Tales of the Legendary/Riot Force 6.1: Sending a Message (Updated somewhat)
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Tales of the Legendary/Riot Force 6.1: Sending a Message (Updated somewhat)
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 Quote: Matrix Dragon wrote: *cackles* absolutely! "No can brain today. Want cheezeburger." From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies 
***
The Sky Raider captain in command of the Medicomm phase of this operation resisted the urge to swear. Unlike most of the Sky Raiders in Faultline, he wasn't one of Castillos fans, regarding him as nothing more than a idiotic, glory seeking moron that had the Colonels ear. Hell, Duray himself wasn't much more stable these days, if he had to be honest. This operation was just more proof of that. A hit on a hero was fine, brilliant even, but you did it smart. Ambush them, intimidate them, hell, arrange a subtle little accident if you felt like it. A blantant move like this was nothing more then a giant waste of resources and a massive security risk. While Captain Masters, formerly an officer of the USAF like so many of the original Raiders, had managed to keep the scale of his dissatisfaction from his superiors, Castillo, in whatever passed for his mind, must have considered him a liability in some way. After all, he'd been assigned the job of capturing and securing Faultlines medicomm, a job Castillo had said he was confident Masters could handle. But the fact was, even in a situation as chaotic as this one, the capes and their allies in the (Masters could admit this better then most Raiders) legitimate police force and militaries would throw everything they could into retaking this facility. Even before deploying, Masters had serious doubts about his ability to hold this building long enough for the Raiders to kill even Knight of the Peace, let alone any of the dozens of heroes that would show up once word of the attack spread. Most of the Raiders were certain that the heroes would run and hide, claiming they hadn't made it to Faultline in time. After all, they wouldn't have the safety net of their precious medicomm system, would they? Masters on the other hand, may have hated the Capes as much as any other Raider, but he didn't doubt their courage, their beliefs or their determination. He'd known they'd come, that they'd fight as hard as ever, and now it looked like he was being proven right. There were heroes in the building, several groups from the reports he'd gotten from his men before their radios went silent. Based off who was fighting outside, and the mentions of women in power armour, it was easy to work out that they were the Knight Sabres, one of Riots sub-groups. Best reports placed them at least a floor above this control room, working their way down to the sub-basement. In ten minutes at most, they're arrive, defeat him and the very expensive Jump Bots Castillo had assigned to him, 'just in case', and take him into custody. He had no doubt that the Raiders lawyers would provide enough interference to allow a Raider team to secure his escape in a month or two, but by then, the damage to his reputation would be done. Any further advancement would be beyond his reach, and Castillo and his brand of idiocy would spread across the Raiders even further. The soldier turned towards the balcony that looked out over a massive room filled full of strange machines, starting with the familiar human built teleporters and getting more advanced from there. While they'd managed to disable the systems that tracked the med beacons, told the teleporter arrays who to grab and where to send them, the actual teleporters themselves were hidden behind powerful forcefields that used the same technology as the War Walls. Captain Masters could bring the whole building down on this room, and the medicomm system would still be untouched behind the fields. Not that the Raiders would ever dare do such a thing. After all, they needed the medicomm system as well. It was what took them to a prison hospital when a hero took them down, after all. "So, it comes to this," he said softly to himself. Screwed over by his own CO, watching the army he served descend into greed, madness and fanaticism, put into a situation he couldn't fix, and up against people he hated but had the brains to respect. Not the fate he'd imagined the day he walked into an air force recruitment office so long ago, but he'd chosen this path, he'd take it to the end. He pulled off his flight pack, useless in such tight quarters, and placed to the side, then turned to the three Jump Bots standing in the room with him. "Lethal force," he ordered. "Take down all heroes that attempt to enter this room. "Acknowledged," all three machines responded in their flat metallic voices. Ports on their arms slid open, revealing gun barrels as they took aim at the door. His helmet radio spoke up again. This time it was the voice of a Lieutenant Jenkins, and he managed a panicked "Captain, they've penetrated the las-" before a rather painful sounding crunch garbled his radio with a loud screech that made the mission commander wince and reflexively try and pull his head away from the painful noise. As the transmission cut off, he swore under his breath. Jenkins and his team were less than two hallways away. Almost as if the universe was mocking him, one of the walls chose that moment to explode inward, spraying small shards of timber and plaster across the room. Through the blast crater, back and thigh thrusters blazing, Street Sabre boosted across the room and nailed one of the Jump Bots, her Knuckle Bomber smashing its visor and throwing it off balance. The war machine recovered fast, getting its arms up in time to block her second blow and retaliate with its flamethrowers. That particular choice of weapon didn't do much against the power-armoured woman except seem to annoy her really, but Masters didn't really have any time to notice that fight anymore, as several more Sabres had followed her in. He opened fire with his machinegun, only to lose it as Edge Sabre got in close, bringing her blade around. The Raider got clear personally, but the blade hit and bent the barrel of his firearm. Tossing it aside, he backed up and pulled his machete from its thigh holster. A foot-long steel-impervium alloy against what looked like some sort of Roman ceremonial blade didn't feel as reassuring as it probably should, and Masters found himself on the defensive anyway as Edge lunged, feet not even touching the ground as she closed up the eight foot gap between them. He dodged, hissing as the heroes sword sliced a hole in the side of his armoured vest, drawing a thin line of blood. The man's return strike sparked off her blade as she turned, and she kept moving, driving his blade up and back. Captain Masters deflected her next two swings, ducked the next and swung up, aiming for her armors left shoulder joint. Edge Sabre backed up, avoiding the swing, then brought her blade around in a wide but fast swing. He got his machete in between it and him, only to wince at the crack it made on impact. As he twisted his hand and knocked her blade up, he saw a small spiderweb of cracks on his blade. A moment later, the top four inches of the machete gave up and came off as Edge pushed back. Her blade continued on, going over his head, and Masters lunged, only to have her nail him in the nose with a sharp punch. He stumbled, then she spun and slashed again, carving through his chest armour and leaving a bloody gash on his chest. Adjusting her grip, she went low, cutting open a thigh and dropping him to his hands and knees. He tried to move, then froze as a cold blade pressed against his throat. He looked up at the armoured woman, face hidden behind her visor, and decided that he would be risking calling her bluff today, going limp in surrender. Around him, he heard the crash of metal as the last of the Jump Bots fell, then saw the red and pink form of Net Sabre walk past him and step down into the teleporter bays, making her way towards the computer terminals. All he could think of was that Castillo had won, at least in regards to him. How fair was that? *** "This is being unacceptable," Castillo growled into the radio he'd claimed from the nearest Skiff pilot. "I am not caring how many heroes are to be gathering in New Overbrook. You are to be taking your men and pushing forward! The time has come for them to be facing the wrath of the Sky Raiders! They no longer have their precious medicomm to be pulling them to safety when we defeat them. You will advance and-" "Sir!" the Skiff pilot said, pointing. "They're coming to us!" Following the pilots outstretched hand, Castillo blinked at the sight of a number of heroes taking to the air (He didn't notice Sammy misjudging her jump off the cliff and landing in the water below with a shriek). For a moment, he looked at them in mild surprise, as if unable to believe it. Then, he smiled broadly. "The heroes are even more foolish then I was thinking! They charge to their deaths! We will-" The Raiders never got to learn what he was going to say, as a focused beam of flame shot down out of the sky, hit Castillo dead in the chest, sending him plummeting towards the muddy water below. As the Skiff pilots broke formation with assorted noises of surprise, they caught a glimpse of black and red dart past them, barely visible as it chased Castillo. "One of the capes is stealthed!" a pilot growled. "Allen, Saunders, go after her and-" his order was interrupted by a plasma bolt tearing at one of his engines. Cursing, he tried to gain control, looking up in time to see Terrence Knight leap at, then through his skiffs windshield. "Is it me, or is my sister in an even worse mood about an attempt on my life then me?" Knight of the Peace wondered as he dived in, trading fire with a Wing Officer. "They used her lack of a secret identity to work out yours," Sell-Sword replied, casually tossing a web grenade into a skiffs engine and watching it plummet out of control. "Ah. I must remember to reassure her I don't blame her," he noted, nailing the Wing Officer with a taser. The Raider made yelping noises, spun out of control, collided with another and sent them both into the side of a ruined building. A moment later, Knights boots spluttered, dropping him several feet. "JESuss... time to go to ground!" he said, heading for the nearest stable surface. Purrfect Archer followed, having been bouncing off walls and firing in midair, but frankly, Neko looked like she might throw up if she kept doing that. As they landed, an irritated looking Sammy ran past, intent on taking her water frustrations out on the nearest Raider. Knight ignored her, his attention on his rather badly battered armour. "Dammit," he grumbled as his rocket boots coughed and ejected a small cloud of smoke. "Flight's dying, cloak's gone... this costume's gonna be scrap metal after this," he said, blasting an engineer. Above them. Evangelia leapt, spun in midair and sliced off a Raiders flight pack, sending him plummeting. "Pooky!" she yelled as she landed, regained her balance and lunged at another Raider. "Stop sleeping on the job and fight!" The Raiders that had formed a defensive position next to what they'd believed was the dead body of a fallen hero were momentarily stunned by the corpse sighing, saying "Okay bosslady, I'm coming," and were then blasted in all directions as the demon rose of the dead in a pillar of fire. Pooky da Imp stretched, belched, then pulled out his bow and started looking for targets. Meanwhile Ifrit had been rather painfully reminded that while Castillo might be an idiot, he was an idiot with some decent fighting skills, as he'd pulled out of his dive, remained out of her reach, dodged her attacks, and hit back hard enough to force her on the defensive. "Ah my dear, you should be knowing better then to be challenging a great warrior such as myself," he smiled mockingly as Ifrit darted backwards, barely avoiding a swing from his machete. "Especially since a fragile dear like yourself should not be troubling yourself with such... intimate battles," he added. "Such is the field of men-" he managed a shocked yelp as a wrecked car hit him at about forty miles an hour, sending him into the water below. Ifrit blinked, then looked in the direction the car had come from, finding Iridium Horizon standing on some rubble, gravity still distorting abound the wormhole he'd summoned the wreck through. "You know, normally one is supposed to make a heroic comment before launching their attack," she said with a smile. Iridium shrugged. "I'll leave drawing attention to the Tanks," he replied. Lady of the Peace laughed, then looked down at the water to see Castillo force his way to the surface. Coughing and spluttering, he fired up his jetpack and managed to get out of the filth, only to have the fey dive at him before he remembered she was there. Fists crackling with arcane energy, she sent him back down into the drink with a blow that broke his jaw and knocked him out cold. Rubbing at her knuckles, she floated down and retrieved the Raider, dumping him on the shore and pulling off his flight pack and equipment vest. "Looks like it's nearly over," she mused, looking up at the mayhem above them. "Well, this round." "This round?" Iridium wondered as he adjusted gravity and sent an engineer flying. "Well yeah. The Council wanted this to send a message to heroes," she scowled. "Fear us, for we'll find you and kill you, or some such nonsense. As if anyone in the job hasn't worked that out," she snorted, running a hand through her hair. "I think they'll need a reminder of how the world works." "We're the heroes, you're the racist terrorist Nazis we defend the world from?" the Controller chuckled. "Hmm. Been a while since their little island super-fortress had a lot of explosions," she smirked. ***
"Such is the field of men-" he managed a shocked yelp as a wrecked car hit him at about forty miles an hour, sending him into the water below.
First thing that came to mind after reading this bit was: "And then he threw a chimney at us." 8P ___________________________ "I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin 
Captain Masters? Aw, dammit... and I _liked_ Iron Eagle, too.
Sammy: "AwnutsnotAGAIIIIII--*sploosh*" Awesome stuff.  --sofaspud --"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs  Timote Wrote:"Such is the field of men-" he managed a shocked yelp as a wrecked car hit him at about forty miles an hour, sending him into the water below.I was reminded of: Captain Hammer threw a car at my head -Terry ----- "so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today" TF2: Spy
***
Five hours later, Sell-sword walked into Riots control room to find Silicon and Lady waiting for him. "So, interesting development," he announced. "The Raiders usual lawyers aren't going anywhere near the ones we took down earlier." "Very interesting," Silicon agreed, curiosity clear in her voice, even through the electronic filtering. "It seems that Colonel Duray is making a statement." "To us, or the idiots that went off on what looks like an unsanctioned op?" Ifrit wondered. "Possibly both," Sword said with a slight shrug. "He'll probably bust them out after they've been made miserable in the Zig for a while. For us, it's his way of saying 'this was unsanctioned, please don't blow up my oil refinery mansion.'" The fey woman chuckled slightly. "I'm guessing we're not blowing up the refinery?" He asked after a moment, sounding ever so slightly eager. "Please. Longbow and Arachnos 'Destined Ones' trash that place on a regular basis and never do much damage. It'd take all of Riot and the Legendary to burn it down, and a lot of them wouldn't be comfortable with that." Sell-Sword shrugged, having gotten used to the attitudes of heroes a long time ago. "I want you to send the Raiders a message. Nothing blatantly public, but one they'll understand. Pick your own team, people you think can get the job done." "You want details?" he asked bluntly. "I prefer to know what I pay you for," she replied honestly. The armored mercenary considered this, then nodded, face hidden inside his power armor as always. "And the Council?" "We can be a lot more public with them," Ifrit said. "Who cares when a bunch of Nazis get blown up?" "They're not technically Nazis," Silicon noted. "That was the Column." "And yet, no one cares still," Ifrit replied with a slightly evil grin. The Knight Sabre leader considered this, then nodded in agreement. *** Bobby Blue-Eyes, the current super-powered thug in charge of Family operations on Striga Isle, jumped back from the table with a growl as a pair of Mooks flew through the dining rooms closed doors and landed in his dinner. "Alright, whose the creep that's messin' with my meal?" he growled. "Creeps, plural," Leon McNicol replied with a lazy grin as he stepped inside. Out in the hallway, his human partner finished introducing another Mook to a pot plant, then followed him in. The gangster looked at them in surprise, then chuckled. "Well, if it ain't my two of my least favorite boys of the badge. McNicol, Wong, youse two is a little outta your jurisdiction here, ain't youse?" He made a show of cracking his knuckles. "Striga's not in Paragon... anyways, you'd need a warrant there too." He stepped around the table, grin widening. "Guess I'll hafta teach youse how things work outside Paragon City." Daley Wong tilted his head to the side in apparent confusion, then looked over at Leon. "He doesn't know?" he asked in a tone of exaggerated curiosity. "He doesn't know," Leon confirmed. "We'll have to explain it to him." Pausing, the Family boss looked between them. "What?" he asked, right as another group of thugs charged down the hallway behind the two detectives. Leon turned, pulling the massive rifle off his back and firing. One of the mooks flew back, followed by another a moment later. Bobby lunged, hoping to use the distraction, but found Daley intercepting him. He didn't get a chance to work out what happened, the world blurring into pain for a moment, and then he was on the ground, back stinging from the impact, and Daleys foot was pressed up against his throat. "Let's just say there's been a little change in our status since you ran away from Paragon on drugs charges," Daley smirked. "See, we're part of a new division. One that combines the two main kinds of law enforcement. Police..." "And heroes," Leon smirked, stepping into Bobbys field of view. "While we've got the paperwork still, if we were to tag some goon out here on Striga, well... it wouldn't really matter to the courts, would it?" Bobby's eyes visibly widened as he put the pieces together. He'd been shipped out of Paragon by the Family on the grounds of his father, and the hope that on Striga, he'd clean up his act somewhat and let the heat die down back home. If he was to end up back in the City of Heroes now, there was a good chance the Family would wash their hands of him and leave him to rot in a cell. "Of course, we could just leave for now," Leon said. "Come after you another time. Give us what we want, and we'll be out of your hair." "Youse gotta be joking..." "We're not," Daley replied, internally wincing at Bobby's mangling of the English language. "Right now, Paragon Special Investigations has more important things to worry about." He smiled, holding up a teleport beacon. "Now... all you have to do, is answer a few questions about the Council operations here..." *** The guards on duty kept their weapons at the ready, even as they saw that the current hero using the wonders of quick prisoner transport had the decency to send their capture through handcuffed. "But... but... youse lied to me!" Bobby yelled at the roof as he was dragged off for processing. ***
Nice! I like what you're doing with Leon in this piece -- first with Temblor, now with his human partner (nice attention to detail, that
.This feels very much like a "meanwhile, in another part of the city" segment. That's not a bad thing. I'm not sure where this is going, but I'm looking forward to more! --sofaspud --"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
***
Aeon City was neat, tidy, and supposedly closely monitored by Arachnos soldiers. Despite a relatively high quality of life that could almost be compared to Paragon, it was as much an odd mix of police state and anarchy-based dictatorship, with Arachnos-sponsored supervillians clashing with Gold Brickers, Luddites, even Arachnos itself, in Recluses twisted idea of training. As such, it was an odd location for Sell-Sword to be walking into a bar, even in casual clothes, his true face hidden behind a hologram. While his name and face wasn't on the hero register, there was always the chance that Arachnos would have discovered it. Still, he wasn't showing any concern as he went and sat at one of the back tables and waited. Barely a minute later, another figure stepped through the doors and walked towards him without really pausing. A somewhat older man in his early forties, wearing a faded leather jacket over a shirt and grey military pants, with a rather unremarkable face and a bit of grey in his hair. "Afghan fields," he said as he sat down. "Idiot fire blaster wannabe tried burning the crop," Sword replied. "We got the fuck out, left his stoned ass to the Taliban." He smiled faintly and added, "Sydney." "Twin dropships making a staging point. Smuggled charges into a recon run returning to base, blew it to hell." Colonel Masters, formerly of the RAAF, now freelance, smirked. "You're taking a hell of a risk Harris. I've worked out what you're up to, haven't shared it, but that means others could." "Pays well, good security, my employers aren't idiots," he shrugged. "What happened with you?" "Arachnos set me up, had their moles in Longbow make things worse. Apparently, I have a Destiny, and they want to control it." Sword nodded, familiar with the concept. "You here on your paying job, or something else?" "Paying," Sword replied. "You heard about the mess in Overbrook?" "Watched it on the large screen at base," he replied with a shrug. Sword smirked slightly. "The fey's approving retaliation?" "I need to run it by her and the Sabre leader, but yeah. My call, my plans." "And you come to me," Masters chuckled, waving down a waitress and ordering a beer. "Interesting choice." "I need results," he shrugged. "The Infamous and the Legendary-allied groups have an odd relationship, and you're hardly a generic supervillian." Masters nodded, conceding the point. "And in this case, you know the Raiders. Better then most heroes do." "Tried to draft me a few times," he noted. "Bloody wankers don't get it. I've done a lot of things, but treason..." he took his beer from the returning waitress, took a mouthful and frowned. "Aeon's Premium Beer. Worst thing about this damn island." Sword laughed slightly. "We're after commanders. Some of their hideouts here and in Paragon, but overseas as well." "You want to hit their African ops," Masters said, eyes gleaming. "Here, it's about their little crusade," Sword said. "The fey wants me to hit their profit margin. Send a message." The Australian soldier leaned back in his chair. "A lot of them would have a problem with that. No Medicomm over there. It's to the death." He drank his beer for a moment. "Some of those Sabres, that radioactive girl you've shown an interest in maybe..." "I was thinking you," Sword replied. There was a pause, then Masters smirked. "Funny that. That was my payment. I can't take action against Arachnos here. I need to get off the isles. Access my accounts, my supplies..." "Your armor?" Sword asked. Masters grinned back. "Well, it's worked for you, hasn't it?" ***
Interesting...
and why do I get the feeling that I should recognize Sydney Masters? (my google-fu is weak right now) -Terry ----- "so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today" TF2: Spy
"... that radioactive girl you've shown an interest in, maybe..."
*snicker* The phrasing is accurate, but the implication is not. Nice work there. And as for Sydney Masters... wasn't there another Masters already mentioned in Sending a Message? *digs* Ah, here it is. I can't make out if it's the same guy as here or not, though. --sofaspud --"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
Sydney is a reference to their history. They tend to use events they were both involved in as identifying markers.
Colonel Sam Masters is a former Australian SAS officer that retired after the war and went freelance. He and Sword had a decent working relationship back in the day, before he was set up into attacking a Longbow facility by Arachnos, so they could get their fangs into another 'Destined One.' |
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