His rocket boots spitting blue flames like a dying Zippo, and his armour crackling with spilt energy and dripping the dusty debris of one or two forced landings, Firearm arrived in the air above the scene. He had seen the purple flashes from the air as he approached, but he had been too far away to be touched by them. His weapon systems were already online, having witnessed what he thought may have been an attack...
Coming to a halt in the sky high above the crash site he looked around at the area below, sighing at the sheer numbers of heroes assembled, in what he considered to be his neighbourhood.
"There is no way on God's green Earth that this is gunna go well..." he groaned, into his open mike...
"Can everyone just stay back please!" boomed Commander Union.
He had struggled to keep the ever growing crowd of civilians from gathering too close to the fallen meteorite. Crowd control was not his forté.
"Please stay back. We have yet to assess the danger, so please keep your distance." He yelled.
He peered over his shoulder to see the budded tentacle that had sprouted from the meteorite begin to the fire its violet pulses. Instinctively he dived in the path of any heading toward the civilian crowd. About a dozen must've hit him as he darted about, intercepting as many as he could. He stopped when he realised that the bolts of energy didn't appear to be harmful. In fact they where almost pleasurable. It was an odd sensation, but not entirely unpleasant.
Still, he was wary. He instructed a nearby PPD officer to call for backup and set up a perimeter. No-one yet knew what they were dealing with and his first concern was the safety of Paragons citizens. He launched himself into the air. He rose higher and higher until he joined the the group of heroes surveying the situation from the air. He peered down upon the massive impact crater. He found himself wondering if any one had been caught beneath that thing as it landed. He called out to a hero hovering nearby.
"What do you make of this?"
----- Union's finest underachiever -----
Farewell CITY of HEROES
The First, the Last, the One.
Union: @ominousvoice2059
Bill relaxed a bit , he had counted about a dozen heroes , most looking much more heroic than he , if this went pear-shaped at least lowly he would no get the blame ...
maybe ,Bill hoped ,one of these costumes would have some of those useful powers beyond the whacking the crook type ones Bill was limited to.....
seeing one hero advance ((Kinsey)) , with a naked blade , Bill started circling to the left , to avoid giving the tentacle a big group to zap all at once , and to make some space to work in .....and some where to duck when the do-do hits the fan ......
"Master Richard? Master Richard, please wake up."
The voice finally penetrated his consciousness, dragging Richard Huntington awake. He rolled over on his bed, his arm slapping against the emptiness where Cassandra should be, and he grunted as the memory that she was absent - and had been for a few weeks - came flooding back to him.
"Yes, Helena? What is it?" A wide yawn stretched out the first word, and he grimaced with a long stretch of his arms.
"Incoming information: This morning, a meteorite impacted in the King's Row zone of Paragon City. A number of the city's registered heroes are present at the scene. Preliminary scans and analysis are inconclusive, though, speaking speculatively, said object may represent an alien device."
Richard's eyes snapped open. "Alien? Right. It just had to be. I hope it's not Shivans." He bounced from his bed and ran for the shower. "Ready Battlesuit 2, please, Helena, and warm up the King's Row teleport node."
Minutes later, a wet-haired, battlesuited Shadowe was flying across the rooftops of King's Row, heading for the impact site.
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.*
The flower suddenly stopped its spraying of delicate lightning bolts for whatever purpose they served. The head of the tendril closed slowly and descended back into the meteorite, snaking itself into the car sized rock.
Silence descended, as if the device or creature or whatever it was had gone back to sleep, the buzzing sound disappearing too. For an expectant moment, it seemed as if the danger had passed.
And then came the noise. An intense, piercing whine that seemed to pierce the eardrums, pushing the boundaries of tolerable sound. Even The Amber Banshee, used to producing similar sounds, clapped her hands over her ears, the waxy plugs in her inner ear closing instinctively to prevent herself from being deafened. She glimpsed the other heroes assembled, hoping that the maybe some of them had some sort of audio protection.
And then the gas came. Billowing from the base of where the meteor sat in its crater, it spewed a thick, green cloud that was almost impossible to see through. Those caught in it felt its sticky, viscous touch, almost like being smothered in glue. People ran choking from the cloying gas, scattering away from its source. It didnt seem like poison, just unpleasant. Those who attempted to stay in its range retched, the taste of it making them nauseous.
Amber retreated, horrible memories of the gas that had led to her kidnapping and torture a year ago returning with a vengeance.
Run! she managed to gasp as she staggered away from the crash site. Choking and almost deafened, she joined other heroes as they fell back.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
Even on his rooftop perch, the Portent staggered as the strange pod's earsplitting keening flooded his audio-receptors. His sound filters held off the worst of the deafening noise, but his ears were still ringing as he regained his footing and looked down at the scene, to see the assembled heroes shrouded in a dense green fog.
Was this an attack? The readings he'd obtained from the events so far meant nothing to him. All he could do was try to ensure that the situation was contained.
He set his helmet's transmitter to the Militia frequency. "Portent to anyone inside the Dugout. Seal all access points immediately. Do not attempt to exit into Kings Row."
Knights Exemplar: Wolfram, Autumnfox, Starlit Spirit.
Militia: The Portent, Wavekite, Mr. Sandman.
The Cadre: WarpLocke, Zajin.
Numerous others.
The whit being leapt, high into the air, twirling as the 'rock' emitted the thick green gas, landing with a gymnasts bow, he briefly stopped to pick up a child who had fallen, dashing through the scurrying crowd, he handed the boy to his mother, turning to those who had decided to say he announced in a sing song voice.
First a flower now gaseous sap, what say you think this is a trap?
Used to greater dins, than the one emitted by the 'meteor', he walked around the edge of the gas, hopping the assembled heroes could hear him, the being hated being ignored.
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
The piercing whine echoed through the eardrums of Bill's head , his grip on the energy swords hilt tightened and he flicked the toggle to cause the twin beams of red glowing energy to emerge from the handle ....
Using his left hand to fan the green gas away from his face , he for once guessed being dead and not having any part digested food to up chuck was a advantage , also his lack of need to breathe left him reasonable able to deal with the gas ...
however it was clear a number where strongly effected....Bill moved to help those disabled by the green fumes ...and using his un-choked voice he shouted ... BACK ,GET BACK ..clear the area for your own saftey NOW!..
straining to see though the growing green cloud , while retreating , he tried to see if any thing else was happening to the space rock ......
Annie had stood in the middle of a crowd of spectators. Deciding there was too many hero's on site anyway, she decided to stay hidden in the group of civillians.
When the high pitched noise started she had to cover ears. She almost missed the spread of the gas. She unfolded her wings.
"Get out of here." She instructed the people arround her. She forced her way to the front of the small group. She raised her arms and produced a gale force wind, attempting to keep the gas away from the civillians while they ran away.
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
Reeling from the high pitched sound, Storm Sapphire covered his ears with his hands as he stumbled back, his shields flickering brightly into life as energy coursed through him.
"Pull yourself together Michael, we need to get on crowd control to stop the people from ogling the floor show."
"Right, right..." The police officer replied, floating up, before shouting. "I am an Officer of the Paragon Police Department! I want all civillians to get back as far away as possible, and I want you to get moving NOW!"
"Subtle, sensitive and well thought out. Such style, Michael. Such tact."
Nightseye had the feeling her head would explode... The sound had a terrible effect on her heightened senses. She pressed her ears closed and staggered back wards. A small drop of blood already appeared at her nose.
When the gas hit her it was even harder to get back...
"No... get off me! GET OF ME!", she screamed... trying hard not to panic.
- The Italian Job: The Godfather Returns #1151
Beginner - Encounter a renewed age for the Mook and the Family when Emile Marcone escapes from the Zig!
- Along Came a... Bug!? #528482
Average - A new race of aliens arrives on Earth. And Vanguard has you investigate them!
- The Court of the Blood Countess: The Rise of the Blood Countess #3805
Advanced - Go back in time and witness the birth of a vampire. Follow her to key moments in her life in order to stop her! A story of intrigue, drama and horror! Blood & Violence... not recommend to solo!
The High pitch noise was giving Annie a serious headache. She stuffed some tissue in her ears to reduce the noise and pulled her hood up over her head.
She looked around but could not see much due to the spreading green fog. She caught sight of a PPD officer, she assumed he was trying some crowd control, but she couldn't hear a thing.
The crowd of people she had been protecting had cleared the area. She moved her attention to the next group. With out even bothering to shout. She raised a strong wind and gently started to push the crowd backwards. They would get the hint eventually. At the same time, using the backdraft to keep the mist away from herself.
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
VGX-3 stood there it's veiw fixed on the metorite, the high pitch noise had no effect on the suit, as the gas spread out from it however, VGX-3 attempted to scan it quickly but it's scanners couldn't get a reading that would provide answers. Instead of just standing there the command flashed into the A.I's orders Removal of threat to civilain lives.
With a stiff nod the suit marched forwards towards the metorite, ignoring anything in it's way, but with the crowd of people slowly appearing out from the green mist the A.I knew they wouldn't see the suit till it was right on them, so it engaged the heat vision senors and began scanning the route to the Metorite, making adjustments to it so not to run over anyone.
As the mist contacted the Suit's armour it was like sticking onto non stick frying pan, slowly whatever was in the mist was dripping down the suit.
It's route took it right past the heroes still in the mist, and right behind Bill.
The Portents hasty message played over the Dugouts speakers, the computers AI reacting to put the base into Red Alert mode. Brian Mackenzie looked up from where he was wiring in the new device, realising that all was clearly not good outside. He leapt up, knocking over several items as he did, and ran to the external monitors. He could see the meteor as it spewed its gas, the various citizens and heroes scattering.
Saffy
he muttered before turning and running for the door. He had no idea what he was going to do out there but hed be damned if he was going to leave his only daughter out there, regardless of how much experience she had. He grabbed one of the Militias com units before exiting, barely squeezing his massive frame out of the door before it sealed shut.
As he walked out into the street, he could hear the piercing sound as it battered his eardrums and felt the cloying smoke on his body. He was about to start shouting for his daughter when the sound suddenly stopped. He looked about to see the people looking up, daring to take their hands from the ears. The smoke though, was ever present and almost impossible to see through.
Further in, closer to the meteorite, several heroes pressed in, daring to approach the sky fallen rock. Here, the fog was thicker than ever, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of ones face. But it that thick green cloud, shapes began to appear. Humanoid shapes, walking from the meteor, their features indistinct. It was possible to make out human sized silhouettes as they walked to meet the heroes, a strange glow seeming to emanate from their foreheads. They made no sound, and said nothing, still too hard to see their forms in the gas.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
The noise was horrible. Commander Union closed his eyes and covered his ears, hoping to blot the horrendous din out. He focused for a moment. Slowly his ears became accustomed and he noticed that the sound seemed to be comprised of several different frequencies. Each perhaps used to affect the various ranges of hearing that the assembled heroes possessed. Union didn't know for sure. What he did know was that this 'visitor' was becoming increasingly intrusive.
He looked down and spotted a plume of gas emanating from the meteor. He watched as it grew ever larger. He caught a whiff of the gas and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Whatever this was it certainly did not seem friendly.
He dived down towards the edge of the gas cloud. He forced all of his strength into his flight and began circling the cloud as fast as he could. Round and round the cloud he flew. His speed and resultant pressure waves in the air were just enough to keep the cloud from expanding further. However, he couldn't keep this up for long. He was flying as fast as he could, he guessed close to 500mph. At this speed he would tire very quickly and hoped that other heroes might join him before he did.
----- Union's finest underachiever -----
Farewell CITY of HEROES
The First, the Last, the One.
Union: @ominousvoice2059
Metaphyte walked closer into the smog, wary of someone attacking her from the obscuring mist. She blew another cloud of spores out around her, hoping that the clarity spore might be able to counter some of the thick, cloying mist around her. No success. Looking ahead, she could see an odd light, and attached to it, vaguely humanoid beings, looming out of the smoke. She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out two strangler seeds.
"Don't be Shivans..." she said, her voice strained.
Firearm shook his head and, for the umpteenth time that day, directed a string of ferocious expletives at the god of temperamental bio-mechanical powersuits.
He had instinctively propelled himself even further up and away from the meteor when the whine started. When his rockets fizzled out, yet again, and dropped him heavily onto the roof of an evacuated office block, Frank lost his temper, yet again, and started shouting at his predicament, turning the air deep blue. What he didn't immediately realise was that he was too high and too far to have been engulfed by the viscous green gas, nor was he incapacitated by the whine.
Inside his helmet, Frank grinned when he hauled himself to his feet and saw what was happening. His mind whirred, planning his next move - to evacuate what civilians were still inside what he considered to be a safe perimeter, and to then blast the living cr*p out of this...whatever it was.
It was then that the roof of the office block, already shaken by the shcok of the meteor impact and then again by Frank's heavy crash-landing, started to crumble and collapse.
"Oh, fer f-" he grunted, tumbling through the falling rubble.
Large green goo covered hands reached out to grab Frank from the falling rubble. The only vocal response was a Mhgurgle type noise as it set Frank down...
Now something more closely affliated with falling sky rocks shape could be made out through the cloying thick smoke, the ever present green glow of a Shivan though this one carrying cybernetic enhancements, for those that knew Edward it was obvious it was his pet Shivan, Steve.
Not far away from the Shivan were two large goo covered bags filled with nappies, baby powder, milk and a host of other baby orientated items stuffed in the bags and inside the shivans gooey body floated a wallet.
"Mugurgle gurr...argah...mugur..." Steve was trying to say something but obviously very few besides Ed actually understood Steve.
Steve, wondering if the meteorite had bought any of his kin, was deciding to take a detour to investigate...the Shivan begun moving off through the gas...the heroes in for a surprise when the Shivan came from behind, rather than from the meteor.
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
VGX-3 suddenly stopped, it's scanners had picked up the humanoids coming from the rock and the glow on their heads seem to almost confuse the suit.
The A.I program flared up and streamed in more data onto the visor.
Scan results: Life signs: found.
Race: Unknown: Error: Scan life forms: Error: unable to process results: Data: incomplete.
VGX-3 just froze on the spot, it's progarmming meant unless it knew what the target was, or could scan and find the target on a database it could attempt to deal with it, however the suit was meant to have a human inside it for the reason of incase this progarm failed then the pilot would take over, VGX-3 had no pilot noone to act as a backup, noone to give it commands. Apart from the Heroes nearby, maybe one of them could give it a task, help it to help them.
With a computerise and none human voice it called out "Heroes, this unit is unable to pin point targets, please give assistance."
Having gotten a sufficient distance from the gas, The Amber Banshee had managed to recover. The stuff tasted foul and yet somehow sweet at the same time. Once she was able to breath again, she began to wonder whether it wasnt poison and in fact had some other purpose. It was when she saw figures emerging from the mist that she turned her attention back fully to the meteor. Grabbing a handkerchief from her pocket, she tied it around her mouth and nose, giving her the appearance of some cheap, flame haired Hellion. Steeling herself she strode back into the mist, trying to make out the figures that were walking towards them. As the mist parted momentarily, she was able to see one that seemed to be making its way towards her. The sight was enough to stop her in her tracks.
The figure was just over six feet tall, lanky and had long red hair. It wore black jeans, a battered motorcycle jacket and a burgundy face mask. Aside from a slight green tinge and an odd orange glow coming from its forehead, the figure was a carbon copy of The Amber Banshee. Saffron, almost certain that she would be facing the grotesque features of a Shivan, was stunned to instead be facing her own doppelganger.
She took a few steps back, looking around herself. On the outer edges of the gas, as it swirled from the spinning hero circling its perimeter, more figures were emerging. All of them had the appearance of the heroes who had witnessed the event, all of those who had been touched by the strange purple lightning. For each person and hero who had felt the meteors gentle touch, a duplicate strode forth from the mist to confront them, the same pale orange glow emanating from their foreheads.
Saffron tried to speak but words died on her lips. She hadnt just been scanned by the alien rock, shed been cloned.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
Bill looked at the clone of himself .....Bills brain reacted .....gee I really am a ugly SoB.......well at least I wont be hard to bring down ......mind you keeping me down has proved a issue ...
Bills brain and mouth decided on a plan .. Good day sir I am Bill , I am hoping this is some very clever method of communicating .. I mean talking to ones self is always easy ....
The rest of Bills body fell in line with the grand plan .. and turned itself side on to the advancing Bill replica.......his right arm let the energy sword trail back ready to sweep up in a full parry if needed......and his naked zombie feet found a firm grip on the broken surface .....
With another group of civilians cleared, Annie took a moment to look around. She saw one other cluster of people who had not vacated the area. She directed another strong wind in their direction.
Annie caught a movement in the corner of her her.She took a closer look and saw a shape silhouetted against the green mist.
"What the hell!" She exclaimed as the figure finally stepped out if the mist. It was a copy of her, even down to the white and silver outfit. Annie checked to see if the civilians had gone, The area was clear.
Opening up her large wing span, Annie took to the air. Trying to find one of the other hero's in this fog was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But she wasn't about to start a fight unprovoked or with out backup.
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
"Replicating themselves based on scanned DNA, to interact with us better? Or perhaps more sinister dopplegangers come to usurp our lives. Who knows my dear, who knows." Storm Sapphire's Kheldian half commented. "But for those who take our appearance, if imperfectly, we may have to distinguish ourselves."
"You're not suggesting..." Michael trailed off, standing in place as his clone approached him, eying up the creature curiously as they faced one another.
"You will need to return to that form sometime, Michael... and it may give us an edge in the power stakes if we have to battle someone on equal terms."
"We'll keep that as a plan B then." Michael grunted, before stepping forwards. His energy shields shrunk to just flicker and coat his costume. "I'm Officer Michael Preston of the Paragon Police Department, who might you be?"
Coughing still from the cloud he didn't seem that phased by the army of clones. Noticing the orange glow on the forehead he mumbles "At least they're recognizable.. hope that lasts."
Ever the tactician, he started to work out the odds, the situation and ideas that might eventually turn into a plan...
Moving to and leaning against a support beam, Tower of Power activates his com unit "Tower to the Chess Club, All available members please report to Kings Row. Repeat: everone that's not busy, move to Kings Row." After taking a pause to cough theatrically but not in the com he continues. "A Meteor crashed and it has made a large number of clones, one of each of those who were here. I assume things turn uggly, and we'll need to tip the scales in our favour."
Dust and small rubble fell in his hair, as he wasn't leaning for support but to carefully unhinge the beam to use as a weapon while he waited for the responses that soon trickled in.
"Attomic Kitten on my way chief"
"Enforcer 1, eta 5 minutes"
A tired voice sounded over Tower's com "Alright, I'm.. *yawn* coming, Chain Blazer.." *the sound of him hopping on one leg was heard* "Darned boot!.. oh yeah, Chain Blazer out"
"Twilight Dancer here, After I finish with these Circle of Thorns, I'll head over there."
"Mmmrrr.. wake me.. when there's.. a fight or ... something"
Tower of Power rolls his eyes "Hell Kittenz, wake up! You can go back to sleep when this is over"
After waiting a bit longer, he sighs and turns his communicator to send a recorded message.
"I hope when you get this it's not too late, Jess. We have a situation in Kings Row and we can really use your help. No doubt BODICIA is informed and can provide information. Erik out."
@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.
Kinsey stepped back, slightly buffeted by the curious bolt. He ran a suddenly cool hand over his head.
"Ok, that was cute. Think it's time we opened this can up."
He started walking towards the rock/pod whatever the hell the thing was, drawing his sword from its sheath on his back.