((Well, this is a little something that I've put together with the help of some of the other RPers I run with on Pinnacle. Notes on characters:
Nightrayne/Rachel: Recognizable from Super Hero 101 (I hope), this is the game version of her. They started similar but game Rach diverged very quickly thanks to dynamic interactions. Mostly with the below.
Jason Collier: played by @big mike. Katana/Regen.
Moriyaku/Miranda Collier: played by @moriyaku Illusion/Kin
Leroy Collier: played by @red savina claw/regen
This story, and many, many others can also be found <a href="www.rpcongress.com" target="_blank">here</a>. Including some minor references to past events in this story itself. Though not enough that it can't be read and understood I think.))
Her Father's Daughter
Striga Isle, July 2006
The Council operatives assigned to the small command all knew their superiors didn't expect much from them. Just keep an eye on the feeds from Paragon City and report anything that involed a Kheldian. Simple, easy and most of the time irrelivent to either the Council or it's Nictus allies. Still, orders had to be followed.
The trial of the Warshade 'Tutelary' was totally unexpected, but the base's Archon received it with the same disinterest as every other report he had been given. It was with long prior experience that the Nebula soldier entered the office and presented an optic disc with the day's results.
"Sir, not counting reports on Tutelary's trial concerning her specifically, we have four results."
The blond haired Archon looked up lazily. His purple eyed gaze boring into the soldier even as his hand closed over the disc. Without dismissing the messenger, the Archon placed the disc in the reader and watched the records impassively.
What... theres one... whats her name? Nightbane? Nightrain! Miss Nightraine! Alice Covinton, Paragon News. What is your reaction to Tutelarys trial?
Seeing the young teen, the Archon's posture jerked upright and stiff even as the girl's uneducated voice butchered the words she spoke. Not paying the recording any more attention, the Archon turned to the surprised soldier, whisps of dark energy shimmering from his eyes.
"Where did that one go? And how long ago was this?" He bit out sharply.
"I... one of our bases in Steel Canyon was attacked by her, transmitted video footage showed it clearly just after 1000 hou...ack!" The soldier broke off as his form was encased in threads of dark energy that slowly began crushing the life from him. Then it was over and he fell to his knees.
"All operatives are to find this girl, I will not hear anything else from you except where she is, precisely. Am I clear?"
"Ye... yes, sir..." He croaked out, already scrambling to his feet and for the door.
Letting the human leave, the Archon stared at the frozen video of the angry, gray-haired girl.
"Well Rachel, you've managed to hide quite well from me. Imagine my surprise when you suddenly showed up as a missing host. I knew then that it was only a matter of time before I could catch up with you. Even less time now. Make your time with who ever you know count, because it's time you came home. After all, daddy knows best." With a grin, Galaxy Archon Julian Tress sat back in his chair. Soon, he would regain his lost possession.
Present
Nightrayne sighed as she shuffled the papers she had found in what was apparently the base commander's office. This job for Collen was certainly interesting, though nothing had been said implicitly about the 'Path to the Dark', but if she was reading between the lines of Jennie Bassie's journal correctly, she may be on the trail of the Nictus. The complex below a Brickstown warehouse was not as useful as she had hoped, but she wasn't finished searching just yet.
The two mercenaries slipped quietly into the base. Their commander had informed them that one of the Kheldian aliens, a renegade Nictus in particular, had gone in. The Void Stalker was hoping to go alone, but the Archon had demanded he take another. It was just his luck that the only one available was a new Seeker. Their orders were very clear and allowed no room for failure.
Nightrayne was flipping through a file cabinet when the comm tucked into her headband vibrated softly. Pausing only long enough to pull the microphone down, she answered while still searching.
"Nigh'rayne 'ere."
"Hey hun," Her father's voice brought a smile to her lips even as she continued her search.
"'Ey dad, 'ow's Mom doin'? You kee' 'er up pretty la' las' night."
Jason coughed. "How did I do that?" He said slightly amused.
"Oh c'mon. I ain' tha' mu' o' a kid. The wa'er pipe 'scuse ain' 'ery goo' you know. 'Spes'ly whe' I c'n feel echoes 'cross the lin'." Even across the comm line, Rachel could imagine her father's now red face.
"Um... so... Mira wants to take all of us out tonight." He tried to change the topic to Rachel's laughter.
The two Voids heard a girl's voice from the room and froze. Readying their Quantum Array rifles, they crouched low.
"What are we waiting for?" The Seeker demanded. "We're more then a match for any stupid squid."
"Shut up." The Stalker hissed, "If you underestimate the target, you've just given up any advantage you have. How else do you think so many other Hunters get arrested? They messed up. Now, on three we move."
"So, you going to be able to make it home before sundown? Mira wants to take us out to some diner in Steel Canyon."
"Oh? 'll do my bes' to ge' 'ere 'fore eight. Wha's thi' pla...."
Back in their apartment in King's Row, Jason's blood ran cold as his daughter's voice cut off in a scream and the distinctive whine of a quantum gun. "Rachel!"
Her body wracked in pain, Nightrayne was unable to answer. With a thought, she crossed the void between her two attackers and lashed out, gathering her energy as fast as she could and releasing it in an explosion the tore the wall apart and sent both Voids flying. Through the pounding of her blood in her ears, Rachel heard Jason's voice demanding to know what was going on.
"'mbush... tw' voids... gotta ge' ou'a 'ere..." Shacking her head, she staggered over the rubble for the main complex, she could hide there, recover and plan. Searing pain flashed across her existence as a third and final blast from a quantum gun blanked her mind and sent her to the ground. Lowering his rifle, the Stalker gave a disdainful glare at the unconscious Seeker and his broken Array rifle.
"Base, mission complete. She caused a lot of damage and the new kid's had it, but the squid's in the bag. Send a recovery team here." He flipped the line closed and walked to the downed warshade. A man's voice was coming from the side of her head. Kneeling, he pulled the communicator, the star emblem of the Allience of Champions clear on it's body and the urgent voice coming from the ear-piece, told him that their operation wasn't as quiet as he had hopped. Crushing the device, he shouldered the girl and left. The new kid could go to the Zig for all he cared. With the other heroes aware of these events, he didn't have time to wait.
----------------
Jason burst into the DTP headquarters. "I need to see Miranda, Now, I don't care what meetings she is in, I don't care what clients she is with I need to see her now." Jason's voice was a combination of fear and anger.
"All right, honey." Ginny's voice was relatively calm as she lifted the phone to dial Miranda's extension. "Head on in, she's with the security guys. I'll let her know you're coming."
Jason walked rapped on the door of Miranda's office. "It's open, babe," she called through the door. "C'mon in."
"Something happened to Rachel," Jason didn't even pause to wait to see who was in the room. "I was talking to her and she got jumped by voids. She hasn't appeared at any of the hospitals I checked before I came over here." Jason shakily sat down in a chair in the room putting his head between his legs.
Miranda stared at him for a moment, the color draining from her face. It took a second for her to get the words out, her own voice remarkably cool and crisp despite her appearance. "Reiki? There's a biosig backup under the admin password. There should be a folder labeled with Rachel's name... set it up for tracking, would you? Sync it to a handheld to go out in ten, okay?"
The wiry dark-haired man nodded, already at the door. "In five, tops. Ginny'll have it at the desk when you're ready to head out."
I'm gonna need to get the new armor see if we finally fixed it. Jason said his body finally calming down.
Should be fixed, she answered in kind. It'll take a half-hour to calibrate it, though.
Chances are we're gonna need it. He looked up. It's always something.
She got up from her desk and walked around to the chair, a hand on the back to steady herself. "When did it happen?"
"Twenty-Thirty minutes ago, I checked with all the hospitals and the Base before I decided to come here." He sighed. "I really don't know who'd go after a kid like this, most of the groups around here do have limits and that's a serious line to cross."
Miranda nodded, her lips pressed together tightly. Who's she been working for lately? Is there a lead that might have turned ugly? Was she... She froze, a hand at her mouth as she considered one of the graver possibilities. "It wasn't out at Portal Corp, was it?"
Jason shook his head. "Brickstown, That narrows it to Council or Crey, or Freaks, I doubt it was the freaks though."
At the mention of the three possibilities, Miranda's eyes narrowed. In retrospect, Jason would realize that he had seen a similar expression on the face of the Mannequin once upon a time when Derrik's own daughter had been involved. Her hands balled up into fists, the lavender tendrils curling from her palms. "She and Dirge. I've got a good idea who it was."
Jason stood up as he started to glow. His face twisting into the look that was familiar to those who had seen Jason when Miranda was in a coma. "So do I." His eyes burned with anger. "Let's get her back."
-----------------------
The light slowly brought her to wakefulness, soon Rachel became aware of the hard surface she was laying on. It was one she was, unfortunately, familiar with.
I know 'ere wasn' a cell blo' 'n tha' base. Mus'a bee' moved to 'nother one while ou'.
Rachel? Good you are awake.
D? Wha' 'appened? Las' thin' I 'member was gettin' hi' by one'a them d'mn quant guns.
I am not sure, I only regained awareness recently myself.
Grea', guess we gott'a bus' out'a 'ere now...
Sitting up, Rachel found one thing that was different then the other Council cells. Neatly folded on a chair in the back was a Council Galaxy uniform. Giving the clothes an odd look, Rachel turned to face the door, a Shadow Blast already gathered between her hands. She was about to fire her fifth blast when there was a thick chunk and the door was opened. Startled, she lost the blast even as she recognized the two quantum guns being pointed at her by the Council soldiers on the otherside. Each flanking a Galaxy Archon who stepped into the room and looked down at through his mask.
"Leave us." The man's voice resonated through her and sent her into shock as the soldiers withdrew and closed the door.
No way... i' ain' pos'ble...
Waiting until the door closed, the Archon pulled the mask off and gave the girl a possessive smile under a pair of royal purple eyes and a thatch of blond hair. "Rachel, you've finally returned to me.
"..dad..?"
---
"I don' ge' i'. Wha' 'appened to you af'er the 'splosion a' Venice?"
Tress frowned at his daughter's nearly unintelligible words before he managed to figure out what the child was referring to. "I was found by a patrol of 5th Column soldiers and taken back to a near by base. After recovering, I decided to join. The chaos of the invasion allowed for a rapid rise in the ranks. After those oh-so-noble heroes sent the aliens into hiding, I began to search for you." His eyes flickered to Rachel's gray hair. "The hair is what seemed to have been what threw my queries off. I had been asking for a blond-haired child. The first I had heard of you after Venice was a report from a hostbed facility reporting your loss. It was quite fortunate that one of my facility's functions is to monitor Kheldian activity within the city. We finally got a firm lock on you last month, during that one warshade's trial." Tress shrugged, "From there it was just a matter of a few hackings and thefts to get your information from city records."
"But enough with that." With a clap, Tress walked over to the folded uniform and tossed it to the girl, who caught it by reflex. "Change into a more appropriate attire. I will not have you in that pathetic outfit any longer."
Rachel looked down at the padded armor costume she used as her 'work clothes' then back to Tress with a slight frown. "Bu'... I don' un'erstan', wha's wron' wi' this? 'N why'd I wanna loo' li' a Council goon?"
Tress' face flushed red and his hand was across Rachel's cheeck in an instant.
"Do not question me girl. You will do what I say, when I say it. Is that clear?"
"Yes Daddy." She replied without hesitation. Old habits of following his orders without question resurfacing in an instant.
"Good, I'll send someone shortly to dispose of those rags." Three sharps raps on the door and Tress left the cell, the door locking behind him.
Rachel! We need to get out of here. They've taken our communication device, that will make things harder and this Archon...
No..
..doesn't seem... what?
I... I can' figh' 'im. I.. I gotta do wha' 'e tells me...
No you do not Rachel. That being has given up all rights as a parent!
However, Rachel was already slipping the uniform on, a haunted, dull look on her face as she ignored Dirge's voice.
-------
Leroy Collier stepped off the ship into the Port Nobel pier. With the third day of Rachel being missing, Jason was starting to loose it again. With Voids being involved, it technically could've been anyone who had Rach, but from what Rachel had told him, the Voids were really just a different arm of the Council, and after he and Jason had finished their rampage across Independence Port, Brickstown and Boomtown without any luck, Leroy decided to try Stirga while Jason continued to cut through the soldiers in Brickstown.
Three hours later and several dozen Zig tags later, Leroy tried a different tactic. Mainly because Long Jack called him up first.
"Hey, I've heard that you're looking for some girl the Council grabbed."
"Yeah, the bastards got Rach and I'm gunna find out where."
"Well, I don't know if it's the same girl you're looking for, but a group of Council soldiers and one of them Void mercs were spotted heading into a base up on the north coast. The dockworkers said they had someone with them in a stretcher. If you want, I can give you the location and you can see if it pans out for you."
"What? Yes!"
A quick run later, Leroy was breaking down another door to a Council base. Sneaking through the base, Feral Tabby was surprised at the lack of guards. The entire hallway was abandoned. He was starting to think another hero had already been through here when the footfalls sounded. Flipping up to the ceiling and scurrying behind the pipes, he watched as three solders went by waiting until they had passed before jumping down. The noise caught their attention and they turned around in time to get hit with a whirling ball of claws.
"Watch out! I'm set to puree!"
Repeated tosses into the tunnel walls added and the soldiers were down and tagged before an alarm was sounded. Preening to himself, Leroy went off deeper into the base. A voice echoed up the tunnel, the words muffled and distorted into unintelligible noise, but the indication of several people had the scrapper crouched to the ground as he came to the large hall, Council regalia hung from the ceiling above the heads of what was probably the full compliment of soldiers in the base. Feral stopped counting after 30. They were standing at attention as a Galaxy Archon stood on a raised dias and told them of the great success they had in reclaiming a renegade Nictus.
Feral's knuckles cracked after hearing this, but before he could to anything a soldier's voice called from behind him.
"Intruder alert! A hero's in the base!" There was a flash and Feral was thrown through the air as the lobbed grenade detonated and drew the attention of the gathering and the Archon.
"Get him! Make sure he can't go anywhere!"
Scrambling to his feet, Feral chucked several rocks broken by the grenade at the soldiers. "Face the... um... rubble of Justice!"
His efforts managed to send most of the soldiers to the ground before a strike from an Adjacent sent the young man down. Dazed, he felt himself being hauled up and his recall patch torn off. Through blurred eyes, he saw a Galaxy soldier approach. An odd one at that, far smaller then the rest and, if the slight curving of the uniform was correct, a girl. Almost unheard of among the Council. She leaned forward and placed a gloved hand on Feral's cheeck before trailing it down to his chest.
"You shou'n've come 'ere Lee." She whispered in a shockingly familiar voice. "No' 'lone an'way." Even as he tried to demand an answer from Rachel, he felt one of her shadow blasts slam through him at point blank. Slumping forward, he was vaguely aware of the recall system pulling him from the hold of the Council and whisking him off to a hospital.
"What?" Tress shoved forward and grabbed the soldier that had been holding him. "I told you to get his recall patch!"
"I... I did, sir." The soldier protested, holding the patch as proof. Tress glared at the patch and snatched it from him.
"Then how it that meddlesome hero get..." He growled before looking over to the silent girl. "You gave him yours." Tress stated towering over Rachel. "I warned you about defying me." Tress struck the girl and sent her back. "Throw her in her cell. Lock the base down, that hero's bound to bring more next time. Nothing comes or goes in 45 minutes, activate all countermeasures." Tress barked out as he stalked from the room. "And I want the heads of the technical divisions in my office in five minutes!"
-----
At the Brickstown Infirmary, Jason and Moriyaku were once more speaking with the recall device technition.
"I told you already sir, Nightrayne's recall never went off. The reports from the base she was apparently taken from indicated it was shielded. As good as the mediport system is, it can't get through that."
"Well can't you remotely trigger it or something?! Force her back here?"
"No, sir. The protocols don't work that way..." Both heroes were spared having to listen to the details of mediport coding when his terminal beeped at him to indicate an incoming mediport. He looked absently at the ID code before blinking and turning to the two Heroes. "Nightrayne is incoming, medport five!"
Jason was already at the gurney even as the form shimmered into being, only to see his hopes crash. "Leroy? What the hell happened to you?"
"Nugg... I found her Jase... got beat up though..." Leroy grumbled as he sat up. He looked down at his cheast and the medpatch that had been placed there. "Rach slipped me her patch after those Council jerk grabbed mine, then she knocked me out."
"Leeroy, tell me where she is, Mira and I are going in."
"Striga. The Council has her."
-----
Rachel sat on the cot in her cell, her hero costume in her hands.
Rachel, why are you just doing what ever that man says?
'e's my father, 'm... 'm supposed to do wha' 'e asks o' me... Her excuse sounded weak, even to her. A fact Dirge jumped on.
I've seen how he looks at you, and I've seen how Jason does. Those two are nothing alike in how they see you. Julian just sees you as an object for him to use and abuse. If that's what a true father is supposed to be like, frankly I'd rather Jason never become one.
I... I know...
You need to decide Rachel, what family do you want to be with. I will support you regardless of your choice.
I... I... I wan' to see mom 'n dad 'n Lee 'gain.
Her course settled on, Rachel put the padded armor and cape she was used to back on, and the Galaxy soldier uniform was tossed into the corner of the cell. She was just reseting the clasps of her cape when the door opened and two Qunatum gunners addressed her.
"Come with us Nictus, Archon Tress wants to see you."
-------------
Jason's armor had finally started to work better then it had, he bashed through the door of the base like a tank and scanned the area. "It's too quiet." His eyes had taken on that haunted look again, his family had been attacked again and he was sick of it.
"C'mon," Feral said, "The main hall's this way."
Jason looked over. "I'm gonna scout ahead, 'Randa can port me if you need me."
"Wait!" She frowned a bit before waving a hand over both their forms. In a few seconds, anyone walking past would see only one hero, not three. With another wave, Miranda herself faded into nothingness.
I'll be careful I promise. I'm getting good at this entire.. Save my... family..... Thing.
You shouldn't have to, babe. Stay safe, okay? She reached out an invisible hand towards the spot where she'd seen him last, fingers brushing against his chin.
I will, I'll call if I find here, somethings not right here. He reached and gently grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring hug before he silently walked deeper into the base.
Moving along the corridors of the base, Jason noticed several things. There was a distinct lack of Council troops in the halls or rooms, just automated defenses tracking over each room with sensors that failed to detect him or the others following him.
"I don't get it." Feral whispered, "I saw a base full of guys. Where'd they all go?"
"No time to wonder about it now. Let's just get Rach out of here. Anything gets in our way, take it down." Jason tightly replied.
Progress through the base was eerily silent, a fact the disturbed the three almost as much as if they had been fighting an army for each foot they walked. It was along what Feral told them was the last tunnel before the main hall that the other shoe finally dropped.
"Arroooo!" From the other direction a warwolf came barreling down on them only to be hurled back by Miranda. The pounding of several boots on stone became apparent as Council soldiers charged down on the heroes.
"I got these losers." Feral said, stepping between the approaching wave and the other two. "Get Rach out'a here. No one's gunna crash your party, I'll make sure of it."
Jason frowned, briefly considering sending the soldiers to the Zig then moving on, but the thought of leaving Rachel in these guys' hands for an instant more changed his mind. "Ok, watch your back Leroy. And use all the cinder blocks you want." Grabbing Miranda's hand, Jason sped down the tunnel.
The door was in sight when a girl's scream echoed from within.
-----
"Rachel." Julian looked at his daughter's clothes in disdain. "I believe I had instructed you to not wear those rags, no matter." He waved as he walked toward the stack of crates near the walls of the main hall. "You've proven unworthy of the uniform of a Galaxy anyways. All that remains is for you to beg for forgiveness."
"No."
Julian stopped in his tracks before looking at Rachel, "'No'? Did you just tell me, 'no'? Have I not told you what the penalties of disobeying me be?"
"You're no' my father, no' an'more. You're jus' 'nother Council flunky 'm gunna send to the Zig." Rachel was surprised her voice wasn't shaking, she hadn't felt this scared since facing Arakhn, and that was with a full team of friends with her.
"Is that so..." Julian's eyes narrowed as he sighed, "It can't be helped then." He detached a device from his belt and tapped a few keys before returning it. "The purpose of this base is to develop anti-Kheldian technologies for use against our enemies. Most of it is still in the experimental and development stages, but several are very much ready for use. I just activated one such device. Through out the base, specialized blockers have just gone active, in addition to blocking all matter transferences, they also interrupt the build up of large scale energies." He leaned against a crate with a dark smile. "What all that means to you, my dear, is that you can't teleport, you can't transform and you can't use any of your stronger abilities." Rachel frowned, an attempt at teleporting proved just as useless as it had in every cell she had been in. There was no reason to doubt the rest of what Julain said wasn't true as well.
"'Ell loo' 'ho go' a blue rib'n a' the sci'ce 'air." She tried to act unimpressed.
"Oh I got first in more then just science." Tress smiled as he pulled what appeared to be a broadsword from a crate. The blade, however, was a reddish black crystal. "You have one last use for me child. We've taken this prototype Quantum Blade as far as lab work can take it, all that is left," A switch was pushed on the hilt and the blade swirled with quantum energies. "Is a test subject to use it on." Tress lunged, the blade aimed at Rachel's neck.
Diving to the side, she flung a bolt at him with little effect. A flicker of energy coated his form and the bolt slid over him like water. Smiling with satisfaction, Tress slashed at her again, ripping her cape as she rolled again.
"Is running all you can do now? How pathetic."
Rolling into a kneeling position, Rachel concentrated and lanced out with a pair of tightly focused beams from her eyes. "Jus' kee' tal'in', 'll fin' a way to bea' you yet." Wincing slightly, Tress jumped at her, preparing to bring the blade down on the girl's head.
To fas'! I c'n't dodge 'n time... 'nless...
Around her feet, a shimmering field of light purple energy formed and Rachel coasted to the left on a field of zero friction. It wasn't near as fast as she could normally move, but it demanded almost no energy to maintain, certainly not enough for the nullification field to count against.
Tress looked at his daughter with a smirk. "Not bad, it seems you did get a little bit of intelligence from me after all." The Archon's expression clouded in a frown. "How long to you think you can avoid me? Long enough, perhaps, for your rescue party to arrive?" Tress vanished in a swirl of Nictus energy, "Not quite!" Appearing behind her, Tress grabbed her in a field of intense gravity, drawing a pained cry from Rachel.
"Thi'... thi' 's..." She tried to force out.
"Nictus abilities, yes." Tress smiled darkly, "Because that is what I am now. Like father, like daughter, hmm?" With that, the blade thrust into her and Rachel cried out in pain.
------------
Shattering through the door and the pair of guards like they weren't there, Jason saw Rachel and the Archon in the room. Tress' head turned to the hero and, with a smile, he jerked the sword from Rachel and set it into a crate, the girl falling limply to the floor and not moving.
Jason barreled into the Archon. "You Son-Of-A-[censored]." He finished the sentence with a left hook to the Trees's stomach. Jason seethed. "You punks never learn!."
The air knocked out of him Tress lashed out, draining the energy from Jason and boosting his own abilities. Jason had been reaching to turn his comm on to Miranda but it skittered out of his hands as the blast hit him, at the same time the blast fried his stealth device causing him to come into plain view. Tress stood up, a fist wiping the side of his mouth.
"I know of you. You're the one who poisoned her. Turned her against her own father and made her useless to me."
Jason stood up eyes blazing. "So. She's just a tool to you, you abandoned her, We gave her love. You just tried to kill her." He pulled his katana out. "Let's go, [censored]."
"She's what ever I chose her to be. It's my right as her father." Tress launched a shadow blast at the man before him.
Jason dodged the blast. "Which you forfeited a long time ago!" Jason sent his own blast of energy from his eyes at the monster in front of him the battle was on.
Miranda! Dirge's mental voice called out as though from the far end of a tunnel
She froze, pressing herself against the side of the hallway. Immediately, she faded against the wall. I'm here! Jason ran ahead, he's trying to find you, she sent back urgently. Are the two of you all right? We heard her scream.
Tress stabbed us with a blade, it was tuned like a quantum gun. Rachel's badly hurt at the moment.
"Oh no," Miranda whispered aloud, a hand to her mouth. Tell me what to do, Dirge.
The anti-teleport field is still active, it also prevents any large build up of my power. I have an idea, but it will be very tricky. The odds will improve if you can get her out of here. Take out that device! It should be on the upper levels catwalk.
Miranda edged out into the large room and glanced up; without the ability to teleport, she would have to climb. Okay, upper level. Take care of her, Dirge. I'll get there as fast as I can.
I will. One more thing. Tress isn't human anymore. The fragments that make him a Galaxy have completed the transition. He is a full Nictus now. Watch out for his draining abilities.
Jason tasted the coppery taste of blood in his mouth as he slammed against another wall of the room. Miranda watch out this room has something that's affected my powers.
Dirge told me, babe, she replied. She says it's on the upper level of the catwalk. I'll get to it, just keep 'im distracted.
I'll hold him -- Jason went silent as he was hit again by a blast. He started to run away from under the catwalk in an effort to get Tress to follow only to find the Archon teleporting in front of him with a grin.
"Did you really think I would be as limited as you here?"
Jason grinned back and spat in his face. "No, I needed a nice jog." As Jason raised his leg up as if to kick a football and kicked him in the groin. With a pained cry, Tress folded in half and fell to his knees, blinking the tears from his eyes he held out a hand that sent a wave of energy that pushed Jason back.
"Did you really think I would fight fair." Jason quipped as he pushed himself up.
"Apparently not." Another series of blasts arched from Tress.
Jason dived out of the way and ran at Tress getting him into a choke hold. "Good, 'cause I ain't done yet. You don't mess with my family."
"That waste of skin is no one's family." Tress growled before shifting, allowing Jason's hands to slide through his phased form.
Above them, Miranda swung herself up to the lower level catwalk and landed in a crouch. The second catwalk hung from thick steel cables nearly four meters above her. Below she could see the two men grappling on the concrete floor. She winced as she saw Jason's head snap back, the blur of purple-black energy all too familiar from the times she had spent in Striga. Gritting her teeth, Miranda reached for the access ladder. Almost there, babe. Just keep him occupied for a little longer.
Jason stood tapping his foot waiting for Tress to come out from being phased out of sync with his surroundings. Casually walking to the stack of crates piled against the wall, Tress returned to the normal plane and grabbed a Vulcan gun and brought it to bear on Jason.
The bullets hit the suit and did little more the ricochet off it in random directions. Well the bullet proofing works. He thought to himself. "Gonna have to do better than that!." Jason said walking through the onslaught of bullets. Throwing the gun to the ground, Tress tossed a grenade at the hero. Jason dived forward and tucked into a roll as he landed as shrapnel hit his form. "That's getting there! What other toys you got in there?"
"You want toys? Try this one out!" His eyes flickered to one of the useless guards that had been standing by the door before Jason had knocked them out. With a beckoning gesture, Tress ripped the life from the soldier and forged an essence that immediately began firing bolts of Nictus energy at him.
Jason laughed. "A koosh ball are you serious?." Jason backed up and kept his eye on Tress as he dispatched the ball of energy easily. While he dealt with the ball, Tress tapped on something inside another crate with a smile. As the ball dissipated, the Archon lifted the gun, it's redish energy pulsing.
Jason turned around. "Last time I checked I wasn't a kheldian." He ran at Tress.
"Good, because this isn't tuned to kheldians anymore." A burst of light followed as he pulled the trigger.
Jason's eyes went wide with the realization of just who the gun was tuned for. The burst of energy came at him as he skidded to a stop and tried to get out of the way. He'd underestimated just how much research Tress had put into everything and the blast crashed into him he gasped and fell to the ground writhing in Pain. With a satisfied grin, Tress advanced on the fallen hero, firing another blast.
Jason's vision swimmed around him. This is familiar.... Babe watch out. Oh [censored] I know what these things feel like now. He let out a audible groan.
Jason? Oh no... The readout on her comm went red next to Jason's name, vital signs flickering. She struggled with the device as she clung to the access ladder with one hand. Talk to me, please.
Quantum Gun, tuned just for me, I'm touched that he'd think of such a thing
I'll get you out, hold on.
No. Turn off the Machine. I'll be able to heal then. We can't waste time. Jason was struggling to get up.
I can't lose both of you. The panel was just above her, the wiring similar to that of every other intricate but poorly-contrived Council device. Swinging herself to the upper catwalk, Miranda crept towards the metal box that had been attached to a power console.
You won't. You gotta turn it off it's the only way to stop him, if you port me he'll see you and I don't even think you could port me. Not with the machine.
Miranda looked down through the grate, the glow of the gun in the Archon's hands signal that he was readying what could prove to be a final shot. Then I hope you're right, babe. She scrambled towards the console, pulling her own Crey-issued medkit from the belt she wore. Turning up the settings as high as they could go, Miranda pressed the leads against the bare wires and activated the handheld device. Almost immediately, the concentrated rads burned through the thin coating, fusing the wires together and shorting the circuit.
Jason's vision returned and cleared as his regen kicked on. There was a bright flash of light and Jason was on his feet. "Hey! Buddy!" Jason rasped out.
Tress frowned and fired off another blast. Why isn't this fool falling?
The blast splashed against Jason and did nothing. He sprinted forward and in one deft movement he sliced off the barrel of the gun and slammed the butt of the katana into Tress's nose. Falling backwards into the crates, Tress toppled the stack, spilling guns and weapons. One of which immediately caught Jason's eye with it's reddish glow and familiar shape.
Jason grabbed the energy sword from the ground and put his katana down. He grabbed Tress by the throat and picked him up. He flicked the switch on the sword and turned it on and held it at Tress's throat. "Give me a reason not to stick you with this thing, or give me a reason to." Jason growled. "It's your choice buddy."
"What? And take a life?" Tress sneered from under a bloodied nose. "You heroes can't do that."
"We can't take a life, no. But I can burn the Nictus out of you, Which I Heard is quite painful." He tapped a place where one of the crystals was poking out with the sword.
Tress flinched and arched away from the blade. "I am Nictus you fool. You can't burn it out of me anymore." He smiled, "You can only kill me. Like I killed her."
"Then you aren't a human. I've killed before. Don't [censored] TRY ME." He slammed Tress against a wall hard. "Why would you kill your own daughter. You peice of [censored]."
"Because she was no longer convenient to me." Tress replied as though it was obvious.
Jason made to stab him with the energy sword, thought better of it and instead head butted the man he held . "Wrong Answer. Don't talk about her like that."
"That brat cost me the only thing I cared about." Tress snarled, "I brought her into this world and it is my choice if I want to take her out."
Jason jammed the sword into Tress's shoulder pinning the Archon to the wall. "No, it's not. Her father died a long time ago. You aren't him, you are a twisted reflection"
Screaming, Tress weakly grabbed the blade before glaring balefully at Jason. "You had best kill me hero," he spat. "Otherwise, I will be back and I will finish this."
"That I doubt." Jason grinned dangerously. "I warned the Zig that you're going there, I will testify that you tried to kill a hero, I will have other people go through and get evidence, I'm sure you've killed people." With that Jason pulled out a special teleport tag and pulled the blade out and slapped the tag right where the blade was seconds before. "If you get out I'll kick your [censored] again. /No one/ Messes with my family."
With a muffled cry, Galaxy Archon Julian Tress faded from the base and into the waiting prison infirmary.
--------------
Jason's feet pouned on the dirt roads in striga while Miranda went ahead to port them over to where the ferry out of the Council infested area. He had Rachel Cradled in his arms and shielded the incoming attacks from the council forces with his body. Feral, his ripped costume the only sign remaining of his fight with the Council solders, kept pace with him, his eyes occasionally flicking over to Rachel.
There was a swift crack and a pop as the air rapidly contracted and expanded. Miranda rushed forward to catch the two, her arms around Rachel as well. Rach? Dirge? She nudged gently, waiting for some sort of reply from either of them. Her telepathic call seemed to vanish into empty space, nothing was registering from the body Jason held.
"There's nothing," she whispered frantically, glancing up to Jason. "We need to hurry, otherwise we might lose them both."
"We gotta use a portal then." Jason ran to the side of the ferry to where the knights had set up a portal specifically to Striga. Miranda put the call in to the Facility, readying the group for the incoming emergency. Crossing the threshold and into the Facility, a medical team was already waiting with a gurney for Rachel. Jason stepped forward and gently lowered his daughter onto the pad, wincing at the still bleeding wound staining the front of her costume. As she was rushed toward the medical wing, he had to restrain himself from following to make sure the doctors didn't mess up.
Like I'd know what to do... Heaving an explosive sigh, Jason flopped down onto the nearest chair.
Easy babe, Miranda told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. We got her back, that's a lot. Now we just have to believe in them and Rachel and Dirge's will to survive.
"I know," Jason looked down the hall toward the medical wing. "It's the waiting that gets me the most."
"She'll make it." Leroy said with as much confidence as he could muster, "We still have to do our assignment from school." He gave them a shacky smile, "You know she doesn't like to leave things unfinished."
Jason chuckled softly, "Yeah. She'll be fine." Once more his eyes stared down an empty hall. "She has to."
----
The landscape rocked under the wrath of a storm, spires of gleaming obsidian were constantly thrust from the ground at odd angles, drawing purple lighting from the sky. In the middle of this, Rachel lay curled and trembling.
"Rachel!" Dirge's voice was distant as the Nictus climbed over the rocks, her long hair whipping in the wind. "Rachel please answer me!" Jumping down into the cleft, Dirge narrowly avoided another piercing shard that erupted from the wall. Rushing to her twin, Drige knelt and lifted Rachel. "Come on Rach, open your eyes."
Purple eyes opened, pain clouded their normal shine as her hands clenched at the wound in her chest. "D?... I' 'urts..." Rachel whispered.
"I know it does." Dirge stroked her hair as she settled Rachel onto her lap. "But it will only be for a little bit longer. I'll make it all go away." She leaned forward, lightly kissing her forehead. "It was an honor to know you."
"Wha'... wha' d'you mean?"
"I'm afraid that, in order to fix this, we will have to do something I had been avoiding for a while now."
Rachel's eyes widened as she realized what the Nictus meant. "No! Don' leave me 'lone..!"
"I'll never leave you now." Dirge hugged Rachel, her body begining to fade. "I'll always be in your memories and heart. Just like you will be in mine."
A burst of lighting struck down on the two, the land lurched and cracked and a flowing wave of dark energy shattered everything in it's path, leaving calm darkness in it's wake.
----
The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the first thing she was aware of, followed by the echoes of her family across her link. Rachel blinked her eyes open to look around. The room was familiar, it was the same one Miranda had been in not all that long before. She looked to the side of her bed and a soft smile crossed her face at the sight of her father slumped in the chair.
Jason jerked awake at the movement. He said sleepily "I need to move my recliner down here. How are you feeling?"
She looked into his eyes with an odd expression before closing them, tears still squeezing out. "I'm better, bu' D's gone. Really gone."
Jason reached out and squeezed her hand. "How so?"
"I wasn't going to recover. So D... D merged. Fully and totally. Just to save me."
"Then she must have felt it was the right decision, knowing what it would do honey." Jason said not quite knowing what to say.
"I know... but... I'm alone now..."
"No your not you have your family you'll never be alone." Jason gave her a small smile.
Rachel looked back and smiled. "That's true, and I'm never going to leave you guys again. Not for a very long time."
Jason smirked. "Good, 'cause I don't want to get hit with another one of those guns again. I'll go wake up Miranda she's been worried sick about you. I told her to go up and sleep and I'd wake her up."
Rachel's mouth quirked into a shadow of her amused smile. "And how much of that was actually the other way around?"
"I won the argument I said I knew my way around the room here better." Rachel snorted and shook her head with a small smile. She leaned back in her bed, the odd silence in her head would take a lot of getting used to, but she had her family to help her up if she should fall this time.
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
'Cause there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breath again
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
"Crash And Burn" - Savage Garden
Pinnacle Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Posted
I'm surprised that no one has commented at all on this one, it's pretty good.
I see I'm not the only one who refers to Extracted Essence as Koosh Ball either.
((Well, this is a little something that I've put together with the help of some of the other RPers I run with on Pinnacle. Notes on characters:
Nightrayne/Rachel: Recognizable from Super Hero 101 (I hope), this is the game version of her. They started similar but game Rach diverged very quickly thanks to dynamic interactions. Mostly with the below.
Jason Collier: played by @big mike. Katana/Regen.
Moriyaku/Miranda Collier: played by @moriyaku Illusion/Kin
Leroy Collier: played by @red savina claw/regen
This story, and many, many others can also be found <a href="www.rpcongress.com" target="_blank">here</a>. Including some minor references to past events in this story itself. Though not enough that it can't be read and understood I think.))
Her Father's Daughter
Striga Isle, July 2006
The Council operatives assigned to the small command all knew their superiors didn't expect much from them. Just keep an eye on the feeds from Paragon City and report anything that involed a Kheldian. Simple, easy and most of the time irrelivent to either the Council or it's Nictus allies. Still, orders had to be followed.
The trial of the Warshade 'Tutelary' was totally unexpected, but the base's Archon received it with the same disinterest as every other report he had been given. It was with long prior experience that the Nebula soldier entered the office and presented an optic disc with the day's results.
"Sir, not counting reports on Tutelary's trial concerning her specifically, we have four results."
The blond haired Archon looked up lazily. His purple eyed gaze boring into the soldier even as his hand closed over the disc. Without dismissing the messenger, the Archon placed the disc in the reader and watched the records impassively.
What... theres one... whats her name? Nightbane? Nightrain! Miss Nightraine! Alice Covinton, Paragon News. What is your reaction to Tutelarys trial?
Seeing the young teen, the Archon's posture jerked upright and stiff even as the girl's uneducated voice butchered the words she spoke. Not paying the recording any more attention, the Archon turned to the surprised soldier, whisps of dark energy shimmering from his eyes.
"Where did that one go? And how long ago was this?" He bit out sharply.
"I... one of our bases in Steel Canyon was attacked by her, transmitted video footage showed it clearly just after 1000 hou...ack!" The soldier broke off as his form was encased in threads of dark energy that slowly began crushing the life from him. Then it was over and he fell to his knees.
"All operatives are to find this girl, I will not hear anything else from you except where she is, precisely. Am I clear?"
"Ye... yes, sir..." He croaked out, already scrambling to his feet and for the door.
Letting the human leave, the Archon stared at the frozen video of the angry, gray-haired girl.
"Well Rachel, you've managed to hide quite well from me. Imagine my surprise when you suddenly showed up as a missing host. I knew then that it was only a matter of time before I could catch up with you. Even less time now. Make your time with who ever you know count, because it's time you came home. After all, daddy knows best." With a grin, Galaxy Archon Julian Tress sat back in his chair. Soon, he would regain his lost possession.
Present
Nightrayne sighed as she shuffled the papers she had found in what was apparently the base commander's office. This job for Collen was certainly interesting, though nothing had been said implicitly about the 'Path to the Dark', but if she was reading between the lines of Jennie Bassie's journal correctly, she may be on the trail of the Nictus. The complex below a Brickstown warehouse was not as useful as she had hoped, but she wasn't finished searching just yet.
The two mercenaries slipped quietly into the base. Their commander had informed them that one of the Kheldian aliens, a renegade Nictus in particular, had gone in. The Void Stalker was hoping to go alone, but the Archon had demanded he take another. It was just his luck that the only one available was a new Seeker. Their orders were very clear and allowed no room for failure.
Nightrayne was flipping through a file cabinet when the comm tucked into her headband vibrated softly. Pausing only long enough to pull the microphone down, she answered while still searching.
"Nigh'rayne 'ere."
"Hey hun," Her father's voice brought a smile to her lips even as she continued her search.
"'Ey dad, 'ow's Mom doin'? You kee' 'er up pretty la' las' night."
Jason coughed. "How did I do that?" He said slightly amused.
"Oh c'mon. I ain' tha' mu' o' a kid. The wa'er pipe 'scuse ain' 'ery goo' you know. 'Spes'ly whe' I c'n feel echoes 'cross the lin'." Even across the comm line, Rachel could imagine her father's now red face.
"Um... so... Mira wants to take all of us out tonight." He tried to change the topic to Rachel's laughter.
The two Voids heard a girl's voice from the room and froze. Readying their Quantum Array rifles, they crouched low.
"What are we waiting for?" The Seeker demanded. "We're more then a match for any stupid squid."
"Shut up." The Stalker hissed, "If you underestimate the target, you've just given up any advantage you have. How else do you think so many other Hunters get arrested? They messed up. Now, on three we move."
"So, you going to be able to make it home before sundown? Mira wants to take us out to some diner in Steel Canyon."
"Oh? 'll do my bes' to ge' 'ere 'fore eight. Wha's thi' pla...."
Back in their apartment in King's Row, Jason's blood ran cold as his daughter's voice cut off in a scream and the distinctive whine of a quantum gun. "Rachel!"
Her body wracked in pain, Nightrayne was unable to answer. With a thought, she crossed the void between her two attackers and lashed out, gathering her energy as fast as she could and releasing it in an explosion the tore the wall apart and sent both Voids flying. Through the pounding of her blood in her ears, Rachel heard Jason's voice demanding to know what was going on.
"'mbush... tw' voids... gotta ge' ou'a 'ere..." Shacking her head, she staggered over the rubble for the main complex, she could hide there, recover and plan. Searing pain flashed across her existence as a third and final blast from a quantum gun blanked her mind and sent her to the ground. Lowering his rifle, the Stalker gave a disdainful glare at the unconscious Seeker and his broken Array rifle.
"Base, mission complete. She caused a lot of damage and the new kid's had it, but the squid's in the bag. Send a recovery team here." He flipped the line closed and walked to the downed warshade. A man's voice was coming from the side of her head. Kneeling, he pulled the communicator, the star emblem of the Allience of Champions clear on it's body and the urgent voice coming from the ear-piece, told him that their operation wasn't as quiet as he had hopped. Crushing the device, he shouldered the girl and left. The new kid could go to the Zig for all he cared. With the other heroes aware of these events, he didn't have time to wait.
----------------
Jason burst into the DTP headquarters. "I need to see Miranda, Now, I don't care what meetings she is in, I don't care what clients she is with I need to see her now." Jason's voice was a combination of fear and anger.
"All right, honey." Ginny's voice was relatively calm as she lifted the phone to dial Miranda's extension. "Head on in, she's with the security guys. I'll let her know you're coming."
Jason walked rapped on the door of Miranda's office. "It's open, babe," she called through the door. "C'mon in."
"Something happened to Rachel," Jason didn't even pause to wait to see who was in the room. "I was talking to her and she got jumped by voids. She hasn't appeared at any of the hospitals I checked before I came over here." Jason shakily sat down in a chair in the room putting his head between his legs.
Miranda stared at him for a moment, the color draining from her face. It took a second for her to get the words out, her own voice remarkably cool and crisp despite her appearance. "Reiki? There's a biosig backup under the admin password. There should be a folder labeled with Rachel's name... set it up for tracking, would you? Sync it to a handheld to go out in ten, okay?"
The wiry dark-haired man nodded, already at the door. "In five, tops. Ginny'll have it at the desk when you're ready to head out."
I'm gonna need to get the new armor see if we finally fixed it. Jason said his body finally calming down.
Should be fixed, she answered in kind. It'll take a half-hour to calibrate it, though.
Chances are we're gonna need it. He looked up. It's always something.
She got up from her desk and walked around to the chair, a hand on the back to steady herself. "When did it happen?"
"Twenty-Thirty minutes ago, I checked with all the hospitals and the Base before I decided to come here." He sighed. "I really don't know who'd go after a kid like this, most of the groups around here do have limits and that's a serious line to cross."
Miranda nodded, her lips pressed together tightly. Who's she been working for lately? Is there a lead that might have turned ugly? Was she... She froze, a hand at her mouth as she considered one of the graver possibilities. "It wasn't out at Portal Corp, was it?"
Jason shook his head. "Brickstown, That narrows it to Council or Crey, or Freaks, I doubt it was the freaks though."
At the mention of the three possibilities, Miranda's eyes narrowed. In retrospect, Jason would realize that he had seen a similar expression on the face of the Mannequin once upon a time when Derrik's own daughter had been involved. Her hands balled up into fists, the lavender tendrils curling from her palms. "She and Dirge. I've got a good idea who it was."
Jason stood up as he started to glow. His face twisting into the look that was familiar to those who had seen Jason when Miranda was in a coma. "So do I." His eyes burned with anger. "Let's get her back."
-----------------------
The light slowly brought her to wakefulness, soon Rachel became aware of the hard surface she was laying on. It was one she was, unfortunately, familiar with.
I know 'ere wasn' a cell blo' 'n tha' base. Mus'a bee' moved to 'nother one while ou'.
Rachel? Good you are awake.
D? Wha' 'appened? Las' thin' I 'member was gettin' hi' by one'a them d'mn quant guns.
I am not sure, I only regained awareness recently myself.
Grea', guess we gott'a bus' out'a 'ere now...
Sitting up, Rachel found one thing that was different then the other Council cells. Neatly folded on a chair in the back was a Council Galaxy uniform. Giving the clothes an odd look, Rachel turned to face the door, a Shadow Blast already gathered between her hands. She was about to fire her fifth blast when there was a thick chunk and the door was opened. Startled, she lost the blast even as she recognized the two quantum guns being pointed at her by the Council soldiers on the otherside. Each flanking a Galaxy Archon who stepped into the room and looked down at through his mask.
"Leave us." The man's voice resonated through her and sent her into shock as the soldiers withdrew and closed the door.
No way... i' ain' pos'ble...
Waiting until the door closed, the Archon pulled the mask off and gave the girl a possessive smile under a pair of royal purple eyes and a thatch of blond hair. "Rachel, you've finally returned to me.
"..dad..?"
---
"I don' ge' i'. Wha' 'appened to you af'er the 'splosion a' Venice?"
Tress frowned at his daughter's nearly unintelligible words before he managed to figure out what the child was referring to. "I was found by a patrol of 5th Column soldiers and taken back to a near by base. After recovering, I decided to join. The chaos of the invasion allowed for a rapid rise in the ranks. After those oh-so-noble heroes sent the aliens into hiding, I began to search for you." His eyes flickered to Rachel's gray hair. "The hair is what seemed to have been what threw my queries off. I had been asking for a blond-haired child. The first I had heard of you after Venice was a report from a hostbed facility reporting your loss. It was quite fortunate that one of my facility's functions is to monitor Kheldian activity within the city. We finally got a firm lock on you last month, during that one warshade's trial." Tress shrugged, "From there it was just a matter of a few hackings and thefts to get your information from city records."
"But enough with that." With a clap, Tress walked over to the folded uniform and tossed it to the girl, who caught it by reflex. "Change into a more appropriate attire. I will not have you in that pathetic outfit any longer."
Rachel looked down at the padded armor costume she used as her 'work clothes' then back to Tress with a slight frown. "Bu'... I don' un'erstan', wha's wron' wi' this? 'N why'd I wanna loo' li' a Council goon?"
Tress' face flushed red and his hand was across Rachel's cheeck in an instant.
"Do not question me girl. You will do what I say, when I say it. Is that clear?"
"Yes Daddy." She replied without hesitation. Old habits of following his orders without question resurfacing in an instant.
"Good, I'll send someone shortly to dispose of those rags." Three sharps raps on the door and Tress left the cell, the door locking behind him.
Rachel! We need to get out of here. They've taken our communication device, that will make things harder and this Archon...
No..
..doesn't seem... what?
I... I can' figh' 'im. I.. I gotta do wha' 'e tells me...
No you do not Rachel. That being has given up all rights as a parent!
However, Rachel was already slipping the uniform on, a haunted, dull look on her face as she ignored Dirge's voice.
-------
Leroy Collier stepped off the ship into the Port Nobel pier. With the third day of Rachel being missing, Jason was starting to loose it again. With Voids being involved, it technically could've been anyone who had Rach, but from what Rachel had told him, the Voids were really just a different arm of the Council, and after he and Jason had finished their rampage across Independence Port, Brickstown and Boomtown without any luck, Leroy decided to try Stirga while Jason continued to cut through the soldiers in Brickstown.
Three hours later and several dozen Zig tags later, Leroy tried a different tactic. Mainly because Long Jack called him up first.
"Hey, I've heard that you're looking for some girl the Council grabbed."
"Yeah, the bastards got Rach and I'm gunna find out where."
"Well, I don't know if it's the same girl you're looking for, but a group of Council soldiers and one of them Void mercs were spotted heading into a base up on the north coast. The dockworkers said they had someone with them in a stretcher. If you want, I can give you the location and you can see if it pans out for you."
"What? Yes!"
A quick run later, Leroy was breaking down another door to a Council base. Sneaking through the base, Feral Tabby was surprised at the lack of guards. The entire hallway was abandoned. He was starting to think another hero had already been through here when the footfalls sounded. Flipping up to the ceiling and scurrying behind the pipes, he watched as three solders went by waiting until they had passed before jumping down. The noise caught their attention and they turned around in time to get hit with a whirling ball of claws.
"Watch out! I'm set to puree!"
Repeated tosses into the tunnel walls added and the soldiers were down and tagged before an alarm was sounded. Preening to himself, Leroy went off deeper into the base. A voice echoed up the tunnel, the words muffled and distorted into unintelligible noise, but the indication of several people had the scrapper crouched to the ground as he came to the large hall, Council regalia hung from the ceiling above the heads of what was probably the full compliment of soldiers in the base. Feral stopped counting after 30. They were standing at attention as a Galaxy Archon stood on a raised dias and told them of the great success they had in reclaiming a renegade Nictus.
Feral's knuckles cracked after hearing this, but before he could to anything a soldier's voice called from behind him.
"Intruder alert! A hero's in the base!" There was a flash and Feral was thrown through the air as the lobbed grenade detonated and drew the attention of the gathering and the Archon.
"Get him! Make sure he can't go anywhere!"
Scrambling to his feet, Feral chucked several rocks broken by the grenade at the soldiers. "Face the... um... rubble of Justice!"
His efforts managed to send most of the soldiers to the ground before a strike from an Adjacent sent the young man down. Dazed, he felt himself being hauled up and his recall patch torn off. Through blurred eyes, he saw a Galaxy soldier approach. An odd one at that, far smaller then the rest and, if the slight curving of the uniform was correct, a girl. Almost unheard of among the Council. She leaned forward and placed a gloved hand on Feral's cheeck before trailing it down to his chest.
"You shou'n've come 'ere Lee." She whispered in a shockingly familiar voice. "No' 'lone an'way." Even as he tried to demand an answer from Rachel, he felt one of her shadow blasts slam through him at point blank. Slumping forward, he was vaguely aware of the recall system pulling him from the hold of the Council and whisking him off to a hospital.
"What?" Tress shoved forward and grabbed the soldier that had been holding him. "I told you to get his recall patch!"
"I... I did, sir." The soldier protested, holding the patch as proof. Tress glared at the patch and snatched it from him.
"Then how it that meddlesome hero get..." He growled before looking over to the silent girl. "You gave him yours." Tress stated towering over Rachel. "I warned you about defying me." Tress struck the girl and sent her back. "Throw her in her cell. Lock the base down, that hero's bound to bring more next time. Nothing comes or goes in 45 minutes, activate all countermeasures." Tress barked out as he stalked from the room. "And I want the heads of the technical divisions in my office in five minutes!"
-----
At the Brickstown Infirmary, Jason and Moriyaku were once more speaking with the recall device technition.
"I told you already sir, Nightrayne's recall never went off. The reports from the base she was apparently taken from indicated it was shielded. As good as the mediport system is, it can't get through that."
"Well can't you remotely trigger it or something?! Force her back here?"
"No, sir. The protocols don't work that way..." Both heroes were spared having to listen to the details of mediport coding when his terminal beeped at him to indicate an incoming mediport. He looked absently at the ID code before blinking and turning to the two Heroes. "Nightrayne is incoming, medport five!"
Jason was already at the gurney even as the form shimmered into being, only to see his hopes crash. "Leroy? What the hell happened to you?"
"Nugg... I found her Jase... got beat up though..." Leroy grumbled as he sat up. He looked down at his cheast and the medpatch that had been placed there. "Rach slipped me her patch after those Council jerk grabbed mine, then she knocked me out."
"Leeroy, tell me where she is, Mira and I are going in."
"Striga. The Council has her."
-----
Rachel sat on the cot in her cell, her hero costume in her hands.
Rachel, why are you just doing what ever that man says?
'e's my father, 'm... 'm supposed to do wha' 'e asks o' me... Her excuse sounded weak, even to her. A fact Dirge jumped on.
I've seen how he looks at you, and I've seen how Jason does. Those two are nothing alike in how they see you. Julian just sees you as an object for him to use and abuse. If that's what a true father is supposed to be like, frankly I'd rather Jason never become one.
I... I know...
You need to decide Rachel, what family do you want to be with. I will support you regardless of your choice.
I... I... I wan' to see mom 'n dad 'n Lee 'gain.
Her course settled on, Rachel put the padded armor and cape she was used to back on, and the Galaxy soldier uniform was tossed into the corner of the cell. She was just reseting the clasps of her cape when the door opened and two Qunatum gunners addressed her.
"Come with us Nictus, Archon Tress wants to see you."
-------------
Jason's armor had finally started to work better then it had, he bashed through the door of the base like a tank and scanned the area. "It's too quiet." His eyes had taken on that haunted look again, his family had been attacked again and he was sick of it.
"C'mon," Feral said, "The main hall's this way."
Jason looked over. "I'm gonna scout ahead, 'Randa can port me if you need me."
"Wait!" She frowned a bit before waving a hand over both their forms. In a few seconds, anyone walking past would see only one hero, not three. With another wave, Miranda herself faded into nothingness.
I'll be careful I promise. I'm getting good at this entire.. Save my... family..... Thing.
You shouldn't have to, babe. Stay safe, okay? She reached out an invisible hand towards the spot where she'd seen him last, fingers brushing against his chin.
I will, I'll call if I find here, somethings not right here. He reached and gently grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring hug before he silently walked deeper into the base.
Moving along the corridors of the base, Jason noticed several things. There was a distinct lack of Council troops in the halls or rooms, just automated defenses tracking over each room with sensors that failed to detect him or the others following him.
"I don't get it." Feral whispered, "I saw a base full of guys. Where'd they all go?"
"No time to wonder about it now. Let's just get Rach out of here. Anything gets in our way, take it down." Jason tightly replied.
Progress through the base was eerily silent, a fact the disturbed the three almost as much as if they had been fighting an army for each foot they walked. It was along what Feral told them was the last tunnel before the main hall that the other shoe finally dropped.
"Arroooo!" From the other direction a warwolf came barreling down on them only to be hurled back by Miranda. The pounding of several boots on stone became apparent as Council soldiers charged down on the heroes.
"I got these losers." Feral said, stepping between the approaching wave and the other two. "Get Rach out'a here. No one's gunna crash your party, I'll make sure of it."
Jason frowned, briefly considering sending the soldiers to the Zig then moving on, but the thought of leaving Rachel in these guys' hands for an instant more changed his mind. "Ok, watch your back Leroy. And use all the cinder blocks you want." Grabbing Miranda's hand, Jason sped down the tunnel.
The door was in sight when a girl's scream echoed from within.
-----
"Rachel." Julian looked at his daughter's clothes in disdain. "I believe I had instructed you to not wear those rags, no matter." He waved as he walked toward the stack of crates near the walls of the main hall. "You've proven unworthy of the uniform of a Galaxy anyways. All that remains is for you to beg for forgiveness."
"No."
Julian stopped in his tracks before looking at Rachel, "'No'? Did you just tell me, 'no'? Have I not told you what the penalties of disobeying me be?"
"You're no' my father, no' an'more. You're jus' 'nother Council flunky 'm gunna send to the Zig." Rachel was surprised her voice wasn't shaking, she hadn't felt this scared since facing Arakhn, and that was with a full team of friends with her.
"Is that so..." Julian's eyes narrowed as he sighed, "It can't be helped then." He detached a device from his belt and tapped a few keys before returning it. "The purpose of this base is to develop anti-Kheldian technologies for use against our enemies. Most of it is still in the experimental and development stages, but several are very much ready for use. I just activated one such device. Through out the base, specialized blockers have just gone active, in addition to blocking all matter transferences, they also interrupt the build up of large scale energies." He leaned against a crate with a dark smile. "What all that means to you, my dear, is that you can't teleport, you can't transform and you can't use any of your stronger abilities." Rachel frowned, an attempt at teleporting proved just as useless as it had in every cell she had been in. There was no reason to doubt the rest of what Julain said wasn't true as well.
"'Ell loo' 'ho go' a blue rib'n a' the sci'ce 'air." She tried to act unimpressed.
"Oh I got first in more then just science." Tress smiled as he pulled what appeared to be a broadsword from a crate. The blade, however, was a reddish black crystal. "You have one last use for me child. We've taken this prototype Quantum Blade as far as lab work can take it, all that is left," A switch was pushed on the hilt and the blade swirled with quantum energies. "Is a test subject to use it on." Tress lunged, the blade aimed at Rachel's neck.
Diving to the side, she flung a bolt at him with little effect. A flicker of energy coated his form and the bolt slid over him like water. Smiling with satisfaction, Tress slashed at her again, ripping her cape as she rolled again.
"Is running all you can do now? How pathetic."
Rolling into a kneeling position, Rachel concentrated and lanced out with a pair of tightly focused beams from her eyes. "Jus' kee' tal'in', 'll fin' a way to bea' you yet." Wincing slightly, Tress jumped at her, preparing to bring the blade down on the girl's head.
To fas'! I c'n't dodge 'n time... 'nless...
Around her feet, a shimmering field of light purple energy formed and Rachel coasted to the left on a field of zero friction. It wasn't near as fast as she could normally move, but it demanded almost no energy to maintain, certainly not enough for the nullification field to count against.
Tress looked at his daughter with a smirk. "Not bad, it seems you did get a little bit of intelligence from me after all." The Archon's expression clouded in a frown. "How long to you think you can avoid me? Long enough, perhaps, for your rescue party to arrive?" Tress vanished in a swirl of Nictus energy, "Not quite!" Appearing behind her, Tress grabbed her in a field of intense gravity, drawing a pained cry from Rachel.
"Thi'... thi' 's..." She tried to force out.
"Nictus abilities, yes." Tress smiled darkly, "Because that is what I am now. Like father, like daughter, hmm?" With that, the blade thrust into her and Rachel cried out in pain.
------------
Shattering through the door and the pair of guards like they weren't there, Jason saw Rachel and the Archon in the room. Tress' head turned to the hero and, with a smile, he jerked the sword from Rachel and set it into a crate, the girl falling limply to the floor and not moving.
Jason barreled into the Archon. "You Son-Of-A-[censored]." He finished the sentence with a left hook to the Trees's stomach. Jason seethed. "You punks never learn!."
The air knocked out of him Tress lashed out, draining the energy from Jason and boosting his own abilities. Jason had been reaching to turn his comm on to Miranda but it skittered out of his hands as the blast hit him, at the same time the blast fried his stealth device causing him to come into plain view. Tress stood up, a fist wiping the side of his mouth.
"I know of you. You're the one who poisoned her. Turned her against her own father and made her useless to me."
Jason stood up eyes blazing. "So. She's just a tool to you, you abandoned her, We gave her love. You just tried to kill her." He pulled his katana out. "Let's go, [censored]."
"She's what ever I chose her to be. It's my right as her father." Tress launched a shadow blast at the man before him.
Jason dodged the blast. "Which you forfeited a long time ago!" Jason sent his own blast of energy from his eyes at the monster in front of him the battle was on.
Miranda! Dirge's mental voice called out as though from the far end of a tunnel
She froze, pressing herself against the side of the hallway. Immediately, she faded against the wall. I'm here! Jason ran ahead, he's trying to find you, she sent back urgently. Are the two of you all right? We heard her scream.
Tress stabbed us with a blade, it was tuned like a quantum gun. Rachel's badly hurt at the moment.
"Oh no," Miranda whispered aloud, a hand to her mouth. Tell me what to do, Dirge.
The anti-teleport field is still active, it also prevents any large build up of my power. I have an idea, but it will be very tricky. The odds will improve if you can get her out of here. Take out that device! It should be on the upper levels catwalk.
Miranda edged out into the large room and glanced up; without the ability to teleport, she would have to climb. Okay, upper level. Take care of her, Dirge. I'll get there as fast as I can.
I will. One more thing. Tress isn't human anymore. The fragments that make him a Galaxy have completed the transition. He is a full Nictus now. Watch out for his draining abilities.
Jason tasted the coppery taste of blood in his mouth as he slammed against another wall of the room. Miranda watch out this room has something that's affected my powers.
Dirge told me, babe, she replied. She says it's on the upper level of the catwalk. I'll get to it, just keep 'im distracted.
I'll hold him -- Jason went silent as he was hit again by a blast. He started to run away from under the catwalk in an effort to get Tress to follow only to find the Archon teleporting in front of him with a grin.
"Did you really think I would be as limited as you here?"
Jason grinned back and spat in his face. "No, I needed a nice jog." As Jason raised his leg up as if to kick a football and kicked him in the groin. With a pained cry, Tress folded in half and fell to his knees, blinking the tears from his eyes he held out a hand that sent a wave of energy that pushed Jason back.
"Did you really think I would fight fair." Jason quipped as he pushed himself up.
"Apparently not." Another series of blasts arched from Tress.
Jason dived out of the way and ran at Tress getting him into a choke hold. "Good, 'cause I ain't done yet. You don't mess with my family."
"That waste of skin is no one's family." Tress growled before shifting, allowing Jason's hands to slide through his phased form.
Above them, Miranda swung herself up to the lower level catwalk and landed in a crouch. The second catwalk hung from thick steel cables nearly four meters above her. Below she could see the two men grappling on the concrete floor. She winced as she saw Jason's head snap back, the blur of purple-black energy all too familiar from the times she had spent in Striga. Gritting her teeth, Miranda reached for the access ladder. Almost there, babe. Just keep him occupied for a little longer.
Jason stood tapping his foot waiting for Tress to come out from being phased out of sync with his surroundings. Casually walking to the stack of crates piled against the wall, Tress returned to the normal plane and grabbed a Vulcan gun and brought it to bear on Jason.
The bullets hit the suit and did little more the ricochet off it in random directions. Well the bullet proofing works. He thought to himself. "Gonna have to do better than that!." Jason said walking through the onslaught of bullets. Throwing the gun to the ground, Tress tossed a grenade at the hero. Jason dived forward and tucked into a roll as he landed as shrapnel hit his form. "That's getting there! What other toys you got in there?"
"You want toys? Try this one out!" His eyes flickered to one of the useless guards that had been standing by the door before Jason had knocked them out. With a beckoning gesture, Tress ripped the life from the soldier and forged an essence that immediately began firing bolts of Nictus energy at him.
Jason laughed. "A koosh ball are you serious?." Jason backed up and kept his eye on Tress as he dispatched the ball of energy easily. While he dealt with the ball, Tress tapped on something inside another crate with a smile. As the ball dissipated, the Archon lifted the gun, it's redish energy pulsing.
Jason turned around. "Last time I checked I wasn't a kheldian." He ran at Tress.
"Good, because this isn't tuned to kheldians anymore." A burst of light followed as he pulled the trigger.
Jason's eyes went wide with the realization of just who the gun was tuned for. The burst of energy came at him as he skidded to a stop and tried to get out of the way. He'd underestimated just how much research Tress had put into everything and the blast crashed into him he gasped and fell to the ground writhing in Pain. With a satisfied grin, Tress advanced on the fallen hero, firing another blast.
Jason's vision swimmed around him. This is familiar.... Babe watch out. Oh [censored] I know what these things feel like now. He let out a audible groan.
Jason? Oh no... The readout on her comm went red next to Jason's name, vital signs flickering. She struggled with the device as she clung to the access ladder with one hand. Talk to me, please.
Quantum Gun, tuned just for me, I'm touched that he'd think of such a thing
I'll get you out, hold on.
No. Turn off the Machine. I'll be able to heal then. We can't waste time. Jason was struggling to get up.
I can't lose both of you. The panel was just above her, the wiring similar to that of every other intricate but poorly-contrived Council device. Swinging herself to the upper catwalk, Miranda crept towards the metal box that had been attached to a power console.
You won't. You gotta turn it off it's the only way to stop him, if you port me he'll see you and I don't even think you could port me. Not with the machine.
Miranda looked down through the grate, the glow of the gun in the Archon's hands signal that he was readying what could prove to be a final shot. Then I hope you're right, babe. She scrambled towards the console, pulling her own Crey-issued medkit from the belt she wore. Turning up the settings as high as they could go, Miranda pressed the leads against the bare wires and activated the handheld device. Almost immediately, the concentrated rads burned through the thin coating, fusing the wires together and shorting the circuit.
Jason's vision returned and cleared as his regen kicked on. There was a bright flash of light and Jason was on his feet. "Hey! Buddy!" Jason rasped out.
Tress frowned and fired off another blast. Why isn't this fool falling?
The blast splashed against Jason and did nothing. He sprinted forward and in one deft movement he sliced off the barrel of the gun and slammed the butt of the katana into Tress's nose. Falling backwards into the crates, Tress toppled the stack, spilling guns and weapons. One of which immediately caught Jason's eye with it's reddish glow and familiar shape.
Jason grabbed the energy sword from the ground and put his katana down. He grabbed Tress by the throat and picked him up. He flicked the switch on the sword and turned it on and held it at Tress's throat. "Give me a reason not to stick you with this thing, or give me a reason to." Jason growled. "It's your choice buddy."
"What? And take a life?" Tress sneered from under a bloodied nose. "You heroes can't do that."
"We can't take a life, no. But I can burn the Nictus out of you, Which I Heard is quite painful." He tapped a place where one of the crystals was poking out with the sword.
Tress flinched and arched away from the blade. "I am Nictus you fool. You can't burn it out of me anymore." He smiled, "You can only kill me. Like I killed her."
"Then you aren't a human. I've killed before. Don't [censored] TRY ME." He slammed Tress against a wall hard. "Why would you kill your own daughter. You peice of [censored]."
"Because she was no longer convenient to me." Tress replied as though it was obvious.
Jason made to stab him with the energy sword, thought better of it and instead head butted the man he held . "Wrong Answer. Don't talk about her like that."
"That brat cost me the only thing I cared about." Tress snarled, "I brought her into this world and it is my choice if I want to take her out."
Jason jammed the sword into Tress's shoulder pinning the Archon to the wall. "No, it's not. Her father died a long time ago. You aren't him, you are a twisted reflection"
Screaming, Tress weakly grabbed the blade before glaring balefully at Jason. "You had best kill me hero," he spat. "Otherwise, I will be back and I will finish this."
"That I doubt." Jason grinned dangerously. "I warned the Zig that you're going there, I will testify that you tried to kill a hero, I will have other people go through and get evidence, I'm sure you've killed people." With that Jason pulled out a special teleport tag and pulled the blade out and slapped the tag right where the blade was seconds before. "If you get out I'll kick your [censored] again. /No one/ Messes with my family."
With a muffled cry, Galaxy Archon Julian Tress faded from the base and into the waiting prison infirmary.
--------------
Jason's feet pouned on the dirt roads in striga while Miranda went ahead to port them over to where the ferry out of the Council infested area. He had Rachel Cradled in his arms and shielded the incoming attacks from the council forces with his body. Feral, his ripped costume the only sign remaining of his fight with the Council solders, kept pace with him, his eyes occasionally flicking over to Rachel.
There was a swift crack and a pop as the air rapidly contracted and expanded. Miranda rushed forward to catch the two, her arms around Rachel as well. Rach? Dirge? She nudged gently, waiting for some sort of reply from either of them. Her telepathic call seemed to vanish into empty space, nothing was registering from the body Jason held.
"There's nothing," she whispered frantically, glancing up to Jason. "We need to hurry, otherwise we might lose them both."
"We gotta use a portal then." Jason ran to the side of the ferry to where the knights had set up a portal specifically to Striga. Miranda put the call in to the Facility, readying the group for the incoming emergency. Crossing the threshold and into the Facility, a medical team was already waiting with a gurney for Rachel. Jason stepped forward and gently lowered his daughter onto the pad, wincing at the still bleeding wound staining the front of her costume. As she was rushed toward the medical wing, he had to restrain himself from following to make sure the doctors didn't mess up.
Like I'd know what to do... Heaving an explosive sigh, Jason flopped down onto the nearest chair.
Easy babe, Miranda told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. We got her back, that's a lot. Now we just have to believe in them and Rachel and Dirge's will to survive.
"I know," Jason looked down the hall toward the medical wing. "It's the waiting that gets me the most."
"She'll make it." Leroy said with as much confidence as he could muster, "We still have to do our assignment from school." He gave them a shacky smile, "You know she doesn't like to leave things unfinished."
Jason chuckled softly, "Yeah. She'll be fine." Once more his eyes stared down an empty hall. "She has to."
----
The landscape rocked under the wrath of a storm, spires of gleaming obsidian were constantly thrust from the ground at odd angles, drawing purple lighting from the sky. In the middle of this, Rachel lay curled and trembling.
"Rachel!" Dirge's voice was distant as the Nictus climbed over the rocks, her long hair whipping in the wind. "Rachel please answer me!" Jumping down into the cleft, Dirge narrowly avoided another piercing shard that erupted from the wall. Rushing to her twin, Drige knelt and lifted Rachel. "Come on Rach, open your eyes."
Purple eyes opened, pain clouded their normal shine as her hands clenched at the wound in her chest. "D?... I' 'urts..." Rachel whispered.
"I know it does." Dirge stroked her hair as she settled Rachel onto her lap. "But it will only be for a little bit longer. I'll make it all go away." She leaned forward, lightly kissing her forehead. "It was an honor to know you."
"Wha'... wha' d'you mean?"
"I'm afraid that, in order to fix this, we will have to do something I had been avoiding for a while now."
Rachel's eyes widened as she realized what the Nictus meant. "No! Don' leave me 'lone..!"
"I'll never leave you now." Dirge hugged Rachel, her body begining to fade. "I'll always be in your memories and heart. Just like you will be in mine."
A burst of lighting struck down on the two, the land lurched and cracked and a flowing wave of dark energy shattered everything in it's path, leaving calm darkness in it's wake.
----
The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the first thing she was aware of, followed by the echoes of her family across her link. Rachel blinked her eyes open to look around. The room was familiar, it was the same one Miranda had been in not all that long before. She looked to the side of her bed and a soft smile crossed her face at the sight of her father slumped in the chair.
Jason jerked awake at the movement. He said sleepily "I need to move my recliner down here. How are you feeling?"
She looked into his eyes with an odd expression before closing them, tears still squeezing out. "I'm better, bu' D's gone. Really gone."
Jason reached out and squeezed her hand. "How so?"
"I wasn't going to recover. So D... D merged. Fully and totally. Just to save me."
"Then she must have felt it was the right decision, knowing what it would do honey." Jason said not quite knowing what to say.
"I know... but... I'm alone now..."
"No your not you have your family you'll never be alone." Jason gave her a small smile.
Rachel looked back and smiled. "That's true, and I'm never going to leave you guys again. Not for a very long time."
Jason smirked. "Good, 'cause I don't want to get hit with another one of those guns again. I'll go wake up Miranda she's been worried sick about you. I told her to go up and sleep and I'd wake her up."
Rachel's mouth quirked into a shadow of her amused smile. "And how much of that was actually the other way around?"
"I won the argument I said I knew my way around the room here better." Rachel snorted and shook her head with a small smile. She leaned back in her bed, the odd silence in her head would take a lot of getting used to, but she had her family to help her up if she should fall this time.
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
'Cause there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breath again
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
"Crash And Burn" - Savage Garden
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.