Mr_Grey

At least you made Hardcase finally seem like he did something.

When I played his missions, I got the distinct impression he really was all talk...

You've been doing a bang-up job, Lighthouse.

I hope you don't go anywhere too quick.

...

No, I lack orbital satellites with lasers or missiles.

I mean you're doing a fine job and I hope you keep doing it.

Happy anniversary.

--Peregrine Island--

"I'm not finding anything," Ryat99 echoed through the ice ball he held Matt inside, "And we've hit bottom. We need to surface soon, my armor's not gonna be able to take this pressure much longer."

"What about wheel tracks?" Matt shouted, half expecting the android not to answer.

"They'd have washed away long before now," the android replied, "And I'm scanning, sonar and El-Ee-Dee lighted, but I'm not seeing anything."

"Then what the Hell..." Matt stopped, "Oh damn... It was floating! Just like my bike! They picked it up with a helicopter!"

"Are we through with this? I need to get you to the hospital, you have to be treated for decompression..."

"There's no time!" Matt shouted, "Let's move, man, move!"

"Mattock, it's over."

McGinty could feel a sensation akin to an elevator rising.

"Hey, how can I breath in here?"

"I put the water through a desalination process and pump the oxygen I get from boiling it to you," the android replied, "It should have made you light-headed, but then again, humans don't breathe very efficiently."

"Right..." Matt sat down and looked to his mystic motorcycle, "Man... I am getting you a tune-up, and I'm feeding you nothing but the best oil and gas... Premium all the way."

"Your attachment to your abomination notwithstanding, There is simply nothing else for us to go on here," Ryat99 pulled them into the surface and started cutting away the top half of the dome, "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty okay, man. You kept that thing pressurized... I'm... I'm feeling fine."

"Alright... Well, what do you want to do?"

Matt sighed. Ryat99 was right. They had nothing more to go on.

"I'm... I'm gonna start riding for a while... Maybe check out a couple precincts and see if they've got any information on that voice..."

"That's not likely," Ryat99 intoned.

"Look... Think maybe you can go back to Portal Corp, see if you can get the information we got out of that rifle-mike? I'll... I'll go see that guy Cobalt Black told me about... I think he's..."

Matt looked in the direction of the gigantic female statue.

"There..."

"I'll see what I can do about getting the information," Ryat99 rumbled as he started flying away, "You sure you've got this?"

"Hey, we're dealing with somebody extremely paranoid, and I need the help of someone just as far gone. If Aaron was right, this guy should be able to help me find some of the most freakishly paranoid lunatics anywhere they might be hiding."

"Well, good luck with that," Ryat99 stated before flying back toward the Portal Corp command and control for the operation.

Matt revved his bike to life and started making his way for the gigantic statue and the mysterious secret agent known only as Crimson.

----------

--Jade Moon: The Rikti Ship--

"Unless you can think of a better position," Sheldon replied as he made his way for the opposite door, "At least you won't have to deposit an entire crew here... besides, I don't think I would be well-suited for fire control or the bridge... Look... Acid... I helped the United States Army reconstruct and reverse engineer a lot of the Rikti technology left over from the last war. I know how it works, but you're right. It would be unwise to leave the entire workings of a ship of this size to one individual. Besides, with the importance this ship has to the success of the mission, it would be unfeasible. Here, I can monitor the goings-on of this sector and you can better shunt the manpower that would have otherwise been placed here to better endeavors. We're looking at nearly twenty skilled people who can be used to a much more strategic advantage. Furthermore, since I've had my fill of Rikti technology, you don't have to worry about me trying to dissassemble, scrutinize, or otherwise compromise the integrity of my station. I'm sorry we're having this... this... misunderstanding. I'm certain you're just trying to find the best place for me, but I figure this is probably going to be it."

----------

--Rikti Earth: The Forgotten Sanctuary--

Randall still held the flask out to Acid.

"What makes you think I drink on the job? It's not good for Pee-Arr... This is water. I like the flask, it holds a lot, almost a canteen's worth."

Ryat66 scanned about but, seeing his boss was otherwise occupied, turned to Cory and shrugged.

"I'm not getting anything. There's no elements of Zinc and Copper combined... So no Brass. There's some Zinc here, some Copper there... But not nearly enough to say that this place was occupied."

"How... Unusual," Cory whispered, "If only I had some scrying enchantments or incantations memorized... I've been relying so heavily on normal detective work..."

"Isn't that better, though?" the android asked, "I thought only tangible, deduced information could be used in a court of law... Sometimes induced, but that tends to violate 'innocent until proven guilty.'"

"True, it helps for a court of law... But it doesn't help us here, where the law can't, and won't, help us," Cory looked about nervously, still sensing something foreboding in the air, "I'm starting to wish we brought more backup..."

"What if the Brass King's soldiers were here, and something killed them all?" Ryat66 offered.

Cory looked down at the android. His face was a mask of shock.

"It did this and left little to no trace of either side? But this blood stain..." Simmons poked Randall on the shoulder, "We should be leaving. Now."

"Where?" Randall grunted over his shoulder, "I don't think we're done here."

"It doesn't matter," the warlock replied, "We're in danger here, regardless of how safe it looks. It looks and feels like a trap, and it most certainly is not a duck."

"Alright," Randall pointed down the way they'd been heading, "Think that will be fine?"

"Anywhere is better than here," Cortland was near-hyperventilating, "We just need to get moving!"

"Don't worry," Power Breaker cracked his knuckles, "I'll hold him in place."

Power Breaker smiled.

"My my... I didn't expect it to be so easy. And I do believe you boys have what it takes to pull the information out of my noggin."

He tapped the side of his head, but then frowned to Kuro.

"I have a couple moments when Poe attacked me, unprovoked or otherwise, logged up in here... Plus a few conversations where he either insinuated harm or outright threatened me. I'm certain others around here have experiences and would act as witnesses, but all the hard evidence you would need is right in here. There's just one thing... There's something in there that I don't want you or your own touching. A book. You'll recognize it as one when you see the words... If you can see it as such. I don't want you trying to take that outta my mind. I don't know what doing such a thing would do, mind you, and I'd be glad to be rid of it, bu it's my deal... I'll handle it myself. I normally don't like taking the easy way out, but with Poe, I'm willing to make a big exception."

Breaker drew a knife from the back of his belt.

"Don't worry, this ain't for threatening ya, I sue this as a tool..."

He pricked the end of his index finger.

"Get me to a computer's USB port, and I can get you the information you need."

((HAHAHAHAHAAAAA.... Thanks Devious.

Also, to ensure Briggs' post doesn't get lost in the sauce...))

[ QUOTE ]
Briggs is caught off guard in trying to escape the crumbling of the building, and is scooped up easily by the jagermonster. "The...hell?" the cop says as she is picked up and taken along for the ride as the gnarled tooth beast makes his own exit through the wall. But the cop lass, still not really knowing who has a hold on her thrashes about and manages to squirm out of Horowitz's hold. But this has the side effect of sending her skidding across the dirt.

"And these are my good pants," she mutters to herself while pulling herself to her feet.

[/ QUOTE ]

((And now, moving on...))

"Damn right I got problems with Poe!" Power Breaker grunted, "But, between you and me, I'd rather keep them between the two of us. I'd give anything to be able to have it out with the perpetual two-year-old, but he never seems to want to play fair!"

Breaker seemed to look a little down and to the left before returning his gaze to Kuro.

Two minutes.

"I know it's two minutes."

"Well, Kuro, what've you got to offer? Poe strikes me as the kind of guy who does whatever the Hell he wants, so most of what we do here's gonna be moot..."

((No, we don't need five-to-ten pages exactly. I was making a bad joke there. In Shadow Manor, we lost (on my count) seven pages of RP to the deletion of one post. Some of us said five, some said ten... And we're probably looking at the same thing happening soon...))

((Briggs, you'll want to copy, paste and save that last post of yours and hold onto it for a few days. At least until we determine what's going to happen to these next couple of pages...

Come on, folks... We need five-to-ten pages of material here before the mods get to the intrusive post and get rid of it. Doing so will cause a chain reaction, causing all of the progress to disappear.

Okay... To clarify... Shadow Manor, which Diov and I have referenced a couple times because (A) it was the last time Power Breaker and Poe met, (B) it was also a Pocket D thread (at least, initially), and (C) it was a fairly decent thread until it abruptly disintegrated at the end, had a situation similar to this.

Another poster arrived, said "LOL RP" and never posted again. One or more of us flagged his post and it took a couple days for the post to be deleted. However, it wasn't just that post that was deleted. Every post after it, since we were in a heated moment and made heavy use of the Quick Reply, was lost as we weren't really replying to the original post, but to the last post, and the last post and the last post (think those old, slanted stacks of conversation you used to see in forums and sometimes still do), and when they deleted the offending post, they deleted the stack. That's what Diov and I are killing time for now. Well, I am, at least...))

((I was referring to what Build seemed to turn into... Also, it's cold here in Northern NY, too, but we don't waste fuel to keep places warm when nobody's going to be inside in the foreseeable future. If there were more cheap and renewable fuel resources, maybe, but not as things stand now. I can't imagine that Siberians would leave their thermostats at... At... Oh crap, what's 50 degrees Fahrenheit converted to Celsius? In any case, that was the reference point I was running. Sheldon could easily write this off as a "controlled test," but feel free to have your characters snicker and chuckle at his expense.))

((Wait wait wait... These guys had the furnace running? Then there'd have to be...))

"Secrets and all, right," Ryat99 said to Vern without looking away from Build, then pointed at the 'man-dog-thing,' "Um... I don't think this is good for our situation."

Sheldon shut down his thermal conditioning. He was getting sweaty. The big android that accompanied him, however, did not shut down its ice armor.

"I'm perfectly fine in just about anything," the machine rumbled, "This is just a strange circumstance for me, so I'm keeping my armor running."

((I've never even been to PWNZ!))

((Damn... Well, remembering the incident that occurred similarly on Shadow Manor, I guess that means I have to hold off on posting. So, how long until Supermoderator, Moderator 8 or someone comes along and carpet bombs his butt? I'd like to continue!))

((Well, Build...))

Sheldon rubbed his chin before answering.

"I personally don't have experience with self-aware nanites... The one person I think would be capable of helping you would be a man in the Etoile Isles... Raymond Harris. I can't seem to remember his costume name... In any case, he has nanites in his bloodstream that tend to act independently of his will... He says he has an ancient tome memorized in his head that they're trying to translate, but I find that notion preposterous."

Ryat99 made a throat clearing noise and looked pointedly at his creator.

"What?" Wallace asked calmly.

"Such individuals are not our current concern," the android reminded the inventor, "We would do well to keep our minds on our current task."

Power Breaker took the moment to consider. He didn't like this at all, but it was the best chance he had.

"Hang on," he waved the rest of the back, "I'll... I'll see what this is about."

"Oh, come on!" the giant Freak shouted, "You know how this is gonna go! You'll go in, all fruity lovey-dovey, spoutin' your peace and [dreck], and they're gonna stick the knife in and twist! Just let me turn 'em into a thick red paste and we can move on!"

"The slag heap has a point, Power Breaker," Bioserj shouted, "And whatever is going on, you'd better hurry... The building's starting to sway..."

It was, too. A breeze came along and the community building rocked visibly, moving roughly two inches in each direction. Brother Hood was already making plans on how to replace it.

"Alright," Power Breaker walked up to Kuro and spread his hands wide, "I'm right here. Who are you, and what do you want?"

Sheldon shivered a little. Siberia was cold any time of the year. Only the natives could really feel the difference. He was glad he had some relief, though...

"Here we go," he flicked a switch on his wrist panel, "Thermal conditioning for my clothing... I could probably whip up a few spare systems for anybody else who may need one out of spare materials, but they might be lower quality..."

Ryat99 seemed to be getting coated with ice as they walked. However, the big machine didn't slow or even pay the ice much heed.

"I hope this is known territory," he informed Vern, "And if so, I would like to know the history of this place and its location in relation to the target."

Quite an excellent read.


It also smacks of sequel.

--Jade Moon: Rikti Ship--

"Okay... Okay."

Sheldon sighed.

"I get it now. My mistake was leading you to think that I thought... Never mind, we're wasting time arguing like this, and we don't seem to understand just what the problem is. Just take me to..."

He looked at the lettering on the wall. Some of the symbols and words were new, and he couldn't translate them. Others filled gaps and holes in words he'd learned from the wreckages he helped salvage in the aftermath of the last war. Again, Sheldon silently cursed himself for not working more on that linguistics program for his lenses, but he made do. He pointed to the equivalent of a hatch down the hall.

"I'll take the console in that chamber, then. I'll monitor the systems in this sector."

----------

--Rikti Earth: The Forgotten Sanctuary--

Randall grunted when the smell hit his nose. Death. When Acid conducted his own investigation and explained the situation, he frowned and reached into his jacket.

"Here," he handed over his flask, "It'll wash out the taste in your mouth."

"Are you alright, Mister Zero?" Ryat66 asked, "You seem to be a little out of sorts... Not that I know your normal behavior, but you seemed so in control of yourself before we landed, and now you appear to be suffering from some form of stress anxiety..."

"It's trouble in the air, Sixty-six," Randall explained, "I can feel it in my bones, too."

"And this place is supposed to be abandoned," Cory whispered, thumbing his trench coat nervously, "Be on the lookout... For brass..."

"Brass," the android chirped and his visor flashed red briefly before returning to green.

His systems were now seeking copper and zinc.

----------

--Peregrine Island: Offshore--

"Well, that was uneventful," Matt grumbled as the bike floated in the middle of the bay.

It was still running, still making bizarre sounds as its exhaust burbled through the water. The sound of a jet engine caught Matt's attention and he looked up to see a familiar face looking down at him.

"What are you doin' all the way out here?" Psycho13 shouted from his Sky Skiff-turned-Hoverbike, "And how does that thing float?"

"Pure will, I guess," Matt barked back, "What're you up to?"

"Trollin' for Raiders," the other scrapper replied, "You didn't answer my first question."

"Hey," Matt grunted, "I'm after someone, and I guess they went down there..."

"So what're you doing up here?" Baker chuckled.

"Good question," Matt took a couple deep breaths, "I sure hope it doesn't get too deep, I don't know if I can keep control of this baby!"

McGinty revved the engine a couple times and took another couple deep breaths. His nerves calmed, he took one last deep breath and held it. Leaning forward, the motorcycle started to dive, burning a path through the water like some sort of boiler.

Psycho13 watched his friend sink under the waves for a moment. When the katana wielding mad man was gone and the only trace of his passing was the tell-tale bubbling at the surface.

"Man, you won't ever see me do something like-" he felt a tap on his shoulder, "GAH!"

"Calm down, Psych," Ryat99 intoned, "Did Mattock just do what I think he did?"

"Yeah. He sure is nuts..."

Ryat99 was staring into the water, his sensors tracking his ally. Calculations rattled through the android's head, measuring Matt's excitement rating ("extremely high" as opposed to his normal "very high") to average human health capabilities.

"Whatever he's after, I don't think he's going to make it," the android muttered, "Not without help."

"What kind of help?"

Ryat99 looked to the practical jet engine the scrapper sat on.

"No!" Psycho13 shouted as he hugged the vehicle, "It's my baby! I don't know what a dive like that will do!"

-----

Below the waves, Matt was passing out. He eased some of the air out of his lungs, and some more was pushed out by the mounting pressure. It had been a bad idea from the start, but he wasn't about to give up... Something bad was happening and he... and he... and...

As the world went black he could have sworn he saw a bright, shining blue...

-----

Ryat99 pushed the ice ball deeper and deeper. It was difficult, especially when the surrounding pressure continued to crack and break the ice. The second problem was easily fixed by applying more ice. Inside, Matt was recovering from his initial dive. The android was certain of it, as he could feel the rhythmic vibrations of the scrapper's breathing.

"Next time," he reverberated through the ball, "I suggest you rent a sub, or at least a SCUBA suit."

"Just get me where we need to go! It should be straight down!"

"Yo!" Power Breaker shouted from outside, "What do you want?"

"Uh, Peebee," Chaingunnz grunted as he spun his main weapon, "What're you doing?"

"These guys didn't come in swinging, maybe they want to talk... Maybe I can finally have it out with Poe and all this crap can end."

"That sounds pleadingly optimistic," Bioserj commented.

Power Breaker pushed his way into the building and waved to Kuro.

Field Overcharge Burnout: Two Minutes, Thirteen Seconds.

"That's plenty."

Sarah Grey awoke with a peculiar humming in her head. She looked around to find that she was in the passenger bay of the Flyer, surrounded by black-and-red armored troops. Next to her, Arbiter Taylor chuckled.

"I'm not shackled?" she asked drowsily.

"Of course not," Taylor replied smugly, "I've been watching you and your pesky family for a few months, now..."

"Pesky?" Sarah's face screwed up in consternation, "They... They really have you guys talk like that, huh?"

"I-" Arbiter Taylor rubbed his chin and glanced off to one of his snickering troops, "I suppose it does hinder my credibili- Shut up!"

"Pft, I don't see you kidnapped for no reason."

"Oh, there's a reason," Arbiter Taylor sat back down in his seat, "Operative Grillo said he wanted psychics, and I decided to go and get the psychic I'm most familiar with."

"Why?"

"Why else? For promotion opportunities! You think I enjoy wreaking havoc on your pathetic little burg? I hate plaguing normal people with piddly-crap squabbles... I want to move on to bigger and better things, I want to spread my influence in Arachnos, maybe get myself a small island under my jurisdiction..."

"And kidnapping me accomplishes that?" Sarah rubbed her temple and noticed a piece of metal there.

Taylor drew a pistol and aimed it at her.

"I strongly suggest you don't do that. That device is what is inhibiting you from getting in here," he tapped his temple with his free hand, "And I sure as Hell don't want it coming off."

Sarah pulled her hand away from her head and pouted a little.

"In any case, 'Snuffy...'" Taylor continued, but got interrupted by the young psychic.

"Only my friends and family can call me that, [censored]."

"Regardless, my success in this endeavor provides me with promotion opportunities, the chance to be free of the daily doldrums of Arachnos and this petty little war between my Lord Recluse and your 'Champion of Freedom,' Statesman..."

"I guess," Sarah rolled her eyes and grumbled something unintelligible before turning to the other topic that was bothering her, "Why didn't you shackle me? Isn't that, you know, kinda necessary?"

"Pft... You don't have your psychic powers, you're not a threat."

Then, Arbiter Taylor made his third mistake. The first was not shackling Sarah, the second was insulting her to her face. The third was holstering his pistol in his moment of illusory superiority. Oddly enough, he recognized the moment. Just as he prepared to redraw his pistol, knowing that the tables were about to be turned on him, Sarah dove forward and smashed her fist into his jaw, knocking out a tooth and tumbling the Arbiter to the floor.

The other Arachnos troops couldn't help themselves, and they started laughing. They weren't able to help their boss before Snuffy had bounced his face off the floor a couple times. They eventually had to hit her with a tranquilizer dart.

"Fricking... wussies..." she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

"Urgh!" Taylor gurgled as the troops helped him back up, then pulled his pistol, "I'm gonna kill her!"

"No, sir!" one of the troops grabbed his shooting arm and pulled it back, "You need her!"

"I'm sure they won't mind if she's a little dead!" Taylor shouted back.

"A little... What does that even mean!?"

"Sir!" the pilot's voice came over the intercom, "There's a blip showing up on sonar... It's about to..."

-----

There was a clanging sound as Ryat99's hand clamped onto the back of the Flyer. Ryat66 was off his shoulders almost immediately, crawling like a bug to the front of the vessel. Joe, however, didn't get the chance to do the same.

"No you don't, hang on," Ryat99 grunted as he tossed the police officer onto his back and started pulling himself, hand-to-hand, along the exterior of the ship.

Joe noticed that the android's hands were flashing with each grasp, and little burns were left in the armor.

"What are you doing?"

"Given a week, I could render one of these things to base components," the big machine replied, "But we don't have a week, and they're usually not obliging enough to give me the time otherwise."

Ryat99 pulled to the front of the port hover pod of the Flyer, dangling off of it just as the door on the side popped open. The Arachnos Wolf Spider trooper there shouted, but before anything could be done, the android reached back, yanked Joe around and the cop acted like the blaster he was, firing a blast of buckshot into the trooper, knocking the Wolf Spider off his feet and sucking him out the doorway.

The trooper disappeared in a flash of red lightning, but Joe still blinked. Ryat99 reared back to throw him into the open hatch, and the officer started to protest.

"Relax, I've got this calculated..." the android shouted as he threw.

Durnan screamed a little, but he landed just like the tanker promised. Lying in the prone position and planting his feet at the edge of the hatch so he wouldn't get yanked out like the unfortunate Wolf Spider, he cocked the shotgun and blasted the nearest Wolf Spider attempting to yank a weapon off the wall. He threw the weapon at the next guy, turning to the rifle he had strapped to his back.

----

On the front of the Flyer, Ryat66 was wailing away. Inside, the pilot was freaking out. Every hit was wrapped in electricity, and all that distortion was really hampering his controls. It also didn't help that every hit caused him to feel a small jolt.

"Somebody get that thing off the hull!" he shouted.

-----

"You must think you're pretty tough, boy," Arbiter Taylor shouted as his wrist guards snapped open, depositing his hold-out pistols in his hands, "But you've obviously forgotten the blaster's lot in life..."

Joe threw the rifle at Taylor's feet, it wasn't working, and the white-armored man stumbled a little. Durnan pushed himself off the floor and caught the Arbiter in the face with the "Old One-Two" before body-checking him to the floor. One of the holdout pistols fired when they crashed into the deck and caught Joe in the shoulder, causing him to curse while rolling away.

Taylor wasted no time. He rolled over, blood trickling out of his mouth, his eyes blazing the fire he intended to put into the blaster's face. Joe pulled a pistol from his shirt, but he wasn't going to be in time. As Taylor fired, however, a sword of ice caught the round and shattered. The Arbiter looked to the sword's owner, and Ryat99 was glaring down at him. When Taylor turned back to Joe, the blaster was firing. The bullet struck the interior of his opened wrist guard and ricocheted into his wrist. Durnan then rolled over and smashed his elbow into the bridge of Taylor's nose, ending the fight.

"Nicely done," Ryat99 rumbled, "I'll take care of the rest."

As the big android started advancing on the remaining Wolf Spiders, however, they threw their hands up.

"Oh no!" one of them shouted, "We give up!"

"Where's something to wake her?" Joe growled at them as he removed the device from Sarah's head.

"There! The medical kit!" another pointed to a white box on the bulkhead, "There's a couple cartridges of Nega-Doze..."

Joe applied the cartridge, the little device making a small hiss as he pressed it against his fiance's neck. Ryat99 caught a hold of the two of them as he approached the hatch to exit.

"Wait, she's not awake yet!" Joe shouted.

"She'll wake up before you two hit the waves," Ryat99 chuckled as he opened the hatch and tossed them out.

The Wolf Spiders hadn't been true to their word, and the big android had read the stress indicators in their words. They were just buying time. Surrender was considered disloyalty in Arachnos, especially when there were emergency medical teleporters in just about every facet of the organization, especially the Flyers. The trooper that had been sucked out the side emerged from the medical bay and aimed in on the android's back. There was a metallic clicking and clacking as the other troopers followed their partner's lead.

"You do realize this is over, right?" Ryat99 asked, his voice also emitting a sigh, "I could tear you open six ways from Sunday... But that's not going to be very necessary..."

-----

"Augh!" the pilot screamed as another jolt came through the sensor array and got him in the ear, "Why isn't -AH!- Anybody -OOH!- Helping!?"

Ryat66 received the signal from Ryat99 that his work was effective, and that it was time to end the game. Gripping the sensor array, he channeled all of his weaponry reserves into the array, sending a powerful jolt through the system with the power of a lightning bolt. The pilot was practically blasted out of his chair.

As the vehicle's lights flickered and the machine started to shudder, Ryat99 chuckled at the hapless Wolf Spiders.

"I hope at least one of you knows how to fly one of these things."

With that, he leaped from the hatch, diving to catch his brother, who was currently free-falling. As he reached Ryat66 and hooked the smaller android into his shoulders, he turned to Sarah and Joe, the latter was being held in the air by Sarah's mental capabilities.

"That was a mean thing to do, Ryat Ninety-nine," she half-scolded, half-giggled.

"It woke ya up, didn't it?" the android chuckled back, "You know, if you want, you can get some revenge on the machine..."

-----

Arbiter Taylor broke into the pilot's module and assumed control. Gritting his teeth as he interfaced with the falling vessel, he kicked on the hover pods and threw them into overdrive. The Wolf Spiders cheered him on as they felt their descent slow.

Suddenly, there was a shuddering, and their descent quickened. Taylor slumped in the control chair. Sarah had bounced his forehead off the inside of the Heads-up Display helmet. The force of the device's shoulder pads pressing into his collar also broke his clavicle.

The troops screamed and unceremoniously yanked their boss out of the control chair. Arbiter Taylor landed in a very compromising position on top of the vessel's pilot. They had just got done with the third round of Rock-Paper-Scissors when the machine crashed into the water. It floated, but it would never fly again.

The heroes watching cheered loudly and turned to begin the long journey home. Fortunately, a Longbow helicopter on its way to the Bloody Bay intercepted them and provided them a ride to the base in the Rogue Isles before they headed back to Paragon City.

"Well," Sarah sighed as she snuggled softly into Joe's bandaged arm, "I guess we could use the break."

"This was tremendous work," the Warden chirped as she looked over Joe's report, "Have you considered working with Freedom Corps or Longbow?"

"Sorry ma'am," Durnan replied hoarsely, "I'm a cop."

"I never said the insane weren't good in a fight," the big android replied to Solid Shot, "There's always been need of Berserker types throughout history..."

Sheldon, however, was busy making sure his personal arsenal was prepared. He had two pistols (that he hoped to not have to use), his Gravity Gauntlets (with kinetic energy manipulators), and an assortment of medical supplies especially crafted for hero work by small corporations not affiliated with Crey Pharmaceuticals.

"Alright," he intoned as he placed the last Regenerator cartridge in his left breast pocket, "I should be just about ready to go."

"I suddenly have dire concerns about this endeavor's success," Ryat99 intoned as he looked down to the cackling Experiment 2.0.

"Just now?" Sheldon was rubbing his neck nervously.

"Okay..." Ryat99 rumbled as he looked askance at Solid Shot, "That was... Divergent..."

--Peregrine Island--

"WAIT!" Matt shouted but the bike didn't heed.

It dove straight into the waves, following the "scent" angrily, despite the scrapper's protests and attempts to wrestle control back from the seemingly possessed vehicle. Faintly, he considered that perhaps the Archlich had been right...

...

Nah.

The bike didn't dive under the waves though. It stayed above water (somehow...) and continued following the trail. The vehicle was in pain, and it had an inkling as to the cause. It was going to deliver its passenger to that cause and let the Hero deal with it. Matt figured something to that effect, and decided to let the machine do its work. Whooping happily, he decided to encourage it.

Hovering over Peregrine Island, Ryat99 watched his compatriot's tribulations.

"I don't know if he's truly crazy or truly stupid," he rumbled, "I've never seen anybody just toss their cares to the wind so readily. I better keep an eye on him."

----------

--Jade Moon: the Rikti Ship--

Sheldon pulled off his shades and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"This must be a failure to communicate," he grumbled, "or maybe we're lost in translation in some way. Look, Acid, I've helped reconstruct ships just like this. If you please, take me to whichever facility is giving you trouble, either to man or to get running, and I will take it from there. I know how the systems work, and please stop condescending."

He thought on that a second as he replaced his glasses on his face.

"Or maybe you're not condescending. I hate science fiction, and that's probably what's aggravating me right now, that you'd assume I watched it, pored over it and based much of my life around mastering every little nuance of it. I'm not a nerd, Acid. I'm a mad scientist. I have better things to do with my life. Namely, help you get this ship functioning to transport these troops to the planet surface."

He smoothed out his trench coat and sighed.

"I believe you mentioned that we currently lack shielding... If you'd like, I could take a look at what the problem or problems could be."

----------

--Rikti Earth: The Forgotten Sanctuary--

Randall grunted a little as Sah'Teece continued to translate.

"Sounds like this was an ancient landing pad," he rumbled, "You know, it's odd... It doesn't follow the way a lot of Rikti speak, but it does sound like a precursor to it."

"Like haiku," Ryat66 warbled, "the phrases are so poetic."

"Yes, but what did that first bit mean, I wonder?" Cortland whispered, "Harsh storm we have wrought? Is that a reference to some form of war? The first war we had with your world, or this current (somewhat limited) one? Certainly they didn't use this place as an assault platform..."

((One of our RPers used his sword as the focal point of, essentially, a black hole. This was actually pretty effective at stopping Diov's Xabu, who is now in pretty bad shape.

The fight seems to be over, but the building itself is in shambles. Since we're talking something that more or less resembled a 19th century saloon (minus the piano music), this means the structural integrity of the building isn't terribly good right now. Many of our characters have vacated the structure to avoid its collapse.

The combatants, however, are currently still inside. Several of our characters have gone "God Mode" or "Tier 9" and are well on their way to a crash, some have crashed (resulting in Build's character having foreshadowing consequences).

Darkvapor has also erected a shield to protect the island from further interdimensional assault (and perhaps some physical, but we'll soon see). The building is surrounded by a gaggle of somewhat armed men (think torches and pitchforks style, but with shotguns and hunting rifles instead) led by Brother Hand and Brother Skrap. Out in front of the building is a Freak Tank that's actually a tank (sometimes I dream up Giant Monsters, and Chaingunnz would be the Freakshow equivalent) with the bartender (Bioserj) perched on its shoulder.

Anybody else care to add anything?))

--Rikti Earth--

"It takes a bit of effort, but it's not much different from the average toxin rate of our Earth's cities..." Cory answered, "In fact, this may be better than a lot of them. I may cough from time to time, but not to worry. I have an enchantment purifying my air as best as it can."

"I don't breathe," answered Ryat66, "Well, not in the traditional sense, but I don't require the oxygen and nitrogen blend that most carbon-based lifeforms... Wait, why am I explaining this? Of course you know that. I'm sorry."

Randall grumbled something, but it was unintelligible. It might not have even been words. He sounded like he was breathing perfectly fine, though.