Coile

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a disgruntled ex-girlfriend from Coile.

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Do you really want it to be that easy?

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Yes, it is easy if you have a shovel. All but one of the past loves have gone, as they say, boobies up, so some creative grave robbing is needed.

Although I must admit that someone aiming for Emmily's skull would fit the upcoming seasonal festivity when we go trick or treating for cossie salvage.

Black Tuesday (25.9.2007)

"Getting out of this place
Only certain kinds of people
Can take these things"
- British Sea Power

For lucky guys their girl having a surprise could mean something silky and perhaps missing a crotch. For Andre, as one might guess, luck rarely bestows such boons. When Diana came home she was a wreck. She had gone with Dee Dee and Andrea to meet Dee's ex-boyfriend Flashfire in the Zig to learn about the rapture drug and all the related things.

At first it seemed as if Flashfire would oblige with information and indeed a few facts were gained such like his master, the big bad behind the whole rapture business, was hiding in an old monastery near Peregrine Island and that the drug they had seen so far was only Rapture X, not the pure version yet. Right when he could have told something of real use he suddenly stopped claiming that his master thought that the girls were not yet ready for the full truth.

Then things went wrong in about the worst possible manner. All the cell doors along the corridor became unlocked, the guards could not suddenly enter and all the inmates were driven to an evil frenzy during which they stormed Flashfire's cell and ate him alive.

That, in short, is why Diana was in a bad shape when she came home. She did not have a stomach for cannibalism.

Broken things (24.9.2007)

"Jack is all tragic when he stands alone
Feeling demonic harmonic in a no go zone"
- Placebo

Considering the nickname still sometimes applied to him "Baldy" was describing Andre less and less. After getting a full set of hair for the Tempest Ball he now sported also a clean-cut beard much to the hilarity of his teammates. Diana kept laughing about it, supposedly 'in the good way', and others comments were equally discouraging. Maybe donning once more the green mohawk would show people what fashion choices are possible if pressed?

The Tempest meeting touched several subjects. On Hand of Andros front it was worrisome that Michel had been supplying the Praetorians with Andros inventions. The solar bombs were just one application and there was bound to be a lot more. It was becoming evident that just extracting Michel was not going to be the end of troubles. The stolen innovations would have to be reclaimed completely.

Mesoc was feeling very regretful over the events last Thursday when he set off eight high magnitude explosive devices known as solar bombs. People sitting in the meeting could count as a blessing that the bombs had been scaled down for more precise damage since five full scale bombs had a few months ago evaporated the whole robot farm leaving only a crater 50 meters deep and over a kilometer wide. If the bombs tested by Battle Maiden in that other world had been full scale none there would have come back.

The source of Mesoc's regret was probably divided between almost killing his team and maybe more notably crippling his love interest Sword of Truth who suffered from several broken bones and other damage associated with being smashed against an iron railing. He was willing to step down from the team but after some discussion admitted that he did not wish to do so. The consensus was that he could stay if if he learned his lesson. By then it was not known just how many deaths he had caused, which might make the topic resurface in the next meeting.

Dee Dee recounted their adventure on the ship called Abaddon which had been loaded with more of the same strange mutilated beings who bore resemblance to mythical angels and demons. They had been apparently been bred to be sources for the new Rapture drug, human-like cogs in a vast machine for profit, and perhaps something even more sinister. As both Dee and Diana had been unable to resist the drug's call on their own and had been subdued by Number Nine and Shadowplay Andre made it clear that he did not want Diana working alone just with Dee on any Rapture related matter in case both fell under the spell again. Andrea promised to go with them the next time.

The constitution or vision still divided opinions. Killing during war time and serving in armed forces was more acceptable by some than it was by others. There was no real discussion, just a poll that would need to be extended on also those members not present in the meeting. Only after that any decisions could be made.

Xan's request to use the power generators to call home was approved by Coile. The leader of Silent Tempest fully understood the need to make sure that the faraway younglings were still doing fine. Xan's people had warred with the Rikti in the not too distant past and this new invasion on Earth might not have been an isolated incident. Besides, who knew how his Hegemony would receive the news of this second incursion. Last time they had sent one Star Crusader. Perhaps there would now be more.

I have a new guy under works who could do just this kind of senseless stuff and have fun with it.

I know you mentioned Coile's eyeplate as a possible item. I thought of it and realized that the plate was probably lost in the robot world when it malfunctioned and fried part of Coile's brain. There's his cape, for example, tho.

Just that I am not so sure how safe it would be for anyone to try and break into his apartment. When Andreas was born Cirque de la Lune placed some really nasty shadows / demons to guard the place and some baddies got already eaten because of their villainous intentions.

I am pretty sure it was Leif_Roar. At least it was up to him to fix GG Wiki when someone conked it out once or twice, maybe a year ago.

He could hide twins in that huge frame.

Name them Luke and Leia.

Once more I get curious about if my recaps serve much function.

This month I have wanted to recap every single day in its own entry which would equal to an OOC-form diary with outside observations. I am a week behind on them right now. As Coile is stuck more or less at home with his son a few entries are more or less made up or based only a few details settled on over MSN or PMs which means no real in-game advances on plots.

Who reads these recaps, why, and what do they want/get from them? I am tempted to try and keep up the daily schedule but as a writer I am an entertainer. It would be a bit foolish try to serve a crowd that does not exist.

Or do the recaps maybe feel confusing? Too long? I have tried to include enough background information for the entry to make sense but I have no idea if the current readers have read the older recaps which detailed many important occasions in Andre's life. What could maybe make the recaps better?

Any and all feedback is welcomed. I want to know what I am doing right, in your opinion, and what I am doing wrong, in your opinion. Replies to this thread is preferred but any other means of communication is appreciated just the same.

I am so glad I decided to see if there was room in this, and that I got in. Very professional work. There was no rush or slacking, just an efficient push forward. I enjoyed the missions, and especially the company.

Fear is the key (22.9.2007)

"Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping"
- Simon & Garfunkel

For babies young enough the age is told in weeks plus days. Andreas was 2+3 and already certain characteristics were surfacing. While one should not belittle the importance of upbringing and surroundings even the smallest of persons have their own ways right at birth. Some babies can be peaceful and calm as a deep lake until something important goes wrong while others take their time pointing out every single little thing that is even partially off in their little world. This, of course, rings true for adults as well.

Andreas had quite a steady schedule for feeding. Once in every four hours, for a half an hour at a time, with an occasional exception just to underline the very human nature of living with an infant. He also kept his cool until a point was reached when things stopped be fine, such as hunger or a diaper that needed changing. After a week at home he also started to display nocturnal tendencies. While it was possible that the kid stayed awake for three hours in one go during daytime it was becoming an almost certainty that he would not want to sleep for two to four hours after the midnight.

Seeing how Andre and Diana neither had anything in particular that needed regular doing at given times adapting to the changing pace of wakefulness and sleep would not have been such a trial if not for the deeply embedded inner rhythm that made Andre wake up at seven or eight at least no matter how much shut-eye he had gotten that night. For Diana this went easier as did most things. It was as if one of her natural superpowers was going with the flow.

Having three evenings of flying around in his powerarmor it was time for Andre to sit tight home and spend some quality time with his son. However it was not to be a family gathering since Diana got a call from Dee Dee about a Rapture lead they had been waiting for. A little after Diana having left Andreas got tired in anticipation of the night's awake hours and gained a safe place to be on the sofa his father's hand resting gently over him. The television was not on too loud and did not bother the youngling the least.

Having heard plenty of pop culture references from several people over the course of year Andre was using this opportunity of homebound life to acquaintance himself with such phenomena as Star Trek and MacGyver. Episode by episode of audiovisual fiction the huge gaps in his knowledge base started to fill with fascinating details.

This was the second time Diana had gone with Dee Dee to work on the Rapture case, a new drug that Hellions had been shooting up giving them ferocity and power unequaled in their gang's history. Last time Diana had come home more scared than ever before in her life. This time was no different. When she returned she was just as scared as the last time, except this time there was blood. She had been drenched in it. Again the same voices that no one else except Diana could hear, more of those mutilated demons and angels, this time packed in crates like humansized sardines.

And the drug that kept calling for Diana, making her lose control.

No, Diana was not the only one being scared. Just as Andre had been settling down, immersed in his new-found family life, the inner terror returned. That fear had driven him from Nadia, and that fear had split him and Melanie up right before her death. He had never been good with fear. When Andre got scared he usually did something shortsighted and ultimately foolish. Something creatively self-destructive.

Hammer is up. The question is, when does it fall?

Serpent's society (21.9.2007)

"Spring little Cobra
Getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra
With all of your might
Hey, little Cobra
Don't you know
You're gonna shut 'em down"
- The Rip Chords

Past is a misleading term as most things that we go past and leave behind seldom stay there. More often than we would like the past sneaks up on us and bites the tender bottom. If we are really out of luck it happens with the ferocity of a miffed off Freakshow Slammer. Case in point would be Lady Cobra and her husband Mr. Chang who decided that a divorce is not an option and that personal freedoms are luxuries that happen to other families.

For some time this vile villain had kept both Cobra and their common daughter Jessica imprisoned in his well secured jungle hideout on Nerva. Even if this was known a poorly planned rescue operation would have only led to death of all the wrong people so it was with time and cunning that the effective means of busting both captives out were discovered. Details aside it required acquiring floorplans of the underground compound, intrinsic knowledge of the security systems and bribing certain people to drive a supply truck full of heroes inside the nefarious den.

On that truck from Silent Tempest were Coile, Chi and Xan accompanying a lot of Lady Cobra's friends and associates. The moral of the story could be that if you have a mental spouse who does not understand that no means no you are better off with a likable nature and a broad cadre of personal friends willing to stick their neck out for you. Coile did not know most of the rest of the party all that well but the common goal was enough. Following the lead of Kunoichi X the operation was carried out efficiently and in the end the operation was a success.

Upon returning home the almost frantic Diana welcomed Andre back with fierce kissing. She had been quite beside herself because of Andre leaving for another mission so soon after the disastrous bomb run the other night. Now all was well again, the family was together and there was nothing excessively tumultuous upon their heads.

With certain kind of people constant strife is the second nature and a way of life. The peace for Andre and Diana lasted until the next night.

Kind of like Indesol over here then. The only product I have bought from them with no complaints was a tube of silver paste.

Then there's the neat card trick you can do with a Visa or MasterCard that's called "charge it". If you need help with it, just MSN me the credit card and necessary details...

Oh bugger. Hang around the forums in the meantime, Big Z.

It's always the red one (20.9.2007)

"No need to regret
No need to pray
The Bomb will love you anyway

Goal is destruction
Goal is extinction,
bloodshed in the name of god"
- Widescreen Mode

Things seldom are so badly off that they cannot go worse. Michel had vanished into Praetorian Earth which was bad but what made it worse was that she was helping the local madmen incorporate all sort of Hand of Andros based technological innovations into their own deranged schemes.

One such scheme was Battle Maiden's reign of terror through death and destruction and the easier it was to inflict such a bane to a large population, the better. Michel had helped to build smaller scale solar bombs which were to be tested on a world that defied Battle Maiden's rule. There were fifteen bombs all in all and thugs keeping the local insurgents in their homes right until the testing. What good is it to test out means to kill if you will not know how the targets die?

Silent Tempest was sent to investigate and foil the plan since they had the most experience on Hand of Andros and there was never telling when details could prove crucial. Coile had put together a formidable team. From his makeshift family Andrea and Angelique were present, both in their armors which proved to be an essential tidbit. Sword of Truth and Mesoc had just returned from their vacation in warm south which is also a notable details as they kept discussing their trip while a brief briefing was held. Dee Dee had made time to take part even with her own investigations about Rapture, and the final member of the posse was Bettie Bimbeau whom some people rather impolitely referred to as Bim-bo.

Plan was solid and instructions simple. Take out all the guards so that people not entangled with the situation could leave, and only after that start figuring out how to disarm the bombs which is of course easier when no hostiles still roam the scene. Nice plan. At the second located bomb Mesoc for who knows what reason decided to tampered with the bomb despite direct orders on the spot. Confident that he knew what he was doing he just cut a wire whether trusting luck or some innate knowledge, it did not matter.

The bomb went off. It produced a bright light and an incredible amount of heat in addition to the usual destructive blast associated with the bombs ever since the Chinese invented the gunpowder. As the bomb let out one beep Mesoc had the opportunity to use his fast reflexes and jump behind a cover. No one else was that lucky.

Andrea brought her shield up at maximum power but it was not quite enough. The energy came from within herself and she had her limits. As the biggest brunt was absorbed Andrea collapsed, on top of Dee Dee. Angie had dropped down and curled up. Andre just managed to lift an arm to shield his eyes and helmet. Then the shield dropped and the last ripples of the devastation shook the group.

Andrea was flung several meters into a pile of rubble. Andre was thrown into down a slope. Nadia crashed against an iron railing cracking several bones and Bettie was thrown against a car that had melted due to the explosion, melding those two objects together. Damages were shocking and extensive. When the dust had settled Mesoc took Nadia to a vanguard hospital and Coile managed to get Bettie off the car and rushed her back to the other side of the portal into S.E.R.A.P.H. care. No one seemed to believe that she would survive her extensive wounds.

Despite the losses there was no time grieve or issue blame. There were still bombs left and lives at stake. More reinforcements were called. Responding were Xan and Light of Truth keeping the team's Nadia quota filled, slightly to the dismay of Angie who noted that the unfun Nadia had appeared. Since the situation was grave Portal Corps assigned Sil and the famous Zortel to the case.

Seven other bombs had been linked to the one that Mesoc decided to touch without authorization and had gone off at the same time. The pools of still cooling rock and large dents in the already damaged structures littered the urban nightmare scenery. There was no telling how many deaths had occurred.

Seven remaining bombs were located as the rest of the guards were taken out of the fight and finally it became a necessity to try and defuse them. All of them were standalone versions so mucking up with one would risk setting only that one off. With co-operation Sil and Zortel found out that the bomb was voice and noise controlled and a certain note would disarm it. With one harmless specimen, as harmless as any bomb can be, at their disposal the heroes took that one away for analysis and the rest were left for Freedom Corps bomb squad personnel to deal with.

Mission accomplished. But with a high price.

Nomen est omen (19.9.2007)

"Some tricks of the light you never know.
Make a flickering midnight light into a glow."
- Mike Oldfield

Being famous can be unsettling. It of course depends on the reasons but if the most notable media to write about you has been the Paragon Inquirer for many months the reputation is bound to be on the tarnished side. Hence when Coile met a woman who recognized him as "Mr. Kraft" while he was in his armor it was time to sweat and dread.

The woman was called, now, Afterlight and she had met Andre some time ago in Pocket D before embarking on her own hero career. The name had a few nifty thoughts behind it to which Andre only noted that it was smarter than his name. Maybe getting the name from a robot part had not been that good an idea, after all. As for being recognized, luckily the woman was not a firm believer of everything that was printed in papers and in the end both remarked that Hero Corps had their contact information should the other perhaps needs assistance on some job sometime.

Afterwards there were some strikes against Malta among the Tempest with one salvage scavenging relative taking part, as well as taking parts. Some kind of control chips were located. For what use they were intended was not apparent but considering the way of the world, probably not for anything good or peaceful.

Sleeping my day away (18.9.2007)

"Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees"
- Midnight Oil

Being a parent is easy when things go right. It can get rougher even if there are only slight changes like a baby deciding that this night they want to hear songs and look around instead of sleeping. A human infant does not necessarily have a fixed daily rhythm or understanding that they are not nocturnal creatures. This time it was Andre's turn to keep Andreas the company while Diana slept. Besides after all the scare from the day before she deserved a good rest.

Even if the nights awake were an exception from the norm there had not been a single night of a decent, uninterrupted sleep ever since Andreas came home. After a while that starts to take its toll. Nothing big, nothing major and nothing a good nap during the day would not go a long way fixing. Andre had heard some horror stories over HeroCorp about a co-worker and his family where the man was a HeroCorp employee and had to retain his edge on the job as an alternative would be to die a messy death when the focus drifted. For that he needed seven or eight hours of sleep a day. That meant that it was his wife who took care of the kid, more or less, and afterwards she said that she remembered barely anything from the first two years.

Andre was determined for this not to happen to his family and was bridging the rest gap together with his son while Sapientia visited and brought a Beatrix Potter baby book as well as a statue made out of her own bones. Talk about a personal gift.

But where did the tiger toy that looked like Tygerboy come from?

C'est la vie (17.9.2007)

"It is happening again and I have no strength in me
When there is no hope
the memories won't fade
But will you lose your faith again today?"
- Rapture

In the tumultuous business that is the hero work one gets all sort of leads that may or may not prove to be relevant, or even crucial. Thus when Freedom Corps called Andre that the confiscated Malta files indicated something peculiar happening at a Knives of Artemis hideout he called up the woman who was more and more becoming in his mind a sister. Andrea responded to the call. After making sure that Diana was okays enough to be left home the could-be-siblings went out for a fact finding mission.

Sometimes those leads do not live up to their name, unless you count leading to nothing as a result. C'est la vie.

In the evening there was yet another meeting and the first public appearance of Andreas. On the agenda was a brief mention of Hand of Andros case waiting for more information, Dee Dee's report about his former boyfriend, a new drug called Rapture and recount of the scary things they had seen last night which in Andre's mind boiled down to finding some weird halfbreed demons and angels who were tortured in order to produce Rapture. It was agreed that this operation would be stopped and weeded out. Luckily Diana had explained most of this earlier on because in the meeting Andre had to cut away for twenty minutes to feed his son in peace.

The discussion about the ethics of taking lives as a part of the hero work spiraled around coming to no conclusion even about whether or not animals were sentient. To be continued.

After the meeting Light of Truth again displayed some signs of interest towards Andreas. This only goes to show that you can produce a clone with an identical set of memories and even just one year can make all the differences.

Proverbial (16.9.2007)

"Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you're searching for the light ?
Sometimes when you're scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You've sensed that something's watching you."
- Iron Maiden

Chinese are reputed to having a saying, or actually a curse. "May you live in interesting times." While there is no proof that the saying was coined by the Chinese the proverb is still a potent one. The lesson is to cherish those peaceful moments as long as they last.

For Andre this lasted for a day. Almost. This is, of course, if we include Jane in the peaceful category. However as a norm her visits brought no major turmoil or anxiety these days. It was like someone had let out most of the air from the giant leprechaun balloon on St. Patrick's day. She seemed rather calm and dispensed the practical childcare advice with professionalism and while her exterior remained the hardened shell it always had been it did not take a Force user to notice that she went a little giddy around Andreas.

The change, the interesting times, came in the late evening when Diana returned from a normal drug bust she had been on with Team Dee. She was scared. Truly scared. Not freaked out like sometimes after a clash with the Carnies but chilled to the bone marrow and fearing almost the entire universe. It took some effort for Andre to sooth her down enough and tuck her in. It was quite remarkable that she did not wake up from nightmares, but perhaps the presence of her boyfriend and little baby accounted for a major calmness buff.

Coile's cadre of cunning companions cascades constantly! Now there are three of them - is there an end in sight? Joining Darksparrow and Coila is now Chaos Augury. The army of back-and-red armored combatants keeps growing!

Team Dee takes on a new brand of Hellions which spells bad hoodoo for our heroes in the long run. If someone offers you Rapture, just say no.

Savannah Parker Loses her office and Mitch Pulsar turns positively crispy over the matter. Moral of the tale: do not hug the phosphor bomb. Well, do not hug any bomb, period. It's bound to end badly.

And then there is a lengthy discussion about pros and cons of a power armor, ending with with a bribe.

Do not miss out! Read the Nightsparrow's scrapbook!

Using this thread for maximum effect (or so I hope): Cobra, another PM has been sent. Once I have the info that I requested I can write the Team Tempest part.

One thing that I did not ask is when is this supposed to be over, and our guys back in Paragon City? This got kind of important suddenly, as last night a mission with Tempest went wrong, one hero career ended and another hero was put into "bacta tank" for indefinite time. So, Diana wants Andre back home as quickly as possible.

Hello.

Most nights I'm tied up with other stuff but every now and then I have the time and go take a peek in RWZ if there is possible a raid going on. You know, badges and all. However lately I seem to have been out of luck.

Is there any certain time that would have better chances of providing with a raid going on? Anyone throwing them with any regularity? Any channel that would inform of those going down?

Thanks in advance.

There are three new entries in Nightsparrow's scrapbook! What dashing heroics and resentful dark truths are revealed this time?

Crey Industries commends Silent Tempest for closing down rogue labs that were giving Crey a bad name. As far as false praise and misleading the public goes Crey still ranks as number one! Savannah Parker gets shot despite the very good intents of Tempest to start considering investigating the assumed rumours about the immediate threat to her life. Those scoundrels, attacking before the heroes have gotten their lazy [censored] off the chairs! We'll get them next time. Or some other time at least. Oh, Parker's in the hospital again? Uh, some other time it is then. Also featuring the sexy Capes cover with Number Nine and Chronopulse from Guardians of Ecstasy... er, Guardians of Destiny, and cover of HERO! magazine starring Mitch Pulsar who may or may not have a cionnection to the secretive and destructive cabal called Hand of Andros. Where's your money on that?

For those who have been living in a sealed barrel at the bottom of the sea, on some other planet in an alien dimension, Militia has been disbanded. In fact they were chopped up, sold, discarded, scrapped, blasted and thrown to four winds but we like to think that "disbanded" does not expose the utter betrayal that befell on them from Wayne Industries with such poignant sharpness and pain. The saviours of humanity that struck at the Rikti with dedication are featured in all major papers with no word of the murderous truth that lies beneath the Vanguard propaganda. But hey, it's in the news so you can trust it! Honest! And Tempest's not-so-secret strife with Praetorians gets spilled onto public when they clash with Mother Mayhem in Paragon City's suburb Marvelsdale.

Paragon Inquirer is down on its knees with a severe gut wound and head chopped off. Too bad someone fed it Hydra pills and no sooner is old evil dead than a new one already rises. Ladies and gentlebeings, let us introduce the new bad boy on the block, New Inquirer! To show that the teeth are as still as sharp as ever the infamous Dee Dee Diablo is torn to shreds with the kind help of her own mother. With family members like these, who needs enemies?

Don't miss out on the Creative Genius winner quality fun, read the frequent scrapbook additions with the comments from Diana and Andre either from Silent Tempest forum or from Scrapbook's wiki entry. (forum version is updated with better punctuality)

Gift of Gaia (15.9.2007)

"We can have some more
Nature is a [censored]
Bruises on the fruit
Tender age in bloom"
- Nirvana

It was a long known fact that Hand of Andros had been employing Malta operatives to do some of their dirty deeds. Thus it paid to investigate any possible lead that the Silent Tempest came across. In the recent past they had confiscated both physical files as well as a main frame chock full of possibly useful information and now one such lead had been datamined from those files. Knives of Artemis had taken over a section of the tunnel network beneath Perez Park and it was possible they were connected to the Hand of Andros investigations. Coile and Andrea formed a team of would-be-siblings and invaded the caves wading through the lethal mercenaries. In the end the results were pretty scarce and the only clue pointed to a group of Carnival of Shadows. However Freedom Corps confirmed that the location the Carnies were supposed to be in was empty at the moment. Another time then.

This suited Andre just fabulously as it freed the evening up for family time. Since he was already on the move he let Diana know that she and Andreas could hook up with him and Andrea by the Talos Arena. It was a safe spot as Arena would provide shelter in case of a sudden Rikti attack. On arrival the small child was wide awake and pressed against Diana in his securely strapped chestpack which freed Diana's hands from the carrying while the baby tagged along nicely without a fuss.

The idea was to go visit the blue flower, a somewhat central object in the major turns of life with Andre. He wanted his son to encounter the flower and to introduce him to his sky goddess Nut. Diana had invited Dee Dee along as well and flew them all, except Andrea who could fly on her own, to the remote island where the flower resided.

There a surprise was awaiting. Instead of a flower they found well over a hundred blue flowers, each looking the same. The situation baffled the people until Andre recalled a detail from months ago. When Gaia had taken Kitia away she had promised that come the next harvest season the blue flower would bear seed and multiply. No one had visited the flower since Diana and Andre shared their first kiss there over a month ago and meanwhile the flower had reproduced.

The situation was serene and Andre told to Nut about his son, who as it happened had displayed a lack of fear towards flying and had fallen asleep in transit. This communication took place in silence as no one made a sound. Then after a while Andrea asked Dee Dee if she had been a Hellion like it said in a paper. Dee herself was not familiar with any article so it was quite a shock to hear about the relaunch of the Inquirer who had interviewed Dee's mother. That sort of altered the mood and the flower or its subtle effects were of no consequence since then.

At one point Andreas woke up and made it known that he was hungry. Babies of that age are lucky in that with their simple needs they usually get what they want.

Time of Aquababy (14.9.2007)

"Tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
Till the sandman he comes"
- Metallica

For the past several months life had already been something else than just donning the cape and going out to deal justice around, both for Coile and Love Angel. Now it was at times hard to find the time to do the heroic thing because being a parent superseded tasks that any of the hundreds of heroes in Paragon City could do.

A day can go past so that in the evening you wonder what you did the whole day, realize no big things got done but still you were constantly busy. It was only when Andrea called that she would drop by that Andre realized it was already evening, and quite late at that. She had a gift for Andreas. It was a colorful ball with flapping wings that moved when a string was pulled and it played a lullaby tone. Andre was quite delighted and Diana had to put in some effort to [censored] the toy back. Andrea observed the playful banter with distant coolness.

The visit was a brief one otherwise. They went to look at the sleeping baby but as he was sleeping looking was the only thing that there was to do. Quietly the trio returned to living room and had a brief talk about the drafted document for Tempest's code of conduct. It would be just a prelude to the lengthy debate in the next meeting.

Then the day was at an end and it was time to go to sleep. With a bag of water.

Diana had suggested that Andreas could sleep with his parents in the same bed which Andre was not too wild about as an idea. With dedicated questioning Diana managed to find out that he was afraid of sleeping too tightly and causing harm to his son. As she had no real answer to that it was time to call for professional help. Her mother. Jane said that fear about suffocating the baby by accident was not uncommon but mostly without basis nonetheless. She suggested a test. Fill a suitable, baby-sized plastic bag with water and take it with you to bed. If the bed is dry in the morning the plastic bag would be unsquished and so would be the baby. If they could stay mindful about the bag of water, they would certainly manage a baby as well.

So, that night it was Andre, Diana and a bundle of water in the same bed.

Who let the cat out? (13.9.2007)

"Ears that hear when no-one's around
Miles away they process the sound
Electronic eyes scan the scene
What's the purpose, what does it mean?"
- Classix Nouveaux

Some days are rougher than others. Home life for Coile was still a breeze and the moment when splintered nights would start to affect was still in the future. He took turns with Diana to feed Andreas and spent a lot of effort to gain a sure touch with various aspects of child care like changing the diaper. Never been one to learn things all that quickly he compensated by concentrating greatly.

A disturbance what would become the daily routine came when Portal Corp made it known that they had finally located the installation where the missing scanners had been taken. Since it was not certain what kind of opposition awaited Coile put together a team of experienced combatants. From Tempest he would be accompanied by Sword of Truth, Mesoc, Chi and Dee Dee. Other people invited were Samuel Blayne who had been of some great assiatance again Hand of Andros in the past as well as Angelique and Andrea who were both family. It was strange to not have Diana there with them all providing support but for now one or the other of the parents had to stay with with the baby.

Just as the techs got the portal configured Dee Dee received a word from one of her underworld contacts about the case she was working on, namely her ex-boyfriend Flashfire. There was no telling if the information, or the informant, would be available in three hours time so it was quickly decided that Dee Dee should go take care of that end. When the team gathered on the other side of the portal they were joined by Miss Teen whom the Portal Corp had sent in as a reinforcement.

The first thing that they met was Nightstar. Not a really good beginning considering the plan that called for avoiding fighting with any big guns. As they were on a roll pretty soon they bumped into Siege and both fights took quite lot out of the heroes, even if they were victorious. The prize was half of the missing scanners found. The subsequent missions entailed a clash with first Neuron and then Bobcat. Also the rest of the scanners were found, each with a fancy new modification. Andre kept one to turn over to Xan because Portal Corp seemed to take their own sweet time with things mostly.

Bobcat was not very indulgent with information even after defeat and capture so she was dragged through a portal and locked up for now. One thing was learned though. The Praetorians had no intention of letting Michel out of their hands. Not without a fight, would Silent Tempest say.

Cobra: PM sent, asking a lot of questions and suggesting a story point. Saying it here in case you don't hover on every forum all the time.

Wolfram: You're invited in any case.