The Hunt for Requiem: To Search A Thousand Worlds
By
Aisla,
Posted on: 2006-06-13 08:04 in Roleplaying
IC 14/06/06 23:45
Doctor Macallister strides through the metal-plated corridors of the High Energy District of the underground Laboratory, his expression lined with tiredness but creased yet further in thought.
A looming bulk stomps from a side entranceway, the door hissing open and shut as the gleaming metal giant steps through the doorway to fall into step beside the Doctor.
"Ah, PRIAM," greets the Doctor, "Good timing. Shadow's Grace, Sara Aegis, and a team of 'bots have headed to Gamma-Rho-8201-K. Best get a secondary locator beacon over to the portal chamber, they'll be needing it soon. After that, please send someone to liase with the Free Clockwork of Dark Astoria."
PRIAM is an expressionless automaton, but he groans softly.
"I know you think the Clockwork are all on some sort of robotic amphetamines, but they'll be doing sterling work during this operation," reassured the Doctor. "I'm back off to orbit. I'll see you later on, old chap."
The only response is a metallic steam-filled sigh.
OOC
This is a post to describe how I'll be trying to shepherd the path of this multi-stranded multi-SG plotline.
"With Difficulty."
Ahem.
No, in truth, the plan:
As I'm informed of various PC actions (via PMs or through reading board posts or both) then I'll endeavour to keep a catalogue updated regularly in this thread to chart the progress of the plotline. Naturally, responses to investigations or operations will be done through PMs (or in-game, in the case of Events/Plot Missions) .
I see activity on this plotline falling into one of these categories:
1) RPed Core Missions: "Events"
These missions are key points in the developing storyline and will generally correspond to the core plot points (which can and will evolve due to player actions). An example of an 'Event' would be the Final Showdown against Requiem, or the placement of the Prime Locator Beacons.
These will be run at prearranged points, GMed by me, and listed in this thread under 'Events'.
Organisation for these events will be arranged with the participants, via posts on this thread and via IC feeds from PCs and NPC alts in character at the Galaxy Girl meets.
2) RPed Development Missions: "Plot Missions"
These missions will occur in direct response to player actions. Depending on the nature of the missions, they may have a variety of purposes. An example of a 'Plot Mission' would be a raid on the Requiem Faction's Striga Island staging areas.
These will be run at times set in agreement with the relevant participants. They may be GMed by me or GMed by a member of the supergroup (or supergroups) involved who will be given the relevant information they require. This will allow for flexibility of timing.
Organisation for these events will be via player interactions with each other and with myself via posts on this thread or by PMs (or both).
In most cases an IC 'Alliance Contact' will be determined who will also have rough responsibility for determining times and dates.
3) Offline Investigations
These activities serve as a way to get individual characters and groups more directly involved, and generally involve things such as information gathering or similar actions which do not need (or would be difficult to do) in-game RP. An example of this would be shaking down street level informants for information, lab research, or use of satellite networks and so on. The results of these investigations and activities will then hopefully be shared at Galaxy Girl and other roleplay meets to allow people to all work together - we are after all trying to foster community action.
These will occur via the message boards here and will be GMed by myself. You may choose to contact me first to see what results you get and then write some fiction here to describe the action, or to write the fiction first and recieve a response via PM for futher fictionage or reaction at GG.
IC June 15th, 1130 hours
[i]
"DiscGen One Online, DiscGen Two finishing Power on Self Test, DiscGen Three entering rotational configuration mode." Anna shouted out over the noise in the lab.
"Alright, once they're all online, start the portal diagnostics and get Euler computing dimensional calculations, I want this place capable of dimensional infractions in at least three hours." Zorielle yelled back, before heading out of the lab sunk deep under Skyway City to a room a few corridors down.
"Zori, I've got the processsing plants running and the dimensional scanners under production. The test model was able to interact with the designs that Doctor MacAllister gave us perfectly." Tessa smiled, dabbing at her forehead with her hankerchief.
"Great work love, and here," she said, handing her wife a small laser pistol and holster, "I want us to be ready for if we get any visitors of an unwanted nature."
Tessa attached the holster to her belt and nodded. "Jess and Kiyarii are looking after the twins, right?" she asked.
"Yes, and they're at Hannah's flat at the moment. This whole operation is rather risky, I'd like to mitigate some of the oppertunities our enemies might have for retaliation if they catch wind. Finish up in here and help Anna out in the portal room, I'm off to see Hannah." Zorielle said, giving her wife a kiss before heading to the satelite uplink room.
"Mom, the information was delivered to Doc as soon as we opened up this morning. I'm keeping tabs on the situation here, I'll let you know if any anomilies pop up." Hannah said over her shoulder, not bothering to turn as her fingers sped across the keyboard, entering new data and terms.
"Very nice work, dear. We're taking a lunch break in half an hour, get one of the technicians to take over here." she smiled, before pausing. "Have the upgrades to the suit and security been put in yet?" she asked.
"Just finishing them off now, and the suit was ready at 10. I'll be there for lunch Mom, you go and rest your feet or something." Hannah smiled, giving a thumbs up over her shoulders.
"No time for that, if we can get the portal running we should be able to get teams marking dimensions more quickly. When it's running, we'll get Jess to Alpha Rho Epsilon 18. The sooner we get that place marked the better, I don't think we could do with an infection case to any of our colleuges."
"Amen to that Mom, one's bad enough." Hannah laughed.
Current Operations as at OOC 15/06/06 15:00
Ongoing Investigations<ul type="square">[*]Satellie Shenanigans - Arctic Princess of the Workers of Eastern Europe has been making use of the ZorTel Corporation's Satellie Network in collaboration with various ZorTelites[*]Cruisin' for A Bruisin' - Crucifix Blade has been shaking down informants all over the city for information[*]Doing the Turncoat Twostep - Red Hammer has been trying to see if he can use turn his recent mistake in unwittingly aiding Requiem to the use of his allies as well as interlinking the groups' communications networks[*]Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends - Shadow's Grace and Sara Aegis for the GoD, and Jessica Kade for the ZorTel Corporation, have been attempting to shorten the list of potential dimensional destinations and scout out the sites for placement of locator beacons[*]Here a Clock, There A Clock, Everywhere a Tick-Tock - The Free Clockwork of Dark Astoria and their mistress Lyn-Legend have been scouting two dimensions for potential clues and found a world of Council....[/list]
Next Events
Plot Mission: Striga Operation One: Where Have All The Portals Gone
Mission Goal: Confirm the transportation of portal equipment off Striga by the Requiem Faction and attempt to disrupt the manufacturing process, gathering further information on where Requiem's back-up facilities might be.
Mission Announced IC: Yes. Current Alliance Contact for this mission: Red Commissar
Current Mission Roster: Red Commissar, Red Hammer, Arctic Princess
OOC Mission Time: To be determined but must be complete before the end of this weekend.
Mission Level and Structure: Location will be Striga Isle, hence Level or Sidekick to 25 range will be required.
Event: Beacon One: Though I walk through the Valley of the Hydramen, I shall Fear no Hentacles
Mission Goal: Placement of the first primary locator beacon and it's defence.
Mission Announced IC: No. To be announced at GG tonight.
Current Mission Roster: None
OOC Mission Time: To be determined but likely to be this Sunday 18th June.
Mission Level and Structure: Location will be Instance through Peregrine Island, hence Level or Sidekick to 48 range will be required.
Location: Dimension Kappa-Omega-381-Q
Base of Off World operations (BOW)
You'd expect a high-tech facility to be filled with futuristic mechmen and android women who were surprisingly formed in the most 'appealing' yes impractical way.
Instead, an army ran around the base, not one in green fatigues, not one armed with guns and USA badges but of small rusty metal men and women whom had giant keys sticking out of their backs.
Clockworks, armed with a strange backpack looking device and a turquoise glow in their eyes ran around, carrying boxes of supplies, pieces, other clockworks, metal, a painting of queen Victoria, detective comics issue one, a cowboy hat and matching (working) revolver stolen from a Malta operative, a Zenith Mech Man (despite his protests), A DVD on Lacrosse and a Female clockwork (Despite her protests also).
In one of the many rooms sat a woman, hugely tall and overtly athletically built the colossus saw at a work station, parts placed out to build another Clockwork; to add to the insanity. Or at least they would have been, but the raven haired lady was one thing the others were not.
Asleep.
Asleep at the switch, down on the job, sleeping on duty or any other variations of asleep while you're meant to be working you can think of.
Her body moved slightly, the black and purple dress she usually wore replaced by a suit of Armour that made her look as if she was one with the minions she created, a tattered cape flowing lightly, it's shards reaching the floor.
A paper white face however seemed to contrast this, despite the deep gashes in her skin forcing it to be scared she seemed more in piece asleep than her Armour or Clockworks. Long-ish hair fell over her face as she continued to slumber on her own arms.
A small, highly advanced Sprocket unit wandered in to her workshop. His parts, and the parts of all the clockworks on in the BOW, were far more refined then that of Cogs and the free Clockworks of Dark Astoria. Armed with the same backpack like object and turquoise glow in his bunker style visor he held up a box to the slumbering giant.
Miss Lyn? He asked lightly. The Doctor sends his compliments and he also sends you these. The giant awoke; very dark blue eyes a contrast to her pale skin shone as she looked down to the small unit. A smile came on her, surprisingly natural, dark lips, the edges curling lightly, deforming the soft cheek that it was attached to but not in a bad way.
Thank-you Rusty. She spoke. Rusty Bandage (A name he didnt much like) saluted the deity of the clockworks as she opened the box. It was full of cake. In a very unladylike display she wolfed the box down, the thick gloves on her Armour adding nothing to her image. RB stood there confused for a moment and worried when she actually ate the box as well.
Somewhat content she licked her lips and wiped her face with a napkin.
Just what the doctor ordered, if I may get away with such a pun. Wiping her hands lightly she went back to work, but instead of working on the clockwork that was in front of her she decided to stroll the base, maybe getting an idea what was happening. Thank-you for that. Report back to the Doctor saying thanks, but send more next time, after which go join Saras team as their medic. Youll do fine, trust me. He saluted again and ran off ahead of her to get all the necessary equipment ready as more Clockworks seemed to mill around, ranging from gears, to couples, to a Paladin Unit, whom had been built for off world heavy support.
She made her way up to the portal control room and looked down at the team that had just arrived back on base.
Report. She called as she walked in the room. A Duke, large and in charge bowed out to her and grabbed the checklist from the wall.
We have sent teams 1, 2 and 4 off world to recon and place bacons on the worlds, Delta-Delta-Bravo34, Alpha Rho Epsilon 18 and Charlie-Zulu-Omega 12. Teams Six through Twelve are off world also aiding them while teams three, five and thirteen through fourteen are being prepared, repaired and re-equipped. The mess hall, for pack replenishing, is operational, so is the medilab and construction bay. Clockworks are also repairing any damage done to the defenses and also manning more defenses so we cant be overrun. Babbage team two is being built and will make up team Omega.
Very good Duke, carry on. Ill be reporting to the doctor soon, so all this information will help and
She was cut off by shouting and screaming down on the gangplank towards the portal. Taking up a microphone she called down to the portal entrance. Whats wrong down there?
On the gangplank a Zenith Mechman, branded with the Black and White Cogs of the Astoria Clockworks, waved his arms around in a frantic manner.
They keep brining back the wrong information! He turned to a group of Cog Units, armed with helmets and guns they stole from council members and all sorts of pieces of paper and data-files (Team Four). No, no! Not Vandal, we dont want to know about him, we need information on Requiem.
We need all the information we can. Get someone to look at that. She reassured him.
But
Now Gustaf!
Yes Miss Lyn. He sighed dejectedly and forced them out of the door to get more information. Lyn knew this was going to give her an aneurysm, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had to do this, and her mild sacrifice now meant that several teams of Clockworks were off world and doing what they could. Armed with portable generators and data-pads they could achieve in weeks what it could take months to do.
Lets hope its enough.
Incoming traveler! A voice called from a station. Lyns face hardened as her head snapped back down to the portal.
Heres hoping its a friendly.
--------
Meanwhile in Dark Astoria, Cogs sat on his throne, his court empty as everyone had been preparing for this day, perhaps the last march of the earth Clockworks, but still a march indeed.
Standing he addressed the men and women of Dark Astoria.
Brothers, sister, sons and daughters. We have come to a day where we are needed. He stepped down and walked down the steps to his crowd, his subjects. Sprockets, Gears, Dukes, Cogs, Knights, Oscillators, Paladin and Babbage
We are to go to Striga Isles and take on the council. I know we do not have the might to take them on, but we have the numbers! We also have something they dont. We are Clockworks, and we can cause CHAOS! He roared, the crowd joining him. We are to disrupt their work, not to stop it. Ive bribed the boat in Talos to take us there, no questions asked. We get there, we cause trouble. Nothing else to it! Are you with me?
A roar came again as the clockworks started to march; thuds, thunks, clunks and clangs echoed as Cogs himself wrapped his cape around his shoulders and followed on the shoulders of Paladin.
Its time.
IC June 15th 1647 Hours
[i]
"Everyone clear the portal room! Get containment shields online and active!" Zorielle alerted the crew over the tannoy. The technicians and scientists hurried out of the portal room as various machines and instruments whirred into life. "Alright Jessica, I want you to get in there, plant the device and get out, try not to take too long." the buisnesswoman warned the young woman in front of her.
"Of course! I will be back in no time whatsoever, well, I will be a little while because I cannot operate outside of time to be back in no time but you do get what I mean!" Jessica smiled, adjusting the Zortel suit.
"I know dear, now take care and be careful out there, okay?" Zorielle said, giving the girl a kiss before getting out of the room to the control centre. Jessica picked up the scanners with ease and headed to the plate before the swirling vortex.
"Let's get started. Phase Shields initalized, nanoparticle blockers in place, tri-layer shields booting up." Hannah said aloud, reading off the computer screen.
"Jess, remember to keep your nanoscopic filters operational while you're there, okay?" Tessa said to her.
"I will, see you in a while!" she said cheerfully, as if she was just off down to the shops and not to another dimension.
"Dimensional Alignment in T Minus Ten Seconds! Infraction Engine online, you are clear to enter in T Minus Three, Two, One!"
The vortex parted and stabilzed as the heroine jumped through, before the protective shielding seals slotted over the vast rig.
"Scanning, no nanomite entities found." Hannah said with a sigh of relief.
"All we can do now is wait, and hope." Zorielle nodded, before drinking from the polystyrine cup she had.
-Alpha Rho Epsilon 18-
One year ago, an accident involving nanomites caused thousands of the microscopic machines to reproduce and enter every single part of the earth, assimilating the indiginous life forms and rewriting them to their own specifications. This alternate earth is classed as an Omega Level threat, due to the high risk of being contaminated by the nanomites.
Jessica emerged through the portal and glanced about. The dim speck of the portal's infraction point was visible to her. The world she had arrived to was lush, to say the least. Rolling green fields with tall trees leading up to a rather beautiful city, crafted from blocks of grey stone that had the uncany ability to not look dull and depressing.
Walking towards the town, she smiled as several women, with blonde hair of various styles came out of buildings to meet her.
"It is Jessica!" one said, waving her had excitedly.
"What brings you back to us again?" another asked.
"Hello Jessicas! I was wondering if you have seen any odd men on your planet. About six foot tall, with pale skin and a purple glow?" the nanohuman asked, making motions with her hands.
The two women who had spoken closed their eyes. "No, we have not seen anyone like that here, and we would know if we did!" they replied.
"I see, have you seen anyone not of ourselves?" Jessica asked, looking thoughtful.
"No, we have not. You are the only visitor here since last time, and we would know if anyone arrived even if we did not see them." one with her hair in a bun replied.
"What is that you have there?" a slightly younger looking one with pigtails asked.
"Oh, this is a dimensional scanner, to see if we can detect this person if he arrives. Would you let me leave it here so that we can see?"
The group of blonde women closed their eyes again, before all smiling brightly. "We have looked at it and it does as you say, so of course you can! If you need any help just let us know!" they replied.
"Yay, thank you! It needs to be put in these co-ordinates, can you take it there and set it up?" she asked one with long hair in braids.
"Of course, will you be leaving now? We have made cakes and tea." she said brightly, taking the scanner.
"I am afraid so, yes! But I will be sure to try and drop by again sometime and take you up on that!" Jessica replied. The other women pouted before waving. "Bye bye!" they said.
"Bye!" Jess smiled, heading back to the infraction point. After a few moments, the portal opened and she hopped back through.
"Scan complete, she's clean and so's the air around her. Lower the shields!" Zorielle ordered, before heading towards the portal section.
"So, how was it?" Hannah asked.
"Oh, they invited me for cakes and tea but I declined. They did not see anyone matching Requiem's description, or anyone else, but they have agreeed to let us keep the scanner there in case." Jess replied, before musing. "I could have gone for cake..."
IC Interlude 14/06/06 22:00 hours
Dan groaned as the voice of his mother called from downstairs. Time for bed now Dan! Turn that PC off, its a school day tomorrow!
Yeah mom, Im just finishing a download, 2 minutes, please?
A pause, Alright, 2 minutes, then I was that thing off and you in your bed, its 10 Oclock!
Dan got up from his chair and shut his bedroom door, muttering. Nag, nag, nag.. It IS my 14th birthday yknow
Returning to his PC in the dimly lit room, he checked the progress of the buffering; great, almost at 100%!
Tapping impatiently on his desk, his other hand worked the mouse, quickly scanning the forums on the underground hero site he was browsing, hoping for some more parts to the video. Odd that there were no comments attached to this video file, but hed soon get to see the goodies himself!
Finally, the buffering finished and the file started to play, glancing at the title bar, MissEllieSpyCamXXX001.avi, Dan grinned.
As the video played back, Dans grin faded and his eyes widened with horror. Whilst the file ran its course, Dan sat frozen, unable to tear his eyes away from the footage. Eventually, after about 20 seconds, the playback ended and Dan stared at the now black screen, his eyes wide in shock, Jeeeeez!!!
As he sat, almost frozen, his mothers voice once again called from downstairs, Dan, times up, shut that computer off, now!
Looking up from his reverie, Dan quickly shut the PC off and scrambled into his pyjamas. Sorry mom, its off now! Night! Jumping quickly into his bed, Dan glanced back at his PC, Damn, thats the last time I go to THAT site!
(( For people involved in the plot that would be likely to access the various underground hero websites and usenet links, please PM me and Ill relay whats in the footage. ))
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
IC: June 15th 17.00 hours
A small team of technicians, attired in olive boiler suits with the insignia of the Red Hammer team clustered around the pile of communications equipment. Russian voices rapidly argued back and forth.
"We've been going for hours and nothing! I say we take this thing apart and see if there's even anything inside."
"Gregori, you know as well as I do that the Ansible is not to be dissasembled."
"P'fah! Ansibles are science fiction, Jakob. This is a toy and nothing more. I think McAllister just wants to see how long we take to work that out."
"Come on, Gregori - you've seen the stuff that's been leaked to the web. McAllister's nothing short of a miracle-worker. If anyone can get supra-entanglement to work, it's him. Boris, is there anything we haven't tried yet?"
The wiry man called Boris looked up from a sheaf of papers. "We've tried every configuration I can think of. It doesn't make sense - with the exception of the link itself, the basic principles have hardly...wait a minute....This modulator isn't switched on..."
"It's there! We've got a signal! The Workers are on GoD-net!"
The video player flashed to static. For a long moment, Nathan didn't move.
Then, slowly, he stood up.
That had been Ellie.
And whoever had leaked this tape had most likely done it maliciously.
A single black-clad hand ejected the tape. He looked at it for a moment. Then, he slid it into his belt.
Ellie deserved to be told.
The sports car screeched through the barely opened gates at high speed, hurling gravel across the lawns. The gardener, who had spent all morning cutting the grass winced as control slipped for an instant, and tyre tore a gouge through the turf.
"Mr Richard's in a state, again..." He muttered to himself, before turning back to the bedding plants he was carefully pruning.
Richard Huntington III pulled his Aston Martin to halt in front of the doors to his house, and leapt from the car at a run, the engine still idling.
One wave of a hand sent a flicker of energy at the doors, which opened with a satisfying crash. Richard's butler took one look at his face, and decided that silverware needed a good clean, ducking down a side passage to avoid his employer.
Richard marched on, unseeing.
He stormed into his office, reached under the desk and punched the concealed button. The door slowly slid open onto the spiral staircase that led into the basement.
He leapt onto the stairs, using a cushion of energy to act like a surfboard, round and round and round, until he slid into the concealed basement.
The energy beneath his feet dissipated with a thought.
"Computer!" He snapped. Hardly waiting for the trilling beep that signaled the computer was wating for a command, he went on.
"Analysis package 482. Run sigma-2 enhancement. Open door... one."
Ignoring the scrolling data on the monitors, Richard turned to a doorway that swung open in a disused corner of the room. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders, and moved toward it.
*****
Minutes later, a dark clothed figure stood in the basement. Black on black, a faint halo of energy could barely be seen around it.
"Computer. Concurrent to existing orders, open gate two."
The computer considered the order for a microsecond.
"Warning. Costume designated 'Dark Shadowe' removed. Police action probable. Police files still hold 'deadly force' response. Gate two secure."
A gasp from behind him made Richard whirl around. Sam stood there, her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"Y...You...Richard? Is that you?"
Richard grunted assented and gave a jerky nod.
"You're that crazy guy the police were after last year? The vigilante?"
Grunt. Nod.
"Where are you going? Why are you going dressed like that? What are you trying to do?" Sam was obviously shaken, her mental voice practically driving Richard to his knees.
Gathering himself, Richard stood up straight once more. "I'm going to play hunt the Council, Sam. I'm going to head over to Striga, and cause a huge ruckuss, and hopefully focus all attention on me, and that way the Council will be looking the wrong way when everyone else tries... whatever it is they're trying."
Sam looked exasperated. "You can do that as yourself! Go as Shadowe! Not that...criminal!"
"I can't Sam. Shadowe's a hero. All good, and proper and upstanding. Like this, I can do what needs to be done, and the bad guys won't have any idea what I might do next, because they won't be thinking in terms of arrest, they'll be thinking in terms of deadly assault. That will make it easier for me."
"I won't let you go." She moved in front of the panel that led to gate two. You'll have to go through me first, Dicky-boy."
"I'm sorry, Sam." A crackling burst of energy leapt from Richard's hands, knocking Sam back into the wall. As she struggled to get to her feet in a losing battle with unconsciousness, her brother bent light around himself, rapidly vanishing from view. The last thing Sam saw as darkness crept up on her was the panel sliding open for a brief moment, and then closing again.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise 
; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
Current Operations as at OOC 15/06/06 23:50
Update PMs Scheduled for 16/06/06 10:00
Ongoing Investigations
<ul type="square">[*]Satellie Shenanigans - Arctic Princess of the Workers of Eastern Europe has been making use of the ZorTel Corporation's Satellie Network in collaboration with various ZorTelites[*]Cruisin' for A Bruisin' - Crucifix Blade has been shaking down informants all over the city for information[*]Doing the Turncoat Twostep - Red Hammer has been trying to see if he can use turn his recent mistake in unwittingly aiding Requiem to the use of his allies as well as interlinking the groups' communications networks[*]Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends - Shadow's Grace and Sara Aegis for the GoD, and Jessica Kade for the ZorTel Corporation, have been attempting to shorten the list of potential dimensional destinations and scout out the sites for placement of locator beacons[*]Here a Clock, There A Clock, Everywhere a Tick-Tock - The Free Clockwork of Dark Astoria and their mistress Lyn-Legend have been scouting two dimensions for potential clues and found a world of Council....[*]Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics - Miss Ellie, eager to lift some of the workload from Doctor Macallister, has taken on some of the burden of collating and interpreting the incoming data in collaboration with the Lab Girls, CIRCE and PENELOPE.[*]Relegation to the Second Division - The split-into-two-bits Hikari-Hime, in the forms of Hikari and Minny, are trying to get involved in the vanquishing of Requiem. They're starting to chafe at the responsibility of 'making the tea'...[*]Through The Glass Darkly - Richard Huntington, shunning his persona of the hero Shadowe, is taking the fight to the Council on Striga Isle, hoping to focus their attention on him so that others may succeed.[*]Don't Panic, Mr Mannering - Arctic Princess and a select group of earthbound heroes are forming a Task Force to detect and react to Requiem's inevitable counterattacks.[/list]Next Events
Plot Mission: Striga Operation One: Where Have All The Portals Gone
Mission Goal: Confirm the transportation of portal equipment off Striga by the Requiem Faction and attempt to disrupt the manufacturing process, gathering further information on where Requiem's back-up facilities might be.
Mission Announced IC: Yes. Current Alliance Contact for this mission: Red Commissar
Current Mission Roster: Red Commissar, Red Hammer, Arctic Princess
OOC Mission Time: Friday 16th June - Gather at the Statue at 9pm, depart for Striga Isle approx 10pm
Mission Level and Structure: Location will be Striga Isle, hence Level or Sidekick to 25 range will be required.
Event: Beacon One: Though I walk through the Valley of the Hydramen, I shall Fear no Hentacles
Mission Goal: Placement of the first primary locator beacon and it's defence.
Mission Announced IC: Yes. See Below.
Current Mission Roster: None
OOC Mission Time: Sunday 18th June - Gather at the Statue at 7pm, depart for Peregine Isle approx 7:30pm
Mission Level and Structure: Location will be Instance through Peregrine Island, hence Level or Sidekick to 48 range will be required.
OOC
A global chat channel has been created for management of this plotline: 'Rebirth'. This will allow communication for players not necessarily in the prime coalitions. All participants in this plotline are invited to join it. Abuse of this channel for unrelated subjects will not be tolerated (that's why we have GGOOC 
)
Kata was talking to herself, which was a bad sign.
"So, I can check off the defence plan. I need to speak to Ana about this Umbral Aegis thing the doctor mentioned. Codenames...codenames..."
Kata suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing and made her way from Galaxy City to the ZorTel lab in Skyway.
***
The small 'lab' that had been set aside for AP was a cosy affair. She had a bank of monitors to look at, all showing a variety of strange patterns, seemingly endless streams of numbers, languages both archaic and modern. Kata felt like a dog chasing its own tail whenever she came in here: there was almost too much information to sift through.
After a few minutes of being driven slowly insane by a knowledge overdose, Kata decided to pay the coffee machine another visit. She found herself talking to that too, and was most surprised when a computerised voice bleated back
"What would you like to drink this evening?"
Voice activation?
And then it dawned on her - she had heard rumours that the ZorTel corporation was a beacon of technology in Paragon and beyond but had never experienced this first hand - the information she was receiving through the satellite links could be funnelled and tuned in by asking the computer to exclude certain sources. Kata made her way back to the lab, hot coffee in hand, and sat down at the console.
"Computer. Please exclude all data streams from...Europe"
Kata waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. The monitors didn't even flicker. Endless streams of information flowed past her eyes and still made no sense whatsoever.
She tried a different tack,
"Computer. Please stop information feeds."
Again nothing. Kata felt the pressure mounting on her, weighing her down. She had promised to do a lot of things. In fact, now she came to think about it she had created a lot of work for herself to do without thinking of the consequences: She was searching for access codes to the Striga Isle Council bases, monitoring the ether for portal locations and now she had forwarded her plan to organise a defence force in Paragon to move against any counter-attacks Requiem deemed fit to rain down.
Kata took a sip of coffee, then realised she had drunk all of it and made her way, under a deep fug, to the talking drinks machine outside in the hall. It wasn't there!
Kata rubbed her eyes in a mixture of disbelief and overtiredness and squinted down the corridor. No signs of life, mechanical or otherwise.
And then the unthinkable happened, Kata began to cry. Perhaps it was the coffee, or the late nights or the sudden realisation that once again she was just one ordinary human against an army of the unknown and 'out there', but she cried nonetheless.
After a few minutes that felt like an age, Kata picked herself up and dragged her body back to the console with its glittering monitors and strange buzzing noises-
Strange buzzing noises?
She listened intently, her ears taking over from what her eyes could not see and, with a sense of inevitability, lowered herself under the metal frame of the computer and noted the wires that had been cut - sparks jumped like hot fat in a frying pan.
Pulling herself back up onto her chair, AP looked at the monitors and concluded that it was sabotage. Unfortunately she didn't have time to investigate the whys and wherefores - it was not an easy task in front of her, but Kata would have to risk using her own PC to crack those access codes. Portal searching would have to wait.
OOC - due to me being a little overzealous with posting and taking a few liberties, please ignore my post re Sabotage @ Zortel. Unfortunately I've missed the editing period (it was late but that's a pretty lame excuse 
)
I can safely assure you now that Kata's attempts to intercept access codes for bases on Striga Isle have been successful. Details will be relayed IC to the Workers and through a subsequent post. Sorry to jam the thread up like this.
Plot Update: 16/6/06 10:40
The following plots have been updated by PM:
Satellite Shenanigans - Distribution: Arctic Princess, Zortel
Don't Panic, Mr Mannering - Distribution: Arctic Princess, Red Hammer, Shadowe, Zortel
Cruisin' for A Bruisin' - Distribution: Cruxifix Blade
Doing the Turncoat Twostep - Distribution: Red Hammer
Through the Glass Darkly - Distribution: Shadowe
Feel free to write fiction posts, chat at GG, and otherwise distribute what you have learned.
The following plots have been added to the plot index:
Hax0r, Hax0r, My Kingdom for a Hax0r - the video and audio files of Miss Ellie's experiences at the hands of Requiem are spreading virally across the world wide web. Various heroes are attempting to slow and then cull the spread of the images.
IC 16/06/06 0157 hours
[i]"Well Hannah, for all the smart moves you've made, this one discredits them all." The blue haired teen mused to herself, drumming her fingers on her keyboard.
"I've got YouTube's moderators alerted to the video there, DDoS happening on those shock sites video and data servers... right, time to brew up something sweet."
Hannah hopped over to one of the PC's in her somewhat geekish office. Biohazard and warning stickers dotted the place, along with various sci-fi paraphernalia and items of geek culture. "If I can get this right and on the ad-servers, I can start distribution of the payload to corrupt the video..." she mused to herself, fingers skimming across the keyboard as lines of code got entered.
"Sorry about this, Internet." she smiled to herself. "I know you can take one more for the team, but this is a pretty big bullet. Let's call it even, you get through this, and I personally will get IPv6 more widespread. And some nice shiney new wiring for you. Deal?"
"There's a good girl." Hannah grinned as the virus started its upload. "Now, if we just bounce it off of this server here... here... here and here to the power of ten to the three... wait, what's that?" she blinked. Wheeling her chair across to another computer, she quickly booted it up.
"C'mon, c'mon, yeah, POST, get that over with... right..." she muttered to herself, before patting the desktop box. "Congratulations, you get to be a guinea pig to see what this little ******* floating about is up to. Don't worry, I saved your ghost." she said, steering the net browser onto an afflicted site.
"Jeez... this is going to take a while." she sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly. "Better call Anna in as well."
I have no idea what most of those are about.... *sniffle* Seeyou at 7:30pm
16-06-2006, 14:55 pm
Miss Vain stepped off the Yellow Line at the Kings Row terminal, pleased with the looks of admiration from the men and women, even more pleased with the looks of jealousy from the women.
Miss Vain took to the sky, staying low and flying at comfortable hair speeds straight ahead, she paused for a moment at the mirrored windows of an apartment on the top floor opposite the terminal. Not wondering in the slightest why these windows were mirrored, she was just grateful for the opportunity to make sure her lush golden hair was still in place.
Giving herself a wink she continued her journey, carefully avoiding the Clockwork on the roof. Merely concerned with the effect of their static charge on her hair, oblivious that the Clockwork seemed futile in their attempt at scavenging. Equally oblivious to what was going on behind the mirrored windows.
Inside the apartment the turquoise skinned, straw blond woman dressed in a plain robe was equally oblivious to the woman pausing outside her window. Too focused was she on the book in front of her, making notes on a piece of parchment with a quill. A casual observer might have thought it a scene from a Harry Potter novel, but here sat none other than the Grav Mistress, hard at work trying to help save not only the city this time, but the universe.
Looking over her notes, she pushed the book aside, causing another to fall off the desk onto a stack of books nearly as high. Taking a small green crystal that she intended to enchant, she looked over her notes one last time and began to weave her magic into the crystal.
Upon completing her enchanting, she examined the crystal. It looked good, the spell contained waiting for a trigger. Pleased with the results she reached for the mug nearly buried behind a stack of books. Sighing at the empty mug, she set the crystal down and went into the kitchen to set a fresh pot of tea.
Letting her thoughts wander for a bit as she waited for the water to boil, she felt the sensation of mint tea followed a content sigh that were not her own. Smiling as she poured her own tea, she thought: Enjoy your tea, love.
As Jessica emerged from the kitchen with her tea she turned to her desk to continue work on the trigger. But the sight that greeted her made her sigh in a way that said I should have know. Sitting down in her chair, she looked at the floating books, and the amazing clutter that had amassed itself in the desk drawers, at least now she knew where that pendulum had disappeared to last year.
Taking the opportunity to inspect the drawer contents through the invisible desk, she picked up the equally invisible crystal. She paid the emerging desk no mind as she examined the crystal, trying to find out what went wrong. Quill again firmly in hand, she made more notes, and continued her research.
@ShadowGhost & @Ghostie
The Grav Mistress, Mistress of Gravity
If you have nothing useful to say, you have two choices: Say something useless or stay quiet.
15-6-06, 11:30 PM, Atlas Park
The cross smashed into his belly again. Remy squealed in pain, the air rushing out of his lungs.
"I'm giving you five seconds to start talking, Mr. Robichaux, or it won't be a blunt instrument I hit you with next time." That light, sophisticated English accent was so out of place in the situation, but Remy- better known in Paragon's underbelly as the "Cajun Ferret"- didn't have time to talk recognise that.
"Please, m'sieur!" he sobbed. "Please! No more! I can't tell you any'ting! Requiem, he and his boys, dey break me if I talk!"
Nathan punched him, hard, in the face. The criminal's nose was crushed under the impact, and then he was being dragged back to his feet and thrust against the wall, a knife-point inches from his face. From behind his mask, Nathan glared.
"Remy," he said sweetly, "let me be frank here. Requiem and company are, I'm sure, very frightening. But you see, Requiem's faction aren't here, are they? Requiem isn't the one holding a knife to your face. And the thing is, Remy, if you don't start talking, I will start cutting, and before the hour is out, the Cajun Ferret will have more scars then Mick Jagger has had girls. Are we clear?"
Remy, still staring with horrified fascination at the knife, nodded very slightly.
"Excellent. Now, what do you know?"
The little informer swallowed, then started to talk in a frightened, off-key whisper.
"Requiem, he got a convoy head'n into Independence Port. From some lab in Skyway city."
The knife backed away a little from his face.
"I see. Where's the lab?"
The little informer wetted his lips, chapped from fear and bruised from several punches.
"I don' know, honest Mr Blade, sir."
Nathan sighed.
"Oh dear, Remy." Then knife was pressed close to his cheek. Remy squealed.
"Non! Non, M'sieur, please! I know when dey'll be at de docks!"
The hero paused, and the knife receded again.
"When?"
Remy, eyes tightly shut, told him.
Three hours later, Nathan sat alone in the Sanctum, eyes staring unseeing at the computer screen. His fingers tapped on the key-board as he gathered up what he knew.
Practically all his street-level informers had told him the Council was in a state of civil war. His better, more council related ones, had given him the names of leaders; Vandal and Nosferatu were each leading a faction against Requiem, the Nictus-host that everyone was interested in finding. Splinter groups, like Arakahn's, were being courted by all three factions for extra muscle.
"So
" he mused, "if the different factions are busy trying to pick up extra muscle, mightn't it be better to try and
stack the odds
?"
And then enlightenment struck.
Nathan grinned.
TO: Doctor Temporis
From: Coile, the Silent Tempest
Time: 16.6.2006 05:28
Subject: Joining the fray
I wish to inform you that Silent Tempest is available to combat this threat. Here is the list of members and affiliates:
Name: Coile
Position & status: co-leader, active, available
Security level: 23
Skills: Just clobbering the bad guys, flying (also a few people close enough)
Personal note: Currently it is safer if I don't get into enemy contact with telepaths.
Name: Coila
Position & status: co-leader, active, available
Security level: 26
Skills: protective shielding, teleportation
Personal note: Coila would benefit from helping out in something major.
Name: Kitia Shihardi
Position & status: healer, active, available
Security level: 16 (lowered temporarily due to changes in her nature)
Skills: healing abilities connected to the nature, some other abilities of which Im not quite sure. Her recent mutations have touched her abilities too.
Personal note: Her connection with nature in Paragon City has transformed Kitia from a human girl to a feral cat. She works better if lead on the field while being offered a supporting role.
Name: Sword of Truth
Position & status: Irreplaceable member, active, available
Security level: 35
Skills: While acting under the guidance of Truth and Justice she is very skilled (and dedicated) with her sword.
Personal note: Sword of Truth is the most skilled and capable of all the Tempest. A real asset for any team she fights alongside.
Name: Subaiku
Position & status: Accomplished member, active, available
Security level: 22
Skills: good at close quarter combat, jumps a tall building and can vanish into thin air.
Personal note: Suby is a hunter. A reliable fighter. Very much on the level.
Name: Steel Guard
Position & status: Technology expert, active, available
Security level: 21
Skills: Steel has a flight capable ranged combat suit. He also has commercial assets that he himself knows best. Remarkable technological knowledge.
Personal note: I dont know the guy, but he is helpful and hasnt messed up anything. Hes quite good with machines and has built every major system in our base.
Name: ND-3
Position & status: member, semi-active, unavailable
Security level: 8
Skills: various
Personal note: ND-3 is a mother to me and Coila. She isnt around much. I think dad keeps upgrading her and just never tells us hes turned mom offline.
Name: Rakila
Position & status: apprentice, student, active, available within limits
Security level: 8
Skills: undetermined. Rakilas likely powers are yet to manifest properly.
Personal note: Rakila is just 14 years old and has no combat experience. She is my student and will take part on a mission only with me or some other Tempest member as a part of her training program.
Name: Phaine
Position & status: student, fugitive, active, unavailable
Security level: unknown
Skills: telepathic blast that can wipe mind clean
Personal note: Phaine is my first actual student and currently on a run. She is a suspected killer and any sighting of her should be reported to any Tempest member the soonest. She shouldnt be actively dangerous but aggravating her might prove fatal. Talking is the way. Do not engage unless lives are at stake.
Name: Phiseeque
Position & status: student, active, available within limits
Security level: 5
Skills: telepathy, telekinesis
Personal note: Phi is the newest of my students. She is new to her powers and requires active training and supervision. She may take part on a mission along another Tempest member.
We have no special resources save for what Steel Guard can provide. What we have is willing people who have the desire to protect.
I am about to take a trip to Tien Shan mountain system in Kyrghyzstan. I will be around Engilchek glacier on the Tengri-Tag range and climbing (after a fashion) at least on Khan Tengri and possibly on Pobeda Peak also known as Mt. Tomur. If by any chance there is anything of interest around there I will be happy to look into it. Sword of Truth will be accompanying me. The trip might start real soon and last up to five days. I expect well be out of contact during that time but will report on return. Also, if there is a job to do around there, a more practical form of transportation than airplane would be appreciated.
Deep underground in a former Cold War bunker that was the Workers of Eastern Europe's base Red Commissar paced beside large map of a small portion of Striga Isle mounted on the wall.
The map it self was decorated with coloured pushpins and penciled in scribbles pointing out various features and details of the landscape. This map was the area above Council Base Sector 12-AX, the base that was the chosen victim for the recon mission.
Red Commissar knew this was not going to be a standard mission where they simply kicked the door down and cleared everything out. They needed to be fast, get the information needed and make sure the entire bases staff was captured and the base it self was destroyed.
He turned and walked over to one of the tables in recreation area and picked up one of the several cases taken from one of the many hidden Hero Corp Armouries that littered The Hollows. He hadn't handled this much explosive firepower in years.
He turned around and started making notes and objectives about tonights raid, simple enough for the mixed team to understand and carry our. He was up to the task, and he hoped they were also up to it.
((IC post regarding information passed to me for Plot Element "Through the Glass Darkly"))
Richard stood casually in one corner of the large underground room, and adjusted the telescopic zoom function on his goggles. The two Council goons stood to attention as their captain paced back and forth before them. His purloined uniform had enabled him to get deeper into the council base than he had ever hoped. Coupled with his newfound skill at bending light around his body, he could become effectively invisible, and had managed to sneak even further his stolen passcards would normally have allowed.
The captain passed something to one of the troopers that Richard couldn't make out.
Peeling a glove forward, he adjusted the dial on his wristwatch, turning up the gain on his audio enhancers.
"...see that this is distributed to all troops urgently. We must serve our master." The soldiers saluted and the captain returned their salutes. As they lowered their arms, Richard clearly heard all three mutter "For Requiem."
Bingo. Richard moved purposefully along the coridoor, imitating the stiff strides of a military officer.
As soon as he got to within arms reach of one of the soldiers, he spun, launching a devastating punch at the closest man.
Grinning behind his face mask, Richard put a growl in his voice and hissed, "Nosferatu says hi."
The trooper Richard had not hit grabbed his radio, and began screaming into it that they were under attack by an infiltrator sent by Nosferatu. Richard gave him just enough time to get that out before unleashing a devastating burst of energy at the man, sending him flying backwards to crash into the wall.
The other soldier had recovered from the initial blow, and began to unshoulder his rifle.
"Bugger that for a game of soldiers," Richard mumbled and unleashed a ripple of energy from his body. The soldier, just bringing his gun up to aim, flew backwards, barely injured, but unable to keep his balance.
A concussive blast followed an instant later, exploding between the two, and finally they slipped into unconsciousness.
Moving quickly, Richard rifled through their pockets until he found the object that had been passed to them by the captain.
The sound of approaching boots - lots of them - made Richard decide that discretion was the better part of valour. Bending light, he dissappeared from view, and began to make his way out of the building.
((To be continued...))
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
Charles stood casually in the entrance to the basement in Richrd's home, checking the security arrangements.
Suddenly, his com began screeching at him. "This must be serious. No Richard, no Sam and a priority one message on the com..."
He opened up the com and read the message. "Potential Code Red Alpha Six. All Warriors to prepare for immediate deployment at zero notice."
"Damn, I wish Richard would stop with all the pretend military coms. I bet it was Sam's idea... Oh well, I guess I should find out what this is all about - and how serious it REALLY is!"
Charles sprints out of the basement and heads to the one place he knows he can catch up with Richard and Sam.... Galaxy Girl's statue.
There were many layers in this particular Archons mind. Many villainous organisations, of course, had the rank of Archon in their hierarchy, but this particular Archon, who was known to all but himself as Archon Malice, was of the Council. What Alfred Bester found out in his mind, however, among other things, was that his real name was Norman Trotter. No wonder he hid behind the semi-fictional mental creation of Archon Malice.
He had once been a normal citizen, apparently a computing teacher from Massachusetts. Whilst Norman had been born in Manchester, the break-up of his parents had meant that he had moved in with his American aunt (ant, as his mind had it) at the age of three. After a reasonably uneventful life, which included becoming a U.S citizen, getting a job teaching computing, and becoming a hard-line Republican, he was captured and brainwashed (by what had then been the Fifth Column) at the age of twenty-nine.
As he had already been fairly conservative in his outlook, he readily took to the brainwashing, and soon rose quickly through the ranks. Now in his mid-forties, Archon Malice, as he now was, had been entirely surprised when his loyal, super-soldier bodyguard had suddenly gone flying off a cliff and onto the jagged rocks below.
Of course, despite his indoctrination, brainwashing, and the copious amounts of loyalty and performance drugs that circled his bloodstream, he was currently a gibbering wreck, pawing at the parts of his legs that lay just above the knee. While his knees were bent, the part above the knees also bent at a most unnatural angle. His mouth was agape, though thanks to his large, face-concealing helmet, this was not visible.
All this information, though, was nothing. Were it digitised, it would simply be an insignificant kilobyte amongst terabytes of data. The sheer vastness and majesty of even the weakest mind far eclipsed any computer. And yet this was what Alfred had to deal with daily, from so many different minds each with its own thoughts, hopes, dreams, beliefs, emotions, fears
Though admittedly, he nearly never had to deal with a mind in quite this manner. Despite the Archons injury, his internal mental conditioning had been strong. Like all barriers to the surface thoughts, this mans had been permeable and weak, swept away by a light touch from Alfreds mind. Whilst Alfred would usually not touch anything in a mind, special times called for special measures and it was clear, also, that this Archon would not be redeemed from his crimes any time soon. Besides, the partial fragmentation of the mind would likely help the rehabilitators in the Zig do their work.
The second layer was still easy to get past. Despite all the reinforcing that Council minds received, the primary flaw in that plan was that the average mind was weak in the first place. It was similar to layering paper you might double the strength of a paper barrier by adding another layer of paper to it, but it still wont be particularly strong no matter how many more layers you add.
The important thing about this Archon, however (apart from the fact that Alfred was by now internally referring to him as Archon Norman) was that he had had personal communications with Lord Requiem. Whilst the encryption on the communications themselves had not yet been broken, the sender and recipient were not so well-encrypted. And so the sender and receiver had been clear as day on the computer screen. Lord Requiem to Archon Malice. Archon Malice to Lord Requiem.
----
And so, earlier that day, Kitmarch and Alfred had set off to the particular Council cave complex where said Archon made his headquarters. After the usual fighting and planting of further surveillance programs in the Council computer networks, they had come upon the Archon making some sort of speech to the soldiers. After Alfred telekinetically tossed the elite bodyguards off an enormous ledge onto the spiky rocks fifty metres below, Kit had set about fighting no, demolishing the remaining score of soldiers.
She, surprisingly, suffered not a scratch. Even if she had, itd have healed within ten seconds or so, so it mattered little. Archon Norman, of course, had not done particularly well for himself either, having been slammed into the rocky roof of the structure and then right down into the floor by Alfreds gift. But back in the present, Kit stepped up onto the platform where Alfred knelt beside the semi-conscious Archon, the excess cases from twenty fired machine-gun clips pooled around the unconscious soldiers on the main floor behind her.
Kitmarch crouched beside Alfred and kissed him on the cheek.
Find anything in there yet?
Alfred replied without even stirring, his eyes still narrowed towards the Archon.
Not yet, Kit. Please let me concentrate.
Oops, she replied, Sorry.
Again, Alfred did not stir for a few minutes, and Kit went over to peer down the long drop and look at the bodies of Archon Normans elite bodyguards far below.
Alfred spoke, rather distantly, as he sensed new minds nearing. The Archons head fell back a bit, his ringing against the metal floor, and Alfred looked up at his beloved.
Kit? Roughly a squad of Council soldiers are coming theyll be in the adjoining chamber in a moment. Can you take care of them while Im working on Norman here?
She replied, slightly confused. Norman?
Alfred gestured down to the Archon, and Kit nodded. Oh, right.
She returned to Alfreds side, crouching beside him again. He turned his head.
Hmm
lemme think
she said quietly, pretending to consider his request, and then she leaned over to kiss him gently on the lips.
Alfred returned her kiss similarly, suppressing the reflex to wrap an arm around her. If she hugged him whilst wearing her powered battle armour, the experience could not be described as cuddly.
In the kiss, as ever when they kissed on their missions such as this, was conveyed a mutual message one that, at most times, never had to be spoken. The duality of I love you and Good luck, along with a host of other feeling and hope. They broke the kiss after a moment, and then Kitmarch stood, an armoured finger softly trailing the back of Alfreds hand for a second. She looked down at him, a grin forming on her lips.
Okay! she finally replied to Alfreds request, and leapt down from the stage towards the door to the next chamber. He turned his attention back to the Archon and woke him slightly with a tiny mental jolt, then set about continuing deeper into the pit of evil that was this particular mind. The third layer crumbled before him like old mortar. The fourth and fifth layers were similarly easy, and he continued breaking through them like a crossbow bolt through a sheet of wood.
----
Meanwhile, Kitmarch waited, her vigil in the next room continuing. The sound of clattering boots on stone and metal reached her ears, and she turned to the doorway from which the slightly threatening noise emanated. Going over to it, she saw a long, down-slanted corridor with what appeared to be metal steps all the way at the bottom. She walked down the rough-hewn corridor, a hand on the wall to steady herself on the floors loose, rocky dust, and got into position, ready to launch herself at the first Council soldier that reached the top of those steps.
Alfred reached the seventh barrier and stopped, hard the mental equivalent of emergency braking in a car, being pushed hard into the seatbelts. He took a moment to collect himself, and then had a look at the reason his precognition had stopped him from simply punching further into the Archons mind.
Whilst the mind is not something that can be described in any terms but its own, if at all, Alfred might have described what he faced as a fortress. Whatever it was, it stood, tall and menacing, dark and spiked. Even as he circled this bastion, he saw no opening, no way in. It seemed to leer at him like some ebon phantom in the gloom.
The first black-clad fascist emerged from the darkness ahead of Kitmarch, glowing-green night-vision goggles showing up first and then resolving into being attached to something moving. Kit leapt powerfully, in an almost catlike manner. She sailed through the air and her open palms contacted with the first soldiers chest with a thump, sending him falling backwards onto the dirt. Kit continued her forward momentum and used it to somersault her legs over her head, bringing her armoured heels down on the head of the next soldier. He too fell to the ground with a marked thud, and she dropped her feet to the floor on either side of the second soldiers head, now upright again. She lashed out a foot at the fascists helmeted head, knocking him unconscious, and, grinning maniacally, set about the third soldier.
Something malevolent lurked inside the seventh barrier. Though it was likely simply painted on by Alfreds own perception, what seemed to be the Council symbol mockingly adorning the walls of the mental fortress an even more sinister aura. It seemed as if whatever was behind those high palisades would be a deadly trap, but he knew he must go on. Distantly, the sounds of gunfire, shouting, and laughter reached Alfreds physical ears. He disregarded the physical and immersed himself in the mental realm. Slowly and surely, he began to chip away at the barrier, vaporising the dark tendrils that approached him with a lance of brilliant azure light.
Kitmarch was by now onto her sixth soldier, and had begun to laugh. Those who fought by her side would know that she was not quite herself in battle, but few, if any, knew the true extent of the alteration. Her kick, provided by her natural strength and then augmented enormously by her armour, slammed into the chest of the Cor Leonis in front of her and knocked all the air out of him with a loud whumph, sending him spinning first into the rocky wall and then down the flight of metal steps into his eighth fellow soldier. The seventh, meanwhile, had rolled under the sixths fall and now grabbed up at Kits leg. Too quick for him, however, Kit jerked her leg up and the gloved fingers that had clutched her on the reverse of the knee soon found themselves severed by the three blades on the reverse of her boot. His scream was muffled and thick blood began to pour from the stumps. Kits reply was simply constant, fearsome laughter as she loosed another kick at his helmeted head, sending his protected skull slamming against a rock. Then the seventh soldier felt no more pain or anything, actually - for a long while.
The amount of dark Nictus tendrils assailing Alfred increased as he bored through the barrier. Their black-purple whips lashed at him painfully, striving with every core of their being to destroy the intruder. Alfred resisted. His shining lances often severed them, causing them to writhe with pain and retreat to die their slow death, but there were ever more of them surrounding him. He could not break this barrier and defend himself at the same time. In the physical world, his body still knelt beside the unconscious Archon, Alfred remaining perfectly still, his blazing eyes narrowed at the figure below him. No normal observer could possibly sense the turmoil in the mental realm.
She had begun reciting some inane, unknown nursery rhyme in her head, now. Even had she been herself, she could not have identified it, or clearly remembered what it was. The number of something increased by one each time another soldier fell. At the moment, she did not care what, only that she was up to nineteen. Her armoured foot slashed up into the groin of a flamethrower-wielding soldier, his weapon sending a gout of flame cascading over Kitmarchs armour. It had no effect whatsoever, her face remaining twisted into a mask of rage, laughter, and concentration. The soldier realised this when what was meant to be an indestructible cup caved in between his legs. He fell forwards onto his knees in exquisite pain and she withdrew her foot, launching her armoured knee into the falling enemys chin. He lolled to the floor uselessly, a little blood seeping out from under his helmet. Twenty, counted the nursery rhyme.
There wasnt any hope, now. The darkness was closing in, the Nictus of the Archons fragment feeling triumphant as it battered at the fading incursion of light. It was as if Alfred had been backed into a corner, yet he would go down fighting. His radiant mental rapier parried the blackened swords of the legion of enemies, but slowly, surely, more of the blackened blades came through, further weakening resistance. Soon, there would be none at all, and the brightness would be forever extinguished.
Combat had become a sort of obscure, enraged dance.
One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four
Each numeral was a blow struck. Bullets from a large machine gun began to tear their way up the steps, shredding some of the firers allies and doing little but impact with and deflect from Kitmarchs armour. A bullet grazed her cheek and she snarled, a blow hurling a body down the way and knocking the gunner over like a living skittle. The dance was forgotten and fury became the focus. Had she been counting, her count would have reached twenty-four. Only a few now remained to face her wrath. She bounded down the steps, the wound on her face forming a scab, then a scar, then fading to clear skin in moments.
Alfreds rapier and lances were of no more use. He was spent, his will to fight nearly gone. And then one syllable, alien in the mental realm of this violence, drifted across his consciousness.
Kit.
His lances and rapier formed themselves into an incandescent sphere, small at first but growing larger and larger. The dark Nictus energy battered against it, but found itself vaporised wherever it touched. Like a disease, or liquid soaking through cloth, the dazzling azure light spread through the Nictus until it was no longer dark. It faded away to nothing and the fortress disappeared, the entirety of the Archons mind instead bathed in light. Memory came freely to Alfred now, just as if they were his own. He sought out the Archons conversations with Lord Requiem and found them, triumphant.
----
The final Council soldier of thirty threw himself at Kitmarch, a deadly blade in his hand. The still-enraged woman leapt into the air, whirling her body around, and brought her boot in contact with the soldiers helmeted head. There was a wet snap and the neck bent un-naturally to the side in the direction of her kick. A strange, clinical part of Kits mind noted that the spine had been severed and that the soldier was dead. She stood there, breathing heavily, the red mist slowly clearing. She looked around at the dead and unconscious bodies around them, but only gave them a cursory glance. She rushed up the steps, along the sloped corridor, and into the adjacent chamber, bursting through the threshold to where Alfred knelt.
Alfred smiled wanly up at her, now returned to the physical and somewhat disoriented.
You look like you worked rather hard
he said.
So do you, she replied, and looked down at herself. Scorch marks, bullet damage, and drippings of fluid adorned her armour. Me maybe more. She grinned slightly at the admission, then spoke again.
Find anything in there? she asked again.
I have, Kit
Alfred replied, standing slowly. And whilst we won this battle, I am not sure we should be happy. For we have certainly not even begun to win the war.
What is it? she said, curiously, head tilting to one side a little.
Requiem has decided to augment the Nictus Fragment system. Hes going to merge full Nictus with his most loyal Archons
like Norman there.
Alfred continued.
It gets worse, though
it doesnt stop at Archons. His plan, eventually, is to brainwash heroes, then merge them with Nictus. Perhaps that is what they wanted with Ellie
a miniature Requiem
Alfred sighed.
I would rather we didnt worry about this now, Kit. I need a rest after that
Same. Kit replied.
Shall we?
Of course.
Kitmarch stood on her tiptoes and kissed Alfred firmly. The kiss was soon broken when, despite her tail, her balance was lost and she rocked back onto her heels. She smiled slightly as Alfred arrested her fall with a hand.
They walked out of the cave-base together and returned to their home. There, they did indeed rest, as sleep overtook them both quickly and left them with each other in their dreams.
IC 17/06 2.00 am
Jakob sat by Kata's bedside in the Bell Point hospital, looking sorrowfuly over her sleeping form. The doctors said she had sustained multiple broken ribs, and his own cursory analysis of her armour revealed extensive damage, but fortunately no penetration. None of the expedition had escaped unscathed - he thought of Volt Master, cut down mere minutes after gaining entry - currently recuperating with the help of GoD healing drones. As for Jakob, his damage had been relatively light, a few dents to the armour and nothing more. If only he had been in the right place to save them.
He looked on Kata's face once more. She looked to be in a deep sleep. He picked up his data pad and began to write the mission report, casting occasional glances at Kata in case she should wake up.
" Striga Island expedition formed 2200 hours, members were myself (Red Hammer), Arctic Princess, Red Commissar, Volt Master, Sword of Truth, Shadowe, Corpos and Suibaku arrived at landing zone on Vampyri Mountain 2210. Area between LZ and objective patrolled by numerous groups of Council sentries and Banished Pantheon monsters. After securing location, entry to objective was made at 2220, with the help of Shadowe's cloaking projector. Intially encountered light resistance, which was defeated with little difficulty. Following intial conflict, Volt Master was critically injured, apparently by a shot from a wounded soldier who had been presumed incapacitated. Volt Master was succesfully evacuated to obtain medical treatment. Expedition proceeded into the base and encountered an ambush apparently intended for Nosferatu troops. After defeating the ambush, Arctic Princess made her first attempt to gain access to the base systems. Although prevented from gaining access to the information sought, she was able to locate records on Requiem's actions against Nosferatu. Further progress was barred by a reinforced blast door until Arctic Princess was able to defeat security. Beyond the door, further Council troops were found guarding a series of prisoners in cruciform torture devices. Contact was made with the free clockwork of Dark Astoria to arrange an evacuation, but it became apparent that a teleport blocker was present and would have to be neutralised before evacuation could continue. Unwilling to risk harm to the prisoners by releasing them immediately, the expedition split. Myself, Subaiku and the Commissar remained to guard the prisoners from further Council interference while the others attempted to locate the base commander, who possesed the authorisation to access the control terminal in the torture chamber. Arctic Princess sustained her injuries in the process of defeating the base commander, and myself and Subaiku were dispatched to assist. Requiem forces returning from a raid against nosferatu necessitated a redeployment to the torture chamber, where with the aid of the keycards taken from the commander an injured Arctic Princess was able to release the prisoners. Shortly after, the teleport blocker was destroyed and the Dark Astoria Clockworks were able to evacuate the prisoners. Prior to team evacuation, the command centre data banks were raided and demolition charges were set. Although the team's charges were sufficient only to destroy the data centre, a self-destruct mechanism was apparently initiated."
He looked over the report. A lot of stuff missing - some events he hadn't seen, and little mention of the information recovered. That could wait for another time.
IC 14/06/06 1.30am
Hikari opened her eyes, putting her hand to her head as a rhythmic thumping intruded on her consciousness, senses slowly returning as she slipped back into her body.
Stupid girl, Victoras in orbit, you have no idea what youre doing to yourself, how far is safe.
The world swam into full focus, and it finally dawned on her that the thumping was coming from the wall next to her, not her head after all. Hikari got to her feet, pushing her hair back out of her face, and muttered under her breath. Guess Id better go apologise, I warned her to stay awake
She opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, the door next to hers almost indistinguishable from her own apart from the large bolt on the outside of the door. Hikari took a deep breath and slid the bolt back, ducking as she opened the door slightly in case whatever Mina was pounding the wall with got aimed at her head. Mina would know exactly where she was, they had to concentrate not to know.
Nothing flew at the door, and Hikari looked round it to see Mina sitting cross-legged on the bed, the chair floating in midair and pounding against the wall rhythmically. She looked up at Hikari. Finally, you took long enough to wake up.
Hikari sighed and stepped into the room. Im sorry, I know I promised to only do it while you were awake, but it was important Mina shook her head, rising to her feet with practiced grace. I know, and Chichi looked so tired, is that why he hasnt come to visit us?
Hikari nodded at her, a faint frown of puzzlement on her face as Mina looked down at the floor for a moment as if considering something before looking up at her. I I want to help too
Hikari shook her head slightly. Papa wont let you, I dont know if hell even let me, I mean, I cant cross the portals, I cant leave you, I cant take you into the middle of a firefight
Mina looked sharply at her. Im going to help, I dont care what, even if its just making cups of coffee, and not actually fighting, I have to do something, anything Her voice trailed off and she looked pleadingly at Hikari.
Hikari bit her lip, then nodded. Ok, well go find Papa, but not right now, hes still on the station, and we both need some real sleep. In the morning I promise.