ic Vela's Machinations (IC)

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

Mid November, 2024, After Classes

 

While Michael and Baz were fighting Pavo

While Carmen and Mizuki were fighting Grus

 

There were other things going on, and none of the three groups knew that the other two were also engaged in a fight against Sola's Dark Commanders.

 

Sola and her Dark Commanders did not stop at a single action, they were always plotting many things at once; a variety of schemes and plans to attempt to reclaim the Umbra Star, to reclaim the powers used by the Sentries, to reclaim the might of Asterim so Sola could rule as the queen of a Netherworld.

 

So while Pavo was in the middle of a brawl in Southside, and Grus was being hunted in Lincoln, Lawrence and Parker- the last remaining members of the group that had gotten into a fight with the Starblights at the start of the year- were not left out of the loop.

It had been a request to Parker's phone from Estelle Jones, the individual with the power of Sentry Orion, who had been the first to be on the side of the Claremont students when Ashley and Felix had taken control of her friend group by force. She'd kept in contact with Parker, even if the group as a whole had repeatedly avoided 'going straight' as it were. They weren't actively doing bad anymore, but they had been non-committal on doing any more than that.

 

The text was fairly simple; to come to the same theater where at the start of the year they had fought the draconic Ashley as Sentry Draco, because she needed their help with something. She knew Lawrence could teleport, at minimum, so she didn't figure that'd be too much of a problem for them to come pay her a visit.

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Parker was, to tell the truth, not entirely comfortable with the Starblights resisting all attempts at going straight. He had spent a good amount of time texting with Estelle, trying to convince her, but at the very least, they weren't going out and harming people anymore. They were trying, at least. Some of his efforts were paying off.

 

So, it is not an entirely unusual thing to receive a new text from Estelle, but it seems different, this time. More urgent. 

 

Go back to the theater? He can trust her, he hopes, but it still pays to be cautious, and to not go alone. Michael, Baz, Carmen and Mizuki are nowhere to be seen, but he can find Lawrence, at least, approaching him at Claremont.

 

"Hey, Lawrence." He holds his phone up, showing off the text. "Do you remember Estelle, from the Starblights we fought in the Spring? I've tried to convince them go straight, but I got this weird text, to go meet them at the theater where we fought Ashley. They're trying to at least stay neutral, but after that fight, I think it's better to not go there alone. Want to tag along?"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence took a moment to reach the text message from Estelle, Sentry Orion. The blonde teen knew that Parker had stayed in contact with her, continuing to try and get the Starblights to go straight, but so far to no avail. Lawrence hoped that at some point the Starblights would realize the need to do so, before they reached a point where turning away from their current course would be much more difficult.

 

"Yeah, your right, probably not a good idea to go alone." Lawrence replied as he handed Parker his phone back. "Let's get going."
 

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He really does. It is good to know that his friends got his back.

 

It takes a moment to get into his uniform. He has updated it since they last fought the Starblights, but the general gist of white, black and gold remains the same, at least. Still, he would rather wear it than regular street clothes, if they're heading into trouble.

 

"Do you want to take us there, or should I?" 

 

He can get them there, but it will take a few steps to close the distance. Lawrence can create his portals in one go, plus, it is more his thing, anyway. Still, Parker waits and will then either bring them there himself, or let Lawrence do it, eventually stepping into the theater.

 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

"Don't give it any thought." Lawrence replied to Parker’s thanks with a smile. The blonde teen meant it, after all, his friends had all been there for him when it mattered, he would not hesitate to do the same.

 

"Yeah, I got it." He added, waiting till Parker was ready and then opening a portal to a spot a couple blocks away from the theater. 

Soon enough, the two Claremont students were through the portal and on their way to the theater.
 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The downtrodden theater was still showing it's damage from the fight with the draconic Ashley. The shattered chairs and broken stage had mostly been brushed or swept aside. The holes in the cieling had been patched with blue tarp. The Umbra Star had once been sat in the center of the stage- a four foot tall crystal with facets reflecting hte stars in the sky- but it had been given over by Lawrence to Arcana for now. The powers were being disrupted, but the Star itself was once more hidden from any influence by Sola or other individuals trying to take the magical crystal.

 

But it was still the clubhouse of the Starblights, with stolen beer bottles and burnt cigarettes in the piles of trash; the girls still mostly lived here, with their struggles at home. But on the stage was the one member of the Starblights who was the most well adjusted, the closest to keeping them all together, and the one who was most likely the one who could help bring them back to the 'good side'.

 

Estelle Jones was dark skinned and had a bright blonde mohawk, wearing ripped clothes, she looked like a punk kid, but she was sitting with her legs crossed and her hands on her thighs, meditating like she was trying to reach enlightenment. She opened her eyes slowly at Lawrence and Parker appearing, breathing slowly.

 

"Thanks for showing up. I was worried you wouldn't believe me. But I promise there's a reason that I need your help. And it's dangerous for you too, or it will be eventually." She said, sliding off the stage to walk over to them.

"It's...uh...good to see you two." She admitted.

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Stepping through Lawrence's portal, Parker can't help but look around at the theater, and the state of disrepair. He knows that he's used to a certain life style, that his family is well off, but even then, this place seems actively dangerous. Then again, maybe the Starblights likes it like that.

 

He crosses his arms over his chest as Estelle greets them and approaches. 

 

"Trust goes both ways. How could I ever get you to trust me if I didn't trust you?" he asks her. Dangerous? Of course it will be. Why else would he wear colors that make him stand out like this, than for putting himself in danger on behalf of others? 

 

"It's good to see you too. What can we do to help?"

 

He probably shouldn't speak on Lawrence's behalf, but a united front is better.

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Once he and Parker were through the portal, the temporal rift closed behind Lawrence as he also took a moment to look about theater, or rather the remains of it. His gaze then settled on Estelle, who seemed to be meditating as they arrived, opening her eyes to look at the two of them.

 

The blond teen gave Estelle a small smile at her greeting. "I am glad to see you are alright. Or at least, as well as can be under the circumstances." He replied.

 

When the teenage girl mentioned things being dangerous for her and that it was likely to become dangerous for them as well, Lawrence gave a small shrug. "Some of us have had danger looming over us from the day we were born. What is a bit more."

 

He paused, then added. "But as Spaceman asked, how can we help?"
 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"So, uh..." Estelle took a deep breath and rubbed her arm. "Okay. So you know the general overhang of what's going on. Evil Witch Queen from another Dimension, hunting down the beating heart of her world that you handed over to that other lady to protect it, Our powers come from the heart, also known as the Umbra Star?" she asked. "You know, standard Superhero stuff...I guess." she laughed. It wasn't really that it was funny to her, it was that it was awkward, something she hadn't really chosen to do but had been given the requirement to do. That was part of why it had weighed on them for so long; they hadn't chosen to become Superheroes, to be hunted by aliens from another dimension, it had been forced on them.

 

"So we're constantly protecting our powers, which are being given off to people by the Umbra Star to attempt to cleanse the corruption from Ashley and Felix- and the general issues with the Star being corrupted by Sola's darkness-. And the Dark Commanders, Sola's greatest warriors, ahve been trying to obtain the Umbral Star." She explained. "But that means they can also obtain those powers if they find the individuals who have been empowered and take them. And recently, they've gotten...very accurate." she said, warily. "Anyone who gets powers, or even us when we transform; they've been able to track us down almost instantly. We can't even take a breath. They're tracking us somehow. I obviously don't know how exactly, but they must have some sort of magical ritual or machine they're using that they brought from their home dimension. I was hoping that you could find it. That you could destroy it. To take the pressure off us, to save the other people getting powers, that sort of thing."

[RocketLord]

Spaceman

 

Parker doesn't really show what he's thinking when Estelle explains why she reached out to them.

 

Smashing a machine that helps the Starblights' enemies track them down doesn't sound difficult, but knowing how things usually turn out, and how powerfful Estelle makes the enemies soound like... it probably won't be an easy thing to do, at all. 

 

"Alright." His initial response is short. His arms are still crossed across his chest. If it helps keep the Starblights, and whoever else gets empowered, safe, then he will do his best.

 

"It sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but do you have some kind of way to track that machince? And if you do, why haven't you destroyed it yet?" 

 

Parker wants to help. He really does.

 

But, that doesn't mean that he will throw himself into the fray without finding out why.

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence listened as Estelle explained the current problems facing her and the other Starblights and how their multi-dimensional enemies seemed to be tracking them when they used their powers, in addition to any new individuals who were granted powers as well. It was a bit concerning to hear that the Umbral Star was still empowering others after having been handed over to Arcana. The blond teen figured he might have to let her know about what was going on and whether there might be a way to isolate it that prevented that.

 

As Parker asked his questions to Estelle, a small grin came to Lawrence's face. "Let me guess, you do not have a means to try to locate the device being used to track you?"

 

"Well, magic might not really be my area of expertise, but detecting anomalies in this timeline/dimension is another matter. Based on your general description, I may be able to find this device." He then continued. "The question is whether it is active enough that I can just do so at any time, or whether we need a trigger, such as one of you transforming, such that it becomes active enough that I can detect it."
 

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Yeah, we don't. But you guys are way more connected than we are. Plus you kicked us around before; it seems like you have more powers and connections then we do, so I decided to take the risk of asking for help." she admitted. "I just, uh, didn't really know other way to figure it out." she admitted. "And it's....well. If it's one of Sola's Commanders, we've managed to push them back a few times, but we've never actually...beat one. At best we manage a Tie. And that's if there's all five of us together, and there's only one of them. If more than one shows up, or they bring one of their bodyguards, we usually can't manage it." she admitted. "And now half of us are hurt, because we kinda can't get away." she admitted.

 

Then Lawrence was seeing things across the city. A few dozen pinpoints of magical energy, 6 small sources of energy, a single medium one, 3 much larger ones, and then a truly gigantic one. The smaller pinpoints were pure, white and blue and gold and shining like little constellations of hope and energy. The 6 small ones, the 3 larger ones, those were black and red; hungry, ravenous and desperate to feed off the smaller pinpoints. They came from the same place, but the aura was totally different. The outlier was the medium one; It wasn't anything like the other sets of energy; it came from a different dimension, it seemed. Not this one, not the one the Sola ruled.

 

But after a few seconds, it became clear what each individual one of the energies from the single dimension was, from their interactions and their engagements;

 

The first, obvious thing was that the small pinpoints were Sentries, or at least their powers; It was the same level of energy that Estelle had, thrumming across her body.

 

The largest was in Kingston; squatting in the Doomforge squatting over the buildings. It pulsed with an almost sinister black and red energy, beating like a heart. Magical and interdimensional; from a magical dimension, but built mechanically. It was guarded by one of the three larger signatures, and two of the smaller ones. That was the location.

 

In Lincoln, there was another large signature and two small ones. But as he watched, one of the medium ones disappeared, then the other, before the largest was swiftly brought down, leaving only two pinpoints. Two Sentries plus whatever had assisted them in defeating the antagonistic ones.

 

In the Southside, the large Signature and the two small ones put up a much tougher fight, only going down after several extended engagements, leaving two pinpoints of energy and the single medium energy.

 

So there had been two fights going on; two Commanders had been beaten back, but there was still one left defending the machine in question, plus her two bodyguards.

 

"Do you see them? I'm really hoping you can, because I don't exactly have a backup plan." Estelle admitted.