It all makes sense, in a way. The cowards at Longbow will only take responsibility for something if it works out well; otherwise, it was a rogue hero that caused some disaster. But Im not some off-the-wall rogue. I was in my prime, dammit, and *they* came to *me*. My downfall was Longbows ignorance and my teammates ineptitude.
The mission was straightforward, if not simple: infiltrate Warburg and disable the launch systems at all cost. Their words, not mine. They even warned the assembled heroes that some might not survive. I was prepared to take my chances, and by all appearances so were my teammates.
Getting to the island was simple, as Longbow had recently established a front on the southern beach. Getting to the actual launch site was more difficult, owing to the sheer number of rogue Arachnos troops that infested the site. Upon reaching the launch pad, my teammates would keep the area cleared as I overload the most convenient payload to the breaching point, lap on a mine and we all get clear. The resulting explosion was supposed to gut the whole facility, igniting the remaining missiles and leave the weapons depot useless. Piece of cake.
The team held up well enough against the rogue Arachnos forces despite the numbers arrayed against us, but when we finally arrived at the launch pad, disaster struck. It wasnt the fact that there was already a warhead set to launch, nor was it the pair of Malta Titans that ambushed us upon arrival. The panic that seized my teammates at that moment made me wonder how wed gotten so far in the first place.
Id been trained by the best Paragon City had to offer: the Back-Alley Brawler, Blue Steel, Citadel, even Infernal. The cowards I fought with must not have found much refuge in the teachings of Luminary or White Swan. Within but a few minutes more than half of my team was incapacitated, leaving me to fight alongside the likes of Cold Fusion and the Flying Hangnail. Where do they come up with these names?
Hangnail managed to build up enough kinetic energy to throw the pair of Titans into the rocket just as I finished overloading the engines, with a blast of ice from Cold Fusion froze the metal monsters to the hull. After slapping a timer mine into the hull, I helped gather our fallen comrades and fled for cover, the timer ticking towards zero. But Cold Fusion just had to get the last shot in. He threw a bolt of ice at the rocket, but his poor aim not only knocked the mine off the hull, but froze is circuit entirely!
I could have just left it there, but then the whole mission would have been for nothing. In a desperate attempt, I sent a current of electricity through the air and detonated the mine, but it was too late. The ice had cracked the missiles, fuel tank, and now that the mine was on the floor the detonation did nothing but launch the rocket. The base remained, menacing as ever and filled to the brim with an arsenal of destruction. But the worst was yet to come.
Just as the missile cleared the supports, the dying titans exploded. The blast ripped apart the fuselage, raining fiery deathand a toxic payloadback onto the island.
I would have thought that Warburg would hold no civilians, given its purpose and its occupation by Arachnos forces. But as bad luck would have it, their meager casualties caught more attention than those of the Arachnos. The mission was deemed more than a failure: it was a catastrophe. Once again Longbow couldnt have any blood on its hands, so it found a scapegoat. Me.
I said before that I could have left the mine alone. And I mentioned even earlier that Longbow always walks away clean. I guess I shouldnt have been surprised that my team turned on me. Even those who had been unconscious during the final moments testified that Cold Fusion had called for the team to abort, and had deliberately halted the destruction of the missile. They even claimed that I had planned to launch the missile and use it to my own ends. My actions were decried as reckless and outside of Longbows mission (at all costs, my [censored]), and they set to try me for war crimes. Me! Ive put my life on the line countless times for this city and for this country! All my sacrifices were reduced to nothing.
So now I sit in the Zig, next to hundreds if not thousands of criminals that I myself have sent here. Stripped of my powers and my dignity, I have nothing but my wits and my fury to keep me going. But there are rumors. Rumors of some sort of coming breakout. A massive strike to free those in this prison. And so I wait. Soon I will rise again, and soon Longbow will cower before me.
The Warburg Incident (A prelude to villainy)
It all makes sense, in a way. The cowards at Longbow will only take responsibility for something if it works out well; otherwise, it was a rogue hero that caused some disaster. But Im not some off-the-wall rogue. I was in my prime, dammit, and *they* came to *me*. My downfall was Longbows ignorance and my teammates ineptitude.
The mission was straightforward, if not simple: infiltrate Warburg and disable the launch systems at all cost. Their words, not mine. They even warned the assembled heroes that some might not survive. I was prepared to take my chances, and by all appearances so were my teammates.
Getting to the island was simple, as Longbow had recently established a front on the southern beach. Getting to the actual launch site was more difficult, owing to the sheer number of rogue Arachnos troops that infested the site. Upon reaching the launch pad, my teammates would keep the area cleared as I overload the most convenient payload to the breaching point, lap on a mine and we all get clear. The resulting explosion was supposed to gut the whole facility, igniting the remaining missiles and leave the weapons depot useless. Piece of cake.
The team held up well enough against the rogue Arachnos forces despite the numbers arrayed against us, but when we finally arrived at the launch pad, disaster struck. It wasnt the fact that there was already a warhead set to launch, nor was it the pair of Malta Titans that ambushed us upon arrival. The panic that seized my teammates at that moment made me wonder how wed gotten so far in the first place.
Id been trained by the best Paragon City had to offer: the Back-Alley Brawler, Blue Steel, Citadel, even Infernal. The cowards I fought with must not have found much refuge in the teachings of Luminary or White Swan. Within but a few minutes more than half of my team was incapacitated, leaving me to fight alongside the likes of Cold Fusion and the Flying Hangnail. Where do they come up with these names?
Hangnail managed to build up enough kinetic energy to throw the pair of Titans into the rocket just as I finished overloading the engines, with a blast of ice from Cold Fusion froze the metal monsters to the hull. After slapping a timer mine into the hull, I helped gather our fallen comrades and fled for cover, the timer ticking towards zero. But Cold Fusion just had to get the last shot in. He threw a bolt of ice at the rocket, but his poor aim not only knocked the mine off the hull, but froze is circuit entirely!
I could have just left it there, but then the whole mission would have been for nothing. In a desperate attempt, I sent a current of electricity through the air and detonated the mine, but it was too late. The ice had cracked the missiles, fuel tank, and now that the mine was on the floor the detonation did nothing but launch the rocket. The base remained, menacing as ever and filled to the brim with an arsenal of destruction. But the worst was yet to come.
Just as the missile cleared the supports, the dying titans exploded. The blast ripped apart the fuselage, raining fiery deathand a toxic payloadback onto the island.
I would have thought that Warburg would hold no civilians, given its purpose and its occupation by Arachnos forces. But as bad luck would have it, their meager casualties caught more attention than those of the Arachnos. The mission was deemed more than a failure: it was a catastrophe. Once again Longbow couldnt have any blood on its hands, so it found a scapegoat. Me.
I said before that I could have left the mine alone. And I mentioned even earlier that Longbow always walks away clean. I guess I shouldnt have been surprised that my team turned on me. Even those who had been unconscious during the final moments testified that Cold Fusion had called for the team to abort, and had deliberately halted the destruction of the missile. They even claimed that I had planned to launch the missile and use it to my own ends. My actions were decried as reckless and outside of Longbows mission (at all costs, my [censored]), and they set to try me for war crimes. Me! Ive put my life on the line countless times for this city and for this country! All my sacrifices were reduced to nothing.
So now I sit in the Zig, next to hundreds if not thousands of criminals that I myself have sent here. Stripped of my powers and my dignity, I have nothing but my wits and my fury to keep me going. But there are rumors. Rumors of some sort of coming breakout. A massive strike to free those in this prison. And so I wait. Soon I will rise again, and soon Longbow will cower before me.