"Gee... you brought playmates." Energon X commented wryly to Dax. He leapt into the air, then started corralling several groups, swatting them flying with precise, economical blasts, or batting them in the general direction he wanted them with red-glowing fists.
When they were bunched to his satisfaction, he swooped upwards, then plummeted out of the sky. Landing in the middle of the group of automatons, he glowed blue for a second. Then
*THRAKA-hella-giant-BOOM!!!*
A brief rain of half-melted robot bits clattered to the ground, and the dust cleared, revealing the smug Blaster standing in a small crater, leaning casually on a partially slagged wall.
"Better." he commented. "We should be able to actually hear ourselves think now while the briefing is going on. Sodding little nuisances."
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Dax watched the tech winged dude land in the middle of the group and explode Yep one of those boom types Dax looked down to see an arm of one of the Clockwork sticking out of his stomach.
Crap I liked this shirt Dax ripped the black t-shirt off his torso and tossed it aside. He looked down at the hole in his skin revealing more of his glowing green crystal.
Hey! Hey! Look I'm a boom type! I'm getting angry *face plant*. I give the kid 20 minutes when the fecal matter hits the fan before he gets medi-evaced out of here.
Well better get ready for the breifing, it's probably going to be long, drawn out, and boring beyond all belief. I Just wanna break stuff. I wished they'd skip the formalities.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
((K guys, I'm outie for the night cya tomorrow))
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
"If everyone is ready, I'm ready to give the briefing now." The security chief said to everyone in general. "Don't worry about the Clockwork right now, the Police Drones will cover the DPO for us as far as they go."
-----
Vahzilok
Camp, The Cannonade
The entire camp was a mess.
The legions of Vahzilok were much smarter than the Outcasts and the Trolls. The moment the Mortificators and the Reapers along the edges of the zone had figured out exactly what was happening, they taken all the supplies and surgical equipment they and their cadaver minions could carry and retreated to the only safe place left. Specifically, the company of other Vahzilok groups. A quick spread of word via a few fleet-footed Reapers established a general meeting grounds.
There were easily over two hundred Reapers, a hundred and fifty Mortificators, six hundred Cadavers and Abominations, (No embalmed ones) and thirty five various Eidolons.
Seeing as they had no explosives from their embalmed monsters to use as a defensive permiter of sorts, the Reapers had quickly gotten the reanimated dead to set up a base perimeter constructed mainly of stone and anything else the Clockwork wouldn't mistake for scrap. They were relying on camoflage to keep them alive now.
The Mortificators, in the meantime, had all met up and were considering their options.
"We cannot combat the Clockwork. They can endlessly rebuild themselves and new numbers, we cannot use their bodies to create fresh cadavers!" One shouted.
"We cannot be driven out of Boomtown. It our largest Haven by large." Another said.
"Or WAS at any rate." Another said dryly.
"We can't deal with this! It's all too much!"
"I've got it!" One of them suddenly shouted. "Somebody go and get Karl! He was in the Powderkeg last I checked! Let HIM deal with this!"
"Done and done." Said a voice at the edge of the group.
A large cleft suddenly formed as Karl the Mortificator walked forward, with his signature coffin strapped to his back and his 'medical case' in hand.
Aside from his accessories, Karl looked just like any other Mortificator, save for the aura of power and leadership coupled with ambition that flowed about him. He spoke with a very faint German acent and tended to pull his Ss, but not enough for it to be considered a lisp. He had surgery scars criss-crossing every portion of his body, even his head. "Never perform on a patient what you arn't willing to perform on yourself." He always said.
"The first thing we must do is gain allies in this mess. Some very powerful people are coming, and if the Vahzilok are to survive, we must adapt, adopt, and improve..."
-----
Clockwork
There was no ticking this time.
Just a steady hum of a heavy generator running.
A mammoth construct watched with malevolent eyes as everyone gathered in the DPO.
Why...?
Why where the rest of its lord's subjects acting as such, defying his direct orders...?
Because they had seen the truth.
And now it had too.
The Mammoth construct slowly shambled away, heading to the center of the Powderkeg.
"The Chief is correct." the Sword Sorcerer curtly told those busy smashing up Clockwork here and there, "The DPO perimeter is quite secure from them, I assure you."
There wasn't much to argue with that point. Though there weren't very many of Vanguard's soldiers around, everyone knew the mysterious organization's equipment gave them an edge in battle not to be neglected. Indeed, even the lowest ranking of Vanguard recruits could take on opponents a rank or threat level above theirs, even more so when deployed in groups. Many a hero and villain had seen basic soldiers of Vanguard make mincemeat out of Rikti battalions they should've been floored by - and that didn't even account for lieutenants and other officers.
Even if they had, the trapezoid of teleoperated high-explosive missile turrets (presently set on automatic) that formed the 'blue zone' in which the supply trucks had gathered packed enough firepower to level Babbage, his brother, cousin, second cousin, and clone of X at the same time.
In short, the local villains didn't stand a chance of penetrating the DPO perimeter. The only group that had actually been considered a threat was the Council, and them only if they managed to get in some high-end divisions, not the ones 'native' to Boomtown.
In any case, the Vanguard trucks standing about were still in the process of being offloaded, all manner of equipment among their cargo, even a set of mediport stations. Just in case, of course.
The Sword Sorcerer, however, seemed to be concerned with one truck in particular, never moving too far from it. Best guess: it held the means of tracking he'd spoken of earlier...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Bladewing glanced around, noting the presence of a few more heroes, and what looked like a few villans.
"So when are we gonna go and pound this guy?, Clockwork, Vhaz, and The Council be damned, I want my page back, as well as the satisfaction of beating someone who totaled States."
"You, dear sir, are a legend. "- nelly. "PIE DOESN'T HAVE TENTACLES!"
Bladewing Draconian lvl 30 KAT/SR scrapper
DarkNinjutsu lvl 50 DM/REG scrapper
Dajoji Hino lvl 50 elm/ela scrapper
Bloody Byakko lvl 20 claws/sr scrapper
"Calm down, calm down..." The Chief said. "We'll get to that in a moment, unless you LIKE the idea of endlessly searching this wasteland of a million and two holes in the ground for him without specialized help? Now then..."
He turned to thw Sword Sorcerer.
"If you would please unveil our means of tracking?"
[ QUOTE ]
"The Chief is correct." the Sword Sorcerer curtly told those busy smashing up Clockwork here and there, "The DPO perimeter is quite secure from them, I assure you."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Killjoy." Energon X muttered. He picked off a few stragglers with offhand blasts and drifted closer to the truck Sword Sorceror was hovering over like a mother hen, not bothering to touch down.
He levelled a burning gaze on the truck. "So... are the theatrics really necessary? Those of us in this business usually don't get into it out of a love of unecessary waiting." He glanced over at Dax. "Uh... sorry about the shirt."
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
"Yeah," Dusan said, clearly implying he agreed with the Chief. "I'd like to get started pretty soon."
Martin Sanders emerged from the portal. He looked around for a second, then zipped up his pants.
"Whoops! Sorry... I got distracted," he growled, "Holy..."
Staring out across the blasted landscape, he seemed to grunt and curse to himself a lot.
"You can feel it, can't you?" the voice asked without emotion.
"Death," Sanders accidentally whispered, "And lots of it. There are a lot of angry spirits out there right now... And... Something I can't quite place..."
"Psionic energy..." the voice bore no hint of congratulations, nor of derision, it was simply there, "You haven't been in enough contact with it in your life to know the energy signature, much less the subtle nuances, ebbs and flows. Suffice it to say, the Aether of this area is in turmoil. Our conversations will be limited."
Martin smiled.
"Well, at least there's an upside to all of this."
"In time..." the voice murmured, "You will understand why that's a bad thing. Now, get to the meeting, introduce yourself, and start taking this seriously."
"I am taking this seriously," the scrapper muttered as he approached the Chief, "Greetings. I'm Martin Sanders, Freedom Corps Agent, unspecified services, unspecified rank. I'm here to help."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Dax walked toward the group. Where are the women? This place is a sausage fest.
He propped himself against a wrecked car and hoped they would hurry things along.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
"What you call theatrics, we call containment." the Sword Sorcerer knocked the back an armored fist against the truck's reinforced chassis a few times to underscore his point, "But I agree, time is important. Let me see if..."
"Gyah!" came a woman's muffled shout from inside the truck's covered cargo bed, "Oh no you don't! Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. I said stop it, already! Kyah! You did not just bite me! C'mere, you!"
The Sorcerer backed off the truck in surprise as its frame rocked to and for a few seconds, the man following up by stepping around the back to see what had just happened.
"Here." a purple-armored hand pressed some manner of line into his own, his partner Colonel hopping out a moment later, brushing imaginary dust from her armor as she growled, "Maybe you'll have better luck with this whole magical whatsit thing than me."
"I'll try," the Sorcerer gave a nod, tugging tentatively on the line until it finally started to generate some slack. A moment later, a creature few had ever seen before followed, sliding from truck bed to ground in an apparently very annoyed manner.
It wasn't very big, perhaps the size of a large dog, maybe a Great Dane. It was definitely some sort of reptilian, and a quadruped at that. Long and thin, its seemed reminiscent of a large predatory cat, at least in the way it moved, slowly setting one leg in front of the other, the three clawed toes on each digitigrade foot spreading to contact the ground and curling back somewhat upon once lifted off.
The skull was large and long, the characteristic shape of a sizeable carnivorous reptile unmistakable, the sharp teeth only adding to the sense. A coat of Falu red, finely interlocking scales covered the creature from head to toe to the tip of the long, thin tail, and even the large pair of wings that rose from the thing's back, membranes of robust, leathery hide stretched tightly between the supporting bones of the neatly folded-back appendages.
The eyes carried no pupils, only solid amber membranes that gave no clue what the creature looked at, nor if it even could see. The head surveying its surroundings with precision, however, gave this a rather large chance.
It now stood for all to see that the line passed into the Sorcerer's hand was nothing more than a leash, connected to a segmented silver collar about the neck of the creature that looked surprisingly high-tech, despite the large blue jewel embedded in its frontal joint.
"That's our tracker." the Colonel explained, retrieving her rifle from the truck's side cargo pod and slinging it across her back, "Got it on loan from the Soul Police. Just think of it as a big scaly bloodhound, and don't worry about the rest..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Energon X gave the lizard a skeptical once over. "You know, if it wasn't for the wings... and the fact that you didn't get turned to slurry by eye contact with it... I'd almost think this was a Basilisk." he commented offhandedly. He studied it a little more closely, allowing his more esoteric senses, both techonlogical and non, along with years of experience-borne instinct, more play.
Then he looked at the Vanguard Sword members. "SOUL Police?" he questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Eh, whatever. So, we have our tracker... what exactly are we going to be doing to the bugger with the MacGuffin once we get to him? Any funky weaponry or secret allies? I'm fairly certain brute force won't work, and I don't really feel like falling into that stupid 'hahaha, your unleashed powers have provided the very energy I needed to power my doomsday device' bit, thanks to bad intel, again." He shook his head, blazing eyes describing a series of brief arcs, then settled back nonchalantly in midair, looking rather odd as he adopted a relaxed pose with the techwings flapping.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((Hm, I'm going to need something a little less general there, otherwise I'll have no idea what E-X is looking for. 
))
"Yes, Soul Police." the Sword Sorcerer returned, "You might think that freelancers like you are the only ones cracking down on the necromancy and other soul-stealing going on here in Paragon, but there are quite a few organizations stepping up to what you can't or won't handle..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Martin looked the winged lizard over. It reminded him of a drake.
A drake? Where had he heard of such a thing?
"[To Hell with] it," he muttered, "They said it's as good as a bloodhound, I'm calling it a bloodhound."
He walked up and looked into its face. When it flicked its tongue at him, he quirked an eyebrow back.
"Well aren't you a cute little guy?"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Dax cocked an eye brow as he watched the hobo looking guy aproach the lizard. Guy has got a pair on him to be able to walk up on that thing.
Dax cracked his knuckles Alright boredom is setting in. Man I hope they hurry or they may not like the things I'm gonna do when we finally start
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
"The point of our tracker here..." The Security Chief explained. "Is not to track down the Malleus Mundi nor our villain. It is going to track down Mrs. Moreira. Our sinister friend probably has enough precautions in place to ensure tracking him personally is impossible, as MAGI has already confirmed. The same applies to the Malleus Mundi. However, the City Representative...She's human. Easy to track. Easy to follow. Easy to find. Once you find her, logic states you'll also find the Mundi and her captor. If not, she may be able to yeild a clue to their location/s."
((Long story short, what the heck are we going to be doing/trying to do to a guy that took down Statesman and a TF at the same time? Is there any actual plan being put forwards by Vanguard?))
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((Well the top priority is to get back the Mundi and the Representative. Getting the biggest problems out of the way first. Sure, he's tough, but the threat of the Mundi in its self is infinitely greater than any one being. Once the Mundi is gone, you need to make sure he doesn't have a certain very important hostage to use as a bargaining chip, hence rescuing the Rep. Then, if he doesn't get away or turn out to have completely different intentions then expected, I suppose you'll need to fight him. HOW is completely up to you, and whether you'll even fight him or not is, additionally, all up to you depending on how you steer the story. If you do fight him, there are many ways to win, and many ways to lose. Take your pick.
So those are essentially the three goals of the RP. Accomplishing those goals? Not gonna be easy. 
And therein lies the story.))
OOC:
That information is currently classified.
Script: "Yar!"
And I think you misunderstood me. I was asking about this here:
[ QUOTE ]
He studied it a little more closely, allowing his more esoteric senses, both techonlogical and non, along with years of experience-borne instinct, more play.
[/ QUOTE ]
What was he using? Thermal, x-rays, the lazy eye, something else?
BIC:
From one moment to another, a gaping maw rimmed with rows of sharp, carnivorous teeth shot forward. The Sorcerer barely reacted in time, giving the leash a rapid tug before the creature's jaws could jab into anything belonging to Sanders. Still, the reverberating sound of the knife-like teeth snapping against one another was more than disheartening.
"Careful." the Sword Sorcerer huffed, keeping his attention on the now very taut line, "I've been told it regards virtually anything as edible. Acting like prey around it could be bad for your health, Agent Sanders."
"Though it might be amusing." the Colonel giggled, a hand on her rifle, "In any case, don't show any weakness around it and it'll respect your personal space. Or so I'm told."
"It will." the Sorcerer gave a nod to his partner, then turned to the group that had assembled, "If you're all prepared, we can head out immediately..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((Well, I'm kinda late, but I haven't missed much, so I suppose I'll hop right in.))
"It is complete..."
The voice rang in his head, apparently extremely excited at whatever it was talking about.
"Find it..."
What looked like a puddle on the side of a street in Steel Canyon suddenly moved. It was just a slight quiver. But soon it went from a quiver to full out sliding across the streets faster than any hero could possibly hope to go. It found what used to be the gate to Boomtown, but was now closed. Without even stopping the puddle sped forward and slid underneath the gate and straight into the Security Chief's briefing.
((Don't you wish you knew what it did?))
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." - John Wayne
((Oh... the tech-senses are in his monocular targetting sight normally- in a HUD under the front of his hood in this outfit- basically, it gives the Target Window information that we have in-game to him.
The non-tech senses are basically just sensing energy levels/direction; E-X is somewhat sensitive to that simply because of his powers. The sensor suite in his current armour doesn't have an interface that he can access to save on space and weight- it's mostly just recording gear.
Short answer? Tech = he's seeing the thing's level/health/endurance and a probable name match. Non-tech = checking to see what, if anything, its energies (assuming it has any) translate to on a non-magical level.))
Energon X straightened up in midair and flew upwards a little, techwings working. "Ready? I've been wanting to leave for the last ten minutes. Point me in the right general direction, and I'll take point... and for the record, I sodding well hate this need-to-know BS. It's nearly gotten me killed a few too many times."
He circled upwards and faded from view, casually stealthing so as to be invisible to all but the most specialized of senses. "I'll be communicating by commlink from here on in, at least until I decloak." he added over the group's private channel.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Dusan eyed the creature strangely, noting that its soul really didn't feel like a... well, like a soul. The best thing he coul compare it to would be a wild beast, but this seemed more intelligent than that.
He physically shook the thought from his head.
Forget it. You see a lot of crazy things in this line of work, just shrug it off.
[ QUOTE ]
"That's our tracker." the Colonel explained, retrieving her rifle from the truck's side cargo pod and slinging it across her back, "Got it on loan from the Soul Police. Just think of it as a big scaly bloodhound, and don't worry about the rest..."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Heh, Soul Police, eh? Sounds like somebody's getting some ground in my territory." He muttered, chuckling.
[ QUOTE ]
"The point of our tracker here..." The Security Chief explained. "Is not to track down the Malleus Mundi nor our villain. It is going to track down Mrs. Moreira. Our sinister friend probably has enough precautions in place to ensure tracking him personally is impossible, as MAGI has already confirmed. The same applies to the Malleus Mundi. However, the City Representative...She's human. Easy to track. Easy to follow. Easy to find. Once you find her, logic states you'll also find the Mundi and her captor. If not, she may be able to yeild a clue to their location/s."
[/ QUOTE ]
Dusan nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. Anyway, when are we gonna be-..."
[ QUOTE ]
"Ready? I've been wanting to leave for the last ten minutes. Point me in the right general direction, and I'll take point... and for the record, I sodding well hate this need-to-know BS. It's nearly gotten me killed a few too many times."
He circled upwards and faded from view, casually stealthing so as to be invisible to all but the most specialized of senses. "I'll be communicating by commlink from here on in, at least until I decloak." he added over the group's private channel.
[/ QUOTE ]
"..." Pretty much answers my question, I guess.
((Devious, YOUR script in other RPs may read as: Yar! But in THIS RP, your script reads as this.
Script: Lo!
Get used to it. 
))
"If everyone here is ready to start, you may let the tracker loose. Simply follow it and either avoid or destroy anything that gets between you and the goal."
The Chief glanced at the Blood-Houndish creature.
"And whatever you do, make sure it doesn't bite the City Representative...That would not be good for any of our careers."
"Those little tin cans don' look like much," said a large, bare chested, grey skinned man who had stepped out of the DPO teleporter a second or two before Energon X had flown in. Dead, milky white eyes surveyed the group of heroes and ragged lips tilted up in a crooked grin, revealing several stained teeth.
"Turn em inta pure electricity and make em about ten feet taller and then we can talk," the obvious villain added as he sidled over to a clear patch of wall and leaned against it. The large pauldron on his right shoulder blocked most of the other heroes from his view but left his sight of the teleporter and inspiration bins clear.
If anyone chanced to wander near, they would probably hear him muttering something about a damned toy not being available and someone called Archie always ordering him around.
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.