"I'd be cool with it," said Torcher. Honestly at this point, petty as it may sound, his care for his boss had dipped somewhat in his time in the hospital. Maybe it was the show of weakness, the infirmity, or the constant attention he was receiving from Torcher's girlfriend, but sympathy had taken a hit.
Pyra nodded, nibbling her bottom lip as she got lost in thought and worry. Carefully, she moved over to Brawler's bedside, placing a hand on his shoulder as she waited for Griffin to begin.
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
"Not without difficulty, but last I checked it was possible", Isabel replied to Wolfgang's comment about manufactured memories. The next comment however came as something of a surprise. "....what?", she asked, before it properly sank in. "How'd they get here, if you don't mind my asking? And are you sure they're actually from our world?" She didn't bother to assert that they were lying, since it'd only be her word against theirs anyway.
[ QUOTE ]
Wolfgang told Isabel, "You're welcome to come with if you like..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Isabel thought about it for a moment before replying, "No thanks. I'd rather meet these 'natives' of yours, if that's not too much to ask." Clearly she believed them to either be from a different world entirely, or they were simply lying. Or possibly they'd been brainwashed somehow, who knows.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
[ QUOTE ]
Okay, not quite sure if Torcher and Pyra followed Griffin to the hospital or entered the detention block, so if it's the former, please feel free to assume everyone got there while this here stuff happens. Also welcome Spade, but you'll need to give me a little more info on Marius' location and such so I can figure out what's going on. ))
[/ QUOTE ]
((Yeah he is in King's Row))
Flashpoint Zeo sighed, shrugged, and followed the cyborg's gesture, manifestly not uncrossing his arms. "Have excellent reason to not want portal to own world in hands of Sovereign, if rumours to be believed." he commented, his tone curiously neutral. Then, as if remembering something "Was only attempted attack on head of State. And did not kidnap anyone. If must pile charges on, at least make some pretense of accuracy."
Then, unexpectedly, he added "Have had occasion to visit current world before contact was lost. Was hellhole then. Rule of Sovereign does not appear to have made noticeable difference. Rule recent thing, or improvement not high on list of priorities?" he asked, tone still carefully colourless.
"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"
tátna Zbrojovka
"Okay, here goes." Griffin gave a nervous nod, placing his fingers on Burning's arm. A soft, barely visible blow enveloped the man, a shimmer in the air about him as the griffin closed his eyes, trying his hardest to focus on the task at hand.
It was difficult, to be sure. The human body stood composed of such a myriad of components that some said it was downright impossible to keep track of them all - especially while it was alive. Still, Griffin tried. He tried to find, deconstruct, reconstruct, redirect, rearrange. His own heart raced, his body heated. His forehead became wet with sweat, the monumental amount of concentration he brought forth having a doubtlessly adverse effect. But he didn't stop.
Well, not until he went over like a sack of potatoes.
By the time the staff got to him, he'd already passed out. Hopefully, it had been worth it. Had he succeeded...?
--------------------
"At the moment, it is." Wolfgang answered Isabel neutrally, "Until we know better, you are still potentially hostile elements. I passed your request along, however."
Though he didn't show it, the cyborg was actually quite pleased with the woman's wants. He had his own suspicions about her by now, and if they were true, said a few welcome things about her. For now, however, he couldn't just go by his gut. With powerhouses like these guys, he had to tread more carefully.
Fortunately, Isabel then agreed to come along, and off they were in convoy - a squad of guards in front and back, Wolfgang before them, not to mention soldiers at the ready at each branching corridor they passed, sealing off those ways just in case.
"You've sure have a mouth on you." the cyborg told Zeo during the transit, "Do you consider your point of view the only correct one, or do we just happen to fall under your hellhole definition by coincidence?"
From Wolfgang's tone, it was easy to tell he'd jumped to the conclusion that the first was true. Indeed, he'd already lumped Zeo in with the CPSR; the sort of people whose worldview was the only one that had any right to exist, to whom everything else was vile and unacceptable.
Zeo may well have had something to say in response, but at this point, the cyborg didn't much care, and if the tanker did, did not respond. It didn't take them long to reach the top floor, entering Teivos' office unopposed. A few blinds had been drawn across the large windows beyond the desk, giving the large room a comfortable twilight, not to mention decently accentuating many of the paintings along the walls. No, not paintings - photographs blown up to huge proportions!
Most showed scenes of landscapes or cities, though some were so alien it was difficult to tell if they were one or the other - like that of a titanic cavern in which structures resembling stalactites and stalagmites reached into the air, coated with points of white and blush light that looked like the star-filled night sky itself. Crystals of some sort, perhaps. Beneath the framed poster, a silver label simply read, 'Zar'.
Military hardware was also represented, and apparently in scenes of historical significance, such as the picture that showed a tank that resembled a Russian T-80 making its way through a half-demolished city of formerly tall and luminous spires. Tsaiv soldiers were shown around the vehicle, covering it against threat in conjunction with several twin-rotor aircraft overhead. Below, the silver plaque read, 'Halmss, 2206 - Never Forget'.
Potentially the most impressive one, however, was a picture of a large-scale orbital shipyard, which surprisingly enough was labeled with but four letters: ZBV.
But even with these dozen or so large-scale representations, the Sovereign's desk held yet a good few more. Smaller, personal, standing or lying about in their small frames, they were pictures of people, of things. One was of Wolfgang, Teivos, and some loinclothed, dark-green lizardman sitting around a campfire. Another was of a large congregation of people in some manner of high-arched hall, showing a blue-skinned humanoid with a mushroom-head shaking hands with a Caldok.
Yet another showed nothing short of complete and utter chaos. By all accounts, it was of a birthday party, Wolfgang, Teivos, and a good number of Tsaivs and Caldoks present. At the time of the picture, the cake was in mid-air, everybody's mouth hung wide-open, and it was a fair guess that said cake would be ending up in the face of the large red dragon that had stuck its head in through the window - which in fact it had.
The dragon also had its own photo on that desk, which showed it in great detail: with fire-red scales and silver-black plates running down its throat and belly. It looked to be the western sort, each foot holding but three claws, also of that intriguing silverish, lustery black hue. Velvet-brown flight skins connected to its sides from upper shoulders to tail's base, and a line of crimson spikes ran down from its head over neck, back, and tail, connected by a majestic silver membrane. Its head was also home to a pair of long horns that started over the eyebrows and jutted rearward, also carrying that silver-black hue.
"One moment please," Vlasta's voice greeted them form the large leather office chair beyond the desk, its back presently turned, "I'll be with you right away..."
--------------------
Kings Row District - Sector 12
The beat of helicopter blades rose in the air as a trio of Comanches entered the area in pursuit of Marius. Apparently, the troop he'd attacked had managed to get out a distress call before being ended - and air support had responded.
Easily spotting the tall man's heat signature with their FLIR systems, the aircraft maneuvered into position. A spotlight from the first clacked on, focusing in on the man on the street.
"Unidentified hostile." a Chinese-accented voice addressed him via megaphone, clearly coming from the lead helo, "Surrender immediately, or we will open fire."
Turreted 20 mm rotary cannons swiveled in on Marius' position to underscore the ultimatum. The only way they wouldn't fire was if he did indeed surrender, or if he managed to get something valuable between the aircraft and him. For that latter situation, however, the helos had a different weapon at their disposal...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
The beat of helicopter blades rose in the air as a trio of Comanches entered the area in pursuit of Marius. Apparently, the troop he'd attacked had managed to get out a distress call before being ended - and air support had responded.
Easily spotting the tall man's heat signature with their FLIR systems, the aircraft maneuvered into position. A spotlight from the first clacked on, focusing in on the man on the street.
"Unidentified hostile." a Chinese-accented voice addressed him via megaphone, clearly coming from the lead helo, "Surrender immediately, or we will open fire."
Turreted 20 mm rotary cannons swiveled in on Marius' position to underscore the ultimatum. The only way they wouldn't fire was if he did indeed surrender, or if he managed to get something valuable between the aircraft and him. For that latter situation, however, the helos had a different weapon at their disposal...
[/ QUOTE ]
"You've got to be kidding me." Marius said as the choppers came into view. Marius had no intention of surrendering to these people, and for that matter he wondered why the Chinese were helping them. Marius fired a ball of flame at the lead helo and began to try to escape.
The lead Comanche tried to evade, but the fireball nevertheless struck home, its detonation setting the aircraft ablaze. In the cockpit, alarms blared, and biting smoke filled the air. The helo veered off, the pilot desperately trying to safely put his aircraft on the ground before it struck a building.
The other two, however, immediately opened fire, three-barreled XM301s hailing 20 mm shells after Marius. As the lead helo went down, the second took over, its pilot reporting in to Verejná Bezpechnost.
"Multiple casualties on the ground, exact number unknown." she summarized, "We can't tell whether anyone's alive from here. Get all civilians off the streets ASAP. This guy just took out Ling and Peter. Very dangerous."
Public Security didn't need to be told twice, VB stations throughout the area already dispatching units to protect the civilian population from this suddenly appeared new threat. They didn't themselves go on the offensive, however. They knew full well they didn't stand a chance against the super-powered. The military could have that job.
Just down the street from Marius, exactly that same idea caused a Tsaiv in gray urban combat fatigues to come running from the doorway of a row house, the deep-green alien carrying nothing less than a TRV-150 - an Esertosian guided missile launcher. He shouldered the weapon and took a knee, eyeing through the targeting scope the approaching fire-wielder...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Marius saw the missile flying at him in what seemed like slow motion. He put his flame shield up at the last moment, but the attack still struck home. The explosion sent him flying into a building through several walls. Marius stumbled out of the building and wiped the blood from mouth.
"Fine you want to play it that way do you!" Marius' entire body burst into flames, "Fortunas Inferno!" A massive wave of flame shot out from his body in all directions.
The helo crews held their breath as a section of street below became a giant ball of flame. The gunners ceased fire.
"Tiger Two to Command; we got a problem." the second's pilot spoke into her helmet's headset again, "This guy's out of our league. He just took a missile with barely a scratch. Cannons are having no effect. We're gonna need an elite division, and fast."
But while the aircraft may have been safely out of range of the inferno, the Tsaiv soldier wasn't so lucky. True, he was across the street, and the flame-retardant nature of his uniform prevented him from catching fire, but the sheer amount of heat and pressure simply rammed him away and against the pavement, severe burns all over his head and hands.
He wasn't dead, still conscious and weakly moving, but in far too much pain to stand back up. The TRV-150 had ended up somewhere else entirely, and thus as Marius walked toward him, he vainly tried to retrieve his sidearm from its holster. No dice. Material fused by the heat, that thing wasn't letting anything go.
But that didn't mean Marius wouldn't be taking fire. Closing in to a few steps from the Esertosian, a splash of water suddenly struck his side, most likely to no effect other than becoming steam. Still, one way or another, it was very noticeable.
As was the source: a little human girl (she couldn't have been more than 3 to 5 years), aiming a colorful toy squirt gun at him, a glare in her eyes that could've thrown daggers.
"Get away from Uncle Vlad, you big mean poopyhead!" she griped at the towering Marius, not showing a twinge of fear - unlike her mother, who came running with wide, deathly afraid eyes to her child's side.
"Melanie...no..." 'Uncle Vlad' meanwhile groaned, rolling onto his stomach and forearms to try and wedge himself back up off the asphalt...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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[ QUOTE ]
"At the moment, it is." Wolfgang answered Isabel neutrally, "Until we know better, you are still potentially hostile elements. I passed your request along, however."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Potentially hostile? All those guys we beat up and we're only potentially hostile?", Isabel asked in return, a faint trace of amusement in her voice. Admittedly, every one of the ones she'd beaten up would be fine - she'd obviously not meant to kill them, just get them out of their way - but still, she had to question the man's logic on that one.
"Fine, whatever. Guess I'll tag along with you lot instead then if that offer's still open", she said eventually, before moving to follow them away.
[ QUOTE ]
"One moment please," Vlasta's voice greeted them form the large leather office chair beyond the desk, its back presently turned, "I'll be with you right away..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Vlasta could take all the moments he felt like taking, for all Isabel cared. She was too busy looking at the pictures on the walls - mostly the one of the shipyard.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
"Is easy to condemn when rules are written to suit own prejudices, no?" the huge tank commented softly... perhaps too softly to hear... as the doors opened. He stepped through, gave the luxurious office a cursory glance- his human half considered it needlessly showy, his dragon half looked at it with a faint gleam of avarice- filed the information for later, and planted his feet firmly to wait, his arms still folded. Now that he had a proper audience with Teivos, he would wait until the building crumbled around them of old age if need be. Dragons are nothing if not patient, and that particular virtue had been inherited by Flashpoint Zeo.
Of course, he would have preferred to 'interview' Teivos in his own inimitable style somewhere far away- dictators trended more strongly towards honesty when confronted somewhere other than the heart of their stronghold... but he'd take what he could get.
"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"
((Actually, I keep describing the office as oddly Spartan. 
))
tátna Zbrojovka
Woldgang mimicked Zeo, though in a bit more active manner, the metal Caldok bobbing on his toes every now and then as he stood off to the side, apparently doing nothing useful. Of course, this was a blatant lie. Just as a good number of fully passive instruments within the office, he observed. He observed for a good little while.
And then he smiled.
"Okay." the cyborg uncrossed his arms with a nod, stepping towards the desk, or rather the chair. He spun it around, revealing it to be empty, then took a seat, facing the towering hero, "I'm ready to consider believing you two. So, what did you want to say to me...?"
--------------------
Somewhere in China
The red dragon's demeanor remained attentive, calm, and emotionless during the drill instructor's account. Her face was a mask of stone, the dragon taking great care that none of her feelings made it outside. Inside, however, she boiled.
Vlastislav Teivos...
"I'd like to talk to the person in charge." she told the man after he'd finished his recount...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
He wasn't dead, still conscious and weakly moving, but in far too much pain to stand back up. The TRV-150 had ended up somewhere else entirely, and thus as Marius walked toward him, he vainly tried to retrieve his sidearm from its holster. No dice. Material fused by the heat, that thing wasn't letting anything go.
But that didn't mean Marius wouldn't be taking fire. Closing in to a few steps from the Esertosian, a splash of water suddenly struck his side, most likely to no effect other than becoming steam. Still, one way or another, it was very noticeable.
As was the source: a little human girl (she couldn't have been more than 3 to 5 years), aiming a colorful toy squirt gun at him, a glare in her eyes that could've thrown daggers.
"Get away from Uncle Vlad, you big mean poopyhead!" she griped at the towering Marius, not showing a twinge of fear - unlike her mother, who came running with wide, deathly afraid eyes to her child's side.
"Melanie...no..." 'Uncle Vlad' meanwhile groaned, rolling onto his stomach and forearms to try and wedge himself back up off the asphalt...
[/ QUOTE ]
Marius was not a villain, he did not kill those who were down and out. He picked up the wounded solider and left him with his family, he turned to the little girl. "I am very sorry, I did not mean to hurt your Uncle. Now if anyone asks... I didn't come through here. It will be our secret eh?" He said with a wink. And like that he took off at a high speed, knowing that the military would be locking down this sector soon.
"Tiger Two to Command: target is on the move." the Comanches increased altitude to take up pursuit, "Looks like we're dealing with another super-speeder. Further casualties on the ground, require PB and ZB units at once: one man confirmed injured, at least one building complex on fire."
"Copy that, Tiger Two." the response came right away, "Poiarna Bezpechnost has been dispatched, branching off a medevac from Zdravotná unit. Maintain visual contact, reengage if an opportunity presents. We are transferring satellite telemetry on the target."
The now-lead's pilot looked out the cockpit windows at the speeding-away Marius, then at his HUD as the overhead's satellite's imagery uploaded. He bit his lower lip. No go for missiles, at least for now - and the helos' 20 mm cannons hadn't even been so much as acknowledged by this guy thus far. In short, right now he just didn't have any idea as to what to do other than keep contact. Thankfully, between the aircraft's FLIR and the satellite, that was at least easy to do.
On the ground, the situation stood even worse. Verejná Bezpechnost may have already formed a presence and started evacuating people in the path of the surmised fire-throwing madman rampaging through the city streets, but their stopping power was questionable at best. Armed at heaviest with Steyr AUGs, it seemed highly unlikely that Public Security had anything to truly impede Marius, aside perhaps from their SWAT-style black vans' flashing blue lights...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
"I'm ready to consider believing you two. So, what did you want to say to me...?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Isabel raised an eyebrow at the man taking the big chair, so to speak. Was he actually the Sovereign and merely pretending before, or was he just filling in for his absent leader, she wondered silently to herself. "Nothing that I haven't already said, no", she replied eventually. "I think Zeo here was the one with things to say. Nice office, by the way."
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Flashpoint Zeo nodded to Isabel, then raised a scaly eyebrow. Unless the body double he had accidentally kidnapped had been doing a remarkably poor job of actually doubling (which seemed unlikely, given the volume of makeup the poor bugger had been half-smothered under), they weren't quite to the Sovereign yet.
A heavy sigh shifted shoulder plates and blew out a brief billow of flame. "Are not expecting self to believe are Sovereign, correct..?" he asked, just to be certain. The huge tank didn't worry much about waiting for an answer- the cyborg would answer or not, as he wished.
"Will reiterate; Reichstwit is being popsicle under titanic mountain of rubble; alien invasion blasted area to gravel, is questionable whether goose-stepping idiot could get out, even if was not frozen solid. Even if got loose, are any number of supers running around could match twit, at least when working together. Is non-issue." he finished with an indifferent shrug.
And indeed, as far as he was concerned, he spoke the precise truth- he'd seen Marcus Cole and his dimensional dopplegangers get beaten to pudding far too often to hold them in the same kind of awe that the locals here seemed to.
Then the giant tanker straightened, and his eyes blazed more brightly as his focus sharpened. "Now, to be wishing for you to begin spinning lies for self. Have been lied to by all since arrival; is turn of Dark Sovereign or... functionaries... of same. Would request that truth be used sparingly; prolonged lack of exposure rendered self unused to same, may cause rash." he announced, his tone suspiciously bland. There was sarcasm present (in a more than generous amount), but clearly the big tank didn't have any particular expectation that any of Teivos' people would be so gauche as to actually tell him the unvarnished truth.
"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"
"I am for the moment." Wolfgang retorted calmly, folding his fingers upon one another on the table, "Vlasta is feeling...not himself right now, so until he says otherwise, I'm in charge."
"Which admittedly doesn't help me at all right now because you are being about as clear as swamp mud." the cyborg told Zeo, reciprocating his demanding animosity, "I have half a mind to start talking about serving spaghetti at my mother's restaurant - just to bother you. But I won't, since I don't think you really want to hear me talk about myself. So how about you tell me what you were lied to about so that I know what you're talking about before I answer?"
He raised a finger, adding to that, "Oh, and about the lying part? That's not a really good way to get someone to believe you, you know..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Flashpoint Zeo gave a very faint shrug, an infintesimal shifting of his shoulder plates that nevertheless managed to indicate that it was a matter of borderline cosmic-scale indifference to him whether Wolfgang believed him or not. He was somewhat surprised that Wolfgang had openly admitted that the fuhrer... or whatever... wasn't feeling 100%, but little showed on his masked, shrouded face.
"Lies? To be thinking a moment... History of place since Nazi twits given boot, intentions of crazy dictator concerning home dimension of self, actual doings of crazy dictator in present dimension, ability or lack thereof to travel between home dimension of self and present one, war apparently are gearing up for with... unknowns... list goes on. Considering self has been present in dimension for less than forty-eight hours, is impressive list." the big tank said.
"Most urgent lie insofar as concerning self appears to be being rumour... Vlasta..? to be considering simply exploding home dimension of self to be rid of Reichstwit. Would be forced to express strong disapproval if such were case." he finished.
((And for the record... Flashpoint Zeo's dialogue is at least as awkward to write as it is to read. The tangled tenses are rather fun, though ))
"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"
"Dimension?" Wolfgang queried skeptically at Zeo's words, the idea taking a second to make the conversion of thought, "Oh. Got it. No. The SSR has neither means nor intent to destroy your home universe. Interesting you'd believe so, though. People do that often where you come from?"
It was indeed a question, but the cyborg didn't want for the answer, "Don't get me wrong, however. If it turns out you're lying, we are going to attack. If not though, and der Reichsmann really is no longer a threat to anyone...well, then I'd say you've nothing to worry about."
"What else?" the metal Caldok then inquired, his query again directed at both Isabel and Zeo, obviously wishing for more detail regarding the tanker's list. Logically, the easiest way to get the information he wanted form Wolfgang was just to tell the alien what he'd been told, for then the cyborg had a baseline to go from. Of course, simply pointing out that his earlier list of statements had been inquiries might've worked too, but would be more complicated...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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[ QUOTE ]
"People do that often where you come from?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Isabel smiled, resisting the urge to laugh. "Just out of curiosity, does the name Rularuu mean anything to you?"
[ QUOTE ]
If not though, and der Reichsmann really is no longer a threat to anyone...well, then I'd say you've nothing to worry about."
[/ QUOTE ]
Isabel sighed at that. "Welp, we already told you he's not. Up to you if you want to take our word for it. At least send a scouting party or something before launching an all out invasion, geeze." Since they'd already established there wasn't anything more she had to convince him other than her word, she wasn't really sure what else she could add.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
[ QUOTE ]
"Oh. Got it. No. The SSR has neither means nor intent to destroy your home universe. Interesting you'd believe so, though. People do that often where you come from?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"To be having no idea..." Flashpoint Zeo muttered sourly. Hard as it may have been to believe, he'd actually lost track of the number of universe-ending threats that he'd faced down or heard of. It wasn't exactly a daily occurence or anything, but, well, in the supers community...
[ QUOTE ]
"Don't get me wrong, however. If it turns out you're lying, we are going to attack. If not though, and der Reichsmann really is no longer a threat to anyone...well, then I'd say you've nothing to worry about."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Reichsmann not much of threat to begin with." the fiery titan snarked. It may simply have been that Primal Earth spawned an overabundance of supers- but, while the various Marcus Coles were near the top of the heap when it came to personal power levels... well, Tyrant must surely be getting tired of people wandering over to his dimension to kick his head in when he got uppity.
It crossed the big tank's mind to wonder briefly where the Axis Amerika Recluse... or Rekluse, or whatever... was, or what had happened to him.
Then he refocussed on the conversation.
"Questions: to be wondering what, precisely, intentions of... Sovereign... are in present dimension. Massive military perpetually geared to state of high alert to not be being conducive to long-term stability in state of non-expansion. Imperial ambitions, what are, precisely?" If Wolfgang was following through the tangled tenses and mangled grammar of his fiery inquisitor, he'd realize that, as far as Flashpoint Zeo was concerned, this was a heavily militaristic empire that was running out of world to conquer, and that he was (justifiably, as far as he was concerned) worried about where those ambitions would be turned next.
"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"
"Negative." Wolfgang slowly shook his head at Isabel's question regarding Rularuu, "Sounds like a bad case of intestinal infection..."
When Zeo clarified what he wanted to know further, however, he quickly refocused his attention once more, remarking rather casually, "That's pretty interesting. So you have all this terribly destructive...stuff where you come from, and yet you think we're in a state of high alert? Fascinating. But to answer your question: once contact is reestablished, we're going to add this world to the SSR. It's almost ready to resume self-management, and Teivos believes the Nafrans can bridge the rest. They're pretty good with humans. Better than we Esertosians, anyway."
"We will of also dispatch a scouting party to your world." he added with an approving nod toward Isabel, the woman's common-sense deduction of their plans making him feel a good bit more comfortable with these people, "The humans here want certainty that this Reichsmann will never come back to bother them - and the rest of us wouldn't much mind either..."
--------------------
Somewhere in China
Jiang Xu Guan tensed when he heard the snap. With eager eyes, he looked to the unassuming 'metal lunchbox' between the clawed fingers of a certain red dragon. Or dragoness, to be exact. Thalathis he'd learned was her name, her conversation with Sun Tzu having revealed quite a bit about her - including the ability to take on that smaller, more human-sized form that now stood before the wooden workbench she'd used to piece together the construct before her.
True, she was still decidedly 'monstrous' by human definition, clawed feet digitigrade, and though her hands now had four fingers, their claws were still only too prominent. Her scaled nature hadn't changed much either, nor had the locations of plating on her body, even though she now wore a pair of earth-green shorts held up by a segmented belt that looked to be forged from some sort of black armor. The same material seemed to comprise the 'enforcer'-like tank top that covered her...
"Quit staring at my chest." a displeased huff at Xu Guan caused his body to practically lock up, standing stiff as stone within her glare as she let the box (and the other things on the worktable) be and stepped to where a wall hanger supported a black, hooded cloak, "Honestly, do you humans really have to stare at everything that has a-?"
"I-I wasn't." the sorcerer interrupted with a stammer, watching nervously while the dragoness donned the robe, then headed back toward the table, "I was..."
"Yes you were." she retorted matter-of-factly and gathered the odd colelction into the pockets of her belt and cloak. She didn't even look his way, "Once I'll let slide, so admit it and I won't have to hurt you."
Xu Guan promptly took her up on that offer. Dragon, human, whatever the species, if it was a woman, it was never a good idea to make it mad. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "So...then why do you...?"
"Because I happen to like this form." came the response with both a devilish smirk as well as a playfully thrown, soccer-ball-sized blue crystal sphere that had to weigh at least a ton. No, two - for it took the air right out of the man upon being caught in his hands.
"Make sure you keep that nice and safe now." she wagged a finger while she added the last item she'd be taking (though not the last remaining on the table) to her arsenal: a silver cylinder nearly twice the length of a hand and at least three centimeters across. It also resembled the two others she'd placed in a pair of loops of her belt, though those were only half as long.
"It'll only strengthen your spells as long as you're close to it." she added, walking out of the chamber and seeking out the base's more spacious parts again, where she could once more assume her larger form in preparation for the battle she expected - not to mention magically stow away the things she'd carried on her for safekeeping until they were needed.
Thus she sought out Sun Tzu again with intent to convey she was ready to depart. She had already told him that she knew 'Lord' Teivos well in their earlier meeting, and that she would be heading out to pay him a visit as soon as she'd made the proper preparations. Whether or not the CPSR's forces would join her, this she left up to them, but she was going, and she seemed to know what she was doing...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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Flashpoint Zeo sighed at the veiled insult that Wolfgang delivered, twin curls of flame briefly detatching from his usual all-enveloping curtain of fire in the region one might assume his nostrils to be.
"To be retracting fangs, 'Wolf'." he said, sounding a bit aggrieved. "Dangerous 'stuff' not typically militarily oriented- to be being leftovers from godwars before era of humans, and uncontrollable by same, or Persons or Entities of Mass Destruction, sometimes to be being accidental results of rather stupid experimentation... is rarely deliberate; dimensional travel technology being carefully guarded, and blowing up dimension one happens to be standing in rarely gives desired result, unless result to be being suicide on grand scale."
A pause, and a shift of the massive shoulderplates in something that wasn't quite a shrug. "To not be quite same as heavy military buildup, fortifications, and ludicrous level of infrastructure apparently oriented towards conquest."
Another sigh. "As to Nazi popsicle, will arrange visit to interrment site personally..." via a portal, to prevent knowledge of the exact location getting out, and under the direct supervision of the Freedom Phalanx, he didn't add- Zeo rarely worked with the Phalanx, but... well, he knew a guy who knew a guy, as the vernacular went. "... once contact reestablished."
A raised eyebrow, mostly visible under the concealing hood by the widening of one blazing yellow eye. "To be planning on fighting whom, exactly, with all shiny military toys are producing?" he added as an afterthought.
-----
Sun Tzu bowed himself back into Thalathis' presence, giving Xu Guan a sharp look- the juniour official was rather more ambitious than the seniour tactician would prefer, something he considered could become problematic.
"<Alas, honoured ancient, my own presence is required here- a conference of the heads of the Sorcery Council has been called, amongst whom I am priviledged to count myself a member.>" he started.
"<However...>" the elder sorceror added quickly, quelling the dawning triumph on Xu Guan's face, "<My sorceries should prove equal to the task.>" The sharp scent of not-quite-ozone filled the air, the ominous chanting that those who knew Sun Tzu quickly came to associate with his magic swelling to a thunderous crescendo. Light flared, and when it cleared... nothing had happened. Sun Tzu stood there as before.
The old sorceror bowed again. "<Please forgive my absenting myself; I have already been summoned. What you see before you is a Homunculi woven of spirit, air, and fire. It has much of my power invested in it, and should be able to function as if I were present with you.>"
In the council chambers, the tactician tuned out the droning of the chief elder as best he could. If Teivos could somehow be forced to attend one of the council meetings, he considered, the man would expire of boredom before an hour had passed. The homunculus should prove an entertaining diversion, while allowing him to remain in perfect safety while his consciousness rode the construct.
"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"
"I'm sure you will." Wolfgang retorted, the 'don't bet on it' in there more than obvious, "As for our target? Your world, of course. Yes, that means I still do not believe you, and that things will go ahead as planned until we know for sure. If der Reichsmann's state is as you say, you've nothing to worry about."
He said this as casually as one might be discussing the recipe of that cake in the picture, the lax shrug of one hand underscoring the candor in his words, "Any further questions? Something regarding this world, maybe...?"
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"Works." Thalathis gave a neutral nod, not seeming to care one way or another as she headed for the departure point. She'd of course be using a gate to get to Stewart Island, not much interested in crossing thousands of kilometers of sea by flight. Even a dragon in its feral form would be utterly exhausted after that, and that just wouldn't do right before a fight.
"Hey there, big guy." she shot a mischievous glance to the male fire dragon en-route, "You ready to go stir up some chaos in a hornets' nest...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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((Gadzooks, I thought I'd posted here 2 days ago!
My apologies, I forgot to parse. 
))
"With whom?" Wolfgang inquired skeptically, the designation taking a few moments to process, as well as very visibly not doing anything to improve his mood toward Zeo. By all signs, it had quite the opposite effect, for he replied, "Oh. Nothing much, really. Attack on a head of state, attempted murder, kidnapping, battery, supporting a terrorist organization, resisting arrest, the very gratuitous destruction of private and public property you mentioned, and general violent behavior and non-compliance with law enforcement. Most of those have multiple counts."
"You are quite correct." the cyborg one more turned to Isabel, his tone toward her much more amicable and thoughtful. He still paid due attention to the tanker, however, "Unfortunately, memories can be fabricated...or at least in this world, they can. Not sure of yours. Still, we have accounts from two natives of your world that der Reichsmann has taken over. While they have not exhibited model behavior either, and I wouldn't trust them with any amount of money, no matter how little, at least one has proven he can be trusted to do the right thing when it comes to people he believes in danger."
"You can see where this leaves me." the metal Caldok added with a curt, nasal sigh, "It is your word against theirs, which not only appears more trustworthy, but based on the state of this world is statistically more likely. Therefore, my only option at this point is to detain you until we are able to open another portal to your world and gain first-hand confirmation from our own forces. Until this..."
He stopped, looking to the Tsaiv officer in the manner of someone who'd just been whispered something in his ear.
"I agree." the cyborg gave him a nod after a few seconds of consideration, turning back to Zeo with what might have been a suspicious smile. He motioned toward his own person with a hand, "You wanted to meet the Sovereign? Please, come."
He stepped from the cell, the armored guards backing off, but not lowering their weapons just yet. In the process, Wolfgang told Isabel, "You're welcome to come with if you like..."
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Sydonia and the present personnel backed off at this sudden change, duly surprised. Biotechs stepped behind armed and armored soldiers, a situation like this not entirely without precedent here.
The reanimation vats were designed with a fair amount of resilience. After all, as Kruger's presence showed, even enemy super soldiers were at times subjects in this facility, and thus it was quite logical it be prepared for their escape attempts. Still, the transparent metalplastic was by no means unbreakable. Like the Stasis Chambers heroes and villains were often familiar with back on Primal Earth, it could take a beating, but under enough pressure would succumb...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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