Transairion

I smell sexual tension! :DSpeaking of sexual tension.... oh wait I haven't introduced that NPC yet, and I can't until after this plot concludes... =(NPC: "As long as you don't blatantly spout heroics in this villian-infested location, you should merely be one of the many entrants into this tournament... simply keep your gaurd up and be careful: both of the competition and of Mastermind himself... we can't risk tipping him off early and sending him running as he's our only lead. So if you lose him, Sluice... I'll never, ever forgive you" Esp mixed a lighthearted joke with a thinly vieled threat: truthfully she'd be beyond furious if Mastermind vanished from under their fingers... the fate of the Crystaxian race was at stake!

Unrealiable poster? Where? *looks behind self in confusion*:lookaround:NPC: "What do you mean we're now below quota?!?""Sir, Mastermind's little.... episode disabled several entrants to the point they can no longer compete""Just shuffle them around an-""We already HAVE done that, sir, but we're still short two entrants from quota and we don't have the time to acquire them before the next tournament begins...""..... then we have no choice but to try and fake it.... my employers won't accept less than what they were promised, and it's not like two fighters are just going to, what.... fall out of the sky?"*******************"The bunker where this supposed 'SuperBeing Smackdown' tournament is being held should be just below us... it's only partially hidden but I'm not sure what kind of welcome you'll recieve down there, so be on gaurd when you're ready" Esp explained as they dipped below the cloudline, the bland ex-military bunker showing no sign of hostility to the aerial craft."One more thing... Sluice, you may want to consider taking the Crystal with you. It has been.... gravitating towards you since you got on board, and if it wants to go to you I fear it'll tear a sizable hole in me if it chooses to..."

IC: KILL's machine guns sprayed an unhealthy salvo across the modified Veyron's frame, its wheels spinning as it reversed away rapidly. Advancing to make sure it was driven off for good, the sentient car found itself blocked by the orange Hummer which smashed into KILL's grill headon. Front partially crumpled from the sheer non-standard weight, KILL floored it in reverse as the Hummer advanced, now trying to scare him off instead. How quickly things changed...A simple "ram League member through a wall" move had led KILL back outside, where to his artifical surprise the car had found an armoured truck delivering something to the League... a truck that in the chaos was being robbed by two other, seemingly sentient vehicles. The orange Hummer, while grossly overweight for its design was nothing unusual, but the Veyron was heavily modifed with technology salvaged from the Technax Invasion a month earlier: most notably its wheels were completely replaced with the super-speed capable ones from a "Hunter" unit. The Veyron had a number of metallic tendrils dancing out from its interior, and had been steadily cutting it's way into the truck and retieving spheres: spheres KILL recognised as vessels for Technax's seemingly unique crystals which resided in a number of his units... seemingly the League around the world had discovered a fair number of them, which were now being plundered.Of course, KILL in his wisdom deemed the Coalition would have far better use for these unique assets, so had naturally attacked the vehicles in an attempt to scare them off. Succeeding in severing at least one tendril and sending its cargo to the ground, his action resulted in a fair amount of hostility and his current perdicament. Despite spewing enough ammo into the Hummer that it's engine should be kaput, the titan keep coming, seemingly suffering no penalty at all. Acting quickly, the villian vehicle peeled off to the side, and opened fire on the Veyron instead. The Hummer reacted as predicated and moved to intercept the fire, using its frame as a shield. At this point the Veyron had decide to vacate, flooring it around the side of the mansion and speeding out the front, followed closing by the Hummer moments later. With the immediate threat gone, but the mission at hand still very much active, KILL could not pursue the pair... merely backing up to the remains of the armoured truck and retrieving what few spheres still remained... not many. With what he could retrieve stuffed in his trunk, the car made his way back inside, making sure to go through a few priceless peices of art on the way back to where his teammates were supposed to be.OOC: The modified Veyron and the orange Hummer are NPCs who'll show up now and then, and it'll become clear what their interest is in alien tech soon enough

IC(NPC): Mastermind clutched his head, whimpering softly before breaking into a snarl. He was seeing things that weren't there, flashing back to memories that seemed foreign to him: with his supposed power to steal the power of psychic's, perhaps their very memories were brought along with their abilities. This kind of "episode", as he'd labelled them wasn't uncommon but recently it had begun to get significantly worse... certainly not something to be desired in his current area.The mutant psychic roared at a non-existent foe and blasted the wall, blowing a gaping hole in his room. But that wasn't enough, it was never enough, and in a matter of minutes he'd trashed the nearest quarters and their occupants. The cloak he wore hid the mad, primal look to his eyes as Mastermind's rampage continued, snarling inhumanly at anyone he was reversed enough to not blast into submission. The few that attempted to "settle him down" were soon strewn all over the floor, Mastermind soon busting his way into the battleground, where a few Supers were sparring with one another. Roaring at the group at a level that surpassed the size of his body, the psychic went about demolishing the majority of them as well."Better you than me, lady!" a pyrokinetic male justified using a villainess as a human shield as Mastermind charged him, the unprepared woman jamming her eyes shut before she was pulverised. She heard the sounds of painful combat nearby for a few moments, and wondered if the reason she couldn't feel anything was because she was already so damaged but... she felt fine. Peeking open an eye, she saw she didn't have a scratch on her. That couldn't be said for the pyrokinteic, whom was in a battered heap nearby. Mastermind stood over him, giving a snort of distaste before glancing over at her. She winced, expecting him to turn on her immediately... but he just made an animalistic sound, and stalked off, ignoring her completely. Backing away, the villainess noted that Mastermind had smashed everyone on the field into a groaning heap except her... the only girl there. Indeed, Mastermind had a blatant sexist streak when it came to his little "episodes", beating every male into the ground but ignoring all the girls. And she hadn't heard of him ever killing anyone when he went nuts either....Mastermind was a puzzling one indeed, as well one who had no sense of repair costs for all his damage: that'd come out of his prize pool for sure.OOC: Mastermind's not QUITE insane, but he isn't exactly normal either.... you'll just have to follow the story and find out *Greg F.jpg*Also, KILL can now be attacked or whatever; I'm just hesistant to post as him since I don't really know the design of Mentor's place... I don't want to say he's where everyone else is, they might've gone up a staircase! XD

She just gives off this kind, nurturing motherly vibe that's oh so attra- ..... I mean..... noooooo she's a strong, independant woman :lookaround:IC(NPC): "Yes, yeeees yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Doctor Goodchild cackled manically as his creation, a horrendous mix of man and fly woke up in it's containment cell. The groteseque mess of jumbled parts, wings and limbs floundered around for a few seconds, screaming gibberish along the lines of "Graaaaaaaaaabaahraglashhhhhhiiiiiiimmmmmeeeeegaaaaaarh" and trying to get through the clear walls of its cell.Doctor Goodchild, renowned genetic scientist and lesser known evil genius knew this was one of his greater triumphs. True, these were still early days but this was a subject that had finally survived actually getting acid forced through their body, in order for it to be used offensively. The freak in the cage oblidged a demonstration, the maw of the fly-head spewing forth green acid which sizzled loudly, though sadly for it did not melt the special composition of it's cage. Intelligence would have to be tweaked, Goodchild noted, as now his subject had taken to ramming the cage wall in an attempt to get to its creator."Settle, settle.... can't have you broken yet, there's still so much to learn!" the aging doctor smirked, reaching for the 'calm' button only to notice another flashing that had escaped his attention earlier.... he frowned, reaching for the private phone line the flashing one. No-one was meant to call him on this line, and thus he couldn't remember a soul who'd know the number. "...... hello?""Doctor Goodchild"Oh.... him..."M-Mastermind! I wasn't expecting a call at this time, I'm just busy with a little... side project of mine....""I do not care for your experiments, Goodchild. What progress have you made regarding my.... condition?""Well, you see, Mastermind, the DNA sample I obtained is.... delicate.... especially given it's alien nature... whatever experiment that supposed Technax fellow did to you, it has both mutated and added foreign DNA to your own. Just analysing the stand in itself could take me mon-""...... so what progress HAVE you made?"Progress, progress..... he'd made progress, sure! Just not on that."Well I've began compiling an extensive database on the human, alien and mutated DNA and am in the process of unscambling them, and then I can test each with a neutro-adapter and discover the correct remedy to halt or reverse the mutations effects, according to the stimuli each resurgent strand adapts to as a resu-""Goodchild!""Y-Yes?""...... what on Earth made you believe lying to me would achieve anything?"Busted. Curses. But Mastermind was half the planet away, so he was safe from the mutant's wrath.... at least for a while. Accursed psychics, reading thoughts from that far!"It's not that I'm not working on it, your Masterfullness, I just-""Be silent! Since you will not tell me truth, I will explain it all to you. You have already given up on a cure, for what you've analysed of the DNA it's like nothing you've ever seen before... my body is composed of mutated DNA and alien DNA, and trying to seperate them is next to impossible.... but a cure would have to be complex beyond your understanding, for what might solve my mutation may in turn kill off the alien DNA that's now a part of my body, and vice-versa... put simply... it is far beyond what you could do with current technology.... that is all correct?"Silence. There was the nervous shaking of Goodchild's hand as he ran it through his thinning hairline, trying to keep cool. Mastermind knew everything, but had continued to invest for some time.... why would he do that?"I had hoped you would commit and stumble upon something at least remotely useful.. but you could not even manage that. You are now worthless to me""B-Be reasonable, you knew full well there's no garuntee of succe-""Goodbye, Doctor"The line went dead. Goodchild fumbled around under his desk, looking for the pistol he kept there. As if that'd help if Mastermind was coming for him, but it'd make him feel so much better. So where the heck was it, it was always there-"Raaaaaaaaghbraaahaaaabooo!"The freak flyman was looming over him, cocking it's head to the side a few times. Out of the corner of his eye Goodchild could see the faintest outline of a psychic aura fading from the creature's cell door.... Mastermind didn't even need to move to take him down. But if he could just reach the freak's designated killswitch he might survive a few more days...."BLAAAAAAAAARGH!" the flyman proceeded to vomit acid all over its master in a loving, affectionate way, said message not being recieved too well, what with all the agonized screaming. Since it was designed to be thick as a brick, the flyman just thought its master needed more "love" and vomited again, leaving no doubt the fate of the poor, poor Doctor. It would continue to empty its guts for several more minutes, until its attention was drawn to dozens of odd flying shapes in the air of the lab. Shouting gibberish at one of the shapes, it leapt at it and grabbed it in both mutated hands. Unfortunatly the shape promptly exploded along with the rest, blowing gouging holes in Goodchild's former lab as it was torn apart from inside, taking it's secrets along with it into the firestorm.********************Half a world away, Mastermind glanced down at his hand. So mishapen.... not normal... when would he finally be rid of this? Soon, he hoped..... but maybe it would never go away. Maybe he'd be stuck this way forever.... a true freak. The mutant growled and stood, turning away from a rudimentary table and slamming his tail down upon it in rage. The cheap plastic bent in the middle and collasped in on itself, it's keeping-stuff-off-the-floor days over. Mastermind silently raged, infuriated by his own appearance... what good was power if you had no chance at a normal existance! But things would change... one way or another, his luck WOULD change...OOC: That's my last post for about a week, going to the beach and that means no internet! :crying:Kumata has my permission to continue the Mastermind/Superbeing Smackdown plot as he see's fit, but I won't be able to control any SS teams (or Mastermind) until I get back.

IC: "If Silver is out there.... somewhere.... and somehow hidden from my detection, then this Mastermind is our only lead. I've traced the signal to some kind of underground bunker in Arizona, in the United States... it seems to have been repurposed into a sort of colleosuem field for this Superbeing Smackdown tournament... but, from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to be a very public affair. From what I can gather from here, it's operating outside Earthern law, and as such just walking as League might be unwise. But Mastermind is there, or at least will be, and he's the only source we have.... he'll talk, even if I have to make him myself" Esp frowned, somewhat subtly suggesting that if Mastermind wouldn't spill the beans on his own, they should beat said beans out of him. Certainly the revelation Silver may have made it to Earth, but Esp was unable to detect him to any degree had her on edge... especially if there had been a chance to save Silver, and due to her limitations she had missed it... being unable to follow part of her programming would really set her in a foul, foul mood.".... we can be there in under an hour if you wish to follow this up immediatly, but.... I still have to obey your will... and in my current condition there is no chance of investigating this on my own"

IC: Esp's holographic mouth was a grim slash as Sluice (and to the AI's dismay, the alien too) boarded once more."A few minutes back the Crystal went into an active state, and I was forced to recieve a signal... despite my efforts to redirect or block it. At first it just seemed like useless rabble but.... well.... you'd better see for yourself" she began to explain, displaying a staticy viewscreen before what looked like a TV signal began to come through, recorded from the original one earlier.*****************************".... and with that magnificent display SuperBeing Smackdown draws to a close for another season! But never fear viewers, our great tournament won't leave you in the dark for many more months! I am pleased to announce with the end our of singles matches, we will now begin our team tournament! Yes, now we'll be pitting your favourite fighters in groups against other groups for your viewing pleasure!" a brightly-suited announcer was rambling in typical gameshow fashion, resulting in cheers from the crowd that the Superbeing carnage would continue."I also have an announcement""Mastermind! Ah, erhm, our latest champion everyone! Are you here to announce your teammates, should you enter?" the announcer had almost leapt into the air as the cloaked being stepped up behind him, quickly regaining his composure despite the slipup."No, I will not have a team. I will be entering the team tournament alone, and I challenge any team composed of any Superbeing's to face me... if I am defeated, I will also be providing half of todays winnings as a bonus. Not that I expect to face many of you..." Mastermind smirked slightly underneath his cloak, the faintiest view of it visible just under his hood.********While this address was aimed at his opponents, Mastermind had no way to know this was also being picked up half a world away by Esp. The AI was silent as she allowed the disturbing message to continue and letting the announcer ramble, but held almost no focus from the viewers. Mastermind's cloaked form was key; that cloak was disturbingly familar. It had taken even more damage since last Sluice had seen it, but the design was far too identical to just be co-incidence.Mastermind, whatever kind of creature he was, was wearing Silver's cloak. But Silver's cloak had been on the psychic when the Mothership exploded.... if the cloak had made it to Earth intact..."I do not know who this Mastermind is or how he got what he's wearing... but it's appearance is far too close to be sheer co-incidence. We need to investigate this immediatly"

IC: KILL had taken to doing as he proposed earlier: milling about the ground level and keeping heroes at bay. That was both helped and hindered by the fact he was a car, lurching fowards to send someone diving out of the way. Reversing back the two machine guns attached to his sides sprayed bullets into a wall he was certain someone was taking cover behind, ripping into a sofa before he reversed into an expensive looking display case.... oh well it wasn't like this was the Coalition base, coelatteral damage was no reason to worry!IC(NPC): As Esp idled in the park, trying to look as ordinary as one extra-planetary vessal could she pondered on Sluice's current walkabouts with her new friend. The AI considered the prospect that the heroine's mind was treating the loss of Silver as akin to a family pet, hence his 'replacement' with a full alien subsitute... not something Esp really approved of. She had enough to worry about, trying to safegaurd an exposed-identity Super while not at top operating capacity, while also making sure Fell' there wasn't some scouting double agent who'd stab Sluice in the back once it had her trust. Replacing Silver in any respect was just..... wrong....Inside her musing form, a secured case held the floating form of the Crystal. Despite her previous owner's insistance that Sarah should wear it, she had turned the artifact over to Esp's care, rather than her own... the AI suspected this was partially due to feeling guilt over Silver's demise, and having something that had been so personal to him around was more than she was willing to handle. So it had taken up a new home, where it rotated silently, innocently, as if it held no great power at all.Until now.The blue gemstone's surface began to pulse and glow as the artifact took action, forcibly redirecting communications from elsewhere in the world towards Esp herself. The transmission flicked up onto Esp's main viewscreen without any action, and trying to alter or outright turn it off resulted in nothing... but it only took moments for her to relise this was something she really, really had to see. Patching herself through to Sluice mere minutes later, and making sure the recording of the message was without fault, she interrupted the little Super Adventure Time going on."Sorry to barge in your new alien pal's Meet N' Greet, but I've just picked up something you really need to see... I don't think you'd want to delay, if I just saw what I think I saw"

IC: "Then will begin our assault in moments. Our only objective is to retrieve Aquarius, but if you simply MUST attempt something else, at least do so with haste. As much as I would like to be able to, I cannot hold several League members at bay alone for long" KILL stressed, seemingly paying no heed to Impact's attitude. How the mission was achieved did not matter to him, as long as they did not do something foolish: something squishy organic human brains were renowed for. When the assembled members had all entered his relatively comfortable 5-seater form (you could fit more people in, but then Archmage would almost certainly have to sit in someone's lap), KILL began to roll out, abandoning the empty crate where it lay as he rumbled into the street, turning a corner or two until they had the most direct street line until Mentor's Mansion."Bracing yourselves is recommended" their mode of transport suggested with almost a chuckle, the accelerator hitting the floor without anyone to push it. The black cars engine roared as the speedo flicked up higher and higher, breaking the local speed limit in an appalling display. The gate was the first to face KILL's wrath, smashing apart in the centre as he raced through and onwards, as the front door grew worringly large in his windshield. Well, he DID warn them to brace themselves.... CRASH! OOC: I think it's safe to say we've drawn League attention, chaps

OOC: I thought Skyra was a girl this whole time.... well, I did barely-skim every Skyra IC X_xAnd never fear Aquarius, your salvation is near! Sort of...IC: "Why on Earth do we need these? There's nothing to even attach them with!" a Superbeing groaned, gazing into the open crate that had to be hauled to this location."Unless you wish my offensive capability to be limited to ramming in a confined space, these will give me... options" came the reply, not from another Super but the black car in their midst. The crate's contents were a pair of machine gun components, and a oversized mounted gattling gun that looked like it belonged on a fighter jet. The allied Coalition members present were wary of their apparent partner... talking cars weren't exactly common, and nobody seemed to have much experiance with 'him' before."Kinda figured you'd have your own.... yaknow... weapons... unless all you've done is hide bodies in the trunk"KILL's engine revved aggressively, enough to send the closer to him on edge. "That is not how my technology functions... simple witness it for yourself" the artifical voice retorted, the cars frame starting to warp as a solid mass began to slither away and onto the weapons, swarming all over the technology in a very visually disturbing manner. After a few moments, the mass retracted back into KILL's bodywork and dissappeared, leaving no trace of the weaponary behind in the now empty crate."The attack is a simple one: smash in, retrieve Aquarius, and get back out. Unless they have a very sizable lift to the lower levels, I will remain above until forced to retreat. Do not waste time, for if any of you are additionally captured, the Coalition will not see you as the asset that Aquarius is deemed to be" KILL outlined sternly, not one to take this task lightly. The shadowed alley they were in was mere minutes from Mentor's HQ, but Aquarius was surely being interrogated and the longer they wasted here, the closer the League got to discovering Coalition intel."The weapons are intergrated.... are we ready?"OOC: Kumata's idea to bust Aquarius out! Who better to break into Mentor Mansion than a talking car full of Coaltion goons? ...... you're a prisoner you have no right to complain about who saves you! Said Coaltion goons can be new NPC's, old NPC's or PC's, just remember I know very little about the CoC's members XD

Well, Mastermind certainly hasn't heeded the "with great power comes great responsibility" lesson yet Indeed, Mastermind's mutation did make him look exactly like Mewtwo, because copyright infrigement is my specialty! 8D And if you're going to have an overpowered psychic, they've got to look like the best!Mastermind has a major role in my 2nd plot arc, which has already begun.... after all, Silver is alive! But he never tried to contact Sluice in the past month, nor has Esp been able to detect him despite many scans.... I will also reveal that Mastermind himself is wearing Silver's cloak, and Silver is wearing a different one..... hmmmm.... Mastermind is the key Also, look what I'm submitting for my 3rd character! If this isn't unique enough for you people I'll eat my hat!Real Name: NoneAlias: K.I.L.L.Appearance: (Incidently, this car looks so evil since it potrayed a possesed car in the film: "The Car" =D)Power: Nanites and Adapting TechnologyKILL isn't actually comprised of metal, rubber and fabrics. Instead, his entire form is made up of microscopic insectoid robots, which fit lock together in a cube-like shape. Hundreds upon thousands upon millions make up KILL, imitating true automotive technology perfectly (save supposedly non-metal substances remaining magnetic). This nanite nature means even when KILL is completely totalled, his nanities will begin to repair and replicate themselves, eventually restoring KILL back to his peak roadraging effeciency. These nanities can swarm and consume matter to repair and create more nanities, as in the case when they are lost in battle; however they all retain a weakness to magnetic forces. A car yard's giant magnet stops KILL and his nanite makeup in their tracks.Another gift of his nanotech is the ability to adapt and use 'consumed' technology, intergrating into his form until he 'ejects' it. When KILL discovers desirable technology he wishes to intergrate, a portion of his body breaks off and swarms all over the target, breaking it down into microscopic components which are drawn back inside him, then reassembled and intergrated directly into KILL's frame moments later. For roadkill enjoyment KILL may consume the front plough of a snow plough truck, causing it to be 'eaten' from it's original placement and appear to grow onto KILL's front moments later, ready to be used to clear those pesky sidewalk-hogging-humans. Only a certain amount of these adapted features can ever be used at once, often ejected when their usefulness has ceased, or keeping them has become a burden (snow ploughs aren't great to use in this tunnels).Allegiance: Coalition of CorruptionArea: USABio: Let's get one thing out of the way: KILL is an evil car. Now, as automobiles don't usually have a tendency to travel without drivers naturally, it can only be presumed KILL was created, and indeed he was. There was a brilliant man, gifted with Omega Radiation-based intellect, especially towards robotics on a molecular scale. As he was a fan, a very big fan, shall we say completely obsessed with a show about a heroic car, he was inclined to make his own... until he relised, he could draw the REAL car too him! By creating the Anti-Car, to draw the hero to save it's creator.Such KILL was born, driven (excuse my pun) by an AI with remarkable similarities to the human mind. His programmed personality worked to perfection: immediatly taking his creator hostage the car laid a life-and-death trap for it's archnemesis who would surely arrive to save the day. But the hero never came, for they only existed in fiction. KILL's advanced mind soon worked this out, signifigantly faster than his deluded creator did... and with no-one to stop him, KILL did as he desired and his creator was no more. With the only person who knew everything about him dead, KILL was free to do as he pleased. As the villan he was designed to be, he craved power, to become more advanced... but he was smart enough to relise how this would not be achievable alone, not without risking his very existance. He would need the help of other criminals, surely. Squishy organic ones.His first attempt to threaten human criminals into subserviance went badly.... they ended up roadkill. But he was persistant, and eventually relised that squishy humans feared even stronger squishy humans... so he went up the 'food chain', and sought to get into cahoots with the Coalition of Corruption itself. The attempt to join had to be.... awkward (how do you respond to a car trying to join your evil organisation?) at best, but mutually beneficial... KILL had no qualms doing dirty work, as long as he would be rewarded with technology or learning he desired.

OOC: Mwhahaha, Mastermind is just a complicated diversion/plot tool! And it worked! =DIn fact, to celebrate Silver's awesomeness, and scare you all with my terrible editing skills, I cooked this up a few minutes ago!Awesome Silver is awesome! My editing skills are not!IC(NPC): (Meanwhile, in the land of diversion's that totally got Kumata )There was a whirling in the air as the severed blade of Mother Russia's sickle flew, landing heavily in the dirt almost half the stadium away. She was still glancing at the handle in shock when the blast of energy hit, smashing into her like a truck and sending her sailing even further than her sickle blade. Coughing up blood, she grimaced and started to tear great chunks of earth and stone from the floor as Mastermind slowly advanced. A hunk of earth was sent flying, only to hit the nigh-impossibly precise sheid just over his outfit and shatter.... leaving Mastermind underharmed. She'd already tried outright smashing him in the face after his little revival, but that time he didn't even flinch.... he just kept coming. Several more chunks of rock met the same fate as the first, until Mother Russia found herself backed up in the same corner she had 'trapped' Mastermind earlier."Yield, and I won't humilate you any further" . Why that little smart-"MOTHER RUSSIA WILL NEVER SURRENDER!" she bellowed furiously, balling both hands into fights and swinging them together, aiming to crush Mastermind and his sheild to pulp between them. Mastermind raised his own arms, revealing his hands for the first time: large grey-skinned palms with only three fingers, and unweildy spherical fingertips. These hands glowed with a psychic aura as he focused his power, telekintitcally stopping her mighty swings in their tracks, and holding them in place when she desperatly tried to pull away."I gave you the chance to yield... you should have taken it" Mastermind told her quietly, his aura flaring even brighter, growing as a shield of energy grew, blasting outwards brightly. Some of the audiance chose to avert their eyes, while some were blinded momentarily, but when it subsided there was a crater where Mastermind had been, an unconcious Mother Russia at its centre. Mastermind himself rose into the air, before setting down gently and briefly looking around the cheering audiance as he was proclaimed the champion. Without another word, he pulled his cloak tighter around his form and the mutant psychic exited... he would collect his payment in private, and then he had a personal matter to attend to...

IC(PC): WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO-WOO-WOOAn armoured bank truck shot through a red light, narrowly avoiding a taxi and several other cars as several desperate police cruisers tailed. One was forced to stop pursuit lest it cause an accident itself, but the other raced behind the truck, holding close despite the driver's desperate attempt to shake the law."Don't cops have anything better to do?" the larger of the theives exclaimed, checking to see if he still had plenty of rounds in his pistol."Well, this happens you steal an armoured truck from RIGHT OUTSIDE THE BANK!" the smaller, brains of the operation berated their partner, who resulted in the attention they now had from the police. "Just lose them after we get through that overpass!". Mrs Foot met Mr Accelerator aggressively, the truck starting to pull away from their pursuer. If they got much farther, they'd hit heavy traffic.. and with a truck built like a tank, they'd be far more likely to try and ram their way through, risking lives.Thankfully, you can always count on heroes to butt in on criminals action at the most innoppotune moment. A solid barrier of energy had appeared from nowhere in front of the truck, which slammed into it near top speed: coming to a very sudden and probably whiplash-causing stop. At that speed the front of the truck had crumpled severely, and one of the crooks was already out cold, the other stumbling out the side door and trying to clear their head."I'd surrender if I were you, then I'll go easy" a cloaked figure said from just behind, sending the theif stumbling as he whirled around, cocking his pistol shakily. Well, half of the pistol, as a blur of blue had suddenly robbed the gun of it's barrel, cleaved right off. "Unless you're going to throw the bullets at me, I think you're kind of out of options with that""Freaking supers, always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!""Can't help it, crime stinks so bad. Going to come quietly?" the cloaked figure asked, backpedalling as the criminal tried to bludgeon him with the butt of the pistol. A blast of psychic power sending him sailing into the side of the truck, where he slumped in a heap, was a good of a response to an attempted pistolwhipping. "I'll take that as a no, then..."Noting another police cruiser approaching, the hero swirled his cloak and disappeared from view, turning invisible... not that any onlookers would know that for sure. He reappeared on a rooftop a few moments later, surveying his work as the crooks were arrested for their crimes. A blue aura flared from his eyes, and he reached out with his powers, sensing for calls of distress.... it wasn't long before another lit up his mind."A hero's work is never done...." Silver smirked, forming a wristblade as he leapt from the rooftop down to the street below, off to prevent another crime in progress.OOC: ........ surprise?

IC(NPC): "YEAAAAAAAAAAAARGGHHHHH" Mother Russia screamed fiercly as she swung her oversized sickle with the force of a demolition ball, aiming to no less than decapitate Mastermind where he stood. At least, where he had just been standing, for the psychic had stepped just out of her range, the sickle whoosing through the air and sending his cloak fluttering briefly. Snarling she leapt foward, aiming her free fist where he stood but again he darted away, sending her punch into the rocky floor, creating a deep gouge of rock and dirt. "Stay steel little man, so Mother Russia can CRUSH you!"Mastermind just stared at her, silently. Mockingly. Infuriatingly silent.The oversized bear of a woman glanced at her sickle before smashing it deep into the ground, embedding it into the dirt where she could retrieve it later. Cracking her knuckles, which sounded more like turtle shells being ground together, she rushed the psychic again. Mastermind seemed almost bored, predicting each of her moves flawlessy as she attacked, darting away the smallest distance, only for her to attack again and repeat the motion. After several games of this the stadium floor looked like an exploded minefield, but Mastermind had yet to take a hit. Still, MR began to smirk: the psychic had been backed into one of the rounded ends of the battlefield and now had to deal with being trapped between the shield and her. Mastermind gave his surrondings a glance as his opponent advanced on him, merely continuing to stare blankly (presumably, since his face was hidden) as she loomed over him."No where left to run, tiny freak""We'll see" Mastermind smirked beneath his hood, dashing directly upwards and avoided her desperate attempt to grab him. "Can't jump that high?" he was on the verge of laughter, sailing over her head until she leapt upwards a great distance, intent of proving him wrong and crushing him in her hands like putty. It was now Mastermind finally chose to act, seizing Mother Russia's body from her telekintically, and sending her smashing into the sheild protecting the audiance (to both applause and horror, as her dress was thrown up on one side). Letting her smash back to the floor Mastermind landed neatly, starting to approach to toy with her some more before seizing up in place, his aura flaring. A vision of the future had hit him as strong as any attack would, locking him in place as it unfolded before his eyes... and leaving him completely vulnerable.With the combined fury of all Soviet Russia behind her, MR was more wary of approaching the still Mastermind, suspicious of a trap. But when he continued to stand still, he was far too tempting of a target for her to ignore, and she wound up a punch that would level a mountain. Mastermind was still, unresponsive to the approaching doom as the vision played out in his mind, before finally it ended and he blinked back to reality: just in time to see Mother Russia's fist about to connect with his face. The sound of impact was comparable to a building being demolished, chunks of rock and dirt from the ground being flung up into the air from the immediate area as the obscured form of Mastermind's remains tore through the entire length of the stadium floor, the far wall cracked and almost crumbling where he finally stopped... if there was anything left but ex-Mastermind-mush."NO PUNY MAN CAN BEST MOTHER RUSSIA!" the victorious Mother Russia gloated, raising her arms to the crowd, most of whom were cheering: clearly Mastermind's fans felt robbed. The announcer had little problem with this upset, however."Can you believe that everyone? Mother Russia has retained her championship title for the second time, defeating the unbeaten Mastermind with a single mighty punch! I feel sorry for whoever has to clean up what's left of him, I'm not sure our champion allowed anything to remain intact an- hey hold on!"Mother Russia slowly turned from where she'd been stirring up the audiance to Mastermind's tomb, where everyone's attention was now firmly fixed. The settled dust was being stirred again as, somehow, a still intact Mastermind was getting back up from the rubble around him: a previously unseen barrier around his body was pulsing brightly, having shielded him from the attack completely.... but despite the cracks in the shield, he didn't look any worse for wear."Iz not possible! Defending from that would break the mind of any psychic, or keel them outright! Any ordinary psychic should be dead!" Mother Russia exclaimed angrily, feeling robbed. Surely there had to be a necrokinetic interfering with the match, bringing Mastermind back from the grave when he lost.... he couldn't be alive, you couldn't survive that with your mind intact! Though she couldn't tell, underneath his hood Mastermind was smiling maliciously."You are right... any ordinary psychic should be dead.... but I am not your ordinary psychic"OOC: =OAlso, Mastermind's tail design:It's shaped like a depressed snake! 8D

OOC: I don't remember ever posting any updated character sheets for myself, so I'll get on that!Real Name: Timothy (Last name unknown, yeah let's go with that)Alias: SilverAppearance: Long grey hooded cloak, which hides most of his features from view. It was revealed that Silver was actually only a 21 year old young man who wore glasses, caucasian in appearance with black hair and deep brown eyes. After this was revealed, Silver took to leaving his hood down for once.Power: Psychic and Invisibility, with a wide array of mental abilities that include:- Average level of telekinetic, telepathic and very random precognitive ability- Psychic Blast (a wall-like blast of mental energy)- Psychic Wristblade (curved blades of energy from his wrists)- Psychic Buzzsaw (Whirling rounded blades that are directed through the air)- Psychic Flight (a more recent addition, likely a form of very advanced self-telekinetic focusing)- Psychic Orb (another recent addition, these unstable orbs explode violenty upon contact after being thrown)- Psychic Nova (an expanding dome, essentially a psychic blast but 360 degree's of effect)Silver's invisibility however is nothing special, simply becoming invisible to all visual spectrum's. However, to another invisible being he shows up like under a fluro light: this invisible state is neither silent or weightless.Allegiance: Former Solo Hero, now a member of the League of SalvationArea: AustraliaBio: Silver had his powers since he was born, but he managed to keep them secret all his life. His parents were killed when he was about 14 years old, in a house explosion when he was away. He then took on the identity of Silver, as his family was gone and he had nothing left of his old life. He has since then spent his time saving people in need in the cities of Australia, and no longer ventured as his own self: in his mind Tim had died the same night as his family. He lived homelessy for almost a decade before an apparent kidnapping attempt went arwy and he was transported to a base in the Nevada desert, where he met Sluice for the first time. She became his first and only friend in years, and he got understandably attached as a result.The Technax Invasion, which came about in part because of Silver's half alien heritage, sent what little of a life he had down the tube. His feelings were exploited and after being beaten senseless, he was brought upon the Mothership to be tortured. Despite a valiant rescue by heroes of the League and allies, Silver stubbornly abided by his plan to destroy the Mothership's planet-destroying weapon personally, being caught in the heart of the explosion that would consume the ship. Earth was saved, but at great cost to someone who had already lost so much: with this event the Epsilion (Esp) AI and craft fell into Sluice's ownership, at Silver's wishes more than anything.Real Name: MitchAlias: DarknessAppearance: Long black, torn and tattered cloak. As a twisted version of Silver, Darkness appears as a scarred and (unfortunatly) more physically attractive version of Silver, with a more spiked hairstyle and a badboy look.Power: Psychic, Invisibility, Dark Matter with a wide array of mental abilities that include:- Average level of telekinetic, telepathic and very random precognitive ability- Psychic Blast (a wall-like blast of mental energy)- Psychic Wristblade (curved blades of energy from his wrists)- Psychic Buzzsaw (Whirling rounded blades that are directed through the air)- Psychic Nova (an expanding dome, essentially a psychic blast but 360 degree's of effect)As Silver's, his invisibility however is nothing special, simply becoming invisible to all visual spectrum's. However, to another invisible being he shows up like under a fluro light: this invisible state is neither silent or weightless. Darkness is also uniquely not even truly human, composed of a semi-liquid, semi-solid black goop that can only be labelled as "Dark Matter". This Dark Matter composition essentially gives Darkness immortality, in the fact that any lethal action only seems to return him to a goopy state which will reform. It's origin is unknown, as is Darkness himself, as it doesn't seem possible for a psychic to force another personality from themselves, only for it to form a seperate being entirely.Allegiance: Solo VillianArea: AustraliaBio: Though Darkness only gained a body recently, he has existed within Silver for years. Silver's particular moral judgement suppressed his darker thoughts repeatedly, forming an almost split personality entirely: one that was nothing but the darker thoughts given voice. Still, the suppression of Silver's mind was greater than Darkness could overcome.... but as his life took a tragic turn, more and more oppotunities to creep to the surface appeared, and he took every oppotunity to try and wrest full control of the body for himself. Eventually, this resulted in an all out offensive that threatened to drive Silver insane, and through methods unknown Darkness was forcibily expelled from the psychic's body: only to form into his own twisted version of an "Anti-Silver". Naturally, he had a penchant for supervilliany and women, and went on to cause as much trouble as possible.After the untimely explosion of his possibly-insane-yet-still-hot sort-of-girlfriend Rush, Darkness was recruited to take down one of Technax's factories on Earth: a task he spent most of the time bickering and insulting Hivemind, who was totally not in his league of hotness by a longshot. Making off with part of an Inferno Walker's mainframe, which surely holds a wealth of information, he soon fell into a deep depression: he could not longer sense Silver, his "better half", and that could only mean death.... death that SHOULD have been at Darkness's hand! Feeling like only half a person without someone's life to ruin, he's taken to drinking: considering he was already an alcholic, it's not pretty.Mastermind/Mother Russia IC later, I swear =3

OOC: Ken, that word is ####'d since it is seen as a swear/cuss in other parts of the world, for example where I live. Don't bypass the filter with *'s or you'll get in trouble!IC(NNPC): Somewhere in the United States... "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelcome ladies and gentlemen to our grand finale! Here at Superbeing Smashdown we've been pitting your favourites heroes, villians, and inbetweens against each other for weeks, and have finally arrived at our climax event! Both our competitors are undefeated, one the champion and the other an out of nowhere powerhouse! Who'll take home the glory AND the $100 000 grand prize! We're minutes away from finding out!"The loudmouthed announcer's voice rang out throughout the crowded hidden stadium, vaguely circular in design. A cheer went up from the crowd, which was filled with just as many Superbeings (hidden or not) ready to enjoy the spectacle. The pratically gladitorial arena had been set up not long after the Invasion was squashed, as a quick way for Superbeings of all walks of life to earn money.... even if their buyin fees was from 'dubious sources'. Those without powers enjoyed the spectacle, and those that could hold onto a winning streak found themselves requiring deeper pockets all of a sudden, until they backed out.... for the moment, it seemed to have slipped everyone's radar and had yet to be shut down. It was stimulating the economy, at least."Coming in from the blue gateway is our current champion who you all know well to fear. She's got the strength of a whole platoon of Soviet tanks, and a resistance to pain like no other. Going undefeated into the fight for her 2nd championship title, Mother Russia!"As he spoke the so called Mother Russia entered from a blue-coloured gate, a hulking woman in feminine traditional Russian garb, which looked almost silly on such a rugged frame. One reason nobody probably pointed this out was the massive metal sickle she was hefting over one shoulder.... so large it seemed like she could down a bull elephant with it."Where is my poony opponent, so I can squash heem like tienee whynee bug" Mother Russia growled, taking a few steps foward onto the rocky stadium floor of which her opposition had yet to appear, sizing up the crowd a bit and raising her sickle into the air, causing an outcry of cheers from her fans."She's ready to rock and had better be, for the red corner holds her also undefeated opponent! He's quite a mystery, and not entirely human anymore thanks to his mutation... a mutation that, supposedly, forms the basis of his power to ABSORB the psychic abilities from those he's killed... one of which he claimed their outfit as a trophy! With over a DOZEN psychic's felled at his hand, he is a true force to be reckoned with.... the psychic challenger, Mastermind!"Those supporters he had, relatively overshadowed by Mother Russia's cheered loudly as the cloaked form of the challenger stepped silently into the ring. Despite the bright lights, the shadow of the psychic's hood masked all his features... with the sleeves together, all that was visible of skin at all was the purple-tinted tail which curved up from the back of the cloak from a hole in the back, unable to be hidden underneath the fabric at all. The Russian's supporters broke out in boo's as the psychic approached the centre of the ring, where Mother Russia herself was waiting."This eez the great Mastermind? You are tinee and week... just like tienee week Americans Mother Russia squashes as she pleases every fight"she chuckled loudly, towering over Mastermind like a rearing bear.Mastermind just looked up at her, and stared. Silently. She didn't like that."Mother Russia will not lose this fight, tinee mind man. She will break you into squishy peices of man" Silence."Give greedy Americans good show, or Mother Russia will break you. Permanently""....... just you try""The tension is high and the shields are being raised! Superbeing Smackdown's finale fight will begin in 3..... 2.... 1...." DING-DING

OOC: OOC only posts in great numbers! ARRRRRRGH! THEY BUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!Time to get my lazy rump in gear and kickstart a few things.... including the second arc of my large plot .... and was it just me, or were alternate universes and any time-based powers banned originally and now all trace of those rules have mysteriously disappeared... hmmmmmm....IC(NPC): Empty fields were always the best place to undertake spaceship repairs.... well, after a global invasion that might take any unknown alien vessels immediatly labelled hostile and shot down, it wasn't a good idea to try those repairs on top of a superheroine's block of flats. After the destruction of the Mothership about a month ago, Esp had taken to salvaging what components she could in order to repair the substantial damage she'd taken in the escape: even now, almost all of her weaponary was non-functional, and her stealth system under repairs lest it break completely, for which no replacement components could possibly be found on Earth.While her notice to new 'owner' had been partially true about needing to shut down, she also required private time to allow the emotional part of her programming to vent and deal with it's failings: specifically, the Crystaxian race was now doomed to extinction. Even half-human, Silver had still been a beacon of hope for survival, and he was gone, and Technax with him.... not that the latter would help the species in any beneficial form. Her logical side was almost overpowered by her grief, having failed to protect first his mother, and now her offspring... despite having the power to do so, it simply did not unfold that way and she failed.... a fact she'd be forced to live with, so to speak.Still.... the AI was a stubborn girl. She had borrowed (hijacked was a too strong a word) several satelliates to conduct scans of both the Earth and space for Silver's genetic signature, in the impossibly small likelyhood he found a way to survive. Nothing had been found but.... there was still a chance. Not a realistic one, of course, but still a chance. She was monitoring a similar readout even now, imagery splashed across a viewscreen of not a DNA scan, but of the battle being undertaken in the bay. Esp was unable to indentify the alien species assisting Sarah just through this relay, but might be able to in person... still, she seemed to be handling herself relatively well so far. But.... she did have the aquakinetic as a priority now, so she'd best at least get in the area in case the heroine DID need urget help all of a sudden.Hiding herself from any kind of detection she could think of save visual and audial, the alien craft took off and made her way towards the corspe-ridden bay. As she flew, the AI mused over the gift she'd fabricated for Sarah over the past few weeks.... it had taken particularly long to craft as she'd tried to, to the best of her ability, put 'heart' into it.... by no means an easy task for someone who lacked an organic form outright. Humans appreciate the thought counting at least.... right?

OOC: Yes, the timeskip is so glaringly close now it's going to burn a hole in my skull if I don't get it out of my head and write it down right this second! Can't you feel the tension in the air?!You can probably throw them in during the "11 in-timeskip posts" of KN and Rahl ;)IC: "Is it rolling? Are we going out live?""Yes, I... well, I think so"The caucasian woman in her twenties facing the camera brushed several locks of fiery red hair away from her eyes, clearing her throat. "This is Kelly Sanders, reporting live from downtown Manhatten by my own home. Throughtout the past week our... limited.... coverage has brought you all we could of the invading forces.... as you've very well seen, as far as we and everyone else we've met can tell, the threat had been eliminated for good" she began, her cameraman turning the lens skyward to the empty sky, where the Mothership had once hung as a massive threat to all life below."We're receiving global reports that any of the mechanized units that remain active are retreating into the depths of the ocean, where they will be pursued until every single one is knocked offline. The invasion appears to be toppled, and worldwide there is a sense of celebration and releif the horrors have ended... but also one of sorrow. The destruction wrought by the invaders is as far as they eye can see and the cleanup and recovery process will take an unknown amount of time, given the widespread nature... but if humanity has proven anything these last few days, it is that we are a resiliant species that will not simply lie down and die" Kelly said firmly, looking down to her feet briefly before back up at the lens."I'd like to make a point now to thank everyone for their help during this difficult time... friends, family, neighbours all for looking out for one another: the 911 services for operating even when it was pratically suicidial to do so...."The transmission bounced off those satelliate's still functioning, racing around the world as the League Jet began to touch down in Egypt. One location it couldn't be picked up was a nigh endless expanse of snow in the Himalayian Alps, a feirce snowstorm turning the area into an incredibly hostile environment... but not an empty one. A long trail of burning debris trailed through the snow, onwards and getting more numerous the closer one got to the crash site."The brave servicemen and women, as well as the numerous heroes... and those of less pure alignment who defended us from the invaders also deserve our thanks this day, surely saving hundreds of thousands of lives. But... we should recognise one other party and keep them in our thoughts even more so..."A steaming, oversized pod of a craft stuck lopsidedly out of the snow, having suffered horrendous damage during re-entry, to the point that more than half of it was gone, blown apart. What remained wasn't dealing with the change from extemely-high to extremely-low temperatures very well, the metal warping and falling apart, the movement allowing something to be caught in the wind and sent fluttering..."We cannot ignore the cost and sacrifices that had to be made this day... the Earth was saved, but surely at a great cost, so we must honor the memories of those brave men and women who won't be returning to their families.... for without them, we wouldn't be here either. This is Kelly Sanders, reporting...."The gray fabric fluttered in the harsh wind, only the jagged bit of debris it was caught on preventing it being carted away and lost forever in the blizzard. The blood upon it had since dried, and the rest of it didn't seem to be attached to the lonely bit of fabric.... but it was still there, being whipped about in the blizzard, in the cold and alone in a heap of debris that might never be seen again.So very, very... alone..... To Save the World! INVASION Starring: Everybody! =D That's it! After so incredibly, Trans-hatingly long, this plot has finally run its full course and is over! The world is saved! Silver's gone! So you'd better pick up his slack! Approximatly one, to a max of three months can pass in the timeskip, which can start at any time: I just know KN and Rahl have IC's they wish to set DURING the timeskip itself, and I'm not sure how the works so I hand it over to them!Thanks for playing!

IC: "Yes, of course.... with Silver..... missing and no remanents of his family remaining, he wanted my service to fall on to you... you were the closest friend he had, after all. Your requests are mine to follow" Esp seemed to sigh, her holographic avatar staring off into nothingness. Despite being supposedly driven by logic, she seemed to be taking a rather emotional route: the loss of Silver not only meant she had failed her programming to protect him, but with Technax also likely deceased... the Crystaxian species would be extinct as a whole. It was not something to be proud of, though Technax's razing of the Earth may view people to see the bright side."Carapace, do see to that a focus is put on stablising components that most aircraft would utilise, and that's most restricting a comfortable flight right now. Forewarning any aggressive forces would also help so we're not considered.... well, hostile alien as my design might stir up. But at least can hope that the Armarda Mothership's destruction has removed the threat Technax posed for good..."**********************The waters of Lake Purity had been corrupted beyond recognition by the explosive crash that had taken place days earlier. Alien coolants and oils scarred the surface of the once sparkling scene, the forest around it not doing much better, littered with the destroyed remains of Dual Fighters and Tanks. The cleanup would take at least weeks, at worst years or never, to restore the place to it's previous beauty. If it was considered priority enough to merit any attention at all. Far beneath the surface of the deep lake, the hulking purple remains of a craft had breaches all across its hull, allowing water to flood inside. There was nothing to indicate it was anything more than a giant peice of scrap metal... except if one travelled deep, deep within.A-A-A-Acces-s-s-ss DeniedAn orange glow pulsed briefly in the dark, startling several fish and sending them darting away to other parts of their new home.Access De-De-De-De-De-The glow pulsed brighter, and one fish that was foolish enough to swim closer was fried by an electrical discharge into the water.A-A-Acce-cess-cess to Primary D-D-D-irectiv-v-ves Gra-ra-rantedThe orange glow dimmed, revealing its source to the watery witnesses: a damaged pair of interlocking pyramids that glowed softly, rotating silently in their waterery grave. Nearby, something resembling a metal, sphereical octopus began to twitch as its 'eye' began to glow red.

OOC: "She's a witch! Burn her anyway!" *angry superhero mob*IC: "Silver and Esp both had the option to tell you, and neither chose to. Regardless of when you found out, your reaction would always be bad but you just have to accept: this is NOT a perfect world, and not everyone's going to come back.... you should be glad he valued you all more than he did himself. Of course, you won't ever trust my judgement, but questioning his now isn't appropiate either. It wasn't a decision I made lightly... but one I have to live with" Isis knew defending herself was a losing battle, but if they didn't even bother to understand then there was little hope for them later. She stole a glance towards Sluice's direction, the aquakinetic not having said a word. She harder to be taking this even harder than the rest, as she'd known Silver the best of all of them."I will say this, though whether you heed it or not is your own choice: The past will return in the future, where the light will become the dark. The choice to bring back the light rests with you all" the prophetess announced, before surronding herself in a golden aura and disappearing, teleporting away. The future can only share so much with the past...

OOC: Yes, the ship crashed in the Egyptian desert (better choice than Antartica, it's freakin' freezing down there!) minutes ago so Scorchmark can just walk off if he wants to.IC: "Your opinion is your own, though I did not expect a... strong reaction from his point of view. But do NOT think I sent him up there thinking he'd be fine.... Silver insisted he had to be the one to fix the damage he was certain he directly brought upon the Earth himself... he knew the chances of his return were.... slim. That is why he didn't let any of you assist him, and why he forced Esp to forgo her programming to protect him.... otherwise you all would never have left the ship at all. Had you had knowledge of this, would you really have let him go?" Isis frowned slightly, certain that had she told them all earlier, the only result would have been the deaths of many of them as they refused to let Silver act alone. By keeping it secret, their lives had been saved at his choice.... why couldn't they see that?

OOC: Yes, the timeskip is so close you can almost taste it!I said my next IC, aka this one, would be the last, but I have to postpone since there's one vital detail I didn't include in my previous: everyone chewing out Isis for knowing this would happen this whole time! I know everyone wants to verbally abuse her, I'm sure you do ;)Oh, and I didn't pick up Shard since I told him to head towards Earth, and he went so far as to enter the atmosphere, which'd make it a million times harder for a damaged Esp to grab him.... but you survived re-entry fine, planetfall is no biggie! Can you see one of those jumping castle factories? :PIC: Isis met Fade's glare with one of disgreement, brushing off his internal judgement of her."The mission was a success. You all performed as predicated admirably, and I thank you for that. I know you all.... disagree with how it had to be, but the entire population of the Earth was at stake... I could not tell you anything more, or you would have reacted differently and may have cost all those lives. Everything that happened went as predicated, leaving us with the most postive outcome for us all" the Egytpian chose to justify herself for the hundrenth time, even though she was sure none of them really cared: they were too stuck on how little information she'd shared with them, and the result of their mission. You just can't please some people...

IC: "I've got it" Isis spoke up, reaching out with her mind to shunt the two debris peices that they'd just narrowly slipped through far closer together... so close that two missles couldn't pass through together. But neither seemed willing, nor able to slow themselves to allow the other to pass, and thus they were forced to violently collide in the narrow space, destroying themselves and sending the outer edges of their explosion licking at the craft. There was a sudden rush of air as the atmosphere became non-existant, the gangplank forcing itself closed as, with the violent grinding of metal on metal, Esp shot out of the Mothership's hull."If anyone believes in any dieties, this is the time to be praying to them: the explosion's about to hit critical mass" Esp warned, releasing a burst of thrust from her engines to propel them even faster away from the Mothership... getting out was the hard part, outrunning the resulting fireworks was the simple bit. A viewscreen detailed what occured behind as they raced towards Earth; only the outer fringes of the mighty Armarda Mothership were still intact, crumpling inwards to the massive green mass of energy. As they too were consumed, the now huge orb itself collasped into itself, shrinking and shimmering brightly down to an impossibly small spec of light as it imploded.Then it exploded. It would have been the loudest thing to be heard in some time, had all the air not already been consumed, but the resulting explosion of green energy was still retina-scaldingly bright: even with the viewscreen set to pitchblack, the view of the expanding wave still harmed the heroes eyesight. It rippled outwards, lighting up half of the entire planet like another sun, and utterly destroying anything it met. Huge peices of Mothership debris that had broken off earlier, and would've called catacylismic impacts upon colliding with Earth, simply ceased to exist as the wave destroyed them, gaining huge ground on the escaping heroes. It raced towards them, towards Earth with it's huge circumference, threatening to utterly annilate all it touched.... but utter decimation could only be propelled so long.Several hundred meters from where it was about to consume Esp and all aboard the craft, the energy suddenly stopped as if it had hit a solid barrier. Then its path reversed, sweeping back to its point of origin to a bright, tiny speck then.... it was gone. The Armarda Mothership was competely gone, merely leaving the normal void of space where it had once occupied... nothing to betray the massive horrors and destruction that had occured there previously. Around Sluice's neck, the Crystal glowed briefly: then it was still once more, just another trinket. With Esp's systems damaged, their landing in one of the more remote areas, the Egytpian desert, was... rocky at best."Everyone functional?" she asked with a forced, tired tone to her voice (perhaps trying to fit in, given she was AI and was unlikely to feel weakened by exertion) as everyone picked themselves up from the floor, the ship having made a very lopsided crash landing... but at least they weren't upside down (unlike her LAST crash landing, but that's a whole other tale). Naturally, the AI was well aware of who was in what state via the implants she'd given those were willing: all were functional still and their owners fine. ...... except one. Silver Signal Lost. Signal Lost. Signal Lost. The viewscreen that should have held Silver's biomonitor readings looped this status over and over again... every other was active and displaying, even those badly injured but.... this simply had nothing else it could find to display. Placed on a table analouge for return later, the hero's shattered glasses and bloodied cape peice could do nothing but sit there...OOC: This was my last IC before the epilouge, the timeskip starting after that post. So this pretty much marks the near end of the invasion: You've successfully destroyed the Mothership and saved the Earth from utter annilation! You all get medals!**Not really

OOC: Sounds like a job for Jelly Man 8).... but are you saying psychic's aren't interesting? ;'( *Silver curls up in fetal postion and cries self to sleep*My NPC idea isn't actually psychic (a non-psychic from me, must be the apocalyspe), but the chances of it being the same kind of premise was so low...Now, as for those wanting to get into the essentially non-existant at present action.... is there anything wrong with ICing now, but setting these IC's AFTER the timeskip? Really, introducing yourselves then flashing foward a month is just wasted potential, and I see no issue with this suggestion as the actual fine details of the Mothership destruction will only effect those involved in that plot: in short, it goes kaboom, Earth is saved, any the remains of the army on the surface still functioning go into hiding with orders under the ocean's surface. This plot has been going on forever, and it's long overdue to end (which'll be within.... 2 or 3 IC's? Epilogue sort of counts, as well as any musings of the group), so to me it seems a lot more convient for the invasion group to catch up to the "present", rather than everyone have to wait for a month to pass ICly.Thoughts?IC: The missles served and barrelled through the air in an effort to dodge the assault, two being caught up in the hail of weapons fire and exploding, while a third was caught in the explosive destruction of those. The two remaining missles rapidly closed in, dancing around one another as they avoided the attacks. Scorchmark had an excellent shot on the pair as they came together but was thrown far off mark as the horrible screech of metal grinding on metal filled the air, Esp unable to keep a level course in a area with debris far too large for Loadstone to move far enough."Your one shot is just ahead! Shard, you had better be moving towards Earth as fast as possible as we don't have any time to slow our velocity... if you're moving too slow you're tear a hole right through me and I promise to survive and make your life as miserable as possible if that happens!" Esp communicated to Shard's comlink, assuming he hadn't foolishly lost it in the void. Her recommendation to the others was a exceedingly narrow path in the debris up ahead, sparks flying as they managed to narrowly squeeze through completely on their side: the pair of missles meanwhile streaked closer, but side by side and neither allowing the other first passage... their attempts to dodge would be severely crippled once they hit the narrow path.At an uncomfortable distance the green glow of the central explosion poured into the entrance of their escape route, the huge orb of energy having consumed the majority of the Mothership. The saucer was rocked by explosions and huge fragments seperated and sailed off into space as the four main power systems were comprimised, but still it grew, almost as if it wouldn't be satisifed until it consumed all the heroes as well.

OOC: Half Dragon, I have to void that Shard IC. Shard's floating in space a sizable distance from the Mothership, and that Tower action is happening about halfway inside, there's half a Mothership between you and it so you wouldn't even be able to see it (being able to see it would create the obvious plot hole of "If Shard can fly in why can't we just fly out that way instead of trying to go by a warmachine?").Gutsy, but incredibly foolish, since you're only 'flying' due to zero-gravity so even if you attacked it, you're then stuck there. Which is a very bad place to be right now....... you kind of chose to jump out a window into space, seems kinda cheap to just try poof your way back in (to take on the biggest ground unit in the Armarda alone, I might add) >__<I also immediatly dislike Mystic since the "blind but can see through their power" was a gimmick I was going to use for one of my NPC's. Today just isn't my day *is grumpy*IC: The Seige Tower's systems made a painfully loud serious of clicks and clangs as it reloaded it's systems, the first assault a miserable failure. They were disturbingly close now, pratically pointblank.... the whole area save the top of their escape route was blocked by it's form, meaning they'd have to skirt over it's top and the biggest weapon system it had, which was glowing brightly. Of course, Scorchmark, who was utterly fearless or just had a penchant for staring death in the face, chose then to unload every minor missle the salvaged robot arm could hold. The missles arced down......... and exploded pathetically at the very base of the cannon's inards. Well, okay maybe they could've seen that coming... having something as weak as what Scorchmark was holding take down something that strong would've been a giant design flaw. Not that they'd actually know this, for several sections of the Tower started to explode as they flew over. A flare from the central explosion of the Mothership had lanced out into the Tower itself, lancing up and cutting the whole thing in half. Even as it fell, the main weapon fired anyway, way off course and the beam smashing through part of their escape tunnel, blowing tonnes of heavy metal plating into the zero-gravity environment and creating a minefield of debris in what they'd hoped to be a straight line run.It was unusual to here Esp be emotional, but the AI gave an uncharacteristc squeal of pain as the flare of energy brushed her form. The shields immediatly failed from the assault and the flare lanced into the primary lasers, rending them useless immediatly and sending a section of her stabliser spinning off completely. Executing a roll got the craft away from the rest of the energy arc, which lanced off into another part of the wall, but the damage had already been done: primary weapons were inoperable, the sheilding was kaput and their flight was now dangerously listing to one side, and navigation outright was crippled by that."Loadstone, try and clear a path ahead, as wide as you can make" she requested, as they narrowly avoided the Seige Tower falling apart, and blasted into the last tunnel between them and open space. Ahead was a minefield of metallic debris, something Esp could avoid normally with ease... but her mobility was crippled and she just couldn't execute manuvers that complex anymore.Even with the Tower down (creating some satisfying explosions in the process), a fair amount of Dual Fighters were still attempting to follow, a large number all trying to enter the tunnel at once and smashing together spectacularly. But that wasn't nearly as bad as what had joined them: missles. Evidently launched before the Tower had fell, these smart-missles were manuevering all around Dual Fighters and rubble, avoid any clear obstacle as they tailed after the damaged ship escaping, making very good ground... there were only 5 in all, but without any shielding, even one impacting would be enough to blow Esp apart.OOC:Final level all! No sheilds, escape route full of debris and Esp's ability to dodge crippled... how will you survive? =O