Coile

I admit to having researched poorly the background information so if there is an obvious source of information just color me silly and slap me with a link.

What facts are known of this current Rikti incursion?

Last time they opened portals all across the globe and poured their forces in. It was a one-shot. Later it was found out that they had a portal in their main base where they got reinforcements. Once it was shut down, the war was practically over.

How did they come here this time, and in what manner?

Last time magic wielders were effective, as well as heroes over all. The Rikti destroyed about all HQs of SGs when they realized how big a threat heroes were. They took out power and infrastructure. Regular armies got a right spanking.

Has there been any similar strategic thinking so far in the war? Are the Rikti doing anything else than bombing and teleporting in, and then teleporting out?

Simplified, last time there was order, logic ands structure to how the war was fought. Is there now?

Coile lifted his hand and spoke.

"Our people are helping in hospitals and such, Angel for example. Chi is running some kind of private clinic in Kings to help folks who'd otherwise be left without. There's people like Dee who're out of action due to injuries. Me, Sword, Mesoc and Shadowplay operate in the warzone, but I try to juggle duties from FC and HC as well... It's been less than one week and it's already taking its toll. Did someone say we had some neat plan maybe to start affecting this war instead of just putting out fires?"

A dry chuckle escaped from Coile. "Don't trust everything that papers write or news tell you. They can twist stuff beyond recognition and just plain lie."

From what I have heard from other people I think there's one case of someone suffering persecution because of their mutant origin.

My main character Coile is a mutant and has never had any trouble from other peopl because of his mutant nature, but his background also put him in very little contact with others for a few years before coming to Paragon City, so I have not had to make any real calls about the subject so far.

As a personal feeling I'd say that in general mutants are just supers. Not worse or better. If I wanted to give a character hard time just for being mutant I'd opt for a closed group and not define the detriment to be universal.

Coile was feeling his temper rising and snapped at Tyger. "If you barge in here you'd better at least know what was agreed. We put lunatics and unco-operative madmen into Zig until the war ends. People who'd hinder our cmbined effort to win this conflict. We can't afford keeping loose cannons running free."

Then he glanced at Big Lunk. "And Ben, don't take this as any form of acceptance of what you guys do for a living, but you're professionals. You can't really compare your crew to idiot lunatics with halloween gear and soaked to their ears with cow blood."

Then something Lunk had said finally went through to his brain, and he turned to look at Britanic with surprise as well as anger. "Is this guy part of Militia?"

Coile frowned. He looked pointedly at Juniper, then at Tyger. Then he looked at Britanic who was in fact in charge of Militia's operations and was doing more than a splendid job at representing them. When he was looking at one of the very few guys in Militia that he held any respect towards he cocked one eye corner and frowned, hoping to convey a question in the lines of "what's your troops doing here barging in?"

Then again, Coile was no master of subtle communication. It was equally possible that people thought he was having stomach cramps.

Having taken a seat close enough to Lunk Coile could hear reasonably well what Britanic was saying. An involuntary chuckle escaped him despite the gloomy state of things. Rachel was blazes of a hard case to keep track of. In the last several months he'd seen her only a handful of times.

Besides, she was one of the very few Militia members that he could recommend to Silent Tempest as a safe kind work partner from her supergroup.

Shoulders hunched Coile entered the room and took a seat quickly. He greeted Lunk and Britanic with a quick smile. If anyone else chose to take it as a general greeting, all the better. The clock was showing that he did not have too much time. Soon it was time to go hunting some mystics on behalf of HeroCorp.

He hoped that no one would ask for a status report. There was not much that Tempest had done in the vein of grandness. Just basic stuff with serving, protecting and fighting.

There's a lot of stories happening in the city and keeping track of them all is impossible. With the war raging there should be more than the usual amount things happening that could touch also other characters.

This thread is for things that happen and that you think are worth sharing Things that could touch, affect or enhance the experience of others. No one is of course required to take everything listed into account or be aware of it. Just choose what tickles your fancy.

I would personally be interested in who has died or injured badly. It makes the war more real if we can name a few casualties, for example. Also if some raid was more significant for some reason, etc.

Another thing I'd like to know if there have been prisoners released from Zig as per what was discussed in the Council of War thread, plus similar matters that should be known.

I'll see if I have anything interesting to share, but right now nothing springs to mind.

[ QUOTE ]
so maybe we can start a casual RP SG Owner's Club?

[/ QUOTE ]

"Do you have any SMOF parties in your country?"

"No."

"...not that you know of!"

An amused chuckle escaped from Pelire as she watched the big guy depart. She was left idly to wonder what she had said that was mistaken for compassion. Oh well. In the long run it would serve her. If it came to a clash between her and Coile and she would have to leave his lifeless carcass behind there would be that much more doubts regarding her part in it.

The laughter was both brief and dry. "I worked with him for five months, on and off. He's not one to see when to quit which can be a blessing in the heat of battle, but a drag when tactics are concerned. As sure as the sun rises he'll be in the warzone, mark my words."

Pelire glances towards where Coile had stood to see him already gone. "I hope that reminding him of his flings gets that head in gear and he figures that non-lethality out there is not an option."

Her eyes cleared as the crystals dissolved but the coldness in them remained. "Well, it's his funeral. What do I care as long as it isn't mine."

(( In case Octavo and Pelire interest anyone, there's a few stories about it all. I will not post them here, just link to them, because some of them contain adult language. Of course not all relevant things are in the written stories.

Octavo stories ))

There was no sign of anger, unless it was Pelire's eyes that reflected it. They blue color in them turned to whiter shade as ice crystals danced inside.

"People like that will be the death of the rest of us. In the frontline we need to be able to count on our side to do whatever it takes to guard our backs. Even kill. He used to do it, and now when that is actually needed he has some fit of hypocrisy. Those without spines should stay behind tending to the wounded, not play pacifist soldiers and have delusions of being useful."

She looked up at the big man as she herself was not remarkable height. "Don't tell me you'd rather have him watching your back under fire, than me."

As the people began filing out Coile was on his feet fast and headed out. Not fast enough tho. He gained a blue shadow that reeked of lack of warmth. Pelire began to speak and while she did not use a loud voice the few nearby people had a good chance at following what was said.

"Sad to see that your blond angel has domesticated you, Andre. I used to admire the inner fire that drove you on our missions to eradicate Rikti outposts. Knocking out all of those power generators must have caused, what, tens, maybe hundreds of Rikti casualties. Too bad you fabricated a misguided conscience." Coile tried to walk faster but Pelire kept the pace. He said nothing.

"You know, none of those that you killed will return to life. You can't wash that blood off." Having arrived at a wider area Andre took a step aside and turned to glare at his former comrade-at-arms. Still he remained silent. Pelire tilted her head. "Wartime is a bad time for idealism. If you want to do everything in your power to see your newest fling of heart safe you should consider actually fighting this war."

Being at a loss for words Coile just shook his head. The blue haired woman turned her mouth to a smile. "You served Octavo's purposes for a while but fell to the wayside. For what it's worth I hope that you and that Sword woman will inflict some serious damage before the Rikti will finally kill you." Having said her piece she walked off leaving Coile trembling. Not out of cold, however, as it was.

Pelire motioned with her hand slowly, slightly brushing the person to her right. Her skin was cold down to the freezing point of water.

"I'm not going to interfere with how others are fighting this war. I would appreciate it if none interfered with us. Octavo has and will use extreme prejudice and lethal force against enemies and enemy collaborators."

She stood up. "I gather that this truce actually guarantees non-interference, as long as we do not endanger the civilian population." Her battlearmour extended from her neck and covered the whole head except for the face. Thus her gloating smirk was visible when she winked her eye to a formerly bald hero across the table.

A woman who sat silent so far smiled. The smile extended to the mouth only and carried a subtle wave of coldness that came from deep inside. Her blue hair was combed back and her blue eyes stopped at no one in particular as she looked over the assembly. On her she had a full suit of flexible body armour.

"The Lost are traitors to mankind. It is wartime. Each and every Lost should be summarily executed without fail." Her smiled remained and she could have been just as easily describing a summer weekend over the grandma. "Same goes for every Rikti. If we leave them alive they will join their forces and we have to fight them again. Kill every Rikti that we encounter."

Now that she for the moment had the attention of those present she waved her hand. "I am Pelire and I represent Octavo, a Vanguard backed special operation that has existed from late last year. Waging offense war on Rikti is what we do." Briefly her teeth showed behind the lips. "And we're damn good at it."

On his seat Coile tensed but said nothing. But the truce seemed suddenly that much worse as an idea.

"Terra Refri-dgerator, what? Could we have a name that a guy can actually pronounce, you know?"

"The number of injured? Have you seen the numbers from the last war? We're going to have people injured. Put out of the action for the remainder of the war, or for good. We're going to have people die. The question is how many will die."

Coile kept a small pause before adding, "And who."

Fighting a war without killing was a dilemma. Perhaps an impossible one, or one with just one possible solution.

Kill or be killed.

Coile would burn that bridge only when it was necessary.

There was no reasonable way that Coile could argue against the remark about war time. He had himself used the on-going covert war against the Rikti in the past as a reason to kill any and all Rikti that he met. With some other dark deeds he had had even less reason. And now this new and standing conviction of not taking one single life made him fidgety about losing lives. It was stupid. It was, after all, a war.

The new arrival was greeted by a glare and a mumble along the lines, "No one is cannon fodder."

"Could we use Zig? Put away those who can't work towards the common goal and instead do damage. Deal with them after this is over." Coile thought for a second more and added, "And while I've done my part in putting menaces into Zig in the past, maybe it'd be an idea to see if there's anyone in there now who could help against the Rikti. I mean, we do need pretty much everyone possible to win this."

Lifting a hand Coile hoped to get the attention of others for long enough to say aloud his one idea.

"Those of us who've been on the scene for longer aren't in such a shock, especially those who weathered the last Rikti war, or even the Requiem war. But the newer guys can be really lost. Losing confidence and stuff. So, it'd be really worth the effort to cut out from the fighting for an hour or two this Wednesday evening and gather here in Pocket D to exchange experiences. Let everyone see", he looked at Britanic and then at Lunk, "that we all stand together, and that there's a lot of us to help around. Offer assurance to those who need it that they can come to us to talk and get advice."

He couldn't but help wondering what possible advice he could offer but for some reason his team had wanted him to be their leader, so he was probably doing something right. "This Wednesday, from eight on in the evening?" He added more quietly, "I don't suppose that Rikti will vanish in the mean time anyways."

Coile left his hand up to show support in Lunk's proposal for a truce.

Most of the good advice has been given already.

IN SWG times we created a huge bubble for ourselves with a setting and plenty of rules. It worked there.

With Tempest I've used another approach, that of having fun. Sometimes the SG is just 4 people, sometimes 10. The only time that I pay mind to numbers is when people start talking that we're dwindling.

If you are having fun, and have at least one other with you, it's actually enough and a successful SG. Anything else is a plus. That's also pretty stressless and carefree. Just you and a mate. Build from that.

Coile walked in. For those who had not seen him since the Angel foundation charity ball his brown flock of hair came probably as a mild surprise. On him he had jeans and a leather jacket that had once belonged to Nightsparrow. He had been leaning by the doorway listening a while before coming inside and taking a seat.

"Silent Tempest hasn't got firms or anything, so about all that we can do is just be out there. A few of us are working with the shelters and stuff. The rest are on the streets. Getting people out of the harm's way. I've been also checking out the main war zone." He shook his head.

"I agree, the main concern is now the Rikti, not how much we like each other." He gave a quick glance at Britanic. "Whatever operational bans there were they're lifted."

Then Coile looked at the holographic display and gave a wry smile. "I think I'll stick to my own armor. My granddaughter built it for me and so far it seems to be able to shrug of blasts from Rikti weaponry." He chuckled dryly and made a joke that no one would understand. "I'm unstoppable and immortal anyways."