Kumata

Okay, look at the bottom row of bricks. The one in the middle is Brown. The one to the right of it is Reddish Brown. Dark Flesh is the leftmost set of bricks in the row above.

OOC: I'm gonna speed us over this little plot lull. IC - Sluice @ Epsilon Conversation was very thin on the ground for the remainder of the trip. Fellwyd seemed to enjoy silence, or at the very least didn't experience the uncomfortable awareness of it that humans did. Another time Sluice might have made more of an effort to keep talking, but exhaustion had drained her conversational creativity. By the time they dropped Fellwyd off at his Earthen home and arrived at their shared flat it was dark; a cloudless night. Epsilon allowed the heroes to disembark upon the roof of their block of flats, whereupon they descended to their front door. Sluice was glad to feel the keys hadn't left her supersuit's concealed back pocket. Save for a few disturbed pairs of shoes and magazines, the flat looked exactly as it had when Silver had last seen it. Sluice trod lightly as she entered; of the bedroom doors Photon's was closed, which meant he was probably inside, asleep. Once Silver had entered the flat after her she locked the door. "Your room's um, still as it was," she whispered, avoiding his gaze. "I didn't want to - we didn't get around to removing anything from it... so um, have a good night's sleep?" Tiredness loomed over her like a shadow. With each step towards her own room she was that much closer to slumber...

IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility Triple-Helix's scowl was becoming more and more strained as the lack of air became a problem. Her movements slowed; her gaze cast about in search of something she could use, some way to defeat the vacuum. Then she stopped, her expression becoming one of resignation, perhaps disappointment. She hadn't wanted to leave so soon, but it was the only way out (that she could think of...) In a familiar motion, like the flexing of a muscle her body compressed and shifted. Her new form didn't stick around to be observed, however. It vanished from the vacuum in a blur. Momentarily there was a scant few seconds wherein the blur paused for the heroes to get a good look at it - a lean Asian girl with short cyan hair - the bad news though was that the 'pause' came in the form of Triple-Helix's foot connecting quite forcefully with Skyra's chest. He tumbled backwards, and as soon as her feet hit the ground Triple-Helix was off again at superspeed. IC(NPC) - X-Calibur @ Subject Testing Facility With Loadstone's Magnaboard battering his enemy Quad, X-Calibur saw the safety in making a sprint for his Energy Machete. He vaulted over a waist-high jumble of wiring and there it was, some metres away. His gloved hand extended to clasp the weapon's handle and, from nowhere, a foot arrived to kick his hand away. An electric surge of pain shot up X-Calibur's arm - reactively he yelled. An oriental-looking woman with blue hair was suddenly standing nearby and before X-Calibur's mind could properly assess the situation her palm thrust lazily outwards for a glittering projectile to leap towards his helmet. She was gone again before it struck, although when it did it shattered harmlessly. Driving back the stinging pain from the focus of his mind, X-Calibur glanced down at the projectile's shards. Ice. Did she really think that would pierce my helmet? Or was she just playing? He gritted his teeth; his hand was really hurting. The speed that girl had been travelling lent some forceful momentum to her kick - something might be fractured or even broken. X-Calibur had a number of medical items stored in his supersuit's pouches but he needed to find somewhere safe to use them; some form of cover. He surveyed his surroundings. IC - Loadstone @ Subject Testing Facility As Loadstone continued his fairly one-sided battle against the Quads his enhanced sight and hearing alerted him to what might otherwise have gone unnoticed. A spray of ice needles being launched at him, emanating in a wide arc, suggesting they were being thrown while on the move...

IC(NPC) - Triple Helix @ Subject Testing Facility As her flames went out Triple-Helix frowned, pouring on the effort in order to make them reappear. Fire streamed from her hands with greater intensity but with no air to feed on they fizzled out just the same. The vacuum spread to reach her head and, wide eyed, she ceased her attack and gasped fruitlessly, staggering backwards in alarm and grabbing the side of a machine. Holding what little breath she'd managed to retain before the vacuum got to her, she tried to move out of the vacuum's range, hands clenched and ready to summon more flames as soon as she was able. IC(NPC) - X-Calibur @ Subject Testing Facility The battle with the Quads wasn't going entirely as easily as expected. Not for X-Calibur at least. He'd never fought one of these hybrids before, but he'd researched them and battled enough regular Sharkmen to be confident that he could take on one without encountering much difficulty. And when he'd launched into his attack against one it had reacted with the same animalistic intelligence he'd been expecting. In his first swipe with the Energy Machete he'd severed the clawed fingers on one of its hands. It lashed out with a kick and he hopped around it. He'd aimed another slash and it had reacted with surprising speed, catching him in the chest and thrusting him away, his back striking the hard edge of some machinery. That instant of fresh pain seemed to suddenly highlight, like sonar, all of the other areas of ache and hurt across his body. He hadn't done particularly badly in any battle thus far, but he'd sustained several injuries in each one, and something - adrenaline, or determination to reach the facility's core - had allowed him to comfortably ignore them. Now all of a sudden they seemed to be cashing in on his delayed awareness with interest. The shock of hitting the machine caused him to drop his Energy Machete, and in another surprisingly fast motion the Quad kicked it, sending it spinning somewhere into the cluster of inactive equipment that filled the room. A flicker of panic told X-Calibur to chase after it; it was his most effective tool, he needed it; a blockade of reason prevented him from acting on this; the Quad was faster than he, turning his attention away from it would only leave him open to another attack. He had to stay focused on it, and figure out a way of edging towards the weapon. The Quad was lunging at him, fangs bared, ready to sink its teeth into his padded supersuit. X-Calibur ducked and rolled out of the way, springing to his feet and apprehensively hurling a kick of his own at the creature's back. It was like kicking a pile of sandbags. The creature whirled around, snakelike eyes narrowing at him, whilst his own eyes flickered to and fro, scanning the environment...

IC - Sluice @ Epsilon "Where to?" Asked Esp's holographic avatar the moment Sluice and Silver had stepped on-board. "Um, home," Sluice said. She looked over at Fellwyd, who was sitting with lizardlike patience, his eyes fixed on the circuitry running up the walls with what was presumably slight interest. "Fellwyd, we'll drop you off at the house the League provided you with, then we'll go back to our home, okay? She dropped down onto the metal bench that served as seating within Epsilon, pulling back the goggles and hood of her supersuit. She waited for Silver to sit down beside her before returning to their conversation. "After the invasion the world was in a pretty bad way, as you can imagine," she said. "I spent a lot of time helping rebuild. The League basically coordinated its heroes to places their powers would be most useful. I did a lot of redirecting of flooded rivers and broken canals. I didn't do any proper hero stuff though - you know, fighting villains and so on. To be honest I'd been planning on taking an indefinite break once the rebuilding was done, but then there was an attack by The Reaper I had to help out with... then I bumped into Fellwyd and had to help him, which led to me joining that tournament to try and find you... I don't know if this lifestyle keeps pulling me back in, or if I keep getting tempted back to it." She didn't mention how she'd been undergoing therapy for her split-personality, nor how her parents had been registered missing with no clues as to where they'd gone. She didn't want to make Silver worry about her as well as himself; she thought he could do without the added stress. IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility The electric bolts sparked and flashed against the metal floor and machinery around Triple-Helix. As for the bolts that hit her, they barely made her flinch as they sizzled across her body. She stomped forwards, still grinning, and flames started to pour from her hand again. This time though, she whirled it above her head like she was spinning an invisible lasso. The flames rose up in a circle, becoming a tornado of fire that would - if the hero didn't move soon - trap Loadstone in its centre...

IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility Triple-Helix stood with her hands on her hips and a grin on her face; the magnetically attracted machine scraped towards her, building speed, until - CLANG - it burst and wrapped around her. There was a moment or two of inactivity then the edges of the wrecked device glowed orange, folding apart to reveal the villainness standing in exactly the same spot, flames streaming from her hands. She grabbed one of the heated panels and tossed it into the air. It became obvious that this form was not possessed of superhuman strength, for the panel didn't go far. It didn't need to however; Triple-Helix quickly lashed out with another fireball that exploded against the panel, sending a shower of superheated metal droplets in all directions...

IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility The second ball of electricity caught Triple-Helix in the leg; with a yelp and a crackle she tripped backwards over the table that held the chemical beakers. The liquids pooled and mixed, though save for a pungent smell there were no apparent effects. The smoke had already started to dissipate. Loadstone was able to see the villainess brush the glass aside and get shakily to her feet, strands of hair shocked loose from her blonde bun, her face a contortion of anger. "Hnh... intense heat can weaken zhe effects of magnetism... whezher she realizes zhis is irrelevant," the villainess muttered. She straightened up, though her shaking did not stop - it had become a sort of convulsion. In a motion so fast and fluid it was like the flexing of a muscle, her limbs lengthened, her lab coat burst apart to reveal a multicoloured leotard and her skin darkened. Where the wiry, blonde-haired woman had stood there was now a stocky, ginger-haired black woman. "Finally. I been itchin' for a fight," rumbled Triple-Helix's new appearance. She thrust a palm outwards and a meteoric fireball rocketed straight at Loadstone...

IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility "I knew you vould come. I knew you vould come!" The villainness screamed in irritation. She drew back her fist and swung, denting one side of the machine as she sent it crashing to the side. "Zhey put me in charge of zhis facility. Zhey tell me it is most important to complete my task and I knew, I knew zat heroes vould show up and spoil my chance to impress zhe new leaders!" She darted toward a rack of sealed chemical beakers, grabbed one and flung it, her superstrength propelling it like a javelin. From her free hand leapt another bolt of electricity, striking the beaker and igniting the fluid within. A brief flash and then dark smoke poured in all directions, spreading like a wall between the hero and villain. From beyond the smokescreen came more bolts. Triple-Helix was guessing that Loadstone could only withstand an electric attack he could see coming...

IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility The villainess hadn't been expecting the hero to be able to withstand and return the attack. But his choosing to pause and make a snarky comment had cost him a potential hit; she had time to brace herself and lunge to the side as the electricity came back. She scrabbled behind a boxy machine for cover - or so it seemed. Seconds later the machine rose into the air; her fingers grasping its underside, the sleeves of her lab coat bulging with tensed muscle. She ripped the machine free of the wiring that anchored it and tossed the car-sized hunk of metal at the hero...

OOC: No problem. Yo Dallas, waiting on you for a response to Gadgeteer. IC(NPC) - Triple-Helix @ Subject Testing Facility The woman paused in her work, head tilting to the side slightly as if she'd just noticed the buzzing of a fly. Then, whirling around and sending papers scattering, she thrusted an arm forwards. Blue-white electricity blasted from the tip of her finger toward the silver-clad hero...

IC(NPC) - X-Calibur @ Coalition Mine Hideout "My noisemaker's out of charge, so I won't be using that again," X-Calibur said, obviously referring to the sonic device. "I've a small store of knockout gas in here," he tapped his wrist device, "but I'll let Skyra know if I'm about to use it; he can use his powers to stop it from reaching any of us." "Sure," nodded the aerokinetic. "I won't use any grenades unless absolutely necessary. Chances are there'll be a lot of machinery or laboratory equipment down there, and I'm not enough of a scientist to know what will constitute a combustion hazard and what won't," Ultionis explained. Cocking a pistol, he added: "Right. We all set?" The group marched onto the elevator platform and pressed the button. Loadstone and Skyra braced to use their powers in case of a trap, while the others readied themselves for whatever lurked below. With a slight metallic whirr the elevator descended; the journey lasted just twenty seconds. The group stepped out onto a balcony, with stairways extending from either side toward a large circular chamber below. They crouched before the balcony rail and studied the view. As Ultinois had guessed, there was a collective of machinery and laboratory equipment that filled the room. Much of it appeared to be half-assembled (or perhaps half-disassembled) and inactive. Only a fraction of the equipment hummed with life, most of it gathered at the centre of the chamber and making enough noise to mask that of the elevator's arrival. There was a wiry woman attending a bank of computers, dressed in a white lab coat and with her blonde hair tied in a bun. She tapped at keys and referred to a stack of notes every now and then, engrossed in her work. In a rough circle around her stood four Sharkman-like creatures, gazing about with animal curiosity. But the most interesting sight was the cylindrical tank to which the computers were connected. It was filled with bubbling blue liquid in which floated a teenage girl, chestnut-coloured hair streaming in all directions, only underwear for modesty. Electrodes trailed from various parts of her body. She might have looked dead if it weren't for the oxygen mask affixed to her mouth. Ultionis breathed a curse word. "It is Danielle Thomas." X-Calibur's helmet tilted back and forth, his inbuilt scanners assessing the scene. "Those are Quads," he hissed to the others. "They're an elite kind of Sharkman - a mix of several species; human, shark, snake, panther. Stronger, but not much more intelligent. I'm assuming that scientist is Triple-Helix, since my scans aren't picking up any other lifeforms within the chamber." "She's bound to have powers, then," said Epsilon. X-Calibur nodded. "We have to hit them fast and hard while we still have the element of surprise. Here's how I think we ought to play this. Me, Ultionis, Skyra and Epsilon, we all take a Quad each. Loadstone, you engage Triple-Helix until the rest of us are free to join you. You've got the broadest range of abilities out of us all; you're best suited to react to whatever powerset she might have." He paused, giving the group a chance to object or offer a better strategy. Usually he trusted his own judgment, but there was a tension weighing on his mind. While it was a relief to have discovered the location of the US president's missing daughter, he would have much preferred a machine to smash than a hostage to rescue...

IC(NPC) X-Calibur @ Coalition Mine Hideout Ultionis glared at X-Calibur. Beneath the headgear his expression wasn't actually readable, but the mere motioning of his head was enough to convey the gesture. "If he'd had a defense against that, you'd have just disabled half the team for him." "If he'd had a defense against that, I could have deactivated the thing," X-Calibur retorted, a little defensively. He scooped up the marble and pointed at the unconscious Dragonfly. "How long will that last?" "I gave him a twenty-four hour dose." X-Calibur nodded. "Makes it easier if we can just leave him here. Now er, before we go on, anyone mind filling me in on what I've missed?" Over the course of the next several minutes the group relayed to X-Calibur their additional findings - the confirmation that whatever the facility existed for was being kept on the lowest level accompanied by a villainness called 'Triple Helix', though they hadn't been able to access it through the lift shaft due to the lift blocking their way. X-Calibur shared his own experiences, which were chiefly fighting his way through squads of Sharkmen until Dragonfly joined the fray. As they spoke Loadstone used his powers to carefully disassemble Dragonfly's armour, just enough so that on the off-chance he awakened prematurely it wouldn't operate any more. When that was done with the group resumed following the now battle-scarred corridor. No more enemies or obstacles confronted them, which in a way was more concerning than if they had done. Contained within a limited pool of light, and with no sound but that of their own footsteps, it was unnervingly clear to them how deep and isolated underground they were. Soon they came to what might be described as an r-junction. The main corridor curved toward the right, though a small alcove extended left where a thick iron door stood. It was labelled EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT and was bordered by yellow and black hazard stripes. "If we can't get down through the elevator shaft..." suggested Epsilon, jerking a thumb toward the door. X-Calibur stepped forward and studied it. He tentatively placed a hand on it and felt around its edges. Then he looked at the others. "Seems like an ordinary door to me. No alarms, no booby-traps." Ultionis and Loadstone examined the door too, with their equipment and powers respectively, and agreed with the assertion. Ultionis opened the door as Loadstone and Skyra prepared to deflect any triggered projectiles, but nothing was revealed save for a dark vertical shaft. It resembled a narrower version of the lift shaft; unlit, undecorated, with pipes and cables snaking in and out at various levels. Up above, strips of light illuminated the edges of doors on higher levels. A metal ladder was fastened to the wall, adjacent to the doorway. The heroes descended. Ultionis went first, his night-vision goggles allowing him to view their environment in full clarity. Skyra, in the rear, closed the door behind him so as not to alert any patrols as to where they had gone. They tried their best to reduce the clanking sounds of their feet against the rungs. When they had reached the bottom another door provided access to a similar r-shaped junction. On high alert, the heroes moved forwards. The corridor was surprisingly short, and in less than a minute an overhead light was flickering into life to reveal another door, this one labelled SECURITY ANTECHAMBER. Opening this (it was electronically locked, but it was nothing a mini-EMP from Loadstone couldn't bypass) revealed another elevator. Its only button was labelled SUBJECT TESTING FACILITY. "Jackpot," murmured Epsilon. "Alright, this is the final chance to prepare," Ultionis advised them. "Whatever's down there must be worth building this whole facility to contain and filling it with guards. So expect defenses." "If it is Danielle Thomas," said X-Calibur, "or anyone, really - a captive of some sort - we need to make sure that whatever fighting goes on doesn't put them in harm's way." "We'd need to secure them ASAP. If we back the Coalition into a corner then they might try to use them as a hostage," nodded Ultionis. "And if it's not? Not a person I mean?" Asked Skyra. "If it's not a person then it's a machine," said X-Calibur. "If it's still being built then we just stop them from building it. If it's finished we stop them from activating it. In either case, we destroy it..." OOC: Getting the finale started is turning out to be a bigger IC than I expected, so I'm splitting it across two posts. Feel free to interject something Rumpelstiltskin.

OOC: There goes our psychic, then. Better think of a way to excise his character from the plot... IC - Gadgeteer @ League Jet Gadgeteer climbed on-board, waiting for Lone to get on and shut the jet's door behind him before answering Saosin. In the quiet of the craft he noticed his ears were still ringing slightly from earlier. "We discovered the files to Operation: Lockdown just as General Warner discovered us. Baron Carchas is a mutant shark with enhanced sentience and psychic powers. It was ruled that Carchas could not be imprisoned in Confinement because the removal of his powers would kill him, so General Warner built a secret holding facility for him in the Sahara desert. Over time he has continued to build personalised prisons for other captured supervillains and even imprisoned innocents who found out about what he was up to." The 'even' made it sound like he cared. "The general doesn't seem to think of himself as corrupt. just doing what needs to be done. I suggested we work together to double-cross Lady Hexas. Our team will take Lady Hexas to the Sahara prison in two days' time and make to break Baron Carchas free, as she has asked of us. But General Warner will have prepared a black ops team who will meet us there, and together we will trap Lady Hexas." Gadgeteer's words hung in the air. Though he said nothing more, he was awaiting Saosin's verdict. It wasn't that he doubted the plan itself - it was tactically sound - but since he was part of the League Saosin would be able to voice any moral objections, and Gadgeteer could pretend to have thought of them too and adjust the plan around them. He had also purposely left out the part about the Dreadnought armour. No point in giving the hero additional time to formulate suspicions. IC(NPC) - X-Calibur @ Coalition Mine Hideout Dragonfly had been waiting for the smoke to clear to see if any heroes had been taken out by the explosion, so when their view became unobscured the villain was revealed to be simply standing there. As soon as he registered that the missile had failed he raised his wrist-blasters and opened fire. X-Calibur had already started sprinting to the side. He pulled what looked like a cobalt blue marble from a pouch on his supersuit and tossed it along the floor toward the villain. He waved for the attention of the others and pressed his hands against the sides of his helmet. A LED lit up within the marble and a piercing, high-pitched whine began to emit from it. Dragonfly's laser fire angled up the walls as he dropped to his knees, snarling in pain and frustration as his ears burned with the noise... OOC: Feel free to finish him off in your next IC and we can get the finale of this plot underway.

IC - Gadgeteer @ League Jet It would also save the League a lot of time if they were prepared to kill their more troublesome enemies, Gadgeteer thought. He said out loud: "Personalised prisons must cost a lot of money though. I expect the politicians opposed the General's idea because they weren't keen on the expenses involved. And it's not like the League has infinite funds." The pair reached the spot where the invisible League Jet was parked - Gadgeteer's thermal imaging located it for them easily. With a mental command he shifted back to his default Urban Mode. He raised a fist and knocked on what looked like thin air, though it was of course the side door of the jet... OOC: Are Saosin or Madness' owners still active here?

IC - Gadgeteer @ General Warner's house A thrill of excitement passed through Viktor at the General's agreement. This whole endeavour suddenly seemed much more worthwhile. Of course there was a minor caveat: he'd inadvertently promised that Lone would benefit from the armour too. He didn't want to share the secrets of his armoured battle suit - his true one, not the cobbled-together thing he was wearing now - but to refuse would be to draw suspicion. Perhaps he could persuade Lone to let him 'study' the Dreadnought suit first, giving him a chance to quietly remove the more complex and valuable aspects of its mechanics. The more tactical side of his mind thought about Baron Carchas. Assuming that Madness stayed on the team for the duration, then they could match Carchas' psychic powers strength for strength. But Lady Hexas did have Killar Mari on her side too; there was a good chance she'd be brought along to the apparent breakout. Being outnumbered by telepaths was a very bad thing; Viktor resolved to discuss the issue with his teammates later and devise a countermeasure. For now though, he and Lone simply had to return to the League Jet and relay the revised plan. The General relayed the line on which the heroes could contact him. Gadgeteer turned to Lone and spoke; though he needn't have, he didn't want the General to suspect they had a private method of communicating. "Well then, we should return to the others. Goodbye General. Good luck with your end of things." It sounded to Gadgeteer like the sort of thing a hero ought to say. Retracing their steps, so as not to set off any security systems, the pair left the General's house and began the walk back toward the League jet. IC(NPC) - X-Calibur @ Coalition Mine Hideout Dragonfly fired his wrist blasters at full strength to repel the oncoming Sharkmen. He felt pretty pleased at his innovative method of avoiding harm until he realised he'd just finished off the last of his living allies. An expression of dismay came over his features, though it was chased away by anger. He whirled around. There was a small tail built into the hindside of his armour; metal panels slid away to allow a missile to scream forth from it. It was about the thickness and length of a baseball bat; far too big for there to be any more tucked inside the armour. Though this was hardly reassuring since it was clearly powerful enough to eliminate the entire group in one blast. X-Calibur had just gotten to his feet, stooping under the overhead electricity. "Shrink the field and bring it down!" He yelled at Loadstone. They had seconds...

OOC: LoAB I'm waiting on a response from General Warner. @ Neya - The League's still fighting crime as always. There was a huge alien invasion five weeks ago (RPG-time) which the world has just about recovered from, though the aftermath did give the Coalition of Corruption time to rebuild itself into a more formidable threat again. There's a ton of specifics which I needn't go into really; you should be fine to create a character and hop into action somewhere. IC - Sluice @ Dr. Ostermann's lab "I don't think you belong here, and nor does Mentor," Sluice corrected him as they walked toward the exit. "It's just... the best place there is to help you. And Dr. Ostermann has what she needs, so there's no need for you to stay, Come on, don't dwell on it. Think about... think about the nice warm bed waiting for you back at our flat. It's been a stressful day for you, I know. We can shower, and sleep, and in the morning I'll make whatever you want for breakfast." During the most depressing times in her life - her breakup with Midnight, the deaths of her grandparents - Sarah had found the small pleasures of life invaluable in helping her realise that her sadness was not absolute and that there was still cause to be happy. Of course, she'd never suffered as terrible a physical ailment as Silver was suffering now, but she hoped it would still apply...

OOC: Never had one myself but I hear it's extremely painful. IC - Sluice @ Dr. Ostermann's lab "Come on then, let's head back home," suggested Sluice. Returning to their flat after weeks of absence would surely be a calming experience for Silver. Notwithstanding she could do with a rest herself; she wasn't just physically tired from the day's battles but mentally and emotionally exhausted from the revelations and attempts at keeping Silver's mood from turning. She wanted to sleep but didn't want to leave Silver unattended; perhaps Photon could occupy his attention for a while. IC - Gadgeteer @ General Warner's house "The problem is that most people in government do not have the experience of fighting supervillains," Gadgeteer told Lone, adding a dejected shrug for effect. It was good for this opportunity to show they were on the General's side, he thought, since this was a man prepared to imprison innocents if they objected to his methods of dealing with criminals. He turned to the General. After details of contact were provided, he said: "Our team will use the next two days to prepare ourselves for the encounter. If you can provide any information about Baron Carchas' abilities it would be a help." Viktor paused. He had suddenly become aware of an opportunity. "General, given that Lone and I derive our strength from the armoured suits we wear and you are not averse to... circumventing legalities in the name of the greater good... I wonder if you could do us one more favour, to aid our preparation for the coming battle. I seem to recall reading that a villain who used an armoured suit - Dreadnought, I believe the alias was - was detained by the government some weeks ago. Since I am sure that the government has no use for the armour, I wonder if you could perhaps arrange for it to 'go missing' and end up in our possession?" Viktor knew the odds were against him. There was a slim chance that the General would agree to this, or be able to pull it off even if he wanted to. Plus there was the risk of the General or Lone suspecting a link between himself and Dreadnought - if Saosin had been present he wouldn't have bothered; the hero's infallible memory might allow him to piece together the full picture. Ordinarily Viktor would resist the temptation to act on the opportunity, but weeks of struggling with a low-tech armoured battle suit and the stress of managing a haphazard team was getting to him...

IC - Sluice @ Dr. Ostermann's lab "Whatever Dr. Ostermann needs you to do, you should do it if it will help her develop a cure," said Sluice, trying to reassure Silver. "Just think: it'll be worth it in the long run." IC - Gadgeteer @ General Warner's house "The only other thing we will require from you then is a secure channel of contact," said Gadgeteer. "Phone, email; anything will do. Our team of heroes will contact you to let you know when we are about to begin the false breakout. We will also let you know exactly who our team consists of - you will pass this information onto your black ops team so that they know who is on their side." Gadgeteer didn't want to detail the roster of their team to the General just yet; it had changed so much over the past twenty-four hours there was every likelihood it would change again. IC(NPC) - Dragonfly @ Coalition mine hideout Dragonfly flitted back and forth, trying to spot a gap in the electrical blanket that lowered towards him. He launched a volley of laser fire into it and with a crackling fizzle several of the links were negated - but these sections were quickly restored by Loadstone's will. Whilst the villain was distracted trying to find a way out, the Sharkmen engaged the other heroes. Seeing what Loadstone was doing they worked to protect him from the hybrids so that he could focus on maintaining the quilt. It was at the last moment - just as Dragonfly was forced to land in order to stay low enough beneath the descending hazard - that a Sharkman caught X-Calibur with a blow from one of its muscled arms, sending the hero toppling onto the floor just beneath the electrical field...

IC - Gadgeteer @ General Warner's house Viktor's ears hadn't quite stopped throbbing, but the pain was reducing so that he could focus on ordinary sounds again. "...see what you'd be giving the fish." As Lone turned to the safe and brought out the files, Viktor saw it was safe to assume the General wouldn't be fighting them just yet. He turned and peered over Lone's shoulder at the files, giving a mental command for his optical sensors to record what he saw. He tried to force himself to focus. Once again he had to be mindful of his actions in this scenario; try to behave how a hero might. In all honesty he didn't care about what the General had been doing - in fact he thought the idea of building personalised prisons for these supervillains a sensible effort. He couldn't understand why the General had felt the need to construct it all in secret, rather than try to officially propose the idea, but he didn't want to ask for fear of sounding like he advocated the idea. Would a hero be opposed to this sort of thing, he wondered? He felt a little more confident about their situation though. They had the General in a position of weakness. Now that Gadgeteer had seen the files, he could wirelessly transmit them to Carapace at any time. That would expose the General's illegal activities, but it wouldn't stop Lady Hexas. Viktor thought and thought, carefully constructing what he turned and said to the General next: "General, we are all heroes. Our goals are the same. Our methods may differ but at the end of the day we wish to keep the world safe from supervillains. Lady Hexas tried to convince us that you were different, but looking at these files I see you have only done what you believed to be necessary. We did what we believed to be necessary - giving in to Hexas' demands - because we were not strong enough to fight her without risking the death of innocents. Lady Hexas sent us here to find out where Baron Carchas is being kept. In two days we are to meet with her and help her break the Baron free. I suggest you let us go along with this. Let us travel with Hexas to the Baron's prison. In the meantime, you will have prepared a black ops team; the best men you can assemble on short notice. When we arrive at the prison, we will work together to trap Hexas. A double-cross..."

OOC: Sorry, were we waiting on me? You can carry on ICing for the moment thelonewander, Gadgeteer's still stunned. IC(NPC) - Dragonfly @ Coalition Mine Hideout Like his flight patterns, Dragonfly's targeting was erratic. As soon as Epsilon managed to conceal himself from view, he whirled and aimed his fire at X-Calibur. This forced the hero to raise his Energy Machete to block in the incoming lasers, which fizzled out of existence as soon as they struck the blade's crackling aura. Unfortunately the blade was X-Calibur's only weapon, and being forced to use it defensively left him vulnerable to the snarling Sharkmen that rounded on him...

OOC: All anyone needs to know regarding the Robo-Robbers plot is that they've been defeated and the heroes are carting said robbers to the Police waiting outside the bank. In fact the plot's all but over so you can go your separate ways now if you wish. And CoKK's posts seem to have become a rare and treasured resource these days... IC(NPC) X-Calibur @ Coalition Mine Hideout The glow of X-Calibur's Energy Machete vanished momentarily; there was a gurgle, then the glow reappeared as the sound of a Sharkman collapsing wetly emanated from its location. Dragonfly, meanwhile, weaved between the balls of electricity, sticking as best he could to the darkest parts of the corridor. He aimed his laser fire at Epsilon, since the hero was currently in darkness and thus shouldn't be able to see the attack coming. IC - Gadgeteer @ General Warner's house Having his armoured battle suit's CPU directly linked to his mind had a number of advantages - in this case, the relevant one was that often a mere flicker of Viktor's thought was enough to trigger a command. So stunned was he by the noise that he was ready to fall over, but beyond the flood of pain signals there was an urge to stay upright, and that was enough for the armour's leg joints to lock, keeping Viktor on his feet. Additionally the severe desire to not hear such a loud noise again was enough to reduce the audio receptors back to their regular volume. Nevertheless this did nothing to stop him from feeling stunned, and whilst his senses reeled and his ears ached he would be utterly useless for the next minute at least. Functionally, Lone was on his own...

OOC: I figured Technax was so assured of his own victory that he'd have built a special slot for the crystal into his armour, for the 'inevitable' day when he obtained it. If you could PM them that'd be great Rumpelstiltskin; I haven't recently but I have in the past, and I don't want to be the only one here who sends nagging PMs IC - Gadgeteer @ General Warner's house Be silent. With a mental command Viktor amplified the strength of his armour's audio receptors. He leaned in and, gently touching the dial of the safe, twisted it, listening to the metallic rattle of the tumblers - rendered as loud as jingling tin cans to his ears - and began to identify the correct combination. The only risk here was that any regular sound would be magnified, potentially stunning and/or deafening Viktor. With any luck General Warner's cat wouldn't pounce on them, or some other such nuisance. IC(NPC) - Dragonfly @ Coalition mine hideout Dragonfly jerked through the air in random movements, much like a real dragonfly's flight pattern, evading the electric bolts with ease. His next volley of laser fire was aimed at the ceiling - with a shatter and a sparkle the lights went out. One had to assume his visor granted night-vision capabilities. From within the darkness came the sound of more laser fire...

OOC: No need! IC(NPC) - X-Calibur @ Coalition mine hideout Up ahead was a V-shaped fork in the corridor. Both ways were sealed with a featureless metal door. A light blinked on above the left door and it slid open automatically for a Sharkman to stagger backwards through it, followed by X-Calibur’s feet, then the rest of his body as he delivered a flying dropkick to the creature. As soon as he hit the ground he rolled over, bringing up his crackling Energy Machete to slice the leg off of another of the mutants. He got up, raising a blaster he’d apparently stolen from the Sharkmen and fired a volley into the one he’d dropkicked - just enough to end its life. As yet more Sharkmen spilled out into the corridor X-Calibur readied his stance to swing the Energy Machete again. Then his helmet angled toward the group of heroes. “… it‘s a little unorthodox,” he called. “Usually the cavalry is supposed to come to you, not the other way around!” He resumed fighting. There were seven live Sharkmen in the corridor now. Some broke away to charge the group with slavering fangs and open claws, but most converged on X-Calibur. Beneath the noise of the battle there was another sound, too. A sort of droning, electric buzz. From the left path in the fork a man rocketed into the fray. He was clad in dark green armour, with two rows of yellow spikes trailing down his back and four transparent wings beating in a blur at his sides, the source of the buzzing noise. The Dragonfly emblem on his chest gave away his alias. “Well, this is convenient! Now you can all die together!” Dragonfly extended an arm toward the group of heroes and a wrist-mounted weapon launched a volley of laser fire…

OOC: We're also waiting on Skyra, Ultionis, Soundsmith, Tragedy, Centurion, Shard and possibly some others in the other two plots...

OOC: Sheesh, better shoot off some nudging PMs to, like... everyone. Also I know this is a bit belated, but what the heck, I drew the rest of his army. Here's the my rendition of the dread warlord Technax! IC - Sluice @ Ostermann's lab Sluice was following Dr. Osterman, Silver and Esp's holographic avatar in quiet thought. It was a little reassuring to hear about the dangerous cases that Dr. Ostermann had dealt with in the past - it made Silver's condition seem more within her realm of expertise. But it was only a slight reassurance; she still felt a great deal of apprehension, and thought it best to stay quiet so that her uncertainty didn't show in her voice and possibly upset Silver. Okay, so he could read her mind and learn of her doubts, but in the past he'd considered that an uncrossable boundary and he was hopefully still enough of himself to respect that...