Half-Dragon

IC: SHING!The assassin landed on the ground in front of the beast, its blood mingling with his, and for a moment it seemed nothing in the world dared so much as breathe. Then time caught up with them both and the top of its head spun into the air, cleanly separated from the jaw and neck. But just as Srizz was about to utter a line to cement this as a crowning moment of awesome, more of those drakking tentacles flew out of the stump and grabbed the dismembered head straight out of the sky. Of course, he thought. It couldn't possibly have a pod in its head. It has to be tougher than that. Still, it seemed reattaching that might take a slightly longer while, so he took the opportunity to do what he probably should've done in the first place: Run. For a moment he was sure he was hearing voices in his head... then he realized Kovian and, for some reason, Khadbaen were urging him to get the drak out of there. No arguments from him. He darted into the shadows and disappeared from sight, moving as fast as he could without being detected toward his one spot of hope at this point: The very vehicle that had gotten him here in the first place.Finally he returned to where he'd hidden his ride, a sleek hoverbike using Metru-Nuian levitation and speed kanoka with precision controls and enough hidden weaponry to give even that monster he'd just faced a run for its money. Regretting that he couldn't have used it to blow the darned thing up, he mounted the bike, activated the levitation discs, turned toward the sea and accelerated. Before long he would spot the Dark Hunters' boats and see if they had any bandages they could spare.-=H-D=-

IC: Srizz stared as the Feranaki opened wide its maw and lined up the razor-sharp spikes to hurl at him. "That is just not fair," he said numbly. Then he leapt and twisted in a manner that should have been impossible for any being with a spine, planted one foot on a nearby rock, crouched and catapaulted himself up over the majority of the spikes. Unfortunately 'majority' was the operative word. Several of the smaller spines and one large spike flew across his unprotected left side, pinging off the metal, but tearing the flesh where they connected. He shrieked as he landed, but forced himself to ignore the pain and glared forward at the beast from the last place any semi-sane creature would expect him to land: Right on its back.The Feranaki opened its mouth again and he knew more spikes were about to pop up right under his feet, but the sight of its strange jaw configuration (coupled with some anger-induced pain) gave Srizz a simple, brutal idea. "Let's see how far that face opens," he hissed. Then he dashed forward across the monster's back, stepping lightly and quickly between the spines as they grew under his feet, dodging most of the spikes hurled his way and gritting his teeth against the fresh, stinging pain as others struck or skimmed him. His blade sang through the air as he swung it at the joints of the monster's jaws, figuring if it had any real weak points, those would be among them. -=H-D=-

IC: After considering every possible angle and strategic implication of this newfound ability the monster seemed to possess, Srizz spoke for the first time since arriving on the island, summing up his feelings on the matter in what he considered a succinct and entirely accurate manner. "****." And then he ducked as the tentacles came flying at him. He tried to slash at them before they could retract, but the tentacles were almost as fast as he was, and they didn't have quite as much to worry about besides fighting back. Currently holding the top three spots were: [*]Survive.[*]Ensure the Hunters get their cargo, whatever it is, off the island.[*]Get paid.He wasn't entirely certain how he would go about the third step, seeing as he hadn't actually been promised any compensation for being here, and Dark Hunters weren't known for their gratitude, but he usually worked something out thinking on his feet. Speaking of which...The agile assassin twisted at the very last moment and brought his blade around to slash at the very point where he had just been about to go, or where it would have looked like he was heading to anyone fighting him. With a little luck he was about to find out if the tentacles had tentacles to pull them back together.-=H-D=-

IC: So that's how it works. Srizz watched from a distance, thinking carefully. His Zyglak knife. That plasma blade. Anything powered seemed to simply shut off when it got too close to that monster. Interesting. Would the same thing happen to an explosive? If the trigger was simply by impact or violent shaking, would the explosive compound inside still go off? Maybe a Cordak blaster... Well, hardly important. What was important was that he now knew what probably would work.Quickly and quietly the assassin darted from shadow to shadow until he was up close to the monstrous Feranaki, blade drawn and waiting. There was no fancy technology or mystical power in this sword. It was protosteel and deadly sharp. It didn't need energy blasts. With that comforting thought in mind, he dashed the last twenty feet and brought the blade around in a wide arc aimed at the back of the creature's knee. Crippled would be almost as good as dead.-=H-D=-

NPC: Ultionis ducked back down, cursing loudly as the inside of his mask went blinding white. These days the auto-polarizing lenses handled flashbang grenades or sudden light shows, but they did nothing if he was in night-vision mode. Thankfully the light was gone in under a moment thanks to a good reaction time on the mask, but he was still blinking spots out of his eyes when acid flew over his head once more, spattering against the wall and hissing angrily. Finally he got his full 20/20 vision back and chanced a look over the top of the desk.The villain - Golem Girl? - was grappling with Skyra inside what looked at first like some kind of bubble. Then he realized that was a trick of the light; it was actually something like the opposite of a bubble, a place where there was nothing in the midst of a bunch of something, in this case air. And Skyra, if he was reading his face correctly, was trying to hold his breath. Bad idea. Vacuum is a very efficient deoxygenator of blood, but a non-porous being like Golem Girl would be under no more stress than usual. Still it bought time for Ultionis and Lodestone to act. Speaking of which, the former caught sight of something on Golem Girl's hand before retreating. A glimmer of metal. He activated the borrowed League comm and muttered, "Lodestone. The ring. Ferrous?" He realized then that muttering was unnecessary, the vacuum would seal off sound entirely. Well, didn't really matter at this point anyway.(H-D)

NPC: And some kind of luminal powers too. Great. Ultionis had just managed to get back behind the desk before the hissing sound announced more wonderful acid had been introduced to the world. Because clearly there wasn't enough. With a series of eye motions he activated the night-vision mode on his mask, waited a moment for the acid to hit or miss its target (not much he could do about that now) and popped up again, taking aim once more for her elbow.(H-D)

IC: As the beast stomped away, the same reptilian figure slid out from the shadows. If such a face could be read accurately, it would appear dumbfounded. The figure knelt down and picked up the knife. It hadn't just had no effect - the thing hadn't even ztakking triggered. Zyglak throwing knives expended on use. Either this one was a dud - almost impossible - or that thing nullified even the esoteric properties of Zyglak weaponry, which begged the question: What else did it nullify?Trying and failing to shrug off his concern, Srizz ach Del'kai darted off after the nearest Dark Hunter - stealthily, of course - to see what they did next.-=H-D=-

NPC: A large, unwieldy object never meant for throwing, tossed in a blind rage. Literally. Ultionis barely had to duck. More importantly, this gave him time to drop the rubber ammo and bring in some real punching power: A clip of armor-piercing ammunition he'd had left over from the fight at the Mansion. He holstered the left pistol and brought the right up, took aim... then stopped and rolled behind the CEO's desk before rock girl could get her eyesight back. His pistols were much larger than usual, and heavier. Partly this was because of the recoil balancing mechanisms, but mostly it was the sheer power those mechanisms compensated for. A regular bullet from this thing could put a hole through half an inch of concrete. The AP would scatter her brains across the ground unless they were made of black granite. The information in her head was too valuable to shatter it now. He would have to go for something a little less lethal.With that in mind, he popped up over the top of the desk, took quick aim at her elbow and fired off a shot. He figured anything flexible would be a structural weakness. Probably.(H-D)

OOC: Believe me, I have been. I'm thinking it depends on how this mission turns out. As for Omega, I would do more right now, but things ground to a halt in the mansion and now he's probably waiting on results regarding the nanites.|H-D|

NPC: Ultionis swore, diving to the ground just in time to avoid the wave of energy. He wasn't sure just what it was or did, but he had no intention of finding out. More importantly, he doubted the plan would work now. He wasn't even sure if this thing needed to breathe, nevermind how strong its organs would have to be just to keep a body like that running. The gas might be completely ineffective, and finding out would waste valuable time that could be used to kill them. And worst of all? He'd loaded his guns with rubber bullets. Just great.Unless... The soldier rolled across the ground drawing his second gun, and stopped in a crouch. With expert speed and precision born of two decades of training and experience he raised both guns, pointing one at each of the freakshow's eyes, and pulled the triggers.(H-D)

IC: Aye aye, thought a shadow amongst the shadows in the craggy rock face the group had just emerged from. For a moment there was a black glint, the only indicator of what was about to happen, then- Thwip! A blade that looked to have been made of obsidian zoomed out from nowhere, aimed at the beast's torso. Immediately the shadow moved from dark corner to dark corner, staying mobile to avoid detection. Those Zyglak blades destroyed anything within ten feet in every direction from the point of impact... if they hit. He'd never seen anything, even protosteel, withstand them, but even with his legendary accuracy and the element of surprise he wasn't about to take chances with something this scary.-=H-D=-

NPC: Ultionis had suspected for a while now that Omaha wasn't the crook. At first he thought he was just a terrible liar, but that wouldn't make sense for an infiltrator. Then the itching at the back of his head confirmed something was wrong. It had never let him down before, anyway. He'd had just enough time to consider that the secretary was way too cool in this situation before Lodestone confirmed they had thought the same by pointing a potentially-lethal ionized weapon at her, also known as his hand. The soldier followed this up by drawing one of his guns and aiming it between her and the door. If she made a run for it, she wouldn't be on her feet for long. More importantly, while the right hand pointed a gun and generally made its intention clear, the left snuck toward a pocket to slowly withdraw the canister of knockout gas. This, in all, was only a minor upset in the plan. Skyra would know his part.(H-D)

NPC: "Good idea," answered Ultionis. "I'll keep watch so she's not taken hostage." He glanced at the door again. "Right now her office is the only thing between us and the target. You're speaking for us, so you lead the way from here." Remembering that they didn't really know what they were up against, the soldier's hands instinctively drifted toward his guns. Of course it wasn't likely he'd need them for another minute or so, but a quick draw had won more than one firefight.(H-D)

NPC: If the soldier had been doing well before, now it was clear he was in his element. His movements were quick but precisely measured, like a panther prowling its hunting grounds. The armor he wore made almost no noise - clearly it was designed with this kind of mission in mind. Well, probably something a bit more lethal, but the same general idea applied. Every so often he would stop at Skyra's signal, which he watched for at all times. They couldn't be seen just yet. Unfortunately it seemed now that this might be unavoidable.Ultionis glanced briefly through the second-to-last door before their target, which had thankfully been left ajar. He withdrew almost immediately and motioned to Skyra to restrict sound to a small envelope around them. "The secretary's still in," he said gravely, speaking for the first time since the roof. "Unless we can distract her we might have to just go past and hope she doesn't call the cops."(H-D)

OOC: Oh! Thought he was talking to the staff. Belay that last, then...NPC: At the word 'Go' Ultionis was halfway down the ramp in a moment. He'd memorized the planned lane. The rooftop fire escape came out close to the CEO's office, presumably in case a quick escape was necessary. Of course he had apparently also considered that someone else might use it to get in and locked the door with a keypad lock, but he was willing to bet the lock was made of metal. He stood aside and nodded to Lodestone, who hopefully would get the message.(H-D)

OOC: Probably should have clarified: Until/unless violence breaks out, Lodestone speaks for them, being the only one much good at talking through a situation. When/if it does, he watches their backs. Or at least, that's the plan. Can't speak for whether he'll do anything Ultionis says...NPC: Ultionis stood up. "Then it's agreed. We all know our jobs. X-Calibur, contact us when you've breached the security systems. Alpha squad, stay on your toes. We move out the moment we get the signal." He stood back with the air of a racer waiting for the starting pistol covered in a very thin veneer of calm. Five minutes, maybe more. Then they'd see if two heroes and a soldier did in fact a squad make.My money's on no.(H-D)NPC: Carapace facepalmed. "They don't know that," he growled - partly to himself, partly to ensure Gadgeteer knew to intervene. He likely needn't have bothered, but there was such a thing as safety precautions. {H-D}

IC: Feranaki Caves, with Reaper and Edge:Two black streaks marred the air for just a moment as a pair of Zyglak-forged throwing knives were flung with pinpoint accuracy at the Breakers pursuing the two Dark Hunters. Not a moment later a nearby stalagmite seemed to flicker out and a creature resembling a cross between a Toa and a Zyglak, all black and dull red, was almost visible where it had been. "Those don't grow on trees!" The creature yelled, confirming it was neither a Feranaki nor a product of their probably-at-least-somewhat-sociopathic minds. "Move!" Then, quick and quiet as a shadow, it was gone. -=H-D=-

NPC: "I patched into the League's comm frequency back at the mansion," the soldier replied. Then he spread out some of the blueprints and began explaining. "Now, I think we have a plan worked out. We can land on the helicopter pad on the roof here." X-Calibur can infiltrate the building through these air ducts. They come out on the roof, so it shouldn't be hard. Once you're in, make your way to the security center and hack the cameras. Once we've confirmed they're running on a loop, alpha squad - that's us - will make our way in via the fire escape that comes out near the CEO's office and confront him. Ideally we can handle this without violence, but if our suspicions are correct that's unlikely. "Either way, he'll try to trigger an alarm. I'd be surprised if he couldn't do it from his office. X-Calibur, I need you to stay at the security center and make sure it doesn't get through. Meanwhile, if and when he does get violent, I can toss the knockout gas and Skyra can keep it from affecting us. Since he's also in charge of making sure no noise makes it out of the room, I'll deal with any powered counterattack. Lodestone, your job is to keep an eye out for security or reinforcements in case he has some way to contact them outside usual channels. If any show up, deal with them quietly if possible. "Once he's out, we can exfil the same way we got in. If that's blocked, plan B is to call the jet to hover outside the window and get through that way. By that point we can assume stealth is out anyway. If we've had to take him down at all, we know he's a supervillain, so even if he doesn't tell us what we need to know in the office we can wake him up on the jet and try again. I doubt his buddies will break him out then. Either way, he'll tell us what he knows. Then we throw him in the penitentiary and give it a week before his lawyers get him out again. "Now I doubt everything will go according to plan. It never does. But having a plan still gives us an edge, so if anyone has anything to add, we've still got a few minutes to the building so now's the time." (H-D)

NPC: Ultionis nodded. "Good point," he agreed. "Letting them see us coming is out of the question, but we're not out of options. Does the League have any techs? Someone who could remotely feed the cameras a loop? If not, a focused EM pulse could knock out all their cameras at once... and pretty much anything else in the building. They'd raise the alarm, but we could storm in before they know what to do."(H-D)

NPC: Ultionis glanced up from his maps. "Actually, I might be able to help with that." He withdrew the gas canister from a pocket. "This contains compressed knockout gas. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it, but if you can multitask enough, we could knock out the target without a sound getting out to the rest of the building." Not that he expected it would be easy. Skyra would not only be confining the gas to one location but keeping any sound from leaving the room while he was at it. Plus the villain might throw a counterattack at the same time, but then that was what Ultionis would be there for. Lodestone, ideally, would keep an eye out for reinforcements, since the typical rent-a-cops could be disarmed instantly by his magnetic abilities, but he seemed to be handling the idea of following an actual plan badly. Or maybe he just didn't like soldiers. Wouldn't be the first or last hero to feel that way. (H-D)

NPC: Ultionis silently handed Skyra one of the maps showing the ventilation system. Meanwhile, he was plotting the most efficient escape route should the situation turn sour. Unfortunately the need to avoid large spaces with lots of people, such as the offices around the building, made it harder to find a tactically optimal path. If they blundered into an office loaded with civilians while, well, anything at all that could threaten this group was following them, casualties would be inevitable. And that was unacceptible.(H-D)

Oh, right, the staff... Uh, you see- He had a replacement coming in, but there was this mix-up in the mail, and... Oh, come on, I'm not reading this! *shing* Andlongstoryshorthe'llgetyouanewonelater! But if it makes you feel better he lost the Zyglak sword. There was an incident with an active volcano and an ice elemental, it's a long story. -=H-D=-

NPC: The soldier nodded his thanks and immediately began pouring over the maps and blueprints even as he walked up the steps. Points of entry, checkpoints, likely guardposts, emergency exits, anything of value. Around this he would need to construct basic plans and contingencies, then run them by the others, adjust as necessary, leave room for improvisation in the inevitability things didn't work out as planned... It was going to be a long flight. Hopefully.(H-D)

IC: Out of a darkened corner, without any kind of warning, flew a small, steel-grey streak. It struck one of the element-tossing Feranaki square between the eyes, and only then was it clear that it was a throwing knife… of a surprisingly familiar make.At the same time others darted out from hidden corners around the cave, striking down Feranaki left and right. The mysterious assailants – for no one being could have moved between places that fast and that frequently – seemed to be aiming for the most powerful beings and largely ignoring the smaller or less potent Feranaki. At one point a massive Steltian bruiser was struck not with a grey streak, but a black one. It disintegrated on the spot. Naturally, at this point the Feranaki began shifting their focus away from the original attackers, tossing blasts of elemental power into every dark corner in the room… and failing spectacularly to hit even a single knife-thrower. As if they were never there to begin with.-=H-D=-

NPC: Ultionis spared a glance at Lodestone and replied in a calm, even tone, "I meant use your magnetic powers to grab their guns." With that out of the way, he returned to the planning. "Do we have a blueprint of the facility? Floor plan? I doubt anything in a public domain will be complete, but it'd still help us figure out our contingency plans."(H-D)