The Assault on Unity Plaza ((Semi-closed RP))
By
Bindweed,
Posted on: 2008-10-07 10:45 in Roleplaying
Minute Zero - 12:00:46
Liberty Girl shook her head, trying to knock her senses back into shape. The laser blasts had torn up the reception lobby and sent glass and metal flying everywhere. Civilian contractors and visitors were being helped to safety by armed vigilants as Libby's eyes started to focus. She winced, and pulled a two-inch sliver of glass from her side.
"Dammit, " she cursed. She was running out of wearable uniforms. Pulling herself to her feet she tapped her comms link. "BODI? BODICIA? What the hell's happening? Wha - AARGH!"
Linda dropped to her knees, a sudden burning pain screaming across her back. She couldn't see anything - it must have been shrapnel. She tried to stand again, and something hammer hard hit her in the mouth. She spun backwards against the shattered reception desk, her blood staining the white of her uniform. But there's no one here! Her eyes refocused on the empty space in front of her. She pushed herself away from the desk - and the hammer hit her again, driving into her left ribs. Then again, into her right ribs. It boomed into her like a steamhammer and buried itself in her stomach. As she folded forward it met her chin and straightened her up again. She flew backwards spraying blood until her back crashed down onto a lobby coffee table, splintering what was left of the pale wood.
She groaned, her head swimming and her eyes watering... but now... oh, yeh... now she could see them...
Leo heard BODICIA's announcement, he concentrated for a moment activating his sheilds and looked at Ryan.
"So whats the plan? Get down to the lobby?"
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
{Huntington Manor, Wednesday 8 October 2008, 16:01:00 Zulu (12:01:00 Local time)}
Alarms blared, and the automated defence systems came online within a fraction of a second after BODICIA's message registered on Helena Huntington's Skyway City sensor network. Blast shields dropped, doors slammed shut and deadbolts dropped, and in less time than it took the Unity Vigil OverAI to speak over her intercomm, Huntington Manor was an armed fortress, bristling with military-grade weaponry.
"Alert! Alert! Allies under fire in Unity Plaza. Local city teleport network compromised. Code Red-Beta Alert."
Melissa Montrose, ex-Hand of Artemis, and leader of a defected training cadre of women from the Knives of Artemis, dropped the book she had been idly reading, and rose to her feet. Doctor Huntington had told her to listen to Helena, and she knew roughly what that code meant. Direct threat to life.
Without thinking, Mel pressed the transmit button on her wrist-comm. "Sisters, we have a White situation. Grab what you can, I'll be asking Helena to transport us to..." Her voice trailed off as there was a flash of light around her, and she stumbled as her sense of balance tried to cope with a sudden shift North that didn't actually happen. Around her were the rest of her group, equally startled and uncertain... and each with a neatly packed pile of gear at her feet. How the hell..?
"I took the liberty, Miss Melissa," Helena's voice intruded over her wrist-comm. "There is no time to lose. Recommendation: prepare minimal required equipment only and proceed."
Mell was stunned, but only for a couple of seconds - that was a lot more initiative than she had expected from Helena, to transport all of them and their gear via the Huntingtons' private teleport network. There was no more time to consider it. The girls needed orders.
"Stealth packs now, ready the rest on the run." She suited action to words, and grabbed her stealth-webbing, snapping it into place with practiced ease, and powering it up.
Predictably, Julie mouthed off, "Why are we helping his friends? It's not as if they've ever done anything for us, is it?" and Mel turned to the empty space the voice had come from.
"We're helping his friends because a) it's the right thing to do, and b) because we have a lot of work to do to prove ourselves to these people, and this is a good time to start. It will be worth it, Julie, I promise."
With that, she started to run, pulling on her goggles as she did. Helena's targetting with the teleport network was quite phenomenal. It only took a dozen swift strides to see the horrifying view of Unity Plaza. She chose not to waste time reprimanding whichever of her sisters she heard, because she felt the same way herself.
"Oh, sh..."
{Unity Plaza, Wednesday 8 October 2008, 16:02:11 Zulu (12:02:11 Local time)}
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.*
[ QUOTE ]
Leo heard BODICIA's announcement, he concentreated for a moment activating his sheilds and looked at Ryan.
"So whats the plan? Get down to the lobby?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Ryan looked grim. He looked more than grim. He looked -determined-. His eyes were glowing brightly from behind his glasses, and tiny flickers of flame swirled up his bare arms.
"Give me a moment, Leo... give me a moment." He said calmly, taking a deep breath before sighing, his internal commslink switching on. "All New Vigilants, help get the students to Training Rooms Four and Six. I'm not going to force any of you to fight if you don't want to, but those that do want to help out? We're making a push for downstairs. This is going to be dangerous, and it's going to be the hardest fight of your lives. You need to be sure on this."
Cutting his commslink off, he looked to Leo and the other students in the room. "You heard me. Let's get our friends to safety, and take down these jerks who think they can come into our Tower, our home, and screw things up! NEW VIGILANTS, LET'S GO!"
12:01:27
Vigilance Tower - Minute Zero - 12:00:15
The building shook, spilling Cara's books from her desk as the overhead lights briefly flickered in her classroom. "What the hell!?" she squawked.
Standing quickly, she hurried over to the window, looking down to the plaza just as Bodicia's announcement started to come over the com channels and loudspeakers throughout the building.
"Oooh cool!" she crowed, a grin on her face. "Time for some action!"
Stretching her arms out, fire erupted around her slim body, followed an instant later by a sheen of ice as her body transformed. Throwing a wave at her classmates, she headed for the door. "See you guys later, I've gotta go save the world!"
Minute Zero - 12:01:05
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Leo nodded grimly, his face almost a reflection of Ryan's determined one.
"I'll take lead on the stairs. I can block them effectively allowing you time to move on this floor." An orange glow appeared around Leo's feet as he ran to the stairwell.
Once at the top of the stairs a wall of fire erupted around Leo, scorching the walls and floor. It flared and then died and then flared again as Leo held it in place around him as he descended towards the lobby.
12.01.48
((edited the time because I forgot the minutes 
))
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
[ QUOTE ]
Leo nodded grimly, his face almost a reflection of Ryan's determined one.
"I'll take lead on the stairs. I can block them effectively allowing you time to move on this floor." An orange glow appeared around Leo's feet as he ran to the stairwell.
Once at the top of the stairs a wall of fire erupted around Leo, scorching the walls and floor. It flared and then died and then flared again as Leo held it in place around him as he descended towards the lobby.
12:01:48
[/ QUOTE ]
There were already Malta on the stairwell. Around five of them, three armed with combined assault weapons, two with the standard issue Gunslinger pistols. The approach of a glowing, burning young man above them on the stairwell meant sweet jack all to them. A quick hand flick and weapons were pointed at him, cryo rounds quick-loaded into the pistols, and the hail of bullets against him began.
Ryan and the other New Vigilants in the training room were still getting people evacuated on that floor.
12:01:51
[ QUOTE ]
There were already Malta on the stairwell. Around five of them, three armed with combined assault weapons, two with the standard issue Gunslinger pistols. The approach of a glowing, burning young man above them on the stairwell meant sweet jack all to them. A quick hand flick and weapons were pointed at him, cryo rounds quick-loaded into the pistols, and the hail of bullets against him began.
Ryan and the other New Vigilants in the training room were still getting people evacuated on that floor.
12:01:51
[/ QUOTE ]
Leo felt the impact of the hits and his flames were extinguished as a cryo round hit. It did not stop his descent. He barrelled straight into the middle of Malta and materialised his fire sword. With a spin Leo swung the sword in a circle. He landed on one knee and as he rose he aimed a flaming uppercut at the closest Gunslinger.
Leo could feel the continuous rain of bullets as they hit, he smiled as his shields held strong. The close proximity of the stairwell just made him more effective. He paused as he prepared to release another ring of scorching flame.
12:01:57
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
Unity Tower - Minute Zero 12:00:37
Chlorr, known as Moon Path to the hero world, grumbled to herself about various things as she rubbed her head and pushed herself dizzily to her feet in one of the corridors just off the reception that had been rather differently decorated. She moved her hand to steady herself against the wall as she tried to make out what was going on, the other raising to her comm. "What the HELL just happened?!" she called out, over the sound of the missiles and other projectiles hitting against the shield and the cries of the wounded.
Taking a few stumbling steps in towards the reception and flaring up her defence shields on instinct, a couple of the ground troops noticed the movement, and halted, leveling their weapons at her before opening fire on her. Most of the bullets were deflected by her shields, but a couple had switched to a more penetrating type of ammo, and those were the ones that got through, thudding into arms and legs.
Chlorr cried out, gritting her teeth and collapsing down to a knee before launching herself into flight directly at her assailants, eyes and fists glowing as she threw bolt after bolt of mystical energy at the invaders.
12:00:49
Vigilance Tower - Minute Zero - 12:01:20
Cara skidded to a halt at the elevators, then, remembering her training, pushed open the door to the emergency stairwell. Ducking her head around the door, she checked it was clear before floating through and drifting down the stairs, heading for the lobby and humming softly as she went.
12:01:35
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
[ QUOTE ]
Leo felt the impact of the hits and his flames were extinguished as a cryo round hit. It did not stop his descent. He barrelled straight into the middle of Malta and materialised his fire sword. With a spin Leo swung the sword in a circle. He landed on one knee and as he rose he aimed a flaming uppercut at the closest Gunslinger.
Leo could feel the continuous rain of bullets as they hit, he smiled as his shields held strong. The close proximity of the stairwell just made him more effective. He paused as he prepared to release another ring of scorching flame.
12:01:57
[/ QUOTE ]
With a quick gesture and a crackling order barked over comms, the Malta operatives rolled back down the stairs, leaving several flashbangs and smoke grenades behind, pins out. Regaining their footing, they prepared to head round the corner of the stairwell. The call of 'MHI' had been made.
12:01:59
----------------------------------------
Cindersnap finished hearding the students into the training room, several Vigilants present to hold off any intruders. Stepping out, with him was Quickfrost, Rushmore, the twins Hi-Fi Girl and Lo-Fi Boy and Lich.
"Alright, let's go back Leo up and get-"
"Look out, Ryan!" The twin audiokinetics shouted at the same time, raising their hands to project a wave of sound at the incoming crossbow bolts.
Quickly spinning, a long streak of flame burst into life in one of Ryan's hands, seeing six Knives of Artemis assassins drop out of cloak, razor sharp swords at the ready.
12:01:58
---------------------------------------------
In the lobby of Unity Tower, more of the invading forces started to pour through the breach in defences. Laser and Assault rifle fire was rapidly exchanged between the Vigilants and invading forces, the groups metahumans already rallying to the attack. Malta Engineers had begun setting up gun emplacements, and several Zeus Titans were guarding the exit to prevent outside interference.
12:01:54
(( Catching up a little. ))
12:00:45
Annette stepped off the train at Skyway City after her shift at the Well, she had changed into her battle suit back at the shop, and was tying her hair back as she arrived. She pushed her comm-unit earpiece into her ear and heard BODI's voice, just as she saw smoke rising from the general direction of Unity Plaza. Annette gasped.
Nitoichi jumped the rail at the station and ran full pelt for the towers.
12:02:00
She spotted the first group of targets, women with stealth systems waiting for non-combatants to exit the building. Ni's heightened senses saw them easily and she dived in, pale blue blades of energy flashing as they cut at the women.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
12:01:12
Starborn rushes towards the Lobby, flying through the doors like a cannonball, the barrage of bullets that followed deflected off her body with small sparks, she smashes her hands together to knock the attackers over from the shockwaves before rushing forward towards Liberty girl.
"Linda!"
Before she can help she's knocked down from a missle, quickly she returned to her feet, taking a second missle before charging towards another battle.
Tigergirl/Yoko Hatori - Full time hero
Kiyarii Kade - Model and part time hero
Mileena Lim - Alien Demon Bat Sorceress or rather Hotel property owner
Starborn/Klair Elwin - Full time hero and Journalist
12:02:00
Unity Plaza was wrecked. The arrival of the Kronos Titan and the other smaller models had crushed the fountain, stone displays and plants, and bullet casings littered the place as more of the forces filtered in. Several of the black and red clad powered armoured units had activated thermoptic camoflauge and entered into the Tower through breaches further up.
In the lobbies of the two towers, the Malta had already set up incursion points, gun turrets and drones floating as the invaders battled against the Vigilants, heroes and tower defences. Further in, strike teams had made progress.
Knives of Artemis were busy scouting out for targets while hidden, and Gunslingers were using local teleporters to make leaps into the tower and hunt down metahumans.
Vigilant presence was strong in the medical bays and down below, and several units had been dispatched to the lobbies via stairwells. BODICIA had taken the elevators offline.
With positive metahuman encounter, and strong resistance in Vigilance Tower, Sapper teams had just been deployed. Two were making their way to Northern Stairwell 2, where Leo Wright was facing off against Malta.
In Southern Stairwell 1, several Knives of Artemis had begun making preperations to ambush any incoming heroes, detection systems notifying them of Burned Ice's arrival.
[u]Minute One Ends/Minute Two Begins[u]
Gemini was stoic in the corner of the room. Her mind was wondering again. Abruptly her mind was back in her body. She could sense the close proximity of people in pain. She quickly realised the building was under attack. She stood up quickly, her muscles aching through inactivity. She pulled the drip out of the back of her hand.
"This will not do!" She said softly. She ran over to the door and started banging and yelling to be let out. She knew someone would be along with a hypodermic full of sedatives.
When the door opened slightly, Gemini yanked on the handle and blasted the nurse with a psychic knockback that sent her flying. She grabbed a lab coat that was hanging nearby and ran off down the corridor. She could hear the explosions from the lobby up in the medical lab.
Bare foot and wearing a medical smock and a lab coat, Gemini was not surprised when she ran out into the corridor in front of two Malta operatives and they just laughed at her. She released a psychic blast that sent them both flying, the impact with the wall knocking them both unconscious.
"Don't judge a book by its cover boys!" She walked over to the unconscious bodies and picked up their rifles. With one rifle slung over her shoulder, the other gripped ready to fire, she started to make her way toward the Unity Tower lobby.
12:01:45
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
12:01:58
Linda grinned through bloodied teeth at her assailants. The stealth webbing in the uniforms of the Knives of Artemis could render them virtually invisible. But if they were standing in the middle of a cloud of plaster dust and water spray from fire sprinklers...like, say, in a lobby recently devastated by laser cannons...?
Linda sprung to her feet, ignoring the pain. They'd probably broken her nose and busted a few ribs, but already the crack in her jaw and the ruptures in her belly were healing fast. Her right leg snapped out at head height and the speed of the kick caught the Knife by surprise. It also caught her in the teeth, knocking most of them into her mouth. The woman fell over backwards like a toppled statue.
Three left.
Linda's elbow shot backwards and cracked the chest of the mercenary behind her. She felt the impact and heard the gasp and knew without looking that she'd incapacitated another.
Two to go.
The third slashed at her with a sword. Linda caught the woman's wrist and twisted her arm sharply. The arm snapped and the woman grunted. Knives didn't scream. Linda chopped at the woman's knee with her left boot and that snapped too.
One more.
Linda grunted as she twisted to look for the last mercenary. This fourth one was an officer. She was also much faster. She was the one whose blows hit like hammers. One of those hammers crashed into Linda's kidneys. As Linda arched in pain, a backhand chop hacked at her exposed throat and she staggered backwards, gurgling. The Hand of Artemis followed up, sweeping two blades from sheathes on her back and leaping at the staggering heroine. Linda caught her in mid air and swung her into and through the smouldering countertop of the reception desk.
Liberty Girl grinned, coughing and clutching her bruised throat. Four Knives in about a minute. She was slowing down in her old age...
Looking up and taking in her surroundings properly for the first time, she glimpsed a familiar blur of scarlet and black. "Klair..." she croaked.
12:02:57
[ QUOTE ]
With a quick gesture and a crackling order barked over comms, the Malta operatives rolled back down the stairs, leaving several flashbangs and smoke grenades behind, pins out. Regaining their footing, they prepared to head round the corner of the stairwell. The call of 'MHI' had been made.
12:01:59
[/ QUOTE ]
Leo saw the grenades land and he quickly moved back up the stairs. He was not quite quick enough. His shades protected his eyes but the bang left his ears ringing. The smoke did not make things any easier.
While waving the smoke away and trying to shake off the ringing in his ears, Leo was hit with a blue beam. Immediately drained he fell to one knee. It took a moment for him to realise what had hit him.
"Oh S***!" Leo knew he could not face off against five Malta and a Sapper. He had no idea what else was behind the smoke. So he pulled himself to his feet and ran back up the stairs. Slamming the door behind him, Leo looked for something to wedge the fire door closed.
"We got Malta incoming!" He yelled down the corridor.
12:02:21
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
Minute Zero
12:00:37: An office on the north wall had a rather handy hole blown in it from a Kronos titan main gun. It might have occasioned the gun-spotters some irritation to note that said office, while indeed being very important, had been vacated some 2.7 seconds earlier by a leather-clad blur moving at a mind-buggering rate of knots. A gale of paper, and only slightly magical (and otherwise pointless) knicknacks rained down on the plaza.
Vigilance Tower: A pile of classroom marking drops to the floor, as its marker suddenly fades into a purple blur and then invisibility.
Minute 1:
12:01:10
Gunslinger Rho Kappa Blue ported ahead, into the deserted corridor beyond the ruined "Mystical Affairs" office. Wary, he stalked down that corridor, alert for any of the vigilants, or the metahumans he was hunting. A the slamming open of a door behind him launched him into practised action, spinning and activating his jump generator, porting about 8 feet back to clear the range, then opening fire. Bullets sailed down the corridor, into empty air, even while his generator was still recharging, his momentum carried him back, the back of his neck touching something cold and sharp and why was the room spinning and just how did one look at ones own belt buckle from upside down anyw....
Arachidamia flicked the blood off her sword, stalking off down the corridor even before the disparate parts of one overconfident (and now perpetually a foot shorter) malta gunslinger hit the floor. The gloves were off, she had taken up the mantle of the warrior completely, with no regrets and no second thoughts. Again.
Heads will roll
Minute 2
Vigil Tower:
12:02:23
The sapper team that had just accosted Leo was making its way up to the door he'd gone through, moving with practised skill. As they were stepping up to the door itself, a most curious event occurred. Sapper Annunzio suddenly vanished, a purple flare of light marking his teleportation, the answering flare and noise came from a floor down. Locked into bindings of dark matter, he was helpless to resist as Penumbral Song, eyes the dead purple glow of full power, hurled bolt after bolt of energy into the sapper. Some of his team managed to get back down to him, in time to see him crumple, and this woman.. this thing suck part of their own life out of them, only fuelling her own glow, changing into what intelligence reports labelled "Ruktur," the hulking war-form most people only knew as "dark dwarf." Backing off, and opening fire in the face of this monolithic menace, one of theoperatives got off a comms signal as blows started to rain down, and the noise of combat, of bullets and blows exhanged, began in earnest. "Bring up quantum weaponry. Alien infestation confirmed."
12:02:31
Moving steadily downwards, a trail of dead and injured knives and malta ops behind her, Damia was moving as quickly as she could in the tight quarters of the corridors. her armour and clothing were torn, from hits that had gone in, but the skin beneath untouched, her own regeneration working overtime, as she systematically annihilated every enemy she came upon. The Knives... were a challenge, but her mystically overdrive senses could pinpoint them, and after that it was just straight sword-play. She was handing around object lessons in the art with generous abandon today.
halfway to ground...
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
12:02:10
Chlorr crouched behind a piece of debris around the edge of the main reception, holding her left arm and cursing to herself quietly as she summoned the energy for her wounds to heal over while the invaders pounded her position with pinning fire, knowing that she could get out without going into one of their fields of fire.
She panted abit, muttering about her ruined clothes as she crouched then sprung, rocketing out from the crumbling cover. She flew high, raining down a storm of blasts at any of the intruders she could see before trying to retreat towards another piece of cover to recover again, hoping that something was going to happen soon, as she couldn't keep this up for much longer, she wasn't experienced enough with fighting the Malta and their ilk...
[ QUOTE ]
Vigilance Tower - Minute Zero - 12:01:20
Cara skidded to a halt at the elevators, then, remembering her training, pushed open the door to the emergency stairwell. Ducking her head around the door, she checked it was clear before floating through and drifting down the stairs, heading for the lobby and humming softly as she went.
12:01:35
[/ QUOTE ]
(( Slight backtrack, sorry ))
12:01:30
Cara floated gently down the relatively quiet stairwell, wondering why it was so quiet. Too late, she remembered another important part of her training, just in time to feel a sharp blade stabbing at her back.
Barely aware of the Knives of Artemis assassin decloacking behind her, she let herself fall forwards to the floor, letting her ice form protect her from the blade, and flames erupted all around her. 3 more Knives assassins were revealed, outlined in the flames as they jumped back from the intense heat.
"BIG mistake!" Cara growled, and raising a hand, ice shot out from her prone body, coating the nearby stairwell and causing the assassins to slip and grab for a handhold on the railing. Flipping to her feet, Cara grinned and readied a fireball in her hands.
"You women made a big mistake coming here." she growled, and without pause, threw the fireball at point blank range.
The women screamed in pain as the ball of sticky fire enveloped them, and they were blasted partly up the stairwell from the force of the explosion. Three scrambled back to their feet, one stayed down.
Glanced at each other, the assassin in command barked an order and the remaining three faded from sight again as they activated their stealth suits.
Cara narrowed her eyes as they vanished, and concentrated as she'd been taught; listening for the small sounds of their breathing, knowing they were moving to flank her.
12:02:02
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
12:02:12
Melissa Montrose was out of her depth, and she knew it. Dragged hastily away from the comforts of Huntington Manor, she and her girls were caught off guard, and the military precision of the assault on Unity Plaza was almost overwhelming. But there was no time to stand and stare.
"Marie, Julie - with me. We're going into Unity Tower. Everyone else, provide cover, and aid in civilian rescue operations." With her goggles on, Mel saw the responding nods, even through the stealth fields, and a tight, grim smile creased her face as Marie and Julie stepped smartly up beside her.
All three women checked their wrist-mounted crossbows and began a swift, and very stealthy, jog toward the main doors of Unity Tower.
12:02:32
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.*
12:02:15
Michael was sat cross-legged in his sanctum with a long stave of polished wood on the floor in front of him, the glowing runes set into the carved stone floor providing the only illumination to the otherwise dark room. Centred as he was on the weave of magic he was crafting into the half-finished stave, it took him over a minute and a half to realise that several of the higher level wards he had erected at the tower in Skyway had been tripped, and more then tripped.
Grimacing slightly as the mental howl of one of the higher level wards broke through his concentration, he paused and followed the thread of magic connecting him to the ward back to its origin and his expression went grim as the events of the last minute unfolded.
So, they finally chose to move openly do they? About time, I was hoping I would get the chance to have a discussion with the gentlemen who tried to kill Zorielle and threatened my wife
Rising to his feet, Michael spoke a single word and a wave of curling mist rose from the floor, clinging to his form and when it dissipated gone were the jeans and t-shirt he had been wearing and in their place was the set of long robes he had worn on the recent missions to the parallel dimension where the Unifier ruled. Gesturing at a stand in one corner of the dimly lit chamber, a rune carved staff rose from its resting place and whirled through the air towards him. Catching it in one hand he turned, fading from sight as he did so, already moving through space towards the place so many of his friends and colleagues called home.
12:02:59
Roleplayer and member of "The Unity Vigil"
Characters: Union (Heroes) -
White Warlock Lv50 Ill/Storm Controller
Black Providence Lv50 MA/SR Scrapper
Starwhisper Lv50 Peacebringer
"We've got problems of our own up here, Leo!" Cindersnap yelled back, his body glowing brightly with orange light as he ducked and dodged out of the way of swinging blades. Quickfrost had already stepped forwards to parry one of the blades with his ice sword, using techniques learned from his swordsmanship tutor Arachidamia, and Rushmore thrust out with his heavy rock hammer, knocking one of the Sisters back into the wall.
"Hi and Lo, knock them back and buy us some time to regroup. Quickfrost, once we're regrouped with Leo I want you to wall us off from the Knives and Malta. Thickness rate 3." Ryan spoke over his internal commslink, flinging a ball of fire at one of the Knives before darting back. "NOW!"
The twins grasped each others hands tightly and opened their mouths, waves of sonic force rippling down the corridor to catch the attacking assassins and blast them back.
"FALL BACK!" Ryan gave the order, his group dashing back towards Leo. As they caught up he gave the signal to Quickfrost, who pushed himself to the limit as he forced the rapid formation of ice walls to block them off from their attackers.
12:02:59
One of the Malta attacking Chlorr suddenly erupted blood and cerebral matter from the side of his head, a gunshot coming from the rafters. ADAOS quickly started to move across the steel beams, ready to take up another position to fire from, his Combined Assault Rifle folding back into his arm. "Stay safe, Member Chlorr." The transmission came through from him to her commslink.
Another gunshot rang from his position as he fired once more, an Op. Engineer slumping over his turret. The machine still continued to turn and fire as his body absorbed the impact of bullets.
12):02:34
"By Dirge..." Umbral Pulsar said slowly, staring out from his window at the Plaza. He'd moved into Zorielle's office at orders from BODICIA, though part of him wondered if she just wanted to keep him from going into the lust of battle that could sometimes overcome him. The click of the door opening quickly made him turn around, peering out from in hiding at the group of Malta that were heading in.
"... Looks like I may have some prey after all." He chuckled, grinning darkly as he moved through space to appear in the middle of them. The fast sapping of their lifeforce disoriented them for long enough, as their very spirit was tore away from themselves to power up the 'Redeemed Division' cop, as some liked to call him.
"Slumber soundly, my opponents. Your death shall not come from my hand this day, but your spirits will ensure your collegues are entirely unsuccessful." Pulsar said with a bow, his body throbbing with barely contained energies.
12:02:51
Madame Midknight quickly hurried to Michael's sanctum, hammering on the door. "Hey, Gandalf the White. You better get your [censored] moving and summon Gandalf the Grey too while we're at it. We've got an ultimate showdown going on!"
There was no answer. "... Damn, must have left already, might as we-" Jane was cut off as a bullet wound appeared on the front of her forehead, the witch toppling to the ground.
12:02:59
"This is BODICIA. Continue the good work everyone. I seem to have a roach infestation, and I need you all to become exterminators. Remember though, our primary goal is survival. Take no undue risks. Take... oh my. Could I have some volunteers please? Special Forces are about to try and breach my Core Room in Vigilance Tower." BODICIA announced through the commslinks. In the core room on the second Tower, the AI floated in place in the central chamber, resting on a throne that was built into the rest of her body, looking very much like the cross between False Maria and Tron. Long fibreoptic cables hung from the ceiling to reach her back and skull, and shield platforms and gun emplacements already began to circle around her chamber.
[u]End of Minute Two/Begining of Minute Three[u]
[ QUOTE ]
Cara narrowed her eyes as they vanished, and concentrated as she'd been taught; listening for the small sounds of their breathing, knowing they were moving to flank her.
12:02:02
[/ QUOTE ]
3 knives flashed out simultaneously, burying themselves deep in the back of the young heroine. As the blades sank into the the living ice that formed her body, Cara screamed piercingly and the flames around her body erupted, turning the entire stairwell into an inferno. Her three would be killers were incinerated in an instant as the flames engulfed them, and the metal stair railings began to soften and melt.
Seconds later, emergency fire suppression equipment embedded in the ceiling opened up, filling the space with fire retardant foam and smothering the flames, denying them of the oxygen they needed to burn. Underneath the foam, her body returning to normal, Cara struggled to get to her feet.
"*cough* Shut... *cough* Shut off... *cough* Shut off the damn foam!* she yelled into her comm link as she struggled to breath in the rapidly thinning air. "Can't... *cough* Can't... BREATHE!"
Abruptly, she flung an arm out and a beam of pure heat erupted from it, causing the foam emitters to concentrate their fire on her. However the heat from the beam was far too intense, and a hole was burned through the side of the building, opening the way to the outside and letting fresh air rush in. Cara stumbled to her feet, and fell through the melted concrete and steel.
12:03:05
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
((What occurs now happens on Wednesday 8th at 12 PM. There's seven minutes for the heroes involved to survive against before enemy forces retreat.))
((Why Semi-closed? Because things are going to get pretty hectic, more than likely. People with Unity Vigil or New Vigilant characters are free to post them acting or fighting off against the forces. Just try to keep in mind each minute and the actions you could do in that time. New minutes will be called, so don't worry! Also, those not in the groups drop me a PM to ask. Or the thread I'm creating just... now.))
[u]The Lead Up[u]
Unity Tower was fairly subdued in mood, a number of the members currently on Rolando Island thanks to the portal in the basement levels, attending the memorial service oF Jessica Stoneberg. Members and staff proceeded about their buisness, and a school group was being given the tour of the Hall of Honours on the third floor.
BODICIA herself was troubled. The DDoS attacks that had been occuring every so often were out in force at the moment, more rappidly flooding each incoming connection and her bandwidth. Whoever was behind it were pros and had access to large farms of zombie computers, and the numbers were spiking every minute now.
"Authorization BODICIA-One, OverAI administrative mode. Shut down all external connections from all sources. Internal and Primary Dataloop connections only." The AI made the critical decision at 11:59:58. All connections from external sources other than her main data link to her core processors on Rolando Island and Vigilance Tower were blocked out.
With the top of the hour approaching, people began to put their work on hold and finish up, ready to leave to get some lunch.
Over in Vigilance Tower things were still in full swing, taking their lunch instead at 12:15, 12:30 and 12:45 to prevent the facilities and plaza being swarmed by students and UV memberes. The leader of the New Vigilants, Cindersnap, was busy in Training Room Two with his class, deep in a lesson of Power Control and Experimentation.
At the Skyway City Medical Center, the Mediport Control Team were noting an alarming spike in signal activity and power draw from the main node in southern Skyway...
[u]Minute Zero - 12:00:00[u]
Skyway City Medical Center
"Good lord, what is happening to the system?!" One of the technicians exclaimed, reading the redlining readouts on his display terminal.
"Something's taken control of the system, and whatever they're transporting, it's... massive. Beyond system safeguard levels... oh God, system surge in process, they're exiting!"
Warning sounds and flashing lights went off all around the control room, the technicians and scientists rushing about trying to regain some control of the situation, when all of a sudden, the display readouts went black.
At 12:00:30, Code Black was called. A Mediport Hack had overloaded the Skyway Node's systems.
"Code Black, I repeat, Code black! Engineers scrambled, reboot in seven minutes, I repeat, seven minutes till reboot! Notify all hero agencies!"
[u]Minute Zero - 12:00:10[u]
The large, unpainted form of the Kronos class Titan stood in Unity Plaza, arm cannnon covers flipping back as it pointed them at the lobbies of Unity and Vigilance Tower. Ae its weapons charged, further forces were being beamed in. Zeus and Hercules class Titans, Malta forces, Knives of Artemis assassins, and black and red power-armour clad forces of unknown origin, wielding high tech weaponry.
The green aura shields of the Towers were already starting to flicker into life as the main laser cannons of the Kronos fired, meeting some resistance from the powering up fields before puncturing them and shattering the glass and punching through the metal walls of the lobbies, the beam tearing its way up to the reception desks. The additional Titans began firing blasts along the East Wall of Unity Tower and the West Wall of Vigilance Tower, making smaller punctures and entry points before the shields flickered into full life. Swarms of missiles were launched from the respective mechs, along with shorter bursts of fire to keep the shield systems busy, even as the ground forces went to attack.
At 12:00:34, the last troops had already been beamed in and the first troops had entered the towers.
At 12:00:40, the Vigilant constructs began suppression fire in the lobbies, while prioritizing getting the injured to safety.
At 12:00:45, BODICIA's ever-present voice sounded the alarm in both towers through the commslinks.
"Warning, Unity Plaza is under attack by mass forces. I repeat, Unity Plaza is under attack. All non-combatants in Unity Tower, please proceed to the West Section. All non-combatants in Vigilance Tower, please proceed to the East Section. Combatants, aid in evacuation to designated safe rooms and guard critical components. Combatants, please make your way to the lobbies to hold off enemy forces.
I am already tired of these ************* forces in my ************* tower. Lethal Force Code A3 in Use. Sanctioned termination of enemy life is permitted to defend non-combatants."
Throughout the towers, the intercomms systems dropped the warning sounds and were replaced with BODICIA's voice. "Live fire has been enabled in all Vigilants. Welcome to Unity Tower, your stay -will- be a short one. Please remember to wipe your feet and try not to bleed everywhere." She said politely, before her voice turned rather sinister. "You are unwelcome. You will be purged. I will take great pleasure in terminating you within my corridors. This is my world, Invading Forces, and you were stupid to step in here."
Her message concluded at 12:01:00.
[u]Enemy Objectives:[u]
1: Take the Medical Wards.
2: Terminate Ryan 'Cindersnap' Andrews.
3: Search Zorielle's office.
4: Steal Research Materials from UV Basement Levels.
5: Destroy UV Portal.
6: Locate BODICIA's cores and elimiate them.
[u]End of Minute Zero/Minute One Begins.[u]
SUPPORT - IT'S NOT JUST A GROUPING OF ATs
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More Than a Game
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