Zortel

Some great advice here all together, which is gotten me thinking already. Thanks for all responses so far!

"It's not just you who has to, Eloise. I've had to, though I don't like doing it, it's us or them. And seeing as they came here and picked the fight with -us-, I'd rather it was them." Mike said, squeezing her hand gently. "I need to grab an hours rest, get some food in me, get a new uniform... then if you want, we'll go back out."

"One thing I'd like to raise, is what method should we use to deal with anyone, hero -or- villain, breaking the truce? While it'd be silly to take away someone who is able bodied for breaking a truce, I can't help but feel it'd weaken the truce and resolve overall if something -wasn't- done." Zorielel said, raising a hand.

Hannah chuckled a little. "Try not to break any more records like that." she said, before grumbling as the lights dimmed. "I better get Mom to head down and check the generators later."

Looking to Kanae, she sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Mike seems roughed up but okay, Eloise is fine... it's just that my friend Ellie has been missing since the attack yesterday, not heard a word from her or found anything on records. As for myself? I'm knacked, sweaty and hungry."

Mike looked to Eloise. "How do you feel about that, love?" he asked, stroking her forearm.

Another blast of energy hit the building, the shields outside crackling and surging, causing the lights to dimm once more.

Fusebox looked up and blinked. "Hey Kanae, you finally out of the bed, eh?" she said, before smiling. "Good to see you back on your feet."

There was still a fair bit of worry in Hannah's expression, making the teenager look much older than normal. "Mike's down in the lobby, just brought a bunch of Skulls and a Void Hunter in. I think Eloise is currently breaking his ribs in a hug... no, that was when Lyn and Lance met up last night on the balcony."

Mike shook his head, though still readily accepted the kiss and the hug, pulling Eloise close. "No, she didn't. That was someone else... they've been dealt with." He said simply, before looking at the medical officers taking the Void Stalker away.

"I found her clawing her way through some rubble, there was a bus trapped underneath from where one of the support beams on a bridge gave way... no survivors inside after I and some of the Skulls with me helped out but... we got ambushed by a group of shocktroopers. She took some pretty heavy blasts." Mike said with a sigh, resting his forehead against his girlfriends.

Hannah nodded to Eloise and made her way back, drifting past the medical bays and workshops, just wandering.


Downstairs in the lobby, Mike nodded tiredly, sagging a little once the woman was lifted out of his arms. There was the familiar taint of quantum residue on him from a blast of a Quantum Array. "Yeah... I'm okay, I could do with some rest though." he yawned, before nodding to one of the Skulls. "You go with your friend... and thanks. I owe you."

The Skulls member smiled and came over to shake his hand. "I owed you one, so let's call it even." he said before heading off to see his friend.

"Why not get it from the Rikti?" Hannah asked, heading over towards the window. "Desperate times, after all..." she said quietly, before blinking as she looked down out of the window. "Umm... Eloise, is that your boyfriend carrying a member of the Void Hunters?" she said with some confusion.

Officer Michael Preston, aka Storm Sapphire hopped over the wreckage and ran towards the Tower. His brown hair had matted to his forehead with sweat and blood in places, his PPD Awakened uniform torn in places. In his arms he was carrying the limp form of a woman clad in the void stalker uniform, her mask off and pale yellow hair spilling down her arm, dyed red with blood in places. Behind him was a group of four skulls, two carrying one and another keeping watch behind them.

Bursting in through the doors thanks to his security clearance, he called out. "I need some medical assitance here!"

Hannah shook her head. "The sensor array is working at reduced capacity due to the shields, and most of its operations are being taken up by working out where next attack points are..." With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair. "How've things been outside?"

Zorielle glanced towards Partisan with some contempt, but kept her face in check after a moment. "How noble of you, Partisan." she said cooly.

"All members of the Unity Vigil are under instruction to help or assist -anyone- needing it. We'll work happily with the truce." Zorielle pledged, raising her hand. "And having lived through two wars, I'll happily attend if possible to help inspire and give confidence to those new heroes."

Zortel looked over to Tower of Power, smiling a little before putting on her buisness face. "We need to strike a balence between protecting the city, and dealing with the Rikti presence in the war zone..."

Standing in front of one of the computer banks, brow furrowed in concentration was Fusebox. The young mutant had been stood like this for at least 10 minutes now, tapping into the computer systems that still worked, frantically searching. She was tired, more than tired. The prior night and day since the first attacks had been spent trawling through the city, assisting when and where she could.

She had a more important purpose in mind though. More personal, perhaps... her best friend Ellie Stoneberg was in the city at the time of the attack, and she hadn't been able to contact her. Worry and fear gripped at her stomach and heart as she flicked through the list of reported casualties and injuries.

"Dammit, she's just not here... switch to list of Jane Does brought into hospital." Hannah said out aloud to the computer, which soon complied.

"Two thousand Jane Does reported in medical facilities, the list is truncated. Wish to expand the list?" BODICIA, the AI governing Unity Tower and the Vigilants within reported.

"...DAMMIT!" Hannah screamed in fustration, slamming her fists down on the back of a chair. "... where are you, Ellie?" she said on a breath, closing her eyes.

Current Time - Day 2 of the Rikti Invasion.

Rising thirty one stories above Skyway City stood the massive skyscraper, at the top of the building mounted on each side being the Unity Vigil crest. Energy flickered around the building as the shield generators underneath pumped out a powerful field to protect those inside.

Not that it protected it completely however. Inside, the refugees and workers tensed inwards as each plasma blast from the Rikti ships his the building, causing a shudder to run through the tower and non-essential lightning to flicker and dim.

Keeping watch inside the building and looking out from the lobby were men and women clad in the black and white armour of the Unity Vigil, white sleeveless trenchcoats over it with the crest emblazoned on their chest. They weren't that good convesrationalists for those refugees who tried to speak to them, mostly due to not even being human. They were able to provide basic information for the people asking though, and in one tense moment where a group of Rikti forced the doors open, they let loose with several volleys of fire, aided by internal defence systems, to drive them out.

Statione down in the large, open plan cafeteria was Jessica Kade, a blonde girl known for her extremely cheerful personality, more than slight eccentricness and excellent cooking, which helped those seeking shelter or simply rest from the battle.

Standing on the balcony overlooking the lobby, clad in white armour was a seldome seen heroine, Xortel. Zorielle Rolando's wife had left her children in the charge of two of the sentient gynoids they had created to oversee operations in Unity Tower whilst Zorielle helped co-ordinate efforts between the authorities and various hero groups.

The sun began to rise on the city, as the war on the world entered its first full day.

"Afternoon Mr. Kraft." Zorielle smiled over at Coile, before looking about. "Some of my members wear their own armour, the Vigilants that guard the Unity Tower have the same uniform as this, but if any of my members wish to wear the armour, I'll get orders placed."

Zortel looked back calmly for a moment, before turning to watch Mer'de as he made his speech. Her expression was a little unsettled as he talked about joining the Vanguard, which could be considered odd, due to the Unity Vigil's purpose at times being a bridge between various organizations.

Around half way through listening to the leader of the Militia, she pressed a finger to the small commslink in her ear, her expression growing troubled. Ducking her head down for a moment, she whispered a few sentances before looking back up. Her index and middle fingers, hands resting on her knees as she sat, crossed.

"Agreed on that last part, Britanic. I was a veteren of that war, and whilst I came out with my life, I lost a fair bit too. While they've had time to prepare, so have we." Zorielle said with a sigh, a bit of lingering hurt in her eyes.

"I've seen Hellions and Skulls and various costumed heroes fighting side by side on the streets to repel the threat in Paragon City. For all the troubles they give some of us, it is -their- city as well, and luck is on our side as they are now assisting us in our efforts." Zorielle said, pushing her glasses up a little with one finger.

"Something else I'm a bit worried about is while I am certain that the majority of us, whatever our background will pull together and stand united, there will always be certain... let's call them opportunistic parasites for want of a better term, in either or any side, looking to gain advantage from this chaos, or break the rules a little too much." There was something in the tone of her voice and her body language that Britanic in particular might have picked up on, perhaps in reference to an incident during an earlier conversation.

Kings Row - Day One

Red, gold and flames blasted past, a blazing sword clashing and clanging with sparks and embers as in the streets of Kings Row Cauter, the Burning Sensation himself, clashed with the Rikti, keeping them engaged in close ranged swordplay to avoid bearing the brunt of their plasma weapons. Along side him, clad in the tight fitting orange and black leather was his student, the former young offender Cindersnap, hands blazing with fire as he flung bolts of flame into the combat, harmlessly whistling past the fireproof suit of armour that Cauter weared to inflict damage upon the foe he was fighting.

"God dammit I didn't want to deal with this today!" Cauter grumbled, the engines on his back roaring with flames as he brought his sword down in a great cleaving arc of flame, through the centre of the rikti infantry he had been fighting.

"Lance... umm..." Cindersnap hesitated as he ducked out of the way of a drone speeding by, and flicking his wrist to send a lash of fire out at its engines.

"What's up, Ryan?" Lance asked, parrying another plasma shot with his blade.

"I... I need to go and find Ultimune." Cindersnap blurted out, the fire in his palms burning brighter as he flung rapid streaks of flame out at the drones buzzing about. "He lost his dad in the last invasion, I... I just want to see if he's alright and get him and his mom to safety. I'll be back as soon as possible, promise."

"... You better, Ryan. You're a good kid who's made a lot of progress... I'll buy you a distraction to slip away from these lot, then-" he paused as he bounced another shot away from them and towards a drone, catching it and causing it to blast to pieces. "Make sure you stay low, help anyone you can help out safely on the way, okay?"

"Will do... you like, better take care too dude!" Cindersnap said, catching his breath.

"I'm not going anywhere." Lance chuckled, manuvering so the main force of the Rikti they were fighting was in front of him. Grasping his gold and red sword, flames blazing up the tip of it, he nodded. "Ready... set... go!"

As Cindersnap sprinted off, he glanced behind him for a moment. Flames spewed out of Cauter's patented 'Firebrand' armour, more than he had ever seen before, and he paused just a moment longer to watch his mentor blaze like a phoenix into combat, whirling his sword around him as he fell into the crowd in a burning brawl to buy some more time.

With a gulp, Cindersnap got running again, sprinting away through the streets as he tried to track his best friend down through commslink, knowledge and intuition.

"You guys are-" His sword arced up in a smooth motion through one of the invaders.
"Facing the one-" And a swing to the left cleaved through one of the blasters an attacker was trying to aim.
"And only, the Burning-" Another swing through some more Rikti.
"Sensation! And I'm not going to let some stinking-" A burst of flame erupted from him in a circle.
"Alien-" Jets of flame sprayed out from the seams and joints in his armour.
"Invaders keep me-" Cauter's sword bit deep into the armour of the lieutenant of the ranks he was facing.
"From my-" Several blows snuck through his frenzied offensive, causing him to stagger and fall to his knees slightly. A determined look crossed his face, gritting his teeth.
"GIRLFRIEND!" He yelled out, fire erupting in a pillar from around him, high into the sky as he unleashed the reserves in his fuel tank, charred bodies falling back from the onslaught.

"... Damn, that was something." Lance panted tiredly, slowly picking himself back up on trembling legs. "Told you guys you weren't going to keep me from my girlfriend."

Looking to Lunk, Zortel raised her hand, waiting for a moment to speak. Taking a breath just to prepare herself, she looked about the room at the others gathered.

"I've already made some arrangements. Unity Tower in Skyway City is being used as a shelter for those who need it, as well as making use of its medical facilities if needed. The building is well protected, so the blasts shouldn't do too much damage against it. We can also arrange to have people teleported out of the city to safety. I've already got my members briefed to help and assit those others who need it. I agree though, a solid plan tho best direct those forces would be good, and I'll offer any assitance necessary."

Down Junior, unless it's Ultimune/Cindersnap slash you want me to send you in tells.

'sides, we have one catgirl, but I think she's bi and in a heterosexual relationship. Perhaps its just catgirls?

(The more serious point of perseverence was taken on. Thanks Lunk!)

Galaxy City - Day One of the Invasion

Bolts and blasts of bright blue energy bursted out of Zortel's gloves as she soared over the streets, having just helped old friend and teammate Alex Reed and his fiancee to the safety of Unity Tower. While the Rikti footsoldiers weren't that much of a match for her in small amounts, their commanders and the bombs that had been falling from the sky were another matter. Soaring up, she then dived down to expertly parry a plasma blast with a surge of power from her gauntlets that was about to hit a group of people running for terror.

"I need some help over here!"

Zortel glanced over to see a man in costume, bow clutched in one hand, valiently fighting side by side some Hellions against a number of Rikti. With a swipe of her hand to the civilians on the street to direct them to keep moving, her thrusters fired again as she propelled herself into combat to assist the group.

The group of invaders fell under their combined efforts, leaving the five standing over them.

"Thanks for the help." Captain Oppertunity smiled, wiping at his forehead as he got his breath back.

"No worries... you okay?" Zortel asked.

"Is anyone?" The Captain laughed.

Zortel couldn't help but smile under her mask. Even in situations like this, people still used humor to cope.

"And you three... thanks for the help." She said with a nod of thanks to the Hellions. "You all take care, okay?"

One of the Hellions, heavily tattoed, blinked in surprise and just nodded. "It's our turf too, ya know... take care out there as well."

The ground shook suddenly, the drone of engines overhead as one of the Rikti dropships let out twin blasts of energy at a nearby building, rubble spewing from the impact.

"Dammit, those things are gonna wreck our place!" Another of the Hellions exclaimed, picking herself up from the floor.

"... I'll draw its fire. You all get clear and get working." Zortel said, floating up, gloves at the ready.

"That's suicide!"

"... No, I'll be okay. Get going." She said, before with a quickened boost of energy from her boots she started accelerating above the dropship. Taking aim, she fired off a blast of energy at the back, not that it had much effect, but...

The turrents on the back of the dropship rotated round and started firing streams of plasma at the leader of the Unity Vigil. The first blast sent her hurtling back through the air, spinning rapidly before she was able to regain balence and dodged the second blast, getting a few more shots off.

Another blast smacked into her, sending her hurtling back again, the shield systems whining in her suit.

"Dammit!" she snarled, watching the danger displays rising in her HUD built into her glasses. A quick switch diverted backup power to the shields, sending them into overdrive before blasting back into the battle.

Impossible odds, a mother of three, fighting alone against a floating weapon.

But it worked. The dogfighting drew fire away from the buildings, and after a while the sirens lifted as it flew off out of the zone, back to wherever it came from.

"... Now I'm begining to see where the old adage comes from. Battle one, won... war? Not even close." she said to no one, touching down on top of a building to rest her suits power cells.

A smile crossed her face though as she looked up, and noticed the war walls restarting and glowing back to life. She usually hated seeing them, saying the made her feel boxed in and trapped. Now though...

They were a welcome sight.

Hey everyone, Zortel here. The non-character one, the player.

Anyway, I'm kind of looking for some advice, cause gawd knows I need it. What's the story?

Basically, after a while of being in RP supergroups (The Society of the Phoenix, the Vigil, and the Guardians of Destiny over a period of 2 and a bit more years), I got to creating my own one, the Unity Vigil. Got a few people interested, and made a new friend in the process too.

Problems arose when I and several others suffered Game Fatigue. I left for WoW for a bit, and the SG pretty much died in mass player absence. Now that I'm back, I'd kind of like to get it going again, but that's a problem my inexperience is not helping with. Currently, there's 4-5 people who are moderately active, myself included. Unfortunatly the character spread is several in the 20's, several in the 30's and a few 50's.

ShadowGhost raised an interesting point. Did it die, or just not get off the ground? Possibly a little bit of both. It was probably too ambitious too, which didn't help matters. Perhaps composition of characters was wrong, what with several people playing mostly alts or secondary/retired characters, or... well, I could probably list of several more possible causes.

I know there's a fair few of you out there who lead RP SGs, and thought perhaps some of you could give advice that could help others (and myself, of course ), or to at least avoid the problems I'm currently facing. Let us feast upon thy brains for the leadery goodness within, et cetera et cetera. My track record isn't that impressive so far. (Unless you find failure/burn out impressive )

Tis always a tough decision or two to be made.

Zortel sat in the room at the table, a pensive look on her face. She leaned back into her chair, arms crossed over her black and white uniform that seemed to be the growing standard for Unity Vigil members, and occasionally whispered into her earpiece.

Message Broadcast on Unity Vigil Commslinks.

Good afternoon everyone, this is Zortel speaking. The Unity Vigil is currently at Code Red, due to Paragon City being under attack by Rikti forces. Preliminary scans indicate them as coming from their homeworld. Due to the severity of this issue, I am cancelling all non-essential leave from the Unity Vigil. People on leave for medical or other essential reasons are not affected.

Unity Tower has been opened already, and the Vigilant Guardian drones that are running security operations will be helping out with the effort of protecting the building and converting it into a shelter. The building is protected by shield generators, so those members wishing to evacuate their family to a safe place can either do so here, or keep them here and we can then arrange transport for them out of the city. The medical teams are on standby in both Unity Tower and the Unity Vigil HQ, ready to deal with our own, other and civilian casualties.

All members are being ordered to head to Unity Tower or Unity Vigil HQ as soon as they have made arrangements for their families and loved ones. If any assitance is required, please let us know and we will try to help out.

I have lived through one invasion by the Rikti. I am determined to live, and help others live through this one. Times will be hard, and difficult, and the physical and emotional drains such situations can cause will be hard to endure, but we have to. I ask that everyone here assists the authorities and other hero groups in making sure civilians and non-combative forces to deal with the crisis are safe.

Cauter will be working with the Paragon Fire Department, to help deal with the casualties and structural damage will come from such an attack. Storm Sapphire will be our source of information from the Paragon Police Department, and will help co-ordinate our efforts.

Good luck, stay safe, and work as one.

Unity Tower, Zero Hour.

Zortel stood atop the former tower of ZorTel Industries, now owned by her group, the Unity Vigil, staring out towards the city. She had switched from her black and white uniform to her more armoured Zortel suit, and stood in silence for a moment, reflecting on the first minutes of the attack.

"I won't lose you again... or anyone else dear to me." she whispered, before with a flare of her thrusters she lept off the top of the thirty-one floor skyscraper, blasting down into battle.

Nene, upon talking about her power core installed in her chest, while wearing a little red dress.
[ QUOTE ]

Rosalin Thorne: Out of space, out of time?
Josie Ironside looks speculative. "A dimensionally transcendant power system?"
Nene: In a sense... The volume capacity of my chest exceeds its physical size.
Nightschild: Well, it very nearly exceeds the physical capacity of that dress, anyway.
Nene blushes. "Not remotely what I meant."

[/ QUOTE ]

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