"Yeah, yeah. yeah. What you want, what they want. Yadda yadda yadda." Cara's dimissive tone and irreverant grin spoke volumes as to her personality and easy confidence, but it was also pretty apparent that she was sincere in wanting to help out.
Sniffing dismissively, she took a few steps closer to the power suit and peered up at it. "So, Fangy... What's this thing, huh? Looks like it's gonna spend most of its time stuck in the snow. And what the hell's an oblivion gate anyway? Sounds kinda unfriendly."
She shrugged and stood up straight, turning towards the Colder Earthers and floating lightly into the air again. "Oh well... What time do we get this show on the road?"
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The group in red looked among each other, and spoke in hushed tones, mainly whilst glancing at the large power-suited thing.
Pitcher and Holmes looked at each other. Holmes gestured Pitcher to speak, who shrugged lightly, then turned back to Cara
"5 to 10 minutes, give or take a few other minutes."
He then spoke up a bit, to address the wider group
"If it matters, you'll be deploying in Cleveland, or what's left of it. If you're stuck for things to do, I suggest Detroit. A lot of old machinery there we can put back to use."
He turned back to Cara
"Basically, most big cities are in ruins now, we'll need the resources to advance south."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
((Okay, now I'm getting curious - what's the deal with the bold? I thought it was because Pitcher was using loudspeakers in the conference room, but now everyone's together and stuff, so...are they all shouting or something?))
"Allen works better." 'Fangy' snickered in his response to Cara, mostly at the expense of the quite visibly flustered 'thing', a meaningful glance given its way due directive to let the General have the word for now.
"And that's a Cerosian Scribe." he explained to the young heroine, "His name's a batch code that I really have no idea how to pronounce with spoken language. In fact, I don't think it can be. So I just call him Six. But yeah, it does, doesn't it? Go figure, really. It's just another gate type. Like that."
The motion of a hand briefly indicated the activating portal to explain as he spoke those words. Without pause, he went on to add, "But hey, they called the world we used to live on Necria. I'll admit, it fit, but...eh, I'm probably boring you. Besides, I need to ask this guy something."
"Hey, so what do you mean advance south?" he wanted to know of Pitcher and Holmes, "I thought you were taking us to those mysterious superiors of yours...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((Just to distinguish them as main plot characters over other characters who might speak in my posts.))
"Well, the main plan is to advance south to combat the bulk of the monsters, to do that, we need resources and sabotage. Oh, and you'll meet with my superiors first, before anything. Just thought i'd let everyone know ahead what the main plan on our end is."
A few more guests arrived, including the hero Azurewing, wearing his proper winter camouflage. A few of the guests were also clad in red, though their attire was more appropriate for winter conditions, all of them carrying some boxed equipment.
Pitcher regarded the boxes for a moment, then turned his attention back to the group
"You can set up any quick teleports in our base at Cleveland, though be sure to keep any temporary bases within a reasonable snow-sleding distance, in-case you need backup."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
Cara turned back to Pitcher and the others, a snow cone which she was munching on now mysteriously in one hand. "So... wait a sec, you're wanting us to start fighting your monsters now? Well, OK, though I thought this was initially meant to be a recon type thing?"
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
"A favorable development." Six hissed with something that might've been considered an audible smile. His suit's large visor certainly didn't let on whether or not there was a visible one attached, "I will inform the harvesting firm to speed preparations."
"Ap-ap-ap-ap." the Necrian interjected quite quickly, and with a raised finger to his bulky associate, "They're not yours yet. We do still have kind of an interest here."
"Okay then." he then gave a nod to Pitcher, "Let's get going, yes...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Pitcher took a final look around the room, and turned back to Holmes, who nodded back at him.
Pitcher looked up to the Portal Technicians, gave a thumbs up and shouted
"We're good to go!"
The technicans nodded and went about their business, setting the portal to the correct co-ordinates.
Pitcher moved to the portal, which was now set to the right place. He shouted to get everyone's attention
"Alright, on the other side you'll want to meet with Commander Yale, he'll answer any more questions you have. After that, it's up to you all, we'll give pointers where we can."
The technicians gave the green light, signalling it safe to enter.
Pitcher added one final thing
"Good luck, and godspeed!"
At that, the various mercenary groups piled in to enter the desolate world of Cold Earth.
0900 hours, NPA Cleveland Encampment, Cold Earth
On the other side, the Cold Earther technicians looked up to see their new arrivals. The technicians wore ski-masks and goggles, in addition to windbreakers, as even indoors the temperature was icy cold.They watched for a moment as they piled down the ramp. One notable thing was the size of the portal, being significantly smaller but with a lot more pipes. The technicians went back to their work.
The portal room itself was covered in a thin layer of snow and ice. Several heaters were set up, but did little to stay the onset of ice. The walls were made of several sheets of dense metal and concrete, black in colour. Small windows at the tops of the walls let in little light, but enough to keep the room decently illuminated.
Several soldiers stood just a bit beyond the ramp, waiting for their new arrivals.
The lead one, identified by the armour he wore on the outside of his coat, took a few stops forward
"Alright, nice crowd. If you will, you can follow me to meet the Commander, or, you can just go about your business. If you need to speak with the Commander later, he's in the building overlooking the courtyard, you can't miss it, it's the tall one with the antennae."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
Allen smiled broadly as he took in a deep lungful of the local air, apparently finding it much more to his liking than that of the other side. In fact, if anyone noticed, the gaze with which he swept the room looked downright excited. Well, except for when it passed over a heater. The Necrian seemed to almost regard those with some kind of disdain.
Six meanwhile carried himself in a manner just as frigid as the room. If anything actually drew the Cerosian's notice, there was no way to tell short of attempting to snatch up his thoughts. Not that there were too many of those right now. The bulk of his attention had gone to the sensors of his suit, patiently awaiting their judgment of the surroundings.
"Kind of bright." the wolflike alien remarked in greeting to the soldier, confirming acceptance of the man's request with a nod, "But that's not hard to fix. Please, lead the way..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
As she stepped through the portal, Cara looked around curiously, a small smile on her face as the temperature dropped to something more to her liking. "Hmm, this is rather... nice. Though I'm kinda surprised you let all that snow and stuff in here, won't it harm the equipment?"
Ignoring the armoured soldiers for a moment, she walked over to the piping connected to the portal and peered at it curiously. "Hmm, nah... Looks well shielded and stuff."
Finally, her attention turning to the soldiers, she walked over to the one in lead and grinned cheekily at him. "Alright mister, I'm Cara, or Burned Ice if you prefer, aaaannnnd... take me to your leader!"
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The soldier nodded and gestured the group to follow
"Right this way sirs and madams."
The soldier turned and headed to the door along with his retinue. He punched in a code on the door, opening the door with a slight creak of worn machinery.
Outside, the environment was as to be expected. Snow was gently falling and clouds hung heavy in the air. The ground was covered with what was likely a permanent layer of snow, though the Cold Earthers had done their best to make paths and courtyards.
On the outside, the Portal room bunker was an ugly dull grey with a thick layer of snow on the top. On further observation, all the buildings inside the encampment were almost exactly the same, although some were larger.
The encampment itself was surrounded by a similar coloured concrete wall with one gate for entering and exiting. Watchtowers were placed at regular intervals on the fence. The centre of the encampment was a large courtyard where several war machines lay, likely never having been used in years.
To the north of the camp (Where the gate leads) was a bundle of soldiers loading crates off and onto a flatbed truck. Elsewhere around the camp soldiers were either patrolling or training or otherwise maintaining the camp.
There also seemed to be a significant lack of any civilians.
The one building which did stand out from the encampment was the command tower, a large concrete building lying on the opposite side of the Portal room.
The soldier and his men lead the group to the tower, where two guards stood. The two guards saluted and stood aside to let the group in.
The inside of the tower was small, to say the least, being populated by many bustling soldiers of varying rank, and stacks of what appeared to be servers and computers.
The soldier headed up several flights of stairs until they reached the top. He pressed at a comm-panel next to the door marked "C.O's Office"
"Commander, the help has arrived."
The voice from the other side had a distinct New York African-American accent.
"Let them in Captain."
The soldier nodded and pressed at the keypad on the wall, opening the door.
Inside sat Commander Yale. He was a fairly unremarkable man, shaven head and face, heavy jaw, all the typical traits of a soldier. At his desk were numerous files and documents. He looked up from his desk, revealing more of his appearance. Clearly, he'd suffered some heavy injuries in his time, namely, his left eye showed clear scar tissue and his pupil had become a milky white.
"So, you're the guys and gals Pitcher found? Welcome to Camp Cleveland. I'm told you have lots of questions."
He leaned back in his chair, resting his hands on his stomach.
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
"Well, I can't speak for the others, but actually, I have just one." the Necrian addressed Yale with a smirk. He liked this guy already, "You see, I'm looking for a new home for my people - and yours has a lot of potential. Granted, we'll have to do something about all this light and turn the thermostat down a few more notches, but those are details. What I want to know from you is whether your people are willing to trade..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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Cara gave the wolf guy what could only be described as a dirty look, then interrupted. "Unlike this guy, Commander, I represent a group who want only to help." She fixed the Necrian with a stare, "With nothing actually wanted in exchange for that."
She crossed her arms, the flames flickering over her icy form turning a lighter yellow. "I've been sent here to take a look around, find out exactly what's going on around here and report back to my boss. Maybe also help out for a day or three depending on what I find."
Dropping her hands back to her sides, she turned to look out the window, gazing out at the frozen wasteland. "Y'see, unlike these guys who seem to want quite a lot in return for their help; ie, your planet. All we in the Vigil want to do is help out those who need it, and in conjuction with HEART, a disaster relief charity group we do a lot of work with, we plan to do just that."
Turning back to the commander, the flames around her body suddenly flared brighter for a brief moment. "What we won't do, though, is just take care of the problem for you, not alone. No one really has the resources to fix an entire planet. But what we CAN do is ferret out the root cause of this ice age of yours and provide logistical support and even a number of extremely powerful metahuman's to assist in any fighting, but we expect you to take a large part in helping yourselves, too. It's your world, after all."
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
"Wow." Allen remarked after a few moments, admittedly taken aback. Still, a halfway outstretched hand stayed Six, who'd made to apparently nab Cara by the neck or such, and a chuckle preceded his response, "You really are just that conceited. Hm. Guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"Anyway," he addressed the Commander again with a good-natured smile (well, at least his best attempt at it; human gestures like that didn't come across too well with such a bestial visage), "I guess according to that, my name's No One. And it really is a very good offer. For both of you. And us. You get a chance to make a fresh start on an untouched world - or we can move you somewhere there are already people instead; we actually have a few places where humans went extinct that are interested in you - your challenger, or s, as the case may be, get to ice this place over, and my people finally get a planet we can actually live on again."
"And yes, you can still set up processing plants." he looked to Six almost immediately, the Cerosian (much as one could tell, anyway) having been about to interject, "We don't mind sharing..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Yale tapped his chin with a pencil on his desk, thinking
"I can't give you a concrete answer now. I can't speak for all the NPA. We'd also need to run this by the other provinces. Don't expect them to say yes. That's all I can offer at the moment."
He then turned to Cara.
"That's precisely what we had in mind. If you can identify and eliminate the source of the monsters, we can do our best to tackle the main bulk of the horde. Your efforts should give us the respite we need to direct a concerted assault."
He then pointed his pencil at the rest, seriously
"If any of you have some .. 'other' plans, we'd like to hear them." He put emphasis on the 'other'.
One of the mercenaries shrugged "My company wants to set up some oil wells."
Yale nodded "If you can find them, good luck."
The mercenary raised an eyebrow "If we find them? You're not gunna help?"
Yale shrugged and smirked "You scratch our back ..."
The mercenary humphed, and folded his arms. One of the red-robed men spoke up.
"We want to capture and study one of these ice monsters. For the betterment of humanity."
Yale raised an eyebrow and leaned forwards
"You're welcome to try, not that I expect you'll find anything."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
Allen couldn't help but give a light laugh at Yale's response to the mercenaries. Yes, he definitely liked this man. And he seemed amicable to the Necrians' offer too. That was already one step in the right direction. Now he just hoped luck was on his side and the others would agree as well.
"I understand." he told the Commander, extending a hand to Six in request for the long suitcase, which the Cerosian promptly delivered, "And no, I don't expect. But I hope. And in faith to that hope, let's make you official."
Relieving Six of the heavy-looking thing, he set the case down at the edge of Yale's desk, snapping open the latches that sealed it one after another, "You see, my people have a clan structure, and only the leader has the authority to make decisions for the clan. We call that leader the Sentry. And this..."
The wolflike alien pulled the case open as he spoke, revealing a truly massive sword that looked as if it would've taken a whole score of men to lift. It obviously wasn't really that heavy of course, as alluded to both by its high-tech appearance as well as the fact that Yale's desk wasn't groaning or collapsing, but that this wasn't meant for the meek was easily just as evident.
"...is a Sentry's blade." Allen continued to explain, "The first we've created in a long time, and currently one of the only two that exist. I'd like you to take it; to mark your people as the second of the new clans, and you as their Sentry, so that we might negotiate on equal ground."
"Oh, and please don't feel any pressure from this." he added with a smirk, "No matter what happens from here, this will remain with you. Not that there's much choice, mind you. Once a newly forged Sentry's blade is touched by the chosen Sentry, a very strong bond is created. You'll see what I mean. It'll take on an aspect of you. My blade, for instance, is composed of solid darkness. I'd be very interested to see what yours becomes. Who knows? It might even develop a personality of its own in due time..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Cara rolled her eyes at what, to her, appeared to be a blatant attempt at bribery. "Whoopdedoo, a pretty pig sticker. Well... I think I'm gonna go do something useful, like find me some ice monsters. You have fun trying to butter up the Commander here, fella. Personally, I think he's too smart to fall for it."
Taking several short strides towards the door, she opened it, then glanced back at the others. "I prefer to let my actions speak for me, y'know? Have fun, kiddies."
A second later, she was gone, leaving only several patches of ice on the office floor in her wake.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Yale looked down at the blade for a moment, furrowing his brow and pursing his lips, not quite grasping what was going on. He made a slow reach for it, then retracted his hand and rested his chin on his hand, then looked up, a little less serious.
"If I had a paycheck, this wouldn't quite cover it."
He sighed
"I'm a soldier, probably not the best guy to represent everyone here and beyond, but uh .. i'll give it some thought."
He shrugged
"In the meantime, can I put it somewhere safe?"
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
"Of course." Allen gave a nod, setting the case closed, but not locking it again. Yale had seen how this thing was latched and wouldn't have any trouble buttoning it back up if desired, "Contrary to her ideas, I do mean what I said. This is meant to legitimize your authority, and that of your people here, in the eyes of mine; not an attempt to influence you. If you decide to go, that decision needs to be made of your own free will - otherwise no matter what planet you move to, it'll feel like you got hosed."
"But we can talk more about that later." the Necrian smiled, "At this point, I'll be content with you letting these other provinces know what we're offering - and that we're willing to negotiate. This isn't the only offer on the table. Just the first. Which reminds me...Six?"
"Thank you, General." the Cerosian hissed synthetically, taking a step toward the Commander, "First, a request for clarification: I was informed the ice has produced 'demons' of a kind. Are these true demonic entities, or have you merely named them so?"
The wolflike alien meanwhile looked to the mercenaries and redcoats, moving a bit closer to them as not to infringe on Six's conversation with the Commander too much.
"So you're after oil, huh? Got a way to get at it?" he asked the former, in the same sweep addressing the latter, "And you guys want...what, just anything running around out there...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Yale returned to his usual soldier self and nodded slightly
"Most likely. We've tried studying them, but they melt shortly after taking too many hits. They also show clear intelligence and purpose, something you wouldn't find in something that was mindless. We can't verify anything, but we think it's a strong possibility they're magical in nature."
--
The merc remained tight-lipped, only uttering a few words
"We have plans, just not locations. Maybe these guys will be less tight-lipped once we smack around some ice monsters."
The redcoat shrugged
"The ice beings are our main concern. Whatever is animating them could surely come in useful for many technologies, though we can only theorize at the moment."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
"A 'magical' nature does not a demon make." the Scribe ratcheted back at Yale, his dispassionate and emotionless tone making the reply sound downright rude, "I will commence investigation."
"Six, be nice!" Allen raised his voice a moment, glancing toward the Cerosian, "Remember, they think different, but that doesn't mean they can't help you."
"In fact, I think these guys here could help a lot." he gave the mercenaries a tactful grin, "And you can relax. All our stuff's nuclear. We don't have any use for oil. Doesn't mean we don't have any use for each other, though. Six, how quick can you get a shuttle over here?"
"No longer than is required for atmospheric entry." the Cerosian replied, "But what reason is there? Do you require further assistance?"
"No, but I think you could use some." the Necrian let his eyes wander over the groups of mercenaries and redcoats alike as he asked, "Commander Yale, if someone set up an oil well, say, somewhere to the south of here, think your opponent would get sufficiently annoyed to get something to come out of hiding? Maybe some ice monsters? Or demons...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Yale chuckled
"They'd have to get it up, running and properly defended by nightfall. Everything outside of these walls is a death sentence, in terms of starting a base."
He leaned forwards and rested his hands on his chin
"Of course, we can help with that, but i've said before what the deal's gunna be."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
Allen couldn't help but echo the Commander's snicker, wanting to know of the mercenaries, "Well, so what about it? Willing to play bait?"
"And what about you?" he looked to Six again, "You'll have a much better chance of finding what types are good for food this way than just summoning them one at a time."
"Your proposal is logical." the Cerosian hissingly agreed with what may have been a nod. His visored face turned to the redcoats, "What are your capabilities in subjects capture and retrieval...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The mercenary folded his arms "I don't think i've been paid enough for that, not without a guarantee of backup" Then gestured to the redcoats "These guys look like dead men walking."
This didn't seem to phase the redcoat one bit, instead answering his question
"We have some efficient capturing technology, though the subject will have to be shall we say, 'alive and wriggling'? If they destroy themselves upon sustaining too much damage, we will have to capture an unharmed or relatively un-damaged one."
I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...
"Really?" the Necrian questioned with a quirked brow, "So...you're telling me you'll go out and 'smack around some ice monsters', which the Commander there says are hard to find, all by yourselves, but you won't go with a plan that's sure to lure them out...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"That's not a very nice thing to say." the black-suited 'werewolf' who'd just entered the chamber remarked, a thin grin on his sleek, predatory visage. Granted, his lithe, very much un-bulky frame didn't exactly serve to make that a fearsome show, but there was still something unnerving about it. Not threatening, but by no means comforting either. Not to a human, anyway.
"Besides, if it were true, I wouldn't be making an effort to talk to anyone." he added, eyes wandering from Cara to Holmes to Pitcher, "Not really in our nature. Actually, it's a pretty big effort. But if gets both our peoples what we want instead of just one, I think it'll be an effort well spent."
Behind him, what was either a machine or a biped clad in powered armor now walked in, the footfalls of its soles muffled, but still quite audible against the metal floor. It stood shorter than the one who'd identified as Allen, its decently humanoid shape not much taller than the average man. It had a tail though, encased like the rest of it in the smooth, show-white segments of armor that faintly reminded of a Crey Crisis Unit. It was decidedly not of local origin however, the relief insignia upon its shoulders presenting both a large symbol as well as several smaller glyphs that none of the others gathered here had ever seen before.
And then there was that long case in its hand.
"General Fang," it addressed the wolflike being with a respectful tone, its voice a mixture of a clearly synthetic generator and a hollow, decidedly wet hiss, "we have received word that PE-Helpful has just departed this side of the transmitter bridge. Terminal has been informed and have accelerated their schedule accordingly. An oblivion gate will be ready by the time the platform arrives at Cerosia."
"Well done." the otherworldly wolf smiled toothily in return, then remarked to the Captain, "Who says you can't get good help these days? So, are we ready? I'd like to speak to your leaders before the Rowers arrive. They do charge for idle time, so knowing what to tell them as soon as possible is generally a good idea..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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