DeviousMe

"Yes?" the aged man invited Shioh to continue to speak, though she was sure the fellow of more average stature had taken note of her first, "Can we hel-"

His words turned to silence with the suddenness of a candle's flame extinguished. From one moment to another, the towering robed figure no longer looked at her (well, technically the hat hid his eyes, but he'd toward her in his response, so the idea wasn't exactly far-fetched), instead having directed his attention ahead.

"Is something wrong?" his companion queried, though now much calmer, peeking curiously at the wall the aged man seemed to be looking at...or through.

"I sense murder." came the answer, his tone most serene, yet his expression decidedly perturbed, "We should probably inform the steward..."

((Alright, I'll bite - but don't you disappear for another year after the first few pages, okay? Oh, and welcome back of course. ))

The sun returns as fast as its gentle rays had vanished. The expected figure, however, is nowhere to be found. None had cast a shadow.

The shadow, however, doesn't much care. It flits down the hull and into the shade of an awning. Its master is expecting it.

Near the stern he stands, letting eyes wander over and into the whitewash of ship's wake. He is with another, by a rail of one of the lower decks, neither of the two figures seeming to carry a care in the world.

The left is a man of visible age, the bleached gray of his Fu Manchu standing in stark contrast with the deep tan of his face. He stands frighteningly tall, nearly bordering on three meters, and holds his head high and proud. Robes of fine, deep-red silk wrap fluently about his body, adorned with golden trim and intricate decor, and the winds of the sea caress them most softly, as a mother might her child.

The large bamboo coolie atop his bald head is almost an anachronism, having little, if any, in common with the intricately woven garments of the orient. Still, it hides his eyes, and somehow it seems to all fit together in indecipherable harmony. The towering man stands visibly relaxed at the stern, slightly wrinkled fingers curled about the white metal of the rail.

His counterpart stands respectably shorter, reaching little more than 1.9 meters, clad in the garb of the innocuous tourist. His skin carries a Caucasian hue, and his wild hair is white as snow. Mirrored sunglasses conceal his eyes, and the rest of his outfit hides away his nature beneath white shorts, black sandals, and a sea-blue Hawaiian shirt dotted with palm leaves and lemon wedges.

He too leans against the rail, but with forearms instead of fingers, keeping these nervously drumming against one another over the whitewash below. Unlike the essence of serenity beside him, this man stands by no means relaxed. Far from, in fact - he is twitchy, nervous, and deeply concerned as he converses with the man to his left.

They speak Japanese.

"I really don't know why you're so worked up." the robed figure tells him with a long sigh. His voice is deep, but pleasant, his tone gentle as wind's breath itself, "Here of all places. What could possibly happen?"

"Pirates." the shorter fellow's lips spit back like a pistol. His tone carries all the twitch and sporadic manner of the man of science embroiled in a heap of wall-covering equations.

"Oh come now, what is it with you and pirates?"

"Ninja." the nervous man's shoulders give a speedy shrug, "Can't help it."

"That is a myth."

"Is not."

"It very much is."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not infinity!" a jolt runs through the man, his finger thrown in the direction of his counterpart, "And infinity's a concept, not a number! No plus one!"

"Fine." the aged hands turn to reveal empty palms, "But this is a cruise ship. They really aren't normally attacked. And it's large...and very much so. There would simply be too many people to give a lucrative target."

"They could just be thieves."

"Thieves in targeted pursuit of a certain container that doesn't even look remotely valuable? No. Just no. You're being paranoid, that's all there is to this. Relax. It's a cruise. We don't even have to do anything, so do at least try and enjoy yourself."

"Can I...?"

"No explosives."

The conversation quickly turns in this direction, the shorter man rattling off reckless forms of amusement while the other denies suggestion after suggestion. The thoughts of neither any longer hold concern over the large cube of metal resting peacefully in one of the massive ship's holds.

And why should they? After all, what could really happen...?

"Acid..." Randall Grey's large fists balled their fingers even more tightly against one another, the massive man's narrowed eyes sending their gaze to travel across the floor and up the reptilian's form, glaring into the slitted pupils with dagger-like fervor, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Dropping the act." the Khelari answered curtly and with austere serenity, "I've been waiting for results far too long now. I want to see some progress. Ms. Grey, why is this man still talking to me?"

"Sonova...!" the hero's eyes grew wide with shock, Grey still having harbored some doubt up to this point. Now he was sure though, and set himself into astonishingly speedy motion, reaching a hand for the Lady Grey's, "You're really going to-!"

"No." the sudden, bone-chilling stare stopped Grey dead in his tracks, her ice-blue eyes burning with truly frigid fire. The gaze held no might, no glimpse of her dark power, but the force it did enclose needed no such support. The massive man's feet seemed to freeze to the floor.

"Say what?" Acid jerked his head toward the woman, a pair of clawed fingers bobbing up and down as he questioned in a most commanding, yet startlingly casual tone, "You wanna run that by me again?"

"We do not." the Lady Grey refocused her gaze on the reptilian now, the rifles of her soldiers following the path of her eyes, "Furthermore, We will not."

"Alright." Acid countered calmly, "So what about our deal then? You realize I'm going to have to rescind my part then...but then, you already knew that when you chose this path, didn't you?"

A silent nod was the only answer, a slight smirk playing about the reptilian's inhuman lips at the response. Before he could bring up something else, however, Toy came in the way.

"Okay, so here we go." the mechanical mastermind spread his robotic entourage about in a vague half moon, Solid Shot having taken a knee beside him, rifle already aimed squarely at the reptilian's head, "We're all tired, we know what's gonna happen, so why don't we just skip the usual ramble, and you go ahead with your meticulously thought-out, supercomplicated and overcontrived backup to your backup plan already?"

"Actually, about that..." Acid raised a finger, "Really, I'd love to, but I didn't make one this time. I was kind of counting on this to work. It seemed simple enough."

If Toy could've frowned right now, he would've. That was his proof: no way, no how was this the Acid he knew. Something was more than wrong here, and he was fed up with all this 'mystery' garbage. He'd be getting some answers, and he'd be getting them now, rules of engagement be damned!

Toy's heel tapped against that of Solid Shot, and not a microsecond later, the gray mechanoid's rifle spat a widely spread cryo beam at the Khelari, Toy and Solid wanting to hold the reptilian fast in the resulting block of ice.

They got Ryat66.

"Hey!" the Ryat unit exclaimed in exasperation, "What was that for?!"

"But I can do this, if you like." Acid mused smugly from the other shoulder of Toy Dispenser, a toothy grin upon his face - and before the robotic mastermind's fist could break just that, he'd jumped yet again.

"Freakin' teleporters." Solid Shot and his mercenary counterpart gargled almost simultaneously, virtually every gun in the command chamber unsure of just where or at what to aim. This gave Acid more than enough time to make his way to the back, and with that the relatively small chamber containing the portal Vanguard had arrived through.

"Don't you guys worry now." the reptilian excused himself with a brief bow, an outstretched hand giving everyone but Solid Shot more than enough reason to hold their fire (not that Solid couldn't detect the energy barrier the reptilian had thrown across the doorway - he'd just wanted to see if it was any good and tested it with another cryonic blast...unfortunately, it of course was), "I'm like Sand People. Well, once I 'convince' my old friends, that is. Au revoir."

With that, the portal swallowed him whole. A few people attempted a quick dash for the mechanism, but the Lady Grey's shadowy servant became manifest in their path long before they could reach the crossworld gateway. Several confused stares accompanied the creature of darkness as it demonstratively endeavored to step though the portal, only to be flung back with vehement force, nearly discorporating as it bounded across the floor. The Lady Grey displayed no reaction. She'd already known. Her gaze traversed the chamber again, coming to rest against the questioning eyes of several people.

"Inform them." she told the first, a Vanguard operative manning the communications terminal, "Apprehend, if reasonably possible."

"Answers." were her words to the second, Toy Dispenser, followed by the third and more, the members of Delta Team, "You would like some too. Ve-"

"Okay, just one second here!" the white-haired teenager who'd been somewhat passive until now suddenly tore his hands from the pockets of his dark trench coat, communicating his desire for a time-out not solely in verbiage, "What in the world happened there now, and why did some space lizard have control over-?"

"Quiet, kid." one of Randall's large hands plopped itself atop the goggles on Jake's head, the sizeable man speaking in a tone that dripped with the essence of the tired and the listening, "Let her tell the story before we start asking questions, m-hm?"

The undercover Arachnos operative wormed his way out from under Grey's grasp with a few mumbled hisses, but he did see the hero's point. Getting impatient wasn't going to get things moving any faster, no matter how much he would've liked it to. Therefore, Jake set course for a vacant chair and threw himself into the seat with a scowl, allowing the Lady Grey to continue unimpeded.

"As you have most probably deduced by now," she began to calmly explain, speaking mainly to Grey and those gathered about him, but extending the reach of her voice to all others as well, "Acid Zero and Our person had worked out an arrangement prior to the departure of this expedition. However, as We must regretfully inform you now, said prior time lies not in the near past, but rather several years within. Please, feel free to sit. We have much to say."

"As most of you know, in the aftermath of the first Rikti War, hero organizations the world over scarcely existed, shattered and in pieces. Vanguard was but one of many. Few would manage to rebuild, but we would be one. With the aid of old comrades, We began to pick up the pieces - and as fate would have it, beneath one such piece we found a most intriguing individual..."

"And I keep telling you: We. Are. Not. Ready." Sheldon Wallace dictated fervently, seemingly in the process of attempting to make himself taller than the Rikti in blood-red armor - an exercise in futility, for Warmaster Cher'tak towered over the inventor by at least two heads. Still, the glare from the round lenses of Sheldon's glasses had something forceful to it, as did the fervent taps of a finger against the Rikti's chest plating. The bored stare of Cher'tak's eyes, however, nonetheless showed the Warmaster woefully unimpressed, his laxly crossed arms only underscoring the fact that Sheldon's antics were nowhere near enough to shift his position.

And indeed, theirs was by far not the only argument going nowhere fast. The approaching reptilian certainly didn't seem sure that speaking to any of the present people was a good idea at this point. Then again, as if that decision was his to make.

"Well?" the Lady Grey demanded, finally letting off Randall, who'd gotten quite tired of all this bickering. The massive man let out a soft sigh of relief, collecting his thoughts in hopes of finding a way to come to some manner of agreement. Perhaps this'd give him just enough time to do so.

"I think I'll be okay." Acid answered in a lax manner, taking a glance to the door of the isolation ward, "Found some...brew from the Doc in my ship. I don't think I really want to know what it is, but it looks to be getting the job done."

"So..." he inquired in a considering tone, thumbing across the chamber to Sheldon and Cher'tak, "what's eating them?"

"The Warmaster insists we should mobilize the discus vessel and retake the Forgotten Sanctuary posthaste." the Lady Grey explained with a rather indifferent tone, allowing herself a slight huff of exasperation, "Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, concurs with Our person that we are not currently in the possession of adequately trained personnel to attempt a flight. Mr. Zero, I do hope you might be able to remedy this impasse?"

"Yeah, c'mon." Solid Shot fell into the conversation, waving an arm presently in mid-repair at the reptilian, numerous open panel covers clicking and clacking in the process, "I wanna get back at those losers already."

"You're not going anywhere right now!" Toy Dispenser snatched the affronting arm back out of the air in frustration, "Now stop fidgeting around or I swear I'm disconnecting your head until the repair's done - or more accurately, CT will!"

"Right, boss." the assault bot gurgled, having only recently come back online, still sitting somewhat damaged itself, "Precision not guaranteed."

The gray mechanoid mumbled something in response, but let Toy have at his arm again without complaint. If nothing else, the robotic mastermind knew what he was doing.

"Yeah, about that..." Acid scratched his neck in thought as the majority of attention once more directed itself at his person. With a stern look to the Lady Grey, he went on, "As things stand now, this just isn't a good idea anymore. We're switching to Plan B."

His conversation partner suddenly seemed taken extremely aback, as if struck by lightning. Eyes widened and fingers curled in what couldn't be anything but shock, the ramifications of what this meant possibly being some of the Lady Grey's most dreaded closet skeletons.

"I..." she nearly lost her composure again, "We...this isn't..."

"I thought you'd have problems with this." the reptilian remained calm and relentless, closing the distance of his eyes to hers, "That’s why you shouldn't think about it. Just do it. You're following orders. You're not responsible."

Meanwhile, the arguments all about had fallen into silence, their participants having found something of greater importance to pay attention to. Those gathered gradually made their way toward the Lady Grey and Acid, wishing to know just what the reptilian had instigated there, more than one regarding the whole situation with a healthy amount of skepticism.

"Okay, let's just all take a time-out here." Toy suggested diplomatically, stepping further into the quickly-formed ring, "Acid, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know what's going on. Want to make with the explaining?"

"Plan B is the expedition secondary protocol." the Lady Grey answered before the Khelari could, her tone breathless and devoid of any sort of melody, "We established it in case this mission met with failure. If the Rikti cannot be saved...they are to be eliminated."

Cher'tak crashed forward almost immediately upon hearing these words, the pain of betrayal and rage of dishonor welling chaotically within the Warmaster, "Status: unacceptable! Within dialogue complement: trust placed...!"

He didn't get any further. A duo of Vanguard operatives barred his way by crossing their rifles in the path of the Rikti, and Randall Grey stepped in as well, open palms stretched toward Cher'tak.

"Whoa now, let's not jump the gun here." he calmly told the Warmaster, doing his best to keep his own cool in light of this as he turned to the Lady Grey, "Let me get this straight now: if we couldn't kick a gone-mad steam engine out of here, we're supposed to do the very thing we're trying to prevent him from doing? Well, without the gain of power, but still...that doesn't make any sort of good sense."

"He is quite correct." Cory Simmons added, accompanying his words with an ominous nod, "That is not what heroes do."

"True." Acid replied curtly, stepping beside the Lady Grey as he placed the claws of his right hand upon her shoulder, "But we're not heroes. At least I'm not. And I've got a deal with this lovely lady here that ensures she does what I want. I'm not asking you to agree. But I do insist you step aside now. We'll take things from here."

The reptilian turned his gaze to the Lady Grey once more, the woman only giving a silent nod in response. Randall's eyes narrowed, his mind chasing thoughts from every corner. How was this possible? Lady Grey answered to no one - well, the UN Security Council maybe, but definitely not to any one person. What the [dreck] was going on here?!

Toy took these considerations even further, none of his processors finding any sort of logic behind this. Not only did he know what Grey did, but he'd been around Acid for a respectable amount of time now. He freakin' knew the guy! This wasn't anything even remotely like him!

Or was it? Was this the sort of thing he did when he jumped about in the galaxy? Was the Acid he knew nothing but a facade? The guy was an alien, after all...and if Toy knew one thing, it was that human considerations and logic shouldn't be applied to other people. Either way, something had gone tremendously awry just now, that wasn't hard to tell. Toy didn't waste any time relaying on order to his operational entourage: prepare for the worst.

"Not gonna happen." Randall Grey declared stoutly, stepping closer to underscore his position; their position, "No way in hell."

The reptilian replied with a snap of his claws. The clacks of readied rifles echoed from all about. The Lady Grey had mimicked the gesture almost simultaneously, her lips pressed against one another with such force they formed nearly bloodless lines.

"Disappointing." Acid stated coldly, "Kill them all..."

Aiight, I'll bite. For your consideration: Acid Zero, Bots/FF. Sadly, I couldn't recreate him in-game just as he should look like, but fortunately I got poked into a sketch a while ago that should be useful here. I know, it's not very good, but at least it has the proportions right, and it shows the true absence of spikes, scales, and that odd fin-thing the game puts on his head - not to mention it does say a few things about his nature. Some people might insist you just can't run a nuke on aluminum foil and pencil shavings, but there's no sense giving up just because a certain someone tells you it's impossible. As you can see, he sure proved her wrong.

As for bio, there's not really much to tell. When writing, I like to describe his physical appearance as being, "of reptilian ancestry, the telltale bone structure of the elongated skull this away despite the scaleless, deep-green hide of leathery texture. Complete with a set of vicious teeth that clearly belonged to a carnivore, a set of amber, slitted pupils, and a long, whiplike tail in addition to the five-fingered clawed hands, the appearance of the somewhat slim Khelari left no doubt of a very predatory lineage. Still, the eyes betrayed a high level of intelligence, as did the ensemble of night-black cargo pants, loose jacket, large work boots, and a white T-shirt thrown in underneath the open jacket just for good measure. The weapon holster on the Khelari's back also spoke volumes, the architecture of the three rifle-like armaments it carried utterly alien in nature despite the ordinary seeming of metalwork."

Yes, he's an alien, and like most alien masterminds, he became a robotics/FF. Hey, it fit the concept. His personality is fairly laid-back, he's an engineer by trade, and he tends to walk the line between genius and insanity with a really big eraser, applying said tool liberally and with great vigor - and due to this and his nature of seeing everything in balance instead of good and evil, let's just say the authorities Paragon City didn't like him hanging around too much.

Well, that's the general info. If you'd like more details, feel free to shoot me a PM.

I can't stop laughing!

Not bad, but I'm gonna have to be honest with you - I didn't really feel entirely there. This story seemed to me more like an outside account rather than the type that really draws the reader in and gives the sensation of 'you see; you hear; you feel'.

In addition, it was pretty predictable, and I never got the sense that the balance truly teetered at any given point in the story. Sure, the consequences of failure were nicely detailed and strongly apocalyptic (maybe that was it - they were too catastrophic to have any real chance of happening, hence I was never afraid they would), but I didn't get much in the sense of pressure and suspense in the 'if this doesn't happen right now, we're all dead!' fashion. The possibility of failure just sat too far removed, at least for my tastes. Every potential mistake was seen and fixed in time, being eliminated well before it could become a threat.

Tying into this is that the main characters never truly seemed in danger, what with everything going according to plan and no enemy they faced needing more than a few sentences' worth of mention. However, even if that had been present, I don't think it would've done much, as I didn't really connect with them. I didn't care whether they lived or died because their selves never opened to me. Who are they, what makes them tick, what makes them fight? Those questions remained unanswered, and without feeling a character as a living, breathing (or maybe not) being, they're very hard for me to care about.

However, your writing style flowed well and stood eloquently comprehensive, making the painting of a picture with your words delightfully effortless. Your tone contained color (sometimes literally ), texture, and subtle mood, and though some things were harder to see than others, overall I never felt I'd lost the picture thanks to your verbal craftsmanship.

You might want to space things out a little more, but that's more format and aesthetics than actual story quality.

The Lady Grey

"We are not certain how or when Our ability to communicate broke down at that point, but events rapidly descended into chaos after Mr. Grey had voiced his disagreement. Though the still-standing aspect of Mr. Zero attempted to convince both the medically trained operatives and Our person that he should be the one to handle this, the extremely...insistent behavior he displayed upon our first attempt to surgically remove the crystalline formation led us to conclude him to be at least partially afflicted as well, and therefore isolate him from his other self just as We had the rest of Delta Team."

"In retrospect, this decision was not wise in nature, and We make no pretexts concerning the error in Our judgment. Fortunately, the grounds for the behavior of Mr. Zero became evident posthaste: after initial attempts at surgery had failed, Our medical staff modified the blade of a circular saw to talsorian standards, and though this succeeded in penetrating the hide of the reptilian, the resulting spray of molecular acid injured several personnel, as well as rendering the saw...inert. In credit to Mr. Zero, a perhaps mandatory 'I told you so' made no appearance upon his retroactive permission to enter the isolation ward. Now that We had ordered a pause on further attempted surgical procedures, Mr. Zero had time enough to establish a clarification on the reaction between highly toxic agents and the normally harmless blood of his species. After that, We left matters in his claws, so to speak."

"We spent some time in conversation with Delta Team, attempting to create a clear image of what exactly had transpired. Rikti forces and the Nemesis Army We had fully expected to encounter, but this incursion of Malta Operatives stood as more than a surprise. In addition, testimony of Delta team confirmed that the covert operatives had ousted Nemesis Army forces from the Forgotten Sanctuary, with all appearances on having done so without discovery by their master - a most troubling conclusion, to say the least. The accounts of Mr. Simmons and Toy Dispenser only underscored this, as neither of the two had perceived outbound communications to the steam-driven madman, which excluded both arcane means and nearly all forms of technological information transmission known to mankind."

"Moreover, a sense of suspicion and mistrust now pervaded the atmosphere, several members of Delta Team, though not solely they, voicing concerns of a traitor in our midst. While even We could not deny the possibility, We did begin a detailed inquiry centered around the process an enemy informant would have been subjected to in order to not only remain undiscovered, but deliver information on our future whereabouts to his or her superiors with great enough notice for said forces to relocate such a large troop concentration in time to intercept Vanguard forces. With the aid of the Ryat unit Toy Dispenser, and Mr. Wallace, we found such a possibility to be slim at the very best, and could ascribe repeated hostile encounters upon arrival in new areas of operation to little more than coincidence...or the possibility that Malta, as well as Nemesis, had gained some method to predict our actions with uncanny accuracy."

"At the time, however, speculation of such yielded no useful results. In addition, Mr. Zero joined us near the conclusion of the deductive conversation, and what he told us then and there confirmed without a doubt that we had harbored a traitor among us all this time..."

Cool.

Hey, I still like it, especially the art style. Can't remember what it's called now, but I've always been a fan of it. Thanks muchly.

"Move!"

The shout thundered through the 'command center' like cannon fire, reverberating from every element of the Rikti architecture, and even jostling the numerous laptops and other examples of human technology the present Vanguard forces had set up in this chamber of the Jade Moon facility. Even the window gallery that formed one wall appeared to echo the bellow back to its massive source, and the transparent energy fields that sealed the numerous holes created during Nemesis' assault didn't seem to form an exception either.

The bellow had come from a colossus of a man, the massive Randall Grey, who virtually stampeded into the command chamber carrying a twitchy, scaleless reptilian in his hands, having formed a protective layer of crystalline armor between himself and the debilitated Acid.

Had the expression on the Khelari's raptor-like visage not been one of pain and agony, eyes pressed shut and rows of sharp teeth clenched like the grip of a vise, the picture might've even looked comical: a huge, bearded human lugging around a somewhat humanoid reptilian with a deep-green, leathery hide, and in an outfit of long pants, T-shirt, work boots and what could've been a biker's leather jacket, all in the same matching hue of black, save for the formerly snow-white shirt.

Now the smooth white fabric had become an ugly collection of tattered rags, partially soaked in crimson, and the rest of the outfit didn't look much better. Even more disturbing, however, were the jagged crystals that jutted from his back in a bright, venomous green, almost seeming to desire stretching their vile toxicity into the surroundings. Though apparently contained by the one whose body they'd attacked, Randall was no fool, and treated them with the utmost caution. Even with his own crystals encasing his lower arms, the large tanker remained wary, never letting the vile formation make direct contact.

"What happened?!" the Lady Grey approached him demandingly, desiring foremost an explanation while the leader of Delta Team handed the Khelari to several Vanguard personnel with a stretcher. She scarcely took note of the rest of the team for now, not even the uninjured Acid that entered the chamber right after Randall.

The discussion proceeded quickly and to the point, Delta Team's Grey curtly summarizing what had transpired in the Forgotten Sanctuary to Vanguard's, though his already riled-up demeanor became very forceful indeed as the Lady Grey ordered the afflicted Acid to be placed in the infirmary's isolation station. He didn't like that idea one bit...

Very nice. I felt really drawn in. Could use some more detail (expanding on the gut feelings to heighten the suspense, for instance) and a little more flow, but overall I very much enjoyed my read.

The Lady Grey

She could by no means say she felt comfortable in her skin right now. Incandescent's warm smile did try to reassure her, but the cold, blank stare of the camera lens overpowered what might've been. She knew what had to be done, what had to be known, and what had to be said.

She just didn't want to be the one to say it.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the United Nations Security Council," she began with straightforward tone - very formal, very official, "We address you today to convey to your persons the awareness that has haunted Our being for some time now. We shall admit that a number of us were not entirely certain how...or even if the proceedings of the past few days should come to your attention, and whether such candor would warrant merit. This included Our person, but at this point in time, this issue has been resolved. With recognition to the efforts of our liaison Incandescent, We leave the path of this information from here on out to your judgment."

She slid a thumb along the block of paper in her hands, eyes wandering briefly over the words she held, "This recording is to be included with the After Action Report concerning the first phase of our expedition to the homeworld of the Rikti. We felt this necessary due to the nature of politics at large, and We personally agree that the significance of a first-hand account will stand much greater than line upon line of silent verbiage. You shall find any details this account may lack within the written transcript of the initial phase, and subsequent omissions in the AARs concerning successive phases of the operation. To place Our hardly humble option at the forefront, We are still uncertain just what to truly make of all this. We hope this addition will assist in determinacy of thus, and therefore shall restrict Ourselves to what we believe to be the paramount concerns of this narration."

She allowed a few seconds of silence to pass, breathing calmly as the pause drew its course with outward peace and inward turmoil.

"From the very initiation of the first phase, the nature of the expedition could best be described as deeply troubling." she finally went on with a shallow sigh, "Not only had the portal we utilized not taken us to our intended destination, rather to a moon of the alternate Earth the Rikti call home, but the portal through which we made our arrival experienced what we at the time thought to be a malfunction of the Portal Corporation computer system. While We are aware this information is likely already known by the ladies and gentlemen of the UN Security Council, We mention this currently to reiterate the severity of its significance. At the time, the entire expedition knew we might never return. Therefore, an investigation into our surroundings commenced immediately, and most possibly too hastily."

"We found the facility that comprised our arrival point in ruins. Moreover, expedition members consisting chiefly of Delta Team, led by Randall Grey, quickly discovered the cause of the destruction to have been a vicious exchange between Rikti military units and the forces of the Nemesis Army. Not much time passed before we found ourselves in the midst of an ambush courtesy of that...unman...who even went as far as to dispatch an automaton duplicate of Mr. Wilcox in an attempt to demolish our presence before we could take foot."

"Due to the quick action of Delta Team, as well as the arrival of Archlich, and undead sorcerer comrade to a sentient robotic control unit by the name of Toy Dispenser, who too stood as part of Delta Team, his efforts fortunately remained fruitless. Still, he had struck C'Kelkah comatose during the battle, and we could not be certain to have truly halted his efforts to stop us then and there - which We believed to still stand as his best chance to do so. Search parties were dispatched, and some time later tracked down several high-yield explosive devices planted throughout the area of the lunar facility we now occupied. Interestingly, however, Delta Team first discovered another being within the complex: an extraterrestrial by the name of Acid Zero, an individual whom We had known for some time, but had not expected to encounter here...nor for the reasons he cited, which We knew to be a fabrication. However, Our person allowed these happenings to proceed, in part due to this individual being in possession of knowledge we would require to depart the moon, and in part due to reasons that bear greater relevance at a later point of this report."

"In the aftermath of this encounter, Our personnel began the search for a ship the expedition could use to traverse the distance to the planet. During these proceedings, however, we were once more attacked. This time, however, our assailants masqueraded as heroes of Paragon, and seemed neither prepared to strike effectively at a numerically superior force, nor to follow a distinct plan. To this day, We have not determined the purpose of their assault. Nevertheless, the expedition repelled it successfully, and the attackers fled to parts unknown. Shortly thereafter, our search for a ship brought results, though at the time we lacked the knowledge to properly operate the discus vessel Mr. Zero had retrieved from the end production line of a nearby factory complex. As detailed in the report, this moon had been utilized as a Rikti shipbuilding facility for some time, and due to this circumstance the discus ship also contained three freshly manufactured auxiliary vessels."

"Thanks to the presence of Warmaster Cher'tak, a Traditionalist who had been with us for some time now, as well as the diplomat Sah'Teece and a Paragon inventor by the name of Sheldon Wallace, Delta team could utilize one of these vessels to travel to the planet. At the same time, Mr. Zero both stayed with Our forces as well as departed with the rest of Delta Team, making use of a manner of duplication or division whose nature exceeds Our understanding. Archlich, however, departed into the unknown. He would not reappear for some time. "

"While the planetside expedition proceeded, Mr. Zero and Mr. Wallace made no hesitation about instructing Vanguard forces in the operation of the discus ship and its numerous subsystems. However, something on the planet had unexpectedly gone awry, and the two soon departed with suddenness the likes of which only truly dire situations stand capable of bringing about. They departed without warning, and at the time We would have very much liked to know just why, the position of Our person toward such rash action decidedly negative. Upon their return, however details became revealed much more quickly than We would have liked..."

Now that's a thing of beauty.

Black.

00:04

No other word could describe this darkness, this utter and complete absence of light.

00:03

No, not complete...not quite.

00:02

It was green. It was tiny. But it was light. Weak, yet steady, the soft green glow of a single LED sat alone in the dark, staving off the shadows with the timeless diligence of a cold machine.

00:01

It would soon receive a respectable amount of help.

00:00

A staccato of thunder tore through the dark, spearheading a shower of sparks as ten shaped charges detonated in simultaneity down to the millisecond, blasting the heavy frame of the reinforced door clear off its hinges with calamitous cacophony. With a crash that nearly rivaled the noise of the demolition, the thick slab of metal made forceful contact with the concrete floor, sending several cracks to spider into the heavy-duty material as it threw a mass of fine dust into the air.

The bright-white cones of flashlights fingered their way into the room, their light dancing about in the haze as brilliant cascades of illumination. With immaculate precision, they wandered into the darkness, chasing the shadows from banks of mothballed monitors and long rows of dusty databases, sweeping light where there had been none for quite some time, and carefully inspecting each and every shelf, keyboard, phone, and rolling chair for anything even remotely threatening.

The seconds ticked by.

Cause now followed effect as the flashlight of a cone crept into the gloom at shoulder height, riding atop the finely crafted muzzle of a decidedly high-tech assault rifle. Barrel followed muzzle, trigger followed barrel, and so did the fingers of the weapon's wielder, trained hands in fingerless gloves holding the rifle steady as a rock.

It was left at that, but not for long - just time enough for the electronic iris of the rifle's scope-mounted thermal camera to pull the far wall into focus. Then the weapon lurched through the doorway at the head of several more, the rapid taps of combat boots sounding upon the concrete, speedily propelling the uniformed individuals they carried into the shadows of the room.

Cones of light swept about once more, but with much less haste now, gently caressing every corner of the formerly pitch-black chamber, their journey now gradual and most careful indeed. They hovered over folders and papers, typed reports and hideously scrawled notes alike, but judging by their unceasing motions, found not that which they sought.

Until one fell upon the light.

One cone vanished to black as the operator's hand slid over the lens of his flashlight, the fingerless glove not permitting the escape of even a single ray. The rifle slowly sank, and in the twilight cast by other cones, a man in midnight blue reached to the apex of his armored helmet, pulling a pair of lowlight goggles before his eyes.

Green iridescence leaped from the electronic eyes, and with a satisfied smirk beneath his identity-obscuring mask, the Tactical Operative threw a pair of fingers first to the right of the active LED, and then the left. Four of his comrades quickly obeyed the silent command, taking up position and sweeping the area for booby traps. After a few seconds, one raised a hand, positioning his fingers to give the all clear.

It didn't take long at all for an Operation Engineer to snatch a nearby rolling chair and place himself in front of the monitor frame that held the active LED. Placing his rifle within his lap, the man cracked his knuckles and pulled a satchel of small tools from his waist. Then he pushed the tip of a finger against the LED. The button depressed.

A line of flicker ran across the monitor, and after a few seconds had passed, a content pane requesting a password be entered appeared in the center of the screen. However, it hadn't appeared alone. While the background had stayed mostly black, a faint symbol stood barely visible behind the password window.

The emblem of Vanguard.

The tech-savvy operative gave a nod of approval, then fished around in his satchel until his search bore fruit: a slip of yellow paper, folded twice. He concealed the note within a fist, turning the chair about to face the black operatives who'd continued their sweeps without interruption.

"All clear." one of them finally confirmed, speaking into a handheld radio as well as to those in the room, "Bunker level 6 is secure. Surveillance presence: negative. It's safe to talk."

The Operation Engineer faced about once more, now unfolding the paper in his hands and placing it before a keyboard on the counter. The slip held a series of letters and numbers, scribbled in careless black, but that didn't seem to bother the Malta Operative. With steady fingers, he entered them into the still-active system, licking his lips in eager anticipation as he tapped the last key.

The system accepted.

In a short burst of static, the password window disappeared, as did the dark background, and not half a second later an image had usurped the monitor in its entirety - an image of a human eye; the iris, to be precise.

"Ready, everybody?" spoke a melodious female voice, and then the eyeball retreated, backing away from the camera just enough to show a small part of the woman's fair face before she moved out of the picture.

A scene of the gathered could now be seen, several people standing or sitting in and about large, old-English wooden chairs, complete with deep-green upholstery and and a tea table that formed the centerpiece. Shelves upon shelves of drab, yet colorful books occupied the background, and the gently flickering flame of a respectably large fireplace provided more than enough illumination, down to the seams in the wooden floor upon which sat a fine Persian rug.

However, the furnishings were decidedly not the interesting aspect of the room shown. That honor belonged to those who'd gathered there: the entire upper echelon of Vanguard. The Dark Watcher of course stood somewhat to the side, looking detached as always, and Borea seemed to be trying her best to imitate him. Gaussian and Levantera occupied two of the chairs, the high-tech hero even having drawn up a soft footstool and placed his boots upon it. Serpent Drummer sat upon the floor with his legs complexly crossed, appearing halfway in mediation, and the Lady Grey formed the scene's centerpiece in a chair of her own.

In her hands she held a sizeable notepad, partially supported by having placed her left leg over her right, several pages already spilling over the pad's upper edge. Her eyes rested upon what stood written there, and it was certain whatever stood on that pad did nothing at all to lift her spirits. The woman who'd a moment ago moved away hadn't reappeared, but she did speak once more.

"Recording..."

[u]OOC: Thread Closure[u]

Due to unforseen circumstances, this thread has officially been closed. While I understand that some may be disappointed at this outcome, I believe it is reasonable to say that this is as far as this is going to get.

In my opinion, it was a neat idea, but something just went generally wrong with the timing; i.e. people got busy with life and simply lost connection to the plot. In any case, I hope you've enjoyed reading and/or writing this. Who knows, maybe the idea has a future elsewhere, but for now se la vi.

Heh, this is too tempting to pass up. Maybe it'll help my drawing skills too. Imma go grab me a few screenies.

Alright then, if you'd like to give it a go, here's my main villain, Acid. Sadly, I couldn't recreate him in-game just as he should be, but fortunately I got poked into a sketch a while ago that should be useful here. I know, it's not very good, but at least it has the proportions right, and it shows the true absence of spikes, scales, and that odd fin-thing the game puts on his head.

As for bio, there's not really much to tell. I like to describe him as being, "of reptilian ancestry, the telltale bone structure of the elongated skull this away despite the scaleless, deep-green hide of leathery texture. Complete with a set of vicious teeth that clearly belonged to a carnivore, a set of amber, slitted pupils, and a long, whiplike tail in addition to the five-fingered clawed hands, the appearance of the somewhat slim Khelari left no doubt of a very predatory lineage.

Still, the eyes betrayed a high level of intelligence, as did the ensemble of night-black cargo pants, loose jacket, large work boots, and a white T-shirt thrown in underneath the open jacket just for good measure. The weapon holster on the Khelari's back also spoke volumes, the architecture of the three rifle-like armaments it carried utterly alien in nature despite the ordinary seeming of metalwork."

Yes, he's an alien, and like most alien masterminds, he became a robotics/FF. Hey, it fit the concept. His personality is fairly laid-back, he's an engineer by trade, and he tends to walk the line between genius and insanity with a really big eraser. Due to this and his nature of seeing everything in balance instead of good and evil, let's just say the authorities Paragon City didn't like him hanging around too much. As can be seen by the sketch, his idea of fun at the beach is seeing if a nuclear warhead that runs on aluminum foil and pencil shavings can be made to work.

Unlike most 'villains', he seems to mostly mind his own business, and carefully avoids killing people. Still, may say he's up to something big - sadly, none of them can explain why he hasn't done it yet if he is plotting something. He also has a good number of true friends, and he'll stick by them no matter what. Attack him, and he'll run away, complaining vehemently about being allergic to pain. Attack his friends, and he'll keep going until every cell's exhausted.

Well, that's the general info. If you'd like more details, feel free to shoot me a PM.

Heh, found two more screenshots: Bots/FF.

[ QUOTE ]
*jealous*

That looks awesome!

[/ QUOTE ]
Took the words right outta my mouth.

Possible, but considering the primary function of a giant wrench is still being debated, that's inconclusive at the moment.

Wow...just wow. That's like choosing between two kinds of awesome. I'm gonna have to go with Aerones, though - the dynamic nature of his piece just speaks to me.

I suggest you just go for RP in the sense of "aliens are people too". If the robot's AI is more of a 'machine', meaning it doesn't really have much personality on its own, the resulting merged being would probably be very much like the original Kheldian, just with a computer in his mind.

I've got three characters who are like that, actually. They're essentially cyborgs, and just use the cybernetic parts of their brains to agument the abilities of the organic protions. They do have AIs in there to help them control those and others (after all, you need some kind of translator between the organic nervous system and the cybernetic info lines), but essentially they're still the people they've always been, so that's how they behave.

Okay, now that's just cool.

Paragon Wiki's Civic Squad and Paragon Heroes section should have most of the stuff you're looking for.

Sadly, the CS images are half-broken, but you can probably just flashback to the 'poison food' mission from Phipps with a team of 8 and get the shots there.

Well, I'm putting something together for Worlds Apart, so scooping this may very well be a good idea. I imagine quite a few people around here enjoy writing stories in pairs like this, so keep on flyin'.

((Sorry man, but as I've told you before you started this, I'm already using Rularuu and his aspects elsewhere. I make it a point of not doing the same thing twice. ))