It was rough, flying. Rough when you were dealing with multiple gashes, scrapes, holding together a tattered uniform. Obviously he'd underestimated the other fighters. Or perhaps he'd just hurried in too quickly. Burning had thought that with their theft of the vehichle they would be simple targets, but it was obvious intelligence and strength weren't always as related as he had long believed under the Reichsmann's rule.
It took some explaining, debriefing, repairs, medical assistance, before he was allowed back onto the field. They wanted to know as much about the 'visitors' as possible. At best Burning was able to give descriptions of their abiltities and approximate power levels. Any useful information of WHY they were there in the first place was hard to gather when being assaulted from all sides.
As he flew into the sky once more, back on the hunt, he couldn't help but think how fortunate it was the reinforcements arrived when they did. Under cover of flame and the offense of his fellow VB, he was able to make his escape before capture.
Or worse.
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
"Haha oh my God that was awesome." War grinned to the assembled beings with him. "Oh that was the best damn escape I have ever conducted, let me just sa-"
Ka-BOOM Was the horrendous sound that interrupted War mid-brag, the door to the shop flying off its hinges and an incredibly pissed-off Famine coming in behind him.
"Famine dude wha-" War had barely choked out before Famine thew a full-forced Haymaker into his Maxillary nerve, sending a spray of blood and broken cartilage out of War's nose. "YOU [censored] TRAITOR!" Famine roared at the top of his lungs as he brought his fists down in an overhand strike, but War was ready, blocking the attack with the metallic shields in his forearms. Forcing the other merc off and headbutting him upwards in the jaw. Famine staggered back.
"WE'RE [censored]!" He screamed at War, barely coherent thanks to his dislocated jaw. "WE'RE GONNA [censored] DIE HERE NOW!" He threw a jab at War, which the latter blocked, but then quickly followed up with an elbow to the jaw that sent War to the ground.
"YOU IDIOT!" War screamed back, drawing his sidearm less than a second after Famine drew his. "THIS IS OUR TICKET! THIS IS OUR TICKET! PUT IT AWAY! PUT THE GUN AWAY!"
"WAR YOU [censored]!" Famine roared again, "WE JUST BETRAYED THE GOVERNMENT MAN, WE"RE [censored]!" He wavered though. He wouldn't even consider actually shooting War, but it didn't hurt for War to not know that.
"Dammit Famine!" War hissed, lowering his gun. "He's our ticket. Dammit, he's our way out. We'll get triple what we were gonna for this guy and boom, we jack a portal home."
"God dammit War." Famine groaned, sitting down unceremoniously and forcing his mandible back into position. War blew the blood out of his nose and leaned back against the wall.
"Why don't you tell me this [censored], man." Famine whined, re-holstering his pistol.
"Man you knew we were about to back-stab these guys. I don't see what you thought I was doing."
"Yeah, if you had told me you were gonna gun down half the hospital and abduct the prisoner instead of just holding him hostage there like we usually do, I wouldn't have thought a damn thing of it. Now how the hell do we even get the money for this guy."
"I dunno right now." War gasped, gingerly bandaging his nose out of his belt-mounted medical kit. "I dunno."
"Sorry about the nose, man, but it's not like what you did was reasonable in any way. I could only assume it was betrayal."
"Nah, man." War nodded sagely (but gently.) "Blood brothers. Now I pulled the dart out of this [censored] ages ago to stop residual narc flow, he should be waking up soon..."
Isabel almost had to laugh as the parade approached. "Not half ostentatious are they?", she asked no one in particular as she observed the various security forces standing around the area. She did have to wonder how secure this Dark Sovereign's rule really was, considering the number of soldiers he apparently felt were necessary just to protect a simple parade. Wouldn't matter, she thought. She hadn't met the soldier that stood up well to an energy blast down the throat, and she doubted she would today either. Though it was rather tempting to peg one of the choppers for kicks, she kept quiet with the others until someone gave the signal. "I'll distract the choppers while you guys get him, if you want", she informed the others.
Valerie merely stood with the rest of the rebel soldiers, absently checking and rechecking her equipment while she waited for the signal. Every now and then she glanced over to Isabel, who she'd not had a chance to talk to in all that had happened. A thousand questions went unanswered in her mind, but now was most definitely not the time.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
((Hrm... okay, as always, I'm kind of feeling my way through here with the whole CPSR bit, so let me know if any weirdnesses crop up, and I'll edit or explain as needed))
Hotaka had been escorted to a rather pleasantly appointed chamber once Sun Tzu had offered all the information the group posessed regarding the Dark Sovereign's operations in China, along with detailed information on the internment camps and death march routes left over from the Japanese occupation that were, for one reason or another, still operating.
While the room looked like a jewelled pagoda that would do Kublai Khan proud, even the most rudimentary of magical senses could tell that this was largely an illusion, albeit a very good one, set over a spartan cave with just enough comforts to maintain the illusion in a tactile sense, and even those were set up in such a fashion as to be able to be gathered up without leaving a trace between one heartbeat and the next.
In the meantime, Sun Tzu had called a meeting.
The strategist stood at the top of a golden tower a half-twist off of reality, in the midst of a trio of great dragon-heads, two black, one white.
The balance is disturbed.
There is too much Yang in the aether.
The Celestial Realm will burn in scorching fire unless this is rectified.
Tzu held up his hands placatingly. "This is known, honoured ones. Our plans to do so, however, have been derailed by ambition. A young jiang, seeking to make a name for himself, used up the supplies needed for the ritual and called forth this outland 'dragon' instead."
The elder mage paused. "We have need of your wisdom. What do you sense concerning this one?"
------
Flashpoint Zeo loomed at the back of the small mob of rebel soldiers, a grumbling monolith in red-orange and black armour, his flames dampened. "Of course. To be kidnapping crazy evil [censored] of a dictator to be delivered to one reported to be just as crazy and possibly just as evil so that crazy evil [censored] of a dictator can be used by rebels." he muttered.
He'd said much the same thing at the 'meeting' they had held after debarking the train, but had been overruled for reasons that weren't clear to him. This world's politics confused and annoyed him, and for one versed in the byzantine policies of the Forbidden City of a thousand years ago, that was saying something.
"'The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.'" the titan quoted. He would protect those he could- the plasma rifles would barely so much as tickle against his own plasma shield, after all- but the huge Tanker was getting increasingly edgy.
He didn't entirely trust the rebels... from casual references dropped here and there, he was fairly certain that at least some of them were the remnants of this world's Fifth Column; he didn't trust the Egregore Device, although that was more of an 'I don't trust you not to go psychotic again' than an 'I'm just waiting for you to stab me in the back' thing; and he certainly didn't trust Toy Dispenser or the Overmagus.
However, be that as it may, the threat to Primal Earth, if it were real, was reason enough to help the rebels for the moment, if only because they weren't the ones trying to blow up his planet.
He folded his arms and waited for the signal. As always, he would be taking point... and if nothing else, a quarter-ton of fiery projectile moving faster than the eye could follow was certainly an excellent distraction.
"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"
"Stay focused." Egregore said to both Isabelle and Flashpoint. His goggles were currently tinted green with the use of IR Vision, which scanned all the visible rooftops. "And Krueger? I'm seeing heavily armored, cloaked, possibly robotic snipers up on the roofs. Would these be some of those class three fellows you told us about?"
"Gwwhhhh..." the creature indeed awoke, as he somewhat had been doing already from all the shouting, the very human-looking hands (aside form the short, almost feline fur) clutching at the red-maned head with suggestion of one hell of hangover.
"Why is everybody shouting?" he question groggily of no one in particular with a fairly average-sounding tone of a young male, and his head rose to look around, "Wait...where am I...?"
--------------------
"Could be." the Krieger answered Egregore, having already taken said advice and focusing on the task ahead. Yes, they'd kidnap the Sovereign...after that, they'd just have to see, "Might be others too. That armor they call MPsomething has a cloak function that holds under most thermo-optic conditions. Hmm...I seem to recall you having one too. How does it fare? Could you sneak in there?"
Before the cyborg could reply, however, something happened.
The parade was attacked.
With a roar of power, and the characteristic purple of nictus energy unleashed, none other than Requiem himself materialized right in the middle of the soldiers that marched before the tank, throwing his arms out to the sides to knock them to the ground with gravitic emanation.
At nearly the same time, soldiers in the traditional garb of the old Axis military - much like Kruger's personnel, but with their faces hidden by the characteristic skull masks - appeared all about, engaging the forces of the Pozemaa Armada in vicious-looking fistfights, binding them there.
"Vlastislav Teivos, you great fool!" the dark man bellowed, surprisingly enough in English, as he stretched a hand toward the APTH-1, another redirection of gravity lifting the vehicle off the ground and turning its gun away from him, "I promised we would return! And this day, we do!"
Surprisingly, not a shot had yet fallen, the battle apparently entering close quarters far too swiftly. Of course, there was also the issue of the dense crowd all about, gasping for breath and mouths agape at this spectacle, VB officers pushing them back wherever they could. Moreover, the units on the rooftops weren't doing anything, and even the Comanches only came in gradually.
"Yah, I remember." came the reply from the caped Tsaigon's Slavic accent, the man standing tall on the crooked tank and throwing a pair of fingers toward Requiem, who had since been joined by none other than Vandal and Nosferatu, "And I also remember what I told you would happen when you did: I would kick your sorry [butt]!"
Kruger's face had gone chalk-white. What the hell was going on here?!
And if anyone had the capacity to notice, those gravity manipulations didn't seem to be coming from Requiem, but elsewhere entirely...
((Please don't currently take control of any NPCs at the parade. I have something very specific in mind here. Do what you like, but please let me have them react. 
))
--------------------
The dragons responded to Sun Tzu in the round, one after another. They had of course already studied this new arrival.
"He is indeed one of us."
"But he is of the earth. And of the shadows."
"He commands them both, but forces neither."
"He is of the old, but has embraced the new."
"He is poison to the land, a bringer of great plague and pestilence."
"He is peace to the spirit, harbinger of balance and growth."
"A contrary nature we have not seen...which we have never seen..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Post deleted by Burning_Brawler
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
"I will go ahead and cripple as many hostiles as I can during this suspiciously convenient distraction. I'm on channel 3." Egregore Device stated, silently answering Kruger's question as his combat invisibility activated and he vanished from sight. The sudden rush of air indicated that he had 'ported.
Famine scrambled to his feet as War drew his sidearm staying down, aiming it at the strange man.
"We'll tell you what you want to know as soon as you tell us what we need to know." War grunted out as Famine slowly walked towards the griffin.
"Get up." He commanded the creature, ignoring whether he did or not. "We-Rather, he pulled you out of the fire back there. Explain to me just what they wanted you for in that facility. And don't try and run - We're not here to experiment. We just want to...do a little business."
Max observed the three others conversing about buisness. His face seemed a bit older, more tired. His nose looked as if some one had slugged him well, and a part of his torso seemed wrapped in guaze (Sp?)
His crew sat to the far side of him, the six of them with various wounds as well. Ash's face appeared somwhat swollen almost in the shape of a rifle stock. Axel was holding an icepack to his head while Syxx was wrapping his left hand with bandages. Eddie was dressing what seemed to be, gunshot wounds to Timmy and Bear, even covered in what appeared to be bruises and cuts, merely sttod at the rear of the seven.
Max shook his head as he took a long drag on the cigarette he had. "I'm getting too old for this [spit]. Hey, you two fellas over there. Mind not freaking that...um...griffin? out, please." The older man said to the three grouped together.
Self-Proclaimed Number one Fanboi of the RP Forums and it's writers.
Me: How about "Zeus, The Pimp God"?
A friend: It'd be too hard to dress him up like a bull
"Um...okay..." was the answer to Famine, feeling more than just a bit 'freaked out' at the gun being waved at him. Realizing he was still in that hospital gown and didn't have anything underneath it didn't really help that situation either, and his eyes got a little wider when the mercenary mentioned 'business', "Business? Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking..."
"Don't misunderstand, I'm grateful that you got me out of there, but um..." he looked uncertainly about the shop, which just happened to sell several manners of clothing, "...do you mind if I put some clothes on first...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"[censored] off two-bits. This doesn't concern street trash." War snarled at Max, pointing at him with the pinkie of his gun-hand.
"Not now, War." Famine grumbled, shaking his head. "Go ahead and get dressed. I don't care." He said to the griffin. "Since you're up, what the hell were you in that hospital for, anyways?"
"Party time", Isabel muttered as all hell broke loose. Unlike the cyborg she didn't turn invisible and go for stealth, but rather simply walked over to the nearest soldier to say hi and almost innocently ask what was going on. After all, she wasn't so different to these people that she couldn't at least make the attempt at passing for one of them.
Valerie meanwhile remained where she was, looking to Kruger for orders.
[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 hospital-gowned being twitched at War's harsh manner, not to mention language, but decided that staying quiet was probably the best way to not getting shot. He didn't make any undue effort with the clothes, grabbing off the nearest racks the first pair of pants that looked about the right size - which just happened to be pattered in desert camo - snatched a pack of underwear, and slinked cautiously into the closest changing room.
"...I'm not really sure..." he finally started, "I...I guess I wasn't as dead as I thought. Um, I got shot I mean. At least I think I did...I remember wanting him to, but...my brain felt like it was on fire, so I don't know if he actually did..."
He stepped out of the booth again, leaving the hospital gown behind, thus now showing a rather impressively athletic build. This guy had a good many muscles - and judging by the fact that he'd torn a hole into the strong weave of the pants to get his tail through, they weren't just for looks. He knew how to use them. In fact, both War and Famine would likely recognize the trained shape of a soldier there...but the personality didn't match at all.
"Sorry..." he apologized meekly, keeping his eyes away from the mercs, while he grabbed a drab, olive, sleeveless shirt and tore slits for his wings into its back, "...I'm probably not making any sense...I'm still trying to figure out exactly what happened too..."
Draping over the shirt once satisfied, he then sought out some footwear, grabbing a pair of concrete-gray combat boots because they happened to be close, "All I know for sure right now is that whatever they wanted had something to do with a microchip and with my head. I think they wanted to put another one in, but I don't know for sure."
"Oh, um..." he finally looked to them again as he sat on the floor, lacing up the boots, "...by the way...you know, thanks. I never did really say that. Also, my name's Griffin."
"Yeah, I know..." he smirked in an embarrassed manner, "...a griffin named Griffin. Wasn't really my choice, though..."
--------------------
Isabel was quite right. Indeed, the first VB officer to spot her even simply made an attempt to get her back into the crowd they were trying to keep at a distance.
"Miss, please keep behind the line." he told her, reaching a hand toward her to gently redirect the woman, "This is no place for you right now..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((apologies for the short post; I've been fighting a nasty case of insomnia for the last few days, and it's really killed any creativity I might have 
))
Flashpoint Zeo sighed, shrugged, and charged as the chaos began. "Likewise on channel three. To be suggesting not becoming overly enthusiastic in battling random goons; grab crazy dictator and get out, if possible."
The huge tank proceeded to suit words to actions, going from a dead standstill to full speed so fast that the resulting backwash nearly ripped nearby soldiers off their feet.
He sprinted straight as an arrow at Teivos. Subtlety was for people who weren't nine feet tall, on fire, and moving faster than the average bullet. Barring any unforeseen developments, the giant's plan was simple; melt through everything in his path... up to and including the front end of the Dark Sovereign's limo... grab the insane(?) dictator, and leave posthaste.
------
Sun Tzu listened to the dragons' recitation gravely, stroking his long beard.
After some thought, he nodded. "Then we will simply have to see that the benefits of harmony and growth apply to us, and that the plague and pestilence are applied to our enemies. If such a thing is possible, observe him covertly, and find the point of balance. If such is found, we will be able to tip the scales as we wish. In the interim, we must secure his loyalty. Have you any recommendations as to what to offer him, honoured ones?"
"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"
The passenger of the crooked-floating tank had just barely removed the plasma pistol from the holster on his leg when some kind of...well, blurry, flaming thing bolted over through the crowd, through the soldiers, and bounded up to the suspended armor before he'd even fully realized what was going on.
Civilians had been knocked aside, military personnel had been set on fire and knocked aside, and Zeo had his man before that one even really knew it, the soldiers all about thrown into utter disarray and still stunned by what had just happened as the tanker arrived back from whence he came less than two seconds after having departed.
Kruger was visibly baffled by this speed, but if he was any indicator, Zeo's captive stood even more so, gazing at the sudden change of company with wide, confused eyes. It took him a full two seconds more to say something about it - which in turn raised the Kommandant's level of surprise (and everyone else who'd heard Teivos' voice by now) to top that of the captive once again.
Why?
Because his voice hadn't a hint of a Slavic accent, and he exclaimed in very American English, "What the hell?! This isn't in the script...!"
--------------------
Halfmoon Bay
Vlastislav Teivos panted heavily as he opened the front door of his house, dragging himself into the foyer, tongue very nearly lolling from his open mouth, the Tsaigon covered in sweat and the very definition of out of breath.
"Ididit...heheheheh...Ididit..." he chuckled in a curt, psychotic manner on his way to the kitchen, desiring nothing more than a glass of water right now.
Wolfgang Wolf, however, was of an entirely different frame of mind when he saw his charge cross the hallway from the living room, the cyborg tossing his head back in a 'why me?' sigh before clapping shut the book he'd been reading and heading around the bar that separated this room from the kitchen in the other direction.
"You're a moron." he told Vlasta huffily, handing him the glass he'd already filled in expectation of just this occurrence, "I told you: take it slow. Keep it to thirty kilometers. The new implants need time to adapt."
"Fffeh!" Teivos all but quacked between a pair of heaved breaths, supporting himself against the wall by the pantry and fingering for the glass, "Thirty kilometers...thirty kilometers?! I don't even...I don't even tie my shoelaces to cross that..."
"Smaaart." Wolfgang mumbled, surrendering the glass, Vlasta taking a first greedy gulp, slowing after that while the cyborg kept on, "You know, one of these days you're going to kill yourself."
"But not today." the Tsaigon grinned devilishly, his breathing finally slowing again, and he set course for the living room, specifically the long, black leather sofa, "Has the parade started yet? Oh, what I'm asking you for? You'll only complain more. Television: on; news."
The plasma widescreen hanging from one wall obeyed the voice command immediately, turning on and flipping over to the state new channel, which Teivos knew would presently be broadcasting live from the parade in Paragon City. He also knew he'd probably missed the opening march, maybe even the start of the show, but still he couldn't help edging the TV on in his mind, not wanting to miss 'his' fight against 'Requiem'.
The eager smile on his lips, however, quickly became a straight line as the picture came up, eyes widening in shock at what he saw there on the screen...
--------------------
Somewhere in China
The dragons looked first to Sun Tzu, then to one another. They had no concrete answer. Though this Ryuu Hotaka was clearly a western dragon, he displayed none of the desires mythology attributed them with, nor did he seem to care about anything in particular at all - least of all boundaries of political power that designated human countries. As fas as the three could tell, he'd only stuck with the CPSR for now because he considered the Dark Sovereign someone of great interest.
Someone who needed a slap in the face yes, but still, someone he was simply interested in by person.
Moreover, they suspected that Hotaka's loyalty actually could not be secured; at least not in any open, traditional manner. True, he might help them 'just because', but on the other hand, he might also bail at any time he pleased. They simply couldn't be sure...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"[censored]." Egregore swore loudly over the comm. "People: Evil Overlord's list, STAGED REVOLUTIONARIES. Advise getting the hell out of dodge. Our target is clearly not here. Also: Incoming hostiles from every possible direction. I love our new friend's helpful ideas and information."
Burning was flying as quickly as he could when the news came over the network. Not only had the Sovereign's parade for the public been attacked, it was being attacked by more outsiders, just like the ones he had encountered earlier.
Zeo was really the only apparent one at the time for obvious reasons. Burning waited a moment, doubting that a blast of fire or freezing the area would really do much against such an enemy. "First things first..."
He held a hand to his ear as he relayed a message over the net. "Get the civilians out, I'll rescue the actors." He sent a second over a private channel, just a quick series of beeps. Nodding, he first swooped in to pick up 'Nosferatu' and 'Requiem.' After setting them on a nearby rooftop, he swung back around for the man in the heavier Vandal costume.
"Now for our 'Sovereign.'" An officer positioned a few yards from the chaos had caught where the kidnapper had run to. A quick spell to highlight persons of power was all it took and Zeo was shining brightly, metaphorically speaking.
Burning dropped nearby, almost invisible. He could see some accomplices, at least one was definitely a member of the Rebellion. "Rebels have allied with intruders," he sent, not knowing that this was probably known knowledge by now after Toy Dispenser's disappearance.
A short set of beeps in his ear told Burning that this time the reinforcements were in place. He nodded, holding a hand up to the sky. A rain of fire began to fall. Granted, it wouldn't hurt much, but that wasn't the goal here.
Hoping to find them distracted, Burning swooped in to grab the 'Sovereign' and take him to where the other actors were waiting for a chopper.
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
[ QUOTE ]
Hoping to find them distracted, Burning swooped in to grab the 'Sovereign' and take him to where the other actors were waiting for a chopper.
[/ QUOTE ]
Quite possibly he would be most effectively distracted by the energy blast that roared across his path, Isabel abandoning the helpless innocent act as Zeo charged in. They might not be able to get the Sovereign, but she had every intention of putting this guy down for the count and seeing what they could pry out of him later. To that end, she sent a second blast in his direction before realising she was still standing next to an armed soldier.
"Word of advice, sir". she told him. "Don't come back." With that she punched him quite solidly in the gut, a reddish glow forming around her hands as the energy attached to the punch almost certainly sent the man flying for a fair distance.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
((Devious... I said everything. Wasn't really meaning to include people. Flashpoint isn't really one for wanton murder >.<
... mind you, when you're standing in uniform holding weapons, I suppose it's not strictly 'murder' if someone from an opposing force kills you.
Still out of character, though -_-)
Flashpoint Zeo, naturally, had never heard Teivos speak before, so all he had to go on was a mention of 'script'. Sighing and shrugging, the big tanker muttered "Always last to know, no?" Patting the actor gingerly on the shoulder (much to the man's surprise, he wasn't even singed), Flashpoint said "Apologies, thought had been at least warned. Opposing-force actors replaced, genuinely trying to kill at some point. Had to remove with unknown force to ensure modicum of safety; unsure depth of conspiracy." the giant lied smoothly.
His reasoning was simple; whether or not this was the genuine Sovereign, he would obviously have to have at least some amount of power to pull off a convincing display. Getting him to come willingly would save a good deal of time and effort, and even if this was a fake, well, having a body-double for the Dark Sovereign presented some interesting possibilities in and of itself.
The lie was helped along by Burning Brawler's apparently careless hurling of fire; Flashpoint Zeo instinctively curled over his captive to protect him from the rain of fire that suddenly began, burning small, sizzling pits into the pavement. "Would appear are still trying to achieve one's death." the big tank commented, sounding a bit annoyed. While the micro-fireballs weren't doing a lot of genuine damage, they still stung.
Then Isabel opened up, and the Tanker shook his head in mild admiration. While he was no slouch in the damage department, as the trail of destruction to... but not from- the Tank wasn't stupid, there was little point in painting a giant arrow of mayhem to point directly at where he was now, and he had angled outwards slightly before beginning his blitz, so that the trail of carnage... in which several soldiers were already sitting up and groaning, their under-armour having protected them from the simple kinetic energy that had slapped them aside after their weapons and outer armour had been slagged... pointed at a point at roughly a 15-degree angle from where the rebels actually were... the trail of destruction to the limo would attest, the heroine so aptly named "Portable Apocalypse" put him to shame.
Keeping himself between their target and Burning, he added an experimental fireball to Isabel's fusilade. If nothing else, the concussion from the fireball's explosion would hopefully disrupt the rain of fire.
"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"
((Edited to account. And what about Sun Tzu then? 
))
In the alley, Kruger ducked out of sight as quickly as possible when he heard Zeo's words, knowing well his presence could contradict them in a pretty nasty manner. Luckily, the other rebels seemed to gave gotten out of sight already, Burning Brawler only spotting the Krieger.
"Replaced?!" the actor exclaimed in shock, "What do you mean replaced? Dear lord, I talked to Milton not fifteen minutes ago...did you find them? Are they okay?"
Before he could get an answer though, he heard Isabel's energy blast crack the air, and then the rain of fire began, a stray ember burning a hole in the actor's mask just in front of the left eye. Body double he was clearly not. Heck, he wasn't even a Tsaigon. Just a gifted performer, nothing more.
Still, he knew well whose place he was supposed to be taking here, and he wouldn't have accepted if he'd not had courage to him (well okay, so initially he'd said no, but Teivos had some really good puppydog eyes). Though not trained explicitly in combat, he could offer up some resistance. The armor he wore was real, after all.
Unholstering the plasma pistol, he tried to get a look at just what was going on, presently unable to see Burning Brawler, Isabel, or much of anything for that matter with the large tanker blocking his view...
--------------------
The VB officer at the receiving end of Isabel's punch didn't even get the time to take off his rifle's safety before finding himself in a heap on the grass across the street. The crowd near the heroine, already in a panic, stormed away in all directions, for the moment hindering the other officers and soldiers on the street; the former of course most of all, since the VB focused primarily on getting people out of the danger zone right now.
The special effects crews on the rooftops aborted mission, shutting off their gravity generators and set the tank back down again, though of course it couldn't really move either until the crowd had dispersed. Its thermal sensors, however, were already locked on target, and like the soldiers about it, as soon as the civilians were clear, it would get a move on.
Actually, a few of the soldiers had already managed to - and though the cobalt-blue uniforms they wore had little value as armor, which combined with the employ of very normal projectile weapons (okay, so they used mag rails instead of gunpowder, but whatever) meant their efforts weren't likely to amount to much without available cover here on the street, it didn't mean they wouldn't try to end this threat as quickly as possible...
((Okay, general NPCs are free again. Feel free to consider these guys as about Malta TacOps.))
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Halfmoon Bay
Vlasta couldn't help but stay glued to the screen, unable to look away, having succumbed to the train wreck effect. From the viewpoint of the news chopper filming what the accompanying reporter by now called a disaster, the Sovereign could watch it all unfold. Well, not all, but what he did see gave him more than enough information to put two and two together.
"Five minutes." he told Wolfgang coldly, struggling to get the sweated-through sleeveless shirt off where it had caught on his artificial spine, "Full arms, full gear, and I want the helicopter ready to teleport the second we get aboard..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Explosions ahoy." Egregore said over channel three. Immediately, the entire street exploded as multiple charges went off. Three nuclear blast modules went off in the middle of clustered troops. Six acid grenades exploded between each group and around them, but each was just far away enough from civilians to avoid hurting them unless they had charged forward into the armed militant crowd. Finally, sixteen canisters of tear gas went off amongst the crowd, covering most of the street in thick, eye watering vomit-inducing gas.
Egregore Device decloaked next to Isabel, plasma rifle in hand and kinetic shield flaring, and started blasting approaching soldiers, but only once they had cleared the civilian line.
"Most annoying," muttered a tall, auburn haired man dressed in a casual suit who had ducked into the alleyway with Kruger. "Teivos had agreed to participate in this parade. I can only assume he pulled one of his infamous whims and had himself replaced by a body double at the last minute."
His flat grey eyes observed the combat and Kruger could almost see the gears churning and numbers adding up in his head. Toy Dispenser had a damn good holographic disguise.
"What now, then?" grunted Kruger through gritted teeth as he lurked further back in the alley, unable to catch more than the occasional glimpse of the fight. "Your plan has gone down the drain and with it all reason to keep you alive."
The disguised Dispenser glanced over his shoulder at Kruger and one corner of his mouth twitched up in the parody of a grin.
"You didn't think I'd be doing this alone, did you?"
**************************
A sudden spike of magical energy suddenly bloomed on the detection devices around Teivos' residence. Automatic systems engaged anti-magic fields in response, but the magic somehow slipped between gaps in their cover that only someone intimately familiar with sorcerous working could manage. There was the standard bright flash and loud pop of a teleport.
Then there came a light rap of boney knuckles on the front door.
"It appears as though you shall require a heavier escort than usual, Teivos," came the rasping voice of Overmagus Archlich, easily audible to Teivos and Wolfgang even though a door and several meters seperated them.
Arrayed behind the lich stood all six drones of Dispenser's command, their normal banter tamped down in the presence of their boss's boss.
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.
Burning was glad for the 'warning shot' that whizzed in front of him. He pressed forward even faster, the second blast going behind him. He wasn't ready for the fireball however. The blast threw him off his path, sending him towards the wall. The fire itself didn't hurt so much as the impact with the wall.
"Cease and desist!" he shouted, "You are all under arrest. Release the hostage and you are guaranteed some leniency." The hostage was hidden beneath the burly man and the rain of fire had just run its course. He was tense, a spell of teleportation on his lips. If they refused to give up the hostage, and he honestly believed that would be the case, he could be away from retaliation in a flash and the reinforcements could sweep in.
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
"What are you doing?!" the head doctor's voice came through the speaker system in a veritable panic, the elderly man looking like his bald head was about to detach from his body in the shock of the moment, "Stop! No! This is a very sensitive procedure, and-!"
War's guns spoke then and there, sending a flood of cracks to spider through the bulletproof glass, their cacophony drowning out the speaker for the new fractions of a second it took the mercenary to find the noisy thing and shoot it to pieces instead.
The griffin-like being had in turn responded with a hasty nod, and though he clearly had difficulty moving (likely due to some kind of drug in him), did as War told him. Not moments after he'd managed to get the soles of his feet to the floor, however, the blare of an alarm already howled through the medical center...
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Several Hours Later...
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Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island
New Zealand
05:59
06:00
The alarm clock sounded.
The covers of the bed next to the black wooden nightstand stirred with a groan, an orange hand feeling forth form beneath them, fingering for the offending noisemaker, but succeeding at naught but knocking it onto the floor and out of reach. A drawn-out curse drawled through the bedroom.
With a huffed, semi-sighed exhale, Teivos threw back the covers and sat with half-open eyes, supporting himself with hands behind him and wondering briefly how he'd gotten out of his clothes and into bed. Last thing he remembered he'd been in his office in Paragon City, trying to somehow get a lead on the people who'd kidnapped Poseidon.
That thought got him awake. He grit his teeth. War and Famine, Famine and War. What a fool he'd been to trust them. They probably weren't even from Primal Earth to begin with, apparently having been sent to just grab the wayward griffin and amscray. Well, he'd throw a wrench in those works or his name wasn't Vlastislav Alexandrovich Teivos!
He crushed the alarm clock beneath his bare heel and made for the closet, passing a hand over the holopanel that controlled the functions within the bedroom's window wall, depolarizing the darkened panes and displaying current information such as news, tide, and weather against the background of Halfmoon Bay.
"Ah, I see we are awake." he heard Wolfgang enter as he tied his boots, the cyborg leaning laxly against the doorframe, throwing a despondent glance at yet another destroyed alarm clock, "You know, I brought you back here to get some rest, not run yourself ragged again. You're not an infantryman anymore. You haven't been for a long time. You know I worry about Poseidon too, but staring at a screen all night long isn't going to help anyone find him any faster."
Vlasta nodded. He knew the Caldok to be right...but this was just how he was. His nature. He couldn't just leave something like this alone - especially when he felt personally tricked. Hell, War and Famine had by all accounts taken off with the criminals he'd sent them to bring in, and taken down a good few VB officers in their wake.
Still, he considered his guard's logic. He did have a point. He just...Vlasta exhaled again. Satisfied with his boots, he completed the ensemble of combat footwear and military fatigues with a black undershirt.
"Breakfast." he stated to Wolfgang while he put on his watch, eyeing the timekeeper carefully, "I'm going to take my morning as normal until after breakfast. If they haven't found him by then, I got back to it. Agreeable?"
The cyborg gave a nod. It was more than he'd hoped for. After all, sometimes Teivos just skipped breakfast entirely after his morning run...
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Perez Park, Paragon City
Kommandant Krieger Kruger stole surreptuously through the back alleys, cautiously eyeing the spectators (and security forces) that lined the main road that ran around his world's version of Perez Park: an idyllic retreat from hectic city life. The sun smiled down from high in the sky, and since there was no park wall here like in Primal Earth's version, he could see the crystal waters glisten in the gentle light.
But that wasn't what he was here for.
"It looks like the robot's information was accurate." he told the assembled strike force once he'd joined them again. He'd composed it of Flashpoint Zeo, the Egregore Device, Isabel, and of course a small amount of soldiers, which included Valerie, "The parade is going to come right along the main road. Security is heavy, but with you along there should be no insurmountable problems."
The plan Toy had proposed was relatively simple: kidnap the Dark Sovereign and force him to do what they wanted. Naturally, the task was harder than it sounded (which was just common sense), but the android had informed them that the person whom he stood underneath, the Overmagus himself, could make this work if the rebels could just get the dictator to him. He knew much of the old ways of magic, and Toy had firmly laid down that if he could get Teivos alone, even the Dark Sovereign would be victim to his skill.
Of course, that didn't mean any of them actually trusted the mechanoid, especially the Krieger. Still, at least for now, working with him was the best chance they had to get at Teivos in a long, long time, and perhaps even the best they'd ever have. Thus they'd eventually taken it, and the android had gotten them back into the city to execute the operation. Whether or not he would join them personally later on remained to be seen.
How the Egregore Device had finally come around to tolerating Flashpoint Zeo Kruger didn't know, having not been present at the time. However, to tell the truth, he didn't really care. He remained at simply reminding them it was coming down to the wire and that any more problems now could well kill them all, as the parade gradually approached.
They could hear it already.
The rhythmic steps of marching soldiers and musicians soon mixed with the music itself, the military parade proceeding at steady pace down the main road. It presented a picture that somewhat harkened back to the days of Nazi Germany, or perhaps the Soviet Union, though instead of a monotonous crowd of saluters, a colorful amalgamation of all manner of peoples had gathered to see this, crowding thickly along both sides of the parade route, clapping in unison with the Radetzky March of Johann Strauss (as was tradition), the excited masses sometimes held back only be the evenly spaced VB officers.
The parade itself consisted mostly of footmen, the only vehicle in the long line of both military and civilian personnel being a long, open-air limousine that held the centerpiece of the parade, the Tsaigon waving to the crowd. He donned a long, black cape and a simple baggy outfit underneath, likely to hide whatever kind of body armor he wore beneath that. A plasma pistol sat in the double-strap holster wrapped around his upper right leg, and the gloves and boots looked solid enough to deliver some decent pain if used in violence, just as black as the rest of the outfit.
Of course, that wasn't counting the Comanches that hovered overhead every now and then, but stayed out of reach far enough to not disturb the music. They fulfilled more of a relay role anyway, the VB officers along the parade route forming the true backbone of security here. Armed with Steyr AUGs and tactical sidearms, as well as some decent body armor of their own, Verejna Bezpechnost definitely wasn't to be taken lightly - though chances were that for an actual superhero, they wouldn't be much of a match.
The Gerlach-armored soldiers probably wouldn't be either, their weapons real and loaded, but also merely projectile weapons, even if they did hold armor-piercing rounds. No, chances were the only true threat was the quartet of Kazbek-wearing bodyguards that flanked the limo, the plasma rifles on their backs powered and ready for use at any time...
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At another spot in Perez Park, a certain group of 'outsiders' had taken refuge in a shop closed down for the duration of the parade. The griffin-like being one of the Horsemen had brought in lay out cold in a corner, a narcotic dart from one of the hospital guards having gotten him in the neck during the escape.
But what an escape it had been! Bare-knuckle, seat-of-your-pants, skin-of-their-teeth hellacious and chaotic, it had turned the Promenade into a virtual warzone between VB (and a small military division) and the 'aliens' from Primal Earth. Eventually though, they'd been forced to flee, but had managed to do so without being tracked. True, just about everyone and everything was looking for them now, but for the moment they'd found refuge.
Whether or not they'd managed to subdue Burning Brawler beforehand - and if they'd used the man as a hostage to actually make their escape - this the creature in the corner hadn't gotten any wind of, nor what had happened to Solid Shot in the firefight. Perhaps he'd been captured, perhaps he was just lagging behind a little, but whatever the case may have been, here at this moment he was not...
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OOC:
Okay then, my sincere apologies to Khellendrosiic, but over a week is a little much. I've tried to put your characters in neutral states so if you want them back in, it's a simple matter of few words, so I hope that's okay. I also hope I got an acceptable resolution for everybody else that lacks just enough detail to fill in the blanks with plausible behavior of your characters.
BB, I'll leave it up to you whether Burning got nabbed, defeated and left, or kicked people so hard they ran off, so you can place your character where comfortable.
Cham, I'll leave the same to you with Hotaka, as I have no idea what Tsu would have told him during the missing hours, so if you could get in a summary there with your next post, I'd sure appreciate it.
Okay then, here we go again. Carry on.
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters