Jake's peripheal(sp?) vision had caught the smile, not to mention the dress, while she was doing it. Smiling back and adding a brief wave as well, he relished in the moment. It'd probably be the only bit of friendliness he'd get, and he'd probably get even less if he wished to go through with Arachnos's plan...
Solid slipped in behind Penny and gave her a once over as he followed her to the portal.
"I don't think we're going to a prom, girl," he said to Penny. "I don't think the Rikti will pull their shots just cause you're cute."
Cher'tak disengaged from the group after the Dark Watcher had finished speaking, his good mood seemingly untouched dispite the knowledge that he'd be a wanted criminal when he got home. Toy pulled up alongside the Rikti with his bots in tow and slowly walked next to the alien for several seconds before speaking.
"So if your people link their minds in a giant world spanning mental network, how are you and the others going to keep from getting found out?" the mastermind asked the one big question in his mind.
"Question: Well thought. Answer: Obvious," Cher'tak replied. "Myself, Lk'Onik, C'Kelkah, Sah'Teece: Establish: Seperate network. Small size: Equates low chance: Detectability."
"Well that's reassuring," Toy sighed as he reached up to absently scratch behind one sat. com 'ear' in a nervous gesture. "How do you think the average Rikti citizen will think about this?"
"Unknown," Cher'tak responded simply. "Redirect inquiry: Sah'Teece, Lk'Onik. New arrivals: Both."
"Will do," Toy said as he flashed Cher'tak a brief thumbs up and meandered over to the other group of three Rikti to ask them the same question.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
[ QUOTE ]
Solid slipped in behind Penny and gave her a once over as he followed her to the portal.
"I don't think we're going to a prom, girl," he said to Penny. "I don't think the Rikti will pull their shots just cause you're cute."
[/ QUOTE ]
All around Penny Arcade, heroes and villains, pilots and technicians, were running final checks before the portal fired up. Penny herself paused, seemingly about to do her own check. She had been busy since the last time that she had met Solid Shot: although they were nowhere on display, the badges and medals against her name (listed, by requirement, on her ID) scrolled right off the screen. She, like so many others, had been working her tail off repelling the Rikti invasion, setting bombs on the crashed mothership, and all the other things which were necessary to ensure that the footprint of the invaders of Earth remained as small as possible.
She looked surprised, her eyebrows rising into her hairline. At this range, it was possible to see that she seemed to be entirely covered, head to toe, in a layer of impossibly fine glitter, right down to her eyelashes. Every hair seemed to have been individually coated. This close, there was something about the glitter, perhaps the manner that it was all but invisible on her skin if observed even a foot away, that seemed slightly odd. Her clothing (if it could be called that, for upon close examination it looked suspiciously resilient) appeared to be made of a much thicker version of the same material. "I wouldn't expect them to," she said mildly. She touched several buttons on her bracers, which were immediately recognizable as Vanguard make, and a variety of robots dropped suddenly into view, apparently from nowhere. There were three battle drones, (Larry, Moe, and Curly,) two assault bots (Laurel and Hardy) and the enormous tank bot, Buster. All seemed to have been coated in a layer of the same delicate silver glitter that Penny Arcade herself was wearing.
"You are familiar with the gang of course," she smiled at him, as a force field generator and various other support paraphernalia appeared. "I presume you are packing enough firepower to overthrow the average third world country?" Her eyes twinkled at him as if amused.
Randall pulled a flask from his jacket and took a sip. The flask itself was about the size of a normal person's canteen. Turning to Lady Grey, he nodded as he closed and put the flask away.
"Regular motley crew you and your own have assembled here. Will your people still be recruiting, or is this push the only one we're making?"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"No offense intended, but can we hurry this up? I'm begining to lose concentration in my feet." Ineffable said in bland tone.
The ground beneath his feet had suddenly grown several small cracks.
((Yall better hurry up, The Invasions are getting worse....a LOT worse....
But besides that, have fun raiding the Rikti Homeworld!! I'll be following along with the RP, so, *grabs popcorn* Make it Entertaining!!! Good Luck!!))
-El D 
Global - @El D
Servers - Protector
((OOC: Sorry Im late!
Oh, and I LOVE that screeny D. XD
EDIT: Also, where is Electron Boy?))
----------------
Night quickly moved from one spot to the other near the portal. One thing she was sure to do was grab each of the Focusyn canisters and latch each of them to her belt with the rest of her collection. She was one of those heroes whom, while potent, required having to use Focusyn. Something about trying to contain dark matter made her somewhat clumsy at times.
Still, she skipped all the way to the entrance of that portal, stopping only an inch away from the field of energy. She turned and smiled to Randell like a happy kitty getting his or her ears scratched.
Then she looked at Ineffable, the strange gang-like person that kept creeping her out when he spoke. One thing, though, was that she hadnt even noticed any of the smaller cracks at his feet. She was too busy thinking of ways to stay far away from him on their journey.
I took care of everything on my way here. Still, its early in the morning, so excuse me if Im a little tired on the trip Mr. Grey. She said politely, still smiling to Randell.
Hikaru, the man near the back of the crowd began to walk toward the portal. But, he never made it all the way
Instead, he stopped about five feet from Jake, looking over him for a moment.
If you wish to go through with your plan, it is best you at least start pretending to be a team player. He said in a low, dark, emotionless voice, staying quiet so none of the others were to listen to their, or really his conversation.
You will be caught. Youre not fooling anyone
He finished and continued to walk, not giving Jake the chance to respond.
While Hikaru wasnt far from the portal, he wasnt really close either. He stayed at that spot, scanning Ineffable while the others continued to prepare.
"With great apprehension." Sah'Teece answered the robotic mastermind, his voice somewhat cheerless at the reflection, "Don't misunderstand, our mental network isn't a hive mind. You could somewhat compare it to your internet, but instead of uploading and downloading packets of computer data, there's a transfer of mental impulse - thoughts, sensations, experiences, emotions, desires...it's difficult to explain to someone not able to connect to it. I presume we take it for granted."
"Yes." Lk'Onik added meekly, "Dependent, too. We are a people of contact and camaraderie. Like humans. No...much more closely. Separation from the whole is...difficult to bear."
"More than one individual has gone insane due to long-term disconnection." the former diplomat went on to explain, "That's why the first...oh, I hate saying this...invasion force...established another network here, but tailored to military purposes."
It seemed clear Sah'Teece still suffered from the ramifications of the truth. He'd been a volunteer to the Lineage of War, nothing but an ordinary Rikti wishing to defend his home. True, he'd been a 'sports hero', but when it came to combat, he was as normal as anyone else. The fact that he'd been the evil invader, that he'd attacked innocents, still hung upon him heavily.
"So in effect," Sah'Teece finished, "aside from this military net, nobody that we know of has ever even tried to purposely stay away from the main link. Our small network is an idea so contrary to everything we consider normal that it's bound to make people nervous, maybe even scare them."
While the Rikti helped Toy understand the nuances of their society better, the Lady Grey took a moment to answer the burly tanker's question.
"We have to consider both possibilities." the woman admitted as she ascended the steps of the massive gateway projector. An HVAS rested there already, several Vanguard operatives making closing preparations to the machine, "If all goes as we want, the Security Chief here will remain our contact on this side and keep us reinforced."
Unai Kemen gave a nod of affirmation, making his way beside the portal instead of the front of it. He'd be staying here, fulfilling his normal duties in addition to his newly assigned ones. He'd be the contact man for anyone arriving after the first push - any perimeter guard would direct incoming heroes or Vanguard members to him, and then he'd send them off through the portal to the Rikti homeworld.
If everything worked.
"Of course, we can't count on our plan surviving contact with the enemy." the Lady Grey carried on her outline, "So we're also taking everything we might need to establish an independent field base on the other side."
She left it at that, turning toward Ineffable, and shot him a piercing glare, "Were I you, I'd take care of what I destabilize. I trust my second in command, but if you become a liability, the destabilization of your surroundings will quickly become the least of your worries."
"My." the Dark Watcher remarked as the woman turned toward the expeditionary force again, stepping beside Ineffable for a moment, "You just might have destabilized her. Not a wise thing to do. A copy of Nemesis can attest to that - or could, if it still had a head."
"Do not worry." he added as he guided his steps away again, "Just keep your word and try not to agitate her before she has a chance to work off some steam. You should be fine."
Now the prepped HVAS gave report aloud, slowly and carefully beginning to move. Lady Grey had joined a duo of technical operatives at a portable console, video feed from the hulking machine clearly visible on the main screen.
With a few clicks and clacks, the mechanoid armed its weaponry, Vanguard certainly not expecting a warm greeting at the intended destination. Due to the fact they'd essentially jacked the portal into a Rikti supply corridor, there was really only one place the HVAS could end up - lurching out one of their portals in the middle of a depot of some sort.
The reasoning behind the idea was quite clear to anyone who knew about the barrier that several mystics had created to separate the Rikti universe from this one. It still existed, and though the Rikti had discovered how to punch through from their side, the converse was sadly not true. Despite the boundary's arcane nature, the Rikti were yet again a step ahead of humanity.
These thoughts and others went through the minds of the Vanguard operatives on site as the HVAS vanished in the spinning rings of the gateway, the video feed fading to black. The next few seconds would be paramount, determining all future actions for a period of time no one could even make a guess at yet.
"Receiving telemetry." one of the technicians beside Lady Grey announced, "Video feed back in three...two..."
The black screen remained just that: black.
"What's going on?" the leader of Vanguard wanted to know, "Did we lose the signal?"
"Negative." the other technical operative shook his head in response to Lady Grey, his fingers carefully passing over the console, "We are receiving. All systems show green. It's just...dark over there."
"Switch to night vision." Lady Grey commanded, not willing to waste any time.
"Already have." slowly came the answer, "It's...really dark. As in no light at all."
Lady Grey took this in stride, although on the inside she boiled. Whose bright idea had it been to not equip the HVAS with lights?! True, the light amplification systems of the machine essentially made lights redundant and unnecessary - but still!
"Alright." she finally stated coolly, giving an accepting nod, "I suppose operating in a location with no light source at all wasn't called for in the design parameters. Is the site secure?"
"We are reading no activity." the technician answered, "By all we can determine from here, the arrival site is safe."
"Very well." the woman cracked her knuckles an turned to the troops, "All teams, move out. Maintain caution. Just because we're not reading anything doesn't guarantee there's nothing there."
A collective salute gave sign of acknowledgement, the first division of Vanguard operatives bringing their rifles to bear, then marching in closed formation through the portal.
From there, the operation executed like clockwork. Everything seemed to have a place, every part a purpose. Like a flawless example of some giant, living puzzle, Vanguard commenced the first authorized human troop deployment to the homeworld of the Rikti. Had the personnel present not known the purpose of the undertaking, it would have been truly frightening to observe.
"Our turn." Lk'Onik stated tersely as he watched Lady Grey step through, now moving toward the portal as well. He'd be the first of the Rikti to enter, the Psi-Scout's mental expertise essential to minimizing the chances of detection.
"Declaration: moving." C'Kelkah added, visibly excited now that she stood this close, "Commence collective action: rock/roll!"
With that, it had begun. From now on, any new arrivals would be directed to Unai Kemen. The expedition's first block had departed.
It appeared someone had been waiting for just that.
Out on the parking lot of Portal Court, a pair of headlights threw their illuminating cones into the night, the engine of the vehicle they belonged to roaring to life not a second later.
The car's profile sat low and wide, the gurgling growl of a powerful engine accompanying the night-black vehicle as it departed the parking lot, slowly making its way to the gate.
Finally entering the cone of a lantern, the car could be clearly seen for a few moments - a Ferrari Testarossa coated in black luster, every window a nearly perfect mirror in the night, leaving the scene without so much as even the briefest stop.
There were places to be...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The Jade Moon
Rikti Homeworld
0627 ZULU
"All clear." came the electronically garbled voice of a Vanguard operative from behind his face mask, the tone almost reminiscent of a Storm Trooper, "Comm. check."
Multiple light cones swept over the decidedly Rikti architecture of the relatively small arrival chamber, the rifle-mounted flashlights almost enough to illuminate the entire room.
A duo of stick-like portal generators jutted from the floor, though like the gateway that sat on a raised platform, they emitted to visible light - which was odd, to say the least. Rikti portals had been known to not cast light on any nearby surface, even though the things were themselves luminescent (probably a quirk of the technology), but the attached generators had always given off some manner of luminosity, especially if they'd been active.
"Strange." the Lady Grey commented, letting her eyes wander about the place. The HVAS they'd sent though first stood where expected, showing no signs of having been engaged or tampered with, "Colonel, any exits yet?"
"Affirmative." the spoken-to man nodded, indicating the wall ahead with an arm. Several technicians already busied themselves on-site, "We're opening the door as we speak. No complications so far. Radio contact with Earth is stable and free of interference."
A snap and a hiss sounded from the indicated door before Lady Grey could respond. Without warning, the room's lightning came to normal levels, revealing the intricate pattern of the blast door the technicians had just commanded to open. Apparently, the room's illumination had been connected to the door systems, the tri-partitioned blast gate slowly sliding out of the way and creating more space for the subsequently arriving expedition members.
Beyond the door lay a larger room, its dimensions respectably spacious, like one of the larger chambers beneath the Rikti ship in White Plains. Set into the left and right walls were two more blast doors, the heavy gates not permitting view into what lay beyond for the time being.
The far wall, however, looked to be the most interesting of all. It followed a concave curve, rounding down from being parallel the ceiling to perpendicular to the wall about half a meter off the floor. Not only that, but it seemed composed of some manner of segmented construction, interlocking plates clearly visible in the material.
"Something's wrong." Lk'Onik stated ominously almost as soon as he exited the portal, jetting into the larger chamber on quick feet, "We're not where we're supposed to be."
"What do you mean?" Lady Grey wanted to know, a questioning undertone in her voice as her eyes quickly darted about the room, trying to spot anything amiss, "The portal didn't deviate."
"This is not a supply depot." the Rikti insisted, "Somehow, we were thrown off."
"Contacting: Unai Kemen." C'Kelkah had already accepted the situation for what it was, using her communications device to establish a channel back to Portal Corporation, "Contact: affirmative."
Kemen didn't take but two seconds to get on the line, the Rikti dimensional travel scientist quickly brining him up to speed about the displaced arrival site.
"That's not possible!" exclaimed the man's voice from the device, "We would've noticed...something, anything! Portals don't just randomly lurch from one point to another!"
"Agreement with: theory." C'Kelkah replied, "Practice shows: otherwise. Investigate: probable cause: erroneous calculation?"
"Couldn't be. You know that the supercomputer is in charge of all the calculations. You even checked them. The only way the portal could've been redirected is if someone had managed to get into the thing, and even if that was possible, we would've at least noticed."
Their discussion didn't seem to get past those lines. Both Kemen and C'Kelkah knew the supercomputer had the correct calculations when it had first opened this gate. There wasn't a chance in hell anyone couldve changed the destination afterward without someone noticing something.
Lk'Onik, however, seemed more interested in where than how. Examining the blast door to the right, he found it to be in an almost irreversible lockdown phase; utterly unresponsive to the commands he attempted to enter into its key panel. The thing showed a dangerous pressure deficiency present on the other side of the door, hardwired safeguards refusing to let the door open.
But why would...?
A set of different commands was quickly keyed in, and before anyone knew it, the strangely textured far wall began to retract into both ceiling and floor. The Psi-Scout had expected his. He'd figured out where they'd arrived.
"We're on the Jade Moon." he stated in a tone of disbelief as the wall parted to reveal a gallery of transparent material that allowed a clear, unimpeded view of what lay on the other side - a dark, dusty, and cratered landscape that could be identified for what it was even without sunlight. The stars above and radiance scatter from inside were more than enough to identify the terrain as a lunar surface...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Ineffable glared at Lady Grey as she walked off. If looks could kill, she would have left the room in a match box.
"A person with such a [u]pretty little head[u] should know her place..." Ineffable muttered.
And suddenly Ineffable simply wasn't there anymore. The ground directly beneath where his feet had been had crumbled into fine powder.
-----
Ineffable was suddenly on the Jade Moon.
Interestingly enough, nobody could tell if he had really used the portal or not. He came from the general direction of it, but it simply didn't look like he had come out of it.
He glanced around, giving the place a quick once-over.
"This probably means we'll be doing more traveling than fighting. How dissapointing."
Nodding to Lady Grey and Night Protector respectively, Randall turned to Kemen and handed him a small paper print-out (about half the size of the average yellow "sticky" note) from his communicator. On it was a number.
"If anything bad happens, you lose contact with us, whatever... Call this guy. He's the only one I can think of that would do everything he can to rescue me and the rest of the team here. Even if it meant forcing you guys at sword-point to turn the portal back on."
----
Waiting for the Rikti advisers to figure out how to escape what was supposed to be a warehouse of some sort, Randall leaned against a wall.
Already, this was shaping up to be a nasty trip. He'd heard something about being redirected and computer invasion... If that was the case, too many people knew what was going on and had figured out a way to affect the situation.
Why they'd want to help Nemesis was beyond him, but it probably had to do with money. Most people didn't realize they were working for the Mad Brass King, anyway.
Leaning where he was, however, he was a little weirded out when the wall practically melted away. It was strange... It didn't seem like a melting...
"I gotta stop looking at this like a construction worker," he grunted, "I'm here to fight..."
He peered through the opening and his heart sank slightly when Lk'Onik exclaimed where they were.
"The Jade Moon," he muttered, "Sounds like entirely the wrong place to be."
Not wanting to be caught off guard in a place like this, he flexed, and the rock armor sprouted from his skin. Crystals protruded from the stone as well. Rooting poured from his pant legs and stuck into the steel. Again, he felt the odd sensation of "life" seeping into him from the rooting, like a mountain grown from the earth.
Even here, with this alien technology, he felt a connection to the very materials of it. Even here, he was protected by the raw materials of the world.
Here, however, there was something odd... Something was coming through the connection. People often said things like "if these walls could talk..." well, they spoke to Randall... Not in words, per se, but more through feelings, sensations...
Something was unsettled here.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Penny flashed a smile at Hikaru, and bowed her head politely towards him. She had met him briefly, though not for some years. Still, she had never forgotten the aid he had given her in her critical first days in the Zig.
When they arrived, she looked around, hovering a few inches off the ground, courtesy of her rocket boots. Though it was not obvious when she had changed - or could have, for that matter - her dress was different, clearly Vanguard make, but glowing softly with circuitry, its silver color gone. Whatever Penny Arcade was wearing, it had some unexpected properties. "Well," she said cheerfully, "That certainly could have been worse. Scanning... infravision... ultravision... sonic... " The odd metal tiaralike thing in her hair turned out to have been a small Vangard visor, which she now pulled down over her face, murmuring to herself for several seconds as she looked this way and that. "The immediate area seems to be clear. So far, so good..." She punched out a code on her bracers. Above her, a small, almost spherical shape burst into sudden life above her, rather like a balloon inflating, then dropped down to hover next to her. It projected a force field, not a large one, but its greenish tint was somehow heartening. "Micro-explosion seems to work well... almost makes me wish I had passed math in school," she smirked. "...and college... graduate school... doctorate work... post doctorate work... meh, I am just as happy that they have hired people to do the math..."
"Fifty yard perimeter seems to be clear of hostile forces," she said to the general group. "Initial air samplings appear to be free of lethal contaminants... no major radiation... the wierdy mystical widgit," she frowned, looking at what was clearly a magical charm attached to one of her scanners, "is not glowing, which is supposed to mean that no magical spells are currently being cast... gravity is just a fraction stronger than earth standard," she frowned ferociously, "JUST enough to put back on the five pounds I JUST lost last week. Bah!"
"Exclamation: Hoo ha!" Cher'tak shouted as he pumped his fist, drew his blade-rifle, and advanced into the portal. Solid Shot was quick to follow, but Toy Dispenser lingered behind for a moment as Grey's sticky note had given him an idea.
"Hey there," he said to Unai after Grey had gone into the portal and gave the security chief a LMOUSVEV calling card. "The big guy reminded me of someone who could help in such a situation. Just chuck that thing in a fire and ask for Archlich. If anyone can figure out a way to break through a mystical trans-dimensional barrier, then it's the guy who probably wrote the book on making them. Cheers!"
With a jaunty salute at the blinking security chief, Toy hustled through the portal, his bots in tow.
*******************************************
"Location: Jade Moon?" Cher'tak said in disbelief as he heard what Lk'Onik said and looked out the window for himself. "Knowledge: Lacking: Purpose: This Facility. Query: Jade Moon Base: Primarily Research: Abandoned?"
"Wait," said Toy, a frown in his voice. "We just came through a portal in a base on a moon that isn't supposed to have a portal in it."
"Correct," Cher'tak answered.
"That doesn't sound good," piped in Mini Bot.
Solid, meanwhile, had wandered over to look more closely out of the window.
"Dayum...." he muttered. "The ground actually is kinda greenish. Is it oxidized copper or something, cause I can't think of anything else that might do this."
"Maybe it's actually made of jade," Large Toy suggested as it followed Solid.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((Oh wow. Looks fantastic, all. I know this is kind of late, but it's late here too. I got a hero with a grudge, and I can't let this slip by. I'll be off the comp for a couple of days, but here's hoping I can reserve a spot in here for when I come back. Maybe Tuesday?))
Champion: Feride Edain, Level 50 Vigilante Blaster; Quicksilver Cure, Level 33 Controller; Silent Gemini, Level 44 Tanker; Aisa Moirai, Level 19 Villain Dominator
Virtue: Aurora's Blaze, Level 50 Peacebringer; Atrytone, Level 50 Tanker
Binro moved a little away from the others as he looked out at the surface of the moon. The view reminded him of the ash deserts back on his homeworld; vast stretches of land covered in pale, blue-white powder that formed dunes and craters.
A brief moment of heartache washed over him, but he brushed it aside quickly. They were in an unknown location in hostile territory; now was not the time for reminicing. He turned back to his teammates, waiting to see what the 'experts' had to say.
Mad Matt McGinty was busy working on his motorcycle in the Skyway City shop owned by the lamentable Lou. Lou, having been assisted repeatedly by McGinty, was all too willing to let the scrapper work on his monstrosity of a vehicle in his shop.
"Dammit!" the mechanic shouted over Matt's ratcheting, "The Clockwork kidnapped my daughter again!"
"That's becoming something of a problem, isn't it?" McGinty shouted back as he finished up, "Want me to help her out while I take this baby for a test drive?"
"No, no..." Lou grumbled, "I'll just get on the horn with Athena Currie... Get some new hero on it. You've got enough on your plate as it is... What's your security level now?"
"It's no problem, Lou, I love to help. And actually, it's..."
His communicator started warbling out an alarm. It was the emergency alarm.
"...Uh... Let me jsut get that real quick..." Matt trailed off as he grabbed the communicator and held it up to his ear, "Hello?"
"Yes..." an unfamiliar voice said on the other end, "Is this... Mad Matt McGinty? (What the Hell kind of name is that?)"
"Yes it is, and it's mostly the name my father gave me. Who's this?"
"This is Unai Kemen..."
"I don't think that gives you a right to criticize my name!"
"Okay, okay... Look... I was told by Randall Grey to call this number and ask for this man if he ran into trouble on a mission for us... And he said you'd be... Enthusiastic... To help."
Matt arched his eyebrow.
"He tapped me? Not Kip or his son?"
"I don't know. He just said to get a hold of you. We need you to come down to Peregrine Island, Portal Corp... I'll explain things to you there."
When the line cut off, Matt stared at his communicator for a moment. Behind him, he could hear Lou chatting with Currie.
"Electric-based, huh? Sounds good, sounds like it'll take those Clockwork for a ride they'll never forget. Thanks, Athena. Next time you need your car inspected, I'll do it for free. Bye."
"All set?" Matt asked his friend.
"Yeah. Who was that?"
"Unai Kemen... Said my boss might be in trouble."
"Well, you better get on it," Lou clapped the scrapper on the shoulder, "Take that beast with you."
He was indicating the motorcycle. It was a nightmarish contraption, now. A blend of magic and technology, it was the terror of the city streets. A chaingun was mounted above the headlight, the headlight was powered by a gem called a "Spark of the Sun" (clicked on, it harmed undead!), the back was weighed down with rocket pods, grapple guns, and jump jets, an the whole chassis was wrapped in armor! The armor was chiselled and painted to look like some sort of Japanese dragon or lion or something...
The engine itself was powered by something called a Monster Heart, supposedly the crystallized heart of a Drake, and it's exhaust was often a bright blue like out of a Sky Raider Raptor Pack. The tires themselves were supposedly made from Salamander Scales, and were enchanted anyway to resist wear and tear. Then there were the shocks, which were top of the line, nearly military-grade devices that the scrapper was only able to get through one of the contacts he made in Talos Island.
Matt mounted the machine and kicked it on. It let out a roar like some sort of angry animal, but it was like no animal Lou had ever heard, and it made him uneasy. McGinty just smiled wickedly, though.
"Good luck getting your daughter back," he said to Lou as the garage door opened, "Hope that hero pans out."
"Athena said the guy's bringing a whole crew to do it, and they're largely electric based. I've got a really good feeling about this."
"Well, if there's any trouble, let me know. We'll send somebody to teach those Clockwork not to mess with kids."
"Thanks!"
The door opened and Matt tore off, leaving a fiery trail behind him. A Supa Troll plodded into view and he used the big dumb animal as a ramp to hop up onto one of the Skyway City overpasses. Seeing the Supa Trolls were out again, Lou shut the door as soon as Matt was out.
----
On the highway, Matt made for Talos Island. He knew that from there, he could make a B-line for Peregrine Island. The drive, however, would give him time to think.
"Why did Randy tap me for an emergency?"
----
As soon as Kemen called MCGinty with the emergency number, Kipland Durj, second-in-command of Grey's Army, got a text message.
"Kip, it's Randy. Something bad happened, I don't know what, yet, I'm recording this beforehand. Anyway, I need you to lead the super group from now on. I've been meaning to promote you to General for a long time, it's just we hardly ever see each other, and when we do, I'm too drunk. Well, if you go to the registrar, they'll know what the deal is. Good luck boy, and if you get the chance to help me, don't [fricking] hesitate! I may be an old man, but I still have things to do!"
"Dammit," the martial artist grumbled, "Why does Randy keep giving me heart attacks before I'm thirty?"
----
Charlene Daring-Grey also received a text message...
"I'm sorry. hon, but I won't be in for dinner. Something really bad came up, and I just had to do it. I don't know what to say about it, because frankly, as I'm typing this, it hasn't happened, yet. When it does happen, I won't have time to get all this set up. I'll probably send something to Sarah, telling her I love her, because I don't have enough options to have something get sent to everybody who needs to know what's up. Char... I'm running out of space... I love you. You're the light of my life, and I swear, I'm doing everything I can to make it back to you. I lost you once and it nearly killed me. I can't let you go through the same pain. If I can't make it... Well, know that I at least made them pay for it. Goodbye."
Charlene tried to dial up her daughter, but she couldn't see through the tears welling up in her eyes.
----
Cedric and Roland Grey, Randy's sons, also received messages.
Cedric's message wound up being almost like a warcry.
"Hey son, it's your dad. I'm in trouble or dead. Don't stop fighting on my account, in fact, fight harder. Sooner or later, you'll get an opportunity to help me or avenge my death. When that happens, I expect nothing less than a swath of destruction as you heap dead bodies in your wake. Good luck, boy. You kids make me proud. I love you."
Roland's 's was a bit different...
"Son, the coming time may be more of a burden for you than it ever had to be. You never had to come here, never had to stay, but you did, and the things you've done for me... Well... I can't begin to thank you enough. Attached with this message is a bank account and a code to access it. I know that money's a poor substitute for not having your dad around, and I wish you and I connected better in life, but... Roland... I love you, son. I'm proud of you, too. The world is yours, my boy. Make of it what you will."
The two brothers looked at each other as they finished reading their messages. They happened to be eating lunch at the time at Hero Burger. Their eyes narrowed.
"What do you think?" Cedric finally asked.
"Mom."
"Yeah, let's go get mom."
"Snuffy?" Roland arched an eyebrow to his brother as they stood and threw on their jackets.
"She's got Joe."
----
In fact, she did. When she got the call from her sobbing mother, she had already taken a day off and had convinced her boyfriend to do the same. She'd gotten the text message from her father shortly before he left.
"Sarah, I love you immensely. Your mother and your brothers won't know where I went, or what I did. But you'll be the one to know, and I want you to tell them. I had to go to the Rikti homeworld and try to finish an old fight. I didn't know that it would come to this, but that's the short of it. Now, I'm preparing to head out, and I need to wrap this up. Sarah... I love you. I never told you kids that enough, and I'm sorry I spent so many evenings off on side projects or hunting monsters (talk to Kip, he'll explain). Tell Joe I still hate his rotten guts, and that I'm expecting him to be a good father for my grandchildren. If they turn out like him, I'll be so [ticked]. Good luck, Sarah. I trust you to decide when is the right time to tell the others."
Curled up on the couch with her husband, she suddenly started crying. Joe hugged her closer and they just sat quietly in the house, waiting for night to fall and a new day to begin.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Unai sighed as he clicked off his cellphone. This was turning out to be one of those days where it didn't pay to get out of bed. Sighing again, Unai took out the card the weirdly colored robot villain had given him and looked it over. It read:
"The Legion of Mismatched or Otherwise Unorthodox but Still Very Evil Villains.
LMOUSVEV: Long name, quality villainy.
If you wish to curse our names, please place this card in the nearest carbonated beverage.
If you wish to contact our services, please throw this card into the nearest fire."
Wishing that he didn't have to deal with such nutjobs on an almost daily basis, Unai gestured to a hero who was doubtlessly passing on some mission or another to save the world.
"Hey, you, Flaming Bird," he called out. The named bright red clad hero hustled over to Unai with a raised eyebrow.
"Normally I call you guys for a mission," the hero said. "Not the other way around. What is it?"
"I need you to start a small fire," Unai said. "Urgent business."
Flaming Bird shrugged and snapped his fingers, causing a small fire to burst into being above his hand.
"This good?" he asked.
"Perfect," Unai replied as he dropped the calling card into the flames.
Flaming Bird's eyebrow almost hid itself in his flaming red hair as nearly instantly a disgruntled looking face appeared in the flames.
"LMOUSVEV hotline. Who's calling?" the grey skinned man grunted.
"Unai Kemen, I'm with Portal Corp," Unai answered. "I was told to contact a man named Archlich and inform him that Toy Dispenser needed his aid at Portal Corp."
"Portal Corp?" the man asked in an incredulous tone of voice. "You mean that place I robbed a couple of times up in Paragon? What the hell is the boss doing up the-?"
The man was cut off by an unidentifiable sound from somewhere out of the flames. The man's scowl deepened and he shrugged before his head vanished to be replaced with a bleached white skull wearing some sort of crown.
"I shall arrive shortly," said the skull in a rasping voice that would have been right at home surrounded by the screams of countless innocents being burned alive.
The flame suddenly poofed away and Unai shook his head, just looking at that villain had given him a headache. He had always known there was a reason why he had ignored that job offer from Aeon Corp.
"So, do I get some influence out of this or what?" Flaming Bird asked.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Hikaru's words troubled Jake deeply, and with good reason.
Are you [censored]-ing kidding me? He already knows?! My God, it's not as if there aren't people here who look even more suspicious than me! And I'm not exactly the most anti-social of the bunch! ... It has to be a bluff, there's just no other freakin' way. I'm kind of frowned upon here for running away from home to join Arachnos, the guy's just trying to upset me, see if he can't get anything out of me. Well, I wont' let him...
Even as this rant was going on in his head, the only outwardly thing that could've possibly revealed his thoughts was a slight frown that had replaced a small smile. He put his hand up to his face, using his thumb and index finger to rub the bridge of his nose in frustration and thought. He sighed as he listened to the babble coming from the technicians and everyone else. From wha the heard, he gathered that the portal hadn't ended up where they'd hoped it would. Chuckling at their (What he supposed was.) mistake, he walked through the portal, satisfied that they had at least identified it as non-hostile.
"I'll go ahead and take a proper look-see. Just murderously scream if you need me."
Ineffable walked away a short distance and vanished into thin air.
Ineffable's timing was perfect enough to allow Jake to appear not half a second later than when he had left, giving him the illusion that the pasty faced villain hadn't gone through the portal at all. Jake took note, but decided not to mention it until he had at least taken in his surroundings.
Needless to say, he was a bit confused about their destionation, however, a quick question to one of their Rikti escorts cleared things up pretty nicely.
Jade Moon, aye? So we're not even on the planet, huh?
He sighed and mumbled the word, "Perfect...", making sure to smother it in sarcasm.
In any case, I need to know the objective, but I can't very well do that with all these people around, can I?
Jake rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was gonna be a long day.
Paused before the Talos Island ferry to Peregrine Island, Matt arched an eyebrow at a Ferrari that passed him by. It wasn't so much the vehicle passing as...
He had a nasty feeling about it, and Cory had taught him to trust those feelings. When he pulled his motorcycle into the ferry, he called his mentor in the mystical arts.
"Simmons," he barked when he got the answering service, "Quit yer canoodlin' and get on patrol! I got a car for ya to keep an eye out for... Black... All Black Ferrari... Scary looking-"
*Beep*
"If you would like to-" Matt clicked off the communicator before the message finished.
"He'll figure it out," he grumbled.
----
Cory sighed as he felt the electric pulse from his cellular phone. Accursed little time leeches... He'd say he was better off without it, but humanity had ways of developing other means of similar communication.
"I'd be covered with sticky notes if it weren't for that damn noisy thing," he muttered.
"What was that?" his girlfriend, Gertrude Youngs, asked from the kitchen.
She was making something... special... she said. Judging from some of the explosions and smells coming from her cooking, Simmons was glad he had several antidotes on hand within his robe.
"A friend, my dear," he replied, "It seems something incredibly important has come up... I suppose it would be about the right time, the feeling is in the air, you know?"
"Sometimes, Cory, I don't understand a single word you're saying. I don't remember any portents for tonight..."
"Sometimes, things can't be known through portents," the young wizard chuckled, "Sometimes, you need to feel for the subtle ebbs and flows of Fate..."
"Is that what yer father taught you?"
"Yes, my dear... My father taught me to feel magic like a flowing river, not as an ephemeral substance to be plucked at and twisted to one's desires... More often than not, if you simply alter the path of the river slightly, you can achieve the results you require just as or even more easily than 'plucking,' and there is less chance to lose yourself to corruption and the like..."
"So that's why you've mastered your arts in a fraction of the time my sisters take to learn their skills?"
"Part of it, yes..." Cory quirked an eyebrow, then grunted, "As much as I'd like to partake in your 'binding potion,' I'm afraid I'll have to withdraw for the evening."
Gertrude looked at him, astonishment evident in her eyes, if not her face.
"It was the blackberry extract... It was a bit much."
"I see..."
"We'll talk about this later," Cory astonished her again with a smile, "For now, I have friends I need to help."
----
Matt pulled up to the Portal Corp parking lot with little incident. There were a few moments where Carnies tried to stop him, but the motorcycle seemed to have a tertiary effect on them, and they often ran screaming from the wake left by his "Fear Engine" (or maybe they were just startled by how ugly the vehicle was).
Pulling into the parking lot, he wove around the possessed scientists (Randall and Kip had already warned him about them) and brought himself into the courtyard. Letting the engine idle for a few seconds, he looked around the crowd.
"Who here," he grunted as he cut the engine off (it seemed to sigh in relief), and pulled his katana scabbard from its mount on the bike and rested it on his shoulder, "is Unai Kemen?"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((Anyone is welcome to join at any time, Feride. Open RP. 
))
"That too, as well as a good mixture of other compounds." Lk'Onik gave answer to the inquiries from Toy and company. Apparently, his mind refused to let him stand still, the Psi-Scout pacing about the walls with purpose as he answered Cher'tak, "The Jade Moon is mainly a series of shipbuilding plants. Six major assembly lines, several minor ones. Two research stations, and a few testing sites. Mostly automated except for the manufacturing and maintenance crews."
Indeed, it was very logical that the Warmaster didn't know about the Jade Moon's facilities. Mostly underground, the assembly lines built ships for all purposes, not solely limited to the orders of the Lineage of War. After all, the Lineage of Science had ordered the rocky satellite dug into and converted, not the military.
Technically, when one thought about it critically, the Psi-Scout wasn't likely to have known about it either. True, his rank could be compared to that of a field officer, but he still classed as ground troop, not shipboard crew - a difference comparable to the army and navy of the United States.
"Yes, I accessed the network to obtain this information." Lk'Onik answered the impending question of anyone who'd thought about this enough, "It had been planned. There is nothing to worry about."
He spoke the truth. Vanguard had known they'd need to know what was happening in the Rikti mental network, and luckily they'd found just the man for the job. Lk'Onik was a highly trained Psi-Scout, after all. He knew well how to hide his mind and not raise any suspicion when he connected with the network; not to mention he'd kept this first visit extremely brief, knowing full well that if he let himself go right now, the urge to announce to all the world that he was here and knew the truth about the humans would overcome him.
No, it wasn't smart to jump in deeply just yet. He'd need time to adjust first. Only then could he scope out the happenings in the network without the risk of being detected. He just hoped nobody else got the bright idea of attempting a connection. The other Rikti would notice right away.
C'Kelkah and Sah'Teece restrained themselves well, however, and Lk'Onik was fairly sure he didn't have to worry about Cher'tak. Warmasters were weird, but at least they stood somewhat detached, which should allow the man to exercise restraint more easily.
"Either way, it's not where we planned to end up." the former Traditionalist diplomat added on, causing Lk'Onik to look towards him with questioning eyes, "What worries me is that, from what I understand of C'Kelkah's mathematical jargon over there, it shouldn't even be possible for us to be here right now."
The mentioned conversation had definitely taken on a very complex and technical language full of otherworldly terms, but Sah'Teece's sommary described about the gist of it. C'Kelkah had been intrigued, Kemen fumed on the other end of the line, and the Lady Grey seemed to just stand there, attempting to absorb the rabid confusion with a face of stone.
"Okay, this isn't going anywhere." the Security Chief's voice finally led the discussion somewhere else, "Cause whatever, this isn't how it was supposed to go. I'm exercising my command authority: withdraw from the location immediately. We'll set up another portal once we've figured out what..."
Someone else's voice garbled into the line, interrupting Kemen's orders. If listened to closely, it seemed to be a woman speaking to the Security Chief, telling him something along the lines of, "From the board of directors."
However, it didn't really seem to matter.
"Just leave it be?!" Kemen's voice crashed over itself, "Oh, hell no! I'm in charge of security around here, and that means safety! Forget the board, I'll deal with those pompous suits later! Lady Grey, you and your unit get back into that portal and return here ASAP."
Before the head of Vanguard could respond, a loud crack sounded from the communications device, followed by a few seconds of static. The gateway the unit had arrived via experienced a sudden flux for a moment, then returned to normal...
--------------------
Matt McGinty's question was quickly answered, though probably not in the way he'd expected. A loud crack had suddenly sounded from the massive portal mechanism set up on the campus, accompanied by a brief flux of the gateway. Several of the crowd nearby had been startled, most of the armed personnel taking precautionary aim at the thing.
The technicians, however, seemed to have been made even more nervous than the guards right now - especially the man in the uniform of a Security Chief who stood over a large temporary console, head darting back and forth over the thing as if he was tracking a very quick animal across its surface.
"No, no, no, no, no....!" Unai Kemen repeated in stress, something obviously having changed for the worse. The team of portal technicians surrounding him didn't seem any calmer, "Get me that back! What do you mean it's not responding? Yes, I heard what you said, I'm just hoping I heard wrong! Who, what, when, where...?"
The conversation sounded hectic and wasn't easy to follow, but only a few core pieces were needed to make sense of the main problem: the portal had suddenly changed, without any warning at all. And in its present state, something was very wrong indeed. While passage to the Rikti homeworld still stood unimpeded, the gateway no longer allowed travel back through.
The expedition had been stranded on the other side!
With an exclamation of relief (something good seemed to have happened), Kemen began speaking into a microphone that jutted from the console...
--------------------
"Request: response." C'Kelkah repeated for the third time, making running adjustments to the communications device in her hands, "Query: Unai Kemen: read me? Contact: ..."
"I'm here, I'm here!" the voice of the Security Chief reemerged from the sound of static, "Sweet mercy, I think something hit the portal. Either that or the machine's gone nuts."
"Request: clarification." the dimensional travel scientist replied swiftly and to the point, "Summary: happenings?"
"We're still not sure." came the answer, "Some sort of pulse smacked into the gateway. it's like...oh no...it is. It came directly from the supercomputer. Worse yet, it's running a diagnostic, and someone changed the interruption code. It's not responding to any of our commands."
"I've Vanguard personnel in front of the static dispersion chamber." the Lady Grey joined the conversation, "Contact them and..."
"We already did." Kemen's interjection came quickly, "There's nobody in there. There hasn't been anyone in there since the last maintenance check three days ago. I know what you're thinking, but if someone had planted a program in advance..."
"...they'd have to be clairvoyant." the woman sighed, seeing the dead end in front of her. Worse yet, there seemed to be no other explanation.
She knew enough about the campus' supercomputer to rule out someone hijacking the thing. The machine simply had no connection to the outside world. A hacker might be skilled as could be, but without some sort of connection to the target, it simply wasn't possible to gain control of it - and all non-internal I/O for the supercomputer went through a proxy. The best someone could hope for was that proxy, and even then someone would notice.
Still...there was a third possibility. If no one had hacked system, nor planted a program in advance...
No, it was a silly thought. Downright ridiculous. And she had more important things to focus on right now.
"I understand." the Lady Grey replied coolly, having made her decision. She turned to her contingent, "Boys, we're staying right here. I want everything up and running, and I want it five minutes ago."
"Yes, ma'am!" a Vanguard Colonel gave a quick salute, then started barking orders. The personnel came to life virtually immediately, unpacking eqipment and setting it up wherever they found space. It wouldn't be long before Vanguard had a fully operational field base here.
"Delta team!" she called to the group under the leadership of Randall Grey, stepping into enough proximity for a normal conversation, "Secure as much of this facility as possible without engaging the enemy. Find out why we haven't had a welcoming committee yet. I'll even take nobody's home. In fact, I'd prefer it, but I don't think we'll have that much luck. I'm sending Cher'tak and Lk'Onik with you. Maybe they'll be able to tell you what's up with these doors."
"That I can do right now." the Psi-Scout answered, pointing an arm toward the blast gate on the right wall. Its key panel showed a few luminous glyphs in red, "There's a vacuum behind that one. That's why it won't open. Something caused the other side to decompress, and the safety system isn't letting anything through for a good reason."
"I see." Lady Grey nodded, keeping a clam head, "The other one?"
"Locked form the other side." Lk'Onik explained, "It shouldn't take us long to figure out the key code, though - if Cher'tak hasn't done so already..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
--The Jade Moon--
"Uh huh," Randall grunted as he pushed himself off the wall, "You said that one's the airlock, right?"
When Lk'Onik indicated for him which door they could work on opening, he flexed his hands.
"Anybody who can tear metal doors apart, I suggest we get to work on doing just that..."
He looked to Toy Dispenser.
"Lasers, right? Maybe they can help cut through all of this. Now, look, I know that I'm not planning this out too well, but we need to get to work on getting the Hell out of here and getting on to our mission. The sooner, the better. If anybody's got any better ideas, I'm all ears. For now, though, damage seems to be the best bet."
He walked up to the door and gave it a rap with his knuckles. Listening for a moment, he grinned.
"Doesn't sound indestructible."
-----------------------------------------
--Peregrine Island--
Mad Matt McGinty noticed the frenetic behavior of the personnel. Considering that patience would be the best bet, he sat down on a stack of sandbags with his legs crossed and balanced his scabbard across his knees.
"Somebody's bound to notice me sitting here..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Ineffable suddenly rematerialized to Randall's right.
"Please move." He said calmy.
He put a single finger to the door.
It immediately began to disolve at a frightening pace.
OOC:
I'm going somewhere today, so I can't post 'till after 6ish Est... Ditto for tomorrow.