DeviousMe

((Howdy. If you're wanting to start your own RP here, I suggest adding the phrase [Open RP] to your title so people know. ))

I wasn’t sure what pulsed louder in my ears – the hammering of my heart, or the dreadfully rhythmic stomp of metal feet behind us. Two of the hulking constructs had taken up pursuit of our impromptu infiltration unit, which now that I looked at it, wasn’t serving the point well at all. The other machines might have ignored us and gone back to their duties, but the duo on our heels undoubtedly ruined the infiltration part of the term.

“Enough of this!” Koschev stopped with a snarl, prompting Rimsey and myself to do so as well, whirling about at the horror we expected any moment now.

The Russian had thrown open his overcoat, wearing a coverall-like suit underneath that held various belts and pockets useful for storing all sorts of munitions and miscellanies - just as the Brit and I – that the equipment department affectionately called a “stealth suit”. It really was rather interesting just how much our agencies thought alike, the material even in almost the same shade of black as mine. But unlike me, Koschev didn’t just carry a relatively low-powered sidearm for emergencies, instead producing a pair of massive pistols that I would’ve trusted to threaten anything short of an armored vehicle. Sadly, the mechanical duo resembled just that to a tee.

The KGB agent, however, seemed less impressed of their bulk, whipping himself about and unloading on the two with cacophonous thunder, blasting bullet after bullet their way in the fashion that could only have come from a semi-automatic.
Still, things didn’t become any happier. As I’d expected yet hoped against, what looked like armor plating was just that, or at least served such a function. Koschev’s heavy rounds clattered off with no visible harm, ricocheting uselessly against the metal walls of the corridor. After that, we didn’t even need to ask – the Russian whirled back about, eyes wide and swearing like a proverbial waterfall of curses, the man re-joining us in our mad dash as quickly as his legs would allow. The robotic duo, though perturbed for a few moments, didn’t hesitate to take up pursuit again, the rhythmic stomp of their feet against the floor recommencing to hound my ears much quicker than I’d hoped for.

I nearly panicked. What were we supposed to do now? The corridor curved on and on, the suspicion that we’d entered into a ring of some sort growing with every moment spent running, a nagging feeling of desperation starting to climb the ladder of my insides.

Then I saw the arrow.

It wasn’t much, just an arrow of luminescent green draped crosswise though the corridor, dim light slowly pulsing about its edges from tail to head. What actually caught my attention were the openings at both of the symbol’s ends, clearly open doors set into the walls. My spirits rose even further as I realized that each access was truly two, which meant there were in truth four ways. Where they led I knew not, but at that point I couldn’t have cared less so long as it wasn’t this damned corridor.

“There!” I shouted to the others, throwing an arm out ahead to indicate what I meant, the two not taking long to get the idea. Agreeing nods preceded redoubled efforts, our motley trio making a last-ditch dash for the quartet of unsealed doors.

“What the-?” came a surprised gasp from my side, Rimsey capturing my current thoughts in virtually perfect words, “There’s no bloody floor!”

Indeed there wasn’t. Every one of the four entryways seemed to be an elevator under construction – a circular shaft of metal that stretched neatly up and down. Even the rear of these shafts bore arrows, the duo to my left pointing down while the signs at my right indicated up. There wasn’t a cabin in sight. Just empty tubes. Nothing else.

“Climb.” I told them my decision, indicating a spot of light above us in one of the right-hand pipes, “There’s another opening up there. We just have to reach it.”

“Why not down?” the Russian wanted to know, thumbing hastily at the other side of the corridor, “We don’t want to get out of here?”

“And freeze?” I countered his inquisition, vigorously shaking my head, “No thanks. Without our coats, we wouldn’t last the night. Not to mention I’m pretty sure if we got out, those monstrosities would just keep coming after us. No, we’re going up. We’re going after Kirov, just like we said.”

The two gave no audible response, but I could see they were with me. Without hesitating another moment (the approaching hulks of metal were a better motivation than falling), I lunged into the shaft in an attempt to get a hold of something and begin my climb. Fat chance of that.

My bowels nearly evacuated as something unseen grabbed me from below, the sudden mixture of vertigo and blatant nausea threatening to overwhelm my senses. Interestingly enough, the fear that gripped me that same moment spurred me into several savage attempts to grab the sides of the shaft, going so far as to cause my arms and legs to flail about like windmills, my body performing the motions of a swimmer gone mad in nothing but thing air. It took me a few second to realize I wasn’t exactly falling, or actually going anywhere for that matter, but the invisible force instead lifted my form up and away from the door I’d jumped into. I wasn’t quite sure which explanation would make me feel any better about this – that I was falling up or that gravity in this shaft performed a headstand – and frankly I doubted that either would, but I was reasonably glad to not be tumbling to my doom right about now.

Shouting down to the others, who at that point stuck their heads quizzically into the shaft, I somewhat convinced them to half-heartedly take the leap of faith. Rimsey and Koschev floated up subsequent to me not long afterward, and I wasn’t sure who behaved more comically; the pirouetting Brit or the somersaulting Russian. All I knew was that they seemed to have established a cursing contest with an impressive vocabulary. Somehow, I even admired that at this point. I knew quite well that I would’ve rather sworn than almost have my stomach revolt. Even more to my delight than the fact that I hadn’t was the sudden crunch from below, a characteristic sound of metal upon metal. I triumphed as I saw the robots were too large to fit though the doors.

“Glad that’s over.” Rimsey wiped the sweat from his forehead with a relieved sigh, watching as I did the slowly passing entries to other floors, “For now, in any case. So then, still top floor?”

“Still top floor.” I answered decisively, though my voice still shook a little, “I’m going to tear Kirov a new one for this.”

“Not before me!” Koschev threw his demands into the conversation, “If anyone gets to cream the crazy man here, I’d like the first shot if you please.”

I smiled. Those two certainly recovered quicker than I did. Good thing, too. Still, had I any idea what awaited us in Kirov’s office at that time, I could’ve told them it wasn’t nearly enough...

"Good." Hotaka gave back with a satisfied nod, "Have an estimate of the time he'll still need? I should be able to keep them busy for a reasonable while."

Speaking like in any casual conversation, the martial artist bounded over backwards and out of the target area of the Proc Bots' strikes. Thanks to their slowed (and by now likely done-for) systems, escape was rather easy.

The Oni seemed perplexed for a moment at the actions of the Assault Bot. Standing to the side, the machine had to rotate its frame to launch its spear, then turn a bit yet again to fire an energy burst. This resulted in an awkward dance that allowed the demon to simply evade both strikes with quick steps to this side, then that. Had the machine stuck to just one of them, it likely would've succeeded.

The Oni struck back with another thrust of its blazing katana, but found his strike quickly deflected by a suddenly appeared field of force from a certain little generator. Not one to linger, the demon tried again, but Ryuu certainly wasn't happy with the development.

"Oh bother."

Hotaka's comment had quite clearly been in reference to the descending Flyer, which had been somewhat lazy until now. Well, Ryuu supposed, if the enemy wasn't lazy anymore, he'd better get off his hind quarters too.

"Looks like I'll need to summon up something bigger." he cackled maliciously, drawing something from his belt that looked very much like a tiny scroll, "Let's see how you deal with this."

Like greased lightning, Hotaka's ringers unfurled the scroll from one instant to another, then thrust the thing into the ground before him with an open palm. A cascade of smoke burst forth, erupting high into the air to cover just about the entire area. Something respectably large had been called to the fray.

It didn't take long to see what. The great head of a dragon rose from the smoke within the first few seconds, the form of Hotaka easily finding space to stand above its pupilless white eyes. Curiously enough, the martial artist had somehow regained his hat, and instead of taunting the enemy with superior smirks now stood there quiet as a rock - almost as if he concentrated deftly on maintaining some manner of illusion.

The creature, however, was most certainly not a conjured phantasm. Large, lean, mean and green, this was the real deal - not a draconian, not some manner of dragon-like being, and certainly not a wyvern. This was an honest-to-goodness dragon, easily the size of the Mayhem Flyer, standing tall on its hind legs as it spread the wings of its back.

Hotaka's wry chuckle echoed all around from the thing's head...

((Force Bomb, not Proton Volley. ))

"If I let more people know I could do that," the Lady Grey replied with a smart-alecky smirk, "it just wouldn't be as much fun."

Joining Danica and Solid Shot in their assault of the impostor, the head of Vanguard and her shadowy underling unleashed throbs of mire at the automaton, the woman's taking the form of a howling skull while the servant's call morphed into another assembly of shadowy tentacles.

Disappointment soon followed nevertheless, the counterfeit Dark Watcher vanishing from its spot once more to escape both these strikes as well as the ones from Toy Dispenser's entourage. Bullets, mire, and Danica's leg alike found nothing but thin air.

The impostor reappeared beside the robotic mastermind - and right in the path of his secretly assembled force bubble. Rammed away by the suddenly present repelling energies, the automaton found itself in what could very probably have been considered the worst spot in the multiverse at present.

In front of a very ticked Randall Grey.

What followed was certainly not for the faint of heart.

But the impostor certainly wasn't out of tricks yet. Though its hat had chosen to flee and its sunglasses lay crushed upon the floor, not to mention several sections of false skin having popped open to reveal now-heavily-dented metal underneath, the automaton had a good amount of fight left in it as well.

A pit of numbing darkness exploded upon the floor under the tanker's feet, leeching him of speed like he'd been suddenly stuck into a deep patch of tar. Even worse, the snaking shadows began to degrade his armors at a steady pace.

Then Grey's world sunk behind a veil of night. The dire gloom now filled the air too, circling about like a dreadful cocoon with the tanker as its focus, seeking to rob him of the certainty of his strikes, as well as stealing away a quantity of their power.

But things weren't over yet. A third fall of shadows descended, this time centering on the automaton as it sprang back to its feet. Instead of weakening the hero, however, these swaths of darkness seemed to strengthen his opponent instead, capable of absorbing a good many strikes, especially those of Toy's pulse lasers.

Of course, this all took time - and though it wasn't very long, the impostor still had to wait a few moments before coming at Grey directly, the hydraulic force of a cold, unrelenting machine in its fists.

Nemesis seemed to have even less luck than his creation, Solid Shot's empowered rounds crashing through his field of dispersion and racking his armor. Thankfully, his steam tech didn't much depend on electricity; otherwise the attack might have shorted his suit out completely.

The jagged pieces of rubble, however, failed at the barrier of energy, as did the strike of Binro's Nemesis staff.

"Pickpocket!" the brassen madman cried at the charging hero, raising his own staff to guard, "How dare you steal from your Lord Nemesis?!"

The empowered mace crashed through his shield with a vengeance, catching the arch-villain's staff in counter. The weapons locked dead for a moment, and all seemed to stand still. Then Nemesis redoubled his efforts and pushed back, trying to strike at Binro's exposed head with the lethally grinding gear of his staff...

--------------------

Small Toy didn't even find a shred of a molecule that shouldn't have been there. The Rikti DNA from blood and normal skin residue on and in the suit of armor didn't contain any trace of the attacker. The drone even found human DNA residue at the bullet impact sites, marks of the Nemesis soldiers who'd loaded the rounds into their weapons (amazing considering what a bullet went through when fired), but the claw marks remained a mystery for now.

Indeed, there seemed to be more pressing concerns. The wind in the corridor had picked up, and not just by a little bit. Somewhere a ways back, this facility was in the undoubtedly unwelcome process of venting atmosphere...

--------------------

"Your request had been rejected." the I/O path's sentry replied to the Fool, voice monotonous and devoid of emotion, "We are sorry, but crucial maintenance is currently being performed. No foreign entities are permitted entry at this time."

As if appearing for nothing other than the sole reason of blatant contradiction, yet another black Ferrari raced past the both of them and through the holobanner, utterly unheeded by the barrier. A moment later, yet one more roared from the tunnel and away on the I/O stream, vanishing into the distant oblivion of white in mere seconds.

Ryat66 knew seeker programs when he saw them. He'd known what the cars represented the moment he'd spied the first. But if they could access the supercomputer without any trouble at all, what made them so different? The sentry had stated that no foreign entities were being admitted - a rather formidable puzzle.

"One moment." the sentry program told the Fool not a few moments after the entering seeker had faded from view, the representing man raising a hand to his earpiece, "Ryat66...confirmed. Please proceed, you are now expected..."

--------------------

The TacOps let out grunts of anger and pain as the flames washed over them. Only their advanced uniforms prevented them from simply being set alight and burning to their deaths.

Now they were really ticked.

"Frag out!" Cory heard someone shout from the roof, followed by a quartet of fragmentation grenades plummeting towards him not a second later. The Malta didn't seem interested in following him, preferring to try and carpet bomb Simmons to death.

On the roof itself, however, the plan was much different. The TacOps weren't relying on their explosives to do the hero in. Instead, two of them clacked what looked like harpoons into their rifles, then blasted those deep into the structure of the roof. Grappling lines at the ready, the other two quickly tied off and prepared to rappel down the side of the building for a close encounter.

Meanwhile, the sniper swore and grumbled something unintelligible, then took aim over the edge of the roof with his long-barreled rifle. Strangely enough, the laser that now wandered over Cory's body seemed off-center with the weapon, but that didn't look like it would stop the man from putting a round through Simmons' head...

Hotaka seemed less surprised than Panzerfrau's henchmen would have liked. While the Assault Bot standing in a torrent of demonic flames was certainly new (usually things just tended to light aflame and/or melt, but apparently Panzerfrau had constructed her robots to be completely non-flammable), the other mechanoids were previously expected.

The three - correction, two - Drones found their pulse laser fire deftly blocked by some manner of ninja bodyguard that had simply leaped from the ground behind his master. The Jounin didn't seem to care that his katanas couldn't block every bolt (not to mention it was somewhat odd the a sword stood capable of blocking a pulse laser bolt), the undeflected fire shredding into his form, but not packing enough punch to take the strange Jounin out.

The Proc Bots ended up even worse, their solid ammunition easy prey for Hotaka's next move. Tracing the sign of the snake into the air like a magical rune, the martial artist placed a hand to his mouth, then without warning spat forth a wide, conical spray of toxins and acids most vile.

The rounds simply melted to slag long before they reached their target, the swath of poisons speeding on to shower the Proc Bots in a corrosive concoction that almost instantly began to eat into their frames, reaching internal systems and causing enough havoc to severely slow every single one of their operations.

Thankfully, backups and such prevented them from being completely held in place by the vicious corrosives, but the effect was nonetheless dire. The mechanoids were seizing up from the inside out. It wouldn't take long before they shut down completely.

Indeed, the Assault Bot seemed the only one with any success to report, its energy blasts spearing right through the Oni. Black blood spattered across the ground, the demon hurled into the dirt from the force of the blast.

But let it not be said that any sort of demon had ever been easy to take down, least of all an Oni. The creature of the pit called upon a katana of solid fire as it rose yet again, then hurled the infernal blade at the offending machine's head in an attempt to split it in twain.

Hotaka merely smirked. This was going well. So long as the Flyer didn't get any bright ideas of joining the fray, he'd be able to hold these guys long enough for a certain little sniper to do its job...

--------------------

"Ah, I see we split again." Baalial retorted to Block Bot, "If I am to predict Toy Dispenser correctly, he's likely off fetching something very important then. Alright, let's make sure he has a safe place to stash it. Madame Sybil, fire up that telepad. Let us depart for Croatoa..."

The Lady Grey's eyes glared at Solid Shot with a veritable inferno of rage, the head of Vanguard utterly beside herself. Not only had Nemesis the gall to make a mockery of all this yet again, but he'd also copied Devon - and his was a good name she would absolutely not let him tarnish!

Solid Shot was likely very surprised as such a dainty-looking hand wrapped about his throat with the vise-like grip of steel, the Lady Grey hefting herself up off the floor and taking the robot with her.

"Do that again and you're fired." she told him with icy tone and narrowed eyes, setting Solid's feet gently back upon the floor.

The implications of her statement seemed clear enough. Without the others right there, the impostor could have taken both of them down while they'd been defenseless on the floor. Thankfully, Toy Dispenser's entourage had kept the Dark Watcher Automaton busy for the time Randall Grey had needed to get over to him. Its cover blown wide open by the resounding metallic echo of its skull, the automaton now shifted priority to full offense.

"Om mani padme hum." the machine uttered the familiar Buddhist mantra, vanishing in a flash of darkness and reappearing behind the unwelcome stone hero, "How right you are."

With Grey more than likely in utter incredulity at what happened next, the automaton actually lifted a rooted tanker in granite armor high off the floor and hurled the man at Toy and his robots like an oversized bowling ball.

Nemesis didn’t idle about either, groaning with disappointment as Jake managed to be rid of his protective field. Not wasting any time, the brassen madman lobbed a bomb of force at the young man and his mechanoids, intending to send them flying in all directions in addition to inflicting heavy casualties upon them. It would strike in short order.

But of course, plans ran within plans here, and it couldn't be said of Nemesis that he didn't plan ahead.

Even as C'Kelkah arose once more, burning with desire to take on Nemesis and knock his block off, she already tried to inform everyone of the happenings. But Murphy's Law had gotten the better of her, the translator of her suit sputtering only unintelligible gibberish. Nemesis had damaged the device with his earlier strike.

"Quick...bomb...!" the weakened Sah'Teece managed to get out as if by some miracle, still out of breath from being nearly crushed by the HVAS. Fortunately, a certain someone had already thought things through and reacted accordingly.

"You little pests!" Nemesis bellowed angrily at the robots that maintained the force field, beginning to strike at them. Right about know, the lobbed force bomb would be finding its mark at or near Jake as well, "I demand you release that at once!"

Suddenly, the long-headed alien stopped said strikes in their tracks, having managed to get around the madman and bury his axe deep inside the literal thick skull of the brassen maniac.

"What?! Where...?!" Nemesis twirled about cantankerously, seeking to strike at Binro instead, which resulted in a rather comical scene, the hero's axe having wedged itself into his armor. Whether he had managed to hang on to his own weapon or not was another matter.

Be what may, it was clear the arch-villain wasn't finished just yet. A larger field of force expanded from his suit of war now; though this bubble of dispersion stood less firm than the smaller, more energetic field had done earlier. Still, Nemesis gambled upon the presence of at least some defenses as he reinvigorated his assault on those preventing the room's decompression...

--------------------

Small Toy's dash led it right into another battleground, the lifeless bodies of Rikti Gunmen sprawled against floor and walls along with amalgamated pieces of Nemesis machinery. The source of noticed motion, however, was no longer present.

Whatever had moved there a moment ago seemed to have vanished into thin air. There wasn't even an infrared after-image for Small Toy's thermals to track.

The thing had left a clue, however - one of the fallen Rikti soldiers in that corridor wasn't there anymore. All that remained was the suit of armor, the chest plating of the hermetically sealed suit wrenched open in a manner most gruesome. There wasn't any blood on the sliced-open alloys, though the fluid did stain several holes that Nemesis chain gun rounds had caused, but the long-gouged claw marks upon the armor suggested the fate of the Gunman hadn't been pleasant.

If Small Toy had the means to inspect the left-behind suit, he would quickly notice its spatial displacer still had a full charge. Apparently, this Gunman had attempted to warp away from his attacker when he'd been gotten the better of. In addition, the armor's interior lining still carried a thermal signature, meaning its occupant had been alive - and not just a little while ago; readings suggested a few seconds at most. Nemesis' forces hadn't succeeded in felling this one with the others, this stood as fact.

But if he'd survived the Nemesis attack, then what had happened to him?

The corridor branched in two here, with more passages (some secured with doors, others not) leading away to who-knew-where along the way. Still, if it played back a memory log, Small Toy would find the motion had slipped away to the left - down that corridor.

A resounding sound of thunder, however, may have made this all moot. Along with the sudden appearance of wind, the noise was most decidedly not a harbinger of good news...

--------------------

White.

The Fool's environment was white.

All about, stretching infinitely into every direction, blank white expanse dominated - the very personification of available space.

The Fool himself, however, stood upon something solid: a transparent ribbon of blue, light as the sky yet just a bit darker. A road of some sort, representing an input/output path, and one such respectably wide. Perhaps twenty meters or so. The thing seemed to have a pulse, streaks of what appeared to be energy rolling back and forth along its route like perfectly flat waves. The Fool didn't even take notice as they passed beneath his feet at speed.

Ahead lay their (and obviously his) destination: a wall that spanned eternity. Hued in the same bright blue as the path, the thing seemed composed of an uncountable number of parts. They looked like monitors of sorts, displaying symbols of unidentifiable origin, ever shifting, and ever changing.

If the Fool knew anything about computer code, right about now would be the time he'd realize these were qubits. The supercomputer was actually a quantum computer. And here stood its representation - a wall of qubits.

No, not quite. A slight curvature could be observed. It wasn't a wall, but instead a gargantuan cylinder that went on both above and below the path further than he could see. Yet right here, right in front of him, the path led into the infinite tower, a tunnel clearly visible.

And under guard.

A checkpoint stood to block the path, complete with holobanner demanding identification in its slowly side-scrolling text. In front of this, in turn, what appeared to be a zone security chief had been stationed - obviously the verification program. Backed by a duo of sentry turrets mounted upon the tunnel's ceiling, which likely represented defense programs, the Fool could easily see the supercomputer's protections had no desire to be messed with.

Not that he had a chance at first.

Before he even knew it, a night-black Ferrari roared right past him and through the checkpoint, passing effortlessly and unheeded through the barrier.

This was the image that presented itself.

Or, at least, this was how the Fool saw it...

--------------------

The light of Cory's fireball chased all darkness from the roof for a moment. In a blaze of orange, a strategically positioned group of men flared into view in a glimpse, the fiery illumination glinting off their high-tech night vision goggles. Even in the orange light, which created the illusion of black uniforms, Simmons had no trouble seeing them for what they were.

Malta Operatives.

For an instant, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Cory now beheld a group of five men specially trained and equipped to take down people like him. The TacOps' rifles already sat aimed squarely at him, and the Sapper's devilish weapon by slowly its blue luminescence. It was still charging up, having been deactivated until now, but it wouldn't take long for the hideous thing to become operational.

"Wax ‘im!" the 'Crey sniper' yelled as he ducked low and rolled to the side, the TacOps team opening up on Cory with a vicious assault.

Two of the operatives flung web grenades toward Simmons, hoping to send the hovering man crashing to the ground, and the other two let the lead fly, seeking to turn him into Swiss cheese with their highly advanced munitions. Thankfully, the Sapper didn't seem capable of firing just yet, his weapon still building up a charge...

((Slash, but not much difference. And there's only been one so far. Not sure I'd say 'almost every' there. ))

Thule had just made a costly mistake. With the duo of katanas still in contact with his body, his own spin created a situation akin to a potato peeler, the blades slicing deeper and deeper into his under-armor the faster he spun.

His daggers, however, made no contact at all, the Jounin bending his body about and through the volume of safety between them in a truly inhuman manner, more like a snake then a man.

However, this maneuver (not to mention pulling his swords from Thule again) meant he couldn't execute a counterattack at the same time...

--------------------

Hotaka hadn't let the Flyer from his senses even once, but the 'package' it tried to squish him with came as a deft surprise. Scrambling away from the box in a haphazard fashion, even ducking low didn't prevent the assault bot's pulse laser from blasting the hat off his head.

"How rude." the martial artist scowled, twirling about to stare down the mechanoid. More than likely, Panzerfrau presently observed the battle through her henchmen's eyes, so she'd probably take notice of a certain something immediately.

Hotaka's eyes were pupilless.

Just blank white oculae, no iris, lens, or any other workings of the human eye to be seen. Still, the man's glare seemed to drill its way right through the robot.

Not allowing said machine a second chance, the tall martial artist quickly formed a spiritual symbol with his fingers, calling forth an Oni not three meters from the assault bot. The Japanese demon gave a savage laugh, more than likely woefully underestimating his opponent, then belched a swath of flame at the machine and all around it...

The sniper's eyes gawked in disbelief behind his government glasses, seeming to have trouble grasping the concept of the ice-plugged weapon. For a few moments, the man remained silent, thoughts nearly tripping over themselves as his mind raced.

He cursed himself an idiot for letting his aim sidetrack when the meta had surprised him. Now that? He had to get the laser microphone lined up again, but if he took aim at the car once more, the guy was sure to take note. Hopefully, he at least hadn't become aware of the micro-sized recorder on the rifle. Good freakin' grief, where the hell was that tactical ops team when you actually needed them for something?! Probably standing around somewhere senselessly punching their fists into their hands again!

"Erm...of course." the sniper finally reacted, apparently having overcome his surprise. By now, Cory might have noticed the somewhat unusual plumpness of the man's frame. It wasn't much, but generally Crey kept their employees fit and athletic. The sniper rested just a bit across the line there, "Crey Biotech is always happy to aid the heroes of Paragon."

Having calmed down again, the man nonchalantly lowered his rifle, pointing the muzzle aside and down. Doing so allowed him to bring it into its former position by aiming out the corner of his eye, and then re-align the laser to the car. Such a feat already required a good amount of skill - even more so when trying to disguise that it was happening with casual conversation.

"I am here simply to render assistance to this PPD unit if necessary." the sniper continued, his tone never hinting that he could currently be doing anything but talking to Simmons, "Their efforts have succeeded in removing the undesirables in the area, and Crey wishes to ensure their mission remains a success."

As the man continued to laud his company's alignment with the law though, there seemed to pass a flit of motion in the darkness of the roof. Cory couldn't be sure what it had been, but if he had a keen eye he'd be certain something had just moved there...

--------------------

Ryat66 quickly found himself confronted with the same problem the software engineers and computer science team in the actual supercomputer chamber had been tripped up by.

The diagnostic program.

While it ran, the nasty little thing denied absolutely all access to the inner workings of the machine. All attempts to shut it down so far had failed - it was neither accepting override codes nor giving in to emergency system access requests.

The android would have to get very creative if he wanted to get around this thing...

--------------------

"No, everything is bloody not alright!" the Lady Grey roared with rage as she unleashed a swath of tenebrous tentacles at the Dark Watcher, the dark tendrils winding about the man's body with frightening speed, "That maniac built a copy of Wilcox! Get him!"

"No, wait!" shouted the mysterious man in black not a moment later, breaking free of the tentacles' hold with a strenuous grunt. He threw an accusing finger in the woman's direction, "That is the automaton, and it is not the only one! It is trying to deceive you!"

This looked bad. Very bad. The Vanguard personnel lay unconscious for the most part, the sabotage tech having slapped them heavily when it had fried the equipment they wore. C'Kelkah had been sprawled into a corner at the rear of the room, the steam-driven madman standing in the doorway to the arrival room having bested her with his staff when she'd tried an assault.

Sah'Teece's legs jutted from underneath the frame of a fallen HVAS, the Rikti half-buried under the massive machine. However, he still moved, struggling in a very awkward manner to get out from the mechanoid that pinned him to the floor. His armor could withstand the weight, but with the dizzying effects of Cher'tak's outburst still lingering in his mind, he stood no hope of freedom alone.

In short, it was now the word of Lady Grey against that of the Dark Watcher. For all anyone knew, the operative that had spoken to Grey could be an automaton just as well. Nemesis didn't even chuckle, silently observing with what could only be imagined as the smuggest of smiles.

In truth, however, concern had gripped him. The Warhorse hadn't lasted nearly as long as he'd expected, meaning he no longer had a distraction keeping the heroes away. Apparently, the super-powered team had found a way to disable its force bubble, then dispatched of the machine. That certainly wasn't good. Now he could only hope they'd fall for the Dark Watcher Automaton's extremely convincing act.

"It has been toying with us!" the dark man continued to accuse the Lady Grey, referring to her as an object to underscore his argument, "It was all one big trap. It redirected the portal from the very beginning, sending you here instead of where planned. It even sent me away beforehand. Only upon my return to the compound did we discover the real Lady Grey had been abducted from her helicopter en route to Peregrine."

"You damn, filthy liar!" the woman roared in outrage, calling upon an amorphous, living shadow to aid her - a creature most nowadays called a Dark Servant, "I'm going to break you into so many parts they'll have to pick up the pieces with tweezers! And you're next, 'Lord' Nemesis, mark my words!"

The Prussian Prince of Automatons said nothing at all, attempting to further the confusion. Folding his arms, the armored maniac simply stood there without so much as batti...eh?

A nearly visible question mark appeared above Nemesis' head as the fireball struck home with its dull thud, causing the mechanical arch-villain to whirl about. The attack had obviously surprised him, the brassen madman beholding the new arrivals with genuine astonishment.

"Reinforcements?!" he bellowed in exasperation, for a moment not believing his eyes, "Why was I not informed of this?"

"Looks like your informants aren't as reliable as you thought." the Lady Grey chuckled diabolically.

"My thoughts exactly." growled the Dark Watcher, raising his fists, "You slipped up, and this time will be your last."

"We shall see." Nemesis growled with his hollow, mechanical tone, raising a personal force field as the main assault commenced...

--------------------

Sector Epsilon
The Jade Moon

This wasn't good at all. The timing had been completely thrown off. More attention should have come to this matter earlier. Why did so many things have to happen at once?!

Okay, that hadn't been too helpful. First he had to calm down. A few things had gone wrong, but that was to be expected. Not only that, but that's what contingencies were for. An inflexible plan wasn't a plan at all, right? All that it needed were a few minor changes, a tweak here and there, and-wait, what was that?

Footsteps...and robotic ones?

Oh no, they were here already! Time to move...!

--------------------

Small Toy's path seemed to lead directly into a labyrinth of devastation. Passages led every which way, though if the form of this sector was anything to go by, the facility had some manner of circular shape going for it.

The lifts leading below the surface had been either sealed or damaged beyond the capability of being used safely, so at least for now only the uppermost level of the station seemed accessible. Then again, it was doubtful Small Toy would've found anything down there anyway. Someone had babbled something about a great deal of automation, and it just didn't make sense that the Rikti security teams hadn't pooled their resources at once to drive out the intruders.

By the bodies and debris lining the corridors, not to mention the simply breathtaking amount of general battle damage, it seemed they certainly had - and given Nemesis a run for his money.

Still, it all looked that same. The battle was over, no doubt about it. The only things that moved now were the flames of a few localized fires, and tho-wait, what was that?

Something had moved down that corridor...!

"I'd hoped you might have an answer to that." Unai Kemen sighed in retort to McGinty's question, handing the clipboard back to the technician, "I'm security, not IT. I never even figured out how to program my VCR at home, let alone get a supercomputer-gone-nuts back into line. If only Dr. Webb were still around..."

"Not sure what he'd do either, Sir." the technical specialist interjected, thumbing at the main campus building behind them, "We've got a whole SE team in there, and CS guys too, but the diagnostic's got them all locked out."

"Just keep trying." the Security Chief gave answer with a huff, trying to keep his composure, then turned back to Matt and Archlich, "Any ideas?"

His attention shifted from the two, however, as Straum appeared on the scene. With a nod requesting patience, Unai Kemen approached the newcomer with a warning.

"The portal's fully configured and will sedn you to them." he told the robed man, indicating the massive machine with an arm, "But I need you to understand that at present we have no way of getting them, or you, back. In addition, we know of no other way you might return by. So far, the Rikti are the only ones capable of penetrating the barrier between our worlds. If you fully comprehend the consequences of the actions you're about to take, you are free to enter the portal..."

--------------------

"Cover!" roared the Colonel to his unit, the Vanguard soldiers scattering behind whatever available debris would guard them from what they suspected would be incoming chain gun fire.

"Willie Petes!" came the second order, the operatives taking aim with WP rounds and letting loose. Sadly, Nemesis seemed to have counted on this, armoring the Warhorse up against extreme temperatures all over - not only near its rocket engines. The damage sustained form WP munitions could be reduced to superficial classification.

The opposite could not be said. Impervium may have been very hard to pierce through, and even the Warhorse's fire-based strikes weren't enough to melt it (the flame streams weren't really plasma-hot, otherwise they would have been plasma, something Nemesis did not employ), but things sure got hot inside armor built of it. Worse yet, blunt force trauma wasn't something armor could protect against - and the soldiers were still very much flesh and blood underneath.

While the rapidly fired force bolts didn't pack that enough of a punch (most of the time only stopping a soldier for the length of time it took him or her to take a knee), the sudden forward charge certainly did, catching the Colonel in a cover switch and ramming the man to the ground. The battering ram didn't penetrate, but as he lay there in spasms and gasping for breath, even the dimmest person knew he'd sustained heavy internal injuries.

Lk'Onik had been nearly paralyzed, the Warmaster's outburst of emotion into their small network bearing heavily on even the Psi-Scout, rendering him unable to join in the attack. He did, however, have the presence of mind to request immediate backup...

--------------------

Already perplexed of the muffled noises that trickled into the hastily established ops center, the Lady Grey regarding the open door with suspect glare, she wasn't very surprised when C'Kelkah suddenly informed her of Lk'Onik's situation report.

Though Sah'Teece seemed to be suffering from the unseen, the Rikti scientist's demeanor stood firm as granite, her mind cold and calculating as she rearranged her own emotional priorities to counter Cher'tak's outburst.

"Take Bravo team." Lady Grey gave a nod to another Colonel, "Their HVAS units should make quick work of that maniac's creation."

The officer returned salute, already ordering a squad assembled when the portal in the arrival chamber suddenly gave loud report, spitting out a hastened Dark Watcher.

"No!" the mysterious man in black shouted in warning, his pace at a run, "Don't send anyone else! There are traps!"

"Devon!" the Lady Grey exclaimed, "What are you doing here? I thought..."

"No time now." the Dark Watcher interrupted as he arrived at the group, reaching into his long trench coat to produce a stack of small, disc-like devices. Not wasting any time, he handed them off to the Colonel, "Place them on the HVAS units. Hurry, we've no time to lose."

As the officer hurried off to do as told, the cryptic hero rapidly dove into an explanation, "One of the new ones found plans for this thing in one of Nemesis' bases. One of its weapons can disable our equipment. Luckily, Gaussian was able to create these countermeasures in time. I've not arrived too late, have I?"

"No, no, it's alright." the Lady Grey assured her second-in-command, the Vanguard personnel placing the last of the devices onto their HVAS units, quickly continuing to distribute the countermeasures to as much equipment as they could, "Delta team is holding their own for now. But quickly, what are the other traps you spoke of?"

Lady Grey's eyes went wide with horror as she received the Dark Watcher's response - his fist to her gut, a jab that carried downright hydraulic force and sent her to the floor on her back.

"Wilcox!" she yelled in outrage, lifting herself onto her elbows, "What...?"

A moment later, however, the truth was already evident. Lady Grey's eyes narrowed, the woman grinding her teeth together as she spat at the automaton, "You're not Devon! Men, get those things o...!"

Too little, too late.

Without warning, the devices revealed themselves for what they truly were - the weapon the impostor had spoken of. Arcs of static flared throughout the ops center, sparks cascading from all manner of equipment as Nemesis' sabotage tech went to work, utterly disabling whatever it presently contacted by simply frying out its circuitry. The HVAS units collapsed in thunderous staccato.

"No, he is not." came a sinister, mechanical chuckle from the Nemesis that had just stepped from the portal, staff in hand and gear grinding ominously. One could never tell if these suits of steam-tech armor were fake or real, but that didn't seem to matter now. Nemesis was here. Whether in person or just in spirit, here he stood, this was certain.

"My dearest Lady Grey," the arch-villain mused, his immobile face conveying a smile most smug despite its frozen expression, "why oh why did you have to see through my plans? Everything had been going so very well. If only you hadn't interfered and not worried..."

"If you dare say that again," the Lady Grey lunged from the floor, assuming a combat stance as she spoke with a voice cold as ice and dark as the deepest night, "I'm going to personally remove your head and convert it into a very nasty, greasy smear."

"Fair enough." Nemesis replied, extending an open palm in a gesture of armistice, "I suppose I had that one coming. Now then, I don't take it I can convince you to just perhaps...leave?"

"You can try." the dark heroine stood her ground, cracking her knuckles, "I'll be sure to take you and that imposter apart piece by piece."

"We both know you don't have that kind of power." the mechanical madman snickered, "By now, my creation has likely already charged past your precious heroes and sealed their way back there with a powerful wall of force. They cannot come to your rescue. And without your entourage's many toys, you don't stand a ghost of a chance."

"We'll see." the woman huffed, "I'm not moving."

"Oh come now, don't be ridiculous." Nemesis performed a mocking gesture with his free arm, encompassing the room, "I knew exactly where you'd be and with what. My informants are most reliable, you see. Your portal has been tracked ever since you opened it. Ah, I see by your eyes that you thought your switch of destination would befool them. I am so very sorry to disappoint you."

"Shut up and let's get this over with." the Lady Grey called out her opponent.

"As you wish." Nemesis obliged, stretching his staff toward the head of Vanguard, "Dark Watcher - kill them all..."

--------------------

Bayside Docks
Peregrine Island

In the dark of night, the jet-black Ferrari blended into its background nearly without seam, the few lights around reflected brilliantly in its luster as the car rolled onto the wharf that sat by the southern beach.

Motor gurgling idly, the car stopped not far down the dock, in its headlights nothing but stacked crates of cargo and nets.

Until a SWAT van entered the scene.

Meshing with the night nearly as an equal, the van approached with all lights extinguished, siren nowhere to be heard. Whoever drove it attempted to be clandestine, this was sure.

It didn't take long for the larger vehicle to make its way toward the sports car, stopping at perhaps a dozen meters away. Neither vehicle killed its engine, both seeming intent on having the capability of quick escape should the situation require it.

For a few seconds, nothing changed, but then a man clad in the uniform of a PPD Psi Officer stepped from the SWAT van's passenger door and began to approach the Ferrari's left. In response, the driver-side window of the night-black car lowered with an automatic hum. All in all, it seemed Paragon's 'normal' protectors simply wanted to know what was going on.

Then again, a keen eye would've noticed several things very amiss. Not amongst the meeting, oh no, all looked as it should look there.

Around the meeting.

The Devouring Earth were nowhere to be found, nor were the Rikti or forces of the Nemesis Army. Sure, this could all be explained by effort of the zone's heroes, but the disparity of the area's normal criminal element seemed disturbing at the least.

Indeed, from across the small bay the separated the Docks from Poseidon Square, a sniper of Crey perched on one of that area's rather tall buildings. The scope of his rifle had been trained neatly this way. Even more suspicious still was the barely-visible trail of laser light that shone from his weapon, the beam just faintly capable of being seen whenever a few stray particles of bay fog wandered across its line of sight...

"Very well." Hotaka answered Steve, jabbing the fingers of his left hand into the wall of the charred warehouse they now passed. The already weakened structure gave way, the blazing wall toppling without much protest, catching the laser fire of the pursuing mechanoids.

"Weak spot." the martial artist smiled menacingly, though if Power had the time to examine the strike, he would've noticed Hotaka had struck no such thing, "Go on then, I'll keep them busy. Just don't let them find you, otherwise I'm going to be very upset for doing all this work for nothing."

Leaving the hero to go, Ryuu faced about and examined the situation. It wouldn't be long before the robots got over the toppled, burning wall (or simply blasted it out of the way), but it would still buy him a few seconds to take everything in.

He already knew about the oversized Flyer in the sky, as well as at least three battle drones. Now then, what else came there...?

--------------------

Thule had a problem. Well, technically two. The first was that tracking someone's body heat in an area full of brightly burning warehouses was somewhat...difficult, to say the least.

The second was the Jounin that leaped from the shadows behind him - and this quite literally; Thule was absolutely sure there hadn’t been anyone there to detect an instant earlier - who tried to carve the sniper apart as he prepared to execute his second tried grab on Power.

Busy executing the attempt, even if he interrupted at this very moment, Thule stood little to no chance of countering the strike of dual katanas from this close a range, not to mention behind...

Hotaka couldn't help but smirk at the unusually large Flyer, quickly following Steve and hoping the aircraft would do so as well. He couldn't fight the thing openly right now, it would have to come lower for that, but if the targets it had been tasked with pursuing suddenly vanished in the alleys between burnt-out warehouses, there was no logical reason not to do so.

"Please do tell me you're not rushing off to it anyway." he remarked to Power as they darted away, "Unless it's in a badly secured spot, you'd be playing right into her hands..."

What lay about the rounding of the corridor could be seen simply enough. A soft crackle had come from beyond the hallway's twist, accompanied by a spastic flicker of the already somewhat twilit illumination of the Rikti facility. Orange had mixed with yellow, creating a fluidum of reflection upon the wall opposite the corner, and the scene that presented itself as the source of said reflection could be summed up in a single word.

Damage.

All lay in shambles. Scars etched deep into walls, floor, and ceiling spoke volumes of horrors what wrought devastation here. Still-crackling fires warned that it all hadn't been long since gone, the gouges carved all about as frighteningly varied as their staggering number.

Some spoke of plasmatic energy bolts and power-laden heavy edges; Rikti blasters and blades. Others told the tale of heavy ballistics, stunk of oil and fire, or brandished the revealing patterns of fully automatic weaponry; weapons of the Nemesis Army.

And scattered through the remnants of chaos lay the fallen forms of the combatants, Rikti armor locked motionless with the shattered remains of steam-powered automatons. Jaegers had been cut to ribbons, the mechanical constructs in pieces on the floor, and here and there rested part of a Warhulk, pilot capsules crushed and smeared in manners that suggested the Rikti had been pushed to the edge by desperation.

Half a hulking machine lay pressed against the left wall, while sat wedged in a closed blast door to the right, the gate's mechanisms having sheared the attacker apart. The remainder of the monstrosity moved no more, and one could only begin to imagine what now lay on the other side of that door.

"Look alive, people." the Colonel of the Vanguard troop backing up Delta team grumbled through his face mask, the piece of armor muffling his voice, "Don't wanna be caught off-guard."

Lk'Onik couldn't help but agree, though the Psi-Scoud did so silently, having returned to his usual, shy demeanor. Like the small number of Vanguard, he treaded carefully. This corridor showed the scene of an obvious last stand, and the Rikti wasn't in the mood of running into any traps that may not have sprung upon the attackers in the final showdown...

--------------------

"Then I guess your definition of good will depend on how much you like your associate." Kemen answered the arcanely empowered skeleton, not batting an eyelash as his gaze darted back and forth over the personnel trying to make sense of the portal's behavior, "Toy Dispenser is presently on the homeworld of the Rikti, along with a large group of other people, and that infernal machine over there isn't letting anyone back."

"Sir, telemetry from the past few hours." a Longbow soldier interrupted, handing the Security Chief a clipboard with a stack of printouts and a few scribbled notes, "Just as you said. Nobody's had any contact with the supercomputer for the past three days. It's like the thing's doing this all on its own..."

((*Wonders how Thule got away from Sybil* <.&lt)

Hotaka raised an eyebrow in the shadow of his hat. So that's why he hadn't noticed her. True enough, holograms made neither sound nor smell. Even the energies used to produce them were generally too little to sense amongst any light.

Luckily, the woman seemed very willing to help them out. Had Ryuu been in her place, he would've bluffed and told Steve that he knew where the weapon was and that there were already men on their way to destroy it - he was only there to make sure he didn't interfere.

This would've caused the hero to bolt for it, and so long as a convincing effort was made to stop him, and lead Hotaka right to the weapon.

However, it seemed he'd overestimated the Masters of Mayhem. Now all Steve had to do was send someone else to retrieve the weapon, and unless the Masters had every resistance fighter currently in the area under constant surveillance (bordering on the impossible considering a good few of them had very sophisticated means of stealthy movement), Panzerfrau's attempt to get to the weapon had just been crushed by her own words.

A click rang out and into Hotaka's ear. Make that a series of them.

Who was breathing so heavily around here? Holograms certainly didn't, and the only one who'd been with Steve until now was...

Oh bother. I despise backstabbers.

Hotaka's left hand shot into Thule's line of sight as he heard the pull of a trigger, not waiting for the echo of the discharge. The round's 830 m/s amazingly stood no chance to close the distance to Steve's body before the wayward hand snapped closed around it, robbing it of virtually all kinetic energy.

"Ouch." the overly tall martial artist muttered with a disinterested tone, arm still outstretched and extended for a moment. After that moment, however, Ryuu made sure to give the round ample velocity for distance, just in case someone around here did as he would have and placed a backup explosive with a timer into the shell, "Yeah, definitely hate backstabbers. Master Power, we should go before he fires another round..."

--------------------

"Oh, you've a telepad keyed to there." Baalial remarked with satisfaction, having expected that he'd have to facilitate the transport himself, "Well in that case, by all means. The wilds are perfectly acceptable. Now then, where'd Toy get to? The undead Balthazar can handle, but we'll need a tactical coordinator if we're to fight the troops I expect Blightlord will call if he can't take us out with his own..."

"That'll need some discussion." Baalial retorted, very in the fashion of an attorney, "But yes, it does seem to be a weak point in the enemy's armor. I wouldn't know anyone else whom we could use to our advantage like Blightlord, especially in Croatoa. Thanks to the weakness of the barriers to the spirit world there, I'm even allowed a few more personal legal maneuvers than normal."

"As for a site..." the demon mused in thought, "I'm not sure yet. What sort of environment would be easiest for your people to fight in...?"

--------------------

It didn't thake Hotaka long to chatch up with Steve in the former Warehouse section. The man's scent led right to him.

"So..." he wanted to know, emerging from the shadows. Power may or may not have perceived his coming, but after all the hero wasn't who he was trying to avoid, "Are we looking for anything specific...?"

((*pokes Beebs with the stick of attention*))

Ph, humans have been killing other humans for thousands of years.

((Anyone is welcome to join at any time, Feride. Open RP. ))

"That too, as well as a good mixture of other compounds." Lk'Onik gave answer to the inquiries from Toy and company. Apparently, his mind refused to let him stand still, the Psi-Scout pacing about the walls with purpose as he answered Cher'tak, "The Jade Moon is mainly a series of shipbuilding plants. Six major assembly lines, several minor ones. Two research stations, and a few testing sites. Mostly automated except for the manufacturing and maintenance crews."

Indeed, it was very logical that the Warmaster didn't know about the Jade Moon's facilities. Mostly underground, the assembly lines built ships for all purposes, not solely limited to the orders of the Lineage of War. After all, the Lineage of Science had ordered the rocky satellite dug into and converted, not the military.

Technically, when one thought about it critically, the Psi-Scout wasn't likely to have known about it either. True, his rank could be compared to that of a field officer, but he still classed as ground troop, not shipboard crew - a difference comparable to the army and navy of the United States.

"Yes, I accessed the network to obtain this information." Lk'Onik answered the impending question of anyone who'd thought about this enough, "It had been planned. There is nothing to worry about."

He spoke the truth. Vanguard had known they'd need to know what was happening in the Rikti mental network, and luckily they'd found just the man for the job. Lk'Onik was a highly trained Psi-Scout, after all. He knew well how to hide his mind and not raise any suspicion when he connected with the network; not to mention he'd kept this first visit extremely brief, knowing full well that if he let himself go right now, the urge to announce to all the world that he was here and knew the truth about the humans would overcome him.

No, it wasn't smart to jump in deeply just yet. He'd need time to adjust first. Only then could he scope out the happenings in the network without the risk of being detected. He just hoped nobody else got the bright idea of attempting a connection. The other Rikti would notice right away.

C'Kelkah and Sah'Teece restrained themselves well, however, and Lk'Onik was fairly sure he didn't have to worry about Cher'tak. Warmasters were weird, but at least they stood somewhat detached, which should allow the man to exercise restraint more easily.

"Either way, it's not where we planned to end up." the former Traditionalist diplomat added on, causing Lk'Onik to look towards him with questioning eyes, "What worries me is that, from what I understand of C'Kelkah's mathematical jargon over there, it shouldn't even be possible for us to be here right now."

The mentioned conversation had definitely taken on a very complex and technical language full of otherworldly terms, but Sah'Teece's sommary described about the gist of it. C'Kelkah had been intrigued, Kemen fumed on the other end of the line, and the Lady Grey seemed to just stand there, attempting to absorb the rabid confusion with a face of stone.

"Okay, this isn't going anywhere." the Security Chief's voice finally led the discussion somewhere else, "Cause whatever, this isn't how it was supposed to go. I'm exercising my command authority: withdraw from the location immediately. We'll set up another portal once we've figured out what..."

Someone else's voice garbled into the line, interrupting Kemen's orders. If listened to closely, it seemed to be a woman speaking to the Security Chief, telling him something along the lines of, "From the board of directors."

However, it didn't really seem to matter.

"Just leave it be?!" Kemen's voice crashed over itself, "Oh, hell no! I'm in charge of security around here, and that means safety! Forget the board, I'll deal with those pompous suits later! Lady Grey, you and your unit get back into that portal and return here ASAP."

Before the head of Vanguard could respond, a loud crack sounded from the communications device, followed by a few seconds of static. The gateway the unit had arrived via experienced a sudden flux for a moment, then returned to normal...

--------------------

Matt McGinty's question was quickly answered, though probably not in the way he'd expected. A loud crack had suddenly sounded from the massive portal mechanism set up on the campus, accompanied by a brief flux of the gateway. Several of the crowd nearby had been startled, most of the armed personnel taking precautionary aim at the thing.

The technicians, however, seemed to have been made even more nervous than the guards right now - especially the man in the uniform of a Security Chief who stood over a large temporary console, head darting back and forth over the thing as if he was tracking a very quick animal across its surface.

"No, no, no, no, no....!" Unai Kemen repeated in stress, something obviously having changed for the worse. The team of portal technicians surrounding him didn't seem any calmer, "Get me that back! What do you mean it's not responding? Yes, I heard what you said, I'm just hoping I heard wrong! Who, what, when, where...?"

The conversation sounded hectic and wasn't easy to follow, but only a few core pieces were needed to make sense of the main problem: the portal had suddenly changed, without any warning at all. And in its present state, something was very wrong indeed. While passage to the Rikti homeworld still stood unimpeded, the gateway no longer allowed travel back through.

The expedition had been stranded on the other side!

With an exclamation of relief (something good seemed to have happened), Kemen began speaking into a microphone that jutted from the console...

--------------------

"Request: response." C'Kelkah repeated for the third time, making running adjustments to the communications device in her hands, "Query: Unai Kemen: read me? Contact: ..."

"I'm here, I'm here!" the voice of the Security Chief reemerged from the sound of static, "Sweet mercy, I think something hit the portal. Either that or the machine's gone nuts."

"Request: clarification." the dimensional travel scientist replied swiftly and to the point, "Summary: happenings?"

"We're still not sure." came the answer, "Some sort of pulse smacked into the gateway. it's like...oh no...it is. It came directly from the supercomputer. Worse yet, it's running a diagnostic, and someone changed the interruption code. It's not responding to any of our commands."

"I've Vanguard personnel in front of the static dispersion chamber." the Lady Grey joined the conversation, "Contact them and..."

"We already did." Kemen's interjection came quickly, "There's nobody in there. There hasn't been anyone in there since the last maintenance check three days ago. I know what you're thinking, but if someone had planted a program in advance..."

"...they'd have to be clairvoyant." the woman sighed, seeing the dead end in front of her. Worse yet, there seemed to be no other explanation.

She knew enough about the campus' supercomputer to rule out someone hijacking the thing. The machine simply had no connection to the outside world. A hacker might be skilled as could be, but without some sort of connection to the target, it simply wasn't possible to gain control of it - and all non-internal I/O for the supercomputer went through a proxy. The best someone could hope for was that proxy, and even then someone would notice.

Still...there was a third possibility. If no one had hacked system, nor planted a program in advance...

No, it was a silly thought. Downright ridiculous. And she had more important things to focus on right now.

"I understand." the Lady Grey replied coolly, having made her decision. She turned to her contingent, "Boys, we're staying right here. I want everything up and running, and I want it five minutes ago."

"Yes, ma'am!" a Vanguard Colonel gave a quick salute, then started barking orders. The personnel came to life virtually immediately, unpacking eqipment and setting it up wherever they found space. It wouldn't be long before Vanguard had a fully operational field base here.

"Delta team!" she called to the group under the leadership of Randall Grey, stepping into enough proximity for a normal conversation, "Secure as much of this facility as possible without engaging the enemy. Find out why we haven't had a welcoming committee yet. I'll even take nobody's home. In fact, I'd prefer it, but I don't think we'll have that much luck. I'm sending Cher'tak and Lk'Onik with you. Maybe they'll be able to tell you what's up with these doors."

"That I can do right now." the Psi-Scout answered, pointing an arm toward the blast gate on the right wall. Its key panel showed a few luminous glyphs in red, "There's a vacuum behind that one. That's why it won't open. Something caused the other side to decompress, and the safety system isn't letting anything through for a good reason."

"I see." Lady Grey nodded, keeping a clam head, "The other one?"

"Locked form the other side." Lk'Onik explained, "It shouldn't take us long to figure out the key code, though - if Cher'tak hasn't done so already..."

The Jade Moon
Rikti Homeworld
0627 ZULU

"All clear." came the electronically garbled voice of a Vanguard operative from behind his face mask, the tone almost reminiscent of a Storm Trooper, "Comm. check."

Multiple light cones swept over the decidedly Rikti architecture of the relatively small arrival chamber, the rifle-mounted flashlights almost enough to illuminate the entire room.

A duo of stick-like portal generators jutted from the floor, though like the gateway that sat on a raised platform, they emitted to visible light - which was odd, to say the least. Rikti portals had been known to not cast light on any nearby surface, even though the things were themselves luminescent (probably a quirk of the technology), but the attached generators had always given off some manner of luminosity, especially if they'd been active.

"Strange." the Lady Grey commented, letting her eyes wander about the place. The HVAS they'd sent though first stood where expected, showing no signs of having been engaged or tampered with, "Colonel, any exits yet?"

"Affirmative." the spoken-to man nodded, indicating the wall ahead with an arm. Several technicians already busied themselves on-site, "We're opening the door as we speak. No complications so far. Radio contact with Earth is stable and free of interference."

A snap and a hiss sounded from the indicated door before Lady Grey could respond. Without warning, the room's lightning came to normal levels, revealing the intricate pattern of the blast door the technicians had just commanded to open. Apparently, the room's illumination had been connected to the door systems, the tri-partitioned blast gate slowly sliding out of the way and creating more space for the subsequently arriving expedition members.

Beyond the door lay a larger room, its dimensions respectably spacious, like one of the larger chambers beneath the Rikti ship in White Plains. Set into the left and right walls were two more blast doors, the heavy gates not permitting view into what lay beyond for the time being.

The far wall, however, looked to be the most interesting of all. It followed a concave curve, rounding down from being parallel the ceiling to perpendicular to the wall about half a meter off the floor. Not only that, but it seemed composed of some manner of segmented construction, interlocking plates clearly visible in the material.

"Something's wrong." Lk'Onik stated ominously almost as soon as he exited the portal, jetting into the larger chamber on quick feet, "We're not where we're supposed to be."

"What do you mean?" Lady Grey wanted to know, a questioning undertone in her voice as her eyes quickly darted about the room, trying to spot anything amiss, "The portal didn't deviate."

"This is not a supply depot." the Rikti insisted, "Somehow, we were thrown off."

"Contacting: Unai Kemen." C'Kelkah had already accepted the situation for what it was, using her communications device to establish a channel back to Portal Corporation, "Contact: affirmative."

Kemen didn't take but two seconds to get on the line, the Rikti dimensional travel scientist quickly brining him up to speed about the displaced arrival site.

"That's not possible!" exclaimed the man's voice from the device, "We would've noticed...something, anything! Portals don't just randomly lurch from one point to another!"

"Agreement with: theory." C'Kelkah replied, "Practice shows: otherwise. Investigate: probable cause: erroneous calculation?"

"Couldn't be. You know that the supercomputer is in charge of all the calculations. You even checked them. The only way the portal could've been redirected is if someone had managed to get into the thing, and even if that was possible, we would've at least noticed."

Their discussion didn't seem to get past those lines. Both Kemen and C'Kelkah knew the supercomputer had the correct calculations when it had first opened this gate. There wasn't a chance in hell anyone could’ve changed the destination afterward without someone noticing something.

Lk'Onik, however, seemed more interested in where than how. Examining the blast door to the right, he found it to be in an almost irreversible lockdown phase; utterly unresponsive to the commands he attempted to enter into its key panel. The thing showed a dangerous pressure deficiency present on the other side of the door, hardwired safeguards refusing to let the door open.

But why would...?

A set of different commands was quickly keyed in, and before anyone knew it, the strangely textured far wall began to retract into both ceiling and floor. The Psi-Scout had expected his. He'd figured out where they'd arrived.

"We're on the Jade Moon." he stated in a tone of disbelief as the wall parted to reveal a gallery of transparent material that allowed a clear, unimpeded view of what lay on the other side - a dark, dusty, and cratered landscape that could be identified for what it was even without sunlight. The stars above and radiance scatter from inside were more than enough to identify the terrain as a lunar surface...

"With great apprehension." Sah'Teece answered the robotic mastermind, his voice somewhat cheerless at the reflection, "Don't misunderstand, our mental network isn't a hive mind. You could somewhat compare it to your internet, but instead of uploading and downloading packets of computer data, there's a transfer of mental impulse - thoughts, sensations, experiences, emotions, desires...it's difficult to explain to someone not able to connect to it. I presume we take it for granted."

"Yes." Lk'Onik added meekly, "Dependent, too. We are a people of contact and camaraderie. Like humans. No...much more closely. Separation from the whole is...difficult to bear."

"More than one individual has gone insane due to long-term disconnection." the former diplomat went on to explain, "That's why the first...oh, I hate saying this...invasion force...established another network here, but tailored to military purposes."

It seemed clear Sah'Teece still suffered from the ramifications of the truth. He'd been a volunteer to the Lineage of War, nothing but an ordinary Rikti wishing to defend his home. True, he'd been a 'sports hero', but when it came to combat, he was as normal as anyone else. The fact that he'd been the evil invader, that he'd attacked innocents, still hung upon him heavily.

"So in effect," Sah'Teece finished, "aside from this military net, nobody that we know of has ever even tried to purposely stay away from the main link. Our small network is an idea so contrary to everything we consider normal that it's bound to make people nervous, maybe even scare them."

While the Rikti helped Toy understand the nuances of their society better, the Lady Grey took a moment to answer the burly tanker's question.

"We have to consider both possibilities." the woman admitted as she ascended the steps of the massive gateway projector. An HVAS rested there already, several Vanguard operatives making closing preparations to the machine, "If all goes as we want, the Security Chief here will remain our contact on this side and keep us reinforced."

Unai Kemen gave a nod of affirmation, making his way beside the portal instead of the front of it. He'd be staying here, fulfilling his normal duties in addition to his newly assigned ones. He'd be the contact man for anyone arriving after the first push - any perimeter guard would direct incoming heroes or Vanguard members to him, and then he'd send them off through the portal to the Rikti homeworld.

If everything worked.

"Of course, we can't count on our plan surviving contact with the enemy." the Lady Grey carried on her outline, "So we're also taking everything we might need to establish an independent field base on the other side."

She left it at that, turning toward Ineffable, and shot him a piercing glare, "Were I you, I'd take care of what I destabilize. I trust my second in command, but if you become a liability, the destabilization of your surroundings will quickly become the least of your worries."

"My." the Dark Watcher remarked as the woman turned toward the expeditionary force again, stepping beside Ineffable for a moment, "You just might have destabilized her. Not a wise thing to do. A copy of Nemesis can attest to that - or could, if it still had a head."

"Do not worry." he added as he guided his steps away again, "Just keep your word and try not to agitate her before she has a chance to work off some steam. You should be fine."

Now the prepped HVAS gave report aloud, slowly and carefully beginning to move. Lady Grey had joined a duo of technical operatives at a portable console, video feed from the hulking machine clearly visible on the main screen.

With a few clicks and clacks, the mechanoid armed its weaponry, Vanguard certainly not expecting a warm greeting at the intended destination. Due to the fact they'd essentially jacked the portal into a Rikti supply corridor, there was really only one place the HVAS could end up - lurching out one of their portals in the middle of a depot of some sort.

The reasoning behind the idea was quite clear to anyone who knew about the barrier that several mystics had created to separate the Rikti universe from this one. It still existed, and though the Rikti had discovered how to punch through from their side, the converse was sadly not true. Despite the boundary's arcane nature, the Rikti were yet again a step ahead of humanity.

These thoughts and others went through the minds of the Vanguard operatives on site as the HVAS vanished in the spinning rings of the gateway, the video feed fading to black. The next few seconds would be paramount, determining all future actions for a period of time no one could even make a guess at yet.

"Receiving telemetry." one of the technicians beside Lady Grey announced, "Video feed back in three...two..."

The black screen remained just that: black.

"What's going on?" the leader of Vanguard wanted to know, "Did we lose the signal?"

"Negative." the other technical operative shook his head in response to Lady Grey, his fingers carefully passing over the console, "We are receiving. All systems show green. It's just...dark over there."

"Switch to night vision." Lady Grey commanded, not willing to waste any time.

"Already have." slowly came the answer, "It's...really dark. As in no light at all."

Lady Grey took this in stride, although on the inside she boiled. Whose bright idea had it been to not equip the HVAS with lights?! True, the light amplification systems of the machine essentially made lights redundant and unnecessary - but still!

"Alright." she finally stated coolly, giving an accepting nod, "I suppose operating in a location with no light source at all wasn't called for in the design parameters. Is the site secure?"

"We are reading no activity." the technician answered, "By all we can determine from here, the arrival site is safe."

"Very well." the woman cracked her knuckles an turned to the troops, "All teams, move out. Maintain caution. Just because we're not reading anything doesn't guarantee there's nothing there."

A collective salute gave sign of acknowledgement, the first division of Vanguard operatives bringing their rifles to bear, then marching in closed formation through the portal.

From there, the operation executed like clockwork. Everything seemed to have a place, every part a purpose. Like a flawless example of some giant, living puzzle, Vanguard commenced the first authorized human troop deployment to the homeworld of the Rikti. Had the personnel present not known the purpose of the undertaking, it would have been truly frightening to observe.

"Our turn." Lk'Onik stated tersely as he watched Lady Grey step through, now moving toward the portal as well. He'd be the first of the Rikti to enter, the Psi-Scout's mental expertise essential to minimizing the chances of detection.

"Declaration: moving." C'Kelkah added, visibly excited now that she stood this close, "Commence collective action: rock/roll!"

With that, it had begun. From now on, any new arrivals would be directed to Unai Kemen. The expedition's first block had departed.

It appeared someone had been waiting for just that.

Out on the parking lot of Portal Court, a pair of headlights threw their illuminating cones into the night, the engine of the vehicle they belonged to roaring to life not a second later.

The car's profile sat low and wide, the gurgling growl of a powerful engine accompanying the night-black vehicle as it departed the parking lot, slowly making its way to the gate.

Finally entering the cone of a lantern, the car could be clearly seen for a few moments - a Ferrari Testarossa coated in black luster, every window a nearly perfect mirror in the night, leaving the scene without so much as even the briefest stop.

There were places to be...

"How convenient." Baalial smirked as he finished going over the page, the tall martial artist beside him regarding the paper with not a small amount of wonder. Toy had been right.

"With him there, Croatoa should be easy enough to take and fortify." Hotaka told Sybil, "My associate's secretary will see to that."

"Muck, Guck, and Grime will likely be able to resist, though." the demon reminded, indicating the profile of Blightlord that the folder had provided, "And from this, it doesn't sound like the big man himself will be a pushover either."

"True," Ryuu gave an agreeing nod, "we shouldn't underestimate the enemy. Madame Sybil, I believe you've a few troops to spare? If not, we'll have to time the evacuation of Kings Row and the attack of Croatoa precisely. Baalial, prepare what you need, I'll stay in contact."

"Contact?" the demonic attorney questioned, "And just where are you off to?"

"Kings Row of course." the robed martial artist smirked, stepping toward the telepad, "They'll need some more time there."

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"Not entirely." Hotaka admitted with a shrug, "But even grounded, I'm still more than a match for a Flyer - and one way or another, that air support has to go. It's decimating the ground troops."

With that, Ryuu stepped into the telepad and promptly vanished.

"Well, I guess we'd better get on it." the demon now turned to Sybil, "What've we got to work with...?"

--------------------

Hotaka arrived in the old tram station just in time to catch the tail end of a heated argument. Not that he cared at the moment; there were more important things to do.

The bamboo hat masking his eyes, the martial artist took a moment to survey the area. For now, things seemed to have degenerated into chaos. That was good. It'd make remaining hidden easier.

First, he'd have to find Steve Power - he'd be able to tell the attack leader from the others, unless (which Ryuu severely doubted) one of the Masters of Mayhem personally led the attack. Then even Hotaka would recognize him or her.

But until that had been cleared, finding Steve was the first order of business. Good thing the man's scent still hung thick in the air. With a toothy smirk, Hotaka snapped the fingers of his left hand, the shadows about him seeming to shudder for a moment. Other than that, however, there seemed to be no discernable effect.

That done, the tall man slinked out of the tram station (which may have looked somewhat silly considering his size), and homed in to Power's trail. Sticking to the shadows as soon as he got clear of the station, it wouldn't take him long to catch up with the man...

Hey there. Not to crash your party here, but I'm afraid you're in the wrong forum section. I think you'll have much better luck in the SG recruitment partition of the boards.

That said, sounds like a neat idea, but prone to infringe on a copyright or two, so just be careful how close you get to Marvel/DC's intellectual property.

"I'd appreciate if you refrained from damaging our hosts' property." the Dark Watcher remarked to Ineffable with a glance in his direction, "And no...on second thought, I'm just going to leave it at that."

The mysterious man in black kept quiet from then on, giving the tanker a polite, silent nod as acknowledgement for his concerns, along with an unhurriedly raised hand; a gesture requesting patience. Though the sunglasses hid the motions of his eyes, it was clear the man surveyed all of them, taking in their appearances in great, mustering detail.

"The Lady Grey." may have come as a surprise to some, the ageless head of Vanguard making her presence known with a cold, aloof tone. Apparently, she'd been speaking to the assembled Vanguard operatives taking up formation at the portal, as that seemed to be the general direction her steps had guided her from.

"Yes, I'll be joining this expedition." Lady Grey confirmed as she went on, turning for a moment to the Dark Watcher, "Sorry Devon, I still have a bone to pick with 'Lord' Nemesis."

"I understand." the man gave a rare smirk, be it yet so tiny, "I'll make sure to hold down the fort."

"I'd expect no less." Lady Grey gave him a brief nod, then turned so to let her field of view make eye contact with at least most of the group, "Now, we had a request for clarification?"

"Allow me." the Dark Watcher took the word, "As most of you will likely already know, should you choose to accept the assignment, which by your presence I surmise you already have, you will be part of an expeditionary force to the universe the Rikti call their home. The expedition's primary objective is to stop the madman who began this war from assimilating the Rikti populace. Yes, I said assimilate. If your contacts have chosen to omit this information, Nemesis is attempting to spread his consciousness across the Rikti mental network in an insane clamor for immortality."

Taking a moment to observe their responses, the Dark Watcher continued to explain, "Your orders are to ruin his day in any way you see fit, but not at the expense of the Rikti populace. Be warned, however; they will not see you in kind. You will most likely be regarded as the most despicable of individuals, and although the presence Lineage of War is small after their second effort to exterminate us, the remaining units are likely to be composed entirely of elite divisions, their toughest warriors yet. The chances of you having engaged one of these soldiers here is slim, so should you encounter them, I suggest you be prepared for anything."

"Nemesis knows this as well." Lady Grey added to the impromptu briefing, "He won't have brought pushovers with him. Expect to face the worst the Nemesis Army is capable of throwing at us."

Now the Dark Watcher turned to Randall Grey, addressing both the tanker and the group as he spoke, "Mr. Grey, should he choose to accept, which I surmise has already happened, will command your subdivision of the expedition, from here on known as Delta team. Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie are the other divisions of this expedition, composed of Vanguard combat and support personnel. Longbow is attempting to form Echo division, but so far Incandescent has managed to keep their noses out of our business. We hope it will remain so for the sake of our collective sanity."

A few around probably knew well what the Dark Watcher spoke of. Even now, Freedom Corps still seemed to have an obsessive compulsion to keep tabs on the 'villains' who'd volunteered into Vanguard's ranks. More often than not, this cam in the form of shadowing and continuously questioning the target's motives in a way that demanded an amount of patience some heroes couldn't even muster.

"If no one has any further questions," Lady Grey concluded the rehashed briefing, "take position in front of the portal. The other teams have already assembled there, and we are about to dispatch the first probe through the portal. Depending on the condition of the arrival point - secure or hostile - we will then dispatch teams accordingly..."

"Oh, I do." Hotaka answered with a wry smirk, "Doesn't change that unless I'm starting to go senile, this is just one big trap. Just striking back isn't going to cut it."

"Indeed." Baalial gave a nod in agreement, "Judging from the intensity of the attack, I'd say your opponent knows well what you've got there. Now, that doesn't go to say this is a fact, but the probability is high enough to kick everything else out of reasonable consideration."

"I do, however, have a suggestion." Ryuu continued, developing an alternative, "As you've seen, Baalial here can easily move to locations where there's enough negativity present. In the process, he can also carry with him things that are...well, quite large. I propose we move your equipment and other valuable things to a more secure location."

"I'd still need sufficient 'general evil' at the target site." the demon reminded Hotaka, "Where did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know...check that folder of ours. What's it say about Croatoa?"

Baalial nodded with realization, snapping his briefcase open and retrieving the mentioned manila folder. The demon's clawed hands flipped by a few pages, and it didn't take him long to find a detailed low-down on the Croatoa of this time.

What did it say...?

((Outside, right about where the Rikti Crash Site portal used to be in the game. ))

((I thought it was a telepad? ))

"I don't think that's a very good idea." Hotaka told Sybil as she sent Steve and Arrow off, "This smells of trap three ways to Sunday."

"I agree." Baalial backed Ryuu up, "You don't have the strength to fight an open war here. Your enemy knows that. They're trying to draw you into one."

"Unless of course," Hotaka gave a questioning smirk, "there's something important there that you need to hold onto...?"