The Hunt for Requiem: To Search A Thousand Worlds
By
Aisla,
Posted on: 2006-06-13 08:04 in Roleplaying
Richard collapsed onto his bed. Today had been rather tiring for him. First he had spoken to the people in Applied Technologies and given them a copy of the Shadowmaker file, which they were diligently trying to crack in to. Then he had donned his Battle-suit and flown to Galaxy City in preparation for the assault against the Council on Striga Isle. Unfortunately, only Richard and Alfred had arrived for the meeting, so Alfred had decided that it was not worth attempting such a dangerous task with only two heroes. Having so much free time on his hands had meant that Richard was able to inflict some serious harm on Crey Technologies who were treating the Rikti Crash Site like their own private dumping ground. They wouldn't be doing that again in a hurry.
After that it was time for the nightly meeting at Galaxy Girl, and Richard smiled in memory. Alfred's joke had been rather funny, now that he came to think on it. All he had meant was that his experiment into Quantum Singularity power sources hadn't worked, and he's only tried it once.
What he'd said was "My one attempt to date hadn't worked."
Alfred's quip "You really don't have much luck with women, do you?" had passed him by initially, though he had registered the laughter in the background.
I'll get him for that, he thought.
His discussion with Jakob had been interesting, though he felt certain that there was something Jakob hadn't told him. He really disliked having a conversation when he only knew half of the background to it.
Thoughts of that conversation moved his mind into an odd sort of over-drive. Moments later he was sitting up in bed.
"Computer. Holo-display. Load datafile Project Exodus. Addendum. Load datafile Birth of Darkness. Addendum. Load datafile. Brown-Kuschenka Instability. Addendum. Run simulation 1420-Sigma compiling Project Exodus with Brown-Kuschenka Instabiltiy. Display results. Play video Birth of Darkness simultaneously. Display both at 1/60th retardation. Execute."
Two identical images appeared in the air before his bed. They slowly began to evolve.Identically. After four minutes and twenty-one seconds the simulation and video ended. Identically. Richard cursed. So simple, and yet he had missed it. The Brown-Kuschenka Instability had been highly theoretical when he began his work, so he hadn't thought it necessary to include the data in his models.
"Computer. Remove display Birth of Darkness. Apply efficiency enhancements to Dyson-shell siphon in increments of 0.0001%. Freeze display while calculations processed. Stop process if result ceases to qualify as 'catastrophic'. At stop, display result at 1/60th retardation."
*****
Samantha had just drifted into a deep sleep, when a loud CRASH shocked her awake once more.
A mental scream ripped through the house as her surprise made her momentarily lose her control.
"Lights!" She snapped.
As the ceiling lamp switched on, she saw Richard standing in her doorway, clutching his head.
Instantly she put up her mental blocks, and the 'sound' that had been tearing through the house ceased abruptly.
Richard shook his head to clear it, grinned, bounded across the room and swept his sister into the air, spinning her around.
"It works!" he shouted. "My God, Sam, it works!" His laughter was infectious.
Through her chuckles, Samantha managed to inquire what it was that worked.
Embarrassed, Richard gently set Sam on the floor.
Excitedly, he babbled an explanation to her, how if he hadn't spoken to Jakob the night before he never would have returned to the project, and never discovered how to improve on his design.
Samantha was suitably pleased for her brother, but was still worried. If something went wrong with one of his devices it would mean death on a large scale... or more people with strange powers on the streets of Paragon City.
Richard was extremely thrilled about the power/mass ratio of the device, and enthused over a new generation of power stations, but Sam couldn't but think about what might happen if some villain got his hands on Richard's design...
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.*
IC - 20/06/06 1400 hours - Bell Point Hospital, Marigold Ward
Kata looked at the card and chocolates again. She sighed and considered for a moment how she had gotten this far in her deception: It seemed that one lie easily led to the next - even the little ones where she pretended that she felt better in herself for resting. But now time was short and she should probably stop feeling sorry for herself.
She called out for one of the nurses and was pleased to see Michael padding up to her bed, "I'd like to make a phone call, if I may?"
"Of course. There's a phone in the staff room. I can take you there if you want."
"It's a private matter," she replied, batting her eyelashes a little, "Could I use one of the private rooms?"
Michael eyed her for a second as if he wasn't sure that this was such a good idea. But, not wanting to upset his remarkable patient, he made a show of looking round the ward and whispered conspiratorily, "All clear. Come with me."
Kata had been told by the staff that she should try to move unaided wherever possible so with a grunt of effort she threw off the bed covers and launched her feet at the floor.
The private room looked out over the harbour and the window was open a little to let the summer air in. Unfortunately, this being Independence Port, the summer air consisted of a cocktail of tar, sulphur and some, as yet unidentified, component. The pair made a joke of holding their noses before Michael went to 'stand guard' outside.
Kata sat on a cushioned chair by the phone and dialled a Galaxy City number, all the while checking to see that Michael didn't come back in. A well-spoken Russian woman answered, "Paragon City, Russian Embassy - how may I help you?"
Kata switched to her native tongue, "I would like to speak to your I.T. department, if I may?"
"Certainly, your name please?"
"Anna Borovski."
The receptionist pushed some unseen button and three faint clicks were heard. Then a gruffer, male Russian accent, which Kata identified as being from Arkhangel'sk, answered, "Good afternoon, Miss Borovski. Long time eh? How can I help you today?"
"Gregor! How is Alina, and the children. It's two boys isn't it?"
"Three! Little Ruslan was born three months ago. He'll make a fine defender. Alina is fine. She still nags me about the late hours I keep, but other than that married life suits me well. Arkadiy and Vadim are both excelling at school. Proper little Americans now. Ha!"
Gregor was an old friend of Kata's from her brief yet successful CIA career. He knew all of her assumed names so at least that was one less person she had to lie to.
"Listen Gregor, I need a favour from you. I have some highly sensitive files that need downloading and cracking open." She lowered her voice to impart this.
"What's the catch, huh? You been hacking into a new boyfriend's emails again?" He laughed throatily and began to splutter: Gregor was a forty-Sobranie-a-day man.
"Something like that!" Kata couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up into a wide grin. Gregor sensed that she found this amusing.
"Well, just drop by the Embassy tonight at six o'clock and we'll have a go together - just like old times."
Kata hesitated and Gregor responded, "What have you done now?"
"I'm in hospital, in Independence Port." She heard Michael knock on the door and reacted in a split second. As the nurse entered he heard Kata chatting away merrily, "It will be so nice to see you Gregor. I look forward to your visit. Four o'clock, and don't forget to bring a picture of little Ruslan. Good bye!" Kata put the phone down a little hastily and the handset fell to the floor. She bent down to pick it up but a stab of pain decided to intervene.
"Here, let me get that for you." Michael whipped to the bedside table and grabbed the phone just as Kata did. Their hands touched briefly and they looked up at each other. Michael smiled, Kata smiled and then they both began to laugh, still holding hands.
"I'd better get you back to your bed, Miss Bromovich."
"Please, if I'm allowed to call you Michael then I can at least offer you the same courtesy." She hesitated again, thinking better of saying her full name, "It's Kata."
"Pleased to meet you finally, Kata." Michael smiled and offered his hand to shake. "Now, let's be having you back in the ward. I don't want another boll-- telling off from the Ward Sister. And besides, we'll miss the football."
Kata groaned and rolled her eyes, "You Westerners and your football."
And with that they went back to the ward, laughing and playing at flirting with each other. Kata just hoped that the end of her conversation with Gregor hadn't totally confused the man. For the next few hours Kata sat up in bed, watching the clock tick by, as Michael talked at her over the noise of the television.
Current Operations as at OOC 20/06/06 20:00
Next Update Expected at OOC 22/06/06
Red investigations indicates activity since last update
Ongoing Investigations
<ul type="square">[*]Doing the Turncoat Twostep: Red Hammer has recieved two missions from his contacts with the taint of Requiem about them. How will he seek to turn this to the advantage of justice?[*]Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends: The strain of constant dimension-jumping is starting to put a strain on many worth heroes and their relationships. Hikari-Hime has gone searching for missing Portal Corp scientists in Gamma-Rho-9132-X while Grav Mistress attempts to forget her TimeKeeper-related troubles through dimensional exploration.[*]Come On, Come On, Do the Clone-Commotion: Telepath and Kitmarch seek assistance to strike against the Nictus-Infusion labs which provide Requiem with his most powerful henchmen.[*]Don't Panic, Mr Mannering: Arctic Princess continues to recover in hospital, taking advantage of her growing bond with her nurse to smuggle some information out to a contact at the Russian Embassy in preparation for various plans. Meanwhile, she grows a little bored in her recupatory confinment, broken only by visits from Red Hammer.[*]Ain't No Mountain High Enough: Coile and Sword of Truth, while gambolling in Central Asia, come across an unpleasant piece of evidence of the worldwide reach of Requiem.[*]Shadow Owes Its Birth To Light: Shadowe and Red Hammer work to unlock the mysteries of the Shadowmaker Device and perhaps use it to gather what knowledge they can of Requiem's actions. From the data that has so far been unencrypted, it seems that people who are local to the sites where Requiem wishes to place his portals are at threat of kidnapping for a horrible fate.[*]Bootleg Turn: Crucifix Blade attacks a convoy speeding through the streets of Independence port to deal a crushing blow to Requiem's logistics.[*]Reversal of Fortunes: Evidence gathered by Shadowe concerning the kidnapping of Kheldians is corrorborated in ghastly form by the discovery of a Turned Kheldian working for Requiem in the Hydra Dimension.[*]Behold, a Pale Horse: Information recovered by the WoEE and discovered in the Dimension of the Hydramen shows that Requiem's mad device, the Riptear Generator, continues construction, and is in the test phase.[/list]Next Events
Plot Mission: Logistics Raid Two: Council Earth
Mission Goal: Disruption of negotiations between the Requiem Faction and a Council World
Mission Contact: Lyn-Legend
Mission Type: Portal Mission (Peregrine Island)
OOC Mission Time: Wednesday 21st June - Statue at 7pm, Depart 7:30pm
Player Mission: Logistics Raid Three: Out of the Council Base and into the Volcano
Mission Goal: Search and Destroy one of Requiem's Nictus laboratories
Mission Contact: Telepath (GMing - Player-Instigated Subplot)
MIssion Type: Task Force (Hess TF)
OOC Mission Time: Friday 23th June - Arrive in Port Noble, 7.30pm.
Logistical Issues: Min level 25, max level without exemplar is 30. Task Force: May take a while, and needs 5 players to start it.
Completed Investigations
<ul type="square">[*]Satellite Shenanigans: Artic Princess & various ZorTel technicians have been attempting to track down dimensional incursions to try to locate Requiem's portal generators. He appears to have some method of hiding some of his portals, and from the looks of it, is moving some of his generators off Striga Isle to locations throughout the NE USA.[*]Crusin' for a Bruisin': Crucifix Blade hit the streets trying to discover useful information, and discovered that a Requiem faction convoy would be moving to a certain dock in Independence Port on Monday 19/06/06.[*]Through the Glass Darkly: Dark Shadowe stirred the pot on Striga Isle, causing the civil war between the Council Factions to hotten up.[*]Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: Miss Ellie's efforts in collating data have lead to some research breakthroughs.[*]Relegation to the Second Division: Having honed her astral projection abilities, Hikari-Hime has successfully petitioned to be allowed to support ongoing operations.[*]A Hax0r, A Hax0r, My Kingdom for a Hax0r: Hannah Rolando and Cruxifix Blade successfully stopped the spread of the datafiles of Miss Ellie's captivity[*]Here a Clock, There a Clock, Everywhere a Tick-Tock: Lyn-Legend's investigations of a world full of Council have revealed negotiations between Requiem's faction and these forces: this must be stopped![*]Putting A Freaky Face On Things: Alfred Bester attempted to perform some informational warfare, trying to convince the press - and Requiem, perhaps - that the current hero activity is related to work against the Freakshow.[/list]Completed Events
<ul type="square">[*]Plot Mission: Striga Operation One: Where Have All the Portals Gone: the raid on a Requiem faction outpost did not go quite according to plan, but some disturbing information on a 'Shadowmaker' machine was acquired as well as other information from a council server system concerning the construction of Requiem's apocalypse machine.[*]Event: Beacon One: Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Hydramen, I shall Fear No Hentacles: despite strong resistance from local hydramen, the first scanner unit was successfully emplaced. Evidence discovered indicated that Requiem had learned of and sought to foil the plan, though his machinations - provoking the local hydramen, eradicating a scout outpost, seeking to test his new weapon, and dispatching one of his Turned Kheldians - fortunatly did not stop the assembled heroes from achieving their goal.[/list]
IC - 21/06/06, 2000 hours - Bell Point Hospital, Marigold Ward
Gregor Putinaya, ex-CIA technolgical advisor - now working for Paragon's Russian embassy - strolled up to Kata's bed. He had been up all night working on the data encryptions downloaded from the Council base on Striga. Gregor was puzzled by some of the data he received and, although he couldn't place the designs he saw, he thought to himself that they looked remarkably familiar.
The names marked with an odd symbol puzzled him too: They had been on separate files to the machinery plans. Quite why Kata should want details on these people was beyond him but he knew not to ask questions of her. He knew little of her work these days, suffice it to say she had applied for a Hero Licence six months ago and rumours were going round the intelligence community that she was working for Red Commissar himself. Kata certainly knew how to climb up the ladder of promotion.
"Afternoon there, princess." Gregor smiled and waved a manila folder at Kata. She looked up at him, smiled back and raised an eyebrow.
"It took me long enough to get this for you. Quite a read, I've no doubt. You're keeping well?"
"Yes thank you Gregor. Although I still don't know when I'll be allowed out of here."
"Relax little one. You still haven't told me what it is you did to yourself to get admitted here."
"I bruised my ribs-" Kata grumpily indicated her ribcage underneath her hospital pyjamas. She weighed up Gregor for a second,
"-during an operation."
"Care to tell old, Uncle Gregor all about it?" He smiled again and Kata caught a whiff of stale cigarettes.
"I can't. Not yet. Perhaps not even until this is all over."
"But you will, someday?" Gregor was teasing her now, trying to make her laugh, trying to bring her out of the slump she was in. Kata resented him for being so good at it.
"It's complicated. I'm not sure you'd believe me anyway. It's...Hero business."
Gregor replied, knowingly, "Ah! So the Arctic Princess is fighting the good fight here in Paragon. I always knew you'd go far Kata."
"Keep your voice down, Gregor!" Kata snapped, "I'm not here as a Hero, I'm here as a patient."
"But you're here because you got injured in combat, yes? I'd say that makes you a Hero, Kata." Gregor replied. "Unless you're up to your old tricks again, eh?"
Kata also resented Gregor for his ability to read her like a book. He'd seen past her cold and aloof exterior when they worked together in the CIA; he'd stayed up all night with her, on some routine surveillance operation or other, listening to her: How she was homesick a lot of the time and worried that her parents were short of money. People, in his experience, could do things on the spur of the moment that jeopardised their work if they weren't concentrating fully on the task in hand. Kata knew this too and so she took the opportunity to confess a little of what had happened that night during the raid. She didn't mention who it was they had been investigating or why, but Gregor knew the details weren't important - What was important was why Kata had felt the need to lie.
"I just froze, Gregor. It's never happened before but I went into a blind panic when I heard all those guns firing. The noise was deafening. And when I saw the others calmly marching in and taking control I was ashamed of myself."
A few tears welled in her eyes and she brushed them aside, determined to carry on.
"So I had to make a decision. I was lying on the ground, being cared for and watched over by my colleagues...then I heard the Commissar over the communicator, in trouble. I knew what I had to do then. If this city loses someone like him, a man like Red, I-- I'm not sure I could continue being a Hero."
"So when did you start lying again?" Gregor's tone was even, no malice was intended. Kata looked at him with watery eyes.
"I had to do it Gregor. I had to prove myself, I still have to in fact, to these wonderful people who put their lives on the line every day!" she cried.
"I didn't ask you for an inauguration speech, princess. I asked you when you started lying. Please Kata, it's for your own good that you get this out of your system right now." Gregor carefully smoothed the young woman's brow, keeping his voice low and full of reassurance. Kata breathed a little deeper and resigned herself to it.
"When I heard that Red was in trouble I forced myself to stand. We were trapped in the base, separated. The whole thing was a little confusing at first. I suppose it was the shock that prevented me from feeling any pain, although all the time I was light-headed."
Gregor sat back from Kata's bed, ready to hear about the lie that had been eating her up inside and confident that she'd pull through safely. Kata continued:
"The woman who stayed with me, her name was Nadia, she took my weight and allowed me to get to one of the base's consoles. We were searching for information--" Here she hesitated again, trying to find the right words, "on a torture device we had found. One of the men in the company searched the console behind me. Whilst the others gathered round him I managed to download more than just information on the devices. I asked the mainframe to retrieve information on the 'gentlemen' that had devised this device and on other technology. I then asked the computer to delete everything I had just downloaded from the database."
Gregor looked at his old friend impassively for a moment. There was still a lot she had had to omit, or risk the operation - he understood that. On the surface she was telling the truth, it was inside that worried him.
"So, I'll ask you again Kata, why the deception?"
"Because....because this threat we're facing is big and unknown. It frightens me and I've no doubt it would frighten the City to know what was happening right now. We are dealing with a man - no not a man, a force - that threatens everything we've ever believed was right and true-"
"And...?" Gregor had never seen her so impassioned before but still he detected that uncertainty in her. The final barrier in Kata's mind came down and she let all her worry flood out when she said, quite simply in a calm little voice:
"I'm just a human. I don't have special powers, I can't read other people's thoughts, magic is as alien to me as the Kheldian heroes who fight despite prejudices against them. Sure, I know my way around a computer but I'll never build a machine that can send people into the far distant reaches of space." She gave a sad little laugh. "So I deceived seven good people that evening to serve my own pride. 'Imagine their faces' I thought to myself 'when they see what that ordinary girl has done! She's turned the weapons against their creators and saved the City!' Oh Gregor what an idiot I am!"
There was silence in the little cubicle for a couple of minutes: Gregor was busy trying to think of something to say and Kata was exhausted from pouring her heart out. Then Gregor looked into her eyes and said, "So what?! So you lied. For what end? I'll tell you what end - you've always done things as you've seen fit little princess but now you find yourself in a place where you can't just go running around as you please. Welcome to the real world, Kata."
Kata went blank for a moment. "So, what should I do?"
"You're asking me what I think you should do? Haven't you learned yet Kata? You've got to come to your own conclusions, work out your own choices. Don't rely on others to prompt you and for pity's sake learn to trust people!" Gregor laughed heartily. He laughed loudly too. So loud in fact that Nurse Evans popped his head round the curtain.
"Is everything alright Kata, this gentleman isn't disturbing you is he?" Michael's voice was full of genuine concern.
"No, this here is Gregor Putinaya, he's a very old friend." Kata replied, making sure that Michael avoided seeing her tears by blowing her nose loudly on a tissue.
"Da, very old and not so wise I fear." Gregor caught the look between the two then observed his watch. "It's time I should be going anyway. Here's something to read, princess, whilst you're cooped up in here." And with that Gregor laid the manila folder on her lap, blew her a kiss and walked back to the elevators at the other end of the ward.
"Quite a character, that one." Michael remarked.
"Gregor and I go back a long way."
He affected mock-disappointment, "Oh I see. Well...isn't he, you know, a bit old for you?!"
"No! We used to work together! Honestly, you thought me and Gregor-" she stopped mid-sentence, noticing that Michael was grinning like a maniac. Kata reached behind her and grabbed a pillow, readying herself, "You know, you're not funny at all Mister Evans."
"Oh, and why is that Miss Bromovich?!"
"You shouldn't pick on defenceless cripples-- like me!" Kata sprung from the bed and walloped the young nurse playfully with the pillow. The envelope Gregor had given her slid off the bed and fell to the floor with a 'plop'. Michael put his hands up in defence:
"It's a fair cop - you've got me, miss. I surrender."
The pair were laughing and giggling, making far too much noise: a few visitors near Kata's bed looked over at them and frowned, but they were having far too much fun. It was strange but in the past few days they had grown to like each other quite a lot. Rather a lot, in fact. Actually, so much so that when Kata put the pillow down and reversed roles by offering her hands to Michael 'to be cuffed' he bent down and kissed them. Unfortunately the timing could have been better:
"What on Earth are you two doing?!" the furious tones of the Ward Sister halted the two in their tracks.
Michael's face turned on a sixpence from frivolity to despair, which only served to give Kata a fit of the giggles even more. However, he continued looking at the Sister as he spoke, "Uhm...we were just... um--" albeit pathetically.
"Nurse Evans, could I see you in my office. Now!"
"Yes, of course Sister. Miss Bromovich." Michael bowed his head to the two women and walked off like a puppy that had just been kicked.
"Well, Miss Bromovich," Kata didn't like the way she said Miss Bromovich, as if it weren't her real name, "I was going to inform you that you can return home tomorrow, but I see that there's no need. Would you like us to call a taxi for you in the morning?"
"Oh, yes, that would be most kind of you Sister. Thank you."
The head nurse, satisfied that she had prevented her patient from disrupting the whole ward, trotted back to her office. She couldn't resist a final word at Kata's expense though:
"And please be reminded Miss Bromovich that all bed linen is property of Bell Point Hospital. We do have other patients to consider."
When the Sister's back was turned Kata made a gesture at her and decided she would take some air downstairs, being as she was now fit and able to go and stand outside with all the smokers, patients or otherwise. She made a point of making the bed up and grabbed the folder, taking it with her in the elevator.
Finally some good news she thought, pressing the button for the ground floor. I think I'm ready to tell Red what happened. I just hope he understands.
Red Commissars Apartment, a few hours after departing from the latest Strike Force..
Red Commissar, wearing ill fitting civilian clothing groaned as he examined the cracked torso kevlar laid out infront of him on the creaking 2nd hand Kitchen table. He wondered how much it would cost to be repaired. He only had one spare that would protect his vital organs and arteries from everything in the city that wanted to stab him, shoot him on bludgion him.
The Mark III Torso and limb attachments were made of the strongest grade of kevlar known to mankind and could handle multiple punishments. Last night in the Council World was not the first or last time the amount of punishment would be too much for it.
He decided to sew the uniform he was wearing up for later use. While rifling through the uniforms pockets where he had placed all the items he had looted from the unfortunate fascist emissionaries corpse he came across something, quite unusual...
He raised both his eyebrows in surprise and made mental note to show this to Temporis. Now, it was time to contact the Embassy and wire them the footage of the flag planting in the alternate dimension.
He was going to need that 2nd grant for the equipment for the more unusual dimensions they needed to visit...
((Another Diary entry. Note - Inago came by later evening and they talked, but I haven't written that yet.))
The Council Earth
Posted on 21.06.2006 at 23:43
Current Location: Steel Canyon, home all alone
Current Mood: In shock
Current Music: Gwen Stefani - Bubble Pop Electric
Dear Diary,
Tonight I was on another earth! Oh my God! ANOTHER. EARTH.
Of course I've heard all that blabbing about alternative realities and dimensional portals, and it's not that I didn't believe it, it just didn't feel Real. Like, you know, you might know that Johnny Depp is a real person, he doesn't just float in his own little bubble and divinely appear only to make movies. But I still can't really imagine him doing the usual mundane things real people do. It's the same with alternative realities. I couldn't really believe them until I was really there.
So what happened? I had been doing a background checks all day and was bored out of my mind. I went down at the statue to say hello to people - I admit, I wanted to see Kyo. I missed him.
He was there with bunch of people, them all getting ready for some mission. Then he asked if I wanted to come along! Of course I did! Then Doctor Temporis appeared, and he approved me to come. Yay! I was so excited and nervous! My first dimension hopping. I was very very VERY happy Kyo was coming along!
It was to some other Earth where Council had gotten the power and they (Doctor Temporis and co) were worried our Requiem would ally with these guys. First we had to go to the Portal Corp. The travel went fast with teleportation (and it made me itch again and I had to concentrate through the whole briefing not to scratch myself all over. Grrr.) The portal was HUGE and made everything around it vibrate, air and ground and us. Scary! By then, I was getting more nervous than excited. Kyo was your regular cucumber, bouncing and stretching like he was just going to run to the store to get some milk. As were the others. Sigh.
When it came time to go through the portal, I could barely make my legs move. Kyo almost dragged me through it, finally. It was... strange... There was a moment of disorientation, like I had turn to liquid for a fraction of a second and then realigned into human again. At the other side, it was quite confusing! If I hadn't known, I would've thought it was our Paragon City. Just with lot of Council, different posters and the whole city looking like Iraq. There were tanks and wires and I think there was some roadblocks too. There was no civilians out there. I think it was night, or then the sky was just really heavily overclouded. We were told to do as much damage as we can so I did my best. Too bad Kyo wasn't there to see it!
I couldn't help but think if there was another me in there somewhere. What was she doing? Was she alright? But of course there was no time to think much, let alone to go see the apartment. I just concentrated doing my job, and before I knew it, it was over.
Kyo had introduced me to some stoneguy called Gilad, who I thought was interesting. He reminded me of New Moon (I wonder how he's doing?). We got divided into two teams and Kyo was in different than me. At least Gilad was there so there was someone familiar there with me. In the end, he mashed the ambassador guy we were supposed to arrest. That was ugly. I don't think I have ever seen anyone die like that. Makes me qualmish just to think of it.
After that we went home. I was supposed to meet Kyo at the statue, but he was talking with Doctor Temporis and he asked me to give them some privacy.
I think he is angry at me. I wanted to bring something back home with me and had picked up a pretty rock. He was saying how it is disgusting to take trophies and then he came to slap my rock out of my hand. Honestly... it was just a rock...
Claire wasn't home when I got here. I hope she comes back soon, I rather not be alone tonight. Everything that has happened keeps spinning in my head and it would be nice to be able to talk to someone.
Pyr
IC 22/6/6, 4:43am
Hikari stared numbly at the wall in front of her, eyes open but staring into space, sleep impossible. Molok had said there would be dreams, but dreams required sleep, and the images that played in her mind came even without.
Screams, of pain, of rage, of terror, the screams of the newly dead and the image of the corpse on the pavement below her.
Hikari turned over restlessly, not closing her eyes. They stung, tears she could no longer cry trying to form. She hugged her arms to her chest, rocking slightly. Memory tore at her, the memories that hurt so much not the death itself, but the recall of her own actions, her own feelings.
The corpse again, and herself looking down at it dispassionately, as if it mattered no more than the scattered bullet casings and rubble.
Hikari sat up with a tortured sob, calling out to CIRCE for the lights to come on. Struggling to her feet, she walked over to her desk picking up a fountain pen sitting on the side.
Six
she muttered to herself. Paulo Lorentz, he had two children, theyre orphans now
With a chocked sob she drove the pen down into her forearm, scoring a deep cut along her arm as she gritted her teeth again the pain.
David Silverstein, supporting his aged mother. Another gash, and now the tears came again. Edgar Schneider, his first child due in 2 months
Henrik Klein, waiting for a letter from his sweetheart
Karl Weiss, father of four
Rudi Knecht, 2 months from retirement, waiting to grow roses
Six bright red lines, three on each forearm. One for each man shed failed, watched die and not tried to save, no mediport beacon of hope for them beyond the portals.
Hikari bowed her head, tears flowing freely for a few moments before she looked up at the papers covering her desks. Six scientists, missing somewhere in the multiverse, six lives she could still save.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, her face resolute now, she started to work, sleep now subsumed by intent.
Location: Dimension Kappa-Omega-381-Q
The BOW
Lyn came back through the portal, her walk disrupted by a slight, but still noticeable limp. As soon as she made it through, she was met by a group of Clockworks who took her helmet and sword and then by the Zenith, Gustaf.
I take it, you were successful? Lynda looked at him with a tired, slightly saddened expression. Er
Our target was smooshed by a walking rock giant named Gilad. Her voice was tired, heavy as if alls he wanted to do now was sleep.
Smooshed?
Smooshed. She repeated to clarify. Did you get the clockworks?
Yes, those who were tagged and those found are being repaired. Theres still a handful missing though, we can only assume that they were so completely smashed that they couldnt be found. He explained, searching through a few lists.
Give me their names tonight please. She spoke, walking through the access door and down to her room. Also, Im thinking of inviting Red Commissar to visit so that he can have a proper off world experience. Make sure you set up a Russian Flag. A shower, a doze and twice her weight in cake would be grand at this point in time. Gustaf was about to turn and leave, unfortunately something; a thought came in to his head.
Er.. Maam? What if the Council manage to locate the BOW using the frequency of the clocks?
Lyn paused, her hand on the doorframe of her room. She paused and pondered a moment. That was a big question, what if?
Get the assemblers to speed it up a little. See if you cant get them to make two clocks every time rather than one. She asked before walking in to her dimly lit room, the door closing behind her with a clang.
And with that, Lyn slept though the idea that the Council could find her ever present in her mind, the grey cells racing with possibilities. Hopefully it wouldnt come to that, but with things the way they are
who knows
21/6/06 - Peregrine Island - Approx. 8pm
"On second thoughts, I can't be bothered hanging around with Spandex-Brigaders for tonight"
With that, Max turned and walked away from the group Lyn-Legend had assembled, and towards the exit of Portal Corp.
Without hesitating, he tapped the top of his watch, activating his Cloaking Device as he walked into the distance, then stopped. Turning arround slowly so not as to refract the light, he watched the group rush inside to their mission.
Max lit up a cigarette, and waited. After a few minutes had passed, he flicked away the cigarette, and headed towards the door the Spandex-Brigaders had gone through. Taking out a tablet PC, he monitored for residual energy-signatures, checking for the most recently opened portal.
Following the 'trail' left by the others, Max arrived at the portal, and stepped through.
The world he emerged into was a war-torn one, littered with rubble and spent military supplies. Checking quickly for any sign of the others, he removed a small round metal disc from a pocket, and placed it near the rift-opening.
Taking one last glance at the Council-occupied world, Max stepped back through the rift.
(A message appears for all those involved in the campaign against Requiem)
Friday, 23rd June assault upon the Council a complete success. No casualties nor major injuries on our side. Council Nictus-implanting laboratories believed destroyed, one giant robot destroyed, estimated over a thousand Council soldiers captured and at least three hundred Zenith Mech Men put out of action. Interior of Council volcano destroyed in small nuclear fission detonation. In addition, one Nictus-merged Archon killed* - apparently 'first prototype' to the Nictus-merging effort. Efforts now believed halted.
-AB
*Fell into volcano lava during combat.
Time: late morning of Friday, 23.6.2006
Location: Camp Three, Khan Tengri, altitude of 5900 meters
Nadia opened the tents sleeve just enough to get some idea what kind of weather it was outside. A gust of cold air hit her nose. At the height of almost six kilometers the air was quite thin and temperature freezing making it impractical to go outside without warm clothing. She considered her options carefully and sighed inaudibly. Again a matter she could not affect. Taking care not to make excessive noises she removed her top and gave her skin a quick sponge bath with a cloth and some water that had been snow the previous evening. Andre was breathing calmly not ten inches from her.
She was tired despite sleeping long and her head was aching. Andre had said to expect it. They had flown under their own power from Karakara Base Camp to Khan Tengri Base Camp, from two kilometers to four. That had taken all Monday. From there they had advanced to Camp Site One and then Two all the way up to five and half kilometers during the next two days. The goretex clothing had replaced their more casual wear to insulate against the dropping temperature and the thinning atmosphere was inducing altitude sickness, a common malice to mountaineers. They were packing extra oxygen just in case. The last ascent yesterday to Camp Site Three had been just four hundred meters.
Turning away from her slumbering companion she removed her glasses, washed her face and then put the glasses back on. She felt better but the headache was still bothering her. Briefly she rested her head to her hands and just looked at the man sleeping there. He appeared so serene and at peace. This was how she wanted him to be. Gone were the daily worries that were etching lines on his forehead. Gone was the deer-like fright at the approaching car lights look that he had sometimes, mostly around her. And most notably gone was the frequent terror and despair that Ripmind had bestowed upon him. Briefly she wondered what it must be like to have all the bad choices, mistakes, shameful acts and deep traumas made afresh, sharpened to the point of absolute clarity and to live through them day after day. Then she just shook her head. She was glad that she could be there for him when he needed it.
A wave of small nausea shook her back to reality. Nadia put her clothes back on. Still quietly she brushed her hair. She was ready. Andre stirred as she moved to the tent entrance. Readjusting her glasses she smiled at him and slipping outside greeted him briefly. Good morning, Andre. Outside the sun was shining.
The air was stinging crisp. The cityborn woman was taking deep breaths each prickling her lungs. They had stayed on their trip longer already than intended and still it was too short a time for the body to adapt. Andre had preferred that they go without using the extra oxygen until the last stage, whatever that was. Nadia turned the portable heating unit on and made coffee. She wasnt hungry. Her personal expedition leader joined her after a while.
In an hour they had eaten what little breakfast they were going to. For Nadia it had meant forcing down a chocolate bar. Andre hadnt eaten much more. Then they packed up the camp and loaded their belongings into the two backpacks that they had. Andre brushed some snow off of Nadias collar as she looked at the looming peak. Down at this altitude there was snow all over. Near the peak there was also stone visible. A slow sweep to their right revealed the northern arm of magnificent glacier of Engilchek, Little Prince. They stood there side by side for a while taking in the vastness of existence.
I hope you are enjoying the trip? Andre felt a slight urge to take the hand of the woman who had come to look after him but there was no real need. With her it was imperative to stay totally honest and ask for closeness only when it was required. Nadia looked at him with a smile which was her prevalent facial expression these days. You keep asking me that daily. The smile turned to slightly teasing kind. Sure I enjoy it. I have never been this far from home, or this high up. This is in fact a wonderful experience, Andre.
The young mutant took his hood down for one moment and let the coldness scrape his bald head. He put the hood back on quickly. If you want more experiences we can still go from here to Yucatan. While you still have vacation. His unrequited love shook her head. I said before we can go there next year. Andre felt his heart skip a beat. We? We can go? She didnt reveal anything more than mild mysterious amusement. Perhaps. Who knows? We will see.
Then the moment reached its end and it was time to prepare for the final leg.
Both made checks first on their own harnesses and then they checked one another. Even if they werent climbing the traditional way there was no margin for error in mountaineering. One had to respect the mountain in order to conquer it. They strapped the backpacks on. Andre attached the nylon coil to the harnesses and tested the winch system. Both tugged the gloves better on, wrapped the hoods tighter and then stepped closer to each other.
Andre concentrated and felt the pull of the ground. In his mind he shut it off from him and then from his brown-haired travel mate. Both hovered half a meter above the ground as if suspended in liquid. Then Nadia glided a little forward and up circling slowly around her protégé taking care that the coil did not get tangled. She giggled as she descended. Andre felt joy over the fact that he could bring some happiness in her life even if it was just by allowing her to fly sometimes.
He drifted up himself and made some distance between them. Keeping them both afloat required concentration but was this early on relatively easy. Nadia made slow slides a meter above the ground. Andre motioned to her and pointed towards the peak. Lets fly. Then they propelled upwards.
The weather was great. There was almost no wind which was remarkable luck considering it was summertime and northern wind could get quite heavy. The pair flew five meters above the ground following its shapes. Their distance had grown to almost ten meters and the coil hung loosened between them.
Andre was feeling relaxed inside. He still had his bad moments but being practically separated from his life in Paragon City was proving to have a soothing effect. In fact he had with him the one part of his hero life that he wanted. That he needed. He looked to his right at the dark-skinned woman and managed for the moment push from his mind the maelstrom of unwanted memories.
He was smiling despite the strain that he was starting to again feel. He was doing better than he had thought. The climb from Karakara to Khan Tengri BC had been a long journey but he had managed that fairly well considering that his starting point had been the sea level only one day before. Now the actual legs were quite short but the thinning air made each one still a feat. All that and he was flying the love of his life too! Feeling jubilant he steered to west.
The southern face was the first to grant access to the top back in the thirties. It was referred to as the classic route. Western face was perhaps the most dangerous due to heavy winds from the north whereas the northern face was a technically the most difficult rising straight up for two kilometers with a series of marble ribs going for a kilometer from the top down. Since the weather was favouring them Andre decided to circle around the western face and come up from the north.
The most important virtue a climber could have was humility. There had to be a balance between being dauntless and cautious. It was not unheard of for the weather to deteriorate rapidly from crystal clear to a storm in less than an hour. The pair made slow almost hopping progress as the sky grew darker.
It hit without a warning. A squall landed on them as they glided from behind a ledge and threatened to smash them down. Andre released the stop from the winch and the mechanism rolled the coil in fast. The young lawyer almost slammed against him. However this was what they had practiced for hours at Camp One. He wrapped his arm around Nadias shoulders and took a hold of the harness handle while she slipped her left arm through a few hoops on Andres harness. Gripping tightly their respective supports they formed one mass point rather than two. Andre took them to the ground.
They crouched down and huddled together faces almost in contact. They had to shout their words or the violent winds would have rendered them inaudible. Having lived most of her life in Boomtown and not being a frequent traveler she was slightly shocked by the abruptness of the climatic assault. What now, Andre? Can we go on? The vacationing Silent Tempest leader took a moment to consider before answering. Well have to see. Id like to press on a while longer and see how it goes. He saw the slight worry on the face of the woman that meant so much to him. Hey, I said Ill be sensible about this. For a mountaineer the reward is the attempt. Reaching the top is just a bonus. Any other attitude and you dont live long. If we cant go on, well go back.
Gliding almost in contact with the ground they started making slow advancement. The direction was up and slightly to the south. This was the hardest challenge yet and Andre pretty much forgot Nadias presence despite gripping her tightly as he fought against the gravity and winds that might have as well been hurricane strength. Maybe they were.
Trying to counter Earths grasp commanded almost his total attention now. Still that was something he couldnt do. There was also the howling reach of the world, the fury of the whole of Tien Shan range that was lashing at them with the full blinding rage of the mother nature. A few times he shouted out, screamed at the storm trying to drown it out with his own determination. Stopping was now not an option and resting was impossible. The game was about one of them lasting out the other, and the other just dying out.
Muscles burning as if in fire the unyielding youngster clutched at his lady friend. Once a particularly powerful squall almost pried her off from his protection. Andre felt anger rising within simply refusing to let go, his will succeeding where his body almost gave up. He had never in his life held onto anything with such ferocity. No harm would befall on Nadia if he could help it.
It took them three hours of excruciatingly slow crawling before the winds let up. Both were exhausted to the bone marrow by the end of it. Somehow they managed to erect a resting camp.
Dusk was already falling painting the peak red. After compelling himself to eat one sandwich Andre broke the silence that had gone on from the moment they set down. In the old days this mountain was called Khantau. The Blood Mountain. Nadia smiled as she cradled a mug of coffee between her hands. Delightful names. He narrowed his eyes and pointed towards the western edge of Khan-Tengri not indicating any particular point in the landscape. Pobeda Peak resides amidst Forbidden Mountains and gets hammered by winds from Takla Makan that the locals call Thousand Devils. Names in the old world seem often to connect to beliefs. Then he fell silent again.
He was feeling completely beaten and his head was light. Altitude meter was showing that they were only three hundred meters from the top. The temperature was somewhere below minus thirty degrees Celsius. The air was incredibly arid and thin. Andre inspected the woman that he would trust his life with. She was putting on a brave face but could not really conceal her utter exhaustion all that well. Back down they would go with their oxygen masks on, beside which the gravity would be for a change helping their journey. With a dragooned effort Andre pushed himself up and offered his hand to Nadia. Time for the final leg. The Lord of the Spirits awaits. He had waited for a chance to use that line.
Along with the steadily approaching peak their excitement grew. Andre had decided to pass the final stage without stops but that lasted only for a minute. There was not enough oxygen to keep the body going on on such high gear for any lengthy period of time. They had to pause about every twenty meters to catch their breath. Once or twice he felt almost like passing out but Nadia caught him and again they rested. Then finally the moment was upon them.
The peak itself was about the size of a tennis field with some snow and mostly stone. Every other mountain top was below them. The twilight was rapidly falling but some scattered rays of the sunlight painted the snowy peaks below crimson red. The wind had died into a breeze.
The very world lied at their feet. It was an incredible rush. The immense fatigue melted into the background being for the moment nothing but a slight nagging reminder of the energies spent to achieve this feat. There had never been any certainties about getting there. Still they had. Andre felt like a king. He reached to his right and took the hand of his queen.
He turned to her with a decisive look on his face, looked deeply into her the eyes and smiled. She looked back at him with a curious frown. Slowly reaching he took also her other hand. There was an unfamiliar intensity in his gaze. He pulled her a little closer. Still frowning she let him.
This is what we came here for.
Nadia was holding her breath feeling suddenly uncertain what was going on. She didn't allow the slight uneasiness penetrate to the surface. She replaced the upcoming nervous grimace with a smile. All this save the smile escaped his comprehension completely.
Resolutely Andre put his oxygen mask over his mouth and pulled the goggles down over his eyes. Without asking or even saying anything she followed suit. There was a joyous tinge in his voice. Time for the real test. He grinned widely behind his mask and let out another line he had thought of for this occasion. Lets climb high and touch the sky. Then he launched up tugging her gently along.
The small patch of ground that they had stood on receded fast. The waning light shone around them but the sky above was turning dark. Stars came out and the massive range of Tien Shan first blended into itself, then melded into nothingness. They climbed steadily up. Soon for Andre nothing else existed except his mortal goddess.
For some time now he had had this weird feeling that there might after all be some special feelings that Nadia felt for him. Why else would she leave all of her affairs and go with him to the other side of the world? Letting him live with her in her apartment was explained by her wanting to help a friend to recover from an ordeal but this surely went beyond any call of duty to a team member, or even leader. He had wanted to ask about that. If he was going to this would be the time and place.
Still going higher he paused in his mind to think, to truly think. He already lived with the woman of his dreams. When he needed a shoulder to cry against or a hand to hold on to she was there. If he was going across the globe on a quest he himself didnt fully understand she would follow him if he only asked. What more could he ask for? This was the perfect friendship, the ultimate companionship. Whether or not there were mutual feelings would finding out be worth the risk? Why spoil the divine thing that hey had with a chance for romance?
This was not the time nor place. Maybe later, somewhere. Perhaps. Who knows? Well see.
The target of his affections squeezed his hands. Andre, how high up are we? He slowed down and stole a glance at the altitude meter. Just a little over twelve kilometers. Nothing like blurting out the truth at the unsuspecting victim. The victim paled and increased the force with which she was holding his hands. Isnt this high enough? If you have tests to perform please do so now, and then lets go back down.
He started to spin slowly around their common centerpoint. Above them the stars revolved. This was the time when Nut, the goddess of the skies, met with her brother-lover Geb, the god of the earth. Although Nut had said that she was the last of her kind to walk the World. She of course wasnt there in person but in Andres mind his two goddesses Nut and Nadia were meeting. Not that they hadnt seen each other before, but that was back in the mundane world. This was the true domain of the sky goddess.
Some rarely functioning insight made him sense a disruption within his flying partner. Maybe a sliver of fear? Hoping it was the right thing to do he pulled her closer and held her in a reassuring embrace. We can go back now.
For Nadia the sudden closeness sparked an unexpected reaction. She was suspended between earth and sky. She was hanging in emptiness, hanging onto the man who had professed his undying love to her time and again despite receiving no positive response or encouragement. She closed her eyes and concentrated on what was her topmost feeling. It was safety.
Andre was rash, jumped to conclusions of his own making, reacted in unpredictable ways and currently could break to pieces at any given moment at the suitable stimuli. Still up there totally dependent on him she knew she was under the best care in the world. Having no power over the situation she acknowledged that the man in whose arms she was had that power. It felt good. Other situations would be different, depend on the circumstances but right now she trusted him with her life.
Inside she placed her fate into his mercies and felt free. She knew that upon return to Paragon City she would have her responsibilities but for a fleeting moment she had the freedom to be just a woman. She opened her eyes and spoke softly. We can stay a while longer.
Slowly she reached her hand and moved her fingers over the metallic plate that surrounded his right eye, going from cheekbone to brow. You took us to your mountain. You took us this high up. Always go higher, Andre. As I said, the Silent Tempest is but another mountain. You have it in you to succeed if you believe in it. You have done well. I am proud of you.
In the grip of their painfully slow helix dance they held each other. This moment could become even more if they so wished but neither felt the pressure. They had both gained something precious as if gifted by the very sky above them. Surrounded by the infinite stars they were happy.
No further words were spoken as the could-be lovers descended back to among the mighty and ancient mountains.
More by luck than design they found their way back to Khan Tengri. The newly risen moon was illuminating the rugged scenery. Without so much as stopping Andre headed to northern edge and dived. They fell free past the magnificent marble chimneys that rose from the depths. They were both laughing. As the slope started losing steepness Andre steered towards east, the last face they hadnt been on yet. For the first time since leaving the top they drifted apart.
Soon all around there was snow again. Their direction pointed to south and Khan Tengri Base Camp. The pace was slow. There was no hurry in the world. They had achieved what they set out to do. The short eternity up high in the sky would live in their minds for the rest of their lives. They should have made a camp but they just drifted on.
Nadia tugged the coil and pointed down. She wanted to stop. They fell knee deep into the snow blanket stretching into all directions. Andre watched her unload the backpack and take off the harness. He turned politely away as she vanished behind a boulder uphill. He dropped his own gear and took a deep breath of the local air.
The landscape by moonlight was simply breathtaking. He was used to snow and frost but Dakota lacked these kinds of mountains. This high there was no animal noises. It was quiet aside from the occasional winds. Except for a high pitched sound as if something was closing in fast. Andre had half a second to be alarmed. There was a puff of snow to his right. And an explosion.
Andre landed on his back and rolled a few times. Groggily he lifted his head and saw Nadia running from behind the boulder. She was shouting something but his ears were ringing too much to make out the words. There was a new puff right behind her. Even dazed as he was he thought he saw the light reflecting off of some kind of a shell before it impacted into the snow. The following burst of light and energy sent her flying through the air, over him and downhill against another big rock. She wasnt moving. For some reason a picture of Kitia being struck and falling to ground flashed through his mind.
His eyes moved wildly. Instincts commanded him to go to his fallen comrade and tend to her but the combat sense that had been instilled during first the five years of training on the farm and then the weeks in Paragon Citys streets told him to locate and neutralize the threat. All that was around was white snow and deep shadows. Then he spotted a wisp.
It was faint and coming from behind a massive rock to left and down of him. Now that he knew where to look he saw, just barely, a slit in the rock. The whiff of smoke came from there. It was a watch post of sorts. Taking a more balanced stance he pointed at the rock with his right hand. His left one sought the right one out to support it. There was a rapid energy build-up somewhere inside. He let it gather for a few seconds and let it go. This all happened by reflex, not touching his conscious mind.
A bolt of contained energy darted from his extended hand and collided with the post. Snow on it was knocked clean off. Part of the top of the rock caved in. Not wanting anyone to have the time to catch their breath Andre swooshed through the air and entered the small space inside the rock ready to deal damage. There were two men there. They were knocked out cold. The emblem on their uniforms generated a feeling of familiarity.
The small space within the sizeable boulder had only two chairs, a console and a collection of various weapons including some high tech looking shell launcher. All of the weapons seemed to be designed to ward off an assault from the outside. Just having this kind of a watch post in the middle of nowhere didnt make any sense. There had to be a reason. There was a trapdoor visible on the floor. His urges screamed at him to go to Nadia but if he allowed additional forces to enter the scene through the hatch right now he might doom them both. He yanked the trapdoor open.
There was a quiet beep as the defense mechanism activated arming a bomb and countdown lights started to go out. He had no doubt missed a hidden button which would have disabled the defenses. Now it was too late. Andre rushed out and flew himself into the snow twenty meters away just as the watch post went sky high. A recognition flared through his brain.
It had been Requiems emblem.
He rose to his feet slowly and tried to clear his head by shaking it. He suspected he had a concussion. A distant rumble that had been going on for a small while started to bother him. He looked upslope. His heart sank.
There were masses of snow and ice striking towards him. The whole mountainside was seething all the way up as far as he could see and the front was hundreds of meters wide. If there were any mountaineers on this face they would have no chances at all. Terror gripped his stomach. Nadia. He turned to look where she had landed only to see her still form in that exact same spot. Gravity ceased to matter to him and he flew.
He was exhausted from the climb, the storm and ascension to the sky. The brief fight with Requiems men had all but wiped out his last energy reserves. He was slow. He strived up to get to his love before the crushing wall of white death reached her. The closer that he got to her location the more the fear was strangling him. He knew he wouldnt get there in time.
The last two seconds occurred in slow motion. He reached with his hand even if there still was a gap between them. The first tentative shredded edges of the snow front touched Nadia, tickling and caressing her, prodding the body to a slight movement. Then the world turned to complete white and dark. Andre made the last desperate attempt to grasp at the most important person in his life.
There was nothing. Nothing tangible. Just the swirling snow around him. He turned to follow the flood and tried to outrun it but soon he had to push upwards and pull out of the avalanche. He floated just above ever-moving surface darting from spot to spot calling out his vanished partner by name.
The destruction spread all around him. The whole mountain face had shifted. The moonlight wasnt much and his night sight had been momentarily destroyed by the explosion. Nevertheless he made an assessment of the disaster area. It was multiple square miles. Even the part where Nadia could possibly be was terrifyingly huge. Fear was constricting his chest trying to implode him.
Andre tried to look for any sign, a glimpse of the clothing, a hand emerging, anything. He got nothing. Desperation was shredding him from the inside. He flew in widening circles over the location he somehow wished the love of his life would be at. Never in his life had he been so alone.
All the times he had pushed himself to his limits and over were beginning to take effect. The pull of the ground became stronger. It was increasingly hard to stay airborne. He started to make involuntary dives off which he pulled back up just barely until the last time when he didnt. He crashed into the snow headlong.
Dizzy and almost delirious he pushed up. Maybe he couldnt scout for now but he could still keep searching. Nothing would be allowed to stop him. He had to find her. Alternatives scared him too much. He started to plow through the snow with his hands, digging and still calling out for her from time to time.
Soon he realized he could actually do more. He excavated himself a deep hole and started blasting. Energy bolts ripped crevices into the snowmass sending the white solid water high into the air. He did not dare to acknowledge his actual chances to succeed. If there were no results with one blast, then surely with the next. She was there somewhere, just waiting to be found. All he had to do was to deliver on the promise to see her always safe.
Afterwards he couldnt say how long he kept at it. On the other hand it didnt matter. The bottom line was that he did not find her. At some point the hopelessness of his endeavour dawned on him. Alone he stood no chance at all. It was like emptying an ocean with a cup of his hands. No matter how hard he tried it would be in vain. All that was staring at him was failure.
By foot it would have taken a day or more to reach the base camp. His only way was to fly down. With an immense effort he fought off the almost debilitating fatigue and the gravitational snare. More plummeting down along the slope than flying he headed to the direction he believed to be south. Inside he felt dead already. Just as dead as Nadia was. The lack of oxygen and the freezing cold were facts. So was her demise.
Coloured lights were flashing on the edges of his vision and beyond them was the beckoning darkness. Resting would be fatal he knew. Resting would be stupid. Resting would rob Nadia of whatever chance she still had of being rescued. Still, just a moment, a little while? He slowed down. The closer he got to the camp the farther he got from the woman who meant the world to him and her being gone felt all the time more real. The devouring emptiness lacked the capability for tears.
There was a stream of steam coming from an unlikely spring. For no reason Andre landed there. A patch of warmth in this cold existence. He did not feel it. Instead there was a hotness behind his eyes. It swelled and coagulated and pushed out. It took the form of droplets of water running down the cheeks. Leaning his forehead to his hand he rocked to the rhythm of violent sobs. When he hit the ground he did not even notice it.
As with the previous time he could not later say if it had been a mere dream or something more, or even what had exactly happened. There was a hand that landed softly on his shoulder. He looked up and there was a being in the shape of a woman but who was so much more. Nut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky smiled at him sadly. There were no words spoken but Andre still felt like Nut was telling him things. He listened.
The Lord of the Spirits had claimed something of his. There was nothing that Nut could do to reverse it of affect the situation. With immense sadness she said that Nadia was gone now. Such was the way of mortal beings. The weak would be crushed by loss, but the strong would find the strength to go on. He still had a task. There was a flower that bloomed only once in every hundred years. He was to take that flower to Paragon City and plant it while it was still in bloom. Andre would know where. He bowed his head and when he looked up again she was gone. He opened his eyes.
The moon was behind the mountain. Only starlight illuminated the spring by which he was curled up. He inhaled. In the air there was the faintest of fragrance, a mysterious scent that to him was otherworldly. It did not remove the sadness or pain. It in fact deepened them, gave them even more meaning. But somehow the hurting void became sorrow and the despair changed into deep longing. Andre smiled through his new tears.
Next to him a blue flower was reaching for the skies.
TO: Doctor Temporis
From: Coile, the Silent Tempest
Time: 24.6.2006 09:58
Subject: Encounter with Requiem forces
While climbing a mountain called Khan Tengri in Kyrghyzstan we came across a watch post high on the mountain. It had two Requiem soldiers in it. There was a hatch on the floor but opening it triggered a bomb. The shaft below must have caved in. I don't know what is below the ground.
The Sword of Truth is dead. She perished in the ensuing avalanche. I searched for her for quite some time before contacting Hero Corps. They brought searchers as well as our team mate Kitia Shi'hardi on the scene. Kitia has a strong emphatic link to Sword and despite a hours long search she was not able to sense her. Nadia Forester is gone.
There is some sort of Requiem operation in progress there. When the time comes to strike at it I want to be in it.
Bringing Requiem down is a priority to the Silent Tempest.
IC 24/06/06
The room is dim, illumination theoretically provided by recessed lights in the ceiling but in fact by the glow of the hundreds of screens lining the 'walls' of the spherical chamber. Giant crystal lenses on brass armatures rattle and clank around the central pillar like an orrery of magnification, focusing and enhancing various images. The room is quiet, deep below Boomtown, the only sounds the hum of ventilation systems and the clicking sussuration of steamtech machines.
On the pillar in the centre of the large spherical room, connected to the entrance by a thin metal bridge, stands the Doctor, his gauntlet arm resting inside a receiver in the brass and steel contol unit. His eyes flicker across the room, information pouring in through neural links as well as via eyesight as he directs the efforts of the Rebirth Alliance where he can. His face twitches with each sensory flicker, as each scene changes and provokes a burst of feeling and thought.
On one screen, the success of a raid against a Requiem Faction outpost on Striga Isle, heroes from many supergroups collaborating under Shadowe to slow down the grinding progress of Requiem's colonisation of other worlds, rescuing people from their terrible torment in the evil Shadowmaker devices. A twist of regret at the pain of the innocent.
One screen shows the murky forests of Croatoa, and a motley crew of mostly-allied Firbolg, Tuatha, and a trio of heroes - Bluestrike, Dark Rose, and Cuchullain - heading through an otherworld rift to assault a hidden Coucil outpost. A shiver of disquiet at Requiem's willingness to hide anywhere, even in magical realms.
On another, the grim shattered streets of Council Earth, the downtrodden residents further oppressed by the staccato rattle of assault weapons as a strike team of heroes and clockwork led by Lyn-Legend battles its way through the streets hunting an emissary to prevent a terrible alliance. A burst of fear at the risks his family take.
Another shows planning rooms and muster points, as Arctic Princess struggles to form a home guard against the possibility of counterattacks by Requiem. Technology and resources organised and deployed, but backed by normal humans. A wry smile of pride at humanity's will to survive.
Yet another shows a snow-covered slope of a mighty mountain, medical and search drones quartering and requartering the avalanche-struck ground in vain hope of finding anything at all, even a body to bring home and mourn. A moment of sorrow at the ongoing sacrifice, a single tear welling and then blinked away.
On and on, screen after screen, robots and drones and clockwork, heroes and allies and contacts, humans and nonhumans, mutants and magicians, working together across a hundred worlds to stop Requiem's machiavellian schemes, and yet, with each passing day, his sinister Riptear Generator edges closer to its terrible completion.
"How long can this go on?"
Current Operations as at OOC 25/06/06 00:00
Next Update Expected at OOC 28/06/06
Red investigation titles indicate activity since last update
Update PMs to go out over next 24-48 hours. Please note that if you wish to take action on a particular plot point, please PM me with details. Please do not use in-game mails as I cannot efficiently keep track of things with them.
Ongoing Investigations
<ul type="square">[*]Doing the Turncoat Twostep: Red Hammer has recieved two missions from his contacts with the taint of Requiem about them. How will he seek to turn this to the advantage of justice?[*]Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends: Hikari-Hime's search for missing scientists has led her on a chase through several dimensions, closing rifts as she goes. Will the mysterious fate of the split-scientists reveal a solution to her own problem?[*]Come On, Come On, Do the Clone-Commotion: A strike team led by Alfred Bester destroys a Requiem Faction Nictus Infusion Laboratory - along with a variety of other materiel. On Council Earth, Red Commissar finds evidence that Requiem is further developing his powers of energy transfer with the discovery of some sort of technomagical dogtags. He resolves to investigate further, perhaps consulting Akkarin, Grav, or Shadow's Grace.[*]Don't Panic, Mr Mannering: Arctic Princess is finally released from hospital and continues her plans to provide protection for the city in the event of Requiem's retaliation. This causes her some personal trouble due to machinations over technical data, though Red Commissar is happy to discover information allowing for potential identification of council operatives and scientists involved with the Requiem Faction.[*]Ain't No Mountain High Enough: While on a mystic quest in the highlands of Central Asia, Sword of Truth is apparently killed by an avalanche caused by the explosion of a Requiem Faction boobytrap. Coile returns to Paragon after much searching empty handed, plotting revenge against the outpost, his loss galavanizing his will to defeat Requiem.[*]Shadow Owes Its Birth To Light: Shadowe learns that in order to hide portals, the victims of the Shadowmaker Device must be taken from close by the site of the intended portal generator. Accordingly, he tries to plot the potential location of other portals by analysis of disappearances. Naturally, in a city as kidnap-happy as Paragon City, this is a task and a half, but he find seveal locations which very likely hold portal generators in hidden bases.[*]Reversal of Fortunes: Evidence gathered by Shadowe concerning the kidnapping of Kheldians is corrorborated in ghastly form by the discovery of a Turned Kheldian working for Requiem in the Hydra Dimension.[*]Behold, a Pale Horse: Information recovered by the WoEE and discovered in the Dimension of the Hydramen shows that Requiem's mad device, the Riptear Generator, continues construction, and is in the test phase.[*]Privately Eying: Maximillian takes advantage of the Requiem chaos to make use of portals he otherwise wouldn't get near, and collects interesting data for his own schemes.[*]Davy Jones' Locker: Endarkened Angel, a hero operating in the Rogue Isles undercover, passes on information developed during a raid on a council vessel - chemicals, blueprints, red goggles... and torn apart crewmen.[*]If You Have A Problem, Call the A-Teen: One of Pyranha's contacts gave her a good tipoff, and for the last few days has been investigating someone who seems deeply involved with the Council, most likely Requiem's faction. However, he appears to have noticed her investigation, and will soon be making his escape.[*]Bad Vibrations: Lyn-Legend attempts to secure her base of offworld operations from possible counter attacks by Requiem - it is clear that he cannot allow her to operate with impunity for much longer, and the psychic trace of her clockwork may lead the hunters to her.[*]A Fish Called Sally: Cuchullain, Bluestrike and Dark Rose, plus a motley collection of barely-talking-to-one-another Firbolg and Tuatha assault a Council base hidden in the otherlands.[/list]Next Events
Event: Meetings - None of Us is as Dumb as All of Us
Mission Goal: Update on progress, share vital information, and give out further tasks for investigation.
Mission Contact: CIRCE - All Rebirth Alliance Participants will recieve a message inviting them to attend
Mission Type: N/A
OOC Mission Time: Wednesday 28th June - Galaxy Base Portal at 7:15pm, GoD Base (Victoria Station) at 7:30pm
Player Mission: Time for the Teenagers to Turn the Tables
Mission Goal: Prevent the escape of the Council Operative
Mission Contact: Pyranha
Mission Type: Timed Instance
OOC Mission Time: To Be Determined
OOC Notes: Level restricted to 17-20 (exemplars / SKs can be provided). Teenage Heroes preferred, pre-request invitation.
Completed Investigations
<ul type="square">[*]Satellite Shenanigans: Artic Princess & various ZorTel technicians have been attempting to track down dimensional incursions to try to locate Requiem's portal generators. He appears to have some method of hiding some of his portals, and from the looks of it, is moving some of his generators off Striga Isle to locations throughout the NE USA.[*]Crusin' for a Bruisin': Crucifix Blade hit the streets trying to discover useful information, and discovered that a Requiem faction convoy would be moving to a certain dock in Independence Port on Monday 19/06/06.[*]Through the Glass Darkly: Dark Shadowe stirred the pot on Striga Isle, causing the civil war between the Council Factions to hotten up.[*]Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: Miss Ellie's efforts in collating data have lead to some research breakthroughs.[*]Relegation to the Second Division: Having honed her astral projection abilities, Hikari-Hime has successfully petitioned to be allowed to support ongoing operations.[*]A Hax0r, A Hax0r, My Kingdom for a Hax0r: Hannah Rolando and Cruxifix Blade successfully stopped the spread of the datafiles of Miss Ellie's captivity[*]Here a Clock, There a Clock, Everywhere a Tick-Tock: Lyn-Legend's investigations of a world full of Council have revealed negotiations between Requiem's faction and these forces: this must be stopped![*]Putting A Freaky Face On Things: Alfred Bester attempted to perform some informational warfare, trying to convince the press - and Requiem, perhaps - that the current hero activity is related to work against the Freakshow.[*]Bootleg Turn: Logistics Raid One: Crucifix Blade smashes a Council Convoy on the streets of Independence Port and recovers some interesting information on the worldwide reach of Requiem, not to mention slowing the spread of Requiem's evil technology.[/list]Completed Events
<ul type="square">[*]Plot Mission: Striga Operation One: Where Have All the Portals Gone: the raid on a Requiem faction outpost did not go quite according to plan, but some disturbing information on a 'Shadowmaker' machine was acquired as well as other information from a council server system concerning the construction of Requiem's apocalypse machine.[*]Event: Beacon One: Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Hydramen, I shall Fear No Hentacles: despite strong resistance from local hydramen, the first scanner unit was successfully emplaced. Evidence discovered indicated that Requiem had learned of and sought to foil the plan, though his machinations - provoking the local hydramen, eradicating a scout outpost, seeking to test his new weapon, and dispatching one of his Turned Kheldians - fortunatly did not stop the assembled heroes from achieving their goal.[*]Plot Mission: Logistics Raid Two: Council Earth: A substantial force of over a dozen heroes successfully neutralised the negotiations between Requiem and the leadership of Council Earth, though resistance was stiff. Information was discovered surrounding Requiem's nictusification program as well as his efforts to recruit offworld help. The Russian Flag flew proudly against the forces of Facism for a time, though many of Lyn-Legend's (bothans) clockwork gave their lives to get the information that allowed the strike team to hit the right region.[*]Player Mission: Logistics Raid Three: Out of the Council Base and into the Volcano: a strike team led by Alfred Bester destroyed a Requiem Faction Nictus Infusion Laboratory and did massive damage to Requiem's mechanised assault brigades, as well as eliminating the first prototype of Requiem's Nictus Lieutenant program.[/list]
The night was silent. The people of Independence port all lay sleeping, safe- if only for a little while- amongst their dreams. Even the criminals lay in bed, driven away from their crimes by exhaustion and the hard, pounding rain.
But not all criminals were so easily put off.
The six trucks surged through the city streets, accompanied by the screeches of tortured rubber. Their cargo was precious; far too precious to let the tempestuous rain stop them.
Of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't be stopped
--------
Nebula Gunner Harrod Schultz- one of the four guards in the back of the last truck in the convoy- stared moodily out over the rain-soaked streets. He hated rain; it upset him for some reason.
The other three guards were silent; they were council, after all; conversation wasn't their forte.
But this silence wore heavily on Schultz. He'd never liked the quiet that the Council valued so highly.
Then again, Schultz didn't like anything much.
This mild depression, perhaps, was what prevented him from seeing the dark cloaked figure until it was too late. What had moments ago seemed like a particularly deep pool of shadow suddenly became a motorcycle, and what had seemed like a little patch of light became a cross.
Crucifix Blade.
Schultz was up and shooting before he could even blink. "HERO!" he screeched, emptying cartridge after cartridge into that great, dark figure. But to no avail. The bullets struck what seemed to be spandex. And ricocheted off into the night.
The sonofabitch was bullet-proof
"Call in the gunners!" Schultz bellowed. The others were up too, now, and shooting, shooting, shooting
The bullets continued to bounce off the dark hero. Where were the minigunners? Schultz thought fiercely. They should have been here by now, their trucks were faster then this
and then he remembered the earlier sight of a pair of trucks, pulled in at the side of the road, their drivers asleep at the wheel
he'd drugged them
Schultz cursed. This had been planned. Crucifix Blade had known they were going through Independence Port. Someone had leaked information.
But that was suddenly the least of Schultz's worries. Something whistled out of the bike's headlight, and fastened itself to the bottom of the truck.
And then all of a sudden he was in the truck with them.
---------
There are certain statistics to a fight like this.
Four men with guns versus one man with a large blunt sword should be remarkably easy. However, due to lack of ammunition (all of which had been expended shooting at Blade when he'd been following them on the bike) those guns became little more then clubs.
But still, weight of numbers should bring the swordsman down.
But factor in close quarters (perfect for stabbing), darkness (providing the swordsman with cover and allowing him to deceive the gunmen into attacking each other), and sheer difference in skill (a nebula gunner had a sword stuck into his hands and propaganda stuck into his head, while Blade had spent six months mastering swordsmanship in a Tibetan monastery) and what should have been easy pickings became a terrified fight to survive. To the councilmen, he wasn't a man; he was a dark god of fear and slaughter, a tornado of whirling blades and black-clad fists, his whole being an avatar of controlled, precise fury.
It took twenty five seconds of surgically precise swordsmanship to end the fight. By the time Blade was done, each council lay unconcious on the floor, most with cuts, bruises and stab wounds somewhere on their body.
Blade, panting slightly, grinned.
That had been the easy part.
Now to stop the convoy.
A cut through the fabric over the trailer allowed him to swing with long-practiced ease around into the cab. And even there, the statistics were with him. Two council members versus one swordsman. Again, he had the benefit of close quarters, darkness, and difference in skill, and in moments both the driver and his comrade had been kicked out of the cab into the pouring rain.
For a long moment, Blade did nothing. Then, beneath his mask, a slight smile spread across his pale lips.
"By his works shall ye know him," he whispered.
Then he detonated the knockout gas grenades he'd earlier placed in the cabs and trailers of each truck.
---------
It's only with hindsight that the simple, surgical precision of this meticulously careful plan can be seen and admired.
To start with, Blade had established the route of the convoy long before he made the assault. His first task- removing the two trucks armed with mini-guns- had been achieved by sending grenades filled with a gaseous, slow-acting sedative into the cabs. The drivers had been faced with a choice of falling asleep at the wheel while moving, thus risking their own lives as well as the convoy, or pulling in to the side of the road and catching up later. They'd chosen the second option.
His next task- preparing the first three trucks in the convoy with remote-detonated knock-out gas- had as easily been accomplished. By swinging the bike alongside the trucks (and, due to the colouring of his costume and bike, staying out of sight), he'd managed to secure the devices without a single council troop even knowing he was there.
His second-to-last task was the first anyone even knew about on the convoy. By allowing himself to be seen, Blade had exhausted their ammunition (the micro-carbon fibre he wore as a costume protected himself from the bullets, and the bike had been plated with reinforced aluminium), and then subdued the councilmen with little to no danger to himself. And the device Schultz had seen secure itself to the bottom of the cab was an extending swing-line; a thin line of fabric almost completely impossible to break, due to the fact it was made from the same fibre as Blade's costume. The swing-line had not, in fact, merely attached itself to the bottom of the last convoy truck; it had attached itself to ALL the convoy trucks. And when Blade detonated the knock-out grenades, he'd stopped all four vehicles simultaneously, and by breaking the last truck he'd added an anchor line.
In under an hour, with planning and careful timing, the Crucifix Blade had stopped the entire Council convoy.
Each Councilman would wake up in a jail-cell at the Zig. They would be told their trucks had been impounded, and they were to be tried for assault on a Hero. The convoy they had been carrying had also been impounded, but before being opened it had been collected by a registered Super group called the Fletched Alliance.
Two hours later, in the quiet privacy of his room, Nathan Rembrandt, also known as the Crucifix Blade, smiled slightly.
"I love it when a plan comes together," he said.
[ QUOTE ]
Player Mission: Time for the Teenagers to Turn the Tables
Mission Goal: Prevent the escape of the Council Operative
Mission Contact: Pyranha
Mission Type: Timed Instance
OOC Mission Time: To Be Determined
OOC Notes: Level restricted to 17-20 (exemplars / SKs can be provided). Teenage Heroes preferred, pre-request invitation.
[/ QUOTE ]
Time: Tonight (monday 26th) around 8.30pm BST. Meeting at the statue, but please send me PM or tell if you're coming. (Global handle Blackdove). I have 2 SK / exempler slots currently.
Pyranha
OOC Notification
This plotline is on hiatus for at least several days for a variety of reasons.
Feel free to discuss, chat, run player missions, even send me PMs. I don't control your toons, after all. Free game.
However, no update PMs nor responses will be given until the end of the hiatus when/if that occurs.
Note that this means there will not be an Alliance meeting this Wednesday.
IC 26/06/2006 0600 hours
Jakob rolled from the camp bed he had set up in his King's row workshop and rubbed his eyes. All around him was chaos. Half assembled prototypes lay amid mounds of blueprints, technical papers and intelligence reports. Around him other members of the Red Hammer team were sleeping or stirring from their slumbers.
As Jakob stumbled towards the washroom, he got a sudden tingle down his spine. Something's not right. With a soldiers trained eyes, he scanned the room and lighted on what had struck him. Amid the clutter of the workshop lay an empty bunk.
A sudden footfall came from behind Jakob. He spun to see the creature emerge from around a corner. It was pale, huched and drawn, and shambled forwards peering at him through tiny red eyes. "Lenin's beard" muttered Jakob, "have you been working all night, Boris?"
"Of course, " grinned Boris, "You know what I'm like when I get my hands on a meaty problem. And I think I've cracked it-"
Jakob cut him off with a wave. "Boris, I'm just up and you haven't slept. You can tell me about it, but over coffee."
Shortly afterwards, the two men were sitting in the cramped kitchen with a jug of freshly brewed coffee between them. Jakob drank deeply, while Boris neglected his mug, preferring to gain stimulation from the sheafs of papers he had collected. He was already gesticulating and talking at machine-gun pace.
"As you may know, there are certain similarities between dimensional travel and teleportation - indeed some teleporters are known to use dimensional shortcuts. So I took teleport blocking as a starting point With this data from the PPD, and the devices we captured from the Council, I've been able to find a way to build on the teleport blockers already in existence. With my new prototype, we should be able to detect and intercept any specified teleportation. After that, portals are really just a matter of scaling up."
"Could this device override the Council's emergency teleporters?"
"Well, in principle, but we've not done any tests yet. Besides, this is really a stepping-stone to - "
"Then we should start production immediately. We need Council prisoners."
Jakob looked grimly on as Boris explained the production requirements. We need to move quickly, Requiem's already started fighting back. Hopefully he won't anticpipate this particular move, but even if he does, there's ways to hurt him. The only question is how to avoid giving the game away.
OOC:
Since Dr. temporis says we can run player mission's while he's put the overall plot on hiatus, I plan to run my turncoat twostep missions at the time of the cancelled meeting (wednesday night, meet at GG statue). While it's going to be based around my two missions, I'm planning a fairly open-ended scheme, and will do any missions the team members think can be shoe-horned into the arc.
IC: Notice on GoD-net
Comrades, I require your assistance. As you may know, I have a contact within Requiem's faction and he has alerted me to a meeting between a Council Officer and a representative of the Freakshow to negotiate an alliance. While the contact is undoubtedly seeking to further Requiem's interests by divulging this information, the value of the contact, and the risk posed to the city of a Freak-council alliance are too great to ignore. I believe Requiem is expecting the officer to be eliminated - if we can capture him alive, he may possibly yield valuable information from his own faction's intelligence. Furthermore, I have attempted to determine additional objectives that can reduce the effect of this action on Requiem's position in the civil war.
The estimated threat level of these operatives is 32. All heroes interested in participating are to meet with Red Hammer under the Galaxy Girl statue at 2000 hours, British Summer Time, on wednesday the 28th of June.
IC - 28/06/06, 1300 Hours
"I'm still not sure about this, princess," Gregor looked at his former colleague then back at the plans laid out on his workstation, "You'll need a lot of power for this to work. Conventional means just won't cut it I'm afraid."
Kata smiled, flicked back her hair with confidence and replied, "I have already solved the power problem, Gregor. I intend to use a 'magical' source."
"Magic? How, exactly?" the older man's face was a picture of curiosity and bewilderment.
"I have approached an associate on the matter. She is willing to help me. The shock pads from Mr. Huntington's battlesuit will also provide a back-up power."
Gregor pondered the plans again. From what he could make of them, the thing looked like something out of an old Cyberpunk comic: The sleek, domed head rested on a barrel torso which appeared to be comprised of scrappy plates of armour. The limbs were no more than metal bones and the extremities-- well, the extremities were interesting! Kata had obviously wished to place her personal stamp on the machine: The 'hands' and 'feet' were her old battle armour gloves and boots, modified in size naturally to take the strain of all that weight.
Gregor chuckled, "And the technology in the footwear, you've written here that the thing will have increased mobility. How?"
"The boots are giant shock-absorbers. They can store energy on impact with a flat surface and propel the user upwards. It took some time for me to get used to them at first but, when the old suit was fully operational they got me out of a few tight spots."
Kata was obviously proud of her work and Gregor didn't want to put a dampener on it if he could help it. The trouble was the machine just wasn't plausible as a combatant - the legs were too underpowered to provide any mobility above a crawl and the arms were too short. In effect the thing was just about useful as a one-shot device.
And the notion of controlling it by remote worried him. He'd heard that the Council often had overrides programmed in to their devices. Kata had assured him that the chips she had picked up, which were to be re-programmed, were in good condition and tamper proof once installed in the CPU, located in the small of the machine's back. Gregor sighed heavily and turned his attention to Kata,
"You've obviously spent a long time on this Kata. I might need to make a few adjustments though."
"Fine. I trust you implicitly. I wouldn't have dreamed of asking anyone else." She smiled sweetly again.
"Or rather, you wouldn't have dreamed of asking anyone directly linked with the Hero community, eh?"
The two old friends exchanged a look and Kata felt somewhat less confident than at the start of their meeting.
"Gregor, this is on a need-to-know basis. I will be discussing my plans with Ms Mueller tonight. And," here Kata looked Gregor right in the eyes, "I will tell them, when I deem it necessary."
Gregor studied her a little more closely this time. He detected a change in her, only slight but still there. As far as he was concerned this was a job for an old friend, but he wondered just how far she was prepared to go to impress the new crowd.
"Very well, princess. I'll get the boys to work on this straight away." Gregor looked at the clock on the wall, "And you'd better be off. Lunch time is nearly over and we've got a server patch to run this afternoon. We mess this up and we'll have a lot of angry Russians on our hands - some of them are Ukrainians!"
Gregor watched Kata go. She was certainly more confident now, but that was not always a good thing. What was that phrase? Pride comes before a fall. He just hoped that she hadn't climbed all the way to the top of Atlas...
(( As this story is across this thread in three pieces I compiled it into one whole in the Creative section. If you have anything to say about the story please reply to it in Creative and tell what you thought of it, and especially why. I'm interested to know what was seen as good and what clearly needed improvement.
CLICKY to the story in Creative. ))
OOC: I don't have broadband any more, so I'm going to have to leave the game. A detailed IC post is to follow, but I'm posting a brief summary of the IC mission now.
Red Hammer, Crucifix Blade and Arctic Princess raided a meeting between a representative of the council and the Freakshow. The negotiators were captured, but not before the Freakshow leader could activate his communicator and alert hidden freakshow troops. However, the freakshow were quickly cut down by an unexpected wave of Council soldiers, who then started fighting with the COuncil soldiers already present. As the raiding party tried to escape, the incoming soldiers converged on them, trying to kill the prisoners.
The prisoners were secured in the Nova Prospekt base.
[ QUOTE ]
OOC: I don't have broadband any more, so I'm going to have to leave the game. A detailed IC post is to follow, but I'm posting a brief summary of the IC mission now.
Red Hammer, Crucifix Blade and Arctic Princess raided a meeting between a representative of the council and the Freakshow. The negotiators were captured, but not before the Freakshow leader could activate his communicator and alert hidden freakshow troops. However, the freakshow were quickly cut down by an unexpected wave of Council soldiers, who then started fighting with the COuncil soldiers already present. As the raiding party tried to escape, the incoming soldiers converged on them, trying to kill the prisoners.
The prisoners were secured in the Nova Prospekt base.
[/ QUOTE ]
Awww man, that sucks 
[ QUOTE ]
And it was Requiem & Co who had her store torched...
[/ QUOTE ]
It's all an elaborate plot!
Ellie starts to rival Icon (if in a minor way), Ellie's shop gets bombed... by Requiem! Coincidence? I think not!
Icon is instrumental to his riptear device scheems, I tell you!
Back on track:
Grav showed up this morning at Doc's command centre, requesting a list of worlds to search.
Looking and acting a little more 'business like' then usual, and headed off to Penguin to commission a portal.
(sorry for not putting it in story form)
@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.