false alarm just became real." he said. This was extremely worrisome. Many prominent dinos lived in Skylark, including several councilors. Security was tight, but any system was prone to breaches from a determined attack...

"Better gun that engine." Dan commented. "Show me how compies drive at the Indy 500." he half-joked, pulling his sidearm out and pulling the slide back to load a bullet into the chamber. "Security's pretty good at Skylark, so whoever these guys are, they're pretty serious." he added. Grabbing his phone, he shot off a quick text to Vincent, letting him know the alert had been upgraded to shots fired.

=======================

Two more vans were pulling into Skylark's lot now, and driving around to the rear of the building. The deed had been done. Morrow's guards had attempted to cover the senator's retreat, but there was only one way in and out of these apartments, and two dead mercs and four dead guards later, dino Senator Morrow lay dead in his suite, his body armor no match for the lead assassin's MP7.

As the strike team was busy cleaning up their shell casings, mopping up spilled blood and bagging their deceased, "Uh, boss?" Lewis called out, an alert coming in on his iPad. "We've got trouble! External calls have been made! Police are on their way! Reporting shots fired!"

"Then let's get going! Bronson! You find Feller and Mitchell yet?" he snapped into his headset.

"Yeah boss!" Bronson replied. In the intervening few minutes since Morrow's place had been stormed to the last resistance being snuffed out, the female raptor had torn by Cailan on the stairs, paying him no mind whatsoever as she charged down the stairs, leaping from landing to landing, her prehensile tail being used as a spring to propel her down. She had smelled he was a dino, and wasn't concerned that he had seen her without her guise.

Bronson, Pagoya, and Clarke had arrived a few seconds later, and began working on reviving Feller. "Feller's down, Mitchell's dead." Bronson continued.

"What happened?" their leader asked.

"Not sure, we're bringing Feller 'round now." Bronson replied. "Mitchell's neck has been snapped. We don't have any body bags with us, boss, and I don't think we have time to clean Rubio's place."

"Forget it." their boss ordered. "We got our primary target anyway. Make your way to the elevators with Feller. Leave Mitchell. I'm not concerned about our identity anymore. It's about time people start to know."

"Right." Bronson murmured as Feller groaned and came around. "What happened?" Bronson demanded.

"Uggh..." Feller rubbed the back of his head. "Some crazy female raptor... no guise... was on the other side of Rubio's door. She tail-whipped Mitchell and kicked me back against the wall."

Bronson paused here, thinking. "You SURE it was female? You sure it wasn't Rubio?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Feller growled as he found his feet. "She wasn't wearing a guise. Perhaps you missed that part. I can TELL the difference between a naked male and female raptor!" he stated acidly.

"Fine. You get that boss? We're pulling out. Cops are on their way. Let's go!" he commanded, and Feller shook his head as he began following the others.

Their leader, a carnotaur by the name of Kauffman, narrowed his eyes as he left Senator Morrow's suite, turning this new information over in his head. Female raptor? It couldn't possible be that traitor, could it? Just thinking about her caused the bile to churn in his stomach. If only he had time... but no. They had to make their exit. There'd be time to hunt her down later.

[StarfallRaptor]

As one of the Progressives rounded the corner, Cailan stepped out, slashing him across the chest with the fan of bladed cards, chuckling a little and rolling his neck.
"Well, well.  What have we here.  Progressives, trying to take more innocent lives?  Sorry, but you aren't leaving here alive."
He chuckled coldly...

[bushwacked]

Nicky grimaced. "Damn. Sounds like they're going after some of the high-ups." He quickly glanced at Dan. "At least a bronto isn't behind the wheel." He shifted gear and slammed his foot on the accelerator, weaving the car in and out of the traffic, blaring the horn at any cars in his way. "I wish I'd had time to install the siren," he muttered.

After a few minutes, Nicky swerved off the exit that would take them to Skylark. "Looks like we're the first ones here..." he noted as the condominiums loomed in front of them, the car park empty aside from a few civilian cars and a conspicuous black van. He eyed it suspiciously as they drove past it then slammed the brakes, the car skidding to a halt in front of the lobby. Looking through the glass, he couldn't see anyone.

"Looks like nobody's home," he said grimly. "The guards should be here..." Nicky ran a hand through his messy black hair. "We have to go in. Are you ready?"

[Pterano]

Bronson recoiled as he was hit in the chest by a sharp, stinging sensation, blood spraying out as he backed up. "Agh! What the...?" he backed up, and instinctively raised his MP5 to squeeze off a burst at his assailant.

"What the hell is this, amateur afternoon?" Feller asked angrily as he too took aim and fired in Cailin's direction. None of them seemed to register the Progressive title, though it was quite clear they were professionals. Pagoya and Clarke moved around behind them to get clear shots. When everyone in the building started fighting back, this wasn't what they'd signed up for.

Kauffman paused as he heard the Rubio team open fire somewhere down the hall. "Get the bodies to the balcony as planned." he ordered the guys carrying their three deceased. "You four, with me!" he motioned to four of his followers, and started moving down the hall in the gunfire's direction, prepping his MP7 as he did so. "Elevator detail, head in Bronson's direction!" he ordered the five guys watching the elevators to start moving to reinforce Bronson and Feller's outfits.

Behind them, Lewis opened another suite for the strike team, who moved in and through the currently unoccupied space to the rather prominent balcony that adjoined it. The team began setting up rappelling wires on the balustrade, and first attached the body bags to the wires before lowering them down to the vans below. While this was going on, Lewis reactivated some of the elevators, sending them to various destinations throughout the building.

======================

Nicky pulled up to practically the building's lobby, and Dan nodded over at him. "I can cover you while you check the doors." He didn't like the conspicuous absence of security guards behind the desk. Something was definitely wrong here. "This is car... Detective Nicholas Chaseman's car." Dan said into the radio, not knowing Nicky's car number. "Detectives Chaseman and Patterson on site at Skylark."

Popping open the passenger side door, the brontosaur detective hunkered down low behind it as cover while he aimed through the now open window at the double glass doors leading to the lobby, carefully sweeping with his eyes for any movement. "Whenever you're ready!" he called over to Nicky. "I got you!"

[StarfallRaptor]

As Bronson opened fire, Cailan dodged to the side, rolling away and flicking a card out at Bronson's trigger hand.  As the other three opened fire on him, he dove to the side, taking cover behind another corner as he drew more cards, chuckling to himself.
"Good...that's right...come on..."
He muttered to himself...

[bushwacked]

Nicky nodded at Dan and climbed out of the car, closing the door lightly behind him. He pulled his gun from the holster and held it at the ready as he steadily approached the double doors, half expecting a hail of bullets to cut him down any second. But he reached the doors unscathed, and through the glass the foyer appeared as quiet as the grave. There was a chill in the air, and his breath fogged up the glass as he peered in. Without turning around, Nicky help up an arm and indicated that it seemed safe enough to go in.

The doors opened soundlessly as he pushed his way through them, keeping his pistol trained on the ornate stairway leading up on the other side of the room. Nobody popped out to take a shot at him. Aside from two marble columns close to the entrance on either side of the square shaped room, there was very little cover. Nicky quickly crossed the room, the click of his shoes hitting the floor echoing eerily. He became aware of his heart pounding, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable in his human disguise.

As he neared the left hand column, his foot skidded and he almost toppled over. Swearing under his breath, he regained his footing and pressed his back against the marble pillar. From this angle, he could see shiny, wet patches on the floor. It's been cleaned? And recently too... Looks like something got spilled that someone didn't want anybody to notice... As his eyes scanned the room, something caught his attention - a hand poking out from the other side of the desk. Nicky gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the pistol.

He turned his head to look at Dan. As he waited for him to come in, he drew a finger across his throat and inclined his head towards the desk in the middle of the room, crudely signing 'body behind the desk'.

[Pterano]

As the card sliced into Bronson's trigger hand, the merc let loose with a series of anguished profanities, wailing as he shook his hand violently and held it to try and stop the bleeding.

The others fired off a few more bursts from their silenced MP5s, but their assailant had taken cover behind a corner, so they ceased firing, and kept their guns trained on said corner should he poke his head out. "God... DAMMIT!" Bronson shouted, raising the back of his hand to his mouth. "Just poke your head out you punk! We got a nice surprise waitin' for ya!" he called out to Cailin.

"Bronson!" the shout came from Kauffman, who had rounded the corner behind the small team, his backup close on his heels. "What are you doing?"

"We were attacked by someone, sir! He's just around the corner!" Bronson shouted back crossly.

"Cop?"

"Who knows? Didn't look like one!" Bronson replied. "He's definitely one of our kind, though!"

"Well forget him! We gotta go!" Kauffman ordered.

"Right! You're lucky, ya hear me?" Bronson shouted.

"Shut up and move!" Kauffman ordered, raising his MP7 to train it down the hall. "We'll keep you covered!"

Bronson's team began backing away now, guns raised (though Bronson's not very effectively, as he was still in pain from the slicings he'd received) as they began pulling back towards the larger group, droplets of Bronson's blood dripping onto the floor as he moved.

==============================

Although Dan Patterson would never admit to this, he was just as nervous as his new compy partner (and in his mind, it was natural for compies to be skittish little creatures, but not brontos). As he entered the foyer, he noticed they were way too exposed here. Elevators on the right and left and directly ahead (all moving about, curiously), the main staircase in front, and two more doors leading to secondary stairs on either side of the foyer. Too many avenues of attack.

Like Nicky, he was feeling constricted in his human guise, wishing he could just strip it off and go stomping around as a natural brontosaur. He could do some serious damage with his tail after all... but that probably wouldn't go over too well with any of the human inhabitants here, to see a living, breathing brontosaur running around the lobby, much less a brontosaur with a gun.

Taking cover behind the pillar on the opposite side of the foyer from Nicky, he ran rapidly across the marble floor, his shoes sounding as loud as exploding bombs to his own ears as he charged towards the security desk and slid down onto one knee to take cover along its side. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and already, a few squad cars were only a few blocks away.

Peering cautiously over the edge of the desk, Dan saw the two dead security guards, and also noted the security desk seemed to be completely inactive, with no flashing lights or blinking monitors or anything to indicate life. "Two dead guards!" he whispered in hoarse tones over to Nicky. "Gunshot wounds!"

His heart nearly ripped itself out of both his dino AND guise chests when the secondary stairwell door opened behind Nicky. "LAPD! HANDS IN THE AIR!" he shouted as he rose to cover his partner.

The open door revealed a cringing woman dressed in green who immediately lifted her hands up. "Don't shoot!" she pleaded. Nicky was closer, and could pick up her scent better than Dan could. Lacking the typical human body odor, Nicky would pick up a slight trace of evergreen from her, indicating a dino under the guise. What kind was a bit harder to say. Her guise's skin was paler, but not ghostly by any means, and she had smooth black hair that flowed down to her shoulders. "They're all up on the eighth floor!" she told them. "I was just visiting a friend of mine who wasn't home... they're heavily armed..." she said softly.

"Check her out, Nicky!" Dan ordered, and kept behind the desk, his Smith & Wesson trained on the woman to cover his partner.