Disaster in Galaxy City! (Open RP, of sorts)

It’s a typical day in Paragon City; the sidewalks are busy with people going to and from anywhere, the Paragon Police Department patrol the streets doing what they can to keep the city crime free. Suddenly, the ground shakes in Atlas, King’s Row, Perez Park; everywhere adjacent to Galaxy City. There is panic in the streets as citizens rush to their homes, while others flock to any available television set they can find, hoping to learn what just happened.

Television sets everywhere flicker on, all sharing the same channel. The words nobody hoped they would read as the headlines of today’s news cast: “Paragon City under Attack? Disaster in Galaxy City!”

“…A special news announcement.” A voice on the television says, as the news caster for the Paragon City News appears on screen. Unlike other news reports, he, as well as the other people in the studio, seem to be in a state of shock, and had not had time to properly prepare this breaking news report.

“Disaster struck today as several meteorites have fallen onto Galaxy City. Circumstances surrounding this mysterious event are unknown. Unfortunately, none of our reporters are available to…” The news caster leans over as someone whispers in his ear, “Sammy? That rookie? She’s never done something like this before!” “…Uh-huh…Uh-huh…All right, fine.” The anchorman clears his throat and continues, “It seems we do have someone at the scene! Sammy, are you there?” The images on the television change from inside of the news room to outside. The focus of the camera is a teenage girl, dressed up and doing what she can to make herself look professional. To either side of her are ruined buildings, collapsed roads and cracks in the earth. In the sky, meteors can be seen falling towards other parts of Galaxy City.

“Yes, I’m here. As you can see behind me and all around, Galaxy City is in complete ruin. We have no idea at this time if this was some type of attack or a freak accident, but either way this is not a good sign.” The novice reporter, Sammy, runs a hand through her golden bangs and lets out a small sigh, “The Freedom Phalanx and Longbow arrived at the scene moments after the first meteor struck, and have been working tirelessly since to rescue everyone they can.”

Hearing the group’s name called, Back Alley Brawler turned his attention towards the young reporter, “Hey! What are you doing? This is no place for a kid like you, get out of here!” he yelled out as he started to make his way towards Sammy and her camera crew.

Startled by the sudden noise, Sammy turned to face him, but as soon as she heard him call her a kid, she exploded, “Kid?! I’m not a –kid- --“ Stopping herself, she took a deep breath and continued, “I know, I know! We needed to cover what happened here; we were just leaving. Come on, everyone!” she signaled to her crew and started walking off.

“Whoa, look out!” Back Alley Brawler called out as he lunged towards a creature that had appeared behind the news crew.

The camera turned only to find that behind them all were creatures that seemed to be made from the earth itself. They were huge masses of rock given a humanoid form, and now the Freedom Phalanx was locked in battle with them.

“We’ve gotta get out of here!” one of Sammy’s crew yelled out, before being stopped by Sammy herself.

“Not yet! We’ll go a little bit more, and then stop!” She then turned towards the camera and began to speak into her microphone, “Look over there! It’s one of Paragon’s heroes! Let’s see if we can get an interview!”

Sammy runs up to the hero clad in silver power armor with blond hair and begins to bombard her with a series of questions. “Hi there, hero! Mind if I ask you a few questions?” Without even waiting for an answer, she begins.
“First off, would you like to tell our viewers out there what your name is and what your abilities are?”
The young hero looked surprised and shaken, due to the downfall of the city, yet she nodded and hurriedly smoothed down her white skirt. She spoke with the slightest of a German accent, “U-uh, I’m Armor On, and an Energy Blaster.” She replied, before glancing around the area; looking more anxious than others.
“Uh-huh, interesting! Are you part of any groups, or are you a loner?”
“I’m from the Teen Phalanx… Erm, shouldn’t you be somewhere sa—“
“So what are you doing out here? Helping Longbow save Galaxy or something else?”
Armor On gave a nod, shifting her weight from foot to foot during the interview, “Yes, I’m looking for survivors. Uhm, if you’ll excuse me, I need to be going now!” With a blast of blue energy, she was gone, her form seen reappearing in the distance of the camera, helping the other heroes.
“Well, she sure ran off in a hurry! Maybe she was looking for something in all this chaos!” Sammy watched as Armor On disappeared before continuing, “That’s all we have for today. We’re getting out of here before any more of those things show up. To recap: Galaxy City is in ruins, and now these creatures are appearing everywhere and attacking everyone they see! What’s worse, Longbow and Arachnos have taken to the skies in an attempt to take control of the zone. We’ll keep you updated on any latest developments as they happen. This is Sammy, signing out.”

The television screen returns to images of the news room, its news caster and its crew unsure of what to think. “You heard her! We need 24/7 coverage! Go!” the anchorman called out, unaware that he was live. “Well, you heard it here, folks! Disaster strikes Galaxy City! We encourage everyone to follow any instructions given by Longbow Personnel and to avoid going near Galaxy City from any entrance. We’ll keep you posted!”

The picture fades out as the television switches to commercial.

((Now, you all might be wondering, “What the hell is this?” well, I’ll tell you! With the launch of Issue 21 and the new tutorial out there, I thought it might be a good idea to let all you virtueites in on the action. Unfortunately, our main characters and other level 50s are unable to go into the tutorial unless a new character is made, so this is where this post comes in. The OP isn’t anything special; all it is meant to do is provide an easy access point for any and all heroes to jump in to help save Galaxy City.

I only have two rules for this thread, and they are really more like guidelines than actual rules. 1: Have fun. This is not the place to be going around telling people what they can or can’t do, or have only one person’s hero steal the show: Everyone who wants to can get involved and do their part. 2: Please honor the ingame story. I know many of our characters can blink and suddenly change the face of the planet, but since this will be going on for who knows how long please try to keep the “I come in and save all of Galaxy City with only my pinky finger. While I’m asleep!” posts to a minimum (and possibly zero.) It’s not like I’d do anything if someone does post something of that nature, but I’d like it if we could all keep stuff within the limitations of the game world.
Aside from that, have fun and go crazy!))

((yea like heroes that can run 200 million miles per second? lol jk jk. was that a 3rd of the speed of light? :P))

((I haven't done anything like this in forever. I hope this sounds right!))

Fogbank found himself hiding under a bus shelter and cursing as the meteors came down, as though the flimsy structure was somehow going to ward off the impending doom from above. Nothing about today had gone right. That crazy blonde who'd given him the job ("find the -me- thats not -me- but people think is -me-", she said) was going to get an earful when he saw her next.

He paused a moment, thinking. Maybe not. She was crazy, after all. You don't want to aggravate crazy.

He'd been in Galaxy for only a few hours, having taken a smugglers ferry to Paragon City just that morning. Given his job as a "post human freelance security contractor" (or hired supervillain mercenary, in the parlance of our times), he'd had found it necessary to make the journey to meet his prospective informant incognito. Last time he was in this town he'd had to cover a whole PPD precinct in heavy fog and hide under a SWAT van before he could sneak away. He was wearing his grey and blue body armor under a bulky jacket and pants, and sweating like a pig all the while. It had taken all his concentration to keep the ever present trails of cloud that normally wreathed him under wraps while he waited for the guy who claimed to be a Portal Corp science type at the pre-arranged spot.

And now there were meteors. Wonderful.

As one came down a little closer, just perhaps half a block away, he decided hanging around longer would be a bad idea even by his very high standards for such things. He was about to join the crowds of running, screaming people (his skills at both running AND screaming well honed by years of henchman work) when the crowd suddenly turned, shrinking away in horror from the shambling, mishappen rock beasts that had appeared with alarming suddeness from around a corner and begun a lurching charge towards the massed civilians.

Definately time to run. No one pays you to get stomped by rock monsters. And he was just about to, he really was, when the closest person to the beast stumbled and fell, a young woman who raised her hands above her head more from instinctive reaction then any real hope it would stop the meteoric fists from coming down. She screamed, but no one looked back in their mad panic.
The nearest star spawned monstrosity reared over her and then flew backwards, a cannon force blast of wind and water smashing it off of its feet and back into its brethren as Fogbank stepped over the fallen woman, jacket cast aside and hood and mask pulled hastily over his head.

"I hate everything forever," he grumbled as he listened to the sounds of her taking to her feet and shouting a grateful, sobbed thanks as she fled. Coils of mist spilling forth around him, wind and freezing water coalescing in the air around his fists, Fogbank strode reluctantly into the fray.

He sighed. No one would pay him for this, either.

Not every one with 'powers' is comfortable with them - with the effects or their physical manifestation. Some do not like the stares, the whispered comments, or the outright revulsion.

The sewers were cool, and dark. And quiet. Here, under the streets and buildings of Galaxy City, he had lived in relative happiness.
Sure, from time to time other heroes blew through, tearing up the place and clearing the tunnels of 'the riff-raff'. And the Vazh needed to be confronted and kept controlled, but it was on the whole quiet. Relaxing even. Safe.

But this, this was different. Entire sections of the sewers had collapsed from above. Strange creatures were wandering in the tunnels, or climbing up from the deep holes to the surface. The waters were blocked, and were backing up in some places - in others, floors had gone dry. Fires were burning in places, the hazy smoke choking off visibility and air. The tunnels echoed with the sounds of further collapses, distance screams, and violents thuds and impacts that continued from the surface.

It was time, like it or not. He had to know what was going on, and to get help with the violent creatues he had encountered - glowing in oranges and reds and purples, with segments of concrete and steel in their gelationous forms. He found one of the impact points, sunlight glinting through the smoke at its top and hovered on his leathery wings, slowly rising to the surface.

Apprehension gripped him. He had not been to the surface, out in the city for... years. Leathery wings, slimy wet skin, and boils... no he wasn't one of the pretty boys in tights. And then, when people realized that was radiation and toxic poison he emitted... yeah, they couldn't get away fast enough. He stopped, he wings snapping in the air and sending the smoke swirling away, just below the sidewalk level, out of sight of anyone nearby. He had to know... He rose.

The city was shattered. Worse, maybe, then the sewers below. Smoke, rubble, shattered buildings,... corpses. Helicopters echoed in the distance - reporters or rescuers he did not know. Shouts and screams, gunfire, and booming cries of the monsters in the distance. Another shout, a cry from help from nearby, pierced the noise.

One of the many heroic statues lay shattered across the street, broken and thrown from the impact of the hole he had exited. A large masked head lay on a car. It was from there that shouts were coming. He could see movement, someone struggling to get out.

Before he realized it, he had flow over. A face in the car - panicked and scared. "Help me! Help! I'm trapped!" He motioned the person to move away, and then used a light blast of energy to peel the jammed door open, pulling it aside the person jumped/fell from the vehicle coughing and sobbing. The disheveled face turned towards him, pale blue yese held only relief and gratitude, "Thank you." The victim climbed to their feet and ran away before he could say anything. Hopefully towards assistance, but he had no idea what was going on, where relief was organized, or...
Another shout, coming from... there! The rubble of the front of the what used to be a grocery store.

...

"Thank you!"

"What would we have done without you?"

"You are angel."

"Have you seen my husband? He left for work just before..."

"We wouldn't have made it without you."

"There is someone else just a bit futher pack in the rubble."

"Thank you."

...

The day had been long. He was tired. Exhausted.

But he felt... good.

He knew he had made a difference. It may have been small in the grand scheme of things, but it was huge for those individuals that he helped. And none of them had worried about how he looked or the nature of his abilities.

Maybe, just maybe he'd stay above ground for a while, and try to help protect the rest of the city from having to experience this. Maybe now was the time to get out there, and make a difference.



((Fetyd is a rad/poison corruptor, boils aura, and just not a pretty sight. But he has chosen the hero's path... and will be on the streets, looking to contribute to the safety of the city.))

"Continuing coverage of what has been dubbed the Disaster in Galaxy City, it has been four days now since the initial disaster in which Shivan meteorites fell from the sky and demolished several neighborhoods in the Galaxy City sector. Although the Shivan threat appears to have been largely dispelled, Paragon City remains in a state of emergency and hearts remain heavy as disaster relief teams continue searching the ruins for any survivors. We received word earlier today that the body of local Hero of the City, Encharger was discovered in the remains of what was formally the Official Encharger Fanclub's Main Branch Clubhouse. According to eyewitness reports, Encharger was seen escorting several civilians into the building to safety when a meteorite fell directly on it, causing the structure to collapse. Thirty-seven were killed, nineteen injured. Four remain in critical condition.

Following the building's destruction, Encharger was observed frantically digging people out of the rubble, when he was ambushed by several Shivans. His Mediport device had been damaged earlier and he was eventually overwhelmed and killed in the attack. Our hearts go out to the friends and family of Encharger as we share a moment of silence for another of Paragon City's fallen... Now here's Tom with the weather!"

((heh))

(Det. Dale Tracy is my MA/WP Scrapper, while she might play high-level content, her RP is mostly street level.)

Starting her day at 4 am was nothing new for Dale, in her line of work, early mornings and late nights were normal. Though she took that to extremes, rarely getting more than four hours sleep a night, she rarely seemed to show any sign of fatigue.

That seemed to be a lifetime ago. Before her precinct, and her home turned into absolute chaos. It wasn't that long ago, only about 72 hours...of course, that was 72 hours with no sleep at all, and lots of running, jumping, hiding and fighting. She had received the call to evacuate on the police radio, and could have it to the extraction points several times over, but she knew places that people would hide in, and how to get them out, places that Longbow wouldn't look in at first.

She mostly hid from the stone monsters, the Shivans. There was a small warehouse down the road that some gangs used as a hideout, not real gangs like the Skulls or Hellions or the Warriors, but groups nobody heard of. They'd be hiding there, if they were still alive. She made her way down the road, though it was less a road and more a rough concrete valley. As she did, there was at least one person heading the opposite direction, she turned a corner, and realized she'd made a big mistake. A Fortunata Mistress was looking right at her almost thirty yards away.

The Fortunata reacted quickly, and Dale felt her muscles stiffening, Dale didn't even blink as the Fortunata walked up to her casually and sifted through Dale's surface thoughts.

"Oh, my, this is a surprising bit of fortune, we could use a nice sleeper agent in the PPD. What do you have to say to that? Not that you've got a choice but..."

Dale's response wouldn't surprise anyone that knew her, but even the Fortunata didn't know her. A kick so fast that not even the mind-reader could have seen coming cracked the Fortunata's helmet and sent her flying. "No time for sleep" she says dryly in response to the Fortunata's "offer", before removing any weapons she can find on her and handcuffing her.

Dale pauses for a bit as she thinks about leaving the Fortunata here, helpless. Then she sighs resignedly as she wishes she weren't such a good person and throws the unconscious Widow over her shoulder.

(I don't think the start of a major shivan invasion is really very level-specific. Truth be told, with the way they play you up in the tutorial, I think any character would work.)

William Carrigan woke feeling a nudging on his shoulder. The television was already going, which seemed a little odd, considering that his wife was more prone to reading a book than sitting and watching tv.

But there she was, nudging his shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. He finally opened his eyes, looking up at the worried frown that creased his wife's normally calm features.

"What is it? Is Gracie okay?" He asked her, his immediate thought being their daughter.

"Gracie's fine, sweety. Look.. it's on the tv," she said, pointing to try to get him to follow her hand.

News coverage of the event was hardly an indicator of how bad things really were. He could see fire, collapsing buildings, people running for their lives; the reporters included. It was bad. It was very, very bad.

"..what the hell happened?" Said Will, turning so he could put his feet on the floor.

"I.. I don't know, sweety." Rose said, briefly pausing. "Are you going to go down there?"

"I.. think I should, yeah. Don't go in to work, today. Traffic's going to be ridiculous," he said, leaning over to kiss her.

With a final glance at Rose, and then at their daughter, Will walked over to the bookshelf on the left side of the room. It slid away from the wall, revealing a stairway into a lower part of the house.

Moments later, Will was in his lab.

His hand slid along the cold metal exterior of his armor. It was new, only finished the night before. Now, given the sudden destruction of Galaxy City, he was glad he'd finished it, glad that he wouldn't have to rely on his previous models, though that wasn't to say that they were bad, simply that this one was better; he could help more people this way.

A mechanical arm lowered from the ceiling, pausing above the armor and moving down the length of it. A pale blue light ran along the surface of the armor before, in an instant, it disappeared from the table it was lying on.

Another moment, and Will was inside of the armor, watching the holographic interface flicker to life, the heads up display adjusting as his AI imported the preferences from his previous suit.

Just a moment later, the surfaces of the armor were shifting, making small clicks and clacks before settling in place.

"Open the hatch. Let's see what this baby can do," he ordered, his tone more serious than eager.

But, this was no ordinary test flight. There were lives on the line, and he wasn't about to go lollygagging in his new suit of armor while people were suffering.

There was a hydraulic hiss, and a massive door slid open. The armor's thrusters kicked on, the primaries first, the auxiliary boosters kicking in a moment later. He tilted forward and the suit shot toward the entryway to his exit ramp. His arms went down, the armor's hands glowing, pushing the armor's torso up from the ground, keeping it from scraping along the pavement, or simply crashing.

Within seconds he was clear of the house. A few seconds more and he was screaming toward the atmosphere, a rapidly escalating number on his heads up display the only indicator he had for how fast he was going.

Of course, he was well beyond what was considered legal in Paragon airspace, but this was an emergency. This, for Will, seemed like one of those times where certain laws could be.. overlooked.

The armor changed directions rapidly, after he reached a certain altitude. It shot down toward the city, twirling in mid-descent, plummeting toward the scene of the disaster, and when he was finally close enough, the armor's surfaces opened up, his legs swung underneath him, and his hands went down, immediately slowing his fall.

Instead of an ear-shattering crash, there was a loud metallic thunk as the armor's feet hit the ground, momentarily causing Will to kneel. The heads up display shifted, targeting reticles appearing in numerous places. Each target displayed a small amount of information, showing him everything but environmental hazards, trapped or otherwise disabled civilians, and possible hostiles.

It was going to be a very long day.