DeviousMe

"Allow me." the newly landed Sarkh wound his bulk through the scene and past Quicksliver with agility something of his size had no right having, slipping in lithely beneath the elevated rail to take the mechanoid-upheld car into his claws. With a nod to the Cybertronian, he confirmed a curt, "You may let go."

Back 'below', Oxana observed the rescue efforts with a mixture of satisfaction and suspicion. Some of these people were acting rather...odd. True, that might've been simply due to their origins and cultures, but she tended to find it was better to err on the side of caution on these things. The manner of two of them bothered her especially. She made a note to keep an eye on them...

Kings Row - On a Rail

"...and now you know what a train is." the armored alien who'd been handling the trio's conversation with Derek and the 'Outsider' finished the curt explanation of railway transportation, a four-fingered hand securely gripping one of the handhold poles as the car accelerated, "Though this is technically called a 'tram'. I think that's because it has only one car, but I'm not sure. Where we come from, we don't have these."

The other two nodded from their sears, the visors of their helmets sweeping over passengers and terrain alike, constantly on alert. Their weapons remained holstered, but they very clearly wouldn't be caught off-guard if something happened. Indeed, a canny observer could likely pin the same to the speaker. However, the same applied to all three in regard to the fact that the cause wasn't either of their newfound acquaintances.

When the first gave a nod toward the other two however, this seemed to change almost instantly. All three suddenly seemed much less on edge, greatly more relaxed.

"In regard to that, I am Oxana Kalkartova, Captain of the AFSSR GONAROV." she introduced herself to the human pair, then motioned to her associates, "These are members of my landing division Caller Ruuk an-"

A thunderous detonation cut her off then and there, not to mention rocked the cab like an earthquake. The automatic brakes immediately locked down, and had the civilian passengers not already been bounding about, they probably would've done so then, for the tram ground to a ferociously quick halt. Ahead, not too far away, smoke rose and flames licked, the previous car swallowed by the hole that had rather unexpectedly appeared along the track.

On a nearby rooftop, a nervous-looking Sarkh cringed. The Captain was going to kill him...

Kings Row - Crabbage Crater

Kings Row - Crabbage Crater

Kings Row - Crabbage Crater

"Well." the armored individual who'd been doing the talking continued as the bulk of the gathered departed in quite a hurry, visor looking over those remaining; specifically Ethan, Derek, and the 'Outsider'.

"Since you're still here, I think I'll take the time to answer your questions then." was the judgment, as the others had left without giving that chance, "These buildings are mostly row houses and apartment blocks, so I'd not suggest intruding on those who live there. If you need a place to stay, you're welcome to join us. I'm undecided on whether we'll be booking a hotel or just setting up camp somewhere, so we may be doing both."

"As to law, yes." came the confirmation to Ethan, "Unfortunately, its enforcing is a little...ineffective. Still, the judicial authority here is technically the Paragon Police Department, as well as its attached bureaucracy. The decision makers care called mayor and city council. They tend to reside in City Hall. That will be our next destination, should you care to join us."

"Though if you'd prefer to jump into this other situation first, there isn't very much of a hurry." an armored arm indicated the direction from which Awesometastic Girl had come, "It's likely one of the people here calling themselves 'supervillains' on what they have termed a 'mayhem mission'. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. As I said, the enforcement of the law here is not very effective. However, it is only one, and with the number of people on their way to engage him, I severely doubt he will last more than a minute..."

Kings Row - Hero Gathering

"That's because these things are not very out of the ordinary on this world." the electronic modulation familiar to Ildela and Mirel sounded from an alleyway - or more accurately, from the first of the three armored individuals making their way out of said alley and into the open.

They were the same as the demon had encountered earlier, including the one with the tail and silver claws. However, none of them held a rifle this time, the weapons instead stowed and secured.

"In fact, if you were to wait for some time," the new arrival continued, "you will likely see another, though it'll be set together from rusty metal and scavenged construction materials..."

((*knocks on Mechano's door* ))

I was thinking the same thing, haha.

Kings Row - 2 Blocks from Crabbage

A pair of armored soles clacked against the reinforced grating of the helipad, followed quickly by several more. Rifles in hand, their owners swept a perimeter before Sarkh's claws even touched the platform. The sapphire-scaled dragon smirked while he brought his wings against his back. He had to admit, the Esertosians had one heck of an organization.

"Looks a little unstable." Kri remarked, climbing from the long blue neck, the Rulusian lizardman's voice once more the electronic tone of his armor, making the alien tongue he spoke sound perpetually annoyed, "Sure we want to mess with that? It reminds me of a...what was it called again? Destruction charge?"

"Demolition." Sarkh corrected, stepping from the helipad and lying down beside the raised structure to present a lower profile, amber eyes fixing the robo-crab below, "And I am, yes. But you're right. I hope the Tech Sergeant can do something about that, yes?"

"Already on it, Sir." replied one of the armored figures who'd crouched down at the edge of the roof, PGMP rifle directed at the robo-crab, "Searching for a node."

"Then you'd better hope he finds one before I manage to get over to you." another voice crackled in from the stairs of the fire escape, where several more armored individuals had just appeared, "What do you people think you're doing?!"

A beat of silence passed. They all knew to whom that had been addressed, the two said parties just a little better than the others.

"Captain!" Kri exclaimed nervously, tail curled around his staff as if he could use it form some sort of cover, "How did you get here so quickly?"

The addressed individual didn't reply, instead setting feet into step toward the shaman, who in turn glanced to an awkward-looking Sarkh trying (and mostly failing) to squeeze his bulk in under the support structure of the helipad.

"Why are you hiding?!" the Rulusian queried hastily, the Captain still advancing toward him, "You're the dragon here!"

"I know, but she's still scary when she's mad like that."

"Am I now?" the Captain's gaze whipped to Sarkh's amber eyes, "Good. I certainly have reason to be, especially to you. Disobeying orders. Revealing your presence to a potential enemy. Compromising the mission objective. Shall I go on?"

"But Sir," the dragon replied good-naturedly, though his voice held a sneaky undertone, "you're seeing this all wrong. I merely adapted our orders to the changing situation. Honestly, if your emperor saw things that way, he'd never have begun this initiative in the first place. You know our purpose here. What better means than open contact are there?"

The Captain raised a finger, but couldn't seem to find anything to toss at Sarkh's head in reply. Another beat of silence passed. Then several more. Eventually the finger came back down.

"Fine." her armor practically growled out, "But we're having a talk after this. A very long talk."

She gave a nod to the Technical Sergeant, "Proceed."

"Yes, Sir." the armored soldier responded with a like gesture and set back to work scanning the local airwaves. With any luck, he'd be able to find some means of connecting to the rampaging machine down there. If so, perhaps it could be shut down by the right signal.

Of course, no one was betting on that. Thus he also sought out the communications channels used by Dr. Mechano and his drones.

What was there to be found...?

Aiight, not gonna quote all the replies since there are a lot, so just in general:

Thank you. Sorry about the upsetting word choice, but you saw where I was coming from, heh. It really did feel like a small group of people getting together behind my back and sticking a "we don't want your stuff here" note on the Unionverse door.

So thanks for the apologies. I can see your reasoning. I even agree with it. Just the method of delivery was a little...yeeeah, let's just try and avoid that in the future, aye? While arguments over one thing or another will always crop up, I think it's better to just be up-front about it.

Which reminds me...

*kicks Techbot*

Susan, Aurora, yes?

Talos Island

Okay, I'll admit, that was pretty funny.

Kings Row

Talos Island

Kings Row

Kings Row

Unnoticed one moment became duly conspicuous the next as she called in the others, Ildeala's ears having no trouble telling she to whom they belonged that someone was talking not a few meters from her, the warbled, electronic tone reminiscent of an Imperial Stormtrooper coming loud and clear from apparently thin air. Just what was being said wasn't so easy to determine however, chiefly due to being spoken in a language that sounded like a mixture of Balkan, Czechoslovakian, and Klingon.

It didn't remain that way for long though, a flicker of humanoid-shaped static soon producing the source of the voice: a suit of armor that while fitting the general proportions definitely didn't belong to any sort of human. Powered, integrated, and hermetically sealed, it looked like something that someone would've used to play the role of catcher to a pitcher in orbit. Of course, that alone wasn't so uncommon in Paragon. The plasma rifle was a different story, though.



Thankfully, the owner didn't seem to have any hostile intent, for said rifle quickly found its way to the armor's back, attaching there with a confirming click while the armored figure approached Ildela.

"Please do not move." the electronic warble became English as it bent down to get a better look at her, albeit with a heavy Slavic accent, "You have been in a collision and may have sustained internal injuries. A medical technician is on the way..."
__________________

Talos Island

Kings Row