Change in management {Hive}

Tiberius hadn't clued anyone in on this stage of the plan. He gave the order and the guild information network shut off to Hive. He set down the brief case with a couple million and a set of folders with their names labeled copy with everything he knew about them inside. Funny thing genetics, it'll tell you a lot about a person if you know what you're looking at. He took the elevator to the surface and Malan'tai left his oil rig for the last time. The two were Hive's going away presents. The base, and the money, the folders had been his way of letting them know what would happen if they wanted to roll over on him. That was all Tiberius had left them.

The next day Tiberius made a public announcement on the news that he'd had assistance from a band of mercenaries during the attack on the Zydon. That he wasn't affiliated with them beyond that and that if something came up he would hold them to the law just as he would any law breaker. He spent the next few minutes answering questions but gave no indication he knew anything beyond that they used code names to communicate. He even claimed he wasn't sure how to get a hold of them again, or where their base was. For all he knew they had moved in 24 hours. So he was telling the genuine truth. Hive was on their own.

A mobile rang off in the Common Room. Ignoring its existence, Hugh slouched back into the couch and twirled a pencil between his fingers whilst gazing out the viewing ports. The aquatic landscape beyond supported his sinking feeling. His face was as heavy as the pressure outside.

Earlier this morning Pix had arrived to pour through his usual stock of intelligence updates. Finding nothing accessible, it had taken just half an hour to put it all together. He wasn't looking at the media from the inside anymore. TIBERIUS' double-cross upset him. The sprite was in a slump, unable to contact his associates until well into midday. And by then he was overcome by concerns that one of them may have retaliated against Mal's new regime. That would have been even more disastrous.

All HIVE communicators received the same message, 'Emrgncy Meetin. Cmon Rm. Op Rm stll infsted by eels. Attndnce mndtry. Im srs, guys.' Maybe he'd get lucky and some of the hotheads wouldn't have turned on the news yet. Because HIVE had been gearing up to lord over a country. Pulling the rug from under their feet could bruise some egos. Overreactions were assured. And he knew he couldn't stop them if they couldn't hear him.

It had been a quiet few days as of late. With the fall of the Zydons and their ship, Quinn had seemingly been given a few days off with no HIVE or Guild (for that matter) responsibilities to take care of. But still, she never wandered off too far, and today was no different. Outside, on the oil rig was Quinn. She was on the top platform of the oil rig, laying down on her back, staring up at the sun as her legs dangled over the edge. Water splashed up above the rig every now and then, with a cool drop off of water acting as air conditioning. Eyes shut, Quinn had been getting in a little rest while she could. But it didn't last long, as Pix's voice was heard through her earpiece. A sigh, Quinn opened her eyes and sat up, pulling herself up to her feet and proceeding towards the elevator - this better be good.

"This better be good". Is what Quinn would say as she entered into the Common Room. She proceeded to walk over towards the food counter, hopping up onto it. "what up, Mario?". Quinn said as she ran a hand back through her hair before setting it down beside her. She'd rather nonchalantly kick her legs back and forth as she sat there, waiting, hoping that the others wouldn't be too long..

Pix lifted his head only slightly at first. It was Quinn, he relaxed. The sprite and the cobra had always been on good terms. They understood mocking each other came with no string attached. His expression actually broke even when she called him Mario. For a moment, then it once again fell. Pix sighed, pushing to sit up. He pinched the top of his nose, between the pupils, as he formulated his response.

"What if I told you," Pix's eyes returned the gaze of his phone, set upon the coffee table, "that we've been given an opportunity. That until now HIVE has been operating with stabilisers. That we can finally take the kiddy gloves off, and do something actually challenging for people of our unique talents." It was a far too optimistic spin on events. And Pix knew his friends wouldn't buy this honey suckle he was spewing. But he still wanted to try. To practice on Quinn. Worst case scenario, she mocked him and then he didn't bring it up again. "Something like... TIBERIUS disowning us."

"Well, first off - I would say you're stupid". Fair point, right? It was perhaps the light hearted remark that Pix should've expected. Still, it was quite the bold claim to make. As of yet, Quinn had seen no evidence, but assumed this was all hypothetical. Hypothetical or not, Pix was stupid. "Secondly, I would have a few questions... the most prominent one being; why would you think Tiberius is gone?". Quinn would ask this because, even if Tiberius seemingly left, had he really? Think about it. Right now, Pix is talking to Quinn - an assassin. An assassin for The Guild, for Tiberius.

Nina had seen the news and had been stewing in anger for quite a few days, having shared an office romance with Mal she knew him a little bit better than the others but...she would have never expected him to just abandon them, getting the call from Pix she didn't waste a moment getting to Hive.

Going down in the elevator she was a little glad to see Pix and Quinn, it reminded her that she wasn't alone in the dark "so when are we going to prove that we're strong even without Mal?" she asked calmly but in a strong tone, as if trying to hold back her frustration with the situation.

Wow. 3.6 seconds until insult. She wasn't buying his spin at all. Even worse, she read him like a book. Pix had always been transparent. It was probably the reason he specialised in plans of misdirection. Overcompensation. It was obvious from when Quinn spoke that she had hit the nail on the head. The sprite made half an effort to laugh incredulously, but faltered, resulting in a nervous chuckle.

A frown followed, "Ah what's the point... TIBERIUS is gone, Quinn. He shut off our information flow, left a hefty sum in his unlocked office, and renounced us as mercenaries over the news. The kind that can be jailed." Holding his hands over his head, Pix was now starting to look through the wood as he spoke, "Even his assassins pulled out." A wave of realisation caused him to release his head and look up at Quinn, "Oh. But, then why are you here? TIBERIUS and all his associates pulled out. And you know nothing about it." Pix was well aware that Quinn's confidences in their boss had been shaken when she had returned. Maybe that went both ways, "Trouble in paradise?"

It was then that their fox friend arrived, "You're up to date. Good. Don't want to repeat myself. Take a seat."

Blake had followed Nina into the ops room. This was a rough few weeks for her. First her fiancee gets disintigrated, now her new lover completely abandoned her and the team? Ouch. Blake was still trying to be better friends with most of HIVE...being cut of from the guild hurt. It hurt badly. She hadn't gotten any assignments, she hadn't gotten any updates or reports, and none of hers were going through. Little kitty cat Blake never does anything wrong, never strays from orders, never speaks out of turn, and now she was stuck with the other criminals. Completely and utterly screwed. And as much as Nina thought she knew Tiberius, Blake knew a few things she didn't. And even then, it seemed like Blake and Quinn hardly knew him either. "So we're just going to keep raising hell?" She asked nonchalantly, in the same tone she could never help. "If that's the case...we need to make some changes. If this barrier on your guys' powers and my sword stays up, we can't defend ourselves. And we don't have Tiberius' defenses anymore...Plus we need a way to know what's going on at the surface...and what the best jobs are...and how we're going to do them..." It was strange how huge of a void had been left by Tiberius...

Kris walked in to the common room, he looked sullen, he had his dossier in his hands. "I could've sworn I was always just out of reach, but they knew the whole time. I-I-I can't believe it, from Atlantic City to Jump City, they've been watching me. I took every precaution, but they still found me, Hell, they never LOST me." Kris then sat down, looking like he was about to pass out, "I was an experiment, that's all I was.... Kris was trying to keep his head above water, his entire reality was flipped onto its head.

Oddly enough, this news brought a smile to the face of Quinn. Whilst it all seemed they were lost, abandoned by Tiberius - and for some, the Guild as well. Quinn couldn't be happier, she was free, free from the restrictions placed on her. But freedom comes at a cost, and the Guild Quinn knew of wouldn't cut them off without cutting them out. Staying here, Tiberius knew where they were, and the HIVE was a loose end - one that couldn't be afforded to be kept open. The base wasn't safe. "We need to leave". Quinn interrupted with, only now noticing the new arrivals. Kris' ramblings could wait. "We're a huge target if we stay here. Tiberius will probably be back, soon, and with a clean-up crew... I'd like to avoid that if possible, and you should too".

Nina listened to her team mates, trying to keep calm and sighed "Quinn is right, we need to get out of here ASAP, who knows if Tib still has the activation codes for that giant laser satellite, he could turn it on us right now and stop us forever, we need a new hideout, new technology, heck maybe even a new name, we need to keep surviving" she said, going to her room and starting to gather what little things she had stored there and hurried back, feeling nervous now that they might be destroyed any minute.

Blake sighed and nodded. "It's...it's true. I've worked with him way too long...he's gonna send in a crew to deal with us." That was an awful thought to her. Normally she'd always been a part of that team. The one who goes in and...silently kills the leader. "Anyone have any places we can hide?"

(Sorry my post is short. I'm a little peeved atm so its not god tier)

(No idea what's going on right now, had to take a jog over to Izzy's house to post. I should be able to fix the site relatively soon on my computer though. I probably have a virus.)

Remy had been absolutely silent up until this point, thinking over his options. In his hand he was turning over his cards. Blue, then red, then gold, then blue again. "Well simply put..." He suddenly said. "We need a new place of business. I'd offer my casino but...the man's already been there." That's definitely an issue. Remy didn't need to be there to conduct business though, he had people for that.

"However, we can't stay here. Until we find a more permanent place of residence, that's where we'll hide out. Then once we've prepared, we'll pack up again. On the subject of our missions, I know a lot of people who fed me hits before I came here. I reckon I could dig them back up." He adjusted his hat slightly and stood back up. "In any case, I think we need to move before we decide anything else. With a giant death beam in the sky, I don't wanna stay somewhere he knows we are."

((OOC: Keep to posting order, guys. Queue cuts are in effect. One per person.))

"We're not going anywhere. Sit down!" Pix cried, intending to stop anyone who felt a little flighty. He took a deep breath. Most in HIVE would recognise by now when the sprite intended to monologue, "I think we can agree that TIBERIUS has had this planned for a long time. Probably before he knew who we were. And yet you'll notice that our latest member is an escape artist. Best there is. Send fifty assassins, there's never a guarantee you'll catch Twisted Fate. He's the biggest 'loose end' out of any of us. One that TIBERIUS didn't need to hire to complete his master plan. And yet he did. Nothing the man/bug/dinosaur did was without reason. Twisted Fate's inclusion is a message. A message that TIBERIUS does not in fact intend to 'clean' us."

Blake and Quinn knew the taskmaster. Nina knew the man. Pix knew the logic. United, they could see into the mind of the crafty alien death-monger. "Of course I know you're gonna disagree with me. So I took the liberty of proving my thesis. That's exactly why I called you all here. If TIBERIUS is gonna wipe us out, then now is the time. There would be cameras in here, bugs planted, he would know we were on to him. And as you corrected stated, it takes the push of a button to laser the lot of us into oblivion. We're in the only place on Earth where we have no powers to pull a miracle out of our a**. We can't outrun a laser. There is not a single reason right now that he would not press that button!"

Pix pointed to the Heavens. There was a distinct lack of death from above, "And since we can still hear me talking, can we assume I'm right, and sit back down? He isn't going to destroy us. But he might change his mind. Let's discuss what we're going to do to appease him instead." Pix had purposely led them all into danger. He could be one of two things. Right or dead. The first outcome prevented mass hysteria. The second outcome didn't matter. He was playing a game of chicken with a satellite weapon.

((Current Posting Order: St, Amag, Emmz, Izzy, Faye, DD.))

Kris pinched the bridge of his nose to stop from exploding. It failed. "HUGH! Do you ever think before you talk? Do you understand how flawed that is? Or are you so much of a moron you to forget that Mal is the only person in Jump City with a friggin Death Laser? You know what that means, if he uses that laser, people will question why he blew up an oil rig for no reason. You understand how much of a PR nightmare that would be?" Kris stood up and walked up to Pix, hands behind his back, "He has to send a clean up crew, it's the only way it doesn't reach the public. Now, if they haven't sped up the process, that gives us about 14 hours to pack up and leave. If we get to Crash Alley, I can call on some contacts, they owe me. We can start again there, but if we stay here, well, it's your funeral, I'm not sticking around. Kris had experience with these clean up crews, they were nasty, and he wasn't about to stick around to fight another one.