Ghost

Tower looked at the woman and nodded "you're right, I would rather have you watching my back. And I doubt he will put himself in the front line with his.. 'fit of hypocrisy'. I would rather he be in the back helping the wounded or what ever it is he's comfortable with then have some guilt imposed on him to make him go in to battle and crack under the imposed inner conflict."

He sighed "We each have our roles to fulfill.. I have a sister that crumbled under the pressure of the Requiem War, I would not want that to happen to anyone."

As Tower of Power was making his way out the room, he overheard Perile's conversation to Coile. And it irked him.
His stride lead him to Perile, overtaking her normally.

But something was not normal as he casually reached out and took her gently by her neck, lifting her effortlessly a few inches off the ground and keept walking.

"You know, that was rather heartless of you. We each have our demons. It is rarely benificial to play on those, especially in times like this. He will find them soon enough without your cold hearted 'help'."

He stopped and turned them to face each other, his face that of a stern but friendly lecturer. And then gently put her down again.

(( Bah! ToP is only lvl 35 ))

You're welcome

Tower of Power nodded to Zortel "I'll be going with you, with a small team most suited for close combat."

Tower of Power raised his voice just enough to be heard over the others to catch their attention before lowering the volume again, inviting people to make a small effort to listen rather then let noise wash over them in hopes words would stick.

"Although I understand what Ms Frost there says, and won't shed a tear if that is the course many follow. I would like to point out that most Lost are recruited from the hopeless people of our society. Followed by indoctrination they become what they have become. I believe how ever that the majority of them did NOT choose to become Rikti accomplices."

With i10 out, I thought I'd remind people this is still on, and that i10 might prove to hold good opportunities to combine with one of these songs.

That and a shameless bump

Also to remind myself to keep 20 August in mind...

Tower of Power rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his bare chest with a sigh. This was not the time or place for business...

Tower of power grunted and audibly mumbled:
"It's war, martial law, traitors are hung."

Reality check
Rikti Invasion, Day 1, Early evening
(( Yes, I know it's a bit late, so sue me ))


Jessica Stoneberg stepped through the portal leading to her home on Rolando Island. She smiled as she walked down the stairs of her ‘mage tower’ and poured herself a nice glass of Jess Kade’s patented (well, not really) multi-fruit juice.

As she sat down on the sofa, she turned the TV on to watch… something or an other.
Her glass froze half way to her mouth as images of the second Rikti invasion crossed the screen.

Time froze in that instance as she thought back to the first invasion. The sights and impressions from her modest apartment in Kings Row. She got to her feet and drained her glass, setting it on the table before walking up to her bedroom.

Images of her time working with MAGI to research and examine Rikti versus Magic passed her mind’s eye. She was an apprentice then, she had only taken a few steps in to the world of magic.
________

Not that far from there, deep underground in the workshop lab of the Unity Vigil base stood a very different woman. Jessica van Steenbergen put away her tools as she had finished repairing her VorTel suit. She was thinking back on the first invasion as well. It happened at the same time but in a different dimension.

Jessica van Steenbergen recalled sights and impressions from her modest apartment in Kings Row. She thought back on her time with DATA and SERAPH working on deciphering the Rikti teleporters. The first war had disrupted her education at MIT, the brightest were asked to assist in the war effort by researching.
________

Jessica Stoneberg took out her suit, she had worn it but a few days ago, it had been a month before that. She did not expect to wear it again for a week at least. She put on the tight costume of bright pink colours.
Zipping up she looked at herself in the mirror: she looked determined and ready. “This time, I will do more then research.”
She took up her fateful hat and put it on as with a ripple of blue light her suit turned to metallic armour. She was no longer an apprentice. She is the Grav Mistress.
________

Jessica van Steenbergen put on the modules of her battle, this was routine for her. She suited up almost every day. The suit was the only thing she had from back home, from her Earth. Taking up the helmet, she caught her reflection in it and looked at herself.
She looked determined, but noticed a hint of fear in her own eyes. “This time, I will do more then research.”
She put her helmet on and locked away her fear from the outside world and powered up the suit’s systems. She was no longer a student. She is VorTel. She would make her world proud of her actions in this world.
________

The Grav Mistress arrived in Paragon, trough a magical portal behind a warehouse in Kings Row. She looked at the sky and took to it, looking for her loved ones. Looking to protect and serve.
________

VorTel arrived in Paragon, through the technological portal that linked the Unity Vigil Base with the Unity Tower. She went in search of Zortel or Xortel, or anyone else in charge. Looking to serve and protect.

Albert Zimmerman cursed silently before exlaiming "These are not suitable working conditions!" as a panel exploded beside him. He grumbled and went to repair what he could "I thought exploding pannels only happened on Star Trek".
Working to keep enough power going for the non-essential lighting and systems through out the tower.
"No, don't even think about it, we're not THAT fit for combat and much more useful in here" he tried to reason with his Warshade companion inside him. "No, it won't help calling me chicken either!"

Looking out over Kings Row from under the overpass she was using for cover, the young heroin that was little know but went by the name of Diamond Minx cried.

She cried for the city as bombs dropped from the dropships.
She cried for all the people that have and would have lost a loved one.
She cried because, now she SAW how terrible it really was. It wasn't a story told to scare her when she was little. It wasn't a recounting of events for education. It wasn't even a reflection in the tear filled eyes of her one living mother.

This was happening now. She was in it, experiencing it, part of it now more then it had been part of her past. She wiped away her tears and reminded herself why she was here.
"I'm going to make it right mommy, I won't let you loose her again."

She sealed her vow with a kiss on the pendant she wore around her neck, inside a picture of a green skinned blond and a white haired catwoman.

As she tucked away the pendant safely under her armour, she readied herself and jumped in to the air.
She knew she wasn't strong enough to take the Rikti head on, so instead she flew at top speed firing blasts of energy where ever she could to help other fighting groups and distract the Rikti as she flew towards Skyway City.
I'm coming mommy

Tower of Power raised a hand at the back of the room. His appearence less imposing as Big Lunk's, but the blue muscle bound hero had the air of expecting respect and obedience without question.

"We work together, glad to have worked that out... What do we work towards has been established as well. Now, HOW are we going to work towards it? As nice and cuddly as this meeting is, there is a war being waged and we're on the defence."

Nice one, nicely writen, bloody cliff hangers!

Sipping tea, of course... What she gets for marrying an English!

I've made a little story about Jessica being elsewhere, but did anyone expect otherwise?

I'll have a look and see if I'll post other stories more involving of the invasion or not.

Zero Hour - Ignorance is bliss

Jessica sat in her easy chair by a cosy fire. She stirred her tea absentmindedly as she looked over her latest schematic. As the parts for the life-support crystal would take a while yet to be finished, she might as well try and improve her initial design.

After a little longer she stretched and got up out of the chair. Sitting in it for too long could make one a bit stiff… and 4 hours was definitely too long. She got up and walked around a little, pondering this crystal some more, what to do with the Bleeding Rock that she received from Zorielle. She passed various experiments, checking their progress, adjusting one: no one wants actual silk in their chocolate…

As always, she paused on a balcony, leaning on the banister and looking out on … nothing.
The edges of rock that her library seemed build on had ‘healing’ nicely, there were no scars left of what had transpired almost 6 months ago except an absence of book shelves on one edge.

She looked out on the emptiness of the dimension outside her library, where she had done an experiment. Probably one of the most dangerous ones she had done to date, but then, she hadn’t experimented with time yet.
She had set herself a challenge, to see if her title of “Grav Mistress” was earned or not. She had created a black hole. Not a small singularity like the one she often summoned in battle, no. This was a full blown wormhole.

She recalled as she created it, for a brief moment, it slipped from her control. In that brief moment, that small part of her library she had prepared and separated was destroyed, ripped apart. In that brief moment, she had known a fear she remembered mostly from her early apprentice days. She also remembered how she beat that fear down and did what needed to be done, and how she regained control over the black hole and struggled it back out of existence.

She looked at the memory of the black hole and shivered lightly. After that moment, she understood her wife’s decision to retire better then ever. The amount of power Ellie commanded was scary, especially to herself. Jess’ own powers, some similar, others vastly different could be considered equal… maybe even superior. As she stood there outwardly emotionless, she feared the extent of her powers almost as much as that day she almost lost everything to something she had created.

“Men lijdt het meest onder her lijden dat hij vreest” Jessica said to herself, reminding herself that fear of a thing is usually worse then the thing itself.

Jessica smiled as she turned away from the balcony and walked back the half mile to her easy chair. She thought of her wife, their friends. The happy times and the sad times. As her good friend and namesake Jessica Kade always said: “The bad is just seasoning that makes the good taste all the better”

Back at her reading chair, she set aside the crystal diagrams and books and took up one with blood magic and rituals. Distasteful reading usually, but a purpose for that ever bleeding rock would be nice.

As Jessica “The Grav Mistress” Stoneberg sat safely in her dimensional library she barely noticed the sounds of battle outside. Outside an invasion was taking place. Yet an other legion of demon spawn were assaulting her library’s defences. The fairy Lizzie was dealing with them as she had done for millennia.

As Jessica sat safely in her library researching, she was equally unaware of the invasion that took place on her home world. Unaware of the battles that would soon demand her attention. Blissfully ignorant that the extent of her powers might soon be tested.

I guess now that i10 is being made ready on the live servers... we'll find out one way or an other

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not a movie maker... so I'd like some input on some things.

Limitations:

Should it be limited to the ingame engine?
Should cosplay be allowed?
'borrowing' from other movies/series?


Also, what would be a fair time limit?
edit:
Is 3 months too long?
Is one month too short?

[/ QUOTE ]

U decide mate, i'll just take part :P

[/ QUOTE ]
Decided!

Alright, I've found some time to do some thinking and I've made a selection (oddly enough, while I was doing other stuff too...)



ShadowGhost's Video Challenge!


What is it?
Well, it's a challenge to anyone willing to take it up. I've selected 5 songs. It's up to the contestants to pick up their tools and pick a song. ( Or two, or more )
They make some sort of CoX based visual motion picture.
If they submit their endresult before the end of the deadline, they're in the running for the trophy!

There's a trophy?
Well, no... but I'll get to that later. *shifty eyes* The prize is grand, though! *shifty eyes*


Any more questions? No? OK! Let's get started!



[u]The songs:[u]


Queen: We will rock you ( Classic, what can I say? )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iikKz...ed&search=

Shania Twain: That don't impress me much ( One of my personal favourites )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SOh6...ed&search=
Kareoke version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqZlcyy3dXc

The "Benny Hill chase song" ( for the silly )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spz8_...ed&search=

3 Doors Down: Here without you ( for the drama and see if we can do better then WoW )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J8q4cBSkTQ

FireGuardian: Paragon City ( Just begging for a CoH clip )
http://www.freewebs.com/ultimaonline...ragon_City.wma
(Yes, FG gave his permission to use and host this.) FG threatened me to put in in the list! I think he might come after me for not putting more on it... HELP!?



I hope this made a nice and wide enough mix for you guys and girls to work from

[u]The Rules:[u]

Use the CoX game engine as a base. You can add some effects if you like, but nothing too over the top. (when in doubt, PM me with the question, or post here)

Use only one song per entry... Okay, so this one's more a guideline then an actual rule...

Make as many entries as you want.



Deadline: 20th of August 2007


[u]The Judging:[u] Will be done by me. I can't be bribed, but don't let that stop you from trying


[u]The rewards:[u]

For all: fun! (I hope)
For the winner: Ego stroking and recognition of skill


Any other questions?
No? Then get started! (Yes? Post here or PM me)

[ QUOTE ]
You mean like Reality? Don't you ever go for realism in your roleplaying?

[/ QUOTE ]
To a degree.
Personally, I assume certain things DON'T happen even if it's logical to assume they do, just for my peace of mind. I've read too much and seen too much in movies and such that my imagination scares me in what blanks it can fill in to make me sick to my stumach.
So, no thank you. Those Crey that kidnapped your character? They just did some scans and kept you well fed and in good condition.
That Rikti bomb that went off and didn't kill that civilian? It's normal to still have all your limbs and only a few bruises and scorch marks from it.


[ QUOTE ]
War is coming. Deal with it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, for your characters it's "War is here. Deal with it." Not "War is coming, what do you do? Prepare to fight or duck and cover?"

[ QUOTE ]
(Or ignore it totally, that's the joy of optional roleplaying)

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmmm, you RP by yourself? If so, then yes, you can ignore it. Otherwise, there's no way to ignore it totally.



I suppose one could RP it as it is in game... a zone is attacked, there's a little chaos and afterwards, business as usual.
That 'one' would probably be one of very few RPers.

http://spad.no-ip.com/website/spad/cohlog.php

is an online one

[ QUOTE ]
As for the idea that your character will become a pessimist and give up because they cannot solo, well the idea of a war is that you don't.

[/ QUOTE ]
Nah, she's not going to become a pessimist because she can't solo a group of Rikti, because she will be. She'll bring down the odd destroyer, safe the a few buildings, become emotionally detatched but happy for every life she saves.
I the player will probably enjoy the invasion about as much as being dropped on my Hamidon.


[ QUOTE ]
People will be expected to bond together and fight, regardless of differences or concerns and face a common enemy. This to me seems a positive thing.

[/ QUOTE ]
And I'm sure they will, and loose anyway. Unless you find a way to tripple nova the spawns, you won't take them down fast enough before the second one teleports in, and the third probably before you're done with the first.

NOT my idea of fun. Sure, I like the "Starship Troopers" feeling too, so long as there's a chance the rushing horde gets cut down.

I expect heavy fightying at the Hospitals because of A) that's where most heroes will end up before long, and B) the drones will probably even things up, though kill steal.

Ah, but those are but tools...


An other part of my... dislike of the invasion is... there's no hope.
You WILL get overwhelmed by Rikti sooner or later. Nothing you can do about it but hang in there and hope to last as long as possible...

Jess wouldn't have a lot of trouble with dispatching a group of 50 once she's given herself the all clear for lethal force... but she's but a controller, no where near ingame strong enough to take on more then a small group (6 or so) solo.

Hmmm... maybe I should take my new respecced Jess over to Test and see.

*imagines Rikti invassion soldier at GG running up and first giving out a round of slap emotes, drum dancing and "lol"ing before powerspamming everyone in to the ground...*