Welcome
Do not attempt to adjust your monitor. We are now controlling the transmission. Let it be told, and let it be true, for what may have been has come to pass. Beware; take heed, for there may be more than meets the eye in this conspiracy of forces from beyond the veils that bound your world.
For many years, there has stood fate unknown, of what became of where that spawned the great Statesman's equal when and how, thought lost and gone to naught, remembered only in the annals of curt history, between events whence where and gone. But this day, let there be more, let the tale be told of one who came, who saw, who conquered. Let it be known what has transpired beyond the curtain, what events have since shaped the world we know so little of.
Take a journey, take a trip, and see firsthand what fate conceived, what time has forged with patient fingers, what those that did not heed the tree's fall allowed to become of Axis America.
Standard RP rules and common courtesy apply... 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The Oberst grunted in exasperation, dropping the spent magazine from his PZ-5 and locking in another, the mass driver humming back to life with mechanical satisfaction. Using the tank as cover, he sighted again and sent a few AP rounds trailing one of the rebels, but was forced to duck behind the vehicle again before he could find his mark.
"Grossartig." he swore quietly, "Teivos wird uns alle umbringen. Blödsinninges Dimensionstor."
"Mannschaft!" he barked into the air, "Neuer Plan: Operation Kokosnuss hat soeben angefangen! Finded den Reichsmann! Alles Andere ist jetzt sekunär!"
"Jawohl!" came the shout in returned unison, the Unteroffizier in charge of their communications already giving word back through the portal that they had arrived, the portal was stable, and that they had engaged the enemy and would likely soon require backup...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((This smells like a Non-Sequitur intro waiting to be.)
King's Row has never been Paragon's most glorious neighborhood. Amongst the Clockwork and Skulls, your average blue collar Paragon Joes eke out their existence, day in, day out. This wasn't a town that had a high money-to-person ratio.
But it had a lot of people.
---
King's Row Bank
"EVERYBODY ON THE [censored] GROUND! NOBODY HAS TO DIE TODAY!" Was the sudden cry as what had previously looked like a cautious private security guard suddenly turned into a violent gunman. The man had his hands on a FAMAE SAF, and the bulk of his jacket indicated some sort of ballistics armor underneath. "OPEN THE VAULT!" He screamed at a guard.
"I...I can't! It's not pickup time!"
"[censored] WORTHLESS!" The man screamed again, tearing into the back rooms on the bank.
The guard tripped the silent alarm...
---
"Want something done RIGHT..."
"You have to do it YOURSELF!"
Sirens. Tires squealing.
A Metahuman warming up a fireball.
"Always fire." The gunman grinned to himself, shedding his outer jacket and balaclava.
"Bleak Famine! You are under arrest for Assault with intent to Rob! Put your gun down, you Marauder!" Came the triumphant cry of the fiery hero down the hall, flanked by Paragon SWAT.
"Marauder? I like that. Shame about what's gonna happen to you, huh?"
The heroes eyes widened for a split second.
He just realized that he was standing underneath a rather massive cluster of C-4.
"Bye."
---
War heard the explosion. Hell, he saw the explosion. He was late! But thanks to Famine's careful placement, that wouldn't be changing anything.
---
Famine stepped to the side of the gigantic hole in the wall he had just created "FHA FOR LIFE! YEEEHA!" He cackled happily as War suddenly came tearing through the bank on a Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R, screeching to a stop just long enough for Famine to hop on the back with 7.3Mil$ U.S.
The two shot out of the bank like a rocket, fast headed northbound for their escape chopper in Galaxy City...
---
The contract Chinook pilot frowned. Those goons were supposed to be back with the money by now! They'd made him keep the engine on and everything...
He suddenly heard the roar of War's supercharged bike in his headset.
"OPEN THE RAMP!"
Never one to question payday, the pilot did so.
At this point and time, the Mercenary Helo was situated in such a way that it was facing directly perpendicular to one of Galaxy City's trademark Warehouse Rows. The warehouses were underneath a roadway.
A roadway now occupied by a pair of bank robbers.
And one certain metahuman.
"In the name of the law, STOP!" Operative Rezyin, Hero On Loan, yelled to the two Mercenaries.
Of course, the Horsemen had no such intent. War suddenly kicked back into a wheelie, almost sending Famine off the bike as he did so. War veered to the right and sent his bike barreling off of the thoroughfare onto the warehouse roof below him. Ramping off of the crest of that one, War began to make his way across the rooftops of Galaxy at about 80 M.P.H.
It was at this time that the Axis America Rocket noticed the Chinook. Assuming incorrectly that the Marines had already arrived to interdict them, he did what was expected of him.
He fired.
The Pilot was a bit occupied in keeping his helo steady as War raced for the loading ramp.
---
"Oh, [censored]." War frowned grimly as the front half of his escape helicopter exploded brilliantly.
"FAMINE BUDDY HOLD ON!"
"What?" Famine hadn't been watching. He'd been spraying back at the rapidly pursuing Rezyin with his SAF, failing to keep a proper bead on the Rocket-boot equipped meta long enough to overcome his regenerative skills.
War gunned it.
For one instant, to the Horseman time stood still.
"OOOOOOH"
War's bike left the roof for the final time.
"MYYYYYYYY"
The bike made contact with the Chinook's floorplate.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
War's bike shot out of the front of the exploding helicopter, doing a backflip. The Axis Rocket trooper, who had been staring at the insane spectacle the entire time, couldn't even bring himself to move as War brought the bike down on top of him, slowing the careening deathtrap just enough so that he and Famine could dive off into two more of the Nazi soldiers as the bike slammed into a concrete wall and exploded hellishly, sending debris all around.
War and Famine, nursing more than a few broken bones, scrambled to their feet and went back to Money Bag to back, SMGs drawn, but holding fire, seeing what they'd landed in first.
Rezyin hung back a ways, observing what the two robbers had just led him into.
"Is...Impossible..."
OOC:
Okay then, this seems like as good a place as any to distill what's happened so far into a casual synopsis, so here goes:
1) Axis America is back, and with a vengeance. A powerful dictator rules this version of Earth, and has sent forces to our world to both hunt down the escaped rebels as well as to seek the location of the Reichsman, of whom we of course know the story, but the people of 'his' world have no idea what happened. All they know is that he disappeared on our version of Earth.
2) Any characters at all are welcome, both hero and villain. They may be from our world, they may be from theirs (and if you want them to be from theirs and have specific details in mind, I suggest you shake me down for information; you don't have to of course, but it'd probably be to your advantage 
), and have whatever aims you desire. Want to play the apathetic hero who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time? Go ahead. Want to play the person who's a regular villain here, but sees this as an opportunity to take out a dictator and rule a world of his, her, or its own? By all means, go for it.
3. Standard rules of courtesy apply. Please no godmoding (taking control of other peoples' characters without their permission), autokilling, or calling shot to the nuts. That's just low. We're all here to have fun, so be nice...even if you're nasty, like me. 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Was zum Teufel-?!" the Oberst's eyes went wide as the bike came in, the soldier who'd launched the rocket too stunned by the spectacle to even drop his TRV-150 before the Suzuki-turned-projectile turned him into a long, nasty smear on the pavement, only to explode against a nearby wall just after.
German went to and fro and all about as the Horsemen stood, everyone including the two that only now got back up seeming very confused at the appearance of this odd duo. However, the word "Reichsmann" fell at least once, and each example seemed to darken the mood of the cobalt-hued soldiers a little bit more.
But then the rebels opened fire again, having found cover from the catamaran-like tank, which made it clear in the mind of the Oberst, and even as the officer dove for cover he bellowed out his order, "Liquidiert Sie!"
Of course, War and Famine didn't need to actually understand German to know what that meant, even though it was easier said than done, what with the soldiers more occupied with finding new cover than taking good aim at the mercenaries they had mistaken for their enemy. Still, they did fire...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Egregore (also "egregor") is an occult concept representing a "thought form" or "collective group mind", an autonomous psychic entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of people. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of the corporation (as a legal entity) and the meme. -An Encyclopedia
Device: a thing made for a particular purpose; an invention or contrivance, esp. a mechanical or electrical one -A Dictionary
The freelance mercenary codenamed "Egregore Device," was not a group mind and was certainly not a device. True, he was a cyborg, but he still liked to think he was more man than machine. He had the one brain with its one set of thoughts. Upon extensive examination, there was nothing in his background or immediate appearance and existence that justified his name.
Inquiry into this matter was often met with a solitary digit of Egregore Device's right hand, or if the inquirer was unfortunate enough, a shotgun.
***
[u]Boomtown, two days ago[u]
Egregore Device was currently located in a bunker underneath one of the countless piles of rubble in the god-forsaken hellhole that was Boomtown. He had gone to quite a lot of trouble to build the place. Getting the materials needed into the place without anyone noticing, leveling a sufficient area of ground, and constructing the thing without anyone SEEING any of it, and finally shoving a huge pile of debris and wreckage atop it. It had taken three years to do it, but it bought Egregore something priceless.
It gave him a fortified location where he could sleep without needing to keep one eye open. He had chosen Boomtown for that reason: Nobody EVER came to Boomtown. Not heroes. Not villains. Plenty of thugs, nut-jobs and clockwork, but nobody actually competent enough to find the place and actually decide to drop in. It was an excellent place to vanish to if he ever got in trouble with the authorities.
Within his bunker, Egregore Device was sitting at a table, legs propped up atop it, newspaper in hand. He was wearing pink floppy slippers, and they did not go well with his black trench coat, white metalic armor, his chest of dead grey skin with cybernetic joints and modules sticking out, a duster hat and a natty pair of goggles finished with a duster and combat pants.
But nobody was around to comment on this, and as far as Egregore cared anybody who found his dear floppsy slippers odd could go [censored] themselves.
Returning to the present scene, Egregore was reading the classifieds section of the Paragon Times, scanning it for coded messages his contact might have put in, and his eyes finally alighted upon paydirt.
For Sale: World War II Fifth Reich Officer Uniform. 1k or best offer. Contact for more info at 361-8073.
Egregore raised an eyebrow at this. He shrugged, slid his floppy slippers off and went to work. He trudged over to his communication center, a semi-circle of monitors hooked onto control panels with a neat swivel chair in the middle and useless blinking lights. Using the decoder key his contact had given him, Egregore carefully turned the phone number into a transmission frequency. The monitor before him hissed to life and a shadowy figure appear.
"Who is this?" The shadowy figure asked.
"Arc Light Black Ultra." Egregore said clearly. "Calling in to ask about help with the Fifth Column. Who, last I heard, were all taking a dirt nap."
"The Fifth Column, yes. But there are many...divergents. You were recommended because of your proximity to the target as well as your...adaptability. Your target is codename: Hydrophilic."
"Waitwaitwait." Egregore interjected. "HYDROPHILIC? Christ, I know there are loads of ya and you're all get high about secret codes and stuff, but HYDROPHILIC? That's almost as bad as code Breadcrumb!"
"Respect the code Breadcrumb." The shadowy figure said sternly.
"Whatever, drop it. Just come out and tell me what the hell I'm looking for." Egregore demanded.
"Ah. I can't say that over this channel." The shadowy figure said. "I'll transmit you encrypted coordinates though. Hang on a moment." The figure vanished from the monitor for a moment, and suddenly a series of numbers rolled across the screen.
"Hmm. Not too hard to pull off, but I'm going to need some special equipment." Egregore said after some musing. "I'm assuming he needs to be alive?"
"Correct." The shadowy figure said as he reappeared on the monitor. "And yes, you have been authorized for special equipment for this task. There should be an air-drop outside in an hour."
Egregore whistled. "Day-um. You mustuv had to go over some high heads indeed to get ahold of THAT piece of equipment."
"Sure." The shadowy figure said coolly. "Whatever. Your mission objective is to transfer the target to your base of operations and confine it. The target is to be kept in a weakened, vegetative state for an indefinite period of time. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Egregore said, giving a thumbs up to the screen. "I'll go ahead and prepare, and be off in an hour once that air-drop gets here. And before you go..." The freelancer's voice suddenly turned low and nasty. "Is there any big major [censored] event about to hit the fan that I should be aware of?"
"Yes. But I'm still not telling you what it is. Writh in agony. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The shadowy figure faded in a storm of static.
Egregore gave the monitor the finger before getting up and preparing for his task. An hour later, he climbed out of his bunker into the wasteland that was Boomtown and was not surprised to see a camo-crate waiting for him. A few minutes of unpacking and assembly later, and Egregore headed into the distance, fading into thin air after a couple of steps.
***
[u]Present Day, Kings Row[u]
Egregore was patroling. Over the last couple of days, he had learned a couple of really nasty things. Things that made him want to hunt down his contact and give him more than just the finger. Possibly a shotgun blast right up the-
All he knew was the who. He didn't know the when, where, or why. So he was patroling, and with a little research he had determined the most likely area of occurance would either be King's Row, Atlas Park, Galaxy City, Steel Canyon, or Peregrin Island. He knew he did not have to worry at all about Peregrin, which narrowed down his patrol path to the former three locations. It was stressful work, Egregore did not know when the [censored] was going to hit the fan-
And it did. His stolen police radio suddenly squawked even louder than usually, and suddenly exploded in a violent uproar of noise-so much so that the Skull Egregore was cloaked next to jumped from the sudden noise and looked around wildly for the source.
And like the Skull, Egregore listended carefully for the source. And the source, according to the radio, was Galaxy City...
Down the street slightly from the main event, from under the remains of the crashed helicopter, emerged a shimmering bubble most experienced metahumans would recognise as a personal forcefield. As her shield faded around her, the girl inside stood up and looked around at the situation. "Now that's completely unfair, I'm off duty just taking a nice quiet walk and someone tries to drop half a friggin' helicopter on me and doesn't even stick around to gloat about it. Bloody typical."
She broke off abruptly as she noticed what was happening ahead of her. Off duty or not, standing by and watching wasn't her style when confronted with a recently damaged warehouse from which gunfire was echoing. Pushing a stray strand of black hair out of her eyes she moved cautiously towards the warehouse. If not to remain undetected, she at least needed to find out what the sides were and which one she should be taking before she moved in. Spotting another hero hovering nearby she hoped he had a communication device of some kind as she activated her own communicator - something she kept with her even when off duty - and opened a channel in the direction of the other hero. "Hey, any idea what's going on here?"
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
((Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN.))
"No Solid, there's no security level fifty-one."
"Oh come ooooonnnnn! I've done all the task forces! Even the ones in the Shadow Shard!"
Michael White, the Back Alley Brawler, veteran hero of Paragon City and mentor to hundreds, if not thousands of new heroes just sighed and started to facepalm before remembering how long his nose ached last time thanks to the heavy energy gauntlets he wore. He managed to get his point across anyway, though, as he crossed his arms and glanced up at the sky as though asking God why he had to deal with stuff like this.
"Look, Solid, Blue Steel told me all about the conversation you had with him last week," Brawler said, turning the tables on his opponent and jabbing a large metal finger at him. "What he told you then doesn't change just because you went and helped Dr. Quarterfield out in the mean time."
The dull grey android dwarfed, for all his above-average height, by the Brawler took his turn to sigh. One hand came up to fiddle with the radio transceiver in place of an ear as his head swept back and forth, surveying the clustered lower ranked heroes before he sidled closer to the big man and something approaching a furtive expression appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.
"Yeah ok, I get it," the android blaster whispered loudly as his targetting eye darted from side to side. "How much is it gonna cost? I'm friends with this little old lady, see? And she makes the most wicked-awesome brownies you've ever tasted. How's that sound, huh?"
White barely resisted the urge to facepalm again, though the mention of brownies reminded his stomach that it was past lunchtime, a fact that it decided to voice fairly loudly the next moment. Solid Shot, also technically a Hero of the city, nodded knowingly and shot White what could almost have been a wink.
"Yeah, uh huh, I think somebody is thinking of brow-"
Solid cut himself off as a sudden explosion, louder than anything an Embalmed Vahzilok or Nova'ing hero could make, rocked through the Freedom Corps courtyard, setting the crowd of newbies scurrying in confusion. As one, the Brawler and Solid glanced over toward the warehouse district and the cloud of smoke drifting up from some building.
Sighing and sullenly kicking the ground with a metallic boot, Solid looked up at the Brawler and shrugged, "I guess I should go check that out."
White nodded as he activated the hero-issue commlink nestled behind his ear, checking the broadcast channel for any signs of alarm, "Yeah, you should. Find out what's going on over there and I might forget about how you tried to bribe me."
Solid sighed even louder and slumped a bit before reaching under his black and grey cape and unslinging his OmniTech assault rifle. He didn't expect much that could challenge a hero of his skill, but it never hurt to be prepared.
"Guess I should just toss the first box in the garbage then, huh?" Solid added almost as an after-thought as he turned to leave. "Cause I mean, it's not like I can eat em. Be a waste of some awesome brownies, don't you think?"
The Brawler paused in the middle of trying to calm down a young hero who was babbling something about the army invading to look down at Solid Shot and narrow his eyes behind his goggles. The blaster looked up at him perfectly innocently, an effect ruined somewhat by the way he was eagerly tapping his rifle in his hands. White was about to answer Solid when War's chopper got hit, the second explosion in less than as many minutes setting both veteran heroes on edge.
Changing his response before it began, the Brawler pointed toward the two plumes of smoke, "Go."
Solid threw his arms up in the air in consternation before he loped away several feet and blasted off, blue flames roaring from the jets mounted in his feet. He circled the courtyard for a moment, taking the time to shout down, "You haven't heard the last of me, copper!" before he angled off toward the commotion.
"I wonder if Justin likes brownies," mused the veteran hero as he watched Solid fly off before he put the matter from his mind and concentrated on coordinating the heroes of the zone, attempting to convince the less experienced ones to stay away from whatever was going down.
((O hai thar. Any oddities regarding tenses can be blamed on all the present-tense Virtue emoting. Gotta unlearn bad habits.))
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.
The catamaran-like tank rumbled back into motion now, taking up pursuit of the gray-uniformed rebels that had decided to get uppity and counterattack instead of being smart and turning tail. Then again, with what they expected to find in this world, it may well have been their pursuers who were the dumb ones for sticking around.
In either case, the vehicle blasted a shell at the low wall of a parking lot across the street, sending a burning car careening through the air and into the greenery of Gemini Park, a few of Dr. Vahzilok's minions quickly making themselves thin as the place turned into a warzone. After all, explosions like that tended to not leave body parts large enough to stitch back together into anything useful...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((This looks good Devious))
Galaxy City
Music was blaring as the Porsche Carrera rorared down the streets of Galaxy City. The silver bullet was going faster than some superspeeders as it sought to go back to it's garage in Steel Canyon. The blonde man sitting in the dirver's seat was smiling broadly, enjoying the rush and adrenaline every time he drove this car. "Woohoo hoo!" he shouted as he made a sharp corner and kept on going, nearly knocking an old lady into a building. He turned another corner, the tires screeching and leaving black marks on the pavement, and tried to stop when he saw what was only a couple hundered feet from him.
It was a tank.
"[censored]!" he shouted as he slammed on the brakes, but he was going so fast that he collided straight into the monstrosity. The car made the third explosion of the day as it blew up, nitrus adding to the boom of the fire. As the flames danced, the blonde man dragged himself out, a crushed car door on top of him. He grunted as he lifted it off, and got up slowly, brushing dirt off of his white jacket. His top-dollar jeans ruined, he looked up at the tank.
"You blew up my Porsche!" he shouted angrily. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small black button. Pressing it, a small hole in space opened up, and the man reached in and pulled out his sword, a modified katana. He unsheathed it and put the case on his belt, making him look like a rich, modern samurai. He jumped onto the tank, higher than normal people could jump for sure, and brought the sword downwards, attempting to impale the top, then cut a circle through the metal.
((What you should know about the katana. It's made of millions and millions of nanites that are usually locked into place, but doing something like this will make some of them come off and pretty much disassemble whatever is blocking the swords path. It makes the sword virtually unbreakable since the nanites would scatter than reform, and extremely more damaging. I'm not saying that it will automatically work on the tank, but it's not just a regular sword))
OOC:
Tank is in Galaxy City, DooDaa.
[ QUOTE ]
OOC:
Tank is in Galaxy City, DooDaa.
[/ QUOTE ]
Aw crap 
Edit coming.
The blonde man's sword cleaved into and through the tank's armor like a hot knife through butter, eliciting an instant response in the form of a gasmask-garbled Russian curse cascade, its volume so great is was quite audible before the man's blade had even described a semicircle.
Indeed, the tank crew was rather rapid on the uptake, the turret hatch sliding open to allow a cobalt-blue soldier to pop out with one hell of a scowl. He wasn't wearing the ballistic armor the infantry about donned for protection, but the helmet and mask were still decidedly there, and even the thinner uniform looked like it could at least take a bullet.
Which was exactly what the man was attempting to find out about the swordsman atop their tank, with both hands unloading a PZ-5P mass driver at the guy, trying to either waste him then and there or at least drive him off the tank, where the vehicle's 50 cal. could take a bead on him.
That was, if a stray shell from the shootout all around didn't get the blonde man first...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The man grinned as his sword went through the tank easily, and made about a fourth of a circle before the soldier appeared up from the hatch. "That would've been easier" he remarked to himself before realising that the man was about to shoot him. He drew the sword from the tank and quickly held it in a defensive position, the nanites spreading out slightly to protect their user from some harm, at least to the head and upper torso, where one shot was fatal.
He grimaced as he felt hot, searing pain throughout his legs and stomach. He crouched, then jumped straight up for about twenty meters where he hung suspended in the air for a moment. In that moment, the sword shrunk considerably as the nanaites repaired their masters bodily wounds, most of them anyways.
By the time he started descenting, the most serious wound he still had was a bullet hole in his left leg which was bleeding considerably. As he fell, he raised his sword high, aiming for the other man's head, attempting to cleave the soldier in two.
OOC:
Russian? Shouldn't they be speaking German or Italian if it is Axis Amerika?
BIC:
And suddenly, atop the tank, Egregore 'ported into existence.
"Woah!" He said as "the man's" fire blade barely missed him in the hero's attempt to cleave the soldier in twain. "Watch it. Oh, and jump."
And with that last word, Egregore Device dropped a Vanguard Psi Bomb into the open tank hatch. And it would have been wise of the soldiers within to NOT underestimate the power of the explosive device-It was still extremely and fatally damaging to anything sentient. It just happened to be extra-effective versus psychic entities.
Taking his own advice to heart, Egregore had already 'ported away, and the hero would do well to do the same least he wanted to get caught in the powerful Psi blast.
The other hero didn't answer, so the girl shrugged and advanced towards the warehouse figuring she'd just shoot at anyone who shot at her. Standing at the edge of the door she poked her head out to take a look at what was going on inside. Fifth Column? What? Didn't those Council goons kick the crap out of them a while back? And who are those other guys in the blue uniforms? It made no sense to her why there would be Fifth Column soldiers in a Galaxy City warehouse, but one thing she did know was there was no way they were here to do anything good.
She was about to start flinging energy bolts at the soldiers when yet another explosion sounded behind her. She turned around just in time to see what might have been a car get crushed under the advancing tank. Hastily stepping aside as a flaming tire rolled past her she noted that the car's former driver and another hero who'd 'ported in seemed to have the tank situation under control for now, so she went back to her original plan and started blasting soldiers, retreating behind the cover of the door as needed to avoid being perforated by the inevitable return fire.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
The blonde man double taked as the other hero 'ported next to him, dropping a bomb into the hatch of the tank. The modern samurai swallowed and jumped high and away before he looked to see what effect his sword had on the soldier. He soared through the air and landed near a warehouse next to a fellow hero. He rested on a knee while his nanites worked on his wounds. "My Porsche, my friekin' Porsche" he muttered to himself, then looked to the girl. "So, who brought the tanks?" he asked, standing up and slouching against the door, waitng for all the nanites to go back in his sword.
"Whooooooo and it's GO TIME!" War yelled over his shoulder to Famine, who had just slapped in a fresh mag.
"BACK TO BACK! I SWEAR I'VE SEEN THIS A THOUSAND TIMES BEFORE IN A GAME, MAN!" War yelled as he slammed in his custom quadruple drum 200 Round Mag into his heavily modified SMG, the weapon more than ready to take the sustained firing. "BANZAI!"
Both Mercenaries were of the 'Shoot first, ask how many you got later' style of thinking, and that showed rather glaringly as both men began to perforate the surrounding area with catastrophic automatic fire, all the while slowly rotating in a circle and stepping towards a concrete roadblock to hide behind. Thanks to their nigh-cheating Forward Ballistics Reinforcements, both Mercenaries were taking shots in stride, not even slowing down as bullets ricocheted and pinged off of them.
Rezyin, meanwhile, had hidden himself in a nearby warehouse, waiting for one of the Horsemen to expose himself.
After all, the mission came first. Damage control could wait.
((Yes. Yes they should be. ))
[ QUOTE ]
He crouched, then jumped straight up for about twenty meters where he hung suspended in the air for a moment. In that moment, the sword shrunk considerably as the nanites repaired their masters bodily wounds, most of them anyways.
[/ QUOTE ]
And that was almost the end of him right then and there, the tank's heavy automatic having by then taken aim, the blonde man now more than far enough away from the vehicle for the 50 cal. to lock on and let loose. Fortunately for him, luck seemed on his side today - a missile from one of the gray-uniformed soldiers rocked the tank enough for the torrent of armor-piercing shells to go wide, sparing the man the fate of ending up full of rather sizeable holes.
[ QUOTE ]
By the time he started descending, the most serious wound he still had was a bullet hole in his left leg which was bleeding considerably. As he fell, he raised his sword high, aiming for the other man's head, attempting to cleave the soldier in two.
[/ QUOTE ]
Stunned by the impact, the soldier didn't stand a chance, his body going limp in the hatch.
[ QUOTE ]
And suddenly, atop the tank, Egregore 'ported into existence.
"Woah!" He said as "the man's" fire blade barely missed him in the hero's attempt to cleave the soldier in twain. "Watch it. Oh, and jump."
And with that last word, Egregore Device dropped a Vanguard Psi Bomb into the open tank hatch. And it would have been wise of the soldiers within to NOT underestimate the power of the explosive device-It was still extremely and fatally damaging to anything sentient. It just happened to be extra-effective versus psychic entities.
[/ QUOTE ]
The tank crew never even noticed the psi bomb, considering that it didn't actually make it into the tank. After all, there was something rather obvious blocking that hatch: a half-sliced soldier; and he made a rather effective barricade.
Of course, since the tank's armor wasn't designed to protect its passengers from a mental-based strike, the vehicle would probably be a non-factor as soon as the thing went.
The other cobalt soldiers, however, had bolted away from their tank as soon as they'd seen the missile come in, seeking cover elsewhere, and not really seeming to care too much about the return fire from the Horsemen. Those pads on their uniforms served as more than just a fashion statement, and while they weren't ZUBs, they could certainly take SMG fire.
And with their opponents apparently able to shrug off AP rounds from mass drivers, the Oberst didn't take long to order someone with a rocket launcher that he should take them out...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
OOC:
[ QUOTE ]
((Yes. Yes they should be. ))
[/ QUOTE ]
OSHI- *Dives for cover*
BIC:
The Psi Bomb went off.
Meanwhile, crouched atop the Warehouse, Egregore was looking for the leadership of the enemy. Take the leader down, and the rest follow like dominos. He scanned the scene.
[ QUOTE ]
And with their opponents apparently able to shrug off AP rounds from mass drivers, the Oberst didn't take long to order someone with a rocket launcher that he should take them out...
[/ QUOTE ]
'Bingo.' Egregore thought. He didn't understand German, but he he DID know that this guy was calling the shots. His stature, the way men moved around him, the way HE personally moved-He was a leader. 'Probably more than one, but takin him out is a step in the right direction.'
Egregore 'ported in behind the soldier wielding a sawed-off combat shotgun, loaded with 10 guage buckshot rounds, and fired at the man near point blank range...
Skimming along the rooftops to keep from being seen too early, Solid homed in on the pillars of smoke and arrived in time to watch the scrapper take out what looked like the tank's commander. Targetting eye flashing slightly as it identified and labled the various people with such amusing designations as 'Bad Guy Leader', 'Villain Nutcase 1', 'Villain Nutcase 2', 'Katana Scrapper', 'Random Girl', and 'Soldier Hero'.
Seeing as how the pair of villain nutcases were doing an admirable job of drawing fire and distracting the more mundane evil soldier types, Solid decided to lend them a hand by plunking an AP round straight through the skull of the unfortunate 'Bad Guy Rocket'. Once the kill was confirmed, fairly easy to do what with the spray of red and grey matter now seeping into the asphault, Solid ducked back down into cover.
Projecting a small overhead map of the area in his mind, Solid blasted off and skimmed over the rooftops again as he came around in a semi-circle. Once he was set up on a new roof and forming a triangle of metahumans surrounding the tank, he'd really start getting down to business. Well, as long as the other heroes didn't get themselves killed or the two villains bugger out before they got their revenge.
"Either way, more tallies for the ol' fuselage," cackled Solid gleefully.
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.
The Oberst swore when he saw the tank stop moving, thankfully far enough away by now that the psi bomb no longer reached him. A duo closer to the vehicle, however, wasn't so fortunate, the soldiers dropping dead like sticks from the mental munition.
"Oberst!" one of the soldiers covering the man Egregore had just assaulted exclaimed in shock as he hit the pavement from the force of the discharge, naturally opening immediate fire on the offending hero.
The Oberst in turn rolled about with a growl, turning his own mass driver at the guy who'd just given him one hell of a kink in his back, the armor in his uniform thankfully easily able to deal with something with such relatively little penetration power as a blast of buckshot. Assuming Egregore was still there of course, he very much wanted to know how the guy stood up to a burst of AP rounds...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Egregore stood slightly shocked when the Oberst's chest was not completely obliterated. 'The fug is wrong with this thing? Les see...'
The Oberst turned on his back.
'Ok. Yes. This is, indeed, sawed off. Glad the eyes are workin.'
Raised his mass driver.
'10 guage buckshot rounds.....Wait. BUCKSHOT? Am I hunting deer? What the hell was I thinking? Where were those...'
He noticed the Oberst had suddenly opened fire on him.
'Oh. Nerts. He's not dead.'
Unfortunately, the Oberst never hit Egregore-His soldier did. Egregore had shielding aplenty, (five different kinds, actually) and was currently using a kinetic variety. And while the shielding would effectively deflect any and all purely physical attacks, it did this by taking in a fraction of the momentum generated thus, and possessed no means to prevent the user from being pushed around, knocked down or back. Needless to say, automatic fire produced a LOT of momentum, and Egregore was sent stumbling backwards by the burst, and in fact started to fall flat on his back.
His shotgun vanished under mysterious circumstances, and a plasma rifle materialized where it had been. As he fell, he squeezed off a shot at the offending trooper who had shot him before impacting the asphalt.
The girl who had been attacking the soldiers inside swore loudly and colourfully as the battle suddenly came a little too close for her liking. Jumping back as stray automatic weapons fire very nearly hit her, she noted the hero getting thrown around and the two guys attacking him. "Two on one, now that's hardly fair", she commented absently before realising two things. Firstly that her little burst of swearing had probably alerted them to her presence if they hadn't been aware of her before, and secondly that automatic weapons tend to hurt and she should probably find cover before someone else got the bright idea of shooting at her.
Unfortunately, finding cover on an empty street is harder than it sounds. The nearest suitable obstacle was the tank, and under normal circumstances she'd never reach it before being torn to pieces by many small armor-piercing bullets. Good thing then that being a meta she had no reason to ever be in anything resembling normal circumstances. She flung a wave of energy across the ground towards the two soldiers, following it up with an explosive energy blast and hoping as she turned and ran for the tank that one or the other would knock both soldiers off their feet.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Booting registry. Please wait.
People often ponder the question: if a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Registry loaded. Please enter search term:
The conventionalist will tell you that yes, of course it does. How could it not?
delta zeta 24-10_
The quantum physicist will tell you that it does and does not, for until the event is observed, neither the state of sound nor the state of silence actually exist, but rather form a mixture of possibility.
Search complete. 1 match found.
The pragmatist will tell you he doesn't care. The tree fell, end of story, and you should leave well enough alone already.
display synopsis_
Regrettably, all three fail to realize the core of the issue at hand: namely, that the tree fell.
Delta Zeta 24-10:
Current State of Local Affairs: Unknown - Suspected Hostile
Travel Status: Restricted
Access Status: Unreachable
Trees are big things. When one falls, the consequences are widespread, not to mention immediate more often than not.
display full file_
So what tends to happen in the wake of a large event with widespread and immediate consequences?
Full file displayed:
In this sinister dimension, the Axis powers won the war and now the United States (and probably the whole world) are under its control. This dimension is militarist, hostile and dangerous, and even worse is the fact that it has its own metahuman champions, a fact that the Portal Corp. explorers first and the whole Paragon City later would discover.
This dimension won an important place in the dimensional exploration history, being the place where the discoverer of dimensional travel and founder of Portal Corp, Dr. Webb, found his death after being captured and tortured by the nazi counterpart of our Statesman: The Reichsman.
After learning the secrets of dimensional travel, Reichsman and his Nazi supersoldiers tried to invade Paragon City, only to be confronted and defeated by the Freedom Phalanx, who proved to be superior to the Nazi supersoldiers. The battle destroyed Portal Corp.'s installations, and Reichsman was captured and imprisoned. Nothing is known about his soldiers, who could have escaped or have been captured as well.
The dimension vanished without a trace when the Council took over the 5th Column following the war between the two groups. The dimension was no longer accessible, but instead a new one opened: that of the Council Empire.
Change.
Change that spreads to a far greater area than just what the tree had once occupied...
--------------------
Staetlov Military Research Insititute
Axis America
"Deckung!"
A cacophonous explosion rocked the hangar. Concrete, steel, and all manner of aircraft components rocketed in all directions. A dense cloud of dirt and dust obscured the numerous muzzle flashes from the hangar's other side. Unfortunately, it did not do the same for the bullets coming from just there, accompanied by the characteristic chatter of heavy semiautomatics.
"Verdammt nochmal, hab' ich nicht gesagt Köpfe runter?!" the Oberst barked again, shaking his fist at one of his men across the way, the shamelessly grinning soldier only slowly getting back to his feet, having been virtually blasted from the heavy construction barrier he'd been leaning over to use as a vantage point.
"Verzeihen Sie, Sir!" he retorted bashfully over the gunfire, causing the Oberst to sigh with relief. The man's gas mask may have been gone but at least it seemed to have prevented any damage to the man himself. Well, the physical kind, at least. The mental sort, of this the Oberst wasn't quite so sure, "Nächstes Mal hau' ich's zurück!"
The Oberst repressed a growl, but kept his mind on the mission, peeking out from behind his cover at the swirling rings of the portal generator at the hangar's other end. They had to get at that, come what may. If necessary, they'd die to capture that.
Lucky for them, it wouldn't come to that.
Another explosion thundered through the hangar, adding blinding fire to visibility conditions that any pilot with even a lick of sense would've considered soup. Fortunately, the tank that rolled its way in through the hangar door's freshly minted and barn-door-sized hole didn't really have to care. Sparks flew as dozens of bullets pinged uselessly off its thick armor, and the Oberst smiled sinisterly once the vehicle crew returned fire. They opened up with their tank's secondary fifty cal., laying into the rebels without mercy, sending them to scatter from the long lines of suddenly appearing pockmarks right in the center of their formation.
Nevertheless, even the heavy automatic's pulsing thunder didn't stand a chance against the clap that shook the entire hangar only moments later. A wave of pressure threw the Oberst to the ground with such force that he felt a shoulder blade split.
The portal had gone active...
--------------------
Portal Corporation
Peregrine Island
Two scientists walked into a lab.
"Two scientists walk into a lab." one said to the other, "One says to the other..."
The man's cheerful smile gradually disappeared, previously gesticulating arms going solemnly to his sides. His coffee mug left his hand unceremoniously, shattering upon the floor, released by fingers gone weak at the sight of what now flashed red on the monitor of the very terminal he'd been working at not two minutes ago, "...what is that?"
The other's eyes narrowed in determination behind her glasses, "Trouble."
And as she stepped to the nearest wall and drove a fist into the alarm, the first scientist couldn't help but rub his eyes, stalking to the terminal in disbelief at what it said.
Delta Zeta 24-10:
Current State of Local Affairs: Unknown - Suspected Hostile
Travel Status: Restricted
Access Status: Attempting Access_
--------------------
Constellation Row
Galaxy City
Adjutant Morrison practically leaped from the warehouse door, turning fast as he could and slamming the thing shut behind him mere instants before the dull thump of another fireball sounded from the other side. The Council Adjutant sighed in relief, pocketing the keys. What was wrong with the world today? All you had to do these days was steal a few weapons from the US military, and before you even knew it the city sicced some half-baked powerhouse of ice and fire at you to immolate however she wished. Where had the days gone when everyone had been afraid of the Council?
Almost makes me want the 5th Column back.
Morale of the story: be careful what you wish for.
The shockwave blasted his back against the wall before his ears even registered that there had been a clap of raucous thunder, but through his swimming vision, he nonetheless saw it clear as day: the bright, swirling countenance of the portal sphere, partly above, partly within the street before the warehouse, rocking the whole area with its quaking pulses.
To his great surprise, out stormed a battalion of uniformed men, garbed in uniforms of gray urban camouflage, wearing heavy helmets and bulging backpacks, and wielding rifles that didn't look at all familiar. Indeed, hadn't it been for those weapons and the way they moved, Morrison very much could've mistaken these soldiers for marines...but they were not, this was sure. So who were they? Either way, before he could even think to ask and toss the notion away as having bad idea written all over it, they opened fire - but not on him.
They targeted the portal!
Momentarily confused, the Adjutant very soon saw why, for a cobalt blue and decidedly high-tech-looking tank rumbled through after them like some manner of overdimensional steamroller, taking them on with heavy automatic fire and a prematurely fired high-explosive shell that blasted a sizeable chunk out of the warehouse, not to mention all remaining coherent senses from the unfortunate Adjutant Morrison. A small mushroom cloud rose low into the skies above Galaxy City.
But before his vision swam away completely, the Council man did catch sight of those that the tank apparently belonged to: clad in uniforms of the same hue as their tank, and sporting armor pads that almost resembled some sort of exosuits. Indeed, their balaclavas and orange-tinted blast goggles only reinforced this notion, as did the oddly shaped gas masks that covered the lower halves of their faces.
Morrison couldn't help but pass out with a smile on his lips.
They're back...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters