PowerSWAT

Yay!

And Yay for a wicked Terra cameo!

If anyone has an issue with the late timing on this, I'm planning on running a second one (should that be first?) at about 6pm UK time. Shout for PowerSWAT in game or @Drain Brain.

Absence: Boo

Stories: Yay

Amusingly enough, I made a character on Vigilance so I could go practice my French pre-holiday, only to find that half the people in Atlas over there were spamming broadcast in English.

I wasn't up for that for the reasons you gave, so I left!

It always disturbs me (not angers, mind you, just disturbs) that on my frequent trips to France 80% of the population speak to me in English. If they were in my country I'd speak to them in English, so why not discourse in the local tongue everywhere?

But I digress... sorry...

Mega Uber Grats buddy! I've teamed with you more times than I can remember, though only once or twice as Radiotherapy himself! You're a totally awesome Co* player and deserve as many 50s as you can fit under your belt!

See you in the Real World mate (by which of course I mean the one with Atlas Park, Galaxy city et al)!

Part 7, for your delight and delectation...
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There comes a point in every sceptic’s life where something catches him just so, arousing a sort of mini-epiphany, bringing a lump to the throat and generally making him realise what a fool he’s been.

This is what happened to PowerMed in the minutes after the message was broadcast from the Precision Rangers HQ.

From his lofty position above Skyway City, Jon Coombes used his armour’s systems to keep track of his ground team, but within a half an hour that had become nigh impossible as the ground below was flooded with heroes of the coalition.

Nobody had told them to come to Skyway, so he could only assume that there were others elsewhere, but from his vantage point the could see dozens of heroes making efficient sweeps across the ground and skyline, seeking out his team-mates.

It was almost enough to make him feel guilty for being such a grump - but in reality only succeeded in making him want to join the coalition himself. He resolved to make enquiries once their task was done.

He switched to local broadcast. “Attention all heroes in Skyway City. PowerSWAT and PowerMed-RS remain missing. I am attempting to coordinate the search, so would any teams or individuals please make any information available to me. Our control team is setting up a mobile base at the train station. Thankyou.”

A string of responses flooded the channel from various sources - unknowns spouting such things as “who’s PowerSWAT?” and “Where’d you put them down last?” along with coalition teams sounding their agreement. Ten minutes later, Coombes was back at the station base checking in with the Grey Haired man.

“No sign yet, Sir, but this is a big bit of real estate.” Med sighed as he removed his helm, laying it on the desk as an office boy turned adjutant brought him a coffee. “They might not even be here.”

“Correct. There are teams all across Paragon, however. I’ve had contact from a number of heroes all of whom have dedicated themselves to helping us out, barring other incidents. We’ve set up bases like this in Steel Canyon, Talos Island and Kings Row too. Various people are on top of the situation - I understand that the current Commander of the Rangers is overseeing the search in the more dangerous areas like Striga and Peregrine Island, using a cadre of their highest ranking members. The base of the Union Overlords has a ritual team working now on finding them. We…”

The suited man was cut off by a loud voice. “Enemy forces APROACHING!” The entire base turned to see a pair of Super Trolls running over the bridge toward them. Panic ensued amongst the less combat-savvy staff, but was short lived as fiery bolts appeared out of nowhere, knocking the trolls from their feet. A wave of bright blue energy followed the fire, lifting the trolls from the ground and spilling them over the platform’s edge to the city floor below.

Could SWAT have returned? No, it was someone else. A pair of heroes meandered up to the startled men - one decked in armour reminiscent of the original PowerSWAT unit, the other seemingly made entirely of metal, with a painted on crosshair emblem on its chest. The first one removed his helm.

“Good evening, gentlemen. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” The man’s voice was heavy with a European accent - Scottish if Med guessed correctly, but he was no good at British regional tongues. The other remained impassive, looking from side to side as if expecting another attack.

“Erm… thanks, I think. Jon Coombes - PowerMed. I’m handling the search op. You’re here to help?”

“They call me Devidose, and yes - well, sort of. I’ve been searching since the call went out - I live here in Skyway. SWAT and I share armoury duty at Ranger HQ sometimes. Doulos has… had all the gadget oriented Rangers share responsibility for the place.” The man looked a little sore on the subject for some reason, but went on. “Stainless Steel here has been helping me. He’s not quite as fast as me, but we’ve covered the whole area now I think. Not a sign to be seen, except this…”

Devidose held out a military cut great coat to an adjutant, who began scouring the pockets. He was looking glum, about to admit defeat, when the steel man’s hand shot out, holding a wallet. “Looking for this?”

Ignoring the fact that Stainless Steel had no pockets to have been keeping the wallet in, Coombes took it. “This belongs to RS. Can you take one of our teams to where you found it?” The rangers nodded. “Splendid. We’ll see if we can get some psychic help from the Overlords. You’ve been a great help. Now we just have to find the actual people…”

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Red, blue, green. Colours danced and swirled in his vision. Drugs coursed through his body, pumped by a weakening heart. Questions assaulted his ears which his voice answered, unwanted but unhindered.

There was nothing he could do…

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The warehouse looked quiet. At this early hour of the morning that was to be expected, but there was something about the place…

A telltale glow escaped from a mid-wall window, from an un-painted sliver of glass. The light within was soft and yellow, like a child’s bedside lamp. Anathema.

SWAT climbed up on a stack of crates by the side of the building and eased himself along a narrow ledge until he could see through. Everything was dark except for the pool of light in the middle.

A chair. And Matt Price bound to it, head lolled to one side.

PowerSWAT was unsure of the course he should take. Rush in? It was almost certainly a trap, and even if not, the perpetrators would be expecting something. Perps were like that, and SWAT had no idea how many of them were within.

Dropping himself back down to the ground, Pete huddled himself out of sight behind the crates, fishing out his communicator. Replacing the power cell meant that the Rangers and his own controllers would be able to locate him, but needs must, as they say.

“Control, control, this is SWAT, come in?”

The tight burst-transmission found its way across Paragon to the Skyway field HQ. “This is control. Baker, where the hell are you? Get back to base immediately for a full debriefing!”

“Negative Control. I am on the trail of the lab’s saboteur and have located PowerMed-RS. A force of unknown size and composition are holding him in Siren’s Call.”

“PowerSWAT, we… have your location. We will dispatch a team immediately. You are to return to Atlas Park immediately, however.”

“Nega… very well control. I’ll wait here for the rescue team - don’t want him moved while we’re not looking.”

Baker switched the channel immediately. He didn’t want them arguing the point, and as he saw it, he’d be in enough trouble as it was. Matt was in there, hurting probably, and although the guy was an arrogant son of a sea cook that was no reason to let him suffer needlessly. SWAT flipped to the Coalition frequency.

“Morning all… this is PowerSWAT of the Rangers. Need a rescue team in Siren’s. Anyone……”

SWAT’s voice trailed off as he heard movement. Someone was coming! Ducking as far back as he could into the recess between the crates and the wall, he silently wished for the patrol - or whatever it was - to go away.

Clunk, whir, clunk, whir - it sounded like Byte after a long battle. The steps slowed, accompanied by a protracted whining. SWAT was tempted to peek, to see what was occurring, but never got the chance.

From the other side of the crate came a metal monstrosity, a creature of grey-green synthetics, with glowing red optical lenses in a bizarre mirror of Baker’s own optic implant. Stamped in bold letters across the top of its chest was the word “DOULOS”

It raised a blaster, pointed right at his chest……………..

[ QUOTE ]
This game hasn't been about leveling for me (hence why I am so slow) it's been about having fun.

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Echo that bossman - I'm all for levelling (and also feel the need to push it now Blapper's on the warpath) - but fun is the key!

Logged off to go to bed, but may head back in now 33k debt and 600k TNL after dinging 35 tonight...

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet manifesto dude! You got my vote! Like G Force I've experienced teh joy that is an all defender team, although equally I've participated in all-blaster teams.

I even turned PowerSWAT into a "Blampath" out of respect for my own H34LOR and love for empathy in general!

A... paradox a parodox a most ingenious paradox
Ah ha ah ha ah ha ah ha a paaaraaa-dox!

virtua-Cookie for the origin of that lyric

NO!!!!!!

Nonononononono!

No No NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

The three (or four in later times) of robotics are from a BOOK!

Books are made of paper and can be found in libraries and shops and other such places. The three laws of robotics are from Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" series.

READ THEM.

If you can't find them, I'll post you the series - I'm about to sell off my dad's Sci Fi collection and might have a spare copy.

That was a great ending guys, with only one flaw.

Unfortuneately for me, its a major flaw, though many others may not have even noticed it...

Tension mounts... I am involved in the story. I blush, my heart feeling for Aero's plight as he faces his once-wife.

"You are not my Julie..."

My Julie?

I read the rest of the story with Ali-G's song "Ma Julie" running around my head!! AAARGH!

That humorous flaw aside, that was a fitting and extremely well written end to the tale!

I'm up for anything (ahem)!

Depending on Mrs SWAT (who seems to be trying to clamp down on my available time), I'll be there with whoever's in range or exempable! Current levels stand at:

SWAT: 34
Med: 28
SWAT-RC: 18
SIEGE: 14 (about to be deleted)
Med-RS: 14 (about to be deleted)
SWAT-CA: 6 (new to the game and untested as yet)

If you need support personnel then I'm up for exemping PowerMed on this - full suite of healing abilities, a little fighting juju and the ghost combo - Invis, flight and Recall Friend

Give me a shout if I'm online when you do this - might not be around Wednesday (it's my birthday, woohoo) but should be available the rest of the week.

Nicely done, sir...

Thanks for the comments, Guys. But to contradict popular belief, I don't actually alt that much! Each of my characters will see approximately 30 minutes to an hour's play time per week (with the exception of Med, who only comes out if he's needed by a coalition team or a mate) - the rest of the time is PowerSWAT only!

And (ahem) I just created two more

YOU

ARE

CERTIFIABLY

INSANE.

I'm in - Rolling PowerSTRIKE now

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However, I didn't read your post pre-edit, but I think I know where you're coming from

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Actually, there was no ninja editing of an original post. I wrote the whole thing and deleted it, but was unhappy with the one-line response, so I thought I'd justify the upping of my post count with some more words!

I know whatever feeble efforts my tired brain could have conceived would not have matched the actual complexity of your plots, D, but I didn't want to risk your wrath!

Shnyet, I'm all for strip joints. Must confess too many years of oggling Marvel's female beauties inspired me to utilise a mutant-strip club.

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hmm maybe we should set up a 5 man POWER team

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Erm... I did already

and Doulos, if my writing makes you want to write more, then I've succeeded! I love reading your stuff, man, I just wish you had time to write more! As I always say, a little competition is a good thing.

Ducky, I love you too Was that okay for a cameo role? I get him alright?

I should start referring to these stories as "Team Power" or something... ho hum. As promised, less conflict between the team, and more from the Meds. A cameo at the end much deserved in Ranger lore (especially for the purpose he takes) and I therefore appoint him permanently assigned to the post in all future storyness

And damn you Doulos for reminding me... I'm writing when I should be sleeping! We don't all have office jobs with computer access you know!

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A rather drunk man sat watching a scantily clad female gyrating on his table. Delicately, her feet shifted between the empty shot glasses as she put on her twelfth show of the night for some other nameless punk. Little did she know he was a “hero.”

Eyelids flickering in his inebriated state, Jon really had lost all interest in the blue skinned dancer in front of him. This joint was a specialist locale, catering to people with a taste for exotic entertainment - staffed (at least the entertainment) almost exclusively by mutants whose genetic abnormalities didn’t cater quite so much to the “superhuman” hero vocations.

He’d gone there to enjoy himself - to get back to his solitary, bachelor lifestyle - but for some reason wasn’t enjoying himself quite as much as he’d expected.

Ignoring the beckoning of the figure in front of him, he tried vainly to rationalise his sickened feeling. It’s not as if he’d ever wanted to be a “hero” or work with heroes - he’d only done it for the fat pay check - but… he’d gotten used to it. When he’d joined the PowerMed project, he’d been the centre of attention, and he’d hated it. Now, though, with the other members and the concurrent test programmes, he’d gone back to being mildly faceless, alongside the more heroic individuals. Sure, they could be pains, but he was back in a team. Not a great team player, admittedly, and a little sickening if he were to be truthful, but a team member nonetheless.

Rising on unsteady feet, he tucked a note in the dancer’s undies with a friendly, paternal tap and a nod of thanks before staggering out into the night air. It was chill enough to clear the head somewhat, so he spoiled it with a timely cigarette.

What was going on? He didn’t care about the suit. He didn’t care about the team or the work - he just wanted to get paid and go home… but obviously that was just a lie. He did care.

Damn.

He pulled out his cellphone and carefully dialled the number for Project Control, tapping his access code and relays in to get through to the manager’s office.

“Boss…. S’mee. Jon. Whass goin’ on with the suitsss?”

“Well hello to you too, Jon. Nice to hear you’re fit and ready for action.”

“Yeah. Alwaysh. I’ve only had a couple of drinksh. I’m ready for anything. Any word on the replacement suits? I wanna get back in the field.”

“Really? Well, that’s new. Had an heroic epiphany? Decided you want to commit to the city’s safety after all?”

A pause. Then, “Yesh.”

“Well then. I’m recalling the others - I’ve got some leads to follow up and I want you all out as a team. Get back here and I’ll introduce you to PowerMed mk.II”

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Kat could only smell one thing. Coffee. Really really strong coffee. She came into the briefing room to find the cause - Jon Coombes sprawled across three chairs, rubbing his sinuses and surrounded by empty espresso cups. The Grey Haired man sat at his desk, immaculate despite the hour, shuffling papers and pointedly ignoring the drunkard.

She ventured further in to the room and sat quietly in the corner. They didn’t have to wait long for SIEGE, who appeared at the door in short order - bearing what looked to be a large Christmas sack - wearing only a pair of jockey shorts and a bathrobe about four sizes too small for him.

<CLUNK> The sack was dropped. It was clearly a torn curtain, and upon impact it spilled out the chunky SIEGE armour across the floor. The Grey Haired man looked up at the noise, double-taking at the armour and Sergeant Malcolm.

“Hit a snag, Sergeant? Your call indicated the suit was inactive, but your attire still… lacks professionalism. When you‘re ready?”

The only response was a grunt, as Dan turned around and left, only to return minutes later in a police issue tracksuit. He dropped his bulk into a chair, a thunderous look on his face. The others wisely decided not to question him on the matter, opting to wait for the report. Their boss continued.

“Very well. Now that you’re all here, we’ve got some work to do.” He collated his papers into a neat pile before standing and perching on his desk - in the style of a college professor. “First, the replacement suits are ready. The keen minded among you will note that this has been a lot quicker than I first estimated, so I’ll confess now that we’d been working on them for some time. They will be available to you after this briefing.

“For your information, Peter Baker is currently missing, having absconded with elements of the PowerSWAT suit’s remains, attacked PowerSIEGE, and making off. We’ve recovered a good deal of paperwork from his home which we are currently sifting through, but at first glance it appears that he is taking this personally - some sort of vendetta - and so I’m loathe to put him out of sanction. We knew there’d be long term repercussions of his surgery, so I want you all to bear this in mind when we find him - he’s one of us. Treat him well, no matter what your personal feelings on the matter may be.”

Finishing up his “I’m talking to you” stare at the Sergeant, he went on. “Second, we’ve lost track of Med-RS. The suit transponder’s down, shrouded or deliberately deactivated, so we’ve got to do this the hard way. We know he was in Skyway at last point of contact, so suit up and we’ll start there.”

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The new suits worked a treat. Functioning exactly as the originals, SIEGE had the added bonus of increased strength and durability, despite being sleek in design, with incorporated gravitic repulsors adapted from the lift qualities of the Med-G Gravity Manipulation unit, giving him the ability to leap great distances. These he used to careen around Skyway from flyover to floor, inspecting every nook for signs of his colleague.

Coombes, in the Med armour, took a high position, coordinating the search from an aerial perspective. Med-G was the ground unit, her armour hidden under civilian clothing, questioning people on the street… but all to no avail.

If RS had been here, he was gone now…

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It was night time. The streets hereabouts were usually a battlefield of heroes and villains going all out to take and hold any advantage. At four in the morning, however, it seemed dead - almost peaceful.

Stepping past the gutted remains of an Arachnos Tarantula, PowerSWAT followed no more than his instincts. There was little to go on from his investigations, but he’d been in the force long enough to trust his gut. He knew he’d find the saboteur in Siren’s call. He just didn’t know where.

Coat flapping in the breeze, Baker stood in the centre of a crossroads, eyeing the options. His mind kept dragging up words like “traitor” and “treachery” but he didn’t know whether these should be applied to himself - for his actions against the giant SIEGE, or to something else. A premonition perhaps? The traitor from the project was to be found here?

That’s what he was hoping.

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At this late hour, the Rangers’ base was nearly deserted, all the heroes either sleeping or on extended missions, some on stakeouts. The control room was manned by a lone individual. The only individual that really didn’t mind the work, because sleep for him was entirely irrelevant.

At the control console, Byte read. He read reports from the Rangers. Reports from the Coalition, Reports from anyone, assimilating all the information at his own remarkable pace. All was scanned with equal attention to detail and with Byte’s own near fanatical interest in the general Heroic populace of Paragon city.

A message, in text form, arrived at the Ranger’s base, Byte moving seamlessly from report to “work” in a nanosecond. Reading it twice for clarity - something others had spoken of but which truthfully was pointless to his perfect electronic brain - took him mere moments. Then he opened up the Super group and Coalition frequencies for a general announcement.

“Your attention please, all members of the coalition, this is Ranger Headquarters. We have received a communiqué from the overseers at the PCMA’s PowerMed project. They are experiencing some direct and indirect intrusions, and as of now one of their team is missing - PowerMed-RS - who is also a member of Team GBH. Ranger PowerSWAT is currently AWOL from the project’s control centre. Whilst the rest of the team is searching already, they have requested that the coalition keep on the lookout for SWAT or RS. Whilst the hour is late, your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.”

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Quote:
“Ok.” Said the confused giant. “But if anything goes wrong then I’ll blame you for it.”

ROFL!
Love that .

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{{{{{{{LARGE chunk of text removed here. I was about to put forward some thoughts on expected plot progression, but then realised that if my thoughts mirrored the author's he'd probably turn my skull into a decorative ashtray for spilling them in advance of the storyline. See? I DO have tact! My teachers wer SO wrong }}}}}}}

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“Awaken please?” Came Aeronauts voice, then “oops, wrong channel, sorry.”"

Sorry, but that was hilarious...

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Indeed... made me laugh out load, which at 1am isn't good, for it woke up the missus!

Needless to say, she didn't understand

More please

/em weeps

Great story D, had me tingling! rogue had asked me the other day who'd be the new commander, expressing worries that whoever it was wouldn't live up to your standards. Byte and I said it would be him! He said initially that he'd turn it down, but in his heart of hearts he knows he's the only choice.

It's been an era, boss, and will be remembered - the victors write the history, and the Rangers are ever victorious!

[ QUOTE ]
I believe one of the Power range will be there - possibly PowerMED.

I'll be there in whatever AT required

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So I'm a "range" now am I?

Actually, I kinda like that

Yeah, I'm in (see you in 45 inutes), though I'd have prefered to use SWAT - but then as I said in the Ranger thread, if you want an Empath, I'm there for your ease as Med! Total Healing for teh roxxorz win, as they say And though SWAT could use the influence I hate to "waste" xp - and at least Med will still get something tangible out of it!

EEK! (and Happy New Year all)