"Wait, so you're not Arachnos?" Jake said, feeling tempted to wipe some illusionary sweat off of his brow. He sighed in relief, putting his hands in his pockets. That could've gone horribly wrong. Thank God that this guy seems to be with us... Question is, why? And for that matter, why's he even here?
"Nevermind, that's obvious..." Jake said, physically shaking his head free from his previous question. "So, Acid, huh? You one of those villains bent on taking down Arachnos?"
"I guess he's something like that," Power Breaker muttered as he appeared behind Acid, "Maybe a spy, or any number of oddball things. Arachnos doesn't screen too well, remember?"
He looked to the Executioner.
"I'm just gonna assume you knew I was there. Thanks for not trying to gut me."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
[ QUOTE ]
"Yes yes yes." the Executioner waved his fingers toward her nonchalantly, his attention more on the jack-in point, "One moment."
As if it was the most natural thing in the world, the main aimed his mace at the spot, unleashing a powerful crimson beam into the structure, vaporizing more than half of the material at the impact site with cacophonous noise.
"Requesting Control." he then put two fingers to the side of his helmet, "Reporting area clear. Rikti. A few. Nothing to worry about. Negative. Eliminated. Not alone - we had some unexpected help from Vanguard. Two. I didn't ask. Because Lord Recluse has ordered us not to. Do you really want to be the one to question his orders?"
The Executioner chuckled at the obvious reply from the other end of the channel, "I thought so. Of course. Out."
"That oughta take care of them for a while." the man turned to Penny again, "That could've gotten dangerous. You're very good, Miss Arcade, but Arachnos shouldn't be taken so lightly. I do hope you had a back-up plan. Either way...oh, how rude of me. My name is Acid, and the helicopter should be here any minute..."
[/ QUOTE ]
The blast produced an odd ka-THWUMP noise when it struck the compromised jack-in box, along with a shower of sparks. Penny Arcade had planted a very small, shaped microcharge there. Designed to fry the box after she had left, it would have ensured that no trace ever remained of her tampering. It still did the job... just much earlier. Without interference, it would have gone off just after she left, leaving evidence of a lightning strike, but never actual tampering.
"Of course I had a backup plan," she smirked. "You just made it unnecessary... helicopter huh? Travelling in style? I like it." She moved over closer to Jake and Power Breaker, waiting for their ride to appear.
((Lightning strike with no storm? Dunno about Arachnos, but I know that'd make me suspicious. 
))
"Oh, of course not." the fake Bane Spider chuckled, turning to Jake, "Arachnos gone would create a massive power vacuum. That'd be very, very disruptive to my plans. Lucky for me, they're pretty good at staying on top, so I don't think I've got much to worry about for the time being."
As he told them this, the beating for rotor blades already echoed in the distance. In the form of a growing black speck, the hueless MI-26 closed in the distance.
"I see they stepped on the gas again." Acid remarked with a little disdain, placing the mace back where it belonged and crossing his arms, "Man, I wish they wouldn't do that."
Before long, the night-black HALO roared overhead, the crew making one last check with the Arachnos personnel that they would be picking up their operatives now. Within a few minutes, the chopper hovered in flying astern, and the rear ramp lowered to within a few centimeters f making contact with the girder.
"Please, do step inside." Acid motioned to the waiting aircraft, "And quickly. I'm starting to feel like the giant roach from Men in Black in this thing..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Power Breaker looked the situation over. Then his head buzzed and his nanites started talking to him again.
Analysis Complete.
Data insufficient, but with acquired intel we have determined that this conveyance may be sufficient and trustworthy. If not... Well, we are quite the unforgiving colossus.
"Heh heh, yeah."
He leaped up and caught a hold of the upper interior of the doorway. Leaning back, he held out his arm.
"Penny... Uh... Other guy... Come on in. We may as well hurry on our way. If they try to pull one over on us, well, I'm big and scary looking for a reason."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Um, Jake." He said, hovering up into the chopper and landing inside, neglecting to accept the help that was offered from Power Breaker. Leaning into him, he whispered something into his ear, getting a semi-serious look on his face.
"Hey, you know those nanites that you have, right? Can't imagine you not... anyway, I don't know if they're this advanced or not, but can they speculate this guy's motives? Something's telling me not to trust him, but he didn't rat us out, which leaves me wondering..."
In the respectably spacious cargo bay beyond the chopper's ramp, Power Breaker and Jake would find plenty of seating room despite the jumble of supplies and equipment that had been stacked along the walls in cargo suspenders. The aircraft was large enough to carry a military supply truck, but with the large numbers of sealed, high-tech crates it carried, things seemed quite a bit smaller than they were.
At the dividing wall of cargo bay and flight deck stood a duo of uniformed personnel - and although the man and woman weren't exactly big, the two would certainly be classified as 'scary-looking'. Clad in segmented armor finely interlocked with body-tailored uniforms, the duo simply stood and observed with eyes hidden behind masks of metal segments, leaving no clue as to who they were or what they actually looked at.
Vanguard.
"My associates." the fake Executioner indicated the two as he stepped into the aircraft, the chopper bobbing ever so slightly as it balanced out the mass of the Bane Spider uniform, "Don't worry about them. If they wanted to pull something, they'd have done it already..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Power Breaker arched an eyebrow at Jake.
"You can hear that?" he grumbled back, "What are you, psychic?"
He glanced back at Acid as he indicated the Vanguard troopers.
"No... They can't tell me if he or his friends are trustworthy... The armor blocks posture analysis... I gotta go with my gut..."
He tapped his stomach lightly.
"My gut says 'go.'"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Huh? No, I scanned you earlier, back at the Giza. Handy little gadget, this." He said, adjusting his goggles. "So no analysis on his motives, huh?"
Jake chuckled.
"Eh, I've jumped into riskier situations."
Acid Zero preformed whatever magic he did, or bent the universe in some way, shape, or form. A glowing portal appeared, without warning. It wavered back and forth, and for all intents and purposes looked like something out of the Twilight Zone. The sensors in Gabes new helmet flashed at it several times, highlighted it, and analyzed the portals endpoint. Cap au
Gabe peered at the edge of the portal, and then back at his party. Eh. Id like closer, but I dont suppose I can be too picky. With a vague muttering that may or may not have sounded like Beam me up, Scotty!, The Frost Fiend stepped through the portal.
For one moment, he was in Paragon City and Rogue Isles at the same time. Then he completed the step, and they were alone
"I still don't think that's a good idea." the arriving task force members caught Acid in a conversation with one of the Vanguard technicians, his heavy cloak moving in a frustrated fashion, "Yes, I agree everything has to look real, but if someone were to get in here before this place officially opens, then what would they think?"
"But we've got the door under guard 24/7." the man from Vanguard protested, "And it's not like anyone could figure it out from just looking at the thing."
Acid gave a defeated sigh. The man had point enough. He turned to the technicians working on the 'portal projectors', said funny-looking boxes (normally arranged around the gateway) sitting there disconnected on the floor.
"I guess you're right." he finally admitted, "Sorry, I'm just paranoid like that sometimes. Just...get those things back up there ASAP, alright...?"
--------------------
The fake Bane Spider laughed at Power Breaker's words, "Trust me, if you could analyze my posture right about now, you scanner'd be saying 'I don't think you bend this way'. Miss Arcade, are you coming? We can't just hover here forever you know. People are expecting us..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
The fake Bane Spider laughed at Power Breaker's words, "Trust me, if you could analyze my posture right about now, you scanner'd be saying 'I don't think you bend this way'. Miss Arcade, are you coming? We can't just hover here forever you know. People are expecting us..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny Arcade hastily hopped aboard the helicopter. She had been running one final pre-check, but now came and sat down in her designated spot.
She quirked an eyebrow at the Vanguard personnel, but said nothing further. Vanguard maintained a low-profile presence in the Isles, and though little had been said, the organization had made quiet overtures to several well-known villains recently. Penny Arcade had been one of those villains.
But neither of them said anything. Instead she addressed her comments to Acid. "Terribly sorry - of course you are correct. Time is of the essence. Let's go..."
Static was rather shocked to arrive in a Vanguard building. A quick glance at the GPS on his wrist computer told him they were in Cap Au Diable.
At least if they got into trouble he still had his safehouse here in town...
War-Bird "docked" with the chopper by latching on with a mechanical arm and cinching it shut. He maintained his cloaking device, making him mostly transparent, but if you were close enough you could see him as a shifty silhouette. His faceplate showed no expression, his head did not turn and he did not react unless the chatter came over the radio.
Inside, it was a different story. The tactical officer stepped off the turbo lift and onto the engineering deck. He slowly walked around from station to station as the chief engineer gave instructions to a junior officer. Once the junior officer was instructed, the chief engineer walked calmly to the tactical officer.
"What is the purpose of your visit?" The engineer began walking away from the stations to preserve privacy.
"I came to see what the difficulty was with the cloaking device. If it was a matter of hands, I could spare a few crewmen to assist you from security." The T.O. put his hands behind his back as he strolled toward the maintenance panel of the cloaking device console.
"As was explained in my report to the praetorian, we lack the exotic materials required. Although I appreciate your offer, there's simply no way to bring us back online fully until we acquire the exotic materials we require." The engineer indicated the panel with his left hand while explaining the situation.
"I understand. The captain believes there is a Tal Shiar agent aboard this vessel."
The engineer quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"I believe he is correct. The purpose of this agent would no doubt be to determine if everything is running smoothly at all levels." The T.O. turned to face him, hands behind his back and nodded as if getting a detailed report, so as not to arouse suspicion from the other stations.
"Cooperation? I can understand why the Tal Shiar would be interested in that." The engineer looked away to the panel.
"Yes. I am aware that the captain has put every resource at your disposal in this endeavor. If this Tal Shiar agent were to be presenting a report to the captain on the situation, would it be safe to say that you have been supported fully by all those in the chain of command above you, and given all that you require to complete these repairs, and are still unable to complete the job?" The nuances of the Tactical Officer's wording was not at all lost on the chief engineer.
After a pause, he put his hand on the side of the console. "I
I suppose perhaps the executive officer could have been slightly more helpful." He glanced over with a pained expression on his face. He didn't like giving up his co-conspirator, but he liked the idea of the Tal Shiar interrogation that was being hinted at even less.
"Thank you for your assistance." The Tactical Officer went into the lift.
Moments later, the executive officer and his personal security were surrounded in a corridor on deck five by the Tactical Officer and a security detail.
"What is the meaning of this?" The executive officer challenged.
"Our chief engineer has implicated you in a conspiracy to undermine the praetorian's command. You're to be executed at once." The Tactical Officer raised his disruptor.
"You're going to execute me without trial or any more than one witnesses testimony? What happens when the sabotage continues after my death and you're proven wrong?" The Executive Officer held his chin up slightly.
"The reward for finding the saboteur is your position. Regardless of whether you are the saboteur or not, killing you gets me what I want." The sound of disruptor fire echoed down the corridor.
Later still, the Chief Engineer called up to the bridge as the Tactical Officer was returning to his station from the lift. "Full power has been restored to the cloaking device, praetorian."
And with that, War-Bird went fully invisible.
Cedric Grey's eyes bugged out of his head slightly.
He had tossed much of his old outfit, including his pair of camouflage pants.
He had the replacements, but he hadn't quite got his outfit prepared. Just as he locked the last piece into the armor, now spray painted black and red and given a set of snazzy spiked shoulder pads, he found himself standing in the middle of the Vanguard base in just his boxers and a green undershirt.
"Woah..." he muttered as a female Vanguard trooper started giggling, then he grinned, "Like what you see?"
"Quit horsing around, Ced!" Matt shouted, "We gotta get on with this!"
"Okay! Okay!" Cedric started looking around frantically, "My pants! Where are my pants!?"
Matt rolled his eyes and started walking after the rest of the group. Still, he was chuckling to himself.
Finding his pants and boots (it looked like they just appeared out of thin air!), he started hopping after the others, first on one foot, then the other. Finally pulling them on, he snagged his armor on the way and started donning it as he ran.
"Wait! Wait!"
He tripped over a stray cord.
"Nice!" he shouted moments before hitting the ground, "Oh... Good thing that hit the hard end..."
Matt looked back to sling another insult, but seeing his friend lying there, struggling to worm his way into his outfit and stand at the same time, he figured that was insult enough.
"Well, don't keep us waiting..."
"Who, me?"
"Come on, man. We got work to do, plenty of time to horse around later."
"You changed, man..." despite the words, Cedric was still grinning, "You used to be cool... Now you're all serious and [censored]..."
He jogged up with a chuckle and patted Matt on the shoulder.
"I love that look, man! You look ready to cut someone open and wear their skin like a cape!"
Matt gave his friend a worried glance, but shrugged. Cedric was already looking to the rest of the crew.
"Fun and games aside, I'm ready to get this party started!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Please don't harass our personnel." Acid told Cedric with a sigh, "Things are already tense enough around here. It could start any minute now."
After everyone following had come through the gateway, he simply continued, "Okay guys, you're listening to Frost Fiend over here from now on. Just follow him to the airport. There's a Flyer from the BHL there that departs for Mercy about every fifteen minutes. Oh, and before I forget - do not, I say again, do not under any circumstances try and keep a low profile. Walk around like you own the place. If somebody so much as looks at you wrong, deck 'em one in the face."
"Yes, especially Arachnos." Acid answered the unspoken question, "Until we get to the airport, that is. There it's considered common courtesy not to disrupt air traffic by starting a fight, both for the spiders and us. Anywhere else, they'll consider you free game, so you'd better do the same. So long as you act like you want attention, everyone'll just think you're posers who aren't worth any. It's when you're trying to stay unnoticed that you start looking suspicious."
"I'd suggest you take your own advice then, Sir." one of the Vanguard technicians chuckled as Acid began walking to the door, the staff starting to place the metal boxes back on the wall around the light gate, although not connecting them to anything yet.
"Oh!" Acid exclaimed, the hooded head looking down at the robes, "Right, almost forgot about that."
With a lazy movement, the heavy gray cloak had been flung to the floor, promptly vaporizing into thin air as if it had been nothing but a solidified cloud of smoke in the first place. Unlike real gas, however, not even a single trace remained of the disguise - a feat that likely eclipsed the reason for the rudimentary disguise in the first place.
Acid wasn't human. He had never been. His people were of obvious reptilian ancestry, his large pointed skull reminiscent of a saurian, the appearance close to a velocirapotor, complete with rows of fine, razor-sharp teeth of a doubtlessly carnivorous nature. The five fingers on each hand terminated in vicious claws, and a long, whiplike tail trailed behind the extraterrestrial of clearly a people of natural predators .
The slit pupils of amber-yellow eyes set deep into protective ridges of the skull, however, betrayed clear intelligence and the spirit of a creator, virtually destroying the first impression of the carnivorous beast.
Indeed, there the reptilian semblance ended as well. The deep-green, leathery hide that covered Acid from head to tail showed no sign of a single scale, instead being of an almost rubbery texture that would befit ballistic armor better than someone's skin.
Clothed in an assembly of mostly black and a little white, with dark cargo pants, matching heavy boots and an open, almost biker-like jacket that draped over the white T-shirt underneath, Acid stepped nonchalantly to the door of the DPO, seemingly not worried about a thing.
The three holsters hanging diagonally across the back of his jacket, however, suggested he expected otherwise. The (for a human) oddly pattered grips of the rifle-like weapons were as alien to the task force members as humans were to Acid. Still, that they were weapons was never in doubt...
--------------------
The counterfeit Executioner merely turned to the Vanguard personnel and raised a hand, performing a wind-up gesture with his fingers. A moment later, the helo pitched ahead and set itself into motion as the turbines powered the aircraft skyward. At the same time, the rear ramp closed once more, hydraulics gurgling as fluid shifted about in the lines.
A floor performed a slight lurch as the pilots stepped on the gas, accelerating their craft away as quickly as Arachnos stood comfortable with.
"Finally." Acid took a deep breath, the sound muffled beneath the Bane Spider helmet. He wasted no time unlatching the armor's gloves, tossing them aside like someone would a shoe that was too tight. Judging from the five clawed fingers beneath, it was fair to say the analogy was more than accurate - there was no way they fit into said gloves properly.
Along with the characteristic cracking of joints went the helmet, Acid forcing the thing off his inhuman head like an unwilling watch from a wrist. When he'd finally gotten it off, the tooth-lined mouth opened wide, inhaling and exhaling a great gulp of air in relief.
"Damn, I hate this junk." the reptilian commented, looking upon the helmet with ire as he tossed it aside with a glance at the Vanguard personnel, "One of these days, you're not going to get me into one of these anymore, and that's final."
"You're the one who squeezed into it, Sir." chuckled the woman as Acid split the armor of arms, chest and abdomen. The deep-green, scaleless hide underneath didn't show any signs of having been under pressure, the upright stature of the reptilian having spared him at least that much.
Still, getting his legs and tail out of these pants was always an adventure - and not a very enjoyable one...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Jake spared a glance at the faux Executioner as he took his armor off, revealing that his Men in Black analogy hadn't been too far off. He then proceded to give Acid a standard scan, basically searching for anything metal or possibly fatal. It could also detect arcane material, to an extent. Honestly, that wasn't Jake's strong suit. Never had been. But I digress.
Upon finding nothing that he absolutely didn't expect, (That is, taking into account that he now knew he was a humanoid velociraptor) Jake decided to find a chair and lay back for the rest of the trip, nonchalantly closing his eyes before he had to go into action once more.
"Aw... He's so cute," Cedric chuckled when he saw Acid Zero's true form.
"Oh yes..." Matt muttered grimly, "You're gonna fit right in over there..."
----
Power Breaker's eyes boggled a little when he saw Acid's true form. His nanites even freaked a little and his mind was filled with question marks and errors. A few nanites, however, dug into something he kind of hoped they'd stop messing with and suddenly they were able to reconcile.
Though he strongly doubted it was anything to do with magic, the nanites were certain of it.
A wizard did it.
"No... I don't think so..."
"I'm not offering to help ya," the Brute muttered to Acid as he found himself a seat, "Not when I see ya like that, and I sure as Hell don't want to be anywhere near those pants when they finally come off... Hell, I don't want to see them come off, but you seem dead set..."
He gave a sideways glance at Jake.
"Him? Maybe, but it looks like he's made his decision."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"And I thought I was forgetful." Acid remarked with a quirked glance at Power Breaker, unclasping the latches of the Bane Spider boots, "You don't remember me, do you? And yes. You would be too if you had to shove an arm down your pants along with a leg of yours."
The analogy of course wasn't completely accurate, the reptilian's long tail not exactly what a human would consider an arm. Still, it was a limb, and in order to hide it had to be coiled around one of Acid's legs in the suit of armor. Considering it had originally been an extension of the spine, it wasn't very comfortable.
"Kind of odd, actually." the reptilian remarked as he wound his way out of the armor, then reached for his traditional ensemble lying on one of the crates the helo carried, "Technically, this body shouldn't have that amount of feeling at all. Eh, whatever. I guess that comes with the territory..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"No..." Breaker's prior aloof tone was gone, now just somewhat tired, "I remember ya well... I think... Time's been unkind to me, though. Besides, I figured you'd have forgot me... A lot can happen in a matter of days, imagine what it must be like to have this much time between moments."
He sounded worn, despite having done little that day. His life as a criminal, then a "Villain," had not been easy on him, to say the least. He hoped that this "promise" of redemption would pan out.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"I wish I could." Acid replied to Breaker as he slipped into his usual outfit. He seemed to drift off then, as if his eyes were looking through the walls of the helo, "Time and space, well...they've always been somewhat elusive to me. I think I'm starting to get the hang of time, but space...that's probably gonna stay a book with seven seals for a long time still."
"Oh, I'm sorry." the reptilian blinked, throwing his jacket over his shoulders as he turned back to the former villain, "I start babbling sometimes. But you'll understand what I mean when we get to Cap. Just keep in mind that you're really not seeing double..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Jake's ears perked at his seeing double comment, but he did nothing more to give away that he had been listening in. He simply laid in his chair, eavesdropping on the conversations of the people on board, and even falling asleep for a few seconds.
(Short post. Really not much to say 'til we get there. >.>
((I know how you feel. *pokes Funstuff* 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Static pressed two buttons on his wrist computer.
All of a sudden anyone next to him would get a sudden and rather rude shock of electricity. The charged armor was up and running, as was the static shield which guarded his mind from rude psychics.
He then stepped through the portal, curious what lay on the other side...