Mr_Grey

"Hm. Instantaneous transport to Siberia..." Sheldon scratched the back of his head, "While I'm a fan of expediency, it's not entirely the wisest of endeavors to just fling one's self into the wild blue yonder. I hope we have a destination in mind."

"I could go in first," Ryat99 offered, "Scope the area out, see what happens. Unless, like my maker said, you have a destination in mind that's not inherently hostile."

--Jade Moon: The Rikti Warship--

"Well, rather literally, the engine," Sheldon replied, "No, I don't have a degree in Warp Theory. However, I've torn apart and put back together enough of these machines and similarly constructed ones to know their workings inside and out."

He pointed at a sign down the hall.

"I also have a rudimentary understanding of the language. Restroom. In any case, I should require only a few minutes to familiarize myself with the facility that provides for Engine Control and Diagnostics, and I should be able to help you keep this vessel running."

----------

((Shoot, that's right...))

--Rikti Earth: The Forgotten Sanctuary--

Randall emerged from the ship and winced. He'd seen some strange things in his lifetime, and it wasn't how Rikti Earth's "wilderness" looked that bothered him.

It was the feeling creeping through his feet and later through his legs. It was like the planet was clawing at him, begging for some kind of help. He'd felt it before in heavily polluted areas, but not like this. This world had gotten used to its changes, the problem, however, was recent.

The massive tanker reached for the ground and grasped a handful of soil. The same tingling sensation worked its way through his hands and arms.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

Cory Simmons and Ryat66 emerged behind him. The warlock looked somewhat depressed suddenly, but the android kept walking without slowing.

"What's the matter?" he asked as he noticed the warlock wasn't with him, "Are you gassy?"

"No..." Cory smiled a little, "No, that's not it... It's the Aether... it just feels different. If I were to describe it, I would say 'sad.'"

"Odd," the android scratched the top of its head, "Applying an anthropomorphism to a force of energy..."

"Maybe if you feel it one day, you'll understand. In our world, the Aether is utilized by so many divergent individuals, and there's so much happening, it's like a rainbow kaleidoscope of emotions and sensations... It's like being alive in a whole different way. Here, though... It's similar, but has an undercurrent of depression, like a lack of potential."

"Could it just be here?" Randall asked over his shoulder.

"No," Simmons shook his head, "The Aether is not localized. It feels no barriers, from steel to earth, from wind and sky to deep sea. It flows through everything, from every man woman and child to every mountain and pebble, every ocean and every drop of rain. What one bit of it feels, every ounce of the Aether must experience."

"Sounds like another god," the tanker grunted.

"In a sense..."

----------

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Matt blinked a couple times at Unai Kemen then grumbled something about being a waste of his time. When Kemen asked "What?" he replied with a loud "Not you!" and prepared to tear off.

Before the bike started, however, he felt a metal hand land on his shoulder.

"What is it Ninety-nine?"

"If you want, I can have the Ryats scoping the city for you. They can't get directly involved, mind you, but they can help you find where to go."

"Cool man."

A chuckle rumbled from Ryat99's head, "Just one question... Was it a Lamborghini, or a Ferrari?"

"It was a Ferrari!" Matt shouted, "Okay! I messed up, alright? Just go! Mirror-black finish!"

And the engine roared to life, startling the scrapper. The motorcycle wanted to go and was tired of waiting. Matt had barely gotten his hands on the handles before the machine roared off into the distance, headed for the ferry.

Matt didn't know it, but the bike was actually following a scent.

((Not very tall DV. Maybe three stories. It's not a particularly large island, so it's not a very large structure. The temple does, however, run deep, but that's not too important here.

Diov... Please don't make me have to consider what's in there yet. It's supposed to be crazy nasty, perhaps material for a different RP, and I haven't even given it a face in my mind yet.))

((Nice to see you're following this Devious. Diov and I already discussed this, and it's probably about the best outcome we could have gotten. I'd expect Xabu to be having some really messed up internal problems at this point, but it's better than being spaghettified. Then we would have had to deal with the eventual aggravations as Husk Corp retaliates...

...

Now that reprisal is merely postponed.

Dammit.))

--Brother Mauthe's Island: The Temple Entrance--

"Oh!" the guards visibly relaxed, "Okay, well, there used to be a staircase, but it crumbled some time ago... Here..."

He tossed Darkvapor a key.

"There's a storage shed next to the staircase, there should be a ladder inside you can use. You probably coulda' blasted the door off, but we kinda like to keep that door there."

----------

--Down the Street...--

The Freak Tank swiveled at the dragon, but Bioserj was shouting at him. Chaingunnz turned just enough to see the Russian pointing at the rapidly imploding common building.

"Lots of lightning!" Serj shouted, "Like Ragin' James!"

"Ah jeez!" Chaingunnz turned the treads back down the trail, "You gotta go and ruin all my fun, don't ya?"

"Stop saying that!"

Chaingunnz grumbled something in reply, but went back on his course. He stopped outside the comon building and took note of the various people popping out of it.

"Hey Peebee," he grunted at Power Breaker, "You bringin' trouble with ya again?"

"Yeah..."

"Heh heh, that sucks, man."

----------

--The Common Building--

Kipland disconnected the medical teleporter from the wall, cradled it in his arms, and tore for the hole in the wall that served as the exit. The fact that everything in the room seemed to be dragging toward the strange blacker-than-black sword in the middle of the room (that may-or-may not be stabbing into Xabu), and the fact that his feet were slipping a little as he walked, he figured it would be a good idea to run.

He didn't do anything stupid like trying to throw the heavy machine out the hole he'd come in. Instead, he jumped out first and dragged it behind him. It rolled like a log and made a horrible crunching sound when it hit the grass.

By this point, a small crowd was developing. Nearly twenty of the local security force, led by Brother Skrap and Brother Hand, were closing in on the Common Building.

"Fantastic," Hand shouted at Kip, "I hope you had a good reason for that!"

"You guys know a good tinker," Kip shouted back, "Better to keep it busted than lose it entirely..."

Some of the wall fell inward to illustrate the scrapper's point and prompted him to start running away from the local vicinity. A couple people from the crowd assisted him with the machine.

"Get that thing set up!" Hand shouted as they carried it to the next building, "No idea whether or not we'll need it..."

"If ya' ain't got a gun in-hand, then you don't belong here," Brother Skrap added, "Don't worry folks, we'll have this situation handled in due time..."

((Good thing he's got those to spare. Hm... Maybe I won't wind up going blood drunk like the rest after all...))

"Not much longer now..."

Sarah Grey and Joe Durnan were sharing a peaceful moment overlooking one of the multitudinous cliffs in the Overbrook region of the city.

"It's a bit of a chilly day to be having a picnic," Joe chuckled, "We should have brought a couple sweaters or a jacket or something..."

"Oh toughen up," Sarah giggled between bites of her sandwich, "It's a beautiful day!"

They were admiring the colors the sky was changing into as the sun descended during their dinner. They would have done this at lunch time, but it had been a really busy day for Joe in the Hero Division. His friend, Jones, had been demoted earlier that day. It was because of some sort of paperwork snafu, and the other officer didn't get into it, but a lot of the former sergeant's responsibilities had suddenly become Joe's.

"I don't think Smythe orchestrated it," Joe sighed, "He's got his gold bars, and he's just too busy nowadays..."

"Not to mention he's actually a pretty nice guy, even if he is a jerk," Sarah murmured as she cuddled closer to her fiance, "Let's not talk about this, hun... Let's talk about something happier."

"Like?"

"Well... You remember Aaron, right?"

"Kip's Praetorian?"

"That's the one. He and Misty wanted to know if they could share their wedding with us."

"What?" Joe looked askance at Sarah for a few moments, "Who ever heard of that?"

"Well, it's not like we're doing a traditional wedding anyway..."

"Yeah, but... It's our wedding!"

Sarah sighed as she gazed into Joe's eyes.

"They only have a few friends here... And they don't really have the money to throw a wedding..."

"Yeah, but... They should wait..."

"Misty's pregnant, though... They want their child to have a family from the get-go."

"Oh."

Joe rubbed Sarah's shoulder a little.

"You know, we don't talk about having kids..." Sarah murmured.

"I know... It just... It seems too dangerous to try right now..."

They sat quietly for a few more minutes. The sky was darkening. It wouldn't be long before a Vahzilok zombie stumbled their way and wound up ruining what was left of their picnic. That, or a member of the Lost preaching about "the coming Revelation."

As they started packing up their blanket and what was left of their food, however, they were visited by the duo of androids Ryat66 and Ryat99.

"Hi guys!" the smaller Ryat66 warbled as they approached, "Everything going well for you tonight?"

"We're doing okay," Sarah squeaked, "You guys?"

"Sheldon got suspended," Ryat99 rumbled, "They're running an investigation and having him take tests to determine whether or not he's a mad scientist."

"Oh man," Joe gasped, "How are you guys holding up?"

"They're having everyone in the Ryat series they can get a hold of take tests to determine sentience an general alignment standing," Ryat99's tone sounded derisive, "As if we have to take an aptitude test to live. I don't see your kind doing the same to your children."

"I'm sure it won't be like that..."

"It's not," Ryat66 shook his head at his larger brother, "Ninety-nine just exaggerates. It's much the same examination they give Citadel, Luminary, or Mark IV..."

"I'd like to see what happens if Eighty-four ever takes that test," Ryat99 was still grumbling, "Guaranteed, there'll be a killing."

"Well, Eighty-four already showed that he doesn't hold humans, or any living thing for that matter, in high regard."

"True..."

"Well guys," Sarah patted Ryat66's head as she hefted her backpack, "We're gonna head back for our apartment in Steel. What're you guys up to?"

"Well..." Ryat99 shrugged, "We're here for you. Kip sent us a message saying you might be in trouble..."

"What?" Joe almost shouted, "From what? From who?"

There was a sudden bustling of activity. Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose as Freedom Corps and Longbow troops seemingly appeared out of nowhere and took positions along the cliff's edge.

There was a humming sound in the air as a large black vehicle that resembled a wasp of some sort crested the edge and looked down on the assembled heroes and soldiers. A bright, wide-angle spotlight mounted on the vessel's main turret highlighted Sarah and Joe.

"From that, I believe," Ryat99 rumbled as Joe shouted an expletive.

The Freedom Corps and Longbow troops fired ineffectually at the machine. It returned fire with a few bursts from its turret, putting down a few of the red-and-white-clad (lite) heroes. Sarah couldn't let this travesty continue. While Ryat99 and Ryat66 put up an alert to any and all other heroes in the zone that they were under attack and the very location to find them, Sarah reached into her backpack and pulled out her sonic support gauntlets.

Kicking on a few tunes she figured fit the moment, she broadcast a dome of sonic energy to support the surviving troops and started casting sonic shields about. Joe picked up the fallen assault rifle of a Nullifier and started helping directly in the fight, Ryat66 and Ryat99 weren't far behind.

However, just as the tank was preparing to launch himself at the vessel directly, the Arachnos Flyer launched soemthing at them. The resulting explosion devastated the assembled heroes.

"Excellent," a smooth voice issued from the white-armor-clad man who stood over Sarah Grey, "Just like the surveilance indicated. A powerful psychic. Take her."

A pair of Arachnos troops picked the unconscious girl up and took her into the vessel. The Arbiter, however, leaned close to Joe.

"You can take this message back to her father, hero. This is his fault. All he had to do was let me conduct my tests on that Kheldian [censored], and I would've seen a promotion that would have placed me under Arbiter Daos... I never would have had to do something like this again, and I certainly wouldn't have taken his insult so personally..."

"Ugh..." Joe could only reply in gasps and whimpers, "...Uh..."

"Heroes..." Arbiter Taylor snorted, "How can you hope to protect anybody when you can't even protect yourselves..."

With that, he turned away and boarded the Flyer. The Longbow troops teleported away and the world went back to normal.

Except Sarah Grey was now kidnapped. Except for the three bodies still on the cliff side. Except for the total wrongness of the situation.

Joe Durnan was normally a passive man. He rather hated conflict. Usually, there were multiple sides to every story, so it proved difficult to get into a righteous rage in any issue. That was part of why Joe had become a cop in the first place. He was an authority whose job was to sort out the disputes impassively and swiftly. He kept his cool, was never directly involved, he settled the disputes that he came across and could just move on from day to day.

Except today.

Gripping a fistful of grass, Durnan fought through the pain wracking his body as he pushed himself up. Screaming angrily, he glared darkly at the black speck disappearing into the distance.

"Dammit!" he shouted as he gathered up some of the scattered weapons left behind from the battle, "Those bastards!"

As he started salvaging what he could from the weapons, packing a pistol here, dropping an assault rifle there, he heard a pop. Turning to Ryat66, he noticed that the android's back had popped open. He walked over and looked into the open cavity and noticed a small wind-up key inside. On the panel interior was a message.

"DO NOT TURN THIS"

Then, in smaller letters...

"Heroes, please disregard."

Ryat99 then popped open, similar to his brother.

Joe, not really knowing what to do, turned the key on Ryat66. He turned it as far as it would go then released it. There was a popping, whirring and clicking sound shortly before an electrical discharge picked the android back up off the ground.

"Whoo!" Ryat66 shouted, "Oh! Thank you Joe!"

The diminutive android then hopped over to his brother and proceeded to bring him back to life.

"What the Hell is this?" Joe shouted.

"Sheldon was able to figure out how the Clockwork make those electric discharges..." Ryat66 explained as his brother came back to his senses, "He couldn't figure his way around the machines, how they could possibly work, but he could figure out the Tesla coil electric generators. So... That's what each of the Ryats got. A purely mechanical version of the resurrection system the Freakshow tend to use."

"Oh," Joe muttered, "Look, guys, we have got to get moving! They took Snuffy!"

"What?" Ryat99 was on his feet immediately, "We will chase those bastards to the end of the Earth!"

"How?" Ryat66 asked, "You're not fast enough to track down an Arachnos Flyer."

"Not like this, no..." Ryat99 switched to his flight armor, a sleek, rounded version of his normal armor, "However..."

A set of panels popped open on his shoulders.

"If we merge and combine the power of our plants..."

"It sounds dangerous," Ryat66 muttered as he looked up at his younger brother, "I'm in."

The smaller android converted to his red and gold combat armor and hopped up onto Ryat99's shoulders. There was a blue flash as they connected and Ryat99's ice armor started wrapping around Ryat66.

"Come on," Ryat99 extended an arm to Joe, "The faster we get started, the faster we get to rescuing her."

Joe didn't hesitate. Despite his earlier dismay at the cold, his blood was pumping so hard throughout his body, there wasn't anything that could chill him out now. As soon as Ryat99 had a good grip on the second blaster, he took two heavy steps toward the cliff edge and leaped off.

They fell for about two seconds before Ryat99 kicked on the rockets in his feet and the after burners in his back and applied the energy from his smaller brother. Suddenly, they were a rocket, blasting off toward the horizon after the black machine that had kidnapped their friend.

((And here we go again...))

--Jade Moon--

Sheldon nodded to the Lady Grey and turned to Acid Zero.

"If you could get me to the engineering bay of the warship, it would be much appreciated. I should be able to run a full diagnostic as well as nearly operate the entire bay on my own..."

He produced a small device from one of his pockets.

"I call it an Aggressor... I simply set it up, and siphon speed from the gyroscope inside. Rather simple, except, since such powers are restricted to hostiles, it has to have this laser sight on me at all times..."

The small spherical device started leaving a red dot on his lab coat.

"See? As foolish as it may appear, this construct should be able to keep us in the game."

----------

--En Route to Rikti Earth--

"I'm all for the archaeological dig," Randall grunted, "Should serve as a decent staging point as well as be remote enough for us to disappear if need be."

"I concur with that sentiment," Ryat66 warbled, "However, I would like to point out that the closer we are to society, the quicker we can get the word out about Nemesis's plot to enslave the Rikti..."

"Some know already..." Randall rumbled, "And the story's bein' killed by Hro'Dtohz and his Lineage of War. It's being passed off as the equivalent of a radical, insane conspiracy theory... Am I correct, Lk'Onik?"

----------

--Portal Corp Courtyard--

Matt sighed and stretched by holding his sword and scabbard behind his head and pulling down. Finally, he approached Unai Kemen and got his attention with a clap on the shoulder usually reserved for good friends.

"Okay, Mr. Kemen... It seems that the excitement has passed... The mission's going on, they've even found transport to Rikti Earth... I know, above my security clearance, but a guy can't help overhearing what's been getting transmitted. Can he?"

He shrugged and took a few steps toward his motorcycle.

"Now... I'm kind of wondering as to what was the deal behind that electronic ear, the mirror-black Lamborghini, and what it could have had to do with the portal here suddenly going all wonky. So! I'm gonna go patrollin' for a shiny black car that looks like it would take me nearly three lifetimes to acquire, and see what I can do to interrogate the people inside."

He walked over to his motorcycle and hopped onto it. Moments before trying to coax the engine to life, he turned to Unai.

"Of course, if you know somewhere I should start looking... So much the better."

((Hm... My bad. I must've misunderstood.))

Let's see...

I have some Good Thing You Can Heal in Psycho13... I haven't yet had him go up against the Sanguimancer, but when he does, hoo boy...

There's a little I Just Want to be Normal in Roland Grey...

Randall Grey has Magic Pants and magic shirts, magic boots, magic... You get the idea.

Nearly all of my characters are Not Wearing Tights. They've got a few rare instances where they wear something classic (like Kip's Nictus Armor, which is really armor but smacks of Power Rangers jump suits every time I get around to using it), but for the most part, my heroes work in street clothes.

All of our RPs have narrative Luckily, My powers Will Protect Me moments.

I'm going to need to peruse this list more to see how my characters match up...

"Woah!" one of the guards shouted as Darkvapor approached, "Hang on there, man! I hope you're not trying to get inside."

----------

As Bioserj got the doors completely open at the barn (and looked askance at the fleeing form of Darkvapor), there was a deafening roar as a massive tank rolled out of the barn. It looked like a massive Freak Tank, complete with a tank track where its legs should have been. The tiny head inside the bullet-proof canopy seemed almost comical. For armaments, it's left arm was a massive, wicked looking claw (much like a Tank Swiper), while the right was a chain gun fitted with blades and spikes. On the base that served as his transportation, there was a set of four anti-personnel turrets that were currently in a "shielded dome" state.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Chaingunnz shouted as he started to tear down the road for the Community building, "Who wants to fight!?"

Bioserj hopped up on the back of the machine before it could speed away.

----------

Power Breaker figured it wouldn't be a good idea to stick around much longer. That whole rumbling sensation was most definitely not heartening. The energy being drained out of the very air didn't help matters, either.

"Somebody grab that med-porter," he shouted as he started clearing the way to the exit, "Let them fight, we need to get the Hell out! NOW!"

Kip pulled himself back into the building and made for the medical teleporter. He rolled tables and chairs out of his way to stand between himself and the massive electrical discharges. The insulation had to help somehow...

"Why kill anybody?" Ryat99 asked, "Don't you know the penalties are less severe for malicious maiming?"

Felix seemed to be falling asleep, cuddled in Essex's hands like he was.

"The Rikti World?" Sheldon gasped, "Wow... My... I... Wow..."

"While he mulls that over, I volunteer wholeheartedly for the mission to the Rikti World surface," Ryat66 chirped, "If you'll have me."

"I see no reason to say no," Randall grunted, "I'm ready when everyone else is."

"I'd actually prefer to stay behind," Sheldon finally decided, "Not because I'm afraid of the Rikti world, mind you, but because I think I would do more good here. When the first war was over, my father was contracted to help disassemble and reverse engineer Rikti technology for the Pentagon. My contribution to the reconstruction effort was assisting him. I know my way around Rikti Engineering better than most on Earth. Having me around should help cut down on the time it takes to get that ship moving."

"Katie's a smaller, cuter version of Felix, based off mouse DNA and the same genetic alteration formula I used to make Felix, who was originally a gerbil," Sheldon chuckled, "Also... Doctor Vanessa? If that is the method you propose to gain internal surveillance of the site, I'd be willing to volunteer. I have some, unfortunately involuntary, experience with such work, and it would be a dereliction of my duties if I were to let this go without offering my support or experience."

"I could probably help the other effort," Ryat99 volunteered, "Perhaps in scout recovery, in case things hit the fan, or, in all surveillance attempts, with data sifting. My multiple processors and synaptic transistors run parallel, almost like a human brain, and it enables me to multi-task efficiently, superbly so. Just plug me into a monitor, and I can relay various bits of information at alternating speeds for your perusal. Huh... I'm feeling more useful by the minute."

((I could have sworn I typed a response here...))

Sheldon pushed himself off the floor. He was disappointed that the assailant had got away, but that was beyond his control now. He turned to the Rikti and the nearby android and nodded accordingly. Looking at the Rikti again, he almost did a double-take.

"Oh! Lk'Onik and Sah-Teece! I'm sorry for my momentary hesitation earlier... At first I wasn't sure whether to place my trust with your assistance... I mean, I've heard of the negotiations with the Traditionalists, but I never once believed I'd be working with them. It's an honor. It truly is."

He started replacing his weapons to their holsters as well as restocking their ammunition.

"I had a bit of a situation a while back," he muttered, "Since then, I've learned never to doubt even the most mundane of weaponry... These may not compare to my Gravity Gauntlets, but they're really useful in a pinch. I'm going to head back for the command center and see what's going on now... Perhaps there's something more productive I can be doing than just chasing lunatics who stubbornly refuse to be caught."

----------

Ryat66 pushed himself out of Randall's massive hands. His repair routine was almost completed, much of his internal structure was back in shape and now he just had to focus his attention to his surface plating. A thin silvery ooze leaked out of the multitudinous cracks and seams in his body, spread out (thinning as it did so) and poured into the various pits and scars left by Ghost's acid weaponry. There was a light crackling sound as the nanites used their own material to repair the damage.

"I'm going to need to request to use some of the steel in that pocket dimension Sheldon uses for construction projects," Ryat66 murmured as he examined his health status, "There we go! One hundred percent... And, as an added bonus..."

He arched back like a blaster charging up, but instead a series of pops, whirs and clangs echoed through the Command Center. Suddenly, Ryat66 was wrapped in a dark-red and gold combat armor. He admired himself for a second before warbling a happy note.

"I should be able to weather a storm like that now."

"Good to hear," Randall grunted, "I'd still like the story behind why you're here when you should be back home, but that can wait."

He walked over to the task force commander before sitting heavily on a crate.

"Lady Grey. I trust that warship I'm seeing out there is supposed to be our ride to the surface... What do we need to get started?"

Heck, I've been referencing this in RPs and some of the stuff I've written. It's THAT good! It belongs in canon.

In some ways, it probably is...

So...

I wouldn't rush art.

"Howdy boys," Wing Commander Rachek shouted as he materialized (much to the relief of the other Sky Raiders), "I've got a job for ya!"

"We're not mercenaries, Rachek," Draven growled, "I thought you said you'd be leaving us alone."

"Aye, and I have. I know we had a bit of a spat earlier, but I was helpin' somebody we owed a favor to..."

"What happened to Shadowshock after that, anyway?"

"Don't know. I heard that big guy you helped wound up smashing the bejebus out of him when-"

"When he warned Angela Greene to stay away from us," Draven finished, "Okay... Okay... Well... You know we don't take well to your visits. You better have a damn good reason for dropping by."

"Like I said, I've got a job for ya..."

After allowing Rachek to select an honor guard of four Wing Raiders, the BWO worked out a deal with him in the recreational room.

"Let me put it to you guys like this," W.C. Rachek grunted, "How long do you just want to be a business? How long do you want to be suppressed by the blue side except in cases of emergency? I saw what you did during that interdimensional war back there... And I gotta say that I'm not too keen on the reward. About half of you can't use your powers in paragon City? how does that make sense?"

"Get to the point, Rachek," Solo grumbled.

"Look... Something came to my attention... A job. It's a small village on the coast of Nigeria... One of those impoverished ones. They found some artifacts and now one of my associates is pressin' 'em to turn 'em over."

"Pressing?" Psycho13 asked.

"He's threatening them. A small contingent of military have been assigned to support the village, but who knows how effective they'll be..."

"Not too much confidence there, huh?"

"I've been alive long enough to know not to hold my breath in situations like that. That country's relatively new at its stability, and I'm not so certain that their top military commanders are above bribery."

"So..." Justin Steel was writing notes on the conversation and tapped it lightly, "Why do you want us to do this? Why hire us to turn on the Sky Raiders?"

"A number of reasons..." Rachek sighed, "One... I joined when we broke away from the Jay-See-Ess-Tee-Arr-Bee, or Vigilance as others remember it. Duray actually sold it to me as freedom from heroic dependence... But what I've seen so far is just pirates in the sky and other kinds of criminal mischief that never pans out. I'm still trying to figure out why Duray and Castillo want to blow the Paragon Nuclear Reactor sky high... But I can't vent these sorts of things myself. I may command much of the Atlantic fleet, but my political clout within the Raiders is next to nil... Duray still remembers me as the numb-nuts Gunny who took the place of one of his best friends."

"This doesn't add up," Steel pressed, "You could still simply order the officer in charge of those Raiders to stand down."

"Not without raising red flags with Duray and Castillo."

"What else is it?"

Rachek sighed, then fingered the hilt of his machete. It wasn't threatening, it was a nervous tick.

"Magic makes me uneasy," he replied, "These artifacts... a suit of armor, some swords, a mummified corpse... These things all apparently have some sort of magical signature that stretches back to the days when the Oranbegans warred with the Mu. Frankly, I'd rather let 'Magi' take 'em and let them be forgotten."

"Seriously? You don't want to sell them to the highest bidder?"

"There are other, easier methods of going about that. Money would go to the Raiders, anyway, simple as that. No... I've got a bad feeling I don't want this stuff getting out into the world. But I can't let word get back to Duray about that, or else I look weak or unfit for duty..."

"Sounds interesting..." King Slater finally stated, "And it sounds like something we should do."

"I can leave the coordinates here... Make up a ruckus over at one of my bases..."

"You don't think word will still get back to Duray?" Draven suddenly asked as he took the datapad.

"I trust the men under my command, which is more than I can say for my counterparts. Besides, once he finds out that I orchestrated this, I'm certain we'll have other things on our plate, and this is fairly minor in the broad scope of what the Raiders are up to."

"Okay..."

"I'm glad you boys are up to this... I'll negotiate a price with your money-man here," Rachek indicated Justin, "I'll see you boys around."

"I think he's going to call his sister, Igor," Ryat99 intoned to the combat droid's back.

"Sister?" Sheldon asked, then shrugged before leaning near Essex, "If you think he's cute, Katie would probably make you blow a fuse."

Felix grunted a little at Sheldon. It was derisive and agitated. Sheldon chuckled and gave the little mutant a pat on the head. Felix "smiled" and made a happy whine before nuzzling Essex's cheek.

Ryat99's reply was simple.

"I'd do my very best for both. It's a fool that believes there's only that one choice in such a situation."

((I'm sorry, but this is too hectic and insane for me to keep up. I'm pulling Martin from this.))

Sheldon sighed as the age-old strife between heroes and villains waged yet again. It bothered him slightly that some of the greatest minds in the world (likely not the best, but then, the best didn't bother with more mundane things like keeping fit and beating up thugs and punks) couldn't get past an imaginary dividing line between "right" and "wrong."

"Why can't they just figure out that it's alignment by degrees?" he thought sourly, "If a person's good deeds outweigh his bad, then history remembers them fondly. bad deeds just carry more weight than good deeds. What the hell was Felix doing in my trench coat? Why's he hanging out with that girl-shaped android?"

Ryat99 turned to Build.

"The act itself is not the significance. Death is death. It's the results of the event that are important. We would gladly give our lives to protect the potential of the innocent. Your potential has been used, you have found your niche. You'd go on doing the same thing tomorrow as you did yesterday if you could. As would many civilians, but they're just as likely to wind up inspired by our service."

He turned to Experiment 2.0.

"Still... He has a point about needlessly throwing away your life. Every hero has to weigh the total cost of every action they take... I think the only lives held above and beyond any such triage are the lives of children. Everyone should be prepared to give their life for the life of a child."

He turned to Build again.

"If such thinking is alien to you, then I am sorry you are unable to understand."

((Think of it as a living teddy bear, Essex. A Gund Snuffles bear, to be exact. It has fur, teeth, claws, organs, a thick layer of fat (to absorb impact and insulate from cold, heat, and electrical bursts), and a set of six spikes that shoot from his back when he's in danger or angry. Right now, though, he's in "comfort mode."))

"Sounds like we need to get a hold of some Committee goons," Sheldon whispered to Ryat99, who was still rifling through the footage, "Dammit, I wish we brought Dale here. He's been dissecting Agent parts... He could probably have helped on this."

"Committee Agents are just like you mentioned, boss... Basically supercharged Protectors, minus cloning or biological reanimation. Now please, hush... I'm trying to disseminate this stuff further..."

And so he did. Second by second, frame by frame, he sifted through the clip. Some things he focused on, like the salute.

"Sheldon... If it were actual mind control, that wouldn't be a mock salute... The guy would execute a proper one, because the one controlling him would know what one looks like. This one seems... Either insulting, or he doesn't know what a proper salute looks like. The fact that the guy manipulating him like a puppet doesn't seem to care indicates he either isn't psychically linked to the guy, or he doesn't know what a salute is either... Military, actual trained military that is, can probably be ruled out right away... Individuals making their own army? Possible... I wish this clip had some stands or insignias... Of course, that would be the last thing these individuals would want right now... To be noticed."

He continued after a few seconds of more scanning.

"I think that part of the brain that was partitioned off was the sector dedicated to imagination. I think we'd need to find what's inside that module... Perhaps what we witnessed wasn't a psychic attack, but a troubleshooting exercise. All said, this warrants further investigation. This little bit of data is not nearly enough to begin to crack open the mystery at work here."

Kip was more than capable of tangling with Xabu's assault. What he wasn't ready for, however, was the explosion that sent him rocketing through the wall. It didn't hurt (much), and he was on his feet again in a moment.

"I know I'm gonna hit you sometime, [freck]er! And when I do, it's gonna hurt!"

"Kip!" Power Breaker shouted at the scrapper, "Calm down, man! Calm down! Let Kaega handle this... I want to see it!"

----

"Code red, Shane," Bioserj shouted as he yanked open the barn doors, "We've got a meta down there of massive potential."

"What're my allowances, collateral-wise?" a metallic voice asked.

"The building's toast as it is. Whoever is in there has no regard for us... I don't see why you should show regard for him. Don't thrash any of the other buildings, though, and try to keep from destroying the med-porter."

"Aw..." there was the sound of a (seemingly) diesel engine revving up, "Take away all my fun."

Sheldon paused at the corner of the hallway. He just knew Radiator had something prepared for him on the other side. Puling a pistol from the holster in his left breast pocket, he held it out in front of himself. There was a glowing aura wrapped around the weapon and he gestured in a pushing motion.

The pistol floated away, Sheldon holding his gauntlets in a position to keep its flight steady. Aiming the weapon down the hall, he flicked his fingers a couple times, squeezing the trigger and causing the pistol to discharge down the hall after Radiator.

After the fourth shot, Sheldon dove under the pistol and drew a second to aim down the hallway. As Radiator turned, he squeezed off a few rounds of his own, caused his floating pistol to drop down to his right hand, and turned the two weapons on the retreating mercenary.

----

Ryat66 dragged his damaged body away from the Vanguard crates. All over, his armor was pocked and scored by the acid the mortars had launched at him. The machines hadn't fared very well after that, as the combat android had turned its attention solely on the offensive weapons.

Still, damage had been done. Immediately, Ryat66 was wishing he'd switched to his combat armor, but he couldn't do that until the slots were freed up of the bits of metal that had dribbled into them.

Randall took the android in his meaty paws and started carrying him away from the disaster and toward the command group. He wasn't fast enough to go chasing after those treacherous mercenaries, anyway.

"How'd you get here?" he rumbled at the machine that looked like a toy in his hands.

"A bit long a story, sir," Ryat66 replied, "I'm going to engage my emergency repair routines now, so I hope you're not mad if I'm not useful in the next few minutes."

"It'll be alright."

((EDITED... Grumble... Also, you indicated that Radiator turned around, I assumed that meant he was headed back the way he came. Still, it's not like Sheldon's too skilled with a pistol, especially doing the action movie stuff he's doing here...))

((SYNAPSE is the super speeder, Diov, and a scrapper to boot.))

Power Breaker shrugged off the blow, and gritted his teeth. It had begun. Poe had sent one of his minions at them (again, simply because he was bored), and the group dynamic was falling apart before it could even be started.

before he could get back into the fight, however, Darkvapor had his attention. He turned to the magician(?) and blinked a couple times before pointing toward the barn Bioserj had been heading for.

"Any scrap metal they've got has to be in there."

Kip, however, was not out of the fight. He rolled the table upside down and kicked the legs out of it. He then rolled over, tipped the disc back up, twirled around like a discus thrower with an over-sized sic, and hurled the weapon at the original three Xabus, but at an angle that would send it ricocheting in another direction, crashing through even more Xabus. Kip, on the other hand, cut right, away from the ricochet, and started slamming his way haphazardly through Xabus. Snap kicks, tornado kicks, and leg sweeps all around, Kip tore into the virtual army of electrified armored enemies, the smoke around his body coalescing into a solid, near-impenetrable armor.